liberty of being suspended All things must work according to their natural principles nor can they do otherwise as heavy bodies must tend downwards The beauty of the world and the wisdom of the Creation is generally acknowledged to consist in this that God was pleased to endue the kinds of things with such natures and principles as might accommodate them for those works to which they were appointed And he governs all things by such laws as are suited to those several natures which he had at first implanted in them The most universal principle belonging to all kind of things is self-preservation which in man being a rational Agent is somewhat farther advanced to strong propensions and desires of the soul after a state of happiness which hath the predominancy over all other inclinations as being the supreme and ultimate end to which all their designs and actions must be subservient by a natural necessity 2. Whereas on the other hand those rules or means which are most proper for the attaining of this end about which we have a liberty of acting to which men are to be induced in a moral way by such kind of motives or arguments as are in themselves sufficient to convince the reason These I call moral duties duties as deriving their obligation from their conducibility to the promoting of our chief end and moral as depending upon moral motives So that self-love and the proposing of happiness as our chief end though it be the foundation of duty that basis or substratum upon which the Law is founded yet it is not properly a moral duty about which men have a liberty of acting They must do so nor can they do otherwise The most vile and profligate wretches that are who are most opposite to that which is their true happiness they are not against happiness it self but they mistake about it and erroneously substitute something else in the room of it So that if men were upon all accounts firmly convinced that God was their chief happiness they would almost as necessarily love him as hungry men do eat and thirsty men do drink I have enlarged somewhat the more upon this particular the better to manifest the true cause or ground of this love to consist in this perswasion that our chief happiness is in the favour of God and the enjoyment of him CHAP. XV. Of Reverence and the Fear of God THirdly As for those kind of affections which should be wrought in us more especially from the apprehension of the Divine Power these are reverence fear humility a submissive and filial awe which is so suitable to the notion of Omnipotence and so necessary a consequence from it as not to be separated By this reverence I mean such an humble aweful and ingenuous regard towards the Divine nature proceeding from a due esteem and love of him whereby we are rendred unwilling to do any thing which may argue contempt of him or which may provoke and offend him 'T is a duty which we owe to such as are in a superior relation and is in the fifth Commandment enjoined under the name of Honour which in the notion of it doth imply a mixture of Love and Fear and in the object of it doth suppose Goodness and Power That power which is hurtful to men and devoid of goodness may raise in their minds a dread and terror but not a reverence and an honour And therefore all such doctrines as ascribe unto God what is harsh and rigorous and unworthy of his infinite goodness instead of this filial do beget a servile fear in men This is the meaning of that citation in St. Austin where he mentions it as Varro's judgment Deum a religioso vereri a superstitioso timeri The passion of fear and dread belongs to superstitious persons but the virtue of reverence to those that are religious And that of Seneca Deos nemo sanus timet furor enim est metuere salutaria nec quisquam amat quos timet No man in his right mind will fear God in this sense 't is no less than madness to have frightful apprehensions of that which is most benign and beneficial nor can true love consist with this kind of fear But as for this reverence or filial fear it is so essential to a state of Religion that not only the Scripture but the heathen Moralists likewise do describe Religion it self by this very name of fearing God And men who are pious and devout are by the Gentiles styled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men of reverence and fear Now though every one of the Divine perfections may justly challenge this affection as due to it particularly his infinite wisdom and goodness yet doth it more particularly belong to his power I shall speak briefly of each of these 1. For his infinite knowledg and wisdom which are things that have been always counted venerable He knows all our infirmities and most secret faults and therefore ought to be feared upon that account 'T is a notable saying in Cicero to this purpose Quis non timeat omnia providentem cogitantem animadvertentem omnia ad se pertinere putantem curiosum plenum negotii Deum Who would not fear that God who sees and takes notice of all things so curious and full of business as to have a particular concern for every action and person in the world And in another place he makes this notion of the Deity and the fear consequent thereupon to be the chief basis of Government the first foundation of that civil policy whereby men are gathered together and preserved in regular societies Sit persuasum civibus Deos qualis quisque sit quid in se admittat quâ mente quâ pietate religiones colat intueri piorumque impiorum habere rationem This is one of the first principles which men who would associate under government ought to be convinced of that God takes particular notice what kind of person every one is with what mind and devotion he applies himself to the duties of Religion and will deal with men according as they are pious or impious From whence will follow such a fear of offending him by any dishonest action as must make men capable of living under government 2. His goodness holiness kindness and mercy do afford another reason why he ought to be feared though these are the most immediate objects of our love and joy yet will they likewise afford ground for our reverence We read in one Text of fearing the Lord and his goodness which is when men have such a sense of his goodness as thereby to be affected with an holy awe and fear of offending him And elsewhere 't is said There is forgiveness with him that he ought to be feared The meaning of which place may be this We stand in continual need of pardon and remission being utterly undone without it and God only doth give this and therefore
is elapsed that which is now future will become present Which is the ground of mens dealing for Reversions And thus likewise is it for such things as may probably come to pass Though this probability should be somewhat remote It is counted a valuable thing and may be estimated at a certain rate for a man to be one amongst four or five equal Competitors for a place to be the fourth or fifth expectant of an inheritance though in such cases there be the odds of three or four to one yet the price that is set upon this may be so proportioned as either to reduce it to an equality or make it a very advantageous bargain A present Good may reasonably be parted with upon a probable expectation of a future Good which is more excellent Which is the case of Merchants who have large estates in their own possession which they may safely keep by them and yet chuse to venture them upon a thousand hazards out of an apprehension that there is a greater probability of their gaining than of their losing by such adventures And this would be much more reasonable if besides the probability of gaining by these adventures there were the like probability of their being utterly undone and ruined if they should neglect or refuse to venture The greater the advantage is the more reasonable must it be to adventure for it If it be reasonable for a man to run the venture of 20 l. for the gain of a hundred pounds much more for a thousand The reason why men are moved to believe a probability of gain by adventuring their stocks into such Forraign Countries as they have never seen and of which they have made no trial is from the Testimony of other Credible persons who profess to have known those places and the advantages of traffick thither by their own experience And this is generally accounted a sufficient argument to perswade others unto the like trials The reason which moved men to adventure for the first discovery of unknown Countries is because they had fair probabilities to perswade them that there were such places which would probably afford very gainful Traffique And upon the same ground if any considerable number of men such whom we esteem the most wise and the most honest should assure us that they did firmly believe though they did not know it by experience that there was such an undiscovered Country to which if men would make any ventures their gains would be a thousand times more than could be expected by any other way of Traffique and that upon this perswasion they themselves did resolve to venture their estates and should withal offer such arguments for the reasonableness of what they assert as to any men whose judgments