with Socinians Jews and Mahometans upon occasion For here the true God is worshipped and many Points of Morality are taught If this Liberty is too large then we must stand off in the present Case for here both the Meeting and the Matter are unlawful The Meeting because Schismatical The Matter for the Reasons above mentioned For if Deposing of Kings and Dispensing with Oaths and resolving Conscience into Public Good that is Convenience are not Tenents of a flaming Malignity the distinctions of Right and Wrong are unintelligible And to cut off all Excuse the Evil is as throughly incorporated and as Solemnly avow'd in the latter Case as in the other and therefore it must be equally impossible to make a Separation However I am loath to leave my Church You say well But can you expect to find the Church where its peculiar Doctrins are disown'd where its Authority is opposed and betrayed to the Secular Power Does the Being of a Church consist in Brick and Stone what would you do if Jupiter was worshipped there I hope the Chiming of the Bells would not draw you to the Service of the Idol If 't is urged that we may be so planted as to want the Advantage of an Orthodox Pastor what is to be done in such Circumstances must we Pray alone without the Assistance of Preist or Congregation To this Question after what has been said I think the Proverb a sufficient Return Better be alone then in ill Company If 't is farther objected that by this Principle we may lose the Benefit of the Blessed Sacrament To this I answer 1. That this Objection is oftentimes no more then Pretence For if People would take that Pains which the Regard to the Institution requires it seldom happens but they might receive it from proper Hands But 2. I answer that breaking the Unity of the Church by Schismatical Communion and making our selves partakers of other mens Sins 1 Tim. 5. 22. is a bad Preparation for the Sacrament To break a Moral Law for a Positive Ordinance tho never so valuable looks like robbing in order to Sacrifice And therefore when the Case is truly put a pious Desire of Receiving will be Equivalent to the Thing This being an allowed Rule in Instances of Necessity So that we can't be said to lose the Benefit of the Blessed Sacrament tho' we are not so happy as to partake in the Administration I confess this Branch of Modern Conformity has it's Advantages It keeps a Mars Honesty oftentimes from breaking out to his Prejudice 'T is a Pass-port to Business and a Protection to Trade And therefore 't is well if there is not something besides Religion at the Bottom However let the Intention be never so Sincere 't is no Warrant for an unlawful Practice Well! Tho' we are barr'd the usual Place yet we are not discharged from the Worship Let us not live like Independent Beings as if there was no Duty owing to God Almighty no Benefit in public Communion nor any effect of our Saviour's Promise to his Church Who the Apostle tells us gave Apostles and Pastors and Teachers For the Perfecting of the Saints for the Work of the Ministery and for the edifying of the Body of Christ. Let us take Care we don't overlook their Mission and loose the Advantage of their Office Always remembring that those who refuse the Means must fail of the End God grant none of our Freinds Mismanage these Church Distractions That they don't make their Orthodoxy a Colour for their Profaneness nor pretend an aversion to the Churches that they may go no whither with the better Grace As if it was a desirable Condition to be quit of the Fatigue of Prayers and deliver'd from the Discipline of the Pulpit and enfranchized from the Servitude of Religion To have our Time and our Conscience and our Sins to our selves without the least interruption or Reproof These are sad Privileges both in the quality and consequence and serve only to lay Men asleep in a fatal Security till they awake in those Flames which burn for ever Let us therefore be governed by the Apostles Advice and not forsake the Assembling our selves as the manner of some is I am sure the Occasion calls for the best Appearance of Religion for all the Aids of Union and Solemnity We see in what a Tempest the Nation is tossed What a Torrent overbears all Regards both Human and Divine Neither Nature nor Obligation Crown nor Mitre Law nor Gospel can stand before it No moral Difficulty can stop its Passage It breaks through all the Oppositions of Blood Heights of Station and Defences of Right So that now if ever we may make the Prophets complaint Truth is fallen in the Streets and Equity cannot enter And when this Civil Chaos will Settle He only knows who brings Light out of Darkness and Order from Confusion And a Consideration no less sad then the rest is the Infatuation which lyes upon Mens Spirits How they call Evil Good and Good Evil. How they dote on their Delusion and are enamour'd of their Disease and like those stung with a Tarantula expire in Pleasure And is it not an uncomfortable prospect to see Men seized with such a fatal Eethargy that neither Honour nor Interest Reason nor Sense this World nor the Other can work upon them Since They have so little Care of themselves do they not stand more in need of a Foreign Assistance Let our Charity equalize their Rigours and if 't is possible exceed them Let us intercede for them at the Throne of Grace and joyn in the Church's Devotion That God would bring into the way of Truth all such as have erred and are deceived And what Success soever our Charity may have the Office is Christian and Generous Besides we ought to apply for our own Security and lift up our Prayers for the Remnant that is left 2 King 19. 