ISAACUS BARROW S.T.P. REG. MATI. A SACRIS COLL. S.S. TRINI CANTAB PRAEFEC NEC NON ACAD EIUSDEM PROCANC 1676. OF THE LOVE of GOD AND OUR NEIGHBOUR In Several SERMONS By ISAAC BARROW D. D. Late Master of Trinity College in Cambridge and one of His MAJESTY'S Chaplains in Ordinary The Third Volume LONDON Printed by Miles Flesher for Brabazon Aylmer at the Three Pigeons over against the Royal Exchange in Cornhill 1680. TO The Right Honourable HENEAGE Lord FINCH Baron of DAVENTRY Lord High CHANCELLOUR OF ENGLAND AND One of His MAJESTY'S most Honourable Privy Council THOMAS BARROW the Authour's Father Humbly Dedicateth these SERMONS THE CONTENTS SERMON I and II. S. Matthew 22. 37. Iesus said unto him Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart SERMON III and IV. S. Matthew 22. 39. And the Second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self SERMON V. Ephesians 5. 2. And walk in love SERMON VI. Hebrews 10. 24. Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works SERMON VII and VIII Romans 12. 18. If it be possible as much as lieth in you live peaceably with all men The First Sermon MATT. 22. 37. Jesus said unto him Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart THIS Text is produced by our Saviour out of Moses his Law in answer to a question wherewith a learned Pharisee thought to pose or puzzle him the question was which was the great and first commandment in the Law a question which it seems had been examined and determined among the Doctours in the Schools of those days for in Saint Luke to the like question intimated by our Saviour another Lawyer readily yields the same answer and is therefore commended by our Saviour with a rectè respondisti thou hast answered rightly so that had our Saviour answered otherwise he had we may suppose been taxed of ignorance and unskilfulness perhaps also of errour and heterodoxie to convict him of which seems to have been the design of this Jewish trier or tempter for he is said to ask 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 trying or tempting him But our Saviour defeats his captious intent by answering not onely according to truth and the reason of the thing but agreeably to the doctrine then current and as the Lawyer himself out of his memory and learning would have resolved it and no wonder since common sense dictates that the Law enjoyning sincere and entire love toward God is necessarily the first and chief or the most fundamental Law of all Religion for that whosoever doth believe the being of God according to the most common notion that Name bears must needs discern himself obliged first and chiefly to perform those acts of mind and will toward him which most true and earnest love do imply different expressions of love may be prescribed peculiar grounds of love may be declared in several ways of Religion but in the general and main substance of the duty all will conspire all will acknowledge readily that it is love we chiefly owe to God the duty which he may most justly require of us and which will be most acceptable to him It was then indeed the great commandment of the old or rather of the young and less perfect Religion of the Jews and it is no less of the more adult and improved Religion which the Son of God did institute and teach the difference onely is that Christianity declares more fully how we should exercise it and more highly engages us to observe it requires more proper and more substantial expressions thereof extends our obligation as to the matter and intends it as to the degree thereof for as it represents Almighty God in his nature and in his doings more lovely than any other way of Religion either natural or instituted hath done or could doe so it proportionably raises our obligation to love him it is as S. Paul speaketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the last drift or the supreme pitch of the Evangelical profession and institution to Love to love God first and then our neighbour out of a pure heart and good conscience and faith unfeigned it is the bond or knot of that perfection which the Gospel injoins us to aspire to 't is the first and principall of those goodly fruits which the Holy Spirit of Christ produceth in good Christians It is therefore plainly with us also the great Commandment and chief Duty chiefly great in its extent in its worth in its efficacy and influence most great it is in that it doth eminently at least or virtually contain all other Laws and Duties of Piety they being all as Branches making up its Body or growing out of it as their Root Saint Paul saith of the love toward our neighbour that it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a full performance of the laws concerning him and that all commandments 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are recapitulated or summ'd up in this one saying Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self and by like or greater reason are all the Duties of Piety comprised in the Love of God which is the chief of those two hinges upon which as our Saviour here subjoins the whole law and the prophets do hang. So great is this Duty in extent and it is no less in proper worth both as it immediately respects the most excellent and most necessary performances of Duty employing our highest faculties in their best operations and as it imparts vertue and value to all other acts of Duty for no Sacrifice is acceptable which is not kindled by this heavenly Fire no Offering sweet and pure which is not seasoned by this holy Salt no Action is truly good or commendable which is not conjoined with or doth not proceed from the Love of God that is not performed with a design to please God or at least with an opinion that we shall do so thereby If a man perform any good work not out of love to God but from any other principle or for any other design to please himself or others to get honour or gain thereby how can it be acceptable to God to whom it hath not any due regard And what action hath it for its principle or its ingredient becomes sanctified thereby in great measure pleasing and acceptable to God such is the worth and value thereof It is also the great Commandment for efficacy and influence being naturally productive of Obedience to all other Commandments especially of the most genuine and sincere Obedience no other principle being in force and activity comparable thereto fear may drive to a complyance with some and hope may draw to an observance of others but it is Love that with a kind of willing constraint and kindly violence carries on cheerfully vigorously and swiftly to the performance of all God's Commandments If any man loves me saith our Saviour he will keep my word to keep
of all our good by just correspondence all our mind and heart all our strength and endeavour are due and reasonably might he engross them to himself excluding all other beings from any share in them so that we might be obliged onely to fix our thoughts and set our affections on him onely to act directly for his honour and interest saying with the Holy Psalmist Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none in earth that I desire beside thee Yet doth he freely please to impart a share of these performances on mankind yet doth he charge us to place our affection on one another to place it there indeed in a measure so large that we can hardly imagine a greater according to a rule than which none can be devised more compleat or certain O marvellous condescension O goodness truly divine which surpasseth the nature of things which dispenseth with the highest right and forgoeth the greatest interest that can be Doth not God in a sort debase himself that he might advance us doth he not appear to wave his own due and neglect his own honour for our advantage how otherwise could the love of man be capable of any resemblance to the love of God and not stand at an infinite distance or in an extream disparity from it how otherwise could we be obliged to affect or regard any thing beside the Sovereign the onely goodness how otherwise could there be any second or like to that first that great that peerless command Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart This indeed is the highest commendation whereof any Law is capable for as to be like God is the highest praise that can be given to a person so to resemble the divinest Law of love to God is the fairest character that can be assigned of a Law the which indeed representeth it to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Saint James calleth it that is a Royal and Sovereign Law exalted above all others and bearing a sway on them Saint Paul telleth us that the end of the commandment or the main scope of the Evangelical doctrine is charity out of a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned that charity is the summe and substance of all other duties and that he that loveth another hath fulfilled the whole law that Charity is the chief of the Theological vertues and the prime fruit of the divine Spirit and the bond of perfection which combineth and consummateth all other graces and the general principle of all our doings Saint Peter enjoineth us that to all other vertues we add charity