were unprejudiced would render it much more probable than the contrary In this case he that would act rationally according to such rules and principles as all mankind do observe in the government of their actions must be perswaded to do the like unless he would be counted foolish and one that did affect singularity A present Evil is to be endured for the avoiding of a probable future Evil which is far greater Which is the reason of mens undergoing the mischiefs and hardships of War the charges and vexations of Law-suits the trouble of Fasting and Physick A man will endure the pain of hunger and thirst and refuse such meats and drinks as are most grateful to his appetite if he be perswaded that they will endanger his health especially if he believe that they are poisoned He will chuse to take nauseous offensive Physick upon a probable expectation that he may thereby prevent or cure a dangerous sickness The greater the Evil is the more reason is there to venture the loss of a less Good or the suffering of a less evil for the escaping of it A Scheme of Moral Principles There are several kinds of Creatures in the world and several degrees of dignity amongst them some being more excellent than others Animate more than Inanimate Sensitives more than Vegetatives and Men more than Brutes It is a greater preheminence to have life than to be without it to have life and sense than to have life only to have life sense and reason than to have only life and sense That which doth constitute any thing in its being and distinguish it from all other things is called the Form or Essence of such a thing That state or condition by which the nature of any thing is advanced to the utmost perfection of which it is capable according to its rank and kind is called the chief end or happiness of such a thing The nature of Plants doth consist in having a Vegetative Soul by which they receive nourishment and growth and are enabled to multiply their kind The utmost perfection which this kind of Being is capable of is to grow up to a state of maturity to continue unto its natural period and to propagate its kind The nature of Brutes besides what is common to them with Plants doth consist in having such faculties whereby they are capable of apprehending external objects and of receiving pain or pleasure from them The perfection proper to these doth consist in sensitive pleasures or the enjoying of such things as are grateful to their appetites and senses The nature of Man besides what is common to him with Plants and Brutes doth consist in that faculty of Reason whereby he is made capable of Religion of apprehending a Deity and of expecting a future state of rewards and punishments Which are capacities common to all mankind notwithstanding the utmost endeavours that can be used for the suppressing of them and which no other Creature in this visible world except Man doth partake of The happiness of man doth consist in the perfecting of this faculty that is in such a state or condition as is most agreeable to reason and as may entitle him to the Divine favour and afford him the best assurance of a blessed estate after this life That which every man doth and must propose unto himself is the being in as good a condition as he is capable of or as is reasonable for him to expect And the desire of this is not properly a duty or a moral vertue about which men have a liberty of Acting but 't is a natural principle like the descent of heavy bodies it flows necessarily from the very frame of our natures men must do so nor can they do otherwise The Customary Actions of men considered as Voluntary and as capable of Reward or Punishment are styled Moral As that which hath a fitness to promote the Well-fare of man considered as a Sensitive Being is styled Natural Good so that which hath a fitness to promote the Well-fare of man as a Rational voluntary and free Agent is styled Moral Good And the contrary to it Moral Evil. That which is morally good is to be desired and prosecuted that
Ancient Law-givers or founders of Commonwealths who thought fit to prescribe Rules for the Worship of God have endeavoured to perswade the people concerning his Being which yet had been most necessary if any doubt or question had then been made of it as being the very foundation of Religion and a disposition so requisite to qualifie men for Society and Government And as it hath been thus in former times so is it now amongst the Nations more lately discovered and not known to former Ages 'T is excellently said by Tully Opinionum commenta delet dies Naturae judicia confirmat That time wears out the fictions of Opinion and doth by degrees discover and unmask the fallacy of ungrounded perswasions but confirms the dictates and sentiments of Nature and 't is a good sign that those Notions are well established which can endure the Test of all Ages There are two things may be objected against this Argument 1. That there is no such Universal Consent as is pretended 2. If there were This would signifie but little because it may as well be urged for Polytheism and Idolatry 1. That there is no such Universal Consent as is pretended Because there are some Nations in the world so wild and savage as not to acknowledg any Deity which by several Historians is reported of the Cannibals in America and the Inhabitants of Soldania in Africk who are so sottish and grosly ignorant that they differ very little from Brutes having scarce any thing amongst them of Civil Policy and nothing at all of Religion or any publick Assemblies for Worship Besides such particular persons pretending to Learning and Philosophy as in several Ages have openly asserted and professedly maintained Atheistical Principles as Diagoras Theodorus Pherecides and others are said to have done To this it may be said that supposing these reports to be true There may almost in all kinds be some few instances besides and against the general course of things which yet can no more be urged as prejudices against the common and most usual order belonging to them than Prodigies may to prove that there is no Regularity in the Laws of Nature Is there any Equity or the least colour of Reason in this For a man to take an Essay of the nature of any species of things from such particular instances as in their kinds are monstrous Because beasts may sometimes be brought forth with five legs and it may be two heads is it reason therefore to conclude that no other shape is natural to their kind Specimen naturae cujuslibet a naturâ optimâ sumendum est saith Tully The Essay of any kind is rather to be taken from the best and most usual than from the worst and most depraved part of it Will it therefore follow that Honey is not naturally sweet to our taste because a sick palate doth not judg it to be so Such dissolute persons as are altogether immersed in sensuality whereby they have besotted their judgments cannot be looked upon as the most competent instances of what belongs to Humane nature Where there is either a defect of reason or a gross neglect in exciting a mans natural faculties or improving his reason by a due consideration of such consequences as do most naturally result from it In such cases it cannot otherwise be expected but that he must come short of that knowledg which he is naturally capable of and should have were it not for these defects Some men are born blind or have lost their sight will it hence follow that there is no such thing in nature as Light or Colour Others are Lunaticks or Ideots should any man from hence infer that there is no such thing as Reason No man may raise any doubt from such instances as these but he that will make it a serious Question Who are the mad men whether those in Bedlam or those out of it Whether Ideots are not the wisest of men and all others the veryest fools according as they are at the widest distance from them Can that man be thought to need any further confutation or pursuit who is forced to fly to such a retreat As for those instances of particular persons whom stories deliver down to us as being professed Atheists it may be said 1. 