superadded to the reason of our Minds is of strength sufficient to subdue all the Temptations to evil if the Creation below us by natural instinct doth those things that are regular shall not these higher Principles do the like always preserve us from known evil and determine us to that which is morally good This is the course of things in Nature every Habit begun is greatly weakened by a forbearance of Acts for every thing must be kept up in the way it was produced a Disposition is first wrought by some Acts and if Act be not continued upon Act the Disposition will fail for things that are not brought to a State of Perfection will go back again if they be not maintained in the same way that they were produced Wherefore it will be worth the while to enquire what our most holy Religion aims at and after what manner it doth affect the Person in whom it is lodged Now Religion makes us live up to our highest Faculties and teaches us to practise such Virtues as become rational Beings who bear the Image of the Immortal God and are exalted above the Inferior Creation prompts us to scorn all Actions that are base unhansom or unworthy our State and Relation in which we stand to our Creator forbids us to do any thing that will make us like Beasts or that would sink us into a lower order by Sensuality and Carnal-mindedness or that would transform us into the likeness of Devils by Pride Presumption and Self conceit makes us God-like in Wisdom Righteousness Goodness Charity Compassion in forgiving Injuries pardoning Enemies and in doing hurt to none but good to all as we have power and opportunity advises us to follow the conduct of true and sincere Reason tames the Extravagancy of our Passions and regulates the Exorbitances of the Will permits us the pleasures of our Bodies so far as they may give no disturbance to the Mind produces a sweet and gracious Temper of Soul calm in it self and loving to Mankind begets in us freedom of Spirit and banishes groundless Fears foolish Imaginations and dastardly Thoughts teaches us to have right Conceptions of God that he doth transact all things with Mankind as a loving Father with his Children creates in us a rational Satisfaction and the joy of a good Conscience advances the Soul to its just Sovereignty over inferior Appetites which would disable it for all good and vertuous Acts and render us weak foolish and unfit for any thing that is generous or noble strengthens our Reason against the Onsets of the World Flesh and Devil which is effected chiefly by stifling all manner of Intemperance for it is this that frustrates the Work of Religion either by stupifying or imaging the Spirits or by putting them into irregular Motions 16. An Exhortation to the Practice of Religion Now therefore let us consider whether or no this Religion doth govern our Lives which we must learn not by our acquaintance with Systems and Models of Divinity but by our keeping its Commandments For unless Christ be inwardly formed in our Hearts the Notions of Religion can save us no more than Arts and Sciences whilst they lye only in Books and Papers without us can make us learned For Christ Jesus did not undergo a reproachful Life and Death merely to bring in a Notion into the World without the changing mending and reforming it so that Men might still be as wicked as they were before and as much under the Power of the Prince of Darkness Indeed Christ came to expiate and attone for our Sins but the end of this was that we might forsake all Ungodliness and worldly Lusts 'T is true there be some that dishearten us in this spiritual Warfare and bring an ill Report upon that Land which we are to conquer telling of nothing but strange Giants the Sons of Anak that we shall never be able to subdue others would suggest that it is enough for us if we be but once in a state of Grace we need not take so great pains to travel any farther or that Christ hath done all for us already without us and nothing need more to be done within us Hearken not to them I beseech you but hear what Caleb and Joshua say Let us go up at once and possess it for we are able to overcome them the hugest Armies of Lusts not by our own Strength but by the Power of the Lord of Hosts hear also the wholsom Words of S. Peter Give all diligence to add to your Faith Virtue and to Virtue Knowledg to Knowledg Temperance and to Temperance Patience to Patience Godliness and to Godliness brotherly Kindness and to brotherly Kindness Charity for if these things be in you and abound they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledg of our Lord Jesus Christ For Holiness hath something of God in it and therefore it must needs be a victorious and triumphant thing And as the Devils are always active to encourage Evil so the heavenly Host of blessed Angels are as busie in promoting that which is good for we cannot imagin but that the Kingdom of Light should be as true to its own Interest and as vigilant for the enlarging it self as the Kingdom of Darkness But then by Holiness is not meant a mere Performance of the outward Duties of Religion but an inward Soul and Principle of divine Life that enliveneth the dead Carcast of all our outward Devotions For this is the vulgar Error of Mankind they have dreadful Apprehensions of Fire and Brimstone whilst they feed in their Hearts a true and living Fire that is the Hell of Lusts which miserably scorches their Souls and they are not concerned at it they do not perceive how Hell steals upon them whilst they live here And as for Heaven they gaze abroad for it as for some great and high Preferment that must come from without and never look for the beginnings of it to arise within in their own Minds Whereas nothing without us can make us either happy or miserable nothing can either defile or hurt us but what goeth out from us I shall now shut up all with these two Considerations to persuade you farther to the Love of Virtue From the desire we all have after Truth which is not held up by wrangling Disputes and syllogistical Reasonings but by the Purity of our Hearts and Lives neither would it fail of overcoming the World did not the Sensuality of our Dispositions and the Darkness of our false Hearts stop its passage And from the Desires we have of a true Reformation which must be begun in our own Hearts and Lives for all outward Forms and Models thereof are of little worth without the inward Amendment of our own Souls For the baser Metals are not changed by their being cast into a good Mold or by being made up in an elegant Figure neither will adulterate Silver pass when the Touch-stone tryes it neither can we
and goodness of Divine Providence that we were not left to take our own course but were rescued from Sin and misery ignorance and darkness by so kind an Hand ALL that we have to do is to obey his Commandments and this is the best way to encrease our knowledg in Religion For the practice of a Trade shall give a Man a truer knowledg of it than reading all the Books that ever were writ about it and so we shall better know a Countrey by travelling into it than by poring upon all the Maps that ever were made of it In like manner Obedience to the Will of God doth dispose us for the knowledg of it by freeing our Minds from prejudice by making our Understandings more clear and taking away the great Obstacles of Wisdom which without the practice of Religion will be so far from being any furtherance to our Happiness that it will be one of the saddest and most unhappy aggravations of our misery For when we come into the other World no reflection will more enrage our Torments than to think that we chose to lead vitious Lives and to make our selves miserable when we knew the way to Heaven and Happiness For after all that hath been said upon this Head S. Paul's Judgment is undoubtedly true 1 Corin. 