thus Swearing Drunkenness and the greatest of other clamorous Sins might be suppressed if great Men pleased Is it not observed besides that when a Prince is devout Devotion comes into fashion It may be that this Devotion which proceeds from the Example of Princes is not always sincere but at least it regulates Manners as to the exterior and such an outward Reformation may be a step towards true Devotion However this shews that the opinion and example of Men in Authority has a great power And surely if by their credit they can make Vice it self to be honoured would it not be much easier for them to make other Men honour Virtue since it is honourable in its own Nature I am not able to express of what Consequence the Example of great Men is either for Good or Evil. A Prince who is vicious cruel dissolute artificious or unjust is enough to infect a whole State in a very little time to banish Piety from it and to bring into repute Drunkenness Lewdnese Cheating Indevotion and all the other Vices which he allows himself in This we find by daily experience Such as the Prince is so are those about him and from these the Evil spreads upon the whole People by reason of the Credit and Authority to which they were raised and of the Influence they have upon publick and private Affairs What might not be said here of the Life which is led in the Courts of Princes Excepting some few Courts where Licentiousness is not suffered That kind of Life which is followed at Court for the generality agrees little with the Spirit of Christianity People live there altogether in a loose and worldly manner in Luxury Idleness Pomp and Pleasure There the strongest and the most inticing Temptations are to be met with and the most criminal Intrigues Adultery it self are rather a Matter of Railery than Reproach It is almost impossible for a Man to insinuate himself into the Favour of Princes and to advance his Fortune at Court unless he makes it his Maxim to dissemble his Sentiments and to speak directly against his own Thoughts The worst of it is that from thence Corruption diffuses it self almost every where so that many Disorders which are in Vogue would be unknown or at least very rare in the World if they had not been introduced by that Licentiousness which reigns in the Courts of Princes I come now to the Endeavours which Christian Magistrates ought to use for the Edification of the Church and the reviving of Piety these Endeavours relate either to Civil Matters or to Religion 1. In Civil Matters it is their Duty to restrain Libertinism and Corruption by regulating the Manners of their Subjects either by repealing the Laws and Customs which do not agree with Religion and which engage the People into the violation of the Precepts of the Gospel or by reforming the Abuses which are introduced from time to time particularly those which creep into the Administration of Justice In relation to all these things there are several Faults which the Church cannot provide against and which nothing can remedy but the Magistrates Authority 2. The other Care relates directly to Religion 1. Princes and Kings professing Christianity are bound to procure as much as in them lies the Welfare of the Church They ought to set about the establishing of Truth and Peace provided that in order to that they use no Means but such as are sutable to the Gospel They ought by their Authority to see that the Church and Religion want nothing of what is necessary for the maintaining of Order and Decency that Divine Service be duly performed that there be both Places for that Purpose and a sufficient number of Persons to take care of the Edification of the Church that those Persons may subsist honourably that they do their Duty and keep themselves within the bounds of their Calling They must not suffer Church Goods or Revenves to be applied to uses meerly Civil and when these Revenues are not sufficient it becomes their Piety and Justice to allot some part of the publick Revenues for the necessities of the Church In fine as to Manners I observed before that they may easily give a stop to Vice and Impiety to Luxury Swearing and other Scandals which dishonour the Church And if they can do this they ought to do it every Christian being bound to do all that is in his Power to promote the Glory of God 2. It is certain that Magistrates who are Members of the Church ought to protect it to maintain the Order which God has established in it and not to suffer any breach to be made there So that tho' they may regulate many things which concern Religion and tho' the Church owes them a great Regard yet they cannot without Usurpation and Injustice arrogate to themselves the whole Authority with relation to Ecclesiastical Affairs They are neither the Princes nor the Heads of the Church as they are the Princes and the Heads of Civil Society An Authority superior to theirs has instituted Religion Pastors and Discipline There is a Law enacted by the KING of Kings and the Head of the Church which clearly determines the Rights and Duties both of the Church and of the Governour of it All these are Sacred things which earthly Powers are not to meddle with They are Laws which Princes and Magistrates did submit to when they became Members of the Church with respect to these I mean still essential things appointed by the Word of God they have acquired no Right by embracing Christianity since he who becomes Member of a Society cannot by that acquire a Right to alter the natural Form and Constitution of it The Instance of the Kings of Judah shews that a Prince who professes true Religion may interpose in the Affairs of it But we must take care not to carry this Instance too far as those do who ascribe to the Magistrate a supreme Authority in the Church who allow him a Right to order every thing there not excepting Discipline the calling of Pastors nor even the Articles of Faith For besides that under the Law Kings were by no means the Judges of every thing which concerned Religion we are not to argue altogether about the Christian Religion from what was done in the Jewish Church Among â—â—e Jews the Church and the State were mixed together and in some measure undistinguished from one another That meerly spiritual Society which is called the Church and which is confined to no State or People or any particular Form of Civil Government was properly erected since the coming of Christ God acted among the Jews as a Civil Magistrate The Laws of the Jewish Religion were for the most part external Laws which might and ought to be maintained by Force and Authority The Rights of Divine Service and the Functions of Priests were very different from the Evangelical Worship and from the Office of Christian Pastors After all if we
should go by the practice of the Jewish Church it would follow that the Ministers of Religion are invested with Civil Authority and a very great Authority too The Jewish Priests held a considerable Rank in the State as well as in Religion If upon some occasions Kings have deposed Priests upon other occasions Priests have opposed Kings and altered the Government * See Chron. XXIII and XXVI So that without pressing too much those Instances out of the Old Testament the best way is to consult the New and to proceed according to the Laws of the Apostles and the Nature of the Christian Religion And whosoever examins without Prejudice those Sacred Books which have been writ since the Coming of our Saviour will acknowledge that things are now altered and that Magistrates have but a limited Authority in Matters of Religion It is remarkable that the Scripture never mentions them when it speaks of the Church and of the Government of it 3 And yet as the Authority of Princes and Magistrates is derived from God it ought still to subsist entire And therefore they have an unquestionable Right to take care that nothing be done in the Church to the Prejudice of their lawful Authority and of publick Tranquility and that the Ministers of Religion do not stretch their Authority beyond spiritual things The Honour and the Safety of Religion require that this Principle should be laid down for Religion as was said before ought not to disturb Society and true Religion will never disturb it If then any Christians or Church-men under pretence of Religion should break in upon the Civil Government and the publick Peace Kings and Princes have a Right to restrain them and then they do not oppose Religion but those only who abuse and dishonour it After these Considerations I think any Man is able to judge whether the decay of Piety and Religion is not in part to be imputed to Christian Princes and Magistrates We need but enquire whether both in Civil and Religious Matters they observe the Duties I have now described I say no more of this because every body is able to make the Application But I must add that if the want of Zeal in Magistrates is enough to introduce Confusion and Vice into the Church the Mischief is much greater when not only they do not what they ought for the good of Religion but when they use their Authority besides to the prejudice of it I cannot forbear mentioning here two great Abuses The First is when Princes and Magistrates assume the whole Authority to themselves so that except Preaching and Administring the Sacraments they will do every thing in the Church When they presume to determine Articles of Faith to rule the Conscience of their Subjects and to force them to embrace one Persuasion rather than another when they will by all means take upon them to call Pastors without regard to that Right of the Church and Church-men which is established in Scripture and confirned by the practice of the first Ages of Christianity when they seize upon Church-Estates tho' there is no Reason to fear that Wealth should corrupt their Clergy and tho' such Revenues might be applied to several pious Uses and particularly to the Relief of Country-Churches most of which are not sufficiently edified for want of necessary Endowments and Funds A great deal might be said about that which was done in the last Century with relation to Church-Revenues and it were to be wished that People had been a little more scrupulous than they were when they invaded the Possessions of the Church and confounded them with the Revenues of the State Besides this the Magistrates Authority is fatal to the Church when he hinders the Exercise of true Discipline and when he substitutes such Regulations as he thinks fit in the room of Apostolical Laws This is one of the greatest Obstructions to the restoring of Apostolical Discipline Tho' the Church and her Pastors should be willing to observe the ancient Order and to oppose Corruption by those Means which the Gospel enjoins yet this is not to be done if those who have the Authority in their hands will not give way to it The Church is not in a Condition to resist and to make head against the Magistrate when he uses Force and She ought not to do it if She could The second Abuse is when the Magistrate makes it his business to abase Religion in the Persons of its Ministers by despoiling them as much as he can of every thing that might procure them Respect and Authority in the Church This Policy is as contrary to the Interest of Religion and to the promoting of Piety as it is common now adays in several Christian Dominions It is well done of the Magistrate to preserve his Authority and to keep the Clergy from exceeding the bounds of their Calling but from thence it does not follow that he ought to trample them under foot to bring them under a general Contempt and to vilifie their Character which after all is Sacred and Venerable This is to sacrifice Religion to Policy and Pride and this Proceeding is a manifest Cause of the Contempt of Religion and of the Corruption which necessarily follows that Contempt since commonly nothing is more despised in the World than that which great Men despise I declare it once more by all that has been said I do not mean to detract any thing from the Respect due to Civil Powers neither do I speak of all Christian Princes and Magistrates among whom there are some who have Piety and Zeal and who labour with success for the Good of Religion But the Glory of God requires that we should speak the truth so that I could not but take notice of this Cause of Corruption Upon the whole Matter it is to be hoped that if Christian Magistrates would be pleased to make serious Reflections upon all these things we should soon see an end of some of these Disorders and that a happier time will come when they will use their Authority to advance the Honour of God and to restore Truth Piety and Peace among Christians CAUSE V. Education NOthing is more natural than to look for the Original of Corruption in the time at which it begins I mean in the first years of Life It is not only when Men have attained to a ripeness of Age that they are inclined to Vice but that Inclination discovers it self from their Youth The Root of that Ignorance of those Prejudices and of the greatest part of the ill Dispositions they are in may be found in their tender years We had need then look back upon the beginnings of Life and seek in Youth and in Infancy it self the Source of Corruption When we enter upon this Enquiry and consider that Men if nothing restrains them will run into Vice from their Youth out of a propension which is common to all we cannot but perceive at first sight that there must be in
be much advanced as long as the Evil is not taken in its Cause and as long as such Principles and Abuses continue among Christians as are and will always be Obstacles to the Progress of the Gospel Lastly I considered that this Matter had not yet been thoroughly handled by any Author at least that I know of Of those who have touched upon it in their Books some have confined themselves to Considerations purely Moral and others to Theological Reflections upon the Errors which are in Vogue or upon the Controversies which divide Christians but they have omitted many things which seem essential no doubt because they did not intend to treat this Subject purposely or because they did not take a View of the whole extent of it As these Considerations have made me wish for a long while that among so many able Men who write about Religion some might undertake so important a Subject so they have determined me to Publish these Essays upon the Causes of Corruption hoping that others will apply themselves to the full Discussion of those Matters which are here but imperfectly hinted at But that the Scope of this Treatise may be the better understood and that no body may expect that in it which according to the Scheme I formed to my self ought not to have a place here I shall acquaint the Reader with one thing which he may perhaps have foreseen from what has been already said I do not propose to my self to handle this Matter in the way of the Divinity Schools No Man therefore ought to wonder if I say nothing of the State in which all Men are born nor of that Inclination to Vice which is observed in them For tho' this is the first Original of Corruption yet certainly this Corruption would be much less if Christians did use the means which God affords them to overcome it and if there were not other Sources which feed and strengthen that vitious Propensity Besides I do not consider Corruption in general as it is Common to all Mankind but I enquire into the Causes of the Corruption of Christians in particular Neither do I design to write a Moral Treatise so that it must not be expected that I should discourse of Self-Love and Pride and of all the other Passions which are the Ordinary Occasions of Mens Sins or that I should trace out all the particular Causes of every Sin This would carry me too far and such things have been often examined I therefore apply my self only to the general Causes and I manage the the Matter thus I divide this Work into Two Parts because the Causes of Corruption may be of Two sorts I shall call those of the first sort Particular or Internal because they are within us and to be found in every particular Man that lives ill Those of the Second sort which are more general I name External because they proceed rather from certain outward Circumstances and from the unhappiness of the Times than from the fault of particular Persons The Causes I shall treat of in the First Part are no other but the ill Dispositions in which most Christians are and which hinder their applying themselves to Piety And of these I shall observe Nine I. Ignorance II. Prejudices and False Notions concerning Religion III. Some Opinions and and Maxims which are used to Authorize Corruption IV. The Abuse of Holy Scripture V. A false Modesty VI. The Delaying Repentance VII Man's Sloth and Negligence in Matters of Religion VIII Worldly Business IX Men's particular Callings The Causes to be Considered in the Second Part are these Seven I. The State of the Church and of Religion in General II. The Want of Discipline III. The Defects of the Clergy IV. The Defects of Christian Princes and Magistrates V. Education VI. Example and Custom VII Books I declare here that in discoursing upon these Sources I do not mean to tax all Christians without exception So when I speak of Ignorance and of Prejudices commonly received Knowing and Learned Men are excepted And when I observe certain Defects in the state of the the Church and of Religion in Discipline in Clergy-men or in Christian Magistrates I suppose those Faults obtain more in some Places than in others In short whoever should apply what is said in this Treatise to all sorts of Persons and Churches would certainly mistake my Design And now I must desire those who may chance to see this Book to examine seriously what 〈◊〉 propose in it No Lover of Truth or Religion can refuse his attention to a Subject of this Nature But I hope it will be more particularly welcome to Church-men and Divines who are called by their Function to set themselves against Corruption and to endeavour all they can to promote Piety and the Glory of God To Conclude I heartily implore his Blessing upon this Work who put it into my Heart to set about it and who is my Witness with what Design and Intention I publish it A TREATISE Concerning the CAUSES OF THE Present Corruption OF CRISTIANS PART I. CAUSE I. Ignorance WHEN a Man thinks of the Causes of that Corruption which over-runs the Christian World the first which offers it self to his mind is Ignorance and therefore I shall begin with it Our Notions and Knowledge are the first Principles of our Actions We can never love a Thing or adhere to it when it is not at all or when it is but imperfectly known to us Supposing then that Men are Ignorant or very little Instructed in Religion there is no wonder that they should be Corrupt for they must of necessity be so On the other hand when they appear to be extreamly Corrupt we may conclude that they want Instruction I do not deny but that Corruption proceeds sometimes from the wickedness of the Heart which resists the Light of the Understanding and that Men frequently Act against their Knowledge But it may safely be said That if Christians were well Instructed they would not be so Corrupt and that wherever an extraordinary Corruption is visible there is likewise a great deal of Ignorance This is confirm'd by the Scripture and by God's Conduct in the Establishing the Christian Religion When the Apostles speak of those Disorders wherein the Heathens lived before their Conversion they ascribe them to the darkness of their Minds * Eph. IV. 18. The Gentiles says St. Paul have their Vnderstanding darkened being alienated from the Life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their Heart The same Apostle calls the Times which preceded the Coming of of Christ the Times of Ignorance And the first Thing which God did to change the Face of the World and to rescue it from Corruption was to dispel the Clouds of their Ignorance and to enlighten them with the Knowledge of himself by the Preaching of the Gospel Although Christians cannot be charged with so gross an Ignorance as that of the Heathens yet they
Christianity I said that the Parâ—icular Truths and the Parts of Religion were better known which does not imply but that in this respect too Ignoranâ—â— is very great and general 1. I shall not scruple to say that theâ— are prodigious Numbers of People whâ—â—â— scarce have any Knowledge at all of thâ—â— Doctrines of Religion If all Christianâ— were obliged to render an account of theiâ— Faith if they were examined upon thâ— Articles of their Belief or the main Factâ— related in Sacred History there would appear in most of them such an astonishinâ— Ignorance or such confused and intricaâ—â— Ideas that one would hardly think theâ— more knowing than if they lived in thâ—â— darkness of Heathenism And what Religion what Piety can we look for amonâ— such Men But besides this gross and palpable Ignorance there are several defects of Instruction to be observed even in thosâ— who have or fancy that they have moâ—â— Knowledge than others I shall particularly take notice of these two 1st Those who exceed the ordinary degree of Knowledge have yet often buâ— a false kind of Light Either they do not know those Truths which they shoulâ— know or else they know them not aright They apply themselves to things which are not essential to Christianity or which â—â—e less considerable than others which â—â—ey do not study Thus in all Christian â—ocieties Instruction is commonly placed in â—â—e Knowledge of the Doctrines and Opiâ—â—ions particular to every one 's own Sect â—nd Party Whoever is able to debate â—ose Points and is skilled in Controverâ—e is said to understand his Religion â—hese Matters may perhaps have their â—â—se but there are other things which â—en are more concerned to know because â—hey are more conducing to Piety and â—et they are almost constantly neglected The occasion of this Error is that the various importance of the Truths of Reâ—igion is not duly weighed and that Religion is not studied in an orderly method Very few Persons distinguish between the more and the less necessary Things between the most useful Subjects and those which are of little Edification Most Men study Religion without Rule and to no purpose and so run out upon many unprotable Subjects That which is called Learning in Divinity or Knowledge of Religion is frequently nothing else but a heap of Notions which have no influence upon Piety or respect to Mens Salvation It is but a confused Medley wherein the least necessary Things are blended without choice and distinction with the most important I do not speak here of the perplext and unaccurate Ideas which Men often have about these Matters I pass by the false Reasonings which are sometimes used to establish the Truths of Christianity as well as those Mists which the School-Divinity has cast upon the Gospel I do only observe That the Knowledge which most Men have of Religion is not very fit to make them sensible of the Beauties of it so that when all is done it is no wonder that it should seem to many an obscure crabbed unpleasant and intricate Science and that it should have so little Effect upon Mens Minds 2dly The other Fault is that Men content themselves with bare Instruction or with the simple Knowledge of the Christian Truths while they are ignorant of their use If they do but know in an Historical manner what is believed by Christians and are able to reason about it and to discern Truth from Error they think themselves sufficiently instructed But these Instructions do not reach the Heart Among that small number of Persons who have some Knowledge there are but few who consider that this Knowledge is to be directed to a Holy Life as to its proper end and intendment and they are fewer yet who actually direct it to that end and make it subservient to the reforming of their Lives And so it comes to pass that a great many of those who are best acquainted with the Truths of Religion have yet but an imperfect and barren Knowledge of it and that with all their Attainments they live still in the darkness of Corruption and Vice II. Hitherto we have considered Ignorance with relation to the Truths and Doctrines which the Christian Faith embraces Let us now view this Ignorance with respect to the Duties which Christianity prescribes Upon this second Head we shall discover yet a greater Ignorance than upon the first For after all something may be done when we are only to infuse into Men some Knowledge of Truths and Doctrines It is usual enough to see very ill Men who in this regard are not destitute of Light But it is much harder to instruct them in the Duties of Holiness We may apply here these Words of our Saviour's * John III. 19 20. Men love Darkness rather than Light because their Deeds are evil for every one that doth evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light lest his Deeds should be reproved The Maxims of the Gospel and the Rules of its Morality condemn Sinners and therefore they do not care to be informed about them Those who love the World and their Sins are glad if they can enjoy the Sweets of these without Disturbance and Interruption And therefore they will not enquire much into the Moral Precepts of Jesus Christ they are loth to come at such a Knowledge as would disclose to them the Turpitude of Vice and breed Disquiet and Remorse in them Ignorance begets Security The more ignorant a Man is the fewer Stings he feels in his Conscience and the more Pleasure he takes in his Sin The very shadow of Evil frights a well-instructed Christian but Crime it self does not daunt one who is ignorant He does not hear within himself those Alarms or Reproaches which are either the Preservatives against Sin or the Remedies of it From this it may be judged already that Men are generally very little instructed in what concerns Manners But that we may â—he better understand how great the Ignoraâ—ce is in this Matter it must be observed that whoever will perform the Duties of Religion must be persuaded of their Necessâ—ty and acquainted with their Nature One cannot imagine how they can be practisâ—d by a Man who either does not know them or does not think them necessary This is the plain Reason why Men do so little addict themselves to Piety they know neither its Necessity nor its Nature 1. As the Foundation of Faith is the Belief of the Truth and certainty of those Facts and Doctrines which Religion proposes so the Ground-work of Piety is to be persuaded of the Necessity of the Duties which Christianity requires Without this Persuasion it is impossible for Men to resign up themselves to the Practice of Virtue Now one would think that all Christians should be fully convinced of this Necessity For if there is any certain Truth in Christianity it is this That the Practice of good Works is Necessary Good Works do so immediately belong to the Design and the
by many Persons of eminent Learning and Piety and it is that which I desire all those who have a Zeal for the Glory of God to take into their serious Consideration CAUSE III. The Defects of the Clergy IN searching after the Causes of the Decay of Piety we cannot but enquire whether Corruption does not proceed from the Pastors and Governors of the Church Pastors are appointed to oppose the Progress of Vice and to be publick Fountains of Instruction Edification and good Example so that in truth their Ministry is of most excellent use when duly exercised But when Vice reigns when Scandals multiply that general Corruption is if not a certain Proof at least a strong Presumption that there is some fault in Pastors If we would be satisfied about this matter we need but reflect upon the Nature of their Office and upon their way of discharging it This is what I design to enquire into in this Chapter In order to which I shall consider 1. What Functions and Duties are annexed to the Office of Pastors And 2. What Qualifications are requisite in them to discharge it worthily There are two principal Functions incumbent on Pastors Instruction and the Government of the Church 1. It would be needless to prove that the Office of Pastors obliges them to instruct the People and to preach the Gospel for this is beyond all Question It will be fitter to observe that the fruit of publick Instructions delivered in Sermons depends upon two things the Matters treated of and the Way of proposing them so that the Faults committed in Sermons are either in the Things themselves or in the Manner of handling them 1. The Matters handled in Sermons are either of Doctrine or Morality What has been said in the first Chapter of this Treatise may serve to discover to us the Defects in Preaching with relation to these two Heads Those who preach the Gospel do not sufficiently instruct the People neither in the Fundamental Doctrines nor in the Duties of Religion And as Catechising is properly designed for the explication of these Truths and Duties I think Ignorance and Corruption chiefly proceed from this that in most Churches things are not well ordered with reference to Catechising They are neither frequent enough nor so proper for Instruction as they should be Besides Catechising is almost every where neglected if not despised The common Notion is that Catechisms are only for Children and for the meaner sort of People The Function of a Catechist which was anciently so considerable in the Church is look'd upon now as a Function of no great importance and it is usually committed to Persons of the least Knowledge and Experience These Faults might easily be remedied One of the most useful Establishments in Churches would be to encrease the Number of Catechisms and to appoint them instead of the Sermon But to render them more useful and more frequented it would be necessary to establish two sorts of them In those of the first sorts the Elements of Religion should be explained in an easy and familiar manner for the benefit of Children and of the less-knowing part of Christians The other should be for those who have attained a higher degree of Knowledge and in these Matters that had been proposed but generally before should be more fully and exactly handled But if it be thought that an Establishment of this Nature and that the multiplying of Catechisings might meet with Difficultie and Obstructions it would be necessary at least for the instruction of great numbers of Persons who never assist at those Exercises that Ministers should he obliged to preach upon the same Subjects which are commonly treated in Catechisms As for Sermons the Church would reap more benefit from them if Preachers did always shew true Judgment in the choise of the Matters they handle We must not think that all sorts of Subjects are instructive alike and that in order to Preach the Gospel it is enough to speak of God in a Sermon and to take a Text out of Scripture Every Subject ought to be proposed and pressed according to its importance To insist upon Matters of lesser Moment whilst those which it most concerns Christians to be Informed about are neglected is to swerve from the true intendment of Preaching But because all Preachers have not the Capacity to make this Choice it would be fitting that part of the Matter of their Discourses should be appointed and prescribed to them by a Law For when they are tyed to no Rule when they are at liberty to Preach upon any Subject which they think fit to chuse it happens that many instead of handling the most important things in Religion and of consulting the present State and Necessities of their Flocks apply themselves to various Subjects which are of no great Edification Preachers for the most part consult only their own Inclination in the choice of their Matter and when they pitch upon a Subject it is rather because it pleases them and because they apprehend a facility in treating it than out of a regard to the necessities of their Congregations Those who are fond of Mysteries and Allegories apply their time and studies to the Expounding of the Prophecies and to the unfolding of the Types of the Old Testament Those who are given to Disputing fill their Sermons with nothing else but Controversy And the same may be said of Speculative Divines who are conversant in the Fathers and History they entertain the People with those things which are the ordinary Subject of their Meditations and Studies I do not mean that such things ought never to be spoken of they may sometimes be touched upon provided this be done judiciously But they have a sorry Notion of Religion and Preaching who make those Matters their main Business and fancy they have entirely fulfilled all the parts of the Gospel Ministry when they have Preached upon Types or Controversy What I have now said may be applied to the choice of Texts * 2 Tim. III. 16. All Scripture indeed as St. Paul says is profitable for Instruction that Divine Book contains nothing but what is useful but yet the various usefulness of the several parts of Scripture is to be distinguished and it must be owned that some Places are more useful and instructive than others Some difference is to be made between those Books and Chapters which explain the Doctrine of Redemption the Design of Christ's coming into the World or the Duties of a Christian Life and those which serve only to acquaint us with the Order of Times and to confirm the certainty of History These last have their use since the Truth of History is one of the main Proofs of the Truth of Religion but those Places are more useful which Treat of what we are to believe or to do in order to Salvation It is of another sort of importance to Explain the Gospel than to Preach upon the Book of Joshua or Ruth or upon some
†Mat. XXII to render to Caesar the things which are Caesars 2. One of the Chief Precepts of the Christian Religion is ‖ Rom. XIII That all Men should obey and be subject to the Higher Powers Now this Precept could not possibly be observed if in the Natural Establishment of Civil Society there was something incompatible with the Profession of Christianity * Mat. VI. No man can serve two Masters when they command contrary things But St. Paul goes further he tells us that the preservation of Kings and the submitting to their Authory is a mean for Christians * to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty 3. It is remarkable that whatever is good and just in the Civil is so likewise in the Religious Society and that whatever is prescribed by Religion is just and even beneficial to Civil Society The Law of Nature which is the Foundation of Civil Laws is confirmed by the Christian Religion and does perfectly agree with the Principles and Morals of the Gospel An evident proof of this is that when Christian Emperors and Lawgivers did set about the making of Laws and Constitutions they retained the essential parts of the Laws and Constitutions received among the Romans and the Greeks in the time of Heathenism And to this Day the Old Roman Law is followed among Christians excepting some Laws which have been altered or abrogated either because they were contrary to natural Justice and Equity or because they were not of a general and necessary Use 4. It is certain that Religion and Civil Society do mutually support one another when both are well Regulated Religion contributes to the happiness of Society by rendring the Authority of Princes more Sacred and Inviolable and the good Order of Society contributes to the welfare and the progress of Religion Let us suppose a Magistrate who loves Piety and Justice it is plain that at the same me that he promotes the Interest of Religion * 1 Tim. II. he strengthens the welfare of Society and that he cannot procure the good of Society without advancing the interest of Religion If we suppose on the other hand a Magistrate who does not Act by the Principles of Religion and Justice it is visible that by suffering Religion to be violated or despised he shakes the surest Foundation of his own Authority and of publick Tranquility and that by failing in the Duties of his Office and in the Exercise of Justice he makes the People grow Vicious and neglect the Duties of Piety From these Considerations it does manifestly appear that Princes and Magistrates may either procure great Advantages to Religion or do it a considerable prejudice and that they are in part the Authors of the Corruption which reigns in the World When Civil-Society is well Governed Men are disposed by that very thing to practise the Duties of Christianity In proportion as the People are well Ordered they are more tractable and susceptible of the impressions of Piety As they are used to be Governed by the Laws of the Magistrate they do the more easily submit to the Holy Discipline of Christ yea and by Obeying Civil-Laws they do already discharge some part of the Duties of Religion But when Princes and Magistrates either through Ignorance or want of Probity and Vertue give way to the violation of Justice and good Order it is impossible but that Religion must suffer by it For besides that the People cannot break the Civil-Laws without violating the Principles of Religion How can they perform the Duties of Christianity when they do not discharge those of Nature It is very hard to persuade People to the observation of the Precepts of the Gospel who do not submit to the Laws of natural Reason and Justice It is not to be expected that Men who do not order their outward Actions aright should regulate their Thoughts and resist their Passions or that being strangers to the first Elements of Vertue they should come up to the practice of the most sublime Precepts of Christian Morals Besides the want of Order in the Administration of Justice and Government draws after it all kinds of Disorders with relation to Manners such as Dishonesty and what is most dangerous a Spirit of Libertinism and Independence which makes Men untoward and refractory to good Discipline We are to observe here that the greatest part of Mens Lives are taken up with Civil Matters All Persons are bound to Obey the Magistrate and few are altogether free from Law-Suits and Business so that when the People are not well Governed with relation to Civil Things they do so accustom themselves to live without Rule of Restraint that Religion can no longer have any Power over them The neglect and remisness of Princes and Magistrates do occasion all this Mischief But if the bare Carelesness of Magistrates is so fatal to Society how must it be when they themselves are Vicious and Unjust either in their own particular Conduct or in the Exercise of their Office The greatest Unhappiness that can befal any People is when those who are invested with the Supream Authority favour Injustice and Vice It may be said then That the publick Fountains are poisoned The whole State is ordered by the Sovereigns they are those from whom the Laws receive their Force who appoint Judges and Magistrates and who regulate the Administration of Justice When inferior Magistrates prevaricate this may be remedied by the Sovereign but when the Sovereign himself fails in his Duty no redress can be expected Not but that subordinate Officers and Magistrates may likewise occasion a great deal of Mischief If we suppose in a Province or a Town Magistrates and Judges who want Integrity who consult only their Profit and Interest in the Exercise of their Office who are not proof against Bribes who Administer Justice from a principle of Covetousness or Passion who Act by Recommendation or Favour and who are full of Artifice and Dissimulation This is enough to introduce and authorize Wickedness throughout their whole Jurisdiction to pervert Right to banish Justice and Honesty from all Courts to make way for Knavery and Litigiousness for the protracting of Suits the abuse and violation of Oaths and many other Disorders Then it is that Vice is in fashion and repute that Vertue and Innocency are oppressed and that the People grow Corrupt Now all this being a direct undermining of Religion and Piety let any Body judge whether I have not Reason to say that the Corruption of the Age may be imputed to Princes and Magistrates But all these Evils are yet more unavoidable when the Princes or Magistrates who are the Authors of them profess the Christian Religion A Heathen Magistrate has not by much that influence upon Religion and Manners that a Christian has The Church was purer and more separated from the World when the Superior Powers were contrary to it but as soon as the Emperors had embraced Christianity Piety
commonly leave their Innocency 5. The means of procuring to Children a happy Education are not used as they should be These Means are Instruction Encouragement and Correction Instruction is very much neglected as I shall more particularly shew when I come to speak of the Education of Youth with reference to Religion Parents seldom give good Directions to their Children to teach them how they ought to live They do worse they train them up to ill things and give them bad Instruction By the Discourse and the Maxims they utter in the hearing of their Children they infuse Sentiments and Principles of Covetousness Pride Sensuality and Dissimulation into them they teach them to act upon the Motives of Interest and Passion or by the Notions of a false Honour Nay they do sometimes directly teach them Vice they encourage them to Lye and Cheat to be Revengeful and Passionate So that Young People are not only destitute of good Instructions but they are besides infected from their Infancy with several most pernicious Principles I need not say what the Consequences of such an Education are like to be If few Children are formed to Virtue by Instruction few are made Virtuous by the good Example of their Parents It is much when this Example is not bad and dangerous In most Families Children see nothing that Savours of Christianity except some external Acts of Religion they observe that every one of the Family is imployed about Temporal things the discourses they hear turn altogether on Interest or some trifling Subject They are Witnesses of a great many Disorders of the Heats and Quarrels of their Fathers and Mothers of their Avarice their Swearing their Lying their Intemperance their Impiety and their want of Respect for Religion These are the Examples which for the most part Children have before their Eyes and which Corrupt them more than any thing else At that Age almost every thing is done by Imitation and Example and no Example makes more Impression upon them than the Example of their Parents because it is always in sight and they think besides they cannot do amiss as long as they Copy after it It is very useful in educating Children to encourage them I mean not only that they should be exhorted and incited to their Duty and that from the Motives of Honour and from the pleasure that attends the doing of it but that likewise we should express our Satisfaction and our love and esteeem of them when they do as we would have them A Word of Praise a little Reward inspires new Ardor into them We may do what we please with Children when we can prevail upon them with gentle Methods and win their Love They then accustom themselves betimes to do their Duty out of Inclination and from noble and generous Views But to use always Severity towards Children and to take no notice of their Endeavours to do well is the way to discourage them and to extinguish in them the Love of Virtue Yet Severity is necessary and upon some occasions we ought not to forbear Rigour and Correction Those indulgent Parents who being restrained by a false Tenderness cannot find in their heart to Chastise their Children do infallibly ruin them But if the want of Correction and Discipline makes Children unruly Chastisement ill dispensed produces the same effect There are commonly three Faults committed in the Correcting of Children The first relates to the Cause for which they are chastised Correction should not be used but for those Faults which have something of Vice in them as when Children are guilty of Malice of some ill Habit or of great Negligence and even then we should not proceed to Chastisement but after we have tried other ways to no purpose But this Rule is little observed Children are punished for all sorts of Faults indifferently and very often for small ones They will sometimes be severely chastised because they can not say their Lesson without Book or for some other little disorder they have done in the House through Imprudence and without Malice and at the same time Faults against Piety and good Manners shall be passed over These Corrections produce several ill effects and especially this that Children form to themselves false Notions of their Duty The fancy that the Faults for which they are punished are the most considerable and that there is more hurt in spoiling their Cloaths or in missing a word of their Lesson that in Lying or in praying without attention which lessens in them the Abhorrence of Vice The Second Error which relates to the Nature of the Correction inflicted upon Children is when no other Chastisements are used but those which make the Body smart Such Corrections without doubt are useful and necessary because Children are chiefly moved by those things which strike the Senses but they are not the only Ones to which recourse is to be had To beat Children every time they do amiss is to use them like Beasts There are other ways of punishing are mortifying them The most profitable Corrections are those which excite in them Sorrow and Shame for the ill they have done Lastly There is an Error in the Chastising of Children when they are not Corrected with Discretion and Gentleness Prudence and even Justice requires that regard should be had to the Nature of their Fault to the Disposition they are in and to other Circumstances and it becomes that Love which a Father owes his Children to Correct them with Lenity and Moderation and to forbear excessive Severities Children should perceive the Tenderness of their Parents even in their Corrections and be made sensible that it is with Reluctancy and only in order to their Good that they treat them with some Rigour If Chastisements were dispensed with these Cautions they would at the same time that they cause Pain beget in Childrens Minds a Sorrow for having done amiss and they would make them love their Parents even while they are Punishing them But for the most part Parents or those who have an Authority over Children Chastise them without Discretion and with a Rigour which borders upon Cruelty they punish them rather out of Passion Spite or Revenge than upon wise and sober Consideration Such a proceeding discourages and provokes Children and it makes them hate their Duty I confess this Method may strike Terror into them and Curb them a little but they grow the more stout and incorrigible by it and they will certainly run into Licentiouness assoon as they are no longer restrained by the fear of Punishment From what has been said hitherto it is plain that Men's Corruption is a consequence of the Education they had in their Youth But this will yet more evidently appear by the Reflections I am now going to make upon the way of bringing up Children in Religion and Piety We are here to consider Education in reference to the two Ends of it which are the educating of Youth First in the Knowledgwe and then in the
