perswasions incouragements and all other fit means to prevail with the whole Neighbourhood or Parish to frequent the Church For as he would not go to Heaven alone nay knows assuredly he shall not come there if he do not indeavour to carry others along with him so neither is he contented to feed upon the fatness of Gods House alone but would have others partake with him He hath a holy indignation to observe Theaters to be filled Exchanges and Markets thronged and Gods House unfurnished with Guests He wonders at the inconsiderateness of men who incur such a guilt by the contempt of Religion and pitties their folly that deny themselves so many comforts and advantages as Gods House affords above any other place of resort whatsoever Besides he considers that not only God is more honour'd by a general confluence to his service but that his own heart is more inlarged and chearful and his affections more raised as it were moving in Consort when there is a brave concourse in Divine Offices Psal 122. 1 2. I rejoiced saith the holy man when they said Come let us go up to the House of the Lord our feet shall stand within thy gates O Jerusalem Well-disposed persons it seems then were wont to call upon and provoke one another and to flock together in Companies towards the Temple and it was a pleasant spectacle to the Psalmist to behold it And let good Christians be ashamed to be outdone in any thing of this kind since our Church and worship is so incomparably more excellent than theirs What was it that a zealous Jew could provoke his Neighbours to go up to the Temple for to see a Beast slain and a smoke made with the fat and entrails or to muse upon the obscure Hieroglyphicks in the Fabrick the Utensils the Ornaments and Service of that House But a Christian goes to the Church to hear the lively Oracles of God to see Heaven opened in all its glories and to be shewed the way thither Therefore he that is sensible of the great odds on the side of the Christian worship and who hath so much Prudence and Charity as to render him serviceable amongst his Neighbours to such a purpose will jog and awaken them out of their sloth and negligence of going to the Church by wise and manly Discourses and friendly and familiar Exhortations from the considerations of the scandal to Religion and discouragement to the Minister by the peoples remissness and of the duty and benefit of diligent attendance and he will with the same zeal and care indeavour to answer their objections and remove their scruples about it and especially considering that this is commonly better taken and sinks deeper into such men as need it when it is done not only by the Minister who is presumed by these incogitant persons to do it for his interest or the reputation of his person or profession but by those who are upon the same terms with themselves To all this the pious man aforesaid will wisely improve the interest of his Charity to oblige the poorer sort to their duty dispensing most liberally to them who are most inclinable to follow his counsel in this particular and for the middle sort of men he will trade and buy and sell upon choice with those that are best affected to the Church and Religion But if all this should not do and that he cannot prevail upon all yet 10. In the last place he will not fail at least to over-rule his own Family that they shall universally and constantly frequent the Church and so be an example to the Neighbourhood This I have shewed before every Governour of a Family hath authority from God to do and the holy Scripture affords us several instances of the efficacy and success of making use of it to this purpose amongst the rest by virtue hereof Joshua undertook for his House that they should serve the Lord and Cornelius prevailed upon those under him so that he is said to fear the Lord with all his House And indeed a Master of a Family will be able to give a very sorry account of his Family if he cannot oblige them to go to Church with him for we find by woful experience that where under pretence of scruples about the publick worship inferiours have claimed the priviledge of exemption and been permitted to resort to Conventicles the effect hath been that such persons have not only grown captious and insolent and by degrees to despise their Superiours but having by this means gotten from under the Eye of their Governours have made no scruple to run into Debauchery Therefore let the pious man strictly charge himself thus far and look upon himself as very insignificant in his place if he do not so much publick honour to God and Religion as to bring his Family to the House of God CHAP. VII Of Civil Piety Or How a good man may carry himself so as to promote Gods honour and the publick good together with his own peace and comfort in the Parish considered only as a Civil Society or Neighbourhood WHen our blessed Saviour Mat. 5. 13. saith to his Disciples Ye are the salt of the earth he did not direct himself only to his Apostles or to them and their Successors the Pastors of his Church as some have imagined but to all his Disciples in general For besides that the Beatitudes which he pronounces in the former part of the Chapter and his other Discourse pursuant of them which immediately precedes these words apparently concern all Christians so far as they are qualified for them It is evident also by S. Luke Chap. 14. comparing the 25 Verse with the 32. that it was his intention to apply this title of being the salt of the earth to the whole body of true Christians And then the importance of that expression will be this That the true spirit of Christianity is and ought to be a principle of activity and the Professors of this Religion are not to content themselves with passive innocency and that they escape the contagion of evil Example nor be corrupted and debauched by the temptations or customs of the World But that they must look upon it as their duty to better and improve the state of Mankind to influence upon it to season and preserve others from corruption as well as themselves Nor is this activity of true Christianity to be strictly confined within the limits of the Church or to display it self merely in the great duties of Religion properly considered For as our Saviour designed not only to shew men a way to another World above but also to amend the condition of this present World below and to make it a more quiet and comfortable habitation so doubtless when he calls his Disciples the salt of the whole Earth he intended to require that every good man should within his whole sphere indeavour to promote humanity morality and the civil and political happiness of mankind The
that he tempt not himself to flatness by an affected length of these holy duties for though it be a sign of an indevout temper to be too compendious and concise in them as if we grudged the time spent in Gods Service and although it be also irreverent towards God to be so short and abrupt as if we briefly dictated to him what we would have done yet it is to be guilty of the same fault to be impertinently tedious with him as if he could not understand us without many words or would be wrought upon by tedious importunity Besides all this it is to be considered that often when the spirit is willing the flesh is weak and that our bodies cannot always correspond with our minds now in such a case to affect the prolonging of our Devotions is to lose in the intention what we get in the extension of them for it will be sure either to make us go unwillingly to our duty or to perform it very superficially in either of which circumstances it is not likely we should be pleasing to God or be able to make any comfortable reflections afterwards upon such performance The measures of Devotion therefore are not expresly prescribed by God but are to be determined by a prudent respect to the peculiar constitution of the person the condition of his affairs and the extraordinariness of the occasion and to go about to exceed these bounds is an argument of intemperate zeal which is never acceptable to God and is so far injurious to a mans self that it manifestly hinders what it pretends to promote To these I add Fourthly Let not the devout man be very curious or sollicitious about the from or expressions of his secret duties I mean whether his Prayers be read out of a Book or be the present conceptions of his own mind so long as they are offered up from an understanding Soul and an humble and affectionate heart for these are all the things that God looks at and wherein his honour is directly concerned and therefore as he hath no value for eloquence of speech on the one hand so neither hath he for strength of memory or for pregnancy and variety of phancy on the other but only as I said that we worship him with our understanding and do not like Parrots utter words whereof we have no sense or notion that we bring an humble and contrite spirit as sensible of the infinite distance between him and us and an heart seriously affected with his presence and the nature and value of the things we are conversant about It is true that a composed form is most sutable to publick worship where as I noted before the dignity and credit of Religion is concern'd and that perhaps in private duties our present conceptions may most please and affect our selves but our acceptance with God especially in these secret duties depends neither upon the one nor the other but upon those inward dispositions of the Soul aforesaid Wherefore let no man cheat himself into an opinion that those heats of phancy or transports of affection which sometimes happen in conceived Prayer are instances of real and extraordinary devotion or that because the use of a form or Book may perhaps be destitute of such flights therefore those duties are dead and formal forasmuch as those services may be most acceptable to God which are less pleasant to our selves since it is not those sudden flashes but a constant and even servour of piety which he hath regard to And this leads me to another advice namely Fifthly Let the pious man think himself obliged to pray without ceasing and that he is never to lay aside or intermit the regular course of a daily devotion upon any pretence whatsoever but especially not upon the absurd pretext of awaiting the motion of the spirit for although it be true that the Spirit of God ceases not to move men to their duty the way of the Spirit of God is not to move sensibly and to make violent impressions upon us and therefore he that suspends the performance of his duty till he is so jogged and stirred up to it will never pray at all and indeed what reason can there be to expect such a thing or what need of it in the case of a known duty if it were the will of God to put us upon some extraordinary service then it were reasonable to expect some special mandate or impulse upon our spirits from him which might both warrant the enterprize and quicken us in the prosecution but in ordinary duties the motion of the holy spirit in the Scripture is and ought to be sufficient and he that will not be stirred up by that doth but pretend to wait for a spirit in excuse of his own Atheism Unbelief or intolerable slothfulness and in so doing lays himself open to an evil spirit whose design it is to check and withdraw men from Religion and this is matter of sad and common experience that from waiting for the motion of the spirit men very usually grow first to frequent omissions then to carelessness of their duty and at last to a total neglect of it Therefore let not any man slight a regular and methodical Devotion as a meer formal and customary thing since this is the very attainment of Piety when that which is matter of duty becomes also in a good sense customary and habitual and he that out of such a temper performs the duties of Religion constantly and reverently gives far greater proof of sincere Christianity than he that seems to himself to do them with greater heat and transport but needs from time to time to be jogged and provoked to the performance Sixthly To all these I adde in the last place that it is very advisable though not absolutely necessary that in these secret Devotions a man should where it may be done with privacy and without oftentation or such other impediment pray vocally and audibly for although God knows our hearts and observes all our thoughts and the motions of our affections before we express them and therefore needs not that we should interpret our minds to him by words yet it is fit we should imploy all the powers and capacities we have in his service our Bodies as well as our Souls and our Lips as well as our hearts Besides though we cannot affect God with the tone and accents of our Speech yet we often times affect our own hearts the more and raise them a note higher in concord with the elevation of our Voices but that which I principally intend is this viz. by the harmony of our tongue and voice our hearts are as it were charmed into the greater composure and intention upon that we are about And so whereas it is the usual complaint especially of melancholy and thoughtful persons that their hearts are apt to rove and wander in these secret duties of Religion by this means we have it very much in our power to keep
