Neighbours and divide into parties as men of a great deal of Pride but of little Wit for a great and generous mind would be easily able to animate such a Society as a Parish and render himself considerable in the whole without tearing it in pieces that he may lead a Faction He detests and abhors all affected singularity though the instance of it be in it self unblameable so long as it is not absolutely necessary because he considers such things first raise Jealousy then provoke Emulation and at last end in alienation of affections He indeavours that no new Opinions in Religion may be broached amongst the Neighbourhood as knowing well there can be no new Gospel or new way to Heaven and he hath learnt by experience that whilst men stand gazing after new lights they make halt in the race of virtue and lose the way of peace without which they shall never come at Heaven He indeavours therefore to keep up the antient Landmarks both in spiritual and temporal affairs but if any disputes be raised he will presently bring Water to quench the Fire in the beginning and by discreet and temperate Discourses incline both Parties to coolness and moderation by representing the littleness of the matter in Controversy between them the great benefit of Unity and Concord amongst Neighbours and especially by putting them in mind of the approaches of Death which will very shortly take away the subject of the Question and the Disputants too 6. Sixthly Next to this and to the intent that his indeavours of making Peace may be the more successful he will contrive to render his person acceptable and fit to be interposed in quarrels by making himself remarkable for all other offices of Charity and Beneficence such as relieving of the Poor to the very utmost of his ability and by sympathizing with those he cannot help by visiting the sick counselling the weak and injudicious comforting the disconsolate vindicating the injured rescuing the oppressed and taking the part of the Widow and Fatherless by all which and several other good offices he will become a common Father and Friend to the whole Neighbourhood Most of these things may be performed without much cost or trouble or if they be chargeable either way the expence will be abundantly recompensed by the delight that attends the discharge of them for they are commonly as comfortable in the doing to those that undertake them as they are beneficial to those for whose sake they are undertaken Thus at a cheap rate a man becomes a Benefactor and a blessing to the times and places where he lives and besides doth a singular service to God vindicating his Providence in the inequal distribution of his temporal blessings and he renders Religion lovely in the Eyes of all the World and he very effectually consults the comfort of his own Soul giving proof to himself that he loves God whom he hath not seen because he loves his Brother whom he hath seen 7. Seventhly and lastly and to speak summarily it is the duty and the practice of a good Christian by all the means he can devise to promote the welfare and prosperity of his Parish and Neighbourhood not only because it is far more comfortable living amongst those who are in a prosperous condition as to their outward affairs in regard that moderate prosperity sweetens mens spirits and betters their temper as much as pinching want and necessity soures and disorders them but also because generally God is better loved and served by men whose hearts are chearful and easy than by the querulous and unhappy In order therefore to the wealth and prosperity of the place where he dwells the good Christian will in the first place take care to prevent the idleness of the Inhabitants by bringing in some manufacture or other if it be possible that so all hands may be set on work in some honest way of living for Idleness besides that it makes a very ugly figure clothing the slothful persons with Rags it commonly inclines people to be great Eaters having nothing else to do but to mind their Bellies and so they become a sort of Caterpillars which devour other mens labours it also tempts them by their necessity to pilfer cheat lie and steal and do any base action imaginable and moreover such people are generally envious malicious busy bodies medlers in other mens matters and in a word being desperate in their fortunes they are past fear and shame Whereas on the other side honest industry besides that it is attended with the blessing of God renders people modest quiet governable chearful good natured and publick spirited In the next place and in pursuance of the same ends the pious Parishioner will as far as he is able prevent tipling and drunkenness amongst his Neighbours which is well known to be the common cause of want amongst the inferiour sort of People for this beastly way they will swill down presently that which might go a great way in the maintenance of their Families besides that the custom of it loses their time softens and relaxes their Nerves and makes them impatient of labour it raises their passions and abates their discretion and so disposes them to be quarrelsome with their Families when they come home and which is worst of all renders them proud insolent and ungovernable Furthermore the good man will indeavour if it be wanting and the place be capable of it to get a good School setled in the Parish which besides the great advantage of it for the education of youth doth generally inrich the place and is more beneficial than a manufacture for this affords some imployment for those poor that are there already and makes no more nor draws other such to the place as manufacture usually doth And lastly to all this a good Neighbour will indeavour to bring all vicious and incorrigible people to shame and punishment than which nothing conduces more to the honour of Religion to the peace of the Inhabitants or the felicity of the place There are notwithstanding some fond and incogitant people who think this course quite contrary to good Neighbourhood and look upon those as the best Townsmen that will connive at mens Vices and let every Body do what they list but with their leave as it is the greatest kindness toward such vicious persons to make use of the provision which the wisdom of Laws hath made for their amendment so he is the best Christian that discriminates between good and bad men as well as the best Townsman who will not permit virtue and industry to be discouraged by the impudence and impunity of some lewd persons but so much for that These things which I have now treated of in this Chapter are a certain kind of lesser Morals and the peculiar instances of that which I called Civil Piety But if the good Christian will as he ought take care of them he will do at least a collateral service to Almighty God by being a Benefactor to the World he will render the attendance upon Religion more easy and make his own passage through the World towards Heaven the more quiet and comfortable which is the thing aimed at all along in these Papers THE END
