THE Reformed Gentleman: OR, THE Old English Morals Rescued From the Immoralities of the Present Age. SHOWING How Inconsistent those Pretended Genteel Accomplishments. Of Swearing, Drinking, Whoring and Sabbath-Breaking. Are with the True Generosity of an English Man. Being Vices not only contrary to the Law of God and the Constitutions of our Government both Ecclesiastical and Civil, but such as cry loud for Vengeance without a speedy Reformation. To which is added a Modest Advice to Ministers and Civil Magistrates, with an Abridgement of the Laws relating thereto, the King's Proclamation and Queen's Letter to the Justices of Middlesex, with their several Orders thereupon. By A. M. of the Church of England.  Nobilitas sola est atque Vnica Virtus. Juvenal 
Imprimatur.  
Rob. Midgley. July 28. 1692.  
London, Printed for T. Salusbury at the King's Arms in Fleetstreet near St. Dunstan's Church. 1693.   

TO THE READER  
Impartial Reader,  
IF ever any Age needed a Boanerges, this Lethargic one of ours certainly does; nothing but Thunderclaps, and Miraculous Judgements being able to raise Mankind from their dead sleep of Sin, and to rouse than from their Carnal Security and Impious Stupidity. 'Twas this lamentable Prospect of the unconcernedness of the Nation we live in that set me upon the following undertaking.  
Never did any People commit such Enormities, and seemed so insensible whether they had been guilty of them or no, as our English Vitiosoes at present: For if you tell the Profane Wretch of his Swearing, though the Oath i● scarce out of his Mouth; yet you shall hear him avouch by an Oath or two more that he did not Swear.— If you tax another of being Drunk; Pshaw, Pshaw! cries the Brute, that's a small Fault; pray who is free from the Piccadilloes of the Bottle?— If you charge a Third with Whoring; Who, replies the Lascivious Spark, can forbear indulging the inviting Motions of Flesh and Blood? And what man but an Anchorite or Hermit can resist the Impetuous Inclinations of his Youth?— If in the last place you advise any to be more Religiously Observant of the Lordsday; Why, who (says the Licentious Libertine) has required this at our hands? Is it not enough to go twice a day to Church on the Sunday, but we must be Puritan and Pharisees at home too?  
This being the true Account of the desperate Case of our debauched Times; What remains, but that some one should, though I perhaps have not with Rigour and Menaces, with Thundrings and Lightnings enough, made them sensible of their Condition; lest soothing themselves up with the conceit of God's Mercies, and Christ's meritorious Death and Satisfaction for their Sins, they remain still in the Suburbs of Hell, and dance so long about the Pit of Destruction, till they irrecoverably fall into their Eternal Ruin? Do the Physicians use gentle Applications, and only struck their Apoplectic Patients? No certainly, they find Rubbing and Chafing, Pinching and Wounding, Scarifying and Cupping little enough to make them recover of their Dead Fit. And shall the Soul in as deep an Apoplexy as ever the Body felt, have soft things said to her? Shall the Obdurate Conscience, and the Heart as hard as the nether Millstone be softly anointed as it were with Oil, and bound up as if nothing ailed them? Certainly those Balsamicks would do better, when the Wound is laid open and searched throughly; when the Soul is touched to the quick, the Conscience pricked with the Sense of its own Gild; and the Heart brought down to a Melting, Bleeding Temper. I am confident the Binding up the Sore before it be half Dressed, and drawing a Skin over the unhealed Part is a ready way to cause a Grangreen. And I am as confident, that speaking Peace to a People, when there is no Peace belongs to them, and the gentle treatment of Vice is the great Cause of its spreading the Contagion, and of making the Infected insensible of the Plague, till such time as it has got such sure footing, that a Cure without a Miracle is despaired of.  
And since things are in such a desperate Case, what sober man can forbear wishing that Impiety were reduced into some decree of Modesty; and that Wickedness were but scared into Corners, that it may at least from henceforth not dare to outface the Light, and boast of its numbers in the Eye of the World? And any rational man would be forward to think this might easily be done in a Country, where Christianity is professed in its Original Purity, and where the Fundamental Laws and Institutions favour the Attempt. But alas! we find, though we have Statutes to that purpose made to our hands, though the Great Wheels have moved, and we might have expected the lesser Orbs would have followed the Motion: yet most men stand still, and those, which do move, make but a very tardy motion by reason of the Opposition of a Major Party; whose Clamours are so great as to make the suppressing of Profaneness and Debauchery the Great Grievance of the Nation. So that though there should be a Scheme proposed by the Best and Wisest of the Nation for accomplishing the Design, though there were more Laws made to back those already in force; yet when that is done it would be to little Effect, unless there could be found Persons of that Courage, Generosity, Conduct and Prudence, as might accordingly put the same in Execution. But where to meet such as are Endowed with those Qualifications will be the harder Task, if we consider that we live at present in a World which never yet was so happy, as the Good made the Larger and the Rising Party.  
As Reform as this Age pretends to be, he knows very little of the World, that sees not the great need this Corrupted Island has of a Speedy Reformation: A Work of so great a Consequence, which not only Good Men ought to endeavour, but the Bad aught to desire, and all aught one way or other to promote. But what Rubs and Remora's, what Disappointments and unexpected Discouragements has so Necessary a Work met with of late from some, who should have been by the Obligation they lie under its forwardest Promoters and Encouragers? It would seem too reflecting to insist hereon, and therefore I leave the persons concerned to consider with themselves whether they have acted like Christians, or so much as like Englishmen, in doing what in them lies to hinder so Glorious a Design.  
That we are a People that do need a Reformation: That we are not such white and undefiled Creatures as we take ourselves to be: That as long as we continue in those Open and Crying Sins, under which our Land at present groans, we cannot expect the Consummation of such Mercies, as are already begun for us, but a certain fearful looking for of Judgement and Fiery Indignation devouring us from the face of the Earth: That all our Pretences to Religion, and of our being of this or that Church signify nothing without a Holy Life, and the keeping ourselves Pure from the Corruptions of the Age: That those, who are in the Gall of Bitterness, and involved in the Labyrinths of Sin, may extricate themselves and come out of the Midst of Sodom, and fly for Refuge to a Spiritual Zoar, before the Destroying Angel overtake them with his Plagues; it is the Design of the following Discourse to show, To which end I have not spared to draw those Vices I have handled in their proper, lively, and real Natural Colours: To lay the Plague, the Curse and the Judgement at the Right Door: To call the Blasphemer, the Intemperate, the Unclean Person and the Profane by their Proper Names: And to tell them of the Miseries, Calamities Wants, Diseases and Death which are their Portion in this Life; and of the neverdying Worm, the never-ceasing Pains, the never-ending Torments and the Eternal Unquenchable Flames, which (without God's Mercy upon their Repentance) will be their Lot in another World.  
And truly I am so far from wishing any severe word in the Ensuing Treatise unwritten, that I am afraid of nothing so much, as that (being infected with the Epidemical Prudentials of the Times) I have treated Vice too gently, and used the Vile Enormities too favourably. I could wish with all my Soul that every word therein were as sharp as Arrows, and as keen as a two Edged Sword, that they might stab the Sins (I have treated on) to the very Heart; and bring the Offenders to such a Pass, that they might be necessitated to flee to Jesus for the Sovereign Balsam of his Blood to heal their wounded Consciences, and that being there they might see the necessity of living a Holy Life, lest they set their own, as well as their Saviour's Wounds a bleeding afresh.  
I have but one Word more to add; which is, to advertise the Reader, that I had an Intention of treating upon some other Malignant and Capital Vices; but perceiving that thereby I should swell this Work to a larger Volumn, than I designed this Manual should be; and considering, that, by advancing the Price above the Vulgar Reach, I should rob the Inferior Rank of People of the benefit thereof, and so lose the very end of publishing it for a General Good: I confined myself to speak only of those sins, which seemed to bear the most  sway in this our Island. And truly I could not but think it most proper to handle those Crimes, and lay them Open and Naked to the World which are accounted by the Greater Party for Little, Venial and the Pecadilloes of the Age, at which the Deity seemed little or not at all concerned, and in the Commission of which they notwithstanding hoped for Heaven and Eternal Happiness. How egregiously are mistaken, they will (if they have but the Hearts to consider) find in the sequel.  
And oh! that every one, who Reads this, were wise, that they understood those things, and that they would consider their Latter End: That they would cease to do Evil and learn to do Well: That they would choose Life and not Death, Light and not Darkness. That every Soul may Departed from the Error of his Ways and be reform; that the Reformed may, as much as in them Lies, endeavour to reclaim the whole; is the Earnest Desire, as well as the Endeavour of him, who is a Wellwisher to the whole Israel of God, and especially to the Welfare of our particular Son.  
Farewell.   

Advertisement.  
A Book newly Published, entitled Ecclesia Reviviscens; A Poem, or a Short Account of the Rise, Progress, and Present State of the New Reformation against Vices and Debaucheries. Printed for Tho. Salusbury.   

THE INTRODUCTION.  
Man considered in his three states, of Innocence, Nature, and Regeneration. A short view of the Church from the Primitive to out Times: A survey of the Degeneracy of the present Age; and the little Reason the open Debauchees have of styling themselves Church of England Men. The Gild of this Nation in general aggravated in that neither God's Mercies can Win it, nor his Judgements Terrify it into a serious Reformation.  
1. MAN, that Curious, 
The consideration of Man, First in his state of Innocence.  Upright, stately Fabric of an Almighty Make, in his short Period of Innocence attracted to himself the Admiration, Love and Obedience of all other Creatures, which were subservient to him as their Lord and Denominator. To him, did all the moving and creeping Animals of the Earth, the Winged Fowls of the Air, and the Sealy Fish of the Deep become most willing Tributaries: To Him, did the Firmaments above, those Orbs of Light, the Sun, Moon, and Stars afford their milder Influence: To him, did all the Sweets of Paradise, and the Natural Product of the Fertile Earth yield Delight and Satisfaction: To him, in a Word, was all the Creation so Obedient, as if Man were the only Masterpiece of God and Nature, and those other Created Being's but so many Ornaments to set him off with the greater Lustre. Add to this, (his Harmonious, and Symmetrical Body) His being endued with a never dying, Godlike and reasonable Soul; Enlightened by a clear Understanding; Guided by an Uncorrupted Will, Moved by pure and Seraphic Affections, and placed in a Rank a little below the Angels.  

2. Man considered in his state of Nature.  2. No sooner did he fall and transgress that one Commandment by eating the Forbidden Fruit, but the Scene of Glory quickly changed to that of Ignominy and Reproach: His Body became Distempered, Frail, and Miserable; His Soul lost the Divine Impress, and became filthy and abominable; His Understanding was darkened; His Will Corrupted and Depraved; His Affections Vitiated and Debauched; and his whole Man out of Frame. He had neither Peace without, nor Peace within; but all in a storm led an Unquiet, dissatisfied, and discontented Life. All the Creatures now risen up in Actual Rebellion against their transformed Lord, vindicating their Creator's Honour upon one that had so shamefully abused it. And the lashes of a Wounded Conscience upon a sense of his Gild were more afflictive to him by far, than his being whipped out of Paradise ever was. What dismal Effects his Posterity met withal is apparent from God's Justice in giving them up to a reprobate sense, to commit Iniquity with greediness, and then plaguing them with sundry Diseases, and divers kinds of Deaths. For from the very moment of the Fall the Intellectual became subject to the Sensitive Faculties; the Rational, nobler part of the Man was enslaved to that ignoble part which he held in common with Brutes; and the Soul bowed down, and was conformable to all the Lusts and impetuous Passions of the Body.  
3. In this languid condition lay the greatest part of the Posterity of fallen Adam for nigh four Thousand Years. In the height of that Impiety, which proceeded from those Corrupted Principles, was it that the old World was destroyed by a Universal Deluge of Waters: and the new One in its Nonage was dispersed by a Jargon of Languages at the Confusion of Babel. Of all the Kindred's of the Earth, which then began to increase, did not God choose any, save faithful Abraham and his Seed, to place his Name among them. 'Twas Jacob was his Chosen, and Israel the Lot of his Inheritance; 'twas in the Tents of the Sanctified Tribes that the Glory of his Presence shone; and by his Servant Moses he implanted the Rudiments of a Typified Religion which hereafter was to be refined and confirmed by his Successor and Master, the LORD JESUS.  
4. Thus the knowledge of the Divinity was as it were confined within the Borders of Juda, and Palestine was more happy than her Neighbours: In Judah was God known, and his Name was great in Israel; in Salem also was his Tabernacle, and his dwelling place at Zion. Ps. 76.1, 2. Whilst the greatest part of the World remained in Darkness, and sat under the shadow of Death; and groped through their Ignorance at Noonday: Whilst they changed the truth of God into a Lie, became vain in their Imaginations, and Worshipped the Creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Rom. 1. True it is, the Wiser sort of Heathens, guided by their Natural Light, made some steps towards the raising the Soul from the Bondage of the Body; and gave great Pulls to set fallen Man once more upon his Legs. But alas! their Endeavours fell infinitely short of that End: their glimmering Light proved but a false one to them; and their Intricate Reasonings and dry Speculations were so far above the reach of Vulgar heads, and so uncapable of doing them any good, that they have oftimes bewildered the Philosopher himself, who after all his search has been forced to confess himself to be in the Dark. So that tho' those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 made some Advances towards the Civilising the Barbarous Nations, and preached up Morality to their Disciples; yet all the Religion they could engraft in the World was but Delusion, and the best of their Altars wore no other Inscription then to the UNKNOWN GOD, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Acts, 17, 23.  whom ignorantly they Worshipped, and of whom they could have no certain knowledge till the Sun of Righteousness arose with healing in his Wings, and brought Life and Immortality to light through the Gospel; Becoming as Old Simeon expresses himself) a Light to lighten the Gentiles, as well as the Glory of his People Israel: Luke 2.32. Bringing the glad tidings of Salvation to the Greek and the Barbarian, to the Bond and Free; and Preaching Repentance and Remission of Sins among all Nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Luke 24.47.  
5. This Abstract of Mercy! This Overflowing Quintessence of Compassion! By a mysterious Incarnation condescended to to take upon himself not the Nature of Angels, 
3. Man considered in his state of Regeneration.  but the Seed of Abraham. Hebr. 2.16. Who being in the form of God, thought it no Robbery to be equal with God; but made himself of no Reputation, and took upon him the form of a Servant, and was made in the likeness of Men: And being sound in fashion as a Man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto Death, even the Death of the Cross. Phil. 2.6, 7, 8. And by that Expiatory Sacrifice of his he satisfied his Father's Justice, offering himself up once for all. In this hopeful way of Recovery did that Blessed one leave Mankind upon his Departure hence; and entrusted the farther Cure to faithful hands, who were not wanting to transmit the Sovereign Balsam, Christ Crucified, to Posterity.  
6. And now began that Fevor and Warmness for Religion to appear in the World: 
A short view of the Christian Church, from the Primitive to our times.  All Places Echoed with this New Doctrine, and every Mouth uttered the Gospel and Glad Tidings of Peace. Innocence and sincerity began to be Visible in men's Lives and Manners; and those, who could not dispute, could die for their Pure and Undefiled Religion. This was the Case of that Flourishing Palmtree the Primitive Church, which spread its Branches so far under the hottest Persecutions, That most of the Dark Corners of the Civilised Nations were enlightened with the Piercing and Resplendent Beams of the Truth: And the Earth began to be full of the Knowledge of the Lord, as the Waters cover the Sea. Is. ch. 11. ver. 9  
7. But alas! this was too good to last long. For no sooner had the Christian World (so I might then call it) enjoyed a Requiem from thè continual Harasses of Pagan Tyranny and Persecution: No sooner was ChristianityVniversally Embraced throughout the Roman Empire: No sooner had it the Protection of Emperors, and the favour of Complaisant Courtiers (who, weary of the Pagan Worship, became of the same Religion with their Princes;) No sooner was it Established by the Edicts of Constantine, and confirmed by Theodosius and his Successors in the Imperial Throne; But it became the Subject of its own feuds and Animosities: So that what all the United force of Hell and Earth, had in vain endeavoured by open Violence to destroy, was Overwhelmed with its own Ruins, and lay buried under its own Heaps. Heresy upon Heresy, Schism up●n Schism, Rend the Union of the Church on the one Hand; The Arrians, and Donatists; the Pelagians and Nestorians (some Questioning the Divinity, others the Humane Nature of Christ; some Quarrelling about the Procession, others about the Divinity of the Holy Ghost,) set the Professors of Christianity together by the Ears, and involved all in Flames for two or three Centuries together. But then on the other hand Superstition, Blind Zeal, False Principles and Interest, drawed a veil quite over the Truth; and for many Ages after, Believing as the Church believed; Outward Pomp and a Continual Round of Mysterious splendid Ceremony was all the Religion the Indulgence of the Papal Chair required at men's hands. If they could with an Implicit Faith own Infallibility, Purgatory, Transubstantiation, the Sacrifice of the Mass, and a hundred such like Whimsioal Notions of Human Inventions; were their Lives never so Wicked, and their Manners never so Debauched; yet they might be assured of Heaven and Eternal Happiness.  
8. But tho' all these sad Afflictions happened to Christianity in the successive Ages of the Church, 
A view of the degeneracy of the present Age.  yet it was free from that general inundation of Impiety, wherewith this l●st and degenerate Age is at present so overwhelmed: wherein, even the dregs of Sin and Pollution are as it were sunk and settled down to the very bottom. Was ever Wickedness more openfaced? Wa● it ever more immodest than in these worst of times? And truly I cannot wonder that it is so, that it struts thus b●l l● unmasked, and fears no contradiction; since not only Pagans, but Christians; not only Papists but Protestants, are its Abettors. Men , not only practise but plead for their Vices, and maintain a Dispute for any beloved Lust with as hot a Zeal, as the best of Christians would stand up for the cause of Christ and his Religion; bearing so great a Love to Sin and the Author of it, as tho' they were willing to live their Votaries, and to die their Martyrs. This is the sad, lamentable, and too true account of the present State of Apostatising Mankind. And how great a sh●re this our Island contributes to the Universal Deluge of Debauchery, is too evident to need any further Demonstration, than that of Ocular Inspection. We are all of us too apt upon the Commission of a Sin, Adam-like, to lay the blame far enough from our own Doors: to charge it upon the strength of the Temptation, upon the weakness of our Constitution, upon the Custom of the Place wherein we live, upon our own Ignorance, upon Surprise, and the like. But alas! none of all these Salvoes will serve the Turn, but for all these things GOD will bring us into Judgement.  
9 And who can choose but grieve to observe that most (I may say All) the open Debauchées of the Age are of impudent as to profess themselves Church of England men, 
The little reason wicked Men have, to pretend themselves of any, much less of the Church of England, whose Canon, as well as Civil Laws are against them.  hoping that under that pretence (for I can call it not otherwise) to escape the Censures of Man here, and the Sentence of God hereafter? They cry as loud as any, The Temple of the Lord! The Temple of the Lord! But all the while remain in the outward Court, and will lose the privilege of being saved with th●se which are within the inner Rail. For how unreasonable as well as unchristian is it to think or expect so pure and undefiled a Church, should indulge any of her Members in those horrid Debaucheries, which a sober Heathen would Blush to commit? No for certain she does not; for all her Canons and Constitutions as well as Doctrines tend to the Establishing of a Holy and unblameable Life in the World, and the Restraining of most of those reigning Vices of our Corrupted Age. Nor is the Civil Magistrate less armed against them, having severeal Penal Statutes to empower him to put a stop to their Exorbitancies; so that whoever will continue in those open sins, is so far from being a Son of the Church of England, or a Friend to any, much less to this Government, that he is the greatest disturber of the One, and the most professed Enemy of the Other.  
10. And what an Aggravation is it of the guilt of this Nation in general, that it bats to be Reformed? 
The Gild of this Land in general aggravated, in that, neither the Mercies nor the Judgements of God have had any influence over it to work a Reformation.  Which neither Judgements can terrify, nor Mercies allure to Repentance? For what People have tasted more of the Divine displeasure? What Land has received greater Favour from Heaven than this our Island within the short compass of this last Century has? Was not the Reformation form Popish Errors and Superstitious Tenets, matter of great Joy to this our Israel? Did not that wonderful Deliverance from the Invincible Armada in Eighty Eight, make glad the City of God? Did not God's Goodness Triumphantly manifest itself in the discovery of the Horrid Powder-Plot▪ Were not the Restauration of the Royal Family after 12 years' Banishment, and the re-establishing Monarchy, after so long an Anarchy, marks of Divine Love? And (not to speak of the frustration of many Plots in the late Reigns) Was not the late Revolution, and the Deliverance we received from those dismal Apprehensions and Fears we lay under matter of great Comfort and Satisfaction to all that were wellwishers to our Zion? But what Returns have we made to God for all his Benefits? How have we embraced those Invitations to be Good and Happy? Base, Ungrateful Wretches that we are! We have turned the Grace of GOD into wantonness frustrated the very designs of God's Blessings, and turned them by our Abuses into Curse. Our Debaucheries are as many as ever, and our Animosities and Divisions as high on all sides, as if there had been no opportunities for a Reconcilement.  
11. And now let us look back, upon the Judgements God has inflicted upon the Land, and observe whether they have prevailed any more than his Mercies. Did not a long abused Peace at last involve Three Kingdoms in Civil War? Fill the Nation with Devastations and Ruins? Turn our Waters into Blood? Cover every place with the dead Bodies of the slain? Expose the best Religion in the World naked to the Affronts and Contumelies of Sects and Parties? And provoke the fury and madness of the People so far, as at last, ignominiously to Arraign, unaccountably to Condemn, and barbarously to Murder the Noblest of Kings, tho' the most unfortunate of Princes? And to come a little lower, how smartly has this one 
* London.  Metropolitan City suffered by Plague and Fire? How did the Pestilence triumph within these Walls, killing her Thousands and Ten Thousands in our Streets? How did the insulting Flames, like the sweeeping Rain carry all down before it? As the Plague made no distinction between Sexes and Degrees, so neither did the devouring Fire take any notice of Sacred or Profane Structures, but leveled all alike to the ground, and buried them in one common beap of Ashes. To sum up all, and come nigher home. What Dangers did our Fears suggest unto us from the Insolency of the Romish Tyranny in the last Reign? How was the Liberty and Property of the Subject, the Rights and Privileges of the Church ready to be Sacrificed to the Will, and Pleasure of an Arbitrary Power? And if we look abroad; How has God visited in his Wrath most of the European Churches, and put a Cup of Trembling and Astonishment into their hands? How deeply for three years together has our Neighbouring Island tasted of it? And how do we know but the next Draught may be ours. One would think these afflictions we have felt, and those we have just reason to fear are hanging over us, were enough in all Reason to bring us nearer unto God, and to startle us into our Duty. But alas! we are never the better, and have great reason to apply the Psalmist Words to ourselves, That tho' all these things [Sword, Pestilence, and Fire; Fears, Dangers and Calamities] have befallen us, yet [are we still the same] we do still forget God.  
12. But shall not God visit for these things; shall be not be avenged on such a Nation as this? Yes, doubtless he will: For tho' he seems to Wink and Connive at these Enormities for the present, and may spare the Public a while for the Righteous Man's sake; yet God's Spirit will not always strive with Man, but taking the Good from the Wrath to come, he will rain down his Plagues of Fire and Sword, of War and Pestilence; and root out the Wicked Doers from the Face of the Earth. In this World the Unrighteous Communities shall suffer, there being no Retribution of Public Societies beyond this and the Grave. But the Impenitent Individuals will be reserved to receive their Portion in the last Day; When that Dreadful and Irrevocable Sentence shall be Pronounced, of Go ye Cursed into Everlasting Burn prepared for the Devil and his Angels. Mat. 25.41.   

The Reformed Gentleman, etc.  

