enabling noâ— only to confront but to despise Evil and to be Happy in despight of 'em these are Advantages so incomparablâ— great and good that no Evils can be ballanced against 'em and 't is Evidenâ—â— that no Writings no not of the Stoics themselves were ever more stuffed with boasting and daring accounts of the Nature of Man than those of the Epicureans And thus from all put together whether we consult the Nature and state of the World and Man testimony of Revelation or Reason the Suffrages of the good humour'd and grateful part of Mankind or the Confessions of the Voluptuous and Atheistical 't is Evident that Good do's outweigh Evil in the Design of God or Nature But have I not my self in the beginning of this Treatise presented the Reader with a large Catalogue of Evils Yes But not of God's Creation but our own for the Truth of the whole is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Not things themselves but the Shades and Fantasms wanton superstitious effeminate or froward Minds do raise about 'em disturb the quiet and repose of Man So then if we our selves do not multiply the Number of our Evils our share of Good in life may be much greater than our share of Evil and if we be not accessory to our own Misery we may be Happy Unless Secondly 2. The Efficacy of Evil not greater than that of Good Evil hath so much of Venom and Malignity in it that a little Evil contributes more to our Misery than a great deal of Good can to our Happiness We may here judge of the force and energy of Good and Evil either by that Influence they generally have or that they ought to have upon the state of Mankind if we consider what Impressions they ought to make upon Men the question will come to a speedy and a Happy Issue for then we must either reckon nothing an Evil but a Moral one that is Sin and Vice or at least we must acknowledge that the Venom and Malignity of other Evils is not comparable to that of Moral ones This latter opinion is an unquestionable Truth for who wilâ— not make a wide difference between a Misfortune and a Crime between an Affliction and a Punishment between those Inconveniences Trouble and Pain which we suffer as guilty Criminals and those we suffer as unfortunate Innocents or afflicted Hero's or Saints for notwithstanding the Evils or Pains should be in the matter of 'em the same yet there is a vast difference in the Suffering the one makes Man much more miserable than the other for our Misfortunes should only reach the Body not the Mind But when we suffer for our Crimes the whole Man suffers the Soul as well as Body Misfortunes when the Storm is o'repast leave no deform'd Ruines no Wounds nor Scars behind 'em but our Crimes leave stains and guilt behind which haunt the Mind with perpetual horrour From this Distinction of the Nature and Effect of Evils we may infer this Comfortable Conclusion That nothing can make man wholly truly miserable but himself Nothing can oppress him by the weight of Moral Evils but his own Choice for nothing can compel or necessitate him to be wicked the stroaks the wounds of natural Evils so I will call all the rest distinct from moral and owing their Being to the Revolutions of time and Chance and Nature c. are faint and slight the Mind of Man ought not to suffer it self to be too deeply and sensibly affected by them it is the work of Reason and Religion to fortifie the Mind against the Impressions of these Evils and truly that Mind that is furnish't with true Notions of things with a rational and solid Faith with steady and well-grounded hopes may bear the impetuous shock of all these Waves and Storms calm and unmov'd Nay I may boldly affirm not only that Vertue checks and controuls these Evils blunts their Edge and abates their force but what is more that their natural strength their own proper force is weak and contemptible unless our own Vices be combin'd and confederated with 'em against us Our Pride must aid our Enemy to render his affront provoking Our Covetousness and Ambition must assist Fortune to render its Contempt or Hatred of us destructive to the Tranquillity of our state Falshood under a disguise of Friendship could never have abus'd our Confidence by betraying our Infirmities or forsaking us in Affliction had not our own folly and self-conceit first betray'd us exposing us a naked prey to Flattery and Treachery The Coldness or Neglect of great Men could never wound us the hollow deceitful Professions of those above us could never fool or fret us did not the fondness of our own desires betray us first into vain Presumption and a flattering Credulity The Storm that snatcheth away a Relation or a Friend could never overthrow me if I stood upon my own Bottom if I were not guilty of one of the greatest weaknesses of placing my Happiness in any thing out of my own Power and so making my self dependent upon another mans fancy or fortune Finally Death it self must derive its terrors from the mournful Solemnities we dress it in from the darkness and horrours of our deluded Imaginations or else it would prove but a contemptible Bugbear a very inconsiderable Evil or none at All. Thus 't is Evident that if we distinguish Evils into Natural and Moral we shall have little reason to think the Influence of Evil so Malignant and Deadly since 't is in our own Power to avoid moral Evils and natural ones strike but half way they wound not the Soul that is arm'd and guarded with Reason and Religion But now If with the Stoics we should admit of no other sort of Evil but what is Moral if we should allow the name of Good to nothing but Vertue or of Evil to nothing but Vice then we must look upon Temporal and External Misfortunes as Inconveniences and Disadvantages only they may make us less Happy but they cannot make us miserable And truly if we should here suppose or take for granted that there were another life or that the pleasure of Vertue triumphing over Calamities and Afflictions were considerably great this opinion cannot imply so great an Absurdity as some would fasten upon it or be a mere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Idle Contention of words since I cannot tell with what Consonancy to Truth or Propriety of Speech we can call those troubles or hardships Evils which directly tend to procure for us an infinite Good a Pleasure which doth abundantly outweigh our Sufferings I ' think 't is now sufficiently Evident that natural Evils are not of that mighty Efficacy deadly Venomous quality that it should be thought that a little Evil doth more effectually contribute to our Misery than a great deal of Good can to our Happiness 't is apparent how slight the Impressions are which they ought to make upon us It will now be time to
practice of Excellent Men none were ever so much Favourites of Heaven that its Gifts grew up in 'em like Corn and Wine in the Golden Age without Culture or Dressing Inspiration it self did not exempt Man from the Necessity of Industry but oblige him to a greater Thus under the Old Testament a Prophetic life was a life of greater strictness and retirement than that of others and in the New not to mention the Watchings the Fastings the Retirements the Prayers of our Lord and Master that account of himself which St. Paul gives us will inform us not only what his life was but what it was expected the life of every one should be that shar'd with him in the Ministry and Dignity of an Apostle But in all things approving our selves as the Ministers of God in much Patience in Afflictions in Necessities in Distresses in Labours 2 Cor. 6. in Watchings By Pureness by Knowledge Amongst the Heathens whatever Perfection and Excellency they attributed to Humane Nature whatever they attributed to an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Contexture and frame of Nature more than Common whatever lastly they attributed to the favour the Extraordinary favour of God yet did they always judge a strict life and indefatigable Industry necessary to the acquiring of true Philosophy and Happiness their Pythagoras so dear to their Gods that it seem'd to be a doubt among'st 'em whether he were not himself a God incarnate not content to have been the Scholar first of Pherecydes Syrus and afterwards of Hermodamas travail'd first into Egypt and afterwards to Babylon and I know not whither pursuing Wisdom and Happiness with great Industry and as great Abstinence Socrates however inspir'd by his Genius did yet learn Musick of Connus Poetry of Evenus Agriculture of Ischomachus Geometry of Theodorus c. And to all this he added the Religious Discipline of Mortification even to a voluntary Poverty what should I multiply Instances there is not a Man amongst the Gentiles remarkable for Wisdom or Vertue that is not as remarkable for that Travail and Self-denyal by which he purchas'd both I add Self-denyal Industry alone being not judg'd sufficient for Secondly 'T is easie in the next place to infer from the Sanctity of God that they who expect his Assistance shou'd endeavour to be Good and Holy 't is Vertue that constitutes a Man a Subject of the Heavenly Kingdom and a Favourite of God and therefore 't is this that gives him the best Claim to his Protection and Patronage Vice is a state of Rebellion and Defiance against God and he that has put off his Allegiance cannot expect rationally the Benefits of that Government which he refuses to be under 'T is true the Infinite Goodness and Clemency of God which is not easily vanquish't by Man's Ingratitude may pursue such a Man with repeated overtures tenders of Grace and Pardon and may leave him in the possession of common Benefits such as Health Plenty Friends c. but God will never confer upon him the most Excellent Gifts the marks of his especial Presence and particular Favour he will withdraw from him the aids of his Spirit and leave him to himself a blind indigent and forlorn Creature Wisd 1. The Holy Spirit of Discipline will fly Deceit and will not abide when unrighteousness comes in Which is nothing more than what the Heathen by the Light of Nature did affirm concerning his Genius Max. Tyr. Dissert â—6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wicked Souls have no good Angels sojourning with 'em or presiding over them Our Souls like Temples must be prepar'd and consecrated to him if we would have God dwell in them Righteousness and Holiness are the only things that Charm and Captivate God nothing else can invite him to dwell with Man this very Reason Maximus Tyrius assigns for the Residence and abode of a Demon with Socrates after so extraordinary a manner Idem ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dost thou wonder that a Prophetic Spirit should dwell with Socrates so intimately united so friendly so inseparable that he seem'd only not mixt and become one with his own mind with Socrates whose Purity of Body Charity and Goodness of Soul strictness of Conversation depth of Judgment Melody and perswasiveness of Speech Religion towards God and Integrity towards Man rendred him worthy of such a Guest such a Friend From all which 't is Evident Thirdly What different Rates we are to set upon the different Gifts of God James â— Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down frâ—m above but every Gift is not equally Good equally Perfect being neither equally necessary nor profitable Wealth Power Friends Relations Health Strength Beauty Wit Discretion Vertue are all good but not all equal their value is different and therefore the Degrees of our Importunity and of our Faith or Reliance upon God must be proportion'd accordingly a confident Faith and an almost impatient Zeal doth well become us when we seek the Kingdom of Heaven and the Righteousness thereof when we seek of God the Divine gifts of Wisdom and Vertue but an humble Modesty and a most profound Submission is the Ornament and Beauty of those who are Petitioners for inferior temporal Blessings for God has promis'd the former to all that earnestly sue for them peremptorily and without any Tacit Reservations but his promises of the latter do always imply this Condition If they shall be for our Good for the Perfections of the Mind are Moral and Immutable Beauties but those of the Body and all the gaudy things of Fortune are like the fading Beauties of a Flower the heat scorches it the cold nips it every little chance cracks the stalk and the hand of a Child will serve to crop it Nothing therefore is more acceptable to God than the modesty of our Petitions for these good things and the fervency of them for the other nothing more delightful to him unless the granting of them the things therefore that we are to beg of God not only with the greatest Importunity but also in the first place are those which Maximus Tyrius thought the subject of Socrates his Prayers Max. Tyr. Dissert 30. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what were these a vertuous Mind a quiet State an unblameable Life and a chearful Death full of good Hopes These were the matter of his requests not Wealth or Honour or Popularity or Power or Soveraignty This at once brings to my thought another Objection rais'd against the possibility of attaining Happiness and instructs me how to answer it A Second thing which Men charge Obj. 2 with the guilt of their Ruine is Fortune I might pass over this Point slightly because Afflictions will come more properly to be consider'd in the Third Volume where I treat of Indolence and because I have already clear'd two great Truths which are of themselves abundantly sufficient to baffle and defeat this trifling Objection Namely First That Vertue and Vice Wisdom
the Nature of an Introduction requires Many are the particular Causes of Humane Misery Deviation from Reason the general Cause of Man's Misery but they may all be reduc'd to this Universal and Immediate One Namely That we do not live Conformable to our Reason Quid enim Ratione timemus aut Cupimus When do our Affections spring from or when are they govern'd by Reason When are our Desires or Fears our Joys or Sorrows Wife and Just and Rational and Holy how frequently are our Actions nothing else but the bruitish and blind Sallies of foolish Passions and our lives are generally nothing else but the Wandrings and Rambles of deluded Imaginations How commonly do we act what we our selves Condemn and how commonly doth the whole Course of our Lives displease our selves as much as others and yet we live on in Contradiction to our Reason and sometimes to our Inclinations too How unlike are we in our Conversation to our selves in our Retirement how unlike are we in the Devotions of our Closets to our selves in the Employment of our several Professions how calm sedate wise holy and resolv'd in the one how anxious and uneasie how foolish earthy and inconstant in the other but in nothing does our Deviation from Reason more evidently appear than in two things This Deviation discovers it self in our false Ends and Insincerity First In our proposing to our selves false and Irrational Ends of Life and Secondly In our Insincerity in pursuing the true and rational one that is Happiness As to the first who sees not how the Life of Man is perverted the force and tendency of Nature crook't and bow'd to Designs utterly unsuitable to the Capacities and Faculties of a Rational Mind and to the great End of our Creation who can look into the Life of Man and not easily conclude that his chief Aim is Wealth and Greatness not Happiness or which is something sillyer that his Design is some unnecessary Accomplishment not Vertue and Goodness or a vain Esteem and popular Applause not the Peace and Wisdom of his Mind who sees not how greedily Men pursue those sensual Satisfactions which naturally tend to enslave the Soul and to extinguish the rational Pleasure and Vigour of our Minds In a word Wealth and Honour and Power and Pleasure are the Idols of Mankind these are the things for which they live for which they love and value life these are the glorious Possessions which enflame our Emulations and our Industry these are the things which the Unfortunate man Envies and the Fortunate Honours these are the things which distinguish and discriminate Mankind into their several Ranks and Degrees the Contempt or Esteem of the World the Respects and Affronts the Love and Hate of Mankind being ever proportion'd to the Degrees of Wealth and Power which they fancy others possessed of To these noble Ends the sage and experienc'd Parent trains up his young ones instilling daily into 'em all the subtil Maxims of Covetousness and Ambition and judging of their Proficiency and Hopefulness by the Progress they make towards these Ends that is the more enslav'd they are the more Hopeful the more promising is their Youth Nor are Men more Zealous in pursuing the false than insincere in pursuing the true Ends of Life Vertue and Happiness This is too too Evident to any one who shall consider how fond we are of our Diseases and our Errors how Impatient of that Instruction or Reproof which tends to Cure undeceive and disabuse us how sluggish we are in the study of Important Truths how listless and remiss in the use of those means which conduce to Vertue to the freeing our Minds and to the Confirming our Resolutions and therefore lastly how light wavering and unconstant we are in the Practice of those things which Right Reason convinces us to be our Duty All this is plain and Evident we see and feel it and bemoan it but yet we live on in the same manner still whence therefore is this Infatuation of our Understanding that enslaves us to false and irrational Ends whence is that Impotence of Mind whence is that Insincerity that deludes our Desires and produces nothing but feeble and unsuccessful Endeavours neither is this a difficult Matter to discover that we live and act irrationally proceeds evidently from three Causes First The Contexture and Frame of our Nature Secondly A vitious Education Thirdly Vitious Conversation The first spring or source of Irrational Desires and Actions is the Contrivance and Composition of our Nature The Contexture of Nature the first Cause of an Irrational Life our sensual and bruitish Appetites have their Foundation in our Natural Constitution as well as our rational Affections for we are made up of Body as well as Soul Hence it is that there is in Man a doubtful fluctuation and indetermination to different Objects the Reason of the Mind and the Appetite of the Body distracting and dividing him by their different Proposals The Impressions of sense and Representations of Reason successively awakening in him very different and generally very contrary Desires Whereas Angels by the Perfection and Beasts by the Imperfection of their Nature are determin'd and confin'd to their Proper and Necessary Objects Man is left to a strange uncertainty undetermin'd by the Reason of the Mind or the Instinct or Appetite of the Body mov'd indeed successively by each perfectly govern'd and over-rul'd by neither But it were well for Man that the Inclinations of these two different Principles were so justly pois'd that he were naturally left in a true Liberty and pure Indifference equally able to follow the Dictates of Reason and the Appetites of Flesh and Blood But alas how Impetuous are the Lusts of the Body how Irresistible are those Passions which the Objects of Sense aided by a Carnal Imagination raise in us On the other side how Cold are the Representations of Reason when we most need its Assistance and Authority how faint and feeble the Natural Inclination of the Soul to what is truly good and great how remote and distant the Rewards of Vertue and consequently how weak and cold their Influence and how faint and imperfect is the Pleasure that attends it abstracted from future Rewards in all other Minds besides those who are arriv'd in some sort at Perfection 't is true at some Seasons and upon some Occasions the Remonstrances of Conscience are so sharp its Reproaches so bitter the Disdain and Confusion of the Mind so unsufferable that they render that which is a Pleasure to the Sense a Torment to the Soul and its agreeableness to our Imagination cannot make amends for its harshness and Contradiction to our Reason But alas these are but short-lived Fits which soon pass over for Business diverts Pleasure inchants and Repeated Violence offer'd to our Reason stupifies and deadens the Natural Conscience and what is worse than all this a silly and vitious Education does generally so corrupt our Judgments
now mention'd with him did ever hold Nay a Fate more impious than that of Democritus for what he imputed to senseless matter these do to God and as much more rigid as it is more impious than his for he never thought of another life wherein Eternal Misery shou'd punish those Actions that were unavoidable in this Now the Reason why this Doctrine of Fate this absurd and baffled Doctrine is so greedily embrac'd and eagerly defended by many is very plain it feeds the Vanity and Curiosity of some and the Pride of others 't is a luscious Pleasure to curious and vain Minds to fancy themselves Masters of the starry Cabala able to spell out and interpret the Laws of Fate and pry into the Destinies of future Ages which are cover'd with thick Clouds and Impenetrable Darkness to all but them alone 't is a delicious pleasure no doubt of it to the Proud and haughty and ill-natur'd to see themselves caressed and exalted by God as his particular Favourites while the miserable Multitude the rest of Mankind are excluded from the Capacity and much more the Hopes of Happiness and Heaven and in general 't is an acceptable opinion to the loose and profligate since 't is a ready Apology for Idleness and Lust and all manner of Sins for Men might Sin confidently and without remorse if they did Sin fatally or rather nothing could be branded with the Infamy of Sin and Shame when whatever Men did were the Effect the unavoidable Effect of Nature and Necessity an act of Obedience to those Fatal Laws which they could not transgress Tertullian therefore speaks very properly when he saith Tertul. Apol. Mentis malae impetus vel Fato vel Astris imputant nolunt suum esse quod malum agnoscunt They impute the Heat and Sallies of their Lust to Stars and Fate being unwilling to Charge themselves with the guilt of that which they own to be Evil. This is the use Cerealis makes of this Doctrine of Fate in Tacitus Donec Cerealis mulceret animos Fato acta Dictitans quae militum Ducumque Discordiâ vel fraude Hostium evenissent Tacit. l. 4. Histor the Roman Legions had behav'd themselves very unworthy of that Name and Reputation they possess 't and were extreamly dejected under the Conscience of it therefore he to chear and encourage 'em and to wipe off the stain and dishonour of their Misdemeanour imputed to Fate that which ought with truth to have been imputed to the Dissention of their Leaders and themselves and to the Fraud and Cunning of their Enemies From this little that has been said as it appears why Proud and Vicious Men contend for Fate so does it likewise of what importance it is to free Men's Minds from a perswasion so pernicious to the Interest of Vertue the Peace of the Public the Happiness of Man and the Honour of God To which purpose that I may contribute all I can I 'le consider First On which side stands the Advantage of Authority whether for or against Fate Secondly what plain Reason and as plain Revelation do dictate in this Point As to the first I will not pretend