they run they are not so injust as one would think in their dealings So strong are the Arguments drawn from Interest that they can perswade a man into the belief of his being innocent and guiltless when he commits the horriblest of Crimes as that he may take without scruple from me what is really mine to make up the losses he has suffered through other mens either misbehaviour or misfortune or that Usury so much condemn'd by the moral part of mankind and by the Gospel it self is now no more a sin because forsooth of what men call damnum emergens and lucrum cessans of the damage we are thought to be exposed to by lending our money or upon the account of missing in the mean time of a seasonable opportunity of improving it which two things since they may always be pretended to there can be no such thing in the world as a sinful Usury though the Gospel tells us in plain terms date mutuum nihil inde sperantes lend your money without the very hopes of recovering any thing thereby more than your principal So far it is from allowing in any case of tyrannical Extortions and injust Exactions But by the deep reach of a preying Interest we understand now better things since contrary to the written Word Usurers must be reckon'd as honest men as any whosoever lest we condemn the generality of Traders and Dealers either in Goods or Money Simony that is the selling of the Spiritual for the Temporal as a good Ecclesiastical Benefice for Gold or Silver was always reputed a grievous sin but because this Doctrine became troublesome to the rich Bishops Abbots and Prebends of France and other Popish Countries who having at their disposal several fat Benefices were strongly tempted to bestow them upon the most deserving that is in their opinion upon such as could give most money for them they are fallen luckily upon a trick to clear all their Scruples about this Subject and it is this That they are not to contract in express terms with the party nor to give their Bond for such a sum of Money payable at their being install'd in the Spiritual Employment they are in pursuit of They shall only be at the trouble to let him they deal withal understand their present disposition to a grateful return for the favour he promiseth to do them gratis though in the mean time he be very sure of his reward or rather price and do expect it no less than if they were tyed up to the payment by all the strictest Forms of Law and Custom Now all is well again and we may by this easie method shun all kind of Simony sell and buy Ecclesiastical Benefices as we do other Goods to the deceiving of men indeed but not of an All-seeing God who will both judge and punish our wicked intentions with the same rigour he chastiseth our real deeds ARTICLE VI. 1. The obligation of restoring other mens Goods and good Name not minded 2. The surest sign of Reprobation 3. The Casuists immoral advice to rich men The Obligation incumbent upon all Mankind to return other mens Goods and good Name if wrongfully taken from them is so indispensibly necessary that the sin can never be remitted without an equal compensation made for the damage done non remittitur peccatum nisi restituatur ablatum But this Duty is so seldom perform'd that 't is easie to see what God most men serve and not very often discours'd of neither from the Pulpit as if the Preachers thought it useless to insist upon a Subject which men will by no means hearken to and good reason say they why they should not because they would be ruin'd and undone in case they were perswaded to restore whatever they had wrongfully taken from the poor or from those rich who are now through their oppression become poor I know no surer sign of Reprobation than riches thus injustly acquired because such sins being seldom repented of harden mens hearts against all reveal'd and natural light I pity such sort of rich men more than I envy 'em because it is hard if not impossible for them to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven The very Divines sometimes if not good men help them on to their ruine by flattering them through interest in their sinful ways or by telling them with some able Casuists but very indifferent Christians that making such a figure in the world as they do they are not obliged in conscience to lay aside their State and Greatness to begger themselves their Wives and Children though they all live in the mean time upon the Substance of such as starve for want of their own that they may save their Souls at easier rates as giving some inconsiderable and superfluous part of their Riches to the poor or to those very persons whom they have wrong'd if yet in being that all right flowing originally from power what was injustly got at first is at last justly possess'd since no body is able to take it from them Thus the strongest shall never want the desir'd advice from trimming covetous and conscienciousless Casuists to maintain their injust acquisitions 'T is by their favourable Decisions that the Kings of Spain retain the Kingdom of Navarr during their life