the Assemblies of Gods Servants 3. And more particularly let him not neglect the opportunities of receiving the Sacrament of the Lords Supper as often as they are presented to him unless some weighty occasion hinder or disable him It is well known to have been the use of the primitive Church to administer this holy Sacrament as often as it held any solemn Assembly for divine worship and the Christians then as duly received it as they came to Church nor did the frequency of it abate their reverence to it but highly increased it rather And this office they therefore called the Communion because it was the symbol of a compleat member of the Church and the fullest instance of that Society To have been kept from it by any accident was then looked upon as a great Calamity but to be debarred from it by the censure of the Church was as dreadful to them as the Sentence of Death They sought to be restored to it with tears with prostrations in SackCloth and Ashes with all the intercession of their Friends and all the interests they could make There was no need in those times to use arguments to convince men of the duty or repeated exhortations to press them to the performance of it the Ministers of the Church had no trouble in answering objections against it or removing impertinent scruples about it much less was there any occasion to urge the observance of it by humane Laws for they remembred it was instituted by their Saviour on the same night in which he was betrayed for the Commemoration of his Passion and recommended to their observance by the most obliging circumstances they found the constant solemnity of it setled in all Churches by the Apostles and they were well aware of the unspeakable comforts of it Now the reason of all these things holds as much in these times as then saving that men are not so conscientious and devout as they were for in the first place it hath been the custom of the Church in all times since to make this Sacrament the badge and cognizance of her members until of late those have pretended to be Churches where there was neither Order nor Unity neither Sacraments administred nor indeed persons qualified to administer them and it 's great pity and shame that such an unhappy novelty should prescribe against all Antiquity And then secondly as for the institution of this Sacrament by our Saviour it is manifest that he did not deliver himself by way of counsel and advice so as to leave it to our discretion or courtesy to observe this Sacrament or omit it but by express and positive command Do this in remembrance of me and therefore there is no room for the cavil against mixt Communion as if we were excused from celebrating the Lord's Supper because others do it unworthily which is as much as to say because some do it as they should not I may chuse whether I will do it at all But as I said here is an express command that we do it and therefore we have no liberty to omit it upon any such pretence And upon the same account it will be in vain to pretend I am not prepared for it and therefore must be excused for when our Lord hath made it our duty to do it it is our duty also to do it as we should do and the neglect of one duty will not excuse another i. e. our sin of unpreparedness will be no apology for our sin in total omission of the Sacrament The whole truth is here are two things required of us one expressed and the other implied the express duty is that we celebrate the memorial of our Saviours Passion the implied duty is that this be done with such preparation as agrees with so sacred a mystery both these therefore are to be performed for as my coming to the Sacrament will not excuse my coming unpreparedly so much less will my unpreparedness excuse my not coming at all But of the two it seems far the more pardonable to come though somewhat unpreparedly than not to come because of unpreparedness for that is neither to come nor prepare neither I say though neither ought to be done yet it is plainly better to offend in the point of an implied duty than of an express one but especially it is more tolerable to commit one sin than both as he that comes not to the Lords Supper at all notoriously doth But then thirdly for the comforts of this holy Sacrament those are so vastly great that the man is as well insensible of his own good as of the honour of Christ Jesus who willfully neglects the Lords Supper For in the first place by commemorating the Passion of our Lord in that holy Feast we not only perform an office of obedience and gratitude to our Saviour but we strengthen our Faith in the efficacy of his Death and Sacrifice for the expiation of sin which affords the greatest relief to our guilty Consciences that can be And together herewith we melt our own hearts into contrition fears and sorrow for those sins of ours which required such an atonement For who can consider what his Saviour suffered and look upon him whom we have pierced and not mourn heartily for his sin and his danger Again by eating and drinking at the Lords Table we are made sensible of the happy estate of Friendship with God which we are now restored to by the intercession of our Lord Jesus Moreover by commemorating his Death and the ends and effects of it we fortify our own minds against the fear of Death and by feeding upon his body and blood we have the pledges of our own Resurrection and Immortality and to say no more though in so copious and comfortable a subject by partaking of his body and blood we become united to him and partake of the same spirit that was in him And now after all this who will make that an excuse for omitting the Sacrament that they do not find or observe that either themselves or others profit by it What is it no profit that we have done our duty and exprest our gratitude to so great a Benefactor Is it no profit to see Christ Crucified before our Eyes and to see him pour out his heart blood for Sinners Is it no profit to be made ingenuously to weep over our own sins Is it no priviledge no comfort to be admitted to the Lords Table in token of Friendship and reconciliation with him Certainly there is no body but profits something more or less by these things and if there be any man who doth not profit greatly by them he must needs have a very naughty heart indeed and had need to prepare himself and go often to the Sacrament that it may be mended But however let the good Christian gladly imbrace all opportunities of this holy solemnity and not doubt to find comfort by it 4. As for the other offices of the Church such as Prayers
