Mischiefs, _at least without a more general united_ Endeavour _to put those Laws already made in_ strict Execution, _we are in a fair way to become a_ Nation of Atheists. _'Tis now no difficult matter to meet with those who pretend to be_ lewd _upon_ Principles; _They'll talk very_ gravely, _look as if they were in earnest, and come_ sobrii ad perdendam Rempublicam: _they wou'd be_ Criticks _too, and_ Philosophers: _They attack_ Religion _in_ Form _and batter it from every_ Quarter; _they wou'd turn the very_ Scriptures _against themselves, and labour hard to remove a_ Supreme Being _out of the World; or if they do vouchsafe him any_ room _in it, 'tis only that they may find_ Fault _with his_ Works, _which they think, with that_ Blasphemer _of old, might have been much better order'd, had they themselves stood by and directed the_ Architect. _They'll tell you the_ Errors _of_ Nature _are every where_ plain _and_ visible, _all_ monstrous, _here_ too much _and there_ too little; _or, as_ one of their own Poets, Here she's _too sparing_, there _profusely_ vain. _What would these Men have, or why can't they be content to sink_ single _into the_ bottomless Gulph, _without dragging so much Company thither with 'em? Can they grapple_ Omnipotence, _or are they sure they can be_ too hard _for_ Heaven? _Can they_ Thunder _with a_ Voice like God, _and cast abroad the_ Rage _of their_ Wrath? _Cou'd they_ annihilate _Hell, indeed, or did it only consist of such_ painted Flames _as they'd fain believe it, they might make a shift to be tolerably happy, more quietly rake through the World, and_ sink _into_ Nothing. _There's too great reason to apprehend, that this_ Infection _is spred among Persons of almost all_ Ranks _and_ Qualities; _and that tho' some may think it_ decent _to keep on the_ Masque, _yet if they were search'd to the_ bottom, _all_ their Religion _wou'd be found that which they most blasphemously assert of_ Religion _in_ general, _only a_ State Engin _to keep the_ World in Order. _This is_ Hypocrisie _with a Witness; the_ basest _and_ meanest _of_ Vices; _and how come Men to fall into these_ damnable Errors _in Faith, but by_ Lewdness _of Life? The Cowards wou'd not believe a God because they_ dare _not do it, for Woe be to 'em if there be one, and consequently any_ Future Punishments. _From such as these, I desire no Favour, but that of their_ Ill Word, _as their_ Crimes _must expect_ none _from me, whose_ Character _obliges me to declare an_ eternal War _against_ Vice _and_ Infidelity, _tho' at the same time heartily to_ pity _those who are_ infected _with it. If I cou'd be_ ambitious _of a_ Name _in the World, it shou'd be that I might_ sacrifice _it in so glorious a_ Cause _as that of_ Religion _and_ Virtue: _If none but_ Generals _must fight in this_ sacred War, _when there are such_ infernal Hosts _on the other side, they cou'd never prevail without one of the_ antient Miracles: