much less in Mechanick for so I may call set forms of Chat but in an humble diligent and faithful discharge of the Duties we owe to all those several Relations we stand in and the observance of those Laws of Conversation which true Philosophy prescribes This is that which will make us acceptable to all and dear to the Wise and Good Slights and Tricks and Arts may divert and entertain but Vertues do charm and captivate those may open us the way to mens Houses and their Tables but these to their Bosoms to their Hearts The sum of all is Great Endowments of Nature seem to be Necessary for the Attainment of Unnecessary Accomplishments common Endowments are sufficient to make us capable of Vertue and Happiness This Marcus Antoninus had well observ'd and has as well expressed in several places more fully Lib. 5. Sect. 3. more briefly elsewhere thus Marc. Ant. lib. 7. §. 41. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Though thou despair'st of being a Logician a Naturalist a Mathematician a Courtier a State-Empiric a Talkative Bigot or a Mimical Fop for these too pass for Accomplishments with some yet despair not of becoming a Wise Man and a Philosopher though thou hast not Abilities big enough to make thy Confidence pass for Wit and Demonstration though thou hast not the Art of Wheedling nor the Talent of shifting and deluding though thou hast no faculty for deep Dissimulation nor slight Insinuation though thy parts lye below all these and a great many other Perfections yet for all this despair not thou hast Parts sufficient to make thee Happy thou may'st be free Redeemed from the Servitude of Vice Modest Humble Charitable and Obsequious to God And in these very few things consists 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Blessedness of Life A Third thing wherein the Objection supposes Natural Incapacity to consist is such a slightness levity and inconstancy of Temper as seems to render Men neither fit for any close Application nor susceptible of any deep and lasting Impression it cannot be denied but that some are of such an airy volatile and various Temper that they seem to be design'd for nothing serious nothing great as if like Flowers they were the Sport not Work of Nature made not for Use but Ornament But I have always observed that Nature makes up defects of one kind by Advantages of another Thus it happens here those Constitutions which do most want solidity and strength do most partake of Softness and Tenderness so that they are as much more apt to receive Impressions as they are more unapt to retain 'em than others like yielding air which the gentlest stroak doth as easily divide and part as it doth easily return and unite it self again Hence 't is generally observ'd that that Age and that Sex which are supposed to have least of fixtness and Constancy have most of Heat and Passion in Religion and those Minds which are worst furnish't with Courage and Experience with Judgment and Resolution are most apt and easie to be mov'd and wrought upon by Religious or deluded by Superstitious Fears and as apt to be tenderly affected by the Representations of Divine Goodness and Compassion so that like Bodies which have less bulk but more agility their Motion 's nimbler thô their force and strength be less Now if this be so then the Disadvantage of this Temper is not so great as it is fancied for though their Passions last not long they are easily rais'd and consequently if our Addresses to such a Temper be but a little more frequently repeated they cannot but prove successful and such Persons by the frequent Returns of Holy Passions will grow habitually devout and their Devotion will be as steady and more elevated than that of a slower and firmer Constitution But after all wherever there appears an Exuberancy of this Humour this is to be imputed rather to their Fortune than their Nature a wanton Fortune and too indulgent an Education is generally attended with a gay wanton and unfix't Mind And 't is true that it is a difficult Matter for such Minds as these to attain to Wisdom and Vertue but 't is not because they cannot consider but because they will not let but such exchange their haunts of Pleasure for the House of Mourning let 'em but now and then intermix the Conversation of the wise and serious with that of the giddy fanciful and frolicksom and they will soon find their Humour much corrected and their Minds better fix'd to all this if they could be perswaded to add the Contemplation of a suffering Saviour of a Holy God and of a Judgment to come and to this the Devotion of the Closet made up of serious Reflexion on these Subjects and their own Eternity this wou'd soon reduce their loose and scatter'd Desires it wou'd soon recall the roving wandring Mind and make it delight to dwell at home in the Company of Wise Devout and Important Thoughts And now I think I have left no part of this Objection founded upon Natural Incapacity unconsider'd Do Men complain of their heaviness and stupidity acute Parts and a tenacious Memory are not necessary to make us Vertuous or Happy do they complain of their violent Inclinations to Sin I have shew'd 'em Reason Custom Faith curbing and subduing the most Natural or the most outragious and ungovernable Appetites of Man do they Complain of the Levity and Inconstancy of their Temper let 'em retire from the Flatteries and Caresses of a wanton Fortune and a wanton Conversation let 'em acquaint themselves with the Wise or the Afflicted with Divine Truths and their Closets and this will soon work a Happy change upon 'em if they are too soft and delicate for the bitterness and severity of these Prescriptions nothing but the much severer Discipline of Afflictions and Judgments can effect their Cure Under this Head of Natural Incapacity that other Objection from Moral Incapacity has been sufficiently answer'd for Custom is at most but a second Nature and I have at large discours'd of the Power of Reason and Faith over Nature I have produc't many and unquestionable Instances wherein we have seen 'em overcome our most natural and most necessary Appetites such as are our Aversion to pain our love of Life and such like Nor is it possible that any vitious Custom shou'd have taken deeper Root in us or united themselves more closely with our very Beings than these and therefore it were absurd to fancy 'em more violent stubborn or insuperable That Expression of the Prophet Jer. 13. Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots Then may ye also learn to do Good who are accustomed to do Evil is but a Pathetic Exaggeration which is usual in a Prophetic stile of the Difficulty not an Assertion of the Impossibility of an habitual Sinner's Change what has been done and daily is done can be done and 't is in vain to prove what no Man can deny St.
it did so generally obtain through the Pagan World to attribute all the surprizing Excellencies or extraordinary Exploits of their Heroes and eminent Men to the immediate Favour and Patronage of their Gods Hist Rom. Must Vespasian restore life to the expiring State of Rome Prodigies and Miracles shall prepare his way and the extraordinary marks of some Divine Assistance shall consecrate and destine him to this great Work Must Alexander conquer the Eastern World Miracles shall attend his March as it did that of Moses Josephus the Pamphylian Sea retreat before the one as the Red Sea did before the other Nor let any one think that this was usual only amongst the barbarous People Athens it self Athens the very abode of Wit and Philosophy did attribute the Perfections of Eleusinian Melesagoras and Cretan Epimenides to the Instruction of some Divine Being and those of Socrates to his Guardian Angel as well as the Scythians those of their Zamolxis or they of Proconesus those of Aristeas to the peculiar favour and assistance of their Gods nor ought it to seem strange that the Works of Hesiod Homer or other Poets should be ascribed by the Heathens to Divine Inspiration since those of Aholiab and Bezaleel are by Moses himself ascrib'd to the Spirit of God for the Poems of the former could not but seem to the Heathens as Rich a piece of Fancy as the Embroideries of the Latter did to the Jews and this puts me in Mind of an excellent Argument Maximus Tyrius makes use of to prove Vertue to be deriv'd from the Assistance and Bounty of God If Arts saith he less Excellent in their Nature and less useful in their End be owing to God how much more Vertue the Divine Guide and Comfort of Humane life If there be no Good that descends not from above Max. Tyr. Dissert 22. much less surely the Chief and Soveraign good of Man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus far I have proceeded to shew you what the Heathens thought of the Necessity of Divine Assistance particularly in the Attainment of Vertue for as to Secular Matters and Temporal Events their sense of the over-ruling Power and Influence of Divine Providence was so notorious that 't is not to be call'd into question the Being and Providence of God in this sense of it seemed so inseparable that the Epicurean who deny'd the latter could never find belief when he profess'd himself to own the former Nay even those very Men who could not be convinc't of a Providence by the Bounty were convinc't of it by the Severity of God in his Chastisement of Sins hence that bold and brisk thô not very Religious Reflexion of Tacitus upon the Miserie 's the Roman Empire suffer'd under Galba Otho and Vitellius Nec enim unquam atrocioribus populi Romani Cladibus Tacit. l. 1. Hist magisvè justis Judiciis approbatum est non esse Curae Diis securitatem Nostram esse Ultionem The justice and the greatness of our Plagues abundantly evince the Gods concern'd thô not for our Prosperity yet for our Punishment such is Man's disingenious temper that he is more easily convinc'd by the wideness and fatality of a Wound that it was inflicted by an Almighty Arm than he is by the greatness of the Benefits he receives that they are distributed by a Divine Munificence thô the number and infinite value of the good things we receive be in it self a much clearer proof of a Divine Providence than the Evils we suffer can be for these we can create our selves those none but a God can bestow there needs then nothing to be said to convince you what the Heathens thought of Providence with respect to outward and temporal things nor is it I think now to be question'd whether it were their opinion that the Divine Assistance was necessary to the Attainment of Vertue and Happiness nor would I add a word more but that the words of Hierocles on this Subject carry in 'em not only so full a Conviction but also so extraordinary a Relish of a Wise and Religious Humility that I cannot prevail with my self to pass 'em by Hierocles in Pythagori Aurea Carm. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is We need no Motive or Incentive to Vice but our Own Inclinations But to make us Vertuous we stand in need 〈◊〉 the aid of God joyn'd with that 〈◊〉 Reason And this Opinion of the Necessity of God's Assistance sprung not only from the Experience of the weakness and corruption of Humane Nature but also of the Power and Goodness of the Divine Nature for I cannot think that the Order Beauty and greatness of the Creation the fixt and constant Returns of fruitful Seasons the filling men's hearts with food and gladness were the only Testimonies which God gave the Gentiles of himself and his Care for Mankind when I read that Angels are the ministring Spirits of God when I read in Daniel of the Princes of Grecia and Persia and find that Provinces were committed to Angels as the Vice-Roys and Lieutenants of God I cannot think that these Devout and Charitable Spirits did with less Zeal in their Provinces labour to promote the Honor of God and the Good of Man than Evil Spirits did the Dishonor of the one and the Ruine of the other and unless the frequent Appearances of Angels in the Beginning had possess'd Men's Minds with a firm perswasion that there was a constant Commerce maintain'd between Heaven and Earth and that Spirits very frequently did visibly engage themselves in the Protection and Assistance of Men I cannot as much as Imagine what foundation there could be for the numerous Impostures of Oracles or upon what ground the Custom of putting themselves under the Patronage of some Tutelary Spirit could so generally have prevail'd in the Pagan World without this Supposition the Poetry of Homer had been so far from being entertain'd as Sacred and Inspir'd that it had been universally contemn'd and dislik't as an idle Rapsody of un-natural incredible and fulsome Characters of their Gods how could any Man who had never heard of the Appearances of Spirits nay who could not conceive any other Notion of such Fancies than as something absurd and impossible ever digest the gross Confidence of a Poet bringing in a God upon the Stage at every turn I do not therefore doubt but that the Gentile World received very many good Offices and Advantages from good Angels as well as suffer'd many Mischiefs from Evil ones and I think I might with good probability believe that every good Heathen as well as Socrates had the Assistance of a good Spirit very frequently Nor was the Ministry of Angels the only assistance that God afforded the Gentil World but in every Age he rais'd up Wise and Good Men to be his Prophets or Interpreters of Nature's Law to the Gentils I know St. Austin does in two places at least of his Retractations censure and condemn that Charity which he
