errour or draw on a Bargain the more easily MATTERS of rarity and fancy have no certain Estimation therefore we must be moderate in the price that we put upon them so much the rather because in these things we are left to be our own Judges Neither should we venture so far as to go to the utmost limits of what is Lawful for he that will walke upon the very brink the least step awry will tumble him down so he who will do the utmost of what he may do will sometime or other be tempted to what he should not act for it is a short and easie passage from the edges of what is lawful to what is unlawful and evil Therefore in that latitude which Trading Men have of Gain they are bound by this Rule of Justice to shew favour to the Poor and Necessitous to practice Ingenuity towards the ignorant or unskilful and moderation towards all Men. WHERE they have any doubt about the equity of their dealings they should choose the safest part for not only a good Conscience but a quiet one is to be valued above Gain therefore in Matters of Duty they ought to do the most in divisions of Right and proportions of Lucre where there is any Dispute they ought to choose the least for this is always the safest course Now the circumstances that vary Cases are infinite so that when all is done much must be left to the equity and chancery of our own Breasts Neither can it be determined how much a Man may get in the Pound and no more for he may make a greater Gain at one time than another of the same thing he may take those advantages which the change of things and the Providence of God gives him he may take more of some Persons than others provided he use all men righteously he may use some favorably I shall not descend to any more Particulars on this Head for the sake of Sir Thomas More 's Observation of the Casuists in his time that they did not teach Men not to Sin but did shew them how near they might come to Sin and not commit it THE second Species of particular Justice we call Distributive Justice Distributive Justice adjusts due Rewards and Punishments which is concerned in adjusting due Rewards and Punishments and in dealing with every Man according to his desert For many Men doing the same thing do not deserve alike great Persons and private Men carry not away the same reward of their Actions The Husbandman sells his Corn at the same Rate to the Prince and to the Beggar but the same Action of the King and of the mean Person is not rewarded in the same measure Seeing therefore doing of Justice is nothing else but dealing equally with all Parties as near as we can that all things may come to equality or which is the same to equity we are to observe that there are two ways which we are to take in all our Actions of doing Justice First ONE is called medium Rei which is always the same and is that medium Arithmeticum which Aristotle and other Moralists talk of at large Secondly THE other is medium rationis vel proportionis and is called medium Geometricum which is not always the same but varies according to persons times occasions and other circumstances NOW the principal thing which is to be respected in the doing Justice is that which we call equity How Equity and Justice differ as it stands in opposition to the rigour or strictness of Law And here we must observe that there is some difference between Justice and Equity tho sometimes they are put together and are taken for the same thing what the Laws and common Reason will allow that we call just but equity considers the circumstances of the Case and will grant allowance if they do require it for equity doth moderate the Rigour of the Law sometimes there may be what is just and no equity in the Case but sometimes there is both just and equal in the same matter now wheresoever there is equity against strict Justice there equity ought to take place AND when we consider how much we are beholden to the Mercies of God for our Being and daily Maintenance we shall not think it safe to appear in the defence of strict Justice not to stand upon all Strict Justice not to be stood upon that the rigour of the Law can desire For this is the Apostles Rule Let your moderation that is your Clemency and Compassion be known unto all men it being a Habit whereby a Man is enabled and inclined to deal according to the equitable sense of the Law and is placed betwixt the two Extremes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rigour or summum jus on the one hand insisting too much on the Letter and relaxatio nimia remitting too much from the true sense of it on the other side Now both these Extremes the excess and the defect being evidently Vices it must follow that the Medium betwixt them must be a Virtue and have in it the Obligation of a Duty AND if we do not act as it commands us we shall not only depart from the Nobleness of a Christian Spirit but we shall take such a course as that a cancell'd Obligation may return upon us as it did upon that wicked Servant in Saint Matthew who because He did not forgive his Brother a small Debt after his Lord had so freely forgiven him a great one was afterwards taken and cast into Prison because he had not compassion on his Fellow-servant as his Lord had pity on him IN all our humble Applications to God Almighty we both hope and pray that He would not be extreme to mark what we have done amiss but overlook our manifold Infirmities And I dare say He is very unmindful of Humane Nature it self who can harden himself against all Compassion to his Brethren when at any time they are mistaken or surprized THEREFORE let Just and Equal be thus stated What common Reason or the letter of the Law will admit may be accounted just but equal considers all Circumstances and allows for Errours or any unavoidable Accidents To be just is to demean our selves according to the Laws of the Place wherein we live To be equal is to consider all things that are reasonable and to act accordingly FOR this temper of Mind will render us gracious and merciful consequently most like unto God who is just and Righteous in all his ways full of mercy and compassion For it is every ones Tenure and security where this Virtue doth not take place there will be nothing but Fraud and Cozenage and every man will be unsafe it supports Human Society which otherwise would soon fall into Strife and confusion it is agreeable to the principles of our Natures We were made to these things and we force our selves and offer violence to our Faculties whenever we do an unjust Action that is cruel or unrighteous It
