the most likely to advantage us Thus though the honest but desponding person suffer his thoughts to be taken up especially with the consideration of Gods infinite Love and Mercy to sinful man yet it will be more proper for the presumptuous and disobedient to reflect upon the Majesty and Justice of the Almighty as by which he may be most effectually drawn to the owning him for his God 3. The third act of the Vnderstanding follows even the believing what God affirms concerning which I will shew these three things 1. First of all its just extent and latitude 2. The congruity of this vertue of Faith to our present state and 3. And lastly how we own God for our God by it 1. To begin with the first of these even the extent of Faith concerning which I shall first of all observe that it is to reach to every thing which shall be found to be affirmed by the Almighty Whether it be delivered by way of narration or prediction as a thing that either is or was or shall hereafter come to pass Thus for example if God declare to me that he is merciful and just and that it is his pleasure we should be so also that he hath in ancient times given instances of both those Attributes in the redemption of mankind and the rejection of the Angels and that he will give more signal ones hereafter at the great judgment day I am equally to receive each of these into my assent and believe that they are and have and shall be according as he himself hath declared For being alike the subject of Gods affirmation I am in reason to give up my assent to each of them in what manner soever they be delivered Which observation I do the rather set before you because how trivial soever it may seem to be in its self yet the weakness shall I say or rather impiety of the present age hath made it necessary to be represented men commonly conceiving of faith as an assent only to those gracious promises which it hath pleased God to make to sinful man By which means as they have been induced to have little regard to the other Articles of our belief so much less to the Commandments of the Almighty which yet as they are equally the object of our faith so the practice thereof is the means whereby those promises are to be attained upon which that Faith of theirs is founded I observe secondly that our Faith is not only to extend it self to all Gods affirmations in what manner soever delivered but also to all of them whatsoever the subject matter thereof be and how contrary soever in appearance to the dictates of our own reason For if Gods affirmation be the ground of our belief wheresoever that ground is it is equally to be afforded whatsoever be the subject matter of it Thus for example if the doctrine of the Trinity how unintelligible soever to us do appear to be a revelation of God's it may and ought to challenge our assent no less than his affirmation of those things which we have not only no prejudice against but the dictates of our own reason to confirm us in Lastly for this is no less necessary to be observed than the former because we have now no immediate revelations from God we are to yield up our assent not only to what God affirms to us with his own mouth but also to what he declares by men inspired by him and witnessed to by miracles from himself that is to say by his servants the Prophets and Apostles and particularly that great Prophet and Apostle the ever Blessed Jesus What any one affirmeth by another being equally his affirmation with that which he affirms by himself But from hence it will follow that we are to give up our belief to the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament and to all things therein contained For these having been * Explication of the Apostles Creed elsewhere shewn to have been written by men divinely inspired and witnessed to by God himself they are equally the word of God with that which he himself delivers and consequently claim an equal share in our belief 2. Of the extent of our belief I have spoken hitherto and shewn what is the just object of it proceed we therefore in the second place to evince its congruity or essentiality rather to the oeconomy of the Gospel and our present state under it For the evidencing whereof not to tell you which yet I very well might that the doctrine of the Gospel is every where stiled the Faith of Christ nor yet that the Heathens * Vid. Orig. contra Celsum lib. 6. pag. 282. objected nothing more against Christianity than its calling upon men simply to believe it I will remit you to that most full and pertinent saying of S. Paul 1 Cor. 1.21 Where he tells us that after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe plainly intimating that whereas before God led men to Salvation by wisdom and knowledge now his intention was they should go to it by Faith that is to say by believing what was preached to them by those whom he commissionated and witnessed to by miracles But from hence it will follow 1. That they do in effect renounce Christianity who receive not the doctrines of it upon the Authority of him that revealed them as well as upon the grounds of reason For that is in truth to disown that Faith we are to walk by and to yield up our assent not to Christ whos 's the doctrines are but to our own only reason and judgment Which though it do in fine terminate in God whose candle that reason of ours is and consequently doth so far glorifie him yet hath not the least aspect upon the veracity of God in Christ upon which they are proposed to the world The same is much more to be said 2. Of those who will walk no farther with their Faith than the light of their own reason will accompany them For this is manifestly to subject the Faith to it and to walk rather by sight than by faith And hence when any thing is proposed to them which carries any seeming opposition to it we find it presently discarded as is notorious in the instances of the Trinity and of the Incarnation of the second Person in it doctrines which yet have as clear a foundation in the Scripture as any other doctrines of it Hence also which yet if duly considered is not so dissonant to our apprehensions the resurrection of the dead hath lately run the same fate men having been taught to believe that to salve that it is reason enough that some body or other shall be united to the Soul which how it agrees with the nature of a resurrection and the doctrine of the Gospel concerning it I shall leave all sober men to judge But who sees
well enough by making it look back to the Six foregoing days of Labour For as by so doing we must alter our Account and make the Lord's-day not the First but the Seventh so though this way of Computing should agree well enough to the rest yet it hath no place at all in the First and Chief the Day of our Saviour's Resurrection being not onely the First of the Gospel Age but the First day after the Jewish Sabbath which leaves no place for any preceding Days of Labour From the Observation of a Seventh day pass we to that Seventh on which the Jews kept their Sabbath even the Seventh from the first falling of the Manna in the Wilderness and as is probable also from the Creation of the World Which that it is not obligatory to us is sufficiently evident from the foregoing Considerations but will be rendred yet more clear from those which follow Whereof the first that I shall alledge is its being instituted to remember God's giving them Rest after their sore Travels in Egypt For that so it was the Prophet Moses doth more than intimate Deut. 5.15 where repeating the same Precept we are now upon he alledgeth the Reason of God's commanding it to be to put them in mind of their Bondage in Egypt and of God's wonderful delivering of them from it Now forasmuch as that Mercy had relation onely to the Jews forasmuch as their Sabbath was appointed to commemorate it it follows that the Jews onely were concern'd in the Observation of it and consequently that it is not obligatory to us Add hereunto that of St. Paul to the Colossians chap. 2.16 17. where not contented to forbid the judging of any one in meat and drink in respect of an Holy-day or of the New-moon or of the Sabbath-days which yet shews their Obligation to be null he affirms moreover and particularly concerning those Sabbath-days That they were shadows of good things to come and therefore to disappear when they actually were Now if any should demand as the Question is not unseasonable wherein the Sabbath was a Shadow of things to come according as St. Paul affirms I think we cannot more rightly place it than in that Rest which it enjoyn'd because that was one great End of its appointment as neither the Typicalness of that Rest than in its shadowing forth that Eternal Rest which we shall be possess'd of in Heaven For beside that the Author to the Hebrews not onely compares those Rests together but calls that Eternal Rest by the Name of * Heb. 4.