serene Hopes and with an undisturb'd Mind easily parting with all here below when I have read of Simeon waiting for and expecting Death as weary Labourers do the Evening Shades or Hirelings the Reward of their work when I read St. Paul with humble Impatience expressing his devout desire of Death and Dissolution when I have seen some as some I have seen setting in Calm and Majesty and Triumph as if they had attended Death as the old Romans once did the barbarous Gaules in their Chairs and Robes when I have seen men dye not only with Content but almost in Extasie and the Soul breath'd forth not in a Groan but an Ejaculation I must needs say I could not choose but wish with Balaam Numb 23. that I might dye the Death of the Righteous and that my latter end might be like his These are degrees of Happiness which I should judge it reasonable to purchase at any Rate whatever there be hereafter a smooth contented delightful life such as would not only bear but invite Reflexions on it a chearful lightsome Death able to make the living in love with it But after all whether this present life be all my Portion whether I dye all of me together with my Body or whether this life be only the time of our probation and preparation for another and Death be nothing but the rough passage from one shore to another or the Horizon that parts the Hemisphere of Darkness from that of Light is a question I will not now determine 't is sufficient to propose it here as a doubt whereof one side or other must be true If therefore this life be in Order to Eternity it nearly imports me to consider my present Relation to a future state if it be not then this life call it what you please a Span a Dream or a Bubble yet is it my All and I must make the most of it But Obj. 4 Are not Nature and Custom the best guides to Happiness what needs there so much poring to find out that which mere instinct leads us to we do not see that the most learned Clerks are always the most Happy men let such demonstrate the truth of their Philosophy by their own success And thus they magnifie Nature not out of any honour they design to do it or the Author of it but that they may with the greater Security contemn the one and deprave the other by sluggish Luxury and unbridled Lust I am not easily tempted to a Contempt of Nature or of Customs for by the one I should seem injurious to God who is the Author of Nature and by th' other I should seem injurious to Mankind whose concurrent Sense and constant Practice creates a Custom Therefore as to the former part of the Objection were it but once truly determin'd what were to be understood by Nature this Objection would vanish I think our Souls within us may be justly suppos'd to constitute a part of our Nature as well as our Bodies and therefore I cannot be content that the Body much less vicious habits commonly call'd indeed a second Nature should usurp the Name and Authority of Nature nor consequently can I be content to allow of the mere sensual Appetites of the Body much less the Dictates of vicious habits for the Laws of Nature The Body indeed is an Essential part of our Nature but then it must be remembred 't is not the governing part and therefore it 's Instinct cannot Arrogate to it self the Authority of a Law It remains therefore that thô the Rational Soul within us be but a part of our Nature yet being the better part the Ruling part its Dictates must have the force of Laws so that the Law of Nature will be nothing else but the Commands of right Reason I shall be most ready to grant that we ought to follow the Conduct of our Nature taking it in this sense Aug. contra Academicos Beatè vivit qui secundum eam partem animi vivit quam dominari in homine fas est he indeed lives Happily who follows the Conduct of that part to which belongs the undoubted Right of Soveraignty and Dominion in man As to the latter part of this Objection By Customs is commonly mean't those Principles and Practices which are generally receiv'd and fashionable in the place we live I have a just Veneration for whatever is the sense of Mankind but I think their suffrage is not to be taken by number but by weight nor are we to follow the Opinion or Example of the most but of the best nor indeed is it possible to understand what is the sense of Mankind in this point for we have Custom against Custom Nation against Nation and Religion against Religion It ought farther to be consider'd That Principles taken upon trust have seldom an equal influence upon us with those which we take up upon strict Examination and mature Deliberation that men will easily be tempted to desert those for which they have no better Authority than the vote of a Multitude Nor can any thing tend more to the Disparagement of any persuasion than this that 't is not the Result of our Judgment but our Fortune or to the Dishonour of any Religion than this that 't is Magisterially obtruded by the Authority of Laws and terrour of Force and will not submit it self to the tryal of sober Philosophy and so I take it to be a Credit to the Christian Religion that it did not force assent but gain it by irresistible Arguments that t is so far from shunning the tryal of Impartial Philosophy that it did always invite men to a sober Examination of its Evidence and commanded its Disciples 1 Pet. 3. be ready to give an answer to every man that asketh you a Reason of the hope that is in you 'T is true indeed as the Case now stands Religion may nay must be recommended by Authority of Law and Custom and ingratiated by particular Practice of it but afterwards must grow up and be confirm'd by Reason like a tender Plant that is first fixâ—t by the help of another's hands but afterwards it stands firmest upon its own Roots and this Method our Saviour himself did sometimes make use of when either the stupidity of Nature or Prejudice of Education rendred those to whom he addressed his Doctrine uncapable of entring into a thorow Examination of it Then if any man will do my will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God Lastly That to trust to others who themselves with like Rashness and Credulity do in the same manner trust to others in the matter of the highest moment of my life seems to me inconsistent with common Prudence with the very Constitution of a rational Nature for what use can be as much as fancied of Reason if I slight its service in so important an affair as this It is true Temper Fortune and Education have de facto so great a share
