Cheerfulness in an ill
man deserves a harder name than language can furnish us with, and is
many degrees beyond what we commonly call folly or madness.
Atheism, by which I mean a disbelief of a Supreme Being, and
consequently of a future state, under whatsoever title it shelters
itself, may likewise very reasonably deprive a man of this cheerfulness
of temper. There is something so particularly gloomy and offensive to
human nature in the prospect of non-existence, that I cannot but wonder,
with many excellent writers, how it is possible for a man to outlive the
expectation of it. For my own part, I think the being of a God is so
little to be doubted, that it is almost the only truth we are sure of,
and such a truth as we meet with in every object, in every occurrence,
and in every thought. If we look into the characters of this tribe of
infidels, we generally find they are made up of pride, spleen, and
cavil: it is indeed no wonder that men who are uneasy to themselves,
should be so to the rest of the world; and how is it possible for a man
to be otherwise than uneasy in himself, who is in danger every moment of
losing his entire existence and dropping into nothing?
The vicious man and Atheist have therefore no pretence to cheerfulness,
and would act very unreasonably should they endeavour after it.
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