2(50  THE  SECOND  REVOLUTION.  [Chap.  XIV,

a  greater  or  less  proportion  to  the  vernacular  literature  of  their  country.
Thus  Newton  wrote,  in  English,  upon  the  Prophecies,  and  other  subjects
connected  with  biblical  knowledge ;  and  Boyle  enjoyed  a  high  reputa-
tion for  his  moral  and  religious  writings.  It  is  remarkable  and  consol-
ing to  see  with  what  unanimous  consent  these  illustrious  philosophers,
all  men  of  extraordinary  acumen  and  caution,  and  all  accustomed,  from
the  nature  of  their  pursuits,  to  take  nothing  for  granted,  to  weigh  and
balance  evidence  with  the  severest  exactness,  agfeed  in  the  intensity  of
their  religious  convictions.  Those  habits  of  physical  investigation,
which  are  so  often  ignorantly  accused  of  being  unfavorable  to  the  habit
of  belief,  seem  to  have  led  the  most  powerful  and  inquiring  minds  only
the  more  irresistibly  to  a  firm  conviction  of  the  truths  of  revealed
religion.