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Sabbatism as it were on purpose to shew it to have been typified by the other ‖ Vid. Lud Capell in locum the Jews themselves may seem not to have been without some knowledge of it because calling that Eternal Rest the day which is all Sabbath The onely thing that can with reason be objected against this and the foregoing Argument is the Christians so long and so generally observing the Jewish Sabbath as well as their own Lord's-day or Sunday But as it is to be observ'd that that Custom had no place in the * See White 's Treatise of the Sabbath-day p. 72. Churches of Rome and Alexandria and throughout Africa the first whereof was anciently the most Eminent in the Christian World so where it had it may seem to have proceeded not so much from any firm belief of its Obligation as from weakness in some and compliance in others and in both an unwillingness utterly to shake off that Day which had by God himself been set apart for Religious Exercises Witness their prescribing not to observe it after a Jewish manner ‖ Interpolat Epist Ignat. ad Magnesianos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. Vser Ign. p. 57. who advis'd the Observation of the Day the * Vid. Vsser in notis ad loc Observation of it in such Places where the Jews most were as in the Eastern Parts and not in the other in fine the †See Bishop White ubi supra andVsser in Proleg ad Ign. Epist c. 13. Romans and Alexandrians converting the Sabbath-day or Saturday into a day of fasting and the generality of the Christians at last agreeing with those of Rome in the abolishing of it I will conclude this Particular with that of St. Paul Gal. 4.10 11. where having twitted them with the Observation of days and months and times and years agreeably to the beggarly elements of the Law to let them know how much he was concern'd about it he immediately adds I am afraid of you lest I have bestow'd upon you labour in vain thereby intimating as Grotius speaks his fear of their falling back to Judaism to which the Observation of their Days was a great step and casting off that Religion they had receiv'd from him I speak not this to invalidate the Authority of the Lord's-day which some I know have endeavour'd to establish upon such Grounds as I have labour'd to decry For as I mean by and by to give such an Account of it as shall oblige any sober Man to the Observation of it so next to that I know not what better Service I could possibly do it than by taking Men off from adhering too much to the Letter of this Commandment because whilst some Men have gaz'd too much upon it they have been induc'd thereby and not without reason to observe the Saturday rather than the Sunday as which indeed the Commandment enjoyns Again As by inculcating the Letter of the Commandment too far occasion hath been given to prefer the Jewish Sabbath before the Christian so there is no doubt the like occasion may be given if not to admit of the Jewish yet to think very meanly of the Christian It being not very likely that Day should be much esteem'd which hath nothing brought to establish it but the Letter of a Commandment that establishes another day and such a one as by the Design of God was a Shadow of that Body which we enjoy 2. But not any longer to defer the paying of that Debt which our Lord's-day as well as my own Promise exacts of me I will proceed in the second place to inquire Whether though the determination of the Time according as it is here fix'd be not directly obligatory to us Christians yet somewhat may not be inferr'd from it toward the establishing of the Lord's-day and by what that is farther to be strengthned For the resolution whereof the first thing I shall offer shall respect the appointing of a Day For being as I have before shewn it is necessary that a competent Time be set apart for the Worship of God being less than a Day or at least the major part of it cannot be deem'd a competent Time for the Solemn Performance of the Private and Publick Worship of God lastly being God requir'd of the Jews to set apart a Day to give him that Worship which is due unto him we cannot think
of the Child to be the principal if not onely end of Gods obliging Parents to chastise them But from hence it will follow not onely that Parents ought not to chasten Children for their own pleasure or to gratifie their Anger and Revenge but also that where a less Chastisement is likely to have effect the Parent is not generally to inflict a greater I say generally because a greater one may be sometimes necessary to deter his other Children from the like Offence Which as there is no doubt the Parent ought to have a regard to as being concern'd for the welfare of them all so the offending Son hath no just Cause to take exception at it provided the Punishment be within the measure of the Offence It being but reasonable that he should instruct those by his Chastisement whom by his evil Practice he hath given a temptation to offend Which said nothing remains to account for but what Submission is due from Children to the Chastisement of their Parents which will require no great pains to resolve For as no doubt can be made but where the Chastisement is within due Bounds all possible Submission is due from the Children to it the same Authority that licenseth the Parent to chastise obliging the Child to acquiesce in it so even where the Chastisement is exorbitant no other Resistance can be suppos'd to be lawful than what is made either by flying from it or appealing to those to whom even Parents ought to be subject other Resistance than that overthrowing that Subordination which God hath ser between a Child and a Parent 2. Of those Duties which are common to both Parents what hath been said may suffice proceed we therefore to inquire whether there be any peculiar to the Mother The Ground of which Quaerie is an Opinion that hath prevail'd of Womens being generally obliged to nurse their own Children What Reasons there are for such a Surmise may be seen in a Dissertation of Favorinus * Vid. A. Gell. Nâ—ct Atric l. 12. c. 1. where that Matter is argued with great Eloquence and shew of Reason The sum of his Argumentation is That Nature doth as it were prompt the Mother to it by that Nourishment which it sends into her Breasts that the Milk of the Mother is most agreeable to the Child that is to be maintain'd by it that ill Dispositions of Mind may be contracted from the Nurses they make use of and in fine that much of that Affection which is due from the Child to the Mother and on the other side from the Mother to the Child may be taken off by putting them out to Nurse to Stranger Women Which Reasons how plausible soever in appearance seem to me not to have that force which they are commonly apprehended to be of For though it be true in the first place that Nature commonly furnisheth the Mother with an Ability to perform that Office to the Child yet as that may be look'd upon rather as the Kindness of God and Nature than any Obligation to the doing of it so that it induceth no Obligation to the Undertaking of it will need no other proof than that the Nourishment of the Child may be otherwise as happily procur'd For the Means of any thing becoming valuable by its subserviency to that End which it is made use of to procure where the End may be attain'd by more Means than one there no doubt it shall be lawful for the Party concern'd to make use of either according as their own Conveniences or other Circumstances shall perswade All therefore that it will concern us to shew is That the End may be as happily attain'd by other Means which will consequently lay the stress of Mothers Obligation if indeed there be any upon the less aptitude of other Means which the following Objections are intended to establish To bring therefore the Controversie to an Issue let us consider those Objections and first of all that which pretends that the Milk of the Mother is most agreeable to the Child that is to be maintain'd by it Now that so it is not will appear if either we compare it with the Bringing up of Children by Hand as it is commonly called or with the Milk of other Women For beside that late Experience shews that many Children have been brought up the former way without any considerable inconvenience the same Experience gives us to understand that Nurses if healthful Women and stirring as the greatest part of them are do perform that Office with as great or greater success than the Mothers themselves do especially if as most of those are that put out their Children they be Women of more nice Constitutions and more dainty and therefore less healthful Feeding As little or less am I mov'd with that following Suggestion of Favorinus of Childrens contracting ill Dispositions of Mind and particularly Poorness of Spirit from those mean Persons Women make use of for their Nurses For beside that the contrary is frequently seen in the Children of greater Personages who are all upon the matter nurs'd by Women of meaner Birth than their Mothers there want not even among the poorer sort Women of Spirits above their Fortunes and to whom therefore if that be all they may put their Children By which means all the force there is in Womens being obliged to nurse their own Children must be grounded upon the presumption of