and excellent things which are contained in these words and to which they lead us naturally and easily in this plain method First We will consider what Time Season or Opportunity is in general and what in particular was that Season which St. Paul here means And also what is the import of Redeeming the Season Secondly I will offer some Reasons why we should redeem the Season and particularly consider that which is here expressed the Days are Evil. Thirdly I will mention some of those things which rob us of our Time and deprive us of the Season which St. Paul here exhorts us to make our own Fourthly I will exhibit some of those Advices and Directions whereby we may be assisted in Redeeming this Time or or Season Of the First Season or Opportunity which is the English of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Time of Action i. e. such a concurrence of all the Causes as makes the doing of any Work easy and gives hope of Success When there is such a confluence of Causes without that if we will do what is in us and cooperate with them we shall probably not fail to bring what we design to effect Thus a good Vessel and Pilot Wind and Tide make an Opportunity for us to be conveyed to such a place And if we be but willing to use them to this purpose they are likely to bring us thither Whereas if we would go when we are not favoured and help'd by such Causes we shall either not at all or very hardly and with much more pains and difficulty come to our Journeys end To this it will not be amiss to add that Opportunity does not only signify the presence of those things without us which contribute towards the producing an Effect but also the disposition and fitness of our own Faculties to cooperate with them For if they be in an incapacity all External Causes will not make an Opportunity As if a Man be sick that he cannot safely go by Water all the Tide and Wind c. do not make it a Season for him to go And if we take in all this into our Notion of Opportunity in common Speech we do not say that a Man has an opportunity of doing an ill thing Tho 't is true that external Things may so far concur with an ill Mind that they may make it easy to perper 〈◊〉 some bad Work as we say Occasion makes a Thief That if we understand as generally we do by Opportunity a concurrence of the Causes without us with our own Faculties ther we never say that a Man has opportunity of doing that which is Evil. It either is or is thought good either by us or by him that does it Which shews that even the Community of Men who make words signify as they please do suppose that our Faculties were not design'd or framed to do evil Things nor are ever properly and truly fit to do any thing but good and therefore we can do nothing which we do not think so This Observation I think to be true If any be of another mind and that Opportunity or Season is applicable indifferently to good or bad Purposes and Practices yet I suppose it will be granted that the Apostle in this place intends the Time or Season of doing good Actions such as are fit and becoming profitable and beneficial such as will be honourable to God and give a reputation to Christian Religion helping forward our own and others Happiness So that St. Paul exhorts us here to redeem the Time of doing all that good which the Gospel requires of living that excellent Life and practising all those Vertues which are agreeable to the Dispensation of Christianity of doing all those good Works here on Earth which by our perfect Institution we 〈◊〉 assisted and obliged to do And if this be the Action that St. Paul means it will not be 〈…〉 ouâ— the 〈◊〉 which when they 〈◊〉 make it a good Season for doing thus when ii will be more easy to live well and we may probâ—bly be more successfully good and attain all the Ends of our Excellent 〈◊〉 Now a constant firm Health a competent provision of the Necessaries and Conveniences of Life freedom from Slavery and long Restraints for the most part to live in Society a state of Peace and Quiet of good Will and Amity with Men and an abode here on Earth till Age has made us useless these are the things which we commonly and truly think do all conduce to this purpose But yet I dare not say that such a Condition would be best for all Men. Experience proves to us undeniably that a mixture of Good and Evil is best for the generality of Men in this State to have a dash of Adversity nay to be in a more depressed Condition may I believe be generally better for us Some Men are good in Sickness or in Want who if they enjoy'd their Health or lived in Abundance would not be so Nay I doubt not but this is true of the Community of Mankind And that the wise and good Providence that rules all things has so ordered it that the far greatest part are poor or sick or under restraint or have Enemies or do not live long because he sees it necessary to keep them under this sharp Discipline and for this Reason that hereby they may be trained up to be and to do Good and kept out of those Temptations which would be irresistible to them and so preserved from doing those Wickednesses which would make them liable to the unalterable Justice and beget such a disposition in them as might endanger their being irrecoverably bad and miserable I cannot but think that these Evils are Medicinal and good Antidotes which the wise and good Physician makes use of for curing the worst of Diseases in some and preventing them in others Nay that even very good Men have found it good for them to be thus afflicted so David tells us So Job and other the best of Men in former Ages Yea the Son of God himself and his first and best Followers were persecuted by Men and afflicted by God in the worst of these Instances By all this I am convinced That even Poverty and Disgrace and such other Calamities do not only contribute to bad Mens becoming good but to good Mens being better by giving them an opportunity for the exercise of some Vertues which would have had no place in a prosperous State and are necessary to our Perfection But tho I grant all this yet considering the imperfection of the best of Men and the necessity of Health and Liberty and Plenty and Peace to enable them for those Works which are proper and useful in this State and to compleat their Vertue which can never be unless they pass through varieties of Conditions I can't but look on these things as conducing to the good Life of Christians However these things may not facilitate the practice of Vertue to all Men yet
of God shall give us new Opportunities let us not again foolishly and carelesly squander or idlely sleep them away or frowardly waste them lest we justly provoke God to deny us any more Which would be a most terrible Judgment and yet very righteous We have lost much time never to be recovered do therefore what may be done to redeem what is past by double diligence in improving the future Let me add that the time is coming that we shall wish for one of those many good Opportunities which we trifled away when we come to our Death-Beds we shall in vain call back those Seasons Let this Consideration make us very careful not to neglect the least occasion of doing any good because we shall wish we had not These Reasons may be sufficient to persuade us not to neglect any but to use every Season of Action that offers it self to us I now proceed to 2. Reasons Why we should not only take Opportunity when 't is offered but endeavour to make it and to change the things that are contrary to us to be on our side and serviceable to our good Purposes Now that I may evince the reasonableness of this First I will declare what is here supposed Here are two things supposed which if they be not true then neither is this good Counsel which is built on and implys them but if they be both true then is it necessary They are these 1. That Opportunities are few 2. We do very much in our acting depend on them 1. The first of these I have already said something of and I believe there is none who is not fully persuaded of it For what Man is he who sees not how short his Life is And of that little time how much is taken for the maintenance of it And when we are sit for Action vacant for doing Good how are our Hands held by things falling cross to us We fall into Company by accident or are constrained by some occasions to be with such Persons where we spend much time but can do little to promote either their welfare or our own Whosoever watches for and is observant of Opportunities and Seasons he knows they fall out but seldom he often finds things to be wind-bound and tho he fain would yet he canriot stir I do not mean by this to justify the lazy and careless in their Complaints who lay their own Neglects on want of Opportunities for tho we have not so many yet we are not quite destitute we have some tho not so many as the diligent Man could wish for yet we have more than the idle will own or care to use and sufficient for the doing that Good which we are capable of doing if we do but observe and make use of them However if the Sum total of them be computed they may well pass for few If all our Life were a continued succession of Opportunities yet that being so short and so interrupted they are but few at most This is the first thing supposed 2. We do very much in our Actions depend on Opportunity this will appear if we consider these three things 1. Some Actions are not good if they be not done in Season and unless they comply with and be suited to external Causes and Circumstances There must not only be an agreement betwixt the Action and him that does it but it must also be suited to its Object and accommodated to things without Exempli Gratiâ Reproof to an Equal or Inferiour that is not by Passion or Prejudice so possessed as that what I shall say can make no Impression is good But when it is