deal of seeming hast but anon they flagg and give over they were in hot mood but now they are cooled they did shoot forth fresh and high but are quickly withered because they had no root in themselves These sudden fits may be compared to the violent and convulsive motions of Bodies newly beheaded caused by the agitations of the animal spirits after the Soul is departed which however violent and impetuous can be of no long continuance whereas the motions of holy Souls are constant and regular proceeding from a permanent and lively principle It is true this Divine life continueth not alwayes in that same strength and vigour but many times suffers sad decays and holy men find greater difficulty in resisting temptations and less alacrity in the performance of their duties yet it is not quite extinguished nor are they abandoned to the power of these corrupt affections which sway and over-rule the rest of the world Again Religion may be designed by the name of Life because it is an inward free and self-moving principle and those who have made progress in it are not acted only by external Motives driven meerly by threatnings nor bribed by promises nor constrain'd by Laws but are powerfully inclined to that which is good and delight in the performance of it The love which a Pious man carries to God and goodness is not so much by vertue of a Command enjoyning him so to do as by a new Nature instructing and prompting him to it nor doth he pay his devotions as an unavoidable tribute only to appease the Divine Justice or quiet his clamorous Conscience but those Religious exercises are the proper emanations of the divine life the natural employments of the new born Soul he prayes and gives thanks and repents not only because these things are commanded but rather because he is sensible of his wants and of the Divine goodness and of the folly and misery of a sinful life his charity is not forced nor his alms extorted from him his love makes him willing to give and though there were no outward obligation his heart would devise liberal things injustice or intemperance and all other vices are as contrary to his temper and constitution as the basest actions are to the most generous spirit and impudence and scurrility to those who are naturally modest so that I may well say with St. John Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God Though holy and religious persons do much eye the Law of God and have a great regard unto it yet is it not so much the sanction of the Law as its reasonableness and purity and goodness which doth prevail with them they account it excellent and desirable in its self and that in keeping of it there is great reward and that Divine Love wherewith they are acted makes them become a Law unto themselves Quis legem det amantibus Major est amor lex ipse sibi For who can give a Law to those that love Love 's a more powerful Law which doth such persons move In a word what our blessed Saviour said of himself is in some measure applicable to his followers that it 's their meat and drink to do their Father's will and as the natural appetite is carried out toward food though we should not reflect on the necessity of it for the preservation of our lives so are they carried with a natural and unforced propension toward that which is good and commendable It is true external motives are many times of great use to excite and stir up this inward principle especially in its infancy and weakness when it 's often so languid that the man himself can scarce discern it hardly being able to move one step forward but when he is pusht by his hopes or his fears by the pressure of an affliction or the sense of a mercy by the authority of the Law or the perswasion of others Now if such a person be conscientious and uniform in his obedience and earnestly groaning under the sense of his dulness and is desirous to perform his duties with more spirit and vigor these are the first motions of the divine life which though it be faint and weak will surely be cherished by the influences of Heaven and grow unto greater maturity but he who is utterly destitute of this inward principle and doth not aspire unto it but contents himself with those performances whereunto he is prompted by Education or custom by the fear of Hell or carnal notions of Heaven can no more be accounted a religious person than a Puppit can be call'd a Man This forced and artificial religion is commonly heavy and languid like the motion of a weight forced upward it is cold and spritless like the uneasie complyance of a wife married against her will who carries dutifully toward the husband whom she doth not love out of some sense of Virtue or Honour Hence also this religion is scant and niggardly especially in those duties which do greatest violence to mens carnal inclinations and those slavish spirits will be sure to do no more than is absolutely required 't is a Law that compels them and they will be loath to go beyond what it stints them to nay they will ever be putting such glosses on it as may leave themselves the greatest liberty whereas the Spirit of true Religion is franck and liberal far from such peevish and narrow reckoning and he who hath given himself intirely unto God will never think he doth too much for him By this time I hope it doth appear that Religion is with a great deal of reason termed a Life or vital principle and that it 's very necessary to distinguish betwixt it and that obedience which is constrained and depends on external causes I come next to give an account why I designed it by the name of divine life and so it may be called not only in regard of its fountain and original having God for its Author and being wrought in the Souls of men by the power of his Holy Spirit but also in regard of its nature Religion being a resemblance of the Divine perfections the Image of the Almighty shining in the Soul of Man nay it is a real participation of his Nature it is a beam of the Eternal Light a drop of that Infinite Ocean of goodness and they who are eudued with it may be said to have God dwelling in their Souls and Christ formed within them Before I descend to a more particular consideration of that Divine Life wherein true Religion doth consist it will perhaps be fit to speak a little of that natural or animal Life which prevails in those who are strangers to the other and by this I understand nothing else but our inclination and propension toward those things which are pleasing and acceptable to Nature or self-Love issuing forth and spreading it self
himself every thing is enough to vex him but scarce any thing sufficient to content and please him he is ready to quarrel with every thing that falls out as if he himself were such a considerable person that God Almighty should do every thing to gratifie him and all the Creatures of Heaven and Earth should wait upon him and obey his will The leaves of high Trees do shake with every blast of wind and every breath every evil word will disquiet and torment an arrogant man but the humble person hath the advantage when he is despised that none can think more meanly of him than he doth of himself and therefore he is not troubled at the matter but can easily bear those reproaches which wound the other to the Soul and withal as he is less affected with injuries so indeed he is less obnoxious unto them Contention which cometh of Pride betrayes a man into a thousand inconveniencies which those of a meek and lowly temper are seldom meeting with True and genuine humility begetteth both a veneration and love among all wise and discerning persons while Pride defeateth it's own design and depriveth a man of that honour it makes him pretend to But as the chief Exercises of Humility are those which relate unto Almighty God so these are accompany'd with the greatest satisfaction and sweetness it is impossible to express the great pleasure and delight which Religious persons feel in the lowest prostrations of their Soul before God when having a deep sense of the Divine Majesty and Glory they sink if I may so speak unto the very bottom of their beings and vanish and disappear in the presence of God by a serious and affectionate acknowledgment of their own nothingness and the shortness and imperfections of all their attainments when they understand the full sense and emphasis of the Psalmist's exclamation Lord what is Man and can utter it with the same affection neither did ever any haughty and ambitious person receive the praises and applauses of men with so much pleasure as the humble and religious do renounce them Not unto us O Lord not unto us but unto thy Name give glory c. Thus I have spoken something of the Excellencies and Advantage of Religion in it's several Branches but should be very injurious to the Subject did I pretend to have given any perfect account of it Let us acquaint our selves with it My dear Friend Let us acquaint our selves with it and experience will teach us more than all that ever hath been spoken or written concerning it But if we may suppose the Soul to be already awakened unto some longing desires after so great a Blessedness it will be good to give them vent and suffer them to issue forth in some such aspirations as these A Prayer GOod God! what a mighty felicity is this to which we are called How graciously hast thou joyn'd our Duty and Happiness together and prescribed that for our work the performance whereof is a great reward And shall such silly worms be advanced to so great a height Wilt Thou allow us to raise our eyes to Thee Wilt thou admit and accept our affection Shall we receive the impression of thy Divine Excellencies by beholding and admiring them and partake of thy infinite Blessedness and Glory by loving Thoe and rejoycing in them O the happiness of those Souls that have broken the fetters of Self-love and dis-intangl'd their affection from every narrow and particular good whose Understanding are inlightned by thy Holy Spirit and their wills inlarged to the extent of thine who love thee above all things and all Mankind for thy sake I am perswaded O God I am perswaded that I can never be happy till my carnal and corrupt affections be mortify'd and the pride and vanity of my spirit be subdued and till I come seriously to despise the world and think nothing of my self But O when shall it once be O when wilt Thou come unto me and satisfie my Soul with thy likeness making me holy as thou art holy even in all manner of conversation Hast thou given me a prospect of so great a felicity and wilt thou not bring me unto it Hast thou excited these desires in my Soul and wilt thou not also satisfie them O teach me to do thy Will for thou art my God thy Spirit is good lead me unto the Land of Uprightness Quicken me O Lord for thy Names sake and perfect that which concerneth me Thy Mercy O Lord endureth for ever forsake not the works of thine own hands I Have hitherto considered wherein True Religion doth consist and how desirable a thing it is but when one sees how infinitely distant the common temper and frame of men is from it he may perhaps be ready to despond and give over and think it utterly impossible to be attain'd he may sit down in sadness and bemoan himself and say in the anguish and bitterness of his spirit They are happy indeed whose Souls are awakened unto the Divine Life who are thus renew'd in the spirit of their minds but alas I am quite of another constitution and am not able to effectuate so mighty a change if outward observances could have done the business I might have hoped to acquit my self by diligence and care but since nothing but a new Nature can serve the turn what am I able to do I could bestow all my Goods in Oblations to God or Alms to the Poor but cannot command that Love and Charity without which this expence would profit me nothing This gift of God cannot be purchased with money if a man should give all the substance of his house for love it would utterly be contemned I could pine and macerate my body and undergo many hardships and troubles but I cannot get all my corruptions starved nor my affections wholly wean'd from Earthly things there is still some worldly desires lurking in my heart and those vanities that I have shut out of doors are alwayes getting in by the windowes I am many times convinced of my own meanness of the weakness of my body and the far greater weakness of my Soul but this doth rather beget indignation and discontent than true humility in my spirit and though I should come to think meanly of my self yet I cannot endure that others should think so too In a word when I reflect on my highest and most specious attainments I have reason to suspect that they are all but the effects of Nature the issues of Self-love acting under several disguises and this principle is so powerful and so deeply rooted in me that I can never hope to be delivered from the dominion of it I may toss and turn as a door on the hinges but can never get clear off or be quite unhing'd of Self which is still the center of all my motions So that all the advantage I can draw from the discovery of Religion is but to see at a huge distance that
The root of the divine life is Faith the chief branches are Love to God Charity to Man Purity and Humility For as an Excellent Person hath well observed however these names be common and vulgar and make no extraordinary sound yet do they carry such a mighty sence that the tongue of Man or Angel can pronounce nothing more weighty or excellent Faith hath the same place in the Divine life which Sense hath in the natural being indeed nothing else but a kind of sense or feeling perswasion of Spiritual things It extends it self unto all Divine Truths but in our lapsed estate it hath a peculiar relation to the declarations of God's mercy and reconcileableness to Sinners through a Mediator and therefore receiving its denomination from that principal object is ordinarily termed Faith in Jesus Christ. The Love of God is a delightful and affectionate sence of the Divine perfections which makes the Soul resign and sacrifice it self wholly unto him desiring above all things to please him and delighting in nothing so much as in fellowship and communion with him and being ready to do or suffer any thing for his sake or at his pleasure though this affection may have its first rise from the Favours and Mercies of God toward our selves yet doth it in its growth and progress transcend such particular considerations and ground it self on his infinite goodness manifested in all the Works of Creation and Providence A Soul thus possessed with Divine Love must needs be inlarged towards all Mankind in a sincere and unbounded affection because of the relation they carry unto God being his Creatures and having something of his Image stamped upon them and this is that Charity I named as the second branch of Religion and under which all the parts of Justice all the duty 's we owe to our Neighbour are eminently comprehended for he who doth truly love all the world will be nearly concerned in the interests of every one and so far from wronging or injuring any person that he will resent any evil that befals to others as if it happened to himself By Purity I understand a due abstractedness from the body and mastery over the inferiour appetites or such a temper and disposition of mind as makes a man despise abstain from all pleasures and delights of sence or fancy which are sinful in themselves or tend to extinguish or lessen our relish of more divine and intellectual pleasures which doth also infer a resoluteness to undergo all those hardships he may meet with in the performance of his duty so that not only Chastity and Temperance but also Christian Courage and Magnanimity may come under this head Humility imports a deep sence of our own meanness with a hearty and affectionate acknowledgment of our owing all that we are to the Divine Bounty which is alwayes accompanied with a profound submission to the Will of God and great deadness toward the glory of the world and applause of men These are the highest Perfections that either Men or Angels are capable of the very foundation of Heaven laid in the Soul and he who hath attain'd them needs not desire to pry into the hidden Rolls of God's Decrees or search the Volumes of Heaven to know what 's determined about his everlasting condition but he may find a Copy of God's Thoughts concerning him written in his own breast his love to God may give him assurance of God's favour to him and those beginnings of happiness which he feels in the conformity of the powers of his Soul to the Nature of God and compliance with his Will is a sure pledge that his felicity shall be perfected and continued unto all Eternity And it is not without reason that one said I had rather see the real impressions of a God-like Nature upon my own Soul then have a Vision from Heaven or an Angel sent to tell me that my name were inroll'd in the Book of Life When we have said all that we can the secret Mysteries of a new Nature and Divine Life can never be sufficiently expressed language and words cannot reach them nor can they be truly understood but by those Souls that are enkindled within and awakened unto the sense and relish of Spiritual things There is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth this understanding The power and life of Religion may be better expressed in actions than in words because actions are more lively things and do better represent the inward principle whence they proceed and therefore we may take the best measure of those gracious indowments from the deportment of those in whom they reside especially as they are perfectly exemplified in the holy life of our Blessed Saviour a main part of whose business in this world was to teach by his practise what he did require of others and to make his own conversation an exact resemblance of those unparalell'd Rules which he prescribed So that if ever true Goodness was visible to mortal eyes it was then when his presence did beautifie and illustrate this lower world That sincere and devout Affection wherewith his Blessed Soul did constantly burn toward his Heavenly Father did express it self in an intire resignation to his Will it was this was his very meat to do the will and finish the work of him that sent him this was the exercise of his Childhood and the constant imployment of his riper age he spared no travail or pains while he was about his Father's business but took such infinite Content and Satisfaction in the performance of it that when being faint and weary with his Journey he rested him on Jacob's Well and intreated a drink of the Samaritane Woman the success of his Conference with her and the accession that was made to the Kingdom of God filled his Mind with such delight as seemed to have redounded to his very Body refreshing his spirits and making him forget the thirst whereof he complain'd before and refuse the meat which he had sent the Disciples to buy Nor was he less patient and submissive in suffering the Will of God then diligent in doing of it he endured the sharpest Afflictions and extreamest Miseries that ever were inflicted on any mortal without a-repining thought or discontented word for tho he was far from a stupid insensibility or a phantastick or Stoical obstinacy and had as quick a sense of pain as other men and the deepest apprehension of what he was to suffer in his Soul as his Bloody Sweat and the sore amazement and sorrow which he profest do abundantly declare yet did he intirely submit to that severe dispensation of Providence and willingly acquiesced in it And he prayed to God that if it were possible or as one of the Evangelists hath if he were willing that Cup might be removed yet he gently added nevertheless not my will but thine be done Of what strange importance are the expressions Joh. 12. 27. where he first
acknowledgeth the anguish of his spirit Now is my Soul troubled which would seem to produce a kind of demurre And what shall I say and then he goes to deprecate his Sufferings Father save me from this hour which he had no sooner uttered but he doth as it were on second thoughts recall it in these words But for this cause came I into the world and concludes Father glorifie thy Name Now we must not look on this as any levity or blameable weakness in the Blessed Jesus he knew all along what he was to suffer and did most resolutely undergo it but it shews ns the unconceiveable weight and pressure that he was to bear which being so afflicting and contrary to Nature he could not think of without terrour yet considering the Will of God and the glory which was to redound to him from thence he was not only content but desirous to suffer it Another instance of his Love to God was his delight in conversing with him by Prayer which made him frequently retire himself from the world and with the greatest Devotion and Pleasure spend whole Nights in that Heavenly Exercise though he had no sins to confess and but few secular Interests to pray for which alas are almost the only things that are wont to drive us to our devotions nay we may say his whole Life was a kind of Prayer a constant course of Communion with God if the Sacrifice was not alwayes offering yet was the fire still kept alive nor was ever the Blessed Jesus surprized with that dulness or tepidity of spirit which we must many times wrestle with before we can be fit for the exercise of devotion In the second place I should speak of his Love and Charity toward men but he who would express it must transcribe the History of the Gospel and comment upon it for scarce any thing is recorded to have been done or spoken by him which was not designed for the good and advantage of some one or other all his Miraculous Works were instances of his Goodness as well as his Power and they benefited those on whom they were wrought as well as they amazed the beholders His Charity was not confined to his Kindred or Relations nor was all his kindness swallowed up in the endearments of that peculiar friendship which he carried toward the beloved Disciple but every one was his Friend who obeyed his holy Commands Joh. 15. 4. and whosoever did the will of his Father the same was to him as his Brother and Sister and Mother Never was any unwelcom to him who came with an honest intention nor did he deny any request which tended to the good of those that asked it So what was spoken of that Roman Emperour whom for his goodness they called the Darling of Mankind was really performed by him that never any departed from him with a heavy countenance except that rich Youth Mark 10. who was sorry to hear that the Kingdom of Heaven stood at so high a rate and that he could not save his Soul and his Money too and certainly it troubled our Saviour to see that when a price was in his hand to get wisdom yet he had no heart to it the ingenuity that appeared in his first address had already procured some kindness for him for it is said And Jesus beholding him loved him But must he for his sake cut out a new way to Heaven and alter the nature of things which make it impossible that a covetous man should be happy And what shall I speak of his meekness who could encounter the monstrous ingratitude and dissimulation of that miscreant who betrayed him in no harsher terms then these Judas betrayest thou the Son of Man with a Kiss What further evidence could we desire of his fervent and unbounded Charity then that he willingly laid down his life even for his most bitter Enemies and mingling his Prayers with his Blood besought the Father that his Death might not be laid to their charge but might become the means of Eternal Life to those very persons who procured it The Third Branch of the Divine Life is Purity which as I said consists in a neglect of worldly enjoyments and accommodations and a resolute enduring of all such troubles as we meet with in the doing of our duty Now surely if ever any person was wholly dead to all the pleasures of the natural Life it was the Blessed Jesus who seldom tasted them when they came in his way but never stept out of his road to seek them though he allowed others the comforts of Wedlock and honoured Marriage with his Presence yet he chose the severity of a Virgin Life and never knew the Nuptial Bed and though at the same time he supplyed the want of Wine with a Miracle yet he would not work one for the relief of his own hunger in the Wilderness So Gracious and Divine was the temper of his Soul in allowing to others such lawful gratifications as himself thought good to abstain from and supplying not only their more extream and pressing necessities but also their smaller and less considerable wants We many times hear of our Saviour's sighs and groans and tears but never that he laught and but once that he rejoyced in spirit so that through his whole Life he did exactly answer that Character given of him by the Prophet of old That he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with griefs Nor were the troubles and disaccommodations of his Life rather his fate than choice for never did there any appear on the Stage of the World with greater advantages to have raised himself to the highest secular felicity he who could convene such a prodigious number of Fishes into his Disciples Net and at another time received that tribute from a Fish which he was to pay to the Temple might easily have made himself the richest Person in the world nay without any money he could have maintained an Army powerful enough to have Justled Caesar out of his Throne having oftner than once fed Seven Thousand with a few loaves and small fishes but to shew how small esteem he had of all the Enjoyments in the world he choosed to live in so poor and mean a condition that though the Foxes had holes and the Birds of the Air had nests yet he who was Lord and Heir of all things had not whereon to lay his head He did not frequent the Courts of Princes nor affect the acquaintance and converse of great Ones but being reputed the Son of a Carpenter he had Fisher-men and such other poor people for his Companions and lived at such a rate as suited with the meanness of that quality And thus I am brought unawares to speak of his Humility the last branch of the Divine Life wherein he was a most Eminent Pattern to us that we might learn of him to be meek and lowly in heart I shall not now speak of that infinite condescention