the last man they discoursed with for always the newest and freshest opinion is the best and so as they say of the Chameleon they take their colour from the next object This temper is a mighty disparagement to divine truth for it looks as if there were no certain way of satisfaction to the minds of men but that they must always seek and never find and endlesly dispute but could never come to a resolution and it is so intolerable an impediment of the life and practice of Religion that it is many times more harmless to be setled in some bad opinions than to be thus unsetled and to dispute every thing For besides that this course draws off the spirits of men and spends their best heat upon unprofitable notions and so takes them off from studying their own hearts examining their Consciences and diligent attendance to their ways and actions it raises passion nourishes pride foments divisions and in a word turns Christianity into vain Janglings Whereas a truly sober Christian is readier to believe than to dispute in divine things and more careful to practise old rules than to devise new models he studies the Scripture sincerely not for objections but for resolution he lives up to what he knows and prays God to direct him where he is uncertain and so is led by the Divine Grace in a plain path towards Heaven The Novellist or great Disputer contrariwise being unresolved of his way makes no hast in his Journey and cannot very earnestly practise any thing to day because he cannot tell what opinion he shall be of to morrow And then for the other instance of intemperance of mind namely scrupulosity When men have such headstrong and ungovernable or such shy and squeamish Consciences that they boggle at every thing which doth not just fit their peculiar phancy and humour though they can give no reasonable account of their jealousy or aversation but only they dislike and are offended with such and such indifferent things they know not why their Conscience takes check at them and there is no more to be said in the Case Now such as these can by no means be reputed sober men who like as we say of Drunkards see double and consequently fear where no fear is or who are terrified by their own idle phancies their brains being clouded and darkened by the crude steams of riot and excess This temper however in some cases it may be pitiable is notwithstanding very mischievous not only as it disturbs the Peace of the Church and of Mankind by rendering those who are under the power of it busy and pragmatical censorious and uncharitable towards all that are not just of their own mode and size but which is far worse it misrepresents the Divine Majesty as if he were a captious Deity who watched mens haltings to take advantage against them as having more mind to damn than to save them By which means it discourages men from Religion as if it were the most anxious and uncomfortable thing in the World and consequently of all this it extreamly hinders proficiency in virtue for he that is always jealous of his way will often make halts or have a very uncomfortable progress On the other side he that is likely to make a good Christian satisfies himself of the Divine Goodness and Candour in interpreting the actions of his Creatures and being conscious of his own sincerity in following closely the rule of the Scripture where it is plain thinks himself at liberty where that is silent and takes the direction of his Spiritual Guides where it is obscure and then goes chearfully and vigorously on his way towards Heaven 3. Next to regard of Sobriety both of body and mind let the man who designs the other World take heed that the present World grow not too much upon him and distract or over-burden him in his Journey towards Heaven and the diligence and circumspection in this point ought to be the greater in regard this World is placed near us and therefore is apt to seem great to our sight and the other though incomparably greater being at a distance from us is apt to seem little and contemptible Besides it is the chief aim of the Devil to make the present World seem much more beautiful and valuable than it is that by its blandishments he may soften us by its allurements debauch us or at least by the care and concerns of it distract us and take off our edge to better things It is certain also that he whose affections are eagerly ingaged upon secular interests can never be ingenuous and free enough to have a right understanding of the true and real difference of things nor conscientious enough to stand by that truth which he understands for he can never be steady in any principles but must turn with every Tide and sail with every Wind as it shall make for his purpose Besides it is plain that our Souls are too narrow to hold much of this World and yet to afford room for any great share of Heaven together with it Therefore our Saviour hath said ye cannot serve God and Mammon and accordingly in his first Sermon on the Mount Matt. 6. 24 25 26. to the intent that his Doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven might take place in the hearts of his Disciples and hearers he very emphatically and largely cautions them against admiration of the World and too eager pursuit of it And in the aforementioned passage Luk. 21. v. 34. to his admonition against over-charging themselves with surfeiting and drunkenness he subjoins the cares of this life intimating that those two kinds of Vices as opposite as they may seem to each other agree in their malignant influence upon Religion neither indeed are they so contrary in their natures as they seem to be for as Drunkenness is nothing but a liquid Covetousness so on the other side Covetousness is a kind of dry thirst or drunken insatiable humour and it is so much the more dangerous and incurable than the other as it is the less infamous merely because it doth not presently discover it self by such odd and ridiculous symptomes as the other doth To avoid this therefore let the man we speak of consider constantly with himself the shortness and uncertainty of the present life by which he will easily be apprehensive of how much more consequence it is to provide for Eternity than for that little abode we are to make in that state wherein the things of this World are of any use to us Let him also observe the success of things and he will easily conclude that much more of our prosperity is owing to the providence of God than to our own forecast and indeavours and consequently that it is a better provision for our Children and Posterity to leave them under the blessing of God than in great possessions And in consequence of these perswasions he will not be tempted to grasp too much business so as to
the formal acting of a part with the observance of abundance of nice Rites Ceremonies and Punctilio's that it is not a thing which looks beautifully and promises fairly in publick but is forgotten or laid aside at home nor is it immured in a Closet and never sufferd to take the air in Conversation to say no more that it is not mere morality nor mere devotion but both these in Conjunction together with all that is brave and noble and wise and good all that can better the minds and tempers and lives of men and all that can improve the state of the World all this is within the Verge of Religion especially the Christian Religion For so the Apostle intimates Phil. 4. 8. Finally Brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest or grave whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely or friendly whatsoever things are of good report if there be any virtue and if there be any praise think of these things i. e. Count them branches of Christianity for true Religion is nothing less nothing I mean of no narrower extent than a wise and worthy conduct and manage of a mans self in all those Relations we stand in namely towards God our Neighbour and our selves This I take to be the true notion and the just Province of Religion but I can neither think it possible to handle all the parts of so vast a subject in this short Treatise nor indeed do I apprehend the discoursing of them all to be equally necessary to those for whose use I principally intend these Papers Therefore omitting but not excluding all other branches of Religion I will here only speak of these three things First Of secret Devotion or those acts of Piety which are transacted only between Almighty God and a Mans own Soul Secondly Of private Piety or the exercises of Religion in every particular Family Thirdly Of the more publick acts of Religion and concerning a mans governing himself so as to consult the honour and service of God in the Parish wherein he lives I begin with the first viz. of secret or Closet Devotion That this is an essential branch of true Religion and a necessary and universal duty appears by the command of our Saviour Mat. 6. 6. When thou prayest enter into thy Closet and when thou hast shut the door pray to thy father who is in secret c. in which words it is not our Saviours meaning to forbid or put a slight upon all but Closet Devotion for he himself frequently prayed publickly and taught his Disciples so to do nor though he speak of a Closet doth he intend to confine this duty to the strict formalities of a Closet but that it may be done in the Fields or in any recess or place of secrecy whatsoever as he himself practised nor lastly though he use the word Prayer only doth he make that strictly taken to be the whole office of secret Piety for it is usual in the Scripture and in common speech also to express all the acts of immediate worship by the name of Prayer whether they be Praises or Adorations or Confessions or Thanksgiving or Meditation or Self-Examination all therefore which our Saviour here intended was to represent the necessity of secret Devotion as well as publick and to press that upon his Disciples which the hypocrisy and ostentation of the Pharisees had laid aside because in truth they sought not Gods glory but their own And this is further recommended to us by the universal practice of all good men in all Ages and Countries of the World and of whatsoever opinion or perswasion otherwise There have perhaps been those who under some pretence or other have neglected Family worship and those also who have been abased by some scruples into an omission of publick worship but I verily think that none but flat Atheists or gross Hypocrites which are much the same thing could ever dispense with themselves in the common and habitual neglect of secret worship for a man cannot believe there is a God or much less have any worthy apprehensions of him but it naturally puts him upon some act or other of adoration towards him Acts of publick worship are to the Soul as exercise is to the Body it may live and subsist though not long and healthfully without it but secret Devotion is like the motion of the heart and lungs without which a man is presently choaked up and destroy'd if his heart do not move towards God and as it were by circulation return in praises all those benefits which it continually receives from him it is stifled by repletion and if by Prayer he do not breathe out his griefs and as it were ventilate his spirits he is strangled by his own melancholy for the publick performance of religious offices cannot make a supply in these Cases because every man hath his secret sins to confess to God which it is ordinarily unsafe to make other men privy to and his peculiar infirmities and temptations his griefs and burdens which it is in vain to lay open to men seeing only God can relieve them and every man hath received sundry personal mercies and savours from the hands of God in answer of his Prayers which require a personal acknowledgment to the Divine Goodness And the opening of a mans heart in any of these Cases is commonly attended with such affections and passionate expressions as would be indecent to the Eyes of men though they are very becoming towards God in respect of which last thing we find 1 Sam. 1. 13. Hannah was thought to be drunk by the holy and wise man Eli the Priest when yet as the truth appear'd afterwards he saw in her only the devout symptoms of a sorrowful Spirit Besides these acts of secret worship are very necessary in order to publick worship both as they dispose and fit a mans heart for it before he enters upon it by composing the thoughts and raising the affections and as they make application of it afterwards pressing home upon the Conscience the instructions there received and improving and confirming into a stable resolution those good affections and inclinations which were stirred up by it insomuch that that man will either have no mind to Gods publick service or no suitable temper in it or be little the better after it that hath not first fitted and prepared his heart for it by secret Devotion And herein lies the true reason as well of the lamentable unprofitableness as of the common irreverence of publick performances because men rush into Gods House without the due Preface of secret preparation and they turn their backs upon God when they depart from the Church never attending to or improving those good motions which the spirit of God had kindled in them Moreover these devout offices of Religion though they are by no means to supplant and supersede the publick as we have intimated already and shall demonstrate at large by and
that he tempt not himself to flatness by an affected length of these holy duties for though it be a sign of an indevout temper to be too compendious and concise in them as if we grudged the time spent in Gods Service and although it be also irreverent towards God to be so short and abrupt as if we briefly dictated to him what we would have done yet it is to be guilty of the same fault to be impertinently tedious with him as if he could not understand us without many words or would be wrought upon by tedious importunity Besides all this it is to be considered that often when the spirit is willing the flesh is weak and that our bodies cannot always correspond with our minds now in such a case to affect the prolonging of our Devotions is to lose in the intention what we get in the extension of them for it will be sure either to make us go unwillingly to our duty or to perform it very superficially in either of which circumstances it is not likely we should be pleasing to God or be able to make any comfortable reflections afterwards upon such performance The measures of Devotion therefore are not expresly prescribed by God but are to be determined by a prudent respect to the peculiar constitution of the person the condition of his affairs and the extraordinariness of the occasion and to go about to exceed these bounds is an argument of intemperate zeal which is never acceptable to God and is so far injurious to a mans self that it manifestly hinders what it pretends to promote To these I add Fourthly Let not the devout man be very curious or sollicitious about the from or expressions of his secret duties I mean whether his Prayers be read out of a Book or be the present conceptions of his own mind so long as they are offered up from an understanding Soul and an humble and affectionate heart for these are all the things that God looks at and wherein his honour is directly concerned and therefore as he hath no value for eloquence of speech on the one hand so neither hath he for strength of memory or for pregnancy and variety of phancy on the other but only as I said that we worship him with our understanding and do not like Parrots utter words whereof we have no sense or notion that we bring an humble and contrite spirit as sensible of the infinite distance between him and us and an heart seriously affected with his presence and the nature and value of the things we are conversant about It is true that a composed form is most sutable to publick worship where as I noted before the dignity and credit of Religion is concern'd and that perhaps in private duties our present conceptions may most please and affect our selves but our acceptance with God especially in these secret duties depends neither upon the one nor the other but upon those inward dispositions of the Soul aforesaid Wherefore let no man cheat himself into an opinion that those heats of phancy or transports of affection which sometimes happen in conceived Prayer are instances of real and extraordinary devotion or that because the use of a form or Book may perhaps be destitute of such flights therefore those duties are dead and formal forasmuch as those services may be most acceptable to God which are less pleasant to our selves since it is not those sudden flashes but a constant and even servour of piety which he hath regard to And this leads me to another advice namely Fifthly Let the pious man think himself obliged to pray without ceasing and that he is never to lay aside or intermit the regular course of a daily devotion upon any pretence whatsoever but especially not upon the absurd pretext of awaiting the motion of the spirit for although it be true that the Spirit of God ceases not to move men to their duty the way of the Spirit of God is not to move sensibly and to make violent impressions upon us and therefore he that suspends the performance of his duty till he is so jogged and stirred up to it will never pray at all and indeed what reason can there be to expect such a thing or what need of it in the case of a known duty if it were the will of God to put us upon some extraordinary service then it were reasonable to expect some special mandate or impulse upon our spirits from him which might both warrant the enterprize and quicken us in the prosecution but in ordinary duties the motion of the holy spirit in the Scripture is and ought to be sufficient and he that will not be stirred up by that doth but pretend to wait for a spirit in excuse of his own Atheism Unbelief or intolerable slothfulness and in so doing lays himself open to an evil spirit whose design it is to check and withdraw men from Religion and this is matter of sad and common experience that from waiting for the motion of the spirit men very usually grow first to frequent omissions then to carelessness of their duty and at last to a total neglect of it Therefore let not any man slight a regular and methodical Devotion as a meer formal and customary thing since this is the very attainment of Piety when that which is matter of duty becomes also in a good sense customary and habitual and he that out of such a temper performs the duties of Religion constantly and reverently gives far greater proof of sincere Christianity than he that seems to himself to do them with greater heat and transport but needs from time to time to be jogged and provoked to the performance Sixthly To all these I adde in the last place that it is very advisable though not absolutely necessary that in these secret Devotions a man should where it may be done with privacy and without oftentation or such other impediment pray vocally and audibly for although God knows our hearts and observes all our thoughts and the motions of our affections before we express them and therefore needs not that we should interpret our minds to him by words yet it is fit we should imploy all the powers and capacities we have in his service our Bodies as well as our Souls and our Lips as well as our hearts Besides though we cannot affect God with the tone and accents of our Speech yet we often times affect our own hearts the more and raise them a note higher in concord with the elevation of our Voices but that which I principally intend is this viz. by the harmony of our tongue and voice our hearts are as it were charmed into the greater composure and intention upon that we are about And so whereas it is the usual complaint especially of melancholy and thoughtful persons that their hearts are apt to rove and wander in these secret duties of Religion by this means we have it very much in our power to keep
