different in this World and the Levelling Principle has been found as impracticable as it is unreasonable God gave at first and since by his Providence continues to some more to others less but to every one in some measure a sufficiency Riches and Abundance like other good Gifts are from above and so is the Improvement too and tho' we ought to use a studious Care yet the Issue must be left to the Author For our Experience will affirm the truth of Solomon's Adage There is that Prov. 11. 24. scattereth and yet encreaseth and there is that withholdeth more than is meet but it tendeth to poverty As also that of the Apostle in a temporal Sence That it is not of him that planteth nor of him that watereth but of God to give the encrease Thus Families and Estates have their sometimes unaccountable rise continuance and decrease From mean Beginnings they arise to Greatness and for a few Ages shine like a Meteor and are admir'd and then sink like the same into their former obscurity and become extinct and unobserv'd amongst the Croud This worthy Sir is a Consideration useful in its kind to put you in mind of your House's Mortality as well as your own to depend upon and be thankful to that Power that has raised you up so far above others Not to be proud and disdain at those that are pass'd by whilst you are chosen to Honour and Estate but rather to fear because as your Estate is greater so is your Charge and Duty and so will your Account be For to whomsoever much is given of him much shall be required and to whom Men have committed much of him they will ask the more That you be kind loving and communicative to those below you especially for Interest will oblige you to those above and like the Sun warm and enliven every one within the Sphere of your Activity and that you wou'd live up to the End for which Providence design'd your Station that is that as you are rais'd up to a higher Capacity than others so you would do more good than others To apprehend truly what and how much that Good is it becomes you to consider two Things First The Use that Men commonly put their Estates to in this Age And then Secondly The Use that God has requir'd them to put them to and the Account that he expects of them accordingly §. II. The Vse of Estates and how commonly imployed with the best Account they can give of the same If you in the first place take a view of the World you will find that when a young Man begins to understand his Quality and that he is born or design'd to an Estate above others he begins to shake off his former Acquaintance and those that the state of Childhood and Ignorance had render'd his Familiars and to seek the Society of his Equals in Birth and Fortune and the Exercises that are proper to his Rank He overlooks his old Companions and will seldom and that in private only own that he knows them and that which we below think to be a spice of Pride is but necessary to his Place in the World to conciliate to himself the Honour and Reverence due to him When he hath found out a Companion of his Joys and his Griefs their great Care is to live up to the Character of their Houses and maintain the Honour of their Predecessors This is the Center to which all the Lines of the Circumference their Tables Attendants Equipage Houses Gardens and other Appendages of Nobleness and Gentility do and indeed shou'd tend And this is true down from the Noble-man to the Farmer and each Man in his several Degree aims at the Support and Credit of his House and Family For their Estates the Riotous waste and consume them the Covetous do what they can to hook in whatsoever comes within their reach and the provident and good Husband by his prudent management of what is left him increases what he has and finds an increase of Esteem and Respect proportionably In fine when every Man has acted his different Part upon the Stage of this World he settles it or the Law for him upon his Son or his Daughter or his nearest Relation This is the Summ of the Life of Man and the Account that he can give to his Maker in the other World must be accordingly And the best that can be given according to the usual management is this That they have husbanded their Charge to the best Advantage without fraud or oppression or wronging of any Man and with the yearly Product thereof they have fed and cloathed themselves their Children and their Servants And besides that have maintain'd their State according to their Degree and have at seasonable Times gratified their Appetites with suitable Pleasures This during their Lives and that when they died they left their paternal Estate with Additions to their eldest Sons the presumptive Heirs of their Dignities together with sufficient Provisions for their other Sons and Daughters And in defect of such Children then to their Nephews or Nieces or nearest Relations or in defect of these also which is rare to some of their Names or whom they best fansie This to pass by the Extorsion and unjust Methods of Covetousness and those profuse and extravagant ones of Sensuality not here to be named is the best Account that usually the best of Mankind can bring of what they have done here But for any eminent Act of Piety especially for the Glory of God and the Advancement of his Service either in their lives-time or at their death 't is very rare and extraordinary and a Work of wonder not imitation 'T is true natural Compassion Custom and Credit obliges Men to give something at their Gates but then 't is usually the Superfluities of Life and the Refuse of their Tables which otherwise wou'd stink and be corrupt and at their deaths some will commend a small Summ to the Poor to be distributed by their Executors which is no sooner received but spent But in these degenerate Times how few standing Acts of Piety and Charity do we find as Monuments of our Love to God and our Neighbour I wou'd not be thought to lessen any Man's Charity when I say that sometimes a merciful and generous Nature and possibly Glory may wring out of the Hands of our Heirs and Executors some good Remain But then as it is rare so it is thought a Work of Supererrogation not Duty that which is laudable but yet may be left undone without danger And where is the Man that thinks such Works necessary to Salvation or that God requires them and they will be advantageous to us in another World 'T was otherwise in Times of yore and not only Works of Charity but Piety were thought to be absolutely requir'd of God and therefore they cou'd not go out of the World without making a kind of Retaliation and Acknowledgment to God as well as