Ambitious the Vain-glorious the Covetous the Lover seem to ascend and rise above themselves in the Acquisition of those Pleasures they aspire to the Monarch debases himself descends and stoops below his Fortune to meet his And yet I am not of Apollo's nor Solon's Mind I cannot think there is any great Happiness in the Ignorance and the quietness of a labouring Cottager such as Tellus or Aglaus Sophydius I love Security but not that which Contempt breeds I would have my Security owing not to the Littleness of my Fortune but the Greatness of my Mind I love a Quiet but a Philosophical life I would have my Tranquillity spring not from the Ignorance but Reason of my Mind from the Right Government of my Passions not from the Meanness of my Education or Fortune For the same Reason I do not call Men happy whose slow and easie Temper like the waters of the Dead Sea is not to be mov'd even by Wind and Storm I do not call Stupidity a Calm the Soul that is insensible of Trouble is so of Joy too whoever is incapable of any deep Impression is so of any serious Reflexion too and what is the state of such a Man I would not have my life pass by like a Dream whil'st fleeting or imperfect Images of things do scarce awake and too too slightly affect my drouzy or dazled sense In a word the Happiness I seek after is such a one which is owing neither to Natural Constitution nor to Fortune for then it would not be in our Power The Men then whom I call Happy are such who are possessed of true and solid Goods and those such which Fortune cannot give nor take away such were Christ and his Apostles and such are all those at this Day as are transform'd into the Glory and Image of the Divine Nature by the mighty Energy of the Divine Spirit and Divine Truths Let us consider therefore what the state of Christ and his Apostles was in this Life I will not take notice of those Ecstatic Pleasures which they felt when they did those God-like Works which we call Miracles what Triumph could be equal to theirs who saw Diseases Devils and Death subject to their Commands what joy could be equal to theirs when they gave Life to the Dead Sight to the Blind Strength to the Lame c To what a height was Wonder and Delight rais'd in each of these Performances for nothing could be more wonderful than the Power or delightful than the Charity conspicuous in 'em but this I pass over because this Power is not to be attain'd by us Let us come to that which is I mean the Vertues of Christ and his Apostles He had not a hole where to lay his Head 't is true but how truly great was he in himself how much above the mean and unmanly desires of Ambition Covetousness or Lust he indulg'd himself in no sensual Carnal Pleasures 't is true but how Calm that Soul which no Angry or Envious Passion disturb'd where nothing but sacred Love dwelt the love of God the love of Man and the rational and wise love of himself how Happy that Soul which was illuminated with Divine Knowledge supported by an unshaken Faith fill'd with joyful Reflexions and glorious Hopes that Soul which in the silence of the Night and the Retirements of the Mount did pour forth it self in Prayers and Hallelujah's that Soul which full of God and full of Heaven had no room for uneasie Cares or afflicting Sorrows 't is true our Saviour met Death with pale looks and melancholy pangs of Soul but 't is as true that his Faith surmounted his Fears his Agony endur'd but for a little while an undisturb'd Peace and a well-settled serenity of Mind immediately follow'd it and his trouble and Pain in Death like the Ecclipse that attended it did but o'recast and darken the joy the light within not extinguish it who could finish the last Act of Life with more humble Majesty or with more settled Peace in the Life and Death of our dear Lord we behold that of his Disciples for they were all Followers of him as they desir'd we should be of them what can be happier than their state here was their Life was Regular and Philosophical their Joy steady and Rational their Love of God vigorous their Charity to Man servent and Diffus'd their Desires as to the World modest their Minds resolv'd and brave in Afflictions Chearful and Compos'd in Death it self Let it stand then as an unshaken Truth That Happiness may be attain'd in this Life for what the Followers of our Lord and Master attain'd to that may we their Natural Passions and Infirmities were the same with our's our Trials and Temptations are far less than theirs we serve the same God we are guided by the same Truths supported by the same Power elevated by the same Hopes we have the same Peace bequeath'd us the same Spirit the same Heaven promis'd us and we march under the Conduct of the same Captain of our Salvation who by his Death has Abolish't Death and brought Life and Immortality to Light Nor ought this to seem to us an over-daring or presumptuous Position since the Possibility of Happiness is a Notion Consonant to the Common sense of all Mankind for 't is Happiness which Laws enacted for the Government of the Multitude and Philosophical Rules prescrib'd for the Government of our Passions do aim at All Law-givers have ever promis'd the people