The Sun.
London, England, 1822-01-09 00:00:00

FOR THE SUN.

ATHEISM.—(LETTER
Ma. EDITOR-However considerably man may
be exalted above the rest of sublunary beings, he
is still very far from perfect, and the faculties of
his mind partake therefore, of the imperfections
of his nature. Great and important to himself,
and of ,no mean 'consequence to society, is the
part he is destined to act in the-varied drama of
life. He is not born to grow, to, fade and to die
like the plants, nor to spend his lire in mere sen
sual enjoyments, like the brute creation. He
comes into the world to fulfil the various and
important duties of child, of brother, of husband,
of father, of Mend, and of member of .5 ociety.--
The manner in which he shall perform the
duties attached to each of these characters, Is not
left at his option, because it is not a matter of
indifference to the welfare of society. Man is
not born to live for himself, because the happi-
ness and comfort of the vast social body depend 1
in a great measure, if not indeed principally,
upon. the joint action of every one of its members
individually, and of the whole of them collec.:
tively. The faculties with which he is endowed'
are such as will not only enable him to fulfil his
destiny ; they may likewise prove eminently
conducive to his own personal happiness and
comfort. They are, indeed, fully adequate to
answer all the demands society can make upon
him : but how far this • may contribute to his in-
dividual happiness, depends solely upon the
manner in which he shall employ them. They
are bestowed upon him for the good of his fellow
creatures as well as for his own: they are excel- '
lent in themselves; if they produce not the in-
tended effect, the fault must lie therefore wholly
with himself. He is well acquainted with the
substantial charms of virtue ; he is not ignorant
of the real misery that vice ever carries in its
train. Ills reason must assuredly point out to
him which he should pursue. It warns him
that the apparently rugged path of the former
leads to happiness, whilst the alluring ways of
the latter end in perdition and misery. Thus
warned of what he has to hope from the one, and
to dread from the other, he is left wholly at
liberty to make his own election. 'Born in igno-
rance, and living amidst uncertainty and doubt,
be falls an easy Prey to error. The senses that
minister to his wants and to his comforts, give
him impressions that are often fallacious ; whilst -
his passions too ,frequently.extibit things to his
mind's eye, only through the medium of his pre-
judices.

It was in order that. he might steer clear from
the dangerous and fatal shoals of error, that rea-
son was given to him as a trusty. pilot. it is by his
mental powers that lie is emiuentl3• distinguished
from the brute creation. What experience some-
times teaclies":thern,lie can always learn by means
of his reason. It enables him to arrive at the
most elevated cOticeptions, and to attain a know-
ledge of the most sublime truths; but it may'
likewise- lead him to the most absurd conclusions,
and plunge hint into an abyss of error. It ele-
vates him far above the brute creation ; and yet,
when he suffers it to be obscured by ignorance
and prejudice, it is less certain in its operations
than their instinct. His superiority over them,
therefore, depends only on his making a proper
use of his reason.

However incomprehensible in itself may be the
idea of Gocl reason alone will point out the ab-
solute necessity of
.his existence ; an existence,
the certainty of whichis of infinite importance to
mankind: Yet, in our times, have sae seen a
daring and impious sect openly propagate the
dangerous doctrines of atheism, and render to
reason the homage they refuse to God.. Beneath
the pestilential influence of their pernicious
maxims the social virtues withered and died ; and
yet they have presumed to style themselves the
, regenerators a( mankind! '-Exhibiting, however,
reason, or rather their reason, to the eyes of man-
kind, they have impiously exclaimed, " Behold
your God ! Worship none other : follow its pre-
cepts ; believe only what it teaches !" With
them we will say—Follow its precepts, and you
will tread in the path of virtue—believe what it
teaches, and you will adore the God. that made
you. It will point out to you that there is a con.
tingent and a dependent being, and demoestrate
the existence of a Beingnecessary and independent.
Very far from being inconsistent with reason,
the idea of a God is one to which it leads, and
which it readily admits, because alone it can
'solve the mysteries, and explain the wonders by
which man is surrounded. It is the most firm
basis of our knowledge, because it points out the
great First Cause from which all others are neces-
sarily derived. It is the foundation of virtue,
and the source of religion, which every Legisla-
tor has ever considered as essential to the very
existence of society. In a neighbouring country
...
this divine institution was abolished, by a set of A young lady having purchased an assortment
criminal or infatuated demagogues, who polluted of music at a warehouse, situate in the western
the Altars of the only true God, by the incense part of the metropolis, on returning to her car-
they there offered to reason, the divinity of the riage recollected it pieCe which she had neglected
new and impious worship they introduced. What to buy.—" Sir,,' said she, on re-entering'the shop,
were the immediate effects of this criminal act ? " there is
.yet one thing which I had:forgotten,
A system of general demoralization ensued. and which I now' require you to give."l-s" And
Every established idea was .reversed. Virtue what is that ?" -inquired the young music-seller.
became a crime; crimes were considered as vir- " It is, Sir, ' One kind' kiss before we part.'—
tues. The linkspf society, the ties of nature, ail The gay yoUth vaulted instantaneously over the
were rent asunder; and every possible vice being table, and saluted the fair stranger.
at once let loose upon the face of the country, .13AlustAst PLEA3ANTRY.—Not many days ago,
changed it into a vast charnel house, and trans- a illaden,o.selle- La Rose ‘vi-4 to have been mar-
formed a people hitherto celebrated for the ur- ried in Paris, but the ceremony was_ put off by
banity of its manners, into a band of ferocious the gentleman, who, on one of his .visits; dirco-
cannibals. vered symptoms of premature buddbicr:- A wit.
In vain does the Atheist uphold his irreligious observed, on this occasion, by the way b'f-I>xcuse,
principles, and invoke the testimony of reason "that itcwas a striking proof' of the'extraVrdioary
in support of his opinions : reason cannot corn- 'mildness cy'the season."