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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	die_v	good_a	life_n	16,696	5	4.8534	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A52433	Reflections upon the conduct of human life with reference to the study of learning and knowledge : in a letter to the excellent lady, the Lady Masham / by John Norris ... ; to which is annex'd a visitation sermon, by the same author.	Norris, John, 1657-1711.; Masham, Damaris, Lady, 1658-1708.; Norris, John, 1657-1711. Sermon preach'd in the Abby Church of Bath ... July 30, 1689.	1690 (1690)	Wing N1267; Wing N1270_PARTIAL; ESTC R15880	61,350	204

when he Believes Repents and leads a good Life with which he may and without which he shall not be Pardon'd and Saved notwithstanding that Christ has Dy'd for him The design of whose Death was not to make a good Life unnecessary but only to render it Efficacious and Available not to procure a Priviledge of being saved without it as some fancy but that we might be Saved with it If this Qualification be wanting we shall be so far from being any thing advantaged from the Redemption purchas'd by our Mediator that we shall be Accountable for it to the great aggravation both of our Guilt and Misery It therefore highly concerns Man to improve with all diligence this short and only opportunity of Making his Great Fortune to adorn his mind with all Moral and Religious Perfections and his Life with all good actions since with this he may be Happy in all his capacities and without it he shall not only fall into a state of unutterable Misery but be also accountable for the Possibility he had of escaping it for neglecting so great Salvation so great an Opportunity of being saved XIV These things being Premised concerning the present Hypothesis or state of Man First that he can there know but very little Secondly that even that little Knowledge which he can attain to serves more to his Trouble than Satisfaction and so is not only Vanity but also Vexation of Spirit Thirdly that supposing it as Pleasant as may be yet such is the shortness and incumbrance of his Life that the enjoyment of it is not answerable to the Labour of acquiring it Fourthly that there is no Necessity of such a deal of Learning and Knowledge either as to this World or to the next and that e're long he shall have his fill of Knowledge in the Beatifick Vision of the Ideal World one glance whereof shall instruct him more than an Eternal poring upon all the Books in this and undistinguish the greatest Doctor from the most ignorant Peasant Fifthly that there is an Absolute Necessity of his being Good and Vertuous this being the condition not only of his Happiness in general but also of the accomplishment of his Vnderstanding in particular And that Now is the only opportunity for it Sixthly and lastly that the Attainment of Happiness and Intellectual Perfection upon this Condition was the Purchase of his Saviours Death who has also Merited Grace for his assistance in the Performance of it Which if he neglect he shall not only miss of Happiness but be also answerable for so Great and so Dear an opportunity of gaining it From these Premises 't will I think follow with no less than Mathematical Evidence XV. First that Learning and Knowledge is not the thing for which God design'd Man in this Station nor consequently the End or Reason of his bestowing upon him those intellectual and Rational Powers which he has For had this been the End and Design of God he would have made it more Possible for him and withal more his Interest and Concern to attain it Secondly 't will follow that the End for which God intended Man here and the Reason why he made him a Rational Creature was that he might Live vertuously and well so serve him here that he might be rewarded with Happiness and perfect Knowledge hereafter Having furnish'd him with Intellectual abilities sufficient for this tho not for the other Thirdly and lastly 't will follow that the Principal care and concern of Man both because of his own interest and out of compliance with the Designs of God ought to be to Live a good and regular Life to accomplish the Moral part of his Nature to subdue his Passions to rectifie his Love to study Purity of Heart and Life in one word to perfect Holiness in the fear of God and which is what we have been hitherto inquiring after that he ought to busy himself in the Study of Learning and Knowledge no further than as 't is conducive to the Interest of Religion and Vertue XVI This therefore is the Measure to be observ'd in our prosecution of Learning and Knowledge We are to Study only that we may be good and consequently ought to prosecute such Knowledge only as has an aptness to make us so that which the Apostle calls the Truth which is after Godliness For that 's the only business we have to do in this World Whatever Knowledge we prosecute besides this or further than 't is conducive to this end tho it be absolutely consider'd never so excellent and Perfective of our Rational part yet with respect to the present Posture and Station of Man 't is a Culpable Curiosity and an unaccountable Vanity and only a more Solemn and laborious way of being Idle and Impertinent XVII And this will be found if well examin'd to be nothing different from the censure of the Wise Preacher And I gave my heart to to know Wisdom says he and I perceiv'd that this also is vanity and vexation of Sptrit Not that he now first applied himself to the study of Wisdom No he had been inspired with that before and and by the help of it had discover'd the vanity of all other things But that Wisdom which saw through all other things did not as yet perceive the Vanity of it self He therefore now gave his Heart to Know Wisdom that is to reflect upon it and Consider whether this might be excepted from his general censure and struck out of the Scroll of vanities And upon deep reflection he found that it could not and that even this also was as much a vanity as any of the rest Now this Proposition of Solomon's cannot be understood Absolutely Knowledge being an undoubted Perfection of Human Nature but only with respect to the present posture of Man in this World Neither can it be understood of all kind of Knowledge even in this Life some kind of Knowledge being necessary to qualifie him for Happiness in the next It must therefore Necessarily be understood of all that Knowledge which contributes not to that great End So that from these two Necessary Limitations the sense of Solomon's Proposition if it have any must be this that to Man in this present juncture all Knowledge that does not Contribute to the interest of his After-state is downright Vanity and Vexation of Spirit XVIII For to what purpose should we Study so much considering that after all we are able to Know so little considering that even that little is enough to trouble and disquiet us considering that our Life is as much too short for the enjoying what Knowledge we have as for compassing what we would have and withal considering that there lies no manner of Obligation or Necessity upon us to do thus But which is what I would most of all inculcate to what purpose imaginable should we be so busy and vehement in the pursuit of Learning of any Learning but what is of use to the Moral Conduct of

himself for his Tutor and convers'd personally with his maker and therefore must needs be supposed to know what was true Wisdom But now this he does not make to consist either in the Accomplishments of Courtly Education or in the deep Mysteries of Philosophy but in the consideration of our latter End He wishes that his People were Wise and to this End he does not wish that they were as Well-bred as he or as Learned as he but only that they understood this this one thing that they would consider their latter End Which he makes the Summary and Abstract of all Wisdom Much like that of Plato when he defines Philosophy to be The Theory of Death XXXIII And here if your Ladyship will dispence with a short digression a digression from the immediate Thred of my Discourse tho not from the general Design of it I would upon this occasion briefly represent to you what an excellent part of Wisdom it is for man seriously to consider his latter end To make this distinctly appear I shall proceed upon these two grounds First That the Consideration of Death is the most proper exercise that a wise man can be employ'd about And Secondly that this is the most compendious way of making him wise that is not so XXXIV And First it is the most proper exercise that a wise man can employ himself about For Wisdom consists in a due estimation of things and then things are duly estimated when they are measured and rated first as they are absolutely in themselves and secondly as they stand in Relation to us If they are great and extraordinary then they deserve to be consider'd for their own sakes and if they nearly relate to us then they deserve to be consider'd for ours And upon both these accounts Death and its consequences are highly deserving a wise mans Thoughts and Reflections XXXV For first they are great and extraordinary Transactions barely as in themselves consider'd and as such would deservedly ingage the most attentive consideration even of a stander by of any other indifferent Being suppose an Angel that can be no otherwise concerned in it than as t is a great Event a Noble Scene of Providence a matter of Wonder and Curiosity I say upon this single Account Death with its consequences is as fit a subject for the Contemplation of a Wise man as auy in Nature XXXVI Or if there be within the Sphere of Nature things of a greater and more Bulky appearance yet certainly there is nothing wherein man is so nearly concern'd so highly interessed as in Death Since upon the manner of this depends his Eternal Happiness or Ruin There is therefore nothing that so much deserves to be consider'd by him Whether therefore we regard the Absolute greatness of the thing or its Relative greatness with respect to us as we are interessed and concerned in it but especially if we weigh both the consideration of Death is as proper an Exercise as a Wise man can be imploy'd about XXXVII And as 't is so fit an imployment for him that is wise already so secondly is it the most compendious way of making him wise truly wise that is not so For all wisdom is in Order to Happiness and to be truly wise is to be Wise unto Salvation Whatever Knowledge contributes not to this is quite beside the Mark and is as the Apostle calls it Science falsly so called The Knowledge itself is vain and the Study of it is impertinent XXXVIII Now the only way to Happiness is a good life and consequently all wisdom being in Order to Happiness that 's the only wisdom that serves to the promoting of good life according to that of Iob before cited And to man he said behold the fear of the Lord that is wisdom and to depart from evil is understanding That therefore is the most compendious way of making a man wise that soonest makes him good and reduces his mind to a moral Regularity And nothing does this so soon and so well as the serious and habitual consideration of Death And therefore says the wise man Remember Death and Corruption and keep the Commandments The shortest Compendium of Holy living that ever was given As if he had said Many are the Precepts and Admonitions left us by wise and good men for the moral Conduct of life but would you have a short and infallible Directory of living well why remember Death and Corruption Do but remember this and forget all other Rules if you will and your Duty if you can XXXIX And what is here remarked by one wise man is consented to by all Hence those common Practises among the Antients of placing Sepulchres in their Gardens and of using that celebrated Motto Memento Mori Hence also that Modern as well as Antient Custom of putting Emblems of Mortality in Churches and other Public places by all which t is implied that the Consideration of Death is the greatest security of a good life As indeed it must be upon this general ground because it does that at a Blow which other considerations do by Parts and gives an entire defeat to the three great Enemies of our Salvation at once It sets us above the Temptations of the World the Flesh and the Devib For how can the World captivate him who considers he is but a stranger in it and that he must shortly leave it How can the Flesh insnare him who has his Sepulchre always in his Eye and reflects upon the cold lodging he shall have there And how can the Devil prevail upon him who remembers always he must dye and then enter upon an unchangeable State of Happiness or Misery according as he has either resisted or yeilded to his Temptations Of so vast consequence is the constant Thinking upon Death above all other things that fall within the compass even of useful and Practical Meditation and so great Reason had Moses for placing the Wisdom of Man in the Consideration of his latter End XL. But to return if being still in pursuit of my general design I may well be said to be out of the way I now perswade my self that from the Character I have drawn of Man and his present Circumstances together with those Reflections built upon it and interwoven with it and lastly from Divine Authority the measure we have given is so well Establish'd that if your Ladyship be not yet you ought to be convinc'd that however Naturally desirous we may be of Knowledge yet that this Appetite is to be govern'd as well as those that are Sensual that we ought to indulge it only so far as may tend to the Moralizing our Souls and the conducting our Lives and the fitting us for that Happiness which God has promised not to the Learned but to the Good And that if it be gratify'd to any other purpose or in any other Measure than this our Curiosity is impertinent our study immoderate and the Tree of Knowledge still a forbidden Plant. XLI

45th Psalm is a plain Spiritual Epithalamium and so is the whole Book of Canticles and the Holy Baptist in whom both Types and Prophesie expire calls him expresly by the Name of Bridegroom Strange Miracle of Humility and Love That ever God should come down to seek a Spouse upon Earth was it not enough O Blessed Jesu that thou wast one with the Father and Holy Spirit in the Eternal Trinity was it not enough that thou hadst made thy self one with our Mortal Flesh by assuming our Nature but that thou must yet heap Mystery upon Mystery and as if thou wert not yet near enough allied to us must also make thy self one with thy Church But such is thy Love to man as not to be contented with one single union with him And so great thy Condescention as if thou need'st a Partner to compleat thy Happiness and as if it were no more good for the second than 't was for the first Adam to be alone These are the two Principal Figures under which the Scripture Pictures out to us the Love of Christ to his Church and his union with it Not that they rise up to the heighth of the Mystery but because they come the nearest of any to it For indeed they fall vastly short and give but a faint shadowy resemblance of what they are intended to represent And therefore as we have hitherto represented the dearness between Christ and his Church by that between the Head and the Members and the Husband and Wife so we may and with better reason invert the Order and propose the Former as an Example and Measure for both the Latter And 't is observable that St. Paul does so For says he Husbands love your Wives even as Christ loved the Church And again No Man ever yet hated his own Flesh but Nourishes and Cherishes it even as the Lord the Church Where you see the Love of Christ to his Church is not as before set out by that of Married Persons and that of a Man to his own Flesh but these are set out and illustrated by the other So great and transcending all Love yea even all Knowledge is this Love of Christ to his Church But 't will appear yet greater if we take a Prospect of it in the Second Light namely in those Real and Actual Proofs whereby Christ himself has exprest this his most excellent and otherwise incredible Love And certainly they are such as never were will or can be given by any other Lover For to make the Prospect as short as maybe was it not an amazing instance of Love for the great and ever Blessed God who could neither be advantaged by our Happiness nor damaged by our Misery to come down and assume our Nature in its meanest Circumstances to live a needy and contemptible Life and dye a painful aud execrable Death and all this to reconcile a Rebel to restore an Apostate Indeed the work of Man's Redemption if we deeply consider the whole Method and Contrivance of it is such an Heroic instance of Love and so much exceeding that of his Creation that 't is well Man was Created and Redeem'd by the same good being since otherwise his obligations to his Redeemer being so much greater than those to his Creator he would be very much divided and distracted in his returns of Love and Gratitude But let us reflect a little upon the Life before we further consider the Death of our Redeemer It was one constant Argument one continued Miracle of Love He lived as one purely Devoted to the good of Mankind All his Thoughts all his Words all his Actions were Love His whole business was to Glorify his Father and which was his greatest Glory to express his Love to Man which tho at all times exceeding wonderful yet toward the Evening of his Life it thicken'd and grew stronger like Motion within the Neighbourhood of the Center and as then he Prayed so he Loved yet more earnestly For 't was then that he wept over Condemn'd Ierusalem and bedew'd with Tears the Grave of Lazarus 'T was then that with desire he desired to Eat the Passover with his Disciples instituted a perpetual Monument of Love his Holy Supper and left another of Humility by condescending to wash their Feet 'T was then that he comforted his Disciples with the variety of the Heavenly Mansions with a Declaration that he himself was the way the Truth and the Life with an assurance that their Prayers in his Name should be effectual with a Promise of the Holy Spirit and with a Legacy of his own Peace to compensate for the Tribulation they should meet with in the World 'T was then lastly that he recommended the state of his Apostles together with his own Glorification in one and the same Solemn Prayer to his Father that he would preserve them in Unity and Truth and at length Glorify them with the whole Body of true Believers with himself in Heaven And all this at a time when one would have thought his own concern should have been his only Meditation and Fear his only Passion for now was he within view of his amazing sufferings and the shade was just ready to point at the dreadful hour and yet even now his Love was truly stronger than Death and the Care of his Disciples prevailed over the Horrors of his approaching Agony Which he further shewed by giving up himself to a cruel and shameful Death for the Life and Salvation of the World A Death to say no more of it of such strange Sorrow and Anguish that the very Prospect of it put him into a Sweat of Blood and the induring it made him complain of being deserted of his Father And then that his Redemption might prove effectual after his Resurrection he gives Commission to his Disciples to go and publish it with its conditions throughout the world and orders them all as he does here St. Peter to feed his Sheep And lest the the Benefit of his Death should be again frustrated for want of Power to perform the conditions presently after his Ascension he sent down the Spirit of consolation upon his Apostles and does continually confer Grace upon and make Intercession for his Church So tenderly affected was he toward this his Spouse that even the felicities of Heaven could not make him forget her as he further shew'd by complaining in behalf of his Church when from the midst of his Glory he said Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Which words shew him as much concern'd for the wounds given to his Mystical as for those he felt in his Natural Body And now since the Love of our Lord to his Church is so exceeding great it certainly concerns all Christians especially those whom he has intrusted with the Care of his Church to be alike minded Which leads me in the Second place to consider the command here given and to shew the great Obligation that lies upon all spiritual Pastors

our Life considering these two things First that 't is but to stay a little while and we shall have all that Knowledge Gratis from the Communications of the Ideal World which we so unsuccessfully drudge for here to the neglect of more important and concerning exercises And Secondly considering that there is such an absolute necessity of being Good and of Living well and that this short uncertain Life is the only time for it which if neglected this great work must lie undone for ever Upon the former consideration this Studious Bookish humour is like laying out a great Sum of Money to purchase an Estate which after one weak dropping Life will of Course fall into hand And I am sure he would be reckon'd Fool or Mad that should do so And upon the latter 't is as if a Man that was Riding Post upon Business of Life and Death should as he passes through a Wood stand still to listen to the Singing of a Nightingale and so forget the main and only business of his Journey XIX 'T is most certain that the two Cases here supposed are as great instances of Folly and Impertinence as can well be conceiv'd and yet however it comes to pass that we are not sensible of it 't is certain that they are very applicable to the Intellectual Conduct of Human Life as 't is generally managed And tho we are all ready enough to call such men Fools as shall do as in the two mention'd instances is supposed yet 't is most certain that we do the very same or worse that we are too much concern'd in the Application of the Parable and that of most of us it may be truly said Thou art the Man XX. For I demand what difference is there between him that now labours and toils for Learning and Knowledge which in a little time he shall be easily and fully possest of and him that dearly buys an estate which would otherwise come to him after a short interval what difference is there but only this that he that buys the estate tho he might have spared his Money yet however he gets what he laid out his Money for his expence indeed was needless but not in vain Whereas he that drudges in the pursuit of Knowledge not only toils for that which in a short time he shall have with ease and in abundance but which after all he can't compass in any considerable measure and so undergoes a vain as well as unnecessary Labour And is therefore the greater Fool. XXI Again I demand what difference is there between him who when he is imploy'd upon business of Life and Death shall alight from his Horse and stand Idling to hear a Nightingale Singing in the Wood and him who having an Eternity of Happiness to secure by the right ordering of his Life and Manners and having only this Point of time to do it in shall yet turn Vertuoso and set up for Learning and Curiosity 'T is true indeed the Nightingale Sings well and 't were worth while to stand still and hear him were I disingaged from more concerning affairs but not certainly when I am upon Life and Death And so Learning and Knowledge are excellent things and such as would deserve my Study and my Time had I any to spare and were more at leisure but not certainly when I have so great an interest as that of my final state dependi●g upon the good use of it My Business now is not to be Learned but to be good XXII For is my Life so long am I so over-stock'd with Time or is my depending interest so little or is it so easily Secured that I can find leisure for unnecessary Curiosities Is this Conduct agreeable to the present station and Posture of Man whose entrance into this World and whose whole stay in it is purely in order to another state Or would any one imagin this to be the condition of Man by such a Conduct Shall a Prisoner who has but a few days allow'd him to make a Preparation for his Trial spend that little opportunity in Cutting and Carving and such like Mechanical Contrivances Or would any one imagin such a Man to be in such a Condition near a doubtful Trial of Life and Death whom coming into a Prison he finds so imploy'd And yet is there any thing more Absurd and Impertinent in this than in the present Supposition than to have a Man who has so great a Concern upon his Hands as the Preparing for Eternity all busy and taken up with Quadrants and Telescopes Furnaces Syphons and Air-Pumps XXIII When we would expose any Signal Impertinence we commonly illustrate it by the Example of Archimedes who was busy in making Mathematical Figures on the Sands of Syracuse while the City was taking by Marcellus and so though there were Particular Orders given for his safety lost his Life by his unseasonable Study Now I confess there was impertinence and absurdity enough in this instance to consign it over to Posterity But had Archimedes been a Christian or otherwise