Wealth and Peace and Glory and Security as the fruits of their Obedience and all Philosophers have ever promis'd Tranquillity of Mind and Rational Pleasure to their Followers as the Rewards of Conformity to their Precepts And as it cannot surely be deny'd but that the Kingdom is most Happy which by just Laws and a well-temper'd Authority is freed from those Fears and Distractions from those Mischiefs and Confusions to which others are expos'd by Anarchy or Tyranny by the Insolence of the Multitude or the Impotence of the Prince so it cannot be deny'd but that the Man is most Happy whose well-settled Peace is establish't upon solid Grounds of true Wisdom being neither oppress'd by the Tyranny of Superstition nor vex't and disquieted by the Insolence of unruly Passions to which the weakness of Reason subjects Men. As to Religion which is a third governing Principle this only proposes a more perfect Happiness and a more plain and direct way to it than Nature of it self could it only relieves and recruits our Natural Power by that of Grace and encreases the Light of Reason by a participation of new Rays of Revelation If then Happiness be the great End which Law and Philosophy Revelation and Reason God and Man do unanimously propose to us how absurd and palpable a Contradiction were it to all these to deny the Attainment of it possible To look back now upon this whole Chapter The Conclusion and sum up the substance and force of it 't
of this Enquiry for the Redress of Humane Misery too ambitious for a poor silly Mortal yet sure the Redress of those Evil which oppress our State and Nature is such an humble and modest Design as may well become the meanness of Man and therefore if I could not excuse the Confidence or Presumption of this Enquiry by pleading the innate Desire of Happiness yet sure I might by urging the multitude of those Evils which infest Humane Life which 't is not only irrational but impossible so far to yield and submit to as not to struggle to free our selves from 'em or endeavour to lighten their afflicting weight or study to prevent 'em This I confess was the first and none of the least prevalent Arguments that engag'd me I love my self and would be if not Happy at least not miserable and I am neither insensible nor fearless I know the common Portion of Man and I cannot so far flatter my self as not to apprehend approaching Evils nor am I naturally so hard and tough as not to shrink and gall under the weight of them and I suppose most Men are of the same Nature with me and as liable as I am to all the Evils of Time and Chance and consequently this one Consideration of Humane Misery ought to work very powerfully in them and effectually oblige 'em to this Study In this place I took a Distinct View and made an Exact Survey of every particular Calamity which befalls Man reducing 'em all under their several heads I allow'd my self the Melancholy pleasure of viewing the mournful Pomp whil'st I saw their numerous Legions marching under their distinct â—â—nners arm'd with great variety of fatal dreadful weapons but besides that this would have made too tedious an Interruption in the thread of my Discourse I will deal freely with the World I had in private drawn as exact and lively a Portraicture of Humane Misery as I could I had left no shade no feature wanting as I thought but when I had finished it observing it exactly from head to foot I found my own Sins and Follies made up the ugliest and most frightful Parts of it and therefore I thought it not freedom but impudence to expose to open view all the Deformities of the Soul when natural Modesty guides the Painter's hand to draw a covering over the uncomley Parts of the Body However such a general Survey of Humane Misery as may serve to awaken our Concern and quicken and inflame our Industry will not be improper or unnecessary in this place A rude Draught or naked Scheme of the general heads of those Evils to which the Life of Man is expos'd will present us with a very formidable host of Plagues and Mischiefs The Evils that harrass Mankind are either Natural which grow out of our selves like Rust and Moths and Worms out of those very Bodies which they afterwards destroy or else they are accidental such as the various Chances and Revolutions of the World bring upon us Natural Evils either have their Residence in the Soul or in the Body the Body is liable to maiming to loss of Senses to Decay and Languishings to numerous Diseases and to Death As to the Soul in the Vnderstanding there is Ignorance Errour Superstition Uncertainty Suspicion c. In the Will Obstinacy Precipitancy Levity Inconstancy Impotence Irresolution Fluctuation Distraction In the inferiour and sensitive Part of the Soul of Man a thousand restless Passions marching under the Conduct of blind and rash Love and Hate Accidental Evils contain all that vast number which may befall those things without us which we to our great hurt falsly call ours such are Loss or Diminution of Reputation Power Estate Friends Relations c. and what is worse than this numerous are the Evils which we suffer not only in those things which we call our's but also in those we our selves confess not to be our's such are restless Desire wakeful and laborious Pursuit tame digestion of the Neglect Coldness Insolence and Insincerity of those we depend upon and address to Contemptuous Repulses Vexatious disappointments c. After all this all these Evils are to be reckon'd double for we are liable to 'em not only in our selves but in our Friends and our Relations and then we must double 'em almost all again for we suffer 'em in Reality or in Fancy and Imagination we suffer 'em when present and when future too for as if the Evil of the Day were not sufficient for it we search the dark and unknown Regions of future time that we may find out