the Men of the World St. Paul exhorts Christians †Rom. XII Eph. II and IV. Tit. II. Mat. VII XIII XIV Not to be conformed to this present world not to walk after the course of this world not to follow other mens way of living to renounce the world and the lusts of it Our Saviour enjoins his Disciples To avoid the wide gate and the broad way of the multitude and to strike into The narrow path which is walked in but by a few These are Reflections which every Man who believes the Gospel would frequently and seriously make and which should serve him for Remedies against the Temptations arising from Example and Custom There are other general Remedies which tend to lessen the number of bad Examples and to alter the Customs and Usages which are contrary to the Christian Religion For tho' it may seem that to go about the abolishing of that which is established by a general Custom and a long Use is to attempt and impossibility and tho' we cannot expect that this Cause of Corruption should be intirely removed yet the difficulty is not so great but that it might in some measure be overcome This we might have Reason to hope for if First those who know and love their Duty would discharge it with Courage and if they did add to their Knowledge a Zeal supported by Prudence and Firmness How great soever the Degeneracy of Men may be there is still something in Virtue which attracts their Respect and their Love The Endeavours of good Men against Vice are always attended with some Success If the benefit of their Exhortations and good Examples does not reach far they may at least be useful to their Families and their Acquaintance But something more than this is requisite to reform general Customs and Practices and none can do this more easily and effectually than those who are raised above other Men and who are in publick Stations I say therefore Secondly that if Christian Princes and Magistrates would use their Authority to this End and be exemplary themselves the Corruption of the World would considerably abate and bad Examples would neither be so frequent nor so forcible as they are It is in their Power to banish the greatest part of those Customs which are commonly received and to establish contrary ones The Care and Example of Pastors are likewise a most efficacious Remedy If they did instruct Christians as they ought if they did oppose the Corruption of the Age with the pure Maxims of the Gospel if they did set themselves against Abuses if they did endeavour in publick and in private to bring all those that err into the way of Truth if they applied themselves to the instructing of Youth and if their Manners were edifying and exemplary there is no doubt but that they would soon stop the Current of Vices and Scandals It should be their chief Care to oppose Abuses and ill Customs in their beginnings because when they have once taken Root the Remedy is much more difficult In fine as Customs are established by degrees so they are not abolished all at once and therefore those who do not succeed at first in so good a Design ought not presently to be discouraged and to grow weary CAUSE VII Books THIS is the last Cause of Corruption which I shall mention but without question it is one of the most generaland of the most remarkable Books are as many publick Fountains from which vast numbers of Notions and sentiments which are commonly received among Men and which are the Principles of their actions diffuse themselves into the World And as it is impossible but that among an infinity of Books a great many must be bad so it is certain that Books contribute very much to the keeping up of Corruption If Men as we have shewed in the precedent Chapters are ignorant and full of Prejudices if they have loose and impious Notions concerning Religion if great Defects are observable both in the Lives of Christians and in the state of the Church in general if the People are ill instructed and Children are ill educated the cause of all these Disorders is partly to be found in Books It is therefore a most important subject which I am to handle in this Chapter but it is likewise a very large one by reason of the prodigious Multitude of Books which I might have an opportunity to speak of here But I must confine my self to that which is most material to be said upon this Head I shall speak 1. of Ill Books and 2. of Books of Religion The number of bad Books is infinite and it would be very hard to give a Catalogue of them but I think that among all the sorts of ill Books none do greater Mischief in the World than either those which lead to Irreligion and Impiety or those which are impure and filthy The first attack Faith and the other corrupt Manners 1. The most dangerous of all Books are those which attack Religion such are not only all the Books of Atheists and Deists but such are likewise all those Works which tend to overthrow either the Authority of the Holy Scripture or the Facts and Doctrines of Christianity or the difference between Virtue and Vice or any other Principle of Religion Frank also in the same Order the Books which introduce Scepticism and the design of which is to render the Principles of Faith or Morality uncertain and dubious Those Books in which Impiety appears bare-faced are not the most pernicious Few Persons ever durst maintain Atheism openly or deny directly the Fundamentals of Religion And besides avowed Atheists and Deists have not many Followers Their Opinions raise horrour and a Man's Mind rebels against them But those Men who tho' they do not openly espouse the Cause of Impiety but pretending all the while that the acknowledge the existence of a God and a Religion do yet shake the principal Truths of Faith those Men I say diffuse a much more subtil and dangerous Poison and this may be particularly said of the Scepticks In the main they drive at the same thing with the Atheists they assault Religion with the same Weapons and make the same objections There is only this difference that the Atheist decides the Question and denies whereas the Sceptick after he has mustered up all the Objections of the Atheist and started a thousand Scruples leaves in some manner the Question undetermined he only insinuates that there is no solid Answer to those difficulties and then he concludes with a false Modesty and tells us that he dares not embrace either side and that which way soever a Man turns himself he meets with nothing but Obscurity and Uncertainty This differs little from Atheism and it does naturally lead to incredulity It is an astonishing thing that Books containing such pernicious Principles should have been published and that Libertinism in Opinions about Religion should have grown up to that pitch which we