therefore consists the true Gallantry of Spirit when it controuls all those lower Powers that ought to obey Reason when it defends the Authority thereof against all the rebellious Attempts of Passion and Concupiscence For unless our Souls had been lodged in Bodies full of unreasonable Inclinations they would not have been capable of exercising many Choice Virtues such as Temperance Sobriety Chastity Patience Meekness and all the rest that consist in the Empire of Reason over Appetite For Virtues of this sort are never attributed to God because He being of a Nature purely Spiritual hath no unruly Appetites to govern But because the Nature of Virtue is placed in the Minds ruling the Affections Providence hath furnished it with Instruments for that purpose for the Soul having its principal Residence where the Nerves have their Original that convey all Motions backward and forward it is able by an immediate Influence to command all the animal Motions of the Body For if the Superior Part should not be strong enough to govern the Inferior it would destroy the very Being and Existence of Good and Evil and render Mankind utterly uncapable of Goodness and Morality Although sensual Inclinations false Principles vicious Examples and wicked Customs are the inducements and occasions of much Vice yet the Superior Powers of the Mind are able to give check and control to our brutish Lusts and Passions so that it is much in our own Power to attain to Virtue and Happiness were it not for a wilful inconsiderateness the spring and head of that Torrent of Wickedness that has always overflown the greatest part of the World for if every Man be endued with rational Faculties if he can reflect upon the Essential Differences of Good and Evil together with their natural products if he can observe what things tend to his damage and what minister to his advantage and if it be most apparent that vertuous Practices are infinitely more conducive to the Interest and Happiness of Man than Vice and Luxury then no other Reason can be given why Men are so unanimously vicious but only because they are wilfully or carelesly unreasonable especially when the Rules and Directions of Religion are all sober and practicable when it doth not flatter Men with Romantick degrees of Happiness upon fond and fantastick Principles but complies with the Conditions of Human Life for we have no high-strain'd Paradoxes such as the Stolcks had against the Convictions of Sense and Experience but we are allowed to esteem of every thing as we find and feel it above all we are charged to purge our Minds of froward Humors and to sweeten them with mild Principles to moderate and command our Passions and in all Circumstances to govern our selves by the Laws of Wisdom and Moderation with which when the Mind is furnished it is able to extract something beneficial to its own Interests from the most malicious Accidents and may be Serene in the midst of Storms Contented in the midst of Disappointments But suppose there were nothing in Virtue but Hardships and Difficulties a perpetual Force and Violence to Nature a constant War with the World and the Flesh cannot we endure all this for an endless Reward for we must have a very mean Opinion of Heaven if we do not think it worth the Obedience and Service of a few years how difficult soever that were for the Expectation of a future Happiness hath been that Principle from whence that Confidence and Courage hath arisen whereby vertuous Persons have been supported in their Sufferings for that which is good But besides the future Reward that doth await them the Lovers of Virtue are the happiest Men upon Earth for these two Reasons First Because their Virtue tends to the Preservation and Continuance of the World Secondly To the bettering of the Condition and Manners of Mankind For the World would crack about our Ears 13. The world is kept up by Virtuous Men. and sink under the weight of its own Wickedness did not virtuous Men put in their Shoulders to uphold the Fabrick Cardan indeed is very inquisitive how Human Societies were kept up and affirms the Cause why they did not disband and run into Confusion to be the mutual Vices and Wickednesses of Men one Ambitious Man opposing another and checking him in his Designs one Knave discovering another one Cruel Man keeping another in awe And the Politicians think that the World is sustained by their little Arts and Devices in Government But these are but like Anticks in a Building that seem to crouch and bend under the weight of it as if they bore it up when they do nothing less but have as much need of being prop'd up themselves as any other part of the Structure 'T is not the Wise the Noble and the Strong that are sufficient Pillars to bear up the World but the weak things the holy righteous and good Man upon whom the whole stress and weight of it lies For wicked Men be they never so high and great are but rotten Supporters they are so far from contributing to its Preservation that they