Of profane Swear, Blasphemy, Cursing, and Perjury. CHAP. I  
The Sin of Profane Swearing considered from the Nature of a Lawful Oath: Blasphemy, and Cursing considered: The unaccountable Folly thereof, in that there is no Motive for it either in Atheism, Irreligion, or Reason; and in that we abhor it in those we either Love or Honour. Four Pleas for this Sin considered and Refuted. The Force of Evil Custom. Four Motives for the forsaking thereof. The Gild of such who, tho' they do not Swear themselves, yet delight to hear Others Swear. Perjury Considered, whether in order to Circumvent, or falsely Accuse others: The difficulty of dissuading Men therefrom. Motives to forsake it drawn from the Greatness both of the Sin and the Punishment.  
1. THAT all those are Sins, and dreadful ones too, none that have the least notion of Good and Evil will or can deny. But, how abominable they are, will appear more by Considering, that all are the Profanation of that Sacred Name, by whom the whole family of Heaven and Earth is named. I shall consider the three first together, for that 'tis rare to have the Man, who makes nothing of a Rash Oath, to make Conscience of Blaspheming God, or Cursing his Neighbour. How sinful Profane Swearing is, 
First, The Sin of Profane Swearing considered, from the Nature of a Lawful Oath  may be known by considering how Sacred and Solemn an Oath in its own Nature is: Being nothing less than  
2. The calling and Attesting the Ever-Blessed Trinity [the Searcher of all Hearts, the tryer of the very Reins, and from whom nothing is hid,] in some weighty Matter as a Witness of the Truth, and a Revenger of the Falsehood of what shall be asserted by the person thus adjuring. Besides, the Divinity of an Oath (as I may so term it) will be more manifest by Considering, 1. That none are Admitted to take it but such as are grown up to years of Discretion, excluding both the Mad and Perjured Person too. 2ly, That the matter thereof should be grave, and not trivial or unlawful. 3ly, That the Form is most Solemn, such as the lifting up of the hands among the Jews; the Laying the hand upon the Altar, as did the Civilised Heathens, and upon the New Testament, as is usual with us English Christians. 4ly, That the end is the Declaration of Truth, the deciding of Controversies, the Manifestation of God's Glory, and the Good of Humane Societies. 5ly, That the Object thereof is only God the Lord Jehovah; the Omnipresent, Omniscient, and Omnipotent Being.  
3. And is an Oath so Sacred in its own Nature? What a Folly and Madness as well as Sin is it then, upon every turn to call upon the Ever-Glorious Majesty of Heaven to come and Witness our Trifles, Untruths, and oftimes Sins; as if we were willing to make him partake of our Impertinencies, Nonsense, and Crimes? Would it not be a piece of Rudeness, Impudence, and Presumption, think ye, to press into the Presence of but an Earthly Prince, and bid him leave the weighty concerns of his Government, to come and Witness your Idle, Frivolous and Unnecessary Discourse? Yet so bold do Men make with the King of Kings, as to think him at leisure ever and anon to give an Ear to the Invocations, that are made to him at every Table-Talk, Chessboard, and Game at Loo.  
4. 
Secondly, Blasphemy Considered.  Is the profane Invocation of God at every inconsiderate Trifle so great a Sin? How Monstrous then must it needs be to fall soul un and Blaspheme the Being, by whom we Live, Move and have our Being? True it is, Men must be arrived to a great degree of Impiety, that shall Curse God to his very Face: Yet, tho' there may be but a few Instances of such as in direct Terms shall vilify their Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier; God's Name may be Blasphemed many other ways. He has his Tabernacle, his Sanctuary, his Word, his Day, his Ordinances, and his Ministers, all bearing that Inscription [He that Honours you, Honours me: But he that despises you, despises me.] These are the Apples of his Eyes, his sensible parts, whereby he may be wounded, tho' the Sin never reach his Inaccessible Essence. And how frequent is it to have the Wretch in his Farce and Drolleries Romance upon the Sacred Scriptures? Buffoon the Holy Order? Speak slightingly and profanely of the Lord's Day? And make a mock at our Religious Assemblies? If this be not Blaspheming God among the Gentiles, I know not what is: For this is all that the Monster can or dare do against the Holy One of Israel: He can only stab him thus in Effigy, and would serve the Original no better did it lie in his Power and cannot forbear dethroning God in his Heart and saying, This Man shall no longer Reign over us.  
5. And can we expect that out of the same Mouth should proceed Cursing and Blessing? 
Thirdly, Cursing Considered.  That he, who makes nothing of Blaspheming his Neighbour, and himself? No, for certain, he that can do the first, never stops at a Conscientious Scruple about the other: For what more common then to have the Blustering Hector, not only in his Passion to an Enemy, or a Stranger; but even in his sober familiar Discourse, wish the Pox, the Plague, and Eternal Damnation to his Friend or himself? And what is more amazing than to imprecate all this upon the Person he pretends to love extremely at the same time, as tho' he Cursed him out of pure kindness, and wished him damned out of Civility? But what shall we conclude of those Men, but that they are Mad and Frantic beyond the Cure of Hellebore?  
6. But tho' every Place, and Corner of this our Isle abound with such profligate Wretches; 
The unaccountable folly of Swearing rashly, since it has no inducement from Atheism, or Reason.  tho' this part of the World Echoes with whole Volleys of Oaths and Cursing, which continually are discharged, as it were, against Heaven; yet did I never hear of one that could Allege any thing like an Excuse to extenuate the extravagancy of their Gild. Such an unaccountable Folly is there inherent in a Rash Oath, that nothing can be said as a Plea for the use of it; but Men Swear because they will Swear. There is nothing of an Inducement, either in Reason or Religion in Atheism or Irreligion, that can warrant the Commission of so horrible a Crime.  
7. An Oath in an Atheist's Mouth is Nonsense and Contradiction. For by invoking a Being by him disowned, 
1 No Motive for the Swearer in Atheism.  he manifestly gives himself the Lie; He thereby argues the weakness of his Judgement, and stabs his own Notion to the very Heart. For who can believe he is throughly persuaded that there is no God, when at every Sentence he speaks, he Mutters out the very Name? O that he denies a Saviour, when ever and anon he uses Wounds and Blood to make his Discourse Emphatical! Or that he thinks there is no Hell, or Devils, when in every turn of Passion, he calls upon the one to take his fellow Creatures; and hearty wishes them in the Torments of the other? Sure I am the Swearing Atheist confounds h●mself, overthrows his own Principles, and demonstrates the impossibility of being thoroughpaced in such Opinions. If he would uphold Atheism, he should refrain from taking that Sacred Name into his Mouth (the bare mention whereof is argument sufficient against him) and he should invoke his Almighty Chance; and Swear by those All powerful Atoms, which by their own Magnetic Force, jumbled themselves out of a Chaos into this curious Globe; and he should adjure those Empty Nothings, to which he imagines all material Being's will at last be reduced.  
8. Nor is there any thing of reason in a profane Oath. Those Arguments the Devil makes use of to work upon a rational Man, 
2. Nothing in reason to induce the Sin.  and to induce him to Sin, are in this quite laid aside. Pleasure, Profit, and Fear, the common Byasses of the Will, and Corrupters of the Understanding, there are none to be pleaded as a Temptation in this Sin, as it may in others. Here the Devil has a cheap Bargain, and Men sell their Heaven for Nothing, and their Souls they barter away, and take no Money for them.  
10. But farther yet, the unreasonableness of this Vice appears in that, how fond soever we are of it ourselves, and are affronted when any Body reprove us for it; 
The folly of this Sin, farther illustrated in that we love it not in those whom we love or esteem.  yet, tho' we love the Treason, we hate the Traitors, and abhor a rash Oath in those we either Love or Honour. If a Wife, a Child, a near Relation, or but a Servant (whom we have a kindness for) Swear in our Presence, how apt are we to check, and rebuke them? But should a Judge, a Bishop or a Prince Curse and Blaspheme in our hearing, How would our Blood rise? And how unseemly, ungenerous, and intolerable would it seem in them? And is not the offence as unbecoming us, and as notorious, as if the best Friend or worthiest Nobleman of them all were guilty thereof? It remains then that we charge the prevalency of this Sin to Custom.  
11. 'Tis Custom, that English Law, that English Tyrant, that Obstacle to a Holy Life, 
That Custom is the chiefest Plea for it: all the rest proved to be trivial.  which is the chiefest Plea Men do, or can use to palliate so great an Offence. Those other excuses made for it, such as the being provoked to Anger: The creating Belief thereby: it's being an Ornament of the Speech: and a gentile Accomplishment, are but thin and empty sounds. For,  
11. Can any Man of Sense think, that the Commission of one unlawful Act can excuse the falling into another? 
The First Plea Refuted.  Yet so absurd is he that imagines the being carried beyond his Reason, will any thing at all lessen the Fault of transgressing his Duty. No certainly; it is a great Aggravation thus to add Sin to Sin. For is it not enough (Vile Criminal!) to incense thy God by falling into an unallowable Passion, and frantic Fury, but thou must at the same time provoke him yet more, by taking his most holy Name into thy profane, and unclean Lips? Thou hadst no Warrant for thy mad Frenzy (let the Temptation thereto be never so strong) so as to forget thyself, much less not to remember him, whose Wounds thou settest to bleed afresh by thy piercing Oaths, and abominable Curse. Whatever thou mayst imagine, yet the being guilty of one Sin, will not in the least alleviate the Commission of another, tho' the latter be occasioned by the former; but as thy Gild, so will thy Condemnation, and Punishment be double too.  
12. 
The Second Plea Refuted.  And no better a Refuge will the next Excuse be to the common Swearer. For will any Man believe him the more for his dreadful Asseverations? No, certainly this is a way of creating Belief so preposterous, that it is the ready road to raise up Diffidence, where there was none before. If thou art Honest, and reputed a Man of thy Word, none will desire thy Oath for a small matter, whatever they may do in a weighty concern: But if thou art known to be false or untrue, all thy Imprecations and Execrations will avail thee nothing; for Men will think (as we say) their own Thoughts. A Liar and Swearer are so near a kin, having one common Father of them both, that whoever has a Swearing, has (Ten to One) a Lying Vein too.  
13. Then as to the next thing, which Men use to extenuate the guilt of rash Oaths withal. 
The Third Plea Refuted.  Ask some, (I blush to say) of even the better rank of Men, why, they vent many almost in one breath? And they'll tell you, it sets off their Speech with a boon Grace, and adorns their periods with a lovely Decorum. A strange and unheardof Art of Rhetoric this! An Eloquence not much known in former Ages! That Oaths should be so Elegant, that Curse should be so Emphatical; and all Discourses insipid and flat, that are not stuffed with them, is such a new Notion, as makes me call it The Startup Idiom of the English Tongue. I know not how this blasphemous Bombast sounds in some Ears, but so far is this disagreeing Harmony from affecting any sober Man, that he would (I presume) prefer the Croaking of Toads, the Hollowing of Owls, and the Cries of Ravens far before it. And I am apt to believe Pliny's Panegyrics, and Cicero's Encomiums have more Oratorical strokes in them, than the Harangues of our Modern Vitiosoes, with all their blustering Parenthesies (of Dam●'yees, Sink'yees, By their Maker, and the like) can ever boast of. Let those Oaths be never so graceful in the speaking, yet I am of opinion, that were they penned down so that the Speaker himself might see them, tho' he might not blush at the sight of his Sin, yet he would, no doubt, at that of his folly, in uttering such unaccountably bombastical Nonsense. And as taking as it is with most, we never heard of any that recommended himself or his Friend, to the Favour of any Prince or Potentate by an Address of Oaths. Neither did we ever hear of any Council, in a Trial at Bar, that ever carried the Cause by Swearing to the purpose. Whatever the Lawyer may do in his Chambers, yet at Westminster-Hall he has the Manners, or at least the Prudence to bridle his Tongue from those exorbitant Expressions. Thus have we taken a short account of this Chop-logic, this Swearing in Mood and Figure.  
14. But to go on, there are not wanting such as declare without ask, the rass● Swearing to be Gentile and Fashionable. 
The Fourth Plea Refuted.  How fashionable they are I shall not here dispute, having reserved that for another place: But as to the Gentility of an Oath, I can see nothing in it that can deserve that peculiar Title. Is Swearing a mark of a Gentleman? Does that blazon his Honour so as all other Accomplishments without it signify nothing? Certainly, if Blots are Ornaments, if Inverting be the Advancing of a Scutcheon, this Adorns and Advances it with a Witness. But alas! I doubt after all, such hectoring Oaths, would better become the Mouths of the Beau-Garcons and blustering Bullies of the Age, than any Inns of Court Gentleman whatsoever: tho' I must needs say, they would sound bad enough from any. Be convinced then at last (deluded Gentlemen!) of this your Folly, and think not that to be a badge of your Honour, which is the greatest stain of your Reputation. Besides, every Arrant Ass, Rake-kennel and Porter of the Town, may at this rate commence Gentleman, when they please, and rank themselves with the best. For I do not see but they Swear with as good an Air to the full, as the most accomplished Spark ever did. And every Footman and Valet de Chambre, Swears as much like a Lord, as his Master can ever pretend to.  
15. And are not these excuses for the persevering in so horrid a Sin empty, idle, vain, and insipid? Such as a rational Man, guided only by the light of Nature, would blush to own as his, much less openly to stand out in them, against the more prevalent Arguments of Reason and Religion. So that it follows, nothing but a notorious evil Custom can be pleaded as a Defence for those Profanations.  
16. 'Tis Custom that has made this Plague so Epidemical. 'Tis that has infected our Cities, 
The force of Custom considered and lamented.  and poisoned our Country Air too. So that wherever you go, you may hear those frantics vent out the sad Effects of their distempered Brains. Were it possible that any of our Predecessors could arise, and take a survey of these times, How would they bless themselves? And conclude a whole Legion of Devils were let lose to lead Mankind to such a degree of Madness, till the whole World were become at length, the Grand Bedlam for those Daemoniacks to reside in? For now (with Grief of Heart may it be spoken) Kings of the Earth, and all People, Princes, and all Judges of the Earth; Young Men and Maidens; Old Men and Children (in the Psalm 'tis Praise, but in our daily Practice 'tis) Curse, and Blaspheme the Name of the Lord. So Natural is this Wicked Custom grown, that the Infant learns to Swear as soon as ever he comes to understand his Mother-Tongue; and can lisp out an Oath or a Curse before he can speak plain.  
17. This is likewise the present, sad, and lamentable state of our poor distempered Island; and What, When, and How the Crisis of this Acute Disease it generally labours under will prove, and whether the Alteration will be for the better or for the worse is too hard for any Humane Observation. ' Tho' 'tis to be feared a Cure without a Miracle is to be despaired of, it being reduced already to such a Languishing as well as stupid Condition; which nothing but a sharp Remedy (some severe Judgement, or another) will be able to Reform and Restore to the full.  
18. This indeed is a startling thought to any who are not as yet arrived to the full height of this Impiety, and whose unseared Minds retain some Sense and Remorse. 
A Dehortation to leave off this Sin.  I could wish with all my Soul, I could prevail only upon those to return from whence they are fallen, and suffer the fashionable Many to be damned by themselves. For shall we be so strongly infatuated by our own Inclinations, and the Example of others, to renounce our God more hearty in our Practice, than ever we did the Devil in our Baptism? Shall so Abominable a Custom Tyrannize over the Reason and Religion of Men and Christians? Shall we follow a Multitude to do Evil, and run Headlong into Hell for Company? What if the Stream run strong that way, is it an Impossibility to bear up against it? No certainly, we see it possible to have many Righteous Lots even in our Sodom; and many who Bless, Praise, Magnify and Extol the King of Glory amidst this Blasphemous and Profane Generation. Nor are there wanting Motives to excite even the Worst (were they not Deficient to themselves) to a speedy Repentance. 
Motives for the forsaking the Sin of Profane Swearing, etc.  For let the Examples of the more Civilised Heathen shame us: Let the Conformity due to the Constitutions of this Kingdom in general, and to the present Government in particular Win us: Let the Obedience we own to our Mother Church oblige us; and let the Terrors of the Lord in inflicting his Judgements Temporal, as well as Eternal, Constrain us to forsake our Evil Customs.  
19 Let (I say) the Practice of the more Civilised Heathens shame us to leave off our so much pleaded for and Customary Oaths. 
First Motive drawn from the Example of the Heathens.  Whoever among them should upon any Trivial Account invoke any of their Gods, were branded as Infamous persons: so highly were the very Daemons deified by those poor deluded Pagans. And at present we hear nothing of the Turks taking their great Prophet Mahomet's Name in Vain, or Blaspheming their Alcoran, or Reviling their Mufti; but whenever they have occasion to make mention of either, they do it with the greatest Adoration, and profoundest Respect imaginable. And shall the Lord Jehovah (a Name so Sacred that the very Jews thought it a Sin but to pronounce it) be so commonly abused, affronted and defiled, by our unhallowed Lips? Shall Christians and a Reformed Nation too, engross this Sin of Profane Swearing so much to themselves, as to make it their own peculiar Vice?  
20. Loyalty has been so Elevated a Subject not long ago, 
Second Motive drawn from the Conformity due to English Government.  that Men would oftentimes shipwreck a good Conscience, so they might appear but favourers of the Government they live in: But so far is the common Swearer from being a Loyalist, that he Acts in Contradiction to all the Modern Constitutions of the English Nation, and openly resists the unrepealed 
* 21 Jac. 1. cap. 20. continued 3. Car. 1. cap. 4. made perpetual. 16. Car. 1. c. 4.  Statutes of the Land, made and provided in that Case. And let him boast of being never so good and true a Subject, it avails nothing since he defies the Laws, and by his practice Nulls those Institutes which are so strong in force against him. Neither is he a Friend to this Present Government (let his pretences be never so specious) since his Actions are Diametrically contrary to the Royal Will and Pleasure specified at first by his Majesty's Letter to the Bishop of London, which was ordered to be Communicated to the rest of the Clergy; and afterwards signified to the Civil Magistrate By the Queen's most Gracious Message to the Justices of Middlesex; and Lastly, by a more forcing Proclamation, in which they Recommended the suppressing Profane Swearing and Cursing; as the first and chiefest of those Offences which were accounted, more especially to hasten and bring down God's Judgements upon this Unfortunate Kingdom.  
21 But, Thirdly, there are many of those Profligate Wretches, who dare own themselves Churchmen; and if they pretend to any Religion, it is the Reformed, Orthodox and Protestant Faith they are of: 
The third Motive drawn from the Obedience due to the Church.  They appear openly in our Congregations, and show a bold Face in the most solemn of our Assemblies, and intrude into the most Sacred of our Ordinances the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. But let those Profaners of all that is good and sacred be assured, that the Church is not their Mother; that within her Bosom there are cherished no such Vipers, that her Sanctuary is no Asylum for such Vermin to have recourse to: For her Doctrine's drawn out of the Pure fountain of God's Word, 
(a) Article 39  her Articles, 
(b) Homily 7.  her Homilies and her whole Constitutions are directly Opposite to the Profane, and gives no manner of Encouragement for him to persevere in his Extravagancies. However the lewd World may esteem of things now, yet when the Last Day comes, no Question but the Church will say to those her Hangers on, I know you not, You would have none of my Counsel, but despised all my reproof, therefore Eat ye of the Fruit of your own way, and be filled with your own devices. If therefore any Man has any Zeal to stand up for her, and to promote her Cause, and to enlarge her Borders; He cannot do it better than by a Sober and Conscientious Conversation to let his Communication be Yea, Yea; and Nay, Nay.  
22. Come we now to consider the last Motive, 
The fourth Motive drawn from the Judgements of God.  which if all the rest fail, may prove strong enough to work upon the most obdurate and hardened Conscience, unless it be Judgement, Hell and Damnation-proof. Men may be so brazen faced, as not to blush at their being worse than Heathens; they may be so resractory, as not to be reduced by the strictest Humane Laws: They may be so unchristian and so unnatural as to choose to be disowned by their Mother the Church, rather than part with their customary Vices: But I hope they are not so much in the power of Devil, as that the terrors of the Lord against such Offenders, both in this Life and in another, can make no impression upon them.  
23. Let those Wretches be never so free from the Laws of the Kingdom, and the Censures of the Church, 
1. Judgements upon Swearers in this life.  yet the Hand of the Lord will find them out, and even on this side the Grave, pay them home for their rash Oaths, and blasphemous Execrations. We have some, (tho' not many fresh) Instances of God's signalizing his Vengeance on such horrid Criminals. For what was the reason of the small company of the Israelites, killing 100000 Aramites in one day, 1 Kings 20.20. If you consult Holy Writ, you will find it was for Blaspheming God. And what was the cause of Sennacherib's meeting with such an Unnatural and barbarous Death? Was it not the Blaspheming the Lord Jehovah both by his General Rabshekab, and by his own Handwriting in a Letter he sent to Hezekiah? And doth not God in our times take the Sinner at his word, and cut him off in an Instant, with the damnable Execration in his Mouth? True it is, such Instances of God's immediate Vengeance in this World are very rare, and few examples of this nature are upon Record: But let us take a view of the impenitent Blasphemer lying upon his Deathbed in his last Agonies, and ready to give up his polluted Breath at his last gasp: Let us there examine him, what Fruitor Profit he has in those things whereof he is now ashamed? Can you think his gentile Oaths, and accomplished Execrations, will now do him any advantage in that Eternity, into which he is just ready to Launch. No, I am persuaded, you will hear him tell you another story, and if the Devil has not quite gagged his Conscience, you will hear him in the bitterness of his Soul, utter out this, or some such complaint. Damned Caitif that I am! In what an avoidable miserable condition am I involved? What a lamentable prospect of endless Woe have I now in my sight? What a horrible Scene is just ready to open and deliver me up to the devouring Flames? Ob cursed Tongue! How hast thou been employed for thine own Ruin? Heaven thou canst not appeal to, for the power thereof thou hast often defied: God thou canst not call upon, whose Name thou hast often and shamefully profaned by thine unclean Lips: Oh Heavens! Drop down upon me, and crush me into nothing: Oh Mountains fall upon me, and cover me from the face of him that sitteth upon the Throne, and from the Wrath of the Lamb: Oh Earth! Let thy Bowels gape, and hid me in thy dark Caverns. But alas! in vain do I vent my wishes to those who cannot, will not help me. Come then, ye Infernal Furies! and hurry my accursed Soul to its deserved Mansions. Come ye bewitching and infatuating Spirits, and take your cheap Bargain home to your fiery Habitations. Thus raving and despairing, railing and cursing himself, he ends his abominable, odious, and sinful Life.  
24. But if this is not melancholy enough to strike Horror into the Adamantine Heart, 
2. Eternal Judgements upon Swearers.  yet let him his prospect beyond this and the Grave. For admit he may escape the thunderbolts of Divine Wrath, tho' the Lightning may not devour him, nor the Arrows of the Lord take hold of him in this life: yet can he expect to escape the Judgement of God for ever? Shall not Hell be his Portion? and Eternal Misery his stipend for all his Blasphemies? Shall he not with Dives lift up his Eyes in Hell, being in Torments, and roar out in vain, for one drop of water to cool his inflamed Tongue; That Fire, that world of iniquity which delighted in venting out its Curses and Oaths here on Earth? Will not the punishment be adequate and suitable to the Crime? And is it not fit that That Member suffer most, which was chief instrumental in plucking down the misery upon the whole? Consider this than ye that forget God, that forget yourselves, and forgo your own Interest, both Temporal and Eternal, for what vanishes like Smoke into empty Air: consider ye that Glory in your Shame, that Triumph in your wickedness, that Outdare Heaven with your Impieties: Are you able with the Salamander, to live in Fire? Can you dwell in everlasting Burn? Do you know what the Worm that never dies is? And can you tell what the Fire unquenchable means? If these things be not fictitious and imaginary if you are sensible that there is really a Heaven for the Good, and a Hell for the Bad; and are desirous to escape the one, and be blessed in the other: Leave off then pleading for your Vices and argue not the prevalency of any Temptation, or the strength of Custom for your persevering in your Impieties. Be no longer fond of your Disease, your Fetters, your Calamities: But shake off your shackles wherewith you have been so long confined, and break off your Sins by Repentance: Let that Mouth, which has Blasphemed, Blaspheme no more, but praise and magnify the Name of the Lord for ever, for his Name only is excellent, and his Glory above the Earth and the Heaven.  
25. And here I cannot but take notice of the madness of those, who seem to be fearful of taking God's Blessed Name in vain themselves, 
The guilt of such as Swear not themselves but delight to hear others Swear.  and yet delight to hear others Swear, and Blaspheme. I blush to say that now-a days 'tis the Gusto of company, to have one profane Wretch or other by his horrid Imprecations and unaccountable Oaths to move the rest to a fit of Laughter: And there's scarce any pleasant Harmony in Society, without fearful sounding Execrations to fill up the Chorus. But know, Oh wretched Man whosoever thou art, that makest as it were a Conscience of not Swearing thyself; and yet takest pleasure in hearing others Blaspheme, that thou art under the same Condemnation. For they all shall be damned that have pleasure in unrighteousness. A bare Connivance and Misprision, (as I may so say) of this horrid High Treason against Heaven, is enough to make thee a Traitor; How much more than shall thy consenting to it in thy Will, and countenancing it openly by thy complacency therein, add to thy Gild and Condemnation too? Hate not then thy Brother in thy Heart, by suffering and encouraging so great a Sin upon him; but correct and hinder it if thou canst: Or if 'tis out of thy Power to do that, yet be not of that Devilish Society which makes that a matter of Sport, which should be the Cause of their greatest Humiliation; and Rejoice, Triumph, and Laugh at that which makes the Damned in Hell shed Rivers of Tears.  
26. I proceed to the last Species of Profaning God's Name, 
4ly, Perjury considered, whether by Circumvention, or by Subornation.  viz. by that horrid Sin of Perjury. And now I could wish with all my Soul there were no reason to cry aloud and exclaim mightily against this Wickedness. I could wish none were guilty of it but Rash Swearers, but we find that how much soever they may by a fatal Consequence slip into it, yet there are too many who do it out of design, and have their ends to serve therein. 'Tis too visible how common Circumventions and Over-reachings are; and those Ushered in too frequently with the solemnity of an Oath: 'Tis a Mystery belonging to each Man's trade to be upon the sharp; and tho' they Lie and Aequivocate, Swear and Forswear themselves, yet they are paid well enough they think, can they get but the least gains imaginable thereby: Nor is Profit the only Loadstone that draws men to the committing this great Impiety, but the Gratifying the humours of Malice and Revenge works upon them altogether as much. Hence do we often see Subornations and False-witnesses, sinister Tricks and unlawful Quibbles so much in use in those times. Can they but betray the Innocent to the severity of the Laws, retaliate an Injury, and expose the object of their hatred to the Censures of either church or State; can they but procure either Sequestration or Excommunication against him: how do they triumph and rejoice in their inhuman Proceed, and proudly boast of their Malicious success. But let such Impudent out-daring Knights of the Post know, that this stretching of their Faith and Consciences, tho' it has cast a Mist before the Inferior Courts of Justice, yet they cannot corrupt the Righteous Judge of all the World, who will do right: He will unmask their false Evidences; Reverse the Decrees issued out against the Innocent, and fix the Judgement where it should be, upon the Perjurious Creatures head. He will laugh at their Calamity, and mock when their fear Cometh, when their fear cometh, as a desolation, and their Destruction, as a Whirlwind. Prov. 1.26, 27.  
27. So common is this Wickedness, 
The Difficulty of persuading men to leave this Sin of Perjury.  and so advantageous is it grown to carry on men's Trades and Designs, that 'tis almost morally impossible to dissuade them from it. You will seem to do them the greatest Injury imaginable, should you be so impertinent to advise them to be men of their Words, to speak the truth in sincerity, and to be conscientious in their Calling. You would destroy the greatest Pillar of their Trade, take away the very support of their Merchandizing, should you go about to straitlace their Conscience (as they call it;) and keep them off from an Advantageous straining their Faiths, when occasion requires. The whole World are turned Sharpers, and shall we (say they) be so scrupulous, as to be afraid of u●●ng the same Methods of advancing our Interest as is genenerally used? Fallere Fallentem non est Frans; To Deceive the Deceiver is too well known a Maxim, and too often practised by our Wicked Generation. But to reclaim if possible those vile Exorbitancies I shall offer two Motives drawn 1. from the Consideration of the very Nature of the Crime; and 2ly, also from the greatness of the Punishment subsequent on the Gild.  
28. Of what a Crimson Dye, and Scarlet Grain this Sin is in its own Nature will appear, 
First Motive to leave off this Sin, is drawn from the greatness of it in its own Nature.  if we consider that the Offender incurs the guilt of breaking the whole Law, and transgressing that general Duty he owes to God, his Neighbour, and Himself. 1. He offers the greatest affront possible to God, either in his ordinary Calling, or (in a more solemn manner) when called to a Court of Judicature, when he invokes the Father of Spirits, and a Being that cannot Lie to be a Witness to his untruth and Malicious Falsehoods. 2. He commits a piece of Injustice against the whole Community of Mankind, as well as deceives, circumvents, or falsely accuses any Particular person. He not only injures the Object of his Revenge, but perverts the Current, and turns the stream of the Laws of Nations; Blinds the Jury, Corrupts the Judge, puts the trick upon the whole Bench, and makes Justice stand as a Blank, or rather as a Mask to cover his Knave's Face withal. 3. He is not his own Friend to be sure, for he not only exposes himself to the Penalties of Human Laws if his Rnavery should be found out, but imprecates upon himself all the Punishments and Curses which God usually inflicts upon the Wretch even in this Life, and which (without Repentance) will be his Portion in the next. And how great those Judgements are is next to be considered.  

The Second Motive from the Greatness of the punishment which is either Human or Divine.  29. So far is the Profligate Criminal from escaping punishment, that all the Laws, both Human and Divine, are ready to lay hold of him.  
How strict our Constitutions are against this Impiety, if any one will consult 
* 5 Eliz. Cap. 9 Made perpetual. 29. Eliz. Cap. 5.  those Statutes made, and Provided in this case, will be manifest. The Heathen when willing to express a Religious Man, would Title him only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Man of his Word: And when they described a Wicked Man, did think him fully delineated when they called him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Perjurious. No milder a Brand does the Wretch receive from the Law according to our general Acceptation of the thing: For besides Fines, Imprisonments and the Pillory; he has as Ignominious a Character as a Heretic or Infidel; being as uncapable as them of bearing any Office, of assisting at any honourable Court, or giving his Evidence in any Cause.  
30. But admit he may escape undiscerned by Mortal Eyes, 
God's Judgements upon the Perjurious in this Life.  or if found out, that he is so hardened in his Impiety that th●●asest stigma cannot shame him; that Fines and Penalties, that the Prison and Pillory cannot startle him to his Amendment; yet I trust he is not so past Cure that the Judgements of the Lord cannot prevail upon him. And herein God glorifies and signalises his Justice in a Wonderful Manner: He doth not, will not hold them Guiltless that take his Name in Vain. He pays them home in their own Coin (as the Common expression is) even in this Life. Instances of this truth there are enough even within the Compass of a short review; and there is no need to run over any other Annals but our own Experience and knowledge for satisfaction in this point. How many (I will forbear mentioning particular Names) have there been, whom God's hand has smitten in a more immediate manner, punishing the Offence in the very Moment of its Commission? How many dreadful spectacles have there been of those whom Divine Vengeance has not hurried away, but left according to their Wishes standing Monuments of his Justice, to die by a fearful and lingering Disease, by some plague or another which has consumed them as it were piece-meal? How many others are there who carry in their own Breasts their Hell upon Earth? And on those I cannot forbear bestowing a Melancholy thought or two, and Commiserate their most miserable Condition. Whatsoever the Heathens might relate of the Perjures being visited by the Furies every fifth day, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  according to that of Hesiod: Whatever Poets feign of Prometheus Vultur or Ixion's Wheel are even on this side the Stygian Lake verified with a Witness. These poor Wretches are lashed with the Twinges of a self accusing Conscience, whose strokes are more piercing than all the snaky Whips and pointed Scorpions are: This Worm gnaws with a greater Appetite, and makes a Deeper Impression in the Sinners Bosom, than the Devouring Fowl could ever upon the others Bowels: And the continual round of endless Despair leaves him in such a Labyrinth, that every step he advances towards the Ridding himself out of it, intricates him the more therein. Nor does the punishment always terminate in the Person, but his Posterity more or less feel the sad Effects of their Predecessors perfidiousness. This is too Visible to need any farther Illustration, saving from the Example of that Great Man who entailed a Curse to his Family for the non-performance of a Thing he had engaged himself by an Oath to have done. He was (I presume) more a Christian then that we should doubt of his not repenting of the thing himself; yet the Misfortunes of his Posterity loudly proclaim the Almighty's Displeasure at that Offence.  
31. Thus far of the Miseries incident to the perjurious in this Life, 
God's Judgements upon the Perjured in another Life.  but what will his Portion be in that Lake of Fire and Brimstone I am struck with horror at the very thoughts thereof. Methinks I see him ranked there with the most Black, Infernal Devils; howling and shrieking through the very anguish of his Spirits. There is he Convinced, tho' too late, of God's Justice towards such profane Wretches: There he is Sensible how damnable a false Heart, a double Tongue, and unhallowed Lips are: There he would wish those torments were but Notion, and the Fire were but Painted, and the flames but Visionary, (as he often has thought while on Earth) but to his Cost he finds the Reality of them, and will for ever acknowledge the Eternity of them too. In that Prison, that Dungeon of Everlasting misery, he has a full view of the Black Calendar of Criminals, and sees the Catalogue of offences (of which Profane Swearing and Cursing, Blasphemy and Perjury are not the Last nor least) not with Repenting, but eternally despairing Eyes.  
32. And are not these thoughts terrible enough in all Conscience to melt down the most Adamantine Heart? Can it be imagined that men are so flinty and Obdurate, as that neither a Sense of their Gild, nor an Esteem they may have for their Reputation, nor the fear of Human punishments, much more of God's Temporal and Eternal Judgements can win upon them to repent of their Evil ways? He is certainly possessed with a stupidity beyond that of Lethargy, who can live and forswear himself with Hell Flames about his Ears, notwithstanding the insupportable Wrath of a justly incensed and provoked Judge is ready to seize him, and hale him before the Judgement Seat of that strict Tribunal, who will leave no Sin unpunished, tho' never so much palliated and glossed over with the thin Varnish of weak human Excuses and Evasions. Repent then oh Man whosoever thou art! and perjure thyself no more: Let the time passed suffice that thou hast broken thy Vows and Promises, and for the future make thy Vows unto the Lord of an Amendment of thy Life, and be sure to see them performed.   

Of Drunkenness. CHAP. II.  
The Origine of this Sin traced: How, and wherein 〈◊〉 Difficulty of exactly defining it consists. Drunkenn● described by its Effects, and the reasonableness such a Description considered in four Particular The false Ends of Drinking Answered. A Deb●tation drawn from the Effects of this Sin, which 〈◊〉 1. The Breach of that Duty we own to God, our Neighbour and ourselves. 2. The advancing Satan's Kingdom thereby. 3. The cause of many other Sins: A● 4. The making us Obnoxious to the Woes in Holy W● denounced against such offenders. The Difficulty becoming Sober, and the safety of doing it beti● fully considered.  

The Sin of Drunkenness traced from the Origine of it down to our times.  1. COme we now in the ne● place to take a view ●● that generally prevailing Vice ●● Intemperance in Drinking: T●● Origine of which Brutal Immorality we can Tra●● from beyond the Flood. For it is upon Record, th●● in the Days of Noah when the Floods came and destroyed the Earth, they were Eating and Drinking and giving in Marriage: Which words cannot b● thought literally to signify the bare Acts of Eating and Drinking, etc. but the Extravagant Use and th● Abuse of God's Creatures, by perverting them from their proper, genuine, and natural End to Excess ●d Luxury. Nor was the Universal Deluge of force ●ough to purge away the Corruptions of those guilts, with which the old Debauched World had ●ained, polluted, and poisoned the then Inhabited ●arth: For we find Noah, tho' a good Man and a ●reacher of Righteousness, accidentally overtaken ●ith the Effects of an unacquainted intoxicating Liquour, which not only Exposed his Nakedness to the ●iew of an Unnatural Ham, but gave occasion for ●ch of his Posterity, as followed the steps of an accursed Canaan to improve their Father's weakness ●nd Infirmity to a Sin and Trade.  
2. Hence was it that we hear of the Bacchanalian ●rews, whose Looseness and Extravagancy in Drinking entitled them the Votaries of that swinish Deity. But yet the allowed Intemperance in excessive Drinking among the Heathens, was only to be ●een among the more Licentious Admirers of Bacchus, whilst the more Sober and Considerative ●ere perfect Abhorrers of, and Enemies to such Riots and Enormities. That Universal Sin of Drunkenness has but of late years crept into the Christian Church, and but very lately dared to show its head openly in the World, for those that were Drunken, as the Apostle testifies, were drunken in the Night, 1 Thes. 5.7. But now all Vices in general, as well as that in particular, have lost their former Modesty; and nothing more Common then to hear the Wretch glory in his shame: as if it were a piece of his Prowess to be mighty to Drink Wine, and of strength to mingle strong Drink. How incredibly this notable Trade of high-Drinking has been improved within these few years, since the Importation of Wines and Other Foreign Liquors has been the Staple Merchandise of the Nation; is too apparent. Old King Edgar's temperate wooden Cups and moderating Pins that were stuck into them for marks, 
Sp. Chron.  are now quite forgotten, and now there must be no limitation, no restraint in a Bumper. It has been (I am glad there is little reason to say it is now) a necessary Adjunct for a Loyalist to be a great Drinker; Carousing and taking off full Glasses, giving great supplies to that spongy Branch of the Royal Revenue of Excize; the which is hearty to be wished were exchanged for a more Honourable Subsidy: and especially, since the main Objection against the suppressing such Beastly Immoralities is so prevalent upon that account.  
3. But tho' this Brutal Contagion is so Universal, and all Ages, Sexes, and Degrees are more or less infected therewrth; 
Drunkenness, what it is, very difficult to define.  yet 'tis one of the most difficult things in the world to define exactly what Drunkenness is, and when Men may be said to be guilty thereof. There are so many tricks and evasions used by the Offenders, to wipe off such a scandalous disreputation from them, that unless we can meet with Instances of Dead Drunk Sots, they will make us believe that we fall short of convicting any person of the Offence. Tho' of late days there are not wanting too many Instances of this kind, nothing being more common than to find the Epicuraecan at the Devil, drowning his Cares for the World, as well as his concern for Eternal Welfare in some plentiful and luxurious Debauch; and having settled his Brains with the intoxcating Glass to see him in a reeling March retire to his Lodgings, where he, like his fellow Brutes, lays himself down on his careless Pillow, and rises in the Morning with the like unconcernedness upon him, as before.  
4. Upon the account of men's different Constitutions (some being more able to bear a Gallon than others are a Quart) and the different occasions of the same Man at one time more than another, 
Wherein the difficulty consists.  and the like, arises the difficulty of prescribing such and such a quantity of Drink, beyond which is excess. But thus have most declared, that to drink more than to satisfy our Thirst (of which our Nature, not our Appetite should be Judge): To exceed the bounds of exhilaration and cheating up the fainting Spirits when occasion requires either: and to transgress the end, for which this action of Drinking was first ordained, viz. The preservation of Health, is such a degree of Intemperance, as falls under the notion of a Sin; and which must be seriously repent of. And the reason that the least degree of Inmmoderate Drinking is a crime, is (I humbly conceive) because of the Prolific Nature of the Sin, which is too apt, having fled out past the Barriers of Moderation not to stop there, but headlong to be carried on to the very worst Extremes. There are, as I may so say, such secret Enchantments in the bewitching Wine, that when Circe's has got but the opportunity of giving Man a Taste; tho' at first he may suck in the Philtrated Potion with caution, yet he cannot forbear returning so often to the Trough, till at last he is transformed into as natural a Swine as any Hog of them all, and can tumble in his Mire with the same delight as others of the same species, and wash himself with the rest, and return with them to wallow again.  
5. It is no hard matter for Men, if they would deal ingenuously with themselves, 
Drunkenness described by its Effects, and the reasonableness of such a description considered in some particulars.  to know when they are guilty or not of transgressing the bounds of Prudence and Moderation: but Confess and be Hanged is so nigh their Thoughts, that they had rather soothe themselves up with a supposed Innocence, than fall foul upon and censure their dearly beloved Selves. But yet so far one may venture to convict another of Intemperance in Drinking, as the Effects consequent thereon shall be more or less sinful. That this is the exactest measure, and most reasonable method for the rightly apprehending the different degrees of this Vice is past dispute, if we consider it in some Instances.  
6. As first, if a Man of a choleric Constitution, inclinable to Passion, and prone to take occasion to be angry; apt to kindle into a flame at every accidental spark, 
The first particular considered.  and obnoxious to prosecute his Revenge with the utmost malice; but in his sober Mood is careful to curb the violence of his Passions, and to watch against the prevalency of Temptations; if such a Man, I say, shall upon Drinking and Carousing, give the Reins to his Masterless exorbitancies, and fly out into unwarrantable fury; if he shall fling or throw about him, beat and abuse all he meets, Curse and Blaspheme Heaven, Rail against his fellow Creatures, and play the frantic hectoring Madman; He may then be said, let the quantity be little or much, to have drunk too deep, and consequently to be guilty of Excess, and in the sense of the Law may be punished for Tippling, tho' not Drunkenness.  
7. On the other hand, if one of a meek and pleasant dsposition, 
The Second Paricular considered.  very gentle and easy to be entreated; Or a sweet affable and courteous behaviour; hard to be provoked, one that does pass by Injuries, and the like; shall upon his taking a Glass or two too much, find himself transformed and carried beyond his former Self, to commit any thing imprudently, rashly or passionately, which at another time he would have been ashamed to have done: if he shall perceive himself Testy, censorious or Quarrelsome, he may then conclude he has drank too much, and need not be offended if another should say so too.  
8. Again, if a Man of a Sanguine Complexion, propense enough to Acts of Uncleanness and Sensuality, 
A Third Particular considered.  apt to indulge himself in the pleasures of the Sixth Sense, and forward enough to give himself up to all manner of Lust (even when he has his Wits, Reason, and Judgement about him, which are little enough to restrain his Debaucheries): If I say such a Man shall add Fuel to his Fire, and Oil to the Flames by rich and strong Wines: If he shall then (having Hood-winked his Reason, blinded his Judgement, and bid adieu to all Modesty) be beyond all measure carried out to satisfy his Youthful Desires by unchaste Embraces, and quench his scorching Heats at the next (tho' never so impure) a stream: Be induced to defile his Neighbour's Bed, to commit Incest, or deflower Virgins; none need question whether he is guilty of excessive Drinking or no, tho' perhaps he may not see the Beast so far intoxicated, as to be unable to move Hand or Foot, or to keep himself from tumbling in his own filth.  
9 On the other side, If one of more chaste Thoughts, very watchful over his Words, 
A Fourth Particular considered.  more careful over his Actions; diligent to suppress the very first Motion to Impurity, and sedulous on all occasions to avoid the Snares and Baits, laid to entrap and seduce heedless Youth; Shall accidentally take a Cup more than usual, and thereby perceive his former Modesty to vanish: Be induced to talk loosely or obscenely, moved to wanton and lascivious Actions, and inflamed to Concupiscence and inordinate Desires: He may then assuredly judge himself to be overtaken in a great degree of Intemperance, tho' the quantity he drank, exceed but a very little his usual allowance.  
10. In a word, when ever a Man has so far unmanned himself by Drink (be the quantity more or less) so as to act, speak or think otherwise, than he would have done, said or thought at any other time when he had his Intelligent and Volent Faculties of his Soul free about him, he may then be said to be Intemperate, so as to need Repentance. For it is the many sinful Actions consequent upon the Sin, which makes it to be more or less sinful; A Complication of Crimes, being far more Offensive to the Supreme Being, than one single Act, tho' never so maliciously designed, can be thought to be. Thus He, who is dead Drunk and deprived of all Sense and Motion, and so rendered uncapable of doing any other mischief than what he has done to himself, may be said to be guilty of a less Offence than that Man who having not perhaps drank half the quantity, adds to his Sin of Intemperance, that of Anger, Rage and Fury. So likewise there are decrees of those mad Drunkards; and he who throws the Glasses over his Head, dashes the Bottles in pieces, and pays for those his Extravagancies, is more excusable, than those who in their Frolicks break Windows, Bilk Coaches, Fight the Watch, and fall foul upon all they meet; Nor are these last so heinous as those who proceed to Murder, Rape and Incontinence: Nor are they again (tho' arrived to the highest Branch of Wickedness) so bad as that Inhuman, Unnatural, and Unparalleled Monster, who to gratify the Devil for some piece or service done, was in complaisance to the Infernal Desire over-taken with Drink, and in that Brutal condition Murdered his Father, and committed Incest upon his Mother, the very Thoughts whereof he in his sober Fit rejected, abhorred and abominated.  
11. And now, from what I have already said upon this Subject, I might take occasion to answer those false ends of Drinking alleged by the Intemperate as a palliation for the Offence. Some of them the 
* Sun. 8. s. 3, 4, etc. to the 10th.  Author of the Whole Duty of Man has already mentioned such as are [1. Good-Fellowship: (2.) Preserving of Kindness: (3) Cheering of Spirits: (4) Putting away Cares, (5) Passing away time: (6) Preventing Reproach: (7) Pleasure of the Drink: (8) Bargaining.] confuted long ago: And therefore I shall say nothing after so ingenious a Pen, but confine myself to speak only of those which he did not take notice of, either as such whereof no mention was made in his time; or such as he thought thin, Futile, and not worthy to be answered by the Judicious, which would fall to nothing of themselves.  
12. I wave saying any thing in Refutation of the Gentility of this Sin; and forbear a needless dispute with those who maintain Drunkenness as a necessary Accomplishment of a Gentleman: Since if the very sound of the Word, if the brutal Nature of the Vice are not of force enough to make the Spark ashamed, yet when I have exposed it naked, I question not, but if he has any Generosity in his Heart, or Modesty in his Countenance, he cannot without blushing assert, That High-Drinking is a mark of his Breeding. I shall therefore only answer the Objections which are usually made by the Wits, the Worldlings, and the Hectoring Bravoes of the Age.  
13. Nothing more usual than to hear the first sort cry out in some such Language as this: 
1. The Objection made be the Wits of our Times.  Dull Fool! Leave off thy Lessons of severe Morality, and impracticable Temperance, Go Preach to Monks and Anchorites, to Old Men and Children, of Sobriety and the excellent Qualities of Small Beer and Water. We know better things, and are not to be put upon by thy insipid Cant. Experientia docet, we are experienced Blades, and can tell thee no Wit, no Learning, no Parts, no Ingenuity like to that which Impregnating, Exalting, Elevating Wine gives Life and vigour to. Where didst hear of a Poet worth the hanging, unless he had first dipped himself over head and Ears in Aganippe's Fountain, and got the smack of the Bottle so, as to return often to recruit his Flagged Fancy with Nectar and Ambrosia? Didst ever read of any that arrived to Parnassus' Top without the Cordial of Helicon to support and transport his Spirits in the Elevation? The Noble strains and Losty Flights, the curious Vein and pregnant Fancy, the pleasant, facetious Air, and all the sacred Raptures of a Poet, are all owing to the Influence of the great God of Wine: For we pay our Adoration to him first in full Glasses, and he returns the Duty again in assisting our Genius, and sharpening our Conceptions.  
14. To all which I answer, 
The Objection answered.  that this method of Drunken Versifying is certainly what most of the Wits of the present Age make use of to render themselves and their Writings infamously famous to these times and Posterity. And hence it is that we see so many Obscene, and Offensive Brats of Poetry ever and anon peep out into the World; which in former days would never have born the light. But these vile Dithyrambicks, the Product of Inebriated Brains are fit to be Dedicated to Priapus, Bacchus, or any other Bawdy Drunken Deity, then to be offered at the shrine of the more  and Temperate Apollo. It seems very unreasonable to think that Intemperance which dulls and he betares should quicken & inspire the Fancy; that what too often clouds, should enlighten the Understanding; that the very thing which drowns should heighten our Conceptions. But admit those Absurdities, yet these kinds of Whetting will quickly Wear the Edge to the Back, quickly destroy the Reason tho' not the Man, and convert all his high Raptures into 
* N. L. an Instance of this.  Frenzy and Delirium. I know not who are Laureates now, nor what Qualifications are requisite to make one such: But (believe me) they are not worthy of that Divine Name of Poet, if they are so ill-stocked that they are forced to take up supplies from the very dregs of a Nasty gut full of Wine. I cannot, will not but own that the famous Ingenioso's of past times have highly applauded the Virtues of Wine, and declared the Noble Effects it has had in clearing their apprehension, and refining the Spirits: but then, 'tis not (I presume) produced by those Empyreumatick Fumes which our Modern Poetical Chemists draw off by praecipitant, hasty, burning and surfeiting Excess; but the nobler Extracts of Temperance all Sobriety drawed gently off in a Moderate Balneo Maria. And he that was an Ingenious was a Sober Man too, tho' now 'tis so contrary, that if you describe a Poet, you must add Vine Leaves to his Laurel, put other Colours into the Mixture, and delineate him a Sot at the same time.  
15. The second sort are such whose Plea commonly runs in some such strain as this. 
2ly, The Objection made by the Worldly Wise.  Is no Excess at all to be allowed? Why, then farewell all Opportunities for Trade and Commerce; Farewell Law and Physic too. As there is no better Vinculum Societatis, so there is no greater Support to maintain the Mechanic Practic Part of the Republic, than the Innocent cracking a Pot, and smoking a Pipe together. We may traverse the Streets, walk round and round the Change, make frequent Visits to Westminster-Hall, and stare in every Face we meet, but return home like Fools as we went, never a Customer never a Client the more, and never a Farthing the heavier in our Pockets: But spend we an hour or so in a Tavern or Alehouse, over the drinking of a harmless Glass or two with an Honest Friend or so, we insinuate so prettily into each others Acquaintance, that immediately, as the Glass so out several Vocations go round: And by mutual Loving Healths we furnish each others needs, and get more by the Company at one sitting, than we spend in it for half a Year.  
16. 
The second Objection answered.  This is a pleasant Account of the success of Sir John Barley; a plea too common in the Mouths of many who think themselves very wise notwithstanding. 'Tis too true, this stratagem of managing business in Public Houses, is what the Evil one has very subtly insinuated as a means to carry on his own designs; and this is the method Men take now a days to increase their Trade and gain Customers. But let me tell them (under the Role) 'tis a Knavish, sly and ignoble way of Merchandizing. If a Glass or two were all, as they pretend, there were little harm done: but when they are in for it, they seldom come off without a sound Wetting. There's no gain to be had by playing upon the Square, 'tis safest drinking a Man down and then pick his Pocket after. Were he in his right Wits they know he would not have been imposed upon so, but 'tis no hard matter to cheat him to his Face when his Senses are Sophisticated and Lost. So in like manner as to the Law, 'tis a Contradiction (I should think were it not so Customary) for a Man to gain Practice by being a great Drinker; I know not what his addle Brains might do in winning upon Coxcombs of the same Kidney, but I believe a Considerative Man would be far from making him of his Council, lest the sight of the Brief the next Morning might confound his Addlepate, which was so deeply Soused in Claret or Nottingham the foregoing Night; and make his giddy Head run Counter in the Cause, rather than speak any whit to the purpose. The same might be said (Mutatis Mutandis) of sottish and inconsiderate Solicitors and Attorneys, who mar their Clients Cause more by far than all the Exceptions, Bills of Error, Demurrers, and reversing of Decrees could do. So likewise in Physic, what Man would be so mad in his sober Senses to make him his Physician, who helped him to the Distemper by joining with him in the Debauch? Certainly he must needs be very Extravagant of both, who will prostitute his Life to the Discretion of one that perhaps was the Principal Cause of Vitiating his Health not long before. For my part I should be afraid lest he who before was for my Excess in Sack, might be as much (unadvisedly if not wittingly) Immoderate in administering his Cordials, and so make it his pleasure to send me as merrily out of the World, as before he had seen me Reel out of a Tavern.  
17. Advance we now in the next place to consider the third and last sort of Men I shall here have occasion to take notice of, 
3. The Objections made by the Hectors of the Age.  as palliating the Crime of Intemperance by a false Gloss and a thin transparent Varnish which instead of hiding, exposes the Monster in worse, tho' more natural and proper Colours. Is all Excess (may some say) forbidden? Is Drunkenness in all its Species and Degrees. Unlawful? What then shall those poor Souls do, who venture their Lives and Fortunes for their King and Country? 'Tis well known nothing Encourages and Enspirits them more than a dram or two of the Bottle. The Life of a Soldier is in his Morning's draught: Who is able to endure the hard Marches, wet Trenches, and the continual Fatigues of a Campaign, that is not well warmed within? What Man of a thousand would stand out a Field Battle who had not drank largely before? For none fight stouter and stand longer the brunt of the Battle than the half-drunk Cavalier.  
18. To all which I Answer, 
The third Objection Answered.  that if any Excess was warrantable, it would be doubtless in this; but Man, that boundless headstrong Creature, having passed the limits of Reason and Moderation knows not (as I hinted before) where nor when to stop. Hence we perceive the mad Disorders and Mismanagements even of most disciplined Armies in an Engagement commonly to arise, which perhaps at a general Rendezvous were as well ranged as the best; but Drunkenness being the Preparative to the Battle put all out of Frame, makes the Soldier giddy and hot, spurs him to rash and mad Attempts, and engages his Intoxicated Headpiece in such dangers, which none but his Hare-brained self would run into. In this Confusion Right and Left are both alike; to your Leader, and all such useful words of Command are of no Effect; and helter skelter every Man is his own Officer. From this disorder in the Camp was it that Benhadad and his Army of Syrians were defeated by a band of Young Israelites: 
* Plutarch.  from this it was that the Gauls who Besieged the Roman Capitol were by Camillus put to the Sword. And, believe me, 'tis a sad Circumstance to die in such a Condition for let them harbour never such good hopes of being saved if they can but cry, the Lord have mercy upon my Soul, 'tis too common the last breath they draw is with a G— dam in their Mouths. But admit the Wretches be Victors in the Field, and become Masters of Bag and Baggage too, yet in this hot Blood what Barbarities will they not commit? What Outrages will they not offer? They'll put all to the Sword, deflower Virgins, abuse Widows, depopulate Cities, and burn down Palaces; and the Officers Charge is no more regarded after, than it was before the Victory. That this is true, which I here assert, is Evident from those who have already been abroad and are here and there Quartered and Garrisoned amongst us: When the Liquor is in, what Regard have they to Civil or Military, to Canon or Common Law? They abuse all they meet, and if they can fasten upon none else, like Savages in their drunken fits they fall foul upon each other. But how degenerate is this Valour from the true Conduct and Valour ●hich a sober Consideration of the justness of their ●ause did formerly beget? The ancient Fulminant legions which gained the Roman Generals so many ●onquests were of another Make, and vanquished ●●eir Barbarian Enemies not by being Pot-Valiant, ●ut by their Prayers, which the being in a drunken maudlin Humour, is a very ill Circumstance to perform.  
19 Thus have I done considering the Ends which ●re falsely assigned for Drinking; to wind up all and ●raw towards a Conclusion, Let ●●e Exhort all to the Necessary ●uty of Temperance, 
A Dehortation to fly the Odious sin of Drunkenness, drawn from the ill Effects thereof.  and Dis●ade them from the odious Sin ●f Drunkenness: which can be ●one no better then by considering the dismal Effects it produces. The Principal of which will appear by considering First, How ●ar it makes a Breach of that Duty, we own to God, ●ur Neighbours, and ourselves: Secondly, How much ●e advance Satan's Kingdom thereby. Thirdly, How avoidable we incur the falling into divers other Sins: And Lastly, the Woes against Intemperance mentioned and denounced in the plain and revealed Word of God.  
20. As to the first of these, it has that dismal Effect to make us Guilty of breaking the whole Law. 
The first ill Effect is the Breach of the whole Law.  Hence has one ingeniously observed, that there was no reason for God to forbid it in any Particular precept of the Decalogue, since in Effect it was the violation of both Tables— For hereby first we offend G● the Father in the Extravagant 〈◊〉 and abuse of those Creatures 〈◊〉 has ordained to be received wi●● Moderation and Thanksgiving: 
Drunkenness is the Violation of our Duty toward God.  We affront God t● Son by perverting the end for which he came in●● the World, which was that the Grace of God reveals by him in his Gospel might through him bring Salvation and appear unto all Men, that denying all Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts they might live Soberly (as well a● Righteously and Godly in this World. Tit. 2.11, 1● We provoke God the Holy Ghost to forsake these o● Intemperate Bodies as filthy Habitations, and t● seek out for more wholesome and cleanly Mansions 〈◊〉 we defile his Temple, and Eject him by our Imp●●rities, and quench his Motions by our Sensualities In a Word, we injure the whole Trinity, by walking contrary to those Rules of Temperance and Sobriety, which are implanted in our Natures by the mere light of Reason; or taught us by the written and revealed Word of God; By defacing th●● Image of the Deity, and putting out that Light o● a Reasonable Soul, which the Divine Rays ha● kindled within us; by transforming our Godlike Nature and Upright Forms into the Shape and Deformities of Downright Brutes.  