AN ENQUIRY AFTER HAPPINESS VOL. I. By the Author of the PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pythag. apud Stob. Serm. 80. Qui quod tibi parum videtur Eruditus ea Causa est quod nullam Eruditionem esse duxit nisi quae Beatae vitae Disciplinam juvaret Cic. de Finib Bonor Mal. LONDON Printed for George Pawlett at the Bible in Chancery-Lane and Samuel Smith at the Prince's Arms in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1685. To my Worthy Friend M R. WILLIAM POWELL Rector of Llan-Wennarth c. My Dear Friend WHom neither thy Prosperity nor my Affliction has ever divided from me it has ever been your good Fortune and your Mind has ever been better than your Fortune from the first Day of our Friendship to stand upon the higher Ground and to have always been doing Kindnesses and never needed any I will confess if you will Pardon me that I have sometimes secretly repin'd at this thy good luck and envied the Honour and the Pleasure which this Advantage gave you and can you blame me since it excluded me from a share in one of the most ravishing Delights of Friendship You know what Attempts I have made to redeem this Inequality but all in vain till now Now I flatter my self that I have found a Present to make you that cannot provoke your Generosity tho' it were Nicer and more scrupulous than 't is I have now at length found a way to End most happily the only Difference that ever has been between us in an uninterrupted Friendship of near Seventeen years You shall always be Fortunate always able to do Kindnesses and be in need of none and I will always strive to vanquish and surmount all the Disadvantages of my Fortune and in despite of them find some way to express my Affection and return your Obligations And thus if I fall ' not short of my Design I shall be equal with you for 't is no small Service I propose to do you I will now be your Guide I will Conduct you not as you have done me tho' for that too I must ever thank you through barren and impoverish't Piccardy but through all the Ways of Pleasantness and all the Paths of Peace I will give you a Sight not of France but Canaan I will make you a sharer of that Immortality which I aspir'd to and bring you to that Heaven which is the Sacred Abode of Sacred Friendship and Sacred Joys What a Dark Cottage what a Rude Heap will the now-Admir'd Versailles then seem to you But see whither I have suffer'd this Passion to transport me how easie is it for one that follows the Conduct of Affection to be rather Obliging than Discreet I had alalmost forgot how little you stand in need of these kind of Helps being not only a sufficient Guide to your Self but a Prudent and Successful one to others in the Way to Happiness however though you need no Guide I may serve you as the Companion of your Journey I may ' wake you in a Morning I may oblige you to quicken your pace and I may Entertain you with Reflexions and Remarks upon the Countrey as we pass and ever and anon mind you of the Beauty and the Pleasures of that Countrey we Travel to these and such like Assistances the most Perfect need these are the Offices of the truest Friendship and these the Papers I send you may I hope in some measure perform Adieu Thy Affectionate R. L. TO THE READER IT has pleas'd God that in a few Years I should finish the more pleasant and delightful part of Life if Sense were to be the Judge and Standard of Pleasure being confin'd I will not say condemn'd by well-nigh utter Blindness to Retirement and Solitude In this state Conversation has lost much of it's former air and briskness Business wherein I could never pretend to any great Address gives me now more trouble than formerly and that too without the usual dispatch or success Study which is the only Employment left me is clog'd with this Weight and Incumbrance that all the Assistance I can receive from without must be convey'd by another's Senses not my own which it may easily be believ'd are Instruments or Organs as ill fitted and as awkwardly manag'd by me as wooden Legs or Hands by the Maim'd In this Case should I affect to procure my self a decent Funeral and leave an Honorable Remembrance of me behind should I struggle to Rescue my self from that Contempt to which this Condition wherein I may seem lost to the World and my self exposes me should I ambitiously affect to have my Name march in the train of those All tho' not all equally great ones Homer Appius Cn. Aufidius Didymus Walkup Pere Jean l'aveugle c. All of them eminent for their service and usefulness as well as for their affliction of the same kind with mine Even this might seem almost a Commendable Infirmity for the last thing a Mind truly great and Philosophical puts off Tacit. Hist l. 4. is the Desire of Glory Hence Tacitus closes his Divine Character of Helvidius Priscus thus Erant quibus appetentior fama videretur quando etiam sapientibus cupido gloriae novissima exuitur But this Treatise oweth neither its Conception nor Birth to this Principle for besides that I know my own Insufficiency too well to flatter my self with the hopes of a Romantick Immortality from any performance of mine in this Ingenious and Learned Age I must confess I never had a Soul great enough to be acted by the Heroic heat which the love of Fame and Honour hath kindled in some Tuta parvula laudo I have ever lov'd the Security and Contentment of Privacy and Retirement almost to the guilt of Singularity and Affectation But the truth is plainly this the Vigour and Activity of my Mind the health and strength of my body being now in the flower of my Age continuing unbroken unbent under this Affliction I found that if I did not provide some Imployment that might Entertain my Mind it would weary out it self with fruitless Desires of and Vain Attempts after its wonted Objects and so that Strength and Vivacity of Nature which should render my state more Comfortable would make it much more Intolerable I confess my Zeal for Public Good by the Propagation and Endearment of Divine Truths was less fervent in me than could well become the particular Obligations of my Profession or the Common ones which every Christian in proportion to his Talents lies under I was almost induced to believe that this Chastisement which had remov'd me from the Service of the Altar did at the same time discharge me from all Duty owing to the Public But my good Friend Mr. Lamb reviv'd the Dying sparks of a decaying Zeal and restor'd me to a proper sense of my Duty in this Point for whether by Design or by Providence governing Chance I know not for he never seem'd to address or
study of Philosophy has never been utterly forsaken thô that of one age baffle and o'rethrow that of another and yet even this again stands rather upon the weakness and obscurity of the former than its own Strength or Evidence The Academics do not seem to have entertain'd so gross an absurdity as some have fancy'd when they taught that Wisdom consisted in the search of Truth even at the same time when they believ'd that it could not be fully found out for where Certainty cannot be had it is not unreasonable to follow the fairest probabilities And if this were rationally practised in any Study certainly much more in that of Happiness since the Necessity of this Study above any other doth more indispensibly oblige us to it for all Labour and Learning that promotes not the great End of Happiness is to no purpose since we are ne're the better for 't for to be the better and to be the happier for't is all one But there is no Reason why we should take up with these cold and lifeless Answers which will satisfie none but those who are extreamly well inclin'd we may now boldly say the Difficulties that former Ages met with are of no force now to deter us we can now free our selves from the distracting Terrours of an Invisible Power without banishing him out of that World which himself creatâ—d we can now prove a Judgment to come without the Assistance of Poetic Dreams and the Existence of Souls after Death without their Praeexistence before our Birth To be short we have now Revelation for our Rule and every good Man a Divine Spirit for his guide nay every man if he be sincere in such Enquiries as these If any of you lack Wisdom James 1. let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him So that now we may very rationally conclude that fatal Ignorance or fatal Errour in this Point must be imputed either to a lazy and sottish Contempt of that Knowledge we are most nearly concern'd in and the means conducing to it or to an obstinate Resistance of that Conviction which God endeavours to beget in us by his Word and his Spirit or at least to the want of that just Consideration we ought to allow to reveal'd Truths or of that Necessary preparation which fits us for Divine Assistance and enables us to understand the Divine Will and for this Reason the Dissentions and sharp Contentions of Christians ought to be no prejudice to the Authority or Perspicuity of Revelation or to the Assertion of the Spirit 's Conduct and Assistance for besides that Unity of Faith is an Unity of Fundamentals not of Fancies it must be confessed that our Sects and Divisions have their Rise and Propagation from these and such like Causes nothing being more common than that men's Tempers and Complexions and Educations and Interests and Passions shou'd give a Byass to their Judgments and a Tincture to their Tenets and Opinions it is easie to see that the Errors of some are the Dreams of a drouzy Carelessness of others the wandrings of a wanton Confidence of others the crooked windings of Designing Interest and so on for it may with much truth be affirm'd that all Erroneous Philosophy in matters Necessary and Fundamental is the Result of some unworthy Lust and Passion But all these Matters namely the use of Revelation and God's Spirit the Vanity of all Objections form'd against Religion from Dissentions about it the Difficulties the Heathens were to encounter in their Enquiries after Happiness c. shall be more fully treated of in their proper places Thus I think I have sufficiently evinc'd the Importance and Necessity of an Enquiry after Happiness since 't is impossible to steer the Course of Life aright without a clear Knowledge of that which ought to be the End the Centre of all our Desires and Endeavours that is Happiness without this 't is not only impossible to be happy but what ought seriously to be weighed impossible not to be miserable nor let us ever so far disparage and undervalue Humane Nature or dishonour the Author of it as ever once to fancy that Happiness is too great for us or we too little for it or that God should disallow as a Sacrilegious Ambition the most rational attempts of a rational Creature I mean those of becoming Happy since we seek no other Happiness than what the Make and Frame of Nature and consequently the God of Nature appâ—ars plainly to capacitate us for and design us to the greatness of which nothing can so well express as the Transports and Raptures of Happy Men. But let us not think this Happiness so easie a purchase that it will run into the lap of the sluggish Body or prostitute it self to the Embraces of senseless bruitish Lusts No no nothing but Industrious Reason pure and vigorous Philosophy can e're attain it The Sluggard or the Wanton the Fool and Vain may have some Fits of Ease and Mirth only the Rational only the Philosopher can possess true and lasting Happiness Nor let the endless Quarrels the numerous Contentions of vain and proud Pretenders discourage us from following the Conduct of Reason and Revelation these are the Contentions of Lust not Philosophy Truth and Happiness as some have lately fancy'd of Love inhabit a Palace into which none can enter but humble sincere and constant Lovers CHAP. II. Of the Possibility of attaining Happiness Obj. Few or none ever actually Happy Answer'd § Religion denies not the Possibility of present Happiness The Doctrine of the Cross no Obstruction to this life's Happiness Mortification recommended by the Light of Nature as subservient to our present Happiness The Happiness of this life granted Imperfect § The Possibility c. prov'd because some are Happier than others because there is Good and Evil in the World Evils not more than Goods in the World The Efficacy of Evil not greater than that of Good Man's Good or Evil depends upon himself § Objections answer'd God not delighted in Humane Misery Fortune cannot prevent our Happiness Every Man Architect of his own Fortune Fortune not Necessary to Happiness The Objection from Fate answer'd Several Notions of Fate No insuperable Necessity in Humane Affairs or Actions at least no Fate over-ruling the Mind of Man No Incapacity of Happiness from Nature Against Moral Incapacity Against penal Incapacity Instances of Men actually Happy in this Life The Position of the Possibility of Happiness consonant to the Sense of Mankind The Conclusion IT is apparent from the former Chapter that the pursuit and search after Happiness is a Rational Undertaking an Imployment becoming the Nature and State of Man there remains only one Objection which if true were sufficient to discourage the Endeavours and chill the heat of the most Vertuous and Resolv'd Ambition Which is this 'T is true Obj. Few or none ever actually Happy in this life Happiness may be
Sufferings of Confessors and Martyrs or the Doctrine of Mortification any prejudice to this Assertion for neither Affliction nor Mortification are inconsistent with the true Happiness of Man that Affliction is not the Example of those very Martyrs and Confessors triumphing over it do's sufficiently evince that Mortification is not is unanimously confess'd by the Suffrages of such as were conducted by the Light of Nature and of such too as were entirely devoted to the Pleasures of this life and that upon undeniable Grounds Having thus remov'd this first Objection against the Possibility of attaining Happiness by vindicating Scripture from Requiring any thing injurious to the Happiness of this life or asserting any thing that may damp or discourage our hopes of it it is now high time to proceed to the second thing I propos'd that is SECT II. TO make good the Truth of this Assertion That Happiness may be attain'd by plain and obvious Proofs And here that I may not be mistaken The Happiness of this life granted Imperfect I think 't is fit that I should tell the Reader that I do not promise him a Heaven upon Earth that I do not promise him the Happiness of Angels but of Men and that I do not understand Happiness in this Proposition of that which is every way perfect and absolute to which fancy it self can add nothing but of that which is like our Nature incomplete and imperfect speaking Comparatively and yet truly great and excellent in it self too Seneca doth somewhere describe his Happy man much after this manner He is one who despises all those things which are subject to Change who accounts nothing good or bad but Vertue or Vice who is not pufft up by prosperous Events nor cast down by Adverse ones one whose great Pleasure is to despise Pleasure one above either Desire or Fear content with the Riches which are the true and proper possession of Vertue and coveting nothing more such a one he thinks cannot choose but be Happy And I think so too and I fear a great deal Happier than any man on Earth can ever be this is a gay Dream but well-suiting that Philosophy which requires the Tranquillity and Steadiness or Constancy of God to be joyn'd with the frailty of Man a Composition of things infinitely more incompatible than that of an Immortal Soul and Mortal Body can be fancy'd to be for my part I am content to call a Building beautiful thô there be something in it which doth not answer the Test of the strictest Art or at least of the most accurate fancy I am content to call it Day thô flitting Clouds and Showers do now and then a little obscure the Light so can I not choose but call him Righteous who is sincere thô not perfect whose life is generally speaking bright and exemplary thô not utterly void of spots and blemishes whose motion is a progress towards Vertue thô it be sometimes retarded nay sometimes interrupted and so am I content to think him a Happy man not who is utterly exempt from all disturbances in Mind or Body not who lives in constant Extasie but him whose Pleasures are more and greater than his Troubles whose Hopes are more and greater than his Fears one whose Enjoyments thô they do not transport do satisfie him one whose Serenity and Calm of mind though it may suffer Interruptions suffer but few and slight ones I will intreat the Reader to admit of this Notion of Happiness here till we gradually advance to a clear and full discovery of it Now as we are not to lay aside any advice of being Vertuous because we cannot arrive at the height and constancy of holy Angels so neither are we to cast off all thoughts of Happiness because we cannot equal theirs for if we are Happy in such a degree as the Imperfection of our Nature and this Inferiour state will permit if we can free our selves from those Miseries which do involve the foolish and vicious part of Mankind if we can possess our selves of those humble and modest joys that Humane Nature is here capable of it will be worth all the time and travail we can spend upon the Design and that we may advance thus far the following Considerations will The possibility c. prov'd I think render it more than probable Because some are happier than others 1. It cannot be deny'd but that some Men are more Happy or at least less Miserable than others who will deny Titus to have been infinitely more Happy than Nero Titus whose Government of the Roman People was not more mild and gentle than the impartial Reflexions of his Conscience upon himself and actions Sueton. in vitâ Titi. if we credit Suetonius in his Relation of his Death Nero that guilty Wretch whose Conscience was no less a Plague to him than he to Rome Who prefers not the Character of Mitio in the Comedian before that of Demea Terent. Mitio whose smooth and kind as well as prudent Behaviour rendred him easie and amiable to his Family and Relations and made the Fortune of his whole life flow calmly and gently to the End Demea whose four suspicious and severe Behaviour did exasperate and ruffle the minds of all that related to him and did disturb and muddy that stream of his affairs which would have otherwise run smooth and clear who will compare the pleasant Retirements the modest Contentments the regular virtuous Enjoyments of Atticus with the turbulent popularity of Gracchus or the fatal Luxuries of Catiline or the proud Cruelties of Sylla and Marius what then Shall we attribute no share of Happiness or Misery to the Vertues or the Vices of the one or other or no part of their Vertues or Vices to themselves but to I know not what fatal and irresistible Causes If we assert the former with frontless Confidence we contradict unquestionable Matters of Fact if the latter we rob the Vertuous of that merit which rendred 'em belov'd in their Lives and ever since has preserv'd their Memories Sacred and Honourable and we acquit those from all blame or guilt which the Laws of their own Countrey and the Common sense o◠Mankind have ever condemn'd and detested What gross and monstrous absurdities are these shall we now after the Improvement of so many Ages for we pretend to grow more Wise and Learned daily dispute whether Vice or Vertue be the better guide of Humane Actions or the more service able to Humane Life Shall Sloth and Luxury be thought to conduce as much to the prosperity and decency o◠our Lives as Industry and frugal Temperance Shall Ambition Pride and Choler be now judg'd as instrumental to promote or preserve the Peace and repose of our Minds and States as Modesty Meekness and Charity or if this be too daring a defiance to Sense and Experience shall we contend that the slothful and luxurious the unjust and cruel c. are as blameless and
innocent nay if we will extend Principles to their just Consequence as commendable and worthy of Praise as the Industrious and Temperate the Meek and Gentle the Just and Charitable for this must inevitably follow if neither Men's Vertues nor Vices be in any degree to be ascribed to themselves wretched and desperate is that shift that equals the just and unjust the industrious and the sluggard the great Mind that stands upright under and outbraves Misfortune and the degenerous one which effeminately shrinks and breaks under it wretched the Shift that equals the Tyrant and most gracious Prince the loyallest Subject and the Traitor the faithful Friend and the perfidious Flatterer and all this we must be driven to or else as we cannot deny that some are Happier than others so we must not deny that the Happiness of the one or Misery of the other is owing in some measure at least to their Vertues and Vices and these to themselves And if this be true 't is evident we may be Happy if we will and thô we may not equal the most Happy for I will not exclude Temper Education Fortune from all share in Men's Misery or Happiness yet since every degree of Happiness is truly valuable let us with all our might endeavour to be as Happy as we can Horat. Nec quia desperes invicti membri Glyconis Nodosa Corpus noli prohibere Chyragra Est quiddam prodire tenus The mighty Glyco's strength you can't attain Don't therefore scorn to free your Limbs from Pain Of Knotty Gout Ease thô not Strength to gain Is no small Happiness But to pursue our proof 2. Because there is Good and Evil in the World It is a great absurdity to confound or equal Vertue and Vice but 't is not the greatest they commit who deny the possibility of attaining Happiness for he that banishes Happiness out of the World do's at the same time banish Good and Evil out of it too for Good being nothing else but the subserviency of some things to our true Interest and Pleasure and Evil the tendency of others to our trouble and injury it must needs follow if there be Good and Evil in the World that he who has a greater share of Good than Evil is a Happy man and he that denieth Good and Evil may with as plausible a Confidence deny all Humane Passions and assert that there is neither Love nor Hatred neither Joy nor Grief nor Hope nor Fear nor Pity nor Envy for Good or Evil are the Objects or Causes of all these I may then I think take it for granted that no man will take the Confidence to say that there is no such thing as Good or Evil in the World and consequently all men must be oblig'd to acknowledge such a state as Happiness in the World too unless they will affirm one of these three things either First That Evil grows up every where in thick Crops Good thin scatter'd and rarely to be found epecially grown up to its maturity That consequently there are none whose share of Evil doth not infinitely outweigh that of Good Or Secondly That Evil hath so much of Venom and Malignity in