'T is plain that some of these were counted Atheists and Despisers of Religion because they did endeavour to confute the fopperies of the Heathen worship and deny the Sun and Moon and the several Idols that were adored in their Countries to be true Gods The loose and vitious Poets having so far debaucht the understandings of the Vulgar in those darker ages as to make them believe vile and filthy things of their Gods unsuitable to all Principles of sobriety and common reason Upon this several men who were more judicious and virtuous than others thought themselves obliged to reclaim the people from such mischievous fopperies In order to which besides the more serious arguments which they made use of they did likewise by jeers and scoffs endeavour to render these vitious Deities contemptible and to deride them out of the world And for this were they by the foolish superstitious multitude counted Atheists which was the case of Anaxagoras Socrates and others 2. Let it be supposed that some men have declared a disbelief of the Divine nature in general yet as there have been always some monsters amongst men in respect of their Bodies so may there be likewise in respect of their minds And this no prejudice to the standing laws of Nature And besides it ought to be considered that the same stories which mention such persons as profest Atheists do likewise give an account of divers signal judgments whereby they were witnessed against from Heaven 3. But I add further There never yet was any such person who had any full and abiding conviction upon his mind against the Existence of God Mentiuntur qui dicunt se non sentire esse Deum nam etsi tibi affirment interdin noctu tamen sibi dubitant They lye who say that they believe there is no God saith Seneca though they may profess this somewhat confidently in the day-time when they are in company yet in the night and alone they have doubtful thoughts about it 'T is their wish but not their opinion The interest of their guilt doth make them desire it But they are never able with all their endeavours wholly to extinguish their natural notions about it Witness those continual fears and terrors whereunto such kind of men are above all others most obnoxious The second Objection was That if the consent of Nations be a sufficient evidence to prove the Existence of God it may as well prove Polytheism and Idolatry for which the like consent may be pleaded To this two things may be answered 1. Though the Unity of the Godhead and the unfitness of worshipping him by Idols be discoverable by the light of nature yet these things are not so immediate and so
deliverance of such as were Religious in answer to their Prayers whereby the Supreme Governour of the World hath so visibly pointed out his will and meaning and so plainly manifested his power that every impartial man must be forced to say doubtless there is a God that judges in the earth 2. That sometimes Miracles have been wrought which could not be effected without the help of some Superior Power And sometimes there have been plain prophesies and predictions concerning such future things as in their various circumstances were contingent Of which the Annals of all Ages and Nations as well Heathens as Christians do give very particular and large accounts And though we may safely grant that some of the stories to this purpose delivered either from the more ancient or later times were fabulous and vain yet for a man to deny that ever such things happened in the world but that they were all meer forgeries and designs to cheat Posterity this were to subvert the Credit of all History which is so immodest a thing as any sober man would be ashamed of These arguments are more largely discussed by others who have writ upon this subject But there is one particular which to me seems very considerable to this purpose though but little notice of it be taken by others And that is The state of the Jewish Nation who for these 1600 years have been driven out of their own Countrey having now no particular place of abode belonging to them as a Nation but are scattered and dispersed over all the habitable world hated and despised where-ever they are permitted to dwell very frequently persecuted impoverished banished murdered in vast multitudes And notwithstanding all this they are not yet so mixed and blended with other Nations as to be lost amongst them But are still kept up a distinct people There being no instance like this in any story As if they were intended for a standing memorial and example to the world of the divine power and vengeance To me it seems amongst rational arguments one of the plainest not only for the proof of a Deity and a just Providence in pursuing that Nation with such exemplary Vengeance But likewise for the autority of Scripture and the truth of the Christian Religion I might here add another argument to the same purpose from Natural Conscience which is Gods Deputy and doth internally witness for him as other creatures do externally 'T is plain that all mankind are in some measure endowed with this and one may as well assert that Hope and Fear are not natural to men as that Conscience is not To this purpose I might further argue from those natural notions of our minds concerning Good and Evil the bounds of which are fixed in the nature of things and do not depend either upon Custom or Positive Law Those things which have in them a fitness to promote our chief end being styled Good and implying in the very Definition of them Comeliness and Reward Those things which have in them a natural aptitude to hinder our Chief end being styled Evil and implying in the definitions of them Turpitude and Punishment From whence it will follow that there must be some Superior Power who by framing things with such respects towards one another may be said to have declared this Law of Nature and to have taken care to enforce the observance of it both these belonging to the nature of a Law But I may perhaps have occasion to speak more particularly to this afterwards These things put together are so strong an evidence and so sufficient to convince the existence of a Deity that that man must be very wilful who doth not submit and acquiesce in it And for this reason is it saith a Noble Author that God never yet wrought any Miracle to convince an Atheist because to a man that is capable of being convinced his ordinary works are sufficient to this purpose And I should think it much more easie and rational saith the same Author to believe all the fables in the Poets the Legend the Talmud and the Alchoran than that this Universal Frame should be without a Creator and Governour And now it may not be improper to look back and take a review of what kind of Evidence hath been produced in this matter As for any immediate proof from our outward senses this cannot be pretended to for the demonstration of such a Being as is supposed to be a pure Spirit and invisible But for the mediate proofs from the effects of a Wise Omnipotent Agent we can look no where about us But every object doth afford evidence of it There is no conclusion in Philosophy not immediately apparent to the sense that is capable of so full and unquestionable an evidence from plain effects as this As for that kind of Inward Sensation whereby we can discern the impressions of our own minds They that have any sense of a Law written in their hearts or any natural notions about Good and Evil must by these effects be convinced of a Supreme Being And as for that kind of Evidence which belongs to our Understandings If the Universal consent of mankind be of any autority If this Visible world replenished with such admirable variety of Creatures preserved and governed in such an excellent order be any evidence of Infinite Power and Wisdom If besides what we our selves have known by our own experience any credit be to be given to Universal History attesting to many Signal Providences that have happened in the world Besides the several Miracles and Prophesies that have been taken notice of in several Ages and Nations I say if any or all of these things be of any force they must needs render the thing I am proving to be credible in the highest degree and even altogether unquestionable In so much that if a Deity be supposed It is not imaginable by what other kind of evidence we should be assured of it than what we are now furnished withall And it was before laid down as a Principle That when a thing is capable of good proof in any kind men ought to rest satisfied in the best evidence for it which that kind of things will bear and beyond which better could not be expected supposing it were true If any should imagine that frequent Miracles might be a more powerful means to convince men of this Principle To this it may be said 1. That this is not fitting the proper work of Miracles being for the confirmation of such doctrines as are not knowable by natural light not for such things of which men may be sufficiently convinced by reason 2. 'T is not so certain that this would be effectual Those frequent Miracles in the passage of Israel out of Egypt The dividing of the Red-sea The waters out of the Rock The cloud and pillar of Fire The Mannah The Quails The destruction of Korah c. did not prevail with the generality of the Israelites Those constant Miracles
