Things appear to us and the more the Mind rejoyces in the Lord the oftner 'tis rapt up into Heaven and as it were transfigured into a more glorious Being by the Joy of the Spirit and the Ardours of Divine Love the more flat and insipid are all earthly and carnal Satisfactions to it Another Effect that attends our shaking off the Dominion of Sin and our devoting our selves to the Service of God is our being purified from Guilt The Stains of the past Life are washed off by Repentance and the Blood of Jesus and the Servant of God contracts no new ones by wilful and presumptuous Sin Now therefore he can enter into himself and commune with his own Heart without any Vneasiness he can reflect upon his Actions and review each day when it is past without inward Regret or Shame To break off a vicious Course to vanquish both Terrours and Allurements when they perswade to that which is mean and base to be Master of ones self and entertain no Affections but what are wise and regular and such as one has Reason to wish should daily increase and grow stronger these are things so far from meriting Reproach and Reproof from ones own Mind that they are sufficient to support it against all Reproaches from without Such is the Beauty such the Pleasure of a well established Habit of Righteousness that it does more than compensate the Difficulties to which either the Attainment or the Practice of it can expose a Man Lastly He that is free from Guilt is free from Fear too And indeed this is the only way to get rid of all our Fears not by denying or renouncing God with Atheists but by doing the things that please Him He that is truly Religious is the only Man who upon rational Ground is raised above Melancholy and Fear For what should he fear God is his Glory his Boast his Joy his Strength and if God be for him who can be against him neither things present nor to come neither Life nor Death can separate him from the Love of God in Christ Jesus There is nothing within the Bounds of Time or Eternity that he needs fear Man cannot hurt him he is incompassed with the favour and loving kindness of God as with a Shield But if God permit him to suffer for Righteousness sake happy is he This does but increase his present Joy and future Glory But what is most considerable Death it self cannot hurt him Devils cannot hurt him the sting of Death is Sin and the strength of Sin is the Law but thanks be to God who giveth us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. For there is no Condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit These Considerations prove the present Condition of a Servant of God happy Happy in Comparison of the Loose and Wicked but in Comparison with what he shall be hereafter he is infinitely short of the Joy and Glory of his End In this respect indeed he is yet in a state of Tryal and Trouble of Discipline and Probation in this respect his Perfection and Happiness do but just peep up above the Ground the Fulness and Maturity of both he cannot enjoy till he come to Heaven And this is § 4. The Last Fruit of Christian Liberty That Heaven will consist of all the Blessings of all the Enjoyments that Human Nature when raised to an Equality with Angels is capable of that Beauties and Glories Joys and Pleasures will as it were like a fruitful and ripe Harvest here grow up there in all the utmost Plenty and Perfection that Omnipotence it self will e're produce is not at all to be controverted Heaven is the Master-piece of God the Accomplishment and Consummation of all his wonderful Designs the last and most endearing Expression of boundless Love And hence it is that the Holy Spirit in Scripture describes it by the most taking and the most admired things upon Earth and yet we cannot but think that this Image though drawn by a Divine Pencil must fall infinitely short of it For what temporal things can yield Colours or Metaphors strong and rich enough to paint Heaven to the Life One thing there is indeed which seems to point us to a just and adequate Notion of an Heaven it seems to excite us to strive and attempt for Conceptions of what we cannot grasp we cannot comprehend and the labouring Mind the more it discovers concludes still the more behind and that is the Beatifick Vision This is that which as Divines generally teach does constitute Heaven and Scripture seems to teach so too I confess I have often doubted whether our seeing God in the Life to come did necessarily imply that God should be the immediate Object of our Fruition or only that we should there as it were drink at the Fountain Head and being near and dear to Him in the highest Degree should ever flourish in his Favour and enjoy all Good heap'd up press'd down and running over I thought the Scriptures might be easily reconciled to this sense and the Incomprehensible Glory of the Divine Majesty inclin'd me to believe it the most reasonable and most easily accountable Injoyment and especially where an Intelligent Being is the Object of it seem'd to imply something of Proportion something of Equality something of Familiarity But ah what Proportion thought I can there ever be between Finite and Infinite what Equality between a poor Creature and his incomprehensible Creatour what Eye shall gave on the splendours of his essential Beauty when the very Light He dwells in is inaccessible and even the Brightness he vailes himself in is too dazling even for Cherub and Seraphs for ought I know to behold Ah! what Familiarity can there be between this Eternal and inconceiveable Majesty and Beings which He has formed out of nothing And when on this occasion I reflected on the Effects which the Presence of Angels had upon the Prophets and saw Human Nature in Man Sinking and dying away because unable to sustain the Glory of one of their Fellow-Creatures I thought my self in a manner obliged to yield and stand out no longer against a Notion which though differing from what was generally received seemed to have more Reason on its side and to be more intelligible But when I called to mind that God does not disdain even while we are in a state of Probation and Humility of Infirmity and Mortality to account us not only his Servants and his People but his Friends and his Children I began to question the former Opinion and when I had survey'd the Nature of Fruition and the various Ways of it a little more attentively I wholly quitted it For I observed that the Enjoyment is most transporting where Admiration mingles with our Passion where the beloved Object stands not upon the same Level with us but condescends to meet a Vertuous and aspiring and ambitious Affection Thus the happy Favourite enjoys
this Chapter is grown much too big already And to the consideration of the Fruit of this Liberty which I have so long insisted on nothing more needs to be added but the Observation of those Rules which I shall lay down in the following Chapters For whatever Advice will secure the several Parts of our Liberty will consequently secure the whole I will therefore close this Chapter here with a brief Exhortation to endeavour after Deliverance from Sin How many and powerful Motives have we to it Would we free our selves from the Evils of this Life let us dam up the Source of them which is Sin Would we surmount the Fear of Death let us disarm it of its Sting and this is Sin Would we perfect and accomplish our Natures with all excellent Qualities 't is Righteousness wherein consists the Image of God and Participation of the Divine Nature 't is the cleansing our selves from all Filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit and the perfecting Holiness in the fear of God that must transform us from Glory to Glory Would we be Masters of the most glorious Fortunes 't is Righteousness that will make us Heirs of God and Joynt-Heirs with Christ 't is the Conquest of our Sins and the abounding in good Works that will make us rich towards God and lay up for us a good Foundation for the Life to come Are we ambitious of Honour let us free our selves from the servitude of Sin 'T is Vertue only that is truly honourable and Praise-worthy and nothing surely can entitle us to so noble a Relation for this allies us to God For as our Saviour speaks they only are the Children of Abraham who do the Works of Abraham the Children of God who do the Works of God These are they who are born again not of the Will of the Flesh or of the Will of Man but of God These are they who are incorporated into the Body of Christ and being ruled and animated by his Spirit are entitled to all the blessed Effects of his Merit and Intercession These are they in a word who have overcome and will one day sit down with Christ in his Throne even as He also overcame and is set down with his Father in his Throne Rev. 3.21 Good God! how absurd and perverse all our Desires and Projects are We complain of the Evils of the World and yet we hugg the Causes of them and cherish those Vices whose fatal Wounds are ever big with numerous and intollerable Plagues We fear Death and would get rid of this Fear not by disarming but sharpning its Sting not by subduing but forgetting it We love Wealth and Treasure but 't is that which is Temporal not Eternal We receive Honour one of another but we seek not that which comes from God only We are fond of Ease and Pleasure and at the same time we wander from those Paths of Wisdom which alone can bring us to it For in a word 't is this Christian Liberty that makes Men truly free not the being in bondage to no Man but to no Sin not the doing what we list but what we ought 'T is Christian Liberty that makes us truly great and truly glorious for this alone renders us Serviceable to others and Easie to our selves Benefactors to the World and delightsome at home 't is Christian Liberty makes us truly prosperous truly fortunate because it makes us truly happy filling us with Joy and Peace and making us abound in hope through the Power of the Holy Ghost CHAP. IV. Of Liberty as it relates to Original Sin WHatever Difficulties the Doctrine of Original Sin really be involved in or seem at least to some to be so they will not concern me who am no further obliged to consider it than as it is an Impediment of Perfection For though there be much Disputes about Original Sin there is little or none about Original Corruption the Reality of this is generally acknowledged though the Guilt the Sinfulness or Immorality of it be controverted And though there be Diversity of Opinions concerning the Effects of Original Corruption in Eternity yet there is no Doubt at all made but that it incites and instigates us to actual Sin and is the Seed-plot of Human Folly and Wickedness All Men I think are agreed that there is a Byass and strong Propension in our Nature towards the Things of the World and the Body That the subordination of the Body to the Soul and of the Soul to God wherein consists Righteousness is subverted and overthrown That we have Appetites which clash with and oppose the Commands of God not only when they threaten Violence to our Nature as in the Cases of Confession and Martyrdom but also when they only prune its Luxuriancy and Extravagance That we do not only desire sensitive Pleasure but even to that Degree that it hurries and transports us beyond the Bounds that Reason and Religion set us We have not only an Aversion for Pain and Toil and Death but to that Excess that it tempts us to renounce God and our Duty for the sake of Carnal Ease and Temporal safety And finally that we are so backward to entertain the Belief of revealed Truths so prone to terminate our Thoughts on and confine our Desires within this visible World as our Portion and to look upon our selves no other than the mortal and corruptible Inhabitants of it that this makes us selfish and sordid proud and ambitious false subtle and contentious to the endless Disturbance of Mankind and our selves That this I say is the state of Nature that this is the Corruption we Labour under all Men I think are agreed And no wonder for did a Controversie arise about this there would be no need to appeal any further for the Decision of it than to ones own Experience this would tell every one that thus it is in Fact and Reason if we will consult it will tell us why it is so for what other than this can be the Condition of Man who enters the World with a Soul so dark and destitute of Divine Light so deeply immerced and plung'd into Flesh and Blood so tenderly and intimately affected by Bodily Sensations and with a Body so adapted and suited to the Things of this World and fastened to it by the Charms of Pleasure and the Bonds of Interest Convenience and Necessity This Account of Original Corruption agrees very well with that St. Paul gives us of it Rom. 7. and elsewhere And with that Assertion of our Lord and Master on which he builds the necessity of Regeneration by Water and the Holy Spirit Joh. 3.6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit Having thus briefly explained what I mean in this Chapter by Original Sin I am next to consider these two Things 1. How far this Distemper of Nature is curable 2. Which way this Cure is to be effected As to the first Enquiry I would
is All the claim the Sinner lays to Pleasure is confin'd to the Present Moment which is extreamly short and extreamly uncertain the Time that is Past and to Come he quits all Pretention to or ought to do so As to the time Past the thing is self evident For the Sinner looking back sees his Pleasures and Satisfactions the Good Man his Tryals and Temptations past and gone The Sinner sees an end of his Beauty and his Strength the Good Man of his Weaknesses and Follies the one when he looks back is encountred with Sin and Folly Wickedness and Shame the other with Repentance and Good Works Guilt and Fear haunt the Reflections of the one Peace and Hope attend those of the other As to the time to come the Atheist hath no Prospect at all beyond the Grave the Wicked Christian a very dismal one the weak and Imperfect a doubtful one only the Wise and Perfect an assured joyful and delightful one And this puts me in mind of that which is the proper Fruit of Perfection and the truest and greatest Pleasure of Human Life that is Assurance assurance of the Pardon of Sin assurance of the Divine Favour assurance of Immortality and Glory Need I prove that Assurance is an unspeakable Pleasure One would think that to Man who is daily engag'd in a Conflict with some Evil or other it were superfluous to prove that it is a mighty Pleasure to be rais'd though not above the Assault though not above the Reach yet above the Venom and Malignity of Evils To be fill'd with Joy and Strength and Confidence to ride triumphant under the Protection of the Divine Favour and see the Sea of Life swell and toss it self in vain in vain threaten the Bark it cannot sink in vain invade the Cable it cannot burst One would think that to Man who lives all his Life long in Bondage for fear of Death it should be a surprizing Delight to see Death lie gasping at his Feet Naked and Impotent without Sting without Terror One would finally think that to Man who lives rather by Hope then Enjoyment it should not be necessary to prove that the Christian's Hope whose Confidence is greater its Objects more glorious and its Success more certain than that of any worldly Fancy or Project is full of Pleasure and that it is a delightful Prospect to see the Heavens opened and Jesus our Jesus our Prince and Saviour sitting at the Right Hand of God Thus I have I think sufficiently made out the Subserviency of Perfection to the Happiness of this present Life which was the thing propos'd to be done in this Chapter Nor can I imagine what Objections can be sprung to invalidate what I have said unless there be any thing of Colour in these two 1. To reap the Pleasure will some one say which you have discrib'd here it requires something of an exalted Genius some Compass of Understanding some Sagacity and Penetration To this I Answer I grant indeed that some of those Pleasures which I have reckon'd up as belonging to the Perfect Man demand a Spirit rais'd a little above the Vulgar But the richest Pleasures not the most Polish'd and Elevated Spirits but the most Devout and Charitable Souls are best capable of Such are the Peace and Tranquility which arises from the Conquest and Reduction of all inordinate affections the satisfaction which accompanies a sincere and vigorous discharge of Duty and our Reflections upon it the Security and Rest which flows from Self-resignation and Confidence in the Divine Protection And lastly the Joy that springs from the full assurance of Hope But 2ly It may be Objected 't is true all these things seem to hang together well enough in Speculation but when we come to examine the matter of fact we are almost tempted to think that all which you have said to prove the ways of Wisdom ways of Pleasantness and all her Paths Peace amounts to no more then a pretty Amusement of the Mind and a Visionary Scheme of Happiness For how few are there if any who feel all this to be truth and Experiment the Pleasure you talk of How few are they in whom we can discover any signs of this Spiritual joy or fruits of a Divine Tranquility or Security I answer in a word The examples of a perfect and mature Vertue are very few Religion runs very low and the Love of God and Goodness in the Bosoms of most Christians suffers such an allay and mixture that it is no wonder at all if so imperfect a State breed but very weak and imperfect Hopes very faint and doubtful joys But I shall have occasion to examine the force of this Objection more fully when I come to the Obstacles of Perfection CHAP. V. Of the Attainment of Perfection Particularly an account of the Manner by which Man Advances or grows up to it I Have in the first second and third Chapters explain'd the Notion of Religious Perfection In the fourth Chapter I have insisted on two effects of it Assurance and Pleasure My method therefore now leads me to the Attainment of Perfection Here I will do too things 1st I will trace out the several Steps and Advances of the Christian towards it and draw up as it were a short History of his Spiritual Progress from the very Infancy of Vertue to its Maturity and Manhood 2ly I will discourse briefly of the Motives and Means of Perfection Of the Christian's Progress towards Perfection Many are the Figures and Metaphors by which the Scripture describes this alluding one while to the Formation Nourishment and Growth of the Natural man another while to that of Plants and Vegetables One while to the dawning and increasing Light that shines more and more to the perfect Day Another while to that succession of Labours and Expectations which the Husbandman runs through from Plowing to the Harvest But of all the Similes which the Spirit makes use of to this end there is one especially that seems to me to give us the truest and the liveliest Image of the Change of a Sinner into a Saint The Scripture represents Sin as a state of Bondage and Righteousness as a state of Liberty and teaches us that by the same steps by which an enslaved and oppressed People arrive at their Secular by the very same does the Christian at his Spiritual Liberty and Happiness First then as soon as any Judgment or Mercy or any other sort of Call awakens and penetrates the Sinner as soon as a clear Light breaks in upon him and makes him see and consider his own state he is presently agitated by various Passions according to his different Guilt and Temper or the different Calls and Motives by which he is wrought upon One while Fear another while Shame one while Indignation another while Hope fills his Soul He resents the Tyranny and complains of the Persecution of his Lusts he upbraids himself with his folly and discovers a meanness and shamefulness in
the tender Sorrows of Contrition the delight of Praises and Thanksgivings the Adorations and Self-depressions of a profound Humility and the Resolutions and Vows of a perfect Abhorrence of and Holy Zeal and Indignation against Sin How do these things mellow and enrich the Soul How do they raise it higher and higher above the Corruption which is in the World through Lust How do they renew it daily and make it a Partaker of the Divine Nature The Repetition of the same acts naturally begets an Habit and Habit is the Strength and Perfection of the Soul for it is a disposition ripen'd and confirm'd by Custom How naturally then must Prayer fortifie the Mind ripen good Dispositions or add Strength and Perfection to good Habits Since it is nothing else but a repeated Exercise of almost all the Graces of the Gospel Repentance Faith Hope Charity and the like And it ought to be observed that Prayer gives us a frequent opportunity of exercising those Vertues which we should not otherwise be so often oblig'd to do If Secondly we enquire into the Prevalence of Prayer with God we shall have further Reasons yet to resolve that it is a most effectual means of increasing our spiritual Strength What will God deny to the Prayer of a Righteous Man He may deny him temporal things because they are not good for him He may refuse to remove a Temptation because this is often an occasion of his own Glory and his Servants Reward but he will never refuse him Grace to Conquer it He will no more deny his Spirit to one that earnestly and sincerely begs it than the natural Parent will Bread to his hungry and craving Child And no wonder since Grace is as necessary to the spiritual Life as Bread to the natural the goodness of God is more tender and compassionate than any Instinct in Human Nature and the Purity and Perfection of God more zealously solicitous for the Holiness and Immortality of his Children then Earthly Parents can be for a Sickly perishing Life of theirs Thus then 't is plain that Prayer contributes wonderfully to the Strengthening and Establishing the Mind of Man in Goodness But then we must remember that it must have these two Qualifications it must be frequent and incessantly Importunate 1. It must be Frequent I would have this Rule comply'd with as far as it may even in our stated regular and solemn Addresses to God But because Business and several Obligations we lie under to the World do often press hard upon us therefore must I give the same Counsel here which I did before under the Head of Meditation that is to have always ready and imprinted in our Memory several Texts of Scripture containing the most weighty and important Truths in the most piercing and moving Language that we may be able to form these on a suddain into Ejaculations in which our Souls may mount up into Heaven amidst the Ardours and Transports of Desires and Praises as the Angel did in the Flame of Manoah's Sacrifice 2. Prayer must be incessantly Importunate Importunate it will be if the Soul be prepar'd and dispos'd as it ought that is if it be disengaged from this World and possessed entirely with the Belief and earnest Expectation of a better if it be humbled in it self disclaim all Strength and Merit of its own and rest wholly on the Goodness and All-sufficiency of God I add Incessantly in Conformity to the Parables of our Lord Luke 11.8 and 18.5 and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Apostle 1 Thess 5.17 And whoever considers Human Nature well and remembers how soon pious Motions vanish and how little they effect will discern a plain Reason both for Vehemence and Perseverance in Prayer For Vehemence that the Soul may be deeply impressed by pious Passions for Perseverance that such Impressions may not be effaced and obliterated Nor let any one fancy That Prayer thus qualified has not a better influence upon God as well as upon our selves 'T is true God is void of the painfulness and