as I say now We then judge our selves to be much better than All the rest of the World nor do I who assert that the Romans are in some Things worse deny but that in some Things they are much better For our Lives and our Sins as I said are worse but then we have the Advantage without comparison by our Catholick Law But then we should consider 't is no Thanks to us that our Law is good but that our Lives are bad is wholly owing to our selves And what do's it profit us that the Law is good when neither our Lives nor Conversations are good For the good Law is the Gift of Christ but a bad Life is from our own Faults Nay we are by so much the more blameworthy if we are possess'd of a good Law and yet are bad regarders of it I should rather say since we are wicked we are no regarders of it for he that observes it ill regards it not at all Neither do's he respect a holy Thing who does not respect it holily and so by this means the very Law which we so esteem becomes our Accuser XIV Laying aside therefore the Priviledge Of the Barbarian Errors of the Law which either helps us nothing at all or else do's most justly condemn us let us compare the Lives Inclinations Manners and Vices of the Barbarians with our own They are unjust so are we they are covetous so are we they are faithless so are we they are griping so are we they are lewd and so are we in short they are guilty of all sorts of Wickedness and Debauchery and so are we But perhaps it will be answer'd to this If the Barbarians and we are alike vicious Why are not we upon the level with them in Power For since the Wickedness and the Guilt is a like we ought either to be as Powerful as they are or they should be in as mean a Condition as we are That is true and by this 't is manifest that they are the more wicked who are the more weak How do you prove that Because as I have said above I have shew'd that God does all things in Justice and Judgment For if as the Scripture says The Prov. 15. v. 3. Rom. 2. v. 2. eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good and according to the Apostle The Judgment of God is according to truth against all evil Persons We our selves see that since we do not leave off to do evil things by the just Judgment of God we feel the Punishment of such Evil Doings But say you the Barbarians do the same things we do and yet they are not near so miserable as we are There is therefore this difference that altho' they do the same things we do yet at the same time we offend much more heinously For their Vices and ours may be alike and yet in those same Vices our Sin must of necessity be much more weighty For since as I said before b pag. 2â— all Barbarians are either Pagans or Hereticks that I may speak first of the Pagans since their Error is the Antienter the c See the great Geographical and Historical Dictionary in English for all these and their Titles Saxons are cruel the d Franks treacherous the f Gepids inhumane the f Huns lewd in short the Life of all Barbarians in general is Vice it self But it does not follow from thence that their Vices and ours have the same Guilt Shall a Hun's Lewdness be look'd upon as Criminal as ours or the Treachery of a Frank be as Blameable as in one of us Shall the Drunkenness of an g Alan be Censur'd as much as that of a Christian or the Thievery of an Alban be condemn'd as much as the Thievery of a Christian If a Hun or a Gepid cheat you it is no Rarity because he knows nothing of the Sin of Cheating If a Frank forswear 't is no new thing with him who takes Perjury to be only a different way of speaking and not at all a Crime And what wonder is it that Barbarians should believe thus who know neither God nor his Laws when almost the greater part of the Roman Empire have the same Thoughts and know they sin at the same time For not to speak of any other Sort of Men let us take a view only of the Companies of Merchants and Traders who now fill the greatest part of every City and see whether their Life be any thing else but continual Plodding how to cheat and downright thread-bare Lying or if they do not take those words to be utterly lost which do not bring some Advantage to the Speaker Those men have so Extraordinary a Respect for the Honour of God which forbids common Swearing that they look upon every Man's Perjury to be of singular Advantage to them Can we think it strange then that Barbarians should cheat who know not the Sin of Cheating For being utterly ignorant of God's Commandments they do nothing in Contempt of them for he who knows not the Law can do nothing wittingly against it This then is peculiarly our Guilt who read God's Laws and yet always take care to transgress them who boast that we know God and yet contemn his Precepts and Commands And so by despising Him whom we fancy and boast that we serve that very Thing which seems design'd for the Worship of God becomes an Abuse and Affront to His Majesty XV. But to say nothing of other Sins at Christ's Name abused present where will you find any among the Laiety bating some few who have not always the Name of Christ in their Mouths to Forswear themselves by So that this is become the most common Oath among the Nobility as well as Common People By Christ I 'll do it By Christ I 'll perform it By Christ I 'll say nothing else By Christ I 'll do nothing else In short the Matter is come to that Pass that as I said before of the Franks the Name of Christ seems now not to imply the Sacredness of an Oath but only a sort of Cant in speaking For so little is this Name regarded by very many that they never design less to do a thing than when they swear by Christ they are resolv'd to do it And when the Scripture says Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord Exod. 20. v. 7. Deut. 5. v. 11. thy God in vain we are come to have that mighty Veneration for Christ that among all the Vanities and Follies of the Age scarce any thing seems so contemptible and vain as that sacred Name For there are many who swear by Christ that they will do not only some trivial idle Business but the greatest of Villanies with such 't is the common Form of Speaking By Christ I 'll take away such a Thing By Christ I 'll slay him By Christ I 'll murder him And so far are they arriv'd that if they have once sworn