free reason that God should be pleased with the killing and burning of Beasts or with the destroying of such things by Fire of which better use might be made if they were disposed of some other way I say when it is well considered what little reason there is to induce such a man to believe that the killing or burning of Beasts or Birds or any other thing useful to mankind should of it self be a proper and natural means to testifie our subjection to God or to be used by way of expiation from sin It will rather appear probable that the original of this practice was from Institution and that our first Parents were by particular revelation instructed in this way of worship from whom it was delivered down to their successive Generations by verbal Tradition and by this means was continued in those Families who departed from the Church and proved Heathen in the first Ages of the world amongst whom this Tradition was in course of time for want of care and frequent renewals corrupted with many humane superinducements according to the genius or interests of several times or Nations As for the Reasons why God was pleased to institute to his own people this way of worship there are these two things may be suggested 1. Sacrifices had a typical reference unto that great design which was to be accomplished in the fulness of time by the Sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross which is at large explained and applied in several parts of the New Testament particularly in the Epistle to the Hebrews from whence many strong arguments may now be deduced for confirmation of the truth of the Gospel 2. Because this way of worship was most suitable to those Ages the Providence of God having purposely adapted his own institutions of worship unto the abilities and capacities of men in several times Discovering himself to his people in divers manners according to sundry times And therefore in those first and ruder Ages of the world when people were more generally immersed in sensible things and stood in need of somewhat to raise and fix their imaginations God was pleased to amuse them with external pomp and solemnities and to employ that time of their nonage about these plainer rudiments or elements of the world But when they were grown up from this nonage when the generality of men became more notional better able to consider and abstract things when by the spreading of the Roman Conquests which extended to the most considerable parts of the world they had likewise spread their Arts and Civilities reducing the Provinces which came under their power from that savageness and barbarism with which they had formerly been overspread to the love and desire of all peaceful Arts and the study of all useful knowledg whereby the minds of men were rendered more rational and inquisitive than before they had been and consequently better prepared for the reception of the Christian Religion In this fulness of time as the Scripture styles it did the Providence of God think fit to introduce Christian Religion a more rational and spiritual way of worship whose Precepts are most agreeable to the purest and sublimest reason consisting chiefly in a regulation of the mind and spirit and such kind of practices as may promote the good of humane society and most effectually conduce to the perfecting of our natures and the rendering of them happy And that the most rational kind of worship doth consist in such kind of qualifications and services besides the attestation of several Scriptures to this purpose may likewise be made evident by the acknowledgment of the wisest Heathens Eusebius quotes Menander a Greek Poet to this purpose sometimes cited by St. Paul Men do in vain saith he endeavour to make the Gods propitious by their costly Sacrifices if they would have the Divine favour let them love and adore God in their hearts be just and holy in their conversations And in another place he cites the like sayings out of Porphyrie in his Book de Sacrificiis Apollonius c. So Maximus Tyrius speaking concerning those divers Solemnities wherewith several Nations did honour their Gods saith He would be loth by denying any of these to derogate from the honour of the Deity but men should chiefly labour to have him in their minds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they should principally endeavour to know him and to love him So Seneca having discoursed concerning those external adorations and ceremonies whereby several men were wont to express their devotion he says Humana ambitio iftis capitur officiis Deum colit qui novit Such formalities may be acceptable to the ambition of men but he only can truly worship God who knows him The first step saith he unto Divine worship is to believe the Being of God and then to demean our selves towards him suitably to the greatness of his Majesty Vis Deos propitiare bonus esto satis illos coluit quisquis imitatus est Would you render him propitious to you endeavour to be good that man only doth truly worship him who labours to be like him So Tully Cultus antem Deorum est optimus idemque castissimus atque sanctissimus plenissimusque pietatis ut eos semper purâ integrâ incorruptâ mente voce veneremur To which I shall only add that saying of Persius where he prefers an honest and a virtuous mind above all other costly Sacrifices and Offerings Compositum jus fasque animi sanctosque recessus Mentis incoctum generoso pectus honesto Haec cedo ut admoveam templis farre litabo If true worship did consist only in costly Sacrifices then such alone as were rich could be religious whereas God is more ready to accept the meanest Offering from a person of a just and worthy and generous mind who doth truly love and devote himself to him than of the most pompous costly Sacrifices from others And thus have I done treating of those kind of affections which naturally follow from due apprehensions of the incommunicable Attributes belonging to the Divine nature namely adoration and worship CHAP. XIII Of Faith or Affiance in God I Proceed to those other affections whereby we are to give unto God so far as Creatures are capable that honour which is due to those communicable perfections belonging to the Divine Understanding Will Faculties of Acting namely his Wisdom Goodness Power Dominion and superiority over us and his distribution of future Rewards and Punishments which should respectively excite in us Affiance Love Reverence and Obedience both active and passive And though each of these graces have sufficient foundation in every one of the Divine excellencies promiscuously yet there is some more peculiar reference and correspondence amongst them according to this order I purpose to speak to each of them severally and briefly First Concerning Affiance by which I mean an acquiescence of the mind whereby it is supported against all unnecessary doubts and
And as for such whom we have obliged by all imaginable kindness they may deal deceitfully with us and prove like winter brooks which in wet seasons when there is no need of them will run with a torrent but are quite vanished in a time of drought Whilst we are in a prosperous condition they will be forward to apply themselves to us with great professions of kindness and zeal but if our condition prove any way declining they presently fall off and become strangers forgetting and renouncing all obligations of friendship and gratitude rather than run the least hazard or trouble to do us a kindness That man hath had but little experience in the world to whom this is not very evident But now the mercy and goodness of God is over all his works and more especially extended to such as are in a state of misery the fatherless and widows the prisoners the poor and the stranger He is the helper of the friendless That which amongst men is usually the chief occasion to take off their affection and kindness namely misery and affliction is a principal argument to entitle us to the favour of God and therefore is frequently made use of by good men in H. Scripture to that purpose O go not far from me for trouble is nigh at hand and there is none to help me I am in misery O hear me speedily 3. He is of infinite Power for our relief and supply in every condition being able to do whatsoever he pleaseth both in heaven and in earth and in the sea and in all deep places He is the first cause of every thing both as to its being and operation We depend wholly upon his power not only for the issues and events of things but likewise for the means And therefore 't is in Scripture made an argument why we should not trust in riches or in any worldly thing because power belongs to God And 't is elsewhere urged for a reason why we should trust in the Lord for ever because in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength And upon this consideration Abraham is said to have hoped against hope being fully perswaded that what God had promis'd he was able to perform 4. He is everlasting whereas all other helps and comforts which we can propose to our selves are transient and fading As for our fathers where are they And do the Prophets or Princes live for ever Their days upon earth are a shadow that fleeteth away their breath goeth forth and they return to the earth and then all their thoughts perish Whereas he is from everlasting to everlasting God blessed for ever and his righteousness extendeth to childrens children even to all generations We see by daily experience persons of great hopes and expectations when their Patrons dye upon whom they had their dependance to what a forlorn and helpless condition they are reduced But now this can never befall the man who trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is And 't is one of the greatest priviledges of Religion that it doth furnish a man with such a sure refuge and support against all kind of exigences whereby he may bear up his spirit under those difficulties wherewith others are overwhelmed 'T is true indeed it cannot be denied but that God doth expect and the nature of things doth require that men should be suitably affected with joy or sorrow according as their conditions are but yet with this difference that those who believe the Providence of God should not be so