Socrates and content my self to be virtuous at the rate of a Heathen than according to the Measures of such a Religion But blessed be God we know better things and have been taught quite otherwise we have not thus learned Christ his Religion is Pure Religion and Undefiled his Commands are Holy Just and Good he countenanceth no sort of Immorality but encourageth the Universal Practice of all Virtue It threatens Damnation to such as resist Authority which is the Ordinance of God and affirms the Damnation of those Men to be just who think to do evil that good may come of it Rom. 3.8 It makes it as necessary for Subjects to submit I do not say always to Obey but to submit to their Governors as for Children to be Obedient to their Parents and for Servants to be subject to their Masters and he that goes about to take off the Obligation of the one may upon the same terms take away all Duty in Children towards Parents and all Faithfulness in Servants towards Masters For Obedience and Subjection to Civil Government is as Natural and Sacred as that which is exercis'd in Families and kept up in a Man 's own House I have insisted the longer on this not so much to look backward as forward to undeceive people by opening their Eyes and discovering those Pious Frauds Profane Cheats and Hypocritical Abuses which for a long time hath past cleverly with some Men under the Notion of Conscience and Religion and to shew you what Spirit such Men are of thereby to Caution you for the future against all such leud Principles and Pretences how speciously soever they may be gilded over and that you take heed that you suffer not your selves to be cheated out of a Peaceable Loyal and Well-temper'd Religion by any bold Incendiary or cunning Hypocrite of them all be they of what Party or Faction they will whether Foreign or Domestick at Home or Abroad But yet in the Second place Notwithstanding Conscience hath been so grosly mistaken and abused yet it ought not to be slighted much less cast off upon that account any more than Religion which hath often met with the like hard Fate or Civil Government which hath been Usurp'd by those that had no Right to it and manag'd quite contrary to the Primitive End and Institution thereof Now if the Abuses of Government and Religion be not a sufficient Reason for our rejecting of them no more is it for the laying aside of Conscience Because the greatest Abuse can never be made an Argument for the Total Abandoning thereof For if you come once to cast off Conscience you throw off with it all Obligation to Duty you take away all Sense of Good and Evil all Difference between Virtue and Vice Right and Wrong and thereby reduce Mankind into the Rank of Brute-beasts Without regard to Conscience you are not capable of Religion nor of the ordinary Duties of Morality we cannot do one good Action without it nor rejoyce in the Witness and Testimony thereof There will be then no peace in Private Families nor good Government in Publick Societies no Obedience to Magistrates nor Subjection to Authority No Man then will either Fear God or Honour the King or do their Duty one toward another all which are yet enjoyn'd and bound expressly upon our Consciences by the Holy Spirit Conscience then is useful and necessary in that it implys an Obligation to Duty and lays upon us the strongest Bonds of Obedience There is no Argument or Perswasive like it It is stronger than all our little Hopes and Fears in this World 't is not to be compell'd by force nor brib'd by Interest nor frighted by all the Terrors and Apprehensions of Death and the Grave Insomuch as Conscience though daily abused by ill Men to ill designs is yet of excellent use where rightly inform'd duly apply'd and carefully heeded and attended unto Where it is Reverenc'd and regarded as it ought it tends mightily to the making Men throughly Good and Virtuous Just in their Pretences Honest in their Intentions Upright and Sincere in all their Promises and Professions all which where Men make no Scruple of any thing must needs be False Dissembling and Treacherous Where Men are willing to exercise a good Conscience or keep it void of Offence they will not put Tricks and Cheats upon themselves or others they will not go about to mock God and deceive their own Souls they will scorn to do an ill Action and afterwards colour it over with a plausible Excuse or Hypocritical Evasion But will endeavour after the practice of unfeignee Goodness a hearty Compliance with their whole Duty having their Conversation as the Apostle speaks In Simplicity and Godly Sincerity and not with Fleshly Wisdom 2 Cor. 1.12 In a word he will strive to approve himself to God as well as Man and to Man as well as God that he may become as good as possibly he can that is as the Grace of God and his own honest endeavors will enable him to be That Man therefore that makes no Conscience of any thing he does or says can never become so good as he ought He can be no true and lasting Friend either to Church or State to