as the top and crown of them and Above all things saith he have fervent charity among your selves Saint John calleth this Law in way of excellence the commandment of God and our Lord himself claimeth it as his peculiar Precept This saith he is my commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another and maketh the observance of it the special cognizance of his followers By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye love one another These indeed are lofty commendations thereof yet all of them may worthily veil to this all of them seem verified in virtue of this because God hath vouchsafed to place this command in so near adjacency to the first great Law conjoining the two Tables making Charity contiguous and as it were commensurate to Piety It is true that in many respects Charity doth resemble Piety for it is the most genuine daughter of Piety thence in complexion in features in humour much favouring its sweet mother It doth consist in like dispositions and motions of soul It doth grow from the same roots and principles of benignity ingenuity equity gratitude planted in our original constitution by the breath of God and improved in our hearts by the divine Spirit of love It produceth the like fruits of beneficence toward others and of comfort in our selves It in like manner doth assimilate us to God rendring us conformable to his nature followers of his practice and partakers of his felicity It is of like use and consequence toward the regulation of our practice and due management of our whole life In such respects I say this Law is like to the other but it is however chiefly so for that God hath pleased to lay so great stress thereon as to make it the other half of our Religion and duty or because as Saint John saith This commandment have we from him that he who loveth God love his brother also which is to his praise a most pregnant demonstration of his immense goodness toward us But no less in the very substance of this Duty will the benignity of him that prescribeth it shine forth displaying it self in the rare beauty and sweetness of it together with the vast benefit and utility which it being observed will yield to mankind which will appear by what we may discourse for pressing its observance but first let us explain it as it lyeth before us expressed in the words of the Text wherein we shall consider two Particulars observable First The Object of the Duty Secondly The Qualification annexed to it The Object of it Our Neighbour The Qualification As our selves I. The Object of Charity is our Neighbour that is it being understood as the Precept now concerneth us according to our Lord's exposition or according to his intent and the tenour of his Doctrine every man with whom we have to doe or who is capable of our love especially every Christian. The Law as it was given to God's ancient people did openly regard onely those among them who were linked together in a holy neighbourhood or Society from which all other men being excluded were deemed strangers and foreiners aliens as Saint Paul speaketh from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise for thus the Law runneth in Leviticus Thou shalt not bear any grudge against the children of thy people but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self where plainly Jews and Neighbours are terms equivalent other men being supposed to stand at distance without the fold or politick enclosure which God by several Ordinances had fenced to keep that Nation unmixt and separate nor can it be excepted against this notion that in the same Chapter it is enjoined But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you and thou shalt love him as thy self for by that stranger as the Jewish Masters well interpret it is meant a Proselyte of righteousness or one who although a stranger by birth was yet a brother in Religion having voluntarily submitted to their Law being engaged in the same Covenant and thence admitted to the same Privileges as an adopted Child of that Holy
we must ascend toward the perfection of them and strive to conform our practice to their exactness If what is prescribed be according to the reason of things just and fit it is enough although our practice will not reach it for what remaineth may be supplied by repentance and humility in him that should obey by mercy and pardon in him that doth command In the prescription of duty it is just that what may be required even in rigour should be precisely determined though in execution of justice or dispensation of recompence consideration may be had of our weakness whereby both the authority of our Governour may be maintained and his clemency glorified It is of great use that by comparing the Law with our practice and in the perfection of the one discerning the defect of the other we may be humbled may be sensible of our impotency may thence be forced to seek the helps of grace and the benefit of mercy Were the Rule never so low our practice would come beneath it it is therefore expedient that it should be high that at least we may rise higher in performance than otherwise we should doe for the higher we aim the nearer we shall go to the due pitch as he that aimeth at heaven although he cannot reach it will yet shoot higher than he that aimeth onely at the house top The height of duty doth prevent sloth and decay in vertue keeping us in wholsome exercise and in continual improvement while we be always climbing toward the top and straining unto farther attainment the sincere prosecution of which course as it will be more profitable unto us so it will be no less acceptable to God than if we could thoroughly fulfill the Law for in judgment God will onely reckon upon the sincerity and earnestness of our endeavour so that if we have done our best it will be taken as if we had done all Our labour will not be lost in the Lord for the degrees of performance will be considered and he that hath done his duty in part shall be proportionably recompensed according to that of Saint Paul Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own work Hence sometimes we are enjoined to be perfect as our heavenly father is perfect and to be holy as God is holy otherwhile to go on to perfection and to press toward the mark which Precepts in effect do import the same thing but the latter implyeth the former although in attainment impossible yet in attempt very profitable and surely he is likely to write best who proposeth to himself the fairest Copy for his imitation In fine if we do act what is possible or as we can do conform to the Rule of Duty we may be sure that no impossibility of this or of any other sublime Law can prejudice us I say of any other Law for it is not onely this Law to which this exception may be made but many others perhaps every one Evangelical Law are alike repugnant to corrupt nature and seem to surmount our ability But neither is the performance of this task so impossible or so desperately hard if we take the right course and use proper means toward it as is supposed as may somewhat appear if we will weigh the following considerations 1. Be it considered that we may be mistaken in our accompt when we do look on the impossibility or difficulty of such a practice as it appeareth at present before we have seriously attempted and in a good method by due means earnestly laboured to atchieve it for many things cannot be done at first or with a small practice which by degrees and a continued endeavour may be effected divers things are placed at a distance so that without passing through the interjacent way we cannot arrive at them divers things seem hard before trial which afterward prove very easie it is impossible to fly up to the top of a steeple but we may ascend thither by steps we cannot get to Rome without crossing the Seas and travelling through France or Germany it is hard to comprehend a subtle Theoreme in Geometry if we pitch on it first but if we begin at the simple principles and go forward through the intermediate propositions we may easily attain a demonstration of it it is hard to swim to dance to play on an Instrument but a little trial or a competent exercise will render those things easie to us So may the practice of this duty seem impossible or insuperably difficult before we have employed divers means and voided divers impediments before we have inured our minds and affections to it before we have tried our forces in some instances thereof previous to others of a higher strein and nearer the perfection of it If we would set our selves to exercise charity in those instances whereof we are at first capable without much reluctancy and thence proceed toward others of a higher nature we may find such improvement and taste such content therein that we may soon arise to incredible degrees thereof and at length perhaps we may attain to such a pitch that it will seem to us base and vain to consider our own good before that of others in any sensible measure And that nature which now so mightily doth contest in favour of our selves may in time give way to a better nature born of custome affecting the good of others Let not therefore a present sense or experience raise in our minds a prejudice