breach of Communion and I know there are and have been many eminent Men in the Church of God who have wholly differ'd in their judgments about some abstruse Points of Divinity without prejudicing the Peace and Vnity either of the Church or State in regard they defended them only as their private Persuasions and were both too modest prudent and charitably honest to disturb the Peace and Quiet of the Church or State by endeavouring to impose their particular judgments in things not clear and evident as necessary Doctrines of Faith or Practice upon the Consciences of all other Men. The main and grand Differences between the Church of England and all those who have separated themselves from her Communion so far as I am able to discover by the Writings of the several Parties are either about the Government it self or about the circumstances and manner of Worship That there ought to be Government in the Church I suppose all Parties will readily acknowledge because a great Apostle tells us God is the God of Order and not of Confusion 1 Cor. 14.33 39. in all the Churches of God by which it is plain that that is no Church of God which is not under Government or which countenances Confusion and therefore the same Apostle absolutely commands That all things be done decently and with Order The thing that is complained of is That this way of Government by the Episcopal Hierarchie being no where in plain and positive Words and Commands thus set down ordered and established in Scripture which is the Rule of Conscience therefore it ought not to be imposed tyrannically and imperiously upon Men of weak and tender Consciences especially when another and better way of Government more agreeable to the Scriptures and Primitive Simplicity of the Gospel is now found out and discovered For though Government in its own Nature be absolutely necessary yet where God does not interpose any positive Command or Directions as he did concerning the Jewish Church there this or that Government are equally indifferent and the best is to be chosen and preferred before the rest How weak a Plea and Refuge this is to call for and expect plain and express Words Commands or Directions from Scripture for every thing we do or believe every Man must acknowledge who does but consider that we owe even the Belief of some of the Articles of our Faith to consequences from Scripture and not to plain positive and express words As for Example that of the Mystery of the Glorious Trinity in Vnity three Persons but one God which words are not to be found in all the Holy Canon How much more unreasonable is it then to expect express Words and Commands of Scripture for Government in the Church which is of a far more inferior Concern than Faith And how dangerous a matter it is to admit of this Proposition That nothing is to be believed or done for which there cannot be brought a clear and positive place of Scripture let all Christians judge And whether if it were as heartily practised as it is by some Men vigorously prest it would not root out the very foundation of all Religion But we will join issue with them upon the Point and give them a fair tryal at the Bar of Conscience their own Judge upon their own Assertion If therefore Government being undetermined by Scripture be indifferent whether this or that and the best to be preferred How shall it be determined and by what Authority which way of Government in the Church is the best For till there be such a determination as before has been made appear it can be no more than Private Opinion and therefore can lay no more Obligation upon any Mans Conscience to yield Obedience to it than any other particular Persuasion does which can only oblige those who are of the same Persuasion and only so long as they continue so and no longer nor any others who are not so persuaded and therefore by the Rule of Liberty of Conscience are free and ought not to be imposed upon for fear of wounding their tender Consciences which is the direct and ready way to have as many several Governments and distinct Churches as there are Men of several Minds and Persuasions about which is the best it being certain that if Men be left to their liberty every Man abounding in his own sence will esteem best of his own way and according to the Proverb Every Crow will think his own Bird fairest which in plain English at last must amount to Anarchy instead of Vnity and Confusion in the room of that Decency and Order which God expects and requires in all his Churches For the Scriptures leave it in suspence and at least are silent as to most particularities of Government there being no more plain and express words for any sort of Government which any of the Dissenters would establish than there are for that against which they contend and all Parties will plead the Scriptures speak as much or more for their way of Government than for any other Let us therefore try who will have the advantage and bid fairest for such a determination as shall oblige all mens Consciences according to the forementioned Rules how any indifferent matters of Opinion or Persuasion such as the Question in dispute must be according as they have stated it become necessary and obligatory to all mens Consciences First therefore we have reason to believe that the way of Government now establish'd in the Church of England is the best because we find it does not contradict any known Rule or positive Command of Scripture but on the contrary all its Commands Directions Doctrine and Practise are founded upon and derived if not from plain words as most of them are yet from most evident sense and consequences of Scripture which as before was intimated concerning the Articles of Faith are as obligatory to Conscience as Scripture it self Secondly This way of Government as it is now established appears to follow the better more sure and warrantable part of our Judgment in indifferent things so as to make them become obliging and that in both its branches viz. First it is agreeable to the Judgment Approbation Example and Practise of the best men in all Ages from the Apostolick times as will be evident to all who shall without partiality peruse the Scriptures themselves where there are many not imperfect traces and footsteps of this way of Government so far established as the Powers of the Heathen Governments who then had all the Civil and Temporal Jurisdiction would permit But there is a whole Cloud of Witnesses for it in the universal consent practise approbation and defence of all those holy men from the Apostles times who though not divinely inspired yet were men of such eminent Integrity and Piety as would not permit them to write any thing directly contrary to the Primitive truth which some of them did immediately receive from the mouths of the
God's glory and the truth act contrary to the Rule of Truth and Righteousness But if at the last it shall be found that they have not been managed by Conscience but Opinion and Persuasion what can they expect but the greatest severities and insufferable torments and agonies of Conscience the worm that never dies which should put all men upon a strict examination of themselves especially those who pretend to be so much managed by Conscience whether it be a true and good Conscience or onely these Deceivers and Usurpers Opinion and Persuasion Secondly it follows That Indifferent things in Religious Worship laying no further Obligation upon mens Consciences than as they conduce to God's glory and the happiness of the Universe and a Lawful Authority having a Power to put a final determination upon every man's private Judgment and Opinion by declaring which of all these indifferent things they judge most conducive to God's glory and the happiness of all those under their Jurisdiction by promoting and preserving Peace Unity and Charity Therefore that all persons who live under their Authority are bound in Conscience to submit to those Determinations and from thence-forward to esteem that which before was in its own nature indifferent to become necessary because hereby many known Duties and particularly that of Obedience to Magistrates without which there can be no happiness on Earth are performed to the satisfaction of an absolute and indispensible Obligation of Conscience Lastly it follows That all men are bound in Conscience to promote and endeavour the well-being of the Lawful Government under which they live and as much as in them lies