Drunkenness the breach of our Duty to our Neighbours.  Nor are we less Guilty of the Breach of our Duty to our Neighbours, whether it relate to the Public Good of Communities or the Private Welfare of Families; 
Drunken Magistrates no Friends to the Public.  to the Acts of Justice or those of Charity. He cannot be looked upon as a Friend to the Public, whether we consider him as a Magistrate, or as a Subject thereof. If a Magistrate, what more common than to have the Laws perverted, our Courts of Judicature turned Revengers of private Animosities, and the like? Hence is it that so many partial Hear, and praeter-judicious Proceed have been not long since in our Courts of Justice, whilst the intoxicated Gentleman of the Long Robe has taken upon him to give his Verdict from what he has heard of the Beginning and end of the Cause, without any regard to the substance of the Pleading which he has fairly slept away: Hence it is (from Epicurean Ministers of Justice I mean) that the Orphan, the Poor and the Widow are put by their Right; Hence it is that a Land mourns, and the Public Grievances of any Nation do arise. This makes the Wise Man so pathetically to urge; It is not for Kings, O Lemuel, it is not for Kings to drink Wine, nor for Princes strong drink, lest they drink and forget the Law, and pervert the Judgement of any of the Afflicted, Prov. 31.4, 5. From this Consideration was it, that in the famous Cities of Lacedaemon, Crete and Carthage Wine was totally forbidden to Magistrates; 
Alex ab Alex.  and whoever came into their Senate-House overcharged with Excess, were turned out and degraded from that Dignity with Ignominy and Reproach: And from this was it that the Prudential Solon made it a Law at Athens, That Drunkenness in one bearing Authority should be punished with Death. It were to be wished some such Law were made in another Constitution, and then there would not be wanting such Magistrates as would punish the Excess in an Inferior, having no such thing as a Consciousness of being guilty of the same to put them out of Countenance, or to check the Proceeding. Nor can the Drunken Subject be said to be a Friend to any, much less to our English Constitution; since besides the Riots and Routs, the many Immoralities and Tumults he is commonly the Author of, 
The Drunken Subject an Enemy to the Public.  he violates and acts in downright Contradiction to the several 
* 4 Jac. 1. Cap. 5. 21 Jac. 1. Cap. 7.  Statutes of the Realm, in that Case made and Provided. And by the way he is a profound Loyalist, who shall, under a pretence to enhance the Royal Income, make bold to affront the Law by the manifest and notorious breach thereof. But look we at home and behold the intemperate Wretch in his own Family, and we shall find him a Tyrannical Master, 
A Drunkard an Enemy to his own House.  an Unnatural Father, as well as an abusive Husband: He is so far from being a Friend to his own House, that he is the greatest Enemy it has. For waving those many unmanly Actions he is guilty of there, to wit, his beating and kicking his Servants, his Unrelenting and Unconcernedness at his children's Cries, the intolerable Heart-breaking he gives to the pensive Wife of his Bosom, and the like, He undermines and ruins his own Walls by his extravagant Expenses; and brings himself and His to Poverty and Rags. For has he a plentiful Estate descended from frugal Ancestors, 'tis no wonder to hear he lives beyond it; and by his frequent prodigal Excesses to run it into such Encumbrances, and Drown it with so many Mortgages, that the next Heir is seldom the better for it: But if he is one of an inferior capacity, how usual is it to have the indigent Wife and Children feed upon Bread and Water; and turned over at last to be a Charge to the Parish, which might have been prevented, had the thrifty Husband gone less to the Alehouse or Tavern. Neither in the last place can the Drunkard be said to be his own Friend, for thereby he injures both his Base and his Nobler Self, separately and conjunctly too. He injures his Body by the many manifest Mortal distempers which Excess and Surfeitings naturally produce: 
The Drunkard a Self-hater, injuring his Body and Soul separately and conjunctly.  and tho' his Constitution may be never so strong, yet insensibly it impairs his Vitals by degrees, and at length destroys his whole Frame. The Body feels immediate discomposures at the very time of the debauch, as is evident from the gripes and vomitings, the yawning and reachings, the giddiness of the Head, and the Rawness of the Stomach which attend it: But manifold are the Maladies that follow a long contracted course of irregular, intemperate Drinking. Of all the Diseases we find in our Weekly Bills of Mortality, none swell the number of the Deceased more than those occasioned by Luxury and Excess. 'Tis Intemperance shortens our days, and cuts the Thread before it be spun out to half the length of our long-lived Fathers: and from thence our youth are cropped in the flower of their Age, hurried away oftimes in the midst of a Debauch, and like Lamps, are extinguished before they are half spent, by reason of the superfluous Humours poured in, which drown that which maintains the vital Flame.  
And as he endangers the Destruction of his Body, by indulging the Transient pleasure of Taste, so by his continual Swinish Immoralities, he degrades that Noble Heavenborn Being, his Immortal Soul I mean; The Intellectual, as well as the Animal Faculties whereof are hereby clouded: The Understanding, the Will, the Affections whereof are corrupted and depraved, infatuated and ensnared. Nor are these Considerations of such moment, as that in the last place he injures both Soul and Body Conjunctly, in making them obnoxious to Hell flames: For the Apostle assures us among the rest of the Damning Sins, that neither shall Drunkards inherit the Kingdom of God, 1 Cor, 6.10. And where else their Inheritance will be, is no hard matter for those to guests, who know no Medium, no Purgatory between Heaven and Hell: which is a sad Thought, that for the fulfilling of one Lust, and the gratifying one Sense, Men should hazard the irrecoverable Loss of their Immortal Souls. I know not what they think that are guilty of this Impiety, but 'tis a startling Consideration to any sober Man, that the Wine they are thus enamoured with, should cost them so dear, not only the expense of their Estates and Time, the decay and overthrow of whole Families, the impairing and debilitating their Bodies, but also what is the greatest Expense, viz. The price of an Immortal Soul.  
21. But to stir up Men, if possible, to their Wits and Senses, let them consider in the next place, 
The Second ill effect of I●●n de●ate drinking, is the advancing of Satins Kingdom thereby.  whose Friends and Servants they have hitherto been. They are of their Father the Devil and his Works, not their own do they execute; they can please him in nothing more than by this Brutal Immorrality: Be Drunk, and you give him all he can ask or desire. When Satan has steeped Men in Liquor, he moulds them like soft Clay, to what Form he pleaseth; and 'tis no hard matter to make them his Instruments to do just even what he would have them. If he has a Rape to commit, none fit for the Amour than the Drunkard: If he has a Life to take away, no weapon like a Drunken Fury and inebriated Passion: If he would rail against Heaven, or Blaspheme him that is Higher than the Highest, the Wine inflamed Wretch will Belch out Oaths and Curses, Blasphemies and Execrations as fast as he can desire. So that if to humour the Devil and please him, if to be his Friend and Servant be what you desire, rather than the pleasing of God, the being kind to your Neighbours and yourselves, you can invent no properer a Method, than by being a most accomplished, refined, and complaisant Drunkard.  
22. Which brings me to the next Consideration, the fatality, as it were, of falling into more sins at the same time. 
The Third ill Effect of Drunkenness, that it is the cause of many other Sins.  You must, as I said before, if you are the Devil's Friend, give him a Testimony by some Overt Action that you are so. Sins as well as Miseries seldom come unattended; and of all others this of Intemperance has the largest Retinue: Fornication and Uncleanness, Adultery and Incest, Swearing and Blaspheming, Murder and Revenge, Violence and Rapine, Theft and Oppression are all of its black Train; 'Tis but a Provocation that is wanting for the Drunkard to put One, or more, or all these into execution together. And if he does neither, 'tis not because he was wanting therein, but because the opportunity, the circumstance, the company did not suit; nor was it the Devils Royal Will and Pleasure at that time to tempt him to the performance of that which he knows he may probably have a fit season for.  
23. I proceed now in the last place to take notice of those woes denounced in Holy Scripture against such scandalous Offences; 
The 4th ill Effect of this Sin, is, that it makes a Man liable to the Woes denounced in Holy Scripture against this Impiety.  and here before I do that, I should give some account of those dreadful Examples of the Judgements which God inflicts upon the Epicures, and by what unheard of and various Methods they come to their untimely ends; by breaking their Necks, by Drowning themselves, by having their Brains dashed out, and by many other accidents: But every Annal, every History has Instances enough to convince any that will make the application home, how frequently the drunken Man catches harm, and what a horrible thing it is to fall into the hands of an angry God. Therefore I shall confine myself to mention the principal places in Holy Writ, which seem chief to levelly at the Intemperate. The first which I shall mention, is, what the Wise man doth imply in that passionate expostulation he makes [Prov. 23.29.] Who hath Woe? Who hath Sorrow? Who hath Redness of Eyes? Who hath Contentions? Who hath Wounds without Cause? He tells you in the next Verse; they that tar—ry long at the Wine, they that go to seek mixed Wine. Here you see a large accumulation of Miseries, Grief, Strifes, Violence and Wrong, which follow the Drunkard at the very heels: For the Wine may look delicately, sparkle finely, and move itself aright in the Glass, but at the last it biteth like a Serpent, and stingeth like an Adder. The next Woe we find is, that which the Prophet Isaiah denounces in these plain terms [Chap. 5, 11.12.] Woe to them that rise up early in the Morning, that they may follow strong Drink, that continue until night, till Wine inflame them, and the Harp and the Viol, the Tabret and Pipe are in their Feasts; but they regard not the work of the Lord, nor consider the operation of his hands. As if he should have said, Woe to those Greedy, Lusty Drinkers, who to prevent the want of time, wherein to satiate their Lust, rise early with the Morning Sun, and suck their Wine like the Morning Dew: Who are not contented when a Temptation offers, to embrace it, but seek out for one, go about from this Companion to that: Woe to those who sit whole days in tippling-houses, and protract their Clubs till after night: Who sit up 2 or 3 Nights together, and (as the Vulgar have it) Sing Old Rose, and go to Supper twice, Rant and Carouse, Damn and Drink all in a breath: A Health to this, and a Confusion to that Man and all his Adherents; who in the midst of all their jollity forget the God of Moderation, and with Belshazzar, praise their gods of Gold and Silver, of Luxury and Excess, Who consider not the Lord, nor regard the operation of his hands; How he often is unseen at these Banquets, and will call them to an account, and put a Cup of Trembling and Astonishment in their hands; how he often meets the Dead-drunk Tipler, and sends him to Hell in the very Debauch; how he often breaks the Arms of one, the Legs of another, robs this Man of his Senses, and fills the other with Despair. These things are little regarded, but 'tis the Lord that doth this, and they are (let men observe them or no) the Wonderful Operations of his hands. The same Prophet denounces a Woe in the same Chapter, [Vers. 22.] in Words very near the former. Woe to them that are mighty to drink Wine, and Men of strength to mingle strong Drink: Which seems to intimate thus much; that let Men be never so well able to bear strong Drink, and have Constitutions as strong as the Oak, and Heads as hard as Brass; be they never so sound of Body, and capable to swill down as many Gallons as their Companions can do Pints, and neither prejudice their Healths, nor drown their Memory, nor weaken their Understanding, yet notwithstanding all this, there doth a Woe belong to them, and a Dreadful one too: and that because they make use of this their strength to the weakening their Brother, and the Drinking him down, as they are please to call it.  
24. This Naturally leads me to consider that Gradation and Climax of Woes which another Prophet hath denounced against, and appropriated to, the degrees of such Strong and Mighty Drinkers; The Words are these: Woe to him that giveth his Neighbour Drink. Habb. 2.15. [Not to supply his Natural Necessity (that being a piece of Charity, and no way deserving reproof) but as an Occasion to that Excess, which either his own Inclinations, or the pleasantness of the Liquor, would prompt him to.] Woe to him that putteth his Bottle to his Neighbour, [That is; that not only lays the Temptation before his Guest, but (as is too frequent in our Modern Entertaining) compels, urges, and presses him to that Excess: that Provokes him either by his Command, or his Example, or (which is worse) by Menaces and Threaten to take unwillingly the almost nauseous Dose.] Woe to him that maketh his Neighbour Drunk, that not only gives an Occasion, that presses, that compels him to Drink, but that also urges that Excess to such a degree, that no less price than his Neighbour's Reason must satisfy for the waist of his Liquor; that delights in that Sin himself, and taketh pleasure in those who do the same things; that makes the Inebriating of his Guests the ultimate end of his Revels, and is pleased to see the Antic Postures of his Drunken Neighbour; a Wickedness which the Spartans' would do only to their Slaves, and that upon no such end as the making sport at those twice Captivated Wretches, but only thereby to have an Occasion of Exposing the Monstrous folly of Intemperance, so as to scare their Children from such a Beastly Vice.] Woe, in the last place, to him that maketh him Drunk that he may look upon his Nakedness, [whose design is to bring the Deluded Soul into the Snare, and then expose him to the Mercy of his own or others craft, revenge, or sport; who binds the Soul first in Drunkenness, and then throws him into the Chambers of Death; that inflames heedless Youth with Wine and then sends him a Temptation to prey upon his Chastity; that robs a Man of his Senses, and then takes an Advantage either of Exposing, or of making gain of his Infirmities; that takes the Bridle from his Tongue, and the Reins from his Passion, and then leaves him to be carried headlong by the Unruliness of the One, and torn in pieces through the headstrong Impetuosity of the other.] That such Profligate Offenders deserve a Curse, and a Woe with a Vengeance none will doubt: and the Curse, the Woe, is cut out for them in the next Verse. Thou art filled with shame, for Glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered; the Cup of the Lords Right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful Spewing shall be on thy Glory.  
25. To sum up all, Let me advise all who have been guilty of the least Degree of Intemperance, to lay these things seriously to heart. If you have been hitherto carried away with your Carnal Appetites to obey them in fulfilling the Lust thereof, be so no more. Consider whether the Sin in its own Nature, or in its Effects, be so Charming as to deserve your further Pursuit or Love. Survey it well, and see whether it has any such lovely Features as to Captivate a Generous Mind. Think with yourselves, whether God must be thus affronted, (for Religion is always forgotten where Reason is lost) your Neighbour in all the Relations thus Abused, and yourselves in all Respects thus injured, and that only for the sake of gratifying one single Sense, and indulging one beastly desire. Be not so Mad, be not so Desperate as to humour the Devil, by laying yourselves open to all his Snares, and Enticements; and by exposing yourselves to all the Woes, Miseries, and Calamities incident to Intemperance in this Life, and to the Wrath of God in an Eternity of Torments hereafter. ' Thomas you may not value your Health, your Estates, and your Worldly Concern, yet remember you have Souls which must be either Eternally happy, or Eternally miserable. 'Tis not a Disease or two that will wreck you; nor Want, Poverty or Distress that will grind you, nor all the Adversity you meet with here, can torment you so much, as one moment's pain in the World to come, will afflict you.  
26. 1 Pet. 5.8. Be sober therefore, be vigilant, for your Adversary the Devil, goes about seeking whom he may devour. Rom. 13.13, 14. Walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying: but put you on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the Lusts thereof: To these of the Apostles, take also that advice our Saviour gives. Luke 21.24. Take heed to yourselves, lest a● any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and so that day (that great and notable day of his appearing) come upon you unawares, and seize upon you in that unprovided beastly condition. A condition which few would care to appear in before an earthly Magistrate, how much less before the Tribunal of that just Judge, whose Eyes cannot behold any thing impure or unclean. Let me prevail upon you, especially you, who bear any Authority in your Persons, as you are either Magistrates or Ministers, as you are either Fathers or Masters, to abstain altogether from this Swinish Immorality: For you are answerable, not only for the excess you fall into yourselves, but are sharers in the offence, which others by your example (more prevalent than your Persuasions and Advice to the contrary) do commit, and are encouraged to be guilty of.  
27. If you would know when you should set abo● this regular course of Life; Enter upon it this very moment, Better and easier 'tis to do it to day than to morrow: Defer it not off till this Club or that Society shall be laid down; perhaps you must be summone● hence, long before that, & your very next meeting may be your last. I know, when you think but of a change, the Devil has more than one thing to suggest; 
The difficulty of becoming sober, and the safety of returning betimes considered.  He has solicitations from your old companions to inveigle you; He has their Reproaches and Revile, ready (if you deny the former) to force you; He has the remembrance of the former pleasures you took in those Debauches, whereby to allure you, and a long Custom and contracted evil Habit to inchant you; He has the variety and deliciousness of Liquors to charm you to return to your old beloved Vice. But if you shake off all these Fetters, and bind yourselves with Resolutions of Temperance and Sobriety: If you can, by the assistance of God's Grace (to which in all your Trials you must have recourse) but hold out against the first shock of your Temptations, and resist the Onset with Courage and a resolved Denial at the beginning of the Siege, you will find all the Assailants desert their Batteries, quit their Intrenchments, and despairing of success, retreat with a Curse or two at your obstinate Refusal. The Devil, perhaps, may now and then send out his Scouts to alarm you; but finding all the Passes safe, and a careful Watch kept at every Sense, and vigorous Sallies made against his Incursions He himself will fly from you; and leave you to the Tutelage of Sobriety and Temperance, Innocency and Peace, Sedateness of Mind and Health of Body: and to reap all the satisfactions of an unclouded Reason, an unmasked Understanding, an unerring Will, and uncorrupted Affections; an as the Result of all to enjoy the unspeakable Pleasures of an uncondemning Conscience here, and to drink of those inexhaustible Rivers of Pleasure prepared for the Sober, Temperate, and Faithful Soul in the Paradise of the Blessed hereafter.   

CHAP. III. Of Uncleanness.  
The Universality of this Sin considered and lamented: The Danger of Treating upon it: The particular kinds thereof: The miserable Effects of Fornication, Adultery, Incest and Rape, separately considered: A Caution to the , with an Advice to the Unchaste: Nine Rules whereby to attain to, and preserve that admirable Virtue of Chastity.  
1. AND now let us survey that vast Ocean of Impiety, which with no small success has spread itself for some years over the face of this Island, 
The Universality of this Sin considered, and lamented.  and see if we can ken one point or corner of the Land which is not overwhelmed with this dreadful Inundation: Let us try if we can find one spot of ground which we cannot call Sodom; or one single City which is not worse by far than Gomorrab. Should the destroying Angel come among us (which no Man knows how soon he may) he would have a large Field of Tares to cut down, and a plentiful crop of Uncleanness to employ his Sickle. We can cry out against the tolerated Stews of Italy, and the Tributary Whores of Venice; We can rail against the Lasciviousness of Spain, and wonder at the notorious Courtesans of Paris: But did we look Home, we should see cause of greater Lamentation, and our very Streets could give Parallel, if not transcending Instances of Impudence and Debauchery, which outface the Light, and outdare both God's and Humane Laws. Formerly All (even Secret) Acts of Impurity were condemned, and the name of Whoremaster was the worst Reproach that could be affixed on any Man: But now (oh Prodigy!) the Brand is an Ensign of Honour, and if you would Compliment or Flatter the Spark, you can do it in no properer a phrase, than by calling him a complete Beau and Gallant of the Town.  
2. So generally spreading is this Vice, that it cannot but make any sober Man's Heart to bleed that considers it: But as General as it is, so few are the Judgements of God upon the immediate Acts of this Sin, that we cannot but be filled with Wonder and Amazement, at the long-suffering Patience, of that Immaculate undefiled Being. But vile wretches that they are, the very Motive for their forsaking do they make the chiefest Reason for their persevering in this Sin: And the forbearing Mercy of God, which should lead them to, keeps them off from Repentance. A sad Thought this, that Men should persist in affronting and sinning against God, purely because he is merciful, but every Day and Hours experience witnesseth the truth hereof, and renders it without Dispute.  
3. I had here designed to have enlarged upon the many pollutions of the Age, we now live in; but I foresee that many mischiefs may arise by too closely and pertinently handling this subject. It is such a Sin, that to speak against it in proper terms is by consequence to defend it; and to explain the Nature of it in its proper Characters, will require the making use of such Expressions as may sully the Reputation of a Modest discourse, offend a pure and clean heart, and perhaps be a means of promoting the Vice, even while it is declaimed against. This is no Paradox in times wherein all Advice and Counsel to reform the Impure and  is too often thrown away. For there are not wanting such Monsters in the World as wrest the very Scriptures to their own destruction, and make the Sacred Oracles of God to preach up, and plead for their Debaucheries. No wonder then (if they can thus pervert the Dictates of the Divine Spirit) that they should catch at all opportunities of making even those discourses which are designed against them, to speak, at least implicitly, in their behalf. But Good God To what a head will these Enormities grow? And how necessarily must the Contagion still prevail, since the wholesomest of Medicines are converted by the Infected into Poison? Some smart satire, one would think, might do a little good, such a one as might lash the Wretch stark naked, and put him upon the Rack in the midst of his Impurities: but alas! we find God's Judgements themselves (tho' frequently sent down upon the Incorrigible, yet) lightly esteemed by the hardened World, who make a mock of the Punishment as well as the Crime. I shall therefore take what care I can, not to make the debauched Worse, and with all Prudence manage my discourse on this nice point, so as I may not in the least give Encouragement to the Sin, which I am so willing to decry. I hope at least it may prove a Caution and a  to the Unpolluted Soul, to keep it from being polluted and ruined with the rest; and if it accidentally prove a means of Reforming one debauched Person from the Error of his Ways, I shall think my labour well bestowed.  