Imprimatur Carolus Alston R. P. D. Hen. Episc Lond. à Sacris Nov. 20. 1690. A TREATISE OF Moral and Intellectual VIRTUES WHEREIN Their NATURE is fully explained and their USEFULNESS proved AS BEING The best Rules of LIFE AND The Causes of their Decay are enquired into concluding with such Arguments as tend to revive the Practice of them WITH A PREFACE shewing the Vanity and Deceitfulness of VICE Est modus in rebus sunt certi denique fines Quos ultrà citráque nequit consistere rectum By JOHN HARTCLIFFE B. D. and Fellow of Kings College Cambridge London Printed for C. Harper at the Flower-de-luce over against S. Dunstan's Church Fleet-street 1691. To the Right Honorable CHARLES Earl of Maclesfeld Lord President and Lord Lieutenant of the Principality of Wales Lord Lieutenant of the Counties of Gloucester Hereford and Monmouth and of the City and County of Bristol and one of the Lords of Their Majesties most Honorable Privy Council May it please your Lordship THE Cause of Virtue belongs to great and brave Men therefore I thought it my Duty to lay this Treatise at your Lordships Feet it will not much enlarge your Thoughts or acquaint you with any new things but I hope it may please the Generosity of your Temper to read the Characters of Virtues the greatest Ornaments of that pure Religion which your Lordship hath laboured so much to recover from the Knavery and base Corruptions as well as Bondage of Popery For the Jesuits Morals are as destructive of a good Life and as pernicious to human Society as their Plots and their Gun-Powder I am very well satisfied that if I had sought a Patron in all the List of Noble Persons I could not have found a more proper or competent Judge in a Discourse of this Nature because your Lordships Case and that of Virtue it self have been much alike you have been both persecuted for your Integrity and Truth but like Truth you must and shall prevail in spight of the malicious and the false the Parasite or the Detractor I have not troubled your Lordship with the fine and nice Speculations in Divinity because they have done our Religion much Dis-service by raising a multitude of Questions which neither advance true Piety nor good Manners But I present your Lordship with the Rules of naked Truth and Reason the free Use whereof is as much our Birthright as any thing else Therefore your Lordships Name and the Names of all those shall be had in everlasting remembrance who have placed Their Majesties upon the Throne whereby not only our Properties but our Understandings are secured to us and an healing Plaister is laid upon all our Maladies For we must needs say our Nation was in a very distempered Condition before it came into the hands of this wise and great Prince WILLIAM the Third whose Breaches in its Manners as well as in its Laws may be made up by his seasonable Application of the most proper Remedies as its Greatness and Glory will ever be maintained by His Wisdom Power and Courage under the Influence of these Royal Virtues England methinks begins to recover its just Temper apace and the old British Genius revives so that in time it may be restored to a perfect Health as strong Bodies will work out the Poyson they take by degrees That this Deliverance which hath been so wonderfully wrought for us may have the same effect upon our Country which the Christian Religion had at its first entrance into it when it did so quickly turn the first Inhabitants of this Island who were uncivilized and barbarous into humble affable meek charitable modest prudent tender and compassionate Creatures That the Practice of Virtue may be establish'd in these Kingdoms without which the firmest Government must dissolve because a regard to that will ever have an Influence upon the Honour and Authority of those who rule as well as upon the Happiness and safety of those who obey And that your Lordship may long enjoy the only Sweetness of Life a retreat from Noise and Disturbance that nothing may break or interrupt your Thoughts in the ways of Virtue and Goodness is the Prayer of May it please your Lordship Your Lordship 's most humble and most obedient Servant J. HARTCLIFFE THE PREFACE To the READER THE reason which moved the Author to publish these short Characters of Moral Virtues was a desire he had to revive the Practice of them as much as he could in a very degenerate Age The World we know has ever had its Vicissitudes and Periods of Virtue and Wickedness and all Nations have advanced themselves to their Power and Grandeur by Sobriety Wisdom and a tender regard of Religion This very Remark hath filled us with hope that upon this our late wonderful Revolution the English Nation may recover its ancient Virtues that have been too long under the Oppression of Debauchery which hath been an Evil of so great Malignity as to threaten ruin to the very Constitution of the Government Therefore the Providence of God hath sent us a Prince for our deliverer whose Piety is set off with the whole Train of Moral Virtues whose Temperance is so great and