Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n
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A69991
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Some thoughts on the character of Solomon's vertuous woman preach'd in a sermon at the parish-church of Croydon, on the ocacasion of Q. Mary's death, January the 6th, 1694-5 / printed at the request of those that heard it by John Evans.
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Evans, John, 17th cent.
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1695
(1695)
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Wing E3451; ESTC R28617
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23,463
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42
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only the empty flourishes of a well-worded Eloquence or the effects of the Man 's natural Passion But for that Objection here was no room the most inveterate Adversaries could never yet charge this Royal Reformatrix with any of those Vices which she has been labouring to rectifie in the Nation nay they could not but be satisfied in the sincerity of her good Intention when they saw her Life to be nothing else but the Transcript of our Saviour's Doctrine this prevented their prejudice this stopp'd the mouths of Gainsayers Hence it plainly appears that no Impediment in her Practice could obstruct the accomplishing of this intended Reformation Had we corrected and fram'd our Lives by hers we might have been the most religious and happiest People in the World that ever liv'd since the planting of the Gospel in this Island which has not these many hundred years if ever seen such a bright Example of Piety and Goodness sitting upon the Throne Which put Religion into the possibility of attracting others when they perceiv'd it so illustriously visible in such a Noble Person whose Example had the highest Authority and Majesty on its side That 's another qualification necessary to render any Example more prevalent 2. To reform Mankind or to produce any remarkable change in their Manners the utmost endeavours of private Men nay the most vigorous attempts of subordinate Officers are too weak and ineffective their Actions being as inconsiderable as their Persons are regardless can have no power on their Superiours it being against the grain and the establish'd course of Nature whereby the higher Bodies are suppos'd to influence those below the inferiour Orbs are whirl'd round by the motion of the Primum mobile and not vice versâ there is no re-action in this case And therefore all Attempts and Endeavours for Reformation are but like beating the Air vain and fruitless so long as wickedness reigns in High places is countenanced by the Pattern of the Higher Powers as it was some years since when Idolatry was bearing down before it all bounds of true Piety and Vertue and ready to establish its Empire by a Statute-Law for the accomplishing which there was nothing wanting but the Concurrence and Votes of the two honourable Houses at Westminster But that Point being now weather'd and past Religion has once again lifted up its Head above the Waters And Piety that rare but necessary qualification of Princes being return'd to Court has from thence lookt down Vice with a Majestick Countenance and by the advantage of the Supreme Authority on its side was and I hope still is in a very fair way of recovering its pristin Reputation and Esteem together with its former Ground For when Religion comes commission'd and arm'd with the mighty Power of the Prince's Example who is so disloyal or strong enough to resist its force When nothing is herein impos'd on every Subject but what is frankly perform'd by the Magistrate himself what should hinder but that Vertue must become fashionable and that natural Ambition which most Men have of being in the fashion and like their Governours make them Religious too 'T is a general Observation that Wealth and Honour have these two advantageous Appendages as they render any Person more considerable and his actions no less noted so they create in others an honest Emulation an aptness to embrace his Dictates and transcribe his Copies If those therefore whose Superiority above others have vast Authority over them whose Sphere is large and Influence great who have many Dependents or Subjects who court their Favour and whose interest it is to observe and please them if those I say would faithfully discharge that great Obligation which lies upon them of giving good Example what plentiful Harvest of Souls might Heaven reap by them For the Multitude like the lesser Lines in the Circle generally tend to the same Center either of Vertue or Vice by a kind of a natural Instinct act more upon the Principle of Imitation than upon those of Reason and Religion Upon this it was that Isocrates grounds his Advice to Nicocles the Advice indeed was worthy of so great an Orator to give and not below the Dignity of the Magistrate to observe in the Administration of the Government 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. But set your self a Pattern of Temperance and Moderation or Religion and Vertue to others as knowing that 's the usual Mode of the People to conform to and write after the Copy set them by their Magistrates 3. Another Requisite in a Person that would Reform others is Zeal Zeal is the very Soul and Life of Christianity an Affection of all others the most active and vigilant and which is wont to inspire Men with the most passionate care and concernment for Religion without which all our pretences to it are but formal and superficial And this Zeal seems to have had a deep Foundation in the Natural Forwardness of their Majesties Tempers which as we have sufficiently experienc'd put them upon the most dangerous Undertakings for the Rescue and necessary Defence of the best Religion and Constitution in the World When an over-spreading Degeneracy had seized the Vitals of this Nation when the whole Body was well nigh sick and over-run by strange Loosness of Manners and Profaneness of Spirit and had for many years labour'd and groan'd under the inevitable pressures of these Epidemical Distempers to undertake the difficult Cure thereof no competent Physician was to be found no not in our Israel till Divine Providence in compassionate regard of our languishing Condition was pleas'd to enflame and stir up the Zeal of their Majesties to step in to our Help and Assistance Since their Arrival and being happily set over us towards the purging and removing away these Maladies how diligent how active and how zealous have they been not only by their own excellent Examples but also by injoyning all their subordinate Magistrates to put the Laws in execution against the Contagious Evils of the Age and so with all their might and by all prudent ways and means endeavouring to recover Men out of the Snares of the Devil whereby too many were taken captive and to vindicate and secure the Honour and the Worship of the most High God against the daring Insolence of bold Impiety and Atheism How dutifully some of the Magistracy obey'd their Injunction or how far this Reformation has been advanced is a Reflection beside my present Intention However had the Queen liv'd to give the finishing stroke to her pious Design and Resolution in joynt Concurrence with our gracious King on whom alone next under Heaven our Hope is now devolved and united for the vigorous Prosecution of so glorious a Cause we might have seen the persecuted Woman in the Apolypse victoriously triumphing over the old Dragon But that Victory is yet incompleated although this Royal Conqueress has already fought her good Fight kept the Faith and obtain'd the Crown of Righteousness
