consequently is well pleased to hear of his Faults or Imperfections A Man may use out of Flattery so often to tell his Judgment to the disadvantage of a Person that at last he may unawars come to believe it himself and partly that his Flattery may not at any time be discovered oblige himself to believe it and perswade himself that that is true which before he did but say was so though he thought the contrary And here it may be observed that as too great a proneness to judg on the worst side doth proceed from these Causes mentioned So it is a most ordinary thing for the passing and especially declaring ones Judgment and Opinion on the advantagious side i. e. That a Man hath more of some good thing than indeed he hath to proceed from some of the same Causes too viz. Hatred Envy Indignation For Example That a Man hath more Revenue Treasure Honour Power Ease Pleasure than indeed he hath only to expose him more to the Envy or Indignation of others And in general Men judg thus in a thing which they account a reward to him who they think doth not or they would not have him either to merit or receive it most commonly it is an easie thing from Circumstances to discern from what Principles such Judgment proceeds But some may be so cunning as to conceal or dissemble Sect. VII Seventhly For the Causes of rash Judgment and Censure they must be the same with those of the two former particulars The Causes of rash Judgment in general Idleness Busibodiness Activity Curiosity Pride and of rash Censure or Judgment without Reason but a Man 's own Will on the worst side as such are among others Hatred Revenge Pride Affectation of Superiority Envy Contempt Flattery To which we may add Anger and Wrath which if a Man be not very careful disposeth us to as much uncharitable and unreasonable Judging as the former and a Man is seldom or never to trust his Judgment of any Person after that fierce and confounding Passion but refer it to another time when calmness and freedom from Passion gives him more ability to see the Truth and more impartiality to judg And now all these Causes methinks are so Unreasonable Inhumane and Unchristian when thus nakedly represented that they cannot but stir up in Souls not quite degenerate or corrupted dead and sensless of what 's good many of these very Passions against themselves and seem the ugliest Objects that can be beheld These are those which compose a Devil more and are more essential to him than any other shape Sect. VIII IV. The Causes some of them of false Judging as false or of falsity errour of Judgment concerning Persons whether on the good or bad side may as in all other false Judgments be reduced to two within us in General 1. Defect in our Understanding which here in this case is but one viz. Ignorance in a large sense viz. the Absence or want of Apprehension or of the actual Knowledg of something which would influence our Judgments 2. In our Will a meer inclination to any certain false Judgment whether it be from Custom and Use or from the Love and for the sake of any certain Object In this particular case of false Judgments some of the most frequent Causes more or less remotely and some way or other reducible to these two are these Sect. IX 1. In general meer Ignorance of the truth of things where there is no defect of Will So a Man may judg an action in respect of the effect and principle of it to be well or ill done when it is the contrary and it was the case of the Jewish and Gentile Christians passing Judgment of one anothers Eating and abstaining from certain Meats and observing or not observing some certain Days and Times and consequently imposing them upon one another from their own private Opinions not as determined by their rightful Superiours or Governours Rom. 14. Some of them through Ignorance judged that those who took the Liberty to eat forbidden Meats contrary to the Mosaical Law which they thought was still even under the Messias to be observ'd did an evil Action and out of an evil Principle too possibly viz. Prophaneness or want of that respect for God's Commands which they ought And this probably too because they found in themselves that if they should do so it would proceed from such a Principle which will be a second Cause presently to be named The other Gentile Christians judged right concerning the action of abstaining from Meats that it was not right and the Non-observation of or Liberty from the Jewish Law was a Christian priviledg or it did not belong to the Christian Religion But possibly too they might if they did not judg wrong concerning the Principle of these Jewish Christians viz. That it was out of Superstition or Pride that the Gentiles might not be in all things equalized to themselves and that the Ancient Constitutions of their Religion might seem more considerable From hence also more particularly it proceeds that even very Honest and Just Persons though much oftner in the World it proceeds from ultimate Self-love or a mixture of it judg themselves Comparatively more Superiour to others in good qualities and truly more valuable than they are viz. They know and observe more their own Perfections and good Qualities their Number their Nature the degrees of their worth and excellency from their effects than they do those of others They can tell better all the Good qualities they have in themselves than what are in others many of which or but few they may ever have had occasion to observe They may also and do see and take notice of all the uses and good effects of any Perfection which is in themselves having frequent occasion to observe them but hardly of any of that which is in another when he possibly could quote as many more of his And hence a little further it comes to pass that every one extols and crys up his own Art though never so trivial and prefers it before others really believing what he saith Hence also it is together with some Rashness and Precipitancy in inferring that Men judg others too generally and too confidently to be Ill or Good qualified Persons to have more of Defects or Perfection comparatively each with other than they really have that they have for such or such ill qualities and imperfections which may be true but none or much fewer good quallities to balance them than indeed they have and than they themselves would have known if they had had some other opportunities of knowing them They have had only occasion or means to know the defects and Ill qualities and not the Good and so perhaps on the contrary and yet they do not observe so much nor reflect upon it nor attend unto this Caution Now Men ought to pass Judgment first distinctly that at such or such a time in such or such a
it when we are out of that Passion when the Man is not altered except it be in that one particular for which we are angry with him he is the same still he is no better nor worse when we are and when we are not so affected to him 't is we only alter and change And so in particular Actions how easily can we by how many Arguments commend justifie or excuse any Action of our Friends and with as many discommend or aggravate that of our conceited Adversary whom we are in hatred with or bear grudge against or are wrathful and angry with Hence therefore we give false Judgments concerning Persons qualities or actions judging them much better or worse than they are we having only Arguments and Proofs on one side brought to our Mind by our passions and those on the other kept out by them Which is like as if corrupted or bribed Officers should permit no Witnesses to come into or appear in the presence of the Judg but those that shall serve for that side or the Cause that they are bribed for And yet often our Mind and Reason the Judg not attending and taking notice of this Bribery and Partiality of these Officers the Passions though it might and should may think it very truly judged at least as it ought according to the Evidence that it had and set down and be content and think all was well done and truly they were very honest and sincere in their Judgments This is one of the most slie and close Cheats and Tricks we by our Passions put upon our Reasons The more had we need here to be cautious and now more especially when the Deceit and Cozenage is discovered And both on this and the two following as well as other accounts it is a special Maxim of Wisdom not to trust those Judgments where Passions have gone before Reason But do one of these three things Either 1. Be calm and and have no Passions at all Or 2. If thou wilt for Invention-sake have any then passionate thy self equally on both sides Or 3. Raise up in thy self a greater and commanding passion for Truth which will make all the Evidence and Proof thou hast in thy keeping appear equally on all sides But here I may prevent what is to be said in another Head 2. And very briefly Our Passions cause us to judg in favour of themselves bringing into our Minds what is true on one side and keeping back what is so on the other but also by thrusting into them more than is true And therefore we observe in our Friends and in our Enemies that is to whom we are so more virtues or faults fine or foul things and more of them too than any Body else not alike prejudiced can see or than indeed there are And 3. When things on both sides do come to our Minds as especially when suggested by another who would discourse or defend the Person we are passionated for or against I say when this is by thrusting them on one side away again or turning a Man from them or causing one wilfully not to attend to them or if that cannot be not to the Proof and Evidence that is in them nay not to be able it confounding and agitating our Minds and drawing their force another way And so it is by every days Experience observed that he that is under the passions of Hatred and Anger against any thing or Person will not attend to what can be said or proposed in their Commendations or Defence nor will nor can oft-times apprehend the Proof or Consequence thereof So on the other hand Timidity or Fear or Scruple to judg amiss concerning Persons especially on the bad side may cause many not to judg according to the best probability that doth appear to them without any prejudice from any Person or ill disposition of Will But this is an effect of Passions more visible and more to be observed by the Person himself mis-judging than the former and therefore in that respect more easie to be prevented And here we see manifestly one of the principal mischiefs of Passions as there are also very good use of them and how much therefore it concerns us to govern them well Sect. XV. 7. Another Cause of false Judgment either on the good or bad part may be all Appetites whatsoever besides those which have Truth and universal Justice for their Objects By which Justice I mean nothing else but such a love of and desire to do Good to each particular as is most consistent with or productive or effective of the greatest Good of the whole that always with regard to measured and moderated by this I say all Appetites besides those not only those which cause it on the bad side as Malice Pride Envy Revenge which two last seem mixed of the two former and others which have been formerly mention'd but those also which cause it on the favourable side as in Flattery when a Man by passing his Judgment before another concerning himself or his Friend desires to please him and to gain his good opinion and favour nay partial and imprudent Charity it self may be the Cause As when a Man having no Self-end more than the pleasure of the Action in giving his Judgment concerning a Person to whom he hath a strong inclination to do good but without that due actual heed to or fore-sight of the Hurt or Evil that may come of this his Beneficence to him or to others else-where or at some other time that is partially or imprudently judgeth him more deserving than in truth he is To give particular Instances of false Judgments from these Causes would be endless only one may be observed for Example which is frequent and of consequence Contradicting the Judgment of others passing Judgments contrary to those of others and oft-times the more by how much the Number or Reputation of those others are the greater When we see one praised or dispraised by them contrariwise to dispraise or praise either in general or quoting particulars and multiplying and magnifying of them Generally this is out of Pride that we might Equalize or be Superiour to others in our Invention or Discretion or Honesty the Abilities which fit us for Judging that we might not at least seem to our selves or others to be inferiour in those Qualities that others might not seem as if they were only able and fit to do it In all which there is affectation of Superiority Vain-glory and Ostentation Envy which are several Branches of Pride And this we see not only among the Vulgar and in ordinary Conversation but among the Learned who often when any Author is generally commended and it may be too much set themselves to multiply and magnifie his Faults and Defects but to diminish his commendable Qualities by concealing or extenuating them And on the contrary when an Author is now out-done and thought to be much exceeded by another and therefore comparatively undervalued they endeavour to
