the peace-makers for they shall be called the children of God By Peace-makers here I suppose is meant not only those that interpose as Moderators to compose Feuds and Quarrels tho that be the more immediate Sense of the Word but more generally those that are peaceably affected and that shew this their Peaceable Disposition either by living quietly and inoffensively or by endeavouring to maintain Peace where it is or to restore it where it is interrupted The first of these Degrees of Peaceableness consists in a mere Negative the two last are of a Positive Nature and consequently of a greater Excellence But the most excellent of all is the last it being for the most part not only a thankless but an odious difficult and hazardous Undertaking to bring them nearer together whom Anger has set at a distance 'T is like the Business of a Fire-quencher who tho he may with plying of Engins and great a-do rescue the Pile of Building from the devouring Flames yet his Eyes will be sure to smart with the Smoak Now this Peace in the not violating preserving or restoring of which this Peaceable-mindedness is concern'd may be either private Peace between Man and Man or publick Peace between Societies of Men. Again Publick Peace is distinguishable according to the general Distribution of Human Society into Civil and Ecclesiastick that of the State and that of the Church The former concerns Men not only as subjected to Government or as under this or that particular Form of Government but also as Men and consequently all Men For even the State of Nature antecedently to all Human Conventions and Constitutions as has been abundantly proved against the Author of the Leviathan is not a State of War but of Peace The latter respects only those who are Members of the Christian Church whereof Christ Jesus is the Head and subject to that Spiritual Government whereof he is the Author The former kind of publick Peace is opposed to War and seditious Practices the latter to Schisms and Divisions The Way being thus far cleared by pointing out the general Degrees of Peaceableness and the general Kinds of Peace we may now with the less Entanglement proceed to fix the Subject and Order of the following Discourse And here I do not intend a Casuistical Tract by entring upon that long beaten Common-place concerning our Obligation to Peace and the Measures of observing it with reference either to Church or State For besides that this has been the constant Theme of almost every Casuist and that it is impossible to say any thing more than All or better than Some have already said upon it I further think that the thing is of it self plain enough and that were it not for the Perverseness of some Men rather than for any Obscurity in the Duty there needed not have been any other Measure given in this Matter than that general one of the Apostle If it be possible as much as lies in you live peaceably with all men For when 't is enquired How far we are obliged to Peace in the State or Peace in the Church The Answer is plain and ready from hence That we are obliged to both as far as is possible and as much as in us lies and that nothing less than Absolute and Evident Necessity can justifie either War in the State or Separation in the Church Which one Rule if well heeded and practised the Condition of the World would be much more peaceable and quiet than it is or is like to be Instead therefore of treating of this Beatitude in a Casuistical way by describing the Measures of our Obligation to Peace I shall rather chuse this Order of Discourse First To set forth the general Excellency of a peaceable Disposition Secondly To consider that more particular Prerogative of it in making those that have it Children of God Thirdly To conclude all with some Reflections upon the present Disturbers of the Peace of Christendom And First The general Excellency of a peaceable Disposition may be derived from these two Principles First From what it argues Secondly From what it causes And First It argues a well-ordered Frame and good Habit of Mind good by natural Disposition good by Deliberation and Choice and good by Gracious and Divine Operation It argues a Soul not only lightly tinctured but deeply seasoned and throughly imbued with Goodness Incoctum generoso pectus honesto The same may be said of the peaceable Man that St. James says of him that offends not in his Tongue that he is a perfect Man Jam. 3. 2. Not that the due Government of the Tongue alone does make a Man perfect for there is a Body of Righteousness as well as a Body of Sin and to make it perfect the Members must have both a just Number and Size but that considering the many Requisites to so great and excellent a piece of Temperance it argues and supposes him to be so and as it there follows able also to bridle the whole Body And so here the peaceable Man may be said to be the perfect Man not that he is so made by this signal Excellence but that this Disposition argues him to be so considering what a various Accomplishment of Soul is required before a Man can be capable of exercising so noble a Vertue There are some Degrees in Wickedness that necessarily suppose others The Man must first walk in the Counsel of the Ungodly and stand in the Way of Sinners before he can have the Forehead to sit down in the Chair of the Scornful And so there are some Degrees in Goodness that do also necessarily suppose others For there is a Scale of Perfection in both and we can neither be good nor bad by Strides and Jumps And this is such a Degree of Goodness as supposes many others to have gone before it being one of the Top-stones of the Spiritual Building and one of the last finishing Strokes of the Divine Image of that Christ which is formed in us Gal. 4. 