A TREATISE OF GOD's GOVERNMENT And of the JUSTICE Of His present Dispensations In this WORLD By the Pious Learned and most Eloquent SALVIAN A PRIEST of Marseille who liv'd in the Vth CENTVRY Translated from the Latin by R. T. Presbyter of the Church of England With a Preface by the R everend Mr. Wagstaffe Si pejeret Francus quid novi faciet qui perjurium ipsum Sermonis genus putat esse non Criminis Salvian de Gubernat Lib. 4. LONDON Printed for S. Keble at the Turk's Head over against Fetter-Lane in Fleet-street 1700. THo' the Reverend Author of the Judicious Preface to this Translation hath admirably demonstrated the Usefulness and Excellency of this Treatise yet it may not be improper for the English Reader 's Satisfaction to Note here the just Reflections which two Famous Criticks have made upon the Renowned Salvian Genadius saith That he was very well skill'd in Divine and Humane Sciences That he wrote several Treatises in a clean polite and Elaborate Stile which Genadius had read when he wrote thus of him which was in the Year 495. Du Pin saith It is not necessary to commend the Beauty and Elegancy of Salvian's Stile 't is sufficiently known to all that have but a little smattering in Learning It would be hard to find in all Antiquity a more Neat Beautiful Smooth and Pleasant Discourse He is not so diffusive as Lactantius but is more Diverting and full of Instructions He proves what he asserts by Texts of Scripture which he alledges much to his Purpose and which come up very well to the Subject in hand His way of handling of this Subject of God's Government of the World convinceth Vs that his main End was to Cry down and declaim against the Manners and Immoralities of his Age which he does with all possible Strength and Elegancy describing the common Irregularities and the Terrible Corrupt Manners of the People and the Astonishing Vncleanness of the Theatres and Play-Houses Ellis Du Pin Bib. Eccles Cent. 5. THE PREFACE TO THE READER THere are two Things that will recommend the Translation of an Author to the World and justifie the Usefulness of a Man's Pains in makeing him more publick and capable of being read and understood by many more than possibly could be in his own Native Language And those are the Seasonableness of the Doctrine he treats of and the Excellent and Useful manner of handling that Doctrine And both these we have in this Admirable Author who is now made to speak English and dedicated to the Use and Advantage of the Natives of our own Country And therefore that the Reader may reap that Benefit by it which was design'd him and peruse the following Translation with that Care Temper and Application of Mind as Subjects of that weight ought to be I shall by way of Introduction endeavour to raise his Thoughts and Faculties that they may bear some measure of Proportion to the Greatness of the Subject Here he must not expect what is the present Shame and Burden of the Press to meet with any light and frothy Discourses or empty vain and useless Speculations but a Fundamental Pilar of Religion supported by grave solid and irrefragable Arguments And if the Reader hath nothing to please but a wild Fancy and roving Appetite if nothing can gratifie him but lewd Jests and unsavoury Ribaldry he will be here mightily out of his Way but if he knows how to relish clear and Convincing Reasons if he can be affected with the Noble Truths of Religion In short if he bring his Judgment and Conscience along with him the Translator will never lose his Pains nor the Reader his Profit For I. The Subject Matter of the following Book is always Seasonable fit for all Times and all Persons That God governs the World superintends all the Affairs of it That they are not order'd and manag'd by blind Chance fatal Nececessity or the Will of Man but by an All-wise and Omnipotent Governour who sits at the Helm guides and directs the whole Universe and all the Parts and Branches of it In a word that God is Judge himself Judge here as well as hereafter and exerciseth a Soveraign and Judicial Power in the whole Administration of this World This I say is a Doctrine not calculated for Times and Seasons for an Age or peculiar People but is adapted to the whole World necessary for all Times Persons Nations and Languages 'T is the Foundation of all Men's Prayers The first Reason of all that Worship and Homage which hath every where been paid to the most High God for no Man would no Man reasonably could pray to that Being who he thought did not hear or neglect or not concern himself with what was done upon Earth And our Praises and Celebrations would be as vain as our Petitions if the God whom we celebrated did not in particular regard the Actions and Behaviour of Men. But if God hears and minds our Prayers and Praises for the same Reason he hears and minds our Curses and Blasphemies too If he judges of the Sincerity of our Hearts upon the same Account he judges also of their Hypocrisie and our Iniquities are as open before God as our Devotions And the Consequence is That the whole World lies under the immediate Inspection and Judgment of God And this is the first Step in the Doctrine of Providence that God inspects and judges the whole World in General and every individual Man in particular But the Subject Matter of our Prayers extends yet further which for the most part concerns the Things of this Life as petitioning for Secular Blessings deprecating Mischiefs and Inconveniences which plainly suppose the Belief of God's Government of the World and that the Things we respectively ask of Him are purely at His disposal To petition God for our Daily Bread plainly implies that he as daily gives it and to beg to be rescu'd from Temptations deliver'd from Evils as plainly denotes that the Things that may tempt or injure us are in God's hands and may be permitted or restrain'd as He sees Good And the Conclusion from these Premises is this That this Doctrine is seasonable and necessary for all Men that pray that is always at all times and upon all Occasions For hereby we are taught that all Second Causes are Instruments in God's hands to fulfil his Will and in all manner of Dispensations to look beyond them and to fix our Thoughts and Meditations on the Supreme Arbiter and Governour of the World To be Thankful in Prosperity Patient and Humble in Adversity To take what we enjoy for Mercies what we suffer for Chastisements and Corrections dispensed to Us from our Heavenly Father Upon this Foundation we are warranted to beg of God Protection from Injuries Deliverance from Afflictions Supply for our Necessities Success in our honest Undertakings And upon this Ground we can trust in and rely upon God tho' all the World forsake us and freely unbosom
so was an Endeavour to please him And when St. Paul saw him very much weakned by frequent Sicknesses he suffer'd him to 1 Tim. 5. V. 23. make use of only a very small quantity of Wine that is he would have him take care of his Health but not to pamper the Flesh so far as thereby to make it unruly But for what end did he thus Without doubt for the Reason he Galat. 5. V. 17. himself gives because the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary the one to the other so that ye do not the things that ye would A certain Author on this place said not indiscreetly if we cannot do our Duty as we desire by reason of the Rebellion and unruliness of the Body it must be humbled and pull'd down that the Duty may be done For says he The infirmity Salvian Epist 5. of the flesh puts such an Edge on the Vigour of the Mind that when it is indispos'd all the Powers of the Body are transferr'd into the Faculties of the Soul the inward Parts do not broil with base Lusts no secret Incentives inflame the distemper'd Mind the wandring Senses do not ramble and play the Wanton with a thousand tempting Objects but the Soul alone as Sovereign Mistress in a distemper'd Body is merry and joyful and triumphs over the Flesh as if her Enemy were overcome This then which I have set down is the Cause of good Mens Infirmities and I believe by this time you are of my Opinion too IV. But it may be you 'll say there are greater How Cain slew his Brother Things than these viz. That they suffer grievous and cruel Hardships that they are cast into Prisons that they are put to Torture and that they are slain All that is true But in this what do we more than both the Prophets who were carried into Captivity and the Apostles also who endur'd Torments And yet notwithstanding we do certainly believe that God Almighty took extraordinary Care of them even then when they suffer'd those Hardships for his Service But perhaps for this very Reason you 'll pretend to prove that God does not regard the Things of this World now but reserves them entirely to his future Judgment because for the most part good Men suffer all the ill Things and the Bad inflict them I must confess the Assertion seems not to savour altogether of Infidelity because it does so plainly own God's future Judgment But we maintain that Mankind are so to be judg'd by Christ as that at the same time we believe that God does now dispose and order all things as he thinks most fit and convenient and we affirm that he will sit as Judge in the future Judgment but so that at the same time we teach that he does always exercise Judgment in this World For since God does always govern he does always judge because Government it self is the exercise of a Judicial Power How many ways would you have this prov'd Whether by Reason Examples or Testimony If by Reason who is there so void of common Sense or so great a Stranger to the Truth we are discoursing of that does not see and acknowledge that the most beautiful Frame of the World and the inestimable Magnificence of superior and inferior Things are all govern'd by the same glorious Being which created them that he that form'd the Elements is still their Moderator who as at first he made all Things by his Authority and Power so he still rules them by his Providence and Wisdom Especially when in transacting all our own Affairs nothing can be manag'd without Prudence and that every thing has it's Safety and Success from Wisdom and Forecast as the Body has it's Life from the Soul So that in this World not only Empires and Provinces Civil and Military Affairs but even the smallest Offices and private Families nay the very Beasts and the most minute and contemptible of our Domestick Creatures are not to be manag'd without Conduct and a prudent and orderly Disposition And without doubt 't is the Will of God that thus it should be that all Mankind might rule the several Parts alloted them after the Pattern set them by him who so wisely steers the whole But say you things were thus order'd and dispos'd in the beginning of the Creation But when God had made the Universe and perfected all things therein he abandon'd all further Care of earthly Matters and renounc'd it I warrant you to avoid the Drudgery he remov'd it far enough from him or was asraid of being tir'd with it or being taken up with other Matters he left part of the Creation to it self being unable to look after the whole V. You say then that God has left all Care The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha of mortal Matters If so pray tell me to what purpose serves Religion What reason have we to worship Christ or what hope of gaining his Favour For if God does not at all regard Mankind in this World to what end do we daily lift up our hands to Heaven why do we by frequent Prayers implore God's mercy why do we run to the Churches and why prostrate our selves before the Altars The very Reason of all Prayer is destroy'd if we have not hope of obtaining what we ask And therefore you see the Vanity and Folly of such an Assertion which if it should be admitted does utterly destroy all the Foundations of Religion But it may be you 'll fly to this Excuse and say that we worship God now out of Fear of his future Judgment and that we labour to pay him all the present Service we can that we may obtain Mercy and Forgiveness in the World to come What means St. Paul the Apostle then by his commanding and ordering that Supplications Pray 1 Tim. 2. V. 1. ers Intercessions and giving of Thanks should be constantly every day offer'd to our God in the Church And for what Reason did he order thus But for that which he tells us that we may lead a quiet and peaceable Life in all V. 2. godliness and honesty Here we see he commands us to offer Supplications and Prayers for Things of this present Life and he would never have given such a Command if he were not confident that we should obtain them How therefore does any one think that God's ears are open to Prayers offer'd for the Good things of the other Life but are clos'd and shut up to those of this Life Or how come we in our Prayers in the Church to beg of God present Security if we think we are not heard at all There are therefore no Prayers to be offer'd for our present Safety and Prosperity but rather that the Modesty of the Petition may procure Audience for him that prays it may be convenient to address himself thus Lord we ask not for Prosperity in this Life nor for the good things
of this present time we know thy ears are shut up and baritaded to such Prayers so as thou canst not hear them all that we desire is that thou wouldest be favourable to us after death in the World to come Suppose now such a Prayer as this were pertinent and useful yet how would it consist with Reason and good Sense For if God has sequestred himself from all manner of regard of the Affairs of this World and shut his ears against all Petitioners whatever certainly he who does not hear us when we pray for present good things does not hear us when we crave those that are future unless we imagine that according to the difference of the Petition Christ does either afford or refuse his ears that is that when we desire the good Things of this Life he shuts them and opens them when we beg the future But no more on this head because all these Pretences are so very srivolous and foolish that we had need take care that we do not affront the Divinity whilst we are endeavouring to rescue and preserve his Honour The Reverence and Regard we owe the Divine Majesty is so awful and tremendous that we ought not only to detest whatever is spoken against his Religion but also to take all the Care that may be that what we our selves offer in it's defence be done with the greatest Caution and Circumspection imaginable Well then if it be folly and wickedness to think that the Divine Goodness despises all Care of Humane Affairs for that reason 't is plain that he does not disregard them if he does not disregard them then he directs them If he directs and orders them for that very Reason 't is manifest that he judges them for 't is not possible to suppose a Government where the Governour is not invested with a Power of Judging VI. But after all these Proofs from Reason The Rebellions of Pharaoli and the works of Moses may seem to some to be of little moment unless we likewise confirm it by Examples Let us take a view then of God's Government of the World from the beginning and thence we will shew that he has ever so govern'd all things that we may inform you that he has at the same time likewise pass'd Judgment on them For what says the Scripture And Gen V. 7. the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breath'd into his nostrils the breath of life And after He placed him in the garden V. 16. of Eden Then He gave him a Law Precepts to instruct him and Discipline to direct him And what was the consequence of all this Man transgress'd God's Commandment has Sentence Gen. 3. pass'd upon him loses Paradise and is punish'd for his Transgression Who is so blind as not to see God acting both as Governour and Judge in this whole Affair For when he plac'd Adam in Paradice he was innocent when he expell'd him guilty In the placing of him he exercis'd Government in his expulsion Judgment when he put him in the place of Pleasure he dispos'd of him by his Power but when for his Guilt he expell'd him he judg'd him This was the Case of the first Man that is the Father let us see how it far'd with the Second that is the Son In process of time it came to pass says the holy Gen. 4. Scripture That Cain brought of the fruit of the â— 3 4 5. ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel he also brought of the firstlings of his slock and of the fat thereof and the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering but unto Cain and his offering he had no respect Before I speak of the more manifest Judgment of God in this Matter I must take notice that in what I have now repeated there seems to me a sort of passing of Sentence For in this particular that God accepted the Sacrifice of the one and rejected that of the other he did most evidently declare the Righteousness of the one and the Iniquity of the other But this is the least of the Case When therefore Cain in order to accomplish his design'd Villany had drawn his Brother abroad he committed the Fact in the most lonely place in this equally impious and foolish that could imagine he might perform the detestable cursed Deed if he avoided humane Eyes and yet durst murder his Brother in the face of the Almighty which makes me believe that he was of the opinion that many are now a days that God does not at all regard things here below and so does not see the Naughtiness of cruel and ungodly Men and one can't doubt it by his Management when after the horrid Deed being call'd upon by God he deny'd that he knew any thing at all of his Brother's Murder he thought God Almighty knew so little of the Matter that he might conceal the unnatural Fact with a Lye But he found the contrary to his cost For he who when he committed the Murder thought God did not see was made sensible that he did see when he was condemn'd for it I desire therefore to be satisfied in this place by those who deny that Humane Affairs are either regarded govern'd or adjudg'd by God whether what I have at present urged proves the contrary or no It seems to me that he who is present at a Sacrifice is not absent from it and that he shews the Exercise of Government who after such Sacrifice inflicts a Punishment upon Cain that he shews Care and Regard who demands an account of the Slain at the hands of the Murderer and that he exercises Judgment who passes a righteous Sentence on the wretched Aggressor From all which it is very natural to make this Observation that we should not by any maans think it strange that good Men now a days suffer Hardships since at that time Heaven permitted the first Saint on Earth to be Barbarously murdered But for what reason it was permitted the shortness of a humane understanding will never be able to reach neither is it my Business at present to enquire It is sufficient to my purpose that I prove that such Occurrences as these come not to pass without the knowledge or notice of God Almighty but that they are permitted so to be in his Providence and Wisdom Neither can we by any means esteem that thing to be unjust in which we cannot deny the Sentence of Heaven to have passed because whatsoever is the will of God must of necessity be the perfection of Justice It is not for us to Censure God's doings as unjust Man's Understanding was never design'd to comprehend the Compass of Divine Justice But to return whence we digress'd VII We see then by what has been said The World 's drowned that in the Instances I have given that nothing of them came to pass thro' the Disregard of the Almighty but that the Divine Providence order'd and appointed some of them
sent to Gen. 19. Sodom they go they enter the Place are kindly receiv'd by the good People are abus'd and injured by the Bad. The Wicked are struck with Blindness and the Righteous saved Lot with his righteous Inclinations is taken out of the City the City with its unrighteous Inhabitants is burnt to Ashes I desire to be inform'd in this place whether God according to his righteous Judgment destroy'd the Place or whether he did it without Judgment Whoever says God punish'd the Sodomites without passing Sentence makes him to be unjust But if he did pass Sentence in the Destruction of the Wicked then he judg'd them and truly he judg'd them at present as tho' it were at the future Judgment For it is most certain that Hell-fire burns for the Punishment of the Wicked hereafter and Sodom with it's neighbourning Cities were destroy'd by fire from Heaven So that by this present one God seems to declare the Dreadful future Judgment when upon a most unrighteous People he sent a sort of Hell from Heaven Even as 2 Pet. 2. v. 6. the Apostle also says And turning the Cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemn'd them with an overthrow making them an Example unto those that after should live ungodly And yet even what was done there had more of God's Mercy in it than of his Severity For 't was a piece of very great Mercy that he deferr'd the Punishment of them so long as it was of Justice that he did some time punish them And therefore by his sending Angels to Sodom he would shew us with what unwillingness it is that he punishes Sinners So as that when we read what the Angels suffer'd from the Sodomites and consider the excessive Greatness of their Villanies the Deformity of their Crimes and the Nastiness of their Lusts God does by that shew his unwillingness to destroy them if they themselves had not extorted their own Destruction from him The Rebellions of Pharaoh and the Works of Moses IX I could produce innumerable other Examples but that I fear I shall seem to write an History whilst I am endeavouring fully to prove the Thing I have undertaken Moses in the Desart feeds a Flock sees the Bush burning hears God out of the Bush receives Commands Exod. 3. from him is exalted with Power is sent to Pharaoh goes to him speaks with him is rejected and yet gains his Point Aegypt is sinitten Pharaoh is scourg'd for his Disobedience and that by more ways than one that the greater Criminal might be wrack'd with variety of Punishment And what then Why after all he rebels ten times