them from extravagancy and at once to make our Devotions the less tedious to our selves and the more acceptable to God CHAP. II. Of several other instances of secret Devotion THough Prayer be the most general duty of Religion the common instrument of all Piety and the most immediate address to God yet it is a great mistake to make it the only instance of secret Devotion for there are several others of great moment amongst which I reckon in the next place 2. Study and Meditation not only to direct and assist our Prayers of which I said something before but especially to cultivate and improve our own minds that we may be wiser and consequently both more capable of doing God better service in this World and also fitter for the Society of Angels and the Conversation of the spirits of just men made perfect in the other World For we are to consider that God Almighty hath set a mighty value upon our Souls in redeeming them by no less a price than the blood of his only Son and therefore we should be intolerably ingrateful towards him if we bestow no cost upon them but live as if we were mere matter and body and take care only to please and gratify our senses and in the mean time abandon our minds to folly and ignorance to sloth and superstition We are to consider also that the same infinite goodness hath by the same purchace deliver'd us from the fear of Eternal Death which otherwise would have kept us in perpetual bondage and so have contracted our spirits and rendered our very selves so inconsiderable to our selves that no man could have had the heart to take any care of himself but would be tempted to have lived like a beast because he expected to die like one or worse but now that we are made to hope for immortality and to live for ever and ever there is great reason a man should spare no cost no labour and pains about himself since he may reap the fruit and enjoy the comfort of so doing in the better enjoyment of himself a thousand Ages hence and to all Eternity Moreover the same Divine Goodness hath designed us to a glorious estate of happiness in his own Kingdom of Heaven a state of intellectual pleasure and the most sublimed ingredients of felicity which a dull sottish and sensual Soul can never be capable of perceiving if he were placed in the midst of them and therefore he is more than brutish that doth not dispose himself so that he may be meet to partake of that inheritance with the Saints in light To all this we are to consider that the general apostafy of mankind hath weaken'd our natures clouded our understanding and disorder'd all our powers and together herewith the foolish opinions and traditions of the World have abused and deceived us yet more and more so that we must be most silly and unhappy Creatures if we do not indeavour to deliver and disingage our selves from both these Calamities And the case is not totally irreparable in respect of either of these mischiefs if we be not wanting to our selves for to the intent that we might in some measure recover our selves it hath pleased God to give us time to consider in privacy and retirement from the noise of the World that we may recollect our selves he hath set before us his works and providence to meditate upon we have his holy Scriptures to inlighten our minds and guide us out of the perplexed state of things we enjoy the publick ministry and abundance of good Books to help us to understand those Scriptures and above all we are assured of the assistances of his holy spirit against the weakness and confusion of our own understandings So that as there is great reason and great necessity that we should apply our selves to study and meditation so we have as great incouragement to hope for success in so doing for by application of our selves to the means aforesaid we may not only rid our selves of that wildness and ferity which is ordinarily upon our natures but outgrow vulgar opinion and tradition and come to be able to make a true estimate of things set before us we may greaten our spirits so as to despise those little things which silly men dote upon we may free our minds of childish fears and unaccountable superstitions we may understand the true reason of Religion the loveliness of virtue and in a word have worthier notions of God and clearer apprehensions of the World to come And although it be acknowledged that all men are not alike capable of these improvements either by reason of the weakness of their minds or the unhappy constitution of their bodies or the perplexed condition of their outward affairs yet certainly God Almighty hath by the means aforesaid put it into every mans power to be wiser than he is if he would but apply himself to the use of them and therefore let the devout man be sure to make the experiment To further him the more wherein let him to all the considerations foregoing adde these two following First That forasmuch as he was made in Gods Image it is no less than a contempt of the Divine Majesty to have no regard to the cultivating and adorning that part of himself wherein he especially resembles his Maker and consequently it will appear to him to be a very fit and proper instance of worship towards God to improve his own Soul and therefore it is here justly placed amongst the expressions of Devotion Secondly Let him consider that the great game of Eternity is but once to be plaid and that there is no retrieving of our neglects and carelessness afterwards therefore there is all the reason in the World that we should play it intently and warily my meaning is that therefore we ought to redeem time from folly and sensuality and apply it to the advantage of our Souls and he that doth so and begs Gods blessing upon it will undoubtedly find his mind inlarged his life more regular and his spirit more comfortable which are all the chief ends of Devotion 3. The next instance of secret Devotion for I am not curious in what order I place them shall be the exercise of Faith in God and dependance upon him in pursuance of an acknowledgment that he alone governs the World and the framing a mans heart to take notice of him to have recourse to him and stay it self upon him in all exigencies and accidents and passages whatsoever that he may impute nothing to chance fate or the stars but possess himself with a deep and setled apprehension of the great interest of God in all revolutions or occurrences This is a point of great and real honour to the Divine Majesty as it sets God always before us and places him continually in our Eye as it brings us to an intire resignation of our selves to his dispose and puts us into a constant gravity and a reverence towards him
his Closet and depart out of Gods presence till he have affected himself with deep sorrow and contrition for his sin and prostrated himself at the throne of grace with strong and earnest cries for pardon and until he have confirmed his heart in a resolution of watchfulness and more strict obedience for the time to come And let him do this often that he may not run up too big a score and so either his heart become hardened through the deceitfulness of sin or his Conscience be so affrighted with the greatness of his guilt that like a Bankrupt he be tempted to decline looking into his accounts because he can have no comfortable prospect of them or run away from God in a fit of desperation instead of running to him by repentance Let him I say do this often not by chance or unwillingly but frequently and periodically set times being appointed for it and though I would be loth to impose a burden upon the Consciences of men yet I think it ordinarily very adviseable that this be done once a month viz. whilest a man hath his past actions and carriage in remembrance and can take a just account of himself but especially it is very fit to do it against the time of the administration of the Holy Sacrament and then would be extraordinarily proper and seasonable for these two things Self-examination and partaking of the Lords Supper do marvellously suit and answer to each other the former preparing a mans heart for that sacred solemnity and that holy solemnity sealing to him the pardon of those sins he hath discovered and repented of in secret But whether this work of self-reflection and ransacking a mans own heart in secret be absolutely necessary to be done at certain times and periods it is wonderfully useful that it be seriously and conscientiously practised some time or other forasmuch as on the one side it is not conceivable how a man should be able to maintain an holy and comfortable Life without it so on the other hand it seems equally impossible that he should continue to be an evil man who habitually and sincerely practises it for as there is no way so effectual to preserve an estate from being squandred away extravagantly as the keeping constant and strict accounts of receits and expences so there is no method more powerful to restrain sin than this of self-examination the very searching into our hearts jogs and awakens Conscience and that being rowsed will be a faithful Monitor of all that was done amiss the mere prospect of which will make a man very uneasy by the fears and horrors that attend it the consideration of the silly motives upon which a man was induced to sin will fill him with ingenuous shame and indignation and the easiness which he cannot but find of withstanding such motions by the grace of God will provoke him to a resolution of amendment in a word the sight and knowledge of the Disease is a great step to the Cure and an heart well searched is half healed But this leads me to another instance of great affinity with what we have now been speaking of and which shall be the last excercise of secret Devotion which I will here make mention of viz. 6. Trial of our proficiency and growth in grace this is of great importance forasmuch as we have seen before the truth of grace is scarcely any otherway discernible but by its progress and in that it makes men daily better and better for the essences of things are indiscernible and a man may endlesly dispute with himself whether such or such a thing be a sign of grace and of spiritual life in him till he puts all out of controversy by the fruits and improvement of such a vital principle and therefore it is extreamly necessary if we will arrive at spiritual comfort that we make experiment of our selves in this particular which can no otherwise be done than by retirement into the Cabinet of our hearts and the diligent comparing our selves both with our selves and with the rules of the Gospel The common estimation of the World is a very fallacious and improper measure of divine life and as the Apostle tells us it is a small thing to be judged of men one way or other but if our hearts condemn us not then have we confidence towards God for they being privy to our ends and designs and to all our circumstances as well as to matter of fact cannot nor will not deceive us if they be secretly examined and therefore must be impartially consulted if we would indeed know our selves and be able to prejudge our own condition Now the testimony which our hearts can give us of our spiritual improvement is not to be grounded upon the increased length of our Prayers nor merely from the passion and earnestness of them for the former of these may be the effect of hypocrisy and the latter may proceed from some peculiar temper of body or outward accident nor upon our affectionate hearing of Sermons for the stony ground received the seed with joy as well as the good ground nor yet upon a more than ordinary scrupulosity of Conscience especially in smaller matters for this may proceed from Ignorance Superstition or Hypocrisy But the safest decision of this great case whether we grow in grace or no is to be made by examining our hearts in such points as these following viz. Whether we be more constant in all the duties of Religion than formerly Whether we be more exact and regular in our lives daily Whether our hearts be more in Heaven than they were wont and that we have arrived at a greater contempt of the World Whether we are more dead to temptation especially in the case of such sins as agree with our constitution and circumstances Whether affliction be more easy than it used to be and we can better submit to the yoke of Christ Whether we are more conscientious of secret sins and such as no Eye of man can take notice of and upbraid us for Whether we are more sagacious in apprehending and more careful of improving opportunities of doing good than heretofore In a word Whether we are grown more meek more humble and obedient to our Superiours c. If upon due inquiry oru hearts can answer affirmatively for us in such points as these then we may comfortably conclude that we have not received the grace of God in vain which being of unspeakable consequence to us to be substantially resolved of self-examination in the aforesaid particulars as the only way to arrive at it ought to have its share in our Closet Devotions CHAP. III. Of Family-Piety in general THough the consideration of Gods Almighty Power Wisdom Goodness and his other perfections together with our dependance upon him and obnoxiousness to him be the first reason and ground of religion as we have already shewed and so the Divine Majesty is the immediate and principal object of it yet notwithstanding this
