the Multitude of your Sacrifices to me saith the Lord c. Chap. 58. 6. Is not this the Fast that I have chosen to loose the Bands of Wickedness to undo the heavy Burdens and to let the Oppressed go free c. Mich. 6. 6 7 8. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the high God shall I come before him with Burnt-Offerings c. He has shewed thee O Man what is Good But for our Christian Religion its manifest Design is that we should do Good to all St. James 1. 27. Pure Religion and undefiled before God is this to visit the Fatherless and Widows in their Afflictions 1 Tim. 1. 5. The End of the Commandment 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is Charity out of a pure Heart and a good Conscience and Faith unfeigned So that God esteems himself most honoured and Men to be religious in the highest degree when they are beneficent More particularly 1. Christianity takes away all separating and dividing Ceremonies that were as Walls of Partition and so intends the proselyting of all Men without Distinction And does not this tend to lay on them the greatest Engagements to an universal Good-will 2. It has taken great care to remove all Obstacles of this and has made it the necessary Condition of being happy We must love all Men and do them good tho they be wicked tho they be our Enemies Love your Enemies c. says our Saviour And if ye forgive not Men their Trespasses neither will your Heavenly Father forgive yours 3. The Representations the Gospel has made of God and our Saviour whom we are instructed and obliged to follow will engage us to do Good universally Our Saviour went about doing Good He loved his Enemies to Death he laid down his Life for them he requited the greatest Malice with the greatest Love God is described as loving the World and that with the greatest truest heartiest Love that can be He does Good unto all his Sun rises upon the Wicked as well as the Good If then it be our Duty our Perfection and Happiness to conform to our Saviour's Example if by this we come to the utmost that our Natures can reach to to be like God whose Mercy extends to all things Let us also love and do Good to Enemies to Strangers to all Men. Were there those among the Heathens that had only the Light of Nature and yet both taught and practised this Duty of Beneficence in so high a degree and shall not we Christians who have the Revelation of the Gospel we who read of the eternal Son of God devesting himself of the Glory he had with God before the World was and taking our frail Nature into Union with himself learn and practise iâ— much more Are we not told what the Blessed Jesus did and how much he suffered in Life and Death and all this that he might redeem Mankind from Sin and Death and Hell and make us happy Was this the Design and Business of his Life and Death to do the greatest Good to all Men Let us make it appear that we are indeed his Disciples in that we carry on the same Design which he did and follow his Example in doing Good This is so necessary a part of Christianity that if I were to give a Character of a Christian in short it should be this He is one that designs and doth Good unto all Men. Catholick Charity makes a Man a Member of the Catholick Church Holding of the Catholick Faith is not so sure a Mark of a Christian as living in Universal Love whosoever doth so is a Christian he that doth not is none no tho he can repeat his Creed and think he believes every Article of it it is not so material as this universal Inclination of doing Good it is not so material in order to our Acceptance with God what our Opinions are as what our Affections and Lives are This is final and ultimate in Religion that which God design'd to bring Men unto by all the Revelations which he has made and by all his Institutions All true Religion that has ever been in the World has aim'd at this to make Men better wiser and more vertuous And why is this but in order to Action And do we or can we act only about our selves If we be better shall it not be better for other Men Can a Man be good to himself singly and not to Society Or does Religion intend the Good of private Persons and not of Communities Assuredly that which designs to make Men good to themselves designs to make them good to others That Man is most truly Religious who gives most Honour to God and he does that who makes the most true and worthy Representation of him to the World and he does that who is universally good and kind Not he who macerates his Flesh with Fasting or wears out his Knees with long and frequent Praying or spends the greatest part of his time in Hearing or Reading or denies himself the useful and innocent Pleasures of Life and Conversation that turns Recluse or Hermite that goes a long Pilgrimage bare-foot that exposes himself to pinching Cold or scoâ—â—hing Heat that calls for Fire from Heaven upon the wicked Transgressors of the Law Not any of these or others that pass for the only Religious Men in the World make so clear and true and becoming a Representation of God to the World as that poor Man does whose only Design it is to do Good unto all who makes it his great Business to be innocent and useful to every one in the World This Man's Life shall do more to make other Men entertain true and honourable Thoughts of God than all the Devotions and Fervors of them who confine their Religion to such Passions and Exercises Nor can all Faith and Knowledg have such an effect upon others to make them glorify God as the Life of this good Man who does