THE VANITY OF Human Respects. IN A SERMON.  
By WILLIAM DAREL.  ISA. LI. Vers. 7. Fear not the Reproach of Men, neither be afraid of their Revile. 
Published with Allowance.  
LONDON, Printed for John Tottenham, in London-House-Court in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1688.   

THE VANITY OF Human Respects.  
IN A SERMON On  LUKE II. Vers. 49. Did you not know, that I must be about my Father's Business? 
GOD was not content to give us One Pledge of His Kindness, by assuming our Nature; but would add a Second, by espousing our Miseries▪ Those Showers of Tears, with which He first saluted the World at His Nativity, were scarce dried up, when He permitted the Lance to open a Way to Streams of Blood; that we might read His Kindness in as many Characters, as He poured out Drops; and that our Eyes might be Spectators, as well as our Ears Witnesses, of His Affection. But, as our Sins cried out aloud for a Saviour; so did our Blindness plead as earnestly for a Leader; A Redeemer's Death, indeed, could make us cease to be Bad; His Life was requisite, to point us out a Method to be Good: And therefore, He was pleased to leave us His own Life▪ as a Model to frame ours by; and to buy the Glory of His Body with the Price of those Virtues, with which we must purchase the Happiness of our S●uls. He taught us Poverty at his Nativity, bereaving Himself of all Things, though He created All: He preached us Obedience at his Circumcision; and Patience at his Death: But, in this Day's Gospel, He gives us a Document as necessary to be learned, as it is hard to be put in execution; viz. Nesciebatis in his quae Patris mei sunt oportet me esse? Do you not know, that my Affection to you must give place to that Love I bear my Father? That all the Ties of Flesh and Blood are too weak, to restrain me from my Duty? Dear Christians! Hear this Great Preacher; and persuade yourselves, that it was not so much a Desire of satisfying his Parents, which opened his Sacred Mouth, as of instructing you in a Point, that perchance you all know, though (I fear) sew practise. Alas! we live in so Complementing an Age, that One false Step in regard of a Companion, carries us into greater Convulsions, than a Thousand Treasons against GOD. We lead Lives at Random, as if we could be Saved by Proxy; or, as if the Fear of offending a Debauched Friend, were a just Reason to offend GOD. Infine, Our Judgements are so depraved by Heathenish Principles, enacted by Christians, that most Men (Alas!) choose rather to be really Bad, than to be thought Good: A strange Frenzy (I confess,) and a most Courageous Cowardice, to stand the Stroke of a Thunderbolt, and to tremble at the Touch of a Tongue, which takes its Point from our own Imagaination! Give me Leave this Day to arraign human Respects from this Pulpit, which Jesus Christ condemned in the Temple: Be not angry, if, whilst I accuse this Vice, I fall not in It myself, out of a Fear of displeasing Those whom I cannot please, without betraying my Character, and their Salvation.  
I will draw my Discourse into Two Heads; viz▪ First, I will discover the Intrigues of the Wicked, to withdraw their Fellow-Creatures from the very Root of Godliness, the True faith: And then I will arm These with Weapons capable to overcome the strongest Human Respects; which have always been the most fatal Obstacles the Devil can put in their way, who seek the Truth. Secondly, I will address my Discourse to Those, who, in spite of all Opposition, have embraced the True faith of Christ; and will lay before them such Motives, as shall be able to persuade any Man of Reason, into a Resolution of bearing up close to the Duties of his Religion; without which Compliance, Faith is but a sounding Cymbal, a specious Name, and an insignificant Nothing.  