The Particulars of Uncleanness.  4. But to proceed and particularise all the sorts of this Sin; I shall wave speaking of the Uncleanness, and will only content myself with showing the Heinousness and the Mischiefs of the grosser Acts of Fornication, Adultery, Incest and Rape; and with telling you that besides these, there are other things which will fall under the Notion of Uncleanness, as being the Preludes to the rest, such as Lustful Views, Obscene Discourse, and Lascivious Contacts, all which betray the unguarded Soul into its own Sin and Misery. To unfold all the Intrigues which the Whoremonger and Adulterer use, to accomplish their designs, out-passes the Brains of a Matchiavel to dive into or apprehend; But where their Pleasure's end is too lamentable a Consideration for them to admit the thoughts of. What running and going, what Sweeting and Labour do they undergo, in order to bring about their Wickedness? Strange indeed! that they should take such pains to be miserable, and be so industrious for their own Destruction; whereas they think it much to spend a poor thought about their real and Eternal Happiness. What Fornication and Adultery and all the other species of Uncleanness are, is no such hard matter to define or describe to an Age so knowing in all the Black Arts of Wickedness. They are too common in Practice to need much Demonstration in the Theory, and therefore I shall think myself the less obliged to trouble my head about such unnecessary speculations.  
5. Suffice it then that I give you some short Account of those Miseries that attend the  Person, both the Fornicator, the Adulterer, the Incestuous Person, and the Ravisher: which that they may be more plain I will lay down separately. And Oh! would to God that others, seeing the Misfortunes and Calamities of the Debauched, would beware of being guilty of such Enormities, lest those or worse Evils fall upon them.  
6. 
The Effects of Fornication in general.  And First to speak a word of the sad Effects of Fornication Little do any of you all consider what the end of those Transient Pleasures will prove: Do you think the number of you will cloud you from the Wrath of God? Can you Expect, because you herd with the Multitude, and so Overpower, and Over-awe Human Laws; that you shall escape the Sentence of the Righteous Judge? No certainly, tho' as yet we have no Express Statute to punish your Offences, according to the Merits of them, yet within and without, on this side and on that, you find Executioners enough of the Divine Wrath, if you had but the Grace to lay it seriously to Heart. You feel trouble yourselves, and behold daily Examples of the Afflictions of others under the same Gild, yet to a wonder are you Hardened, that not the feeling of present can put you in mind of a future Misery. 'Tis not the hard Usage you may meet with here that will serve the Turn: Bridewell, a Carting and Whipping are but trifling praeludes of misery to what Follows. The shedding Innocent blood, as is too common in this Age, requires something more at your hands, and Tyburn must end that Infamous Life which knew not where, nor when to put a stop to its Impurities. Nor does the Partner of her pleasure come off ; as he was concerned in the Getting, so too frequently he proves an Instrument in destroying the Illegitimate Issue, and bears her Company like a Good-natured Sinner into another World.  
7. But admit all things go fair with the Naughty Couple here, and the Woman prove Barren (as is frequent with common Prostitutes) or if she has Children, can yet convey them out of the World without any Noise: yet there are other Effects mischievous enough, 
The Particular Mischiefs of Fornication. First, of those which happen upon the Body either by exposing it to Diseases or Duels.  which follow the Criminal at the Heels, and might be of force enough to convince any man that has but the least reason left, to fly from such unlawful Pleasures with a total detestation and Abhorence.  
8. St Paul does Positively declare that whoever commits Fornication sins against his own Body, 1 Cor. 6.18. This was his sentiment, who had no such Reason (that we know of) for to say so as we now have. That Disease, so common among us, and in just Judgement as it were appropriated to that Offence, was wholly unknown (or at least not regarded) in the Apostles days, so that little or nothing could be then said on that Topick; But now we see this tormenting Disease that does so afflict both Sexes, in the most Sensible and Tender parts is the effect of only Impure Embraces; and one would think this an argument sufficient to scare Men from the eager pursuit of such unlawful Game. But alas we find the Wretch as proud of his Malady, as before he was of his Uncleanness, brags of his Distemper, and despises it so long, till at last the whole Mass of Blood is infected, and it enters into his very Bones and Marrow. Then what Racks and Tortures, what Agonies and Pains does he undergo? Salivation upon Salivation, and all the Art of Galen and Hypocrates is little enough to raise him up to his old Debaucheries again: For to them most surely and nothing else he will return, let his promises of Amendment and Repentance be never so many. 'Tis true, he made such Vows but it was upon the Melancholy Thoughts that he should never be able to serve his Sins more. For he cannot forbear returning to his former Impurities, and never leaves till the next Clap seize him in good Earnest, and send him out of the World for good and all.  
9 Add to this Consideration, the danger to which the Amorous Gallant exposes his Life, in the many Quarrels he is Engaged in his Mistress' Cause; it being frequent to have the Carpet-Rivals end their dispute in a Field of Blood. Hence comes it to pass, that of the many Murders committed daily in our Kingdom, we find a Whore at the Beginning or End of the Fray: And a Homicide seldom appears at the Bar without One of them at his Heels; or if not there, yet at Tyburn he openly confesses the Strumpet to have been the first tempter to, or occasion of the Fatal Tragedy.  
10. Nor is the Letcher's Body the only sufferer here, he has an Estate which is Squandered away upon Riotous Living, 
2ly, The Mischiefs which happen upon the Fornicator's Estate.  whilst his Relations are brought to Indigency and Poverty, and himself (as the Wiseman observes) by means of a Whorish Woman to a Morsel of Bread. Prov. 6.26. So Vast is the Expense, and so great are the Extravagancies of most Modish Jilts, that 'tis Cheaper by far to maintain Ten thrifty Wives, than one Luxurious Wastful Whore. She delights in nothing more than to exhaust him out of all his Store, and never leaves craving till his Pocket be in as deep a Consumption, as his drained Body: Collation upon Collation, this Treat on that, one Present upon another, are little enough to satisfy her boundless Desires, and if the Fond Fool should chance to deny her but one little Toy of Twenty, she presently Storms, and sets on the four Countenance, and will not be reconciled till some Peacemaking Pearl or Diamond from the Indies becomes the Mediator.  
11. But when the Poor Squire is plucked bare and rob of all his Plumes, and dismantled of all his gay Trappings, when his Estate is Mortgaged, and his Credit Bankrupted, when all Securities are gone, and Pawns redeemless, then 'tis time for Her to pack off the Indigent Fop, and to be weary of his Visits; Nothing being more common then for those Mercenary Jilts to hate from their heart a poor Gallant, tho' they themselves made him so. And glad they are to cast off their troublesome Money-less Guest, tho' a Catchpole or Sergeant should be waiting for him, and the Kings-Bench, or Fleet should be his last Lodging. But if ever he should, either upon some Act of Grace, or pleading himself within the Statute of Pauper's be redeemed from those his Mansions; tho' he knows himself Cashiered by his Mistress, and left to the wide World: yet he has not the Grace with the Prodigal to return to himself, and consider that 'tis high time to betake himself to his Heavenly Father and acknowledge his Offence; and think on some other Course of Life then hitherto he has Embraced; but is hardened in his Impiety, and contrives a thousand ways how to Re-inestate himself once more in his Mistress' favour. In order thereunto he becomes either a Knight-Arrant, and so brings of his spoils, and offers them at his Minions feet; or else turns Rook, and so from Gaming-house to Gaming-house, gathers up enough to make his peace with the Female Adversary; or else to the Disgrace of Humanity becomes himself a Mercenary Pimp and Pandarus, Bully and Procurer: And so spends the Remainder of his inglorious Days in obscure Brothels, and Houses of Evil Fame. From these sources also arises the ruin of most young Tradesmen, who are either in pay with a Bawd themselves, or have lose Servants and Apprentices, whose Extravagancies are such that they Exhaust the Cash to maintain their Strumpets, and insensibly blow up their Masters before the least Warning-Piece is given from whence their Misfortunes came. To such Evil Practices are owing the Ebb of most Estates; and let men Complain of Taxes, and the great Charge of Church and Poor-money never so much, yet they have a piece for a Whore: But did they give less to to her, they would not find it so hard and grating to bestow Liberally on the others.  
12. But beside the Body and Estates; 
3ly, The Injury Fornication offers to the Minds of Men.  the Fornicator injures all the Faculties of his Mind, renders them Captive to his Lust, and turns out the Man in order to receive and entertain the Beast. He makes the Temple of the Holy Spirit a Cage for unclean and impure thoughts to reside in. He Vitiates his Understanding; claps a false Bias upon his Will; and exposes himself to the Impetuosity of every Passion: He loses the Divine Image, divests himself of all that is Generous, Good, and Brave, and becomes not only weak in Body, but sneaking, low, and feeble in Mind. Hence comes it to pass that the Magnanimity and Courage of the English has of late degenerated into Softness and Effeminacy. And the Nation, which before was a Terror to her Neighbours, is now by those bewitching dalilah's robbed of its former Vigour, and become almost as weak and Pusillanimous as the rest. So fond have we been of imitating the French in all their Vices, Fashions and Accomplishments of late; that we have followed them to a hair in all things, even their Cowardice, their tricks and poor sneaking Stratagems not excepted.  
13. It would be a tolerable Bargain did the Wretch come off with no worse than the Miseries incident to Sensuality in this life; 
4ly. The last effect of Fornication is (withiut Repentance) Death Eternal.  but alas! he has an after-reckoning to pay beyond the Valley of the shadow of Death: 'Tis not his Mind, Body or Estate; His Reason, Life or Fortune, but the Loss of his Soul which must quit the score of that Gild, contracted by the pursuits of these Vncleannesses which he has not repent of. Eph. 5.5. For no whoremonger has any Inheritance in the kingdom of Heaven, but will be judged by God the Righteous Judge, and by his irrevocable Sentence, consigned over to have his Portion in that Abyss of Fire, and Brimstone, which burns for ever and ever, Rev. 21.18. In this Burning Tophet he will then struggle tho' in vain, and in the anguish of those Torments, he will, in all probability, wish, tho' it be too late, that he had never given way to his corrupt Nature, that he had never hearkened to the flattering Motions of Flesh and Blood, that he had never yielded to the prevalence of his Inclinations. How then will he execrate himself, and curse his merry Companions that alured him to, and Taught him this Diabolical Art? How will he then wish that his Eyes had been plucked out, and his Eyestrings had cracked before they had gazed upon Vanity, and betrayed him into a snare? How will he wish then that his Arms had fallen from his Shoulderblade, before they had been defiled with unclean Embraces: That his Tongue had cleaved to the roof of his Mouth, before he had uttered such immodest Discourse: That his Ears had been stopped with a perpetual Deafness, before he had listened to the filthy Communication of others: That he had been thrown into the Fiery Furnace, before he had leapt into the Bed and Arms of an Harlot? But why should I enlarge upon those things, since Hell is little regarded by the generality of Mankind, and the Torments of the Damned are looked upon as fictitious Bugbears to frighten deluded Man from his Paradise of Voluptuousness, and the Accounts of Holy Writers concerning a future State, are generally dis-believed? And if they will not hear Moses and the Prophets, nor believe Jesus and his followers, How can we expect they should give credit, tho' one of their old Companions arose from the dead?  
15. I come now in the next place to consider the mischiefs of that Branch of Uncleanness, 
Adultery, and the Effects thereof.  Adultery; where one or both the Parties concerned are in the State of Matrimony, and which is not only condemned, as being Sensual and opposite to a direct Command in the Decalogue, but also as it is unjust, injurious and inconvenient to the Public Society, of which we are Members. This Sin has not only the Brutality of the two former, but is acted with all the Malice imaginable, against both God and Man. I know not by what kind of Fascination this Vice has prevailed within these few years; but so common is it grown, that 'tis matter of sport and pastime to have the Ingenuity to defile one's neighbours Bed: And 'tis reckoned a small business to pay Quid pro Quo, and a Jest to Horn the Horter. But as common as it is, yet the Crime loses not one grain of its real Estimate; Let the Adulterer and Adulteress please themselves with never so merry Thoughts of the contrary. For they thereby incur the Gild of breaking the whole Law, Affront God, 
The effects of Adultery further illustrated in its being a Breach of our Duty to God, our neighbour, and ourselves.  Injure Others; and Act as Enemies against themselves: As by considering the following ill Effects thereof, will easily and manifestly appear.  
16. God certainly is displeased at it, being diametrically contrary to a Command which he delivered with Thundering and Lightning at Mount Sinai in these express words: 
1st. Adultery is a sin against God.  Thou shalt not commit Adultery. His Edicts are not to be despised, neither are his Commandments to be cast behind our back. Who are we that shall make bold with our Maker, and trample his Institutes under foot, and reckon his Ordinances not worthy our Observance? Can we dispute the lawfulness or unlawfulness of his Orders? Or shall we act in opposition to an Almighty's Decrees?  
17. But farther, you break not only the Commands of a Just Jehovah, 
2ly. Adultery a sin against others; and first against the Public.  but maliciously strike at the Root, and aim at the destruction of that Society to which you belong. Our English Community allows no such promiscuous Copulations, and therefore has carefully provided, that every Man shall be the Husband of one Wife. He therefore that climbs up into his neighbour's Bed to defile it, doth what in him lies to put an end to all the Decorums and Observances which the strictness of a well constituted Christian Government requires at our hands. Adultery is a Sin which no Nation or People, tho' never so barbarous has maintained. By the Levitical Law it was punished with the immediate death of both Parties, Leu. 20.10. Deut. 22.22. The Koran of Mahomet not only forbids a Lascivious Eye, but punishes the Adulteress, convicted by four of the same Sex, with perpetual Imprisonment. The Pagan Indians at Dominica, Cuina, Bantam and Japan, punish the Adulterers with loss of Life. 
Scotch History.  The barbarous Chineses have the same sense of the guilt, and inflict no less a punishment upon the Delinquent. At the City of Pequin the Jointures and Dowries of Adulteresses are bestowed upon the Hospitals of Female Orphans. In Patame, a Province joining to China, they have a Custom, If any Persons of quality become guilty of this Offence, that by Choice they shall be strangled by their next of Kin. At Brasil the Crime seemed of so black a die, that the enraged Husband had Power and Authority at Will to be the Judge, Jury and Executioner of his own Adulterous Wife. But at Angola a City in Aethiopia, the Penalty was more moderate, and the Offender only lost his Nose by the Bargain. These and the like Punishments were inflicted by the very Heathens, which sufficiently let us see what Constructions they made upon the odious and detestable Sin of Adultery; and enough to shame us into a better Consideration of the nature of such a Beastiality. Our own Laws both Civil and Canon are very strict against the Offender, but we are grown so lawless, that no Injunction Ecclesiastical or Civil, Moral or Divine, is any whit regarded by us  
18. But look we nigher home, and we shall find Calamities enough infesting, and unavoidably pursuing the Adulterer and Adulteress. 
The second wrong we do to others, is done to the Family of the Adulterer or Adultress.  The First of which Domestic Mischiefs I reckon to be that unavoidable corruption of Families, incident to abused Beds. By this means the Alien is Naturalised, an Ishmael incroaches upon, and oft supplants the Trueborn Isaac Heir; and a Halfe-Blood-Illegitimate Offspring goes away with a share of the Inheritance and Patrimony, which of Right belongs only to the Whole-Blood Line. This has been so often boasted to be true, that it may be feared there has too often Fire as well as Smoke to build such vaunting upon. And I should think this alone were an Inconvenience sufficient to make the Sin a grievance to any State in which it is, were there none else at the heels of it.  
19 But 'tis well known, that Messenger of ill Tidings has another ready to enter in upon him: 
The 3d. wrong to others is the breach of the Matrimonial Vow  which I call the Breach of the Matrimonial Vow. In all Ages, and among all Nations, Vows have been looked upon as Sacred and Inviolable, but of all, that of a Christian Marriage-Contract has been esteemed the greatest Tie any Man can be obliged withal. So Divine a Ceremony among the Romanists, that 'tis ranked among their Sacraments; nor no less Sacred with Us, tho' not admitted to so great and unwarrantable an Honour. For besides the many Vows and Protestations, the formal Engagements and the Mutual interchanging of Hearts which frequently pass between the Parties in their Courtship, and which usher in the greater Solemnity; they do afterwards openly in the eye of the World, and more immediate Presence of God, Consummate the Nuptials; in which, in the most solemn and serious manner imaginable, they plight to each other their Troth, and interchangeably promise each other the performance of the respective Duties, they in that state of Life are mutually obliged to perform; and both M●n and Woman in the same manner protest to live with each other, forsaking all Corrivals of their Love, till Death shall make one or the other free. But how can that Man be said to keep to his First Betrothed, who shall forsake the Wife of his Bosom, and leaving her in Discontent, Disquietude and Solitude, shall bestow his Love upon a Harlot; and give away that treacherous Heart to a Second, or Third, or more Rivals, which not long since was so solemnly allotted and made over to the Deserts of a more Worthy Person? Base perfidious Wretch! What Injustice and Ingratitude, What Cruelty and Treachery, What Barbarity and Inhumanity art thou guilty of? Is it nothing to wound her Soul with the Sense of thy Unkindness; who is so Tender and Loving, so Dutiful and Careful to thee and thine? Is it nothing to raise in her innocent Breast Perturbations, and Heart-breaking, Jealousy and Discontent? Is it nothing to put that Dovelike Mind, which for some time bore with thy Unkindness, and could not tell how to turn the Stream of her Affections from thee, upon desperate Attempts, and extorted Thoughts of revenging thee in thy own kind? Will not her Folly and Sin be owing wholly to thy slight and disrespect? And tho' she herself will not escape the Judgement of God, yet dost thou think thy Condemnation and Punishment will not be the greater, because thou, as a principal cause, by thine example, stirred her up to that unchristian Revenge? The same may be said (Mutatis Mutandis) concerning an Unfaithful and Treacherous Wife, who shall be so daring as to break into forbidden Embraces, through all the Bonds of a Ritual and Sacred Ordinance. And what the sad and horrible effects of a violated Matrimonial Vow are, will appear by Considering.  
20. The next evil consequence of Adultery, is Murder. This is the unavoidable subsequent of the Former, 
The Fourth wrong to others is Murder. And herein Adultery gins to prove a sin against. 3ly. A Man's self.  whenever the unlawful Amour should chance to be discovered by the injured Party. I have traced this sin of Adultery through all its Labyrinths, and find all its Avenues, all its Chambers, and all its Retirements, besmeared with Blood. Murder gins, Murder confirms, and Murder ends the Intrigue. The naughty Couple must remove all Obstacles in order to attain their freedom in Lust. And if any prying Servant, or curious Attendant be known to observe the Motion, His Mouth must be stopped, and His Tongue tied, if not by Gold, then by a Stab or Poison: If the Husband is too watchful, and so a Remora to their designs, a Bonyard or Pistol must send him on a long Journey, and remove the Vriah out of the way. So on the other hand, if this Argus of a Husband should but suspect himself to be abused; how Frantic and Mad, how Jealous and Revengeful is he? And should he be sensible of his own Metamorphosis, nothing can stop his Fury, till he meets with an opportunity of revenging himself upon the Gallant, the Mistress, the Confident and all. Thus every party acts in this Tragedy, and the Injured Husband, or Jealous Wife, the Amorous Gallant, and the Designing Adultress are all dipped in the Red Sea of Blood. I have wondered to see the many recorded Bloody Monuments of Adultery; and that notwithstanding all the examples of untimely Deaths, yet the Sin continues still in fashion all the World over: As if every Kingdom and Metropolis thereof, were nothing else but the common Nurseries of these Lusts and Debaucheries. But I lose that Wonder when I see the next fatal Consequent to this Sin, is as little regarded as any of the former, which is  
21. That wrath of God which the Impenitent Continuance in this Impiety, commonly pulls down upon the Offenders Head. 
The Second Mischief Adultery brings to a Man's self, is the Judgements of God.  That Being which doth not afflict willingly, and grieves not the Children of Men, without extraordinary occasion, makes bare his Arm of Justice against no Crime more than against that of Adultery. In the last Mischief of Murder, tho' to an unthinking Mind it may appear to be the result of Passion, and the satisfying a private Revenge upon an opportunity offered; yet to one who looks farther than second Causes, it is manifest the Finger of God brings all those things to pass. 'Tis he that lays the Train, and spreads the Net, and trapans the Lustful Lovers, and exposes them to the mercy of a jealous and incensed Person; who notwithstanding has no power to strike, till the Almighty Arm permits the Blow. 'Tis well known that the Miseries and Calamities, the Shame and Confusion, the Diseases and Death, and all the other misfortunes the Adulterer either feels in common with the Fornicator, or else endures as peculiarly appropriated to his Species of Uncleanness, are all sent and come down from above. But these are easy Penalties to what are laid up for the Incontinent, Impenitent Wretch, in that vast Storehouse of Eternity. There Pains and Aches, Poverty and Want, Prisons and Dungeons, the Stake and Gibbet, and the King of Terrors himself (tho' dressed up in the most for-formidable Colours Rome or the Inquisition can invent) would be eligible and vastly to be preferred before what the Adulterer and Adulteress shall then feel. The Almighty threatened and he would be a swift witness against the Adulterers, Mal. 3.5. and so he is even in this life, overtaking them with a Judgement at their heels: But in the other World, he follows them close, and vexes them with all his Storms, torments them in good earnest, and adds Fuel of Flames to their lustful Souls, Be not deceived (says the Apostle) 1 Cor. 6.9. Neither Fornicators, nor Idolaters, nor Adulterers, nor effeminate persons shall inherit the Kingdom of God. And we are assured that Whoremongers and Adulterers God will [in a more especial manner] Judge, Heb. 13.3. What mean the exclusion from that Kingdom, and the falling under the Censures of so severe a Judge, is too plain to need any Exposition. I could wish the Soul, who is guilty of the Sin, were but half so Considerative upon, as it is (in its sober fits at least) sensible of, the Punishment, and I question not but it would go a great way towards palling the Desire, and retarding the eager Pursuit after such lascivious Amours, which are opposite to all these Engagements we lie under, both to God and Man.  
22. But before I proceed, it will not be amiss to answer an Objection, which too many are apt to make use of in this case. 
An Objection made by the Adulterer.  And is Adultery such a damning sin (may some say) How came it to pass then that Abraham the Patriarch, and other Holy Men of old indulged themselves therein? The Scriptures testify of them that they walked with God, How then could they allow themselves in that, which is (as you affirm) so displeasing to that B●ing, whom they so strictly served? Had not Jacob his Bilhah, and Zilpah as well as his Rachel and Leah? Did not David, a man after God's own heart, keep his Wives, and increase the number of his Concubines, and Murder Vriab as well abuse Bathshebah? And had not his Son Solomon in his youthful days, his 700 Wives and 300 Concubines? Do you think those went quick into Hell? Or if you admit they did repent, may not the Greatest do the same? And will it not be time enough to write Vanity on all Worldly Pleasures, when we have gone through every Scene of them, and tasted every Flower in Paradise?  
23. To all which I Answer. What Dispensation, had the Fathers of old, before Moses, I know not; but this am I very well assured of, by a Mouth that cannot Lie, 
The Objection Answered.  that, from the beginning it was not so. He that Created Male and Female at first, instituted that Holy Rite of Matrimony, and ordained, that they twain should be one flesh. Whatever the Followers of Lamech did think of the Sacred Tie, yet 'tis well known by the Mosaic Law, that Adultery was by the express words of the Injunction to be punished with death: thereby reducing Marriage into its old Channel again, wherein it ran at first in Eden. And as to David, who lived many years after the Jewish Law was published, and so cannot be thought to be ignorant thereof, I shall not go about to extenuate his Crime by pleading (what many unreasonably have) the Privilege he had by being a King; as it the Royal Prerogative were a sufficient Protection for the Commission of any extravagancy, which his own wild Will and Pleasure could prompt him to. No certainly; tho' he was accountable to no Humane Judge, yet there was one Higher than the Highest, to whom he must Answer for all. He was but Man (the most that can be said for him) and was accordingly obnoxious to all the Infirmities of unguarded Flesh and Blood: But yet his Adultery was followed with Judgements enough, and appropriate to his Crime, to leave no room for doubt upon what account they were sent. The poor Man sell from one sin to another, and to hid his Adultery, runs into the Gild of shedding Innocent ●ood: The Death of his Adulterous 〈◊〉. The Incesto●s Rape of his Daughter; The Murde● of his Son Amnon, and his Rebellious Absalom's driving him out of House and City, and seizing upon his Wives and Concubines, were all such marks of Divine Wrath, so perpendicularly dropped down upon his Gild of Adultery, that a burblind Spectator must needs know the Cause from its so Natural Effects. And hence it was that we find him so often in his Penitentials, so frequent in his Miserere Mei's: Hence was it that his Bed did Swim, and his Couch was watered with Tears; and hence it was that ever and anon he did cry out in the Bitterness of his Soul, for Mercy, Mercy! and beg God to Purge and Cleanse him, to heal and renew a right Spirit within him; complaining of his Bones and Loins, of his wounded Conscience, troubled Spirit, and broken Heart. And the Successor of his Throne succeeded him in his Sin and Misery too. For he did (to use his own Words) prove his Heart with Mirth, and enjoyed Abundance of Pleasure; He had his Moabites and Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites, and all the Train of Pomp and Luxury; and drank his Water out of many Cisterns; Yet after all he concludes that there was nothing under the Sun but Vanity and Vexation of Spirit, and what he accounted his Wisdom, was reckoned at last to be but Madness and Folly.  
24. As to the Hopes and Probability of repenting like Solomon or his Father, in their old Age, they who object this would do well to consider, whether they are sure of imitating them in their Repentance, as they are resolute of following them in their Sins? Is Regeneration (Deluded Souls!) in your own Power? And Repentance at your Beck to come when called for? Are you sure of passing through all the Scenes of Pleasure, and of knowing when you have so done, and of having Hearts, after all that, so loosened from the Vanities to the which you were so closely United, as to be converted in a Moment to God? Can a Habit of so long wearing be shaken off so easily, and the Soul be invested in white Robes on a sudden? D'ye think a Sob or two at your last Gasp (for then do some imagine it time enough to repent) will serve the Turn? Or that a Groan in the Last Agony, or a Dying Accent or two of your departing Souls will be good Contrition, and win upon your so long affronted Creator, so as to obtain his Pardon and Atonement for what is past, and to make up the Breach by reconciling you to your Offended God? Doubtless you who are now Guilty of this Sin, and fool yourselves up with the Hopes of repenting Hereafter, are out in your Measures, and are in the ways that tend and lead to the Chambers of Death, when it will perhaps prove too late when one foot is got into the Grave.  
25. Now to speak a word or two of the next kind of Uncleanness, 
Fourthly, Of Incest, and the effects thereof.  wherein the parties concerned fall within that Degree of Kindred which does forbid all Carnal knowledge, tho' in the state of Matrimony; and this Uncovering of a Relations Nakedness, Married or Single, we call Incest. The little Noise that is made about it within this Northern World, would make one think there was no such Fornication amongst us: But among the many Unlawful, it would not be hard to find some Unnatural Embraces, were they not so commonly hushed up by the Inglorious Criminals, and concealed by the rest of the Relations to avoid the disgracing their Families thereby. From the want of due Conviction thereof is it that they go Unpunished, and escape the Censure of a Spiritual Court, and the Sentence of an Earthly Tribunal, but the just Judge will overtake, and his Hand will find them out. What the Consequence of this Sin is (over and above the Common Miseries, which if together with Fornication and Adultery may be said to endure) appears from the Examples of those, who have met with Divine Vengeance in or presently after the Act. Lot's Daughters got nothing by uncovering their Father's Nakedness, but Shame to themselves, and an entailed Curse to their Miserable Posterity. Reuben, tho' the first born, fell short of his Portion in the Old Man's Benedicat, because he went up and defiled his Fathers Bed. Amnon met with sour Sauce after the Rape and Incest he committed upon his Sister: And Absalom's untimely Death may be assigned to his having lain with his Father's Concubines as the Chiefest, tho' not the only Cause thereof. Profane Writers are not wanting in Instances of this kind, too long and many to be ennumerated in a Discourse of so small a Bulk. Nor are our own Annals, and the present times unfurnished; which, because it would seem Invidious to rip open the faults of such as lie in the Dust, and too reflecting upon many now alive, I shall forbear to particularise: Else such could be named which tasted deeply of the Cup of God's Wrath even in this Life for this Crime, and what their Portion is in the other World, my C●arity will not admit me to judge.  
26. The Last and Highest Degree of Uncleanness is that of Rape; 
Fifthly, Of Rape, and the Consequence thereof.  wherein the Ravisher bears no regard to any thing but his Lust, for whomsoever that prompts him to enjoy, his Violence constrains to yield to his Embrace: Virgin or Widow, Sister or Mother, Married or Single are all alike to him. One would think from the Multitude of Common Prostitutes in and about the World there would be no such thing as Violence used: But if you Visit the Courts of Judicature you shall find many of those Guilty Wretches holding up their Hands at the Bar. So Offensive have these Constraints been to most Nations, that we find, by the Laws thereof, that they are punished with immediate Death. No less Punishment doth the Statute Laws of our Land inflict upon the Offender, and not only the Principal but the Abettors of the Crime have tasted of the same Ignominious Punishment. And how the Fortune-stealer (for so our Gentile Ravisher is now adays called) will answer his Rape at the Last Day, I am struck with Horror to imagine. His Miseries are the same with other Lechers, but aggravated, by being not only his Better self-Hater, but the Common Nuisance, Pest, and Disturber of Civilised Societies  
27. Thus have I at length wound myself out of that Labarynth of Lust, 
A word of Advice to the , and the Unchaste.  and passed through all its Chambers; and proved them to be the direct Road to Want, Misery, Diseases, and Death; to the Wrath of God and Eternal Flames. And if there is so great a Train of Mischiefs attending in the outward Apartments of Uncleanness such as are obvious to every View, and which I have only treated on: What and How many must needs be the Evils which are admitted into her closer Retirements, and into her Unseen and Unobserved Secrecies? It remains now that I should give a Word of Advice to such as have not as yet been infected with this Epidemical Distemper, as well as to those that at present do Labour under it: And so the Precautions and Antidotes I prescribe to the One, may prove Effectual Remedies to heal the other.  
28. To the first I have the Apostles Words ready to say; Keep yourselves Pure: Let not Sin reign in your Mortal Bodies that you should obey it in the Lusts thereof: Neither yield your Members as Instruments of unrighteousness to Sin; But yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the Dead, and your Members as Instruments of Righteousness unto God: Your Bodies are the Temples of the Holy Ghost which is in you; Flee Fornication therefore, and every Sin that defiles that Sacred Place. For you are not your own, you are bought with a Price, Glorify therefore God in the Chastity of your Bodies, (as well as in the Purity of your Spirits) which are Gods. 1 Cor. 19.20. And over and above the avoiding the Evil Consequents of Uncleanness, which are in themselves Motives sufficient to deter Men from the pursuit thereof, you have stronger inducements thereto. For thereby you ensure to yourselves the Peace and Tranquillity of an Undefiled Conscience, and all the Comforts flowing from a  and Humble Conversation: You imitate the Inspirer of your Souls in being Pure as he is Pure; and in a Word by this Angelic Virtue you prepare and fit yourselves for the Beatific Vision; for so Blessed are the Pure in Heart pronounced by our Saviour that they, and only they shall see God. Mat. 5.  
29. To the Poor Infected Wretch I shall add to what I have already said: Repent of thy Vncleannesses which thou hast Committed, and Mortify thy Members which are upon the Earth: Suffice it that thou hast hitherto yielded thy Members servants to unrighteousness, now return and yield them Servants unto God, unto Holiness. Be not carried away with thy Lusts any longer, moderate the Impetuous Heat of thy Youth; Be no longer the Vassal to Impurity; Let not an Idle Exchange Girl, or Common Actress captivate thy Soul. Harken not any longer to the Allurements of those Minions, and suffer not Solomon's Wanton to lead thee as an Ox to the Slaughter, or as a Fool to the Correction of the Stocks. Be no longer fond of those thy dear bought Pleasures, and hunt not after what will cost thee the wasting of thy Estate, the Misery of thy Relations, the Impairing of thy Health, the Hastening of thy Death, and what is more than all, the Price of thine Unvaluable precious and Immortal Soul. Thy Soul which has a Being beyond all the Existences of Material Being's, which cannot, must not die; which must shortly appear before the Judgement Seat of God. Oh! Consider before thou goest to the next Debauch, whether thou art able to endure the Agonies and Torments, the Flames and Pains which the Damned feel. Dost thou imagine that God will Extinguish that Everlasting Fire to indulge thy Carnal Desires? Or that He will put an End to Hell out of tenderness to thy Lusts and Concupiscence? No certainly, he will not abate one tittle of thy Punishment. Be wise then and forsake thy Impurities before the day of Grace be past, and there remain no Sacrifice, no Atonement for thy Sin.  
28. As a means to attain to and maintain that Admirable Virtue of Chastity, I shall touch upon those common Practical Rules, adapted to every Capacity, and obvious to every Understanding.  

Nine Practical Rules to be observed by such as would avoid the Odious Sin of Uncleanness.  
First, Resist the Temptation at the Beginning. What tho' you carry about you the Seeds of Corruption, 
Principiis Obsta. Venionti Occurito Morbo. Pers.  and have your Naturals, Composed of the same Flesh and Blood with others? What tho' you are Children of Originally corrupted Parents, were shapen in Iniquity and in Sin your Mothers conceived you? What tho' the dire Contagion was handed down to you by your Ancestors? Is it not your Care and Duty to keep this Law of your Members (which is always Warring against the Law of your Minds) from getting the Mastery over you? If you had no Temptations nor Inclinations to Lust, where is your Virtue in being Continent? 
Marc●t sine Adversario Virtus. Senec.  'Tis a trial of your Graces that must make you experienced Champions, and the Victory over your Lusts that must make you More than Conquerors. Can you fight without Enemies, or overcome without Opposition, or expect the Crown without the Victory? The Devil allures and the Flesh may prompt you to yield, burr neither of them can force you if you will be true to yourselves, and keep the Reins in your own Hands. To this end, suppress the very first Motions to Impurity, Crush the Cockatrice in his Egg, and make a vigorous Repulse at ●he very first Onset of a Temptation. As for Example, Think whether you would commit the Sin ●f you were to die the next Moment, and whether you would be contented to appear at the Tribunal of Heaven in the Embraces of a Harlot, or in the Arms of an Adulteress. Consider also whether you can find any Retirement so Private, any Apartment so Obscure where God cannot see you, or where his hand cannot find you out,  
2ly, Avoid Idleness: Have always something to do, and give not an Advantage to the Tempter to break in upon you whilst you are unguarded. The Perching Soul becomes an easy Prey to the Infernal Fowler; whilst the Winged Spirit is out of Danger. Beware then of administering to your Youthful Flames by Sloth and Ease, by Entertaining your Thoughts with Unchaste Imaginations, which increase by nothing so much as your Idle Hours. If you have Employs be diligent therein, Eating the Bread of Carefulness, for so he giveth his Beloved rest: If you are above the toils of a Labouring Life, you cannot want business wherein to spend your vacant Hours, if you consider the great Concern of your Souls that lies upon your hands, and requires more time than you have in your own power. A Holy Life has many ways to dispose of the long and tedious days, and were you intent upon the Duties thereof, you would have no reason to complain of th● Idle time which lies upon you, nor would you give th● Tempter or any Lust an Opportunity to rob you o● your Innocence, or to Prey upon your Chastity.  
3ly, In the next place Keep a Constant Watchov●● your Eyes; those doors of the Soul, those Casements to Imagination, and those Inlets to Vice. Th● Wiseman has always one Eye at Home while th● other is employed abroad in Speculation: But her● 'tis safe to keep both your doors shut, unless yo● could stare the Vanity Dead, the Beauty into a Monster, and the Temptation into a Virtue. Bu● 'tis dangerous to run the risk of such an Adventure, and an Attempt too bold for most to undertake, Your strength is but weakness at best, and your Clear-sightedness oftimes in this Nature becomes your Blind-side, where the Lust has an Advantage to break in upon you. If you are Wise keep out of Eye-shot, and come not a near the fair Enemy; for there is much in a Painted Face, in a lose Garb, in Wanton Gestures, and in Naked Breasts to work upon the unguarded Eye, and render the Heart prisoner. Nor is it enough to turn your Eyes from beholding Vanity, when Accidentally offered to their View, but you should avoi● as much as in you lies, all Occasions which may lead them astray. You would do well to abstain from all public Balls, Shows and Stage-Plays, and all other places of great Appearance, which may be apt to administer Fuel to your Fire. For if at Church, where the Awe of God and the Reverence due to his Immediate presence, should have some Influence over you, if there (I say) you can with much ado keep your Eyes from gazing and wand'ring after Beautiful Objects, and from conceiving Lustful thoughts thereon: How much more difficult will it be to do so there, where your design of going is principally to be Spectators of Folly and Lightness, not to say worse; or where is the Common Mart or Forum for the Gallant to pick up his Mistress and carry her off Incognito. Nor is it only dangerous to behold those Charms to Lust in the Original in Living Instances, but also in Effigy. For these dumb obscene Pictures with a tacit whisper captivate the Eye, move the Imagination, and fire the Heart.  
4ly, Avoid all Frothy and Idle Discourse; Be neither the Speakers, Hearers, or Readers of such Language; Keep a Watch over your Tongues, stop your Ears, as well as turn away your Eyes from all that looks like Obscenity. Evil Communication (says the Apostle) Corrupts good Manners, 1 Cor. 15. Therefore (as he says in another place) let no Corrupt Communication proceed out of your Mouth. Eph. 4. A lose Tongue and Obscene Lips insensibly betray the Soul into the snare of Uncleanness. Therefore as you value your Chastity, and desire to keep yourselves pure, Think it not matter of Jest to talk wittilly Obscene, but be assured you are not only to answer for the Words you speak, but also for all the Mischief they may produce upon either yourselves or others.  
5ly, In the next place, Beware what Company you keep. 'Tis an Italian Proverb, tell me with what Company you go, and I'll tell you where you go; tell me with whom you Converse and I'll tell you what you are. The Society whereof you are, has a great Prevalence over you to make you of the same Mould with the whole: If that he good, you cannot but in Complaisance be or seem to be so too; if That be Evil, it would he not false Logic to conclude the Parts to be of the same Mark with the whole. This is too evident to need Demonstration, and were it to be doubted in other Vices, yet in this of Uncleanness, the Influence which one Debauched Companion has upon another to render him so too, proves the Consequence to be too true. A Lose, Libertine, and Licentious Conversation, does easily incline a man to Join with the Multitude in one Common way of Lewdness and Debauchery: Familiarity and Example, Fear and Shame, private Obligations and public Engagements are as great Inducements to depraved Nature to comply with those to whom one stands Obliged in any of the former Respects. And here I cannot choose but blame such as out of a Frolic to see the Tricks of the Town, and to experience the truth of what they Hear, associate themselves with Lewd and Profligate persons, running from Bandy-House to Bawdy House, from one Brothel to another, till at last they carry the Coals of Fire so long that they are inflamed by Lust in good earnest.  
6ly, To employ your Eyes and Thoughts, and to help you to better Company, I shall advise you in the next place to be frequent in reading and Meditating the Holy Scriptures: for wherewithal shall a Young Man cleanse his way (says the Royal Psalmist) but by taking Heed thereto according to thy Word. Herein you will see Life and Death, Blessings and Curse, Promises and Threaten, Mercies and Judgements: The one a Royal Privilege appropriated to the Upright and Clean, the other as a Punishment to the Man of Unclean Lips and a Lewd Conversation: Herein you will see a Generously  and Continent Joseph exalted from a Dungeon to a Throne, whilst the Incestuous Reuben is put by his Father's Blessing: Herein you will read of 24000 Israelites being killed in one day amidst their Whoredoms, 
Numb. 5.  whilst Phineas for his Zeal, in punishing the Delinquents, atones for the Rest, and obtains for himself a Covenant of Peace, the Covenant of an Everlasting Priesthood: Herein you will see the Cause of the Massacre of Schechem and his People, who were for Dinab's Rape cut off Root and Branch in one day: Herein you will have a view of the Untimely ends of Hophni and Phineas, of Amnon and Absalon, of Incontinent Jezebel, and and many others who by their Whoredoms, Adulteries, and Incestuous Embraces provoked the Merciful God to plague them with sundry Diseases, and divers kind of Deaths.  
7ly, When you have done your utmost to resist, and find notwithstanding the Carnal part to be predominant, Mortify, as St. Paul advises, your Members which are upon the Earth: Keep under your unruly Body, and bring it into Subjection that you do not become Castaways. As Drunkenness and Gluttony increase, so do Temperance and Sobriety take away, the Oil from the Flames: To feed low, and abstain from rich and delicious fare, to Eat and Drink only to satisfy Nature, without endeavouring to humour your Palates, or satiate your Appetite, will by degrees moderate your Lusts. Fasting for whole Days, and then to return to a full Table and Excess, is not the way to cast out this Devil; for it is (as a Worthy 
* Bishop Taylor.  Prelate of our Church observes) a Flatulent airy Spirit which an Empty Windy Stomach gives Life and Motion to. It must be a constant Abstinence in the moderate use of coarse and homely Fare, such as will not be prejudicial to your Health, that will be of greatest Force to subdue your Corrupt Natures, and to beat down those Insurrections which ever and anon arise, and raise a Civil War between your outward and your inward Man.  
8ly, To that of Fasting, and all the other forementioned Helps, add that of Frequent Prayer: All the rest without this are but as dead Letters: Herein the Soul owns its weakness, and acknowledgeth that 'tis not in Man to direct his ways; sensible whereof it sends up this winged Messenger of Prayer to crave for Assistance from above, and never leaves entreating till some such Answer as this be given, My Grace is sufficient for thee. Be you instant therefore in imploring for the Spirit of Purity, for  Thoughts, and Temperate Reins: Make such as these your daily and hourly requests, Create in us a Clean Heart, O Lord! and renew a right Spirit within us; wash us throughly from our Wickedness, and cleanse us from our Sin; Purge us with Hyssop and we shall be clean, wash us and we shall be whiter than Snow; Purify our Hearts, and search throughly if there be any Wickedness in us. And since your Prayers have no express promises of a success, unless your own Endeavours back them, take up Holy Job's Resolution of making a Covenant with your Eyes, that you will not look upon a Maid: And with David keep your Mouth as with a Bridle, that you offend not with your Tongue: Let your Hearts be filled with  desires, and your Minds employed in Contemplating on the Goodness and the Mercy of the Lord which should lead you to repentance: Let your hands be pure, and so lift them up to the Throne of Grace; and turn your Feet into the ways of Righteousness. 
Eph. 6.13, 14, 15, 16.17.  Thus being Armed with the whole Armour of God, your Loins girded about with the Truth, and having the Breastplate of Righteousness; being shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace, and taking above all things the Shield of Faith (whereby you will be able to withstand the fiery Darts of the Devil) and the Helmet of Salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit; you will be the better able to grapple against your Lusts, and be guarded against a Relapse, which oft proves more dangerous and desperate than the disease.  
9thly, The Last Antidote commonly prescribed against Uncleanness is Marriage. By this holy Ordinance God has taken off all reason of Complaint, and the Oppression, Tyranny, Injustice, and all other Invectives cast upon the Deity for implanting in Man such Naturals which must be satisfied, and for prohibiting the fullfilling of these by Express Laws, are quite wiped away; the Murmur and Imputations of Cruelty, Severity, and the like are here silenced: And if the Lecher after such a Liberty granted, shall continue in his Unlawful Amours; if he shall forsake his own to Climb up into an Adulterous Bed; He has no plea drawn from the strength of Inclination, the bent of his Constitution, or the like, to excuse himself withal, not can he Charge the Sin any where but upon his own Corrupted and Vitiated Will. St. Paul seems to intimate as much, and declares this Honourable Institute was appointed to avoid Fornication. Not is it enough to forbear all unlawful and forbidden Embraces, nor even to abstain from what is Physically, as well as Morally, Evil; but Even our allowed and warrantable Enjoyments must (like Physic) be taken moderately and with caution, lest our Remedy prove our Poison. He that thinks because he is in lawful Circumstances, he may give his Lusts their full Swing, deceives himself; for that in Marriage a Man may be guilty of Sensuality is past dispute. 'Tis unquestionably true, that whoever transgresseth the Principal end of Marriage, viz. of Glorifying God, and subservient thereto those of Propagating our kind, of maintaining Mutual Society; and avoiding of Unlawful Lusts, has passed the boundaries of Nature, Reason and Religion all at once.  
In the entering upon such a Sacred Rite, there are many things to be observed, and seriously considered, both by the betrothed Parties and their Friends, in order to have the Marriage successful and made in Heaven first, before the striking, of Hands, and the Plighting of Troths here on Earth: and for want of the due Consideration whereof arises so many Unhappy Matches, Family Disturbances, and Civil Broils; so frequent Separations from, and Pollutions of the Conjugal Bed, which every day happen afresh in the World. I shall but just touch upon these Necessary Precautions, and so conclude this particular of Uncleanness.  
As for you who have Adult Children of your own, or else are Guardians to such; Beware of debarring them from entering into the state of Matrimony, when either their Years, their Inclinations, their Affections, and their other Circumstances require the same: Consult your Pupils in all respects, and be not (more than prudently) urgent in dissuading them from their own, or in persuading them into an Approbation of your Choice: In disposing of them, have an Eye more upon their Temporal Happiness, and their Eternal Good, than upon the Flattering Prospect of their being Noble, Rich, or Great: Covet not to Marry your Sons or Daughters, or any other Relations committed to your Trust, into Families of a Higher Rank than yourselves, and despise not to Match them with those of a Degree lower than you, especially where the Virtue and Generosity of the person can toss your lighter Scale of Birth and Fortune up to the Beam.  
As for the Young parties, I desire they would not take ill the following Advice, before they put on the Wedding Suit, which will not cost them so much, and perhaps do them more Service. Be sure then to avoid all Hasty, sudden, and Unpremeditated fits of Passion: Love not for Lust's sake, and Idolise none for their Beauty, Wit, Strength and Fortune, lest your Affection be no more than Skindeep; call in Wiser Heads to advise in so Weighty a Cause, and if your Modesty or any other reason will not admit you to ask your Friend's advice therein, yet be pleased to think God worthy to be of your Council: In a word let no Object Charm you but what has the Lineaments of Virtue, and the Endowments of a Noble Mind, which with, or without the outward Qualifications, are of force only to Captivate our Souls. Hence it is that we perceive the Love, grounded upon these External Objects only, to be short-lived and Transient, soon Hot, and soon Cold; lasting no longer than the Object appears to be Beautiful, Strong, Witty and Wealthy, and growing Nauseous when Impotency, Withered Age, or Poverty over-takes them, and often before: whilst the more substantial Love, founded upon and raised by the inward Ornament of the Mind, gives Life to the Love of outward, and maintains its own Flame within, when all the Fuel administered from without is taken away. This Noble Intellectual Love Unites and Consolidates the Parties tho' in Rags and Poverty, tho' in Gray-Hairs and Wrinkles, and breaths after a Union beyond this and the Grave. This is that Love, we should be all inflamed with, and desire to Contract with each other, not because we have Painted Faces, and a handsomer piece of Clay for our Share than others are Moulded into, or because we have more of Giddy Fortune's Favours; but because of those inward Ornaments of Piety and Devotion, of Sobriety and Temperance, of Modesty and Humility, of Chastity and Charity, of Meekness and Affability, which set off the subject in which they are inherent with such invincible and irresistible Charms, as no being above a Brute can forbear to be enamoured with.    

