Page:The Scourge - Volume 5.djvu/37

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•Duties of infidels. 25


Conformity to the abstract principle of speaking the truth, under every circumstance, and on all occasions, disperse the errors, or combat the prejudices that alleviate the distresses of the poor, and deter the selfish and the cruel, from endangering the lives, or invading the property of their Neighbours, nor dispirit the struggling sailor on the ocean of human life, by shewing him that the beacon, by which he endeavors to guide his course, and from which he had looked for preservation, from the dangers that surrounded him, was only the meteor of the moment, the creation of his fancy, or the malignant production of pestiferous exhalations.

But if the infidel or the sceptic, be impressed with the conviction, that to dissipate the religious delusions of the people, is a duty incumbent on the conscientious enquirer after truth, it might at least be expected that he should express his peculiarities of thought, with a modesty proportioned to the boldness of his enterprize, and a decency proportionate to the sincerity with which the prepossessions that he attacks are retained and cherished by the rest of the community. His conviction of the justice of his skepticism, will afford him no apology, for willfully lacerating the bosoms of his fellow creatures. he is not to shock the pious, and alarm the conscientious, because he is himself convinced that their belief is absurd, and their prepossessions erroneous. He believes that he has discovered the truth, but it is possible that he may have deceived himself: the enthusiasm of an honest and intelligent advocate, will be accompanied by some doubts of his own infallibility: it will occur to his remembrance, that he may possibly be mistaken ; that if he became the reviler of the Deity, and the opponent of scriptural truth, his fatuity is greater than that which can possibly attach to the errors of superstition or credulity; and the dictates of prudence, of reason, and of decency, will all conspire to restrain him within the bounds of decorous and liberal discussion. By expressing the sentiments of infidelity, in the sober and manly

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