much Good is done in the World this way and how much Credit is brought to Religion by this course of Life To which if we add their Example it must be of mighty force to amend a degenerate Age for it is a greater Encouragement to go before a Man and shew him they way than only to give him direction 'T is true Religion is more refined and lovely in the Notion than it is in him who professes it In the Definition it is pure and hath nothing of Allay but in the Person it is attended with Mixture and Imperfection yet Vertue is more lively in the Person hath more taking Charms and Allurements when we behold its Shape in the Actions of Bounty and Goodness and altho Religion may be represented with more beautiful Colours in a Discourse yet Example satisfies us that there is nothing in it but what is practicable for Holiness would seem an impossible thing and not to be obtained were it not made familiar to us and easie for our imitation in the Behaviour of Charitable Men did it not shine forth with the brightest Lustre in all their Doings who by Counsel and Instruction point out the right Path of Salvation but in their Example they take us by the hand and lead us into that way It is incredible of what moment a few good Examples may be to reform an evil Age especially if their Stations make them any ways subject to the Notice of others for a Man of severe Innocency and Justice of an inflexible and strict Integrity is like so much Salt cast into the World to preserve the Manners of Men from that Filth and Putrefaction which is contracted by vicious Habits One of a sweet and humble Temper doth make the Conversation of his Neighbours to be so too a Man of a moderate and peaceable Spirit is like so much Balm to heal Differences and to asswage the Violence of irregular Passions one of sincere Piety and lively Devotion may be compared to so much Fire sent down from Heaven to kindle in others warm Affections for the Service of God and the Love of their Brethren a Man of eminent Sanctity doth discountenance the Wickedness of other Men one of a prudent and grave Behaviour doth restrain their Vanity and Folly In this manner both the Continuance and Reformation of the World must be ascribed to charitable and vertuous Persons for they make all others as happy as they can by advising them to be better and by keeping them from growing worse besides God doth so love Holiness Justice and Mercy that he will not only reward those who practise them in their own Persons but all that have any relation to them shall be the better Thus the Faith of Abraham and the Sincerity of David had an Influence upon Israel for many Generations Thus Nations and Cities have owed their Safety and Success to the Prayers of such Holy and Pious Men as can prevail with God because they are offered to him in conjunction with their Alms. Now the best Arguments for our giving of Alms are That it is the only Course we can take First To be like our Blessed Saviour Secondly To do Services acceptable to God Thirdly To save our Souls for ever First We are hereby made Like our Blessed Saviour who went about doing Good by which Method he spread the Fame of his Gospel and made it appear lovely in the Eyes of all Beholders for whenever he intended to convert any to his Faith he did it by some visible good Works in the sight of the Multitude but he never gained any Disciple by the Conflicts he was pleased to undergo in his own Mind for he performed his Fast and his Agony alone in the Wilderness and in the Garden Hence it is that our Lord commands his Disciples not to believe him but the Works that he did because he thought in the most honourable Labour to study the Benefit of Mankind to help their Infirmities to supply their Wants to ease their Burdens And thus the whole Doctrine of Future Happiness was introduced by feeding the Hungry by curing the Lame and by opening the Eyes of the Blind Let this Mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus We must then be intent as he was upon the constant Exercise of vertuous and good Actions for we have an exact Rule of Life set before our Eyes that doth enjoin us such Duties of Piety as will procure the Love and Favour of God such Practices of Bounty and Good-will as will govern well our Behaviour to our Brethren and such excellent Precepts as will produce if we obey them our utmost Content and Happiness Thus in the Life of Christ God hath shewed thee O Man what is good and what doth the Lord thy God require of thee but to do justly to love Mercy and to walk humbly with thy God So that were we to contrive a way to make our selves happy we should fix upon just such Laws as these are they are so agreeable to the Composition of our Natures they require us to perform Duties so plainly necessary and beneficial to Mankind so delightful also to our selves because therein we follow our Natures and do gratifie the most importunate Dictates of our own Reason Therefore the Principles upon which our Saviour obliges us to act are Love Reverence and Gratitude to God hearty Good-will towards Men and a sober regard to our own true Welfare the Ends of our Doings which he prescribes are God's Honour Publick Edification and the Salvation of our own Souls so that his Conversation upon Earth which we are bound to follow had not one Spot nor Blemish in it there was not one false or uneven Stroak in all this fair Copy that we might be secure from doing amiss in transcribing any part of it for it was intended to guide us through all the manifold Instances of our Duty chiefly those that are most spiritual and consequently difficult to our frail Constitutions general Charity self denying Humility and invincible Patience which when received into the Temper of our Minds will render us truly wise holy and good For Christ Jesus as he is a Mediator with God on our behalf so he is a Principle of Divine Life in us and his Religion doth not that which is permanent and lasting if it do not obtain this effect upon us of reconciling our Minds to his nay it is but an imaginary thing if we have not implanted in us by his Spirit a pure Heart a right Mind clean Affections an obedient Will and a Sound Understanding Which is effected if we order the Actions of Reason and Liberty by the set Rules of a Righteous and Holy Life For then we shall walk as Intelligent Agents should do who are baptized into a noble free and divine Spirit which Spirit will give us that Wisdom which is from above and is said to be first pure then peaceable full of Mercy and good Fruits without Partiality without Hypocrisie