and Devotion but degenerated in latter Times into Idleness Gluttony and all manner of Sensuality and so from Houses of Prayer becoming Dens of Thieves In the desolution of these those remained untouched nay augmented and established because free from their Crimes and may they continue and flourish whilst this Machine of Heaven and Earth continues and not determine but in its Desolution How naturally and how much these tend to the Service of God is obvious to every one that considers That the End of their Erection and the daily exercise of their Members is First To smooth over the Asperities mend the Deformities and finish the Imperfections of humane Nature to introduce Civility and Urbanity Bowels of Mercies humbleness of Mind Meekness Long-suffering Forbearance and Forgiveness and indeed an universal Charity These Graces are requir'd in Christians by the great Apostle of the Gentiles and are introduc'd by the University-Education which softens our harsh Natures and melts them down into a Temper to receive such Impressions And besides by the continual practice of Vertue and sweetness of Conversation and by the Admonitions and Examples of their Superiors the Inclinations to our native Vices are weakned and destroyed and contrary Dispositions and Habits super-induc'd necessary all the remaining parts of our lives to our Politick as well as Religious Capacities Secondly Their Exercise is the Improvement of their rational Faculties whereby we differ from the Beasts and this helps them not only for Discourse and Conversation but for the discovery of Truth and Falshood when it is drest up in its shape and likeness Thirdly Natural Philosophy and the inquisition into the state of Nature the System of the World and the Works of God and thereby they are taught to see things with other Eyes than the Vulgar and discover the Greatness and Goodness of our Creator and fear and honour him accordingly Thirdly The heavenly Doctrine of the Knowledge of our selves Autarchy or the Government of Lusts Appetites and Passions To live as rational Creatures that are not inebriated with present Enjoyments but foresee and provide for Futurity and another Life These are all excellent Preparations and Approaches to the highest of all Sciencies which is likewise taught and practised within those Walls the Knowledge of God and our Duty thereupon according to both natural and revealed Religion And therefore from these Nurseries those that are fit are transplanted into the Church as well as State as workmen that need not be ashamed rightly dividing the Word of Truth throughly furnished with all good Works and fitted to exhibit the Wants of their several Flocks to God as well as their own by those Prostrations of Mind and Body in the immediate Acts of his Worship commonly call'd Divine Service which I am next to speak of For there is a more immediate 2dly Immediately act of exhibiting this Worship and that is the actual homage of the agnition the agnition of God and his Attributes and our dependance on him And this is done only in Prayers and Praises And in this strict Sence neither reading hearing preaching the Word nor frequenting of Sermons is Divine Service or the immediate act of Worship And tho' they have an immediate Aspect that way and tend to it yet they are not the thing it self Wherein by the way we may note the great mistake of the Zealots of this Age who place Religion in nothing but Sermonizing and Hearing and slight all the ancient and holy Methods of approaching the Deity And instead of these gratifie their itching Ears with long canting Harangues and the Froth of Fancy which they admire because they know not what to make of it Whereas Religion consists in the Application of the Mind to the Deity with all manner of Submission and grateful Acknowledgments And these passing from a pure and sanctified Mind in Thoughts or Words proper suitable and throughly examin'd that we may offer unto God a reasonable Service or the Service becoming reasonable Creatures This is the true and essential Worship of God the highest Duty Man is capable of and the End of the Creation 'T is our great Duty upon Earth and the Imployment of Heaven which shall continue to all Eternity There the four strange but glorious living Creatures and the four and twenty Elders together with all the heavenly Host rest not Night nor Day but joyn altogether in perpetual Hymns of Praises and Thanksgivings casting down their Crowns before the Throne and saying Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created §. III. That Works of Piety or the Service of God ought to be promoted by our Estates proved by Five Propositions This is that which we are bound to do our selves in the several Pauses and Intervals we enjoy from the noise of this World And this we are bound to promote to the utmost of our Power and with our Lives and Fortunes And that you may know how your Estate may be serviceable and is liable to contribute to this immortal Work the continuance of Divine Service I shall make a gradual Advance in these Five Propositions following Prop. 1. God is to be worshipped Prop. 1. That God is to be worshipped and his Service promoted by Mankind And here to distinguish a little further which falls properly in the aforegoing Section but was forgot there about the mediate Acts of Divine Worship They are either inward Of inward and outward acts of Worship and that both are required or outward The inward is the act of the Mind and consists in humble and grateful Acknowledgments of his infinite Goodness c. The outward act is the external Expression of this inward Acknowledgment And this Expression is made by sensible Signs such are First The articulate Words of Prayers and Praises And then Secondly The inarticulate Signs made by the Genuflexions and Prostrations of the Body By these outward acts we make our Bodies Parties in the Worship and give sensible Indications to others what we are doing thereby instructing and encouraging them to do the like And therefore this is proper for the publick Service of God because 't is the only visible and sensible act of which our Fellow-Creatures Men and Angels can take cognizance And from these outward Signs of inward Humility have the Greeks taken occasion to call Divine Service or Adoration in their Language Ï€ÏοσκÏνησις a bowing down or Prostration of the Body according to the devout Psalmist O come let us worship and bow down and kneel before the Lord our Maker I will not make comparison betwixt these two acts the inward and the outward each have their several use and excellency because they must not be separated especially in publick Prayer For as the Body and Soul make the Man so the external and internal Service of God do make Divine Service To come to the Proposition then The Proposition
