A PRESERVATIVE AGAINST DEISM. SHOWING The great Advantage of Revelation above Reason, in the Two Great Points, Pardon of Sin, and a Future State of Happiness.  
With an APPENDIX in Answer to a Letter of A.W. against Revealed Religion, in the Oracles of Reason.  
By NATHANAEL TAYLOR.  
LONDON: Printed for John Laurence at the Angel in the Poultry: And Tho. Cockerill at the Corner of Warwick-Lane, in Pater-Noster-Row. 1698.   


●V●IFUT●TIA ●●●IA. 1715. LEONATUS' D. ●. MA●. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 V.D.    

THE EPISTLE TO THE READER.  
THE Growth of Deism, §. I the Advancing of Reason by those who have no larger a Stock of it to set up withal than the rest of their Neighbours, and the Public Defiance which has been made to Revealed Religion in the general, should awaken us to set all hands on work to countermine the Common Enemy, who scorn to work any longer under the Covert and Shelter of the Night, but in the open Day endeavour to blow up the Foundations of our Faith. I have little Hopes of the Recovery of those who are so very far gone in Infidelity, that they have nothing of the Christian left them, but what is in one of their Names; However somewhat may and aught to be done, to preserve those who are not yet infected, and restore them who are not too deeply tainted.  
The Poison has been recommended to the World by the alluring Name of the Oracles of Reason; And there can be no doubt, unless it be, because of the Weakness and Folly of them, by whom, they who have vented them, were inspired: But the Devil cannot always speak through the Serpent; sometimes he must make use of a duller Animal, the best he can get. Thin Cobwebs indeed they are, which these venomous Creatures do wove; but yet they have been strong enough to hold some little Infects, corrupting first the Minds, and then the Manners, of them that are raw, unskilful, and unsettled. Too many Proselytes they have gotten, such as they are; And tho' some of them evidently do not understand the Infidel Cavils and Objections they have read; yet they will in Discourse be hammering at them, and repeat somewhat of them, like an Echo in an empty and a hollow Place, which reverberates the last Words that were spoken; tho' in such a broken imperfect manner, that there is no Sense to be made of them.  
'Tis true indeed, §. TWO serious Piety is the best Defence against these Hellish Doctrines. Wicked Men do greedily catch at every little Cavil against the Scriptures, because it is their Interest to have them run down; The Word of God is against them, and therefore they are against it: If the Bible be true, they must either forsake their Lusts, or be Eternally damned for them; and they cannot bear the Thoughts either of the one or the other. But a Pious Man is freed from this Snare and Temptation; and besides that, he has the Witness within himself; 
1 Joh. 5.10.  he need but consult the blessed Change that has been made by the Holy Scriptures, in order to his Establishment in Christianity. When the Jews reviled Christ as an Impostor, he who had been Blind, answered like one, the Eyes of whose Understanding were opened, as well as those of his Body: Why, 
Joh. 9.30.  herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine Eyes. 'Tis altogether Unaccountable for a Man to give way to Doubts and Fears, whether that Doctrine be from Heaven, which he finds has fitted his Soul for it.  
Many Good Mien indeed do unwarily suck in some untoward Principles, when a little gilded over, which in their Nature tend to ungodly Practices. But through the Weakness of their Heads they don't discern the Evil Nature, or Direct Tendency of them: and through the Honesty of their Hearts they do not follow whither they would naturally lead 'em. The Grace of God within serves instead of the Gift of Miracles: And what our Saviour promised his Disciples as an Extraordinary Favour in the Primitive Times, 
Mar. 16.8.  they shall take up Serpents; and if they drink any Deadly thing, it shall not hurt them, hath been in some measure daily verified in all succeeding Ages. The Excellency of their Constitution throws off the Poison they have heedlessly taken down; and tho' they receive some Mischief, yet the kill Influence of it is strangely prevented by that Sovereign Antidote which they have within 'em.  
And the same Good Principle produces a rooted Antipathy in them against Fundamental Errors and Damnable Heresies. All Creatures, Plants as well as Animals, have a natural Instinct, whereby they draw to them what is proper for their Preservation, Growth, and Nourishment; but avoid that which is destructive to them. The New Creature, the most Excellent of all, is not worse provided for, than every inferior Being. An enlightened Christian has a supernatural Instinct, which makes him turn aside from Damnable Errors, and unmovably retain the great Truths of the Gospel, with a mighty Relish and Savour. And this is that which holds the Generality of Christians close to, and keeps them fast in the Faith, when Deceivers do abound, more than mere dry Reason and Strength of Argument can possibly do. It cannot reasonably be supposed, that all Holy Men should be able to Answer all those Cavils, that may be started by subtle Heretics, or learned Infidels, against our Holy Religion; especially considering, there are not among them many Learned, many of the Disputers of this World: 
Luke 10.21.  But God hides these things from the Wise and Prudent, and reveals them unto Babes; even so, O Father, for so it seemeth good in thy Sight. They went out from us, 
1 John 2.19.  says the Apostle, but they were not of us: for if they had been of us, no doubt but they would have continued with us. But will sincere Christians follow them? No, that cannot be: For the Apostle adds, 
v. 20.  Ye have an Unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things; and the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie: And even as it hath taught you, Ver. 27 ye shall abide in him. And therefore Anointing and Establishing go both together, 
2 Cor. 1.11.  He that establisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God. And  
As the whole System of Divine Graces is an excellent Preservative, §. III so is that particular Grace of Humility in an eminent Manner. They who are humble (and he who knows himself, will be so) will never offer at setting up their own short Understandings as the Measure and Standard of Truth. There are Mysteries in Art, in Nature, in Philosophy, in Natural Religion; no wonder then there are so in Revealed Religion, and the Holy Scriptures. Two things there are, that make it necessary that there should be deep things in them, to us unsearchable and past our finding out. They treat of the Nature, Counsels, and Acts of God, which are laid down as the necessary Foundations of Practical Holiness; and We are poor  Creatures; as soon may a Man contain the whole Ocean in the Hollow of his Hand, as We comprehend an Infinite Being, and his Wise Counsels and Decrees. That there are Mysteries in Christianity, instead of being a Stone of Stumbling, and a Prejudice against our Faith, should rather be a Confirmation of it to us, and an Argument for it; it looks more like a Divine Revelation, when some Parts of it are very Profound and Abstruse. Revealed Religion, like a Picture, must have its dark Shades, as well as its brighter Colours. As to its Practical Part, it is, and aught to be, clear: But the Articles that are to be believed, must of necessity be Obscure; I should expect that the Foundation of so great a Building should be laid under Ground, and out of Sight. And a humble Person will quickly be convinced, that it is his Duty to bow down his Head before Divine Revelation, as well as submit his Will to the Divine Command; and that a Creature must yield Subjection to his Maker with his whole Man, and every Part thereof. But yet  
It is a good thing, §. IV that the Head be filled with Knowledge, that we may be able to give a Reasonable Answer to them who do ask an Account of our Faith and Hope. And in a time when the Road is full of Thiefs, whose Design it is to Rob and Murder us, no Man should Travel without a Sword by his Side; and every Man should get some skill to manage his Weapon, that he may at least defend himself, and that Sacred Treasure which is, or aught to be, dearer to him than his Life. I will therefore briefly mention some of those Rational Grounds, upon which our Assent to the Christian Doctrine ought to be built, and then it will remain firm and unshaken. They may be reduced to these two Heads; The Nature of Christianity; And the Divine Proof of it.  
I. For the Nature of Christianity, 'tis a Religion every way Worthy of God. For it gives us such an Account of the Nature and Will of God, as our Reason with great Toil possibly might have found out, and cannot but approve and close withal as soon as ever it is proposed to us. 'Tis a great Advantage to have this Food brought to our Hands, and not to be obliged to hunt after it; for that at the best would have cost us great Labour, and we might have miss of it. And these it acquaints us with, not to amuse and entertain us with subtle and useless Speculations, but as a necessary Foundation for the promoting and encouraging our living Righteously, Soberly, and Godly, in this present Evil World, which is the Apparent Design of the Gospel. And in requiring Godliness, as well as Righteousness and Sobriety, it does vastly exceed all the Instructions that we can learn from any of the Heathen Philosophers. They have indeed, the Second Table written in their Books pretty fairly, tho' not without some Blots and Erratas: But as for the First Table, they have but a few broken Letters of the Duties of it, and these too in a very small Character. The Gospel mightily insists upon, and presses the necessity of Loving God with our whole Hearts and Souls, of making his Glory our Chief End in all that we do: Doctrines that lie at the Foundation of Practical Holiness; which yet the Heathen Philosophers never mentioned, nor dreamed of: And one may as soon expect to find a Jewel by raking in a Dunghill, as to meet with any Passages of this Nature in any of their Writings.  
Again, 'tis a Religion every way suited to the State of Fallen Man: For it plainly acquaints us, That we are in a State of Apostasy, and how this came about. And it would greatly endear the Holy Scriptures to Men, if they did but Distinctly know what a perplexing Inquiry this has been among the greatest Wits, and the most learned Scholars, who have not had the Word of God for their Guide; 
* Stillingfleet's Orig. Sacrae, p. 491.  how Sin and Misery came to break into this World. Some attributed it to Discord and Antipathy, a certain quarrelsome, pernicious, bloody Principle, which they knew not what to make of; but this is to put us off with mere Words and Sounds. Others, to the necessary Perversity of Matter. Others; to some very malignant Spirit, that had slily wound itself into it. Others, to two Gods, a Good, and a Bad one: And tho' it is impossible that more Nonsense and Contradiction should be crowded together in the narrow Compass of so few Words, Two Gods, whereof one a wicked, spiteful, and malicious One: Yet Plutarch tells us, This was the most Ancient Opinion, and most Universally received among the Wisest of the Heathen. And 
† Oracles of Reason, p. 194.  one of these Heads of Brass, that pretends to utter Oracles of Reason, is of the same Mind: For, says he, as to the Origine of Good and Evil, methinks it is less Contradictory and Unreasonable, to believe as the Ancient Persians did, That there were TWO Beginnings of things, the one Good, the other Evil: For how can Evil proceed from a Being infinitely good, and without whom nothing is, if Evil be not? And if Dr. Burnet 
* Page 207.  have proved Genesis but a Parable, why may not the Persians be as much in the right, as the Jews? And yet another of his Brethren tells us 
† Page 197. , That this is the first Head of the Deists Natural Religion; That there is ONE Infinite, Eternal God, Creator of all things. And in another place, That the generally acknowledged Lapse of Nature, and how it came, may be discovered by Natural Reason; and it is reasonable to conclude without Revelation, that it came (not from a wicked God, but) by a Deviation from the right Rule of Reason implanted in us, etc. When two Deities butt and knock against each other, 'tis no wonder that these two Authors do the same. Only there is this unhappy Difference, that of the Two Gods, one is a very Good one, which makes some Amends for the other who is so very Bad. But both these Epistlers are of the same vile Stamp and Strain. Further, the Scripture gives us a distinct Account of the State of the Quarrel between God and us; what the Issue of it will be, if the Controversy be not taken up; and how we may be reconciled to him, whom we can never successfully oppose; tells us of a Mediator, altogether such a one as Fallen Man stands in Need of; what God requires of us, that through him we may escape that Wrath and Vengeance that is due to us for Sin; and what we shall receive from him in a way of Reward and Punishment, according as we comply with his Terms, or refuse so to do. And it very much presses the great Doctrine of Regeneration; a most Godlike Doctrine, every way worthy of God, and necessary for us because of the Corruption of Human Nature: And withal shows whither we should apply ourselves for Divine Grace, for the changing the habitual Frame of our Souls, and the amending of our Lives. So much for the Nature of Christianity.  
II. Now for the Proof of it. The Word began first to be spoken by the Lord, 
Heb. 2.  and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with Signs and Wonders, and with divers Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own Will. And he would never have set the Broad Seal of Heaven upon it, if it had been a Cheat, and an Imposture, and so have unavoidably led us into a most fatal Error.  
To this may be added, the wonderful Spreading of the Gospel; which is very Admirable, considering the Strictness of its Precepts; the Weakness of the Instruments by whom it was propagated; the strong Opposition that was made against it every where by Men in Authority, and those of the greatest Wit and Learning; the general Prejudices with which the Minds of Men were filled against it; and its overturning all other Religions wherein Men had been Bred and Born; and which therefore they use to be very tenacious of. If it had been a Lie, it would never have been so blessed and prospered of God.  
Consider further, what a wonderful Reformation it wrought in the Hearts and Lives of all that entertained it. Surely that Seal could be no Forgery, but must be cut by a Divine Hand, which made so many Divine Impressions upon such Multitudes of Souls.  
To all which may further be added, The Case of the Jews, who, tho' scattered all the World over; yet, contrary to all other Instances in Nature, do not mingle and incorporate with any People, but keep themselves as a Body distinct from all the Nations among whom they dwell. And they are the Filth and Off-scouring of every Place, even among the Heathens, as well as the Christians. The very Mahometans despise them: The Indians 
* Terry is Voyage into the East-Indies.  have a very Emphatical way, in their Language, of calling a Man two or three very ugly Names in one Compound Word; yet that of calling a Man a Jew, is reckoned worse than all the Terms of Reproach heaped up together. They are every where standing Monuments of Divine Vengeance, for rejecting the Gospel; and a lasting Proof and Testimony of the Truth of our Saviour's Prophecies against them. Especially if we consider the many Attempts which they have made, but always in vain; but more especially their last, in the Reign, and by the zealous Encouragement of Julian the Apostate Emperor, to rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem, on purpose to prove our Saviour a False Prophet; and the miraculous Overthrow of it, and his Design, by Balls of Fire from Heaven, whereby the Workmen were consumed, and the sorry Remains of the Foundations of that Temple were entirely razed, and he made further to fulfil the Prophecy of Christ by his very attempt to overthrow it; which is testified, not only by the Christian Authors, but by the Heathen Historian 
* Ammianus Marcel. l. 23.  also.  
Neither are the Prophecies in Scripture concerning Christ to be forgotten: such as that of Daniel concerning the Messiahs being cut off within such a compass of Years; 
Chap. 9.24.  which tho' it hath its lesser Difficulties, yet as to the main Substance is very plain; and therefore Porphyry most unreasonably pretended the Book of Daniel was a History forged after the Events came to pass. And that Prophecy of Christ's coming before the Destruction of the Second Temple. 
Mal. 3.  But above all, that which was one great Occasion of the Conversion of that Noble 
* Earl of Roch. Life, by Burnet, p. 140, 141, 142.  Man, who was once as remarkable for his Debauchery and Infidelity, as ever he was for his Wit or Quality, viz. the Prophecy of Isaiah in his 53d Chapter, concerning the Death of Christ, which does so exactly correspond with the History of our Saviour's Passion, tho' it was wrote many Ages before Christ's Appearance in the World; and which the Jews, who abhor the Notion of a Crucified Messiah, and constantly Blaspheme our Lord Jesus Christ, still kept in their Hands as a Book Divinely inspired. Pilate writ an Inscription on the Cross, over the Head of Christ, This is the King of the Jews, in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew Characters. Every Jew is a Pillar of Brass, which God has set up, and whereon he has engraven in Capital Letters, That Christ was a Teacher that came down from Heaven: And this not in two or three, but in all Languages under the Heavens: And he who hath Eyes to see, will read; and he that hath an Ear to hear, let him understand.  
And I think we ought not to slight the Acts of Pilate which he sent to Tiberius, containing a Narrative of the Life, Miracles, Death, and Resurrection of our Saviour. These are mentioned, not only by 
* Hist. Eccl. l. 2. c. 2.  Eusebius, but also by Tertullian 
† Apol. c. 5. etc. 21.  and J. Martyr 
‖ Apol. 2da. p. 76. & 84. Edit. Paris. , who both of them more than once in their Apologies for the Christians, boldly appeal to 'em. And they must have been Madmen, in so doing, if they had not been well assured of the Truth of 'em. And one can't but think it highly rational that Pilate should send some Account of so Extraordinary an Affair to the Emperor. But that which to me is of great Weight, and which I am surprised to find omitted by Learned Men, yea by those who have written warmly against them that have endeavoured to put a Slur on these Acts, is this, That Maximinus in his Perfecution caused Supposititious 
* Of which see Eusebius Hist. Eccl. l. 1. c. 9 l. 9 c. 5. etc. 7.  Acts of Pilate to be Forged, full of Blasphemy against Christ, which he made to be spread throughout the whole Empire, to be taught in the Schools, where the Boys were to get them by heart, and to declaim upon them, that our Saviour and his Religion and Followers might be  derided. But Providence put an End to his Mirth and Laughter; for Divine Vengeance seized him, and he died a wretched tormenting Death; and just before it, published an Edict in Favour of the Christians. Now if there had been no Real Acts of Pilate, what need was there of these Counterfeit one's, and of all this Industry for the spreading of 'em?  
Of all these Heads of Discourse, §. V I have chosen to insist only on these two, viz. The Pardon of Sin, and a Future State of Happiness: because, tho' they have been very lightly touched upon by several, yet I do not know any that hath thoroughly handled 'em. This Vein hath been scarce opened, and then hath been presently closed again: the Skilful Workmen having chosen rather to dig in some other Parts of the Mine; thinking, it may be, that this might be wrought by the meaner Hand of any Common Labourer; which hath encouraged me to make the following Essay.  
In the first Chapter whereof, I have been obliged to encounter some very Learned Men, two of which are Deceased. I have carried it with a becoming Deference to the Authors, while I have endeavoured to Confute their Arguments and Errors. 'Tis great Barbarity rudely to treat the Ashes of such Men when Dead. I have therefore walked softly over their Graves, and not trampled indecently upon them.  
In the second Chapter, my Subject hath led me to Cite several of the Ancient Heathen Philosophers, tho' I have been far from producing all that I could have brought. I have done as our Courts are wont to do when a Jury is Summoned; I have Impannell'd as many as I thought necessary to serve my Purpose, and have dismissed the Supernumeraries.  
Some of the Quotations I have transcribed at large out of the Original, that the Learned Reader may judge whether I have mistaken the true Sense of my Authors, or dealt worse by them. I desire no Man to take them, as Traders sometimes do a Bag of Money, upon Content, with a Promise of making them Good; he who Examines 'em, will find them so. And that any one who hath an Ability and a Mind to it, may do it with the greater Ease and Readiness; generally the first Time that I quote an Author, I mention the Particular Page and Edition which I have all along made use of, where it was Necessary. The Neglect of which, in many Writers, is as idle, as if a Man should direct a Letter to his Friend in London, without naming the Street, or the Sign of the House where he dwells; who thereupon is not to be found without the Expense of much Labour and Time.  
In the rendering of them into English, I have endeavoured to give their true Sense, without slavishly Confining myself to a Verbal Translation. I hate and despise the Superstition of some Modern Publishers of Books, who can't clap in a the or an of, tho' it be absolutely necessary to make their Authors intelligible, without giving the Reader a very formal Notice of it by a turn'd-up Comma, the Solemnity of an Italic Character, and introducing the little Particle with a Star prefixed in the Book, as one sometimes appears in the Heavens to Usher in the Birth of a Young Prince.  
In some Places I have endeavoured to give somewhat of a pleasant Turn to a few of their Expressions; without which, the Reading many Quotations is a dull Business; tho' I know by Experience 'tis a much duller one to gather and transcribe 'em. When there is no Air nor Briskness in the Face, the Limner will give a Stroke of his Kindness, as well as of his Pencil; unless he be as heavy a Creature as the Man that sits, or have as little Life and Soul in him as the Picture he draws.  
If any think I have been either too Light, or too Severe in a Reflection or two on the Sentiments and Speeches of some of the Old Philosophers: I reply, I have but followed the Example of Elijah, who derided the Prophets of Baal, that were as Senseless and Empty Tools as the Idol they Worshipped. And I think that a Silly Opinion, or a Ridiculous Saying, deserves no Veneration, because it hath been an Ancient one; or came from a Man, who as many Years as he lived before me, yet it may be was not much Older when he vented it, than I now am, when I smile at it and him. Had I been by when the Gibeonites produced their Dry and Mouldy Bread, I would not have tasted it; Their Broken Bottles, Clouted Shoes, and Tattered Garments, for all their seeming Antiquity, should never have been laid up among my Rarities: And if their Ambassadors, tho' doubtless they were Men of Figure and Quality, should have endeavoured to have imposed them on me, I'd have presently hurled 'em all away, and thrown 'em on the Dunghill; whence he that had a mind to have fed on, used and worn them, might have picked 'em up, if he had pleased.  
I have added an Appendix, wherein I have endeavoured to Vindicate Revealed Religion from the Exceptions of Mr. A. W. contained in a 
* Oracles of Reason, p. 197.  Letter of his, which I find in the Rhapsody of the late unhappy Mr. Blount. When he shows more Respect to our Blessed Saviour and his Holy Religion, I shall do the same by him. I have not said all that I could, but I hope I have said so much as Effectually to Silence that Heathen Oracle.   

ERRATA.  
PAg. 36. l. antep. r. Homines. p. 39 l. 18. deal that. p. 132. l. 10. deal Man. p. 179. l. ult. r. c. 1. p. 228. l. 14. r. carelessly.   

THE PREFACE.  
THOUGH refined and inquisitive Men have aimed at a perfect Comprehension of All things; yet the Experience of every Age doth convince us, that the Author of Nature hath set Bounds to our Knowledge as well as our Being's; There is a certain Measure of Understanding as well as of bodily Stature which we cannot exceed; and though in both there is a mighty difference, yet there are many Points which are too high for us, and above the reach of the most Elevated Minds. There's none of them, but what an Ingenious Man would be glad to have cleared up; but yet most of them are of a Speculative Nature, the Knowledge whereof would be of very little Use and Service, and therefore we may safely sit down in a quiet and contented Ignorance. There is an Obscurity on the Face of Light; and though it manifests all other Objects, yet its Self is in a great measure hidden from us. But were we perfect Masters of the Philosophy of it, whether it be a Substance or an Accident, Fire, or the Pressure of the most subtle Matter, how it so swiftly spreads, and strikes our Eyes, it would be no help to the Traveller in his Way, or the Labouring Man for the quicker dispatch of his Work.  
Did a Man throughly understand the Cause of the Ebbing and Flowing of the Sea, and could he demonstrate it to proceed from the Motion either of the Sun or Earth, or the Pressure of the Moon; could he dive as deep into that Secret as some do into the vast Ocean, he would not enrich himself by the one as Men do by the other. Can the Mariner reason ever so exactly about the Nature of the Wind, open the secret Treasures whence it comes, and point out the invisible Places whither it retreats, and assign the Natural Causes of its giddy and uncertain Motions; he could not gather it in his Sails with greater Advantage, nor the sooner reach his desired Haven.  
But there are some Points of another Nature, the Ignorance whereof will unavoidably create great Perplexity of Mind in any Considering Man. Of these I shall pitch upon Two, which are of Common Concern to all, and of the greatest Importance of any that can be mentioned, viz. The Pardon of Sin while we are in this World, and our Future State when we leave it, and pass into the next. And in treating on both of them, I shall compare Reason and Revelation, set one against the other; and endeavour to demonstrate, against the Deists of the present Age, That if we have no other Guide than the Former, we must needs be at a dreadful Loss, and remain covered with the Shadow of Death; 
Psal. 44.19.  but if we follow the Later, we shall have such a clear and satisfactory Account of both of them, as will be comfortable as the Light of Life unto our Souls. 
John 8.12.    

A PRESERVATIVE AGAINST DEISM.  