what may make us miserable and we frequently torture our selves with Idle not Prophetic fears we often suffer the want the pain c. which we shall never feel and our own suspicious despondent melancholy Minds do raise those hideous Apparitions which scare and frighten us These are a few of the general Heads of Humane Misery those Fountains that ever flow with bitter Waters this is a brief account of the Nature and State of Man Aristotle's Definition of him that he is a Rational Creature is flat and heavy in Comparison to that of Apuleius the witty thô dissolute Platonic Apul. de Deo Socratis Homines Ratione plaudentes oratione pollentes immortalibus animis moribundis membris levibus anxiis mentibus brutis obnoxiis corporibus dissimilibus moribus similibus erroribus pervicaci audaciâ pertinaci spe casso labore fortunâ caducâ volucri tempore tardâ sapientiâ citâ morte quaerulâ vitâ terras incolunt i. e. Men the Inhabitants of Earth are endow'd with Speech and vaunt of Reason immortal are their Souls mortal their Limbs inconstant and anxious are their Minds bruitish and obnoxious are their Bodies unlike are they in their Manners like in their Errors sturdy is their Confidence and obstinate their Hope fruitless their Toil uncertain their Fortune swift their Years and slow their Wisdom speedy their Death and their Life full of Plaints Thus miserable is our State and shall we now sit down and only Childishly bewail our selves Shall we sink under the weight of these Evils by adding to 'em one heavier than 'em all Despair Shall we think the thread of Evils is so closely and fatally wove into one Piece with the thread of Life that no Wisdom no Industry can prevent ' em that no Philosophy how Divine soever can divide or separate the one from the other and consequently never think of any other than that one Universal Remedy of Virgil Patience Fortuna omnis superanda ferendo est Ah wretched Nature ah too helpless State If nought but suffering can o'recome our Fate No no let others do what they will I 'le never thus abandon my self I will not tamely and dastardly renounce my hopes of Happiness I 'le study and contend for it whilst I have a being whate're Calamities assault me they shall find me ready arm'd from head to foot nor shall they ever gain o're me an easie
Cor. 15. If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable 't is confessedly indisputably true that had these Christians been destitute of that hope which was their Support they had sunk under the weight of such Sufferings and so had been the most miserable of all men but since their hopes did not only support 'em under their Afflictions but also render 'em somewhat more than Conquerours all that can follow hence is That the Resurrection and Eternal life are unquestionable Truths and that life who believes 'em as firmly as Confessors and Martyrs did may like them be Happy thô a thousand Seas of Calamities and Troubles should break in upon him Mortification recommended by the Light of Nature as subservient to our present Happiness As to Mortification which is a Duty of perpetual Obligation for the Purity of Religion is still the same thô its fortune in the World be alter'd this did at first signifie the Renunciation and Extirpation of Jewish and Pagan Lusts according to that of St. Paul Mortifie therefore your members which are upon the Earth Fornication Vncleanness Inordinate affection Evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry and it still signifies the same thing and whatever difficulty we are to encounter in the performance of this Duty it must be vanquished for 't is impossible to be wicked and Happy a wicked man is his own Hell and every Passion every Lust is a Fiend a Fury that doth outrage and torment him and all this the Heathens themselves did not only constantly acknowledge but also paint out with as lively Eloquence as any Christian could ever do their Experience over whom Sin had an uncontrolled dominion most effectually convincing 'em of the Outrages Tyranny and unspeakable Mischiefs of wicked and abominable Passions Nay so manifest is it that the subduing these Irregular Passions is necessary to our Happiness that even the Epicureans themselves notwithstanding their confining the Happiness of Man to this short life and by a probable Consequence resolving it ultimately into the Enjoyments of the Body did yet look upon themselves as extremely injur'd by Tully and others when they represented 'em as revolted from and Enemies to Vertue 'T is not my business here to Examine what foundation for Vertue their Philosophy could leave or what rank and place they could assign it 't is enough that they could not but acknowledge it as necessary to Happiness 'T is true Mortification in the Gospel-sense requires us not only to restrain these Irregular Lusts but also not to over-rate and over-value this World and the things of it not to look upon this life as our only or chief Portion and doat upon it with fondness and passion and I cannot think that this is any thing more than what is imply'd and included in the former Notion of Mortification this Moderation of our Inclinations to the World being a proper and necessary foundation of the former Abstinence it being very Improbable that he who values and doats upon the World above all things should refrain from irregular Pursuits and Enjoyments of it Now even this Degree of Mortification was as clearly taught and the Necessity of it in order to Happiness by the Wise men amongst the Heathens as by our Saviour and his Apostles by those conducted by the Light of Nature as by these conducted by the Light of Revelation and that together with the Discipline which promotes it I mean the observation of great Abstinence from sensual Pleasures No Monk or Anchoret can speak with a more glorious contempt of the World