against the possibility or practicableness of this duty 2. Let us consider that in some respects and in divers instances it is very feasible to love our neighbour no less than our selves We may love our neighbour truly and sincerely out of a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned as Saint Paul doth prescribe or according to Saint Peter's injunction from a pure heart love one another fervently and in this respect we can do no more toward our selves for truth admitteth no degrees sincerity is a pure and compleat thing exclusive of all mixture or alloy And as to external acts at least it is plain that charity toward others may reach self-self-love for we may be as serious as vigorous as industrious in acting for our neighbours good as we can be in pursuing our own designs and interests for reason easily can manage and govern external practice and common experience sheweth the matter to this extent practicable seeing that often men do employ as much diligence on the concerns of others as they can do on their own being able to doe no more than their best in either case wherefore in this respect charity may vie with selfishness and practising thus far may be a step to mount higher Also rational consideration will enable us to perform some interiour acts of charity in the highest degree for if we do but as without much difficulty we may do apply our mind to weigh the qualities
our neighbours concerns to our accompt That this is practicable experience may confirm for we may observe that men commonly do thus appropriate the concerns of others resenting the disasters of a friend or of a relation with as sensible displeasure as they could their own and answerably finding as high a satisfaction in their good fortune Yea many persons do feel more pain by compassion for others than they could do in sustaining the same evils divers can with a stout heart undergo their own afflictions who are melted with those of a friend or brother Seeing then in true judgment humanity doth match any other relation and Christianity far doth exceed all other alliances why may we not on them ground the like affections and practices if reason hath any force or consideration can any wise sway in our practice 4. It will greatly conduce to the perfect observance of this Rule to the depression of self-love and advancement of charity to the highest pitch if we do studiously contemplate our selves strictly examining our conscience and seriously reflecting on our unworthiness and vileness the infirmities and defects of nature the corruptions and defilements of our soul the sins and miscarriages of our lives which doing we shall certainly be far from admiring or doting on our selves but rather as Job did we shall condemn and abhor our selves when we see our selves so deformed and ugly how can we be amiable in our own eyes how can we more esteem or affect our selves than others of whose unworthiness we can hardly be so conscious or sure what place can there be for that vanity and folly for that pride and arrogance for that partiality and injustice which are the sources of immoderate self-self-love 5. And lastly we may from many conspicuous Experiments and Examples be assur'd that such a practice of this Duty is not impossible but these I have already produced and urged in the precedent Discourse and shall not repeat them again The Fifth Sermon EPHESIANS 5. 2. And walk in love SAint Paul telleth us that the end of the commandment or the main scope of the Evangelical Doctrine is charity out of a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned that charity is a general principle of all good practice let all your things be done in charity that it is the sum and abridgment of all other duties so that he that loveth another hath fulfilled the whole law that it is the chief of the Theological vertues the prime fruit of the divine Spirit and the band of perfection which combineth and consummateth all other graces Saint Peter enjoineth us that to all other vertues we should add charity as the top and crown of them and Above all things saith he have fervent charity among your selves Saint James styleth the Law of Charity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the royal or Sovereign Law Saint John calleth it in way of excellence the commandment of God This is his commandement that we should love one another Our Lord claimeth it for his peculiar Law This is my commandment and a new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another And he maketh the observance of it the special badge and cognizance of his followers By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye love one another It being therefore a duty of so grand importance it is most requisite that we should well understand it and faithfully observe it to which purposes I shall by God's assistance endeavour to confer somewhat first by explaining its Nature then by pressing the observance of it by several Inducements The nature of it will as I conceive be best understood by representing the several chief Acts which it comprizeth or implyeth as necessary prerequisites or essential ingredients or inseparable adherents to it some internally resident in the soul others discharged in external performance together with some special properties of it And such are those which follow I. Loving our neighbour doth imply that we should value and esteem him this is necessary for affection doth follow opinion so that we cannot like any thing which we do not esteem or wherein we do not apprehend some considerable good attractive of affection that is not amiable which is wholly contemptible or so far as it is such But in right judgment no man is such for the Wise man telleth us that He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth and He is void of understanding that despiseth his neighbour but no man is guilty of sin or folly for despising that which is wholly despicable It is indeed true that every man is subject to defects and to mischances apt to breed contempt especially in the minds of vulgar and weak people but no man is really despicable For Every man living hath stamped on him the venerable Image of his glorious Maker which nothing incident to him can utterly deface Every man is of a divine extraction and allied to heaven by nature and by grace as the Son of God and the Brother of God Incarnate If I did despise the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant when they contended with me what then shall I do when God riseth up and when he visiteth what shall I answer him Did not he that made me in the womb make him and did not one fashion us in the womb Every man is endewed with that celestial faculty of reason inspired by the Almighty for There is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding and hath an immortal spirit residing in him or rather is himself an Angelical spirit dwelling in a visible tabernacle Every man was originally designed and framed for a fruition of eternal happiness Every man hath an interest in the common redemption purchased by the bloud of the Son of God who tasted death for every one Every man is capable of Sovereign bliss and hath a crown of endless glory offered to him In fine every man and all men alike antecedently to their own will and choice are the objects of his love of his care of his mercy who is loving unto every man and whose mercy is over all his works who hath made the small and the great and careth for all alike who is rich in bounty and mercy toward all that call upon him How then can any man be deemed contemptible having so noble relations capacities and privileges How a man standeth in esteem with God Elihu telleth us God saith he is mighty and despiseth not any although he be so mighty so excellent in perfection so infinitely in state exalted above all yet doth not he slight any and how can we contemn those whom the certain voucher and infallible judge of worth deigneth to value Indeed God so valued every man as to take great care to be at great cost and trouble to stoop down from heaven to assume mortal flesh