it that a little Evil contributes more to our Misery than a great Deal of Good can to our Happiness so ripe and full grown is Evil so lank under-grown and every way imperfect is Good in this World Or Thirdly That we our selves can contribute nothing to that Good or Evil which is our Portion 't is the Product not of Reason or Industry but of Time and Chance or of some other Principle which is not in our Power All these deserve to be weigh'd not only because the Examination of 'em will tend to chear and encourage the Minds of Men and to render the great Creator and Governour of the World more dear and venerable to us but also because it will be of some use and service to the whole Inquiry First 1. Evils not more than Goods in the World Therefore let us examine what Truth there is in that fancy which supposes the weight and number of Evils in the World infinitely to exceed that of Good things I know there are a sort of sour and murmuring of proud and ambitious Wretches who deal with their God as with their Prince or Patrons and estimate Favours and Benefits not according to their Merit but Expectation greedy and haughty Expectation which even Prodigal Bounty cannot satisfie 't is the strange temper of some men that they wither and grow lean with Discontent and Envy even whil'st their studied Meals distract the wanton Appetite and their very Attendance are sleek and full and fat with the Remains of their Feasts and the meanest of their Relations thrive into Pride and Insolence by the mere sprinklings of their Plenty I know 't is Natural to some to Blaspheme God and the King to quarrel with and reproach Providence and the Government while loaded with good things they stretch themselves on Silken Couches under Roofs of Cedar or loll at Ease in their gilt Coaches and yet at the same time the honest Countrey-man who with Security thô much Drudgery Ploughs and Sows and Reaps a few Acres Eats his plain Meals with Cheerfulness Sleeps without Disturbance Blesses God and magnifies the goodness of his Prince The Contentment of the One is an evident proof of the Divine Bounty and Goodness whose Provision doth far exceed the Necessities of his Creatures The Discontent of th' other can be no disparagement to the Goodness of our Creator who has dealt extremely liberally with 'em thô they enjoy not what they possess we are not therefore to judge of the World by the Clamours and Invectives of such as are always mutinous and dissatisfy'd but by the suffrages of those humble modest and grateful Souls who know how to value the Favours of Heaven and themselves as they ought to do who do not marr and corrupt every Blessing by Peevishness or Envy or Pride or Wantonness but can weigh their Enjoyments their Hopes and their Merits in just and equal Ballances and discerning how much the one do's exceed the other chearfully adore and praise the World's Author and Governour If this Controversie were to be determin'd by such we should find these even under uneasie and Tyrannical Governments and in the more barren and niggardly Countries confuting this Objection by their Chearfulness and Contentment what would they have done if Providence had planted 'em there where a fertile Soil and thriving Trade had unladed the Wealth and Plenty of the World into their Arms and a mild and gentle Government had secur'd and guarded their Enjoyments But let us decide the Controversie not by Votes but Reasons let us consider the State and Nature of the World is there one in a Thousand who is left utterly unfurnish't of all means of wise and wholesome Instruction which is the Good of the Soul of Man or is there one in a Thousand maim'd and
defective in the Powers and Faculties of the Soul or Senses and Members of the Body is there one in a Thousand born under so unlucky and envious Planets that he cannot by any Industry or Vertue provide himself a comfortable Subsistence View and Survey the World Examine and Consider Man and then tell me whether there be any room for those Reproaches and spiteful Reflexions by which some men have so outrag'd Nature and Providence Phylo Judaeus tells us a Rabbinical Story to this purpose that when God had created the World he demanded of a Prophet whether he saw any thing wanting to consummate and compleat the glorious Work who told him Phylo-Jud de Plantatione Noae Nothing but an Intelligent Being to praise the wise and gracious Architect God approving the Advice c. The Hebrew Philosophers it seems thought the World exactly perfect such a Work as might bespeak God the Author of it and no wonder for they were inspired by Moses who brings in God reflecting upon his own Creation thus And God saw every thing that he had made Gen. 1. and behold it was very good How unlike is all this to the Epicurean Philosophy whose great Patron Lucretius endeavours to infer from the Ill-Contrivance the manifold Defects the innumerable Evils of the World that God could not be the Creatour of it That ever that Work by which God design'd to exalt his Glory should be drawn into an occasion of Dishonouring and Reproaching them That ever that work which deserv'd the praises of Men and Angels should at last stand in need of Apologies and Defences If we look up to the Heavens such is the Beauty of those Bodies so uniform and regular their Motions so exactly are they dispos'd both for Ornament and Service that the Speculation naturally exalts the Mind and insensibly raises it above the Body Nay it has tempted some to think every Star moved and acted by some understanding Spirit If we look upon the Earth so wonderful is the Variety so inconceivable the Wealth and Plenty of it that it is not only sufficient for the Needs and Desires of the Sober and Temperate but even for the Luxury and Wantonness of the fancyful and Intemperate Every place almost is a Paradise there is no Country almost which cannot afford us Tempe or Campania opus gaudentis naturae a Work which Nature seems to have Created when in the gayest and the kindest humour If there were room for fancy in Sacred things one would almost think that Moses out of Ignorance of other Countries or love of his own had confin'd Eden within those narrow Bounds he sets it and that it had only been lost there because a fuller Discovery of the World had now found it almost every where This is the World we complain of Let us now consider Man Psal 139. and we shall find with the Psalmist that he is wonderfully made he is but a little lower than the Angels he is crown'd with Glory and Honour and all the Creatures are put under his Feet Psal 8. All the Fowls of the Air and all the Beasts of the Field c. How infinitely wise as well as kind do's God appear in his Contrivance So modest his Appetites that a small Portion of Nature's good is a full Meal or Feast and yet so various that there is nothing in all the provision in all the joyes and luxuries of Nature which he is not capable of Tasting and Enjoying If we regard the Mind of Man 't is capable of a most surprizing Satisfaction in the Contemplation of the hidden Powers the secret Laws and Operations of Nature nay it rises higher it passes the Bounds of Mechanic Nature it entertains it self with Moral Perfections and the Spiritual Excellencies of an invisible World and gazes on those Charms and Glories which are not subject to the bodily Eye Vultus nimis lubricos aspici Such is the Nature of the Soul that when it pleases it can retire within it self withdraw from Sense and be secure and Happy in its own Strength and Wealth Ipsa suis pollens opibus and when it pleases it can walk forth like Dinah to see the Daughters of the Land those Beauties that Sense presents it with and that too if guarded by aweful Vertue without the Danger of a Rape To say all of it in a word 't is capable of a share in all the Good and not necessarily subject to any of the Evil of this World Fatis avolsa Voluntas There are no Fates that can controul The soveraign freedom of the Soul If this be a true account of Man and the state of that World which he inhabits if the one be fill'd with all things Necessary and Delightful and the other be endow'd with all those Capacities and Appetites that fit him to enjoy 'em nay if his Soul can raise it self above the Pleasures and exempt it self from the Changes and Revolutions of it nothing is more manifest than that the Evil in life cannot be greater than the Good unless it be owing to our selves and to leave this matter beyond Dispute no man pretending to receive Revelation should admit of the contrary Opinion for no Texts of Divine Writ are more plain than those which proclaim to us God's love of Mankind that he doth not afflict or grieve willingly the Children of men that the Book of Creation and Providence is writ all over with the legible Characters of Love so legible that it renders the Idolatry and Wickedness of the Gentiles inexcusable and finally that he gives us Richly all things to enjoy 1 Tim. 6. where the Apostle excellently expresses at once the Bounty and Design of God His Bounty in that he gives us all things Richly his Design not to enkindle and then delude our Desires by being like the Tree of Life or Knowledge forbidden us but on purpose to be enjoy'd by us So then the Christian cannot without contradicting Revelation embrace this Opinion nor the Atheist or Epicurean without contradicting himself if Nature has contriv'd the World so ill if it has scatter'd good things with such a sparing and envious hand whence are all those Transports and Extasies we meet with amongst these Men what t is the Ground what is the Matter of â—'em whence so rich a Crop of Worldly sensual Pleasures whence so much dotage on and fondness for the World we so complain of whence are the Charms and Irresistible Temptation which the generality of Mankind iâ— vanquish't by whence is it that Men are so willing to set up their Rest on this side Canaan whence that dread and aversion of Death as the most formidable Evil If Nature has been such a Step-mother to Man if it has frowardly and peevishly design'd him little else but Mischief whence that sagacity and penetration of Mind searching with delight into all the Retirements of Nature whence that Comprehensive and almost immense Capacity of Pleasure whence that strength and greatness of Soul
enabling noâ— only to confront but to despise Evil and to be Happy in despight of 'em these are Advantages so incomparablâ— great and good that no Evils can be ballanced against 'em and 't is Evidenâ—â— that no Writings no not of the Stoics themselves were ever more stuffed with boasting and daring accounts of the Nature of Man than those of the Epicureans And thus from all put together whether we consult the Nature and state of the World and Man testimony of Revelation or Reason the Suffrages of the good humour'd and grateful part of Mankind or the Confessions of the Voluptuous and Atheistical 't is Evident that Good do's outweigh Evil in the Design of God or Nature But have I not my self in the beginning of this Treatise presented the Reader with a large Catalogue of Evils Yes But not of God's Creation but our own for the Truth of the whole is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Not things themselves but the Shades and Fantasms wanton superstitious effeminate or froward Minds do raise about 'em disturb the quiet and repose of Man So then if we our selves do not multiply the Number of our Evils our share of Good in life may be much greater than our share of Evil and if we be not accessory to our own Misery we may be Happy Unless Secondly 2. The Efficacy of Evil not greater than that of Good Evil hath so much of Venom and Malignity in it that a little Evil contributes more to our Misery than a great deal of Good can to our Happiness We may here judge of the force and energy of Good and Evil either by that Influence they generally have or that they ought to have upon the state of Mankind if we consider what Impressions they ought to make upon Men the question will come to a speedy and a Happy Issue for then we must either reckon nothing an Evil but a Moral one that is Sin and Vice or at least we must acknowledge that the Venom and Malignity of other