the happiness of all Mankind even here in this life Nor can they follow the Dictates of true Religion or Conscience whatever they may pretend or imagine who for their private Opinions make Parties break Laws despise Governments give disturbances to the Peace and Security of their Native Countrey at home and by promoting Faction Dissention and Division give encouragement to our Enemies abroad And by too just fears from what has been of what may be again by the same ways and artifices to make mens minds uneasie and their lives unhappy And should their Designs succeed a second time to involve so many millions in the calamities of War Confusion Ruine and Desolation These have been and are the proper effects of Disobedience to Laws and Lawful Authority and let all Dissenters look well to it for they will find here is no Conscience no Religion to be found in such ways and ends to which their Separation and Division do most infallibly lead them I wish I could conclude this Discourse with the most persuasive Arguments and irresistable Reason That all Christian People and especially those Dissenters of these Nations would seriously consider with themselves whether these Discords and Differences about Religious affairs will in the end lead them and in time turn back again before they come to the dismal brink of those Precipices Misery here and Damnation hereafter which when by a too late Repentance they would avoid they will not be able I wish they would no longer abuse that glorious name of Conscience to countenance those Irreligious practises of Disobedience Uncharitableness Dissention and Separation Let them consider what it is in this World that is most desirable and whether they do not act point blank contrary to their own Interest and Happiness both here and hereafter and directly against the publick Good of the Community of which they are Members and whether they may not justly fear that by these dangerous and unlawful practices they should so far exasperate Authority as to exercise its utmostrigors and severities upon them as being out of all hopes to reclaim them by gentle means and justly jealous of their malicious secret and ill designs in reality against the State though the pretence be onely against the present Church and its Government Let them consider that if they desire to have peace within their private Walls and plenteousness within their stately Palaces if they desire to enjoy quiet of mind at home tranquility peace and unity one amongst another that Justice should run down as a River and Righteousness us a mighty Stream That Truth should spring out of the Earth and Righteousness look down from Heaven That Mercy and Truth should meet together Righteousness and Peace should kiss each other and that glory may dwell in our Land If they desire to be safe from intestine and domestick troubles secure from Forreign force and invasion to be loved respected and honoured by their Friends and Allies dreaded by their greatest Enemies to be great in Riches great in Fame and greater in all Goodness and Virtue to be the joy and glory of all Lands If they desire these there is no way to obtain them but by uniting our selves with this common Bond and indissoluble Chain of a good Conscience towards God and all men which will teach every man his duty keep every man quietly peaceably and contentedly in his place and station and secure unto us all those dear Delights of Humane Nature Peace Property and Religion If they desire these thus must they endeavour after them and if they will not endeavour after them we cannot but judge that they do not desire them And I am sure if they do not desire these blessings both for themselves and all others they neither deserve them nor any love pity favour countenance or kindness but ought to be look'd upon not as men but fierce and savage Beasts Wolves Tigers and Bears given to Prey Rapine and Ravage and they may easily ghess what will follow if once they come to be look'd upon and esteemed such Lastly if they have any love or kindness for their Souls or ever hope for eternal Salvation it must not be expected without obedience to God obedience to Government and obedience to Conscience After all this I will hope that those happy days will shine upon us Psal 122 3. in which we may say Our Jerusalem is built as a City that is compact or at unity with it self And that we shall be able to sing that glorious and triumphant Song of Praise and Thanksgiving Psal 48.1 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the City of our God in the mountain of his holiness Beautiful for situation the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion on the sides of the North the City of the great King God is well known in her Palaces as a sure Refuge To hasten which blessed and happy Age let every good Christian lay to his helping hand and his praying heart by endeavouring to follow the example of the great Apostle St. Paul which is the great Concern and Interest of every Man both in reference to Happiness here and hereafter Keeping alwayes a Conscience void of offence towards God and towards all Men. FINIS
Happiness hereafter in the Life of Immortality and Glory and therefore does so frequently promise to the Obedient all those things which may compose the happiness even of this Life the Bona Corporis Animi Fortunae all the good things of Body and Mind and Estate according to that saying of the Apostle 1 Tim. 6.6 1 Tim. 4.8 Godliness with contentment which it onely can give is great gain having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come Now the means which God commands us to use and the means which he directs are the most certain Rule for us to make a Judgment what is the End at which he would have us arrive For God is true and cannot lie though all men may be liars and therefore we are bound to believe him and that he cannot tell us one thing when he means another directly contrary to it as some men who call themselves Divines have both by Word and Writing publickly avowed and publish'd to the World If we look upon the Commands of the Law such as were not onely particular to the Jewish Nation in their Typical Service but common to all the children of Abraham by Faith we shall find that they all aim at this And the Two Tables written with the Divine Characters by the immediate Finger of God direct first his Worship secondly man's happiness by obedience to Superiours in the first Commandment with promise by Justice Chastity Temperance Truth and Honesty and all other Virtues which conduce to our happiness here in this Life and by making us partakers of the Divine Nature fitting and preparing us for the enjoyment of Heaven and Happiness hereafter And if we examine either the Doctrine or Practise of all holy Men so far as their Practise is recorded for our example we shall find that they have all a tendency to these very Ends. If we come to look into that Royal Law of Liberty the Gospel we shall find that all its Commands and Directions lead us to our own happiness witness that Golden and even by Heathens much celebrated Rule of our blessed Jesus To do to all men Matth. 7.12 as we would that they should do unto us A Rule to make all the World happy and a Rule which I am sure no Dissenter dare abide by and which surpasseth all that ever went before it and is the highest exaltation of Humane Nature even to such a degree as brings it to a near affinity and resemblance of the blessed Divinity Matth. 5.44 ad finem who makes his Sun to shine upon the just and unjust To love our enemies To bless those that curse us to do good to them that hate us and to pray for them that despitefully use us and persecute us And the Disciples spake the same Language of their great Lord and Master who left his Peace and command of Unity to love one another as a Legacy among them and enforces it upon them with the most powerful persuasive If ye love me keep my commandments Joh. 14.15 telling them this love and unity should be the badge and distinction of their profession Joh. 13.35 By this shall all men know that you are my Disciples if ye love one another Thus there fore they command Piety and Unity Peace and Charity Love unfeigned Obedience to Magistrates and Ministers that Duty Honour and Respect which is due to any to be given unto them to live Justly Soberly Religiously in this present World in all Honesty Quietness Humility Chastity Temperance and all other Virtues and Goodness one toward another and as we have opportunity to do good unto all Let any man judge if these Rules were exactly followed if the Golden Age would not return and all men be as happy as heart can wish The Effects which they would produce plainly demonstrate the Ends for which they were designed Besides all agree to this That the great design of the Creation was the glory of the Creator now the same thing which glorifies the Creator does also make the Creature happy and that is Obedience to his Will Laws and Commands And that the Will of God is to be glorified by the Obedience and not Punishment of his Creatures as his first design in their Creation has already from his own protestation been shewn And the Apostle is as plain as positive in this point That God would have all men to be saved 1 Tim. 3.3,4 ver 6. by coming to the knowledge of the truth And for this purpose that Christ gave himself a ransome for all And whosoever does peruse the holy Gospel shall be forced to acknowledge that the whole design of it is That all men by the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ might come to yield obedience to his holy Laws and Directions and that by following them 2 Pet. 1.2 3 4 5 6 7. they might escape the pollutions and corruptions that is in the world through lust and be made partakers of the Divine Nature by living justly righteously and Godlike blameless and harmless as the Sons of God here in this world that so through the all-sufficient merits and satisfaction of the onely Son of God they may as the end of their Faith Hope Charity and Constancy be made partakers of that glorious Life and Immortality which he has purchased for them with his most precious Bloud So that as nothing can be more sutable to the excellency of the Divine Being than a design in their Creation that they should all be happy according to their several Capacities so nothing is more clear from the unanimous consent and design of the Holy Scriptures which contain the Will of God than that this was the great and ultimate End of the Omnipotent Creator in the framing the World and particularly in the Creation of Mankind to be happy both here and hereafter in a future state CHAP. XIV Some necessary Corollaries from the former Discourse with the Conclusion to all men to endeavour after Peace and Vnity FRom what has before been said we may draw these necessary and practical Consequences and Conclusions First That every man is obliged to yield obedience to Conscience upon pain of Eternal Damnation because every man is obliged under that penalty to walk according to the Scripture Rule which is that by which Conscience judges every man whether he does right or wrong according to what St. John tells us 1 Joh. 3.5 If our heart that is our Conscience condemn us God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things and most certainly will condemn us in that great and fearful Judgment-day And whosoever violates a known command of Scripture however he may colour it over with the fair pretence of Religion yet as St. Paul saith Rom. 3.7 Though the truth of God should abound through my lie unto his glory yet I shall be also judged as a sinner And so shall all those who with pretence of advancing
Martii 30. 1677. IMPRIMATUR Hic Liber cui Titulus The True Liberty and Dominion of Conscience c. Guil. Sill R. P. D. Hen. Episc Lond. Ã Sac. Dom. THE TRUE Liberty Dominion OF Conscience Vindicated from the USURPATIONS ABUSES OF OPINION AND Persuasion Prov. xx ver 27. The Spirit of a Man is the Candle of the Lord. In the SAVOY Printed by Tho Newcomb for Jonathan Edwin at the Three Roses in Ludgate-street 1677. The CONTENTS CHAP. I. The Introduction Pag. 1 CHAP. II. Of the Reason why there are so many Pretenders to Conscience and of the Advantages they make of it to promote their Interest and favour their Designs Pag. 7 CHAP. III. Of the great Influence which true Conscience has upon all the Affairs of Humane Life and therefore the great necessity there is that all men should be rightly informed concerning it Pag. 13 CHAP. IV. Some necessary and universal Principles laid down upon which Conscience depends and according to which it acts Pag. 23 CHAP. V. Of Conscience its Description what is its proper Employment and the manner of its Operation Pag. 28 CHAP. VI. The occasion of those Differences amongst us about matters of Conscience proceeds from the mistake of Opinion and private Persuasion for Conscience What Opinion is and what Persuasion and how they differ from Conscience Pag. 44 CHAP. VII How far Men are obliged by Opinion or private Persuasion and what influence these have upon Humane Affairs Pag. 55 CHAP. VIII The Differences betwixt the Church of England and all Dissenters brought into Examination by the forementioned Rules of Conscience Opinion and Persuasion Pag. 60 CHAP. IX The pretences of Dissenters that their ways of Government are the best and to be preferred before Episcopacy examined and tried by the same Rules abovementioned concerning indifferent Things and Actions Pag. 74 CHAP. X. Of the manner and circumstances of Divine Worship and how from being indifferent they may become necessary to be done and obliging to Conscience Pag. 87 CHAP. XI Of the Way whereby indifferent things become obligatory to Conscience not only upon a Mans private Persuasion from the forementioned Rules but so as to oblige all persons who live under Government viz. by the Determinations and Commands of Lawful Authority Pag. 98 CHAP. XII Some Considerations shewing the unreasonableness and impracticableness of the desires of those persons who under pretence of Conscience are for erecting new wayes of Church-Government or for Toleration or Liberty of Conscience Pag. 117 CHAP. XIII A vindication of what is before laid down as a fundamental Principle in this Discourse viz. That God Almighty made Mankind for an excellent End that is his Glory and in order thereunto by obedience to his Commands their own happiness both here in this Life and hereafter in the Life of Immortality Pag. 125 CHAP. XIV Some necessary Corollaries from the former Discourse with the Conclusion to all Men to endeavor after Peace and Vnity Pag. 135 THE TRVE LIBERTY AND DOMINION OF Conscience CHAP. I. The Introduction IT is the Excellency of humane Nature that all its Actions are the Effects of Choice and not of Chance and therefore they are constantly addressed to some determinate End this End is alwayes Happiness either Real or at least that which Men believe to be so Now for the more certain attainment of whatsoever kind or degree of Happiness Men desire they alwayes propose to themselves some Way or Rule by which they may direct and steer the course of their Actions and Endeavours which otherwise like a Vessel in the midst of the main Ocean without Charts and Compass must be left to the mercy of all Accidents and have only the bare possibility of uncertain Hazard to conduct them to their wished Port. From hence it is that there is no Art nor Science Liberal nor Mechanical but in the first place proposes necessary Rules for the direction of those who are to be guided or instructed therein in order to the accomplishment or attainment of their designed End Now wherever there is such a Rule in regard there are many wayes of Error though but one of Truth and that nothing is more Natural than for Men to Err Humanum est errare by not attending to or acting according to the Rule there is a necessity of some Supreme Judge who by an impartial determination shall judge all humane Actions whether they are according to the command and direction of the Rule and by consequence whether they are right or wrong in order to the End which is proposed and designed This Judge in the Affairs of the World such as are Life Honour Riches Fame c. is the determination of Reason according to the best of every Mans knowledge and understanding In the Concerns of Religion it is called Conscience This is that universal Monarch whose Ubiquitary Throne is establish'd in every mortal Breast To this the ancient Heathens owe all that little sence they had of Religion and Virtue 'T is this that makes the zealous Mussleman adore the false Arabian and his ridiculous Alchoran 'T is this has raised the Roman Mitre to its Triple height and in short 't is Conscience that has rent so many puissant Crowns from his pretended Universal and Infallible Chair Not that all these powerful Effects have proceeded from a Conscience rightly informed but on the contrary many of them from a most barbarous and stupid Ignorance of the best Rule by which Conscience ought to judge and Men to act However this does most manifestly demonstrate the Sovereign and Imperial sway which even a pretended and imaginary Conscience challenges in the management of all Humane Affairs It is beyond my Province as much as it surpasses either my power or hopes in the following Papers to think of regulating those mighty Evils which from the want of a right measure of what is matter of Conscience and what not have overspread the face of the whole Earth and I shall arrive at the most happy period of my design if I can do so charitable a Subject as this is so much reason as to inform some and convince others of my dear Countreymen that hitherto they have laboured under some dangerous mistakes in this great concern of Conscience the fatal effects of which misunderstandings we have by the most deplorable experience been too deeply sensible of already and still lie under just apprehensions by reason of the great divisions and distractions of mind which daily prevail and increase amongst us that the same or if possible a worse Iliad of Tragical Miseries may be repeated over again Happy were that Moses who could stand in this gap and by seasonably interposing his charitable endeavours successfully repair those dismal breaches in our Holy Church which threaten that glorious Fabrick and with it the State which are embarqued in one common bottom with Ruine and Subversion The Sincerity of my Intention free from Passion and Animosity as from Interest
and Partiality the Excellency of the Design which is the Publick and by consequence the particular good of every Person the pressing Necessity of our present Affairs and the incomparable and almost incredible advantages which may succeed as they gave the first motion to my thoughts so they still give me encouragement to hope the best and that our wound is not incurable Certainly if there be any Balm in Gilead to heal the ulcerated Sores of the miserable People of these Nations it must be such a Medicine as will unite us into one common Principle whereby those mistakes and misunderstandings the principal occasion of all our differences may be removed for the present and prevented for the future As for those Persons whose Religion is their Interest Zeal Malice and Gain Godliness those Proselytes of Demetrius I am not over-confident that this will be accepted of by them as a Bill of Divorce between them and those gainful Persuasions which they have so unluckily espoused however Truth will prevail and may convince where it cannot convert But if they be resolved to raise Uproars for their dear Diana they are out of my Sphere and must be left to the Town-Clerk the Secular Power to appease and convince with such coercive Arguments as indeed are more fit for them because more powerful than any that can be drawn out of all the Arcenals of Truth or Reason CHAP. II. Of the Reason why there are so many Pretenders to Conscience and of the Advantages they make of it to promote their Interest and favour their Designs THere has nothing made a greater noise for some Years past in this our little English World than loud Clamors about Matters of Conscience for Liberty of Conscience Toleration and Indulgence to Tender Consciences Nor is it less obvious how grosly and notoriously Conscience has by some People been abused There will appear no occasion for wonder at all this to any person who does but consider what incredible advantages have been made of that single Word I will not recount the prosperous Wickednesses of the late unhappy Times in which the principal Actors and Contrivers were obliged to that great Name for the most of their Victories Glory Fame and Riches and all those unhappy Triumphs and Trophies which they did erect upon the woful Ruines both of Church and State but let us consider the present advantages which are made of Conscience First Conscience is a keen and two-edged Sword a Weapon both offensive and defensive and indeed nothing cuts so deep in vulgar minds who are most apt to be afrighted with awful apprehensions of what they least understand With this Weapon it is that all Dissenting Parties in their Religious Wars arm and fortifie themselves one against another with this resistless Sword they make no more to untie the most solid Arguments from Scripture or Reason than once 't is said the young Alexander did of the famous Gordian Knot who untyed that with his Scymiter which he could not effect with all his Curiosity 'T is with this victorious Sword they conquer and subdue and 't is with this they do preserve their conquered Proselytes I mean onely the Name Secondly Conscience is a most invincible shield a sure defence against all the blows of Adversaries so that though Nature Art Eloquence nay and Scripture too do all conspire to bring the most combined Demonstration of Truth and Reason against them the mighty blow shall be prevented from doing execution and be received upon this Aes triplex this invulnerable Target and 't is no more but saying It may be so as you say but it is against my Conscience and therefore I cannot believe or do as you would persuade me Thirdly Conscience is a certain Asylum an impregnable Sanctuary and defence against all accidents Hither as to their last refuge all Dissenters retreat securely and are at as much ease and in as undoubted safety as if both Heaven and Earth were entred into the strictest League Offensive and Defensive as they think they are bound to do to protect and defend them Lastly This is a never failing Cordial in times of suffering and has a secret virtue to sweeten that which of it self is most bitter and insupportable to all the world Thus an Opinion that it is for Conscience can make the justest and severest of humane punishments to pass over the pallate with the sugar'd rellish of Persecution for the Gospels sake Thus Death though the deserved merit of Rebellion and Treason has by some been styled Martyrdom and the suffering Persecution or Death thought meritorious both here and hereafter Nay so strangely have some men been blinded with the opinion of acting for and by Conscience as to pronounce Divine Vengeance Ireton Mercy so that a villanous Contriver and Acter of Murder and Rebellion O. Cromwel and an infamous Regicide and Usurper though one taken away by the immediate stroke of God the Sword of the destroying Angel and the other dying with all the agonies of Mind and Body shall yet be said to be gone to God and taken away from the evil to come and which exceeds all belief by the blasphemous Rhetorick of a Posthumous flattery shall be affirmed to rival the most glorious Jesus and be set on the right hand of the Majesty on high For these and such like reasons it is that all Parties of whatsoever persuasion pretend to so great a share and interest in Conscience Upon this foundation as they persuade themselves they build the Pile of all their Religion and from the Dictates of this supposed infallible Guide it is that they receive their Principles and to which they conform their Practise Ask a Quaker why he will shew no respect or reverence to his Superiors Why he will not take a lawful Oath before a lawful Magistrate though for the manifestation of truth the end of strife or the vindication of injur'd innocence Why he admits of no Sacrametns or about any other of his Tenents Demand of an Anabaptist why he will not allow Infants under the Gospel the same priviledge they did enjoy under the Law though he must acknowledge the Gospel a better Covenant Inquire of a Presbyterian why he starts at the Surplice and Ceremonies and any Sect why they separate from the Communion of the Church of England Shew them all the advantages of Union both as to Religion and Policy demonstrate all the dangers and inconveniences of separation and yet for all you can say after all their wild roving and unconcluding Discourses Objections Scruples and Allegations to winde themselves off from the main point when they find themselves forced from one of their strong holds to another and at last straitned by the prevailing strength of unavoidable and Dilemmatical Reason the result of all shall be that they are not satisfied in Conscience or that their Conscience will not give them leave to believe or do this or that to which you would persuade them Though after all