than a Stoic but their flights who would allow the Body the World and the things of it no place nor degree in the Number of Good things are too daring and bold to lay any stress upon but the Opinion of other Philosophers who allow'd these their proper place and value ought to be of weight with us because they shew us plainly That Mortification was ever thought by the Light of Nature subservient to our true Happiness Hierocles in the beginning of his Divine Comments gives us a short but full account of the Pythagorean and I may add Platonic Philosophy in this Point 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The substance of which is The business of Philosophy is to purifie the Soul of Man from sensual Lusts and inordinate Passions and to transform it into the likeness and Image of God This is that which it pursues by discovering to us Excellent Truths and by recommending to us the practice of Excellent Vertues And this was that Philosophy which the best and acutest of the Heathens look't upon as the only way to Happiness so far were they from judging it inconsistent and incompatible with it nay they deem'd this very state of Vertue a state of more Exalted Happiness and an Image of the Divine Life hence is that little less than Inspir'd Heat or Rapture of Tully L. 2. de Leg. Cum animus cognitis perceptisque virtutibus à Corporis obsequio indulgentiaque discesserit voluptatemque sicut labem decoris oppresserit omnemque mortis Dolorisque timorem effugerit Societatemque Charitatis colerit cum suis omnesque natura conjunctos suos duxerit Cultumque Deorum puram Religionem susceperit exacuerit illam ut oculorum sic Ingenii Aciem ad bona deligenda rejicienda Contraria Quid eo dici aut excogitari poterit beatius When the Soul having discover'd and entertain'd Vertue has extinguish't its fondness for and indulgence of the Body and stifled Lust as the Reproach and Stain of its Honour and Beauty and hath put off all dread of Death and Pain c. What can be said or as much as fancied more blessed than the state of such a man Nay after all the greatest Patrons and Abettors of Pleasure did ever acknowledge this moderation in our Passions and Enjoyments indispensibly Necessary to our Happiness Nil admirari prope res est una Numici Solaque quae possit facere ac servare beatos Hor. Nought to admire's the thing alone that can Cause and Preserve the Happiness of Man And 't is well known how much the followers of Epicurus gloried in his Abstinence that these Voluptuaries should prescribe and practise the Doctrine of Mortification but this they were compelled to by the irresistible force of Reason for how can he who doats upon the World and melts in soft and sensual Pleasures be able to secure the repose of his Mind against those melancholy Alterations which may daily and some time or other will certainly befall himself and his Enjoyments on what foundation can the Peace or Liberty of his Mind be Establish't or can he be Happy who is distress't by every change of Weather and is divided and distracted between numerous contrary Passions and a slave to each To come to a Conclusion the Scripture is so far from denying that it do's affirm the possibility of attaining Happiness nor are the
is this God who made us made us on purpose to be Happy for what other design could Infinite Love propose to it self in our Creation and proposing to himself this End he endow'd us with Faculties and Capacities that might fit us for the Contemplation and Enjoyment of himself and of his Works The World provided by him for our Entertainment he filled with all things that could Minister either to our Necessities or Delights here God has planted us not as Inhabitants but Sojourners for this is but our state of Probation Angels had their times of Trial so have Men here he wou'd have us aspire after as near as we can that life Angels lead in Heaven for we are one Day to be equal to 'em here he wou'd have us learn and practise those Vertues which fit us for the Society Enjoyment of that Kingdom wherein dwells Righteousness for that is the blessed End and Consummation of all our Endeavours Desires and Hopes but when we make Heaven the Abode the Seat of Perfect Happiness we do not thereby suppose that it is banish't from the Earth but rather on the contrary if that state be the Consummation of all things 't is Necessarily to be concluded that every step we advance nearer to it we mount and ascend higher into brighter calmer and purer Regions Heaven is like a Glorious Building whose access is full of Delight and Beauty for as that Youth which precedes our Manhood has its Sweetness its Beauty its natural Perfection and Pleasure so has this mortal-state which precedes our Angelical its proper Degree of Perfection and Blessedness and this is no small one neither for as we are created but a little lower than the Angels in respect to the Dignity of our Nature so surely our Happiness begins nearly to approach and resemble theirs When our Mind fill'd with Divine Truths Charity and Hope becomes Free Generous Resolv'd Constant Chearful Meek Gentle Devout Heavenly when it has so accustom'd it self to Vertue and familiarly acquainted it self with Heaven that the Sins and Pleasures of the sensual Part of the World look like the Manners and Entertainments not only of a Foreign but Barbarous and Impoverish't Countrey and when lastly by its frequent Retirements from the Body and daily Commerce with Rational and Spiritual Pleasures it not only asserts its Soveraignty over it but begins to live so independent of it that at the last when it shall in Death mount up upon the Wings of pure Flame to Heaven it shall not suffer as if the Body needed to be torn from it but shall let it fall as Elijah did his Mantle Those Complaints therefore which we make against our present state and those