deeply affected with these things as other men they should weep as not weeping and rejoice as not rejoicing They should not upon any occasion fear or sorrow as men without hope but should demean themselves as persons that have an higher principle to be acted by and to live upon than any of these sensible things I cannot omit to suggest one Observation concerning this duty of Affiance which I have now been insisting upon That though this particular virtue and others of the like affinity be evidently moral duties our obligation to them being clearly deducible from the light of nature and the principles of reason and consequently must be owned by the Heathen Philosophers yet they do in their Writings speak but sparingly concerning those kind of virtues which are of a more spiritual nature and tend most to the elevating and refining of the mind And on the other side the Scripture doth most of all insist upon the excellency and necessity of these kind of graces Which is one of the main differences betwixt the Scripture and other moral Writings And for this reason it is that in speaking of these graces and virtues I do more frequently allude to Scripture expressions CHAP. XIV Of the Love of God SEcondly As for those perfections belonging to the Divine Will namely his Goodness his Justice his Truth and Faithfulness The due apprehension of these should excite in us the virtue of Love with all the genuine fruits of it By Love I mean an esteeming of him and a seeking after him as our only happiness So that there are two ingredients of this virtue of Love Estimation and Choice 1. An Estimation of the judgment a due valuation of those excellencies which are in the Divine nature whereby we look upon God as the supreme Being in genere boni From whom all created goodness is derived and by conformity to whom it is to be measured And this notion is the proper importance of the word Charity whereby we account a thing dear or pretious And in this sense doth our Saviour oppose despising to loving Either he must hate the one and love the other or he must hold to the one and despise the other Now these perfections of the Divine nature may be considered either absolutely or relatively 1. Absolutely as they are in themselves abstracting from any benefit that we our selves may have by them And in this sense they can only produce in us an esteem of our judgments without any desire or zeal in our will or affections The Devil doth understand these absolute perfections of the Divine nature that God is in himself most wise most just and powerful And he knows withal that these things are good deserving esteem and veneration and yet he doth not love God for these perfections because he himself is evil and is not like to receive any benefit by them 2. Relatively with reference to that advantage which may arrive to us from the Divine goodness When men are convinced of their infinite need of him and their misery without him and that their utmost felicity doth consist in the enjoyment of him This is that which properly provokes affection and desire namely his relative goodness as to us There is scarce any one under such transports of love as to believe the person whom he loves to be in all respects the most virtuous wise beautiful wealthy that is in the world He
is travelling to such a Town and comes to some doubtful turnings is not concerned either for the right or left hand way hath not an inclination to one more than the other any farther than to be directed to that which is the true way and will bring him to his journies end Now that way which the providence of God doth lead us into must needs be the best and the surest way to this end Thou foolish man saith Epictetus dost not thou desire that which may be most convenient for thee And can there be any thing better than what God appoints Do but then consider saith he what is the meaning of being eagerly solicitous about particular events 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thou dost thereby as much as in thee lyes to corrupt thy Judge and seduce thy counsellour than which there cannot be a greater folly These are the negative Directions I proceed to those that are positive and 1. Labour for true apprehensions of the Divine nature and excellencies his infinite power and wisdom and goodness When our hearts are once possest with right notions and a due esteem of these perfections they will not be so apt to break out into murmuring against him That which Benhadad spake proudly to Ahab Thy silver and thy gold thy wives and thy children are mine That may God truly say to us what hast thou that thou hast not received And if we have received it as we have no reason to glory in the possession so neither have we to complain at the loss of it when he that hath lent it us doth resume it again It is or should be our daily prayer that Gods will may be done on earth as it is in heaven And it were a most unreasonable thing for men to murmur at the grant of their petitions 'T was a notable saying which is commonly reported of Luther when Philip Melancthon was much disquieted in his own thoughts at the confused state of things in the first Reformation Monendus est Philippus desinat esse rector mundi Melancthon is to be admonished that he would cease to take upon him the government of the world as if the issue of things did belong to his care God is infinitely wise and faithful and will proportion our sufferings to our abilities He hath promised that all things shall work together for our good 2. Consider the mercies you enjoy as well as the evils you suffer That was a most unworthy temper in Ahab and in Haman to receive no satisfaction in all their great possessions and enjoyments because they were disappointed in some one small particular 'T is the advice of the wise man Eccles. 7. 14. In the day of prosperity rejoice in the day of adversity consider But what is that which we should consider Why that God hath set the one against the other And so should we too set one against another and then we shall find that we have as much reason to be patient under our sufferings as to rejoice in our mercies 'T is a remarkable passage that concerning Mephibosheth when Ziba had by his false accusation caused the King to confiscate his goods and bestow them upon himself this had been enough one would think to provoke Mephibosheth unto high complaints both against the injustice of David and the baseness and unfaithfulness of his Servant Ziba But see how he demeans himself I have been slandered unto my Lord the King but do what is good in thine eyes Thou hast set thy servant amongst them that eat at thine own table what right therefore have I to cry any more unto the King Where he makes the kindness that David had formerly shewn him to weigh down and satisfie for the wrong that he then suffered And if men had but such a grateful temper of spirit they would not be so apt to murmur Those that deserve least do usually complain most The most unworthy are the most impatient Suppose all manner of evils and afflictions which are now promiscuously seattered up and down in the world whether they concern soul or body spiritual blindness and obduracy poverty slavery reproach sickness pain maimedness deformity c. I say suppose all these were now to be distributed amongst mankind so as every one were to have an equal share of them Would you be content to stand to this new distribution I suppose there are not many persons in this Nation in so miserable and forlorn a condition that upon serious consideration of the special advantages they do or may partake of above many other millions in the world would consent to it And if this be so certainly then it must be both an unreasonable and a very ungrateful thing for such men to be impatient who enjoy more than their share comes to 3. Consider the deserts of your sins and then it will easily appear that your condition is not at any time so bad but you have deserved it should be worse That you have more reason to commend the care and wisdom of the Physician than to complain of the bitterness of the potion Tantò quis patientiùs ferrum medici tolerat quantò magis putridum esse conspicit quod secat The more the patient doth discern the corruption and danger of his sore the more willingly doth he endure the launce of his Chyrurgion That is a remarkable story in Genesis Chap. 42. to shew that this consideration of the desert of our own sins is a very powerful means to pacifie us against all impatience under sufferings The story concerns Joseph's brethren who coming into AEgypt to buy Corn were there roughly treated accused for spies clapt into prison so that one would have thought they had reason enough to fret and murmur at that hard unjust dealing And yet we find their carriage to be very humble and patient but what that was which made them so you may see ver 21. they remembred their cruelty to their brother Joseph and that brought them to acknowledg this distress to be deservedly come upon them because they had not pityed their brother when he besought them in the anguish of his soul. The like consideration did stop Job in his complaint after all his high contestations and arguings with God he no sooner thought upon his own vileness but he was presently silenced Behold I am vile what shall I answer thee I will lay my hand upon my mouth 4. Be careful whilst you are in a prosperous estate to prepare for trouble and afflictions by a prudent consideration of the mutability of things This will be a means to alleviate the burden of them Praecogitati mali mollis ictus venit And in another place inexpectata plus aggravant novitas adjicit calamitatibus pondus That stroke will have less force which is foreseen and expected whereas the suddenness and surprize of it will add to the weight and smart of it In tantâ rerum sursum ac deorsum euntium
