of necessity be outwardly expressed in Words because there is no other way of keeping their Thoughts wherein their Worship does consist united and joyned together And since Words not understood are in effect the same with no Words at all I conclude that the Language wherein the Worship of any Church or Congregation is offered up to God must always be such as is well understood by the Assembly of the People who meet together Nor does even the Doctrine of Transubstantiation amaze me more than that the Church of Rome should own the 14th Chapter of St. Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians to be the Word of God and yet have all their publick Services every where performed in the Latine Tongue only which is not now understood by the generality of any Nation in the World 61. As Peace and Vnity mutual Love and good Agreement amongst the Members of every Society together with Order and Decency in all that is transacted amongst them absolutely necessary to the being and continuance or at least to the well-being of the Society it self so are they carefully prescribed and inculcated by Christ and his Apostles as things to be always preserved and maintained in the Christian Church And as he who first occasions the violation of any of them is plainly guilty of a very great sin so in all Matters that are not particularly and clearly determined by God's Law we cannot propose a better and safer Rule to our selves than always to do that which tends most to the advancement and preservation of them 62. If some certain time be not determined for Christians to meet together for God's Worship which every Man may know of before it comes and accordingly prepare himself for it by laying aside for that time his worldly Business Disorder and Confusion which is the natural Consequence of Uncertainty must needs follow That one Day at least in seven was expressly required by God under the Mosaick Law to be sanctified and set a part for his Service is beyond dispute That the Observation of the Jewish Sabbath or the last Day of the Week is not required from the Christian Church to me seems very evident from St. Paul's reckoning it amongst the transitory Shadows of the old Law Col. 2. 17. But that we Christians ought not to be behind-hand with the Jews in setting apart a proportion of our time for God's Service I think will follow as well from the great Mercies which we have received from him for which we no less than they ought to shew and express our Thankfulness as also from that general Rule which our Saviour has given us that our Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees And that accordingly one Day in seven namely the First Day of the Week which in Scripture is therefore called the Lord's Day Rev. 1. 10. has ever been so set apart for the Service of God in all Christian Churches I presume will be denied by none As also that the Reason of the Apostles making choice of this particular Day was in remembrance of our Saviour's glorious Resurrection which on that Day was performed and whereby their Faith in him which began to waver was confirmed and raised above all doubt or diffidence Now since no Reason can be given or so much as imagined why this Day should be changed for any other Day of the Week I do from what has been said conclude that the Lord's Day or First Day of the Week ought for ever to be kept holy in the Christian Church and particularly dedicated to the Service of God And where either the Church universal or any particular Church has set aside any other days to be kept holy in remembrance either of any of God's Mercies to us or of the Martyrdom of any of his chosen Saints who sealed the Truth of the Gospel with their Lives and transmitted it so confirmed down unto us or as Days of Fasting or Abstinence in order to humble our selves before God for our Sins since in all this there is nothing contrary to God's Law nor any thing but what may be well consistent with and serviceable to true Piety It will follow from what I have said § 61. That every Member of such a Church is obliged to keep and observe these same other Holy Days so far as no way to give Scandal disturb the Order or break the Peace of the Church which has established them 63. Order and Decency necessarily require that all the outward circumstances of Worship which God himself has not determined by his own Law should be so setled by the Church as that all Confusion and Unseemliness therein may as much as is possible be avoided But care on the other side ought ever to be taken that Modes and Ceremonies be not so multiplied as to become uneasy and burdensome or distract the Devotion of the People Now there being no such fixed and demonstrable Rules of Decency and Order but what will have a different relish with different Men according to their several Educations and Customs to which they may have been used it will be very difficult if not impossible for any Church so to regulate these external matters as to please every Mans Fancy and give disgust to none For what some may think to be but decent others may take to be too formal or pompous and what these may apprehend to be suitable to the Simplicity of Christianity another sort may look on as mean and jejune As therefore the Church in this case can do no more but act according to the best of her Prudence so since every Man cannot expect to have his particular Fancy in these things pleased and gratified It will evidently appear to be the Duty of each private Christian so far to comply with every such constitution of the Church where he dwells provided there be nothing in it which is sinful as not to break the