assured of the great concerns of another World I should have said that the Main of his Impertinence did not lie here in being Mathematically imploy'd when the Enemy was taking the City but in laying out his Thoughts and Time upon such an insignificant unconcerning Study while he had no less a concern upon him than the securing his Eternal Interest Which must be done now or never Nothing certainly is an Impertinence if this be not to hunt after Learning and Knowledge in such a juncture as this XXIV Sure I am and your Ladyship too very well knows that many other Proceedings in the Conduct of Life are condemn'd of Vanity and Impertinence upon the very same grounds tho not half so inconsistent with the Character of Man nor so disagreeable to his present Posture in this World For is not the World full of invectives and have not the Pens of Moral Writers been all along imploy'd against those that apply themselves to Secular acquirements spend their short and uncertain Lives which ought to be imploy'd in the Pursuit of an infinitely higher Interest in gaping up and down after Honours and Preferments in long and frequent attendances at Court in raising Families getting Estates and the like These things I say and such like are condemn'd and censured not only upon the stock of their particular Viciousness as Crimes of Ambition or Covetousness respectively but for what they have in Common as they are mispendings of Time and unconcerning Excentrical imployments XXV But now I would fain know whether any of these Misconducts of Life be more expensive of our Time more remote and alien from the main business of it more unrelating to our Grand Concern and consequently more Impertinent than to be busily imploy'd in the Niceties and Curiosities of Learning And whether a Man that loiters away Six Weeks in Court-Attendances for a place of Honour be not every whit as accountably imploy'd with

respect to the End of Man in the other World and his Business in this as he that shall spend so much time in the Solution of a Mathematical Question as M. Descrates I remember confesses of himself in one of his Epistles And why then the Prosecution of Learning should be the only thing excepted from the Vanities and Impertinencies of Life I have not head enough to understand XXVI And yet so it is All other Excentrical unconcerning Occupations are cried down meerly for being so as not according with the present Character and State of Man This alone is not contented with the reputation of Innocence but stands for positive merit and excellence for Praise and Commendation To say a Man is a Lover of Knowledge and a diligent inquirer after Truth is almost as great an Encomium as you can give him and the time spent in the Study tho in the search of unedifying Truth is reckon'd almost as laudably bestow'd as that in the Chapel and so inconsistent with its self is Human Judgment 't is Learning only that is allow'd not only to divide but to devour the greatest part of our short Life and is the only thing that with Credit and Public allowance stands in Competition with Religion and the study of Vertue Nay by the most is preferr'd before it who would rather be counted Learned than Pious XXVII But is not this a strenge and unreasonable Competition It must indeed be confess'd that the Perfection of Man is double of the Intellectual as well as of the Moral Part and that Knowledge is a very Divine Excellence But certainly Rectitude of Will is a greater Ornament and Perfection than Brightness of Vnderstanding and to be Good is more Divine than to be Wise and Knowing that being the Principal perhaps only difference between an Angel and a Devil And tho Solomon's Choice be universally applauded yet I think that of Mary is to be preferr'd before it and to use the Expression of the Excellent Monsieur Poiret that 't is better like an Infant without much reasoning to Love much than like the Devil to Reason much without Love XXVIII But suppose Knowledge were a much Diviner excellence than 't is suppose it were more Perfective of and Ornamental to Human Nature than the Habit and Practice of Vertue yet still this Competition would be utterly against Reason For 't is to be consider'd as I have already suggested that the Former we can't have now in any Measure and shall have it hereafter without Measure but the latter we may have now for we may Love much tho we can't know much and cannot have it hereafter Now the Question is whether we ought to be more Solicitious for that Intellectual Perfection which we can't have here and shall have hereafter or for that Moral Perfection which we may have here and cannot hereafter And I think we need not consult an Oracle or conjure up a Spirit to be resolv'd of this Question XXIX And this one Solitary Consideration much more in Conjunction with the other parts of the Human Character I take to be sufficient to justifie the Truth of what measure we have prescribed to our Intellectual Conduct that we ought to prosecute Learning and Knowledge no further than as 't is conducive