4. Thirdly and Lastly Our Behaviour ought to be remarkable for Resolution and decent Assurance Honesty without Courage is impracticable This Virtue of Fortitude is a Guard to all the rest without which they lye defenceless and exposed He that commands anothers Fears commands his Actions for what won't a Man do to escape an Evil he believes intollerable And as we are obliged to keep our Ground and retain our Integrity so we should do it in a posture of Hope and with an Air of Satisfaction To languish and repine and grow disconsolate looks as if we were weary of well doing it doubles the Misfortune and carrys danger in the Symptom God has given us the Post of Honour are we not to maintain it with a suitable Behaviour To suffer chearfully abates the Anguish and adds Strength and Lustre to the Virtue Let us keep our Thoughts easy our Imagination bright and our Spirits supported with the Justice of the Cause To be able to abide the shock has a great deal of Pleasure as well as Trouble in it
they will but settle their Notion right 'T is true where the Irregularity lyes chiefly in the Meanness of the Action it may not be improper to engage our Honour to bar a Suspicion of ungenerous Dealing But in other Cases for Men to set aside the Obligation of Duty and to lay the main Strèss upon pretended Honour for when 't is parted from Conscience 't is no better is both dangerous and unreasonable To alledge their Honour as the principal Reason why they can't break their Word or falsifie their Trust or do any other ill Thing has a very suspicious Meaning 'T is in effect to confess that we either believe no Religion or are ashamed to own it As if it were a Disparagement to be governed by the Interests of another Life and to profess our selves dependent upon God Almighty According to these Men Conscience should be an ill bred Ungentlemanly Pretence and therefore we must have a Care how we use it It seems we may practise Vice as well as Virtue Provided we could do it with as good a Grace Yes Opinion and Mode and Custom must be the Standart of our Behaviour and the great Rule of our Conduct For to be tyed up to the Strictnesses of Religion is enough to disoblige a Man's Quality and to make him cheap and contemptible That some People have such extravagant Notions of Honour is past Dispute otherwise they would not make it Paramount to Reason and Justice and set it above the Laws of God and Man as in many Cases 't is plain they do There are a sort of Men who would gladly have the Pleasure as they count it of a Libertine Practice without the Infamy This makes them sollicitous to confound the Notions of Good and Evil to cover the Deformities of Vice and take it into their Protection Thus Whoredom is so far from suffering the Censures of Religion that a Man is scarce thought a Jot the worse for it or his Reputation at all tranish'd by such a Liberty Hence it is counted more Honourable not to pay our Debts than to sink our Figure to commit Murther than to put up a disobliging Expression Thus Luxury and Licentiousness and Pride the Reproaches of Reason and the Blemishes of Human Nature are by too many made the Accomplishments of a Cavalier In short Honour as it is commonly understood is nothing more than the Custom of Men of Figure which makes it in some Cases no better than fashionable Pride 'T is govern'd by the Maxims and Examples of Courts and Camps where People are not always the strictest either in Life or Reasoning Honour in this Notion aims more at Appearances than Things and had rather make a great Show than do a great Action It 's principal End is Reputation without distinguishing upon the Means Which at the highest carrys Men no farther than to an Indifferency to Good or Evil either of which they choose accordingly as they find it fashionable 'T is true Honour when it wears it's proper Character and is under the Government of Virtue is a Noble Quality It warms the Mind with a generous Heat and is a vigorous Principle of Action 'T is a Guard to Decency and a Spur to Glory It hardens Fortitude and secures Constancy it ripens Improvement and pushes Men on to the Extent of Bravery and Greatness But when 't is counterfeited or mistaken when 't is resigned up to undistinguishing Custom when 't is tinctur'd with Pride and scorns to be govern'd by Law or Religion then 't is a dangerous and unreasonable Guide and ought to have neither Credit in our Opinion nor