Wesley Corpus

of that happiness which religion was designed to establish ; it would reduce us to a gloomy and melancholy state, and make the Christian of a sad countenance ; deprive us of all the inno cent pleasures of life, and reduce our enjoy ments to so narrow a compass, that they would not counterbalance our pains, and support us under the evils to which we are now exposed, so that 'if only in this life (even without the persecutions of primitive ages) there were hope, we should be of all men the most miserable.' " I shall reply first to the particular branches of this objection, and then in general to the whole. With regard to the first, be it observed, that the happiness whereof it supposes the entire love of God to be destructive is a happiness that is to result from an enjoyment of the crea tures not referred to the great Creator, that is, it is such a happiness as never did, nor ever will exist. " That this happiness is not, can not be found in any creatures (to use the words of the above-cited author), is obvious from experience, from the vanity which we find in all things, and from the restlessness and desire of change which is consequent upon it : we try one thing after another, as the searching bee wanders from flower to flower, but gO off from every one with disappointment and a deluded expectation Though almost every ; thing promises, nothing answers; and even the succession of new enjoyments (the best resource we have for the emptiness of each) amuses but does not satisfy ; a glorious happiness this ! vexation, disappointment, and loss ! and of this happiness, it must be con fessed, the love ofGod is absolutely destructive." But does it not render men gloomy and me lancholy, by depriving them of the innocent pleasures of life ? They who speak thus seem not to be aware how easy it is to produce a cloud of witnesses, and those heathens as well as Christians, who, though they allow there ar6 a. thousand sorts of pleasure, which, considered with regard to the whole species, are neither good nor bad, yet utterly deny that any indivi dual pleasure is barely innocent. But we need not pagan testimonies, since plain reason is sufficient to show that this expression can