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Essays by Lords Bacon and Clarendon; Two Volumes in One
Essays by Lords Bacon and Clarendon Two Volumes in One Author:Francis Bacon General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1820 Original Publisher: Wells and Lilly, Court-Street Subjects: English essays Literary Collections / Essays Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may... more » be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: XVII. OF ATHEISM. i Had rather believe all the fables in the legends, and the Talmud, and the Alcoran, than that this universal frame is without a mind; and, therefore, God never wrought miracles to convince atheism, because his ordinary works convince it. It is true, that a little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion; for while the mind of man looketh upon second causes scattered, it may sometimes rest in them, and go no farther; but when it beholdeth the chain of them confederate, and linked together, it must needs fly to providence and Deity: nay, even that school which is most accused of atheism, doth most demonstrate religion; that is, the school of Leu- cippus, and Democritus, and Epicurus: for it is a thousand times more credible, that four mutable elements and one immutable fifth essence, duly and eternally placed, need no God, than that an army of infinite small- portions, or seeds unplaced, should have produced this order and beauty without a divine marshal. The scripture saith, " The fool hath said in his heart, there is Bo God;" it is not said, " The fool hath thought in his heart;" so as he rather saith it by rote to himself, as that he would have, than that he can thoroughly believe it, or be persuaded of it; for none deny there is a God, but those for whom it maketh that there were no God. It appeareth in nothing more, that atheism is rather in the ...« less