Evils is not comparable to that of Moral ones This latter opinion is an unquestionable Truth for who wilâ— not make a wide difference between a Misfortune and a Crime between an Affliction and a Punishment between those Inconveniences Trouble and Pain which we suffer as guilty Criminals and those we suffer as unfortunate Innocents or afflicted Hero's or Saints for notwithstanding the Evils or Pains should be in the matter of 'em the same yet there is a vast difference in the Suffering the one makes Man much more miserable than the other for our Misfortunes should only reach the Body not the Mind But when we suffer for our Crimes the whole Man suffers the Soul as well as Body Misfortunes when the Storm is o'repast leave no deform'd Ruines no Wounds nor Scars behind 'em but our Crimes leave stains and guilt behind which haunt the Mind with perpetual horrour From this Distinction of the Nature and Effect of Evils we may infer this Comfortable Conclusion That nothing can make man wholly truly miserable but himself Nothing can oppress him by the weight of Moral Evils but his own Choice for nothing can compel or necessitate him to be wicked the stroaks the wounds of natural Evils so I will call all the rest distinct from moral and owing their Being to the Revolutions of time and Chance and Nature c. are faint and slight the Mind of Man ought not to suffer it self to be too deeply and sensibly affected by them it is the work of Reason and Religion to fortifie the Mind against the Impressions of these Evils and truly that Mind that is furnish't with true Notions of things with a rational and solid Faith with steady and well-grounded hopes may bear the impetuous shock of all these Waves and Storms calm and unmov'd Nay I may boldly affirm not only that Vertue checks and controuls these Evils blunts their Edge and abates their force but what is more that their natural strength their own proper force is weak and contemptible unless our own Vices be combin'd and confederated with 'em against us Our Pride must aid our Enemy to render his affront provoking Our Covetousness and Ambition must assist Fortune to render its Contempt or Hatred of us destructive to the Tranquillity of our state Falshood under a disguise of Friendship could never have abus'd our Confidence by betraying our Infirmities or forsaking us in Affliction had not our own folly and self-conceit first betray'd us exposing us a naked prey to Flattery and Treachery The Coldness or Neglect of great Men could never wound us the hollow deceitful Professions of those above us could never fool or fret us did not the fondness of our own desires betray us first into vain Presumption and a flattering Credulity The Storm that snatcheth away a Relation or a Friend could never overthrow me if I stood upon my own Bottom if I were not guilty of one of the greatest weaknesses of placing my Happiness in any thing out of my own Power and so making my self dependent upon another mans fancy or fortune Finally Death it self must derive its terrors from the mournful Solemnities we dress it in from the darkness and horrours of our deluded Imaginations or else it would prove but a contemptible Bugbear a very inconsiderable Evil or none at All. Thus 't is Evident that if we distinguish Evils into Natural and Moral we shall have little reason to think the Influence of Evil so Malignant and Deadly since 't is in our own Power to avoid moral Evils and natural ones strike but half way they wound not the Soul that is arm'd and guarded with Reason and Religion But now If with the Stoics we should admit of no other sort of Evil but what is Moral if we should allow the name of Good to nothing but Vertue or of Evil to nothing but Vice then we must look upon Temporal and External Misfortunes as Inconveniences and Disadvantages only they may make us less Happy but they cannot make us miserable And truly if we should here suppose or take for granted that there were another life or that the pleasure of Vertue triumphing over Calamities and Afflictions were considerably great this opinion cannot imply so great an Absurdity as some would fasten upon it or be a mere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Idle Contention of words since I cannot tell with what Consonancy to Truth or Propriety of Speech we can call those troubles or hardships Evils which directly tend to procure for us an infinite Good a Pleasure which doth abundantly outweigh our Sufferings I ' think 't is now sufficiently Evident that natural Evils are not of that mighty Efficacy deadly Venomous quality that it should be thought that a little Evil doth more effectually contribute to our Misery than a great deal of Good can to our Happiness 't is apparent how slight the Impressions are which they ought to make upon us It will now be time to
consider what impressions they do generally make upon us what their real Effect commonly is how men generally are mov'd and affected by them 'T is true there are some that mix Heaven and Earth upon every slight occasion that will receive Good but no Evil at the hand of God most insensible of Blessing but extremely tender and sensible of any Evil but this speaks not the Nature of Evil but of the Man it speaks him ingrateful but not the Evil intolerable Nor is humane Nature to be measur'd by this whining querulous humour of a few but by the sense and temper of the Generality amongst whom 't is easie to observe how Instinct teaches us to elude the stroak and force of Evil Nature opens its Arms and enlarges it self to receive good and all the Powers of the mind greedily strive to share in it but it contracts and shrinks retires and stands upon its Defence at the Approach of Evil 't is apt to flatter it self and apt to hope apt to lessen Evil and magnifie Good apt to put off the thoughts of approaching trouble and to anticipate its Pleasures 't is full of great Designs and gaudy Projects and easily prone to delight and content it self with thin airy and imaginary Schemes of Good this and much more is Evident in a Thousand daily instances of humane life by which 't is plain Nature in the Contrivance of Man kindly designed to fit and dispose him for Happiness by giving him such Inclinations as might serve to lessen the Evil to increase the Good to supply the Defects of this mortal and imperfect state Is it not manifest that whereas Evil looks less to us Good looks bigger at a Distance we are willing to help Fortune and call in the Aids of fancy to adorn and enrich her gifts nor is it easie to defeat Man of this Humour he Dreams of a bottomless Abyss in every Good in every Pleasure and notwithstanding the daily Confutations of Experience he still desires to repeat his Enjoyments o're again as if he did still hope to find some new untasted sweet some pleasure undiscover'd untry'd before how apt are we to flatter our selves and willing to be flatter'd every Man represents himself and state under the fairest Idea that he can possibly frame of it and turns away his Eye and Thought from every thing that may offend him Beauty Strength Health Understanding Wisdom Reputation Attendants Power Wealth and whatever future Good he can form thô but a slender Pretension to make up the gay Idea nay and even long life and undisturb'd security are there drawn as two Pillars to support the Building the Daring but kind Confidence of Man that makes himself the Master of Fate and Fortune if you should mark this Tablet with e're so prying and curious an Eye you would not be able to discover either Deformity or Folly or Dishonour or Poverty or Disease or Death for these Man kind to himself banishes far from his Thoughts and suffers not to enter into the Portraicture of himself And hence 't is that most Men never disturb life with the Apprehension of its End and never feel Death till they are dying Kind Instinct shewing us an easier way to lessen this Evil than the Reason of most Philosophers ever could making our suffering extreamly short and even then too almost in the midst of Death men fondly Dream of and hope for life and can scarcely suffer their hope to expire in the last gasp Nay so willing to be deluded so easie to be impos'd upon are Men that they make even those things which are the Trophies of Death and the Monuments of Man's Frailty and Vanity minister to them some slight Comforts at least against Mortality they divert and entertain themselves with the Mourning and Pomp of their Obsequies with Blacks and Tombs with the dying Eccho's of surviving Reputation and with the grandure and felicity of their Posterity as if they did fondly perswade themselves that they should be concern'd in all these things that something beyond the Grave did relate to them and that they did not utterly perish and dye And if this kind as well as obstinate hope do in some measure break the force of the greatest Evil that is Death we cannot but expect that it should be highly serviceable to Man in moving him to despise or enabling him to vanquish less Evils hence 't is that no examples of the Inconstancy or Change of fortune of the incertainty of Royal or Popular favour no Instances of slighted Service deluded Hope sudden Death or any thing of this kind are sufficient to discourage the attempts the pursuits of Mankind after worldly things we boldly adventure upon those Seas which we see scatter'd o're with numerous Wrecks and confidently pursue those Paths where we every moment meet with the ominous Ruines of disappointed hope and fruitless drudgery and baffled presumption Thus it is I determin'd not that thus it ought to be I examin'd not what is here the office of Philosophy or the work of Vertue I have only barely represented the humour and inclination of Man only that you may see that he is not such a defenceless shiftless Creature but that his Reason dares confront and can vanquish Evils in open Battle and by downright force and instinct teaches him how to elude 'em by various and those if well conducted useful and innocent Arts. After all it doth therefore manifestly appear that as the Number of Evils is not greater than that of Goods so neither is the Vigour and Energy of the one so much greater than that of the other that a little Evil should out-weigh a great deal of Good that a little Evil should contribute more to a man's Misery than a great deal of Good to his Happiness There remains nothing further to be examin'd but 3. Man's Good or Evil depends upon himself Thirdly That Fancy which ascribes Man's portion of Good and Evil to time or chance c. not Man's Vertue or Industry to any thing but to himself and he that can with Confidence affirm this may with as good grace assert that there is neither Wisdom nor Folly in the World for if there be this Imagination must soon vanish since Wisdom is nothing else but the choice of true Good and rejection of Evil the pursuit of our true Happiness by all the most rational and probable means and a declining and flying from all those things that are repugnant to it And thô success and good fortune do not always attend Wisdom and Vertue yet you shall never perswade any but Madmen or Fools that 't is in vain to be Vertuous or irrational to be Wise Solomon has indeed observ'd as an instance or proof of the vanity of all things Eccles 9. That the Race is not to the swift nor the Battle to the strong neither yet Bread to the Wise nor yet Riches to men of Vnderstanding nor yet favour to men of Skill I exempt not the