of a Superiour or an Equal indisposed to receive it 't is not good 't is unfit and foolish 't is importune and unseasonable And it is the same in most of the Actions of our Lives if they are not opportune they are not good And this I may say of all that the more seasonable the better they are This is one thing which shews our dependance on a fit Season In this case tho we could do Actions without it yet we should not 2. Other Actions tho we may and would do them we cannot We must be helped from abroad or of and by our selves we can do nothing There is no Man such a Stranger to himself and so ignorant of his own Insufficiency but knows he has need of the concurrence of many Causes with him to bring forth a good Action besides the assistance of God's Grace and all those many things that fore-pare a Man for Action and make him big with it there are more still that must help to elicit and bring it forth Exempli Gratiâ Tho a Man be never so wise and full of knowledg and tho he have never so great a list to communicate it yet unless he meet with others and those that are capable of it he cannot do what he desires and is so well qualified to do We cannot do the Good we would without the Help the Midwifery of External Causes and Things i. e. if we want Opportunity 3. Tho we could and should act without Opportunity yet our Action would be very often without effect For in most cases Success depends on the concurrence of those things that make Opportunity A Man would not have good Designs and Performances prove Abortive yet if they do not he must be beholden to this 'T is this must bring what he does to good Issue As soon may a Man make a Voyage without a Ship or Boat or when he has one against Wind and Tide arrive at his intended Port as in most undertakings have desired Success without the concurrence of external Causes Exempli Gratiâ Tho a Preacher use his utmost Skill and Care to compose his Discourse for the benefit of those whom he expects to be his Hearers yet if it so fall out that they either cannot or will not come to hear or if they do come yet fall asleep or talk or their Thoughts are taken up with other matters that they do not attend or if they presently forget what they heard or never once consider it that is unless things conspire so as not to hinder from hearing or attending to what they hear from remembring and considering at least the drift and scope of the Sermon He labours without Success that made and preached it Thus it appears that we act in dependance on such a happy confluence of things as make a Season or Opportunity And if this be true and that also that the Opportunities are few which offer themselves to us then it will follow that unless we will do nothing at all or labour in vain we must endeavour by our skill and diligence to make Opportunities to make things as pliant to our Purposes as serviceable to our Designs as is possible If the Mariner would never put out of the Harbour nor weigh Anchor but when the Wind blows full in the Poop he must lye still for the most part And
not thy Actions by halves nor so as thou shalt need to do them again Strive to do every thing as well as exactly as thou canst And tho it may happen so as that thou must do it again however thou mayst be better able to do it than now thou art yet this is all can be done to prevent it If we have considered the Reasons why we should thus take every Opportunity and be perswaded by them we shall not only do thus our selves but also endeavour that others that all with whom we have to do especially Children and Servants may do so And for that end I can't give a better Advice than that we should bring up our Children in some honest Imployment or other not suffer them to live at large to do this or that any thing or nothing what and when themselves have a Mind to it And for our Servants who are at our dispose that we should take care that they be neither idle nor ill imployed Let me also add concerning Friends when we are with them that as we ought to be careful that they do not steal Time from us so should we charge our selves that we do not rob them of it and by their Civility and Kindness to us engage them to neglect their more necessary and important Affairs Thus far I have gone in general Directions how we may not neglect any but employ every Opportunity of well-doing that offers it self The Sum is Let us redeem as much Time from the less necessary Works as is sufficient for our doing all those that are of greater Importance I now proceed to offer some Advice by what means and ways we should make Times that are adverse and opposite to become favourable and serviceable to us as we are Christians that is to the Christian Life and to all that Happiness which we naturally and innocently desire And also where we cannot make them thus pliant to our Desires and Purposes how we should avoid those Evils with which they threaten us That we may proceed more clearly we we will consider what Days may be said to be evil and what makes them so And by this our way will be more plain which we are to take either to alter or to decline the Evils 1. Those Days are said to be evil which hinder us from doing or enjoying that Good which otherwise we might The Evil of them is in such things as these Poverty Reproach and a bad Name Slavery Conâ—inement want and loss of Friends Sickness and Death the Ignorance and Mistakes of many but above all Sin of which there is greatest Danger For all the rest take Men off from doing Good but Sin makes them also do Evil. If we be made poor we shall not be able to feed the Hungry or cloath the Naked or relieve those that are ready to perish which the Rich Man can And if we die we are cut off from doing or enjoying any more the Good of this Life but if we commit Sin and practise Wickedness we not only do no Good but we do that which is contrary to it Evil. We not only deprive our selves of the Enjoyments that are innocent and natural but we by this bring our selves under great Sufferings and Misery These and such like are the Evils of any Days And the Divine Providence brings about all the rest except Sin either by natural and unseen Causes which we do not know or cannot resist Or by other Men who either master us by their Power or out-reach us by their Wit or prevail with us by their Authority Or lastly by our selves i. e. our own Folly and Negligence and Wickedness Indeed the greatest Evils of any Times come from our selves And tho Men generally complain of the Times the Times yet in many Cases if they would speak truly and properly they must blame themselves For they can't but observe that other Men are and they might be very good in those very bad Times which they so much accuse Our greatest Danger is from our Selves more than from Times and Things without us For without our own Consents nothing can make us sin And if we escape Sin and Wickedness nothing can do us much harm If we keep our selves from doing Evil we shall not fall into the worst of all those Mischiefs of which we are in Danger from the Times 1. Let this then be our first Care that we do not make the Days evil that by our own Ignorance and Folly our Carelessness and Viciosity we do not bring those Evils upon our selves for which we complain of the Times Perhaps by your bad Example you have infected others or by your ill or for want of your good Counsel some publick Persons are vicious and their Vices have had Influence on the Generality and the Age has been corrupted by this And now you complain against the Times when as your self are a great cause why they are so bad How many are there who should turn their Accusation of the Times against themselves They have and do help to make good Times bad and bad Times worse They neglect their own Duty and do not do the good of their Place they are foolish and idle and careless and vicious and whilst they are so no Times will be good to them They will never find a Season convenient enough wherein to do well Such a Temper as this will turn the best into very bad Times Let us therefore in the first place take Care that by our Wickedness and Folly we do not change good Days into bad nor increase the Evil of any Time Under this general Advice we shall find most of or all those particular Directions which I shall presently give But supposing that the Times are bad and we have no hand in it Suppose them worse than God be thanked they are as bad as in any Age they have been as we can well conceive them to be Let the generality be given up to all Wickedness not only debauch'd and sottish in themselves but profane and irreligious towards God and both uncharitable and and unjust dishonest and inhuman towards Men But let us imagine the Wise and the Learned the Rich and the Honourable to be hearty Opposers of and Enemies to the Christian Life and Spirit and that they use their Wit and employ their Knowledg and their Interest in obstructing the progress of Goodness and Vertue as much as is possible Nay not only so but they who hold the Scepter by whose Counsel publick Affairs are managed are violent Persecutors of the Cause and People of God and of all Goodness and their Rage is bent against every one that is like to and a Follower of the Son of God Suppose you be in a Family where not only thy Fellow-Servants or thy Brothers and Sisters but thy Father and Mother or thy Master and Mistris be not only wicked themselves but Abetters of Wickedness in others Let thy Case also be such that thou by being good wilt not