the Affections of the Mother and the Child being likely to be abated by making choice of a Stranger to perform the Office of a Nurse to them But as that is on the part of the Child a groundless Presumption it being not at all rare for those Children who have been nurs'd by their Mothers to shew as little affection to them as those that have been nurs'd by others so that it is otherwise on the part of the Mother will be hard to be believ'd by those who have made any Observations upon it Women of better Fortunes and who therefore for the most part place their Children abroad being generally as fond or fonder of their Children than Women of meaner Birth and Fortunes who for the most part are their own Nurses PART V. Of Kings or Princes and all that are in Authority The Ground of the Honour of Princes their being 1. God's Ministers and Vicegerents and 2. Of his Designation and Appointment The former of these evidenced from their being stiled Gods as their Throne the Throne of God That this was not peculiar to the Jewish Princes evidenced from St. Paul who stiles the Powers of his Time the Ministers of God An Answer to what is objected out of St. Peter concerning their being stiled the Ordinance of Man That Princes are of God's Designation and Appointment as well as his Ministers and Vicegerents because that Authority wherewith they are invested cannot become theirs but by the Grant of him to whom they do originally belong How it may appear that the Princes that now are are of
God's Designation and Appointment where is shewn first That they neither do nor can pretend to any Immediate Appointment as those of the Jews might but onely a mediate one And secondly That that Appointment is mark'd out to us by the Dispensations of his Providence which are moreover shewn to be a sufficient Testimony of it Evidence of that Appointment in such Princes as arrive at their Authority by the ordinary Course of Things or such as arrive at it by extraordinary Means and particularly by Fraud and Violence By what Means these last become legitimate Powers and particularly by what Means the Roman Emperours came to be so Of the sorts of Honour which are to be paid to Princes which are shewn as before in Parents to be 1. An Inward Esteem of them and 2. An Outward Declaration of it This latter evidenc'd in the Declaration that is made by the Gesture and by the Tongue where moreover is shewn at large the Sinfulness of speaking evil of Princes even where there want not real Failings in them IT being evident from the general Explication of this Commandment that Kings and all that are in Authority are included in the Name of Fathers and it being no less evident from St. Peter 1 Pet. 2.17 that the Honour of Kings is a part of Christianity for the fuller Explication of this Commandment I will allot them a place in my Discourse and therein inquire 1. What the Grounds of Honouring Kings or Princes are 2. What Honours are to be exhibited to them 3. Answer the Objections that are commonly made for the denial of those Honours and particularly that of Submission to their Censures 4. After which I will descend in the fourth place to consider of the Honour of Inferiour Magistrates and shew upon what Grounds and after what Manner and Measure that Honour is to be paid 5. And lastly Speak a Word or two of their Duty 1. Honour as was before shewn being nothing else than an Acknowledgment of his Excellencies whom we honour to know what the ground of the Honour of Princes is we must enquire what those Excellencies are by which they stand commended to the world In order whereunto I know not what shorter course to take than by having recourse to the 13. Chapter to the Romans where this matter is both largely and perspicuously handled For exhorting both once and again that every Soul should be subject to them and that too not only for Wrath but for Conscience sake the Apostle assigns for the reason of that subjection that they are men of Power or Authority that they are invested with that Authority by God that they are appointed by him over those that are under their subjection that they are Gods Ministers and Vicegerents in the governance of them that they have both Authority and Command to reward and encourage the good and to draw out the Sword of Justice against Evil doers from all which put together it is evident that the ground for which a Prince is to be honoured is that he is Gods Minister and Vicegerent here on Earth and of his designation and appointment For the further evidencing the former whereof as in which it concerns us to be well satisfied in regard of some evil Opinions that have been lately opposed to it the first thing that I shall alledge is Gods giving them his own August name For thus Exod. 22.28 after he had said Thou shalt not revile the Gods to let us know what Gods he means he subjoins in the next words nor speak evil of the Ruler of thy people But so we find them elsewhere more apparently stil'd Psal 82.6 For as his words there are express I have said ye are Gods so it is apparent from the whole Psalm that they are Princes to whom he thus speaketh such to whom it belongs to judge the causes that are brought before them to do justice to the afflicted and needy by defending and delivering them and ridding them out of the hand of the wicked Which Offices though they may and for the most part are communicated to Inferiour Magistrates and particularly to those that have the name of Judges yet as they are originally in the Prince by whom they are so communicated and executed in his Name and by his Authority so that they are a part of his natural Power Solomon shews 1 Kings 3.7.9 he upon Gods making him King in the stead of David his Father begging of him that he would give him an understanding heart to judge his people and to discern between good and bad And accordingly as we find Solomon himself in consequence of the Royal Authority giving judgment between the two Harlots that contended for the Living Child vers 27 28. of the forequoted Chapter so that the Kings of England heretofore sat personally in judgment is notorious from Story and the Bench whereon they sat for that very reason stiled to this day The Vpper or Kings Bench. But beside that Princes have the name of God which is no contemptible indication of their being his Substitutes and Vicegerents we find moreover that God judgeth among them yea that their Throne is no other than Gods For thus what is in 1 Kings 2.12 Then Solomon sat upon the Throne of David his Father is elsewhere expressed Then Solomon sat upon the Throne of the Lord as King instead of David his Father 1 Chro. 29.23 And which comes yet more home to our purpose what was said by Jehosaphat to the Judges he had appointed that they judged not for man but for the Lord 2 Chron. 19.6 for what greater proof can we desire of Princes being Gods Substitutes and Vicegerents than the bearing of his name and sitting in his Throne and that they who judge for and under them judge not for Man but for the Lord Neither will it avail to say that how true soever this may have been of the Kings of Judah which had sometime the Title of a Theocraty yet the like cannot be affirmed of other Princes For as it is apparent enough that they were not such at the time of their Kings God himself having told Samuel that when they went about to desire a King they rejected him from being King over them and the Word of God that they both desired and had a King after the manner of other Nations So what is in the Old Testament affirm'd of the Jewish Kings St. Paul sticks not to affirm of the powers that then were where he calls them the Ministers of God But from hence it will follow whatever hath been pretended to the contrary that Princes do not derive the power they have from the people For if they be Gods Ministers it is his Authority by which they shine neither have they any other Fountain of their Power than that * Irenae l. 5. c. 24. Cujus enim jussu homines nascuntur hujus jussu reges constituuntur Tertul. Apol. c. 30. Inde est imperator unde h