and is as often scourg'd What say you to that Why I think you may perceive in this whole Affair that God does both take care of and judge Affairs here below As for Instance in Aegypt where there appears not only one single One but variety of God's Judgments For as often as he smote those who rebell'd against him in Aegypt so often he judged them But what follow'd after Israel is sent out celebrates the Passover spoils the Aegyptians departs with Riches Pharaoh repents draws together his Army overtakes the departed Encamps is parted by the Cloud the Sea is dry'd up Israel passes through is deliver'd by the kind sufferance of the friendly Waves Pharaoh pursues the Sea rowls upon him and he is overwhelm'd in the Waters I think in this whole Affair there does appear the manifest Judgment of God and not only his Judgment but also his Long-suffering and Forbearance For 't is an Argument of great forbearance that the wicked Aegyptians were often smitten as 't is of Judgment that the Perverse and Impenitent were at length destroy'd Well after this Series of Things and Actions Israel being Conquerour without a Battle enters the Wilderness travels without a Journey sojourns without a Road God his Leader the Host of Heaven his Fellow-Soldiers and heavenly Bodies his Guides following the moving Pillar cloudy by Day and fiery by Night changing its Colour and Complexion as fitted best the change of either Season that it might set off the brightness of the Day by it's shady Obscurity and enlighten the darkness of the Night by it's shining Splendour To these add Fountains made on a sudden add Medicated Waters either newly given or else transmuted remaining the same in Kind tho' chang'd in qualities the tops of Mountains open'd with Rivers bursting from them and Sandy Desarts watred with new unusual Streams thousands of Fowls brought to the Travellers Camps Heaven by the tenderest Love indulging not only their Necessities but even their Wantonness the Stars afford them daily Food for forty Years the Heavens still dewing down the luscious Meat did pour it forth not only for Subsistence but for Pleasure too Besides the Men felt not in any Limb the alterations or decays natural to Humane Bodies Their Nails ne're grew they lost no Teeth their Hair still of one length their Feet nere fretted their Garments always whole their Shoes nere torn their Honour was so great in all respects that even their poorest Cloathing shared in the advancement To this add God himself descending purely to instruct them and the Son of God appearing visible to the eyes of Mortals the mighty Numbers of the common Sort admitted to be familiar with their God and honour'd with his Friendship To these add Thunders Lightnings the dreadful Sounds of heavenly Trumpets the fearful Crackling of the troubl'd Air Heavens Axes growning with the sacred Sounds Fires Darkness Clouds all full of God the Lord conversing face to face the Law resounding from the mouth of God Letters cut by God's finger pages hewn from the Quarry arccky Volumn a People learning and Great God their Teacher and even one School for Heaven and Earth made up of Men and Angels For thus says the Scripture that when Moses had related the Words of the People unto the Lord the Lord said unto him Lo I come unto Exod. 19. v. 9. thee in a thick Cloud that the people may hear when I speak with thee And a little after v. 16. There were Thundrings and Lightnings and a thick Cloud upon the Mount And again And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai on the top of the Mount And afterward He did talk Exod. 33. with Moses the whole Congregation beholding that the Pillar of the Cloud stood at the door of v. 9 10. the Tabernacle and they themselves stood and worshipped at the door of their Tabernacles God v. 11. talked with Moses face to face as a Man speaketh to his friend Things being thus in fact pray does God seem to take care of Man or no when he heaps so many Benefits upon him and does such mighty Things for him when he admits so contemptible a Creature to converse with him and to be even in some sense a sort of Companion to him when he opens those hands for him that are crowded with immortal Treasures
nourishing him with the cup of pleasure and feeding him with the bread of Heaven I would fain know how he could better have express'd the Care of his Government what greater Tenderness could he possibly shew them than by Respecting them so much in this Life as to allow them a sort of Anticipation of the Blessedness hereafter X. But perhaps it will be answer'd here that 't is true that a long time ago God was thus careful of Mankind but now a days he do's not at all trouble himself with it Pray how come we to be of that Opinion Because it may be we are not every day fed with Manna as they were then when we are provided with plentiful Crops of Corn Because the Quails do not fly in our Faces to be catch'd when we are supply'd with all sorts of Birds Beasts and Cattle Because we drink not Water flowing from hardest Rocks when we have Cellars Stor'd with choisest Wines Beside I am confident that even we our selves who think they were so much the Care of God and that we are neglected by Him should he instead of what we now enjoy give us those Things they had would certainly refuse the Offer We would never part with what we have at present to be possess'd of what they had not that we have better Things now than that People then enjoy'd but because they who were thus daily fed by the hand of God and Heaven preferr'd their former Gluttony to their present Provisions grew sullen and afflicted with the base Remembrance of fleshly Dyet and lewdly hanker'd after Leeks and Onions not that