done positively to tell them This is matter of Conscience and that no man can do with a safe Conscience whilst in truth they were either not matter of Conscience in a strict and proper sense or if they were they were such matter of Conscience as all people were obliged to act in contrary to both their Doctrine and Practise I say had they done this which was their duty they might have done God good service and promoted our common happiness by Peace Unity and Charity which now to the great dishonour and decay of Christian Religion and true Piety and irreparable mischiefs in our Politick capacities are almost grown strangers amongst us For whosoever shall without partiality consider the affairs of these Nations for this last Century shall find That Liberty of Conscience has introduced amongst us the Synagogue of the Libertines which now has more Votaries than the true Religion and all others put together There are two things which of late have been obtruded upon us whether ignorantly or maliciously God he knows under the specious name of Conscience and these are Opinion and Persuasion To this luckless Mother and fatal Daughter we owe all those divisions that strife those bitter envyings debate variance and in truth all those intollerable mischiefs under which both Church and State have for many years so heavily groan'd and so deeply suffer'd Some men it is to be feared out of Pride Avarice Ambition or desire of Novelty having embraced such Opinions as were most suitable to their private Interest or Designs presently usurp Heaven's Royal Prerogative and stamp these courser Metalls with the Divine Impress of Conscience which immediately makes them currant Coin amongst vulgar and undistinguishing Judgments These Opinions countenanced by the success of numerous Disciples and warranted by zealous Defenders and over-eager Promoters grew amongst many into firm Perswasions and having been rooted by long continuance and naturalized by Custom then they must be matters of Conscience then they must be obliging to all and give indispensible Laws to all then they are to be defended and maintained with Life and Fortune and supported with no less rigorous Penalties than Eternal Damnation to all those who will not fall down and worship this golden Image of Conscience I will therefore endeavor to shew what Opinion and what Persuasion are and how they differ from Conscience how far they do oblige and wherein their lawful right and dominion in the management of humane Actions do consist Let us act like Men and Christians with prudence and justice let us render to Caesar the things that are Caesars and to GOD the things which are GODS let us not blindly injuriously and dangerously transfer the Title Dignity Power and Supremacy of Conscience the immediate Vicegerent of our Almighty Sovereign unto these two Vsurpers who in reality are but his Subjects I will begin therefore with Opinion as being the elder of the two And that you may know that it is far inferior unto Conscience this is the description which the learned Aquinas gives of it Opinio est dispositio ad Scientiam it is a disposition to Knowledge that is Opinion is an imperfect degree of Knowledge where still there is a liberty to doubt or suspect that this or that Opinion may not be exactly true As for Example that the Sun shines at high Noon this is demonstrative knowledge but because the Sun when it shines does communicate both light and heat that therefore the Sun is a vast Globe of Fire this is but Opinion because it may be so and it may not be so Or that the Moon is peopled with Inhabitants is but Opinion because being capable of doubt I can have no way to ascertain my self of the truth of either of these whether in reality the Sun be a Ball of Flame or the Moon another habitable Region so that Opinion is that private judgment which a Man makes of things or actions which are of an indifferent nature without any certainty of knowledge where he wants the assistance of some rule or way and means to attain to such a certainty And that I may not give only instances of Philosophy thus that there is such a place as Hell the residence of the damned is a matter of knowledge as being of Divine Revelation besides that it is founded upon the reason of rewards and punishments in a future estate But whether the Fire of Hell be material or sigurative or both these are matters of Opinion and it is indifferent to believe either or both because I am not positively directed to believe either of them more than the other neither if I do believe one of them rather than the other is any other Man obliged to believe it upon my affirmation of one part to be my Opinion but is still left at his liberty so he believe any to follow that part of the Opinion which to him appears most robable and the reason is because I want a certain Rule to determine me there being no Divine Revelation of it nor any way or means to attain to a demonstrative knowledge of it and further in its own nature it appears indifferent whether those infernal Flames be material or figurative or both since whatsoever they are God Almighty is thereby able to accomplish his design which is the punishment of the fallen Angels and such of Mankind as must there be eternally miserable and tormented because they would not accept of happiness upon Gods terms and conditions Come we now from Opinion to Persuasion which as before was said is the Child of Opinion and is nothing more but that belief which a Man embraces of any Opinion in indifferent things or actions which are undetermined by any certain way or rule of knowledge where the mind follows that part which appears most probable and likely to be true so that in Persuasion as well as Opinion there is no absolute certainty of knowledge to determine the mind only Men sit down with that as a determination for the present which carries the fairest appearance of Truth and with that rest satisfied though still they reserve to themselves a liberty to change their Judgment and Persuasion so soon as a clearer evidence or better way to find out the Truth about which they are uncertain offers it self unto them Thus to one Man the flames of Hell appear most probably to be material sire because the Bodies of the damned as well as their Souls must be there most exquisitely tormented and for that purpose he thinks this sort of sire most proper and therefore that part of the Opinion passes with him into his Persuasion To another who considers that the condemned Spirits and Souls of Men which are of an immaterial substance must there be punished as well as their Bodies a figurative Fire appears most probable and that is his Persuasion To a third who considers that both Souls Bodies and the wicked Spirits must have their share of pain and torment both
tells us If I bear witness of my self my witness is not true that is Joh. 5.31 if he had no other witness And therefore he refers the unbelieving Jews to John whom all men accounted a Prophet to the Scriptures which he bids them search to Moses in whom they trusted and in another place to his Miracles and wonderful works which they saw with their own eyes Come we therefore to the common Rule and it is no more but just that they should receive the same measure and stand to the determination of the same Judge to whom they have made their Appeal In the second place therefore Every one of these ways of Government which they would establish with the ruine of the present contradict a known Rule nay many plain Commands of Scripture for whilst they go about to overthrow the old Government and introduce a new One they are disobedient to those that have the rule over them both in Church and State whom they found vested with that Authority and which for any thing they are able to prove to the contrary was of Gods own appointment for so saith St. Paul The powers that be are ordained of God even those Heathen and truly Antichristian Powers how much more then the Supporters and Defenders of the Christian Faith They resist an Authority warranted with long succession supported with many prudent and antient Laws Laws to which they themselves and their Ancestors by their free Representatives in Parliament had given their Vote and Suffrage and therefore by their own voluntary Act and Deed and some of them by the stricter obligations of most Sacred and repeated Oaths they were bound with the strongest ties of Conscience to live under in all dutiful obedience which St. Paul enjoyns under the pain of Damnation the severest of all the penalties God Almighty can inflict upon Mankind and therefore he tells them they must needs be subject for Conscience sake Thirdly in their determination that their way or form of Church Government is the best they do not follow the better more sure and warrantable part of judgment in indifferent things Let them shew us in all Antiquity except some mistranslated places in the English New Testament where Presbyters are falsly rendred Elders the least footsteps approbation defence or practice of any other manner of Government in the Church for this Sixteen hundred years and upwards besides the Episcopal if they can do this then they may lawfully pretend they do not overthrow the Old but revive it by overthrowing the New Model of Government but if they cannot as I am sure if it could have been done we had heard it on both sides of our ears long before this let them dread the fearful doom which the wise Solomon pronounces against those who remove the ancient Land-marks Prov. 24.22 and are given to change for their calamity shall come suddenly and who knoweth the ruine of them both Both of those who fear not God because they fear not their lawful King his Vicegerent but are given to change delighted with Novelties and Innovations Lastly this their determination is far from the judgment of Charity Peace and Unity either with the past or present Ages and much further from promoting the great designs of Gods glory and the happiness of Mankind either here or hereafter Let all Europe witness this sad Truth and particularly these British Isles which by this best way of Government of ancient Albion White and Happy was changed into Aceldama a dismal Field of Blood it were endless to recount what Wars Rapine Sacriledge Desolation and Confusion Bloodshed and most unparallel'd Solemn Murder of Majesty the most sacred thing on earth have been the effects of endeavouring to set up and establish these new wayes of Church Government And wherever any of these new Disciplines did prevail they quickly verified the Advice of young Rhehoboam's hot-headed Counsellors making their little Fingers heavier than the Loins of Episcopacy and changing the Whips with which those Reverend Fathers chastised such as really deserved it into Scorpions Axes and Halters nor did they spare either Life or Fortune that stood in their way or durst oppose them And this was the true reason why even those persons who were so violent against Root and Branch of Episcopacy notwithstanding their Solemn League and Covenant yet their Wisdom Fear or Policy would never give them leave to establish Presbytery which they found a Government so imperious absolute and insupportable Nor is this fair and honest dealing in Dissenters to pretend that because all sorts of Government are indisserent therefore why should not theirs be chosen which is the best when by experience we have found the contrary and in the mean time not to allow ours a bare indifferency but to persuade their credulous Followers with the greatest confidence That our way of Government by Bishops is Popish Vnlawful and Antichristian contrary to the Scriptures and that their own way is agreeable to them and the Primitive Discipline of the Church and therefore as a matter of Conscience and the main matter too the one to be avoided and the other to be embraced by all those who hope for Salvation of their Souls That Cause though it be the Good Old Cause betrays it self to be very weak which is to be supported by such unworthy feeble and Corner Arts and Arguments as Pagans and Heathen Philosophers would blush to have been found guilty of As for that common objection of theirs against Lord Bishops we will easily grant them that the Primitive Clergy did not abound in Temporalities but then they had such advantages as I believe none of these People will be willing to gratifie the most beloved of their Pastors withall when they who had possessions sold them and laid down the price at the feet of the Apostles Acts 4 34. to dispose of as to them seemed most sit This would be a hard saying who would bear it nor indeed could it be convenient as the affairs of the World stand at present But these Honours which the present Clergy do enjoy being Temporal are not by us believed to be at all essential to the Office of a Bishop and are only annexed by the bounty of Princes as are also their Estates for the necessary support of the Rank they are in for the encouragement of Learning and Piety and for the advantage of the Publick as it is a Politick Society of Men. And they may as well maintain a Levelling Principle and quarel with all Honours and Estates that are above theirs as with these for if any Temporal Estate or Dignity may by free Gift or Succession divolve upon a Church-man why not these And that this may happen without offence or scandal besides the experience we have had in an Illustrious Peer of this Nation who Earl of Kent not many years ago from a private Priest by succession came to the Honour of one of the first Earls in England I appeal to
themselves who would think it the greatest injustice upon the account of their being Churchmen to lose a good Temporal Estate from their Ancestors or a Barony either by Descent or Royal Bounty Besides let all men judge if this would not be the way to furnish us with Jeroboam's Priests of the meanest and lowest of the People not onely for Birth but Learning Parts and Ability And what a discouragement it would be to the Gentry and Nobility who by their Generous Birth Advantageous Education Noble Alliances and many other Excellent Circumstances and qualifications are fitted by the great influence they may have both upon the Prince and People to do both the Church and Sate the most considerable Honour and Service I am afraid few of them would addict themselves to the more serious and painful Studies of Divinity if by their devoting themselves to an immediate attendance upon God's Altar they must cast off the Entail of Temporal Honours and Estates from themselves Nor does this derogate a little from the superlative Bounty and Goodness of the Divine Nature to think that he who does so plentifully frequently and freely bestow these Honours and Estates as blessings upon all other Conditions of men should prohibit and deny them to those who have voluntarily obliged themselves to his peculiar Service and upon whom he is pleased to confer the excellent Title of his Ambassadors 2 Cor. 5.20 and therefore most certainly does allow them honorably so as to be able to support the Dignity of so high a Character especially since they have his Royal word and promise for it 1 Sam. 2.30 Them that honour me I will honour Prince and Priest were not by God thought inconsistent under the Law in that Government which he himself constituted and establish'd And therefore one word in the Hebrew Language signisies both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And till such time as he is pleased to declare his mind to the contrary I know not upon what pretence any man should divorce those two which he had once made one Neither by virtue of these Lordships do Bishops Lord it over Christs Flock as by the scoffing wantonness of some men who should be more serious than to be witty at the expence of Scripture they are said to do since it is clear that their Temporal Baronies give them not the least influence upon Church affairs more than they give unto the other Noble Peerage of the Realm And the Jurisdiction of a Bishop as a Bishop and a Bishop as a Baron are as wholly distinct as that of a Lord of a Manor or any other Lord is from the power of a Bishop in his Diocess 1 Tim. 3.2 In a word A Bishop must be given to Hospitality how shall he be able to do that without an Estate If he must have an Estate he must be Lord of it for so is every man of what he does possess and if it shall be thought fit by Royal Authority the Fountain of Honour to add to that common Right a more particular and distinguishing Title of Honour that may offend some mens Ambition or Envy but can never be found to be either diadvantageous to the â—hurch or State or contrary to the Scripture the Rule of Conscience From what hath been said it appears that no other way of Government in the Church can really pretend to those advantages which may make an indifferent thing become necessary and obliging to Conscience except