Influence on our Practice 3. To Consider may imply an Enquiry whether our Behaviour is suitable to the present Occasion And here before I descend to particulars I shall observe that we ought to be strictly regular in our whole Conversation Thus much the general Obligation of Religion will require of us We must walk before God with a perfect Heart and take no wicked thing in hand but have respect to all his Commandments For whoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one Point is guilty of all He affronts the Majesty of the Legislator and sins against the Authority upon which the whole subsists and therefore is lyable to the Penalty of the Sanction Conscience is a Universal Principle reaches to all Points of Morality and obliges to be holy in all manner of Conversation And as Christianity binds us to a general Obedience so one would think the Decency of such a Conduct should engage our Endeavours A Virtue equally spread and well pursued is not only a secure but an ornamental Practice 'T is Uniformity and Proportion which makes things look great and graceful To see a Life thus all of a piece argues the Lines were struck out by a Masterly hand and finish'd with Art and Application But to divide between Virtue and Vice and fly out into Inconsistency and Contradiction makes a Man appear particoloured and monstrous This is Building with one hand and pulling down with the other and proceeds from Neglect Impotence and Irresolution all mean and disparaging Qualities But if Honour cannot affect us I hope Necessity will We should remember God will not allow us the Breach of any of his Laws The doing one part of our Duty is no Dispensation to transgress another for God givâ—s no Man a Licence to Sin Rebellion is not the only damning Sin no more then the Plague is the only Mortal Distemper If we are true to the King and false to God Almighty if we keep the Oath of Allegiance and break that of Baptism if we decline solemn Perjury and are guilty of Common Swearing our Case must be miserable hereafter Loyal Intemperance and Loyal Whoredom are monstrous things in Religion where the gaudy Epithite will never excuse the Lewdness of the Practice If we indulge our selves these Liberties how much soever we may stand off from Rebels in this World we shall meet them in the next And that we may not think the Case aggravated let us hear St. Paul Know ye not says he that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither fornicators nor adulterers nor effeminate nor theives nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilerâ— nor extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God Farther an immoral Behaviour disserves the Interest we intend to promote It makes the ignorant suspect the Justice of the Cause and helps to fortify the fatal Mistake To live without Regard to the Restraints of Religion dishonours a Party and makes it neither loved nor feared Such an abandon'd Licentiousness is enough one would think to blast the best Design to unbless the most warrantable Undertaking and to keep off the assistance of Heaven We see therefore how much we are obliged to a general Regularity both for our own sakes and that of the public but more especially the occasion will call upon us not to fail in the following
Particulars 1. We should remember to contract our Expences and retrench from the usual Entertainments of Life To exceed the Proportions of Nature and Decency is always a great Fault To what purpose should a Man exhaust himself in Superfluities and run out into Equipage and Show Does it improve his Understanding or extend his Sences or prolong his Life or give him any real Advantage in Mind or Body To labour so much to be taken notice of looks as if a Man was conscious of his own Littleness for who would be at all this charge to grow considerable if he thought himself so without it 'T is true the Vulgar must have some sensible Advantage to strike their Organ and therefore those who bear a Public Character are allow'd to enlarge their Figure in Proportion to their Authority But private Circumstances tho' never so much raised in other respects can have none of this Pretence And as for the Luxury of Eating and Drinking t is a meaner Vice and altogether as unreasonable as the other These Excesses are degrading Entertainments and either find Men Little or make them So. They are likewise destructive of their own Design for by over-proportioned Supplys they oppress the Sense and strangle the Pleasure and in a short time destroy the Body they pretend to cherish In a Word Vanity and Intemperance would have no Excuse tho we lived in Paradise and our Neighbours had no manner of need of our Assistance But there are some Circumstances of Peculiar Aggravation and which as the Apostle speaks make Sin exceeding sinful We should do well to consider the Condition of those who suffer in the common Cause With what Difficulties do they retain their Integrity and how do they struggle under the Weight of Poverty Poverty not occasioned by Idleness or