Ambitious the Vain-glorious the Covetous the Lover seem to ascend and rise above themselves in the Acquisition of those Pleasures they aspire to the Monarch debases himself descends and stoops below his Fortune to meet his And yet I am not of Apollo's nor Solon's Mind I cannot think there is any great Happiness in the Ignorance and the quietness of a labouring Cottager such as Tellus or Aglaus Sophydius I love Security but not that which Contempt breeds I would have my Security owing not to the Littleness of my Fortune but the Greatness of my Mind I love a Quiet but a Philosophical life I would have my Tranquillity spring not from the Ignorance but Reason of my Mind from the Right Government of my Passions not from the Meanness of my Education or Fortune For the same Reason I do not call Men happy whose slow and easie Temper like the waters of the Dead Sea is not to be mov'd even by Wind and Storm I do not call Stupidity a Calm the Soul that is insensible of Trouble is so of Joy too whoever is incapable of any deep Impression is so of any serious Reflexion too and what is the state of such a Man I would not have my life pass by like a Dream whil'st fleeting or imperfect Images of things do scarce awake and too too slightly affect my drouzy or dazled sense In a word the Happiness I seek after is such a one which is owing neither to Natural Constitution nor to Fortune for then it would not be in our Power The Men then whom I call Happy are such who are possessed of true and solid Goods and those such which Fortune cannot give nor take away such were Christ and his Apostles and such are all those at this Day as are transform'd into the Glory and Image of the Divine Nature by the mighty Energy of the Divine Spirit and Divine Truths Let us consider therefore what the state of Christ and his Apostles was in this Life I will not take notice of those Ecstatic Pleasures which they felt when they did those God-like Works which we call Miracles what Triumph could be equal to theirs who saw Diseases Devils and Death subject to their Commands what joy could be equal to theirs when they gave Life to the Dead Sight to the Blind Strength to the Lame c To what a height was Wonder and Delight rais'd in each of these Performances for nothing could be more wonderful than the Power or delightful than the Charity conspicuous in 'em but this I pass over because this Power is not to be attain'd by us Let us come to that which is I mean the Vertues of Christ and his Apostles He had not a hole where to lay his Head 't is true but how truly great was he in himself how much above the mean and unmanly desires of Ambition Covetousness or Lust he indulg'd himself in no sensual Carnal Pleasures 't is true but how Calm that Soul which no Angry or Envious Passion disturb'd where nothing but sacred Love dwelt the love of God the love of Man and the rational and wise love of himself how Happy that Soul which was illuminated with Divine Knowledge supported by an unshaken Faith fill'd with joyful Reflexions and glorious Hopes that Soul which in the silence of the Night and the Retirements of the Mount did pour forth it self in Prayers and Hallelujah's that Soul which full of God and full of Heaven had no room for uneasie Cares or afflicting Sorrows 't is true our Saviour met Death with pale looks and melancholy pangs of Soul but 't is as true that his Faith surmounted his Fears his Agony endur'd but for a little while an undisturb'd Peace and a well-settled serenity of Mind immediately follow'd it and his trouble and Pain in Death like the Ecclipse that attended it did but o'recast and darken the joy the light within not extinguish it who could finish the last Act of Life with more humble Majesty or with more settled Peace in the Life and Death of our dear Lord we behold that of his Disciples for they were all Followers of him as they desir'd we should be of them what can be happier than their state here was their Life was Regular and Philosophical their Joy steady and Rational their Love of God vigorous their Charity to Man servent and Diffus'd their Desires as to the World modest their Minds resolv'd and brave in Afflictions Chearful and Compos'd in Death it self Let it stand then as an unshaken Truth That Happiness may be attain'd in this Life for what the Followers of our Lord and Master attain'd to that may we their Natural Passions and Infirmities were the same with our's our Trials and Temptations are far less than theirs we serve the same God we are guided by the same Truths supported by the same Power elevated by the same Hopes we have the same Peace bequeath'd us the same Spirit the same Heaven promis'd us and we march under the Conduct of the same Captain of our Salvation who by his Death has Abolish't Death and brought Life and Immortality to Light Nor ought this to seem to us an over-daring or presumptuous Position since the Possibility of Happiness is a Notion Consonant to the Common sense of all Mankind for 't is Happiness which Laws enacted for the Government of the Multitude and Philosophical Rules prescrib'd for the Government of our Passions do aim at All Law-givers have ever promis'd the people Wealth and Peace and Glory and Security as the fruits of their Obedience and all Philosophers have ever promis'd Tranquillity of Mind and Rational Pleasure to their Followers as the Rewards of Conformity to their Precepts And as it cannot surely be deny'd but that the Kingdom is most Happy which by just Laws and a well-temper'd Authority is freed from those Fears and Distractions from those Mischiefs and Confusions to which others are expos'd by Anarchy or Tyranny by the Insolence of the Multitude or the Impotence of the Prince so it cannot be deny'd but that the Man is most Happy whose well-settled Peace is establish't upon solid Grounds of true Wisdom being neither oppress'd by the Tyranny of Superstition nor vex't and disquieted by the Insolence of unruly Passions to which the weakness of Reason subjects Men. As to Religion which is a third governing Principle this only proposes a more perfect Happiness and a more plain and direct way to it than Nature of it self could it only relieves and recruits our Natural Power by that of Grace and encreases the Light of Reason by a participation of new Rays of Revelation If then Happiness be the great End which Law and Philosophy Revelation and Reason God and Man do unanimously propose to us how absurd and palpable a Contradiction were it to all these to deny the Attainment of it possible To look back now upon this whole Chapter The Conclusion and sum up the substance and force of it 't
serene Hopes and with an undisturb'd Mind easily parting with all here below when I have read of Simeon waiting for and expecting Death as weary Labourers do the Evening Shades or Hirelings the Reward of their work when I read St. Paul with humble Impatience expressing his devout desire of Death and Dissolution when I have seen some as some I have seen setting in Calm and Majesty and Triumph as if they had attended Death as the old Romans once did the barbarous Gaules in their Chairs and Robes when I have seen men dye not only with Content but almost in Extasie and the Soul breath'd forth not in a Groan but an Ejaculation I must needs say I could not choose but wish with Balaam Numb 23. that I might dye the Death of the Righteous and that my latter end might be like his These are degrees of Happiness which I should judge it reasonable to purchase at any Rate whatever there be hereafter a smooth contented delightful life such as would not only bear but invite Reflexions on it a chearful lightsome Death able to make the living in love with it But after all whether this present life be all my Portion whether I dye all of me together with my Body or whether this life be only the time of our probation and preparation for another and Death be nothing but the rough passage from one shore to another or the Horizon that parts the Hemisphere of Darkness from that of Light is a question I will not now determine 't is sufficient to propose it here as a doubt whereof one side or other must be true If therefore this life be in Order to Eternity it nearly imports me to consider my present Relation to a future state if it be not then this life call it what you please a Span a Dream or a Bubble yet is it my All and I must make the most of it But Obj. 4 Are not Nature and Custom the best guides to Happiness what needs there so much poring to find out that which mere instinct leads us to we do not see that the most learned Clerks are always the most Happy men let such demonstrate the truth of their Philosophy by their own success And thus they magnifie Nature not out of any honour they design to do it or the Author of it but that they may with the greater Security contemn the one and deprave the other by sluggish Luxury and unbridled Lust I am not easily tempted to a Contempt of Nature or of Customs for by the one I should seem injurious to God who is the Author of Nature and by th' other I should seem injurious to Mankind whose concurrent Sense and constant Practice creates a Custom Therefore as to the former part of the Objection were it but once truly determin'd what were to be understood by Nature this Objection would vanish I think our Souls within us may be justly suppos'd to constitute a part of our Nature as well as our Bodies and therefore I cannot be content that the Body much less vicious habits commonly call'd indeed a second Nature should usurp the Name and Authority of Nature nor consequently can I be content to allow of the mere sensual Appetites of the Body much less the Dictates of vicious habits for the Laws of Nature The Body indeed is an Essential part of our Nature but then it must be remembred 't is not the governing part and therefore it 's Instinct cannot Arrogate to it self the Authority of a Law It remains therefore