Supreme deity

It cannot, after all the efforts of impiety, be utterly expunged from the soul, and is rarely found, even after a prolonged course of intemperance, seared into remorseless insensibility.

Hardened and fortified as this dissolute nobleman was in his wicked practices, he found it impossible to shake off all the restraints of fear and reverence for a Supreme Being, or silence by all his arguments the still small voice of his own conscience, which often spoke out with a terrible authority, and reproached him for his crimes.

In the very height of his mirth, and amidst the riot of forbidden delights, there were moments when his thoughts condemned him, when he looked upon his conduct as madness and folly, and when he would willingly have exchanged his condition with the humble beggar on the streets, whom he had wantonly personated in his sallies of extravagant devotion.

It was in these gloomy intervals, generally occasioned by some fit of indisposition, the effects of his debaucheries, that he felt those inward checks and compunctious visitings.

These crimes, all of which he had himself been guilty of, he by no means justified or commended.

On the contrary, he looked upon them with shame and some degree of remorse.

But this was rather that they had brought infamy on his character and pain and disease upon his body than from any deep sense of having offended a supreme being.

He had no concern for the actions of his past life as transgressions against the laws of God, but only as they had injured his health and reputation and been prejudicial to others.

also at the barn he uh uh the kid does ask who what that head was and there is an answer that

was no man that was a supreme being You mean God? Well, we don't know him that well.

We only work for him.

Shut

I mean, don't get me wrong, if it was raining midgets, I'd probably get scared and run too, but still.

We find out here, at least we find out, they tell Kevin here, that was their first robbery they ever done.

And besides the fact they stole the map from the Supreme Being.

Yeah, they stole a map from God.

You know, these are the times I love because we're all involved in this and we have our ideas and I never want to overstep anyone's mark.

And I will say to you that I've always believed in the Supreme Deity I've always connected with a higher consciousness and I've always reached out to those higher beings.

What's interesting is that, you know, I know that within the past, most people believe that we have been engineered by extraterrestrials.

Well, to all intents and purposes, I suppose the Archons would be like extraterrestrials.

They will mingle in idle and fashionable dissipations or engage deeply in the cares and speculations of life.

or peradventure as a last refuge fly in their despair like a dying man to an extreme medicine to the forms and ministrations of religion the ordinary resort of the timid and superstitious others adopt a more common and perhaps a more effectual expedient and stupefy their senses in continued dissipation filling up their giddy moments with a succession of licentious indulgences in this way they may contrive to exclude every intruder on their unhallowed repose and for a time to escape the remonstrances and even the observation of their own minds but this artificial tranquillity is but momentary in its duration and can never confer that happy composure which results from a regular and virtuous life and can only be the offspring and the companion of innocence there is a time when wit and beauty cannot charm when pleasures become tasteless and the exhausted faculties lose the power to relish or even to receive their accustomed gratifications there are seasons of languor when the mind as well as the body becomes weary of the follies of the world vacancies and pauses must intervene and these will generally be filled up with dismal and disquieting anticipations it is then that conscience long suppressed begins to remonstrate in severer terms with those who had sealed their ears to its reproof and imposed a reluctant silence on its admonitions to whatever asylum they may repair it will follow even in the haunts of dissipation it will find its unhappy victim for this faithful witness unless it can be restrained by violent means or imposed upon by false pretences will not remain an indifferent spectator of human actions nor sit a willing member in the councils of the ungodly it cannot after all the efforts of impiety be utterly expunged from the soul and is rarely found even after a prolonged course of intemperance seared into remorseless insensibility hardened and fortified as this dissolute nobleman was in his wicked practices he found it impossible to shake off all the restraints of fear and reverence for a supreme being or silence by all his arguments the still small voice of his own conscience which often spoke out with a terrible authority and reproached him for his crimes in the very height of his mirth and amidst the riot of forbidden delights there were moments when his thoughts condemned him when he looked upon his conduct as madness and folly and when he would willingly have exchanged his condition with the humble beggar on the streets whom he had wantonly personated in his sallies of extravagant devotion it was in these gloomy intervals generally occasioned by some fit of indisposition the effects of his debaucheries that he felt those inward checks and compunctious visitings their impression however was by no means deep or permanent and when his sickness left him his resolutions vanished like the morning cloud these momentary regrets were not awakened by any principle of religion or by any proper sense of the enormity of his guilt they rose more from the vague fears and apprehensions of an ill-regulated mind and were rather feelings excited by a kind of natural horror than by any determined purpose of amendment he had great remorse for his past life was sorry he had degraded his character by many unjustifiable and unbecoming actions and had reduced his constitution to such a state of premature weakness and decay but he felt no sincere conviction of sinning against god no sorrow for having violated the laws or offended the majesty of heaven and though at such times he complied with the wishes of his friends so far as to admit the visits of clergymen it was with no intention of expecting consolation or profiting by their instructions if he desired them to pray it was merely as a piece of civility or good breeding for he regarded the whole as a formal and useless ceremony sometimes his sicknesses had the effect of strengthening his bad principles and prepossessing him more strongly against religion while his wicked companions taking advantage of his infirmity endeavoured to confirm him in his infidelity by effacing from his mind as far as possible all belief and apprehension of futurity one occurrence in the early part of his life he mentions which greatly staggered his faith in the reality of a state of existence hereafter and tended much to encourage him in his profligate courses when he went first to sea in sixteen sixty five there happened to be in the same ship with him two particular friends a mr montague and another gentleman of quality these two especially the former seemed persuaded that they should never return to england the earl of rochester entered into a formal engagement with the latter of these gentlemen not without ceremonies of religion that if either of them died he should appear and give the other notice of the future state if there was any when the day came that they were to attack the dutch fleet in the bay of bergen mr montague though he had such a strong presentiment in his mind of his approaching death yet gallantly exposed himself all the while in places of the greatest danger the other gentleman signalized his courage in a most undaunted manner till the end of the action when he fell on a sudden into such a fit of trembling that he could scarcely stand and mr montague going to him to hold him up as they were in each other's arms a cannon ball killed them both on the spot this singular coincidence between the fate and the presages of these individuals made some impression on the mind of lord rochester and persuaded him that the soul was a separate and distinct being and had secret notices communicated to it either by a natural sagacity or a sort of divination but his friends never returning to give him the stipulated intelligence was as he confessed a stumbling block to his faith during the rest of his life although the possibility of such a revelation or intercourse between material and incorporeal beings were admitted yet the expectation and the evidence required were quite unreasonable and one who had so far corrupted the natural principles of truth as he had done could scarcely imagine that a special miracle would be wrought for his conviction the reproof applied on a similar occasion to the incredulous jews who were continually demanding signs and wonders might have occurred to check the folly of all such appeals to supernatural events If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.