them from extravagancy and at once to make our Devotions the less tedious to our selves and the more acceptable to God CHAP. II. Of several other instances of secret Devotion THough Prayer be the most general duty of Religion the common instrument of all Piety and the most immediate address to God yet it is a great mistake to make it the only instance of secret Devotion for there are several others of great moment amongst which I reckon in the next place 2. Study and Meditation not only to direct and assist our Prayers of which I said something before but especially to cultivate and improve our own minds that we may be wiser and consequently both more capable of doing God better service in this World and also fitter for the Society of Angels and the Conversation of the spirits of just men made perfect in the other World For we are to consider that God Almighty hath set a mighty value upon our Souls in redeeming them by no less a price than the blood of his only Son and therefore we should be intolerably ingrateful towards him if we bestow no cost upon them but live as if we were mere matter and body and take care only to please and gratify our senses and in the mean time abandon our minds to folly and ignorance to sloth and superstition We are to consider also that the same infinite goodness hath by the same purchace deliver'd us from the fear of Eternal Death which otherwise would have kept us in perpetual bondage and so have contracted our spirits and rendered our very selves so inconsiderable to our selves that no man could have had the heart to take any care of himself but would be tempted to have lived like a beast because he expected to die like one or worse but now that we are made to hope for immortality and to live for ever and ever there is great reason a man should spare no cost no labour and pains about himself since he may reap the fruit and enjoy the comfort of so doing in the better enjoyment of himself a thousand Ages hence and to all Eternity Moreover the same Divine Goodness hath designed us to a glorious estate of happiness in his own Kingdom of Heaven a state of intellectual pleasure and the most sublimed ingredients of felicity which a dull sottish and sensual Soul can never be capable of perceiving if he were placed in the midst of them and therefore he is more than brutish that doth not dispose himself so that he may be meet to partake of that inheritance with the Saints in light To all this we are to consider that the general apostafy of mankind hath weaken'd our natures clouded our understanding and disorder'd all our powers and together herewith the foolish opinions and traditions of the World have abused and deceived us yet more and more so that we must be most silly and unhappy Creatures if we do not indeavour to deliver and disingage our selves from both these Calamities And the case is not totally irreparable in respect of either of these mischiefs if we be not wanting to our selves for to the intent that we might in some measure recover our selves it hath pleased God to give us time to consider in privacy and retirement from the noise of the World that we may recollect our selves he hath set before us his works and providence to meditate upon we have his holy Scriptures to inlighten our minds and guide us out of the perplexed state of things we enjoy the publick ministry and abundance of good Books to help us to understand those Scriptures and above all we are assured of the assistances of his holy spirit against the weakness and confusion of our own understandings So that as there is great reason and great necessity that we should apply our selves to study and meditation so we have as great incouragement to hope for success in so doing for by application of our selves to the means aforesaid we may not only rid our selves of that wildness and ferity which is ordinarily upon our natures but outgrow vulgar opinion and tradition and come to be able to make a true estimate of things set before us we may greaten our spirits so as to despise those little things which silly men dote upon we may free our minds of childish fears and unaccountable superstitions we may understand the true reason of Religion the loveliness of virtue and in a word have worthier notions of God and clearer apprehensions of the World to come And although it be acknowledged that all men are not alike capable of these improvements either by reason of the weakness of their minds or the unhappy constitution of their bodies or the perplexed condition of their outward affairs yet certainly God Almighty hath by the means aforesaid put it into every mans power to be wiser than he is if he would but apply himself to the use of them and therefore let the devout man be sure to make the experiment To further him the more wherein let him to all the considerations foregoing adde these two following First That forasmuch as he was made in Gods Image it is no less than a contempt of the Divine Majesty to have no regard to the cultivating and adorning that part of himself wherein he especially resembles his Maker and consequently it will appear to him to be a very fit and proper instance of worship towards God to improve his own Soul and therefore it is here justly placed amongst the expressions of Devotion Secondly Let him consider that the great game of Eternity is but once to be plaid and that there is no retrieving of our neglects and carelessness afterwards therefore there is all the reason in the World that we should play it intently and warily my meaning is that therefore we ought to redeem time from folly and sensuality and apply it to the advantage of our Souls and he that doth so and begs Gods blessing upon it will undoubtedly find his mind inlarged his life more regular and his spirit more comfortable which are all the chief ends of Devotion 3. The next instance of secret Devotion for I am not curious in what order I place them shall be the exercise of Faith in God and dependance upon him in pursuance of an acknowledgment that he alone governs the World and the framing a mans heart to take notice of him to have recourse to him and stay it self upon him in all exigencies and accidents and passages whatsoever that he may impute nothing to chance fate or the stars but possess himself with a deep and setled apprehension of the great interest of God in all revolutions or occurrences This is a point of great and real honour to the Divine Majesty as it sets God always before us and places him continually in our Eye as it brings us to an intire resignation of our selves to his dispose and puts us into a constant gravity and a reverence towards him
