is possible When therefore any religious Dispute arises whereby the Church's Peace and Unity is like to be endangered It is free and proper for Nor is there any thing which should hinder either the Church universal or any particular Church or even any prudent Men whatsoever to declare and publish their sense of the matter in debate But as no Man can be obliged to believe the Determination of any Church or party whatsoever any farther than he is convinced and satisfied of its agreement with Reason and the Holy Scriptures Part 2. § 1 and 2. so is not any Man bound to oppose or dispute even against an Error it self except there be something in it which is injurious to Christian Faith or practice and consequently which may prove pernicious to Men's Salvation And therefore if such a Mistake which may have prevailed in any Church cannot well be rectified without endangering the breach of Peace and Charity because they who hold it it may be are obstinately wedded to it I think it is the Duty of us all to be very tender in such a case and to permit every Man freely to abound in his own Sense until such time as God shall think fit to bring them to a clearer sight of the Truth And by no means to renounce the Communion of any Church on the account of any Error that is not damnable and much less on account only of such Terms or Expressions as are but abstruse or of doubtful signification For otherwise since the Apprehensions of Men are so very different especially in such things as being remote from our Senses are matter only of rational Speculation if Difference of Opinion upon such theological Questions as do not immediately concern our Salvation were a sufficient ground for Separation in point of Communion there would soon be probably almost as many Churches as Men in the World But if any Church shall require from a Man either to comply with or practise any thing which is not only against his Fancy in point of Decency or Convenience but also against his Conscience in point of Lawfulness or that he should not only be silent and not oppose but also explicitly profess the Belief of any such Doctrines as he judges to be false however innocent the Belief of them may be to them who think them true and if such a Church shall refuse and deny her Communion to all those who will not joyn with her upon these Terms We must rather be contented to be excluded from such a Church's Communion than to purchase it by solemnly telling a down right Lye before God and the World or by the violation of any other of God's Commands For if we offer to do Evil that Good may come of it St. Paul has declared us to be in a state of Damnation 65. For the due regulation of every Society it is necessary that it have a Power somewhere or other vested in it over its own Members either to compel them to live orderly according to its Laws and Constitutions or if any of them are disobedient and refractory and will not upon due admonition be reclaimed wholly to exclude them from the Body of the Community For otherwise if the Members of any Society may at their pleasure break its Constitutions and violate its Laws without control this would be wholly to pull down the Enclosure and lay all open and common as before and consequently in effect to dissolve the Society it self And accordingly our Saviour has given the Church a Power to admonish and rebuke those who give any scandal by their ungodly and unruly Behaviour and if upon this they do not repent and reform of rejecting and cutting them off from her Communion Which Authority must ever be exercised with due mildness and caution for the edification and not with heat and fury which in the end would more probably tend to the destruction of the Church But if any Church shall go beyond this to punish or persecute Men with Fire and Sword or with Fines and Imprisonment only for being of a different persuasion from and refusing to communicate with her In my Opinion she herein acts contrary to that Mildness and Gentleness which the Gospel upon all occasions prescribes and particularly in the case of dealing with those who oppose themselves to it 2 Tim. 2. 24. Altho at the same time it cannot be deâ—yed but that if any Man under the pretence of Conscience or Religion shall advance such Doctrines or do such acts as are destructive to the peace or safety of the civil State or Common-wealth the civil Magistrate may and ought to punish such a person according to the Laws of the Land notwithstanding all his pretences For if the Plea of Conscience the truth of which can only be known to Almighty God be sufficient to save any Malefactour from Punishment no civil Society can ever be safe and all humane Laws and Magistrates would be wholly useless See Part 1. § 35. 66 And as Almighty God in his Mercy is pleased not to cut the greatest sinners off from all hopes of pardon but is ready at any time upon their true and sincere Repentance to receive them again into his Favour so has he committed unto the Church the ministry of Reconciliation which Church therefore accordingly ought not only to endeavour to bring sinners to Repentance by Preaching Admonition and Exhortation but also wherever she sees evident Marks and Tokens of it in any person of which yet there ought to be good assurance for his greater comfort and ease of Conscience to remit or absolve him from his sins and restore him again to the benefit and privilege of Christian Communion of which I suppose that he has or ought to have been deprived And whatever Sentence of thus binding or loosing remitting or retaining of Men's sins is duly and regularly pronounced by the Church upon Earth our Saviour assures us it shall be ratified and confirmed by God in Heaven But that a Man is obliged to make a particular Confession of all his sins unto any other person except God in order to obtain the Pardon of or Absolution from them as I no where find it asserted in the Holy Scripture so the reason which the Roman Divines do allege for it is very weak and unconcluding For it is not the particular Confession of a Man's sins which may be performed by the most hardened impenitent but his Contrition and the visible reformation of his life which may sufficiently appear without a particular Confession that only can enable the Church or her Ministers to judge whether he truly repents of his sins or not and consequently whether he be a proper Object of God's Mercy and the Church's Favour Altho I deny not but that in some cases it may be very proper for a Man to make known the diseases of his Soul to a prudent Spiritual Physician that he may have his advice for the cure of them And his Duty also
but Diversion and who scarce ever set themselves to any employment whereby either God is glorified or others benefited what can they expect but the same Sentence which is pronounced upon the idle and unprofitable Servant Mat. 25. 26. And if to be altogether idle and unemployed is not to be excused or justified how much more are they to be condemned who are so frequently employed in such things as are evil and scandalous 26. Since the right knowledge of our Duty arises chiefly from a true judgment concerning the circumstances and qualifications of Things and Persons it follows that every Man should endeavour as far as he is able to inform himself rightly and to frame true Notions in all points of and concerning God Himself and other Men to whom there are Duties owing and also of all those things which are the subjects of any of those Duties and in the true management whereof such Duties do consist For if he be mistaken in his Judgment concerning either of these he must of necessity take wrong Measures in his actions Thus for Example if a Man should not believe God to be eternal most good wise and powerful c. it would not be possible for him to love honour and fear him in that degree that he ought to do And if we do not always remember ourselves to be frail Creatures subject to Passions and Infirmities of short continuance in this World and that whatever Excellency we may seem to have we derive it wholly from God and his Providence and not from our selves we shall never be able so effectually as we ought to govern our Passions and restrain our Affections from the things of this World and pursue that End for which God has designed us And if we do not consider that other Men whatever accidental Differences there may be between us are equal to us in nature that their Souls are as precious in God's sight as ours that Christ died for them as much as for us c. We shall not be inclined to behave our selves to them with that Justice Charity and Humility which do evidently appear to be our Duty And lastly if we do not frame a true Notion of the Vanity of the things of this World and the Excellency of the Joys of Heaven we shall never be able to prefer the later before the former in such a measure as we ought to do 27. Altho the chief Happiness of Mankind is reserved by God to be enjoyed in another life by those who heartily strive for it whilst they are in this yet can I find no reason to think that he has decreed us all or any of us to be absolutely miserable whilst we remain in this World On the contrary since God has originally a love for all Mankind in general Part 2. § 16. I cannot but conclude that he always even in this life designs at least some share or beginning of Happiness for every Man and never afflicts or suffers any Man to be afflicted but only in order to his greater Happiness hereafter until such time as he thinks it proper to pour out his Vengeance and final Destruction upon such as have by their Wickedness altogether forseited his Love and Favour Since then God originally designs some measure or commencement of Happiness to all Men even in this life as well as eternal Happiness hereafter it follows that we who ought as much as we can to be subservient to all God's Designs should endeavour as much as in us lies to promote the Happiness of every Man both in relation to this World and of that which is to come Or in other terms that every Man should endeavour to do as much good to all others as he can and to hurt no man whatsoever if he can avoid it 28. But if every Man always kept singly by himself without any Society or Intercourse with others it would be impossible to do any good one to another And therefore I conclude that it is the Will of God that Mankind should live each with other in a state of Society And to make us all the more sensible of the necessity and obligation that lies upon us thus to live with and do good to others God has so ordered the state and condition of all Mankind that it is not possible for any Man long to subsist much less to enjoy any sort of Comfort or satisfaction in this Life without the good will and assistance of others which he has no reason to expect except he be ready upon all occasions to retaliate what he himself so continually stands in need of And since God's original Love to Mankind is not confined to some certain persons but universally extended to all I must needs conclude that he designs not only the Comfort and Happiness of some particulars but universally of all Men whatsoever And since the more universal the Society between Men is the more universal the Happiness which thence results will be it will evidently follow that it is God's Will that every Man should behave himself after a sociable and friendly manner to every other Man without exception And since there is no Man in the World however weak and poor or at never so great a distance from me but it is possible that things may fall out so as that one time or other I may in my Distress stand in need of his Help and Friendship my Reason tells me that it is my Interest as well as Duty as much as I am able before-hand to oblige every Man who comes in my way by doing Offices of Civility and Kindness to him as occasion offers 29. That God has given to Mankind in general the free Liberty to make use of all other Creatures for their support and sustenance my Reason as well as the Holy Scripture does assure me because without some of them we could not preserve our selves in being and if we had not liberty to destroy others of them for our use they would in time so over-spread the Face of the Earth as that we could not have any safe or convenient Habitation upon it But if all these Creatures were always to remain in common so that no Man should have a Right to take possession of any part of them to his own prticular use and disposal and to exclude others therefrom the Consequence must needs be perpetual Discord and Confusion For when I had prepared Food to sustain my Hunger or Rayment to defend me from the Cold if every other Man should have still as good a Right thereto as I any one might lawfully take it away from me and if my Right were as good as any others I might also lawfully Defend my Possession from which state of things Contention and Strife must eternally and unavoidably arise I therefore conclude that there must be some Laws of Property and Right and that every man must yield to others that which is their own or else there can be no such thing as Society and
Marriage as is by wise men commonly reputed to be incestuous and unlawful 39. Since the relation of Husband and Wife is wholly owing to the mutual Compact and Agreement which is made between them at their Marriage the Duties which result from that Relation can be no other but the faithful keeping and observing of that same Compact and Agreement the Conditions of which may be more or fewer according as the parties shall think convenient But these are always necessary and must never be wanting viz. that the Husband and Wife must sincerely love each other must be strictly faithful to each others Bed without which mutual Love can never be preserved intire and Christianity expressly adds what Reason perhaps does also obscurely suggest that the Wife must be subject and obedient to her Husband 40. When Children are begotten and brought forth into the World it is not reasonable nor agreeable to God's design that they should perish and dye for want of care to be taken of them Nor are there any Persons upon whom a greater obligation can lye to bring up Children than upon those who begat them and were the cause of their being And since God intends not the Misery and Affliction but generally the Comfort and satisfaction of Mankind upon Earth as well as their Happiness hereafter in Heaven I conclude that it is ever the Duty of Parents to take the best care they can to bring up their Children and to promote their true Happiness both in this World and that which is to come For which reason we must needs suppose them to be vested with a lawful Power of governing and chastising them as far as is necessary to keep them in good and regular order 41. And on the other side since Children are beholding to their Parents even for their very Being whereby they are capacitated not only for the enjoyment of the Satisfactions of this Life but also for eternal Happiness in the World to come it is highly reasonable that they should love their Parents with a very high degree of Affection and should always be ready to make them the best returns of Duty and Service that they can And according as Parents have been careful in bringing up and making Provision for their Children so the Childrens Love and Affection ought still more and more to be returned and expressed towards them 42. Where Parents by Death or otherwise are rendred uncapable of nourishing and breeding up a Child or where they utterly forsake and expose him to the wide World before he is able to provide for or take care of himself If another person takes him and maintains and puts him in a way of living such a Child is in all reason obliged to pay a proportionable share of filial Love and Duty to him who has performed the part of a Parent to him 43. It is not pretended that ever any Person or Family by name were ever by God's particular and revealed Appointment invested with the Power of governing over such or such a certain People excepting only the case of the People of Israel I therefore conclude that however the Magistracy which is lawfully established throughout the World is ordained of God it is not by immediate Revelation from Heaven 44. Whether a Parent by the Law of Nature has the Power of a supreme Magistrate over his own Children is not necessary here to enquire But I see no ground in Reason or Nature to judge that the eldest Son of any Kindered successively should have the same Power over his Brothers and Sisters who are no way beholding to him for their Being nor it may be for their well-being and much less over his Fathers Brothers and Sisters as the common Parent of a whole Family may have over all that spring from him I conclude therefore that lawful Magistracy is not to be derived by the Law of Nature from the alone right of Primogeniture Nor do we ever meet with any Prince in History who derived his Authority from this only Fountain and if this were the true Right and Title of Magistracy it would follow that all the World ought to be but one Monarchy and Adam's Heir Male the Emperour thereof and all the Kings and Emperours that ever were whose Titles were originally bottom'd upon another Foundation were no better than meer Usurpers 45. Where one Man conquers another that is to say by force of Arms or by Stratagem gets him so into his Power as that he can destroy or kill him at his pleasure the conquered person indeed being obliged to do all that honestly he can for the preservation of his own Life ought on that account to use his best endeavours by an obsequious Demeanour to asswage and pacifie the Fury of the Conquerour But farther than he finds necessary to his own Preservation he is not obliged to obey the Conquerour except he binds himself thereto by some act of his own there being no Law of God or Nature which lays any farther Obligation on him in that case but only to preserve himself without doing wrong to another Since then all the World does allow that a Subject is bound to obey the Magistrate who is lawfully set over him even in those cases where no danger in this world would attend his Disobedience or as the Apostle expresses it not only for Wrath but also for Conscience sake It will follow that Conquest alone without any Compact or Agreement does not establish the Conquerour a lawful Magistrate over the conquered People For if it did there could be no difference between a Liege Subject and a Prisoner of War 46. If any man unjuslly invades the Property or attempts the Life of another It is lawful for him to whom the Wrong is offered to defend himself the best he can And if he has no other way of securing himself nor can prevail with his Enemy to desist from his evil Design the necessity of preserving himself from Death or which may be as bad or worse from Ruin will certainly justifie the Killing of him For otherwise the Lives and Fortunes of all honest Men must for ever be exposed to the arbitrary pleasure of every lawless and wicked person which is contrary to that comfort and satisfactory state which we suppose God generally to design for Men even in this Life And that which is allowable for every single Man to do for himself is surely no less lawful for a Society of Men combining together to do for their joynt and mutual Safety Moreover if in such a Society any person be taken in or after such an unlawful Attempt it is lawful for them to punish him in such a manner whether by death or otherwise as may be necessary to terrifie others from doing the like for the time to come For without this there could be no security against evil doers who might contrive to act their Mischief so secretly as not to be killed or even resisted in the very fact it self But if such a