innocent nay if we will extend Principles to their just Consequence as commendable and worthy of Praise as the Industrious and Temperate the Meek and Gentle the Just and Charitable for this must inevitably follow if neither Men's Vertues nor Vices be in any degree to be ascribed to themselves wretched and desperate is that shift that equals the just and unjust the industrious and the sluggard the great Mind that stands upright under and outbraves Misfortune and the degenerous one which effeminately shrinks and breaks under it wretched the Shift that equals the Tyrant and most gracious Prince the loyallest Subject and the Traitor the faithful Friend and the perfidious Flatterer and all this we must be driven to or else as we cannot deny that some are Happier than others so we must not deny that the Happiness of the one or Misery of the other is owing in some measure at least to their Vertues and Vices and these to themselves And if this be true 't is evident we may be Happy if we will and thô we may not equal the most Happy for I will not exclude Temper Education Fortune from all share in Men's Misery or Happiness yet since every degree of Happiness is truly valuable let us with all our might endeavour to be as Happy as we can Horat. Nec quia desperes invicti membri Glyconis Nodosa Corpus noli prohibere Chyragra Est quiddam prodire tenus The mighty Glyco's strength you can't attain Don't therefore scorn to free your Limbs from Pain Of Knotty Gout Ease thô not Strength to gain Is no small Happiness But to pursue our proof 2. Because there is Good and Evil in the World It is a great absurdity to confound or equal Vertue and Vice but 't is not the greatest they commit who deny the possibility of attaining Happiness for he that banishes Happiness out of the World do's at the same time banish Good and Evil out of it too for Good being nothing else but the subserviency of some things to our true Interest and Pleasure and Evil the tendency of others to our trouble and injury it must needs follow if there be Good and Evil in the World that he who has a greater share of Good than Evil is a Happy man and he that denieth Good and Evil may with as plausible a Confidence deny all Humane Passions and assert that there is neither Love nor Hatred neither Joy nor Grief nor Hope nor Fear nor Pity nor Envy for Good or Evil are the Objects or Causes of all these I may then I think take it for granted that no man will take the Confidence to say that there is no such thing as Good or Evil in the World and consequently all men must be oblig'd to acknowledge such a state as Happiness in the World too unless they will affirm one of these three things either First That Evil grows up every where in thick Crops Good thin scatter'd and rarely to be found epecially grown up to its maturity That consequently there are none whose share of Evil doth not infinitely outweigh that of Good Or Secondly That Evil hath so much of Venom and Malignity in it that a little Evil contributes more to our Misery than a great Deal of Good can to our Happiness so ripe and full grown is Evil so lank under-grown and every way imperfect is Good in this World Or Thirdly That we our selves can contribute nothing to that Good or Evil which is our Portion 't is the Product not of Reason or Industry but of Time and Chance or of some other Principle which is not in our Power All these deserve to be weigh'd not only because the Examination of 'em will tend to chear and encourage the Minds of Men and to render the great Creator and Governour of the World more dear and venerable to us but also because it will be of some use and service to the whole Inquiry First 1. Evils not more than Goods in the World Therefore let us examine what Truth there is in that fancy which supposes the weight and number of Evils in the World infinitely to exceed that of Good things I know there are a sort of sour and murmuring of proud and ambitious Wretches who deal with their God as with their Prince or Patrons and estimate Favours and Benefits not according to their Merit but Expectation greedy and haughty Expectation which even Prodigal Bounty cannot satisfie 't is the strange temper of some men that they wither and grow lean with Discontent and Envy even whil'st their studied Meals distract the wanton Appetite and their very Attendance are sleek and full and fat with the Remains of their Feasts and the meanest of their Relations thrive into Pride and Insolence by the mere sprinklings of their Plenty I know 't is Natural to some to Blaspheme God and the King to quarrel with and reproach Providence and the Government while loaded with good things they stretch themselves on Silken Couches under Roofs of Cedar or loll at Ease in their gilt Coaches and yet at the same time the honest Countrey-man who with Security thô much Drudgery Ploughs and Sows and Reaps a few Acres Eats his plain Meals with Cheerfulness Sleeps without Disturbance Blesses God and magnifies the goodness