8.1 That Knowledg puffeth up but Charity edifieth Now when the Apostle said this Corinth the Metropolis of Achaia was as all other rich and populous places excessively proud and luxurious softness and ease had expell'd all the thoughts of the Laborious Exercises of Virtue Yet as it often happens the men were ingenious though they were wicked In a word all the World condemn'd them for their Debaucheries but admired them for their Parts Wherefore St. Paul tells them very truly that their knowledg was the Original of all their Errours they might be blown up with Science but they must be Edified with Charity In like manner did the Gnosticks dote on the Mysteries of Words did pride themselves about Fruitless Genealogies and the unintelligible methods of Science for which reason St. Paul did severely reprehend these vain-glorious Sciolists and declare that a little Charity towards an offended Brother was more valuable than all their subtle Theorems or the Positions of any the most celebrated Dogmatists So the Philosophers of old gave another Interpretation to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 know thy self and improved it into Self-conceit and Arrogance their Principles and their Dictates seem always to be framed rather to oppose than to establish Truth If from them we pass to the times of Christianity we find Julian and Lucian Arrius and Socinus all of them in a several way despising the plainness and simplicity of the Gospel for the sake of their own trifling Opinions which must not submit to the teachings of Fishermen Nay how many Volumes are there in the World whose Subject is little else but breach of Charity which Charity and not great Words nor the phantastical Hypotheses of those that call themselves Wise must set a lustre upon all we do For neither Happiness here nor Heaven hereafter is to be gotten by haughty Looks or Suppositions but by a constant Tenour of Bountifulness in our Lives and integrity in our Actions Supposing therefore we were set upon the highest Mountain of Metaphysicks and had thence the ravishing Prospect of all the Kingdoms of human Learning all the Glories of Philosophy yet we will not worship one Notion that cannot be brought into the practice of a Holy Life An Enquiry into the Causes of the decay of MORAL VIRTUES A Manifest decay hath been brought upon Moral Virtue First BY Hypocrisie or Formality when Men follow a Form of Godliness and deny the Power thereof Secondly BY Licentiousness of Living whereby Debauchery and ill Manners have much prevailed Thirdly BY decrying the use of Reason in Matters of Religion Fourthly BY making Morality and Grace opposite to one another MEN of all Ages have been industrious to elude the practice of Moral Virtue by some trifling childish and unprofitable shews thereof How can we but stand amazed at the folly of Mankind that love to be their own Impostors Hypocrisie condemned and that when they may be truly good at so easie and advantageous a rate labor to be but seemingly so at the expence of a great deal of pain and trouble and with the Pharisees take twice as much pains to scour the outside of the Dish only that it may shine and glister than is needful to keep the inside neat and cleanly Thus they change wise Notices of things for childish Conceits freedom of Spirit for narrowness of Soul chearfulness of Mind for slavish Fears a sweet and obliging Conversation for cynical Zeal Temperance and Sobriety for harsh and Monkish Mortifications in a word they change all the Branches and Fruits of a holy Mind and virtuous Actions for Forms and Gayeties It will not therefore be unseasonable to caution Men against this Formality as a most dangerous Cheat that secretly enervates all the Power and Efficacy of that Goodness it makes a shew of that whilst it pretends highly to advance Religion undermines it This I shall endeavour to do First BY laying down some of its most peculiar Characters Secondly BY discovering the Arts it makes use of to overthrow the power of Moral Virtue Thirdly BY explaining what the Power of Moral Virtue is and wherein it consists FIRST then the Formalist serves God barely out of a Principle of Fear and not at all out of Love he only looks upon Him as a great and austere Being that sits in the Heavens demanding harsh and arbitrary Homage from his Creatures he apprehends Him as an imperious Almighty One that because He hath bestowed upon us these little imperfect Beings takes upon Him to impose severe and unreasonable Laws and exacts for the few pleasures He hath granted to the Life of Man to be paid with sharp and troublesom Penances But all this while he has not tho least thought of gaining his Favor by divine and virtuous Qualities Whereas if we would attain to the Spirit and Genius of true Holiness we must look upon it as a wise and gracious Design of Heaven to fill the Souls of Men with all Excellencies perfective of their Natures Religion no Trick for Religion is no Trick or Artifice but its natural design is to make Men truly good it is no Contrivance of Heaven to bring advantages to it self but it was graciously intended for the sake of Men to carry on their Creator's Work in compleating those things which He made and to make 'em more like Him than He left them But the Formalist or Hypocrite is utterly unacquainted with all inward Sense of Goodness and so he can please God as he thinks by giving him his due of Religious Performances he is not at all concerned for solid and essential Righteousness THUS the degenerate Jews in the time of the Prophets were
be reformed before the Corruptions of our Hearts are purged away And when this once comes to pass then shall Christ be set upon his Throne then the Glory of the Lord shall overflow the Land then we shall be a People acceptable to him and as Mount Sion which he dearly loved then by Reflection we shall see our selves as in a Glass and our Faults being discovered we shall readily endeavour to amend them for it is not in this case as in bodily Distempers when the Body is necessitated by connexion of Causes to suffer the Malady upon it Every man is obliged to reform himself but the Soul it in its own power the first step therefore to a Cure is for a Man to convince himself by his own Reason that he hath done evil and the desire to have this Disease removed naturally follows thereupon For it is to no purpose to complain of bad Times or to expect better days so long as Mankind are so averse from cleansing their own Hearts Whereas if the Motions and Inclinations of the Soul within were once set right all things without will go true because they are all moved by those hidden Springs and if every Man would study to do his own business in the ways of a virtuous and good Life all Commotions in the Earth and all Differences would presently cease And Solomon makes this conclusion from all those wise Reflections he made upon things under the Sun Fear God and keep his Commandments for this is a Man's whole business and his whole Excellency So that there is nothing in Religion that I have wondered at more The best way to know what our Condition is must be from keeping God's Commandments than to see many Christians in continual Anxieties about their State complaining much of their want of assurance in this matter when it may be brought to a speedy and plain issue by examining our selves how we have kept God's Commandments the moral Precepts of an holy Life this one Mark of our Sincerity in Religion well attended to would silence all those Suspicions that many Persons are apt to entertain concerning their Condition If it were worth our while to enquire into the reason of these Doubts and Fears they may be truly resolved into a dark and melancholy Humor or into false Conceptions of God and his Affection towards Men or into the Breaches and inequality of our Obedience to his Laws Now the melancholy temper must be left to Physick and Time for the Scripture prescribes nothing at all in this Case any more than it does for a Frenzy or Feaver but that is a very false and dangerous Principle which some have entertained concerning God as if he did notreally desire the Happiness of Man but watched all Advantages to surprize him into Destruction as if his goodness was not a setled and constant Disposition of his Nature but took him at certain Fits as it does the Sons of Men as if we could have no sure Rule to know when we might hope for his Favor as if the Majesty of Heaven were merely arbitrary in dispensing of things as he pleases without considering any Qualification in his Creatures Whereas he who will not believe there is so much goodness in God as that he did not make us for our own Ruin can never have any