Soul therein included So Secondarily he ought to take care of his Honour in the World when it crosses neither Piety nor Virtue and by all lawful means defend it when maliciously and violently assaulted by bad Men. And this those that set themselves for Censors of other Men's Actions ought to take notice of especially when they know them to be no Despisers of good Advice when duly given But the abominable Disease of Calumny being now so Epidemical the danger of suffering it so visible and great and the harm thereby done so frequent it requires the greater Care to prevent and suppress it Nothing more destructive to Society and nothing brings more confusion into the World than doth speaking ill one of another Whence do often arise Quarrels Fightings Duels Bruises Wounds and Death but from words Mis-spoken Mis-reported and Mis-understood O the Tongue that cannot be governed thô (a) Jam. 3.5 6. A little member how great a matter a little fire kindleth it setteth on fire the course of nature More mischief proceeds from the Organ of Speech than from all the other Members of the Body as we may see in what the Apostle saith about it (b) Rom. 3.13 14. With their tongues they have used deceit the poison of asps is under their lips their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness What in English we call Slanderers or False Accusers is in Greek called Devils for the Devil is their Father who as our Saviour saith was a lyar and a murderer from the beginning How many children in that kind hath he in the World Prov. 10.18 thô in some different degrees and ways But He that hideth hatred with lying lips and he that uttereth slander is a fool Some out of Malice Revengefulness or the like sinful Principle do either invent Lies with out any ground against others or misinterpret their Words and Actions and are glad of any pretence to Blacken their Neighbour with false Aspersions and malicious Insinuations And these Men have another fortunder them who publish the Lies and Slanders which the others forged and so become partakers of other men's sins Both he who steals the Money and he who puts it into the Bag are guilty so he who spreads abroad the Slander is as guilty as he who invented it thô herein sometimes there is a difference for some publish it out of Imprudence others out of a sinful Compliance and others out of Malice Nay there are some who out of their own natural Corruption take pleasure to hear others ill spoken of and thô in their mind they be convinced the things are not true yet in their Heart are glad of it and contrary to the Rules of Charity and Prudence will rather believe Evil than Good thô in doubtful Cases the least they should do is to suspend their Judgment till they see a just cause and not presently to proclaim it abroad and thus fall into the snare for this is a direct breach of the Ninth Commandment Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Neighbour whether his Goods Good Name or Life be concerned Spreading ill Reports upon uncertainties and hear-say is a base thing and odious before God and a nice point in the sight of Men who being pinch'd in so sensible a part as Reputation will kick against such as thus lash them behind Neither do I think that the Laws of God and Men require in a Man the Stoician 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Insensibility as if he was a Stock or a Stone but rather do allow him in lawful ways to vindicate his good Name as to defend his Life One Case excepted when 't is plainly for the Cause of the Lord Jesus then suffer all things gladly from those that have Authority and Power over you The Spaniards have a saying Por tu honra pon la vida y pon los dos por tu Dios. Hazard thy Life for thy Honour But venture both for thy God 'T is fit for the good of Human Society that a strong Curb should be be put upon Authors and Promoters of Slanders ' to take away from the Sufferers all just cause from doing themselves justice when wronged in this case and by these means shall Peace be kept and it will strike Terror upon Offenders in this kind or else this will bring in Trouble and Confusion for there are some Men in the World who are as ready to venture all they have to vindicate their Reputation when unjustly assaulted as to defend their Life This is spoken as to Men. But in relation to God there are more pressing Motives not only against him who raises false Reports against another but also against him that takes it up Believes and Propagates it God's word we have for it for he that doth so shall not abide in God's Tabernacle nor dwell in his Holy Hill for David puts the Question to God (a) Psal 15.1 3. Lord who shall abide c. which he Answers He that taketh not up a reproach against his Neighbour What is to take up a reproach the Old Translation hath it very plain not to receive a false report against his neighbour He who desireth to be in God's Favour and be admitted into his House must not hearken to encourage or support a false Report against another but say I will not be concern'd and so let it fall The meaning of the place is of a large extent some explain the words takes not up a reproach by doth not lift up ignominy and scandal upon his Tongue and with it lays no snares to others either with forming false things or wresting those that be true Who will not hear speak or believe a Reproach or false Report against his Neighbour thereby to keep innocent his Ear Tongue and Heart I say further that in some cases Truth it self as to matters of Fact when prejudicial to some body ought not to be published without necessity and a lawful Call as when a Man is upon Oath summoned to bear