Her admirable Condescention Thirdly Her extraordinary Charity These I take to be the chief Characteristicks of a Vertuous Woman I shall also in the last place just mention some of her other Vertues and then apply the whole to our present purpose First I begin with her Piety because this is the necessary Foundation of all the other Vertues and Graces of a vertuous Woman and on that score has the precedence in the nature and order of things For Piety in the most comprehensive notion of the word containing all the Dimensions and Boundaries of the Divine Scheme is that pregnant Principle which works the Mind into an universal regard of all God's commands and like the animal spirit diffuses it self thro' the whole Man producing acts suitable to it self and in no way repugnant to those commands Therefore as the natural motions of a Man are the immediate effects of the animal Spirit so all his good moral Actions proceed from this Fountain of Piety and are the proper Emanations of this vital Principle But without this internal sense of Religion all our religious Performances can be esteemed no better than meer Form and Pageantry the Profession of Hypocrites Now this genuine sensation of true Piety was admirable in her Majesty and above the flights of Rhetorick which discover'd it self thro' the whole course and method of her Life and that chiefly distinguished and rais'd her above the rank and condition of ordinary Mortals Some indeed are blown up to the high Pinacle of Honour by the auspicious Gale of Fortune and owe their height more to the benevolence of others than to any merit of their own But then all their towring Height and glittering Shew without true solid Goodness to give it life is but a golden sensless Effigies or an airy Meteor which only dazles the eyes in its transit and then vanishes into its first Matter Whereas Piety is a substantial Good which intrinsick worth doth infinitely excell all the goods and pomp of Greatness The one is Human Earthly and Temporal the other Divine Heavenly and of Eternal Duration this raises a Person to an higher step of Advancement then Secular Greatness can possibly arrive unto For Religion being truly Divine both in its original and in its end as it came down from Heaven so tends thither again and thither it exalts its Votaries In order whereunto it spiritualizes Humanity and never leaves off refining it from its Terrene Imperfections till it be in some measure assimulated and united to the Divine Nature till our Minds are transform'd into the very Image of the Deity and in the Apostle's phrase Christ is formed in us By this time and not before it is that we have something of true value and solid Greatness in us For God Almighty being the Fountain and the Measure of all Perfections the nearer any Person approaches him by the practice of Sanctity and Goodness the only way and means to become like God the worthier and the more to be valued he is and the more hereby he participates of God's Nature by so much the more excellent and honourable he must needs be and consequently the greater praise and esteem should attend him in respect of that Divine resemblance he bears If so how admirably good and great and honorary will this most Religious Princess appear if we measure her Character by that Rule and from thence make an estimate of her Worth in whom the Divine Idea did so eminently manifest it self in all the Instances of holy Living that her whole Life was a Pattern not unworthy of our imitation As Piety in its limited sence signifies Devotion how constant how regular and how seraphick was she in this like pious Anna serving God night and day in the Temple so strictly observing the stated times of Publick Prayers that neither the necessary refreshments of Nature nor all the hurry and succession of State-affairs which perpetually crouded in for her adjustment and dispatch could scarce ever extort from her any intermission of them From hence we may with good reason conclude That our Lord's direction for praying in our retirements to the Father who seeth in secret could be no less practis'd in her private Devotion At the Celebration of every part of Divine Worship how fixt and intent her mind how fervent and enflam'd her Affections which were so warm and devotional as could not but enkindle the cold indifference of all wandring adjacent Minds How constant and uniform was her whole Practice in the several Duties of the Christian Institution and that without the least tincture of vanity or ostentation And all these pious Performances were the result not of constraint like that of a melancholy Recluse but of free and generous Resolution of an unaffected well grounded Zeal so neither were they cloister'd or confin'd within the narrow limits of her Closet but mostly acted on the Stage of the World and by a general and no less true report proclaim'd on the House-top the sound whereof has long since pierced thro' and ecchoed in every corner of the Land even from Dan to Beersheba Whereby this shining Model of Christian Vertues must needs prove the most perswasive Oratory the most effectual means to recommend to and engage all her Subjects in the Practice of Religion For Example is of much more force and efficacy than Precept or the best Discourses It hath a secret power and influence upon those whom we govern or converse with to mould and form them into the same manners and disposition And by consequence nothing in the World can contribute so much to promote the Honour of God and the Propagation of the Gospel as the Exemplary Lives of those who make profession of it Hence it is we are enjoyn'd to let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works and be induc'd thereby to glorifie our heavenly Father For this great End her Majesty was one of the fittest best accomplish'd Instruments that ever weilded the English Sceptre To attempt the Reformation of our Manners and establish Holiness and Vertue in the Hearts and Lives of these Kingdoms suitable to the Principles of our Reform'd Religion and to carry on so great a work with success none was so proper so well qualified in every respect To which end among other qualifications these three are essentially necessary 1. Good Example 2. Authority 3. Zeal 1. The first Requisite is good Example Whoever goes about to reform others must first see and take care that his own Life be free from those Faults which he would amend in them For if his Life be tainted with the same Errors or shew that he has no serious regard to Religion for what reason should other men think that he is in earnest or if he be they who attend more to what a man doth than what he saith will be apt to make no other construction of his Arguments be they never so pressing but this That they are