Of the Profanation of the Lord's Day. CHAP. IU.  
The Reasons of keeping Holy the first Day of the Week instead of the Seventh. The Lord's Day, How and by whom profaned, viz. I. By neglecting the Public Ordinances of the Church. II. The Private Duties of the Family. III. By Exercising our ordinary Callings thereon, whether by ourselves, our Servants, or our Beasts. iv By publicly Exposing to Sale. An Objection answered, and what Works are Lawful to be done. V By works of the Flesh, such as (1.) Tippling, (2.) Feasting, (3.) Gaming, (4.) Dancing and Singing, (5.) Country Revellings and Riots. And earnest Expostulation and Exhortation for Celebrating the Lord's Day: Rules for it, viz. 1. Preparation on the Eve. 2. Frequenting the Public Ordinances of the Church. 3. Family Duties. Motives thereto drawn from the benefits of observing it; and the Mischiefs of Profaning it both to Private Persons, and to the Public.  
THat to serve the Invisible God (by whom we Live, Move, and have our Being) in the whole course of our Lives is a main End for which we were Created: That every Day and Hour should be Holy unto the Lord; that we should have the Fear of Him always before our Eyes: That every Moment of our time is truly His, is indisputable. But forasmuch as we are but Men, in a little lower degree than those Blessed Spirits whose task and Happiness it is to be employed continually in Contemplating, Adoring and Praising their great Creator; and whereas since the Fall we are placed in such circumstances as require the sweat of our Brows, and the Expense of a great part of our time in the procuring the Necessaries of this Life; we cannot so readily bestow all our hours on Religious Exercises. Nor doth God require we should, but dispenses with the greatest part of our Lives, and only appoints a seventh part of the whole for the more Solemn and Immediate Acts of Divine Worship; and is pleased so to Order it that every Action in our Ordinary Callings may be such as may Glorify our Father which is in Heaven: Our Fields and Gardens, Our Shops and Studies, Our Dining-Rooms and Closets may be all Sanctified by a Religious and Holy Life: Sobriety and Modesty, Temperance, and Moderation may make our very Diversions and Recreations Holy. But then we are not to stick here, our walking with God in the Private Duties of our several stations, Exempts us not from the Public Adoration of Him in the Congregation of the Faithful. For as the Lord of Hosts has been nearly concerned in appointing the Persons by Whom, the Manner How, and the Place Where, so has he shown no less Regard in assigning the Time When, he will be more peculiarly Worshipped. This He did at the very first Creation, sanctify the Seventh Day resting thereon from all His Works which he had made; and to the Jews he appointed a Seventh Day to be kept Holy. So great a Veneration was 〈◊〉 b● the Mosaic Law bestowed on that Mystical 〈◊〉, that every Seventh Year was appointed for a Sabbath of rest; and every Seventh of these Sababaths of Rest was a Jubilee unto the People oh Israel.  
2. 
The Reasons for keeping the First Day of the Week Holy, instead of the Seventh, considered.  I shall not here run into needless Disputes about the Changing of the Sabbath from the Seventh to the First day of the Week, Reasons for it in a Christian Nation are superfluous; and it is to be observed none cavil so much about it as those, that would be glad, if there were no time at all allotted for those Sacred Solemnities. 'Tis true, there was some Scuffle in the Primitive Times in the Eastern and Western Churches about this Matter, One keeping the Jewish on the Seventh Day of the Week, the Others observing the Christian Sabbath on the Lord's Day, the first of the Week: but the general Assent that was given by all the Church soon after, shown the Celebration of the Lord's Day to be of Apostolical Institution, and not ordained by Human Tradition. For a scrupulous Conscience (if any such there be in this Profane Age) it may be sufficient to consider, that the very Jews did not observe the precise Numerical Seventh Day from the Creation, but a Seventh, counting from the Day of their Deliverance from the Land of Egypt: Nor could they be so strict in Sanctifying precisely their own Seventh Day, since after the Commandment was written, the Sun stood still for the space of a whole Day on Gibeon, and went back 10 Degrees in the time of Hezekiah: But besides the uncertainty the Jews were in themselves, of keeping their Sabbath on a precise Day, there is another Consideration which renders it impossible for all Nations to keep the same Sabbath all the World over at one instant of Time, and that is the Diversity of Meridian's, and the inequality of the Rising and Setting of the Sun, which causeth the Days in one place to vary from what they are in another, in some 6, in others 12 Hours difference. The reasonableness of Translating the Sabbath from one Day to another will appear more, if we consider the many Memorable Passages of the Old Testament which shadow out this Change unto us, as well as those Remarkable Instances of the New, which all happened on this first day of the Week. On this Day God began the work of Creation, to build the curious Fabric of the World, and to Form all Being's out of that Chaos in which they were at first involved; and it is very probable he designed as much Honour should be paid to the Memory of this great Day, as of That in which he had finished all: On this Day (as a Hebrew Author Observes) the Cloud of God's Glorious Majesty sat first upon his People, than did Aaron and his Children first enter upon and Execute their Priesthood; and thereon did God first solemnly Bless his People Israel. This is the Day (as David Prophesying of the Resurrection of Christ testifies) which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad therein. And how great, wondrous and astonishing things were done on this Day under the Gospel dispensation? It was on This day that Christ finished the Glorious Work of our Redemption, and risen again from the Dead for our Justification. On this first Day of the Week did He appear after his Resurrection to his Disciples several times; On this Day fell the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles as they were assembled together; and at the same time upon St. Peter's Sermon were there added no less than three thousand Souls to the Church; On this Day was it that the Disciples afterwards met frequently together to break Bread, and to lay up their Charitable Contributions for the use of the Poor.  
3. 
The Lord's day How and by whom Profaned.  These things being premised, I proceed to consider how Shamefully and Odiously the Solemnities of this Day are slighted, derided, and Profaned by this our Corrupt and Dissolute Age. And herein I could wish the Openly Debauched and Licentious person were the only Delinquent. But alas! if we deal Impartially, we shall find many of those, who seem to look Wisely, and would be angry if you called them by any other Name than that of Christian, to be deficient enough in this respect. They tell you Judaisme only required so strict an Observation of the Sabbath; that Christ the Lord of the Sabbath has remitted that rigour with which the Mosaic Law obliged its followers; That it is Puritanical, Enthusiastic Zeal which spurs on some to be so Religiously given on this Day. This is no invented Account grounded upon a mere Hypothesis, but what is to be seen by every Days Experience: And if none else can bear me Witness of the truth hereof, yet I might appeal to some Judicious men's Opinions, who have declared the Suppressing of the Profanation of the Lordsday to be trifling, Nugatory, and little less than a Grievance to the Subject. So little is the Concern which Men now a-days have for God and Religion; and such slighting thoughts do they bear to the Divinity of the Lord's Day. I know not what Church allows so much Licentiousness thereon, sure I am the Church of England is far from it in her Doctrines and Discipline, let her pretended Followers use their Christian Liberty for a Cloak of Wickedness as long as they please.  
4. Who can forbear lamenting the sad Degeneracy and Apostasy of the Age, wherein to reform from Superstition is to run upon the other Extreme and be Profane, wherein the Cure of Pharisaical Hypocrisy consists in being openly lose and Debauched, wherein to plead for the Keeping holy the Lordsday is Malepertness in the Minister; Cant, Impertinency and Presbyterianism in a Private Person? But notwithstanding all this I shall pursue my design in tracing the Profane and Irreligious in all His By-Paths and transgressions, to lay open the several Ways by which he Violates this Holy Institution, and drive him or shame him if possible into the Power, as well as the Form of Godliness.  
5. One would think in Complaisance to the fashion, and in Conformity to the Custom of the Country wherein they Live, 
The Lordsday is profaned. First by neglecting to c●me to the public Ordinances of the Church.  there should be none but what went to one Assembly or another, but we have too many who neither go to Church, nor to any other place of Divine Worship tolerated by Law on that Day. Can't God, (say they) be served as well at Home, as in the Public Congregation? Will not our Reading a good Book profit as well in our own Houses, as the Hearing of a Sermon in the more frequented Oratories? Will the Churches contain the confluence of Auditors? Will our Absence or Presence lessen or augment the number of the Faithful? Had not we better tarry away than go with unprepared Hearts, to fleep or stare away the time? Such as these are the Evasions made now a-days by many: but, (Poor Creatures!) little do they consider who it is that suggests those Idle Reasonings into them, else they would see clearly that 'tis God's Command that we, by keeping Holy this His blessed Day, might meditate on his Glorious Works of our Creation and Redemption, and learn how to know and to keep all the rest of his Holy Laws and Commandments. This is the Market-Day of our Souls, and where should we go to buy the Food of Angels and the Waters of Life, the Wine of the Sacrament, and the Milk of the Word of God to feed our drooping Souls, but at those Ordinances where they are to be had without Money, and without Price? Where should we receive the precious Eyesalve to Unscale our benighted Eyes, and heal our Spiritual Blindness, but from those Spiritual Physicians? How can our wounded Consciences, and troubled Spirits, and broken Hearts be cured of their Maladies, unless we come there where the Balm of Gilead drops from the Lips of the Preacher? Besides in this public Ordinance of the Church we own God to be not only the Lord and Maker of every Individual person, but to be the Head of the Mystical Body, to be the Sovereign over the Universal World.  
6. There are others who are constant in the Public Congregation, 
Secondly, By neglecting the Private Duties of the Family.  make as it were a Conscience of going Morning and Evening to Church; but then this is all they think is required at their Hands. If you should tell them of Repetition, Meditation, Family-Duties, Catechising, Exhorting, etc. They must beg your Pardon there. They do not design to make the Lord's Day a Burden to them. They will not turn their Houses into Conventicles, They will not be Righteous over much, they must be excused from being singular: And they will not differ from their Neighbours. This and the like Language you shall be sure to find from most. For (God knows) to the shame of Christianity, Men are so stupid and cold; so Lukewarm and indifferent in their Great Concern, that it is well if a Prayer be said in a Private Family Once a Week: And what is more to be lamented, That is wanting also in most Houses. And when the Master of the House is so remiss, no wonder if the Servants and Children trifle away the Remainder of the Day; and after His Example, grow as unconcerned in their Private and Closet Duties, as he was in the more public Ones of His Family. Nay more; it is to be feared he himself is as seldom in Secret, as he cares to be Openly Good and Pious. I would not be thought Uncharitable, and therefore leave the Judging of their retired Thoughts to Him whose only Jurisdiction it is to know and discern the Secrets of all Hearts; and pass on to the Consideration of the next way, by which men may be said to profane this Holy Day, viz.  
7. By following the Works of their Ordinary callings either by themselves, their Servants, 
Thirdly, The Lordsday profaned by following our Ordinary Callings by Ourselves, Servants, or Beasts.  or their Beasts. If the neglect of Sanctifying the Lordsday by our Public and Private Duties be a Profanation thereof, How much more than is it profane to violate it by any servile Labour or forbidden vocation? It is the Express Letter of the Command, that on this Day we should do no manner of Work, neither we, nor our Sons, nor our Daughters, nor our Men-Servants, nor our Maid-Servants, nor our , nor the Stranger that is within our Gates. How then shall they Answer the Outfacing of so strict a Command, who shall presume contrary to both God's and Humane Laws to follow their Ordinary Employment thereon, whether by Themselves, their Servants, or their Beasts? And with these I must beg leave to Expostulate a while. Are not six Days enough to bestow on this World, and the Concerns thereof? Cannot you spare one day in Seven to cease from your Labours? Will you be so cruel as to give yourselves no respite from the fatigues of Toil and Business? Shall the Ten Commandments, and the Constitutions of a Christian Government be kinder to your Nature, and more Compassionate thereto than you yourselves? And is it not enough to afflict your own Bodies and rob your own Souls of that Spiritual Nourishment, but you must lay burdens upon your Servants, and deprive them of that Advantage which they might reap by the Religious Observation of this Day. 'Tis sad to reflect upon the many Unfortunate Servants who are Articled under such Pagan-Christian Masters, and I cannot forbear bestowing a Sigh and a Tear or two at their unalterable Calamity. For this our Metropolitan City, without looking further, can furnish us with many Hundreds (I wish I could not say Thousands) of those Unsanctified Wretches, who having not the fear of God before their Own Eyes, care not how little those that do belong to them are instructed in the Points of Religion. And as they are for cutting off all other Opportunities of their growing in Grace, so are they careful to debar them of This season of improving themselves therein by Sanctifying the Lords Day. Thus is the Miserable Youngman, by a Seven Years irreligious Course of Life, become at last as Stupid and Profane a Person as his Master before him: And when out of his Time it is seldom that ever he recollects himself, but deals as hardly with his own Apprentice. And can we expect the Profane Wretch would be more merciful to his Beasts? No certainly, He would use them as hardly as his Servants, were not the Laws of our Land strict in the restraining of such unaccountable Cruelties. And truly it is as much as the Magistrate can do, to keep the Traveller from his unnecessary Journeys, and to debar the Hackney-Coaches from plying in our very Streets on the Lordsday.  
8. And Here I cannot but wish the Gentry would forbear their visiting the Churches in State, and contrive a better way of going thither then in their Ceremonial Chariots. 'Tis true, their Beasts may not be put to hard Service, but then their Coachmen, who have Souls as precious in the Eyes of the Lord as any others, lose the Privilege of the Public Ordinances by being forced to attend and look to their Coach and Horses at the Church doors. I speak not this to affront any, but only to put them in mind of contriving ways (if they must be Coached to Church) so to dispose of their Coach and Horses, that their Servants as well as Themselves may have the Benefit of serving their Common and Great Master  
9 But to return, there is (besides this of Labour) another way by which the Lordsday is profaned, 
Fourthly, The Lordsday profaned by publicly Exposing to sale.  and that is by publicly Exposing Goods to sale thereon. This is that which Righteous Nehemiah could not endure, when he contended with the Rulers of Israel, and would not suffer the Carriers nor the Merchants of the Land to bring up their Wares to Jerusalem on the Sabbath-Day, Neh. 13. And how small a Matter soever it may seem to some in our times, yet by Him it was reckoned the cause for which God plagued Israel, and suffered them to be led Captive intO a strange Land. And without doubt our Legislators of the Last Age, and the Beginning 
* Statute 29. Car. 2.  of this, were of Opinion that the suffering the least Ware to be sold off on the Lordsday would prove an Introduction to a greater Profaneness: which made them prohibit the Exposing of any Commodity to sale thereon, upon the Forfeiture of all so Exposed (be it of never so great a value) which was to be sold, and the Money converted to the use of the Poor. And truly they who now take it ill, should they for the selling of a Trifle be forced to pay the Penalty which the Statutes of our Land require, will hereafter think that Punishment easy and Light to what they shall then feel from the great Lawgiver, when they shall give up their Last accounts.  
10. And here some one may say; 
An Objection Answered, and what Works may Lawfully be done on the Lordsday.  Sure this must be some Puritan; How strict he is? What will be allow nothing to be done this Day? Must we do no manner of Work thereon? Does God require we should be tied up from all Motion and Action, but that of the Soul and Spirit? Is it not better to Work than Sin on this Day? To which I reply, Ex Confesso it must be granted that there are three sorts of Works which the strictest Christian may on this Day perform, viz. Works of absolute Necessity, not feigned or which might have been done the Day before, or may be done the Day after: Works of Charity; and lastly, Works of Piety. Beyond these, none may lawfully use his Christian Liberty; Nor did our Saviour relax any thing of the strictness save in these respects. As to that, whether it is not better to Work than to Sin on this Day; True it is, Saint 
* In tit. Ps. 91.  Austin's Opinion is so, affirming that it is better to Plough than to Dance on the Lordsday. But than it is not thence to be concluded, that the Greater destroys the Less, or that the Gild of Profaning this Holy and Blessed Day by our Ordinary calling is less in its own Nature, because it can be Violated by a more Horrid and aggravated Sin.  
11. But to proceed, if the doing that upon this Day, 
Fifthly, The Lordsday profaned by the Works of the Flesh, such as are, first, Tippling thereon.  which at another time is both Lawful and Necessary to be done, be so great an Offence (as certainly it is;) How extremely must the Crime be aggravated when we do that thereon, which is Unlawful, or at least Unnecessary to be done at any other Time? Such as the Works of the Flesh, to wit; Carousing, Feasting, Dancing, Singing, Gaming, Rioting, and the like. Tho' the Naming of these is abominable to any serious Man, yet the Practice of them is so Universal and Common, that there is a Necessity, as it were, of insisting some time upon each of them.  
12. 'Tis strange methinks that Men should be so absurd as to imagine the small service they pay to God by an Hour or two upon a Sunday, should tolerate them in serving of Sin and Satan all the Day and all the Week after. Yet it is too true to need any Demonstration, that most, especially of the Inferior Rank of Men, are no sooner out of a Church, but straight you find them in an Alehouse or a Tavern; where they do not, as they pretend, go only to satisfy their Natures, but to spend, on that their Idle Day, all the Profit and Gain of the foregoing Week. An Intolerable thing this! And a Profanation not to be endured in any Civil much less in a Christian Society, notwithstanding the Cry of all the Ale-House-keepers and Vintners to the Contrary: Who will give out (where their Complaints can be admitted the Hearing) that the Suppressing of Tippling on the Lordsday would tend Immediately to their Ruin and Destruction. But better it is they should Murmur, than that the whole Land Mourn; better they should lose the taking of Pounds, than so many Wives and Children should be undone and Perish by reason of the extravagancy of the Man. Will those Innkeepers and Vintners supply the wants of the Indigent Wife and Children, when they are by their means reduced to beggary? Will the Host or Hostess exchange their draughts of cold Water for a Cup of small Beer? No, it is certain the Man himself shall not be welcome without Money in his Pocket, tho' he has spent his All to Enrich them, and Mortgaged his Estate to the Tap and Tankard.  
13. Another sort of Profanation of this Holy Ordinance is by Luxurious Feast, 
A second Work of the F●esh, is Feasting on the Lord's Day.  and Voluptuous Entertainments, too common on this Day. It is true this Day is a Festival, but such a One as aught not to be Dedicated to any but to the Memory of a Crucified Redeemer. A Festival indeed it is, in which the Soul (not the Body) should be Glutted with good things: in which we should strive not for the Meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth to Everlasting Life; in which we should thirst after the Living Water, and Hunger after the Bread of Life which is able to make us Live for ever. The sincere Milk of the Word, the Flesh, and Blood of a Dying Saviour are indeed Dainties and Repasts, which every faithful Soul is satisfied with, and Breatheth after. But Gluttony and Gormandizing, Pampering and High-feeding, are but pitiful subsequents of a Morning Sermon, and worse Preparatives for an Afternoons Lecture. Were Hospitality and feeding the Poor at the Bottom of those Feasts, there might be something said in Excuse thereof. But forasmuch as the Cost and Luxury of the Treats is but barely to keep up Mutual Correspondence, and to return former Entertainments, they might be very well let alone till some more seasonable Time. All that I can conceive may be alleged in favour hereof is, that the Sanctity of the Day may have some Influence upon the Guests to keep them within the Bounds of Sobriety and Temperance. But alas! there is no such Notice taken, nor has it any Influence to withhold the Epicure from his Excess, as is evident enough to any who have been at those Luxurious Tables. And what is the mind, after such Repletions, good for? Can the full fraught Stomach forbear sending up its fumes into the Drowsy Head, which cannot hold from sleeping one single Hour? No certainly we find the Unhappy Creature, tho' he has so much grace left to come to Church after his Epicurean Dinner, yet overtaken with sleep before Prayers be half said, and in his Slumbers before the Minister has named his Text twice over. And can we think God is well pleased with such a Man's Sacrifice? Can the most Charitable Christian now living allow such a stupid Soul to have Sanctified the Lordsday aright?  
14. But to prevent this, Others are so cautious as not to go to Church at all; 
A Third work of the flesh is Gaming on this Day.  and the Cloth removed, they betake themselves (to what they then are most fit for) to Softness and Effeminacy, to Gaming and Dancing, to Singing and telling of Idle Stories. 'Tis very well known how many (I wish I could not say of the Higher Rank of) Men spend the Close, if not the greatest part of the Lordsday: Not in Reading and Meditating, not in Instructing and Praying with their Families, but at Chess or Tables, at Cards or Dice. I would very willingly know whether their Time is so much Employed on other Days, that they are so forward to set this Day apart too for their Sports and Pastimes. Shall the Devil not only Engross the Weekdays, but have the Sunday spent in his Service too? Strange and Horrible this! That Men should be so Insatuated and Enslaved; so Bewitched and Inveigled to their Idle Pleasures, as to bestow all their time both secular and sacred upon them.  
15. But this is not all, to fill up the measure of Iniquity they must have their Antics and their Merry strains on this Holy Day. 
A fourth Work of the Flesh is Dancing and Profane Singing on this Day.  They cannot go to Bed without a Song or a Dance to refresh their drooping Spirits. Poor Hearts! They have been fatigued with the long and tedious Duties of the Day, have with patience undergone the Burden thereof; and attended (till they were weary) to Mr. Parson's Discourse of an Hour long: And must they be debarred from a harmless Diversion, which hurts no body, and is an Offence to none but meddling Fools, and unaccountably-scrupulous Puritans? Perhaps this might be tolerable, were it not attended (as is most commonly) with Masquerading and Balls of half a Night's Continuance. But shall such Farce and Sonnetting go down? Shall such Fooleries and Apishness make up the Conclusion of the Sunday? Shall Singing of Divine Anthems, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, so much recommended by St. James, and so much in use among the truly merry-hearted Primitive Christians be abused, ridiculed, and laid aside by most? And shall the Melodious Harmony of the Saints, and the Consort we may hold with the Heavenly Host be Converted into Obscene Modern Songs, which would not take at any other time, were it not for the Pandarism of a Musical Composure?  
16. But as yet we have seen but the best part, the foulest is still behind, what I have said of the two last ways by which the Lordsday is profaned, to wit, 
The last way whereby the Lordsday is profaned, viz. By Country Revellings and Riots.  by Singing and Dancing, is what the Civilised Citizens and more Gentile Courtiers are guilty of: But if you step into the Country, you will see frantics as well as Antics on this Sacred Day. No sooner is the Evening-service over, but you would think Hell itself were broke lose, and that every Parish and Village were a Universal Bedlam. They are Sober indeed who keep House, and pass away the time in some idle Romantic Discourse, and are not seen with the more Licentious Multitude. But good God What Routs and Disorders, what Cudgel-playing, and Wrest-ling, what Races and Football Matches are set on foot in their open Fields on this Great Solemnity? Dance and Revellings, May-games and Wakes are so Customary that if you offer to suppress them, you encroach upon the Privilege to the Subject. Nor is this their Practice only on a Licentious Carnival, or a Jovial Whitsuntide, but on every Sunday in the Year. Not is it the Custom of any peculiar Place, but almost of every Village, Division, Hundred and County in the whole Kingdom. This Pest reigns in every Air, this Plague is Predominant in every Clime, and this Profane Infection has taken hold of every Quarter and Corner of the Nation.  
17. But Brutes that you are! How unreasonably do you style yourselves Christians, 
An earnest Expostulation and Exhortation for the duly Celebrating the Lord's Day.  when as you do that on the Lordsday which a Modest Heathen would blush to do at any time? Are there any Pagans in Nature worse than yourselves in Practice? What is it you think of? Are your Sports and Pastimes, your Routs and Revellings all the Evening Sacrifice God is like to have at your Hands? Will those be an Incense of a sweet savour unto his Nostrils? Is God the Master of your time, and are you accountable to him for All, and must the more precious Minutes thereof be Squandered away at this Rate? Can you find no leisure Hours from your Business to recreate your Bodies, but the day which the Lord has set apart for himself? Must that be your Vacation, your Playday? Ungrateful Wretches that you are! Had God desired some Great thing at your Hands, could you have denied him, since your Breath, your Lives, your All, are of and from him? And can you, when he only bids you remember the Seventh Day to keep it Holy, find tricks and ways how to rob him of his right in that too? Monsters of Ingratitude! Where is your Love, where is your Du●y, where is your Thankfulness, and where is your Obedience to that Being by whose Permission alone it is that you breathe out of Hell one Moment? What hinders but you may be Zealous in Observing this Sacred Day? Are you afraid the Church will disown you for being righteous overmuch? Are there any stronger Encouragements to be Zealous unto good Works, than what are to be found within her Bosom? Is it a disgrace for a Church of England-Man to be strict in obeying God's Commands? Is the Name of Precisian, Singular, or Puritan so powerful to frighten you from walking according to the Precepts of our Blessed Saviour? Are you afraid or ashamed to be His followers? Why than do you affix His Name before yours? And take it as an affront if you are called by any other Name than that of Christian? Be persuaded than to be Christians indeed, to bear a Reverential Zeal and Fear to all that belongs to God, to his Attributes, to his Name, to his Word, to his Works, and to his Day. For the Celebration of the Last of which, take these following Rules.  
18. 
Some Rules laid down for the right Observation of the Sabbath. First, Preparation on the Eve.  Prepare thy Heart for this Great Solemnity. If there was so much Devotion and Decorum, so much Preparation and Cleansing requisite for the Receiving the Law, the Approaching the Ark, and the Entering into the Tabernacle, and they were punished with Death who were rash and Unprepared in their Approaches; How much more should we provide ourselves for the partaking of the Holy Mysteries under the Gospel Dispensation? And how dangerously Guilty are those who heedlessly and rashly run into those Holy Ordinances? Keep thy foot when thou goest into the House of the Lord, is Solomon's advice; and it was not the not Washing of the Hands, but the unclean, unpurified Heart that our Saviour condemned in the Pharisees. He that so uses the world as tho' he used it not, and has God always before his Eyes, is a continual Sacrifice, and needs not much blowing to raise up his Soul into a Flame. But the Carking Worlding, who all the Week is fastened to this Earth, should take some time to disentangle his thoughts, and make them ready for Spiritual Objects. He would do well to leave off his Business as early as conveniently he can on the Eve of every Lordsday: to call himself to account, and see how cases stand betwixt God and his own Soul. He would do well to retire into his Chamber, to commune with his own Heart, to search it throughly, and to examine whether he be sensible of that Majesty before whom he must on the Morrow appear. 'Tis for want of this Premeditation that the Heart relishes Spirituals so ill on the Day they are offered to it; that it is so soon cloyed and glutted with sacred things, which had the Mind been prepared would have lain well upon, and been easily digested by the Soul.  
19 Having thus provided for the Approaching Solemnity, and made His Addresses in His Closet to the God who hears in Secret, 
Secondly, Frequenting the Public Ordinances of the Church.  He will find it no such Difficult matter to be present at, and demean himself decently and devoutly in the Public Ordinances of the Church; and to stay them out were they something longer than they are. And here the Devout Soul needs not to be admonished, tho' the Lazy, unprepared and unsanctified Hearts should be put in Mind, to consider in whose presence it is that they then appear: that they may be struck with an awful Reverence, and an humble Fear of that Majesty with whom they then and there more immediately converse. It is the Assembly of the Saints, the Congregation of the Faithful, the Confluence of God's Elect, a Chosen Generation, a Royal Priesthood, a Peculiar People, a Holy Nation, that they then and there represent, to show forth the Praises of him who hath called them out of Darkness into his marvellous Light. 1 Pet. 2.9. Oh how should such thoughts inflame them to lift up pure Hands, to cast up pure Eyes, to dart up pure Affections, to lift up a clean Heart, and to pour out Holy Prayers before the Throne of Grace! How should such thoughts make them join with the Minister in that admirable Form of Morning and Evening Prayer the Church in her Liturgy has prepared to their Hands; the Excellency of which appears to none more than to the truly Pious, Fixed, Warm, and attentive Soul! How should they be inflamed with Love, and not only offer up their Prayers, but their Praises also to that Being who gives them the Cause, the Power, and the Faculty to Praise! How should they run out to meet God in his Ordinances; to Harken to his Messengers shod with the Preparation of the Gospel of Peace! How would they be Enamoured with the Mercies, supported by the Promises, and forewarned by the Judgements and Threaten of the most High! How will their Instructed Minds, and Informed Wills breath after a Spiritual Participation of the Bread of Life, and the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant! And in this Mysterious Solemnity a Devout Communicant would not come to offer but to receive his Crucified Master, he would sacrifice his Sins, and offer up himself a Living sacrifice Holy, and Acceptable unto God, which is his reasonable service. He would offer up his Understanding, his Will, his Affections, his Passions, his All to be directed, governed and guided by the Royal Will and Pleasure of Heaven.  
20. Were every Christian that goes to Church thus affected (as in some degree all must be that will sanctify the Lordsday aright) He would not find it so difficult to consecrate the Remainder thereof at Home, 
Thirdly, By Family Duties.  and in his Closet. He would not then think it Puritanical or a business Indifferent, but absolutely necessary and indispensable to take care that He and his House serve the Lord, not only in the public Solemnities of the Church, but in the more retired Duties of the Family. He would not then be ashamed, nor esteem it tedious and irksome, to spend the Close in Reading, Exhorting, Meditating, and Contemplating, in Praying to and Praising of the Holy, Blessed and Glorious Trinity: But would think it his Happiness, his Joy, and his Delight. For this inward, Spiritual and Celestial Pleasure I appeal to those who have tasted what a Sweet and Pleasant thing it is to be thankful, Holy and Zealously Religious on this Day.  