safely and in good conscience too as they generally affirm provided at the hour of death they order their Successors to restore it again to the right Owner supposed to be the French King who likewise following the Example of their Predecessors leave behind them their Orders for the restitution of that Kingdom in hopes to save their souls by this Casuistical Trick The Bishop of Rome pretends a right to the Kingdom of Naples and upon that account to a yearly Homage from the King of Spain whom he excommunicates every year for this injust usurpation of what is not allowed to be really his due But this Prince understanding that Gold is a better Fence against the Thunder of the Vatican than Lawrel was of old against that of Jupiter secures himself from it under the shelter of a heavy Purse presented from time to time to his Holiness by his Ambassadour as well knowing the irresistible power of Gold to which Crown'd Heads stoop as well as others do ARTICLE VII 1. Good and wholesome advice to Princes 2. The French Kings Success of late what to be ascrib'd to 3. Why the Spaniards are not now so great Politicians as they were of old For let men pretend what they please it is not in their power to resist the Charms of this bewitching Metal Upon this account 't is a piece of Wit and Wisdom too in a Prince to bestow large Salaries upon his chief Ministers of State lest they be tempted through want to comply with the secret Offers of a rich Enemy This Maxim is carefully observ'd by the French King no Prince in Europe allowing or perhaps able to allow greater Salaries to such as he thinks fit to be employed in State
Irregularities but upon a fair prospect of some very considerable advantage for themselves and this is chiefly the maintaining of the People in their blind Obedience to the Authority of their Church which notwithstanding all her pretences to Infallibility holds it to be both lawful and useful for Men to make their Spiritual Exercises in an unknown Tongue though this be such a piece of blind Obedience as would make us say to God in our daily Addresses we knew not what since the imaginary general Intention of the Church they pretend to be sufficient in this case could never supply the particular want of Knowledge in what relates immediately to the good of our Souls Now how Antichristian soever you may judge it to be to keep the Scriptures that are God's Letters Patents to all Mankind from the common people Yet the Papists are oblig'd through a principle of Self-preservation to condemn the common use of so dangerous a Book as they call the Scripture And I confess it to be so for them as mentioning no where the fundamental and distinguishing Articles of Popery the Infallibility I mean and Universality of the particular Church of Rome the Transubstantiation of the Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of Christ that are now in Heaven the Lawfulness of Image-Worship Relick-Worship of Prayers to the Saints and for the delivery of the Souls pretended to be in Purgatory c. If the people were made sensible that these things were not reveal'd in the Word of God they would without any longer delay shake off the insufferable Yoke of Popery since they might soon understand by the daily perusal of the Holy Writ that these and the like new coin'd Articles are meer humane Inventions and not God's reveal'd Word The Papist then I fancy how foolish soever you may think him acts wisely and according to the great Law of Self-preservation in not allowing the people to read the Scripture because the common use of this Divine Book would prove the utter ruine of the Romish Church for the Reason I just now hinted at ARTICLE XXXIX 1. Men generally more concern'd for their own Reputation than for the Honour of God 2. A Young Lady severely used by her own Mother and upon what account 3. The late Prince of Conde's Reflection against the French Bishops Though Fathers and Mothers vertuously enclin'd can hardly bear with the irregular and sinful Actions of their Children yet 't is observable that they are much more concern'd for some sins they commit than for some others though perhaps more heinous and more grievous in their own Nature As for instance How many take little or no notice of their Childrens Drinking Swearing Gaiming Stealing c. who nevertheless use them with the utmost Severity if they chance to commit such sins of frailty as may occasion either disgrace or shame to themselves or their Familes This I can give you a sufficient proof of by what I have once observed my self in the behaviour of a very precise and godly Lady towards the best of her own Daughters though look'd upon by her as the very worst because she had been overcome by the fair words and reiterated promises of a deceitful Lover The Young Lady having liv'd till then in great Reputation among her Neighbours was thought a true Pattern of Vertue and Modesty by all that knew her Whereas her Sisters were known to be guilty of lying drinking of detracting of all Mankind to say nothing of their insufferable Vanity and