enim virtus est non quae relinqueret naturam sed quae tueretur Ib. Lib. 4. § 15. In homine Summa omnis Animi est in Animo Rationis ex qua virtus est quae Rationis Absolutio definitur Ib. Lib. 5. § 14. Virtus eadem in homine ac Deo est est autem Virtus nihil aliud quam perfecta ad Summum perducta natura est igitur homini cum Deo similitudo Lib. de Leg. § 8. So that Vertue was never esteemed that precarious Thing this Author has Suggested the publick Reputation of any Action was never the measure of Vertue but Right Reason and the Frame Ends and Interests of our Beings else it 's impossible Vertue in Men should be the same with Vertue in God and Men to resemble God in it as this Author excellently expresses himself From all this it 's manifest that Vertue was rather esteemed the Standard or Measure of Praise than Praise of Vertue and that Honour or Praise was never extolled or appealed to but as it is the Product of Vertue and a kind of reward to it Thus much this Author could not be Ignorant of when the Moralist explains the very passage he has cited almost with the same Breath and makes it a description of the chiefest Humane Good that consists in Vertue or is attained by it Quod ipsum sit optandum per se à Virtute profectum vel in ipsâ virtute situm suâ sponte laudabile Tusc Quaest lib. 2. § 20. If this will not content him I shall refer him to another passage that speaks out what I have already asserted and will instruct him that Vertue is the Measure of Praise not Praise of Vertue Omnis honos omnis admiratio omne studium ad virtutem ad eas actiones quae virtuti sunt consentaneae refertur Eaque omnia quae aut ita in animis sunt aut ita geruntur uno nomine honesta dicuntur Lib. 5 de Fin. § 21. This if I mistake not is to define Honour by Vertue not Vertue by Honour or Reputation as Mr. Lock would have it Upon the whole then I presume it appears that this Law of Opinion has no more foundation in the received principles of Morality than there 's necessity for the invention that it practises as much injustice upon the ancient Advocates for Morality as it discovers Impertinence or Evil design in the Author and in a Word it 's so miserably destitute of Solid Argument or Principle to support it that nothing but the fashionable Immoralities of a degenerate Age can assert its truth or Authority CHAP. XVI Of the Nature of Conscience in General I Shall not much enlarge on the Notion of Conscience which imports the knowledge of the Line of Duty and a directing Power or Faculty to consider the Nature of those Actions we are about to execute by applying 'em to the Line of Duty This is a truth so well known that no one can dispute it that allows the use of Reason or make us creatures that can act by a Law or are capable of being Governed by it The principal enquiry then is concerning Conscience with respect to past Actions And first it's a truth I presume universally agreed upon that Man is endued with a Power of Retaining and reflecting on his own actions The retentive Faculty is abundantly maintained upon the Power of Memory and the Power of Reflection is founded in the very Power of Reason For to Reflect and Animadvert upon our thoughts is undoubtedly an Act of Reason and Thought And therefore as Man acts upon Thought Deliberation and Argument he cannot but be conscious that he thinks deliberates and argues and consequently that he acts pursuant to it Indeed I presume to think deliberate and Act and to consider or know that we think deliberate or act thus and thus are two distinct acts of the Mind but whether we think and deliberate and reflect upon our Thoughts in the same or different Moments is no way prejudicial to the Doctrine of Consciousness To proceed then as we can reflect so we can animadvert upon the nature of past Actions for those very faculties that enable us to deliberate and judge of the Nature of an Action before it is executed will enable us to pass as clear if not much better judgment upon it after 't is over For then we view it in all its Aspects Circumstantials and Appendages Now certainly Conscience contains both these Powers in it I mean a Power of Recollecting and a Power of Animadverting on the Nature of our past Actions for without such inspecting Powers it 's impossible there can be any such thing as Conscience But then that which gives us the principal and formal Notion of Conscience is a Power of trying the Nature of our Actions by some Law or Rule of Action Whatever the Nature of Moral Good and Evil may be I mean whether it consists in the conformity of our Actions to a Law or Rule or their disagreement from it certain I am the Acts or Powers of Conscience imply the examination of an Action with reference to a Law or indispensable Rule of Action whereby it carries the appearance of a Duty or not a Duty For Conscience undoubtedly implies a Condemning and absolving Faculty in it and these are exercised with respect to Duty and Duty arises from the Obligation of a Law So that Conscience is undoubtedly the measure of our Actions by a Law Indeed this is so much the formal Notion of Conscience that it runs