Evidence in a Court of Justice to preserve a Man's Right but when by such Reports some body receives harm and no body no good thô they were True ought to be suppressed and buried Doeg's report to Saul of what had happened between David and Abimelech was True Psal 53. yet David for it cursed him 't is not always well and fit to speak the Truth A Son 's Saying My Father is a Thief and a Drunkard may be True but 't is ill of him to say it so 't is when against the Rules of Charity Several other kinds of Sins we have here which to mention would prove an endless Task and indeed who can number them all Whether of Inclination and Temper of Relations Professions Conditions Ages of both Sexes Family Personal and National Sins and there is too much cause to complain that England is become a sink of evil in all sorts not only the iniquities of the Country but also those of others How great Sinners
hinting that there is no God Giddily Impiously Prophanely and Blasphemously striking if not at the Being yet at his Attributes Works Word and Providence express it in their Discourses and Coversation and some in their Writings whereby they seduce and corrupt the Judgment of some influence the Weak and give a great Scandal to those who fear God and have an awful reverence for his Holy Name when they happen to hear them in their Atheistical fits This is a presumptuous and defying Sin which among us too many are guilty of such teach the way to Hell and were taught in the School of Vanninus and of such abominable Wretches for he who owns not the true God and hath not the right Notion of and due Reverence for him is as if he believed no God This is so odious and shameful that Men take it as a great Injury to be call'd Atheists and thô the thing be really in them yet hate to be call'd by its Name and we have cause to remember how because the Title of a Bill was against Atheism c. great exceptions were taken against it as of a great stain upon the Nation that we thereby should declare to Foreign Countries how we have Atheists among us which is too true thô some whom there is cause to suspect to be such would not have it said But I would have such to answer me one question Which of these two brings a greater Scandal and Reproach to England either not to forbear saying we have Atheists when we have and not to punish them or else to own the Truth that we have some but care not to restrain and punish them David declareth Ps 53.1 that where abominable Iniquity is committed and no regard had to Virtue or Vice there is no God Next we have the Deists whose Religion consists only in acknowledging one God and think that is enough to be Saved Who thô they own a God yet fancy him to be other then he is and to act otherwise then he doth they are for a Natural Religion without and against Revealed they think all Religions to be equal and that any one is at liberty to chuse which he pleases and that he may be saved in any Idolatry is another Sin of the Nation I mean not only the Spiritual one of those whose God is their Riches Honour Pleasures and their Belly but gross and material Idolatry of those who believe Religious Worship to be due to the Creature and actually render it and in too many Places there are too many Books that justifie it I thank God Protestants here are not of that Opinion but Papist are own and practise it and that Abomination is in the sight of all still committed in the Land which is thereby defiled Priests contrary to Laws do every where even out of Foreign Parts swarm as much as ever Papists are as free as can be whilst poor Protestants against the Laws of their Country are barbarously Persecuted in Popish Dominions yet one would think we might somewhat better their Condition with threatning here Papists with the like Usage I shall not say as to Liberties and Lives for our Religion like theirs doth not bind us to be Sanguinary but as to Estates and Fortunes with our Neglecting to take the same care to Defend our Religion as they do to Promote theirs we seem to intimate that theirs is better than ours but if we whosoever we are under the Notion that we are not Persecutors be ashamed of Christ and of his Cause in his due time he will be ashamed of and disown us I may say I remember the time when here it was not so Is it not the height of impudence for Popish Priests to go as of late they have done to dying Men To Doctor Connor after they by Protestant Ministers had been prepared for Death to disquiet them and not give over till they had made them do what upon such occasions is usual for Papists yet this hath been winked at no inquiry made no examination taken against those who so notoriously break the Laws of the Land The following Paper in French was on a Lord's Day April 24. 1698. posted up over the French Chapel door in St. James's and other Places in these words Hereby notice is given that in case any French Refugee be willing to go back into France there to abjure Heresie he may address himself to the French Ambassador and according to his Quality he shall be rewarded By this beginning we may see what we must expect from his being here one would think such things should not belong to his Instructions or Commission but what would they say if our Ambassador in Paris had attempted any thing of the like nature Never till of late any Foreign Minister was allowed two Popish Chapels one Private for Himself and Family which no Man will question and to the great grief of many another Publick one for all that have a mind to come to 't with Four or Five Priests belonging to it and neither Legislarive nor Executive Powers would take any notice of it but God will in