It is with me an establish'd Truth, that the mistaken Notion of some _learned Men_, concerning the _Sovereignty_ of the _Deity_, has given these Doctrines a more favourable Acceptance in the World, than otherwise they would, or could, ever have met with; and notwithstanding all the Pains and Arguments these Gentlemen have bestowed, to reconcile their Doctrines to our common Sense of _Right_ and _Wrong_, it is plain, that, at _bottom_, this is the grand governing Principle. For, when their Attempts to reconcile these Doctrines with common Sense and Equity fail, they have immediate Recourse to God's _Sovereignty_, and even go so far, at least in Effect, as to deny there is _any_ intrinsick Difference in Things themselves, as shall be made appear from their most approved Writers, whenever they are pleased to demand it: But as this Principle of _Sovereignty_ is most certainly their strong Hold, I shall therefore endeavour to go to the Depth of this Argument; and shew, in the first Place, how greatly they misapprehend the Nature of this _Attribute;_ and, in the second Place, granting it to be as they say, I shall then shew the _precarious_ and _miserable_ Condition of all Mankind, not excepting the Elect themselves, under the Government of such an arbitrary Being. To begin with the first. That God is a _Sovereign_, we readily allow: But it will not therefore follow, he is _morally capable_ of doing any thing, in its _own Nature_, immoral or unjust. All religious Debates are allowed to be best determinable by the divine Attributes; and yet nothing is more common, than to single out, and lay the greatest Stress on, that Attribute alone, which appears best to suit our own particular Opinions: which, however innocent our Intention may be, is, I think, in itself, a very erroneous and unwarrantable Procedure; for as God is _all-wise_ and _good_, as well as _almighty_ and _independent_, it is, in the Nature of Things, impossible (and therefore we should never admit it possible) he should be capable (in a moral Sense, I mean) of exerting any one particular Attribute in _Opposition_ to, or _Diminution_ from, another. A _Sovereign_ he is, nor can any Creature whatever dispute his _unlimited_ and _uncontroulable_ Power over his _whole Creation_. But Power alone, without Wisdom and Goodness to make a right Use and Application of it, may be perfect _Frenzy_, and run into the greatest Latitude of _Folly_ and _Tyranny_. It is, if I may be allowed the Comparison, like a _Vessel_ that has lost its Helm, continually exposed to the tossing of Winds and Waves. To talk, therefore, of _mere Sovereign Pleasure_, without Regard to the proper Reason or Fitness of Things, so far operating and bring in the _Divine Mind_ (and which is nothing more than the Presence and Operation of his own Wisdom) in order to prefer what, in its own Nature, is _best_, and _fittest_ to be done, is excluding from the Deity, those _more_ blessed and _valuable Perfections_ of _Wisdom_