is not effectual For it is not every degree of love to the Truth that will secure a Man from false Judgments of things and here of Persons But it must be a greater degree of Love thereto than to the thing which at any particular time may be a temptation to the contrary And if we would be always secure we must have a stronger Affection thereto than to any other Object which may occur in our Lives more than to the favour or good-will of the Greatest or Best more than to Mischievousness Superiority either in Reputation for or Possession of any Good thing more than to Power or Greatness more than to Gain or Riches finally any other good Advantage or Interest We must look upon our uprightness or truth of our Judgments or Opinions as a far greater proper Good a richer and more excellent Possession than all these whereby we do more Good than by all these without it And consequently be more shamed and afraid to be Erroneous and live in Falshood and a Lye than any other evil or hurtful thing to us except Vice and Sin We must in a general sense Buy the Truth and sell it not That is prefer it before all other things that are inconsistent with it and cause us to part with it also Wisdom Instruction and Understanding the means to obtain it Prov. 23. 23. If we do not do thus if we be not thus tempered and disposed if we do not judg this a greater good we shall have our Judgments affected strengthened bent and determined by our love to other things in all Matters where there is not apparent demonstration but only high degrees of Probability as it is almost in all affairs of Humane life Nay even in these a Man may wilfully blind and confound himself or divert his attention and if not make himself judg false yet at least hinder himself from clearly seeing and judging truly and make himself doubt as it were saying when a thing cannot be denied Truly I do not know or the like and in such a manner shuffle and contrive to bring himself at least to suspension and doubt and confusion Every Man hath some degree of love to Truth naturally some more some less more than sometimes to more sometimes fewer other things and accordingly they are more likely more often to judg truly But it is and must be a greater degree than to all other things universally and constantly that will always secure from all prejudices of his will Sect. XIV 6. The sixth Cause I shall name is our Passions both those of the Concupiscible and Irascible appetite as they are usually called Or more plainly those that have good and those that have evil for their immediate Object Such as are the simple ones of Love Hatred Joy and Grief and Desire And others compounded of these as Revenge Anger Hope Fear c. These all in every Case cause us to judg to the advantage and in favour of themselves that is so as they may be preserved and maintained the Instances of which are every-where and innumerable Thus for Example Love causeth us to attribute to the Object beloved things that are lovely whereby the Passion is maintained or encreased and hatred on the contrary to attribute or ascribe or adjudg to the Object hated those things that are hateful and evil for its own preservation or encrease whereby it is kept up or augmented and made more keen and fierce And all this without any regard to the truth or falshood of what is judged So likewise what we desire we will think it is good Positively or Privatively In desire properly so called or where the good we desire is a possession of some good thing we most readily judg the good thing a great Good and consequently its Possession In Anger and Revenge where the good thing desired is a removal of some evil or grievous thing to us by doing evil to it which obtains in Inanimate things but principally to Persons we are extraordinarily prone and forc'd to judg this removal a greater good and in order thereto the evil to be removed a mighty evil And therefore more particularly in Persons to whom we are thus affected or passionated we judg many kinds and degrees of evil or bad things to be in them many or all perhaps more than indeed there are which are seldome but very confusedly apprehended and signified usually by some name to which our passions of Anger Hatred or the like have been joyned as that of some Sect or Party whereby still these our Passions are gratified that is supported maintained nay augmented and boyled up to the greatest degree of Agitation and Violence And those Mens judgments thus from Passions whereby they are maintained and increased though they may happen to be true yet it appears by Experience that they are more generally false Their happening to be true sometimes makes Men oft-times justifie and think well of such passionate Judgments whereas the truth was not at all seen by them nor was it the Reason or Cause therefore of their Judgments These Passions thus byass and warp and determine our Judgments three Ways among others 1. By bringing to mind and furnishing our Invention only with those things which maintain or increase them and which are true and keeping out the contrary hindring those from appearing which may abate or extinguish them which are as true too We all may have often observed how much we have presently to say for a Person whom we love how plentifully and readily our Invention is furnished What long Orations we can make in his behalf and praise How many excellent Qualities and in what great Degree appear to us in him and we attribute to him All which grant to be true But we have nothing to say against him nothing to his disadvantage nothing that is bad imperfect or faulty in him appears or comes to our mind when as much might as truly there have been said too And so on the contrary the worse or at least the more frequent extream in a Person whom we hate are revengefully and wrathfully affected to with whom we are angry Then how many Faults in him or Imperfections crow'd presently into our Minds All his past bad Actions and Qualities remembred his present observed nay his future too foretold and altogether flie about immediately in our Fancies and we could give a Catalogue sometimes of many hours long and make large Declamations against him the Man hath been this and that and t'other all which we 'll grant to be true too But then how barren are our Inventions for him we have nothing or very little to say to commend him This would be a very dry Theme for us We remember or take notice of nothing considerable in him Whereas it may be here is as much and as true to be said by any other Person who is Calm and Reasonable not thus possessed by these Passions against him nay and we our selves can do
and loving Conversation And lastly The rendring our Example effectual that if there be any thing Good in us it might not be at all lost and do no Good nay our good Example be turned into a bad one by Mens unjust but by us occasioned and provoked bad Interpretations of what we are and do All these things and many more which might be observed of the like nature those Mischiefs of doing contrary to our Duty and the advantages and good Effects of the Practice of it in this particular of our Judgments concerning others ought reasonably to make us careful of our Principles and Prudence therein more than ordinary viz. That we be not too Prone to judg others much less to Judg them on the worst side to observe accuse and condemn them even in our Hearts not to judg rashly and without all Reason but our Wills not to be Inconsiderate not to judg falsly but always when we judg to do it exactly according to Truth as near as we can not to babble out our Judgments at any rate not to be too prone to do that but to do it out of Charity always and with Discretion and Prudence never lastly to pass our Judgments out of the worst of Dispositions Self-pleasing by Activity Curiosity Hatred Pride Revenge Envy affectation of Superiority Contempt Anger Flattery c. CHAP. VI. Sect. I. WE are now come to the Remedies or Means to prevent those prohibited Judgings of which one of the most General And 1. Shall be to remember and attend to the great number of mischievous Effects and Consequences thereof and then to the Causes of them The first will dispose our Wills to be averse there-from The second will direct us to some means to effect our Wills The first will make us willing to abstain therefrom The second able Call to mind therefore and think of as oft as thou may'st be in danger how much of that time spent in observing and judging of others might have been spent in Self-examination reflection and attention to thy own Business and Affairs How idly and unprofitably to say no worse I employ my self there in comparison to what I might do if my thoughts were more at Home How much more uprightly and prudently might I carry and demean my self in all my Actions Again how troublesome and importunate it makes one Man to another to be too frequently Checking Controlling Determining them in their own Affairs to be Tyrannical and Injuring How unreasonable and mischievous it is to be disposed to Hate Under-value or Contemn Persons more than in impartial Judgments they deserve and to be consequently the Causes of our selves being Under-valued Hated Contemned there-for and more than we deserve Again the being occasions and causes of Sin and Trouble both to our selves and others in the World How foolish is it to expose our selves to just censure for Folly Rashness Inconsiderations Weakness Indiscretion and Partiality and to be neglected justly and not to be fit to do any good to others by our Testimony The bearing false Witness against our Neighbour how should it pinch and wring us and hurt us as much as if we nip'd or cut our own Fingers or gashed our own Flesh What a pitiable thing is it and mischievous to see a Man mistakenly to stroke the Bad and strike the Good because he thinks well of the one and ill of the other just clean contrary to what should be and like Mad-men out of their Wits Why should any Man call upon himself Contempt Hatred Anger or Revenge for his weak imprudent peevish or ill-natured Tatling his Opinion of others How hateful a thing is it to be the Cause of Hatred Animosities Grudgings Ill-wills Discords Contentions Wranglings and Brawlings and mischievous Actions between Men to set the World on Fire to be a Fire-brand Consider can any Man who wisely loves himself and the World for the good of which he is made endure to be the Author of mischief only to be better out of the World than in consequently to see himself a constant Judg to condemn and Executioner too by his Hatred Malice Ill-nature Enmity Envy and Spite Revenge Anger Pride affectation of Superiorioty in Judging to be a Pest and Bane to the World and to improve these most Noxious qualities in himself by Exercise and Use and in others by the imitation of his example and to banish kind and friendly Conversation Is it not also brutish enough and a sign a Man hath no Mind to get any Good quality wherein he may be an useful Example to others Or if he hath he cares not whether any be the better for it or no Consider and attend to these and such like things especially at those times when you may have most need when you find your selves most prone to offend in this kind or when upon Reflection on your selves at any time you find you have so done And as we shall do well thus to learn and inform our selves in and remember and call to mind these or some of these ill Effects both when we are about to do amiss in this kind and when we have done so to prevent the like for the future by getting our Minds against it so that we may know how to do it it will be useful to take notice of and remember the Causes that we may remove them Shun we therefore and avoid Idleness let us chuse and mind some Calling of our own in particular nor let us neglect our general Calling of serving God Self-examination and Reflection occasional doing Good and Benificence Have we a care of Busie-bodiness and meerly to be doing and talking for doing and talking sake but always for some further good end And so likewise have we a care of Curiosity or a humour and desire to observe and know every thing though most Remote from us and Impertinent to any good use or design we put it to meerly for the observation and knowledg sake and it is no matter where the things be never so small and trivial and in others as they will be for most part too so it will gratifie that Humour in us and that is all we care for Secure we our selves from this Childish temper and if we desire to observe and know things let them be Profitable and of Concernment and those which we may make best use of and that is be sure what is in our selves Let us have a care also of that particular branch of Pride viz. Affectation to know and direct others in their own Affairs and Actions But most Industriously let us eschew and flee the gratification of our selves by the hatred of others and revenge Far be this from us and Pride and foolish affectation of Superiority and therefore envy fury wrath and anger against Persons in general as also Contempt the most common Causes of Detraction and Slander Let them not come near us nor enter in the least within any the doors of our Breasts Flattery too and ultimate base