of his Prince The Contentment of the One is an evident proof of the Divine Bounty and Goodness whose Provision doth far exceed the Necessities of his Creatures The Discontent of th' other can be no disparagement to the Goodness of our Creator who has dealt extremely liberally with 'em thô they enjoy not what they possess we are not therefore to judge of the World by the Clamours and Invectives of such as are always mutinous and dissatisfy'd but by the suffrages of those humble modest and grateful Souls who know how to value the Favours of Heaven and themselves as they ought to do who do not marr and corrupt every Blessing by Peevishness or Envy or Pride or Wantonness but can weigh their Enjoyments their Hopes and their Merits in just and equal Ballances and discerning how much the one do's exceed the other chearfully adore and praise the World's Author and Governour If this Controversie were to be determin'd by such we should find these even under uneasie and Tyrannical Governments and in the more barren and niggardly Countries confuting this Objection by their Chearfulness and Contentment what would they have done if Providence had planted 'em there where a fertile Soil and thriving Trade had unladed the Wealth and Plenty of the World into their Arms and a mild and gentle Government had secur'd and guarded their Enjoyments But let us decide the Controversie not by Votes but Reasons let us consider the State and Nature of the World is there one in a Thousand who is left utterly unfurnish't of all means of wise and wholesome Instruction which is the Good of the Soul of Man or is there one in a Thousand maim'd and
Cor. 15. If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable 't is confessedly indisputably true that had these Christians been destitute of that hope which was their Support they had sunk under the weight of such Sufferings and so had been the most miserable of all men but since their hopes did not only support 'em under their Afflictions but also render 'em somewhat more than Conquerours all that can follow hence is That the Resurrection and Eternal life are unquestionable Truths and that life who believes 'em as firmly as Confessors and Martyrs did may like them be Happy thô a thousand Seas of Calamities and Troubles should break in upon him Mortification recommended by the Light of Nature as subservient to our present Happiness As to Mortification which is a Duty of perpetual Obligation for the Purity of Religion is still the same thô its fortune in the World be alter'd this did at first signifie the Renunciation and Extirpation of Jewish and Pagan Lusts according to that of St. Paul Mortifie therefore your members which are upon the Earth Fornication Vncleanness Inordinate affection Evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry and it still signifies the same thing and whatever difficulty we are to encounter in the performance of this Duty it must be vanquished for 't is impossible to be wicked and Happy a wicked man is his own Hell and every Passion every Lust is a Fiend a Fury that doth outrage and torment him and all this the Heathens themselves did not only constantly acknowledge but also paint out with as lively Eloquence as any Christian could ever do their Experience over whom Sin had an uncontrolled dominion most effectually convincing 'em of the Outrages Tyranny and unspeakable Mischiefs of wicked and abominable Passions Nay so manifest is it that the subduing these Irregular Passions is necessary to our Happiness that even the Epicureans themselves notwithstanding their confining the Happiness of Man to this short life and by a probable Consequence resolving it ultimately into the Enjoyments of the Body did yet look upon themselves as extremely injur'd by Tully and others when they represented 'em as revolted from and Enemies to Vertue 'T is not my business here to Examine what foundation for Vertue their Philosophy could leave or what rank and place they could assign it 't is enough that they could not but acknowledge it as necessary to Happiness 'T is true Mortification in the Gospel-sense requires us not only to restrain these Irregular Lusts but also not to over-rate and over-value this World and the things of it not to look upon this life as our only or chief Portion and doat upon it with fondness and passion and I cannot think that this is any thing more than what is imply'd and included in the former Notion of Mortification this Moderation of our Inclinations to the World being a proper and necessary foundation of the former Abstinence it being very Improbable that he who values and doats upon the World above all things should refrain from irregular Pursuits and Enjoyments of it Now even this Degree of Mortification was as clearly taught and the Necessity of it in order to Happiness by the Wise men amongst the Heathens as by our Saviour and his Apostles by those conducted by the Light of Nature as by these conducted by the Light of Revelation