THE ADVANTAGE OF A Learned Education.  
BEING A SERMON Preached at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul On St. PAUL's Day 1697/8.  
Before the GENTLEMEN Educated at That School, upon the Reviving their Ancient Anniversary Meeting.  
By W. nichols D. D.  
LONDON, Printed by W. Redmayne for Fran. Saunders at the New Exchange in the Strand, and Benj. took at the Middle-Temple-Gate in Fleetstreet, 1697/8.   

To my Schoolfellows Bred at St. Paul's School.  
Dearest Sirs,  
I Here Present You with a very hasty and a very imperfect Discourse, which I had neither Time nor Books about me to make better; and I can only attribute it to your kind Affection to me, that you have pressed me to the Publishing it. And, since it has the Fate to go abroad, pray God it may do some Good, and that it may be Read with as much Candour and Affection as you heard it; and than it may possibly somewhat Advance the Cause both of Learning and Religion, which it is too much the Fashion of our Age to despise. I am  
Gentlemen Your Most Faithful Servant and Loving School-fellow W. nichols.   
ACT. XXII. III. 
I verily am a Man, which am a Jew, born in Tarsus a City of Cilicia, yet brought up in this City at the Feet of Gamaliel.  
THIS Day is by the Church set aside, to give God thanks for the most excellent Example and blessed Labours of that Glorious Apostle St. Paul: And several of us are here met together upon another more particular Account, to thank God Almighty for our ingenuous Education in that School, which bears the Name, and is dedicated to the Honour of that Great Saint. And therefore the better to suit my Discourse to both these Occasions, I have chosen these Words of that Apostle which he spoke concerning himself. The occasion was this, as the History of the preceding Chapter informs us: When St. Paul came to Preach the Gospel at Jerusalem, the Jews fearing great detriment would accrue thereby to their Religion, fancying by mistake a mighty indignity to be passed by him upon their Public Worship, by his having brought Trophimus a Gentile into the Temple, whom they saw he freely conversed with in the Streets, they were presently all over the City in an Uproar: The tumultuous Multitude run instantly in Shoals towards the Temple, to know the Truth of this heinous Accusation, where they find St. Paul Preaching; when in a fury they drag him from thence into the Streets, and forthwith shut up the Temple Doors: And thus he lay at the mercy of the barbarous Multitude, which would in a little time have murdered him, had not the Chief Captain of the Garrison rescued him by a Band of Soldiers, which made a shift to get him out of the Hands of the Rabble, and carry him Prisoner into the Castle; and thither the outrageous Multitude follow likewise; but when St. Paul found, he was now got into an advantageous Place for speaking to the People, and whom he saw somewhat awed by the Authority of the Captain; he obtained leave to make an Apology to them, for himself. There are several Arguments in this Speech, by which he endeavours to justify his Actions, and to recommend himself to their good Opinion, as particularly his Miraculous Conversion and his former Sincerity and Zeal for the Jewish Worship, but that, which I shall particularly insist upon, is his being brought up at the Feet of Gamaliel. To be brought up at the Feet of any one is to be a Scholar, for the Jewish Rabbins were wont to sit in an Upper Bench, and their Scholars at their Feet; hence came the Jewish Proverb, happy is the Man that is dirtied by the Feet of the Wise, i. e. has had a literate Education. But Gamaliel was a Master of greater Fame and Abilities than other Rabbins, he was Precedent of the Sanhedrim, and, if I may so speak, Doctor of the Chair; a Person of whom the Jewish Books do at this time speak great things of, That he was Grandson of the famous Hillel so renowned in their Story, and that at his Death Onkelos the Author of the Chaldee Paraphrase spent Seventy Pound of Frankincense upon his Funeral. Such an Education as this, under so great a Doctor, St. Paul though would sufficiently recommend him to the Jews, and give him a Character even above the rest of the Apostles, who were all of them besides Men of an illiterate Education.  
Therefore the Subject of my present Discourse shall be to do these three things.  

