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Article A PRAYER, Page 1 of 1 Article ON CHRISTMAS-DAY. Page 1 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Prayer,
A PRAYER ,
BY M . DE VOLTAIRE . NOT unto men , but unto thee , the God of all beings , of all ages , and of all worlds , do I address myself : 'If feeble creatures , lost in the immensity , and imperceptible to the rest , of the universe , may presume
to ask of thee any thing ; of thee , who hast g iven all ; of thee , whose decrees are unchangeable as they are eternal ; condescend to look in pity - on theerrors which are inseparable from our nature , and let them not be to us the ground of calamity : thou hast not g iven us hearts to hate one another , nor hands to cut one another ' s throats ; grant that we may mutually assist one another to support the burthen of a painful and transitory - existence ; let not the little differences between the vestments that cover
oiir feeble bodies , between our defective language , between pur ridiculous customs , between our many imperfect laws , . between our many foolish Opinions , between our several conditions , so unequal in our eyes , and so equal in thine , let not the many little distinctions that denote the several
classes of atoms called men , be signals of hatred and persecution ; may those who light up wax tapers at noon day to celebrate thee , bear with those who are content with' the li ght of the sun , which ' thou hast p laced in the firmament ; let not those who to tell us we must love thee , cover their robe with white linen and hold in detestation those who tell us the same thing in a cloak of black woollen ; may it be the same to adore thee in a jargon formed from an ancient language , or in a'jargon more
modern ; may those whose vesture is dyed with red or with purple , who rule over a small parcel of a small heap of the mud of this earth , and who are possessed of some rounded bit of a certain metal , enjoy without pride what they call grandeur and riches ; and may others behold them without envy ; for thou knowest that 'in these vanities there is nothing to be envied , nothing to be proud of ; may all men remember that they are brethren ; may they abhor the tyranny that is exercised over the
mind , as they execrate the violence that takes ' away by force the fruits of labour and peaceful industry : if the scourge of'war be necessary , let us not hate , let us not devour one another in the midst of peace ; but let us employ our momentary existence in blessing equally in a thousand different languages , from Siam to California , thy goodness , which has given ¦ us this momentary existence .
On Christmas-Day.
ON CHRISTMAS-DAY .
HAPPY , under the light of the gospel , and the dispensation of a new . covenant , as infinitely superior to that first covenant of works given ander Moses as substance to shadow , ' it must surely become a very p lea-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Prayer,
A PRAYER ,
BY M . DE VOLTAIRE . NOT unto men , but unto thee , the God of all beings , of all ages , and of all worlds , do I address myself : 'If feeble creatures , lost in the immensity , and imperceptible to the rest , of the universe , may presume
to ask of thee any thing ; of thee , who hast g iven all ; of thee , whose decrees are unchangeable as they are eternal ; condescend to look in pity - on theerrors which are inseparable from our nature , and let them not be to us the ground of calamity : thou hast not g iven us hearts to hate one another , nor hands to cut one another ' s throats ; grant that we may mutually assist one another to support the burthen of a painful and transitory - existence ; let not the little differences between the vestments that cover
oiir feeble bodies , between our defective language , between pur ridiculous customs , between our many imperfect laws , . between our many foolish Opinions , between our several conditions , so unequal in our eyes , and so equal in thine , let not the many little distinctions that denote the several
classes of atoms called men , be signals of hatred and persecution ; may those who light up wax tapers at noon day to celebrate thee , bear with those who are content with' the li ght of the sun , which ' thou hast p laced in the firmament ; let not those who to tell us we must love thee , cover their robe with white linen and hold in detestation those who tell us the same thing in a cloak of black woollen ; may it be the same to adore thee in a jargon formed from an ancient language , or in a'jargon more
modern ; may those whose vesture is dyed with red or with purple , who rule over a small parcel of a small heap of the mud of this earth , and who are possessed of some rounded bit of a certain metal , enjoy without pride what they call grandeur and riches ; and may others behold them without envy ; for thou knowest that 'in these vanities there is nothing to be envied , nothing to be proud of ; may all men remember that they are brethren ; may they abhor the tyranny that is exercised over the
mind , as they execrate the violence that takes ' away by force the fruits of labour and peaceful industry : if the scourge of'war be necessary , let us not hate , let us not devour one another in the midst of peace ; but let us employ our momentary existence in blessing equally in a thousand different languages , from Siam to California , thy goodness , which has given ¦ us this momentary existence .
On Christmas-Day.
ON CHRISTMAS-DAY .
HAPPY , under the light of the gospel , and the dispensation of a new . covenant , as infinitely superior to that first covenant of works given ander Moses as substance to shadow , ' it must surely become a very p lea-