of the World are not our True Good But this is the least part of their Charge They are not only insufficient to be our True Good themselves but they also Secondly hinder and divert us from that which really is so For not to mention the many Snares and Temptations of a great Fortune and what a dangerous thing it is to be always furnished with all the Possibilities and Opportunities of Sin and Folly I only observe that the very Desire of these Earthly Things diverts us and takes us off from the Love of God When our Love is divided even among Created Objects the Force of it will be much abated in respect of each but much more will the Love of the Creature diminish from the Love of God For there is so vast a Disproportion betwixt the Kinds as well as the Degrees of the two Goods that he that once comes to relish one will find but little Taste in the other And therefore says St. Austin Monemus ne mundum ametis ut eum qui fecit mundum libere ametis Our Advice is that you love not the World that so you may love its Maker freely The Truth is to love God freely we should love him entirely for every Advance we make towards the Creature so much we recede from God for these are two contrary Terms of Motion And there is so great a Contrariety between the Love of God and the Love of the World that they do not only abase each other but are in some Degrees utterly inconsistent For so St. John if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him Joh. 2. 15. And if this be the Consequence of loving the World I think the less we have to do with it the better and that there is a great deal of reason to be Poor in Spirit Thus far have we consider'd the Duty and Reasonableness of Poverty of Spirit as it signifies an Indifferency of Desire to the Things of the World I come now to consider it as it denotes Humility and Lowliness of Mind whereof I am also to shew I. The Duty II. The Reasonableness The Duty of Humility is plain in all the Scripture but more frequently and earnestly inculcated in the New Testament insomuch that it may be reckoned among the distinguishing Doctrins of the Christian Religion The Heathen Morals almost overlooked it and in the Old Testament Writings 't is but sparingly recommended but in the Christian Institution we every where meet with it in Capital Characters as a Precept of the first Magnitude Jam. 4. 6. God resisteth the proud saith St. James and 1 Pet. 5. 5. be ye cloathed with Humility says St. Peter And our Lord himself who was a perfect Example of all Moral and Divine Perfection and in whom the Fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily seems yet to commend himself to our Imitation chiefly upon the Account of his Humility Learn of me says he for I am meek and lowly in heart Matth. 11. 29. But there needs no Multiplication of Scripture for the Proof of this I shall therefore only farther observe That the greatest Personages that ever were in the World were always most eminent and conspicuous for this Excellency Out of many I shall select three Instances which may well deserve our Consideration The first shall be the great Fore-runner of our Blessed Saviour the Holy Baptist This Great and Holy Person when the Jews sent Priests and Levites from Jerusalem to demand of him who he was not only disclaimed the Titles of Christ of Elias and of that Prophet this his humble Spirit was not content with but went farther and gave this strange and mortified Account of himself I am says he the voice of one crying in the wilderness Joh. 1. 23. The Prophet David indeed had said before of himself That he was a Worm and no Man Psal 22. 6. And this one would think was a sufficient Stretch of Humility But the Baptist speaks in a Strain below him allowing himself to be no more than a Voice The same holy Person thought himself unworthy to baptize his Saviour nay what makes that less admirable not worthy so much as to unloose the very Latchet of his Shooes The next Instance I shall mention is the ever-blessed Mother of our Lord. She if ever any Creature had Cause to be proud 'T is impossible even to imagin a stronger Temptation She was saluted by an Arch-Angel said to be a Person highly favoured with God and blessed among Women and in particular That she should be Mother to the Son of the Highest and that too by the Power of the Most High Was not here enough to betray a poor innocent Virgin into Pride and Vanity Had the Angels half so much Reason for their Pride and Haughtiness when they fell from the Heights of Glory Well how did she behave her self under the dangerous Salutation Why she seemed to make it rather Matter of Obedience and Resignation than of Triumph and Boasting Behold says she the handmaid of the Lord be it unto me according to thy word Luk. 1. 38. But the most stupendous Instance of Humility that ever was or can be was in the Person of our Blessed Lord whether we consider him in the Mystery of his Incarnation or in the mean Circumstances of his Birth or in the humble Method of his Life whether we consider him as emptying himself of his Eternal Glories and drawing a Cloud over his Brightness or as forbidding the Devils to publish his Divinity and Men to declare his Miracles and his Disciples to tell of his Transfiguration or as washing his Disciples Feet or as riding upon an Ass or as conversing among Sinners and lastly chusing to die between Thieves These and many such other Instances of Condescension argue the most profound Humility that can be imagined and withal how concerned our Lord was to commend and endear this most excellent Duty to the Practice of Men. Of all the Vertues and Excellencies in the World one would have thought this of Humility least capable of being practised and exemplified by the Son of God Commend it indeed he might by Precept as well as any other but sure one would think not by Example But see what rare Arts and Mysteries God has found out to teach us this Lesson And therefore we may well conclude that there is Excellency and Necessity in it as well as Difficulty and how much it concerns us to learn what God has been so peculiarly sollicitous to teach It is then a Christian Duty to be thus Poor in Spirit And the Reasonableness of it is as great as the Obligation This I might shew from the good Consequences and happy Effects of this Disposition of Spirit but this falling in more properly under the Third Partition of my Discourse I shall for the present content my self with some other Consideration taken from the Condition of Man whom I shall consider I. As a Creature II. As a Sinner First then
Man is a Creature and this is a very reasonable Ground for Humility and Poverty of Spirit We usually think it a very humbling Consideration to re-mind a Person of the Meanness of his Original But now What Original can be so mean as to be from Nothing It is enough to take down the Spirit of the brightest Intelligence to consider that nothing was his Original a State more vile and dishonourable than the Chaos it self Now this is the Condition of Man He had his Rise from nothing and derives his Pedigree by his Mother's Side from Darkness and Emptiness And though now by the Omnipotency of his Creator he is something yet still he holds his Being as precariously as he first received it and depends as much for his Existence upon the Will of his Creator as Light does upon the Sun or the Image in the Glass upon the Presence of the Body If God does but turn his Face from him and cease to behold him he will vanish into nothing God spake the Word indeed before he was made but to unmake him there needs no contradictory Fiat he need only be silent and not sustain him by the Word of his Power And shall that Being be proud which was once Nothing and has still such a Natural Bent towards Annihilation as to need only a bare Negative to make him Nothing again No says the Wise Man Pride was not made for man nor furious anger for them that are born of a woman Man must forget his Extraction to give the least Admittance to Pride and he need but study and consider that to have the most inward and feeling Sense of Humility This Consideration is yet farther improveable if we admit the Hypothesis of those who say that to be a Creature involves a State of Nothing as well as an Origination from Nothing that there is nothing Real or Positive in any Creature but what is from God and that though a Creature be Something as of God yet he is nothing as of himself nor can exert any positive Act or Operation from himself as a distinct Principle of Action being still as to that as much a Nothing as before If this be true and he that shall consider and well understand what is alledged by M. Poiret in Defence of this Notion will scarce find it in his Power to think otherwise certainly Man has infinite Reason to be poor in Spirit and to descend into the lowest Abyss of Humility and Self-Abdication as becomes a Being that not only was once but is still a mere Nothing Man therefore as a Creature has sufficient Reason to be humble and poor in Spirit But if we consider him 2ly as a Sinner he has Cause not only to be humble but to lie down flat upon his Face and look upon himself to be more base and vile than the very Dust whereof he was form'd and whereon he treads To be a Sinner is much more vile than to be the meanest Creature and the Non-Entity of Sin is more dishonourable than that of Nature This latter tho' it cannot actually conform yet it is not disobedient to the Will of God But the former Nothing contradicts and resists his Will This is as I think one of the Fathers calls it Nihil Rebelle in Deum ar matum an Armed Nothing Indeed to be a Creature involves Weakness and Imperfection in it but then it also involves Good because nothing can be but by partaking of the Perfection of God But now to be a Sinner involves nothing but pure and unmixt Evil and is withal a farther Remove from Good than to be nothing since it is not only negatively but contrarily opposed to it 'T is indeed the greatest Monstrosity and Deformity in the World the greatest Contradiction to Order and Harmony to Reason and Proportion to Well-being and Happiness In one Word 'T is the only Thing which God hates What great Reason then has Man to be humble and poor in Spirit poor even to Emptiness and Self-Annihilation who is not only a Creature but a sinful Creature Having now shewn the Duty and Reasonableness of Poverty of Spirit in the full Latitude of the Word I proceed to shew in the Third Place the Happiness of those who are so disposed Blessed are the poor in spirit says our Saviour for theirs is the kingdom of heaven That 's the only Blessedness which is here expresly mentioned But they are happy also in other Regards For in the first place What an happy Disposition of Soul must it be always to carry about one such a strong and lively Conviction of the Vanity of all created Good as not to run out into vehement Desires after it For Desire it self to go no farther is always a great Torment 'T is the same to the Soul that Thirst is to the Body and Hope deferr'd as the Wise Man tells us makes the heart sick Prov. 13. But that is not all for here will come in the Trouble of Disappointment as well as of Desire Not that which the World generally understands by Disappointment the not compassing what you designed tho' that also will often happen but the not enjoying what you have compassed the Disappointment of Fruition But now to be poor in Spirit is the Way to avoid all this Such a Person expects no Happiness from the Creature and consequently not to find it there will be to him no Disappointment He does not lean upon any created Good with any Stress and therefore though it should fail under him his Fall will be but slight and easie And indeed it is not to be imagined what a deal of Anxiety Care Restlesness Disappointment Sorrow fruitless Labour and Endeavour are saved by this Poverty of Spirit And I think this is no small Degree of Happiness Again Is it not a great Happiness to be so moderately and indifferently affected towards the World as to be contented with any Condition in it To be of a quiet sedate resigned and dis-interessed Disposition He that is thus disposed is above or rather below the Reach of calamitous Accidents The Storm flies over his Head he has nothing for Fortune to take hold of Nor will he be under the Hazard of parting with his Religion to secure his Worldly Interest No he can do his Duty tho' at the Expence of Martyrdom and tho' highly deserving of the best Times may yet be trusted in the worst Then as to the Happiness attending upon Poverty of Spirit as it stands for Humility there is no one Vertue that is more her own Reward than this Pride is the most uneasie thing in the World and withal the most odious uneasie to the Patient and odious to the Observer And as it is uneasie in it self so is it the Parent of many troublesom and uneasie Passions such as Anger Contention Revenge Envy Impatience c. So that it is hard to determin whether the proud Man be more ridiculous or miserable But now to be humble is to