love but perfect love casteth out fear No man indeed is apt to fear him whom he loveth or is able much to love him whom he feareth for love esteemeth its object as innocent fear apprehendeth it as hurtfull love disposeth to follow and embrace fear inclineth to decline and shun To suspect a friend therefore is to disavow him for such and upon slender grounds to conceit ill of him is to deem him unworthy of our love The innocence and inoffensiveness of charity which provoketh no man to do us harm doth also breed great security and confidence any man will think he may walk unarmed and unguarded among those to whom he beareth good-will to whom he neither meaneth nor doeth any harm being guarded by a good conscience and shielded with innocence It removeth discontent or dissatisfaction in our state the which usually doth spring from ill conceits and surmises about our neighbour or from wrathfull and spitefull affections toward him for while men have good respect and kindness for their neighbours they seldom are dissatisfied in their own condition they can never want comfort or despair of succour It curbeth ambition and avarice those impetuous those insatiable those troublesome dispositions for a man will not affect to climb above those in whose honour he findeth satisfaction nor to scramble with them for the goods which he gladly would have them to enjoy a competency will satisfie him who taketh himself but for one among the rest and who can as little endure to see others want as himself who would trouble himself to get power over those to o're-top them in dignity and fame to surpass them in wealth whom he is ready to serve in the meanest offices of kindness whom he would in honour prefer to himself unto whom he will liberally communicate what he hath for his comfort and relief In the prevalence of such bad passions and dispositions of soul our misery doth most consist thence the chief troubles and inconveniencies of our life do proceed wherefore charity doth highly deserve of us in freeing us from them VII 2. It consequently doth settle our mind in a serene calm sweet and cheerfull state in an even temper and good humour and harmonious order of soul which ever will result from the evacuation of bad passions from the composure of such as are indifferent from the excitement of those which are good and pleasant The fruits of the Spirit saith Saint Paul are love joy peace long-suffering gentleness goodness or benignity love precedeth joy and peace follow as its constant attendants gentleness and benignity come after as its certain effects Love indeed is the sweetest of all passions ever accompanied with a secret delectation and pleasant sense whenever it is placed upon a good object when it acteth in a rational way when it is vigorous it must needs yield much joy It therefore greatly conduceth to our happiness or rather alone doth suffice to constitute us happy VIII 3. Charity will preserve us from divers external mischiefs and inconveniencies to which our life is exposed and which otherwise we shall incur If we have not charity toward men we shall have enmity with them and upon that do wait troops of mischief we shall enjoy nothing quietly or safely we shall do nothing without opposition or contention no conversation no commerce will be pleasant clamour obloquy tumult and trouble will surround us we shall live in perpetual danger the enmity of the meanest and weakest Creature being formidable But all such mischiefs charity will prevent or remove damming up the fountains or extirpating the roots of them for who will hate a person that apparently loveth him who can be so barbarous or base as to hurt that man whom he findeth ever ready to do himself good what brute what devil can find in his heart to be a foe to him who is a sure friend to all No Publican can be so wretchedly vile no sinner so destitute of goodness for If saith our Lord upon common experience you love them which love you what reward have you do not even the publicans the same and If you do good to them which do good to you what thank have you for sinners also do even the same It seemeth beyond the greatest degeneracy and corruption whereof humane nature is capable to requite charity with enmity yea not to return some kindness for it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Who saith Saint Peter is he that will do you hurt if you be followers of that which is good or imitatours of him that is good of the Sovereign goodness none surely can be so unjust or so unworthy As charity restraineth us from doing any wrong or yielding any offence to others in thought in word in deed from entertaining any bad conceits without ground from hatching any mischievous designs against our neighbour from using any harsh virulent biting language from any rugged discourteous disobliging behaviour from any wrongfull rigorous severe dealing toward him from any contemptuous pride or supercilious arrogance so it consequently will defend us from the like treatment for scarce any man is so malicious as without any provocation to do mischief no man is so incorrigibly savage as to persist in committing outrage upon perfect innocence joined with patience with meekness with courtesie Charity surely will melt the hardest heart and charm the fiercest spirit it will bind the most violent hand it will still the most obstreperous tongue it will reconcile the most offended most prejudiced heart it is the best guard that can be of our safety from assaults of our interest from dammage of our reputation from slander detraction and reproach If you would have Examples of this experience will afford many and some we have in the Sacred Records commended to our Observation Esau was a rough man and one who had been exceedingly provoked by his brother Jacob yet how did meek and respectfull demeanour overcome him so that Esau it is said in the history ran to meet him Iacob and fell on his neck and kissed him and they wept Saul was a man possessed with a furious envy and spite against David yet into what expressions did the sense of his kind dealing force him Is this thy voice my Son David Thou art more righteous than I for thou hast rewarded me good whereas I have rewarded thee evil behold I have played the fool and have erred exceedingly So doth charity subdue and triumph over the most inveterate prejudices and the most violent passions of men If peace and quiet be desirable things as certainly they are and that form implyeth when by wishing peace with men we are understood to wish all good to them it is charity onely that preserveth them which more surely than any power or policy doth quash all war and strife for war must have parties and strife implieth resistance be it the first or second blow which
is always ready in our needs and at our desire to employ what is in him of ability for our good and advantage we may be said to own such a person to possess and enjoy him to be tyed as it were and joined to him as 't is said the soul of Ionathan was knit to the soul of David so that he loved him as his own soul And such a propriety in such a possession of such an alliance and conjunction to himself God vouchsafes to them who are duely qualified for so great a good He was not ashamed saith the Apostle concerning the faithfull Patriarchs to be called their God to be appropriated in a manner unto them And He that acknowledgeth the Son saith Saint John concerning good Christians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath or possesseth the Father also and to seek to find to draw near to to cleave unto to abide with to abide in and such other phrases frequently do occur in Scripture denoting that near relation which good men stand in toward God implying that he affords them a continual liberty of access and coming into his especial presence that he admits them to a kind of converse and communion with himself full of spiritual benefit and delight that bearing an especial good will and favour toward them he is disposed to exert his infinite wisedom and power in their behalf is ready to impart all needfull and convenient good unto them help in their needs supply in wants protection in dangers the direction assistance and comfort of his Holy Spirit pardon of sins and peace of conscience all the blessings of grace here and all the felicities of glory hereafter such an interest as it were in God and a title unto him such a possession and enjoyment of him we are capable of obtaining and as that enjoyment is in it self infinitely above all things desirable so if we love God we cannot surely but be earnestly desirous thereof a cold indifferency about it a faint wishing for it a slothfull tendency after it are much on this side love it will inflame our heart it will transport our mind it will beget a vigorous and lively motion of soul toward it for Love you know is commonly resembled unto yea even assumes the name of Fire for that it warms the breast agitates the spirits quickens all the powers of Soul and sets them on work in desire and pursuance of the beloved Object you may imagine as well fire without heat or activity as love without some ardency of desire Longing and thirsting of soul fainting for and panting after crying out and stretching forth the hands toward God such are the expressions signifying the good Psalmist's love by so apt and so pathetical resemblances doth he set out the vehemency of his desire to enjoy God I need not add concerning Endeavour for that by plain consequence doth necessarily follow Desire the thirsty soul will never be at rest till it have found out its convenient refreshment if we as David did do long after God we shall also with him earnestly seek God nor ever be at rest till we have found him Coherent with this is a 3. Third property of this Love that is a great Complacence Satisfaction and Delight in the Enjoyment of God in the sense of having such a propriety in him in the partaking those emanations of favour and beneficence from him and consequently in the instruments conveying in the means conducing to such enjoyment for joy and content are the natural fruits of obtaining what we love what we much value what we earnestly desire Yea what we chiefly love if we become possessed thereof we easily rest satisfied therewith although all other comforts be wanting to us The covetous person for instance who