is not so to be understood as if the obligations of Religion extended no further than to acts of worship or address to God for it is as much our duty to manage our selves well towards others for Gods sake as towards him for his own sake And therefore as hath been intimated heretofore true Piety in its just dimensions comprizes no less than a worthy discharge of our selves in all those relations Divine Providence hath placed us in Now next to our obligations to our Creator and Preserver and next to our concern for the better part of our selves our own Souls a man stands related to his Family so nearly that he is wanting in both the former that is negligent of this Almighty Wisdom and Goodness pronounced it not fit for man to be alone and therefore the first provision he made against the uncomfortable state of solitude was to enter him into the Society of a Family partly that in so near a station they might mutually relieve and help one another in difficulties entertain one another by Discourse and improve one anothers reason partly that in this Conjunction they might fortify one anothers Spirits against all ill accidents or the enterprizes of wicked and malicious Spirits more powerful than themselves but principally that they might mutually provoke and inflame one anothers hearts to admiration love and reverence of their great Creator And this end is so great and the injunction of it so strict that every man in this Society stands charged with the Soul of another and is accountable for it at least so far that he cannot be excusable that doth not indeavour to bring those with whom he so intimately converses and upon whom he hath so many opportunities to a sense and regard of God and Religion And this especially concerns those that are heads of Families forasmuch as by virtue of their place they have always been accounted not only Kings and Governours but also Prophets and Priests within their peculiar sphere and province Accordingly we find it to have been the constant care and practice of all good men in all Ages to train up those of their Families in the knowledge of the true God and the exercises of true Religion particularly God himself testifies of Abraham Gen. 18 19. that he knew he would command his children and his houshold after him that they keep the way of the Lord c. And Job 1. 5. we find it to have been the continual care of that holy man to sanctify his Children and Family and daily to intercede with God for them by Sacrifice Deut. 6. 6. it is an express injunction upon the Children of Israel that they not only keep the laws of God in their own hearts but that they should teach them diligently to their Children and talk of them when they sate in their houses and when they walked by the way c. that is that they should convey and imprint a sense of God and his Religion upon the minds of those they familiarly conversed with And so great is the authority and influence of Governours of Families and so powerful is good example in this particular that Josh 24. 15. Joshua undertakes for his Family that they should serve the Lord whether other people would do so or no. David often declares his zeal for the maintenance of Religion in his Family so far that he resolves those persons should be excluded his House that made no Conscience of God and most remarkably 1 Chr. 28. 9. he gives this solemn charge to his Son Solomon Thou Solomon my Son know thou the God of thy Father and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind for the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imagination of the thoughts if thou seek him he will be found of thee but if thou forsake him he will cast thee off for ever And for the times of the New Testament there is abundant evidence that it was the constant practice of all those who had a sense of Religion in their hearts to set it up in their Families also of which the testimonies are so many and so ready at hand that it is needless here to recite them and the success was commonly answerable to the indeavour from whence it comes to pass that Acts 10. 2. it is said of Cornelius that he was not only a devout man and prayed to God always but that he feared the Lord with all his house i. e. his Example Prayers and instruction prevailed upon all those that were under the influence of them to bring them to at least a profession of piety also upon which account it is further observable that generally when any Governour of a Family imbraced the Christian Faith and was converted to that Religion it is said that such an one believed and all his house or he and all his house were baptized namely because truly good men did not fail by their example and endeavours to bring those over to the same Religion which themselves were heartily perswaded of and accordingly we see it often come to pass in these times wherein we live that several persons very heartily bless God that his providence disposed them into such or such pious Families wherein the foundation of their eternal happiness hath been laid by the means of the instructive and exemplary devotion which they have there been under the advantages of upon consideration of all which reasons examples and incouragements and several others which might with great ease have been added let no good Christian be of so monastick a spirit as to extend his care no farther than his own Cell and to think he hath acquitted himself well enough when he hath discharged the offices of his Closet and hath kept Religion glowing in his own heart but think it his duty to take care that his light shine quite through his House and that his zeal warm all his Family In order to which we will here consider these three things First Of the several members which usually a Family consists of and which are concern'd in its discipline Secondly The several duties of piety which especially become and concern a Family And thirdly By what means the members of a Family may be brought to comply with all those duties 1. First The ordinary relations of a Family especially as it signifies those which dwell or converse together under the same roof are Husband and Wife Parent and Children Master and Servant Friend and Friend and all these I take to be comprized in those several passages of the Acts of the Apostles where it is said that such a man and all his house were converted or baptized for there are great interests of Religion which intercede between every of these as for the relation of Husband and Wife as it is the nearest and strictest that can be so consequently it is of mighty importance to their mutual comfort and a wonderful indearment of affections when both the relatives are animated with
hath advanced Gods glory in the Salvation of others Therefore it is exceedingly worth the while that we should deny our selves and condescend to any honest art and method of ingaging men in Religion Especially this is to be considered that the instances of Piety and Devotion are above all things to be voluntary free and chearful or they are nothing worth and therefore harshness and severity are the most improper instruments for such an effect consequently it must be wise Discourses obliging carriage sweetness of temper kindness and benignity that are the most likely methods of prevailing in such a case and ordinarily to gain this point no more is requisite than that a man discriminate between the good and the bad that he favour the one and discountenance the other and this alone will in time make a strange change in a Family Especially Thirdly If in the third place the Governour of a Family be a great Example of Piety himself Rules without Examples are neither understood nor considered by those to whom they are propounded and he that goes about to over-rule his Family to Piety without making Conscience of it in his own practice nay who doth not make his own life a great pattern of what he perswades to undermines his own indeavours and shall not only fail of success but be ridiculous for his pains for every body is aware of this that if Devotion be necessary to one it is so to another if the Servant ought to pray to God so ought the Master if one ought to be zealous certainly the other ought not to be careless or profane or if one may be excused the trouble of Religion so may the other also And indeed it is hardly possible for a man in these matters to have the confidence earnestly to press the observation of that upon those under him which is not conspicuous in his own practice or at least if he have the forehead to do it and can so well act the part of the Hypocritical Pharisee as to lay heavy burdens upon others which he himself will not touch with one of his fingers yet as he cannot do it heartily so he must be very vain if he thinks men will not be able to see through the disguise and very sottish if he can expect that such commands of his should carry any authority with them But there is a majesty in holy Example it not only commands but charms men into compliance there is life and spirit in it insomuch that it animates and inflames all about a man it makes Piety to become visible and not only shews it to be necessary but represents it with all its advantages of goodness beauty and ornament it confutes mens mistakes of it answers their objections against it removes their suspicions shames their cowardice and lukewarmness in a word it doth after the manner of all great Engines work powerfully though almost insensibly We find by common experience that men are sooner made wise and fit for great actions by the reading of History than by studying of Politicks because matter of fact strikes us more powerfully and the circumstances of things as they are done instruct us more effectually than all dry rules and speculations can do to which purpose it is to be remarked that the way of the holy Scripture is rather to teach men by Examples than by rules and accordingly the whole sacred Writ consists principally of the History of the Lives of holy men Almighty Wisdom thinking that way the fittest not only to express the Laws of Virtue but to make impression of them upon the spirits of men and indeed which is further remarkable there are some of the more curious and excellent lines of Piety which can hardly be exprest by words but are easily legible in the lives of holy men Therefore let him who would ingage his Family to Devotion give them a fair Copy of it in his own Example and then he shall not fail of the honour and comfort to see it transcribed and imitated by those about him 4. But that he may with the more certainty and expedition attain this desireable effect it is very necessary that he neither make the lives of those he would gain upon burdensome to them and exhaust their spirits by too great and constant drudgery about the affairs of the World nor that he make the business of Religion irksome and unpleasant to them by unnecessary length and tediousness of Family-Devotion For the former of these will take off their edge and leave them with no heart to Religion and the latter will beget an utter aversation to it As for the former our Saviour hath told us we cannot serve God and Mammon and that no man can serve two Masters i. e. either one of them must be neglected or both served very remisly for it 's certain when men are harassed with secular business they cannot have spirits enough to attend Religion with any vigour And for the other if the duties of Religion be drawn out phantastically to a tedious length it will be impossible whilest men are men that they should either be inclined to go to them with such chearfulness or persevere in them with such delight and fervour as is requisite Therefore let the World be so moderately pursued as that time and strength and room may be left for Devotion and let the Duties of Religion be so contrived that they may be pleasant and easy and then besides that Devotions so performed are most acceptable to God it will be no hard matter to bring our Families to comply with them Especially 5. If in the fifth place the Governours of Families take care to order and methodize affairs so that these different things intrench not upon each other neither the World incroach upon Religion nor Religion shut out and exclude the common affairs of life but both may take their places in a just subordination We commonly observe that things in an heap and which are not digested into any order look vast and numerous so as to amuse our minds in the contemplation of them insomuch that we neither apprehend any of them distinctly nor comprehend them all together and in a crowd of business we are either so confounded with the multiplicity or distracted with the variety of things before us that we apply our selves to nothing at all effectually for one hinders and supplants the other So it is here in the case between the affairs of the two Worlds if both lie in gross before men and no distinct place be assigned to each of them the effect is that both together being an intolerable burden one of the two must necessarily be neglected and that commonly falls to be the lot of Religion or if it happen that these offices are not totally omitted they will be sure to be superficially performed the minds of men neither being sufficiently prepared for them nor united enough to attend them without distraction and wanderings Therefore as the wise man