mo antequam imperator inde potestas illi unde spiritus which is the Fountain of their Being And though I know the contrary hath been pretended from the Scripture inasmuch as those Powers are by our Translation of it stiled the ordinance of man 1 Pet. 2.13 yet as the words which they render Submit your selves to every ordinance of Man import no other than ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See Ushers Power communicated by God to the Prince c. pag 3. seq the doing of it to every humane creature that is to say for so both the Subjection injoin'd and the Persons †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into whom it is branch'd shews to every humane creature that is in Authority so what the same St. Peter adds as the grounds of our so doing doth plainly overthrow that counterfeit interpretation For requiring the subjecting our selves to them for the Lords sake he shews it is his Authority which commends them and for which they are to be rever'd That Princes are Gods Vicegerents here on Earth hath been at large declar'd it remains that we also shew them to be appointed by God as such For as no one taketh to himself the honour of Priesthood but he who is called of God as was Aaron so undoubtedly no one can assume to himself the honour of Gods Vicegerent unless he be thereto appointed by himself That which is originaly anothers being not capable of becoming ours but by the grant of him to whom it doth so belong To make out therefore the rightfulness of Princes Pleas we must enquire after the donation of the Almighty and by what means both they and we may be assured of it That the Princes of the Jews were appointed by God as his Vicegerents no doubt can be made because he whose Vicegerents they were declared them to be such by men immediately inspired by himself and assured them of that declaration by his word After the former whereof as it was not in the power of their people to doubt so it would have been extremity of madness as well as of Impiety to deny it But because there is not the least appearance of any such immediate appointment of other Princes and beside that they who arrogate to themselves the same Authority do not in the least pretend to it therefore to make out the legitimateness of their Plea some other course must be taken which accordingly I come now to attempt In order whereunto unto the first thing that I shall alledge is those words of St. Paul before remembred that the powers that then were were ordain'd of God For though that will give us little light into the manner of their appointment and consequently contribute little to the understanding of that of our own yet thus far it will contribute to it as to give us to understand that those Princes may be appointed by God who have no immediate designation For inasmuch as it is notorious both from the Scriptures and Profane Authors that the Powers that then were were no other than the Roman Emperours of whose immediate appointment by God there is not the least footstep either in the one or the other it will follow that those Princes may be appointed by him as his Vicegerents who have no such immediate call I observe secondly That as the Powers that then were though they had no immediate call yet are affirm'd by St. Paul to have been ordain'd by God so that they who know nothing of God or of their own appointment are stil'd the Anointed of the Lord which if any thing may seem to have been peculiar to the Jewish Princes For thus in particular Isa 45.1 We find God stiling Cyrus his anointed though as the same God immediately after tells us he had then no knowledge of him I observe thirdly which will bring us yet more neer to the thing intended that though the Powers that now are have no such immediate appointment as the Jewish Princes had yet is there as good Authority for the being of such Power though there be no such designation of the persons that are to be invested with it For it being the voice both of Nature and Scripture that God is not the Author of Confusion but of Peace and Order and it being no less evident from experience that Peace and Order cannot be either had or maintain'd without the Institution of Rulers it is necessarily to be presum'd to be the will and pleasure of God that there should be such Rulers in every Nation Which said a way is opened to the discovery of that appointment which we have said the Powers on Earth to stand by For it being of Divine appointment that there should be Rulers in every Nation and God Almighty having not by any immediate Revelation signifi'd his pleasure concerning the Persons that are to be so it follows that to attain the knowledge of his Will in this particular we are to have recourse to his Providence which is the only way besides to come to the knowledge of it For though the Providence of God be no Rule against his revealed Will because that is the proper measure of Good and Evil yet inasmuch as that also is a declaration of his Will nothing hinders but it may have place where the other is not contradicted and mark out the appointments of our great Master to us But from hence it will follow first That those Powers are to be looked upon as ordain'd by God which come to that Power they have as without any fraud or violence so by the ordinary course of Gods Providence For that Authority to which they arrive being consign'd into their hands by his alone Providence in whom all Authority in Heaven and Earth is vested it is in reason to be presum'd to be appointed by himself and accordingly to be look'd upon as such Upon which account all those Powers must be look'd upon as ordain'd by God that either come to the Throne by a lineal descent from former Kings where the Kingdom is Hereditary or by a free and unconstrained Choice where it is Elective It will follow secondly That those also are to be look'd upon as ordained of God which however they do at first attain to their Power by Fraud or Violence yet are confirm'd in it by the Submission and Acceptance of those in whom the Government formerly was and over whom it is to be exercis'd For it being the Appointment of God that there should be Rulers in every Nation and which is more where there is no other Declaration of his Will that we should have recourse unto his Providence it follows that where the Throne becomes empty as it is by the Rendition of those that before sate in it he is in reason to be presum'd to be appointed to it who is not onely permitted by God to ascend to it but those to whom it formerly belong'd together with those that were govern'd by it mov'd by God to accept of
evidenc'd from the prospering of Christianity under the Primitive Persecutions An Answer to that Plea which is made for Inseriour Magistrates resisting upon the account of their being Publick Persons and by the Prince himself Commissionated to execute Justice The former of the two Pretences evidenced to be vain because though the Inferiour Magistrate be a Publick Person in respect of his Fellow-Subjects yet he is but a Private one when considered with relation to the Supreme The Case of the Decree of a Judge prevailing against any private Order of the Prince shewn not to make at all for Inferiour Magistrates resisting the Supreme because the Prevalency of that Decree is founded upon the Presumption of its being the Will of the Prince rather than any private Order against it The latter Pretence of Inferiour Magistrates being Commissionated by the Supreme to punish Offenders shewn to be more vain than the former because it is not to be presum'd that he who by Divine and Humane Law is Supreme will Commissionate any Person against himself That famous Saying of Trajan to the Praefectus Praetorio Hoc pro me utere si rectè impero si malè contra me rather a piece of Ostentation than any real Intendment of his but however no way suitable to the Mouth of the Supreme Magistrate Another Plea for Resistance drawn from Princes swearing before their Coronation to Govern according to the Laws that seeming to imply a Compact between them and their Subjects upon the breach whereof on their part the Subjects may depart from their Allegiance and resist them in the Execution of their Power This Plea evidenced to be vain as to the Kings of England because fully such before their Coronation and the Reason of such Oaths declar'd The like Vanity shewn in that other Plea which alledgeth That some Kings are such rather in Title than Reality and consequently not Supreme in their Dominions Where the Supremacy of our own Kings is evidenced both from their Titles and their Actions Of the Honour of Inferiour Magistrates and what the Grounds thereof are which are shewn to be The Authority they have from God for the Deputing of Inferiour Magistrates and their actual Deputation of them The former of these evidenc'd from the impossibility of their discharging the Duty of their Place without it as the latter from their being God's Ministers in solidum in those Places where they are appointed to Preside Those Inferiour Magistrates which are invested by lesser Powers no prejudice to the forementioned Ground because those Powers do what they do by Commission from the Prince The Honours of the Inferiour Magistrate the same upon the matter for the Kind with those of the Supreme but different as to the Measure which also is there declar'd That the Honour which is to be paid to them be with subordination to that of God the Supreme Magistrate and those of Higher Authority than themselves in fine that it be according to the Measure of that Authority which is imparted to them and according to the Pleasure of him by whom it is imparted The Result whereof is 1. That if the Inferiour Magistrate command any thing which is not within his Commission it is lawful to disobey him 2. That in case of hard Measure shew'd by him we may appeal from him to the Superiour 3. That as they who have a greater Authority ought to have a greater Honour and they who have a less Authority a less so the precise Measures of them are best learn'd from the Laws because the clearest Declarations of the Pleasure of the Prince A short Paraenesis to Inferiour