or the King of Great Brittain Why thou hast Trimm'd it away here as if thou wert putting in for a Living of six or sevenscore pound a year Here 's first the Common Topique of All Trimmers Bearing of Burdens which Implys Oppression and Persecution The Dissenters lye under Those Burdens And the Government is to Ease them Love One Another is a Christian Lesson but are we to love Mens Iniquities or was it the Apostles Meaning we should bear the Burdens of One anothers Sins and Transgressions Are we to love Hypocrites in the very Hardness of their Impenitent Hearts Nay the Hypocrisy it self after so many Judgments Denounc'd against Them and It by our Blessed Saviour Are we to bear the Burdens of Men Swelling and Triumphing in the Sins of Schism Contumacy and Sedition Mercenary Wretches that to serve a Present Turn Cast themselves at the Feet and Lick-up the very Spittle of a Tony or an Oliver Will you call it a Slander to tell the Naked Fact of a Practical Vsurpation Or the Hiding of a Mans Self to do it in the Open Sight both of God and Man What would some body give now that I could Name for a Stand in some Parish-Pulpit to get a Shoot at the Observator In fine Every Son of the Charch is made a Child of the Devil and upon the Whole Matter here 's The Conformists Plea for the Non-Conformists The Law of Christ you say is above All Laws What 's That to say in this place but that the Law of the Land and the Law of Christ are at Odds But the Men of Forty One are the Best Expositors of the Duty of Bearing one Anothers Burdens according to the very Letter They bore the Kings and the Churches Burdens Poor Wretches Baggs Parchments Estates and Livings and the Devil of any Other way they Practic'd of Bearing one Anothers Burdens Thus you see what the Visit was which in his foregoing Paper he gave notice that he would return to Cripplegate You may take notice of the Passages which he cavels at in my Sermon by some of the Words being printed in Black Letters A REPLY TO THE OBSERVATOR SIR I Was informed by your Paper on Wednesday last that you were in haste to return a Visit as far as Cripplegate and perceiving the day following what the Visit was and how early you performed it that Morning I could not but think you to be one of that number of whom the wise Man observes that They sleep not except they have done Mischief The Visit was a most unaccountable Descant upon my Text and Sermon at St. Giles in the Fields the last Sunday which I here faithfully publish that the World may judg whether there were the least cause for such Opprobrious Reflections and pity the case of an antient Gentleman who makes it his Calling and Employment to reproach and villify whom he pleases The Sermon shall speak for it self and I doubt not but all sober Men will say that it is not more plain than honest You suggest Sir That I am a Mercenary Wretch who to serve the present Turn do cast my self at the feet and lick up the Spittle of a Tony or an Oliver But there is no Man living whom you might not with as much appearance of Truth have thus reproached 'T is very likely that I should pay such a mighty Reverence to the rotten Bones of the great Usurper under Tyburn who detested and despised him when in the height of his Glory Such was my Behaviour then that his Tryers would not permit me a Stand in a Parish-Pulpit of my own to get a Shoot at any body And when I had hid my self in a private place in the Essex-Hundreds I was routed thence by one of Oliver's Agents because my Name was then Malignant as it is now Trimmer and forc'd to make my escape after twenty weeks preaching there carrying no other Reward for my pains away with me but a Quartan Ague In such Circumstances was I at that time when SOMEBODY kept his Coach and six Horses So far was I from being a SPY or OBSEVATOR in those days And if you will play the Man and charge me point blank with being or having ever been an Admirer of your Tony or having a kindness for any Rebellious Factious or Associating Principles I will produce more Loyal Persons and better Protestants for my Compurgators than One that I know of was able to produce when he was accus'd for being a Papist I thank God I have been so far from acting any thing against the Government or Interest of our Church that I have been beyond Expectation successful in serving both The worst Enemy I have must acknowledg that by contending for Conformity both from the Pulpit and Press I have brought great numbers to the Sacrament and an exact Conformity to the Orders of the Church And I believe my Lord Bishop will be ready to attest that I have waited upon him about baptizing of converted Quakers and Anabaptists and their Children as often as any one of the Clergy hath done But if I had been of such a Spirit as I perceive would please You I had never brought any Dissenter into the Church nor convinced any one Person of his Errours I know Sir it is objected against me and it lately came to the Ear of his Majesty himself by the means of some spiteful People that I have been an Associate with Dissenters But the only Truth in that Suggestion is That I love all Men and according to my Power do good to all I do not think that Religion teaches Men to be ill natur'd nor can any prove me a greater Friend to Phanaticks than my great Master was to Publicans and Sinners The greatest Kindness I ever did for any Dissenters from our Church was for a Family of Papists Persons of Quality whose whole Estate was unjustly kept from them by a Protestant Dissenter and yet I think I could as soon be a Jew as a Popish Christian I have likewise suffered in my Reputation by being kind in the Distribution of other Mens Charity where I was not limited by the Donor to all that were in excessive want without respect to their Opinions but as the Church hath lost nothing by it so I cannot but see enough in all Men to provoke me to Kindness and Pity to the Persons even of those whose Principles and Practices I heartily abhor I may very well be content to suffer in my good Name in so notorious a manner since this hath been of late the lot of divers who are a thousand times more deserving than my self Some of the most eminent Divines of the Church of England have been most falsely accus'd And there is a certain Magistrate on whom some think you have been throwing your Dirt in the same Paper in which you Visit me who is a most devout Conformist to the Church and was so long before he was in Commission and a very vigorous Prosecutor of
is one consideration which one would think should be of mighty force to perswade men to this Christian Duty It was the last thing which our Saviour insisted upon when he was leaving the World We read in Jo. 13. that the Devil had no sooner put it into the heart of (a) Reader I pray observe That this passage is cavel'd at and Judge what the Observator intends for I know not Iudas to betray him but he made it his business to put it into the hearts of his Disciples to love one another He made it His Commandment This is my Commandment that ye love one another By which we may understand that the Observance of it would exceedingly Oblige him He calls it a New Commandment although it was as old as any other both Imprinted in the Nature of Man and revealed in the Word of God He makes it the Characteristical Note of a Disciple By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye Love one another Not but that all men of all Religions acknowledge it to be their Duty to Love one another but the meaning of our Saviour is That there should be such a Degree of Love amongst his Disciples as should exceed men of other Religions as it was in the first Ages of Christianity when the Pagans said See how these Christians Love one another All these Expressions of our Saviour which may seem difficult to be understood are used by way of Motive and Argument to perswade and quicken men to Christian Love and Unity 2. It is his Law who hath annexed the greatest Rewards to the Performance of it and the greatest Punishments to the Neglect of it by which we may understand that it is an indispensable Duty and must not be omitted by us I need not mention any more than that known place Mat. 25. There 's Come ye Blessed to them that bare one anothers burdens And depart ye Cursed to them that did not Our Saviour only speaks concerning the duty of the second Table probably for this reason Because there is not such an impression of it upon the minds of Men as there is of the duty which relates to the first Men think they may Love God though they do not love their Neighbours They think that they are good Christians and that they pay to God the honour that is due to him although they shew no regard to their Brother and Fellow Christian Men know that to love God is the Great Commandment but they do not consider that the second is like namely that they must Love their Neighbours as Themselves Many who call themselves Christians do not consider the Mystical Union that is betwixt Christ and his Church that every good Christian is a Member of that Body whereof Christ is the Head and that it is as Unchristian for one Man not to bear anothers burden as it is unnatural for the Hand not to help the Foot or any other Member of the body that is greived according to that of the Apostle Rom. 12.5 We being many are one Body in Christ and every one Members one of another They do not consider that the Church is Gods Building and that as in a Building that Stone which is so rugged that another Stone cannot be laid upon it is only fit to be thrown into the Street so that Man who is so rugged that he will not bear his Brothers burden is not fit to be part of Gods Building For this reason our Saviour insisted more upon this Duty than upon the other And for this reason he only mentions everlasting punishment to those that did not help and succour their Brother because men are not sensible of the necessity of this Duty and the Danger of neglecting it 3. It was the Law of Christ who was an Example of it to others He came into the World to bear our burdens and to shew us how to bear our Brothers as I may shew in the several instances which I have already named 1. He bare the burden of Impenitent Sinners He considered their deplorable condition He was grieved for the hardness of their hearts and used all means to recalim them He was willing to bear the burden of reproach that he might ease them of the burden of guilt and fear The Pharisees said that he was a Friend of Publicans and Sinners and they said true tho he was not so in their sense He was a Friend to them in that he called them to Repentance and made a Publick Declaration that all that were weary and heavy laden should come to him to be eased of their burdens Mat. 11.28 2. He bare the burdens