of their Sect may be overcome with Wine but can never be drunk though to be overcome with Wine be downright drunkenness in a carnal Epicurean yet it was something else in a great Stoick How Immorality becomes uncurable NOW Immorality under the disguise of piety becomes uncurable Passion and Self-will is made more implacable by pretences to Sanctity and Godliness without Virtue serves only to furnish the Conscience with excuses against Conviction for it is easie to convince a debauched Person of his Distemper from the blemishes that are in all his Actions But Hypocrisie by lodging it self in the Heart and so by being undiscernible becomes fatal and the Man is past Recovery before he feels his Malady THEREFORE of all men He who hath the Form of Godliness only is conceited with it is the most desperate and incorrigible Sinner For he thinks the performance of the outward acts of Devotion will fix him so in a State of Grace that he needs not any Virtue Thus the Supercilious and self-confident Pharisees were at a greater distance from Heaven than Publicans and Harlots For these our Saviour could by his gentle Reproofs soften into a relenting and pliable Temper But as for the Pharisees their mistaken Piety only made 'em more obdurate and obstinate in sin searing their Consciences against the Force of his sharpest Convictions so that He very justly consigned them up to an unrelenting and inflexible stubbornness Secondly MEN deceive their own Souls How Men deceive their own Souls when they think themselves exempt from the Rule and Judgment of natural Conscience which they fansie exercises its binding Power only over those that are in a state of Nature and Unregeneracy but as for them that are enlightened by the Spirit of God they are directed by the Motions thereof not by the Laws and Dictates of Nature Hence the plain and practical Principles of Reason and Honesty come to be neglected and ever after men are led by giddy Enthusiasms and are befooled by the temper of their Complexions they derive all their religious Motions from the present state and constitution of their Humours and according as Sanguine or Melancholy are predominant so the Scene alters BUT the Spirit of true Religion is of a sedate Temper and dwells in the Intellectual part of a Man In what manner the Spirit of Religion works and doth not work out or vent it self in flatulent Passions but all its Motions are gentle composed and grounded upon the Laws of Reason and Sobriety The Impressions of the Divine Spirit are steddy uniform and breath not upon the Passions but the Reasons of mankind all its Assistances work in a calm and rational way they are not such unsetled and unaccountable motions as discompose but enlighten our understandings the Spirit of God only discovers the Excellency and enforces the Obligation of the Laws of God to the Consciences of Men and works in us a reasonable love of our Duty and serious resolutions to discharge it Therefore the Spirit of every good Man is sober discreet and composed such as becomes the gravity and seriousness of Religion which floats not in his blood nor rises and falls with the Ebbs and Tides of his Humours but he maintains a calmness and evenness of Mind in all the various Constitutions of his Body he confines his Piety entirely within his Soul and chearfully keeps it from all mixtures of Imagination as knowing a Religious Fancy to be the greatest Impostor in the World And there is nothing that spoils the Nature of the best Religion more than outragious Zeal which instead of sweetning embitters the minds of Men so that those Vices which Moral Philosophy would banish are often kindled at the Altar of Religion For it abuses the prudence and discretion of good Men abhors a Christ-like meekness and sobriety and fills their Religion with ill Nature and discontent Hence it is that no Quarrels are so implacable as Religious ones Men with great eagerness damn one another for Opinions and Speculative Controversies IF this be Religion farewel all the Principles of Humanity and good Nature farewel that Glory of the Christian Faith an universal Love and kindness for all Men let us bid adieu to all the Practices of Charity and to the Innocence of a Christian Spirit Let the Laws of our Saviour be cancel'd as Precepts of Sedition Let us banish Religion out of Human Converse as the Mother of Rudeness and incivility Let us go to the School of Atheism and Impiety to learn good Manners BUT if nothing bids greater defiance to the true Spirit and Genius of Religion than a Form of Godliness denying the Power thereof then let not the Wisdom of God be charged with the Folly of Men Let then the furious Sons of Zeal without the Power of Godliness tell me the meaning of such Texts as these Learn of me for I am meek and humble I beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called with all lowliness long-suffering forbearing one another in Love put on therefore as the elect of God holy and beloved bowels of mercy kindness humbleness of mind meekness forgiving one another if any man have a complaint against any even as Christ forgave you so also do ye So saith James 3. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledg amongst you let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness and wisdom He that can reconcile these holy Precepts with a peevish or Cynical disposition may as well unite Christ and Belial make a Christian and a Pharisee the same WHAT remains then but that we set our selves to a serious minding of true and real Goodness An exhortation to mind true and real Goodness that we trifle not away our Time in pursuing the Shadows of it nor waste our Zeal upon its Forms and Instruments that we cheat not our Souls with a partial Godliness nor damn them with an half-Religion For we must measure our profitableness under the means of Grace by the influences of it upon the obedience of our Lives we must pursue Christianity in its true and proper usefulness give a sincere Obedience to every Law of Righteousness we must not divorce Piety from Justice and Charity but join the love of God with the love of our Brother be impatient against our own Sins and other mens Opinions spend our Zeal in our own and not other men's Business be ever zealous for the prime and most substantial Principles of Religion not for uncertain and unexamined Speculations we must set our selves with all our might against our Lusts and our Passions for all our Devotions without it will never expiate one habitual Sin neither will a maimed or halting Religion ever arrive at Heaven nothing but an entire Obedience to the Laws of Christ will gain admittance there Let us therefore inform our Minds with the Excellency of true Religion and Goodness Let us adorn them with an inward Purity