Another singular example of a prophetical apprehension with regard to death which persuaded him the more of the spirituality, or at least the separate existence of the soul, is mentioned as having occurred in his presence in the house of his mother-in-law, the Lady Ware.

The chaplain had dreamed that on a certain day he should die, but being set upon by the whole family he was rallied or argued out of this belief and had almost forgot the circumstance till the evening before at supper.

In support of his theory he adduced the practice of men professing and swearing friendship when they hated mortally, their oaths and imprecations in their addresses to women which they never intended to make good, the pleasure they took in defaming eminent persons and spreading false reports of some, perhaps in revenge because they could not engage them to comply with their wicked designs, the delight they had in making people quarrel, their unjust usage of their creditors and putting them off by any deceitful promise they could invent that might free them from present importunity.

These crimes, all of which he had himself been guilty of, he by no means justified or commended.

On the contrary, he looked upon them with shame and some degree of remorse, but this was rather that they had brought infamy on his character and pain and disease upon his body than from any deep sense of having offended a supreme being.

He had no concern for the actions of his past life as transgressions against the laws of God, but only as they had injured his health and reputation and been prejudicial to others.

The whole ceremonial was elaborately drawn up under Alexander's personal direction and signed with his approval.

The Cathedral of Borgo was chosen, the sanctuary of the Supreme Being, as he afterwards called it, as the place where a Tsar of Russia should for the first time solemnly pledge himself and his successors to maintain a constitutional government in one of the lands under his sceptre, and where the representatives of his new subjects, having heard the pledge, should in return take the oath of homage to their Grand Duke.

And as if Alexander foresaw that one day there might be a M. Orden, who would deny that a Tsar could possibly pledge himself to a constitution in the singular, the order of the ceremony, written under his direction in French and not in Swedish, and formally approved by him, describes the ceremony thus.

Après quoi le gouverneur général déclarera que sa majesté impériale a daigné confirmer solennellement la constitution de la Finlande en la sanctionnant de sa signature.

The whole ceremonial was elaborately drawn up under Alexander's personal direction and signed with his approval.

The Cathedral of Borgo was chosen, the sanctuary of the Supreme Being, as he afterwards called it, as the place where a Tsar of Russia should for the first time solemnly pledge himself and his successors to maintain a constitutional government in one of the lands under his sceptre, and where the representatives of his new subjects, having heard the pledge, should in return take the oath of homage to their Grand Duke.

And as if Alexander foresaw that one day there might be a M. Orden who would deny that a Tsar could possibly pledge himself to a constitution in the singular, the order of the ceremony, written under his direction in French and not in Swedish, and formally approved by him, describes the ceremony thus.

Après quoi le gouverneur général déclarera que Sa Majesté impériale a daigné confirmer solennellement la constitution de la Finlande en la sanctionnant de sa signature.