Christian Prudence OR Directions FOR THE Guidance and Conduct of our Selves In the Case of Judging one another Being several Discourses on MATTH 7. 1. Judge not that you be not judged By G. Bright late Dean of St. Asaph Rector of Loughborough and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty LONDON Printed for Matt. Wotton at the Three Daggers in Fleet-street and G. Conyers at the Ring in Little Britain Price 1s 6d 1699. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cum Charitate prudenâ—â—â— London Printed for Iohn Wright P Holmes sclp The PREFACE Good Reader THe Reason in very short why this small Treatise is Published is because it was judged that there would likely some more Good come of it than of not doing it and this again because the Matter therein contained was thought true and in some considerable degree useful and profitable and not yet either so particularly or in such Method and Manner discoursed by any other as to render this Discourse superfluous The first of these is but too little regarded especially in Practical Matters where Men attending principally to the Practice of them do less mind the precise and exact Truth and therefore whether they are not as commonly they are too unlimitedly and generally affirmed Besides Men commonly receive Practical things and what is taught concerning their Duty with more general Veneration which makes them more easily and presently to attribute to them the perfection of Truth or to judg them true Men are apt too to suspect themselves of some unwillingness to do and consequently to know their duty when they question and examine whether it be truly so or no and that this sticking and doubting proceeds from thence which indeed is too often true whence it comes to pass that Men are generally more careless and secure concerning the truth of these Matters when they deliver them and many hurtful mistakes are conveyed with some profitable truths As for the profitableness of the Argument and what is discoursed thereupon I know it will be variously judged according to Mens various inclinations or informations Men judg things profitable either because they will it pleaseth them to judg so or because they see and perceive them to be so that is because they perceive and apprehend the good effects thereof the one commonly is called the Judgment of affection because our inclinations are usually from Affection the other the judgment of Reason both may be in several nay in the same Men various enough The first is the most inconstant and diverse but the second is so too according to Mens various informations or apprehensions from Reason or Experience one Man may have observed and remembred many excellent effects or uses of any certain thing another very few or none or bad ones only whence one judgeth it very profitable another very little so or not at all or bad and hurtful and yet both may judg prudently and truly if it be only of what appears to them I leave every one freely to their own Reason and Observation in this particular only I suggest that they would not exclude their future information that they would not judg only according to what they have heretofore but also according to what they may hereafter observe themselves or learn from others The miscarriages in judging one another are so universal among the common sort of Christians and so frequent and little regarded even in wiser and better disposed and yet so very mischievous as may be partly understood from one part of this Discourse that it is to be presumed the mischievous effects thereof have not been hitherto so much taken notice of and resented as they seem to have deserved in compare with other Matters We see Men every day eagerly and fiercely and even to Persecution to contend concerning the usefulness and truth of their knowledg and judgment in other Opinions Religious Secular Divine and Humane which would put very knowing but unprejudiced Men to much study to find out any good use or effect thereof more than oft-times the pleasure of meer knowing some-what though very useless confusedly or only conceited some great matter by them when in the mean time they are utterly careless of their knowledg and judgment of one another whence it is manifest they are presently affected with mutual esteem and love or with contempt and hatred are Friends or Enemies and consequently effectually disposed to be negligent of at least or to do good or mischief to one another and consequently to hinder or help what they are good for in the World and who knows where the Good or Evil may stop I hope it will not be the less useful and truly valuable for being that which is truly Moral Knowledg For that being only the knowledg of our Manners that is the habitual inclination of our Wills Choices and active Faculties what should be perpetually their ultimate Object or their End which can be but one viz. The greatest perfection and happiness of the whole Universe known to us taking in God himself what the intermediate ones or means in what degree they are to be proportioned The Knowledg of the one true and right end and just measure of all our habitual Inclinations and Actions I say Moral Knowledg being this it is manifest there is no other Knowledge we are capable of comparable for its good use and effect and consequently much to be valued separated there-from or considered not subservient or instrumental thereto For by it alone we are directed to the obtainment of that perfection by which we tend to do any good to others or which keeps from doing any harm the fruit or good effect of other Knowledg considered alone is chiefly the pleasure and delight immediately arising to the Mind and is confined within our selves Good Morality in this sense is the greatest perfection our Natures are capable of being nothing but the universal right determination of our Wills and Choices to the best and most excellent end viz. The greatest Perfection and Happiness of the whole Universe taking in God himself It is nothing but Universal Goodness it tends to an infinite good without our selves and therefore no wonder that the possession and exercise of it in sincerity and vigour fills the Soul with the greatest delight and satisfaction All other things in the World may be used well or ill and seem to be equally capable of both and therefore indifferent this only cannot be the cause of any thing but good in the World nor can it be conceived that any thing else should render us capable of reward from God that is of any Happiness or Perfection but at least a Will to do all the Good with it that it is usable for For why should we have either if we do no Good or do Mischief therewith But if this Morality be the most excellent thing we are capable of Then sure is its Knowledg Some have valued and prized Knowledg by other Characters than Usefulness and good Effects such as
is its being by Revelation or inspired And therefore have thought every Truth and the least revealed to be of greater concernment or worth more than the greatest known by reason or natural Light especially if not revealed too not attending that the Reason of Revelation is not only the utility of a truth though there is always sufficient but the difficulty of its being otherwise known Much more might have been suggested in so considerable a Matter But this is enough if not too much in this place Lastly As for this Discourse's not being superfluous I should be glad to be mistaken and that this Argument hath been so Handled and Treated of already as to render this useless I shall give thee no further trouble Good Reader but only desire that thou wouldst read this Treatise if thou thinkest fit to read at all with the same design it was Composed viz. Of Guidance and Conduct of our selves in this particular and consequently that it might contribute some-thing to the increase of universal Charity Justice and Wisdom in the World The Contents CHAP. I. § I. THe several senses of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Judg. p. 7 8. § II. That in the general sense of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Judg two parts may be observed 1. The inward action of Mind 2. The signification of the Action p. 11 12. CHAP. II. What Judgments may be thought forbidden by our Saviour both Principally and Secondarily or Occasionally are reckoned up which are six p. 13 14. § I. The first prohibited Judgment too great a proneness to pass our Judgments concerning Persons in any respect at all p. 15. § II. The second is too great a proneness to pass judgment on the worst side p. 19 20. § III. The third is rash Judgment without any reason or without sufficient reason p. 23 24 c. § IV. The fourth is false Judgment p. 29. § V. The fifth thing forbidden is too great a proneness to declare and signifie our Judgment p. 34. § VI. The sixth and principal is the undue end of Judging viz. Vltimately to please ones self Selfishness Self-love and this by Malice Hatred Pride Affectation of Superiority Revenge Envy Flattery by Anger Fear Busie-bodiness Curiosity p. 37 38. CHAP. III. What Judgments are not forbidden § I. 1. In general not a Judging out of Charity p. 39. § II. 2. In general not when there are and appear more good Effects thereof than of the Omission p. 40. § III. 3. Many particular Cases are instanced in for example to our Prudence in which it is not prohibited in general to observe and pass Judgment concerning others Qualities and Actions p. 42 43. § IV. 4. It is not prohibited universally to pass Judgment on the worst side p. 45. § V. 5. It is not universally forbidden to declare our Judgment and that on the worst side p. 46. CHAP. IV. Contains some Causes of these forbidden Judgments § I. The Causes of too much proneness to Judg in general of which the first Idleness p. 49. § II. The second love of Activity of doing somewhat p 52. § III. The third is Curiosity or of knowing somewhat p. 54. § IV. The fourth a Self-pleasing in our Ability or reputed Ability to judg p. 56. § V. Causes of too great proneness to judg on the worst side of which the first is meer Ignorance p. 57. § VI. The second ill dispositions of Will as 1. Hatred 2. Revenge 3. Pride 4. More particularly Affectation of Superiority in any thing 5. Envy 6. Contempt 7. Flattery p. 59. § VII That the Causes of rash Judgment are the same with those of the two former p. 68. § VIII That the Causes of false Judgment concerning Persons are defect in our understanding in our Will p. 69. § IX The first Cause reducible to one of those two is Ignorance p. 70. § X. The second an Opinion or Judgment too unlimited that all Men are like our selves Some instances hereof This extended to God himself that it hath been the Cause of making God in Humane Shape and that the representing God or any thing in him by Humane Shâ—pe is likewise the Cause of such an Opinion concerning God p. 76 c. § XI The thâ—rd is too general a belief of Testimony or Report p. 85. § XII The fourth Cause is an observing only what is good or what is bad in a Person and not observing both p. 88. § XIII A fifth is a want of a prevalent love of Truth p. 92 93. § XIV A sixth is our Passions the instances thereof That Passions determine our Judgments three ways among others 1. By bringing to mind only those things which are true indeed but serve to maintain or encrease them but keeping out those which tend to abate them so that they never appear 2. By thrusting into our Minds more than is true of that which maintains them 3. By thrusting out those things which may be suggested and true but yet serve to extinguish them or by causing a Man not to attend thereto or the Evidence that is in them or by confounding the attention or perception on purpose that it might not see the most necessary truth which it cannot deny if it did see p. 97 98 c. § 15. A seventh Cause of false Judgment either on the good or bad part is all Appetites whatsoever besides those of Truth and Vniversal Justice of which one more useful Instance p. 106. § 16. The Causes of too great a proneness to declare our Judgments much the same with what have been mentioned viz. Idleness Self-pleasing by Activity Curiosity Conceit of ability and sufficiency to judg by fancied Reputation there for by Hatred Revenge Pride Affectation of Superiority Envy Contempt Anger Flattery p. 110. § 17. The Causes of the last prohibited Judgment out of such bad Principles as are above-named the Corruption of our Natures improved by Custome and wilful ill Vsage of our selves p. 111. CHAP. V. Treats of the mischievous Consequences or Effects of these prohibited Judgments § I. The ill Effects of too great a proneness to judg others in general are 1. Too great a neglect of our own Affairs and principally our Manners in which we are principally to employ our selves For 1. We cannot so well know that in another Man concerning which we pass judgment as what is in our selves And 2. We can make more certain effectual use of our Judgment and Observation of our selves p. 112 113 c. A 2d ill Effect of too great proneness to judg in general is an Vsurpation of anothers right or Tyranny p. 118 119 § II. The ill Consequences of too great proneness to judg on the worst side are 1. False Judgment 2. Vnjust Contempt 3. oft-times unjust Suspition in others of the Judgment coming from the worst Principles whence 4. Contempt Hatred Revenge in the Persons judged against the Person judging p. 122 123. § III. The ill Consequences of rash Judgment
are 1. The usage of a Mans self thereto 2. The rendring a Man's Testimony inconsiderable 3. It is occasion to Men of Hatred Contempt Anger c. p. 125. § IV. The ill Consequences of false Judgment are 1. A Man 's own Discredit 2. The ill distribution of the Good or Evil that is in a Man's power to bestow or inflict p. 126. § V. The ill Consequences of too great a proneness to declare ones Judgment are 1. It renders a Man contemptible 2. It draws others from their Business 3. Mutual Suspicions Animosities Envyings Contempts or foolish Admiration and Esteem vain Trust and Expectation p. 127. § VI. The ill Consequences of judging out of Hatred Revenge Pride Affectation of Superiority Envy Anger Contempt Flattery c. are 1. The increase of those Passions with thâ—ir ill Principles in our selves and others which are the most detestable things 2. It exposeth to the Hatred Anger Revenge Contempt of others 3. The Persons who are thus judged by us judging us again untruly on the worst side out of Revenge p. 133. § VII The contrary of all these mischievous Effects and Consequences put together and briefly counted p. 138. CHAP. VI. Contains some Remedies to prevent those prohibited Judgments Of which the § I. 1. And one of the most general is to remember and attend to the mischievous Consequences thereof as also their Causes â— The one to make us willing the other able to abstain there-from Those more affectionately Represented and these Exhorted against p. 146. § II. A second Remedy is to possess our hearts with an universal Charity and Benignity to all p. 155. § III. 3. Is to rivet soundly in our Minds the love of Truth p. 156. § IV. 4. More particularly ask thy self again and again whether thou art sure thy Judgment be true p. 157. § V. 5. Ask thy self whether thou wouldst not have true what thou judgest p. 160. § VI. 6. Vse thy self much to dwell at Home p. ibid. § VII 7. Have a special care of all Passions that they do not precede but follow thy Reason and when they do this that they do not blind or confound it p. 162. § VIII 8. More particularly be sparing in or refrain altogether from judging a Person thou art inclined to hate or be angry with or more expresly then set thy self to shake off all Prejudices of which more and more properly in the Rules to follow p. 164. § IX 9. Discourse more of Things than Persons p. ibid. CHAP. VII Some few Rules to be observed in our Judging generally and for the most part § I. Pass and declare all