Pride of their Gaiming late and early or rather whole Nights and whole Days and of many other immoral Exercises of that kind for which their godly Mother never so much as once check'd them in good earnest though upon the first discovery of her Eldest Daughters Misfortune she fell upon her in such a fury that had she not been rescued out of her hands it was generally believ'd she had murder'd her You may easily think I design by this short passage to tell you that such as are meer pretenders to Vertue mind always more their own Concerns than those of God Almighty whom yet they seem to honour so much with their lips as to check and condemn all such as make not so great a show of Godliness as they upon all publick occasions commonly do The sins of the Sisters I was speaking of were sins indeed against God but the Fault committed by the Ladies Eldest Daughter was something else as being a disgrace and a stain to the Family and that I fancy this Old Lady was chiefly if not only concern'd for or that her Daughter by this unhappy accident had lost that which did best qualifie her for a rich and honourable Match What happen'd lately in France is somewhat a-kin to what I have been discoursing of since it lays open to the World such as are but seemingly concern'd for nothing more than for the Honour and Glory of God The Famous Moliere had written a Comedy intituled Tartuffee against Bigots Hypocrites and all sorts of meer Pretenders to Religion but with so little applause from such as knew themselves to be guilty that the Bishop of Autun the chief Man as it was reported aim'd at in the Play assisted by some of his Brethren complain'd to the French King of the Wrong done them by Moliere who having inform'd the Prince of Conde of their whole proceedings gave his Royal Highness occasion to say That several Treatises had been dispers'd up and down the Kingdom to introduce Atheism which the Bishops took no notice of because there the Honour of God only was concern'd but that now they appeared with a greater Zeal than was requisite against Tartuffee because their own Reputation seem'd to lie at stake ARTICLE XL. 1. Interest the frequent Cause of Ingratitude 2. King Charles the Second's Behaviour towards his best Friends 3. Lewis the XIV highly oblig'd by the French Hugonots Such as forget or reward not the good done 'em by their best Friends and Benefactors are generally thought either to be guilty of or not to scruple much at any other Crime according to the old saying Si ingratum dixeris omnia dixeris Yet the Power of Interest is so absolute and so arbitrary as to cause Men sometimes not only to forget their true Friends but likewise to promote and enrich their greatest Enemies What Obligation Charles the Second had to the Cavalier Party in England Scotland and Ireland 't is too well known to be told again in this place How many both Noblemen and Gentlemen stood up for him in the worst of Times to the hazard and loss of their Lives and Fortunes suffering patiently till he came home again the greatest Extremities that Oppression and Want could expose them to Who had not thought but that upon the Return of King Charles to England they had been all nobly rewarded for their past Services and Sufferings for their constant loyalty and daily endeavours to set things again upon their first
Foundation And I doubt not but King Charles II. had been very willing to gratifie and reward too his distress'd Subjects had he not judg'd such a piece of Gratitude quite contrary to his real Interest For considering that such as stood up for his Concerns were so entirely consecrated to his Service that no hard usage on his side could break them off from their loyalty to the Royal line he thought he could use them as familiarly as he pleas'd yea and slight them too without their taking much notice of it provided they were now and then commended for the constant performance of their Duty in the hardest times But as for the downright Rebels and all such as oppos'd most his Interest because they were the richest Men in the Nation and the most considerable upon the account of their Authority among the People he very prudently clos'd in with them as being the surest props of his new setled Throne So that whatever good Service we do to our Friends if they find it their Interest to make us no Returns for our Kindness we must not rely too much upon what we may reasonably expect from them and they ought to do for us But yet King Charles the Second dealt not so harshly with his real Friends as Lewis the Fourteenth with the French Hugonots who having declared themselves for his Right against the then Prince of Condè caus'd the whole Kingdom of France to take his part in opposition to the ambitious pretences of that dangerous Antagonist Because every one is not particularly acquainted with the Matter of Fact I shall upon this occasion give you a particular and short account of the whole passage that the World may be thoroughly inform'd how injustly the French Protestants have been dealt withal by Lewis the