bring him within the compass of the Commandment Of Murther properly so called and of the Sins included in it what hath been said may suffice and therefore I will supersede all farther consideration of it But because the Scripture makes mention of another Murther even the murther of the Soul by which though it be not altogether depriv'd of Life yet it is of the comforts of it and thereby made much more miserable than if it were not at all therefore it may not be amiss to enquire whether that also have not a place in the prohibition and how men become guilty of it Now there are two things which perswade the Murder whereof we speak to come within the compass of the prohibition now before us 1. That what we call the murther of the Soul is properly enough such and 2. That it is a more pernicious one than the other That the Murther whereof we speak is properly enough such is evident not only from the Scriptures giving that State the name of death into which this Murder brings men but also from the very nature of it For as Murder properly so call'd becomes such not by the taking away of all Life for the Soul which is the chiefest part of Man lives no less after that than before but by the destruction of that natural Life which he from whom we take it enioy'd as to the present World so the murder of the Soul as we commonly express it though it introduce not a perfect insensibility yet it despoils it of that spiritual Life which it enioys in this present state and which is more of that also of which it is capable in the next It is no less evident Secondly That supposing what we speak of to be a Murder it is a much more pernicious one than the other because as that Life which it takes away is a much better one than the other so it draws after it an eternity of torment Now forasmuch as the Murder whereof we speak is not only properly enough such but a much more pernicious one than the other it is easie to suppose or rather impossible to suppose otherwise than that he who forbad the one intended also the avoiding of the other especially having before shewn that the Commandments of which this is one were intended as a summary of the whole Duty of Man All therefore that remains to enquire into upon this head is how men become guilty of it which will require no very accurate consideration to resolve For to say nothing of those who have the cure of Souls though of all others the most obnoxious to it partly because they are not under mine and partly because they are better able to inform themselves I shall content my self at present with pointing out those ways whereby private persons may come to be guilty of it which is 1. By prompting men to or encouraging them in those sinful courses which draw after them the destruction of the Soul That which gave the Devil the title of a murderer from the beginning as he is called Joh. 8.44 being no other than that as the story of Genesis informs us he sollicited our first Parents to eat of that Fruit from which both their temporal and spiritual Death ensu'd 2. The same is to be said of giving an ill example and thereby drawing other Men into the commission of the like Crimes an evil Example not onely having the Nature of a Temptation but being also of greater force than any other inasmuch as it doth more undiscernably instill its Poyson and finds Men more ready to receive it It being a known and undoubted Truth that Men regard not so much what they ought or what they are advis'd to as what they see others do before them 3. Add hereunto because of near affinity with the other the doing any thing how innocent soever whereby our weak brother may be tempted to do the like against his own Conscience Such as was for example the eating of Meats sacrificed to Idols in the presence of those who were not so well inform'd of their Christian Liberty For though as St. Paul spake concerning it 1 Cor. 8.4 there was no unlawfulness in the thing it self and consequently therefore nothing in it but the Conscience of the Idol to unhallow it yet might the doing thereof by a strong Christian be a temptation to a weak one to do the like if not against yet without a due assurance of his own Conscience Which as St. Paul hath elsewhere * Rom. 14.23 pronounc'd to be damnable and so destructive of that Soul which is guilty of it so both there †Rom. ver 15.20 and here ‖ 1 Cor. 8.11 he chargeth the guilt of its destruction upon those who should so embolden it to offend 4. And though the like care of other Men be not incumbent upon private Christians as is upon those Persons whom God hath more particularly intrusted with the inspection of them yet inasmuch as by the Laws both of Nature and Christianity they are commanded to reprove an offending Brother and not suffer sin to be upon him he that shall suffer such a one to perish for want of a seasonable and just admonition shall be so far chargeable with his destruction whom he did not endeavour to reclaim What is meant by Thou shalt not kill as that is to be understood of the killing another hath been at large declar'd together with the several Sins that are included in it Nothing remains toward the compleating of my Discourse but to shew what Sins are included in the killing of our selves Where 1. First of all I shall reckon the neglect of our Health because a step to that Self-murther which is here forbidden For though that for the most part be look'd upon as an Imprudence rather than any violation of the Commandments of our Maker yet it is because Men consider not that there is a Duty owing by them to themselves or rather unto God concerning them They are as I have before remark'd plac'd in this World by God they are put into a capacity of and enjoyn'd the serving of their Maker in it and being so are in reason to intend the performance of it and because that cannot otherwise be procur'd to intend also the preservation of themselves the neglect of that not onely making Men more unapt for it whilst they live but cutting them off before their time 2. To the neglect of our Health subjoyn we the exposing our selves to unnecessary dangers and where nothing but vain-glory or the desire of filthy Lucre prompts us to it such as are many of those Dangers which they who profess Feats of Activity do without the least scruple involve themselves in For as it is rare for such Persons to what Agility soever they may have attain'd not to procure their own destruction in the end so many of the Dangers to which they expose themselves are so imminent that they must always be thought
as much as may be the interesting himself in her affairs and the Wife not only intermeddles not with such as are proper to his cognizance but endeavours to approve her self to him in the management of her own Lastly when the Man treats the Wife as his associate or rather as himself and the Wife demeans her self to him as her directour and superiour then there is not only a happy compliance with the Divine Institution and with one another but a just foundation of universal applause and all wise and good persons think themselves oblig'd to honour the Man for knowing how to temper his Authority so as to make it acceptable and pleasant as the Wife for being able by the obligingness of her behaviour to transform him into an adorer of her and make him change his soveraignty into kindness and condescension PART III. Whether or no and by what means Marriage may be dissolved which are resolv'd to be no other than either the Death of one of the Parties or Fornication Of that Liberty which our Law allows to Marry again where the Parties have been Seven Years absent from and ignorant of each others being which is shewn to proceed upon the presumption of the absent Parties death That Fornication is a just ground of dissolving the Marriage and that nothing in Gods Law hinders either the Innocent or Nocent Party to Marry again but that the cognizance of the cause belongs to those who are in Authority An Essay toward the shewing that there is no other just ground of a Divorce than Fornication or some uncleanness that is equal thereunto This evidenc'd First in that among the Jews where there was manifestly a greater Liberty a Divorce proceeded not but upon supposition of something of Vncleanness The like evidenc'd more fully from the words of our Lord in this affair When other crimes appear they ought either to be born or a separation made only for so long time till Time or Gods Grace shall bring the Parties to a better mind The matter of Divorce rather of Permission than Command and alike common to the Woman and the Man A Transition to the Negative part of the Commandment where is entreated first of all of that Adultery which lies on the side of the Married Parties and the Man that is false to his Wife shewn to be as truly guilty of Adultery as the Woman that is false to her Husband The like evinced on the part of those by whom the Married Parties are debauched with a large account of the criminalness both of the one and the other Adultery III. WHAT is requisite to the due contracting of Marriage or the preserving it inviolable when it is so enough hath been said to shew in my former Discourses upon this Argument it remains only that we enquire whether or no and by what means it may be dissolv'd which will cost no great pains to resolve Not the former because at the same time I point out the means by which it may be dissolv'd I shall also prove it to be capable of being so as neither the latter because however men have been willing to find out others yet Christianity generally allows only two grounds of the dissolution of it the former whereof is the Death of one of the Parties the latter Fornication or Adultery 1. Now that the Death of one of the Parties dissolves the Contract and puts the living one in the same condition they were in before is evident first of all from the expressed declaration of the Scripture For not contented to say Rom. 7.2 that the Woman which hath an Husband is bound by the Law to her Husband so long as he liveth but if the Husband be dead she is loosed from the Law of her Husband which may be interpreted as to that relaxation which the Law of Moses gave we find the like affirmation elsewhere and with such an addition also as shews it equally to hold under the dispensation of the Gospel For St. Paul affirming as he doth 1 Cor. 7.33 that though the Wife be bound by the Law as long as her Husband liveth yet if her Husband be dead she is at liberty to be Married to whom she will only in the Lord he thereby plainly intimateth because entreating of the Marriage of Christians that death dissolves the Contract no less under the Gospel than the Law The same is no less evident from the end of Marrige and the terms of the Contract at least as they are express'd among us For both the end of its Institution being for the comfort of this present life and the terms upon which it is contracted being expresly during the continuance of it it followeth unavoidably that where the Society is interrupted by death the contract must also fall because intended only for the comfort of the present life and covenanting for no more than the time of the continuance of it The only thing on this head that can admit of any just scruple is that liberty which our Law * 1 Jac. 11. allows to Marry again where the Husband or Wife shall be continually remaining beyond the Seas by the space of Seven Years together or where the Husband or Wife shall absent him or herself the one from the other by the space of Seven Years together in any part of his Majesties Dominions the one of them not knowing the other to be living within that time But even this also if duly examin'd will not be found in the least to contradict the forementioned Precepts For as it is necessary in many cases and particularly in the present one to proceed by presumptions oftentimes unless we would have very material controversies to remain undecided which is not for the peace or interest of the world so there is a just presumption of his or her death where during so long a time the party that is certainly alive knows nothing at all of the others being so 2. It being thus evident that Death dissolves the Contract of Marriage and leaves the living Party to the liberty of a second Marriage it remains that we enquire concerning Fornication which we have affirm'd to be another just ground of a Dissolution where again we are to enquire whether Fornication be such a ground and whether it be the only one both the one and the other of which will receive a solution from the words of our Blessed Saviour For affirming as he doth that whosoever shall put away his Wife except it be for Fornication and shall marry another committeth Adultery and whoso Marieth her which is put away committeth Adultery he both implieth that Fornication is a just ground of a dissolution and declareth it to be the only one The only difficulty that hath been made as to the first head is whether or no after such a Divorce there be a liberty to Marry again at all or if so whether for the Nocent as well as the Innocent But beside that to speak first unto the former
its own greatness which descends not to any lower abject thoughts which hates nothing without either cause or measure which loves things lovely and according to the proportion of it in fine which makes things lovely that they may become the object of it and be worthy to be received into its embraces And though it be true that there are some excellencies in the creature such as beauty and the like which are not to be found in God yet as the reason thereof is because they are much below him and argue something of imperfection where they are so he is the Fountain even of those inferiour excellencies and must therefore be much more excellent in himself From the excellencies of the divine nature pass we to the measure wherein they are possessed which will shew it yet more to be the object of our Love For beside that they are all in him without any thing of imperfection which hardly falls upon any created beings they are also infinite as that nature is to which they have the honour to belong If God be wise he is so without measure and knoweth whatsoever is to be known if good he is so without bounds and proportionably to his own infinite essence In fine whatsoever he is he is so after the rate of a God and knows no other bounds than what he prescribes unto himself If therefore that which is excellent be a just ground of love God is much more so as not only comprehending all excellencies whatsoever but also in the utmost perfection and degree How great reason we have to love God when considered only as he is in himself I have discoursed hitherto proceed we in the next place to consider him as good to us Under which notion if we look upon him so we shall not only find that which may attract our loves but even constrain us to affect him For not to tell you that by him the Authours of mankind were first created that we our selves were conceived in the womb maintained there and brought forth into the world through his benign influence that we depended upon him when we hung upon our Mothers Breasts that we did so no less when we might seem much more able to have made provision for our selves that we are indebted to him for all the good things we enjoy that we are so for the ability of enjoying them that we are not less nourished by the word of his providence than by the bread we eat that we owe the very nourishment of that to his blessing on us and it that by him we are delivered from those evils we escape that by him we are born up or carried thorough those evils that do at any time befall us To say nothing at all I say of these how considerable soever and how just incentives to our love I shall desire you only to consider his benevolence to our better part and the wayes he hath taken to express it For not contented to say * Isa 33.11 he delights not in the death of a sinner but that he should repent and live which may seem to be rather a negative than a positive kindness or if the latter an imperfect velleity only he hath been from all eternity contriving the Redemption of sinful man he hath from the beginning of time been declaring his gracious purposes concerning it he sent his Son in the fulness of time to accomplish that most excellent work for us he hath laid upon him the iniquities and punishments of us all he hath sent his ever blessed Spirit to fit us for pardon by it he hath sent his Servants the Prophets to publish the tidings of it and the means whereby it is to be obtained he hath called us out of darkness into the glorious light of it he hath moreover given us eyes to behold the brightness of it he hath given us grace to abandon our natural corruptions he hath furnished us with grace to serve him acceptably and with godly fear and love he hath reclaimed us by his Spirit when we have been wandring out of the way he hath upholden us by the same Spirit when we have been ready to faint or fall down in it in fine he continueth to do so till we turn our backs upon him and loveth us till we do in a manner refuse to be beloved All which whosoever shall duly consider will not only conclude him worthy of our Love but of the utmost degree and the most immediate expressions of it the third thing proposed to be discoursed of 3. And here in the first place I shall not doubt to reckon the desire of enjoying his presence whom we love this being the most natural and immediate expression of our Love that I say not of the very essence of it For as Love is nothing else than a passion of the Soul by which it is disposed to unite it self to what it loves so there is no one thing that is more impatient of the absence or more passionately desirous of its proper object 's presence It sets the understanding upon contriving how it may attain it it puts the Will upon a resolution of putting those contrivances in execution it vigorously endeavoureth the removing of all obstacles to the enjoyment of it it greedily layeth hold of all opportunities for the compassing of it in fine it neither giveth it self nor us any rest till it attain what it so panteth after and becometh rather more eager than any way discouraged by the opposition it receives But such ought to be nay such are the effects of our love to God where that love is implanted in the Soul witness the Prophet David's impatience when driven from the house of God his longing desire to appear before him in it And certainly if we had the same love for God that the Prophet had or it may be think our selves possessed of there is no doubt we should be as willing to be found where he promiseth to present himself and both desire to hear him speaking to us as he doth by his servants the Prophets and present our own supplications before him these being the most natural expresses of our love and such which I had almost said we can no more be without than we can hate him whom we cordially affect The same is to be said 2. Of our enjoying of God in Heaven where he doth not only most gloriously but most intimately present himself For as it is impossible for a Soul duly affected with the love of God not to desire the most immediate enjoyment of his presence so we find S. Paul not to have been without this desire though he knew he could not attain it without putting off his earthly Tabernacle he affirming of himself that he was desirous to be dissolved that so he might be admitted into the presence of God and of his Son Which by the way may shew how cold our love generally is even when it carrieth us only to the enjoyment of what we
Avenger of those that do evil yet it is of such onely as continue in it and as he delights not in their death so he invites them to live and makes a tender both of his own Grace and the Merits of his Son to instate them in it From the extreme in defect pass we to the extreme in excess which is an over-familiarity with our Maker For as Love among Men doth either find the Parties equal or make them such according to that known Saying of Minutius Foelix Amicitia pares semper aut accipit aut facit so unwary Men not considering the distance that is between them and God have copied out this mode of Love in themselves and made it pass into an indecent familiarity being thereto farther tempted by God's giving his Children the name of Friends and by his speaking with Abraham as a Man speaketh with his friend But as it followeth not from God's speaking to us as Friends that therefore we are to use the same Modes of Speech so we shall find those to whom God hath shewn the greatest condescention to have proceeded always with the greatest reverence and respect for thus that Friend and Favourite of God Abraham still observ'd his distance towards him and address'd himself to God as his Superiour and Maker in the 23d Verse of the 18th Chapter of Genesis where he seems most to expostulate with him stiling him the Judge of all the earth and himself vers 27. but dust and ashes in comparison of him and in the 30th Verse of the same Chapter beseeching God not to be angry with him though he spake and in Verse 31. confessing it a kind of presumption that he had taken upon him to speak unto God in the 32d again begging of him not to be angry and he would speak but once more for the sinful Sodomites Which demeanour of his shews evidently that our Friendship must be mix'd with Reverence and we look upon God as our Superiour as well as our Friend In like manner though it be said of Moses That God spake to him face to face as a man speaketh to his friend yet even then we find Moses demeaning himself as a Subject and speaking to him in the Language of one for what else means his so often inserting If I have found grace in thy sight as you may see in the sequel of that Chapter It is true indeed for I am willing to obviate any thing that can with any shew of reason be objected it is true I say there is some difference between their case and ours I mean in respect of God as well as us that God who spake to Abraham and Moses in his own likeness or at least in that of an Angel having since assum'd our Nature to become more equal to us and dispensing all his Graces through it But as he who assum'd our Nature doth not therefore cease to be God and consequently neither our Lord and Master so by becoming Man he became our Lord after a more peculiar manner and thereby gain'd a new Title to our Obedience which as there is therefore just cause for us to own so our Saviour himself inculcates it as the onely means to attain his Friendship telling us Joh. 15.14 That we are his friends if we do whatsoever he commands us This onely would be added for the preservation of this Friendship on our part That we look upon the Commands God lays upon us as the Commands of a Friend as well as of our Lord and Master of one who loveth us as well as of one that hath Authority to command us So shall we at the same time preserve both our Friendship and Obedience be Confidents and yet Servants of the Almighty For it is not our yielding Obedience to God which makes our Works servile but our looking upon him as a Tyrant or at least as one who is not our Friend as well as our Lord. For as the Text before-quoted insinuateth that we cannot be Friends without having respect to our Superiours Commands so if we have respect to them for the kindness of the Party that enjoyns them we do rather the part of Friends than of such as are either Servants or Vassals But neither is this all which our Friendship with God privilegeth yea though an over-familiarity be discarded For it also licenceth us to come with assurance before the Throne of Grace and both lay open our wants before him and beg a proportionable supply God himself having not onely permitted but call'd upon us to do it and that too with earnestness and importunity giving us farther to understand that this violence is grateful to him and that the more importunate we are provided it be mix'd with Reverence the more ready he will be to receive us In fine such as is the behaviour of a Favourite toward his Prince such ought to be the behaviour of a Friend of God toward the Monarch of the World so tempering our Respect and Confidence as neither to forget our distance on the one hand nor on the other that Interest which he hath given us in his Love But if our Love be so qualified the more intense it is the more acceptable and the more likely to advance us to a more intimate Communion with himself Being now to put a period to my Discourse concerning the Passions of the Soul and that Acknowledgment which is due from each of them to him whom we are to own for our God it remains onely that I admonish you That to own him for your God in them is not onely to have your Affections suited to his several Attributes but also to the infiniteness thereof this being in truth to own him for a God and pay him that Acknowledgment which is due unto him as such But from hence it will follow 1. That we are to fear and love him with all our might that we are to separate all coldness from the one all security and presumption from the other For beside that the Almighty requires so to be lov'd even where that Love as was before observ'd is set to denote the whole Adoration of the Soul it is no more than his own immense Nature as well as our Obligations to him call for the greatest Loveliness and Majesty such as those of God's undoubtedly are requiring the greatest Fear and Love It is no less evident 2. That we are to fear and love him above all things how much soever in themselves the just Objects of them both because God whom we are required to own in them transcends all other Beings in Majesty and Goodness or whatsoever else is the proper Object of our several Affections Whence it is that our Blessed Saviour speaking of the Passion of Fear doth not onely forbid the exerting of it toward those that can kill the Body but in a manner confine it to him who after he hath kill'd hath power to cast into Hell 3. Lastly Forasmuch as God doth not onely transcend all other
the obligation of Honour For the resolution whereof I will consider the Child 1. As bereft of his Parents by death and 2. As having them still living And first of all if the Question be concerning deceased Parents who may seem and no doubt have the least tye upon their Children so I shall not stick to affirm that they ought to have all that honour of which they are capable in that state Not only the Law of Gratitude so requiring but the Honour of Almighty God whose Instruments they were and to whom they live though they be dead to us Of this nature is the bestowing upon them a Funeral answerable to their Condition speaking honourably of their Persons and Actions in fine esteeming those persons for whom they had a regard and especially such as they upon their Death-beds commended to ours for as these are no other than their Relation and our Gratitude doth require so they are such of which they are equally capable as when alive The only difficulty is what regard is due to those Advices or Commands which they laid upon us when alive For as on the one side it may seem unreasonable that the Fathers authority on Earth should abide after he himself hath no further place on it so on the other side it hath been observ'd that God hath strangely blasted those Children who have gone contrary to the Commands of their deceased Parents and as strangely blessed those who have been obedient to them witness for the latter that known story of the Rechabites who are not only commended by the Almighty for abstaining from Wine and dwelling in Tents in obedience to their Ancestor Jonadab's command but promised moreover that their Generations should abide Jer. 35.14.19 For the reconciling of which two so as neither to depress the authority of the Son who succeeds into the Fathers Rights nor yet to despise the Authority even of a deceased Father I will first of all distinguish between such commands wherein the Father's honour is concern'd and such as relate peculiarly to the Son Now in the former of these it is especially wherein a Father is to be heeded because he hath an equal concernment in them Thus for Example if as it sometime happens a * Fullers Worthies Hertfordshire Speaking of the Horseys observes that one of them disobeying such a command of his Father prospered no whit the better for it not one Foot of Land in Hertfordshire now remaining to his Posterity Father should command his Son if need were rather to sell an Estate that came to him by others than that which came to him by descent from himself in such a case I should not doubt the Son were oblig'd to observe his command and rather sell any thing than that his Patrimony because by selling the latter he should do dishonour to his Family and therein in particular to his Father from whom it immediately descended In like manner if a Father should charge his Son not to marry into a Family which hath been at enmity with himself in this case I do no way doubt but the Son is bound up to observe the Commands of his Father because as the matter of it hath nothing of evil in it so the acting contrary thereto unless where there is a great necessity would be a dishonour to his Father inasmuch as it may give that Family occasion to triumph over the memory of him whom they before hated I say not the same of that command which the Father of Hannibal laid upon him with an Oath to prosecute the Romans his Enemies with an immortal hatred For though it be not unlawful to avoid an intimate alliance with some persons yet it is both inhumane and unchristian to prosecute any person with an irreconcileable hatred and therefore no fit matter for a Son's obedience But let us suppose the command laid upon the Son relate to his person only which is the other member of the distinction as for Example not to be a Bishop a Priest or a Magistrate in which case though a pious Son will be well advised before he transgress it and consider what reason his Father might have so to advise or command him yet he will not suffer himself to be so far over born by it as to neglect his own Reason and great Conveniencies For as a Learned man * Tayl. Ductor Dubit Book 3. Chap. 5. Rul 6. hath well observ'd in those things wherein a man 's own meer Interest is concern'd his own Understanding must be his guide and his Will his Ruler For he alone does lie at Stake whether it be good or bad and it is not reasonable that he should govern who neither gets nor looses nor knows Again the things that are commanded those I mean that relate to the Sons person only are either few and easie of practice or many and burthensome If the things commanded be either few or easie of practice or both they cannot be omitted without a dishonour to our Parents whose memory we will not gratifie in so small a matter But if they be many and burthensom the omission thereof is not to be looked upon as a dishonour to them but as a just compliance with our own reasonable Conveniencies The only thing that will give us any trouble is the Instance of the Rechabites who may seem to have had no very easie load imposed upon them But beside that the story is only mentioned on the By by which means we cannot so easily judge of the intentention of Jonadab in it beside secondly That it is not improbable it was enjoined in order to Religion which if it were will determine such lasting commands to the things of Religion only it is apparent enough they did not think themselves so ty'd but when there was a just cause such as the fear of the Chaldeans they dispens'd with their own dwelling in Tents which was one of the things enjoin'd them And indeed as it will become Children not lightly to depart from their deceased Fathers commands lest they be thought to have a less regard for them than they should So it will no less become Parents when they extend their Authority beyond their own time to see that the things they impose be neither many nor unreasonable as remembring that after their decease they are at their own disposal for the main and have reason enough for the most part to guide them in the management thereof From the honour of deceased Parents pass we to that of those that are alive and consider whether or no and how far Children may be freed from it In answer whereunto I say first that they can never be absolutely freed from any of the kinds of Honour before remembred Because our Parents are as much such in our riper years as in our greener when we are departed out of their Houses as whilst we continued in them And indeed as no question hath been made of that part of honour which is usually stil'd Reverence
his Notes upon the fore-quoted place to the Romans I will saith he succour a perishing Man but so that I my self do not perish unless I may thereby purchase the security of a Great Man or a Great Thing Then belike he thought and so I think do all rational Men that he might without any Crime lay down his Life for them From the Utility of a Friend pass we to the Welfare of our Country which as it is a more Publick Good so may therefore if necessity require command the submitting our own to it and even our own Life Upon which account I think no Man can do other than commend so far is it from being to be look'd upon as a criminal slaying of ones self if as it sometimes happens in War Men chuse rather to blow up or sink themselves and the Ship they go in than suffer it to fall into the hand of the Enemy For where such a Loss may not