Slaves of this Enemy of God and all Goodness This grand Opposer of Man's Happiness To be led Captive by him at his Will To be dragg'd at the Chariot-Wheels of this insulting Conqueror What can be worse than first to execute his malicious Will and then be punished for so doing To be most cruelly tormented for obeying those Laws of Sin and Death which he gave them And this was the State of the Pagan World they worshipp'd Devils they received Oracles from them they obey'd them they were subject to their Dominion This is also plainly attested by their own Writers And when the Scripture speaks of their Conversion to Christianity it expresseth it thus that they were turned from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan unto God Acts. 26. 18. I have said enough one would think to set forth the miserable State of us Gentiles before-our Conversion but yet there is one Consideration more which exceedingly aggravates their Wo and that is that they are liable to be condemned to the greater and more lasting Miseries of the future State those Torments which admit of no Ease and will have no end which they cannot escape except they be recovered out of this Snare of the Devil and become the Servants of God That is unless they cease to do evil and learn to do well which how hard it was for them to do we may conclude from the Difficulty that we who have the many greater Helps which the Gospel-Dispensation affords us find in it And besides how full of Anxiety and disquieting Thoughts must their Sin and Ignorance and their Presensions and Boadings of Evil to come of a deserved Punishment for their Faults fill them with Nay tho they should repent and amend how uncertain must they be of the Pardon and Favour of God And therefore how must they through Fear of Death be all their Life-time subject to Bondage Thus I have very curiously given an account of the first Particular viz. The Condition of the Gentiles before Christianity II. I now proceed to sew some of the Advantages which the Gentiles have by becoming Christians And this will appear both in respect of Themselves and in respect of Others First If we consider them in themselves singly their Advantage appears in this that their Minds are greatly enlightned their Hearts are throughly purified their Lives are reformed and amended 1. Their Minds are enlightned Their Knowledg is both larger and clearer and surer than it was and consequently far more efficacious and powerful They know the Nature and Condition of Man far better they are now assured of a Spiritual and Immortal Soul which inhabits this Body which is the far more excellent Part of Man They have now assurance that they and all Men shall live after Death and that they shall be for ever happy or miserable according as they have lived here If they have lived a Holy and Vertuous Life they shall be brought into a State of endless Bliss If they have done Evil if they have not done Good that they shall fall under unsufferable and perpetual Torments They now understand that the Cause of all the Miseries and Imperfections of Mankind is their Sin That all the Calamities in the World owe their Original to the Wickedness of Men. They now understand the Dangerousness of their Condition and they are fully convinced of their own Impotency and Insufficiency which Acquaintance with themselves what a Preparation it is to Vertue and Holiness we shall see presently Again They know now that God is a Spirit of an Incorporeal Nature and such as their own Souls are and that He is but one The Father the Word and the Holy Spirit being all one That it was He that made the Heavens and the Earth by the Eternal Word and that by his powerful Decree all things are continued and that his Providence doth so particularly superintend all things that not a Sparrow falls to the Ground without his Knowledg and Permission And that this God knows all things that he searches the Hearts and sees the secret Works and the inward Thoughts of all Men and that he is infinitely good and kind That he is immutably Holy and Just and Pure That he will call Men to Account for the Deeds they have done in this Body and will reward the Good with Everlasting Life and will adjudg the Wicked to Everlasting Woe They also more perfectly understand their Duty and the way of Life in which they should walk They now know that Spiritual Worship is that which God principally looks at and that this is not only to be confined to certain Times and Places and Actions but that at all Times and every where God may be worshipp'd and that in the whole Course of our Lives and in all our Actions his glorious Perfections may be and are to be acknowledged And to him is to be ascribed his Excellency above all by Loving and Fearing and Believing and Obeying Him more than all They know they ought in all their Wants to make their Supplications to God and that they should praise and be thankful to him for all the Good they receive They know also that they are to apply themselves to God by Jesus Christ that it is by and through him the Merits of his Life and Death the Prevailing of his Intercession with the Father that they are accepted They are likewise fully instructed that they are to purify themselves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit that they are to bring into subjection the Body and to keep it under that is that all the inferior Appetites and Inclinations be kept in a due subordination to the Reason and Law of their Minds They are now told plainly That they must not only be Just and True and Honest and Fair in their Dealings with Men so as not to circumvent and cozen not to deceive and disappoint but must stand to their Word keep to their Promises make good their Contracts but that they must also be compassionate and merciful courteous and kind gentle and meek loving and good to all Men to Neighbours and Acquaintance and also to Strangers and Forreigners to Enemies as well as Friends Nor only to the Good tho to them principally but also to the Bad. Thus are they instructed in their Duty and they see not only what they are to do but why they should do it They understand clearly the goodness the fitness the beneficialness the necessity of such a Life They see how natural how reasonable it is how just it is to live thus if they respect God who requires it who made and preserves them and from whom they receive all Good who is their undoubted Lord and perfectly Wise and Good and who will be their Judg. They know their dependence on Him and therefore must conclude that they ought to be at His dispose and be directed and governed by Him They see the manifold Advantages which accrue to them as well as to others by
Counsel if it were well minded would prevent the most and greatest Troubles that we have from one another If we would keep within our own Compass move in our own Spheres reach not at things too high for us engage not to do what we cannot do not judg where we do not understand observe our Order and keep our Rank it would contribute very much both to the quiet of our own Minds and to the Peace of the World The neglect of this one thing seems to have been the great cause of all the Sin and Misery and consequently the Trouble that is in the World The proud Angels left their own Habitation their Province and this was their Fall To be short Carry about no idle Tales Do not make nor widen Differences Allow not thy self in any Angry Contention indeed never contend with others but who shall do most Good And now in a word to reflect upon what has been discoursed If Quiet be so good and desirable if we have so much reason to seek it let us take Shame to our selves that we have so much neglected that we have so much opposed so great a Good that we have been Enemies to our own and other Mens Peace I doubt we have all too much reason to tax our selves of being notoriously faulty in this Particular How little have we studied our own Quiet how have we disturbed other Mens And what a cause of Lamentation is it when we see Mankind such Troublers every Man of himself and every Man of his Brother that whereas we should be taking all good ways to please and quiet our selves and others we are running fast in the ways that lead to Sorrow but the way of Peace we will not know Let us no longer be so foolishly so unnaturally wicked as to be Troublers of our selves and others but in all wise and good ways possible let us do our utmost that both we and all other Men may be as quiet here on Earth as is compatible to this State that this may be to us the first-Fruits of that Eternal Sabbatism that perpetual Rest which remains for the Peaceable the Children and People of God OF EDUCATION PROV 22. 6. Train up a Child in the way he should go THere is a general and I doubt a very just Complaint of a most gross and almost universal Neglect in the Education of Children And indeed I fear if a Visitation were made of every Family and School in the Land few in comparison would be found who take care of or have Skill in this great Business Those who seem not to be negligent I would ask them What Time they bestow what Thoughts they lay out on their Children I would enquire after the Designs and Methods they have all the Contrivances and ways they use vvith them And I am afraid those that are thought by others and think themselves most careful would not be able upon such an Enquiry to clear themselves of great Negligence they would appear both very unskilful and very careless And yet this thing which is so little regarded and less understood is of as great Moment and Consequence as any one thing and that both on a publick and private account And among the other perhaps there is not a greater and more general Cause of all Wickedness and of the Mischiefs consequent upon it than the no or ill Education of Children We do and we have too much cause to complain of Inâ—â—delity and Atheism of the Profaneness and Debauchery of the Unsetledness the Superstition and Fanaticism the perverse Schismaticalness the dull Formality and great Corruption of the Age in which we live One main cause of which if we look back we shall find to have been the want of Care and Skill