Good Lastly Nothing can make us more sure of and fit for the Happiness of Heaven than this As nothing can make us more like to God and Christ and the good Angels than this Divine Temper of Love to Mankind so nothing more fits us for nor more assures of their Converse in Heaven Indeed this seems not so much a necessary Condition of the Happiness of that State as an essential Ingredient in it and a great part of it The great Change which I apprehend will be in Heaven from what is here on Earth is this That our selfish contracted Love will be enlarged and extended and that there we shall every one love all By what has been hitherto said it may appear sufficiently that nothing better becomes or is more worthy of us either as Men following the Principles of Nature or as Christians enlightned by revealed Religion than to be universally good But I shall argue this further by shewing that 3. To do Good to all Men c. is one of those means which
they will to such as know how to use their time 't is best such should be at liberty and that they who know how to employ an Estate should have one and if they be disposed to do something better than drudg for the Body that they should not be taken up with providing for that and such real Christians are and if they who pretend to be Christians were I do not doubt but it would be thus with the generality Thus much I thought fit to say lest from my Explication of this Phrase any should raise an Objection against that Providence which orders all things according to greatest Wisdom and Goodness and undoubtedly makes that the Condition of every Man which is best for him either to help him to live well or to keep him from living ill to promote his Vertue or to restrain his Wickedness Or where he would not do well to make him suffer that so he may hereby become capable of receiving good from the hands of him who will recompence us not only for the good we do but for the ills we suffer After all then it remains that a healthful free peaceable plentiful Condition and a long Life may pass for Opportunity or such a confluence of things as make it more easy for us to live well Which may be farther evinced by this Reason that by being in this Condition we are freed from the importunate cravings of divers natural Appetites which are hereby gratified and satisfied and if they were not would by their importunity disturb and hinder us in our pursuit and practice of Goodness This then that I have said or part of this or what ever it is that in concurrence with the Goodness of Christians would contribute to their doing that Good to which their Religion obliged them was that Season or Time of Action which the Apostle here commands them to redeem There are particular Seasons or Times of good Actions when there is such a confluence of things as help to and in the exercise of particular Vertues which according as there is need or reason for them we are to endeavour to procure Let us in the next place see what it is to redeem or buy this Opportunity This Metaphor signifies That we must do something to make it our own to bring it within our Power so that if we will we may use it and serve our selves of it that we may employ it to the purpose for which it serves as and how we will and it is supposed by the Apostle That they whom he exhorted to redeem buy purchase or gain the Season would improve it to the Purposes of Christian Life So that this Phrase intimates not only that we are to lay hold on Opportunity when offered but also that we must endeavour and be at cost to procure it and that not so much to have as to use it for if we do not use we lose it It is no where more true than of Time and Season which is the best of Time not to use it is the same as not to have it Thus then in general To purchase this best part of Time when there is such a confluence of things that may be helpful to us in doing some good Work as it supposes that we will use it so it signifies that we should lay out our Labour our Mony and be at the Expence or suffer the loss of any Gratification that is of less worth than that Good which by the help of this Opportunity we hope to do And by this I have told you what is the Price we must pay for such a Season when things concur to make Vertue feasible And the more feasible they make any good Action or course of Vertue the more valuable is that Opportunity which they give us And its Rate will be always more or less according to the greater or less goodness of that Action or Life which it helps to Nay which may seem strange yet so it is That even Life it self is not too much to give for an opportunity to do some one Action which may be so hugely beneficial that it is really of greater value than our stay here an hundred Years and than all the good we could do in that space if we left this one undone could amount unto Such I take to be the laying down my Life for the Sake of Religion or the Service of our King and Country or of any one excellently good and publickly useful Man And it is unquestionably better to part with Life much more any thing less valuable than to do violence to and forgo a good Conscience in any one Particular I need to add no more to this general Explication of what it is to redeem the Time or Season but put you in mind that the Phrase implies 1. That we are not to neglect to part from to lose and forgo it but as Solomon says of Truth Buy the Truth and sell it not so I may say of Opportunity Buy it almost at any price sell it at none let it not go whatever you may have in lieu of it 2. That we are by all means to avoid the doing good Actions unseasonably that is where a Season may be had for otherwise they must be done if it be possible in or out of Season but when it may be had it should not be neglected This may suffice for the general But if it be enquired what in particular the Apostle moant the Ephesians should do vvhen he bids them to Redeem the Time To this I answer That I suppose he intended hereby to excite their Care and Diligence to put them upon the use of Prudence and Caution to employ all honest and innocent Arts to take all pains to escape those Wiles and Traps those Snares and Temptations to Sin vvhich vvere laid for them and those other impendent Calamities of vvhich they vvere in danger if they continued stedfast in their Profession of Christianity That they should be very vvatchful to observe and in all lawful and harmless vvays avoid all that might endanger their losing their Religion or their Lives or Liberties for it vvhich vvould in part be a dammage or detriment to Religion for they would hereby be taken off if not wholly yet in great measure from the practice of it and consequently to themselves however many others would suffer by this and the Interest of Religion would be weakned And they were not only to avoid the Evils the Obstructions and Impediments that attended them the Mischiefs and Dangers that were impendent and whatever it was that might discourage them in or deter them from the Christian Life But also they were to be watchful and diligent Observers of the Times and with a prudent dexterity to strike in with and serve their Christian Designs of them so far as could be consistent with Innocence and Honesty That they should use honest Endeavours by the Blessing of God to preserve and encrease their Estates take all harmless ways
be-friend you in doing this or that good in particular If we observe this it will be a great help For when we consider in general what time we have for doing good we shall see the most we can reckon to be so very short and that little so very uncertain that we shall not be able to put it under another account than of possible or not improbable We can be sure of none but what is present This will make us very careful to enquire what is the best and most necessary of all the good Works we can do And when we have found that we shall be as diligent to do it with all our might and without delay Whatsoever our Hand finds to do as Solomon expresses it we shall do with our whole Strength He that is well resolved that he can make no certain account of any Time but of that vvhich is vvill certainly be careful to employ that to the best and most necessary Purposes And he that does this has learnt one most excellent Rule for the redeeming his Time Let him also think before-hand vvhat parts of Time do most befriend one good Action suppose Thinking vvhen it may be the fittest season for Speaking and vvhen for other Actions When you have thus considered your Time think hovv you have spent it And if you be sensible of mispence for the future resolve on retrenching all your unaccountable expences of your Time Such as you cannot justify to God and your ovvn Conscience nor to any one that thinks every thing should be put to a good use Having thus used frequent Consideration both of the good Actions you can do and also of the Time you have to do them and prepared your selves 10. Let your next care be to make and keep a serious resolution of filling up every little space of Time vvith doing some Good or other Let it be your constaint care and study to be alvvay doing Good of some kind that no Minutes be laid out on evil Works no Time leak from you in Idleness no Hours be spent on that vvhich has so very little Goodness that it 's doubtful or undiscernable Many of our Businesses afford us abundance of spare Time vvhich a good Mind knovvs hovv to spend in divine Meditations or the like The Naturalists observe that the same Vessel vvhen 't is fill'd vvith Water vvill yet receive Bodies of another Nature And nothing more common than for one Body to incorporate and unite vvith another I am sure there is no Time but may be more employed than it is And very fevv of our good Actions the Goodness of vvhich may not be condensated and vvill admit of others of other kinds and more of the same 11. Be ever inclin'd and resolv'd to do as much good as you can be not content to do a little but design the most do not satisfy your selves to do good only but still aim at doing the best By this means we shall crowd more of Good into out Time The same Ground well husbanded will yield twice as much Corn as if it were in the Hands of a Sluggard And the same Time may bring forth twice as many good Actions if it be well look'd to as otherwise it would Do as many good Actions together as thou canst put as much Good into as little room as is possible Do every Action as well as thou canst make it as good as 't is capable of being 12. Allot the greatest and best and first Portions the most of your Time to the best and most necessary Works those which most tend to Man's greatest Perfection Such are those that are requisite to the getting and keeping a good Mind and Conscience and such a Plight of Body as renders it most useful to the Soul in all wise and vertuous Actions viz. Consideration being conversant in the Scriptures in Prayer in Christian Conference All Acts of Justice and Mercy c. 13. Where there is an Equality on other accounts that one Action is not apparently better than the other Do that to which Season does most invite Things will most assist in the doing it and give Probability of best Success when 't is done The Reason of this Advice is plain because by doing thus we are likely to do most good and in a shorter time than if we set our selves to do that which Opportunity does not so much favour 14. Take the first Time or Season of doing a good Work do not stay in hopes of a better when it may be you may never have another This is wise Counsel in any good Work not to be dilatory to procrastinate But 't is necessary in those that are inwardly and immutably good and eternally obligatory Let no Conceit of present Difficulty put thee off Do not neglect a good Season in an uncertain Expectation of one more convenient Say not to good Works as Felix said to St. Paul Go away for this time when I have a convenient Season Acts 24. 25. 15. Avoid those things which are certain and some of them double mispence of Time Such are these 1. Intemperance Whosoever exceed the Bounds which Nature and Vertue has set to their Appetites of bodily Pleasures they for a space utterly disable themselves from using their Time to any good purpose And so they continue till by Sleep or Abstinence they are recovered to their natural State During which time how many fair Opportunities of doing brave Actions have they lost 2. Immoderate Passion This does so detain the Soul in the Thoughts of some one Object that it is wholly inobservant of any thing else that comes before it Whilst I am over vehemently angry with one I take no notice of another whose Wants would otherwise move my Compassion They do loudly call for my Charity but I am so deaf with the noise of mine own Passion that I cannot hear 3. Wicked Company Such will be saying or doing ill things There is some Danger that the Infection catch hold on me and by sorting with them I become one of them Or if by God's Grace I be preserved from running into the same Excess with them yet I may through Cowardise or Imprudence not rebuke them By suffering Sin on them I may bring it on my self If I do rebuke them it may be to no purpose it is not likely to have any Effect Thus if I be not Company-proof I shall be snared And if I be kept from falling into their Sins yet I have lost some hours which might have been better spent in good Company or in my Closet 4. Courtship and Complement great portions of Time are spent in these Trifles by which I do not mean those Expresses of Civility which become us to use in many cases but when we employ our Minds in studying to speak Words or use Gestures that are wholly insignificant that do not correspond with the Sense of our Souls that have no Truth on which they are bottom'd that are used with a vain with
it will have a mighty Influence on the Quiet of others There is nothing more truly observ'd than this that if a Man be at Peace within himself he will behave himself peaceably to others And accordingly we may see that all they who are the Disturbers of the Peace of Societies are unquiet in their own Minds They have unsatisfied Desires ungovern'd Appetites tumultuous Passions a War within their own Breasts Understanding and Will Reason and Passions are at variance How can it be then but that as they are in themselves they should be to others He that does not keep Peace within himself how is it to be expected he should keep it in his Family or Neighbourhood in the Church or State wherein he lives The first Springs of all the Disorders Commotions Tumults Wars in the World are the Disorders and Commotions that are in the Minds of private Men. My general Counsel to particular Persons is That they would strive after Perfection or all Good in themselves and others by a diligent constant orderly Exercise of all their Faculties and pursuit of all their Inclinations The reason of this Advice is That we naturally and necessarily desire the Perfection of our selves or others and we cannot be quiet but in the Accomplishment of that great Desire which our great Creator hath implanted in our Natures and hath rooted so deep that it can never be separated from them More particularly Let us above all keeping keep a good Conscience a Conscience void of Offence toward God and Men. Let us undertake every thing with the Counsel of our own Mind and do every thing so as to have our own Approbation and to have reason to believe that we are approved by God and by all wise and good Men. If we do thus we do well and that is the only firm Foundation of inward Peace On the other hand There is no Peace to the Wicked but he is like the troubled Sea whose Waters cast up Mâ—â—e and Dirt. He is troublesome to himself and he that is so will be troublesom to others This is the Sum of the Advice I would give in order to our being quiet in our selves Live well do good be holy and vertuous And if we would endeavour that others may be quiet as we our selves are let us endeavour to promote their Holiness and Vertue and Perfection as we do our own For assuredly an unmoveable Quiet and a sure and lasting Peace can be set on no other Foundation but Holiness and Vertue So much are they mistaken who think to make Men quiet by making them vicious and wicked or by lessening their Understanding They that govern the World and design the Peace of it would do well to observe if this course they take be the way to make any Man quiet in himself if Ignorance and Wickedness will make him peaceable within then they may expect the same success from them in Societies