Page:Essay on the First Principles of Government 2nd Ed.djvu/17

Rh of ingenious men concerning the wisdom of these constitutions. It always brings to my mind what St. Paul says of the wisdom of this world in other respects.

Such, however, is the virtue of some men, that it is proof against all the bad influence of the constituticn of which they are members. Without flattering, or tormenting themselves with a vain ambition, many excellent clergymen, worthy of a better situation, contentedly sit down to the proper duty of their situation. Their only object is to do good to the souls of men, and their only hope of reward is in that world, where they who have been wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they who have turned many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. Such characters as these I truly revere; and it is chiefly for the sake of forming more such, that I wish the establishment of the church of England might be reformed in some essential points. The powers of reason and conscience plead for such a reformation, but, alas! the powers of this world are