relinquish this his Right in them and give them to the Publick so that now every Intelligent Reader may claim a Title to them as tho' they were his own by a particular Direction And the Author's Prayer is That they may go forth and prosper to the moderating that covetous ingrossing and appropriating Humour that seems to prevail amongst us both in our Lives and at our Deaths that so God may be duly worshipped and Mankind mutually bless one another under the auspicious Influences of Charity c. ERRATA PAge 12. l. 14. for Professors read Possessors p. 33. l. 12. for part r. put ib. l. 13. dele it p. 49. l. 24. for Justice r. Injustice p. 77. l. 6. del i◠p. 99. l. 19. for the r. them p. 118. l. 11. for Care r. Cure THE CONTENTS OF THE First Discourse OF the difference of Estates and the End of Providence therein § I. The Vse of Estates and how commonly employed with the best Account Men can commonly give of the same § II. The End of these Papers with the Author's Design and Apology § III. That we have no Title or Propriety in our Estates in respect of God the Supreme Donor c. § IV. The Ends for which God gives Men Estates and what he expects from them § V. These Ends must be good and are threefold I. Self-preservation what and wherein it consists with Cautions thereupon § VI. II. Good Works Charity and Mercy § VII This prov'd 1. By the Law of Nature and mutual dependance ib. 2. By the Law of God in the Holy Scriptures § VIII Objections answered 1. The pretence of Want and not having any thing to spare § IX 2. The Law 's Provision for the Poor This prov'd to be no hinderance of Charity § X. Several Instances of Methods of Charity as Alms-Houses Schools c. Of the Colleges and the two Vniversities c. 3. That God hath not defin'd the Quota of Charity considered and answered § XI How much is necessary to be imploy'd in Works of Charity ib. The Summ of the Duty of Charity § XII The Encouragements or Motives to Charity § XIII 1. God designs it when he gives us Estates ib. That Charity is a Complication of many excellent Graces 2. That Charity doth not impoverish any Man but tends to Riches and Increase § XIV This prov'd 1. By Scripture 2. Reason 3. Experience III. That Charity is a generous and honourable Vertue § XV. 4. That Charity is rewarded with Heaven as well as Earth § XVI The increase of its reward noted ib. The Conclusion Shewing the difference betwixt the Desert and Reward of the ordinary and charitable Disposals § XVII 1. The ordinary disposal of our Estates to our Heirs consider'd as to Happiness Desert and Reward of the Testator ib. 2. That of the charitable Persons Instances in that of Founders and Benefactors of Colleges Schools c. The preference in three respects § XVIII 1. He doth good to others as well as himself 2. He doth the best good in respect of the Body 3. His Works and Reward increaseth till the end of the World § XIX XX. THE CONTENTS OF THE Second Discourse VVHy the Author treats of Works of Piety in the last place § 1. The Assertion of this Discourse which is this That every Man is bound to the utmost of his Power to promote the Honour of God and maintain his Service And for the sake of that those that officiate in the same and that he that is able and doth it not mis-imploys his Talent and so must give an Account of that Neglect at the last Day c. § II. What is meant by the Glory and Honour of God or Divine Service This exhibited 1. By mediate Acts that tend to his Honour as Moral and Natural Philosophy The Founders of Schools of Learning and how their Societies tend to the Divine Service 2. By immediate Acts of Divine Worship and what they be and the Mistakes of Men about it noted That Works of Piety and the Divine Service ought to be promoted by our Estates This proved in five Propositions § III. Prop. 1. That God is to be worshipped and his Service promoted Of outward and inward Acts of Divine Worship and that both are required This prov'd from the Obligations we have to 1. Truth 2. Gratitude And 3. Indempnity or Pardon of Sin Prop. 2. That God is daily to be worshipped Of publick and private Worship And that one of these is to be offered up daily § IV. Prop. 3. That there is a necessity for a publick Ministry to perform the same § V. Prop. 4. That this Ministry ought to have a Competency or sufficient Maintenance § VI. What God himself heretofore assign'd for such a Competency 1. Amongst the Patriarchs 2. Amongst the Jews and the large Provisions he made for them 3. Amongst the Primitive Christians And how the Churches came to be endowed § VII How the Revenues of the Church came to be alienated § VIII The Pretences and Methods of the same § IX The miserable Effects of such Alienations § X. Such as 1. The Poverty of the Clergy 2. Their Contempt and loss of Authority § XI 3. Their Depression and Dejection of Mind and Conversation § XII 4. The increase of the Poor § XIII 5. The neglect and intermission of the Service of God and the Opinion of its Indifferency and Vselessness § XIV 6. Pluralities and the Inconveniencies thereof § XV. The usual Pleas for impoverishing of the Clergy and the Objections against the Fourth Proposition answer'd § XVI What must be judg'd a Sufficiency for every Parish-Priest ib. Prop. 5. That it is the Duty of every Christian to provide such a Competency as far as he is able for the Settlement and Continuance of the Service of God § XVII This demonstrated from 1. Scripture 2. Example of God's People in all Ages 3. The Equity of the Thing natural Reason and Men of all Religions The several Pleas and Objections against the Fifth Proposition consider'd and answer'd § XVIII A general and particular Application and Address § XIX 1. To the Noble Rich and Wealthy 2. To the Impropriators § XX. 3. To those that have no Children c. to provide for § XXI 4. To the Bishops Dignitaries and others of the Clergy § XXII 5. To all Christians in general Wherein is shewed 1. The best Account that can be commonly made to God at the last Day and its Insufficiency § XXIII 2. A better way of accounting with God propos'd and the Conclusion of the whole AN ESSAY TO Revive the Necessity OF THE Ancient Charity and Piety Honoured SIR §. I. Of the difference of Estates and the End of Providence therein WHat our blessed Lord observ'd long ago concerning the difference God makes in the distribution of his heavenly Talents giving to some five to others two and to some one is found true also of those that are Earthly Estates are now and ever have been