thro' all the instances and exercitations of Consciences for they are no otherwise distinguished than by the different Laws that Regulate them as from a Law of Nature Law of Revelation or Civil Polity But then in order to the passing an Absolution or Censure on our Actions and our selves for them by a Rule there must be a Power of Acting Conformable to this Law or Rule for without this the Action with its Effects and Consequences cannot be imputed to us This is implyed in the very notion of a Law being a Rule proposed to Rational Creatures that have a Power to Act or not Act on Rational Motives and Convictions so that Conscience contains a great many different movements or workings in it First A Power of Retaining Secondly A Power of Animadverting or Reflecting on past Actions Thirdly A Power of applying and comparing them with a Law or Rule Fourthly A Power of discerning the Truth Goodness or Equity of the Rule Fifthly The Obligation and Authority of it and Lastly A Power of ascribing the Action to our selves by acknowledging a Power of Acting in Conformity to this Rule whereby the Good or Evil Guilt or Merit of the Action may be some way imputed to us So that Conscience may be justly defined to be the Judgment we pass upon our own Actions whether past or present as scanned and measured by a Law But now tho' a Law in general is assigned for
Affection I 'm sure the primitive Impotence in which Providence has decreed Mankind to be brought forth loudly instructs us we should exert it in the most affectionate Methods of Preservation In a word A parental Care and Affection is so clearly pointed out as a Duty even by the Dictates of Natural Reason that the perpetual Reproaches which the Care and Conduct of senseless Brutes throw upon the Neglect of it are one would think Punishment or Motive sufficient to enforce the Observance of it And therefore where such natural Bowels of Compassion are wanting it 's an infallible Indication that the Mind is desperately sunk in Barbarity And now let the Latitudinarian endeavour to overturn this Branch of a Law of Nature by trumping up some unnatural Cruelties among the Greeks yet I think it rests upon an unshaken Foundation and therefore before he Rejects it upon such a slender Suggestion let him consider that there are some few Monsters among Brutes that instead of Preserving destroy their own Off-spring And as there are some among this Order so God may to make known the Power of his Name suffer some Monsters among Men without injuring a Law that is established with so much Evidence and Solemnity § 2. I proceed in the second place to consider the Foundation and Original of filial Reverence and Duty And first I think a parental Care and Tenderness in fencing us from Cold and Nakedness and giving us a liberal Education when without the first we must have perished in our own Impotence is sufficient if once applied to the Mind and attended to to dictate the highest Tokens of Reverence if not Duty A sense of such inestimable Benefits upon the first Convictions of Reason are sufficient to induce an Obligation to make suitable Returns to 'em and I think nothing less than that Honour and Reverence that expresses itself in a conscientious Submission to all just and equitable Commands I mean such as pass for the Consequences of Laws of Nature or are fairly consistent with ' em But this seems to carry us no further than the Kindness of a signal Benefactor indispensably obliges us to whereas a Parent implies something more considerable than the Notion of a Benefactor can suggest and therefore Reason seems to dictate that God hath raised a more strict and absolute Foundation of Obedience and certainly the Obedience which is paid towards a Parent is naturally acted with such a reverential Awe and Deference as argues a kind of Authority and Dominion and consequently contains something more in it than a Sense of Benefits And truly our great Creator hath sufficiently discovered the thing since he seems to have raised an Obedience from the same Title upon which his Right of Obedience is established a creating as well as preserving Power For since he has decreed to make Parents the great Instruments of our Production and Existence as well as Preservation we must conclude that he intended to establish an Obedience upon it It 's abundantly concluded that as God is by the Powers of Natural Reason represented to us to be the great Fountain of our Being and Preservation a Sense of Duty and Obedience as well as a Right of Obedience as powerfully results from it as Light from the Sun And since Parents by a Divine Decree are honoured with the same Characters in as eminent a manner as is consistent with the Nature of a Creature or Substitute and are Created with strong and invincible Propensions as well as Laws and Obligations to answer the Intentions of them Reason will oblige us to conclude that God has thereby induced Obligations of a subordinate Obedience that is in all those Cases wherein he has not expresly interposed by a Law of Nature or Revelation Indeed this seems to be an Expedient to establish and confirm