'TIS a great Happiness to Walk in the Way, which leads us to Eternal Felicity; and an Unhappiness above Expression, to run (in this World) towards a Misery without Redress, because Endless. Those run the Fortune of the First, who embrace a True Faith; and Those the Misfortune of the Second, who hug a False One. So that we ought, in Prudence, to employ all our Care to be in the Right: And yet, (O Heavens!) our Study is to be in the Wrong; notwithstanding, as if our own Reason were too weak to work our Ruin, our Companions lend us an Hand; and We (poor Creatures!) lay hold of it, out of Civility, though the Compliment cost us our own Salvation. 'Tis a stupendious Thing, to see what Divines this Corrupted Age (and I may add too, this Corrupted City) hath brought forth, and nourished; and also, how docile Scholars are, in learning those Maxims they should never hear of without Horror! Some teach raw Youth, That poor Men here below grope in the Dark; That Things beyond this World float on Uncertainties: And therefore, That those black Stories of Hell, those diverting Fables of Heaven, are only fit to take place among the Romantic Tales of a Poetic Brain: That the most Sparky Wits of Antiquity, could never discover the least Glimmering of any other Divinity, than Fortune: And, Why should We (blind Batts) pretend to discern a Being, those Eagles never espied? These Blasphemies (edged with Wit, and backed with the Authority of Those, whom Fools have placed in the Front of the Virtuosos) are received by Youth, (which would fain find a Veil for the blackest Crimes) as Oracles dropped from Heaven.  
This Discourse is followed by Peals of Applauses; every one cries, The Gentleman hath Reason; though, in reality, he hath no more, than to deceive his Hearers; nor Those, than to be deceived. But, if some are not overcome by this canting and modish Piece of Sophistry, than He sits down in the Chair of the Scorner, as the Psalmist expresses it; and, for want of Reason, laughs his Auditory into his Atheistical Belief.  
I must confess, Raillery hath more augmented-this Impious Doctrine, than any other Engine (either the Craft of Satan, or Malice of his Emissaries) ever set a running: For (though I can't tell how it comes to pass, yet) certain it is, That whosoever patiently bears a Raillery, is judged defective in his Intellectuals: And such is the present Persuasion of Mankind, that it is a lesser Blemish to be esteemed void of Grace, than Wit. And then the Fear of losing a Place in the Academy of Wit, or of being quite cut off from the Conversation of Men of Parts, frights poor Creatures into a Resolution of embracing a Religion, which hath no other Articles, than to deny All. But, because nothing but a Desire to Die as Beasts, can persuade Men thus to Live like Them; and that Few are so indulged to Sense, as quite to lose it: Therefore Others, better acquainted with the Inclination of the Times, will grant, that there is a GOD. But then they turn Him into a Latitudinarian; as if Any Worship satisfied Him, as well as That which He prescribed Himself. GOD, say they, with the Old Pagan Maximus, is too vast to enter Whole into Man's Understanding; He must be taken in Pieces; and some must be contented to worship One Symbol, and some Another, as they judge convenient: He is not so nice, as Divines make Him; 'Tis Honour He requires, without quarrelling at the Manner: And therefore, all Religions are good, if supported by Morality. Thus do these Men extol every Persuasion, and are of None themselves. They erect a new Pantheon; yet adore no other Divinity, but their own rambling Imagination.  
Now, that this fair Discourse vents foul Falsities, 'tis evident to All, who are not resolved to be deceived: Whosoever hath cast but one Glance upon the Scripture, cannot but know, That as there is but One GOD, and One Baptism; so there is but One True Faith; and that he who will not acknowledge this Church to be his Mother, cannot have GOD for his Father.  
Yet after all, this Doctrine is so varnished over with the specious Colour of Reason, so sweetened with the bewitching Allurements of Liberty, that Many admire it, Some embrace it, and Others have not Courage enough to condemn it. They either imagine, that Silence speaks loud enough their Dislike of it, or it is not their incumbent Duty to be so Zealous for GOD's Honour, as to expose their Own to the Capricio of Men; from whom they cannot expect any Civility, seeing their Malice is not awed by the Majesty of their Maker.  