Luxury not by their own Fault but by that of others Like Mariners in a Storm they were forced to throw their Goods overboard that they might save themselves And put to the trying necessity either of parting with their Conscience or Fortunes with this World or a better And can we overlook those who suffer thus nobly for Religion and Law for Integrity and Honour Can we abandon so deserving a Distress and leave it to languish without Assistance or Regard Ought we not rather to deny our Inclinations and substract even from Convenience and labour with our own Hands that we have to give to him that needs Is this a time to indulge our Vanity and riot in Excess Can't we baulk the Extravagance of Fancy upon such pressing Occasions Does none remember the Afflictions of Joseph Is Sobriety such an intollerable Penance and had we rather starve our Friends than our Vices What! Have we drown'd all Sympathy and Sense of the general Misfortune and drank away both the Power and the Inclination to do Good To disable our selves by any vitious expence when the Necessities of our Neighbours call so loudly for our Assistance discovers an ungovernable Sensuality or a wretched Indifference for the Cause it aggravates the Guilt and enflames the Account In a Word To consume that upon our Lusts which ought to be managed for the Support of Virtue devoted to Charity and dedicated to Religion is in effect to rob God Almighty and swell Profuseness into Sacrilege 2. We should omit no Opportunities for Religious Duties I don't mean that we should frequent unlawful Assemblies and run after every Altar without Distinction For in St. Paul's Question what Communion has Light with Darkness what Concord has Unity with Schism and what Agreement has Loyalty with Rebellion 'T is true What the same Apostle observes concerning other Sinners is in some Measure the Case concerning Revolters We must either keep Company with them or go out of the World But this Liberty without doubt reaches no farther than accidental Meetings and common Conversation and secular Business For certainly we are not to countenance their Prevarications and joyn with them in their Defection Is it an Instance of Religion to pray for the Prosperity of Wickedness to put up Treasonable and Parricidal Devotions and to implore God to renounce his Nature and his Laws Are we indeed obliged to wait upon Schism to the Altar to help to consecrate the Revolt and to pray against our Conscience and Inclinations What Opinion the New Guides may have of these Performances I don't pretend to determine because I can't tell how far Prejudices may operate nor to what degree Mens Understandings may be disturbed But I am well assured I have not only represented the Truh of the Case but the Sence of the Royallists whose Grounds must oblige them to think thus of the Revolution Prayers And therefore I wonder upon what Basis the Mystery of a double Communion stands There is no countenance for it in Scripture that I can learn 'T is true the Prophets were sent to the ten Tribes after their Departure from the Temple Service but then we don't read they approved Jeroboams Preists complyed with his State Religion or were present at the Worship of the Calves This Politic Scheme is sufficiently condemn'd and a Mark set upon the Introducer And as for the Seven Thousand in Israel who are mention'd with Approbation we may observe they had not bowed their Knees to Baal nor gone into the reigning Apostacy Besides for ought we know they might acknowledg the Authority of the High-Priest tho the Frontiers being guarded they could not present themselves at the Temple-Solemnities And if this was their Case They were in all Equity within the Jerusalem-Communion This we are sure that they either absented from Jeroboam's Assemblys or they were exceedingly to blame as appears from many Places of Scripture If we pass from Scripture to Antiquity we shall find this Opinion as little supported as before The Christians of those earlier and better Ages denyed their Communion to the Arrian Hereticks the Novatian Schismatics and to the Rebellious Bishops under the Usurper Maximus Let us proceed from Authority to Reason Either we frequent these Revolted Churches to joyn with them or not If not to what purpose do we go thither If we do we should do well to consider how we can joyn with them in Sin and avoid the Punishment If any Man defends himself by saying he does not assent to the exceptionable Part of the Prayers to this I Answer that the Notion and Design of a Religious Meeting implies Union and Consent in the Assembly as far as the Worship extends especially when the Service is Regulated by a Form so that every one may know before Hand what they are to expect This Consent I say is supposed in the Nature of the Thing and enjoyn'd by the Rubrick of the Church which obliges all the Laity to say Amen to every Petition Once more either we may joyn in a sinful Communion because of the Mixture of Good in it or we may not If the first then what hinders us from Uniting