and States but if most of our inward Trouble rise from these Springs Why should it not be thought that they will have the same Effects in others which they have in us in Communities as in private Persons and that they will as much disturb the World as they do the Mind where they are No if Politicians would observe they might take notice that as Satisfaction of Appetites and pursuit of the Inclinations which are natural and the neglect of those that are not the constant and orderly exercise of all our natural Faculties in a tendency to the perfection of the vvhole is the only vvay to procure an universal and lasting Quiet in a Man 's own Mind so neither is there any other way to procure the Peace of all Men. Yet more particularly the Sum of what I should advise for the removing and obviating Trouble and the procuring and preserving Quiet in our selves and among Men is 1. That we should oppose no Man's true Interest where that does not oppose the publick and greater Good 2. That we should reconcile it with nay as much as is possible make it our own as indeed it is since no Man can be happy if another be miserable No Man can be quiet in himself vvhile another that is by him is in trouble 3. Be willing to remit of and recede from your ovvn strict Right if that vvill contribute to Peace So Abraham did vvith Lot tho being the elder and his Uncle he might if he vvould have insisted on it have had the choice yet he leaves it to Lot See the Land is before thee said he c. 4. Keep your selves innocent hurt no Man by Word or Deed let no Man be the vvorse for you Do ill to none speak ill of none Do not take upon you to be an Historian an Intelligencer of Mens Faults nor ever uncover the Shame and Nakedness of your Brother but vvhen Necessity compels and Charity incites you 5. Be just Allow every Man that vvhich the Lavvs of Nature and Society have given him Intrench the Rights invade the Properties of no Man do not abridg him of that vvhich God and Nature or Men have conferr'd on him or vvhich by his ovvn Vertue his Prudence Care and Industry he has acquired 6. Be universally charitable that is be willing to contribute vvhat in you lies to every Mans Happiness Maintain a constant Disposition to Goodness and Benignity Hate none envy none Love not only your self or a few but all 7. Be diligent in your own Business for by this means you 1. Will have more Liberty and be better able to assist others Work saith the Apostle that ye may have to give to him that needs The diligent Man doth not only get that which is sufficient for his own Necessity but an Overplus for other Men whereas the idle Man his own Mouth as Solomon saith his own Wants take up not only all that he gets but still calls for more And yet 2. The diligent Man tho he has some time to spare from his own Work he hath not so much as to throw away in a needless busying himself in other Mens matters he is so much at liberty from the Service of himself by his having been diligent as that he hath leisure to help his Brother to do whatever Justice and Charity under the Conduct of Prudence shall direct him but his Diligence will not suffer him to be vainly and merely out of Curiosity prying into and busied about other Mens matters Tantumnè ab re tua tibi suppetit otii aliena ut cures eaque quae nihil ad te attinent What saith he to himself when he finds he is hastily ingaging himself in such foreign Affairs Can I find nothing to do of my own that I must thus go a forraging for Work Is not mine own Vineyard neglected whilst I dress other Mens Is there not something to be done which is more my proper Business than this I am about This is that which follows in the Verse to do our own Business which one
others will make us desire their Honour as well as our own And where we love all and have an Affection for the Publick we shall desire no more than we deserve we shall be unwilling that other Men should be so far imposed on as to think us better than indeed we are We cannot be so unjust as to expect Reward without Merit and Praise where it is not due Charity is not puffed up 1 Cor. 13. 4. and therefore frees a Man's Mind from all the Tortures that ambitious Spirits lie under This makes a Man not displeas'd that other Men are prais'd and himself not nay tho they have more and he less than deserved yet he is very well satisfied because his own and the Approbation of a few competent Judges is sufficient to support him whereas Men of less Worth have need of greater Applause to bear up their Minds and to bring them into Request and enable them to do Good And how perfectly doth this Principle subdue and regulate all the Appetites of corporeal Pleasure He that is acted by universal Love cannot go to a forbidden Bed for he will not draw one whom he loves into Sin he will not deprive them of the lasting Pleasures of Innocence and Chastity He will not violate the Orders of all the Civilized World which have been from the beginning of Time which for the sake of the Publick for Posterity as well as the present Generation ought to be inviolably observed He will not eat nor drink more than is good for him as for other Reasons so lest others should want that which is good for them Again This universal Love by engaging us to do all the Good we can takes away all inordinate Love of Money We shall not now desire more than we can and will use for the advantage of others as well as our selves And when it is thus with us we shall not grasp at all we could get and we shall use what we do get And where