thy Judgments out of Charity This Charity how meant The signs of this Charity to others in judging 1. More readiness to judg on the good side than on the bad 2. An excusing others and saying all we can justly for them 3. Frequent judging our selves 4. Calmness and Modesty p. 164. § II. A second Rule briefly mention'd is to judg truly p. 173. § III. A third Have a care of all Passions but especially of Anger before Judgment p. ibid. § IV. A fourth Declare not thy Judgment when thou thy self art guilty of which the Reasons p. 175. § V. A fifth If thou judgest when guilty resolve to be innocent for the future and first condemn thy self of which the Reasons 1. Because every one ought to love himself as well as his Neighbour in all Circumstances alike 2. It is an excellent Example in a thing very rare and yet extraordinary useful 3. Ones own Judgment concerning others is thereby rendred more effectual 4. Every one knoweth more certainly the truth of his Judgment concerning himself 5. Men's Care and Zeal will be here more certainly employed with success p. 177. § VI. A sixth That it is more safe generally not to declare thy Judgment than to do it of which one Reason p. 179. § VII A seventh Be more cautious in passing or declaring thy Judgment in these following Cases 1. Concerning thy Superiours 2. Thy Friends 3. Thy Enemy 4. A Person generally innocent and well-disposed but once or rarely overtaken 5. Wrathful and Bashful Persons 6. Before much Company 7. Before Enemies Of all these their respective Reasons p. 180. § VIII An eighth is Be inclin'd rather to defer thy Judgment till thou art desired Some Reasons hereof p. 190. § IX A ninth Is more freely and frequently to pass or declare Judgment concerning one to another when thou seest a Person concern'd defective in his Ability or Care for himself Followed with some Reasons these Rules rerecounted briefly p. 192. § 10. An Exhortation to the exercise of Charity and Prudence in this so considerable a part of our Conversation the Scope and Design of the whole Treatise p. ult Errata Pag. Line For Read 5 7 Foolishly out of c. Foolishly out of c. and a little readiness 19 2 And readiness  ib. 11 Dele and.  ib. 19 Contrary to the c. contrary to it the. 33 14 Judgment This rash Judgment This c. 38 21 Principally moreover Principally Moreo are 43 16 caâ—e  ib. 19 Those out of c. Those Out of c. 54 9 There for c. Therefor 60 5 Our selves so to do Our selves so to do ib. 13 Pleasures Pleasure 62 7 It is so In c. It is so In c. 63 2 To be an excellent To be in an excellent 73 19 For Christ For Example 75 15 Looks Books 98 â—8 Encreased Increased ib. 27 which obtains in Inanimate things but principally in c. which may be to Inanimate things but principally to c. 99 9 Many or all perhaps Many or all perhaps 104 7 By bringing into our Minds not only what Not only bringing into our minds what 106 26 And favour nay c. And favour Nay 117 12 More then in thine is More in thine c. are 122 14   124 17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ib. 22 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 129 17 To bad c. Too bad c. ib. 18 Too be etc. To be c. 135 27 More ore less More or less 146 1 when we judg to do when we judg to do 147 2 There-from The There-from the c. 153 11 Instruction Hardly Instruction Hardly A TREATISE CONCERNING Iudging one another CHAP. I. Mat. 7. 1. Judg not that you be not Judged A Very good Commendation of any Argument or Subject of Discourse is its Usefulness for the Prevention of very Mischievous and Hurtful Effects and Consequences Such is this of Mens passing Judgment concerning other Mens Qualities and Actions the Principles and Effects of them The too great Proneness Readiness and Frequency of doing it and that on the bad side to Suspect Accuse and Condemn and this most-what rashly that is without Reason Uncertainly often Falsly Nay not being content with this on all Occasions without any Reason or Cause but Self-love Pride
had all Circumstances considered that is rashness or temerity in Judging and when it is on the worst side to condemn any Person it is now usually called rash Censure Of the first of these there is no Degrees or Differences but it is perpetually in all Persons at all times forbidden For if there appear no Reason at all to us why we should judg one or t'other way we are to suspend our Judgment That which is usually exprest by saying we do not know we cannot tell it may or it may not be so indeed if we apprehend the possibility but whether it be or be not we are Ignorant In our Judgments concerning some things we may sometimes follow our Inclinations both without and contrary to some smaller Reasons but then they must be very strong such as are natural and born with us and which we cannot oppress or hinder by our wills though we would and we do not find they proceed from any Insincerity any secret desire or inclination to gratifie any Lust but that we are possest with a serious and upright unmixed desire to know the truth in order to Goodness And this indeed seems to be a sign of great reason for that Judgment viz. Of this inclination being Impressed by God and consequently he being Good that it is true and useful Such are Mens strong inclinations notwithstanding all appearance of reason though but such and and real deceits to the contrary which may be brought by Cavilling men to believe God's Existence his Justice to punish and reward Immortality of Souls distinction of Actions right and wrong universal Goodness our great perfection and ultimate Self-love contrary to the truth of our Senses c. these God hath anticipated us withal But in our Judgments concerning Persons no such inclination is to be followed by no means which notwithstanding is extraordinary frequent but always from some secret passion of hatred displeasure against the Person not for any reason but some bodily temper which is called Antipathy and oft-times past offences c. Of the other viz. Judging without sufficient reason there is variety that which may be sufficient reason to one Man or at one time in one thing may not be to another One Man may be more capable and able to examine a thing further than another and yet both may be ought to pass their Judgment As if one Friend should for very good ends ask the judgment of some other concerning the Qualities or Actions of a third So sometimes the time for Deliberation or Information may be necessarily shorter in one affair than in another and yet the Judgment is then to be passed too and not neglected And so the Judgment concerning one thing of less moment and yet enough to deserve and require our Opinion too may be with less reason or probability than another of greater Importance And here this rash Judgment is not to be allowed on either side as well to the advantage as disadvantage of the Person concerning his good or his ill-qualities or actions We are not to judg Men better than they are as well as not worse and consequently falsly and foolishly admire and approve of what they say or do without reason only because we will and as we say we imagine so not with that sufficient Reason as we ought to have Though the extream of Judging Men rashly better than they are being less frequent or hurtful I suppose the other is here principally intended viz. The Judging Men rashly worse than they are and censuring them This Imperfection very often proceeds from Ultimate and therefore Inordinate Self-pleasing our selves by meer Activity of this kind We must be passing Judgment of every thing we see or that appears to us and as soon and as fast as may be we cannot stay so long as to call to mind or examine Reasons This is too troublesome to most and would spoil the pleasure of it Oft-times Men make it their Diversion but imprudently chosen to be at any rate wantonly Judging and Discoursing of Persons in general Oftentimes also the Cause or Principle is Self-pleasing again by the exercise and sense of our ability and sufficiency of Wit or Understanding we much pleasing our selves that we can observe what others do and judg and discern whether they are good or bad do well or ill especially what the most considerable Men do and here most because it is a sign of a greater Comparative ability that we see Imperfections and Defects even in the Wiser and Better sort of Men which they do not as we think see in themselves The first of these Causes is more ordinary the second in those most often who really are of considerable ability These are more innocent Causes as not arguing so much of Self-Love in opposition to the good of others or to Charity as the other of Malice Hatred Revenge Pride Affectation of Superiority and thence secret Envy which are but too frequent Sect. IV. 4. The Fourth thing forbidden is false Judgment which although it may be more hurtful in effect yet it may be and often is more innocent in the principle or end than the former For a Man may often judg false and out of Charity and Duty too and with as sufficient reason as he could find or observe But yet a Man having first seen he may or ought to pass his Judgment ought to adhibit the greatest care that it be true This is a great instance of Justice which as every Man at all times is bound to so then especially when he undertakes to be a Judg. The most general Instances of rash and false Judgment concerning Persons Qualities and Actions and perhaps which comprehend all others are these 1. When we Judg imperfections defects faults of any kind or sort to be in Men when they are not 2. When we Judg those to be much greater imperfections than indeed they are compared with others we mistake in the quality The first again is First Either when we judg Imperfections to be in Men one or more when either there is none or not so many When we mistake in respect of the Number Secondly When we Judg more of that which is a greater Degree and a greater Constancy of these Imperfections which really are in the Persons to be in the Persons than there is we mistake in the Degree and in the Continuation or Duration And thus on the contrary also we often judg as rashly and falsly of our selves or any we favour or who are Friends to us We judg perfections and good qualities to be in our selves and them and more of these Perfections in number and them to be greater and more of each of them in Degree and Frequency or Constancy than indeed there is when all this is a mistake and oft a silly or wilful one and on the contrary judg ours and our Friends Imperfections and and their degrees of Intention and Frequency fewer and the Imperfections less than indeed they are and
is that which is here principally intended this mainly advis'd against by our Saviour as also judging on the worst side suspecting accusing condemning Persons out of the foresaid Principles As appears by the reason subjoyned both in this and the next Verse Judg not is here taken in the sense in which that you be not judged is But by that is meant suspected accused condemned by others principally out of the former Principles For if it were meant of the Judgment of the good side the avoiding of that would be no motive not to judg because it would not seem an evil to the Person judging I say principally Moreover I have mentioned the defect of being too prone in general to pass Judgment though it may happen on the good side and so to declare ones Judgment and to judg rashly or falsly though still on the good side on this occasion as belonging to our Judgments to suggest unto you that they might be occasionally forbidden too and are Defects Infirmities All the forementioned Particulars if they can be supposed to proceed not from these bad Principles but from good viz. Charity though imprudent and mistaken though they may be immediately hurtful and do mischief yet they are not vicious faulty wicked But more of this when we come to the Causes of these forbidden Judgings here especially of rash and false ones CHAP. III. Sect. I. BUt what Judgments are here not forbidden though they may be apt to be mistaken for those which are And in general these two viz. 1. Not an observing or judging out of Charity a sincere and unmixed Charity For sometimes surely we may exercise our Charity both in good and bad Judgments The principal thing here forbidden is passing our Judgment out of bad Principles such as are Ultimate Selfishness Malice Hatred Pride Envy c. But then the contrary cannot be forbidden to pass Judgment out of a good one and the only good one viz. Charity or Good-will unless all Principles of a Mans actions were forbidden Sect. II. Nor Secondly Is it ever forbidden to a Person when there are more good effects of his doing this than of his omission Nay then contrary-wise he is commanded to do it The first respects our Principles or End The second our Prudence or the Effect The first of these may be without the second viz. A Man may give his Judgment and Opinion concerning Persons and Actions out of Charity and very good Intentions of doing the most good unlimitedly in general whether it be particularly applied to our selves or others or both and yet as far as we see the effects of it may be bad A Man may both inwardly and outwardly commend and discommend Persons unseasonably with a very good meaning through want of Information And so the second may be without the first too that is There may be very good effects and consequences of a Mans passing and pronouncing his Judgment when the principle may be bad enough A Man may approve or condemn what is truly good or bad in others and consequently dispose himself and others to an imitation of the one and an eschewing of the other especially if he be a Person of some esteem and yet he may do the first out of fear or flattery or because it is like some-what in himself not because it is a quality or thing really profitable to the World and therefore would have it more propagated And the second out of Envy Hatred c. not because it is a thing mischievous and hurtful to the Person himself to others or displeasing to God Almighty In summ whensoever it doth appear to any Man that it would be worse if he did not pass his Judgment that there would be worse consequences thereof than if he did any where to others as well as himself considering himself but as any other Person just in the same Circumstances and to do it for this very reason and cause this common Good this I say is not here prohibited Sect. III. Thirdly But more particularly therefore in the first place it is not universally prohibited here to pass Judgment In the Cases and Circumstances I have formerly mentioned and innumerable more if we descend to particulars it is not It is much permitted nay enjoyned to Governours somewhat less to private Persons Laudable it is in Men to have regard to and observe the qualities and actions generally of those that are their Superiors to compare their own with and see their defect and to be excited to Amendment and Imitation To look at and to judg their own faults in others if thereby they find themselves disposed to see them more clearly in themselves and to be put in mind of them Laudable it is to observe good qualities in others that we may rejoyce in them and be glad to see any thing good in the World and be able to encourage it by a discreet Observation and Commendation thereof Consequently we are not commanded to be negligent and utterly careless of what other Men are or do For this is contrary to the former generals of Charity and Prudence we should then be prohibited both those Out of Prudence and Charity to our Neighbour both good and bad Men and to our selves too we are obliged to take notice of them what they are and do to encourage and help or to rejoyce in what is good to check hinder and prevent what is bad and mischievous in the World by our pity and just endeavours We are not surely to say with Cain Am I my Brothers keeper Yes we are all so that is we should be so We are not like Brutes to live only within our own Skins to care for no Body but our selves and inhumanly to say What care we what others do We 'll look after our selves let them be good or bad we matter not we think it best always to mind our selves we see Men busie themselves too much about others matters In the first of which thou art bad and wicked being only selfish in the other mistaken and imprudent Thou art always to have regard to the common good in all thou art and dost and therefore when thou appliest thy self to mind thy self and to do good to thy self it must always be to fit thy self to do most good in general it must have that for the end Thou art also often and thy own prudence must determine for it may be too often to step out and see what others do and are and concern thy self charitably and prudently for thy Neighbours and to please and serve God consequently there is a time when this is best Besides indeed thou mindest thy own self to best purpose and effect when thou disposest thy self to be of this charitable and prudent Temper which may sometimes be best done by use and exercise Sect. IV. Fourthly Nor in the next place is it prohibited universally to pass Judgment on the worst side to Accuse or Condemn for it is permitted to the Overseers of others
Manners and Instructors and Teachers of good Manners and to Friends whose care and industry for the good of those whom they thus judg it will excite to those that would free themselves from too partial an admiration of Persons to those who have a mind and design to be more accurately good in things of more great and publick Concernment and in many other Circumstances which every ones private prudence must determine Much less still is the contrary commanded or indulged viz. To judg that good and laudable which is bad and to be condemned to judg falsly on the best and favourable side for to judg falsly is ever forbidden and to judg according to Truth when we do judg is always commanded and enjoyned We are not neither to think well of all Persons and all in Persons to praise speak well of all things We may and ought when Charity and Prudence are the reasons of our using our Judgments to think of things as they are to think that bad or faulty which is so as near as we can be informed and to say so too as it follows in the next particular Sect. V. Fifthly Nor in the next place is it here universally forbidden to declare and make known our Judgments and that on the worst side But there are many Circumstances in which it is of much better effect so to do Sometimes to reprove always with Charity and Discretion to be sure the Guilty or Faulty and to let him know our Opinion concerning any Actions or Temper or Quality in him may be of excellent use and be a means to amend the Persons and to prevent the like for the future Sometimes to admonish others lest they imitate or do the like we may make known our Judgment to them especially when the faulty Person is Incorrigible or to prevent some fraud or hurt or mischief that otherwise might be done by one to another We are not always to hold our Tongue nor conceal all signs of our Opinions be Meal-mouth'd for fear of displeasure or the like causes which as it may be in the effect very mischievous so it proceeds usually from Treachery or Cowardize Much less still is it commanded or permitted here to signifie a contrary Judgment to what we really have in our Breasts to speak or otherwise so to behave our selves as if we thought well of approved and liked that which we do not To do this out of the self-end of preventing any evil or procuring any good from a Person is called Flattery We are not to say That evil is good or darkness light We are not either for fear or favour to Commend and Praise what in our Judgment and Conscience we condemn But when we think our selves obliged to declare and make known our Opinion and Judgment concerning any Person or Actions it must always be with Truth although it be to disapprove or condemn But then to be sure let this be always done with a sincere inward Charity and all the just signs of it and of freedom from any Self-design and especially that which is in such a case most ordinary and suspected viz. from Pride and Imperiousness and therefore with Modesty with great Discretion and Prudence that is a discerning and fore-seeing when it may and when it may not be of good use and effect to do or not do it Of which hereafter under another Head Here is to be noted that as these Actions of Judgment are not prohibited so not all Inclinations thereto CHAP. IV. We proceed to the Fourth General Head viz. Sect. I. TO Instance in some of the Causes of these prohibited Judgments here those especially which are more Proper Immediate Frequent and most in our own power to prevent We must run them over again And First Of too much Proneness to judg in general the Causes some of them may be 1. Too much Idleness By which I mean not a Man's doing nothing for that cannot be every Body is always employ'd his Thoughts are always taken up about somewhat but a Man 's not having any destined or set-purposed-Employment which one should always chuse as that in which he can best serve God and the World do most good in his Generation A neither designing nor purposing to pursue always or at least but when any extraordinary occasion happens any particular nor his General calling as is usually distinguished neither that which he with some others employ themselves about nor that which all Men should such as Reflection upon ones own Actions the end design the event or effect of them the having respect to the pleasing of God and doing good some way or other to our Neighbour to the Publick and the performance of some general Duties to God and our Neighbour which all are constantly obliged to perform Men's not having I say constantly such designed purposed and set-employment gives their Mind leave le ts them at liberty to wander about any where to be employed about any thing that shall from any cause be thrust upon them or shall occur Now this is far more usually others Persons and Actions than themselves partly because they are far more the object of our External Senses which affect Men generally more strongly and frequently than any thing from within themselves and then what we have proposed or objected to us we naturally and laudably are prone to be judging somewhat or other concerning them or appertaining to them But Men that have any set constant Calling to employ themselves in and besides perform their general Duties to God their Neighbour and themselves are not so much at leasure to mind and attend to what others are and do and consequently to judg Just for Example as Idle wandring Beggars who as we say are never out of their way and have no certainly designed Place or Business turn to every By-House to see who dwells there They look upon observe talk to or talk of every Passenger they meet when the Man that hath some designed Affair or Business with certain time and place in his Journey hardly observes or minds or but very little and passingly the Company upon the Rode nor any way diverts or stops himself Such was the fault of the younger Widdows which Saint Paul bids Timothy to advise They learnt to be Idle wandring about from House to House and then They were Tatlers and Busiebodies speaking things which they ought not 1 Tim. 5. 13. This is a privative Cause Sect. II. Secondly The Love of Activity meerly ultimately to no better end but only to please themselves therein Themselves are too little a Sphere there is more variety of things to be observed and judged in all others who they know than only in themselves whence they do it with greater life and vigour Men think it a dull thing and that 's their only reason to mind principally themselves and things appertaining to them and it may be the same things too for the most part to live in a round not always but so much
as is for most Men most expedient And then when Men do observe or take notice of others Persons qualities and actions they will be passing Judgment because there is more of Action than in suspending doubting or meerly observing That seems to be a slow dull thing too in compare with a Mans briskly and smartly and uninterruptedly passing Judgment Besides that suspending doubting being Ignorant argue an imperfection and this fault may have the name of Busibodiness viz. When out of love of being Busie meerly to be always doing somewhat and that with vigour and smartness Men employ their Thoughts in Observing and Judging other Mens either Qualities or Actions Not out of any Neighbourly or Charitable Principle not because they see a great deal of good they may do by it and therefore would do it accordingly that is not out of Reason Prudence Charity Men oft-times Bussle and are Busie in the World and they know no other Reason but that they love to be so and nothing more often occurs about which they may be so than what other Men are or do Sect. III. Thirdly The third cause is sometimes Curiosity that is a Mans pleasing himself meerly and ultimately in knowing something he did not know before and being very much conceited of himself there for not directing his knowledg to those things which are most profitable which he can make best use of do most good withal nor attending to them Hence it comes to pass that Men are not content to mind and know themselves or their own minds if it was less difficult than it is nor yet things more nearly Relating to themselves which is more easie But they are also more inquisitive into and desirous to know the Affairs of others what they are and do and observe them and consequently to pass Judgment of them which is a sign to them but oft a very false one that they do know Because we use to do so and should do so viz. Pass Judgment only of things we do know If we should not pass Judgment but doubt or suspend we should seem to our selves to be Ignorant which we would not do because we will ultimately and please our selves not to be so To doubt or to suspend ones Judgment because one does not know is but very rare and in few Tempers but it should be always and is to be preferred before Knowledg because it is a better thing a greater excellency to withhold a Mans Judgment where there is no Reason seen where one doth not know or see the Connexion of what he affirms and does the Truth it self than it is to know the Truth it self The one is but a perfection of our Understanding t'other a great virtue of our Wills and we shall be the wiser the more we thus judg and accordingly behave our selves I say rather to say and think we do not know when we indeed do not then to know though never so certainly Sect. IV. Fourthly A fourth cause may be an Instance or Branch of Pride that is to please our selves too much meerly either that we have or are reputed to have an ability and sufficiency to understand and direct others and their affairs too better than they themselves can When 't is only so conceitedly by us and we know not others Circumstances or were we in them we would do the like or worse or if we had this ability perhaps we had better be without it whilst it makes us less able to understand and direct our selves by using our minds to Wander abroad and to attend to others and depriving us of the opportunities of Self-reflection It is very often seen that those who are extraordinary forward not out of some sence of Duty to give Counsel Advice or Judgment of other Mens Concerns are very negligent and careless and unapt to follow the very same when it is as useful and profitable for themselves Sect. V. Secondly For some of the Causes of too great a Proneness to judg on the worst side whether truly or falsly but not therefore or because they are true or false in our selves they are all either Ignorance or some Ill-disposition of Will 1. Ignorance viz. Of the bad effects or consequences of this our too great Proneness which Ignorance may proceed from Ill-dispositions of Will either on set purpose or designed then when we judg and we wilfully shut our Eyes and do not attend to what might better inform us or it may be contracted before But it may proceed too sometimes even from Love and Charity So we see sometimes Persons much desirous of their Relations or others Good and Well-fare very apt always to suspect the worse of them and to observe their Beginning bad Inclinations and to think them so but not so much to take notice of the contrary good ones in them and this partly that they might timely prevent any evil that may happen to them thereby And so may it be in publick Affairs and of very great and universal Concernment especially and yet soon out of our power nay so we see it in our selves sometimes Some Men being too apt to look upon their Faults and Imperfections and to magnifie them and to take no notice of what 's good in themselves and consequently to judg falsly concerning themselves on the worst side Though this is but rare in compare with the other extream and proceeds from an imprudent and ignorant love not attending that they ought and may do themselves as much good by their being pleased with and encouraged by and thankful for the good they have as by being afraid of removing and preventing any evil fallen upon them or that may fall upon them and not considering still that it 's best be sure all things considered to judg always according to Reason and Truth not to trouble and perplex our selves with vain fears and endeavours and for other good effects thereof Sect. VI. Sixthly But I doubt the far more usual Causes of too great Proneness to judg on the worst side are ill-dispositions of Will in general Self-love and Self-pleasing ultimately in various Instances such as are more particularly Self-pleasing by 1. Hatred of or Malice an habitual Hatred against any Person in general Than which there is nothing in the World more detestable because the most Mischievous and it is the greatest degeneracy from the most opposite and contrary to the most excellent perfection in the World which is Goodness and is usually attributed to the Devil that is the worst of Beings This is when a Man pleaseth himself ultimately in doing mischief to in vexing and hurting another Man other Persons It is easie to see how this disposeth a Man to the greatest readiness to judg any thing bad in the Person to whom he is thus affected For if we thus please our selves in doing Mischief we shall endeavour that we may still please our selves so to do and that we may so do we 'll represent Persons as bad as we can as
great evils whether true or false it matters not as we can This I say manifestly is a Cause in us of being mischievously affected and of doing what we can to them And this again is a Cause to such Persons of Pleasures and Delight He therefore that wills the End viz. Pleasing himself by the mischief of others will will the Means thereto and that 's one viz. Judging them as great Evils as we can It is like a Man's dressing up another Person in ugly or contemptible Habit that he might please himself in hating or contemning him whereas the Person 's true and natural Make or Features was more beautiful and comely than his own But this is so truly a hateful disposition that I would be willing rather to think there is no such thing amongst Men what-ever there may be amongst the Infernal Spirits or elsewhere in the World 2. Though in the second place Revenge comes somewhat near it that is to please ones self in doing evil to another Man meerly because he hath done evil to him which is a very unreasonable thing For why should there be more mischief in the World because there hath been some already Clear contrary the more there hath been the less there should be I know oft-times there is a mixture of Justice and Self-defence to prevent the like for the future but oft-times too there is more pretended than there is and when there is a love to Justice and a just and reasonable Defence it is a Cloak to hide much of the other too or a Pill that hath much of that Poyson in it We have the more need to be Skilful and Subtle in the discovery of the sincerity of our Hearts that is the ends or designs that move our Wills Now it is here likewise manifest that to judg a Person as bad and as imperfect as we can will augment whetten and sharpen our Revenge and consequently if we be so wickedly disposed our Pleasure and Delight too and as before he that wills the End wills the Means thereto when he sees it is so In revenge too is often mixed the affectation of Superiority 3. Somewhat less a bad Cause but bad enough too is Pride or a Self-pleasing ultimately in the instances of our power And here more particularly 1. Self-pleasing in our Superiority to others in any thing a branch of Pride i. e. to be Ultimately and more than ought pleased therewith inordinately and immoderately A very mischievous Temper and Appetite I do not see that any degree thereof is allowable or that it doth any good more than the gratification of the proud Person To affect to be Superiour in some excellent and useful Quality may be an occasion sometimes of a Man's excelling therein and consequently of some good effect But it is not because he affects Superiority that is not the precise Cause but because that Superiority happens to be in an excellent thing And yet more particularly 2. Envy a kind of this affectation of Superiority not the passion so much that is a desire of depriving others of any Good they possess which we have not as is to be understood too in the fore-going cause of Hatred and Revenge but the cause or principle of our being prone to this Passion that is pleasing our selves ultimately that we have some good things which others have not and being very glad they have them not and sorry and grieved if they have them And this makes us to will both that it should seem so to us and that it really should be so That it should seem so and therefore we wilfully judg it is so that others are in general much Inferiour to us in any good thing or less Superiour at least than indeed they are and therefore particularly that they are guilty or defective where we are not that they are such or such We would have others not better or as bad or worse than our selves and are much pleased it is so and therefore we make it to seem so to our selves and wilfully judg it so when it may be it is not in our power really to make it so For the same reason Envy also makes us to will it should be so indeed and to endeavour it as much as we can and therefore particularly so far as we esteem honour love reward good things that they should not be honoured beloved rewarded or the like and consequently that they should not seem to others to merit it and consequently both to judg and make known our Judgment very greedily and readily that they do not to bear witness against them It is called Detraction when a Man from this or such like Principle is judged not to have some good Quality that he hath really and Slander when he is judged to have some bad one which he is free from A contrary temper to that wise Admonition of the Wise-man Prov. 24. 17. Rejoyce not when thine Enemy falleth and let not thy heart be glad when he stumbleth 3. Contempt this hath an effect contrary to admiration Admiration of any Person in general and confusedly causeth a Man to judg all things in or any way belonging to that Person excellent and to attribute more to him than he hath Contempt in general of a Person on the contrary causeth us to judg all things appertaining to the Person contemned mean or small or to attribute to him many and greater Imperfections than indeed are in him in some such manner ordinarily signified Tush there is no great matter in such a Person indeed he may be so or so But that 's a small thing if he be nay there is nothing laudable in him what 's matter what he saith or doth He is weak silly wilful c. Whereas we ought not thus confusedly to pass Judgment but more distinctly if there be any thing contemptible yet there may be other things very considerable Men also may please themselves meerly in contempt of another as a Mark or Sign to themselves though it may be to no Body else of their own Superiority and being better and that they may more contemn and consequently please themselves as it was before in hatred make him appear to themselves and judg him much more contemptible than he is Both these last particulars are contrary to the Apostolical Precept in that excellent Chapter Rom. 12. 10. In honour preferring one another Be we rather inclin'd to judg others better than our selves and to give unto them the signs thereof rather I say than assume them to our selves even when equal probability of both sides or some it may be advantage of our own for the more excellent effect only sometimes of checking and controuling and subduing and bringing under Command that unreasonable and inordinate Self-love These three are Branches of Pride 4. A fourth cause is Flattery in Judging That is when a Man pleaseth himself ultimately in pleasing any one that is an Adversary or Enemy to the Person concerning whom he gives Judgment and
performance or action there appeared to them such defect or commendable quality and then from thence according to the degree of probability or likelihood in the Consequence which if the observation be but once is oft but very small if there be just occasion to infer and conclude concerning the Qualities of the Person in general as to number degree and constancy which men commonly do allin a clutter together confusedly There have been Men known who have not only once but often appeared very mean and defecttive especially in some Circumstances as in Publick in Conversation after Action in haste or with expedition and yet have at that time been much more valuable but could not shew it and generally in other Circumstances of Life they have much exceeded those who have appeared much better at certain times It most often requires a pretty long Conversation especially to more slow Observers and Reasoners to know and pass a general Judgment truly concerning a Person That which is usually signified by the Proverb Of eating a Bushel of Salt with a Man before one chuseth him for a Friend This is the reason ordinarily to give no unuseful Instance that Men are often judged in general better or worse than they are by their Discourses and â—ooks If a Person hath wrote a Book in which there hath appeared somewhat considerable of Piety or Vertue or Judgment or Wit or other Good quality he is generally thought more such in more things and more constantly than he is whereas there is set down his Thoughts and Inclinations which are more rare whence also greater expectations from him in his Discourse Conversation Employment than are reasonable and sometimes upon their observed failure greater contempt and under-valuing of him sometimes as when the Judger follows common Opinion and Testimony as most do an undue admiration and approbation of all he saith and doth The like on the contrary when Men for some too light or satyrical or obscure Speech or Book are judged more careless trivial ill-natured or confused in more things and more constantly than indeed they are All which seems much like as if Men should from one handsom or crooked-finger of a Person judg confidently concerning the Beauty or Deformity of his whole Body Sect. X. 2. More particularly an Opinion or Judgment too universal and unlimted that all other Men are like our selves Which as it is true sometimes so it is often false This comes from actual Ignorance or non-attention of this Rule 's not being Universal and that other signs of Mens Qualities and Tempers are to be adhibited and made use of and that there is great variety in Men. So oft-times we judg such an Action to proceed from such a Reason or such a Principle or such a Temper in a Man suppose from Self-interest ultimately Pride or Covetousness because it doth so in our selves or at least we are strongly inclined thereto never taking any other account of any other Circumstances such as his former Temper manner of Life Actions in the like case c. which might give us sufficient reason to believe and judg the contrary The same Action may proceed from several Principles Ends and Purposes And very different and contrary Actions especially in divers Persons may proceed and full often do from one and the same general Principle and due End So Men are apt to judge other Mens inclinations like their own and that some things please others as much as themselves and other things are distastful tedious and burthensome because they are so to themselves So many judg that the Gratification of many inordinate Appetites or Lusts in us are extraordinarily pleasant to all Men say they what they will and Virtue and Religion is a dry sapless thing to all Men nothing of Pleasure or Delight to all those that profess it but that it is taken up or pretended to for some other particular Ends and that they would be otherwise if they dared and would be glad to be rid of the burthen or freed from the confinement thereof and that therefore they are Hypocrites And from the same cause are frequent false Judgments on the Good side and Persons and Actions are often judged better than they are which is the better extream In so much that very oft very Good-minded Men cannot believe that Men are so wicked as they are that they are so Selfish Unjust Fraudulent and Deceitful Perjurious Filthy and Sensual Impious and Atheistical as indeed they are and so are as often cozened in their dealign with them and oft-times give their Commendation and their Charity where they are not deserved This is so general a Cause of Errour in our Judgments concerning Persons that we extend it to God Himself and it takes place very frequently in our judgments concerning God Himself So Men judg Him not so much to love Holiness to hate or disapprove of Sin and Vice and consequently that He will not so much take care to reward the one or severely to punish the other No He 'll be Kind and Merciful and let them alone and Indulge them to take their pleasure as they will or at least He will not be so hard to Torment or Punish them for what 's past and all this because they are so disposed themselves and they for their parts are very indifferent to Virtue or Vice and would let Men alone to please themselves therein they see no great reason why they should trouble themselves or others there-about Like those wicked Persons Psal 50. 21. These things hast thou done and I kept silence Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thy self but I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes Thus some Men think God Envious as it were and if not delighted yet content with His Creatures misery for His own Pleasure ultimately They think Him Arbitrary and Pleasing Himself ultimately in the exercise of His Power and this because they themselves are so or at least inclin'd to be so And one yet further Reason of this is Men's ultimate Self-love whereby they are inclin'd to and do actually judg many things in themselves good Qualities and Perfections which are not and consequently attribute them to God whom all Men naturally judg to possess all Perfection Which is true supposing the Perfection doth not necessarily infer or involve some Imperfection A thing which is of great use to be taken notice of The same hath been one reason of some Men s the Heathens at least Idololatrical making Images and corporeal Representations of God in Humane shape viz. They have judged God in this respect in Form and Shape like themselves and this out of Self-love together with a natural Proneness to conjoyn things which use to be in our Perceptions and Judgments conjoyned Such as is a rational Soul and Spirit joyned with a Body of Humane shape for which cause among others Angels and Cherubims are so pictured This is observed by Cicero in the Person