in the educating of Children I shall consider I. The Action that is here required Train II. The Object a Child III. The Specification in his Way And then I shall propound some Reasons and Arguments to perswade us to this Duty I. As to the Action Train This Word does fully express the Original which also is translated Catechise And it signifies two Things 1. Instructing or teaching which is done by Precepts and by Examples 2. Initiating inuring exercising Thus Souldiers are train'd when they are exercised in handling of their Arms in their keeping Rank and File and in the doing of those things which they must do when they come to encounter an Enemy This is that which the wise Man advises to be done by the Child let him be trained And 't is excellent Counsel much better than if he had said only instruct or teach For as the disciplin'd and exercis'd Souldier is much more dextrous at the Management of his Arms than he only who has been told what he must do but has never us'd to do it so undoubtedly he who has been initiated in his Work will be far more ready at it and more disposed to it than he who has only been directed what and perswaded why he should do it but has never begun to do it We observe a very great distance betwixt our knowing what and why we should act and our acting How frequent is it for Men very well to understand what is to be done and yet not to do it In many Cases also Actions are never understood but by acting The doing of many Works informs and incites and enables us more than any other way Nay the very Attempt and Essay at that which we cannot yet do we all know carries so much Power along with it that we are in 〈◊〉 and by frequent Trials enabled to do that well which we could not do at all when we first attempted it I have the rather taken notice of the force that is in the word train because as I have said we may in some Cases understand and not act and in some acting is the best way to understand I am sure it is always the best Method to secure and keep that Knowledg and those Inclinations which we have to such Actions In Practicals the best Knowledg and the strongest Inclinations are got by Practice Use inclines Men to repeat the same Actions And Custom has always been esteemed a second Nature II. I proceed to consider the Object who it is that is to be thus trained It is a Child i. e. Man whilst he is young and when he is first capable of this Instruction and Exercise Man is ever to be learning Cato thought himself never too old to learn And every other Man should think the same but there is very great Advantage of this being begun betimes They that make no entrance on a thing in their first Years seldom are brought to it afterwards or if they be 't is always with great Difficulty and it must be with Damage for they are hindred from making progress in some other matters more considerable whilst they are exercising â—â—â—â—selves in those which they ought to 〈◊〉 learn'd whilst they were young Beâ—â—des Men seldom bring
others will make us desire their Honour as well as our own And where we love all and have an Affection for the Publick we shall desire no more than we deserve we shall be unwilling that other Men should be so far imposed on as to think us better than indeed we are We cannot be so unjust as to expect Reward without Merit and Praise where it is not due Charity is not puffed up 1 Cor. 13. 4. and therefore frees a Man's Mind from all the Tortures that ambitious Spirits lie under This makes a Man not displeas'd that other Men are prais'd and himself not nay tho they have more and he less than deserved yet he is very well satisfied because his own and the Approbation of a few competent Judges is sufficient to support him whereas Men of less Worth have need of greater Applause to bear up their Minds and to bring them into Request and enable them to do Good And how perfectly doth this Principle subdue and regulate all the Appetites of corporeal Pleasure He that is acted by universal Love cannot go to a forbidden Bed for he will not draw one whom he loves into Sin he will not deprive them of the lasting Pleasures of Innocence and Chastity He will not violate the Orders of all the Civilized World which have been from the beginning of Time which for the sake of the Publick for Posterity as well as the present Generation ought to be inviolably observed He will not eat nor drink more than is good for him as for other Reasons so lest others should want that which is good for them Again This universal Love by engaging us to do all the Good we can takes away all inordinate Love of Money We shall not now desire more than we can and will use for the advantage of others as well as our selves And when it is thus with us we shall not grasp at all we could get and we shall use what we do get And where we are thus minded we have freed our selves from that infinite Carking and Anxiety which an inordinate Desire of Riches causes Lastly This will in many cases prevent the bitterest Remorse for Sins by preventing the Sins themselves as I have shewed For the good Man will not be unjust or unfaithful he cannot oppress or cozen falsly or needlessly accuse will not violate the Chastity prejudice the Health much less take away the Life of any and thus secures himself from those Terrors of Conscience which follow such Wickednesses And where we are surprized and do unwillingly mis-behave our selves towards God if we be indeed charitable and loving towards Men we can then pray that God would and hope that he will forgive us as we do them Thus I have shewn how this universal Beneficence frees us from Trouble and Unquietness And now I will briefly shew how it brings us Pleasure as well as Quiet By Pleasure I here understand that Joy which is caus'd in the Soul by an Apprehension or Sense of Good Now where this Principle is become natural to us and we act from it and according to it it must necessarily be a Spring of Delight to us How pleasant and joyful must the Mind of that Man be which is govern'd by an universal Love As much Good as there is in the World so much cause of Pleasure is there to them For 1. He is set at Liberty from contracted Selfishness every Man is now to him as he is to himself and other Mens Concerns are as his own so that he now rejoyces in their Welfare and is heartily glad at the Good which befals them So much is his Joy greater now than it was when he liv'd to himself for then he was pleas'd with his own private Advantages but perhaps repin'd or at least was unconcern'd at other Mens whereas now he is delighted to see it go well with any Man in the World Thus he honestly and innocently enjoys the Good of others without depriving them of any gathers of the Honey-dew without robbing the Flower of its own Sweetness As much Good then as there is and as he can see in the World and there is very much for the Mercy of God is over all his Works and he that will consider things may discover it so much cause of Gladness hath this good Man And then 2. The infinite Love and Goodness of God is an inexhaustible Fountain of Joy to the good Man For tho he sees many things much amiss and a great deal of Evil in the World tho he sees poor Man at a great distance from his Happiness and the whole World lying in Wickedness yet he also sees infinite Goodness at work and that it has done very much in order to Man's Happiness and doubts not but in some ways which he is ignorant of all the ends of Divine Goodness will be accomplish'd at last I have shewed before that this Goodness of Temper helps us to an assured Knowledg of the Goodness of God We may also refer the two fore-going Particulars to the Object of Benevolence If there be so great Pleasure in loving one or two or a few how great is that which arises from an universal Good-will a Love to all Men Thirdly The good Man hath Pleasure as concerning himself from his Beneficence to others and it is such a Pleasure as hath many Advantages above most others For 1. As to its degree it is both intense and exquisite 2. As to its kinds it is both of Memory Sense and Hope as it refers to Good past present and to come 3. It s Original is from Man himself in concurrence with God and Nature and therefore it is both certain and near 4. As to its Duration it is both continued and lasting 5. As to its Quality and Effects it is absolutely Good 6. In respect of its Objects it is largely extended and manifold 1. The Pleasure that arises from a Sense of our Beneficence is without any allay or mixture of Pain and that which is so is pure and in the highest degree This cannot be said of most other Pleasures the Price of them is much abated by the Pains that accompany them The more corporeal and gross they are the more they have of this Dress This is a Commendation that almost only belongs to the Pleasure that arises from vertuous Practices and yet not any not all of the other Vertues can afford so great a Delight as this which is both a Complex of most of them and the End and Consummation of all The rest are but mediate and subordinate Vertues this is ultimate and final When a Man is in the exercise of universal Love of Charity and Good-will he is as good and as great and happy as he can be then is all finished The greatest Pleasure is in Love Now when Love is universal and in exercise Pleasure keeps proportion with it and is as great as it can be for it is as large as its Object and therefore