impregnable amidst all those Allurements with which the Palaces of Kings are apt to meet even the most resolved Minds that at the same time he doth both teach and upbraid the Court whose Fortitude is more resplendent in the Conquest of himself than when he strewes the Field with the Armies of Rebels whose Gentleness and Mercy is so remarkable that if ever the Lion and the Lamb dwelt together it is in the Breast of this Royal Person whose personal Virtues will in a little time render all vicious Courses unexcusable and will shed a suitable Influence upon his Government that not only the Honour and Plenty but the Virtue and Goodness of the English People may spread it self even to the Envy of all Neighbour Nations 1. Irreligion the Cause of Ruine to a Nation But whenever men contemn the Laws of God and are loose in all their Conversation they will certainly decline into Softness and Effeminacy on the other side when they are virtuous and upright in their Actions they are unmoveable like a House built upon a Rock for this is the Circle of human Affairs And when Atheism or a neglect of Virtue hath been at the greatest height as it was very lately they have certainly brought on Changes and Dissolutions because the Principles of Irriligion do unjoynt the Sinews of all Government If this be so methinks all Mankind should be ready to weigh and examin all the Arguments for Virtue should carefully enquire into the Grounds of the Christian Faith and take an account of the Truth and Credibility of the Scriptures when they have done this I am confident they will think themselves as effectually obliged in Prudence to the Duties of Virtue and Religion by the Possibility as by the Certainty of things for whatever they
unworthiest of the People impudent Pedlars or flattering Hosts But it is quite otherwise where Men have and make use of the parts God hath given them they are liberal but it is with Discretion and they are frugal but without the least suspicion of Avarice WHEREFORE now we should consider a little the Nature of these two Vices that are opposite to Liberality Prodigality and Covetousness The Nature of which Vices is sufficiently discovered by that which we have said of the Virtue Liberality only this remark should be made that the Object of Liberality being twofold giving and receiving the opposite Vices have parted these two betwixt them the one being conversant in immoderate Giving the other in immoderate saving or taking If we compare these Vices so as to discover which is the worst Avarice is more unprofitable and worse than Prodigality and of the blackest dye we must conclude that Avarice doth far go beyond Prodigality in unprofitableness and mischief For all the time the covetous man lives he is but like a Heap of Dung which doth no good at all whilst it lies together by Death indeed his Wealth is spread abroad into many hands and so it falls out to relieve the necessities and to supply those who out of a vertuous Intention are well disposed to do good to others This may be the Reason why the Prodigalare pityed and bemoaned but the Covetous are never thought on without Detestation and Hatred For other vitious Inclinations combat Reason and often baffle it but seldom can so far vanquish it as that a Man doth applaud himself in his Miscarriages but the covetous Humour seizeth on our Reason it self and seateth it self therein inducing it to countenance and abett what is done amiss The voluptuous Man is swayed by the violence of his Appetite but the Covetous are seduced by the dictates of their Judgments therefore they hoard all and will not be perswaded to part with any thing because they esteem Riches the best thing in the World and then they judg themselves most wise when they are most base These are especially of two kinds THE First are those who fail only in giving for whom no man is indeed the worse yet withal such they are as for whom no man is the better they are in appearance exactly just and punctual in their Dealing and will precisely give every man his own but withal they will require their own again with the utmost Rigour without abating the least point These men as the World goes pass amongst many for just upright and honest persons yet to express the badness of their Crime we call them by sundry evil Names sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Parsimonious or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tenacious to whose Fingers their Money is as it were glued and nailed sometimes they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sordid who for a small gain will undergo any base Office or they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cumini Sectores who that they may seem to do no injustice will divide a Hair or the smallest things with you BUT if we would please God and act vertuously we must demean our selves as Job did Job 29.11 c. deliver the poor that cry and not grind his face help the fatherless and the Widow not exact the utmost farthing they owe Thus the good Publican recommended himself to our Saviour Luke 19.8 9. Behold Lord Half of my goods I give to the poor Hence He was proclaimed a Son of Abraham and Salvation came to his House So near to the Heart of Piety doth the Holy Scripture lay the practice of Liberality and Bounty For no Men can be said to be pious unless they be well reported of for good Works unless they have brought up Children and lodged Strangers unless they have relieved the afflicted and have diligently followed every good Deed. Secondly THERE is a second sort of Covetous Men who offend not only in not giving Vsurers and Gamesters censur'd but in excessive taking be it right or wrong They will take that which belongs to other men without any respect to common Justice Such as these are Vsurers