that supreme Right of Obedience which his creative preserving Power challenges over us and in a word his appointing our Production in a strict Imitation of his Methods of Creation is an Argument of his Intentions to establish an unquestionable Right of Dominion in both Cases Since the same Motives instruct us to acknowledge a supereminent Right of Dominion in our Common Parent and a subordinate one in our Natural § 3. But further it 's already concluded That the Offices of Parental Duty are enforced upon the strongest Propensions as well as Obligations even an invincible Concern for our own Flesh and Blood and where the Concern is reciprocal we cannot imagine but it serves to establish a Right of Duty and Obedience as well as enforce it But now as the great Creator of the World thought it necessary to represent and enforce the Duty of Parents by certain indeleble Propensions so Reason will instruct us that he has constituted Propensions as powerful in Children upon which he intended to establish a Sense of Duty as well as enforce an Obedience Indeed where the Duties are equally binding of the same moment and importance and an equal Intention to maintain and enforce 'em we cannot imagine but our wise Law-giver would make the same Provisions to see his Designs and Intentions answered And truly the Duties of both turn upon the same Foundation a passionate Affection to our own Flesh and Blood For the Concern we entertain for it in ourselves will naturally convey itself to those that are but one remove from us This is so apparent that it 's justly to be esteemed a main Foundation of the common Bowels of Humanity and those Social Offices we exercise as Men towards one another But to return It 's visible the Alliance is equal on both hands and consequently we may justly presume that the Propensions of Duty and Reverence are as strong on the Child's part that receives a Being and Subsistence as the Propensions of Care and Compassion on the Parents that ministers both The Maxim holds this way no one as yet ever hated his own Flesh From all this it 's evident since God has implanted such deep and powerful Propensions we must conclude that the bare Proposal of a Parent to the Mind so as to apprehend the true force and purport of the Term will naturally command these Propensions into the highest Instances of Duty and Obedience as well as Awe and Reverence This is a Duty so legible in the Frame and Constitution of our Beings that Nature by the help of a single Conclusion at the same time dictates and enforces it And I 'm perswaded were not the Frame of the Soul in this as well as other Cases miserably perverted by vitious Habits or Dispositions contracted thro' Education or Example it 's impossible but she must rest under a perpetual Sense and Apprehension of it And now let some Men Harangue upon the Act of Generation as liberally and contemptibly as they please we have all the Reason in the World to believe that God has made it one Ground of an eternal and indispensable Duty I 'm sure he that subscribes to the
Paradise may justly be presumed to be a kind of Terrestrial State of Vision and therefore God no doubt discovered himself in frequent Adumbrations of his Divine Presence and vouchsafed several special Revelations and his Divine Succours These may perhaps be thought unnecessary Dispensations in a State of unspotted Innocence and Integrity But certainly tho' Man in his original Frame was endued with a Sufficiency of Power to Decypher the Line of Duty as well as Propensions and Dispositions to observe and walk up to it yet such gracious Communications were in some measure necessary to maintain a deep Sense of the Majesty and Authority of our Maker and consequently a deep Sense of Duty and Obedience to maintain a deep Sense of the Goodness and Purity of God and consequently possess the Mind with an incessant Desire to act in Conformity to his most sacred Will Again necessary they were to arm those native Powers and Propensions with double Force and Activity to unite and fix 'em on their proper Object the Glory and Perfections of their Maker the Pursuit of Truth and Divine Knowledge and consequently to engage a Perseverance in the Line of Duty with the utmost Constancy and Resolution These were nodoubt the surprizing Felicities of Paradise And they are such as almost placed him out of the possibility of a Miscarriage had he not in some unguarded Minute fell in with a subtle indefatigable Impostor For without some such Misfortune he could not have failed in retaining a perpetual Sense of Duty and Obedience and persevering in it any more than in a discovery of the full Line of Duty § 2. But now Experience as well as Reason too fatally assure us there 's a powerful and almost irresistible Bias on the Animal Part that bears an older Date than Custom or Education can pretend to give a Bias that discovers itself in the first Efforts of Infancy a Bias that can never be perfectly regulated or corrected even by the most exquisite Arts of Education When the Powers of Nature seem to exist as it were in sieri folded up in Impotency and