the Pleasure that arises from it must needs be very great The best Faculty is now exercised about its proper Object and 't is generally said that all Pleasure consists in the Congruity of the Object and Faculty 2. Distinguish this Pleasure according to the three Differences of Time which its Cause hath and we shall find it in all these to be extraordinary 1. For the past Memory tho it be but a languishing Sense and the Ideas are not near so lively as when they were first imprest yet the Remembrance of having done good Offices gives a very sensible and lively Pleasure and it is a great Content to the Soul when it calls to mind any Acts of Beneficence and that it did such Actions for which others were the better To remember that I have relieved a Man in his Necessities or added to his Conveniencies eas'd his Pain or cured his Disease vindicated his Reputation preserved his Life instructed his Ignorance removed his Mistakes satisfied his Doubts confirmed his Resolutions moderated his Affections the Remembrance of this that I have been instrumental in such good Offices will be very pleasant Indeed a Man is more pleased with a Remembrance of the Good he hath done to others than of that which he hath done himself And I am well assured that when we come to die it will be a very great satisfaction if we can think that none can accuse us for doing them Injury and if others will testify that we have been kind and good to them 2. As to the Present A Man that is in the Exercise of Goodness hath the pleasant Sensation of the Health and good Plight of his Soul He feels himself his Mind as well as Body in an excellent State Some think that Sense of Health is the greatest Pleasure of Man and this is the Pleasure of a double Health 3. Future He that feels he hath attained to so much cannot but hope that what is yet behind shall be added and that he shall continue in those ways to the end which are so infinitely pleasant to him that he shall ascend to that Heaven which is come down to him and is in him that is that he shall continue the Exercise of that Love in Eternity which he hath begun in Time And this he hopes for because it is very natural and because this Sense of the Excellency of his own Goodness and Benignity assures him that God is good and will do good to them that are so 3. When Man complies with the grand Design of Heaven i. e. to promote the Happiness of Mankind and co-operates with natural Causes which have a manifest subserviency to the Good of the Generality he is then doing Acts of Kindness and Benignity and when he doth these he not only refreshes other Men but le ts in Streams of Pleasure to his own Soul And these Pleasures which derive from such a Spring must be 1. Sure for they depend on very certain Causes and such as act naturally and almost necessarily All the Uncertainty arises from his own Mutability and yet he is under an Engagement that is as powerful to determine him as the Nature of Man is capable of that is he perceives a great and sensible Pleasure in the Exercise of Goodness and either this will determine him to such Acts or nothing can Whilst Man perseveres in doing Good his Pleasure must remain and he will persevere whilst he considers God and the World i. e. whilst he uses his Reason 2. Near. They are in and from himself and do not so much depend on Things without us but on the Use of our selves Principally They are always with us if we do but reflect on our own Acts which we cannot chuse but do we shall not fail of Pleasure 4. By reason of its Duration It is 1. Continued 2. Lasting 1. A Pleasure that arises from such certain Causes and that are so near to us must needs be continual and without interruption That which is near and within a Man must certainly be more taken notice of than things at a distance such are his own Actions and the Principles of them he cannot chuse but he must observe them And as often as he is conscious of this beneficent Temper and Acts of Goodness and Kindness he feels an overflowing Joy in his Mind And if that be his Nature to incline him alway to do Good he must alway be sensible of it that is his Pleasure must be as interrupted as any thing can be in the Mind of Man 2. It is also lasting As long as the Sun is the Rays will flow from it and as long as the Soul continues benign and good and acts from this Principle so long will it continue in this pleasant Sense for this is an inseparable Emanation or Property of a benign Soul Other Pleasures that depend on contingent mutable external Things must be transient and fleeting and as full of Vicissitude as the Causes on which they depend but these which flow from that which is incorporeal and incorruptible will themselves last for ever As long as the Fountain springs these Streams will not fail and that will not be dried up for it is fed by the secret Aids sent from the inexhaustible Ocean of Goodness in God And will certainly be one of the great Pleasures of the other State for the Soul must lose it self must cease to be what now it is before this Pleasure can cease It is one of the greatest and fairest of those Rivers of Pleasure which encompass Paradise whose Waters fail not How unconceivable is the Delight of Souls when they are bathing themselves in these Streams when they are carried on with the greatest Gales of Good-will to all their Fellow-Creatures How will they be ravish'd with their own Countenance when they behold in it this excellent Grace with which Love hath beautified it How must they be delighted to feel themselves in so good a State in so healthful a Plight 5. This Pleasure is absolutely good There are some Pleasures that are hurtful The Soul may too much be taken with low and sensual Delights so as to neglect those that are higher and better There are Pleasures of Sin that are Baits to catch unwary Souls and will ensnare them in those Practices which will make them miserable But behold the Pleasures which arise from Beneficence are absolutely good have no mixture of evil are perfectly innocent and greatly useful do no harm and much good for they engage us to repeat those good Works which bring us in so great an Income of Bliss Thus they continue themselves and that is the greatest thing I can say of them for this is that which hath not the Goodness of Means only but of the End also Thus I have shewn how certain a Cause of greatest and most exquisite Pleasure doing Good must needs be so as I might hope to engage the greatest Epicureans to take this Course to be happy And now after all
Good to them that do most Good he will discharge his Office well his Laws will be no tyrannical arbitrary unaccountable Impositions but a gentle and easy Yoke his Sentence will be equitable and his Execution full of Mildness and Humanity And how little cause of Quarrels and Commotions there can be in a State whose Governors are thus qualified we all see Thus is it where the Magistrates are bent on doing Good to all especially to the Best and most Vertuous 2. This Publick-spiritedness is no less necessary for Ministers to engage them to that extraordinary Diligence they must use to carry them through all the Opposition and Difficulties they shall certainly meet with in their general Converse with all sorts with Men of the meanest Capacities of lowest Rank and greatest Vices and worst Natures Nothing but this Universal Benevolence can fit them for such Converse Only he that loves all will bear with such Conversation as a Minister meets with All the Care and Pains he is at first to find out good and wholesom and fit Truths and then to deliver them intelligibly and acceptably must have their Rise from his great Good-will to Men and therefore he doth thus because he is on a design of doing Good to them Where the Minister is destitute of this good Temper he is idle and careless and his Discourses useless and insignificant because he is without Charity he is a sounding Brass and tinkling Cymbal and his Carriage foolish and hurtful The great Work of Ministers is to teach Religion so as it may be both known and done to make it easy to be understood and easy to be practised c. Thus I have endeavoured to make plain that Universal Beneficence is both available and necessary to all the valuable Interests which Man can propose to himself whether he regard the present or the future State whether he consider himself and his own particular State or the Publick whether he be in a private or a publick Capacity he must strictly observe this Rule of doing Good to All. So that if we would be either good or happy in this World or he that to come if we would serve our selves or others if we would please and honour our God and Saviour adorn our Profession if we would have Pleasure in Life and Peace in and Glory after Death if we would do all we can to make others as good as we wish they were we must herein exercise our selves to do all the Good we can to all If any are idle and would be doing nothing I do assure them they shall have more pleasure in this active Life than in Sleep and Dulness If any love themselves only and do not regard how it goes with others I do assure them that this is the best and likeliest way to serve themselves As many as are of particular Affections confined to Kindred or a Party or so let them enlarge their Love to All and they will proportionably increase their Pleasure And if any are malicious and love to do Mischief I undertake to make it appear to them that the Pleasures of Love are far greater than those of Revenge And I entreat such to leave off to lead the Life of Devils and live that of Angels If Heaven be more desirable than Hell it 's better to love than to hate Consider what has been said and God grant that we may all in good earnest set upon the Practice of that most excellent Duty to which we are exhorted And let the good Spirit of God inspire the whole World with that Goodness and Love to one another and all Men that so we may both live well here and be happy for ever hereafter for the sake of Jesus Christ Now to this Blessed Saviour who hath loved us and washed us in his own Blood together with the Father and the Holy Spirit be eternally given all Honour Praise and Glory Amen FINIS †Dr. Henry Mâ—â—â— in his Enchirid. Ethic.