and all that make gain of sordid and illiberal Arts keepers of the Stews and Gaming-Houses Such as enrich themselves and care not how they impoverish others like that Lord who would make his Hedg go strait Such as undo whole Towns and rob Churches for whom the Name of Covetous Persons is too gentle and mean we ought rather to call them impious unjust and wicked for whom no ill Character is bad enough Of all these great and Enormous Vices Avarice is the ground and therefore not without cause did the Apostle call it the Root of all Evil. From whence Oppression Rapine Injustice and all the most virious humours do arise that are the Diseases and predominant mischiefs of the Mind And the practices of covetous Persons to sober and good Men can seem no better than that of the Devil who goes about seeking whom he may deceive and devour Of MAGNIFICENCE MAGNIFICENCE is but an Appendix to Liberality For the Man who by Fortitude hath banished all Faint-heartedness and Fear who by Temperance hath subdued Debauchery and by Liberality hath delivered himself from Avarice the very sink of Evil He is so well qualified for a regular and good Life that the rest of the Virtues might rather have served for Train and Attendance than have required any distinct Discourse to be made of them BUT since we have tied our selves to Aristotle's Order We must be content to follow his steps and treat of Virtues in such a Method as he hath set down MAGNIFICENCE then in the strictest Sense of the Word is a Virtue that teaches us how to observe a Decorum in the managing of great and costly Expences So that Magnificence goeth beyond the ability of an ordinary Person Whether we consider the means by which it worketh or the Works themselves which it doth produce AS to the means by which it worketh it is great store of Wealth and Income which if a virtuous Man hath He will act according to his Character Building of Colleges a work of Magnificence that is He will do all the good He can in the most splendid manner Perhaps He will build Colleges for the breeding up of Youth in all kinds of Learning And as it is pleasant to see Sets of our own planting to grow and flourish so it is a Work much more glorious thus to build up Men and from small beginnings to see great numbers of Youth shoot up to Eminent Stations both in Church and State HAD it not been for these Magnificent Donations those Goths and Vandals Enthusiasts of all Denominations would have long since brought ruin upon all the Methods of sound Reasoning which have been kept up and encouraged by these Charitable Foundations For when Julian's Decree shut the Primitive Christians out of their Schools they thought it a Persecution more fatal to the Church
Ears are tender and can hardly endure them that are wont mordaci radere vero therefore my Lord Bacon says It asketh a strong Wit and a strong Heart to know when to tell Truth and to do it So that they are the weaker sort of Politicians who are the great Dissemblers But if a Man hath that piercing Judgment which the Virtue we now treat of will produce He will discern what things are to be laid open what are to be kept secret and what are to be shewed at half-lights to whom and when These are the Arts of State as Tacitus calls them and these are the Arts of Life But Nakedness is uncomly as well in the Mind as in the Body and it addeth no small reverence to men's Manners and Actions if they be not altogether open especially the discovery of a man's self by the tracts and lines of his Countenance is a great betraying because his Face is frequently more taken notice of and believed than his Words In short the magnanimous Man will never act the Hypocrite because it is a Vice that rises either from natural falseness or fearfulness whereby a man is deprived of one of the most principal Instruments for Action which is Trust and Belief Thirdly HE is not apt to wonder at every thing For what can such a one admire at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to whom nothing appears great Neither is He apt to remember Injuries nor is he inclined to Revenge but thinks to give and to forgive donare condonare are the best and the worthiest things in the World Therefore Solomon saith It is the glory of a Man to pass by an Offence For He is but even with his Enemy when he takes his Revenge on him but in passing the injury over or in pardoning it He is Superiour to him And those Men are base and crafty Cowards who are like the Arrow that flies in the Dark But the brave-spirited Man who deals above-board with mankind delights not so much in punishing the Party that hath wronged him as in making him repent Fourthly HE abhors that secret Spight which we see to be in most men whereby they make the good Names of others the subject of their Table-talk misreport their Actions and aggravate their mistakes or if they speak well they will be sure to spoil it with some reservation He is not querulous Neither is He 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 querulous or apt to complain but makes that of Otho the Emperour his especial Character de nemine queri For all humorous and peevish Persons go astray out of the plain way of the Reason of mankind But our virtuous Man is ever well satisfied with the government of Providence therefore his thoughts are at rest and whilst others are very free in their Jeers and ill Censures He takes a wiser course to suppress rather a piece of Wit or a foolish Passion than do the least hurt by venting it Nay there is so exact an order in his Life that the very motions of his Body are decent and regular not too swift nor too slow his Speech not too loud nor too soft For the smallest things in this kind of Person are well worth our Observation ONE of the Extremes of Magnanimity