instruct Moreover it was also the intention of our Saviour that this Church of his should be but one and Catholick imbracing all the true Believers all the World over and therefore it is called his Body and his Spouse from whence it follows that every man who will partake of the benefits which flow from him must be a part of this Body and thereby hold Communion with him by Conjunction with that which is otherwise impossible to be done than by joining with that part of the Catholick Church where it hath pleased the Divine Providence to settle our abode and habitation that is in the Parish and Neighbourhood where we dwell for without this though it 's possible we may retain the fame Faith in our hearts with the Catholick Church yet we cannot perform the offices of members nor serve the ends of such a Society The result is therefore that it is ordinarily every Christians Duty to communicate in all the offices of Christianity to submit to the Officers to be subject to the censures ahd to comply with the orders of that part of the Church amongst which the Divine Providence hath placed him I say ordinarily because it may happen that the Society of Christians amongst whom a man lives may be heretical in their Doctrine or Idolatrous in their Worship and then it will not be his sin but his duty to separate from them but bating that case and where the Doctrine is sound and the worship free from Idolatry I see not what else can acquit him of Schism that separates or what can be sufficient to dissolve the obligation of joining with the Catholick Church by Conjunction with that particular Society or Member of it where he is placed Therefore let not the good Christian without flat necessity suffer himself to be alienated from the particular Church lest by so doing he lose the comforts and benefits of the Catholick Church but let it be his care and indeavour so far as it is in his power that there may be but one Church in the World as was the intention of our Saviour to this purpose let him not hearken to the fond pretences of purer Ordinances and double refined worship or to the vain boasts of greater edification in other Assemblies for besides that a man may justly expect most of Gods blessing upon those means which are most his duty to apply himself unto it is also evident that if such suggestions be attended to it will be flatly impossible that there should ever be such a thing as unity or order in the Christian Church nay these conceits will not only distract and confound the order of the Church but they serve to fill mens heads with endless disputes and their hearts with perpetual scruples about purity of administrations so that they shall rest no where but under pretence of soaring higher and higher shall ramble from one Church to another till at last they cast off all Ordinances as the highest attainment of spirituality Nor let him give ear to any peevish insinuations against the Church and publick worship upon account that there are some Rites or Ceremonies made use of which are only of humane institution for it is not only reasonable to hope that God will be well pleased with humility peaceableness and obedience to humane Laws but certain that there is no Church in the World that is or can be without some observances that have no higher original than humane institution But against these and all other such like principles of separation let him indeavour to secure himself First by dismissing the prejudices of Education and the unnecessary scrupulosities of a melancholy temper and above all acquit himself of pride and pragmaticalness and then he will easily and comfortably comply with any sound part of the Christian Church In pursuance whereof 2. He must diligently frequent all the publick offices of Religion in that Society whether it be Prayers Preaching or reading the word of God or Administration of the Sacraments c. For it is a mighty shame that a man should pretend to be of the Church who cares not how little or how seldom he comes at it and who slights the advantages of its Communion For such a man however he may hector and swagger for the notion of a Church manifestly betrays that all is but humour or interest and no true principle of Christianity at the bottom and really he doth more dishonour to that Society than the professed Schismatick doth or can do For besides that he incourages them in their contempt of it and discourages good men in their zeal for it he foments the suspicion of Atheistical men that Religion is but a politick trick to catch silly persons with whilest those that are privy to the plot keep out of the bondage of it I need not adde That he defeats the institution of our Saviour that he baulks his own Conscience if he have any and aggravates his own Damnation which are all very sad things On the other side the blessings and comforts of frequenting the offices of the Church are so many and great that it is not imaginable how any man who is convinced of the duty of Communion in general should be able to neglect the particular instances of it For besides that the Church is Gods House where he is especially present and where we meet him and place our selves under his eye and observation and from whence he usually dispenses his favours it is a great furtherance of our zeal and piety to be in the presence of one another where the example of holy fervour and devotion in one powerfully strikes and affects others There is also an extraordinary majesty in the word of God when it is not only fitted to our peculiar condition but authoritatively pronounced and applied to our Conscience by Gods Messenger Above all in Prayers when our Petitions and requests are not only put up to Almighty God by his own Minister appointed for this purpose but our weakness is relieved our spirits incouraged and we are inabled notwithstanding our private meanness or guilt to hope for acceptance and success in our desires by the concurrent Devotions of so many holy men as there join with us in the same suit and in the same words and whose united importunity besieges Heaven and prevails with Almighty Goodness for a blessing Wherefore let no man permit the private exercises of Piety it self such as Prayer reading or Meditation to supersede or hinder his attendance upon the publick offices of the Church seeing that as these yield more publick honour to the Divine Majesty so they are more effectual for our own benefit much less let sloth or too great eagerness upon the affairs of the World make us forget or neglect them but least of all let any lukewarm indifferency or Atheistical carelessness seise upon any man in this particular but let the man who glories to be of the Christian Church be sure to be found there in
especially let him remember to frequent them constantly and intirely By constancy of attendance upon publick worship I mean that he should not only apply himself to it on the Sundays or Lords Days but every Day of the Week if there be opportunity and by intireness of Gods Service I understand it to be his duty both to go at the beginning and to join in it both Morning and Evening that by all together he may not only sure himself and his own Conscience of his heartiness and sincerity but demonstrate to all about him the great sense he hath of the moment of Religion and that he looks upon the serving of God as of greater consequence than all other interests whatsoever As for the first of these viz. the frequenting the publick Prayers every day where they are to be had it is observable in the character of Cornelius Acts 10. 2. that amongst other instances of devotion it is said of him that he prayed to God always which cannot well be understood of any thing else but his daily frequenting the publick Prayers because his private Prayers could not be so well known as to make his Character But most expresly it is said of all that believed Acts 2. 46. that they continued daily with one accord in the temple which must needs principally have reference to this duty of publick Prayer and it is very hard if any man be so put to it that he cannot spare one hour in a Day to do publick honour to the Divine Majesty or rather it is a great sign of unbelief in his providence as well as want of love to him if a man cannot trust God so far as to hope that such a time spent in his service shall be recompensed by his blessing upon the residue of the Day or however a good Christian will be well contented and gladly sacrifice so much of his secular interests as this comes to to the Divine Majesty As for the second point viz. going at the beginning of Prayers it is a shameful neglect which several persons are guilty of who will not altogether be absent from the Church but yet will come commonly so late that they not only lose part of the Prayers but enter very abruptly and irreverently upon that which they partake of It is possible a man may sometimes be surprized by the time or diverted from his intention by some emergency but to be frequently tardy is an argument that he loves something better than God and his worship For doubtless a good Christian would ordinarily choose rather to stay for the Minister than that the publick office should stay for him and thinks it fitter to spend a little time in preparing and disposing his heart for the duties of Religion than either to enter into the divine presence rudely or to serve him only by halves And as for the third branch of this instance of Devotion viz. the resorting both to Morning and Evening Service it is observable Acts 3. 1. that the Apostles were at the temple at the hour of Prayer being the ninth hour which is both a proof of their frequenting the Evening Service as well as that of the Morning and also an example of observing the just and stated times of publick worship and surely it will become every good Christian to be lead by such a precedent especially seeing the Gospel worship which we resort to is so much more excellent and comfortable than the Jewish was which those holy men thus carefully frequented as we shall see by and by 5. In the next place it is to be minded that in all these publick approaches to Gods House we are to express a great reverence towards the Divine Majesty by which I do not only mean that we ought in our hearts to think worthily of him and prostrate all the inward powers of our Souls to him but that in our outward man in our carriage and bodily deportment we express an awful regard to him by all such gestures and signs as according to the common opinion of men are taken to betoken the highest reverence and observance such as standing kneeling bowing and prostrations of our selves before him For though the heart be that which God principally looks at yet forasmuch as he made our bodies as well as our Souls and we hope he will save both he therefore expects we should glorify him both with our souls and with our bodies which are his and which he hath bought with a price 1 Cor. 6. 20. And indeed there is such a nearness and sympathy between our bodies and spirits that they ordinarily move by consent and draw one another into compliance Insomuch that he who truly bows his Soul to God can scarcely forbear at the same time to bow his knees to him also and he on the other side that bows his knee to him is by that very motion of his body in some measure put in mind to entertain reverential thoughts and affections towards him And this care of bodily worship is the more important in publick service and especially in Gods House because as I noted before then and there his honour and grandeur is concerned and any indecent carriage in such a case is an affront to him and exposes him to contempt in the eyes of men and therefore that carriage which in secret worship might admit of excuse will in publick be intolerable profaneness Wherefore let not the pious man be affrighted by any one out of the expressions of bodily reverence under the notion of superstition which is become a Bugbear by which weak men are made afraid of every instance of a decorous or generous Devotion There can be no culpable superstition in our worship so long as we have the true object for it and whilest we use not such expressions of our Devotion as he hath forbidden but this of bodily reverence is so far from being forbidden that it is expresly required in the holy Scripture and hath been constantly practised by all holy men Nor let the phancy of a spiritual worship required under the Gospel beguile any man into a contempt or neglect of bodily reverence for it is plain that although the Christian Religion raises mens inward Devotion higher yet it abates nothing of outward adoration but rather when it requires the former should be more intense and affectionate it supposes the other should be answerable because it is natural so to be for this being the accessory cannot but follow the principal It is true there is a possibility that more stress may be laid upon the shadow than the substance and some men may hope to complement God Almighty out of his right to their hearts by the addresses of their bodies but the fault in this case is not that there is too much of the latter but too little of the former and the good Christian therefore will be sure to join both together and as he will come to Gods House with the most elevated affections so he will
THE Old Religion Demonstrated in its PRINCIPLES And described in the LIFE and PRACTICE thereof Jerem. vi 16. Thus saith the Lord stand ye in the ways and see and ask for the Old Paths where is the Good Way and walk therein and ye shall find Rest for your Souls LONDON Printed by J. M. for R. Royston Book-Seller to His most Sacred Majesty at the Angel in Amen-Corner MDCLXXXIV THE EPISTLE TO THE Pious Reader Good Reader THou art here presented with a new Book concerning the Old Religion As therefore thou art not to expect thy curiosity should here be gratified with new Notions for I am not describing a new way to Heaven but directing thee in the good old way which the holy Scriptures have marked out and which wise and good men have all along walked in so neither art thou to think thy self disappointed if thou meetest not with a Discourse modishly drest up with all the fashionable Ornaments of Wit and Eloquence For give me leave to tell thee though that would have been acceptable to the humour of the Age and perhaps might without any great difficulty have been complied with yet it would neither have suited so well with the nature of the subject I am upon nor especially have fitted the persons for whose sake this little Book was written That therefore which I here pretend and which I hope thou wilt not fail of in the Papers before thee is First A brief but plain and substantial proof of the grounds and fundamental Principles of Religion in general Secondly A discovery and confutation of several vulgar Opinions which deform the beauty and defeat the efficacy of Christian Religion in particular And lastly A clear description a rational deduction and a serious inculcation of the most important duties of that Religion wherein either the glory of God our own comfort or the peace and happiness of Mankind are principally concerned As for the management of these Points though I have not given countenance to this Discourse by citation of Authors nor either adorned the Text with fine Sayings nor the Margin with great Names yet I hope thou wilt find a vein of sound Reason in it and the spirit of the Gospel running quite through it I assure thee I have dealt sincerely and conscientiously herein I have impartially consulted the holy Scriptures I have made use of the best understanding God hath given me and I here set before thee though not the product yet the result of many years observation consideration and experience And so I leave it to Gods blessing and thy candid acceptance Farewel THE CONTENTS PART I. An Introduction to an holy and comfortable Life CHAP. I. THE wisdom of being religious Page 1 CHAP. II. The reasonableness of Religion in general p. 9 CHAP. III. Of the rewards of Religion in another World p. 21 CHAP. IV. Of the great influence and mighty efficacy of believing Heaven and Hell or rewards and punishments in another World p. 38 CHAP. V. Of the choice of a Religion or what particular Religion a man should apply himself to p. 55 CHAP. VI. More particular Directions for the setling a mans mind in Religion p. 71 CHAP. VII Cautions against some Opinions which are hindrances both of an holy and of a comfortable life p. 85 CHAP. VIII Directions for the effectual prosecution of Religion p. 139 PART II. The practice of holy and comfortable Living CHAP. I. OF Secret Devotion and particularly of secret Prayer p. 181 CHAP. II. Of several other instances of secret Devotion p. 209 CHAP. III. Of private Devotion or Family-Piety in general p. 235 CHAP. IV. Of Family Duties in special p. 254 CHAP. V. Of Family-Discipline or by what means a Family may be brought to the observance of Religion p. 281 CHAP. VI. Of publick Piety and particularly in relation to the Church and publick Assembly of Christians p. 301 CHAP. VII Of Civil Piety or how a man may and ought to promote Gods honour and the publick good of the Parish considered only as a Civil Society or Neighbourhood p. 346 AN Introduction TO AN HOLY AND A Comfortable LIFE CHAP. I. The Wisdom of being Religious THE Holy Scripture that Book of Books and Treasury of Divine Wisdom expresses it self thus concerning Religion Psal III. V. 10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and a good understanding have all they that keep his commandments Eccles 12. 13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty or business of man S t Luke 13. 23. Strive to enter in at the strait gate for many shall seek to enter in and shall not be able Phil. 2. 12. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling c. 2 Pet. 1. 10. Give diligence to make your calling and election sure S t Mat. 6. 33. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you S t John 6. 27. Labour not for the meat that perisheth but for that meat which endureth to eternal life S t Mat. 16. 26. What shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul By all which and abundance of other such like passages it appears that Religion is as much our interest as our duty and that Piety and Care of another World are not only the Commands of God and his impositions upon us but the upshot and result of the best and truest Wisdom For Wisdom doth not consist in sceptical jealousies and suspicions but in a determinate knowledge and resolution what is fit to be done not in a superficial smattering of many things but in a clear and distinct apprehension of the just nature value and moment of them not in an endless hunting after curiosity but to know where to stick and fasten not in pilling a flint or laborious beating out of unprofitable difficulties but in applying a mans self to such things as are savoury and useful not in tricks of wit sophistry or eloquence and least of all in a jest or a repartee but to discover what is fit to propound to a mans self as his end and design and by what means to attain it to have great things in a mans thoughts and to despise and scorn little and petty designs in a word to see a great way before him and to be well provided for the future Now all this is verified in Religion more than in any other thing in the whole World for here a mans mind is taken up with the greatest thoughts and sublimest objects God and Eternity he takes care to secure the main stake his own Soul he imploys himself about things of the greatest moment and consequence by inquiring about another World he gives proof of the greatest foresight in considering of it he gives evidence of a sagacious temper in resolving upon it he shews judgment in pursuing it by the means appointed he
demonstrates the command he hath over himself and that he is led by his reason not ridden by his passions and by persevering in this course he arrives at true tranquillity of mind the Crown and Glory of Wisdom Accordingly we find by experience that commonly where-ever there is a grave thoughtful sedate Person such an one as is either fit to give or to take advice he is seldom destitute of a sense of Religion But on the contrary where-ever you see an incogitant shatter-brain'd fellow that knows not himself enough to make him modest and civil that hath not so much reason as to weigh an argument nor so much Arithmetick as to value any thing but what is present that is so much under the power of his Senses as scarcely to know whether he hath such a thing as a Spirit within him or hath so much Drink about him that his head works nothing but yest and froth here is a man cut out to be an Advocate for Scepticism or Atheism this is the Person that will be captious against Religion and malapert towards God Almighty But let such men enjoy their humour as long as they can they will be sure sadly to repent or rue it at last and in the mean time they only betray their own shame and folly for their tongue will prove no slander to Religion the mighty concern of which is not only declared by God Almighty confirmed by our own reason and justified by our experience but also affectionately recommended to us by all wise and good men by those whose sagacity and discretion is such that we have no reason to suspect they are deceived or imposed upon themselves and whose sincerity and integrity is such that we can as little think they should have any design to impose upon us And therefore those Persons who being either prevailed upon by the evil examples of the World or discountenanced by the lewd sayings of such as we mentioned even now and declining the ways of Piety and Devotion give themselves up to a loose and irreligious life are in the first place errant Cowards towards men whilest they are insolent towards God And in the next place they are false to the common reason of mankind which obliges men to provide for the future In the third place they are false to their own interest of self-preservation And lastly they are false and ingrateful to their best friends whose counsels they forsake and abandon themselves to the conduct of the most silly and profligate Wretches But if any shall think to excuse themselves from this censure by suggesting that they look upon Devotion as either the effect of a weak judgment or of a melancholy and timorous constitution I add that this makes the matter so much worse as that it involves them not only in the guilt of all the former but also of extream rudeness and incivility towards the best of men To make all this more clear and convincing and to lay the surer foundation of all that is to be said hereafter we will now in the next place shew the grounds upon which Religion stands CHAP. II. The Reasonableness of Religion in general THAT which is meant by Religion in the general notion of it is nothing else but a due regard towards the Divine Majesty a diligent care of approving our selves to the supreme Being the Creator and Governour of the World Or which comes to the same effect the prudent ordering a mans conversation in this World so that he may erect his mind with comfortable expectations of the favour of God and happiness in another World Thus much we are taught by the Author to the Hebews Chap. 11. 6. He that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him in which few words we may observe in the first place the matter or duty of Religion exprest by diligent seeking of God and secondly the two Pillars or as I may say Poles of it namely 1. the persuasion of the Being of God 2. the expectation of rewards from him the former of which most properly contains the first rise and reason of Religion and the latter the motives and inducements to pursue it If these two Pillars be united they make so firm an arch that no objection can shake the Building but if they be taken and considered singly they are each of them of mighty strength for the upholding of Religion § 2. As for the former if I say we consider the nature of God only that alone is able to possess us with an apprehension of the fitness and reasonableness of diligently seeking him It is true we cannot see the Divine Majesty as we may behold corporeal objects because he is of a spiritual nature and for the same reason we cannot see our own Souls And it is true also that we cannot fully comprehend him in our minds neither because of his infinite perfections yet we cannot so much as doubt whether there be any such Being or no if we do but bethink our selves in this one thing namely how we our selves came to be For though it may be at the first blush of this question we shall think it sufficient to say we had our beginning from our immediate Parents and they in like manner successively from their Progenitors yet when we proceed on in our inquiry so far as to consider and ask our selves what it was which brought the whole race of mankind into Being we shall then find our selves forced to acknowledge the hand of God in it Forasmuch as in the first place it is certain that nothing could take a beginning without a cause and in the next place it is as certain that this thing called mankind could not be the cause of it self or produce it self and then to impute it to chance or to imagine that such an excellent Being as mankind is wherein there is so much variety of Parts and yet order and decency and in short so many instances of admirable art and wisdom in the very composure of his Body setting aside his mind that this I say should be the product of blind chance is more absurd than either of the former therefore there must be a God for none but a fool indeed can say There is no God Now if we acknowledge a God who gave beginning to our selves and to all other things we must also own him to be eternal as being before all things and the cause of them and as such he must needs not only have in himself eminently all those perfections which are to be found in any part of his workmanship but be also unlimited in his own perfections And this will inavoidably lead us to the acknowledgment of all or most of those Attributes which either the Holy Scripture ascribes to him or which Religion is concerned in namely that he is a free Agent that he is Omnipotent that he is infinitely wise that he is just and that he is
good as will easily appear in particular First He must needs be a free Agent that is such an one as acts not necessarily or that is bound down by any fatal necessity or determined to this or that act or object or measure of acting by any thing without him but wholly follows his own voluntary motion and choice the counsel of his own will the reason is plain because he made things when nothing was before and so there could be nothing to bound limit or determine him Secondly He must needs be Powerful or Omnipotent for the same reason namely because he gave being and beginning to things that were not at all for we cannot conceive a greater instance of Power than to bring something out of nothing Thirdly He must be wise both because we see he hath contriv'd things according to the rules of exactest wisdom insomuch that the more we understand the Divine workmanship the more we admire it and also because he hath imprinted some image of of his wisdom upon our selves Fourthly We must acknowledge him just as well because by reason of his infinite power and wisdom he can have no litle ends to biass him as because he hath also made an impression of justice upon our minds Lastly He must needs be good not only because he is wise as aforesaid but because he is infinitely happy and perfect and so can fear nothing can envy nothing can need nothing from any other Being but contrariwise being infinitely full must have a pleasure to diffuse and communicate himself to them § 3. All these Doctrines concerning the Deity flow from that one perswasion that there is a God and the influence of every of these upon Religion is as great and apparent as the consequence of them from the acknowledgment of such a Being was natural and necessary so that a man may with as much reason deny any of the aforesaid Attributes to belong to the Divine Majesty as granting them to be in him or belong to him avoid the force of them upon his conscience to incline him to regard this great God i. e. to be Religious which we will again shew particularly First If the Divine Majesty be a free Agent then it is certain all the good and all the evil which he doth to us he doth by choice and then we ought to be sensible of our obligations to him for the one and humble our selves to him under the other And then also because we are convinced that he hath mercy on whom he will have mercy we know there is no trifling and dallying with such a Deity but we ought to use all possible means of propitiating him towards our selves Secondly For the Divine Omnipotency the natural consequence of that is that we fear him and trust in him for who is there that thinks of a God that made him out of nothing and is therefore able to destroy him and resolve him into nothing again when he pleases who doth not think it the highest wisdom in the World that he shouldbe subject to him pay him all possible homage tremble before him and also think fit to trust and rely upon his Almighty Power in all exigencies and difficulties Thirdly The Divine Wisdom makes our obligations to Religion yet more strict and close for it convinces our reason that we ought to submit to his Providences whatsoever they are and not to dispute his commands nor doubt his promises but hold him in the highest veneration and admiration that is possible for us to express to be reverent towards him upon all occasions to submit our wills to his and especially in consideration that he must needs see and take notice of all our carriage and behaviour to live with as much caution in the greatest retirement and privacy as when we are sensible that we are upon the greatest Theatre Fourthly The apprehension of the Divine Justice and Integrity not only assures us that he hates all sin but that he hath no respect of Persons but will judge the World in righteousness and then who will grumble at any of his Providences break any of his Laws or do any unjust and base action and that because it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God who always can and in due time will right himself Lastly The consideration of Gods goodness and that he is a Gracious and Benigne Majesty cannot choose but mightily inflame our hearts with love to him and provoke us to serve him with all chearfulness for who that believes him delighted to communicate himself to the relief of all his Creatures doth not think of him with pleasure and comfort himself in him or who can find in his heart to offend and abuse him and not rather repent of all his former follies and ingratitudes and resolve to sin no more For as the Apostle hath said the goodness of God leadeth to repentance So that in this one Principle the belief that there is a God we have a large foundation for Religion in general which I have the rather insisted upon thus particularly for the sake of those who are called or call themselves Theists because they pretend to be convinced of no more of the Articles of Religion but only of this great point the Being of a Deity these men I say if upon that single Principle they do not live religiously are either men of no Conscience and then it will be all one what their Principles are or are men of no Principles at all i. e. are Atheists rather than Theists forasmuch as by what hath been said it is apparent how pregnant that one Principle is of Virtue and Piety if it be sincerely believed and rightly improved But so much for that CHAP. III. Of the rewards of Religion in another World LET us now consider the other Principle of Religion viz. that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him This as I intimated before is properly the motive or inducement to the observance of the Divine Majesty for it hath pleased him to conjoin our interest with his own and he hath made the greatest part of our duty towards him to consist in such things as conduce to our own good as well as to his glory and to that purpose hath laid the foundation of Religion by planting in us that principle of self-love and self-preservation which is inseparable from our natures and by which he works upon us Concerning this point therefore of the rewards of Religion we will first consider the evidence of it and when that is clear we shall easily in the second place be convinced of the efficacy of it to the purposes of making men devout The former of the two we will make way to the discovery of by this train of discourse 1. We have shewed already that there is both justice and goodness in the Divine Nature either of which severally but most certainly both together in conjunction afford ground of expectation that he will make a
for as on the one side we ought to behave our selves stoutly and bravely when it pleases God to lay it upon us so on the other side ought we to be as cautious and timorous of drawing it upon our selves the first of which is seldom separate from the last for he that knows how to encounter a danger will not ordinarily thrust himself into it and usually those who are so stupid and fool-hardy as to run themselves into difficulties shew as little courage and conduct in conflicting with them as they did discretion in the adventure upon them and no wonder seeing in such a case they put themselves out of Gods protection trusting to themselves and then they cannot in reason expect other than to be deserted by his grace in such unwarrantalbe enterprizes Let the piously disposed man therefore not be so fond as to try experiments upon himself lest he buy his knowledge of his own weakness at the cost of too great an hazard Let him not go too near sin in confidence that he can divide by an hair and come off clever enough For instance let him not nibble at an Oath nor mince the matter of profaneness nor drink to the highest pitch of sobriety nor go to the utmost extremity of justice in his dealings for he knows not the deceitfulness of his own heart nor considers the slippery ground he stands upon that will thus venture to the very brink of his liberty Nor let him provoke Enemies to himself by intemperate zeal as if a good man should not meet with opposition enough without his own procuring nor the World had malice enough unless he inflamed and exasperated it especially let him not thrust himself into lewd Company in confidence of his own integrity and stability for he hath no sufficient apprehension of the power and malice of the Devil who by any of the aforesaid imprudences tempts him to tempt himself nay nor doth he seem to hate and abominate sin so absolutely as he ought to do that loves the Vicinage and Neighbourhood of it What the wise man therefore advises Prov. 5. 8. concerning the whorish woman is very applicable to this Case Remove thy way far from her and come not near the door of her house and so also he saith of flagitious men chap. 4. 14 15. Enter not into the path of the wicked and go not in the way of evil men avoid it pass not by it turn from it and pass away for he that goes ordinarily to the brink of a Precipice is in great danger sometime or other to fall in and he that nibbles at the bait will one time or other be taken with the hook 6. Sixthly and lastly as a discreet man and concerned for Eternal Life ought not to be over-daring and confident in his approaches towards sin and danger so neither ought he on the other hand to be timorous and strait-laced in things eminently and unquestionably good whether it be in instances of devotion towards God or of self-denial and mortification of himself or in acts of Charity towards others for in all these there is such a scope and latitude as that a brave and noble spirit of Christianity may and will distinguish it self from a narrow and stingy temper in the discharge of them For Example such a man as we speak of neither will nor ought to confine his Devotions to such strict and precise measures as that he that falls short of them will be guilty of an omission of his duty but will contrarywise find in his heart to spend something more than ordinary of his time in Prayers and Meditation and such other acts of immediate worship He will not stick to apply somewhat more than the just tenth or tythe of his increase to the incouragement of Religion nor will he grudge to deny himself upon weighty occasions some of that pleasure which at other times he can allow himself without sin or if occasion be he will give alms not only out of the superfluity of his estate but to the utmost of his ability perhaps beyond his convenience for these things though generally considered they are not matters of express duty yet do they not cease to be good merely because they are not commanded so long as the species and kind of them is commanded and besides such extraordinary expressions of obedience to a general command are very fit to demonstrate our love to God our gratitude for his unspeakable bounty towards us and our value of the Kingdom of Heaven seeing that by such instances especially we shew that we love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and strength and that we think nothing too dear for the assuring our selves of Eternal Life And though it would not be expresly a sin to omit any one of the instances of the several kinds aforesaid yet it must be a palpable argument of a narrow heart towards God to yield no such instances at all and cannot but proceed from very culpable superstition to be afraid of so doing nay more for a man to be barren of such fruits and careless of such performances is a great point of folly and imprudence towards our selves in respect of the comfort which our hearts might receive by such generosity for although by no after act of ours how excellent soever it be possible for us to make any proper amends to the Divine Majesty for our former offences and omissions yet by such expressions as these we speak of we shew our selves sensible of those miscarriages and that we are under remorse for them and we give proof that we truly love God though we have offended him and desire to obtain his favour by the most costly oblations Upon all which accounts it seems very adviseable that he who sets his Face towards Heaven should indeavour to open and inlarge his heart this way and not suffer himself to be cramped and contracted by any odd opinions to the contrary Whereas therefore some men seem to fansie a frugal way of Religion and accordingly inquire for the minimum quod sic as we say or the lowest degree of saving grace as if Heaven and Hell were divided by an hair and they would be at the trouble of no more piety than would just carry them out of danger They are to be admonished that they seek after impossibilities and contradictions for it is in truth as if they should say they would have fire without heat Religion without Devotion Piety without Affection Holiness without Zeal or that they desire to fear God but have no inclination to love him To speak plainly the lowest degree of goodness is never sought after but in an ill temper of mind and by a cowardly and hypocritical heart nor can it be found with comfort for the essence of grace is no more discoverable without the fruits than a body without its accidents and therefore there are but two ways of obtaining true comfort in our Souls viz. either by our daily
by yet in some respects they are more acceptable to God than the other forasmuch as they are founded upon an acknowledgment of his Omniscience and demonstrate the great and intimate sense we have of the Divine Majesty and consequently of this they give the greatest assurance to our own hearts of our sincerity and so are the most comfortable for publick Devotion may possibly have a great alloy of secular interest and may owe it self in a great measure to the authority of Laws or to publick fame and reputation but he that worships God in secret where and when no Eye is privy but only that of God Almighty is secure to himself that he can have no mean or sinister end in so doing nothing can move him to this but the mere reverence of God and therefore our Saviour in the forementioned passage Mat. 6. 6. lays an Emphasis upon those words thy father which is in secret and adds this incouragement of such addresses to God thy father which seeth in secret will reward thee openly Upon all which considerations let the man who either values Gods glory or his own improvement Peace and Comfort or indeed who makes any pretence to Religion strictly make Conscience of and constantly practise secret Devotion The nature extent manner instances and circumstances whereof I am now further to explain in the following particulars 1. And I begin with that which is so universally acknowledged and so principal a part of Divine Worship that as I noted before it is ordinarily put for the whole I mean Prayer to God touching the secret exercise whereof let the good Christian take these following Directions First Let him not fail Night and Morning at least solemnly and devoutly to pray to God Divers holy men we read of who according to the greatness of their zeal or urgency of the occasion for it have prescribed to themselves stricter measures than this particularly David saith he would worship God seven times in a day and Daniels custom was to do it three times a day Dan. 6. 10. as seems also to have been that of the Primitive Christians but less than twice a day I cannot find to agree with the practice of any good men unless either sickness disabled them or some very extraordinary occasion diverted them and it is wondrously fit and decorous that we who owe our whole time to God should pay him the tribute of devoting those critical periods of it I mean Evening and Morning to him especially in consideration of the peculiar circumstances these two points of time are attended with namely in the Evening having finished the course of that day and reflecting upon our infirmities in it we cannot but observe by how many failings we have justly incurred Gods displeasure if he should severely animadvert upon us and therefore have great cause to deprecate his anger and to make our peace with him and we must needs also be sensible both how many dangers we have escaped by his Providence and how many instances of blessing we have received from his goodness and therefore have reason to praise and magnify his name nd especially being then also to betake our selves to sleep when above all times we are out of our own keeping and are exposed to a thousand dangers from thieves from malicious men from violent Elements of Wind Fire and Water from the enterprizes of evil spirits and frightful Dreams and our own foolish Imaginations in which and sundry other respects no man knows what a night may bring forth and in consideration of which he is a stupidly secure and fool-hardy person that doth not think it highly to be his interest by peculiar addresses to recommend himself and all his concerns to the watchful Eye of Providence which neither slumbers nor sleeps And in the Morning having not only by the guard of holy Angels been preserved from all those dangers which might have surprized us in the dark and when our senses were so lockt up that we could not help our selves but refreshed and recruited in all our powers by that admirable divine Opiate sleep nothing less can become us than to consecrate anew all these restored powers to our Creator and Preserver by hearty Adorations Besides this we are then sensible that we are now entring upon a new scene of business where we shall be exposed to innumerable accidents dangers difficulties and temptations none of which we are match for without divine assistance and have therefore need to implore his grace and good providence before we encounter them so that it is not timidity or superstitious fear but just wisdom not to dare either to go to Bed or to set our foot out of doors till we have recommended our selves to Almighty God by Prayer And by so doing as aforesaid we maintain the juge sacrificium and in Gods gracious interpretation are said to pray continually and to consecrate our whole time to him and besides we keep up a lively and constant sense of him upon our hearts Secondly Let him be sure that these duties be done fervently as well as constantly and frequently not formally and customarily without life and feeling of what a man is about or with wandring thoughts and distracted affections but with the greatest vigour and intention of mind that is possible for if a mans heart be flat and remiss in these special approaches to God he will be sure to be much worse and even loose and Atheistical upon other occasions for these secret duties are the special instruments and exercises of raising our hearts towards Heaven and as it were the nicking up of our Watch to that cue in which we would have it go In the more publick offices of Religion the credit and reputation of it is principally concerned and therefore they ought to be performed with all gravity and solemnity but the very life and soul of piety lies in these secret duties and therefore they ought to be discharged with the quickest sense and most inflamed affections insomuch that a man must not think he hath acquitted himself when he hath repeated such or so many Prayers until he find also his heart warmed and his temper of mind raised and improved by them to this purpose therefore let him in the entrance upon these retirements place himself under the Eye of God and be apprehensive of the immediate presence of the Divine Majesty that this may give check to all levity of spirit and wandering of thoughts and make him grave and reverential let him also all along be sensible of the great value and necessity of those things which he either begs of God or returns thanks for that this may render him ardent in his desires and affectionate in his praises and whilest he perseveres in these duties let him join with them reading and meditation not only to fix his mind but to prevent barrenness and to impreganate and inrich his Souls with divine notions and affections To this end Thirdly Let him take care
improved his Stewardship in this particular Lastly In a Family there are commonly some who under the general relation of Friends or Acquaintance are either resident in it or at least hospitably entertained by it now as this lays an obligation upon the persons treated so it gives some authority to him who treats them and consequently as such a Master of a Family is in some measure answerable towards men for the scandals and misdemeanours of his Guests so is he much more responsible to God for any profaneness they shall be guilty of towards his Divine Majesty For as I said before every man being King in his own Family may give Laws to it and oblige those who are under his protection to pay him Allegiance and to serve and worship God with him especially he ought to do this because the fourth Commandment requires at our hands that we use this authority not only over our Sons and Daughters our Man-Servants and Maid-Servants but over all those that are within our Gates But so much in the general let us now consider in the second place the particular duties of Religion in a Family of which in the next Chapter CHAP. IV. Of Family Duties in special IN the first place I look upon it as the duty of every Family that besides Closet-Devotions of which I have spoken before and besides publick Worship of which I shall speak anon once a day at the least they join together in Prayers to God I say once a day at the least in favour of mens occasions and the peculiar circumstances of some Families were it not for which it would be very fit that there should be Prayers Morning and Evening as is the general practice of most pious Families but certainly it is wonderfully decent that all the members of every Family should once in the day meet together and with one heart and one mouth glorify God and pay their homage to the great Master of the whole Family of Heaven and Earth and it is very strange if any excuse should be pleaded or admitted in this case For as I said before every several Family is a peculiar Body or Society which hath its distinct circumstances effects and consideration it hath its respective needs to be supplied and therefore hath occasion to make proper and peculiar requests to God as that he will be pleased to continue it in health to settle concord and unity amongst the several members of it that the whole may enjoy prosperity and safety from Thieves from Fire and other dangers And every such Society hath also proper and peculiar mercies to give thanks to God for as namely for success in affairs for quiet habitation that they are not molested with ill Neighbours nor vexed with Law-Suits for hopeful Children faithful Servants c. for in several of these respects a man may be well and comfortable in his own person and yet be unhappy in the Society and contrarywise the Society or Family may be happy in the general and yet a particular person may be in ill circumstances and therefore there is just reason of addresses and acknowledgments to God in relation to the Family and by the whole Family in Conjunction as well as by every single person apart and in his Closet And though perhaps there may be some Family wherein there is no person who can aptly and properly represent the peculiar concerns of it to the Almighty and it may be also there is no form of Prayer at hand that will express all the respective circumstances of such a Society yet they may lift up their hearts and voices together in a general form and supply with their thoughts and affections whatsoever is wanting in the expressions And as there is just ground and reason for such family worship so there is good cause to expect it will be singularly successful when the whole community joins together and present themselves and their tribute of praise before the Lord no question but the very manner of doing it as well as the matter will be highly acceptable to him and when with prostrate bodies devout hearts and hands and eyes lift up to Heaven they combine together to importune and as it were besiege the Almighty they cannot fail of a blessing or however it is a mighty satisfaction to the minds of all such persons and a great security to them that they have thus jointly and solemnly commended themselves to the divine protection Besides that this course is an effectual means to conciliate peace and love and kindness between all the members of this body and to knit their hearts to one another when they are thus accustomed to unite their hearts and join their hands in Gods service and conspire to pray with and for each other which is the greatest indearment of affection Perhaps some man will now say there is no express Scripture which requires of men this daily office of Family Prayer To which I answer first what if it were so yet nevertheless it is a duty seeing there is so apparent reason for it For God who considered that he gave Laws to reasonable men did not think himself bound to prescribe every thing in particular especially in natural worship where the reason of man might supply him with direction what was fit to be done in such a case Besides secondly as I discoursed in the former part of this Treatise it is a stingy and narrow-soul'd trick and an argument of no true love to God and goodness to stand upon so strict terms in our piety as to require an express command in particular for that which is admirably good in the general and hath also been the general practice of all good men as this hath been But after all I would in the last place crave leave to ask those men a plain question who insist upon more express proof of Family Prayers and it is no more but this Whether they think there is any such thing as publick worship required of men if they do then let them remember there was a time when there was no more publick Society than that of Families namely at the first planting of the World and then either publick worship must be this of Families or none at all and to inlighten them in this case let them consider that passage Gen. 4. 26. when Seth had Enos born to him it is said then began men to call upon the name of the Lord that is so soon as there began to be a Family in the pious line of Seth then presently they set up Gods worship in it Now this was not the beginning of secret worship for no doubt but Seth was careful of that before Enos was born nor was it properly publick or Ecclesiastick worship for in that minority of the World there neither was nor as yet could be any Church established in such a sense therefore it must follow that Family worship is as antient as the being of Families themselves Or let pious and
presently sets up men for Lay-Preachers and in a word that repeating Sermons raised the Rebellion But In answer to the first of these I observe that it is neither unusual nor under any ill character in Courts of Judicature for men to take Notes of the reasonings determinations and even the opinions of the Judges and surely Religion is of as much moment as the municipal Laws and Cases of Conscience are of as great consequence as meum and tuum but if the Discourses of Preachers be not so considerate their reasonings not so close and weighty nor their determinations so well grounded as to be worth noting the more is the pity to say no more As for the second objection I answer that if the Preacher handle only the indisputable Doctrines of Christianity and press them home and close upon the Consciences of men these will afford little scope for conceitedness or captiousness but some men that are of such an humour will be pragmatical and profane whether they write after Sermons or no and therefore let us lay this blame where it is due To the third objection it is answered that though writing after Sermons might perhaps furnish men with materials for Lay-preaching yet it was impudence which disposed men to it and the dissolution of Government which gave opportunity for it and if the last of these three things be taken care of the second will be curbed and the first harmless and innocent But lastly whereas it is objected that writing and repeating of Sermons was accessary to the late Rebellion I answer that it is evident it could be neither the writing nor the repeating but the seditious matter of the Sermons that was in the fault for it is certain that good and pious Sermons are the most effectual way to prevent all mischief of that kind tending to make good Subjects as well as good Christians and the writing and repeating of such Sermons is a means to settle such Doctrine the deeper in the hearts of men and therefore I see not but that it would be good prudence to apply that to a good end which hath been abused to a bad one unless we will countenance the humour of some late Reformers whose method was to abolish things for the abuse of them Upon the whole matter I see no just discouragement from this instance of Family-Devotion however I will say no more of it but proceed to such as are unexceptionable 4. It is certainly a Family Duty to instruct all the young and ignorant persons in it in the substantial Doctrines of Religion and rules of good life The obligation to and the advantages of this office have been sufficiently represented before in the foregoing Chapter now therefore only to speak briefly and plainly of the manner of discharging it it comprises these following particulars First That care be taken betimes to subdue the unruly wills and passions of Children which is ordinarily not very hard to do if it be minded time enough whilest they are tender and pliable but the defect herein like an errour in the first Concoction is hardly remediable afterwards accordingly the wise man adviseth Prov. 19. 18. Chasten thy Son whilest there is hope and let not thy Soul spare for his crying By breaking his stomach now we prevent the breaking of our own hearts hereafter for by this means with the blessing of God upon it we shall have comfort in a Child and the State and publick Society a governable Subject whereas contrariwise stubborness and malapertness in youth grows to contemptuousness of Parents to faction and sedition in the State in age In pursuance of this Secondly Let them learn and be accustomed humbly to beg the blessing of their Parents and Progenitors this as meanly as some inconsiderate people think of it is of mighty use for it not only teaches Children to reverence their Parents but wonderfully provokes and inflames the affections of Parents towards them and besides this it is the usual method of conveying the blessings of God upon them for though it be only God that bestows the blessing yet his way is to use the intervention and designation of Parents and generally those whom they bless in this case are blessed and those whom they curse are cursed Thirdly Then let them learn to read to pray and especially to say their Catechise for though these things are not throughly understood by them now yet they will stick by them and be remembred when they are more capable of improving them insomuch that it will be uneasy to one that hath been well principled in his minority to be impious and profane hereafter or if he should prove so there will yet be some hopes of reclaiming him because these things will some time or other revive and awaken his Conscience Fourthly after this let them be brought to the Bishop that he may lay his hands upon them pray over them bless and confirm them For if the fervent Prayer of every righteous man avail much as St. James tells us undoubtedly the solemn Prayer and Benediction of Christs immediate Substitute and the prime Officer of his Church is not inconsiderable Besides when men have understandingly and solemnly addicted themselves to the Christian Religion and made it their own act by a voluntary and publick choice it will ordinarily have a great influence upon them in modesty honour and reputation as well as Conscience that they shall not easily go back from it and renounce it and though it is too true that many have miscarried afterwards in point of practice yet it is very observable in experience that few or none who have been confirmed as aforesaid have apostatized from the profession of Christianity Fifthly and lastly After such foundations are laid it is no time yet to be secure but these beginnings must be followed with further instructions that such persons may be brought to a savoury sense of Piety and to understand the reasons of the Religion which they have imbraced and so neither be debauched with Examples nor tossed to and fro by every wind of new Doctrine nay further these young persons ought to be put upon all the ingenuous learning they are capable of receiving and we are able to afford them for the improvement of their minds that they be the more serviceable to God both in Church and State by the intent prosecution of which they will not only be kept out of the dangers which rash and unimployed youth is ready to run upon but become an Ornament to themselves and to their Relations and which is more be able to imploy and enjoy themselves in elder years without the usual diversions of drinking and gaming which commonly are the silly resorts and refuges of those who wanted Education in their youth 5. There is a principal branch of Family Discipline yet remains to be taken notice of and that is the curbing and restraining first of all profaneness and contempt of things sacred whether it be by cursing
hath advanced Gods glory in the Salvation of others Therefore it is exceedingly worth the while that we should deny our selves and condescend to any honest art and method of ingaging men in Religion Especially this is to be considered that the instances of Piety and Devotion are above all things to be voluntary free and chearful or they are nothing worth and therefore harshness and severity are the most improper instruments for such an effect consequently it must be wise Discourses obliging carriage sweetness of temper kindness and benignity that are the most likely methods of prevailing in such a case and ordinarily to gain this point no more is requisite than that a man discriminate between the good and the bad that he favour the one and discountenance the other and this alone will in time make a strange change in a Family Especially Thirdly If in the third place the Governour of a Family be a great Example of Piety himself Rules without Examples are neither understood nor considered by those to whom they are propounded and he that goes about to over-rule his Family to Piety without making Conscience of it in his own practice nay who doth not make his own life a great pattern of what he perswades to undermines his own indeavours and shall not only fail of success but be ridiculous for his pains for every body is aware of this that if Devotion be necessary to one it is so to another if the Servant ought to pray to God so ought the Master if one ought to be zealous certainly the other ought not to be careless or profane or if one may be excused the trouble of Religion so may the other also And indeed it is hardly possible for a man in these matters to have the confidence earnestly to press the observation of that upon those under him which is not conspicuous in his own practice or at least if he have the forehead to do it and can so well act the part of the Hypocritical Pharisee as to lay heavy burdens upon others which he himself will not touch with one of his fingers yet as he cannot do it heartily so he must be very vain if he thinks men will not be able to see through the disguise and very sottish if he can expect that such commands of his should carry any authority with them But there is a majesty in holy Example it not only commands but charms men into compliance there is life and spirit in it insomuch that it animates and inflames all about a man it makes Piety to become visible and not only shews it to be necessary but represents it with all its advantages of goodness beauty and ornament it confutes mens mistakes of it answers their objections against it removes their suspicions shames their cowardice and lukewarmness in a word it doth after the manner of all great Engines work powerfully though almost insensibly We find by common experience that men are sooner made wise and fit for great actions by the reading of History than by studying of Politicks because matter of fact strikes us more powerfully and the circumstances of things as they are done instruct us more effectually than all dry rules and speculations can do to which purpose it is to be remarked that the way of the holy Scripture is rather to teach men by Examples than by rules and accordingly the whole sacred Writ consists principally of the History of the Lives of holy men Almighty Wisdom thinking that way the fittest not only to express the Laws of Virtue but to make impression of them upon the spirits of men and indeed which is further remarkable there are some of the more curious and excellent lines of Piety which can hardly be exprest by words but are easily legible in the lives of holy men Therefore let him who would ingage his Family to Devotion give them a fair Copy of it in his own Example and then he shall not fail of the honour and comfort to see it transcribed and imitated by those about him 4. But that he may with the more certainty and expedition attain this desireable effect it is very necessary that he neither make the lives of those he would gain upon burdensome to them and exhaust their spirits by too great and constant drudgery about the affairs of the World nor that he make the business of Religion irksome and unpleasant to them by unnecessary length and tediousness of Family-Devotion For the former of these will take off their edge and leave them with no heart to Religion and the latter will beget an utter aversation to it As for the former our Saviour hath told us we cannot serve God and Mammon and that no man can serve two Masters i. e. either one of them must be neglected or both served very remisly for it 's certain when men are harassed with secular business they cannot have spirits enough to attend Religion with any vigour And for the other if the duties of Religion be drawn out phantastically to a tedious length it will be impossible whilest men are men that they should either be inclined to go to them with such chearfulness or persevere in them with such delight and fervour as is requisite Therefore let the World be so moderately pursued as that time and strength and room may be left for Devotion and let the Duties of Religion be so contrived that they may be pleasant and easy and then besides that Devotions so performed are most acceptable to God it will be no hard matter to bring our Families to comply with them Especially 5. If in the fifth place the Governours of Families take care to order and methodize affairs so that these different things intrench not upon each other neither the World incroach upon Religion nor Religion shut out and exclude the common affairs of life but both may take their places in a just subordination We commonly observe that things in an heap and which are not digested into any order look vast and numerous so as to amuse our minds in the contemplation of them insomuch that we neither apprehend any of them distinctly nor comprehend them all together and in a crowd of business we are either so confounded with the multiplicity or distracted with the variety of things before us that we apply our selves to nothing at all effectually for one hinders and supplants the other So it is here in the case between the affairs of the two Worlds if both lie in gross before men and no distinct place be assigned to each of them the effect is that both together being an intolerable burden one of the two must necessarily be neglected and that commonly falls to be the lot of Religion or if it happen that these offices are not totally omitted they will be sure to be superficially performed the minds of men neither being sufficiently prepared for them nor united enough to attend them without distraction and wanderings Therefore as the wise man
tells us there is a time for every thing so let every man who would promote Religion in his Family appoint set hours for Prayer and all the offices of Devotion and then it will neither be difficult to obtain the constant observance of them nor so ordinary to perform them carelesly and formally 6. Sixthly and lastly It will be the wisdom of every Master of a Family who would bring those which are under his care and tuition to an uniformity in Religion and the worship of God and to seriousness and heartiness therein that he express all tender affection to them and regard of them when any of them happen to be sick or under any adversity and by that means make to himself an opportunity of obliging them to take his counsel and follow his direction in all other cases We use to say he that will gain an interest in any man so that he may be useful to him or compliant with him in his prosperity must lay the foundation of his Friendship in that mans adversity For no man knows who are his Friends till he hath occasion to make experiment of them which cannot be done but in adversity for every man is a Friend to him that hath no need to him but he that like the good Samaritan deserts us not in our greatest difficulties him we have just grounds to value and confide in Now above all kindnesses men are most sensible of those which are done to their Bodies and they commonly take the measures of all Friendship and sincerity from thence and therefore he that will win upon the minds of men must first oblige them in their bodily interests Besides as we observe that all inferiour Creatures are most tractable and docible at such times as wherein they are lowest and can least help themselves so mankind is most disposed to take advice and most obedient to counsel when he is at a non-plus in his affairs and especially when the vanities of this World which dazled his Eyes before begin to vanish and there seems to be but one way left with him that is to prepare for another life he will then freely admit of Discourse of the other World and be glad to comply with all serious advice in order thereunto These seasons of adversity therefore are by no means to be let slip by him who is tender of the Souls of those who are under his charge To which add that forasmuch as it is the constant method of all the Zealots and Emissaries of false Religions to insinuate themselves into sick and calamitous persons to the end that by such an opportunity they may gain Disciples to their party and they too frequently find this subtilty successful the consideration hereof ought to awaken the diligence and incourage the hopes and indeavours of all those that sincerely desire to save their own Souls and those that are imbarqued with them to apprehend and improve such opportunities to better purposes especially seeing that in such seasons men are as capable of good principles as of bad if there be not as much shameful and supine carelessness on the one side as there is commonly vigilance and application on the other And so much for Family-Piety CHAP. VI. Of publick Piety and particularly of governing a mans self in relation to the Church and publick assembly of Christians AS it is certain we were not born for our selves so neither is it a sufficient discharge of our duty that we be useful in our private Family or amongst our Kindred and Relations only but that we express a zeal of Gods glory and the good of Mankind answerable to the full extent of our capacity and let our light so shine out before men that we may provoke as many as are within our reach to glorify our Father which is in Heaven Now every private man is in some measure concerned in the Neighbourhood and Parish wherein he dwells and whereto he belongs and therefore should so far at least dispense the influence of his zeal for God and Religion for Almighty God who hath appointed the bounds of mens habitation having thus setled every man in his station expects that he should look upon this as his proper sphere and adorn it as his peculiar Province No private man hath any just reason ordinarily to prompt him to go beyond this forasmuch as if every good man would do his part within these bounds the whole World would be amended and he that is remiss and negligent in this cannot easily satisfy himself that he hath demonstrated such love to God as becomes him nor can he expect to reap all those comforts and benefits which otherwise by a conscientious discharge of himself in this particular might redound to him Now that which we mean by the relation to a Neighbourhood or a Parish hath a double consideration First As every Parish is or ought to be a branch or member of the Church Secondly As it is a branch or member of the Commonwealth Accordingly there is a double obligation lies upon every man that is within the bounds of it and from thence arise duties of a different nature for brevity and perspicuity I will distinguish them by the names of Ecclesiastical and Civil Piety and then shew what each of them comprehends beginning with that which I call Ecclesiastical Piety or the discharge of such publick duties as especially concern the Society of a Church And this consists in these few following particulars 1. That a man join himself to and carry himself as a member of the Church and not out of pride phantastry or contempt separate himself from it or schismatically set up Factions and Conventicles against it It is evident that our Lord Jesus Christ established the Society of a Church that is appointed that all those who would be his Disciples should not content themselves singly and particularly to believe on him but should all be obliged to associate themselves and make up a body or spiritual corporation wherein they were to hold Communion with each other as members as well as with him their head The ends and uses of this institution were very many and great for besides that by this means order and unity is promoted which is very beautiful in the Eyes of God himself our Lord hereby provided that the truth of Christianity might be jointly held up in the World and the several members of this Society become mutually more helpful and comfortable to each other and also that by a constant method of Christian intercourse here they may be fitted for Eternal Friendship and Society in Heaven In subserviency to all these ends publick Officers were appointed in the Church to govern and to instruct the several members of it which it were plainly impossible for them to do unless their numbers were almost infinite and equal to that of the people if it had not been that the people were to join together and become a common flock for those Officers to govern and
discharge of which is that which I call civil Piety and the measures whereof at least so far as concerns the purpose in hand are briefly described in the following particulars 1. The first office of civil Piety is to maintain Government and Order to keep up the honour and dignity of the Prince to preserve the reverence of Magistracy and the Laws of a mans Country For the doing of this we have as express and urgent commands of God as any are to be found in the whole Scripture and therefore the conscientious discharge hereof is as acceptable to him as any act of immediate worship For God Almighty needs nothing at our hands for himself or for his own use and advantage but makes the publick good of his Creatures the matter and reason of his Laws Now publick Peace and tranquillity which are only to be preserved by Laws and Magistracy are of mighty concernment to mankind as well as beautiful in the Eyes of him that calleth himself a God of order For without Government we could have no quiet in our habitations no security of our persons no propriety in our Estates no defence against Foreign Invasion nor any refuge from the inraged multitude or combined force of evil men but the weak would be a prey to the strong the slothful would eat the labours of the industrious the World would be filled with Murders Rapine and Violence and become an Hell upon Earth and therefore it is not only worthy of a wise mans care to uphold Government but must be his important duty to indeavour it And the being instrumental herein is not only very honourable to Religion and consequently procures the benign aspect of Princes towards it and provokes them to become nursing Fathers of it but is peculiarly commodious to all the offices and exercises thereof Therefore it is observable that the Apostles generally in all their Writings immediately after they have discoursed of the peculiar Duties of Christianity subjoin earnest exhortations to obedience to humane Laws and civil Powers and the primitive Christians were so infinitely tender herein as if they thought that God could not have his honour and glory and service rightly performed to him unless Peace and Order were preserved in the World Now forasmuch as the greatest Kingdoms consist of so many several lesser Bodies as the integral parts thereof and those again of so many Parishes And forasmuch as it is impossible there should be peace and good order in the Whole if the particular parts or members be out of order Therefore it must not only be the duty but be within the power of every private person to contribute something towards the great ends aforesaid first by disposing himself secondly by principling his Family and thirdly by perswading and inclining his Neighbours to favour and assist the Government towards the attainment of the design of humane Society And this the good Christian ought at this time especially to set himself about with the greater zeal because the looseness herein seems to be one of the peculiar evils of the present age we live in and that which not only makes an ill reflection upon Religion but indangers the state of it In order therefore to the upholding of Government let the good man indeavour in converse with his Neighbours to possess them with an apprehension of the necessity of submitting private interests to common utility and particular opinion to publick discretion and so bring them into a good opinion of the reasonableness of the Laws and of the wisdom of their Governours Let him labour to remove peoples discontents to confute their jealousies and to make them chearful and well-pleased with the state of the World which God hath ordered Let him discountenance all seditious Libels and News not permit in his Company any pragmatical censuring of the Laws or publick Counsels no traducing the persons or exposing the infirmities of Governours nor no repining at and envying the glory and splendour of those that are preferred above themselves That he may be successful in all this let him be careful to preserve and keep up the distinct ranks orders and degrees of men and that those differences which it hath pleased the Divine Providence to make in the fortunes and conditions of men be observed I mean in respect of age and youth riches and poverty honour and obscruity the neglect of which is not only a malapert Quakerly humour but a principle of sedition and confusion in the World For as it is evident that there can be no peace and quiet in the World if there be no Government so it is as certain there can be no Government where there is no Order nor the different degrees amongst men observed and therefore he that would either level the condition of all men or which is the same things in effect would destroy that reverence which keeps up that distinction and diversity of condition dissolves the very sinews of humane Society God Almighty indeed could easily have levelled the condition of all men and taken away or prevented the differences of Rich and Poor honourable and ignoble and of old and young too if he had so pleased But then it is not imaginable how there could have been any Society amongst men at least unless he had also by his omnipotency made them all to be wise and good too but forasmuch as he resolved to have order and government amongst men and yet would not effect it by violence he therefore resolved by means of those different conditions aforesaid to subordinate them one to another and to unite them together in the Bonds of mutual usefulness and dependance So he ordered that some should be poor to ease the rich of labour and drudgery and others rich to imploy and incourage their industry that the one might have superfluity to relieve the others want and the other be obliged by their bounty the same Providence ordered that there should be some men in power and dignity and others in privacy and obscurity that the man of honour standing by and countenancing the ignoble as his Client he on the other side should observe and acknowledge him as his Patron and so harmony arises out of this discord Again he ordered the World so that all should not be of a stature and capacity of body or mind but that there should be old men able to counsel and advise others but not of strength to execute and young men of spirit and vigour for Execution but destitute of counsel and wisdom that the former by their experience and observation instructing the latter and the latter by their strength and courage assisting the former they might be mutually indeared to each other as members of the same Body He therefore who incourages or suffers if he can help it the Poor to be surly and insolent towards the Rich or the private person to be contumacious towards those in dignity or the young to be rude and malapert towards the aged opposes himself to