and simple, was the faith of true republicans, and the practice of
morality their works. But deism is a dreary religion to the mass of
mankind, and the practice of morality can never take the place of
adoration. The heart must be satisfied, as well as the conscience.
Larevilliere, a Director, of irreproachable character, felt this
deficiency of their system, and saw how strong a hold the Catholic
priesthood had upon the common people. The idea occurred to him of
rivalling the churches by establishing regular meetings of moral men
and women, to sing hymns of praise to the Almighty, "one and
indivisible," and to listen to discourses and exhortations on moral
subjects. Hauey, a brother of the eminent crystallogist, assembled the
first society of Theophilanthropists, (lovers of God and man,) as they
called themselves. They held their meetings on the day corresponding to
Sunday. They had their manual of worship and their book of canticles.
Their dogmas were the existence of one God and the immortality of the
soul. And they wisely said nothing about matters which they did not
believe. Paine, who in his "Age of Reason" had attempted to prepare a
theology _ad usum reipublicae,_ felt moved by the spirit of morality,
and delivered a sermon to one of these Theophilanthropist
congregations. His theme was the existence of God and the propriety of
combining the study of natural science with theology. He chose, of
course, the _a-posteriori_ argument, and was brief, perhaps eloquent.
Some passages of his discourse might pass unchallenged in the sermon of
an Orthodox divine. He kept this one ready in his memory of brass, to
confound all who accused him of irreligion:--"Do we want to contemplate
His power? We see it in the immensity of the creation. Do we want to
contemplate His wisdom? We see it in the unchangeable order by which
the incomprehensible whole is governed. Do we want to contemplate His
mercy? We see it in His not withholding His abundance even from the
unthankful. In fine, do we want to know what God is? Search not written