defects of Human Passions but not of the Perfection of Divine ones Woe were to us if God were an inflexible inexorable Deity and incapable of being wrought upon by the incessant Importunity of his poor Creatures Woe were to us if the softness and the tenderness of the Divine Nature did not infinitely exceed the little resemblances of it in Man If in a word God did not abound in Goodness Mercy and Compassion more easily to be moved and excited than those Human Passions that bear some Analogy to them Next to Conversation with God by Prayer the Conversation of good Men does wonderfully contribute to the building us up in Faith and Vertue How does the Sense and Experience of such as deserve our esteem and affection settle and establish our Judgment when they concur with us How does their Knowledge enlighten us their Reason strengthen our Faith and their Example enflame us with Emulation A pious Friendship renders Religion it self more engaging It Sanctifies our very Diversions and Recreations and makes them minister to Vertue it minds us when we are forgetful supports and encourages us when we faint and tire reproves and corrects us when we give back and recalls us into the right path when we go out of it This is or this should be the business of Conversation the end and advantage of Friendship We should be often talking together of the things of God communicating and laying open the state of our Souls our Fears our Hopes our improvements and defects we should watch over one another comfort and support one another our Discourse should always minister new warmth or new strength to our Holy Faith and Love But among all the means of Grace there is no one does so much corroborate and nourish the Soul of Man as the Holy Eucharist How many wise and Impartial Reflections does the Preparation for it occasion What unfeigned Humility and what a profound Awe of the Divine Majesty does a previous Self-Examination beget in us What a tender sense of the Divine Love does the Contemplation of the whole Mystery enkindle What Firmness and Resolution do we derive from fresh Vows and repeated Engagements and these offer'd up with so much Solemnity And how much finally is the Habit of Holiness improved by that spiritual Pleasure which the sensible Assurances of Grace and Salvation work in us by that Awe and Holy Fear which the whole action leaves behind on our Minds and the Zeal Vigilance and Circumspection it obliges us to for the time following Not to mention here how the Participation of this Holy Sacrament obliges us to a most solemn Exercise of Repentance towards God and Faith in our Lord Jesus of Brotherly Love and Charity and the Hope of Immortality and Glory Here in a word we prepare to meet God as we would do in Death and Judgment here we make an open Profession of our Holy Faith renounce the World and Flesh
on the Soul in its Creation but also scatters and diffuses I know not what Venome and Infection thorough it that makes it eagerly pursue its own Misery 'T is a Disease that produces more intollerable Effects in the Soul than any whatever can in the Body The Predominancy of any noxious Humour can breed no Pain no Disturbance equal to that of a Predominant Passionâ— no Scars or Ruins which the worst Disease leaves behind it are half so deformed and loathsom as those of Vice Nay that last Change which Death it self produces when it converts a beautiful Body into Dust and Rottenness is not half so contemptible or hateful as that of Sin when it transforms Man into a Beast or Devil If we do not yet sufficiently comprehend the Nature of Sin by viewing it as it exists in our Minds and Hearts we may Contemplate it in our Actions And here 't is Blindness and Folly Rashness and Madness Incogitance Levity Falshood and Cowardise 't is every thing that is mean and base and all this aggravated by the most accursed Ingratitude that Human Nature is capable of These and the like Reflections on the Nature of Sin cannot chuse but render it hateful And if Secondly we make any serious ones on the Effects of it they cannot fail of rendering it frightful and dreadful to us These Effects may be especially reduced to Three 1. The ill Influence Sin has upon our Temporal Concerns 2. Guilt And 3. Fear As to the First of these I shall only say that we suffer very few Evils but what are owing to our own Sins that it is very rarely any Calamity befalls us but we may put our Finger on the Fountain the Sin I mean from whence the Mischief flows Whence come Wars and Fighting amongst you saith St. James come they not from your Lusts which war in your Members This is every jot as applicable to Private as Publick Contentions and where Envy Strife and Contention is no evil Work no Disaster will be long absent I