we are thus minded we have freed our selves from that infinite Carking and Anxiety which an inordinate Desire of Riches causes Lastly This will in many cases prevent the bitterest Remorse for Sins by preventing the Sins themselves as I have shewed For the good Man will not be unjust or unfaithful he cannot oppress or cozen falsly or needlessly accuse will not violate the Chastity prejudice the Health much less take away the Life of any and thus secures himself from those Terrors of Conscience which follow such Wickednesses And where we are surprized and do unwillingly mis-behave our selves towards God if we be indeed charitable and loving towards Men we can then pray that God would and hope that he will forgive us as we do them Thus I have shewn how this universal Beneficence frees us from Trouble and Unquietness And now I will briefly shew how it brings us Pleasure as well as Quiet By Pleasure I here understand that Joy which is caus'd in the Soul by an Apprehension or Sense of Good Now where this Principle is become natural to us and we act from it and according to it it must necessarily be a Spring of Delight to us How pleasant and joyful must the Mind of that Man be which is govern'd by an universal Love As much Good as there is in the World so much cause of Pleasure is there to them For 1. He is set at Liberty from contracted Selfishness every Man is now to him as he is to himself and other Mens Concerns are as his own so that he now rejoyces in their Welfare and is heartily glad at the Good which befals them So much is his Joy greater now than it was when he liv'd to himself for then he was pleas'd with his own private Advantages but perhaps repin'd or at least was unconcern'd at other Mens whereas now he is delighted to see it go well with any Man in the World Thus he honestly and innocently enjoys the Good of others without depriving them of any gathers of the Honey-dew without robbing the Flower of its own Sweetness As much Good then as there is and as he can see in the World and there is very much for the Mercy of God is over all his Works and he that will consider things may discover it so much cause of Gladness hath this good Man And then 2. The infinite Love and Goodness of God is an inexhaustible Fountain of Joy to the good Man For tho he sees many things much amiss and a great deal of Evil in the World tho he sees poor Man at a great distance from his Happiness and the whole World lying in Wickedness yet he also sees infinite Goodness at work and that it has done very much in order to Man's Happiness and doubts not but in some ways which he is ignorant of all the ends of Divine Goodness will be accomplish'd at last I have shewed before that this Goodness of Temper helps us to an assured Knowledg of the Goodness of God We may also refer the two fore-going Particulars to the Object of Benevolence If there be so great Pleasure in loving one or two or a few how great is that which arises from an universal Good-will a Love to all Men Thirdly The good Man hath Pleasure as concerning himself from his Beneficence to others and it is such a Pleasure as hath many Advantages above most others For 1. As to its degree it is both intense and exquisite 2. As to its kinds it is both of Memory Sense and Hope as it refers to Good past present and to come 3. It s Original is from Man himself in concurrence with God and Nature and therefore it is both certain and near 4. As to its Duration it is both continued and lasting 5. As to its Quality and Effects it is absolutely Good 6. In respect of its Objects it is largely extended and manifold 1. The Pleasure that arises from a Sense of our Beneficence is without any allay or mixture of Pain and that which is so is pure and in the highest degree This cannot be said of most other Pleasures the Price of them is much abated by the Pains that accompany them The more corporeal and gross they are the more they have of this Dress This is a Commendation that almost only belongs to the Pleasure that arises from vertuous Practices and yet not any not all of the other Vertues can afford so great a Delight as this which is both a Complex of most of them and the End and Consummation of all The rest are but mediate and subordinate Vertues this is ultimate and final When a Man is in the exercise of universal Love of Charity and Good-will he is as good and as great and happy as he can be then is all finished The greatest Pleasure is in Love Now when Love is universal and in exercise Pleasure keeps proportion with it and is as great as it can be for it is as large as its Object and therefore
that giveth to the Poor lendeth to the Lord and that which he giveth will he pay him again God is a sure Pay-master but perhaps he may not pay in kind tho' the words seem to import that he will Ch. 11. Vers 24 25. speak this more clearly and are full to our Purpose There is that scatters and yet encreases and there is that withholdeth more than is meet but it tendeth to Poverty The liberal Soul shall be made fat and be that watereth shall be watered also himself In the 24th verse is a double Paradox wholly contrary to the Sence of these Men. He tells them that some scattering is the way to encrease and some sparing the means to be Poor And then in the 25th he asserts that Liberality or a cheerful free Communicativeness of what we have shall be blest with Plenty 2. By Observation Psal 37. 