be reformed before the Corruptions of our Hearts are purged away And when this once comes to pass then shall Christ be set upon his Throne then the Glory of the Lord shall overflow the Land then we shall be a People acceptable to him and as Mount Sion which he dearly loved then by Reflection we shall see our selves as in a Glass and our Faults being discovered we shall readily endeavour to amend them for it is not in this case as in bodily Distempers when the Body is necessitated by connexion of Causes to suffer the Malady upon it Every man is obliged to reform himself but the Soul it in its own power the first step therefore to a Cure is for a Man to convince himself by his own Reason that he hath done evil and the desire to have this Disease removed naturally follows thereupon For it is to no purpose to complain of bad Times or to expect better days so long as Mankind are so averse from cleansing their own Hearts Whereas if the Motions and Inclinations of the Soul within were once set right all things without will go true because they are all moved by those hidden Springs and if every Man would study to do his own business in the ways of a virtuous and good Life all Commotions in the Earth and all Differences would presently cease And Solomon makes this conclusion from all those wise Reflections he made upon things under the Sun Fear God and keep his Commandments for this is a Man's whole business and his whole Excellency So that there is nothing in Religion that I have wondered at more The best way to know what our Condition is must be from keeping God's Commandments than to see many Christians in continual Anxieties about their State complaining much of their want of assurance in this matter when it may be brought to a speedy and plain issue by examining our selves how we have kept God's Commandments the moral Precepts of an holy Life this one Mark of our Sincerity in Religion well attended to would silence all those Suspicions that many Persons are apt to entertain concerning their Condition If it were worth our while to enquire into the reason of these Doubts and Fears they may be truly resolved into a dark and melancholy Humor or into false Conceptions of God and his Affection towards Men or into the Breaches and inequality of our Obedience to his Laws Now the melancholy temper must be left to Physick and Time for the Scripture prescribes nothing at all in this Case any more than it does for a Frenzy or Feaver but that is a very false and dangerous Principle which some have entertained concerning God as if he did notreally desire the Happiness of Man but watched all Advantages to surprize him into Destruction as if his goodness was not a setled and constant Disposition of his Nature but took him at certain Fits as it does the Sons of Men as if we could have no sure Rule to know when we might hope for his Favor as if the Majesty of Heaven were merely arbitrary in dispensing of things as he pleases without considering any Qualification in his Creatures Whereas he who will not believe there is so much goodness in God as that he did not make us for our own Ruin can never have any quiet in his Mind because nothing but the goodness of God can be a reasonable ground of Hope or Security to him Many Mischiefs arise from false Notions of God and Religion The next Mischief to this doth arise from false Notions concerning Religion as if it did wholly consist in the performance of external Duties now we must not take the Measures of our Religion by the ebbings and flowings of our Spirits that depend upon our natural Temper but by a firm Resolution of Soul to keep God's Commandments by the conformity of our Wills to his Another Mischief proceeds from the frequent Interruptions of a holy Life and by the constancy of our Obedience to his Laws Another Mischief proceeds from the frequent Interruptions and great Breaches of a holy Life and this doth much disquiet the Spirits of Men so that usually they betake themselves to false Principles for relief Whereas that Person who rightly understands the Nature of God who hath worthy apprehensions about his Goodness to Mankind hath true Notions about Religion and is free from any melancholy Distemper who doth for the most part continue in an even course of Obedience allowing for human Frailties that befal the best of Men he enjoys a lasting Peace and Serenity of Mind without any considerable Change but such as he can give an account of from his sensible Failings and Variations For I do not believe that Comfort and Peace of Conscience are such arbitrary things as that God gives them to whom and when he pleases without any regard of our Carriage towards him but God hath so ordered Matters that Peace and Comfort shall be the natural result of our Duty and the discharge of a good Conscience towards God and towards man The truth is we do not live according to those Rules of Righteousness that are laid down in his Gospel for the Government of our Lives and so we are affraid to try our selves by this Evidence of our Love to God our Obedience to his Commands but are glad to hearken to any other obscure signs which we cannot be certain of neither will they bring the business to any issue like a Man that hath outrun himself in his Estate he is unwilling to look into his Books but had rather feed himself with some uncertain signs of his good Condition than examin his accounts that he may truly know what it is If we would not deceive our own Souls we must bring our selves to this touchstone Obedience to all the Laws of God by this means we shall take a certain course to understand what state we are in which Laws we are sufficiently enabled to keep by that Grace and Assistance that God offers and is never denied to those that are not wanting to themselves And Man being the only Creature in this visible World that is formed with a Capacity of Worshiping and Enjoying his Maker we have no just pretence to Reason The best way to know what our Condition is must be from keeping God's Commanments unless our Reason be determined to actions of Religion For as Men we are endowed with such a Faculty as is capable of apprehending a Deity and of expecting a future State after this Life whence it follows that our proper Happiness must consist in the perfecting of this Faculty which nothing else but Religion can so much as pretend to it is true indeed Health Riches Reputation Safety are necessary to render our Condition pleasant and comfortable in this World Now herein appears the advantage of Religion that it is not only the Moral but the Natural Cause of all these things because it doth not only
gentle Rain be by degrees distilled on the growing Plant the riper Age is like to bring forth a more plentiful harvest for Vertue only prescribes to a man a true and certain end to all his Endeavours which is the Glory of God in the first place then the doing as much Good as he can to himself and others This being the most high and noble End the sooner one sets about it the better 't is for thereby we avoid all lowness of Spirit confusion in our Actions and all inconstancy in our Resolutions And that Youth is best prepared for this work is manifest because it is an Age very inquisitive equally capable and possibly inclined to Good as Evil and many of those Sins which owe both their Birth and Growth to the Senses are not yet sit Temptations the Passions are not yet ready to catch fire at every spark the feign'd but false Beauty of Vice is not alluring the Virgin Purity of the mind is not defloured nor its native Modesty laid wast But if this Age be not used to the severity of Labour and the strict exercises of Virtue sensual Pleasures will break in and then is kindled that continual Combat so much spoken of by Philosophers and Divines between Sense and Reason the Body and the Soul Pleasure and Wisdom WHEN the Blood therefore is warm the Passions run high and are powerful but Reason is weak when the Body like an unruly Beast is untame and unbroken when Reason and Judgment are like the Morning Star stifled and overcast with Vapours then it is proper to put on a Bitt and Bridle to keep strong Reins and a steddy Hand Then Youth is to be held in from those Delusions that hinder the true