or abroad and are asham'd to show any reluctance at it but when a small piece of Charity is to be done or but a Brief to be given to how many Difficulties are objected and what Complaints for want of Money And yet at the same time if an useless Piece of Vanity is propos'd to sale or some little thing to gratifie Ostentation how eager they are and how will they incommode themselves to procure Money to purchase it And yet when procur'd it shall be laid up in a Box and there sleep it may be whole Years together and never see the Sun How happy wou'd it be if those Jewels were imploy'd to adorn the Soul withal and if those precious Stones were turned into Bread for the Poor If those Pearls were dissolv'd into Drink for them But this must not be hop'd for yet I must say again That many of these chargeable Trifles may be spar'd without the least dishonour And here I will not be so impudent as to ransack the Ladies Closets and search their Boxes and note their Extravagances in Dressings and outward Ornament nor will I compute the Charge of their Lordship's supernumerary Hawks Hounds Horses Attendants and the Instruments of State and Pleasure of both Sexes They are able to judge of that best as also what may be spared without detriment to Life or Honour for something must be if the Estate will not bear it otherwise For both God and Man will expect Works of Charity and Mercy to be done while we are here and that in proportion to what we possess And this I name in the Second Place as an End for which God has given us our Earthly Portion and which is next to be considered §. VII The second End Works of Charity and Mercy 2. That no Man's Estate is so much his own that he may spend it as he pleases and that our dear Country our Neighbour our Friend yea and our Enemy if in want claims a part of it and that God will expect an Account of these Things at the great Audit appears by the Book of Nature as well as by the Holy Scriptures and hath the united Suffrage of Reason and Religion In Nature we find that as every This prov'd first By the Law of Nature thing depends so every thing is subservient to each other and the Universe preserves it self by mutual Helps and Assistances The Heavens rowl about incessantly for the Benefit of those things within their Vortex and the Sun the greater Luminary rejoycerh as a Giant refresh'd with Wine to run his Course as David expresses himself according to Vulgar apprehension or rather according to the Modern Sages in Nature stands still in the Centre and contents himself to send out his Emanations of Light and Heat to gild the Globes that wheel round about him and enliven the Creatures that inhabit them The Earth our common Mother feeds and supports her Offspring and they in return enrich her Superficies The sensible Creatures notwithstanding the mutual enmity of some become Food one to another and submit to the Law of Nature and serve and feed Man the Lord of the visible Creation And God hath convinc'd Man by the Wants that he is sensible of and the Help he expects from others to supply theirs also To give as well as ask and to be a blessing to those from whom he expects a blessing For no Man can live without the assistance of another and the King is beholden to the Charity of Women in his Childhood and the Labours of the Field throughout his whole life To which I add That the End of the Existence of Things is founded in Community and we live not for our selves but for some Being without us The Sun shines not to it self but to us and the Earth feeds and nourisheth not her self but the Creatures that live upon her The Birds Beasts and Fishes continue their Species but it is for the delight and service of Man And Man was not made to eat and drink and propagate his like but to be serviceable to his God and his fellow-Creatures Is not this then the Lesson of Nature and do not we read it in all the Works of God That Self-preservation is not the sole End of the created Beings but the Good of the Community as the Glory of God is that of the whole Creation §. VIII And 2dly By the Law of God in the Holy Scripture But if the Book of Nature be seal'd up to those that will not open or read it yet the Holy Scriptures are not so that Book lies open and is read and expounded daily in our Ears and if we do not stop them we cannot be ignorant of our Duty and this whether we consider God's Commands about Works of Charity in the Old Testament or the New In the Old he was pleas'd to settle an Estate by a positive Law on the Poor viz. A Second Tenth after that of the Levites was paid every Third Year which was the Third Part of every Man's Nine Parts the Tenth being paid before to the Levites and besides this the extraordinary Gleanings of the scattered Corn the restoring of the Pledge and lending without Interest and other occasional Charities Add to these those general acts of Love which we are taught to bear even to our Enemy whose Oxen or Asses and consequently any other of his Goods we should not suffer to fall into any hazard and much less his Person So that here is a manifest Charge entail'd for ever upon every Jews Estate for the good of the Publick And this is greater to the Christians if you consider that our blessed Lord not only fill'd up the Vacuities but strain'd up the Obligations of their Law higher than it was before Give saith our Lord to every one Matth. 5. 42. that asketh thee and from him that would borrow turn thee not away Love your very Enemies and do good to them that hate you Thus he for all And then for our Friends Nature will teach us enough for them So that the Law of Christ subjects our Estates to a boundless and universal Charity even to the worst as well as best of Men and no Man that wants must be excepted or neglected And the Apostle St. Paul accordingly orders his Gal. 6. 10. Galatians to watch opportunities to do good to all Men and to the Houshold of Faith especially And lest this doing Good shou'd be interpreted of a verbal Benefaction of wishing them well and praying Jam. 2. 20. for them only St. James another of his Apostles vehemently declaims against such Charity and calls it a dead work and the Man vain that trusts to it And this was no more than what he had learn'd from his Master in the instructive Parable he made in answer to the Question of the Lawyer Τίς á¼ÏƒÏ„ίν μου πλησίον Luke 10. who is my Neighbour Where he shews by the sequel that 't is our Duty to engage our Time Beast