25 26. I have been young and now am old yet did I never see the Righteous forsaken nor his Seed begging Bread c. Both he and his Children have been kept from Poverty and Want they have not been reduced to extremity The words seem spoken by way of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for it follows his Children are Blest Another Observation is Tullies He tells us that the Roman Empire flourished and was great whilst they obliged their Associates by Benefits and their Senate was a Haven and Refuge to their Provincials but when they became Injurious and Cruel and had no regard to Strangers they were quickly ruin'd In has clades incidimus saies he dum metui quam chari esse diligi maluimus Quae si popula Romano injusté imperanti accidere potuerunt quid debent putare singuli This is the Observation of this wise Man that when they were good and beneficent to other Nations they were prserved when cruel unequal and injurious their Empire was destroyed Lastly I appeal to your own Observation Call to mind how many we have known who have been Just and Charitable Merciful and Liberal and Hospitable who have by these very means both got and secured their Estates and how many Men have we known undone by their Malice and Anger and Envy Nay their very closeness and pinching have been the causes why they have not got more or kept what they had And 3. The reason of this is plain For 1. By the good Offices we do to others we engage them to Returns Few Men are so depraved but they are grateful and will study retribution and gratitude will not only pay back the Principal but give us it with advantage It constrains the Debtor to pay greater Use than the Law will force from him Whatsoever you would that Men should do to you do you do to them is a truth that 's written in Nature as well as Scripture Here 's a Direction to us in our Converse whatever dealing we desire from others we must use to them and it supposes that as we do to them they will do to us which is for the most part true for they lie under the double Obligation of Justice and an Example and without great violence to themselves cannot shake it off And therefore there is no such sign of a desperate Wickedness as Ingratitude If then we do good to others we probably shall not fail of a return from them and such a return ordinarily as the Husband-man hath of his Seed Thirty Sixty or an Hundred fold 2. All Men will love us they will wish us well and do us Good The good the beneficent Man hath every ones Prayers and good Desires and every ones Endeavours for his Welfare they all desire that he should be happy No Man envies his good Fortune who will use what he hath for the Good of others None are afraid that he should grow Rich who will not abuse his Wealth to crush and oppress but uses it to relieve his poor Neighbours He is not the Object of any ones Indignation for we all esteem the Man that doth Good with it worthy of what he hath Men only grudge them their Wealth who have no Knowledge nor Will to use it Lastly none will ordinarily hate or be malicious against the Good-man Who will who can harm you if you be doers of that which is Good By this means we are more secured from Enemies than by Bars and Locks and Iron Doors and Chests Take away Envy and Malice Fears and Jealousies and we may dwell safely Men can have little Temptation to rob us when they and others are the better for what we have No it 's the selfish Man that catches what he can from others and will part with nothing to them that must fear that will be taken from him which himself cannot find in his Heart to give or lend or lay out for a publick benefit Whereas the liberal Man may lie down and sleep without fear He needs not he cannot much fear the Combinations of crafty Men or the Assaults of the Violent But that 's not all that doing Good contributes to an Estate it doth not only keep what we have but get more It doth as well make Men that they shall be our Friends as that they shall not be our Enemies Our Neighbours will be ready to do us all kind Offices and help our Business with Counsel or Labour or Money And the good Man's Servants on whose Trust and Diligence Estates much depend will not work out of Fear nor only out of Conscience but out of Love and this will make them more constant and chearful and careful in their Master's Business than any other Principle Neither he that works for Hire or because he dare do no other will be so diligent as he that loves his Master And if he be good and kind and equal liberal and charitable he will he must love him I conclude this Particular with that of Tally Rerum omnium nec aptius est quicquam ad opes tuendas ac tenendas quam diligi nec alienius quam timeri Quem metuunt oderunt quem quisqut odit periisse expetit Multorum odiis nullae opes obsistere possunt There is nothing more fit and suitable to the keeping and securing of Riches than to be lov'd and nothing more strange and opposite than to be fear'd He that is fear'd is hated withal and every one desires the Ruine of him he hates The greatest Wealth is not sufficient to give check to the Hatred of many 3. This Beneficence of Temper will keep us from those Ways whereby Estates are usually wasted There are five Ways that lead Men to Poverty 1. Idleness 2. Prodigality 3. A Sensual Course 4. Gaming 5. Law-Suits 1. When Men will not be diligent If their Business will do it self it may but by them it shall not be done Now the Sluggard that neglects his Field suffers it to be overgrown with Thorns and Briars what Crop what Harvest can he expect None at all but as Solomon saith Waâ—â— shall come on him suddenly and