Imperfection and consequently one would think liable to be molded at Pleasure yet we find this Bias endu'd as it were with a Gygantick Strength able to resist the most powerful Antidotes obstinate under Commands and untractable under Counsels or Persuasives In a word it has introduced an internal Rupture in the whole Frame of Man renders him a kind of unnatural Production acted by two opposite Principles contending for two different Ends and Interests and agreeable to the sacred Language it has raised an intestine and eternal War for its a Law in our Members warring against the Law of our Mind Rom. 7.23 So that Man is certainly sunk in his original Frame and lapsed into a State of Corruption and Degeneracy This is Truth so clear and unquestionable that the most discerning Heathens have given Testimony to the Substance of it They all found it wove in with their Natures and discovering itself not only in inward Motions and Propensions but mixing itself in their most exalted Actions It 's true they were perplexed in accounting for its Original yet they all saw it in its Effects and Consequences Their Opinions were various however I shall mention the chief of 'em Plutarch charges the Stoicks with ascribing Evil as well as Good to God's Providence and arraigns it as the height of Absurdities See his Tract Adversus Stoicos * P. 1065. Ed. Par. 1624. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If this were true why should they be more concerned to dispense Good rather than Evil or how is it possible that Evil should be hateful to ' em This indeed was an Opinion extremely gross and consequently rejected by the most discerning Sages However Gellius pursuant to this delivers it as the Opinion of Chrysippus This is the very Opinion which Plutarch ingeniously exposes Ib. That Vice sprang from Vertue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dum virtus hominibus per consilium naturae gignitur vitia ibidem per affinitatem contraria nata sunt But the most general Opinion was That Good and Evil proceeded from two distinct Principles Hence Plutarch gives it as a most ancient Tradition recited by Divines and Law-givers and transmitted to Poets and Philosophers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whose Authority is not to be traced That there was not one only Supream Governing Principle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And from the Eternal Mixture of Good and Evil as well as the Imperfection and Allay of Good concludes We are acted by two contrary Principles the one conducting or tolling us on in a true and direct Path and the other haling us back again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nay he further argues If nothing can exist without a Cause and Good cannot be the Cause of Evil there must be a peculiar Principle of Evil as well as Good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De Iside Osyride Page 369. But further not to dwell too long upon Authorities it 's well known it was an ancient Doctrine among the Heathens to ascribe the Origine of Evil to certain malevolent Spirits called Daemons or Manes that could exercise a Power over the Minds as well as Bodies of Men and dispose and incline them to evil Actions Plutarch in this very Treatise gives a full Account of the Notion and the Nature of 'em nay he delivers it as the Doctrine of Plato Pythagoras Zenocrates and Chrysippus following that of the Ancient Divines 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ib. p. 360. The Opinion of Zenocrates is very remarkable who attributes Obsceneness Irreligion and other Evils to certain powerful malevolent Spirits inhabiting the Region of the Air that take Delight in such Things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It 's well known the Romans constantly ascribed the Regimen of their Actions to their proper Genius assigning two to every particular Person These did not only attend 'em from their Birth and suggest Things to the Mind but contributed to the forming their very Constitutions Indeed it 's highly probable these were Traditions transmitted from the Greeks to the Romans and from the Egyptians to the Greeks and all founded in the History of the Fall of Man And truly Hierocles agreeably to his other Divine Flights describes the Degeneracy of Mankind in such a lively manner as if he had taken it from the revealed Canon In the first place he describes Man in his Original Composition to be Pure and Vncorrupt in both Parts of him and the express Image of his Maker 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hier. Comment in Pythag. Carm. p. 17. Ed. Lond. 1673. After this in his Comment on the Nature and Frame of Man with respect to the Rise or Origine of Good and Evil he represents with what a powerful Impulse we are carried into Evil and pronounces it to be the Effect of a wilful Apostasie and Revolt from God and his Society Even a Society which we once enjoyed in pure Light 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