for doing kindnesses to them whose fortunes do not require it or who can return the same again but the good Man's behaviour is like that of Job Prov. 29.11 He delivers the Poor when they cry and doth not grind their face nor put them off with frivolous excuses nor doth he say to them depart in peace when their Necessities call for a speedy relief he is ready to assist the Fatherless and Widow and cannot be so rigid as to exact the utmost farthing they ow thus the good Publican recommended himself to our Saviour by this endearing expression Luke 19.8 9. behold Lord half of my goods I give to the Poor hence he was called a Son of Abraham and Salvation came to his house so near to the heart of Religion doth Charity dwell and the holy Scripture doth make it such an essential part thereof that none can be esteemed Heirs of Salvation unless they be well reported of for good works have brought up Children and lodged Strangers unless they have relieved the afflicted and have diligently followed every good deed which whosoever doth he is made like unto God the great Benefactor of the World in the whole Frame of his Mind he lives according to the unchangeable Rules of Truth and Righteousness by the constant exercise whereof we have a Taste of Heavenly Joys while we live in this Vale of tears but if we care not to approve our selves to God by doing all the good we can to our Brethren we are so far already sunk into the miserable state of Hell To prevent this Misery we must be watchful over our Minds that they do not fall into a covetous Humour which is a stain to the Soul that can hardly be got out for other Vices take us but at some times and from the lucid intervals they afford us we gain some time to think of what we have done and heartily to repent of what we have acted amiss but there are other Sins without any intermission and keep us as it were in a continual Fit such as Covetousness is which never allows any space to reflect but ever presses upon the Sinner and leaves no room for a sober or a relenting Thought for the Judgments of the Greedy are very grosly perverted so that they hoard up all and will not be prevailed with to part with a Penny or a Coat when they have many because they judge a rich Wardrobe and a full Purse to the best things in the World and then they imagine themselves most wise when they are most base This is the cause why Covetous Men while they are so are uncapable of being truly religious because they are Idolaters in worshipping a piece of Clay and by not regarding the Distresses of their Brethren they must needs have very heathenish or very injurious Notions of God as if he neglected those who stand in most need of his help whereas the destitute and miserable have a peculiar relation to him and he hath profess'd himself in his word their especial Friend and Protector insomuch that he takes particular care of their Maintenance and hath commanded us to place what they receive to his account for God hath given us leave to reckon him our Debtor for their sakes which Debt he will satisfie with an abundant recompence but if we stop our Ears to their most earnest Petitions or withold our hands from giving them seasonable Aids this God looks on as a bold affront to himself and an ungrateful repulse for thereby we claim an absolute Property in our goods which we have not they are only different Talents entrusted to our Industry and Management for which we shall be summoned to a very just and severe Reckoning how and in what degrees we have encreased or lessened them Seeing then we cannot make out any unquestionable Title to the least mite all that we have above what will supply our personal Necessities or answer those of our Families and Offices in which we are concerned must belong to the Poor that Corn is theirs which is kept in the Granary and that Apparel which is lock'd up in the Press that Meat and Drink which the Luxurious consume in waste is their Due and that Money also which is barred up in the Chest all this the Liberal Man knows very well so that he believes a Plenty of all things for no other reason desireable but as they afford Means to help the Poor and Needy so that Mankind seem to be distinguished into higher and lower Ranks by divine Wisdom and Providence in order to the exercise of an universal Charity Such a Charity I mean as St. Paul describes in one of his Epistles to be never hasty in returning any Wrong that it hath suffered but is always willing to hearken to any fair terms of Agreement Such a Charity as sweetens Mens Spirits and from being rough or sowre makes them kind and affable to the meanest People ready to oblige every one with a gentle and humble compliance Such a Charity as envies no Man but is pleased at the Prosperity of others is made better by their Health and rejoices at seeing them chearful Such a Charity as never domineers but scorns that usual Insolence which is the spring of many Disorders and of much contempt of the Poor Such a Charity as