that thô the Rational Soul within us be but a part of our Nature yet being the better part the Ruling part its Dictates must have the force of Laws so that the Law of Nature will be nothing else but the Commands of right Reason I shall be most ready to grant that we ought to follow the Conduct of our Nature taking it in this sense Aug. contra Academicos Beatè vivit qui secundum eam partem animi vivit quam dominari in homine fas est he indeed lives Happily who follows the Conduct of that part to which belongs the undoubted Right of Soveraignty and Dominion in man As to the latter part of this Objection By Customs is commonly mean't those Principles and Practices which are generally receiv'd and fashionable in the place we live I have a just Veneration for whatever is the sense of Mankind but I think their suffrage is not to be taken by number but by weight nor are we to follow the Opinion or Example of the most but of the best nor indeed is it possible to understand what is the sense of Mankind in this point for we have Custom against Custom Nation against Nation and Religion against Religion It ought farther to be consider'd That Principles taken upon trust have seldom an equal influence upon us with those which we take up upon strict Examination and mature Deliberation that men will easily be tempted to desert those for which they have no better Authority than the vote of a Multitude Nor can any thing tend more to the Disparagement of any persuasion than this that 't is not the Result of our Judgment but our Fortune or to the Dishonour of any Religion than this that 't is Magisterially obtruded by the Authority of Laws and terrour of Force and will not submit it self to the tryal of sober Philosophy and so I take it to be a Credit to the Christian Religion that it did not force assent but gain it by irresistible Arguments that t is so far from shunning the tryal of Impartial Philosophy that it did always invite men to a sober Examination of its Evidence and commanded its Disciples 1 Pet. 3. be ready to give an answer to every man that asketh you a Reason of the hope that is in you 'T is true indeed as the Case now stands Religion may nay must be recommended by Authority of Law and Custom and ingratiated by particular Practice of it but afterwards must grow up and be confirm'd by Reason like a tender Plant that is first fixâ—t by the help of another's hands but afterwards it stands firmest upon its own Roots and this Method our Saviour himself did sometimes make use of when either the stupidity of Nature or Prejudice of Education rendred those to whom he addressed his Doctrine uncapable of entring into a thorow Examination of it Then if any man will do my will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God Lastly That to trust to others who themselves with like Rashness and Credulity do in the same manner trust to others in the matter of the highest moment of my life seems to me inconsistent with common Prudence with the very Constitution of a rational Nature for what use can be as much as fancied of Reason if I slight its service in so important an affair as this It is true Temper Fortune and Education have de facto so great a share
defective in the Powers and Faculties of the Soul or Senses and Members of the Body is there one in a Thousand born under so unlucky and envious Planets that he cannot by any Industry or Vertue provide himself a comfortable Subsistence View and Survey the World Examine and Consider Man and then tell me whether there be any room for those Reproaches and spiteful Reflexions by which some men have so outrag'd Nature and Providence Phylo Judaeus tells us a Rabbinical Story to this purpose that when God had created the World he demanded of a Prophet whether he saw any thing wanting to consummate and compleat the glorious Work who told him Phylo-Jud de Plantatione Noae Nothing but an Intelligent Being to praise the wise and gracious Architect God approving the Advice c. The Hebrew Philosophers it seems thought the World exactly perfect such a Work as might bespeak God the Author of it and no wonder for they were inspired by Moses who brings in God reflecting upon his own Creation thus And God saw every thing that he had made Gen. 1. and behold it was very good How unlike is all this to the Epicurean Philosophy whose great Patron Lucretius endeavours to infer from the Ill-Contrivance the manifold Defects the innumerable Evils of the World that God could not be the Creatour of it That ever that Work by which God design'd to exalt his Glory should be drawn into an occasion of Dishonouring and Reproaching them That ever that work which deserv'd the praises of Men and Angels should at last stand in need of Apologies and Defences If we look up to the Heavens such is the Beauty of those Bodies so uniform and regular their Motions so exactly are they dispos'd both for Ornament and Service that the Speculation naturally exalts the Mind