Reproaches with which we outrage and vilifie our Nature are false and unjust for we are by God created and design'd for Happiness and this Happiness God hath been pleas'd to put in our own power to place within our reach There is no Fate but what God has made us our selves Arbiters of we lye under no Necessity no Fatality but what our own Vices betray us to Nor do we stand in need of the Indulgences of Fortune the Tranquillity and Pleasure of a Vertuous Man is an Image of God's own it springs from within not from without 't is true there are Difficulties which obstruct our Progress to Happiness but they are such as all Wise and Good Men have conquer'd 't is true Nature labours under its Infirmities that is sensual Propensions and Inclinations but it is strengthen'd and supported by Reason by Revelation by Grace we may fall 't is true a Sacrifice to God's Wrath but it must be after we have liv'd long in Contempt of his Mercy and obstinate Defyance of his Grace Methinks these Considerations should raise and exalt the Mind of Man they should inspire us with Desires and Hopes worthy of Rational and Immortal Souls like the Israelites when they march't out of Egypt we should dream of nothing but Triumph Glory and Happiness CHAP. III. Of the Causes of Man's Misery The Deviation of our Lives from Right Reason the true and Vniversal Cause of Man's Misery This Deviation discovers it self First In our proposing to our selves some false and irrational End of Life Secondly In our Insincerity in pursuing our true and Rational End The Reasons of both these are 1. The Frame and Contexture of our Nature 2. Vicious Education 3. A vicious Conversation and Course of Life from whence proceed Inconsideration Insincerity False Notions Vngovernable Passions Remissness and Inconstancy A Representation of the whole Matter From all inferr'd First What Happiness in general is Secondly Two general Rules for the Attaining of it WEre the Happy like * Quem adhuc nos quidem vidimus Neminem sed Phylosophorum sententiis qualis futurus sit si modo aliquando fuerit exponitur Tusc Quest l. 2. Tully's Wise man a mere Idea something no where to be found but in the Characters and Descriptions which Philosophers give us of him this were an unconquerable Discouragement no Briskness of Wit no Charms of Fancy no force of Eloquence no height of Spirits or heat of Confidence were sufficient to remove it and to engage Men in such a Desperate and unaccountable Enterprize as this Supposition would render the pursuit of Happiness for how fond and groundless a Presumption were it to pursue that which all Mankind had ever as Unsuccessfully as Earnestly and Indefatigably attempted I have therefore endeavoured with all my might in the former Chapter to free men's Minds from any Suspition or Fears of this Kind answering all Objections that might seem to represent Misery fatal or Happiness unattainable and by undeniable proofs Confirming the Opposite Truth But if this be true that Happiness is attainable and if it be as true as certainly 't is that there needs no Eloquence to enkindle in any Man the Desires of Happiness or to incite and spur him on to Endeavour its Attainment all Mankind being carried on towards it by Natural and therefore Constant and Passionate Inclinations will it not be Natural to demand Whence is it that so few are Happy Whence is it that Misery and Trouble Affliction and Sorrow fill almost every place and every Bosome Not only no Kingdom or City but no Town no Village no Family I might almost add no one particular Person being exempt and free no place or person is priviledg'd against Grief and Trouble it invades the Tribunal of Judges the Thrones of Princes and what is almost as sacred as either the Retirements and Closets of the Devout and Learned nay scarcely is the Church and the Altar a secure Sanctuary against it This will not be difficult to Comprehend if we do thorowly weigh and soberly consider the true Causes of Man's Misery but the particular and distinct Discussion of each of these will fall in in its proper place in the following Treatises and therefore I shall Discourse of 'em here only generally and briefly as
give me leave to make a stand and like a Traveller when he has gain'd an Ascent look back upon the way I have gone and see how much of my Journey I have dispatch't My Undertaking was to demonstrate the Love of God to Mankind thus far I have advanc'd towards this with undeniable Evidence I have proved That Peevishness Malignity and Cruelty cannot belong to God because this were inconsistent with the Perfection of his Nature or the Happiness of his State nor can it rationally be suppos'd that the same Properties should belong to those Evil Spirits which for a long time deluded the World and that God who has done so much to destroy that Kingdom of Darkness and rescuing Man to restore him to a Capacity of Happiness and Glory how could it be that God should have done so much as it is apparent he has in the Contexture of our Nature and the Contrivance of our state to make us in Love with Goodness and irreconcileably Enemies to Tyranny Cruelty Arbitrary Revenge c. if he himself were passionate furious and Arbitrary in his Cruelties Nay I have advanc'd further and have prov'd Secondly That boundless Love and Goodness are the unquestionable Attributes of God for the very same Arguments which exclude all manner of Imperfections and Evils from the Deity do necessarily assert to it all manner of Perfection and Good Nor doth the unconceivable Majesty and Eminence of the Divine Nature only but also the Indigence and Weakness of Humane Nature require this since without it he could not be the Object of our Love or Dependence nor consequently our Worship Having proceeded thus far and prov'd that Tyranny or Cruelty are utterly repugnant to the Divine