quiet in his Mind because nothing but the goodness of God can be a reasonable ground of Hope or Security to him Many Mischiefs arise from false Notions of God and Religion The next Mischief to this doth arise from false Notions concerning Religion as if it did wholly consist in the performance of external Duties now we must not take the Measures of our Religion by the ebbings and flowings of our Spirits that depend upon our natural Temper but by a firm Resolution of Soul to keep God's Commandments by the conformity of our Wills to his Another Mischief proceeds from the frequent Interruptions of a holy Life and by the constancy of our Obedience to his Laws Another Mischief proceeds from the frequent Interruptions and great Breaches of a holy Life and this doth much disquiet the Spirits of Men so that usually they betake themselves to false Principles for relief Whereas that Person who rightly understands the Nature of God who hath worthy apprehensions about his Goodness to Mankind hath true Notions about Religion and is free from any melancholy Distemper who doth for the most part continue in an even course of Obedience allowing for human Frailties that befal the best of Men he enjoys a lasting Peace and Serenity of Mind without any considerable Change but such as he can give an account of from his sensible Failings and Variations For I do not believe that Comfort and Peace of Conscience are such arbitrary things as that God gives them to whom and when he pleases without any regard of our Carriage towards him but God hath so ordered Matters that Peace and Comfort shall be the natural result of our Duty and the discharge of a good Conscience towards God and towards man The truth is we do not live according to those Rules of Righteousness that are laid down in his Gospel for the Government of our Lives and so we are affraid to try our selves by this Evidence of our Love to God our Obedience to his Commands but are glad to hearken to any other obscure signs which we cannot be certain of neither will they bring the business to any issue like a Man that hath outrun himself in his Estate he is unwilling to look into his Books but had rather feed himself with some uncertain signs of his good Condition than examin his accounts that he may truly know what it is If we would not deceive our own Souls we must bring our selves to this touchstone Obedience to all the Laws of God by this means we shall take a certain course to understand what state we are in which Laws we are sufficiently enabled to keep by that Grace and Assistance that God offers and is never denied to those that are not wanting to themselves And Man being the only Creature in this visible World that is formed with a Capacity of Worshiping and Enjoying his Maker we have no just pretence to Reason The best way to know what our Condition is must be from keeping God's Commanments unless our Reason be determined to actions of Religion For as Men we are endowed with such a Faculty as is capable of apprehending a Deity and of expecting a future State after this Life whence it follows that our proper Happiness must consist in the perfecting of this Faculty which nothing else but Religion can so much as pretend to it is true indeed Health Riches Reputation Safety are necessary to render our Condition pleasant and comfortable in this World Now herein appears the advantage of Religion that it is not only the Moral but the Natural Cause of all these things because it doth not only
not â—o it NOW a Mild and Gentle disposition toward mankind is a pleasant as well as a useful thing and is as easily exercised as Roughness and ill Nature and when a man can make a Friend upon as easie Terms as He can make an Enemy He is imprudent if He do not the latter for a mean Friend may be able sometimes to do a great kindness and a little Enemy may have an opportunity to do a considerable mischief MEEKNESS therefore arises from the noblest disposition of mind that can be Meekness is the noblest disposition of Mind Nothing renders a Man more beloved and tho Popularity be a dangerous thing in a State when it meets with an Ambitious Spirit yet it is safe and desireable when found in a peaceable and wise Man And the Excellency of this Virtue chiefly consists in taming the Excesses of Passions of all sorts For Passion without this restraint would sometimes break out into rude and offensive Deeds sometimes into provoking Speeches always disorder the Judgment and so brings Inadvertency into our Actions But our meek Man is quite of another Frame He allows such a proportion and measure to every Affection as that they may all serve the Ends of a virtuous and good Life SO that if Meekness which is the true temperament and Complexion of Virtue did prevail more amongst men it would give them great security in troublesom times procure them Friends keep 'em considerate and circumspect in all they do that they never over-shoot themselves with Folly Passion and precipitancy in Words or Actions NOW the happiness of meek Persons is set forth in the Doctrine of our Saviour where it is said They shall inherit the Earth that is as Grotius interprets the words They shall not only enjoy the most lasting peace in their own minds but they shall partake of the most constant Friendship from others which is the best possession and most to be valued That they shall inherit peace of Mind is out of doubt because meekness hath a peculiar power in it to regulate the passions the greatest disturbance to the quiet of our lives proceeding from their Exorbitances whereby the mind is kept continually out of Frame Nay they are the distempers of ir and we may liken our Anger to a Frenzy our Hopes and Fears to an Ague our Love to a Feaver and our Envy to a Consumption So that whatever will compose them and bring 'em into Harmony must needs be of great consequence to our welfare NOW the Passions may be divided into two kinds such as are more violent and unnatural referring to Evil as Anger Fear and Grief Others more natural and kindly relating to that which is good and consequently they are more agreeable to our desires as Love Hope and Joy THE first of these are curbed by a meek and gentle Spirit the other are strengthened and confirmed and both ways our quiet is much promoted For supposing we practice meekness in all matters of Controversie Passions are commanded best by a meek Spirit we shall thereby be inclined to judg soberly and lovingly to accommodate all things For such a prudent relaxation of the utmost rigour as right Reason shall direct according to the variety of Cases and Circumstances will beget peace to ones self and the rest of mankind SUPPOSING our minds be thus temper'd to mildness in the midst of troubles losses and disappointments then these Evils will not be only less bitter to us but we shall be able thereby to overcome the Evil and turn it to a good use and to the fortifying our Spirits against the difficulties that are to be undergone in the course of a virtuous Conversation BESIDES all this it is the peculiar priviledg of a meek Man to have his Conversation in Heaven while he dwells upon Earth It is true no man's mind is in this State so well framed as fully to understand the happiness of the other but this we may be sure of that the peaceable and meek Man is best prepared for it because our Souls must continue for ever What we make them in this World and such a disposition of mind as we carry with us out of this State we shall retain in the next For He that is filthy will be filthy still and He that is unrighteous will be unrighteous still In a place therefore of happiness and purity there can be no room for fierce and unruly Passions because they would not only make us miserable but be a trouble to all those with whom we should Converse For if a Man of a malicious and peevish Temper should enter the Mansions of Bliss he would not only be unhappy himself but He would raise storms even in those calm Regions he would be like the Rich man in Hell tormented with a continual Thirst and burnt up in the flames of his own ardent Desires VAIN Man that dreamest of being happy without any disposition for it To be happy is to enjoy what we desire and to live with those whom we love But there is nothing in