might run through all the different kinds of Evils that infest the Body or embroil the Fortune that blast our Hopes or stain our Desires and easily shew that they all generally spring from our Vices Nay what is worse yet I could shew that Sin converts our good things into evil and our Enjoyments into Punishments that it renders the slightest Evils intollerable turns Scratches into Wounds and Wounds into Gangrenes But this is too copious a subject and would insensibly render me Voluminous when I would be as short as possibly I can A Second Effect of Sin is Guilt which is nothing else but a Consciousness of having done ill and an Obligation to Punishment resulting from it And though Men often Sin with Hopes of Impunity yet it is hard to imagine even on this supposal that they should sin without suffering the Reproaches of their own Minds which surely must be very uneasie to them To be perpetually vex't at ones own Folly to commit those things which we inwardly condemn and be in continual Pain lest they should come to Light to be always displeased at ones self and afraid not only of the Reflections of others but our own This is methinks a great Evil did no other attend our sin But Thirdly Fear is almost inseparably joyned with Guilt for Guilt does not only damp the Chearfulness and enfeeble the Vigour of the Mind it does not only destroy that Confidence Man would otherwise naturally have in God and render him Cowardly and Pusillanimous but it terrifies his Soul with Melancholy Apprehensions and makes him live continually in fear of Death and Punishment And thus the Scripture represents the state of a sinner The wicked flee when none pursue but the righteous are bold as a lion Prov. 28.1 If our heart condemn us God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things 1 John 3.2 There is no peace to the wicked saith the Lord Isa 48.22 To deliver them who through fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage Heb. 2.15 The sinners in Zion are afraid fearfulness has surpised the Hypocrites who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting burnings Isa 23.14 Nor let any one wonder that notwithstanding the outward Gaiety of the sinner the Spirit thus describes the inward Condition of his Soul As long as Men retain the Belief of a God it is impossible they should wholly free themselves from the Fear of him They may indeed forget him in the Fits of Lust or Passion but in their Intermissions his Terrours will return upon them with more Violence Again as long as Men retain the common Principles of Truth and Justice if they acknowledge but the Obligation of that universal Law Thou shalt do to others as thou wouldest they should do unto thee 't is impossible they should reflect on their sins without Regret and uneasiness for there is no sin but has more or less Repugnancy in it to Truth Justice and Goodness Finally as long as Men are perswaded that there is such a Faculty as Conscience that God has prescribed them a Law and that they are accountable to Him the natural Conscience cannot chuse but by Fits and upon Occasions scourge and torture lance and gash them And 't is a hard matter to wear out these Notions they are so natural and obvious the Proofs of them are so clear their Reputation and Authority in the World is so well established and the Providence of God so frequently inculcates them Men may easily wear out all sense of the Beauty and of their Obligations to the Heights and Perfections of Vertue but they cannot so easily do this in reference to Virtue in general because 't is temper'd and accommodated to Human Nature and Society and necessary to the tollerable well-being of the World Men may soon I confess extinguish their Christianity but not Humanity and while this remains Sin will leave a Stain and Guilt behind it and Guilt will be attended by uneasiness and Fear The very Pagans who had advanced so far in Wickedness as to be given up to all dishonourable Passions and to commit all Vncleanness with Greediness had not yet so mortified and stupified their Consciences but that it gave them much Disturbance Rom. 1. ver 32. 't is said of them that they knew the Judgment of God that they which committed such things were worthy of Death And Rom. 2.15 their Consciences are said to accuse and condemn them And 't is of very wicked Men that the Author to the Hebrews affirms that through fear of Death they were all their life time subject to bondage But are there not will some say many Ingenious and Brave Spirits who have dispersed these vain Spectres and burst those superstitious Fetters by which you labour to scare and enslave the World I do not doubt indeed but that there are too many who have vigorously endeavour'd to cashier all Principles of Natural