are continually soliciting God's Judgments and drawing down his Vengeance upon the Earth Thus the corrupt Conversation of the Men of Sodom was the Vapor that did ascend to Heaven and gather into a Cloud of Wrath which did for a long time hang over those Cities And Righteous Lot only hinder'd its being poured out upon them and when he was removed they fell into Desolation as in a Moment So the Places where Virtuous Men dwell are enriched with many Blessings for their sakes and the Persons with whom they converse are happy as it were by Concomitancy they enjoy much Prosperity and are freed from many Evils by reason of their Neighborhood to good Men for the Psalmist hath told us that God blesseth the habitation of the righteous nor shall any plague come nigh his dwelling Thus the Lord was with Jacob and prospered Laban for his sake and He was with Joseph and blessed the Aegyptian's House for his For the World must needs be the better for such as are ever ready to relieve those that are in Want to feed an Enemy if he be hungry to give Drink to the Thirsty to pity the Miserable to bind up the Wounds of the Lame and to cloath the Naked to do any Man a Kindness and reconcile all Differences And if a Virtuous Man be in a more publick Capacity then the Effects of his Goodness will be more large and diffusive He will be of a more publick benefit and advantage And we must take notice that nothing doth conduce more to the Happiness of the World than the bettering Mens manners now this Virtuous Men do these two ways 1. By their Counsel 2. By their Example 14. The condition of Mankind is made better by the Counsels of good Men. Their Lips preserve the soundest Knowledg and they are ever instructing others in the ways they take themselves hence they
are called the Lights of the Earth that enlighten all about them for they are ever distilling wise Advices which however they may at first seem grievous yet they insinuate by degrees and get possession of the Vnderstanding they are frequently awakening those with whom they discourse to the consideration of God's Goodness the Eternity of their own Souls putting them upon the best improvement of their time exciting them to the Love of God and of their Neighbour taking all wise occasions to reprove the Wickedness of Men and to restrain their exorbitant Courses So their Example is of great force to amend their Brethren because it is a greater encouragement to go before a Man and shew him the Path of Virtue than only to give him direction 't is true Religion and Virtue are more lovely in the notion and definition of them than they are in the Person in the definition they are pure and have nothing of Allay but in the Person they are attended with mixture and imperfection yet Virtue is more lively in the Person and they say that a Man who shoots can better take his aim at a living than a dead Mark because there is something in Life that commands a more steddy attention and makes us look more intently upon it tho Religion and Virtue may he represented with more Advantage in a Discourse and a Man may be better convinced that way of their Excellency yet Example satisfies one of the practicableness of the thing For Holiness would appear an impossible thing and not to be attained were it not that we have it made familiar to us and easie for our imitation in the Lives of virtuous Men who by their Counsel and Instruction point out the way of Virtue to us but by their Example they take us by the hand and lead us in that way And it is incredible of what Advantage a few great Examples may be to reform the World chiefly if their places have given them any advantage of ground and do make them subject to the notice of others thus the Example of Socrates had an influence upon Athens and the severe Life of Cato upon the People of Rome 'T is true indeed the Nature of Man leaneth to evil and is insensibly drawn away by bad Examples yet it is not so degenerate but it may receive some Impressions of Virtue from the Lives Company and Conversation of good Men who in respect of Counsel and Instruction are the Lights of the World so in respect of their Example they are the Salt of the Earth for a Man of severe Innocency and Justice is as so much Salt cast into the World to preserve the Manners of Men from Putrefaction a Man of a gentle and conversable Temper of a peaceable and reconciling Mind is like so much Balm to heal the Wounds and Exasperations of Mens Spirits a Man of a strict Piety and lively Devotion of an ardent Zeal and active Industry for Goodness is as so much Fire or Life sent down from Heaven to awaken the drowsie Worlds and rowze the endeavours of others after the best things a Man of eminent Holiness doth discourage the Vngodliness of Men and one of a wise and grave Behaviour doth restrain their Vanity and Folly Thus the Preservation and the Bettering of the World must be ascribed to virtuous Persons as an Effect and as a Reward of their Goodness for they are ever persuading Men to be better and they keep 'em from growing worse and God doth not only reward them in their Persons but all who are near or related to them shall thrive the better for their sakes thus the eminent Faith of Abraham and the Sincerity of David had an influence upon the Happiness of Israel for many Generations Therefore if we would avoid being imposed upon and would take just Measures of our selves we are to judg of our Condition as the Psalmist directs Psal 18.21 according as we have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from God For the best proof the Schools afford is a Demonstration by the Effect as for instance if you are to prove the Being of a God the best way to do it is from what he hath made so the best Method for a Man to prove himself to be virtuous is from what he does Thus our Saviour hath told us a good tree bringeth forth good fruit and an evil one evil fruit Now it is a Matter of great consequence to know whether we be in a state of Salvation or not we are apt to puzzle our selves with obscure Marks of Grace and doubtful Signs of our good State but there is one plain and sensible Mark which will silence all Jealousies and that is the keeping of God's Commandments this we may come at without searching into the Records of Heaven or diving into the secret Counsels of God Perhaps there is nothing in Religion more to be wondered at than to see so many Christians in continual Anxieties about their State and so few that can arrive to any competent degree of assurance in this matter Whereas the Scripture every where nakedly declares to Men their Duty and has plainly laid down the Precepts of a holy Life and all along supposes that by Obedience to these Men may certainly know whether they love God or not that by giving all diligence to abound in Grace and the Virtues of a holy Life they may make their Calling and Election sure For there are two different States of Men 15. There are two different States of Men. one is wherein Sin prevails in the other Religion and Goodness take place these two differ in degrees as wide as Heaven and Hell which Places we must not believe to be all hereafter for both the one and the other are in some measure begun here upon Earth They who are made like to God in the frame and temper of their Minds who live according to the everlasting and unchangeable Rules of Goodness Righteousness and Truth may be properly enough said to have made their entrance already into Heaven But they who confound the difference of good and evil who care not to approve themselves to God by leading good and holy Lives do partake of the diabolical Nature and are already entred into the state of Hell Wherefore it behoves us to keep the ways of the Lord with Diligence and Care which the Judgment of right and wrong true and false good and evil doth require For this is the very Grammar of Religion and being built upon these first Principles it grows higher by degrees according to every ones Capacity and Ability in moderating his Faculties for the several purposes of it Now the first thing in Religion is to refine a Man's Temper and the second is to govern his Practice for if it do not mend Mens Spirits and regulate their Lives it is much inferiour to any Principle in Nature which is sufficient to and doth attain its effect But the Grace of God
than the open Cruelty of Decius or Dioclesian Hospitals another work of Magnificence Secondly HE will erect Hospitals for the Poor and Maimed Now this sort of Magnificence doth very much serve the Publick Interest for those who do these things for the sake of their own private Fancies and not for the common Good are Magnificent as some of the Church of Rome are Charitable when they erect Sanctuaries for wilful and Capital Malefactors to fly to when they found such Monasteries as are the Nurseries of a blind Devotion But to be vertuously Magnificent is with daily Provisions to feed the Hungry not the superstitious to entertain those that are unfit for Labour not loitering Wanderers or Pilgrims Thirdly THE Man who deserves praise for his Magnificence takes care to provide those Houses in which the most notorious Offenders may either be corrected or secured that those who are not so far gone in Wickedness as to be past Remedy may be called back again and amended by just and necessary Chastisement that those who have broken through all the Fences of Law may be taken out of Human Society which they would otherwise destroy and bring into Confusion HAPPY the miserable The go … of Mankind promoted by this Virtue who partake of these Works of Magnificence more happy they who lay out their Money and Revenues for the publick benefit of Mankind to instruct the ignorant in Schools to heal the diseased in Hospitals to lash the back of the Sinner in Bridewells and to cure the unsound mind in Bethlem's NOW the Works of Magnificence whether they be publick or whether they be private they are to be performed with all Pomp and State They are especially seen in Feasts and Entertainments