of the Eternal Son of God in taking our Nature upon him but only reflect on our Saviour's lowly and humble deportment while he was in the world He had none of those sins and imperfections which may justly humble the best of men but he was so intirely swallowed up with a deep sense of the infinite Perfections of God that he appeared as nothing in his own eyes I mean in so far as he was a Creature He considered those Eminent Perfections which shined in his Blessed Soul as not his own but the gifts of God and therefore assumed nothing to himself for them but with the profoundest humility renounced all pretences to them hence did he refuse that ordinary compellation of Good Master when address'd to his humane Nature by one who it seems was ignorant of his Divinity Why callest thou me Good saith he there is none good but God only As if he had said The goodness of any creature and such only thou takest me to be is not worthy to be named or taken notice of 't is God alone who is originally and essentially Good He never made use of his Miraculous Power for vanity or ostentation he would not gratifie the curiosity of the Jewes with a sign from Heaven some Prodigious appearance in the Air nor would he follow the advice of his Country-men and Kindred who would have had all his great Works performed in the eyes of the World for gaining him the greater fame but when his Charity had prompted him to the relief of the miserable his humility made him many times enjoyn the concealment of the Miracle and when the glory of God and the design for which he came unto the world required the publication of them he ascribed the honour of all to his Father telling them That of himself he was able to do nothing I cannot insist on all the instances of Humility in his deportment towards men his withdrawing himself when they would have made him a King his subjection not only to his Blessed Mother but to her husband during his younger years and his submission to all the indignities and affronts which his rude and malitious Enemies did put upon him the history of his holy Life recorded by those who conversed with him is full of such passages as these and indeed the serious and attentive study of it is the best way to get right measures of humility and all the other parts of Religion which I have been endeavouring to describe But now that I may lessen your trouble of reading a long Letter by making some pauses in it Let me here subjoyn a Prayer that might be proper when one who had formerly entertain'd some false notions of Religion begins to discover what it is A Prayer INfinite and Eternal Majestie Author and Fountain of Being and Blessedness how little do we poor sinful Creatures know of Thee or the way to serve and please Thee We talk of Religion and pretend unto it but alas how few are there that know and consider what it means how easily do we mistake the affections of our Nature and issues of self-love for those Divine Graces which alone can render us acceptable in thy sight It may justly grieve me to consider that I should have wandered so long and contented my self so often with vain shadows and false images of Piety and Religion yet I cannot but acknowledge and adore thy goodness who hast been pleased in some measure to open mine eyes and let me see what it is at which I ought to aim I rejoyce to consider what mighty improvements my Nature is capable of and what a Divine temper of spirit doth shine in those whom thou art pleased to choose and causest to approach unto thee Blessed be thine Infinite Mercy who sent thine own Son to dwell among men and instruct them by his Example as well as his Lawes giving them a perfect Pattern of what they ought to be O that the Holy Life of the Blessed Jesus may be alwayes in my thoughts and before mine eyes till I receive a deep sense and impression of those Excellent Graces that shined so eminently in him and let me never remit my endeavours till that new and Divine Nature prevail in my Soul and Christ be formed within me ANd now my dear Friend having discovered the nature of True Religion before I proceed any further it will not perhaps be unfit to fix our Meditations a little on the Excellency and advantages of it that we may be excited to the more vigorous and diligent prosecution of those Methods whereby we may attain so great a felicity But alas what words shall we find to express that inward satisfaction those hidden pleasures which can never be rightly understood but by those holy Souls who feel them a stranger intermeddleth not with their joy Holiness is the right temper the vigorous and healthful constitution of the Soul its faculties had formerly been enfeebled and disordered so that they could not exerce their natural functions it had wearied it self with endless tossings and rollings and was never able to find any rest now that distemper is removed and it feels it self well there is a due harmony in its faculties and a sprightly vigour possesseth every part the understanding can discern what is good and the will can cleave unto it the affections are not tyed to the motions of Sense and the influence of External objects but they are stirred by more Divine impressions are touched by a sense of invisible things Let us descend if you please into a nearer and more particular view of Religion in those several branches of it which were named before let us consider that love and affection wherewith holy Souls are united to God that we may see what Excellency and Felicity is involved in it Love is that powerful and prevalent passion by which all the faculties and inclinations of the Soul are determined and on which both its perfection and happiness doth depend The worth and excellency of a Soul is to be measured by the object of its love he who loveth mean and fordid things doth thereby become base and vile but a noble and well-placed affection doth advance and improve the spirit unto a confirmity with the perfections which it loves The images of these do frequently present themselves unto the Mind and by a secret force and energie insinuate into the very constitution of the Soul and mould and fashion it unto their own likeness Hence we may see how easily Lovers or Friends do slide unto the imitation of the person whom they affect and how even before they are aware they begin to resemble them not only in the more considerable instances of their deportment but also in their voice and gesture and that which we call their meen and air and certainly we should as well transcribe the vertues and inward beauties of the Soul if they were the object and motive of our love but now as all the
wishes and designs are levelled at the good and welfare of the Universe which considereth every man's interest as it 's own He who loveth his Neighbour as himself can never entertain any base or injurious thought or be wanting in expressions of bounty he had rather suffer a thousand wrongs than be guilty of one and never accounts himself happy but when some one or other hath been benefited by him the malice or ingratitude of men is not able to resist his love he overlooks their injuries and pities their folly and overcomes their evil with good and never designs any other revenge against his most bitter and malitious Enemies than to put all the obligations he can upon them whether they will or not Is it any wonder that such a Person be reverenced and admired and accounted the Darling of Mankind This inward goodness and benignity of spirit reflects a certain sweetness and serenity upon the very countenance and makes it amiable and lovely it inspireth the Soul with a noble resolution and courage and makes it capable of enterprising and effectuating the highest things Those Heroick Actions which we are wont to read with admiration have for the most part been the effects of the Love of ones Country or of particular Friendships and certainly a more extensive and universal affection must be much more powerful and efficacious Again as Charity flows from a Noble and Excellent temper so it is accompanied with the greatest Satisfaction and Pleasure it delights the Soul to feel it self thus enlarged and to be delivered from those disquieting as well as deforming Passions Malice Hatred and Envy and become Gentle Sweet and Benign had I my choice of all things that might tend to my present felicity I would pitch upon this To have my heart possessed with the greatest kindness and affection towards all men in the World I am sure this would make me partake in all the happiness of others their inward endowments and outward prosperity every thing that did benefit and advantage them would afford me comfort and pleasure and though I should frequently meet with occasions of grief and compassion yet there is a sweetness in commiseration which makes it infinitely more desireable than a stupid insensibility and the consideration of that Infinite Goodness and Wisdom which governs the world might repress any excessive trouble for particular Calamities that happen in it and the hopes or possibility of mens after-happiness might moderate their sorrow for their present misfortunes Certainly next to the love and enjoyment of God that ardent Charity and affection wherewith blessed Souls do imbrace one another is justly to be reckoned as the greatest felicity of those Regions above and did it universally prevail in the world it would anticipate that blessedness and make us taste of the Joyes of Heaven upon Earth That which I named as a Third Branch of Religion was Purity and you may remember I described it to consist in a contempt of sensual Pleasures and resoluteness to undergo those troubles and pains we may meet with in the performance of our duty Now the naming of this may suffice to recommend it as a most Noble and Excellent Quality There is no slavery so base as that whereby a man becomes drudge to his own Lusts nor any Victory so glorious as that which is obtain'd over them Never can that person be capable of any thing that is Noble and Worthy who is sunk in the gross and feculent pleasures of Sense or bewitched with the light and airy gratifications of fancy but the Religious Soul is of a more Sublime and Divine temper it knows it was made for higher things and scorns to step aside one foot out of the ways of Holiness for the obtaining of any of these And this Purity is accompanied with a great deal of Pleasure whatsoever defiles the Soul disturbs it too all impure delights have a sting in them and leave smart and trouble behind them Excess and Intemperance and all inordinate Lusts are so much Enemies to the health of the Body and the interests of this present life that a little consideration might oblige any rational man to forbear them on that very score And if the Religious person go higher and do not only abstain from noxious pleasures but neglect those that are innocent this is not to be look'd upon as any violent and uneasie restraint but as the effect of better choice that their Minds are taken up in the pursuit of more sublime and refined delights so that they cannot be concerned in these any person that is engaged in a violent and passionate affection will easily forget his ordinary gratifications will be little curious about his dyet or his bodily ease or the Divertisements he was wonted to delight in No wonder then if Souls overpowered with Divine Love despise inferiour pleasures and be almost ready to grudge the Body its necessary attendance for the common accommodations of life judging all these impertinent to their main happiness and those higher enjoyments they are pursuing As for the hardships they may meet with they rejoyce in them as opportunities to exercise and testifie their affection and since they are able to do so little for God they are glad of the honour to suffer for him The last Branch of Religion is Humility and however to vulgar and carnal eyes this may appear an abject base and despicable quality yet really the Soul of man is not capable of an higher and more noble endowment It is a silly ignorance that begets pride but Humility arises from a nearer acquaintance with excellent things which keeps men from doating on trifles or admiring themselves because of some petty attainments Noble and well Educated Souls have no such high opinion of Riches Beauty Strength and other such like advantages as to value themselves for them or despise those that want them and as for inward worth and real goodness the sense they have of the Divine Perfections makes them think very meanly of any thing they have hitherto attain'd and be still endeavouring to surmount themselves and make nearer approaches to those infinite Excellencies which they admire I know not what thoughts people may have of Humility but I see almost every person pretending unto it and shunning such expressions and actions as may make them be accounted arrogant and presumptuous so that those who are most desirous of praise will be loath to commend themselves What are all those complements and modes of Civility so frequent in our ordinary converse but so many protestations of our esteem of others and the low thoughts we have of our selves And must not that Humility be a noble and excellent endowment when the very shadows of it are accounted so necessary a part of good breeding Again this Grace is accompanied with a great deal of happiness and tranquility the proud and arrogant person is a trouble to all that converse with him but most of all unto
felicity which I am not able to reach like a man in a shipwrack who discerns the Land and envies the happiness of those who are there but thinks it impossible for himself to get ashoare These I say or such like desponding Thoughts may arise in the Minds of those persons who begin to conceive somewhat more of the Nature and Excellency of Religion than before they have spy'd the Land and seen that it 's exceeding good that it floweth with milk and honey but they find they have the Children of Anak to grapple with many powerful lusts and corruptions to overcome and they fear they shall never prevail against them But why should we give way to such discouraging suggestions why should we entertain such unreasonable fears which damp our spirits and weaken our hands and augment the difficulties of our way Let us encourage our selves my dear Friend let us encourage our selves with those mighty aids we are to expect in this Spiritual Warfare for greater is he that is for us then all that can rise up against us The Eternal God is our refuge and underneath are the Everlasting Arms. Let us be strong in the Lord and the power of his might for he it is that shall tread down our Enemies God hath a tender regard unto the Souls of men and is infinitely willing to promove their welfare he hath condescended to our weakness and declared with an Oath that he hath no pleasure in our destruction There is no such thing as despight or envy lodged in the Bosom of that ever Blessed Being whose Name and Nature is Love He created us at first in a happy condition and now when we are fallen from it he hath laid help upon One that is Mighty to Save hath committed the Care of our Souls to no meaner Person than the Eternal Son of his Love It is he that is the Captain of our Salvation and what Enemies can be too strong for us when we are fighting under his Banners Did not the Son of God come down from the Bosom of his Father and pitch his Tabernacle amongst the Sons of Men that he might recover and propagate the Divine Life and restore the Image of God in their Souls All the Mighty Works which he perform'd all the Sad Afflictions which he sustain'd had this for their scope and design for this did he labour and toil for this did he bleed and dye He was with child he was in pain and hath he brought forth nothing but wind hath he wrought no deliverance in the Earth Shall he not see of the travel of his Soul Certainly it is impossible that this Great Contrivance of Heaven should prove abortive that such a mighty undertaking should fail and miscarry It hath already been effectual for the Salvation of many Thousands who were once as far from the Kingdom of Heaven as we can suppose our selves to be and our High Priest continueth for ever and is able to save then to the uttermost that come unto God by him He is tender and compassionate he knoweth our infirmities and had experience of our temptations A bruised reed will he not break and a smoaking flax will he not quench till he send forth Judgment unto victory He hath sent out his Holy Spirit whose sweet but powerful breathings are still moving up and down in the World to quicken and revive the Souls of men and awaken them unto the Sense and feeling of those Divine things for which they were made and is ready to assist such weak and languishing Creatures as we are in our Essay's towards holiness and felicity and when once it hath taken hold of a Soul and kindled in it the smallest spark of Divine Love it will be sure to preserve and cherish and bring it forth into a flame which many waters shall not quench neither shall the floods be able to drown it when ever this day begins to dawn and the Day-Star to arise in the heart it will easily dispel the powers of darkness and make ignorance and folly and all the corrupt and selfish affections of men flee away as fast before it as the shades of the Night when the Sun cometh out of his Chambers for the path of the Just is as the shining light which shineth more and more unto the perfect day They shall go on from strength to strength till every one of them appear before God in Sion Why should we think it impossible that True Goodness and Universal Love should ever come to sway and prevail in our Souls Is not this their Primitive state and condition their native and genuine constitution as they came first from the hands of their Maker Sin and corruption are but usurpers and though they have long kept the possession yet from the begining it was not so That inordinate Self-love which one would think were rooted in our very being and interwoven with the constitution of our Nature is nevertheless of forraign extraction and had no place at all in the state of integrity we have still so much reason left us to condemn it our Understandings are easily convinced that we ought to be wholly devoted to him from whom we have our being and to love him infinitely more than our selves who is infinitely better than we and our wills would readily comply with this if they were not disordered and put out of tune and is not he who made our Souls able to rectifie and mend them again Shall we not be able by his assistance to vanquish and expel those violent intruders and turn unto flight the Arms of the Aliens No sooner shall we take up Arms in this holy Warr but we shall have all the Saints on Earth and all the Angels in Heaven engaged on our party the holy Church throughout the World is daily interceding with God for the success of all such endeavours and doubtless those heavenly Hosts above are nearly concerned in the Interests of Religion and infinitely desirous to see the Divine Life thriving and prevailing in this inferiour World and that the Will of God may be done by us on Earth as it is done by themselves in Heaven and may we not then encourage our selves as the Prophet did his Servant when he shewed him the Horses and Chariors of fire Fear not for they that be with us are more then they that be against us Away then with all perplexing fears and desponding thoughts to undertake vigorously and rely confidently on the Divine assistance is more than half the conquest Let us arise and be doing and the Lord will be with us It is true Religion in the Souls of men is the immediate work of God and all our natural endeavours can neither produce it alone nor merit those supernatural aids by which it must be wrought The Holy Ghost must come upon us and the power of the Highest must overshadow us before that holy thing can be begotten and