his King or Countrey and consequently unsafe to be trusted by either but he that shall go about to Debauch and Prostitute his Conscience is of all others the very worst and no Sinner to the Conscientious Sinner who can sin with a good Conscience and do Evil that Good may come of it whose Damnation as it is most just so their reclaiming is most difficult as being obstinate in their Prejudices against every thing that is or can be offered for their Conviction And thus you see the great Use and Necessity of Conscience where it is regarded and valued as it ought and therefore is not to be decry'd for the ill use made thereof For to cast off Conscience is in effect to cast off all Religion With it to Banish all true Gooâ—ness Common Honesty and Moral Virtue out of the World and consequently all that Order Pence Union and Civil Society which results from thence and wherein the Happiness of this Life doth chiefly consist I PROCEED now in the Fourth place to shew in or about what things Conscience ought principally to be concern'd or exercised First For the better understanding of which I must remind you a little of what I have already hinted in the description of Conscience namely that Conscience presupposeth a Rule or Law and therefore is not particularly concern'd about things Indifferent as such which come within the compass of no Rule nor within the Limits of any Command or Prohibition For Conscience is no further concern'd about any thing or action than as 't is an Instance of Obedience to or Transgression of a Law now where there is no Law there is no Transgression no nor Obedience neither Now the things we call Indifferent are such as God hath
then in the thing it self for superstition is not in the Object but only in the mind or conceipt of the Person that thinks so Thus they have accustomed to revile our Liturgy under the notion of the English Mass-book the Bishops and Governours of our Church are branded for Limbs of Antichrist and the Church her self reputed for little better then Antichristian and Idolatrous Neither have they learnt to stop here but have adventured to fly in the Face of the Civil Government as well as the Ecclesiastical against both which they have Shot their Venemous Arrows even bitier words Psalm 64.3 But now I appeal to any sober and serious Person be he of what Perswasion he will whether this be according to the Principles of the Christian Religion which is Profest in common by us all or whether it is purely Conscience which puts them upon such unseemly Practices or is this Language fit to be bestowed upon one of the most Eminent and Famous among all the Reformed Churches and who without Vanity be it spoken hath been one of the greatest Bulworks against Popery and Champion for the Reformation and I hope and pray daily it will continue to be so as long as God shall be pleased to continue Her or Himself a Church upon Earth Now if Language of this Nature tho' arising from the great and extraordinary Zeal of our Adversaries is so unhandsome and ill becoming in them towards us why should we think it any whit the more commendable and seemely in us toward them or out of our mouths then out of theirs That which is Evil and Offensive in it self is and will be so let who will be guilty of it Wherefore methinks it would be more like Christian and make more for the credit of Religion and Honour of our Church if we had more Charity and Kindness one for another even in those things wherein we differ so they be not Factious or Scandalous nor have an ill influence on our Lives and Manners rather than imitate the Example of some of our hot-headed Dissenters in some of their worst Qualities to wit in their Uncharitable Censures and Vnchristian Revilings and Calumnies For the bitter and fiery Spirit of a Jewish Zealot is very unagreeable to the Meek and Gentle Disposition of a true follower and Disciple of Christ according to St. Luke 9.54 55. And when his Disciples James and John saw this they said Lord wilt thou that we Command Fire to come down from Heaven and consume them even as Elias did But he turned and rebuked them and said ye know not what manner of Spirit ye are of And I shall be beholding to any man that shall be able to make out any other sence and meaning thereof 5thly A good Christian ought to live according to his own Conscience rather then according to the Opinion of other Men. Besure that man lives with the most comfort and content to himself who walks by the constant Rule of Gods Word and not by that of the World which consists chiefly in Humour and Opinion and alters almost every day and upon the least Occasion Whereas the Law of God is a sure and standing Rule which being diligently heeded and attended unto will not suffer us to go wrong or mistake our way 'T is impossible a man should live so Regular in all respects or carry himself so universally blameless and inoffensive as to gain the good Word and Opinion of all men tho' he should make it his chief study or sole business to do so for men's Humours and Interests being so different and many times so contrary that which likes one doth not like another and what this man commends another may be apt to find fault withal Nay one and the same person is not always consistent with himself nor can keep long in the same mind His thoughts and Judgments of things do often alter with his Affection and Interest and notwithstanding the Reason of things remains one and the same yet his Opinion of them may not do so and then they will be sure to pass their Censures on mens Persons and Actions according as they are in good or bad Humour or as they judge may make most for their present Interest Now he undertakes a hard task indeed who Studies to please those whose minds are so fickle and wavering and whose Humours are made up of such sudden Conradictions The People of the World are Masters or our Credit and Reputation which they may give or take from us at pleasure as many times they do upon very slight or no ground at all They depend upon the Opinion which men are pleased to conceive of us which they may alter when they list whether we give cause for it or no. But now no man or Number of men can be Masters of our Consciences we may keep them Innocent and in Peace let the World say or do what she can For tho' the deserved Commendation of a Virtuous Action depends upon the Good Will of others yet the Satisfaction it inwardly creates is a Good they have nothing to do withal and can never deprive us of tho' they would It concerns us therefore to take all the care we can of our Consciences and study rather to pprove our selves to them than to the Multitude the one being Practicable when the other is not Not that I would have any man careless of his Credit and good Name for he that is not tender of his Fame will hardly be so of his Conscience and the Reputation which is given to Virtuous Deeds ought to be lookt upon as no small Incitement to the performance of them But my meaning is no man ought to be so Studious of Popular Applause or affect the good Opinion of the World by such mean and unworthy Arts as may tend to the Injuring of his Conscience or prejudice of his Duty which he ows to God and the Church to his Prince or Countrey But let a man do what he thinks in his Conscience he ought to do let him provide things honest in the sight of all men run into no open Scandal give no just or wilful cause of offence and avoid as much as he can all Temptations or Provocations to evil and then he ought not he need not value the Talk of the World nor Speech of People A Wise man which in Solomon's sense is a Prudent Good man should first take care of doing his Duty and then live above the spiteful Talk and Reports of the Vulgar or regard their Censures no otherwise then the Moon in the Fable did the barking of a Dog which neither obscur'd her Light nor made her alter her Course No no The inward content which a man receives in the doing of a good Action is infinitely to be prefer'd before the Credit and Reputation which it gains him abroad an Unwise man seeks his Reward and Satisfaction where it is not to be found namely from without in the Goods and Possessions in the
given no particular Command either for or against and upon that account become of a Middle nature between Good and Evil as being neither commanded nor forbidden if therefore not commanded they do not oblige Conscience in point of Obedience if not forbidden they offend not Conscience in point of Guilt This is the true and easie Notion of things Indifferent as coming under no immediate Injunction or Prohibition and therefore left free as to the Performance or Omission unless Prudence shall otherwise direct or lawful Authority interpose But some there are who will admit nothing for Indifferent but what Scripture doth expresly warrant and affirm to be so but then there can be nothing call'd Indifferent in the World because there is no Text throughout the whole Bible that speaks any thing to this purpose or makes mention of what is Indifferent and what not And yet that some things in or about Religion are indifferent and may be done or not done without Sin we have the general consent of most of our Reformed Divines Calv. Beza Bucer Pola P. Martyr cum plurimis aliis quos omnes enumerare jam taederet and that as well of Foreign Churches as of our own 'T is therefore sufficient warrant for me to judge any thing indifferent whereof the Scripture is wholly silent and makes no mention at all either one way or other as in Matters of External Rites and Ceremonies the Outward Modes and Circumstances of Divine Worship which are all of them of an indifferent Nature and wherein there is no Religion or Sin at all as consider'd absolutely in themselves and stript of all other Circumstances which may alter the case Indifferent things therefore being neither good nor evil in themselves may be done or not done without sinning against God or offending Conscience But when these things which are indifferent in their own Nature do either