and insensibly raises it above the Body Nay it has tempted some to think every Star moved and acted by some understanding Spirit If we look upon the Earth so wonderful is the Variety so inconceivable the Wealth and Plenty of it that it is not only sufficient for the Needs and Desires of the Sober and Temperate but even for the Luxury and Wantonness of the fancyful and Intemperate Every place almost is a Paradise there is no Country almost which cannot afford us Tempe or Campania opus gaudentis naturae a Work which Nature seems to have Created when in the gayest and the kindest humour If there were room for fancy in Sacred things one would almost think that Moses out of Ignorance of other Countries or love of his own had confin'd Eden within those narrow Bounds he sets it and that it had only been lost there because a fuller Discovery of the World had now found it almost every where This is the World we complain of Let us now consider Man Psal 139. and we shall find with the Psalmist that he is wonderfully made he is but a little lower than the Angels he is crown'd with Glory and Honour and all the Creatures are put under his Feet Psal 8. All the Fowls of the Air and all the Beasts of the Field c. How infinitely wise as well as kind do's God appear in his Contrivance So modest his Appetites that a small Portion of Nature's good is a full Meal or Feast and yet so various that there is nothing in all the provision in all the joyes and luxuries of Nature which he is not capable of Tasting and Enjoying If we regard the Mind of Man 't is capable of a most surprizing Satisfaction in the Contemplation of the hidden Powers the secret Laws and Operations of Nature nay it rises higher it passes the Bounds of Mechanic Nature it entertains it self with Moral Perfections and the Spiritual Excellencies of an invisible World and gazes on those Charms and Glories which are not subject to the bodily Eye Vultus nimis lubricos aspici Such is the Nature of the Soul that when it pleases it can retire within it self withdraw from Sense and be secure and Happy in its own Strength and Wealth Ipsa suis pollens opibus and when it pleases it can walk forth like Dinah to see the Daughters of the Land those Beauties that Sense presents it with and that too if guarded by aweful Vertue without the Danger of a Rape To say all of it in a word 't is capable of a share in all the Good and not necessarily subject to any of the Evil of this World Fatis avolsa Voluntas There are no Fates that can controul The soveraign freedom of the Soul If this be a true account of Man and the state of that World which he inhabits if the one be fill'd with all things Necessary and Delightful and the other be endow'd with all those Capacities and Appetites that fit him to enjoy 'em nay if his Soul can raise it self above the Pleasures and exempt it self from the Changes and Revolutions of it nothing is more manifest than that the Evil in life cannot be greater than the Good unless it be owing to our selves and to leave this matter beyond Dispute no man pretending to receive Revelation should admit of the contrary Opinion for no Texts of Divine Writ are more plain than those which proclaim to us God's love of Mankind that he doth not afflict or grieve willingly the Children of men that the Book of Creation and Providence is writ all over with the legible Characters of Love so legible that it renders the Idolatry and Wickedness of the Gentiles inexcusable and finally that he gives us Richly all things to enjoy 1 Tim. 6. where the Apostle excellently expresses at once the Bounty and Design of God His Bounty in that he gives us all things Richly his Design not to enkindle and then delude our Desires by being like the Tree of Life or Knowledge forbidden us but on purpose to be enjoy'd by us So then the Christian cannot without contradicting Revelation embrace this Opinion nor the Atheist or Epicurean without contradicting himself if Nature has contriv'd the World so ill if it has scatter'd good things with such a sparing and envious hand whence are all those Transports and Extasies we meet with amongst these Men what t is the Ground what is the Matter of â—'em whence so rich a Crop of Worldly sensual Pleasures whence so much dotage on and fondness for the World we so complain of whence are the Charms and Irresistible Temptation which the generality of Mankind iâ— vanquish't by whence is it that Men are so willing to set up their Rest on this side Canaan whence that dread and aversion of Death as the most formidable Evil If Nature has been such a Step-mother to Man if it has frowardly and peevishly design'd him little else but Mischief whence that sagacity and penetration of Mind searching with delight into all the Retirements of Nature whence that Comprehensive and almost immense Capacity of Pleasure whence that strength and greatness of Soul