dotes upon his wealth let him be pinched with the want of conveniencies let his body be wearied with toil let his mind be distracted with care let him be surrounded with obloquy and disgrace at mihi plaudo ipse domi he nevertheless enjoys himself in beholding his beloved pelf the ambitious man likewise although his state be full of trouble and disquiet though he be the mark of common envy and hatred though he be exposed to many crosses and dangers yet while he stands in power and dignity among all those thorns of care and fear his heart enjoys much rest and pleasure In like manner we may observe those pious men whose hearts were endewed with this love by the present sense or assured hope of enjoying God supporting themselves under all wants and distresses rejoycing yea boasting and exulting in their afflictions and no wonder while they conceived themselves secure in the possession of their hearts wish of that which they incomparably valued and desired above all things which by experience they had found so comfortable and delicious O taste and see exclaims the Psalmist inspired with this passion O taste and see that the Lord is good How excellent is thy loving kindness O Lord they they who enjoy it shall be abundantly satisfyed with the fatness of thy house and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures A day in thy courts is better than a thousand my soul shall be satisfyed as with marrow and fatness so did those devout practisers of this Duty express the satisfaction they felt in God and in those things whereby he did impart the enjoyment of himself unto them So did the light of Gods countenance cheer their heart so did his loving kindness appear better than life it self unto them Hence do they so frequently enjoin and exhort us to be glad to delight our selves to glory to rejoyce continually in the Lord in the sense of his goodness in the hope of his favour the doing so being an inseparable property of love to which we adjoin another 4. The feeling much displeasure and regret in being deprived of such enjoyment in the absence or distance as it were of God from us the loss or lessening of his favour the subtraction of his gracious influences from us for surely answerable to the love we bear unto any thing will be our grief for the want or loss thereof it was a shrewd argument which the Poet used to prove that men loved their moneys better than their friends because majore tumultu plorantur nummi quà m funera they more lamented the loss of those than the death of these Indeed that which a man principally affects if he is bereaved thereof be his condition otherwise how prosperous and comfortable soever he cannot be contented all other enjoyments become unsavoury and unsatisfactory to him And so it is in our case when God although onely for trial according to his wisedom and good pleasure hides his face and withdraws his hand leaving the soul in a kind of desolation and darkness not finding that ready aid in distress not feeling that cheefull vivacity in obedience
and the actions of our neighbour we may thence obtain a true opinion and just esteem of him and secluding gross folly or flattery of our selves how can we in that respect or instance be more kind or benign to our selves Is it not also within the compass of our ability to repress those passions of soul the eruption whereof tendeth to the wrong dammage and offence of our neighbour in regard to which practice Saint Paul affirmeth that the Law may be fulfilled Love saith he worketh no evil to his neighbour therefore love is the fulfilling of the law And what more in this respect can we perform for our selves 3. We may consider that commonly we see men inclined by other principles to act as much or more for the sake of others as they would for themselves Moral honesty hath inclined some ambition and popularity have excited others to encounter the greatest dangers to attaque the greatest difficulties to expose their safety to sacrifice their lives for the welfare of their Countrey Common friendship hath often done as much and brutish love that mad friendship as Seneca calleth it commonly doth far more for what will not a fond Lover undertake and atchieve for his Minion although she really be the worst enemy he can have yet for such a Snake will he not lavish his estate prostitute his honour abandon his ease hazard his safety shipwreck his conscience forfeit his salvation what may not a Delilah obtain of her Sampson a Cleopatra of her Anthony how prejudicial soever it be to his own interest and welfare Why then may not a principle of Charity grounded on so much better reason and backed by so much stronger motives be conceived able to engage men to the like practice why may not a man be disposed to doe that out of hearty good-will which he can doe out of vain conceit or vicious appetite why shall other forces overbear nature and the power of charity be unable to match it 4. Let us consider that those dispositions of soul which usually with so much violence do thwart the observance of this Precept are not ingredients of true self-love by the which we are directed to regulate our charity but a spurious brood of our folly and pravity which imply not a sober love of our selves but a corrupt fondness toward an idol of our fancy mistaken for our selves A high conceit of our worth or ability of our fortune or worldly state of our works and atchievements a great complacence or confidence in some endowment or advantage belonging to us a stiff adherence to our own will or humour a greedy appetite to some particular interest or base pleasure these are those not attendants of natural self-love but issues of unnatural depravedness in judgment and affections which render our practice so exorbitant in this regard making us seem to love our selves so immoderately so infinitely so contracting our souls and drawing them inwards that we appear indisposed to love our neighbour in any considerable degree If these as by serious consideration they may be were voided or much abated it would not be found so grievous a matter to love our neighbour as our selves for that sober love remaining behind to which nature inclineth and which reason approveth would rather help to promote than yield any obstacle to our charity if such perverse selfishness were checked and depressed but natural kindness cherished and advanced then true self-love and charity would compose themselves into near a just poise 5. Indeed which we may further consider our nature is not so absolutely averse or indisposed to the practice of such charity as to those may seem who view it slightly either in some particular instances or in ordinary practice nature hath furnished us with strong instincts for the defence and sustenance of our life and common practice is depraved by ill education and custom these some men poring on do imagin no room left for charity in the constitution of men but they consider not that one of these may be so moderated and the other so corrected that charity may have a fair scope in mens heart and practice and they slip over divers pregnant marks of our natural inclination thereto Man having received his soul from the breath of God and being framed after the image of his most benign parent there do yet abide in him some features resembling God and reliques of the divine original there are in us seeds of ingenuity of equity of pity of benignity which being cultivated by sober consideration and good use under the conduct and aid of heavenly grace will produce noble fruits of charity The frame of our nature so far disposeth us thereto that our bowels are touched with sensible pain upon the view of any calamitous object our fancy is disturbed at the report of any disaster befalling any person we can hardly see or reade a Tragedy without motions of compassion The practice of benignity of courtesy of clemency at first sight without any discursive reflexion doth obtain approbation and applause from us being no less gratefull and amiable to the mind than beauty to our eyes harmony to our ears fragrancy to our smell and sweetness to our palate and to the same mental sense malignity cruelty harshness all kinds of uncharitable dealing are very disgustfull and loathsome There wanteth not any commendation to procure a respect for Charity nor any invective to breed abhorrence of uncharitableness nature sufficiently prompting to favour the one and to detest the other The practice of the former in common language hath ever been styled humanity and the disposition from whence it floweth is called good-nature the practice of the latter is likewise termed inhumanity and its source ill-nature as thwarting the common notions and inclinations of mankind devesting us of our manhood and rendring us a sort of monsters among men No quality hath a clearer repute or is commonly more admired than generosity which is a kind of natural charity or hath a great spice thereof No disposition is more despised among men than niggardly selfishness whence commonly men are ashamed to avow self-interest as a principle of their actions rather fathering them on some other cause as being conscious to themselves that it is the basest of all principles Whatever the censurers and detractours of humane nature do pretend yet even themselves do admire pure beneficence and contemn selfishness for if we look to the bottom of their intent it is hence they are bent to slander mankind as void of good nature because out of malignity they would not allow it a quality so excellent and divine Wherefore according to the general judgment and conscience of men to omit other considerations our nature is not so averse from charity or destitute of propensions thereto and therefore cherishing the natural seeds of it we may improve it to higher degrees 6. But supposing the inclinations of nature as it now standeth in its depraved and