Great The Prince of Condè considering first That Lewis the Fourteenth was born near Three and Twenty Years after Lewis the Thirteenth his Father was married and secondly That this Prince had been always so sickly and weak that some doubted very much if he could be the true Father of Lewis XIV Upon this grounded suspicion he immediately declared his Right to the Crown as next Heir and accordingly marching with a powerful Army towards Paris forc'd the Cardinal the Queen and the Young King to fly as far as Amiens before any of the French Cities would take notice of him till the Cardinal sent to the Hugonots to desire their assistance in such a dangerous Juncture as that was Who unanimously agreeing to give him all the Succours they could raise for his Service frightn'd the Prince back again without executing his Design Immediately upon the News of his Retreat the strong Cities that till then had shut up their Gates not only receiv'd the flying King but furnishing him with all Necessaries enabled him to march back to Paris again with an Army where though oppos'd at first by Madamoiselle he was at last admitted with great shouts and acclamations of the People Though this was such a singular piece of Service as deserved the greatest reward yet when the King came to age in a great Council held in his presence the thorow overthrow of the Hugonots was fully resolved upon Which so startl'd the King himself at first that he told plainly his Counsellours He had always been inform'd That the Hugonots had settl'd the Crown upon his Head in opposition to the Prince of Conde's aspiring Ambition But it was immediately reply'd by the Council That for that very Reason he ought to leave no stone unturn'd to destroy 'em because if they had been not very long before powerful enough to settle the Crown upon his Head they were then able enough if they pleas'd to pull it off again ARTICLE XLI 1. That Riches change Mens Tempers 2. And why 3. What the Papists us'd to say of the New Converts in the late Reign 'T is commonly said That a change of Fortune for the better alters a Man's Humour and Temper Honores mutant Mores But it 's not obvious to every common Understanding why it does so For though it be generally true That Men become prouder by great Riches acquired and Eminent Dignities conferr'd upon them it must be further inquir'd what is the true Cause of this Pride which renders them so unsociable to such as formerly were their Equals and Companions May not I then be allow'd to say That their Pride being perhaps more affected than real 't is chierly grounded upon Interest which I make out in short thus If Men after they are promoted to great Dignities whether Ecclesiastical or Civil behav'd themselves towards their once familiar Acquaintances with the same Exteriour Humility and openness of Heart they were us'd to do before their promotion they would be forc'd in a manner to make them share in their Estates likewise as well as in their intimate Friendship 'T is then a piece of prudence in them according to the Political Maxims of Self-interest to break off all intimacy with their old if poor Friends least they be solicited to supply their Wants to the lessening of what they themselves must spend in Superfluities And for this very Reason I am of Opinion That the unsociableness if I may so speak of most men under the Circumstances we are discoursing of comes directly from their greediness to keep what they have got lest by their Familiarity with their former Friends they be oblig'd in point of Honour not to let them want upon occasion For 't is generally observ'd That the ungratefulness of most men to their truest Friends and greatest Benefactors is always to be ascrib'd to their unreasonable Covetousness upon the sudden change of their Fortune either because of their great and necessary Expences in a higher post or upon the account of their new ambitious projects they must lay up for being never contented with their present condition how flourishing soever because the more they have the more they covet Quo plus sunt potae plus sitiuntur aquae Upon this account we may truly say That all Men are equally poor and in Want because no man thinks he has enough to answer his present occasions So unsatisfied we still are with the plentifullest Enjoyments of this World Since then in all our Attempts we pursue always our own Interest notwithstanding our pretences sometimes to the contrary we shall be reckon'd to act like Politicians if we mind what particular advantage every man aims at that so knowing what he may be gain'd by we may take our measures accordingly for our own ends This Maxim being carefully observed by the late King in preferring upon all occasions the New Converts to confirm them in his Religion by the actual possession of that the very hopes of which had brought them over to it gave occasion to the old Roman Catholicks to say That the Kings Papists got all but Gods Papists Nothing Meaning that the New Converts were always gratified either by Pensions or Employments whereas such