CHAP. I. Of Pardon of Sin.  
WHenever we are Serious and Retired, our own Hearts will tell us, That God is justly and highly displeased with us for our Sins; and that this Displeasure of his will end in our total Ruin if it be not removed. Conscience indeed is not always sensible of our Gild; but 'tis soon awakened by any very sharp Affliction: As the Seeds of some Distempers floating in a man's Blood, upon the Change of Wether, are apt to drop down into a tender and sensible Part, causing most acute Pains in the languishing Patient. No man therefore can have any rational and lasting Peace and Comfort of Mind, who is not well informed about the Forgiveness of Sins; which the Christian alone, by the help of his Bible, can attain unto, but the Deist must be greatly bewildered about, who hath no other Instructor than the Light of Nature and Reason. For,  
I. §. I That cannot fully assure us that there is Forgiveness of Sin with God. If this could be Certainly known by mere Reason, it must be gathered, either from the Essential Goodness of God, or else from the visible Effects of his Bounty and Kindness.  
From the Former of these it can't be Assuredly inferred. For tho' Forgiveness of Sin hath its Rise and Spring in the Infinite Benignity of God; yet it doth not flow thence by Necessity of Nature, but 'tis a free Act of his Will, and the Work of his Sovereign Grace and Pleasure. And therefore the Argument of the Apostle is very strong and clear, 
1 Cor. 2.11.  As no man knoweth the things of a man, save the Spirit of a man which is in him: even so these things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God, and he to whom he is pleased to Reveal them. A shrewd Man may guests at the secret Thoughts and Resolves of his fellow-Creature, but he can't certainly know them; much less can we in affairs of This nature penetrate into the Mind of God. That Eye which is too weak to reach to the bottom of a shallow Stream, can never pierce to the lowest Depths of the Ocean. Sinners are worthy of Punishment, and 'tis not inconsistent with Goodness to inflict a deserved Punishment on an Offender. God hath a Right to inflict; and who can assure us that he will remit his own Right, unless he himself declare his willingness to part with it? God neither will nor can exercise one Attribute of his to the Prejudice of another. He will not raise the honour of his Goodness on the Ruins of his Holiness and Justice, or the Contempt of his Authority and Government: And how to reconcile these with the Pardoning of Sinners, is a puzzling Difficulty in which Reason cannot help us: And tho' it could, yet he is infinitely Just and Righteous, and therefore at least he may resolve to punish the Offender for aught that he knows; so that at the best it would be with our Souls, as 'tis fabulously reported to be with Mahomet's Body in his Iron Coffin, that hangs in the Air between the upper and the nether Loadstone; so should we be in Suspense between encouraging Hopes and uneasy Fears, which must needs create a mighty Torment in our Minds; this being a matter whereon our Welfare in both Worlds doth so entirely depend. The Scriptures tell us (and tho' that will have no weight with a Deist, yet it will with those who own their Authority) that notwithstanding the immense Goodness of God, yet Devils, who were originally more noble Creatures than we, remain bound in Chains of Gild as well as Darkness, and are reserved to the Judgement of the Great Day. And that there should be Forgiveness for fallen Man, when there's none for Apostate Angels, who can assure us?  
Nor can this be Certainly inferred from the visible Effects of Divine Bounty and Goodness. Men perceive indeed that God is Kind; but withal they frequently feel to their Cost that he is Just, and know within themselves that 'tis Righteous in him to render Tribulation and Anguish to every evildoer. He doth do it in some terrible Instances in this World; and for aught that mere Reason can tell us, he may do the like in the other World too; tho' he may defer it for a Season, as long as this present Life doth last; and fill men's Hearts with Food and Gladness for a Time, to reward those broken Mixtures of Good that may be in them, or as a Recompense for some useful Service they may do (tho' his Glory be not designed by them therein), or to employ them as the Instruments of his Providence for the relieving or vexing of others: or for some other wise Ends that may be past our finding out. A Malefactor may know that his Prince is very good and kind, who for wise Reasons of State, which he can't penetrate into, gives him an uncertain Reprieve sine Die, keeps him in an airy Prison, and feeds him there very plentifully at the Public Charge: Yet this is but a very slender Argument that therefore he shall undoubtedly be pardoned: Especially if he know him to be a very Just and Righteous Governor, who greatly hates and detests the foul Crimes he hath been guilty of: And most of all, if the Prisoner enter into new Conspiracies and Rebellions against him, while he is so lovingly treated: Which is the case of all Mankind with reference to God, who are daily provoking him, while they live every moment on his Bounty. The utmost that can be solidly gathered from the common Patience and Goodness of God, is but some lose and faint Hopes, which may encourage Sinners to hearken out and inquire after a way of Reconciliation with God. The Ninivites carried this matter as far as any can by mere natural Light and Reason, 
Jonah 3.9.  when they said, Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from the fierceness of his Anger, that we perish not? But then on the other hand, nothing being so suspicious as a Guilty creature, especially when he hath to do with a Holy and a Jealous God, he may as well say, Who can tell but that God will Not turn, nor repent, nor turn away from the fierceness of his Anger, and then we must perish, and there is no remedy? We can never have a firm Foundation for a Full and Comfortable persuasion, that God will indeed forgive Sins, unless some Act of Grace and Indemnity be published from Heaven to that end and purpose.  
Such a one we read of in the Holy Scriptures, in which we have the highest Assurance that can be either given or desired. We have a firm word of Promise frequently repeated, to build upon. The Son of God came down from Heaven on purpose to preach this Doctrine in his own Person. He hath purchased this Blessing for us by the sharpest Sufferings. When he returned to Heaven, 
Luk. 24.47.  he commanded that Remission of Sins should be preached in his Name; and hath settled an Order of Men, who are appointed by this Argument to beseech Sinners to be reconciled to God. This is one express Article of the New Covenant which he hath sealed with his own Blood, that God will be merciful to our Iniquities, and our Sins he will remember no more. He bequeathed this as his dying Legacy among all his sincere Followers in his Last Will and Testament: A Remembrance whereof he would have continually kept up among them; and in order thereunto he instituted the Ordinance of the Supper; for the Cup which we there drink of, is the New Testament in his Blood, which was shed for the Remission of our Sins. And as a Priest he intercedes for this great Blessing, and as a King bestows it on his People.  
II. §. TWO Suppose that Natural Light and Reason could assure us that God would forgive, yet it cannot certainly inform us how far this Pardon shall reach, either as to Persons, or Offences. If we had been left barely to our own Thoughts and Conjectures in this matter, very few, if any, could have had a well-grounded comfortable Assurance, that they in particular should find Mercy at the hands of God.  
We could not reasonably presume, it should be an Universal and Unlimited Pardon. Surely God will make Examples of some, and, for any thing I know, (might every one say) he may make one of Me, among the rest: If any be excepted, why not I?  
If I am a mean and inconsiderable Man, 'tis no great matter; no great loss, if such an one should perish: And I am the rather induced to fear that I shall, because of the Inequality of the Divine Favour, in distributing temporal Mercies with so Sparing a hand to me, the bestowing of which is the chief Ground I have to hope for his Pardon. And therefore those, who are very low and poor, and under such miserable circumstances, that they rather endure life, than enjoy it, have Reason to suspect the good will of God towards them; to whom he has given such weak and feeble Motives to Repentance, and such slight Grounds to hope for a Pardon thereupon.  
If I am a Man of Figure, for that very reason God may single me out, to make his Power, his Justice, and his Wrath, so much the more Glorious. And generally wise Governors are wont to make some such as these, Public Examples of their just Displeasure.  
But be a man what he will, as to his Circumstances in this World; there is none but has committed a great many Sins, and some of them are of a Crimson Dye: For where is the Person to be found, who has not often offended against shining Light, and endearing Love; against alluring Mercies, and bitter Afflictions; against repeated Promises, and solemn Vows? Now 'tis true indeed, that any single Sin, tho' of the smallest Size, will make sad Work in the Conscience, if it be set home with Power on the Heart: As the disorder of any minute single part of our Bodies, an inconsiderable Stone, or a small quantity of Gravel in our Reins, will fill us with most exquisite Pain. Yet generally it is the Multitude and Greatness of men's Sins, and the heinous Aggravations of them, that make the deepest wound in their Spirits. Hence God has given us so many repeated Declarations in his Holy Word, of the Fullness, the Plenty, the Riches of his pardoning Grace and Mercy; That he will forgive iniquity, transgression, and sin; That the Blood of his Son cleanseth from all Unrighteousness, etc. These Scriptures are like those Herbs, which some curious Men tell us of, that have the Signature of those parts of the Body, whose Griefs they are designed to assuage; Or the Figure and Colour of those Diseases, for the Cure whereof the kind Hand of Nature has provided them. They clearly show our Disease, as well as are intended to heal it; and plainly signify how hard a matter it is to settle the peace of a troubled Soul.  
Nay the Better and more Serious any man is, so much the Greater would have been his Uncertainty and Perplexity in this matter: For the Better any man is, the more does he observe the inward Corruption of his own Heart, which others take no Notice, and make no Account of; And the deeper Sense has he of the Holiness and Justice of God, of the Vileness of his own Sins, of his Desert of Wrath and Vengeance, and his Unworthiness of Divine Favour.  
And every man, but especially such a one knows so much More against himself, than he does against the Generality of Others; that it is reasonable for him to conclude, that, all things considered, he is one of the Chiefest of Sinners. How natural is it therefore, for all, and especially for such, to cry out, Tho' peradventure there may be Mercy for Others, yet sure there is none for Me; I am afraid, that I and My Crimes may be excepted, and that pardoning Grace shall not extend so very far as to take Me and my Sins within its Reach and Compass; that the Wing of Mercy will not be spread so wide, as to cover Me, and all my numerous and mighty Offences.  
But now from this miserable Distress, Revelation doth thoroughly deliver us, by certifying us, that, as far as the Heavens are above the Earth, 
Isa. 53.7, 8, 9  so far are God's Ways and Thoughts above ours: And therefore he is ready Abundantly to pardon. Our Blessed Lord hath told us, 
Mat. 12.31.  All manner of Sin and Blasphemy shall be forgiven. Blasphemy is a wounding the Name of God. Now every Man is tender of his Reputation as of the Apple of his Eye, and God is jealous of his own Honour. Yet, not only all other Offences, but even this too, of what sort and kind soever, tho' attended with very aggravating Circumstances, shall be forgiven unto Men; 'tis spoken indefinitely, to Any Man, (always provided he comply with the Conditions of the Gospel), the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost only excepted. And 'tis very observable how these words are brought in. Our Saviour was now most highly provoked by the malicious Pharisees, whose malignant Souls were possessed by a worse Devil than any of the Bodies of those who were healed by him, and therefore wickedly imputed his Miracles to the Power of Satan. Our Lord did most heinously resent this, as well he might. And yet before he thunders out Wrath and Vengeance against them, words of Grace drop from his Lips towards others, and Mercy gets the start of Justice. He gins with these words, Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of Sin and Blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; and afterwards adds, But the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be so. And the Apostle tells us, that among others, this is one peculiar Excellency of Christ's Gospel above Moses' Law, That whereas he that despised the latter by Sinning presumptuously against it, died without Mercy; yet through the former such an Ample Forgiveness was preached, 
Acts 13.38, 39  that by him all that believe are justified from All things from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses. And at another time; That where Sin has Abounded, 
Rom. 5.20.  there Grace shall much more Abound; i. e. upon men's Compliance with the reasonable Terms which God hath settled. Which brings me to the  
III. §. III The Light of Nature and Reason cannot fully assure us of the Terms, upon which Forgiveness may be had. It will indeed tell us, that God cannot but insist upon Repentance: But the great Question will be, Whether this alone will do? The Pleas which have been made for it will appear to be of no force; which are these,  
1. That Repentance is the 
a Blount's Assert. of Lord Herbert's Five Principles.  best thing a Man can DO, and therefore God must be contented with it. So saith another, and he was a Person of great Worth, 
b Dr. Whichcot's Sermon, p. 318.  If the Sinner Repent, you have his Consent, and his whole Heart; you have then gained his Mind and Soul, and he doth then all that is in him to DO. 'Tis all the 
c S. N. Discourse of Natural and Revealed Religion, p. 86.  Satisfaction or Amends that we can make: Saith another Ingenious Advocate, And seeing it is All that we can DO by way of Reparation for our Offences, tho' Justice will take no notice of it, yet Mercy will. If God is indeed a Merciful and Benign Being, he will most certainly accept the Payment we are able to make, and not insist on Impossible Demands with his frail Bankrupt Creatures.  
But I do not know what Statute-Law Men have to oblige the Almighty to Compound with his poor Debtors, and especially to take so very little as this is. To Repent, indeed, is one of the best things that a Sinner can Do; but if that be all he has to offer or say for himself, there is another thing that it becomes the Criminal to think on, besides doing, and that is Suffering: And it is what he has Reason to reckon upon. We may say in this Case, as God does in another, Go now, 
Mal. 1.8.  and offer it to thy Governor, and see whether he will accept it. Courts of Justice take very little notice of the Malefactor's Repentance. The Law must be observed, and Ordinarily the Offender must be punished; And this is wont to be done, notwithstanding the Mercy of the Judge, and without any Imputation of Injustice or Cruelty. Nay on the contrary, it would be Injustice, Cruelty, and fond Pity, if a Traitor, a Murderer, or the like Offender, after a Multitude of repeated enormous Crimes, should be pardoned, merely because he does repent.  
2. 
Ibid.  'Tis urged, That no Generous Man, but will forgive his Enemy, much more his Children, if such Enemy disapproves the wrong he has done, is troubled and grieved for it, resolves to be friendly and respectful for the time to come, etc. I say, there is no generous Man, but will forgive his Enemy, who is thus affected to him; How much more shall God forgive all Persons thus Disposed, and thus Reform; seeing there is no Generosity in Man, but what is, with his Nature, infused into him by God; or is an improvement only of the Divine Seed, which God our Maker planted in our Natures. But to this I reply: In many Cases, a Private Person has no lawful Power to remit the Penalty of a Crime: As in the Case of the Murder of a near Relation, or the deep wounding of a Man's Reputation, on the public vindicating whereof, his Usefulness, the Honour of Religion, and the Good of many Souls, may depend. But however, God must be considered, not as a Private Person, but as a Public one, as the Holy, Just Rector of the World, under whose deep Displeasure we are fallen by our Sins, 
Id. p. 234.  as this Author himself cannot but acknowledge afterwards. Now, the Case of a Private Person, and a Public One, is vastly different. It is ordinarily necessary, for the Honour of the Government, and the Public Good, that Offenders and Disturbers of the Common Order, should be restrained and punished. And if this Plea had any thing in it, the Magistrate must forgive every Delinquent, how Notorious soever, if he do but approve himself a true Penitent: Whereas God does command the Magistrate, as his Vicegerent, to inflict the Penalty on Offenders notwithstanding their Repentance; and in so doing, they act as the Ministers of God: What they do, is his Act more than theirs. Yea, God himself, in the Course of his Providence, does lay very severe Judgements upon them that are truly Penitent, (of which more by and by). 'Tis further pleaded:  
3. 
Id. p. 86.  Wisdom will effectually dispose God to forgive the Penitent, because the Creature is reform by Repentance, is made such as it ought to be, and such as God willeth; which being so, it cannot be now Wisdom to destroy it by Punishment, or to afflict it unnecessarily: It is not Justice, but Rage, to Punish, when the Person to be punished is already Amended. This is further enforced by another, 
Dr. Whichcot. Serm. p. 314.  because to inflict Evil hath only in it the Notion of a Remedy, the Place of a MEAN, not of an END. Now we know that no more of a Mean is designed than what is necessary for the End.— Therefore I take it for granted, that where there is Wisdom and Goodness in the Agent, all Punishment is for Instruction, Reformation, and bettering of the Offender, or for Example to Bystanders. And I cannot tell what is Good in Punishment, but these TWO. (But let him that can tie Contradictions together, reconcile this with the following Words of the same Great Man, 
Id. p. 318.  viz. Punishment in the Hand of God, is either for the MAINTAINING HIS AUTHORITY, or for the DEFENCE of RIGHTEOUSNESS, or for the Reformation of a Sinner, or for an Effectual Admonition to the By-stander. Where the TWO in the compass of a very few Pages, are increased to FOUR. But he goes on.) 
Id. p. 317.  If the Sinner leave off to Sin, and condemn himself; then the Necessity of Punishment is taken away: For that for which Punishment is made use of, is obtained without Punishment. And we never make use of a Mean, if the End be obtained.  
But to this I Reply, This whole arguing proceeds on a wrong Supposition, That the Reformation of the Offender is the only end of Punishment: Whereas Satisfaction to the Law, the Honour of the Government, the Explation of the Crimes committed, are at least as noble Ends, and as necessary, if not more so, than that. Without due care in this Matter, the Divine Threaten will appear to be like those Flaming Swords that sometimes hang in the Air, vain Meteors, and mere Vapours, that have no real Edge; and in the Judgement of many wise Men, do not praesignify any future Calamities that shall certainly follow, but only serve to affright weak and superstitious Minds.  
How confidently soever some Men may talk, yet they have the Common Sense of all Mankind lying against them. Who will satisfy Divine Justice? Who will make our Peace with the Offended Majesty of Heaven? Has been a most puzzling Inquiry in all Ages. The Heathens saw somewhat more was necessary than a bare Reformation of Manners, to appease the Anger of their Gods; and rather than depend upon that alone, have thought it more Rational to take up with any thing, even the most foolish, and extravagant, and brutish Contrivances of Purgations, and Offerings, of Humane Blood and Sacrifices. 
Micah 6.7.  Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before him with Burnt-offerings, with Calves of a Year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams, or with ten thousands of Rivers of Oil? Shall I give my Firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my Body for the sin of my Soul? Yea, the great Patriarch of Natural, and bitter Enemy to Revealed Religion, after all his Confidence, That mere Repentance would expiate men's Offences, was himself, at a loss in this matter, as appears by the following Passage:  

* Et quidem quinque hos Articulos bonos, Catholicosque esse, unusquisque procul-dubio fatebitur: ad Salutem tamen aeternam comparandam, non sufficere perhibebunt nonnulli. Caeterum qui ita locutus fuerit, nae ille quidem audax, nedum saevum temerariumque effatum (meâ sententiâ) protulerit; quum nulli satis explorata sint judicia Divina: quam etiam ob causam, neque eas sufficere protinus dixerim: attamen magis probabilis mihi videtur eorum opinio qui aequè pie ac leniter de Dei Judiciis statuunt, dum homo quod in se est praestat. Herbert de Religione Gentilium, p. 217.  These five Articles (viz. 1. The Being of God. 2. That he is to be Worshipped. 3. That Virtue is the principal part of Divine Worship. 4. That we ought to Repent of our Sins. 5. That there are Rewards and Punishments in the present and future life) every one, without doubt, will acknowledge to be Good and Catholic: but some will pretend they are not sufficient to Eternal Salvation. But he that shall so say, is a bold man, and, in my opinion, pronounces a cruel and rash Sentence. Seeing the Judgements of God are not fully known, for which Reason neither will I peremptorily say they are Sufficient, etc. Such is the Power of Truth, that it will be revenged on its fiercest Adversaries, and force them who contradict it, to contradict themselves also.  
4. 'Tis urged, that God is our Common 
* Si justitiae Divinae haut factum satis ex Poenitentia dixissent fortè Sacerdotes, acerbioremque quàm ex dolore interno exigi debere poenam contendissent, hisce ita occurri tum temporis potuit, Deum Summum esse Patrem communem, adeoque in Filium Poenitentem haut graviter animadversurum. Herbert de Relig. Gentil. p. 199.  Father, and will not severely animadvert on his Penitent Child: Or, as another 
† Dr. Whichcot's Sermons, p. 310.  enforces it, God hath stamped Impressions of Goodness and Kindness throughout the whole Creation.— Every thing maintains its own Offspring, and endeavours to bring it to good (according to the several Natures of every kind), and if it be capable, it bears its Offspring Affection.— Now whatever 
* Id. p. 312.  Perfection is found in any Creature, is in God Primarily, Originally and Essentially. We all commend the Merciful and Compassionate Disposition above the Cruel and Malicious. And shall we attribute that to God, which we condemn in any Creature? But sure 'tis not reasonable to insinuate that God is cruel and malicious for punishing Delinquents: Especially considering what this Reverend Author saith in the very next Page, viz. If God 
† Id. p. 313.  do punish Sin, he doth that which is Just. And should I argue, that because God is Originally, Primarily and Essentially Just, and therefore he will certainly punish Sinners, if this be all they have to plead that they do Repent, it would hold altogether as strongly as his arguing from his Goodness that he will forgive them barely upon their so doing. We all commend Justice in Men, and especially in a Magistrate, and censure the lazy and fond Neglect of it. And shall we attribute that to God which we condemn in the Creature? Or shall there be any Excellency or Perfection in us which is wanting in him? He that made the Eye, shall not He see? and he who form the Ear, shall not He hear? Besides, 'tis as certain that God is our Common Ruler, as that he is our Common Parent; and 'tis Matter of Fact that he does inflict very severe Penalties on his Rebellious Subjects, notwithstanding their Repentance.  
5. 'Tis further urged, That Men are by Nature 
*— Homines naturâ suá fragiles peccatoque obnoxios esse. Herbert de Relig. Gentil. ubi supra.  frail Creatures, and liable to Sin. And that, 
† Dr. Whichcot's Sermon, p. 321.  tho' the Act of a Creature may be aggravated in respect of the Person against whom it is committed, yet in themselves our Sins are but Acts of Weakness, and they are so in God's Account and Esteem, etc. And if there were as much Weakness in All of them as there is in this Objection, a man might be hard put to it to make a Reply. But are our Wilful and Heinous Provocations to be dwindled away and shrunk up into Sins of Infirmity? If all our Sins are both in Themselves and in God's Account but Acts of Weakness, I don't know why they should not be so in Ours too. For we can't do better than to entertain such Sentiments as are agreeable to the Nature of Things, and the Judgement of God himself. But Good men have not been wont to take up with such Notions as these. Saul urged for himself in the matter of the Amalekites; That he did not reserve part of the Spoil from any evil Design, but from a good Intention, to have wherewithal to furnish out a Sacrifice to the Lord; 
1 Sam. 15.21, 22, 23.  and tho' he was their King, yet in this the People overruled him, and it would have looked oddly for him to have been less forward and zealous to provide for God's Worship than his Subjects were. But yet for all this, Samuel charges him roundly for it, and tells him it was Rebellion and Stubborness, which are as the Sin of Witchcraft, Iniquity and Idolatry. And holy Men have been wont to think as ill of their Own as of other men's Sins upon this Account. Holy David aggravates his folly from this Circumstance, viz. the Person against whom it was committed. And he so intently fixed his Eye upon this, as tho' none else had been offended by him. Against thee, 
Ps. 51.4.  thee only have I sinned. And God himself, by the Mouth of Nathan, whom he sent to him, warmly expostulates with him, 
2 Sam. 12.9, 10.  Wherefore hast thou despised the Commandment of the Lord to do Evil in his Sight? And again immediately after, Thou hast despised Me, saith he to him in the Name of God. And this is not only the Language of God in the Scriptures, but in his daily Providences too. Let any man consider the numerous Calamities wherewith many times the World is covered as with a black Cloud, behold the Struggle of dying Infants, listen to the Cries of a wounded Spirit, and attend to the Groans of a departing Sinner, and then let him judge whether the Sins of Men are Acts of Weakness in God's Account and Esteem.  
Scripture indeed is brought in to countenance this strange Assertion: For 'tis said 
* Id. p. 322.  he knoweth our Frame. 
Ps. 103.14.  But if we read on to the end of the Verse, it will appear that this is not spoken of the Corruption of our Natures, but the Weakness and Frailty of our Constitution: For 'tis added, He remembreth that we are but Dust. And the same is the true sense and meaning of that other Text which is pressed into this Service, 
Isa. 57.16.  For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: as is evident from the following words, which contain the true reason of these; not because their Miscarriages are the weak Acts of finite and fallible Creatures, etc. but because then the Spirit should fail before me, and the Souls which I have made. I might add, This is a Gracious Promise, which we know by mere Revelation, whereas we are treating of what may be known by the mere Light of Nature and Reason.  
In short, no Man would with any Patience bear such a Plea as this in the Mouth of his Servant or Child, for their wilful Contempt and Defiance of his Authority. And such talk as this, is one of the most effectual ways to give a fatal Check to the working of that Repentance which some design so much to extol; and which indeed can hardly be extolled too much, provided Men do it not so, as to justle a Mediator, and the Necessity of Faith in him in order to forgiveness, out of the World. For the chief Consideration that melts down an Ingenuous Spirit into a Godly Sorrow, is this, the Wisdom, Majesty, Authority, Power, Goodness, and Justice of God whom he hath displeased. So that some Men by endeavouring to advance Repentance, do indeed diminish and discourage it; as the Sun by raising up Vapours out of a River, lessens the Quantity of Water that was in it.  
6. 'Tis urged, That for 
*— Peccata Hominum non tam in Dei contumeliam, quàm in propriam utilitatem sub boni alicujus apparentis obtentu fieri plerumque; ac licet in eo Nomines fallerentur, nihil tamen infenso in Deum animo patratum fuisse. Herbert ubi supra.  the most part men's Sins are not committed so much in Despite to God, as for their own Advantage, under the plausible show of some Appearing Good. And if this be all that a Thief or a Murderer have to say for themselves, That the one rob, and the other assassinated his Neighbour, not out of any direct Design to affront the Law or Government, but merely to get a good Sum of Money, or to be revenged on his Enemy, which to them did seem very desirable, this would never prevent the pronouncing or executing the Sentence of Death upon them.  
7thly. Lastly, 'Tis yet further argued, That 'tis Worthy 
* Dr. Whichcot's Serm. p. 313.  of God to Pardon Penitents. It is more effectual to the Purpose of God's Honour and Glory. For when he Pardons, he procures himself Love, and gains the Heart and Soul of his Creature. But if he punish, the Party endures because God is Stronger, and the Creature cannot make Resistance. And again, 'Tis 
† P. 318, 319.  a greater Excellency to win and reconcile by Gentleness and Fairness, than to overcome by Power and Force. To win and overcome by fair Means, by Reason and Argument, by Courtesy and Gentleness, these show Wisdom and Goodness; but to crush and subdue may be done by Power and Subtilty; by Power, because the Person cannot make Defence; by Subtlety, because the Person was surprised and taken at unawares. But the Case is not very fairly put. Here is mention made of the invidious Words of Power, and Force, and Subtlety, and the Creatures Weakness, which are not the Springs of God's punishing Men; but not a word of Holiness and Justice, Preservation of Public Order, the Honour of the Divine Law and Government, or the Desert of the Offender, which are the true Causes of it. Men do not suffer, because God bears them down by main Force, as an Oppressor; or outwits and over-reaches them by Craft; but because they have deserved Punishment; and these valuable Ends, which I am sure 'tis Wisdom effectually to secure, do call for the inflicting of it. And as for Goodness, it never was the Intent of God, nor can it be for his Glory, as Governor of the World, to represent himself as a Being of mere Clemency and Kindness. No Creature would be more despicable than a living King resembling his own Marble or Brazen Statue, with a Sceptre in its Hand, which it never stirs, and a broad Sword lifted up in a very threatening Posture, as tho' it would cleave any Man in two that came near it; but this terrible Instrument is in a dead Hand that never gives a Stroke; and therefore is fit only to take up so much Room, and stand for a Show in a Public Place, where the smallest Bird or Insect would quickly make bold with it, and pitch upon it without any Fear or Concern. And God may, tho' he Chastise the Guilty, be for ever secure of the Reputation of that his Goodness, having given abundant Demonstrations of it towards all his Creatures, and knowing further how in a glorious manner to display it towards those who never offended him. And Sinners having abused that Attribute, 'tis but rational to fear that his other Attributes should be employed to repair the Injuries and Dishonours which have been cast upon it.  
But he adds to the same purpose, The Creatures suffering Punishment 
* Id. p. 319. , is but a very SORRY AMENDS for Transgression. For what doth God GAIN by it? God is so far from being recompensed by the Sufferings of CONTUMACIOUS Sinners, that I dare say 'tis more satisfactory to God, more according to his Mind, that a Sinner should repent, and humbly acknowledge his Offence in this State in which he is, than undergo the Suffering of the Damned to Eternity. For God GAINS NOTHING by the one, but he hath the Heart of the Delinquent by the other. These Words (and they are not the only ones in this Learned Man's Sermon, as published by his Friend) may be carried so far as to countenance the wild Opinion of Origen, That the wicked in Hell, yea, Devils themselves at last shall be saved; and it may be a little further. For 'tis hard to think, That God should continue CONTUMACIOUS SINNERS in exquisite and Eternal Torments, or indeed severely punish them for any long Period of Time, if he GAIN NOTHING at all thereby. But I will Confront this with another Passage in a Sermon of this 
* Id. p. 50.  Great Man: Where mentioning that Scripture, God so loved the World, that he gave his only begotten Son, etc. He adds, It must be attributed to his Goodness and Compassion, etc. It was that which he was NO GAINER by; for our Righteousness is not profitable to him; and I say, no more is our Love. So that it seems whether God save or destroy, he gains nothing at all either by the one, or the other. Neither, indeed, is it possible that he should, if thereby be meant any Addition to his intrinsical Excellency or Happiness, for that was always, and ever will be infinitely perfect and incapable of any Increase or Diminution. But in a way of Manifestation he doth Gain very much in punishing Sinners. For hereby he doth evidence his Holiness, and Hatred of Sin, the Severity of his Justice, and the Exactness of his Truth, which is no such very SORRY AMENDS for Transgression, as it is very unwarily asserted to be. And 'tis as true he may, and doth Gain very much in this Sense in pardoning Sinners for the sake of Christ's Satisfaction on their Repentance and Faith in him. For upon this Bottom he doth it on Terms that are Honourable to himself; but that it would be so, to do it on mere Repentance without any respect to the atoning Blood of a Mediator (of which unenlightened Reason knows not a Syllable) doth not yet appear. And tho' he lose the Hearts of Sinners whom he punishes, yet we have Reason to suppose (what Revelation doth abundantly assure us of) that the bright and spacious Heavens are filled with nobler Inhabitants than the little Spot of this dirty Earth, on which we tread: that there are (to use the Words of an 
* Mr. How's Right Use of that Argument from the Name of God, p. 34.  Excellent Person) Numberless Myriads of Wise and Holy Sages in the other World, the continual Observers of all his Dispensations, that behold them with equal unbiass'd Minds, and from the Evidence of the Matter give their Concurrent Approbation, and Applause.— Great and marvellous are thy Works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy ways. But it is Enough and much more Considerable to approve himself to himself, and that all his Dispensations are guided according to the Steady and Eternal Reason of Things. For as he well Speaks in another place of the same 
* Id. p. 8, 9  Discourse, The Glory of God's Name must be understood to be Primarily an Objective Glory, that shines with a Constant and Equal Lustre in all his Dispensations, whether Men Observe or Observe it not. And shines Primarily to Himself, so as that he hath the perpetual Self-Satisfaction of doing as truly becomes him, and what is in itself reputable, Worthy of him, and Apt to approve itself to a right Mind (as his Own ever is) let Men think of his Ways as they please.  
No Travellers have yet found out that imaginary Neck of Land whereby 'tis supposed that Asia and America are joined together. No man by mere Reason can discover the certain Connection between Repentance and Pardon. But here Revelation doth relieve us. The Holy Scriptures acquaint us that Repentance towards God, and Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ on the one hand, and Remission on the other, are inseparably united. The Apostles Commission runs in this form, To open men's Eyes, 
Acts 26.18.  and to turn them from Darkness to Light, and the Power of Satan to God, that they may receive the Forgiveness of their Sins, and an Inheritance among them that are Sanctified by Faith that is in me.  
iv §. IV We can have no Certainty by mere Natural Light, When God will Pardon us, if he do it at all. Wise Governors are not wont to receive into Favour great Offenders, who have gone on in a long course of Rebellion, upon their first Offers of Submission. If we have nothing but our own Reason to guide us, we might well suppose, that in Order to make us more deeply sensible of our Crimes, and teach us the Value of so great a Mercy, God may let us stand a long while in an humble Penitent manner at his Gate, before he vouchsafe to open it to us, if ever he do so. Now besides that Uneasiness of Mind which the being held in Suspense in so important an Affair, must needs create in a Serious and Considering Person, there is this further afflictive Consideration, That our Lives are very short and uncertain. And if the King of Terrors should seize us before our Peace be made with God, we are undone: Or if it surprise us before we have any solid Grounds to believe he is reconciled to us, our Departure out of this World will be like that of a Malefactor out of his Prison, who goes trembling to the Place of Execution, knowing nothing of a Pardon till he comes thither, being half killed with the Fears, tho' he escape the Stroke of Death.  
But here Revelation gives us Light and Comfort: For it certifies us, that no sooner do we sincerely turn to God in Christ, but immediately our Sins are blotted out. 
Ps 32.5.  I acknowledged my Sin unto thee, saith David, and mine Iniquity have I not hid: I said I will confess my Transgression unto the Lord: and then it is presently added in the same Verse, And thou forgavest the Iniquity of my Sin. The Words do not more closely follow one another, than God's gracious Pardon did his Candid and Penitent Confession; nor was this a Favour peculiar to the Psalmist, but 'tis recorded for the Encouragement of others: As he himself intimates in the following Verse; Ver. 6 For this shall every one that is Godly prey unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found. No sooner doth Ephraim begin to relent, but God is brought in, Speaking after the manner of a most Tender and Compassionate Father, whose Soul is melted down upon the Return of his disobedient Child. 
Jer. 31.18, 19, 20. Gataker in locum.  Is Ephraim my dear Son? Is he a pleasant Child? Or rather, as a Learned Man reads the words, Is not Ephraim my dear Son? Is he not a pleasant Child? For since I spoke against him, I remember him still: Therefore my Bowels are troubled for him, I will surely have Mercy upon him, saith the Lord. The Publican, who in a sense of his Vileness, 
Luk. 18.13, 14.  stood afar off, and, as an Argument of his Shame, would not so much as lift up his Eyes towards Heaven, but, in token of his great Contrition, smote upon his Breast, saying, God be merciful to me a Sinner, went down to his house justified; i. e. absolved and acquitted of God: and so the wretched Thanksgiving of the Proud Pharisee, Lord, I thank thee I am not as other men, or even as this Publican, was utterly ruined.  
V §. V Mere Natural Light and Reason gives us no Assurance whether, and how often God will renew his Pardon. Fresh Breaches, after a Reconciliation, are very provoking. Every one would be apt to despise that Government which still should Spare a Traitor, who hath been pardoned once and again, and after that breaks out into other Rebellions. There is such a Complication of aggravating Circumstances in returning to the Commission of Folly, that we could rationally expect no other than that Divine Justice thereupon should seize us, and say to us, Pay me what you Own: If God in his holy Word had not encouraged us, and made it our Duty to believe and hope that upon our deep Humiliation and renewed Faith in the Blood of Christ, he will yet be pacified towards us. Ye have played the Harlot with many Lovers (which is an Offence of that nature, that a man would never pass by one Single act of it; but it hath been frequently repeated by you with Variety of Persons, and therefore you can well look for no other than a Bill of Divorce, 
Jer. 3.1, 22.  yet) return unto me, saith the Lord. Return ye back-sliding Children, and I will heal your back-slidings. And if an awakened Conscience tells us our Treacherous Deal have been many, and we are no more worthy to be regarded by him; yet the Invitation is, 
Hos. 14.2, 4.  Take unto you Words, and turn to the Lord, and say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: and then follow those reviving Words, I will heal all their back-slidings, and I will love them freely.  
There are indeed two Passages in the Epistle to the Hebrews which seem to oppose this; and 'tis sufficiently known how the Novatians abused them of Old; and many serious, but weak Christians, have in all Ages been tormented through a misunderstanding of them. Which therefore I shall largely consider, and so much the rather, because being rightly interpreted, I am afraid they will appear to have a very black Aspect on some of our present Deists. The one is, 
Heb. 6.4, 5, 6.  That it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, etc. If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto Repentance, seeing they Crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open Shame. The other is of the like Import: 
Ch. 10.26, 27.  For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the Knowledge of the Truth, there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sins; but a certain fearful looking for of Judgement and fiery Indignation, which shall devour the Adversaries. This passage, at the first View, seems to render the case of every Man wholly desperate. And it would much more do so, if one word were exactly translated. For whereas we render it, If we sin Wilfully, according to the Original it should be translated, If we sin Willingly, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  which is the Softer word of the two. And who is there that dares to deny but that he hath been guilty of many Voluntary Sins, even since he hath received the Knowledge of the Truth?  
Now I shall endeavour to prove, that both these Places are to be understood barely of the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, only it would be attended in these Hebrews, if they should be guilty of it, with more aggravating Circumstances, than that same Sin in the Pharisees was accompanied withal. Because the Persons offending are supposed by the Apostle once to have been the Professed Disciples of Christ, which the Pharisees never were; and because if they should commit it, they would sin against greater Miracles for the proof of Christianity, since the more plentiful Effusion of the Holy Ghost after the Ascension of Christ.  
For here is the Characteristical Note whereby our Blessed Saviour hath distinguished the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost from all other Sins and Blasphemies whatsoever, viz. the Unpardonableness of it. In the former of these Places it is said, that 'tis Impossible to renew these men to Repentance: Which is in other words to say, 'tis Impossible they should be forgiven. For why is it, that the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall never be forgiven, but because 'tis impossible they should ever Repent who have been guilty of it? And then the Apostle in the very next words doth oppose them that should be guilty of this Sin, to that Ground which receiveth Blessing from God, 
Heb. 6.7, 8.  and compares them to that which beareth thorns and briers, and is rejected and nigh unto Cursing, and whose End is to be burnt. And in the latter place the Apostle tells us, that as for these Men, 
Ch. 10.26.  there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sins. Which words are a plain Allusion to the Law of Moses, in which no Expiations were allowed or appointed for Heinous and Presumptuous Sins, but he who was guilty of them, was to be put to Death without any Favour. 'Tis as if the Apostle had said, There is no other Sacrifice for Sins but what the Son of God hath offered up; this they impiously reject, and Christ never designed to make any atonement by his Blood for the Sin I am now speaking of, and there is no other: And where there is no Expiation, there can be no Pardon. He further adds, Ver. 27 There remains nothing for these men, but a certain fearful looking for of judgement, and fiery Indignation which shall devour the adversaries. What more Significant and Emphatical Words could the Apostle use to express the Unpardonableness of their Crime? And yet as tho' this had not been enough, he further compares their Case to that of those Men who despised the law of Moses, Ver. 28, either by renouncing or abjuring it, or Sinning impudently and presumptuously against it, and who therefore died without Mercy. And to convince us that the Offenders he is speaking of, should be unavoidably pressed to Death, he lays more Weight on them than on the Despisers of Moses' Law. For, saith he, Of how much sorer Punishment suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, etc.  
'Tis further evident from the Nature of the Sin here mentioned, that the Apostle is speaking of the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. The formal nature of that dreadful Sin I take to be this, A malicious reproaching our Blessed Saviour as an Impostor and Deceiver, imputing the Miracles which he wrought by the Spirit of God for the Confirmation of his Holy Doctrine and Mission, to the Power of the Devil. A man would wonder, if there were not a thousand Instances of the like kind, how so many Learned Men could make a shift so much to mistake this clear and plain notion of this Sin, and give us so many Extravagant Opinions concerning it, as widely distant from each other, as all of them are from the Truth; who doth but consider how St. Mark closes the Speech of our Saviour concerning it. For he winds up all with these remarkable words, 
Mark 3.30.  Because they said, he hath an Unclean Spirit: which give us a clear Light whereby to discern the nature of this Sin. But some rather choose, as an Evidence of their great Strength, to endeavour to break through the Walls, than turn the Key that is very plainly in the Door, and would easily open it, and let them into the House.  
Now that 'tis this Sin, viz. the Reproaching Christ as a Deceiver, the Apostle is here speaking of, will appear from the Expressions which he useth concerning it. He calls it a Crucifying the Son of God afresh, 
Ch. 6.6. Ch. 10.29.  and putting him to an open Shame: A treading him under foot, and counting his Blood an unholy thing, and doing Despite to the Spirit of Grace. All which do amount to this, That they esteemed Christ to be a Vile Malefactor, a wretched Impostor; that his Miracles, which for the Matter of Fact they could not deny, were wrought by the help of the Infernal Powers, and therefore he was deservedly put to death; and had it been to do again, they would as readily have done it, as ever the Malicious Jews did.  
Moreover, the Sin here spoken of, in one of the Places, 
Ch. 6.6.  is called a falling away, and that from the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ, which in the Verses immediately foregoing he had newly mentioned; 
Ver. 1, 2.  i. e. a total Renouncing of the Christian Faith, and Returning either to Judaisme or Paganism, which these Hebrews were in great danger of, and which 'tis the apparent Design of this Epistle to fortify them against. And tho' in the other place it be called only in the General a Sinning Wilfully or Willingly, 
Ch. 10.26.  yet thereby the same thing is meant. For just before the Apostle had been exhorting them to hold fast the Profession of their Faith without wavering, Ver. 23 and cautioning them against forsaking the Assembling of themselves together, as the manner of some was; Ver. 25 which was the natural Means, and the Ouvert-Act and Sign of their Apostasy. And then these Words are brought in, For if we sin wilfully, etc. i. e. If we cast away the Profession of our Faith, forsake the Christian Assemblies, and renounce the Doctrine of Christ.  
Now it is worthy of our careful Observation, that the Heathens, but especially the Jews, were so implacably bend against our Blessed Lord, that tho' a Christian did desert the Assemblies of the Faithful, and offer to join with them in their Judaical or Pagan Religion and Worship, yet this alone would not suffice; But besides this, they required an express Abjuring, and Reviling, and Blaspheming Christ as an Impostor. And without this, their Rage was never satisfied; and to speak in the modern Language, they never thought they had fully performed all the necessary Duties of New Converts. 
Acts 26.11.  St. Paul tells us, that when he persecuted the Christians, 
1 Tim. 1.13.  being exceeding mad with Rage, he compelled them to Blaspheme, as he Himself also did. And giving the Corinthians a Character whereby to distinguish between Divine and Diabolical Spirits, 
1 Cor. 13.3.  I give you to understand (Saith he) that no man speaking by the Spirit of God, calleth Jesus Accursed; which doth plainly imply, that it was very usual for men to do so in that Age, for otherwise this Note of his would have been of no manner of Service to them. Pliny, in his Epistle to Trajan, informs him what was the Ordeal Fire by which he tried those who were suspected and accused, whether they would disown Christianity, not only by proposing to them to worship the Heathen Gods, and the Image of the Emperor, but also by demanding of them whether praeterea Christo maledicerent, they would also revile Christ. And he further adds concerning those that fell in that hour of Temptation, that they not only worshipped the Pagan Idols and Trajan's Image, but also that Two & Christo maledixerunt, they reviled Christ. And Justin Martyr 
* Apol. 2d. p. 72. Edit. Paris.  tells us, That Barchochebas, the Ringleader of the Jewish Rebellion, did order the Christians to be severely punished, unless they would not only deny Christ, but blaspheme him too. And Polycarp being required, in order to save his Life, to reproach 
† Euseb. Hist. l. 4. c. 15.  Christ, replied, How can I Blaspheme my King and Saviour.  
And our Learned 
† Harm. of N. Test. p. 289, 290. Vol. 1.  Lightfoot saith, That as early as about the 10th or 11th Year after our Saviour's Ascension, Rabban Gamaliel and the Sanhedrin appointed a new Prayer, in which was a Petition to God to destroy the Heretics, i. e. the Christians; and this he set among the Common Prayers, and appointed it to be in every man's Mouth. And that the Jews had their Emissaries every where abroad, that to their utmost cried down the Gospel— and blasphemed it, and Christ that gave it. Of this (saith he) there is Testimony abundant in the New Testament, and in their own Writings.  
So much shall suffice to prove, that 'tis the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost; but a more Aggravated one than that of the Pharisees, that is meant in both these Places. And if any of our Modern Deists have been maliciously guilty of this Sin unto death, I leave them to God.  
But provided a man hath not gone so great a Length as this is, how many soever his Sins and Back-slidings from God have been, yet on a renewed deep and Sincere Repentance, and a lively Faith in the Blood of Christ, they shall be remitted. Tho' I must add in the words of Moses, 
Exod. 8.29.  Let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully with God any more. For if this Grace be turned into Wantonness, tho' God forgive Men, 
Ps. 99.8.  yet he may and will take vengeance upon their Inventions.  
And this naturally leads me to the Last thing which remains to be spoken unto.  
VI § VI Mere Natural Light and Reason cannot assure us to what Degree God will pardon those whom he does forgive. It is evident, that he continues many Old Punishments, and sends New, and sometimes very severe ones, on those that are truly Penitent. This was undeniably the Case of David, 
2 Sam. 12.9, 10, 11.  Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? Now therefore the sword shall never departed from thine house, because thou hast despised me, etc. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, etc.  
And Death at last seizes them, as well as the rest of Mankind, which is generally looked upon as the standing Mark of God's Displeasure against Sin. And how can mere Reason assure me, that that shall put a final Period to all my Miseries, that there are not some very severe Penalties yet behind for me to endure in the other World? The Generality of men have trembled at the thoughts and fears of future Vengeance. Lucretius 
* 
— At mens sibi conscia facti  
Praemetuens adhibet stimulos terretque flagellis,  
Nec videt interea, qui terminus esse malorum  
Posset, nec qui sit poenarum denique finis;  
Atque eadem metuit magis haec ne in morte gravescant. Lucret.   himself represents a guilty Mind as very jealous that Death was not the End of Misery, but the Beginning of greater Evils. And therefore among other Replies which the great Patron of mere Natural Religion makes to those who might object, that Repentance was no Satisfaction to Divine Justice, this is one; If any 
†— Si ulterior aliqua irrogari debeat poena, Deum Summum post hanc vitam, ad tempus aliquod breve, vel etiam diuturnum, Supplicium de peccatoribus Sumere posse. Herbert de Relig. Gentil. p. 199.  further Punishment ought to be inflicted, God may inflict it on Sinners for a shorter or a longer time after this Life. Such a Notion as this is, did obtain among the Heathen, as is acknowledged by their Advocate 
* Id. p. 196. it. 208. , and is too plain to be denied.  
Were it not for Scripture, Purgatory would not seem to be an absurd Doctrine; The Imperfection of Good men's Repentance, would incline one to suspect, that after this Life, they might be cast into the Fire again, for the further burning up that Dross that still adheres to them. (But of this, more in the next Chapter.) And I do not yet see, but that, if the Scriptures be laid aside, I may as well argue from the Instances of God's Severity in this Life, and from the undergoing a very painful Death, and sometimes a bloody, cruel and untimely one, which is the lot of many true Penitents, as well as others, That God does not, and will not, pardon men, tho' they do Repent; As another may argue from the Instances of his Common Bounty and Kindness to Wicked men, That he will pardon them, if they do.  
Moreover, by the Light of Nature we can't attain to a well-grounded Confidence, that if God should turn away his Wrath from us, he will, besides this, receive us into the Arms and Embraces of his Love; become a Friend, as well as cease to be an Enemy; not only refrain from Chastizing, but also feast a Returning Prodigal; besides the laying of the Storm, cause the Sun to shine, and lift up the light of his holy Countenance on our Souls, and bless us with a sense of his Lovingkindness, which is better than Life. Tho' David was so far reconciled to Absalon as not to Execute him, yea to permit him to return to Jerusalem, yet for a long time he would not Suffer him to see his Face.  
But here Revelation doth thoroughly deliver us from all our Melancholy Fears: For it assures us, that tho' God continue Old Afflictions, or lay New ones on those whom he forgives, yet 'tis only for their Spiritual and Eternal Advantage, to purge out their Corruptions, to exercise and improve their Graces. That all the Strokes he gives them are like those of a Statuary on his ill-shaped Marble, to bring them into a beautiful Image and Form, and so make them more meet to grace and adorn the Heavenly Building which they are designed for. That they shall never be in Heaviness, unless there be a Necessity for it. That God will remember their Frame and his own Promise, and therefore never suffer them to be tempted above what they are able to bear; as a Gardener by his Glasses defends his young and tender Plants from those rough and cold Winds which they can't well endure. And if our Danger be Extraordinary, so shall his Assistance also be. 
Act. 7.56.  When the Jews gnashed on St. Stephen with their Teeth, and were ready to devour him, the Heavens were opened, and he saw Christ Standing at the right hand of God. In all other places of the New Testament he is represented as Sitting there. How comes he at this time to be seen in a different Posture? St. Stephen was now in very great Danger. And so great was our Saviour's Concern for him on this account, that, as if the Throne of Glory had now been uneasy to him, he rises up, and is seen standing at the right hand of his Father, that he might be in a greater readiness to afford that Help to his distressed Servant, which his present Circumstances did so loudly call for. The Scripture tells us, 
Psal. 89.32.  That tho' he visit their Iniquities with a Rod, and their Transgressions with a Stripe, yet his Lovingkindness he will never take away from them. That if it be not apparently their own Fault, he will manifest himself to them, 
Joh. 14.21.  and fill them with that Peace which passeth all Understanding. 
Phil. 4.7.  And there have been many in all Ages who have practised upon and lived up to the Principles of Christianity, and in so doing have found this to be true by a long and comfortable Experience: Yea, not a few have fed on this Heavenly Manna, that once were some of the Chiefest of Sinners, who, when they were first awakened, have lain under dreadful Agonies of Conscience, and, one would have thought, even after their sincere Conversion, should have gone drooping and mourning all their days to their very Graves. Indeed a constant lively Sense of their pasts Sins hath continued engraven on their Spirits, but yet they have been freed from that Distress and Terror of Soul which once they laboured under. As the Print of the Nails and Spear remained in our Saviour's Hands and Side, (for unbelieving Thomas put his Finger into 'em) but not with that Anguish and Torment which they caused in him when he hung upon the Cross. Yea, 
Gal. 6.16.  walking according to Rule, Peace, according to the Promise, hath been upon them, and they have been filled with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory. And if it hath not been thus with others, 'tis not the fault of Christianity, but of the Professors of it.   

CHAP. II. Of a Future State of Bliss.  
THis is what no Wise and Thinking Man, but must be deeply concerned about, and cannot choose but be very uneasy in his own Mind if he has not some clear Account of it, which he may securely depend upon. For,  
We are capable of subsisting in another State, and of being either very happy, or very miserable in it, if God so please. There can be no rational Doubt of this, but that the same Almighty Power and Providence, which brought us into, and hath kept us in this World so long, sometimes Comforting, and at other times Afflicting us, can do the like in the next, and that in much higher Degrees, and to all Eternity if he please. And,  
As Reasonable Creatures, we have a Prospect of, and a Concern for, Futurity. It is the Privilege of our Natures, that we can move this way or that, step back in our own Thoughts to what is past, and forward also to what is yet to come. And every Wise man will be frequently looking before him, often thinking what is like to be his State hereafter.  
And in all Ages all Sorts of Men, as far as we Certainly know, in all Nations, tho' never so Ignorant and Brutish, Wicked and Barbarous, opposite to or remote from each other, have agreed in this, tho' in a very few things besides, viz. A Persuasion that there is a Future State of Happiness and Misery. Whether this was the Effect of Tradition, or the Conclusion of their own Reason, or whether it was derived down to us, together with our Being from our First Parents, the Notion of it being engraven on them with a Divine Hand, and we taking the Impression, being wrought off from them; I shall not now dispute. The matter of Fact is certain, and that's sufficient to make any Man deeply concerned about it, seeing 'tis the Common Sense of all Mankind; and that so much the rather, because,  
As Lovers of ourselves, we cannot choose, but earnestly desire to enjoy the one and avoid the other. And yet,  
As Sinners, we cannot but know ourselves to be unworthy of the Former, and very Liable to the Latter. And therefore Certainty in this matter is desirable on that Account: As also,  
Because of its mighty Influence upon our Conduct here in this World. If there be no other Life but this, it would be our Prudence to make as much of it as we can, without any great Strictness and Nicety, because it is our All. Xenophon 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Xenoph. Opera. Edit. Paris. p. 237. This Passage, together with the foregoing Parts of his Speech that introduce it, Tully thus imperfectly translates: Apud Xenophontem autem moriens Cyrus Major haec dicit, Nolite arbitrari, O mihi charissimi Filii, me cùm à vobis discessero nusquam aut nullum fore, etc.— Quare si haec ita sunt, sic me colitote ut Deum: Sin unà est interiturus animus cum corpore, vos tamen Deos verentes, qui hanc omnem pulchritudinem tuentur & regunt, memoriam nostri piè inviolateque servabitis. Tully de Senectute, Edit. Schrevelii, p. 1264.  brings in Cyrus, when hastening to his End, after he had spoken of his Soul's subsisting and being happy after Death, yet saying, If these things are so, as I do think, then reverencing my Soul follow my Advice: But if they are not so, but the Soul dies with the Body, Yet however reverence the Gods. Methinks the Speech is as weak as the Man; and there is no more of Force or Authority in the Words, than of Majesty in the dying King that uttered them. The Generality of Men will be strongly tempted to think, there is much more Sense in that Epicurean Saying, Let us eat and drink, for to morrow we die, and drop into the void and empty Space where things unborn do lie.  
But if there be another State, we must walk by other Rules and Measures. And how shall we apply ourselves to the Use of Means, when we are at a loss about the End? How can the Mariner steer his Vessel so as to gain his Port, in a cloudy Season, when he can see neither Sun, Moon, nor Stars?  
Assurance in this matter is also requisite for our Support and Comfort in this life. 
* Burnet 's Theory of the Earth. Archaeolog. Part II. Ch. V  It is the vain Imagination of a modern Poetic Philosopher, that the Face of the Primitive Ante-Diluvian Earth was smooth, regular and uniform, and the whole Year was nothing but one Perpetual Spring without any Rain. We are sure there hath been no such Golden Age since the Memory of Man. Spring and Autumn, Summer and Winter, Sunshine and Clouds, Fair Wether and Foul divide our Year; and the Earth, since the Flood, is very uneven, and broken in many places; an exact Emblem of the State of those who dwell upon it. We are born to Troubles, 
Job 5.7.  as the Sparks fly upward; and may speedily be in such deplorable Circumstances, that we can have nothing to fetch any Relief from, unless we can draw it down from Heaven. We may die in a few Moment's, and must within the compass of a few Years: And it will be very dismal in such an Hour, for a Man to feel himself dropping in the Dark, and not know where it is that he is like to fall.  
Lastly, The more Holy and Serious Men are, the more Inquisitive be they about, the more Desirous of, a future State of Bliss. The Notions of it which are impressed on their Minds, are more fresh and quick according to men's Improvement in Piety; like Letters that are cut in the Bark of a young Tree; as that grows bigger, so do they grow larger and fairer every day. 'Tis with Holy Souls as with Men at Sea, the violent Agitations of the stormy Element, wherein they Sail, make them Sick and Weary of this present Posture of Affairs, and earnestly long to be in a better and more settled Place. It is not more natural for a Seed, when it is quickened, to cleave its way through the Clods of the Earth, and lift up its head into the free and open Air; than it is for the good Principle, proportionably to its Increase in the Soul, to shoot up in fervent Desires and Breathe after the Heavenly State. Upon all these Considerations, a satisfactory Account of it cannot but be very desirable. And tho' a senseless Log may, yet a Considering Man cannot be carried down the swift and hasty Stream, without many Thoughts, Whither am I going? And how is it like to be with me in that other World, to which I am making such visible and daily Approaches?  
But now if we cast away our Bibles, we throw our Compass overboard. For,  
I. §. I Mere Natural Light and Reason cannot give us a full Assurance that there is a Future State of Bliss. About this the Heathens, who wanted Divine Revelation, were at a very great Loss. They had such a Notion among them, some Glimmering Apprehensions of it; they inclined to it as a Probable Opinion, and wished it were true; but could not be very Confident of it.  
I grant indeed, as Learned Men have well observed, that the Later 
* Stillingfleet's Orig. Sac. p. 500  Platonists of the Sacred Succession, out of the School of Ammonius, have written with another Air, and in a much higher Strain of this as well as some other important Subjects, than those that went before them. But 'tis not unknown at what Fire they lighted their Tapers. They suddenly grew rich by the Spoils they had gotten out of the Holy Scriptures, which yet they had not the Honesty to own they had taken thence: But disguised their Notions by giving them a peculiar Turn, that it might be thought, what they had transplanted from the Sacred Writings, did Originally grow in their own Gardens.  
And I do not deny but that sometimes the Older Philosophers express themselves with some Briskness and Confidence. But then they assert, and do not solidly prove it; and we have little reason to believe them, because at other times 'tis plain they did hardly believe themselves in what they said. They have betrayed a great Doubtfulness of Mind about it, and that in such a Season, when they most of all needed a firm Persuasion of it as a warm Cordial at their Hearts; in the midst of Troubles and Dangers, and when they were on the Confines of the Grave: Let my Fellow-soldiers Congratulate me when I am dead, (as Xenophon brings in Cyrus, speaking in his last Moment's) because 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Xenoph. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. inter opera, p. 238.  then I shall be in safety, and nothing can hurt me, whether I shall be with God, or be reduced to Nothing: But which of these two should be his Case, was Somewhat of a Doubt with him.  
I cannot but pity the Distress of Soul that Socrates must needs be in for this very reason, when he was on the Point of Martyrdom for the Unity of the Godhead. Tho', by the way, he was but a sorry Martyr for it, who in Prison asserted a 
† Plato Apol. Socr. p. 27.  Plurality of Gods, and with his dying Breath ordered his Friend to offer for him a 
* Plato's Phoedo, p. 118. Edit. Serrani.  Cock to Aesculapius; and so the last thing that he did, was to disown that Fundamental of all Religion for which 'tis pretended that he suffered. And as he was thus divided in his own Mind about the One God, so was he no less about the Future State. The very last words which Plato makes him speak to his intimate Friends in his Apology, are these: I must speedily die, but you shall continue to live; but who shall be in better Circumstances in a little while, You or I, is uncertain to every one but to God 
† Apolog. p. 42.  alone. Tully indeed doth endeavour to fetch him off: For, saith he, that which he saith no one knows but the Gods alone with whom it should be better, he himself knew; for he had said it before: Referring to that 
* Quod praeter Deos negat scire quenquam, id scit ipse, utrum melius sit. Nam dixit ante: Sed suum illud nihil ut affirmet, tenet ad extremum. Tusc. Quaest. l. 1. p. 1063.  Passage of Socrates which he had newly quoted, I have great hopes that it will go well with me, etc. (of which more presently), but he still to the last observes his usual way of affirming nothing. The same do those two Learned Men, 
† In notis ad Apolog. Socratis, p. 41.  Serranus and 
‖ Concordia Rationis & Fidei, p. 156.  Huetius, offer in his behalf; and that he doth herein no more than what he ought, having set up for the first Author of Doubting and Questioning every thing; and so doth but maintain the Character which he had assumed; and doth only accommodate himself to the Opinion of others, and the Hypothesis of the Vulgar with whom he had to do; but that otherwise there was nothing which he was more confident of. But this is but a very lame Excuse for him. I grant indeed he doth several times say that he doth strongly hope he shall go to the 
* Apolog. p. 40. Phoedo, p. 63. it. p. 80, 81. it. p. 115. See this also in Tully. Tus. Qu. l. 1. p. 1066.  Gods, and to the Seat of the Blessed, etc. But then he saith no more concerning Himself than he doth concerning the SWANS: For, saith he, when They are sensible that they must die, as they sang before, they then do it more than ever, rejoicing that they are a going to that God 
† 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Plato's Phoedo, p. 84, 85.  whose Servants they are. Now in spite of the Oracle, we may venture to say, That he who talks of going to God in no other Sense than a dying Bird doth, is not a very Wise and Knowing man, nor like to be a very Happy one. But he further adds, That Dying 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Id. p. 85.  Swans do sing, because they belong to Apollo; and having a sort of Prophetic Instinct, they foresee the good things of the Future State, and thereupon they are far better pleased with their last Day, than with any whatsoever in the foregoing part of their Lives. And I reckon myself a Fellow-Servant with these Creatures, and to be Consecrated to the same God which they are dedicated unto; and that I have not less of a Spirit of Divination than they, communicated to me from him our Common Master, and that I shall not departed this Life in a more Melancholy manner than they do. I think the God, the Birds and the Philosopher, are all of a Feather, and very well matched.  
But besides this, he doth at every turn put in so many cold and qualifying Passages, as plainly show he was like a Blind man, that gropes and feels out his way, and moves with great Fear, not knowing where his next Step shall be: For, saith he, to fear Death is nothing else but for a man to seem to be Wise, when he is not really so: For no man 
* Apolog. p. 29.  KNOWS but that it MAY be to him the greatest Good. But than it may be the greatest Evil for aught any one can tell; and the way to cure Men of this Fear, had been roundly to have asserted, and solidly to have proved, but that was more than he could do, that Death will be to them very great Gain and Advantage. And presently after he adds: In this I differ from many; and if in any thing I would affirm 
* Ib.  myself to be Wiser than the rest of Mankind, it should be in this, That as I do not well understand the things which belong to the Future Invisible State, so I am sensible that I don't know them. But this I do certainly know, that to injure and rebel against any that is our Superior, whether it be God or Man, is a piece of very great Wickedness. But as for those things which I do not know whether they are Good or Evil, I will never fear or avoid them, rather than those things which I do certainly know to be Evil. Where we plainly see, that notwithstanding his Sceptical Humour in which he did greatly delight and indulge himself, yet some things he did certainly know, and they are contradistinguished from what he was not assured of, and which are the things relating to the Future State. The same we may observe in another Place. What (saith he) would any one have me in a sneaking manner from a fear of that Punishment which Melitus would fain bring me to (viz. Death) which I profess that I do not know whether it be 
* Id. p. 37.  Good or Evil for me; to choose that which I do certainly know to be Evil? meaning thereby a Voluntary Submission to a Perpetual Imprisonment, Banishment, or a Fine, which would have been a tacit Acknowledgement of his Gild. Again, a little after, (saith he) I have great Hopes that Death will be Gain to me: For one of these two things will follow upon it, either that then a man will have no 
† Id. p. 40. See this also translated by Tully. Tusc. Quaest. p. 1063.  manner of Sense of any thing at all, or else, as it is SAID, he will be translated into another Place. And yet once more in the selfsame Page, IF to die, be to go to another Place, and the things which are reported are true, that all who have departed this Life are there, what greater Good can there be? To which having spoken somewhat of the Condition of Good men after Death, he adds these very remarkable words, If these things are true 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Apolog. Socr. p. 41. , i. e. if I were sure they were so, I would willingly die over and over. Again, saith he, I hope to go to Good men, tho' I will not boldly affirm it. But that I shall go to the God's Lords who are very good, if I would confidently aver any thing in matters of this nature, this should be it. After this 
† 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Plato's Phoedo, p. 63.  Plato brings in his Friend Simmias replying thus upon him, I am of the same mind with you, 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Plato's Phoedo, p. 85.  O Socrates, that 'tis altogether Impossible, or at least exceeding Difficult to arrive at any Certainty in these Matters, while we are in this Life.— And therefore we must diligently do one of these two things, Either learn from others, or find out by beating our own Brains, how these matters are: Or if this be Impossible to be done, then take up with the best of Humane Accounts, and least liable to be confuted, that is to be had, that by the Help thereof as by a Vessel we may sail through the Dangers and Difficulties of this present Life; unless a man can get a better and a Safer means of Conveyance, and that is a DIVINE WORD. After this Socrates addressing himself to prove the Immortality of the Soul, and the Future State, ushers in his Proofs with a long Preface, telling his Friends, his chief Design was to persuade himself of their Truth. But it seems it was more than he could do. For, among others, he hath these words: 
* Phoedo, p. 91.  IF THE THINGS WHICH I SAY ARE TRUE, 'tis good to be persuaded of them: But if nothing of a man doth remain after he is dead, nevertheless this little time which I have to live will be the more pleasant: And after Death, it will be no disadvantage to me.  
Upon this he endeavours to prove the Point as well as he could; and then, for want of better matter, at large relates some of the Poetical Dreams about the Future State; and thereupon concludes, as well he might, that it doth not become a man of Sense to aver, that what he hath reported is true, etc.  
Had not Socrates been really at a great Plunge, Plato would never have so far transgressed the Rules of Decency which he well understood, and at other times was wont to observe, as at every Turn to bring him in thus Hesitating and Doubting: Especially considering the Weight of the Subject, and the Circumstances of his Master, who now lay under the Sentence of Death. And a Learned and Dying Man makes but an Odd Figure when he is brought in Dropping so many Suspicious Words about the Future State, if he really be clear in his own Mind about it. It looks more like Distrust and Fear, than Humility and Modesty. And of all Men it was most intolerable in Socrates, who from an irksome Sense of the miserable Uncertainty and Uselessness of other parts of Learning, set up for a Reformer of Philosophy, and was altogether for Ethics, correcting the Manners of Men, and promoting good Living in the World, the great Encouragement whereunto is a Future Reward. For even Virtue itself, as Fair as it is, like other Beauties, is not like to be warmly Courted by many, if it have no Dowry. Add to all this, That he was not now talking to the Rabble, but discoursing with his Intimate, Learned and Philosophical Friends, with whom he should have dealt more openly and freely; and that so much the rather, because all along they are brought in as much unsatisfied in their own Minds. From all which Considerations 'tis evident, tho' he talked much, yet he knew but little of the matter. And even for that also, 'tis not unlikely that he was beholden to others. He (as well as they that succeeded him) resembled the New Moon, the far greatest part of whose Face is covered with Darkness; and the small remainder which is not so, shines with but a faint, pale, yea and a borrowed Light too.  
If any one shall say, that Plato used an unaccountable Liberty in mingling so much of his own Sentiments with the Speeches of Socrates, that like an interpolated Book, 'tis hard to know what was his own, and what belonged to his Master; I shall not deny it: Because I find, that, when Socrates himself heard him once repeat his 
* Diog. Laert. in vitâ Platonis, p. 207, 208. Edit. Colon. Anno 1616.  Lysis, he cried out, How many things doth this Young man feign me to speak? For (saith Laertius) he had written not a few things in the Person of his Master, which he never said. But it will serve my Turn altogether as well, whether it be the One or the Other. Either the Wise Socrates or the Divine Plato, or rather both of them, did float up and down like an unsteady Vessel in the Sea, that is tossed this way and that; they wandered in an Endless Maze of wild Guesses and Conjectures at Random.  
That Passage in Tully 
*— Se cùm tempus mortis venisset, totos perituros.— Nec tamen mihi sanè quidquam occurrit, cur non Pythagorae sit & Platonis vera Sententia. Ut enim rationem Plato nullam afferret (vide quid homini tribuam) ipsâ Auctoritate me frangeret. Tot autem rationes attulit, ut velle caeteris, sibi certè persuasisse videatur. Tusc. Quaest. l. 1. p. 1057.  is very observable, who having spoken of those little Philosophers, who affirmed that Death was the total destruction of the whole Man, adds, Nothing doth occur to me to make me think the (contrary) Opinion of Pythagoras and Plato is not true: For tho' Plato should produce no Reason at all (see what Deference I pay to the Man) his Authority would quite bear me down. But he hath produced so many Reasons, that he seems Willing to persuade others, however doubtless to persuade himself. So that in his Opinion he was little better than a Wellwisher to the Cause. Let's see whether He himself can do better. He had as sharp an Eye as most Men ever had; and yet he introduces his Discourse on this Argument with words to this effect: I am not going to utter 
* Tusc. Quaest. l. 1. p. 1053.— Explicabo, nec tamen ut Pythius Apollo, certa ut sint & fixa quae dixero, etc.  Oracles nor give Demonstrations, but inconsiderable Man that I am among many others, I will give you my Guests as to what is likely: For I can go no further than Probabilities. Let those talk of Certainties who profess themselves to be Wise. Then he reckons up the several Opinions of the Philosophers: Some think the Soul is extinguished with the Body, others that 'tis presently dissipated after it hath taken its leave of the Carcase, others that it remains in being a long while, and others that it lasteth always, etc. Now (saith he) God knows which of these Opinions is true; and which of them is most probable is a great Question. And afterwards having rejected the Opinion of Dicoearchus, 
* Id. p. 1054.  that the Soul is nothing at all, saith he, the Opinions of the rest give us HOPE (if this be pleasing to you) that it is POSSIBLE that Souls when they depart from their Bodies may go to Heaven as to their own House. To this his Friend, who discourses with him, replies: I am very desirous it should be so; and if it be not, yet I would fain be persuaded of it. And upon the recommending Plato's Treatise of the Soul to him, his Friend replies: I assent to what he says, 
* Tusc. Qu. l. 1. p. 1054.  I know not how, while I am reading it: But when I have laid the Book aside, and I begin to think with myself of the Soul's Immortality, all my Assent to it slides away from me. Indeed the ARguments which Plato brings on this Occasion, and which Tully hath but too much honoured by transcribing from him, are almost all of them so weak and trifling, that I wonder how Cleombrotus, when he heard him discoursing on that Subject, could be induced to leap from him into the Sea, that he might presently be in the other State. Had I been his Hearer, unless he could have produced stronger Proofs, and given a better Account of the matter than he hath done in his Dialogue of the Soul, I should much rather have thrown Him than myself overboard, and have sent him into the other World, that so he might thoroughly have informed himself about the Subject he pretended to treat, but was so far from being a Master of. He talks so weakly on this Head, that I think no man but one who is Non compos mentis, would ever have brought in poor Cleombrotus as a Felo de se for Drowning himself.  
And in another place Tully brings in Cato after a long Discourse on this Subject, winding up the whole in these Words: 
* De Senectute at the end, p. 1265.  If it be an Error that the Souls of Men are Immortal, I am pleased to err, and I will never, as long as I live, be beaten out of it: But if when I am dead (as some little Philosophers think) I shall perceive Nothing; I am not afraid, lest the Philosophers who are dead, should deride this Error of mine: But if we are not Immortal, yet it is desirable for a Man in his proper time to be extinguished. This cannot be excused by a Pretence that Tully speaks it not in his own Person, but in Cato's: And that when a Man doth personate another, he must speak agreeably to his Character, tho' it be never so contrary to his own real Sentiments. For he himself tells us in 
* De Amicitiâ in the beginning, p. 1265.  another place, that he brings in Cato disputing of Old Age, because he did not know a fit Person; and that this manner of Writing in the borrowed Person of Ancient and Illustrious Men hath, he knows not how, more of Weight in it. And therefore, saith he, when I read my OWN Writings, I am sometimes so affected with them, as tho' they were not my Say, but really Cato ' s. So that under the Covert of another's Name, he plainly writes his own Opinion. And a little after in the same Book, having spoken of the speedy Return of the departed Souls of very Excellent Men to Heaven, he can't forbear adding: IF 
* Id si ita est, ut optimi cujusque animus in morte facillime evolet, etc. Sin autem illa veriora, ut idem interitus sit animorum & corporum, nec ullus Sensus maneat, ut nihil boni est in morte, sic certè nihil mali. Id. p. 1267.  this be so, then Scipio 's Soul to be sure is got thither: But IF it be TRUER, that Body and Soul do utterly perish together, and there be no remaining Sense at all; then as there is no Good in Death, so there is no Evil in it.  
Seneca, when he was dangerously Sick, labours to Comfort himself against the Fears of his Dissolution with this sorry Consideration, That Death 
* Ep. 54.  would put him into the same Condition he was in ere he was born; that Men are like a Candle, which is in no worse State after 'tis put out than before it was lighted. At another time, saith he, I was pleased in enquiring into the Soul's Eternity 
† Ep. 102. , or rather to Believe it: For I did easily believe the Opinions of Great Men, who were better at promising what was very grateful to me, than at proving it. When he would comfort 
‖ Ad Marciam, Ch. 19  Marcia for the Loss of her dear Son, saith he, That may be Good or Evil that is Something; but that which is Nothing, and reduceth all things into Nothing, delivers us up to no Fortune; nor can he be Miserable who no longer is at all. And again upon the same Occasion, saith he to another, It may be he 
* Epist. 63. the last words.  is gone before; IF what Wise men have said, be true, and there be a Place to receive us after Death. But this is poor Consolation, cold as the Grave wherein a man's Friend is laid. Plutarch speaks no more confidently when he endeavours to comfort 
* Consol. ad Apol. Edit. Xylandris, p. 109, etc.  Apollonius upon the untimely Death of his very promising Son; he adopts that Saying of Socrates, That Death is like a deep Sleep, or a long Travelling into a foreign Country, or else 'tis a total Destruction of Body and Soul; and speaks to the last as well as the two other, that he may demonstrate Death to be no Evil. This was one of the Ingredients he uses to make a Plaster to heal the Sore of his distressed Friend. And the best that he could say was, IF the Saying of the Ancient Poets and Philosophers be true 
† P. 120. , as 'tis Probable that it is, that Good men are advanced when they die, and some of them, as 'tis reported, more highly than others, and there be a certain Place appointed for pious Souls in which they live, you have reason to hope well concerning your Son that he is got among 'em.  
As for Death, (saith 
* Antoninus, l. 7. §. 32.  Antoninus) whether it be a Dissipation of the Elements, or a Reduction into Atoms, or an Annihilation, it is either an Extinction or a Transmigration: Or, as others read it, it is either 
† Gataker in locum, p. 273.  a Dissipation of the Elements, Resolution into Atoms, Annihilation, Extinction or Transmigration. A Saying that much resembles that of Seneca 
‖ Contemnite mortem, quae vos aut finit aut transfert. Seneca de Provide. ch. 6. , Despise Death, which either ends or translates you.  
He that would see more of Antoninus' Uncertainty, let him turn to the Places 
* Lib. 3. §. 3. l. 4. §. 14. & 21. l. 6. §. 24. l. 7. §. 50. l. 8. §. 25. & 58. l. 10. §. 58. l. 12. §. 5.  cited in the Margin.  
To these Philosophers I will add the famous Historian 
† Vita Agricolae, ad finem.  Tacitus, who, speaking in very affecting Terms concerning the Death of his Father-in-Law Agricola, drops this Passage: IF there be any place for the Ghosts of Good men; IF, as Wise men define, the Souls of Great Persons die not with the Body, in Peace mayst thou rest, etc.  
Of the same Strain is the Speech of that noble Roman Lady Veturia, a Woman of an admirable Wit and Address, and whose Spirit was altogether as great as her Quality; who, among other Arguments with which she diverted her Son Coriolanus from ruining his own Country, when it was entirely at his Mercy, makes use of this, That if she could but succeed in her Enterprise of prevailing with him to lay aside his, she should not only gain Immortal Honour here upon Earth, but also, IF there be a place, saith she, 
*— 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Dionys. Halicarn. l. 8. p. 522, 523. Edit. Wichelii.  for the Reception of Humane Souls after they are dismissed from the Body, mine shall go not to a subterraneous and dark one, where 'tis SAID that miserable Wretches are lodged, nor to the Plains of Lethe, as they are called; but to the High and Pure Aether, where 'tis REPORTED that they who are descended from the Gods, do lead a blessed and happy Life. I am not without some Grounds of Jealousy, that the Whole of her Speech, whereof these Words are a part, as 'tis set down, was made for her by Dionysius, according to the usual custom of most Historians, who are wont to put Words into the Mouths of those Persons whose Actions they relate, and done't so much tell us what They spoke, as what Themselves would have said, had they been to have made a set Oration under the same Circumstances; wherein they frequently , make them talk much finer than it can rationally be supposed They are capable of doing; lay on so much Paint, that it easily appears to an observing Eye to be the work of Art, and not of Nature: But be it the Incomparable Veturia, or the Grave Dionysius, 'tis not very material. 'Tis evident the Person that spoke, was very doubtful about a Future State.  
Now if it were thus with the most Learned and Sagacious Men, with the most Elevated and Exalted Souls; how sad in all likelihood must it needs be with the Body of Mankind? If they who had got the Higher Ground above the Heads of the Common People, and had the Advantage too of standing on one another's Shoulders, could see such a little way before 'em; what shall we think of the little Creatures that sat below? In short, we do not find that Everlasting Life in the other State was in any Heathen Nation an Article of Religion established by Law. It was but slightly touched on by Philosophers when ever they did name it, which was but seldom, as a Motive to excite Men to the Practice of Virtue. Other Arguments they use and trust to, which they did better understand; and it is Prudence for a man not to urge those Reasons which are strongest in themselves, but rather fight with that Weapon which he is a Master of, and knows how best to manage. And 'tis a shrewd Observation of 
* St. August. de Civit. Dei, l. 4. c. 22. l. 6. c. 9  St. Austin, That tho' the Heathens had abundance of Gods, to whom they did particularly apply themselves, to one for one Blessing, to another God for another Favour; and therefore the Knowledge of the Gods was necessary, that they might direct themselves to them aright, and not ask Water from the God of Wine, etc. Yet Varro himself, who was very well skilled in the matter, hath not mentioned so much as one God, whom they were to pray unto for Eternal Life.  
'Tis true indeed, we who have been taught from our very Infancy by the Gospel, that there is such a Place as Heaven, and so glorious a Reward for the Righteous in the other State, may be apt to think, that we have hit upon it by the Exercise of our own unassisted Reason, or that it was very easy so to have done. But herein it fares with us, as oftentimes it doth with a Studious Man, who having familiarly conversed with good Authors, doth verily think some of those Notions and Expressions too which he hath learned from them, are the genuine Offspring of his own Mind and Thought. Just as Corn that springs up in some places, seems to the Husbandman to be the natural Product of the Ground, he having never sowed it with that sort of Grain; the Seeds of which, in Reality, were taken up by the Wind from another Field whereto they did originally belong, and invisibly dropped down there. I can't better express my Sense of this than in the Words of a modern Author, who herein speaks very well, tho' judging by the main Design of his Book, I take him to be a very Singular Unitarian, seeing he cuts off all the necessary Articles of our Faith, excepting that of the Belief of Jesus to be the Messiah; tho' I charitably hope he doth not set Christianity on one single Foot, that it may be the more easily pushed down. 
* Reasonab. of Christianity, p. 276, 277, 278.  When Truths are known to us, saith he, we are apt to be favourable to our own Parts; and ascribe to our own Understandings the Discovery of what in Truth we borrowed from others:— and Truths which we are now satisfied of, we conclude our own Faculties would have led us into without any Assistance.— A great many things we have been bred up in the Belief of, from our Cradles, (and are Notions grown Familiar, and as it were Natural to us under the Gospel) we take for unquestionable obvious Truths, and easily demonstrable, without considering how long we might have been in Doubt or Ignorance of them, had Revelation been silent: And many are beholden to Revelation who do not acknowledge it. But Revelation is little beholden to such ungrateful Creatures, how much soever they may be to it.  
If we lay that aside, I do not see how a Man can be fully satisfied concerning a Future State of Bliss. We may indeed, by the Light of Nature and Reason, be sure that there is a State of Future Punishments, because of the great and almost uninterrupted Prosperity of many wicked Men in this World. As sure therefore as I am, that there is a God and a Providence, so sure I am that there will be a day of Reckoning with these Men, and they shall feel that Vengeance hereafter, that does not overtake them here.  
But by the mere Light of Reason, I cannot be fully assured that there is a State of Future Rewards for good Men: For this great Bar and Objection lies against it, That the best of Men are Sinners, and Great ones too; and have deserved to suffer far worse things, upon that Account, than any they meet with here. And Deliverance from that Wrath and Torment, which the best of Men are liable to, and worthy of, in the next World; that, tho' alone, would be an unspeakable Favour. We cannot certainly conclude more from the Goodness of God, nor reflect upon him as an hard Master if he proceed no further. A vile Criminal has abundant Reason to thank his Prince, if he give him his Life, which he has forfeited over and over; and cannot with Modesty expect, besides this, to be received into the Number of his special Favourites, and be highly preferred by him.  
But now the Gospel-Revelation does give us a full Assurance in this matter: Christ has made it a Fundamental Article of our Faith, has established it as a main Principle of his Religion: 
1 Joh. 2.25.  This is the Promise that he has promised us, even Eternal Life. He has not only given us some dark Hints about it, but set it in a clear Light, and open Day. 
2 Tim. 1.10.  We do not gather it by a long Train of rational Inferences from what he has said, which would make but little Impression: For as a Line, the further it is drawn forth, the more does it waver and tremble; so the longer the Train of Deductions is in matters of a Moral Nature, the more hover is our Assent to any Truth, and the less Efficacy has it on our Souls: And whatever the Learned may do, yet the Common People have not Leisure or Capacity for the spinning of a long and fine Thread. But Christ has plainly told us of this, and that not once or twice only, or by the buy; but repeated it often, expressly and designedly, so that we meet with it in almost every Page of the New Testament.  
To the Promise there is annexed the Oath of God; not that this makes the matter more certain in itself: For God can no more be guilty of Lying than of Perjury. But the Oath is added to the Promise for our sakes, to create the stronger Belief of it in us, whom Gild makes so very jealous: Like the Public Stamp on a piece of Silver, which doth not increase the intrinsic Value of it, but only makes it the more Current. God willing more Abundantly to show to the Heirs of Promise the Immutability of his Counsel, 
Heb. 6.17, 18.  confirmed it by an Oath; that by two Immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie; i. e. to deceive us, we might have the stronger Consolation. This Promise hath also been ratified by the Blood of Christ, whereby the whole of the New Covenant; and among the rest this, which is one of the main Branches of it, hath been Confirmed. Besides which, he has also given us an unquestionable Pledge of it, in his own Resurrection, and Ascension into Heaven, whither he is entered as our Forerunner; which is as fully testified to us, as any Matter of Fact can possibly be, by all his Disciples, who could not be deceived in such an Object of Sense; and were Men of such great Piety and Honesty, that they would not deceive us if they could; and who sealed their Testimony with their very Blood, Confirmed all that they said with the Loss of their Lives, and all the Comforts of them. And there is this further observable, That when Christ was Ascending, the Angels assured them who stood by and saw it; This same Jesus, 
Act. 1.11.  which is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into Heaven. And the selfsame Penman, in his Gospel (which should have been immediately joined to the Acts of the Apostles, had it not been for St. John's Gospel intervening) tells us the Manner of his Ascension: 
Luk. 24.50, 51.  He lifted up his hands, and blessed them: And while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and taken up into Heaven. He shall so come in like manner, when his Work of Intercession is finished; Our great Highpriest shall come out of the Holy of Holies, to Bless his People, and appear without Sin unto their Eternal Salvation.  
II. §. TWO Tho' by the Light of Reason only we could be clearly satisfied there is a Reward for the Righteous in the other World, yet we could not thereby be fully assured of the Greatness of it. If we could get above the Fears of Divine Wrath and Vengeance in the next World, which it is hard for a Sinner to do, who knows God and Himself; Yet what Ground should we have to hope for a much better Being and Condition there, than we enjoy here? Especially for a Happiness so highly surpassing it, as that which in the Gospel is propounded to us. If God should not punish, yea if He should reward, yet a Guilty Creature cannot reasonably promise himself a very Considerable Recompense from a Holy and Righteous God, whom he hath so highly offended, and whom, when he hath done his best, he hath so poorly served.  
We shall find the Wisest of the Heathens had but very gross Ideas, mean and poor Notions of the Future State of Bliss. Sometimes they speak of it in General Terms only, which was but a Cover for their Ignorance; and those too not very lofty and towering ones. He that is afraid of Death (saith 
* De Seipso, l. 8. §. 58.  Antoninus) either fears the utter loss of all Sense; or else that he shall have a Sense of a different Kind from what he now hath: But if there be none left, than thou shalt have no Perception of any Evil at all. And that I think is unquestionable. But he adds, If thou hast another Sort of Sense, than thou shalt be another Kind of Animal, and shalt not cease to live. Emperors are not at leisure to answer every poor Enquirer; else any Man that hath any Sense at all, would presume to ask his Imperial Majesty what Sort of Animal he shall be; and what Manner of Life he shall lead: And so much the rather, because many of the Learned Philosophers tell us that departed Souls do enter into Brutes. And as wild and unaccountable a Paradox as this may seem to be, yet it hath been a very Ancient Opinion, and spread very far, especially among the Wise men of the East, where 
* Burnet's Archaeol. l. 1. cap. 2. It. in Appendice, p. 353.  still it doth greatly obtain to this very day. Pythagoras and his Followers, on this Account, are reported to have forborn all sorts of Flesh, whether of Birds or Beasts: And allowing them their Principle, none could justly blame their Abstinence. For 'tis but an Odd thing for a Man to sit down to his Meat, when, for aught he knows, he may Chop up his Father, or Swallow down his Mother; yea, a man's beloved Wife, for any thing he can tell, may become nearer and more intimate with him after her Death, than ever she was in her Life. She that lay in his Bosom, may descend into his Entrails, turn into Nourishment, and, in a Literal Sense, become One Flesh with him. And these Philosophers are so very particular, as to tell us what Sort of Brutus' departed Souls enter into: Some into Bees 
* Socrates in Platonis Phoedone, p. 81, 82. & Tim. Locr. de Anima, p. 104. Macrob. in Somn. Scip. l. 1. ch. 9 , others into Asses, etc. Now tho' a Man could reconcile himself to the drudging laborious Life of the one, yet it would go very much against the Grain to bear the cruel Stripes, and heavy Loads of the other. Nor should I very hearty join in 
* bail Dict. in Hali Beigh. out of Rycaut. p. 18.  that Man's Prayer, That my Soul, after Death, should have the Honour of entering into a Camel, as Sober and Patiented and Sweet an Animal as it is: For 'tis a Laborious Life those Creatures lead, and a long Way they travel with a Pack of Drugs from the East, much bigger than the Bunch on their Backs.  
Plutarch, in his Consolatory Epistle to his Wife, on the Death of her little Daughter, saith, She is 
† 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Consolat. ad Uxorem, p. (Oporum) 611.  gone to a place where there is no Sorrow. But he hath no better Proof of it than the Customs and Laws of their Ancestors, which forbade them to use those Funeral 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, &. Id. p. 612.  Rites in behalf of Infants, which they were wont to employ about Grown Persons: For this, saith he, would be unlawful, seeing they are translated into a better and a more Divine Place. By the manner of arguing one would think this were the Speech of the little Child before her Departure, not the Language of her Grave Philosophical Father. But these are but General Words, let's come a little to Particulars.  
Cluverius 
† De Antiquâ Germ. l. 1. c. 32. p. 222.  tells us, that it was a Custom among the Celtaes, the Galls, and the Albani, which he proves out of Diodorus Siculus, Valerius Maximus and Strabo, to bury some Pieces of Money with the deceased Party, and send some by him to their Friends in the other State, for their Use there; and to lend their Acquaintance Money to be repaid them there; and that this is a very common Custom among many Heathen Nations to this day: As also to 
* Hody of the Resurrection, p. 6, 32, 33, 46.  kill Camels on their Graves, Horses, Concubines and Butlers; and burn their Garments and other Attire; or bury them and Householdstuff and Arms with them for their Use when 
† Lucian de Luctu, p. 432. Edit. Bened.  they came thither; and they could have no very Extraordinary Apprehensions of the Happiness of Souls there, who were guilty of such a Practice as this. But these were Barbarous People, as the Greeks in their abundant Civility to the rest of Mankind were wont to call all the World besides themselves; tho' they were Originally beholden to other Nations for all the Learning and Knowledge on which they so much Valued themselves. Let us therefore see what these Sons of Wisdom have to say to the Point in hand.  
Homer may challenge the Privilege of being heard first, because of his Great Antiquity, and his being the first Discoverer of the Elysian Fields. He brings in Proteus thus speaking to Menelaus: The Gods shall send thee to the Elysian Fields, which lie on the utmost parts of the Earth 
* 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc.  Odyss. l. 4. v. 564. , where thou shalt live safe and happy; there being neither too great a Quantity of Rain or Snow, or too long a Winter; but the blessed Inhabitants are continually refreshed with the gentle Breathing of cool Breezes that come from the Ocean. A good, dry, and warm place, comfortable enough for a naked Soul, or one that hath at best so thin and slight a Clothing as that of Aether must be supposed to be. But a good Seat is not very desirable, without suitable Sports and Diversion. And Virgil will inform us what they are. Some spend their time in Wrestling 
* 
Pars in gramineis exercent membra palaestris, Contendunt ludo, etc.  Virgil Aeneid. l. 6. v. 643. . One would think he was describing other Fields, which I am loath to mention, and not those of Elysium. Others in Singing and Dancing, the Happiness of a Stage or a Playhouse. The Warlike Souls having put off their glittering Armour, in a very peaceable manner are refreshing themselves, and their unbridled Steeds. The Lances that were wont to be cruelly run through the Sides and Hearts of their Enemies, are Mercifully stuck into the Ground only. And they behold their Chariots with as much Pride and Pleasure as ever they road in 'em when they drove them over the Carcases of their fallen Enemies: For tho' they have left their Bodies behind 'em, they have carried along with 'em the same 
* Secundùm illum (Virgilium) res quoque leviores, quas viri exercuerant, etiam post Corpus exercent.— Quae gratia Curruum, etc. Macrob. in Somn. Scip. l. 1. cap. 9  Humours they had, whether Jocular and Pleasant, or Savage and Cruel.  
Plutarch not having Cordials of his own strong enough to support the Spirits of Apollonius for the Loss of his Virtuous Son, borrows one from Pindar, whom he quotes, describing the State of the Pious after Death, to whom he would have him believe the Departed Youth was gone; whose Happiness he describes in Words to this effect: They do continually 
† Plutarchi Consolat. ad Apollon. p. 120.  enjoy a clear Sunshine, when this Earth of ours is wrapped up in Darkness. The Fields round about them are adorned with beautiful Roses, and shaded with Trees that yield Frankincense, and bear Golden Fruit. Some sport themselves on Horseback, others divert themselves with Music. The Country is always pleasant, and so are they who dwell in it. And there are no other Clouds but what arise from the Smoke of Incense, which they plentifully burn on their Altars, whose sweet Odours at once refresh their Gods and themselves too.  
But it may be some will say these were Poets, (yet Poets were their great Divines 
* Stillingfleet's Orig. Sacr. p. 57, 58.  of Old:) Let us therefore hear some of their grave Moral Philosophical Writers. Plato brings in Socrates 
† In Axiocho. Tom. 3. p. 371. , giving a Description of the future Happy State which he learned from Gobryas, who had it from I know not what Brazen Tables, exactly resembling that of Pindar; for which reason I shall not translate it. Tho', in the Close, Socrates confesses he is not sure that these Particulars are so, but only in the 
* P. 372.  General, that the Soul, when it leaves the Body, goes to a place where it lives free from Grief; but whether it be above or below, he knoweth not. Seneca tells us that there the 
† Ep. 102. Aliquando Naturae tibi Arcana retegentur, etc.  Secrets of Nature shall be opened; there shall be neither Night nor Shade; all the Stars mingling their Lights together, and joining them as in one Common Stock. And if this be so, the latter part of the Opinion of the Magis, which 
‖ De Iside, p. 370.  Plutarch from Theopompus informs us of, may be true, that after a bloody Scuffle among the Gods for six thousand Years, at last Mankind shall be happy, and neither need Food, nor cast a Shadow. But as for the Former part of it, viz. their not wanting of Food, Tully is of another mind: And, in truth, no Man talks so pleasantly on this Argument as he doth: For he fancies that Separated Souls will get a little above the Clouds and thick Exhalations of the Middle 
*— Necesse est ita feratur ut penetret & dividat omne Coelum hoc, in quo nubes, imbres, ventique coguntur, etc. Tusc. Qu. l. 1. p. 1056.  Region of the Air, into a clear and warm place; which will be so agreeable, that they will not attempt to climb higher; and there they shall be nourished with the same Food with which the 
†— Eaque ei demum naturalis est Sedes eùm ad sui similem penetravit, in quâ nullâ re egens aletur, & sustentabitur iisdem rebus quibus Astra sustentantur & aluntur. Id. Ib.  Stars are fed. Now it may be the Reader may long to know, but he will not long to take his Commons with them, when I have told him what Sort of Diet it is, those Heavenly Bodies are nourished by. 'Tis very Coarse, if 
* De Nat. Deorum, l. 2. p. 1134.  Tully himself, or 
† Totum hoc Coelum, quod igneus aether, mundi summa pars, claudit, omnes hae Stellae, quarum iniri non potest numerus, omnis hic coelestium coetus; & (ut alia praeteream) hic tam prope à nobis agens cursum Sol, omni terrarum ambitu non semel major, alimentum ex terreno trahunt, & inter se partiuntur: nec ullo alio scilicet quàm halitu terrarum sustinentur. Hoc illis alimentum, hic pastus est, etc. Senec. Quaest. Nat. lib. 6. c. 16.  Seneca may be believed: For 'tis no other than the thick and greasy Vapours which Steam up from the Waters, or the Dunghill of this Earth on which we tread; and a Man Man might justly fear the being starved among them: For as the Stars are many, and very great, so they are hard Labourers; and therefore, as we might reasonably suppose, if he had not told us, 
*— Tot Sydera tam exercitata, tam avida per diem noctemque, ut in Opere, ita & in Pastu. Quaest. Nat. l. 2. cap. 5.  greedy Eaters too; and besides them, the Sun, who is much nearer (especially according to his Opinion) and a very great Devourer, hath nothing else to nourish him but what he can plunder from this little Globe of ours. And that the Music may be suitable to the Feast, the Separated Souls are entertained there with the imaginary 
† Quid? hic, inquam, quis est qui complet aures meas tantus & tam dulcis Sonus? Hic est, inquit ille, qui intervallis conjunctus imparibus, sed tamen pro ratâ portione distinctis, impulsu & motu ipsorum orbium conficitur, etc. Tully in Somn. Scip. p. 1318. col. 2.  Harmony of the Spheres. But the Orator goes on: 
‖ Profecto beati erimus, cum corporibus relictis, & cupiditatum & aemulationum erimus expertes, etc. Tusc. Qu. ubi supra.  There they shall be freed from Emulation and Covetousness, (tho' in so great a Scarcity of Provisions as must needs be among them, there's Temptation enough to that Vice) and from the great Height of the Place have a notable Advantage of better understanding the Heavenly Bodies, (who so unconscionably rob 'em) and the whole Structure of this Earth, (which is so kind as to nourish them) tho' so wretched a Place, one would think, should be no very pleasant Sight: Especially considering what he pleaseth himself withal at another Time, that when he dies he shall 
* O praeclarum diem, cùm ad illud divinum animorum Concilium coetumque proficiscar, cumque ex hâc turbâ & colluvione discedam. De Senectute, p. 1264.  departed from this rude and disorderly Rout and Crew here below. And I confess 'tis a desirable thing to get out of such a mad Crowd; but than it can't be very agreeable to a Wise and Serious Spirit to behold them at a Distance, no more than to be among them. But then he shall be joined to 
* Ib.  that Assembly and Council of Souls, and converse with those Famous Men, whom he had known, and heard, and written of. This indeed is a noble Strain, one of the best that I have observed among all the ancient Philosophers. But Socrates said it before him, and from him he borrowed it: For Plato brings him in, comforting himself with the Thoughts, that on his Removal hence he should be with Orpheus and Musaeus, with Hesiod 
† Plato's Apolog. Socr. p. 41.  and Homer. Now Poets he knew were pleasant Companions in this World, and I suppose he might think they were so in the other also. He adds, that he should be wonderfully pleased with the Society of Palamedes and Ajax; tho' I don't very well understand what very agreeable Conversation there can be between a Moral Philosopher on the one side, and a rough and boisterous Soldier on the other. Especially, if according to the Notion of some of the Heathens, they retain the same Delights and Humours there which they had here. For my own part, I should not be very fond of the Company of Ajax, who, because he could not get the Warlike Accoutrements of Achilles, the better to Murder other Men, grew so mad thereupon as to kill Himself.  
Hesiod 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. Hesiod.  tells us, and Plato 
† De Republ. l. 5. p. 468, 469.  falls in with him, and 
‖ In Romulo, p. 36.  Plutarch, That Good Men, when they die, are turned into Daemons. And so did the Old Roman 
* Divos & eds qui coelestes sempr habiti, colunto: & ollos quos in Coelum merita vocaverint. Deorum Manium jura sancta sunto: Hos letho datos Divos habento. Tully de Legibus, l. 2. p. 1196.  Laws. Tho', as our 
† Works, p. 631.  Learned Mede hath observed, some departed Souls were mere Heroes, of an Inferior Rank, but Novices for a time, and like Punies, not yet called to the Bar. But as these made them Gods, so Musaeus and his Son as quoted, and one would think approved too by Plato 
‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Plato de Republ. lib. 2. p. 363. , make them Brutes; for, according to them, they spend all their time in Perpetual Revellings and Drunkenness; the Healths go round, till their Heads do so too, and Everlasting Tippling and Sottishness is made the fairest Reward of Virtue. These Descriptions of the Future State are so absurd and mean, and some of them so very gross and foul, that 'tis impossible to Spiritualise them, or make any tolerable Apology for them, tho' a 
† Le Clerk in Notis in Orac. Chaldaica, p. 176.  Learned Man hath attempted it. But take the Best of these Authors; and as for the Vision of God, Communion and Fellowship with him, which is the Life of a Soul, and the most Valuable part of the Happiness of Heaven, they had no Thoughts, no Notions, no Hopes at all, or at best but very weak and faint Ones of so high a Privilege, which they seldom mention, if ever they touch upon it. Possibly here and there a Passage or two looking that way, may be picked up; but a Man must go deep for that Ore; and when he hath got it up, 'tis so small, that 'tis lost in the much greater Quantity of Dross; and like the Silver that's found in some Countries, the Separation is very difficult, and what is brought up will not bear the Charges of Digging and Refining. So far was Plutarch from having any raised and settled Apprehensions of this, that in his Treatise of the Tranquillity of the Mind, where one would have expected it, instead of some noble Flight he can hardly lift up his Wings above the Ground. Tho' in another place 
* De Iside, p. 382.  indeed he drops a noble Saying in the midst of a heap of wild Stuff, where it stands like a fair House quite out of the Road, and in the midst of a dirty Bottom, in which none would have looked for it, nor can see it till he be just upon it: That the Souls of Men, while in the Body, have no Converse with God, but only as they have some little Knowledge of him, as in a Dream by the help of Philosophy: but when being dismissed from the Body, they enter on that pure, invisible and impassable State, God is their Ruler, they depend on him, and behold without Satiety, and desire that Beauty which Men are not able to express. But herein he exceeded himself, and spoke above what he did at other times: For the Highest that he could reach, when he was treating on a Subject where it was most proper for him to have brought it in, was this: 
* De Tranquill. Animae. Operum, p. 476.  He that hath learned the Nature of the Soul, and thinks that by Death it shall gain a Better, or at least not a WORSE Condition, has no small Freedom from the Fear of Death.  
And that is as high as mere Reason can carry any Man, that we shall not be in a WORSE Condition. Now this would be but a melancholy Consideration, to be sent into just such another World as this is, and be doomed to live Eternally in it. The Comforts of the present State are fickle and uncertain, empty and frothy; its Troubles are massy and heavy. And such of 'em as are of a lighter nature, many times miserably discompose us: As the Modern Philosophers tell us, that a Column of Air (a thin and slight Body) presses very hard upon us. Whatever it may be in the Physical, in the Moral Sense 'tis an undoubted Truth, that there are Vacuities and Empty Spaces in every Part of this World; they are spongy and hollow Substances which we feed upon. They who have drunk at the River-Head, have never been able to quench their Thirst, nor could they be satisfied with any Enjoyments here below. Young Men, not having experienced the Vanity of them, think the Good things of this Life to be very Valuable; but in a little while they see their own Error and Mistake; and that what they took for a Diamond, is but congealed Water, easily melted between our Fingers; or a Glass-drop that is shivered in pieces with one Touch of a Man's Hand. If Grace has not mortified us to this World; yet Age, Sense, Reason, and Experience, will make us weary of it: A place wherein a Good and Wise Man has hardly Patience to hold out living for so short a Space of Time as seventy or eighty Years. How sad would it be, to be always chained down to such an Element of Sin and Sorrow, without any Capacity or Hope of being ever removed? How slow are the Minutes, how tedious are the Hours to a Man in Misery? Time to such a one is like the Shadow on a Dial, which he that looks upon can't perceive that it moves at all. And yet many of the Calamities we groan under, we know beforehand will be what the Fathers said of Julian's Persecution, a little, tho' a black Cloud, which will quickly blow over. At the worst we always have this to relieve us, that in the Grave, (to which we know not how near we may be,) 
Job 3.17.  the Weary are at Rest. And yet in the Thoughts of the Pained Man, as well as in the Style of a Prophet, a single Day stands for a Year. How intolerable then must it needs be to a distressed Creature, to think, I am in a Region of Misery, where there is a constant Revolution of Day and Night; and in the Climate wherein I dwell, these are very unequally divided, the latter usually being much Longer than the former! Were I to linger out some Thousands of Years only, it were sad; but 'tis infinitely worse than so with me: For, wretched Man that I am, thus must I languish away to the Ages of Eternity, without any hopes of a better State.  
But now the Gospel-Revelation drives away these black and gloomy Thoughts and Fears, as the Rising-Sun doth the Darkness and Horror of the Night. For it proposeth to us a Future Happiness so great, that we have not Words big enough to express, nor Faculties large enough to comprehend. 
1 Joh. 3.2.  It does not yet indeed appear fully what we shall be. Yet so much is clearly revealed, as is abundantly sufficient to raise our Souls to an Admiration of it, and draw forth our most ardent Desires after it. Let us briefly consider it as to our Souls and Bodies.  
1. As to our Souls. They shall be enlightened with the clearest Knowledge of God; so that there shall not be the least Speck on our Eye, or the smallest Cloud on our Mind. We shall be filled with flaming Love to God, and never more complain of any Chillness or Coldness of our Hearts towards him. We shall perfectly resemble him, and not be any longer such particoloured Creatures, as we now are, which makes us almost ashamed of ourselves. We shall dwell under the bright Beams of his Love and Favour, and never more complain, Whither has my Beloved withdrawn himself? We shall contemplate, praise, and adore him, without any Weariness, or one distracting Thought; yea, we shall feel a constant and perpetual Delight and Joy continually bubbling up within, wherewithal our Souls shall be continually overflowed.  
2. As to our Bodies. This is one part of our Happiness, the Discovery whereof is entirely owing to Revelation. The Philosophers never dreamt of it: 'Tis well known with what Contempt the Stoics spoke of the Body; they called it the 
* Gatak. not. in Anton. p. 309.  Pouch, the Garment, the Sheath, the Hull, and the Leathern-Bottle of the Soul, and the Bond 
† Senec. Epist. 65.  of Slavery: They would not allow it to be so much as a 
‖ Mens cujusque, is est quisque. Tully Som. Scip. p. 1319.  Part of themselves: They and the Platonists, and Pythagoreans, and all others who were for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, renounced all Thoughts of the same Body. And that Party of the Stoics, and Plato, who were for the Revolution of all things, expected to receive the same Body indeed; but than it was just the same in all 
* Origenes c. Celsum, p. 208, 209. It. 244, 245.  respects whatever, not only as to Substance, but also as to all its ill Qualities and Diseases. Many of them thought 
† Stillingfleet's Orig. Sac. p. 496, 497.  that all the Evil that is in the World proceeded from the necessary Malignity of Matter, which was of so stubborn a Nature, that it was too hard for the Gods themselves; and these Men could not rationally desire to be again hampered by the hateful Hyle, which was altogether as invincible as it was mischievous. Plutarch 
‖ In Romulo, p. 35, 36.  tells us, it is a very ridiculous thing to imagine that the Bodies of Good Men do ascend, and to place Earth in Heaven itself. And the Primitive Persecutors were wont, after they had burnt the Christians, to scatter their 
* Eusebii Hist. l. 5. c. 1. ad finem.  Ashes, that so they might render the Resurrection impossible, as well as they judged the Doctrine of it to be 
† Celsus apud Origen, l. 5. p. 242.  ridiculous.  
But Revelation assures us, that at the last Day we shall have our Bodies restored with great Advantage; for they shall be of so great Purity and Fineness of Composition, as to be subject to no Wastes, need no Repairs, be liable to no Necessities, suggest no bad Thoughts, and be the Seat of no Diseases or Deformities. These vile and base Bodies, shall then become bright and glorious; These earthly and fleshly ones, shall become spiritual and heavenly; These weak and infirm ones, shall become active, strong, and nimble as the Wing of an Angel; 
1 Cor. 15.  These mortal ones, shall put on Immortality; And these corruptible ones, shall put on Incorruption: For so shall be the Resurrection of the Just. They shall be made like to the glorious Body of our dear Redeemer; 
Phil. 3.21.  be bright Mirrors and everlasting Monuments of the Infinite Power of God, wherein it shall be seen what he is able to do, by the working of that mighty Power of his, whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself. Yea, such glorious Creatures shall holy Men be at the last Day, both in Soul, and Body too, that the Angels shall stand amazed at them; And Christ shall be admired in his Saints, 
2 Thess. 1.10.  and glorified in all them that do believe, in that day.  
III. §. III Natural Light and Reason can't assure us that all this Happiness shall be Eternal and Unchangeable. Many of the Heathen Philosophers were so far from believing this, that they had contrary Apprehensions. Aristotle for a long time, the great Idol of the Learned World, tho' so famous for all sorts of Learning; and tho' he hath given us the best System of Ethics, yet is supposed to have plucked this up by the Roots, and destroyed the very Subject of the Point; for he hath been thought to deny the Immortality of the Soul; and his Friends have been put to it to clear him. Let us consider the Stoics, whether as they came very near to Christianity in their Moral Precepts, they also do the same as to this grand Motive and Encouragement to the Practice of them. They were so divided in their Sentiments, that Learned Men have been almost as much at a Loss to know what Opinion they actually held, as they were what was most reasonable to embrace; and the one have been as much divided in their Reports, as the other in their Sentiments. Out of Deference to Authority, we must hear the Imperial Philosopher in the first place, who proposeth the Question, 
* Antonin us, l. 12. §. 5.  why the Gods who have ordered all things well, and with a singular Love to Mankind, have neglected to take care, that Men, and especially the Good, who have maintained as it were a frequent Correspondence with them, and by their pious Works and holy Ministrations have been familiar with them, that these Men, when they are Dead, do no longer exist, but are extinguished for ever. Meric Casaubon 
† In notis in M. Antoninum.  indeed interprets these Words of the Resurrection of the Body. But Learned 
‖ De Mente solâ satagit Marcus, de Corpore nihil solicitus, quod nec se, nec suum, nec sui quicquam à quoquam censeri volebant Stoici. Gataker in Annot. in Antonin. p. 423. Edit. Cantabrigiae 1652. Hody of the Resurrection, p. 23, 24, 25.  Men have proved that herein he was mistaken. He speaks of the utter Extinction of the Soul by Death. And the Answer he gives to this stabbing Question is, That if it be so, you must know for certain, they would have ordered it otherwise if it had been just, and possible and natural, and aught to have been otherwise managed. And yet at another time he propounds this Question, 
* Antoninus, l. 4. §. 21.  If Souls do continue, how will the Air contain 'em all; especially considering they have been from Eternity? Which he answers by propounding another, How the Earth is able to contain all the Carcases, which for so very long a space of time have been buried in it? And then adds, As the Carcases of Men, when they have been for some time in the Earth, are changed and dissolved so as to make room for others; so Souls being translated into the Air, after they have abode there for some time 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. Id. Ib.  are changed, , melted down (like the Metals of a Founder, I suppose,) and so run into the common Soul of the World; and thereby make way for others to come into their places; and because Men die very fast, I conceive this must be very quickly done, lest the Place be crowded, and separated Souls be stifled for want of Room and Breath, tho' in the midst of the Air itself. Were it not that he adds these Words, That thus a Man would answer on this Hypothesis, 
† 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Ib.  that Souls do supervive their Bodies; I would say, that to reconcile this with the Passage which I but just now cited out of him, would be as difficult as 'tis to make the two Poles to meet and kiss each other. He reels and staggers to and fro, and knows not what Opinion to be of. If he had not a more steady hand in Government than he had in Reasoning and Philosophy, he would have made but a very indifferent Ruler.  
Others of the Stoics believed, that after Death the Soul lasted as long as its Body did continue. And the Egyptians were of the same Opinion, and that was the reason of their embalming the Bodies of the Dead. For this we have the Authority of Servius 
* Ad Aeneid. l. 3. p. 664. , which the most Learned Gataker indeed puts a Slur upon, saying, I don't 
† Unde habeat, nescio. Gataker Annot. in Anton. p. 140.  know whence he had it: Nor I neither; but he who lived so many hundred years ago, might have met with it in some of their Books, which have not been transmitted down to us; nothing being more common than 'tis for Learned Men as much to bewail the Loss of many Ancient Writings, as their nearest Relations could do the Death of the Authors of 'em. Nor is that other Reflection of that Great Man, whereby he would discredit this Testimony of Servius, of any great Weight, viz. as tho' the 
* Quasi sc. à Stoâ dogma istud arripuerint. Aegyptii sc. Id. ib.  Egyptians had borrowed this Opinion from the Stoics. For 'tis very likely that Servius' Author might so misrepresent it, as if the Egyptians had taken it from the Stoics; whereas, in truth, the latter stole it from the former; according to the known humour of the Greeks, who did vainly arrogate to themselves those Inventions, which 'tis very plain they borrowed from their Neighbours. And some tell us this was the true 
* Hody of the Resurrection, p. 12.  Reason why the Egyptians were wont to keep the Carcases of their Friends in their Houses and Closets, and set 'em at Table as formal Guests, believing they had there the Whole Man, not only the Body, but the Soul too. Tho' such Company I suppose would not very much support the Discourse, nor greatly inflame the Reckoning.  
Other Stoics thought, that it was with Human Souls, as 'tis with 
† Gatak. Annot. in Antonin. p. 140. It. 301.  Material Being's; there was some solid Substance at the bottom, which did always remain, and from which, in process of time, new Souls did spring when the Old ones were dissolved; somewhat like new Milled Money produced from the old Coin that was so miserably clipped and debased.  
Others of them thought Souls did last till the Universal 
* Id. p. 139.  Conflagration, which they put at a very considerable distance from the Age wherein they lived. Cleanthes said All Souls did so; but Chrysippus and some 
† Arius Didymus in his Account of the Stoical Philosophy, as quoted by Euseb. Praep. Evang. l. 15. c. 20. p. 822. Edit. Paris.  Others say only those of Good Men. But then they were to cease from being individual Being's any longer, and to be refunded into the Elements of the World, or that Universal Soul, whence they were Originally taken. Which a Learned Man 
‖ Huetii Concordia Fidei cum Ratione, p. 159.  thus very aptly represents. 'Tis as if a Man should fill a Vessel with Water taken out of the Sea, and then some time after should break the Vessel, and let the Water run again into the Ocean; wherein it is as it were lost, being mingled and incorporated with the mighty Mass, tho' it be not annihilated.  
And this was the Opinion of Pythagoras too and his Followers; and 
* Id. 160.  Heraclitus also, the Author and Founder of a Sect of Philosophers who bore his Name.  
But others of them did not think that Souls, tho' they took them for pretty durable Being's, did last altogether so long. They fancied that they did 
† Stoici usuram nobis largiuntur tanquam cornicibus: diu mansuros aiunt animos, semper negant. Tully Tusc. Qu. l. 1. p. 1060.  perish at length after they had worn out several Bodies, with which from time to time they were clothed, as with so many new Suits of Apparel.  
And herein they did agree in the main with the Pythagoreans and Platonists, who held the Transmigration of Souls, either into Brutes, or other humane Bodies, or both successively; which as we observed in the foregoing Section was a most Catholic Opinion of whole Nations in the East; as also it 
* Cluverius de Germ. Antiq. l. 1. c. 32. Hody of the Resurrection, p. 6, 7, 8. Dr. Jackson, Vol. 3. p. 424.  was of the Egyptians, and the Druids too, and the Ancient Germans in the West. How often the Soul might be a Widower, and with how many Bodies it might successively Marry, I do not know, nor think it worth the while to inquire. But herein some at least of the Stoics did differ from others, that at last they thought the Soul itself did drop away and crumble into nothing. Hence Dionysius Halicarnassaeus reflecting on the unhappy Death of the brave and generous Coriolanus, hath these Words: If when 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Dionys. Antiq. Rom. p. 529, 530.  the frame of the Body, whatever that be, is destroyed, that of the Soul perisheth also, and is annihilated; I don't see how those can be accounted Happy, who having received no Advantage from their Virtue, yet perish for it. But then, as appears from the following Words, he did not carry this so far, that those great Souls should remain for ever, or be Eternally rewarded, tho' he saith that some do so think; because he thought, agreeably to the Sentiments of the Stoics, they would be sufficiently recompensed for all their Virtues and Sufferings, if they continued only for a Considerable Time in a State of Happiness above, and were highly commended here below, as it happened, saith he, to that Man.  
Besides these, as St. Austin 
* De Civitate Dei, l. 22. c. 28.  informs us out of Varro, there were a Sort of Men who held that there was a certain great Year, when all the same Stars and Planets shall return to the same Configuration, and then there shall be a new Production of all Men, and all other things again, which shall rise up successively in the same manner, and all the fame Circumstances wherein they have already appeared. So that I shall again begin just as I have lately done, to write the very selfsame Book, on the very same individual Paper, with the very selfsame Pen and Ink, and my Reader be got just to the very selfsame place in it where he now is. And tho' by the Title which St. Austin from Varro gives them, viz. that of Genethliaci, one would take 'em to be a despicable sort of Figure-flingers and Conjurers, yet they were no less Men than 
* See for this Dr. Jackson, Vol. 3. p. 425. and Hody of the Resurrection, à p. 16. ad 23.  Plato and Pythagoras, and their Followers, and the Egyptians, and many of the Indian Philosophers; and some of the very Stoics too, tho' they derided St. Paul as a Babbler for Preaching the Resurrection in the Christian Sense. These Men are far from being agreed about the exact Number of Years when the Stars and Planets shall return exactly to the same Configuration: And therefore I can't tell the Reader how often Souls, as well as other Being's, shall run this Round, and, like Fairies, dance in this imaginary Ring. Only for our Comfort we must know, that this will be an 
*— 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Numenius in Euseb. Demonstr. l. 15. c. 19 p. 821. Edit. Paris. It. Origen. c. Celsum, l. 4. p. 208.  Everlasting Tautology.  
Besides all this, there are some Philosophers, and St. Austin 
† Hoc dixerunt valde magni Philosophi. St. Aug. de Tempore, Serm. 139. It. 142.  tells us they are of the highest Form, who thought that the Souls of Good Men are a long time at Rest; but after a very considerable Time they come down from Heaven, and appear in Bodies again. And there was yet another Hypothesis, which was no Fiction of Virgil's, but what he brings in as a known 
‖ 
Dii quibus imperium est animarum, umbraeque silentes,  
Et Chaos & Phlegeton, loca nocte tacentia late  
Sit mihi fas audita loqui, sit numine vestro  
Pandere res altâ terrâ & caligine mersas.  Virgil Aeneid. 6. v. 264.  Tradition, That the wicked, but curable Spirits, after they had smarted for their Folly in the infernal Gulf for a thousand Years, were like so many Head of Cattle driven to the Waters of 
* 
— Animae quibus altera Fato  
Corpora debentur, Lethaei ad fluminis undam  
Securos latices & longa oblivia potant.  Virgil. Aeneid. l. 6. v. 713. 
O Pater anne aliquas ad caelum hinc ire putandum est  
Sublimes animas, iterumque ad tarda reverti  
Corpora? quae lucis miseris tam dira cupido?  Id. v. 719. 
Has omnes ubi mille rotam voluêre per annos,  
Lethaeum ad fluvium Deus evocat agmine magno,  
Scilicet immemores supera ut convexa revisant  
Rursus, & incipiant in corpora velle reverti.  Id. v. 748.  Lethe, where they drank so long till they were perfectly besotted to that degree, that they did irrecoverably forget every thing which they had ever done or suffered. But as Lucian 
† De Luctu. Tom. 2. p. 428, 429. Edit. Benedicti.  wittily observes, it fell out very happily for the World that Alcestis, and Protesilaus, and Theseus, and Ulysses, slipped by without taking a Cup there, or else it had been impossible they should ever have remembered any thing, and given us such a particular Account of it, as they have done when they returned to this Earth of ours. After this Draught, they are received up into Heaven where they enjoy all manner of Happiness, till being weary of it, the freak takes them to make another Trial of their Fortune here below, and so they return to this World again; whereupon unless it be a very sorry Heaven indeed, they pay very dear for their Folly.  
Thus have the Heathens for want of a Guide from Heaven entertained these so very different and extravagant Notions about it. And for any thing that mere Reason can say to the contrary, it may be but a short Term of Happiness which we shall enjoy in the other State; and that would be a more abundant Recompense than we could pretend to deserve. And tho' the Soul being Immaterial is naturally Immortal, and hath no contrary Principles of Corruption within; yet who can assure us but God may withdraw his Preserving Influence; and then our Spirits must fall back again into that primitive Nothing, whence they sprung up into Being by his powerful Word of Command. Or for any thing we know by Natural Light, the other Life as well as this may be a continued State of Trial, tho' in better Circumstances, and from which we may fall. It may often happen among departed Souls, what Modern Philosophers have dreamt doth frequently come to pass among the Heavenly Bodies, where a Star is many times covered with a rising Scum, and overrun with so thick a Scurf as to be degraded into a wand'ring Planet, or a Pilgrim Comet, perpetually frisking and bounding from one Vortex to another, a long time before its surrounding Crust being broken it recovers its ancient Eminency again.  
But Revelation acquaints us, that the time of our Probation ends with this Life. The dying Groans of a Saint are the last that ever he shall fetch. He shall Sin no more, Sorrow no more, be Tempted and Afflicted no more: His Bliss shall continue without any Interruption, and without any End. And this, tho' but a Circumstance, yet is of that Weight that it may justly be esteemed a considerable Part of the Happiness of Heaven, to be secured in the Enjoyment of it, without any Fear or Possibility of a Change for ever.  
iv §. IV Natural Light and Reason can't assure us, That we shall enjoy this Happiness immediately after our Death. It seems to be too great a Leap for so very imperfect a Soul as every good Man's is in this Life, to enter upon so great a Glory forthwith upon its being dislodged from the Body. We see nothing like this in Nature; all Creatures being wont from mean Beginnings gradually to creep on to the Height of their Perfection in a leisurely way, by very slow and easy Steps. And we have the more reason to think it should be so in the present Case, because good Men in this World are not wont to improve very fast in the Divine Life, but still they have many Imperfections adhering to them. And one of the greatest Signs of their Growth, is to be deeply sensible of the Remainders of Corruption which do still hang about them. If the Scriptures be laid aside, 'tis hardly to be supposed, that a Soul which has been so long in so muddy and defiled a Vessel, can be drawn off from the Body so very clear, as to carry no Dregs along with it; but that it will need to pass through a great many Purgations before it be thoroughly refined. And who can tell how severe, and how long a Trial it must endure before it be qualified to receive, and fitted to bear so great a Weight of Glory?  
The wisest of the Heathens have thought, that none but those who have been perfectly 
* Socrates in Platonis Phoedone, p. 80, 113, 114. Plat. Gorgias, p. 526.  purged in this Life, can go straightway to Heaven: But as for others, it would require a very considerable Time to cleanse them from that Dross that sticks to 'em before they can be prepared to enter into it. They have fancied that several departed Souls did first wheel and roll about the Earth for 
† Tully's Somn. Scip.  many Ages. That some of 'em, when delivered out of the Body, are like poor 
‖ Tusc. Qu. l. 1.  Prisoners, who having lain in Irons for a long while, can't presently feel their Legs, and hardly know how to walk, when their Shackles are off. Plato was so Extravagant in his Conceits as to affirm, that many of them could not recover their 
* In Phoedro, p. 248, 249.  Wings in a less Space of Time than Ten Thousand Years: But the Pinions of some Philosophical Spirits, who were Lovers of Wisdom and beautiful Boys, would grow considerably faster; so that in the Compass of Three Thousand Years they would be capable of flying upwards. Tho', as Eusebius 
* Praep. Evang. l. 13. c. 16.  hath well observed, we have nothing but his bare Word for all this; and herein, as well as in many other Points, he did notoriously Contradict himself. For at another time he makes Socrates tell us, They who have committed great Sins, but yet curable ones, according to the Nature of their Crimes, are cast into several Rivers of Fire, where they lie for a 
† In Phoedone, p. 113, 114.  Year, according to the Tradition of their Poets, and then come to a certain fenny marish place, where they pray to those whom they have injured, that they may come forth and be received into the Mansions of the Blessed. And if their Prayers prevail with these Men, they presently are drawn out; but otherwise they must lie by it. Hermagoras 
* In Macrob. in Somn. Scip. l. 2. c. 17. , a Platonist, tells us, Guilty Souls are punished for infinite Ages before they are delivered out of Tartarus; and then, when they are sufficiently purged, they return to Heaven. And Virgil saith, according to the Platonic Notion, that some dirty Souls are hung up a drying 
† 
— Aliae panduntur inanes  
Suspensae ad ventos: aliis sub gurgite vasto  
Infectum eluitur scelus, aut exuritur igne, etc.  Aeneid. l. 6. v. 740.  and bleaching in the Wind; others which are very foul, are rinsed and scoured in the Water; but some must be cast into a scorching Fire before their Spots can be clean got out, and they be fitted for a Walk in the Elysian Fields to cool and refresh themselves. There is one Saying of Socrates that is very fit to be applied to all these Fooleries, which Plato makes him deliver, even at the end of that very place where he speaks more soberly of this Subject than anywhere else, as far as I have observed: 'tis this: It may be, O 
* In Platonis Gorgiâ, p. 527.  Callicles, these may seem to thee to be Old Wives Fables, and thou wilt despise them. And it would not be strange if they were despised, provided that by all our Search we could anywhere find what is better and truer.  
This is not to be found anywhere, but by Divine Revelation, whereby we know and are sure, that as soon as ever Good Men die, they cease from their Labours; When they are absent from the Body, they are present with the Lord. It is but departing, and being with Christ. Angels receive the dislodging holy Soul to convoy it into the Seat of the Blessed. How far it is thither, and how long an Angel may be in Wafting a holy Soul to that Place, is uncertain; tho' we may judge the time is but short. This Day (says Christ to the Penitent Thief, when the Day was already far spent) shalt thou be with me in Paradise. And we find that the Angel Gabriel, 
Dan. 9.21.  who at the Beginning of Daniel's Prayer had a Divine Order to fly to him, made so great a Dispatch, as to be with him about the Time of the Evening-Oblation. Now suppose that Prayer of Daniel's to begin early in the Morning, (for I will allow him to have been up very betimes at his Devotions, especially on a solemn Fast, as this seems to be; yet) from thence till Three in the Afternoon, which was about the Time of the Evening-Oblation, is but a very few Hours. The Compass of Time is but very short, before a holy Soul enters into the Heavenly Paradise, after it has left the Body; and it may be it usually arrives there long before the forsaken Carcase is lodged in the Grave, without the trouble of any tedious Delays, or the Hazard of any new Trial, or the Severity of any further Discipline.  
V §. V Mere Natural Light and Reason cannot Certify us what Persons shall enjoy all this Happiness. If we were left to the wild Guesses of our own dim-sighted Reason, we might well suppose that so great a Glory should be confined to a very few special Favourites, and not lie open for All. Some shall be excluded; And every Man that knows himself, would have been apt to suspect, Am not I one of that unhappy Number? And especially these three Sorts of Persons would.  
1. Those that have been very great Sinners, either as to the Heinousness of their Crimes, or the Time of their continuing Impenitent under them. The fabulous and idle Poets indeed have placed the Dog, the Bear and the Dragon in the Heavens (and succeeding Astronomers have left them in the quiet Possession of the Place, still calling the respective Constellations by those Names;) But that was the effect of a wild and extravagant Fancy. Sober Reason will hardly allow that they who in the Course of their Lives have long resembled those Brutes, should upon any Terms be translated thither. The Returning Prodigal doth express the Natural Sense of such Men, when they prove true Penitents, in that Speech of his to his Father; 
Luk. 15.19.  I have sinned against Heaven, and before thee, and am unworthy to be called thy Son; make me one of thy hired Servants. The meanest Place, the lowest Office, in thy Family, is too high for me.  
But now by Revelation we are assured that Heaven stands open to receive Publicans and Harlots, 
Mat. 21.31.  upon their sincere Conversion. And those Jews, that had such a Malignity of Spirit as to contradict and blaspheme, yet had not miss of Eternal Life, if they had not thrust it from them, and judged themselves unworthy of it. 
Act. 13.46.   
2. Those that are mean and poor, and unlearned, and such the Bulk of Mankind is. Socrates would have Heaven to be the Peculiar of Elevated and Refined 
* In Platonis Phoedone, p. 81, 82.  Philosophical Spirits. As for those that have been notorious for Gluttony, and Wantonness, and injuring others, he tells us their Souls, when the Men die, pass into such Brutes, whose Manners they did most nearly express in their Lives and Actions. As suppose into Goats, Asses, or the like. He is indeed a little civiller to the good honest Moral Men, as they call 'em, who have been famous for Temperance and Justice, which they have acquired by the dull way of Custom and Thought, but have not arrived to in the more exalted Method of Philosophical Precepts and Discipline. For he allows they may be transformed into Bees, and Wasps, and Aunts; or it may be some of them may put on an Human Shape again, and make a new Sett of Indifferent Men.  
But the Soldiers are wont to carry all before them here below, and they hope to do so above. The 
* Cluverii Germ. Antiq. l. 1. c. 32. p. 221.  Celtiberi, Hispani and Cimbri and the Druids thought that they who died Valiantly in the Field, should have the highest Place in Heaven. And Julian 
* In Caesaribus, p. 39, 40. , who may reasonably be supposed to be well acquainted with the People of that Country where he had so successfully managed a War, tells us, this very Persuasion made the Old Germans behave themselves so Courageously in the Field. For my own part, if it had been my Work to have Billeted them, I should never have Assigned them their Quarters in Heaven, who generally make every place where they come to be a Hell upon Earth. But Titus 
† Josephus de Bell. Jud. l. 7. c. 4.  the Roman Emperor carries it so far, that 'tis not to be endured. For in his Speech to his Soldiers, he tells them that Valiant Men who die in the Field, shall climb up to the Stars; but Cowardly Fellows who die by a Disease, tho' every blot of wickedness be wiped away from them, shall sink down Beneath. Plato 
* De Repub. l. 5. p. 468.  is more moderate, he would have all Men who excel in Virtue, whether they died through Age, or any other way, advanced to be Daemons in the other State; but he gives the upper hand to those who die with their Swords in their Hands, and sell their Lives to their Enemies at a dear rate. Tully would have Heaven to be the Reward of the Brave and Public 
† Somn. Scipionis.  Spirited-men, who have been very serviceable to their Country by dispatching a Tyrant out of the way, or some such Heroical Action. Especially, if to the Political and Active Virtues, there be but added the Idle 
‖ Macrob. in Somn. Scip. l. 1. c. 4. It. l. 2. c. 17.  ones, as Macrobius calls them, i.e. the Contemplative and Philosophical ones.  
And we, it may be, might be apt to think it very likely, that some of the great Monarches of this World, if they employ their Authority and Power for God's Honour; some of the Rich Men, that use their great Estates; or some of the Wise and Learned ones of this World, who improve their Wit, and Parts, and great Knowledge, for the propagating his Cause, and spreading his Interest, may be thus amply rewarded by him: But as for poor unlearned Men, how little can they do for him, who are but as the Dust of the Balance, that hath not Weight enough to turn the Scales, either this way or that; and therefore cannot, with any Modesty, expect to receive very much from him; especially since they find that God gives them so very little of the good Things of this Life? And if Scripture be laid aside, the only Rule is the Goodness of God, and the Effects of his Bounty and Providence: And thereupon these Men might well fear, that he who gives them these lower Blessings with so sparing a Hand, would not bestow those infinitely greater ones upon them.  
But now by Revelation we are assured, That those inconsiderable Men, whom their Fellow-Creatures would scorn to look upon, may come to see the Face of God: They, whom their rich Neighbours would disdain to place among the Dogs of their Flock, 
Job 30.1.  may sit down and Feast with Angels. And this is so unlikely to bare Reason, that the Apostle James might well usher it in with that solemn Preface, 
Jam. 2.5.  of, Harken my beloved Brethren, has not God chosen the Poor in this World, rich in Faith, and Heirs of the Kingdom? Yea, Christ assures us, That those Men stand fairest for that blessed Place: He never said so Severe a thing concerning any Poor Man, as he did of all the Rich, 
Matth. 19.24.  That it is easier for a Camel to go through the Eye of a Needle, than for them to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.  
3. Those that are eminently Holy and Serious. For the better Men are, the more sensible they are of their own Vileness, and unworthiness of Heaven, tho' at the same time they are the more desirous of being admitted into it.  
VI §. VI Natural Light and Reason cannot assure us what the Terms are, upon which this Blessedness may be ours. Astronomers have not invented more Imaginary Lines in the Heavens, than we should have been contriving fanciful ways to have brought us thither. That Repentance, and persevering Holiness, are necessary, is obvious at the very first sight: But the Doubt is, whether these are Sufficient. To say nothing of the Justice of God, it seems inconsistent with the Divine Wisdom to require no more than these. For all prudent Governors are always wont to observe a Proportion between the Rewards that are offered, and those Services for which they are proposed; even the highest Generosity must, in some measure, be conducted by this Rule, or else it degenerates into Extravagance and Folly. For the proposing vast Recompenses for very slight and trivial Matters, betrays great Want of Judgement, in not setting a true value upon things, either upon Rewards, or Services, or both.  
Now, by the Law of our Creation we own God all possible Duty and Obedience, a great deal more than the best of us do yield to him: And should God have exacted it on the Account of his Sovereign Authority over us, without promising us any thing at all, much less any great Matters; we had been indispensably obliged to it. And our best Actions stand in need of Pardon, so far are they from deserving to be Crowned. Nothing in us, or done by us, can bear the least Proportion to the Heavenly Glory. And therefore, that besides a Pardon, God should promise us Eternal Life as the Reward of what we do for him, is what can hardly enter into our Thoughts.  
But now Revelation does relieve us in this Matter. The Scriptures tell us, That Christ, by his perfect Obedience and Death, in our room and stead, hath highly Glorified God, and his Government; and not only redeemed us from Hell and Destruction, to which we were liable, but also merited Everlasting Glory for us: And that the Design of this whole Affair, is, to magnify the Riches of God's Grace, and show the vast Regard he has to the Death and Intercession of his own Son, that on his Account he offers such an unspeakable Reward to us; 
Rom. 5.12.  That as Sin has reigned unto Death, so might Grace reign through Righteousness to Eternal Life, by Jesus Christ our Lord. It is not for any Works of Righteousness that we have done, or can do; it is not because of their Intrinsic Worth, that such great Things are given to us. Heaven is the Purchase of Christ's Blood, it is for His Sake we are accepted and rewarded: And so upon our Faith and Obedience, we freely receive the Blessings which he hath merited: And the more we abound therein, the greater is our Reward, not because of our Merits, but because of God's gracious Promise, and Respect to the Blood of his Son; for which he assigns us different Degrees of Glory, in Proportion to our different Measures of Holiness and Obedience.  
VII. §. VII I shall add one Consideration more, which will equally reach both this, and the foregoing Head, viz. Natural Light and Reason cannot assure us where Grace is to be had to enable us to perform the Terms, on which the Pardon of Sin, and the Enjoyment of the Heavenly Glory is suspended. Whosoever consults himself, the Vanity of his own Mind, the Corruption of his own Heart, the Turbulence of his Passions, the unruliness of his Appetite, the Strength of Temptations, the Weakness of his Resolutions, and the Force of Evil Examples, will quickly see an absolute Necessity of a Divine Power to turn him into and keep him in the Paths of Holiness. Some Ingenious Men tell us very strange and surprising Stories of the mighty Strength of Wheels, and Pulleys, and Screws; that 'tis possible by the Multiplication of them to pull up an Oak by the Roots with a single 
* Bishop Wilkin's Archimedes, p. 96.  Hair of a Man's Head, lift it up with a Straw, or blow it up with one's Breath. So that by these Contrivances one of Sampson's Locks when shaved off, would have had far greater Strength, and done greater Wonders than he himself when all of them were on. As Extravagant as this may seem to be, yet 'tis much more easy and likely, than for any Man by his own feeble Arm to pluck up those inveterate Evil Habits, which Time and Custom have settled in him, and made natural to him. Now what well-grounded Confidence can we have from the mere Light of Nature, of Divine Help for the accomplishing this great and necessary Work? Whether any shall ever enjoy it; seeing the same Sins that make us need it, render us most unworthy of it? Or in what Proportions it shall be given forth, and how long it shall be continued? Whether the Spirit of God shall be like those Periodical Winds, which in some Parts of the World do annually blow to help the Mariner forward in the pursuit of his gainful Voyage; or whether it shall only be like that bright Minute which Astrologers tell us of, that comes but once in the whole Compass of a Man's Life, and which if he lazily let slip, he shall never have such another, but is doomed to Misery by a Fatal Necessity all the remainder of his Days?  
But the Christian Institution is peculiarly called the Ministration of the Spirit, 
2 Cor. 3.8, etc.  as contradistinguished from the Judaical one, tho' that also had God for its Author; so small a Portion of it was given forth under the one, like little Drops of the Dew from Heaven which just wets the Ground; in Comparison of what is bestowed under the other, like a plentiful Shower of Rain from above that abundanly Waters it. It was in the New Creation as in the Old. The cold and dark Evening went before the warm and bright Morning; and God appointed the lesser Light to Rule the Night, and the greater one to govern the Day. The Jewish Dispensation like the Moon had its Glory and its Influence on these lower Bodies. But the Gospel is like the Sun, who may with more reason than any thing which some Ancient Philosophers dreamt of, be called the Soul of the World, whose bright and warm Beams give a new Life and Being to all things here below, awaken the sleepy and drowsy Spirit in every Creature, and cause the Fruits of the Ground to Spring up and flourish, and Crown the Year with an abundant Increase.  
Therefore our Blessed Saviour styles himself the Light of the World; 
Joh. 8.12.  a Title which he doth deserve, because of the Objects that he hath informed us of; having set those Old Truths which before were but darkly apprehended, in a full and clear Light; and acquainted us with those New ones, which had it not been for him, we had for ever remained Igrant of. And he doth deserve it no less, because of that Vital Influence with which his Heavenly Doctrine is accompanied; without which all Knowledge in our Minds would be but like decayed Drugs, which tho' taken into our Bodies, having lost all their Virtue, never operate upon them; nay, Men could not act worse, if they verily believed, or knew those Doctrines to be false, than they do now they believe and know them to be true. 
Joh. 1.4. Ephes. 5.14.  His Light is the Life of Men; Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the Dead, and Christ shall give thee Light. And by the Scriptures we are certified, that God hath appointed his own Son to be his High Almoner to distribute this Royal Gift of his among us his needy Creatures. That being God and Man, he hath the Infinite Goodness of the one, and the tender Bowels of the other united in him. And he hath not only the Kindness of an Ordinary Man, but his Humane Nature was filled with a Spirit of Love and Compassion; and therefore he who hath so strictly commanded us to deal forth our Bread, 
Isa. 58.10.  and draw out our Souls to the hungry, will be much more ready to do it himself. The Woman of Samaria, tho' none of the best Temper or Character, who denied him a Draught of Common Water, might have had the Water of Life from him, if she had but seriously asked it of him. 
Joh. 4.10.  And tho' the Hearts of his Countrymen the Jews were full of Malice against him, yet from a Custom that had obtained among them of bringing Water from Siloam to the Temple, and pouring it out there, he takes Occasion to intimate to them that He was the Fountain of Saving-Grace, and gives them an Universal Invitation, saying, If any man, tho' he be never so poor, 
Joh. 7.37.  or hath been never so wicked, yet if he thirst, let him come to me and drink. And assures them that they should not repair to him in vain. For he adds; He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his Belly shall flow Rivers of living Water. This spoke he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive, as St. John, the infallible Commentator, adds. And there are several Circumstances of this Speech of his which the Evangelist mentions, and are worthy of our Observation: In the last Day, that great Day of the Feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, etc. 'Tis the Feast of Tabernacles that is here meant, one of the three on which all the Males in Israel were to appear at Jerusalem; the First and the Last Days whereof were Great Days, and in a Special manner to be observed as a holy Convocation, wherein it was not Lawful for them to follow their Worldly Employments. And consequently this being a Day of Leisure, there was the greater Confluence of the People. And it being the Last Day, and they on the Point of departing to their several Homes; just as they were going he utters these Words, that so they might stick and abide by them as men's last Speeches are wont to do. And then 'tis added that Jesus stood up. The usual way among the Jews was for those who taught the People to do it Sitting; but here we find our Saviour chose the other Posture, that his Voice might reach the further. And he did not faintly Whisper, but he Cried, that every one there might be sure to hear him; and that by the Loudness and Fervency of his Delivery he might make the greater Impression upon their Souls. So earnestly did he desire to draw Men to him for their Spiritual Advantage.  
And as a Sanative Virtue was sent forth from the Body of Christ here on Earth for the Curing the Natural Distempers of all those who resorted to him, and believed on him; so shall Influences of Grace flow forth from him in Heaven for the healing the Spiritual Diseases of those who seek to him and depend upon him. He will do as great Miracles and Cures on men's Souls, as ever he did on their Bodies. Open the Eyes of them who were Born blind: quicken them who are dead in Trespasses and Sins: restore their Feet to them that are Lame; cleanse them that are Lepers, and cast out the unclean Spirits from those who have been possessed by them.  
And to remove all Jealousies and Obstructions, he hath given us such a Description of the Gracious Nature and Will of God, as is most worthy of him, and most proper to incline us to return to him; to awaken the Negligent, and encourage the Doubting. He hath clearly informed us of his Holiness, Justice and Omniscience, as a Remedy against the vain and fatal Imaginations of those who are secure in Sin, and are apt to fancy him like a drowsy Judge on the Bench, who neither hears nor regards how Causes go. He hath as fully displayed before us the Riches of his Grace, that awakened Sinners might not despair, and so prove obstinate and irreclaimable. It was the Reproach of the Israelites, 
Ps. 106.20.  that they changed the Glory of God into the Similitude of an Ox that eateth Grass. 'Tis of a more pernicious Consequence to transform him into the Likeness of a roaring Lion; thirsting after men's Blood, and greedy to devour their Souls. Our Blessed Saviour, in pursuance of his great Design, which is to recover Men from Sin, hath given us quite other Representations of him: That he is desirous to be at Peace, and ready to give forth of his Grace: 
Luk. 11.11, 12, 13.  That the most tenderhearted Father can't be half so ready to give Bread to his Starving Child, as God is to give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him. And to cut off all Objections to this purpose, viz. how can God consistently with his Holiness, Justice, and the Honour of his Government, bestow so rich a Blessing on us? the Scriptures further tell us, it was one End of his Death to purchase Saving-Grace for us. It was part of the Prize for which he ran, a Branch of that Joy that was set before him, 
Heb. 12.2.  as an Encouragement to him to endure the Cross, and despise the Shame, and Pain of it. He knew he should have a Seed, and see the Travel of his Soul, 
Isa. 53.10, 11.  and be satisfied with the blessed Fruit thereof. And when he ascended up on High, 
Ps. 68.8.  he received Gifts for Men, indefinitely of all Sorts and Ranks, yea even for the Rebellious also; 
Acts 5.31.  and was exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance to Israel, and Forgiveness of Sins. Yea, saith the Apostle to those Men whose Hands were yet reaking in the Blood of Christ, and who therefore, one would think, should never have been applied unto; or if they had, of all Men living they should have been the Last that ever should have heard such glad Tidings; yet on the contrary, Unto you First, saith he, 
Acts 3.26.  God having raised up his Son Jesus, hath sent him to bless you in turning, not a few only, but every one of you from his Iniquities.  
Considering the Nature of the Gospel, the Representation therein given of God, the Temper of Christ, his tender Love to the Souls of Men, which drew him down from Heaven; his Carriage on Earth, his Death, Ascension, Exaltation, and the Ends of them; which he who did not stick at the hardest Command of his Father, that of laying down his Life, will be sure punctually to answer; and his own Honour, which is so deeply engaged, the Glory of a King consisting so much in the Multitude of his Subjects, 
Prov. 14.28.  we have the highest Reason to believe, that nothing is more Grateful to him, than the lifting up a perishing Sinner out of the Pit, and the helping a strayed Soul in its Return to God.   

The CLOSE.  
I Cannot Conclude without making a little Reflection upon what has been said. And,  
1. How should we love, and value, and adhere to, the Gospel of Christ, and the Blessed Author of such a Revelation! How are Writers esteemed, who treat of Matters which are of very great Use and Service to Mankind, in the things of this Life; And what a Price do Men set upon those Books, wherein Difficulties are cleared up, and those profitable Inventions are contained. Now what is there of so great Importance, as Pardon of Sin, and Immortal Life, the Doctrine whereof is encumbered with so many Difficulties, which are too hard for Natural Light and Reason; but are so clearly, plainly, and fully, Solved by the Holy Scriptures? How are Men pleased with an exact Description of a Foreign Country, tho' they do not so much as dream of dwelling in it, nor have any thoughts or hopes of having so much as one Foot of Land there! How then should we value the Gospel, that gives us so full and plain an Account of the Heavenly Country, and how we may be possessed of all the Glory of it! What an Esteem have ingenious Men for a Book of Astronomy, that gives an Account of the orderly Motions of the Sun, Moon, and Stars! What an happy Invention is that of those Glasses, whereby they discover some lesser Bodies, which the naked and unassisted Eye is not able to perceive; tho' thereby they have no more Benefit from their Light and Influence, than those who are the most ignorant of these Affairs. How should we value the Sacred Oracles, which do discover the Heavenly State to us, which is not to be known by mere Reason; and how we may so order our own Motions, as to get above, and outshine any of those glorious Luminaries. Let us adhere to the Bible; for if once we give up that, we are off from our Centre, we shall find nothing whereon our Soul can rest, but shall be at our Wits-end. Methinks that Courtier spoke like a Man of Sense to the Pagan King Edwin, whilst he was considering whether he had best to turn Christian, or no, when he said thus to him: 
* Bede's Eccles. Hist. Gentis Angl. l. 2. cap. 13.  The present Life of Man upon Earth, Sir, if compared with that Time which is to us unknown, seems to me to resemble a little Sparrow; which, while your Majesty was feasting within with your Royal Retinue in your warm Parlour, during the roaring of the blustering Winds, and the falling of great Quantities of Rain and Snow without, flew in at one Door, and presently flew out at another. All the time it was in the House, it was well sheltered from Wind and Wether: but as soon as it got out into the cold Air, we were altogether as ignorant whither it went, as we were, whence it came. Thus we can give some Account of our Soul during its Abode in the Body, while it was housed and harboured therein: but where it was Before, and how it fares with it Afterwards, is to us altogether unknown. If therefore Paulinus (he was the Christian Bishop who laboured to Convert those Heathens) by his Preaching can certainly inform us herein, he deserves, in my Opinion, to be followed. And the King, after he had heard Paulinus' Sermon, spoke like an Understanding Man, when he said, I have long ago been convinced that the Idols we have Worshipped were mere Nothings; because the more diligently I have sought for the Truth in this way of Religion, so much the farther was I from finding it. But now I openly profess, that by this Preaching, the way of obtaining Eternal Life and Happiness is clearly laid before us. Whereupon he immediately gave Orders for the Demolishing the Heathen Temples and Altars.  
2. Let us take heed that we do not fall short of Pardon and Heaven. Sad was the Case of that wicked and profane Lord at Samaria, who barely saw the great Plenty with his Eyes, but never tasted of it; he stood at the Gate to let in others, but was trampled to Death by the Multitude pressing in upon him. Much worse will be our Case, if we only hear of the great Provision which God has made for us in the other State, and never feed upon it, but be trodden down to Hell in the Crowd of our own unpardoned Sins. It is a double Misery, to be drowned within sight of Shore; to miss of that Pardon, and of that Heaven, that are so plainly revealed, and of which we have heard so much, and so often.  
3. Let us clear up our Right and Title to both of them. How long have we remained in Doubts and Fears? and shall we always continue in that uneasy Posture, like a Door on its Hinges, moving this way and that, but still hanging in the same Place where it was many Years ago?  
To clear up our Right, 'tis necessary that the following Rules be observed.  
(1.) Don't give Way to immoderate Worldly Sorrow. If we be like a Carcase that lies under the Weight of that Earth which presses upon it, and never stirs Hand or Foot to help itself: If we lie down under our Burdens, only mourning, and complaining, and indulging ourselves in black and gloomy Thoughts; we can never expect that God should help us; especially, if we do worse than this, if we sinfully afflict ourselves, we can't reasonably hope that God should comfort us, and raise up them who madly cast or bow themselves down. If with our own Hands we plunge the Dagger into our Breast, it would be a Miracle if we did not lose our Blood and Spirits, faint, and feel a great deal of Pain. They that will chew upon nothing but Wormwood and Gall, and delight in rolling it up and down in their Mouths, are likely to walk in the Bitterness of their Souls all their Days.  
(2.) Watch against the Encroachments of Bodily Melancholy. This naturally disposes a Man to Fears and Jealousies, is the black Root of many idle but vexatious Scruples and perverse Cavillings, and will make him refuse to be comforted, tho' there be ever so great Reason for it. If a Stander-by convince him of some saving Work of God on his Soul, and of his Right to Pardon and Eternal Life; yet as soon as he is gone, all is undone again: the Melancholy Christian being like a faulty Watch, which may be wound up and go a little, while one's Hand is upon it; but no sooner is that removed off, but it runs down in an Instant, and stands still again. When such meet with Worldly Crosses, (from which none are exempted) it casts them into deep Fits of Sorrow, which in a Serious Person presently runs into dreadful and amazing Fears about his Soul, and the supposed miserable and forlorn State thereof. As Peter, when he was over-shadowed with a Bright Cloud; so any other of the Disciples of Christ when covered with a Black one, 
Luke 9.33.  are apt to speak they know not what, especially against themselves. All proper Natural Means therefore must be made use of to subdue and keep under this evil Humour, which is so great an Enemy to a Life both of Grace and Peace.  
(3.) Be skilful, diligent, and serious in Examining and Observing yourselves. We must distinctly know the Marks and Characters of those that shall be pardoned and saved according to the Scriptures. We must understand how methodically to go to Work, to find whether they are in us or no. We must narrowly observe the main drift of our Actions, and the secret Springs, Ends, and Principles, of all that we do; and deal by our own Hearts, as Learned Men by an Obscure and Profound Author, or an ill-written and blotted Manuscript, which they carefully read over again and again, with a very curious and critical Eye, that they may rightly and thoroughly understand them. And unless we do this, we shall never be able to attain to any solid and stable Comfort.  
(4.) Be much in the Exercise of Grace, and endeavour daily to grow in it. Grace in the Habit, is like Fire in the Flint or Steel; which is not discerned, but by the Collision of one against the other with some Force and Strength; nor the good Principle in the Heart, but as it sallies forth into vigorous and lively Exercise in the Life. Stir up the sleepy Habit, blow up the Heavenly Spark into a bright Flame, and thine own Eyes shall see it, and thy own Soul shall feel the warmth of it, and thou wilt be no longer in perplexing Doubts concerning it.  
(5.) Lastly, Be more exact and circumspect in your Walk.  
Bring Matters to an Head, see what it is, that is the Cause of your Jealousies and Fears, some Sin of Omission or Commission; and destroy the Root, as ever you would have no more of this bitter Fruit. If you do these things you shall no longer suffer any dark Eclipses; or if you should, they will be but short ones, and you will presently emerge out of them; you will live in Comfort, and die in Peace. You will have no Temptation to cleave to this World, when God calls you away; like green Fruit, that sticks to that Tree whereon it grows, and must be violently plucked and torn thence: But you will departed with great Freedom and Willingness, be like Ripe Fruit, that presently and easily Drops from the Tree whereon it does but loosely hang: And an entrance will be administered to you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour.    

AN APPENDIX TO THE Foregoing Discourse.  
AMONG other Letters in Mr. §. I Blount's Collection, I find one written by A. W. who threatens Revealed Religion with a Regular Attack in a Syllogistical Way, which he is not over-skilful in. For when he comes to prove the Major Proposition of his first Syllogism, which is an Affirmative, and which according to the Rules of Art, should be the Conclusion of the second; instead of that, he substitutes a Negative; and besides, he shuffles that which was the Subject in the Former into the room of the Predicate in the Latter. For this is the Major of the first Syllogism. 
Oracles of Reason, p. 198.  That Rule which is necessary for our Future Happiness, aught to be generally made known to all. And this is the Conclusion of the second Syllogism, whereby he proves it, viz. Therefore that Rule which is not generally known, cannot be the Rule of our Happiness. So that I suppose his Religion, and his Logic, are of apiece, both merely Natural.  
But that which he would be at, is this, That not Revealed Religion has been (any, he is so very bold, as to say it never could be) made known to all Men, as it certainly would have been, if it were necessary to Future Happiness; else there is no visible means for the greater part of Mankind to be happy; which is inconsistent with God's Infinite Goodness, who provides for all his Creatures the means of attaining that Happiness whereof their Natures are capable.  
I shall speak more largely to this Point than is necessary for a sufficient Answer to the Objection. Partly, because I will endeavour to reconcile the Minds of Men in some measure to this hard Problem of not granting the Gospel to so great a Part of Mankind: Partly because I am not altogether without Hopes, that it will far with A. W. as with that Man in the Gospel, who was once Mad, and Possessed with an Evil Spirit, but quickly after being in his right Mind, 
Luke 8.35.  sat at the Feet of Jesus as an humble Disciple of his. It will be so, if he will stand to his Word; for he says, It has been demanded of me 
Page 210. , whether I should be convinced of my Opinion, and admit of Supernatural Religion, in case the Gospel, i. e. a Supernatural Religion had been promulgated to all the World? I answered, I should; and was contented the whole Stress of the Dispute should be terminated in that One Point. I therefore offer the following Considerations.  
1. §. TWO The Case of Man is very different from that of all other Creatures, because he is manifestly in a State of Apostasy, which this Author himself confesses to be 
Page 207.  generally acknowledged. Now the Divine Goodness was abundantly manifested in the Original framing of Man in a Capacity for Happiness; and abundantly providing him with Furniture for the attaining of it. But he voluntarily fell from that good Estate by his own Default: God therefore is not justly chargeable, if he should leave all Mankind in their Deserved and Self-procured Misery, and never have set on foot in any Place of the World a Design of saving any Man. This is not a Matter of Right, which fallen Man can challenge as due to him; it may be withheld without any Wrong or Cruelty, because 'tis a Matter of pure Arbitrary undeserved Favour.  
2. This Revealed Religion, which is generally necessary to the attaining everlasting Happiness, and which he says NEVER COULD, I say both could and would have been universally known, had it not been for the gross Negligence, Wickedness, and Malice of Men themselves. For God preached it to Adam immediately after the Fall; as also to Noah, the two Common Parents of all Mankind. Adam had the Gospel in Miniature, in these Words, The Seed of the Woman shall break the Serpent's Head. And we have great Reason to believe, that what was wrapped up in these very General Terms, was more particularly unfolded to him, than it is here recorded. For it is evident, That Moses studies Brevity, and gives an Historical Account of a great many Ages and Events, within the narrow Compass of a few Pages. And there was the less need that he should in this place further Dilate upon the Messiab, a short Hint was enough, because that was the Subject which he was more fully to open in his following Writings.  
And it is highly probable, That our first Parents did understand somewhat of the Death of Christ as a Sacrifice, which is the Marrow and Substance, the Sum and Centre of the Gospel, and the Foundation-Stone of all our Hopes of Pardon and Salvation. This may be strongly inferred from Abel's Sacrifice, and God's Acceptance of it. The cutting in pieces of God's good Creatures, in whose Make and Frame there are so many Prints of a Divine Power and Wisdom; the pouring out of their Blood, the burning of their Fat, etc. This cannot be accounted for as a Reasonable Service, but only as it served to keep up in men's minds a Sense of the heinous Nature and Desert of Sin; of the Justice of God, who would not Pardon without a Sacrifice, and yet of his Mercy at the same time, which was a Foundation of Hope to the Sinner, in as much as he would accept the Life of a Beast in lieu of the Offender; but principally as Sacrifices were Types and Figures of the Death of the Promised Seed, who in due time was to put away Sin by the offering of himself. This Custom was spread over all the World; and it cannot be imagined how All Men, in all Ages, and in all Places, should have agreed upon this as a principal Part of Divine Worship; but only that it descended to them by Tradition from the first Father of Mankind. But how inexcusable was it in them to receive the Shell, and drop the Kernel; to retain the outward Rite and Sign, but lose the great Thing signified thereby; without which the outward Act looks like a Barbarous one, unworthy of God to accept, and of Man to offer; so that he that made the Oblation, seemed to be as brutish as the very Beast that he slew?  
And no doubt but Adam, and other Holy Men, did communicate what Knowledge they had of the Messiah to their Children, as they in all Reason should have done to those that were descended from them. Noah is expressly called a Preacher of Righteousness: 
2 Pet. 2.5.  And did he warn the World of the Flood, and can any one think he would speak nothing of the Promised Seed? Enoch spoke of Christ, 
Judas 5.14.  and of his appearing to the Destruction of the Wicked; and no doubt but he spoke also of his first and second Appearing for the Salvation of the Righteous. Zacharias tells us, That God spoke of the Redeemer by the Mouth of his Holy Prophets which have been since the World began. 
Luke 1.70.  And if they were Good Men, they must needs speak, especially to their own Families, concerning him.  
And so much of the Doctrine concerning Christ, as was absolutely necessary in those Days, lay within a very narrow Room, viz. That Man was in a fallen State, and this they could not but know and feel: And that God had promised to rescue them from it by some Extraordinary Person, who should be sent to this purpose in due time; and all that trusted in him, and through him returned to God and their Duty, should be pardoned, and saved by him. And was this such a Load to their Memories? Is a Jewel a Burden to a Man that carries it about him? Does the pained Man feel the Smart of his Wound, and forget the Healing-plaister; especially when the Blood is trickling down every Day, and there is not a long Parenthesis between the Returns of his sharp Fits, at the distance of many Years, but he has a continual Monitor of it, as they had of their Misery and need of a Remedy? Was it an unreasonable hard Task for the Father to teach, or the Son to learn so Short a Lesson as this is; especially considering that then the Life of Man was not shut up in such narrow Limits, as now it is? The Cloth is now shrunk up to Threescore Years and Ten, but than it was stretched out to several Hundreds: A very fair time sure, for both Master and Scholar. A Learned 
Dr. William's 2d Serm. of Revel. p. 8, 9  Man has well observed, That the Longevity of those Patriarches, with whom this Lesson was deposited, and who were to take care that it might be preserved inviolable, was a very great Advantage: For three of them alone filled up the first Period of 1656 Years, from the Creation to the Flood, viz. Adam, Methuselah, and Noah. And Four of the Fathers after the Flood, tho' the extent of their Lives was then shortened, fell in with the 856 Years from the Flood, to the giving of the Law by Moses; and in him we have fresh Information about the Promised Messiah.  
But if their Days had been much Shorter, and the Lesson much Harder and Longer; yet it should have been studied with the greatest Application of Mind, as is usual in all Arts and Sciences, which are of an infinitely Inferior Nature. They tend to a Man's comfortable living in this World; But the Doctrine of the Promised Messiah, was what their Eternal Welfare was wrapped up in; And so was that of their Children too. And therefore considering that Love to Themselves, and to their Posterity, which is so very deeply engraven on the Souls of Men; such a Doctrine should have been diligently and affectionately taught, readily learned, fixedly retained, and carefully transmitted down from Age to Age; they should sooner have forgotten their own Names, than have forgotten that. Cardan 
Baxter's 3. Ch. 13.  speaking of one who had a Receipt that would suddenly and certainly dissolve the Stone in the Bladder, concludes of him, That without doubt that Man is in Hell, because he never Revealed it to any before he died. The Sentence, I confess, is somewhat severe; but as a Lover of Mankind, a Man can hardly forbear to think the same, even tho' neither He, nor His, were ever troubled with that most afflictive of all bodily Distempers. But if this Man had by his own Wickedness contracted, and then transmitted that Disease to his Children, and knew it would run down from him in a Blood to his children's Children to the End of the World; if yet he had not revealed so rare a Secret to his own Offspring, that they might be freed from that racking Torment in this World, which he had brought upon them; such wretched ill Nature did deserve to be punished with Everlasting Torments in the other State.  
All this being considered, one would think it were Impossible but that the Substance of Revealed Religion should have been transmitted, and a sufficient Knowledge of it diffused , and been propagated together with the Humane Nature. And so it would, had it not been for most inexcusable Negligence and Perverseness, most amazing Folly and Madness. God has not been wanting to Men, but Men have been most unaccountably wanting to Themselves and their Children. Now by what Law is God obliged, in a miraculous Manner, to restore a fair Estate to a Family, when one was settled upon it, and has been very wickedly and foolishly embezzled? Or to make Corn spring out of the Earth, when Men refuse to Blow their Ground, and throw away their Seed?  
But least of all, could this have been reasonably expected, either by the Men of the Old, or those of the New World. For they lost not only the Notices of the Promised Seed, but even of God himself; and dropped the plain Principles of Common Morality, as well as those of Revealed Religion. Whether Idolatry, that absurd and sottish Practice, began before the Flood, is not so very certain; however 'tis plain that the whole Earth was covered with Debauchery and Violence, all flesh having corrupted their way; whereon God resolved to sweep them all away at once, eight Persons only excepted, to people it again with a better Race. But when they had stocked it, Wickedness, notwithstanding God's Curse, so lately and so visibly attending it, grew very fruitful, increased and multiplied as fast as Mankind did; And that vile Idolatry, and abominable Immorality, into the Dregs whereof they so speedily sunk, provoked God to abandon them in a fearful manner, as the Apostle excellently discourses in the first Chapter to the Romans. And it was a Righteous thing in him to do it. Nor can there be any just Grounds to reflect on him for not setting on foot a new divine Revelation, which they had wilfully and carefully lost; when besides that, they so abominably sinned against the Common Light of Nature and Reason.  
However at length, §. III in infinite Mercy, and undeserved Compassion, God did once again cause the Heavenly Light to shine into one little Apartment of the House of this World; whence it should, and might have been transmitted and reflected into every Room thereof. For he renews the Promise of a Seed in which all the Nations of the Earth should be Blessed, to Abraham and his Children, who were Considerable Men, and Considerable Travellers, and in very Great Esteem with some Kings: And no doubt but these Holy Men were forward to instruct them and their Subjects in this main Point, had they been but willing to learn.  
After this God brings the Children of Abraham out of Egypt, being increased like the Stars of Heaven, and like those in the Galaxy, gathered together into a Body, that so mingling their Lights, and shining with united Rays, they might be the more visible; maintains them in the Wilderness, plants and preserves them in Canaan by a Train of mighty Miracles, tho' he could have done it with less Noise, to awaken the Neighbour Nations to come and join with them. For when he chose the Israelites, he was far from excluding thereby the Rest of Mankind from the Hopes and Means of Salvation. As the Apostle argues concerning the Way of Salvation by Christ, 
Gal. 3.17.  so may we concerning the designed Extent thereof: The Law which was Four hundred and thirty Years after, could not, in God's Intention, disannul the Promise, that in Abraham's Seed All the NATIONS of the Earth should be Blessed, so as to make it of no Effect. Was the Law given the Israelites at Mount Sinai, against this Promise? God forbidden. So far was it from this, that 'tis supposed in the Law of Moses, the Heathens would turn Proselytes, and Provision in that case was made for their Encouragement. Their Law indeed was a Partition-Wall; 
Eph. 2.14.  but it was so to keep the Jews in, not in God's Design, whatever it might be in theirs, to keep the Gentiles out: And therefore in this Wall there was still a Door kept open for their Entrance; and that no more came in, is to be ascribed partly to the Wickedness of the Jew, and partly to that of the Gentile.  
And Abraham was a Person of great Renown in the East, among the Syrians and Chaldaeans. Several great Nations, particularly the Saracens, (for they themselves scorned to be called Hagarens) descended from him, and valued themselves upon it; and they were very formidable to the Roman Empire, had a vast one of their own in the East, and pushed their Conquests Westward as far as Spain itself. And the Israelites were a Considerable People, especially in the Days of David, Solomon, and Hezekiah, as appears from the Bible, wherein we have Records of their Affairs, and which may justly Challenge as much Credit with any Man, even tho' he don't believe its Divine Authority, as any other Ancient History. The Greeks indeed, and the Latins who transcribed from them, take little notice of them. But most of them were late Authors, and very much unacquainted with those Parts of the World for a long time. And tho' Herodotus could not see them, yet other Ancient 
See them mentioned by the Bishop of Meaux in his Discourse sur l'Histoire universelle, p. 42, 43. It. p. 154, 155.  Historians that lived thereabouts did, and made mention of them. And it may be we might have found them in that Father of Historians, in his particular History of the Assyrians, if we had it; which either we have lost, or he never wrote according to his Promise.  
The time would fail me if I should speak of the Captivities and Dispersions of the Jews into the East, and Egypt, etc. that, together with them, Divine Knowledge might be scattered abroad: Or of the Translation of Part, if not the Whole of the Old Testament by the means of Ptolemy; whence, as appears from Tacitus and Virgil, the World about the time of the Birth of Christ was big with Expectations of the Appearance of some Extraordinary Person for the General Good of Mankind. Only I can't but remark that Evil Spirit that reigned among the Jews, who translated the Sacred Writings very unwillingly, and merely out of Fear of Ptolemy, whom they durst not incense against Themselves by a flat refusal of it: but yet they Annually kept a Mournful 
Lightfoot's Harm. Vol. 1. p. 490. Walton's App. Bib. Proleg. 9 §. 3.  Fast on the Account of that Version; so much did they envy the Glory of God, and the Good of Mankind; and so loath were they to communicate this Treasure to the Heathens, desiring still to have kept it locked up in their own Language.  
I shall not enlarge on the Design and Command of our Saviour to Disciple all Nations; nor of the incredible Diligence of the Apostles in Spreading the Gospel, nor the Barbarous Treatment they met with. It had reached much further, had not Men raised up a Bank against it. Nor of the Fault of Christians or Heathens at this day, who can Export to, and Import from the remotest Parts all sorts of Commodities for a little Worldly Profit; but the one doth not endeavour to spread, nor the other covet that Sacred Treasure of Divine Knowledge, that is worth infinitely more than Thousands of Silver and Gold.  
On the whole, 'tis evident, that Revealed Religion, as to the Substance of it, and as far as was absolutely Necessary, was twice promulgated to all the World; once to Adam, another time to Noah and his Family; and therefore I claim A. W 's Promise 
Page 210. , and expect that he Renounce his Deism, and Declare for the Gospel: And if he be a Man of Honour, and value his Word as a Gentleman, he will publicly profess himself a Christian. It was also preached to the Israelites, that from them the Sound thereof might reach other Nations. And we Christians have it in the last and best Edition of it to the same End. And 'tis owing unto the gross Fault and vile Wickedness of Men, that this Religion hath not been Universally diffused, God having provided very apt and proper Means in order to it. And having done so, he was not obliged in an Extraordinary way to send an Angel from Heaven with a Bible in his hand to every Particular Person; No more than the Government think themselves obliged to send the Acts of Parliament to every Parish, or every distinct House therein. 'Tis rationally supposed, that every one will so far mind their Own Concerns, whereon their Liberties, and Lives, and the Common Welfare doth depend, as to inquire them out and look after 'em themselves. And if the Ordinary means of attaining to the Knowledge of them, be wretchedly neglected, unusual Methods cannot reasonably be expected.  
Yet after all, §. V if there be any Heathens whose Case is Compassionable, because they want the Ordinary Means of Knowledge; and they honestly live up to the Light of Nature, they are in the hands of a Good God, who will not deal hardly with them, but make all the Favourable Allowances their Case will reasonably admit of. And this I am sure, they will far much better than Mr. G. or A. W. who have the Sacred Writings, but, like Swine, trample this Jewel in the Dirt, and impiously Blaspheme the Son of God, who is our Saviour, and will be their Judge at the last Day.  
For 'tis in vain for this Gentleman to plead as he does, That 
Oracles of Reason, p. 205.  if the Heathens living up to the Height of Natural Religion might be Eternally happy, I see no Reason but why we may be so too. I will be very liberal in my Suppositions at the present, that Heathens and Deists too live up to the HEIGHT of Natural Religion; and also that the Former may be Saved: but I will give him a Reason why the Latter cannot: viz. Because through the Wickedness of their own Hearts they contemn and defy that Divine Revelation which was never proposed to, and therefore could not be abused by, the other.  
Nor must he think to come off another Day, §. VI by pretending the want of Evidence of the Truth of Revealed Religion. For thus he argues; 
Id. p. 206.  If our Happiness depend upon our Belief, we cannot firmly believe till our Reason be convinced of a Supernatural Religion. And if the Reasons of it were Evident, there could be no longer any Contention about Religion: All Men would embrace the same, and acquiesce in it. No Prejudice would prevail against the Certainty of a Future Good. 'Tis every Man's greatest Business here to labour for his Happiness, and consequently none would be backward to know the Means.— And if I cannot believe, 'tis a Sign the Evidence is not strong enough to make me. And a little before, saith 
Page 202.  he, We (i.e. We Deists, for I think that is the true meaning of the Passage, tho' it be brought in as spoken by an Objector; We) say, that Religion is only true, which is or may be reasonable and convincing to all Men: Now if it be not Generally held, it appears not convincing. Hereby he hath highly obliged the Atheistical Crew, and given them an Argument to overturn the Foundations of the Deists Natural Religion. For they may say, If the Reasons of it were Evident, there could be no longer any Contention about the Being of a God, or a Future State. And if I cannot believe either of these, (as saith the Atheist I cannot) 'tis a sign the Evidence is not strong enough to make me. Nay, as a foul Gun recoils and wounds him that shoots with it, so doth this way of Arguing return upon our Deists. For there are Multitudes that do believe Natural Religion is not sufficient for the Happiness of Men, especially of those who have a Revealed one proposed to them, but denied by 'em. 'Tis so evident, that this may be retorted upon themselves, that our Author observes it, and makes this modest Reply to it, 
P. 202, 203.  That there are but few of a Nation that ever consider to the Bottom of a Religion; which we must be so civil as to suppose the Immortal Deist to do. But 'tis evident that many Men in all Religions at this day have centred in the Opinion of Natural Religion, and its Sufficiency of (I suppose it should be for) Happiness. But no Christian doth or can think so, as long as these Words are in the Bible, He that believeth not shall be damned; and except ye believe that I am He, ye shall die in your Sins. And Reason will tell us, if Scripture had been silent, that those Men must perish that profanely treat the Son of God as an Impostor, and his Religion as a Lye.  
Further, according to this way of arguing, hardly any thing can be either True or False, whereas every thing must be either one or tother. Let us take for an Instance the Doctrine of Transubstantiation. If the Reasons of it were evident, there could be no longer any Contention about it. All Men would embrace it, and acquiesce in it. If it be not Generally held, it appears not convincing. If I cannot believe it, (and all Protestants, the Heathens, and some of the Papists themselves tell us they can't believe it) 'tis a Sign the Evidence is not strong enough to make me. Therefore the Doctrine of Transubstantiation is not true. And by the same way of arguing, I will prove it is not False neither. For if the Reasons against it were evident, there could be no longer any Contention about it; but all the World would presently turn good Roman Catholics in this Fundamental Point. And if I cannot believe it to be False, saith the Papist, 'tis a Sign the Evidence is not strong enough to make me.  
But the Reason why Men do not believe the Gospel, is not the want of External Evidence, but Internal Disposition; which latter is as necessary as the former. We have Motives sufficient to sway a wise and pious Man to embrace Christianity; but God hath not given us such a glaring Evidence of the Truth of it, as we have that two and two make four. If he had, Assenting to it would be no Proof of any Man's Ingenuity, there would be nothing Praiseworthy in it. A Deist may be proud and conceited, mad upon his Lusts, and therefore Unwilling the Gospel should be true; he may not duly weigh the Arguments which are brought for the Confirmation of it; nor earnestly and honestly pray for God's Assistance to discern aright; nor be true to that Light which he already enjoys; and for these Reason's God in his Righteous Judgement may leave him to the Devil and Himself, and then he cannot believe; but for all that he shall Eternally perish, and that very justly too, in and for his Infidelity.  
And this Gentleman must be a great Stranger to Humane Nature and the Course of the World, who saith, No Prejudice would prevail against the Certainty of a Future Good: 'Tis every Man's greatest Business here to labour for his Happiness, and consequently none WOULD be backward to know the means; which the Experience of all Ages doth evidently confute. In short, besides Evidence and Argument, there is required a pious Temper of Soul, lying open to, and easily impressible by Divine Truths; and one of such a Make would quickly close with, and firmly adhere to Christianity; as a prepared Soil easily takes in, and firmly retains such a sort of good Grain as is most agreeable to it.  
I would not have this Gentleman deceive himself with vain Hopes, § VII drawn from Infinite Mercy 
Page 209. , which is, as he expresses it, as 'twere God's High-Court of Equity in the Case, to relieve from the Extremity of the Law. For the Case between God and Fallen Man is not as he, with the Socinians, represents 
Ib.  it, like that of Debtor and Creditor; but that of a notorious Rebel, and a Wise and Righteous Governor, (which one Observation will answer most, if not all the Pleas brought from Divine Goodness). And if a vile Traitor should tear in pieces the Prince's Act of Grace, and defy him that brought it to him, instead of complying with the Terms of it; and then pretend to cast himself on the King's Mercy without Repenting of that insolent Abuse of his offered Indulgence, but stubbornly persist, and openly justify himself in so doing, tho' he do pretend to be sorry for his other Crimes; no Chancery would relieve him, but every Man of Sense would think it very Equitable that he should be executed according to the utmost Rigour of the Law.  
'Tis easy to apply this. §. VIII And I hope our Author will, and then he will see Cause to change his Mind about the value of Repentance, and let fall his Extravagant Notion about it. For having acknowledged 
Page 200.  that what Sir C. Wolesly tells us is most true, That Mankind in all Ages have applied themselves to God as guilty Offenders, and have agreed that an Expiation was necessary, but looked up to him for the Revelation of it: wherefore they used several Sacrifices and Lustrations, etc. He makes this very Extraordinary Answer to it, viz. These several Expiations were indeed all but Symbolical, and referred to our Sorrow and Repentance; That is the true and only Expiation of Sin, and is so agreed upon by all Men in all Ages, and of all Religions, wherefore take it for an Undoubted Truth. For my part, I cannot but take it for an undoubted Falsehood, and gross Mistake. I grant that they thought Repentance 
Outram de Sacrif. p. 168.  as well as Prayer ought to accompany their Sacrifices. But he that says all their Sacrifices were only Symbolical of Repentance, and that it was so in the Sense of all Ages, and all Religions, says he knows not what. 'Twas not so among the Jews. They offered Sacrifices to make Atonement for their Sins, and an Expiation of them; and they judged that their Sins were imputed to the Beast, who thereupon was killed, that by its suffering Punishment in their stead, they might be released, and God be reconciled to them.  
But the smell of a Jew, especially in the Bible, is offensive to this Gentleman; and therefore let us go to the Heathen Nations, which will be more suitable to him. They ransacked the whole Earth, Air, and Water, for Oblations to their Gods. Some think Swine were the most Ancient ones. But 'tis more 
Owen Exerc. on Heb. Vol. 1. p. 310.  likely that the Fruits of the Earth were so; Herbs and Plants 
Potter 's Antiq. of Greece. p. 188.  they plucked up by the Roots, and burned them with their Leaves and Fruit. And the Gods fed as well as the Men; for this was before Flesh was eaten. But when the one fared better, so did the tother, viz. on Bulls, Oxen, Heifers, Rams, Goats, Boars, Swine, Sheep, Lambs, Dogs, Cocks, Geese, Pigeons, Turtles, Horses, Tunnies, yea, and Eels too 
Id. 193, etc. Lord Herbert de Relig. Gentil. p. 200. , if they were of the Larger Sort. But some Men were either Poorer, or else better Husbands than so; and they made a Cake, and fashioned it into the likeness of an Ox, and so sacrificed it.  
Their Folly did not stop here, but turned into downright Frenzy; for they butchered Men, Women, and Children; their best Friends and nearest Relations, and burned them on their Altars. Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, Porphyry, and Caesar, etc. tell us this was a most Universal Custom. Tho' at length in several Places they began to relent, and find out a Temper. For at Rhodes 
Porphyry, de Abst. l. 2. p. 221.  they at last were contented with the Sacrificing of some vile Criminal only; the Romans 
Servius in Virg. p. 552. , their Slaves; and instead of that, afterwards they would lay their young Men on their Altars, and sound scourge them, (tho' I think the Fathers should have been in their Places); yet others would Whip them to Death 
Potter, uti supra. . Diphilus in Cyprus made them offer an Ox. Amasis 

Porphyry de Abst. l. 2. p. 224, 5, 6.  
See the Testimonies out of Philo 's Translation of Sanconiathon. Clemens Alexandr. Dionys. Halicarn. and Diodorus Siculus. In Eusebius de Praeparat. Evang. l. 4. ch. 16. Herodot. l. 2. Caesar de bello Gall. l. 6. c. 4.   in Egypt substituted three Images of Wax, in the place of three Men. At Laodicaea, a Stag at last supplied the room of the Virgin. Iphicrates, or 
Hist. l. 19 c. 1.  as Justin saith, Darius abolished this Custom among the Carthaginians, and Adrian almost throughout the whole Empire. The Alteration, and the abolishing of it, shows what was the old Custom, which did obtain universally among the Greeks too 
Porphyry uti supra. ; so that a late Ingenious 
Potter's Antiq. Greece, p. 193.  Author was mistaken in saying, It was hardly in use among them, or any civilised Nations. And Philo out of Sanconiathon saith, The Phaenician History is full of such Instances. To which may be added several Testimonies out of the Scriptures, of offering their little Ones to Moloch, etc.  
And could all this be done only as a Symbol of Repentance? He must be in great want of a Sign, that shall hang up his Friend, or his Child at his Door for one. There can be no Shadow of Reason to move them to such a way of signifying their Sorrow, if that were all that was intended.  
But it looks somewhat like a Rational Motive, if they had any Hope hereby to expiate their Sins, and turn away the Anger of God from them; which is so Terrible an Evil, that provided it may be obtained, it can't be too dearly purchased. And the Same Authors that tell us of their Practice, tell us that this was their Principle. They knew Mankind to be the noblest Part of the visible Creation; and thought the more Excellent the Sacrifice was, the more likely it was to reach this end. This is evident from the Cause, and their End in offering any Sacrifices, but especially Humane Ones. They hoped the Death of the Victim should be in lieu of that of the Offender; and the Gods they thought would not be 

Quòd pro vitâ hominis, nisi vita hominis reddatur, non posse Deorum immortalium numen placari arbitrantur. Caesar de Bello Gall. l. 6.  
Cùm inter coetera mala, etiam Peste laborarent.— Homines ut victimas immolabant, & impuberes aris admovebant, pacem eorum sanguine eorum exposcentes. Justin. Hist. l. 18. c. 6.   appeased, unless the Life of one Man went for another. This is plain also from the very Names they gave their 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Expiatio. Piamentum. Piamen. Februa. Lustratio. Purgatio.  Rites and 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Piaculum. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc.  Sacrifices, and the Manner of their offering them; which was, not only among the Jews, but the Heathens 
Outram de Sacrif. p. 278, etc.  too, with Solemn Prayers to God, that all the Plagues which they or their Country had deserved, might light on the Head of the Victim, and so they themselves escape. And hereupon they thought that all their Sins did meet upon it, and defile it to that Degree, that none who had touched it, dared to return home till they had washed and purified themselves.  
And now let the Reader judge, whether Sacrifices were only Symbolical of their Sorrow; and that Men never dreamt of any atoning Virtue in them: But that all Men of all Nations looked on Repentance as an Expiation, and the only one too.  
I'll put an end to the Readers trouble, §. IX and my own, when I have observed the several Contradictions and gross Blunders of our Modern Deists. They profess to believe that there is 
Oracles of Reason, p. 197.  One Infinite, Eternal God; and yet the Reader may remember that in my Epistle to him, I have showed him, That Mr. G. is for Two 
Page 194.  Gods, the one Good, the other Evil. Mr. B. tells us, The First Good, who is also the First Principle of all Being's, hath but ONE Affection or Property, and that is 
Page 90.  LOVE: And yet in the same Page adds, There is nothing dreadful in the whole Nature of God, but his JUSTICE; no Attribute else being terrible.  
A. W. says this is one of the Chief Heads of their Religion, That we are to expect 
Page 197.  Rewards and Punishments hereafter, according to our Actions in this Life, which includes the Souls Immortality, and is proved by our admitting Providence. But yet, in the same Letter see how faintly he speaks, viz. Grant that they SEEM reasonable, etc. But Mr. B. speaks Out 
Page 125. , That the Doctrine of the Immortality of the Soul, was but a cunning Trick and Invention of the Politicians, who had not so much a regard to TRUTH as Honesty, (a very great Instance of their Honesty to invent Useful Lies), and that herein they did as Physicians do by their Patients, or Nurses by their Children, who tell them a fair Story, tho' never so false, that they may deceive them for their Good.  
If the Son don't speak home enough, let's hear the Father, who saith 
Ideoque nos Creaturae sumus aeterni Dei apparitiones momentaneae, quas tantum terris ostendunt Fata, nec ultra esse sinunt, veluti effigies in Aulaeis. Discourse of Sir H. B's de Anima. In the Oracles of Reason, p. 156. , We Creatures are the Momentary Apparitions of the Eternal God, which the Fates only show to the Earth, and done't suffer to be any longer, as Images in Tapestry Hang. The whole Discourse Mr. B. calls, An undigested 
Id. p. 154.  Heap of his Father's Thoughts. And that these are only such 
Id. p. 157.  Twilight Conjectures as our Humane Reason (whereof we yet so vainly boast) can furnish us with.— So that indeed all Philosophy, excepting Scepticism, is little more than Dotage. A Censure true enough, tho' not so decent from the Mouth of Mr. B. A Son should not use his Pen to let fall such Blots on his Father's Writings and Memory. But how vainly indeed, to use his own Word, doth he boast of REASON, when he calls it the Sovereign 
Preface to Oracles of Reason, p. 3.  Rule and Touchstone, the Supreme and Primitive Director of every Man, if it give no better a Light than this? and what Sorry Oracles is it like to utter?  
Mr. B. tells us, To be 
Page 91.  sure the Deist is no Idolater, none can accuse him of Idolatry. But the Reason is a very poor one, viz. because he acknowledges one Supreme Everlasting God, and thinks Magnificently of him. So do the Papists as well as he, and yet Protestants unanswerably prove them guilty of Idolatry. And the Deist, according to his Principles, will be an Idolater, if he live in a Popish or a Pagan Country. For, saith A.W. 
Page 203.  the Learned in all Religions, in the outward Ceremonies of every Religion, are every Man of 'em content to Conform to those of their own Country. And seeing some of the Heathen Worship is very filthy and obscene, we may guests at his Sobriety and Chastity, if ever he should fall among 'em. But suppose it should be free from Obscenity; yet for a Man to join in the Worship of an Image or a false God, which he believes to be so, merely because 'tis the Religion established by Law, is Gross sneaking Hypocrisy, which a Man of Honour would Scorn; and thereby we may guests at their Moral Virtue which they talk so much of, as another of their Fundamentals.  
And seeing the Deists, as they themselves say, think so 
Ib.  Magnificently of God, and Mr. B. was such a zealous 
Account of the Life and Death of Mr. Blount, p. 6.  Assertor of the Glory, Honour, and Adoration of ONE GOD, let us a little examine this. Mr. G. saith there can be no such thing as a pure 
Page 187.  Spirit, independent of all Body and Matter; and that they that advance the Opinion of pure and Immaterial Substances, trust to Fancy and mere Conjectures; and so God is a Mateiral Being. And having degraded the Deity from a pure Spirit into a Body, he endeavours to prove there are answerable Qualities to be found in him. For, since 'tis Evident from this 
Page 190.  uncontrovertible Maxim, Nemo dat quod non habet, that the Qualities of all things, and therefore of Body, are in God himself (that is, in an infinite Degree of Perfection) the most pure of Spirits, 'tis not likely that Body should be derogatory to the Purity of infinitely inferior Spirits. And so God is an infinitely hot, dull, and heavy Body; and yet at the same time he is Infinitely Cold, and brisk and light too. For there are Bodies to which all these Qualities do belong. And doth not this Man now think very MAGNIFICENTLY of his Maker?  
But how bold soever he may be with him, he is very civil to the Female Sex, in providing Husbands for 'em from among the 
Page 190.  Angels; tho' what he further saith on that Subject for two Pages 
Page 191, 192.  together, I shall not transcribe, because I will not slain my Paper, nor pollute the Mind of my Reader. And yet this wretchedly unconstant Man quickly after tells us, That a Woman is the most lovely 
Page 191. at the Bottom.  BRUTE of the Universe. A Flight this is, which I hope LINDAMOUR, as the Writer of Mr. Blount's Life and Death calls himself, will not forget, the next time he pays his Devotions to the Divine Image, as he words it, of the Honourable and Divine HERMIONE; for whom this Deist, tho' to be sure he is no Idolater, has so great a Veneration, that he talks of Sacrificing 
Account of the Life and Death of Mr. Blount, p. 1, 2.  his own Life for her with his own Hands, as Mr. B. did for Astrea, his Brother's Wife. This Lindamour defends and applauds as an Heroical Action in Philander, with this remarkable Saying out of Almanzor, I myself am King of me; tho' how this is consistent with the third Fundamental of A. W's Religion, viz. That 'tis our Duty to Worship and Obey God as our Creator and GOVERNOR, I leave to his Consideration. As also how he will reconcile Mr. Blount's Practice with these Words of his in his Discourse against the Surrenderers of Charters, viz. 
Page 178.  He that commits Murder with the Sword of Justice, aggravates his Crime to the Highest Degree: As these Gentlemen would have done in making the Government Felo de se, and Accessary to its own ruin.  
Tho' it be not a matter of so great Moment as the rest which I have already mentioned; yet I can't but observe, that Mr. B. 
Page 128.  accuses Sir H. Savil, that he hath so far Complemented the Jewish, as to Rob the English World of the fifth Book of Tacitus 's History, by omitting any Part of it in his Version; and yet he himself is guilty of the same Fault; and besides the mistranslation of what he gives us, hath kept back a Considerable part of Tacitus' Account. But I suppose he thought, that wherever there is a Jew, 'tis fit there should be somewhat of Circumcision.  
I'll add but one more, (tho' I could produce several others): The Deist sometimes bears up very briskly about Repentance, 'Tis the true and only Expiation of Sin, and is so agreed upon by all Men, in all Ages, and of all Religions; wherefore take it for an 
Page 200.  Undoubted Truth; and this not revealed, but innate, and a part of Natural Religion. Sure by his Confidence he looks on this as Full Payment. And yet a little after, 'tis but a little part of Composition-Money, but 'tis all we have. Repentance is what we can answer 
Page 209.  to an Atonement, and therefore we may reasonably assert 'tis all God will expect from us. 'Tis but as a Thousand Pounds when a Man owes a Million, and the Creditor can have but All. And as pert as Mr. B. is, yet sometime his Heart fails him. For the highest he can go is but Verosimile est, similem Deo à Deo 
Page 90.  non negligi. 'Tis likely that he who is like God, is not neglected of God: Not to be Neglected of God, is but a very faint Expression. A Man may be not neglected of God, and yet be but in very low Circumstances. And yet even this too is but likely, which is but very cold Comfort.  
All these Flowers I have gathered out of one Garden, tho' from several Beds. The Passages are written, some by one Author, some by another; but we may look upon them as the Sense of the Party. Mr. Blount hath affixed the Seal of the Company to all these Papers, and published them all together, as Oracles of Reason. He, I am sure, was answerable for them; and so is the Writer of his Life, who thus highly commends them, after having spoke very Contemptibly of other Writings as Trifles, and their Authors as Whiffling Scribblers. 
Account of Mr. Blount 's Life, p. 2.  But the Subjects and Compositions of these following Sheets, left no room for either of these, i. e. Apology or Abstract. Their Merit took away all Occasion of Apology, and the Majesty and Consequence of their Design all pretence to Abstracts. Those that desire to see these Sacred MONUMENTS, must be more nice Considerers than to be satisfied without attentive OBSERVATION: They are TRUTHS of too great Importance to be Slightly run over; of too great Beauty, not to hold our Eyes some time on them, to take a thorough Survey of their various Perfections. I have looked attentively into these MONUMENTS, and think that Lindamour would do well to put in for what he speaks 
Ib.  of, the next Verger's Place that falls at Westminster; which if he can get, he cannot then point to any Tomb, that is fuller of Stench and Rottenness than the Papers which in his Preface he hath so highly extolled. On the whole, I believe the Reader will incline to my Opinion, That some Men run down Christianity because 'tis Religion, rather than because 'tis Revealed.  
FINIS.   

THE CONTENTS.  

In the Epistle to the Reader.  
THE Necessity of opposing Desism, §. 1. Serious Piety in General the Best Defence against it, §. 2. And Humility in Particular, §. 3. The Rational Grounds of the Christian Faith, §. 3. An Account of the following Treatise, §. 4.   

In the Preface.  
SOme Things we are in the Dark about: and may contentedly be so. But not as to Pardon and a Future State.   

In the Book.  
CHAP. I. 

PArdon, a Matter of great Importance, p. 1  
Natural Light can't Assure us that God will forgive, p. 2  
Nor if he will, how far Pardon shall extend as to Persons or Crimes, p. 10. Nor of the Terms upon which, p. 18  
The Pleas that it will assure us of Pardon upon mere Repentance considered, à p. 18. ad p. 45.  
Nor When God will Pardon, p. 45. Nor how often, p. 49  
The Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is the Sih meant in Heb. 6.4. and ch. 10.26. p. 51  
Nor to what Degree God will forgive, p. 63  
Under each of which Heads is shown what Assurance we have from Revelation.    
CHAP. II. 

A Future State of Happiness, a Point of great Importance, p. 72  
Natural Light can't Assure us there is such a State, p. 80  
The Heathens uncertain of it, p. 81  
Nor of the Greatness of it, p. 119. The wretched Notions of the Heathens about it, p. 120  
Nor of its Eternity and Unchangeableness, p. 149  
The Sentiments of the Heathens about this, p. 150  
Nor that we shall enjoy it immediately after Death, p. 168  
The Fancies of the Heathens about this, p. 170  
Nor who shall enjoy it, p. 175. The Opinions of the Heathens about this, p. 177  
Nor the Terms of it, p. 183. Nor where Grace is to be had, to enable us to perform the Terms on which Pardon and Future Happiness are suspended, p. 187  
Under each of which Heads is shown what Satisfaction we have from Revelation.    
The CLOSE. 

CHrist and his Gospel to be loved and adhered to, p. 201. We should be careful we don't fall short of Pardon and Heaven, p. 205. and clear up our Right to 'em, p. 206. Directions for our so doing, Ib.     

In the Appendix.  
A. W 's Logic like his Religion, p. 213. His Objection against Revealed Religion, That it hath not, and could not be Universally known, p. 214. The Reasons of so large an Answer to it, p. 215. The Case of Men different from that of other Creatures, p. 216. The Gospel Preached to Adam and Noah, p. 217. men's own Fault, that it did not from them descend to All in every Age, Ib. God not obliged to spread it by Miraculous Methods, p. 226. Preached to Abraham and the Jews, tho' other Nations not excluded thereby from the Means of Grace, p. 228  
The Fault of Christians and Heathens that the Gospel is not further Spread, p. 234. A. W 's Promise challenged, p. 235. Heathens left to God, p. 236. But certainly in a better Case than Deists among us, p. 237  
No want of Evidence for Christianity, but somewhat else in them, p. 238  
Their Hopes from Infinite Mercy vain, p. 244. Sacrifices not merely Symbolical, nor Repentance an Expiation; much less the only one in the Opinion of all Men, p. 246. The Contradictions and gross Blunders of our Modern Deists, p. 254.