Nature and boundless Love and Goodness the Essential and Inseparable Properties of it I do not think it Necessary to prove that the Emanations o◠this his Goodness do extend even to Man for thô the Epicureans acknowledging God Perfect did at the same time allow him no other Imployment than the Enjoyment of his own Perfections and thô Aristotle confin'd the Providence of God and consequently the Irradiation of his Goodness within Heaven and thô lastly before the Creation of the World we are uncapable of conceiving any Subjects about which Divine Love could exercise it self and consequently can conceive of it no otherwise than confin'd within himself All which seems to conclude thus much that the Deity may be infinitely good and yet this Goodness not extend it self to Man All this concerns not our present question for thô Man should not be the Object of Divine Goodness yet if God be infinitely good this will be enough to free Man from unreasonable and superstitious fear of him and to acquit God from the least suspicion of being the Cause of Humane Misery which is the utmost I was oblig'd to make good in pursuance of the design of this Chapter Besides they who accuse God of their Misery do not suppose him unconcern'd about all things but himself as Epicurus nor bound and limit his Providence within the Enclosures of Heaven but do plainly suppose all the affairs of Mankind to depend upon the first Contrivance of God in the Creation or upon the Over-ruling Influences of his Providence in his present Government of the World However I am not willing to quit one Inch of the ground I have got and therefore I cannot but acknowledge that the World being now created and Mankind form'd after God's Image 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are his Offspring saith St. Paul out of the Poet unactive and unconcern'd Love seems to me a Contradiction and infinite boundless Goodness confined within Heaven cannot but seem as gross a one let it therefore remain an unshaken truth The God is Good and that this Goodness doth exert and express it self toward Mankind and we shall from hence gain these two Points 1. That God is not the Cause o◠Man's Misery and what is more yet 2. That he is most ready and willing to further and assist him in all his Endeavours after Happiness The first of these is apparent for if God be infinitely Good then every thing that came out of his hands must in the state of its Creation have been exceeding Good the End of the Creation must have been something extreamly kind and gracious and the Law he prescrib'd his Creatures for the Attainment of that End must be as Good as Wise this must have been the glorious state of things when God contrived this wonderful frame of Nature when he erected this vast Work the World and in all the continued progress of Divine Providence we are to expect no other acts of Government than what may become the most gracious Prince the most tender Father for the same Immense Goodness that once created doth ever continue to Rule the World Let us not therefore accuse God but our selves if we be not Happy Blessings indeed and Mercies like warm Sun and fruitful Seasons descend upon us without our Importunity or Merit but Evils and Mischiefs come not till our Sins and Provocations have pull'd 'em down upon us Solon indeed in Herodotus tells Croesus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Deity was envious and froward and delighted to magnifie it self in the Disturbance of the settled Happiness and Calm of Poor Men But alas 't is our Fondness or our Pride our Peevishness or our Wantonness which raises in us these unworthy thoughts of God he may indeed like a kind Parent train up a Son through a strict Discipline to Vertue and Glory he may throw difficulties into our way on purpose to reward our Conquest he may like a wise Physician restore us to our Health by bitter Potions and will like an Excellent Governour vindicate if need be our wanton Contempt of Love and Mercy by Severity and Chastisements but he will never like a Salvage Tyrant delight in the Sufferings or Ruine of Innocent or humble Subjects he will never prescribe Impossible Laws that he may enjoy the Pleasure of bloody Executions he will never make the groans of wretched People his Musick nor think Misery and Death the best marks of his absolute Power or fairest Ornaments of his Throne No we shall never need any other proof to clear the Divine Majesty from any such Imputation than to Examine our selves and reflect upon our own behaviour we shall soon find that we alone are guilty of our Ruine and that God is utterly free from it our excessive Enjoyments create the Diseases of the Body and our excessive Passion the pains and torments of the Mind and most of the Changes in our Fortune derive themselves from both a languishing Body and a languishing Reputation a broken Estate and a dejected Mind are the Common Effects of a Disorderly and Debauch't life and such a life is the natural Effect of a Mind enslav'd to the Body and estranged from God not only by a Neglect but by a Contempt and Defiance of all those means by