to the great Ends of Piety and Vertue And consequently that when ever we study to any other Purpose or in any other Degree than this we are unaccountably impertinently I may add Sinfully imploy'd For this is the whole of Man to fear God and keep his Commandments the whole of Man in this Station and consequently this ought to be the only Scope of all his Studys and Endeavours XXX And accordingly 't is observable that the Scripture whenever it makes mention of Wisdom with any mark of Commendation it always means by it either the very Practice of Religion and Vertue or such Knowledge at least that has a near and strong influence upon it thereby implying that that is the only Wisdom which becomes the study of Man Remarkable above the rest to this purpose is the 28th Chapter of Iob where having run through several instances of Natural Knowledge at length says he But where shall Wisdom be found And where is the place of understanding As much as to say that in none of the other things mention'd did consist the Wisdom of Man Then it follows Man knoweth not the Price thereof neither is it found in the Land of the Living The Depth saith it is not in me and the Sea saith it is not in me Not in the Depths of Learning nor in the Recesses of Speculation seeing it is hid from the Eyes of all Living and kept close from the Fowls of the Air from Men of high and Towring Notions and sublime Theories Destruction and Death say we have heard the Fame thereof with our Ears As much as to say that after this Life and then only unless perhaps about the hour of Death Men begin to have a true sense and Lively Savoury Relish of this Wisdom But in the mean time God understandeth the way thereof and he knoweth the place thereof And unto Man he said behold the Fear of the Lord that is Wisdom and to depart from Evil that is understanding To Man he said Had it been to another Creature suppose an Angel in a state of Security and Confirmation he would perhaps have recommended for Wisdom the Study of Nature and the Curiosities of Philosophy but having to do with Man a Probationary and unfixt Creature that shall be either Happy or Miserable according as he demeans himself in this short time of Trial the only Wisdom he advises to such a Creature in such a Station is to look well to his Moral Conduct to study Religion and good Life XXXI And now Madam since we are upon Scripture-Authority for indeed so little has this matter been consider'd that I have scarce any other to follow will your Ladyship give me leave in further Confirmation of the Measure propos'd to commend to your Consideration two great Scripture-Examples both of Men Eminently Wise and of a Learned Education The Men I instance in are Moses and St. Paul The latter of which professedly declares that he determin'd to know nothing but Iesus Christ and him Crucify'd that is nothing but what concerns either the Faith or the Practice of Christianity And the former complaining of the gross Ignorance of the People committed to his charge and desiring they would become wiser breaks out into this Passionate Wish O that they were Wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter End XXXII Moses had been bred a Scholar as well as a Courtier and was well instructed in all the Secrets of the Aegyptian Philosophy which was then the best in the World Besides he was himself a wise Man a Man that besides the advantages of Pharaoh's Court had the Divine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉

and Heighth if there be any Love that passes Knowledge if there be any love that is stronger than Death and dearer than Life if there be any lastly that is truly wonderful and that passes love not only of Women but of the whole Creation 't is this Love of our Lord to his Church We have no line long enough to fathom so vast a Depth nor can Mortality furnish us with Ideas to conceive or with words to utter so deep a Mystery If there be any words that can reach it they must be such as St. Paul heard in his Rapture strange words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 words that cannot be pronounced by an Human Tongue and that would be meer Barbarism to a Mortal capacity But however that we may take some Measure of that which really has none and be able to frame some Notion of this Love of Christ which as the Apostle tells us passes knowledge we will exhibit a Prospect of it in a Double Light First in those verbal Representations which the Scripture gives of it and Secondly in those real and actual Proofs whereby Christ himself has exprest this his most excellent and otherwise Incredible Love As to the First the Scripture we know is full of great things and those set forth with as great and magnificent Expressions The Rhetoric and Stile of Scripture runs incomparably high beyond that of any other writings in whatever it treats of But there are three things more especially in the description of which the Holy Spirit seems to Labour and be at a Stand for Expression And these are the Glories of Heaven the Miseries of Hell and