the Episcopal by which it follows that to submit to this Form of Government as it is now establish'd in the Church is so far from being against a good Conscience that no man can resist it without sinning against Conscience since it has all the qualisications which are necessary for the making an indifferent thing become obligatory to every mans Conscience which all the other pretenders want viz. It comes nearest to the Rule of Scripture it follows the better more sure and warrantable part of our judgment it answers all the ends of Government by promoting the Glory of God and contributing to the happiness of mankind here by procuring Peace Unity and Concord and hereafter by teaching commanding and practising true Piety and Holiness And it is evident that to dissent from this Government can never be the effect of Conscience but of Opinion or Persuasion neither of which can lay any obligation upon mens minds which is absolute and indispensible as before has been made most evidently appear I wish that all Dissenters would seriously reflect with themselves whilst they do so violently cry up Conscience and pretend it for their seperation whether they have not abused themselves and the World in mistaking Opinion and Persuasion for it of which they may easily be satisfied by an impartial application of what has before been said of this particular After all this we shall difficultly be persuaded to relinquish the Plea of a Divine Right in Episcopacy for which so much reason has been and may be brought to prove it and upon which we shall have occasion briefly to touch hereafter CHAP. X. Of the manner and circumstances of Divine Worship and how from being indifferent they may become necessary to be done and obliging to Conscience THus have we seen that though private and false Opinion or prejudiced and mistaken Persuasion and it may be malicious Design and Interest combined with discontented Envy may be loud and clamorous against this Government of the Church by the excellent and antient way of Episcopacy yet Conscience is so far from being against it that it is wholly and clearly for it Let us now come to examine the manner of performance of Divine Worship which has occasioned no small stirs tumults and divisions amongst us And here likewise I suppose that all Parties do thus far agree that there ought to be some Modes and Circumstances in the Worship and Service of God that is some Time some Place some Words Gestures Postures and Habits for the performance both of Publick and Private Worship which Conscience tells us we are bound to pay unto Almighty God Herein likewise I suppose that all Parties are agreed that these things or however such of them as are in controversie amongst us are in their own natures indifferent and therefore properly the subject of Opinion or Persuasion and were there no determination on either side provided the Duty of Worship were performed it might be done this way or the other And from hence likewise it appears that no Circumstance of Religious Worship is in its own nature simply unlawful because no where in Scripture prohibited either in direct words or by necessary consequence so that no mans Conscience can be justly offended by the performance of any of them since where there is no Law there can be no transgression Let any Dissenters therefore shew either a positive command or a plain consequence from Scripture why I should not serve God in a set form of Prayers and Praises or
aside all partiality and prejudice to submit to the truth how contrary soever it may be to their Opinions which by long continuance in are become very strong and habitual to them for without Repentance and Reformation there can be no Pardon I cannot without amazement see some men who appear in other things most nicely Conscientious yet make so slight a matter of this nay many of them the greatest and onely differencing part of their Religion themselves to disobey Lawful Authority and by their Example and Practise if not Doctrine at least in private to teach others to do the same I wish they would consider what dangerous influences such Practises have had and still have upon their Bodies Souls Reputation and Estates and indeed upon every thing that ought to be dear and tender to them Besides the most fatal mischievous and dangerous consequences they have had and if pursued will have still upon the safety and well-being of the Community in which they live which by their disobedience to Laws the onely Fences of Religion Life Right and Property those Deliciae Humanae generis the Darlings of all Mankind they do as much as in them lies to ruine and destroy CHAP. XII Some Considerations shewing the unreasonableness and impracticableness of the desires of those persons who under pretence of Conscience are for erecting of new ways of Church-government or for Toleration or Liberty of Conscience TO shew the great unreasonableness and impracticableness of the desires of all Dissenters there need no more to be said than to make them this Proposal which I dare say may most safely be done That so soon as they shall unanimously have agreed in all particulars and so as to reconcile all Interests and satisfie all Parties what way of Government they would have established they shall receive a gratification of their desires provided in the mean time they submit as becomes good Subjects and Christians to the present And if they shall in answer to the offer say That it is impossible to find out such a way of Government as shall please all Men Interests and Parties would it not be the highest frenzie imaginable by removing the present Government of the goodness of which we have had so long experience to introduce any other which can gratifie but one and it may be an inconsiderable Party and in recompence disoblige all the rest and for any thing we know even those who so eagerly desire it as soon as any others since having never yet made a full trial of it though it may look bravely like Saul's Armour upon David 1 Sam. 17.39 it may not prove so easie or convenient but with him they may be willing to put it off again and stick to the old and plain Episcopal Armour of the Shepherds Staff and Sling Besides this way of Government in the Church is so curiously twisted and interwoven with the Politick Government in the State that it is impossible to pick out this part without spoiling the Beauty and unravelling the whole Web and Frame of the Government it is one of the main Pillars upon which this weighty and well-built Fabrick stands and cannot be taken away but it must endanger the fall and ruine of the whole Building and they must be as full of revenge and as blind as Sampson who would by pulling down this Pillar bring the House about their own heads since it is odds but with him they must perish in the common ruine and I hope what ever will they may have their Hair will never be suffered to grow so long again as to recover their Sampson's strength so as to be able to effect it It was this consideration which made as wise and learned a Prince as ever swayed the British Sceptre so frequently tell the Dissenters of his Age No Bishop no King which by the most deplorable experience was verified in his Successor Nor did the fatal consequence end there but after No Bishop no King came marching up a dreadful Army of Negatives No House of Peers No free no full House of Commons No Law no Justice unless it were the High Court so called No liberty no property no safety no security and at last nothing but consusion all admirable effects of changing that Government which before was most safe and easie into that which was most Arbitrary Tyrannical and insupportable If experience be not sufficiently convincing in this particular I know not what new School of Fools or rather Mad-men we must seek for to persuade us to the belief of these Truths But further I wish that all Dissenters would consider with themselves whether this will lead them and what must be the end of it For a Toleration of Disobedience to the Commands of a Lawful Authority is a Principle destructive of all Government of all Religion and even of that which these men would endeavour to establish for we will suppose what they desire that that way of Government which they are so fond of were by the Authority in favour of them established and setled as firmly and strongly as the present Church-Government is it is impossible that it should please all people nay it is most