be Pride or Passion or any corrupt and vitious humour that prompteth us to any design and whether God will be offended or any body harmed by it And if we have no time for long reasonings let us at least turn our eyes toward God and place our selves in his Presence to ask his leave and approbation for what we do Let us consider our selves under the All-seeing Eye of that Divine Majesty as in the midst of an infinite Globe of light which compasseth us about both behind and before and pierceth to the innermost corners of our Soul the Sense and remembrance of the Divine Presence is the most ready and effectual mean both to discover what is unlawful and to restrain us from it There are some things a person could have a shift to palliate or defend and yet he dares not look Almighty God in the face and adventure upon them If we look into him we shall be lightned if we set him alwayes before us he will guide us by his Eye and instruct us in the way wherein we ought to walk This Care and Watchfulness over our Actions must be seconded by frequent and serious reflections upon them not only that we may obtain the Divine Mercy and Pardon for our Sins by an humble and sorrowful acknowledgment of them but also that we may reinforce and strengthen our resolutions and learn to decline or resist the temptations by which we have been formerly foyl'd It is an advice worthy of a Christian though it did first drop from a Heathen Pen That before we betake our selves to rest we renew and examine all the passages of the day that we may have the comfort of what we have done aright and may redress what we find to have been amiss and make the shipwracks of one day be as marks to direct our course in another This may be called the very art of Virtuous living and would contribute wonderfully to advance our reformation and preserve our innocency But withall we must not forget to implore the Divine assistance especially against those Sins that do most easily beset us and though it be supposed that our hearts are not yet moulded unto that Spiritual frame which should render our Devotions acceptable yet methinks such considerations as have been proposed to deter us from Sin may also stir us up to some natural seriousness and make our Prayers against it as earnest at least as they are wont to be against other Calamities and I doubt not God who heareth the cry of the Ravens will have some regard even to such Petitions as proceed from those natural Passions which himself hath implanted in us besides that those Prayers against Sin will be powerful engagements on our selves to excite us to watchfulness and care and common ingenuity will make us asham'd to relapse unto those faults which we have lately regrated before God and against which we have begged his assistance Thus are we to make the first essay for recovering the Divine Life by restraining the natural inclinations that they break not out into sinful practises but now I must add that Christian Prudence will teach us to abstain from gratifications that are not simply unlawful and that not only that we may secure our innocence which would be in continual hazard if we should strain our liberty to the utmost point and be always walking on the Marches but also that hereby we may weaken the forces of Nature and teach our appetites to obey we must do with our selves as prudent Parents with their Children who cross their wills in many little indifferent things to make them manageable and submissive in more considerable instances he who would mortifie the pride and vanity of his spirit should stop his ears to the most deserved praises and sometimes forbear his just vindication from the Censures and aspersions of others especially if they reflect only upon his prudence and conduct and not on his Virtue and Innocence He who would check a vindictive humour would do well to deny himself the Satisfaction of representing unto others the Injuries which he hath sustain'd and if we would so take heed to our ways that we sin not with our tongue we must accustome our selves much to solitude and silence and sometimes with the Psalmist Hold our peace even from good till once we have gotten some command of that unruly member Thus I say we may bind up our natural inclinations and make our appetites more moderate in their cravings by accustoming them to frequent refusals but it is not enough to have them under violence and restraint Our next Essay must be to wean our affections from created things and all the delights and entertainments of the lower life which sink and depress the Souls of men and retard their motions toward God and Heaven And this we must do by possessing our Minds with a deep perswasion of the vanity and emptiness of worldly enjoyments This is an ordinary theme and every body can make declamations upon it but alas how few understand and believe what they say These Notions float in our Brains and come sliding off our Tongues but we have no deep impression of them on our spirits we feel not the truth which we pretend to believe We can tell that all the glory and splendour all the pleasures and enjoyments of the World are vanity and nothing and yet these nothings take up all our thoughts and ingross all our affections they stifle the better inclinations of our Soul and inveigle us into many a Sin it may be in a sober mood we give them the slight and resolve to be no longer deluded with them but these thoughts seldom out-live the next temptation the vanities which we have shut out at the door get in at a postern there are still some pretensions some hopes that flatter us and after we have been frustrated a thousand times we must continually be repeating the experiment The leaft difference of circumstances is enough to delude us and make us expect that satisfaction in one thing which we have missed in another but could we once get clearly off and come to a real and serious contempt of worldly things this were a very considerable advancement in our way The Soul of Man is of a vigorous and active nature and hath in it a raging and unextinguishable thirst an immaterial kind of fire always catching at some object or other in conjunction wherewith it thinks to be happy and were it once rent from the World and all the bewitching enjoyments under the Sun it would quickly search after some higher and more excellent Object to satisfie its ardent and importunate cravings and being no longer dazel'd with glistering vanities would fix on that Supream and All-sufficient Good where it should discover such beauty and sweetness as would charm and over-power all its affections The love of the World and the love of God are like the scales of a ballance as the one falleth the other
doth rise when our natural inclinations prosper and the creature is exalted in our Soul Religion is faint and doth languish but when earthly objects wither away and lose their beauty and the Soul begins to cool and flagg in its prosecution of them then the seeds of Grace take root and the Divine Life begins to flourish and prevail It doth therefore nearly concern us to convince our selves of the emptiness and vanity of Creature-enjoyments and reason our heart out of love of them let us Seriously consider all that our Reason or our Faith our own Experience or the observation of others can suggest to this effect Let us ponder the matter over and over and fix our thoughts on this truth till we become really perswaded of it amidst all our pursuits and designs let us stop and ask our selves For what end is all this At what do I aim Can the gross and muddy pleasures of Sense or a heap of white or yellow Earth or the esteem and affection of silly creatures like my self satisfie a rational and immortal Soul Have I not tryed these things already Will they have a higher relish and yield me more contentment to morrow than yesterday or the next year than they did the last There may be some little difference betwixt that which I am now pursuing that which I enjoy'd before but sure my former Enjoyments did shew as pleasant and promise as fair before I attain'd them like the Rain-bow they looked very glorious at a distance but when I approached I found nothing but emptiness and vapor O what a poor thing should the life of man be if it were capable of no higher enjoyments I cannot insist on this subject and there is the