Magistrates where somewhat also of their Duty is describ'd 3. HAVING in the foregoing Discourses establish'd the Grounds and shewn the Kinds of Honour that are due to Soveraign Princes nothing more seems requisite to be done than to shew why and in what manner or measure we are to honour those Persons that are Commissionated by them But because some Mens impatiency of the Yoke of Government hath made them willing to find out Reasons to licence them to shake it off and after that actually to believe them I think it not amiss before I proceed any further both to propose and and answer their Objections That it is not lawful to resist the Supreme Powers even when they make use of their Power against the Innocent hath been at large declar'd and confirm'd both from Reason and Scripture and possibly not without effect as to the Resisters themselves if there wanted not some specious Reasons to take off the force of it as to some particular Cases Of this nature is first those Princes opposing themselves oftentimes against God and against that Religion which he hath establish'd in the World For though we may be oblig'd to sit down tamely under the Violence of Evil Princes when that Violence reacheth no farther than our Persons yet who can think the same Patience necessary when Religion it self is struck at which we are in reason to prefer before all other Considerations In answer to which not to tell you as I well might that Submission to Princes is an undoubted Duty of Christianity and consequently that the contrary thereof is no proper Means to defend Christianity by Not to tell you moreover that that God who hath commanded our Submission to the Higher Powers hath no where derogated from that Command by the exception of any Case And what reason have we to distinguish where the Law of God doth not Not to tell you thirdly that the Princes to whom the Apostles requir'd Men to submit were both foretold by our Saviour * Mat. 10.18 to be Persecutors of Christianity and shew'd themselves to be such in a more than ordinary manner which made it reasonable for the Apostles to except the Case of Religion if that had been intended by God to be so Lastly not to tell you that to allow of Resistance upon colour of Religion would have opened the Gap to all manner of Seditions both because it had been easie to adapt that Pretence to a thousand Cases and because Religion comprehends within it the Whole of a Christians Duty But not I say to insist upon any or all of these which yet are a sufficient Prejudice to the Exemption pleaded for I shall chuse rather to shew which will come up more closely to the Objection That Religion gains as much or more by a patient Submission to Persecuting Princes than it can be suppos'd to do by opposing our selves against them For the evidencing whereof I will first inquire What Religion may rationally be suppos'd to gain by opposing Persecuting Princes 2. What it may hope for from submitting to their Coercion And 3. and lastly compare them both together I begin with the first of these even What Religion may be suppos'd to gain by opposing the Persecutors thereof For the resolution whereof the first thing I shall return is That the utmost it can be suppos'd to gain above what
in a few months after his death so by resisting the Supreme Powers they make God their enemy I speak as to the present world whom otherwise they might experiment as their friend For as on the one hand there is no doubt but he will avenge the contempt of his Vicegerents because it is his Authority and his alone by which they shine so there is as little doubt on the other hand but if men would submit their Necks to the Yoak God Almighty himself would sooner or later ease them of it It being not to be thought but that he who is no respecter of Persons would be as ready to avenge the Exorbitances of Princes as of those who are subjected to their commands 4. Having thus shewn what Honour is due from us to the Higher Powers and moreover remov'd those Objections which are commonly made against submitting to their Censures nothing remains upon this head but to enquire into the honour of Inferiour Magistrates what are the grounds of it the kinds and in what measure it is to be exhibited For that these also are to have our honour St. Peter shews in the place by me so often quoted where he requires not only that we should submit our selves to the King as Supreme but to Governours as those that are sent by him Now though it be not to be deny'd that these also are Gods Ministers and as such to be rever'd by us yet because it is certain that these are neither Gods immediate Ministers nor immediately appointed by himself therefore to make out the grounds of their Honour we must take another course than what we before did in that of Sovereign Princes Now there are two things upon which the honour of Inferiour Magistrates is grounded and into which therefore it is to be resolv'd by us The Authority Princes have to constitute Inferiour Magistrates and their actual constitution of them Of the former of these we need no other proof than that the ends of Government are not to be attain'd without For it being impossible for any one man especially where his Dominions are any thing large to distribute justice to all those that are committed to his charge there ariseth a necessity of conferring part of the care upon other men as without which it is impossible to be discharged In conformity whereto as we find Jethro the Father-in-Law of Moses advising him for his own ease and the benefit of the people to set such inferiour Rulers over them Exod. 18.21 and so on so we find the same Moses constituting such Rulers over them from Rulers of Thousands to Rulers of Fifties and of Tens vers 25. of that Chapter Now forasmuch as the ends of Government are not possible to be attain'd unless there be Inferiour Rulers as well as others it is to be look'd upon as the intention of God who doth nothing in vain that such Rulers are to appointed and where they are to be rever'd and obey'd As little doubt is to be made of Princes constituting the Persons that are to be so to procure them that honour which is due unto them For being appointed by God as his Ministers in solidum in those places where they are authorized to preside witness St. Paul's both commanding every Soul to be subject to them and representing them as Gods Ministers for Reward and Vengeance which comprehend within them the whole of all Civil jurisdiction whatsoever other Powers there are must derive their Authority from them whom he hath entrusted with that command Whence it is that St. Peter himself where he speaks of submission to them requires it upon this score even because they are sent or rather commissionated by the Supreme It is true indeed that designation is not always apparent not only the Election of Inferiour Magistrates being permitted to several Societies but those Magistrates formally Invested in that Authority by some of the members of it But as the Election or Constitution of such is indulg'd to those several Societies by the Laws or Charters of Princes so being such they who are so Elected or Constituted are to be look'd upon as the Ministers of the Prince and appointed by his Authority and Command He who is appointed by those who are comissionated by the Prince being to be look'd upon as appointed by himself Having thus shewn the ground of honouring Inferiour Magistrates to be that they are with the approbation of God constituted by him whom he hath immediately appointed and consequently that they are Gods Ministers in a secondary manner the next thing to be enquir'd into is what kind of Honours are to be afforded them Which we shall find to be much the same with those we are to pay unto the Supreme because though in an inferiour manner partaking of that Authority with which the Prince himself is vested Of this nature is first esteeming of them according to their several places demeaning our selves respectfully toward them and speaking honourably to and of them so far I mean as their respective Dignities do exact no Authority being likely to have its due force and efficacy where these are not duly paid Of the same nature is secondly yielding Obedience to their Commands and submitting our selves unto their Censures otherwise we do in effect oppose our selves to the Authority of the Prince from whom they have their Commission and consequently also to that of God Add hereunto where any such thing is made their due the ministring to them of our substance as being but a just reward for their attending upon the affairs of the Republick and a just regard to him by whom they are appointed over us The only thing of difficulty is in what measure these Honours are to be paid which accordingly I come now to resolve In order whereunto the first thing that I shall offer is that it ought always to be with subordination to the Divine Majesty For if we are to obey God rather than Princes how much more ought we to do so rather than those who are but their Ministers As little doubt is to be made in the second place but that the Honour which is to be paid to Inferiour Magistrates is to be with subordination to the Supreme For being as St. Peter instructs us to be submitted to and honour'd as Persons that are sent by him that Honour is in reason to be subordinate to his by whom they are so sent or commissionated That by which any thing is such being much more such it self and consequently to be preferr'd before it Excellent to this purpose is that of St. Augustine as I find him quoted by the late Reverend Primate of Armagh * Power Communicated by God to the Prince and the Obedience required of the Subject pag. 116. If thy Curator command thee any thing must it not be done yes questionless And yet if the Proconsul countermand and thou obey him thou despisest not the power of thy Curator but servest a greater Neither ought the lesser to