Heaven sutable to the desires of a turbulent Man all the Joys there are purely Spiritual and are only to be relished by those who are meek upon Earth and have purified themselves even as God is pure THE hope therefore of that plentiful Inheritance Meekness is the most proper disposition of mind for eternal Happiness which God hath prepared for them in whom there is the same mind and spirit of meekness which was in Christ Jesus should inspire us always with new vigour in the ways of Virtue and Holiness This very thought should confirm all purposes of Obedience For if we have our fruit unto holiness our end will be everlasting Life For the other State was so unknown to mankind that they knew not what Dispositions and Habits would qualifie them for it before they were declared by our Saviour who came from thence and consequently understood best what were the necessary preparations for it Though many Virtues which he hath enjoined us may seem unnecessary restraints of our Liberties yet we ought to conclude that He knew the reason of such Commands and that such qualities will be found as needful in the next World as out bodily Senses are in this for virtuous dispositions of mind are as necessary to qualifie us to relish the pleasures of Heaven as our Bodily Senses are to perceive the Delights of this World and therefore we should endeavour to exercise all those heights of Virtue which the Gospel recommends to us because as much as we fall short of these so will our glory and happiness be lessen'd in the other State Of the Three Conversable VIRTUES Comitas Veritas Urbanitas First Of COMITY or AFFABILITY THE Virtues which adorn and recommend a Man in Conversation and are therefore called by Aristotle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are especially Three Comity Veracity Vrbanity For Man by Nature is a Civil Creature and Sociable And the practice of Virtue
of a dubious and uncertain signification but openly declares the Truth to men therefore these practices above mentioned are contrary to that Simplicity and plain-heartedness which ought to be in the Conversation of every Christian Such Simplicity as was observed in a Groom of the Bed-Chamber to Henry VIII who always gave his Answers very warily that he might not be taken in a Lye insomuch that it was good Sport with the looser Courtiers to try if they could entrap him It being his Lot to attend the King in his Bed-Chamber having laid him in his Bed He took his leave the King slips out of his Bed and silently went after him the Gentleman being come among the Courtiers He was asked Is the King a Bed He answered warily I left him in his Bed by which Reply he defeated all their Art For had he answered positively Yes as it was expected the King was at his back ready to have given him the Lye This is but a merry Story yet it doth commend to us a serious Lesson concerning that care which we ought to have in all out Discourses that we speak nothing either deceitfully or falsely AND by occasion of this Story we may without trespassing against the Argument We handle look into a Question heretofore managed with some Heat betwixt Parsons the Jesuit a great Patron of Artificial Evasions in Speech and others of his time the Bishops of Lincoln and Durham THE Question was Whether or no in case of some hazard it were lawful to use any fine Device of Language to abuse such as were set to interrogate us in those Points wherein there was evident danger of speaking the Truth THE handling this Question at large would require more time to dispatch it Truth is to be spoken in cases of danger than can be well afforded yet for the present we will answer That all these Shades and Illusions by which Men evade direct and open Language in case of danger are in themselves unlawful For if we once so speak as if we accounted them lawful that might befal us which befel Calvin in the Question of Usury He granted indeed Usury to be lawful but He so fettered and entangled his Grant with Restrictions and Reservations that He who practised according to his Rule should gain but little by it For what will the Reader conclude upon this by Calvin's judgment Vsury is lawful This shall be Warrant enough for his practice as for Restrictions and Reservations he will make use of them according to his own discretion The same may chance to befal us in this Question concerning the lawful use of Dissimulations Equivocations unlawful Concealments Equivocations and all subtle Evasions in Speech when there is evident danger of speaking the Truth directly For Experience tells us that Men are apt to use all manner of Fallacy and Artifice to save themselves and their own Stakes not only before the Magistrate but also in that solemn case of a Corporal Oath before God himself What would they do then if we should adventure to pull up this Hedg and pronounce it lawful to use all the Art of a deceitful Tongue INDEED Men of brave Spirits and clear Virtue such as Cato or Coriolanus who have precisely observed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exact Justice have made no scruple to use these shiftings to save themselves or their Friends For when we remember our selves and what kind of Persons we live amongst we find it true what was wisely said periculosum est in tot humanis erroribus sold innocentiâ vivere The Best of us all are sometimes forced to make use of By-ways when the High-way is beset with Thieves when we deal with Children with Fools with sick Persons with our Enemies in the Field according as it is said dolus an Virtus quis in Hoste requiret yea with our familiar Friends we are compelled to make use of Art and Sleights to cozen them for their benefit honesto misericordi mendacio calamitosi Civis Saluti consulimus Quod mendacium licet in genere vitiosum est tamen temporibus necessarium IF we would be better informed concerning this Point Gro. ca. 1. lib. 3. our best way is to consult the most Excellent Grotius cap. 1. lib. 3. de jure belli pacis where we find it at large discussed out of all kind of Authors both Human and Divine But after all that can be said upon this Theme we can by no means absolve these kind of Actions from Iniquity and Sin only thus far we will go as to declare them pardonable when they are done upon constraint and high inconveniency and take 'em to be allowed of as Moses permitted Divorce only because of the hardness of men's hearts BUT before we conclude we must bewail the sufferings of Truth under the hands of those Teachers The sufferings of Truth lamented who to all the various inclinations of Men can carve 'em out what Religion they please This is the fruit of a dull Superstition when foolish men are persuaded they need not trouble their heads with the care of Truth but leave that wholly to the Priest who will suffer nothing to pass for it but what bears his mark and License who hath assumed a Power by an Index expurgatorius to blot Truth out of the best Books Where this Tyranny prevails it is a misfortune to be born with Understanding WE cannot likewise but lament the ill usage of Truth when Men labour to darken it with Metaphors or by being too credulous or by opposing the Evidence of Sense it self by Scepticism Besides for the discovery hereof in many matters of Controversie we know not how far we may rely on the testimony of Antiquity nor how far we are to follow the Tract of Human Reason especially when there are so many Mists cast before us by the deceits of others that one had need of a better Eye-sight than what is left us by the fall of our Fore-father Falshood wears the disguise of Truth For all great Errours have ever been intermingled with some Truth And indeed if Falshood should appear alone unto the World in her own true shape and Native deformity she would be so black and horrid that no man would look upon her and therefore she hath always had an Art to wrap her self up in a Garment of Light by which means she passes freely disguised and undiscerned This was elegantly signified in the Fable thus Truth at first presented her self to the World and went about to seek Entertainment but when she found none being of a generous Nature that loves not to obtrude her self upon unworthy Spirits she resolved to leave Earth and take her flight for Heaven but as she was going up she chanced Elijah like to let her Mantle fall and Falsehood waiting by for such an opportunity snatch'd it up presently and ever since goes about disguised in Truth 's Attire AND there is always some Truth that gives being to
in so many shapes that we may as well define the figure of the Air as tell what is is Leaving then this to your Imagination I shall shew that the practice of Vrbanity or Facetiousness Facetiousness breeds good Nature in Mankind First IS Lawful if it doth not touch upon Piety if it doth not disturb the peace if Justice and Charity are not entrench'd upon For Christianity doth allow of those Pleasures that serve for the innocent ease and refreshment of human Life And Vrbanitas reficit animos saith Quintilian conduces much to the breeding good Nature among us whereby our Conversation will be rendred profitable and dear to one another our cares will be allayed and our drooping Spirits raised But if we should be tied always to look dumpishly and never to shew an ingenuous Chearfulness our value for the Precepts of Christ would exceedingly languish Secondly IT is allowable when those things that are in themselves base and ridiculous are exposed to Contempt For where plain and blunt Arguments will not penetrate there Wit may which hath a keener edg so may reprove and instruct with such sharpness as may correct the Stupid and rouze the Negligent Thirdly It instructs or reproves better than Satyre IT may be a proper Remedy for some Maladies of men's minds as Salt is for cleansing some Sores For diverse Persons have such a peculiar Genius as that they will not abide a tart Admonition but will admit of a free Way of telling them their Faults and will amend upon it they love a jolly and gay Humour in their own Fashion they may be taught to love sober Thoughts they hate the formal Methods of Instruction and call it Pedantry but Reason under the disguise of Wit shall bring 'em to a better mind when in its Native plainness its Advices would have been despised Fourthly RAILERY is the best course we can take to confute many Errours For what shall we do else with those that deny the clear Principles of Reason to deal in earnest with them will but raise more the Conceit they have of themselves But there is a Way of Jesting that will subdue the obstinacy of the most perverse dash the impudence of the most petulant baffle the most captious Sophister and confound the most wanton Sceptick Fifthly The cause of Virtue may be maintained by it IT is the surest Defence against unjust Reproaches And if the Patrons of Vice and Errour have made way for their corrupt Notions by witty Conceits and Elegant Expressions Why may we not undertake the Cause of Virtue with the same Weapons especially when downright Reason is thought a heavy thing and men are so disposed to Mirth who by this means may be made to know that virtuous Men can speak pleasantly as well as judiciously And if Rhetorical Schemes Poetical Strains Allegories Fables and Parable may teach all the merry Fancies of the Facetious and Witty may adorn the Truth by instilling good Doctrines into the Head and moving good Passions in the Heart THUS we may render Facetiousness a Virtue but as it is commonly used it is far from being so Sundry Authors as Tully Quintilian and others of a later Stamp have framed us an Art of Jesting which if any one thinks fit to study He may learn the Times Places and Persons where and with whom jesting is comely If then a Person will keep himself from buffoonery absurd or scurrilous Jesting on one hand and on the other from clownish and unhandsom Discourse they praise him for a Wit and a pleasant Companion one that knows fairly and without offence to entertain And it is Aristotle's greatest Reason to prove Facetiousness to be a Virtue because it hath two Extremes the scurrilous and the rustical Humour Whereas both these and the medium too may be all vitious Physicians discoursing of Feavers which are called Synochi continued Feavers distinguish them into three kinds the first they call Monotoni when the Disease keeps all in one Tenour the second they call Anabatici when they grow unruly and encrease in harshness the third they call Paracmastici that is decreasing abating and coming to some mediocrity Notwithstanding this distinction more or less they are all Feavers still So it is in the case of Vrbanity Scurrility and Rusticity they may be all Vices in common Life And the Gravity of a well-tempered Man The usual way of Jesting do not become a Christian much more of a Christian will own no such Virtue as facetiousness as it is used in daily Conversation the Jester is only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fit to make others laugh Now Epictetus hath told us this is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is a place slippery and easily leading us into Idiotism and Folly as it doth when men think it a mark of a high Spirit to be an Atheist Gentility and Wit to droll upon Religion Whereas I appeal to all the Wise and sober World whether they that would make Sacred Persons and Things ridiculous are not infinitely so themselves It is true the World is much taken with this sort of Ribaldry and commends the man who is skill'd in it as a good Companion but in strictness of Life and Virtue we may not so account of it nobis alii rarò nos aliis nunquam risum pariamus is the good Council of Picus Mirandula and it is given in charge precisely by the last Canon of the third Council of Carthage si quis Clericus aut monachus verba scurrilia joculatoria risumque moventia loquetur acerrimè corripiatur WE can afford then no other place to Vrbanity in common Life than what is allowed to officious Lying in the foregoing Chapter it may be permitted sometimes for human Infirmity sake Religion a chearful thing And although some mistaken men are pleased to paint out Religion in sad and melancholy Shapes with sour and anxious Looks as an Enemy to all mirth and chearfulness yet there is nothing more noble and generous more courteous and affable more sober and rational than the Spirit of true Religion is therefore they are unpardonably base and disingenuous who would blast its Credit with the follies and deformities of Superstition as if it delighted in nothing but Sighs and Groans and discoloured Faces as if the Principles of true Goodness were unworthy the entertainment of a generous Mind when all this while they have in them all that is amiable and lovely all that is chearful and ingenuous all that is useful and profitable and whatever can advance our Content our Interest our Reputation or our Pleasure Wherefore that Religion and Reason may well agree in the case of facetiousness that it may not transgress the limits of Sobriety and be consistent with the tenour of a Christian's Duty that it may not fall under St. Paul's Censure of foolish talking and jesting which are not convenient We may conclude that such facetiousness is not unlawful as affords harmless Delight to Conversation
and moderated NOW the Wise Man we now speak of is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Contemplative Person who hath passed through all the Discipline of Virtue For He cannot be good at true Theory who hath not first been so at Practice and to the true and sober Man peculiarly belongs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Divine Wisdom which vigorously displays it self 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Platonists phrase it in an intellectual Life For the good Man only lives in him who is Life it self and is enlightned by him who is Truth it self Besides Purity of Heart and Life as also an ingenuous freedom of Judgment What are the best preparations for Truth are the best preparations for the entertainment of Truth For every Art and Science hath some certain Principles upon which the whole Frame and Body of it must depend and therefore the Scripture is wont to set forth a good Life as the fundamental Principle of Wisdom For it asserts the Fear of the Lord to be the beginning of Wisdom And in Divine Things especially He that is most practical is the wisest Man and not He that is most a Dogmatist For as in the natural Body it is the Heart which sends up good Blood and warm