if we will never act but when Opportunity favours us with a fair and full Gale I doubt we shall be most commonly idle No but we must when the Wind is not with us make it serve us by gathering it into our yielding Sails and when it is full against us yet we must then take the advantage of a Tide The sum of this is That we must have help from things without us both to act and to bring our Action to some Issue And things without us will not favour our Enterprises unless we use our best skill and Endeavours to make them serve our honest Designs But when times are ill and things go cross to us then especially are we to labour to serve our selves of them and make them helpful to us Secondly This is Wisdom to accommodate things to make them comply with those good Purposes which of themselves they thwart and oppose It is Wisdom to take the Occasions that offer themselves but it 's far greater to make Occasion and to work things out of an opposition or unprofitableness into a subserviency and usefulness to our Undertakings It 's great skill in the Mariner to sail with a Wind that 's within one Point full against him I am apt to think there is nothing we meet with but may be serviceable to a good purpose and if we prudently and dexterously make application it will be so if not to one yet to another Nay possibly to that which it may seem to oppose Exempli Gratiâ A Man is very impatient of any check or censure in himself but yet forward enough to blame and controul other Men which often go together In this case to deal with this Man as Nathan did with David to lay the Scene in another place and to cast the Fault on another Person For he will not fail to aggravate that Crime in another which he would spare in himself But when he has condemned another Natural Justice will not suffer him to be so partial as to acquit himself And thus by a side-Wind he comes to the Place whither he was bound and makes use of that which was in it self Evil and a Hindrance to help him to attain his End He makes an evil Thing promote a good Design I have said enough for my present purpose to shew that it is Wisdom to bring things that are cross to us to serve us to make Enemies Friends and of our Party to make that which was a Neuter and of no use to be profitable This is great Wisdom It is both the Effect and Cause of great Wisdom It is the Exercise and will be the Improvement of it It is one of the greatest and surest instances of Wisdom that can be given No Man can give a better proof that he is a prudent wise Man than by making ill things serve good Purposes Therefore if we would be and shew our selves to be wise Men let us when things are not to our Minds nor will fall in with our Designs by our dexterous application make them pliant and serviceable That others may see and admire this our management and that both we and they may receive the benefits of such excellent Wisdom 3. To this I add that to do thus is Divine and God-like This is the Glory of God that he can bring Light out of Darkness Order out of Confusion Good out of Evil nay the greatest Good out of the worst of Evils So that nothing how bad soever has fallen out which the over-ruling Providence will not make to promote some most excellent Design He ordinarily brings about not only the greatest Ends by the least and unlikeliest but by the most opposite contrary means that are And sometimes delights to walk in difficult ways Of all which I need but name that one instance of the Salvation of Man Now then if this be the Glory of God shall we not esteem it ours Is it our perfection to be like God Let us esteem it so and endeavour to be like him in this create Opportunities to our selves make them to be where there was none before Let your contrivance bring them out of nothing or that which is worse than nothing That is when all things conspire to oppose and to hinder you from doing the good you desire and intend to do out of this very opposition make your selves a Season and try to turn it into an Occasion and Advantage Which if we do we shall imitate that most adorable Providence that accomplishes the Ends of infinite Goodness by the services of things that are adverse and contrary to them 3. If we meet with things that are unalterably evil and by no prudence or care of ours can be made for our purpose or to minister to any good Action we must then decline and shun them Remove our selves from them if we can't remove them from us The Particulars when this may and how it should be done will fall under the Advices I am only now to shew Reason why it ought to be done And it will be sufficient here to mention the Principal and indeed the Reason of all that can be assigned and that is this viz. That we may be in the best Capacity to do most good For this cause we ought to walk accurately For this we are to redeem the Season in those two foregoing Particulars as well as in this And it is a very sufficient and satisfactory Reason why I should by all prudent Care and honest Diligence avoid those unhappy Circumstances which will not only help but hinder me in doing the good which I might in another Condition do For this cause I must not foolishly throw my self into no nor stay in such a Condition as that if I can by fair means keep or get out If I should do otherwise I should do a vain fruitless thing I should not put my self to those good Uses for which I may serve I should violate the Precept and do directly contrary to the Reason of the Apostle's Exhortation of redeeming the time because the days are evil Which certainly signifies this in part that we are to decline Dangers and Evils not universally all Dangers in any ways but only those that cannot be improved into an Opportunity either by our acting with or suffering under them If one way or other they may be so managed as to give us an occasion of doing good I do not think they are to be declined unless it may be done honestly to rescue our selves into better Circumstances that will assist us to do more and greater good This then is the reason why we should shun those Evils which we can't make pliant to our Christian Purposes because we are to imploy our selves to the best Purposes I might add also That to do thus is but a compliance with a natural Inclination which makes us averse from suppose Poverty Disgrace Sickness Death c. Now the Design◠and Reason of this natural Inclination is that we should keep our selves in
World not to be ministred unto but to minister If we much affect these Titles tho deserv'd it is from a weak Understanding But if we seek an Honour above our desert to omit other Considerations we shall lose that which we have whilst we catch at these Shadows we shall lose what we are possess'd of Never was Alexander more below a Man than when he affected to be a God A Sword and Spear did get him more Renown than the Thunderbolts with which he vvas pictured This vvas our first Parents Sin to desire to be as God let it not be ours No let us not rob God but give him that vvhich is his and to Man vvhat belongs to him OF Inordinate Desire OR COVETING ROM 13. 9. Thou shalt not covet HE who knows not or is unconcern'd in the Unquietness Disorder Injustice Violence Fraud that is amongst Men hath either banish'd himself from their Sociciety or Pity from his own Breast He that doth not see or hear those Tumults and Confusions and Complaints with which the whole Earth is fill'd either is not yet born or is gone into the Land of Darkness and dwells in the Regions of Silence amongst the Dead And whoever is not hereby moved to pity he either never had or has lost the Nature of a Man I can snspect no Man of so much Cruelty as not to have his Heart relenting with Compassion There is none sure so far removed from these common Calamities as not to bear a part of them himself or if he be exempt yet hath not put off Humanity so much as not to sympathize with others Ay but that 's fruitless Pity which affords no help The Tears which flow from a Compassion that brings no relief with it are as the Showers which the Heavens pour upon the Lyliaâ— Sands that notwithstanding them continue still barâ—en What shall be done to remove these Evils Let us enquire into the Cause of and the Means to remove them Indeed the Case is such as may make us question whether there be any Remedy This Chronical Disease hath continued now some thousands of Years and no Cure hath been found No the great Physician the Healer of all our Disteâ—â—ers â—â—e Blessed Jesus himself hath not efâ—â—cted â—â—is Cure For I need not tell you that â—he Christian World hath been and is more fill'd with Deceit and Force Rapine and Tumult Contention and Quarrel than either the Jewish Mahunietan or Pagan Nor yet doth this redound to the disparagement of our great Deliverec because his Prescriptions are excellent and his Medicines sovereign and approved but it shews either the Unskilfulness or Unfaithfulness of those that are employed by him or the Ignorance and Perverseness of the Patients He hath discovered the Causes of our Distemper and hath told us therefore what 's to be done for prevention or recovery The Holy Scripture in many places and in these few Words of the Text hath directed us to the Root of all the Evils that are amongst us our own Inordinate Affections and hath â—ounsell'd us to pluck it up and we shall assuredly eat no more of those bitter Fruits that Gall and Wormwood which grow on it That immoderate Desires and lawless Appetites are the Spring of all Injustice and Disorder that is amongst us is notorious These are the Fountains which flow forth in the more violent Torrents and rapid Streams of Force or in the crooked and more winding Meanders of Craft which all concur to make an overflowing Deluge that threatens to drown the World Whether we look back to the Times that are past or take a view of the Age in which we live whether we consider our own Country or the Lands that are more remote we shall in all different Times and Places find the same Cause of all the Evils and Injuries that are amongst Men. Our over-â—ager Desire is the common and too fruitful Parent of all those Mischiefs â—his is the Womb that bears and these the Breastâ— that give them suck Desâ—â—e is and ever was the great Incendiary of the World which kindles and foments those unquenchable Flames that waste and make desolate all Places Desire is the Devil that sows Discord amongst Brethren that goes about like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour This was the Serpent that tempted Man to Discontent in Paradise this made him soar too high and make too bold and near Approaches to the Throne of Majesty until his Wings melted and he was plung'd and perished in the great Waters It was Desire that engaged the Giants of the old World in their War which was the Builder of a Babel that threatned Heaven And if Desire can so far prevail with Man as to make him wage