either of our Friends or of Men of the highest Quality or else in building stately Houses Castles Churches and Theatres That Man who knows how in the most seemly fashion to manage these Undertakings is truly Magnificent The Errours of such as are Magnificent BUT here the Magnificent Person is very prone to run into a very ill Extreme Having great things much in his thoughts his mind is apt to fly too high out of the reach of Prudence then He falls to the building of Oblelikes Colossus's and Pyramids This Distemper swell'd the Heads of many in old time who spent great Sums upon magnificent Piles vast and sumptuous Statues great and mighty Vanities For Solomon the best Judg of these things hath passed this Sentence upon them that they are all so The Judgment of Solomon upon these … ngs For Eccl. 2. After He had made great Works planted Vineyards and had built stately Houses made Pools of Water for the Trees that bring forth Fruit got large and numerous herds of great and small Cattle had gathered mighty heaps of Silver and Gold and filled his Treasury therewith upon a review of all the works his Hands had wrought and upon all the pains He had taken He concludes with the truest judgment that ever was pronounced upon the World that all was Vanity Whereupon it may be supposed my Lord Bacon made this wise Observation that Truth is a a naked and open Day-light which doth not shew the Masks and Triumphs of the World half so stately as Candle-lights do and no man doubts that if there were taken out of men's minds vain Opinions flattering Hopes false valuations of Things and the imaginations of Grandeur but it would leave the minds of many who make a great Figure poor shrivel'd things full of melancholy and indisposition and unpleasing to themselves BUT there is a way to lay up our Treasure in Heaven The deeds of Charity entitle us to Heaven to be magnificent on Earth and great in Heaven then this Blessedness must be gotten by doing such remarkable deeds of Charity as I have mentioned and if we do so our Names shall endure for ever when Mausoleum's are buried and Pyramids are mouldred into dust It is Aristotle's Notion in his Epistle to Philip that the acts of Beneficence have something in them equal to God and the whole life of mankind was comprised in conferring and returning Benefits 'T is true there have been some morose Spirits such as Chrysippus and Seneca who have made plausible Harangues against Glory but in the very doing this they have appeared to aim at it Whereas it is the spur to good Works if it be made use of by one who hath passed through the Temple of Virtue to that of Honour And a man may with as much reason argue against Eating and Drinking as endeavour to banish the love of Glory that arises from the Works of Magnificence unless this did rouze the Souls of men perhaps a barbarous Sloth or a brutish stupidity would soon overspread the World no care would be taken to promote or sustain the Seats of ingenuous Arts or the Tribunals of State This carries Men upon the noblest and most Heroick Attempts and Human Nature without it would be a sluggish and unactive thing IT was the Thirst after Glory together with some private Ambition that incited the Egyptian Kings to be at so vast charge in the building the Pyramids and the Egyptians of lower Quality spared for no cost to cut out Caves or Dormitories in the Lybian Deserts which by the Christians are now adays called the Mummies and all this was undertaken for the sake of an Opinion amongst them that so long as the Body endured so long the Soul continued with it not as animating it but as unwilling to leave her former Habitation Why should not the same Thirst for the Glory of the Christian Religion move us to do such Works as may shine before Men and glorifie our Father which is in Heaven IT is not empty Fame that we must seek for it is not with Wind that we must fill our selves We want a more solid Substance to repair us A man pinched with Hunger would be very unwise to seek rather to provide himself of a gay Dress than a good Meal We are to look after that whereof we have most need and that is Virtue When this is acquired then the outward Ornaments of Magnificence may be made use of Epicurus his opinion of Magnificence Which were so despised by Epicurus that He made this one of the Precepts of his Sect Conceal thy Life He would not have his Disciples in any sort to govern their Actions by the common Reputation or vulgar Applause But Horace was of another Opinion who says Paulùm Sepultae distat inertiae Calata virtus Concealed Virtue differs not much from dead Sloth which if it were absolutely true then a man would be no further concerned to keep his Mind in order which is the true Seat of Virtue than as the actions of it are to be seen by others whereas Glory is but the shadow of true Virtue For Repulsae nescia sordidae Intaminatis fulget honoribus Nec sumit aut ponit secures Arbitrio popularis