Purse and Credit for the sake of a wounded and wanting Enemy Stranger or Unbeliever For so did the Charitable Samaritan to the wounded Jew he bound up his wounds pouring in oil and wine he set him on his own Beast brought him to his Inn paid for his past Charge and engag'd for his future Who cou'd do more for his Friend and nearest Relation This Nature and Gratitude teaches us but the Christian Religion extends it to the most hated of Men. For so ended our Saviour that Parable I tu fac similiter Go thou and do likewise And finally to shew the necessity of Works of Charity our Lord has declared in his Description of the last Judgment That no less than Heaven is the Reward and no less than Hell the Punishment of the Neglect of Charity Thus if we consider what God hath declared either under the Law or under the Gospel we cannot question but that God the rightful Proprietor of all Things hath conveyed our Estates to us clog'd with the Incumbrance or rather Duty of giving Part to charitable Uses and that every Man is no more than a Trustee for what he possesses for several Uses directed and limited by the general Rules of Charity And finally that a strict Account will be exacted of us about the same at the last Day and that under the highest Obligations of Rewards and Punishments This being so what I have more to say upon this Head shall be divided in answering the Objections that Men make to excuse themselves from Works of Charity and in shewing how great Encouragements and Obligations there are to this Duty §. IX Objections answer'd 1. First therefore for the Excuses they wou'd appear extream foolish and light did not selfish part it it self in the Scale Such is this which follows and that is Obj. 1. The pretence of Want answer'd 1. The pretence of Want There is not enough for our selves and the Necessities of our Dependants and therefore Charity must begin at home where she shall find too much Work ever to go abroad But this Plea is generally false and the effect of an evil Eye We look upon our Estates through false Opticks and 't is worth our Observation to see how our several Vices delude us Pride and Ostentation presents them to us through a Magnifying Glass and makes us boast of more than we have But when any good Work desires entertainment Covetousness and ill Nature presently turns the other end of the Glass and represents our Estate small and far off and so furnishes us with a Plea of Inability which yet we wou'd scorn any Body else shou'd make for us Here 's nothing for you say those within Doors but if those without shou'd say so much 't wou'd be taken as no mean Affront But Selfishness is impudent as well as insatiable and like the Daughters of the Horse-Leach always crys Give give And to Agar's four Things I may add a fifth that never has enough and that is Covetousness And yet perhaps this Plea may sometimes be admitted as true but never as conclusive We have seldom enough in comparison of what we wou'd have We have not enough to satisfie our Lusts and Appetites our Pride and vain Glory We ask Counsel of our Fears and Desires our Pleasure and Delights and then 't is no wonder that we are answer'd That there is not enough We take false Measures in our Allowances and our Misery and Folly is that we cannot be satisfied without much more than we really need We consult either Covetousness or Prodigality in stating our Wants which are Counsellors both clamorous and insatiable Our Stables and Tables are commonly too large for our Houses and our Houses for our Estates and all of 'em not large enough for our Minds and when we have obtain'd one Accomplishment we presently want another and our Wants increase the more they are repaired and still as one thing is done another starts up and pleads to be rectified And thus poor or rather noble Mortals are amus'd and abus'd all their Life long flattered with Expectations and deceived by Fruition and all this to keep off the Complaints of Piety and Charity and hinder themselves of Happiness And besides our selves which as things are managed take up our whole time there be Sons and Daughters Nephews and Nicces Grand-Children and sometimes a numerous Posterity to be provided for that they too may live in Affluence and Vanity when we have acted our Parts on the Stage and are gone off Why if all this and whatsoever Fancy or Luxury can propose be first done before you can bethink your self of doing any thing upon the Score of Vertue and Religion the Wealth of Croesus wou'd be insufficient and the Age of Methusalem too short for you Pride and Vanity are Vices both chargeable and importunate But if we wou'd but once bound our Desires and limit our Wishes if we wou'd but pare off our Excrescencies and learn to deny our selves some things which we must and other things which we ought to want here we then might find something to spare for other Uses than what serves our selves Let our unreasonable Gaiety and Ornaments be less studied and vain Expences at Gaming Riot and Luxury be saved and what is laid up as useless be produc'd and there wou'd be a Stock sufficient for the Exercise of Charity God will be contented with that which we sacrifice to our Lusts and Appetites Deal ingenuously with him and let not the deceitful Heart cheat him of that and perhaps it will be enough This may serve to baffle this Pretence which might be sufficiently answer'd by saying only this As Self-preservation is necessary so are Works of Piety and Charity and if the Soul is more excellent than the Body and the Life to come more to be valued than that which is present if Eternity is to be preferr'd before Time and a never-ending Reign in the Regions of Light and Bliss be more desirable than this short and uncertain abode in a Vale of Darkness and Sorrows then without Controversie the Duties of Piety and Charity are more necessary even than Self-preservation For this prolongs a miserable Life but Charity and Piety ensures a Happiness without mixture of Alloy or fear of Change And therefore tell me no more that you have not enough You may nay you must find sufficiency for all three Nor is this directed only to the Nobility and Gentry to the Great Rich and Fortunate but to all for Charity is in every Man's Power more or less and the meanest may find opportunities to exercise it Even the poorest may meet Offices in which he may be serviceable to the richest as the Mouse in the Fable was to the Lion §. X. Obj. 2. The Laws Provision for the Poor answer'd 2. But it will be further objected That the Law hath plentifully provided for the Poor that they are ready to be our Masters having a sufficient Part of our Estates settled upon