versatione si non quicquid fieri potest pro futuro habes das in te vires rebus adversis quas infregit quisquis prior vidit In that various change and revolution of events which we behold in the world if we do not look upon possible dangers and troubles as future we do thereby strengthen our adversaries and disarm our selves When we see at any time the losses and imprisonments or poverty or funerals of others we ought presently to reflect this may be our case Cuivis potest accidere quod cuiquam potest One loses husband wife children estate We ought from all such spectacles to infer that though this be not at present yet it may shortly be our condition and accordingly by expectation to fortifie our selves against it Hic nos error decipit hic effoeminat dum patimur quae nunquam pati nos posse praevidimus Aufert vim praesentibus malis qui futura prospexit This is the error which doth deceive and effeminate men whilst they suffer such things as they did not expect and are not prepared for It breaks the force of evils when they come to foresee they will come 5. Often reflect upon your former experience That will be a means to prevent all despondencies to work in us hope and confidence There is no man so mean and inconsiderable if he will but take an impartial view of what he hath formerly seen and observed concerning Gods dealing with himself and others but may upon this account find reason enough to allay all murmuring discontented thoughts We have frequent examples to this purpose in Scripture Jacob David Jehosaphat the Apostle St. Paul in several places who all have had recourse to this remedy when they would strengthen themselves against discontent and despondency And I suppose there is scarce any serious man of so little experience but hath taken notice of and can remember how some crosses and disappointments have in the issue proved mercies and benefits to him And if it have been so formerly why may it not be so again 6. And lastly Labour after those particular vertues which are of near affinity to this of patience whereby it will be very much strengthened and promoted There is a certain chain of them mentioned Gal. 5. 22 and styled by the Apostle the fruits of the spirit as belonging more particularly to the spirit of Christianity The first is Love 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which beareth all things and endureth all things The next is Joy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a chearful temper of mind in opposition to moroseness and frowardness Then Peace 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a composedness and sedateness of spirit free from all inordinate perturbations and without any kind of itch of quarrelling with others And next Long-suffering 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby the mind is not easily provoked or tyred but is easily appeased Then Gentleness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 generosity benignity which signifies ' a mind most ready to part with any thing towards the help and relief of others in their necessities Then Goodness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. such an equal and ingenuous simplicity of manners whereby men are rendred easily tractable and placable and most amiable in the whole course of their conversations Then Faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a dependance upon God for our support and deliverance Then Meekness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby we put a restraint upon our anger so as not to be provoked for any lesser cause or in a greater measure or for a longer time than may be fitting for the occasion always preserving our minds free from any sudden gusts of passion And lastly Temperance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 continence whereby we contain all our passions with their just bounds either of joy in the affluence of things or of grief in the loss or of desire in the want of them A mind that is modelled and prepared with these kind of virtues will thereby be rendered generous and couragious fit for the undergoing of any kind of trouble or suffering which the providence of God shall think fit to call a man unto I have now done with the First thing I proposed to treat of namely The Reasonableness and Credibility of the Principles of Natural Religion in which I have endeavoured to establish the belief of Gods being to clear the natural notions of his Excellencies and Perfections and to deduce the obligation of Moral Duties from the belief and acknowledgment of the Divine Nature and Perfections THE SECOND BOOK OF THE Wisdom of Practising the Duties of Natural Religion CHAP. I. Shewing in general how Religion conduces to our Happiness I proceed now to the second Part of my design which was to shew The Wisdom of Practising the Duties of Natural Religion In which I shall endeavour to convince men how much it is upon all accounts their chief happiness and interest to lead a religious and virtuous course of life Solomon who is so much celebrated in Scripture for his wisdom and knowledg hath purposely written a Book the main argument whereof is to enquire wherein the chief happiness of man doth consist And having in the former part of it shewed the insufficiency of all other things that pretend to it he comes in the conclusion to fix it upon its true basis asserting every mans greatest interest and happiness to consist in being religious Let us hear the cnclusion of the whole matter Fear God and keep his commandements for this is the whole of man That is the serious practice of Religion is that which every considerate man after all his other disquisitions will find to be his chief interest and that which doth deserve his utmost care and diligence And because these words of Solomon do so fully express that which is to be the main argument of my following discourse I shall by way of preface or introduction to it more particularly consider the commendation which he here gives to the practice of Religion in that full and significant expression this is the whole of man Which words are by the Septuagint and Vulgar thus rendered this is All or Every man The word duty which is supplied by our English being not in the original or in other Translations This ought to be the way and course of all mankind so the Targum This is the course to which every man is designed so the Syriack This will be most profitable and advantageous to men so the Arabick Hoc est totum hominis This is the whole of man so some of our later Interpreters mosg properly to the scope of the place it being an usual Enallage in the Hebrew totius universalis pro toto integrante All for Whole So that according to these various interpretations of the words they may contain in them a threefold reference To the Essence the Happiness the Business of man According to which the sense of them must be that Religion or the fearing of God and keeping his
we receive in these enjoyments in the use and suitableness of the things we possess which is called Pleasure 5. The Esteem which we have amongst good men whereby we are rendered acceptable and useful to others styled Honour or Reputation Internal well-fare or the happiness of our minds which doth consist in these two things 1. The due regulating and exalting of our faculties to their proper function 2. The Peace Joy Contentment consequent thereupon The happiness of our future state This doth consist in such a fruition of the supreme good as our souls are capable of and must depend upon such courses as can afford us the most rational assurance of blessedness and glory hereafter Now I shall endeavour to make it out by plain reason that the Happiness of our condition in all these respects doth depend upon Religion And that not only morally upon account of that reward which virtuous actions do entitle a man unto from a just and wise providence but naturally also by reason of that physical efficacy which the duties of Religion have to procure for us all those things wherein our temporal happiness consists to promote the well-fare not only of particular persons but of publick Communities of Mankind in general and of the whole Universe CHAP. II. How Religion conduces to our present Happiness in this world And first to the happiness of the Outward man 1. In respect of Health ANd because these things I have mentioned especially those of them which concern our external happiness in this world are the great aims and designs by which the generality of men are chiefly swayed in their actions and therefore like to prove very powerful motives