of a dubious and uncertain signification but openly declares the Truth to men therefore these practices above mentioned are contrary to that Simplicity and plain-heartedness which ought to be in the Conversation of every Christian Such Simplicity as was observed in a Groom of the Bed-Chamber to Henry VIII who always gave his Answers very warily that he might not be taken in a Lye insomuch that it was good Sport with the looser Courtiers to try if they could entrap him It being his Lot to attend the King in his Bed-Chamber having laid him in his Bed He took his leave the King slips out of his Bed and silently went after him the Gentleman being come among the Courtiers He was asked Is the King a Bed He answered warily I left him in his Bed by which Reply he defeated all their Art For had he answered positively Yes as it was expected the King was at his back ready to have given him the Lye This is but a merry Story yet it doth commend to us a serious Lesson concerning that care which we ought to have in all out Discourses that we speak nothing either deceitfully or falsely AND by occasion of this Story we may without trespassing against the Argument We handle look into a Question heretofore managed with some Heat betwixt Parsons the Jesuit a great Patron of Artificial Evasions in Speech and others of his time the Bishops of Lincoln and Durham THE Question was Whether or no in case of some hazard it were lawful to use any fine Device of Language to abuse such as were set to interrogate us in those Points wherein there was evident danger of speaking the Truth THE handling this Question at large would require more time to dispatch it Truth is to be spoken in cases of danger than can be well afforded yet for the present we will answer That all these Shades and Illusions by which Men evade direct and open Language in case of danger are in themselves unlawful For if we once so speak as if we accounted them lawful that might befal us which befel Calvin in the Question of Usury He granted indeed Usury to be lawful but He so fettered and entangled his Grant with Restrictions and Reservations that He who practised according to his Rule should gain but little by it For what will the Reader conclude upon this by Calvin's judgment Vsury is lawful This shall be Warrant enough for his practice as for Restrictions and Reservations he will make use of them according to his own discretion The same may chance to befal us in this Question concerning the lawful use of Dissimulations Equivocations unlawful Concealments Equivocations and all subtle Evasions in Speech when there is evident danger of speaking the Truth directly For Experience tells us that Men are apt to use all manner of Fallacy and Artifice to save themselves and their own Stakes not only before the Magistrate but also in that solemn case of a Corporal Oath before God himself What would they do then if we should adventure to pull up this Hedg and pronounce it lawful to use all the Art of a deceitful Tongue INDEED Men of brave Spirits and clear Virtue such as Cato or Coriolanus who have precisely observed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exact Justice have made no scruple to use these shiftings to save themselves or their Friends For when we remember our selves and what kind of Persons we live amongst we find it true what was wisely said periculosum est in tot humanis erroribus sold innocentiâ vivere The Best of us all are sometimes forced to make use of By-ways when the High-way is beset with Thieves when we deal with Children with Fools with sick Persons with our Enemies in the Field according as it is said dolus an Virtus quis in Hoste requiret yea with our familiar Friends we are compelled to make use of Art and Sleights to cozen them for their benefit honesto misericordi mendacio calamitosi Civis Saluti consulimus Quod mendacium licet in genere vitiosum est tamen temporibus necessarium IF we would be better informed concerning this Point Gro. ca. 1. lib. 3. our best way is to consult the most Excellent Grotius cap. 1. lib. 3. de jure belli pacis where we find it at large discussed out of all kind of Authors both Human and Divine But after all that can be said upon this Theme we can by no means absolve these kind of Actions from Iniquity and Sin only thus far we will go as to declare them pardonable when they are done upon constraint and high inconveniency and take 'em to be allowed of as Moses permitted Divorce only because of the hardness of men's hearts BUT before we conclude we must bewail the sufferings of Truth under the hands of those Teachers The sufferings of Truth lamented who to all the various inclinations of Men can carve 'em out what Religion they please This is the fruit of a dull Superstition when foolish men are persuaded they need not trouble their heads with the care of Truth but leave that wholly to the Priest who will suffer nothing to pass for it but what bears his mark and License who hath assumed a Power by an Index expurgatorius to blot Truth out of the best Books Where