wise from subjection to Time and Chance which is all that Solomon complains of here but notwithstanding I must ever think with him Eccles 2. that Wisdom excels folly as much as light doth darkness not only because chearful delightful to it self but also because 't is the Happiest guide of humane Life blest generally with success as well as Rich in intrinsick Good and in some measure self-sufficient Nor do's our English Proverb Fools have the fortune imply any more than that the Prosperity of Fools is to be imputed to their Fortune that of Wise men to their Merit that success do's commonly wait upon Vertue and Wisdom and nothing but an extraordinary Chance can turn it upon the Fool or Sinner thô all this while I understand Success in things necessary not superfluous for I cannot see how it can be any disparagement to Providence to turn that Plenty another way which would not like soft distilling Rains and Dew cherish refresh and increase the tender Plants Wisdom and Vertue but like a Flood wash away the Earth from their Roots and either utterly extirpate 'em or leave 'em oppress'd and buried in Rubbish If this were not true if the Experience as well as Reason of Mankind did not confirm it Men would not serve Apprentiships to Trades Men would not study Arts or Sciences Men would not strive with toil and hazard to make their Point but lazily and securely stay till Fortune rain its Golden Showers into their Laps By a Recapitulation of all that has been hitherto discours'd it may easily appear how far I have advanc'd in the proof of that Assertion I undertook to make Good namely that Happiness may be attain'd in this World I have shew'd that Religion doth no way obstruct our present Happiness that Duty of Mortification which it enjoyns not forbidding us to allow the World a proper place in our Esteem but to over-value it but to doat upon it not forbidding us the Enjoyment but abuse of the things of this World No man therefore will ever be able to prove that this Doctrine is injurious to our Happiness till he be able to convince us that 't is indispensibly necessary to our Happiness to doat upon these Temporal things and to be as irrational and intemperate in our Enjoyment of 'em as our Passion for 'em which he can never go about to do without contradicting not only reveal'd Truth but also the Universal Reason and Experience of Mankind I have in the next place shew'd that some are happier than others or at least less miserable That this Distinction of the Condition or state of Men is to be imputed to the Vertues of some and the Vices of others I have shew'd in the last place that the World abounds with good things that there is no Appetite nor Capacity of Man that may not find Objects proper and agreeable and such as in a great measure may delight and satisfie and that Man is endow'd with such a variety of faculties and senses that there is scarce any thing in all the variety of Beings the World contains which he is not capable of enjoying From whence it clearly follows That Man may be happy in the Enjoyment of these good things unless the Evil of life sour and imbitter the Good or the attainment of the Good be out of the Power of Man to remove all suspicion of both which I discours'd something thô briefly of the Nature of Evil and the Nature of Man evincing plainly the Impotence and Feebleness of the one and the Strength and Preparations of the other and for the Close of all I have endeavour'd to make it manifest that Good and Evil are not so much the Result of Time or Chance c. as the Necessary Consequence of Wisdom and Folly From all which the Conclusion that naturally arises is this That if Man be miserable 't is his own fault or which is all one a Man may be happy if he will which was the thing to be prov'd Let us try now by a Close Application of all that has been said to the Wants and Necessities of Mankind what the Evidence what the Conviction what the real use and force of this Discourse is I am unhappy I am miserable whoe're thou art that say'st so thou must needs mean one of these two things Thou do'st enjoy no good or art opprest with Evil If the latter I demand what Evil speak out speak plainly There are three sorts of Evils the Evils of the Mind the Evils of the Body the Evils of Fortune Which of those art thou opprest by The Evils of the Mind These are either sinful Passions or what is the Effect of them guilty Fears Nothing can compel thee to be wicked cease to be wicked and thou wilt cease to fear The Evils of the Body they are generally the Effect of unruly Passions and a disorderly Life and where they are not the Pleasures of the Mind will outweigh the Pains of the Body The Evils of Fortune 't is in thy Power whether these shall be really Evils or no they befall thy Possessions not thee the foolish and vicious Mind only suffers in these the Wise and Vertuous one is much above them 't is therefore thy own fault if thou be oppressed with Evil. But wilt thou say the former I enjoy no Good no satisfactory Good why is there no Good to be enjoy'd I have already prov'd the contrary and if I had not how easie were it here to do it there 's Truth to entertain thy Understanding Moral Perfections to delight thy Will Variety of Objects to treat thy senses the Excellencies of the visible and invisible World to be enjoy'd by thee why then do'st thou defer to live why do'st thou not begin to enjoy here 't is Evident that thou must be forc't to say one of these Two things either That thou art not capable of Enjoying these Blessings or that they are out of thy Reach out of thy Power to say thou art not capable of 'em is to re-renounce the faculties of thy Soul and the senses of thy Body to say they are out of thy Reach is in Effect to say that Vertue and Vice Wisdom and Folly are all one or which is every jot as absur'd that thou art wicked and sottish and can'st not help it And this is that indeed which in Effect all do say that accuse Fortune or Fate or Nature or any thing but themselves as the Causes of their Misery and yet as absur'd as this is it must be now examin'd because the Minds of Men are perverted and discourag'd by such Notions I will proceed therefore to the Third thing propos'd That is SECT III. To answer the Objections against the Attainment of Happiness THose who deny the Possibility of attaining Happiness in this Life are of two sorts First such who argue from Experience and Observation without troubling themselves to assign any Reason or Cause of what they affirm No man ever has
that of Plutarch so generally prais'd by all Writers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I had rather men should say of me there neither was nor is such a one as Plutarch than that they shou'd say that he was a man of a fickle unconstant froward revengeful and implacable temper Let us not therefore entertain such an Idea of God as Humane Nature would recoil from and start back pale and scared at the sight Let us not fasten those Characters upon God which a good-temper'd man if charg'd with 'em would look upon as the foulest Reproaches and most injurious Accusations Especially since a Defect is not only more Conspicuous but more Reproachful where there should be nothing but Perfection And Peevishness and Cruelty are infinitely more mischievous in an Almighty than Impotent Being I might shun Polycrates Dionysius Periander c. but how should I shun God I might leave Samos Sicily or Corinth and where Clemency and Justice made their Abode I might make mine But whither should I go what place should be my Refuge if the Governour of the World were but an Almighty Tyrant Thus 't is manifest such kind of Representations of God tend not to enamour Man of God but to alienate and estrange him they tend not to advance Religion but Superstition they tend to make Men dread God but not love him they are therefore to be banish't out of the World and God is to be represented such as our Dear Lord who lay in the Bosom of his Father has reveal'd him A God of Hope a God of Love a God who is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him This is the Dictate of Nature This is the Dictate of the Spirit God is Love Let it not be thought an absurd or barren Tautology thô I should recite this one Text a Thousand times oft'ner than I do for no Tongue can express the Divine Nature so much to the life as his who was inspir'd by the Spirit of God the Spirit of Love Nor let God's dealings with the Gentil World before the Revelation of Christianity be alledg'd as an Objection against the Goodness of God and his Tenderness and Compassion for Mankind Act. 14. and 17. 't is true God in times past suffer'd all Nations to walk in their own ways and the times of this Ignorance he winked at he published no reveal'd Law to the Gentiles from Heaven he deputed no Prophets to 'em as to his People the Jews with a Commission to restore by Signs and Miracles that Natural Religion conformably to which they were to Worship God which is the Import of those places of St. Paul and yet 't is true that the Belief of the Living and true God and the natural Law of Good and Evil was strangely effac'd and obliterated amongst the Gentils but notwithstanding all this it must be remembred too 1. That God left not himself without a witness in any age of Gentilism the Heathen were never destitute of so much Light as might have conducted 'em to God and that Happiness he design'd 'em for besides the Traditions transmitted from Noah to Posterity the Book of Nature and Providence was ever open to 'em and this did in most legible Characters assert the Being of one Supreme God and instructed 'em in the Knowledge of his Power and Goodness Thus St. Paul Acts 14. Nevertheless he left not himself without witness in that he did good and gave us Rain from Heaven and fruitful Seasons filling our hearts with Food and Gladness Nor was this Testimony so unsuccessful Sunt autem alii Philosophi hi quidem magni atque nobiles qui Deorum mente atque ratione omnem mundum administrari regi censeant neque verò id solum sed etiam ab iisdem vitae hominum consuli Provideri Nam fruges reliqua quae terra pariat tempestates ac tem porum Varietates coelique mutationes quibus omnia quae terra gignat maturata pubescant à Diis Immortalibus tribui generi humano putant Cic. l. 1. De Natura Deorum but that in all Ages there were some Excellent men who did ascribe the Original Government of the World to God and gave such an account of his Holiness and Goodness as was sufficient to have founded a Rational and Excellent Worship upon these were so many Lights shining in dark places as so many Justifications of Divine Providence and Reproaches of Man's wilful Stupidity 2. 'T is not in the least to be doubted but that the Nature of their Duty and consequently the Condition of their Happiness was Proportion'd and Conform'd to those Manifestations which God made 'em to those Obligations which he laid before 'em and to that Strength and Assistance which he Vouchsafed 'em for God is not a hard Master he will not make good the Accusation of the wicked Servant he will not take up what he laid not down Luk. 19. nor reap what he did not sow In a word if God do at the last Day deal with Men according to those several Oeconomies of his Providence which they were under and if he has afforded all Nations means proportionable to those Duties he requir'd of them and to those Degrees of Happiness to which he design'd them then he was always the God of the Gentiles as well as once of the Jews or now of the Christians and there is no one part in the whole series of Providence which can give us any Colour to call into question the Care or Goodness of God towards Mankind This I think is enough to remove this Objection as it lay in my way if my Design did not hasten me on and I did not judge this Satisfactory I could easily make appear God's Goodness to the Gentils by presenting the Reader with a Scheme of the Religion of the Pythagoreans Platonics and Stoics by examining the Difference of the Idolatry of the Wise and Vertuous part of the Gentil World and that of the sottish and vicious part of it by considering the Assistances that God vouchsafed 'em and giving an Account whence it came to pass that the Worship of one true God by Holiness and Vertue was so far stifled and oppress'd in the Gentil World But I have said enough to Vindicate the Goodness of God and the state of Gentils and Infidels do's not so nearly concern my present Enquiry as to deserve so exact a Discussion The Barrenness of some Countries the Servitude and Poverty of some People is a much slighter Objection for till it can appear that Poverty is an Enemy to Vertue or that Wealth which is the Instrument of Luxury and the Nurse of Sloth and Wantonness is absolutely necessary to Man's Happiness it will weigh but very little against so many Demonstrations of Divine Love that he has not heap'd upon all Nations so many Temporal Blessings as might put 'em into a Capacity of being Lazy Wanton and Insolent Now