But, for God's sake, D. C. (and your own) do not let any Human Respects tie your Tongues, when Zeal for your Maker's Honour commands you to speak. If Impiety dare appear barefaced, give your Piety the same Freedom; and be not more fearful to defend your Maker, than his Enemies are to unthrone Him. Fly from them, as from Men struck with the Plague; and do not scruple to separate yourselves from Those, who have separated themselves from GOD. But, if it be your Misfortune once to fall in so depraved a Company, (and God knows, 'tis an Accident may frequently happen in this Great City) run not into it a second Time: They are sick of a Mortal Disease; and nothing is more Natural, than to catch it. To haunt a Sinner, is the next Degree to be like him. Cum perverso pervertêris. Do not say, so monstrous a Blasphemy sounds too gratingly in the Ears of a Christian, ever to be heard without Indignation: Alas! Alas! Sins are but like Outlandish Monsters; which, at first, fright us; but, in Process of Time, delights us. Neither be inveigled by the specious Name of a Friend; for, How can you in Prudence put one Grain of Trust in a Man, who disavows all Fidelity to GOD; from Whom he can both Hope and Fear more, than from any Creature breathing▪  
But, I confess, few have so great a Respect for a Companion, as, for his sake, to unmake their very Maker; that is, To deny His Being, to whom they own their Own. This servile Deference is only incident to Those, who have lost all Conscience by redoubled Sins: And then, seeking a Remedy worse than the very Evil, they persuade themselves, there is no Hell Below, to punish Crimes; no GOD Above, to recompense Virtues. Nor will they be persuaded out of this Temerarious Tenet, till Experience forces them to feel their Mistake.  
Human Respects take their Range more ordinarily among Those, who profess a Religion, but dare not embrace the True One, although they know it: The Devil raises a thousand Black Imaginations in their Heads; and their own Cowardice as many more: And then these Airy Fancies (which take their Terror from Apprehensions alone) quash all Resolution, but to Profess openly the Religion A-la-mode; and Interiorly That, which they are convinced to be the True One.  
But, let me tell You, D. A. This petty Piece of Policy will not do; This Jumbling and Blending of Religions together, makes but a Babel of Confusion; which GOD detests. Jehu was convinced of the Truth of the Mosaic Religion; but, to ingratiate himself with his Ethnic Subjects, he placed the Calf on the Altar: However this monstrous Mixture of Devotion, was no better than Impiety; and so the Holy Ghost hath published to Posterity, That He walked in the sinful Path of his Predecessor, Jeroboam: Which is as harsh an Epitaph, as could be Engraven on his Tomb.  
Do not then deceive yourselves, (Dear Brethren!) by imagining you comply with your Obligation, when you Erect a Temple to the True Religion in your Heart, and an Altar to a False One on your Tongue. St. Paul assures you, Confessio autem ●it ore ad Salutem; That a Public Confession of the Truth, is a necessary Requisite to Salvation.  
But, Oh Sir! What will the World say, if I leave The Religion in which I was Born, to profess Another; which is the continual Subject of Pulpit-Execration, the common Theme of Raillery, and the neverfailing Topick of all Invectives?— I must confess, these Bugbears have frighted more than one Soul into Hell. But consult your own Reason a little, I beseech you; and then tell me, Whether such weak Objections ought to oversway your Obligation, or such childish Sophistry argue you into Damnation?  
First, If it be your Misfortune to have been Born, and have spent the greatest Part of your days in a False Religion, the greater is your Misery; and therefore you cannot forsake that Error too soon, which hath deceived you so long: Embrace rather a new-offered Light, and do not sleep in an old Darkness. Be not cruel to yourselves, seeing it hath pleased GOD to show you Mercy.  