〈◊〉 whereby an invincible Propension to the Things of this World is contracted He confirms the Notion by the Doctrine of Plato and Empedocles The whole Discourse is excellent from Page 252 to p. 272. The Substance of it is collected by the Learned Bishop of Worcester and applied to the present Argument with exquisite Force and Accuracy and therefore supersedes the necessity of another Citation See Orig. Sac. Lib. 3. Cap. 3. From all this it 's indisputably evident the Learned Heathen World were highly sensible of a State of Degeneracy and tho' the greatest part were in the Dark as to its Rise or Original yet some of the most Curious had preserved something of the Footsteps of it However they were all highly sensible of its dismal Effects and Mischiefs But now Revealed Religion has abundantly unfolded this Mystery by assuring us that a Native Depravity was contracted thro' the Transgression of of our First Parents I know the Deist Socinian and the Author of the Reasonableness of Christianity look upon this Doctrine to be a piece of Cant or Jargon formed by the Priests those wary Guardians of their own Creeds and profitable Inventions as this Author has it But as for the Deist the general Sense of Mankind and the Doctrines of Philosophers are considerable Arguments to render the reveal'd Accounts of it highly probable And therefore unless he were able to disprove the Truth and Authority of Revelation on the same Foot that we overturn any other forged History I 'm perswaded unbiassed Reason will pronounce his Notions impudent Calumnies or Detractions As for the Author 's of the Reasonableness of Christianity endeavouring to undermine the Corruption of Human Nature upon Adam's Transgression See p. 6. he might have consider'd that it was always the prevailing Doctrine of the Christian Church That it is made an Article of the Establish'd Church of England of which he would perswade the World he 's a sound and Orthodox Member and to which Article he has actually submitted And tho' the Word of God has no where in express Terms told us that this natural Depravity is the Seeds of Adam's Transgression yet there are sufficient Authorities of Scripture whence we may infer it by a clear and convincing Consequence We can prove that the Descendents of Adam were undoubtedly affected in the same manner with that of their Parent and both by a Spiritual as well as a Temporal Death I mean such a Death at least as in the Language of Scripture implies a disabling of the Faculties of the Mind as well as a Dissolution of the Animal and Spiritual Principles In a word it may fairly be inferred that that carnal Principles that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that prevails in the whole Off-spring of Adam whereby we are as it were sold under Sin or that reigning Law in our Members that brings us into Captivity to the Law of Sin so that when we would do Good Evil is present with us is the Effect of Adam's Transgression The Body of this Death was undoubtedly derived thorough his Loins on all his Descendents and the Seeds and Principles of a higher Death were certainly transmitted even tho' eternal Death were not formally imputed by making him the Representative of Mankind since these Seeds and Principles in the Language of the Apostle would at least work in our Members to bring forth Fruit unto Death Rom 7. v. 5. I know the great Artifice to which our Adversaries have recourse to blast the Credit of this Doctrine is either to oppose it to the Justice of God or Harangue upon the Impossibilities of it Because God has not clearly revealed and we cannot fully comprehend how such a Depravity is contracted much less propagated But certainly it was never the Business or Design of Revelation to communicate the Manner of the Divine Transactions no more than to Authorize us to reject 'em because we cannot comprehend the manner of ' em It was never a Rule of Revelation to make our own Faculties of Perception in comprehending the Nature of Things or in reconciling 'em to the scanty Notions we have conceived of another Revealed Truth the Standard Test or Measure of Faith And therefore to reject the clearest Evidence of Original Corruption because we cannot comprehend how 't is contracted or because the Notions of Infinite Justice tho' formed by our selves as we think must suffer by it is Base and Unwarrantable But however that our Adversaries may want the Advantage of this Pretence I mean that Original Corruption can no way be accounted for I shall attempt something to demonstrate how it may be Contracted and Transmitted And first This will easily be accounted for from the Nature of Original Corruption It 's already concluded That Original Corruption consists in the Exorbitance of the Animal Part or acts as a Law in our Members warring against the Law of our Minds contending for an opposite Interest to the Laws of right Reason or the true Interests of Human Nature Now that this Irregularity may be the Effect of Adam's Transgression there are two or three Circumstances that render it more highly probable For first Tho' the Violation of a positive Law contains but a simple Act of his Obedience yet it certainly implies a horrid Violence committed upon all the