Peace and Unity or disturb the Order of the Church on that account But if any Church shall offer to impose any Ceremonies or practices whatsoever which God has not prescribed and which therefore are in themselves indifferent not for Decency and Order but as things in themselves Holy or absolutely necessary to Salvation as some of old would have done by the Jewish Ceremonies with such Impositions as these no Christian ought at all to comply nor suffer his Religion or Conscience to be thus burthened But every Man must stand fast in that Liberty wherewith Christ has made us free tho at the same time he must be very careful not to pretend or use this Liberty as a Cloke of Maliciousness 64. Since different Opinions in matters of Religion are generally apt to beget Dissensions and Animosities between those who entertain them as our dayly Experience does abundantly testifie It ought to be the Church's and every private Christian's endeavour that all Men may become of one and the same Judgment or at least that there may be as few Differences amongst them as
Lexicons Commentators and ancient Writers and to use all other Helps that he may both satisfie himself and also be able to inform others XXVI But perhaps I shall be told That when a Man has done all this to the best of his power yet after all he may be mistaken as it appears that many Learned Men are since 〈◊〉 oppose and contradict one another about the Meaning of the New Testament To this Ianswer That since I have shewn § 3. that all necessary things whether as to Belief or Practice in Religion are easie to be understood I must from hence conclude That a sober and honest Enquirer cannot easily be mistaken in the Interpretation of those places of the New Testament which do contain any necessary part of Religion And as for other parts and passages of it if Men would be but peaceable which is plainly enough commanded in the New Testament their Mistakes about them could do no harm And again Since I have shewn § 14. That God requires no more from a Man but his best Endeavours to know and perform his Will I do hence conclude That if a Man be mistaken in his Interpretation even of any such place as contains some necessary part of Religion yet if this Mistake be purely an Errour of the Vnderstanding and does not proceed from any Neglect or wilful Fault of the Person so mistaking God will never be offended with him for it And then What hurt can there be in such a Mistake as this XXVII But it may be demanded What shall they do to find out the Meaning of the New Testament who do not understand any thing of the Greek which is the only authentick Language of this Book Which is evidently the Case of much the greatest part of Mankind I answer That he who is ignorant of the Greek Tongue being yet obliged to use his best Endeavour § 14. must do the best he can by reading some Translation or Translations of it or if he cannot read himself by hearing them read and by asking and enquiring from such of his Acquaintance as he believes to be Persons of Sincerity and Knowledge to know what is the Sense and Doctrine of the New Testament and the Will of God therein contained And since God requires no more from any Man but his best Endeavour § 14. it follows That if such a Man be mistaken and cannot help it God will not be offended with him neither for it XXVIII And one thing more let me add for the sake of those who are not skilled in the Greek Tongue viz. That since there have many Translations been made of the New Testament most of them by Persons well skilled in Languages of good Repute for their Honesty and Integrity and who could not but know before-hand that their Translations would be narrowly sifted and examined by learned Men which must needs make them careful to commit as few Faults as they could and since all those things which God requires from Men must needs be easie enough to be understood § 3. and therefore easie to be translated and expressed in any Language I cannot but conclude That a sober and impartial Enquirer may be very well assured of the Doctrine of Jesus even from the Translations of the New Testament though he does not understand the Greek Original And for as much as I can understand of the matter if Men did stand only upon the honest and downright Sense and Meaning of plain Places which only can stive us good Assurance in Religion and would not quarrel about critical Niceties in such Texts as are confessedly obscure I believe there is scarce any Translation of the New Testament so defective but might be a sufficient Guide to any sober Man to lead him to the Doctrine of Jesus XXIX Having thus spoken what I designed of the New Testament I come to say something of the Old And here that the Jews in the Days of Jesus had among them a Book written in the Hebrew and some small part of it in the Chaldee-Tongue which we now call the Old Testament which they called the Holy Scripture and esteemed as the Word of God is a thing beyond dispute That this Book was owned and acknowledged quoted and referred to and all People exhorted and encouraged to search and study it as the Word of God both by Jesus himself and also by his Disciples is most evident to any one who reads the New Testament From whence I must conclude That the Doctrine of that Book as it was then extant is to be esteemed as part of the Doctrine of Jesus and that those Laws and Commands which are there to be found are to be kept and observed by all Christians the Followers of Jesus except where it can be shewn that Jesus has freed us from the Obligation of them XXX Moreover since this Book has been Translated into as many Languages and as many Copies of the Original have been carefully kept in distant Parts of the World as of the New Testament I do conclude That the very same things which just now were said concerning the Words the Meaning and Way of interpreting the New Testament will hold good concerning the Old Testament also as far as they can be accommodated to it XXXI There are some certain Books and Fragments which among the Protestants are well known by the Name of Apocryphal to which the Papists give the Title of Deuterocanonical These Pieces the Papists contend to be a real part of the Old Testament and of equal Authority with the other Books of it But the Protestants will not allow their Authority to be sacred although they grant that there are many useful and profitable things contained in them Now he that is not able to search into Antiquity for the Resolving of this Controversie may by another way be satisfied about it For since the Jews from whom the Christians originally received the Scriptures of the Old Testament do all of them and ever did unanimously reject these same Apocryphal Books and Fragments as being no part of their Holy Scripture I think it may from hence be sufficiently concluded That as to the Controversie about the Apocryphal Scripture the Protestants are in the right and the Papists in the wrong And yet if the Authority of those Pieces were as great as the Papists would have it I see not how it could make any Alteration in my Religion For I do not find any thing in them but what is easily reconcilable with the rest of the holy Scripture XXXII But there are some Difficulties which seem to arise concerning what I have discoursed to which it will be necessary to give a full and satisfactory Answer And First If all be granted that has hitherto been said yet how shall I be sure that the Book of the holy Scriptures contains not only truly but also fully and entirely the Doctrine of Jesus so that nothing is to be esteemed as a part of his Religion but what is contained in
Tribunal of God and yet be very justly condemned by the Magistrate Thus for instance If a Man has committed Theft or Murther and upon a sincere and hearty Repentance has obtained the Pardon of his Sins from God yet nevertheless if such a Person be accused and legally convicted of such Crimes before the Civil Magistrate He not only may but ought to put the Law of the Land in Execution agninst him though he believes him to be ever so penitent That it may be a Terrour unto others For if this ought not to be done every Malefactor by a pretence of Repentance which cannot certainly be discovered by any but God might escape the Lash of the Law By which Means all wicked Men would be encouraged to commit all sorts of Crimes Thus also when the Children of Israel were commanded by God to conquer the Land of Canaan we read how they sent Spies to make a Discovery of the Land that they might the more easily invade it Now it is most certain that these Spies did nothing but what they had God Almighty's Warrant for and yet if they had been taken by any of the Canaanitish Magistrates and legally convicted of their Design Who doubts but that it had been lawful for them to have punished them according to the Law of War and the Law of Nations For it is none of the Magistrates Business to enquire who keeps or transgresses the Laws of God for the Law of God extends to many Cases where the Magistrate's Authority has nothing to do but they who transgress the Laws of the Land and thereby disturb the Peace of the Common-wealth are upon a due Conviction to be punished by the Magistrate without any farther Enquiry it being his Business to do every thing which appears to be necessary for the Preservation of the Weal-Publick provided that he does nothing which is contrary to the known Laws of God who is the supreme King and Lord of all XXXVI But Fifthly it will be objected That whatever becomes of the civil Magistrate's Power yet this Doctrine which here is taught must certainly defeat and cancel all that Authority with which the Church is endowed and invested For though the civil Magistrate has no more to look after but only the Peace and Preservation of the Common-Wealth yet surely it is the Duty of the Church to take Cognizance of those things which are committed merely against the Law of God But how can the Church call any Man to an Account for any Sin or Transgression when a Man may plead for himself That he thought it was his Duty which Plea if really true and who but God can disprove it is sufficient according to this Doctrine to justifie him before God and consequently to indemnifie him from all Censures of the Church To this I answer That the Authority of the Church i. e. of a Christian Society is twofold viz. Either that Authority wherewith it is invested immediately by God or that which is conferred on it by the civil Laws and Constitutions of the Kingdom or Commonwealth The latter of these is a civil Authority though exercised by Ecclesiastical Persons because it is derived altogether from the civil Power And therefore the Consideration of it must be referred to what is but now said touching the civil Magistrate But as for that Authority which is given to the Church immediately by God it is evidently no more than this viz. An Authority to preach the Gospel and to perswade Men every where to receive it and an Authority to exclude those Men out of the Society that is out of the visible Communion of it who do not profess the true Christian Faith and live according to the Christian Law Other Authority than this does not appear to be given to the Church by God And nothing that I have said does in the