doth never demean it self haughtily or with reproach either in Words or Gestures but calmly debates all Matters that it may not behave it self unseemly Such a Charity as is not of a narrow of stingy Spirit when Men care for none but themselves and regard not how their Neighbours fare so they live at ease but it teacheth us to lend not hoping to receive again to succour those that cannot repay the Courtesie and will not suffer us to pass by any fair occasion of doing a publick good Such a Charity as will not let us be carried down by the stream of impetuous Passions when we do we know not what and beg pardon for it after it is done but it keeps all the Affections under Government that the Mind may not do any thing unadvisedly or foolishly Such a Charity as interprets all the Actions of other Men in the best and fairest Sense never suspecting any to be worse than their Deeds declare Such a Charity as feels a sympathetick Grief for the Afflictions that do at any time befal others and cannot rest till it hath wrought their Deliverance Such a Charity as will always find some Quality or other to praise in Men and as much as may be will conceal their Faults never despairing of the worst of Men but hopes still that they may amend and grow wiser In fine Such a Charity as thinks nothing too great to undertake or too hard to undergo for the good of Mankind Now if this kind of Charity did but get ground in the World it would very much better the Condition and the Manners of it I. It would better its Condition of which the Hospitals of this
great City are a convincing Proof in two of which we find Medicines for the maimed Body but I am sorry that we do not find a Revenue equal to their Charge which should be a motive to every good Man to help the present Governours in bearing the Burden which this last year hath been very heavy from the Crowds of Sick and Wounded Persons that press in upon them In another we have proper Antidotes for the distemper'd Mind and what a wonderful Charity is this that can repair the breaches of a broken Understanding can reduce its scattered Thoughts to their own place make a decayed Sense whole and entire again What pity it is what loss to the miserable part of Men if this Charity should stand still for want of a sufficient Income towards which we should the rather contribute because they cannot ask for it themselves In another we find Instruction for Poor Children in all such useful Arts as may have the best Influence upon the future Government of their Lives for in this House of Charity Children are brought to Learning by such gentle ways as are most suitable to human Nature and here also we have no striving but between Faith and Good Works which shall go beyond or exceed the other In another we have a present Cure for loose and incorrigible Offenders for tho Whips are not the Cords of a Man yet they may serve to drive those to Vertue that will not be led by an easier Discipline All which Blessings are conveyed to the distressed Sufferers by the hands of liberal just and faithful Stewards what happy Foundations are these and how beneficial to our Country in comparison with the old Monasteries that were the Seats of Idleness and Superstition but the Founders of these well-directed Charities since the Reformation we may emphatically call the Pillars of the Earth which would crack about our Ears and sink under the weight of the unmerciful and cruel Man if the charitable and beneficent did not put in their Shoulders to uphold it For Charity is the cause why the World doth not break loose and that human Societies do not disband and run into confusion which never could be prevented as Cardan thought by one ambitious Man opposing another and checking him in his Designs nor by one Knave discovering another nor by one cruel Man keeping another in aw The Politician perhaps may think that the present state of things is kept up by his Art of Government but this is no more so than the Building is upheld by the Antick Figure on the outside which seems indeed to bend under the load when it contributes nothing to its real Strength and Support The Wise the Noble and the Strong do not this business but the weak things of the World the righteous and holy Men of every Nation are the only sufficient Props of this great Fabrick Wicked and Uncharitable Men be they never so great or high are so far from promoting the civil Happiness of Nations or the continuance of things in Peace that they are ever soliciting the Judgments of God by the abuse of his Gifts and provoking his Vengeance against the Earth Thus the corrupt and vitious Conversation of the Inhabitants of Sodom was the Vapour that ascended up to Heaven and gathered into a Cloud of Wrath and did for a long time threaten that and other Cities righteous Lot only bore off the stroke and hindred this Cloud from breaking upon them and when he was removed they fell into desolation as in a Moment But pious and bountiful Persons do secure the Constitution of the World they render both themselves and others more safe and happy Thus the Lord was with Jacob and prospered Laban for his sake he was with Joseph and blessed the Aegyptian's house for his sake for the Places where they are and the Persons with whom they live thrive by having their Company they enjoy several Blessings and are freed from many Evils for the sake of their Neighbourhood for the Wiseman assures us Prov. 5.33 that the Lord protecteth the habitation of the Righteous and the Royal Psalmist says Psal 91.10 There shall no evil befall him nor any plague come nigh his dwelling For every Man who lives to the benefit and use of others is profitable to the World and doth much advance the happy state of it by the good Offices he is always ready to perform Is any body in