them and that upon Complaint they may have possession of whit is their due without delay or charge so that no Men need to want but such as are idle and that 't is even a Sin to relieve these And further That it is very difficult to give any Charity but what will ease the Rich and that they not the Poor will have the Benefit of it That Gifts are commonly abused that the Intentions of the Donor are soon perverted and that such Donations are usually an Injury to the Publick And that finally the Object of Charity being taken away the Duty ceaseth To all which I answer in their order 1. For the hardness of our Hearts these Laws were made and it is no great Commendation to us that there was a necessity for them It shews at least that this is the Iron Age wherein all the Bonds of Religion were broken and Heaven and Hell laid aside so that our Legislators were forc'd to make use of the more powerful Secular Penalties to prevent the miserable perishing in our Streets 2. But Secondly This Objection stands upon a false Supposition that only the old and decrepit and such as come within the compass of the Law are Objects of Charity and whereas there be as many or more that receive no Collection are such then those that do There are many poor laborious House-keepers that hunger and thirst in secret and are asham'd to make their Wants known and yet help to maintain those that want less than themselves These may well exercise our Consideration and Mercy Our Saviour's Prediction has been hitherto verified and we have and ever shall have those with us whose Wants will keep alive the Fire of Charity besides those that the Laws have provided for There be several occasional Acts of Mercy that meet us every Day such are the Relief of the distressed the Comfort of the afflicted the Vindication of those that are wronged and slandered the strengthening of the weak Hands and the confirming the feeble Knees Besides those of durable Effects such are the erection endowing or augmenting of Habitations for poor Widows and the Fatherless a Vertue contrary to the Pharesaick way of devouring them The Education of Youth and placing out of poor Children unto fit Trades and Callings Children are the presumptive Supports of the Common-wealth when we are gone And therefore to take Care of the forming their Manners and the mending and perfecting of their Natures is an inestimable Good to Posterity and a probable Way of bringing many Souls to Heaven And that I may not mention any more look but upon the many Charities in London and elsewhere and you 'll find more ways to exercise this Christian Vertue than I fear will be used And here I cannot chuse but remember and at the same time congratulate Mankind for all the Nurseries of Learning and Religion and especially for the glorious Foundations in the two Universities of our Land founded and augmented by Men and Women famous in their Generations For if we consider their lofty Buildings regular Walks pleasant Gardens their Chappels Halls and Libraries the Gravity and Learning of their Superiors and the Civility and Obedience of the Inferiors and in a word the Decency and Symmetrical Proportion of their Edifices or Vertues of those that now are so happy as to inhabit them we must say That hardly all the World can equal the one and all Ages the other Here Pleasure and Profit Wit and Ingenuity all the Graces and all the Muses have their peaceful and innocent Habitation And tho' some overcloy'd with the best things leave these Seats for a noisie World yet none did ever so but as he had cause enough repented him of it afterwards Wonder not that I mention these amongst the Instances of Charity So they are and so they were at first intended and not without offence be it spoken for those that are Rich Great and have sufficient Estates to maintain their Relations there and who yet basely covet and procure the Founders Charity but for the meaner sort such I mean to whom Nature hath been liberal in the Gifts of the Mind but scanty in those of Fortune That these as well as others might find means to emerge out of their obscurities and grow up into Greatness that they might exercise and improve their Talents to the Glory of God the Honour of his Church and the Good of the Common-weal All these were the Effects of a pious Charity or a charitable Piety or rather of Piety and Charity united and if no where else yet there you may find opportunities of adding to both But this more naturally falls under the Third End of which hereafter And therefore to return Thirdly 'T is not the Poor alone but every Man that may be the occasional Object of Liberality The wounded Jew was not poor before he was robbed otherwise he might have pass'd on safely and the Samaritan that assisted him in his Extremity might have been in the same Condition himself Time and Chance happens to every Man and none are free from the Misfortunes of this unconstant World 'T is our Duty to be in a readiness to assist the afflicted and God only knows whose turn shall be next so Those into whose Minds God hath put good Desires shall have some opportunities to bring the same to good Effect We cannot be without Objects of Charity if we have sincere Intentions to it §. XI Obj. 3. That God hath not defin'd the Quota of Charity answer'd 3. Lastly it is said That if Liberality must have a share of our Estates over and above what the Law obliges us to it shall yet have little enough For God nor Man hath defin'd the Quota of this redundant Charity I may give what I please and where And I know my own Wants and do not those of others and therefore I think it best to administer to mine own Necessities which ought to be first serv'd and then to those of others if I have ought to spare and not otherwise For if God hath not appointed what Part of my Estate I shou'd bestow upon Works of Charity then 't is left to my self and if so Self must be first satisfied and then there will be but little left So that this is the way to constitute a partial Judge who will shrink up the Portion of Charity to a very small quantity To which I answer 1. 'T is confessed That neither the particular Modes nor the proportion of doing Good are or indeed can be defin'd prescrib'd and enforc'd under a Penalty because they depend upon future Contingencies and God deals with Man as with an ingenuous Creature He loves a free-will Offering and therefore has left us a Latitude He has not set the Bounds and Limits because we might advance it according as we find opportunity But then if any Man from thence takes occasion to shrink it up to that minuteness that it is next to nothing let him know that