to see men endammage their spiritual estate to endanger the loss of their souls to discost from their happiness and run into eternal ruine by distemper of mind and an inordinate conversation this is most afflictive to a man endewed with any good degree of charity Could one see a man sprawling on the ground weltring in his bloud with gaping wounds gasping for breath without compassion And seeing the condition of him that lieth groveling in sin weltring in guilt wounded with bitter remorse and pangs of conscience nearly obnoxious to eternal death is far worse and more deplorable how can it but touch the heart of a charitable man and stir his bowels with compassionate anguish Such was the excellent charity of the Holy Psalmist signified in those ejaculations I beheld the transgressours and was grieved because they kept not thy word and Rivers of waters run down mine eyes because men keep not thy law Such was the charity of Saint Paul toward his incredulous and obdurate Country-men notwithstanding their hatred and ill treatment of himself the which he so earnestly did aver in those words I say the truth I lie not my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart for them Such was the charity of our Lord which disposed him as to a continual sense of mens evils so upon particular occasions to grieve at their sins and spiritual wants as when the Pharisees maligned him for his doing good he 't is said did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 grieve or condole for the hardness of their heart and when he saw the multitudes he was moved with compassion on them because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepheard and when he wept over Jerusalem because it did not know in its day the things which belonged to its peace either temporal or eternal This is that charity which God himself in a wonderfull and incomprehensible manner doth exemplifie to us for he is the Father of pities 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 full of bowels his bowels are troubled and do sound when he is for upholding justice or reclaiming sinners constrained to inflict punishment of him 't is said that his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel and that he was afflicted in all the afflictions of his people So incredible miracles doth infinite charity work in God that the impassible God in a manner should suffer with us that happiness it self should partake take in our misery that grief should spring up in the fountain of joy How this can be we thoroughly cannot well apprehend but surely those expresses are used in condescension to signifie the greatly charitable benignity of God and to shew us our duty that we should be mercifull as our heavenly Father is mercifull sympathizing with the miseries and sorrows of our brethren This is that duty which is so frequently inculcated when we are charged to put on bowels of pity to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tender-hearted to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 compassionate one toward another Hence it is that good men in this world cannot live in any briskness of mirth or height of jollity their own enjoyments being tempered by the discontents of others the continual obvious spectacles of sorrow and of sin damping their pleasures and quashing excessive transports of joy for who could much enjoy himself in an hospital in a prison in a charnel V. It is generally a property of Love to appropriate its Object in apprehension and affection embracing it possessing it enjoying it as its own So charity doth make our neighbour to be ours engaging us to tender his case and his concerns as our own so that we shall exercise about them the same affections of soul the same desires the same hopes and fears the same joys and sorrows as about our own nearest and most peculiar interest so that his danger will affright us and in his security we shall find repose his profit is gain and his losses are dammages to us we do rise by his preserment and sink down by his fall his good speed is a satisfaction and his disappointment a cross to us his enjoyments afford pleasure and his sufferings bring pain to us So charity doth enlarge our minds beyond private considerations conferring on them an universal interest and reducing all the world within the verge of their affectionate care so that a mans self is a very small and inconsiderable portion of his regard whence Charity is said not to seek its own things and we are commanded not to look on our own things for that the regard which charity beareth to its own interest in comparison to that which it beareth toward the concerns of others hath the same proportion as one man hath to all men being therefore exceedingly small and as it were none at all This saith Saint Chrysostome is the Canon of most perfect Christianisme this is an exact boundary this is the highest top of it to seek things profitable to the publick And according to this rule charity doth walk it prescribeth that compass to it self it aspireth to that pitch it disposeth to act as Saint Paul did I please all men in all things not seeking mine own profit but the profit of many that they may be saved VI. It is a property of Love to affect union or the greatest approximation that can be to its Object As hatred doth set things at distance making them to shun or chase away one another so love doth attract things doth combine them doth hold them fast together every one would be embracing and enjoying what he loveth in the manner whereof it is capable So doth charity dispose a man to conjunction with others it soon will breed acquaintance kind conversation and amicable correspondence with our neighbour It would be a stranger to no man to whom by its entercourse it may yield any benefit or comfort Its arms are always open and its bosome free to receive all who do not reject or decline its amity It is most frankly accessible most affable most tractable most sociable most apt to interchange good offices most ready to oblige others and willing to be obliged by them It voideth that unreasonable suspiciousness and diffidence that timorous shieness that crafty reservedness that supercilious morosity that fastidious sullenness and the like untoward dispositions which keep men in estrangement stifling good inclinations to familiarity and friendship VII It is a property of Love to desire a reciprocal affection for that is the surest possession and firmest union which is grounded upon voluntary conspiring in affection and if we do value any person we cannot but prize his good will and esteem Charity is the mother of friendship not onely as inclining us to love others but as attracting others to love us disposing us to
affect their amity and by obliging means to procure it Hence is that Evangelical Precept so often enjoined to us of pursuing peace with all men importing that we should desire and seek by all fair means the good will of men without which peace from them cannot subsist for if they do not love us they will be infesting us with unkind words or deeds VIII Hence also Charity disposeth to please our neighbour not onely by inoffensive but by obliging demeanour by a ready complaisance and compliance with his fashion with his humour with his desire in matters lawfull or in a way consistent with duty and discretion Such charity Saint Paul did prescribe Let every one please his neighbour for his good to edification Such he practised himself Even as I please all men in all things not seeking mine own profit and I have made my self a servant to all that I might gain the more Such was the charity of our Lord for even Christ pleased not himself He indeed did stoop to converse with sorry men in their way he came when he was invited he accepted their entertainment he from the frankness of his conversation with all sorts of persons did undergo the reproach of being a wine-bibber a friend of Publicans and sinners It is the Genius and complexion of charity to affect nothing uncouth or singular in matters of indifferent nature to be candid not rigid in opinion to be pliable not stiff in humour to be smooth and gentle not rugged and peevish in behaviour It doth indeed not flatter not sooth not humour any man in bad things or in things very absurd and foolish it would rather chuse to displease and cross him than to abuse to delude to wrong or hurt him but excepting such cases it gladly pleaseth all men denying its own will and conceit to satisfie the pleasure and fancy of others practising that which Saint Peter injoined