Motives for the keeping of the Lordsday Ho●y, ●rawn from the the Consideration of the Benefits of Observing it, and the Mischiefs of Profaning it both to private Persons and to th● Public.  21. And if the Charms of this Festivity rightly observed, be not of force enough to prevail with the Profane to come in and join with the strictly Pious, yet the Consideration of the Benefits that Redound from a Due observation of the Lordsday, ●nd the Mischiefs of Profaning it that Infest every individual Person as well as the Public will I hope persuade him to think it his Interest as well as Duty to be strict and exact in remembering a Seventh Day to keep it Holy.  
22. The first Benefit that naturally flows from the due Observance of the Lordsday is the upholding a sense of Religion in the Person that thus Observes it. 
The first Benefit of sanctifying the Lordsday is the upholding a sense of Religion in us.  It is on this Day that we are taught our particular Duties of Living Soberly, Righteously and Godly in this present World. It is then Grace is administered to the Hearers; Grace to assist them in performing what is commanded, and Grace to resist and avoid the Temptations of doing Evil. Then are we told of a Heaven and the joys thereof laid up in store for all such as truly Love, Fear, Obey, and Believe in God; and are acquainted with a Hell that is prepared for the Unbelievers and Profane. There we have the faculties of our Souls enlightened, our Understandings cleared, our Wills rectified, our passions subjected to our Reasons, and our Outward in all things made subservient to our Inward Man. It is then we have our Faith, Hope, and Charity, Our Love, Patience, Meekness and Humility, Our Sobriety, Temperance and Chastity, and all the other Virtues of a Christian and Holy Life revived, renewed, enlarged, regulated and appropriated to their proper Objects. Then (in a Word) we Learn to Glorify God the Father who hath Created us, to adore God the Son who hath Redeemed us, to Reverence God the Holy Ghost who hath Sanctified us, and to Bless and Magnify the Trinity in the Unity, who by such mysterious Works of Mercy has brought such mighty things to pass. And it is then we are exhorted to be Merciful as our Heavenly Father is Merciful, and to Love him because he first Loved us; to imitate the Holy Jesus, to be like him, and to be conformable to his Sufferings, to be Meek, Pure, and Humble as he was.  
23. But should we look on the other side we shall find the Dishonouring God in his Day to be the ready Road to the not honouring him in any thing else. 
The first Mischief of Profaning the Lordsday.  It being the Opinion and Observation of the Best and Wisest of Men, that were the Sanctification of the Lordsday laid aside, in less than an Age the Christian World would turn Pagans and Infidels. And I am afraid half that time would do the business effectually. For if we can dispense with so strict a Command, what other is it that we can boggle at? The violation of this Precept is manifestly the I●let to all the Immoralities Humane Nature is capable of. If we once lose our Zeal and Fervour for Religion in any one part, we quickly grow Lukewarm in the whole, and at last we become quite Cold and Dead, and irrecoverably stupid in a continual course of Profaneness and Impiety. Nemo repent fuit Turpissimus (says the 
* Juvenal.  Poet) but the Wretch never attains to the Height of Wickedness so soon, as when he makes the Profanation of the Lordsday the first step thereunto. It is by our Absence from Holy Duties in Public that we come to leave off those in Private too; that we lose our true Notions of the Godhead; that we have but Glimmering Apprehensions of the Joys and Torments of another World, being taken up only with such as are present and affect our Sense; that we think all the Virtues of an Holy Life to be but Shame and Invention; that we esteem Vices Natural, and to have nothing condemnable in them; that our Hearts become hardened, and our Consciences seared, our Reason blinded, our Understandings darkened, our Wills depraved, and our Passions Headstrong. And to conclude, it is from this that our Souls lose more and more their Original Purity, forget their own Divine Nature, and dishonour themselves by stooping with the Body to low, base, and unbecoming Enjoyments. And no wonder when the Master-Beam is removed, and the chief Pillar of the Fabric gone, but the Superstructure soon follows and falls to the Ground. Nor is it strange the Man should not be able to withstand the Torrent of Vice, when with his own hand he opens the Sluice, and lets the Impetuous stream break in upon him.  
24. The next Benefit of Sanctifying the Lordsday is that it weans us from the eager pursuit of Worldly Things; 
A second Benefit is the weaning us from this World.  This solemn Sequestration of our thoughts from Earthly, carries them out to Heavenly subjects: and by contemplating on the Joys and Glories of another World we lose our Veneration and Esteem for this; and by being raised above this World's Enjoyments we have an opportunity of seeing what a Point it is we are too apt to dote on, and what mighty Nothings they are which so often captivate our Souls and lead them on to their own Destruction. By Contemplating of the Crowns and Diadems of the Heavenly Jerusalem, we moderate our Desires as to the Conveniences as well as pleasures of this Life: By Meditating on the Eternity which is just ready to Succeed, we are informed of the Inconstancy and Swiftness of this Moment, this Span of time we New enjoy. By Contemplating the Durableness of all Celestial Fruitions we come to know that this World vanisheth away, and the Fashion thereof is every day upon its Alteration. By Considering the Immortality of our better Parts we are instructed how Frail, Mortal, and Short-lived our Earthly Tabernacles are. To conclude, by being Fixed and Spiritualised, by conceiving right Notions of God, and surveying the Charms and Endearments of those Mansions prepared for us above, we arrive to that height of Admiration, Love, and Esteem, as to account all things but Dung and Dross that we may gain Christ; to breath earnestly to be dissolved, that we may be settled there, where true Joys are to be found.  
25. But then on the other hand, we shall find those who slight God's Worship, so tied down to this World, 
A second Mischief is that it makes us do ●t upon the things of this World.  doting upon, admiring, adoring, and eagerly pursuing after the things thereof: That they cannot so much as lift up a thought towards Heaven, their Mind is so busy and fixed upon this Earth. The Plummets of Care hang so heavy upon them, that they are always grovelling here below; and though they may cast up an Eye accidentally towards a Celestial Canaan, yet their desires are still to remain on this side Jordan. Nay, such a one is so ravished with the Delights and Pleasures of this Life which affect his sense, and are present with him, that he has but faint, if any desires after those which are only Notional and affect the Intellectual Man, being the Substance of things Hoped for, and the Evidence of things not seen. Hence it is that he cries it is good for me to be here, and is so loath to leave the World when the Messenger of Death knocks at his Door. Hence is it that he makes him friends of the Mannon of unrighteousness, and thinks of nothing but of building up Barns and enlarging his Stores, till the Embassy comes to him, of Thou fool this night shall thy Soul be required of thee. Luke 12.  
26. Another Benefit arising from the Performance of this our Duty, is that it gives a Blessing to our Ordinary Callings. 
A third benefit is, that it blesses our Ordinary Labours.  We are so far from losing one day in seven, that we gain (if I may so phrase it) six days in one. The sincere Observer hereof will tell you the Truth of what I here assert by his own Experience; and can witness with Joy, that he has not only found a serenity and calmness of Mind, but a prosperous success in all his Affairs of the following Week. And who would not serve God one day for his assisting him six days in return? What Worldling, if he knew his own Interest aright, but would sanctify the Lordsday, since he may be sure he shall not serve God for Nought? That Work must certainly succeed which is begun, furthered and ended with the Blessing of God. His Hand will undoubtedly fill our Industry with Good Things, and His Bounty will not send our Holy Labours empty away. He will be ready to support us in our Toil, and bear a part with us in our Burdens, and bring all our Endeavours to Good Effect. He will be with us in our going out, and our coming in, and will take care of our down-sitting and uprising, and will surround us in all our ways. And than who can forbear crying out Happy is the man who is in such a Case, Yea blessed is he who has the Lord for his God.  
27. But as for the  and Profane it is not so with them. They may be more eager in the pursuit of the profit of this Life, 
A Third Mischief is, that it causes a C●rse on our Private Concerns.  but than if they attain it, it is a Curse to them, and in the midst of their Plenty they find no Satisfaction▪ with the Horseleech they crave more, more, more, and so on ad infinitum. They cannot Enjoy, though they may possess large Inheritances. They may plant Vineyards, but others shall eat of the Fruit thereof; they may rise up early, and sit up late and eat the Bread of Carefulness, but it is but lost labour, it is but vain, since God does not Pronouce a Blessing upon their Works And can they expect he will prosper their Labour, who will not so as much throw up, with the Congregation, a Sundays Prayer for his Blessing upon them? Are his Benefits so cheap and inconsiderable that they must be bestowed, without a seeking for, and that upon the Sinner? No certainly, the Almighty is truly Propitious only to those who Reverence and Honour him in his Name, Word and Day: and though the Wicked should increase his Estate, yet his Profaneness is that Canker in the Heart, that Worm in the Root which will quickly destroy and undermine all.  
28. Lastly, The Devout Soul, who truly celebrates this festival, entitles herself to that which surpasseth all that this World can afford. 
A fourth benefit is, that it fits us for, and Entitles us to Eternal Happiness.  She enjoys a Heaven upon Earth, and is every day made better and better and makes nearer advances to the State and Perfection of Angels, till at last being arrived to that mature degree of Holiness and Purity, she may be let lose from this Prison of Earth, and suffered to satiate herself with Celestial Joys for evermore. There her holy breathe and prayers shall be swallowed up with Praises and Eternal Hallelujahs. There shall she enjoy an Everlasting Sabbath of Rest, and Drink of the Living Waters, not as she doth here below, at the too often disturbed streams, but at the Crystal Fountainhead. There shall we see the perfect beauty of holiness, and behold God no longer darkly in a Glass, but as he is, face to face. There Contemplation, Admiration and Desire will be lost in the fruition of that Good, the Vision of that Blessedness, and the Adoration of that Perfection, which she before contemplated, admired and desired.  
29. But can the Profane Libertine expect he should be invested with that Glory for which he prepares not himself, 
The fourth mischief of the neglect is, that it consigns the profane over to eternal miseries.  nor so much as thinks of? Can he imagine Heaven will be the rewards of his Impiety? And that an Incorruptible Crown will be put upon his dishonourable Head? Whatever his thoughts are, I know not; but this am I assured of, that the Heart of such a one is a very unfit receptacle for the Holy Ghost here, and how much more unfit must he needs be to be partaker of the Fruition of the Blessed Trinity hereafter? He grovels here below, and suffers the things of this World to engross all his thoughts, and thinks of nothing beyond this and the Grave. He is fixed to this Earth, till at last he convert to Earth and Wormsmeat himself, and drop into the Infernal Lake before he be well ware whereabout he is: And how severely he there pays for his Irreligion, his Scoffing, and his Profaneness, I cannot without horror and trembling conceive.  
30. Thus far of Individuals and the Body Natural, I come now to consider the Advantages as well as Inconveniences that attend the Body Politic, 

The benefits and mischiefs which flow to the Public fr●m the Observation or Profanation of the Lordsday, are two.  
First Benefit. It conduces to the maintaining the Public Peace.   viz. these Communities wherein the Lordsday is either duly celebrated, or shamefully abused and profaned. It is to be lamented there is no Nation so strict therein as they ought, yet the Blessings even the Sinner enjoys in a Kingdom where the Worshippers of God are but the lesser party, plainly indicate that greater would be our happiness, if our strictness in this respect were but greater too. For, [First] The Solemn sanctifying of this Blessed Day, conduces much to the preserving the general peace of Societies. This may very properly be called the Ligament by which the whole frame of a civilised Constitution is bound up and kept from falling to Pieces. It is on this Day that the Madding-world, if ever has its fits of Sobriety. It is then we may be taught to be just and honest, obliging and affable, bountiful and charitable to all, as occasion shall require, knowing that we all serve one common Master, who is more than all these to us. Then we come to understand how to behave ourselves in all our Relations; to be respectful, submissive and obedient to our Superiors; to be loving, kind and courteous to our Equals; to be condescending, tenderhearted and compassionate to our Inferiors. Then the Magistrate is put in mind to be just and merciful, impartial and unprejudiced to all; to condemn and punish the bad and guilty, and to discharge the good and innocent man; and then the Subject is instructed to be observant of, dutyful and obedient to those in Authority. Thus is the Community maintained in an uninterrupted peace and quiet, and the whole knit together by indissoluble bonds of concord.  
31. But on the other side, How many are the disorders that follow the profanation of this Day? 
The first Mischief of this Neglect, is disturbing the Public Peace.  How easy do the Irreligious Crowd fall together by the Ears? and set the whole Country in Flames by their Animosities? If we can make a slight of God, and can venture to break his Statutes, no wonder if they have little esteem for the Laws of Men, but run out with a Non Obstante to all the irregularities and disorders imaginable. Insurrections and Rebellions are naturally the product of a lose licentious Kingdom. They have lost all their modesty and fear they had for God, and it is not strange they should cast off the Reins of an Earthly Government when it lies uneasy upon them. The giddy and profane Multitude turn every thing topsie turvy, and what Outrages will they not commit, what Routs and Riots will they not be guilty of, when once they lose their sense of Religion, which will soon happen when they once slight that which is the great Support and Pillar thereof? There is no need to go far for Demonstration, the quarrels and frequent disturbances which happen among the Profane Sabbath-breakers (and commonly on this very day) declare, how great the Combustion would be, were the Kingdom swallowed up in Irreligion, and become thereby its own Incendiary.  
32. To wind up all and draw to a Conclusion, the celebration of the Lordsday, 
The second Benefit and Mischief considered together.  as it entitles the particular Observers thereof to the more peculiar Eye and favour of God, so it puts the whole Community of People that call upon his Name, nuder his more immediate Care and Providence. The Ark of God where'er it came was sacred; and brought to a Religious 
* 2 Sam. vi. 11.  Obed-Edom and his godly family Blessings, Plenty and Success; and to the Sacrilegious, Idolatrous and Profane 
* 1 Sam. v.  Philistines it sent the plague of Emerods' and sores: The inquisitive prying 
† Chap. vi.  Bethshemites were smitten for looking thereinto, and the rude unsanctified 
* 2 Sam. vi.  Vzzah for his familiar touching the Seat of God's Holiness was punished with immediate death. The Parallel will hold good in the consideration of the Keeping or not Keeping Holy the Lordsday. The Lord of Hosts has in all ages of the World been jealous for his Honour, and has declared that them that Honour him he will Honour, but those that despise him shall be lightly esteemed: 
1 Sam. two. 30.  But in nothing is he abused at this time more than in his Name and Day What the result of the first is I have already showed, and what the Effect of the Last is, the Jews, to look no further, will sufficiently demonstrate. As long as they received God's Ordinances, and hallowed his Sabbaths, and obeyed the Voice of the Lord their God, and harkened to his Precepts to do them: He was their God, and they were his People, He went out with them and fought their Battles, He delivered them from the Hands of their Enemies and Oppressors, and settled them at length in a Land that flowed with Milk and Honey, and became a Wall and a Hedge of Defence on the Right Hand and on the Left, to keep them from them that lived round about them; 
* Psal. xci. 5, 6.  That they might not be afraid for the terror by Night, nor for the Arrow that fleeth by Day: Nor for the Pestilence that walketh Darkness, nor for the Destruction that wasteth at Noon Day. But no sooner did they go a Whoring after their own Inventions, serving strange Gods: No sooner did they violate the Statutes of the Lord and defile his Sanctuary, and pollute his Sabbaths, but he left them to die in the Wilderness, to be led away into Captivity, and at the last in his Wrath cut them off from being a People. 
* Cap. xx. 13.  Ezekiel testifies that because the House of Israel in the Wilderness rebelled against the Lord their God, and walked not in his Statutes, and despised his Judgements, and greatly polluted his Sabbaths, therefore he poured out his fury in the Wilderdness to consume them. And though they were settled in the Promised Land, yet because they were a backsliding People, apt to abuse their Great God in his Worship and Day, he leaves Cnnaanites in the Land to prove them as Thorns in their Flesh, and Goads in their Sides. For ever and anon upon their Revolt from the Holy One of Israel, he leaves them to be oppressed by the Kings of Mesopotamia, by the Moabites, Canaanites, Midianites, Philistines and Ammonites; to the Incursions of the Amalekites, Syrians, Egyptians and Edomites; to be carried away at last into Captivity the Ten Tribes by Shalmanaser into Assyria (where we lose the very Memory of them) and Juda by Nabuchadnezzar into Babylon. That the Profanation of the Sabbath was a Principal Cause of all this their Calamity, none will doubt that believes what Nehemiah says. 
Chap. xiii. 17, 18.  What e●il thing is this that ye do, and profane the Sabbath? Did not your Fathers thus, and did not God bring all this evil upon us and upon our City! Yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath. And it is more than probable that for this very sin, as well as for many others, God rejected the Remnant of Juda, and permitted them to be dispersed by the Romans, and suffered their Sanctum Santorum and their Holy City to be laid level to the Dust, and not one Stone left upon another.  
33. What remains then but that we take warning hence to be more Religiously Observant of this Sacred Day, that we may like the Obedient Israelites be the Darlings and Favourites of Heaven; that we may attract the Divine Overshadowing, and win God himself to be our Shield, our Buckler, our Refuge, our Defence and our Invincible Rock on every side of us? But if we should (which God forbidden) persist in our Impieties, and continue in profaning the Lordsday, can we expect to escape better than the beloved people of God did? Can we expect he will be more favourable to the Engrafted than to the Natural Branches? They were his chosen People, his pecu jar Flock, and the Lot of his Inheritance; and did he write such bitter things against them, and can we imagine He will be partial to Us? No certainly, our Crimes are Equal and so will our Punishments be too. He will add greater Plagues to what we have already felt, and make our Punishment as Universal and General as is our Gild. This Land has already met with particular Judgements, which have reigned in those Places where the Lord's Day has been most profaned: The Plague, the Fire and the Sword have already been our Portion, Divisions and Schisms, Factions and Rebellions have already been the Whips and Scorpions wherewith we have been scourged and wounded. What remains but that for our Obstinate Perseverance in this as given as in other Crying Sins our Goodly Land be given over as a Prey unto our Enemies; that our Heritage as it is defiled, become also full of Devastations; that our Candlestick should be removed that our Churches should be thrown down; and that we should be forced in a Strange Land to wander from Sea to Sea, 
Amos viij. 12.  and from the North even to the East to seek the Word of God, and shall not find it. Oh let the terror of these thoughts afrighten us to our Duty, and if we have any regard for ourselves, and are not concerned whether we are saved or damned, whether we prosper or go backward in our Affairs, whether our Minds are spiritualised or no, whether the sense of Religion be upheld or lost in us: Yet as we regard the Welfare, Peace and Tranquillity of the Society wherein we live, as we would not have that involved in a Common Heap of Ruin and Destruction, as we would not willingly be the Cause of our Posterities Misfortune, nor expose our innocent Babes to the rage of the Adversary; let us run into God's House, embrace his Mercy, embrace his Ordinances, honour his Holy Name and his Word, obey his Commands, fulfil all Righteousness, and sanctify his most Holy Day. Let us break off our Sins by Repentance, and stop those Judgements which threaten us; who knows but the Lord will have Mercy, and will repent him of the Evil that he hath designed against us? that he will dispel the Clouds, and make the Sun of Peace and Righteousness to break out upon us, making us rejoice for the time wherein we have suffered Adversity.  
To this End it would not be amiss to cry out, From Hardness of Heart, from Contempt of thy Holy Word and Commandments, from Fornication and all other Deadly Sin, from Intemperance and Profaning of thy most holy Day, from all the Judgements which we have most righteously deserved, from Lightning and Tempest, from Plague, Pestilence and Famine, from Battle and Murder, and from sudden Death, Good Lord Deliver us! And O Blessed, Adorable and Glorious Trinity, Remember not our Offences, nor the Offences of our Fathers, neither take thou Vengeance of our sins, but Spare us Good Lord! Spare thy People, whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious Blood, and be not angry with us for ever. Have mercy upon us, Have mercy upon us, Have Mercy upon us most Merciful Father! Save and Deliver us from all our Sins; Confirm and Strengthen us in all Goodness, and bring us at length to Life Eternal. Amen, Amen!    

A Modest Advice to the Ministers and Civil Magistrates.  
TO make the preceding Discourse the more Effectual, it might perhaps be expected that I should add something to the Ministers and Civil Magistrates of this Church and Kingdom; and that I should show how far both of them are obliged in their several Stations (the one by the Sword of the spirit, the other by that of Justice) to do what in them lies to suppress the Reigning Immoralities of the present Age: Of which the Vices spoken against in the foregoing Treatise are not the least in Reality, though they may be so in all outward appearance, by reason of that little notice the unthinking World takes of them.  
To the Ministers of our Church there is a very little need to say any thing For besides those Worthy and Reverend Prelates, whom (God's Providence, and the Care and Piety of our Princes has placed at the Helm) there is a Clergy under them, that for Learning, Virtue and Sincere, not merely formal Devotion, we may dare all the Churches in Christendom to show its equal. Our whole Nation, and especially the Metropolis thereof, has many of those pious Souls, whose Lives and Doctrines go hand in hand to stem that torrent of Atheism and Profaneness which has of late years been so Impetuously breaking in upon us. Their Practical Preaching, and Moral but withal most Excellent Discourse● now in Print (concerning the Reasonableness of the Christian Religion, the Loveliness of all that is Good and Virtuous, and the Deformity of all that is Bad and Vicious, with the like) is sufficient proof of their Zeal for the Honour of God and the Good of His Church: so that we should wrong them if we thought they stood in need of Instructions to Direct them, or of Motives to Incite them to do a Duty which is so Incumbent upon them, as to press home for a Reformation of this Degenerate Kingdom, when the Glory of their Great Master is so nearly Concerned therein.  
But amidst these Excellent Persons, there are (it must be Confessed) some others that give too open a Scandal to our Holy Religion by their Vile Principles and their Viler Practices. Some of these are notoriously Bad, and live in Direct Opposition to what they are bound to Preach to others: Whilst Others spend their time in dry Notions and insipid Controversies, which profit their Congregations but very little, if any thing at all.  
As for the first, if the Common Obligations they lie under as Men endued with Reasonable Souls, if the ordinary Ties of Christianity they are, bound with in their Baptism, or if the extraordinary Ones they are obliged with in their Ordination are not of force to put them upon mending these their Irregularities; yet 'tis hoped the Example of the more Strict and Conscientious will shame them to some degree of fervour, and cause them to put on the Form at least, if they will hot the Power of Godliness. But if that will do no good upon them, yet 'tis presumed the Worthy Fathers of the Church will by their Care and Inspection either remove those that are a Public Shame unto it; or else prevent the Like Mischief for the future, by admitting none into Holy Orders but such as they have sufficient Testimony of, that they will not by their unsanctified Lives give cause for the contempt of the Clergy. I say 'tis presumed the Bishops will in their several Dioceses take care of those things, which Confidence I ground upon those many excellent Charges which have of late been given in many Visitations. After all this I cannot but wonder how any one can so far offer violence to his Reason and Conscience, as to live in the Wilful Breach of any known Duty, when he has so many upbraid from all hands to check him, and stare his sins out of Countenance. What a dreadful Account they must give of their Cure, and that Charge of Souls which is committed to them Sacred Writ will sufficiently inform them; and what a weight lies upon their shoulders though at present so little regarded by them, Bishop Burnet's Pastoral Care, lately published, will put them in mind of, if they can give themselves but time to read it over, and calmly to consider thereon.  
As for those who busy themselves about unprofitable Speculations and matters merely Controvertal, 'twere to be wished they would leave off their Heats and Animosities, throw aside all Prejudice and Faction for this Sect or that Party, and give over Quarrelling and Disputing about Modes and Figures, about 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Religion, the Knowledge or Ignorance of which would neither promote nor hinder our Great Concern. 'Twere to be wished, I say, that they would lay aside all such Curious Niceties, and Disputable Points, fit for none but Schoolmen and wrangling Sophisters to employ their parts upon; and that they would reason of Righteousness, Temperance and Judgement to come, Preach up with the Primitive Christians the necessity and usefulness of a Holy Life, lashing Vice and protecting Virtue where  they find it, though their very Patrons were guilty of the one, and their greatest Enemies Masters of the other. Such profitable Rules of Morality would better become the Gravity of the Preacher, as well as suit with the Capacity and Regulate the Lives and Practices of the Audience; than an unintilligible Discourse of an Hour or two long about the Particular Tenets of Calvin, Arminius, or some other Learned Sophister of the Church, which can neither Inform our Judgement, nor Influence our Manners, but only help us to call Names, and to cast Dirt into one another's Faces. How much better would it be for all sides to forbear those Opprobrious Titles of Calvinist and Arminian, of Antinomian and Antisidian and the like, and endeavour to do that which might make us worthy of that one, Glorious Name of Christian. Can I but see that Spirit of Unity and Concord maintained in the Bond of Peace, could I but see the Primitive Golden days return once more upou the Stage, I should with a Cheerful Heart (like Old Simeon) sing my nunc Dimittis too.  
One that knows what Laws we have against Profane Swearing and Cursing, against Drunkenness and Profanation of the Lordsday, made with such Care by the Legislators of former Ages, and Commanded to be put in Execution by the Zealous Princes of This, would wonder that the Civil Magistrate should need one Word more to put him in Mind of Discharging his Duty. But notwithstanding they have Statutes made to their very hands, and have had as much Incitements from Above, as Injunctions and a Royal Command comes to, yet we find matters at the same stand they were in, when we had no such Opportunities put into our Hands. To think any Justice of Peace ignorant of his Duty, would be to charge him with want of Common Prudence, an affront I would not lay at any Man's Door: But I am more inclined to think that 'tis want of Zeal which makes so many remiss and negligent in the Discharge of that Trust, which the Higher Power has Committed to them. To such therefore as are Backward in their Offfice I shall beg leave to offer some few Considerations, which perhaps may prove Motives to stir them up to a Vigorous Execution of the Laws now in force against that horrid Profaneness and Debauchery which has overspread this unhappy Church and Nation.  
And first consider what 'tis God and Religion requires at your Hands. He that raiseth up whom he will, and casteth them down again at his pleasure, has not placed you in those Posts to make a great Figure of you, and for nothing else. He requires you should be as much concerned for the Advancing of his Glory, as you are for your own private Interests. 'Tis as much your Duty to punish an Offence against God, as to punish a Crime against the Public, and yet we see the one Connived at, whilst the other is prosecuted with the utmost Rigour. But is it not a burning shame that the daily Affronts and Blasphemies offered against Heaven should be passed by with silence, when at the same time a Lessening Expression against a Prince, a single Calumny against yourselves, or a Scurrilous Reflection cast upon a Private Person shall meet with all the Severity the Law in its Largest Extent will allow of?  
But Secondly, Consider what 'tis you own your Princes from whence you derive your Authority. The Commission they have given you extends to the offences mentioned in the foregoing Treatise, as well as to any other whatsoever. And as if that were not sufficient, how car●ful have they been by Letters and Proclamations to put you in mind of your Duty in this Particular. And can you Affront their Authority by slighting and contemning their Orders and Injunctions? Think what a base reflection you cast upon them, and how uncivil (to say no worse) you have been by your Connivance and Neglect.  
Thirdly, Consider what 'tis your Country requires of you. She expects you should not stand as Ciphers, nor bear the Sword of Justice in Vain, but that you should administer it to the punishment of Wickedness and Vice, and to the maintenance of true Religion and Virtue. Those who among the Romans Rescued the Commonwealth from Tyranny and Oppression were justly styled Fathers of their Country; our Kingdom is at present overawed with the Tyranny of Profaneness and Debauchery, and none but God knows what the fatal consequences of it may prove; Now if you would (Gentlemen) undertake an Enterprise worthy English Men and Christians, if you desire the Peace and Tranquillity of your Country, and would do something that might render your Memories famous to succeeding Generations, you can do nothing better than in your several Stations to Redeem the Nation from the Thraldom of those Pernicious Vices under which it lies, and so Divert those Judgements we have just cause to fear will fall upon us, if we continue Obstinate and Rebellious.  
But Lastly, (that it may not be too long) Consider what 'tis your Oaths taken with all the Solemnity Imaginable oblige you to. I shall not here repeat at length all that a Justice of Peace is bound to do; it may suffice to take notice that he is engaged to Convict all Offenders against the known Statutes of the Realm, of which he shall have any Cognizance: and not to refuse upon Due and Lawful Information to bring any Offender to Condign Punishment out of Fear, Partiality, Prejudice or Interest. I hope there is scarce a Gentleman in the Commission of the Peace but will lay these things to heart; and will not, when he Considers seriously what it is, that God, their Majesties, his Country, and his own Conscience exacts from him, be any more negligent in the Discharge of that Trust which is reposed in him.  
I have been warm in this point, but withal as short and as modest as possible: I hope the Gentlemen will pardon the little sallies of a well grounded and well-intended Zeal; since my Design was not to affront any, but purely to excite those who have been hitherto Remiss to be more vigorous in Executing the Laws against Profaneness and Debauchery for the future. So that not one Tittle of this Discourse is directed to such Worthy Persons who (though too few in number) are in the Commission of the Peace all over the Kingdom, and have given sufficient Testimony of their Prudence and Zeal by those excellent Orders of Sessions which here and there have been issued out in those Places, where the Good have been the Prevailing Party.  
But how can the Justices of Peace suppress those Immoralities, since let them be never so forward, 'tis impossible for them to know of every offence unless the under Officers, whose Duty it is to make enquiry after the Breach of the Laws, give in their Informations; And that though they may issue out their Warrants, yet if the Constable, or Overseer, or any other Officer be negligent in executing them, what will their Care signify? To which I answer, that 'tis too notorious how Careless and Remiss all under Officers are as well in giving in their Informations, as in executing the Warrants and Levying the Penalties accordingly; and 'tis no wonder they should be so, since they are like to get nothing by their Office, but hard Words and a few Curses, which is but a small Encouragement to those little hearted Creatures, who for the most part know not what the Pleasure or Profit of a Good Conscience resulting from an Honest discharge of Duty means. However this their Neglect excuses not the Justice, but rather reflects upon his Conduct, who will not, when 'tis in his Power, make those Instruments of Justice more Careful and Diligent in their Respective Offices. For there are Laws whereby he may correct their Negligence, as well as any other Crime whatsoever.  
That these Inferior Officers may not pretend Ignorance, I have hereunto subjoined an Abridgement of those Statutes which are now in force against the daring Wickedness of these times; which may not only be of some use to them to inform them of part of their Duty, but also may be serviceable to others who either have not money enough to buy, or not time enough to run over the Voluminous Statute Book. I have likewise added the Queen's Letter to the Justices of Middlesex, their Order thereupon, and their Majesty's Proclamation since, to show what Encouragement we have from them to set about a Speedy Reformation.  