this Tyranny prevails it is a misfortune to be born with Understanding WE cannot likewise but lament the ill usage of Truth when Men labour to darken it with Metaphors or by being too credulous or by opposing the Evidence of Sense it self by Scepticism Besides for the discovery hereof in many matters of Controversie we know not how far we may rely on the testimony of Antiquity nor how far we are to follow the Tract of Human Reason especially when there are so many Mists cast before us by the deceits of others that one had need of a better Eye-sight than what is left us by the fall of our Fore-father Falshood wears the disguise of Truth For all great Errours have ever been intermingled with some Truth And indeed if Falshood should appear alone unto the World in her own true shape and Native deformity she would be so black and horrid that no man would look upon her and therefore she hath always had an Art to wrap her self up in a Garment of Light by which means she passes freely disguised and undiscerned This was elegantly signified in the Fable thus Truth at first presented her self to the World and went about to seek Entertainment but when she found none being of a generous Nature that loves not to obtrude her self upon unworthy Spirits she resolved to leave Earth and take her flight for Heaven but as she was going up she chanced Elijah like to let her Mantle fall and Falsehood waiting by for such an opportunity snatch'd it up presently and ever since goes about disguised in Truth 's Attire AND there is always some Truth that gives being to
and goodness of Divine Providence that we were not left to take our own course but were rescued from Sin and misery ignorance and darkness by so kind an Hand ALL that we have to do is to obey his Commandments and this is the best way to encrease our knowledg in Religion For the practice of a Trade shall give a Man a truer knowledg of it than reading all the Books that ever were writ about it and so we shall better know a Countrey by travelling into it than by poring upon all the Maps that ever were made of it In like manner Obedience to the Will of God doth dispose us for the knowledg of it by freeing our Minds from prejudice by making our Understandings more clear and taking away the great Obstacles of Wisdom which without the practice of Religion will be so far from being any furtherance to our Happiness that it will be one of the saddest and most unhappy aggravations of our misery For when we come into the other World no reflection will more enrage our Torments than to think that we chose to lead vitious Lives and to make our selves miserable when we knew the way to Heaven and Happiness For after all that hath been said upon this Head S. Paul's Judgment is undoubtedly true 1 Corin. 8.1 That Knowledg puffeth up but Charity edifieth Now when the Apostle said this Corinth the Metropolis of Achaia was as all other rich and populous places excessively proud and luxurious softness and ease had expell'd all the thoughts of the Laborious Exercises of Virtue Yet as it often happens the men were ingenious though they were wicked In a word all the World condemn'd them for their Debaucheries but admired them for their Parts Wherefore St. Paul tells them very truly that their knowledg was the Original of all their Errours they might be blown up with Science but they must be Edified with Charity In like manner did the Gnosticks dote on the Mysteries of Words did pride themselves about Fruitless Genealogies and the unintelligible methods of Science for which reason St. Paul did severely reprehend these vain-glorious Sciolists and declare that a little Charity towards an offended Brother was more valuable than all their subtle Theorems or the Positions of any the most celebrated Dogmatists So the Philosophers of old gave another Interpretation to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 know thy self and improved it into Self-conceit and Arrogance their Principles and their Dictates seem always to be framed rather to oppose than to establish Truth If from them we pass to the times of Christianity we find Julian and Lucian Arrius and Socinus all of them in a several way despising the plainness and simplicity of the Gospel for the sake of their own trifling Opinions which must not submit to the teachings of Fishermen Nay how many Volumes are there in the World whose Subject is little else but breach of Charity which Charity and not great Words nor the phantastical Hypotheses of those that call themselves Wise must set a lustre upon all we do For neither Happiness here nor Heaven hereafter is to be gotten by haughty Looks or Suppositions but by a constant Tenour of Bountifulness in our Lives and integrity in our Actions Supposing therefore we were set upon the highest Mountain of Metaphysicks and had thence the ravishing Prospect of all the Kingdoms of human Learning all the Glories of Philosophy yet we will not worship one Notion that cannot be brought into the practice of a