in that Precept be of one mind be compassionate love as brethren be pitifull be courteous or as Saint Paul might intend when he bid us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to gratifie to indulge one another IX Love of our neighbour doth imply readiness upon all occasions to do him good to promote and advance his benefit in all kinds It doth not rest in good opinions of mind and good affections of heart but from those roots doth put forth abundant fruits of real beneficence it will not be satisfied with faint desires or sluggish wishes but will be up and doing what it can for its neighbour Love is a busie and active a vigorous and sprightfull a couragious and industrious disposition of soul which will prompt a man and push him forward to undertake or undergo any thing to endure pains to encounter dangers to surmount difficulties for the good of its object Such is true charity it will dispose us to love as Saint John prescribeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in work and in truth not onely in mental desire but in effectual performance not onely in verbal pretence but in real effect Hence charity will render a man a General benefactour in all matters upon all occasions affording to his neighbour all kinds of assistance and relief according to his neighbours need and his own ability It will make him a bountifull dispenser of his goods to the poor a comforter of the afflicted a visiter of the sick an instructour of the ignorant an adviser of the doubtfull a protectour of the oppressed a hospitable entertainer of strangers a reconciler of differences an intercessour for offenders an advocate of those who need defence a succourer of all that want help The practice of Job describeth its nature I saith he delivered the poor that cried and the fatherless and him that had none to help him The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me and I caused the widows heart to sing for joy I was eyes to the blind and feet was I to the lame I was a father to the poor and the cause which I knew not I searched out And I brake the jaws of the wicked and plucked the spoil out of his teeth If I have held the poor from their desire or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail Or have eaten my morsel my self alone and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof If I have seen any perish for want of cloathing or any poor without covering The stranger did not lodge in the street but I opened my doors to the traveller Such is a charitable man the Sun is not more liberal of his light and warmth than he is of beneficial influence He doth not spare his substance being rich in good works ready to distribute willing to communicate And where his estate faileth yet the contribution of his endeavour will not be wanting he will be ready to draw and press others to beneficence so doing good not onely according to his power but in a manner beyond it making the ability of others to supply his own weakness and being liberal with their wealth The description of Cimon is a good character of a charitable man Nulli fides ejus nulli opera nulli res familiaris defuit Thus may the poorest men be great benefactours so the poor Apostles who had nothing yet did enrich many not onely in spiritual treasure but taking care for supply of the poor by their precepts and moving exhortations and he that had not where to lay his head was the most bountifull person that ever was for our sake he became poor that we by his poverty might be made rich In all kinds charity disposeth to further our neighbours good but especially in the concerns of his soul the which as incomparably they do surpass all others so it is the truest and noblest charity to promote them It will incline us to draw forth our soul to the hungry and to satisfie the afflicted soul to bring the poor that are cast out to our house to cover the naked to loose the bands of wickedness to undoe the heavy burthens to let the oppressed go free to break every yoke to supply any corporal indigency to relieve any temporal distress but especially it will induce to make provision for the soul to relieve the spiritual needs of our neighbour by affording him good instruction and taking care that he be informed in his duty or conducted in his way to happiness by admonition and exhortation quickning encouraging provoking spurring him to good works by resolving him in his doubts and comforting him in his troubles of conscience lifting up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees by seasonable and prudent reproof by all ways serving to convert him from the errour of his way and so saving a soul from death and hiding a multitude of sins which is the
privilege a great honour a mighty advantage to us If a man had opportunity to do that which his Prince would acknowledge a courtesie and obligation to him what a happiness would he accompt it and how far more considerable is it that we can so easily do that which the Lord of all in whose disposal all things are will take so kindly at our hands XVI We may consider that Charity is a very feasible and very easie Duty it requireth no sore pain no grievous trouble no great cost for it consisteth onely in good-will and that which naturally springeth thence willingness and cheerfulness are necessary ingredients or adjuncts of it the which imply facility whence the weakest and poorest man is no less able to perform it than the greatest potentate his heart may be as charitable though his hand cannot be so liberal one of the most noble and most famous charities that ever was was the giving two mites and the giving a cup of cold water is the instance of that beneficence which shall not fail of being rewarded XVII We may consider that Charity is the best the most assured the most easie and expedite way or instrument of performing all other duty toward our neighbour If we would dispatch love and all is done if we would be perfect in obedience love and we shall not fail in any point for love is the fulfilling of the law love is the bond of perfectedness would we be secure in the practice of justice of meekness of humility toward all men of constant fidelity toward our friends of gentle moderation toward our enemies of loyalty toward our superiours of benignity toward our inferiours if we would be sure to purifie our minds from ill thoughts to restrain our tongues from ill speaking to abstain from all bad demeanour and dealing it is but having charity and infallibly you will do all this for love worketh no ill to its neighbour love thinketh no evil love behaveth not it self unseemly Would we discharge all our Duties without any reluctancy or regret with much satisfaction and pleasure love will certainly dispose us thereto for it always acteth freely and cheerfully without any compulsion or straining it is ever accompanied with delectation If we would know its way and virtue of acting we may see it represented in the proceeding of Jacob who being inspired by love did contentedly and without regret endure so long and hard toil such disappointments and such affronts And Jacob saith the Text served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days for the love he had to her This is the root from whence voluntary obedience doth naturally grow if it be planted in our heart we need not fear but that all kind of good fruit will sprout forth into conversation and practice But without it we shall not ever perform any good work perfectly steadily in a kindly manner no other principle will serve if we are onely moved by whip and spur driven on by fear or incited by hope we shall go forward unwillingly and dully often halting ever flagging those principles which do put slaves and mercenaries on action as they are not so noble and worthy so neither are they so effectual and sure as ambition vain-glory self-interest design of security of profit of compliance with the expectation of men c. XVIII Charity giveth worth form and life to all vertue so that without it no action is valuable in it self or acceptable to God Sever it from courage and what is that but the boldness or fierceness of a beast from meekness and what is that but the softness of a woman or weakness of a child from courtesie and what is that but affectation or artifice from justice what is that but humour or policy from wisedom what is that but craft and subtilty What meaneth faith without it but dry opinion what hope but blind presumption what alms-doing but ambitious ostentation what undergoing martyrdom but stiffness or sturdiness of resolution what is devotion but glozing or mocking with God what is any practice how specious soever in appearance or materially good but an issue of self-conceit or self-will of servile fear or mercenary design Though I have faith so that I could remove mountains and have not charity I am nothing though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity it profiteth me nothing But Charity doth sanctifie every action and impregnate all our practice with a savour of goodness turning all we do into vertue it is true fortitude and gallantry indeed when a man out of charity and hearty design to promote his neighbours good doth encounter dangers and