of Good Men. He fulfilled the Prophesie that was spoken of him That he should Bind up the broken hearted Be of good cheer was an expression which he exceedingly delighted in When he was going out of the World he was mightily concern'd for the grief and trouble which his Disciples should then endure He said Let not your hearts be troubled I go to Prepare a place for you c. And when he arose from the Dead he was in hast to ease them of that Burden of Grief which he knew was very heavy upon them The Servant knew his Masters mind when he said to them that came to the Sepulchre Go quickly and tell his Disciples that he is risen from the Dead 3. He bare the burdens which are common to men The Blind and the Deaf and the Lame were those upon whom he bestowed his Miracles He made all his retinue stand still till he cured the Poor blind Beggar He bare the burden of Infirmities rather Pitying than taking Offence at them knowing what the Frail State and Condition of Man is He did not cast off his Disciples for shewing a furious Spirit in calling for Heaven to consume them that were not civil to him but only rebuked them saying Ye know not what Spirit ye are of Mat. 9.55 Nor did he reject his Disciples because of their weak Faith when they cryed Master save us we Perish One would think it should have been a great Provocation to him that his Disciples were asleep when he was in his agony and that it should have been an unpardonable offence but we find that he only blam'd them for it He said Could not ye watch with me one hour But he did not say From this hour I will be as regardless of you as you have been of me There are some who complain of bad Memories but certainly there never were any more forgetful than the Disciples were They had forgotten almost every thing which our Saviour had said to them Nay they had forgotten that which was of the greatest moment to be remembred namely his Resurrection from the Dead His Enemies remembred it and therefore made his Sepulchre sure but his Friends had forgotten it and yet our Saviour continued his Love towards them All these instances are left to us for our example and imitation that we should
bear the infirmities of our Brethren and not make them the occasion of so much as lessening our Love to them 4. It is the Law of Christ who still bears our burdens now that he is in Heaven He pities us and he prayes to God for us and sends his Holy Spirit into our hearts to comfort us because he knows by his own experience that our burdens are heavy The Author of the Hebrews tells us that he took our Natures upon the Earth that he might bear our Burdens in Heaven Heb. 2.17 18. In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his Brethren that he might be a Merciful and Faithful High Priest in things pertaining unto God to make reconciliation for the sins of the People for in that he himself hath suffered being Tempted he is able to Succour them that are tempted 5. And lastly It is his Law who hath put it into the power and capacity of every man in the World to fulfil it It were a very hard case if there were a work required which should have a glorious reward annexed to it and yet there should be some Christians who should be utterly uncapable of doing it He that hath not a hand to help his Brother may have a heart to Sympathize with him and he that can neither afford help himself nor procure it from others may pity and pray to God for him and if he does so the will is accepted for the deed and he hath so born his Brothers burden as to Fulfil the Law of Christ That which remains is to make some Inferences by way of Application I. I infer the excellency of our Religion and what a great obligation there lies upon us to observe the Precepts of our Blessed Lord. How dear should he be to us in that he hath given us such a Law We have no burdens to bear but what our sins have laid upon us and yet our Saviour is not willing they should be too heavy for us but requires that we should have help to bear them The Law of Moses required Statutes that were not good Ezek. 20.25 Commands which as I shewed were only to be observed in obedience to Divine Authority No man was the better for them any otherwise than as he was satisfied that he had done that which he was commanded There was no intrinsick good or excellency in them But the commands of our Blessed Lord are such as in their own nature tend to the good of Mankind They tend to the easing of our grievances and to the making of our lives comfortable to us in this World before we come to the happiness of the World to come II. From what I have said on this Subject I would infer somewhat concerning the three States This World Heaven and Hell I. Concerning this World I would infer these four things 1. They are exceedingly to blame who place any Happiness or Contentment in it It is not a place of pleasure but of pain not of ease but of toil and weariness A place in which men have burdens to bear of their own and of other mens too A place in which men are so loaded that they are in continual want of help to bear their burdens We are weary Travellers that are always going on with our burdens The rest remaineth for another State Every day hath its evils and new dayes produce new burdens He that is weary to day knows not but he may have a heavier load to morrow If a man expects rest or quiet he is often disappointed and hath