is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for which we have no Name either in Latin or English unless we list to call it Pride which is a foolish humour some men have who being of mean worth have neither sense nor power yet will boast after the Spanish fashion as if they could do the greatest things like that Gentleman in Rome by name Senecio whose fancy it was to have all things Great great Servants to wait on him great Plate to be served in a great Woman for his Concubine Affectation of Grandeur is ridiculous great outlandish Figs for his Diet and would always speak great Words for which Whimsey he got the Name of Senecio Grandio This Man is a lively Emblem of the Vice we now treat of a fantastical Affectation of Grandeur which is a swelling of the Mind that holds nothing but corrupt and putrid matter which if it be not let out will infect the most hale Constitution and the soundest temper of mind AS for that other Extreme Pusillanimity I shall not say much of it nor run it down as the Philosophers do for fear I should put any the least slur upon the most Excellent Virtue among Christians Humility HONOURS in Aristotle's Opinion are the proper Object of Magnanimity Now Honours are of two sorts greater Honours which belong to the Magnanimous and lesser the managing whereof belongs to a Virtue for which he could find no Name but some petty Virtue or other must be sought for whose duty it is to moderate our desires after smaller Honours Had Aristotle throughly considered the nature of this Virtue Men of Virtue bring Credit to the Offices they are in he would have found as much Power in it for the managing of petty honours as of greater For when the Thebans to put an Affront upon Epaminondas that renowned Captain had chosen him into a mean and base Office It behoves me saith he that I so execute the duty of this Place that I may leave it one of the most honourable Posts in the Commonwealth and He was as good as his Word It is not in the power of any Man to put himself into what Sphere of Authority he pleases but wheresoever He is employed it is in his power so to behave himself therein as to add Credit to it and so by the Virtue of the Mind to make the managing of smaller Honours a part of Magnanimity For Men of large Capacities and wise Thoughts bring a Reputation to whatsoever Place they bear And when a Person of mean account had presented Artaxerxes with an Apple of extraordinary bigness the King gave him this Commendation Certainly this Man were He well employed of a little City would make a great one ONE of the Vices opposite to this Virtue is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ambition which is an Humour that maketh men active and stirring but very troublesom and uneasie to all about them 't is true to forbid a Soldier the use of it is to pull off his Spurs but if it gets into the ruling Seat it can never keep things steady having not that Ballast of temperate and sober Wisdom without which the Ship of the State will roul too much and be in danger often of oversetting because the Counsel that is to direct it is too hasty and precipitate BUT our virtuous Man hath no other Ambition but to prevail in great and good Things He seeks to be Eminent only amongst worthy Men whereby He doth good to the Publick But He who plots to be the only Figure amongst Ciphers is the decay of an whole Age Whereas Honour hath three things in it 1. The Advantage-ground to do good 2. The Approach to Kings 3. The Raising of a Man 's own Fortunes He
spent his life in continual care for an abundance of Worldly Goods a thousand accidents may and do fall out to devest him of it when another hath used all his Art and Wit to build up a reputation a vulgar breath shall blast it all Whereas the means which the Lovers of Virtue use to their end will never fail them for never any one was disappointed of a peaceable Mind who ever was so prudent as to manage the course of his Life by the Rules of Virtue never any failed of the Favour of God who had so much discretion as to obey his Commandments nor did ever any miss of Eternal Life who were so wise for themselves as to labor after it Thirdly THERE is no more difficulty in the means of obtaining the reward of Virtue which is both present and future Happiness than there is in those ways which the crafty Men of this World use to bring their designs about therefore it is still more unaccountable It is easier for a Man to be virtuous than vitious that they should take more pains in their way than the Disciples of Virtue do in theirs besides it is often much more difficult to raise a credit in the World than it is to get the Favour of God or that Peace of Conscience which a conformity to the Precepts of Virtue will certainly afford us Health of Body is not acquired without wariness and continual circumspection it is far easier for a Man to entertain himself in virtuous Contemplations for God hath not set our happiness at difficult terms but the way to it is smoother than we are apt to imagine it being as easie to be sober as to be otherwise to be just as unrighteous the Rules of Virtue are not so rigid as Men usually apprehend them to be therefore it is the most unpardonable folly if they be not as industrious in the practices of Virtue as they often are in the prosecution of vitious and naughty Purposes Fourthly BY being diligent and discreet in the exercise of moral Virtue we commonly secure the happiness of this present World as well as the next the better to our selves for the Men who regard only this World may be sure that they shall not find any felicity in a future Life because they have taken no care about it and frequently they lose this World also For if they follow Shadows they must needs lose the Substance but if they lay fast hold of the