Understanding and real Notions of things from all ill Company and Writings least they should be taken with the beautiful but false colours that are put upon vicious and bad manners FOR Young Men naturally think they can do and may do every thing as they list they are blind therefore the more bold they are impotent but yet presumptuous Fancy is now as active as the Wind but withal it is disorderly and tempestuous Youth is not idle and yet seldom well imployed it is restless and very impertinent it being that part of our time Youth is in the greatest danger of Temptations wherein we are most exposed to the Snares of the Devil these are troubled Waters in which his Baits are seldom seen and therefore they are the more greedily swallowed Upon this account it concerns men much in their Youth to remember their Creator because he only can protect them from their Enemies of all sorts Their Clay is as it were but just formed into Human shape it is but as yet scarce dry from the Potter's hand And as it is now in the best manner fitted for the Signatures of Virtue so it is most lyable to the Impressions of Sin and the Father of it They are now as Tradesmen newly set up their Souls are well furnished with a common stock of Natural Principles and their Bodies are adorn'd like the richest Shop in which the Trade of Life and Happiness is to be driven They should therefore be careful in a special manner that they do not break at the first setting up as unwary Merchants are wont to do for their rational Faculties the choicest Goods of the mind will wast and decay if they are wrapt up in Idleness and the Devil will gain Advantages over them So that it behoves them to resist his Temptations at first to set the strongest Guard in the weakest place and to double the security where they expect the sharpest Assaults to oppose his Craft with Watchfulness his Subtilty with strict and unwearied diligence to study God's Service in the first place and to do their actions the bestway And since in every Age the same Faculties are employed only the Objects changed and the Actions of those Faculties are not many it must needs be that our whole Life is but the Reacting the same things over upon divers Subjects and occasions in Infancy little quarrels with our Brethren and peevishness are afterwards Anger 's Hatreds Envies Prides Jealousies and a sensibleness in Youth for a frivolous Play-thing is the same afterwards for Honour or Interest If it be so then He that begins early to love and fear God will so increase in virtuous Deeds which are consequent thereupon that his Conversation will be in every respect as becomes the Gospel of Christ AND since a seasonable time is a circumstance requisite both to the Essence and Ornament of every Action in that time therefore in which the abilities of our Minds are fresh and lively those of the Body also vigorous and strong it is pity we should be idle and do nothing and yet more that we should be active and do evil we must think it a very unjust as well as unreasonable thing to spend the flower and fruit of our Age upon this when Vertue and Religion have only broken Intellectuals dead Affections a slippery Memory and a tired Judgment besides all other infirmities that necessarily attend the ruin of Nature in old Age when men do every thing less earnestly than is fit when they are of poor and mean Spirits as having been humbled by the chances of Life when they have weak or no desires The unfitness of old Age for the services of Vertue and Hearts to execute nothing when they are full of murmuring and complaint as ever thinking themselves not far from some evil or danger So that this is an Age too much a burden to its self and to all about it than to be able to go through all the services of Vertue For who can expect Grapes of Thorns or Figs of Thistles the morose and froward time of our Life the Frost Snow and Winter season being not for Fruit any more in the workings of Vertue than it is in Nature it being very difficult to begin the Christian Race when that of Nature is almost finished which good Fight is a hard warfare far old and decrepit Limbs NOW the Prudence of old Age consists in a deliberate knowledg of Men and Business founded upon long experience but the Folly of it is the ignorance of Vertue and Religion which at last will appear the only true and real Wisdom Therefore the Moral Philosopher chastises the neglect and indiscretion of those Men who then begin to live when they are to die there being little support and less comfort in declining years besides a sober reflection upon what we have done well and nothing can sweeten a sour and crabbed Age but the calling to mind a good Life passed For as Vertue and Goodness is the most excellent accomplishment of Youth so the innocency thereof is the joy and Crown of gray Hairs which are then truly honourable when they are found in the way of Righteousness WHEREFORE let us not deceive our own Souls but with all our might
follow the services of Vertue as soon as we are able to distinguish between true and false good and evil Let weak and diseased Persons present themselves to their Prince and see if they can persuade him to turn his Court into an Hospital make up his Guards with Cripples and be attended with nothing but Age and Impotency If the King will not do this how can we expect that God should as if the business of Religion were to be done when we are capable of doing nothing as we should do and God were to be satisfied with those poor remainders of Strength and Spirit which the hard services of Sin and the Devil have left us No sure This is an undertaking far more noble and difficult the work of Angels in Heaven and of the wisest Men upon Earth and then is most acceptable when it is the Employment of our first and best Age. FROM what hath been said then this Inference may be made that Youth must be taught to moderate their Passions and not be left undisciplined till Age and Experience have wrought it in them And the way to learn Vertue is to watch over our Passions betimes and to make choice of that degree which befits us For the actions before the Habit and by which the Habit is created differ not specie but only in perfection from those which follow the Habit and it is a general Law which is laid upon all things that are acquired by Study to arise from Imperfection to Perfection from Weakness to Strength WHICH Perfection consists in this to demean our selves upon all occasions prudently wisely and advisedly insomuch that some Moralists have doubted whether all Moral Vertues may not be summ'd up in one namely Prudence nullum numen abest si sit Prudentia Wherefore that multiplicity of Vertues which is delivered by Aristotle was only for our more easie learning the division of this one into sundry parts that so we might as it were eat by spoonfuls where we cannot swallow at once the whole Mess But before we treat of the Vertues in particular it will benecessary to consider certain Rules and Observations which Aristotle hath made because they do not a little conduce to the practice of Vertue FIRST Lest we should flatter our selves in thinking that we have attained unto Vertue before indeed we have we must learn to distinguish between the doing of what is Good and the doing it well betwixt bonum agere benè agere For in all kinds of Vertue we may do that for good which proves at the last an evil Action through the defect of some Circumstance Secondly THAT we may not only do that The circumstances requisite to