Secondly, I grant, Our Religion hath not only been aspersed by the open Professors of Impiety, but even by Those to whom a counterfeit Zeal gave a place among the Virtuous: But you must know, 'tis no Crime to be Condemned, but to be Guilty. Was our Blessed LORD a Drunkard, because the malicious Scribes and Pharisees termed Him so? Was He an Enemy to Caesar, because Gaesar's Enemies affirmed it? Or, Did He lay an Horrid Plot to subvert the Government, because the Jews laid this Treason at His Door? No, no; CHRIST's Enemy's Crimes and Perjuries could not blast His Innocence; nor could (yet) His Church's Foes ever black its Reputation, in the Opinion of Men, who are greater Friends to Truth than Malice; and who rather follow the Light of Reason, than the Torrent of Faction. Let Men call you then, Superstitions, Cruel, and Idolatrous, if you join yourselves to Our Church; the Sin is Theirs; the Virtue of Patience Yours, if you bear the Accusation without any other Concern, than for your Persecutor's Sins. And I am sure, so great a Blessing ought infinitely to outvie the greatest Malediction, which can flow from the most inveterate Malice.  
This is true, Sir: But after all, the World will talk; nor will all the Sincerity of my Intentions, ever be able to persuade Men to put a savourable Construction on my Proceeding. Spleen will blaze it abroad, that Interest was the sole Motive of my Conversion, not Conscience; and that a Criminal Compliance with the Times, rather turned my Will, than Reason convinced my judgement; and so I shall lose my Honour, and forfeit my Reputation, which is the greatest Treasure a Man of Quality can possess.  
Pray, Dear Christian, give me leave to ask you this Question; Can another Man's Wickedness warrant yours? Can a Fear of being thought a Bad Man, justify your being so? The World will say, That Interest is your Motive; if it be, Religion is but a Cloak to cover your Vice; and you deserve more Execrations, than the Tongues of Men are able to fling on you: But if Conscience be the sole Ground of your Conversion, Will you be so unnatural as to pawn This on Wicked men's Account? Will you be really a Sinner, our of a Fear of being esteemed One? This is a Folly above Expression, and a Deference to an Enemy, which should never be granted the dearest Friend.  
But you will hazard your Honour: What than? Good GOD! Shall I rather put to a venture the Salvation of my Soul, than my Reputation? Shall I be so enchanted with the vain Applause of Men, who cannot be sufficiently blamed, as rather to fling up my Right to Heaven, than to forfeit a Place in their Panegyrics? O in what deceitful Balances do the unfortunate Children of Adam weigh Things! How foolish is their Conduct, whose only Ambition is to be thought Wise!  
Believe me, Honour will never save your Souls, (Dear Christians!) nor false Aspersions damn them: So that, in Prudence, you ought not to startle at These; nor to be so much enamoured with That, as to give it a greater Place in your Affections, than your Duty. But, if you will be Slaves to Honour, let it be to That, which ennobles you, not to That, which disgraces you: Be Great in the Sight of GOD, not in the Opinion of Men; who are sure to esteem That most, which is of the least Value. The Holy Fathers tell us, 'Tis an Honour to Be a Christian; and, I am sure, 'tis a greater to be a True Oue; that is, not only to Profess CHRIST, but a Religion which hath its Being from his Eternal Wisdom, not from the Airy Fancies of Men.  
Well, Sir, I am convinced, 'tis a Madness to be biased by any of these weak Arguments: But, Times may Change; and the Religion which is now Protected, may be Persecuted by an Equal Authority. Time's may Change, 'tis true: But, let me tell you, Perchance, many here present, may be in their Graves before Those Times come. Shall I then assure my Damnation, out of the Apprehension of a Danger, that perhaps will never come near me? No, no: Seeing all my Care and Industry can never put my Soul in a perfect Security, whilst it moves in this Region of Uncertainties, I will place it as near Heaven as I am able; and never be frighted from so prudent a Care, by any future Contingencies.  
But, suppose those Times were not only to Come, but Present; Can the Sword of Persecution, the Rigour of Laws, warrant any Man's Dissimulation? Does GOD adapt his Church to the Times? Hath He Instituted One for a Calm, Another for a Storm? I confess ingenuously, I never saw, in all the Monuments of Antiquity, any Footsteps of such an Indulgence. As GOD is without Change, so is his Religion; and we are obliged, under pain of Damnation, to embrace it, tho' it cost us the Sweat of our Brows, nay, and every Drop of Blood in our Veins.  
