God did once shine in the understanding of Man at the same time it was also stampt upon his Will as it appeared from that entire freedom and indifference the Will then had to stand or not to stand to accept or not accept the Temptation The will now a Slave I will grant the Will now to be as much a slave as any one will have it being free only to sin But from the beginning it was not so neither is This Nature but Chance therefore it were blasphemy to lay our Faults upon God as the Author of them as if He had made us crooked But when they came out of his Hands the understanding and will never disagreed what was propounded by the one was never contradicted by the other Neither did the will attend upon the understanding in a servile manner but as Solomon's Servants waited upon him it admired the Wisdom of its Dictates and heard the Counsels thereof which did both direct and reward its Obedience For it is the nature of this Faculty to follow a Superiour Guide the Vnderstanding but then she was a Subject as a Queen is to her King who both acknowledges a Subjection and yet retains a Majesty Passions the Instruments of Virtue IF we pass downward to the Passions we shall be convinced what influence the Vnderstanding hath in rendring them the Instruments of Virtue which the Stoicks look'd upon as sinful Defects and irregularities as so many deviations from right Reason But in this they were constantly out-voted by other Sects of Philosophers To us let this be sufficient that our Saviour Christ was seen to weep to be sorrowful to pity and to be angry which shews that there may be Gall in a Dove Passion without sin and Motion without disturabnce BUT then the Vnderstanding must keep them within their just bounds as in the case of Love which is so often compared to a Fire as if it could chuse whether it will heat or no no more than a Flame can The inferiour Affections governed by the Vnderstanding therefore there is need of a sound mind to fix it upon its right Object that it may not degenerate into Lust So in the case of Hatred it must be the Vnderstanding that must confine it to its proper Object that it may not become Rancour against our Brethren by the same over-ruling Power Anger may be brought to vent its self by the measures of Reason and never be touched with any transport of Malice or the violence of Revenge And for the lightsome passion of Joy it may be made a Masculine and severe thing not like the crackling of Thorns but the most solid recreation of the Judgment Sorrow hereby is forced to be as silent as our Thoughts and that Anchor of the Mind Hope is fastned upon the Actions of Innocence and Integrity instead of the Mud of this World FOR as in the Body when the Heart and Liver do their Offices and all the smaller Vessels under them act orderly and duly there arises a just temperament upon the whole The cause of peace and satisfaction to the Soul which we call Health So in the Soul when the Vnderstanding governs the lower Affections there arises peace and satisfaction upon the whole Soul which is such an healthful Constitution as is infinitely beyond the pleasures of the Body THIS is the Faculty that rules in us the immediate product whereof is Science Science the immediate product of the Vnderstandding as the first Creature God formed was Light so the first motion of Adam after he was furnished with a sound Understanding and an obedient Will was after Knowledg But by a foolish desire after more and by taking some false steps he lost his Way and left his Posterity in the dark either following wrong Scents or much in doubt what paths to walk in However there is a Providence in the conduct of Knowledg as well as of other Affairs on the Earth and it was not designed that all the Mysteries of Nature and of Providence should be plainly understood through all the Ages of the World and what was made known to the Ancients only by broken Conclusions and Traditions will be known in the latter Ages of the World in a more perfect Way by Principles and Theories The encrease of Knowledg being that which changeth so much the Face of the World and the state of Human Affairs I do not doubt but there is a particular care in the conduct of it by what steps and degrees it should come to Light at what Seasons and in what Ages What Evidence should be left either in Scripture Reason or Tradition for the grounds of it how clear or obscure how disperst or united All these things were weighed and considered and such measures taken as best suit the designs of Providence and the general Project and Method proposed in the government of the World And it is not to be questioned but the state both of the old World and of that which is to come is exhibited to us in Scripture in such a measure and proportion as is fit for this forementioned purpose not as the Articles of our Faith or the precepts of a good Life which he that runs may read but to the attentive and those that are unprejudiced and to those that are inquisitive and have their minds open and prepared for the discernment of Mysteries of such a Nature There are many secrets that pass our Vnderstandings HENCE it is that in every Science there are more Arcana to pose our Understanding than easie Conclusions to satisfie it which things being so far beyond the reach of our Reason must needs enforce us to believe that there is an admirable Wisdom which disposeth and an infinite Knowledg which doth comprehend those Secrets that we are not able to fathom In Divinity likewise there are Mysteries that with their brightness dazzle and confound our Reason by their own astonishing Glory and Splendour they render themselves invisible to us Now our Reason must not presume to Science in those Mysteries which are so far removed from its Notices whenever it offers to judg of them it falls into uncertain Opinions and loses its self in a Maze of thoughts wherefore that our Reason may learn to be Modest and to keep within its due bounds let it try whether it can understand how a drop of dew can be Organiz'd into a Fly or a Grashopper let it tell us how the Glories of the Field are spun or by what Pencil the Herbs and Flowers are so finely painted if these Objects do pose it which our Eyes converse with daily then let it not pretend to understand incomprehensible to order infinite and define ineffable things FOR to know how far our Science can go is one of the best Points of Knowledg The advantage of knowing how far our Science will reach we can have For this will secure us from those bold Untruths and very absurd Errours
be reformed before the Corruptions of our Hearts are purged away And when this once comes to pass then shall Christ be set upon his Throne then the Glory of the Lord shall overflow the Land then we shall be a People acceptable to him and as Mount Sion which he dearly loved then by Reflection we shall see our selves as in a Glass and our Faults being discovered we shall readily endeavour to amend them for it is not in this case as in bodily Distempers when the Body is necessitated by connexion of Causes to suffer the Malady upon it Every man is obliged to reform himself but the Soul it in its own power the first step therefore to a Cure is for a Man to convince himself by his own Reason that he hath done evil and the desire to have this Disease removed naturally follows thereupon For it is to no purpose to complain of bad Times or to expect better days so long as Mankind are so averse from cleansing their own Hearts Whereas if the Motions and Inclinations of the Soul within were once set right all things without will go true because they are all moved by those hidden Springs and if every Man would study to do his own business in the ways of a virtuous and good Life all Commotions in the Earth and all Differences would presently cease And Solomon makes this conclusion from all those wise Reflections he made upon things under the Sun Fear God and keep his Commandments for this is a Man's whole business and his whole Excellency So that there is nothing in Religion that I have wondered at more The best way to know what our Condition is must be from keeping God's Commandments than to see many Christians in continual Anxieties about their State complaining much of their want of assurance in this matter when it may be brought to a speedy and plain issue by examining our selves how we have kept God's Commandments the moral Precepts of an holy Life this one Mark of our Sincerity in Religion well attended to would silence all those Suspicions that many Persons are apt to entertain concerning their Condition If it were worth our while to enquire into the reason of these Doubts and Fears they may be truly resolved into a dark and melancholy Humor or into false Conceptions of God and his Affection towards Men or into the Breaches and inequality of our Obedience to his Laws Now the melancholy temper must be left to Physick and Time for the Scripture prescribes nothing at all in this Case any more than it does for a Frenzy or Feaver but that is a very false and dangerous Principle which some have entertained concerning God as if he did notreally desire the Happiness of Man but watched all Advantages to surprize him into Destruction as if his goodness was not a setled and constant Disposition of his Nature but took him at certain Fits as it does the Sons of Men as if we could have no sure Rule to know when we might hope for his Favor as if the Majesty of Heaven were merely arbitrary in dispensing of things as he pleases without considering any Qualification in his Creatures Whereas he who will not believe there is so much goodness in God as that he did not make us for our own Ruin can never have any quiet in his Mind because nothing but the goodness of God can be a reasonable ground of Hope or Security to him Many Mischiefs arise from false Notions of God and Religion The next Mischief to this doth arise from false Notions concerning Religion as if it did wholly consist in the performance of external Duties now we must not take the Measures of our Religion by the ebbings and flowings of our Spirits that depend upon our natural Temper but by a firm Resolution of Soul to keep God's Commandments by the conformity of our Wills to his Another Mischief proceeds from the frequent Interruptions of a holy Life and by the constancy of our Obedience to his Laws Another Mischief proceeds from the frequent Interruptions and great Breaches of a holy Life and this doth much disquiet the Spirits of Men so that usually they betake themselves to false Principles for relief Whereas that Person who rightly understands the Nature of God who hath worthy apprehensions about his Goodness to Mankind hath true Notions about Religion and is free from any melancholy Distemper who doth for the most part continue in an even course of Obedience allowing for human Frailties that befal the best of Men he enjoys a lasting Peace and Serenity of Mind without any considerable Change but such as he can give an account of from his sensible Failings and Variations For I do not believe that Comfort and Peace of Conscience are such arbitrary things as that God gives them to whom and when he pleases without any regard of our Carriage towards him but God hath so ordered Matters that Peace and Comfort shall be the natural result of our Duty and the discharge of a good Conscience towards God and towards man The truth is we do not live according to those Rules of Righteousness that are laid down in his Gospel for the Government of our Lives and so we are affraid to try our selves by this Evidence of our Love to God our Obedience to his Commands but are glad to hearken to any other obscure signs which we cannot be certain of neither will they bring the business to any issue like a Man that hath outrun himself in his Estate he is unwilling to look into his Books but had rather feed himself with some uncertain signs of his good Condition than examin his accounts that he may truly know what it is If we would not deceive our own Souls we must bring our selves to this touchstone Obedience to all the Laws of God by this means we shall take a certain course to understand what state we are in which Laws we are sufficiently enabled to keep by that Grace and Assistance that God offers and is never denied to those that are not wanting to themselves And Man being the only Creature in this visible World that is formed with a Capacity of Worshiping and Enjoying his Maker we have no just pretence to Reason The best way to know what our Condition is must be from keeping God's Commanments unless our Reason be determined to actions of Religion For as Men we are endowed with such a Faculty as is capable of apprehending a Deity and of expecting a future State after this Life whence it follows that our proper Happiness must consist in the perfecting of this Faculty which nothing else but Religion can so much as pretend to it is true indeed Health Riches Reputation Safety are necessary to render our Condition pleasant and comfortable in this World Now herein appears the advantage of Religion that it is not only the Moral but the Natural Cause of all these things because it doth not only
but the Expectation of Good as Fear is the Expectation of Evil there are Causes alternately working in the mind some that make us expect Good and some that make us expect Evil if the former prevail then the whole Passion is Hope if the latter then the whole is Fear Now Hope is the greatest Cheat to and Abuser or Men for in this are founded all the vain though specious Attempts which men have cast themselves upon whether it be of the Arena where the Gladiators sported themselves in the most bloody and cruel Exercises for no other end but only Hope of Conquest or whether it be any other gallant Madness and Vain-Glory such as reading of Romances may produce in pusilanimous men as it did in Don Quixotte UNTO the same order of things we may add all those famous Madnesses and Furies so much sung of and celebrated by Prose-Writers and Poets I mean the Olympian Nemaean Pythian and Isthmaean Games wherein the choicest and fairest young men tryed their utmost Strength to no purpose For it is so noted whosoever won the Victory in the Olympian Games were for ever after good for nothing All the Sun and Dust they so patiently endured was only for a Crown of Bays that they might not enter their Towns by the Gates or Common Passages but be carried home upon mens Shoulders Were it worth our while to consider these things it would strike us into an Amazement to see what Honour hath ever been done to mere Trifles to things utterly of no use and that for so many Hundred Years space from Thirty Years or thereabouts before the Building of Rome until almost the expiration of that Empire with a general Applause and Concourse of almost the whole World Upon this have we grounded all our books and monuments of Learning which concern our Epochaes and Dates of time The Olympian Games great Follies as it were to bear Witness against our selves how vain we are by making and framing our memorials by those things that were the greatest Follies that ever were BUT this may represent to us the Nature of Mankind and shew us by what springs they are moved how the little hopes of empty Honour or Profit will drive 'em into the most hazardous Attempts Honour and Profit drive men upon the greatest Hazards how easily they swallow the most bitter Pills when they are gilt over how ambitiously they hunt after the Troubles of greatness and basely adore the fine and gawdy nothings of this Life ONE kind of false Fortitude still remains and that is Courage upon ignorance when through want of Experience and Knowledg we rush unadvisedly upon the Swords point and walk upon the very edge of a Precipice For that of Thucydides is most certain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignorance and Unexperience makes men bold and foolhardy but good Advice is naturally slow-placed Thus it is commonly observed that your fresh-water Soldiers go to the Battel as chearfully as if they went to a Wedding but as soon as they see their own Blood their Hearts fail them Something allied is this Valour upon Ignorance with that upon Hope for therefore do men run upon Danger because they have a Hope to speed well and come off without Harm For as soon as the Danger which they knew not begins to appear in its own Colours their Constancy leaves them and none more readily run away The Men of Argos waging Warr with the Sicyonians and beating them often it happened that the Syconians entertained the Spartans for help who coming into the Field in Habit and Furniture like the Syconians whilst they were undiscovered the People of Argos fought stoutly as against their accustomed Enemies but as soon as they percieved they were Spartans without more adoe they fled MANY more things might be said by way of farther opening the Nature of Fortitude but we will shut up all with this one Conclusion that it is not Hope nor Anger The Lawfulness of the Cause warrants men to be valiant nor Reward nor any thing else but only the consideration of the Goodness and Lawfulness of the Cause that warrants men to be valiant else Thieves and Robbers might be accounted so whose Courage is like Zeal and Learning in a Heretick wholly bent upon doing Mischief else rash and unadvised Persons and such as palliate their Lust under the name of Love and every one that is carried on by the strength and violence of any Passion whatsoever may be esteemed men or true Courage and Fortitude Nam impetu quodam instinctu currere ad Mortem commune cum multis deliberare verò causas ejus expendere utque suaserit Ratio vitae mortisque consilium suscipere vel ponere ingentis animi est * For it is a common thing with many to run headlong to Death through a certain instinct and violence of Nature but it is the part of a wiâ—e great Soul to deliberate well and weigh the Cauâ—es of it then as Reason shall perswade to take up or lay down the Intent either of Life or Deatâ— YET after all if we look into a Christian man as he is proposed to us in the Gospel we may justly wonder to what purpose God hath planted in us this Faculty and Passion of Courage since the Characters of a Christian are Patience Christianity not opposite to Military Discipline Humility and Gentleness which Virtues are to possess the Room of Anger and Resentment that stirs up Fortitude why else are we to obey the Precepts of suffering Wrong rather than go to Law of yielding the Coat to him who would take the Cloak But there are two Cases among Christians wherein Bloodshed is allowed first in case of Justice when a Malefactor dyes for his Crime secondly in case of publick War and defence of our Country or our selves for the Christian Religion is no Enemy to it Therefore John the Baptist instead of advising the Soldier to lay aside his Weapons as unlawful instructs him rather in his Calling not to wrong any place by Pillage nor to mutiny in dislike of his Pay These being the two principal Vices of a Soldier which the Preacher of Repentance would have him avoid TO shut up this point we must not be too prodigal of Life nor trifle it away upon every Occasion but we must freely expose it when we truly know upon what Occasion to spare or upon what to spend it a violent Lust an ungovernable Rage heightned by Provocation or enflamed by the Spirit of Wine may so furnish out a Hector to a Duel and prompt him on to dye as a Fool dieth But the Foundation of great and Heroical performances the just and rational the considerate and sedate the constant Christian Principles the best Foundation of couragious performances perpetual and uniform Contempt of Death in all the Shapes thereof is only derived from the Christian Principle this inspires Passive Valour and furnishes invincible Martyrs for the
before he is fully possess'd of the End he drives at his Prudence must be concluded to de defective BUT put these three all together and in whomsoever they are found I may affirm that he is a Person well qualified with Prudence either for this or the other World FOR as the prudent Man for this World is ever busie in contriving the most probable Ways of gaining the most precious things of it his Head is ever at work his thoughts are watchful and intent his whole mind is in this very matter to promote his Fortune and to settle his Interest so the prudent Man in the Exercises of Virtue casts off all sloth and negligence The behaviour of a prudent Man in Religion spends his hours in Meditation upon the transitory State of the best Things here and the certainty of Death and Judgment so that He is constantly employed in stating his Accounts for this great Day and in examining himself how he is prepared for it As the prudent Man for this World who resolves to be Rich considers that He must then be very industrious in his Calling and very frugal in his Expences that He must deny his Ease and his Appetites and exactly keep his Accounts For He who indulges his Belly and his sleep takes not the right way to encrease his Estate And as He who hath an Ambition to be highly honoured or prefer'd will take care to offend no Body but demean himself Civilly will put up and conceal many Affronts will do all acts of Courtesie and beneficence that He can As another whose Genius leads him to search for Knowledg knows the directest way to it is sedulous Study to peruse good Books frequent the best Company and to render all useful to himself by sober Contemplation So the prudent Man in Virtue aims at the Enjoyment of God's Favour and Eternal Life with him therefore He applies himself heartily to the fittest Means for this End which is to be holy and to do good to serve God faithfully and to make use of all Opportunities of redeeming his time therefore thinking much of Heaven and hoping to land himself safely there He will never steer his Course by a false Compass by imagining that he is in the right way when he is of such a Party when He can dispute hotly for this and that Opinion or when He spends all his Zeal upon those things that perish in the using and never go beyond this present State As the prudent Man for this World doth not content himself with chusing proper Means to the Ends he follows but when he is satisfied that the Means he hath chosen are fit and suitable he is never discouraged or baffled out of them by any difficulties whatsoever For instance No hardship disheartens the Man who designs to get Riches He slights all the Labours and Cares in his Way because he is stedfastly bent upon the acquisition of his Desires And as another Man who is strongly inclined to become Eminent in all sorts of Learning and to understand all Matters that have been before him knows well that his Candle must never go out that by pains and watchings he must contract pale Looks and a sickly Body yet he is not cast down by any of these considerations So the prudent Man in the business of Virtue is sure that if he doth good and lives well A virtuous and prudent Man values not Reproaches he shall be happy therefore he values not the Reproaches of bad men nor the Afflictions that are to be endured For he will never be beaten off from his intended purpose by any such or greater discouragements As a Wise Man for this World looks upon it as a notorious Mark of Folly for a Man to run upon any thing at all Adventures as He is wary and suspicious so that he will not trust his Fortune in every Bodies hands nor take the Counsel of a Man whom he thinks not to be Honest or that he imagins will impose upon him So the prudent Person for the cause of Virtue builds his Faith and Hope for a better World with as much care and caution therefore He is not apt to be misled by every Impostor but contemns those Mountebanks in Religion A Religious prudent man is not easily misled who by fair Stories and specious Gulleries wheedle men out of their Sense and Reason This he doth because He is as careful of his Religion and as watchful against Cheats as the cunning man for this World is wont to be for advancing his secular Ends and Interests For which purpose he will watch the proper Season of doing any thing and will never let it slip So the prudent Man in the Warfare of Virtue lays hold of all opportunities for the benefit of his Soul He makes use of the present time and considers if his Work be not done now it will never be done at all So far the Parallel goes between a prudent Man for this World and for Virtue But here we cannot but bewail the ill State of things that Men should strive to be more discreet in the little Affairs of this Life than they are in matters of much more importance to them the unreasonableness of which will appear in these four