least tend to abridge them any way as to the Exercise of this Power The Church may and ought to preach the Gospel and perswade men to embrace it And however any Man may be excused before God by invincible Ignorance yet he is not to be suffered in the visible Communion of the Church if he does not believe and live as a Christian XXXVII Sixthly it may be objected that I have several times in this Discourse made use of a Distinction which Distinction is nevertheless render'd altogether useless and impertinent by the main Design of the Discourse it self The Distinction is between necessary Matters of Religion and such as are not necessary which is referred to ◠26. and elsewhere But if no Man can be obliged in any Matter of Religion any farther than to do his best Endeavour from thence it must follow That all things are alike necessary in Religion For whatsoever is within a Man's Power according to this Doctrine is necessary for him and whatsoever is not within his Power is not necessary so that the very same thing may be necessary in Respect of one Man and not necessary in Respect of another which confounds the Distinction and renders it useless To this I answer That by things necessary I mean all such as it is a Sin for a Man to be ignorant of if the Knowledge of them be within his Power Such as are That Jesus is the Son of God That God is to be worshipped c. By things not necessary I mean Such as a Man is not obliged so much as to search after the lgnorance whereof shall not be accounted sinful before God although it might have been in a Man's Power to have known them Such are a great many curious Speculations which Divines do trouble themselves and the World with which they themselves do yet confess are not necessary to any Man's Salvation and consequently which a Man is no more obliged to trouble his Head with than with any Problems either in Geometry or Natural Philosophy XXXVIII Seventhly It may be objected That this Doctrine must needs encourage Men to continue in their Ignorance and not to take any Care or Pains to inform themselves concerning the Truth of Religion or any of the Duties of it For Why should a Man take any Pains to get more Knowledge which will it may be bring Trouble in the Practice of it when Ignorance is no manner of Bar to his Salvation For let him but live according to the Knowledge which he already has and God it seems requires no more from him To this I answer That for a Man to act according to the best of his Knowledge will not serve his turn except he has used his best Endeavour by all Means to know and understand the Will of God as perfectly as He can as I have shewn all Men are bound to do § 14. Which though it is a Comfort to those who are ignorant and cannot help it yet is no manner of Encouragement or Excuse for those whose Ignorance is their own Fault or Neglect XXXIX My Reason having thus brought me to embrace the Christian Religion
Beneficence preserved and kept up amongst Mankind Now in order to discover these same Laws of Right and Property whereby every man is to know what is truly his own I lay down this general Rule as a thing most reasonable That Whereas originally every Mans Right and Title to every thing may be esteemed equal God having given us all the Creatures in common and not by any act of his divided to each Man his several Property If there be any apparent or but probable ground why such or such a particular thing should be the Property of one Man rather than of another that ought so to determine the matter as to oblige all other Men quietly to yield and suffer him to enjoy and use that same thing whatever it be as his own For where the Ballance stands exactly even a small matter is enough to turn the Scale to one side Now in these following Cases there seems to be great Reason for determining a Property in a thing to particular persons viz. 1. When a Man is the first that takes actual Possession of a thing and converts it to his own use For such a Possession is an addition to his general Right beyond what any other Man who never was in Possession can pretend And why should I part with my Possession to any other or he demand it from me except he were able to make out a better Title than I to the thing in dispute 2. When a Man takes Possession of a thing which is actually rejected and deserted by him who last had the Right to and Possession of it For his Case seems to be much the same with his who first takes Possession of a thing 3. When a thing is given or in Exchange made over to another by him who had before a just Right thereto for it is highly reasonable that every Man should have liberty to dispose of his own 4. When a Company of People do by an Agreement make a Partition of what was before in Common amongst them all it is reasonable that every Man should acquiesce in that share which upon such a Division shall fall to his Lot 5. When a Man takes care and pains to produce and rear any thing for his own use or profit it is reasonable that he and not another Man against his Consent should enjoy the benefit of his own Labour And lastly where a Society of People do submit their Properties unto a legislative Power which is erected amongst them it is reasonable that herein they should always be concluded and determined by the Laws of that Community of which they are Members And if there be any other Rules for determining the Rights of Men to particular things it is most evident that due care must be taken to keep and observe them or else farewel all Order and Society 30. Where Fidelity is wanting Society cannot be truly kept and preserved I therefore conclude that every man is obliged