This is CHRIST's Doctrine, without any Hyperbole; If any Man come to Me, and hate not his Father, and Mother, and Wife, and Children, and Brethren, and Sisters, yea, and his own Life also, he cannot he My Disciple, Luke 14.26. By which Words He declares, in the most positive Terms imaginable, That neither the Respect due to our Parents, neither the Love of Wife and Children; in fine, neither the natural and inbred Inclination all Men feel to conserve their L●●es, can warrant the Transgression of GOD's Com●●●ds: We must rather quit All we can hope for in this World, and exspose us to All we can fear, than ●●ll one Inch short of our Duty. And because it is 〈◊〉 the Le●st Command (I am sure) to Embrace t●●t Faith, which CHRIST hath Planted with His Sweat, and Watred with His most precious Blood, any Man's not Professing It will be punished with Eternal Death. He that Believeth not, shall be Damned, Mark 18.16. The Primitive Christians were convinced of this Truth; and therefore no Human Motive was capable to withdraw them from CHRIST: These Invincible Hero's saw Christianity condemned by unjust Decrees of the Roman Senate; and more Cruelties put in Execution, than were Enacted: They beheld the Reeking Gore of their Massacred Brethren; were Spectators of their Mangled Bodies, which were either cast as a Prey to the Beasts of the Field, or Birds of the Air. As their Divine Constancy raised their Souls above the World, so the Cruelty of their Persecutors cast them lower than Beasts: The Wounds they received, the Torments they endured, so changed their Features, that nothing was more unlike Men, but the Tormentors, whose Barbarity plunged them into so deplorable a Condition. Yet Death, in all these ghastly Disguises, was not able to fright Young Lords, and Tender Ladies from the Gospel: They read GOD's Commands, and were resolved to comply with Them. They knew their Souls were at stake; and therefore, to secure These, they thought it no small Piece of Wisdom, to expose their Bodies, which once would fall a Sacrifice to Death, in spite of Care and Artifice: That the Tyrant's Rage, if vehement, would soon dispatch them; that, if remiss, it might be borne. So that what they could lose, was only what Nature once would steal.  
But Infidelity opened a far different Scene: It represented Heaven lost, Hell found, and Both for an Eternity. These Motives so softened all the dismal Sequels of a Conversion to Christianity, that they embraced it with Joy.  
And therefore I do not see, why We, who expect from our Obedience to CHRIST's Religion, as great Recompenses as They, and aught to fear as great Punishments from our Infidelity, should wander in a Labyrinth of Irresolations; or rather should resolve to be argued out of the True Faith, by such Arguments as weak Children, and seeble Old Men have solved by the Effusion of their Blood.  
O GOD! Seeing therefore this is thy Command, I will seek the Truth, not as if I feared to find it; but like One, who knows he may be eternally Happy with it, and must be perpetually Miserable without it. I will lay down Prejudice, which is the worst of Counsellors, and only take Sincerity with me in the Pursuit: And, when once I am so fortunate as to find this Treasure, nothing but Death shall take it from me. I will not value the Reproaches of Enemies, nor the fawning Dissuasions of Friends: I will sacrifice my Honour to my Duty; the Portion I possess in this World, (if need be) to that I pretend to in Heaven; and the Safety of my Body, to the Salvation of my Soul: Because, I am sure, if once I lose This, I shall never find It; but ever to deplore my Cruelty towards my Self, and my Ingratitude towards my Maker.  

[I come now to my Second Point.]  