particulars First it is manifest The unreasonableness of being more prudent for this world than for virtue that a good Man hath a nobler End to pursue than the Men of this World can pretend to for how low a design is it how unworthy a rational Being to heap up Wealth when he knows not how soon he may be taken away from it or that waste away and leave him With an ambitious Person it is just so he hath laboured all his days to become Great and Honorable when he hath effected it his Name is only toss'd too and frô by the envy of the World but supposing that Riches could be durable or that Honor were a certain thing yet the Possessions of this Earth in their most flourishing condition are not to be compared with the enjoyments of a virtuous Man which are chiefly to have peace with God and with his own mind Now if a Virtuous Man hath a greater and more desirable End of his Actions it is very unreasonable that he should be outdone in prudence or care in the working out his Salvation Secondly As a virtuous Man hath the best end so the means that he hath to it are much more certain than all the methods of the World are For Solomon hath assured us that here the Race is not always to the swift nor the Battel to the strong one in all likelihood would think that the swiftest should winn the Race and the strongest the Battel yet the wisest Man and the best Judge of the true valuation of all things below hath determined quite otherwise the best humane means tho never so well fitted to their ends do often miscarry for after a Man hath run the utmost dangers and hath
either of it self or other things but some men have been so fond of corporeal Sense as to believe that there is nothing in Human Understanding which was not first in bodily Sense which whosoever asserts must say that Life and Cogitation it self Knowledg or Vnderstanding Reason and Memory Volition and Appetite things of the greatest moment and Reality to be nothing but mere Words without any signification For if Sense were the only Evidence of things there could be no absolute truth and falshood nor certainty at all of any thing Sense as such being obnoxious to much Delusion and were Existence to be allowed to nothing that doth not fall under corporeal Sense then we must deny the Being of Mind both in our selves and others because we can nether see nor feel any such thing THERE have been also those who have thought that our understandings might be so made as to deceive us in all our clearest perceptions in Geometrical Theorems themselves and even in our common Notions if this be so then we can never be certain of the truth of any thing not so much as that two and two are four nay if this be so we can never arrive at any certainty concerning the Existence of God essentially good forasmuch as This cannot any otherwise be proved than by the use of our Vnderstanding-Faculty Besides it is no way congruous to think that God Almighty should make Rational Creatures so as to be in an utter impossibility of ever attaining to any Truth if this were so what would our Life be but a Dream and our selves but a ridiculous piece of fantastick Vanity WHEREAS no Power how great soever can make any thing indifferently to be true nor can create such Minds as shall have as clear Conceptions of Falshoods as they have of Truths For Example no Understanding Being that knows what a part is and what a whole what a cause and what an effect can possibly be so made as clearly to conceive the part to be greater than the whole or the effect to be before the cause The Deity is the original of Truth For the Deity is the original of Truth and Wisdom And it doth not derogate from him that created Minds should so partake of the divine Mind as to know certainly that two and two make four that equals added to equals will make equals that a whole is greater than a part that the cause is before the effect and such like common Notions which are the Principles from whence all our knowledg is derived MOREOVER a Perfect understanding Being is the beginning and head of the Scale of Entity from whence things gradually descend downward lower and lower Mind the oldest of all things till they end in senseless matter for Mind is the oldest of all things senior to the Elements and the whole corporeal World for if once there had been no Life in the whole Universe but all had been dead then could there never have been any Life or Motion in it and if once there had been no understanding then could there never have been any understanding produced because to suppose Life and Understanding to rise out of that which is altogether dead and senseless is plainly to suppose something to come out of nothing wherefore because there is Mind we are certain that there was some Mind from all Eternity from whence these imperfect Minds of ours came for the first Principle of all things must be an understanding Nature and the power we have to understand the truth we altogether