that of Plutarch so generally prais'd by all Writers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I had rather men should say of me there neither was nor is such a one as Plutarch than that they shou'd say that he was a man of a fickle unconstant froward revengeful and implacable temper Let us not therefore entertain such an Idea of God as Humane Nature would recoil from and start back pale and scared at the sight Let us not fasten those Characters upon God which a good-temper'd man if charg'd with 'em would look upon as the foulest Reproaches and most injurious Accusations Especially since a Defect is not only more Conspicuous but more Reproachful where there should be nothing but Perfection And Peevishness and Cruelty are infinitely more mischievous in an Almighty than Impotent Being I might shun Polycrates Dionysius Periander c. but how should I shun God I might leave Samos Sicily or Corinth and where Clemency and Justice made their Abode I might make mine But whither should I go what place should be my Refuge if the Governour of the World were but an Almighty Tyrant Thus 't is manifest such kind of Representations of God tend not to enamour Man of God but to alienate and estrange him they tend not to advance Religion but Superstition they tend to make Men dread God but not love him they are therefore to be banish't out of the World and God is to be represented such as our Dear Lord who lay in the Bosom of his Father has reveal'd him A God of Hope a God of Love a God who is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him This is the Dictate of Nature This is the Dictate of the Spirit God is Love Let it not be thought an absurd or barren Tautology thô I should recite this one Text a Thousand times oft'ner than I do for no Tongue can express the Divine Nature so much to the life as his who was inspir'd by the Spirit of God the Spirit of Love Nor let God's dealings with the Gentil World before the Revelation of Christianity be alledg'd as an Objection against the Goodness of God and his Tenderness and Compassion for Mankind Act. 14. and 17. 't is true God in times past suffer'd all Nations to walk in their own ways and the times of this Ignorance he winked at he published no reveal'd Law to the Gentiles from Heaven he deputed no Prophets to 'em as to his People the Jews with a Commission to restore by Signs and Miracles that Natural Religion conformably to which they were to Worship God which is the Import of those places of St. Paul and yet 't is true that the Belief of the Living and true God and the natural Law of Good and Evil was strangely effac'd and obliterated amongst the Gentils but notwithstanding all this it must be remembred too 1. That God left not himself without a witness in any age of Gentilism the Heathen were never destitute of so much Light as might have conducted 'em to God and that Happiness he design'd 'em for besides the Traditions transmitted from Noah to Posterity the Book of Nature and Providence was ever open to 'em and this did in most legible Characters assert the Being of one Supreme God and instructed 'em in the Knowledge of his Power and Goodness Thus St. Paul Acts 14. Nevertheless he left not himself without witness in that he did good and gave us Rain from Heaven and fruitful Seasons filling our hearts with Food and Gladness Nor was this Testimony so unsuccessful Sunt autem alii Philosophi hi quidem magni atque nobiles qui Deorum mente atque ratione omnem mundum administrari regi censeant neque verò id solum sed etiam ab iisdem vitae hominum consuli Provideri Nam fruges reliqua quae terra pariat tempestates ac tem porum Varietates coelique mutationes quibus omnia quae terra gignat maturata pubescant à Diis Immortalibus tribui generi humano putant Cic. l. 1. De Natura Deorum but that in all Ages there were some Excellent men who did ascribe the Original Government of the World to God and gave such an account of his Holiness and Goodness as was sufficient to have founded a Rational and Excellent Worship upon these were so many Lights shining in dark places as so many Justifications of Divine Providence and Reproaches of Man's wilful Stupidity 2. 'T is not in the least to be doubted but that the Nature of their Duty and consequently the Condition of their Happiness was Proportion'd and Conform'd to those Manifestations which God made 'em to those Obligations which he laid before 'em and to that Strength and Assistance which he Vouchsafed 'em for God is not a hard Master he will not make good the Accusation of the wicked Servant he will not take up what he laid not down Luk. 19. nor reap what he did not sow In a word if God do at the last Day deal with Men according to those several Oeconomies of his Providence which they were under and if he has afforded all Nations means proportionable to those Duties he requir'd of them and to those Degrees of Happiness to which he design'd them then he was always the God of the Gentiles as well as once of the Jews or now of the Christians and there is no one