20 A View f tbe Dgis ricAl. Wrilers. Let. 25.
under them, without any recompence of that virtue, if there be no future ſtate: And that wicked men have often been re- markably proſperous, and have met with great ſucceſs in their undertakings, and have continued proſperous to the end of their lives. Theſe things have been obſerved in all ages. And accordingly he expreſly owns, that°the antient Theiſts were “ perſuaded, that nothing leſs than the exiſtence of all man- kind in a future ſtate, and a more exact diſtribution of re- Wards and puniſhments could excuſe the aſſumed, irregular, and unjuſt proceedings of providence in this life, on which Atheills founded their objections«.“ He frequently inti- mates, that this was one great reaſon of the philoſophers aſ- ſuming the doctrine of future rewards and puniſhments: Though ſometimes he ſeems to contradict this, and to ſay, that the heathens did not take in the hypotheſis of a future ſtate in order to vindicate the conduct of divine providence f. But without endeavouring to reconcile this writer to himſelf, which it is often impoſſible to do, we may procced upon it as a certain thing, that it hath been generally acknowleged in all ages, that good men have been often in a very calamitous con- dition in this preſent ſtate, and bad men in very proſperous cir- cumſtances. It is true, that as our author obſerves, we may be deceived, and think thoſe to be good men who are not ſo: But in many caſes we may certainly pronounce, that thoſe who by their actions plainly ſhew themſelves to be bad men, the un- jult, the fraudulent, the cruel, and oppreſſive, proſper and flou- riſm, whilſt men whom it were’ the height of uncharitableneſs not to ſuppoſe perſons of great goodneſs, integrity, and gene- rous honeſty, ſuffer even by their very virtues, and are expoſed to grievous oppreſſions and reproach, without any redreſs from human judicatories. It is his own obſervation, that there is room for much contingency in the phyſical and moral world, under the government of a general providence, and that amidſt theſe contingencies, happineſs, outward happineſs at leaſt, may fall to the lot of the wicked, and outward un- happineſs to the lot of good men 2.“
Mr. Hume has repreſented this matter with ſpirit and ele- gance in the twenty-firſt of his moral and political Eſſays; where he obſerves, That“ though virtue be undoubtedly the beſt “ choice where it can be attained, yet ſuch is the confuſion „¹and diſorder of human affairs, that no perfect œconomy, or **regular diſtribution of happineſs or miſery, is in this life ever
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eVol. v. p. 308. f Compare ib. 238. 487. ² Vol. v. P. 485. 66 to