War against God it will unquestionably make him quarrel with those to whom he is less obliged whom he can have more hopes to overcome those of his own kind It 's but reasonable now to expect that Princes should oppress and People rebell that Governors should become Tyrants and Subjects refractory that Jezebel should murder poor Naboth for his Vineyard and Jehu seventy Princes for a Throne that Masters should be rigorous in exacting what they ought not and Servants perverse in not obeying where they ought that Parents should be cruel to their Children and they again unnatural to their Parents If Desire could break those Bonds and cast away those Cords with which God hath tied us it will not be held by Man's If God himself hath not set Bounds to this raging Sea how shall Man If these Waters of Strife scale Heaven in black and dark Clouds they will fall down upon the Earth in Rains and Tempests and so they have and have covered it with a Flood more destructive than Noah's For that drowned the World but once this alway In the time of that the Righteous were saved from perishing by an Ark but now the Ark the Church leaks and lets in these Waters of Contention so fast that the pure and harmless Doves are even forc'd out of it to seek a dry and resting-Place In that Ark Men and Beasts could live in quietness in this Men are less sociable more savage than Brutes And whence are all these Quarrels Surely they have the same rise that all others have and that St. James tells us is our Lasts that war in our Members They whose Lips should preserve Knowledg who should speak as the Oracles of God they make Merchandize of his Word and regard not so much the Truth as the Gainfulness of their Doctrine nor how much the Souls of their People but how much their own Estates are better'd Assuredly from hence it is that they who minister in Holy Things and serve at the Alt â—â— are not content to live of the Altar that the Mitre affects to outshine the Crown that Priests covet the Power and Wealth of Princes and a Superiority over them that the Church seeks to outvie the Splendor of the Court. This is it that broaches
the Doctrine of Indulgences for Sins to come of Masses for the Dead and the like which whosoever considers in their tendencies I doubt not but they 'll be satisfied it 's the Interest of Money not of Goodness that is carried on by the Asserters of those Opinions that they serve Mammon and their Religion is Covetousness This Inordinacy of Desire turns Apostles into Judas's Pastors into Robbers the House of Prayer into a Den of Thieves and it doth as easily transform the Flocks of Sheep into Herds of Wolves For notwithstanding the Sheep's Coat and Shape if there be a ravening Appetite an unsatisfied Desire 't is a Wolf tho it seem a Sheep a Wolf in Sheeps cloathing Nor can it be expected it should be otherwise but if the Sea hath overflown its high Banks the lower Marshes must needs be drowned and if the Physician be seized with this Disease the unskilful Patient must be so much more If the Spiritual Men whose Converse is in Heaven yet be so much within the Influences of this Earth the Laity they whose Employment is in it must be more under the power of them If the Light of the Heavenly Bodies be obscured by terrestrial Vapors then the Candle which is in the Earth must be put out by its Damps And if the Disciples of Jesus be under the Power of Desire it 's not to be imagin'd that Moses's Scholars or the Followers of Mahomes or the Worshippers of many Gods should be free from its Dominion We 'll therefore take it for granted that if Christendom be not exempt from this Tyranny of Desire the rest of the World is not If the Gospel hath not rectified Mens Affections neither the Pentateuch nor the Alcoran nor the Traditions of the Gentiles have or can do it Thus we see that Desire hath an Empire further extended than ever they had who would be call'd Lords of the World We 'll next consider how this Catholick King this universal Bishop this proud Sultan this great Cham manages his Affairs And we may observe that this Vsurper who hath dethroned Reason the lawful Sovereign of the World and hath assumed his Scepter does use the same evil Arts which all others do Where he hopes to gain the Affections of his Subjects he practises Flattery gratifies them tho to then Ruine and pleases tho in that he undoes them Where they will not love they shall fear and if he cannot court them by Flatteries he will rule them as a Tyrant and in both ways his Government is arbitrary and irregular Either Laws are never made or never kept in his Dominions That which is commanded is for the most part evil or impossible no Reason to be given of it besides Will And tho it were not yet sooner might the free Air be hedged in or the Winds chained up than the Subjects of this Prince who are Sons of Appetite be restrained Nor can they be turned from their Purpose unless by a Passion accompanied with more Power than they have As the Stream of a great River cannot be turned from its Course except it be met by the fiercer Tide The calm and quiet Decisions of Controversies that used to be in Courts of Judicature where Reason ruled are either wholly laid aside or strangely degenerate and so either to bad purpose or to none at all Here the Clients do not consider Justice but Interest neither do they regard Right or Title if they can make the least Pretence and therefore will desire in their Advocates not Law but Oratory and Sophistry They will also suborn Witnesses that shall swear for Hire not for Truth and will corrupt their Judges to pervert the Sense of the Law and under colour of Justice to be unjust In these Courts the richest Client hath most Right and the best Purse carries the Cause Or if this will not do they try another If they either want Craft or Money they will fly to Power if they cannot out-wit their Neighbours they will try to out-master them if the Court and the Law will not give it for them they 'll see what the Camp and Army will And now the Armour is put on the Sword girded on the Thigh and the Trumpet sounds to Battel the Guns begin to thunder and lighten thousands are murdered Cities burnt whole Countries laid waste Or if this fail too and be found insufficient to execute the Commands of inordinate Desire the Souldier then will turn a Religionist and he that wore a Vizard of Justice will put on a Form of Godliness will persuade People to gaze into Heaven whilst he picks their Pockets and will tell them they cannot make sure of an Inheritance there unless they part with their Possessions here falsifying the Gospel now as he did the Law before and wresting our Saviour's plain Words to the enriching himself and impoverishing his Brother Thus I have given a brief Representation of the State where Desire rules by which Fiction we may a little guess at the Truth of Things and how they are and have been and are likely to be in the World because of Covetousness Assuredly this was it that made the Grecian and Romans in former days and the Turks in these later to make so great a part of Mankind their Tributaries This hath made Men seek after new Worlds as if the old were too little to bound their Desires This took away the Land and Liberties and Lives too of many thousand Americans This made the Goths and Vandals invade Italy the Moors Spain and the Danes and Saxons to mention no other England But need we go to Histories and past Times for proof of the evil Effects of Desire No surely our own Observation and the Days we live in will give us too many Nor will I rake into the Ashes where lie hid the Sparks of Contention that kindled our late Wars no let them lie buried in eternal Oblivion Nor do I care to uncover the Graves of the Dead let their Dust rest in Peace for me Nor will I discourse of the Actions of our Governors where we are for the most part unable to understand and therefore incompetent to judg whether they proceed from Desire or Understanding for so I should speak rashly and perhaps falsely too of my Rulers Let us therefore consider the Mischief Desire doth amongst our selves and so we shall keep within the compass of our Knowledg What Havock doth it make whilst the poor envy their rich Neighbours and they again grind the Faces of the Poor Whilst they that have much grasp at all and would leave their Brethren Possessors of nothing and in this Sence seem to construe our Saviour's Words To him that hath shall be given and from him that hath 〈◊〉 that hath little that makes no Increase shall be taken what he hath But I need not insist on the Oppression Force Extortion Over-reaching that is amongst us which is the Issue of unlawful Desire They whose Employment lies in Courts of Judicature have
I fear too great evidence of this and discern that it 〈◊〉 rather Cunning than Ignorance and a Desire of doing not a fear of suffering Inâ—â—ry that brings so many Causes before them All they whose Work is to end Debates 〈…〉 Peace and that 's the Work of Lawyers and Ministers and every good an all these can sufficiently witness what a Breaker of the Peace and an Enemy to all Soceity and Order Desire is And if this Evidence which hath been brought in be full what remains but that 〈◊〉 grand and Malefacton this Cheat this Robber this Murderer this Traytor should receive his Sentence or rather that Senentence which hath been given against him long since by the Judg of all the World should now be executed For he hath bid us 〈…〉 or kill our earthly Affections and in the Words of my Text hath commanded us not to desire hath made it every ones Duty he speaks indeed to one but intends all and therefore speaks to one that all may the more regard him As if be had said Thou whoever thou art 〈◊〉 ownest God for thy Sovereign and his Law for the measure of thy Duty this is thy Charge not to desire or cover as we â—ender iâ— Object That may some think is a hard saying Doth God oblige us to impossibilities Or how can he require this of us who made it natural to us to desire Is he fallen out with himself or displeased with the works of his own Hands Doth he first give us a faculty and then forbid us to use it Or is Christianity a piece of Stoicism Doth our Religion teach us to maim our Natures to cease to be Men Doth it instruct us unto Apathy Is this the perfection it points and leads to Answer Far be it from us to suffer such a blemish as this to lie on our Profession let none have such an unworthy thought of our Religion as if it should be at variance with Nature as if the Disciple of Jesus could not be a Son of Man For surely never any Religion in the World did so be-friend nor was so perfective of Humane Nature as ours And 't is only a mistake of the true meaning of these Words that can make any to think otherwise For they do not as they seem forbid all Desire but only that which is Evil and Vnreasonable of that which we either have not or cannot