and that together with the Discipline which promotes it I mean the observation of great Abstinence from sensual Pleasures No Monk or Anchoret can speak with a more glorious contempt of the World than a Stoic but their flights who would allow the Body the World and the things of it no place nor degree in the Number of Good things are too daring and bold to lay any stress upon but the Opinion of other Philosophers who allow'd these their proper place and value ought to be of weight with us because they shew us plainly That Mortification was ever thought by the Light of Nature subservient to our true Happiness Hierocles in the beginning of his Divine Comments gives us a short but full account of the Pythagorean and I may add Platonic Philosophy in this Point 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The substance of which is The business of Philosophy is to purifie the Soul of Man from sensual Lusts and inordinate Passions and to transform it into the likeness and Image of God This is that which it pursues by discovering to us Excellent Truths and by recommending to us the practice of Excellent Vertues And this was that Philosophy which the best and acutest of the Heathens look't upon as the only way to Happiness so far were they from judging it inconsistent and incompatible with it nay they deem'd this very state of Vertue a state of more Exalted Happiness and an Image of the Divine Life hence is that little less than Inspir'd Heat or Rapture of Tully L. 2. de Leg. Cum animus cognitis perceptisque virtutibus à Corporis obsequio indulgentiaque discesserit voluptatemque sicut labem decoris oppresserit omnemque mortis Dolorisque timorem effugerit Societatemque Charitatis colerit cum suis omnesque natura conjunctos suos duxerit Cultumque Deorum puram Religionem susceperit exacuerit illam ut oculorum sic Ingenii Aciem ad bona deligenda rejicienda Contraria Quid eo dici aut excogitari poterit beatius When the Soul having discover'd and entertain'd Vertue has extinguish't its fondness for and indulgence of the Body and stifled Lust as the Reproach and Stain of its Honour and Beauty and hath put off all dread of Death and Pain c. What can be said or as much as fancied more blessed than the state of such a man Nay after all the greatest Patrons and Abettors of Pleasure did ever acknowledge this moderation in our Passions and Enjoyments indispensibly Necessary to our Happiness Nil admirari prope res est una Numici Solaque quae possit facere ac servare beatos Hor. Nought to admire's the thing alone that can Cause and Preserve the Happiness of Man And 't is well known how much the followers of Epicurus gloried in his Abstinence that these Voluptuaries should prescribe and practise the Doctrine of Mortification but this they were compelled to by the irresistible force of Reason for how can he who doats upon the World and melts in soft and sensual Pleasures be able to secure the repose of his Mind against those melancholy Alterations which may daily and some time or other will certainly befall himself and his Enjoyments on what foundation can the Peace or Liberty of his Mind be Establish't or can he be Happy who is distress't by every change of Weather and is divided and distracted between numerous contrary Passions and a slave to each To come to a Conclusion the Scripture is so far from denying that it do's affirm the possibility of attaining Happiness nor are the
which a Good God design'd to bring him through Vertue to Glory and then at last a guilty Conscience a distracted Mind and a most melancholy miserable Death is the Consequence and End of all This is the Progress which our Voluntary Sin and Folly makes we cannot think that a Good God can direct or Necessitate us to these Courses they are as repugnant to his Laws as to our own Interest and the same time we forfeit our Happiness we disappoint his Love and Goodness all the Ways and Methods of God are Kind and Gracious and Wise and Rational inanimate Bodies do not desert those Offices he has prescrib'd 'em Animals move regularly by those Instincts he has implanted in them and so both the one and the other do necessarily serve those Excellent Ends for which they were Created But Man having no Necessity but Liberty wove into the Constitution of his Nature and having no Compulsory but only directing Law prescrib'd him has perverted his own ways abus'd his Liberty and made that his Ruine which 〈◊〉 well-us'd had enhanc'd his Merit and Reward This is the Account which the Scripture gives us of Man's Misery it imputes it wholly to himself and represents his Obstinacy as ungrateful and displeasing to God as 't is fatal to himself Hos 13. Ezek. 38. O Israel thou hast destroy'd thy self As I live I delight not bâ— the Death of a Sinner turn ye into ye Math. 23. why will ye die O Jerusalem Jerusalem thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee how often would I have gather'd thy Children together even as a Heâ— gathers her Chickens under