want the compassionate Man is prepared to supply his Wants Doth his very Enemy hunger the true Christian will feed him and not give him Stones for Bread Is any one overtaken with Misery and Trouble He doth not only pity but will come and succour him like the Levite in the Parable he doth not pass by the lame and wounded but pouring in Wine and Oyl he binds up his Wounds and takes care of them nay he loves Peace so well among all People that he will interpose and use his utmost pains to reconcile those who are at variance and is upon fit occasions inclined to help all Persons in distress Now is not the World the better and easier place to live in for such Men as these are considering the uncertainty of all things in it and the sudden turnings of that Wheel that carries them about it may be every Man's case even of the most prosperous to meet at some time or other with Want and Affliction Is it not well that there are some who will take pity on their Misfortunes and provide for them in the worst Circumstances and if a charitable Man be in a more publick Capacity or Station the Effects likewise of his Bounty are of a more publick advantage and extent II. So that Secondly A Thorough-Reformation of ill Manners must be expected only from them who make others better 1. By their Counsel 2. by their Example For the Lips of bountiful and good Men preserve Knowledge they are ever instructing their Brethren in the most proper ways of doing good and are the Lights of the World that enlighten the dark corners of it they are continually distilling wholsome Advices which however at first they may appear grievous will insinuate by degrees and get possession of the understanding tho the World is so humoursome and fantastical a thing that it will hardly endure to be made better yet their Admonitions have in them a great Power of persuasion and their Examples do strongly move their Neighbours to act as they do for they are every day stirring up those with whom they converse to a serious consideration of God's Goodness how plentifully he sends his Rain and Sunshine upon the good and bad they never cease putting Men upon the improvement of their time in the best manner and to their greatest Advantage always exciting them to the Love of God and of their Brethren they take likewise all convenient opportunities to reprove the Ungodliness of Men chiefly their not remembring the Poor and Needy And it is not to be conceived how
Workers of Iniquity For all the best of us can look for at the hands of God is nothing but Mercy how then can they expect Salvation that do not any Works of Mercy Do they believe the Judge of the World will change the Form of his Sentence for their sakes They may as well think that the nature of things may be changed at Pleasure for as the Gospel makes the Practice of Religion the only way to Heaven so the nature of the thing doth make it a necessary Condition for our Happiness because our Happiness must be placed in the enjoyment of God now it is impossible that any should have Communion one with another that are not of a Temper therefore it is necessary that Men should be like unto God if they would see his Face Now nothing can make them like unto God but the Practice of Holiness and Charity Men deceive their own Souls who imagine they shall inherit Eternal Life upon any other Terms Wherefore if ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them and the putting in use the Active Virtues of Religion is the best way to come to a true knowledge of it as the Practice of Trade will give a Man a better Skill in it than the Reading all the Books that ever were written about it so one shall sooner understand a Country by travelling therein than by poring upon all the Mapps that ever were made of it For doing the will of God doth free our Minds from Prejudice makes our Understandings more clear and so takes away the great Obstacles of Sound Knowledge whereby we shall gain a truer Notion of Christianity than by any Speculations whatsoever which when Men have followed and have left the Exercise of Vertue it is too apparent that Christianity hath prodigiously decayed For this Disease the most efficacious Remedy that we of our selves can use is not so much the sublime and notional part of Divinity as the natural and practicable Doctrines Altho some Men have thought in a gross time the profoundest Mysteries of Religion to be proper for purifying the Spirits of Men yet a subtle and nice Age of Disputers for matters of Opinion must have other Applications they must be told that God did not reveal his Will to teach us the Arts of Arguing or to perplex us with more Scepticism but to make us more holy just and good not to busie our Heads in spinning our curious Idea's of Vertue but to form and govern our Lives Next to the Succour of Divine Power this is the most likely way to preserve the Christian Faith among us the rare Effects whereof we see and admire in your publick Works of Charity than which neither the antient nor present World have shewn a nobler Sight for you do in the most ample manner cloath the Naked feed the Hungry heal the Sick and provide for the Destitute If it were esteemed a great piece of Bravery among the Romans that they were delighted in beholding their Slaves and their Captives murder one another it is much more so to cherish the meanest Servant and to let the Prisoner go free for it 's the peculiar Character of the true Christianity that it does not only save the sincere Professors thereof but renders them more tender-hearted and kind our Lord employing no other Forces against the most contumacious than Love and Forgiveness which are impossible to be resisted because he that contends against his Adversaries with these Weapons hath not only his own Vertues