Substance The prudent Man is sure of the Happiness both of this and the other World they must consequently possess the Shadow by which I mean that if they would be wrought upon to lead a virtuous Life in good earnest they would not only secure their Interest in another World but they would succeed better in the Affairs of this For so our Saviour hath said seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven and his Righteousness and all other things shall be added unto you Therefore let us be Wise and make Virtue our main design because length of days is in her right hand and in her left Riches and Honour For God doth often dispense the common Benefits and good things of this Life to the Virtuous over and above what he intends to bestow upon them in the World to come SEEING then good Men have the best End to follow The Prudent Man always follows the best End the most apt and certain means that always prove effectual seeing there is no more difficulty in attaining Heavenly than earthly things seeing that men do usually secure a competency of the things of this World by minding the things of another but if we place all our Affections upon this World it many times falls out that we are frustrated of what we desire Therefore let us endeavour to be as prudent at least in our way of Piety and Virtue as Worldly-minded men are in theirs From whose Sagacity we may learn to forearm our selves against the wiles of the Tempter For when all is done true Wisdom is gotten only in the Word of God because that makes us wise unto Salvation and they are very Fools who never think what mischiefs will come upon them after they have spent a sinful and ungodly Life they seem not to be distinguished from Brutes who care not what they do or what becomes of them provided they can fulfil their fleshly Lusts it is quite otherwise with a good Man his End is Eternal Life the means he takes to it is an upright and virtuous Conversation which will never fail of its Rewards NOW the opposites to true Prudence are Craft or a fraudulent subtlety and folly Craft my Lord Bacon says is a sinister and crooked Wisdom and certainly there is a great difference between a Cunning The difference between a crafty and a prudent Man and a Wise Man not only in the point of Honesty but in Ability For there are those who can pack the Cards and yet they cannot play them well So there are some who are very Quickwitted at Tricks and Expedients that are otherwise weak and shallow Men their great Engine is a smooth Tongue and a competent stock of Wit in general Expressions they pretend much Affection and Kindness to gain their Ends they will use many Artifices as taking advantage of Persons in Necessity that are under some fear of Punishment or of Discovery that are in Danger or blinded with Passion that are Weak or Ignorant Inadvertent or Easie they watch their time to ensnare and exert all their Power to impose upon them Thus they build their House under ground as it hath been observed of the Crafty celant tacent dissimulant insidiantur praeripiunt hostium consilia and in order to their own advantage they look upon all other men as Enemies neither have they or ever intend to have any Friends WHAT an odd as well as wicked Humour is this Guile as if by the help of the most perverse and the most erring Guide a man might find out shorter Ways than the lawful Road leaping over Hedg and Ditch breaking through all legal Bounds as if the most crooked were the readiest Way to arrive at their Journeys End This is that which the Serpent is said to be eminent for above all other Beasts of the Field What Craft or a Serpentine Wisdom is whence it is commonly called a Serpentine Wisdom that lies ever upon the Catch and deals by way of Stratagem In a state of War perhaps it may be allowable as it was thought by Virgil when he asked dolus an virtus quis in Hoste requirit Yet even in War its self where matters depend upon sudden Actions a brave and generous Enemy will make as little use of the Dolus or Craft as may be Therefore to use it in their ordinary carriage or dealings with their Brethren to make them such promises as they will not be obliged by to utter Words that intend nothing will expose men to others with whom
arise These are the rubs in our way which make a virtuous course so difficult at first because to cast off old Habits of Vice and Folly to which they have been long accustomed is That at which men are generally galled For a State of Vice and of Virtue are not like two Ways that are just parted by a line so as that a Man may step out of the one full into the other when and how he pleases but they are like two Ways that lead to two very distant places one where Happiness is the other where Destruction so that they are as far separated as Heaven and Hell are For the farther a Man hath travelled in the ways of Vice he is at the greater distance from those of Virtue so that it requires time and much striving too to pass from the one to the other it being a long and severe Conflict to master evil Habits the Temptations of the World and of the Flesh will rally and make head again after they have been beaten off NOTWITHSTANDING these Difficulties the seeds of Virtue under the Influences and Care of the Divine Spirit will get the better and grow up to such a strength as will conquer them It is indeed a very unpleasant sight for a vicious Person to look into himself or to consider on his bad courses therefore he labours all he can to stifle his Reason that he may not think A vicious Person is a very unpleasant sight to himself what will be the sad issues of an ungodly Life Hence it is that all Men find some bitterness in casting off their Lusts according to the progress they have made in Vice For if we intend to lead a vertuous Life