part in the whole series of Providence which can give us any Colour to call into question the Care or Goodness of God towards Mankind This I think is enough to remove this Objection as it lay in my way if my Design did not hasten me on and I did not judge this Satisfactory I could easily make appear God's Goodness to the Gentils by presenting the Reader with a Scheme of the Religion of the Pythagoreans Platonics and Stoics by examining the Difference of the Idolatry of the Wise and Vertuous part of the Gentil World and that of the sottish and vicious part of it by considering the Assistances that God vouchsafed 'em and giving an Account whence it came to pass that the Worship of one true God by Holiness and Vertue was so far stifled and oppress'd in the Gentil World But I have said enough to Vindicate the Goodness of God and the state of Gentils and Infidels do's not so nearly concern my present Enquiry as to deserve so exact a Discussion The Barrenness of some Countries the Servitude and Poverty of some People is a much slighter Objection for till it can appear that Poverty is an Enemy to Vertue or that Wealth which is the Instrument of Luxury and the Nurse of Sloth and Wantonness is absolutely necessary to Man's Happiness it will weigh but very little against so many Demonstrations of Divine Love that he has not heap'd upon all Nations so many Temporal Blessings as might put 'em into a Capacity of being Lazy Wanton and Insolent Now
is true and this was their Obstinacy not their Fate for if Repentance had been impossible to what purpose did God allow 'em time for 't that they might fill up the Measure of their Iniquity an excellent Paraphrase whom shall I believe God saith he gave the Sinner time to Repent thou say'st he gave him time to Sin God says he gave him time to make himself capable of Mercy thou say'st he gave him time only to increase his Guilt and Punishment How cruel are the Mercies of some Men this is just such a Grace or Favour as griping Usurers vouchsafe the careless Debtor whose Fortune and Estate they would swallow up and devour I have now I hope dispers't those Clouds which seem'd to hover over our heads big with Storm and Ruine I mean those melancholy Imaginations which scare and terrifie the weak and superstitious Minds of Men we may now boldly pursue and possess our selves of Happiness the way to it is open there is no cruel Deity no spiteful Fortune no inexorable Fate that will oppose us there is no God but one of Love and Goodness which moderate his Almighty Power and temper the Severity of his Justice a God who passionately desires our Happiness and delights in nothing more than in promoting it All is lightsom and chearful where he is Perfection and Happiness dwell with him Psal 16. in his presence is fulness of Joy and at his right hand are Pleasures for evermore He scatters and dissipates Evil and troubles by the Light of his Countenance Death and Hell fly far from before him and hide themselves in their own Darkness What can we apprehend from such a God as this is how can he delight in our Misery who is all Love No nothing but our guilt or folly can raise our Fears we may rest secure of his Favour if we do not despise it nor can he ever be made our Enemy unless we first become the Enemies of Vertue and Goodness what then have we to fear there is no Fate but the immutable Law of God that Universal Law which adjudges Happiness to the Righteous and Misery to the Wicked there is no Fortune but his Providence which is nothing but the Execution of that one general Law and the Application of its several parts in particular Instances 't is plain therefore we have nothing now to fear but our selves if we be but true to our own Reason and faithful to our own Interest we may confidently presume both of the Assistance and Reward of Heaven there is therefore nothing left now to excuse us from the guilt of our own Ruine but only that which is wont to be objected by such as are enslav'd to some impious Lust and groan under the weight of those Chains which they made themselves I mean an Incapacity of Happiness which is a fourth Objection against the possibility of Attaining Happiness and is now to be consider'd Obj. 4 They who urge their Incapacity as an Objection against the possibility of attaining Happiness do suppose Happiness to consist in Vertue in the Pleasure that flows from it Incapacity of Happiness and the bliss that will one Day or other Eternally reward it they acknowledge could they but be Vertuous they should be Happy but they despair of obtaining such a Conquest over their Vices as may suffice to render their life smooth equal and steady and preserve the Peace of their Conscience by giving 'em an unquestionable proof of their Sincerity towards God without which 't is impossible that they should be fill'd with a rational Joy and Peace or abound in a rational Hope This therefore must be the supposition of my following Discourse There