he doth but cheat himself of his Reward as well as God and his Neighbour of their Due For the general Rules of loving viz. effectively and to all the purposes of Good our Neighbour as our selves will oblige us to imploy a proportional Part of our Estates in that Duty The Rule of doing Good to all Men will oblige us to act as far as we are able and how far that is God knows better than we do our selves nor can we think to deceive him He sees the true extents of Self-preservation and what that doth require what we may spare together with the Thoughts of our Hearts and the Sincerity or Hypocrisie of our Intentions and will reward us accordingly 2. Tho' God hath not defin'd what Proportion he expects for the Uses of Piety and Charity yet we may well take an estimate of that by what he appointed to the Jews his old People for the hardness of whose Hearts he thought it best to prescribe particulars And that was every third Years second Tythe which was the thirtieth Part yearly The gleanings the restoring of the pledge and borrowing without use c. This was the settled Proportion of Charity and it was a Jews Righteousness Deut. 24. 13. That Duty which he was bound to do in Righteousness or Justice and without the doing of which he cou'd not be accounted a just or righteous Person For this was the Poors due which they might demand by Law and which it was Injustice to deny them But besides this there was a higher Degree of Charity which was to assist them on all Occasions and doing all manner of acts of Kindness to them over and above what the Law prescrib'd And this was the natural Effects of loving their Neighbours as their selves The assisting and providing for a wounded Man on the Way as the Samaritan did for the Jew he found betwixt Jerusalem and Jericho Luke 10. The extraordinary and occasional Acts of Pity were called Mercy or Goodness and the Man that us'd them was call'd a good Man Thus a righteous Man and a good Man seem'd to be distinguish'd The latter of more desert Rom. 5. 7. than the former Scarcely for a righteous Man one that is just and gives every Man his legal due and no more will one die tho' peradventure for a good Man the charitable Person who obliges Mankind by all manner of extraordinary Kindness some would even dare to die Possibly there may be found some Person that out of Gratitude and the desire of continuing such a common Blessing to Mankind wou'd lay down his Life for to redeem his Thus in Micah 6. 8. God requires us first as the lowest Duty to do justly and then secondly as a higher Perfection to love Mercy and then thirdly as the highest to walk humbly with our God And Nebuchadnezzar is exhorted by Daniel to break off his Sins of Justice Pride c. by righteousness by doing justly and making restitution c. and his iniquities of Cruelty and Tyranny by showing Mercy to the Poor c. This being set last as a higher Perfection than the first Finally where we read ελεημοσÏνη Alms in our Saviour's Sermon Matth. 6. 1. on the Mount some ancient Copies have it δικαιοσÏνη Righteousness And so the Vulgar Latin at this Day reads it Attendite ne justitiam vestram faciatis coram hominibus See that ye do not your Justice or Righteousness before Men. So that a Jewish Righteousness which was the paying of the settled Maintenance to the Poor was as to Degrees descending limitted below which they might not sink But the Jewish Mercy or Charity exceeded that and was not limitted as to Degrees ascending It was something above Righteousness and exceeding it but how much was left to Zeal joyn'd with Prudence to determine Now all this is only to give Light to the Place of our Saviour Matth. 5. 20. Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of God Which thus understood teaches us That Christ expects that we shou'd at least excell the Scribes and Pharisees in our Liberality to the Poor and that our Works of Mercy ought to exceed theirs that God expects a higher Quota from the Christian than he did from the Jew in proportion to the greater Grace and Encouragements that he hath received under the Gospel This being laid down for a Principle the rest is left to every Man's Circumstances and to the Rules of Prudence only with the Apostle's Caution 2 Cor. 9. 6. He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly §. XII The Summ of this Duty of Charity And now having I think fully silenced these importunate Prejudices give me leave Sir out of the Premises to conclude our Duty to be this That all Men watch all opportunities of mutual Assistance and Kindness but the Rich especially as having more Convenience and Power to do Good and from whom God will without doubt expect an Account accordingly Spend not therefore all upon your Self and Attendants nor let your Follies and Appetites engross all Charge your self every Year with some publick or private Good more or less according to your Ability and when the Year is ended be able to give God and your own Conscience an Account of it Put not off Charity till your death and then think it enough if your Executors give something at your Funeral which usually turns to little Account 'T is a sign of an earthly and sensual Mind to part with nothing while you are able to keep it and 't is no Thanks to give what we can keep no longer While we live our Charity cannot be perverted but when we are gone it may Tho' by the way it is no loss to us for God rewards according to our good Intentions not according to the Effects they may accidentally produce and 't is not the Iniquity of Mankind in abusing Gifts of Piety that shall rob the Donor of his Crown Let us do Good and trust God with the Issue This I note here having forgot to answer the latter part of the second Objection in its place * Pag. 39. But altho' I wou'd have every Man's Charity begin in his life-time yet I wou'd not have it end with it The more durable it is the more glorious and beneficial it the longer preserves the Fame of the Founder and is an increase of his Happiness by how much his Gift continues to do Good to Mankind It gathers Strength and Vertue by its Age. It is the best Tomb and Epitaph and therefore Conde tibi tumulum nec fide haeredis amori c. Build up your Pillar your self and see if possible your Work finished for there is no Work nor Device nor Wisdom in the Grave whither we are all posting §. XIII The Encouragements to Charity Having said thus much in settling the Duty I plead for and directing it there remains that I should speak of the Encouragements we