Spirits to the Brain whereby it receives power to execute its several Functions so that which gives us power to understand the best things aright must be a living Principle of Piety within us because if the Tree of Knowledg should not be planted by this Tree of Life Why Truth prevails no more in the World then it may bring forth bitter as well as sweet Fruit evil as well as good Deeds This is the reason why Truth prevails no more in the World because men are busied more in acute Reasonings and subtle Disputes than in real goodness which Goodness and Truth grow both from the same Root and live in one another ON the contrary Vice casts a cold Poison into the Understandings of Men benums the Faculties creeps into the Bed of Reason and defiles it Yet vicious Men are more apt than others to boast of their Wisdom but if we come nearer these Landskips of Reason and Wit that which seemed afar off to be Hills and Mountains in them will be found to be nothing but artificial Shadows besides the Vanity whereby Sin is puff'd up nothing is more unreasonable and foolish For what can argue a greater madness than to forfeit the endless welfare of the Soul for the satisfaction of a Moment THEREFORE I will only ask this of Mankind that they would act according to the directions of Wisdon that is agreeably to the fixed and unavoidable Fate of things and remember that they are a sort of Beings who must hereafter live always either in unconceivable Happiness or Misery if this Meditation will not bring 'em to Wisdom there is no remedy but they must be left to the dismal and pitiless deserts of their want of Sense and Consideration NOW there are two things that make up Religion Knowledg and Practice Knowledg and Practice make up Religion the first is wholly in order to the second and both together constitute Spiritual Wisdom For God hath not revealed his Will and made known our Duty to us to make us more learned but to make us more good not to enlarge our Understandings or entertain our Minds with the Fine Notions of Virtue but to Form and govern our Lives therefore God hath so ordered things that no Man shall be Happy for any Speculations unless they are drawn down into practice For there is no kind of Knowledg that a man may sooner come at than the knowledg of Religion because the greatest part of it hath a Foundation in the common Reason of Mankind and as for that which is revealed it is only new Arguments to be good and virtuous Now this Gospel makes the knowledg and practice of Religion the only way to true Wisdom and consequently to Happiness therefore they are the Practisers that our Saviour hath bless'd in his Sermon on the Mount the poor in spirit the meek and merciful So He who acts according to his knowledg is likened to a wise Man who built his house on a Rock but He who heareth our Saviour's Sayings and doth them not is likened to a foolish Man who built his house upon the Sand the rain descended and the floods came the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell The practice of Religion is a necessary condition for Happiness As God hath made the practice of Religion a necessary Condition of our Happiness so the nature of the thing doth make it a necessary condition for it For our utmost Happiness being to consist in the enjoyment of God and it being impossible that Persons should have communion one with another that are not of a temper we must be like to God if we would be Happy Now nothing can make us like unto God but Holiness and Virtue Therefore Men are not wise who think they can be partakers of Happiness upon any other account Knowledg indeed it self is a Divine Perfection but yet that alone doth not render a man like to God neither doth that alone qualifie him for his Presence For if a Man had the understanding of an Angel he might for all this be of a devillish Temper and whosoever is so hath no disposition in him for the place of pure Happiness LET every Man therefore that hopes to be happy in the next World lead an Holy Life in this because an unholy Life is in the nature of the thing utterly inconsistent with Being in Heaven THE proper Inference from all that hath been said is that in all the exercises of our Understanding Science or Wisdom we should make the practice of Religion our main design because for this purpose God gave us our Reason For to inspire Man with a Faculty of reasoning by which he can form true Notions from single Experiments and infer one Truth from another and to inspire his Reason with Divine Notions are only two different Modes of Revelation For He did as well reveal himself to us when he gave us Reason to understand his Will as he does when he sends a Messenger from Heaven to declare his Mind SINCE then God light up in us this Candle of our Reason why may he not give new Light to it especially when it begins to burn with a dying and languishing Flame How agreeable is this to the Divine Goodness and to that infinite Care it takes of the welfare and happiness of reasonable Beings to conduct and enlighten them with Divine Revelation chiefly when the groping World had so bewildred it self in an endless Maze of Errour and was so lost in its own wandrings when no Human Understanding or Wisdom could shew the Way then to spring a Light from Heaven whereby Mankind may be directed to the Coast of Truth is the highest Instance of the care
of their Sect may be overcome with Wine but can never be drunk though to be overcome with Wine be downright drunkenness in a carnal Epicurean yet it was something else in a great Stoick How Immorality becomes uncurable NOW Immorality under the disguise of piety becomes uncurable Passion and Self-will is made more implacable by pretences to Sanctity and Godliness without Virtue serves only to furnish the Conscience with excuses against Conviction for it is easie to convince a debauched Person of his Distemper from the blemishes that are in all his Actions But Hypocrisie by lodging it self in the Heart and so by being undiscernible becomes fatal and the Man is past Recovery before he feels his Malady THEREFORE of all men He who hath the Form of Godliness only is conceited with it is the most desperate and incorrigible Sinner For he thinks the performance of the outward acts of Devotion will fix him so in a State of Grace that he needs not any Virtue Thus the Supercilious and self-confident Pharisees were at a greater distance from Heaven than Publicans and Harlots For these our Saviour could by his gentle Reproofs soften into a relenting and pliable Temper But as for the Pharisees their mistaken Piety only made 'em more obdurate and obstinate in sin searing their Consciences against the Force of his sharpest Convictions so that He very justly consigned them up to an unrelenting and inflexible stubbornness Secondly MEN deceive their own Souls How Men deceive their own Souls when they think themselves exempt from the Rule and Judgment of natural Conscience which they fansie exercises its binding Power only over those that are in a state of Nature and Unregeneracy but as for them that are enlightened by the Spirit of God they are directed by the Motions thereof not by the Laws and Dictates of Nature Hence the plain and practical Principles of Reason and Honesty come to be neglected and ever after men are led by giddy Enthusiasms and are befooled by the temper of their Complexions they derive all their religious Motions from the present state and constitution of their Humours and according as Sanguine or Melancholy are predominant so the Scene alters BUT the Spirit of true Religion is of a sedate Temper and dwells in the Intellectual part of a Man In what manner the Spirit of Religion works and doth not work out or vent it self in flatulent Passions but all its Motions are gentle composed and grounded upon the Laws of Reason and Sobriety The Impressions of the Divine Spirit are steddy uniform and breath not upon the Passions but the Reasons of mankind all its Assistances work in a calm and rational way they are not such unsetled and unaccountable motions as discompose but enlighten our understandings the Spirit of God only discovers the Excellency and enforces the Obligation of the Laws of God to the Consciences of Men and works in us a reasonable love