every virtuous Action which is good but do it well we must consider that a multitude of Circumstances attend every virtuous Action that we do the first thing to be known is who it is that doth the Action for every thing becomes not every Man as for Example when in the Council of Sparta a wicked Person had given good Advice the Senators took care that a Man of better Credit should give the same lest the Council which was good and wise might be suspected and have ill success through the bad Character of him who gave it So in receiving Courtesies we must take heed we receive not every thing of every Man in every place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For it is a disgrace to be obliged by an unworthy Giver And Abraham would accept no gift from the King of Sodom that he might not say I have made Abraham rich again we must consider what it is that is done For as Circumstances require so Actions are censured either for good or bad We are bound also to consider where an Action is done For all Actions are not in all places alike These three considerations are very well expressed in the Advice which Q. Cicero gave to his Brother Marcus when He sued for the Consulship For He exhorts him thus to think Novus sum Consulatum peto Roma est in the words Novus sum is signified the Person who made the Suit for an Upstart was to bear himself otherwise in his Petition than vir Patricius an ancient Nobleman in Consulatum peto is implyed the second Circumstance what it was He sued for the supreme place of Government in the Commonwealth and Roma est shews the Place where his Suit lay not in ulubrae a petty Market Town but in that Chief City of the Empire MANY other Circumstances there are by which our Actions are to be managed the chief whereof are contained in that known Verse Quis quid ubi quibus auxiliis cur quomodo quando He that can carefully observe all these Circumstances and shall do what they require that Man only shall discreetly discharge every part of Virtue and behave himself according to to the best Reason What Reason is For by Reason we mean nothing but the Mind of Man making use of the wisest and most prudential Methods to guide it self in all its Actions and therefore it is not confined to any sort of Maxims and Principles in Philosophy but it extends it self to any knowledg that may be gained by Prudence Experience and Observation Thirdly HAVING already asserted that Virtue is lodged in the middle between two Extremes which are both Vices and both its Adversaries we do now say that the two Extremes are not for the most part alike repugnant to it but the one approaches nearer than the other As for instance profuseness one extreme of Liberality doth much more partake of that Virtue and comes nearer it than the other extreme which is Avarice for this reason Men usually pity the Prodigal but abominate and hate the Covetous In this case therefore our Rule must be to decline that Extreme which is the more hateful and lean rather to that other which is more friendly and like the Virtue which we design to practise But we must carry our selves so circumspectly that we do not fall into the Crime censur'd by the Poet Dum vitant Stulti vitia in contraria currunt Fourthly WE can do nothing well or virtuously unless we diligently look into and try our own natural Inclinations What our natural inclinations are and how they are to be governed which are nearer to us than all things else and yet nothing is farther off from our Acquaintance we must examine all the windings and Labyrinths of our whole Frame and see by what Pullies and Wheels all the operations of our Minds are performed so that we may follow her workings from the first impressions of Sense then of the Imagination and Judgment into the Principles both of Natural and Supernatural Motions Then we may as in a Glass perceive how the Soul arbitrates in the Understanding upon the several reports of Sense and all the varieties of Imagination how pliant the Will is to her Dictates and obeys her as a Queen doth her King who both acknowledges a Subjection and
to speak somewhat of our selves is often very necessary tho it be seldom welcome For a Man to praise or dispraise himself is ungrateful and quickly cloyes the hearer Veracity must govern our language when we speak of our selves NOW this Virtue of Veracity teacheth how to govern our Language in case we are constrained to speak of our selves yet let me be so understood that this Virtue doth also reach unto other parts of our Discourse for it becomes us whensoever we speak of any thing to utter our Thoughts plainly candidly and sincerely For clear and open dealing is the honor of Man's Nature and every mixture of falshood in the business of Life is like Alloy in Gold and Silver Coin which may make the Mettal work the better but it embaseth it Neither is there any Vice that so covers a Man with shame as to be found false THE two extremes of this Virtue will betray us much Vain Boasting is very ungrateful and silly on the one hand is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vain boasting a humor either of making Somewhat out of nothing or of much out of little For it is the vanity of many Men beyond measure to magnifie themselves and by thus putting forth themselves to desire to seem something so their imaginations are filled with shadows of greatness an example of which vain Glory is the Fly upon the Axle-Tree saying to herself what a Dust do I raise Such are Mountebanks of all sorts which we seldom miss of in any Company Men who are always counterfeiting the Signs of some Virtue which they have not affecting every little story of themselves and catching at honor from their very Dreams Like the Mountebank-Physician who would fain supply some higher Ability he pretends to with craft and draws great companies to him by undertaking strange things which can never be effected so the Politician finding how the People are taken with specious miraculous impossibilities playes the same game protests declares promises I know not what things which he is sure can never be brought about thus they are deluded and pleased the expectation of a future good which shall never befall them draws their Eyes off a present Evil so they are kept in Subjection and He by his Boasting is established in his Greatness and Power The contrary to this Vain-boasting is by Aristotle called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when a man dissembles what he knows to be in himself and loves to speak slightingly of his own real Virtues as in old time it was observed of Socrates who was the severest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the World as appears by him in Platoes Dialogues This very thing is sufficient to make us doubt at least whether we may number this kind of Irony among the vices for the very Name of Socrates is the Name of Virtue We must therefore with the Philosophers leave find some other vice to oppose Veracity which because we have no name for we must be contented to describe it and it is an unnecessary overbashful dissimulation of those good things which are in us FOR there are many examples of Men who are satisfied with the knowledg of their own good Parts they have a Treasure of Learning lock'd up and they care not to discover it to their own great disadvantage If we peruse the writings of other Men concerning the Nature of Veracity we shall find them to extend it to more particulars for according to them all kind of Perjuries Perfidiousness Dissimulation Craft and all manner of Lyes are against it So that if we would know what Rule of Life this Virtue doth prescribe us we cannot express it in more significant Words than Tully hath done in the Third Book of his Offices wher 's versuti obscuri astuti fallaces malitiosi callidi veteratores vafri are declared enemies to this Virtue from which the shifting close deceitful malicious sly shufflers are always excluded To which must be added all those who for their own advantage keep other Men in ignorance of that which they are very much concerned to know No Lye must be used in any business or contract IT will not be therefore much besides our purpose to commend unto all men a particular Care of their Language to prevent all Deceit and Cozenage that we never pretend one thing and do another Wherefore there must be no Lye admitted into any business or contract and if there can be no place for collusion or iniquity in humane Society what shall we say of the Jesuits Morals who have brought them into Religion to make this out I shall instance in Six things which I may call the more refined ways of Lying The Jesuits Morals censured First THEIR Doctrine of Probability if a Man can find a Doctor among them that held such an Opinion it makes that Doctrine probable and as Tully says there is nothing so absurd or ridiculous which some Philosopher or other hath not maintained and asserted so there is nothing so contrary to the Rules of Virtue and Conscience but what some Romish Casuist hath resolved to be good and practicable Secondly THEIR mental Reservation you cannot know their names by what they say because you do not know what they reserve in their Minds so that what they say may be but half or not at all what they mean Thirdly THE subtle trick of directing the intention by this they may kill a Man so they do not intend to Murder him but to deliver themselves of an enemy they may declare that which is false and deny that which is true because they intend the credit of their Church therefore this mere intention shall excuse them from the Guilt of downright Falshood Fourthly THEIR Practice of Equivocation which is so well known among them insomuch that no Man can confide in any word they speak they are so ambiguous and of such doubtful meaning Fifthly THEIR Way of Evasion by having their Speech to bear a double Sense whereas no Man ought to use Wit and Parts to impose upon another or to make a Man believe that which he doth not mean for in treating with one another we ought to take care that there be a right understanding between both Parties and that each do apprehend one anothers meaning and intent and in case there be a mistake we ought to release one another for all agreements are only in what we mean and intend not in that wherein we did not consent and agree Sixthly THEIR shift of Prolocution that is to use Words of such a sound when they do not intend such a thing by them as one would think they did The best Religion spoiled by such practices HOW witty ill men are to set up a Trade of Lying and to spoil the Laws of the best Religion that ever was made known unto Men For the Christian Law is plain and obvious void of all ambiguous or ensnaring Speeches free from Sophistications and windings of Language never flies to words
is by all means to be rooted out from among Men and this following perswasion erected in the stead of that there is no compassing the end we aim at by fraudulent and indirect courses but only by just Dealings and honest Counsels SO that if that be true which is commonly observed that Men are wont to prove such kinds of Christians as they were Men before and that Conversion does not destroy but exalt our Tempers it may well be concluded that the diligent Man in his Employment is nearer to make a modest and an humble Christian The diligent Man makes the best Christian than the Man of Speculative Science who is proud of his Knowledg for a true Preparation for the next Life is not at all inconsistent with Men's consulting of their happiness in this World or being employed about Earthly Affairs the honest pursuit of the necessaries and of the conveniences of a mortal Condition by Just and regular Ways is by no means contradictory to the most real and severe Duties of a Christian it is true indeed an irregular prosecution of Profit or Gain is an offence to Religion but so it is also to Right Reason and Nature it self And it is a wrong Conception of the State of Grace if Men believe that when they enter upon it they must presently cast away all the thoughts and desires after the Possessions of this World but when we are bidden not to think our own thoughts it is not intended that we should forbear all natural Actions and Inclinations so it must be lawful for the strictest Christian by the help of honest Arts to provide for the necessities of this Life else the condition of Men would be worse than that of the Beasts that perish seeing to them it is natural to seek out for all the ways of their own preservation IT must be confessed that there may be an excess as well as defect in men's Opinions of Holiness and then I will make no Scruple to say that the virtuous Man defiles not his Mind when he labors in the works of an honest Art to advance his profit Christianity approves of the works of honest Art the diversion it gives him will stand with the greatest constancy and the delight of pursuing it with the truth and reality of Religion Which is indeed an Heavenly Thing but not utterly averse from making use of the Rules of humane Arts wherefore it is not the best service that can be done to Christianity to place its chief Precepts so much out of the way as to make them unfit for Men of business whereas the best part of Religion is Practical and Her chiefest Precepts are those that govern the private Motions and Passions of our Minds those are its most excellent Rules which calm our Affections and Conquer our Vices And the works of practical Religion are no less wonderful than those of Art which we now speak of for in whatever place of the World Arts have been destroyed Barbarity prevails when Arts are Destroyed Barbarity hath prevailed insomuch that if Aristotle and Plato and Demosthenes should now arise in Greece again they would stand amazed at the horrible Devastation of that which was the Mother of Arts and at the ignorance as well as incivility that hath taken its seat And if Caesar and Tacitus should return to Life they would scarce believe this Britain and Gaul and Germany to be the same which they described they would now behold 'em covered over with Cities and Palaces which were in their time overrun with Forrests and Thickets They would see all manner of Arts Flourishing in these Countries where the chief Art that was Practised when they Lived was that Barbarous one of Painting their Bodies to make them look more Terrible in Battel HENCE it is remarkable that where-ever Arts have been Plante d there Humanity good Manners Religion and good Manners Fourish where Art is encouraged and the Seeds of Religion have encreased and so long as there remains any corner of the World without Civility Artificers are the most likely and fittest Persons to subdue the Rudenesses of Mankind And it was said of Civil Government by Plato that the World will be best ruled when either Philosophers shall be chosen Kings or Kings shall have Philosophical Minds And I will affirm the like of Philosophy it will then attain to Perfection when either the followers of Art shall have Philosophical Heads or the Philosophers shall have Mechanical Hands for thus the conceptions of Men of Knowledg which are wont to soar too high will be made to descend into the Material World and the Flegmatick imaginations of Men of Trade which use to grovel too much on the Ground will be exalted And the power as well as the value of Art may be proved by one instance and it is of Archimedes who did wonders by applying his skill in the Mathematicks to the Practices and Motions of manual Trades his success was so prodigious herein that the true contrivances of his Hands did exceed all the fabulous strength which either the Antient Stories or modern Romances have bestowed on their Heroes He alone sustained the burden of his Falling Country He alone kept the Romans at a bay to whom the whole World was to yield For neither Seas nor Mountains neither Fleets nor Armies could resist the Force of his Engines which are the greatest Powers of Nature and of Men. AS therefore those Men are most happy Where Arts abound there are Riches who are still labouring to improve their minds in moral Virtues which have such a mutual dependence that no man can attain to perfection in any one of them without some degree of the other so that Country is still the richest and most powerful which entertains most Manufactures For the hands of men Employed are true Riches and where this is done there will never a sufficient matter for Profit be wanting but where the Ways of Life are few the Fountains of Profit will be possess'd by Few and so all the rest must live in Idleness on which inevitably ensues Poverty FOR Idleness is that defect which is opposite to Art for the Arts of men's hands are subject to the same infirmity with Empire the best Art of their minds of which it is truly observed that whenever it comes to stand still Idleness the cause of very ill effects and ceases to advance it will soon go back and decrease So if we shall cast an Eye on all the Tempests which arise within our Breasts and consider the Causes and Remedies of all the violent Desires malicious Envies intemperate Joys and irregular Griefs by which the lives of most men become miserable or guilty we shall find that they are chiefly produced by Idleness and may be most naturally cured by Business For whatever Art shall be able to busie the minds of men with a constant course of innocent works or to fill them with as vigorous and pleasant Images
wont to be lavish and profuse in their Sacrifices that they might be excused or wink'd at for the Duties of Virtue and Morality they would offer the richest Oblations a Thousand Rams and Ten Thousand Rivers of Oyl all the First-born of their Flocks and Families the Fruit of the Fields and their Bodies too to purchase a dispensation for their Vices they would not grudge to pacifie God with any Sacrifice rather than offer up their Lusts they would honor Him praise Him flatter Him give Him all his dues and more spare neither for costs nor charges in his Worship and all this only to bribe him that He might indulge them their Self-wills and their Passions and not be angry for their injustice cruelty and unmercifulness they were nice and punctual in their Fasts would spare for no trouble to appear Devout yet were there never any People in the World so vicious as they the Prophets every where upbraiding them with the most notorious Peevishness and Pride Covetousness and Ambition for they were persuaded that such zealous Men as they were might be excused for the sake of their expensive Devotions all those petty duties of Justice and Sobriety towards their Neighbors and themselves On the contrary a good Man Worships God because he loves Him and loves him because he hates Vice he loves the eternal Rules of Equity and right Reason because God loves 'em too Secondly THE Formalist is very busie about the Means and Instruments of Religion but neglects the Ends thereof he is very zealous in religious Performances but utterly careless of all inward Virtue and Goodness hence it is that the Minds of some Men are so little possessed with true and real Virtue because the Name of Religion hath been so much appropriated to its Forms which Men are apt to be taken with when they may be easily reconciled with their Vices and Passions The Pharisees did just so they only made great shews of Piety to cover their Frauds and Rapines Too great a regard to Forms disappoints the effects of real virtue they were curious to wash their Hands but took no care to purifie their Hearts they would Fast and starve their Bodies but at the same time feed and pamper their Lusts they would not Rob but they did oppress their Neighbors whilst they relieved their Brethren they did at the same time hate and despise them Thus the Instruments of Piety were made use of as a means to subvert that which they were ordained to advance And thus it is in the relative and subordinate Duties of the Christian Religion if Men do as constantly commit as they do confess their Sins they frustrate plainly the purpose of their Duty and whilst they are very Officious to run on God's Errand they are very negligent of his Business It is not every Confession of our Sins that He requires but when it proceeds from an effectual Resolution against them and therefore where it ends not in Reformation it ends in Hypocrisie and to acknowledg but not to Mortifie our Lusts is only to tell God we are great sinners and by his leave intend to continue so IT is an easie matter for Men to present Heaven with large and perpetual addresses but unless they be meek merciful humble charitable righteous candid and ingenuous as well as Godly and Devout they can in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven For the Christian Religion dwells not amongst its outside Rites and Solemnities but its proper Temple is the Heart and Spirit of Man it resides in the inmost recesses of the Soul NOW the Formalist is only for the external Acts not for the internal Habits of Virtue and Goodness his Actions how good soever issue only from fear or custom or outward compliances not from any good Temper or Modification of Mind there appear no spots nor blemishes in his Face his uncleannesses lodge within and retire themselves to the Centre of his Soul thus his behaviour may be free from the common Pride and Vanity of the World whilst his mind is infected with the worst Vices the posture of his Soul is as haughty and supercilious as his demeanour is humble his Thoughts as arrogant In what virtues our Saviour placed his Religion as his looks are lowly But our Saviour ever told his Followers that his Religion was to be placed in a a sober and silent Piety in Candour Mildness and Humility in doing good to all Men that all the mystery of it lay in a good and virtuous Life so that all the nice Notions and Hypotheseses concerning Faith Justification Election and such like Articles are but foolish Traditions of some speculative Heads and those that are most earnest in these Controversies are commonly most negligent of moral Duty whereas true Religion is an active Principle within that serves the Mind with all good and virtuous Qualities it is in a word an inward sense and love of Goodness that is the Fountain of all good Actions A Mind temper'd with this Principle suppresses all manner of untoward Passions is governed by such meekness as absolutely inclines it to pardon injuries to delight in making good triumph over evil and to satisfie it self as much by forgiveness as others are pleased with revenge For where the inward temper of the Mind is truly humble there a Man 's inward esteem of himself will be sober and modest his opinion of others candid and ingenuous Wherefore if Men took as much care to fill their Souls with goodness as well as their fancies with the notions of it they would be as free from Passion Self-will and all other mental Vices as from Drunkenness Sensuality and the other exorbitances of their bodily Appetites Having thus set forth the Character of Formality I now descend to the Second thing to discover by what Way and Method it defeats the practice of moral Virtue that perceiving its disguises we may not be imposed upon Now the Artifices by which men are apt to delude themselves are mainly these First THEY think they may be dispensed with in the Duties of practical Virtue for their extraordinary strictness in some Duties of Godliness they weigh their acts of Devotion against all their miscarriages in Morality if they do but Fast twice a week they presently believe that they may be allowed to be froward and peevish Hence it is that the grossest Vices are sometimes called sins of Infirmity For when they imagine themselves in God's Favour for frequenting the places of Worship for hearing Sermons and Prayers they are ready to conclude their most heinous sins to be rather the weaknesses of their Natures than obliquities of their Wills taking the measures of Virtue and Vice not from the nature of the actions themselves but from the conditions of the Persons that commit them believing that if a Man be once regenerated all his sins are instantly changed into Infirmities Thus the Stoicks of old made this one of their prime Paradoxes that a wise Man
concurrence of supernatural strength For notwithstanding our many weaknesses through Christ we may do all things He alone gives us a will to use his Grace and knowledge to discern the want of more THE proper Inference therefore from the whole is that we resolve to go on in a good Course of Life because by this means our Work will be easier to us if we be diligent in governing our Conversation by the Rules of Vertue the difficulty of Religion will still grow less because our strength will increase and God hath promised to give greater degrees of assistance to them that use what he hath already bestowed then our endeavours must concur with this assistance which God gives for the Spirit doth usually work insensibly upon the minds of Men and therefore it is compared to the Wind which no Man sees whence it cometh nor whether it goeth even so is the Spirit of God Men feel motions upon their Hearts but how these are produced is altogether together invisible to them when the Doctrine of the Gospel is propounded and the Word is Preached they find themselves convinced of the truth of it and as their Minds are enlightned so their Wills and Affections are warned to a complyance therewith NOW when the Spirit of God hath begun this Work upon our Hearts our business is to cherish those Motions and to act accordingly which if we do and pray to God for his aid we shall find supplies coming in from him that will increase our strength unto that which is good and vertuous for we must know that the greatest difficulties in Religion are met withal at first because at first God doth not usually bestow a great measure of his Grace but he gives us a taste of his goodness and if we relish it he sends forth continually larger measures of his Grace and Favour The Conclusion drawn from all the Premisses SEEING then all the Precepts of Christianity agree to teach and command us to moderate our Passions in the just regulation whereof we have placed the very Essence of Vertue seeing this was the end which all Philosophy aimed at as the utmost felicity that was attainable in this World Let us make it our business to work out our Salvation by living according to these Rules which we have here set down for as they are not hard to be understood so the performance of them is easie and pleasant THEY Are not hard to be understood because God hath shewed us the difference between Good and Evil Vertue and Vice First BY Natural Instinct Secondly BY Natural Reason Thirdly BY the common consent of Mankind Fourthly BY External Revelation FIRST there is a secret impression upon the Minds of Men whereby they are naturally directed to approve some things as good and avoid other things as evil Natural Instinct teaches us what is Good and what is Evil. just as the Creatures below Men are by a natural Instinct led to their own preservation and to take care of their young ones In like manner we find in human Nature a propensity to some things that are beneficial and a loathing of other things that are hurtful to them the former appear beautiful and lovely the latter ugly and deformed NOW these inclinations do not proceed from Reason but from Nature and are antecedent to all Discourse as it is manifest from hence that they are as strong and do put forth themselves as vigorously in young persons as in those that are older they do shew themselves as much in the rude and ignorant sort of People as in those who are more refined and better instructed which is a plain Argument that they come from Nature and not from Reason for if they proceeded from Reason they would appear most eminently in those persons who are of the best and most improved Understandings and would be very obscure in such as exercise their Reason but a little whereas experience shews us that the most ignorant sort of Mankind have as lively a sense of Piety and Devotion as great a regard to all kinds of Sobriety as tender Affections to their Children as much honor for their Parents as true a sense of Gratitude and Justice as the wisest and most knowing part of Mankind AND these are the Duties that are of greatest importance to us so that the Providence of God appears herein to be wonderfully careful of the happiness and welfare of Mankind in that he hath wrought such inclinations into our Natures as to secure the most material parts of our Duty in planting in us a natural sense of good and evil so that in many cases if we do but consult our own Natures we need no other Oracle to tell us what we ought to do and what to avoid how we ought to reverence the Divine Nature honor our Parents love our Children be grateful to our Benefactours and those that have obliged us to speak the Truth to be faithful to our Promises to restore the thing that was intrusted with us to pity those that are in Misery and to deal equally with other Men as we would that they should deal with us There is no need of any subtle reasoning to prove the fitness or unfitness of these things because it is prevented by the very Instinct of Nature which teaches us what we ought to do in these cases FOR Men are naturally innocent or guilty in themselves according as they do or omit these things so the Apostle tells us in Rom. ii 14 15. When the Gentiles who have not the Law do by Nature the things contained in the Law they are a law unto themselves their own Consciences in the mean time or by turns either accusing or excusing them according as they do or omit the doing of these things If Men obey the natural Dictates of their Minds their Consciences give them a comfortable testimony as having done what became them to do on the contrary when we affront Nature by acting against its suggestions what trouble and uneasiness do we find in our own Breasts nay when a Man hath but a design to commit an evil deed his Conscience is disquieted and perplexed at the thoughts of it and he is as guilty as if he had really acted it So Cain when he contrived the murder of his Brother the very imagination of the wickedness changed his Countenance and filled him with Wrath and Discontent for as soon as we have consented to any iniquity our Spirits receive a secret wound and will make us restless because guilt doth not only fill the Mind with vexations but puts it into an unnatural Fermentation as the Prophet Isaiah describes the wicked person he is like the troubled Sea that cannot rest and I appeal to that which every Man finds in his own Breast if he doth not feel a trouble within him upon his acting contrary to any Principle of Nature or any Notion of good and evil The Virtuous Man is the most bold and undaunted BESIDES Men