PRACTICAL DISCOURSES UPON THE BEATITUDES Of our LORD and SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST VOL. I. Written by JOHN NORRIS M. A. Rector of Bemerton near Sarum To which are added Reflections upon a late Essay concerning Human Understanding With a Reply to the Remarks made upon them by the Athenian Society The Fourth Edition LONDON Printed for S. Manship at the Ship near the Royal-Exchange in Cornhill 1699. To my much Honoured Friend and Patron JOSEPH LANGTON Esq SIR 'T IS a Maxim of Prudence given by some of the Nicer Describers of the Bounds of Gratitude That it ought to be temper'd between a total Neglect and a full and just Requital To strike off all Scores is they say as uncivil as to discharge none and every whit as disingenuous not to suffer as not to acknowledge an Obligation Now Sir 't is one of the proper Happinesses of my little Fortune to be necessarily cast upon this Measure I am got too far in your Accounts to be able to requite to the full some part of them I must ever leave uncrossed as a standing Hold upon me and tho my Gratitude it self be never so strong and pregnant yet the most forward Instance of it can rise no higher than an Acknowledgment And as this is the utmost I can do so of doing this too I have so few Capacities and Opportunities that I am the less willing to let go any that offer themselves which indeed has given a speedier Issue to my Deliberation whether I ought to Address these Discourses to your Patronage or no which perhaps without the Formality of a Dedication would of right belong to you as falling within your District and as being the Fruits of that Retirement which by your Free Bounty I enjoy As an Acknowledgment therefore of this and your other constant Favours I presume to put these Discourses into your Hands which I hope will be able to do both You and Me that Justice as to convince the World that as you proceeded by generous and uncorrupt Measures in disposing of this Publick Trust so you was not altogether mistaken in your Choice when you thought fit to Oblige Your Humble Servant John Norris Newton St. Loe. April 21. 1690. TO THE READER I Here commend to thy serious Perusal a Set of Select Discourses upon the Beatitudes which were at first undertaken and are now publish'd for the Publick Benefit of all well-disposed Christians The Subjects themselves are as Great and Noble as any perhaps that occur in all Practical Divinity being the Prime and Capital Aphorisms of our Saviour's excellent Sermon upon the Mount and containing the Fundamental Principles of all Christ's Practical Instructions and of a true Christian Temper and Life Here we may see what the Philosopher so much desired the true Living Idea of Vertue and Goodness nay more what 't is to be a Christian an Interiour Christian a Christian indeed And I heartily wish that those whose Orthodoxy is chiefly employed in giving out Marks and Signs of Conversion and Saintship wherein their end seems rather to be the distinction of a Party than any real Promotion of Godliness would choose rather to dress their Interiour by this Glass and afterwards try it by this Measure For here they will find that Real Christianity consists in Poverty of Spirit Humility Self-denyal Mortification Meekness Mercifulness Purity of Heart Peaceableness and such like inward Dispositions of Soul and not in a few outward Formalities Sighs and Groans Looks and Postures Words and Phrases and such other affected Badges of a fond Distinction And as the Subjects themselves are Great and Noble so I hope these Discourses will be found in some measure to rise up to their Dignity I am sure there has been no care wanting on my part to make them worthy of their Subjects to which I have endeavoured to do the utmost Justice But however I may fail of that yet I hope the Reader will not be altogether disappointed of his Expectations or repent of his Labour but will find here sufficient Entertainment both for his Speculation and for his Devotion It may perhaps be a Surprize to some to see me appear again so soon in publick To this if there needs any Apology that which I shall offer is That if these Discourses be not worthy of publick View then 't is not fit they should ever be sent abroad but if they be I cannot understand how they can be published too soon The Truth is considering the shortness and uncertainty of Life I have been lately very much of Opinion That a Man can never live too fast the Heathen will tell you Never fast enough nor make too much haste to do good especially when a Man's Sphere is such that he has but Few ways and Opportunities of doing it which by Experience I am all convinc'd to be my Case I am afraid wherever the fault lies that it will not be my Happiness to be able to do that good where I am which I might have done in some other Station Which makes me the more frequent in Publick that I may supply this Defect by the Service of my Pen having some reason to hope that my Discourses will meet with better liking Abroad than they usually do at Home and that there are some in the World to whom I shall not be a Barbarian What has been here the performance of my Pen was as I learn from Dr. Rust intended and in part performed by the Excellent Bishop Taylour who while he was meditating upon the Beatitudes was receiv'd up into the Enjoyment of them And I have lately spoken with a Gentleman who told me That he himself saw a Manuscript of it in the Bishop's own Hand I am very sensible how much the Subject has lost by the Change of its Author All that I can say is That I have done my Best and I hope God will accept of my good Intention and that the World will be something the better for my Peformance John Norris THE CONTENTS DIscourse the First on Matth. V. Ver. iii. pag. 1 Discourse the Second on Matth. V. Ver. iv p. 25 Discourse the Third on Matth. V. Ver. v. p. 47 Discourse the Fourth on Matth. V. Ver. vi p. 74 Discourse the Fifth on Matth. V. Ver. vii p. 101 Discourse the Sixth on Matth. V. Ver. viii p. 120 Discourse the Seventh on Matth. V. Ver. ix p. 145 Discourse the Eighth on Matth. V. Ver. x. xi xii p. 169 The Conclusion of the whole in a Discourse concerning the Beatitudes in general p. 196 Cursory Reflections upon a Book call'd An Essay concerning Human Vnderstanding p. 1 Remarks upon the Athenian Society in the Supplement to the Third Volume Christian Blessedness OR DISCOURSES UPON THE BEATITUDES VOL. 1. Discourse the First Matth. V. ver iii. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven THus the Divine Angel of the Covenant Christ Jesus begins that Great and Noble Institution of Christian Philosophy his Sublime
Sermon on the Mount This was he that was pointed at by the eminent Prophecy I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee and will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him Deut. 18. And now it was that this Prophecy had its full Accomplishment Christ was now entring upon his Prophetick Office and was to shew himself a Prophet like unto Moses This great Trust he discharged with as great Care and Fidelity and as the Author to the Hebrews observes was faithful to him that appointed him as also Moses was faithful in all his house Heb. 3. 2. As therefore Moses gave a Digest of Laws to the People with whom he was intrusted so it became this Divine Prophet also to give Laws and Precepts for the Instruction and Order of his Disciples He was to be a Law-giver as well as Moses and to carry on the Proportion yet farther he thought fit to imitate him in the very Manner and Circumstance of delivering his Law and accordingly ascended up into a Mountain from whence he showr'd down his Heavenly Manna upon his Hearers So also making good another Instance of Resemblance relating to Moses who speaks thus of himself My doctrin shall drop as the rain my speech shall distil as the dew as the small rain upon the tender herb and as the showers upon the grass Deut. 32. 2. But the Parallel will not run throughout For the Divine Oracles were not now accompanied with Thundrings and Lightnings with Blackness and Darkness and Tempest but were deliver'd in the small still Voice of Blessing and Consolation 'T was with a Beatitude that David began his Collection of Divine Hymns and in like manner does the Son of David usher in his sublime Instructions And this was very suitable and agreeable both to the Character of his Person and to the Genius of his Doctrin As to his Person Blessing became the Mouth of him who was the Reconciler of God and Man the great Ambassador of Peace the Author of Salvation and Happiness and at whose Nativity the Angels sang Peace on Earth and Good Will towards Men. And as to his Doctrin The Precepts he was to deliver were of so refined and high-raised a Nature so little agreeable either to the Maxims of the World or to the grosser Relishes of the Animal Life that they would have found but cold Entertainment had they not come recommended with a Reward and been guarded on each Side with a Beatitude 'T was requisite therefore that the Duty and the Blessing should go hand in hand and accordingly our Lord who well understood the Temper of the Sons of Men how passionately we pursue any thing that looks like Happiness and how apt we are to ask that Question Who will shew us any Good thought it expedient to join them both together in his Discourse as they will be in the Event and to pronounce them Blessed here whom he intends to pronounce so hereafter when he shall say Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World Mat. 25. And the better to win us over to the Practice of his Divine Sermon our Lord like a wise Master-builder lays the Foundation of his Discourse where we must lay that of our Obedience and assigns the first Place among his Beatitudes to Humility and Poverty of Spirit for Humility is the Foundation of Obedience We must be first poor in Spirit before we can be rich in Good Works first humble before we can obey and first obey before we can reign And therefore with good Reason does our Lord lay down this as the first Principle and Ground-Work of his Institution Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven In my Discourse upon these Words I shall I. Resolve what we are to understand by Poor in Spirit II. Shew that this Poverty of Spirit is a Christian Duty and the Reasonablness of it III. Shew the Happiness of those who are so disposed As to the Resolution of the First I consider that this Poverty of Spirit here recommended by our Saviour is not a State of Life but a State of Mind and we may take it either in Opposition to Covetousness or in Opposition to Pride and High-mindedness If in Opposition to Covetousness then to be poor in Spirit is to have our Souls so disposed as First Not to be eagerly carried out in our Desires after any created Good particularly the good Things of this lower World whether Honors Pleasures or Profit especially not to be greedy and craving in our Desire of Riches But Secondly To be so moderately and indifferently affected towards all these as to be well contented without them and also ready to resign and part with them when either God shall think fit to deprive us of them or when we can no longer retain them with a good Conscience This is to be poor in Spirit considered in Opposition to Covetousness But it may also be considered as opposed to Pride or High-mindedness and then to be poor in Spirit will denote First A just that is a low and mean Sense and Apprehension of our own selves of our Souls and of our Bodies of our Intellectuals and of our Morals of our Acquirements and of our Performances And Secondly As a Consequent of this a Contentedness when-ever any or all of these are disesteemed or disparaged either tacitly and interpretatively by Affronts and dishonourable Treatments or else directly by express Undervaluations a Readiness to prefer others before our selves and a Willingness that the same Preference should be given them by others an utter Captivation of our Understandings to the Obedience of Faith and a modest Submission of them in all doubtful Cases to the Dictates of our Superiors a declining of Fame and Popularity and a studious Concealment of our own Praises and Excellencies but when either the Glory of God or the Good of our Brother is concerned in the Publication In short to use the Description of the Psalmist he is truly poor in Spirit who from his Heart can say to the Searcher of Hearts Lord I am not high-minded I have no proud looks I do not exercise my self in great Matters which are too high for me but I refrain my soul and keep it low like as a child that is weaned from his mother yea my soul is even as a weaned child Psal 131. Having thus briefly shewn what it is to be poor in Spirit both with respect to Covetousness and with respect to Pride and High-mindedness I come now in the second Place to shew that this Poverty of Spirit is a Christian Duty and withal the great Reasonableness of it And First That Poverty of Spirit according to the first Acceptation of it is a Christian Duty 't would be Conviction enough to consider how often we are called upon in Scripture to withdraw our Affections from the