difficulties it is genuine meekness when a man out of charity and unwillingness to hurt his neighbour doth patiently comport with injuries and discourtesies it is vertuous courtesie when cordial affection venteth it self in civil language in respectfull deportment in obliging performances it is excellent justice when a man regarding his neighbours case as his own doth unto him as he would have it done to himself it is admirable wisedom which sagaciously contriveth and dexterously manageth things with the best advantage towards its neighbours good It is a worthy faith which being spirited and actuated by charity doth produce goodly fruits of beneficence it is a sound and solid hope which is grounded on that everlasting foundation of charity which never doth fail or fall away it is sincere alms which not onely the hand but the heart doth reach forth it is an acceptable sacrifice which is kindled by the holy fire of fervent affection it is a pure devotion which is offered up with a calm and benign mind resembling the disposition of that goodness which it adoreth If therefore we would do any thing well if we would not lose all the vertue and forfeit all the benefit of what we perform we must follow the Rule of Saint Paul to do all our works in charity XIX So great benefits doth Charity yield yet if it did not yield any of them it would deserve and claime our observance without regard to its sweet fruits and beneficial consequences it were to be embraced and cherished for it carrieth a reward and a heaven in it self the very same which constituteth God himself infinitely happy and which beatifieth every blessed Spirit in proportion to its capacity and exercise thereof A man doth abundantly enjoy himself in that steady composedness and savoury complacence of mind which ever doth attend it and as the present sense so is the memory of it or the good conscience of having done good very delicious and satisfactory As it is a raskally delight tempered with regret and vanishing into bitterness which men feel in wreaking spite or doing mischief such as they cannot reflect upon without disgust and condemning their
from the exceeding variety difference and contrariety of mens dispositions joyned with the morosity aptness to mistake envy or unreasonable perverseness of some which necessarily render the means of attaining all mens good-will insufficient and the endeavours unsuccessfull For men seeing by several lights relishing with diversly disposed palates and measuring things by different standards we can hardly doe or say any thing which if approved and applauded by some will not be disliked and blamed by others if it advance us in the opinion of some will not as much depress us in the judgment of others so that in this irreconcileable diversity and inconsistency of mens apprehensions it is impossible not to displease many Especially since some men either by their natural temper or from the influence of some sowre principles they have imbibed are so morose rigid and self-willed so impatient of all contradiction to or discrepancy from their sentiments that they cannot endure any to dissent in judgment or vary in practice from them without incurring their heavy disdain and censure And which makes the matter more desperate and remediless such men commonly being least able either to manage their reason or to command their passion as guided wholly by certain blind impulses of fancy or groundless prejudices of conceit or by a partial admiration of some mens persons examples and authorities are usually most resolute and peremptory in their courses and thence hardly capable of any change mitigation or amendment Of which sort there being divers engaged in several ways it is impossible to please some without disgusting the other and difficult altogether to approach any of these wasps without being stung or vexed by them Some also are so apt to misunderstand mens meanings to misconstrue their words and to make ill descants upon or draw bad consequences from their actions that 't is not possible to prevent their entertaining ill-favoured prejudices against even those that are heartily their friends and wish them the best To others the good and prosperous estate of their Neighbour that he flourishes in wealth power or reputation is ground sufficient of hatred and enmity against him for so we see that Cain hated his innocent brother Abel because his brothers works were more righteous and his sacrifices better accepted then his own that Josephs brethren were mortally offended at him because his father especially loved and delighted in him that Saul was enraged against David because his gallant deeds were celebrated with due praises and joyfull acclamations of the people and that the Babylonian Princes upon no other score maligned Daniel but because he enjoyed the favour of the King and a dignity answerable to his deserts And who that loves his own welfare can possibly avoid such enmities as these But the fatal rock upon which peaceable designs are most inevitably split and which by no prudent steering our course can sometimes be evaded is the unreasonable perverseness of mens pretences who sometimes will upon no terms be friends with us or allow us their good-will but upon condition of concurring with them in dishonest and unwarrantable practices of omitting some duties to which by the express command of God or evident dictates of right reason we are obliged or performing some action repugnant to those indispensable rules But though peace with men is highly valuable and possessing their good-will in worth not inferiour to any other indifferent accommodation of life yet are these nothing comparable to the favour of God or the internall satisfaction of conscience nor though we were assured thereby to gain the entire love and favour of all men living are we to purchase them at so dear a rate as with the loss of these We must not to please or gratify men commit any thing prohibited or omit any thing enjoyned by God the least glimpse of whose favourable aspect is infinitely more to be prized then the most intimate friendship of the mightiest Monarchs upon earth and the least spark of whose indignation is more to be dreaded then the extreamest displeasure of the whole world In case of such competition we must resolve with Saint Paul Gal. 1. 10. Do I yet conciliate God or do I endeavour to sooth men for if I yet soothed or flattered men so you know 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies I were not the servant of Christ. Nor are we that we may satisfy any mans pleasure to contravene the dictates of Reason that subordinate guide of our actions to doe any dishonourable or uncomely action unworthy of a man misbeseemour education or incongruous to our station in humane society so as to make our selves worthily despicable to the most by contenting some Nor are we bound always to desert our own considerable interest or betray our just liberty that we may avoid the enmity of such as would violently or fraudulently encroach upon them Nor are we in the administration of justice distribution of rewards or arbitration of controversies to respect the particular favour of any but the merits onely of the cause or the worth of the persons concerned Nor are we by feeding mens distempered humours or gratifying their abused fancies to prejudice or neglect their real good to encourage them in bad practices to foment their irregular passions to applaud their unjust or uncharitable censures or to puff up their minds with vain conceit by servile flattery but rather like faithfull Physicians to administer wholsome though unsavoury advice to reveal to them their mistakes to check their intended progress in bad courses to reprove their faults seasonably and when it may probably doe them good though possibly thereby we may provoke their anger and procure their ill-will and as S. Paul saith become their enemies for telling them the truth Nor are we ever explicitely to assent to falsehoods so apprehended by us to bely our consciences or contradict our real judgments though we may sometimes for peace-sake prudently conceale them Nor to deny the truth our defence and patronage when in order to some good purpose it needs and requires them though thereby we may incurre the dislike and forfeit the good-will of some men Nor are we by entertaining any extraordinary friendship intimate familiarity or frequent converse with persons notoriously dissolute in their manners disorderly in their behaviour or erroneous in weighty points of opinion to countenance their misdemeanours dishonour our profession render our selves justly suspected run the hazard of contagion or hinder their reformation And especially we are warily to decline the particular acquaintance of men of contentious dispositions mischievous principles and factious designs a bare keeping company with whom looks like a conspiracy an approving or abetting their proceedings The refusing any encouragement signification of esteem or vouchsafing any peculiar respect to such we owe to the honour of vertue which they disgrace to the love of truth which they oppugn to the peace of the world which they disturb and to the general good of mankind which