Four things that procure dignity to Men as that is set to denote a preeminence without Authority 1. Their Parts and Endowments 2. Their Birth 3. Their Fortunes 4. And Lastly The Titles and Characters that are bestow'd upon them by Princes and Societies 1. The the first of these ought to have our Honour and consequently the Persons that are endu'd with them needs no other proof than that they are the Gifts of God For being so they are in reason to be respected by all those who think God a due object of it The only thing worthy our enquiry is in what order they are to be honour'd and what kind of Honours we are to afford them the former whereof will best be judg'd of by the Honour they bring to God or the use they are of unto the World For thus because Piety doth most immediately tend to the honour of God as being nothing else than an immediate regard both of him and of his Laws the Parties in whom it is are caeteris paribus to be honour'd before those that are Masters of any other Endowments In like manner because Divinity ministers more directly to that end than any other kind of Learning or qualification in the World Reason would that those who are eminent in it should be preferr'd before the Learned of other Professions Lastly because Learning contributes more to Religion than Courage or Strength and is generally more useful to the World hence it comes to pass that by the consent of Nations Arms yield to the Gown and the Lawrel of the Conqueror to the Eloquence of the Tongue All therefore that remains to enquire is what kind of Honours we are to afford them which in general is the giving them that Respect and Encouragement which their several Endowments and Usefulness in the World doth require in particular the attending to their particular Excellencies and demeaning our selves answerably thereunto Which we shall do if we imitate the Vertues of the Pious follow the directions of the Learned in their several Faculties and as much as in us lies promote the welfare of those who hazard their Lives for the safeguard of the Publick 2. From Mens Parts and Endowments pass we to the nobility of their Birth which we shall find to be another ground of Honour this being but a just tribute to the merits of their Ancestors and a necessary means to promote Virtue and Piety in the World For who would willingly Travel for the Publick good if the reward thereof should reach no farther than himself or think himself well apaid if the Children of less deserving Persons should enjoy the same Priviledges with his especially when it often happens that they who deserve so well of the World are either by the suddenness of their death or the constancy of their Travels debarr'd the enjoyment of them in their own persons 3. To the Nobility of Mens Birth subjoin we the amplitude of their Fortunes as which next to that is a just ground of Honour Not that it is simply Noble to be Rich but that it bespeaks on the one hand the Virtues of them or of their Ancestors and on the other hand the Favour of the Divine Providence For though Men do sometimes acquire Wealth by evil means and such as therefore make their Wealth rather a Reproach than a Mark of Honour yet ordinarily it is by Industry and Wisdom by the Eminency of their Learning and the Greatness of their Valour things which are so Honourable that they may very well cast a Lustre upon those very Fortunes that are acquir'd by them And though Grace and Virtue be undoubtedly a greater Mark of God's Favour than any outward Acquisitions whatsoever yet inasmuch as even these happen not to Men without the Divine Providence they cannot but be look'd upon as Testimonies of his Favour where they are honestly acquir'd and those that have them upon that score to be reverenc'd and esteem'd Lastly 4. As Mens Parts or Birth or Fortunes do call for that Honour which is here requir'd so the same Honour is due to those Dignities that are conferr'd upon Men by the Favour of the Prince or under him by the indulgence of those Societies or Corporations which are by the Prince priviledg'd to bestow them Such as are for the former the Dignities of Dukes Marquesses and the like as for the latter the Degrees that are bestow'd in Universities For as these are generally the Rewards of their Vertue upon whom they are bestow'd so they are in all the Marks of the Favour of those whom God hath commanded us to honour In consideration whereof as it cannot but be thought reasonable to honour them because otherwise through their Sides wounding the Honour of the Prince so all fear is remov'd of paying Respect to their Worthlesness whom Princes do sometime promote He who pays a Man respect for the Dignity which the Prince bestows upon him doing it not so much to him as to the Prince by whom it is conferr'd In the mean time though that may be some satisfaction to the Honourer and where Men are wise take off from those Prejudices which the Vices of Noble Persons give yet as it can afford little satisfaction to the Honoured who thus sees himself made onely an Instrument of anothers Honour so we are not to expect that he should signifie so much with those who have not the like faculty of discerning For inasmuch as Excellency is the proper ground of Honour it will not be easie to procure them any perfect Honour who have not some Personal Excellency to deserve it What remains then but that they who are thus dignified shew themselves worthy of their several Titles and be no less glorious in their Actions than in the Characters that they bear That the Learned and the Valiant employ their Learning and Valour for the Publick Weal and the Man of high Birth do Things worthy of those Ancestors from whom he sprang That the Man who is truly Pious continue and add to it and not make it a pretext for a future slothfulness or to be able so much the more securely to deceive In fine That he who is rich in this World shew himself rich in good Works and be as vertuous in the dispensation of his Wealth as he or his Ancestors have been happy in acquiring it So doing they shall not onely have Honour among Men but be respected by the Almighty and when all their Earthly Honour shall be laid in the dust be advanc'd to a Crown and such a one whose Lustre no Time or Malice shall be able to impair PART X. Of the Honour of those who are Superiour to us in any Private Authority or Dominion whether it be that of a Lord of a Mannor over his Tenants or of a Master over his Servants The Ground of the Honour of the former that Emolument the Tenants receive by him and their own Oath and Compact as the Honours they are to pay those Rents
as much as may be the interesting himself in her affairs and the Wife not only intermeddles not with such as are proper to his cognizance but endeavours to approve her self to him in the management of her own Lastly when the Man treats the Wife as his associate or rather as himself and the Wife demeans her self to him as her directour and superiour then there is not only a happy compliance with the Divine Institution and with one another but a just foundation of universal applause and all wise and good persons think themselves oblig'd to honour the Man for knowing how to temper his Authority so as to make it acceptable and pleasant as the Wife for being able by the obligingness of her behaviour to transform him into an adorer of her and make him change his soveraignty into kindness and condescension PART III. Whether or no and by what means Marriage may be dissolved which are resolv'd to be no other than either the Death of one of the Parties or Fornication Of that Liberty which our Law allows to Marry again where the Parties have been Seven Years absent from and ignorant of each others being which is shewn to proceed upon the presumption of the absent Parties death That Fornication is a just ground of dissolving the Marriage and that nothing in Gods Law hinders either the Innocent or Nocent Party to Marry again but that the cognizance of the cause belongs to those who are in Authority An Essay toward the shewing that there is no other just ground of a Divorce than Fornication or some uncleanness that is equal thereunto This evidenc'd First in that among the Jews where there was manifestly a greater Liberty a Divorce proceeded not but upon supposition