practice of Excellent Men none were ever so much Favourites of Heaven that its Gifts grew up in 'em like Corn and Wine in the Golden Age without Culture or Dressing Inspiration it self did not exempt Man from the Necessity of Industry but oblige him to a greater Thus under the Old Testament a Prophetic life was a life of greater strictness and retirement than that of others and in the New not to mention the Watchings the Fastings the Retirements the Prayers of our Lord and Master that account of himself which St. Paul gives us will inform us not only what his life was but what it was expected the life of every one should be that shar'd with him in the Ministry and Dignity of an Apostle But in all things approving our selves as the Ministers of God in much Patience in Afflictions in Necessities in Distresses in Labours 2 Cor. 6. in Watchings By Pureness by Knowledge Amongst the Heathens whatever Perfection and Excellency they attributed to Humane Nature whatever they attributed to an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Contexture and frame of Nature more than Common whatever lastly they attributed to the favour the Extraordinary favour of God yet did they always judge a strict life and indefatigable Industry necessary to the acquiring of true Philosophy and Happiness their Pythagoras so dear to their Gods that it seem'd to be a doubt among'st 'em whether he were not himself a God incarnate not content to have been the Scholar first of Pherecydes Syrus and afterwards of Hermodamas travail'd first into Egypt and afterwards to Babylon and I know not whither pursuing Wisdom and Happiness with great Industry and as great Abstinence Socrates however inspir'd by his Genius did yet learn Musick of Connus Poetry of Evenus Agriculture of Ischomachus Geometry of Theodorus c. And to all this he added the Religious Discipline of Mortification even to a voluntary Poverty what should I multiply Instances there is not a Man amongst the Gentiles remarkable for Wisdom or Vertue that is not as remarkable for that Travail and Self-denyal by which he purchas'd both I add Self-denyal Industry alone being not judg'd sufficient for Secondly 'T is easie in the next place to infer from the Sanctity of God that they who expect his Assistance shou'd endeavour to be Good and Holy 't is Vertue that constitutes a Man a Subject of the Heavenly Kingdom and a Favourite of God and therefore 't is this that gives him the best Claim to his Protection and Patronage Vice is a state of Rebellion and Defiance against God and he that has put off his Allegiance cannot expect rationally the Benefits of that Government which he refuses to be under 'T is true the Infinite Goodness and Clemency of God which is not easily vanquish't by Man's Ingratitude may pursue such a Man with repeated overtures tenders of Grace and Pardon and may leave him in the possession of common Benefits such as Health Plenty Friends c. but God will never confer upon him the most Excellent Gifts the marks of his especial Presence and particular Favour he will withdraw from him the aids of his Spirit and leave him to himself a blind indigent and forlorn Creature Wisd 1. The Holy Spirit of Discipline will fly Deceit and will not abide when unrighteousness comes in Which is nothing more than what the Heathen by the Light of Nature did affirm concerning his Genius Max. Tyr. Dissert â—6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wicked Souls have no good Angels sojourning with 'em or presiding over them Our Souls like Temples must be prepar'd and consecrated to him if we would have God dwell in them Righteousness and Holiness are the only things that Charm and Captivate God nothing else can invite him to dwell with Man this very Reason Maximus Tyrius assigns for the Residence and abode of a Demon with Socrates after so extraordinary a manner Idem ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dost thou wonder that a Prophetic Spirit should dwell with Socrates so intimately united so friendly so inseparable that he seem'd only not mixt and become one with his own mind with Socrates whose Purity of Body Charity and Goodness of Soul strictness of Conversation depth of Judgment Melody and perswasiveness of Speech Religion towards God and Integrity towards Man rendred him worthy of such a Guest such a Friend From all which 't is Evident Thirdly What different Rates we are to set upon the different Gifts of God James â— Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down frâ—m above but every Gift is not equally Good equally Perfect being neither equally necessary nor profitable Wealth Power Friends Relations Health Strength Beauty Wit Discretion Vertue are all good but not all equal their value is different and therefore the Degrees of our Importunity and of our Faith or Reliance upon God must be proportion'd accordingly a confident Faith and an almost impatient Zeal doth well become us when we seek the Kingdom of Heaven and the Righteousness thereof when we seek of God the Divine gifts of Wisdom and Vertue but an humble Modesty and a most profound Submission is the Ornament and Beauty of those who are Petitioners for inferior temporal Blessings for God has promis'd the former to all that earnestly sue for them peremptorily and without any Tacit Reservations but his promises of the latter do always imply this Condition If they shall be for our Good for the Perfections of the Mind are Moral and Immutable Beauties but those of the Body and all the gaudy things of Fortune are like the fading Beauties of a Flower the heat scorches it the cold nips it every little chance cracks the stalk and the hand of a Child will serve to crop it Nothing therefore is more acceptable to God than the modesty of our Petitions for these good things and the fervency of them for the other nothing more delightful to him unless the granting of them the things therefore that we are to beg of God not only with the greatest Importunity but also in the first place are those which Maximus Tyrius thought the subject of Socrates his Prayers Max. Tyr. Dissert 30. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what were these a vertuous Mind a quiet State an unblameable Life and a chearful Death full of good Hopes These were the matter of his requests not Wealth or Honour or Popularity or Power or Soveraignty This at once brings to my thought another Objection rais'd against the possibility of attaining Happiness and instructs me how to answer it A Second thing which Men charge Obj. 2 with the guilt of their Ruine is Fortune I might pass over this Point slightly because Afflictions will come more properly to be consider'd in the Third Volume where I treat of Indolence and because I have already clear'd two great Truths which are of themselves abundantly sufficient to baffle and defeat this trifling Objection Namely First That Vertue and Vice Wisdom
good or ill-behaviour of Man to any thing rather than to God what Impiety But I have done I have sufficiently consider'd which way the stream of Authority runs and it evidently appears to be against all such Notions of Fate as put it out of a Man's Power to be Virtuous and Happy and determine his Sin and Misery wholly Necessary and unavoidable I will now proceed to consider Reason and Revelation against Fate Secondly What plain Reason and as plain Revelation do dictate in this point Thou dost believe Fate and therefore dost despair of Happiness Thy sense must be plainly this All is in the Power of Fate nothing in thine own there is nothing in thee to do that can contribute to make thee Vertuous or Happy Whence can this Necessity this Fate proceed there are but two Principles that were ever fancied to be the first Causes of all things God and Matter Dost thou believe this Necessity proceeds from Matter from the Motion of Atoms or the Influence of Stars This belief as St. Austin argues doth subvert the Foundation of all Religion for he who believes that he depends upon Fate not God can have no sufficient Reason for the Worship of that God on whom he hath no Dependence but this is that peradventure thou wouldst have well when thou art able to prove Reason and Understanding to derive themselves from senseless Atoms when thou can'st find out any kind of Natural Motion of Matter or Atoms which can be the Cause of Liberty or Freedom in the Will any Motion that can at once be Necessary for so all Motion of Atoms must be it of what kind it will and yet free too for such all my Deliberations and all my Choices I make prove the Motion of the Mind to be then I will acknowledge a Fate not only independent from but if thou wilt Superiour to God then I will forbear all farther attempts of Charity as vain and leave thee to thy Fate and Misery But these are Notions so absurd in themselves that no Similitudes no Arguments can make 'em appear one jot more ridiculous or irrational than they do to all Men of sense at the first hearing There are some Errors as well as Truths that are self-evident there needs no Demonstration to convince us that the one are Errors and the other Truths and of this kind are the Errors we are speaking of if a Man should assert that Death is the Original of Life that senseless Matter gives Being to an Understanding Mind that Necessity is the Parent of Liberty and such like it were an unpardonable weakness in any Man to think that such assertion did stand in need of a laborious Confutation But there are who suppose God the Author of all things and yet suppose Events fatal too the former Opinion was ridiculous this is impious for suppose Mankind fatally guided by the Influence of the Stars and these Stars to have received this Power and Energy from God is it not natural for every Man to break out into the words of St. Austin Aug. de C. D. l. 5. c. 1. Illi verò qui positionem Stol larum quodammodo decernentium qualis quisque sit quid ei proveniat boni quidve mali accidat ex Dei voluntate suspendunt si easdem stellas putant habere hanc potestatem traditam sibi à summâ illius potestate ut volentes ista decernant magnam Coelo faciunt Injuriam in Cujus velut Clarissimo senatu ac Splendidissima Curiâ scelera facienda decerni qualia si aliqua terrena Civitas decrevisset genere humano decernente fuerat evertenda How outragiously do these Men reproach Heaven whilst they believe those Crimes and Villanies decreed by that August Senate and glorious Court in Heaven which had any City upon Earth decreed it had deserv'd to have been damn'd by the Common Vote and raz'd to the ground by the united Arms of Mankind When I consider that the Stars are the Work of God that their Order and Motion was prescrib'd by him that whatever Vigour and Efficacy they have they have received it from him and then Remember that God is a most infinitely kind and good Being I shou'd easily suffer my self to be perswaded that they could shed no influence upon this lower World but what were extreamly beneficial to it that they could have no Aspects but what were favourable and benign I could easily believe that all the Inclinations they form in the Body if they form any could be no other than Innocent and Vertuous I can never believe that Lust or Falshood Malice or Cruelty can come down from above or that our Minds should be impregnated with Sin and Folly by the Influences of Heaven No certainly if there be any Vertue in the Stars that extends it self to Man it must rather be the seed of Life and Health and Vertue than of Diseases Death or Vice Antiq. Lect. l. x. c. 20. I can easily fall in with the opinion of those Learned Men in Coelius Rhodiginus who thought that that Vertue of Coelestial Bodies which tended of it self to excellent Ends was marred and perverted by a vitious Education And so the Gravity of Saturn did degenerate into Sullenness Niggardliness and Melancholy The Magnanimity of Mars into Rashness and Fool-hardiness The Sharpness and Sagacity of Mercury into mischievous Craft and deceitful Subtilty The Sweetness and Gentleness of Venus into filthy Lust and so on And this Thought does well become every one that pretends to any Religion whether Revealed or Natural for this is Consonant to the excellency of the Divine Nature But this sort of Fate springing from the Influence of any Natural Bodies is not only repugnant to Reason but to our Sense and Experience for nothing is more plain than this that any such Influence cannot affect the Mind but through the Body and we do frequently find our Reason asserting its Power and Dominion against all the force and strength of the Body Nor doth Reason only but in every Nation Law and Custom triumph over the strongest Inclinations of Nature As the Innocence of the Seres the Chastity of those in Arabia and Osroene the Abstinence of the Brachmans and numerous Instances which he that pleases may see in Bardesanes the Syrian and others does abundantly manifest that their manners are the Effects not of the Influence of those Planets that Rule their Birth but of those Laws and Customs that Rule their Countrey Since therefore that Necessity which our Natural Tempers and Inclinations do impose upon the Mind is the utmost Fate that we can imagine to proceed from the Influence of any Natural Bodies 't is Nonsense to suppose that Fate insuperable or incontroulable which we see baffled and defeated every day and in every Nation The sum of those Reasons I have offer'd against Fate is this If we make God the Author of it we impiously Charge him with what is repugnant to his Nature for a Good