to make men religious if they could be once effectúally perswaded that Religion is the most proper means for the attaining of these things I shall therefore endeavour to make out this truth by the plainest and most convincing ęvidence that may be And the rather because in such kind of assertions as are besides the common opinion and seem paradoxes men will be apt to be jealous of their being imposed upon by some kind of Sophism or Fallacy In order to this I shall observe this method First I shall endeavour to state and define the nature of these things and to shew wherein the true notion of them doth consist And then proceed to the proof of this proposition That Religion is the most proper means to procure and promote these ends And besides the evidence to this purpose from the concurrent opinions of wise men in several ages I shall likewise make them out both by reason and by experience which are all the kind of arguments that such matters are capable of Only I must premise one Caution that when I say Religion is the cause of these things the meaning is not that it is so necessary and so infallible a cause as can never fail of its effect This would not be consistent with our dependent condition there being nothing in this world so much under the power of humane endeavours but that the providence of God may interpose for the disappointment of it To whom it must be left to make what reserved cases he pleases from the ordinary course of things But though it be not an infallible cause yet is it such a cause as doth generally and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 produce its effect And all mankind do think it a sufficient inducement to apply their endeavours unto such courses for the procuring of any thing as are the best means to be had and do for the most part effect the ends they are designed for This being premised I doubt not but to offer such arguments for the proof of these things as shall be sufficient for the conviction of any man who will but understand and consider them I begin with the First The wellfare of our present condition in respect of our outward-man doth depend upon Religion First Religion is the best means for Health By Health I mean such a constitution of our bodies whereby our members and faculties are inabled for the due performance of their natural functions and freed from pain 't is properly opposed to sickness or Disease As for the infirmities of old age these are so essential to all living creatures so necessarily spring from the very principles of our natures that though they may be somewhat lessened and alleviated yet are they not capable of any complete remedy This blessing of Health is so necessary to our well-beings in this world that without it we cannot enjoy any thing else no not our own selves insomuch that men do and may justly put a great value upon it and are willing to purchase it at any rate And therefore to all such this consideration must needs be a very powerful motive Now I shall make it plain that this doth depend upon Religion Morally Naturally 1. Morally By reason of those blessings of this kind which by the light of nature men may reasonably expect from the goodness of God upon the observance of his laws besides the several assertions and promises in Scripture to this purpose where sin is often represented as the meritorious cause of sickness and diseases are often threatned and accordingly inflicted as the due rewards of sin And on the other side upon mens observing the duties of Religion God promises to take away sickness from the midst of them to bestow upon them health and length of days The fear of the Lord and departing from evil shall be health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones Prov. 3. 7 8. Prov. 11. 19. As righteousness tendeth to life so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death Chap. 2. 22 The wicked shall be cut off from the earth and the transgressours shall be rooted out of it 2. Religion is the natural cause of health which may appear upon this two-fold reason because it doth remove those things that will hinder it and doth promote such things as will help it 1. It doth removere prohibens it is apt to prevent and remove such things as are the great impediments of our health Nothing is more evident than that there are several vices which have a physical efficacy in the producing of diseases as all kind of intemperance of body all inordinate passions of mind to one of which the greatest part of the sickness amongst men may be ascribed and consequently the virtues opposite to these Temperance Sobriety Moderation must needs have a natural causality for the hindring of these diseases 'T is by Religion that men are inabled to prevent all such excesses as are prejudicial to nature to repress all such violent transports of passion Hatred Anger Fear Sorrow Envy c. as are in themselves very pernicious to our bodily health and by that violent commotion which they are apt to put the humours into do sometimes cause present sickness and always lay in us the seeds of future Diseases 2. It doth promovere
adjuvans promote all such things as may most effectually conduce to the improving of our health by obliging us upon the account of duty and conscience to a careful observance of the most proper means to this end Keeping us within due bounds in our eating drinking exercise preserving our minds in an equal frame of serenity and calmness supporting our spirits with contentation and chearfulness under every state of life so that nothing can be more true than that of Solomon That A cheerful mind doth good like a medicine and makes a healthy countenance whereas heaviness and cares will break a mans spirit and make it stoop I know there are other means to be made use of in order to the procuring of health various kinds of Medicaments to be applyed by the art of Physick according as the nature of several diseases shall require which Religion doth oblige a man not to neglect But yet this I think may be truely said That those who are most expert in the profession of Physick are not able to prescribe any Catholicon which shall more effectually operate both by way of prevention and cure than the observance of those duties which Religion and virtue do oblige us unto Nor is this true only in Theory and Speculation but it may appear to be so upon common experience to which I shall appeal for the further confirmation of it What kind of persons are those who enjoy the best state of health and the longest lives Are they not such generally who are most sober and regular in their conversations most temperate as to their bodies most free from all kind of inordinate passions fierceness anxiety cares as to their minds 'T is said of Moses that though he were exceeding old yet his eye was not dim nor was his natural force abated Which amongst other causes may be ascribed to those eminent virtues he was endowed with the temperance of his body and meekness of his spirit That beloved Disciple whose thoughts and writings seem to be wholly taken up with the Divine virtue of Love is upon account of this temper of his mind thought to have enjoyed a more vigorous old age than any of the rest Such a power is there in Religion though not wholly to prevent the infirmities of old age yet in a great measure to alleviate and abate them And on the other side if we consult experience Who are the men most obnoxious to diseases are they not such generally as are most vicious in their lives most given to surfeits debaucheries and lewdness whereby they do so far inflame their blood and wast their spirits as not to live out half their days Insomuch that no man of ordinary prudence who is to take a Lease for lives will be content if he can well avoid it to chuse such a one whom he knows to be vicious and intemperate But these things are so obvious to common experience that I need not enlarge upon them Only I would not be mistaken I do not say that none of those are Religious who are liable to diseases and are taken away in their younger years or that all such are religious who are free from diseases and live to old age Some may be naturally of so tender and brittle a make that every little blow will break them others of so tough and strong a constitution as to hold out against many batteries and assaults and yet neither of these to be ascribed either to the vices of the one or the virtues of the other but do rather belong to their condition and temper which being natural and not falling under the choice of our wills is not therefore capable of any moral good or evil Besides there ought allowance to be made as I said before for such exempt cases as shall seem good to the providence of God in the government of humane affairs Some good men may be taken away from the evil to come others may be exercised with diseases in their bodies for the cure of their minds or to make their patience and courage exemplary to others And some that are good men for the main may yet by their own carelesness in using the fittest means for the preservation of their health expose themselves to sickness none of which can be any prejudice to the thing I have been proving This being that which I affirm that so far as the infirmities of our natural tempers are capable of remedy by any thing in our power It is the observance of the duties of Religion that doth for the most part and generally prove the most effectual means to this purpose Which is all I shall say to the first thing I proposed to speak to concerning the health of our bodies CHAP. III. How Religion conduces to the happiness of the outward man in respect of Liberty Safety and Quiet SEcondly Religion is the most proper means to procure our external safety liberty quiet By safety I mean a freedom from those common dangers and mischiefs which others are exposed to By liberty the being at our own disposal and not under bondage restraint imprisonment By quiet an exemption from those many molestations and troubles by reason of disappointments enmity contentions whereby the conditions of some men are rendered very burdensome and uncomfortable I put these things together because of their near affinity to one another Now Religion is both the moral and the natural cause of these things 1. 