faithfully to perform whatever he Promises except the person to whom the Promise is made do freely acquit and discharge him from it But if a Man promises to do a thing which is sinful he ought not to keep such a Promise as that as I have already shewn in the Case of an Oath 31. And the same Reasons which oblige us to hurt no Man to yield to every Man his Right and to keep our Promises do plainly shew that he who wrong fully hurts another or deprives him of his Right or breaks his Promise made to him ought as far as he is able to make full Restitution and Satisfaction to the person whom he has thus injured For he that makes a Breach in humane Society is doubtless obliged as far as he can to repair it 32. Where a Proposition is literally false and yet spoken with no manner of intention to deceive another it is not to be called a Lye But he who asserts any thing for a Truth with an intent to make another believe it which is or for ought he knows may be false he only is to be esteemed a Lyar. Now some have doubted whether the sin of a Lye consists in the bare Untruth or only in the Injustice of it and from thence have been inclined to believe that such a Lye as does no hurt to any one not draws any manner of evil consequence after it is not to be looked on as a sin and so much the less if it be told with a real design only to do Good or prevent Mischief The Niceties of this Controversy I leave to be discussed by others But since humane Society cannot be upheld without in many cases a dependence upon one anothers Veracity I may surely venture thus far to conolude viz. That not only such a Lye as tends to the damage of another but also such a Lye however otherwise innocent as gives occasion to render a Mans Truth suspected in other cases is to be reputed unlawful if for no other Reason yet at least fore this because it is injurious to humane Society And the same Reason will hold as strongly against all mental Reservations and equivocal Expressions For what is humane Society at any time the better for the literal Truth of what a Man says if others who are therein concerned do not understand his true meaning by the words which he speaks to them 33. It is highly reasonable that every Man should have such an Esteem and Respect shewed him as may be proportionable to his Virtues and good Qualities And as it is proper enough for a Man by lawful ways to assert his own Reputation whenever it is unjustly aspersed so he ought to take especial care in the management of all his Words and Actions that he may not seem to exalt or magnifie himself or to despise or undervalue others beyond what is not only just and true but also necessary either for the bringing about something that is good or the preventing something that is evil For there is scarce any thing that gives greater disgust or helps to render a Man more odious to the World than an over-forwardness to praise and magnifie himself and to undervalue others if he be not necessitated thereto by some very just Reason And on the contrary there is scarce any thing which reconciles a Man more to the Favour and Good Will of People than when he is not over apt to ascribe much to himself but is ready to give the utmost Honour and Respect to all others that in reason can be thought due I conclude therefore that Pride is a Sin and Humility a Duty because the former tends to disturb but the latter strengthens and confirms humane Society 34. What is incumbent upon him to do who has done wrong to another I have just now shewn But if another Man wrongs or any way endeavours to Injure me As it is lawful for me so for every Man to stand upon my defence and use my utmost endeavours to save my self from Wrong or recover that
to make an open Confession of his sins whenever it is necessary for God's Glory or to repair any publick scandal which has been given by him 67. That Almighty God even where he has pardoned a Man's sins upon his true Repentance may yet on the score of those very sins which he has so pardoned lay some sharp and severe temporal Afflictions upon the penitent either to keep him more effectually from sinning for the time to come or that it may be a Terror to others or for many other reasons best known to himself is a thing that cannot be disputed But from hence to infer that these temporal Afflictions if not laid on us in this World are to be undergone in Purgatory and that therefore for the preventing them it is fit and necessary that Penance should be imposed by way of satisfaction or Indulgences granted by way of Remission and all this without any Warrant from the Holy Scripture save only a faint and forced Consequence from some few perverted Texts is a thing so groundless and precarious that it amazes me to think how Men can suffer themselves to be so grossly imposed upon And whosoever shall duly consider upon what weak grounds the Pope and his Prelates do pretend to a Power of dispensing and distributing the Merits of Christ unto the People by way of Indulgence as if they alone had the keeping of that Treasure under Lock and Key and to which tho infinite they have yet added the Merits of the Saints to make their Treasure more abundant will I think very much wonder that their People should be so free to part with their earthly Treasure in purchasing these Indulgences upon no better security 68. That the Apostles of Christ when they were first sent abroad to preach the glad Tidings of the Gospel did anoint many sick persons with Oyl and thereby miraculously heal them we are plainly told by St. Mark c. 6. v 13. And that in this they did no more than what Christ himself had expressly commanded them