I. To show, That St. Paul had a peculiar Eminency above the rest of the Apostles.  
II. That the Reason of this Eminency was because of his Learned Education.  
III. To urge some Christian Exhortations upon the present Occasion.   

I. St. Paul had a peculiar Eminency above the rest of the Apostles. Which is obvious to any one who considers, 1st. How excellently this Apostle above the rest was versed in the Jewish Learning, how knowing he was in all the Ritual Worship of the Mosaical Law, and skilled in their Traditions and Rabbinical Expositions of Scripture; as is to be seen in all his Epistles, particularly that to the Hebrews, where he admirably shows the Analogy between the Law and the Gospel, and, to the Confusion of the Jews, proves, That their whole Law were but Temporary and Carnal Ordinances, which were only Types and Prefigurations of the Sacrifices the Death, and the Spiritual Kingdom of Christ, who was to be King and Priest for ever. 2. Or if we consider this great Apostle as to his Accomplishments in Profane and Heathen Learning, he was far superior to any of the rest; see how he bravely confutes the Idolatry of the Athenians, by a Verse of Aratus one of their own Greek Poets, and shows that it must be by their own Confession unreasonable, that the Soul, the Offspring of God, should adore a gross Material Image, Act. 17.28. And how he reprimands those vain Talkers and Deceivers which had got into the Church of Crete, by a smart Character which Epimenides a Poet of that Country had given long before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. The Cretians are always Liars, Evil Beasts, Slow Bellies, Titus 1.12. 3. Nor was he less eminent in deep Theological Reasoning, a judicious stating of controverted Points, and in profitable and pressing Exhortations to practical Duties. With what strenuous Arguments does he prove the Call of the Gentiles to the Gospel, and their non-obligation to the performance of Judaical and abolished Ceremonies? How prudently does he state the Point about Faith and Works? What noble Aphorisms and Sentences do his Epistles every where abound with, what cordial Consolations to the afflicted and persecuted, what elegant Descriptions of the vanity and inconsiderableness of this World and the Immortal Joys of the other, what brave encouragements to Perseverance and Constancy, and what passionate Exhortations to Christian Charity and Unity? How may we observe in all his Discourses a particular contempt of Worldly things, and the pious Breathe of a Soul brim full with the Love of God? 4. Nor was he less remarkable for his Courage and Sincerity, Virtues which are particular Qualifications in doubtful and perilous times. What an instance of his Christian Bravery and Resolution was it, to Preach the Gospel so publicly at Jerusalem, where he had so many enraged Enemies, when his Friends told him, and he himself could not but expect, to be sacrificed for it? And when the Great St. Peter was afraid to disoblige the Judaizing Faction, and was contriving for their sakes an odd sort of Comprehension or Medley betwixt Judaisme and Christianity; our brave Apostle withstood him to the Face, and defended the simplicity of our Saviour's Religion against all the opposition of so great an Adversary. 5. But besides all this, the indefatigable Labours of his Preaching, and the large Conversions to Christianity he effected in all Parts almost of the Gentile World, is enough to raise the Honour of him far above the rest of his Apostolic Brethren, whose Conversions were in no ways comparable to his. Most of the Churches of Asia Minor, those in the Islands and Provinces of Greece, those in Thrace and Dalmatia, in Spain and Italy were founded by this same St. Paul. And the most Learned Bishop Stillingfleet in his Origines Britannicae has made it very probable that we of this Nation did receive Christianity likewise from this Apostle, for the Story of Joseph of Arimathea is too Modern and too Monkish to be credited. And now what a vast Tract of Ground is this for this one Apostle to spread the Gospel over? How incredible almost is it that so many different Nations should enjoy the blessed Effects of his Ministry? for give me leave to say that the Roman Arms themselves were hardly more victorious or farther extended than the Plantation of the Gospel by this one Apostle. I come now in the second place to show.   

II. That the Reason of this Eminency of St. Paul was because of his Learned Education.  
And to make out this, I shall not tie myself strictly to show how his Learning was the cause of those particular Qualifications I have already made appear he was Excellent in, but shall show that which will equally prove the same, viz.  
That a Learned Education does best qualify a Man for discharging all the Duties which are incumbent on him throughout all the Progress of Humane Life, or in any Trust whatsoever. Now the many and different Characters which belong to Mankind in their divers Capacities, may all be reduced to these Three.  

1. As they are Private Men, or Members of Society.  
2. As they are Magistrates or in public Capacity.  
3. As they are Christians, or Members of God's Church.   
Now I shall show that a Learned Education does best qualify a Man to discharge his Duty in all these several Capacities.   