certain it would displease all other Parties whose way was either abrogated to make room for the new one or theirs which was rejected and in probability therefore the greatest part of the Nation and there would not want those who would be able to raise and manage more forcible Objections and Arguments against their way than any they can bring against what is now in being Now they must be unreasonable in the highest measure if they would not grant the same liberty to others who dissent from them and their way which now they desire for themselves since it is not to be doubted but they would have the same and possibly a juster plea of Conscience for themselves which these now make and therefore ought to have Indulgence and Toleration and I would gladly know whether that can be called a Government or onely an Image of it and an empty name where men have liberty to obey it if they please or may be disobedient to it by its own consent if they so please But further what reason can they have to expect any other having shewn them the way to change but that the Authority should still make trial of new Governments and not confine all their kindness to them but still gratifie and oblige first one Party and then another according as the persons who compose that Authority may be favourably inclined to one persuasion or another I hope they would not complain of Injustice in the Lex Talionis or grumble to resign that Power which for their sakes others before them were obliged to do And should the Wheel turn thus round they must with their way expect to be laid in the dust And what strange Alterations Revolutions Settlements and Unsettlements must there be What face of Government or rather what Confusion must of
necessity follow the Practise of this Principle And that these are the natural effects of Disobedience to Lawful Government let us but turn our eyes a little backward and we shall plainly see And these Dissenters however they seem to have forgot it may remember they have seen the days when the Presbyterian was in favour and full of hopes having troden upon the neck of dismounted Episcopacy to advance into the Chariot of Government but the crafty Independent coming slily behind him whipt up his heels and laid him in the dirt and was just going himself to take possession of the vacant seat when the surly Anabaptist Quaker Leveller and several others rushing in all at once upon him told him with the Hand all the while upon the Hilts that they had as just a right as he and that they would not part with it without a fair Trial of skill who had the longest Sword And there was nothing gave the late Vsurper more trouble than the importunities of these several Interests which he kept from falling foul one upon another by tollerating all for the present and cajolling the Heads of the Parties with Protestations and Assurances that in his heart he was of their persuasion and in time would declare himself to be so though for the present in regard of the Malignant Party it did not stand with his Interest nor theirs so to do till they were more fully assured against the common Enemy though at last they all found him to be a meer Proteus or Polypus in Religion and that he could change himself into the shape and colour of that Party which was nearest to him Lastly Let them consider That this Principle must give increase growth and encouragement to all Sects and Heresies since all pretend Conscience and plead for Toleration And if this Liberty of Conscience be granted them there must of necessity follow infinite and unavoidable Divisions Separation upon Separation Confusion and at last Atheism since amongst so many pretenders to the true Religion all will at last come to be suspected to be false These are certainly the necessary effects and inevitable consequences of unsetling the present Government in the Church either by changing it for a new one or permitting Toleration or what men call Liberty of Conscience And we must either believe that these Dissenters do not foresee or understand the danger of this Precipice to which they make such haste or if they do that they are the most malicious of Mankind since they would sacrisice all Law Government Liberty Property and Religion to their own private Opinions and Persuasion CHAP. XIII A vindication of what is before laid down as a fundamental Principle in this Discourse viz. That God Almighty made Mankind for an excellent End that is his Glory and in order thereunto by obedience to his Commands their own happiness both here in this Life and hereafter in the Life of Immortality THus far I have endeavoured to follow the Clue of Truth and Reason which if others would likewise do I doubt not but it would bring them out of those Mazes and Labyrinths of doubts which perplex their minds and make their Lives so uneasie both to themselves and others by making many things matters and scruples of Conscience when in truth they were not such And not onely so but likewise it would conduce much to the calming of those storms and tempests which are gathering from so many several Quarters and seem to threaten both Church and State if not with Shipwrack yet with most violent agitations and commotions But before I conclude there is one thing which I have laid down as a fundamental Principle in this Discourse and upon which a great part of this weighty building of Conscience does depend as upon a main Pillar which I think it will be necessary to make clear and evident And that is That the great Creator out of the Excellency of his Nature made the World and particularly Mankind for a most excellent End viz. his own Glory and in order thereunto the happiness of Mankind here in this Life as a preparative to Eternal happiness hereafter That this is a most certain and undeniable Truth however some narrow-spirited men who would engross all the Bounty of Heaven to themselves may think otherwise by taking such low measures of the Divine Goodness and Beneficence as may be proportionable to the Stature of their own understandings though far short of Infinite which is the onely true measure of the Deity I doubt not but to make it most evidently plain and apparent to all those who do not wilfully close their eyes against the brightest beams of Truth Reason and Scripture First therefore we must consider the Incomparable Excellency of this Infinite Being who is the Author of all things for he himself tells us Psal 57.10 that his mercy reacheth unto the Clouds and his goodness far above these visible Heavens and that it is over all his works And lest we should be mistaken by judging him according to our selves he gives us to know Isa 55.7 8 9. that his thoughts are not as our thoughts nor his ways like our ways low narrow and short But as the heavens are high above the earth so are his ways and thoughts high above our ways A comparison large and wide enough to shew us the vast disproportion betwixt Finite and Infinite Goodness Now there can be nothing more suitable and agreeable to the Goodness Bounty Wisdom Power and Justice of his Essence which is Infinite than a Design that all his Creatures should be happy according to their several capacities which he who made nothing in vain created them with And on the contrary to suppose he made any thing with a capacity of enjoying any degree of Happiness as its ultimate End and chief Good and yet with an intention and design not onely of not attaining it but of being for ever miserable is so far from magnifying his Goodness or Justice that it would argue him of such a cruel nature as were the highest derogation and most proper blasphemy to believe it of him And that his Justice will be glorified in the punishment and misery of some of his Creatures even of the Noblest Rank he assures us with the highest protestation imaginable is far from being an effect of his Will and is perfectly occasioned by their own choice and wilful folly As I live saith the Lord Ezek. 33.11 that is as surely as I am I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner but had rather that he should turn and live Turn ye turn ye why will ye die And if he has no pleasure in his death a smaller punishment undoubtedly not in his Eternal Damnation the greatest of all miseries But secondly let us consider That the scope of all Religion and the Commands of God in Scripture all aim directly at this White viz. the happiness of all Mankind even here in this Life in order to an Eternal