cause to complain as Job did When I looked for Good then Evil came unto me and when I waited for Light there came Darkness There is nothing more dangerous than for a man to think himself secure from danger There are blessings for them that bear burdens and a wo to them that are at ease Nay the lighter that a mans burden is the greater is his danger Those that are not in trouble as other men nor plagued as others are the men that are brought into desolation as in a moment A man in this World is like a Ship upon the Ocean If it hath no burden it is in danger of being lost There must be ballast if there be no goods The nature of man is such that if his mind be not ballasted by some affliction or other he is in the greatest danger of miscarrying being cast away He that at any time hath no burden of his own had need to bear his Brothers burden that he may not be of too light a mind We have little reason to set our minds upon this World where it is necessary we should bear burdens 2. It bespeaks our patience and that we do not fret and vex our selves at every cross that befals us Some men are apt to be in a rage upon every little occasion as if the world were appointed to be a place of ease and pleasure whereas they are much mistaken it is a place in which we must bear heavy burdens both of our own and other mens 3. Since the World is such a place for burdens it concerns men to live so that they may be always willing to leave it that they may be unloaded Whilst we are in this World we are both a trouble to our selves and to others likewise that help us to bear our burdens We are often tired our selves and we are oft-times very tyresom to others it concerns us therefore to order our business so that we may go cheerfully to that place where Job saith The weary are at rest ch 3. v. 17. 4. Since the world is such a place for burdens how foolish are they that live wicked and ungodly lives in it They have no ease here and they live as if they were resolved to have none hereafter as if outward burdens the crosses and troubles of this life were not enough they load their souls with inward burdens which are continually gauling and tormenting of them That which is most common amongst Sinners is most unaccountable they take pleasure in nothing but that which brings Pain nothing pleaseth them but that which proves an intollerable burden to them They often make grievous complaints of the burdens of this life and yet they prepare worse burdens to themselves against they go out of it II. From what I have said we may infer somewhat of the Happiness of Heaven and that to a double purpose 1. To quicken our diligence for the obtaining of it There are no Burdens but everlasting Rest and Pleasure All Grief and Sorrow is done away In thy presence there is fulness of Joy and at thy right hand are Pleasures for evermore No man hath a burden of his own or of anothers to bear in that State There is Rejoycing with them that Rejoyce but as for Weeping with them that Weep there is no occasion for it Heaven doth not know what it is for all Tears are wiped away before the entrance into it Instead of bearing one
Conventicles however he may have been represented by some whose Loyalty and Conformity to the Laws of God the King and the Church lye far more in their Talk than Practice And now Sir not to pay you in your own Coin I mean in returning reviling for reviling give me leave sedately to ask you a few Questions 1. If Mens calmly treating Protestant Dissenters speaks them Trimmers what doth your wonderful mildness and gentleness towards Popish Dissenters speak your self to be Or rather what does the mighty Kindness you are ever expressing towards them speak you to be whilst in the mean time you profess your self a Son of the Church of England Why should not your so vigorous pleading the Cause of the Papists make You as justly liable to the charge of Trimming And to speak to but one instance of your kindness to them If I had been at a quarter of that pains for the lessening of the Phanatique Plot See Observ Aug. 30. that you have taken to sham and redicule the Popish One I would not complain that you abus'd me in calling me Trimmer or by a worse Name if there be any worse May I not speak to you in your own Dialect and in most of your own Words to me as followeth Why this is right Trimming c. You do as good as say Look ye Gentlemen We are Christians and it is Our Duty to Help one Another and to bear one Anothers Burdens If the King gets the Better on 't Let Me alone to do Your Bus'ness And in case of a Turn to the Church of Rome You shall do as much for Me. What 's All This I say but a Tacit Composition with a Publique Enemy where a Man delivers-up his Honour and Conscience for the Saving of his Skin and Int'rest And the Devil Himself with his Cloven-Foot Attests the Contract Why This Man would have been Safe in the Arms of Sir Edmond Bury-Godfrey had the Papists kill'd him when three days after his Death he thrust himself through with his own Sword 2. I demand of you Whether you did more foolishly or spitefully in asking Whether by the Prince of this World I meant the King of Great Britain or the Prince of the Air Pray who ever call'd the King of Great Britain the Prince of this World 3. I ask you Whether you do like a Son of the Church of England or on the contrary vilely disparage her Cause in supposing as you