of a day or an hour or a Sermon the holy Scripture quite contrary-wise represents it as the business of a mans whole life and requires that men not only set out well but that they make a daily and gradual progression towards Heaven forasmuch as it tells us that otherwise he who hath begun in the spirit may end in the flesh and that a man may return with the Dog to his vomit c. and then the latter end of such a man is worse than the beginning 5. Another mistake not inferiour to any of the former either in respect of errour or danger is about the power and authority of Conscience viz. When men perswade themselves that all is right and true which they are satisfied of in their Consciences and that it is lawful for them to do whatsoever that dictates to them or allows them in as if Conscience were not a thing to be ruled but to rule and were invested with a kind of Soveraignty so that it were a Law to it self and to others also If you reprove some mans opinion instead of arguments for it he tells you it is his Conscience and that 's enough or if you blame some action of his life he regards not your reprehensions for saith he my Conscience smites me not for it and therefore I am safe or if you forewarn him of some counsels or undertakings as tending to Sedition and publick disturbance it is no matter it is his Conscience and he must pursue it The mischief of this is very intolerable for by this means the most foolish and extravagant actions are justified and the malefactor rendered incorrigible being both hardened in his sin and in his sufferings for if it come to that you cannot convince such men for they have a testimony within them which is infallible and in confidence of that whensoever you bring an Argument which they cannot answer they reject and defy it as a temptation of the Devil If you rebuke them you blaspheme the holy Spirit if you go about to restrain them you violate the most sacred Prerogative of Conscience and are gulty of the only sacriledge which in their opinion can be committed and which is worst of all thus God is intitled to the very passions and follies of such men and to all the extravagancies in the World for if it be their Conscience God must patronize it and bear the blame of all Now one would justly wonder what these men think this thing called Conscience to be surely no less than some God Almighty within them and so indeed several expressions of them seem to intimate But certainly if they thought Conscience to be nothing else but a mans own mind or opinion or perswasion or practical Judgment which certainly it is and no more they could not either in reason or modesty think fit that this should have such a paramount Authority as to bear all down before it at least they could not imagine that their peculiar phancy or humour their particular Education or Idiopathy their ignorance or stubbornness should be lawless and uncontroulable For if mens opinions or perswasions are infallible what is instruction for if the light within be sufficient what is the light of holy Scripture for if Conscience be a guide to it self to what purpose are spiritual Guides provided by divine wisdom for our conduct and if that may not be restrained in its extravagancy wherefore were Laws made and Magistrates appointed So that either this wild notion of the power of Conscience must be false or else Instruction and Education are useless Magistracy and Ministry impertinent and both Laws and Scripture of no effect And if notwithstanding this notion be imbraced it is plainly impossible that such men should live either holily or comfortably Not holily because Conscience thus left alone to it self without guide or rule will in all likelihood follow mens temper and inclination and then a mans most beloved Lusts shall be the dictate of his Conscience Not comfortably because he that is destitute of a Law and a guide to resolve him in difficulties must needs if he consider and be sensible of any thing at all be perplexed with perpetual disputes and endless scrupulosity upon every undertaking But it will be pretended that there is no help for it but when all is done men must and will follow their own Consciences forasmuch as Discourse or Laws or Scripture signify nothing till they are applied by Conscience they indeed may give aim or may be of the nature of evidence in a Cause but it is Conscience which collects the result and he that complies not with that is guilty of sin whether the Evidence was well summed up or no. To this purpose some passages of Scripture are usually misapplied e. g. Let a man be perswaded in his own mind Rom. 14. 5. That which is not of Faith is sin Rom. 14. 23. and he that doubteth is damn'd c. I do confess here is something of truth in this Plea but blended with a great deal of errour and here I verily believe lies the rise or occasion of the perswasion of the extravagant authority of Conscience But when we consider wisely the truth is no more but this that a mans Conscience ought to go along with him in the acts of his Obedience to the Law or that he ought to be perswaded the thing is lawful to be done before he does it otherwise he doth violence to himself and condemns his own act But it doth not follow that therefore it is lawful to do whatsoever he is perswaded of in his Conscience or that it is not his duty to do any thing but what he is so perswaded of for this abrogates all the Laws both of God and Man and makes their Legislations to depend upon private consent If therefore any man through ignorance or prejudice or any such cause shall have his Conscience alienated from the Law or dictating otherwise to him this as it cannot make a Law so neither can it discharge him from the obligation of one All that this works is that it puts a man into so sad a case that he may sin both ways that is both in obeying and in disobeying but because he is brought into this strait by his own default it is evident this cannot acquit his Conscience for one sin is no discharge for another That therefore which he hath now to do is first to inform his Conscience better and then to comply with the rule And that this is the true state of this Case will appear beyond all exception by the resolution of our Saviour himself in two passages of the Gospel the former Matt. 6. 23. if the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darkness Where first he supposes that the principles of a mans mind or Conscience may be very false and erroneous and then pronounces that he that is in such a Case is in a very deplorable condition forasmuch as the errour