which a Good God design'd to bring him through Vertue to Glory and then at last a guilty Conscience a distracted Mind and a most melancholy miserable Death is the Consequence and End of all This is the Progress which our Voluntary Sin and Folly makes we cannot think that a Good God can direct or Necessitate us to these Courses they are as repugnant to his Laws as to our own Interest and the same time we forfeit our Happiness we disappoint his Love and Goodness all the Ways and Methods of God are Kind and Gracious and Wise and Rational inanimate Bodies do not desert those Offices he has prescrib'd 'em Animals move regularly by those Instincts he has implanted in them and so both the one and the other do necessarily serve those Excellent Ends for which they were Created But Man having no Necessity but Liberty wove into the Constitution of his Nature and having no Compulsory but only directing Law prescrib'd him has perverted his own ways abus'd his Liberty and made that his Ruine which 〈◊〉 well-us'd had enhanc'd his Merit and Reward This is the Account which the Scripture gives us of Man's Misery it imputes it wholly to himself and represents his Obstinacy as ungrateful and displeasing to God as 't is fatal to himself Hos 13. Ezek. 38. O Israel thou hast destroy'd thy self As I live I delight not bâ— the Death of a Sinner turn ye into ye Math. 23. why will ye die O Jerusalem Jerusalem thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee how often would I have gather'd thy Children together even as a Heâ— gathers her Chickens under her wings and ye would not Nor is this account of things which the Scripture gives â—s any other than that which was generally embrac'd by the Heathens this being not the sense of any particular prepossessions or private Opinions instill'd by Custom or Education but of natural Reason and fairly and easily deduc'd from those Notions of Divine Goodness which were universally entertain'd by all judicious and understanding Heathens and how scandalous a thing were it if that Comfortable and Heavenly Truth which the Darkness and Idolatry of the Superstitious could not extinguish in the Pagan World should be rejected or suppress'd by Christians Jamblichus de Vitâ Pythag. l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is Not the Will of the Gods Idem l. 2. but the Luxury and Riot of Men is the Cause of those Evils which infest the Body c. Hence that Charitable piece of Heathen Devotion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O Father Jove from numerous Evils free Mankind or shew 'em their Ruin's not from thee A Gracious and Benign Deity But from themselves I will here add a Testimony of Apuleius as containing the Sense of the Platonic Philosophy in this Point of God's Government of Mankind Apul. de Dogmate Platonis Omnia quae naturaliter propterea rectè feruntur Providentiae Custodiâ gubernantur nec ullius mali Causa Deo poterit ascribi All the Motions of Providence are wise and regular nor must any Evil be ascrib'd to God as its Cause But this is not all we gain from the Assurance of God's Infinite Goodness that we have no Reason to apprehend any harm or mischief from him that he cannot be the Author of our Misery But we may confidently perswade our selves on the other side Secondly That he is most ready and willing to further and assist us in all our Endeavours after Happiness And now methinks I am so far from questioning the possibility of attaining Happiness that I begin already to feel and enjoy it I see the Day breaking in upon me from above how can he choose but be Happy who is the Love the Care of God! I may walk like Peter on the Waves and bid defiance to the Storms I know I shall never sink whil'st that God upholds me who calls me this way to him I can now easily believe that my temper may be transform'd my Corruptions may be put off and I be made partaker of a Divine Nature since the Spirit of God will dwell with me the Light of God will always shine upon me and the Power of God will always succour and aid me can I imagine as much as any Colour or Pretext why I should not now be able to attain to an Excellent state of Vertue or why this Vertue should not be able to Vanquish all those Difficulties that oppose my Happiness since I am assur'd that God will not refuse me his Spirit if I ask it and that his Grace will be sufficient for me You see of what vast Importance this Truth is that God will be always ready to assist every man in his Endeavours after Happiness and therefore thô it stand here as a Necessary and undeniable Conclusion from the foregoing Discourse thô the Perfection of the Divine Nature do amount to a little less than a Demonstration of it for * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Max. Tyrius Disser 22. Beneficence to his Creatures is as necessarily included in the Notion of Perfection as Perfection is in the Notion of a God yet as well for my own Pleasure as that interest which is nearly concern'd in this Truth I will dwell a little longer on the Confirmation and Illustration of it There are three Eminent Acts of Divine Assistance The First is such a Direction of the Events of Secular Affairs that they may tend to our Good The Second is his Assistance of us in the Attainment of Vertue And the Third is his recruiting us by fresh supplies of Strength in all our hazardous Conflicts and Extraordinary Trials Now thô I could not give an account of the manner how God performs this kind Work of his Providence yet ought not that to disswade me from the belief of it because we know that our Comprehension ought not to be the Standard of Divine Perfections nor the narrow bounds of our Imagination be the utmost extent of the Almighty's Power However 't is not difficult so to explain this Assistance of God in such sort as may free it from the least suspicion of Implying a Contradiction For First as to his Direction and Conduct of Temporal Events how easie will it be for us to Conceive this possible to God if we consider First That God can form what Impressions he pleases in the Minds of Men and inspire 'em with what Affections he shall think most serviceable to his Designs for there is not the least pretext or colour to imagine that the Soul is any more exempt from the Soveraignty of God than the Body or that God cannot do that which the Great or the Cunning or the Eloquent nay the Popular and Ambitious do seldom fail to do raise what Passions he pleases in the Mind of Man Or if we consider Secondly That the Power and Efficacy of Nature is wholly in his