of our Duty and serious resolutions to discharge it Therefore the Spirit of every good Man is sober discreet and composed such as becomes the gravity and seriousness of Religion which floats not in his blood nor rises and falls with the Ebbs and Tides of his Humours but he maintains a calmness and evenness of Mind in all the various Constitutions of his Body he confines his Piety entirely within his Soul and chearfully keeps it from all mixtures of Imagination as knowing a Religious Fancy to be the greatest Impostor in the World And there is nothing that spoils the Nature of the best Religion more than outragious Zeal which instead of sweetning embitters the minds of Men so that those Vices which Moral Philosophy would banish are often kindled at the Altar of Religion For it abuses the prudence and discretion of good Men abhors a Christ-like meekness and sobriety and fills their Religion with ill Nature and discontent Hence it is that no Quarrels are so implacable as Religious ones Men with great eagerness damn one another for Opinions and Speculative Controversies IF this be Religion farewel all the Principles of Humanity and good Nature farewel that Glory of the Christian Faith an universal Love and kindness for all Men let us bid adieu to all the Practices of Charity and to the Innocence of a Christian Spirit Let the Laws of our Saviour be cancel'd as Precepts of Sedition Let us banish Religion out of Human Converse as the Mother of Rudeness and incivility Let us go to the School of Atheism and Impiety to learn good Manners BUT if nothing bids greater defiance to the true Spirit and Genius of Religion than a Form of Godliness denying the Power thereof then let not the Wisdom of God be charged with the Folly of Men Let then the furious Sons of Zeal without the Power of Godliness tell me the meaning of such Texts as these Learn of me for I am meek and humble I beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called with all lowliness long-suffering forbearing one another in Love put on therefore as the elect of God holy and beloved bowels of mercy kindness humbleness of mind meekness forgiving one another if any man have a complaint against any even as Christ forgave you so also do ye So saith James 3. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledg amongst you let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness and wisdom He that can reconcile these holy Precepts with a peevish or Cynical disposition may as well unite Christ and Belial make a Christian and a Pharisee the same WHAT remains then but that we set our selves to a serious minding of true and real Goodness An exhortation to mind true and real Goodness that we trifle not away our Time in pursuing the Shadows of it nor waste our Zeal upon its Forms and Instruments that we cheat not our Souls with a partial Godliness nor damn them with an half-Religion For we must measure our profitableness under the means of Grace by the influences of it upon the obedience of our Lives we must pursue Christianity in its true and proper usefulness give a sincere Obedience to every Law of Righteousness we must not divorce Piety from Justice and Charity but join the love of God with the love of our Brother be impatient against our own Sins and other mens Opinions spend our Zeal in our own and not other men's Business be ever zealous for the prime and most substantial Principles of Religion not for uncertain and unexamined Speculations we must set our selves with all our might against our Lusts and our Passions for all our Devotions without it will never expiate one habitual Sin neither will a maimed or halting Religion ever arrive at Heaven nothing but an entire Obedience to the Laws of Christ will gain admittance there Let us therefore inform our Minds with the Excellency of true Religion and Goodness Let us adorn them with an inward Purity
arise These are the rubs in our way which make a virtuous course so difficult at first because to cast off old Habits of Vice and Folly to which they have been long accustomed is That at which men are generally galled For a State of Vice and of Virtue are not like two Ways that are just parted by a line so as that a Man may step out of the one full into the other when and how he pleases but they are like two Ways that lead to two very distant places one where Happiness is the other where Destruction so that they are as far separated as Heaven and Hell are For the farther a Man hath travelled in the ways of Vice he is at the greater distance from those of Virtue so that it requires time and much striving too to pass from the one to the other it being a long and severe Conflict to master evil Habits the Temptations of the World and of the Flesh will rally and make head again after they have been beaten off NOTWITHSTANDING these Difficulties the seeds of Virtue under the Influences and Care of the Divine Spirit will get the better and grow up to such a strength as will conquer them It is indeed a very unpleasant sight for a vicious Person to look into himself or to consider on his bad courses therefore he labours all he can to stifle his Reason that he may not think A vicious Person is a very unpleasant sight to himself what will be the sad issues of an ungodly Life Hence it is that all Men find some bitterness in casting off their Lusts according to the progress they have made in Vice For if we intend to lead a vertuous Life we must consider that many Virtues are to be practised before the contrary Vices will be subdued We have many irregular Passions to bring into order and must root out all the power of evil Customs We have a Body of sin to put off which clings close to us and are bound to cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit and to perfect holiness in the fear of God to encrease and improve our Virtues that is add to our Faith Knowledg Temperance Patience brotherly Kindness and Charity to abound in all the fruits of Righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the praise and glory of God THIS Change cannot be wrought without some trouble this New-birth cannot be brought about without some bitter Pangs a thorow Reformation of Manners being a work that requires much time deliberation and labour to effect it However we should not be discouraged For so soon as we have begun a good course of Life A good course of Life is always under the influence of God's Spirit we are in such a way as God will help us in and if we pursue our advantages we shall every day gain ground and the work will grow easier upon our hands and though we may be a little disheartned at first at the hardships of Virtue yet after a little while we shall be enabled to run the way of God's Commandments with pleasure FOR nothing is more hurtful to a virtuous and holy Life than to believe that God requires those things of us that He hath not given us strength to perform whereas God takes delight in bestowing the gifts of his Spirit upon us nothing being more pleasing to him than that we should partake of his Divine Nature and be made Holy as he is holy that we should be brought back to that State wherein we were when we came out of his hands Therefore one of the greatest discouragements to a virtuous Life is a false and unworthy representation of God A false Notion of God is a great discouragement to a virtuous Life as if the greatest part of the World were really destitute of any ability to do those things which his Gospel requires and yet should be condemned for not doing them These are hard things to be said of the best Being in the World of one whom we believe to have infinitely more goodness in him than is among all the Sons of men So that S. James 1.5 says If any Man lack wisdom let him ask it of God who giveth liberally and upraideth not By which Wisdom are meant all the Fruits of the Spirit for so S. James hath described it that it is first pure then peaceable gentle easie to be entreated full of mercy and good works Indeed when we think of our own weakness the corruptions of our Natures the strength of our Lusts and the malice of our Spiritual Adversaries we are apt to despond like the Children of Israel when they heard of the Sons of Anak in their passage to the Holy Land But if we would look beyond