tend to or come under the General Rules of Order and Decency and have withal the Addition of lawful Authority to re-commend them then the Practice of them becomes not only lawful but in that respect necessary tho' they remain still indifferent as to their own Nature I say tho' the Nature of them is not changed by the superaddition of lawful Authority but remain indifferent as before yet the Practice of them is no longer so but becomes a necessary Instance of our Obedience and therefore Obstinacy in refusing to comply with such Injunctions cannot excuse from Guilt except it could be proved That Disobedience to the lawful commands of the Magistrate is no Sin and the study of the Churches Peace and Quiet is no Duty For the clearer Illustration of this I shall instance but in one Ceremony at present which by many is scrupled at but I think without any Ground either from Scripture or Reason and that is Kneeling at the Blessed Sacrament which is the only Ceremony that is enjoyn'd or requir'd from the Layety in the Communion of our Church 'T is impossible we should receive the Holy Sacrament without some Gesture which is natural to every Action whether it be Sitting Standing Kneeling or Leaning i. e. inclining the Body on one side which is generally thought to be the Posture of our Saviour and his Disciples at the first Institution thereof according to the Custom of the East Each of these Postures considered in themselves are equally indifferent and one to be scrupled no more than another because they are all of them natural to bodily Action Kneeling therefore in the First place being not forbidden in Scripture is no more unlawful than Sitting or Standing and being a natural Gesture of the Body is as indifferent as any of the rest But then Secondly as it is a devout Posture and expressive of greater Reverence and Humility than that of Sitting or Standing so it may be preferr'd as more convenient and suitable to the Piety and Devotion of that Holy Ordinance than any other Gesture But Thirdly As 't is enjoyn'd by the Authority and Governours of the Church whose Power in things of this Nature some men are unwilling to understand so it becomes more necessary and binding as to the Use thereof What was indifferent before in one respect becomes convenient in another and necessary in a third 'T is indifferent in its own nature because not forbidden 'T is convenient in regard of its natural Significancy as betokening more Reverence and Devotion and 't is necessary in respect of the Command of our Governours as an Instance of our Obedience to them which God hath made our Duty and that for Conscience sake That Action therefore which is natural and indifferent convenient and reverent and upon those Accounts commanded and enjoyned I would fain know where doth the Vnlawfulness of it lie or where is the Sin of such an Action to be found They therefore that shall scruple Kneeling at the S. Sacrament especially since our Church hath assured them that there is no intention of adoring the Elements or the supposed Presence of Christ's Body I fear understand not what Reverence and Devotion is so well as they ought but discover something of a Temper which if left loose would be troublesome and uneasie under all Government and Discipline tho' never so so pure and primitive notwithstanding they seem such Zealous Contenders for it But pray why should a Lawful Authority be blamed for doing that which particular Men and private Teachers do daily practise in their several Meetings and Illegal Assembles namely imposing upon the Consciences of Men and requiring their Submission to several things which they have no express Rule for in Scripture and yet make this the great Objection against the Worship and Discipline of our Church in which respect they are no less Magisterial if not more than our Governors whom upon all occasions they Arraign as such for without any Authority from God or the Magistrate they exercise an Arbitrary Dominion over the Consciences of those Men who have weakness enough to list themselves into their Party They take away the nature of things indifferent and make some things necessary which were not so before and some things they can dispense withal as indifferent which are necessarily required to the ensnaring of Peoples Consciences who otherwise it may be mean well and are too honest to suspect the bottom of their designs as I might instance both in the Classical and Congregational way Whereas our Church never pretended to alter the nature of things either necessary and essential to Religion or only accidental and indifferent but leaves them as they are She only directs the Practice of them so far as they tend to Order and Decency are expressive of Reverence and Devoition and become a proof of Obedience and Submission to lawful Authority a Duty which I cannot think so meanly of as some do considering how peremptorily it is enjoined by the Holy Ghost in many places of the Gospel and the great Influence it hath upon the Peace of the