19. For the Holy Spirit of God as was shewn in the preceding Discourse requires a consecrated Abode a chaste Body and a pure Soul and will not enter into us till the former be made a Temple and the latter a Sanctuary And yet this Excellence is reckoned by the Apostle among the special Fruits of the Spirit Gal. 5. 22. and consequently must pre-suppose all that Moral Preparation at least that the Entrance of the Holy Spirit does and must therefore argue a well-order'd Frame and good Habit of Mind But this being only a general tho' to one that attends the Force of it sufficiently conclusive Argument I will more distinctly shew that it does so by considering what particular Qualifications of Soul are required in order to a peaceable Disposition whose Presence must needs argue whatever it requires Now these Requisites are either Negative or Positive The Negative are First That the Man be free from all inordinate Self-Love it being impossible that he
who prefers his own little private Concerns before the publick Interest should be at peace with the Publick when that tender part comes once to be touched No Such an one will ballance Self against all the World will not care what becomes of the Publick when it stands in Competition with that but will embroil all the World in War and Mischief if he can for the least Self-advantage Secondly That the Man be free from Covetousness which tho' the Root of all Evil is yet more so of Strife and Dissention than of any other Covetousness and Peace cannot dwell long together 'T is indeed a very Litigious Principle and one of the greatest Makebates and Incendiaries in the World 'T is this that fills the Court with Brawls and Wranglings and the Field with Blood and Slaughter And 't is a known Observation That in all Wars whether justly or unjustly undertaken the greatest part fight only for Plunder Thirdly That he be free from Ambition which is as great an Enemy to Peace without as it is to inward Tranquility The ambitious Man is always advancing his Aim at some higher Mark of Honour and if Peace will not serve to raise him War shall Take an Instance of this from the Court of Rome What a World of Schisms and Disturbances in the Church and Factions Seditions Plots Massacres and Wars in the State have been from time to time occasioned by the Ambition of that See! But there is an higher Instance than this for it was Ambition that made War in Heaven Fourthly That he be free from Envy which indeed spites every thing that is excellent but is of all things the most direct and sworn Enemy to Peace 'T was the Envy of the Devil that first disturbed the Peace and Order of the World and set the whole Creation in Battel-Array against Man And it is the same envious Being that still raises and foments all the Enmities and Dissentions that divide both the Church and State and may therefore be called the Father of Discords as well as the Father of Lyes Envy is the greatest Enmity in the World and the envious Man is the most universal Enemy There is no Man but whom by the very Principles of his Disposition he is obliged either to hate or to despise All his Superiors and Equals he hates and despises all his Inferiors which comprize the whole Body of Mankind And both Ways is Envy an Enemy to Peace and very destructive to Kingdoms and States Whereof there is a signal Instance in the Case of Hanno and Bomilcar who through Envy to the growing Glories of Hannibal denied him a Supply of Forces to carry on his Italian Conquests and so ruin'd him their Country and themselves too Fifthly That he be free from Revenge which is another great Trespasser against Peace and without which the rest would not be so mischievous as they are For this continues and foments those Enmities to which the other give Birth rivets and fastens Animosities in the Minds of Men and by fresh Returns of Provocation brings in what has in vain been attempted in Nature a kind of Perpetual Motion in Malice and immortalizes Quarrels and Contentions Sixthly and Lastly To comprize all at once 't is requisite that the peaceable Man be free from all manner of Lusts and Irregular Passions whether of the Sensual or Intellectual Part and from all Disaffection and Disorder of Soul this being the Spring and first Mover to all the Discords and Disorders that are without According to that of St. James From whence come wars and fightings among you Come they not hence even of your lusts that war in your members Where these reign there can be no Peace and therefore the peaceable Man must be free from these These are the Negative Qualifications in order to a peaceable Disposition The Positive I need but just name the Proof of them being virtually contained in the other They are therefore First Charity or Universal Love that seeketh not her own but the Common Good Secondly Generosity and a noble Enlargement of Soul that sets a Man above the little petty Occasions of Quarrel and Contention Thirdly Humility and Modesty that makes a Man possess himself and his Station with Contentedness and Thankfulness Fourthly A candid sweet and benign Temper that thinks no Evil but is well pleased in the Prosperity of every Man and every State or Community Fifthly a mild meek and forgiving Spirit that does not keep up the Circulation of Injuries but lets the Quarrel fall and die Sixthly and Lastly A serene and well-composed Soul one that rules well her own inward Charge having her Passions in Subjection with all Gravity Peace and Tranquility of Mind All these excellent Qualifications are required to furnish out a peaceable Disposition which will not come into the Soul as the Soul will not into the Body till after it be duly tempered and prepared for it Whence the Proposition to be made out is sufficiently concluded that it argues a well-ordered Frame and good Habit of Mind Which is the first Ground of its Excellency The