Neighbours and divide into parties as men of a great deal of Pride but of little Wit for a great and generous mind would be easily able to animate such a Society as a Parish and render himself considerable in the whole without tearing it in pieces that he may lead a Faction He detests and abhors all affected singularity though the instance of it be in it self unblameable so long as it is not absolutely necessary because he considers such things first raise Jealousy then provoke Emulation and at last end in alienation of affections He indeavours that no new Opinions in Religion may be broached amongst the Neighbourhood as knowing well there can be no new Gospel or new way to Heaven and he hath learnt by experience that whilst men stand gazing after new lights they make halt in the race of virtue and lose the way of peace without which they shall never come at Heaven He indeavours therefore to keep up the antient Landmarks both in spiritual and temporal affairs but if any disputes be raised he will presently bring Water to quench the Fire in the beginning and by discreet and temperate Discourses incline both Parties to coolness and moderation by representing the littleness of the matter in Controversy between them the great benefit of Unity and Concord amongst Neighbours and especially by putting them in mind of the approaches of Death which will very shortly take away the subject of the Question and the Disputants too 6. Sixthly Next to this and to the intent that his indeavours of making Peace may be the more successful he will contrive to render his person acceptable and fit to be interposed in quarrels by making himself remarkable for all other offices of Charity and Beneficence such as relieving of the Poor to the very utmost of his ability and by sympathizing with those he cannot help by visiting the sick counselling the weak and injudicious comforting the disconsolate vindicating the injured rescuing the oppressed and taking the part of the Widow and Fatherless by all which and several other good offices he will become a common Father and Friend to the whole Neighbourhood Most of these things may be performed without much cost or trouble or if they be chargeable either way the expence will be abundantly recompensed by the delight that attends the discharge of them for they are commonly as comfortable in the doing to those that undertake them as they are beneficial to those for whose sake they are undertaken Thus at a cheap rate a man becomes a Benefactor and a blessing to the times and places where he lives and besides doth a singular service to God vindicating his Providence in the inequal distribution of his temporal blessings and he renders Religion lovely in the Eyes of all the World and he very effectually consults the comfort of his own Soul giving proof to himself that he loves God whom he hath not seen because he loves his Brother whom he hath seen 7. Seventhly and lastly and to speak summarily it is the duty and the practice of a good Christian by all the means he can devise to promote the welfare and prosperity of his Parish and Neighbourhood not only because it is far more comfortable living amongst those who are in a prosperous condition as to their outward affairs in regard that moderate prosperity sweetens mens spirits and betters their temper as much as pinching want and necessity soures and disorders them but also because generally God is better loved and served by men whose hearts are chearful and easy than by the querulous and unhappy In order therefore to the wealth and prosperity of the place where he dwells the good Christian will in the first place take care to prevent the idleness of the Inhabitants by bringing in some manufacture or other if it be possible that so all hands may be set on work in some honest way of living for Idleness besides that it makes a very ugly figure clothing the slothful persons with Rags it commonly inclines people to be great Eaters having nothing else to do but to mind their Bellies and so they become a sort of Caterpillars which devour other mens labours it also tempts them by their necessity to pilfer cheat lie and steal and do any base action imaginable and moreover such people are generally envious malicious busy bodies medlers in other mens matters and in a word being desperate in their fortunes they are past fear and shame Whereas on the other side honest industry besides that it is attended with the blessing of God renders people modest quiet governable chearful good natured and publick spirited In the next place and in pursuance of the same ends the pious Parishioner will as far as he is able prevent tipling and drunkenness amongst his Neighbours which is well known to be the common cause of want amongst the inferiour sort of People for this beastly way they will swill down presently that which might go a great way in the maintenance of their Families besides that the custom of it loses their time softens and relaxes their Nerves and makes them impatient of labour it raises their passions and abates their discretion and so disposes them to be quarrelsome with their Families when they come home and which is worst of all renders them proud insolent and ungovernable Furthermore the good man will indeavour if it be wanting and the place be capable of it to get a good School setled in the Parish which besides the great advantage of it for the education of youth doth generally inrich the place and is more beneficial than a manufacture for this affords some imployment for those poor that are there already and makes no more nor draws other such to the place as manufacture usually doth And lastly to all this a good Neighbour will indeavour to bring all vicious and incorrigible people to shame and punishment than which nothing conduces more to the honour of Religion to the peace of the Inhabitants or the felicity of the place There are notwithstanding some fond and incogitant people who think this course quite contrary to good Neighbourhood and look upon those as the best Townsmen that will connive at mens Vices and let every Body do what they list but with their leave as it is the greatest kindness toward such vicious persons to make use of the provision which the wisdom of Laws hath made for their amendment so he is the best Christian that discriminates between good and bad men as well as the best Townsman who will not permit virtue and industry to be discouraged by the impudence and impunity of some lewd persons but so much for that These things which I have now treated of in this Chapter are a certain kind of lesser Morals and the peculiar instances of that which I called Civil Piety But if the good Christian will as he ought take care of them he will do at least a collateral service to Almighty God by being a Benefactor to the World he will render the attendance upon Religion more easy and make his own passage through the World towards Heaven the more quiet and comfortable which is the thing aimed at all along in these Papers THE END