we must consider that many Virtues are to be practised before the contrary Vices will be subdued We have many irregular Passions to bring into order and must root out all the power of evil Customs We have a Body of sin to put off which clings close to us and are bound to cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit and to perfect holiness in the fear of God to encrease and improve our Virtues that is add to our Faith Knowledg Temperance Patience brotherly Kindness and Charity to abound in all the fruits of Righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the praise and glory of God THIS Change cannot be wrought without some trouble this New-birth cannot be brought about without some bitter Pangs a thorow Reformation of Manners being a work that requires much time deliberation and labour to effect it However we should not be discouraged For so soon as we have begun a good course of Life A good course of Life is always under the influence of God's Spirit we are in such a way as God will help us in and if we pursue our advantages we shall every day gain ground and the work will grow easier upon our hands and though we may be a little disheartned at first at the hardships of Virtue yet after a little while we shall be enabled to run the way of God's Commandments with pleasure FOR nothing is more hurtful to a virtuous and holy Life than to believe that God requires those things of us that He hath not given us strength to perform whereas God takes delight in bestowing the gifts of his Spirit upon us nothing being more pleasing to him than that we should partake of his Divine Nature and be made Holy as he is holy that we should be brought back to that State wherein we were when we came out of his hands Therefore one of the greatest discouragements to a virtuous Life is a false and unworthy representation of God A false Notion of God is a great discouragement to a virtuous Life as if the greatest part of the World were really destitute of any ability to do those things which his Gospel requires and yet should be condemned for not doing them These are hard things to be said of the best Being in the World of one whom we believe to have infinitely more goodness in him than is among all the Sons of men So that S. James 1.5 says If any Man lack wisdom let him ask it of God who giveth liberally and upraideth not By which Wisdom are meant all the Fruits of the Spirit for so S. James hath described it that it is first pure then peaceable gentle easie to be entreated full of mercy and good works Indeed when we think of our own weakness the corruptions of our Natures the strength of our Lusts and the malice of our Spiritual Adversaries we are apt to despond like the Children of Israel when they heard of the Sons of Anak in their passage to the Holy Land But if we would look beyond our selves and our Enemies as Caleb and Joshua did to the power of the Lord we should as the Apostle saith of weakness become strong and put to flight the Armies of the Aliens For we read 2 Kings 16.13 of Elisha's Servant that he came to his Master in great perplexity of mind and said unto him alas Master what shall we do Behold an Host hath encompassed the City both with Horses and Chariots But when he had opened the Eyes of the young Man he beheld the Mountains full of Horses â—â—d Chariots of Fire about Elisha Thus if our Eyes were opened to view the secret Aids that are ready to join us in the course of Virtue our Fears would soon vanish and we should take courage against all the Enemies that do assault us not only flesh and blood but Principalities and Powers and spiritual wickednesses in high places For saith our Saviour S. Luke 19.26 To every one that hath shall be given and from him that hath not shall be taken away That which He hath which was a proverbial Speech among the Jews and signifies thus much that He who improves the Grace of God shall have more and from him who makes no use of it shall be taken away That which he hath made no improvement of For no Man who enjoys the Gospel is destitute of sufficient means of Salvation The Gospel affords to all sufficient means of Salvation if he be not some way or other wanting to himself To what end else do we persuade Men to submit to the Terms of it to repent and believe to deny ungodliness and wordly Lusts When we know they have no power to do what we exhort them to and God hath resolved to withdraw from them that Grace which is necessary for these purposes For if a Man thought that God gives that Grace whereby we may be saved only to a few and that he always works upon those to whom he gives it in such a manner as they cannot resist Why then should we do any thing in Religion because unless we be of the number of those whom God hath decreed to work effectually upon we can do nothing towards the getting Salvation and if we be of that number we need
the Government of his Mind and is never disturbed by Passion to be tender Hearted and Pityful because cruelty and oppression are an offence to God and a provocation to Men to resign our selves up to the direction of God's Providence that Governs the World leaving all issues and future Successes to the Wise Determination of the Divine Will To hold to the Practice of Truth because a Man's Heart will never misgive him in her ways not to dissemble but to deal openly with Mankind because this behaviour will make our passage easie through the World we shall have none to oppose none to do us harm to be humble and sober in the judgment we make of our selves because Self-confidence and Self-Conceit render Men Fools to be Peace makers and compose Differences to endure Wrongs patiently to forbear Revenge and to love our Enemies because God does so in Nature while he causes the Sun to rise upon Good and Bad