may be three different kinds of Incapacities fancied which for Distinction sake I 'le call Natural Moral and Penal each of which may be thus explain'd in the Notion the Objector forms of 'em Penal Incapacity is that desperate state wherein Man is by God immutably rejected both from Pardon and Assistance Moral Incapacity results from the Strength and Absoluteness of that Dominion which Sin has establish't over some Men through a long and continued course of Wickedness Natural Incapacity consists in such an inteachable stupidity of Temper or in such violent and invincible Inclinations to Vice or in such a slightness levity and inconstancy of Mind as render Men utterly unfit to receive any lasting Impressions of Vertue or to make any steady and resolute Attempt of attaining it No Incapacity from Nature I 'le begin with this first and here I desire to be excus'd if I do not take upon me to mark out the distinct bounds and limits of Nature and Grace These two Sisters are not like those Chaldee Brethren * Gen. 13. Abraham and Lot that were too mighty to dwell together No they delight to mix in loving Embraces their Wealth and Power encreases by being United and like some Plants I have read of they never thrive when divided I shall not dispute what Power in Man is a Birthright what a Donative for alas Every thing he possesses is a Grace a Favour of his Prince his Natural Abilities are so many Graces he derives from God and as properly such as any accession to 'em which is inspir'd afterwards So that when ever I contend that any thing is in the Power of Man I desire to be understood of all that Power which God has invested him with whether Natural or Supernatural Did Men decry and vilifie Nature to beget in themselves the more profound Humility and the more wakeful and solicitous Industry did they like the Semnones in * Morib German Tacitus load themselves with Chains as the Badge of their subjection to and dependence upon the Deity did they magnifie Divine Grace in order to convince themselves of the Necessity and Efficacy of it and so to enflame their Importunity and Industry in Quest of it This were Piety and Devotion not Error or however they might exaggerate the Impotence of Nature beyond strict Truth yet this wou'd be a Safe and Pious Errour as all humble and modest ones are But when they Endeavour to represent Nature vile and corrupt on purpose that they may the more licentiously pollute and abuse it when they magnifie and exalt Divine Grace out of a most contradictious and preposterous Design to justifie their Neglect and Contempt of it for they wou'd fain have all to be so intirely imputed to Grace that they wou'd not themselves be put to as much as the trouble of seeking it 't is not only an Error but a pernicious and fatal one for he that abandons the use of his Reason renders himself incapable of any Heavenly aid God gives his Grace to Men not Beasts I must therefore oppose this Fancy and Endeavour to perswade Men that it is in their Power to be Virtuous and Happy Nor can I think this Assertion any way injurious to the Honour or Goodness of God if it be remembred that whatever
is this God who made us made us on purpose to be Happy for what other design could Infinite Love propose to it self in our Creation and proposing to himself this End he endow'd us with Faculties and Capacities that might fit us for the Contemplation and Enjoyment of himself and of his Works The World provided by him for our Entertainment he filled with all things that could Minister either to our Necessities or Delights here God has planted us not as Inhabitants but Sojourners for this is but our state of Probation Angels had their times of Trial so have Men here he wou'd have us aspire after as near as we can that life Angels lead in Heaven for we are one Day to be equal to 'em here he wou'd have us learn and practise those Vertues which fit us for the Society Enjoyment of that Kingdom wherein dwells Righteousness for that is the blessed End and Consummation of all our Endeavours Desires and Hopes but when we make Heaven the Abode the Seat of Perfect Happiness we do not thereby suppose that it is banish't from the Earth but rather on the contrary if that state be the Consummation of all things 't is Necessarily to be concluded that every step we advance nearer to it we mount and ascend higher into brighter calmer and purer Regions Heaven is like a Glorious Building whose access is full of Delight and Beauty for as that Youth which precedes our Manhood has its Sweetness its Beauty its natural Perfection and Pleasure so has this mortal-state which precedes our Angelical its proper Degree of Perfection and Blessedness and this is no small one neither for as we are created but a little lower than the Angels in respect to the Dignity of our Nature so surely our Happiness begins nearly to approach and resemble theirs When our Mind fill'd with Divine Truths Charity and Hope becomes Free