Second is taken from the Consideration of what it causes The Effects of it are as great and noble as its Principles and Prerequisites It s great and general Effect is Happiness upon which no one Vertue has so large an Influence as this Some Happiness it causes immediately and directly and contributes to secure whatever Happiness it does not cause Some Blessings it originally procures and preserves the Possession of all So that some way or other all our Blessings are Blessings of Peace since to this we owe either the Blessings themselves or at least the secure Enjoyment of them And all this it does by giving Strength Beauty and Pleasure to Society First Strength Peace is as much the Sinew of Society as Mony is of War and without it Society is so far from obtaining any of its just and natural Ends that 't is a far less eligible State than that of perfect Solitude For in perfect Solitude Men only want the mutual Assistance of one another but in a divided and enraged Society every Man is in the Condition of Cain in fear lest the next that meets him should do him a Mischief 'T is Peace that makes Society a Defence and that distingushes the Congresses of Men from the Herds of Beasts or which is worse from the Confusion of the Rabble And as it strengthens Society within so it strengthens it without too Nor would War be any Security abroad without Peace at home Briefly 'T is Union and Coherence that makes every thing strong and Peace is the Cement that holds all fast together And what Society is there that can subsist without it when even a Kingdom divided against it self tho' it be that of the Devil himself cannot stand Mark 3. 24. Secondly Beauty There is indeed a certain Beauty in Strength and every thing that is strong is so far beautiful But besides this Peace gives a
1. The Second is a state of Imperfect Life The Third is a state of Health and Vigour The first is a state of Rest and Acquiescence in Sin The second is a state of Contention The third is a state of Victory In the first state the Mind is laid fast in a deep sleep In the second she is between sleeping and waking In the third she is broad awake and well come to her self He that is in the first state is born only of the Flesh and has no higher Principle in him He is that Animal Man that perceives not the things of God 1 Cor. 2. 14. He that is in the second has indeed some quickning Motions some ineffective Stirrings and Endeavours of the Divine Life But he that is in the third is born of the Spirit and of God and doth not commit Sin because his Seed remains in him Joh. 3. 9. From this Distribution of the Moral State of Man 't is evident that there can be but two distinct Degrees of Righteousness or states of the Divine Life For the first of the three as was before remark'd is a state of meer Death and Sin Righteousness and Life belong only to the two latter but with this great difference that the first of these two Degrees tho it has something of Life and Righteousness in it yet 't is such as is consistent with the final and absolute Prevalency and Dominion of Sin and consequently such as cannot qualifie a Man for Pardon or put him into a state of Grace and Salvation Whereas in the last the Principle of the Divine Life is supposed to be so strong as not only to resist but to overcome Sin And he that is thus spiritually alive is alive indeed alive unto himself and alive unto God and if he abide in this Life shall live for ever There are therefore but two such Degrees of Spiritual Life and Righteousness as imply different states And therefore to the Distribution of St. John my Answer is That it must necessarily be understood not of three distinct states of Righteousness there being no more for the whole Moral condition of Man but of three Degrees in one and the same general State If it be demanded which of the two states of Righteousness that is I answer That St. John must be supposed to intend the last and best state because he addresses himself to his little Children young Men and Fathers as those who had their Sins forgiven them who had overcome the wicked one and who had known the Father Joh. 2. 12 13. All which Expressions argue one state of Grace in common between them tho differing in Measures and Proportions The reasonableness of which threefold Gradation I do not think my self concern'd at present to enquire into or justifie it being sufficient to my present purpose to have shewn that iâ— cannot be meant of three different states oâ— Righteousness but only of three different degrees in the same state The states themselves are but two Now to the Question What degree or state of Righteousness that is which if we hunger and thirst after we shall be fill'd I answer That it must be no other than that which puts a Man in favour with God and qualifies him for the Mercies of the New Covenant For if the Righteousness it self be not such as will render a Man acceptable with God how can the Desire of it intitle him to his Promises 'T is a much less Worthiness to desire any Righteousness than 't is to have it and how then can it be an acceptable thing to desire an unacceptable Righteousness The Righteousness therefore here intended must be such as makes him that has it acceptable to God and consequently it can be no other but the last degree or state of Righteousness Since nothing short of that can either reconcile God to Man or make Man fit for God And this I take to be the constant Voice of Scripture and the Doctrin of our Holy Church which every where represents an absolute and effectual Love of Holiness and the like Hatred of Sin as necessary to the state of Grace and real Regeneration There are I know some among us who notwithstanding their usual and popular Pretence That they differ from our Church not in any Doctrinal Points of Religion but only about some few Ritual Observances do yet teach very differently in this Article setting the state of Regeneration and Sanctification so low that a bare ineffective striving against Sin is reckon'd a very sufficient mark of it Wherein they conspire with those of the Roman Church who make the slightest Repentance by the Accession of Sacerdotal Absolution to be full and valid only with this Difference That what the one make sufficient in a certain case and on a certain supposition the other make sufficient universally and absolutely requiring nothing further as of necessity to Sanctification than a bare ineffective strife against Sin A state which a Man may be soon in tho according to the same Gentlemen not so soon out For whoever has the least sense of Sin as an Evil and certainly there are but few who have not so much must needs be so far averse to it and cannot possibly commit it but with some reluctance Which yet according to these Men is sufficient to intitle a Man to the state and reward of Sanctification tho at the same time he be the Servant of Sin This I confess is a good way to counter ballance the Severity of their Reprobating Decrees and to stock Heaven as much by one Doctrin as they depopulate it by another But certainly the Gate of Heaven iâ— much too strait both for this Doctrin and for those I will not say that hold it but thaâ— live by it It is a Doctrin too little according to Godliness to be according to Truth and such as makes neither for the Honour of God nor for the Safety of Man But I need reprove it no further it being sufficiently exposed by our most excellent Bishop Taylor in his Preface to the Clergy of England before his Vnum Necessarium All therefore that I further remark is Thaâ— since the Righteousness of the first degree is that which these Men make sufficient for Acceptance with God the same degree of Righteousness would I suppose according to these Men be a sufficient Title to this Beatitude But if the last Degree of Righteousness be only that which can procure us acceptance with God as most certainly it is then that is the only Righteousness which if we duly hunger and thirst after we shall be fill'd I say which if we duly hunger and thirst after Which leads me in the second place to enquire what kind of Hunger and Thirst that is to which this Promise of Repletion is made And first 't is plain that Hunger and Thirst here must be taken in a figurative and metaphorical Sense since Righteousness is not the Object of a Natural but of a Spiritual Appetite Hunger
alone any more than any other Solitary Vertue can qualifie a Man for Mercy No the Man must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Perfect and intire and wanting nothing as to all the Integral Parts of Duty to be accepted in the Judgment of God Jam. 1. 4. Only there may I think be allow'd this further Sense in the Proposition that no one Vertue shall go so far towards the obtaining of full Mercy from God as this of Mercifulness And that if the Merciful Man for want of other necessary parts of Christian Perfection should not be able to stand in the last Judgment yet however his Fall shall be much the milder and he shall have great Abatements of Punishment made him for the sake of this one Excellency To which purpose 't is very considerable that our Saviour in the Description of the last Judgment makes all the Favour and all the Severity of that day to proceed according to the Practice or Omission of this Duty Mat. 25. One way or other therefore the merciful shall be sure to obtain Mercy nor will God forget this Labour of Love Pray God we may not forget it our selves but may so love study and practise Mercy here that we may hereafter not only receive a milder Sentence but find such a Degree of Mercy as may finally rejoice against Judgment Amen Discourse the Sixth Matth. V. ver viii Blessed are the pure in Heart for they shall see God ONE of the most distinguishing Perfections of the Christian Institution above any other either Divine or Human is that it requires an inward Rectitude of Mind and Spirit and makes the Heart the Principle and Seat of Spiritual as it is of Natural Life The Heathen Morality went little further than the regulation of the outward Behaviour not much regarding the Sanctity of the Interiour And tho some few raised Spirits among them moved by a Diviner Impulse would now and then like Men in Extasies talk above the World and themselves too recommending certain Purgations and Purifications of Soul as the Pythagoreans and Platonists yet this was not taught or known in the common Schools of Nature nor was it any where made the Ordinary Standard of Morality The Jewish Religion as it presented to the World a Second and more correct Edition of the Law of Nature so was it in this particular respect more perfect than the Gentile Morality there being in the Moral Law one special Precept which directly concerns Purity of Heart But yet there was a great defect even here too because tho there was a Prohibition of inward Concupiscence yet it had no penal Sanction annex'd to it Every other Precept was so guarded as to be able to revenge it self upon those who trangressed it Idolatry was punish'd Perjury was punish'd Profanation of the Sabbath Disobedience to Parents Murther Adultery Theft and bearing false Witness were all punish'd only Concupiscence had no punishment allotted to it Which as a Learned Person Conjectures gave some occasion to think that they might securely indulge their Concupiscence so it did not break forth into the outward and grosser Act. Certain it is that many among the Jews so thought and practis'd contenting themselves with external Conformity to the Law without any regard to the inward Purity and Holiness as may appear from our Saviour's frequent reprehensions of the