of something of Vncleanness The like evidenc'd more fully from the words of our Lord in this affair When other crimes appear they ought either to be born or a separation made only for so long time till Time or Gods Grace shall bring the Parties to a better mind The matter of Divorce rather of Permission than Command and alike common to the Woman and the Man A Transition to the Negative part of the Commandment where is entreated first of all of that Adultery which lies on the side of the Married Parties and the Man that is false to his Wife shewn to be as truly guilty of Adultery as the Woman that is false to her Husband The like evinced on the part of those by whom the Married Parties are debauched with a large account of the criminalness both of the one and the other Adultery III. WHAT is requisite to the due contracting of Marriage or the preserving it inviolable when it is so enough hath been said to shew in my former Discourses upon this Argument it remains only that we enquire whether or no and by what means it may be dissolv'd which will cost no great pains to resolve Not the former because at the same time I point out the means by which it may be dissolv'd I shall also prove it to be capable of being so as neither the latter because however men have been willing to find out others yet Christianity generally allows only two grounds of the dissolution of it the former whereof is the Death of one of the Parties the latter Fornication or Adultery 1. Now that the Death of one of the Parties dissolves the Contract and puts the living one in the same condition they were in before is evident first of all from the expressed declaration of the Scripture For not contented to say Rom. 7.2 that the Woman which hath an Husband is bound by the Law to her Husband so long as he liveth but if the Husband be dead she is loosed from the Law of her Husband which may be interpreted as to that relaxation which the Law of Moses gave we find the like affirmation elsewhere and with such an addition also as shews it equally to hold under the dispensation of the Gospel For St. Paul affirming as he doth 1 Cor. 7.33 that though the Wife be bound by the Law as long as her Husband liveth yet if her Husband be dead she is at liberty to be Married to whom she will only in the Lord he thereby plainly intimateth because entreating of the Marriage of Christians that death dissolves the Contract no less under the Gospel than the Law The same is no less evident from the end of Marrige and the terms of the Contract at least as they are express'd among us For both the end of its Institution being for the comfort of this present life and the terms upon which it is contracted being expresly during the continuance of it it followeth unavoidably that where the Society is interrupted by death the contract must also fall because intended only for the comfort of the present life and covenanting for no more than the time of the continuance of it The only thing on this head that can admit of any just scruple is that liberty which our Law * 1 Jac. 11. allows to Marry again where the Husband or Wife shall be continually remaining beyond the Seas by the space of Seven Years together or where the Husband or Wife shall absent him or herself the one from the other by the space of Seven Years together in any part of his Majesties Dominions the one of them not knowing the other to be living within that time But even this also if duly examin'd will not be found in the least to contradict the forementioned Precepts For as it is necessary in many cases and particularly in the present one to proceed by presumptions oftentimes unless we would have very material controversies to remain undecided which is not for the peace or interest of the world so there is a just presumption of his or her death where during so long a time the party that is certainly alive knows nothing at all of the others being so 2. It being thus evident that Death dissolves the Contract of Marriage and leaves the living Party to the liberty of a second Marriage it remains that we enquire concerning Fornication which we have affirm'd to be another just ground of a Dissolution where again we are to enquire whether Fornication be such a ground and whether it be the only one both the one and the other of which will receive a solution from the words of our Blessed Saviour For affirming as he doth that whosoever shall put away his Wife except it be for Fornication and shall marry another committeth Adultery and whoso Marieth her which is put away committeth Adultery he both implieth that Fornication is a just ground of a dissolution and declareth it to be the only one The only difficulty that hath been made as to the first head is whether or no after such a Divorce there be a liberty to Marry again at all or if so whether for the Nocent as well as the Innocent But beside that to speak first unto the former
it do appear that more mild ones will not succeed so it ought not to be employ'd to the vindicating of any thing which is above the Proportion of him that useth it For if all Men have an equal Right to every Thing every Thing is to continue in its Community or if that cannot be done without prejudice to every one they are of necessity to agree upon a Distribution but however not to challenge above their Proportion in it But because this Hypothesis is so wild and extravagant that a Man must throw off his Reason as well as his Religion before he can assent to it I will proceed forthwith to the consideration of the other which founds Dominion in Grace and Piety Now though this Hypothesis looks more demurely than the other because clad in the Habit of that which of all others doth most deserve our Respect yet as it hath little countenance from that Religion which it dissembles so it is equally pernicious to it with the former and particularly to the Christian one For the evidencing whereof I will alledge first the dishonour it doth to its Author upon whose Honour the Reputation of Religion doth depend For whereas there is nothing which God more challengeth to himself or is indeed more worthy of him than the being kind to the unthankful and to the evil causing his Sun to shine upon the evil and the good and sending his Rain upon the just and the unjust that Hypothesis which founds Dominion in Grace confines this Love of his to the Good and Just and consequently spoils him of that Noble Prerogative of his Nature in being kind to the unthankful and rebellious But neither is it less dishonourable to that Religion which we profess if we consider either the Spirituality of its Motives or the Peaceableness of its Principles For whereas our Religion professeth to allure Men not by the Bait of Earthly Pleasures but by the more noble Pleasures of the Mind and that Spiritual Happiness which consists in the Sight and Enjoyment of God thereby removing all suspicion from it self of seeking to promote it self by mean Arts or standing in need of them that Hypothesis which founds Dominion in Grace subjects the Purity of Religion to the mean Enjoyments of the World and makes it look more like a Design upon Mens Estates than upon their Souls Again Whereas our Religion professeth nothing more than the procuring of Peace as well of the Professors thereof with one another as with those that are Strangers or Enemies to it that Hypothesis which founds Dominion in Grace is so far from contributing to it that it hardly leaves place for Peace even within our own Bosoms For true Peace being so secret a thing that we cannot certainly understand it in another and not without difficulty in our selves if as a Learned Prelate * Bramhall's Vindication of himself and Episcopal Clergy from Mr. B's Charge of Popery c. 1. doth well argue Grace should give every one that pretends to it an Interest in that which is another Mans lawful Possession no Mans Title could be certain to another scarcely to himself From whence must necessarily follow an incredible Confusion and an inevitable Perturbation in all Estates To all which if we add that God hath expresly subjected the believing Subject to an unbelieving Prince and the believing Servant to the unbelieving Master that he hath moreover enjoyn'd the former to pay Tribute to his unbelieving Prince as an Acknowledgment of that Authority which God hath given him over him so we shall not onely be fully convinc'd that Dominion is not founded in Grace but that somewhat else was intended in that and such like Texts which assure us that the meek shall inherit the earth which are the most plausible Grounds of that Hypothesis And indeed as such like Promises are necessarily to be understood with subordination to God's Glory and the eternal Welfare of our Souls both which are oftentimes more promoted by Poverty and Afflictions than by the affluence of Temporal Benefits partly because otherwise they would be rather a Curse than a Blessing and partly because in the strict understanding of them they are but rarely fulfill'd to the Meek which would undoubtedly not have hapned if God that cannot lie had meant them in the literal notion of the Words so whatever be the sense of them they rather shew what the meek Person may promise himself from God's Providence than any Right in him to challenge it from the World and much less possess himself of by force Such Actions as those being very inconsistent with that Meekness to which the Inheritance of the Earth is promised 6. But not to insist any longer on the subversion of an Hypothesis which will find little credit among any other than the Indigent and Discontented as neither among them any longer than till those Indigences and Discontents be remov'd I will chuse rather following the Method before laid down to inquire whether the Properties of Men are subject to Limitations and what those Limitations are It is a common Opinion at least amongst the Vulgar sort that when they have acquir'd a Property in any thing it becomes so intirely theirs that they cannot at all be abridg'd in it without injury Now though I am willing to believe that those who are so perswaded understand this Absoluteness of theirs with reference onely to Men yet I think it not amiss and so much the rather because all just Limitations of Mens Properties are originally from God to shew first that they are limited by God and how they are limited by him That they are limited by God needs no other Proof than that Original Grant of Dominion which God made to Adam and Noah and those Laws which he hath since given concerning the use or disposition of them For inasmuch as that Original Grant was not to the Persons of Adam and Noah onely but to all that descended from their Loyns as appears from the preceding Discourse it will follow as was there also shewn that all the Sons of Men have a natural Right to a Portion of it and consequently that particular Properties are limited by the Necessities of those of the same Stock whether it be by obliging the Owners to impart of them to those their needy Brethren or as I shall afterwards shew by warranting the Necessitous in the faileur of all other Means to extort so much from the other as may serve to the Support of them But neither is it less clear from the Laws which God hath since given that Mens Properties are limited by the Almighty For a Law where it is impos'd retrenching Mens Liberty as to that particular which it enjoyns if God hath prescrib'd Laws concerning the use or disposition of them our Property will be so far limited as the Laws which are imposed do direct All therefore that will be requisite to do will be to instance in those Laws which will at the same time acquaint us
which to repine or murmur were as manifest a violation of the Duty of Contentment as to do so when we have Food and Rayment For contentedness as I shall afterwards shew having for the ground of its Obligation the Will of that God who is the framer of our Fortunes if it be his Will as certainly the cases before spoken of are no obscure indications of it that we should acquiesce in no Fortune as well as in a small one there is no doubt that alike ought to be the Object of it and we to acquiesce or rest in it There is but little difficulty and therefore I shall not insist on the Explication of it as to what I have before said concerning low and high being alike the Object of Contentment there being no Truth of which we have a greater Experience than what is said to have fallen from the mouth of Epicurus * Vid. Aelian Vari hist l. 4. c. 13. that to whom little is not enough nothing how great soever is so Men's Desires for the most part enlarging with their Fortunes and creating to them those wants which God and Nature never made Lastly As contentedness is an acquiescency of the Mind and an acquiescency in that portion of outward things we are possessed of so such an acquiescency in it as ariseth from and includeth in it a firm belief of that portion 's being sufficient for us This as it is the natural importance of those Phrases whereby we have shewn the New Testament to express it so being essential to contentedness it being impossible for the Will to quiet it self in that which the Understanding doth not apprehend to be sufficient The Will may indeed by the impossibility of attaining more be beaten off from desiring it it may be taken off from any perfect and efficacious volitions of it but as some velleities will ever remain and what naturally flows from them a repining at our portion so it may rather be said to be quieted or to speak more properly to be mortified by than to quiet it self in it 2. Of the nature of Contentment I have discoursed hitherto proceed we in the next place to the grounds of its obligation Amongst which I reckon first the Will of Almighty God declared by the disposition of his Providence For inasmuch as God and not we our selves is the framer of our Fortunes inasmuch as it is he that maketh poor as well as maketh rich it is but a just compliance with his Will by whose disposition the several Conditions of Men are shaped to acquiesce in it whatsoever it is and bring our Minds to an approbation of it Excellent to this purpose is that of Epictetus in his Enchiridion or at least may be easily adapted to it Remember saith he * c. 23. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that thou art the Actor of a part in a Play and such an one as it pleaseth thy great Master to impose upon thee If it be a short one that thou art the Actor of a short if a long one of a long If he will have thee to act the part of a poor man remember that thou do handsomly discharge it if a Lame Man a Ruler or a Private Person that thou accordingly behave thy self To thee it belongs to represent as thou oughtest the person which is given thee to act to another to make choice of it It is true indeed if we were or might be chusers of our own Fortunes if as we are willing enough to be so we were actually exempted from subjection to any superiour Power so I could not with the same reasonableness press upon you the being contented with that portion of outward things which ye are possessed of For why should I be contented with a mean and despicable Fortune when there is no restraint upon me from prosecuting a better But when we are not our own but his by whom we were created and redeemed when our Will is no less his servant than any of our other Faculties or Powers how unreasonable must it be not to acquiesce in his and that portion of outward things which he allots us Especially if we add in the second place which may pass for another ground of our obligation to it that God doth both know better than we our selves what condition is fittest for us and Permittes ipsis expendere numinibus quid Conveniat nobis rebúsque sit utile nostris Nam pro jucundis aptissima quaeque dabunt dii Charior est illis homo quà m sibi Juv. Sat. 10. v. 347. c. because he is also a merciful Father will be sure to allot us that which is Discontentedness in this case being not only undutifulness but ingratitude and a resisting of his love as well as of his Authority Add hereunto thirdly which may pass for another ground of our obligation the sufficiency of that portion which it hath pleased the Divine Majesty to assign us For what can be more reasonable especially when God imposeth it on us than to be contented with that which is sufficient The only difficulty is how to make it appear that all allotments of the Divine Providence are such especially when many of them are attended with great necessities and such as press upon the most importunate as well as most reasonable desires of Nature But as Mens Fortunes do more often become insufficient by the exorbitancies of their desires than by the disproportionableness thereof to just and moderate ones so those which are insufficient in themselves may become sufficient through the Divine Grace yea undoubtedly shall to all those that truly love and fear him For God having distinctly promised that together with the temptation whatsoever it is he will make a way for us to escape that we may be able to bear it he hath thereby obliged himself where he affords not the ordinary means of support to furnish out an extraordinary and supernatural one Less than that in the failure of ordinary means sufficing not to bear the temptation but being more than sufficient for it where it is afforded not only the infinity of God and his creating out of nothing the ordinary supports of Humane life so perswading but the assurance he hath given us of an eternal life after this where Food and Rayment and other such like means of our support shall neither be wanted nor desired 3. From the grounds of our obligation to Contentment pass we to the means whereby it may be acquired the third thing proposed to be discoursed of I do not mean to mention all which were too large a task and may with more Reason be expected from such as entreat de industriâ of that Argument but to select such of them as seem to me to be most efficacious to produce that Contentment which I inculcate In the number of which I reckon first A sober use of abundance at all times and sometimes a voluntary abstinence For were Men careful as they ought to keep themselves