Holy Life An Enquiry into the Causes of the decay of MORAL VIRTUES A Manifest decay hath been brought upon Moral Virtue First BY Hypocrisie or Formality when Men follow a Form of Godliness and deny the Power thereof Secondly BY Licentiousness of Living whereby Debauchery and ill Manners have much prevailed Thirdly BY decrying the use of Reason in Matters of Religion Fourthly BY making Morality and Grace opposite to one another MEN of all Ages have been industrious to elude the practice of Moral Virtue by some trifling childish and unprofitable shews thereof How can we but stand amazed at the folly of Mankind that love to be their own Impostors Hypocrisie condemned and that when they may be truly good at so easie and advantageous a rate labor to be but seemingly so at the expence of a great deal of pain and trouble and with the Pharisees take twice as much pains to scour the outside of the Dish only that it may shine and glister than is needful to keep the inside neat and cleanly Thus they change wise Notices of things for childish Conceits freedom of Spirit for narrowness of Soul chearfulness of Mind for slavish Fears a sweet and obliging Conversation for cynical Zeal Temperance and Sobriety for harsh and Monkish Mortifications in a word they change all the Branches and Fruits of a holy Mind and virtuous Actions for Forms and Gayeties It will not therefore be unseasonable to caution Men against this Formality as a most dangerous Cheat that secretly enervates all the Power and Efficacy of that Goodness it makes a shew of that whilst it pretends highly to advance Religion undermines it This I shall endeavour to do First BY laying down some of its most peculiar Characters Secondly BY discovering the Arts it makes use of to overthrow the power of Moral Virtue Thirdly BY explaining what the Power of Moral Virtue is and wherein it consists FIRST then the Formalist serves God barely out of a Principle of Fear and not at all out of Love he only looks upon Him as a great and austere Being that sits in the Heavens demanding harsh and arbitrary Homage from his Creatures he apprehends Him as an imperious Almighty One that because He hath bestowed upon us these little imperfect Beings takes upon Him to impose severe and unreasonable Laws and exacts for the few pleasures He hath granted to the Life of Man to be paid with sharp and troublesom Penances But all this while he has not tho least thought of gaining his Favor by divine and virtuous Qualities Whereas if we would attain to the Spirit and Genius of true Holiness we must look upon it as a wise and gracious Design of Heaven to fill the Souls of Men with all Excellencies perfective of their Natures Religion no Trick for Religion is no Trick or Artifice but its natural design is to make Men truly good it is no Contrivance of Heaven to bring advantages to it self but it was graciously intended for the sake of Men to carry on their Creator's Work in compleating those things which He made and to make 'em more like Him than He left them But the Formalist or Hypocrite is utterly unacquainted with all inward Sense of Goodness and so he can please God as he thinks by giving him his due of Religious Performances he is not at all concerned for solid and essential Righteousness THUS the degenerate Jews in the time of the Prophets were
practice of Virtue it is as impossible that a Man should he happy or pleased as for a sick Man to find ease by removing from one Bed to another because the Distemper is lodged within his Breast all the Disorders of which must be quieted before we can be happy for Happiness must be in our Hearts and it must spring out of our own bosoms and from thence thro the comfortable influence of God's Holy Spirit must all our Peace and Pleasure flow Wherefore I cannot conclude this whole Discourse with a better or more persuasive Exhortation than that which S. Paul makes use of to the Philippians Phil. iv 8. Finally Brethren whatsoever is right sincere and true whatsoever is comely grave and venerable whatsoever is fair just and equal whatsoever is sacred pure and holy whatsoever is generous noble and lovely whatsoever is of credit value and esteem if there be any Vertue if there be any Praise think of these things FOR these things the Lord will have us to do God's Will must be the Rule of our Actions and his Will must be the Rule of all our Actions whose Laws are like himself just and holy pure and undefiled unchangeable and everlasting fitted to the first Age of the World and to the last to the wisest and to the simplest to the times of Peace and of War established against all alterations and occurrences whatsoever for there is no time in which a Man may not be just and honest merciful and compassionate humble and sincere a Conversation thus tempered we ought to continue and carry along through honor and dishonor through all the terrors which evil Men or Devils can place in our way and if we consider the Nature and Reason of Things Virtue only doth qualifie