ONE would wonder, how Men, who have Courage (in spite of Raillery and Shame) to Embrace the True Religion, should be so Cowardly, as to fear to square their Lives according to its Tenets! Or, (what is yet more strange) how Men, who glory in the Name of a Catholic, should blush to be esteemed a Good One! This is a Conduct no less preposterous, than for a Man to dare a Giant, and to run from the Face of a Pigmy! Yet, is it not true in Practice? I wish it were not. But our Eyes must convince our Judgements, that too many Tracts of these unreasonable Proceed are visible in the World. How many are there, perchance, in this very Place, who have committed more Sins to please a Debauched Companion, than to please Themselves? Who have more dreaded the Frown of a Friend, than the terrible Menaces of an angry GOD? You are Invited to a Tavern; You know the End of these Invitations are not to entertain Friendship, but to heighten Intemperance; not to divert Nature, but to drown both Reason and Grace in Wine. Your Conscience bids you stay: You hear its Voice; you feel its Sting; you resolve to Obey: But than Civility changes your Resolution; You fear to be pointed at for a Clown, in case of a Refusal: And so, in fine, you Compliment yourself out of GOD's Holy Grace, and accompany your Friend to Hell. You are appointed to meet a Club of Desperadoes in such Places, as Honesty, nay, and common Humanity, scarce dares name: If a frequent Repetition of Sins have not quite lulled your Conscience asleep, it cannot but startle at the bare making of so unchristian a Proposal. In the mean time, Grace and Nature wage a War within your Breast; you fear to Go, and are ashamed to Stay; you Tremble at an Acceptation of the Challenge, and Shiver as much at the very Thought of a Refusal. You see GOD threatening Above, Hell menacing Below; and you feel the Pangs and Throws of a Conscience, knawing within: But then a Quid dicent homines? (What will my Companions say?) drives away these wholesome Admonitions, to give place to the Hellish Executioners of Sin.  
Your Conscience puts before your Eyes the dismal Scene of your Crimes; it echoes forth aloud, Nisi Poenitentiam egeritis simul omnes peribitis; Either Penance, or Damnation: There is no Medium between these Extremes; no Place for Neutrality.  
Consult then your own Memory, examine your Duty, and deplore first the Neglect of it; and then, Vade & ostend te Sacerdoti, Cast yourself at a Priest's Feet, and lay There those Monsters of Iniquity, which otherwise will live Eternally to Torment you. A Transcient Shame is far more easy to be borne, than a Perpetual Punishment; and a Grief with Pardon, is better than Sorrow with Despair.  
These Admonitions soften our Hearts; we embrace the Counsel, and resolve to put it in Execution: But, in the mean time, an Invitation comes from a Friend, to some Vain, or perhaps Criminal Divertisement: Our Pious Resolution must give place to a Ceremonious Condescension, lest we commit a Soelicism against Good Manners, or disappoint a Friend. We run into Treasons against our Souls, we disappoint GOD's Fatherly Designs, and our own Salvation. Where is Prudence? Where is Christianity? nay, Where is even Sense, in this preposterous Conduct? For, I am sure, not one Grain of Reason is visible in it, from one End to the other. Suppose you should have the Courage to send back Word, That Business of the highest Concern, will not give you Leave to accept of the Proposal; That you intent to make Even past Scores with GOD, before you hazard yourself to the Danger of increasing Them. What can you apprehend? What? why a Thousand Nicknames will be clapped on me, before I dream of it; of which Bigot and Hypocrite are the least terrible. And yet, GOD knows, too many less fear open and real Impiety, than to be aspersed with Bigotry, which carries nothing Hideous, but the Name; and had rather be Real Hypocrites, than be deputed So.  