no need of any such thing as mourning in Sion These Men seem to have the same Notion of Christ's Religion that the Jews had of his Person They looked upon him under the Character of a great Temporal Prince and dreamt of nothing under his Reign but Victories and Triumphs and Festivals and Vine-yards and Olive-yards And so some think of his Religion They look upon it as a fine gay secular jolly Profession as a State of Freedom and Emancipation of Ease and Pleasantness as if the Children of the Kingdom had nothing to do but to eat drink and be merry and that Mourning had no more place in this than it is to have in the New Jerusalem wherein as the Evangelical Prophet tells us All tears shall be wiped away from mens eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying nor any more pain Rev. 21. 4. It is indeed most certain that Religion has its Joys and Pleasures and that the Christian Religion has the most of any and that they are such too as by far transcend all others that the best Life is also the most pleasant Life and that 't is worth while to live well if it were only for the mere pleasure of doing so And there is a great deal of Truth in that noble Saying of Hierocles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The good Man excels the wicked Man not only in Goodness but also in Pleasure it self for whose sake only the other is wicked Nay farther The Pleasures of good Men are not only greater than those of ill Men but such as they cannot enjoy or relish and have no manner of Notion of As there are some Things of God so there are Pleasures of Religion which the Animal Man does not perceive For the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him and the stranger does not intermeddle with their joy Nay farther yet No Man has any Ground or Pretence for Rejoycing but a good Man 'T is the most usurping and daring Piece of Impudence in the World for an ill Man to laugh or be merry What has he to do with Mirth who has the Wrath of God abiding on him and Hell open to receive him It does not belong to him 't is none of his Part. Mirth is the Reward of a good Conscience the Prerogative of Innocence and the peculiar Right of good Men And they not only may be joyful and chearful but are also commanded to be so Thus in the Law Deut. 16. 11. Thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God says Moses to the Jewish Votary So again the Psalmist Psal 33. Rejoice in the Lord O ye righteous for it becometh well the just to be thankful Again Psal 68. Let the righteous be glad and rejoice before God let them also be merry and joyful And again Psal 100. Serve the Lord with gladness And says our blessed Lord in his Farewell-Discourse to his Disciples Joh. 15. 11. These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full And we are exhorted to rejoice evermore by the Apostle 1 Thes 5. who also reckons Joy among the Fruits of the Holy Spirit Gal. 5. 22. Now all this is true and I not only confess but also recommend the thing hitherto pleaded for But then 't is also to be considered what the Wise Man says that to every thing there is a season and that there is a Time to weep and mourn as well as a Time to laugh and dance Eccles 3. And this not only from Natural but also from Moral Necessity For the Circumstances of Human Life are such as make it our Duty as well as Fate to mourn and be sorrowful Religion has its gloomy as well as bright Side and there are to be Days of Darkness as well as Days of Light in the Christian Kalendar This is intimated to us by several Expressions and by several Examples in Holy Scripture Thus the Church in general is in the Divine Song of Solomon compared to a Dove which tho' considerable for some other Qualities is yet for nothing so remarkable as for her continual Mourning So far was that Wise Man from the Opinion of those who make Temporal Prosperity a Mark of the True Church Again says the same wise Preacher It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting And again Sorrow is better than laughter Where you see he not only inculcates the Practice of Mourning but also expresly prefers it before its Contrary And he gives this Reason for it because by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better Eccles 7. 3. And therefore he makes this the Measure of Wisdom and Folly by telling us in the next Verse That the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning but the heart of fools in the house of mirth This Practice of Mourning is every where inculcated in the Writings of the Prophets but especially of the Prophet Jeremy who has writ a whole Book of Lamentations But above all 't is remarkable what our Lord himself says of Mourning in the 16th of St. John where he seems to make it the great Mark of Difference between his Disciples and the Men of this World Verily verily says he I say unto you that ye shall weep and lament but the world shall rejoice Nor do there want Examples of this holy Mourning in Scripture Thus the Devotion of Hannah is expressed by her being a Woman of a sorrowful Spirit 1 Sam. 1. 15. The Royal Prophet spent his whole Time almost in Mourning and Sorrow which he also indulged and fomented with Music and Divine Hymns And yet he was a Man wise and learned and a Man after God's own Heart and withal a Man of great Business and publick Occupation Thus again the Prophet Jeremy was a great Mourner a Man as insatiable in his Sorrow as some are in their Luxury He was so full of Grief as not to be satisfied with the natural and ordinary Ways of expressing it And therefore says he Oh that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night Jer. 9. 1. More I might instance in but I close all with the great Example of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ who as the Text says was a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Grief and that not only in his last Passion and Agony when his Soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death and when as the Author to the Hebrews says Heb. 5. 7. He offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears but also throughout the whole Course of his Life We oftentimes read of his Weeping and Sorrowing as upon his Prospect of the City Jerusalem at the Grave of Lazarus and a little after his last Supper when as the Text says Mat. 26. he began to be sorrowful and very heavy and in the Garden where he wept Tears of Blood But
rest of his it runs in such general Terms that a Man is little the wiser for it And indeed it rather serves to tell us the Meaning of the Word than to discover the Nature of the Thing To do this therefore I should rather think fit to say That it is such a Temper or Disposition of Mind whereby a Man so moderates and commands the Passion of Anger as not to be carried to any such Degree of it as may either discompose himself or injure his Neighbour Call this a Definition or Description or what you please I think it is such as may give a sufficient Idea of the Thing we are discoursing about This therefore being setled our next Business is to shew That to be thus meek is a Christian Duty That it is so might sufficiently appear from this General Consideration that it is an Instance of Charity which as we well know is the Life and Substance of the Christian Law And it is a very considerable Instance too For since Charity obliges us to promote both our own and our Neighbour's Happiness it must by Consequence oblige us to moderate and govern those Passions which have any Influence upon either of them Now among all the Passions there is none in the Exercise of which either our own or our Neighbour's Happiness is so often and so much concerned as in this of Anger So often it being a thing of daily Incursion So much because upon this depends all the Strength and Stability both of Private and Publick Peace And consequently such a due Moderation of this Passion as may secure both which is what we call Meekness is a very considerable Instance of Charity and therefore also of the Christian Law which is so much a Law of Charity that as the Apostle tells us Gal. 5. 14. it is fulfilled by it And accordingly we may observe that among the several Excellencies and Properties of Charity reckoned up by the Apostle these are particularly insisted upon that it suffers long and is kind 1 Cor. 13. that it is not easily provoked and that it bears all things which are also some of the chief Properties of Meekness But that Meekness is a Christian Duty and one of the first Order too may be more particularly shewn from the express Doctrin and Example of our Divine Law-giver As to his Doctrin he not only commands it but seems to resolve all that Moral Excellency which he either had in himself or would have in us to these two Humility and Meekness Come unto me says he and learn of me But what Not to make Worlds not to cure the Sick not to restore Light to the Blind or Life to the Dead to use the Remark of the excellent Cardinal Bona but learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart What! Was it that our Lord had no other Vertues or that he excelled in these two more than in any of the rest that when he bids us learn of him he proposes no other to our Imitation Neither of these can be said Not the former because in him dwelt the Fulness of the Godhead which is not consistent with the Absence of any one Grace or Vertue Not the Latter because he was uniformly as well as entirely good and had every Vertue in its utmost Perfection having as the Scripture says of him received the Spirit of God without measure 'T is true indeed he might be and was more remarkable for the outward Exercise of one Vertue than another according as Opportunities and Circumstances might require But as to the inward Habits and Dispositions themselves he was equally perfect in them all and did not excel in one more than in another Why then does he recommend only these two to be learnt by his Disciples It must be partly because he was the only Master that could teach such Divine Dispositions and partly because of some special Excellency in the Vertues themselves above any other of the Christian Law And therefore also our Lord puts them for the whole of it by calling them his Yoke Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart Mat. 11. 29. Nor are we less obliged to this by the Example than by the Precept of our Lord For as his Example was a Living Law so was the Practice of his Vertue a very eminent part of his Example This he himself intimates to us by assigning this for the Reason why we should learn of him And of this we may be farther informed from the whole Story and Process of his Life Never was any Man's Meekness so much tried as his was For as the real Excellency and Dignity of his Person heightned every Affront and rude Treatment that was offered him to an incomparable Pitch so the outward Lowness and Meanness of it exposed him to a great many of them And yet notwithstanding the Number and Heinousness of his Provocations we do not find that he was ever in the least discomposed or put into a Passion by them Moses indeed was a Man very eminent for this Vertue insomuch that the Scripture gives this Character of him That he was very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth Numb 12. And yet we find that with all his Meekness he could not bear with the Crossness and Perversness of that untractable People the Jews who as the Psalmist's Observation is so provoked his spirit that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips Psal 106. Now our Lord had to deal with the very same stubborn and cross-grain'd Generation of Men only now under infinitely greater Prejudices and Disaffections and suffered more Indignities from them than either were or could be offered to Moses and yet none of all their ill Usages could ever raise such a thing as Anger or Resentment in him though they did so in those who stood by and beheld his Abuses Thus the Unkindness of the rude Samaritans could not so much as strike a Spark into his Divine Breast when at the same time it made his two zealous Disciples James and John kindle to that Degree as to desire Fire from Heaven to consume them Luk. 9. 54. And so again the rough Seizure of his Sacred Person by the Soldiers could not extort from him so much as an angry Look when yet the very Sight of it made his warm Disciple draw his Sword And with the same Meekness he went on with his Sufferings with which he begun them as may appear from that mild Answer which he returned to the Officer that struck him Joh. 18. If I have spoken evil bear witness of the evil but if well why smitest thou me What could have been said more mildly and dispassionately or that could argue a more sedate and well-govern'd Spirit His greatest Apostle could not be half so moderate under a far less urging Occasion For when not actually smitten but only commanded to be so by the Order of Ananias the High-Priest he
returned him this sharp and warm Answer God shall smite thee thou whited wall For sittest thou to judge me after the law and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law There was indeed nothing in his Answer but what perhaps might have been justified by the Oddness of the Provocation but yet you cannot but observe a great Difference between the Behaviour of the Disciple and of the Master But if you would see a perfect Example of Meekness look upon him under the Shame and Dishonour and Pains of the Cross encountring at once with the Agonies of Death the Contradictions and Revilings of Sinners and the Vengeance of an Almighty God and all this without any the least Shew of Impatience or Discomposure of Spirit So that I think I may well enlarge the Question of the Prophet and to that Is there any sorrow like to my sorrow add this also Is there any meekness like to my meekness And here I cannot but make a Stand and with Sorrow reflect upon a certain Order of Men how little they have of the true Spirit of Christianity how little they have learnt either by the Precept or by the Example of him whose Religion and Imitation too they profess and by whose venerable Name they have thought fit to distinguish themselves who instead of this Meekness and Gentleness are all made up of Passion and Violence Fury and Out-rageousness mere Fire-brands in Society that kindle and lay waste where-ever they come and seem more like Granada's shot into a Town than Inhabitants of it by thus raging where they light by thus burning destroying and tearing all about them How unlike are these Men to the Temper of the meek Lamb of God! As unlike certainly as Wolves and Tygers And yet it is an Unlikeness they are so little sensible of that they will yet pretend to the Name and Practice of Christians yea to the very Name of Jesus And he had need be a bold Man or at a good distance from them that shall dare to contradict them But certainly as Wrath worketh not the righteousness of God Jam. 1. 20. so neither is such an allowed Course of it consistent with it And as he cannot be a good Man who is so inordinate in the Use of a Passion wherein both his own and his Neighbour's Peace and Quiet is so much concerned so much less can he be a good Christian who is of a Frame of Spirit so directly contrary to that of the Holy Jesus and who wants this great Christian Qualification the Spirit of Gentleness and Meekness which is so considerable an Instance of Charity and so strictly enjoyned by the Precept and so strongly recommended by the Example of Christ But because the Limits of this Duty are not so plain as the Obligation of it I proceed in the Third Place to state the Measures of its Obligation in its more general Cases And here in the first place it may be demanded Whether all Anger be contrary to Meekness and consequently unlawful The Affirmative is stiffly contended for by the Stoic but I think the Negative sufficiently warranted by the Apostolical Caution Be angry and sin not Eph. 4. 26. Which plainly implies that there may be Anger without Sin And it is also plain from the Nature of the Thing that there may for Anger is a Natural Affection implanted in us by God from whom nothing can proceed that is simply and as such evil And besides the Office of Meekness is not utterly to destroy this Passion but only to regulate it whereby 't is supposed that it is not in its whole Kind evil for what is so cannot be regulated and must be destroyed Since then Anger is supposed not wholly to be destroyed by Meekness as being Evil but only to be regulated lest it become so the next thing to be considered is by what Measures Now these Measures may either respect Anger as to the inward Passion as within a Man 's own Breast or as to the outward Acts Effects and Expressions of it And First As to those Measures which respect Anger as to the inward Passion as lodged within a Man 's own Breast These I think will be sufficiently comprized within these four Circumstances the Cause or Occasion the Object the Degree or the Time As to the Cause to render that justifiable it will be requisite First That it be something weighty and considerable something wherein either the Glory of God or the publick Good or else some very great private Interest is concerned 'T is not every little impertinent Trifle that can warrant our Anger Secondly 'T will be requisite that our Anger owe its Birth to some competent Measure of previous Counsel and Deliberation For if all our Actions are to be governed by Reason certainly our Passions ought not to be wholly exempted from it I am sure they need it most of all And if a Man thinks not before he gives himself leave to be Angry tho' the Ground of it should prove never so just and proper in it self yet as to him his Anger was brutish and unreasonable As it will also be if Thirdly it be not conceived for a due End such as either the Vindication of the Divine Honour and Glory the Procurement of Good to our Neighbour or the Prevention and Suppression of Sin And so much to qualifie our Anger with respect to the Cause But Secondly To the farther Regulation of it 't will be requisite that it have a due Object for all are not so There are some Things that cannot some that ought not to be the Objects of Anger that cannot with Reason and that ought not for Religion Thus we ought not to be angry with God as it is said Caligula was who being vex'd at the Thunder for disturbing his Banquet rose up from the Table and provoked Jupiter to fight with him Neither ought we to be angry with inanimate senseless Things as Cyrus was with the River for drowning one of his sacred Horses It argues a Mind overcome and blinded with Passion to be so prodigal of it where it can signifie nothing Nor ought we to be angry with those who either by Chance or Necessity or probable Ignorance or common Frailty have offended us Nor are we to be angry with those who though they have none of these Excuses to qualifie their Trespass yet acknowledge their Fault beg our Pardon and promise Amendment Repentance is the Measure of God's Forgiveness and so it ought to be of ours Nor lastly should we let loose our Anger against Brute Creatures Children Fools or Mad-men or any other that are under any great Defect or Disorder of Understanding But we are to be angry with such only as are impious and wicked and that are neither ashamed nor repent of their wickedness And even here also we ought rather to be angry with the Fault than with the Person For so Moses was exceeding angry at the Idolatry of the Israelites when at the same time
in the Abundance of Things which he possesses I say Is it imaginable that our Lord after all this should therefore pronounce the meek Man blessed for having great Possessions This therefore cannot be the Thing meant by the Meek's inheriting the Earth which I take rather to signifie the Manner of Possessing than the Greatness of their Possessions and to import thus much That the Meek shall enjoy what they have be it little or great with Comfort and Satisfaction and Tranquility of Mind whereas those of a contrary Disposition tho' they may possess a great deal may yet be truly said to enjoy little or nothing And this seems to be the Sense of the Psalmist when in Words directly parallel to these of our Lord he says The meek-spirited shall possess the earth and shall be refreshed in the multitude of peace Psal 34. 11. That is They shall have Comfort and Pleasure Peace and Content with whatever they have which how little soever shall yet carry a true Relish and yield more real Satisfaction to them than the otherwise-affected can reap from their ample Revenues According to what the Psalmist in the same place immediately subjoyns Psal 34. 16. A small thing that the righteous has is better than great riches of the ungodly This I take to be the Sense and Meaning of this Beatitude As to the Truth and Reality of it there is this double Security for it the Natural Tendency of the Vertue of Meekness and the Blessing of God upon it As to its Natural Tendency Meekness is a very decent amiable and winning thing and accordingly the Apostle calls it The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit And by this in all probability the meek Man will sweeten and indear even his very Enemies to him and so gain himself Peace without by his quiet and inoffensive Behaviour But however this be yet he is sure to have Peace within with himself and with God And having this he is in a very fit Condition of Mind to enjoy himself and to take Comfort in what he possesses Which he will be farther enabled to do Secondly by the Blessing of God And this again the Psalmist takes notice of some few Verses after the fore-cited ones Vers 22. Such as are blessed of the Lord shall possess the land says he implying that as the Meek whom he just before spoke of should possess the Earth so it is through a special Blessing of God that they should do so And these are two great Securities for a Life of Comfort and Self-Enjoyment the Peace of a sedate Spirit within and the Blessing of God without And both these the meek Man has whom therefore we may venture to pronounce Blessed and therefore Blessed because he shall thus inherit the Earth Which yet shall be but a Type and Pledge of his future Inheritance with the Saints in Light Discourse the Fourth Matth. V. ver vi Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled THO God has provided Entertainment for all the Appetites which he has made yet there are but two Appetites of Man which he intends to gratifie to the heighth and to bless with a full and lasting Satisfaction and those are the Desire of being happy and the Desire of being good There are some Appetites of Man which are never satisfied for says the Wise Man Eccl. 1. 8. The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing Seeing and Hearing are the most refined of all the Senses and those Appetites which are most spiritual and refined and come nearest to the Elevations of the Intellectual Nature are always hardest to be satisfied And the Intellectual Nature it self when it is more raised and elevated as in the State of Separation will have a more enlarged Appetite and a sharper Edge of Desire and so will be harder to be satisfied than it is now Which by the way I take to be the Reason why those Sensual Spirits which now feel no great Uneasiness from the Absence of the Supreme Good will notwithstanding hereafter be extreamly miserable in being exiled from his Beatifick Presence As for the grosser Appetites of the Animal Nature such as Hunger Thirst and the like these indeed have this Advantage above the Finer that they may be satisfied for some time and such is the Brutishness of Man are too often over-charged But then they will return again in certain Periods like the Tide and be as importunate as ever for new Supplies and as our Saviour told the Woman of Samaria Joh. 4. 13. Whosoever drinks of this Water shall thirst again The Appetite may be laid asleep for a while but it will infallibly awake again into its former Eagerness But it is not the Unhappiness of Man to have all his Appetites like these such as will either never or not finally be satisfied There are two that are designed for a full and lasting Satisfaction the Desire of being happy and the Desire of being good and vertuous but still with this material difference between them That the Desire of Happiness is not absolutely secure of Satisfaction but only upon Condition The Satisfaction of this Desire is suspended upon the Quality of our Moral Conduct But now the Desire of Goodness and Vertue has by the Grace and Indulgence of God an absolute Title to Satisfaction and is sure to be throughly gratified For says our Saviour Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled Shall be filled without any farther Condition or Reserve That we may the better comprehend the Sense and Truth of this Beatitude it will be necessary I. To enquire what Righteousness that is which if we hunger and thirst after we shall be filled II. What kind of Hunger and Thirst that is to which this Promise of Repletion is made III. To make good the Proposition it self that those who do hunger and thirst after Righteousness shall be filled To satisfie the first Enquiry I shall not critically weigh all the acceptations of the Word Righteousness in Scripture thinking it sufficient to the Business in hand to consider the general Kinds and Degrees of Righteousness This therefore may be considered either in a Judicial or in a Moral Sense Righteousness in a Judicial Sense imports as much as a Legal Discharge whereby the Person impleaded becomes Right in the Court or Righteous Which Legal Discharge may be again two Ways either by remitting a Criminal or by acquitting suspected or accused Innocence These are the two Ways of a Legal Discharge and then is a Person judicially righteous when he is discharg'd either of these two ways either by the Remission of his Guilt or by the Declaration of his Innocence The latter of these is properly Justification tho' the former be that Justification whereby Christians must expect to stand in the Judgment of God since in the other Sense no Man living shall be justified For we are not justified
of this Sacramental Thirst but if we could but so far advance our Fancy as to represent to our selves with what eagerness and greediness those thirsty and scorch'd Travellers in the Wilderness did apply their Mouths to the springing Stone that was now more indear'd to them by the Benefit than by the Miracle then and then only may we have some Notion of that Hunger and Thirst wherewith we are to approach and receive these Divine Mysteries For if that Rock and Miraculous Water was a Type of our Sacrament as the Apostle assures us it was telling us expresly that that Rock was Christ 1 Cor. 10. 4. then by the like proportion that Thirst was also a Symbol of our Duty a signification of our Sacramental Thirst And as he that will come to this Divine Feast must come Hungry and Thirsty so he that is truly Hungry and Thirsty as he ought will be sure to come and not as too many do study to find out Pretences to excuse his Absence But why do I say Study to find Excuess There are some Men that will be hinderd by any thing nay by every thing There is nothing there can be nothing so little and inconsiderable but what will hinder some Men from the Holy Sacrament That which would not hinder them from any thing else things of much lighter Weight than what were pretended by those in the Parable the buying of a Farm or the Trying of a Yoke of Oxen or the Marrying of a Wife If the Heavens do but frown or if they themselves are never so little out of humour if a Visit be intended a day after or if a Domestick Jar happen'd a day before then presently keep off from the Sacrament Nay some are so very absurd that though they themselves are in perfect Charity with all the World and have not the least Tincture of the old Leven remaining in them yet if another Person happen to be out with them they shall think this a sufficient Warrant to stay away from the Sacrament which amounts as much as if a Man should say Because another Person has sinn'd against me therefore I will sin against God and my self and so be sure to outdo him But there is a Degree of Folly beyond this There are some that cover over this gross Neglect which comes the nearest of any thing to what the Apostle calls Trampling upon the blood of the covenant and doing despite to the Spirit of Grace with the specious Pretence of Reverence They have forsooth so profound a Reverence for the holy Sacrament that they cannot find in their Hearts to come to it A very odd Way of expressing Reverence to any Divine Institution by turning ones Back upon it This is such a Reverence as the Jews pretend towards the Tetragrammaton or Name Jehovah which consists in their never using it Such a Reverence if so much as the Papists shew to the Host when they carry it in Procession to be gazed upon and stared at But do these Men indeed reverence the Sacrament Then one would expect at least that when-ever they do come they should behave themselves there with more Devotion and Reverence than others that are most constant But there is nothing like to be observed Nor do I at all wonder at it since the Way to Communicate well is to Communicate often And I farther remark That those who behave themselves most irreverently at all other Parts of Divine Worship are the very Men that stay most away from the holy Altar upon the Pretence of Reverence But how comes it to pass that this is the only Part of Religion that must be neglected upon the Account of Reverence Do they do so by any other Part of Religion 'T is true indeed that all the other Parts of Divine Worship are too much neglected as well as this but I do not find that ever any were so absurd as to pretend Reverence for the neglecting of them and why then should they do it here But do these Men indeed reverence the holy Sacrament Why then do they not pay some Regard to the Command it self as well as to the Matter of it Do this says our Saviour in remembrance of me Why should all the Reverence be fixed upon This and none upon Do Or if they do reverence the Command how are they not afraid of breaking it Or how can a Command be reverenced by not observing it Do this in remembrance of me If the doing this be in Remembrance of our Saviour then the not doing it is to forget him And how can he pretend Reverence to the Institution that forgets the Author of it And here I cannot but take notice of another gross Notion that I find passes very current among Common People They think all the Danger lies in Coming unprepared If they eat and drink unworthily then nothing but Death and Damnation But if they stay away all is safe and well As if a Man might not destroy himself Fasting as well as by taking Poison These Men ought to consider that there is such a thing as an Vnworthy Non-Communicant as well as an Vnworthy Communicant And I wish they would read a certain Book that bears that Title The Vnworthy Non-Communicant They would then perhaps be sensible of some other Danger besides that of Coming without sufficient Preparation In the mean time all that I shall farther say to those Men is That what-ever Pretences they make to Christianity 't is certain they have not that Hunger and Thirst which is so necessary to the Life of a Christian and which if they had it would bring them oftner to this Spiritual Banquet and procure them the Blessing of being filled and replenished To the Consideration of which I now return Now there are two Ways of being filled either Absolutely and Simply so as not to be any more in Desires Or with respect to some certain Object so as not to desire any more of the same tho' simply speaking you do desire still The First of these is Satisfaction the Second is Satiety And those that duly hunger and thirst after Righteousness shall be filled both Ways that is They shall be filled with Righteousness and they shall be filled with Happiness First They shall be filled with Righteousness Rom. 5. 5. For since the Spirit of God which sheds his Love abroad in our Hearts is a good and loving Spirit and knows no other Bounds in his Communications than what are set him by the Capacity of the Subject it follows that he will not fail to replenish all those with his Graces who are duly qualified to receive them But now nothing can be supposed to be a greater Qualification than such Hungring and Thirsting as I have described This is the utmost Man can do to dispose himself for the Reception of the Divinest Impressions This therefore is that sacred Lure that powerful Charm which draws down the Holy Spirit into the Hearts of Men as the Platonists say of aptly disposed
Matter that it sucks a Soul into it by a kind of Natural Magick from the World of Life This Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness is the very same to the Life of the Soul as that Organical Aptness is to the Life of the Body It is the Congruity of the Soul in order to Spiritual Life That Soul therefore that is so qualified for Righteousness cannot miss according to the Order of Grace of being filled with it The Short is God desires the Righteousness of Man more than Man himself does or can do He delights to see his own Image reflect from him and stands ready to sow the Seeds of the Divine Life in every capable Soil and therefore we need not doubt but that the truly hungry and thirsty Soul shall be filled with the Bread of Life and with the Waters of Comfort Psal 23. Not that he shall be so filled with Righteousness in this Life as not to desire any more of it for we are now in a State of Proficiency not of Perfection but in the next he shall He shall then be so replenished with it as not to desire any one farther Degree of it and shall be perfectly possessed of that Divine Life and Nature whereof he is now only Partaker Secondly These hungry and thirsty Souls shall be filled with Happiness This is a certain Consequent of the other there being both a Natural and an Established Connexion between Righteousness and Happiness Some indeed have gone so far as to make them one and the same as to Kind and distinguishable only as to Degree Hence that common Theological Effate Grace is Glory begun and Glory is only Grace finished But I think there is more Prettiness in the Expression than Truth in the Notion Nay there is one Instance which plainly demonstrates it to be false For 't is most certain that the Human Soul of our Saviour was always in a State of Perfect Grace having as the Scripture says received the Spirit of God without Measure and yet it is as certain that he was not while on Earth in the State of Glory being then a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Grief Much less was he in the State of Glory at the Hour of his Passion and during his dreadful Dereliction Which yet could never be if perfect Grace and Glory were as some contend one and the same thing But our Proposition will stand well enough without the help of this Notion For tho' Righteousness be not the same thing with Happiness yet there is such a Connexion between them that they who are filled with the former shall certainly be so with the latter And this depends upon the Nature of Things as well as upon the Order of God For a righteous Frame of Spirit not only gives us Admission to the Supreme Good but also disposes us for the Enjoyment of it without which all the other Materials of Happiness would signifie nothing 'T is the Disposition of the Soul that makes the Vision of God truly Beatifick and when we awake up after his likeness and behold his presence in Righteousness Psal 117. 16. then and then only we shall be satisfied with his Glory And here we may stand still a little and reflect what a great Privilege those that hunger and thirst after Righteousness have beyond all those who make Secular and Carnal Things the Objects of their Desire These things can never fill them absolutely so as to extinguish all Desire being neither themselves the Good of Man nor leading to that which is Nor can they always satisfie that particular Appetite which is conversant about them sometimes because the things themselves cannot be had Nature having not provided enough for the Covetousness and Luxury tho' she has for the Necessities of Men And sometimes because they are too deficient when we have them by reason of their Disproportion to the Enlargement of the Faculty as in the Objects of Sight and Hearing wherewith neither the Eye nor Ear is satisfied as was remarked before And when these things do fill any particular Appetite it is only for a time till the next Fit of Longing comes as the Ground is for the present refreshed with a transient Shower But for those that hunger and thirst after Righteousness as their Desires are more noble so their Satisfaction shall be more abundant 'T is their great and peculiar Blessedness to be filled in all Senses and in all Capacities and to all Eternity Discourse the Fifth Matth. V. ver vii Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy OF all the Passions which God has planted in Human Nature there is none which at once carries so bright a Resemblance of God and is so fitted to the present Condition of Man as that of Pitifulness and Compassion And if when God made Man he consulted his own Eternal Essence certainly when he drew this Part of him we may suppose him to have reflected upon the divinest of all his Ideas and to have stamped upon him the most lovely Feature of the Divinity All the other Passions are in their own simple Natures indifferent neither good nor evil in themselves but equally determinable to either and for the most part are actually determined to the wrong They are generally irregular either in the Degree or in the Object are either mis-governed or misplaced and when most orderly managed the highest Character they can pretend to is only to be Instruments and Servants to Vertue They are as a gusty Wind and Sail to a Ship if she steer right they prosper and further her Course but if wrong they serve only to strike her against the Rocks with more Speed and Force But now this Affection of Pity and Compassion rises higher than Indifferency and is not content with a bare state of Innocence It is of it self a vertuous Disposition and needs only actual exertion to make it a direct Vertue and then its own Native Excellency will place it among the Highest Orders And therefore tho our Saviour by assuming our intire Nature justifyed the innocency of all our Natural Passions yet as Mercy was that Attribute of God which he came chiefly to display so is that the Affection which he chiefly commends to Man by his Practice and by his Discourses by open Commands and by Parabolical Insinuations but chiefly by selecting and adopting this alone of all the Passions into the Sacred Number of his few Beatitudes by telling us that Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy This great and peculiar Honour done by our Lord to this Affection will invite us to consider First The Nobleness and Excellency of it Secondly It s great Reasonableness and Usefulness Thirdly The particular Blessedness assigned to it But before we can well enter upon these Considerations we must first premise something concerning the Notion of Mercy or Compassion By which I suppose is commonly understood a Trouble or Uneasiness of Spirit conceived at some Evil that has befallen another with
Jehovah as to Moses in the Clift of the Rock Jehovah Jehovah the Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious c. But in any Process of Justice and Judgment he always styles himself Eloah or Elohim a Name importing Force and Power and that is not proper to God as the other but common to him with the Creatures being sometimes given to the Angels sometimes to Magistrates and sometimes even to False Gods The Name Jehovah was more Sacred and of higher import than that of Elohim and therefore God to shew his special regard to Mercy above his other Strange Work chose in his milder Addresses to be call'd by the former and in his severer Proceedings by the latter Which was the reason as the forementioned Learned Critick remarks why our Saviour at the Point of his Dereliction cried out not Jehovah Jehovah but Eli Eli my God my God as not presuming at that time and in that Capacity to call God by his Titles of Paternal Love and indearment but as Naming the Judge of the World doing the extreamest right upon his own Son treading the Wine-press alone in the Person of all Mankind as that Learned Author expresses it Pag. 7. But the greatest and most convincing Demonstration of the Mercy of God is seen in the mysterious and costly Redemption of Laps'd Man The greatest Exaltation of which is to say nothing of it but as the Angels are represented to do in Heaven to stoop down and look near into it with silence and wonder Which things the Angels desire to look into 1 Pet. 1. 12. An Allusion no doubt to the Propitiatory or Mercy-lid upon the Ark whereupon two Angels Cherubins who are the Angels of Knowledge did abide with their Faces one toward another and their Eyes bent down to the Ark. Which by the way is also a sufficient Argument of the Unfathomableness of this great Dispensation of Mercy which can still find further Employment for the Study and Curiosity even of Angels But perhaps 't will be said that Mercy in God is of another kind than what is call'd by that Name in Man that it comes nearer the Stoical Notion of Mercy importing only a bare Will to help the Miserable without any compassionate Resentment for his Misery It may be so I wont dispute that now tho I can hardly believe but that such strong and flaming Expressions of the Divine Mercy in Scripture must needs signifie something more than what such cold Interpreters affix to them But however to be more convincing I further instance in the Human Soul of our Saviour Jesus Christ 'T is most certain that of all Human Spirits his was the most excellent Adam in his Innocence was not comparable to him He was excellent only by way of Nature but our Saviour's Human Spirit to the same or greater Excellence of Nature had also superadded the Excellency of Grace not common Grace but that great and transcendent Grace of the Hypostatick Union And 't is as certain that as he had the Best so he had the Best-natur'd and most tenderly compassionate Soul in the World I need not produce Instances his whole Life is but one Argument of it Only one Passage when he saw the multitude scattered abroad like Sheep that have no Shepherd 't is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He was moved with compassion on them Mat. 9. 36. so we render it but indeed the Expression is too high and pregnant to be verbally translated 'T would require a long copious Paraphrase to drain the Sense of that one Word which signifies all that inward Feeling and Yerning of the Heart and Soul at a pitiful Object that melts and turns the very Bowels of the Good-natured Spectator And the same Tenderness of Spirit which he had on Earth he retains still in Heaven tho in all other respects Impassible and incircled with Divine Glories Whereupon he is call'd in Scripture our merciful High-Priest and to convince any Opposer that this is not meant of Mercy improperly so called a bare Will to help without any Compassionate resentment says the Author to the Hebrews we have not an High-Priest which cannot be touched with feeling of our Infirmities Heb. 4. 15. And these two Considerations by the way give a clear defeat to the Pretences of both the forementioned Adversaries For whereas the Stoick traduces this noble Vertue for a piece of Weakness and Infirmity fit only for soft and effeminate Persons to him I oppose the instance of our Saviour's Human Soul while on Earth And whereas the Aristotelian makes the only ground of Pity to be a fear of falling into the like Calamity to him I oppose the same Instance of our Saviour but in another Capacity when he was altogether Impassible in his glorify'd state and above the possibility of partaking with us in our Miserie 's any other way than by Sympathy and Compassion To this I may add that among meer Men the most generous and brave Spirits those whom Paganism has Deify'd Christianity has Sainted those Heroes whom History has mark'd with Honour and whom Envy it self is asham'd to calumniate have all along been signal for their Mercy and Good-Nature As on the contrary the most base timorous and low-spirited Breasts are always observ'd to be the Seats of Cruelty and Hard-heartedness But 't is no wonder that this Disposition is found in the Best of Natures since in the Second Place it proceeds from the Best of Principles For it proceeds from Charity with which the least thing a Man can think or do is excellent and without which the greatest Rom. 13. even Martyrdom it self is nothing worth It has that for its Parent which is the Mother of all Vertues and which is of it self the fulfilling of the most perfect that is of the Christian Law And that it proceeds from Charity is plain For the more we desire the Happiness and well-being of Mankind the more we shall be troubled to see any of them in Misery and be the more willing to procure them Ease and Deliverance And this tho we do not apprehend our selves in danger of the like Calamity there being no necessity of making that the ground of Pity as appears from the instance of our Saviour's Human Soul in its Glorified State I deny not but that the generality of Men are moved to Pity upon the consideration of common Danger and that it may be their own turn next to suffer and stand in need of help but it is not necessary that they should and 't is their imperfection that they are I say their imperfection not that of the Affection it self whose Idea involves no such selfish Principle and which may really be separated from it as by the fore-alledged Example is certain and evident And now if to be found in the Best of Natures and to proceed from the Best of Principles be any Argument of Excellence we may hence conclude what a Noble and Excellent Disposition of Mind this is and that when the
distinction of the Word Pure is acknowledg'd and withal applied to this place by our Learned Dr. Hammond illustrated by the Instances of Water and Wine the former of which is said to be pure when not mudded or defiled the latter when not mixt But tho the Word be equally capable of this latter Sense yet I do not think it to be at all intended by our Saviour in this place there being no such particular Congruity between this sort of Purity and the nature of the Reward here assign'd Confining therefore our Discourse to the former Sense of the Word as more suitable to the Circumstance of this place from what has been premised we may collect this Idea or Character of the Pure in Heart That they are such as regulate not only the external Conduct of their Lives but also the inward Frame and Habitude of their Minds and conform not only their Actions but their Wills and Desires Thoughts and Designs to the Rule of the Law and to the Dictates of the Internal Light of God in the Soul Such as sanctifie the Lord God in their Hearts compose the inmost recesses of their minds into an Holy Awe and Reverence of the Divine Presence set a Law to all their Intellectual Powers and suffer not the least Thought or Passion to violate the Order either of Reason or Grace Such lastly as yield no consent either to the Being or Stay of irregular Motions nor give any entertainment to the Allurements of the World the Flesh or the Devil nor delight themselves with any pleasing recollections any imaginary Scenes of their past Immoralities but set themselves at the greatest distance from Sin resist the very first Beginnings and as near as they can abstain from the least Appearances of Evil. This is the most resembling Idea that I can frame to my self of the Pure in Heart And now lest this should be taken for a meer Idea a thing of Notion rather than Practice I proceed in the next place to represent the Necessity of such a Disposition of Soul The Necessity of it is Double in order to a double End Holiness and Happiness And First This Purity of Heart is necessary in order to Holiness that is there can be no true Christian Holiness without it This will appear by considering First That the Christian Law expresly requires it For this I need appeal no further than to the progress of this same Discourse of our Saviour upon the Mount Where among several other improving Expositions of the Mosaic Law we find this Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time Thou shalt not commit Adultery But I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a Woman to lust after her hath committed Adultery with her already in his Heart Mat. 5. 27. By which Lusting here I conceive must not be understood the bare natural Appetite of Concupiscence that being as such indifferent but the Appetite irregularly determin'd nor that neither as 't is a pure Natural and Mechanick Motion for so it has nothing Moral in it and can only be materially Evil but as it has the consent of the Will going along with it Which consent may be either to the very Desire it self or to the Acting of it If to the Act then the Man is in all Moral Accounts a compleat Adulterer and will be so esteem'd by God who as he Sees so he Judges by the Heart and will not think a Man the more innocent only for wanting an Opportunity of committing what he fully intended But if the Consent be only to the Desire then tho the Man be not a compleat Adulterer yet he may be truly said in the Style of the Psalmist to be a Partaker with the Adulterer Psal 50. to have enter'd within some degrees of Unchastity and to have transgressed against that Christian Purity which forbids all Consent not only to the compleat Acts but also to the first Motions of Sin Secondly The necessity of this Purity of Heart in order to true Holiness will appear by considering the Nature of God who is both a Spirit and a Discerner of Spirits and ought therefore for a double Reason to be worshipp'd in Spirit and in Truth Joh. 4. 24. Our Saviour thought the former sufficient but the latter adds a further degree of strength to it God as a Spirit cannot be worthily served by any thing less than the Sacrifice of the Spirit which perhaps was one of the Reasons why our Saviour when he was to become a Sacrifice to his Father took upon him not only Human Flesh as some of the Ancient Hereticks would have believ'd but also an Human Soul And as a Discerner of Spirits he cannot be put off with a bodily instead of a Spiritual Service or accept of a polluted and unsanctified Spirit The Psalmist had a due sense of this when he said Psal 51. 6 10. Thou requirest truth in the inward parts and shalt make me to understand wisdom secretly And when he pray'd Make me a clean Heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me Thirdly This Purity of Heart may be further concluded necessary to true Holiness from the Nature of Man himself in whom as the Soul is in all respects the Principal so in all Moral respects it is the only part concern'd This Inner Man is that Man who is the Immediate and proper Subject of all Good and Evil Vertue and Vice and accordingly this is the part to which our Sanctification and Regeneration is always ascribed and from which the Man receives his whole Moral Distinction And therefore says the Apostle To be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace Rom. 8. 6. Where you see 't is the inward Disposition of the Mind that makes all the difference If this be Pure and Holy the whole Man is so but if this stand not right to God and Goodness 't is not all the external Conformity in the World that can supply the Defect 'T was the Conceit of the Ancient Jews as we are told by Mr. Selden that every Proselyte of Justice at the very instant when he became so had a new Soul infused into him to which Opinion our Saviour is supposed to allude in his Discourse with Nicodemus Now tho Christianity does not acknowledge a New that is another Soul in its Converts yet it requires that the same Soul become new it requires a new Frame and Temper of Spirit The Christian Man is to be Born again and to become a New Creature a Creature of another Rank and Order And 't is the Mind and Spirit upon which this great Transaction is to pass and which is to be the immediate Subject of this extraordinary Change And accordingly our Regeneration is expressed in Scripture by our being renew'd in the Spirit of our minds Eph. 4. 23. We must be renew'd and where Not in our Body or outward Man but in our Minds And in what part of the Mind not
in the Inferiour part whether Sensitive or Plastic that which is exercis'd about Objects of Sense or that which moves and forms the Body but in the highest and noblest part in the Spirit of our Minds which answers to the Platonical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very Flower and Essence of the Soul Here 't is we are to be renew'd as indeed we must if we be renew'd at all this being in all regards the Principal and the only moral part of Man To this purpose it must be further consider'd that this Intellectual Heart the Spirit and Soul of Man is the Fountain and Source of all Action This is that which sees in the Eyes and hears in the Ears This is that which understands and wills loves and hates Here are all the Springs and Powers of Life and Motion here is the last resort of all outward Impressions and from this Central Point are derived all the Lines of Action and Motion even as all the Arteries and Veins are from the Natural Heart which it diffuses and disperses throughout the Body and has its Pulses in every part If therefore this general Head-Spring be not kept pure and clean how can the Streams run clear And upon this was grounded that signal Advice of the Wise Man Prov. 4. 23. Keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of Life Parallel to which I find a passage in the Meditations of the Royal Philosopher Marcus Antoninus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Look within for within is the Fountain of Good Further yet this Intellectual Heart is not only the Fountain of Action and Motion but the most active and most rapidly moving thing in the World This Heart is always Beating the Pulses of it never rest Thought rises upon Thought and Desire succeeds Desire The Motion is perpetual constant and vehement so vehement that the swiftest Bodily Motion no not that of the Starry Orb is comparable to it so vehement that it cannot be discern'd or number'd and comes nearer to a Rest than a Motion as the swiftest turnings round of a Globe look like standing still Now what a dangerous thing is such a Motion as this if not rightly determin'd Of what vast heights in goodness is it capable And to what vast heights of wickedness may it rise if not well govern'd There is therefore great necessity that this Heart of Man should be kept with all Diligence and that it should be kept pure and undefiled Fourthly and Lastly the Necessity of Purity of Heart in order to Holiness will appear as from the Christian Law the Nature of God and the Nature of Man so also from the intimate Vnion that is between the Divine and Human Nature All things are full of God who is therefore call'd in the Sacred Tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Place But there is nothing so intimately united to him as the Spiritual part of the Creation God is the immediate Place of Spirits and Souls who all live move and have their being in him and are joyn'd to him by a Central Touch as the great Plotinus speaks The Apostle says that even our Bodies are the Temples of the Holy Ghost our Souls then must be at least his Sanctuary and most Sacred Recess But what Was not God just now supposed the Place of Spirits and are Spirits now made the Place of God Yes and without any Absurdity For so St. John describes our Union with God by our dwelling in God and by God's dwelling in us John 4. 16. The Union is Double on God's part and on Ours God dwells in us by his special Presence by the Spirit of Grace and Benediction But we dwell in God Essentially and Totally God dwells only in some certain Spirits such as are of a Disposition fit to receive and entertain him those who as the Jews love to speak are worthy to have the Shechinah rest upon them But all Spirits good and bad however qualified dwell in him For where else should they dwell since he is all and fills all Now both these Unions infer the Necessity of Purity of Heart in order to Holiness For first if we consider the Soul of Man as dwelling in God what infinite reason is there that that part of him especially should be kept pure which is essentially joyn'd to touches and inhabits so pure and so awful an Excellence Put off thy Shoes from off thy Feet said God to Moses for the place whereon thou standest is holy Ground Exod. 3. 5. And if so much Reverence be due to the Dwelling-place of God what Reverence is there then due when God himself is the Dwelling-place How dares any Man lodge an impure Soul in the Bosom of so pure a Majesty Or how can he in any measure be esteemed Holy tho in all other respects never so unblamable who is polluted in that part which is so inwardly united to the Beauty of Holiness Then Secondly if we consider God dwelling in the Soul and Body of Man there is great necessity of Purity of Heart And that upon a double Account I. Because the Spirit of God which is the Principle of all Grace and Holiness will not enter but into a pure and clean Heart II. Because no other is worthy of so Divine a Presence And first the Holy Spirit will not enter but into a pure and clean Heart For this special and gracious Presence of God is not like his General and Essential Presence universal and unlimited but fixt and confined to certain Laws and depending upon certain Conditions and Qualifications And tho the first Addresses influential Visits and distant Overtures of the Holy Spirit prevent all previous dispositions of Man who as our Church expresses it in her 10th Article cannot turn and prepare himself by his own natural strength yet to his fix'd Dwelling and residential Abode in us 't is necessary that there be an antecedent Preparation of Heart Which I conceive to be the reason that tho all Men are at some time or other Partakers of the common and ordinary Motions of the Spirit who is said to have striven even with the old World Gen. 6. 3. yet none but very good Men have the Priviledge to be the Temples of his Residence And this whole matter I take to be distinctly represented in those Words of St. John Behold I stand at the door and knock If any Man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and sup with him Rev. 3. 20. Where by standing at the Door and knocking is meant common and preventing Grace And this indeed is used to all without any previous Qualifications But he does not come in and sup that is take up his Residence and be a familiar Ghest till his Voice be heard and the Door open'd that is till the Man has well attended to and complied with those his antecedent Motions and Suggestions till he has swept and made clean the inner Room of his Heart So that
conclude that he intended some peculiar Honour and Priviledge to this holy disposition of Soul and to signifie that it has a more than ordinary Title to the Happiness of the Beatific Vision This will include two things I. That the Pure in Heart shall have a clearer and more inlarged sight of God II. That they shall take a greater delight in what they do see of him And First They shall have a clearer and more enlarged sight of God This will depend upon two Suppositions I. Upon the peculiar Aptness of this Disposition for the Vision of God II. Upon the Will of God to afford a greater and clearer manifestation of himself to a Soul so disposed That Purity of Heart has a peculiar aptness in order to the Vision of God we need not doubt if we consider that the only reason why we see not God now is the grossness of this Tabernacle wherein the Soul is incased This is that Glass through which we now see so Darkly and which makes us do so 1 Cor. 13. 12. This is that black Skreen that parts the Material from the Intelligible World The more abstract therefore we are from the Body and from the Bodily Life the more fit we shall be both to behold and to indure the Rays of the Divine Light We find that even now the purer and finer our Blood and Spirits are the freer and clearer are our Thoughts The more bright and transparent this Glass is the more the Ideal Light will dart in upon our Souls And the same will hold in proportion hereafter The purer the Soul is the purer will all its Faculties and Operations be the less it will retain of corporeal Gusts and Relishes the more recollected and undivided will be its Powers for Unity of Thought follows Unity of Desire and the fewer things a Man desires the fewer will be his Thoughts and consequently the more strong and vigorous upon the Object where they fix To which we may add that the purer the Soul is the purer will also be her Resurrection Body which is of great moment to the Vision of God as well as to other Spiritual Operations For we must then see through a Glass as well as now only the Glass will be clearer according to the different Purity of the Soul which even in this Life gives a particular Brightness of Air to the Countenance and makes the Face to shine with an unimitable Lustre Purity of Heart therefore even upon this single account has a peculiar aptness in order to the Vision of God But to this may be added Secondly the Will of God to afford a greater and clearer manifestation of himself to a Soul so disposed For 't is highly rational to believe that God who is so great a Lover will also be a liberal Rewarder of inward Purity and that he who delights to dwell in pure Hearts now will reveal himself in a very plentiful measure to such hereafter So that both from the aptness of the Disposition and from the Will of God we may conclude That the Pure in Heart shall have a larger share of the Beatific Vision Nor shall they only see more of God but Secondly take a greater Delight in what they do see of him And this is the principal Ingredient of their Happiness For 't is not the meer having but the delighting in a thing that makes a Man happy And this is the Condition of Pure Souls The same Purity which procures them a more inlarged sight of God will also make them to delight in the Vision of him so that they shall Taste as well as See how good God is Psal 34. For the purer the Soul is the liker it is to God who is Essential Purity and the more it resembles God the more it must needs love and delight in him Likeness is the greatest indearment of Love and the most natural Foundation of Delight and Complacency We see this in all the Orders of Being and in all the Degrees of Life In the Sympathetic Associations of Vegetables in the Voluntary Consortings of Animals and in the chosen Friendships of Men. But most of all may this be seen in God himself What is it but the most perfect Likeness and Conformity of Essences Understandings and Wills that renders the Sacred Persons of the mysterious and adorable Trinity so infinitely lovely and agreeable to each other This was that which made the Father say of the Son Heb. 1. 3. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased because he saw there the Brightness of his Glory and the express image of his Person And upon this is founded that mutual Delight which the other Sacred Persons enjoy from each other That therefore which makes the Persons of the Holy Trinity delight in one another must needs make the pure Soul delight in the Holy Trinity A pure Soul cannot but delight in a pure God and the purer she is the more she will love and delight in him Purity of Heart does even here Anticipate much more then will it hereafter increase the Joys of Heaven It remains therefore that having this excellent Hope we study to purifie our selves even as God is pure and so endeavour to resemble and transcribe the Divine Perfections here that we may contemplate them with the greater Complacency and Delight hereafter To which purpose let us now and always Pray in the Words of our Holy and Devout Church O God make clean our Hearts within us And take not thy Holy Spirit from us Amen Discourse the Seventh Matth. V. ver ix Blessed are the Peace-makers for they shall be call'd the Children of God THE Words very well become the Mouth of him that spake them who was himself the greatest Peace-maker in the World He made Peace in Heaven by the Blood of his Cross and endeavoured to promote it on Earth He first reconciled God to Man and then tried to reconcile Men to one another He chose to be born in the most quiet and peaceful state of the Roman Empire when Augustus in token of an Universal Peace had shut up the Mystical Gates of Janus his Temple And when he came into the World his Proclamation by the Angels was Peace and when he was to leave the World the same was his Legacy John 14. Peace I leave with you my peace I give unto you The Order of his whole Life was a constant Compliance with the Peace of the State whereof he gave two signal Instances in Paying Tribute when not obliged and in Forbidding Resistance of the Officer that seized him and his last Prayer was for the Peace and Unity of the Church And now since by this great Love and Study of Peace he shewed himself to be the Genuine Son of God who is styled the God of Peace 1 Cor. 14. 33. he might with the better Decorum make the same Disposition of Mind the Measure and Argument of our Filial Relation to him as he does when he tells us Blessed are
separating of Signs as the things signified do Agree or Disagree one with another This indeed is Truth of the Mind or of the Subject but not Truth of the Thing or of the Object which consists not in the Mind 's joyning or separating either Signs or Ideas but in the Essential Habitudes that are between the Ideas themselves And that these are such our Author himself implies by saying as the things signified do Agree or Disagree with one another Here then is Agreement and Disagreement antecedently to any joyning or separating And I very much wonder that our Author professing in the Title of the Chapter to discourse of Truth in general and particularly of that Truth too which has been the Enquiry of so many Ages should yet confine his Discourse to Truth of Words and Truth of Thoughts without the least mention of Objective Truth Which indeed is the Principal kind of Truth Pag. 300. Sect. 5. I think it is a self-evident Proposition that two Bodies cannot be in the same place If the Proposition be Self-evident how comes he only to Think 't is so If it were only Evident he must do no more than so Pag. 323. Sect. 14. Eternal Truths are not so from being written in the minds of Men Or that they were before the World But wheresoever we can suppose such a Creature as Man is inabled with such faculties we must conclude he must needs when he applies his Thoughts to the consideration of his Ideas know the Truth of certain Propositions c. This is a true Aristotelian Account of Eternal Truths But I demand Are these Eternal Truths in being before the Existence of Man or no If not how comes he to understand them when he does exist What does he make that to be true which before was not so But if they were in being before the Existence of Man then their Eternity does not consist in their being understood by Man when ever he shall exist but in their own fix'd and immutable Relations whereby they have an antecedent Aptness so to be understood Which the Author himself seems to imply by saying He must needs so understand them Why must needs But only because they are necessarily so and no otherwise intelligible But of this I have discoursed elsewhere Pag. 344. Sect. 8. He takes notice of one manifest Mistake in the Rules of Syllogism viz. That No Syllogistical reasoning can be right and Conclusive but what has at least one general Proposition in it This our Author thinks to be a Mistake and a manifest mistake But perhaps if we rightly understand that Rule of Syllogism there is no Mistake at all in it All the Ground of the Dispute is from the Doubtfulness of what is meant by a general or universal Proposition A Proposition may be said to be universal either when a Note of Universality as All is prefixed before the Subject Or when tho that Note be not perfixed yet the Predicate is said of the whole Subject according to the full Latitude of its Predication so as to leave nothing of the Subject out whereof the Predicate is not said According to the former Sense of Universality it is not necessary that in every concluding Syllogism one Proposition be universal But according to the latter Sense of Universality which indeed is the most proper sense of it it is certainly necessary And I dare challenge any Man to shew me one Instance of a concluding Syllogism that has not one Proposition universal in the latter Sense For even a singular Proposition is thus universal since being Indivisible it can have nothing said of it but what is said of it wholly and universally 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Aristotle expresses it The Author may see a further Account of this in Dr. Wallis his Thesis de Propositione singulari at the latter end of his Institutio Logicae These Sir are the most considerable Passages that at once reading I thought liable to Reflection in this Work which notwithstanding these few Erratas I think to be a very extraordinary Performance and worthy of the most publick Honour and Respect And tho I do not approve of every particular thing in this Book yet I must say that the Author is just such a kind of Writer as I like one that has thought much and well and who freely Writes what he thinks I hate your Common-place Men of all the Writers in the World who tho they happen sometimes to say things that are in themselves not only True but considerable yet they never write in any Train or Order of Thinking which is one of the greatest Beauties of Composition But this Gentleman is a Writer of a very different Genius and Complexion of Soul and whose Character I cannot easily give but must leave it either to the Description of some finer Pen or to the silent Admiration of Posterity Only one Feature of his Disposition I am concern'd to point out which is that he seems to be a Person of so great Ingenuity and Candor and of a Spirit so truly Philosophical that I have thence great and fair Inducements to believe that he will not be offended with that Freedom I have used in these Reflections which were not intended for the lessening his Fame but solely for the promoting of Truth and right Thinking And this will justifie that part of the Reflections where agreeing with the Author in the Proposition intended to be proved I lay open the insufficiency of his Proofs For to say that a thing is false for such Reasons when 't is not false for such Reasons tho it be absolutely false is as great an Injury to Truth as to say a thing is false when 't is not false A false Inference is as much an Untruth as a false Conclusion and accordingly he that might reflect upon the Conclusion if false may with as much reason reflect upon a wrong way of inferring it tho the Conclusion it self be true Which I mention with respect to the former part about Innate Principles where tho I agree with the Author in the thing denied yet I think his Reasons are not cogent After all notwithstanding my dissenting from this Author in so many things I am perhaps as great an Admirer of him as any of his most sworn Followers and would not part with his Book for half a Vatican But every Writer has his Alloy and I exempt not any Writings of my own from the like Defects Of which perhaps Sir I have been convincing you all this while But that shall not trouble me if at the same time I may be able to convince you of my Readiness to serve you at any rate as it highly becomes SIR Your Obliged and Humble Servant J. N. A Brief Consideration of the Remarks made upon the foregoing Reflections by the Gentlemen of the Athenian Society in the Supplement to the Third Volume c. THE Gentlemen of this new Society undertake two things to Report and to Judge of