Page:History of Manchester (1771), Volume 1, by John Whitaker.djvu/433

fclitte Divinity 4t tl*e Japackof the cflpatkyfc ^ctttt»l in tdtattion* unlimited in powsr, anM WKx^n&ifd ^yi ^w^ ^.fatellijgiwwr unerringly w*fe :i a«<l u^we^riedly p^ideq*, a*d^ WiU infi* nittdj jujfly. vnipeaiubly km^, apd inc^npeivably punp, it repented rnipn to hay e been; ppcje : #MUy fitted to bis fphen? of a&ion,. ajl, moral hannony within,, all natural order without* %hp central point, of this lower £ r £*M#>Pt apd * probationer for an happy eternity in an highe*. < 1$ then reverted thp glafs, and {hewed him no longer naqving in the fair orbit of duty and re- viving light aqd warmth from ti*e fuu-bearas of Divinity, but voluntarily ftooping to fai and nec^fiarily fubjefted to wretched-* qefc; his body ravaged by di&a&s; hifi tin derftan ding veiled in darknefs, .and the little empire of his, paflions and appetites alirifen tit, rebellion againfl: the fovcrejgnty of hisrefrfon. It fining* hft< mind perplexed with ;dp^b^ ; and bis fcpil diftra&ed with &4f^ confeious of weakneffep that x^yit^d the jdfiftance of feme kind interceffioa, fenJ&ble of guilt that needed the aid of ' ime friendly' atonement; but vainly cafting a wijhful ejc.fyr the one and the other through all the compafs ofcre- 3tpd; natures fink^i^ thenefore in melancholy ucider the weight p£ liQ 9: an4 ihpddering witty horror at the world unknown. • And, it displayed this kind intercede^ it pointed out this friendly atonejv to the eye of despairing man; One fully qualified to xgediate from the purity of hh will. One abiblutely enabled to atone from the dignity of his nature ; a man interceding for the ruined manhood, a God appealing the offended Godhead ; a Friend der fcending from the Throne of Heaven, a Saviour conducting* us to the happinefs of it. Such a fyftem of religion, fen&ioned-as. it was by precedent prophecies and authenticated by accompany- ing miracles, muft carry conviflion of its divinity- to the foul,, muft melt even, thcobftinacy of prejudice, and muil pro&lyte even the profligacy of guilt. This the genuine religion of our nature, which echoes the. fentimentfi of every ferioufly feeling heart and refle&s the ideas of every ferioufly thinking mind, was introduced into Britain as ea^ly ae the period of thp appftles, and iflwe jittfe time before, the