the Love of Christ to his Church These the Scripture represents under all the variety of Symbols Figures and Images that can be supplied either from the Intellectual or Material World that so what is wanting in each single Representation might be made up from the Multitude and Combination of them that if one should miss another might strike us to make if possible some impression of so strange and so concerning Truths upon the minds of Men. But the last of these as 't is most wonderful and Mysterious it being a greater wonder that God should Love Man than that either there should be so much Happiness in the Enjoyment of God or so much misery in the Loss of him so is it more frequently inculcated and more strongly represented So frequently inculcated is it that were it not for the Mystery of the thing and that there is no Tautology in Love the Scripture would seem Chargeable with vain Repetitions Every Page almost in Holy writ breathes forth this Mystery of Divine Love and besides that there is one whole Book particularly imploy'd in the representation of it by all the Flowers and Delicacies of the most exalted Poetry it may be said of the whole Sacred Volumn that 't is but one continued Expression of Love from Christ to his Church one Larger Canticles And as 't is thus frequently inculcated so is it no less strongly represented 'T is represented by that which is the most proper Effect and the last End and Accomplishment of all Love by Vnion For there are three most admirable Unions proposed to our Faith in the Christian Religion The Unity of Essence in the Trinity the Unity of Person in Jesus Christ and the Union that is between Christ and his Church The First of these is an Example and Prefiguration as it were to the Second and the Second to the Third For we cannot better represent the Union of Christ with his Church than by the Hypostatic Vnion or the Union of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with Human Nature For First as in this Mystery the Plurality of Nature is consistent with the Unity of Person so does Love effect the same Miracle in the Union between Christ and his Church For here also we meet with a new Theanthropy a strange Composition of God and Man two vastly different Substances which without Confusion of either Natures or Properties make up one and the same Body For if Christ be Head of the Church he is also one Body with it And so St. Austin Totus Christus secundam Ecclesiam Caput Corpus est Again as in the Mystery of the Hypostatic union there is a Communication of Idioms or Properties whereby what primarily and abstractly belongs to one may secondarily and concretely be attributed to the other as that God is man and man is God so has Love introduced the like Communication between Christ and his Church which may be said to be happy and glorified in Christ as he is said to suffer in his Church Again as in the Mystery of the Hypostatic union the Word uniting it self to Human Nature adorn'd and exalted it not only by the Priviledge of so sacred a Confederacy but also with many distinct Graces and Excellencies whereby it was necessarily tho not forcibly determin'd to love the Divinity and highly fitted to be loved by it so is it also in this Union between Christ and his Church He has not only innobled her by so sacred an Alliance but is ever conferring upon her his Gifts and Graces and will never cease to do so till at length he present her to himself a Glorious Church without spot or blemish and make her in some measure worthy of so great a Love and so intimate an Vnion For 't is observable that in Scripture Jesus Christ is set out as the Author and Dispencer of all Grace to him is ascribed the Work of the Second as well as of the First Creation from his fulness we all receive and the Apostle says expresly that to every one of us is given grace according to the Measure of the gift of Christ. But not to pursue this Metaphysical Parallel any further let us return to consider this Union as 't is represented in Holy Scripture Now there are but two sorts of Union in the World Natural and Moral And the Holy Spirit has made Choice of the Closest of each whereby to Figure out to us the Union between Christ and his Church The closest of Natural Unions is that between the Head and the Body and the closest of all Moral Unions is that between the Husband and the Wife And both these are by the Holy Spirit applied to this Mystery Thus is Christ oftentimes call'd the Head of the Church and the Church the Body of Christ. Thus again is he stiled the Bridegroom and the Church honour'd with the Name of his Spouse And because this Latter Figure carries in it more of sensible endearment therefore is it of more frequent use and withal of more Antient Date For besides that Adam first open'd this Mystery and by his Miraculous Marriage typified to us that of Christ with his Church which came out of the Wounded Side of our Lord as Eve was taken out of Adam's the Prophets have also given our Lord the title of Bridegroom in the Old Testament The