to pass charitable Judgments upon others because this is the way to make an Enemy a Friend to give real demonstrations of our Integrity and Goodness by the fruits of it because Men disparage Religion who profess it and do not guide their Actions according to its Doctrines to submit our Senses and inferiour Affections to the Dictates of sober Reason and true Understanding because Mind and Understanding is appointed by God to be his subordinate Governor in human Life to be modest and chast in our Conversation because Modesty secures the Mind from Pride and Chastity preserves the Body from the worst Indispositions THUS Christ Jesus hath shewn us an Example of all Moral Vertues and an Example in some respect hath an Advantage above a Rule for it shews in what way the Roâ—e is practicable and it is a Reproach to any Man not to be able to do or suffer what others have done before him Seeing then God hath taken such care that we should know our Duty and hath made those things Instances of our Obedience which are the natural means and causes of our Happiness we are altogether without excuse if we do it not and we incur the heavy Sentence pronounced by our Savior this is the Condemnation that Light is come into the World and Men love darkness rather than Light for whover does any thing that is evil acts against the Convictions of his own Mind and the Light that shines in his own Soul besides What Advantage is it that Wickedness brings to Men Name me that Vice which improves our Reason or makes us e'er a whit the wiser that tends to the Peace and Satisfaction of our Minds or to our Health and Credit amongst considerate Persons IF then it be Vertue that points out to us the most compendious and ready way to Happiness we may see where our true Interest lies let us not suffer our selves to be cheated of it by the little Arts of Vice or the Insinuations of a Temptation than which there can be nothing more to our prejudice even as to our temporal Concerns for every known and deliberate Sin that a Man commits is a flaw in his Title to his Estate not in respect of Men but of God who is the great Governor of the World the wise Disposer of the Fortunes of Mankind Moral Vertue is the foundation of all revealed Religion AND the Scripture doth every where speak of Moral Vertue as the Foundation of all revealed and instituted Religion therefore our Savior when he was asked which was the first and great Commandment of the Law answers Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and thy Neighbour as thy self A Jew would have thought that he would have pitch'd upon some of those things which were in so great esteem among them Sacrifices Circumcision or the Sabbath But he overlooks all these and instances in the two principal Duties of Morality the Love of God and of our Neighbour and these Moral Duties are those which he calls the Law and the Prophets and which he came not to destroy but to fulfil for the Judicial and Ceremonial Law of the Jews was to pass away and did so not long after but this Law of Moral Duty was to be perpetual and immutable And the keeping of this Law consisted in the Observation of such things which the Scribes and Pharisees did most of all neglect therefore he tells us that unless our Righteousness did exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees we could not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Now these Men were the most punctual People in the World for observing the Jewish and Ceremonial Law and whereas they were obliged to pay Tithes of their more considerable things they would do it even of Mint Anise and Cummin But then they were defective in Moral Duty they were unnatural to their Parents in denying them Relief because their Estates as they pretended were dedicated to an holy Use they were unjust and under a shew of long Prayers devoured Widows Houses in a Word as our Saviour tells 'em they neglected both Mercy and Judgment which are the weightier things of the Law which whosoever neglects he can never please God with any instituted or positive part of Religion and throughout the Old Testament nothing is declared more abominable to him than Sacrifices as long as Men allowed themselves in wicked Practices And in the New Testament the Christian Religion chiefly designs to teach Mankind Righteousness Godliness and Sobriety and for this end was the glorious Appearance of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all Iniquity and purifie to himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works and to deal honestly with every Man to speak Truth to our Neighbour and to have our Conversation void of Offence is called the Image of God and the new Creature and the Apostle advanceth Charity above the greatest Excellencies of Knowledge and of Faith and in the description of the Day of Judgment Men are represented by our Saviour as call'd to an account both as to the Practice and Neglect of Moral Duties and no others are instanced in to shew what Place he intended they should have in his Religion Therefore from all that hath been said upon this Subject we may infer Positive Institutions must give way to Moral Virtue First THAT all Positive Institutions must give way to Moral Duties because God hath declared that He would rather have Mercy than Sacrifice and whosoever violates any Natural Law he undermines the very Foundation of Religion which hath very little in it that is positive besides the two Sacraments and going to God in the Name of Jesus Christ for this the greatest and most perfect Revelation that ever God made to Mankind doth afford us the best helps and advantages for the performing of Moral Duty and produces the strongest Arguments to engage us thereunto Secondly GOD hath discovered our Duty to us in such ways as may