his due time and may be punish us by such Snakes as we keep in our Bosom For these many years together we have had very near this City a Nunnery hitherto undisturbed and one more near about the same distance but another way is a forming or rather already formed Another Mass-Chapel in Town is as much frequented by hundreds at this time as it was when in the hands of Benedictine Friars And now Priests to seduce People as much as ever do transform themselves into all shapes and too often do prevail upon Servants Prentices and Masters too Yet by the Laws it is Treason to intice any one to be reconciled to the Romish Church as well as to be reconciled to 't But as yet it doth not appear that any effectual care hath been taken to hinder that great Evil and to prevent this Venom of Popish Idolatry from spreading farther to the Ruine and Destruction of precious Souls the Scandal of Religion and Shame of the Nation Blasphemy unhappily we have here Socinians who would be called Vnitarians and others have in every possible way taken great care to infect the Nation and spread among us their Blasphemous Opinions against the most Holy Trinity they are so well known by their impious Doctrines and unwarrantable Practices to propagate them that there is no need any longer to mention them here in this Place 'T is pity they have not been taken notice of in the way of Punishment as in their presumptuous Offences against God's Cause Another sort of Blasphemers as execrable as can be do impiously in their Discourses ridicule the adorable Mystery of the Incarnation our Saviour's Birth of a Virgin the Holy Scripture and the whole Christian Religion which they call Priest-Craft a Forgery of Melancholick Brains and such other abominable things as makes one's Hair stand on end Libertinism is here
promoted by a Sect call'd Antinomians who Believe as if Men might go to Heaven in the way to Hell without Faith Repentance and new Obedience thus no necessity of good Works and all this because we are said to be Saved thorough Grace which is most True and indeed excludes Good Works from being the meritorious Cause of Salvation but not from being means and way to it for he who created us without us will not Save us without us Here is also a kind of Free-willers who directly strike at God's free Grace in Christ and I dare say are as much against it as Socinians are against his Person Sins against God's Justice his Truth and other Attributes are great but I look upon Sin against his Grace as one of the greatest and less pardonable Here we have a Monstrous Sect call'd Quakers Monstrous I call it for its Doctrine is a Rhapsody of Errors in several kinds they have troubled the World with a number of idle Pamphlets containing a confused heap of Spiritual and Natural Ignorance full of Nonsense Presumption wresting and misapplying of Holy Scripture and a meer racking of good Sense and sound Reason which is able to disgust any Rational Man from Reading them as I confess I soon was but some who made it their Business to go throughly with them have therein found several Pernicious Impious and Blasphemous Tenets drawn out of their Writings which they have Published and set their Names to 't This I may say of Quakers that to themselves they assume the Name of Christians but in my Opinion without True grounds For they own no other Christ but him whom they say to be within them whom they make speak any thing they please then they are not Baptized in the Name of Christ whose Ordinances they Reject and Despise for they own no Sacraments deny Ministry by way of Office in the Church which is the House of the God of Order yet all Order therein but what is of their own making they would destroy and condemn All that are not of their own Persuasion usurping only to themselves the name of God's People withal in their Worldly Concerns they are Cunning and Crafty Busie and Active Thriving and Multiplying medling with many Things with a Stock of ready Money to supply their Occasions and carry on their common Interest in the World The Government hath thought fit to give them a Toleration I wish they do not prove a Snake in its Bosom for they are as dangerous to the State as to the Church Certainly 't is a great Sin to suffer them to Dishonour God through their Blasphemies as 't is in them to do 't Several other Heresies and Errors in Doctrine we have here whereof some are more and others less known Who can tell them all But all thô in different Degrees are contrary to Gospel Truths and thô winked at are to be reckoned among the sinful Opinions and Doctrines in the Nation But as the Nation is infected with many Sins in the Mind so 't is full of others seated in the Heart wherein is the Spring of all sinful Practises For Matth. 15.19 saith our Blessed Saviour out of the heart proceed evil thoughts or desires murthers adulteries fornications thefts false witness blasphemies This leads us to the Second Branch of the great and many Sins of the Nation which consist in Practice and upon this Head with David I may say thô very short of what the thing deserves Rivers of water run down mine eyes Ps 119.136 because they keep not thy Law The Sins properly lodged in the Heart are First Hypocrisie a damnable Sin in this World and accordingly to be rewarded in that which is to come Matt. 24.51 for there is a portion for hypocrites who indeed can sometimes dissemble with and impose upon Men but not so with God The Hypocrite is Squint-ey'd and thô he looks one way yet like the Waterman Row's towards a quite contrary It is bad upon all accounts but in Matters of Religion abominable like the Pharisees as our Saviour with many a Woe tells them they are like unto whited Sepulchres Matth. 