owe to this Cause FOR Gen. 1.27 What the Image of God is in Man God created Man in his own image which image is that universal Rectitude of all the faculties of the Soul by which they stand apt and disposed to their receptive Offices and Operations therefore in Adam the Understanding was a Noble and pure Faculty could lead and controul the Passions as it listed it did then determine upon the several informations of Sense and all the varieties of imagination not hearing only like a sleepy Judg but also directing their Verdict Being innocent and quick it gave the Mind a bright and full prospect into all things insomuch that the discoveries of Truth are now very obscure in comparison with those clear representations thereof which the understanding made then IT was likewise Adam's happiness to have those Maxims and general Notions of the Mind which are the Rules of Discourse Adam's understanding much above ours and the Basis of all Philosophy clear and unsullied Study was not then a duty Night-watchings were needless The Light of Reason wanted not the assistance of a Candle This is the doom of us poor faln Creatures to labour in the Fire to spend our Time and impair our Health and perhaps to spin out all our days upon one pitiful Conclusion And 't is difficult for us who were born and bred up with Ignorance and Infirmities about us to raise our Thoughts to those Intellectual Perfections that attended our Nature in the time of Innocence But we must conclude the Understanding to be at that time most Excellent by the glorious Remainders that are left of it For all those Arts Rarities and Inventions which vulgar Heads gaze at the Ingenious pursue and all admire they are but the Reliques of an Understanding defaced with Sin and Time Insomuch that an Aristotle whom we take to be the Great Master of Science was but the rubbish of an Adam and Athens but the Rudiments of Paradise THE Image of God did no less remarkably shew it self in that which we call the practical Vnderstanding in which are treasured up the Rules of Action and the Seeds of Morality of this sort are these Rules of Life that God is to be worship'd our Parents to be honoured our words to be kept which being of universal Influence as to the regulation of the Behaviour and Converse of Mankind are the ground of all Virtue and Civility and the Foundation of Religion NOW Adam had these Notions in his Bosom firm and untainted and He had such a Conscience as might be its own Casuist and those Actions must needs be regular when there is an uninterrupted agreement between the Rule and the Faculty The Rule and the Faculty did ever agree All the Laws of Nations and wise Decrees of States the Statutes of Solon and the twelve Tables were but a paraphrase upon this standing Rectitude of Nature upon this principle of Justice that would never be imposed upon by a deluding Fancy nor bribed by an alluring Appetite no utile nor jucundum could turn the Ballance to a false or dishonest Sentence the inferiour Faculties had the clearest Instructions and were commanded too with such Power as they could not resist It was not then as it is now when the Vnderstanding chastises the Passions as old Eli did his headstrong Sons gently and easily but its Voice at that time was this must this shall be done THUS the Image of
foundation in Reason and Nature these do depend wholly upon instruction and memory and cannot be preserved without them but we see among the Rude and Ignorant upon whom hardly any care or instruction is used men have as lively a sense of the difference between virtue and vice in many particulars as the more learned part of the World which is a plain Argument that these things are not conveyed to us by Tradition Nor can they be applyed to humane Policy for many of these things were never enacted by humane Laws and yet they obtain among Mankind as Gratitude Charity and such like Seneca says that Gratitude was never enjoyned by any Law but that of the Macedonians which plainly shews that these things owe their Original to some other Cause and that they are to be attributed to Nature the Author of which is God and the general Consent of Mankind is an argument of their Truth and Reality HOWEVER it is Objected that several Persons and some whole Nations have differed about some of these things so that this Consent is not so general besides the Consent of the World in Superstition and Idolatry may seem to weaken this Argument from the universal Agreement of Mankind about Good and Evil. WE Answer that it is not denied but that Men may so vitiate their Natures Nature may be so vitiated as to lose the Sense of Virtue and Vice as to lose the sense of Virtue and Vice yet it may remain true that Mankind have a natural Sense and Knowledg of them as some by Lust and Intemperance may so spoil their Palates that they may not taste the difference of Meats and Drinks yet this last is never the less natural to Mankind for there