their former Food was any whit the better but because they were just in the same Condition that we are now They abhorr'd what e're was present and lusted for what was not We commend the Things of that Age more than of our own not that we had rather have them if 't were put to our Choice but 't is a Vice common to Mankind our Desires are always roving after what we have not As one says well Other Men's Goods please us and â— Syrus ours please other Men. Beside 't is almost universally true of us All that there 's not one of us but is guilty of Ingratitude toward God and 't is a kind of Original Sin which taints us all we are still lessening God's love and goodness lest we should own our selves too much his Debtors But enough of this 't is time to return where I left off altho' I doubt not but I have sufficiently prov'd my Proposition yet I shall add somewhat more because I judge 't is safer to use more Proofs than what are barely needful than to destroy a Cause perhaps by being short in using too few XI The Israelites having been some time deliver'd from the Yoak of Pharaoh revolted at Mount Sinai and are forthwith corrected by the Lord for their Folly For so it is written And the Lord plagued the people because Exod. 32. they made the Calfe which Aaron made v. 35. How could God Almighty execute a more evident Judgment on the Offenders than that Punishment should immediately follow the Transgression But why since all the Congregation were guilty was not Sentence pass'd alike on all Because the God of mercy drew his Sword of Judgment against some that others might amend by their Example and that he might shew at once to all his Justice in destroying and Mercy in preserving 'T was Justice that chastis'd them and 't was Mercy that spar'd them altho' both in a different manner for Mercy here had greater share than Justice Because the Lord being always most compassionate is ever more inclind to Mercy than to Vengeance and altho' at that time in punishing part of the Jewish Host the Divine Justice made use of Judgment and Severity yet at that very time his Mercy saved by far the greater part and that out of meer Compassion to their mighty Numbers lest the Punishment should have destroy'd all whom the Guilt had infected However we read that God's Justice is inexorable toward some Persons and Families as in the Case when the People rested on the Sabaoth-day he who presum'd Numb 15. to gather Sticks was order'd to be slain v. 36. For altho' the Act it self was innocent yet the Day on which he did it made it Criminal So in the Case of two contending Parties one who blasphem'd was put to death For thus 't is written Behold the Son of an Israelitish Levit. 24. Woman whose Father was an Aegyptian v. 10. went out among the Children of Israel And this Son of the Israelitish Woman and a Man v. 11 of Israel strove together in the Camp And the Israelitish Woman's Son blasphem'd the Name of the Lord and cursed and they brought him unto Moses And a little after And they put him in ward that the mind of the Lord might be shewed v. 12. them and the Lord spake unto Moses saying Bring forth him that hath cursed without the v. 13. Camp and let all that heard him lay their hands v. 14. upon his Head and let all the Congregation stone him Is not here a plain and manifest Judgment of God and a Sentence in a heavenly Tryal pass'd according to the form of Humane Examinations For first the Offender is seis'd in the next place he is brought before the Judgment-seat then he is accus'd then sent into Prison and last of all punish'd by a Sentence from above And not only punish'd but condemn'd in a Tryal by Witnesses that it might appear that 't was Justice that convicted him and not meer Power that the Example might contribute to the Amendment of all that no one in after-times should dare to do those things that all the People had punish'd in one This is the Method and the Justice with which God does both now act and with which he ever has acted that the punishments inflicted on single Persons may tend to the Amendment of all So it was in the case of Nadab and Abihu both of the Priesthood Numb 26. v. 61. when they were consum'd with Fire in whose destruction God had a mind to manifest not only his common Judgment but a 1 Chron. 24. v. 1 2. very present sudden and unexpected one For thus saith the Scripture That when fire came out from before the Lord and consumed Levit. 9. v. 24. upon the Altar the Burnt-offering Nadab and Abihu the Sons of Aaron took either of them his Censer and put fire therein and offer'd Levit. 10. strange fire before the Lord which he commanded v. 1. them not And there went out fire from the Lord and devour'd them and they died before the Lord. v. 2. By this God would shew that his hand is always stretch'd over us and that the Sword of Vengeance hangs over our heads since we see that he punish'd the Sin of these Men in the very Act The Fact of these