I. A Learned Education does best qualify a Man to discharge his Duty as a private Person, or Member of Society.  
1. It renders a Man more agreeable in Neighbourhood and Conversation. Most of your little Animosities and Quarrels are to be found chief amongst uneducated People; and tho' we find too much of them among Men who have been better bred, yet they are seldom guilty of that roughness and hard Language which, is common among others: Nay, the obliging and endearing Airs of Conversation are in the greatest Height and Perfection to he seen only in those Gentlemen, who have had the advantage of the most Learned Education. For, as for all the other little Arts of Popular Talk and Refined Address, they lie but thin spread over a Man, like Varnish, and every untoward Accident makes him liable to discover his inward Imperfections. I will not say, that an Education perfectly Bookish where Genius, and the Life and Brightness of Nature, and a competent knowledge of the World, are deficient; I will not say this does render a Man more agreeable in Conversation; but if Men would take care to talk as they ought to do, and would be improving their Minds upon all occasions, they would find more Satisfaction in the useful, tho' unpolished Discourse, of such a Person, than in all the Circle of fine Jests and Tales that are requisite to furnish out an empty Wit.  
2. A Learned Education does commonly endow Men with more than ordinary Principles of Generosity. The Company, which they are Educated among, are Persons who are generally Men of Honour, and who value their Reputation, and scorn a base thing; and therefore if they fall into such Actions they must sort out to themselves a new Acquaintance; for they will be abandoned by all their former Friends, who are Lovers of Honour and Virtue. Besides, their Minds have been habituated to such generous Virtues, during their whole Series of Education, that they cannot, without a great force upon their Inclinations, stoop to sordid Vices; and a base Covetousness, dishonest Dealing, or Treacherousness, and such other shameful Vices, and rarely incident to Men of such an Education. Their very Reading in Philosophy and History affords them such excellent Rules and Examples which so tinctures their Souls with these noble Ideas, as makes it no easy matter for them to be tempted to do an unworthy thing. The vulgar and illiterate have very little Sense of Fame and Honour, and do many scandalous things when they may be advantageous; but Men of a Liberal Education have, for the most part, such a spark of Honour within their Breasts, as is a guard to them against the Commission of any enormous Crimes at least; and oftentimes is the last stake of Virtue within them, when all true Piety and Religion have taken their flight: A spark which sometimes, by God's Grace, kindles again into a bright flame of Piety and true Religion, when others live on senseless and stupid sinners to the last.  
3. A Learned Education does render a Man more Eminent in his particular Calling. A Previous knowledge in any part of Literature does qualify a Man for the understanding of any kind of Business, far better than one who is destitute of all. It opens and clears one's Head for a ready preception of whatever shall be proposed to us; for, the more the Mind is used to thinking and contemplation, the more quick and perceptive it is, and is discernible even in those that have been very little used to it. A Lad that has but gone through a Form or two in a Grammar-School, that has had Thoughts but a small matter exercised about the propriety of Speech, and the congruity of Terms with one another, only in the Grammatical way of Concord, shall have a far greater facility in Learning any Art, than one taken from the Plough, or any other who all his time has lived by pure Sense, without any manner of abstracted Thought or Meditation. But a farther progress, in a well managed course of Studies, gives a kind of new Genius to the Soul, and oftentimes quickens the slowest Natures; so that, when Learning and a noble stock of natural Parts meet together, they must needs arrive, in any thing they apply themselves to, to the utmost Perfection that human Nature is capable of. For there is an Analogy between all sort of Reasoning, and Men, who have been used to make good consequences in one Art or Science, with a little Application may do it as well in another. But I need not go to prove this; for 'tis evident to every one's observation, that the most Famous in any Art whatsoever are generally the best Scholars of that Profession. A good Philosopher and Historian shall make the best Lawyer, and an ordinary Mathematician an excellent Mechanic; nay by frequently reading sensible Authors, a Man will improve his Reason so that he shall be able to Buy and Sell, and manage Trade the better for it.   

2ly. A Learned Education does best qualify a Man to discharge his Duty as a Magistrate or in any Public Capacity; because  
1. Learning gives a Man a greater Knowledge in Public Affairs. Indeed a General ought not to be made of a Cowardly Scholar, but if the General have Learning and Courage too, he is much the fit for that Employ; for there is a great deal more in such a Trust than bear Fight and Killing; and a complete Knowledge in History which is the Experience of many Ages, is as much requisite as making Campaigns. Nay, the greatest Generals in the World were Men of Learning. Alexander studied and conversed with Philosophers all the while he was Conquering the Persian Empire: And Julius Caesar was as good a Writer as he was a Soldier. And so likewise as for Civil Trusts, though of late Years the Characters of Bookish and Pedantical have excluded a great many worthy Men from Public Business, yet it is well known that, in our Forefathers time, Business was as well done when such Men, as they characterise by those Names, were in Power. But why should a Man make a Politician, when he could not make a Scholar? Certainly there are as much Brains and Diligence required, to be able to Govern and Direct the Affairs of a Nation, as there is to understand a Greek or Latin Book; and he, that was never able to attain to the latter, will find the former a little too hard. Indeed it may sometimes happen that a Man of an extraordinary stock of Nature, though defective in Learning, may be a considerable Statesman, but if that Man had had the advantage of Literature too, he would have done Wonders in such a Post. For we have Instances what great things Learning alone has done in such Stations together with heavy Parts; then what must it have produced, in conjunction with a noble Genius, and all the sprightly force of Nature? For such a one shall not only have the quickness and sagacity to discover the Intrigues of an Enemy, but shall have before him in his mind all the old Plots and Contrivances of former Princes and States against each other, and know how they have succeeded, or how they were prevented; what good or ill Accidents have furthered or retarded Sieges or Expeditions, and may be in probability of happening still; what have been the Methods taken for the rise of the greatest Governments, and what has been the occasion of their Decay; what has been the omission of Princes to suffer the exorbitant growth of their Neighbours, or to breed Tumults or Seditions at Home; what Land or Naval Forces are requisite for the situation or circumstances of a Nation; what Taxes are least oppressive, lie more equally upon a People are best proportioned to their Wealth and Trade, and are more agreeable to the Inclinations; People in short, by comparing their own with Ancient and Modern Governments, shall know wherein the true Interest and Welfare of the Nation does consist. These are Qualifications which are absolutely necessary for a good Statesman, and yet are not to be attained but by an diligent application of Thought and by hard Study; but I am sure they are never to be got only by living within the Walls of a Court, by picking up News and attending at the Levies, and what is worse by Flattery and Dissimulation, by betraying and undermining their best Friends; which has been the modern Method of training a Politician.  
2. Because Men of Learning are commonly more sincere and faithful in Public Employs than others. Such Men for the most part have lived more sober and virtuous Lives; for having spent their Youth in severe Study, they could not be guilty of those mad Excesses, which the illiterate Gentlemen usually lay out their Time in, and which gives them oftentimes such a vile Character in the Opinion of the Public. The first of these when they are honoured with a Public Employ they dare not slain that good Reputation, the World has bestowed upon them, by any foul Practices; whilst the other Gentlemen, who by their Intemperate and Rakish Lives have made their Character so wretched and despicable, are prompted to think that even Corruption can hardly make it worse. The former, besides their Learning, have generally lasting Principles of Virtue in them, which will direct them in all Stations; whilst the others, though they leave off their scandalous irregularities, are either Virtuous through impotence or cautiously Vicious; or, though they are arrived to an Age when sensuality is disagreeable to them, yet then the Devil has another set of Baits to tempt them with, and their Minds shall be liable to all the Corruption and indirect Practices which Covetousness, the Darling Vice of an unregenerate Old Age, shall put them upon. I do not say that all Statesmen who have not the advantage of Learning are corrupt, or that there are no Wise and Good Men, who have spent their Youth foolishly and extravagantly; but this I say, and I think upon good grounds, that if care was taken, that the most considerable Stations in the Government were filled by Men of a competency in Learning, and of a serious and sober Life, there would be much less reason to complain of Evil Counsellors and Public Miscarriages, than when Men are suffered to get into these Posts with no other Qualifications, than the recommendation of great Friends.   

3ly. A Learned Education doth best qualify a Man to discharge his Duty as a Christian.  
1. Because such Men have a more Perfect Knowledge of all the Duties and Obligations which are incumbent on them. God complains thus of the Jews, Hos. 4.6. My People are destroyed for lack of Knowledge. A great many Men are eternally ruined for want of due. Instruction at first in the Principles of Christianity, some miscarry by having their Thoughts totally bend upon such Worldly Callings as give them but little leisure to reflect upon a better State; and lastly, others fall into dangerous Sins often upon account of Ignorance and for want of understanding the Measures of their Duty. But a literate Education provides against all these things. Men that have had the advantage of this are well principled from their Childhood in Christian Duties; they are usually bred to more generous Employs, which afford them more frequent conversation with the best and most learned Men, and more opportunities of Reading and Devotion; they have usually such a Knowledge in the Holy Scriptures, and in all points of their Duty, that they themselves are able to settle in their own thoughts the boundaries of Virtue and Vice, and upon this account are not so liable to commit Sin through Ignorance or Mistake.  
2. Because such Men are not so liable to be led away by ill Examples.  
The uneducated part of Mankind live only by example, and (like Cattle) unthinkingly follow after those that go before them, and, because the Generality of the World have little regard to Religion, or are lewd and debauched, they are so too. But Men of a literate Education do better consider matters, and look into the Reasons of things; they see it is unreasonable and foolish, to lose their Religion, for a Fashion; or to forfeit their Interest with God, to imitate the Vices of some admired Great Man. These men's Reasons are too strong, and their Souls too brave to be guilty of such sordid and foolish Compliances.  
3. Because such Men have a more Rational and noble sense of Religion.  
The Vulgar, for the most part, take up their Religion upon Trust, as a certain Property belonging to their Country or their Family; which they have a veneration for, because those Persons, they have a great Opinion of, have the like; and which they must in some measure comply with, or they shall appear singular or give offence to those, they are not willing to disoblige. And others, that are better instructed practice the Rules of Christianity, as unquestionable Truths delivered to them by their Parents, and inculcated to them by their Pastors. And I doubt not but Men may be saved, if they be sincerely Religious and fulfil our Saviour's Commands, upon these Grounds. But then no one can deny, but that they have a more rational Ground of their Faith, and a nobler sense of Religion, who having leisure and learning have examined all the Foundations of Christianity, who are fully satisfied that our Saviour and his Apostles Preached all those Doctrines, and did all those Miracles they are reported to have done in confirmation of them, and are sure that Christianity can be no Dream or Imposture of Designing or Enthusiastical Men, but that it is the most Heavenly and the Wisest Institution which ever was in the World. The former do obey our Saviour's Laws only as necessary Duties, but these readily comply with them as a reasonable service. They are brought to their Duties by the compulsion of Hopes and Fears, by the Command or Example of Superiors, or by warm and affectionate Discourses; whilst These Embrace our Saviour's Doctrines, because they so admirably fall in with the Dictates of right Reason, and are worthy of God the Author of them, and because they have all the reason in the World to think, that God Almighty commanded them. The first breeds for the Generality only an Awful Fear of God; but the other makes Men approach him with a hearty and generous Love. They may be true Believers, but then they are often liable to be shocked by every captious Atheistical Objection; whilst These have scanned over all the specious Exceptions of the Infidels against our Religion, and notwithstanding this they do adore and hope in Crucified Jesus, in the midst of all the loud Blasphemies of an Incredulous Age. These are the advantages which we have by a Learned Education in our several Capacities, as we are Men in a Society, or Governors, or Christians; to which we may add another advantage, viz. the Inward Satisfaction to ourselves, the pleasure of reading so many noble and ravishing Authors, and to spend our time so agreeably, whilst that of others hangs so uncomfortably upon their Hands; the inexpressible Delight of having our knowledge daily improved by being let into so many useful and entertaining Truths; to dive into the hidden secrets of Nature by Philosophy, to run back and converse with all the former Ages by History, to understand the Difficulties and to reconcile the Differences in God's Word by Theology, and to determine the measures of Right and Wrong, and exactly to lay out the Lines of Justice and Equity by a Knowledge in the Laws: these are such delightsome qualifications, as when they are not soured accidentally by Pride or Discontent, but possessed together with Modesty and a Peaceable Disposition, if there be any happiness in this World, this is certainly one of the greatest on this side Heaven. I now come to the third and last things.   

III. To urge some Christian Exhortations upon the present Occasion.  
1. And first my Christian Brethren, you my Dearest Companions of my tender Years, You with whom I had the happiness, to lay the Foundation of my Studies in the Neighbouring School, where we have gained the advantage of such an Education, as has improved our Minds beyond the generality of those who have unhappily been destitute of the like noble Assistances; let me exhort you all to pay your hearty thanks to God the Giver of every good Gift, for the great advantage of this Education, and when in your Praises to God you recount the many great Benefits he conferred upon you to remember this as one of the most considerable. And now we have a happy opportunity of doing it together in Public, especially at this time in this place, which bear a particular relation to our School and Founder. Methinks I see darting through all our Soulr a secret and unexpressible pleasure to think, that we should so luckily renew this our Ancient Love Feast upon the first Anniversary of this blessed Saint, after the Rebuilding of his Temple; and now we are grown Men, that we can devoutly meet together and Praise God in this Glorious Edifice, where we remember to have played our Childish Pastimes among its desolate Ruins.  
2. Let us pay our utmost gratitude towards the Place and Preceptors of our Education. Let us do our utmost to encourage and befriend this Foundation, and to make it Flourish as much as we can; that it may be as advantageous to Thousands more in future Times as it has been to us. Let us always bear the greatest Respect and Veneration to those Worthy Persons by whose Care and Learning we had our Instruction. To be Bred under a good Schoolmaster is a lasting Blessing as long as we live, as an Education under a bad one is a lamentable and unretrievable Misfortune; and though a Man may notwithstanding this Disadvantage be somewhat considerable, yet he is like a House built upon a false Foundation always weak and tottering. Therefore Great Public Schools, where Grammatical Learning is in its highest Perfection, can never enough be esteemed and encouraged, and the Masters honoured and revered by their Scholars, who have received such an inestimable advantage from them: From them who have been so kind to us to afford us all the pleasures and satisfactions of that Learning they have implasted in us, and to be content with the Toil and Drudgery of it themselves; who have been pleased to forego the more agreeable Employments to do a more Public Good, and to spend their time in a laborious and what is worse a thankless Calling, when the Injustice and the Ingratitude of the Age is such, that they are constantly blamed for every Miscarriage, and hardly thanked for any Success.  
2. Let us all unite together in a strict Bond of Love and Friendship, to each other. Let us remember those mutual Endearments which passed between us in those early Years, and again let us renew our Affections in a maturer Age, if absence and discontinuance from one another has abated them. These early Friendships of all others are the best and the strongest. The familiarities which Men fall into afterwards are generally but the forming of Designs or courting an Interest; and if these fail so does their Friendship too. But in that tender Age pure natural Simplicity, and Love without dissimulation governs the Affections; and we enter then into the choicest familiarity only with them, whose Souls we find more tuneable and agreeable with ours. And why should we not maintain the same Friendships still, which we proved at a time when Nature lay open and undisguised; rather than to maintain a familiarity chief with those whom it may be only Craft or Design obliges to be faithful. Besides, a mutual Friendship among ourselves has a Thousand advantages attending it, wherein we may be serviceable to one another; the Profession of one may be beneficial to that of another, and the application of many of such a Society may obtain a Kindness for a single Person, which he could not procure himself.  
4. Let us all endeavour, that our good Lives may be answerable to the Education, which has been given us. Let us always bear in mind that of our Saviour, He that knoweth his Master's Will and doth it not shall be beaten with many Stripes. God expects we should live better than the illiterate Vulgar who have less Knowledge, and that our good Lives should be an example to them to copy from. But if we allow ourselves in shameful and beastly Vices, not only the Rules of our Holy Religion, but the very Verses and Sentences of our Heathen Classicks will make our Consciences and fly in our Faces. But I hope we shall all make that good improvement of our Time and Education, as to work out our Salvation with fear and trembling, and to let our light shine before Men that they may glorify our Father which is in Heaven, that we shall live in the fear of God, in Christian Charity with all Men, and a hearty Friendship among ourselves as long as God shall be pleased to continue us in this World, and that we may all of us be happy in the next, and that at the Resurrection of the Just, we may all meet again at the Great Marriage Supper of the Lamb, when we shall be joined to the blessed Community of the Saints and we shall live and enjoy and Love for ever. Which God, etc.   
FINIS.