improved his Stewardship in this particular Lastly In a Family there are commonly some who under the general relation of Friends or Acquaintance are either resident in it or at least hospitably entertained by it now as this lays an obligation upon the persons treated so it gives some authority to him who treats them and consequently as such a Master of a Family is in some measure answerable towards men for the scandals and misdemeanours of his Guests so is he much more responsible to God for any profaneness they shall be guilty of towards his Divine Majesty For as I said before every man being King in his own Family may give Laws to it and oblige those who are under his protection to pay him Allegiance and to serve and worship God with him especially he ought to do this because the fourth Commandment requires at our hands that we use this authority not only over our Sons and Daughters our Man-Servants and Maid-Servants but over all those that are within our Gates But so much in the general let us now consider in the second place the particular duties of Religion in a Family of which in the next Chapter CHAP. IV. Of Family Duties in special IN the first place I look upon it as the duty of every Family that besides Closet-Devotions of which I have spoken before and besides publick Worship of which I shall speak anon once a day at the least they join together in Prayers to God I say once a day at the least in favour of mens occasions and the peculiar circumstances of some Families were it not for which it would be very fit that there should be Prayers Morning and Evening as is the general practice of most pious Families but certainly it is wonderfully decent that all the members of every Family should once in the day meet together and with one heart and one mouth glorify God and pay their homage to the great Master of the whole Family of Heaven and Earth and it is very strange if any excuse should be pleaded or admitted in this case For as I said before every several Family is a peculiar Body or Society which hath its distinct circumstances effects and consideration it hath its respective needs to be supplied and therefore hath occasion to make proper and peculiar requests to God as that he will be pleased to continue it in health to settle concord and unity amongst the several members of it that the whole may enjoy prosperity and safety from Thieves from Fire and other dangers And every such Society hath also proper and peculiar mercies to give thanks to God for as namely for success in affairs for quiet habitation that they are not molested with ill Neighbours nor vexed with Law-Suits for hopeful Children faithful Servants c. for in several of these respects a man may be well and comfortable in his own person and yet be unhappy in the Society and contrarywise the Society or Family may be happy in the general and yet a particular person may be in ill circumstances and therefore there is just reason of addresses and acknowledgments to God in relation to the Family and by the whole Family in Conjunction as well as by every single person apart and in his Closet And though perhaps there may be some Family wherein there is no person who can aptly and properly represent the peculiar concerns of it to the Almighty and it may be also there is no form of Prayer at hand that will express all the respective circumstances of such a Society yet they may lift up their hearts and voices together in a general form and supply with their thoughts and affections whatsoever is wanting in the expressions And as there is just ground and reason for such family worship so there is good cause to expect it will be singularly successful when the whole community joins together and present themselves and their tribute of praise before the Lord no question but the very manner of doing it as well as the matter will be highly acceptable to him and when with prostrate bodies devout hearts and hands and eyes lift up to Heaven they combine together to importune and as it were besiege the Almighty they cannot fail of a blessing or however it is a mighty satisfaction to the minds of all such persons and a great security to them that they have thus jointly and solemnly commended themselves to the divine protection Besides that this course is an effectual means to conciliate peace and love and kindness between all the members of this body and to knit their hearts to one another when they are thus accustomed to unite their hearts and join their hands in Gods service and conspire to pray with and for each other which is the greatest indearment of affection Perhaps some man will now say there is no express Scripture which requires of men this daily office of Family Prayer To which I answer first what if it were so yet nevertheless it is a duty seeing there is so apparent reason for it For God who considered that he gave Laws to reasonable men did not think himself bound to prescribe every thing in particular especially in natural worship where the reason of man might supply him with direction what was fit to be done in such a case Besides secondly as I discoursed in the former part of this Treatise it is a stingy and narrow-soul'd trick and an argument of no true love to God and goodness to stand upon so strict terms in our piety as to require an express command in particular for that which is admirably good in the general and hath also been the general practice of all good men as this hath been But after all I would in the last place crave leave to ask those men a plain question who insist upon more express proof of Family Prayers and it is no more but this Whether they think there is any such thing as publick worship required of men if they do then let them remember there was a time when there was no more publick Society than that of Families namely at the first planting of the World and then either publick worship must be this of Families or none at all and to inlighten them in this case let them consider that passage Gen. 4. 26. when Seth had Enos born to him it is said then began men to call upon the name of the Lord that is so soon as there began to be a Family in the pious line of Seth then presently they set up Gods worship in it Now this was not the beginning of secret worship for no doubt but Seth was careful of that before Enos was born nor was it properly publick or Ecclesiastick worship for in that minority of the World there neither was nor as yet could be any Church established in such a sense therefore it must follow that Family worship is as antient as the being of Families themselves Or let pious and