Pharisees upon this very account And 't is very probable that this their Fancy was occasion'd by there being no Punishment assign'd to the Breach of the Tenth Commandment as that Learned Person conjectures However 't is certain that it was a great Defect in the Law not to bind so perfect a Precept with a Penal Sanction Tho indeed the true reason was because 't was too perfect to be severely exacted in that Infant Age and State of the Church The Law therefore did not rigidly exact it tho it did plainly command it Which tho no defect with relation to that Time and State the Law being as perfect as the Gospel as to all the ends purposes intended by it and every way accommodated to the Condition of those on whom it was imposed yet absolutely speaking it was a great Defect and Imperfection of the Law Then as to the Mahumetan Religion which indeed is only Heathenism pretending to Revelation this tho the last and assuming to it self the improvement of all that went before is yet really short even of Heathenism it self This is so far from requiring internal Purity that it does not require so much as external but allows and recommends too the grossest Impurities which has often made me wonder why the Turk should write upon the out-side of his Alcoran Let no Man touch this Book but he that is pure I 'm sure the Book it self requires no such thing nor can I justifie the Reason of the Motto in any other sense but this That none but he that is pure is fit to be trusted with such a corrupt Institution But the Christian Law is pure indeed and none but such as are so are worthy to unloose the Seals of this Book This requires the utmost Purity that is consistent with the Measures of Morality Purity without and Purity within pure Hands and pure Hearts It requires it more expresly and in a greater degree than either the Heathen or Jewish Religion and what was wanting in the other under the Sanction of Rewards and Punishments and those the greatest imaginable It does not only command inward Purity but incourage it too by the strongest Proposals that can affect either the Sense or the Reason of Man One of the greatest of which Encouragements is that our Saviour inserts it into the order of his Beatitudes and gives it a special Title to the Beatifick Vision in these Words Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God The Subject to be here discoursed of is Christian Purity or Purity of Heart Whereof I shall represent I. The Nature by a Character or Description II. The Necessity III. The Blessedness By Purity of Heart in general is to be understood an inward Conformity of all the Thoughts and Desires of the Soul to the Will and Law of God When not only the external Actions are according to the Rule but the whole inward Frame and Position of the Mind stands right and well order'd and as the Apostle describes it not only the Body but the whole Spirit and Soul is blameless 1 Thes 5. 23. And to make it so these two things are particularly requisite First That we do not consent to any unlawful Desires no not so much as to the first Motions of Sin whether proceeding from the corruptness of our own Nature or from Diabolical Suggestion Secondly That we do not entertain with any delight the remembrances of our past Sins But more particularly yet Purity of Heart may be doubly consider'd either in opposition to Pollution or in opposition to Mixture In the first Sense it removes Sensuality in the Second Hypocrisie This
more proper and peculiar Beauty to Society the Beauty of Order and Proportion of Decency and Agreeableness For a peaceable Disposition inclines every Man to mind his own proper Business and to contain himself within that Place and Station wherein God anâ— his Superiors have fixed him and not to aspire to what is above him or invade what does not belong to him For indeed Peace it self cannot subsist without this any more than Society can without Peace Where-ever therefore there is Peace there will also be this Order and Proportion The Hand will not affect the Office of the Eye nor the Foot the Place of the Head but every Member will be contented with and intent upon his own Office and Place in the Body The Result of which must needs be the greatest Beauty and Harmony Thirdly Pleasure This indeed is necessarily consequent to the two former since it cannot but be a great pleasure to every particular well-affected Member of Society to reflect upon the Strength and Beauty of the whole But besides this a peaceable Disposition derives a more immediate and direct Pleasure upon Society For Who can express the Pleasure that is in Love and Joy Sweetness and Dearness in Mutual Kindness and Confidences in Union of Minds and Universal Friendship They that have had the Happiness to taste of this Pleasure know they cannot express it which made the Psalmist beak forth into that abrupt Extasie Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity Psal 133. Having thus far set forth the general Excellency of a peaceabâ—â— Disposition from what it argues and from what it causes I now proceed in the Second Place to consider that more particular Prerogative of it in making those that have it Children of God To be Children of God is indeed common to all good Men who being begotten a-new by the immortal Seed of the Word do bear God's Image in Holiness endeavouring in all things to do their Father's Will But there are some Dispositions that give a more peculiar Right to this Title than others as they are nearer Resemblances of the Divine Excellencies Among which is the Disposition now under our Consideration whereby a Man becomes in a special Degree and Manner like God and so evidences himself to be his Child and may upon the Consideration of that likeness fitly be so called And this is the constant use of this Phrase in Scripture Joh. 8. 44. Ye are of your Father the Devil says our Lord to the unbelieving Jews and the Lusts of your Father ye will do And so again Luk. 6. 35. Love your Enemies and do good c. and ye shall be the Children of the Highest for he is kind to the unthankful and to the evil And says the Apostle Eph. 5. 1. Be ye followers of God as dear Children They are the Children of God who are Followers of God who purifie themselves as he is pure and who are perfect as he is perfect So that to be the Child of God or the Child of the Devil signifies as much as to carry a particular resemblance of either When therefore 't is said that the Peace-makers shall be call'd the Children of God it comes to as much as that they carry a particular Character of the Divine Likeness whereby it may be known to whose Family they retain and that they are the True Sons of God And so indeed they are For God is the God of Peace and the greatest Peace that which passes all Understanding is call'd the Peace of God For God is the greatest Lover of Peace the Author and Giver of Peace and the Rewarder of all such as live in Peace Indeed under the Jewish State which as in other things so in this was very peculiar that 't was a State of Theocracy God was known by the Name of the Lord of Hosts not as expressing his true natural liking and approbation but only his relation to that particular People whose immediate King and Leader he was But now under the State of the Gospel which exhibits a more genuine Idea of God for the only begotten Son which is in the Bosom of the Father he has declared him Joh. 1. 18. he has changed his Title from the style of War to the style of Peace This indeed was ever his Delight but now 't is his Glory and inserted among the brightest Ornaments of his Crown He is now manifested to be what he ever really was God from all Eternity to all Eternity enjoys a profound Peace within himself and the Sacred Persons of the Trinity are not more one in Essence and Nature than in Will and Inclination Their Moral is as great as their Natural Unity The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of Peace and Heaven the Throne of his Majesty is a peaceful Region We never read but once that there was any War there and those that caused it were quickly banish'd thence Rev. 12. 7. To be short God both enjoys and establishes Peace above he maketh Peace in his High-places and he has sent his Son to procure it below to reconcile Men to him and to one another that so both Worlds might conspire in Unity and that this Will of God might be done in Earth as it is in Heaven And therefore since God has shewn himself to be so great a Lover of Peace there is sufficient ground for this particular Prerogative of a peaceable Disposition that it makes those that have it Children of God From which I pass in the third and last place to conclude all with some Reflections on the present Disturbers of the Peace of Christendom 'T is the Observation of a Great Civilian and Moralist that Peace is a state peculiar to Man as he is distinguish'd from Brutes And so indeed it should be But could we suppose a Stranger from one of the other Planetary Worlds to come and take a View of this our little Spot and of the Manners of those that live upon it he would not sure think this of all the things in the World to be the Character of Man For he could not but observe and perhaps it would be one of the first Remarks he would make that there are more Wars and Fightings among Men than among any other sort of Creatures and more among Christians than among any other sort of Men. For at the very first opening of the Scene what a miserable face of things would appear both in Church and State What Wars and Desolations in the one And what Debates Envyings Wraths Strifes Backbitings Whisperings Swellings and Tumults in the other 2 Cor. 12. 20. But because most of the Disturbances in the State proceed from those of the Church I shall confine my Reflections to those that disturb the Peace and Order of the Christian Church Where I shall First Point out who these Disturbers are And Secondly Set some such Considerations before them as may make them sensible of their Crime There are I
shall have a proportionable Accomplishment he must needs be shrewdly tempted to think that the time of the promised Messias is not yet come and that the Religion which now goes for his is as false as its Professors are evil and wicked Thirdly and Lastly with respect to the Mahumetan who indeed allows Christ to have been a true Prophet and his Religion to have been once a true Religion only he says it has had its Time as well as that of the Jews and is now as superannuated to give place to a more perfect Institution that is to Mahumet's who as he came after Christ so was he to fill up his Defects and to deliver the last and standing Will of God And will he not find pretence to be confirmed in this his Opinion and to prefer his Master Mahumet as much before Christ as we do Christ before Moses when he shall perceive as quickly he may that there is not half so much Unity and Agreement among Christians even concerning their very Religion which is to be the Bond of their Unity as there is among Mahumetans Certainly he will and tho he perish in his Error yet I fear his Blood will be upon those who administer the occasion of it These are great Scandals and Objections both to the Heathen Jew and Mahumetan and Woe be to them by whom this great Offence comes Our Saviour pronounces a severe Woe against them that shall offend even one of his little ones Mat. 18. 6. and what then shall be the doom of those that scandalize so great a part of the World I heartily wish that the present Disturbers and Dividers of the Christian State and Church would seriously consider these things and how they act the part of Antichrist in thus letting and hindring the Course of the Christian Religion In the mean time I shut up all with this Prayer that God would give Light to those Heathens Jews and Mahumetans that sit in Darkness and in the Shadow of Death and that in order to this he would first guide the Feet of us Christians into the Way of Peace Amen Discourse the Eighth Matth. V. ver x xi xij Blessed are they which are persecuted for Righteousness sake for theirs is the Kindom of Heaven Or as it may be read from the Close Great is their Reward in Heaven IT has been ever a great occasion of Dissatisfaction to some Men that there should be any such thing as Evil in the World A greater yet that this Evil should often fall upon good and sometimes upon the best of Men. But the greatest of all is that not only good Men should meet with Evil but that their very Goodness should betray them into it that suffering should not only be the Portion of the Righteous but that Men should suffer for the Sake of their Righteousness It seems hard indeed that a Righteous Man should suffer but much more that he should suffer for his being Righteous and that Affliction should not only be the Lot but also the Effect and Consequence of his Vertue For if Honesty and Integrity cannot be a Defence and Priviledge against Evil yet one would expect it should not be a Procurer of it and that if the Man were not the better for his Virtue yet at least he should not be the Worse These have been always as perplext Appearances in the Moral as any that arise in the Natural System of the World a frequent Trouble and Discouragement to the Good and Pious and a more frequent Occasion of Triumph to the Atheistical and Prophane who have raised from hence their most plausible Objections both against the Being and the Order of Divine Providence which by these greatest Difficulties of it they have been incouraged either to Deny or to Condemn With the two first of these Difficulties I am not at present concern'd nor shall I determin of what force the last and greatest might be were this the last state of things and the All-concluding Scene of the World Perhaps it might then be strong enough to conclude what some are now so weak as to wish and believe But certainly with the supposition of an After-state the Objection is so far from being Desperate that I can see nothing Difficult in it And I think 't is here sufficiently answer'd by that ample Compensation promis'd by our Saviour to all those whose faithful adherence to a good Cause shall at any time engage them in Sufferings and Afflictions For says he Blessed are they which are persecuted for Righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Which last Words as our Saviour afterwards explains them contain not only a Promise of Heavenly Happiness in general but of a greater Degree and Measure of it and intitle the Sufferers for Religion those who undergo Persecution for Righteousness sake to a more than ordinary weight of Glory So that hence arise two Propositions to be distinctly consider'd First That there are Degrees in that Glory which shall be the Reward of Saints in Heaven Secondly That one of the Highest Degrees of it shall be the Reward of those who suffer Persecution for the sake of Righteousness That there are Degrees of Glory tho by some a much contested is yet I think a most certain and unquestionable Truth The certainty of which I shall endeavour to establish upon these few evident Principles First I consider that this must needs be the natural and necessary result of things And here I desire only it may be granted me That there are some certain Dispositions of Soul necessary to relish and enjoy the Happiness of Heaven This I think is a Supposition that need not be disputed since even to the enjoyment of sensible good there is requisite a proportion of Sense The Ear must be tunably set to relish the Charms of Musick and the Palate must be rightly disposed to find any pleasure in the sweetest Delicacies And if these grosser Objects that have a more natural Affinity with the Organs of Sense and strike hard upon them will not yet affect them without some more particular inward Preparation there is greater reason to think that the Delights of Heaven that are so far above the Level of our Natures so pure and so refined cannot be tasted but by a suitable Disposition of Soul The Necessity of which appears so great that I am apt to think as a late worthy Writer of our Church does that the whole Moral Excellency of some Vertues is their Qualification for the Happiness of another State they being of no great consequence to the present Order of this World Well then if certain Dispositions of Soul be required to fit us for the Happiness of Heaven then it follows that the more disposed any Soul is for the Glories of Heaven the more happy she must needs be in the enjoyment of them And if so then 't will be necessary to say either that all Souls are equally disposed which would be to contradict the Sense
step is to Peaceableness to which nothing more conduces than a Pure Heart free from those Lusts and Sensual Affections which are the Seeds of Strife and Contention And when a Man has attain'd to a peaceable Temper then is he fit for the greatest thing in the World to be a Martyr and will readily suffer Persecution rather than occasion any Disturbance either in the Church or State and with the generous Prophet be content to be thrown overboard to appease the Tempest So admirably well contrived and full of Order was our Saviour's Discourse as it became him who was the Wisdom of God as well as the Light of Men and in whom were hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge Colos 2. 3. Al now that further remains is that by a strict Conformity to these Excellent Measures of Christian Perfection we endeavour to bring our selves within the Number of these Blessed Persons whom our Saviour pronounces Happy here and to whom he will say in a more Emphatical Accent Come ye Blessed hereafter THE END CURSORY REFLECTIONS UPON A BOOK CALL'D AN ESSAY CONCERNING Human Vnderstanding Written by JOHN NORRIS M. A. Rector of Bemerton near Sarum In a Letter to a Friend LONDON Printed for S. Manship at the Ship near the Royal-Exchange in Cornhil 1699. Cursory Reflections upon a Book call'd An Essay concerning Human Understanding SIR YOU obliged me so highly by acquainting me with the Publication of so rare a Curiosity as Mr. Lock 's Book that should I dispute your Commands when you desire my Opinion of it I should hazard the Credit of my Gratitude as much as by my ill discharging them I am like to do that of my Judgment This Sir already reduces me to an even Poise But to this the just Authority you have over me and the Right your other Obligations give you to all the Service I can do being added and thrown into the Scale do quite weigh it down and leave no room for any Deliberation whether I should obey you or no. Without therefore any further Demur or Delay I shall apply my self to the Task you set me in giving you my Free Censure of Mr. Lock 's Essay which I shall do by reflecting upon what I think most liable to Exception in the same Order as the things lie before me Introduct Pag. 1. Sect. 1. The Vnderstanding like the Eye whilst it makes us see and perceive all other things takes no notice of it self What the Ingenious Author intends in this Period or how to make out any consistent Sense of it I do not understand For if his meaning be That the Understanding while it is intent upon other things cannot at that time take notice of it self this comes to no more than that when 't is intent upon one thing it cannot attend to another which is too easily and obviously true of all Finite Powers to be any great Discovery But if his meaning be as it rather seems because of the Particle All and the Comparison here used that the Understanding like the Eye tho it makes us see all other things yet it takes no notice of it self then 't is a Contradiction to his whole following Work which upon this Supposition must needs be very unaccountably undertaken Introduct Pag. 2. Sect. 3. First I shall enquire into the Original of those Ideas which a Man observes c. But sure by all the Laws of Method in the World he ought first to have Defined what he meant by Ideas and to have acquainted us with their Nature before he proceeded to account for their Origination For how can any Proposition be form'd with any certainty concerning an Idea that it is or is not Innate that it does or does not come in at the Senses before the meaning of the Word Idea be stated and the nature of the thing at least in general be understood If the Nature of Ideas were but once made known our Disputes would quickly be at an end concerning their Original whether from the Senses or not But till that be done all further Discourse about them is but to talk in the Dark This therefore ought to have been his first and indeed main Business to have given us an account of the Nature of Ideas And yet this is not only neglected in its proper place but wholly omitted and passed over in deep silence which I cannot but remark as a Fundamental defect in this Work In the Three following Chapters our Author sets himself to prove that there are no Innate Principles But before I consider whether there be or no I premise this double Remarque First That a thing may be false in it self and yet not so because or in vertue of such an Argument Secondly That tho a thing be really false yet it may not become such a Man to deny the Existence of it who by some other Principles of his may be obliged to hold the contrary The first of these argues the Writer guilty of Inconsequence The Second of Inconsistency Upon both which Accounts this otherwise very ingenious Writer seems in this part to be chargeable Which from the Sequel I leave to be collected His First Argument against Innate Principles is taken from the want of Universal Consent There are says he Pag. 5. Sect. 4. No Principles to which all Mankind give an universal Assent But in the first place how can this Author say so since in several places afterwards he resolves that ready and prone Assent which is given to certain Propositions upon the first Proposal into the Self-evidence of them There are then even according to him Self-evident Propositions And will he say that Self-evident Propositions are not universally assented to How then are they Self-evident There must be therefore according to him some Principles to which all Mankind do give an universal Consent I do not say that this proves them Innate but only that there are such Propositions Well but how does he prove there are no such Why he instances in some of the most Celebrated and says Pag. 5. Sect. 5. that All Children and Ideots have not the least apprehension or thought of them and the want of that is enough to destroy universal consent Now I always thought that Universality of Consent had been sufficiently secured by the Consent of all and the Dissent of none that were capable of either And what then have we to do with Ideots and Children Do any or all of these Dissent or think otherwise No that he will not say because they think not at all having as he says not the least Apprehension or Thought of them And how then does the want of their Suffrage destroy universal Consent when all Persons that think at all about such Propositions think after one and the same way The most therefore that this Author can mean by want of Universal Consent is that every individual Person does not actually Assent This perhaps may be granted him from the Instance of Ideots and Children But then