of Velleius the Epecurean Lib. 1. de natura Deorum Quod vero sine corpore ullo vult Plato Deum esse ut Graeci dicunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id quale esse possit intelligi non potest careat enim sensu careat prudentia careat voluptate necesse est quae omnia Deorum notione comprehendimus i. e. Plato's Opinion That God hath no Body cannot be understood For then He must want Sense Prudence Pleasure which we comprehend in the notion of the Gods And again Quod si Omnium animantium formam vincit Hominis figura Deus autem animans est ea profecto figura est quae Pulcherrima sit Omnium Quoniamque Deos Beatissimos esse constat beatus autem esse sine virtute nemo potest nec Virtus sine ratione constare nec ratio usquam inesse nisi in hominis figurâ hominis esse speciè Deos confitendum est To this purpose That if Humane shape be better than that of any other Animal and God be an Animal then He must needs have the best and the most Beautiful And because God is a most happy Beeing and He cannot be Happy without Virtue nor have Virtue without Reason nor can Reason be any where but in a Humane shape therefore God is of that shape too So Cotta the Academick in his reply to Velleius Homini homine nihil Pulcrius videri blandam enim conciliatricem esse naturam lenam sui i. e. Man indeed thinks nothing more Beautiful than himself so Nature flatters it self Herodotus in his Clio relating that the Persians made no Statues nor Temples nor Altars to their Gods but that they counted them Fools who did so gives this Reason in his Opinion viz. Because they did not think the Gods to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sprung from Men and consequently I suppose not of their shape as the Greeks did Whether this Proneness to judg God like our selves out of Self-love use and custom of conceiving and judging hath been the cause of making Images and corporal Representations of God or something in God by Humane shape among Christians or no Yet I think there is but too much Reason to believe that the judging God like Mens-selves hath been but too much the effect of it especially among the Vulgar I am sure it hath a very great natural tendency thereto And the effect it is probable would have been much more if it had not been hindred by the Christian Doctrine which notwithstanding some have kept those in Ignorance of who have in this respect most need of it and especially by the Admonitions and just reproaches of those whom these Patrons of Images as fastuously as foolishly and falsly call Hereticks A custom and usage so sottish and childish that never any who had their Religion from the True God or who had any notion of His Spiritual and Infinite Nature either among Jews or Heathens pretended any sufficient reason for as the instruction of the Vulgar c. or did not contemn and deride it until some Christians in the times of the greatest Ignorance and Corruption of Manners within some few Hundreds of years introduced it into the Christian Church But to return from this Digression In Opinions and Perswasions Some even of the better natured Persons oft judg that Men cannot be of such a perswasion but out of some ill disposition of Will and such a particular one too viz. Self-interest that is it is for some designed good to themselves besides the being in the Truth so to be perswaded and this because they find themselves inclin'd thereto and if they were of such perswasions it would be from such Causes Not considering want of Information Ineptitude to apprehend things any other way but as they have been accustomed a great usage of themselves so to conceive and judg may be the causes of such really â—alse Opinions of theirs Nor do I see it a thing but very generally to be determined how far a true Lover of the Truth or an Honest-man in this particular may err and mistake Though I think too on the other hand very oft-times other Causes of false perswasions are alledged besides some naughty disposition of Will when it is not so or but in small measure and this alone hath the greatest Influence indeed Sect. XI 3. Too general a belief of every Testimony or Report whether in Talk or Books which proceeds oft-times again from meer actual Ignorance or Non-attention that most Reports are most-what very fallible signs of what 's true and sometimes none at all That there are much better Proofs of things sometimes from contrary Testimonies of better Persons sometimes from other things This proceeds also from love of Activity and Curiosity of Knowing and Judging some-what new and fresh and some-times from the worser Principles so often named All Testimonies are more or less signs of what 's true according as the Persons are more wise and knowing or more veracious willing and careful to say no more than they know Now how many Actions of Persons reported to be done with certain Circumstances and from certain Principles and Reasons by those who neither do nor can know any thing of them Or if they do yet through temerity rashness and precipitancy curiosity suspition envy flattery or some other disposition of Will do so either invent or change by adding or detracting or substituting that sometimes none at all most-what but little rarely very much of what they say is true and to be believed But yet what more ordinary than for Men to believe all without stick or scruple The further too still Reports go through the more Persons they pass they are still the more uncertain because still the more alteration and as it rarely happens for Persons who observe things by their own sense or reason to report them just as they observed them through forgetfulness or rashness Besides that they might not discern some Circumstances So it is as rare and seldom for the same things to be convey'd from any one to another exactly without some alteration I believe that the more Cautious and Wise cannot but have observed that in almost all Reports and Testimonies concerning Persons their Actions Principles Qualities or Tempers either the things are quite false or but some general part of them true The more Cautious and Discreet Honest and lovers of Truth we observe Men to be the more we may in their Reports and Testimonies concerning Persons either on the Good or Bad side defer to them of our Belief and Judgment of the truth of what they say and these in any degree considerable are but too few A good short Memorandum of this particular is that excellent Precept 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Remember to unbelieve or disbelieve i. e. Either to suspend thy Belief or to believe the thing to be false Sect. XII 4. A fourth Cause of our false Judgment on either the Good or Badside is our attention to and taking notice
of or observing only either the good or bad Actions or Qualities Perfections or Imperfections of Men together with their Effects and Consequences and not both Whence it comes to pass that those Persons in whom we attend to nothing or little but what is Good which is still the better extreme we judg much better than indeed they are and thus it is usually in our Judgments of our Selves or our Friends or those we love and favour But on the contrary those in whom we attend to or observe what is bad or imperfect only their bad qualities or actions the bad effects and consequences of these and not at all or but little of what is Good we judg them much worse than they are Judg them to have done a great many and very bad actions to have a great many and very bad qualities but none or very few good This as it is the most mischievous so it is the more frequent extream Men being now so far from that Humane and Christian temper of universal Kindness and Good-will that they are but very few they care for or to whom they are disposed friendly in comparison of those they do not This again may sometimes proceed from meer necessary Ignorance and want of Information For sometimes a Man may have seen or otherwise known much Good by a Man and none or little bad either because the Man wanted his proper Temptation or through dissimulation of his temper and inclination or for other reasons And on the contrary a Man by himself or others may know many bad things by a Person and little Good when he may have much in him which he had never the opportunity to observe or the Means otherwise to know But it most-what proceeds from some undue disposition of Will and when a Man is partially not justly affected to Persons and as he ought he is either pleased or displeased with Persons more than in general he might observe them to deserve or merit Thus you shall but too often see to give Instances of that side which is most to be avoided that Men will take more notice of and better remember one bad Action in a Person than twenty good ones and consequently this shall procure him more Disreputation or Disesteem than they shall honour or good-will So ungrateful and ill-natur'd a thing is but too much of the World Whereas we should say such or such a thing indeed at such a time is amiss bad or evil but then 't was but once or seldom perhaps nay I know it is oftner otherwise and he hath such or such good qualities there he is to be commended that is or was well done And this should be done not to sooth Men up or to make them content and so well-pleased with themselves notwithstanding many ill Actions Vices and Imperfections as not to endeavour to prevent reform and amend them too but to encourage them so to do since they have so much Good in them already And to make ones Counsel or Reproof more effectual since this ready taking notice and approbation of what 's Good in them is an Argument of an impartial Love Charity and Kindness to them in the Person exhorting or reproving And here I 'le only add by the way because it is a thing of frequent and great use in Humane life that it is the same kind of Cause of our false Judgment of the Goodness or Evilness of things viz. We only observe and attend to either the Conveniencies or Inconveniencies the Good or Bad effects of things but not to both together which is oft from meer Ignorance oftner from some Passion We may observe it every where in publick Constitutions in Domestick Private and Personal affairs Whence oft-times we hurry and haste to mend things for the worse and are discontent ill at ease make our selves unhappy repine murmur and unthankful to God unjustly and without reason and yet after some experience of the contrary Inconveniences we are running back again with many other mischievous and hurtful Consequences Oft-times too on the other hand we will not stir to mend things taking notice only of their Conveniencies and not of their-Inconveniencies which might without greater be redressed The first generally is the defect of those who affect Novelty The second of those who affect Antiquity i. e. Who inordinately and immoderately love them either absolutely for themselves without reference to any good use or effect or more than what they can really contribute to any such good use doth deserve The first is commonly the temper of Young-Men the second of Old In the one being an immoderate appetite of Activity in the other of Ease Sect. XIII 5. A fifth Cause is want of a prevalent love of Truth Men most-what in their Judgments and Discourse concerning Persons nor is it much less in things witness the generality of Books look more at other things little or not at all at the truth of what they judg or say they take little heed whether it be really true or no and therefore seldom examine suspend or pronounce doubtfully or according only to appearing probability It is true they say and think things to be true very confidently and strongly but this not because they see the truth of what they affirm but because they would have it true Not because their Understanding and Perception goes before their Judgment and their natural affection to Truth makes them so judg but some other disposition of will such as I have so often named Activity Curiosity Pride Hatred Envy Anger Contempt Flattery c. Whereas we should be very careful to possess our Minds with such a serious love of the Truth that we may have a constant reverend regard thereto in all our Judgments and Speeches concerning others And this we should do without much trouble if we used our selves thereto and did but use to check our selves and ask the Question and pause a little whether we know it to be true or no. We should love not only to speak truth with our Neighbour but of our Neighbour too We should look upon Truth as a most Sacred thing ever to be inviolable and to be the main if not the only perfection of our Judgments without which we had better have none at all We had better be utterly Ignorant and never judg at all than do it erroneously For by that means our Actions and Resolutions are determined and directed amiss and are mischievously made use of For were it not much better that we were ignorant and passed no Judgment at all of Persons either of the quantity or quality of their Perfections and Imperfections than by being mistaken therein sometimes to neglect or punish the Innocent and Well-deserving and to be Beneficent and bestow good things upon those that ill deserve and make ill use of them In few words Men judg falsly because they will not judg truly or are not pleased therewith or at least but little and in such degree only that it