Against Profane Swearing and Cursing. 21 Jac. 1. Cap. 20.  
FOrasmuch as all Profane Swearing and Cursing is forbidden by the Word of God, Be it Enacted, etc. That no Person shall profanely Swear or Curse, and that it any person shall be convicted of the said Offence in the hearing of any justice of the ●eace, Mayor, Bailiff or Head-Officer of any City or Town Corporate; or by the Oaths of two Witnesses, or by the Confession of the Offender before any justice of Peace, Mayor, etc. Then the Party for every such Offence of which he is Lawfully Convicted as aforesaid, shall forfeit the sum of twelve pence to the use of the Poor of the Parish, where the Offence shall be committed: which sum the Constable, Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor of that Parish shall Levy by Distress and Sale of Goods, rendering the Overplus to the Offender. And in Default of such Distress the Offender, if above the Age of twelve years, shall stand in the Stocks for every such Offence the space of three hours; if under the age of twelve years then the Party shall be whipped by the Constable, or by the Parent or Master in his Presence.  
That if any Officer be sued for Levying the Penalty, or for Whipping or setting in the Stocks, than the said Officer shall plead the General Issue, and if it is found against the Plaintiff, than the Officer as Defendant shall be allowed Costs.  
Provided, That the Offence be Complained of within twenty days after it be Committed.  
Be it further enacted, That this Statute be read twice every year in every Parish Church by the Minister after Evening Prayer. 3. Car. 1. Cap. 4. this Statute was continued. And 17. Car. 1. Cap. 4. Made perpetual.   

Against Perjury. 2 Eliz. Cap. 9  
BE it Enacted, that whosoever shall suborn or procure any Witnesses by any sinister and unlawful means to give any Evidence or to Testify In perpetuam rei memoriam, before any Court of Record, shall for the said offence upon Lawful Conviction thereof, forfeit the Sum of Forty Pounds, and in Defect of such Forfeiture, shall suffer Imprisonment for the space of six Months without Bail or Mainprize, and stand in the Pillory for the space of one whole Hour: That no such Offender be thenceforward Received as a Witness before any Court of justice, till such judgement given against him be reversed.  
That whoever shall Commit any Wilful Perjury by his Depositions in any Court of Record aforesaid, being examined Ad perpetuam Rei Memoriam, shall being Lawfully Convicted of such Offence forfeit the Sum of twenty Pounds, and suffer Imprisonment for six Months without Bail or Mainprize, and be disabled for ever after from being a Witness till the judgement against him be Reversed.  
That in defect of such Forfeiture of twenty Pounds every such Offender shall stand in the Pillory, and have both his Ears nailed.  
That the one Moiety of the Forfeiture aforesaid go to the Crown, the other Moiety to the Person or Persons that shall be wronged by such Offence, and who will sue for the same.  
That the judge of such Courts where the Offence is committed, the justices of Assize and Goal Delivery in their several Circuits, and the justices of Peace in every County shall have Authority to determine the Offences aforesaid.  
That the justices of Assize of every Circuit shall make open Proclamation of this Statute twice a year, viz. in the time of their Sittings, so that none may plead Ignorance of the same.  
Provided that this Statute extend not to any Court Ecclesiastical, nor to the Restraining the Power given by Act of Parliament made in the time of King Henry the seventh to the Lord Chancellor of England and others of the King's Council. 29 Eliz. 5. made perpetual. 1 Jac. 1. Cap. 5. Continued. And 21 Jac. 1. 28.   

Against Drunkenness and Tippling. 4 Jac. 1. Cap. 5.  
FOrasmuch as Drunkenness is the Root and Foundation of all other Enormous Sins, as Murder, Fornication, Adultery, and the like: Be it Enacted that whosoever shall be Convicted thereof by the Oath of one or more Lawful Witnesses, shall for the said Offence forfeit the sum of five shillings within one week next after the Offence to the use of the Poor of the same parish; which penalty if the Offender re●use or neglect to pay, than Distress to be made upon his Goods, and in Default of such Distress he shall stand in the Stocks the space of six hours.  
That if any Constable or other Inferior Officer of the Parish where the Offence is committed shall neglect the due correction of such Offender, than every Officer so offending shall forfeit the sum of ten shillings to the use of the Poor aforesaid, to be levied by Distress by any other person having a justices or any other Head-Officers Warrant.  
That every one who shall be convicted of Tippling in any Inn, Victualling House, or Alehouse being in the same City, Town, Village or Hamlet of which they are Inhabitants, saving in the cases provided and limited by one Act of Parliament made in the first Session of this present Parliament, shall for every such Offence forfeit the sum of three shillings and four pence to the use of the Poor of that parish where the Offence shall be committed, and in Default of such Forfeiture the Offender shall stand in the Stocks the spacr of four hours.  
That all such Offences be diligently enquired into and presented before the justices in their several Circuits, the justices of Peace in their Quarter, or Petty-Sessions, the Mayors, Bailiffs, and other Head-Officers, by all Constables, Church Wardens, Headborroughs, Tithingmen, Ale-Conners and Sidesmen according to their Charge in their Oaths.  
That for their second Offence of Drunkenness the party be bound over to his Good Behaviour.  
Provided that this Statute extend not to restrain the Ecclesiastical jurisdiction, nor to prejudice the Liberties of the two Universities.  
Provided also that no man be punished twice for the same Offence, and that none be punished but what are convicted within the space of six months after the Offence is committed. This Statute made perpetual 21 Jac. 1. Cap. 7.   

Against the Profanation of the Lordsday, commonly called Sunday. 29 Car. 2.  
ALL Laws in force concerning the Observation of the Lord's Day, are to be put in execution: This day is by every one, 
1 Will. and Mary.  to be sanctified and kept holy; and all Persons must be careful herein to exercise themselves in the Duties of Piety, and true Religion publicly; and every one on this day (not having a reasonable Excuse) must diligently resort to some public place where the service of God is exercised, or must be present at some other place (allowed of by Law) in the Practice of some Religious Duty, either of Prayer, Preaching Reading or Expounding of the Scriptures, or Conference upon the same, as also privately.  
Such as repair not to Church, etc. on Sundays and holidays, one Witness. Twelve Pence for every default, to be levied by destress, or to be committed to some Prison, until the same be paid. 1 Eliz. 23 Eliz. 3 Jac. Cap. 1. 19 Eliz. Cap. 1.  
Absenting for a Month, If a twelve month, or more, twenty pounds per month, and forfeiture of two parts in three of their Estates.  
If any come not to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper once a year. Their Names and Surnames to be presented: Forty Shillings reward to such as present them. 3 Jac. Cap. 4.  
None shall speak or do any thing in Contempt of the most Holy Sacrament. By Oath of two lawful Witnesses, by three justices Quorum un. to be bound over and prosecuted in Sessions. 1 Ed. 6. Cap. 1.  
Whosoever shall disturb any Preacher allowed, in his open Sermon or Collation, or be procuring or abetting thereunto, or shall rescue, etc. any Offender, etc. Accusation must by two Witnesses, or Confession, To be committed by any justice of the County to safe Custody, and within six days the said committing justice, with one other justice (if the Offender upon examination shall be found Guilty) shall commit him to Goal without Bail, etc. for three Months, and farther to the next Quarter Sessions, 1 M. Cap. 3.  
Such as meet or assemble out of their own Parish upon the Lord's Day, for any Sports or Pastimes whatsoever, or such as shall use any unlawful Exercise or Pastime in their own Parish upon the Lord's day, three shillings and four pence to the Poor, where, etc. to be levied by distress and sale, restoring the Overplus, etc. and for want of distress, to be sent to the Stocks for three hours, but they must be questioned within a month. 1 Car. Cap. 1. 3 Car. Cap. 4.  
If any Carrier, Waggoner, etc. with Horse, Wain or Cart, or Drover with Cattle shall travel upon the Lord's Day by themselves, or any other for them, twenty shillings for every offence, to be levied by distress and sale to the use of the poor. 3 Car. Cap. 1.  
If any Butcher, or any other for him, shall kill or sell any Victuals upon the Sunday, one Witness view or Confession, He shall forfeit six shillings and eight pence, if questioned within six months, to be levied, etc. or may be sued for in Sessions, etc. 3 Car. Cap. 1.  
If any Shoemaker shall go with intent to sell any Boots, Shoes, etc. on the Sunday, He shall forfeit such Goods, and three shillings and four pence for every pair. 1 Jac. Cap. 22.  
If any person of the age of fourteen shall on the Lord's Day, or any part thereof, do any worldly labour, etc. except works of Nececessity and Charity, shall forfeit five shillings for every offence. 29 Car 2. Cap. 7.  
If any person shall cry, show forth, or put to sale any Wares, Fruit, Goods, etc. except Milk only, before the hours of nine in the morning, and after four in the afternoon He shall forfeit the said Wares, Fruit, Goods, etc. to the use of the poor. 29 Car. 2. Cap. 7.  
No Drover, Horse-courser, Waggoner, Butcher, Higler, or any of their servants, shall travel or come to their Inns on the Lord's Day, shall forfeit twenty shillings for every offence. 29 Car. 2. Cap. 6.  
No person shall use to travel upon the Lord's Day with any Horse, Boat, Wherry, etc. except allowed by one justice of Peace so to do, by View, Confession, or one witness, the fofeiture is five shillings for every offence: The Conviction upon this Statute, must be before any justice of the County, etc. who shall give warrant to the Constables, etc. to seize the Goods showed, etc. and to levy the Forfeitures by distress, and for want of distress, to put the Offender in the Stocks for two hours: the justices, etc. may reward the Informer out of the Forfeitures, not exceeding the third part. 29 Car. 2. Cap. 7.  
This Act extends not to dressing of Meat inn Cooks Shops, Inns or Victualing-Houses.   

The Queen's Letter.  
TRusty and Wellbeloved, We Greet you well. Considering the great and indispensible Duty incumbent upon us, and to promote and encourage a Reformation of the Manners of all our Subjects, that so the Service of God may be advanced, and those Blessings be procured to these Nations, which always attend a Conscientious Discharge of our respective Duties, according to our several Relations. We think it necessary, in order to the obtaining of this Public Good, to recommend unto you the putting in Execution, with all Fidelity and Impartiality, those Laws, which have been made, and are still in force against the Profanation of the Lordsday, Profane Swearing and Cursing, Drunkenness, and all other lewd, enormous and disorderly Practices, which by a long conntinued Neglect and Connivance of the Magistrates and Officers concerned, have universally spread themselves, to the Dishonour of God and the Scandal of our Holy Religion; whereby it is now become the more necessary for all Persons in Authority, to apply themselves with all possible Care and Diligence to the suppressing of the same. We do therefore hereby charge and require you to take the most effectual Methods for putting the Laws in Execution, against the Crimes above-menioned, and all other Sins and Vices, particularly those which are most prevailing in this Realm; and that especially in such cases where any Officers of Justice shall be guilty of any of those Offences, or refuse or neglect to discharge the Duty of his place for the suppressing them, that so such Officer by his Punishment may serve for an Example to others. And to this end we would have you be careful and diligent in encouraging all Constables, Churchwardens, Headborroughs, and all other Officers and Persons whatsoever, to do their part in their several Stations, by timely and impartial Informations and Prosecutions against all such Offenders, for preventing those Judgements, which are solemnly denounced against the Sins . We cannot doubt of your performance hereof, since it is a Duty to which you are obliged by Oath, and are likewise engaged to the discharge of it, as you tender the Honour of Almighty God, the flourishing condition of his Church in this Kingdom, the continuance of his Holy Religion among us, and the Prosperity of the Country.  
And so we bid you farewell. Given at our Court at Whitehall, the 9th. day of July, in the Third Year of our Reign. By Her Majesty's Command. Nottingham.  
To our Trusty and Wellbeloved the Justices of the Peace for our County of Middlesex at Hick's Hall.   

The Late Order of the Justices of Middlesex, for suppressing Profaneness and Debauchery.  
WHereas their Majesties, both by their several Letters and Proclamations, have from time to time been graciously pleased to declare their earnest desire, That all the Laws against Vice and Profaneness be duly Executed, and have expressly Commanded us Tneir Majesty's Justices of the Peace of this County, to take the most effectual Care for the due Execution thereof: And whereas this Court in persuance of Their Majesty's Commands, have by their Order, bearing date the Tenth Day of July last, Commanded all High Constables, Petty Constables, Headburroughs, Churchwardens and other Officers within this County, to Use their utmost Diligence, for bringing to condign Punishment all the Offenders against the said Laws, which upon the Oaths of divers credible Winesses (as we are informed) hath through the diligence of the Offcers, in divers parts of this County had this good effect, that many Houses of disorderly Tippling, Debauchery and Gaming have been suppressed, and very great Numbers of Bawds, Whores, and other Lewd Persons, profane Swearers, Cursers Drunkards and Prophaners of the Lords day, have been Convicted and Punished according to Law; Yet notwithstanding in some other parts of this County, through the Negligence, Connivance and Evil Practices of the Constables, Headburroughs, Church Wardens and other inferior Officers of such Places; the Offences aforesaid have received great encouragement, and such Lewd Offenders as had been so suppressed, have been yet received and permitted there to continue such their Lewd Practices. This COURT therefore taking the same into their serious consideration, and being steadfast in their Resolutions effectually to carry on a Reformation of manners by the due punishment of the several Offences aforesaid, in all parts of this County, the same being a Work acceptable to Almighty God; and so earnestly and piously recommended by Their Majesties, Doth Order and strictly Require, all High Constables, Petty Constables, Headburoughs, Churchwardens, and all other Officers, to be diligent in making more frequent searches after such as keep Houses of disorderly Tippling, Debauchery and Gaming, and such as haunt the same, and of the said Offenders, and of all profane Swearers, Cursers, Drunkards, and Prophaners of the Lords Day, and to give due information thereof from time to time, to some One of Their Majesty's Justices of the Peace of this County, That no Partiality. Connivance or underhand Practices, by Private Notice to Offenders, of any other ways, by such Officers, may prevent the conviction, or Detection of them, but that the several Offenders may be punished, according to Law; And whereas the public Sports, and playing of Boys, and others, on the Lords Day, in Churchyards and else where, is a great Contempt to the Worship of God, and tends to the Corruption of Youth; The said Officers are therefore hereby Ordered, and Required to take notice on the said days, of such disorders, and to disperse such Prophaners of the Lords day, or to apprehend them, and to bring them before One of Their Majesty's Justices of the Peace for ●his County; that they may be proceeded against according to Law; And we being resolved to proceed with all due strictness against all such Officers as shall be found faulty in the due observance of this our Order do recommend it to all persons who shall at any time hereafter have Knowledge of any of the Offences aforesaid, or of any neglect or undue Practice of any Officers aforesaid, whereby the Conviction or Punishment of any of the said Offences shall be hindered, or avoided, that they will give timely Information thereof, to some One of Their Majesty's Justices of the Peace of the said County, from whom they shal● re●eive all due Encouragement; And whereas the keeping of Music Houses of late practised in several public Taverns and Alehouses within this County, to which there is a great Resort of Idle and Dissolute Persons, is of ver● ill Consequence, and tend● to the Debauching and Ruin especially of the younger sort of people, of both Sexes, and doth also occasion many Quarrels and Riots, to the great disturbance of the public Peace. It is hereby further Ordered that the several Officers aforesaid, do make a due Return to some Justice of the P●ace in their respective Division of the Christian Name, Surname and Place of abode, of all Persons keeping the said Music Houses, and of such as frequent the same, to the end they may be prosecuted according to Law; And it is further Ordered by this Court, that the Clerk of the Peace for this County do forthwith cause this Order to be Printed and Affixed upon the great Gates of Hick's-Hall, the Church Doors, and all other public Places of each P●rish within this County, and distributed to the several High-Constables within this County, who are Ordered by this Court forthwith to send the same to the several Petty Constables, Churchwardens and Head-buroughs within their several Divisions, to the end Public Notice may be taken thereof.   

By the King and Queen, a Proclamation against Vicious, Debauched and Profane Persons  
AS we cannot but be deeply sensible of the great goodness and mercy of Almighty God (by whom King's Reign) in giving so happy success to our endeavours for the rescuing these Kingdoms from Popish Tyranny and Superstition, and in preserving our Royal Persons, supporting our Government, and uniting the Arms of most of the princes and States in Christendom against our Common Enemy (so we are not less touched with a Resentment, that (notwithstanding the these great Deliverances) Impiety and Vice do still abound in this our Kingdom: And that the Execution of many good Laws, which have been made for suppressing and punishing thereof, have been grossly neglected, to the great dishonour of God and our Holy Religion: Wherefore, and for that we cannot expect increase or continuance of the Blessings we and our subjects enjoy, without providing Remedies to prevent the like Evils for the future, we judge ourselves bound by the duty we own to God, and the care we have of the people committed to our Charge, to proceed in taking some effectual Course therein: And being thereunto moved by the pious Address of our Arch Bishops, we have thought fit, by the advice of our Privy Council, to issue this our our Royal Proclamation, and to declare our princely intention and resolution, to discountenance all manner of Vice and Immorality in all persons from the highest to the lowest degree in this our Realm. And we do hereby for that purpose straightly Require, Charge and Command all and singular our judges, Mayors, Sheriffs, justices of the Peace, and all other Officers Ecclesiastical and Civil, in their respective stations, to execute the Laws against Blasphemy, profane Swearing and Cursing. Drunkenness, Lewdness, profanation of the Lordsday, or any other dissolute, immoral or disorderly practices as they will answer it to Almighty God, and upon pain of our highest Displeasure. And for the more effectual proceed herein, we do hereby Direct and Command our judges of Assizes, and justices of the Peace to give strict Charges at the respective Assizes and Sessions, for the due prosecution and punishment of all persons that shall presume to offend in any the kinds aforesaid; And also of all persons that contrary to their Duty shall be Remiss or Negligent in putting the said Laws in Execution.   
FINIS.   

A Catalogue of some New Books, the three first never Published before this Michalmas Term. 1692. and most of the others published but a little before in the same year; all Printed for, and Sold by Tho. Salusbury, at the King's Arms next St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet.  
THE Reformed Gentleman, or the Old English Morals rescued from the Immoralities of the present Age; showing how inconsistent those pretended Genteel Accomplishments of Swearing, Drinking, Whoring and Sabbath breaking are with the true Generosity of an Englishman. With an account of the proceed of the Government for the Reformation of Manners. By A. M. of the Church of England, Bound in 8o. price 1 s 6 d.  
2. An Essay against Unequal Marriages, in four Chapters, 1. The Introduction. 2. Against Old Persons Marrying with Young. 3 Against Persons Marrying without Parents or Friends Consent. 4. Ag inst Persons Marrying without their own Consent. By S. Bufford, Gent, in 12ᵒ. bound price 1 s.  
3. The Parson's Vade Mecum: or, A Treatise containing Choice Observations about the accounts of the year, Movable Feasts, Ember-weeks, Ecclesiastical Censures, the memorable Things in the three first Centuries, and some after Ages, Archbishops and Bishoprics, their Election, Consecration, Instalment, etc. Patronag●●, Institution, Induction, Non residence, Dispensations, Pluralities, Deprivation, Dilapidation, Privileges of Clergymen, Tithes and Simony; very fit for all Clergymen and Gentlemen in 12ᵒ. bound, price 1 s.  
4. The Measurers' Guide, or the whole Art of Measuring made short, plain and easy, showing how to measure any plain Superficies, all sorts of Regular Solids, Artificers Works, viz. Carpenters, Joiner's, Plasterers, Painters, Paviers, Glaziers, Bricklayers, Tilers, etc. with the Art of Gauging, of singular Use to all Gentlemen Artificers and others. By J. Barker in 12ᵒ. bound, price 1 s.  
5. Taxilla, or Love preferred before Duty; a Novel. By D.W. Gent. 12ᵒ. bound, price 1 s.  
6. Eachards' Gazetteers, or Newsmans' Interpreters, being a Geographical Index of all Cities, Towns, etc. in Europe, with their distances from each other, and to what Prince they are now subject to; very necessary for the right understanding of all Foreign and Domestic News Letters and Gazettes. 12ᵒ. bound, price 2 s.  
7.— A most Complete compendium of Geography, General and Special, describing all the Empire, Kingdoms and Dominions in the whole World, collected according to the latest Discoveries, and agreeing with the choicest and newest Maps, 12ᵒ. bound, price 1 s. 6 d.  
8.— Exact Description of Ireland, Surveying all its Provinces and County; showing the exact state of that Kingdom, and all the principal. Thin●s that are necessary to be known; Illustrated with five Maps, one of the whole Kingdom, the others of each particular Province, 12ᵒ. bound, price 1 s. 6 d.  
9— Flanders or the Spanish Netherlands, most accurately described, showing the several Provinces, their Bounds, Dimensions, Rivers, Riches and Strength; with an exact description of the Cities, and who they are at present subject to; very necessary for the understanding the Wars in those Countries, 12ᵒ. bound, price 1 s.  
10.— The Duke of Savoy's Dominions most accurately described, with some adjacent parts; showing all that is necessary to be known, and very useful for the understanding of the pre●ent War in those parts, price 3 d. The five last all done by Laurance Eachard, A. B. of Christ's College in Cambridge.  
11. Nomo AEXIKON, A Law-Dictionary, interpreting such difficult and obscure Words and Terms as are found either in our Common or Statute, Ancient or Modern Laws, with References to the several Statutes, Records, Registers, Law-Books, Charters, Ancient Deeds and Manuscripts wherein the words are used, being the very best extant, the Second Edition. By Tho. Blunt of the Inner-Temple, Esq; in Folio bound, price 10 s.  
A Treatise of Civil Bonds and Contracts, and the Nature, Causes, and Effects of Suretiships, with Cautions against it. By R. A Gent. 8ᵒ. bound, price 1 s. 6 d.  
13. Tryon's New Art of Brewing, Beer, Al●● and other sorts of Liquors, so as to render them more healthful to the body, and agreeable to Nature, with less Trouble and Charge than generally practised; with the Art of making Malt. The third Edition, 12ᵒ. bound, price 1 s.  
14.— Wisdom Dictates, or Rules Physical and Moral, for preserving the health of the Body and the peace of the Mind; fit to be regarded by all that would enjoy the blessings of this world: To which is added a Bill of Fare of 75 Noble Dishes of excellent Food, without either Fish or Flesh, 12ᵒ. bound, price 1 s.  
15.— Pythagoras' Mystic Philosophy revived, or the Mystery of Dreams and Visions unfolded; wherein the Causes, Natures and Uses of Nocturnal Representations. and the Communications of good and evil Angels are Theosophically unfolded, 8ᵒ. bound, price 1 s. 6 d.  
16. A New Art of making above 20 sorts of English Wines, Brandy and other Spirits more pleasant and agreeable than those of France; illustrated by the Doctrine of Fermentation and Distillation, by Curious Examples on the growth and product of this Island, 12ᵒ. bound price 1 s. 6 d.  
17. Chymicus Rationalis, or the Fundamental Grounds of the Chemical Art, rationally stated, and demonstrated by various Examples in Distillation, Rectification and Exaltation of Wines, Spirits, Tinctures, Oils, Salts, Powers and Oleosmus, in such a Method, as to retain the Specific Virtues of Concreets in the greatest power and force, 8ᵒ. bound, 2 s.  
18. Jacob Behmens Theosophick Philosophy, unfolded in divers Considerations and Demonstrations; showing the Verity and Utility of the several Doctrines contained in the writings of that Author; with an Abridgement of his Works. ●y E. Taylor. 4ᵒ. bound, price 6 s.  
19 Arithmetical Rules Digested and Contracted, made plain and easy for the help and benefit of the Memory, very necessary for all Gentlemen and Tradesmen, as for Youth and Aprent ces in Merchantile Affairs, 12ᵒ. bound, price 1 s.  
20. The Safety of France is Monsieur the Dauphin, or the Secret History of the French King, proving that there is no other way to secure France from approaching ruin, but by deposing his Father for a Tyrant and Destroyer of his People. Done out of French. 12ᵒ. bound, price 1 s.  
21. The History of the late great Revolution in England and Scotland, with the Causes and Means by which it was accomplished, with a particular account of the Extraordinary Occurrences which happened thereupon, as likewise the settlement of both the Kingdoms under their most serene Majesty's King William and Queen Mary, with a List of the Convention. 8ᵒ. bound, price 5 s.  
22. Remarks on the Dream of the late Abdicated Queen of England, and upon that of Madam the Duchess of Lavalee●, late Mistress to the French King, wherein is plainly showed the late successes of King William in Ireland, as likewise his future successes in France, with the miserable end of the French King, translated out of French. 4ᵒ. price, 6 d.  
23. A Collection of the Famous Mr. George Whither's Wonderful Prophecies, relating to the English Nation and Government, many of which not yet fulfilled. 4ᵒ. 6 d.  
24. Ecclesia Reviviscens. A Poem, or a short account of the Rise, Progress and Present State of the New Reformation of Manners. B● a late Gentleman of the Temple. 4. 6 d.  
25. Gilbert R●les's Precedent of the Scots Assemblies, his Vindication of the Church of Scotland from the Aspersions and Calumnies of the Jacobites and Grumbleronians. 4. 6 d.  
26. Miscellany Poems, viz. Remarks on the Death of King Charles, and the succession of King James the Second, upon Faith, upon Patience, upon Ambition, to the University of Oxford: The Soul to a Good Conscience, the Soul to a Bad Conscience. By J. Whitchall. 4. 6 d.  
27. Bragadoci●. A Comedy, by a Person of Quality. 4. 1 s.  
28. The Vadois Declaration to all Christian Princes and States, of the Reasons of their taking up Arms, and putting themselves under the Protection of King William. 4. 2 d.  
FINIS.