is most reasonable and probable to suppose Moreover that the anointing with Oyl which is mentioned by St. James c. 5. v. 14. was intended for the very same purpose viz. the raising up the sick person and restoring him to Health is as apparent as any thing can be form the very Context But as we do not find that this anointing of the sick was appointed either by Christ or his Apostles as a standing and perpetual Ordinance for ever to be used in the Church so since Experience shews that the miraculous effect of healing thereby is now wholly ceased I can see no reason why the practice it self should be any longer continued But what just ground the Church of Rome can have from either of these or any other place of Scripture for the divine Institution of their Extreme Unction which they make use of for a far different end namely the preparing thereby of persons who are past hopes of recovery for their passage into the next life is more than I am able to find out 69. As the Body natural would be but a confused and useless Lump if it were not distinguished into the several Members which are necessary for its own Service and preservation And as the Body-politick would be but a disorderly Rabble if there were not Magistrates setled to rule and govern and ministerial Officers appointed to perform all necessary Functions in and about it so the Holy Scripture as well as Reason assures us and the practice of the apostolical Church which is there recorded confirms it that the like Appointment and distinction of Offices are no less necessary in the Church in order to the regular and orderly government of it and the due execution of all its Laws and Constitutions But how far these Offices are limited and appointed by the Law of God or how far left to be setled and determined by the Prudence of the Church according as Circumstances may render it convenient is what I shall not take upon me to pronounce my Sentence in But whatever Polity or ecclesiastical Constitution is setled and acquiesced in either by the whole Church in general or by that of any Nation or Country in particular I think ought quietly to be submitted to by every one who would be a Member of such respective Church except there appears to him to be either something therein which is not only uncommanded but even contrary to the Law of God or else something wanting which God requires and therefore is absolutely necessary to be maintained and kept up in all Churches Nor can I apprehend that any less Warrant can be sufficient for breaking or endangering the Peace or Unity of the Church the preservation of which is so often and so earnestly recommended to us in the Holy Scripture besides the absolute necessity of obeying the Positive Command of God himself And therefore since the Government of the Church by Bishops that is to say by certain persons having in their several Districts a Priority among and in some respects a Superiority over the Presbyters has for so many Ages been universally setled amongst and acquiesced in by all Christians in all parts of the World I cannot find how they can be excused who without any necessity for so doing have so earnestly set themselves not only to retrench the Exceffes and rectifie the Abuses of the episcopal Power but also to pull down and wholly abolish the very Order it self to the no small scandal of those who think that so universal a Constitution every where taking place even in the primitive Church could be grounded on no less than an Apostolick Ordinance of which there seems to be some not obscure Foot-steps in the Scriptures of the New Testament and that most probably in conformity to that Imparity which Christ himself established between the Apostles and the seventy Disciples who were yet both commissioned by him to preach the Gospel 70. How far a case of necessity may upon some occasions excuse or justifie a Man for taking on him an Office which regularly does not belong to him especially if his design therein be truly honest and sincere I know not But no Man certainly ought to intrude into any ecclesi astical Function or exercise any such Office who is not called and admitted thereunto by the lawful Authority and according to the established Constitutions of the Society For if this be not carefully observed the distinction of Offices and Functions in the Church is in effect wholly taken away and a wide Door opened for Confusion and Anarchy But then on the other side good care ought ever to be taken by the Church that no persons be entrusted with any sacred Office but such as are duly qualified for it And that such a Maintainance be provided and setled for every such person as that he may not be necessitated to neglect the publick Service of God and the due exercise of his Function by being constrained to bestow
but Diversion and who scarce ever set themselves to any employment whereby either God is glorified or others benefited what can they expect but the same Sentence which is pronounced upon the idle and unprofitable Servant Mat. 25. 