is a great deal of difference between Natural and Moral Agents natural Agents always continue the same but voluntary Agents may vary in some things that are Natural especially where Men have Debauch'd their Natures and have offered great violence to themselves more than this the exceptions are not so general as to infringe the universal Consent of Mankind the difference is but in few things and therefore they are taken notice of and being collected together in History they may seem a great many but that they are particularly noted is a sign they are but few what if one Philosopher mentioned that Snow was Black and Ten more had been of his Mind this would have been no objection against the Sense or Reason of Mankind for all Men agree that Self-preservation is a natural Instinct notwithstanding some particular Persons have offered violence to their own Lives As to Superstition or Idolatry there hath been no such agreement of Mankind in that as to prove it to have a Foundation in Nature for it is confessed that it was not always practised in the World but that it had a Beginning and indeed it grew up by degrees and sprang out of the Corruptions of Mankind and therefore Time was when there was no such thing so that it does not owe its Rise to Nature but to the defection of Mankind For while Idolatry prevailed in the World it was condemned by several Men as a stupid and sottish Thing tho they had not the courage to declare against the Practice of it so that whilst it was used by the generality of the World it was censured as a great Folly by those that were best able to judg Lastly WE know what is Virtue and Vice Good and Evil more distinctly Outward Revelation discovers to us what is Virtue and what is Vice by outward Revelation in former Ages of the World God was pleased to reveal his Will several Ways and more especially to the Nation of the Jews the rest of the World being left solely to the dictates of natural Light But in the latter Ages of the World it pleased God to make a publick and more full Declaration of his Mind by his Son and this Revelation is for Substance the same with the Law of Nature our Saviour comprehended it under these two Heads the Love of God and of our Neighbour the Apostle reduceth it to Sobriety Righteousness and Piety for the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation teacheth us to deny all ungodliness and Worldly Lust and to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World so that if we believe the Apostle the Gospel teacheth us the very same things that Nature dictateth to Mankind for these are the very Virtues which natural Light prompt Men unto only we allow a more perfect discovery of them by the Gospel and to convince Men of the Good and Evil that are affixed to Virtue and Vice there are great and eternal Rewards promised to one and endless Punishments threatned to the other so that now Mankind have no cloak for their Sin their Duty being so clearly laid open to them and the Rewards and Punishments of another Life so plainly revealed all the defects of the natural Law and the Corruptions of it through the degeneracy of Mankind being fully supplyed by the Revelation of the Gospel So that we may now much better say than the Prophet could in his days Mich. 6.8 He hath shewed thee O Man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God BUT as to external Revelation it is Objected that the Scripture is very obscure and gives us not sufficient direction in Matters of Faith WE Answer that this Objection hath no Colour of Truth in it for if the Church of Rome to whom are beholden for this Objection against the Word of God and who are ready upon all occasions to quarrel with it Yet they do not deny but the Scriptures are plain as to Precepts of Life and Practice but as to matters of Faith they pretend its defection in as if God had not intended to reveal but conceal his Mind in these things Indeed they have some reason to pretend this considering how hard it is to find several of their Doctrines in the Scripture but as to the moral Precepts of a good Life they all grant that they are clearly delivered in the holy Scripture so that this Objection about the obscurity thereof doth not lie against what I have been speaking THEREFORE seeing Moral Virtues may be plainly understood by Natural Instinct Natural Reason the consent of Mankind and outward Revelation we must in the next place see how easie and pleasant they are to be practised First THEY are easie because we are assisted in the practice of them by the Holy Spirit of God against all difficulties whatsoever Secondly THEY are both easie and pleasant because they are profitable for all things improve our Understandings and bring peace to our Minds FOR our Christian Race is a Warfare and we have many Conquests to make over the corruptions of our Natures the influences of Sense and the disorders of Passion Whence the difficulties of a virtuous Life do