but theirs on his side What room can there be for low and little things in Minds so usefully employed What ambitious Disquiets can trouble those who have so much Glory before them as to view such a number of Children whose Food and Raiment under God are the daily Works of their hands by whose Watering these tender Plants take root in the World do often grow up to such a Height and spread their Branches so wide that they who first planted them have found Comfort and Shelter under their Shadow What Melancholy Passions can overshadow those Hearts who have the Blessings of the Poor every day in their Ears What Anger Envy Hatred or Revenge can torment those Breasts whose Thoughts are always busied about the Ends of Charity to whom the return of every Year doth suggest a Circle of Charitable Deeds Certainly this should above all other Expedients bring us to that which all Parties agree to be our true and common Interest an Union of Minds and extinguish all manner of Differences whilst every one pursues those Heavenly Doctrines of Love and Liberality Mutual Kindness and Friendship by which the Eternal Condition of Men is not only in a great Measure secured but their natural Reason and their Temporal Safety are much advanced It hath been observed that there is scarce any Language in the World which can properly signifie one English Expression and that is Good-nature and we may say that no other Nation can make so considerable a Figure in in the World if we would exert this Good-nature in all the Acts of a pious and charitable Life instead of being divided about such things as neither promote true Piety or good Manners For that very Trade for which this Island is so well situated in the Nature of the thing and in the visible Effects thereof doth not only enlarge the Minds of Men as well as their Fortunes but it makes all Mankind to be of one Body by mutual Intercourse to serve the Occasions and supply the Needs of one another so that every days Business doth insensibly carry you into the use of one of the highest Graces of Religion which by continual Practice will take root more and more in the Heart and bring forth Fruits of good Works in our Lives so that our Faith will not be a barren Notion only in our Heads productive of nothing but Leaves of Opinion but it will employ our Hearts in Meditation our Knees in Devotion our Hands in Distribution and Beneficence And this we must observe that the Constitution of a Country is the same with the Persons who compose it so that if they follow Peace and Charity it will be made visible by the constant and undisturbed Happiness of the Government to which they belong Therefore when the Gentiles in Tertullian's time upbraided the Christians that they made choice of a cheap Religion and bought up no Gums nor Spices that used to be spent in the Service of the Gods and by this means the Emperour's Customs were also diminished he makes this Answer We Christians spend more in Relief of the Poor than you Gentiles do upon your Gods and tho we use no Gums nor Spices for Incense yet we do as much promote Trade by the vast Proportions of those Commodities we spend in the embalming our Dead and if it should happen that the Emperour's Exchequer should lose any thing either by the Temperance of our Lives or the Nature of our Religion we make it up another way by paying him his just Dues which you cheat him of more than your Expences exceed ours Like these Heathens a strange sort of Christians have sprung up who set up a Market not only for Gums and Spices but for Shrines Images Lamps Holy-water Agnus Dei's Beads Reliques Pardons Masses and Soul-obits a long Inventory of Superstition which they take into the Service of God in the room of Justice Righteousness and Truth But now we are delivered from that Worship which we may call the Imposture of Priests under the Name of Christianity methinks such a time as this should serve admirably well to revive the Primitive Religion of Christ and the Charity too of those days should moreover breed a generous as well as valiant Spirit in all the People of the Land In both these Vertues we hope every day to behold a considerable Progress by the powerful influence of a Royal Example And whatever is to be added in this or any such way of Happiness we are to expect from the many pious and well-disposed Persons of the Age chiefly from the worthy Governours of the City-Hospitals who are the known Patrons of those that have no Friends the helpless Orphan and the solitary Widow For you must give me leave to say that to your fatigable Pains and vast Expences in the works of Charity your Country ows much of its Ornament and Reputation and at the end of this Life with what Contentment will the charitable Man look back upon the good he hath done With what Confidence and Joy will he look forward to the other World where he hath provided for himself those Bags that never wax old such as the Word of God hath declared to be his Treasures in Heaven which neither Moth nor Rust doth corrupt nor Thief break through and steal To these Places of Everlasting Charity and Peace God in his infinite Mercy bring us all to whom be ascribed as is most due all Honour Praise and Glory now and for evermore FINIS ADVERTISEMENT 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 By John Hartcliffe B. D. Canon of Windsor The Whole Duty of Man according to the Law of Nature By that famous Civilian Sam Puffendorf Professor of the Law of Nature and Nations in the University of Heidelberg and in the Caroline University afterwards Counsellour and Historiographer to the K. of Sweden and to his Electoral Highness of Brandenburg Now made English Printed for Ch. Harper at the Flower-de-luce over-against S. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet