TWELVE SERMONS Preached upon Several Occasions.  
By ROBERT SOUTH, D. D.  
Six of them never before Printed.  
LONDON, Printed by I. H. for Thomas Bennet, at the Half Moon in St. Paul's Churchyard. 1692.   

To the Right Honourable EDWARD, Earl of CLARENDON, Lord High Chancellor of England, and Chancellor of the University of Oxon, and one of His Majesty's most Honourable Privy Council.  
My Lord,  
THough to prefix so great a Name to so mean a Piece, seems like enlarging the Entrance of an House, that affords no Reception: yet, since there is nothing can warrant the Publication of it, but what can also command it; the Work must think of no other Patronage, than the same that adorns, and protects its Author. Some indeed vouch great Names, because they think they deserve, but I, because I need such: and had I not more occasion than many others, to see and converse with your Lordship's Candour and Proneness to pardon, there is none had greater cause to dread your judgement; and thereby in some part I venture to commend my own. For all know, who know your Lordship, that in a Nobler respect, than either that of Government, or Patronage; you represent and head the best of Universities: and have traveled over too many Nations, and Authors, to encourage any one that understands himself, to appear an Author in your Hands: who seldom read any Books to inform yourself, but only to countenance and credit them. But, my Lord, what is here published, pretends no Instruction, but only Homage; while it teaches many of the World, it only describes your Lordship, who have made the ways of Labour and Virtue, of doing, and doing Good, your Business and your Recreation, your Meat and your Drink, and, I may add also, your Sleep. My Lord, the Subject here treated of, is of that Nature, that it would seem but a Chimaera, and a bold Paradox, did it not in the very Front carry an Instance to exemplify it; and so by the Dedication convince the World, that the Discourse itself was not impracticable. For such ever was, and is, and will be the Temper of the generality of mankind, that, while I send men for Pleasure, to Religion, I cannot but expect, that they will look upon me, as only having a mind to be pleasant with them myself: nor are Men to be Worded into new Tempers, or Constitutions: and he that thinks; that any one can persuade, but He that made the World, will find that he does not well understand it.  
My Lord, I have obeyed your Command, for such must I account your Desire; and thereby Design, not so much the Publication of my Sermon, as of my Obedience: for, next to the Supreme Pleasure described in the ensuing Discourse, I enjoy none greater, than in having any opportunity to declare myself,  
Your Lordship's very humble Servant, and obliged Chaplain, ROBERT SOUTH.   

The Contents of the Sermons.  

SERMON I. 
PRoverbs III. 17. Her ways are ways of Pleasantness. Page 1   
SERMON II. 
Gen. I. 27. So God created man in his own Image, in the Image of God created he him. p. 53   
SERMON III. 
Matth. X. 33. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I deny before my Father which is in Heaven. p. 101   
SERMON IU. 
I Kings XIII. 33, 34. After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people Priests of the High places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the Priests of the High places. And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the Earth. p. 155   
SERMON V. 
Titus. II. ult. These things speak and exhort, and rebuke with all Authority. Let no man despise thee. p. 223   
SERMON VI 
John VII. 17. If any man will do his Will, he shall know of the Doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. p. 269   
SERMON VII. 
Psalm LXXXVII. 2. God hath loved the Gates of Zion more than all the Dwellings of jacob. p. 323   
SERMON VIII. 
Prov. XVI. 33. The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing of it is of the Lord. p. 373   
SERMON IX. 
1 Cor. III. 19. For the Wisdom of this World, is Foolishness with God. p. 425   
SERMON X. 
2 Cor. VIII. 12. For if there be first a willing Mind, it is accepted according to that a Man hath, and not according to that he hath not. p. 477   
SERMON XI. 
Judges VIII. 34, 35. And the Children of Israel remembered not the Lord their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their Enemies, on every side. Neither showed they kindness to the House of jerubbaal, namely Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had showed unto Israel. p. 535   
SERMON XII. 
Prov. XII. 22. Lying Lips are abomination to the Lord. p. 587     

A SERMON Preached at COURT, etc.  PROV. 3.17. 
Her Ways are Ways of Pleasantness.  
THE Text relating to something going before, must carry our Eye back to the 13th. verse, where we shall find, that the thing, of which these words are affirmed, is Wisdom: A Name by which the Spirit of God was here pleased to express to us Religion, and thereby to tell the world, what before it was not aware of, and perhaps will not yet believe, that those two great things that so engross the desires and designs of both the Nobler and Ignobler sort of mankind, are to be found in Religion; namely Wisdom and Pleasure; and that the former is the direct way to the latter, as Religion is to both.  
That Pleasure is Man's chiefest good, (because indeed it is the perception of Good that is properly pleasure) is an assertion most certainly true, though under the common acceptance of it, not only false, but odious: for according to this, pleasure and sensuality pass for terms equivalent; and therefore, he that takes it in this sense, altars the Subject of the discourse. Sensuality is indeed a part, or rather one kind of pleasure, such an one as it is. For Pleasure in general, is the consequent apprehension of a suitable Object, suitably applied to a rightly disposed faculty; and so must be conversant, both about the faculties of the Body, and of the Soul respectively; as being the result of the fruitions belonging to both.  
Now amongst those many Arguments, used to press upon men the exercise of Religion, I know none that are like to be so successful, as those that answer, and remove the prejudices that generally possess, and bar up the Hearts of men against it: amongst which, there is none so prevalent in Truth, though so little owned in Pretence, as that it is an Enemy to men's pleasures, that it bereaves them of all the sweets of Converse, dooms them to an absurd and perpetual Melancholy, designing to make the world nothing else but a great Monastery. With which notion of Religion, Nature and Reason seems to have great cause to be dissatisfied. For since God never Created any faculty, either in Soul or Body, but withal prepared for it a suitable object, and that in order to its gratification; can we think that Religion was designed only for a Contradiction to Nature? and with the greatest and most irrational Tyranny in the World to tantalise, and tie men up from enjoyment, in the midst of all the opportunities of enjoyment? to place men with the furious affections of hunger, and thirst in the very bosom of Plenty; and then to tell them that the envy of Providence has sealed up every thing that is suitable under the Character of unlawful? For certainly, first to frame appetites fit to receive pleasure, and then to interdict them with a Touch not, taste not, can be nothing else, than only to give them occasion to devour, and prey upon themselves; and so to keep men under the perpetual Torment of an unsatisfied Desire: a thing hugely contrary to the natural felicity of the Creature, and consequently to the wisdom, and goodness of the great Creator.  
He therefore that would persuade men to Religion, both with Art and efficacy, must found the persuasion of it upon this, that it interferes not with any rational pleasure, that it bids no body quit the enjoyment of any one thing that his Reason can prove to him, aught to be enjoyed. 'Tis confessed, when through the cross circumstances of a man's temper or condition, the Enjoyment of a pleasure would certainly expose him to a greater inconvenience, than Religion bids him quit it; that is, it bids him prefer the endurance of a lesser evil before a greater, and Nature itself does no less. Religion therefore entrenches upon none of our Privileges, invades none of our Pleasures; it may indeed sometimes command us to change, but never totally to abjure them.  
But it is easily foreseen, that this Discourse will in the very beginning of it be encountered by an Argument from Experience, and therefore not more obvious than strong; namely, that it cannot but be the greatest trouble in the world for a man thus (as it were) even to shake off himself, and to defy his Nature, by a perpetual thwarting of his innate Appetites and Desires; which yet is absolutely necessary to a severe and impartial prosecution of a course of Piety: nay, and we have this asserted also, by the Verdict of Christ himself, who still makes the Disciplines of self-denial and the Cross, those terrible blows to Flesh and Blood, the indispensable requisits to the Being of his Disciples. All which being so, would not he that should be so hardy as to attempt to persuade men to Piety from the pleasures of it, be liable to that invective taunt from all Mankind, that the Israelites gave to Moses; Wilt thou put out the Eyes of this People? Wilt thou persuade us out of our first Notions? Wilt thou demonstrate, that there is any delight in a Cross, any Comfort in violent abridgements, and which is the greatest Paradox of all, that the highest Pleasure is to abstain from it?  
For answer to which, it must be confessed, that all Arguments whatsoever against Experience are fallacious; and therefore in order to the Clearing of the Assertion laid down, I shall premise these two Considerations.  
1. That Pleasure is in the Nature of it a Relative thing, and so imports a peculiar Relation and Correspondence to the state and condition of the Person to whom it is a Pleasure. For as those who Discourse of Atoms affirm that there are Atoms of all forms, some round, some triangular, some square, and the like; all which are continually in motion, and never settle till they fall into a fit circumscription or place of the same figure: So there are the like great diversities of Minds and Objects; whence it is, that this Object striking upon a mind thus or thus disposed, flies off, and rebounds without making any impression; but the same luckily happening upon another of a Disposition as it were framed for it, is presently catcht at, and greedily clasped into the nearest Unions and Embraces.  
2. The other thing to be considered, is this; That the Estate of all men by Nature is more or less different from that estate, into which, the same persons do, or may pass, by the exercise of that which the Philosophers called Virtue, and into which men are much more effectually and sublimely translated by that which we call Grace; that is by the supernatural overpowering operation of God's Spirit. The difference of which two estates consists in this; that in the former the sensitive appetites rule and domineer; in the latter the Supreme faculty of the Soul, called Reason, sways the Sceptre, and acts the whole man above the irregular demands of Appetite and Affection.  
That the distinction between these two is not a mere figment, framed only to serve an Hypothesis in Divinity; and that there is no man but is really under one, before he is under the other, I shall prove, by showing a Reason why it is so, or rather indeed why it cannot but be so. And it is this: Because every man in the beginning of his life, for several years is capable only of exercising his sensitive faculties and desires, the use of Reason not showing itself till about the Seventh Year of his Age; and then at length but (as it were) dawning in very imperfect Essays and Discoveries. Now it being most undeniably evident that every Faculty and Power grows stronger and stronger by exercise; is it any wonder at all, when a man for the space of his first six years, and those the years of ductility and impression, has been wholly ruled by the propensions of sense, at that age very eager and impetuous; that then after all, his Reason beginning to exert and put forth itself, finds the man prepossessed and under another power: so that it has much ado by many little steps, and gradual conquests, to recover its prerogative from the usurpations of appetite, and so to subject the whole man to its Dictates: the difficulty of which is not conquered by some men all their Days. And this is one true ground of the Difference between a state of Nature, and a state of Grace, which some are pleased to scoff at in Divinity, who think that they confute all that they laugh at, not knowing that it may be solidly evinced by mere Reason and Philosophy.  
These two considerations being premised, namely, That Pleasure implies a proportion and agreement to the respective States and Conditions of men; and that the state of men by Nature is vastly different from the estate into which Grace or Virtue transplants them; all that Objection leveled against the foregoing Assertion is very easily resolvable.  
For there is no doubt, but a man, while he resigns himself up to the Brutish guidance of sense and appetite, has no relish at all for the Spiritual, refined delights of a Soul clarified by Grace and Virtue. The pleasures of an Angel can never be the pleasures of a Hog. But this is the thing that we contend for; that a man having once advanced himself to a state of Superiority over the Control of his inferior Appetites, finds an infinitely more solid and sublime pleasure in the Delights proper to his Reason, than the same person had ever conveyed to him by the bare ministry of his Senses. His taste is absolutely changed, and therefore that which pleased him formerly, becomes flat and insipid, to his Appetite now grown more masculine and severe. For as age and maturity passes a real and a marvellous Change upon the Diet and Recreations of the same person; so that no man at the Years and Vigour of Thirty, is either fond of Sugar-plums or Rattles: In like manner, when Reason, by the assistance of Grace, has prevailed over, and outgrown the encroachments of Sense, the delights of Sensuality are to such an one but as an Hobby-horse would be to a Counsellor of State; or as tasteless, as a bundle of Hay to an hungry Lyon. Every alteration of a man's Condition infallibly infers an alteration of his Pleasures.  
The Athenians laughed the Physiognomist to Scorn, who pretending to read men's minds in their foreheads, described Socrates for a crabbed, lustful, proud, illnatured Person; they knowing how directly contrary he was to that Dirty Character. But Socrates bid them forbear laughing at the man, for that he had given them a most exact account of his Nature; but what they saw in him so contrary at the present, was from the conquest that he had got over his Natural disposition by Philosophy. And now let any one consider, whether that Anger, that Revenge, that Wantonness and Ambition, that were the proper pleasures of Socrates, under his Natural temper of crabbed, lustful, and proud, could have at all affected or enamoured the mind of the same Socrates, made gentle, chaste and humble by Philosophy.  
Aristotle says, that were it possible to put a Young man's eye into an Old man's head, he would see as plainly and clearly as the other; so could we infuse the inclinations and principles of a Virtuous person into him that prosecutes his debauches with the greatest Keeness of desire, and sense of Delight, he would loathe and reject them as heartily, as he now pursues them. Diogenes, being asked at a Feast, why he did not continue eating as the rest did, answered him that asked him with another question, Pray why do you eat? Why says he for my pleasure; why so, says Diogenes, do I abstain for my Pleasure; and therefore the Vain, the Vicious and Luxurious person argues at an high rate of inconsequence, when he makes his particular desires, the general measure of other men's delights. But the case is so plain, that I shall not upbraid any man's understanding by endeavouring to give it any farther Illustration.  
But still, after all, I must not deny that the change and passage from a state of Nature, to a state of Virtue, is laborious, and consequently irksome and unpleasant: and to this it is, that all the forementioned expressions of our Saviour do allude. But surely the baseness of one condition, and the generous excellency of the other is a sufficient. Argument to induce any one to a change. For as no man would think it a desirable thing, to preserve the Itch upon himself, only for the Pleasure of Scratching, that attends that loathsome distemper: so neither can any man, that would be faithful to his Reason, yield his Ear to be bored through by his domineering appetites, and so choose to serve them for ever, only for those poor, thin gratifications of sensuality that they are able to reward him with. The ascent up the hill is hard and tedious, but the serenity and fair prospect at the Top, is sufficient to incite the Labour of undertaking it, and to reward it being undertaken. But the difference of these two conditions of men, as the foundation of their different pleasures, being thus made out, to press men with arguments to pass from one to the other, is not directly in the way, or design of this Discourse.  
Yet before I come to declare positively the pleasures that are to be found in the ways of Religion; one of the grand duties of which is stated upon Repentance; a thing expressed to us by the grim names of Mortification, Crucifixion, and the like: and that I may not proceed only upon absolute. Negations, without some Concessions; we will see, whether this so harsh, dismal, and affrighting duty of Repentance is so entirely Gall, as to admit of no mixture, no allay of sweetness, to reconcile it to the Apprehensions of Reason and Nature.  
Now Repentance consists properly of two things: 

1. Sorrow for Sin.  
2. Change of Life.    
A word briefly of them both.  
1. And first for Sorrow for Sin: Usually, the sting of Sorrow is this, that it neither removes nor altars the thing we sorrow for; and so is but a kind of reproach to our Reason, which will be sure to accost us with this Dilemma. Either the thing, we sorrow for, is to be remedied, or it is not: If it is, why then do we spend the time in mourning, which should be spent in an active applying of Remedies? but if it is not; then is our Sorrow Vain and Superfluous, as tending to no real Effect. For no man can weep his Father or his Friend out of the Grave, or mourn himself out of a Bankrupt condition. But this Spiritual Sorrow is effectual to one of the greatest and highest Purposes, that mankind can be Concerned in. It is a means to avert an impendent wrath, to disarm an offended Omnipotence; and even to fetch a Soul out of the very jaws of Hell. So that the End and Consequence of this sorrow, sweetens the sorrow itself: and as Solomon says, In the midst of laughter, the heart is sorrowful; so in the midst of sorrow here, the heart may rejoice: for while it mourns, it reads, That those that mourn shall be comforted; and so while the penitent weeps with one Eye he views his Deliverance with the other. But then for the External expressions, and vent of Sorrow; we know that there is a certain pleasure in weeping; it is the Discharge of a big and a swelling grief, of a full and a strangling discontent: and therefore he that never had such a burden upon his heart, as to give him opportunity thus to ease it, has one pleasure in this World, yet to come.  
2. As for the other part of Repentance, which is change of life; this indeed may be troublesome in the Entrance; but it is but the first bold onset, the first resolute Violence and invasion upon a vicious habit, that is so sharp and afflicting. Every impression of the Lancet Cuts, but it is the first only that Smarts. Besides, it is an argument hugely unreasonable, to plead the Pain of passing from a Vicious Estate, unless it were proved, that there was none in the continuance under it: But surely, when we read of the Service, the Bondage, and the Captivity of Sinners, we are not entertained only with the Air of Words and Metaphors; and instead of Truth, put off with Similitudes. Let him that says it is a trouble to refrain from a Debauch, convince us, that it is not a greater to undergo one: and that the Confessor did not impose a shrewd Penance upon the Drunken man, by bidding him go and be drunk again: and that lisping, raging, redness of Eyes, and what is not fit to be named in such an Audience, is not more toilsome, than to be clean, and quiet, and discreet, and respected for being so. All the trouble that is in it, is the trouble of being sound, being cured, and being recovered. But if there be great arguments for Health, then certainly, there are the same for the obtaining of it: and so keeping a due proportion between Spirituals and Temporals, we neither have, nor pretend to greater Arguments for Repentance.  
Having thus now, cleared off all, that by way of Objection can lie against the Truth asserted, by showing the proper Qualification of the Subject, to whom only the ways of Wisdom, can be ways of Pleasantness; for the further prosecution of the matter in hand, I shall show what are those properties that so peculiarly set off, and enhance the Excellency of this Pleasure.  
1. The first is That it is the proper pleasure of that part of man, which is the largest and most comprehensive of Pleasure, and that is his mind: a substance of a boundless comprehension. The mind of man is an Image, not only of God's Spirituality, but of his Infinity. It is not like any of the Senses, limited to this or that kind of object: as the sight intermedles not with that which affects the smell: but with an universal superintendence, it arbitrates upon and takes them in all. It is (as I may so say) an Ocean, into which all the little Rivulets of Sensation, both External and Internal, discharge themselves. It is framed by God to receive all and more than Nature can afford it; and so to be its own motive to seek for something above Nature. Now this is that part of man, to which the Pleasures of Religion properly belong: and that in a double respect.  

1. In reference to Speculation, as it sustains the name of Understanding.  
2. In reference to Practice, as it sustains the name of Conscience.   
1. And first for Speculation: the pleasures of which have been sometimes so great, so intense, so engrossing of all the Powers of the Soul, that there has been no room left for any other Pleasure. It has so called together all the Spirits to that one Work, that there has been no supply to carry on the Inferior operations of Nature. Contemplation feels no Hunger, nor is sensible of any Thirst, but of that after knowledge. How frequent and exalted a Pleasure did David find from his Meditation in the Divine Law? all the day long it was the Theme of his Thoughts. The affairs of State, the government of his Kingdom, might indeed employ, but it was this only that refreshed his mind.  
How short of this are the delights of the Epicure? how vastly disproportionate are the Pleasures of the Eating, and of the Thinking man? indeed as different as the silence of an Archimedes in the study of a Problem, and the stillness of a Sow at her wash. Nothing is comparable to the pleasure of an Active, and a prevailing thought: a thought prevailing over the difficulty and obscurity of the Object, and refreshing the Soul with new discoveries, and images of things; and thereby extending the Bounds of Apprehension, and (as it were) enlarging the Territories of Reason.  
Now this pleasure of the Speculation of Divine things, is advanced upon a double Account.  

1. The Greatness.  
2. The newness of the Object.   
1. And first for the greatnss of it. It is no less than the great God himself, and that both in his Nature, and his Works. For the Eye of Reason, like that of the Eagle, directs itself chiefly to the Sun, to a glory that neither admits of a Superior, nor an Equal. Religion carries the Soul to the study of every Divine Attribute.  
It poses it with the amazing thoughts of Omnipotence; of a Power able to fetch up such a Glorious Fabric, as this of the world, out of the Abyss of Vanity and Nothing, and able to throw it back into the same Original Nothing again. It drowns us in the speculation of the Divine Omniscience; that can maintain a steady infallible comprehension of all Events in themselves Contingent and Accidental; and certainly know that, which does not certainly exist. It confounds the greatest subtleties of Speculation, with the Riddles of God's Omnipresence; that can spread a single Individual substance through all spaces; and yet without any commensuration of parts to any, or circumscription within any, though totally in every one. And then for his Eternity; which non-plusses the Strongest and Clearest Conception, to comprehend how one single Act of Duration, should measure all Periods and Portions of time without any of the distinguishing parts of Succession. Likewise for his Justice; which shall pray upon the sinner for ever, satisfying itself by a perpetual Miracle, rendering the Creature immortal in the midst of the flames; always consuming, but never consumed. With the like wonders we may entertain our Speculations from his Mercy; his Beloved, his Triumphant Attribute; an Attribute, if it were possible, something more than Infinite; for even his Justice is so, and his Mercy transcends that. Lastly we may contemplate upon his supernatural, astonishing works; particularly in the Resurrection, and reparation of the same numerical Body, by a reunion of all the scattered Parts, to be at length disposed of into an estate of Eternal Woe or Bliss; as also the greatness and strangeness of the Beatific Vision; how a created Eye should be so fortified, as to bear all those Glories that stream from the fountain of uncreated Light, the meanest expression of which Light, is, that it is unexpressible. Now what great and high Objects are these for a Rational Contemplation to busy itself upon? Heights that scorn the reach of our Prospect; and Depths in which the tallest Reason will never touch the Bottom: yet surely the pleasure arising from thence is Great and Noble; for as much as they afford perpetual matter and employment to the inquisitiveness of Humane Reason; and so are large enough for it to take its full scope and range in: Which when it has sucked and dreined the utmost of an Object, naturally lays it aside, and neglects it as a dry and an Empty thing.  
2. As the things belonging to Religion entertain our Speculation with great Objects, so they entertain it also with new. And novelty we know is the great parent of pleasure; upon which account it is that men are so much pleased with Variety, and Variety is nothing else but a continued Novelty. The Athenians, who were the professed and most diligent Improvers of their Reason, made it their whole business to hear or to tell some new thing: for the truth is, Newness especially in great matters, was a worthy entertainment for a searching mind; it was (as I may so say) an High Taste, fit for the relish of an Athenian Reason. And thereupon the mere unheard of strangeness of jesus and the Resurrection, made them desirous to hear it discoursed of to them again, Acts 17.23. But how would it have employed their searching Faculties, had the Mystery of the Trinity, and the Incarnation of the Son of God, and the whole Oeconomy of man's Redemption been explained to them? For how could it ever enter into the thoughts of Reason, that a satisfaction could be paid to an Infinite Justice? Or, that two Natures so unconceivably different, as the Humane and Divine, could unite into one Person? The knowledge of these things could derive from nothing else but pure Revelation, and consequently must be purely New to the highest discourses of mere Nature. Now that the Newness of an Object so exceedingly pleases and strikes the mind, appears from this one consideration; that every thing pleases more in expectation than fruition: and expectation supposes a thing as yet new, the hoped for discovery of which is the Pleasure that entertains the expecting, and enquiring mind: Whereas Actual discovery (as it were) rifles and deflowers the Newness and Freshness of the Object, and so for the most part makes it Cheap, Familiar and Contemptible.  
It is clear therefore, that, if there be any pleasure to the mind from speculation; and if this pleasure of speculation be advanced by the greatness and newness of the things contemplated upon; all this is to be found in the ways of Religion.  
2. In the next place, Religion is a pleasure to the mind, as it respects Practice; and so sustains the Name of Conscience. And Conscience undoubtedly is the great Repository and Magazine of all those pleasures that can afford any solid refreshment to the Soul. For when this is calm, and serene, and absolving, then properly a man enjoys all things, and what is more, Himself, for that he must do, before he can enjoy any thing else. But it is only a Pious life, lead exactly by the rules of a severe Religion, that can authorise a man's Conscience to speak comfortably to him: It is this that must word the sentence, before the Conscience can pronounce it; and than it will do it with Majesty and Authority; it will not whisper, but proclaim a Jubilee to the mind. It will not drop, but pour in Oil upon the wounded Heart. And is there any pleasure comparable to that which springs from hence? The Pleasure of Conscience is not only greater than all other Pleasures, but may also serve instead of them: for they only please and affect the mind in Transitu, in the pitiful narrow compass of actual fruition; whereas that of Conscience entertains and feeds it a long time after with durable, lasting reflections.  
And thus much for the first ennobling property of the Pleasure belonging to Religion; namely, That it is the pleasure of the mind, and that both as it relates to Speculation, and is called the Understanding; and as it relates to Practice, and is called the Conscience.  
2. The second ennobling property of it is, That it is such a pleasure as never satiates, or wearies: for it properly affects the Spirit, and a Spirit feels no weariness, as being privileged from the causes of it. But can the Epicure say so of any of the pleasures that he so much dotes upon? Do they not expire, while they satisfy? and after a few minute's refreshment, determine in loathing and unquietness? How short is the Interval between a pleasure and a Burden? How undiscernible the Transition from one to the other? Pleasure dwells no longer upon the Appetite, than the necessities of Nature, which are quickly, and easily provided for; and then all that follows, is a load and an oppression. Every morsel to a satisfied Hunger, is only a new Labour to a tired Digestion. Every draught to him that has quenched his Thirst, is but a further quenching of Nature; a provision for Rheum and Diseases; a drowning of the quickness, and activity of the Spirits.  
He that prolongs his meals, and sacrifices his Time, as well as his other Conveniences, to his Luxury, how quickly does he outsit his pleasure? and then how is all the following time bestowed upon Ceremony and Surfeit? till at length after a long fatigue of Eating, and Drinking, and Babbling, he concludes the great work of Dining Gentilely, and so makes a shift to rise from Table, that he may lie down upon his Bed: Where, after he has slept himself into some use of Himself, by much ado he staggers to his Table again, and there acts over the same Brutish Scene: so that he passes his whole life in a dozed Condition between sleeping, and waking, with a kind of drowsiness, and confusion upon his Senses; which, what pleasure it can be, is hard to conceive; all that is of it, dwells upon the tipp of his Tongue, and within the compass of his Palace, a worthy prize for a man to purchase with the loss of his Time, his Reason, and Himself.  
Nor is that man less deceived, that thinks to maintain a constant tenure of Pleasure, by a continual pursuit of Sports and Recreations: For it is most certainly True of all these things, that as they refresh a man when he is weary, so they weary him when he is refreshed; Which is an evident Demonstration that God never designed the use of them to be continual; by putting such an emptiness in them, as should so quickly fail and lurch the expectation.  
The most Voluptuous, and loose Person breathing, were he but tied to follow his Hawks, and his Hounds, his Dice, and his Courtships every day, would find it the greatest Torment, and Calamity that could befall him; he would fly to the Mines and the Galleys for his Recreation, and to the Spade and the Mattock for a Diversion from the misery of a Continual un-intermitted Pleasure.  
But on the contrary, the Providence of God has so ordered the Course of things, that there is no Action, the usefulness of which has made it the matter of Duty and of a Profession, but a man may bear the continual pursuit of it, without loathing or Satiety. The same Shop and Trade, that employs a man in his Youth, employs him also in his Age. Every morning he rises fresh to his Hammer and his Anvil; he passes the day singing: Custom has naturalised his Labour to him: His Shop is his Element, and he cannot with any enjoyment of himself live out of it. Whereas no Custom can make the painfulness of a Debauch easy, or pleasing to a man; since nothing can be pleasant that is Unnatural. But now, if God has interwoven such a pleasure with the works of our ordinary Calling; how much superior and more refined must that be, that arises from the survey of a Pious and well-governed Life? Surely, as much as Christianity is nobler than a Trade.  
And then, for the Constant freshness of it; it is such a pleasure as can never cloy or overwork the mind: for, surely no man was ever weary of thinking, much less of thinking that he had done well or virtuously, that he had conquered such and such a Temptation, or offered Violence to any of his Exorbitant Desires. This is a delight that grows and improves under thought and reflection: and while it exercises, does also endear itself to the mind; at the same time employing and inflaming the Meditations. All pleasures that affect the Body, must needs weary, because they transport, and all Transportation is a Violence; and no Violence can be lasting, but determines upon the falling of the Spirits, which are not able to keep up that height of motion that the Pleasure of the Senses raises them to. And therefore how inevitably does an immoderate laughter end in a sigh? which is only Nature's recovering itself after a force done to it. But the Religious Pleasures of a well disposed mind, moves gently, and therefore constantly. It does not affect by Rapture and Ecstasy; but is like the pleasure of Health, which is Still and Sober, yet Greater and Stronger than those that call up the Senses with grosser and more affecting impressions. God has given no man a Body as strong as his Appetites; but has corrected the Boundlesness of his Voluptuous desires, by stinting his strengths, and contracting his Capacities.  
But to look upon those pleasures also, that have an higher object than the Body; as those that spring from honour and grandeur of Condition; yet we shall find, that even these are not so fresh and constant, but the Mind can nauseate them, and quickly feel the thinness of a popular Breath. Those that are so fond of Applause while they pursue it, how little do they taste it when they have it? Like lightning, it only flashes upon the face and is gone, and it is well if it does not hurt the Man. But for greatness of Place, though it is fit and necessary, that some persons in the world should be in love with a splendid servitude, yet certainly they must be much beholding to their own fancy, that they can be pleased at it. For he that rises up early, and goes to bed late, only to receive Addresses, to read and answer Petitions, is really as much tied and abridged in his freedom, as he that waits all that time to present one. And what pleasure can it be to be encumbered with Dependences, thronged and surrounded with Petitioners? and those perhaps sometimes all Suitors for the same thing: whereupon all but one will be sure to depart grumbling, because they miss of what they think their due: and even that one scarce thankful, because he thinks he has no more than his due. In a word, if it is a pleasure to be envied and shot at, to be maligned standing, and to be despised falling, to endeavour that which is impossible, which is to please all, and to suffer for not doing it; then is it a pleasure to be great, and to be able to dispose of men's fortunes and preferments.  
But further, to proceed from hence to yet an higher degree of Pleasure, indeed the highest on this side that of Religion; which is the pleasure of Friendship and Conversation. Friendship must confessedly be allowed, the Top, the Flower, and Crown of all Temporal enjoyments. Yet has not this also its flaws and its dark side? For is not my Friend a man, and is not Friendship subject to the same Mortality and Change that men are? And in case a man loves, and is not loved again, does he not think that he has cause to hate as heartily, and ten times more eagerly than ever he loved? and then to be an Enemy, and once to have been a Friend, does it not embitter the Rupture, and aggravate the Calamity? But admitting that my Friend continues so to the end; yet in the mean time, is he all Perfection, all Virtue, and Discretion? Has he not humours to be endured, as well as kindnesses to be enjoyed? And am I sure to smell the Rose, without sometimes feeling the Thorn?  
And then lastly for Company; though it may Reprieve a man from his Melancholy, yet it cannot secure him from his Conscience, nor from sometimes being alone. And what is all that a man enjoys, from a week's, a month's, or a year's converse, comparable to what he feels for one hour, when his Conscience shall take him aside and rate him by himself?  
In short, run over the whole Circle of all Earthly Pleasures, and I dare affirm, that had not God secured a man a solid pleasure from his own Actions, after he had rolled from one to another, and enjoyed them all, he would be forced to complain, that either they were not indeed Pleasures, or that Pleasure was not Satisfaction.  
3. The third ennobling property of the Pleasure that accrues to a man from Religion, is, that it is such an one as is in no Body's power, but only in his that has it; so that he that has the Property, may be also sure of the perpetuity. And tell me so of any outward enjoyment, that Mortality is capable of. We are generally at the mercy of men's Rapine, Avarice, and Violence, whether we shall be happy or no. For if I build my felicity upon my Estate or Reputation, I am happy as long as the Tyrant, or the Railer will give me leave to be so. But when my concernment takes up no more room or compass than myself; then so long as I know where to breathe, and to exist, I know also where to be happy: for I know I may be so in my own Breast, in the Court of my own Conscience; where if I can but prevail with myself to be Innocent, I need bribe neither Judge nor Officer to be pronounced so. The pleasure of the Religious man, is an easy and a portable pleasure, such an one as he carries about in his bosom, without alarming either the Eye or Envy of the world. A man putting all his pleasures into this one, is like a Traveller's putting all his Goods into one Jewel: the Value is the same, and the Convenience greater.  
There is nothing that can raise a man to that generous absoluteness of condition, as neither to cringe, to fawn, or to depend meanly; but that which gives him that happiness within himself, for which men depend upon others. For surely I need salute no great man's Threshold, sneak to none of his Friends or Servants, to speak a good word for me to my Conscience. It is a noble, and a sure Defiance of a great Malice, backed with a great Interest; which, yet can have no advantage of a man, but from his own Expectations of something that is without himself. But if I can make my Duty my delight; if I can feast, and please, and caress my mind with the pleasures of worthy Speculations, or virtuous practices, let Greatness and Malice vex and abridge me if they can: my Pleasures are as free as my Will; no more to be controlled than my Choice, or the unlimited range of my Thoughts and my Desires.  
Nor is this kind of Pleasure only out of the reach of any outward Violence; but even those things also, that make a much closer impression upon us, which are the irresistible Decays of Nature, have yet no influence at all upon this. For when Age itself, which of all things in the world, will not be baffled or defied, shall begin to arrest, seize, and remind us of our Mortality, by Pains, Aches, Deadness of Limbs, and Dulness of Senses; yet than the pleasure of the mind, shall be in its full Youth, Vigour, and Freshness. A Palsy may as well shake an Oak, or a Fever dry up a Fountain, as either of them shake, dry up, or impair the delight of Conscience. For it lies within, it centres in the heart, it grows into the very substance of the Soul; so that it accompanies a man to his Grave; he never outlives it, and that for this cause only, because he cannot outlive himself.  
And thus I have endeavoured to describe the Excellency of that Pleasure that is to be found in the ways of a Religious Wisdom, by those excellent properties that do attend it; which whether they reach the Description that has been given them, or no, every man may convince himself, by the best of Demonstrations, which is his own trial.  
Now, from all this Discourse, this I am sure is a most natural and direct consequence, That if the ways of Religion, are ways of Pleasantness, than such as are not ways of Pleasantness, are not truly and properly ways of Religion. Upon which ground it is easy to see what judgement is to be passed upon all those affected, uncommanded, absurd Austerities, so much prized, and exercised by some of the Romish Profession. Pilgrimages, going barefoot, Hair-Shirts, and Whips, with other such Gospel-Artillery, are their only helps to Devotion: Things never enjoined, either by the Prophets under the Jewish, or by the Apostles under the Christian Oeconomy; who yet surely understood the proper, and the most efficacious Instruments of Piety, as well as any Confessor, or Friar of all the Order of St. Francis, or any Casuist whatsoever.  
It seems, that with them, a man sometimes cannot be a Penitent, unless he also turns Vagabond, and feet it to jerusalem; or wanders over this or that part of the world to visit the Shrine of such or such a pretended Saint; though perhaps in his Life, ten times more ridiculous than themselves: Thus, that which was Cain's Curse, is become their Religion. He that thinks to expiate a Sin by going barefoot, does the Penance of a Goose; and only makes one Folly, the Atonement of another. Paul indeed was Scourged and Beaten by the Jews, but we never read that he Beat or Scourged himself: and if they think that his keeping under of his Body imports so much; they must first prove, that the Body cannot be kept under by a Virtuous mind, and that the mind cannot be made Virtuous but by a Scourge; and consequently that Thongs and Whipcord are means of Grace, and things necessary to Salvation. The Truth is, if men's Religion lies no deeper than their Skin, it is possible that they may Scourge themselves into very great Improvements.  
But they will find that Bodily exercise touches not the Soul; and that neither Pride, nor Lust, nor Covetousness, nor any other Vice was ever Mortified by Corporal Disciplines: 'tis not the Back, but the Heart that must Bleed for Sin: and consequently, that in this whole course they are like men out of their way; let them Lash on never so fast, they are not at all the nearer to their Journeys end: and howsoever they deceive themselves and others, they may as well expect to bring a Cart, as a Soul to Heaven by such means. What arguments they have to beguile poor Simple, unstable Souls with, I know not; but surely the Practical Casuistical, that is, the Principal, Vital part of their Religion savours very little of Spirituality.  
And now upon the result of all, I suppose that to exhort men to be Religious, is only in other words to exhort them to take their Pleasure. A pleasure High, Rational, and Angelical; a pleasure, embased with no appendent sting, no consequent Loathing, no Remorses, or bitter farewells: But such an one, as being Honey in the Mouth never turns to Gall or Gravel in the Belly. A pleasure made for the Soul and the Soul for that; suitable to its Spirituality, and equal to all its Capacities. Such an one as grows fresher upon Enjoyment and though continually Fed upon, yet is never Devoured. A pleasure that a Man may call as properly his own, as his Soul and his Conscience; neither liable to Accident, nor exposed to Injury. It is the fore-taste of Heaven, and the Earnest of Eternity. In a word, it is such an one, as being begun in Grace, passes into Glory, Blessedness and Immortality, and those pleasures that neither Eye has seen, nor Ear heard, nor has it entered into the Heart of Man to Conceive.  To which God of his Mercy vouchsafe to bring us all: to whom be rendered and ascribed, as is most due, all Praise, Might, Majesty, and Dominion, both now and for evermore. Amen.  

A SERMON Preached at the Cathedral Church of S. PAUL, Novemb. 9 th'. 1662.  

To the Right Honourable, The Lord Mayor and Aldermen Of the City of LONDON.  
Right Honourable,  
WHen I consider how impossible it is for a person of my condition to produce, and consequently how imprudent to attempt, any thing in proportion either to the Ampleness of the Body you represent, or of the Places you bear, I should be kept from venturing so poor a piece, designed to live but an hour, in so lasting a Publication; did not what your Civility calls a Request, your Greatness render a Command. The truth is, in things not unlawful great Persons cannot be properly said to request, because, all things considered, they must not be denied. To me it was Honour enough to have your Audience; enjoyment enough to behold your happy Change, and to see the same City, the Metropolis of Loyalty and of the Kingdom; to behold the Glory of English Churches reform, that is, delivered from the Reformers; and to find at least the service of the Church repaired, though not the buildings; to see St. Paul's delivered from Beasts here, as well as St. Paul at Ephesus: and to view the Church thronged only with Troops of Auditors, not of Horse. This I could fully have acquiesced in, and received a large personal reward in my Particular share of the public joy; but since you are further pleased, I will not say by your judgement to approve, but by your Acceptance to encourage the raw Endeavours of a young Divine, I shall take it for an Opportunity, not as others in their sage Prudence use to do, to quote three or four Texts of Scripture, and to tell you how you are to Rule the City out of a Concordance; no, I bring not Instructions, but what much better befits both you and myself, your Commendations. For I look upon your City as the great and magnificent stage of Business, and by consequence the best place of Improvement; for from the School we go to the University, but from the Universities to London. And therefore as in your City-Meetings you must be esteemed the most considerable Body of the Nation; so met in the Church, I look upon you as an Auditory fit to be waited on, as you are, by both Universities. And when I remember how instrumental you have been to recover this universal settlement, and to retrieve the old Spirit of Loyalty to Kings (as an ancient testimony of which you bear not the Sword in vain) I seem in a manner deputed from Oxford, not so much a Preacher to supply a course, as Orator to present her thanks. As for the ensuing Discourse, which, (lest I chance to be traduced for a Plagiary by him who has played the thief) I think fit to tell the world by the way, was one of those that by a worthy hand were stolen from me in the King's Chapel and are still detained; and to which now accidentally published by your Honour's Order, your Patronage must give both value, and protection. You will find me in it not to have pitched upon any subject, that men's guilt, and the consequent of guilt, their concernment might render liable to exception; nor to have rubbed up the memory of what some heretofore in the City did, which more and better now detest, and therefore expiate: but my subject is inoffensive; harmless, and innocent as the state of innocence itself, and (I hope) suitable to the present design and Genius of this Nation; which is or should be, to return to that Innocence, which it lost long since the fall. Briefly, my business is, by describing what Man was in his first estate, to upbraid him with what he is in his present: between whom Innocent, and Fallen (that in a word I may suit the subject to the place of my discourse) there is as great an unlikeness, as between S. Paul's a Cathedral, and S. Paul's a Stable. But I must not forestall myself, nor transcribe the work into the Dedication. I shall now only desire you to accept the issue of your own requests; the gratification of which I have here consulted so much before my own reputation: while like the poor Widow I endeavour to show my officiousness by an offering, though I betray my poverty by the measure; not so much caring though I appear neither Preacher nor Scholar, (which terms we have been taught upon good reason to distinguish) so I may in this but show myself  
Your Honours very humble Servant, Robert South. Worcester-house, Nou. 24. 1662.   
GENESIS 1.27. 
So God created man in his own Image, in the image of God created he him.  
HOW hard it is for Natural Reason to discover a Creation before revealed, or being revealed to believe it, the strange opinions of the old Philosophers, and the Infidelity of modern Atheists, is too sad a Demonstration. To run the world back to its first original and Infancy; and (as it were) to view Nature in its cradle, to trace the out-going of the Ancient of days in the first Instance and Specimen of his Creative Power, is a research too great for any mortal Enquiry: and we might continue our Scrutiny to the end of the World, before Natural Reason would be able to find out when it begun.  
Epicurus his Discourse concerning the Original of the World is so fabulous and ridiculously merry, that we may well judge the Design of his Philosophy to have been Pleasure, and not Instruction.  
Aristotle held, That it streamed by connatural Result and Emanation from God, the Infinite and Eternal Mind, as the Light issues from the Sun; so that there was no Instant of Duration assignable of God's eternal existence, in which the World did not also co-exist.  
Others held a Fortuitous Concourse of Atoms. But all seem jointly to explode a Creation; still beating upon this ground, that to produce Something out of Nothing is Impossible and Incomprehensible. Imcomprehensible indeed I grant, but not therefore Impossible. There is not the least transaction of sense and motion in the whole man, but Philosophers are at a loss to comprehend, I am sure they are to explain, it. Wherefore it is not always rational to measure the truth of an assertion by the standard of our Apprehension.  
But to bring things even to the bare perceptions of Reason, I appeal to any one, who shall impartially reflect upon the Ideas and Conceptions of his own mind, whether he doth not find it as easy and suitable to his Natural Notions, to conceive that an Infinite Almighty Power might produce a thing out of nothing, and make that to exist De Novo, which did not exist before; as to conceive the World to have had no Beginning, but to have existed from Eternity: Which, were it so proper for this place and exercise, I could easily demonstrate to be attended with no small train of absurdities. But then, besides that the acknowledging of a Creation is safe, and the denial of it dangerous and irreligious, and yet not more (perhaps much less) demonstrable than the affirmative; so over and above it gives me this advantage, That, let it seem never so strange, uncouth, and impossible, the Nonplus of my Reason will yield a fairer opportunity to my Faith.  
In this Chapter we have God surveying the works of the Creation, and leaving this general Impress or Character upon them, That they were exceeding good. What an Omnipotence wrought, we have an Omniscience to approve. But as it is reasonable to imagine that there is more of design, and consequently more of perfection, in the last work, we have God here giving his last stroke, and summing up all into Man, the Whole into a Part, the Universe into an Individual: so that whereas in other Creatures we have but the Trace of his Footsteps, in Man we have the Draught of his hand. In him were united all the scattered perfections of the Creature; all the Graces and Ornaments, all the Airs and Features of Being, were abridged into this small, yet full System of Nature and Divinity. As we might well imagine that the great Artificer would be more than ordinarily exact in Drawing his own Picture.  
The Work that I shall undertake from these words, shall be to show what this Image of God in Man is, and wherein it doth consist. Which I shall do these two ways: 1. Negatively, by showing wherein it does not consist. 2. Positively, by showing wherein it does.  
For the first of these we are to remove the erroneous opinion of the Socinians. They deny that the Image of God consisted in any Habitual Perfections that adorned the Soul of Adam: But as to his Understanding bring him in Void of all Notion, a rude unwritten Blank; making him to be created as much an Infant as others are born; sent into the world only to read and spell out a God in the Works of Creation, to learn by degrees, till at length his Understanding grew up to the stature of his Body. Also without any inherent habits of Virtue in his Will; thus divesting him of all, and stripping him to his bare Essence. So that all the perfection they allowed his Understanding was Aptness and Docility, and all that they attributed to his Will was a possibility to be Virtuous.  
But wherein then according to their opinion did this Image of God consist? Why, in that Power and Dominion that God gave Adam over the Creatures: In that he was vouched his immediate Deputy upon Earth, the Viceroy of the Creation, and Lord Lieutenant of the World. But that this Power and Dominion is not adequately and formally the Image of God, but only a part of it, is clear from hence; because than he that had most of this, would have most of God's Image: And consequently Nimrod had more of it than Noah, Saul than Samuel, the Persecutors than the Martyrs, and Caesar than Christ himself, which to assert is a Blasphemous Paradox. And if the Image of God is only Grandeur, Power and Sovereignty, certainly we have been hitherto much mistaken in our Duty: and hereafter are by all means to beware of making ourselves unlike God, by too much Self-denial and Humility. I am not ignorant that some may distinguish between 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, between a Lawful Authority and an Actual Power; and affirm, that God's Image consists only in the former: which wicked Princes, such as Saul and Nimrod, have not, though they possess the latter. But to this I answer, 

1. That the Scripture neither makes nor owns such a distinction, nor any where asserts, that when princes begin to be wicked, they cease of right to be Governors. Add to this, that when God renewed this Charter of Man's Sovereignty over the Creatures to Noah and his family, we find no exception at all, but that I'm stood as fully invested with this Right as any of his Brethren.  
2. But secondly, This savours of something ranker than Socinianism, even the Tenants of the Fifth Monarchy, and of Sovereignty founded only upon Saintship; and therefore fitter to be answered by the Judge, than by the Divine; and to receive its confutation at the Bar of Justice, than from the Pulpit.    
Having now made our way through this false Opinion, we are in the next place to lay down positively what this Image of God in Man is. It is in short, That Universal Rectitude of all the faculties of the Soul, by which they stand apt and disposed to their respective Offices and Operations. Which will be more fully set forth, by taking a distinct survey of it, in the several faculties belonging to the soul.  

1. In the Understanding.  
2. In the Will.  
3. In the Passions or Affections.   
1. And first for its noblest faculty, the Understanding: It was then sublime, clear, and aspiring, and, as it were, the soul's upper region, lofty and serene, free from the vapours and disturbances of the inferior affections. It was the leading, controlling faculty; all the Passions wore the colours of Reason; it did not so much persuade, as command; it was not Consul but Dictator. Discourse was then almost as quick as Intuition; it was nimble in proposing, firm in concluding; it could sooner determine than now it can dispute. Like the Sun, it had both light and agility; it knew no rest but in motion; no quiet, but in activity. It did not so properly apprehend, as irradiate the Object; not so much find, as make things intelligible. It did arbitrate upon the several Reports of sense, and all the varieties of Imagination; not like a drowsy judge, only hearing, but also directing their Verdict. In sum, it was vegete, quick, and lively; open as the Day, untainted as the Morning, full of the innocence and spriteliness of Youth; it gave the Soul a bright and a full view into all things, and was not only a Window, but itself the Prospect. Briefly, there is as much difference between the clear Representations of the understanding then, and the obscure discoveries that it makes now, as there is between the Prospect of a Casement, and of a Keyhole.  
Now as there are two great functions of the Soul, Contemplation, and Practice, according to that general division of Objects, some of which only entertain our Speculation, others also employ our Actions; so the Understanding with relation to these, not because of any distinction in the faculty itself, is accordingly divided into Speculative and Practic; in both of which the Image of God was then apparent.  
1. For the Understanding Speculative. There are some general Maxims and Notions in the mind of Man, which are the rules of Discourse, and the basis of all Philosophy. As that the same thing cannot at the same time be, and not be. That the Whole is bigger than a Part. That two Proportions equal to a third, must also be equal to one another. Aristotle indeed affirms the Mind to be at first a mere Rasa tabula; and that these Notions are not ingenite, and imprinted by the finger of Nature, but by the latter and more languid impressions of sense; being only the Reports of observation, and the Result of so many repeated Experiments.  
But to this I answer two things.  

1. That these Notions are universal, and what is universal must needs proceed from some Universal, constant Principle, the same in all particulars; which here can be nothing else but humane Nature.  
2. These cannot be infused by observation, because they are the rules by which men take their first apprehensions and observations of things, and therefore in order of Nature must needs precede them: As the being of the Rule must be before its application to the thing directed by it. From whence it follows, that these were Notions not descending from us, but born with us; not our Offspring, but our Brethren; and (as I may so say) such as we were taught without the help of a Teacher.   
Now it was Adam's happiness in the state of innocence to have these clear and unsullied. He came into the World a Philosopher, which sufficiently appeared by his writing the Nature of things upon their Names: he could view Essences in themselves, and read Forms without the comment of their respective Properties: he could see Consequents yet dormant in their principles, and effects yet unborn and in the Womb of their Causes: his understanding could almost pierce into future contingents; his conjectures improving even to Prophecy, or the certainties of Prediction; till his fall it was ignorant of nothing but of Sin; or at least it rested in the notion without the smart of the Experiment. Could any difficulty have been proposed, the resolution would have been as early as the proposal; it could not have had time to settle into Doubt. Like a better Archimedes, the issue of all his Inquiries was an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the offspring of his Brain without the sweat of his Brow. Study was not then a Duty, night-watching were needless; the light of Reason wanted not the assistance of a Candle. This is the doom of fallen man to labour in the fire, to seek truth in profundo, to exhaust his time and impair his health, and perhaps to spin out his days, and himself into one pitiful, controverted Conclusion. There was then no poring, no struggling with memory, no straining for Invention. His faculties were quick and expedite; they answered without knocking, they were ready upon the first summons, there was freedom, and firmness in all their Operations. I confess 'tis difficult for us who date our ignorance from our first Being, and were still bred up with the same infirmities about us, with which we were born, to raise our thoughts, and imagination to those intellectual perfections that attended our Nature in the time of Innocence; as it is for a Peasant bred up in the obscurities of a Cottage, to fancy in his mind the unseen splendours of a Court. But by rating Positives by their Privatives, and other Arts of Reason, by which discourse supplies the want of the Reports of sense, we may collect the Excellency of the Understanding then, by the glorious remainders of it now, and guests at the stateliness of the building, by the magnificence of its ruins. All those arts, rarities, and inventions, which vulgar minds gaze at, the ingenious pursue, and all admire, are but the relics of an Intellect defaced with Sin and Time. We admire it now, only as Antiquaries do a piece of old Coin, for the Stamp it once bore, and not for those vanishing lineaments, and disappearing draughts, that remain upon it at present. And certainly, that must needs have been very glorious, the decays of which are so admirable. He that is comely, when old and decrepit, surely was very beautiful, when he was young. An Aristotle was but the rubbish of an Adam, and Athens but the rudiments of Paradise.  
2. The Image of God was no less resplendent in that, which we call man's Practical Understanding; namely, that store-house of the Soul, in which are treasured up the rules of Action, and the seeds of Morality. Where, we must observe, that many, who deny all Connate Notions in the Speculative Intellect, do yet admit them in this. Now of this sort are these Maxims, That God is to be worshipped. That Parents are to be honoured. That a man's word is to be kept, and the like; which, being of universal influence, as to the regulation of the behaviour, and converse of mankind, are the ground of all virtue, and civility, and the foundation of Religion.  
It was the Privilege of Adam Innocent, to have these Notions also firm and untainted, to carry his Monitor in his bosom, his Law in his heart, and to have such a Conscience, as might be its own Casuist: And certainly those Actions must needs be regular, where there is an Identity between the rule and the faculty. His own mind taught him a due dependence upon God, and chalked out to him the just proportions, and measures of behaviour to his fellow-creatures. He had no Catechism but the Creation, needed no Study but Reflection, read no Book but the volume of the world, and that too not for Rules to work by, but for Objects to work upon. Reason was his Tutor, and First principles his magna moralia. The Decalogue of Moses was but a Transcript, not an Original. All the Laws of Nations and wise Decrees of State, the Statutes of Solon, and the twelve Tables, were but a paraphrase upon this standing rectitude of Nature, this fruitful principle of Justice, that was ready to run out, and enlarge itself into suitable determinations, upon all emergent objects, and occasions. Justice then was neither blind to discern, nor lame to execute. It was not subject to be imposed upon by a deluded fancy, nor yet to be bribed by a glozing appetite, for an Utile or jucundum to turn the balance to a false or dishonest sentence. In all its directions of the inferior faculties, it conveyed its suggestions with clearness, and enjoined them with power; it had the Passions in perfect subjection; and though its command over them was but suasive, and political, yet it had the force of coaction, and despotical. It was not then, as it is now, where the Conscience has only power to disapprove, and to protest against the exorbitances of the Passions; and rather to wish, than make them otherwise. The voice of Conscience now is low, and weak, chastising the Passions, as old Eli did his lustful, domineering Sons; Not so, my Sons, not so: but the voice of Conscience than was not, This should, or this aught to be done; but this must, this shall be done. It spoke like a Legislator: the thing spoke was a Law: and the manner of speaking it a new Obligation. In short, there was as great a disparity between the Practical dictates of the understanding then, and now, as there is between empire and advice, counsel and command, between a companion and a governor.  
And thus much for the Image of God as it shone in man's understanding.  
2. Let us in the next place take a view of it, as it was stamped upon the Will. It is much disputed by Divines concerning the power of man's will to Good and Evil in the state of Innocence; and upon very nice, and dangerous precipices stand their determinations on either side. Some hold that God invested him with a power to stand, so that in the strength of that power received, he might without the auxiliaries of any further influence have determined his will to a full choice of good. Others hold, that notwithstanding this power, yet it was impossible for him, to exert it in any good action, without a superadded assistance of grace, actually determining that power to the certain production of such an act. So that, whereas some distinguish between sufficient and effectual grace; they order the matter so, as to acknowledge none sufficient, but what is indeed effectual, and actually productive of a good action. I shall not presume to interpose dogmatically in a controversy, which I look never to see decided. But concerning the latter of these Opinions, I shall only give these two remarks.  

1. That it seems contrary to the common and natural conceptions of all mankind, who acknowledge themselves able, and sufficient to do many things, which actually they never do.  
2. That to assert, that God looked upon Adam's fall as a sin, and punished it as such, when, without any antecedent sin of his, he withdrew that actual grace from him, upon the withdrawing of which, it was impossible for him not to fall, seems a thing that highly reproaches the essential equity and goodness of the divine Nature.   
Wherefore doubtless the will of man in the state of Innocence, had an entire freedom, a perfect equipendency and indifference to either part of the contradiction, to stand, or not to stand; to accept, or not accept the temptation. I will grant the Will of man now to be as much a slave as any one will have it, and be only free to Sin; that is, instead of a liberty, to have only a licentiousness; yet certainly this is not Nature, but Chance. We were not born crooked, we learned these windings and turnings of the Serpent: and therefore it cannot but be a blasphemous piece of ingratitude to ascribe them to God; and to make the plague of our Nature the Condition of our Creation.  
The Will was then ductile, and pliant to all the motions of right Reason, it met the dictates of a clarified understanding half way. And the Active informations of the Intellect, filling the Passive reception of the Will, like Form closing with Matter, grew actuate into a third, and distinct perfection of Practice: The Understanding and Will never disagreed, for the proposals of the one never thwarted the inclinations of the other. Yet neither did the Will servilely attend upon the Understanding, but as a favourite does upon his Prince, where the Service is Privilege, and Preferment; or as Solomon's servants waited upon him, it admired its wisdom, and heard its prudent dictates, and counsels, both the direction, and the reward of its obedience. It is indeed the nature of this faculty to follow a Superior guide, to be drawn by the Intellect; but than it was drawn, as a Triumphant Chariot, which at the same time both follows and triumphs; while it obeyed this, it commanded the other faculties. It was subordinate, not enslaved to the Understanding: Not as a Servant to a Master, but as a Queen to her King; who both acknowledges a Subjection, and yet retains a Majesty.  
Pass we now downward from man's Intellect and Will,  
3. To the Passions; which have their residence and situation chiefly in the Sensitive Appetite. For we must know, that inasmuch as man is a compound and mixture of Flesh as well as Spirit, the soul during its abode in the body, does all things by the mediation of these Passions, and inferior affections. And here the Opinion of the Stoics was famous and singular, who looked upon all these, as sinful defects and irregularities, as so many deviations from right Reason, making Passion to be only another word for Perturbation. Sorrow in their esteem was a sin scarce to be expiated by another; to pity was a fault, to rejoice an extravagance, and the Apostle's advice, to be angry and sin not, was a contradiction in their Philosophy. But in this, they were constantly out-voted by other Sects of Philosophers, neither for fame, nor number less than themselves: So that all arguments brought against them from Divinity would come in by way of overplus to their confutation. To us let this be sufficient, that our Saviour Christ, who took upon him all our natural infirmities, but none of our sinful, has been seen to Weep, to be Sorrowful, to Pity, and to be Angry. Which shows that there might be gall in a Dove, passion without Sin, fire without smoke, and motion without disturbance. For it is not bare agitation, but the sediment at the bottom, that troubles and defiles the Water. And when we see it windy and dusty, the wind does not (as we use to say) make, but only raise a dust.  
Now, though the Schools reduce all the Passions to these two heads, the concupiscible, and the irascible Appetite: yet, I shall not tie myself to an exact prosecution of them under this Division; but at this time leaving both their terms and their method to themselves, consider only the principal and most noted Passions, from whence we may take an estimate of the rest.  
And first, for the grand leading affection of all, which is Love. This is the great Instrument and Engine of Nature, the bond and cement of Society, the spring and spirit of the Universe. Love is such an affection, as cannot so properly be said to be in the Soul, as the Soul to be in that. It is the whole man wrapped up into one desire, all the powers, vigour and faculties of the Soul abridged into one inclination. And it is of that active, restless nature, that it must of necessity exert itself; and like the fire, to which it is so often compared, it is not a free Agent, to choose whether it will heat or no, but it streams forth by natural results, and unavoidable emanations. So that it will fasten upon an inferior, unsuitable Object, rather than none at all. The Soul may sooner leave off to subsist, than to love; and like the Vine, it withers and dies, if it has nothing to embrace. Now this affection in the state of Innocence was happily pitched upon its right Object; it flamed up in direct fervours of devotion to God, and in collateral emissions of charity to its Neighbour. It was not then only another and more cleanly name for Lust. It had none of those impure heats, that both represent and deserve Hell. It was a Vestal and a Virgin-fire, and differed as much from that which usually passes by this name nowadays, as the vital heat from the burning of a Fever.  
Then for the contrary Passion of Hatred. This we know is the Passion of defiance, and there is a kind of aversation and hostility included in its very essence and being. But then (if there could have been hatred in the world, when there was scarce any thing odious) it would have acted within the compass of its proper object. Like Aloes, bitter indeed, but wholesome. There would have been no rancour, no hatred of our Brother: An innocent nature could hate nothing that was innocent. In a word, so great is the commutation, that the Soul then hated only that, which now only it loves, i. e. Sin.  
And if we may bring Anger under this head, as being according to some, a transient hatred, or at least very like it: This also, as unruly as now it is, yet than it vented itself by the measures of reason. There was no such thing as the transports of malice, or the violences of revenge: no rendering evil for evil, when evil was truly a nonentity, and no where to be found. Anger then was like the sword of Justice, keen, but innocent and righteous. It did not act like fury, and then call itself zeal. It always espoused God's honour: and never kindled upon any thing but in order to a Sacrifice. It sparkled like the coal upon the Altar, with the fervours of piety, the heats of devotion, the sallies and vibrations of an harmless activity. In the next place, for the lightsome Passion of joy.. It was not that, which now often usurps this name; that trivial, vanishing, superficial thing, that only gilds the apprehension, and plays upon the surface of the Soul. It was not the mere crackling of thorns, a sudden blaze of the Spirits, the exultation of a tickled fancy, or a pleased appetite. Joy was then a masculine and a severe thing: the recreation of the Judgement, the Jubilee of Reason. It was the result of a real good suitably applied. It commenced upon the solidities of Truth, and the substance of Fruition. It did not run out in voice, or undecent eruptions, but filled the Soul, as God does the Universe, silently and without noise. It was refreshing, but composed; like the pleasantness of youth tempered with the gravity of age; or the mirth of a festival managed with the silence of contemplation.  
And, on the other side, for Sorrow. Had any loss or disaster made but room for grief, it would have moved according to the severe allowances of Prudence, and the proportions of the provocation. It would not have sallied out into complaint, or loudness, nor spread itself upon the face, and writ sad stories upon the forehead. No wring of the hands, knocking the breast, or wishing one's self unborn; all which are but the ceremonies of sorrow, the pomp and ostentation of an effeminate grief: which speak not so much the greatness of the misery, as the smallness of the mind. Tears may spoil the eyes, but not wash away the affliction. Sighs may exhaust the man, but not eject the burden. Sorrow then would have been as silent as Thoughts, as severe as Philosophy. It would have rested in inward senses, tacit dislikes: and the whole scene of it been transacted in sad and silent reflections.  
Then again for Hope. Though indeed the fullness and affluence of man's enjoyments in the state of Innocence, might seem to leave no place for hope, in respect of any further addition, but only of the prorogation, and future continuance of what already he possessed: Yet doubtless, God who made no faculty but also provided it with a proper object, upon which it might exercise, and lay out itself, even in its greatest innocence, did then exercise man's hopes with the expectations of a better Paradise, or a more intimate admission to himself. For it is not imaginable, that Adam could fix upon such poor, thin enjoyments, as riches, pleasure, and the gaieties of an animal life. Hope indeed was always the Anchor of the Soul, yet certainly it was not to catch or fasten upon such mud. And if, as the Apostle says, no man hopes for that which he sees, much less could Adam then hope for such things as he saw through.  
And lastly, for the affection of Fear. It was then the instrument of caution, not of anxiety; a guard and not a torment to the breast that had it. It is now indeed an unhappiness, the disease of the Soul: it flies from a shadow, and makes more dangers than it avoids: it weakens the Judgement, and betrays the succours of reason. So hard is it to tremble, and not to err, and to hit the mark with a shaking hand. Then it fixed upon him who is only to be feared, God: and yet with a filial fear, which at the same time both fears, and loves. It was awe without amazement, dread without distraction. There was then a beauty even in this very paleness. It was the colour of devotion, giving a lustre to reverence, and a gloss to humility.  
Thus did the Passions then act without any of their present jars, combats, or repugnances; all moving with the beauty of uniformity, and the stillness of composure. Like a well-governed Army, not for fight, but for rank and order. I confess the Scripture does not expressly attribute these several endowments to Adam in his first estate. But all that I have said, and much more, may be drawn out of that short Aphorism, God made man upright, Eccl. 7.29. And since the opposite Weaknesses now infest the nature of Man fallen, if we will be true to the rule of contraries, we must conclude, That those perfections were the lot of man innocent.  
Now from this so exact and regular composure of the faculties, all moving in their due place, each striking in its proper time, there arose, by natural consequence, the crowning perfection of all, A good conscience. For, as in the Body, when the principal parts, as the Heart and Liver, do their offices, and all the inferior, smaller vessels act orderly, and duly, there arises a sweet enjoyment upon the whole, which we call Health. So in the Soul, when the supreme faculties of the Will and Understanding move regularly, the inferior Passions and Affections following, there arises a serenity and complacency upon the whole Soul, infinitely beyond the greatest bodily pleasures, the highest quintessence and Elixir of worldly delights. There is in this case a kind of fragrancy, and spiritual perfume upon the Conscience; much like what Isaac spoke of his son's garments, That the scent of them was like the smell of a field which the Lord had blessed. Such a freshness and flavour is there upon the Soul, when daily watered with the actions of a virtuous life. Whatsoever is pure, is also pleasant.  
Having thus surveyed the Image of God in the Soul of Man, we are not to omit now those characters of Majesty that God imprinted upon the Body. He drew some traces of his Image upon this also; as much as a spiritual Substance could be pictured upon a corporeal. As for the Sect of the Anthropomorphites, who from hence ascribe to God the figure of a Man, eyes, hands, feet, and the like, they are too ridiculous to deserve a confutation. They would seem to draw this impiety from the letter of the Scripture sometimes speaking of God in this manner. Absurdly; as if the mercy of Scripture-expressions ought to warrant the blasphemy of our Opinions. And not rather show us, that God condescends to us, only to draw us to himself; and clothes himself in our likeness, only to win us to his own. The practice of the Papists is much of the same nature, in their absurd and impious picturing of God Almighty: but the wonder in them is the less, since the Image of a Deity may be a proper object for that, which is but the Image of a Religion. But to the purpose: Adam was then no less glorious in his Externals; he had a beautiful Body, as well as an immortal Soul. The whole compound was like a well built Temple, stately without, and sacred within. The Elements were at perfect union and agreement in his Body; and their contrary qualities served not for the dissolution of the compound, but the variety of the composure. Galen, who had no more Divinity, than what his Physic taught him, barely upon the consideration of this so exact frame of the Body, challenges any one upon an hundred years' study, to find, how any the least fiber, or most minute particle might be more commodiously placed, either for the advantage of use, or comeliness. His stature erect, and tending upwards to his Centre; his Countenance Majestic and Comely, with the lustre of a native Beauty, that scorned the poor Assistance of Art, or the Attempts of Imitation; his Body of so much quickness and agility, that it did not only contain, but also represent the Soul: for we might well suppose, that where God did deposit so rich a Jewel, he would suitably adorn the Case. It was a fit Workhouse for sprightly, vivid faculties to exercise and exert themselves in. A fit Tabernacle for an immortal Soul, not only to dwell in, but to contemplate upon: where it might see the World without travel; it being a lesser Scheme of the Creation, nature contracted, a little Cosmography or Map of the Universe. Neither was the Body then subject to distempers, to die by piece-meal, and languish under Coughs, Catarrhs, or Consumptions. Adam knew no disease, so long as temperance from the forbidden fruit secured him. Nature was his Physician: and Innocence, and Abstinence would have kept him healthful to immortality.  
Now the Use of this point might be various, but at present it shall be only this; To remind us of the irreparable loss that we sustained in our first Parents, to show us of how fair a portion Adam disinherited his whole posterity by one single prevarication. Take the picture of a man in the greenness and vivacity of his youth, and in the latter date and declensions of his drooping years, and you will scarce know it to belong to the same person: there would be more art to discern, than at first to draw it. The same and greater is the difference between Man innocent and fallen. He is as it were a new kind or species; the plague of sin has even altered his nature, and eaten into his very essentials. The Image of God is wiped out, the creatures have shaken off his yoke, renounced his Soverignty, and revolted from his dominion. Distempers and Diseases have shattered the excellent frame of his body; and by a new dispensation, Immortality is swallowed up of Mortality. The same disaster, and decay also has invaded his spirituals: the passions rebel, every faculty would usurp and rule; and there are so many governor's, that there can be no government. The light within us is become darkness; and the Understanding, that should be eyes to the blind faculty of the Will, is blind itself, and so brings all the inconveniences, that attend a blind follower under the conduct of a blind guide. He that would have a clear, ocular demonstration of this, let him reflect upon that numerous litter of strange, senseless, absurd Opinions, that crawl about the world, to the disgrace of Reason, and the unanswerable reproach of a broken Intellect.  
The two great perfections, that both adorn, and exercise man's understanding are Philosophy, and Religion: For the first of these; take it even amongst the Professors of it, where it most flourished, and we shall find the very first notions of common sense debauched by them. For there have been such, as have asserted, That there is no such thing in the world as Motion: That Contradictions may be true. There has not been wanting one, that has denied Snow to be white. Such a stupidity or wantonness had seized upon the most raised wits, that it might be doubted, whether the Philosophers, or the Owls, of Athens were the quicker sighted. But then for Religion; What prodigious, monstrous, misshapen births has the Reason of fallen man produced! It is now almost six thousand years, that far the greatest part of the World has had no other Religion but Idolatry. And Idolatry certainly is the firstborn of Folly, the great and leading paradox; nay, the very abridgement and sum total of all absurdities. For is it not strange, that a rational man should worship an Ox, nay the Image of an Ox? that he should fawn upon his Dog? bow himself before a Cat? adore Leeks and Garlick, and shed penitential tears at the smell of a deified Onion? Yet so did the Egyptians, once the famed masters of all arts and learning. And to go a little further; we have yet a stranger instance in Isa. 44.14. A man hews him down a tree in the wood, and part of it he burns, in the 16. ver. and in the 17. ver. with the residue thereof he maketh a God. With one part he furnishes his Chimney, with the other his Chapel. A strange thing, that the fire must first consume this part, and then burn Incense to that. As if there was more Divinity in one end of the stick, than in the other; or, as if it could be graved and painted omnipotent, or the nails and the hammer could give it an Apotheosis. Briefly, so great is the Change, so deplorable the degradation of our nature, that, whereas before, we bore the Image of God, we now retain only the Image of Men.  
In the last place, we learn from hence the excellency of Christian Religion, in that it is the great and only means, that God has sanctified and designed to repair the breaches of Humanity, to set fallen man upon his legs again, to clarify his Reason, to rectify his Will, and to compose and regulate his affections. The whole business of our Redemption is, in short, only to rub over the defaced copy of the Creation, to re-print God's Image upon the Soul, and (as it were) to set forth Nature in a second, and a fairer edition.  
The recovery of which lost Image, as it is God's pleasure to command, and our duty to endeavour, so it is in his power only to effect.  To whom be rendered and ascribed, as is most due, all praise, might, majesty and dominion, both now and for evermore. Amen.   

INTEREST DEPOSED, AND TRUTH RESTORED: OR, A Word in Season, delivered in Two SERMONS: The first at St. MARY'S in OXFORD, on the 24 th' of july, 1659. being the time of the Assizes: as also of the Fears and Groans of the Nation in the threatened and expected Ruin of the Laws, Ministry, and Universities. The other Preached before the Honourable Society of LINCOLN'S-INN.  

TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL EDWARD ATKINS, Sergeant at Law, and formerly one of the Justices of the COMMON-PLEAS.  
Honoured Sir,  
THough at first it was free, and in my choice, whether or no I should publish these Discourses, yet the Publication being once Resolved, the Dedication was not so indifferent; the Nature of the Subject, no less than the Obligations of the Author, styling them in a peculiar manner, Yours: For since their drift is to carry the most Endangered, and Endangering Truth, above the Safest, when sinful, Interest; as a Practice upon grounds of Reason the most Generous, and of Christianity the most Religious; to whom rather should this Assertion repair as to a Patron, than to Him whom it has for an instance? Who in a case of eminent competition, chose Duty before Interest; and when the judge grew inconsistent with the justice, preferred rather to be Constant to sure Principles, than to an Un-constant Government: And to retreat to an Innocent and Honourable privacy, than to sit and Act iniquity by a Law; and make your Age and Conscience, (the one Venerable, the other Sacred) Drudges to the tyranny of Fanatic, Perjured Usurpers. The next attempt of this Discourse is a Defence of the Ministry, and that, at such a time when none owned them upon the Bench, (for then you had quitted it) but when on the contrary we lived to hear one in the very face of the University, (as it were in defiance of us and our Profession) openly in his Charge, defend the Quakers and fanatics, persons not fit to be named in such Courts, but in an Indictment. But, Sir, in the Instructions I here presumed to give to others, concerning what they should do, you may take a narrative of what you have done: what respected their Actions as a Rule or Admonition, applied to yours is only a Rehearsal, whose Zeal in asserting the Ministerial Cause is so generally known, so gratefully acknowledged, that I dare affirm, that, in what I deliver, you read the words indeed of One, but the Thanks of All. Which affectionate Concernment of yours for them, seems to argue a Spiritual sense, and experimental Taste of their Works, and that you have reaped as much from their Labours, as others have done from their Lands: For to me it seemed always strange, and next to impossible, that a man, converted by the word Preached, should ever hate and persecute a Preacher. And since you have several times in discourse declared yourself for that Government in the Church, which is founded upon Scripture, Reason, Apostolical Practice and Antiquity, and (we are sure) the only one that can consist with the Present Government of State, I thought the latter Discourse also might fitly address itself to you, in the which you may read your judgement, as in the other your Practice. And now, since it has pleased Providence, at length to turn our Captivity, and answer persecuted Patience with the unexpected returns of Settlement; to remove our Rulers, and restore our Ruler; and not only to make our Exactors Righteousness, but, what is better, to give us Righteousness instead of Exaction, and hopes of Religion to a Church worried with reformation; I believe, upon a due and impartial Reflection on what is past, you now find no cause to Repent, that you never dipped your hands in the Bloody High Courts of Justice, properly so called only by Antiphrasis; nor ever prostituted the Scarlet Robe to those Employments, in which you must have worn the Colour of your Sin in the Badge of your Office: but, notwithstanding all the Enticements of a Prosperous Villainy, abhorred the purchase, when the price was Blood. So that now being privileged by an happy Unconcernment in those legal murders, you may take a sweeter relish of your own Innocence, by beholding the misery of others Gild, who being Guilty before God, and infamous before men, Obnoxious to both, begin to find the first-fruits of their sin in the Universal scorn of all, their apparent Danger, and unlikely Remedy: which beginnings being at length consummated by the hand of justice, the cry of Blood and Sacrilege will cease, men's doubts will be Satisfied, and Providence Absolved.  
And thus, Sir, having presumed to honour my first Essays in Divinity, by prefixing to them a Name, to which Divines are so much obliged; I should here in the close of this Address, contribute a Wish at least to your Happiness: But since we desire it not yet in another World, and your Enjoyments in this (according to the Standard of a Christian desire) are so complete, that they require no Addition; I shall turn my Wishes into Gratulations, and congratulating their fullness only wish their continuance: Praying that you may still Possess what you Possess; and Do what you Do; that is, reflect upon a clear, unblotted, acquitting Conscience, and feed upon the ineffable Comforts of the Memorial of a Conquered temptation; without the danger of returning to the Trial. And this (Sir) I account the greatest felicity that you can enjoy, and therefore the greatest that he can desire, who is  
Yours in all Observance, RO. SOUTH. Chr. Ch. 25 of May, 1660.   
MATTHEW X. 33. 
But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I deny before my Father which is in Heaven.  
AS the great comprehensive Gospel duty is the denial of Self, so the grand Gospel sin that confronts it, is the denial of Christ. These two are both the commanding and the dividing Principles of all our actions: For whosoever acts in opposition to one, does it always in behalf of the other. None ever opposed Christ, but it was to gratify Self; None ever renounced the Interest of Self, but from a prevailing love to the Interest of Christ. The subject I have here pitched upon, may seem improper in these times, and in this place, where the number of Professors, and of men, is the same; where the Cause and Interest of Christ has been so cried up; and Christ's Personal Reign and Kingdom so called for, and expected. But since it has been still Preached up, but Acted down; and dealt with, as the Eagle in the Fable did with the Oyster, carrying it up on high, that by letting it fall he might dash it in pieces. I say, since Christ must Reign, but his Truths be made to serve; I suppose it is but Reason, to distinguish between Profession & Pretence; and to conclude, that men's present crying, Hail King and bending the knee to Christ, are only in order to his future Crucifixion.  
For the discovery of the sense of the words, I shall inquire into their occasion. From the very beginning of the Chapter we have Christ consulting the propagation of the Gospel; and in order to it (being the only way that he knew to effect it) sending forth a Ministry; and giving them a Commission, together with instructions for the Execution of it. He would have them fully acquainted with the Nature and Extent of their Office; and so he joins Commission with Instruction; by one he conveys Power, by the other Knowledge. Supposing (I conceive) that upon such an Undertaking, the more learned his Ministers were, they would prove never the less 
* In the Parliament 1653, it being put to the Vote whether they should support and encourage A godly and learned Ministry, the latter word was rejected and the vote passed for a Godly and Faithful Ministry.  faithful. And thus having fitted them, and stripped them of all manner of defence, v. 9 He sends them forth amongst wolves: A hard Expedition, you will say, to go amongst wolves; but yet much harder to convert them into Sheep; and no less hard even to discern some of them, possibly being under Sheep's clothing; and so by the advantage of that dress, sooner felt, than discovered: probably also such, as had both the properties of wolves, that is, they could whine and howl, as well as bite and devour. But that they might not go altogether naked among their Enemies, the only Armour that Christ allows them, is Prudence and Innocence; Be ye wise as Serpents, but harmless as Doves, v. 16. Weapons not at all offensive, yet most suitable to their Warfare, whose greatest encounters were to be Exhortations, and whose only Conquest, Escape. Innocence is the best caution, and we may unite the expression, to be wise as a Serpent, is to be harmless as a Dove. Innocence is like polished Armour; it adorns, and it defends. In sum, he tells them, that the opposition, they should meet with, was the greatest imaginable, from the 16. to the 26. v. but in the ensuing verses he promises them an equal proportion of assistance; and, as if it were not an Argument of force enough to outweigh the forementioned discouragements, he casts into the Balance, the promise of a Reward to such as should Execute, and of Punishment to such as should Neglect their Commission: The Reward in the former verse, Whosoever shall confess me before men, etc. the punishment in this, But whosoever shall deny, etc. As if by way of preoccupation he should have said, Well: here you see your Commission, this is your Duty, these are your Discouragements: never seek for shifts and evasions from worldly afflictions; this is your reward, if you perform it, this is your Doom if you decline it.  
As for the Explication of the words, they are clear and easy; and their Originals in the Greek are of single signification, without any ambiguity; and therefore I shall not trouble you, by proposing how they run in this, or that Edition: or straining for an interpretation where there is no difficulty, or distinction where there is no difference. The only Exposition, that I shall give of them, will be to compare them to other Parallel Scriptures, and peculiarly to that in the 8. Mark 38. Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of the Father, with the holy Angels. These words are a Comment upon my Text.  
1. What is here in the Text called a denying of Christ, is there termed a being ashamed of him, that is, in those words the Cause is expressed, and here the Effect: for therefore we deny a thing, because we are ashamed of it. First Peter is ashamed of Christ, than he denies him.  
2. What is here termed a denying of Christ, is there called a being ashamed of Christ and his words: Christ's truths are his second Self. And he that offers a contempt to a King's letters or edicts, virtually affronts the King; it strikes his words, but it rebounds upon his Person.  
3. What is here said, before men, is there phrased, in this adulterous and sinful generation. These words import the hindrance of the duty enjoined; which therefore is here purposely enforced with a non obstante to all opposition. The Term Adulterous I conceive may chiefly relate to the Jews, who being nationally espoused to God by Covenant, every sin of theirs was in a peculiar manner spiritual Adultery.  
4. What is here said, I will deny him before my Father, is there expressed: I will be ashamed of him before my Father and his holy Angels, that is, when he shall come to Judgement, when revenging Justice shall come in pomp, attended with the glorious retinue of all the Host of Heaven. In short, the sentence pronounced declares the Judgement, the solemnity of it the Terror.  
From the words, we may deduce these Observations.  

1. We shall find strong motives and temptations from men, to draw us to a denial of Christ.  
2. No Terrors, or Solicitations from men, though never so great, can Warrant or Excuse such a denial.  
3. To deny Christ's words, is to deny Christ.   
But since these Observations are rather employed, than expressed in the words, I shall wave them, and in stead of deducing a doctrine distinct from the words, prosecute the words themselves under this Doctrinal Paraphrase.  Whosoever shall deny, disown, or be ashamed of either the Person, or truths of jesus Christ, for any fear or favour of man; shall with shame be disowned, and Eternally rejected by him at the dreadful judgement of the great day. 
The discussion of this shall lie in these things.  

1. To show, how many ways Christ and his truths may be denied, and what is the denial here chiefly intended.  
2. To show, what are the causes that induce men to a denial of Christ and his truths.  
3. To show, how far a man may consult his safety in time of persecution, without denying Christ.  
4. To show, what is imported in Christ's denying us before his Father in Heaven.  
5. To apply all to the present Occasion.   
But before I enter upon these, I must briefly premise this, that, though the Text and the Doctrine run peremptory and absolute, Whosoever denies Christ, shall assuredly be denied by him: yet still there is a tacit condition in the words supposed, unless repentance intervene. For this and many other Scriptures, though as to their formal terms they are Absolute, yet as to their sense they are Conditional. God in mercy has so framed, and tempered his word, that we have for the most part, a Reserve of mercy wrapped up in a Curse. And the very first judgement that was pronounced upon fallen man, was with the allay of a promise. Wheresoever we find a Curse to the Guilty expressed, in the same words Mercy to the Penitent is still understood. This premised, I come now to discuss the first thing, viz. How many ways Christ and his truths may be denied, etc. Here, first in general I assert, that we may deny him in all those acts that are capable of being morally good or evil: those are the proper Scene in which we act our confessions or denials of him. Accordingly therefore all ways of denying Christ I shall comprise under these three.  
1. We may deny him and his truths by an Erroneous, Heretical judgement. I know it is doubted whether a bare error in judgement can condemn: but since truths absolutely necessary to salvation, are so clearly revealed, that we cannot err in them, unless we be notoriously wanting to ourselves; herein the fault of the judgement is resolved into a precedent default in the will: and so the case is put out of doubt. But here it may be replied, Are not truths of absolute and fundamental necessity, very disputable; as the Deity of Christ, the Trinity of Persons? if they are not in themselves disputable, why are they so much disputed? Indeed, I believe, if we trace these disputes to their original cause, we shall find, that they never sprung from a reluctancy in Reason to embrace them. For this Reason itself dictates, as most rational, to assent to any thing, though seemingly contrary to Reason, if it is revealed by God, and we are certain of the Revelation. These two supposed, these disputes must needs arise only from curiosity and singularity: and these are faults of a diseased Will. But some will further demand in behalf of these men, whether such as assent to every word in Scripture, (for so will those that deny the natural Deity of Christ and the Spirit) can be yet said in Doctrinals to deny Christ? to this I answer, since words abstracted from their proper sense and signification, lose the nature of words, and are only equivocally so called: inasmuch as the persons we speak of, take them thus, and derive the letter from Christ, but the signification from themselves, they cannot be said properly to assent so much as to the words of the Scripture. And so their case also is clear. But yet more fully to state the matter, how far a denial of Christ in belief and judgement is damnable: We will propose the question, Whether those who hold the Fundamentals of Faith, may deny Christ damnably, in respect of those superstructures and consequences that arise from them? I answer in brief, by fundamental truths are understood, 1. Either such, without the belief of which we cannot be saved; or, 2. such, the belief of which is sufficient to save: If the question be proposed of fundamentals in this latter sense, it contains its own answer; for where a man believes those truths, the belief of which is sufficient to save, there the disbelief or denial of their consequences cannot damn. But what and how many these fundamentals are, it will then be agreed upon, when all Sects, Opinions and Persuasions do unite and consent. 2ly. If we speak of fundamentals in the former sense, as they are only truths, without which we cannot be saved: it is manifest that we may believe them, and yet be damned for denying their consequences: for that which is only a Condition without which we cannot be saved, is not therefore a Cause sufficient to save: much more is required to the latter, than to the former. I conclude therefore, that to deny Christ in our judgement, will condemn, and this concerns the learned: Christ demands the homage of your understanding: he will have your reason bend to him, you must put your Heads under his Feet. And we know, that heretofore, he who had the Leprosy in this part, was to be pronounced utterly unclean. A poisoned reason, an infected judgement is Christ's greatest Enemy. And an Error in the judgement, is like an impostem in the Head, which is always noisome, and frequently mortal.  
2. We may deny Christ verbally, and by oral expressions. Now our words are the interpreters of our hearts, the transcripts of the judgement, with some further addition of good or evil. He that interprets usually enlarges. What our judgement whispers in secret, these proclaim upon the house top. To deny Christ in the former, imports enmity; but in these, open Defiance. Christ's passion is renewed in both: he that mis-judges of him, condemns him; but he that blasphemes him, spits in his face. Thus the Jews and the Pharisees denied Christ. We know that this man is a sinner, John 9.24. and a deceiver, Mat. 27.63. and he casts out devils by the prince of the devils, Mat. 2.24. And thus Christ is daily denied, in many blasphemies printed and divulged, and many horrid Opinions vented against the truth. The Schools dispute whether in morals the external Action superadds any thing of good or evil to the internal elicit Act of the will: but certainly the enmity of our judgements is wrought up to an high pitch before it rages in an open denial. And it is a sign that it is grown too big for the Heart, when it seeks for vent in our words. Blasphemy uttered is Error heightened with Impudence. It is sin scorning a concealment, not only committed, but defended. He, that denies Christ in his judgement, sins, but he that speaks his denial, vouches and owns his sin: and so, by publishing it, does what in him lies, to make it Universal, and by writing it to establish it Eternal. There is another way of denying Christ with our Mouths, which is Negative: that is, when we do not acknowledge and confess him: but of this I shall have occasion to treat under the discussion of the third general Head.  
3. We may deny Christ in our Actions and Practice; and these speak much louder, than our tongues. To have an Orthodox belief, and a true Profession, concurring with a bad life, is only to deny Christ with a greater solemnity. Belief and Profession will speak thee a Christian but very faintly, when thy conversation proclaims thee an infidel. Many, while they have Preached Christ in their Sermons, have read a lecture of Atheism in their practice. We have many here, who speak of Godliness, Mortification and Self-denial; but if these are so, what means the Bleating of the Sheep, and the lowing of the Oxen, the noise of their ordinary sins, and the cry of their great ones? If Godly, why do they wallow and steep in all the carnalities of the world, under pretence of Christian liberty? Why do they make Religion ridiculous by pretending to Prophecy, and when their Prophecies prove delusions, why do they 
* A noted Independent Divine, when Ol. Cromwell was sick, of which sickness he died, declared that God had Revealed to him that he should recover and live 30 years longer, for that God had raised him up for a work which could not be done in less time. But Oliver's Death being published two days after, the said Divine publicly in Prayer expostulated with God the Defeat of his Prophecy in these words. Lord thou hast lied unto us; yea, thou hast lied unto us.  Blaspheme? If such are self-denyers, what means the griping, the prejudice, the covetousness, & the pluralities preached against, and retained, and the Arbitrary Government of many? When such men Preach of self-denial and humility, I cannot but think of Seneca, who praised Poverty, and that very safely, in the midst of his great Riches and Gardens; and even exhorted the world to throw away their Gold, perhaps (as one well conjectures) that he might gather it up: So these desire men to be humble, that they may domineer without opposition. But it is an easy matter to commend patience, when there is no danger of any trial, to extol humility in the midst of honours, to begin a Fast after 
* Very credibly reported to have been done in an Independent Congregation at Oxon.  Dinner. But O how Christ will deal with such persons when he shall draw forth all their Actions bare and stripped from this deceiving veil of their heavenly speeches! He will then say, it was not your sad Countenance nor your hypocritical groaning, by which you did either confess or honour me: but your worldliness, your luxury, your sinister partial dealing; these have denied me, these have wounded me, these have gone to my heart: these have caused the weak to stumble, and the profane to blaspheme: these have offended the one, and hardened the other. You have indeed spoke me fair, you have saluted me with your lips, but even then your betrayed me. Depart from me therefore you professors of holiness, but you workers of iniquity.  
And thus having shown the three ways by which Christ may be denied, it may now be demanded, which is the denial here intended in the words.  
Answer 1. I conceive, if the words are taken as they were particularly and personally directed to the Apostles upon the occasion of their mission to preach the Gospel, so the denial of him, was the not acknowledgement of the Deity or Godhead of Christ; and the reason to prove, that this was then Principally intended, is this; Because this was the truth in those days chiefly opposed, and most disbelieved; as appears, because Christ and the Apostles did most earnestly inculcate the belief of this, and accepted men upon the bare acknowledgement of this, and Baptism was administered to such as did but profess this, Act. 8.37, 38. And indeed as this one Aphorism, jesus Christ is the Son of God, is virtually and eminently the whole Gospel; so, to confess or deny it, is virtually to embrace or reject the whole round and series of Gospel-truths. For he that acknowledges Christ to be the Son of God, by the same does consequentially acknowledge that he is to be believed and obeyed, in whatsoever he does enjoin and deliver to the Sons of men: and therefore that we are to repent and believe and rest upon him for salvation, and to deny ourselves: and within the compass of this is included whatsoever is called Gospel.  
As for the manner of our denying the Deity of Christ here prohibited, I conceive, it was by words and oral expressions verbally to deny, and dis-acknowledge it: This I ground upon these reasons: 

1. Because it was such a denial as was before men, and therefore consisted in open Profession; for a denial in judgement and practice, as such, is not always before men.  
2. Because it was such a denial or confession of him as would appear in Preaching: but this is managed in words and verbal profession.    
But now 2ly. If we take the words, as they are a general precept equally relating to all times, and to all persons, though delivered only upon a particular occasion to the Apostles (as I suppose they are to be understood) so I think they comprehend all the three ways mentioned of confessing or denying Christ: but principally in respect of practice; and that 1. Because by this he is most honoured or dishonoured. 2. Because without this the other two cannot save. 3. Because those who are ready enough to confess him both in judgement and profession, are for the most part very prone to deny him shamefully in their doings.  
Pass we now to a Second thing, viz. to show  
What are the Causes inducing men to deny Christ in his truths. I shall propose Three.  
1. The seeming, supposed absurdity of many truths: upon this foundation Heresy always builds. The Heathens derided the Christians, that still they required and pressed belief, and well they might (say they) since the Articles of their Religion are so absurd, that upon Principles of Science they can never win assent. It is easy to draw it forth and demonstrate, how upon this score the chief Heresies, that now are said to trouble the Church, do oppose and deny the most important truths in Divinity. As first, hear the denier of the Deity, and satisfaction of Christ. What, (says he) can the same person be God and man? the Creature and the Creator? can we ascribe such attributes to the same thing, whereof one implies a Negation and a contradiction of the other? can he be also Finite and Infinite, when to be finite is not to be infinite, and to be infinite not to be finite? And when we distinguish between the Person, and the Nature, was not that distinction an invention of the Schools, savouring rather of Metaphysics, than Divinity? If we say that he must have been God, because he was to mediate between us and God, by the same reason they will reply, we should need a Mediator between us and Christ, who is equally God, equally offended. Then for his satisfaction, they will demand to whom this satisfaction is paid? If to God, than God pays a Price to himself: and what is it else to require and need no satisfaction, than for one to satisfy himself? Next comes in the Denier of the Decrees and Freegrace of God. What, (says he) shall we exhort, admonish, and entreat the Saints to beware of falling away finally, and at the same time assert that it is impossible for them so to fall? what, shall we erect two contradictory Wills in God, or place two contradictories in the same Will? and make the Will of his Purpose and Intention run counter to the Will of his Approbation? Hear another concerning the Scripture and Justification. What, (says the Romanist) rely in matters of faith upon a private Spirit? How do you know this is the sense of such a Scripture? Why, by the Spirit. But how will you try that Spirit to be of God? Why, by the Scripture: this he explodes as a circle, and so derides it. Then for justification. How are you Justified, by an imputed Righteousness? Is it yours before it is imputed, or not? if not, (as we must say) is this to be Justified to have that accounted yours, that is not yours? But again, did you ever hear of any man made rich or wise by imputation? why then Righteous or Just? Now these seeming Paradoxes, attending Gospel truths, cause men of weak, prejudiced intellectuals to deny them, and in them, Christ, being ashamed to own faith so much (as they think) to the disparagement of their Reason.  
2. The Second thing causing men to deny the truths of Christ, is their Unprofitableness. And no wonder, if here men forsake the truth, and assert interest. To be pious is the way to be poor. Truth still gives its followers its own Badge and Livery, a despised nakedness. It is hard to maintain the truth, but much harder to be maintained by it: could it ever yet feed, cloth, or defend its assertors? Did ever any man quench his thirst, or satisfy his hunger with a Notion? Did ever any one live upon Propositions? The testimony of Brutus concerning Virtue, is the apprehension of most concerning Truth: that it is a Name, but lives and estates are things, and therefore not to be thrown away upon Words. That we are neither to worship or cringe to any thing under the Deity is a truth too strict for a Naaman: he can be content to worship the true God, but than it must be in the house of Rimmon: the reason was implied in his condition, he was Captain of the Host, and therefore he thought it reason good to bow to Rimmon, rather than endanger his place: better Bow than Break. Indeed sometimes Providence casts things so, that truth and interest lie the same way: and, when it is wrapped up in this covering, men can be content to follow it, to press hard after it, but it is, as we pursue some beasts, only for their skins: take off the covering, and though men obtain the truth, they would lament the loss of that: As jacob wept and mourned over the torn Coat, when joseph was alive. It is incredible to consider how interest outweighs truth. If a thing in itself be doubtful, let it make for interest and it shall be raised at least into a Probable; and if a truth be certain, and thwart interest, it will quickly fetch it down to but a Probability; nay, if it does not carry with it an impregnable Evidence, it will go near to debase it to a downright falsity. How much interest casts the Balance in cases dubious, I could give sundry instances: let one suffice. And that concerning the unlawfulness of Usury. Most of the Learned men in the World successively, both Heathen and Christian, do assert the taking of Use to be utterly unlawful; yet the Divines of the Reformed Church beyond the Seas, though most severe and rigid in other things, do generally affirm it to be lawful. That the case is doubtful and may be disputed with plausible arguments on either side, we may well grant: But what then is the reason that makes these Divines so unanimously concur in this opinion? Indeed I shall not affirm this to be the reason, but it may seem so to many: that they receive their Salaries by way of pension, in present ready money, and so have no other way to improve them; so that it may be suspected, that the change of their Salary, would be the strongest argument to change their opinion. The truth is, Interest is the grand wheel and spring that moves the whole Universe. Let Christ and Truth say what they will, if Interest will have it, Gain must be Godliness: if Enthusiasm is in request, learning must be inconsistent with Grace. If pay grows short, the University Maintenance must be too great. Rather than Pilate will be counted Caesar's enemy, he will pronounce Christ innocent one hour, and condemn him the next. How Christ is made to truckle under the world, and how his truths are denied and shuffled with for profit and pelf, the clearest proof would be by Induction and Example. But as it is the most clear, so here it would be the most unpleasing: Wherefore I shall pass this over, since the world is now so peccant upon this account, that I am afraid Instances would be mistaken for Invectives.  
3. The third Cause inducing Men to deny Christ in his truths, is their apparent danger. To confess Christ, is the ready way to be cast out of the Synagogue. The Church is a place of Graves, as well as of Worship and Profession. To be resolute in a good cause, is to bring upon ourselves the punishments due to a Bad. Truth indeed is a Possession of the highest value, and therefore it must needs expose the owner to much danger. Christ is sometimes pleased to make the profession of himself costly, and a man cannot buy the truth, but he must pay down his life and his dearest blood for it. Christianity marks a man out for destruction: and Christ sometimes chalks out such a way to Salvation, as shall verify his own saying, He that will save his life shall lose it. The first Ages of the Church had a more abundant experience of this: What Paul and the rest planted by their Preaching, they watered with their Blood. We know their usage was such, as Christ foretold, he sent them to Wolves, and the common course than was Christianos ad Leones. For a man to give his name to Christianity in those days, was to list himself a Martyr, and to bid farewell not only to the pleasures, but also to the hopes of this life. Neither was it a single death only that then attended this profession, but the terror and sharpness of it was redoubled in the manner and circumstance. They had Persecutors, whose Invention was as great as their cruelty. Wit and Malice conspired to find out such tortures, such deaths, and those of such incredible anguish, that only the manner of dying was the punishment, Death itself the deliverance. To be a Martyr signifies only to witness the truth of Christ, but the witnessing of the truth was then so generally attended with this Event, that Martyrdom now signifies not only to witness, but to witness by death. The word besides its own signification importing their practice. And since Christians have been freed from Heathens, Christians themselves have turned persecutors. Since Rome from Heathen was turned Christian, it has improved its persecution into an Inquisition. Now, when Christ and truth are upon these terms, that men cannot confess him, but upon pain of death, the reason of their Apostasy and Denial is clear, men will be wise and leave Truth and Misery to such as love it, they are resolved to be Cunning, let others run the hazard of being Sincere. If they must be good at so high a rate, they know they may be safe at a cheaper. Si negare sufficiat, quis erit Nocens? If to deny Christ will save them, the truth shall never make them guilty. Let Christ and his flock lie open and exposed to all weather of persecution, Foxes will be sure to have holes. And if it comes to this, that they must either renounce their Religion, deny and Blaspheme Christ, or forfeit their lives to the fire or the sword, it is but inverting Iob's wife's advice, Curse God, and live.  
3. We proceed now to the Third thing, which is to show, how far a man may consult his safety, etc.  
This he may do two ways.  
1. By withdrawing his Person. Martyrdom is an Heroic act of Faith. An Achievement beyond an Ordinary pitch of it: to you, says the Spirit, it is given to suffer, Phil. 1.29. It is a peculiar additional gift: it is a distinguishing excellency of degree, not an essential consequent of its Nature. Be ye harmless as Doves says Christ; and it is as Natural to them to take flight upon danger, as to be Innocent: Let every man throughly consult the temper of his faith, and weigh his courage with his fears, his weakness and his Resolutions together, and take the measure of both, and see which preponderateth, and if his spirit faints, if his heart misgives and melts at the very thoughts of the fire, let him fly and secure his own soul, and Christ's honour. Non negat Christum fugiendo, qui ideò fugit, né neget: He does not deny Christ by flying, who therefore flies, that he may not deny him. Nay, he does not so much decline, as rather change his Martyrdom: He flies from the flame, but repairs to a Desert; to poverty and hunger in a wilderness. Whereas, if he would dispense with his conscience, and deny his Lord, or swallow down two or three Contradictory oaths, he should neither fear the one, nor be forced to the other.  
2. By concealing his judgement. A man sometimes is no more bound to speak, than to destroy himself; and as Nature abhors this, so Religion does not command that. In the times of the Primitive Church, when the Christians dwelled amongst Heathens, it is reported of a certain Maid, how she came from her Father's house, to one of the Tribunals of the Gentiles, and declared herself a Christian, spit in the Judge's face, and so provoked him to cause her to be executed. But will any say, that this was to confess Christ, or die a Martyr? He that uncalled for, uncompelled, comes and proclaims a Persecuted Truth, for which he is sure to die, only dies a Confessor of his own folly, and a Sacrifice to his own rashness. Martyrdom is stamped such only by God's command; and he that ventures upon it without a call, must endure it without a Reward: Christ will say, who required this at your hands? His Gospel does not dictate imprudence: No Evangelical Precept justles out that of a lawful self-preservation. He therefore that thus throws himself upon the Sword, runs to Heaven before he is sent for: where though perhaps Christ may in mercy receive the man, yet he will be sure to disown the Martyr.  
And thus much concerning those lawful ways of securing ourselves in time of Persecution; not, as if these were always lawful: For sometimes a man is bound to confess Christ openly, though he dies for it; and to conceal a Truth is to deny it. But now, to show when it is our duty, and when unlawful to take these courses, by some general rule of a perpetual, neverfailing truth, none ever would yet presume: For, as Aristotle says, we are not to expect Demonstrations in Ethics, or Politics, nor to build certain rules upon the contingency of humane Actions: So, in as much as our flying from persecution, our confessing, or concealing persecuted Truths, vary and change their very nature, according to different circumstances of time, place, and persons, we cannot limit their Directions within any one universal Precept: You will say then, How shall we know when to confess, when to conceal a Truth? when to wait for, when to decline persecution? Indeed the only way, that I think can be prescribed in this case, is to be earnest, and importunate with God in Prayer for special direction: And it is not to be imagined, that he, who is both faithful and merciful, will leave a sincere soul in the dark upon such an occasion. But this I shall add, that the Ministers of God are not to evade, or take refuge in any of these two forementioned ways. They are public persons: and good Shepherds must then chiefly stand close to the Flock, when the wolf comes. For them to be silent in the cause of Christ, is to renounce it; and to fly, is to desert it. As for that place urged in favour of the contrary, in 23 v. when they persecute you in this City, flee into another, it proves nothing; for the Precept was particular, and concerned only the Apostles; and that, but for that time in which they were then sent to the Jews, at which time Christ kept them as a reserve for the future: For when after his death they were indifferently sent both to Jews and Gentiles, we find not this clause in their Commission, but they were to sign the Truths they preached with their blood; as we know they actually did. And moreover, when Christ bids them, being persecuted in one City fly into another, it was not (as Grotius acutely observes) that they might lie hid, or be secure in that city, but that there they might Preach the Gospel: So that their flight here was not to secure their Persons, but to continue their business. I conclude therefore, that faithful Ministers are to stand and endure the brunt. A common soldier may fly, when it is the duty of him that holds the Standard to die upon the place. And we have abundant encouragement so to do. Christ has seconded and sweetened his command with his promise: Yea the thing itself is not only our duty, but our glory. And he, who has done this work, has in the very work partly received his wages. And were it put to my choice, I think I should choose rather with spitting and scorn to be tumbled into the dust in blood, bearing witness to any known Truth of our dear Lord, now opposed by the Enthusiasts of the present Age, than by a denial of those Truths through Blood and Perjury wade to a Sceptre, and Lord it in a Throne. And we need not doubt, but Truth, however oppressed, will have some followers, and at length prevail. A Christ, though Crucified, will arise: And as it is in the Rev. 11.3. The Witnesses will Prophesy, though it be in Sackcloth.  
Having thus dispatched the third thing, I proceed to the fourth, which is to show, what it is for Christ to deny us before his Father in Heaven. Hitherto we have treated of men's carriage to Christ in this world; now we will describe his carriage to them in the other. These words clearly relate to the last Judgement, and they are a summary description of his proceeding with men at that day.  
And here we will consider: 

1. The Action itself, He will deny them.  
2. The Circumstance of the Action, He will deny them before his Father, and the holy Angels.    
1. Concerning the first: Christ's denying us, is otherwise expressed in the 13 Luke 27. I know you not. To know in Scripture language is to approve; and so, not to know, is to reject and condemn. Now, who knows, how many Woes are crowded into this one sentence, I will deny him? It is (to say no more) a compendious expression of Hell, an Eternity of Torments comprised in a word: it is Condemnation itself, and what is most of all, it is Condemnation from the mouth of a Saviour. O the inexpressible horror that will seize upon a poor Sinner when he stands arraigned at the Bar of Divine Justice! When he shall look about and see his Accuser, his Judge, the Witnesses, all of them his remorseless Adversaries: the Law impleading, Mercy, and the Gospel upbraiding him, the Devil his grand Accuser, drawing his Indictment; numbering his sins with the greatest exactness, and aggravating them with the cruelest bitterness; and Conscience, like a thousand Witnesses, attesting every Article, flying in his face, and rending his very heart. And then after all, Christ, from whom only Mercy could be expected, owning the Accusation. It will be Hell enough to hear the sentence; the very Promulgation of the Punishment will be part of the Punishment, and anticipate the Execution. If Peter was so abashed when Christ gave him a look after his denial; if there was so much dread in his looks when he stood as Prisoner, how much greater will it be when he sits as a Judge? If it was so fearful when he looked his Denier into Repentance, what will it be when he shall look him into Destruction? Believe it, when we shall hear an Accusation from an Advocate, our Eternal doom from our Intercessor, it will convince us that a Denial of Christ is something more than a few transitory words: What trembling, what outcries, what astonishment will there be upon the pronouncing this sentence! Every word will come upon the sinner like an Arrow striking through his reins; like Thunder, that is heard, and consumes at the same instant. Yea, it will be a denial with scorn, with taunting exprobrations; and to be miserable without commiseration, is the height of misery. He that falls below Pity, can fall no lower. Could I give you a lively representation of guilt and horror on this hand, and paint out eternal wrath, and decipher eternal vengeance on the other, then might I show you the condition of a sinner hearing himself denied by Christ: And for those, whom Christ has denied, it will be in vain to appeal to the Father, unless we can imagine, that those, whom Mercy has condemned, Justice will absolve.  
2. For the Circumstance, He will deny us before his Father, and the holy Angels. As much as God is more glorious than man, so much is it more glorious to be confessed before him, than before men: And so much glory as there is in being confessed, so much dishonour there is in being denied. If there could be any room for comfort after the sentence of damnation, it would be this, to be executed in secret, to perish un-observed. As it is some allay to the infamy of him who died ignominiously, to be buried privately. But when a man's folly must be spread open before the Angels, and all his baseness ripped up before those pure Spirits, this will be a double Hell: to be thrust into utter Darkness, only to be punished by it, without the benefit of being concealed. When Christ shall compare himself, who was denied, and the thing for which he was denied, together, and parallel his merits with a lust, and lay Eternity in the Balance with a trifle, than the folly of the sinner's choice shall be the greatest sting of his destruction. For a man shall not have the advantage of his former Ignorance and Error, to approve his sin: Things, that appeared amiable by the light of this world, will appear of a different odious hue in the clear discoveries of the next: As that which appears to be of this colour by a dim candle, will be found to be of another, looked upon in the day. So when Christ shall have cleared up men's apprehensions about the value of things; he will propose that worthy Prize for which he was denied: He will hold it up to open view, and call upon Men and Angels: Behold, look, here's the things, here's that piece of dirt, that windy applause, that poor transitory pleasure, that contemptible danger, for which I was dishonoured, my Truths disowned, and for which, Life, Eternity, and God himself, was scorned and trampled upon by this sinner: Judge all the world, whether what he so despised in the other life, he deserves to enjoy in this? How will the condemned sinner then crawl forth, and appear in his filth and shame, before that undefiled Tribunal, like a Toad or a Snake in a King's presence Chamber? Nothing so irksome, as to have one's folly displayed before the Prudent: ones impurity before the Pure. And all this, before that company surrounding him, from which he is neither able to look off, nor yet to look upon. A disgrace put upon a man in company is unsupportable: it is heightened according to the greatness, and multiplied according to the number of the persons that hear it. And now, as this circumstance [before his Father] fully speaks the shame, so likewise it speaks the danger of Christ's then denying us. For when the accusation is heard, and the person stands convict, God is immediately lifting up his hand to inflict the eternal blow; and when Christ denies to exhibit a ransom, to step between the stroke then coming, and the sinner, it must inevitably fall upon him, and sink his guilty soul into that deep and bottomless gulf of endless perdition. This therefore is the sum of Christ's denying us before his Father, viz. unsupportable shame, unavoidable destruction.  
I proceed now to the Uses, which may be drawn from the Truths delivered. And here (Right Honourable) not only the present occasion, but even the words themselves seem eminently to address an Exhortation to your Honours. As, for others not to deny Christ, is openly to profess him; so for you who are invested with Authority, not to deny him, is to defend him. Know therefore, that Christ does not only desire, but demand your defence, and that, in a double respect.  
1. In respect of his Truth. 2. Of his Members.  
1. He requires, that you should defend and confess him in his Truth. Heresy is a Tare sometimes not to be pulled up but by the Civil Magistrate. The word Liberty of Conscience, is much abused for the defence of it, because not well understood. Every man may have Liberty of Conscience to think and judge as he pleases, but not to vent what he pleases. The reason is, because Conscience bounding itself within the thoughts, is of private concernment, and the cognizance of these belong only to God: but when an opinion is published, it concerns all that hear it, and the public is endamaged, and therefore becomes punishable by the Magistrate, to whom the care of the public is entrusted. But there is one truth, that concerns both Ministry and Magistracy, and all; which is opposed by those who affirm, That none ought to Govern upon the Earth but Christ in person: Absurdly; as if the Powers that are, destroyed his; as if a Deputy were not consistent with a King; as if there were any Opposition in Subordination. They affirm also, that the Wicked have no right to their Estates; but only the Faithful, that is, themselves, aught to possess the Earth. And it is not to be questioned, but when they come to explain this principle, by putting it into execution, there will be but few that have estates at present, but will be either found, or made Wicked. I shall not be so urgent, to press you to confess Christ by asserting and owning the Truth contrary to this, since it does not only oppose Truth, but Property; and here to deny Christ, would be to deny yourselves in a sense, which none is like to do.  
2. Christ requires you to own and defend him in his members; and amongst these, the chief of them, and such, as most fall in your way, the Ministers; I say, that despised, abject, oppressed sort of men, the Ministers; whom the world would make Antichristian, and so deprive them of Heaven, and also strip them of that poor remainder of their Maintenance, and so allow them no portion upon the Earth. You may now spare that distinction of Scandalous Ministers, when it is even made Scandalous to be a Minister. And as for their discouragement, in the Courts of the Law, I shall only note This, that for these many years last passed, it has been the constant observation of all, That if a Minister had a Cause depending in the Court, it was ten to one but it went against him. I cannot believe your Law justles out the Gospel; but if it be thus used to undermine Christ in his Servants, beware that such Judgements passed upon them, do not fetch down God's Judgements upon the Land; and that, for such abuse of the Law, Christ does not in anger deprive both you and us of its use. (My Lords) I make no doubt, but you will meet with many suits in your course, in which the persons we speak of are concerned, as it is easy to prognosticate from those many worthy Petitions preferred against them, for which the well-afficted 
* Whensoever any Petition was put up to the Parliament in the year 1653. for the Taking away of Tithes, the thanks of the House were still returned to them, and that by the Name and Elegy of the well-affected Petitioners.  Petitioners will one day receive but small Thanks from the Court of Heaven. But however their Causes speed in your Tribunals, know that Christ himself will recognize them at a greater. And then, what a different face will be put upon things! When the usurping, devouring Nimrods' of the world shall be cast with scorn on the left hand: And Christ himself in that great consistory shall deign to step down from his Throne, and single out a poor despised Minister, and (as it were taking him by the hand,) present him to, and openly thus confess him before, his Father. Father, here is a poor servant of mine, who, for doing his duty impartially, for keeping a good conscience, and testifying my truths in an Hypocritical pretending age, was wronged, trod upon, stripped of all: Father, I will, that there be now a distinction made, between such as have owned and confessed me with the loss of the world, and those that have denied, persecuted and insulted over me: It will be in vain then to come and creep for mercy: and say, Lord, when did we insult over thee? when did we see thee in our Courts, and despised or oppressed thee? Christ's reply will be then quick and sharp: Verily in as much as you did it to one of these little, poor despised ones, ye did it unto Me.  
2. Use is of information, to show us the danger as well as the baseness of a dastardly Spirit; in asserting the interest and truth of Christ. Since Christ has made a Christian course a Warfare, of all men living, a Coward is the most unfit to make a Christian: whose infamy is not so great, but it is sometimes less than his peril. A Coward does not always scape with disgrace, but sometimes also he loses his life: wherefore, let all such know, as can enlarge their consciences like Hell, and call any sinful compliance submission, and style a Cowardly silence in Christ's cause, discretion and prudence: I say, let them know, that Christ will one day scorn them, and spit them, with their policy and prudence, into Hell; and then let them consult, how politic they were, for a temporal Emolument, to throw away Eternity. The things which generally cause men to deny Christ, are, either the Enjoyments, or the miseries of this life: but alas! at the day of Judgement, all these will expire; and, as One well Observes, what are we the better for pleasure, or the worse for sorrow, when it is past? But then Sin and Gild will be still fresh, and Heaven and Hell will be then yet to begin. If ever it was seasonable to preach Courage in the despised, abused cause of Christ, it is now, when his truths are Reform into nothing, when the hands and hearts of his faithful Ministers are weakened, and even broke, and his worship extirpated in a mockery, that his honour may be advanced. Well; to establish our hearts in duty, let us beforehand propose to ourselves the worst that can happen. Should God in his judgement suffer England to be transformed into a Munster. Should the faithful be every where Massacred. Should the places of learning be demolished, and our Colleges reduced (not only as 
* U. C. A Colonel of the Army, the perfidious cause of Penruddock 's Death, and sometime after High-Sheriff of Oxfordshire, openly and frequently affirmed the uselessness of the Universities, and that three Colleges were sufficient to answer the occasions of the Nation, for the breeding of men up to Learning, so far as it was either necessary or useful.  One in his Zeal would have it) to Three, but to none. Yet assuredly Hell is worse than all this, and is the portion of such as deny Christ: wherefore let our discouragements be what they will: loss of Places, loss of Estates, loss of Life and Relations; yet still this sentence stands ratified in the Decrees of Heaven. Cursed be that man, that for any of these, shall desert the truth, and deny his Lord.   

ECCLESIASTICAL POLICY THE BEST POLICY: OR, RELIGION The best Reason of State: In a Sermon preached before the Honourable Society of LINCOLNS-INN.  1 KING. XIII. 33, 34. 
After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people Priests of the High places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the Priests of the High places.  
And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the Earth.  
JEroboam (from the name of a person become the character of impiety,) is reported to Posterity eminent, or rather Infamous, for two things; Usurpation of Government, and Innovation of Religion. 'Tis confessed, the former is expressly said to have been from God; but since God may order, and dispose, what he does not approve; and use the wickedness of men, while he forbids it; the design of the first cause does not excuse the malignity of the second: And therefore the advancement and Sceptre of jeroboam was in that sense only the work of God, in which it is said, Amos 3.6. That there is no evil in the City which the Lord has not done. But from his attempts upon the Civil Power, he proceeds to innovate God's Worship; and from the subjection of men's Bodies and Estates, to enslave their Consciences, as knowing that true Religion is no friend to an unjust Title. Such was afterwards the way of Mahomet, to the Tyrant to join the Impostor, and what he had got by the Sword to confirm by the Alcoran; raising his Empire upon two Pillars, Conquest, and Inspiration. jeroboam being thus advanced, and thinking Policy the best Piety, though indeed in nothing ever more befooled; the nature of sin being not only to defile, but to infatuate. In the 11. chap. and the 27. v. he thus argues; If this people go up to do Sacrifice in the house of the Lord at jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their Lord, even unto Rehoboam King of judah, and they shall kill me, and go again unto Rehoboam King of judah. As if he should have said, The true Worship of God, and the converse of those that use it, dispose men to a considerate lawful Subjection. And therefore I must take another course: my Practice must not be better than my Title; what was won by Force must be continued by Delusion. Thus sin is usually seconded with sin: and a man seldom commits one sin to please, but he commits another to defend himself. As 'tis frequent for the Adulterer to commit murder, to conceal the shame of his Adultery. But let us see Ieroboam's politic procedure in the next ver. Whereupon the King took counsel, and made two Calves of Gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to jerusalem, behold thy Gods, O Israel. As if he had made such an Edict: ay jeroboam, by the advice of my council, considering the great distance of the Temple, and the great charges that poor people are put to in going thither; as also the intolerable burden of paying the first-fruits, and tithes, to the Priest, have considered of a way that may be more easy, and less burdensome to the people, as also more comfortable to the Priests themselves; and therefore strictly enjoin, that none henceforth presume to repair to the Temple at Jerusalem, especially since God is not tied to any place or form of Worship; as also because the Devotion of men is apt to be clogged by such Ceremonies; therefore both for the ease of the people, as well as for the advancement of Religion, we require and command, that all henceforth forbear going up to Jerusalem. Questionless these, and such other Reasons the Impostor used to insinuate his devout Idolatry. And thus the Calves were set up, to which Oxen must be sacrificed; the God and the Sacrifice out of the same Herd. And because Israel was not to return to Egypt, Egypt was brought back to them: that is, the Egyptian way of Worship, the Apis, or Serapis, which was nothing but the Image of a Calf, or Ox, as is clear from most Historians. Thus jeroboam having procured his people Gods, the next thing was to provide Priests. Hereupon, to the Calves he adds a Commission, for the approving, trying and admitting the Rascality and lowest of the people to minister in that service: such as kept Cattle, with a little change of their Office, were admitted to make Oblations to them. And doubtless, besides the approbation of these, there was a Commission also, to eject such of the Priests and Levites of God, as being too Ceremoniously addicted to the Temple, would not serve jeroboam before God, nor worship his Calves for their Gold, nor approve those two glittering sins for any reason of State whatsoever. Having now perfected Divine Worship, and prepared both Gods and Priests: In the next place, that he might the better teach his false Priests the way of their new Worship, he begins the Service himself, and so countenances by his example, what he had enjoined by his command; in the 11. v. of this chapter, And jeroboam stood by the Altar to burn Incense. Burning of Incense was then the Ministerial Office amongst them, as Preaching is now amongst us. So that to represent to you the nature of Ieroboam's Action: It was, as if in a Christian Nation the chief Governor should authorise and encourage all the scum and refuse of the people to Preach, and call them to the Ministry by using to 
* Cromwell (a lively Copy of Jeroboam) did so.  Preach, and invade the Ministerial Function himself. But jeroboam rested not here, but while he was busy in his work, and a Prophet immediately sent by God, declares against his Idolatry, he endeavours to seize upon, and commit him; in the 4. v. He held forth his hand from the Altar, and said, Lay hold of him. Thus we have him completing his sin, and by a strange Imposition of hands persecuting the true Prophets, as well as ordaining false. But it was a natural transition, and no ways wonderful to see him, who stood affronting God with false Incense in the right hand, persecuting with the left, and abetting the Idolatry of one Arm with the Violence of the other. Now, if we lay all these things together, and consider the parts, rise, and degrees of his sin, we shall find, that it was not for nothing, that the Spirit of God, so frequently and bitterly in Scripture stigmatizes this person; for it represents him, first encroaching upon the Civil Government, thence changing that of the Church, debasing the Office, that God had made sacred; introducing a false way of Worship, and destroying the True. And in this we have a full and fair description of a foul thing; that is of an Usurper, and an Impostor: or, to use one word more comprehensive than both, of jeroboam the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin.  
From the Story and Practice of jeroboam we might gather these Observations.  
1 That God some times punishes a Notorious sin, by suffering the sinner to fall into a worse.  
Thus God punished the Rebellion of the Israelites by permitting them to fall into Idolatry.  
2. There is nothing so absurd, but may be obtruded upon the Vulgar under pretence of Religion.  
Certainly, otherwise, a Golden Calf could never have been made, either the Object, or the Means of Divine Worship.  
3. Sin; especially that of perverting God's Worship, as it leaves a guilt upon the soul, so it perpetuates a blot upon the Name.  
Hence nothing so frequent, as for the Spirit of God to express wicked, irreligious Kings, by comparing them to Ahab or jeroboam. It being usual to make the first and most eminent in any kind, not only the Standard for Comparison, but also the Rule of Expression.  
But I shall insist only upon the words of the Text, and what shall be drawn from thence. There are two things in the words that may seem to require Explication.  

1. What is meant by the High Places.  
2. What by the Consecration of the Priests.   
1. Concerning the High Places. The use of these in the Divine Worship was general and ancient. And as Dionysius Vossius observes in his Notes upon Moses Maimonides, the first way that was used, long before Temples were either built, or thought lawful. The reason of this seems to be, because those places did not shut up, or confine the Immensity of God, as they thought an house did, and withal gave his worshippers a nearer approach to Heaven by their Height. Hence we read that the Samaritans worshipped upon mount Gerizim, joh. 4.20. And Samuel went up to the High Place to Sacrifice, 1 Sam. 9.14. And Solomon Sacrificed at the High Place in Gibeon, 1 King. 3.4. Yea, the Temple itself was at length built upon a mount or High Place, 2 Cor. 3.1. You will say then, Why are these Places condemned? I answer, that the use of them was not condemned, as absolutely and always unlawful in itself, but only after the Temple was built, and that God had professed to put his Name in that place, and no other: Therefore, what was lawful in the practice of Samuel and Solomon before the Temple was in being, was now detestable in jeroboam, since it was constituted by God the only place for his worship. To bring this Consideration to the times of Christianity. Because the Apostles and Primitive Christians preached in houses, and had only private Meetings, in regard they were under Persecution, and had no Churches; this cannot warrant the practice of those now a-days, that prefer Houses before Churches, and a Conventicle before the Congregation.  
2. For the second thing, which is the Consecration of the Priests; it seems to have been correspondent to Ordination in the Christian Church. Idolaters themselves were not so far gone, as to venture upon the Priesthood without Consecration and a Call. To show all the solemnities of this would be tedious, and here unnecessary: The Hebrew word which we render to Consecrate, signifies to fill the hand, which indeed imports the manner of Consecration, which was done by filling the hand: for the Priest cut a piece of the sacrifice, and put it into the hands of him that was to be consecrated; by which Ceremony he received right to Sacrifice, and so became a Priest. As our Ordination in the Christian Church, is said to have been heretofore transacted by the Bishop's delivering of the Bible into the hands of him that was to be ordained, whereby he received power Ministerially to dispense the mysteries contained in it, and so was made a Presbyter. Thus much briefly concerning Consecration.  
There remains nothing else to be explained in the words: I shall therefore now draw forth the sense of them into these two Propositions: 

1. The surest means to strengthen, or the readiest to ruin the Civil Power, is either to establish, or destroy the Worship of God in the right exercise of Religion.  
2. The next, and most effectual way to destroy Religion, is to embase the Teachers and Dispenser's of it.    
Of both these in their order.  
For the prosecution of the former, we are to show, 

1. The truth of the assertion, that it it so.  
2. The reason of the assertion, why and whence it is so.    
1. For the truth of it: It is abundantly evinced from all Records both of Divine and Profane History, in which he that runs, may read the ruin of the State in the destruction of the Church; and that not only portended by it, as its Sign, but also inferred from it, as its Cause.  
2. For the Reason of the point; it may be drawn,  
1. From the Judicial proceeding of God, the great King of Kings, and supreme Ruler of the Universe; who for his commands is indeed careful, but for his Worship Jealous: And therefore in States notoriously irreligious, by a secret and irresistible power, countermands their deepest projects, splits their Counsels, and smites their most refined Policies with frustration and a curse: being resolved that the Kingdoms of the world shall fall down before him, either in his Adoration, or their own confusion.  
2. The reason of the doctrine may be drawn from the necessary dependence of the very Principles of government upon Religion. And this I shall pursue more fully. The great business of government is to procure obedience, and keep off disobedience: the great springs upon which those two move, are Rewards and Punishments, answering the two ruling affections of man's mind, Hope and Fear. For since there is a natural opposition between the Judgement and the Appetite, the former respecting what is honest, the latter what is pleasing; which two qualifications seldom concur in the same thing, and withal, man's design in every Action is delight: therefore to render things honest also practicable: they must be first represented desirable; which cannot be but by Proposing honesty clothed with pleasure; and since it presents no pleasure to the sense, it must be fetched from the apprehension of a future Reward. For questionless duty moves not so much upon command as promise. Now therefore, that which proposes the greatest and most suitable rewards to obedience, and the greatest terrors and punishments to disobedience, doubtless is the most likely to enforce one, and prevent the other. But it is Religion, that does this, which to happiness and misery joins Eternity. And these, supposing the Immortality of the soul, which Philosophy indeed conjectures, but only Religion proves, or (which is as good) persuades. I say these two things, eternal happiness and eternal misery, meeting with a persuasion that the Soul is immortal, are, without controversy, of all others, the first, the most desirable, and the latter the most horrible to humane apprehension. Were it not for these, Civil government were not able to stand before the prevailing swing of corrupt nature, which would know no Honesty but Advantage, no duty but in Pleasure, nor any Law but its own Will. Were not these frequently thundered into the understandings of men, the Magistrate, might enact, order and proclaim; Proclamations might be hung upon Walls and Posts, and there they might hang, seen and despised, more like Malefactors, than Laws: But when Religion binds them upon the Conscience, Conscience will either persuade or terrify men into their practice. For, put the case, a man knew, and that upon sure grounds, that he might do an advantageous murder or Robbery, and not be discovered; what humane laws could hinder him, which he knows cannot inflict any penalty, where they can make no discovery? But Religion assures him, that no sin, though concealed from humane eyes, can either escape God's sight in this world, or his vengeance in the other. Put the case also, that men looked upon Death without fear, in which sense, it is nothing, or at most very little; ceasing, while it is endured, and pobably without Pain, for it seizes upon the Vitals and benumbs the senses, and where there is no sense, there can be no pain. I say, if while a man is acting his will towards sin, he should also thus act his reason, to despise death; where would be the terror of the magistrate, who can neither threaten or inflict any more? Hence an old Malefactor in his Execution, at the Gallows made no other confession but this, That he had very jocundly passed over his life in such courses, and he that would not for fifty years' pleasure, endure half an hours pain, deserved to die a worse death than himself: questionless this man was not ignorant before, that there were such things as Laws, Assizes, and Gallows; but had he considered, and believed the Terrors of another world, he might probably have found a fairer passage out of this. If there was not a Minister in every Parish, you would quickly find cause to increase the number of Constables: And if the Churches were not employed to be places to hear God's law, there would be need of them, to be prisons for the breakers of the laws of men. Hence 'tis observable, that the Tribe of Levi had not one place or portion together like the rest of the Tribes: but, because it was their office to dispense Religion, they were diffused over all the Tribes, that they might be continually preaching to the rest, their duty to God; which is the most effectual way, to dispose them to Obedience to man: for he that truly fears God cannot despise the Magistrate. Yea, so near is the connexion between the Civil state, and Religious, that heretofore, if you look upon well regulated, civilised, heathen Nations, you will find the Government and the Priesthood united in the same person: Anius Rex idem hominum, Phaebique Sacerdos. Virg. 3. AEn. If under the true worship of God: Melchisedech king of Salem, and Priest of the most high God, Heb. 7.1. And afterwards Moses (whom as we acknowledge a pious, so Atheists themselves will confess to have been a Wise Prince) he, when he took the Kingly government upon himself, by his own choice, seconded by Divine institution, vested the Priesthood in his brother Aaron, both whose concernments were so coupled, that if Nature had not, yet their Religious, nay, their civil Interests, would have made them brothers. And it was once the design of the Emperor of Germany, Maximilian the first, to have joined the Popedom and the Empire together, and to have got himself chosen Pope, and by that means derived the Papacy to his succeeding Emperors. Had he effected it, doubtless there would not have been such scuffles between them and the Bishop of Rome; the civil interest of the State would not have been undermined by an Adverse Interest, managed by the specious and potent pretences of Religion. And to see, even amongst us, how these two are united, how the former is upheld by the latter: The Magistrate sometimes cannot do his own office dexterously, but by acting the Minister: hence it is, that Judges of Assizes find it necessary in their Charges, to use pathetical discourses of Conscience, and if it were not for the sway of this, they would often lose the best Evidence in the world against Malefactors, which is Confession: for no man would confess and be Hanged here, but to avoid being Damned hereafter. Thus I have in general shown the utter inability of the Magistrate to attain the Ends of Government, without the Aid of Religion. But it may be here replied, that many are not at all moved with arguments drawn from hence, or with the happy or miserable state of the Soul after death; and therefore this avails little to procure obedience, and consequently to advance Government. I answer by confession: that this is true of Epicures, Atheists, and some pretended Philosophers, who have stifled the Notions of a Deity, and the Souls immortality; but the Unprepossessed on the one hand, and the well-disposed on the other, who both together make much the major part of the world, are very apt to be affected with a due fear of these things: And Religion accommodating itself to the Generality, though not to every particular temper, sufficiently secures Government, in as much as that stands or falls according to the Behaviour of the multitude. And whatsoever Conscience makes the Generality obey, to that Prudence will make the rest conform. Wherefore, having proved the dependence of Government upon Religion, I shall now demonstrate, That the safety of Government depends upon the Truth of Religion. False Religion is in its nature the greatest bane and destruction to Government in the World. The reason is, because whatsoever is False, is also Weak. Ens and Verum in Philosophy are the same: and so much as any Religion has of Falsity, it loses of Strength and Existence. Falsity gains Authority only from Ignorance, and therefore is in danger to be known; for from Being false, the next immediate step is to be Known to be such. And what prejudice this would be to the Civil Government, is apparent, if men should be awed into Obedience, and affrighted from sin by Rewards and Punishments, proposed to them in such a Religion, which afterwards should be detected, and found a mere falsity, and cheat; for if one part be but found to be false, it will make the whole suspicious. And men will then not only cast off Obedience to the Civil Magistrate, but they will do it with disdain and rage, that they have been deceived so long, and brought to do that out of Conscience which was imposed upon them out of design: For though men are often willingly deceived, yet still it must be under an Opinion of being instructed; though they love the Deception, yet they morrally hate it under that appearance: Therefore it is no ways safe for a Magistrate, who is to build his Dominion upon the Fears of men, to build those fears upon a false Religion. 'Tis not to be doubted, but the absurdity of Ieroboam's Calves, made many Israelites turn subjects to Rehoboam's Government, that they might be Proselytes to his Religion. Herein the Weakness of the Turkish Religion appears, That it urges Obedience upon the promise of such absurd Rewards, as, that after death they should have Palaces, Gardens, Beautiful Women, with all the Luxury that could be: as if those things, that were the occasions, and incentives of sin in this world, could be the rewards of Holiness in the other. Besides many other inventions, false, and absurd, that are like so many chinks and holes to discover the rottenness of the whole Fabric, when God shall be pleased to give light to discover, and open their reasons to discern them. But you will say, What Government more sure and absolute than the Turkish, and yet what Religion more false? Therefore certainly Government may stand sure and strong, be the Religion professed never so absurd. I answer that it may do so indeed by accident, through the strange peculiar temper and gross ignorance of a people; as we see, it happens in the Turks, the best part of whose Policy, supposing the absurdity of their Religion, is this, That they prohibit Schools of Learning; for this hinders Knowledge and Disputes, which such a Religion would not bear. But suppose we, that the Learning of these Western Nations were as great there as here, and the Alcoran as common to them as the Bible to us, that they might have free recourse to search and examine the flaws and follies of it; and withal, that they were of as inquisitive a temper as we: And who knows, but as there are vicissitudes in the Government, so there may happen the same also in the temper of a Nation? If this should come to pass, where would be their Religion? And then let every one judge, whether the Arcana imperii, and Religionis would not fall together. They have begun to totter already; for Mahomet, having promised to come and visit his Followers, and translate them to Paradise after a thousand years, this being expired, many of the Persians began to doubt and smell the cheat, till the Mufti or Chief Priest told them, that it was a mistake in the figure, and assured them, that upon more diligent survey of the Records, he found it Two thousand instead of One. When this is expired, perhaps they will not be able to renew the Fallacy. I say therefore, that though this Government continues firm in the exercise of a false Religion, yet this is by accident, through the present genius of the people, which may change; but this does not prove, but that the Nature of such a Religion, (of which we only now speak) tends to subvert and betray the Civil Power. Hence Machiavelli himself, in his Animadversions upon Livy, makes it appear, That the Weakness of Italy, which was once so strong, was caused by the corrupt practices of the Papacy, in depraving, and misusieng Religion to that purpose, which he, though himself a Papist, says, could not have happened, had the Christian Religion been kept in its first, and native simplicity. Thus much may suffice for the clearing of the first Proposition.  
The Inferences from hence are two.  
1. If Government depends upon Religion, than this shows the pestilential design of those that attempt to disjoin the Civil and Ecclesiastical Interests, setting the latter wholly out of the Tuition of the former. But 'tis clear that the fanatics know no other step to the Magistracy but through the ruin of the Ministry. There is a great Analogy between the body Natural and Politic; in which the Ecclesiastical or Spiritual part justly supplies the part of the soul; and the violent separation of this from the other, does as certainly infer death and dissolution, as the disjunction of the body and the soul in the Natural; for when this once departs, it leaves the body of the Commonwealth as carcase, noisome, and exposed to be devoured by Birds of prey. The Ministry will be one day found according to Christ's word, the salt of the earth, the only thing that keeps Societies of men from stench and corruption. These two Interests are of that nature, that 'tis to be feared they cannot be divided, but they will also prove opposite; and not resting in a bare diversity, quickly rise into a Contrariety: These two are to the State, what the Elements of Fire and Water to the Body, which united compose, separated destroy it. I am not of the papists Opinion, who would make the Spiritual above the Civil State in power as well as dignity, but rather subject it to the Civil; yet thus much I dare affirm, That the Civil, which is superior, is upheld and kept in being by the Ecclesiastical and Inferior; as it is in a Building, where the upper part is supported by the lower; the Church resembling the foundation, which indeed is the lowest part, but the most considerable. The Magistracy cannot so much protect the Ministry, but the Ministers may do more in serving the Magistrate. A taste of which truth you may take from the Holy War, to which how fast and eagerly did men go, when the Priest persuaded them, that whosoever died in that Expedition was a Martyr? Those that will not be convinced what a help this is to the Magistracy, would find how considerable it is, if they should chance to clash; this would certainly eat out the other. For the Magistrate cannot urge obedience upon such potent grounds, as the Minister, if so disposed, can urge disobedience. As for instance, if my Governor should command me to do a thing, or I must die, or forfeit my Estate; and the Minister steps in, and tells me, that I offend God, and ruin my soul if I obey that command, it's easy to see a greater force in this persuasion from the advantage of its ground. And if Divines once begin to curse Meros', we shall see that Levi can use the Sword as well as Simeon; and although Ministers do not handle, yet they can employ it. This shows the imprudence, as well as the danger of the Civil Magistrate's exasperating those that can fire men's consciences against him, and arm his Enemies with Religion. For I have read heretofore of some, that having conceived an irreconcilable hatred of the Civil Magistrate, prevailed with men so far, that they went to resist him even out of conscience, and a full persuasion and dread upon their spirits, that, not to do it, were to desert God, and consequently to incur damnation. Now when men's rage is both heightened and sanctified by Conscience, the War will be fierce; for what is done out of Conscience, is done with the utmost Activity. And then Campanella's Speech to the King of Spain will be found true, Religio semper vicit, praesertim Armata: Which sentence deserves seriously to be considered by all Governors, and timely to be understood, lest it comes to be felt.  
2. If the safety of Government is founded upon the truth of Religion, than this shows the danger of any thing that may make even the true Religion suspected to be false. To be false, and to be thought false is all one in respect of men, who act not according to Truth, but Apprehension. As on the contrary, a false Religion, while apprehended true, has the force and efficacy of truth. Now there is nothing more apt to induce men to a suspicion of any Religion, than frequent innovation and change: For since the object of Religion, God, the subject of it, the soul of man, and the business of it, Truth, is always one and the same: Variety and Novelty is a just presumption of Falsity. It argues sickness and distemper in the mind, as well as in the body, when a man is continually turning and tossing from one side to the other. The wise Romans ever dreaded the least Innovation in Religion: Hence we find the advice of Maecenas to Augustus Caesar, in Dion Cassius in the 52 Book: where he counsels him to detest, and persecute all Innovators of Divine Worship, not only as contemners of the Gods, but as the most pernicious disturbers of the State: For when men venture to make changes in things sacred, it argues great boldness with God, and this naturally imports little belief of him: which if the people once perceive, they will take their Creed also, not from the Magistrates Laws, but his example. Hence in England, where Religion has been still Purifying, and hereupon almost always in the Fire and the Furnace; Atheists, and Irreligious persons have took no small advantage from our changes. For in King Edward the sixth's time, the Divine Worship was twice altered in two new Liturgies. In the first of Queen Mary, the Protestant Religion was persecuted with Fire and Faggot, by Law and public counsel of the same persons, who had so lately established it. Upon the coming in of Queen Elizabeth, Religion was changed again, and within a few days the public Council of the Nation made it death for a Priest to convert any man to that Religion, which before with so much eagerness of Zeal had been restored. So that it is observed by an Author, that in the space of twelve years there were four changes about Religion made in England, and that by the public Council and Authority of the Realm, which were more than were made by any Christian state throughout the world, so soon one after another, in the space of fifteen hundred years before. Hence it is, that the Enemies of God take occasion to blaspheme, and call our Religion Statism. and now adding to the former, those many changes that have happened since, I am afraid we shall not so easily claw off that name: Nor, though we may satisfy our own consciences in what we profess, be able to repel and clear off the objections of the rational world about us, which not being interested in our changes as we are, will not judge of them as we judge: but debate them by impartial Reason, by the Nature of the thing, the general Practice of the Church; against which New Lights, sudden Impulses of the Spirit, Extraordinary Calls, will be but weak arguments to prove any thing but the madness of those that use them, and that the Church must needs wither being blasted with such Inspirations. We see therefore how fatal and ridiculous Innovations in the Church are: And indeed when changes are so frequent, it is not properly Religion, but Fashion. This, I think, we may build upon as a sure ground, That where there is continual Change, there is great show of Uncertainty, and Uncertainty in Religion is a shrewd motive, if not to deny, yet to doubt of its Truth.  
Thus much for the first Doctrine. I proceed now to the second, viz. That the next, and most effectual way to destroy Religion, is to Embase the Teachers and Dispenser's of it. in the handling of this I shall show, 

1. How the Dispenser's of Religion, the Ministers of the word, are embased or rendered vile.  
2. How the Embasing or Vilifying them is a means to destroy Religion.    
1. For the first of these, the Ministers and Dispenser's of the Word are rendered base or vile two ways:  
1. By divesting them of all Temporal Privileges, and Advantages, as inconsistent with their Calling. It is strange since the Priest's Office heretofore was always Splendid, and almost Regal, that it is now looked upon as a piece of Religion, to make it low and sordid. So that the use of the word Minister is brought down to the literal signification of it, a Servant: for now to serve and to minister, servile and ministerial, are terms equivalent. But in the Old Testament the same word signifies a Priest, and a Prince, or chief Ruler: hence, though we translate it Priest of On., Gen. 41.45. and Priest of Midian, Exod. 3.1. and as it is with the people so with the Priest, Esa. 24.2. junius and Tremellius render all these places, not by Sacerdos, Priest; but by Praeses, that is, a Prince, or at least a Chief Counsellor, or Minister of State. And it is strange, that the Name should be the same, when the Nature of the thing is so exceeding different. The like also may be observed in other Languages, that the most Illustrious Titles are derived from things Sacred, and belonging to the Worship of God. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was the Title of the Christian Caesars, correspondent to the Latin Augustus, and it is derived from the same word that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, cultus, res sacra, or sacrificium. And it is usual in our Language to make Sacred, an Epithet to Majesty: there was a certain Royalty in things Sacred. Hence the Apostle, who I think was no Enemy to the simplicity of the Gospel, speaks of a Royal Priesthood, 1 Pet. 2.9. which shows at least, that there is no contradiction or impiety in those terms. In Old time, before the placing this Office only in the Line of Aaron, the Head of the Family, and the Firstborn offered Sacrifice for the rest; that is, was their Priest. And we know that such Rule and Dignity belonged at first to the Masters of Families, that they had jus vitae & necis, jurisdiction and power of Life and Death in their own Family; and from hence was derived the beginning of Kingly Government; a King being only a Civil Head, or Master of a Politic Family, the whole People; so that we see the same was the foundation of the Royal and Sacerdotal Dignity. As for the Dignity of this Office among the Jews, it is so pregnantly set forth in Holy Writ, that it is Unquestionable. Kings and Priests are still mentioned together. Lamen. 2.6. The Lord hath despised in the indignation of his Anger, the King and the Priest. Hosea 5.2. Hear O Priests, and give ear O house of the King. Deut. 17.12. And the man that doth presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the Priest that standeth there to minister before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die. Hence Paul together with a blow, received this Reprehension, Act. 5.4. Revilest thou God's Highpriest? And Paul in the next verse does not defend himself, by pleading an extraordinary Motion of the Spirit, or that he was sent to Reform the Church, and might therefore lawfully vilify the Priesthood, and all Sacred Orders; but in the 5th. v. he makes an excuse, and that from Ignorance, the only thing that could take away the fault; namely, that he knew not that he was the Highpriest, and subjoins a reason which further advances the Truth here defended: For it is written, thou shalt not speak evil of the Ruler of thy people. To Holy Writ we might add the Testimony of josephus of next Authority to it in things concerning the Jews, who in sundry places of his History, sets forth the Dignity of the Priests, and in his second Book against Appion the Grammarian, has these words, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Priests were constituted Judges of all doubtful causes. Hence justin also in his 36th Book has this, Semper apud judaeos mos fuit, ut Eosdem Reges & Sacerdotes haberent: though this is false, that they were always so, yet it argues that they were so frequently, and that the distance between them was not great. To the Jews we may join the Egyptians, the first Masters of Learning and Philosophy. Synesius in his 57 Epist. having shown the general practice of Antiquity, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. gives an instance in the Jews and Egyptians who for many Ages, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, had no other Kings but Priests. Next, we may take a view of the Practice of the Romans: Numa Pompilius, that civilised the fierce Romans, is reported in the first Book of Livy, sometimes to have performed the Priest's office himself. Tum Sacerdotibus creandis animum adjecit, quanquàm ipse plurima sacra obibat, but when he made Priests, he gave them a dignity almost the same with himself. And this honour continued together with the Valour and Prudence of that Nation. For the Success of the Romans did not extirpate their Religion. The College of the Priests being in many things exempted even from the Jurisdiction of the Senate, afterwards the Supreme Power. Hence juvenal in his 2. Sat. mentions the Priesthood of Mars, as one of the most honourable places in Rome. And jul. Caesar, who was chosen Priest in his private Condition, thought it not below him to continue the same Office when he was Created absolute Governor of Rome under the name of Perpetual Dictator. Add to these the practice of the Gauls mentioned by Caesar in his 6. Book de Bello Gallico, where he says of the Druids, who where their Priests, that they did judge the omnibus ferè controversiis publicis privatisque. See also Homer in the 1. Book of his Iliads representing Chryses Priest of Apollo, with his Golden Sceptre; as well as his Golden Censer. But why have I produced all these examples of the Heathens? Is it to make these a ground of our imitation? No; but to show that the giving honour to the Priesthood, was a custom Universal amongst all civilised Nations: And whatsoever is Universal, is also Natural, as not being founded upon compact, or the particular humours of men, but flowing from the Native Results of Reason: And that which is Natural, neither does nor can oppose Religion. But you will say, this concerns not us, who have an express Rule and Word revealed. Christ was himself poor and despised, and withal has instituted such a Ministry. To the first part of this plea I answer; That Christ came to suffer, yet the sufferings and miseries of Christ, do not oblige all Christians to undertake the like. For the second, That the Ministry of Christ was low, and despised by his institution, I utterly deny. It was so, indeed, by the malice and persecution of the Heathen Princes, but what does this argue or infer for a low, dejected Ministry in a flourishing State, which professes to encourage Christianity? But to dash this cavil, read but the practice of Christian Emperors and Kings all along, down from the time of Constantine, in what respect, what honour and splendour they treated the Ministers, and then let our Adversaries produce their puny, pitiful Arguments for the contrary, against the general, clear, undoubted vogue and current of all Antiquity. As for two or three little Countries about us, the Learned and Impartial will not value their practice; in one of which places the Minister has been seen, for mere want, to mend shoes on the Saturday, and been heard to preach on the Sunday. In the other place, stating the several orders of the Citizens, they place their Ministers after their Apothecaries: that is, the Physician of the Soul after the Drugster of the Body: a fit practice for those, who if they were to rank Things as well as Persons, would place their Religion after their Trade.  
And thus much concerning the first way of Debasing the Ministers and Ministry.  
2. The second way is by admitting Ignorant, Sordid, Illiterate persons to this Function. This is to give the Royal stamp to a piece of Lead. I confess, God has no need of any man's Parts, or Learning; but certainly then, he has much less need of his Ignorance, and ill Behaviour. It is a sad thing when all other Employments shall empty themselves into the Ministry: When men shall repair to it, not for Preferment, but Refuge; like Malefactors, flying to the Altar, only to save their lives; or like those of Eli's Race, 1 Sam. 2.36. that should come crouching, and seek to be put into the Priest's Office, that they might eat a piece of Bread. Heretofore there was required splendour of Parentage to recommend any one to the Priesthood, as josephus' witnesses in a Treatise which he wrote of his own Life; where he says, To have right to deal in things Sacred, was, amongst them, accounted an argument of a Noble and Illustrious Descent. God would not accept the Offals of other Professions. Doubtless many rejected Christ, upon this thought, That he was the Carpenter's Son, who would have embraced him, had they known him to have been the Son of David. The preferring undeserving persons to this great service, was eminently Ieroboam's Sin, and how Ieroboam's practice and offence has been continued amongst us in another guise, is not unknown: For has not Learning unqualified men for approbation to the Ministry? Have not Parts and Abilities been reputed Enemies to Grace, and qualities no ways Ministerial? While Friends, Faction, Well-meaning, and little understanding, have been Accomplishments beyond Study and the University; and to falsify a story of Conversion, beyond pertinent Answers and clear Resolutions to the hardest and most concerning Questions. So that matters have been brought to this pass, That if a man amongst his Sons had any blind, or disfigured, he laid him aside for the Ministry; and such an one was presently approved, as having a mortified Countenance. In short, it was a fiery Furnace, which often approved Dross and rejected Gold. But thanks be to God, those Spiritual Wickednesses are now discharged from their high places. Hence it was that many rushed into the Ministry, as being the only Calling, that they could profess without serving an Apprenticeship. Hence also we had those that could preach Sermons, but not Defend them. The reason of which is clear, because the Works and Writings of Learned men might be borrowed, but not the Abilities. Had indeed the Old Levitical Hierarchy still continued; in which it was part of the Ministerial Office to slay the Sacrifices, to cleanse the Vessels, to scour the Flesh-forks, to sweep the Temple, and carry the filth and rubbish to the Brook Kidron, no persons living had been fitter for the Ministry, and to serve in this nature at the Altar. But since it is made a labour of the mind; as to inform men's Judgements, and move their Affections, to resolve difficult places of Scripture, to decide and clear off Controversies, I cannot see how to be a Butcher, Scavinger, or any other such Trade, does at all qualify, or prepare men for this work. But as unfit as they were, yet to clear a way for such into the Ministry, we have had almost all Sermons full of gibes and scoffs at Humane Learning. Away with vain Philosophy, with the disputer of this world, and the enticing words of man's wisdom, and set up the foolishness of Preaching, the simplicity of the Gospel: Thus Divinity has been brought in upon the ruins of Humanity; by forcing the Words of the Scripture from the sense, and then haling them to the worst of drudgeries, to set a Ius Divinum upon ignorance and imperfection, and recommend Natural Weakness for Supernatural Grace. Hereupon the Ignorant have took heart to venture upon this great Calling, and instead of cutting their way to it, according to the usual course, through the knowledge of the tongues, the Study of Philosophy, School-divinity, the Fathers and Councils, they have taken another and a shorter Cut, and having read perhaps a Treatise or two upon the heart, the bruised Reed, the Crumbs of Comfort, Wollebius in English, and some other little Authors, the usual Furniture of Old women's Closets, they have set forth as accomplished Divines, and forthwith they present themselves to the Service; and there have not been wanting Ieroboams as willing to consecrate, and receive them, as they to offer themselves. And this has been one of the most fatal, and almost irrecoverable blows that has been given to the Ministry.  
And this may suffice concerning the second way of Embasing God's Ministers; namely by entrusting the Ministry with raw, unlearned, illbred Persons; so that what Solomon speaks of a Proverb, in the mouth of a Fool, the same may be said of the Ministry vested in them, that it is like a Pearl in a swine snout.  
I proceed now to the second thing proposed in the Discussion of this Doctrine, which is to show, how the Embasing of the Ministers tends to the destruction of Religion.  
This it does two ways.  
1. Because it brings them under exceeding scorn and contempt; and then, let none think Religion itself secure: For the Vulgar have not such Logical heads, as to be able to Abstract, such subtle conceptions, as to separate the Man from the Minister, or to consider the same person under a double capacity, and so honour him as a Divine, while they despise him as poor. But suppose they could, yet Actions cannot distinguish, as Conceptions do, and therefore every Act of Contempt strikes at both, and unavoidably wounds the Ministry through the sides of the Minister. And we must know, that the least degree of Contempt weakens Religion, because it is absolutely contrary to the nature of it. Religion properly consisting in a reverential esteem of things Sacred. Now, that which in any measure weakens Religion will at length destroy it: For the weakening of a thing is only a partial destruction of it. Poverty and meanness of condition expose the Wisest to scorn, it being natural for men to place their esteem, rather upon things Great than Good; and the Poet observes, that this Infelix Paupertas has nothing in it more intolerable than this, That it renders men Ridiculous. And then, how easy and natural it is for Contempt to pass from the Person to the Office, from him that speaks, to the thing that he speaks of, Experience proves. Counsel being seldom valued so much for the Truth of the thing, as the Credit of him that gives it. Observe an excellent passage to this purpose in Eccl. 9.14, 15. We have an account of a little City with few men in it, besieged by a great and potent King, and in the 15. v. we read that there was found in it a poor Wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the City. A worthy service indeed, and certainly we may expect that some honourable Recompense should follow it; a Deliverer of his Country, and that in such distress could not but be advanced: but we find a contrary event in the next words of the same verse, Yet none remembered that same poor man? why? what should be the reason? Was he not a man of parts and Wisdom? and is not Wisdom honourable? Yes, but he was poor: But was he not also successful, as well as wise? true; but still he was poor: And once grant this, and you cannot keep off that unavoidable sequel in the next verse, The poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. We may believe it upon Solomon's word, who was Rich, as well as Wise, and therefore knew the force of both: and probably, had it not been for his Riches, the Queen of Sheba would never have come so far only to have heard his Wisdom. Observe her behaviour when she came. Though upon the hearing of Solomon's Wisdom, and the resolution of her hard Questions, she expressed a just admiration, yet when Solomon afterward showed her his Palace, his Treasures, and the Temple which he had built, 1 Kings 10.5. it is said, there was no more spirit in her. What was the cause of this? certainly the magnificence, the pomp and splendour of such a Structure: it struck her into an Ecstasy beyond his wise Answers. She esteemed this as much above his Wisdom, as Astonishment is beyond bare Admiration. She admired his Wisdom, but she adored his Magnificence. So apt is the mind, even of wise persons, to be surprised with the superficies, or circumstance of things, and value, or undervalue Spirituals, according to the manner of their External Appearance. When Circumstances fail, the substance seldom long survives, clothes are no part of the Body, yet take away clothes, and the Body will die. Livy observes of Romulus, that being to give Laws to his new Romans, he found no better way to procure an esteem and reverence to them, than by first procuring it to himself, by splendour of Habit and Retinue, and other signs of Royalty. And the wise Numa, his Successor, took the same course to enforce his Religious Laws, namely, by giving the same Pomp to the Priest, who was to dispense them. Sacerdotem creavit, insignique eum veste, & curuli Regiâ sellâ adornavit. That is, he adorned him with a rich Robe, and a royal chair of State. And in our Judicatures, take away the Trumpet, the Scarlet, the Attendance, and the Lordship, which would be to make Justice Naked, as well as Blind; and the Law would lose much of its Terror, and consequently of its Authority. Let the Minister be abject and low, his interest inconsiderable, the Word will suffer for his sake: The Message will still find reception according to the Dignity of the Messenger. Imagine an Ambassador presenting himself in a poor freeze Jerkin, and tattered clothes, certainly he would have but small Audience, his Embassy would speed rather according to the weakness of him that brought, than the Majesty of him that sent it. It will far alike with the Ambassadors of Christ, the People will give them Audience according to their Presence. A notable example of which we have in the Behaviour of some to Paul himself, 1 Cor. c. 10. v. 10. Hence in the Jewish Church it was cautiously provided in the Law, that none that was blind or lame, or had any remarkable defect in his body, was capable of the Priestly Office: because these things naturally make a person contemned, and this presently reflects upon the Function. This therefore is the first way by which the low, despised condition of the Ministers, tends to the destruction of the Ministry and Religion: namely, because it subjects their Persons to scorn, and consequently their Calling: and it is not imaginable that men will be brought to Obey what they cannot Esteem.  
2. The Second way by which it tends to the ruin of the Ministry is, because it discourages men of fit Parts and Abilities from undertaking it. And certain it is, that as the calling dignifies the man, so the man much more advances his calling. As a Garment, though it warms the Body, has a return with an advantage, being much more warmed by it. And how often a good cause may miscarry without a wise manager, and the Faith for want of a Defender, is, or at least may be known. 'Tis not the Truth of an Assertion, but the skill of the Disputant that keeps off a baffle; not the Justness of a Cause, but the Valour of the Soldiers that must win the Field: When a Learned Paul was converted, and undertook the Ministry, it stopped the mouths of those that said, None but poor, weak Fishermen Preached Christianity, and so his Learning silenced the scandal, as well as strengthened the Church. Religion placed in a soul of exquisite knowledge and abilities, as in a Castle, finds not only habitation but defence. And what a learned 
* Gaspar Streso.  Foreign Divine said of the English Preaching, may be said of all, Plus est in Artifice quam in Arte. So much of moment is there in the Professors of any thing, to depress or raise the Profession. What is it that kept the Church of Rome strong, athletic, and flourishing for so many Centuries, but the happy succession of the choicest wits engaged to her service by suitable preferments? And what strength, do we think, would that give to the True Religion, that is able thus to establish a False? Religion in a great measure stands or falls according to the abilities of those that assert it. And if, as some observe, men's desires are usually as large, as their Abilities, what course have we took to allure the former, that we might engage the latter to our assistance? But we have took all Ways to affright and discourage Scholars from looking towards this sacred calling: For will men lay out their Wit and judgement, upon that employment, for the undertaking of which, both will be questioned? would men, not long since, have spent toilsome days and watchful nights in the laborious quest of knowledge preparative to this work, at length to come and dance attendance for approbation, upon a juncto of petty Tyrants, acted by Party and Prejudice, who denied Fitness from Learning, and Grace from Morality? will a man exhaust his livelihood upon Books, and his Health, the best part of his life, upon Study, to be at length thrust into a poor Village, where he shall have his due precariously, and entreat for his own, and when he has it, live poorly and contemptibly upon it, while the same or less labour bestowed upon any other calling, would bring not only comfort but splendour, not only maintenance but abundance? 'Tis I confess the duty of Ministers to endure this condition: but neither Religion nor Reason does oblige either them to approve, or others to choose it. Doubtless Parents will not throw away the towardness of a child, and the expense of Education upon a Profession, the labour of which is increased, and the rewards of which are vanished: To condemn promising, lively parts to contempt and penury in a despised calling, what is it else, but the casting of a Moses into the mud, or the offering a Son upon the Altar: and instead of a Priest to make him a Sacrifice? Neither let any here reply, That it becomes not a Ministerial spirit to undertake such a calling for reward; for they must know, that it is one thing to undertake it for a reward, and not to be willing to undertake it without one. It is one thing to perform good works only that we may receive the recompense of them in Heaven, and another thing not to be willing to follow Christ and forsake the world if there were no such recompense. But besides, suppose it were the duty of Scholars to choose this calling in the midst of all its discouragements: Yet a prudent governor, who knows it to be his wisdom, as well as his duty, to take the best course to advance Religion, will not consider men's duty, but their practice: not what they ought to do, but what they use to do: and therefore draw over the best qualified to this service, by such ways, as are most apt to persuade and induce men. Solomon built his Temple with the Tallest Cedars: and surely when God refused the defective, and the maimed for sacrifice, we cannot think that he requires them for the Priesthood. When learning, abilities and what is excellent in the world, forsake the Church, we may easily foretell its ruin without the gift of Prophecy. And when ignorance succeeds in the place of learning, weakness in the room of judgement, we may be sure, Heresy and Confusion will quickly come in the room of Religion. For undoubtedly there is no way so effectual to betray the Truth, as to procure it a weak Defender.  
Well now; instead of raising any particular Uses from the Point, that has been delivered, let us make a brief Recapitulation of the whole. Government, we see, depends upon Religion, and Religion upon the Encouragement of those, that are to dispense, and assert it. For the further Evidence of which truths, we need not travel beyond our own Borders; but leave it to every one impartially to Judge, whether from the very first day that our Religion was unsettled, and Church Government flung out of doors, the Civil Government has ever been able to fix upon a sure foundation. We have been changing even to a Proverb. The indignation of Heaven has been rolling and turning us from one form to another, till at length such a giddiness seized upon government, that it fell into the very dregs of Sectaries, who threatened an equal ruin both to Minister and Magistrate. and how the State has Symphathized with the Church, is apparent. For have not our Princes as well as our Priests been of the lowest of the People? Have not Cobblers, Draymen, Mechanics, governed, as well as Preached? Nay, have not they by Preaching come to Govern? was ever that of Solomon more verified, that Servants have Rid, while Princes and Nobles have gone on Foot? But God has been pleased by a miracle of mercy to dissipate this confusion and Chaos, and to give us some openings, some dawnings of liberty and settlement. But now let not those who are to rebuild our jerusalem, think that the Temple must be built last: For if there be such a thing as a God, and Religion, as, whether men believe it or no, they will one day find and feel, assuredly he will stop our Liberty, till we restore him his worship. Besides, it is a senseless thing in reason, to think that one of these interests can stand without the other, when in the very order of Natural causes, Government is preserved by Religion. But to return to jeroboam with whom we first began. He laid the foundation of his Government in destroying, though doubtless he coloured it with the name of Reforming God's worship: but see the issue. Consider him Cursed by God; maintaining his usurped title, by continual vexatious wars against the Kings of judah; smote in his posterity, which was made like the dung upon the face of the Earth, as low and vile as those Priests whom he had employed. Consider him branded, and made odious to all after-ages. And now, when his Kingdom and glory was at an end, and he and his Posterity rotting under ground, and his Name stinking above it; Judge what a worthy prize he made in getting of a Kingdom, by destroying the Church. Wherefore the sum of all is this; to advise and desire those whom it may concern, to consider Ieroboam's punishment, and then they will have little heart to Ieroboam's sin.    

A SERMON Preached at LAMBETH-CHAPEL on the 25 th'. of November, Upon the Consecration of the Right Reverend Father in God Dr. JOHN DOLBEN Lord Bishop of ROCHESTER.  

TO THE Right Reverend Father in GOD JOHN, Lord Bishop of ROCHESTER, Dean of the Cathedral Church of WESTMINSTER, AND Clerk of the Closet to His Majesty.  
My Lord,  
THough the interposal of my Lord of Canterbury's Command for the Publication of this mean Discourse, may seem so far to determine, as even to take away, my Choice; yet I must own it to the World, that it is solely and entirely my own Inclination, seconded by my Obligations to your Lordship, that makes this, that was so lately an humble attendant upon your Lordship's Consecration, now ambitious to Consecrate itself with your Lordship's Name. It was my Honour to have lived in the same College with your Lordship, and now to belong to the same Cathedral, where at present you credit the Church as much by your Government, as you did the school formerly by your Wit. Your Lordship even then grew up into a constant Superiority above others; and all your After-greatness seems but a Paraphrase upon those Promising beginnings: for whatsoever you are or shall be, has been but an easy Prognostic from what you were. It is your Lordship's unhappiness to be cast upon an Age in which the Church is in its Wane, and if you do not those glorious things that our English Prelates. did two or three hundred years since; it is not because your Lordship is at all less than they, but because the Times are worse. Witness those magnificent Buildings in Christ-Church in Oxford, begun and carried on by your Lordship; when by your Place you governed, and by your Wisdom increased the Treasure of that College: and, which must eternally set your Fame above the reach of Envy and Detraction, these great Structures you attempted at a time when you returned poor and bare, to a College as bare, after a long Persecution, and before you had laid so much as one Stone in the Repairs of your own Fortunes: By which incomparably high and generous undertaking, you have shown the World how fit a Person you were to build upon Wolsey's foundation: A Prelate, whose great designs you Imitate, and whose mind you Equal. Briefly, That Christ-Church stands so high above ground, and that the Church of Westminster lies not flat upon it, is your Lordship's Commendation. And therefore your Lordship is not behindhand with the Church, paying it as much Credit and Support, as you receive from it; for you owe your Promotion to your Merit, and, I am sure, your Merit to yourself. All men Court you, not so much because a great Person, as a Public good. For, as a Friend, there is none so hearty, so Nobly warm and active to make good all the Offices of that endearing Relation: As a Patron, none more able to oblige and reward your Dependants; and, which is the Crowning Ornament of Power, none more willing. And lastly, as a Diocesan, you are like even to outdo yourself in all other Capacities; and, in a word, to exemplify and realize every Word of the following Discourse; which is here most humbly and gratefully presented to your Lordship, By  
Your Lordship's most obliged Servant Robert South. From St. James'. Dec. 3. 1666.   
TITUS II. ult. 
These things Speak and Exhort, and Rebuke with all Authority. Let no man Despise thee.  
IT may possibly be expected, that the very taking of my Text out of this Epistle to Titus, may engage me in a Discourse about the Nature, Original, and Divine Right of Episcopacy; and if it should, it were no more than what some of the greatest, and the learned'st persons in the world (when men served Truth instead of Design) had done before: For, I must profess that I cannot look upon Titus as so far unbishoped yet, but that he still exhibits to us all the essentials of that Jurisdiction, which to this day is claimed for Episcopal. We are told in the fifth Verse of the first Chapter, That he was left in Crete to set things in order, and to ordain Elders in every City; which Text, one would think, were sufficiently clear and full, and too big with Evidence to be perverted; but when we have seen Rebellion commented out of the thirteenth of the Romans; and since there are few things, but admit of gloss and probability, and consequently may be expounded as well as disputed on both sides; it is no such wonder, that some would bear the world in hand, that the Apostle's design and meaning is for Presbytery, though his words are all the time for Episcopacy: No wonder, I say, to us at least, who have conversed with too many strange unparallelled Actions, Occurrences and Events, now to wonder at any thing; Wonder is from Surprise; and Surprise ceases upon Experience.  
I am not so much a Friend to the stale Starched Formality of Preambles, as to detain so great an Audience with any previous discourse extrinsic to the Subject matter and design of the Text; and therefore I shall fall directly upon the Words, which run in the form of an Exhortation, though in appearance a very strange one; for the matter of an Exhortation should be something naturally in the Power of him to whom the Exhortation is directed. For no man exhorts another to be strong, beautiful, witty, or the like; these are the felicities of some Conditions, the object of more Wishes, but the effects of no man's Choice. Nor seems there any greater reason for the Apostle's exhorting Titus, That no man should despise him; for how could another man's Action be his Duty? Was it in his power that men should not be wicked and injurious? and if such persons would despise him, could any thing pass an obligation upon him not to be despised? No, this cannot be the meaning; and therefore it is clear, that the Exhortation lies not against the Action itself, which is only in the Despiser's power; but against the just occasion of it, which is in the will and power of him that is Despised; it was not in Titus' power that men should not despise him, but it was in his power to bereave them of all just cause of doing so; it was not in his power not to be Derided, but 'twas in his power not to be Ridiculous.  
In all this Epistle it is evident that St. Paul looks upon Titus as advanced to the dignity of a prime Ruler of the Church, and entrusted with a large Diocese, containing many particular Cities under the immediate Government of their respective Elders; and those deriving Authority from his Ordination, as was specified in the fifth Verse of the first Chapter. And now looking upon Titus under this Qualification, he addresses a long Advice and Instruction to him, for the discharge of so important a Function, all along the first and second Chapters: but sums up all in the last Verse, which is the subject of the ensuing Discourse, and contains in it these Two things.  

1. An account of the Duties of his Place or Office.  
2. Of the means to facilitate, and make effectual their Execution.   
The Duties of his place were two. 1. To Teach. 2. To Rule. Both comprised in these words; These things speak and exhort, and rebuke with all Authority.  
And then the means; the only means to make him Successful, Bright, and Victorious in the performance of these great works, was to be above Contempt, to shine like the Baptist, with a clear, and a triumphant Light. In a word, it is every Bishop's duty to Teach, and to Govern; and his way to do it, is not to be despised.  
We will discourse of each respectively, in their Order.  
1. And first, for the first branch of the great work incumbent upon a Church Ruler, which is to Teach. A work that none is too great or too high for: it is a work of Charity, and Charity is the work of Heaven, which is always laying itself out upon the Needy, and the Impotent; nay, and it is a work of the highest and the noblest Charity; for he that teacheth another, giveth an Alms to his Soul; he clothes the nakedness of his Understanding, and relieves the wants of his impoverished Reason: he indeed that governs well, leads the Blind; but he that teaches, gives him Eyes; and it is a glorious thing to have been the Repairer of a decayed Intellect, and a Sub-worker to Grace, in freeing it from some of the inconveniencies of Original Sin. It is a Benefaction that gives a man a kind of Prerogative: for even in the common Dialect of the world, every Teacher is called a Master: it is the property of Instruction to descend, and upon that very account, it supposes him, that instructs, the Superior, or at least makes him so.  
To say a man is advanced too high to condescend to teach the Ignorant, is as much as to say, That the Sun is in too high a place to shine upon what is below it. The Sun is said to rule the day, and the Moon to rule the night: but do they not Rule them only by enlightening them? Doctrine is that, that must prepare men for Discipline; and men never go on so cheerfully, as when they see where they go.  
Nor is the dullness of the Scholar to extinguish, but rather to inflame the charity of the Teacher: for, since it is not in men as in vessels, that the smallest capacity is the soon filled; where the labour is doubled, the value of the work is enhanced; for it is a sowing, where a man never expects to reap any thing but the Comfort and Conscience of having done virtuously. And yet we know moreover, that God sometimes converts even the dull and the slow, turning very Stones into Sons of Abraham; where besides, that the difficulty of the Conquest advances the Trophy of the Conqueror; it often falls out, that the backward Learner makes amends another way, recompensing Sure for Sudden, expiating his want of Docility with a deeper and a more rooted Retention. Which alone were argument sufficient to enforce the Apostle's injunction of being instant in season and out of season; even upon the highest and most exalted Ruler in the Church. He that sits in Moses chair, sits there to Instruct, as well as to Rule: and a General's office engages him to Led, as well as to Command his Army. In the first of Ecclesiastes, Solomon represents himself both as Preacher and King of Israel: and every soul that a Bishop gains, is a new accession to the extent of his Power; he preaches his Jurisdiction wider, and enlarges his spiritual Diocese, as he enlarges men's apprehensions.  
The Teaching part indeed of a Romish Bishop, is easy enough, whose Grand business is only to teach men to be Ignorant, to instruct them how to know Nothing, or which is all one, to know upon Trust, to believe implicitly, and in a word, to see with other men's eyes, till they come to be lost in their own souls. But our Religion is a Religion that dares to be understood; that offers itself to the search of the Inquisitive, to the inspection of the severest and the most awakened Reason: for being secure of her substantial Truth and Purity, she knows that for her to be seen and looked into, is to be embraced and admired: as, there needs no greater argument for men to love the light than to see it. It needs no Legends, no Service in an unknown tongue, no inquisition against Scripture, no purging out the heart and sense of Authors, no altering or bribing the voice of Antiquity to speak for it; it needs none of all these laborious Artifices of ignorance; none of all these cloaks and cover. The Romish Faith indeed must be covered, or it cannot be kept warm; and their Clergy deal with their Religion as with a great Crime; if it is discovered, they are undone. But there is no Bishop of the Church of England, but accounts it his Interest, as well as his Duty to comply with this Precept of the Apostle Paul to Titus, These things teach and exhort.  
Now this Teaching may be effected two ways: 

1. Immediately by himself.  
2. Mediately by others.    
And first, immediately by himself. Where God gives a Talon, the Episcopal Robe can be no Napkin to hide it in. Change of Condition changes not the abilities of Nature, but makes them more illustrious in their exercise; and the Episcopal dignity added to a good Preaching faculty, is like the erecting of a stately Fountain upon a Spring, which still, for all that, remains as much a Spring, as it was before, and flows as plentifully, only it flows with the circumstance of greater State and Magnificence. Height of place is intended only to stamp the endowments of a private condition with Lustre and Authority: And, thanks be to God, neither the Church's professed enemies, nor her pretended friends, have any cause to asperse her in this respect, as having over her such Bishops, as are able to silence the Factious, no less by their Preaching, than by their Authority.  
But then on the other hand, let me add also, That this is not so absolutely necessary, as to be of the vital Constitution of this Function. He may teach his Diocese who ceases to be able to preach to it: for he may do it by appointing Teachers, and by a vigilant exacting from them the care and the instruction of their respective Flocks. He is the Spiritual Father of his Diocese; and a Father may see his Children taught, though he himself does not turn Schoolmaster. It is not the gift of every Person, nor of every Age, to harangue the multitude, to Voice it high and loud, & Dominari in Concionibus. And since Experience fits for Government, and Age usually brings Experience, perhaps the most Governing years are the least Preaching years. In the  
2. Second place therefore, there is a teaching Mediately, by the Subordinate ministration of others; in which, since the Action of the Instrumental agent is, upon all grounds of Reason, to be ascribed to the Principal, He who ordains and furnishes all his Churches with able Preachers, is an Universal Teacher; he instructs, where he cannot be Present; he speaks in every mouth of his Diocese, and every Congregation of it every Sunday feels his Influence, though it hears not his Voice. That Master deprives not his Family of their food, who order a faithful Steward to dispense it. Teaching is not a Flow of Words, nor the draining of an Hourglass, but an effectual procuring, that a man comes to know something which he knew not before, or to know it better. And therefore Eloquence and Ability of Speech is to a Church-Governour, as Tully said it was to a Philosopher, Si afferatur, non repudianda; si absit, non magnopere desideranda: and to find fault with such an one for not being a Popular Speaker, is to blame a Painter for not being a good Musician.  
To Teach, indeed, must be confessed his Duty; but then there is a Teaching by Example, by Authority, by restraining Seducers, and so removing the Hindrances of knowledge. And a Bishop does his Church, his Prince and Country more Service by ruling other men's Tongues, than he can by employing his own. And thus much for the first Branch of the great Work belonging to a Pastor of the Church, which was to Teach and to Exhort.  
2. The second is to Rule, Expressed in these words; Rebuke with all Authority. By which I doubt not but the Apostle principally intends Church-Censures; and so the Words are a Metonymy of the Part for the Whole, giving an instance in Ecclesiastical Censures, instead of all other Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction. A Jurisdiction, which in the Essentials of it is as old as Christianity, and even in those Circumstantial Additions of secular encouragement, with which the Piety and Wisdom of Christian Princes always thought necessary to support it against the Encroachments of the injurious World, much Older, and more Venerable, than any Constitution, that had divested the Church of it.  
But to speak directly to the Thing before us; We see here the great Apostle employing the utmost of his Authority in commanding Titus to use his: and what he said to Him, he says to every Christian Bishop after him, Rebuke with all Authority. This Authority is a Spiritual Sword put into the hands of every Church-Ruler; and God put not this Sword into his hands, with an intent that he should keep it there for no other purpose, but only for Fashion-sake, as men use to wear one by their sides. Government is an Art above the Attainment of an ordinary Genius, and requires a wider, a larger, and a more Comprehending Soul than God has put into every Body. The Spirit which animates and acts the Universe, is a Spirit of Government; and that Ruler that is possessed of it, is the Substitute and Vicegerent of Providence, whether in Church or State. Every Bishop is God's Curate. Now the Nature of Government contains in it these three parts.  

1. An Exaction of Duty from the Persons placed under it.  
2. A Protection of them in the performance of their Duty.  
3. Coercion and Animadversion upon such as neglect it. All which are in their Proportion, ingredients of that Government which we call Ecclesiastical.   
1. And first, it implies Exaction of Duty from the Persons placed under it: for it is both to be confessed and lamented, that men are not so ready to Offer it, where it is not exacted: Otherwise, what means the Service of the Church so imperfectly, and by halves read over, and that by many who profess a Conformity to the Rules of the Church? What makes them mince and mangle that in their Practice, which they could swallow whole in their Subscriptions? Why are the Public Prayers curtailed and left out, Prayers composed with Sobriety, and enjoined with Authority, only to make the more room for a long, crude, impertinent, upstart Harangue before the Sermon?  
Such persons seem to Conform (the signification of which Word they never make good) only that they may despise the Church's Injunctions under the Church's Wing, and Contemn Authority within the protection of the Laws. Duty is but another English Word for Debt; and God knows, that it is well if men pay their Debts when they are called upon. But if Governors do not remind men of, and call them to Obedience, they will find, that it will never come as a freewill offering, no not from many, who even serve at the Altar.  
2. Government imports a Protection, and Encouragement of the Persons under it, in the Discharge of their Duty. It is not for a Magistrate to frown upon, and browbeat those who are hearty and exact in the management of their Ministry; and with a Grave insignificant Nod, to call a well Regulated, and Resolved Zeal, Want of Prudence and Moderation. Such Discouraging of men in the ways of an Active Conformity to the Church's Rules, is that, which will crack the Sinews of Government; for it weakens the Hands, and damps the Spirits of the Obedient. And if only Scorn and Rebuke shall attend men for asserting the Church's Dignity, and taxing the murder of Kings, and the like; many will choose rather to neglect their Duty safely and creditably, than to get a broken Pate in the Church's Service, only to be rewarded with that, which shall Break their Hearts too.  
3. The third thing implied in Government, is Coercion and Animadversion upon such as neglect their Duty. Without which Coercive Power, all Government is but Toothless and Precarious, and does not so much command, as beg obedience. Nothing, I confess, is more becoming a Christian, of what Degree soever, than Meekness, Candour and Condescension; but they are Virtues that have their proper Sphere and Season to act and show themselves in, and consequently not to interfere with others: Different indeed in their Nature, but altogether as Necessary in their Use. And when an insolent despiser of Discipline, nurtured into Impudence and Contempt of all Order by a long Risque of Licence and Rebellion, shall appear before a Church Governor, Severity and Resolution are that governor's Virtues, and Justice itself is his Mercy; for by making such an one an example, (as much as in him lies) he will either Cure him, or at least Preserve others.  
Were indeed the Consciences of men as they should be, the Censures of the Church might be a sufficient Coercion upon them; but being, as most of them now-adays are, Hell and Damnation-proof, her bare anathemas fall but like so many Bruta fulmina upon the Obstinate and Schismatical: who are like to think themselves shrewdly hurt (forsooth) by being cut off from that Body, which they choose not to be of; and so being punished into a Quiet enjoyment of their beloved Separation. Some will by no means allow the Church any further power than only to Exhort and to Advise, and this but with a Proviso too, that it extends not to such as think themselves too Wise, and too Great to be Advised: according to the Hypothesis of which persons, the Authority of the Church, and the obliging force of all Church-Sanctions, can bespeak men only thus; These and these things it is your duty to do, and if you will not do them, you may as well let them alone. A strict and efficacious Constitution indeed, which invests the Church with no power at all, but where men will be so very Civil as to obey it, and so at the same time pay it a Duty, and do it a Courtesy too.  
But when in the Judgement of some men, the Spiritual Function as Such, must render a Churchman, though otherwise never so discreet and qualified, yet merely because he is a Churchman, unfit to be entrusted by his Prince with a share of that Power and Jurisdiction, which in many circumstances his Prince has judged but too necessary, to secure the Affairs and Dignity of the Church; and which, every thriving Grazier can think himself but ill dealt with, if within his own Country he is not mounted to: It is a sign, that such discontented Persons intent not that Religion shall advise them upon any other Terms, than that they may Ride and Govern their Religion.  
But surely all our Kings, and our Parliaments, understood well enough what they did, when they thought fit to prop and fortify the Spiritual Order with some power that was Temporal; and such is the present state of the World, in the judgement of any observing Eye, that if the Bishop has no other defensatives but Excommunication, no other power but that of the Keys, he may, for any notable effect that he is like to do upon the factious and contumacious, surrender up his Pastoral Staff, shut up the Church, and put those Keys under the Door.  
And thus I have endeavoured to show the Three things included in the general Nature of Government; but, to prescribe the manner of it in particular, is neither in my Power, nor Inclination: only, I suppose, the Common Theory and Speculation of things is free and open to any one whom God has sent into the world with some ability to contemplate, and by continuing him in the World, gives him also opportunity. In all, that has been said, I do not in the least pretend to Advise, or Chalk out Rules to my Superiors; for some men cannot be Fools with so good acceptance as others. But whosoever is called to speak upon a certain occasion, may, I conceive, without offence take any Text suitable to that occasion; and having taken it, may, or at least ought, to speak suitably to that Text.  
I proceed now to the second thing proposed from the Words, which is the Means assigned for the Discharge of the Duties mentioned, and exhibited under this one short Prescription, Let not man despise thee: In the handling of which I shall show, 

1. The ill effects and destructive Influence that Contempt has upon Government.  
2. The groundless Causes upon which Church-Rulers are frequently despised.  
3. And lastly, the just causes that would render them, or indeed any other Rulers, worthy to be despised. All which being clearly made out, and impartially laid before our eyes, it will be easy and obvious for every one, by avoiding the Evil so marked out, to answer and come up to the Apostle's Exhortation.    
And first, we will discourse of Contempt, and the malign hostile Influence it has upon Government. As for the thing itself, every man's Experience will inform him, that there is no Action in the Behaviour of one man towards another, of which humane Nature is more Impatient than of Contempt; it being a thing made up of these two Ingredients, an undervaluing of a Man upon a belief of his utter Uselessness and Inability, and a Spiteful endeavour to engage the rest of the World in the same Belief, and slight Esteem of him. So that the immediate Design of Contempt, is the shame of the Person contemned; and Shame is a Banishment of him from the good Opinion of the World, which every man most earnestly Desires, both upon a Principle of Nature and of Interest. For it is Natural to all men to affect a good Name; and he that despises a man, Libels him in his Thoughts, Reviles and Traduces him in his Judgement. And there is also Interest in the Case: For a Desire to be well thought of, directly Resolves itself into that owned and mighty Principle of self-preservation: For as much as Thoughts are the first wheels and motives of Action; and there is no long passage from one to the other. He that Thinks a man to the ground, will quickly endeavour to Lay him there: for while he Despises him, he Arraigns and Condemns him in his Heart; and the after-Bitterness and Cruelties of his practices, are but the Executioners of the Sentence passed before upon him by his Judgement. Contempt, like the planet Saturn, has first an ill Aspect, and then a destroying Influence.  
By all which, I suppose, it is sufficiently proved, how Noxious it must needs be to every Governor: For, can a man respect the person whom he Despises? and can there be Obedience where there is not so much as Respect? will the Knee bend, while the Heart Insults? and the Actions Submit, while the Apprehensions Rebel? And therefore the most experienced Disturbers and Underminers of Government, have always laid their first Train in Contempt, endeavouring to blow it up in the Judgement and Esteem of the subject. And was not this method observed in the late most flourishing and successful Rebellion? for how studiously did they lay about them, both from the Pulpit and the Press, to cast a slur upon the King's person, and to bring his governing Abilities under a Disrepute? and then, after they had sufficiently Blasted him in his Personal Capacity, they found it an easy Work to dash and overthrow him in his Political.  
Reputation is Power: and consequently to Despise is to Weaken. For where there is Contempt, there can be no Awe; and where there is no Awe, there will be no Subjection; and if there is no Subjection, it is impossible, without the help of the former Distinction of a Politic Capacity, to imagine how a Prince can be a Governor. He that makes his Prince despised and undervalved, blows a Trumpet against him in men's Breasts, beats him out of his Subjects hearts, and fights him out of their Affections; and after this, he may easily strip him of his other Garrisons, having already dispossessed him of his strongest, by dismantling him of his Honour, and seizing his Reputation.  
Nor is, what has been said of Princes, less true of all other Governors, from Highest to Lowest, from him that Heads an Army, to him that is Master of a Family, or of one single Servant; the formal Reason of a thing equally extending itself to every particular of the same kind. It is a proposition of Eternal Verity, that None can Govern while he is Despised. We may as well imagine that there may be a King without Majesty, a Supreme without Sovereignty. It is a paradox, and a Direct contradiction in practice: for where Contempt takes place, the very Causes and Capacities of Government cease.  
Men are so far from being Governed by a despised person, that they will not so much as be taught by Him. Truth itself shall lose its Credit, if Delivered by a person that has none. As on the Contrary, be but a person in Vogue and Credit, with the Multitude, he shall be able to commend and set off whatsoever he says, to authorise any Nonsense, and to make popular, rambling, incoherent Stuff, (seasoned with Twang and Tautology,) pass for high Rhetoric and moving Preaching; such indeed, as a Zealous Tradesman would even Live and Die under. And now, I suppose it is no ill Topick of Argumentation, to show the prevalence of Contempt, by the contrary Influences of Respect; which thus (as it were) dubbs every little, petit Admired person, Lord and Commander of all his Admirers. And certain it is, that the Ecclesiastical, as well as the Civil Governor, has cause to pursue the same Methods of Securing and Confirming himself; the grounds and means of Government being founded upon the same bottom of Nature in both, though the Circumstances, and Relative Considerations of the Persons may differ. And I have nothing to say more upon this Head, but that, if Churchmen are called upon to Discharge the parts of Governors, they may with the highest Reason expect those Supports and Helps that are indispensably Requisite thereunto: and that those men are but Trepanned, who are called to Govern, being invested with Authority, but bereft of Power; which according to a true and plain Estimate of things, is nothing else but to mock and betray them into a Splendid and Magisterial way of being Ridiculous. And thus much for the ill Effects and destructive Influence that Contempt has upon Government.  
I pass now to the 2. Thing, which is to show the Groundless Causes, upon which Church-Rulers are frequently Despised.  
Concerning which, I shall premise this; That nothing can be a reasonable Ground of Despising a man, but some Fault or other chargeable upon him; and nothing can be a Fault that is not Naturally in a man's power to prevent; otherwise, it is a man's Unhappiness his Mischance or Calamity, but not his Fault. Nothing can justly be Despised, that cannot justly be Blamed; and it is a most certain Rule in Reason and moral Philosophy, That where there is no Choice, there can be no Blame.  
This premised, we may take notice of two usual grounds of the Contempt men cast upon the Clergy, and yet for which no man ought to think himself at all the more worthy to be Contemned.  
1. The first is their very Profession itself: Concerning which, it is a sad, but an experimented Truth, that the Names derived from it, in the refined Language of the present Age, are made but the Appellatives of Scorn. This is not charged Universally upon all, but experience will affirm, or rather proclaim it of much the greater part of the World; and men must persuade us that we have lost our Hearing, and our common Sense, before we can believe the Contrary. But surely the Bottom and Foundation of this Behaviour towards Persons set apart for the Service of God, that this very Relation should entitle them to such a peculiar Scorn, can be nothing else but Atheism; the growing, rampant Sin of the Times.  
For call a man Oppressor, Griping, Covetous, or Over-reaching person, and the Word indeed being ill befriended by Custom, perhaps sounds not well, but generally, in the apprehension of the Hearer, it signifies no more, than, that such an one is a Wise, and a Thriving, or in the common Phrase, a Notable man; which will certainly procure him a Respect: And say of another, that he is an Epicure, a Loose or a Vicious man; and it leaves in men no other Opinion of him, than that he is a Merry, Pleasant, and a Gentile Person: and that he that taxes him, is but a Pedant, an unexperienced, and a Morose fellow; one that does not know men, nor understand what it is to Eat and Drink well; But call a man Priest or Parson, and you set him, in some men's Esteem, ten degrees below his own Servant.  
But let us not be Discouraged, or Displeased, either with ourselves, or our Profession upon this account. Let the Vertuoso's Mock, Insult, and Despise on: yet after all, they shall never be able to Droll away the Nature of things; to trample a Pearl into a Pibble, nor to make Sacred things Contemptible, any more than themselves, by such speeches, Honourable.  
2. Another groundless Cause of some men's despising the Governors of our Church, is their loss of that former Grandeur, and Privilege that they enjoyed. But it is no real Disgrace to the Church merely to lose her privileges, but to forfeit them by her Fault or Misdemeanour, of which she is not conscious. Whatsoever she enjoyed in this kind, she readily acknowledges to have streamed from the Royal Munificence, and the favours of the Civil power shining upon the Spiritual; which Favours the same power may retract and gather back into itself when it pleases. And we envy not the Greatness and Lustre of the Romish Clergy; neither their Scarlet Gowns, nor their Scarlet Sins. If our Church cannot be Great; which is better, she can be Humble, and content to be Reform into as low a Condition, as men for their own private Advantage would have her; who wisely tell her, that it is best and safest for her to be without any power, or Temporal advantage; like the good Physician, who out of tenderness to his Patient, lest he should hurt himself by Drinking, was so kind as to rob him of his silver Cup. The Church of England Glories in nothing more, than that she is the truest Friend to Kings, and to Kingly Government of any other Church in the World; that they were the same Hands and Principles that took the Crown from the King's Head, and the Mitre from the Bishop's. It is indeed the Happiness of some Professions and Callings, that they can equally square themselves to, and thrive under all Revolutions of Government; but the Clergy of England neither know nor affect that Happiness; and are willing to be Despised for not doing so. And so far is our Church from encroaching upon the Civil power; as some who are Backfriends to both, would maliciously insinuate, that were it stripped of the very Remainder of its Privileges, and made as like the primitive Church for its Bareness, as it is already for its purity; it could Cheerfully, and what is more, Loyally, want all such Privileges; and in the want of them pray heartily, that the Civil power may flourish as much, and stand as secure from the Assaults of Fanatic, Antimonarchical principles, (grown to such a dreadful height, during the Churches late Confusions,) as it stood while the Church enjoyed those privileges. And thus much for the two groundless Causes upon which Church Rulers are frequently Despised. I descend now to the  
3. And last thing, which is to show those just Causes, that would render them, or indeed any other Rulers worthy to be Despised. Many might be Assigned, but I shall pitch only upon Four; in Discoursing of which, rather the Time, than the Subject will force me to be very Brief.  
1. And the first is Ignorance. We know how great an Absurdity our Saviour accounted it, for the Blind to lead the Blind; and to put him that cannot so much as See, to discharge the Office of a Watch. Nothing more exposes to Contempt than Ignorance. When Sampson's eyes were out, of a public Magistrate, he was made a public Sport. And when Eli was blind, we know how well he Governed his Sons, and how well they Governed the Church under him. But now the Blindness of the Understanding is Greater and more Scandalous; especially, in such a seeing Age as Ours; in which the very Knowledge of former times, passes but for Ignorance in a better Dress: an Age that flies at all Learning, and inquires into every thing, but especially, into Faults and Defects. Ignorance indeed, so far as it may be Resolved into Natural inability, is, as to men, at least, Inculpable, and consequently, not the Object of Scorn, but Pity: but in a Governor, it cannot be without the Conjunction of the highest Impudence: For who bid such an one aspire to Teach, and to Govern? A blind man sitting in the Chimney corner is pardonable enough, but sitting at the Helm he is Intolerable. If men will be Ignorant and Illiterate, let them be so in Private, and to themselves, and not set their Defects in an high place, to make them Visible and Conspicuous. If Owls will not be hooted at, let them keep close within the Tree, and not perch upon the upper Boughs.  
2. A Second thing, that makes a Governor justly despised, is Viciousness and ill Morals. Virtue is that, which must tip the preacher's Tongue, and the Ruler's Sceptre, with Authority. And therefore with what a Controlling, Overpowering force did our Saviour tax the Sins of the jews, when he ushered in his Rebukes of them, with that high assertion of himself, Who is there amongst you that convinces me of Sin? Otherwise, we may easily guests with what impatience the world would have heard an incestuous Herod discoursing of Chastity, a judas condemning Covetousness, or a Pharisee preaching against Hypocrisy: Every word must have recoiled upon the Speaker. Gild is that, which quells the Courage of the Bold, ties the Tongue of the Eloquent, and makes Greatness itself sneak and lurk, and behave itself poorly. For, let a Vicious person be in never so high Command, yet still he will be looked upon but as one great Vice, empowered to Correct and Chastise others. A Corrupt Governor is nothing else but a reigning Sin. And a Sin in Office may Command any thing but Respect. No Man can be Credited by his Place or Power; who by his Virtue does not first Credit that.  
3. A Third thing that makes a Governor justly despised, is fearfulness of, and Mean Compliances with bold, popular Offenders. Some indeed account it the very Spirit of Policy and Prudence, where Men refuse to come up to a Law, to make the Law come down to them. And for their so doing, have this infallible Recompense, that they are not at all the more Loved, but much the less Feared; and, which is a sure Consequent of it, accordingly Respected. But believe it, it is a Resolute tenacious Adherence to well Chosen Principles, that adds Glory to Greatness, and makes the face of a Governor shine in the Eyes of those that see and examine his Actions. Disobedience, if complied with, is infinitely encroaching, and having gained one degree of Liberty upon Indulgence, will demand another upon Claim. Every Vice Interprets a Connivance an Approbation.  
Which being so, is it not an Enormous indecency, as well as a gross impiety, that any one who owns the Name of a Divine, hearing a great Sinner brave it against Heaven, talk Atheistically, and scoff Profanely at that Religion, by which he owns an Expectation to be saved, if he cares to be saved at all, should instead of Vindicating the Truth to the Blasphemer's Teeth, think it Discretion and Moderation (forsooth) with a Complying Silence, and perhaps a Smile to boot, tacitly to approve, and strike in with the Scoffer, and so go Sharer both in the Mirth and Gild of his profane Jests?  
But let such an one be assured, that even that Blasphemer himself, would inwardly Reverence him, if rebuked by him; as on the Contrary, he in his Heart really Despises him for his cowardly, base Silence. If any one should reply here, That the Times and Manners of men will not bear such a practice, I confess, that it is an Answer from the mouth of a professed timeserver, very Rational: But, as for that man, that is not so, Let him satisfy himself of the Reason, Justice and Duty of an Action, and leave the event of it to God, who will never fail those, who do not think themselves too wise to trust him. For let the worst come to the worst, a man in so doing would be ruined more Honourably, than otherwise preferred.  
4. And Lastly. A fourth thing, that makes a Governor justly Despised, is a proneness to Despise others. There is a kind of Respect due to the Meanest person, even from the Greatest; for it is the mere favour of providence, that he who is Actually the Greatest, was not the Meanest. A man cannot cast his Respects so low, but they will Rebound and Return upon him. What Heaven bestows upon the Earth in kind Influences, and benign Aspects, is paid it back again in Sacrifice, Incense and Adoration. And surely, a great person gets more by Obliging his Inferior, than by Disdaining him; as a man has a greater advantage by Sowing and Dressing his Ground, than he can have by trampling upon it. It is not to insult and domineer, to look disdainfully, and revile imperiously, that procures an Esteem from any one: it will indeed make men keep their Distance sufficiently; but it will be Distance without Reverence.  
And thus I have shown four several Causes, that may justly render any Ruler Despised; and by the same Work, I hope, have made it Evident, how little Cause men have to Despise the Rulers of our Church.  
God is the Fountain of Honour, and the Conduit, by which he Conveys it to the Sons of men, are Virtuous and Generous Practices. But as for Us, who have more Immediately and Nearly Devoted, both our persons and concerns to his Service; it were infinitely vain to expect it upon any other Terms. Some indeed may please and promise themselves high Matters, from full Revenues, stately Palaces, Court-Interests, and great Dependences. But that which makes the Clergy glorious, is to be knowing in their Profession, Unspotted in their Lives, Active and Laborious in their Charges, Bold and Resolute in opposing Seducers, and daring to look Vice in the face, though never so Potent and Illustrious. And lastly, to be Gentle, Courteous, and Compassionate to all.  
These are our Robes, and our Maces, our Escutcheons and highest Titles of Honour: for by all these things God is honoured, who has Declared this the Eternal Rule and Standard of all Honour deriveable upon men, That those who Honour Him, shall be Honoured by Him.  To which God, fearful in Praises, and working Wonders, be rendered and ascribed as is most due, all Praise, Might Majesty and Dominion, both now and for evermore. Amen.   

A SERMON Preached upon JOHN VII. 17.  JOHN VII. 17. 
If any man will do his Will, he shall know of the Doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.  
WHen God was pleased to new model the World by the introduction of a new Religion, and that in the room of one set up by himself, it was requisite, that he should recommend it to the Reasons of men with the same Authority, and evidence, that enforced the Former; and that a Religion established by God himself should not be displaced by any thing under a Demonstration of that Divine Power that first introduced it. And the whole Jewish Oeconomy, we know, was brought in with miracles; the Law was writ and confirmed by the same Almighty hand. The whole Universe was subservient to its Promulgation. The signs of Egypt and the Red Sea; Fire and a Voice from Heaven; the Heights of the one, and the Depths of the other; so that (as it were) from the Top to the Bottom of nature, there issued forth one Universal United Testimony of the Divinity of the Mosaic Law and Religion. And this stood in the World for the space of two thousand years; till at length, in the fullness of Time, the reason of men ripening to such a Pitch, as to be above the Pedagogy of Moses' Rod, and the Discipline of Types, God thought fit to display the substance without the Shadow, and to read the World a Lecture of an higher, and more sublime Religion in Christianity. But the Jewish was yet in possession; and therefore that this might so enter, as not to intrude, it was to bring its Warrant from the same hand of Omnipotence. And for this cause, Christ, that he might not make either a suspected, or precarious address to men's understandings, outdoes Moses, before he displaces him: shows an Ascendent Spirit above him: raises the Dead, and cures more Plagues, than he brought upon Egypt, casts out Devils, and heals the Deaf, speaking such Words, as even gave ears to hear them: cures the Blind and the Lame; and makes the very Dumb to speak for the Truth of his Doctrine. But what was the result of all this? Why, some look upon him as an Impostor, and a Conjurer, as an Agent for Beelzebub, and therefore reject his Gospel, hold fast their Law, and will not let Moses give place to the Magician.  
Now the Cause that Christ's Doctrine was rejected, must of necessity be one of these two. 1. An insufficiency in the Arguments brought by Christ to enforce it. Or, 2. An indisposition in the Persons, to whom this Doctrine was addressed, to receive it.  
And for this; Christ who had not only an infinite Power to work miracles, but also an equal Wisdom both to know the just force, and measure of every argument, or motive to persuade, or cause Assent; and withal to look through and through all the Dark Corners of the Soul of man, all the Windings and Turnings, and various Workings of his Faculties; and to discern how, and by what means they are to be wrought upon; and what prevails upon them, and what does not. He, I say, states the whole matter upon this Issue. That the Arguments by which his Doctrine addressed itself to the minds of men, were proper, adequate, and sufficient to compass their respective ends in persuading, or convincing the Persons to whom they were proposed: and moreover, that there was no such defect in the Natural light of man's understanding, or Knowing faculty; but that, considered in itself, it would be apt enough to close with, and yield its assent to the Evidence of those Arguments duly offered to, and laid before it. And yet, that after all this, the Event proved otherwise; and that, notwithstanding both the Weight and fitness of the Arguments to persuade, and the light of man's Intellect to meet this persuasive evidence with a suitable assent, no Assent followed, nor were men thereby actually persuaded; he Charges it wholly upon the Corruption, the Perverseness, and Vitiosity of man's will, as the only Cause that rendered all the Arguments, his Doctrine came clothed with, unsuccessful. And consequently, he affirms here in the Text, That men must love the Truth, before they throughly believe it; and that the Gospel has then only a free admission into the Assent of the Understanding, when it brings a Passport from a rightly disposed will; as being the great faculty of Dominion, that commands all, that shuts out, and lets in, what Objects it pleases, and in a Word, keeps the Keys of the whole Soul.  
This is the Design, and purport of the Words; which I shall draw forth and handle in the Prosecution of these four following Heads.  

1. I shall show; What the Doctrine of Christ was, that the World so much stuck at, and was so averse from Believing.  
2. I shall show; That men's unbelief of it, was from no Defect or Insufficiency in the Arguments brought by Christ to enforce it.  
3. I shall show; What was the True and proper cause, into which this unbelief was resolved.  
4. And lastly, I shall show; That a Pious and well disposed mind, attended with a readiness to obey the Known will of God, is the surest and best means to enlighten the Understanding to a belief of Christianity.   
Of these in their order: and,  
First for the Doctrine of Christ. We must take it in the Known and Common Division of it, into matters of Belief, and matters of Practice.  
The matters of Belief related chiefly, to his Person and Offices. As, that he was the Messias, that should come into the World. The Eternal Son of God, begotten of him before all Worlds. That in time, he was made man, and born of a pure Virgin. That he should die and satisfy for the Sins of the World: and that he should rise again from the Dead: and ascend into Heaven: and there sitting at the right hand of God, hold the Government of the whole World, till the great and last day: in which he should judge both the Quick and the Dead, raised to life again with the very same Bodies: and then deliver up all Rule and Government into the hands of his Father. These were the great Articles and Credenda of Christianity, that so much startled the World, and seemed to be such, as not only brought in a New Religion amongst men, but also required a New Reason to embrace it.  
The other part of his Doctrine lay in matters of Practice: Which we find contained in his several Sermons, but Principally in that glorious, full, and admirable discourse upon the Mount; recorded in the 5, 6, and 7. Chapters of St. Matthew. All which particulars if we would reduce to one general Comprehensive Head, they are all wrapped up in the Doctrine of Self-denial, prescribing to the World the most inward purity of Heart, and a Constant Conflict with all our sensual Appetites, and worldly Interests; even to the quitting of all that is dear to us, and the Sacrificing of Life itself, rather than knowingly to omit the least Duty, or commit the least Sin. And this was that, which grated harder upon, and raised greater tumults and boilings in the Hearts of men, than the strangeness and seeming unreasonableness of all the former Articles, that took up Chiefly in Speculation and Belief.  
And that this was so, will appear from a Consideration of the state and condition the World was in, as to religion, when Christ promulged his Doctrine. Nothing further than the outward Action was then looked after; and when that failed, there was an Expiation ready in the Opus operatum of a Sacrifice. So that all their Virtue, and Religion lay in their Folds and their Stalls; and what was wanting in the Innocence, the Blood of Lambs was to supply. The Scribes, and Pharisees, who were the great Doctors of the Jewish Church, expounded the Law no further. They accounted no man a murderer, but he that struck a Knife into his Brother's heart. No man an Adulterer, but He that actually defiled his neighbour's Bed. They thought it no injustice nor irreligion to prosecute the Severest Retaliation or Revenge: so that, at the same time their outward man might be a Saint, and their inward man a Devil. No care at all was had to curb the Unruliness of Anger, or the Exorbitance of Desire. Amongst all their Sacrifices, they never sacrificed so much as one Lust. Bulls and Goats bled apace, but neither the Violence of the one, nor the Wantonness of the other ever died a Victim at any of their Altars. So that no Wonder, that a Doctrine that arraigned the Irregularities of the most inward motions, and affections of the Soul, and told men, that anger and harsh Words were murder, and looks and desires Adultery; that a man might Stab with his Tongue, and assassinate with his mind, pollute himself with a Glance, and forfeit Eternity by a cast of his eye. No wonder, I say, that such a Doctrine made a strange bustle and disturbance in the World, which then sat Warm and Easie in a free Enjoyment of their Lusts; ordering matters so, that they put a Trick upon the great Rule of Virtue, the Law, and made a Shift to think themselves guiltless, in spite of all their Sins; to break the Precept, and at the same time to baffle the Curse. Contriving to themselves such a sort of Holiness, as should please God and themselves too; justify and save them harmless, but never Sanctify nor make them Better.  
But the severe Notions of Christianity turned all this upside down; filling all with Surprise, and Amazement: they came upon the World, like light darting full upon the face of a man asleep, who had a mind to sleep on, and not to be disturbed: They were terrible astonishing Alarms to Persons grown fat and wealthy by a long and successful Imposture; by suppressing the True sense of the Law, by putting another Veil upon Moses; and in a word, persuading the World, That men might be honest and Religious, happy and Blessed, though they never denied, nor mortified any one of their Corrupt Appetites.  
And thus much for the first thing proposed; which was to give you a brief Draught of the Doctrine of Christ, that met with so little assent from the World in general, and from the Jews in particular. I come now to the  
Second thing proposed. Which was to Show, That men's unbelief of Christ's doctrine, was from no defect, or insufficiency in the Arguments brought by Christ to enforce it. This I shall make appear two ways.  

1. By showing, that the Arguments, spoken of, were in themselves Convincing and sufficient.  
2. By showing, that upon supposition they were not so, yet their Insufficiency was not the Cause of their Rejection.   
And first for the first of these. That the Arguments brought by Christ for the Confirmation of his Doctrine were in themselves Convincing and Sufficient. I shall insist only upon the Convincing Power of the two Principal. One from the Prophecies recorded concerning him; the other from the Miracles done by him. Of both very briefly.  
And for the former. There was a full, entire Harmony, and Consent of all the Divine Predictions receiving their Completion in Christ. The strength of which Argument lies in this; That it Evinces the Divine Mission of Christ's person, and thereby proves him to be the Messias; which by Consequence proves and asserts the Truth of his Doctrine. For He that was so sent by God, could declare nothing but the Will of God. And so evidently do all the Prophecies agree to Christ, that I dare with great Confidence affirm, That if the Prophecies recorded of the Messiah are not fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, It is impossible to know or distinguish, When a Prophecy is fulfilled, and when not, in any thing or Person whatsoever; which would utterly evacuate the use of them. But in Christ they all meet with such an invincible Lustre, and Evidence, as if they were not Predictions, but after-Relations; and the Penmen of them not Prophets, but Evangelists. And now, can any Kind of Rationcination allow Christ all the marks of the Messiah, and yet deny him to be the Messiah? could he have all the signs, and yet not be the Thing signified? could the Shadows that followed him, and were cast from him, belong to any other Body? All these things are absurd and unnatural. And therefore the force of this Argument was Undeniable.  
Nor was that other from the Miracles done by him at all inferior. The strength and force of which, to prove the Things they are alleged for, consists in this, That a Miracle being a Work exceeding the power of any Created Agent, and consequently being an effect of the Divine Omnipotence, when it is done to give Credit, and Authority to any Word or Doctrine declared to proceed from God, either that Doctrine must really proceed from God, as it is declared; or God by that Work of his Almighty power must bear Witness to a falsehood, and so bring the Creature, under the greatest Obligation that can possibly engage the Assent of a Rational Nature to believe and assent to a Lye. For surely a greater Reason than this, cannot be produced for the Belief of any thing, than for a man to stand up and say, This and This I tell you as the Mind and Word of God; and to prove that it is so, I will do that before your Eyes, that you yourselves shall confess can be done by nothing, but the Almighty power of that God, that can neither deceive, nor be deceived. Now if this be an irrefragable Way to Convince, as the Reason of all Mankind must confess it to be, than Christ's Doctrine came attended, and enforced with the greatest means of Conviction imaginable. Thus much for the Argument in Thesi; and then for the Assumption that Christ did such Miraculous and Supernatural Works to Confirm what he said, we need only repeat the Message sent by him to john the Baptist: That the Dumb spoke, the Blind saw, the Lame walked, and the Dead were Raised. Which particulars none of his bitterest Enemies ever pretended to deny; they being conveyed to them by an Evidence past all Exception, even the Evidence of Sense; nay of the quickest, the surest, and most authentic of all the Senses, the Sight: which if it be not certain in the Reports and representations it makes of things to the mind, there neither is, nor can be naturally, any such thing as Certainty, or Knowledge in the World. And thus much for the first part of the second General thing proposed: namely, That the Arguments brought by Christ for the proof of his Doctrine, were in themselves Convincing and Sufficient.  
I come now to the other part of it, which is to show, That admitting or supposing that they were not sufficient, yet their insufficiency was not the Cause of their Actual Rejection. Which will appear from these following Reasons.  
First, Because those, who rejected Christ's Doctrine and the Arguments by which he confirmed it, fully believed and assented to other things conveyed to them with less evidence. Such as were even the Miracles of Moses himself: upon the Credit and Authority of which stood the whole Oeconomy of the Jewish Constitution. For though I grant, that they believed his Miracles upon the Credit of constant unerring Tradition, both written and unwritten, and grant also, that such Tradition was of as great Certainty as the Reports of Sense; yet still I affirm, that it was not of the same Evidence; which yet is the greatest, and most immediate ground of all Assent.  
The Evidence of Sense (as I have noted) is the clearest that naturally the Mind of Man can receive; and is indeed the foundation both of all the Evidence and Certainty too, that Tradition is capable of: which pretends to no other Credibility from the Testimony and Word of some Men, but because their word is at length traced up to, and originally terminates in, the Sense and Experience of some others: which could not be known beyond that compass of Time, in which it was exercised, but by being told and reported to such, as, not living at that Time, saw it not, and by them to others, and so down from One Age to another. For we therefore believe the Report of some Men concerning a thing, because it implies that there were some others who actually saw that thing. It is clear therefore, that Want of Evidence could not be the Cause that the Jews rejected and disbelieved the Gospel, Since they embraced and believed the Law, upon the Credit of those Miracles that were less Evident. For those of Christ they knew by sight and sense, those of Moses only by Tradition: which though equally certain, yet were by no means equally Evident with the Other.  
Secondly, they believed and assented to things, that were neither Evident, nor Certain, but only Probable: For they conversed, they traded, they merchandized, and by so doing, frequently ventured their whole Estates and Fortunes upon a probable Belief or persuasion, of the Honesty and Truth of those whom they dealt and corresponded with. And Interest, especially in Worldly matters, and yet more especially with a Jew, never proceeds but upon supposal at least, of a firm, and sufficient Bottom: From whence it is manifest, that since they could believe and Practically rely upon, and that even in their Dearest Concerns, bare Probabilities, they could not with any Colour of Reason, pretend want of Evidence for their Disbelief of Christ's Doctrine, which came enforced with Arguments far surpassing all such Probabilities.  
Thirdly, They believed and assented to things neither evident nor certain, nor yet so much as Probable, but actually false and fallacious. Such as were the absurd Doctrines, & Stories of their Rabbins. Which, though since Christ's time, they have grown much more numerous, and fabulous than before, yet even then did so much pester the Church, and so grossly abuse and delude the minds of that People, that Contradictions themselves asserted by Rabbis were Equally received and revered by them as the Sacred and Infallible Word of God. And whereas they rejected Christ and his Doctrine, though every Tittle of it came enforced with miracle, and the best Arguments that Heaven and Earth could back it with; yet Christ then foretold, and after Times confirmed that Prediction of his, in the 5. john 43. that they should receive many Cheats and Deceivers coming to them in their own name. Fellows that set up for Messias', only upon their own Heads, without pretending to any thing singular or miraculous, but Impudence and Imposture.  
From all which it follows, that the Jews could not allege so much as a Pretence of the Want of Evidence in the Arguments brought by Christ to prove the Divinity and Authority of his Doctrine, as a Reason of their Rejection and disbelief of it; since they embraced, and believed many things; for some of which they had no Evidence, and for others of which they had no Certainty, and for most of which they had not so much as Probability. Which being so, from whence then could such an obstinate Infidelity, in matters of so great Clearness and Credibility take its rise? Why, this will be made out to us in the  
Third thing proposed. Which was to show, What was the True and proper Cause, into which this Unbelief of the Pharisees was resolved. And that was, in a Word, The Captivity of their wills and affections to Lusts directly opposite to the Design and Spirit of Christianity. They were extremely ambitious and insatiably Covetous; and therefore no Impression from Argument or Miracle could reach them; but they stood proof against all Conviction. Now to show, how the Pravity of the Will could influence the understanding to a disbelief of Christianity, I shall premise these two Considerations.  
First, That the Understanding in its assent to any Religion, is very differently wrought upon in persons bred up in it, and in persons at length converted to it. For in the first, it finds the mind Naked, and unprepossessed with any former Notions, and so easily and insensibly gains upon the Assent, grows up with it, and incorporates into it. But in persons adult, and already possessed with other Notions of Religion, the understanding cannot be brought to quit these, and to change them for new, but by great Consideration and examination of the Truth and firmness of the one, and comparing them with the flaws and weakness of the other. Which cannot be done without some Labour and Intention of the mind, and the thoughts dwelling a considerable time, upon the Survey and Discussion of each Particular.  
Secondly, the other thing to be considered, is; That in this great Work, the Understanding is chiefly at the disposal of the will. For though it is not in the Power of the Will, directly either to cause or hinder the Assent of the Understanding to a thing proposed, and duly set before it, yet it is antecedently in the power of the Will, to apply the understanding faculty to, or to take it off from the consideration of those Objects, to which, without such a Previous consideration, it cannot yield its Assent. For all assent presupposes a simple apprehension or knowledge of the Terms of the Proposition to be assented to. But unless the Understanding employ and exercise its cognitive, or Apprehensive Power about these Terms, there can be no actual Apprehension of them. And the Understanding, as to the Exercise of this Power, is subject to the command of the Will, though as to the Specific nature of its Acts it is determined by the Object. As for instance; My Understanding cannot assent to this Proposition, That jesus Christ is the Son of God; but it must first consider, and so apprehend, what the Terms and Parts of it are, and what they signify. And this cannot be done, if my will be so Slothfully, Worldly, or Voluptuously disposed, as never to suffer me at all to think of them; but perpetually to carry away, and apply my mind to other things. Thus far is the Understanding at the Disposal of the will.  
Now these two considerations being premised: namely, That Persons grown up in the Belief of any Religion, cannot change that for another, without applying their Understanding duly to consider and compare both: and then, That it is in the power of the Will, whether it will suffer the Understanding thus to dwell upon such Objects, or no. From these two, I say, we have the true Philosophy and Reason of the Pharisees Unbelief: For they could not relinquish their Judaisme, and embrace Christianity, without considering, weighing and collating both Religions: and this their Understanding could not apply to, if it were diverted, and took off by their Will; and their Will would be sure to divert and take it off, being wholly possessed and governed by their Covetousness and Ambition, which perfectly abhorred the Precepts of such a Doctrine. And this is the very Account, that our Saviour himself gives of this matter, in john 5.44. How can ye believe (says he) who receive honour One of Another? He looked upon it as a thing morally impossible, for Persons infinitely Proud and Ambitious, to frame their minds to an Impartial, unbiased Consideration of a Religion that taught nothing but Self-denial, and the Cross; That Humility was honour, and that the Higher men Climbed, the further they were from Heaven. They could not with patience so much as think of it; and therefore, you may be sure, would never assent to it. And again, when Christ discoursed to them of Alms, and a pious distribution of the goods and riches of this World in Luke 16. it is said in the 14. v. That the Pharisees who were Covetous, heard all those things and derided him. Charity and Liberality is a Paradox to the Covetous. The Doctrine that teaches Alms, and the Persons that need them are by such equally sent packing. Tell a Miser of Bounty to a friend, or Mercy to the Poor, and point him out his Duty with an Evidence, as bright and piercing as the Light, yet he will not understand it, but shuts his Eyes as close as he does his hands, and resolves not to be Convinced. In both these Cases, there is an Incurable Blindness caused by a Resolution not to see: And to all intents and purposes, he, who will not open his eyes, is for the present as Blind, as he that cannot. And thus I have done with the third thing proposed, and shown what was the true Cause of the Pharisees disbelief of Christ's Doctrine. It was the Predominance of those two great Vices over their Will, their Covetousness, and Ambition. Pass we now to the  
Fourth and Last, Which is to show, That a Pious and well disposed Mind attended with a readiness to obey the known will of God, is the surest and best Means to enlighten the Understanding to a belief of Christianity. That it is so, will appear upon a double Account.  
First, upon the Account of God's goodness, and the method of its dealing with the Souls of men: which is, to reward every degree of sincere obedience to his will, with a further discovery of it. I understand more than the Ancients, says David, Psalm 119.100. verse. But how did he attain to such an Excellency of understanding? was it by longer Study, or a greater quickness and felicity of Parts, than was in those before him. No; he gives the Reason in the next Words: It was because I keep thy Statutes. He got the start of them in point of Obedience, and thereby out stripped them at length in point of Knowledge. And who in old time were the men of Extraordinary Revelations, but those who were also men of Extraordinary Piety? who were made Privy to the Secrets of Heaven, and the Hidden will of the Almighty, but such as performed his Revealed will at an higher rate of Strictness than the rest of the World? They were the enoch's, the abraham's, the Elijahs, and the daniel's; such as the Scripture remarkably testifies of that they walked with God. And surely, he that walks with Another, is in a likelier way to know and understand his mind, than He, that follows him at a distance. Upon which account, the Learned Jews still made this one of the Ingredients that went to Constitute a Prophet, that he should be perfectus in moralibus: A Person of exact Morals and unblameable in his Life. The gift of Prophecy being a Ray of such a light, as never darts itself upon a Dunghill. And what I here observe occasionally of extraordinary Revelation, and Prophecy, will by Analogy and due Proportion extend even to those Communications of God's Will, that are requisite to men's Salvation. An honest, hearty simplicity, and proneness to do all that a man knows of God's Will, is the ready, certain, and infallible way to know more of it. For I am sure it may be said of the practical knowledge of Religion, that to him that hath shall be given, and he shall have more abundantly.  
I dare not, I confess, join in that bold Assertion of some, that Facienti quod in se est, Deus nec debet, nec potest denegare Gratiam. Which indeed, is no less than a direct contradiction in the very Terms: for if Deus debet, then id quod debetur non est gratia: there being a perfect inconsistency between that which is of Debt, and that which is of free Gift. And therefore leaving the non debet, and the non potest, to those, that can bind and lose the Almighty at their pleasure; so much I think, we may pronounce safely in this matter; That the goodness and mercy of God is such, that he never deserts a sincere Person, nor suffers any one that shall live (even according to these measures of sincerity) up to what he knows, to perish for want of any Knowledge necessary, and what is more, sufficient, to save him.  
If any one should here say: Were there then none living up to these measures of sincerity, amongst the Heathen? and if there were, did the goodness of God afford such person's Knowledge enough to save them? My answer is according to that of St. Paul, I judge not those that are without the Church; they stand or fall to their own Master: I have nothing to say of them. Secret things belong to God, it becomes us to be thankful to God, and charitable to Men.  
Secondly, A pious and well-disposed Will is the readiest means to enlighten the Understanding to a Knowledge of the Truth of Christianity, upon the account of a Natural Efficiency; for as much as a Will so disposed will be sure to engage the mind in a severe Search into the great and concerning Truths of Religion: nor will it only engage the mind in such a Search; but it will also accompany that Search with two Dispositions, directly tending to, and principally productive of, the Discoveries of Truth; namely, Diligence, and Impartiality.  
And, 1. for the Diligence of the Search. Diligence is the great Harbinger of Truth; which rarely takes up in any mind, till that has gone before, and made room for it. It is a steady, constant and pertinacious Study, that naturally leads the Soul into the Knowledge of that, which at first seemed locked up from it. For this keeps the Understanding long in Converse with an object, and long Converse brings Acquaintance. Frequent Consideration of a Thing wears off the strangeness of it; and shows it in its several lights and various ways of Appearance to the View of the Mind.  
Truth is a great Strong-hold, barred and fortified by God and Nature; and Diligence is properly the Understanding's laying siege to it: So that, as in a Kind of Warfare; it must be perpetually upon the Watch; observing all the Avenues and Passes to it, and accordingly making its Approaches. Sometimes it thinks it gains a point; and presently again, it finds itself baffled and beaten off: yet still it renews the onset; attacks the Difficulty a fresh; plants this reasoning and that Argument, this consequence and that distinction, like so many intellectual Batteries, till at length it forces a Way and Passage into the obstinate enclosed Truth, that so long withstood, and defied all its Assaults.  
The Jesuits have a Saying common amongst them, touching the Institution of Youth (in which their chief Strength and Talon lies) that Vexatio dat intellectum. As when the mind casts, and turns itself restlessly from one thing to another, strains this Power of the Soul to apprehend, that to judge, another to divide, a fourth to remember: thus tracing out the nice and scarce observable Difference of some things, and the real Agreement of others, till at length it brings all the Ends of a long and various Hypothesis together; sees how one part coheres with and depends upon another; and so clears off all the appearing Contrarieties and Contradictions, that seemed to lie cross and uncouth, and to make the whole unintelligible. This is the Laborious and Vexatious Inquest that the Soul must make after Science. For Truth, like a stately Dame, will not be seen, nor show herself at the first Visit, nor match with the Understanding upon an ordinary Courtship or Address. Long and tedious Attendances must be given, and the hardest Fatigues endured, and digested: nor did ever the most pregnant Wit in the World bring forth any thing great, lasting, and considerable, without some Pain and Travail, some Pangs and Throws before the Delivery.  
Now all this, that I have said, is to show the force of Diligence in the investigation of Truth, and particularly of the Noblest of all Truths, which is that of Religion. But then, as Diligence is the great Discoverer of Truth, so is the Will the great Spring of Diligence. For no man can heartily search after that, which he is not very desirous to find. Diligence is to the Understanding, as the Whetstone to the Razor; but the Will is the Hand, that must apply one to the other.  
What makes many men so strangely immerse themselves, some in Chemical, and some in Mathematical Inquiries, but because they strangely love the things they labour in? Their intent Study gives them Skill and Proficiency; and their particular affection to these Kind's of Knowledge, puts them upon such Study. Accordingly, let there be but the same Propensity, and Bend of Will to Religion, and there will be the same sedulity and indefatigable Industry in mens Enquiry into it. And then, in the Natural course of things, the consequent of a sedulous Seeking is finding, and the fruit of Enquiry is Information.  
Secondly, A pious and well disposed Will gives not only Diligence, but also Impartiality to the Understanding, in its Search into Religion; which is as absolutely Necessary to give success to our Inquiries into Truth, as the former: It being scarce possible for that man to hit the Mark, whose Eye is still glancing upon something beside it. Partiality is properly the Understanding's judging according to the Inclination of the Will and Affections, and not according to the Exact Truth of things, or the Merits of the Cause before it. Affection is still a Briber of the Judgement; and it is hard for a man to admit a Reason against the Thing he loves; or to confess the force of an Argument against an Interest.  
In this case, he prevaricates with his own Understanding, and cannot seriously and sincerely set his mind to consider the Strength, to poise the Weight, and to discern the Evidence of the clearest and best Argumentations, where they would conclude against the Darling of his Desires. For still, that beloved thing possesses, and even engrosses him; and like a Coloured Glass before his Eyes, casts its own Colour and Tincture upon all the Images and Ideas of things that pass from the Fancy to the Understanding: and so absolutely does it sway that, that if a strange irresistible Evidence of some unacceptable Truth should chance to surprise and force Reason to assent to the Premises, Affection would yet step in at last, and make it quit the Conclusion.  
Upon which Account, Socinus, and his followers state the Reason of a man's believing or embracing Christianity, upon the Natural goodness or Virtuous disposition of his mind, which they sometimes call Naturalis Probitas, and sometimes Animus in Virtutem Pronus. For (say they) the whole Doctrine of Christianity teaches nothing, but what is perfectly suitable to, and coincident with, the Ruling Principles that a virtuous, and well inclined man is Acted by; and with the main Interest, that he proposes to himself. So that, as soon as ever it is declared to such an one, he presently closes in, accepts, and complies with it. As a prepared Soil eagerly takes in, and firmly retains such seed or plants, as particularly agree with it.  
With ordinary minds, such, as much the greatest part of the World are, 'tis the Sutableness, not the Evidence of a Truth, that makes it to be assented to. And it is seldom, that any thing practically convinces a Man, that does not please him first. If you would be sure of him, you must inform, and gratify him too. But now, Impartiality strips the mind of prejudice and passion, keeps it tied and even from the Bias of Interest and Desire; and so presents it like a Rasa Tabula equally disposed to the Reception of all Truth. So that the Soul lies prepared, and open to entertain it; and prepossessed with Nothing that can oppose, or thrust it out. For where Diligence opens the Door of the Understanding, and Impartiality keeps it, Truth is sure to find both an Entrance and a Welcome too.  
And thus I have done with the fourth and last General thing proposed, and Proved by Argument, that a Pious and well-disposed Mind, attended with a Readiness to obey the known Will of God, is the surest and best Means to enlighten the Understanding to a Belief of Christianity.  
Now, from the foregoing particulars, by way of Use, we may collect these two things.  
First, The true Cause of that Atheism, that Scepticism and Cavilling at Religion, that we see, and have cause to lament in too many in these days. It is not from any thing weak or wanting in our Religion to support, and enable it to look the strongest Arguments, and the severest and most Controlling Reason in the face. But men are Atheistical, because they are first Vicious; and question the Truth of Christianity, because they hate the Practice. And therefore, that they may seem to have some Pretence, and Colour to sin on freely, and to surrender up themselves wholly to their Sensuality, without any Imputation upon their judgement, and to quit their morals, without any discredit to their Intellectuals, they fly to several stale, trite, pitiful Objections and Cavils, some against Religion in general, and some against Christianity in particular, and some against the very first Principles of Morality, to give them some poor Credit and Countenance in the pursuit of their brutish Courses.  
Few practical Errors in the world are embraced upon the Stock of Conviction, but Inclination: For though indeed the judgement may err upon the account of Weakness, yet where there is one Error that enters in at this door, ten are let into it through the Will. That for the most part being set upon those things, which Truth is a direct obstacle to the Enjoyment of; and where both cannot be had, a man will be sure to buy his Enjoyment, though he pays down Truth for the purchase. For in this case, the further from Truth, the further from Trouble. Since Truth shows such an one, what he is unwilling to see, and tells him what he hates to hear. They are the same beams that shine and enlighten, and are apt to scorch too: and it is impossible for a man engaged in any wicked way, to have a clear understanding of it, and a quiet mind in it together.  
But these Sons of Epicurus, both for Voluptuousness, and Irreligion also, (as it is hard to support the former without the latter) these, I say, rest not here; but (if you will take them at their word;) they must also pass for the only Wits of the Age; though greater Arguments I am sure may be produced against this, than any they can allege against the most improbable Article of Christianity. But heretofore the Rate and Standard of Wit was very different from what it is nowadays. No man was then accounted a Wit for speaking such things, as deserved to have the Tongue cut out that spoke them. Nor did any man pass for a Philosopher, or a man of depth, for talking atheistically; or a man of Parts for employing them against that God that gave them. For then, the World was generally better inclined; Virtue was in so much Reputation, as to be pretended to at least. And Virtue, whether in a Christian, or in an Infidel, can have no Interest to be served either by Atheism or Infidelity.  
For which Cause, could we but prevail with the greatest Debauchees amongst us to change their Lives, we should find it no very hard matter to change their Judgements. For notwithstanding all their talk of Reason and Philosophy, which (God knows) they are deplorably strangers to; and those unanswerable Doubts, and Difficulties, which, over their Cups or their Coffee, they pretend to have against Christianity; persuade but the Covetous man not to deify his money; the Proud man not to adore himself; the Lascivious man to throw off his lewd amours; the Intemperate man to abandon his revels; and so for any other vice, that is apt to abuse and pervert the mind of man; and I dare undertake, that all their Giantlike objections against Christian Religion shall presently vanish and quit the field. For he that is a good man, is three quarters of his way towards the being a good Christian, wheresoever he lives, or whatsoever he is called.  
Secondly, In the next place, we learn from hence the most effectual way and means of proficiency and growth in the Knowledge of the great and profound Truths of Religion; and how to make us all not only good Christians, but also expert Divines. It is a knowledge, that men are not so much to study, as to live themselves into. A knowledge that passes into the Head through the Heart. I have heard of some, that in their latter years, through the feebleness of their Limbs, have been forced to study upon their knees: and I think it might well become the youngest, and the strongest, to do so too. Let them daily and incessantly pray to God for his Grace; and if God gives grace, they may be sure that knowledge will not stay long behind. Since it is the same Spirit and Principle, that purifies the Heart, and clarifies the Understanding. Let all their Inquiries into the deep and mysterious points of Theology be begun and carried on with fervent Petitions to God; that he would dispose their minds to direct all their Skill and Knowledge to the Promotion of a good life, both in themselves and others; that he would use all their Noblest Speculations, and most Refined Notions, only as Instruments, to move, and set a Work the great Principles of Actions, the Will, and the Affections; that he would convince them of the Infinite Vanity and uselessness of all that Learning that makes not the Possessor of it a Better man: that He would keep them from those Sins that may grieve and provoke his holy Spirit, the fountain of all true light and knowledge, to withdraw from them; and so seal them up under Darkness, Blindness, and Stupidity of mind. For where the Heart is bend upon, and held under the power of any vicious Course, though Christ himself should take the contrary Virtue for his Doctrine, and do a miracle before such an one's Eyes, for its Application; yet he would not Practically gain his Assent, but the Result of all would end in a non persuadebis etiamsi persuaseris. Few Consider, what a Degree of Sottishness, and Confirmed Ignorance men may sin themselves into.  
This was the case of the Pharisees. And no doubt, but this very Consideration also gives us the true Reason and full Explication of that notable and strange passage of Scripture, in Luke 16. and the last verse: That if men will not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the Dead. That is, where a strong, inveterate Love of Sin, has made any Doctrine or Proposition, wholly unsuitable to the Heart; no Argument, or Demonstration, no nor miracle whatsoever, shall be able to bring the Heart cordially to close with and receive it. Whereas on the Contrary; if the Heart be piously disposed, the Natural goodness of any Doctrine is enough to vouch for the Truth of it: for the Sutableness of it will endear it to the Will, and by endearing it to the Will, will naturally slide it into the Assent also. For in Morals, as well as in Metaphysics, there is nothing really good, but has a Truth Commensurate to its Goodness.  
The Truths of Christ crucified are the Christians Philosophy, and a good life is the Christians Logic; that great Instrumental introductive Art, that must guide the mind into the former. And where a long Course of Piety, and close Communion with God has purged the Heart, and rectified the Will, and made all things ready for the Reception of God's Spirit: Knowledge will break in upon such a Soul, like the Sun shining in his full might, with such a Victorious light, that nothing shall be able to resist it.  
If now at length, some should object here; that from what has been delivered, it will follow, That the most Pious men are still the most Knowing; which yet seems contrary to common Experience and observation: I answer, That as to all things directly conducing, and necessary to Salvation, there is no doubt, but they are so: as the meanest common Soldier, that has fought often in an Army, has a truer and better knowledge of War, than He that has read and writ whole Volumes of it, but never was in any Battle.  
Practical Sciences are not to be learned, but in the way of Action. It is Experience that must give Knowledge in the Christian Profession, as well as in all others. And the Knowledge drawn from Experience, is quite of another Kind from that which flows from Speculation, or Discourse. It is not the Opinion, but the Path of the Just, that, the wisest of men tells us, Shines more and more unto a perfect Day. The Obedient, and the men of Practice are those Sons of Light, that shall outgrow all their doubts and ignorances', that shall ride upon these Clouds, and triumph over their present Imperfections; till Persuasion pass into Knowledge, and Knowledge advance into Assurance, and all come at length to be Completed in the Beatific Vision, and a Full Fruition of those Joys, which God has in Reserve for them, whom by his Grace he shall prepare for Glory.  To which God Infinitely Wise, Holy, and Just, he rendered and ascribed, as is most due, all Praise, Might, Majesty and Dominion, both now and for evermore. Amen. 
FINIS.   

SIX SERMONS PREACHED By Robert South, D. D.  
Never before Printed.  
LONDON, Printed by I. H. for Thomas Bennet at the Half Moon in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1692.   
SIX SERMONS Preached upon Several Occasions.  

A SERMON Preached at the Consecration of a Chapel, 1667.  

PREFACE.  
AFter the happy expiration of those Times, which had Reform so many Churches to the ground, and in which men used to express their Honour to God and their Allegiance to their Prince the same way, demolishing the Palaces of the One, and the Temples of the Other, it is now our glory and felicity, that God has changed men's Tempers with the Times, and made a Spirit of Building succeed a Spirit of Pulling down; by a miraculous Revolution, reducing many from the Head of a triumphant Rebellion to their old condition of Masons, smith's, and Carpenters, that in this capacity they might repair what, as Colonels and Captains, they had ruined and defaced.  
But still it is strange to see any Ecclesiastical Pile, not by Ecclesiastical cost and influence, rising above ground: especially in an Age in which men's Mouths are open against the Church, but their hands shut towards it; an Age in which, respecting the generality of Men, we might as soon expect Stones to be made Bread, as to be made Churches.  
But the more Epidemical and prevailing this Evil is, the more Honourable are those who stand and shine as Exceptions from the Common Practice; and may such places, built for the Divine Worship, derive an Honour and a Blessing upon the Head of the Builders, as great and lasting, as the Curse and Infamy that never fails to rest upon the Sacrilegious Violators of them; and a greater, I am sure, I need not, I cannot wish.  
Now the Foundation of what I shall Discourse upon the present Subject and Occasion shall be laid in that place in   
PSALM LXXXVII. 2. 
God hath loved the Gates of Zion more than all the Dwellings of jacob.  
THE Comparison here exhibited between the Love God bore to Zion, the great place of his Solemn Worship, and that which he bore to the other dwellings of Israel, imports, as all other Comparisons do in the superior part of them, Two things; Difference and Pre-eminence: And accordingly, I cannot more commodiously and naturally contrive the prosecution of these words, than by casting the Sense of them into these two Propositions.  

I. That God bears a different respect to places set apart and consecrated to his Worship, from what he bears to all other places designed to the uses of common life.  
II. That God prefers the Worship paid him in such places, above that which is offered him in any other places whatsoever.   
As to the former of these, This Difference of Respect, born by God to such places, from what he bears to others, may be evinced these three several ways.  

1. By those eminent interposals of Providence, both for the erecting and preserving of such places.  
2. By those Notable Judgements shown by God upon the Violators of them.  
3. Lastly, by declaring the ground and reason why God shows such a different respect to those places from what he manifests to others. Of all which in their order.   
1. First of all then, Those eminent interposals of the Divine Providence for the Erecting and Preserving such places, will be One pregnant and strong Argument to prove the Difference of God's respect to them and to others of Common Use.  
That Providence that universally casts its eye over all the parts of the Creation, is yet pleased more particularly to fasten it upon some. God made all the world that he might be worshipped in some parts of the world; and therefore in the first and most early times of the Church, what care did he manifest to have such places erected to his honour! jacob he admonished by a Vision, as by a Messenger from Heaven, to build him an Altar, and then what awe did jacob express to it! How dreadful (says he) is this place, for surely it is no other than the House of God. What particular inspirations were there upon Aholiab to fit him to work about the Sanctuary! The Spirit of God was the Surveyer, Directer, and Manager of the whole business. But above all, how exact and (as we may say with reverence) how nice was God about the building of the Temple! David, though a man of most intimate converse and acquaintance with God, and one who bore a Kingly pre-eminence over others, no less in point of Piety, than of Majesty, after he had made such rich, such vast, and almost incredible Provision of Materials for the building of the Temple, yet because he had dipped his hands in blood, though but the blood of God's enemies, had the Glory of that work took out of them, and was not permitted to lay a stone in that Sacred Pile, but the whole work was entirely reserved for Solomon, a Prince adorned with those parts of Mind, and exalted by such a concurrence of all prosperous events to make him Glorious and Magnificent, as if God had made it his business to build a Solomon, that Solomon might build him an House. To which, had not God bore a very different respect from what he bore to all other places, why might not David have been permitted to build God a Temple, as well as to rear himself a Palace? why might not he, who was so pious as to design, be also so prosperous as to finish it? God must needs have set a more than ordinary esteem upon that, which David, the Man after his own heart, the Darling of Heaven, and the most flaming example of a vigorous love to God, that ever was, was not thought fit to have an hand in.  
And to proceed; when after a long tract of time, the sins of Israel had even unconsecrated and profaned that Sacred Edifice, and thereby robbed it of its only defence, the Palladium of God's presence, so that the Assyrians laid it even with the ground; yet after that a long Captivity and Affliction had made the jews fit again for so great a privilege, as a public place to worship God in, how did God put it into the heart even of an Heathen Prince, to promote the building of a Second Temple! How was the work undertook and carried on amidst all the unlikelihoods and discouraging circumstances imaginable! the Bvilder's holding the Sword in one hand, to defend the Trowel working with the other: yet finished and completed it was, under the conduct and protection of a peculiar Providence, that made the Instruments of that great design prevalent and victorious, and all those Mountains of Opposition to become Plains before Zorobabel.  
And lastly, when Herod the Great, whose Magnificence served him instead of Piety to prompt him to an Action, if not in him Religious, yet Heroic at least, thought fit to pull down that Temple, and to build one much more Glorious, and fit for the Saviour of the World to appear, and to preach in. josephus in his 15th. Book of the Jewish Antiquities and the 14th. Chapter, says, That during all the time of its building, there fell not so much as a Shower to interrupt the work, but the Rain still fell by night, that it might not retard the business of the day. If this were so, I am not of the number of those who can ascribe such great and strange passages to Chance, or satisfy my Reason in assigning any other cause of this, but the kindness of God himself to the place of his Worship, making the common influences of Heaven to stop their course, and pay a kind of Homage to the Rearing of so sacred a Structure. Though I must confess, that David's being prohibited, and Herod permitted, to build God a Temple, might, seem strange, did not the Absoluteness of God's good pleasure satisfy all sober minds of the Reasonableness of God's proceedings, though never so strange and unaccountable.  
Add to all this, that the extraordinary manifestations of God's Presence were still in the Sanctuary: The Cloud, the Urim and Thummim, and the Oracular Answers of God were graces, and prerogatives proper, and peculiar to the Sacredness of this place. These were the Dignities that made it (as it were) the Presence-Chamber of the Almighty, the room of Audience, where He declared that He would receive and answer Petitions from all places under Heaven, and where He displayed his Royalty and Glory. There was no Parlour or Dining-room in all the Dwellings of jacob that he vouchsafed the like privileges to. And moreover, How full are God's expressions to this purpose! Here have I placed my Name, and here will I dwell, for I have a delight therein.  
But to evidence, how different a respect God bears to things consecrated to his own Worship, from what he bears to all other things, let that one Eminent passage of Corah, Dathan, and Abiram, be proof beyond all exception: In which, the Censers of those wretches, who, I am sure, could derive no Sanctity to them from their own persons; yet upon this account, that they had been Consecrated by the offering Incense in them, were, by God's special command, sequestered from all common use, and appointed to be beaten into broad plates, and fastened as a Covering upon the Altar, Numb. 16.28. The Censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make broad Plates for a Covering of the Altar: for they offered them before the Lord, therefore they are hallowed. It seems this one single Use left such an indelible sacredness upon them, that neither the Villainy of the persons, nor the impiety of the Design could be a sufficient reason to unhallow, and degrade them to the same common use, that other Vessels may be applied to. And the argument holds equally good for the Consecration of places. The Apostle would have no revelling, or junketting upon the Altar, which had been used, and by that use consecrated to the Celebration of a more Spiritual, and Divine Repast. Have ye not Houses to Eat and to Drink in? or despise ye the Church of God? says St. Paul, 1 Cor. 11.22. It would have been no answer to have told the Apostle, What? is not the Church Stone and Wood as well as other Buildings? and is there any such peculiar sanctity in this parcel of Brick and Mortar? and must God who, has declared himself No respecter of persons, be now made a respecter of places? No; this is the language of a more spiritualised and refined Piety than the Apostles and Primitive Christians were acquainted with. And thus much for the first Argument brought to prove the different respect that God bears to things and places consecrated and set apart to his own Worship from what he bears to others. The  
Second argument for the proof of the same assertion, shall be taken from those remarkable Judgements shown by God, upon the Violators of things consecrated and set apart to Holy Uses.  
A Coal (we know) snatched from the Altar once fired the Nest of the Eagle, the Royal and commanding Bird; and so has Sacrilege consumed the Families of Princes, broke Sceptres, and destroyed Kingdoms. We read how the Victorious Philistines were worsted by the Captivated Ark, which foraged their Country more than a conquering Army; they were not able to cohabit with that Holy Thing; it was like a Plague in their Bowels and a Curse in the midst of them: So that they were forced to restore their Prey, and to turn their Triumphs into Supplications. Poor Uzzah for but touching the Ark, though out of Care and Zeal for its preservation, was struck dead with a blow from Heaven. He had no right to touch it, and therefore his very Zeal was a Sin, and his Care an Usurpation: nor could the Purpose of his heart excuse the Error of his hand. Nay, in the promulgation of the Mosaic Law, if so much as a Brute Beast touched the mountain, the Bow of Vengeance was ready, and it was to be struck through with a dart, and to die a Sacrifice for a fault it could not understand.  
But to give some higher, and clearer instances of the Divine judgements upon Sacrilegious persons. In 1 K. 14.26. We find Shishak King of Egypt spoiling and robbing Solomon's Temple: and that we may know what became of him, we must take notice that josephus calls him Susa, and tells us that Herodotus calls him Sesostris; and withal reports, that immediately after his return from this very expedition, such disastrous Calamities befell his Family; that he burned two of his Children himself; that his Brother conspired against him; and lastly, that his Son who succeeded him, was struck blind: yet not so blind (in his Understanding at least) but that he saw the cause of all these mischiefs, and thereupon, to redeem his Father's Sacrilege, gave more and richer things to Temples, than his Father had Stolen from them: Though, (by the way) it may seem to be a strange method of repairing an injury done to the true God, by adorning the Temples of the false. See the same sad effect of Sacrilege in the great Nabuchadnezzar: He plunders the Temple of God, and we find the fatal doom, that afterwards befell him: he lost his Kingdom, and by a new unheard-of Judgement, was driven from the Society and converse of Men, to table with the Beasts, and to graze with Oxen; the impiety and inhumanity of his sin making him a fitter companion for them than for those, to whom Religion is more Natural, than Reason itself. And since it was his unhappiness to transmit his sin together with his Kingdom to his Son, while Belshazzar was quaffing in the sacred Vessels of the Temple; which in his pride he sent for, to abuse with his impious Sensuality, he sees his fatal Sentence writ by the finger of God, in the very midst of his profane mirth. And he stays not long for the Execution of it; that very Night losing his Kingdom and his Life too. And that which makes the Story direct for our purpose is, that all this comes upon him for his profaning those sacred Vessels. God himself tells us so much by the mouth of his Prophet in Dan. 5.23. where this only sin is charged upon him, and particularly made the cause of his sudden, and utter ruin.  
These were Violators of the First Temple; and those that profaned and abused the Second sped no better. And for this, take for instance that first born of sin and Sacrilege, Antiochus: the story of whose profaning God's House, you may read in the 1. book of Maccab. 1 ch. and you may read also at large what success he found after it, in the 6th. ch. where the Author tells us that he never prospered aftewards in any thing, but all his designs were frustrated, his Captains slain, his Armies defeated; and lastly, himself falls sick and dies a miserable death. And (which is most considerable as to the present business) when all these Evils befell him, his own conscience tells him, that it was even for this, that he had most Sacrilegiously pillaged and invaded God's House. 1 Maccab. 6. vers. 12, 13. Now I remember (says he) the Evils I did at jerusalem, how I took the Vessels of Gold and Silver: I perceive therefore, that for this cause these Evils are come upon me, and behold I perish for grief in a strange land. The Sinner's Conscience is for the most part the best Expositor of the mind of God, under any Judgement or Affliction.  
Take another notable instance in Nicanor, who purposed and threatened to burn the Temple, 1 Maccab. 7.35. and a curse lights upon him presently after: His great Army is utterly ruined, he himself slain in it, and his head and right hand cut off, and hung up before jerusalem. Where two things are remarkable in the Text. 1. That he himself was first slain, a thing that does not usually; befall a General of an Army. 2. That the jews prayed against him to God, and desired God to destroy Nicanor, for the injury done to his Sanctuary only, naming no sin else. And God ratified their Prayers by the judgement they brought down upon the head of him, whom they prayed against. God stopped his blasphemous Mouth, and cut off his sacrilegious Hand, and made them teach the world, what it was for the most potent sinner under Heaven, to threaten the Almighty God, especially in his own House; for so was the Temple.  
But now, lest some should puff at these instances, as being such as were under a different Oeconomy of Religion, in which God was more tender of the shell, and ceremonious part of his Worship, and consequently not directly pertinent to ours, therefore to show that all profanation, and invasion of things Sacred, is an offence against the eternal Law of nature, and not against any positive Institution after a time to Expire, we need not go many Nations off, nor many Ages back, to see the Vengeance of God upon some Families, raised upon the Ruins of Churches, and enriched with the spoils of Sacrilege, gilded with the name of Reformation. And for the most part, so unhappy have been the purchasers of Church-lands, that the world is not now to seek for an argument from a long experience to convince it, that though in such purchases, Men have usually the cheapest Pennyworths, yet they have not always the best bargains. For the Holy thing has stuck fast to their sides like a fatal shaft, and the Stone has cried out of the Consecrated Walls they have lived within, for a Judgement upon the head of the Sacrilegious intruder; and Heaven has heard the cry, and made good the curse. So that when the Heir of a blasted family has rose up and promised fair, and perhaps flourished for some time, upon the stock of excellent parts and great favour; yet at length a Cross event has certainly met and stopped him in the Career of his fortunes; so that he has ever after withered and declined, and in the end come to nothing, or to that which is worse. So certainly does that which some call blind Superstition, take aim when it shoots a Curse at the Sacrilegious person. But I shall not engage in the odious task of recounting the families, which this sin has blasted with a Curse. Only, I shall give one Eminent instance in some persons who had Sacrilegiously procured the Demolishing of some places consecrated to Holy Uses.  
And for this (to show the world that Papists can commit Sacrilege as freely as they can object it to Protestants) it shall be in that great Cardinal and Minister of State, Woolsey, who obtained leave of Pope Clement the 7th. to Demolish 40 Religious houses: which he did by the service of Five men, to whose conduct he committed the effecting of that business; every one of which came to a sad and fatal end. For the Pope himself was ever after an unfortunate Prince, Rome being twice taken and sacked in his reign, himself taken Prisoner, and at length dying a miserable Death. Woolsey (as is known) incurred a Praemunire, forfeited his Honour, Estate, and Life, which he ended, some say, by Poison; but certainly in great Calamity.  
And for the Five Men employed by him, two of them quarrelled, one of which was slain, and the other hanged for it; the third drowned himself in a Well, the fourth (though Rich) came at length to beg his Bread, and the fifth was miserably Stabbed to death at Dublin in Ireland.  
This was the Tragical end of a Knot of Sacrilegious persons from highest to lowest. The consideration of which and the like passages, one would think, should make men keep their Fingers off from the Church's Patrimony, though not out of Love to the Church, (which few men have) yet at least out of Love to themselves, which (I suppose) few want.  
Nor is that instance in one of another Religion to be passed over, (so near it is to the former passage of Nicanor) of a Commander in the Parliament's Rebel-Army, who coming to Rifle and Deface the Cathedral at Litchfield, solemnly at the head of his Troops, begged of God to show some remarkable Token of his approbation, or dislike of the work they were going about. Immediately after which looking out at a Window, he was Shot in the Forehead by a Deaf and Dumb man. And this was on St. Chadd's day, the name of which Saint that Church bore, being dedicated to God in memory of the same. Where we see, that as he asked of God a sign, so God gave him one, Signing him in the Forehead, and that with such a mark as he is like to be known by to all Posterity.  
There is nothing, that the United Voice of all History proclaims so loud, as the certain unfailing Curse, that has pursued and overtook Sacrilege. Make a Catalogue of all the prosperous Sacrilegious persons that have been from the beginning of the world to this day, and I believe they will come within a very narrow compass, and be repeated much sooner than the Alphabet.  
Religion claims a great interest in the world, even as great as its Object, God, and the Souls of Men. And since God has resolved not to alter the course of Nature; and upon Principles of Nature, Religion will scarce be supported without the encouragement of the Ministers of it; Providence, where it loves a Nation, concerns itself to own, and assert the interest of Religion, by blasting the spoilers of Religious Persons and Places. Many have gaped at the Church Revenues, but before they could swallow them, have had their mouths stopped in the Churchyard.  
And thus much for the Second Argument to prove the different respect that God bears to things Consecrated to Holy Uses; namely, His Signal Judgements upon the Sacrilegious Violators of them.  
3. I descend now to the Third and Last thing proposed for the proof of the first Proposition, which is, To assign the ground and reason, why God shows such a concern for these things. Touching which we are to observe, 1. Negatively, that it is no Worth or Sanctity naturally inherent in the things themselves, that either does or can procure them this esteem from God: for by Nature all things have an equally common use. Nature freely and indifferently opens the bosom of the Universe to all Mankind: and the very Sanctum Sanctorum had originally no more Sacredness in it than the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, or any other place in judaea. Positively therefore, the sole ground and reason of this different esteem vouchsafed by God to consecrated things and places, is this, That he has the sole property of them.  
It is a known Maxim, that in Deo sunt Iura omnia; and consequently, that he is the Proprietor of all things, by that grand and transcendent Right founded upon Creation. Yet notwithstanding, he may be said to have a greater, because a sole, property in some things, for that he permits not the use of them to Men, to whom yet he has granted the free use of all other things. Now this Property may be founded upon a double ground.  

1. God's own fixing upon, and institution of a Place or Thing, to his peculiar use. When he shall say to the Sons of Men, as he spoke to Adam concerning the Forbidden Fruit, Of all things, and places that I have enriched the Universe with, you may freely make use for your own occasions: But as for this spot of Ground, this Person, this Thing, I have selected and appropriated, I have enclosed it to myself and my own use; and I will endure no Sharer, no Rival or Companion in it. He that invades them, usurps, and shall bear the guilt of his Usurpation. Now, upon this account, the Gates of Zion, and the Tribe of Levi, became God's property. He laid his hand upon them, and said, These are mine.  
2. The other ground of God's sole property in any thing or place, is the Gift, or rather the return of it made by Man to God: by which Act he relinquishes and delivers back to God, all his Right to the Use of that thing, which before had been freely granted him by God. After which Donation, there is an absolute change and alienation made of the property of the thing Given, and that as to the Use of it too. Which being so alienated, a man has no more to do with it, than with a thing bought with another's Money, or got with the sweat of another's Brow.   
And this is the ground of God's sole property in Things, Persons, and Places, now under the Gospel. Men by free Gift consign over a Place to the Divine Worship, and thereby have no more right to apply it to another use, than they have to make use of another man's goods. He that has Devoted himself to the Service of God in the Christian Priesthood, has given himself to God, and so can no more dispose of himself to another Employment, than he can dispose of a thing that he has sold or freely given away. Now in passing a thing away to another by Deed of Gift, Two things are required.  
1. A Surrender on the Giver's part of all the property and right he has in the thing given: and to the making of a a thing or place Sacred, this Surrender of it by its right Owner, is so Necessary, that all the Rites of Consecration used upon a place against the Owner's Will, and without his giving up his property, make not that place Sacred, forasmuch as the property of it is not hereby altered: and therefore says the Canonist, Qui sine voluntate Domini consecrat, reverà desecrat: the like judgement passed that learned Bishop Synesius upon a place so consecrated. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. I account it not (says he) for any holy thing.  
For we must know, that Consecration makes not a place Sacred, any more than Coronation makes a King, but only Solemnly declares it so. It is the Gift of the Owner of it to God which makes it to be solely God's, and consequently Sacred: After which, every Violation of it is as really Sacrilege, as to Conspire against the King is Treason before the Solemnity of his Coronation. And moreover, as Consecration makes not a thing Sacred without the Owner's gift, so the Owner's gift of itself alone makes a thing Sacred without the Ceremonies of Consecration; for we know, that Tithes and Lands given to God are never, and Plate, Vestments, and other Sacred Utensils are seldom Consecrated: Yet certain it is, that after the Donation of them to the Church, it is as really Sacrilege, to steal or alienate them from those Sacred Uses, to which they were dedicated by the Donors, as it is to pull down a Church, or turn it into a Stable.  
2. As in order to the passing away a thing by Gift, there is required a Surrender of all Right to it on his part that gives; so there is required also an Acceptation of it on his part to whom it is given. For Giving being a Relative Action (and so requiring a Correlative to answer it) Giving on one part transfers no Property, unless there be an Accepting on the other: for as Volenti non fit Injuria, so in this case Nolenti non fit Beneficium.  
And if it be now asked, how God can be said to Accept what we give, since we are not able to transact with him in Person? To this I answer, 1. That we may and do converse with God in Person really, and to all the purposes of Giving and Receiving, though not visibly: For Natural Reason will evince, that God will receive Testimonies of Honour from his Creatures amongst which the Homage of Offerings and the parting with a Right, is a very great one. And where a Gift is suitable to the Person to whom it is offered, and no refusal of it testified; silence in that case (even amongst those who transact visibly and corporally with one another) is, by the General voice of Reason reputed an Acceptance. And therefore much more ought we to conclude that God accepts of a thing suitable for him to receive, and for us to give, where he does not declare his Refusal and disallowance of it. But 2dly, I add further, That we may transact with God in the Person of his and Christ's Substitute, the Bishop, to whom the Deed of Gift ought, and uses to be delivered by the owner of the thing given, in a formal Instrument Signed, Sealed, and Legally attested by Witnesses, wherein he resigns up all his Right and Property in the Thing to be Consecrated. And the Bishop is as really Vicarius Christi to receive this from us in Christ's behalf, as the Levitical Priest was Vicarius Dei to the jews to manage all transactions between God and them.  
These two things therefore concurring, the Gift of the owner, and God's Acceptance of it, either immediately by himself, which we rationally presume, or mediately by the hands of the Bishop, which is visibly done before us, is that which vests the sole property of a Thing or Place in God. If it be now asked, of what use then is Consecration, if a thing were Sacred before it? I answer, Of very much; even as much as Coronation to a King, which conferrs no Royal Authority upon him, but by so solemn a Declaration of it, imprints a deeper Awe and Reverence of it in the People's Minds, a thing surely of no small moment. And, 2dly, The Bishop's solemn Benediction and Prayers to God for a Blessing upon those, who shall seek him in such Sacred places, cannot but be supposed a direct and most effectual means to procure a blessing from God upon those Persons who shall address themselves to him there, as they ought to do. And surely this also Vouches the great reason of the Episcopal Consecration. Add to this in the 3d. place, that all who ever had any awful Sense of Religion and Religious matters (whether Jews or Christians, or even Heathens themselves) have ever used Solemn Dedications, and Consecrations of things set apart, and designed for Divine Worship: which surely could never have been so Universally practised, had not right Reason dictated the high Expediency and great use of such Practices.  
Eusebius (the Earliest Church-Historian) in the 10th. Book of his Ecclesiastical History; as also in the Life of Constantine, speaks of these Consecrations of Churches, as of things generally in use, and withal sets down those Actions particularly, of which they consisted, styling them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Laws or Customs of the Church becoming God. What the Greek and Latin Churches used to do, may be seen in their Pontificals containing the set Forms for these Consecrations; though indeed (for these 6, or 7 last Centuries) full of many tedious, superfluous, and ridiculous fopperies; setting aside all which, if also our Liturgy had a set Form for the Consecration of Places, as it has of Persons, perhaps it would be never the less Perfect. Now from what has been above discoursed, of the ground of God's sole Property in things set apart for his Service; we come at length to see how all things given to the Church, Whether Houses, or Lands, or Tithes, belong to Churchmen. They are but usufructuarii, and have only the use of these things; the Property and Fee remaining wholly in God; and consequently the Alienating of them, is a robbing of God. Mal. 3.89. Ye are Cursed with a Curse, for ye have robbed me, even this whole Nation, in Tithes and Offerings. If it was God that was robbed, it was God also that was the owner of what was took away in the Robbery: Even our own common Law speaks as much: For so says our Magna Charta, in the 1. ch. Concessimus Deo— quòd Ecclesia Anglicana libera erit, etc. Upon which words, that great Lawyer in his Institutes Comments thus. When any thing is granted for God, it is deemed in Law to be granted to God: and whatsoever is granted to the Church for his Honour, and the maintenance of his Service, is granted for and to God.  
The same also appears from those Forms of Expression, in which the Donation of Sacred things usually ran. As Deo Omnipotenti hâc praesente Chartâ donavimus, with the like. But most undeniably is this proved by this one Argument: That in case a Bishop should commit Treason, and Felony, and thereby forfeit his Estate with his Life; yet the Lands of his Bishopric become not forfeit, but remain still in the Church, and pass entire to his Successor; which sufficiently shows that they were none of his.  
It being therefore thus proved, That God is the sole Proprietor of all Sacred things, or places; I suppose his peculiar Property in them, is an abundantly pregnant Reason, of that Different Respect that he bears to them. For, is not the Meum, and the Separate Property of a thing the great cause of its endearment amongst all Mankind? Does any one respect a common, as much as he does his Garden? or the Gold that lies in the Bowels of a Mine as much as that which he has in his purse?  
I have now finished the first Proposition, drawn from the Words: Namely, That God bears a different respect to places set apart and consecrated to his Worship, from what he bears to all other places, designed to the uses of common Life: And also shown the reason why he does so. I proceed now, to the other Proposition, which is, That God prefers the Worship paid him, in such Places, above that which is offered him in any other places whatsoever. And that for these Reasons.  
1. Because such places are naturally apt to excite a greater Reverence, and Devotion in the discharge of Divine Service, than places of common Use. The place properly reminds a man of the Business of the place, and strikes a kind of awe into the thoughts, when they reflect upon that great and sacred Majesty they use to treat and converse with there. They find the same Holy consternation upon themselves, that jacob did at his Consecrated Bethel, which he called the Gate of Heaven: And if such places are so, then surely a daily expectation at the Gate, is the readiest way to gain admittance into the House.  
It has been the advice of some Spiritual Persons, that such as were able, should set apart some certain place in their dwellings, for their private Devotions only; which if they constantly performed there, and nothing else, their very entrance into it, would tell them what they were to do in it, and quickly make their Chamber-thoughts, their Table-thoughts, and their jolly, worldly, but much more their sinful thoughts, and purposes fly out of their hearts.  
For is there any man (whose heart has not shaken off all sense of what is Sacred) who finds himself no otherwise affected, when he enters into a Church, than when he enters into his Parlour, or his Chamber? if he does, for aught I know, he is fitter to be there always than in a Church.  
The mind of man, even in Spirituals, Acts with a Corporeal, Dependence, and so is helped or hindered in its Operations, according to the different Quality of External Objects that incur into the Senses. And perhaps, sometimes the sight of the Altar, and those Decent preparations for the work of Devotion, may compose, and recover the wand'ring mind much more effectually than a Sermon, or a rational Discourse. For these things in a manner preach to the Eye, when the Ear is dull, and will not hear, and the Eye dictates to the Imagination, and that at last moves the Affections. And if these little impulses set the great Wheels of Devotion on work, the largeness, and height of that shall not at all be prejudiced by the smallness of its occasion. If the fire burns bright and vigorously, it is no matter by what means it was at first kindled: there is the same force, and the same refreshing virtue in it, kindled by a spark from a flint, as if it were kindled by a Beam from the Sun.  
I am far from thinking that these External things, are either parts of our Devotion, or by any strength in themselves direct causes of it: but the grace of God is pleased to move us by ways suitable to our Nature, and so Sanctify these sensible, inferior helps to greater and higher purposes. And, since God has placed the Soul in a Body, where it receives all things by the Ministry of the outward Senses, he would have us secure these Cinque-ports (as I may so call them) against the Invasion of vain thoughts, by suggesting to them such Objects as may prepossess them with the contrary. For God knows, how hard a lesson Devotion is, if the senses prompt one thing, when the heart is to utter another. And therefore let no man presume to think, that he may present God with as acceptable a Prayer in his shop, and much less in an Alehouse, or a Tavern, as he may in a Church, or in his Closet: unless he can rationally promise himself, (which is impossible) that he shall find the same Devout motions, and impresses upon his Spirit there, that he may here.  
What says David in Psalm 77.13. Thy way, O God, is in the Sanctuary. It is no doubt but that Holy Person continued a strict and most Pious communion with God, during his wander upon the Mountains, and in the Wilderness; but still he found in himself, that he had not those kindly, warm melt upon his heart, those raptures and ravishing transports of Affection, that he used to have in the fixed, and Solemn place of God's Worship. See the two first verses of the 63 Psalms, Entitled, a Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of judah. How Emphatically, and Divinely does every word proclaim the truth, that I have been speaking of! O God (says he) thou art my God, early will I seek Thee. My Soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee, in a dry and thirsty Land, where no water is, to see thy Power and thy Glory, so as I have seen thee in the Sanctuary. Much different was his wish from that of our Nonconforming Zealots nowadays, which expresses itself in another kind of Dialect; as, When shall I enjoy God as I used to do at a Conventicle? When shall I meet with those blessed breathe, those Heavenly Hum, and Hawing, that I used to hear at a private meeting, and at the end of a Table?  
In all our worshippings of God, we return him but what he first gives us; and therefore he prefers the service offered him in the Sanctuary, because there he usually vouchsafes more helps to the Piously disposed person, for the discharge of it. As we value the same kind of Fruit growing under one Climate more than under another; because, under one it has a director, and a warmer influence from the Sun than under the other, which gives it both a better Savour, and a greater worth.  
And perhaps I should not want a further Argument, for the confirmation of the truth discoursed of, if I should appeal to the experience of many in this Nation, who having been long bred to the Decent way of Divine Service, in the Cathedrals of the Church of England, were afterwards driven into foreign Countries where, though they brought with them the same Sincerity to Church, yet perhaps they could not find the same enlargements, and flow out of spirit, which they were wont to find here. Especially in some Countries, where their very Religion smelled of the Shop; and their Ruder and Courser methods of Divine Service, seemed only adapted to the Genius of Trade, and the Designs of Parsimony; though one would think, that Parsimony in God's Worship were the worst husbandry in the World, for fear God should proportion his Blessings to such Devotions.  
2. The other Reason why God prefers a Worship paid him in places solemnly Dedicated and set apart for that purpose is, because in such places it is a more direct service and testification of our Homage to him. For surely, If I should have something to ask of a great Person, it were a greater respect to wait upon him with my Petition at his own House, than to desire him to come and receive it at mine.  
Set Places, and Set Hours for Divine Worship, as much as the Laws of Necessity and Charity permit us to observe them, are but parts of that due Reverence that we owe it: for he that is strict in observing these, declares to the World that he accounts his attendance upon God, his greatest and most important Business: and surely, it is infinitely more reasonable that we should wait upon God, than God upon us.  
We shall still find, that when God was pleased to vouchsafe his people a meeting, he himself would prescribe the Place. When he commanded Abraham to Sacrifice his Only and Beloved Isaac, the place of the Offering was not left undetermined, and to the Offerer's Discretion: But in Gen. 22.2. Get thee into the Land of Moriah (says God) and offer him for a Burnt-offering upon one of the Mountains that I shall tell thee of.  
It was part of his Sacrifice, not only What he should Offer, but Where. When we serve God in his own House, his Service (as I may so say) leads all our other secular affairs in triumph after it. They are all made to stoop and bend the Knee to Prayer, as that does to the Throne of Grace.  
Thrice a year were the Israelites from all, even the remotest parts of Palestine, to go up to jerusalem, there to Worship, and pay their Offerings at the Temple. The great distance of some places from thence, could not excuse the Inhabitants from making their appearance there, which the Mosaic Law exacted as indispensable.  
Whether or no they had Coaches, to the Temple they must go: Nor could it excuse them to plead God's Omniscience, that he could equally see, and hear them in any place: nor yet their own good will and intentions; as if the readiness of their Mind to go, might, forsooth, warrant their Bodies to stay at home. Nor last, could the real danger of leaving their Dwellings to go up to the Temple, excuse their Journey: for they might very plausibly, and very rationally have alleged, That, during their absence, their Enemies round about them, might take that advantage to invade their Land. And therefore, to obviate this fear and exception, which indeed was built upon so good ground, God makes them a promise, which certainly is as remarkable as any in the whole Book of God, Exod. 34.24. I will cast out the Nations before thee, neither shall any man desire thy Land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in a year. While they were appearing in God's House, God himself engages to keep and defend theirs; and that by little less than a Miracle, putting forth an overpowering work and influence upon the very Hearts and Wills of Men; that when their Opportunities should induce, their Hearts should not serve them, to annoy their Neighbours.  
For surely a rich Land, guardless and undefended, must needs have been a double incitement; and such an one, as might not only admit, but even invite the Enemy. It was like a fruitful Garden, or a fair Vineyard without an Hedge, that quickens the Appetite to enjoy so tempting, and withal so easy a prize. But the great God, by ruling men's Hearts, could, by consequence, hold their Hands; and turn the very desires of Interest and Nature out of their common Channel, to comply with the Designs of his Worship.  
But now, had not God set a very peculiar value upon the Service paid him in his Temple, surely he would not have thus (as it were) made himself his People's Convoy, and exerted a supernatural work to secure them in their passage to it. And therefore that Eminent Hero in Religion, Daniel, when in the Land of his Captivity, he used to pay his daily Devotions to God, not being able to go to the Temple, would at least look towards it, advance to it in wish and desire; and so, in a manner, bring the Temple to his Prayers, when he could not bring his Prayers to that.  
And now, what have I to do more, but to wish that all this Discourse may have that blessed Effect upon us, as to send us both to this, and to all other solemn places of Divine Worship, with those three excellent Ingredients of Devotion, Desire, Reverence, and Confidence!  
1. And first, for Desire. We should come hither, as to meet God in a place where he loves to meet us: and where (as Isaac did to his Sons) he gives us Blessings with Embraces. Many frequent the Gates of Zion; but is it because they love them, and not rather because their Interest forces them, much against their Inclination, to endure them?  
Do they hasten to their Devotions with that ardour, and quickness of Mind, that they would to a lewd Play, or a Masquerade?  
Or do they not rather come hither slowly, sit here uneasily, and depart desirously? all which is but too evident a sign, that Men repair to the House of God, not as to a place of Fruition, but of Task and Trouble; not to enjoy, but to afflict themselves.  
Secondly, We should come full of Reverence to such Sacred Places; and where there are Affections of Reverence, there will be Postures of Reverence too. Within Consecrated Walls, we are more directly under God's Eye, who looks through and through every one that appears before him, and is too jealous a God to be affronted to his Face.  
Thirdly and lastly, God's peculiar property in such places should give us a Confidence in our Addresses to him here. Reverence and confidence are so far from being inconsistent, that they are the most direct and proper qualifications of a Devout, and Filial approach to God.  
For where should we be so confident of a Blessing, as in the Place, and Element of Blessings? The place, where God both promises and delights to dispense larger proportions of his favour; even for this purpose, that he may fix a mark of Honour upon his Sanctuary; and so recommend, and endear it to the Sons of men, upon the stock of their own interest, as well as his Glory: who has declared himself, The High and the Lofty one that inhabits Eternity, and dwells not in houses made with men's hands, yet is pleased to be present in the Assemblies of his Saints.  To whom be rendered and ascribed as is most due, all Praise, Might, Majesty, and Dominion, both now and for evermore. Amen.   

A SERMON Preached at WESTMINSTER-ABBEY, February 22. 1684/ 5.  PROVERBS XVI. 33. 
The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing of it is of the Lord.  
I cannot think myself engaged from these words to discourse of Lots, as to their Nature, Use, and Allowableness; and that not only in matters of moment and business, but also of Recreation; which latter is indeed impugned by some, though better defended by others; but I shall fix only upon the design of the words, which seems to be a declaration of a Divine Perfection by a signal instance: a proof of the Exactness and universality of God's Providence from its influence upon a thing of all others the most Casual and fortuitous, such as is the Casting of Lots.  
A Lot is properly a Casual Event purposely applied to the Determination of some doubtful Thing.  
Some there are, who utterly proscribe the Name of Chance, as a word of Impious and Profane signification: and indeed, if it be taken by us in that sense, in which it was used by the Heathen, so as to make any thing Casual, in respect of God himself, their Exception ought justly to be admitted. But to say a thing is a Chance, or Casualty, as it relates to Second Causes, is not Profaneness, but a great Truth; as signifying no more, than that there are some Events, besides the Knowledge, Purpose, Expectation, and Power of second Agents. And for this very Reason, because they are so, it is the royal prerogative of God himself, to have all these loose, uneven, fickle, uncertainties under his disposal.  
The subject therefore, that from hence we are naturally carried to the consideration of, is, the admirable Extent of the Divine Providence, in managing the most contingent passages of Human Affairs; which that we may the better treat of, we will consider the Result of a Lot.  

I. In reference to Men.  
II. In reference to God.   
1. For the first of these, If we consider it as relating to men, who suspend the Decision of some dubious case upon it, so we shall find that it naturally implies in it, these two Things.  
1. Something future. 2. Something contingent.  
From which two Qualifications, these two things also follow.  

1. That it is absolutely out of the Reach of man's Knowledge.  
2. That it is equally out of his Power.   
This is most clear; for otherwise why are men in such cases doubtful, and concerned, what the Issue, and Result should be? For no man doubts of what he sees, and knows; nor is solicitous about the event of that which he has in his power, to dispose of to what Event he pleases.  
The light of man's Understanding, is but a short, diminutive, contracted light, and looks not beyond the present: He knows nothing future, but as it has some kind of presence in the stable, constant manner of Operation belonging to its cause; by virtue of which, we know, that if the fire continues for twenty years, it will certainly burn so long; and that there will be Summer, Winter, and Harvest, in their respective Seasons: but whether God will continue the world till to morrow or no, we cannot know by any certain Argument, either from the Nature of God, or of the World.  
But when we look upon such things as relate to their immediate Causes, with a perfect indifference, so that in respect of them, they equally may, or may not be; Humane Reason can then at the best, but conjecture what will be. And in some things, as here in the casting of Lots; a man cannot upon any ground of Reason, bring the Event of them so much as under conjecture.  
The choice of man's will is indeed uncertain, because in many things free; but yet there are certain Habits, and Principles in the Soul, that have some kind of sway upon it, apt to bias it more one way than another; so that upon the proposal of an agreeable Object, it may rationally be conjectured, that a man's Choice will rather incline him to accept, than to refuse it. But when Lots are shuffled together in a Lap, Urn, or Pitcher; or a man blindfold casts a die, what reason in the world, can he have to presume that he shall draw a White Stone rather than a Black, or throw an Ace rather than a Sise? Now if these things are thus out of the compass of a man's knowledge, it will unavoidably follow, that they are also out of his Power. For no man can govern, or command that which he cannot possibly know; Since to dispose of a thing implies both a knowledge of the thing to be disposed of, and of the End that it is to be disposed of to.  
And thus we have seen how a contingent Event baffles man's knowledge, and evades his power: Let us now Consider the same in respect of God; and so we shall find that it falls under, 

1. A certain knowledge, and  
2. A Determining providence.    
1. First of all then, the most casual event of things, as it stands related to God, is conprehended by a certain knowledge. God by reason of his Eternal, Infinite, and Indivisible Nature, is, by one single act of duration, present to all the successive portions of time; and consequently to all things successively existing in them. Which eternal, indivisible act of his existence, makes all future's actually present to him; and it is the Presentiality of the Object which found'st the unerring certainty of his knowledge. For whatsoever is known, is some way or other present; and that which is present, cannot but be known by him who is Omniscient.  
But I shall not insist upon these speculations; which when they are most refined, serve only to show how impossible it is for us, to have a clear, and Explicit Notion of that which is infinite. Let it suffice us in general, to acknowledge and adore the vast compass of God's Omniscience. That it is a light shining into every dark corner, ripping up all secrets, and steadfastly grasping the greatest, and most slippery uncertainties. As when we see the Sun shine upon a a River, though the waves of it move and roll this way, and that way by the Wind, yet for all their unsetledness, the Sun strikes them with a direct and a certain Beam. Look upon things of the most accidental, and mutable Nature; accidental, in their production, and mutable in their continuance; yet God's prescience of them is as certain in him, as the memory of them is or can be in us. He knows which way the Lot, and the die shall fall, as perfectly as if they were already cast. All futurities are Naked before that allseeing Eye, the sight of which is no more hindered by distance of time, than the sight of an Angel can be determined by distance of place.  
Secondly, as all Contingencies are comprehended by a certain Divine Knowledge, so they are governed by as certain and steady a Providence.  
There is no wand'ring out of the reach of this; no slipping through the hands of Omnipotence. God's Hand is as steady as his Eye; and certainly thus to reduce Contingency to Method, Instability and Chance itself, to an unfailing Rule and Order, argues such a Mind as is fit to govern the World; and I am sure, nothing less than such an one can.  
Now God may be said to bring the greatest Casualties under his Providence upon a twofold account.  

1. That he directs them to a Certain End.  
2. Oftentimes to very Weighty and Great Ends.   
1. And first of all, He directs them to a Certain End.  
Providence never shoots at Rovers. There is an Arrow that flies by Night, as well as by Day; and God is the person that shoots it, who can take aim then as well as in the Day. Things are not left to an AEquilibrium, to hover under an Indifference, whether they shall come to pass, or not come to pass; but the whole train of Events is laid before hand, and all proceed by the Rule and Limit of an antecedent Decree: for otherwise, who could manage the Affairs of the World, and govern the dependence of one Event upon another, if that Event happened at Random, and was not cast into a certain method and relation to some foregoing purpose to direct it?  
The Reason why men are so short and weak in Governing, is, because most things fall out to them accidentally, and come not into any compliance with their preconceived Ends, but they are forced to comply subsequently, and to strike in with things as they fall out, by postliminious after-applications of them to their purposes, or by framing their purposes to them.  
But now there is not the least thing that falls within the cognizance of Man, but is directed by the counsel of God. Not an hair can fall from our head, nor a Sparrow to the ground, without the Will of our Heavenly Father. Such an Universal Superintendency has the Eye and Hand of Providence over all, even the most minute and inconsiderable things.  
Nay, and sinful Actions too, are overruled to a certain Issue: Even that horrid Villainy of the Crucifixion of our Saviour was not a thing left to the disposal of Chance and Uncertainty, but in Acts 2.23. it is said of him, That he was delivered to the wicked hands of his murderers, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God: for surely the Son of God could not die by chance, nor the greatest thing that ever came to pass in Nature, be left to an undeterminate Event. Is it imaginable, that the great Means of the World's Redemption, should rest only in the Number of Possibilities, and hang so loose in respect of its futurition, as to leave the Event in an equal poise, whether ever there should be such a thing or no? Certainly the Actions and Proceedings of Wise men run in a much greater closeness and coherence with one another, than thus to drive at a Casual Issue, brought under no forecast or design. The Pilot must intend some Port before he steers his Course, or he had as good leave his Vessel to the direction of the Winds, and the government of the Waves.  
Those that suspend the Purposes of God, and the Resolves of an Eternal Mind upon the Actions of the Creature, and make God first wait and expect what the Creature will do, (and then frame his Decrees and Counsels accordingly) forget that He is the First Cause of all things, and discourse most unphilosophically, absurdly, and unsutably to the Nature of an Infinite Being; whose influence in every Motion must set the first Wheel going. He must still be the First Agent, and what he does, he must will and intend to do, before he does it, and what he wills and intends Once, he willed and intended from all Eternity; it being grossly contrary to the very first Notions we have of the infinite perfection of the Divine Nature, to state or suppose any New Immanent Act in God.  
The Stoics indeed held a Fatality, and a fixed unalterable course of Events; but then they held also that they fell out by a necessity emergent from, and inherent in the things themselves, which God himself could not alter: so that they subjected God to the fatal Chain of Causes, whereas they should have resolved the Necessity of all inferior Events into the Free Determination of God himself; who executes Necessarily, that which he first purposed freely.  
In a word, if we allow God to be the Governor of the World, we cannot but grant, that he orders and disposes of all Inferior Events; and if we allow him to be a Wise and a Rational Governor, he cannot but direct them to a certain End.  
2. In the next place, he directs all these appearing Casualties, not only to Certain, but also to very Great Ends.  
He that created something out of nothing, surely can raise great things out of small; and bring all the scattered and disordered passages of Affairs into a great, beautiful, and exact Frame. Now this overruling, directing power of God may be considered, 

1. In reference to Societies, or United Bodies of Men.  
2. In reference to Particular Persons.    
1. And first for Societies. God and Nature do not principally concern themselves in the preservation of Particulars, but of Kind's and Companies. Accordingly, we must allow Providence to be more intent and solicitous about Nations and Governments, than about any private Interest whatsoever. Upon which account, it must needs have a peculiar Influence upon the Erection, Continuance, and Dissolution of every Society. Which great Effects it is strange to consider by what small, inconsiderable means they are oftentimes brought about, and those so wholly undesigned by such as are the immediate visible Actors in them. Examples of this, we have both in Holy Writ, and also in other Stories.  
And first for those of the former sort.  
Let us reflect upon that strange and unparallelled Story of joseph and his Brethren; a Story that seems to be made up of nothing else but chances and little contingencies, all directed to mighty Ends. For was it not a mere chance that his Father jacob should send him to visit his Brethren, just at that time that the Ishmaelites were to pass by that way, and so his unnatural Brethren take occasion to sell him to them, and they to carry him into Egypt? and than that he should be cast into Prison, and thereby brought at length to the knowledge of Pharaoh in that unlikely manner that he was? yet by a joint connexion of every one of these casual Events, Providence served itself in the preservation of a Kingdom from Famine, and of the Church, then circumscribed within the Family of jacob. Likewise by their sojourning in Egypt, he made way for their Bondage there, and their Bondage for a Glorious Deliverance, through those prodigious Manifestations of the Divine Power, in the several Plagues inflicted upon the Egyptians. It was hugely accidental that joash King of Israel, being commanded by the Prophet to strike upon the ground, 2 Kings 13. should strike no oftener than just three times; and yet we find there that the fate of a Kingdom depended upon it, and that his Victories over Syria were concluded by that number. It was very casual, that the Levite and his Concubine should linger so long, as to be forced to take up their Lodging at Gibeah, as we read in judges 19 and yet we know what a Villainy was occasioned by it, and what a Civil War that drew after it, almost to the destruction of a whole Tribe.  
And then for Examples out of other Histories, to hint a few of them.  
Perhaps there is none more remarkable, than that Passage about Alexander the Great, in his famed Expedition against Darius.  
When in his March towards him, chancing to bathe himself in the River Cydnus, through the excessive coldness of those Waters, he fell sick near unto death for three days; during which short space the Persian Army had advanced itself into the straight passages of Cilicia; by which means Alexander with his small Army was able to equal them under those Disadvantages, and to fight and conquer them. Whereas had not this stop been given him by that accidental Sickness, his great Courage and promptness of Mind, would, beyond all doubt, have carried him directly forward to the Enemy, till he had met him in the vast open Plains of Persia; where his Paucity and small numbers would have been contemptible, and the Persian multitudes formidable; and, in all likelihood of reason, Victorious. So that this One, Little Accident of that Prince's taking a fancy to bathe himself at that time, caused the interruption of his March, and that interruption gave occasion to that great Victory that founded the Third Monarchy of the World. In like manner, how much of Casualty was there in the preservation of Romulus, as soon as born exposed by his Uncle, and took up and nourished by a Shepherd (for the Story of the She-wolf is a Fable) and yet in that one Accident was laid the Foundation of the Fourth Universal Monarchy.  
How doubtful a case was it, whether Hannibal after the Battle of Cannae, should march directly to Rome, or divert into Campania! Certain it is, that there was more reason for the former; and he was a Person that had sometimes the command of Reason, as well as of Regiments; yet his Reason deserted his Conduct at that time, and by not going to Rome he gave occasion to those Recruits of the Roman strength, that prevailed to the Conquest of his Country, and at length to the Destruction of Carthage itself, one of the most puissant Cities in the World.  
And to descend to Occurrences within our own Nation. How many strange Accidents concurred in the whole business of King Henry the Eighth's Divorce! yet we see Providence directed it and them to an entire Change of the Affairs and State of the whole Kingdom. And surely there could not be a greater Chance than that which brought to light the Powder Treason, when Providence (as it were) snatched a King and Kingdom out of the very Jaws of Death, only by the mistake of a Word in the Direction of a Letter.  
But of all Cases, in which Little Casualties produce great and strange Effects, the chief is in War; upon the Issues of which hangs the Fortune of States and Kingdoms.  
Caesar, I am sure, whose great Sagacity and Conduct put his Success as much out of the power of Chance as Humane Reason could well do, yet upon occasion of a Notable Experiment, that had like to have lost him his whole Army at Dyrrachium, tells us the Power of it in the Third Book of his Commentaries, De Bello Civili Fortuna, quae plurimum potest cum in aliis rebus, tum praecipuè in bello, parvis momentis magnas rerum mutationes efficit. Nay, and a greater than Caesar, even the Spirit of God himself, in Eccles. 6.11. expressly declares, That the Battle is not always to the strong. So that upon this account, every Warrior may in some sense be said to be a Soldier of Fortune; and the best Commanders to have a kind of Lottery for their Work, as, amongst us, they have for their Reward. For how often have whole Armies been routed by a little Mistake, or a sudden Fear, raised in the Soldier's minds upon some trivial Ground or Occasion?  
Sometimes the misunderstanding of a word, has scattered and destroyed those who have been even in possession of Victory, and wholly turned the fortune of the day. A spark of fire, or an unexpected gust of Wind may ruin a Navy. And sometimes a false, senseless report has spread so far, and sunk so deep into the People's minds, as to cause a Tumult, and that Tumult, a Rebellion, and that Rebellion has ended in the Subversion of a Government.  
And in the late War between the King, and some of his Rebel Subjects, has it not sometimes been an even cast, whether his Army should march this way, or that way? Whereas had it took that way, which actually it did not, things afterwards so fell out, that in very high Probability of Reason, it must have met with such success, as would have put an happy Issue to that wretched War; and thereby have continued the Crown upon that blessed Prince's Head, and his Head upon his Shoulders. Upon supposal of which Event, most of those sad and strange alterations that have since happened, would have been prevented; the ruin of many honest men hindered, the Punishment of many great villains hastened, and the preferment of greater spoiled.  
Many passages happen in the world, much like that little Cloud in 1 Kings 18. that appeared at first to Elijah's Servant no bigger than a man's Hand, but presently after grew and spread, and blackened the face of the whole Heaven, and then discharged itself in Thunder, and Rain, and a mighty Tempest. So these accidents, when they first happen, seem but small and contemptible, but by degrees they branch out, and widen themselves into such a Numerous train of mischievous consequences, one drawing after it another, by a continued dependence and multiplication, that the Plague becomes Victorious and Universal; and a personal miscarriage determines in a National calamity.  
For who that should view the small, despicable Beginnings of some things and persons at first, could imagine or Prognosticate those vast and stupendious increases of fortune that have afterwards followed them?  
Who that had looked upon Agathocles first handling the Clay, and making Pots under his Father, and afterwards turning Robber, could have thought that from such a condition he should come to be King of Sicily?  
Who that had seen Masianello, a poor Fisherman with his red Cap, and his Angle, could have reckoned it possible to see such a pitiful thing within a Week after, shining in his Cloth of Gold, and with a Word, or a Nod, absolutely Commanding the whole City of Naples?  
And who that had beheld such a Bankrupt, Beggarly fellow as Cromwell, first entering the Parliament-House with a Threadbare, Torn Cloak, and a Greasy Hat, (and perhaps neither of them paid for) could have suspected that in the space of so few years, he should, by the Murder of one King, and the Banishment of another, ascend the Throne, be invested in the Royal Robes and want nothing of the state of a King but the changing of his Hat into a Crown?  
'Tis (as it were) the Sport of the Almighty, thus to baffle and confound the Sons of men by such Events, as both cross the methods of their actings, and surpass the measure of their Expectations. For according to both these, Men still suppose a Gradual, Natural Progress of things; as that from great, Things and Persons should grow greater, till at length by many steps and ascents, they come to be at greatest; not considering, that when Providence designs strange and mighty changes, it gives men Wings instead of Legs; and instead of Climbing leisurely, makes them at once fly to the Top and Height of all Greatness and Power. So that the world about them (looking up to those Illustrious upstarts) scarce knows who, or whence they were, nor they themselves where they are.  
It were infinite to insist upon Particular instances; Histories are full of them, and Experience seals to the truth of History.  
In the next place, let us consider to what great purposes God directs these little Casualties with reference to particular Persons; and those either Public or Private.  
1. And first for public Persons, as Princes. Was it not a mere accident that Pharaoh's Daughter met with Moses? Yet it was a means to bring him up in The Egyptian Court, than the School of all Arts and Policy; and so to fit him for that great and arduous Employment that God designed him to. For see upon what little Hinges that great Affair turned: For had either the Child been cast out, or Pharaoh's Daughter come down to the River, but an hour sooner, or later; or had that little Vessel not been cast by the Parents, or carried by the Water into that very place, where it was, in all likelihood the Child must have undergone the common Lot of the other Hebrew Children, and been either starved or drowned; or however, not advanced to such a peculiar height and happiness of Condition. That Octavius Caesar should shift his Tent (which he had never used to do before) just that very night that it happened to be took by the Enemy, was a mere Casualty, yet such an one as preserved a Person who lived to establish a total Alteration of Government in the Imperial City of the World.  
But we need not go far for a Prince preserved by as Strange a Series of little Contingencies, as ever were managed by the Art of Providence to so great a purpose.  
There was but an hair's breadth between him and certain Destruction for the space of many days. For had the Rebel Forces gone one way, rather than another, or come but a little sooner to his hiding place, or but mistrusted something which they passed over; (all which things might very easily have happened,) we had not seen this face of things at this day; but Rebellion had been still Enthroned, Perjury and Cruelty had Reigned, Majesty had been proscribed, Religion extinguished, and both Church and State throughly Reform, and Ruined with Confusions, Massacres, and a Total Desolation.  
On the contrary, when Providence designs Judgement, or Destruction to a Prince, no body knows by what little, unusual, unregarded means the fatal blow shall reach him. If Ahab be designed for Death, though a Soldier in the Enemy's Army draws a Bow at a venture, yet the sure, unerring directions of Providence shall carry it in a direct course to his heart, and there lodge the Revenge of Heaven.  
An old Woman shall cast down a Stone from a Wall, and God shall send it to the Head of Abimelech, and so Sacrifice a King in the very head of his Army.  
How many warnings had julius Caesar of the fatal Ides of March! whereupon sometimes he resolved not to go to the Senate, and sometimes again he would go; and when at length he did go, in his very passage thither, one put into his hand, a Note of the whole Conspiracy against him, together with all the Names of the Conspirators, desiring him to read it forthwith, and to remember the Giver of it as long as he lived. But continual Salutes and Addresses entertaining him all the way, kept him from saving so great a Life, but with one glance of his Eye upon the Paper, till he came to the fatal place where he was stabbed, and died with the very Means of preventing Death in his hand.  
Henry the Second of France, by a Splinter, unhappily thrust into his Eye at a solemn just, was dispatched and sent out of the world by a sad, but very Accidental Death.  
In a word, God has many ways to reap down the Grandees of the Earth; an Arrow, a Bullet, a Tile, or Stone from an House, is enough to do it: And besides all these ways, sometimes, when he intends to bereave the world of a Prince, or an Illustrious Person, he may cast him upon a bold, self-opinioned Physician, worse than his Distemper, who shall Dose, and Bleed, and Kill him secundum artem, and make a shift to cure him into his Grave.  
In the last place, we will consider this Directing influence of God, with reference to private Persons; and that, as touching things of nearest concernment to them. As, 

1. Their Lives.  
2. Their Health.  
3. Their Reputation.  
4. Their Friendships. And,  
5. And lastly, their Employments, or Preferments.    
And first, for men's Lives. Though these are things for which Nature knows no Price, or Ransom; yet I appeal to universal Experience, whether they have not, in many men, hung oftentimes upon a very slender Thread, and the distance between them and Death, been very nice, and the escape wonderful. There have been some, who upon a slight, and perhaps groundless, occasion, have gone out of a Ship, or House, and the Ship has sunk, and the House has fell, immediately after their departure.  
He that in a great Wind, suspecting the strength of his House, betook himself to his Orchard, and walking there, was knocked on the Head by a Tree, falling through the fury of a sudden gust, wanted but the advance of one or two steps, to have put him out of the way of that mortal Blow.  
He that being subject to an Apoplex, used still to carry his remedy about him; but upon a time shifting his clothes, and not taking that with him, chanced upon that very day, to be surprised with a Fit, and to die in it, certainly owed his Death to a mere Accident, to a little inadvertency, and failure of Memory. But not to recount too many particulars: May not every Soldier, that comes alive out of the Battle, pass for a living Monument of a benign Chance, and an happy Providence? For was he not in the nearest Neighbourhood to Death? And might not the Bullet, that perhaps razed his Cheek, have as easily gone into his Head? And the Sword that glanced upon his Arm, with a little diversion have found the way to his Heart? But the workings of Providence are marvellous, and the methods secret and untraceable, by which it disposes of the Lives of Men.  
In like manner, for men's Health, it is no less wonderful to consider to what strange Casualties, many Sick Persons oftentimes owe their Recovery. Perhaps an unusual Draught, or Morsel, or some Accidental violence of Motion has removed that Malady, that for many years has baffled the Skill of all Physicians. So that, in effect, he is the best Physician, that has the best luck; he prescribes, but it is chance that Cures.  
That Person, that (being provoked by excessive Pain) thrust his Dagger into his Body, and thereby, instead of reaching his Vitals, opened an Imposthume, the unknown cause of all his pain, and so Stabbed himself into perfect Health, and Ease, surely had great reason to acknowledge Chance for his Chirurgeon, and Providence for the Guider of his Hand.  
And then also for men's Reputation; and that either in point of Wisdom, or of Wit. There is hardly any thing which (for the most part) falls under a greater Chance. If a man succeeds in any attempt, though undertook with never so much folly and rashness, his success shall vouch him a Politician; and good Luck shall pass for deep contrivance: For give any one Fortune, and he shall be thought a wise man in spite of his Heart; nay, and of his Head too. On the contrary, be a design never so artificially laid, and spun in the finest Thread of Policy, if it chances to be defeated by some cross accident, the man is then run down by an Universal Vogue; his counsels are derided, his Prudence questioned, and his Person despised.  
Ahitophel was as great an Oracle, and gave as good counsel to Absolom, as ever he had given to David; but not having the good luck to be believed, and thereupon losing his former repute, he thought it high time to Hang himself. And on the other side, there have been some, who for several years have been Fools with tolerable good Reputation, and never discovered themselves to be so, till at length they attempted to be Knaves also, but wanted Art and Dexterity.  
And as the repute of Wisdom, so that of Wit also, is very Casual. Sometimes a lucky Saying, or a pertinent Reply, has procured an esteem of Wit, to persons otherwise very shallow, and no ways accustomed to utter such things by any standing ability of mind; so that if such an one should have the ill hap at any time to strike a man Dead with a smart Saying, it ought, in all Reason and Conscience, to be judged but a Chance-medley; the poor Man (God knows) being no ways guilty of any design of Wit.  
Nay, even where there is a real stock of Wit, yet the Wittiest Sayings, and Sentences will be found in a great measure the issues of Chance, and nothing else, but so many lucky hits of a roving Fancy.  
For consult the Acutest Poets, and Speakers, and they will confess, that their quickest and most admired conceptions, were such as darted into their minds like sudden flashes of Lightning, they knew not how, nor whence; and not by any certain consequence, or dependence of one thought upon another, as it is in matters of Ratiocination.  
Moreover sometimes a man's Reputation rises or falls, as his Memory serves him in a performance; and yet there is nothing more fickle, slippery, and less under command, than this Faculty. So that many, having used their utmost diligence to secure a faithful retention of the things or words committed to it, yet after all cannot certainly know where it will trip and fail them. Any sudden diversion of the Spirits, or the justling in of a transient thought, is able to deface those little images of things; and so breaking the Train that was laid in the mind, to leave a man in the Lurch. And for the other part of memory, called Reminiscence: which is the Retreiving of a thing, at present forgot, or but confusely remembered, by setting the mind to hunt over all its notions, and to ransack Every little Cell of the Brain. While it is thus busied, how accidentally oftentimes does the thing sought for, offer itself to the mind? and by what small petit hints, does the mind catch hold of, and recover a vanishing notion?  
In short though Wit and Learning are certain and habitual perfections of the mind, yet the declaration of them (which alone brings the repute) is subject to a thousand hazards. So that every Wit runs something the same risk with the ginger, who if his Predictions come to pass, is cried up to the Stars from whence he pretends to draw them; but if not, the ginger himself grows more out of Date than his Almanac.  
And then, in the 4th. place, for the Friendships, or Enmities that a man contracts in the world,; than which surely there is nothing that has a more direct and potent influence upon the whole course of a man's Life, whether as to Happiness, or Misery, yet Chance has the Ruling stroke in them all.  
A man by mere peradventure lights into company, possibly is driven into an House by a shower of Rain for present Shelter, and there begins an acquaintance with a person; which acquaintance and endearment grows and continues, even when Relations fail, and perhaps proves the support of his mind and of his Fortunes to his dying day.  
And the like holds in Enmities, which come much more easily than the other. A word unadvisedly spoken on the one side, or misunderstood on the other; any, the least surmise of neglect; sometimes a bare gesture; nay, the very unsutableness of one man's Aspect to another man's fancy, has raised such an Aversion to him, as in time has produced a perfect hatred of him; and that so strong and so tenacious, that it has never left vexing, and troubling him, till perhaps at length it has worried him to his Grave; yea, and after Death too, has pursued him in his surviving shadow, exercising the same Tyranny upon his very Name and Memory.  
It is hard to please men of some tempers, who indeed hardly know, what will please themselves; and yet if a man does not please them, which it is ten thousand to one if he does, if they can but have Power equal to their Malice, (as sometimes, to plague the World, God lets them have) such an one must expect all the Mischief that power and spite, lighting upon a base mind, can possibly do him.  
In the last place. As for men's Employments, and Preferments, every man that sets forth into the World, comes into a great Lottery, and draws some one certain Profession to Act, and Live by, but knows not the Fortune that will attend him in it.  
One Man perhaps proves miserable in the Study of the Law, who might have flourished in that of Physic, or Divinity. Another runs his Head against the Pulpit, who might have been very serviceable to his Country at the Plough. And a Third proves a very dull and heavy Philosopher, who possibly would have made a good Mechanic, and have done well enough at the useful Philosophy of the Spade, or the Anvil.  
Now, let this man reflect upon the Time when all these several Callings, and Professions were equally offered to his Choice, and consider how Indifferent it was once for him to have fixed upon any one of them, and what Little Accidents and Considerations cast the Balance of his Choice, rather one way than the other; and he will find how easily Chance may throw a Man upon a Profession, which all his Diligence cannot make him fit for.  
And then for the Preferments of the World. He that would reckon up all the Accidents that they depend upon, may as well undertake to count the Sands, or to sum up Infinity; so that Greatness, as well as an Estate, may, upon this account, be properly called a Man's Fortune, forasmuch as no man can state either the Acquisition, or Preservation of it upon any certain Rules: Every man, as well as the Merchant, being here truly an Adventurer. For the ways, by which it is obtained, are various, and frequently contrary: One man by sneaking and flattering, comes to Riches and Honour, (where it is in the power of Fools to bestow them;) upon Observation whereof, another presently thinks to arrive to the same Greatness, by the very same means; but striving, like the Ass, to court his Master, just as the Spaniel had done before him, instead of being stroked and made much of, he is only rated off and cudgeled for all his Courtship.  
The Source of men's Preferments, is most commonly the Will, Humour, and Fancy of Persons in Power: whereupon, when a Prince, or Grandee, manifests a liking to such a Thing, such an Art, or such a Pleasure, Men generally set about to make themselves considerable for such things, and thereby, through his Favour, to advance themselves; and at length, when they have spent their whole time in them, and so are become fit for nothing else, that Prince, or Grandee, perhaps, dies, and another succeeds him, quite of a different Disposition, and inclining him to be pleased with quite different Things. Whereupon these Men's Hopes, Studies, and Expectations are wholly at an end. And besides, though the Grandee whom they build upon, should not die, or quit the Stage; yet the same Person does not always like the same things. For Age may alter his Constitution, Humour, or Appetite; or the Circumstances of his Affairs may put him upon different Courses, and Counsels; every one of which Accidents wholly altars the road to preferment. So that those who travel that Road must be (like Highway Men) very dexterous in shifting the Way upon every Turn: and yet their very doing so sometimes proves the Means of their being found out, understood and abhorred; and for this very Cause that they are ready to do any thing, are justly thought fit to be preferred to Nothing.  
Caesar Borgia (base Son to Pope Alexander the 6th.) used to boast to his friend Machiavelli, that he had contrived his Affairs and Greatness, into such a Posture of Firmness, that whether his Holy Father lived or died, they could not but be secure. If he lived, there could be no doubt of them, and if he died he laid his Interest so, as to overrule the next Election, as he pleased. But all this while the Politician never thought, or considered, that he might in the mean time fall dangerously sick, and that Sickness necessitate his Removal from the Court, and during that his absence, his Father die, and so his Interest decay, and his Mortal Enemy be chosen to the Papacy; as indeed it fell out. So that for all his exact Plot, down was he cast, from all his Greatness, and forced to end his Days in a mean Condition: As it is pity but all such Politic Opiniators should.  
Upon much the like account, we find it once said of an Eminent Cardinal, by reason of his great and apparent Likelihood, to step into St. Peter's Chair, that in Two Conclaves, he went in Pope, and came out again Cardinal.  
So much has Chance the casting Voice in the Disposal of all the great things of the World. That which Men call Merit, is a Mere Nothing. For even when Persons of the greatest Worth, and Merit, are preferred, it is not their Merit, but their Fortune that prefers them. And then, for that other so much admired Thing called Policy, it is but little better. For when Men have busied themselves, and beat their Brains never so much, the whole Result both of their Counsels, and their Fortunes is still at the Mercy of an Accident. And therefore, whosoever that Man was, that said, that he had rather have a Grain of Fortune, than a Pound of Wisdom, as to the things of this Life, spoke nothing but the Voice of Wisdom and great Experience.  
And now I am far from affirming, that I have recounted all, or indeed the Hundred part of those Casualties of Human Life, that may display the full Compass of Divine Providence; but surely I have reckoned up so many, as sufficiently enforce the Necessity of our Reliance upon it, and that in Opposition to Two Extremes, that Men are usually apt to fall into.  
1. Too much Confidence and Presumption, in a prosperous Estate. David, after his Deliverances from Saul, and his Victories over all his Enemies round about him, in Psalm 30. v. 7, 8. confesses, that this his Prosperity had raised him to such a Pitch of Confidence, as to make him to say, That he should never be moved, God of his favour had made his hill so strong: but presently he adds, almost in the very same breath, Thou didst hide thy Face, and I was troubled.  
The Sun shines in his full Brightness, but the very moment before he passes under a Cloud. Who knows what a Day, what an Hour; nay, what a Minute may bring forth. He who builds upon the Present, builds upon the narrow Compass of a Point: and where the Foundation is so narrow, the Superstructure cannot be High, and Strong too.  
Is a Man confident of his present Health and Strength? why, an Unwholesome blast of Air, a Cold, or a Surfeit took by Chance, may shake in pieces his Hardy Fabric; and (in spite of all his Youth and Vigour) send him, in the very flower of his years, pining, and drooping, to his long home. Nay, he cannot with any Assurance, so much as step out of his Doors, but (unless God commissions his Protecting Angel to bear him up in his hands,) he may dash his foot against a Stone, and fall, and in that fall breath his last.  
Or is a Man confident of his Estate, Wealth, and Power? why, let him read of those strange unexpected Dissolutions of the great Monarchies, and Governments of the World. Governments that once made such a Noise, and looked so big in the Eyes of Mankind, as being founded upon the deepest Counsels, and the strongest Force; and yet, by some slight Miscarriage, or cross Accident (which let in Ruin and Desolation upon them at first,) are now so utterly extinct, that Nothing remains of them but a Name; nor are there the least Signs, or Traces of them to be found but only in Story. When (I say) he shall have well reflected upon all this, let him see what Security he can promise himself, in his own little Personal Domestic Concerns, which at the best have but the Protection of the Laws, to Guard and Defend them, which (God knows) are far from being able to Defend themselves.  
No Man can rationally account himself secure, unless he could command all the Chances of the World; but how should he command them, when he cannot so much as number them? Possibilities are as infinite as God's Power; and whatsoever may come to pass, no Man can certainly conclude shall not come to pass.  
Feople forget how little it is that they know, and how much less it is that they can do, when they grow confident upon any present State of Things.  
There is no one Enjoyment that a Man pleases himself in, but is liable to be lost by ten thousand Accidents, wholly out of all Mortal Power, either to foresee, or to prevent. Reason allows none to be Confident, but Him only who governs the World, who knows all things, and can do all things; and therefore can neither be surprised, nor overpowered.  
2. The other Extreme, which these Considerations should arm the Heart of Man against, is, utter Despondency of mind in a Time of pressing Adversity.  
As he, who presumes, steps into the Throne of God, so that he that despairs, limits an Infinite Power to a Finite Apprehension, and measures Providence by his own little, contracted Model. But the Contrivances of Heaven are as much above our Politics, as beyond our Arithmetic.  
Of those many Millions of Casualties, which we are not aware of, there is hardly One, but God can make an Instrument of our Deliverance. And most Men, who are at length delivered from any great Distress indeed, find that they are so, by Ways that they never thought of; Ways above, or beside their Imagination.  
And therefore let no Man, who owns the Belief of a Providence, grow desperate, or forlorn, under any Calamity, or Straight whatsoever; but compose the Anguish of his Thoughts, and rest his amazed Spirits upon this one Consideration, That he knows not which way the Lot may fall, or what may happen to him; he comprehends not those strange, unaccountable Methods, by which Providence may dispose of him.  
In a Word. To sum up all the foregoing Discourse: Since the Interest of Governments, and Nations, of Princes, and private Persons, and that, both as to Life, and Health, Reputation, and Honour, Friendships and Enmities, Employments, and Preferments, (Notwithstanding all the Contrivance and Power, that Human Nature can exert about them,) remain so wholly Contingent, as to us, surely all the Reason of Mankind cannot suggest any solid ground of Satisfaction, but in making that God our Friend, who is the sole and absolute Disposer of all these things: And in carrying a Conscience so clear towards him, as may encourage us with Confidence to cast ourselves upon him: And in all Casualties still to promise ourselves the best Events from his Providence, to whom Nothing is casual. Who constantly wills the truest Happiness to those that trust in him, and works all things according to the Counsel of that Blessed Will.  To whom be rendered and ascribed, as is most due, all Praise, Might, Majesty, and Dominion, both now and for evermore. Amen.  

A SERMON Preached at WESTMINSTER-ABBEY, April 30. 1676.  1 COR. III. 19. 
For the Wisdom of this World, is Foolishness with God.  
THE Wisdom of the World, so called, by an Hebraism, frequent in the Writings of this Apostle, for Worldly Wisdom, is taken in Scripture, in a double Sense.  
1. For that sort of Wisdom, that consists in Speculation; called, (both by St. Paul and the Professors of it) Philosophy; the great Idol of the Learned part of the Heathen World, and which divided it into so many Sects and Denominations, as Stoics, Peripatetics, Epicureans, and the like; it was professed and owned by them for the grand Rule of Life, and certain Guide to Man's chief Happiness. But for its utter insufficiency to make good so high an Undertaking, we find it termed by the same Apostle, Coloss. 28. Vain Philosophy: and 1 Tim. 6.20. Science falsely so called; and a full Account of its Uselessness we have in this 1 Cor. 1.21. where the Apostle speaking of it, says, that the World by Wisdom knew not God. Such a worthy kind of Wisdom is it. Only making Men accurately and laboriously ignorant of what they were most concerned to know.  
2. The Wisdom of this World is sometimes taken in Scripture, for such a Wisdom as lies in Practice, and goes commonly by the Name of Policy: and consists in a certain Dexterity or Art of managing Business for a Man's secular Advantage: And so being indeed that ruling Engine that governs the World, it both claims and finds as great a Pre-eminence above all other Kind's of Knowledge, as Government is above Contemplation; or the leading of an Army above the making of Syllogisms, or managing the little Issues of a Dispute.  
And so much is the very Name and Reputation of it affected, and valued by most Men, that they can much rather brook their being reputed Knaves, than for their Honesty be accounted Fools; as they easily may: Knave in the mean time passing for a Name of Credit, where it is only another Word for Politician.  
Now, this is the, Wisdom here intended in the Text; namely, that practical Cunning, that shows itself in political Matters, and has in it really the Mystery of a Trade, or Craft. So that in this latter part of Vers. 19 God is said to take the Wise in their own Craftiness.  
In short, it is a Kind of Trick or Slight, got not by Study, but Converse, learned not from Books, but Men: And those also for the most part, the very worst of Men of all Sorts, Ways, and Professions. So that if it be in Truth such a precious Jewel as the World takes it for, yet as precious as it is, we see that they are forced to rake it out of Dunghills; and accordingly the Apostle gives it a value suitable to its Extract, branding it with the most degrading and ignominious Imputation of Foolishness. Which Character running so cross to the general Sense, and Vogue of Mankind concerning it, who are still admiring, and even adoring it, as the Mistress and Queen Regent of all other Arts whatsoever. Our Business in the following Discourse, shall be to inquire into the Reason of the Apostle's passing, so severe a Remark upon it: And here, indeed, since we must allow it for an Art, and since every Art is properly an Habitual Knowledge of certain Rules and Maxims, by which a Man is governed and directed in his Actions, the Prosecution of the Words will most naturally lie in these two Things.  

1. To show what are those Rules or Principles of Action, upon which the Policy or Wisdom here condemned by the Apostle does proceed.  
2. To show and demonstrate the Folly and Absurdity of them, in Relation to God; in whose Account they receive a very different Estimate, from what they have in the Worlds.   
And first, for the first of these; I shall set down four several Rules or Principles, which that Policy or Wisdom, which carries so great a Vogue and Value in the World, governs its Actions by.  
1. The first is, That a Man must maintain a constant continued Course of Dissimulation, in the whole Tenor of his Behaviour. Where yet, we must observe, that Dissimulation admits of a twofold Acception. 1. It may be taken for a bare Concealment of ones mind: In which Sense we commonly say, that it is Prudence to dissemble Injuries; that is, not always to declare our Resentments of them; and this must be allowed not only lawful, but in most of the Affairs of Humane Life, absolutely Necessary: For certainly it can be no Man's Duty, to write his Heart upon his Forehead, and to give all the inquisitive and malicious World round about him, a Survey of those Thoughts, which it is the Prerogative of God only to know, and his own great Interest to conceal. Nature gives every one a Right to defend himself, and Silence surely is a very innocent Defence.  
2. Dissimulation is taken for a Man's positive professing himself to be, what indeed he is not; and what he resolves not to be: And consequently it emploies all the Art and Industry imaginable, to make good the Disguise; and by false Appearances to render its Designs the less visible, that so they may prove the more effectual: And this is the Dissimulation here meant, which is the very Groundwork of all worldly Policy. The Superstructure of which being Folly, it is but Reason that the Foundation of it should be Falsity.  
In the Language of the Scripture, it is Damnable Hypocrisy; but of those who neither believe Scripture nor Damnation, it is voted Wisdom; nay, the very Primum Mobile, or great Wheel, upon which all the various Arts of Policy move, and turn: The Soul, or Spirit, which (as it were) animates and runs through all the particular Designs and Contrivances, by which the great Masters of this Mysterious Wisdom, turn about the World. So that he who hates his Neighbour mortally, and wisely too, must profess all the Dearness and Friendship, all the Readiness to serve him (as the Phrase now is) that Words and Superficial Actions can express.  
When he purposes one thing, he must swear, and lie, and damn himself with ten thousand Protestations, that he designs the clean contrary. If he really intends to ruin and murder his Prince, (as Cromwell, an Experienced Artist, in that Perfidious and bloody Faculty once did,) he must weep and call upon God, use all the Oaths and Imprecations, all the Sanctifi'd Perjuries, to persuade him, that he resolves Nothing but his Safety, Honour and Establishment, as the same grand Exemplar of Hypocrisy, did before. If such Persons project the Ruin of Church and State, they must appeal to God the Searcher of all Hearts, that they are ready to sacrifice their dearest Blood, for the Peace of the one, and the Purity of the other.  
And now, if Men will be prevailed upon so far, as to renounce the sure and impartial Judgement of Sense and Experience, and to believe that Black is White, provided there be somebody to swear that it is so; they shall not want Arguments of this Sort, good Store, to convince them: There being Knights of the Post, and Holy Cheats enough in the World, to swear the Truth of the broadest Contradictions, and the highest Impossibilities, where Interest, and Pious Frauds shall give them an Extraordinary Call to it.  
It is looked upon as a great piece of Weakness, and Unfitness for Business (forsooth) for a Man to be so clear and open, as really to think not only, what he says, but what he swears: And when he makes any Promise, to have the least intent of performing it; but when his Interest serves instead of Veracity, and engages him rather to be true to another, than false to himself. He only nowadays, speaks like an Oracle, who speaks Tricks, and Ambiguities. Nothing is thought beautiful, that is not painted: So that what between French Fashions, and Italian Dissimulations, the Old, Generous, English Spirit, which heretofore made this Nation so great in the Eyes of all the World round about it, seems utterly lost and extinct; and we are degenerated into a mean, sharking, fallacious, undermining Way of Converse; there being a Snare and a Trapan almost in every Word we hear, and every Action we see. Men speak with Designs of Mischief, and therefore they speak in the Dark. In short, this seems to be the true, inward Judgement of all our Politic Sages, That Speech was given to the Ordinary Sort of Men, whereby to Communicate their Mind; but to wise Men, whereby to conceal it.  
2. The second Rule, or Principle, upon which this Policy, or Wisdom of the World does proceed; is, That Conscience and Religion ought to lay no Restraint upon Men at all, when it lies opposite to the Prosecution of their Interest.  
The great Patron, and Coryphaeus of this Tribe, Nicholas Machiavelli, laid down this for a Master-rule in his political Scheme, That the Show of Religion was helpful to the Politician, but the Reality of it hurtful, and pernicious. Accordingly having shown, how the former part of his Maxim has been followed by these Men, in that first and fundamental Principle of Dissimulation already spoken to by us; we come now to show further, that they cannot with more Art dissemble the Appearance of Religion, than they can with Ease lay aside the Substance.  
The Politician, whose very Essence lies in this, that he be a Person ready to do any thing, that he apprehends for his Advantage, must first of all, be sure, to put himself into a State of Liberty, as free, and large, as his Principles: And so to provide Elbow-room enough for his Conscience to lay about, and have its full play in. And for that purpose, he must resolve to shake off all inward Awe of Religion; and by no means, to suffer the Liberty of his Conscience to be enslaved, and brought under the Bondage of observing Oaths, or the Narrowness of Men's Opinions, about Turpe & Honestum, which ought to vanish, when they stand in Competition, with any solid, real Good; that is, (in their Judgement) such as concerns Eating, or Drinking, or Taking Money.  
Upon which account these Children of Darkness, seem excellently well to imitate the Wisdom of those Children of Light, the great Illuminati of the late times, who professedly laid down this as the Basis of all their Proceedings; That whatsoever they said or did, for the present, under such a Measure of Light, should oblige them no longer, when a greater Measure of Light, should give them other Discoveries.  
And this Principle they professed was of great use to them; as how could it be otherwise, if it fell into skilful hands? For since this Light was to rest within them, and the Judgement of it to remain wholly in themselves, they might safely and uncontrollably pretend it greater or less, as their Occasions should enlighten them.  
If a Man has a prospect of a fair Estate, and sees a way open to it, but it must be through Fraud, Violence and Oppression. If he see large Preferments tendered him, but conditionally upon his doing base and wicked Offices. If he sees he may crush his Enemy, but that it must be by slandering, belying, and giving him a Secret Blow: and Conscience shall here, according to its Office, interpose and protest the Illegality, and Injustice of such Actions, and the Damnation that is expressly threatened to them, by the Word of God. The thorough paced Politician, must presently laugh at the Squeamishness of his Conscience, and read it another Lecture, and tell it, that Just and Unjust are but Names grounded only upon Opinion, and authorized by Custom, by which the Wise and the Knowing part of the World serve themselves upon the Ignorant and Easy; and that, whatsoever fond Priests may talk, There is no Devil like an Enemy in power, no Damnation like being poor, and no Hell like an empty Purse; and therefore that those Courses, by which a Man comes to rid himself of these Plagues, are ipso facto, prudent, and consequently pious: The former being with such wise Men, the only measure of the latter. And the truth is, the late Times of Confusion, in which the Heights and Refinements of Religion, were professed in Conjunction with the Practice of the most Execrable Villainies that were ever acted upon the Earth. And the Weakness of our Church-Discipline since its Restauration, whereby it has been scarce able to get any hold on Men's Consciences, and much less able to keep it; and the great prevalence of that Atheistical Doctrine of the Leviathan; and the unhappy Propagation of Erastianism; these things (I say) with some others, have been the sad and fatal Causes, that have loosed the Bands of Conscience, and eaten out the very Heart and Sense of Christianity amongst us, to that degree, that there is now scarce any religious Tie or Restraint upon persons, but merely from those faint Remainders of Natural Conscience, which God will be sure to keep alive upon the Hearts of Men, as long as they are Men, for the great Ends of his own Providence, whether they will or no. So that, were it not for this sole Obstacle, Religion is not now so much in danger of being divided, and torn piece-meal by Sects and Factions, as of being at once devoured by Atheism. Which being so, let none wonder that Irreligion is accounted Policy, when it is grown even to a fashion; and passes for Wit, with some, as well as for Wisdom with others. For certain it is, that Advantage now sits in the Room of Conscience, and steers all: And no Man is esteemed any ways considerable for Policy, who wears Religion otherwise than as a Cloak; that is, as such a Garment as may both cover, and keep him warm, and yet hang loose upon him too.  
The third Rule or Principle, upon which this Policy, or Wisdom of the World proceeds, is, That a Man ought to make himself, and not the Public the Chief, if not the sole End of all his Actions. He is to be his own Centre and Circumference too: That is, to draw all things to himself, and to extend nothing beyond himself: He is to make the greater World serve the less; and not only, not to love his Neighbour as himself, but indeed to account none for his Neighbour, but himself.  
And therefore to die or suffer for his Country, is not only exploded by him as a great Paradox in Politics, and fitter for Poets to sing of, than for wise Men to practise: But also, to make himself so much as one Penny the poorer, or to forbear one base gain, to serve his Prince, to secure a whole Nation, or to credit a Church, is judged by him a great want of Experience, and a piece of Romantic Melancholy, unbecoming a Politician; who is still to look upon himself as his Prince, his Country, his Church; nay, and his God too.  
The general Interest of the Nation is nothing to him, but only that Portion of it, that he either does, or would possess. 'Tis not the Rain that waters the whole Earth, but that which falls into his own Cistern, that must relieve him: Not the Common, but the Enclosure, that must make him rich.  
Let the Public sink or swim, so long as he can hold up his Head above Water: Let the Ship be cast away, if he may but have the Benefit of the Wreck. Let the Government be ruined by his Avarice, if by the same Avarice, he can scrape together, so much as to make his peace, and maintain him as well under another. Let Foreigners invade and spoil the Land, so long as he has a good Estate in Bank elsewhere. Peradventure, for all this, Men may curse him as a Covetous Wretch, a Traitor, and a Villain: But such words are to be looked upon only as the splendid Declaiming of Novices, and Men of Heat, who, while they rail at his Person, perhaps envy his Fortune: or possibly of Losers, and Malcontents, whose Portion and Inheritance is a Freedom to speak. But a Politician must be above words. Wealth, he knows answers all, and if it brings a Storm upon him, will provide him also a Coat to weather it out.  
That such Thoughts and Principles as these, lie at the Bottom of most Men's Actions; at the Bottom do I say? Nay, sit at the Top, and visibly hold the Helm in the Management of the weightiest Affairs of most Nations, we need not much History, nor Curiosity of Observation to convince us: For though there have not been wanting such heretofore, as have practised these unworthy Arts, (for as much as there have been Villains in all Places, and all Ages) yet nowadays they are owned above-board; and whereas, Men formerly had them in design, amongst us they are openly vouched, argued, and asserted in common Discourse.  
But this, I confess, being a new, unexemplified kind of Policy, scarce comes up to that which the Apostle here condemns for the Wisdom of the World, but must pass rather for the Wisdom of this particular Age, which as in most other things it stands alone, scorning the Examples of all former Ages; so it has a Way of Policy and Wisdom also peculiar to itself.  
4. The fourth and last Principle, that I shall mention, upon which this Wisdom of the World proceeds, is this.  
That in showing Kindness, or doing Favours, no Respect at all is to be had to Friendship, Gratitude, or Sense of Honour, but that such Favours are to be done only to the Rich or Potent, from whom a Man may receive a further Advantage, or to his Enemies, from whom he may otherwise fear a Mischief.  
I have here mentioned Gratitude, and Sense of Honour, being (as I may so speak) a Man's Civil Conscience, prompting him to many things, upon the Accounts of common Decency, which Religion would otherwise bind him to, upon the Score of Duty. And it is sometimes found, that some who have little or no Reverence for Religion, have yet those innate Seeds and Sparks of Generosity, as make them scorn to do such things, as would render them mean in the Opinion of sober and worthy Men; and with such Persons, Shame is instead of Piety, to restrain them from many base and degenerous practices.  
But now our Politician having baffled his Greater Conscience, must not be non-plused with Inferior Obligations; and having leapt over such Mountains, at length poorly lie down before a Molehill: But he must add Perfection to Perfection; and being past Grace, endeavour, if need be, to be past Shame too. And accordingly, he looks upon Friendship, Gratitude, and Sense of Honour, as terms of Art to amuse and impose upon weak, undesigning Minds. For an Enemy's Money he thinks may be made as good a Friend as any; and Gratitude looks backward, but Policy forward: and for Sense of Honour, if it impoverisheth a man, it is in his Esteem, neither Honour, nor Sense.  
Whence it is, that nowadays, only Rich men, or Enemies, are accounted the Rational Objects of Benefaction. For to be kind to the former is Traffic; and in these Time's Men present, just as they Soil their Ground, not that they love the Dirt, but that they expect a Crop: and for the latter, the Politician well approves of the Indian's Religion, in worshipping the Devil, that he may do him no hurt; how much soever he hates him, and is hated by him.  
But if a Poor, Old, Decayed Friend or Relation, whose Purse, whose House and Heart had been formerly free, and open to such an one, shall at length upon change of Fortune come to him with Hunger and Rags, pleading his past Services, and his present Wants, and so crave some Relief of one, for the Merit and Memory of the other; the Politician, who imitates the Serpent's Wisdom, must turn his deaf Ear too to all the insignificant Charms of Gratitude and Honour, in behalf of such a Bankrupt, undone Friend; who having been already used, and now squeezed dry, is fit only to be cast aside. He must abhor Gratitude, as a worse kind of Witchcraft, which only serves to conjure up the pale, meager Ghosts of dead, forgotten Kindnesses, to haunt and trouble him; still respecting what is past, whereas such Wise men as himself, in such cases, account all that is past, to be also gone: and know, that there can be no gain in Refunding, nor any profit in paying Debts. The sole measure of all his Courtesies is, what return they will make him, and what Revenue they will bring him in. His Expectations govern his Charity. And we must not vouch any man for an exact Master in the Rules of our Modern Policy, but such an one as hath brought himself so far to hate and despise the absurdity of being kind upon free cost, as (to use a known Expression) not so much as to tell a Friend what it is a Clock for nothing.  
And thus I have finished the first General Head proposed from the Text, and shown some of those Rules, Principles and Maxims that this Wisdom of the World acts by: I say Some of them, for I neither pretend nor desire to know them all.  
I come now to the other General Head, which is, to show the Folly and Absurdity of these Principles in Relation to God. In order to which we must observe that Foolishness, being properly a man's Deviation from Right Reason in point of Practice, must needs consist in one of these two things.  

1. In his pitching upon such an End as is unsuitable to his Condition; or,  
2. In his pitching upon Means unsuitable to the Compassing of his End.   
There is Folly enough in either of these; and my business shall be to show, That such as act by the forementioned Rules of Worldly Wisdom, are eminently Foolish upon both accounts.  
1. And first, for that first sort of Foolishness imputable to them; namely, That a man by following such Principles pitches upon that for his End which no ways suits his Condition.  
Certain it is, and indeed self-evident, That the Wisdom of this World looks no further than this World. All its Designs and Efficacy terminate on this side Heaven, nor does Policy so much as pretend to any more than to be the great Art of raising a man to the Plenties, Glories and Grandeurs of the World. And if it arrives so far as to make a man Rich, Potent and Honourable, it has its End, and has done its utmost. But now that a man cannot rationally make these things his End, will appear from these two Considerations.  
1. That they reach not the measure of his Duration or Being; the Perpetuity of which surviving this mortal State, and shooting forth into the endless Eternity's of another World, must needs render a man infinitely miserable and forlorn, if he has no other Comforts, but what he must leave behind him in this. For nothing can make a man happy, but that which shall last as long as he lasts. And all these Enjoyments are much too short for an immortal Soul to stretch itself upon; which shall persist in being not only when Profit, Pleasure, and Honour, but when time itself shall cease and be no more.  
No man can transport his large Retinue, his Sumptuous Fare, and his Rich Furniture into another World. Nothing of all these things can continue with him then but the memory of them. And surely the bare remembrance that a man was formerly Rich or Great, cannot make him at all happier there, where an Infinite Happiness, or an Infinite Misery shall equally swallow up the sense of these poor Felicities. It may indeed contribute to his Misery, heighten the anguish, and sharpen the Sting of Conscience, and so add fury to the everlasting flames, when he shall reflect upon the abuse of all that Wealth and Greatness that the good providence of God had put as a price into his hand for worthier purposes than to Damn his Nobler and better part, only to please and gratify his worse. But the Politician has an answer ready for all these melancholy considerations; That he, for his part, believes none of these things: As that there is either an Heaven, or an Hell, or an immortal Soul. No, he is too great a friend to Real knowledge, to take such troublesome Assertions as these upon Trust. Which if it be his Belief, as no doubt it is, let him for me continue in it still, and stay for its Confutation in another world; which, if he can destroy by disbelieving, his Infidelity will do him better service, than as yet he has any cause to presume that it can. But,  
2 lie. Admitting, that either these enjoyments were eternal, or the Soul mortal; and so, that one way or other they were commensurate to its duration, yet still they cannot be an end suitable to a rational nature, for as much as they fill not the measure of its desires. The foundation of all Man's unhappiness here on Earth, is the great disproportion between his enjoyments and his appetites; which appears evidently in this, That let a man have never so much, he is still desiring something or other more. Alexander, we know, was much troubled at the scantiness of Nature itself, that there were no more Worlds for him to disturb: And in this respect, every man living has a Soul as great as Alexander, and put under the same circumstances, would own the very same dissatisfactions.  
Now this is most certain, that in Spiritual Natures, so much as there is of desire, so much there is also of capacity to receive. I do not say there is always a capacity to receive the very thing they desire, for that may be impossible: But for the degree of happiness, that they propose to themselves from that thing, this I say they are capable of. And as God is said to have made man after his own Image, so upon this quality he seems peculiarly to have stamped the resemblance of his Infinity. For Man seems as boundless in his desires, as God is in his Being; and therefore nothing but God himself can satisfy him. But the great Inequality of all things else to the appetites of a rational Soul, appears yet further from this. That in all these worldly things, that a man pursues with the greatest eagerness, and intention of mind imaginable, he finds not half the pleasure in the actual possession of them, that he proposed to himself in the expectation. Which shows that there is a great Cheat or Lie which over spreads the World, while all things here below, beguile men's expectations, and their expectations cheat their experience.  
Let this therefore be the first thing in which the Foolishness of this worldly wisdom is manifest. Namely, that by it a man proposes to himself an end wholly unsuitable to his condition; as bearing no proportion to the measure of his duration, or the Vastness of his desires.  
The other thing in which Foolishness is seen, is a man's pitching upon means unsuitable to that which he has made his end.  
And here, we will for the present, suppose the things of the world to have neither that shortness, nor emptiness in them, that we have indeed proved them to have. But that they are so adequate to all the concerns of an intelligent Nature, that they may be rationally fixed upon by men, as the Ultimate end of all their Designs, yet the folly of this Wisdom appears in this, that it suggests those means for the acquisition of these enjoyments, that are no ways fit to compass or acquire them: and that upon a double account.  

1. That they are in themselves unable, and Insufficient for: And,  
2. That they are frequently opposite to a successful attainment of them.   
1. And first, for their Insufficiency. Let Politicians contrive as accurately, project as deeply, and pursue, what they have thus contrived and projected, as diligently, as it is possible for Human Wit and industry to do: Yet still the success of all depends upon the favour of an overruling hand. For God expressly claims it as a special part of his Prerogative, to have the entire disposal of Riches, Honours, and whatsoever else is apt to command the desires of mankind here below. Deuteronomy 8.18. It is the Lord thy God that giveth thee power to get wealth. And in 1 Sam. 2.30. God peremptorily declares himself the Sole Fountain of Honour, telling us, that Those that Honour him shall be Honoured, and that those that despise him, shall be lightly esteemed.  
And then for Dignities and Preferments, we have the word of one, that could dispose of these things as much as Kings could do: Prov. 29.26. where he tells us, that many seek the Ruler's favour: That is, apply themselves both to his Interest and Humour, with all the arts of Flattery and Obsequiousness, the surest and the readiest ways (one would think) to advance a man; and yet, after all, it follows in the next words, that every man's judgement cometh of the Lord. And that, whatsoever may be expected here, 'tis resolved only in the Court of Heaven, whether the man shall proceed Favourite in the Courts of Princes, and after all his Artificial attendance come to sit at the Right hand, or be made a Footstool. So that upon full Trial of all the courses that Policy could either devise or practise, the most experienced Masters of it have been often forced to sit down with that complaint of the Disciples. We have toiled all night, and have caught nothing. For do we not sometimes see that Traitors can be out of favour, and Knaves be beggars, and lose their Estates, and be stripped of their offices as well as honester Men?  
And why all this? Surely not always for want of craft to spy out where their game lay; nor yet for want of irreligion to give them all the scope of ways lawful, and unlawful, to prosecute their intentions. But, because the providence of God strikes not in with them, but dashes and even dispirits all their Endeavours, and makes their designs heartless and ineffectual. So that it is not their seeing this man, their belying another, nor their sneaking to a third, that shall be able to do their business, when the designs of Heaven will be served by their disappointment. And this is the true cause why so many politic conceptions so elaborately, form and wrought, and grown at length ripe for delivery, do yet, in the issue, miscarry and prove abortive: for being come to the Birth, the all-disposing providence of God denies them strength to bring forth. And thus the Authors of them, having miss of their mighty aims, are fain to retreat with frustration and a baffle; and having played the Knaves unsuccessfully, to have the ill luck to pass for Fools too.  
The means suggested by Policy and worldly Wisdom, for the attainment of these Earthly, enjoyments are unfit for that purpose, not only upon the account of their insufficiency for, but also of their frequent opposition, and contrariety to the accomplishment of such ends. Nothing being more usual, than for these unchristian fishers of men to be fatally caught in their own Nets. For does not the Text expressly say, that God taketh the Wise in their own Craftiness. And has not our own experience sufficiently Commented upon the Text, when we have seen some by the very same ways by which they had designed to rise uncontrollably, and to clear off all obstructions before their ambition, to have directly procured their utter downfall, and to have broke their necks from that very Ladder, by which they had thought to have climbed as high as their Father Lucifer; and there from the top of all their greatness to have looked down with scorn upon all below them.  
Such Persons are the proper and lawful objects of Derision; for as much as God himself laughs at them.  
Haman wanted nothing to complete his greatness, but a Gallows upon which to hang Mordecai: But it mattered not for whom he provided the Gallows, when providence designed the Rope for him.  
With what contempt does the Apostle here in the 20 th'. verse of this 3 d. ch. of the 1 Ep. to the Corin. repeat those words of the Psalmist concerning all the fine Artifices of worldly Wisdom? The Lord, says he, knoweth the thoughts of the Wise, that they are vain. All their contrivances are but thin, slight, despicable things, and, for the most part, destructive of themselves. Nothing being more equal in Justice, and indeed more Natural in the direct consequence and connexion of Effects and Causes, than for men wickedly Wise to outwit themselves; and for such as Wrestle with Providence, to trip up their own heels.  
It is clear therefore, that the charge of this second sort of Foolishness is made good upon worldly Wisdom: for that, having made men pitch upon an end unfit for their condition, it also makes them pitch upon means unfit to attain that end. And that both by reason of their Inability for, and frequent contrariety to the bringing about such designs.  
This, I say, has been made good in the General; but since particulars convince with greater life and evidence, we will resume the forementioned Principles of the Politician, and show severally in each of them, how little efficacy they have to advance the practisers of them, to the things they aspire to by them.  
1. And first, for his first Principle, That the Politician must maintain a constant, Habitual dissimulation. Concerning which I shall lay down this as certain; That dissimulation can be no further useful, than it is concealed; for as much as no man will trust a known Cheat: And it is also as certain, that as some men use dissimulation for their interest, so others have an Interest as strongly engaging them, to use all the art and industry, they can, to find it out; and to assure themselves of the truth or falsehood of those with whom they deal; which renders it infinitely hard, if not morally impossible, for a man to carry on a constant course of dissimulation without discovery. And being once discovered, it is not only no help, but the greatest impediment of action in the world. For since man is but of a very limited, narrow power in his own person, and consequently can effect no great matter merely by his own personal strength, but as he acts in Society and conjunction with others, and since no man can engage the active assistance of others, without first engaging their trust: and moreover, since men will trust no further than they Judge a person for his Sincerity fit to be trusted, it follows that a discovered Dissembler can achieve nothing great or considerable; for not being able to gain men's Trust, he cannot gain their concurrence, and so is left alone to act singly, and upon his own bottom; and while that is the sphere of his activity, all that he can do must needs be contemptible. We know how successful the late Usurper was, 
Cromwell.  while his army believed him real in his Zeal against Kingship. But when they found out the Imposture, upon his aspiring to the same himself, he was presently deserted and opposed by them, and never able to crown his Usurped greatness with the addition of that Title, which he so passionately thirsted after. Add to this the judgement of as great an English Author as ever wrote, with great confidence affirming, That the ablest men that ever were, had all an o-penness and frankness of dealing: and that, if at any time such did dissemble, their dissimulation took effect, merely in the strength of that Reputation they had gained by their Veracity and clear dealing in the main. From all which it follows, that Dissimulation can be of no further use to a man, than just to guard him within the compass of his own personal concerns; which yet may be more easily, and not less effectually done by that silence, and Reservedness that every man may innocently practise, without the putting on of any contrary disguise.  
2 lie. The Politicians second principle was, That Conscience or Religion ought never to stand between any man and his Temporal advantage. Which indeed is properly Atheism; and, so far as it is practised tends to the dissolution of Society; the bond of which is Religion. For as much as a man's Happiness, or Misery in his converse with other men, depends chiefly upon their doing, or not doing those things which human Laws can take no Cognizance of: Such as are all actions capable of being done in Secret, and out of the view of mankind, which yet have the greatest Influence upon our Neighbour, even in his nearest and dearest concerns. And if there be no inward sense of Religion to awe men from the doing unjust Actions, provided they can do them without discovery, it is impossible for any man to sit secure or happy in the possession of any thing that he enjoys. And this inconvenience the Politician must expect from others, as well as they have felt from him; unless he thinks that he can engross this Principle to his own practice, and that others cannot be as false, and Atheistical as himself; especially having had the advantage of his Copy to write after.  
3 lie. The third Principle was, That the Politician ought to make himself, and not the public, the chief, if not the sole end of all that he does.  
But here, we shall quickly find, that the Private Spirit will prove as pernicious in Temporals, as ever it did in Spirituals. For while every particular member of the public, provides singly and solely for itself, the several Joints of the Body Politic do thereby separate and disunite, and so become unable to support the whole; and when the public Interest once fails, let private Interests subsist if they can, and prevent an Universal Ruin from involving in it Particulars. It is not a man's wealth, that can be sure to save him, if the Enemy be wise enough to refuse part of it tendered as a ransom, when it is as easy for him to destroy the owner, and to take the whole. When the hand finds itself well warmed, and covered, let it refuse the trouble of feeding the mouth, or guarding the Head, till the Body be starved, or killed, and then we shall see, how it will far with the Hand. The Athenians, the Romans, and all other Nations that grew great out of little or nothing, did so merely by the publick-mindedness of particular Persons; and the same courses that first raised Nations and Governments, must support them. So that, were there no such thing as Religion, Prudence were enough to enforce this upon all.  
For our own parts, let us reflect upon our glorious and renowned English Ancestors, men eminent in Church and State, and we shall find that this was the method by which they preserved both.  
We have succeeded into their Labours, and the fruits of them: And it will both concern, and become us to succeed also into their Principles. For it is no Man's duty to be Safe, or to be Rich; but I am sure, it is the duty of every one to make good his Trust. And it is a Calamity to a whole Nation, that any Man should have a Place or an Employment more large and public than his Spirit.  
4 lie. The 4th. and last Principle mentioned, was, That the Politician must not, in doing kindnesses, consider his Friends, but only gratify Rich men or Enemies. Which Principle (as to that branch of it Relating to Enemies) was certainly first borrowed, and fetched up from the very bottom of Hell; and uttered (no doubt) by particular and immediate inspiration of the Devil. And yet (as much of the Devil as it carries in it) it neither is nor can be more villainous and detestable, than it is really silly, Senseless and Impolitic.  
But to go over the several parts of this Principle; and to begin with the supposed Policy of Gratifying only the Rich and Opulent. Does our wise man think that the grandee, whom he so courts, does not see through all the little Plots of his courtship, as well as he himself? and so, at the same time, while he accepts the gift, laugh in his Sleeve at the design, and despise the giver.  
But, for the neglect of Friends, as it is the height of baseness, so it can never be proved rational, till we prove the Person using it Omnipotent and self-sufficient, and such as can never need any mortal assistance. But if he be a Man, that is, a poor, weak Creature, subject to Change and Misery, let him know, that it is the Friend only, that God has made for the day of adversity, as the most suitable and sovereign help that Humanity is capable of. And those (though in highest place) who slight and disoblige their Friends, shall infallibly come to know the value of them, by having none, when they shall most need them.  
That Prince, that maintains the reputation of a true, fast, generous Friend, has an Army always ready to fight for him, maintained to his hand without pay.  
As for the other part of this Principle, that concerns the gratifying of Enemies; it is (to say no more) an absurdity parallel to the former. For when a man shall have done all he can, given all he has, to oblige an Enemy, he shall find, that he has armed him indeed, but not at all altered him.  
The Scripture bids us Pray for our Enemies, and Love our Enemies, but no where does it bid us trust our Enemies; nay, it strictly cautions us against it, Prov. 26.25. When he speaketh thee fair (says the Text) Believe him not, for there are yet Seven Abominations in his heart. And, in good earnest, it would be a rarity worth the seeing, could any one show us such a thing as a perfectly reconciled Enemy. Men are generally credulous at first, and will not take up this great and safe Truth at the cost of other men's Experience, till they come to be bitten into a sense of it by their own; but are apt to take fair professions, fawning looks, treats, entertainments, visits, and such like pitiful stuff, for Friendship and Reconcilement, and so to admit the Serpent into their Bosom: But let them come once to depend upon this new made Friend, or reconciled Enemy, in any great or real concern of life, and they shall find him false as Hell, and cruel as the Grave. And, I know nothing more to be wondered at, than that those reconcilements that are so difficult, and even next to Impossible in the Effect, should yet be so frequent in the Attempt; especially since the reason of this difficulty lies as deep as Nature itself; which, after it has done an injury, will for ever be suspicious; and I would fain see the Man that can perfectly Love the Person whom he suspects.  
There is a noted story of Hector and Ajax, who having combated one another, ended that combat in a reconcilement, and testified that Reconcilement by Mutual presents: Hector giving Ajax a Sword, and Ajax presenting Hector with a Belt. The consequence of which was, that Ajax slew himself with the Sword given him by Hector, and Hector was dragged about the walls of Troy by the Belt given him by Ajax. Such are the gifts, such are the killing-kindnesses of reconciled Enemies.  
Confident Men may try what conclusions, they please, at their own peril, but let History be consulted, Reason heard, and Experience called in to speak impartially, what it has found, and I believe, they will all with one Voice declare, that (whatsoever the grace of God may do in the miraculous Change of men's hearts) yet according to the common methods of the world, a man may as well expect to make the Devil himself his Friend, as an Enemy that has given him the first blow.  
And thus I have gone over the two general Heads, proposed from the Words, and shown both what those Principles are, upon which this Wisdom of the World does proceed; and also wherein the Folly and Absurdity of them does consist.  
And now, into what can we more naturally improve the whole foregoing Discourse, than into that practical Inference of our Apostle, in the Verse before the Text? That if any Man desires the Reputation of Wisdom, he should become a Fool that he may be wise; that is a Fool to the World, that he may be wise to God.  
Let us not be ashamed of the Folly of being sincere, and without Guile; without Traps, and Snares in our Converse; of being fearful to build our Estates upon the Ruin of our Consciences; of preferring the public Good, before our own private Emolument; and lastly, of being true to all the Offices of Friendship, the Obligations of which are sacred, and will certainly be exacted of us by the great Judge of all our Actions. I say, Let us not blush to be found guilty of all these Follies, (as some account them) rather than to be expert in that Kind of Wisdom, that God himself, the great Fountain of Wisdom, has pronounced to be Earthly, Sensual, Devilish; and of the wretched Absurdity of which, all Histories, both Ecclesiastical and Civil, have given us such pregnant and convincing Examples.  
Reflect upon Ahitophel, Haman, Sejanus, Caesar Borgia: And other such Masters of the Arts of Policy, who thought they had fixed themselves upon so sure a Bottom, that they might even defy and dare Providence to the Face; and yet how did God bring an absolute Disappointment, like one great Blot, over all their fine, artificial Contrivances!  
Every one of those mighty and profound Sages, coming to a Miserable and Disastrous End.  
The Consideration of which, and the like Passages, one would think, should make Men grow weary of dodging and showing Tricks with God in their own crooked Ways: And even force them to acknowledge it for the surest, and most unfailing Prudence, wholly to commit their Persons, and Concerns to the wise, and good Providence of God, in the Straight, and open Ways of his own Commands.  
Who, we may be confident, is more tenderly concerned for the good of those that truly fear, and serve him, than it is possible for the most selfish of Men to be concerned for themselves: And who, in all the Troubles, and Disturbances, all the Cross, Difficult and Perplexing Passages that can fall out, will be sure to guide all to this happy Issue; That all things shall work together for good, to those that love God.  To which God, infinitely Wise, Holy, and Just, be rendered and ascribed, as is most due, all Praise, Might, Majesty, and Dominion, both now and for evermore. Amen.  

A SERMON Preached at Christchurch, Oxon, Before the University, May 3. 1685.  2 COR. VIII. 12. 
For if there be first a willing Mind, it is accepted according to that a Man hath, and not according to that he hath not.  
IN dealing with Men's Consciences, for the taking them off from Sin, I know nothing of so direct and efficacious an Influence, as the right stating of those general Rules and Principles of Action, that men are apt to guide their Lives and Consciences by: For if these be true, and withal rightly applied, Men must needs proceed upon firm and safe Grounds; but if either false in themselves, or not right in their particular Application, the whole Course, that Men are thereby engaged in, being founded in Sin and Error, must needs lead to, and, at length, end in Death and Confusion: There being (as the Wise man tells us a Way that may seem Right in a Man's own Eyes, when, nevertheless, the End of that Way is Death.  
Now, as amongst these Principles or Rules of Action, the pretences of the Spirit, and of tenderness of Conscience, and the like, have been the late grand Artifices, by which Crafty and designing Hypocrites have so much abused the world; so, I shall now instance in another, of no less Note, by which the generality of Men are as apt to abuse themselves. And that is a certain Rule or sentence got almost into every Man's mouth, That God accepts the Will for the Deed. A principle (as usually applied) of less malice I confess, but considering the easiness, and withal the Fatality of the delusion, of more mischief than the other.  
And this I shall endeavour to search into, and lay open in the following discourse.  
The words hold forth a general Rule, or Proposition delivered upon a Particular Occasion. Which was the Apostle's exhorting the Corinthians to an Holy and Generous Emulation of the Charity of the Macedonians, in contributing freely to the Relief of the poor Saints at jerusalem. Upon this great Encouragement, that in all such Works of Charity, it is the Will that gives worth to the Oblation, and, as to God's Acceptance, sets the poorest Giver upon the same Level with the Richest. Nor is this all; but so perfectly does the Value of all Charitable Acts, take its Measure, and Proportion from the Will, and from the Fullness of the Heart, rather than that of the Hand, that a lesser Supply may be oftentimes a greater Charity; and the Widow's Mite, in the Balance of the Sanctuary, outweigh the Shekels, and perhaps the Talents of the most Opulent and Wealthy. The All, and utmost of the One being certainly a Nobler Alms, than the Superfluities of the Other. And all this upon the Account of the great Rule here set down in the Text. That, in all transactions between God and Man, wheresoever there is a full Resolution, drift, and purpose of Will to please God, there, what a man can do, shall, by virtue thereof, be accepted, and what he cannot do, shall not be required. From whence these Two Propositions, in Sense and Design much the same, do naturally result.  

1. The first of them expressed in the Words. To wit, That God accepts the Will, where there is no Power to perform.  
2. The other of them Employed. Namely, That where there is a Power to Perform, God does not accept the Will.   
Of all the Spiritual tricks and legerdemain, by which men are apt to shift off their Duty, and to impose upon their own Souls, there is none so common, and of so fatal an import as these Two. The Plea of a good intention. And the Plea of a good Will.  
One or both of them being used by Men, almost at every turn, to elude the Precept, to put God off with something instead of Obedience, and so, in effect, to out-wit him whom they are called to Obey. They are certainly two of the most Effectual Instruments and Engines in the Devil's hands, to wind and turn the Souls of Men by, to whatsoever he pleases.  
For, first, the Plea of a Good Intention will serve to Sanctify and Authorise the very Worst of Actions. The proof of which is but too full and manifest, from that Lewd and Scandalous Doctrine of the Jesuits concerning the Direction of the Intention, and likewise from the whole Manage of the late accursed Rebellion. In which, it was this insolent and impudent Pretence, that emboldened the Worst of Men to wade through the blood of the Best of Kings, and the Loyallest of Subjects; namely, That in all that risk of Villainy, their Hearts, forsooth, were right towards God; and that all their Plunder, and Rapine, was for nothing else but to place Christ on his Throne, and to establish amongst us the Power of Godliness, and the Purity of the Gospel; by a further Reformation (as the Cant goes) of a Church which had but too much felt the Meaning of that Word before.  
But such persons consider not, that, though an Ill Intention is certainly sufficient to spoil and corrupt an Act in itself Materially Good, yet no Good Intention whatsoever can rectify, or infuse a Moral Goodness into an Act otherwise Evil. To come to Church is, no doubt, an Act in itself Materially Good; yet he who does it with an Ill Intention, comes to God's House upon the Devil's Errand; and the whole Act is thereby rendered absolutely Evil, and Detestable before God. But on the other side; if it were possible for a Man to Intent well, while he Does ill; yet no such Intention, though never so good, can make that Man Steal, Lie, or Murder with a good Conscience; or convert a Wicked Action into a Good.  
For these things are against the Nature of Morality; in which, nothing is or can be really good, without an Universal concurrence of all the Principles and Ingredients requisite to a Moral Action; though the failure of any one of them will imprint a Malignity upon that Act, which, in spite of all the other requisite Ingredients, shall stamp it absolutely Evil, and corrupt it past the Cure of a Good Intention.  
And thus, as I have shown, that the Plea of a Good Intention is used by Men to Warrant and Patronise the most Villainous and Wicked Actions; so, in the next place, the Plea of a Good Will will be found equally efficacious to supersede, and take off the Necessity of all Holy and Good Actions. For still (as I have observed) the great Art of the Devil, and the principal deceit of the Heart, is, to put a Trick upon the Command, and to keep fair with God himself, while men fall foul upon his Laws. For both Law, and Gospel call aloud for Active Obedience, and such a Piety, as takes not up either with faint Notions, or idle, insignificant Inclinations, but such an One, as shows itself in the Solid Instances of Practice and Performance. For, Do this and live, saith the Law, Luk. 10.28. And, if ye Know these things, Happy are ye if ye Do them, says the Gospel, Joh. 13.17. And, not every one that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that Doth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven, Matth. 7.21. And, Let no man deceive you; He that doth Righteousness is Righteous, 1 Joh. 3.7. With innumerable more such places. All of them terrible and severe Injunctions of Practice, and equally severe Obligations to it.  
But then, in comes the benign Latitude of the Doctrine of goodwill, and cuts asunder all these hard, pinching Cords; and tells you, That if this be but piously, and well inclined; if the Bend of the Spirit (as some call it) be towards God and Goodness, God accepts of this above, nay, instead of, all External Works; those being but the Shell, or Husk, this the Kernel, the Quintessence, and the very Soul of Duty. But for all this, these Bends, and Propensities, and Inclinations, will not do the Business; the bare bending of the Bow will not hit the Mark without shooting the Arrow; and Men are not called to Will, but to Work out their Salvation.  
But what then? Is it not as Certain from the Text, that God sometimes accepts the Will, as it is from those forementioned Scriptures, that God commands the Deed? Yes, no doubt: Since it is impossible for the Holy Ghost to contradict that in one place of Scripture, which he had affirmed in another. In all the foregoing places, Doing is expressly commanded, and no Happiness allowed to any thing short of it; and yet here God is said to accept of the Will; and can both these stand together without manifest contradiction? That which enjoins the Deed, is certainly God's Law; and it is also as certain, that the Scripture that allows of the Will, is neither the Abrogation, nor Derogation, nor Dispensation, nor Relaxation of that Law.  
In order to the clearing of which, I shall lay down these Two Assertions.  

1. That every Law of God commands the Obedience of the Whole Man.  
2. That the Will is never accepted by God, but as it is the Obedience of the Whole Man.   
So that the Allowance or Acceptance of the Will, mentioned in the Text, takes off Nothing from the Obligation of those Laws, in which the Deed is so plainly and positively enjoined; but is only an Interpretation, or Declaration of the true Sense of those Laws, showing the Equity of them: Which is as really Essential to Every Law, and gives it its obliging Force as much, as the Justice of it; and indeed, is not another, or a distinct thing from the Justice of it, any more than a Particular Case is from an Universal Rule.  
But you will say, How can the Obedience of the Will ever be proved to be the Obedience of the Whole Man?  
For answer to which, we are first to consider Every Man as a Moral, and consequently as a Rational, Agent; and then to consider, what is the Office and Influence of the Will in Every Moral Action. Now the Morality of an Action is founded in the Freedom of that Principle, by virtue of which, it is in the Agent's Power, having all things ready and requisite to the performance of an Action, either to perform, or not to perform it. And, as the Will is endued with this Freedom, so is it also endued with a Power to Command all the other Faculties, both of Soul and Body, to Execute what it has so Willed, or Decreed, and that without Resistance; So that upon the last Dictate of the Will for the Doing of such or such a thing, all the other Faculties proceed immediately to act according to their respective Offices. By which it is manifest, that in point of Action, the Will is Virtually the Whole Man; as containing in it all that, which by virtue of his other Faculties he is able to do: Just as the Spring of a Watch is virtually the whole Motion of the Watch; forasmuch as it imparts a Motion to all the Wheels of it.  
Thus as to the Soul. If the Will bids the Understanding Think, Study, and Consider, it will accordingly apply itself to Thought, Study, and Consideration. If it bids the Affections Love, Rejoice, or be Angry, an Act of Love, Joy, or Anger will follow. And then for the Body; if the Will bids the Leg go, it goes; if it bids the Hand do this, it does it. So that a Man is a Moral Agent only, as he is endued with, and acts by a Free, and Commanding Principle of Will.  
And therefore when God says, My Son, give me thy Heart, (which there signifies the Will,) it is as much, as if he had commanded the Service of the Whole Man; for whatsoever the Will commands, the Whole Man must do: the Empire, or Dominion of the Will over all the Faculties of Soul and Body (as to most of the Operations of each of them) being absolutely overruling and Despotical. From whence it follows, That when the Will has exerted an Act of Command upon any Faculty of the Soul, or Member of the Body, it has by so doing done all that the Whole Man as a Moral Agent can do for the Actual Exercise or Employment of such a Faculty or Member. And if so, than what is not done in such a case, is certainly not in a man's Power to do; and consequently is no part of the Obedience required of him. No man being commanded, or obliged to obey beyond his Power. And therefore the Obedience of the Will to God's Commands, is the Obedience of the whole Man (forasmuch as it includes and infers it) which was the Assertion that we undertook to prove.  
But you will say, If the Prerogative of the Will be such, that where it commands the Hand to give an Alms, the Leg to Kneel, or to go to Church, or the Tongue to utter a Prayer, all these things will infallibly be done; Suppose we now a man be bound hand and foot by some outward violence, or be laid up with the Gout, or disabled for any of these Functions by a Palsy, can the Will by its Command, make a man in such a condition, utter a Prayer, or Kneel, or go to Church? No; 'tis manifest it cannot: but than you are to know also, that neither is Vocal Prayer, or Bodily Kneeling, or going to Church, in such a case, any part of the Obedience required of such a person: But that Act of his Will hitherto spoken of, that would have put his Body upon all these Actions, had there been no impediment, is that man's whole Obedience; and for that very Cause that it is so, and for no other, it stands here accepted by God.  
From all which Discourse, this must naturally and directly be inferred, as a certain Truth, and the chief foundation of all that can be said upon this Subject: namely, That whosoever Wills the Doing of a thing, if the Doing of it be in his power, he will certainly Do it: and whosoever does not do that Thing, which he has in his power to do, does not really and properly Will it. For though the Act of the Will Commanding, and the Act of any other faculty of Soul or Body executing that which is so Commanded, be Physically and in the Precise Nature of things, distinct and several, yet Morally, as they proceed, in Subordination, from one Entire, Free, Moral Agent, both in Divinity and Morality, they pass but for one and the same Action.  
Now, that, from the foregoing Particulars, we may come to understand how far this Rule of God's accepting the Will for the Deed holds good in the Sense of the Apostle, we must consider in it these Three things: 

1. The Original Ground and Reason of it.  
2. The just Measure, and Bounds of it: And,  
3. The Abuse or Misapplication of it.    
And first, for the Original Ground, and Reason of this Rule; it is founded upon that Great, Self-evident, and Eternal Truth, that the Just, the Wise, and Good God neither does nor can require of Man any thing that is Impossible, or Naturally beyond his Power to Do: And therefore in the Second place, the Measure of this Rule, by which the just extent and bounds of it are to be determined, must be that Power or Ability that Man Naturally has to do, or perform the Things Willed by him. So that wheresoever such a Power is found, there this Rule of God's Accepting the Will has no place; and wheresoever such a Power is not found, there this Rule presently becomes in force. And accordingly in the Third and Last place, The Abuse, or Misapplication of this Rule will consist in these Two Things: 

1. That Men do very often take that to be an Act of the Will, that really and truly is not so.  
2. That they reckon many things impossible, that indeed are not impossible.    
And first, to begin with Men's mistakes about the Will and the Acts of it; I shall Note these Three, by which Men are extremely apt to impose upon themselves.  
1. As first, the bare Approbation of the Worth and Goodness of a Thing, is not properly the Willing of that Thing; and yet Men do very commonly account it so. But this is properly an Act of the Understanding or Judgement; a faculty, wholly distinct from the Will; and which makes a Principal part of that, which, in Divinity, we call Natural Conscience; and in the Strength of which, a Man may approve of things good and excellent, without ever willing or intending the Practice of them. And accordingly the Apostle, Rom. 2.18. gives us an account of some who Approved of things excellent, and yet Practised, and consequently Willed things clean contrary; Since no Man can commit a Sin but he must Will it first. Whosoever observes and looks into the workings of his own heart, will find that noted Sentence— Video meliora proboque, Deteriora sequor, too frequently and fatally verified upon himself. The 7th of the Romans (which has been made the Unhappy Scene of so much Controversy about these Matters) has several passages to this purpose. In a word, to Judge what ought to be done, is one Thing; and to Will the doing of it, is quite another.  
No doubt, Virtue is a beautiful, and a glorious thing in the Eyes of the most Vicious person breathing; and all that he does, or can, hate in it, is the Difficulty of its Practice: For it is Practice alone that Divides the World into Virtuous and Vicious; but otherwise, as to the Theory and Speculation of Virtue, and Vice, Honest, and Dishonest, the Generality of Mankind are much the same: For Men do not approve of Virtue by Choice and free Election; but it is an Homage which Nature commands all Understandings to pay to it, by necessary Determination; and yet after all, it is but a faint, unactive thing; for in Defiance of the Judgement, the Will may still remain as perverse, and as much a stranger to Virtue, as it was before. In fine, there is as much Difference between the Approbation of the judgement, and the Actual Volitions of the Will, with relation to the same Object, as there is between a Man's viewing a Desirable thing with his Eye, and his reaching after it with his Hand.  
2dly. The Wishing of a Thing is not properly the Willing of it; though too often mistaken by Men for such: But it is that, which is called by the Schools an Imperfect Velleity, and imports no more than an idle, Un-operative complacency in, and desire of the End without any Consideration of, nay, for the most part, with a Direct Abhorrence of the Means; of which Nature, I account that Wish of Balaam in Numb. 23.10. Let me die the Death of the Righteous, and let my last End be like his.  
The thing itself appeared Desirable to him, and accordingly he could not but like and desire it; but then, it was after a very irrational, absurd way, and contrary to all the Methods, and Principles of a Rational Agent; which never Wills a Thing really and properly, but it applies to the Means, by which it is to be acquired. But at that very time that Balaam desired to Die the Death of the Righteous, he was actually following the Wages of Unrighteousness, and so thereby engaged in a Course quite contrary to what he desired; and consequently such, as could not possible bring him to such an End. Much like the Sot, that cried Utinam hoc esset Laborare, while he lay Lazing and Lolling upon his Couch.  
But every true Act of Volition imports a respect to the End, by and through the Means; and Wills a Thing only in that way, in which it is to be compassed or effected; which is the foundation of that most true Aphorism, That He who Wills the End, Wills also the Means. The truth of which is founded in such a Necessary Connexion of the terms, that I look upon the Proposition, not only as True, but as Convertible; and that, as a Man cannot truly and properly Will the End, but he must also Will the Means; so neither can he Will the Means, but he must Virtually, and by Interpretation at least, Will the End. Which is so true, that in the account of the Divine Law, a man is reckoned to Will even those things that Naturally are not the Object of Desire; such as Death itself, Ezek. 18.31. only because he Wills those Ways and Courses, that naturally tend to, and end in it. And even our own Common Law looks upon a Man's raising Arms against, or Imprisoning his Prince, as an Imagining, or Compassing of his Death: Forasmuch as these Actions are the Means directly leading to it, and, for the most part, actually concluding in it: and consequently that the Willing of the One, is the Willing of the Other also.  
To Will a thing therefore, is certainly much another thing from what the Generality of Men, especially in their Spiritual concerns, take it to be. I say, in their Spiritual concerns; for in their Temporal, it is manifest, that they Think and Judge much otherwise; and in the Things of this World, no man is allowed or believed to Will any thing heartily, which he does not endeavour after proportionably. A Wish is properly a man of Desire, sitting, or lying still; but an Act of the Will, is a Man of Business vigorously going about his Work: And certainly there is a great deal of Difference, between a Man's stretching out his Arms to work, and his stretching them out only to yawn.  
3dly and Lastly. A mere Inclination to a thing is not properly a Willing of that thing; and yet in matters of Duty, no doubt, men frequently reckon it for such. For otherwise, why should they so often plead, and rest in the goodness of their Hearts? and the honest, and well-inclined disposition of their Minds, when they are justly charged with an Actual non-performance of what the Law requires of them?  
But that an Inclination to a thing is not a Willing of that thing, is irrefragably proved by this one Argument; That a man may Act virtuously against his Inclination, but not against his Will. He may be inclined to one thing, and yet will another; and therefore Inclination, and Will, are not the same.  
For a man may be Naturally inclined to Pride, Lust, Anger, and strongly inclined so too, (forasmuch as these Inclinations are founded in a Peculiar Crasis and Constitution of the Blood and Spirits,) and yet by a steady, frequent Repetition of the Contrary Acts of Humility, Chastity, and Meekness, carried thereto by his Will, (a Principle not to be Controlled by the Blood or Spirits,) he may at length plant in his Soul all those Contrary Habits of Virtue: And therefore it is certain, that while Inclination bends the Soul One way, a Well-disposed and Resolved Will, may effectually draw it Another. A sufficient Demonstration, doubtless, that they are Two very Different things; for, where there may be a Contrariety, there is certainly a Diversity. A good Inclination, is but the first Rude draught of Virtue; but the finishing Strokes are from the Will. Which if well-disposed, will by Degrees perfect; if ill-disposed, will, by the Super-induction of ill Habits, quickly deface it.  
God never accepts a good Inclination, instead of a good Action, where that Action may be done; Nay, so much the Contrary, that if a good Inclination be not Seconded by a good Action, the Want of that Action is thereby made so much the more Criminal and Inexcusable.  
A man may be naturally well, and virtuously inclined, and yet never do One good or virtuous Action all his life. A Bowl may lie still for all its Bias; but it is impossible for a man to Will Virtue, and Virtuous Actions, Heartily, but he must in the same Degree offer at the Practice of them: Forasmuch as the Dictates of the Will are (as we have shown) Despotical, and Command the Whole man. It being a Contradiction in Morality, for the Will to go One way, and the Man Another.  
And thus as to the First Abuse, or Mis-application of the great Rule, mentioned in the Text, about God's Accepting the Will, I have shown Three notable Mistakes, which men are apt to entertain concerning the Will; and proved, that neither a Bare Approbation of, nor a Mere Wishing, or Unactive Complacency in; nor, lastly, a Natural Inclination to Things Virtuous and Good, can pass before God for a man's Willing of such things; and, consequently, if men, upon this account, will needs take up, and acquiesce in an airy, ungrounded Persuasion, that they Will those things which really they do not Will, they fall thereby into a gross and fatal Delusion. A Delusion that must, and will shut the Door of Salvation against them. They catch at Heaven, but embrace a Cloud; they mock God, who will not be mocked; and deceive their own Souls, which (God knows) may too easily be both Deceived, and Destroyed too.  
Come we now, in the next place, to Consider the other way, by which Men are prone to abuse and pervert this important Rule of God's accounting the Will for the Deed; and that is, by reckoning many things Impossible, which in truth are not Impossible.  
And this I shall make appear, by showing some of the Principal Instances of Duty, for the Performance of which, men commonly plead want of Power; and thereupon persuade themselves, that God and the Law rest satisfied with their Will.  
Now these Instances are Four.  
1. In Duties of very Great and Hard Labour. Labour is confessedly a great Part of the Curse; and therefore, no wonder if men fly from it: Which they do with so great an Aversion, that few men know their own strength for want of trying it; and, upon that account, think themselves really unable to do many things, which Experience would convince them, they have more Ability to Effect, than they have Will to Attempt.  
It is Idleness, that Creates Impossibilities; and, where men care not to Do a Thing, they shelter themselves under a persuasion, that it cannot be done. The shortest, and the surest way to prove a Work possible, is strenuously to set about it; and no wonder, if that proves it possible, that, for the most part, makes it so.  
Dig, says the Unjust Steward, I cannot; but why? Did either his Legs or his Arms fail him? No; but Day-labour was but an hard, and a dry kind of Livelihood to a man that could get an Estate with two or three Strokes of his Pen; and find so great a Treasure, as he did, without Digging for it.  
But such excuses will not pass Muster with God, who will allow no man's Humour or Idleness to be the measure of Possible, or Impossible. And to manifest the wretched Hypocrisy of such pretences, those very things, which, upon the bare obligation of Duty, are declined by men as Impossible; presently become not only Possible, but readily Practicable too, in a Case of Extreme Necessity. As, no doubt, that forementioned Instance of Fraud and Laziness, the Unjust Steward, who pleaded that he could neither Dig nor Beg, would quickly have been brought, both to Dig and to Beg too, rather than starve? And if so, what reason could such an one produce before God why, he could not submit to the same Hardships, rather than Cheat and Lie? the former being but Destructive of the Body, this latter of the Soul: And certainly the Highest and Dearest Concerns of a Temporal Life, are infinitely less Valuable than those of an Eternal; and consequently aught, without any Demur at all, to be Sacrificed to them, whensoever they come in Competition with them. He who can Digest any Labour, rather than Die, must refuse no Labour, rather than Sin.  
2dly. The Second Instance shall be in Duties of great and apparent Danger. Danger (as the world goes) generally absolves from duty. This being a case, in which most men, according to a very ill Sense, will needs be a Law to themselves. And, where it is not safe for them to be Religious, their Religion shall be to be safe. But Christianity teaches us a very different Lesson: For if fear of suffering could take off the necessity of Obeying, the Doctrine of the Cross would certainly be a very Idle, and a Senseless thing; and Christ would never have prayed, Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me, had the bitterness of the draught made it impossible to be Drunk of. If Death, and Danger are things that really cannot be endured, no Man could ever be obliged to suffer for his Conscience, or to die for his Religion; it being altogether as absurd, to imagine a man obliged to Suffer, as to Do Impossibilities.  
But those Primitive Hero's of the Christian Church, could not so easily blow off the Doctrine of Passive Obedience, as to make the fear of being Passive a discharge from being Obedient. No, they found Martyrdom not only possible, but in many cases a Duty also; a Duty dressed up indeed with all that was terrible and afflictive to Human Nature, yet not at all the less a Duty for being so. And such an height of Christianity possessed those Noble Souls, that every Martyr could keep one Eye steadily fixed upon his Duty, and look Death and Danger out of countenance with the other: Nor did they flinch from Duty, for fear of Martyrdom, when one of the most quickening motives to Duty, was their Desire of it.  
But to prove the possibility of a Thing, there is no argument to that, which looks backwards; for what has been done, or suffered, may certainly be done or suffered again. And to prove, that Men may be Martyrs, there needs no other demonstration, than to show that many have been so. Besides, that the grace of God has not so far abandoned the Christian World, but that those high, Primitive instances of Passive fortitude in the case of duty and danger Rivalling one another, have been exemplifyed, and (as it were) revived by several glorious Copies of them in the succeeding Ages of the Church.  
And (thanks be to God) we need not look very far backward for some of them, even amongst ourselves. For when a violent, victorious Faction, and Rebellion had overrun all, and made Loyalty to the King, and Conformity to the Church, crimes unpardonable, and of a guilt not to be expiated, but at the price of Life or Estate, when Men were put to Swear away all interest in the next World, to secure a very poor one in this; (for they had then Oaths to Murder Souls, as well as Sword and Pistol for the Body:) nay, when the Persecution ran so high, that that Execrable Monster Cromwell, made and published that Barbarous, Heathenish, or rather unhuman Edict against the poor suffering, Episcopal Clergy, 
☜  That they should neither Preach, nor Pray in public, nor Baptise, nor Mary, nor Bury, nor teach School, no, nor so much as live in any Gentleman's House, who in mere Charity and Compassion, might be inclined to take them in from perishing in the streets: that is, in other words, that they must starve and die ex officio, and being turned out of their Churches, take possession only of the Churchyard, as so many Victims to the remorseless rage of a foul illbred Tyrant, professing Piety without so much as common Humanity; I say, when Rage and Persecution, Cruelty, and Cromwellism were at that Diabolical pitch, tyrannising over every thing that looked like Loyalty, Conscience, and Conformity, so that he, who took not their engagement, could not take any thing else, though it were given him; being thereby debarred from the very common Benefit of the Law, in sueing for, or recovering of his Right in any of their Courts of Justice (all of them still following the motion of the High one): yet even then, and under that black and dismal state of Things, there were many thousands who never bowed the Knee to Baal-Cromwell, Baal-Covenant, or Baal-Engagement, but with a steady, fixed, unshaken Resolution, and in a glorious imitation of those Heroic Christians in the 10, and 11th. Chapters of the Ep. to the Heb. Endured a great fight of afflictions, were made a gazing Stock by reproaches, took joyfully the spoiling of their Gods, had trial of cruel Mockings; moreover of bonds and imprisonments, sometimes were tempted, sometimes were slain with the Sword, wandered about in Hunger, and Nakedness, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. All which sufferings surely aught to Entitle them to that concluding character in the next words, Of whom the world was not worthy. And, I wish I could say of England, that it were worthy of those Men now. For I look upon the old Church of England Royalists (which I take to be only another name for a Man who prefers his Conscience before his interest) to be the best Christians and the most meritorious Subjects in the world; as having passed all those terrible Tests and Trials, which conquering, domineering Malice could put them to, and carried their Credit and their Conscience clear and triumphant through, and above them all, constantly firm, and immovable by all that they felt either from their professed Enemies, or their false Friends. And what these Men did and suffered, others might have done and suffered too.  
But they, good Men had another and more artificial sort of Conscience, and a way to interpret off a command, where they found it dangerous, or unprofitable to do it.  
God knows my heart (says one) I love the King cordially; and I wish well to the Church (says another) but you see the state of Things is altered; and we cannot do, what we would do. Our Will is good, and the King Gracious, and we hope he will accept of this, and dispense with the rest. A Goodly Present, doubtless, as they meant it; and such as they might freely give, and yet part with Nothing; and the King, on the other hand, receive, and gain just as much.  
But now, had the whole Nation mocked God and their King at this Shuffling, Hypocritical rate, what an Odious, Infamous People must that Rebellion have represented the English to all Posterity? Where had been the Honour of the Reformed Religion, that could not afford a Man Christian enough, to suffer for his God and his Prince? But the old Royalists did both, and thereby demonstrated to the world, That no danger could make Duty impossible.  
And, upon my Conscience, if we may assign any other Reason, or motive of the late mercies of God to these poor Kingdoms, besides his own proneness to show Mercy, it was for the sake of the old, suffering Cavaliers, and for the sake of none else whatsoever, that God delivered us from the two late accursed Conspiracies. For they were the Brats and Offspring of two contrary factions, both of them equally mortal, and inveterate Enemies of our Church; which they have been, and still are, perpetually pecking and striking at, with the same malice, though with different methods.  
In a word: The old tryed-Church of England-Royallists were the Men, who, in the darkest and foulest day of persecution, that ever befell England, never pleaded the Will, in excuse of the Deed, but proved the Integrity and Loyalty of their Wills, both by their Deeds and their Sufferings too.  
But, on the contrary, when Duty and Danger stand confronting one another, and when the Law of God says, Obey, and assist your King; and the faction says, Do if you dare. For Men in such a case, to think to divide themselves, and to pretend that their Will obeys that Law, while all besides their Will obeys, and serves the Faction; what is this but a gross, fulsome juggling with their Duty, and a kind of Trimming it between God and the Devil?  
These things I thought fit to remark to you, not out of any intemperate Humour of reflecting upon the late times of confusion, (as the guilt or spite of some may suggest) but because I am satisfied in my Heart and Conscience, that it is vastly the concern of his Majesty, and of the peace of his Government, both in Church and State, that the youth of the Nation (of which such Auditories as this chiefly consist) should be principled, and possessed with a full, fixed, and through persuasion of the justness, and goodness of the Blessed Old King's Cause; and of the excellent Piety, and Christianity of those Principles upon which the Loyal part of the Nation adhered to him, and that against the most horrid and inexcusable Rebellion, that was ever set on foot, and acted upon the stage of the world: Of all which, whosoever is not persuaded, is a Rebel in his heart, and deserves not the protection which he enjoys.  
And the rather do I think such Remarks as these necessary of late years, because of the vile arts, and restless endeavours, used by some sly, and venomous factors for the old Republican Cause, to poison and debauch Men from their Allegiance; sometimes creeping into Houses, and sometimes creeping into Studies; but in both equally pimping for the Faction, and stealing away as many Hearts from the Son, as they had formerly employed Hands against the Father. And this with such success, that it cannot but be matter of very sad, and Melancholy reflection, to all sober and Loyal minds, to consider, That several who had stood it out, and persevered firm, and unalterable Royalists in the late Storm, have since (I know not by what unhappy fate) turned Trimmers in the Calm.  
3 lie. The third instance, in which Men use to plead the Will instead of the Deed, shall be in Duties of Cost and Expense.  
Let a business of expensive Charity be proposed; and then, as I showed before, that, in matters of Labour, the Lazy Person could find no hands wherewith to Work; so neither, in this Case, can the Religious Miser find any hands wherewith to give It is wonderful to consider, how a command, or call to be Liberal, either upon a Civil or Religious account, all of a sudden, impoverishes the Rich, breaks the Merchant, shuts up every private Man's Exchequer, and makes those Men in a minute have nothing at all to give, who, at the very same instant, want nothing to spend. So that instead of relieving the poor, such a command strangely increases their number, and transforms Rich Men into beggars presently. For, let the danger of their Prince and Country, knock at their Purses, and call upon them to contribute against a Public enemy, or calamity; then immediately they have nothing, and their Riches, upon such occasions (as Solomon expresses it) never fail to make themselves Wings, and to fly away.  
Thus, at the Siege of Constantinople, than the wealthiest City in the world, the Citizens had nothing to give their Emperor for the defence of the place, though he begged a supply of them with tears; but, when by that means the Turks took and Sacked it, than those who before had nothing to give, had more than enough to lose. And, in like manner, those who would not support the necessities of the old Blessed King, against his Villainous Enemies, found that Plunder could take, where Disloyalty would not give; and Rapine open those Chests, that Avarice had shut.  
But, to descend to matters of daily, and common Occurrence; What is more usual in conversation, than for Men to express their unwillingness to do a thing, by saying, They cannot do it; and for a Covetous Man, being asked a little Money in Charity, to answer, That he has none? Which as it is, if true, a sufficient answer, to God and Man; so, if false, it is intolerable Hypocrisy towards both.  
But, do men in good earnest think, that God will be put off so? or can they imagine that the Law of God will be baffled with a Lie, clothed in a Scoff?  
For such pretences are no better, as appears from that notable account, given us by the Apostle of this windy, insignificant Charity of the Will, and of the worthlesness of it, not enlivened by Deeds. james 2. v. 15, 16. If a Brother or a Sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be you warmed, and filled: notwithstanding ye give them not those things that are needful to the Body, what doth it profit? Profit, does he say? why, it profits just as much as fair words command the Market, as good wishes buy Food and Raiment, and pass for current payment in the Shops. Come to an old, rich, professing Vulpony, and tell him, That there is a Church to be built, beautified, or endowed in such a place, and that he cannot lay out his Money more to God's Honour, the public good, and the comfort of his own Conscience, than to bestow it liberally upon such an occasion; and in answer to this, it is ten to one, but you shall be told, How much God is for the Inward, Spiritual, Worship of the Heart; and, That the Almighty neither dwells, nor delights in Temples made with hands; but hears, and accepts the Prayers of his People in Dens, and Caves; Barns, and Stables; and in the homeliest, and meanest Cottages, as well as in the stateliest, and most magnificent Churches. Thus I say, you are like to be answered. In reply to which, I would have all such sly, sanctified Cheats (who are so often harping upon this string) know, once for all, That, that God, who accepts the Prayers of his People in Dens, and Caves; Barns, and Stables, when, by his afflicting Providence, he has driven them from the appointed places of his solemn Worship, so that they cannot have the use of them, will not, for all this, endure to be served, or prayed to by them in such places, nor accept of their Barn-Worship, nor their Hogsty-Worship; no, nor yet of their Parlour, or their Chamber-Worship, where he has given them both Wealth & Power to build him Churches. For he that commands us to Worship him in the Spirit, commands us also to Honour him with our Substance. And, never pretend that thou hast an heart to Pray, while thou hast no heart to give; since he that serves Mammon with his Estate, cannot possibly serve God with his Heart. For, as in the Heathen Worship of God, a Sacrifice, without an Heart, was accounted Ominous; so in the Christian Worship of him, an Heart without a Sacrifice is worthless and impertinent.  
And thus much for men's pretences of the Will, when they are called upon to Give, upon a Religious account: according to which, a man may be well enough said (as the common word is) to be all Heart, and yet the arrantest Miser in the World.  
But, come we now to this old, rich, pretender to Godliness, in another case, and tell him, That there is such an one, a man of a good Family, good Education, and who has lost all his Estate for the King, now ready to rot in Prison for Debt; come, what will you give towards his release? Why, then answers the Will, instead of the Deed, as much the readier speaker of the two, The truth is, I always had a respect for such Men; I love them with all my heart; and it is a thousand pities that any that have served the King so faithfully, should be in such want. So say I too, and the more shame is it for the whole Nation, that they should be so. But still, what will you give? Why, then answers the Man of Mouth-Charity again, and tells you, That you could come in a worse Time; That money is nowadays very scarce with him; and, that therefore he can give nothing, but he will be sure to pray for the poor Gentleman.  
Ah thou Hypocrite! when thy Brother has lost all that ever he had, and lies languishing, and even gasping under the utmost extremities of poverty and distress, dost thou think thus to lick him whole again, only with thy Tongue? just like that old formal Hocus, who denied a Beggar a farthing, and put him off with his Blessing.  
Why? what are the Prayers of a Covetous Wretch worth? what will thy Blessing go for? what will it buy? Is this the Charity that the Apostle, here, in the Text, presses upon the Corinthians? This the case, in which God accepts the Willingness of the Mind, instead of the Liberality of the Purse? No assuredly: But the Measures that God marks out to thy Charity, are these: Thy Superfluities must give place to thy Neighbour's great Convenience: Thy Convenience must veil to thy Neighbour's Necessity: And lastly, Thy very Necessities must yield to thy Neighbour's Extremity.  
This is the Gradual Process that must be thy Rule; and, he that pretends a Disability to Give, short of this, prevaricates with his Duty, and evacuates the Precept. God sometimes calls upon thee to relieve the Needs of thy poor Brother, sometimes the Necessities of thy Country, and, sometimes the urgent Wants of thy Prince: Now, before thou fliest to the old, stale, usual pretence, That thou canst do none of all these things, consider with thyself, That there is a God, who is not to be flammed off with Lies, who knows exactly, what thou canst do, and what thou canst not; and consider, in the next place, that it is not the best Husbandry in the world, to be Damned to save Charges.  
4thly. The fourth and last Duty, that I shall mention, in which men use to plead want of Power to Do the thing they have a Will to, is, The conquering of a long, inveterate, ill Habit, or Custom.  
And, the truth is, there is nothing that leaves a man less power to good, than this does. Nevertheless, that which weakens the hand, does not therefore cut it off. Some Power to good, no doubt, a man has left him for all this. And therefore, God will not take the Drunkard's Excuse, That he has so long accustomed himself to Intemperate Drinking, that now he cannot leave it off; nor admit of the Passionate man's Apology, That he has so long given his Unruly Passions their Head, that he cannot now Govern or Control them. For, these things are not so: Since no man is guilty of an Act of Intemperance of any sort, but he might have forborn it; not without some trouble, I confess, from the struggle of the contrary Habit: but still the thing was Possible to be done; and he might, after all, have forborn it. And, as he forbore one Act, so he might have forborn another, and after that another, and so on, till he had, by degrees, weakened, and, at length, mortified and extinguished the Habit itself. That these things indeed, are not quickly or easily to be effected, is manifest, and nothing will be more readily granted; and therefore the Scripture itself owns so much, by expressing, and representing these mortifying courses, by Acts of the greatest toil and labour; such as are, Warfare, and taking up the Cross: And by Acts of the most terrible Violence and Contrariety to Nature; such as are, Cutting off the Right Hand, and Plucking out the Right Eye: things infinitely grievous and afflictive, yet still, for all that, feasible in themselves; or else, to be sure, the Eternal Wisdom of God, would never have advised, and much less have commanded them. For, what God has commanded must be done; and, what must be done, assuredly may be done; and therefore, all Pleas of Impotence, or Inability, in such Cases, are utterly false, and impertinent; and will infallibly be thrown back in the Face of such as make them.  
But you will say, Does not the Scripture itself, acknowledge it as a thing impossible, for a man, brought under a custom of sin, to forbear sinning? in jer. 13.23. Can the AEthiopian change his Skin, or the Leopard his Spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. Now, if this can be no more done than the former, is it not a Demonstration, that it cannot be done at all?  
To this I answer, That the Words mentioned are Tropical or Figurative, and import an Hyperbole, which is a way of expressing things beyond what really, and naturally they are in themselves; and consequently the design of this Scripture, in saying that this cannot be done, is no more than to show, That it is very hardly, and very rarely done; but not in strict truth, utterly impossible to be done.  
In vain therefore do men take Sanctuary in such misunderstood expressions as these; and, from a false persuasion, that they cannot Reform their Lives, break off their ill Customs, and root out their old, vicious Habits, never so much as attempt, endeavour, or go about it. For, admit, that such an Habit, seated in the Soul, be, as our Saviour calls it, a Strong Man armed, got into Possession; yet still he may be dispossessed, and thrown out by a Stronger, Luke 11.21, 22. Or, be it, as St. Paul calls it, A Law in our Members, Rom. 7.23. yet certainly, Ill Laws may be Broken and Disobeyed, as well as Good. But, if Men will suffer themselves to be enslaved, and carried away by their Lusts, without Resistance, and, wear the Devil's Yoke quietly, rather than be at the trouble of throwing it off; and, thereupon, sometimes feel their Consciences galled and grieved by wearing it, they must not, from these secret Stings and Remorses, felt by them in the Prosecution of their sins, presently conclude, That therefore their Will is good, and well-disposed; and consequently, such as God will accept though their Lives remain all the while unchanged, and as much under the dominion of sin as ever.  
These Reasonings, I know, lie deep in the minds of most Men, and relieve and support their hearts, in spite, and in the midst of their sins; but they are all but Sophistry, and Delusion, and false Propositions, contrived by the Devil, to hold Men fast in their sins, by final impenitence. For, though possibly the grace of God may, in some cases, be irresistible; yet it would be an infinite reproach to his Providence, to affirm, That Sin either is, or can be so. And thus I have given you four Principal Instances, in which Men use to plead the Will, instead of the Deed, upon a pretended Impotence, or Disability for the Deed. Namely, In Duties of great labour: In Duties of much danger: In Duties of Cost and Expense: And lastly, In Duties requiring a Resistance, and an Extirpation of inveterate, sinful Habits.  
In the neglect of all which, Men relieve their Consciences, by this one great fallacy, running through them all, That they mistake Difficulties, for Impossibilities. A Pernicious mistake certainly; and the more pernicious, for that Men are seldom convinced of it, till their conviction can do them no good. There cannot be a weightier, or more important case of Conscience, for Men to be resolved in, than to know certainly, how far God accepts the Will for the Deed, and how far he does not: And withal to be informed truly when Men do really Will a Thing, and when they have really no Power to Do, what they have Willed.  
For surely, it cannot but be matter of very dreadful, and Terrifying consideration, to any one, Sober, and in his Wits, to think seriously with himself, what horror and confusion must needs surprise that Man, at the last, and great day of Account, who had lead his whole Life, and governed all his Actions by one Rule, when God intends to judge him by another.  To which God, the great Searcher and judge of Hearts, and Rewarder of Men according to their Deeds, be rendered and ascribed, as is most due, all Praise, Might, Majesty, and Dominion, both now and for evermore. Amen.  

A SERMON Preached at Christchurch, Oxon. Before the University, Octob. 17. 1675.  JUDGES VIII. 34, 35. 
And the Children of Israel remembered not the Lord their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their Enemies, on every side.  
Neither showed they kindness to the House of jerubbaal, namely Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had showed unto Israel.  
THese words being a Result, or Judgement given upon matter of fact, naturally direct us to the foregoing Story, to inform us of their occasion. The subject of which Story, was that Heroic, and Victorious Judge of Israel, Gideon. Who, by the greatness of his Achievements, had merited the offer of a Crown, and Kingdom, and, by the greatness of his mind, refused it. The whole Narrative is contained, and set before us, in the 6. 7.8. and 9 Chapters of this Book. Where we read, that when the Children of Israel, according to their usual method of sinning, after Mercies and Deliverances, and thereupon returning to a fresh Enslavement to their Enemies, had now passed Seven years, in cruel Subjection to the Midianites, a potent, and insulting Enemy, and who oppressed them to that degree, that they had scarce Bread to fill their Mouths, or Houses to cover their Heads: For in the 2 d. v. of the 6. ch. we find them Houseing themselves under ground, in Dens, and Caves: and in v. 3, 4. no sooner had they sown their Corn, but we have the Enemy coming up in Armies, and destroying it. In this sad and calamitous condition, I say, in which one would have thought, that a deliverance from such an oppressor, would have even revived them, and the deliverer eternally obliged them, God raised up the Spirit of this great Person, and ennobled his courage, and conduct with the Entire overthrow of this mighty, and numerous, or rather innumerable Host of the Midianites; and that, in such a manner, and with such strange, and unparallelled Circumstances, that, in the whole Action, the Mercy, and the Miracle, seemed to strive for the Pre-eminence. And, so quick a Sense, did the Israelites, immediately after it, seem to entertain of the Merits of Gideon, and the obligation he had laid upon them, that they all as one Man, tender him the Regal, and Hereditary Government of that People, in the 22. v. of this 8 th'. ch. Then said the Men of Israel to Gideon, Rule thou over us; both thou, and thy Son, and thy Son's Son also, for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian. To which he answered as Magnanimously, and by that answer redoubled the obligation in the next verse, I will not rule over you, neither shall my Son rule over you, but the Lord shall rule over you.  
Thus far then we see the Workings of a just Gratitude in the Israelites; and goodness on the one side, nobly answered with greatness on the other. And now, after so vast an Obligation, owned by so free an acknowledgement, could any thing be expected, but a continual interchange of Kindnesses, at least on their part, who had been so infinitely Obliged, and so gloriously Delivered? Yet in the 9th. Chapter, we find these very Men turning the Sword of Gideon into his own Bowels; cutting off the very Race and Posterity of their Deliverer, by the slaughter of threescore and ten of his Sons, and setting up the Son of his Concubine, the Blot of his Family, and the Monument of his Shame, to Reign over them; and all this, without the least provocation, or offence given them, either by Gideon himself, or by any of his House. After which horrid fact, I suppose we can no longer wonder at this unlooked for account, given of the Israelites in the Text: That, they remembered not the Lord their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their Enemies on every side. Neither showed they kindness to the House of Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had showed unto Israel.  
The truth is, they were all along, a cross, odd, untoward sort of People, and such, as God seems to have chosen, and (as the Prophets sometimes phrase it) to have espoused to himself, upon the very same account that Socrates espoused Xantippe, only for her extreme ill conditions, above all that he could possibly find, or pick out of that Sex; and so, the fittest Argument both to exercise, and declare his admirable Patience to the world.  
The words of the Text, are a charge given in against the Israelites; a charge of that foul, and odious sin of Ingratitude; and that both towards God, and towards Man. Towards God in the 34 th'. v. and towards. Man in the 35 th'. Such being ever the growing contagion of this ill quality, that if it begins at God, it naturally descends to Men; and if it first exerts itself upon Men, it infallibly ascends to God. If we consider it as directed against God, it is a Breach of Religion, if as to Men, it is an offence against Morality. The passage from one to the other is very easy. Breach of of Duty towards our Neighbour, still involving in it a Breach of Duty towards God too; and no Man's Religion ever survives his Morals.  
My purpose is, from this remarkable Subject, and occasion, to treat of Ingratitude, and that chiefly in this latter sense: and from the case of the Israelites, towards Gideon, to traverse the Nature, Principles, and Properties of this detestable Vice; and so drawing before your Eyes the several Lineaments, and Parts of it, from the ugly aspect of the Picture, to leave it to your own hearts to judge of the original.  
For the Effecting of which, I shall do these following Things.  

I. I shall show, what gratitude is, and upon what the obligation to it, is grounded.  
II. I shall give some account of the nature, and baseness of Ingratitude.  
III. I shall show the Principle, from which Ingratitude proceeds.  
IV. I shall show those ill qualities, that inseparably attend it, and are never disjoined from it. And,  
V. and lastly, I shall draw some useful Inferences, by way of Application, from the Premises.   
And first, for the first of these: What gratitude is, and upon what the obligation to it, is grounded.  
Gratitude is properly a virtue, disposing the mind to an Inward sense, and an outward acknowledgement of a Benefit received, together with a readiness to return the same, or the like, as the occasions of the Doer of it shall require, and the Abilities of the Receiver extend to.  
This, to me, seems to contain a full Description; or, rather, Definition of this Virtue. From which it appears, that Gratitude includes in it these three parts.  

1. A particular Observation, or taking notice of a kindness received, and consequently of the good Will and Affection of the Person, who did that kindness. For still, in this case, the mind of the giver is more to be attended to, than the matter of the Gift: it being this, that stamps it properly a favour, and gives it the noble and endearing denomination of a Kindness.  
2. The 2 d. part of Gratitude is that, which brings it from the Heart, into the Mouth, and makes a Man express the sense he has of the benefit done him, by Thanks, Acknowledgements, and Gratulations; and where the Heart is full of the one, it will certainly over flow, and run over in the other.  
3. The third, and last is An endeavour to recompense our Benefactor, and to do something that may redound to his advantage, in consideration of what he has done towards Ours. I state it upon Endeavour, and not upon Effect; for this latter may be often Impossible. But it is in the Power of every one, to do as much as he can: to make some essay at least, some offer and attempt this way; so as to show, that there is a spring of motion within, and that the heart is not idle, or insensible, but that it is full and big, and knows itself to be so, though it wants strength to bring forth. Having thus shown what Gratitude is, the next thing is, to show the Obligation that it brings upon a Man, and the Ground and Reason of that Obligation.   
As for the obligation, I know no Moralists, or Casuists, that treat Scholastically of justice, but treat of Gratitude under that general Head, as a part or species of it. And the Nature, and Office of Justice, being to dispose the mind to a constant, and perpetual readiness to render to every Man his Due, Suum cuique tribuere, it is Evident that, if Gratitude be a part of Justice, it must be conversant about some thing that is due to another. And whatsoever is so, must be so by the force of some Law. Now, all Law, that a Man is capable of being obliged by, is reducible to one of these three.  
1. The Law of Nature. 2dly. The Positive Law of God, revealed in his Word. 3dly. The Law of Man, enacted by the civil Power, for the Preservation, and Good of Society.  
1. And first, for the Law of Nature, which I take to be nothing else, but the mind of God, signified to a Rational agent by the bare discourse of his Reason, and dictating to him, that he ought to act suitably to the Principles of his Nature, and to those Relations, that he stands under. For every thing sustains both an Absolute, and a Relative Capacity. An Absolute, as it is such a thing, endued with such a Nature; and a Relative, as it is a Part of the Universe, and so stands in such an Order, and Relation, both to the Whole, and to the rest of the Parts.  
After which, the next Consideration, immediately subsequent to the Being of a thing, is what agrees, or disagrees, with that thing; what is suitable or unsuitable to it: and from this springs the Notion of Decencyor Undecency; that which becomes or misbecomes, and is the same with Honestum & Turpe. Which Decency, or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, (as the Greeks term it) imports a certain measure or proportion of one thing to another; which to transgress, is to do contrary to the Natural order of things; the preservation of which, is properly that Rule, or Law, by which every thing ought to act; and consequently, the Violation of it implies a Turpitude or Undecency. Now those Actions that are suitable to a Rational Nature, and to that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that Decency, or Honestum, belonging to it, are contained, and expressed in certain Maxims or Propositions, which, upon the repeated exercise of a Man's Reason about such Objects as come before him, do naturally result, and are collected from thence; and so remaining upon his Mind, become both a Rule to Direct, and a Law to Oblige him in the Whole Course of his Actions. Such as are these Maxims: That the Supreme Being, Cause, and Governor of all things, aught to be worshipped and depended upon. That Parents are to be Honoured. That a man should do as he would be done by. From which last alone, may sufficiently be deduced all those Rules of Charity and Justice that are to govern the Offices of Common Life; and which alone is enough to found an Obligation to Gratitude: For as much as no man, having done a kindness to another, would acquiesce, or think himself justly dealt with, in a total Neglect and Unconcernedness of the Person who had received that kindness from him; and consequently, neither ought he to be Unconcerned in the same case himself.  
But I shall from other and nearer Principles, and those the unquestionable Documents and Dictates of the Law of Nature, evince the Obligation and Debt lying upon every man, to show Gratitude, where he has received a Benefit. Such as are these Propositions.  
1. That, according to the Rule of Natural Justice, one man may merit and deserve of another. 2. That, whosoever deserves of another, makes something due to him from the person of whom he deserves. 3. That, One Man's deserving of another, is founded upon his conferring on him some Good, to which that Other had no Right or Claim. 4. That, no man has any Antecedent Right or Claim to that which comes to him by free gift. Fifthly, and Lastly, That, all Desert imports an equality between the good Conferred, and the good Deserved, or made Due. From whence it follows, That He who conferrs a Good upon another, Deserves, and consequently has, a Claim to an equal Good from the Person upon whom it was Conferred. So that from hence, by the Law of Nature, springs a Debt; the acknowledging and re-paying of which Debt (as a man shall be able) is the proper Office and Work of Gratitude.  
As certain therefore, as by the Law of Nature there may be, and often is, such a thing as Merit and Desert from one man to another; and as Desert gives the person deserving a Right or Claim to some good from the person of whom he deserves; and as a Right in one to Claim this Good, infers a Debt and Obligation in the other to pay it; So certain it is, by a direct Gradation of Consequences from this Principle of Merit, that the Obligation to Gratitude flows from, and is enjoined by, the first Dictates of Nature. And, the truth is, the greatest and most Sacred ties of Duty, that Man is capable of, are founded upon Gratitude. Such as are the Duties of a Child to his Parent, and of a Subject to his Sovereign. From the former of which, there is required Love and Honour, in recompense of Being; and from the latter, Obedience and Subjection, in recompense of Protection and Wellbeing. And in General, if the conferring of a Kindness did not bind the person upon whom it was conferred, to the returns of Gratitude, why, in the Universal Dialect of the World, are Kindnesses still called Obligations?  
And thus much for the first ground, enforcing the Obligations of Gratitude; namely, the Law of Nature. In the next Place,  
2. As for the Positive Law of God revealed in his Word, it is evident, that Gratitude must needs be enjoined, and made necessary by all those Scriptures, that upbraid or forbid Ingratitude: as in 2 Tim. 3.2. The Unthankful stand reckoned among the highest and most enormous Sinners; which sufficiently evinces the Virtue opposite to Unthankfulness to bear the same place in the rank of Duties, that its contrary does in the Catalogue of Sins. And the like, by consequence, is inferred from all those places, in which we are commanded to Love our Enemies, and to do good to those that hate us: And therefore certainly much more are we by the same commanded, to do good to those that have prevented us with good, and actually obliged us. So that it is manifest, that by the Positive written Law of God, no less than by the Law of Nature, Gratitude is a Debt.  
3. In the Third and Last place: As for the Laws of Men, Enacted by the Civil Power; it must be confessed, that Gratitude is not enforced by them: I say, not enforced; that is, not enjoined by the Sanction of Penalties, to be inflicted upon the Person that shall not be found Grateful. I grant indeed, that many Actions are punished by Law, that are Acts of Ingratitude; but this is merely accidental to them, as they are such Acts; for if they were punished properly under that Notion, and upon that account, the punishment would equally reach all Actions of the same kind; but they are punished and provided against by Law, as they are gross and dangerous Violations of Society, and that Common Good, that it is the Business of the Civil Laws of all Nations to protect, and to take care of. Which Good not being violated or endangered by every Omission of Gratitude between Man and Man, the Laws make no peculiar provision to secure the Exercise of this Virtue, but leave it as they found it, sufficiently enjoined, and made a Duty by the Law of God and Nature.  
Though in the Roman Law indeed, there is this particular provision against the Breach of this Duty, in case of Slaves: That if a Lord Manumits, and makes Free his Slave, gross Ingratitude in the person so made Free, forfeits his Freedom, and Re-asserts him to his former Condition of Slavery; Though, perhaps, even this also, upon an Accurate consideration, will be found not a Provision against Ingratitude, properly and formally as such, but as it is the Ingratitude of Slaves, which if left unpunished in a Commonwealth, where it was the Custom for Men to be served by Slaves, as in Rome it was, would quickly have been a Public Nuisance and Disturbance; for such is the peculiar Insolence of this sort of Men, such the uncorrigible Vileness of all slavish Spirits, that though Freedom may rid them of the Baseness of their Condition, yet it never takes off the Baseness of their Minds.  
And now, having shown both, what Gratitude is, and the Ground and Reason of Men's obligation to it; we have a full account of the proper and particular Nature of this Virtue, as consisting adequately in these two Things: First, That it is a Debt; and, secondly, That it is such a Debt as is left to every Man's Ingenuity (in respect of any Legal Co-action) whether he will pay or no; for there lies no Action of Debt against him, if he will not. He is in danger of no Arrest, bound over to no Assize, nor forced to hold up his unworthy Hand (the Instrument of his Ingratitude) at any Barr. And this it is that shows the rare and distinguishing Excellency of Gratitude, and sets it as a Crown upon the Head of all other Virtues, that it should plant such an overruling Generosity in the Heart of Man, as shall more effectually incline him to what is brave and becoming, than the Terror of any Penal Law whatsoever. So that he shall feel a greater force upon himself from within, and from the control of his own Principles, to engage him to do worthily, than all threatenings and Punishments, Racks and Tortures, can have upon a low and servile Mind, that never acts virtuously, but as it is acted, that knows no Principle of Doing well, but Fear; no Conscience, but Constraint. On the contrary; the Grateful person fears no Court, or Judge, no Sentence or Executioner, but what he carries about him in his own Breast: And being still the most severe exactor of Himself, not only confesses, but proclaims his Debts: his Ingenuity is his Bond, and his Conscience a thousand Witnesses: So that the Debt must needs be sure, yet he scorns to be Sued for it; nay, rather, he is always suing, importuning, and even reproaching himself, till he can clear accounts with his Benefactor. His Heart is (as it were) in continual labour, it even travails with the Obligation, and is in pangs till it be delivered: and (as David in the overflowing Sense of God's Goodness to him) cries out in the 116 Psalms, verse 12. What shall I render unto the Lord for all his Benefits towards me? So the Grateful person, pressed down under the apprehension of any great kindness done him, eases his burdened mind a little by such Expostulations with himself as these. What shall I do for such a Friend, for such a Patron, who has so frankly, so generously, so unconstrainedly, relieved me in such a Distress; supported me against such an Enemy; supplied, cherished, and upheld me, when Relations would not know me, or at least could not help me; and, in a word, has prevented my Desires, and outdone my Necessities? I can never do enough for him; my own Conscience would spit in my face, should I ever slight or forget such Favours. These are the Expostulating Dialogues and Contests, that every Grateful, every truly Noble and Magnanimous Person has with himself. It was, in part, a brave Speech of Lu. Cornelius Sylla, the Roman Dictator, who said, That, He found no sweetness in being Great or Powerful, but only that it enabled him to Crush his Enemies, and to Gratify his Friends.  
I cannot warrant or defend the first part of this Saying; but, surely, he that employs his Greatness in the latter, be he never so great, it must and will make him still greater.  
And thus much for the first General thing proposed; which was, to show, What Gratitude is, and upon what the Obligation to it is grounded. I proceed now to the Second, Which is to give some account of the Nature and Baseness of Ingratitude.  
There is not any one Vice, or ill Quality, incident to the mind of Man; against which, the World has raised such a loud and universal Outcry, as against Ingratitude: A Vice, never mentioned by any Heathen Writer, but with a particular height of Detestation; and of such a Malignity, that Human Nature must be stripped of Humanity itself, before it can be guilty of it. It is instead of all other Vices; and, in the Balance of Morality, a Counterpoise to them all. In the Charge of Ingratitude, Omnia dixeris: It is one great Blot upon all Morality: It is all in a word: It says Amen to the Black Roll of Sins: It gives Completion and Confirmation to them all.  
If we would state the Nature of it, Recourse must be had to what has been already said of its contrary: and so it is properly an Insensibility of kindnesses received, without any Endeavour either to acknowledge or re-pay them.  
To re-pay them, indeed, by a Return equivalent, is not in every one's Power, and, consequently, cannot be his Duty; but Thanks are a Tribute payable by the poorest: The most forlorn Widow has her two Mites; and there is none so indigent, but has an Heart to be sensible of, and a Tongue to express its Sense of a Benefit received.  
For surely Nature gives no man a Mouth to be always Eating, and never saying Grace; nor an Hand only to grasp, and to receive: But as it is furnished with Teeth for the One, so it should have a Tongue also for the Other; and the Hands that are so often reached out to Take, and to Accept, should be, sometimes, lifted up also to Bless. The World is maintained by Intercourse; and, the whole Course of Nature is a great Exchange, in which One good turn, is, and aught to be, the stated price of Another.  
If you consider the Universe as one Body, you shall find Society and Conversation to supply the Office of the Blood and Spirits; and it is Gratitude that makes them Circulate: Look over the whole Creation, and you shall see, that the Band or Cement that holds together all the Parts of this great and glorious Fabric, is Gratitude, or something like it: You may observe it in all the Elements; for does not the Air feed the Flame? and does not the Flame at the same time warm and enlighten the Air? Is not the Sea always sending forth, as well as taking in? And does not the Earth quit Scores with all the Elements, in the Noble Fruits and Productions that issue from it? And in all the Light and Influence that the Heavens bestow upon this Lower World, though the Lower World cannot equal their Benefaction, yet with a kind of Grateful return, it reflects those Rays, that it cannot recompense; so that there is some Return however, though there can be no Requital. He who has a Soul wholly void of Gratitude, should do well to set his Soul to learn of his Body; for all the Parts of that minister to one another. The Hands, and all the other Limbs, labour to bring in Food and Provision to the Stomach, and the Stomach returns what it has received from them, in Strength and Nutriment, diffused into all the Parts and Members of the Body. It would be endless to pursue the like Allusions: In short, Gratitude is the great Spring that sets all the Wheels of Nature going; and the whole Universe is supported, by Giving and Returning, by Commerce and Commutation.  
And now thou Ungrateful Brute, thou Blemish to Mankind, and Reproach to thy Creation; what shall we say of thee, or to what shall we compare thee? for thou art an Exception from all the visible World; neither the Heavens above, nor the Earth beneath, afford any thing like thee: And therefore, if thou wouldst find thy Parallel, go to Hell, which is both the Region, and the Emblem of Ingratitude; for, besides thyself, there is nothing but Hell, that is always Receiving, and never Restoring.  
And thus much for the Nature and Baseness of Ingratitude, as it has been represented in the Description given of it. Come we now to the  
Third Thing proposed, which is to show the Principle, from which it proceeds. And to give you this in one word, It proceeds from that which we call Ill-nature. Which being a word that occurrs frequently in discourse, and in the Characters given of Persons; it will not be amiss, to inquire into the proper Sense, and Signification of this Expression. In order to which, we must observe, that according to the Doctrine of the Philosopher, Man being a Creature designed, and framed by Nature for Society, and Conversation. Such a Temper, or disposition of Mind, as inclines him to those Actions, that promote Society, and mutual fellowship, is properly called good-Nature: Which Actions, though almost innumerable in their particulars, yet seem reduceable in general, to these Two Principles of Action.  

1. A proneness to do good to others.  
2. A ready Sense of any Good done by others.   
And where these two meet together, as they are scarce ever found asunder, it is impossible for that Person not to be Kind, Beneficial, and Obliging to all whom he converses with. On the contrary, Ill-nature is such a Disposition, as inclines a Man to those Actions that thwart, and sour, and disturb Conversation between Man, and Man; and accordingly consists of 2. Qualities, directly contrary to the former.  
1. A Proneness to do ill turns, attended with a complacency, or secret joy of Mind upon the sight of any mischief that befalls another. And,  
2ly. An utter insensibility of any good, or kindness done him by others. I mean not, that he is unsensible of the good itself, but, that although he finds, feels, and enjoys the good that is done him, yet he is wholly unsensible, and unconcerned to value, or take notice of the Benignity of him that does it.  
Now either of these ill Qualities, and much more both of them together, denominate a Person Illnatured; they being such as make him grievous, and uneasy to all whom he deals, and associates himself with. For, from the former of these, proceed envy, an aptness to slander and revile, to cross and hinder a Man in his Lawful advantages. For these, and such like Actions feed and gratify, that Base humour of Mind, which gives a Man a delight in making, at least in seeing, his Neighbour miserable: And from the latter, issues that vile thing which we have been hitherto speaking of, to wit, Ingratitude. Into which all Kindnesses, and good Turns fall as into a kind of dead Sea. It being a Quality that confines and (as it were) shuts up a Man wholly within himself, leaving him void of that Principle which alone should dispose him to communicate and impart those redundancies of good, that he is possessed of. No Man ever goes sharer with the ungrateful Person; be he never so full, he never runs over. But (like Gideon's fleece) though filled and replenished with the Dew of Heaven himself, yet he leaves all dry and empty about him.  
Now this surely, if any thing, is an effect of Ill-nature. And what is Ill-nature, but a pitch beyond Original Curruption? It is Corruptio pessimi. A further Depravation of that, which was stark naught before. But, so certainly does it shoot forth, and show itself in this Vice, that wheresoever you see Ingratitude, you may as infallibly conclude, that there is a growing stock of Ill-nature in that Breast, as you may know that Man to have the Plague, upon whom you see the Tokens.  
Having thus shown you, from whence this Ill-quality proceeds, pass we now to the  
Fourth Thing proposed, which is to show those other Ill-qualities that inseparably attend Ingratitude, and are never disjoined from it.  
It is a saying common in use, and True in Observation, That the Disposition, and Temper of a Man, may be gathered as well from his Companion, or Associate, as from himself. And it holds in Qualities, as it does in Persons. It being seldom, or never, known that any great Virtue, or Vice, went alone; for Greatness in every thing will still be attended on.  
How Black, and Base a Vice Ingratitude is, we have seen, by considering it, both in its own Nature, and in the Principle from which it springs; and we may see the same yet more fully in those Vices, which it is always in combination with. Two of which I shall mention, as being of near Cognation to it, and constant Coherence with it. The first of which is Pride. And the second, Hardheartedness or want of Compassion.  
1. And first for Pride. This is of such Intimate, and even Essential Connexion with Ingratitude, that the Actings of Ingratitude seem directly resolveable into Pride, as the principal Reason and Cause of them. The original ground of Man's obligation to Gratitude was (as I have hinted) from this, That each Man has but a limited right to the good things of the World; and, that the Natural allowed way, by which he is to compass the possession of these Things, is, by his own industrious acquisition of them; and consequently, when any good is dealt forth to him any other way, than by his own labour, he is accountable to the Person who dealt it to him, as for a thing to which he had no Right, or Claim, by any Action of his own entitling him to it.  
But now, Pride shuts a Man's Eyes against all this, and so fills him with an opinion of his own Transcendent worth, that he imagines himself to have a Right to all things, as well those that are the effects and fruits of other Men's labours as of his own. So that if any advantage accrues to him, by the liberality and Donation of his Neighbour, he looks not upon it as matter of free, undeserved Gift, but rather as a just Homage to that worth and Merit which he conceives to be in himself, and to which all the World ought to become Tributary. Upon which thought no wonder, if he reckons himself wholly unconcerned to acknowledge or repay any good that he receives. For, while the Courteous Person thinks that he is obliging, and doing such an one a kindness, the Proud Person, on the other side, accounts him to be only paying a Debt. His Pride makes him even worship, and idolise himself: and indeed, every proud, ungrateful Man has this property of an Idol, that, though he is plied with never so many, and so great Offerings, yet he takes no notice of the Offerer at all.  
Now, this is the true account of the most inward Move, and Reasonings of the very Heart, and Soul of an Ungrateful Person. So that you may rest upon this as a Proposition of an Eternal, unfailing Truth, that there neither is, nor ever was any person remarkably ungrateful, who was not also insufferably Proud; nor, convertibly, any one Proud, who was not equally ungrateful. For, as snakes breed in Dunghills not singly, but in Knots, so in such base, noisome Hearts, you shall ever see Pride and Ingratitude indivisibly wreathed, and twisted together. Ingratitude over looks all Kindnesses, but it is, because Pride makes it carry its head so high.  
See the greatest Examples of Ingratitude equally notorious for their Pride, and Ambition. And to begin with the Top and Father of them all, the Devil himself. That excellent and glorious Nature which God has obliged him with, could not prevent his Ingratitude, and Apostasy, when his Pride bid him aspire to an Equality with his Maker, and say, I will ascend, and be like the Most High. And, did not our first Parents write exactly after his Copy? Ingratitude making them to trample upon the Command, because Pride made them desire to be as Gods, and to brave Omniscience itself in the knowledge of Good and Evil? What made that ungrateful wretch, Absolom, kick at all the kindnesses of his Indulgent Father, but because his Ambition would needs be fingering the Sceptre, and hoisting him into his Father's Throne? And in the Courts of Princes, is there any thing more usual than to see those that have been raised by the favour, and interest of some great Minister, to trample upon the steps by which they rose, to rival him in his Greatness, and at length (if possible) to step into his place?  
In a word, Ingratitude is too base, to return a kindness, and too Proud to regard it; much like the tops of Mountains, Barren indeed, but yet Lofty; they produce nothing, they feed no Body, they cloth no Body, yet are high, and stately, and look down upon all the world about them.  
2. The other Concomitant of Ingratitude is Hardheartedness, or want of Compassion. This, at first, may seem to have no great Cognation with Ingratitude; but upon a due inspection into the Nature of that ill Quality it will be found directly to follow it, if not also to result from it.  
For the Nature of Ingratitude, being founded in such a disposition, as encloses all a Man's concerns within himself, and consequently, gives him a perfect unconcernedness in all things, not judged by him immediately to relate to his own interest; it is no wonder, if the same temper of mind, which makes a Man unapprehensive of any good done him by others, makes him equally unapprehensive, and insensible of any Evil, or Misery suffered by others. No such thought ever strikes his Marble, obdurate Heart, but it presently flies off and rebounds from it. And the truth is, it is impossible for a Man to be perfect, and thorough-paced in Ingratitude, till he has shaken of all Fetters of Pity and Compassion. For all Relenting, and Tenderness of heart, makes a Man but a puny in this sin; it spoils the Growth, and cramps the last and Crowning exploits of this Vice.  
Ingratitude indeed put the Poniard into Brutus' hand; but it was want of compassion which thrust it into Caesar's Heart. When some fond, easy Fathers think fit to strip themselves before they lie down to their long sleep, and to settle their whole Estates upon their Sons, has it not been too frequently seen that the Father has been requited with Want, and Beggary, Scorn and Contempt? But now, could bare Ingratitude (think we) have ever have made any one so Unnatural, and Diabolical, had not Cruelty, and Want of Pity came in as a Second to its Assistance, and cleared the Villain's Breast of all Remainders of Humanity? Is it not this, which has made so many Miserable Parents even curse their own Bowels, for bringing forth Children that seem to have none? Did not this make Agrippina, Nero's Mother, cry out to the Assassinate sent by her Son to Murder her, to direct his Sword to her Belly, as being the only Criminal for having brought forth such a Monster of Ingratitude into the world? And to give you yet an higher instance of the Conjunction of these two Vices, since nothing could transcend the Ingratitude, and Cruelty of Nero, but the Ingratitude and Cruelty of an Imperious Woman. When Tullia, Daughter of Servius Tullius 6 th'. King of Rome, having married Tarqvinius Superbus, and put him first upon Killing her Father, and then invading his Throne, came through the Street where the Body of her Father lay newly Murdered and wallowing in his Blood, She commanded her Trembling Coachman to drive her Chariot and Horses over the Body of her King, and Father triumphantly, in the face of all Rome, looking upon her with Astonishment and Detestation. Such was the Tenderness, Gratitude, Filial Affection, and good Nature of this weaker Vessel.  
And then, for Instances, out of Sacred Story; to go no further than this of Gideon; Did not Ingratitude first make the Israelites forget the Kindness of the Father, and then Cruelty make them imbrue their hands in the Blood of his Sons? could Pharaoh's Butler so quickly have forgot joseph, had not want of Gratitude to him as his Friend, met with an equal want of compassion to him as his Fellow-Prisoner? a poor, innocent, forlorn, Stranger, languishing in Durance upon the false accusations of a lying, insolent, whorish Woman!  
I might even weary you with Examples of the like Nature, both sacred and civil, all of them representing Ingratitude (as it were) sitting in its Throne, with Pride at its Right hand, and Cruelty at its Left, worthy Supporters of such a Stately Quality, such a Reigning Impiety.  
And it has been sometimes observed, that persons signally and eminently obliged, yet missing of the utmost of their greedy designs in Swallowing both Gifts and Giver too, instead of Thanks for received Kindnesses, have betook themselves to barbarous threatenings, for defeat of their insatiable Expectations.  
Upon the whole matter, we may firmly conclude, That Ingratitude and Compassion, never cohabit in the same Breast. Which remark I do here so much insist upon, to show the Superlative malignity of this Vice, and the baseness of the Mind in which it dwells: for we may with great Confidence and equal Truth affirm, That since there was such a thing as Mankind in the world, there never was any heart truly great and generous, that was not also tender, and compassionate. It is this noble Quality that makes all Men to be of one Kind, for every Man would be (as it were) a distinct species to himself, were there no sympathy amongst Individuals.  
And thus I have done with the Fourth Thing proposed, and shown the Two Vices that inseparably attend Ingratitude; and now, if Falsehood also, should chance to strike in as the Third, and make up the Triumvirate of its attendants, so that Ingratitude, Pride, Cruelty, and Falsehood, should all meet together and join forces in the same Person; as not only very often, but for the most part they do; in this case, if the Devils themselves should take Bodies, and come and live amongst us, they could not be greater Plagues and Greivances to Society, than such persons.  
From what has been said, let no man ever think to meet Ingratitude single and alone. It is one of those Grapes of Gall, mentioned by Moses, Deuteron. 32. v. 32. and therefore expect always to find it One of a Cluster. I proceed now to the  
Fifth and Last thing proposed, which is, to draw some useful Consequences by way of Application, from the Premises. As,  
1. Never enter into a League of Friendship with an ungrateful Person. That is, plant not thy Friendship upon a Dunghill. It is too noble a Plant for so base a Soil.  
Friendship consists properly in mutual offices, and a generous strife in Alternate Acts of Kindness. But he who does a Kindness to an ungrateful Person, sets his Seal to a Flint, and sows his Seed upon the Sand: Upon the former he makes no Impression, and from the latter he finds no Production.  
The only Voice of Ingratitude, is, Give, give; but when the Gift is once received, then, like the Swine at his Trough, it is silent and insatiable. In a word, the Ungrateful person is a Monster which is all Throat and Belly; a kind of thoroughfare, or common-shore, for the good things of the world to pass into; and of whom, in respect of all Kindnesses conferred on him, may be verified that Observation of the Lion's Den; before which, appeared the footsteps of many that had gone in thither, but no prints of any that ever came out thence. The Ungrateful person is the only thing in Nature, for which no body living, is the better. He lives to himself, and subsists by the Good Nature of others, of which, he himself, has not the least grain. He is a mere encroachment upon Society, and, consequently, aught to be thrust out of the World as a Pest, and a Prodigy, and a Creature of the Devil's making, and not of God's.  
2dly. As a man tolerably discreet aught by no means to attempt the making of such an one his Friend; so neither is he, in the next place, to presume to think, that he shall be able, so much as to alter or meliorate the Humour of an Ungrateful person, by any Acts of Kindness, though never so frequent, never so obliging.  
Philosophy will teach the Learned, and Experience may teach all, that it is a thing hardly feasible. For, Love such an one, and he shall despise you. Commend him, and, as occasion serves, he shall revile you. Give to him, and he shall but laugh at your easiness. Save his life; but when you have done, look to your own.  
The greatest Favours to such an one, are but like the Motion of a Ship upon the Waves; they leave no trace, no sign, behind them; they neither soften, nor win upon him; they neither melt, nor endear him, but leave him as hard, as rugged, and as unconcerned as ever. All Kindnesses descend upon such a Temper, as Showers of Rain, or Rivers of fresh Water falling into the main Sea: The Sea swallows them all, but is not at all changed, or sweetened, by them. I may truly say of the Mind of an Ungrateful person, that it is Kindness-proof. It is impenetrable, unconquerable; Unconquerable by that, which conquers all things else, even by Love itself. Flints may be melted (we see it daily) but an Ungrateful heart cannot; no, not by the strongest and noblest Flame. After all your Attempts, all your Experiments, for any thing that Man can do, He that is Ungrateful, will be Ungrateful still. And the reason is manifest; for you may remember, that I told you, that Ingratitude sprang from a Principle of Ill-nature. Which being a thing founded in such a certain Constitution of Blood and Spirits, as being born with a Man into the World, and upon that account called Nature, shall prevent all Remedies that can be applied by Education, and leaves such a Bias upon the Mind, as is beforehand with all Instruction.  
So that you shall seldom or never meet with an Ungrateful person, but if you look backward, and trace him up to his Original, you will find that he was born so; and if you could look forward enough, it is a Thousand to One, but you will find, that he also dies so; for, you shall never light upon an ill-natured Man, who was not also an ill-natured Child; and gave several Testimonies of his being so, to discerning Persons, long before the Use of his Reason.  
The thread that Nature spins, is seldom broken off by any thing, but Death. I do not by this limit the Operation of God's Grace; for that may do Wonders: But humanly speaking, and according to the method of the World, and the little Correctives supplied by Art and Discipline, it seldom fails, but an ill Principle has its Course, and Nature makes good its Blow. And therefore where Ingratitude begins remarkably to show itself, he surely judges most wisely, who takes the Alarm betimes; and arguing the Fountain from the Stream, concludes, that there is Ill-nature at the bottom; and so reducing his Judgement into Practice, timely withdraws his frustraneous, baffled Kindnesses, and sees the folly of Endeavouring to struck a Tiger into a Lamb, or to court an AEthiopian out of his Colour.  
3dly. In the Third and Last place. Wheresoever you see a Man notoriously Ungrateful, rest assured, that there is no true Sense of Religion in that Person. You know the Apostle's argument, in 1 john 4.20. He who loveth not his Brother, whom he hath seen; how can he love God, whom he hath not seen? So, by an exact parity of Reason, we may argue. If a man has no Sense of those Kindnesses that pass upon him, from One like himself, whom he sees, and knows, and converses with sensibly, how much less shall his Heart be affected with the grateful Sense of his Favours, whom he converses with only by imperfect Speculations, by the Discourses of Reason, or the Discoveries of Faith; neither of which equal the quick and lively Impressions of Sense? If the Apostles reasoning was Good and Concluding, I am sure this must be Unavoidable.  
But the thing is too evident to need any proof. For shall that man pass for a Proficient in Christ's School, who would have been Exploded in the School of Zeno, or Epictetus? Or shall he pretend to Religious Attainments, who is defective and short in Moral? Which yet are but the Rudiments, the Beginnings, and first Draught of Religion; as Religion is the Perfection, the Refinement, and the Sublimation of Morality; so that it still presupposes it, it builds upon it, and Grace never adds the Superstructure, where Virtue has not laid the Foundation. There may be Virtue indeed, and yet no Grace; but Grace is never without Virtue. And therefore, though Gratitude does not infer Grace, it is certain that Ingratitude does exclude it.  
Think not to put God off by frequenting Prayers, and Sermons, and Sacraments, while thy Brother has an Action against thee in the Court of Heaven; an Action of Debt, of that Clamorous and Great Debt of Gratitude. Rather, as our Saviour Commands, Leave thy Gift upon the Altar, and first go and clear accounts with thy Brother. God scorns a Gift from him who has not paid his Debts. Every Ungrateful person, in the sight of God and Man, is a Thief, and let him not make the Altar his Receiver. Where there is no Charity, it is certain, there can be no Religion; and can that man be Charitable, who is not so much as Just?  
In every Benefaction between Man and Man, Man is only the Dispenser, but God the Benfactour; and therefore let all Ungrateful Ones, know, that where Gratitude is the Debt, God himself is the chief Creditor: Who, though he causes his Sun to shine, and his Rain to fall, upon the Evil and Unthankful in this World, has another kind of Reward for their Unthankfulness in the next.  To which God, the great Searcher and judge of Hearts, and Rewarder of Men according to their Deeds, be rendered and ascribed, as is most due, all Praise, Might, Majesty, and Dominion, both now and for evermore. Amen.  

A SERMON Preached at Christchurch, Oxon. Before the University, Octob. 14. 1688.  PROV. XII. 22. 
Lying Lips are abomination to the Lord.  
I Am very sensible, that by discoursing of Lies and Falsehood, which I have pitched upon for my present Subject, I must needs fall into a very large Common Place; though, yet not by half so large, and Common, as the Practice. Nothing in Nature being so Universally decried, and withal so Universally practised, as Falsehood. So that, most of those things that have the mightiest, and most controlling Influence upon the Affairs, and Course of the World, are neither better, nor worse, than downright Lies. For, what is common Fame, which sounds from all Quarters of the World, and re-sounds back to them again, but generally a Loud, Rattling, Impudent, Overbearing Lie? What are most of the Histories of the World, but Lies? Lies immortalised, and consigned over as a perpetual Abuse, and Flame upon Posterity? What are most of the Promises of the World, but Lies? Of which we need no other Proof, but our own Experience. And what are most of the Oaths in the World, but Lies? And such as need rather a Pardon for being took, than a Dispensation from being kept? And lastly, what are all the Religions of the World, except Judaisme and Christianity, but Lies? And even in Christianity itself, are there not those who teach, warrant, and defend Lying? And scarce use the Bible for any other Purpose, but to swear upon it, and to lie against it?  
Thus a mighty, governing Lie, goes round the World, and has almost banished Truth out of it; and so reigning Triumphantly in its stead, is the True Source of most of those Confusions, and dire Calamities, that infested, and plague the Universe. For look over them all, and you shall find, that the greatest Annoyance, and Disturbance of Mankind, has been from one of these Two things, Force, or Fraud. Of which, as boisterous, and violent a Thing as Force is, yet it rarely achieves any thing considerable, but under the Conduct of Fraud. 'Slight of Hand has done that, which Force of Hand could never do.  
But why do we speak of Hands? It is the Tongue, that drives the World before it. The Tongue, and the Lying Lip, which there is no Fence against: For when that is the Weapon, a Man may strike where he cannot reach; and a Word shall do Execution, both further, and deeper, than the mightiest Blow. For the Hand can hardly lift up itself high enough to strike, but it must be seen; so that, it warns, while it threatens; but a false, insidious Tongue, may whisper a Lie so close, and low, that, though you have Ears to hear, yet you shall not hear; and indeed, We generally come to know it, not by hearing, but by feeling what it says.  
A Man, perhaps, casts his Eye this way, and that way, and looks round about him, to spy out his Enemy, and to defend himself; but alas! the fatal Mischief, that would trip up his Heels, is all the while under them. It works invisibly, and beneath: And the Shocks of an Earthquake (we know) are much more dreadful, than the highest, and loudest Blusters of a Storm. For there may be some Shelter against the Violence of the One, but no Security against the Hollowness of the Other: which never opens its Bosom, but for a kill Embrace. The Bowels of the Earth in such Cases, and the Mercies of the False in all, being equally without Compassion.  
Upon the whole Matter, it is hard to assign any One Thing, but Lying, which God, and Man, so unanimously join in the Hatred of; and it is as hard to tell, whether it does a greater Dishonour to God, or Mischief to Man: It is certainly, an Abomination to both: And I hope to make it appear such, in the following Discourse. Though I must confess myself, very unable to speak, to the utmost Latitude of this Subject; and I thank God, that I am so.  
Now the Words of the Text, are a Plain, Entire, Categorical Proposition; and therefore, I shall not go about to darken them, by any needless Explication, but shall immediately cast the Prosecution of them, under these Three following Particulars. As, 

1st. I shall inquire into the Nature of a Lie, and the proper essential Malignity of all Falsehood.  
2dly. I shall show the pernicious Effects of it. And,  
3dly. And lastly: I shall lay before you the Rewards, and Punishments, that will certainly attend, or, at least, follow it.    
Every one of which, I suppose, and, much more, all of them together, will afford Arguments, more than sufficient, to prove (though it were no Part of Holy Scripture) that Lying Lips are an Abomination to the Lord.  
And first for the first of these.  
1. What a Lie is, and wherein the Nature of it does consist. A Lie is properly, an outward signification of something contrary to, or at least, beside the Inward Sense of the Mind; so that when One thing is signified, or expressed, and the same thing not meant, or intended, that is properly a Lye.  
And forasmuch as God has endued Man with a Power, or Faculty, to institute, or appoint Signs of his Thoughts; and that, by virtue hereof, he can appoint, not only Words, but also Things, Actions, and Gestures, to be signs of the inward thoughts and conceptions of his Mind, it is evident, that he may as really Lie, and Deceive by Actions, and Gestures, as he can by Words; for as much as, in the Nature of them, they are as capable of being made Signs; and consequently, of being as much abused, and misapplied, as the Other: Though, for Distinction Sake, a Deceiving by Words, is commonly called a Lie, and a Deceiving by Actions, Gestures, or Behaviour, is called Simulation, or Hypocrisy.  
The Nature of a Lie, therefore, consists in this, That it is, a false Signification knowingly, and voluntarily used; in which the Sign expressing is no ways agreeing with the Thought, or Conception of the Mind pretended to be thereby expressed. For, Words signify not immediately, and primely, Things themselves, but the Conceptions of the Mind, concerning things; and therefore, if there be an Agreement between our Words, and our Thoughts, we do not speak falsely, though, it sometimes so falls out, that our Words agree not with the Things themselves: Upon which Account, though in so speaking, we offend indeed against Truth; yet we offend not properly by Falsehood, which is a speaking against our Thoughts; but by Rashness, which is an Affirming, or Denying, before we have sufficiently informed ourselves of the Real and True Estate of those Things, whereof we affirm, or deny.  
And thus having shown, What a Lie is, and wherein it does consist, the next Consideration is, of the Lawfulness, or Unlawfulness of it. And in this, we have but too sad, and scandalous an Instance, both of the Corruption, and Weakness of Man's Reason, and of the strange Bias, that it still receives from Interest, that such a Case as this, both with Philosophers, and Divines, Heathens, and Christians, should be held disputable.  
Plato accounted it lawful for Statesmen, and Governors; and so did Cicero, and Plutarch; and the Stoics, (as some say) reckoned it amongst the Arts, and Perfections of a Wiseman, to lie dextrously, in due Time, and Place. And for some of the Ancient Doctors of the Christian Church; such as Origen, Clemens Alexandrinus, Tertullian, Lactantius, and Chrysostom; and generally, all before St. Austin, several Passages have fallen from them, that speak but too favourably of this ill Thing. So that Paul Layman, a Romish Casuist, says, That it is a Truth, but lately known, and received in the World, That a Lie is absolutely sinful, and unlawful: I suppose, he means, that part of the World, where the Scriptures are not read, and where Men care not to know, what they are not willing to practise.  
But then, for the Mitigation of what has proceeded from these great Men, we must take in that Known, and Celebrated Division of a Lie into those Three several Kind's of it. As, 

1st. The Pernicious Lie, uttered for the Hurt, or Disadvantage of our Neighbour.  
2dly. The Officious Lie, uttered for our Own, or our Neighbour's Advantage: And,  
3dly, and lastly. The Ludicrous and Iocose Lie, uttered by way of Jest, and only for Mirth's Sake, in common Converse. Now, for the first of these, which is the Pernicious Lie; it was, and is, Universally condemned by all; but the other Two have found some Patronage from the Writings of those forementioned Authors. The Reason of which seems to be, that those Persons did not estimate the Lawfulness, or Unlawfulness of a Lie, from the intrinsic Nature of the Thing itself, but either from those External Effects that it produced, or from those Ends to which it was directed; which accordingly as they proved, either Helpful, or Hurtful, Innocent, or Offensive, so the Lie was reputed, either Lawful, or Unlawful. And therefore, since a Man was helped by an Officious Lie, and not Hurt by a Iocose, both of thief came to be esteemed Lawful, and in some Cases, Laudable.    
But the Schoolmen, and Casuists, having too much Philosophy to go about to clear a Lie from that intrinsic Inordination, and Deviation from right Reason inherent in the Nature of it, and yet withal unwilling to rob the World, and themselves especially, of so sweet a Morsel of Liberty, held that a Lie was indeed absolutely, and universally Sinful; but then they held also, that only the Pernicious Lie, was a Mortal Sin, and the other Two were only Venial. It can be no part of my Business here, to overthrow this Distinction, and to show the Nullity of it: Which has been solidly, and sufficiently done by most of our Polemic Writers of the Protestant Church. But, at present, I shall only take this their Concession, That every Lie is sinful, and, consequently, unlawful; and if it be a Sin, I shall suppose it already proved to my hands, to be, what all Sin essentially is, and must be, Mortal. So that, thus far have we gone, and this Point have we gained, That it is absolutely, and universally unlawful to lie, or to falsify.  
Let us now, in the next Place, inquire from whence this Unlawfulness springs, and upon what it is grounded, To which, I answer: That upon the Principles of Natural Reason, the Unlawfulness of Lying is grounded upon this, That a Lie is properly a Sort, or Species of Injustice, and a Violation of the Right of that Person, to whom the false Speech is directed: For all speaking, or signification of Ones Mind, implies, in the Nature of it, an Act, or Address of one Man to another: It being evident, that no Man, though he does speak false, can be said to lie to himself.  
Now to show, what this Right is, We must know, that in the beginnings, and first Establishments of Speech, there was an implicit Compact amongst Men, founded upon common Use and Consent, that such and such Words, or Voices, Actions, or Gestures, should be Means, or Signs, whereby they would Express, or Convey their Thoughts one to another; and That Men should be obliged to use them for that Purpose; for as much as, without such an Obligation, those Signs could not be Effectual for such an End. From which Compact there arising an Obligation upon every One, so to convey his Meaning, there accrues also a Right to every One, by the same Signs to judge of the Sense or Meaning of the Person so obliged to express himself: And consequently, if these Signs are applied and used by him so, as not to signify his Meaning, the Right of the Person, to whom he was obliged so to have done, is hereby violated and the Man by being deceived, and kept ignorant of his Neighbour's Meaning, where he ought to have known it, is so far deprived of the Benefit of any Intercourse, or Converse with him.  
From hence therefore we see, that the Original Reason of the Unlawfulness of Lying, or Deceiving, is, That it carries with it an Act of Injustice, and a Violation of the Right of him, to whom we were obliged to signify or impart our Minds.  
But then, we must observe also (which I noted at first) That, as it is in Man's Power to institute, not only Words, but also Things, Actions, or Gestures, to be the Means whereby he would signify, and express his Mind; so on the otherside, those Voices, Actions, or Gestures, which Men have not by any Compact agreed to make the Instruments of conveying their Thoughts one to another, are not the proper Instruments of Deceiving, so as to denominate the Person using them, a Liar, or Deceiver, though the Person, to whom they are addressed, takes occasion from thence, to form in his Mind, a false Apprehension, or Belief of the Thoughts of those, who use such Voices, Actions, or Gestures towards him. I say, in this Case, the Person using these Things cannot be said to Deceive; since all Deception is a Misapplying of those Signs, which by Compact or Institution, were made the Means of Men's signifying, or conveying their Thoughts; But here, a Man only does those Things, from which another takes occasion to deceive himself. Which one Consideration, will solve most of those Difficulties, that are usually started on this Subject.  
But yet, this I do, and must grant, that though it be not against strict justice, or Truth, for a man to do those things, which he might, otherwise, Lawfully do, albeit his Neighbour does take Occasion from thence to conceive in his mind a false Belief, and so to deceive himself; yet Christian Charity will, in many Cases, restrain a Man here too, and prohibit him to use his own Right and Liberty, where it may turn considerably to his Neighbour's Prejudice. For, herein is the Excellency of Charity seen, that the Charitable man not only does no Evil himself, but that, to the utmost of his Power, he also hinders any Evil from being done even by Another.  
And, as we have shown, and proved, that Lying and Deceiving, stand condemned upon the Principles of Natural Justice, and the Eternal Law of Right Reason; so are the same much more condemned, and that with the Sanction of the highest Penalties, by the Law of Christianity, which is eminently, and transcendently called the Truth, and the Word of Truth; and in nothing more surpasses all the Doctrines, and Religions in the World, than in this, That it enjoins the Clearest, the Openest, and the Sincerest Dealing, both in Words, and Actions; and is the rigidest Exacter of Truth, in all our Behaviour, of any other Doctrine, or Institution whatsoever.  
And thus much for the First general Thing proposed, which was to inquire into the Nature of a Lie, and the proper, essential Malignity of all Falsehood. I proceed now to the  
Second, Which is to show the Pernicious Effects of it. Some of the Chief, and the most remarkable of which are these that follow: As,  
First of all, It was this that introduced Sin into the World. For, how came our first Parents to sin, and to lose their Primitive Innocence? Why, they were deceived; and by the Subtlety of the Devil brought to believe a Lye. And indeed, Deceit is of the very Essence and Nature of Sin; there being no sinful Action, but there is a Lie wrapped up in the Bowels of it. For, Sin prevails upon the Soul by representing that as suitable, and desirable, that really is not so. And no man is ever induced to Sin, but by a Persuasion, that he shall find some Good, and Happiness in it, which he had not before. The wages, that Sin bargains with the Sinner, to serve it for, are Life, Pleasure, and Profit; but the Wages it pays him with, are Death, Torment, and Destruction. He that would understand the Falsehood, and Deceit of Sin throughly, must compare its Promises, and its Payments together.  
And, as the Devil first brought Sin into the World by a Lie, (being equally the base Original of both,) so he still propagates and promotes it by the same. The Devil reigns over none but those whom he first deceives. Geographers and Historians dividing the Habitable World into Thirty parts, give us this account of them: That but five of those Thirty are Christian; and, for the rest, Six of them are jew and Mahometan, and the remaining nineteen perfectly Heathen: All which he holds and governs by possessing them with a Lie, and bewitching them with a false Religion. Like the Moon and the Stars, he rules by night, and his Kingdom, even in this World, is perfectly a Kingdom of Darkness. And, therefore our Saviour, who came to dethrone the Devil, and to destroy Sin, did it by being the Light of the World, and by bearing Witness to the Truth. For so far as Truth gets ground in the World, so far Sin loses it. Christ saves the World, by undeceiving it; and sanctifies the Will, by first enlightening the Understanding.  
2dly. A Second Effect of Lying and Falsehood, is all that Misery and Calamity that befalls Mankind: For the Proof of which, we need go no further, than the former Consideration. For Sorrow being the natural and direct Effect of Sin, that which first brought Sin into the World, must by necessary Consequence bring in Sorrow too. Shame and Pain, Poverty and Sickness; yea, Death and Hell itself, are, all of them, but the Trophies of those fatal Conquests, got by that Grand Impostor, the Devil, over the deluded Sons of men. And hardly can any Example be produced of a man in extreme Misery, who was not, one way or other, first deceived into it. For, have not the greatest Slaughters of Armies been effected by Stratagem? And, have not the fairest Estates been destroyed by Surety-ship? in both of which there is a Fallacy; and the Man is overreached, before he is overthrown.  
What betrayed and delivered the Poor, old Prophet into the Lion's mouth, 1 King. 13. but the mouth of a false Prophet, much the crueler, and more remorseless of the two? How came john hus, and Jerome of Prague, to be so cruelly, and basely used by the Council of Constance, those Ecclesiastical Commissioners of the Court of Rome? Why, they promised those Innocent men asafe Conduct; who thereupon took them at their Word, and accordingly were burnt alive, for trusting a Pack of perfidious Wretches, who regarded their own Word as little, as they did God's 
* Of which last, see an Instance in the 13 Session of this Council. In which it Decrees, with a non obstante to Christ's express Institution of the Blessed Eucharist in both Kind's, That the contrary Custom and Practice of receiving it, only in one Kind, aught to be accounted and observed as a Law: and that, if the Priest should Administer it otherwise, he was to be Excommunicated. .  
And how came so many Bonfires to be made in Queen Mary's days? Why, she had abused and deceived her People with Lies; promising them the free Exercise of their Religion, before she got into the Throne, and when she was once in, she performed her Promise to them at the Stake. And, I know no Security we had from seeing the same again in Our days, but One or two Proclamations forbidding Bonfires. Some sort of Promises are edged Tools, and it is dangerous laying hold on them.  
But to pass from hence to Fanatic Treachery; That is, from one Twin to the Other, How came such multitudes of our own Nation, at the beginning of that monstrous (but still Surviving and Successful) Rebellion, in the Year 1641. to be spunged of their Plate and Money, their Rings and Jewels, for the carrying on of the Schismatical, Dissenting, King-killing Cause? Why, next to their own Love of being Cheated, it was the Public, or rather Prostitute, Faith, of a Company of faithless Miscreants that drew them in, and deceived them. And, how came so many thousands to fight, and die in the same Rebellion? Why, they were deceived into it, by those spiritual Trumpeters, who followed them with continual Alarms of Damnation, if they did not venture Life, Fortune, and All, in that which Wickedly and Devilishly, those Impostors called the Cause of God. So that I myself have heard 
* Colonel Axtell.  One say, (whose Quarters have since hung about that City, where he had been first deceived) that he, with many more, went to that execrable War with such a controlling Horror upon their Spirits, from those 
* He particularly mentioned those of Brooks and Calamy.  Sermons, that they verily believed they should have been accursed by God for ever, if they had not Acted their part in that dismal Tragedy, and heartily done the Devil's work, being so Effectually called, and commanded to it in God's Name.  
Infinite would it be to pursue all Instances of this Nature: But, consider those grand Agents, and Lieutenants of the Devil, by whom he scourges, and plagues the World under him, to wit, Tyrants; and, was there ever any Tyrant, since the Creation, who was not also false and perfidious? Do not the Bloody, and the Deceitful Man, still go hand in hand together, in the Language of the Scripture? Psal. 55.23. Was ever any People more cruel, and withal more false than the Carthaginians? And had not the Hypocritical Contrivers, of the Murder of that Blessed Martyr King Charles the First, their Masks and Vizards, as well as his Executioners?  
No man, that designs to rob Another of his Estate, or Life, will be so impudent, or ignorant, as, in plain Terms, to tell him so. But, if it be his Estate, that he drives at, he will dazzle his Eyes, and bait him in with the luscious Proposal of some gainful Purchase, some rich Match, or advantageous Project; till the easy Man is caught, and hampered; and so, partly by Lies, and partly by Lawsuits together, comes at length to be stripped of all, and brought to a Piece of Bread, when he can get it. Or, if it be a Man's Life, that the Malice of his Enemy seeks after, he will not presently clap his Pistol to his Breast, or his Knife to his Throat; but, will rather take Absalon for his Pattern, who invited his dear Brother to a Feast, hugged and embraced, courted and caressed him, till he had well dosed his weak Head with Wine, and his foolish Heart with Confidence, and Credulity; and then, in he brings him an old Reckoning, and makes him pay it off with his Blood. Or, perhaps, the Cutthroat may rather take his Copy from the Parisian Massacre; One of the horridest Instances of barbarous Inhumanity, that ever the World saw, but ushered in with all the Pretences of Amity, and the Festival Treats of a Reconciling Marriage, a new and excellent Way (no doubt) of proving Matrimony, a Sacrament. But, such Butchers know, what they have to do. They must soothe and allure, before they strike; and, the Ox must be fed, before he is brought to the Slaughter; and the same Course must be taken with some Sort of Asses too.  
In a word, I verily believe, that no sad Disaster, ever yet befell any Person, or People, nor any Villainy, or flagitious Action was ever yet committed, but upon a due Enquiry into the Causes of it, it will be found, that a Lie, was first, or last, the principal Engine to effect it: And that, whether Pride, Lust, or Cruelty, brought it forth, it was Falshood, that begot it; This gave it being, whatsoever other Vice might give it Birth.  
3dly. As we have seen how much Lying, and Falsehood disturbs; so, in the next Place, we shall see also, how it tends utterly to dissolve Society. There is no doubt, but all the Safety, Happiness, and Convenience, that Men enjoy in this Life, is from the Combination of particular Persons, into Societies, or Corporations: The Cause of which, is Compact; and, the Band, that knits together, and supports all Compacts, is Truth, and Faithfulness. So that, the Soul and Spirit, that animates, and keeps up Society, is, mutual Trust, and the Foundation of Trust, is Truth, either known, or at least supposed in the Persons, so trusted.  
But now, where Fraud, and Falsehood, like a Plague, or Canker, comes once to invade Society, the Band, which held together the Parts compounding it, presently breaks; and Men are thereby put to a Loss, where to league, and to fasten their Dependences; and so are forced to scatter, and shift every one for himself. Upon which Account, every notoriously false Person, aught to be looked upon, and detested, as a Public Enemy, and to be pursued as a Wolf, or a mad Dog, and a Disturber of the Common Peace, and Welfare of Mankind. There being no particular Person whatsoever, but has his private Interest concerned, and endangered, in the Mischief, that such a Wretch does to the Public.  
For, look into great Families, and you shall find some one false, paltry Tale-bearer, who, by carrying Stories, from One to Another, shall inflame the Minds, and discompose the Quiet of the whole Family. And, from Families pass to Towns, or Cities; and Two, or Three, Pragmatical, Intriguing, Meddling Fellows, (Men of Business, some call them) by the Venom of their false Tongues, shall set the whole Neighbourhood together by the Ears. Where Men practise Falsehood, and show Tricks with one another, there will be perpetual Suspicions, evil Surmising, Doubts, and Jealousies, which, by souring the Minds of Men, are the Bane, and Pest of Society. For, still Society is built upon Trust, and Trust, upon the Confidence, that Men have of one another's Integrity.  
And, this is so evident, that, without Trusting, there could not only, be no Happiness, but indeed, no living in this World. For, in those very things, that Minister to the daily Necessities of common Life, how can any one be assured, that the very meat and drink, that he is to take into his Body, and the clothes he is to put on, are not Poisoned, and made unwholesome for him, before ever they are brought to him. Nay, in some places, (with Horror be it spoke) how can a Man be secure in taking the very Sacrament itself? For, there have been those, who have found something in this Spiritual Food, that has proved very fatal to their Bodies, and more than prepared them for another World. I say, how can any One warrant himself in the use of these things, against such Suspicions, but in the Trust he has in the common Honesty, and Truth of men in general, which ought and uses to keep them from such Villainies? Nevertheless, know this certainly before hand he cannot, forasmuch as such things have been done, and, consequently may be done again. And therefore, as for any Infallible assurance to the contrary, he can have none; but, in the great Concerns of Life and Health, every Man must be forced to proceed upon Trust, there being no knowing the Intention of the Cook or Baker, any more than of the Priest himself. And yet, if a Man should forbear his Food, or Raiment, or most of his Business in the World, till he had Science and Certainty of the Safeness of what he was going about, he must starve and die Disputing; for there is neither Eating, nor Drinking, nor Living by Demonstration.  
Now, this shows the high Malignity of Fraud and Falsehood, that, in the direct and natural Course of it, tends to the Destruction of common Life, by destroying that Trust, and mutual Confidence, that Men should have in one another; by which the common Intercourse of the World must be carried on, and, without which, Men must first Distrust, and then Divide, Separate and stand upon their Guard, with their Hand against every One, and every one's Hand against them.  
The Felicity of Societies, and Bodies Politic, consists in this, That all Relations in them do regularly Discharge their respective Duties and Offices. Such as are the Relation between Prince and Subject, Master and Servant, a Man and his Friend, Husband and Wife, Parent and Child, Buyer and Seller, and the like. But now, where Fraud and Falshood take place, there is not one of all these, that is not perverted, and, that does not, from an help of Society, directly become an hindrance. For first, it turns all above us into Tyranny, and Barbarity; and all of the same Region, and Levelly with us, into Discord and Confusion. It is This alone that poisons that Sovereign, and Divine Thing, called Friendship; so that, when a Man thinks, that he leans upon a Breast as loving, and true to him, as his own, he finds that he relies upon a broken Reed, that not only basely fails, but also cruelly pierces the Hand, that rests upon it. It is from this, that, when a Man thinks he has a Servant, or Dependant, an Instrument of his Affairs, and a Defence of his Person, he finds a Traitor, and a judas, an Enemy that eats his Bread, and lies under his Roof, and perhaps readier to do him a Mischief, and a shrewd Turn, than an open and professed Adversary. And lastly, from this Deceit, and Falsehood it is, that when a Man thinks himself matched to One, who by the Laws of God, and Nature, should be a Comfort to him in all Conditions, a Consort of his Cares, and a Companion in all his Concerns, instead thereof, he finds in his Bosom, a Beast, a Serpent, and a Devil.  
In a word: He that has to do with a Liar, knows not where he is, nor what he does, nor with whom he deals. He walks upon Bogs, and Whirlpools; wheresoever he treads, he sinks, and converses with a Bottomless Pit, where it is impossible for him to fix, or to be at any Certainty. In fine; He catches at an Apple of Sodom, which though it may entertain his Eye, with a florid, jolly, white and red; yet, upon the Touch, it shall fill his Hand only with stench and foulness: Fair in Look, and rotten at Heart; as the gayest, and most taking Things, and Persons in the World, generally are.  
Fourthly, and Lastly: Deceit and Falsehood do, of all other ill Qualities, most peculiarly indispose the Hearts of Men, to the Impressions of Religion. For these are Sins perfectly spiritual, and so prepossess the proper Seat, and Place of Religion, which is the Soul, or Spirit: And, when that is once filled, and taken up with a Lie, there will hardly be Admission, or Room for Truth. Christianity is known in Scripture by no Name so significantly, as by the Simplicity of the Gospel.  
And if so, Does it not look like the greatest Paradox, and Prodigy in Nature, for any one to pretend it lawful, to equivocate, or lie for it? To face God, and Outface Man, with the Sacrament, and a Lie in ones Mouth together? Can a good Intention, or rather a very wicked one, so miscalled, sanctify and transform Perjury, and Hypocrisy, into Merit and Perfection? Or, can there be a greater Blot cast upon any Church, or Religion (whatsoever it be) than by such a Practice? For, will not the World be induced to look upon my Religion, as a Lie, if I allow myself to lie for my Religion?  
The very Life, and Soul of all Religion, is Sincerity. And therefore the good ground; in which alone, The Immortal Seed of the Word, sprang up to Perfection, is said, in St. Luke 8.15. to have been those, That received it into an honest Heart, that is, a Plain, Clear, and Well-meaning Heart; an Heart not doubled, nor cast into the various Folds, and Windings of a dodging, shifting Hypocrisy. For, the Truth is, the more spiritual and refined any Sin is, the more hardly is the Soul cured of it; because, the more difficultly convinced. And, in all our spiritual Maladies, Conviction must still begin the Cure.  
Such Sins, indeed, as are acted by the Body, do quickly show, and proclaim themselves; and, it is no such hard matter to convince, or run down a Drunkard, or an unclean Person, and to stop their Mouths, and to answer any Pretences, that they can allege for their Sin. But, Deceit is such a Sin, as a Pharisee may be guilty of, and yet, stand fair for the Reputation of Zeal, and Strictness, and a more than Ordinary Exactness in Religion. And, though some have been apt to account none sinful, or vicious, but such as wallow in the Mire, and Dirt of gross Sensuality; yet, no doubt, Deceit, Falsehood and Hypocrisy, are more directly contrary to the very Essence, and Design of Religion, and carry in them more of the express Image, and Superscription of the Devil, than any bodily Sins whatsoever. How did that false, fasting, imperious, self-admiring, or rather, self-adoring, Hypocrite, in St. Luke 18.11. Crow and Insult over the poor Publican! God, I thank thee, says he, that I am not like other Men; and God forbid (say I) that there should be many others like him, for a glistering Outside, and a noisome Inside, for Tything Mint and Cummin; and for devouring Widows Houses; that is, for taking ten Parts from his Neighbour, and putting God off with One. After all which, had this Man of Merit, and Mortification, been called to Account for his Ungodly swallow, in gorging down the Estates of helpless Widows, and Orphans, it is odds, but he would have told you, that it was all for Charitable Uses, and to afford Pensions for Spies, 
☞  and Proselytes. It being no ordinary Piece of spiritual good Husbandry, to be Charitable at other Men's Cost.  
But, such Sons of Abraham, how highly soever they may have the Luck to be thought of, are far from being Israelites indeed; for the Character that our Saviour gives us of such, in the Person of Nathanael, in john 1.47. is, That they are without Guile. To be so, I confess, is generally reckoned (of late Times especially) a poor, mean, sneaking Thing, and the contrary reputed Wit, and Parts, and Fitness for Business (as the Word is:) Though I doubt not, but it will be one Day found, that only Honesty, and Integrity can fit a Man for the main Business, that he was sent into the World for; and that he certainly is the greatest Wit, who is wise to Salvation.  
And thus much for the Second General Thing proposed, which was, to show the pernicious Effects of Lying, and Falsehood. Come we now to the  
Third and Last; which is, to lay before you the Rewards, or Punishments, that will assuredly attend; or, at least, follow this base Practice.  
I shall mention Three: As,  
1. An utter Loss of all Credit, and Belief with sober and discreet Persons; and, consequently, of all Capacity of being useful in the Prime, and Noblest Concerns of Life. For, there cannot be imagined in Nature, a more forlorn, useless, and contemptible Tool, or more unfit for any thing, than a discovered Cheat. And, let Men rest assured of this, That there will be always some as able to discover, and find out deceitful Tricks, as others can be to contrive them. For, God forbid, that all the Wit, and Cunning of the World, should still run on the Deceiver's side; and, when such little Shifts, and shuffling Arts, come once to be ripped up, and laid open, how poorly and wretchedly must that Man needs sneak, who finds himself both guilty and baffled too! A Knave without Luck, is certainly the worst Trade in the World. But, Truth makes the Face of that Person shine, who speaks and owns it: While a Lie is like a Vizard, that may cover the Face, indeed, but can never become it; nor yet does it cover it so, but that it leaves it open enough for Shame. It brands a Man with a lasting, indelible Character of Ignominy and Reproach, and that indeed, so foul and odious, that those usurping Hectors, who pretend to Honour without Religion, think the Charge of a Lie, a Blot upon them not to be washed out, but by the Blood of him that gives it.  
For what Place can that Man fill in a Commonwealth, whom no Body will either believe or employ? And no Man can be considerable in himself, who has not made himself useful to others: Nor can any Man be so, who is uncapable of a Trust. He is neither fit for Counsel, or Friendship, for Service, or Command, to be in Office, or in Honour; but like Salt that has lost its Savour, fit only to rot, and perish upon a Dunghill.  
For no man can rely upon such an One, either with safety to his Affairs, or without a slur to his Reputation; since He that trusts a Knave, has no other Recompense, but to be accounted a Fool for his Pains. And if he trusts himself into Ruin and Beggary, he falls unpitied, a Sacrifice to his own Folly, and Credulity; for He that suffers himself to be imposed upon, by a known Deceiver, goes partner in the Cheat, and deceives himself. He is despised, and laughed at as a soft, and easy Person, and as unfit to be relied upon for his Weakness, as the other can be for his Falseness.  
It is really a great Misery not to know whom to Trust, but a much greater to behave one's self so, as not to be Trusted. But this is the Lyar's Lot: He is accounted a Pest, and a Nuisance: A Person marked out for Infamy and Scorn; and abandoned by all Men of Sense, and Worth, and such as will not abandon themselves.  
2dly. The second Reward, or Punishment, that attends the lying, and deceitful Person, is the Hatred of all those, whom he either has, or would have, Deceived. I do not say, that a Christian can lawfully hate any One; and yet I affirm, That some may very worthily deserve to be hated; and of all men living, who may, or do, the Deceiver certainly deserves it most. To which I shall add this one Remark further; That though Men's Persons ought not to be hated, yet without all Peradventure, their Practices justly may, and particularly that detestable One, which we are now speaking of.  
For whosoever deceives a Man, does not only do all that he can to ruin him, but which is yet worse, to make him ruin himself; and by causing an Error in the great Guide of all his Actions, his judgement, to cause an Error in his Choice too; the Misguidance of which, must naturally engage him in those Courses, that directly tend to his Destruction. Loss of Sight is the Misery of Life, and usually the Forerunner of Death; when the Malefactor comes once to be muffled, and the fatal Cloth drawn over his Eyes, we know, that he is not far from his Execution.  
And this is so true, That whosoever sees a Man, who would have beguiled, and imposed upon him, by making him believe a Lie, he may truly say of that Person, That's the Man who would have ruined me, who would have stripped me of the Dignity of my Nature, and put out the Eyes of my Reason, to make himself sport with my Calamity, my Folly, and my Dishonour. For so the Philistines used Samson, and every Man in this sad Case, has enough of Samson to be his own Executioner. Accordingly, if ever it comes to this, That a man can say of his Confident, He would have deceived me, he has said enough to annihilate, and abolish all Pretences of Friendship. And it is really an intolerable Impudence, for any one to offer at the Name of Friend, after such an Attempt. For can there be any thing of Friendship, in Snares, Hooks, and Trapans? And therefore, whosoever breaks with his Friend upon such Terms, has enough to warrant him, in so doing, both before God, and Man; and that without incurring, either the Gild of Unfaithfulness, before the One, or the Blemish of Inconstancy, before the Other. For this is not properly to break with a Friend, but to discover an Enemy, and timely to shake the Viper off from one's Hand.  
What says the most wise Author of that Excellent Book of Ecclesiasticus, Ecclus. 22.21, 22? Though thou drewest a Sword at thy Friend, yet despair not, for there may be a Returning to Favour. If thou hast opened thy Mouth against thy Friend, fear not, for there may be a Reconciliation. That is, an hasty Word, or an indiscreet Action, does not presently dissolve the Bond, or root out a well-setled Habit, but that Friendship may be still sound at Heart; and so outgrow, and wear off these little Distempers. But what follows? Except for Upbraiding, or Disclosing of Secrets, or a Treacherous Wound (mark that) For, for these things (says he) every Friend will depart; and surely, it is high Time for him to go, when such a Devil drives him away. Passion, Anger, and Unkindness, may give a Wound, that shall bleed, and smart, but it is Treachery only that makes it fester.  
And the Reason of the Difference is manifest; for hasty Words, or Blows, may be only the Effects of a sudden Passion, during which, a Man is not perfectly himself: But no man goes about to deceive, or ensnare, or circumvent another in a Passion; to lay Trains, and set Traps, and give secret Blows in a present Huff. No; this is always done with Forecast, and Design; with a steady Aiming, and a long projecting Malice, assisted with all the Skill, and Art of an expert, and well managed Hypocrisy; and, perhaps, not without the Pharisaical feigned Guise of something like Self-denial and Mortification; which are Things, in which the whole Man, and the whole Devil too, are employed; and all the Powers, and Faculties of the Mind are exerted, and made use of.  
But for all these Masks, and Vizards, nothing certainly can be thought of, or imagined more base, unhuman, or diabolical, than for one to abuse the generous Confidence, and hearty Freedom of his Friend, and to undermine and ruin him in those very Concerns, which nothing but too great a Respect to, and too good an Opinion of the Traitor, made the poor man deposit in his hollow and fallacious Breast. Such an one, perhaps, thinks to find some support, and shelter in my Friendship, and I take that Opportunity to betray him to his mortal Enemies. He comes to me for Counsel, and I show him a Trick. He opens his Bosom to me, and I stab him to the Heart.  
These are the Practices of the World we live in; especially since the Year sixty, the grand Epoch of Falshood, as well as Debauchery. But God, who is the great Guaranty for the Peace, Order, and good Behaviour of Mankind, where Laws cannot secure it, may some time or other, think it the Concern of his Justice, and Providence too, to revenge the Affronts put upon them, by such impudent Defyers of Both, as neither believe a God, nor aught to be believed by Man.  
In the mean Time, let such perfidious Wretches know, that though they believe a Devil no more than they do a God, yet in all this Scene of refined Treachery, they are really doing the Devil's Journeywork, who was a Liar, and a Murderer from the beginning, and therefore a Liar, that he might be a Murderer: And the Truth is, such an one does all towards his Brother's Ruin, that the Devil himself could do. For the Devil can but Tempt and Deceive, and if he cannot destroy a Man that way, his Power is at an End.  
But I cannot dismiss this Head without one further Note, as very material in the Case now before us. Namely, That since this false, wily, doubling Disposition of mind, is so intolerably mischievous to Society, God is sometimes pleased, in mere Pity, and Compassion to Men, to give them warning of it, by setting some odd Mark upon such cain's. So that, if a Man will be but so true to himself, as to observe such Persons exactly, he shall generally spy such false Lines, and such a Sly, Treacherous Fleer upon their Face, that he shall be sure to have a Cast of their Eye to warn him, before they give him a Cast of their Nature to betray him. And in such Cases, a Man may see more, and better by another's Eye, than he can by his own.  
Let this therefore be the second Reward of the Lying, and Deceitful Person, That he is the Object of a just Hatred and Abhorrence. For as the Devil, is both a Liar himself, and the Father of Liars, so I think, that the same Cause that has drawn the Hatred of God and Man upon the Father, may justly entail it upon his Offspring too; and it is pity, that such an Entail should ever be cut off. But,  
Thirdly and Lastly: The last, and utmost Reward, that shall infallibly reach the Fraudulent and Deceitful, (as it will all other obstinate and impenitent Sinners) is a Final and Eternal Separation from God, who is Truth itself, and with whom no shadow of Falsehood can dwell. He that telleth Lies (says David, in Psalm 101.7.) shall not tarry in my Sight; and, if not in the Sight of a poor Mortal man, (who could sometimes lie himself) how much less in the Presence of the Infinite, and All-knowing God? A Wise, and Good Prince, or Governor, will not vouchsafe a Liar the Countenance of his Eye, and much less the Privilege of his Ear. The Spirit of God seems to write this upon the very Gates of Heaven, and to state the Condition of Men's Entrance into Glory, chiefly upon their Veracity. In Psalm 15.1. Who shall ascend into thy Holy Hill? (says the Psalmist.) To which it is answered in vers. 2. He that worketh Righteousness, and that speaketh the Truth from his Heart.  
And, on the other side, how Emphatically is Hell described in the Two last Chapters of the Revelation; by being the great Receptacle and Mansion-house of Liars; whom we shall find there ranged with the vilest, and most detestable of all Sinners, appointed to have their Portion in that Horrid place, Revel. 21.8. The Unbelieving, and the Abominable, and Murderers, and Whoremongers, and Sorcerers, and Idolaters, and all Liars, shall have their part in the Lake, which burns with Fire and Brimstone: And, in Revel. 22.15. Without are Dogs and Sorcerers, etc. and whosoever loveth, and maketh a Lye.  
Now, let those consider this, whose Tongue and Heart hold no Correspondence. Who look upon it as a Piece of Art, and Wisdom, and the Masterpiece of Conversation, to overreach and deceive, and make a Prey of a credulous and well-meaning Honesty. What do such Persons think? Are Dogs, Whoremongers, and Sorcerers; such desirable Company to take up with for ever? Will the Burning Lake be found so tolerable? Or, will there be any one to drop Refreshment upon the false Tongue, when it shall be tormented in those Flames? Or do they think that God is a Liar like themselves, and that no such Things shall ever come to pass; but that all these fiery threatenings shall vanish into Smoke, and this dreadful Sentence blow off without Execution? Few certainly can lie to their own Hearts so far, as to imagine this. But Hell is, and must be granted to be the Deceiver's Portion, not only by the Judgement of God, but of his own Conscience too. And, comparing the Malignity of his Sin, with the Nature of the Punishment allotted for him, all that can be said of a Liar lodged in the very Nethermost Hell, is this; That if the Vengeance of God could prepare any Place or Condition worse than Hell for Sinners, Hell itself would be too good for him.  
And now to sum up all, in short; I have shown, what a Lie is, and wherein the Nature of Falshood does consist; that it is a Thing absolutely, and intrinsically Evil; that it is an Act of Injustice, and a Violation of our Neighbour's Right.  
And that the Vileness of its Nature, is equalled by the Malignity of its Effects. It being this, That first brought Sin into the World, and is since the Cause of all those Miseries, and Calamities, that disturb it; and further, that it tends utterly to dissolve, and overthrow Society, which is the greatest Temporal Blessing, and Support of Mankind; and which is yet worst of all, that it has a strange, and particular Efficacy, above all other Sins, to indispose the Heart to Religion.  
And lastly, That it is as dreadful in its Punishments, as it has been pernicious in its Effects. For as much as it deprives a Man of all Credit, and Belief, and consequently of all Capacity of being useful in any Station, or Condition of Life whatsoever; and next, that it draws upon him the Just and Universal Hatred, and Abhorrence of all Men here; and finally, subjects him to the Wrath of God, and Eternal Damnation hereafter.  
And now, if none of all these Considerations can recommend, and endear Truth to the Words and Practices of Men, and work upon their Double Hearts, so far as to convince and make them sensible of the Baseness of the Sin, and Greatness of the Gild, that Fraud and Falshood leaves upon the Soul; Let them Lie and Cheat on, till they receive a fuller and more effectual Conviction of all these Things, in that Place of Torment and Confusion, prepared for the Devil and his Angels, and all his Lying Retinue, by the Decree and Sentence of that God, who, in his threatenings, as well as in his Promises, will be True to his Word, and cannot Lye.  To whom be rendered and ascribed, as is most due, all Praise, Might, Majesty, and Dominion, both now and for evermore. Amen. 
FINIS.   

BOOKS Newly printed for Tho. Bennet at the Half-Moon in St. Paul's Churchyard.  

AThenae Oxonienses: or, an Exact History of all the Writers and Bishops who have had their Education in the Ancient and Famous University of Oxford; from 1500, to the End of the Year 1690; Representing the Birth, Fortune, Preferments and Death of all those Authors and Prelates; the great Accidents of their Lives; the Fate and Character of their Writings: The Work being so complete, that no Writer of Note of this Nation, for near Two hundred years past, is omitted, fol. 2 Vol.  
Dr. Pocock on joel. (With the rest of his Commentaries)  
A Critical History of the Text and Versions of the New Testament; wherein is firmly Established the Truth of those Acts on which the Foundation of Christian Religion is laid: By Father Simon, of the Oratory. Together with a Refutation of such Passages as seem contrary to the Doctrine and Practice of the Church of England.  
Memoirs of the Court of France: by the late famous French Lady.  
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus the Roman Emperor: Translated out of Greek into English, with Notes: by Dr. Casaubon. To this Edition is added, the Life of the said Emperor: with an Account of Stoic Philosophy: As also Remarks on the Meditations: All newly written by the famous Monsieur and Madam Dacier.  
The Works of the Learned, or an Historical Account, and Impartial Judgement, of the Books newly Printed, both Foreign and Domestic; together with the State of Learning in the World. Published Monthly, by I de la Cross, a late Author of the Universal Bibliotheque. This first Volume beginning in August last, is completed this present April; with Indices to the whole.  
The Bishop of Chester's Charge to his Clergy at his Primary Visitation, May 5. 1691.  
Five Sermons before the King and Queen: by Dr. Meggot, Dean of Winchestor.  
Mr. Atterbury's Sermon before the Queen, May 29. 1692.