her wings and ye would not Nor is this account of things which the Scripture gives â—s any other than that which was generally embrac'd by the Heathens this being not the sense of any particular prepossessions or private Opinions instill'd by Custom or Education but of natural Reason and fairly and easily deduc'd from those Notions of Divine Goodness which were universally entertain'd by all judicious and understanding Heathens and how scandalous a thing were it if that Comfortable and Heavenly Truth which the Darkness and Idolatry of the Superstitious could not extinguish in the Pagan World should be rejected or suppress'd by Christians Jamblichus de Vitâ Pythag. l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is Not the Will of the Gods Idem l. 2. but the Luxury and Riot of Men is the Cause of those Evils which infest the Body c. Hence that Charitable piece of Heathen Devotion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O Father Jove from numerous Evils free Mankind or shew 'em their Ruin's not from thee A Gracious and Benign Deity But from themselves I will here add a Testimony of Apuleius as containing the Sense of the Platonic Philosophy in this Point of God's Government of Mankind Apul. de Dogmate Platonis Omnia quae naturaliter propterea rectè feruntur Providentiae Custodiâ gubernantur nec ullius mali Causa Deo poterit ascribi All the Motions of Providence are wise and regular nor must any Evil be ascrib'd to God as its Cause But this is not all we gain from the Assurance of God's Infinite Goodness that we have no Reason to apprehend any harm or mischief from him that he cannot be the Author of our Misery But we may confidently perswade our selves on the other side Secondly That he is most ready and willing to further and assist us in all our Endeavours after Happiness And now methinks I am so far from questioning the possibility of attaining Happiness that I begin already to feel and enjoy it I see the Day breaking in upon me from above how can he choose but be Happy who is the Love the Care of God! I may walk like Peter on the Waves and bid defiance to the Storms I know I shall never sink whil'st that God upholds me who calls me this way to him I can now easily believe that my temper may be transform'd my Corruptions may be put off and I be made partaker of a Divine Nature since the Spirit of God will dwell with me the Light of God will always shine upon me and the Power of God will always succour and aid me can I imagine as much as any Colour or Pretext why I should not now be able to attain to an Excellent state of Vertue or why this Vertue should not be able to Vanquish all those Difficulties that oppose my Happiness since I am assur'd that God will not refuse me his Spirit if I ask it and that his Grace will be sufficient for me You see of what vast Importance this Truth is that God will be always ready to assist every man in his Endeavours after Happiness and therefore thô it stand here as a Necessary and undeniable Conclusion from the foregoing Discourse thô the Perfection of the Divine Nature do amount to a little less than a Demonstration of it for * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Max. Tyrius Disser 22. Beneficence to his Creatures is as necessarily included in the Notion of Perfection as Perfection is in the Notion of a God yet as well for my own Pleasure as that interest which is nearly concern'd in this Truth I will dwell a little longer on the Confirmation and Illustration of it There are three Eminent Acts of Divine Assistance The First is such a Direction of the Events of Secular Affairs that they may tend to our Good The Second is his Assistance of us in the Attainment of Vertue And the Third is his recruiting us by fresh supplies of Strength in all our hazardous Conflicts and Extraordinary Trials Now thô I could not give an account of the manner how God performs this kind Work of his Providence yet ought not that to disswade me from the belief of it because we know that our Comprehension ought not to be the Standard of Divine Perfections nor the narrow bounds of our Imagination be the utmost extent of the Almighty's Power However 't is not difficult so to explain this Assistance of God in such sort as may free it from the least suspicion of Implying a Contradiction For First as to his Direction and Conduct of Temporal Events how easie will it be for us to Conceive this possible to God if we consider First That God can form what Impressions he pleases in the Minds of Men and inspire 'em with what Affections he shall think most serviceable to his Designs for there is not the least pretext or colour to imagine that the Soul is any more exempt from the Soveraignty of God than the Body or that God cannot do that which the Great or the Cunning or the Eloquent nay the Popular and Ambitious do seldom fail to do raise what Passions he pleases in the Mind of Man Or if we consider Secondly That the Power and Efficacy of Nature is wholly in his