Power I attribute to Man I acknowledge deriv'd from God I will therefore with good Assurance proceed and try whether I cannot take in and demolish this Fort which stops our way to Happiness They who affirm a great part of Mankind incapable of Vertue forget that they dishonour God whilst they reproach their Nature for were it so To what End could we imagine such Men endow'd with Reason and Understanding not to worship but defie their Maker and was it for this End that they were made immortal too had God made Man only to take his Pastime in the World like the Leviathan in the Waves such a Soul as that which moves the Fish of the Sea or the Beasts of the Earth a Sensitive Soul had been most proper for this End Then might he have enjoy'd himself without Reluctancy without Controul without Remorse without Shame what can be the proper work of a rational Creature to which you allow not a Capacity of Vertue and Religion till you can shew me this I can never believe that God shou'd endow Man with a Rational and Immortal Mind out of any other Design than such a one as might become such a Being Created after his own Image which is the Practice of Holiness and Vertue But what shou'd I wonder that Men shou'd not be aware of their contradicting Reason when they seem to be insensible of that Contradiction even to the common Sense and Experience of Mankind which they are guilty of To what purpose are there so many Schools of Learning and good Manners founded To what purpose are there so many Treatises of the Education of Youth writ To what purpose does the wakeful Parent strive to inculcate the Seeds of Vertue into the Child and train him up by a wise Discipline to the Practice and Custom of Vertue To what purpose is the proposal of Rewards and Punishments and the Restraint of Laws if either they do not raise those Hopes and Fears they aim at or if Hopes and Fears be altogether useless and ineffectual if no Instruction no Discipline can mould and fashion rough unpolish't crooked incorrigible Nature Now here thô any Man might have confidence enough to disparage the judgment of Mankind and attribute all the Pains they take in the Education of Youth or the Government and Direction of riper Years to Custom not to right Reason yet surely he wou'd not so far disparage his own Observation and Knowledge as utterly to deny the success of these means for not to instance in particulars 't is not unknown to any one the least vers'd in the History of the World that there have been National Vertues as well as Vices That there have been times wherein Learning and Religion have been as much in Fashion and Reputation as Wickedness and Barbarism in others shall we say those Nations those times bred none of those Natures which the Objector affirms are uncapable of Vertue Let 'em shew what Heavenly Influences what miraculous Power produc'd this Change in Nature what shou'd I urge the Power of vain and false principles the mighty force even of irrational Customs vanquishing those Inclinations which are more deeply rooted more closely interwove with our Blood and Spirits than any Inclination to Vice and Folly can be Such are for Example the love of Life and the Abhorrence of Pain and yet what a Contempt of Death is to be found even in the most timorous Sex as in the Indian Women what a Contempt of Pain even in the weakest Age as in the Spartan Youth And all this having no stronger Foundation than irrational Custom and vain Phantastic Principles why shou'd we therefore be unwilling to attribute to excellent Principles and vertuous Customs blessed and aided by Heaven as much Power and Vertue as we do to such as these if the Natural tendencies of Man to wickedness can be curbed if his most furious and violent Passions can be restrain'd and stifled then I think it may be as reasonably suppos'd that Divine Truths Religious Discipline together with the Grace of God may effect this as any thing else whatever If the pressing Necessities and Perplexities of the State could change the softness and luxury of Otho into Military Hardship and Courage I know not why a rational sense of the true Honour and Glory of Vertue and of our Eternal Interest and innumerable other Considerations which the Gospel lays before us Christians shou'd not be able to work the same wonders if the Reverence of Seneca or the Senate or any other Motive could produce a Quinquennium Neronis could restrain the violent Inclinations of that wretched Man so that his Government for so many years should be as gentle and just as that of the most Gracious and Vertuous Princes why should not the Reverence of God and the Terrors of Eternity be able to awe and curb the most vicious Nature This methinks ought well to be weigh'd by all who assert Man's Impotence and Incapacity of Vertue they disparage the Gospel and reproach Grace as well as Man with Impotence and Insufficiency and yet both the one and the other is the Power of God and that in order to Salvation do you Consider that if you suppose Man by Nature unable to do any thing that is Good and then deny him and utterly debar him from God's Grace you introduce Fate for what more fatal Necessity can a wretched Creature lie under than Natural Impotence utterly destitute and for ever forsaken of Divine Assistance or if you bereave not Man of Grace but yet bereave Grace of its Sufficiency do you not understand that the fatal Necessity continues still the same there is no Change in the Man's Condition only in this Hypothesis Grace is dishonoured and reproach't as well as Nature and this reflects very rudely too upon God it calls the Wisdom the Goodness the Sincerity the Power of God into Dispute 't is inconsistent with the Power of God not to be able by his Spirit and Truth to subdue and over-power the Corruptions of Nature 't is Inconsistent with his Goodness not to be willing to aid his poor Creatures when they call upon him inconsistent with his Sincerity to afford 'em such aid as must tend to their greater mischief not good as Grace its self wou'd if it were only sufficient to increase their Guilt but not to subdue their Sin This were indeed when a Child ask't Bread to give him a Stone Matth. 7. and when he ask't Fish to gie him a Scorpion 'T is lastly as inconsistent with the Wisdom of God to confer Grace to no purpose as it was with his Goodness to confer it to an ill one These with many others are the absurd Consequences which attend the Denyal of the Vniversality or Sufficiency of Grace but if on the other hand we do grant that God Almighty is ready to assist every Man who calls on him in his Endeavours after Vertue and Happiness and that his Assistance is sufficient to
it is that a Rational Education and wise Conversation ought to design and aim at if our Conformity to Reason be either the Happiness of this present Life or the Immediate Cause of it for I will not trouble my self with Nice and subtle Distinctions in Moral Discourses then 't is plain that we are oblig'd to such a kind of Discipline and Government of our selves as may render the Body most Obsequious to the Mind and may exalt and establish the Power and Dominion of Reason for whatever tends to obscure our Understanding to enfeeble the Will to cherish our sensual Inclinations and augment their force and violence doth so far Necessarily tend to deprave the Nature of Man and to subvert and o'rethrow his Happiness and from hence it appears that the Excellence of Education consists in possessing the Minds of Youth with wise Principles with true Notions of Good and Evil and informing and moulding their Minds into an Esteem and veneration for Wisdom and Vertue The first Vertue I conceive a Child capable of is Obedience and this is indeed the Foundation of all Vertue to this let him be inur'd and train'd up betimes he that finds it easie to obey another's Reason will not find it difficult to obey his own for when the judgment comes to be form'd and ripen'd when it comes to exercise its Authority it will find a Body not us'd to give but receive Commands from this vertue of Obedience he is to be led gently on to a Rational and voluntary Choice of what is good he must be taught gradually not only his plain Duty but the Motives to it for it is as necessary to his Happiness that he should love as that he should know his Duty But this we strive in vain to instill by Art and Instruction if we do not instill it by the Influence and Authority of wise and excellent Examples too As to Conversation 't is plain that it ought to be the Practice of those Vertues which a Pious Education instill'd and that we ought to have no less Reverence for our Reason when we are at our own Disposal and under our own Government than we had for the Authority of our Parents when we were under their's what ought to be the tie and Ligaments of Friendship what the Rules of Conversation and what the great Ends of Society is abundantly manifest from the Nature of that Happiness which it behoves us to propose as the great End of Life what is the great End of Man ought to be the Design of Society and therefore 't is plain that Wisdom and Vertue ought to be the foundation and bond of those Friendships which we enter into voluntarily and of Choice That Conversation shou'd be so regulated that we may grow by it more Wise and Vertuous or at least that our Discourse if it be not profitable shou'd be innocent and that we shou'd do and say nothing in Company which we shou'd have Reason to blush at or repent of in private I have now finish't this Discourse which I design'd only as an Introduction to or Preparative for those which are to follow I do not think that 't is now Necessary for me in a Pathetic Conclusion to perswade Men to endeavour to be Happy the Desires of Happiness are inseparable from all Beings at leastwise 't is impossible to be Rational and not desire to be Happy if I have therefore sufficiently prov'd that 't is possible to be Happy and if I have shew'd that a diligent Enquiry a vigorous and persevering Industry is Necessary to the Attainment of it if I have pointed out the general Causes of Humane Misery and together with 'em their general Cure and Remedy I have done enâ—ugh to enkindle those Desires beget those Resolutions in my Reader which if they do not make him actually Happy will at least dispose and prepare him for a further Enquiry after Happiness which was the utmost design of these Papers I have therefore nothing more to put him in mind of now but this That as I do all along suppose the Grace of God Necessary to second and inforce our Reason so I would ever be understood to urge and press the Necessity of our Prayers as much as that of our Endeavours the Fervency of the one as much as the Sincerity of the other FINIS