Barbarians was the Disagreeings and Animosities in the Church Socrates Particularly observes this that at the same time that the Bishop of Rome and his Clergy persecuted other Dissenting Christians the Gothes and Longobards invaded Italy The fourth Century had abounded with Schism and Faction as well as Heresies And behold as the Effect as well as Recompence of these the fifth Century labour'd under an other sort of Plagues viz. the Irruption of those Savages partly Pagans and partly Arians who miserably Persecuted the Orthodox Christians in Italy Spain France and other Countries The Church might justly ascribe this to their own Home-Divisions Those Dreadful things it is probable had never come to pass if the Christians had not been Shatter'd and Distracted among themselves if they had not swarm'd with Various Opinions and fill'd every place with Disputes and Controversies if they had not mangled and corrupted many Heads of the Christian Faith if their Bishops had not been Haughty and Proud and not only despised and vilified their Inferior Brethren but likewise had Jarr'd with one another in short if both Governors and People had not been given to Tearing and Rending amongst themselves and if a Spirit of Division had not possess'd them beyond all Exorcism Thus it happen'd to the Church in the fifth Century Again to touch upon an other Coast of History when in Arabia Felix and Syria and the adjoyning Countries several Sects and Parties of Christians had sprung up as Melchites Maronites Eutychians Nestorians Monothelites c. then in that very Arabia but no longer to be call'd the Happy appeared the Grand Impostor Mahomet He and his Successors got up and gain'd Ground not only there but in other Places by the many Disputes and Parties which were among the Christians And whilst the Churches of Ierusalem Antioch and Constantinople unchristianly contended about Priority and such like Points the Turks came and decided the Controversy This is now known to be a Great Truth and not to be doubted of that the Mahometan Empire arose from the Contentions in the East when the Churches were torn asunder with the Arian and Manichean Doctrines For this Dissention bred in many Men an hatred of the Christian Religion and of the very Name of it and then any Opinion or Doctrine especially if grateful to the Flesh could not but be easily entertain'd and embraced Is it not fad to consider that the Vilest Cheat in the World That of Mahometism was foster'd and set forward by the Differences of those who were of the Christian Religion And afterwards it was no wonder that when the Greek Church was divided within it self into Armeniâ—ns Georgians Iacobites c. it was oppressed by the Turks and Saracens and quite over-run by them Their own Divisions armed these People against them their Quarrels among themselves put Weapons into the Hands of their Enemies and helpt them to Vanquish them To make this Reflection the more Authentick I will give it you as it is represented in one of the Homilies of our Church Where after it was observ'd that the Dissention of the Eastern and Western Christians was very much promoted by the Quarrel about Images the Conclusion is this So that when the Saracens first and afterwards the Turks invaded the Christians the one part of Christendom would not help the other By reason whereof at last the Noble Empire of Greece and the City Imperial Constantinople was lost and came into the Hands of the Infidels And immediately after Thus a Sea of Mischiefs was brought in a horrible Schism between the East and the West Church an hatred between one Christian and another Councels against Councels Church against Church Christians against Christians Princes against Princes at last the tearing in sunder of Christendom and the Empire in two Pieces till the Infidels Saracens and Turks common Enemies to both parts have most cruelly Vanquish'd Destroy'd and Subdued the one part and have won a great Piece of the other Empire and put the whole in dreadful Fear and most horrible Danger Still in pursuance of the Argument I am upon I might remind you that the Discord of Christians was it which lost Ierusalem after it had been held by them Successively a long time after it had cost them so much Blood in their several Expeditions and Crusades The Saracens strength in the Holy Land accrued by the Misunderstandings of the Princes of Europe when the Holy War was turn'd into Civil Dissentions And as Turcism arose and increased by the Dissentions of Christians so it is easy to prove that Popery had the same Rise and Advance for there is abundant History to make it clear that by Divisions in Doctrine and Practice in the Church in the first Ages those Corruptions first crept in Especially by reaso of the Dissention among Christian Emperours Kings and Princes the Papal Religion arrived to what it is For whenever These fell out with one another the Popes stood ready to make advantage of it and they always thereby increas'd and advanc'd their own Power and Authority and consequently the Papal Cause I might leave Christendom and travel as far as China and shew you that vast and spacious Kingdom which above 4000 Years together enjoy'd an uninterrupted Peace and knew not so much as the Use of Arms to defend their Country which no People in the World can say besides them At last the occasion of putting a Period to this long Tranquility was the Discords of this Kingdom among themselves the Divisions and Inflammations within their own Bowels and the Civil Wars occasion'd by Usurpers of the Throne Which were follow'd with the irruption of the Scythians and Asiatick Tartars upon them who in those unhappy Circumstances got the better of them and after a long and bloody War possess'd that Kingdom the wealthiest and most populous in the whole World that we know of and to this Day are Masters of it And now when we are travelling we may visit the Famous Country of the Abyssines or Ethiopia a large Kingdom in Africk but lately shrunk into a lesser Compass and almost lay'd wast by the Natives of the Place some of them having turn'd State-Rebels and others set on by the Iesuites fighting on a Religious Account But I will not wander so far but come home to our selves and prosecute the Argument with relation to this Land of our Nativity They were the Civil Wars of the Antient Britains which tempted Iulius Caesar to invade this Island at first This was the Rise of the Romans coming hither and this was the occasion of the Britains being conquered It is evident from the most Credible Historians that our Ancestours a very warlike and valiant People were vanquished rather by the Perfidiousness of their own Androgeus and the Quarrels of others among themselves than by the valour and force of the Invaders For they tell us that Iulius Caesar was invited over by that Androgeus who at that time quarrell'd with
Confusion of Egypt was the attendant of the foolishness i.e. the Sinfulness of their Princes Isa. xix 11. And you may hear God speaking thus in Zech. x. 3. Mine anger was kindled against the Shepherds and I punish'd the Goats i.e. God punish'd both Rulers and People but these for the sake of them Yea a Nation is sometimes punish'd because of a Wicked King even when he is dead as appears from Ier. xv 4. Israel was Plagued for Manasses's Sins after he had left the World So Pernicious and Destructive are the Miscarriages of Superiors The Community is endamag'd by their Disorders Their Follies bring down Judgments on a whole Nation All the Members suffer for what the Head doth And this happens so from the Nature of the thing it self as well as by the just Judgment of God By Sardanapalus's Luxury the Assyrian Monarchy was removed to the Medes By Xerxes's Riot and Prodigality the Persian Empire was Ruin'd And many other Instances there are of the like Nature From whence you may gather how Reasonable it is that a Ruler should endeavour to be free from Vice and to lead a very Religious and Pious Life For if he doth otherwise the People stand ready to follow his Steps and so there will be an Universal Corruption and the Judgments of God will overtake both Rulers and People But Secondly Those in High Places are engag'd to be Exemplary in their Lives and to shew forth all Vertues and Graces because when Men behold these in them they are enclined to Imitate them I have shew'd before that they are apt to resemble them in their Vitious Practices Now I will briefly let you see that if they have Examples of another Nature set before them they will be enclined to follow them As there is no Evil so Pernicious as a Wicked Ruler because as I have shew'd under the foregoing Head his Personal Faults soon become National and his worst Actions are drawn into Example so there is no Good in the World so Universally Beneficial as a Godly Ruler because most Men will be moved to Transcribe his Good and Vertuous Actions and so there will be an effectual and speedy Reformation of the Publick There are Examples in Holy Scripture which might be produced here For as Ieroboam a Bad King corrupted the People by his Evil Life as well as Laws and thereby made all Israel sin so we read that David Asa Iosiah Hezekiah Good Kings promoted God's Worship and a Holy Life by their own Practice Plutarch in the Life of Alcibiades a Person of Wealth and Quality in Athens tells us how he refused to learn to play on the Flute and inveigh'd against that Instrument as it was then in use whereupon it soon wore out of Fashion and at last was look'd upon as a Sordid and Unbecoming sort of Diversion by the Athenian Gentlemen Livy acquaints us that Romulus who at first was very Extravagant and Irreligious afterward grew Sober and Staid And when he did so all the Romans chang'd with him and became like him The Custom of Immoderate and Excessive Attire Feasting and Houshold Stuff had prevail'd long at Rome and could not be Repress'd by Laws but as soon as Vespasian was Emperor it went off of it self Tacitus observes the Cause of it to be their desire of Emulating their Prince and conforming themselves to his Example This did more than Fear and Penalty Herodian observes of Antoninus Surnamed the Philosopher that he was the first Emperor that signally Establish'd Wisdom and good Manners by his own Life and Actions whereby it came to pass that that Age yielded a great Company of Wife and Grave Men. You may read in a very good Author that the Senate of Rome's Acclamation to Severus the Emperor was after this manner All Persons do all things well because you Rule well This perhaps may be said in Flattery to that Prince but it is undoubtedly true that if he were a Good Ruler the generality of his Subjects would find the happy Influence of it in the Goodness of their own Lives Never was there such a Time of Converts as when Constantine the Great turn'd Christian and afterwards when he was Baptiz'd Twelve thousand Men besides Women and Children received the Christian Faith that Year and were admitted to Baptism Ammianus observes of the Emperor Valentinian that he being a very Chast Prince both at Home and Abroad and giving way to no Obscene and Lascivious Words or Actions This was the Bridle of the Court and it prov'd the best way to keep them in good Order To come nearer when King Lucius a British King embraced the Faith of the Gospel and was Baptiz'd great numbers of his Subjects receiv'd the same Faith and flock'd to the Baptismal Waters and so Paganism and Idolatry decay'd daily And afterwards when Heathenism return'd into this Land by the Invasion which the Saxons made it by degrees wore off again by the powerful Example of their Kings When King Ethelbert and King Sebert embrac'd the Christian Religion and were Baptiz'd the Nation was in a short time Christianiz'd Thus it is evident what great Obligations lie upon Rulers and Governors to be Good and Righteous for their Examples teach Goodness most powerfully and effectually There are other Considerations besides these which I have mentioned and insisted upon to convince you of this Truth That a Magistrate ought to be a Man of an Exemplary Life and to surpass others in all laudable Endowments and Actions I might mention this that he cannot with any confidence govern others unless he have a Government over himself and looks narrowly into his own Life and Manners He cannot with Boldness call upon others to obey those Laws which he breaks himself One of the Antients expresses it thus It is not for him that is falling to set others upright it is not for him that hath no command over himself to command others It must be look'd to in the first place that the Rule be streight and lie right and orderly if you intend to bring those things to a rectitude which it is applied to So must a Prince first rightly settle his Command and Empire over himself and direct his own Manners in order to a right governing of others This latter cannot be done as it should be without the former Though it is true it is done after some sort where the other is wanting Thus Plutarch Remarks of Sylla that he would be frequently prescribing Laws to the Romans of Sobriety and Chastity whilst himself was a Stranger to them both and indulg'd himself in all Intemperance and Leudness Domitian made severe Laws against Adultery whilst he lived in Incest with his Neece Iustinian the Emperor that caused the Imperial Laws to be compiled the Rules of the highest Justice suffer'd all sorts of Injustice to be unpunish'd â—aith Evagrius though I know others dissent from him in this But most certainly it is with inward shame and regret that any
Invasion of which you read in Isai. xx 4. which proved very Fatal and Mischievous to them The Sacred Records acquaint us that the unhappy Dividing of Israel into two Kingdoms which before was One and Entire so enfeebled that People that at length it ended in their Ruin For from the Ten Tribes being Separated and Rent from the other Two proceeded all their Civil Wars and Distractions at Home And this also made way for the Conquests by the Chaldean Kings and was at last the occasion of their Foreign Captivity This is confess'd by their own Learned Antiquary and Historian who particularly Remarks that this Defection from Rehoboam and dividing the Kingdom were the beginning and first cause of all the Evils that beâ—el them and of their final Overthrow Afterwards among the same People the Factions and Contentions of the Priests Fighting and Scuâ—fling for the High-Priests place brought in the Kings of Syria upon them And long after this what was it but the Intestine Divisions Sects and Parties in the same Nation which occasion'd the demolishing of their City by Titus Vespasian Their own Civil Broils and Discords made way for his Forces The Tumults of the Zealots those Iewish Banditi's and other Seditous Persons amongst them in the time of the Siege who as a Learned Writer thinks are meant by the Locusts in the Ninth of the Revelation in which Chapter he conceives their Outrages and Villanies are set forth did those People more harm and mischief than all the Roman Army This likewise is taken notice of by their Own Historian who tells us that the Romans beheld with Joy these Domestick Broils in Ierusalem reckoning the Dissention of their Enemies to be the most advantageous and profitable thing that could have happen'd and crying out That it was