Generous Resolv'd Constant Chearful Meek Gentle Devout Heavenly when it has so accustom'd it self to Vertue and familiarly acquainted it self with Heaven that the Sins and Pleasures of the sensual Part of the World look like the Manners and Entertainments not only of a Foreign but Barbarous and Impoverish't Countrey and when lastly by its frequent Retirements from the Body and daily Commerce with Rational and Spiritual Pleasures it not only asserts its Soveraignty over it but begins to live so independent of it that at the last when it shall in Death mount up upon the Wings of pure Flame to Heaven it shall not suffer as if the Body needed to be torn from it but shall let it fall as Elijah did his Mantle Those Complaints therefore which we make against our present state and those Reproaches with which we outrage and vilifie our Nature are false and unjust for we are by God created and design'd for Happiness and this Happiness God hath been pleas'd to put in our own power to place within our reach There is no Fate but what God has made us our selves Arbiters of we lye under no Necessity no Fatality but what our own Vices betray us to Nor do we stand in need of the Indulgences of Fortune the Tranquillity and Pleasure of a Vertuous Man is an Image of God's own it springs from within not from without 't is true there are Difficulties which obstruct our Progress to Happiness but they are such as all Wise and Good Men have conquer'd 't is true Nature labours under its Infirmities that is sensual Propensions and Inclinations but it is strengthen'd and supported by Reason by Revelation by Grace we may fall 't is true a Sacrifice to God's Wrath but it must be after we have liv'd long in Contempt of his Mercy and obstinate Defyance of his Grace Methinks these Considerations should raise and exalt the Mind of Man they should inspire us with Desires and Hopes worthy of Rational and Immortal Souls like the Israelites when they march't out of Egypt we should dream of nothing but Triumph Glory and Happiness CHAP. III. Of the Causes of Man's Misery The Deviation of our Lives from Right Reason the true and Vniversal Cause of Man's Misery This Deviation discovers it self First In our proposing to our selves some false and irrational End of Life Secondly In our Insincerity in pursuing our true and Rational End The Reasons of both these are 1. The Frame and Contexture of our Nature 2. Vicious Education 3. A vicious Conversation and Course of Life from whence proceed Inconsideration Insincerity False Notions Vngovernable Passions Remissness and Inconstancy A Representation of the whole Matter From all inferr'd First What Happiness in general is Secondly Two general Rules for the Attaining of it WEre the Happy like * Quem adhuc nos quidem vidimus Neminem sed Phylosophorum sententiis qualis futurus sit si modo aliquando fuerit exponitur Tusc Quest l. 2. Tully's Wise man a mere Idea something no where to be found but in the Characters and Descriptions which Philosophers give us of him this were an unconquerable Discouragement no Briskness of Wit no Charms of Fancy no force of Eloquence no height of Spirits or heat of Confidence were sufficient to remove it and to engage Men in such a Desperate and unaccountable Enterprize as this Supposition would render the pursuit of Happiness for how fond and groundless a Presumption were it to pursue that which all Mankind had ever as Unsuccessfully as Earnestly and Indefatigably attempted I have therefore endeavoured with all my might in the former Chapter to free men's Minds from any Suspition or Fears of this Kind answering all Objections that might seem to represent Misery fatal or Happiness unattainable and by undeniable proofs Confirming the Opposite Truth But if this be true that Happiness is attainable and if it be as true as certainly 't is that there needs no Eloquence to enkindle in any Man the Desires of Happiness or to incite and spur him on to Endeavour its Attainment all Mankind being carried on towards it by Natural and therefore Constant and Passionate Inclinations will it not be Natural to demand Whence is it that so few are Happy Whence is it that Misery and Trouble Affliction and Sorrow fill almost every place and every Bosome Not only no Kingdom or City but no Town no Village no Family I might almost add no one particular Person being exempt and free no place or person is priviledg'd against Grief and Trouble it invades the Tribunal of Judges the Thrones of Princes and what is almost as sacred as either the Retirements and Closets of the Devout and Learned nay scarcely is the Church and the Altar a secure Sanctuary against it This will not be difficult to Comprehend if we do thorowly weigh and soberly consider the true Causes of Man's Misery but the particular and distinct Discussion of each of these will fall in in its proper place in the following Treatises and therefore I shall Discourse of 'em here only generally and briefly as