less need when I remember to whom I am writing Yes my dear Friend you have had as great Experience of the emptiness and vanity of humane things and have at present as few worldly engagements as any that I know I have sometimes reflected on those passages of your life wherewith you have been pleased to acquaint me and methinks through all I can discern a design of the Divine Providence to wean your affections from every thing here below The Tryals you have had of those things which the World dotes upon hath taught you to despise them and you have found by experience that neither the endowments of Nature nor the advantages of Fortune are sufficient for happiness that every Rose hath its thorn and there may be a Worm at the root of the fairest Gourd some secret and undiscerned grief which may make a person deserve the pity of those who perhaps do admire or envy their supposed felicity If any earthly comforts have got too much of your heart I think they have been your Relations and Friends and the dearest of those are removed out of the World so that you must raise your Mind towards Heaven when you would think upon them Thus God hath provided that your heart may be loosed from the World and he may not have any Rival in your affection which I have alwayes observed to be so large and unbounded so noble and dis-interessed that no inferiour object can answer or deserve it When we have got our corruptions restrain'd and our natural appetites and inclinations towards worldly things in some measure subdued we must proceed to such exercises as have a more immediate tendance to excite and awaken the Divine Life And first let us endeavour conscientiously to perform those duties which Religion doth require and whereunto it would incline us if it did prevail in our Souls If we cannot get our inward disposition presently changed let us study at least to regulate our outward deportment if our hearts be not yet inflam'd with Divine Love let us however own our alleagiance to that infinite Majesty by attending his Service and listening to his Word by speaking reverently of his Name and praising his goodness and exhorting others to serve and obey him if we want that charity and those bowels of compassion which we ought to have towards our Neighbours yet must we not omit any occasion of doing them good If our hearts be haughty and proud we must nevertheless study a modest and humble Deportment These external performances are of little value in themselves yet may they help us forward to better things The Apostle indeed telleth us that bodily exercise profiteth little but he seems not to affirm that it is altogether useless it is alwayes good to be doing what we can for then God is wont to pity our weakness and assist our feeble endeavours and when true Charity and Humility and other Graces of the Divine Spirit come to take root in our Souls they will actuate themselves more freely and with the less difficulty that we have been accustomed to express them in our outward conversations Nor need we fear the imputation of hypocrisie tho our actions do thus somewhat out-run our affections seeing they do still proceed from a sense of our Duty and our Design is not to appear better then we are but that we may really become so But as inward acts have a more immediate influence on the Soul to mould it to a right temper and frame so ought we to be most frequent and sedulous in the exercise of those Let us be often lifting up our hearts towards God and if we do not say that we love him above all things let us at least acknowledg that it is our Duty and would be our Happiness so to do Let us regrate the dishonour done unto him by foolish and sinful men and applaud the Praises and Adorations that are given him by that Blessed and Glorious Company above Let us resign and yield our selves up unto him a thousand times to be governed by his Lawes and disposed upon at his pleasure and though our stubborn hearts should start back and refuse yet let us tell him we are convinced that his Will is alwayes Just and Good and therefore desire him to do with us whatsoever he pleaseth whether we will or not And so for begetting in us an universal Charity towards men we must be frequently putting up wishes for their happiness and blessing every person that we see and when we have done any thing for the relief of the miserable we may second it with earnest desires that God would take care of them and deliver them out of all their distresses Thus should we exercise our selves unto godliness and when we are imploying the powers that we have the Spirit of God is wont to strike in and elevate these acts of our Soul beyond the pitch of Nature and give them a Divine impression and after the frequent reiteration of these we will find our selves more inclined unto them they flowing with greater freedom and ease I shall mention but two other Means for begetting that Holy and Divine temper of spirit which is the Subject of the present Discourse And the first is a Deep
there we shall behold the Perfections of the Divine Nature though covered with the vail of humane Infirmities and when we have fram'd unto our selves the clearest Notion that we can of a Being Infinite in Power in Wisdom and Goodness the Author and Fountain of all Perfections let us fix the Eyes of our Soul upon it that our Eyes may affect our Heart and while we are Musing the fire will burn Especially if hereunto we add the consideration of Gods Favour and Good-will towards us nothing is more Powerfull to engage our affection then to find that we are beloved expressions of Kindness are alwayes pleasing and acceptable unto us though the person should be otherways mean and contemptible but to have the love of one who is altogether lovely to know that the Glorious Majesty of Heaven hath any regard unto us how must it astonish and delight us how must it overcome our Spirits and melt our Hearts and put our whole Soul unto a Flame Now as the Word of God is full of the expressions of his Love towards Man so all his Works do loudly proclaim it he gave us our being and by preserving us in it doth renew the donation every moment he hath placed us in a rich and well furnished World and liberally provided for all our necessities he raineth down blessings from Heaven upon us and causeth the Earth to bring forth our provision he giveth us our Food and Raiment and while we are spending the productions of one year he is preparing for us against another he sweetneth our lives with innumerable comforts and gratifieth every faculty with suitable objects The Eye of his Providence is alwaies upon us and he watcheth for our safety when we are fast a sleep neither minding him nor our selves But least we should think these Testimonles of his kindness less considerable because they are the easie issues of his Omnipotent Power and do not put him into any trouble or pain he hath taken a more wonderful Method to endear himself to us he hath testified his affection to us by suffering as well as by doing and because he could not suffer in his own Nature he assumed ours The Eternal Son of God did cloath himself with the Infirmities of our flesh and left the companie of those Innocent and Blessed Spirits who knew well how to Love and adore him that he might dwell among Men and wrestle with the obstinacy of that rebellious race to reduce them to their Alleagiance and felicity and then to offer himself up as a Sacrifice and Propitiation for them I remember one of the Poets hath an Ingenious fancy to Express the Passion wherewith he found himself overcome after a long resistance that the god of Love had shot all his Golden arrowes at him but could never pierce his Heart till at length he put himself unto the bow and darted himself straight into his breast Methinks this doth some way adumbrate Gods Method of dealing with Men he had long contended with a stubborn World and thrown down many a blessing upon them and when all his other gifts could not prevail he at last made a Gift of himself to testifie his affection and conciliate theirs The account which we have of our Saviours Life in the Gospel doth all along present us with the story of his Love all the pains that he took and the troubles that he endured were the wonderfull effects and uncontrollable evidences of it But O that last that dismal Scene Is it possible to remember it and question his kindness or deny him ours Here here it is my dear Friend that we should fix our most serious and solemn thoughts that Christ may dwell in our Hearts by Faith and we may be rooted and grounded in Love comprehending with all the Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height and knowing the Love of Christ which passeth knowledge that so we may be filled with all the fulness of God We ought also frequently to reflect on those particular Tokens of Favour and Love which God hath bestowed on our selves how long he hath born with our follies and sins and waited to be gracious unto us wrestling as it were with the stubbornness of our hearts and essaying every method to reclaim us We should keep a register in our Minds of all the