Powers of Human Nature When the Tempter displayed his Wiles and formed his deluding Perswasives it certainly threw the unwary Offender into the greatest Agonies and Convulsions It must rase those convincing Apprehensions of the Majesty and Authority of God it must suppress the Dread of Divine Punishments it must break thro' all the Guards and Powers of Conscience and Fences of Duty it must alienate the whole Frame of the Soul take off those Desires and Propensions that engaged us in the Observance of God's Commands and those Satisfactions that result from the Observance of ' em In a word it must extinguish all the Powers of Divine Love suppress those Flights of Zeal in exercising the Mind and Thoughts in Divine Contemplations the Glories and Perfections of our Maker and in pursuing such Things as will render us remarkably like him So that this Grand Act of Disobedience must contain a Complication of impious Debates and Resolutions before it was committed For certainly the Powers of Nature being so exquisitely fitted for an Obediential Temper and the Soul so deeply possessed with a Sense of the uninterrupted Favours and Bounties of God flowing from his frequent Intercourses and Communications the Devil must play his Temptations a considerable time before he could promise himself success The Passions and Propensions of Human Nature must not only be taken off from serving their great Creator but turned a quite contrary way they must be strongly disposed in gratifying the Lust of the Eye the Lust of the Flesh and Pride of Life And now who cannot discern the Growth or Production of carnal Exorbitances and consequently the Establishment of Original Corruption It 's concluded that this single
Immoralities or to speak in other Terms the Seeds of this kind of Corruption are certainly lodged in the Propensions and Habits of the Animal Part. For that which has such an Ascendent over us to command us to Act in favour of it will infallibly influence our Judgments This is so obvious that in wilful Enormities I mean such as were first committed against the Convictions of the Mind the Power of Animal Propensions Assiduity of Practice and a kind of Natural Intimacy or Familiarity resulting from it has at last engaged Reason itself to appear as an Advocate for it and very often it makes such elaborate Researches for Arguments to support the Cause that at last it declares for the Justice and Innocence of it and asserts it upon Principle and inward Conviction I am perswaded and can without breach of Charity or Justice affirm That the Growth of the foulest Heresies in the Christian World is to be placed in this Original Men have so long given the full Reins to Pride Ambition Covetousness or other vitious Lusts and Propensions that they have called in their whole Stock of Parts and Learning and made Converts to their Judgments to support them or revenge their Disappointments And now upon this Bottom we may silence all Objections brought from the absurd and Heterodox Opinions of certain Moralists and Philosophers For it 's highly probable they were at first but exquisite Apologies to Patronize importunate Passions and confirm'd Practices and consequently can be no real Prejudices to a Law of Nature Indeed the impure Doctrine of the Gnosticks may be as well admitted a just Plea against the Truth and Purity of Christianity and the Evidences for both as some few lewd Doctrines of Philosophers against the Certainty of a Law of Nature upon the Evidences of Natural Reason § 2. But to enlarge a little on this part of the Objection it 's well known that the foulest and most absurd Opinions charged on particular Philosophers are by others recorded as an eternal Mark of Infamy and Reproach due to 'em and consequently they are by no means a just Balance to the substantial Reasonings of others in deciphering Laws of Nature We might add to all this how unjust a Measure the Practices of Mankind is of their real Notices of Moral Good an Argument too fatally demonstrated under a Christian Dispensation and consequently tho' the Generality of Philosophers liv'd in Opposition to Laws of Nature and some few taught contrary to 'em yet it 's no just Consequence to place Laws of Nature above the Researches of Natural Reason I am perswaded some of the Instances presented in a late Conference * See Conference with a Theist Part 2. p. 56 to p. 64. do not fall under the Character of prime Laws of Nature and consequently do not reach the Author's Design It 's very well known Plato's Model for Peopling his Common-wealth was not by a Community of Women without Limitations from the Civil Power But for the precise Limitations in this matter as well as the manner of Worshiping God whether by Sacrifices and corporeal Representations I presume it 's the business of Revealed Religion to fix and determine As for his Instance of Masculine Venery Zeno and his Followers pronounced it indifferent I presume it was a previous Practice that had made it appear so And yet St. Paul speaks of some of these unnatural Whoredoms as things scarce named among the Gentiles 1 Cor. 5.1 But it were highly