more prejudice our Country than disadvantage the Enemy I see not where the evil of it consists nay rather how it can be look'd upon as other than a lawful yea honourable departure out of this World there being nothing too dear for any Man to part with for his Country from which he had his Birth and by which not onely he himself hath been hitherto secur'd but all his Relations both have and must be And indeed though all that go Voluntiers into the Wars do not thus much which may seem to make the Instance the less pertinent yet as all Men that do expose themselves to mortal danger and consequently make a step towards a voluntary Death or a killing of themselves so those may well be said to come up to it who to recover a Battel almost lost do though few in number rush in among the thickest of the Enemy For inasmuch as the foremost of them can expect no other than to perish they must upon that account be look'd upon as Felo's de se or the Authors of their own death there being no material difference as to this Affair between running upon a Man 's own Sword and running upon as mortal a one of an Enemy For if David were rightly accus'd by the Prophet for the death of Vriah the Hittite though he were slain by the sword of the children of Ammon according as the Scripture * Thou hast killed Vâ—iah the Hittite with the Sword and hast slain him with the Sword of the children of Ammon 2 Sam. 12.9 it self expresses it there is no doubt he may be as rightly said to be the Author of his own who rushes upon the Swords of those from whom he cannot rationally expect any other The Grounds of the Stoicks being thus explain'd proceed we to those which as we learn from far better Masters so are more accommodable to the Facts of Christians who if they have at all exceeded as to a voluntary Death may seem to have done it in the point of Martyrdom For not contented to suffer when seis'd upon by their Enemies and even to provoke those Beasts to which according to the Custom of those days they were cast we find that some ‖ Pearson Vindiciae Epistolar S. Ignatii Parte posterior cap. 9 p. 111. of the Primitive Martyrs unask'd unsought after offer'd themselves to it with the general approbation of the Age they liv'd in I will not say all altogether without fault it being hard in Heroical Actions to keep a Mean but many of them certainly unblameably and not onely unblameably but commendably For as Holy Men of God heretofore acted as well as spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost so no doubt can be made but if that push'd any of them on to do ought toward the destruction of themselves that was warrant enough to them for the doing of it Upon which account St. Augustine †Nec Samson aliter excusatur quôd seipsum cum hostibus ruinâ domns oppressit nisi quia spiritus latenter hoc jusserat qui per illum miracula faciebat De Civitare Dei l. 1. c. 21. anciently and most other Writers after him have justified the Act of Samson in pulling down the House he was appointed to make sport in upon the Head of himself and the Philistines it being easie to believe that was not without an intimation from God which was accompanied with his miraculous Power in the accomplishing of it And though I know there is not the same consent among Authors for those Mens acting by a Divine Impulse who among the Primitive Martyrs rather sought than expected their Tryal yet am I not in the least discouraged thereby from alledging it in their defence because there appear to me so just Grounds for the asserting of it For who can think they acted without a Divine Impulse who as they had nothing to blemish them in their Lives so shew'd so much Christian Fortitude and Generosity in their Deaths especially when it is certain not onely that the extraordinary Illuminations of the Spirit were not then ceas'd but some of thoe Martyrs themselves have alledg'd the immediate Call of that Spirit to them For thus Ignatius than whom no Man seems to have been more desirous of Martyrdom in his Epistle to the Romans * Vivens enim scribo vobis desiderans mori Meum desiderium crucifixum est non est in me ignis amans aliquam aquam sed vivens loquens est in me intus me dicit Veni ad Patrem Vetus Versio Armachana tells us that as his Love even Christ was crucified for him so he was not without the like ardent Affections both for him and a conformity to his Death Not that he run upon it of his own head but that he was mov'd to it by God's Spirit who living and speaking in him said unto him Come unto the Father Though setting that aside I no way doubt but many of the Martyrs might be justified in their Zeal from the necessity there was sometimes of it toward the asserting the Honour of God and of their Religion Witness the Behaviour of that Deacon ‖ Vid. Euseb li. de Martyribus Palaestinae c. 2. cum notrs Valesii ad locum of Caesarea Romanus by Name who seeing many of Christ's Soldiers forsaking their Colours and chusing rather to Sacrifice to the Heathen Gods than to bear witness to their own out of zeal to the Worship of the True God and impatience of the Devil's Triumph offer'd himself to the Judge as a Soldier whom he should not so easily overcome For what louder or more importunate Call to a voluntary Death can we have than when we do not onely find in our selves a readiness to undergo it but may by it as in the forementioned Case not onely vindicate the Honour of God and of our Religion from contempt but make it conspicuous and illustrious Especially when our Saviour who to be sure laid down his Life voluntarily is propos'd to our example