Persons no such occasions of anger hatred contempt and envy by especially the declaration of a Mans Judgment or of what he knows of others to their disadvantage but to be very sparing in so doing and in general never to do it out of any worse Principle than a general Charity to Men and consequently love to what is just and right out of no selfishness no hatred or contempt of the Person in general but of love rather to him out of hatred or contempt of the particular Vice or Imperfection only and one would be glad it were otherwise And then as to our Prudence never to do it but when seeing the necessity thereof we are in Wisdom as well as Charity obliged to it Be not a Witness against thy Neighbour without cause i. e. Without some foreseen so good an effect as ought to be a cause thereof Prov. 24. 28. And ver 17. Rejoyce not when thine Enemy falleth Nor let thy Heart be glad when he stumbleth And hitherto is referr'd the telling stories to one Person of what another Person hath said of him or done towards him behind his back and again to the latter what the former hath said of him If this be frequent it is usually out of Talkativeness Busibodiness Hatred or Flattery either to do a Person an ill turn by ill disposing his Neighbour towards him setting him against him or to do ones self a good turn by getting the favour of the Person to whom we report as seeming so much concern'd for his Credit and good Reputation or other Good Though this may be done too sometimes out of a hearty sincere Charity and Prudence without any ultimate Self-end Where no Wood is saith the Wiseman there the Fire goeth out So where there is no Tale-bearer the strife ceaseth Prov. 26. 20. As Wood is usually conceived the cause of Fire so such Stories or Reports whether true or false of one to another are the cause of Strife and Contention And ver 22. The words of a Tale-bearer are as Wounds and go down into the innermost parts of the Belly That is Usually the stories of such Persons affect deeply their Minds to whom they are told with keen smart violent and piercing Passions of Vexation Anger Revenge And Prov. 16. 28. A froward Man sendeth forth strife and a Whisperer separateth chief Friends Such a Person by his frequent stories if he be believed puts Enmity not only between Strangers but Friends not Friends only but chief Friends for so probably the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may there signifie it otherwise signifying Excellency and Superiority A great many sayings you have in the Proverbs of the like nature Sect. VI. VI. The ill Consequences of judging out of Hatred Revenge Pride Envy Anger Contempt c. Are 1. The increase of these Passions and their Principles in our selves by use and in others by our example which in the degree or so far forth as they habitually possess our Souls render us unworthy of Life or Beeing For so far forth we do as much Mischief as in us lies and surely as far as we see 't were better than in that respect that we were out of the World And although Self-love and Fear may oft-times restrain and hinder us from being the Authors of such Mischief to our Neighbour whereby we may be Obnoxious to humane Laws yet there may be as much of these in our Hearts as may render us detestable to God whose Knowledg and Punishment we can neither conceal our selves from nor escape But there are infinite Mischiefs which we are capable of doing one to another which humane Laws cannot take notice of In so much that a Place Company or Society may be weary of us and yet cannot tell how to be rid of us These dispositions make us like Dragons and Basilisks that where ever we come we kill and and do mischief with our very Breaths and Eyes These are the Frenzie the Plague of our Souls which make every Body very reasonably shun and run away from us Finally some make themselves hereby Enemies both to God and Men and fit company only for the Infernal Spirits whom we are most like and by their being as bad as our selves their company will be a very sutable punishment for us Further one of the worst mischiefs of such Principles and Tempers is that by our example we infect others and make others like our selves we make to our selves company of the like nature to us and to one another We propagate it we give occasion to and stir up the same Lusts and wicked Inclinations in others we help to make them more common and ordinary and therefore the less shameful and the less suspected and believed to be so bad as they are 2. It exposeth us to the Hatred Anger Revenge and Contempt of others If these Qualities in us when but suspected as in our Judgment sometimes of the worst side were the occasion thereof how much more when they but too evidently appear to be the principles of our Judgments All prejudices of Judgment concerning others from ultimate Self-love render us generally contemned or hated more or◠less according to the degree thereof that appears at least pitied by the Best and Wisest Nothing generally more hated than Hatred it self Ill-nature Malignity Pride of which unreasonable and unjust Contempt is one sort I say it exposeth to their hatred and contempt sometimes justly when they judg truly of us most-what unjustly and more than we deserve Men seldom observe due measures in these Passions sometimes by way of Justice most what by way of Imitation or mixture of both And now when we are thus affected to Men our selves and they by our Example and out of Justice or Ill-nature or both are so affected to us again and to one another How innumerable are the Mischiefs which are consequent viz. Just all that we see in the World Men are properly the Causes and Authors of one to another All Mens mischievous Wills and Intentions one towards another proceed from want of Charity from Hatred in themselves or from the same ill Qualities in others really or supposed and presumed either because Men hate one another when it is not deservedly or when it is 3. But a more particular mischief of our judging others out of Hatred is their judging by way of Revenge untruly of us in general of our Qualities Principles or Actions Whence our Example in any thing that is Good in us is rendred ineffectual all our Actions though never so good are either not taken notice of neglected or interpreted in the worse sense that is those that come from never so good Principles and are very natural signs thereof will be deemed Signs of bad or meer Signs and Hypocritical It is true this will often happen thróugh Persons ill-nature and aptness therefore to judg on the worst side when there is no occasion or cause on our part given and then we being not able to
help it at all or not without loss of time better spent may do well to glance a little Pity and so neglect and take no further notice But when we our selves are the Cause or give the occasion by our uncharitable or imprudent Judgments of others we cannot spend time better than by removing them to take away the prejudice against the example of any thing that is Good in our selves Sect. VII And thus we have run through some of the most considerable mischievous Effects and Consequences of these prohibited Judgments by our Saviour the avoiding of all which ought to be so many Motives to the practising of this Negative Duty Nor ought the contrary good Effects of abstaining therefrom to do less viz. The minding our own Affairs the employing our selves about our own Business the keeping at Home and applying our selves to our own proper Works and Callings the more accurate care of our own Principles and Prudence Hearts and Actions which we can best know and direct mind and make use of and not only minding our own Affairs but permitting others to mind theirs and to be Masters of their own Principles and Actions to examine judg and determine themselves we only interposing our friendly Advice and neighbourly Counsel when asked or desired or when we see our Neighbour fails in his Prudence or Power in a matter of more considerable moment to him than our time is to our selves or others then indeed not to be too intent to our own Business and through Surliness or Carelessness of our Neighbours concern to refuse or not to mind but to knock off a little from our own Business and lend a helping-hand like as all Men are so good natur'd as to leave their Shops and Trades or Employments a while to quench a Fire in another Man's House though there should be no danger to themselves or to give a Lift to their Neighbours Horse or Ass But otherwise not to be busie in meddling or tyrannical in imposing on other Men in their own Affairs and usurping their Right Moreover the securing of our selves from a disadvantageous false Judgment and an unreasonable contempt undervaluing nay it may be hatred of Persons to which that disposeth us However from a being suspected guilty of the worst of Principles of our Judgments and consequently from giving occasion and temptation to others of dislike Hatred Contempt Anger or Revenge against us and that by an unreasonable severity in their judging of us observing and proclaiming of our Faults and Infirmities nay and more and greater than we were ever so unhappy as to be guilty of or overtaken with which otherwise they would have taken no notice of conceal'd neighbourly or excused And then securing our selves from reciprocal Anger and Wrath in our selves against their so unjust and ill principled Judgments to which notwithstanding we our selves gave a needless occasion whence all manner of Mischief and mutual Injuries Thy securing therefore of the Innocencie and Peace mutual Good-will and Beneficence of each other Again the prevention of foolish blind unreasonable precipitate and rash Judgments The preservation of the credit of our Testimony and putting our selves thereby in a capacity of sometimes to the ease and conveniency of our Neighbours determining or assisting to determine the Controversies or Differences between them The preservation at least of the Credit and Opinion of our unprejudiced Charity and care of our Neighbours Credit and Reputation of the want of which we give but too just Suspicion by our rash and inconsiderate Judgments when on the worst side Further still the prevention of Discredit and Disreputation to our selves for our Carelesness Inability or Weakness to judg or for our wilful prejudices by our false Judgments when we were able to judg better that is truly nay when it is a thing always one of the most in our Power of any thing in the World For who cannot judg and say that he knows not if he be Ignorant and hath no probability more on one than tother side or that it appears and seems to him indeed more probable In which he needs never to be mistaken although the thing may prove contrary to what appeared to him Further The securing us from the Breach of the material part at least of the Ninth Commandment viz. Of bearing false Witness against our Neighbour Moreover principally the Just and Beneficial disposing of our Kindnesses and Favours and the with-holding them according to the degrees of each ones Merit or Demerit the prudent and profitable dispensing our Praise or Dispraise Good or Bad word Recommendation or Refusal Charity or Chastisement Not to squander away foolishly nay to ill purpose what Good is in our power to bestow and to with-hold it as unseasonably when it would be to good Effect laid out Further still the prevention of our own being slighted or contemned for want of Discretion or Self-government in the use of our Tongue and Conversation for unprofitable or hurtful Talkativeness and Busie-bodiness and of being grudged at for worse Principles suspected or real of our unseasonable and lavish Declaration of our Judgments But more considerable much is the prevention of mutual Animosities Grudges Ill-will Discords Contentions Strifes between Men usually arising from the suspicion or certain knowledg of one anothers ill words actions affections and dispositions to and concerning each other Which if they had been concealed and not too hastily been told or discovered might have been repented of and the Persons of another mind and so no need of giving warning thereof to the Persons concern'd and Charity and Peace had been still preserv'd and maintain'd The Humility and Forgiveness of the World is too little to bear the knowledg of Mens few faults and miscarriages one to another and therefore they had not need be multiplied The prevention therefore of all the mischiefs of Tale-bearing Yet further the not drawing of others from their better Employments by disturbing them with false untrue or at least useless and trivial judgments and Reports concerning them which although they are easily neglected passed over and slighted by those that are wiser and better and well provided in the World yet they very sensibly touch and much affect those who are not so of whose Good we ought as good Neighbours and Christians to be justly tender Finally and above all the prevention of the Increase and Improvement in our selves by using our selves to the wicked Principles of Judging so often named of those hellish wicked and base Dispositions in us to name them now and no more those of Hatred Malice Revenge Pride Envy Contempt Anger and Wrath Flattery which if we have any degree of wise Self-love we shall more endeavour to secure our selves from than from the most loathsome tormenting and killing Diseases of our Bodies The prevention consequently of exposing our selves to the Hatred and Contempt of others but too justly deserved and of the loss of all the benefits of mutual Good-will Friendship and kind