to be wished that some Nations in the Confines of Christendom had wholly escaped the Contagion so that if such vile Practices in a State of Nature may be an Argument against Laws of Nature antecedent to Revelation it will be of Force against written Revelations Since Laws of Nature founded in the Dictates of natural Reason may be as easily violated as any written Law Certainly such avowed Practices may with greater force of Reason be allowed against a Law that pretends to no higher Authority than Revelation or supported by Tradition Lastly As for the Grecian Piece of Cruelty in exposing Children to the Mercy of Beasts and Travellers without remorse I presume the Practice was not frequent because it must be the Concern and Interest of every Government to suppress it But it 's well known the Christian World is not wholly freed from such Monsters who I am afraid are acted by no other Dread but what the Apprehensions of a Discovery and the Penalties of the Law extort from them However this is an Instance so absolutely repugnant to the common Bowels of Humanity that it as effectually disproves those Earnings which natural Instinct discovers in the whole Order of Brutes towards their own Off-spring as that natural Reason discovers the same Earnings to be a point of Duty to Mankind In one word the Cruelties of Heathens is no more an Argument that natural Reason doth not teach the contrary than the Barbarity of some particular Christians an Argument that Christianity does not exhort to Bowels of Compassion and a Parental Care towards their own Off-spring But to return A second Cause of Error is certain Prejudices or Prepossessions imprinted on the Mind by Example and Education The Cause and Origin of Error already given presents us with the Propensions and Bias of Humane Nature and consequently how liable the World is to be overspread with Error At least Matter of Fact informs us how wide the Actions of Men deviate from the Line of Duty so that it may truly be said of the Heathen World That the Imaginations of their Hearts is to do Evil continually Certainly then where a Contagion extends itself not only to the Judgments but Practices of Mankind and not only corrupt Principles but vitious Examples prevail in Parents Guardians and Tutors the Minds of their Descendents will be deeply impregnated with pernicious Prejudices and Prepossessions They are implanted among the first and earliest Impressions even before the Powers of Reason exert themselves This I am confident is the Case of the uncultivated Regions of Mankind And certainly when Reason comes to exert it self under such a fatal Bias no wonder if she often falls into very gross Miscarriages And yet this is the inevitable Portion of Mankind that are brought forth in a State of Impotence as well in Mind as Body and can hardly arrive to any Growth in Reason before they arrive to a Maturity in Body But now these things being laid together and admitted it 's very unjust to reject the Divine Oeconomy of Laws of Nature antecedent to Revelation because the unavoidable Prepossessions of some Men have carried them besides the Mark so as to contradict the general Lines of Duty For it 's apparent were Men to enter the World in the Strength and Power of Reason without the Clog and Encumbrance of antecedent Prepossessions as in the Instance already given See Chap. 1. Sect. 2. It 's impossible but the Fundamental Line of Duty must present it self to the
us actually to obey not wherein the Right or Duty of Obedience is fixed and therefore tho' Rewards and Punishments are the true and proper Motives to secure a rational Obedience yet the Right of Obedience may rest upon a distinct Foundation Now I have a President before me I may at least with leave of this Author suppose something out of the Way as well as he to prove the truth of the Assertion suppose a Man created to infinite and irreversible Happiness though God has no longer a Power of contributing or adding to his Happiness yet I hope this Author in this Case will not deny God's Right of Sovereignty and Dominion over him as his Creature In one word I have proved That the Devils in Hell are or will be in a State of irreversible and infinite Misery and though for this Reason they can be acted with no Inclinations of Obedience yet they must still believe or acknowledge the Sovereignty of their Creator and tremble I presume I have now in some Measure fixed the Foundation of God's Sovereignty and Dominion over us and tho' I have used some Liberty in rejecting the Opinions of others yet I hope I may fairly account for it For the Notions I have contended for are founded on things that fall in with the established Sentiments of Mankind such as are properly founded in a creative preserving Power and consequently they must command a Submission and Obedience upon the clearest Convictions of Reason and as long as the Arguments suggested are cogent and satisfactory it is not Prudence to leave the common Road and put things of Moment and Importance upon an Issue that it may be wants Evidence or at least contradicts some received Truths or Notions