26. And if to be altogether idle and unemployed is not to be excused or justified how much more are they to be condemned who are so frequently employed in such things as are evil and scandalous 26. Since the right knowledge of our Duty arises chiefly from a true judgment concerning the circumstances and qualifications of Things and Persons it follows that every Man should endeavour as far as he is able to inform himself rightly and to frame true Notions in all points of and concerning God Himself and other Men to whom there are Duties owing and also of all those things which are the subjects of any of those Duties and in the true management whereof such Duties do consist For if he be mistaken in his Judgment concerning either of these he must of necessity take wrong Measures in his actions Thus for Example if a Man should not believe God to be eternal most good wise and powerful c. it would not be possible for him to love honour and fear him in that degree that he ought to do And if we do not always remember ourselves to be frail Creatures subject to Passions and Infirmities of short continuance in this World and that whatever Excellency we may seem to have we derive it wholly from God and his Providence and not from our selves we shall never be able so effectually as we ought to govern our Passions and restrain our Affections from the things of this World and pursue that End for which God has designed us And if we do not consider that other Men whatever accidental Differences there may be between us are equal to us in nature that their Souls are as precious in God's sight as ours that Christ died for them as much as for us c. We shall not be inclined to behave our selves to them with that Justice Charity and Humility which do evidently appear to be our Duty And lastly if we do not frame a true Notion of the Vanity of the things of this World and the Excellency of the Joys of Heaven we shall never be able to prefer the later before the former in such a measure as we ought to do 27. Altho the chief Happiness of Mankind is reserved by God to be enjoyed in another life by those who heartily strive for it whilst they are in this yet can I find no reason to think that he has decreed us all or any of us to be absolutely miserable whilst we remain in this World On the contrary since God has originally a love for all Mankind in general Part 2. § 16. I cannot but conclude that he always even in this life designs at least some share or beginning of Happiness for every Man and never afflicts or suffers any Man to be afflicted but only in order to his greater Happiness hereafter until such time as he thinks it proper to pour out his Vengeance and final Destruction upon such as have by their Wickedness altogether forseited his Love and Favour Since then God originally designs some measure or commencement of Happiness to all Men even in this life as well as eternal Happiness hereafter it follows that we who ought as much as we can to be subservient to all God's Designs should endeavour as much as in us lies to promote the Happiness of every Man both in relation to this World and of that which is to come Or in other terms that every Man should endeavour to do as much good to all others as he can and to hurt no man whatsoever if he can avoid it 28. But if every Man always kept singly by himself without any Society or Intercourse with others it would be impossible to do any good one to another And therefore I conclude that it is the Will of God that Mankind should live each with other in a state of Society And to make us all the more sensible of the necessity and obligation that lies upon us thus to live with and do good to others God has so ordered the state and condition of all Mankind that it is not possible for any Man long to subsist much less to enjoy any sort of Comfort or satisfaction in this Life without the good will and assistance of others which he has no reason to expect except he be ready upon all occasions to retaliate what he himself so continually stands in need of And since God's original Love to Mankind is not confined to some certain persons but universally extended to all I must needs conclude that he designs not only the Comfort and Happiness of some particulars but universally of all Men whatsoever And since the more universal the Society between Men is the more universal the Happiness which thence results will be it will evidently follow that it is God's Will that every Man should behave himself after a sociable and friendly manner to every other Man without exception And since there is no Man in the World however weak and poor or at never so great a distance from me but it is possible that things may fall out so as that one time or other I may in my Distress stand in need of his Help and Friendship my Reason tells me that it is my Interest as well as Duty as much as I am able before-hand to oblige every Man who comes in my way by doing Offices of Civility and Kindness to him as occasion offers 29. That God has given to Mankind in general the free Liberty to make use of all other Creatures for their support and sustenance my Reason as well as the Holy Scripture does assure me because without some of them we could not preserve our selves in being and if we had not liberty to destroy others of them for our use they would in time so over-spread the Face of the Earth as that we could not have any safe or convenient Habitation upon it But if all these Creatures were always to remain in common so that no Man should have a Right to take possession of any part of them to his own prticular use and disposal and to exclude others therefrom the Consequence must needs be perpetual Discord and Confusion For when I had prepared Food to sustain my Hunger or Rayment to defend me from the Cold if every other Man should have still as good a Right thereto as I any one might lawfully take it away from me and if my Right were as good as any others I might also lawfully Defend my Possession from which state of things Contention and Strife must eternally and unavoidably arise I therefore conclude that there must be some Laws of Property and Right and that every man must yield to others that which is their own or else there can be no such thing as Society and