and dispose us for the injoyment of God Vertue only doth qualifie us for the enjoyment of God because it quiets the Mind rectifies all its Faculties governs the Affections cleanses the whole Soul from all sin and pollution whereas if it were possible for a wicked Man to be admitted into the presence of God or a local Heaven to see all the glories and delights of that Place and State all this would signifie no more to make him happy and contented than heaps of Gold and Consorts of Musick a well spread Table or a rich Bed can bring any relief to a Man in the Paroxism of a Fever or in a sharp fit of the Stone the Reason is because the Man's Spirit will still be out of order till he be put into a right Frame by Virtue and Godliness 'T IS true all Men naturally desire ease and happiness because all Natures would fain be pleased and contented but they hunt after it Men are apt to mistake their Happiness where it is not to be found Men say loe here is happiness and loe there in a high Place in a great Estate or in earthly Delights but believe them not they are all shadows when you come to embrace them therefore your Happiness must be nearer and more intimate to your Minds than any thing this World can afford for those who look after the Pomps of this World grow vain and inconstant lazy and negligent those who covet the applause of the People are often disappointed of the felicity they hoped for because the People guide not themselves by Reason but Chance All outward things coming thus short of rendering us Happy we must expect our Happiness in observing the Duties and in obeying the Precepts of Virtue because they are upon all accounts for our advantage and are founded upon the Interests of Mankind so that if it were not that the God of this World did blind Mens Eyes and abuse their Understandings from discerning their true Interest it were impossible so long as Men love themselves and have a desire of their own Happiness but they should be virtuous If men sought their true Happiness they must be Virtuous for God promiseth to make Men happy for ever upon condition that they will do those things that will make them happy and easie in this World considering our infinite obligations to God the unquestionable Right and Title he hath to us and his Sovereign Authority over us he might have imposed Laws and have given us such Statutes as were not so good for us but so gracious a Master hath he been as to link together our Duty and our Interest and to make those things instances of our Obedience which are Natural means and Causes of our Happiness IT hath been antiently observed that Pythagoras his Learning ended in a few Musical jingles Thales his Wisdom in some uncertain Astronomical fansies Heraclitus his Contemplations concluded in Solitude and weeping Socrates his Renowned Philosophy led him to the practice of unnatural Lust Diogenes his sharpness of Wit to use his body to endure all manner of nastiness and coarse Labour Epicurus his Inventions and Discourses of which he boasts so much set him down contented with any kind of pleasure The same thing may be said of the Stoicks and Peripateticks WE must therefore be much out of the way if we search for Happiness in their Lessons and neglect our most Holy Religion Religion is the surest foundation of our Hopes which whosoever does he will unsettle the strongest Foundation of our hopes he will make a terrible confusion in all the Offices and Opinions of Men he will destroy the most prevailing Argument to Virtue he will remove all human Actions from their firmest Centre he will deprive himself of the prerogative of his immortal Soul and will have the same success that the ancient Fables make those to have had who contended with their Gods of whom they report that many were immediately turned into Beasts Whereas if we were to contrive a way to make our selves happy we should pitch upon just such Laws as those of Christianity are The Laws of Christ are most agreeable to the frame of our Natures they are so agreeable to the Frame of our Natures and Understandings they require of us so Rational and Spiritual a service of God they oblige us to perform Duties so plainly necessary and beneficial to us the harshest and most difficult Precepts thereof tending upon one account or other to our manifest advantage it being very reasonable for a Man to be sorry for what he hath done amiss and to amend his Life for the future to mortifie Lusts and Passions which are so disorderly and troublesom to the Mind to bring down every proud Thought which fills a Man with insolence and contempt of others to be patient in the meanest Condition which will prevent those anxieties that come from the contrary Passions to love Enemies and forgive Injuries which removes the perpetual torments of a malicious and revengeful Spirit FOR a Man is accomplished by two things First BY his being enlightened in his intellectual Faculties which is the perfection of his Understanding Secondly BY his being well directed