'T is the moral cause of them upon account of that divine protection and assistance which the light of nature will assure us we are intituled unto in the doing of our duties besides the many assertions and promises in Scripture to this purpose of being protected in our ways and secured in times of danger If you will keep my statutes ye shall dwell in the land in safety Whoso hearkeneth to me shall dwell safely and shall be quiet from the fear of evil There shall no evil happen to the just but the wicked shall be filled with mischief The Lord delivers the righteous out of all their troubles When a mans ways please the Lord he will make his enemies to be at peace with him 2. 'T is the natural cause of these blessings by preventing or removing all such things whereby the contrary evils are occasioned The most usual and general cause of mens sufferings is from the neglect of their duty and the violations of law they are obnoxious to the punishments of banishment imprisonment loss of goods or of life upon the account of some illegal irreligious acts murder theft sedition injuring of others needless contentions medling in other mens affairs where they are not concerned 'T is observable that in the legal form of inditing men for crimes our Law doth ascribe their guilt to their want of Religion their not having the fear of God before their eyes which doth dispose them to commit such acts as makes them obnoxious to legal punishment Now nothing can so
belonging to good men such persons can challenge no greater share of this than according as their real merit and virtue shall require The Royal stamp upon any kind of Metal may be sufficient to give it an extrinsick value and to determine the rate at which it is to pass amongst Coyns but it cannot give an intrinsick value or make that which is but Brass to be Gold 'T is true indeed there are some Callings and particular Relations of men to which an inward veneration is due though the persons themselves should not be virtuous namely Magistrates and Ministers and Parents and Benefactors who having somewhat of a Divine stamp and impress may therefore challenge from us that we should demean our selves towards them both with such an outward respect as becomes their places and with such an inward respect too as may be suitable to that image which they bear to our dependance upon them and obligations to them But then we cannot be obliged to think such persons good men unless we have some evidence to believe them to be so or at least not to be otherwise so that they are beholding to something extrinsecal to their persons namely to their Callings and Relations for that honour which is paid to them 2. Outward Honouring is when men do by their words or actions testify that esteem and respect which they have for the worth of others And this indeed may be truely said to be in the power of others because men have a greater command over their words and actions than they have over their belief Now all men that are truely virtuous and religious will be ready to give unto every one his due honour and such are the best judges of it Upon which account Tully defines true honour to be consentiens laus bonorum the concurrent approbation of good men such only being fit to give true praise who are themselves praise-worthy As for vitious and irreligious persons 't is not to be expected that they should be forward to commend that which is opposite to them But then 't is to be considered that these are no competent judges of such matters And for a man to resent deeply the contempt of unworthy persons were overmuch to honour them as if their esteem could add any thing to his reputation And yet even these persons cannot avoid having an inward veneration for goodness and religion which is the reason why they are so forward to dissemble it to disguise themselves under the shew of it Men do not use to counterfeit common stones and metals but such as are precious Jewels and Gold Nor would any one take the pains to counterfeit being Religious if he did not think it a matter of some value and a means to procure esteem from others And when such men do revile and persecute any one for being religious yet is there such a natural veneration belonging to the thing it self as makes them to disguise it under the name of Hypocrisy Heresy Superstition c. whereby they may justify themselves in their opposing of it II. But this is only general discourse and in the notion The best argument to this purpose would be from Experience by which I mean that practical knowledg which every man may attain by his own observation of the usual course of things in the world And by this it will appear that no kind of persons have been more highly reverenced in the hearts and consciences of others than those that have been most eminent for their virtue and religion which hath been always true both with respect to publick communities and private persons 1. For Nations If we consult the Histories of former times we shall find that saying of Solomon constantly verifyed That Righteousness doth exalt a nation but sin doth prove a reproach to it And more especially the sin of Irreligiousness and Prophaneness As this doth increase in any nation so must the honour and Reputation of that nation decrease The Roman Empire was then at the highest as to its name and greatness when it was so as to its virtue when they were most punctual in observing the Rites of their Religion though that were a false way of worship most Heroical in their Justice courage fidelity gratitude then it was that they deserved to govern the world and to be had in greatest honour above all other nations And not only Cicero and Polybius two Heathen Writers who upon that account might be thought more partial But St. Austin also and Lactantius two of the Fathers do ascribe the flourishing of that Empire when it was at its height to the Religion and Piety and virtue of those times and as they did afterwards degenerate from this so did they decline likewise in their greatness and honour 2. Thus also hath it been with particular persons Amongst the Heathen what Elogies do we find in the honour of Socrates Aristides Cato Epictetus The last of whom though but a poor slave had yet such a veneration paid to his memory that his earthen lamp by which he was wont to study was after his death sold for Three thousand Drachms Nor was it otherwise amongst the Christians The Apostles were but poor Fishermen illiterate Mechanicks many of the Martyrs were but of mean condition much opposed and persecuted in the world and yet these men during the time of their lives were highly reverenced amongst those that knew them and since their deaths what can be more glorious than that renown which they have amongst men when the greatest Kings and Princes will not mention their names without reverence when whole Nations are willing to set apart and to observe solemn days and Festivals in honour of their memories And as it hath always been thus formerly so I appeal to every man's breast whether it be not so now Let them but examine what their inclinations are towards such persons whom they believe to be truly virtuous not only to such among them as are their particular acquaintance and friends but likewise to strangers nay to very enemies whether they do not esteem and love them and will-well to them It cannot be denyed but that there are too many in the world who propose to themselves such ways and courses for the promoting of their honour and reputation as are quite opposite to that which I have now been discoursing of namely prophaneness and contempt of Religion despising that which other men stand in awe of by which they think to get the reputation of Wit and Courage of Wit by pretending to penetrate more deeply into the nature of things and to understand them better than others do not to be so easily imposed upon as other credulous people are Of Courage by not being so easily scared at the apprehension of danger at a distance But the plain truth is such persons do hereby prove themselves to be both Fools and Cowards Fools In mistaking their great interest in making choice of such means as can never promote the