offered up all to Works of Piety and Charity as at Jerusalem Acts 4. 35. Their Charity was so great that they seem'd to give away even their own selves to the Lord and his Apostles as the Church of Macedonia 2 Cor. 8. 5. And indeed in all Places in those times of Zeal and Devotion they were so abundantly Pious in respect of God and so Charitable to the Poor and took such effectual Care for the Worship of God and his Worshippers that there needed no Decrees of Councils or Laws of the Church or State to force Men to build Churches or endow them Lib. de dispensatione contrà sacrilegos p. 176. Nulla enim compulit necessitas fervente ubique religiosâ Devotione amore illustrandi Ecclesias ultrò aestuante saith Agobardus while the Flame of religious Devotion lasted and the earnest Desire of building and endowing of Churches burned of its own accord There needed no Laws or Canons to enjoyn Men to pay their Tythes and Offerings and to give to God's Treasury They did it of their own accord as far and beyond what they were able All the stately and magnificent Structures throughout the Christian World that have escaped the Ruines of Time and Sacrilege and their ample Revenues The decent Parish-Churches and the Portions of Glebe and Tythe allotted to them by pious Benefactors whose Names are recorded in Heaven tho' lost some of them on Earth are sufficient Evidences of this Truth Thirdly From the Equity of the 3. From the Equity of the Thing and natural Reason and from Men of all Religions Thing and a Parity of natural Reason It cannot be imagin'd but that God shou'd take Care of his Honour and we are told in several places that he is jealous of it and that he will not give it to another Nor can it be thought but he hath the same Design in preserving the World and every Man's Estate and Properties that he had in making it at first which was for nothing but for the manifesting his Glory and Goodness to created Beings so that it must be concluded that he is well pleased that Men shou'd praise him for his Goodness and declare the Wonders that he doth for the Children of Men. And consequently that there shou'd be an Order of Men for that purpose and Places where they might officiate and declare his Praises Besides it is no reason we shou'd hold Estates of God and yet not acknowledge the same by Word and Deed. Homage and Fealty are but rational Returns amongst our selves the Foundation of our Titles and Right and the Conditions upon which we possess what we have and 't is no less than Injustice and Ingratitude to deny them And can we expect to possess his Gold and his Silver and all the precious Products of his Earth and yet allow him no Acknowledgments Or shall we imagine that he was careful of his Honour heretofore under the Jewish Law and yet has wholly forgot it amongst us No certainly the contrary seems to be written in every Man's Heart and to be part of the Law of Nature Hence it is that even the Heathens as well as the Jews and Christians had ever and have still their Temples Oratories Oracles Priests and the Places and Ministers of Religion and these endowed plentifully and in some Places magnificently provided for And tho' they mistook the Object the true God yet they agreed with all others that he was to be worshipped The Christians in all Ages since our Lord's Ascention had their Oratories Places of Divine Service and as soon as they cou'd for Persecution their Churches and Houses of Prayer yea and those beautified inrich'd and endow'd with plentiful Revenues Thus they continued for many Centuries till the Devil found out the way to impoverish them under pretence of Religion And what ought to be taken likewise into Consideration and shame the luke-warm and covetous Members of the Church of England who are content to serve God with a cheap Religion and that which cost them nothing the Dissenters themselves of whatsoever Denomination they are or by what Sect or Name distinguished think themselves oblig'd to build Meeting-Houses seeing they must not nor can take possession of our Churches nor can I blame them it being the natural Consequence of their Principles which cannot it seems joyn with ours in our worship of God And without doubt if Times and Circumstances wou'd allow they wou'd do what was necessary to the maintaining and settling their Service in the said Places And in the mean time they raise voluntary Contributions for the Support of their Teachers in proportions as 't is said superior to what we of the Church of England enjoy by Law of the Estates that are still left us And while those of our Communion leave the Ministers to make shift with the present Settlements tho' never so small which are the Remains of our Ancestors Piety and no thank to us for it has been demonstrated that we pay nothing of our own to the Parish-Priest but our Offerings c. whilst they I say seldom will be persuaded to add any thing to their small Stipends unless they increase their Duties with an additional Sermon or the like the Dissenters all but the Quakers pay Scot and Lot and their Tythes and yet can find Money to pay their Teachers and discharge the particular super-numerary Expences of their Communion And this I note to the shame of those of our own Communion that are bred up under the best Church in the World and yet are most unworthy of that Privilege The Summ of all is this and The Con clusion from the Premisses from the Premisses I wou'd inferr this Conclusion Every Man ought to the utmost of his Ability contribute to the maintenance and continuance of the Worship of God which by reason of the smalness of the settled Revenue is in some Places quite intermitted and in others perform'd by halves so that the Administrator of God's Service and his Dependents might live plentifully and be able to attend the Duties of his Calling without necessitous Avocations Then God wou'd be duly serv'd his Minister be rever'd his Authority be preserv'd Hospitality and Charity maintain'd the Poor reliev'd and Publick Prayers wou'd be made daily for himself and them while the Devout wou'd have the opportunity of the Hours of Prayer Then every Bishop and Presbyter wou'd be the Husband of one Church as well as one Wife nor wou'd there be more need of Pluralities of Parsonages than of Wives And whether these are not Blessings considerable and worth the desire and striving after I leave you and all the World to judge §. XVIII And now I have done when I have answered the Pleas that Avarice and Selfishness may put in against the Duty I plead for and made some fit Applicatory Conclusion And First It will be said That this The several Pleas against Works of Piety consider'd and answer'd is a Project