to make a just and intelligible Collection of the Different Notions which have been taken up of Fate 't is Evident from that which Grotius has done of this kind not only how tedious and voluminous but also how obscure and confus'd the Discourses of Men have been on this Subject I shall only therefore as far as my Memory will serve me consider their Opinions in such a manner as the Nature of this present Enquiry shall oblige me Most Philosophers do agree in one general Notion of Fate that it is a Connexion or Series of Causes successively depending upon one another Nomesius and producing a Necessary Effect or Event 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But their Opinions concerning the first Ground or Original of this Necessary Connexion or Dependence were very Various some ascribing it to Daemons or Spirits some to the Influence of Stars some to the Circumaction or whirling about of the Heavens some to an Universal Soul some to the Force of Motion some to the Contexture and Contrivance of Nature others to Atoms and others to God and indeed since Matter or Mind are the two only things into which all Philosophers have ultimately Resolv'd their Search and Enquiries after the Original of all things they ought to have look't for no other Original of Fate than one of these two but this concerns my present Question but very little for if Man be over-rul'd and determin'd by Fatal Laws it matters little how he came to be so Nor did I mention this variety of Opinions for any other Reason than this that it gives us just Occasion to suspect Fate it self as an Erroneous and ill-grounded Position for obscurity and intricacy and multiplicity of different Notions about the same thing are the general Marks of Falshood and Error but there are two things very material to be enquir'd First How far the Empire or Dominion of Fate was generally extended And Secondly what kind of Necessity or what degrees of it were generally suppos'd to constitute Fate As to the Extent of its Power this one thing is very Remarkable that the Heathens did Exempt the Mind of Man from its Soveraignty Democritus indeed believ'd the Soul of Man as Necessarily and Fatally mov'd by the Impression of his Atoms as any other Natural or Irrational Body but Epicurus deserted him in this and following the Conduct of common Sense Experience acknowledg'd the Liberty of the Soul of Man and labour'd as Plutarch tells us with all his might to assert it and to preserve the Distinction of Vertue and Vice which Fate destroys to serve this Hypothesis it was that he invented that new Motion of his Atoms call'd by Lucretius Clinamen sufficiently expos'd by Tully and how well defended by Gassendus I am not concern'd to Examine for I have produc'd his Opinion only as an Instance of the clearness of this Truth That the Soul of Man is not subject to Fate for had not its Liberty been undeniable and self-evident the Principles of Epicurus his Philosophy had certainly oblig'd him to follow Democritus in this as in all other Points and to have believ'd the Soul it self o're-rul'd by Fate The Poets indeed made the Monarchy of Fate so Universal that they believ'd the Gods themselves subject to it Thus Jupiter in Homer bemoans the Fate of his Sarpedon which he could not prevent And thus another Poet represents Apollo striving in vain by all the Power of Art and Vertue of Herbs to restore life to his Hyacinthus Nor was this only a Poetic Fancy 't is usual with Plato to extend the Dominion of Fate over the Gods themselves but this was no wonder for Fate with him imports the immutable Laws of the Supreme God and God's those Spirits that were created by him The Stoics indeed at least some of them assign'd a worse Reason
design the Discourse particularly to me he had ever and anon in his mouth this Excellent Principle That the life of Man is to be estimated by its usefulness and serviceableness in the World A sober reflection upon this wrought me up to a Resolution strong enough to contemn all the Difficulties which the loss of my Sight could represent to me in an Enterprize of this Nature Thus you see on what Principles I became engag'd in this Work I thought it my Duty to set my self some Task which might serve at once to divert my Thoughts from a melancholy Application on my Misfortune and Entertain my Mind with such a Rational Employment as might render me most easie to my self and most serviceable to the World Being now abundantly convinc'd that I am not releas'd from that Duty I owe that Body of which I am still a Member by being cut off from a great part of the Pleasures and Advantages of it therefore like one that truely loves his Countrey when no way else is left him he fights for 't on his stumps so will I even in the Remains of a broken body express at least my affection for Mankind and breath out my last Gasp in their Service The fitness and tendency of this subject to serve these Ends is so apparent that I will not impertinently detain the Reader by a Justification of this Choice How fit I am for it will be best judg'd by the Performance yet that this may not suffer any Disadvantage from such Prejudices with which the Consideration of my state may easily prepossess Men I think my self oblig'd to some sort of Justification of my self I have had so much Experience of all the several Pleasures that Prosperity can afford Man in this life that I am sufficiently Capable of setting a true Rate and Value upon them and of judging their Subserviency to true Happiness And I am so well acquainted with Trouble and Affliction that I am sufficiently sensible as of the weakness of Humane Nature and Misery of this Mortal state so of the Necessity and Power of Vertue in Relieving and Supporting Man under both And after all my Mind lives now in the Body like a Soul in a separate state retir'd as from the Pleasures so from the Troubles of the World and is therefore the more able to pass a free and more dispassionate Judgment upon both It may probably be fear'd that the same should befall me which has many Monkish Writers who being much retir'd from the World having much leisure and few Books did spin out every Subject into wandring Mazes and airy Speculations like Plants which destitute of a well manur'd and fat soil run all into the Exuberancy of Leaves and fruitless Sprigs but the Commerce I still maintain with the World may in part prevent this Errour and the Nature of the Subject so fruitful of many Necessary Enquiries will of it self lead me on to useful and profitable Thoughts There is one thing which may be by some objected against my manner of treating this Subject the freedom I use in it being not altogether so common to my Profession but I hope it will not be found that I have abus'd the Liberty I have taken to the Disparagement of the least Truth of our Religion or to the least Discouragement of Vertue and therefore I think it cannot justly reflect any Disadvantage upon my Calling Besides I have in a former Treatise wherein I design'd the same End The Happiness of Mankind treated this Subject in a manner suited to the generality of Readers but this Discourse I design for such who are not content to submit to Inferences deduc'd from Receiv'd Principles unless they can be fairly Convin'd of the Reasonableness and Truth of the Principles themselves nor should I think it any Crime were I Master of such Talents if I did mingle with Necessary Truths all that variety of Thought all that fineness and briskness of fancy which might render them as delightful as useful the Example of God himself in the great Work of the Creation would justifie this Liberty who has Created as well Leaves and Flowers as Herbs and Fruit and in the variety and beauty in the Colours and figures of all that he has produc'd he appears plainly to have made provision not only to feed the Appetite but even the fancies of his Creatures There is after all I confess one thing that stands in need of an Excuse which is the publishing what should come forth a just Treatise by small Parts to this I may truly say having laid together all the Materials I saw necessary to compleat this Discourse I found it grown unavoidably to that Voluminous Bulk that I took this Method partly out of compliance to the Ease of my Reader but especially in compliance to my own for in my present Circumstances I saw no other way to avoid that Confusion which would inevitably have disorder'd the Contexture of a long Discourse if I should have charged my Memory with the Contrivance and Connexion of so many and various Parts at once and I foresaw that all the Strength of my Mind which should be collected and united in the treating every single Argument would be unprofitably spent in distracted divided and imperfect Efforts THE INTRODUCTION OR A Brief Scheme of the Design OF THE Whole WORK TO inform Man what is his true and proper Happiness and to mark out before him the Right way to it hath been and ever must be the aim of all Philosophy and all Religion and yet so numerous have been and are the Disputes on this Subject and so seemingly insuperable the difficulties which encounter us in every way that the Despair of attaining Happiness at least in this World seems almost as Universal as the Desire of it and as Nature will never give oâ—â—e the pursuit of it so will Man never forbear the Tragical Complaints of his Disappointments and the raving Exaggerations of Humane Misery That therefore I may attempt at least to treat this Subject satisfactorily I will endeavour § 1. To shew you That Happiness is not a mere airy and imaginary Notion but is a real state and really attainable and that our Disappointments and Unsuccessfulness must be imputed to our selves and this shall be the work of this present Volume § 2. To Explain the Nature of Happiness to Examine wherein it consists and what is the high-way to it in which to proceed successfully I thought the plainest Method I could take would be this To fix and define the Notion of the most absolute and Compleat Happiness that so we might discern what it behov'd us to aim at and how near we could approach the Perfection of Happiness Now the most perfect Idaea of Happiness that the Mind of Man can frame is this Happiness is the state of a perfect Being in the unmixt uninterrupted and Eternal Enjoyment of the most perfect Pleasure Such I conceive to be the Happiness of God himself In
of this Enquiry for the Redress of Humane Misery too ambitious for a poor silly Mortal yet sure the Redress of those Evil which oppress our State and Nature is such an humble and modest Design as may well become the meanness of Man and therefore if I could not excuse the Confidence or Presumption of this Enquiry by pleading the innate Desire of Happiness yet sure I might by urging the multitude of those Evils which infest Humane Life which 't is not only irrational but impossible so far to yield and submit to as not to struggle to free our selves from 'em or endeavour to lighten their afflicting weight or study to prevent 'em This I confess was the first and none of the least prevalent Arguments that engag'd me I love my self and would be if not Happy at least not miserable and I am neither insensible nor fearless I know the common Portion of Man and I cannot so far flatter my self as not to apprehend approaching Evils nor am I naturally so hard and tough as not to shrink and gall under the weight of them and I suppose most Men are of the same Nature with me and as liable as I am to all the Evils of Time and Chance and consequently this one Consideration of Humane Misery ought to work very powerfully in them and effectually oblige 'em to this Study In this place I took a Distinct View and made an Exact Survey of every particular Calamity which befalls Man reducing 'em all under their several heads I allow'd my self the Melancholy pleasure of viewing the mournful Pomp whil'st I saw their numerous Legions marching under their distinct â—â—nners arm'd with great variety of fatal dreadful weapons but besides that this would have made too tedious an Interruption in the thread of my Discourse I will deal freely with the World I had in private drawn as exact and lively a Portraicture of Humane Misery as I could I had left no shade no feature wanting as I thought but when I had finished it observing it exactly from head to foot I found my own Sins and Follies made up the ugliest and most frightful Parts of it and therefore I thought it not freedom but impudence to expose to open view all the Deformities of the Soul when natural Modesty guides the Painter's hand to draw a covering over the uncomley Parts of the Body However such a general Survey of Humane Misery as may serve to awaken our Concern and quicken and inflame our Industry will not be improper or unnecessary in this place A rude Draught or naked Scheme of the general heads of those Evils to which the Life of Man is expos'd will present us with a very formidable host of Plagues and Mischiefs The Evils that harrass Mankind are either Natural which grow out of our selves like Rust and Moths and Worms out of those very Bodies which they afterwards destroy or else they are accidental such as the various Chances and Revolutions of the World bring upon us Natural Evils either have their Residence in the Soul or in the Body the Body is liable to maiming to loss of Senses to Decay and Languishings to numerous Diseases and to Death As to the Soul in the Vnderstanding there is Ignorance Errour Superstition Uncertainty Suspicion c. In the Will Obstinacy Precipitancy Levity Inconstancy Impotence Irresolution Fluctuation Distraction In the inferiour and sensitive Part of the Soul of Man a thousand restless Passions marching under the Conduct of blind and rash Love and Hate Accidental Evils contain all that vast number which may befall those things without us which we to our great hurt falsly call ours such are Loss or Diminution of Reputation Power Estate Friends Relations c. and what is worse than this numerous are the Evils which we suffer not only in those things which we call our's but also in those we our selves confess not to be our's such are restless Desire wakeful and laborious Pursuit tame digestion of the Neglect Coldness Insolence and Insincerity of those we depend upon and address to Contemptuous Repulses Vexatious disappointments c. After all this all these Evils are to be reckon'd double for we are liable to 'em not only in our selves but in our Friends and our Relations and then we must double 'em almost all again for we suffer 'em in Reality or in Fancy and Imagination we suffer 'em when present and when future too for as if the Evil of the Day were not sufficient for it we search the dark and unknown Regions of future time that we may find out what may make us miserable and we frequently torture our selves with Idle not Prophetic fears we often suffer the want the pain c. which we shall never feel and our own suspicious despondent melancholy Minds do raise those hideous Apparitions which scare and frighten us These are a few of the general Heads of Humane Misery those Fountains that ever flow with bitter Waters this is a brief account of the Nature and State of Man Aristotle's Definition of him that he is a Rational Creature is flat and heavy in Comparison to that of Apuleius the witty thô dissolute Platonic Apul. de Deo Socratis Homines Ratione plaudentes oratione pollentes immortalibus animis moribundis membris levibus anxiis mentibus brutis obnoxiis corporibus dissimilibus moribus similibus erroribus pervicaci audaciâ pertinaci spe casso labore fortunâ caducâ volucri tempore tardâ sapientiâ citâ morte quaerulâ vitâ terras incolunt i. e. Men the Inhabitants of Earth are endow'd with Speech and vaunt of Reason immortal are their Souls mortal their Limbs inconstant and anxious are their Minds bruitish and obnoxious are their Bodies unlike are they in their Manners like in their Errors sturdy is their Confidence and obstinate their Hope fruitless their Toil uncertain their Fortune swift their Years and slow their Wisdom speedy their Death and their Life full of Plaints Thus miserable is our State and shall we now sit down and only Childishly bewail our selves Shall we sink under the weight of these Evils by adding to 'em one heavier than 'em all Despair Shall we think the thread of Evils is so closely and fatally wove into one Piece with the thread of Life that no Wisdom no Industry can prevent ' em that no Philosophy how Divine soever can divide or separate the one from the other and consequently never think of any other than that one Universal Remedy of Virgil Patience Fortuna omnis superanda ferendo est Ah wretched Nature ah too helpless State If nought but suffering can o'recome our Fate No no let others do what they will I 'le never thus abandon my self I will not tamely and dastardly renounce my hopes of Happiness I 'le study and contend for it whilst I have a being whate're Calamities assault me they shall find me ready arm'd from head to foot nor shall they ever gain o're me an easie
Victory Death it self when e're it comes shall find me strugling to the last for life Eternal Life and Happiness nor can I entertain so unworthy a thought of the most perfect Being but that he loves this Resolution where-e're he meets it and will be most ready to assist his Creatures in so just and rational an Endeavour But as the Israelites when they march't in Arms to take Possession of the Promised Land were told of Sons of Anak Gigantic Enemies and Cities walled and fenced up to Heaven so shall I or any man who goes about to possess himself of so great a Blessing as Happiness be discourag'd by worldly and sensual Men with the toil we are to undergo with the Difficulties we are to encounter and generally with representations of the folly and rashness of the Attempt These must indeed be contemn'd and slighted but it must be upon Rational grounds and therefore I must consider their weight and strength before I proceed SECT II. Of the Objections form'd against this Enquiry THe Objection which assaults this Obj. 1 Enquiry with the Rudest Violence is this That Happiness is not a thing attainable and therefore the study of it and endeavour after it is a vain thing This Objection deserves to be thorowly examin'd as that which will otherwise Subvert the very Foundation of this Work and therefore I 'le reserve the Consideration of it to an entire Chapter v. Ch. 2. There are other Objections which are framed partly from the Nature of Happiness partly from the Nature of Man which thô as all Errours they Contradict one another yet do they all unite their forces to oppose the Truth and to deter Men from the Noblest and most Rational Study and Travail That of Happiness Obj. 2 Various is the working of humane Fancy they that will pretend to be Acute and Wise above the vulgar part of Mankind for such are always apt to despise Speculation and Learning look upon Happiness as too Divine and Glorious a State for so mean a Creature as Man to affect it was the not only vain but sinful Ambition of our first Parents to aspire to the likeness of God Gen. 3. Ye shall be as Gods and what can be more truly the Prerogative and peculiar possession of God than Happiness or what can make us more like God to affect this therefore were the folly of those Earth-Born Creatures in the Poet which sacrilegiously invaded Heaven Omnis enim per se Divûm natura necesse est Immortali aevo summâ cum pace fâ—uatur Privata dolore omni privata perîclis Ipsa suis pollens opibus Lucret. let us be content with the Portion of Man and rest satisfy'd with those easie and obvious Pleasures which best suit this imperfect Nature and imperfect State I know not how well some may please themselves with this sort of Talk but this is plain to me these Men are contradictions to themselves and their Philosophy to all true Reason for notwithstanding this affected debasing of humane Nature the transports of these Voluptuaries are as bold and ambitious as those of the haughtiest Stoic and 't is no strange thing to hear an Epicurean boast of a Parity or Equality with his Jupiter in the point of Happiness or Pleasure But to answer the Objection in a word be the Nature of Mankind what it will I do readily confess that it were if not a sinful yet a vain ambition for Man to affect any other Happiness than what was suitable to his Nature for it were to pursue what he were not capable of it were like the folly of Semele in the Poet when she desir'd that she might be entertain'd by Jupiter not only with the Passion of a Lover but the Glory and Majesty of a God and so being fatally successful in her wish she perished in the Embraces she had so proudly begg'd this therefore we readily grant Happiness is a state of Pleasure and Pleasure is the Result of the proportion and agreeableness of the Object to the capacity or appetite so that he that aspires to a state of Happiness that infinitely exceeds his nature foolishly doats on Contradictions and affects a Happiness devoid of Pleasure or which is all one covets a Pleasure which he cannot enjoy This being yielded to on the one hand that we ought to pursue no other state of Happiness than what suits and fits our Capacities they ought as readily to yield on the other hand if they will suppose God the Creator of Man and concern'd in his Actions as these seem to do that he does not only allow of but delight in all the Endeavours of Man after such a state those Faculties and Capacities he endows us with being the fairest Declarations of his Will what he designs us for the sole Difficulty therefore that remains will be this what the Nature of Man is what the Dignity and Excellency of the Rational Soul which shall be discussed in its place There are others of that sluggish Obj. 3 and bruitish temper that being unable to raise their Conception above Sence or discover any Charm in a Rational and Philosophical pleasure they seem to despise that Happiness the Wise and Religious part of Mankind profess to seek after and to think all the Pleasure Man can enjoy so little that 't is scarce worth the while to take much pains for it It is true I am but Man that is a little Atom in the vast bulk of matter and my life is but a short moment in an endless stream of time but then I feel a strange kind of Comprehensiveness in my Soul it stretcheth forth it self to times past and to come it enjoys things that are not seen by Faith and Hope and sometimes things that are not at all by Memory and Fancy and thô my life be but a moment Satisfaction and Pleasure hath its degrees and therefore if I can possess it in its height and perfection I shall live much thô not long I shall enjoy Eternity in a moment the World in a little Globe nor is this mere fancy and Romance for when I read St. Austin so far inflamed with the Love of true Philosophy by Cicero's Book ad Hortensium that he presently abandons all the luscious Pleasures of his Pagan Conversation for the sake of those which he should afterwards find in a Philosophical life when I find Cicero in surely a holy ravishment of Soul preferring one Day spâ—nt according to the Precepts of Vertue before a sinful Immortality and the Psalmist almost in the same words as well as the same passion Psal 84. One day in thy Courts is better than a thousand I cannot choose but think there are irresistible Charms and Beauties in Vertue and Pleasures in true Philosophy as ravishing as they are pure and sacred and who then can restrain himself from the glowing desires of and resolute Endeavours after a share in them when I have read Socrates dying with a generous Charity and
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
Cor. 15. If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable 't is confessedly indisputably true that had these Christians been destitute of that hope which was their Support they had sunk under the weight of such Sufferings and so had been the most miserable of all men but since their hopes did not only support 'em under their Afflictions but also render 'em somewhat more than Conquerours all that can follow hence is That the Resurrection and Eternal life are unquestionable Truths and that life who believes 'em as firmly as Confessors and Martyrs did may like them be Happy thô a thousand Seas of Calamities and Troubles should break in upon him Mortification recommended by the Light of Nature as subservient to our present Happiness As to Mortification which is a Duty of perpetual Obligation for the Purity of Religion is still the same thô its fortune in the World be alter'd this did at first signifie the Renunciation and Extirpation of Jewish and Pagan Lusts according to that of St. Paul Mortifie therefore your members which are upon the Earth Fornication Vncleanness Inordinate affection Evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry and it still signifies the same thing and whatever difficulty we are to encounter in the performance of this Duty it must be vanquished for 't is impossible to be wicked and Happy a wicked man is his own Hell and every Passion every Lust is a Fiend a Fury that doth outrage and torment him and all this the Heathens themselves did not only constantly acknowledge but also paint out with as lively Eloquence as any Christian could ever do their Experience over whom Sin had an uncontrolled dominion most effectually convincing 'em of the Outrages Tyranny and unspeakable Mischiefs of wicked and abominable Passions Nay so manifest is it that the subduing these Irregular Passions is necessary to our Happiness that even the Epicureans themselves notwithstanding their confining the Happiness of Man to this short life and by a probable Consequence resolving it ultimately into the Enjoyments of the Body did yet look upon themselves as extremely injur'd by Tully and others when they represented 'em as revolted from and Enemies to Vertue 'T is not my business here to Examine what foundation for Vertue their Philosophy could leave or what rank and place they could assign it 't is enough that they could not but acknowledge it as necessary to Happiness 'T is true Mortification in the Gospel-sense requires us not only to restrain these Irregular Lusts but also not to over-rate and over-value this World and the things of it not to look upon this life as our only or chief Portion and doat upon it with fondness and passion and I cannot think that this is any thing more than what is imply'd and included in the former Notion of Mortification this Moderation of our Inclinations to the World being a proper and necessary foundation of the former Abstinence it being very Improbable that he who values and doats upon the World above all things should refrain from irregular Pursuits and Enjoyments of it Now even this Degree of Mortification was as clearly taught and the Necessity of it in order to Happiness by the Wise men amongst the Heathens as by our Saviour and his Apostles by those conducted by the Light of Nature as by these conducted by the Light of Revelation and that together with the Discipline which promotes it I mean the observation of great Abstinence from sensual Pleasures No Monk or Anchoret can speak with a more glorious contempt of the World than a Stoic but their flights who would allow the Body the World and the things of it no place nor degree in the Number of Good things are too daring and bold to lay any stress upon but the Opinion of other Philosophers who allow'd these their proper place and value ought to be of weight with us because they shew us plainly That Mortification was ever thought by the Light of Nature subservient to our true Happiness Hierocles in the beginning of his Divine Comments gives us a short but full account of the Pythagorean and I may add Platonic Philosophy in this Point 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The substance of which is The business of Philosophy is to purifie the Soul of Man from sensual Lusts and inordinate Passions and to transform it into the likeness and Image of God This is that which it pursues by discovering to us Excellent Truths and by recommending to us the practice of Excellent Vertues And this was that Philosophy which the best and acutest of the Heathens look't upon as the only way to Happiness so far were they from judging it inconsistent and incompatible with it nay they deem'd this very state of Vertue a state of more Exalted Happiness and an Image of the Divine Life hence is that little less than Inspir'd Heat or Rapture of Tully L. 2. de Leg. Cum animus cognitis perceptisque virtutibus à Corporis obsequio indulgentiaque discesserit voluptatemque sicut labem decoris oppresserit omnemque mortis Dolorisque timorem effugerit Societatemque Charitatis colerit cum suis omnesque natura conjunctos suos duxerit Cultumque Deorum puram Religionem susceperit exacuerit illam ut oculorum sic Ingenii Aciem ad bona deligenda rejicienda Contraria Quid eo dici aut excogitari poterit beatius When the Soul having discover'd and entertain'd Vertue has extinguish't its fondness for and indulgence of the Body and stifled Lust as the Reproach and Stain of its Honour and Beauty and hath put off all dread of Death and Pain c. What can be said or as much as fancied more blessed than the state of such a man Nay after all the greatest Patrons and Abettors of Pleasure did ever acknowledge this moderation in our Passions and Enjoyments indispensibly Necessary to our Happiness Nil admirari prope res est una Numici Solaque quae possit facere ac servare beatos Hor. Nought to admire's the thing alone that can Cause and Preserve the Happiness of Man And 't is well known how much the followers of Epicurus gloried in his Abstinence that these Voluptuaries should prescribe and practise the Doctrine of Mortification but this they were compelled to by the irresistible force of Reason for how can he who doats upon the World and melts in soft and sensual Pleasures be able to secure the repose of his Mind against those melancholy Alterations which may daily and some time or other will certainly befall himself and his Enjoyments on what foundation can the Peace or Liberty of his Mind be Establish't or can he be Happy who is distress't by every change of Weather and is divided and distracted between numerous contrary Passions and a slave to each To come to a Conclusion the Scripture is so far from denying that it do's affirm the possibility of attaining Happiness nor are the
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
wise from subjection to Time and Chance which is all that Solomon complains of here but notwithstanding I must ever think with him Eccles 2. that Wisdom excels folly as much as light doth darkness not only because chearful delightful to it self but also because 't is the Happiest guide of humane Life blest generally with success as well as Rich in intrinsick Good and in some measure self-sufficient Nor do's our English Proverb Fools have the fortune imply any more than that the Prosperity of Fools is to be imputed to their Fortune that of Wise men to their Merit that success do's commonly wait upon Vertue and Wisdom and nothing but an extraordinary Chance can turn it upon the Fool or Sinner thô all this while I understand Success in things necessary not superfluous for I cannot see how it can be any disparagement to Providence to turn that Plenty another way which would not like soft distilling Rains and Dew cherish refresh and increase the tender Plants Wisdom and Vertue but like a Flood wash away the Earth from their Roots and either utterly extirpate 'em or leave 'em oppress'd and buried in Rubbish If this were not true if the Experience as well as Reason of Mankind did not confirm it Men would not serve Apprentiships to Trades Men would not study Arts or Sciences Men would not strive with toil and hazard to make their Point but lazily and securely stay till Fortune rain its Golden Showers into their Laps By a Recapitulation of all that has been hitherto discours'd it may easily appear how far I have advanc'd in the proof of that Assertion I undertook to make Good namely that Happiness may be attain'd in this World I have shew'd that Religion doth no way obstruct our present Happiness that Duty of Mortification which it enjoyns not forbidding us to allow the World a proper place in our Esteem but to over-value it but to doat upon it not forbidding us the Enjoyment but abuse of the things of this World No man therefore will ever be able to prove that this Doctrine is injurious to our Happiness till he be able to convince us that 't is indispensibly necessary to our Happiness to doat upon these Temporal things and to be as irrational and intemperate in our Enjoyment of 'em as our Passion for 'em which he can never go about to do without contradicting not only reveal'd Truth but also the Universal Reason and Experience of Mankind I have in the next place shew'd that some are happier than others or at least less miserable That this Distinction of the Condition or state of Men is to be imputed to the Vertues of some and the Vices of others I have shew'd in the last place that the World abounds with good things that there is no Appetite nor Capacity of Man that may not find Objects proper and agreeable and such as in a great measure may delight and satisfie and that Man is endow'd with such a variety of faculties and senses that there is scarce any thing in all the variety of Beings the World contains which he is not capable of enjoying From whence it clearly follows That Man may be happy in the Enjoyment of these good things unless the Evil of life sour and imbitter the Good or the attainment of the Good be out of the Power of Man to remove all suspicion of both which I discours'd something thô briefly of the Nature of Evil and the Nature of Man evincing plainly the Impotence and Feebleness of the one and the Strength and Preparations of the other and for the Close of all I have endeavour'd to make it manifest that Good and Evil are not so much the Result of Time or Chance c. as the Necessary Consequence of Wisdom and Folly From all which the Conclusion that naturally arises is this That if Man be miserable 't is his own fault or which is all one a Man may be happy if he will which was the thing to be prov'd Let us try now by a Close Application of all that has been said to the Wants and Necessities of Mankind what the Evidence what the Conviction what the real use and force of this Discourse is I am unhappy I am miserable whoe're thou art that say'st so thou must needs mean one of these two things Thou do'st enjoy no good or art opprest with Evil If the latter I demand what Evil speak out speak plainly There are three sorts of Evils the Evils of the Mind the Evils of the Body the Evils of Fortune Which of those art thou opprest by The Evils of the Mind These are either sinful Passions or what is the Effect of them guilty Fears Nothing can compel thee to be wicked cease to be wicked and thou wilt cease to fear The Evils of the Body they are generally the Effect of unruly Passions and a disorderly Life and where they are not the Pleasures of the Mind will outweigh the Pains of the Body The Evils of Fortune 't is in thy Power whether these shall be really Evils or no they befall thy Possessions not thee the foolish and vicious Mind only suffers in these the Wise and Vertuous one is much above them 't is therefore thy own fault if thou be oppressed with Evil. But wilt thou say the former I enjoy no Good no satisfactory Good why is there no Good to be enjoy'd I have already prov'd the contrary and if I had not how easie were it here to do it there 's Truth to entertain thy Understanding Moral Perfections to delight thy Will Variety of Objects to treat thy senses the Excellencies of the visible and invisible World to be enjoy'd by thee why then do'st thou defer to live why do'st thou not begin to enjoy here 't is Evident that thou must be forc't to say one of these Two things either That thou art not capable of Enjoying these Blessings or that they are out of thy Reach out of thy Power to say thou art not capable of 'em is to re-renounce the faculties of thy Soul and the senses of thy Body to say they are out of thy Reach is in Effect to say that Vertue and Vice Wisdom and Folly are all one or which is every jot as absur'd that thou art wicked and sottish and can'st not help it And this is that indeed which in Effect all do say that accuse Fortune or Fate or Nature or any thing but themselves as the Causes of their Misery and yet as absur'd as this is it must be now examin'd because the Minds of Men are perverted and discourag'd by such Notions I will proceed therefore to the Third thing propos'd That is SECT III. To answer the Objections against the Attainment of Happiness THose who deny the Possibility of attaining Happiness in this Life are of two sorts First such who argue from Experience and Observation without troubling themselves to assign any Reason or Cause of what they affirm No man ever has
hands that Life or Death Plenty or Poverty every thing depends upon his Will for the Winds and Seas Earth and Air Fire Hail and Vapour obey his Voice and are all of 'em as often as he pleases the Instruments and Executioners of his Will he that stills the Ragings of the Multitude and becalms the Passions of the Mighty he at whose Command new Creatures enter upon the Stage of the World and the old leave it what is it impossible for him to do nay what is it this Almighty Governor cannot do without moving one step out of the Common Road of his Providence without imploying any extraordinary Instrument or exerting any Act of extraordinary Power for what Secular Interest can there be imagin'd whose Success or Disappointment depends not upon some or other of these Natural Causes And yet we must acknowledge further Thirdly That the Almighty has not prefixt or set himself such immutable inalterable Laws but that he has reserv'd to himself the Prerogative of suspending or over-ruling 'em when he pleases I mean with respect to the Motions of Natural Bodies or Revolutions of Secular Affairs and if such an Interposal of Divine Power cannot be conceiv'd to be other than a Miracle I must confess I do not look upon one Age only but every Age an Age of Miracles Nay I believe such as these wrought every Day for the Protection or Relief of those who depend upon this Governor of the World for I know not to what purpose I should like Jonah or his Mariners call upon God in a Storm if it were never to be laid till it had naturally spent its force and fury I know not to what purpose I should implore the Almighty's direction upon all my Deliberations in perplex't and intangled Affairs if I could expect no other Light than what my Labouring Mind could give it self I know not why I should address my self to God in the Pains and Danger of an insupportable Disease if the Medicines will be the same and their Vertue the same if the Feaver will abate and its flames be extinguish't or extinguish life in the same degree and manner if I Pray or if I do not All these ways of Divine Providence are very plain and intelligible and therefore 't is manifest that we may without any absurdity ascribe to God such a Super-intendency and Direction over Humane Affairs as may render the issue of 'em most serviceable to the true interest of those that Worship him As to the second Part of Divine Assistance which consists in aiding us in the Attainment of Holiness and Vertue I do readily acknowledge as far as this is perform'd by the internal Operations of his Spirit by the Influx of Divine Light or Heavenly Vigour I do no more understand the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the manner of Sanctification than that of the Creation of the Soul This I know that Vertue is the Rational work of a Rational Creature 't is the work of Man thô assisted by God 't is a Rational work which implies the Knowledge of our Duty and a Power to perform it and therefore this I know that this aid must consist in the Improvement of my rational Faculties in some accession to the Reason of my Understanding and to the Power and Liberty of my Will Now thô I cannot comprehend how God does this yet how easily can I believe it possible for him to do it since 't is natural to imagine that he who created my Understanding can improve it and he who invested me with a Rational Liberty can confirm or enlarge it or if you please rescue it from that diseas'd and servile Condition unto which it was degenerated and restore it to the health and soundness of its first State The Third Act of Divine Providence does not imply a new manner but a new degree of Assistance and therefore contains in it no further Difficulty this time which I have spent upon the illustration of Divine Goodness towards Man will not I hope be judg'd mis-imploy'd or lost if it be consider'd that such is the Confidence or rather such is the wantonness of some Men that they reject every thing which carries in it I will not say any seeming Contradiction but any seeming Difficulty But it doth not so nearly concern the Happiness of Man to be instructed in the manner as to be throughly perswaded of the Truth of Divine Assistance and therefore choosing rather to be tedious than defective in the proof of it I will add to those Arguments taken from the Nature of God whatever force and strength can be derived from the Consideration of Divine Government which is the Expression of the Divine Nature and the Image of its Perfection visible in its Effects The Gospel contains this Doctrine in almost every Page and the lives of Apostles and Martyrs are so many illustrious Instances of the Divine Faithfulness and Love performing those Promises which he had made 'em by his Son The Jewish Polity was a Theocracy God did for a great while preside over 'em immediately and govern 'em if I may so speak without a Substitute or Vice-roy Repeated Miracles repeated Prophecies extraordinary Manifestations of himself and extraordinary Revelations were the Illustrious proofs of God's affection and care for that People so that it were to insult over my Reader 's Patience or to reproach his Stupidity if I should go about to confirm this Truth from the old or New Testament 't is therefore only necessary to Examine what the Heathen thought of the Necessity of this Divine Assistance and what instances of it may be found amongst them whether the Gentiles had any Notion of the Fall and Corruption of Man is not here Necessary to be enquir'd but this I am sure they were extreamly sensible of that opposition which Vertue met with from the World and the Body they were extreamly sensible that the Inclinations of the one and the Affluence and Troubles of the other did naturally tend to engage 'em in Vice and therefore thô they do sometimes magnifie Humane Nature yet they were not so forgetful of their own Infirmities or the Condition of this Life as not to judge the Assistance of God indispensably necessary to render them Vertuous and Happy Hence 't is that Pythagoras Socrates and Plato were Eminent in that part of Religion which consists in Prayer and Invocation Max. Tâ—t Disser 30. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The life of Socrates was a life of Prayer And hence it was that they did generally ascribe their Laws to those Gods from whom they received their Oracles The Cretanes Romans c. not more Confidently believing that they received their Laws from Minos Numa Pompilius c. than that these received them from Jove Aegeria and other Gods and I wonder not that Cicero should somewhere say Nunquam vir magnus sine Divino afflatu That there never was a great Man who enjoy'd not some Divine Impulse since
Power I attribute to Man I acknowledge deriv'd from God I will therefore with good Assurance proceed and try whether I cannot take in and demolish this Fort which stops our way to Happiness They who affirm a great part of Mankind incapable of Vertue forget that they dishonour God whilst they reproach their Nature for were it so To what End could we imagine such Men endow'd with Reason and Understanding not to worship but defie their Maker and was it for this End that they were made immortal too had God made Man only to take his Pastime in the World like the Leviathan in the Waves such a Soul as that which moves the Fish of the Sea or the Beasts of the Earth a Sensitive Soul had been most proper for this End Then might he have enjoy'd himself without Reluctancy without Controul without Remorse without Shame what can be the proper work of a rational Creature to which you allow not a Capacity of Vertue and Religion till you can shew me this I can never believe that God shou'd endow Man with a Rational and Immortal Mind out of any other Design than such a one as might become such a Being Created after his own Image which is the Practice of Holiness and Vertue But what shou'd I wonder that Men shou'd not be aware of their contradicting Reason when they seem to be insensible of that Contradiction even to the common Sense and Experience of Mankind which they are guilty of To what purpose are there so many Schools of Learning and good Manners founded To what purpose are there so many Treatises of the Education of Youth writ To what purpose does the wakeful Parent strive to inculcate the Seeds of Vertue into the Child and train him up by a wise Discipline to the Practice and Custom of Vertue To what purpose is the proposal of Rewards and Punishments and the Restraint of Laws if either they do not raise those Hopes and Fears they aim at or if Hopes and Fears be altogether useless and ineffectual if no Instruction no Discipline can mould and fashion rough unpolish't crooked incorrigible Nature Now here thô any Man might have confidence enough to disparage the judgment of Mankind and attribute all the Pains they take in the Education of Youth or the Government and Direction of riper Years to Custom not to right Reason yet surely he wou'd not so far disparage his own Observation and Knowledge as utterly to deny the success of these means for not to instance in particulars 't is not unknown to any one the least vers'd in the History of the World that there have been National Vertues as well as Vices That there have been times wherein Learning and Religion have been as much in Fashion and Reputation as Wickedness and Barbarism in others shall we say those Nations those times bred none of those Natures which the Objector affirms are uncapable of Vertue Let 'em shew what Heavenly Influences what miraculous Power produc'd this Change in Nature what shou'd I urge the Power of vain and false principles the mighty force even of irrational Customs vanquishing those Inclinations which are more deeply rooted more closely interwove with our Blood and Spirits than any Inclination to Vice and Folly can be Such are for Example the love of Life and the Abhorrence of Pain and yet what a Contempt of Death is to be found even in the most timorous Sex as in the Indian Women what a Contempt of Pain even in the weakest Age as in the Spartan Youth And all this having no stronger Foundation than irrational Custom and vain Phantastic Principles why shou'd we therefore be unwilling to attribute to excellent Principles and vertuous Customs blessed and aided by Heaven as much Power and Vertue as we do to such as these if the Natural tendencies of Man to wickedness can be curbed if his most furious and violent Passions can be restrain'd and stifled then I think it may be as reasonably suppos'd that Divine Truths Religious Discipline together with the Grace of God may effect this as any thing else whatever If the pressing Necessities and Perplexities of the State could change the softness and luxury of Otho into Military Hardship and Courage I know not why a rational sense of the true Honour and Glory of Vertue and of our Eternal Interest and innumerable other Considerations which the Gospel lays before us Christians shou'd not be able to work the same wonders if the Reverence of Seneca or the Senate or any other Motive could produce a Quinquennium Neronis could restrain the violent Inclinations of that wretched Man so that his Government for so many years should be as gentle and just as that of the most Gracious and Vertuous Princes why should not the Reverence of God and the Terrors of Eternity be able to awe and curb the most vicious Nature This methinks ought well to be weigh'd by all who assert Man's Impotence and Incapacity of Vertue they disparage the Gospel and reproach Grace as well as Man with Impotence and Insufficiency and yet both the one and the other is the Power of God and that in order to Salvation do you Consider that if you suppose Man by Nature unable to do any thing that is Good and then deny him and utterly debar him from God's Grace you introduce Fate for what more fatal Necessity can a wretched Creature lie under than Natural Impotence utterly destitute and for ever forsaken of Divine Assistance or if you bereave not Man of Grace but yet bereave Grace of its Sufficiency do you not understand that the fatal Necessity continues still the same there is no Change in the Man's Condition only in this Hypothesis Grace is dishonoured and reproach't as well as Nature and this reflects very rudely too upon God it calls the Wisdom the Goodness the Sincerity the Power of God into Dispute 't is inconsistent with the Power of God not to be able by his Spirit and Truth to subdue and over-power the Corruptions of Nature 't is Inconsistent with his Goodness not to be willing to aid his poor Creatures when they call upon him inconsistent with his Sincerity to afford 'em such aid as must tend to their greater mischief not good as Grace its self wou'd if it were only sufficient to increase their Guilt but not to subdue their Sin This were indeed when a Child ask't Bread to give him a Stone Matth. 7. and when he ask't Fish to gie him a Scorpion 'T is lastly as inconsistent with the Wisdom of God to confer Grace to no purpose as it was with his Goodness to confer it to an ill one These with many others are the absurd Consequences which attend the Denyal of the Vniversality or Sufficiency of Grace but if on the other hand we do grant that God Almighty is ready to assist every Man who calls on him in his Endeavours after Vertue and Happiness and that his Assistance is sufficient to
Paul when he had recited a Catalogue of such Sinners as shou'd not enter into the Kingdom of God doth afterwards add 1 Cor. 6. and such were some of you but ye are wash't but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God And Tertullian does appeal to the Power and Efficacy of the Christian Religion visible in the Extirpation of vicious Habits wrought by it as a proof of its Divine Original nor are such Instances as these wanting this Day These as they do now refute all the Idle Excuses of Sinners so will they one Day be urg'd in Judgment against 'em to convince 'em that they owe their Ruine to their sloth and obstinacy not their Impotence thô these Men ought to remember too that Moral Impotence is ever deriv'd from a voluntary Neglect or Contempt of all the means of Happiness and Vertue I think I might now dismiss this Objection having given full satisfaction to all scruples that might disturb or discourage any well-meaning and honest Mind and evidently defeated the pretences of such as wou'd fain shroud and shelter their voluntary Sin Folly under the feign'd Excuses of Impotence Incapacity and insupportable Infirmity or insuperable Temptations for all these are mix't and combin'd in every part of the former Objection and receive one and the same Answer But I foresee I shall be thought in this whole Discourse to have had too little regard to our Original Corruption and Divine Assistance and therefore thô I endeavour'd to guard it in the beginning against all sinister Interpretation I will here add a brief account of both especially as far as it shall appear to me to concern my present Enquiry First The Corruption of Nature Consider'd As to the Natural Corruption of Man if Corruption may be call'd Natural on the account of the Tendency of our sensitive Inclinations some things are very plain some very obscure what is plain is this what the present state of Man is with respect to that Righteousness which the Gospel requires what is obscure is this what the state of Adam before the Fall was without a clear knowledge of which 't is impossible to determine how much our Nature is now degenerated as is supposed from the Primitive Purity and Excellency of its Creation Secondly how Guilt and Corruption could be transmitted or deriv'd from Adam upon his Posterity Thirdâ—y What can be suppos'd properly speaking to be the Demerit Offence or Provocation of Original Corruption what Punishment can be due to it divided and separated from Voluntary Transgressions These and a great many things of the like Nature I purposely pass over as either of no great Importance in themselves or at leastwise of no great Use to my present Enquiry and go on to what is Plain and Necessary and that is What the present state and Condition of Humane Nature is for nothing can be more Evident than that the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit Gal. 5. and the Spirit against the Flesh These two being contrary one to another in their Tendencies and Inclinations This Conflict or Opposition of Spirit and Body discovers it self the more the more pure and perfect the Law is that we are under This tendency of the Body is so apparent and undeniable that it was ever acknowledg'd by all Wise Heathens Hence the * Plotinus Ennead 1. lib. 1. c. 9. Enn. 2. lib. 3. c. 15. Enn. 3. lib. 1. c. 8. Aug. de Civ Dei Platonics frequently impute the Diminution of the Power and Liberty of the Soul of Man to its Conjunction with the Body and Hence it was that some of 'em whom St. Austin refutes by giving an Account of the Nature of the rais'd Body rejected the Christian Doctrine of the Resurrection judging the restitution of the Body rather a diminution of than accession to the Happiness of the Mind The Pythagoreans look't upon the Body as the Prison and the Punishment of the Soul and in short the Philosophy of the Heathens did consist chiefly in this the subduing the Appetites of the Body to the Reason of the Mind and this appears most plainly to be the Drift and Scope of Christian Philosophy From whence it follows that the Disorder of Humane Nature call it Original Corruption or what you please consists in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lust and Concupiscence of the Flesh This is Evident from all the Writings of St. Paul especially Romans the 7th and this is the sense of our Church Art the 9th Nor indeed are we Capable of Imagining any other Corruption in Man for if there be a Conflict betwixt Right Reason and Carnal Appetite if the Tendency of the Body and the Mind be opposite and controdictory 't is Nonsence to suppose both Corrupt and Sinful for then the Contradiction and Conflict wou'd cease From hence it follows plainly that we are born with Capacities of and Inclinations to Vertue as well as Vice thô nothing be more manifest than that the Appetite of the Body exerts it self first grows up to Strength and Maturity soonest and doth more powerfully and forcibly move than the Suggestions and Perswasions of Reason Secondly It is from hence plain that a state of Righteousness consists in the prevalency of the Mind over the Body and a state of Sin in the prevalency of the Body over the Mind And from hence appears the Necessity of * Divine Assistance or Grace Consider'd Divine Grace or Assistance for since the Dominion of Righteousness cannot be Establish't but in the subjection of the Body and the Body doth in Power so much o'rematch the Mind the Appetites of it being both more forward more violent more constant I had almost said more Natural than the Dictates of Reason and this Power receiving daily increase and augmentation by a sensual Education and by a daily and unavoidable Commerce with the World and those Temptations which awaken gratifie and enflame the Appetites of the Body it were morally impossible that the Mind shou'd master and o'recome the Body if it were not aided by Divine Grace and Assistance but then it must be remembred that 't is repugnant to the very Notion of Aid or Assistance that it should make void the Necessity of our own Endeavours as the Light of Revelation doth not extinguish that of Reason but increase it so neither does the strength of God's Grace render our Natural strength useless but improve and help it This added to what I have said before comprises all that is necessary to be known concerning Grace and may be reduc'd to these three or four Heads First That the Grace of God is necessary to enable us to live Vertuously and Happily Secondly That Grace does not extinguish Nature or cancel our Obligation to Industry or a careful use of that Natural Power God has invested us with Thirdly That God is most ready and desirous to further and assist all Men in their
Courage and Hopes it inspires in Affliction what Magnanimity and Humility in Prosperity and in a word what Light what Serenity it diffuses through the whole Man we shall see in many Instances every Day what the Mischief of irrational Desires and ungovernable Passions are and on the contrary how great the Advantages how charming the Beauty of Truth and Vertue of Wisdom and the Due Government and Regulation of all our Passions Nor is the Instruction and Illumination of our Understanding promoted by every Accident which falls under our Observation and by all sorts of People with whom we converse the only Advantage which we shall reap from the prefixing our selves a rational End of Life and the possessing our Souls with the Love of it for when we have done this we shall be actually freed from the greater part at least of the Troubles and Calamities of Life we shall be rais'd above all senseless silly Desires and consequently above all senseless silly Vexations and Griefs and unmanly Complaints for when we have set our Hearts upon true and rational Happiness how unnecessary nay how despicable will most of those things appear which we now admire and Covet we shall not then think it reasonable to sigh and toil for this House or that Land for this Preferment or that Trade this Honour or that Beauty for these are no Essential no Necessary Ingredients of a Rational Happiness Nor is this all thy Joys and Pleasures will grow and increase upon thee for by approaching every day nearer and nearer to thy great End thou wilt be wonderfully surpriz'd with fresh Delight whil'st thou do'st behold the fruit of thy Travail the Advantage of thy Philosophy and the daily increase of thy Wealth thou wilt see thy self like a thriving Plant grow up daily more strong and beautiful the toil of others sorts to no Happy End The Covetous Man grows not Richer by Heaping up nor the Ambitious Man greater by rising higher or at least neither grows Happier by being either Richer or Greater but thou wilt every day grow wiser by study more Vertuous by Practice Calmer and Happier by both O to what a height and Perfection will thy Pleasure rise when thy store shall grow big enough to Feast and Entertain not thy self only but all Men else when the thirsty shall come and drink at thy Streams and the scorch't shall refresh themselves under thy shade when thou led by the same Spirit with our great Lord and Master shalt open the Eyes of the Blind and the Ears of the Deaf shalt cast out Devils and strengthen the Feet of the Lame I mean when thou shalt teach the foolish Wisdom when thou shalt perswade and Charm the Obstinate when thou shalt deliver the Unclean and the Passionate from the Evil Spirits the Vices that possess'd 'em and when thou shalt teach the Enslav'd and Impotent Sinner how to overcome the World the Flesh and the Devil thou wilt then indeed as thou art the Image so do the Works of God thou wilt be a Heavenly and Tutelar thô mortal Angel amongst Men and wherever thou dost there Wisdom Vertue and Happiness will dwell too But to attain to this state 't is not only Necessary to prefix our selves a Rational End of Life But also Secondly We must pursue this End with Life and Spirit and Constancy It is not a good Fit or a Devout Passion that will make us either Vertuous or Happy there must go more than this to conquer an ill habit or implant a good one 't is not one brisk Sally or one warm Charge that will subdue the World and Flesh and put us into an entire Possession of Victory and Security No when Warmth and Passion have made a prosperous Impression on the Enemy a sober Patience must make good the ground we have gain'd a steady and resolved Courage must urge and press the Advantage to an Issue without Vigour Patience Constancy to carry us still forwards the warmth and Passion with which we begin the Course of Vertue will stand us in little stead Ah! how many have march't out of Egypt and perish't in the Wilderness how many have wreck't within sight of Shore How many have lost their Reward of Repentance by their Relapse and Revolt how many have fallen by Negligence Security and Sloth into that wretched state out of which they had once deliver'd themselves by Courage and Resolution and Self-denial Nor is the Necessity of Vigour Patience and Constancy in our pursuit of Happiness the only Motive to it the Certainty of Success and the Greatness and Eminence of the Advantages which attend it are sufficient to animate and encourage any Man that seriously Considers it the Labour and Hope of the Husbandman is lost unless the fruitful Earth and fruitful Seed be bless'd with fruitful Seasons too The Trade of the Merchant is properly but Adventuring and his increase depends as much on Winds and Waves and other as uncertain Chances as on his own Skill and Diligence Fortune must assist the Courage and the Conduct of the Soldier or else Poverty and Dishonour will be the only purchase of his Blood and hazard But it fares not thus with Man in his pursuit of true Happiness the Traffick of the Philosopher depends not upon Winds nor Tide the Seeds of Vertue if the Ground be well Cultivated will thrive in any Weather and sometimes better in Storms than Sun-shine and finally the success of our Conflicts against Sin and Misery depends not on our Fortune but our Courage and our Industry How unspeakable a Pleasure is it now to think that we cannot be disappointed in our Travails nor defeated of our Hopes while we Labour for Vertue and Happiness if our Endeavours be sincere and persevering our success is certain and unquestionable but what an accession doth this Pleasure receive when we consider what will be the glorious fruit of this Success Tranquillity Chearfulness Greatness and Enlargement of Soul Indolence Pleasure Life Immortality Security and in one word Happiness O Glorious reward of our Conflict and our Victories what neither Wealth nor Greatness nor Honour nor Crowns what neither Blood nor Toil nor Cunning nor Fortune can give that Rational and sincere Endeavours after Wisdom and Vertue will give the meanest Man upon Earth that is Happiness O Blessed Issue of Philosophical that is truly Christian Travail the Rich the Great the Honourable the Mighty may Complain even of their success and repent 'em of the Purchase they have made at too dear a Rate but the Philosopher the Christian can never repent of the success of his Study his Self-denial his Patience his Prayers for how is it possible to complain of being Happy or repent of being Wise and Vertuous there is nothing Empty nothing Evil nothing Mean nothing Uncertain in true Wisdom in Rational Happiness This brief general Account of Happiness of the way to it does naturally instruct us how we are to treat the Body and what
innocent nay if we will extend Principles to their just Consequence as commendable and worthy of Praise as the Industrious and Temperate the Meek and Gentle the Just and Charitable for this must inevitably follow if neither Men's Vertues nor Vices be in any degree to be ascribed to themselves wretched and desperate is that shift that equals the just and unjust the industrious and the sluggard the great Mind that stands upright under and outbraves Misfortune and the degenerous one which effeminately shrinks and breaks under it wretched the Shift that equals the Tyrant and most gracious Prince the loyallest Subject and the Traitor the faithful Friend and the perfidious Flatterer and all this we must be driven to or else as we cannot deny that some are Happier than others so we must not deny that the Happiness of the one or Misery of the other is owing in some measure at least to their Vertues and Vices and these to themselves And if this be true 't is evident we may be Happy if we will and thô we may not equal the most Happy for I will not exclude Temper Education Fortune from all share in Men's Misery or Happiness yet since every degree of Happiness is truly valuable let us with all our might endeavour to be as Happy as we can Horat. Nec quia desperes invicti membri Glyconis Nodosa Corpus noli prohibere Chyragra Est quiddam prodire tenus The mighty Glyco's strength you can't attain Don't therefore scorn to free your Limbs from Pain Of Knotty Gout Ease thô not Strength to gain Is no small Happiness But to pursue our proof 2. Because there is Good and Evil in the World It is a great absurdity to confound or equal Vertue and Vice but 't is not the greatest they commit who deny the possibility of attaining Happiness for he that banishes Happiness out of the World do's at the same time banish Good and Evil out of it too for Good being nothing else but the subserviency of some things to our true Interest and Pleasure and Evil the tendency of others to our trouble and injury it must needs follow if there be Good and Evil in the World that he who has a greater share of Good than Evil is a Happy man and he that denieth Good and Evil may with as plausible a Confidence deny all Humane Passions and assert that there is neither Love nor Hatred neither Joy nor Grief nor Hope nor Fear nor Pity nor Envy for Good or Evil are the Objects or Causes of all these I may then I think take it for granted that no man will take the Confidence to say that there is no such thing as Good or Evil in the World and consequently all men must be oblig'd to acknowledge such a state as Happiness in the World too unless they will affirm one of these three things either First That Evil grows up every where in thick Crops Good thin scatter'd and rarely to be found epecially grown up to its maturity That consequently there are none whose share of Evil doth not infinitely outweigh that of Good Or Secondly That Evil hath so much of Venom and Malignity in it that a little Evil contributes more to our Misery than a great Deal of Good can to our Happiness so ripe and full grown is Evil so lank under-grown and every way imperfect is Good in this World Or Thirdly That we our selves can contribute nothing to that Good or Evil which is our Portion 't is the Product not of Reason or Industry but of Time and Chance or of some other Principle which is not in our Power All these deserve to be weigh'd not only because the Examination of 'em will tend to chear and encourage the Minds of Men and to render the great Creator and Governour of the World more dear and venerable to us but also because it will be of some use and service to the whole Inquiry First 1. Evils not more than Goods in the World Therefore let us examine what Truth there is in that fancy which supposes the weight and number of Evils in the World infinitely to exceed that of Good things I know there are a sort of sour and murmuring of proud and ambitious Wretches who deal with their God as with their Prince or Patrons and estimate Favours and Benefits not according to their Merit but Expectation greedy and haughty Expectation which even Prodigal Bounty cannot satisfie 't is the strange temper of some men that they wither and grow lean with Discontent and Envy even whil'st their studied Meals distract the wanton Appetite and their very Attendance are sleek and full and fat with the Remains of their Feasts and the meanest of their Relations thrive into Pride and Insolence by the mere sprinklings of their Plenty I know 't is Natural to some to Blaspheme God and the King to quarrel with and reproach Providence and the Government while loaded with good things they stretch themselves on Silken Couches under Roofs of Cedar or loll at Ease in their gilt Coaches and yet at the same time the honest Countrey-man who with Security thô much Drudgery Ploughs and Sows and Reaps a few Acres Eats his plain Meals with Cheerfulness Sleeps without Disturbance Blesses God and magnifies the goodness of his Prince The Contentment of the One is an evident proof of the Divine Bounty and Goodness whose Provision doth far exceed the Necessities of his Creatures The Discontent of th' other can be no disparagement to the Goodness of our Creator who has dealt extremely liberally with 'em thô they enjoy not what they possess we are not therefore to judge of the World by the Clamours and Invectives of such as are always mutinous and dissatisfy'd but by the suffrages of those humble modest and grateful Souls who know how to value the Favours of Heaven and themselves as they ought to do who do not marr and corrupt every Blessing by Peevishness or Envy or Pride or Wantonness but can weigh their Enjoyments their Hopes and their Merits in just and equal Ballances and discerning how much the one do's exceed the other chearfully adore and praise the World's Author and Governour If this Controversie were to be determin'd by such we should find these even under uneasie and Tyrannical Governments and in the more barren and niggardly Countries confuting this Objection by their Chearfulness and Contentment what would they have done if Providence had planted 'em there where a fertile Soil and thriving Trade had unladed the Wealth and Plenty of the World into their Arms and a mild and gentle Government had secur'd and guarded their Enjoyments But let us decide the Controversie not by Votes but Reasons let us consider the State and Nature of the World is there one in a Thousand who is left utterly unfurnish't of all means of wise and wholesome Instruction which is the Good of the Soul of Man or is there one in a Thousand maim'd and