have a Right to This appears because the word in the Original is mediae significationis in all Writings and may indifferently signifie good or ill and in Scripture seems generally to be taken in the worser part and so our Interpreters usually render it by Concupisence or Coveting which words we now generally understand in an ill sence Besides these words refer to the tenth Command of the Decalogue and that speaks of other Mens Goods they are an Abridgment of it and yet because the object of the Desire is not expressed may give us the liberty of a larger Discourse than if we only confined our selves to speak of desiring what is another Man's And I shall accordingly I. Discourse briefly and in general what may and what may not be desired what Desires are approved or forbidden And then more particularly II. How far the desires of another Man's Goods are prohibited And here it will be requisite to discourse what that is which gives Propriety and makes any thing to be a Man's Peculiar III. I shall offer some Considerations which both by perswading and directing may assist us in the restraining all unreasonable and unjust Desires 1. Concerning Desires in general I will not go about to prove but will suppose that all are not evil but that some are lawful nay and good too that some may and should be are not only matters of our Liberty but Duty This is Evident to him that considers that they are natural to us and therefore necessary that Humane nature cannot in this Estate be without them Also that many of our Duties towards God our selves and the Publick cannot be performed without Desire such are Prayer and Hope and Submission to the Divine Will and exercising our selves in seeking after such a condition as may be best both for us and others These and the like Considerations may serve to convince those that question whether they may have any desires at all This then supposed we will now consider of what sort they are which may and must be had 1. Therefore all Men may and ought to desire what is and appears to be good for them and they have not But yet here are three Cautions to be attended to which indeed are all implied in this Rule but deserve to be more expresly taken notice of 1st That the Good we desire be possible 2dly That that which is good for our selves be also good at least no detriment to the Publick And 3dly That it be not prejudicial however not near so much as the want of it would be to us and the publick to any other Man Our Desires should not be extended beyond what is good to us nor can they beyond that which seems so If that seem good which is not the fault is in our Understanding not in our Affection our Guide hath made us to wander Again if there be good which yet appears not here also we are to blame our Understanding now for not informing us at all as before for misinforming Our Spy before gave us Intelligence that our Friends were coming and they proved Enemies and now that our friends are indeed near we have no notice All this while I suppose that the thing we desire we want and we want only that which we can use So that if we either have it or do not want it neither should we desire it Such Desires are superfluous and vain and engage us in a needless labour And the cause of all this is our Ignorance of what we have or want This Rule as I said doth imply 1. That the thing we want and seek is Possible for that cannot be good for us that cannot be nor can we stand in need of impossibilities nor can we desire what appears to be such But this is not all what I understand by this word Possible viz. all that is not a contradiction absolutely but that which is not repugnant on supposition of such and such an order of things And thus we generally observe God himself doth not do all that absolutely implies no contradiction to be done but he doth all that is consistent with such Beings and Natures such a Constitution as he hath ordained which was the best that could be And this well considered would be sufficient to free us from either suspicions of inflexible Fate or from unworthy and hard thoughts of God we should not tax him for want of Goodness because he doth not all that 's absolutely possible since he doth all that in such a constitution which is the best that can be thought on can be done But to return
indeed of his own of any thing They drink Wine in Bowls and forget the Afflictions of Joseph And how impotent and unable is he to do the good Offices which he may have some desire to do He hath not the use of either Mind or Body they are both disabled from discharging their Functions Nor indeed is it possible he should for by Luxury and Softness and Excesses of corporeal Gratifications the Soul is made careless and inconsiderate inordinate in its Desires and impatient of the least Difficulty and Opposition and the Body is rendred weak and feeble through want of Exercise and Diseases Thus I have shewn concerning the four commonly called Cardinal Virtues how they are befriended by this great Principle of doing Good to all And every one will understand that Dependance which most of the other Virtues have on it and how much it contributes to their Being and Growth This Man of universal Good will how full of Humanity and Courtesy is he even to Strangers and those he knows not What hearty Civility and real Kindness doth he express to those that oppose his Interests nay that intend him Mischief How gladly doth he pardon Injuries and receive a repenting Enemy into his Bosom How willing nay forward is he to lend to the Borrower to give to the Indigent And what he gives is from a liberal Hand and a bountiful Mind no grudging no sparing appears in his Communications He is as willing to take care of the Conveniences as to relieve the Necessities of others hath not only so much Charity as to keep them just from starving but so much as will engage him to endeavour to make them happy And then for the lesser Offices that are the Graces of Conversation and make it pleasant they derive from the same Original For he and he alone that is set on doing Good to All will be affable and of easy Address by all He will not fail in giving all Expressions of Civility that are proper and natural for the artificial and excessive the Effects of Vanity and Hypocrisy he uses them not He hath the Civility of a Courtier and the Heartiness of a Friend In short his Countenance and Behavior and Words to all are such as you may read in them real Good-will I add only two more This Man is humble and meek The true Cause as well as the Effect and Consequence of most Mens Pride is that they consider few or none besides themselves The proud Man therefore loves himself too much because he loves not other Men at all Whereas the Man who lives under the Power of this Principle he values other Mens Merits as well as his own and desires they may have the Praise due to them and doth not think himself disparaged when another is commended or if by Accident that come to pass he is not concern'd because it 's for the Good of the Man that is worthy and of Mankind and he can be content to sacrifice his own Credit to the Welfare of other Men and the Publick In short where a Man loves others he desires that for them which he doth for himself and consequently that they may have the Honour done them which they deserve as he would not be debarr'd of the Praise he merits And for Meekness This Love covers a Multitude of Faults and so maketh those not to be which are so far is it from multiplying and magnifying them from increasing their Numbers and Aggravations It doth not make Faults where they are not or where they are doth not make them worse doth not call a little Wart a Wen but rather where they can be extenuated lessens them and considers which are the Miscarriages of surprized Infirmity and unwilling Mistake and distinguishes between them and others Nor is he forward to take Vengeance or eager to punish but is a Man of Long-suffering and Forbearance and will never punish but when it is the likeliest and almost only way to Amendment I have shewn how much the Principle of universal Beneficence conduces to Knowledg Religion and Vertue I now proceed to shew how very available it is to our acquiring and keeping the rest of those good Things that make up the Happiness of Man And none that considers how essential doing Good is to the Religion of Christ and how necessary to the Happiness of Man will wonder that I Inâ—ist so long on this Argument for tho I had the Tongue of Men and Angels I could not sufficiently declare the Excellencies of this Divine Temper Fourthly The next of those good Things I mention'd which are in the Soul are Quiet and Tranquillity Joy and Pleasure which I therefore join together in my Discourse because they are not often parted in Nature and their Opposits go under the same Name of Trouble and because where they are as they should be they qualify one another For that is a good and desirable Quiet which is in order â—o and attended with Joy and that is an allowable Joy which doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Soâ—l and 〈◊〉 the Mind of Peaâ—e Whereas iâ— thâ—se 〈◊〉 destroy each other they are not as they should be nay if they do not serve and befriend each other they are blaâ—â—ablâ— For the Soul may be too much becalm'd that it cannot move its 〈◊〉 may be frâ—zen up by a Stoical Apathy which will not only rid it of the evil and painful but deâ—rive it also of the good and pleasant Passionâ— that which doth 〈◊〉 is very opposite to its Welfare Again The Mind of Man may be transported with Joy beyond the Bounds which Nature and Convenience have set and so as to indispose it for doing that Good to it self or others it might do But when those two concur and consist together that is an excellent State indeed 〈◊〉 then a gentle Wind fills the Sails and doth not raise the Waves the Soul is then active and moderate And this State of Joy and Peace is the best State of which Souls are capable 't is the Crown of all our Works the natural Reward of our Labours and if our Actions be vertuous 't is a sure Reward It is the End and Consummation of all it is the Fruit and Flower that grows on them all And now I shall endeavour to shew how much the Principle of universal Goodness where it 's practis'd and become a Temper contributes to the Quiet and Pleasure of Souls Some of the greatest Causes of our Disquiet are Maâ—â—ce and Envy bitter Anger and boundless Desires and Conscience of Evil. The malicâ—ous spiteful Man is upon the Wrack as often as he cannot bring about his mischievous Designs He gâ—ashes his Teeth when he sees God and Nature so to shelter and secure the Man against whom he hath set himself that no Storms he can raise shall light on him The Envious is himself in torment if other Men be not As often as the Candle of God the Suâ— shines on enlightens and warms his Neighbour it parches and burns