eminent Blessings and Deliverances we have met with some whereof have been so conveyed that we might clearly perceive they were not the issues of chance but the gracious effects of the Divine Favour and the signal returns of our Prayers Nor ought we to imbitter the thoughts of these things with any harsh or unworthy suspition as if they were designed on purpose to enhaunce our guilt and heighten our eternal Damnation No no my Friend God is Love and he hath no pleasure in the ruine of his Creatures if they abuse his goodness and turn his grace into wantonness and thereby plunge themselves into the greater depth of guilt and misery this is the effect of their obstinate wickedness and not the design of those benefits which he bestowes If these considerations had once begotten in our hearts a real Love and Affection towards Almighty God that will easily lead us unto the other Branches of Religion and therefore I shall need say the less unto them We shall find our hearts inlarged in Charity towards men by considering the relation wherein they stand unto God and the impresses of his Image which are stamped upon them They are not only his Creatures the workmanship of his hands but such of whom he taketh special care and for whom he hath a very dear and tender regard having laid the designs of their happiness before the foundations of the World and being willing to live and converse with them to all the Ages of Eternity The meanest and most contemptible person whom we behold is the off-spring of Heaven one of the Children of the Most High and however unworthily he might behave himself of that relation so long as God hath not abdicated and disowned him by a final Sentence he will have us to acknowledge him as one of his and as such to embrace him with a sincere and cordial affection You know what a great concernment we are wont to have for those that do any wayes belong to the person whom we love how gladly we lay hold on every opportunity to gratifie the Child or Servant of a Friend and sure our Love towards God would as naturally spring forth in Charity towards men did we mind the interest that he is pleased to take in them and consider that every Soul is dearer unto him than all the material World and that he did not account the Blood of his Son too great a price for their Redemption Again as all men stand in a near relation to God so they have still so much of his Image stamped on them as may oblige and excite us to love them In
some this Image is more Eminent and conspicuous and we can discern the Lovely Treats of Wisdom and Goodness and though in others it be miserably sullied and defaced yet is it not altogether razed some lineaments at least do still remain All men are endued with Rational and Immortal Souls with Understanding and Wills capable of the highest and most excellent things and if they be at present disordered and put out of tune by wickedness and folly this may indeed move our compassion but ought not in reason to extinguish our Love When we see a person of a rugged humour and perverse disposition full of Malice and Dissimulation very foolish and very proud it is hard to fall in love with an object that presents it self unto us under an Idea so little grateful and lovely but when we shall consider these evil qualities as the Diseases and Distempers of a Soul which in it self is capable of all that wisdom and goodness wherewith the best of Saints have ever been adorned and which may one day come to be raised unto such heights of perfection as shall render it a fit companion for the holy Angels this will turn our aversion into pity and make us behold him with such resentments as we should have when we did look on a beautiful body that were mangled with wounds or disfigured by some loathsome disease and however we hate the vices we shall not cease to love the man In the next place for purifying our Souls and dis-intangling our affections from the Pleasures and Enjoyments of this lower life let us frequently ponder the excellency and dignity of our Nature and what a shameful and unworthy thing it is for so noble and divine a Creature as the Soul of Man to be sunk and immersed in bruitish and sensual Lusts or amused with airy and phantastical delights and so to lose the relish of solid and spiritual pleasures that the Beast should be fed and pampered and the Man and the Christian be starved in us Did we but mind who we are and for what we were made this would teach us in a right sense to reverence and stand in awe of our selves it would beget a holy modesty and shamefacedness and make us very shy and reserved in the use of the most innocent and allowable pleasures It will be very effectual to the same purpose that we frequently raise our Minds toward Heaven and represent to our thoughts those Joyes that are at God's right hand those pleasures that endure for evermore for every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure If our Heavenly Country be much in our thoughts it will make us as strangers and pilgrims to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the Soul and keep our selves unspotted in this world that we may be fit for the enjoyments and felicities of the other But then we must see that our Notions of Heaven be not gross and carnal that we dream not of a Mahometan Paradise nor rest on those Metaphors and Similitudes by which these joys are sometimes represented for this might perhaps have a quite contrary effect it might intangle us further in carnal affections and we should be ready to indulge our selves a very liberal foretaste of those pleasures wherein we had placed our everlasting felicity but when we come once to conceive aright of those Pure and Spiritual pleasures when the happiness we propose to our selves is from the sight and love and enjoyment of God and our minds are filled with the hopes and fore-thoughts of that Blessed Estate O how mean and contemptible will all things here below appear in our eyes with what disdain will we reject the gross and muddy pleasures that would deprive us of those Coelestial enjoyments or any way unfit and indispose us for them The last Branch of Religion is Humility and sure we can never want matter of consideration for begetting it all our wickednesses and imperfections all our follies and our sins may help to pull down that fond and overweening conceipt which we are apt to entertain of our selves That which makes any body esteem us is their knowledg or apprehension of some little good and their ignorance of a great deal of evil that may be in us were they throughly acquainted with us they would quickly change their opinion The thoughts that pass in our heart in the best and most serious day of our life being exposed unto publick view would render us either hateful or ridiculous and now however we conceal our failings from one another yet sure we are conscious to them our selves and some serious reflections upon them would much qualifie and allay the vanity of our spirits Thus holy Men have come really to think worse of themselves than of any other person in the world not but that they knew that gross and scandalous Vices are in their nature more heynous than the surprisals of tentation and infirmity but because they were much more intent on their own miscarriages than on those of their Neighbours and did consider all the aggravations of the one and every thing that might be supposed to diminish and alleviate the other But it is well observed by a Pious Writer That the deepest and most pure Humility doth not so much arise from the consideration of our own faults and defects as from a calm and quiet Contemplation of the Divine Purity and Goodness Our spots never appear so clearly as when we place them before this Infinite Light and we never seem less in our own eyes than when we look down upon our selves from on high O how little how nothing do all those shadows of perfection then appear for which we are wont to value our selves That humility which cometh from a view of our own sinfulness and misery is more turbulent and boysterous but the other layeth us full as low and wanteth nothing but that anguish and vexation wherewith our Souls are apt to boyl when they are the nearest object of our thoughts There remains yet another Mean for begetting a Holy and Religious disposition in the Soul and that is fervent and hearty Prayer Holiness is the Gift of God indeed the greatest gift he doth bestow or we are capable to receive and he hath promised his holy Spirit to those that ask it of him in Prayer we make the nearest approaches unto God and lye open to the influences of Heaven Then it is that the Sun of Righteousness doth visit us with directest rayes and dissipateth our darkness and imprinteth his Image on our Souls I cannot now insist on the advantages of this exercise or the dispositions wherewith it ought to be performed and there is no need I should there being so many Books that Treat on this subject I shall only tell you That as there is one sort of Prayer wherein we make use of the voice which is necessary in publick and may sometimes have its own advantages