from a Divine Hand that their Enemies were turn'd against themselves Therefore the Emperor's Son as the same Author informs us observing these deadly Feuds among them told his Soldiers when he perceived them to be very eager of falling upon the Iews That he delay'd a while to do this that thereby their Dissentions might be increas'd and grow more raging and by that means they might fall by their own hands and be consumed by their implacable Quarrels among one another Whereas if he should break in upon them presently this would be a cause of their Agreement and move them to join together against the Common Foe Therefore to pacify his Soldiers he reminded them that God knew what was better for them than themselves did and had so ordered the present Affair that the Jews should be delivered up to them without labour and that Victory should be given them without undergoing any great Fatigue and Danger Whilst their Enemies Perish'd by their own hands and were Ruined by the greatest of Evils viz. Their Home-bred Sedition they should only be Spectators of their Mischiefs but not be forced to fight with those Men who greedily sought after Death and were grown mad with intestine Slaughter and Bloodshed Thus Iosephus represents Titus speaking to his Soldiers It is true at last as the same Historian goes on to observe when it was too late all their Discords ceas'd all the Seditious Parties began to unite in one When the War grew hotter and the Romans approach'd nearer to them then they began to bewail their former Madness and to say to one another we have hitherto shew'd our fortitude and vaâ—our against our selves only By our own groundless Quarrels we have weakn'd our selves and strengthned our Enemies We have been all this while by our Animosities within encouraging those that are without To this the Roman Army may ascribe its Success That this or the like Language may never be hear'd in England is the design and aim of this present Discourse To pass from Iudea to Greece it is manifest that the Inhabitants of this Country after they had expell'd their Foreign Foes and put Xerxes to Flight at last overthrew themselves by Domestick Iarrs This is the Remark which Iustin the Historian makes of them Whilst every free City strived for the Mastery they all lost it For by their Quarrels among themselves and contending which should be Uppermost they gave occasion to Philip King of Macedon to subdue them all And afterwards when the Grecian Empire came once to be Divided into parts which was signified by the Leopards various Spots and the Four-headed Beast spoken of in Daniel it drew toward its Decay and in the End dwindled into nothing When not only the Empire it self but the Persons who presided over it were divided it could not long stand It cannot be denied that particularly the Kingdom of Syria which was part of the Greek Conquests was lost to the Romans by their Civil Discords and Quarrels many Persons contending at one time for the Supreme Rule Nothing is more evident than that the Vast Government of the Grecians fell by the mutual Animosities of Alexanders Successors They made not an end of falling out and Fighting one another till the Roman Empire swallow'd them all up To pass from Iews and Pagans even to Christians it may be observed in Ecclesiastical History that when the Primitive Christians began to be Quarrelsom and Contentious and to Persecute one another God sent amongst them the Hottest Persecution under Dioclesian which lasted Ten Years When there were mutual Envyings and Revilings amongst us saith Eusebius when the Rulers of the Church fell out with one another when the Pastors of the Flock foster'd Strife and Contention among themselves studying nothing but Emulation Enmity and Hatred then according to Ieremy the Lord cover'd the Daughter of Sion with a cloud in his Anger So that Good Father And in other Places he tells us that their Uncharita charitable Accusing of one another and Dissenting among themselves invited the Pagans to fall upon them the Divisions of Believers were justly rewarded with Bloodshed and Slaughter from Inâ—idels And after the Roman Empire became Christian one cause of its declining was the Division of it by Constantine the Great viz. when he Translated the Imperial Seat into Greece whereby in a short time the Eagles Head was divided and its Body by degrees Impair'd and Shatter'd Whilst the Government was One and Entire it was Stable and Firm but as soon as it came to be Parted it lost its pristine Vigour and grew Weak and Feeble It was upon this Division of the Empire that those Northern Nations the Gothes distinguish'd into Vise Gothes and Ostro Gothes the Hunns Vandals Longobards and Others whose very Names are as Barbarous as Themselves were left their Cold and Barren Countries and cross'd the Rhine and Danube to settle themselves in warmer Habitations But which is yet more to our purpose when these Barbarous Nations like a General Deluge over-ran the fairest Realms of Europe the Frayes and Dissentions of Christians made way for them That which chiefly Encouraged and Promoted the incursion of these