often do that Men who have once imbibed Phanatique Principles can never become sincere Conformists Is not this to suggest that the Arguments to Conformity to our Church are of but little or no force or that the Clergy are too weak to justify it 4. I ask again Whether he that undertakes to pass publick Censures at the rate that You do upon the Divines of our Church and their Pulpit-Discourses assumes not to himself the Office of a Bishop And whether in so doing you do not plainly charge their Diocesans with not keeping a vigilant Eye upon the behaviour of their Clergy And whether it would not have become you much better to inform their Lordships of those Offences you can make good proof of than thus to blacken them to the World and that for the most part upon no other Evidence than the Tales of Gossipping Busy-bodies or Malitious People not to add that of your own Invention 5. I demand See Observ Numb 120. Whether you did not cast an unmannerly Reflection upon his Majesty himself for making your Tony his Lord Chancellor when you reproached some Doctors of our Church for then dedicating Books to him 6. I ask Who that Trimmer was who being judicially interrogated about somebodie 's receiving the Sacrament and answered Yes and being asked How replied very Decently And being asked again was it Sitting or Standing or How replied again It was Sitting but very Decently If this strikes at me as some think it does it is either a Fiction of your own Brain or a base Calumny brought to you by one of your Factors 7. Since no good Man will think that Rebels or Disturbers of the Government can be lash'd by your Pen too severely were it not more advisable that for the future you should suffer those to live in quiet who are no less Loyal but far more peaceable than your self I will conclude with serious advice to you although 't is too probable that you will burlesque it as you did my Sermon That since you have been so exceedingly obnoxious by reason of certain foul Misdemeanours which you have been publiquely accused of and from some of which you have not yet vindicated your Reputation you would no longer blemish the Church by pretending to be her Advocate by which the Mouths of Phanatiques are opened against her And that since you have lived so long in Contention and gratifying a very exasperated Spirit you would now think it high time to betake your self to the great concern of another State that you may die in Peace and in the favour of Almighty God which is heartily prayed for by him who desires the Eternal Happiness of his worst Enemies and who is Cripplegate Aug. 30 1684. Your Well-wishing Friend and Servant W. S. Gal. 6. Ver. 2. Bear ye one anothers Burdens and so fulfil the Law of Christ THE great Design of the Apostle in this Epistle is to rectify the Errors and Mistakes which were amongst the Galatians and to allay those Unchristian heats which are the certain consequent of them There was such a contest amongst them about Christian Liberty that some were ready to take a Liberty which to be sure is most Unchristian A Liberty to bite and devour one another Chap. 5.15 That Christian Liberty which they contended about was a Liberty from observing any longer the positive Institutions of Moses i. e. Those Institutions which were no part of the Moral Law but only performed in obedience to Divine Authority The Galatians had been told by false Teachers that they must observe the one as well as the other The Apostle determines the Controversie by telling them plainly That if they did any longer observe those legal Institutions they should lose the Benefit of the Gospel-Dispensation I Paul say unto you If ye be Circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing But though the Apostle had done this yet it was no easy matter for him to perswade them to maintain Christian Love and Unity amongst them and therefore in this Chapter he prescribes some Rules which Christians ought to observe in order to it The first is in case of Offences v. 1. If a man be overtaken in a Fault ye that are Spiritual restore such an one in the Spirit of Meekness The second is more general in the words of my Text because it relates to all the grievances and unhappinesses that attend men in this Life Bear ye one anothers Burthens and so fullfil the Law of Christ The Galatians were greatly concern'd about fulfilling the Law of
Moses in observing the abolished Rites The Apostle requires them to observe the Law of Love to bear one anothers Burdens and so fullfil the Law of Christ which should never be abolished In the words there are these two things 1. A very great Duty Bear ye one anothers Burdens 2. A very great and cogent Argument to the Performance of it And so fulfil the Law of Christ You may take these three Observations from them two are supposed and the other exprest 1. Every man hath his Burden The Apostle in the former verse saith If a man be overtaken in a Fault c. but he doth not say if a man hath a burden let him have help to bear it 'T is possible that a man may live so as to be inoffensive to others or at least so as not to be Obnoxious to Censure which I conceive is the meaning of the Apostle But it is not possible for men to live in this World and to be freed from burdens Every Man hath his burden 2. Every mans burden either is or may be too heavy for him This is supposed in that the Law of Christ requires that he should have help to bear it 3. It is the great Duty of every Christian to bear his Brothers Burden I intend that my discourse shall be from the last of these and I shall endeavour to do these four things 1. To shew what mens Burdens are 2. What is implied in the Duty of bearing one anothers Burdens 3. To consider the force of the Argument And so fulfil the Law of Christ 4. To make some inferences by way of Application I shall speak briefly of these especially of the two first which I have elsewhere enlarged upon I begin with the first namely What are mens Burdens You will say that I have undertaken a very hard task I may as well undertake to tell all the Thorns in a Wilderness or all the Waves upon a Tempestuous Ocean as to count the Evils of this Life which are Mens Burdens There is no State or Condition of man but hath burdens which belong to it and are inseparable from it From the King upon the Throne to the Beggar upon the Dunghil Every one hath his Burden The Evils of this Life are like Pharaohs Froggs that will be croaking in Kings Chambers When Moses was the Supream Magistrate over the People of Israel his Father-in-Law told him that his Burden was too great for him Exod. 18. v. 18. Thou wilt surely wear away this thing is too heavy for thee Thou art not able to perform it thy self alone And we find him groaning under this Burden of Government Numb 11.14 I am not able to bear this People it is too heavy for me If it were proper for me to enlarge upon this head from this Subject I would shew what a great Argument this should be to Subjects to obey their KING that they might not add to His Burden And how necessary it is that we should pray for Kings that God would enable them to bear their great Burdens and likewise shew the Folly as well as base Disloyalty of those who desire the Life of their Prince and yet load him with their disobedience to his Laws I might also shew in the next place that Ministers have their Burdens and that they are very great likewise and every one almost adds to the weight of them The Doubts and Scruples of those that are Good and the Debaucheries on one hand and the Errors and Divisions on the other hand of those that are Bad do make our Burdens to be very Heavy But this I must not enlarge upon for fear of a mis-application If Kings who are Gods-Vicegerents to whom God requires such a peculiar regard that they are called Gods in the Scripture And if Ministers for whom God hath declared a peculiar regard in the next place however contemn'd in the World Touch not mine Anointed and do my Prophets no harm If these must have Burdens others have no reason to expect that they should go free More particularly The Burdens of men in this life may come under these three Heads 1. Such as relate to Bad Men 2. Such as relate to Good men And 3. Such as relate to both Good and Bad. 1. Such as belong to Bad man The impenitent Sinner hath his Burden and it is such a Burden as he that is once rid of would not for all the world be loaded with it again The wicked man travelleth in pain all his dayes Job 15.20 If his Conscience be awakned he is allways loaded with Guilt and Fear His secret Complaints are very grievous and are somtimes a very great interruption to his Mirth In laughter his Heart is sorrowful and the end of his Mirth is Heaviness If any man shall ask the impenitent sinner the Apostles Question Rom. 6.21 What fruit had you He can give no answer But if it be asked What Burthen had you he must answer That it was a very heavy one That he had no rest or quiet in his mind by reason of it I know very well that this doth not appear whilst sinners are in Health but when they are bound in Cords of Affliction and God shewes them their Transgression they then acknowledg that they never enjoy'd so much pleasure as countervail'd the terrors of their Consciences which were the immediate consequence of them And if the sinner doth not feel the Burden of Guilt and Fear his condition is the worse because the less he feels his Burden the more he adds to the weight of it which he will certainly feel in another State There is another Burden likewise which belongs to impenitent sinners which I may call an accidental Burden and that is Religion The worship and service of God is a very great Burden to them They are such as the Prophet Amos speaks of c. 8. v. 5. who think long for the Sabbath to be gone that they may sell Corn and set forth Wheat They have ordered their business so for want of beginning right at first and by contracting evil Habits that they are as well burdened when they do that which they should as when they do that which they should not The service of God and the service of the Devil are both Burdens to them But I will not enlarge farther upon this head because I do not think it so proper from this Subject 2. The good man hath his Burdens too Many are the Afflictions of the Righteous and many are their failings and infirmities which are the occasion of their grief and trouble The Burdens of good men are either 1. Real Evils or 2. Such as I may call Imaginary 1. Such as are Real Burdens to them When a good man hath done that which is dishonourable to God a scandal to Religion or an occasion of Offence by which others are encouraged in that which is evil it is a very grievous burden to him This was Davids Burden that he had caused the Enemies of