23.23 24 25. c. which indeed appear beautiful outward but are within full of dead mens bones and of all uncleanness an outward shew of Piety and Virtue but in reality are nothing less They strain at a Gnat and swallow a Camel and outwardly appear righteous unto Men but within are full of hypocrisie and iniquity The Roman Poet could say of such Qui Curios simulant sed Bacchanalia vivunt In some things of the least moment they would seem to be Pious and Conscientious they pay tithe of Mint of Anise and Cumin but omit the weightier matters of the Law like the Jews who upon the preparation day of the passover John 18.28 would not go into the Judgment-Hall lest they should be defiled but made no Conscience to shed innocent Blood and to cry out Crucifie Crucifie Pride and Vanity is another Sin of the Heart Mark 7.22 or it proceedeth out of it of it I make but one Sin for a Proud Man is a Vain Man Pride is the Sin of the Devil and of our First Parents now too natural with many among us who look very big upon others as if they were not Flesh Blood and Corruption as well as other Men yet they are not made of a Matter of a different nature of what others are they came into the World like other Men shall Die and be a Pasture for Worms as well as others Some are proud of their Riches which as Solomon saith Prov. 23.5 certainly they make themselves wings and fly away as an Eagle others are proud of their Honours which in a short time are laid in the Dust others of their Pleasures for they have all that Heart can wish so had Belshazzar in the great Feast he made to a Thousand of his Lords to his Wives and Concubines Dan. 5.5.6 but in the same Hour came forth fingers of a Man's hand and wrote over against the Candlestick upon the plaistering of the Wall of the King's Palace Then the King's countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smote one against another and in that night was the King slain v. 30. 1 Cor. 3.1 Others are proud of their Parts as Wit Learning c. for knowledge puffeth up for want of knowing themselves those parts they prophane and make a wrong use of Others are proud of their Strength Comliness Beauty and such Bodily Endowments but to all such the Apostle saith What hast thou that thou didst not receive Ch. 4.7 now if thou didst receive it why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it Be thankful for what thou hast received and Glory not in thy self or in thine own Shame but glory in the Lord. Ch. 1 31. Pride is a Sin odious to God and Man which
in their urgent occasions to relieve them upon hard and unreasonable terms as to lend Money upon great and unconscionable Interest or else refuse to do 't which is a Cruelty T is also a wresting by force Threatnings or Authority that which is not his due or more than it is as when an Officer doth exact more than he ought or than his Fees come to I am afraid we had of late and now have too many of these Unjust and Merciless Men But let them know that if the Law in a way of punishment takes no notice of their Crime at one time or other God if they continue and Repent not will visit them for it Another kind of Injustice is called Illegal without or against Law and this directly regards the Courts of Judicature I confess 't is sad that Law and Equity do not always agree and that sometimes a Just and Conscientious Judge who as in the Presence of God would discharge the Duty of his Place is not always free in a Cause to follow the Dictates of his own Judgment but must be drawn away with certain Formalities of the Law thô in his mind he be satisfied a Witness Swears Falsly yet he must Judge and Act according to Allegata Probata and not according to his own Judgment but this being not directly to our present purpose I omit and come to that which is The Courts of Judicature are the Seat of Justice the Oracles and Interpreters of the Laws which in the Administration of Justice are there Righted or Wronged Thô I speak not of Persons but of Things I gladly own that upon the Benches sit some Persons of known Abilities and Integrity yet that Profession is not free from Flaws it hath its Sins and grievous ones too is often a Remedy which proves worse than the Disease and for the Truth of this I appeal to those therein concern'd that are sincere and make Conscience of their ways therefore Abuses therein should be Reformed Things Regulated and those Springs when Corrupt Purged to delay Doing Justice to Deny and Pervert it makes many times the Law to be a Grievance and are Three abominable thô different Degrees of Injustice Long and tedious Proceedings at Law are Vexatious Chargeable and make one unnecessarily lose abundance of time Why should one put off till to Morrow that which he ought and can do to Day May be God will take away that Power and thy Life too 'T is an unhappy Inclination of some Men of Business out of a Humour Custom Pride Neglect Prejudice of some other corrupt Motive or Design to prolong time to do things which require Speed So that sometimes it would be better to have to deal with a Bashaw who before Men go out of his Sight will decide a difference and thô sometimes he doth one wrong yet on the other side he doth a Kindness with saying Charges Time and Trouble For what mean the Long Tedious and Chargeable Suits at Law which become endless to the ruin of Persons and Families and the Oppression of the Poor by the Rich who with strength of Money tire and disable them from holding out the Law say some is ever open to all that is for the Rich to Ruin the Poor thus the Remedy is turn'd into Poison which ever keeps things unsettled and at uncertainties and affords continual occasions for one to disquiet and wrong another and sometimes both are serv'd like the two that Quarrel'd about an Oyster they had found one saying he had seen it first the other that he had taken it up for he whom they referr'd the business to did open and eat up the Oister and gave each of them a Shell The Emperor (a) Instit l. 4. Tit. 16. de Paenâ temerè litigantium Justinian appointed punishment against those who went to Law without a just Cause To Deny Justice when due and sued for is another degree of Injustice We know a competent time to Examin and Inquire into the Matter must be allowed but after that one may well expect to see it done I cannot believe any Man in that station can so far forget himself as positively to say I will not do you Justice but not to do 't is by a side-Wind in effect the same Besides the unnecessary Trouble a Plaintiff's put to and made to lose his other Occasions bis dat qui citò dat is with me a good Rule soon to do Justice or a Kindness lays a double Obligation The Judge spoken of in the Parable did not tell the Widow You shall have no Justice from me only (b) Luke 18.4 he would not for a while at last he did nor for Justice sake but out of a Selfish Motive that is to be no longer troubled with her Importunities and in the place for this reason our Saviour calls him (c) v. 6. The unjust Judge After he had passed this Sentence upon himself That be feared not God nor regarded Man But to pervert Justice is the highest Degree of Injustice as is to Condemn the Just and Justifie the Wicked which (d) Prov. 17.15 Both are abomination to the Lord. Or to give one that which belongs to another this happeneth when out of the corruption of the Heart Judges through Bribery Favour or other perverse Motives suffer themselves to be byassed when once any one hath been noted for it he ought for ever to be branded with Infamy as being a Scandal to the Law and a Shame to the Bench the Injustices of Subordinate Judges cry loud for Vengeance to God the Supream Judge of all Would to God there was not so much cause as there is to Complain of it no Court either Ecclesiastical Politick or Civil is free from Abuses and Sins in relation to this last I must give a hint of another Abuse which is When Lawyers undertake for Money to Patronize any Cause whatsoever thô in their Judgment they be convinced it is bad Indeed in dubious Causes for a Fee they may make the best they can of it but to encourage Clients in a wrong way with telling they are in the Right is certainly a Sin for 't is to betray the Truth to engage them in an Ill Cause put them to unnecessary Charges and Trouble and make them run the hazard of being Cast and Losers at the end But a great piece of Injustice very common and Hurtful is among Tradesmen who make a great part of the Nation I do not say every one for some make Conscience of their ways but too many when you come into their Shop then out with their Lies 't is say they the best in the kind cost so much and the like to wheedle one to Buy which the Apostle hath forewarned of and forbidden when he saith (e) Ephes 4.25 Wherefore putting away lying speak every Man truth with his neighbour But the worst is that in such Shops and Houses are kept False Weights and False Measures contrary to what
God so often and so strictly Commanded his People (a) Lev. 19.36 Just Balances Just Weights a Just Ephah and a Just Hin shall ye have Elsewhere repeated (b) Deut. 25.15 But tbou shalt have a Perfect and Just weight (c) Prov. 11.1 a Perfect and Just Measure shalt thou have (d) Ch. 20.23 The contrary God abhorreth For a false balance is abomination to the Lord but a just weight is his delight Again Divers weights are an abomination unto the Lord and a false balance is not good Some have different Weights one to Buy another to Sell by As to Measures would to God there was less cause than we have to complain of it I shall give an Instance which is obvious and thô in some respect the Thing be not of great Moment yet the Sin is not the less rather because it reaches many chiefly the poor People it is the greater In many Alehouses where an ordinary Man goeth for a Quart of Drink out comes a False Measure a Black Pot or the like holding less than it should This for the Master but the Drawer to have his share doth not fill it up but gives Froth instead of Drink so that one hath at least half a Pint wanting of his measure and sometimes but a whole Pint instead of a Quart with some this Observation will seem mean But for all that I would have them to know that it is a great Sin and no Sin may be call'd a mean Sin And seeing I am upon this Subject I farther shall take notice of the Injustice of Brewers who for Instance under pretence of a Shilling Excize given the Government because there is no Assize which upon these Occasions should ever be to prevent Abuses they take may be Two for themselves and so make the Drink small raise the Price and lessen the Measure The like may be said of Bakers who make their Bread Lighter than it should be or raise the Price of it As Butchers do of their Meat Chandlers of their Candles so do other sorts of Tradesmen even as they please without any curb put upon them Thus the generality are left to the mercy of unreasonable Men And for they to plead The Liberty of the Subject is an aggravation to pretend to or desire a Liberty to do wrong and injury Here I speak for the poorest sort who by such dealings are the greatest Sufferers One of the chief grounds of Policy in matters of Government is to Prevent or Remedy Abuses put upon the People about necessary Provisions for Life nothing more apt to cause Tumults and Insurrections than to want Food and Raiment or Money to buy it One thing more I shall observe upon this Head How in common Dealings even without distinction of the Quality of Persons in their Bargains according to their several ways there is abundance of False Dealing Tricking Cheating and Over-reaching and the worst is that when Men have gained their Point they Laugh at it and Brag of it when the Tradesman Sells his Commodities with False Weights and False Measures and not satisfied with a moderate Gain at unreasonable Rates Doth he wonder after if he be ill paid or not at all thô I will neither excuse nor justifie the Buyer but I say 't is Just with God to Retaliate him so others are unjust to him because he hath been so to them So our trivial Saving is very True Honesty is the best Policy There are Sins also which attend the Profession of Physicians as are sometimes to prolong the Cure of their Patients especially when they are Rich to have many Fees and the more to squeeze Money out of their Purse and also when they begin to recover strength to prescribe strong Remedies to weaken them again At other times they without a due regard to the good of the Patient try Experiments upon them to the hazard of Life And withal thô no sort of Men more than they have occasion to observe the finger of God in the Works of Nature wherein his Power and Wisdom are so evident yet none more apt to attibute to Second Causes that which is due to the First and Supreme one We know God hath appointed means to be used and hath tied us to them which we ought not to neglect but Men must not be so unjust as to give them the Praise and Glory which belongs to God who prescribed and whose Blessing made them effectual for when God calls for our Life all Remedies are in vain Contra vim mortis non est medicamen in hortis The recovery of Hezekiah was not so much to be attributed to the Virtue of the (e) King 20.7 Lump of dry Figs thô the Remedy was very proper for the Disease which was a Boil and the dry Fig a great Drawer as it was to God's Blessing who by the Prophet Isaiah appointed it In this same predicament of Profession we include Apothecaries who to put off their Old Drugs which having lost their Virtue can indeed stir Humours but want strength to carry them out and so are rather Poison than Physick in the Body keep the best and thereby do Patients more harm than good they sometimes also lessen the Dose yet will be paid for the whole Besides that often their Bills are unreasonable and unjust and so a Sin in them Under this Classis for at the first in the days of Hippocrates Dioscorides Avicenna Galenus c. One and the same Man professed Physick Apothecarie if I may so call that Art and Chirurgery I leave for Chirurgeons to examine and leave off Sins attending their Profession 'T is a saying of Augustin that Sin amidst the Disorders it hath caused in the World hath left Mans Goods and Estates in the hands of Lawyers his Body in that of Physicians and his Soul to the Care of Divines This is a great Charge indeed and thô every one be bound to look to his own Soul yet God hath been pleased to appoint a sort of Men whose Office is to be Pastors Teachers Overseers Watchmen to Warn Guide and Direct others in the way to Salvation The Care of Souls is a great and difficult Task and a high Trust attended with a world of Le ts Hinderances and Oppositions from the Devil the Flesh the World and from Sin Therefore without God's especial Grace which such Men ought constantly to pray for are liable to great and many Sins of the highest Consequence for sometimes the Eternal Felicity or Misery of Souls doth as to means depend thereupon and (f) 2 Cor. 2.16 Who is sufficient for these things The Clergy or Ministers of the Gospel which use hath made to be the meaning of the Word are called (a) 1 Cor. 4. and v. 1.2 Stewards of the Mysteries of God The Apostle in the same place saith Moreover 't is required in Stewards that a man be found faithful and blameless for (b) Tit. 1.7 A Bishop under which name is understood every Pastour
Heresies of Socinianism which of late have been and still are too much abroad I know a late worthy Prelate and others to their immortal Praise have as it becomes them bestirred themselves for this Cause but in others there hath been a great Lukewarmness I say not to Write but to make use of the Authority which the Laws give them against such things Besides others in the (a) Anno 29. Caroli 2d in 1677. Act for taking away the Writ De haereticô comburendo 't is provided that nothing in that Act shall extend or be construed to take away or abridge the Jurisdiction of Pretestant Arch-Bishops or Bishops or any other Judges of Ecclesiastical Courts in Cases of Atheisme Blasphemy or Heresie and other damnable Doctrine and Opinions so that still they may prosecute the Of fenders This is still in Force and Unrepealed but certainly it hath not been made use of as it might and ought to have been I am afraid that those who in things of that nature have been so remiss would if they had by the late Act been allowed have been more severe about Formalities and Ceremonial things for thô Thanks be to God Persecution about indifferent things be ceased yet in many remains the persecuting Spirit and 't is often found that those who (b) Matth. 23.24 Swallow a Camel will strain at a Gnat. It is a great Mercy of God when he is pleased to raise up and send those who give Men warning of the Danger and of their Duty Such are the fore-runners of a Blessing as the Lord mentions it by a Prophet (c) Isai 62.6 I have set watchmen over thy walls O Jerusalem which shall never hold their peace day nor night These are the faithful Servants which never grow remiss or weary but are continually doing their Work standing upon their Guards giving warning where there is any danger or approach of an Enemy and how great must the Guilt be of those who when the Enemy is at the Gate and the (d) Isaia 56.10 Wolves amidst the Flock are as unconcerned as Dumb dogs and Idol Shepherds then in such a case even those who are not Christ's Ministers by way of Office ought to speak out for which out of that same place of the Prophet they have God's Warrant ye that make mention of the name of the Lord keep not silence When the Watchman doth not give warning then any Member of the Society may give it for the Publick Good And upon this occasion this is my Warrant and the ground of this Acting of mine Another kind of Sins which the Nation abounds in is call'd Sins of Age for every part of Man's life hath some Sins which that Age doth particularly incline him to And First The Sins of Youth as are Rashness chiefly Lust and Pleasures (e) Zech. 11.17 of Sin which heat of Blood in that Age draws them into These David could not forget but Repented of (c) Psal 25.7 and Prayed to God to forget and forgive Remember not the sins of my youth Ambition is one of the proper Sins of Men of ripe years and Covetousness of Old Age 't is very strange to see Men the nearer they draw to the journey's end the more sollicitous to be to make provision for it and God knows how many unlawful ways are by Men made use of to attain to their ends The Nation is full of them and thô we cannot tell all the Works of Darkness subservient to their evil Designs there is enough of it known to grieve the Heart of all that love God and hate Sin There are also Sins of Relations as are between Husband and Wife how many daily miscarriages are there of one of those Relations against the other Want of Union want of Love full of Wranglings Divisions Quarrels hard Usage and Abuses by one put upon the other And no wonder for God's Blessing goeth not along with the breakers of so Sacred a Bond as is Marriage of God's own immediate Institution at the very beginning of the World There hath been a mutual Contract a reciprocal Agreement a solemn Promise in the Presence of God and in the face of the Church but is the Husband Faithful to his Wife Is the Wife True to the Husband Far from that in too many Families the Husband to maintain his Whore or to satisfie his Drunkenness or some other Lusts doth almost starve his Wife and Children and too often an ill Wife to please her Vanity and others more than her Husband instead of looking to her Family and doing her self and others some good misspends her precious time with standing idle before her Looking-Glass Dressing Patching like Jezebel Painting and sometimes in gaudy Cloaths Gaming Gossiping and the like pernicious courses doth often Beggar her Husband Thus (d) Isai 3.16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24. the Daughters of Zion were haughty and walked with stretched out necks and wanton eyes walking and mincing as they went and making a tinkling with their feet But what doth God say to all this Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion and the lord will discover their secret parts in that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments and their cauls and their round tire like the Moon the chains and the bracelets and the mufflers the bonnets and ornaments of the legs and the head bands and the tablets and the ear-rings and nose-jewels the changeable suits of apparel and the mantles and the pimples and the crisping pins the glasses and the fine linnen and the woods and the vails and it shall come to pass that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink and instead of a girdle there shall be a rent and instead of a well set hair baldnesi and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth and burning instead of beauty Many of those vanities our present times do not want which they seem to have borrowed of them so we may expect the like punishment Some of these vanities continued in the days of the Apostles therefore they would Reform it and give the Sex the example of Holy Women in the Old times for saith he (e) 1 Pet. 3.5 6. after this manner in the old time the hold women also who trusted in God adorned themselves being in subjection unto their own husbands and in the next verse he names what old time he meaneth namely of Abraham for he adds even as Sara obeyed Abraham calling him lord whose daughters ye are as long as ye do well and to instruct them well in this matter he tells first Negatively what this vain Apparel must not be whose adorning let it be not that outward one (f) v. 3. of plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold or of putting on of apparel Then Positively what kind it ought to be (g) v. 4. but let it be the hidden man of the heart in that
and quarrels selfish Men who would make God's Holy Name and Cause subservient to their own ends And if through their base way of Calumniating they gain their Point they are pleased with and applaud themselves in 't and as the Prophet saith they rejoice and are glad (d) Habak 1.15.16 therefore they Sacrifice unto their Net and burn Incense unto their Drag And like the Assyrian boast of the Mischief which through the Credulousness of others they have done and say by the strength of my hand I have done it and by my wisdom for I am prudent Therefore when you are about suppressing one evil have a great care not to make way for another Hot headed and fiery Men are not proper Instruments for the work of Reformation they are fitter to Destroy than to Build up and commonly they will use means not conducing to the true End But the manner of doing things is that which Men should be very Cautions in 't is not enough to do a good thing but it must be well done in a due manner the saying is true Prosunt verba parum prosunt adverbia multum Non bona tam pensat quam bene facta Deus Will you get rid of Slanderers then frown upon them for an angry Countenance driveth away a backbiting tongue or else who can be safe Si accusare sat est quis erit innocens A zeal for God's Glory is with some nothing but a pretence when it breaks the rules of Charity without which no true Piety 'T is highly Commendable when sincere and real but withal it must not be inconsiderate rather according to knowledge and managed with meekness and Christian prudence for (a) Prov. 25.23 the Servant of the Lord must be gentle to all Men. What such Men call Zeal is only an Effect of the violence and imperuosity of their Temper and not a real desire of God's Honour 't is more to please their passion than to serve God (c) 1 King 19.11.12 13. When God appeared to Elijah he was not in the (b) 2 Tim. 2.24 great and strong Wind nor in the Earthquake nor in the Fire but in the still small Voice God doth so when he comes in the way of Mercy if otherwise 't is in Judgment and as God is Merciful Just Men are commanded to be so one to another Peragit tranquilla potestas Quod violenta nequit Saith a Latin Poet which is true therefore gentle and fair means must be try'd before you come to hard and rough ones for they effectually work upon some Tempers when the contrary do not For this Reason I would have private Men that are willing to promote the work of Reformation the more to gain upon the Spirits of Men to make use only of perswasion and leave the way of compulsion for the Magistrates whose Office is to see the Laws executed against hardned and refractory Offenders but ever to avoid base and false ways But when all is said Reformation is properly God's work who turns the hearts disposes things and Persons and blesses means in order to 't But now to our Times for we are more nearly concerned The Nation is wholly overgrown with Sin in Soul and Body we are quite overspread with that Spiritual leprosie so that with the Leper we may well cry out (a) Levit. 13.45 unclean unclean And out of God's holy Word the experience of all Ages and of our own with a witness we may know the sad effects and consequences of Sin not only on the low Shrubs but also upon the talest Cedars I can remember so may many more how within this half Century God's Thunderbolt hath thô in some different degrees lighted upon the Heads of several Countrys I can name Six nay Seven whereof (a) Charles I. one lost his life and (b) James II. his Son his Kingdom (c) Frederic III. K. of Denmark another for a while lost his Kingdom and was a long time besieged in his Capital City (d) Christina Q. of Sweden died in Rome Two others left their Crowns and Country not so willingly as they would have had (e) John Casimir K. of Poland died Abbot of St. Germain in Paris seemed to be and went to Travel and died in Foreign parts (f) Alfonso K. of Portugal a Sixth one was Transported out of his Kingdom confin'd in a Prison and his Brother raised upon his Throne All these were Christians thô of different Perswasions the Seventh (g) Mahomet IV. the present Sultan's Father Emperor of the Turks Dethroned and his Brother made his Successor God forbid I should pretend to dive into God's Secrets and assign the particular Causes of these Judgments but I may boldly say Sin was the general One for except they had been Sinners they should have been no Sufferers but let this make us all adore and tremble at those Effects of God's wise and just Providence The great (a) Psal 76.12 God is terrible to the Kings of the Earth as well as to other Men When it seems good unto him he can drive (b) Dan. 4. Nebuchadnezzar from his Throne and make his dwelling among the Beasts of the Field till he had humbled himself before him for the most High Ruleth in the Kingdom of Men and giveth it to whomsoever he will herein the Psalmist concurs with the Prophet when he saith (c) Psal 75.7 God is the Judge he pulleth down one and setteth up another He hath Angels whereof (d) 2 King 19.35 one can in one Night destroy an Hundred fourscore and five thousand Men of Sennacharib's Army and send him home to be killed by his Sons The same God who then did doth now Govern the World and his Hand is not shortned but that he can still reach his Churches Enemies yea such ones as in Cruelty and Falsness have outdone all the Nebuchadnezzars and Sennacheribs in the World and some wait to see what in God's due time will be the end of such Pharaohs and Oppressors as now are alive When God chastiseth Men and his Arrows are fast in them they may and must own themselves to be the Cause of it and and with King David say (e) Psal 38.18 I will declare mine iniquity and will be sorry for my Sin It were well to say and do so before the Judgment hath overtaken us to prevent it therefore bring forth Fruits worthy of Repentance We know the Doom of the fig Tree that bare no fruit (f) Luke 13.7 cut it down why cumbreth it the Ground For Three years he had been looking for fruit but found none God hath been waiting for fruit from some of us not only Three but Thirty years and more yet we are barren still at the desire of the dresser of the Vineyard there is a reprieve granted for a year longer lord let it alone this year also till I shall dig about it and dung it and if it bear not fruit then after that