But now an Enquiry of this Nature has been made I cannot dismiss the Argument without adoring our Great and Good God Creator and Sovereign For who is like unto the Lord our God who dwelleth on High and yet humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in Heaven and in the Earth Psalm 113. ver 5 6. Tho' God is invested with such an absolute Sovereignty over the Sons of Men yet he has graciously condescended to consider their Infirmities Wants and Necessities It 's already concluded that the Laws he originally gave to Mankind are adapted to the great Ends and Interests of our Nature they are not only contrived to preserve its Frame from Violence and Ruin but to advance and secure that Happiness its capable of receiving They are contrived not so much to represent the Authority of an absolute Creator as to establish the Happiness of his Creatures whatever Right of Dominion God may challenge to impose those Laws he has given us it 's manifest they carry their own Arguments of Obedience along with ' em He has not bound us with the Cords of Fear but Love indeed they have the highest Overtures of Love to recommend 'em Love not only for the exceeding Recompence of Reward that is annexed to the observance of 'em but Love that is contained in the very Frame of 'em even Love as dear and valuable to us as the Love of Ourselves and our own Happiness since they are the direct and immediate Instruments of Happiness so that were God destitute of a Right of imposing Laws or even a Power of contributing further to our Happiness by fresh Rewards the Nature and Tendency of those Laws he has actually imposed if not obstructed by very debauched Propensions is sufficient to secure an Obedience to him CHAP. IX Of the Certainty of Rewards and Punishments under a State of Nature § 1. INdeed I have already touched upon this Argument in the Disquisition of a Law of Nature but in order to the establishing a Scheme of Natural Religion I think myself obliged to enlarge a little further upon it And first I shall not Appeal to the Argument of Natural Conscience warranted by Revelation itself in as much as it contains an Absolving or Condemning Faculty in it and consequently must be acted with a Sense of Rewards and Punishments the immediate Spring or Appendage of such Powers or Faculties This will be considered on another Subject To proceed then It 's already concluded That the Dictates of Natural Reason are true and proper Laws established in a rightful and competent Authority that is in one word they are the Commands of a Sovereign Power and Authority over the whole Off-spring of Mankind And 't is already concluded that Rewards and Punishments I mean such as are lodged in the Hands of the Legislator not the natural Effects of the Action arising from the Observation or Violation of the Law are at least the necessary Appendages or Concomitants of a Law I will not run into the nice and tedious Disputes of the Schools and examine whether Rewards and Punishments are so much of the Nature or Essence of a Law that it loses the denomination of a Law without them This must be allowed by those that place the Obligation of a Law purely in a Power of Rewarding or Punishing But this has been disputed already and therefore I 'm inclined to the Negative But however it cannot be denied but Rewards are an inseparable Property of a Law adding Perfection to it and a Prerogative peculiar to every Legislator For certainly no one can be a rightful Legislator without a Right to despense Rewards and Punishments They declare and signifie a binding Authority and no one can pass for a rightful Legislator without a Right to oblige or require Obedience Herein a Law distinguishes it self from Counsel or Exhortation Again they contribute to the Perfection of a Law since the Ends and Intentions of it cannot be secured without ' em This is absolutely necessary where the Persons that yield an Obedience are acted by contrary Dispositions and Propensions and consequently they may justly be esteemed inseparable Properties of a Law I will not dispute the Power or Prerogative of Heaven whether God could not rightfully enjoyn a Law without annexing suitable Rewards and Punishments but whosoever compares the Laws he has enjoyned with the Propensions of Human Nature will be apt to impeach his infinite Wisdom for not annexing suitable Rewards as well as Punishments since without 'em it 's morally impossible to enforce the Observance of such Laws Indeed Rewards and Punishments are so much a Property of a Law that God thought fit to usher the first positive Law he gave to Mankind into the World by annexing 'em to it In the Day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die Gen. 2.17 As if he intended to imprint a Sense of Rewards and Punishments in the Original Idea of a Law In a word they are so much the Property of a Law that where-ever there is the Face of Government and Laws enacted Rewards and Punishments are esteemed the unquestionable Prerogatives of the legislative Power The whole Off-spring of Mankind that were ever under the Conduct of a Law are acted with such a deep