Good GOD! That Men should thus run away from Men, and be scared at their own Species! What determines you, Oh miserable Creature, to a Resolution, which is so Fatal to your own Soul? Fear! What is it you fear? My Companions! Can all their Malice ever reach your Soul? No. Why then do you fear That, which is not worthy of the Passion? Because nothing is worthy of the least Symptom of Fear, but That which renders us unworthy of the Character of a CHRISTIAN. But they will defame me! How? GOD forbidden, that in a Christian Kingdom, even Heathenish Vices should bear the Stamp of Christian Virtues! That Catholics should glory in Impieties, which Pagans were ashamed of! or run away from Chastity, as a Crime, which Idolaters themselves courted as a Virtue. Are Christian's Laws so vile, that we must be ashamed to keep them? or, Is the Contempt of Them so dignifying, as to deserve a Place amongst our Titles of Honour? Is there no ways possible to be thought a Gentleman, unless our Escutcheon be sabled with V●ce? O GOD! degrade me of Nobility, if I must purchase my Arms at so high a rate as Heaven! Levelly me with the poorest Worm, which creeps on the Face of the Earth, if you will but promise me afterwards a Place among the Happy Troops of thy Elect! I shall always esteem myself Higher with thy Holy Grace, in the Lowest Place that the Opinion of Men is able to cast me, than to move in the most Sublime Sphere, without it. Let Men call me Clown, and what they please; I value it not: If my Rusticity will once open Heaven's Gate, I shall be Happier than They, whose Civility will plunge them into Misery. O foolish Man! who rather chooseth to be a Well-bred Gentleman in Hell, than a Pious Clown in Heaven.  
But pray, Dear Auditory, give me Leave to insist a little longer on this Subject. Obloquy, and the Fear of Infamy, frights you from your Duty: From whom do you fear these Aspersions? From whom the Infamy? From Fools, or Wise Men? That is, From the Pious, or the Impious? From the Wise you cannot: For, How can they condemn Virtue in You, which They glory to Practise themselves? The Fright then comes from Fools; that is, from the Impious: Now, What Man of a sober Judgement, aught in Prudence to frame a worse Opinion of another, for being dispraised by Those who deserve Blame themselves? Nay, I add yet farther, That all the Satyrs of the Wicked, are, in reality, the Panegyrics of the Just; and that they only black Those, whose Tongues are so black as to pronounce them. For, as it is the greatest Sign of a Loyal Subject to be rated at by a Traitor; so 'tis no less visible a Mark of a Catholick's Piety, than continually to lie under the Censures of the Wicked.  
Wherefore, Dear Christians, I will End with the Prophet's Exhortation: 
Isa. 51.7.  Nolite timere opprobrium hominum, & Blasphemias eorum nolitemetuere; Fear not the Obloquys of Men, and let not their Blasphemies alarm you: Sicut enim vestimentum, sic comedet eos vermis; Because they shall once fall a Victim to Worms: Salus autem mea insempternum erit; The Time will come, when they shall fall under the Punishment of their Crimes, and you shall fly up to the Recompense of your Virtues. You will then see, what a Misery it is to court Vice, what an Happiness to embrace Virtue. Cry then out with St. Paul; Non erubesco Evangelium; 
Rom. 1.16.  I am not ashamed of the Gospel. Let the World Censure my Change, I will Approve It; and let them Laugh, I will Forgive them. Maledicent illi & tu benedices; And, 
Psal. 108.28.  as my Courage hath carried me over all those Earthly Motives, which would hinder my Choice of the True Religion; so, by GOD's Grace, shall my Constancy trample under Feet those Human Respects, which scare Christians from their Duty. I know, 'tis a Blessing to be a Member of the True Church; and that I draw down a Curse, if I am a Bad One: And therefore, I will not so misuse GOD's Favours, as to oblige Him to punish Me more than Others, because He hath loved Me more.  
I do therefore now, in the Presence of GOD, and of His Angels, Retract my former Weaknesses; and do purpose never more to buy any Man's Friendship at so vast a Price, as GOD's Displeasure. No: My only Study shall be, to learn the Obedience I own my Maker, and my only Labour to comply with it. This is the sole Way, which leads Me Here into Content; and will Hereafter place Me in that Happy Region Above, where I shall see my Maker, and feel my own Felicity.   
Deo Gratias.