the Government of his Mind and is never disturbed by Passion to be tender Hearted and Pityful because cruelty and oppression are an offence to God and a provocation to Men to resign our selves up to the direction of God's Providence that Governs the World leaving all issues and future Successes to the Wise Determination of the Divine Will To hold to the Practice of Truth because a Man's Heart will never misgive him in her ways not to dissemble but to deal openly with Mankind because this behaviour will make our passage easie through the World we shall have none to oppose none to do us harm to be humble and sober in the judgment we make of our selves because Self-confidence and Self-Conceit render Men Fools to be Peace makers and compose Differences to endure Wrongs patiently to forbear Revenge and to love our Enemies because God does so in Nature while he causes the Sun to rise upon Good and Bad to pass charitable Judgments upon others because this is the way to make an Enemy a Friend to give real demonstrations of our Integrity and Goodness by the fruits of it because Men disparage Religion who profess it and do not guide their Actions according to its Doctrines to submit our Senses and inferiour Affections to the Dictates of sober Reason and true Understanding because Mind and Understanding is appointed by God to be his subordinate Governor in human Life to be modest and chast in our Conversation because Modesty secures the Mind from Pride and Chastity preserves the Body from the worst Indispositions THUS Christ Jesus hath shewn us an Example of all Moral Vertues and an Example in some respect hath an Advantage above a Rule for it shews in what way the Roâ—e is practicable and it is a Reproach to any Man not to be able to do or suffer what others have done before him Seeing then God hath taken such care that we should know our Duty and hath made those things Instances of our Obedience which are the natural means and causes of our Happiness we are altogether without excuse if we do it not and we incur the heavy Sentence pronounced by our Savior this is the Condemnation that Light is come into the World and Men love darkness rather than Light for whover does any thing that is evil acts against the Convictions of his own Mind and the Light that shines in his own Soul besides What Advantage is it that Wickedness brings to Men Name me that Vice which improves our Reason or makes us e'er a whit the wiser that tends to the Peace and Satisfaction of our Minds or to our Health and Credit amongst considerate Persons IF then it be Vertue that points out to us the most compendious and ready way to Happiness we may see where our true Interest lies let us not suffer our selves to be cheated of it by the little Arts of Vice or the Insinuations of a Temptation than which there can be nothing more to our prejudice even as to our temporal Concerns for every known and deliberate Sin that a Man commits is a flaw in his Title to his Estate not in respect of Men but of God who is the great Governor of the World the wise Disposer of the Fortunes of Mankind Moral Vertue is the foundation of all revealed Religion AND the Scripture doth every where speak of Moral Vertue as the Foundation of all revealed and instituted Religion therefore our Savior when he was asked which was the first and great Commandment of the Law answers Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and thy Neighbour as thy self A Jew would have thought that he would have pitch'd upon some of those things which were in so great esteem among them Sacrifices Circumcision or the Sabbath But he overlooks all these and instances in the two principal Duties of Morality the Love of God and of our Neighbour and these Moral Duties are those which he calls the Law and the Prophets and which he came not to destroy but to fulfil for the Judicial and Ceremonial Law of the Jews was to pass away and did so not long after but this Law of Moral Duty was to be perpetual and immutable And the keeping of this Law consisted in the Observation of such things which the Scribes and Pharisees did most of all neglect therefore he tells us that unless our Righteousness did exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees we could not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Now these Men were the most punctual People in the World for observing the Jewish and Ceremonial Law and whereas they were obliged to pay Tithes of their more considerable things they would do it even of Mint Anise and Cummin But then they were defective in Moral Duty they were unnatural to their Parents in denying them Relief because their Estates as they pretended were dedicated to an holy Use they were unjust and under a shew of long Prayers devoured Widows Houses in a Word as our Saviour tells 'em they neglected both Mercy and Judgment which are the weightier things of the Law which whosoever neglects he can never please God with any instituted or positive part of Religion and throughout the Old Testament nothing is declared more abominable to him than Sacrifices as long as Men allowed themselves in wicked Practices And in the New Testament the Christian Religion chiefly designs to teach Mankind Righteousness Godliness and Sobriety and for this end was the glorious Appearance of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all Iniquity and purifie to himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works and to deal honestly with every Man to speak Truth to our Neighbour and to have our Conversation void of Offence is called the Image of God and the new Creature and the Apostle advanceth Charity above the greatest Excellencies of Knowledge and of Faith and in the description of the Day of Judgment Men are represented by our Saviour as call'd to an account both as to the Practice and Neglect of Moral Duties and no others are instanced in to shew what Place he intended they should have in his Religion Therefore from all that hath been said upon this Subject we may infer Positive Institutions must give way to Moral Virtue First THAT all Positive Institutions must give way to Moral Duties because God hath declared that He would rather have Mercy than Sacrifice and whosoever violates any Natural Law he undermines the very Foundation of Religion which hath very little in it that is positive besides the two Sacraments and going to God in the Name of Jesus Christ for this the greatest and most perfect Revelation that ever God made to Mankind doth afford us the best helps and advantages for the performing of Moral Duty and produces the strongest Arguments to engage us thereunto Secondly GOD hath discovered our Duty to us in such ways as may