them likewise And to what end do's it inculcate all these things but that we might know and understand that God's Justice and Judgment in this World will ever be the same they have been And we therefore read that holy and good Men were formerly chastis'd by God's Judgment that we might know that we our selves are to be judged by God as Judge even in this World For as God is everlasting so is his Justice As the Lord's Omnipotence will never fail so neither will his Judgment ever change as God is of right eternal so his Justice has no end And therefore all those who are remarkable for their Piety in the holy Scripture when they were in any imminent Danger or cruel Persecution always call for God's present Judgment So says the Psal 43. v. 1. just Man in the Psalm Give Sentence with me O God and defend my Cause against the ungodly People which lest it might be apply'd to God's future Judgment he adds Deliver me from the deceitful and wicked Man He certainly desires God's present Judgment who prays to be deliver'd from the hands of his Persecutors and being conscious of the goodness of his Cause he do's not so much pray for the help and assistance of God as his Judgment because the best assistance that can be given to a good Cause is when it is rightly judg'd So in another place very plainly Plead thou Psal 35. my Cause O Lord with them that strive with v. 1. me and fight thou against them that fight against me Lay hand upon the shield and buckler and v. 2. stand up to help me You see likewise in this place there is no provocation to any future Severity or Tryal but to the Justice of the present Judgment For this is all he says Lay hand upon the Shield and seise the Sword the Shield for Protection and the Sword for Revenge Not that God in the exercise of his Judgment stands in need of any such Furniture but because in this World the names of such frightful Things are the Instruments of frightful Judgments he speaks to a Humane Understanding in the Language of Humane things because he pray'd to be judg'd and aveng'd of his Adversaries he express'd the Greatness of the Divine Vengeance by Instruments of earthly Cruelty Lastly this same Prophet does elsewhere declare the difference there is between God's present and his future Judgment For he mentions the exercise of a Psal 9. v. 4. present Judgment in these words Thou sittest upon the Throne who judgest righteously And of the Psal 96. v 13. future and eternal Judgment he says He shall judge the World righteously And again He shall judge the People in Truth Here he uses the very Words of the present and future time or tense to distinguish the time of each Judgment That he might shew the present Judgment he puts Thou judgest or thou doest judge and that he might distinguish the Future from the Present he adds He shall or he will judge And thus I have sufficiently prov'd God's Providence his Government and Judgment by Reason Examples and Testimony Especially since the following Discourses tend all to the same Purpose Now if it shall please the Great God whose Cause I am pleading to grant me Strength to go thro' with it I shall attempt to produce what the Adversaries use to object against it and at the same time Confute them SALVIAN of GOD's Government c. BOOK III. The State of the Good much harder than the Bad. Of the just Judgments and Councils of God which are unknown Of what Faith is How few or none are faithful towards God What Murther is Of what it is to imitate Christ Of Law Suits to be avoided And how God is to be Obeyed in all things How few or none Obey Him as they ought to do The Errors of the Rich. The Name of Holiness without Good Manners profiteth nothing 1. THUS far all is well the Foundations of the Work are laid which I have begun with a Pious Design and undertaken purely out of the Love and Duty I owe the Great God and therefore they are not laid in mouldring Mortar nor raised with fading Stone but strong as Heavens Expence and firm as God's own Art and Skill can make them such as He himself speaks of in the Gospel which neither boisterous Winds can shake Matth. 7. v. 25. nor Deluges overturn nor washing Rains throw down For since the Hand as it were of the Sacred Volumes has order'd the Work and the Cement of the holy Scriptures has join'd it 't is of necessity that thro' the Assistance of our Lord JESUS CHRIST this should be as lasting as the firm Materials which compose the Building And therefore it gains this Strength from its Originals and can never be pull'd down so long as they are safe For as in earthly Buildings none can throw down the Walls unless he moves the Stones and Mortar so none can stir the Building I have raised unless he first destroys that of which it is made and perfected which being not to be weakned by any means whatever I may very well presume upon the Stability of the Building since it's Bottom is laid on immortal Supporters The Question then is since Things are thus The State of the Good much harder than tke Bad. if all things in this World are order'd by the Care Government and Judgment of God How comes the Condition of a Vandals Huns Franks Goths c. who then over-ran the Roman Empire Barbarians and Aliens to be much better than ours And why among our selves is the State of the Good much harder than that of the Bad Why are the Righteous cast down and the Wicked lusty and strong Why do's all the World submit to wicked Men and chiefly wicked Powers I could with Reason and Consistency answer that I know not the Secrets of God and am altogether a stranger to his Counsels Of the just judgments and Councils of God which are unknown The Words of Scripture are sufficient Proof to me of this Reason God himself says as I have prov'd in the foregoing Books that he does both Behold Govern and Judge all things If you would know what you are to hold to you have the holy Scriptures 't is the Perfection of Reason to stick to what you read there But I desire you would not ask me for what Reason God does the Things we are speaking of I am but a meer Man I do not understand the Secrets of God Almighty I dare not pry into them and therefore dread to attempt it because I take it to be no less than a Sacrilegious Rashness to endeavour to know more of those Matters than you are permitted to do It ought to satisfie you that God has declared that all things are dispos'd and order'd by himself Why do you ask me why one is Great another Mean why one is Miserable another Happy one Strong