Page:Characteristicks of men, manners, opinions, times Vol 2.djvu/58

RV 54 (Rh) the time, therefore, that a Creature can have any plain or positive Notion one way or other, concerning the Subject of a, he may be suppos'd to have an Apprehension or Sense of Right and Wrong, and be possess'd of Virtue and Vice in different degrees; as we know by Experience of those, who having liv'd in such places, and in such a manner as never to have enter'd into any serious Thoughts of Religion, are nevertheless very different among themselves, as to their Characters of Honesty and Worth: some being naturally modest, kind, friendly, and consequently Lovers of kind and friendly Actions; others proud, harsh, cruel, and consequently inclin'd to admire rather the Acts of Violence and mere Power.

, as to the Belief of a, and how Men are influenc'd by it; we may consider, in the first place, on what account Men yield Obedience, and act in conformity to such a supreme Being. It must be either in the way of his, as presupposing some Disadvantage or Benefit to accrue from him: or in the way of his and , as thinking it the Perfection of Nature to imitate and resemble him. Rh