our selves and our Enemies as Caleb and Joshua did to the power of the Lord we should as the Apostle saith of weakness become strong and put to flight the Armies of the Aliens For we read 2 Kings 16.13 of Elisha's Servant that he came to his Master in great perplexity of mind and said unto him alas Master what shall we do Behold an Host hath encompassed the City both with Horses and Chariots But when he had opened the Eyes of the young Man he beheld the Mountains full of Horses â—â—d Chariots of Fire about Elisha Thus if our Eyes were opened to view the secret Aids that are ready to join us in the course of Virtue our Fears would soon vanish and we should take courage against all the Enemies that do assault us not only flesh and blood but Principalities and Powers and spiritual wickednesses in high places For saith our Saviour S. Luke 19.26 To every one that hath shall be given and from him that hath not shall be taken away That which He hath which was a proverbial Speech among the Jews and signifies thus much that He who improves the Grace of God shall have more and from him who makes no use of it shall be taken away That which he hath made no improvement of For no Man who enjoys the Gospel is destitute of sufficient means of Salvation The Gospel affords to all sufficient means of Salvation if he be not some way or other wanting to himself To what end else do we persuade Men to submit to the Terms of it to repent and believe to deny ungodliness and wordly Lusts When we know they have no power to do what we exhort them to and God hath resolved to withdraw from them that Grace which is necessary for these purposes For if a Man thought that God gives that Grace whereby we may be saved only to a few and that he always works upon those to whom he gives it in such a manner as they cannot resist Why then should we do any thing in Religion because unless we be of the number of those whom God hath decreed to work effectually upon we can do nothing towards the getting Salvation and if we be of that number we need
practice of Virtue it is as impossible that a Man should he happy or pleased as for a sick Man to find ease by removing from one Bed to another because the Distemper is lodged within his Breast all the Disorders of which must be quieted before we can be happy for Happiness must be in our Hearts and it must spring out of our own bosoms and from thence thro the comfortable influence of God's Holy Spirit must all our Peace and Pleasure flow Wherefore I cannot conclude this whole Discourse with a better or more persuasive Exhortation than that which S. Paul makes use of to the Philippians Phil. iv 8. Finally Brethren whatsoever is right sincere and true whatsoever is comely grave and venerable whatsoever is fair just and equal whatsoever is sacred pure and holy whatsoever is generous noble and lovely whatsoever is of credit value and esteem if there be any Vertue if there be any Praise think of these things FOR these things the Lord will have us to do God's Will must be the Rule of our Actions and his Will must be the Rule of all our Actions whose Laws are like himself just and holy pure and undefiled unchangeable and everlasting fitted to the first Age of the World and to the last to the wisest and to the simplest to the times of Peace and of War established against all alterations and occurrences whatsoever for there is no time in which a Man may not be just and honest merciful and compassionate humble and sincere a Conversation thus tempered we ought to continue and carry along through honor and dishonor through all the terrors which evil Men or Devils can place in our way and if we consider the Nature and Reason of Things Virtue only doth qualifie and dispose us for the injoyment of God Vertue only doth qualifie us for the enjoyment of God because it quiets the Mind rectifies all its Faculties governs the Affections cleanses the whole Soul from all sin and pollution whereas if it were possible for a wicked Man to be admitted into the presence of God or a local Heaven to see all the glories and delights of that Place and State all this would signifie no more to make him happy and contented than heaps of Gold and Consorts of Musick a well spread Table or a rich Bed can bring any relief to a Man in the Paroxism of a Fever or in a sharp fit of the Stone the Reason is because the Man's Spirit will still be out of order till he be put into a right Frame by Virtue and Godliness 'T IS true all Men naturally desire ease and happiness because all Natures would fain be pleased and contented but they hunt after it Men are apt to mistake their Happiness where it is not to be found Men say loe here is happiness and loe there in a high Place in a great Estate or in earthly Delights but believe them not they are all shadows when you come to embrace them therefore your Happiness must be nearer and more intimate to your Minds than any thing this World can afford for those who look after the Pomps of this World grow vain and inconstant lazy and negligent those who covet the applause of the People are often disappointed of the felicity they hoped for because the People guide not themselves by Reason but Chance All outward things coming thus short of rendering us Happy we must expect our Happiness in observing the Duties and in obeying the Precepts of Virtue because they are upon all accounts for our advantage and are founded upon the Interests of Mankind so that if it were not that the God of this World did blind Mens Eyes and abuse their Understandings from discerning their true Interest it were impossible so long as Men love themselves and have a desire of their own Happiness but they should be virtuous If men sought their true Happiness they must be Virtuous for God promiseth to make Men happy for ever upon condition that they will do those things that will make them happy and easie in this World considering our infinite obligations to God the unquestionable Right and Title he hath to us and his Sovereign Authority over us he might have imposed Laws and have given us such Statutes as were not so good for us but so gracious a Master hath he been as to link together our Duty and our Interest and to make those things instances of our Obedience which are Natural means and Causes of our Happiness IT hath been antiently observed that Pythagoras his Learning ended in a few Musical jingles Thales his Wisdom in some uncertain Astronomical fansies Heraclitus his Contemplations concluded in Solitude and weeping Socrates his Renowned Philosophy led him to the practice of unnatural Lust Diogenes his sharpness of Wit to use his body to endure all manner of nastiness and coarse Labour Epicurus his Inventions and Discourses of which he boasts so much set him down contented with any kind of pleasure The same thing may be said of the Stoicks and Peripateticks WE must therefore be much out of the way if we search for Happiness in their Lessons and neglect our most Holy Religion Religion is the surest foundation of our Hopes which whosoever does he will unsettle the strongest Foundation of our hopes he will make a terrible confusion in all the Offices and Opinions of Men he will destroy the most prevailing Argument to Virtue he will remove all human Actions from their firmest Centre he will deprive himself of the prerogative of his immortal Soul and will have the same success that the ancient Fables make those to have had who contended with their Gods of whom they report that many were immediately turned into Beasts Whereas if we were to contrive a way to make our selves happy we should pitch upon just such Laws as those of Christianity are The Laws of Christ are most agreeable to the frame of our Natures they are so agreeable to the Frame of our Natures and Understandings they require of us so Rational and Spiritual a service of God they oblige us to perform Duties so plainly necessary and beneficial to us the harshest and most difficult Precepts thereof tending upon one account or other to our manifest advantage it being very reasonable for a Man to be sorry for what he hath done amiss and to amend his Life for the future to mortifie Lusts and Passions which are so disorderly and troublesom to the Mind to bring down every proud Thought which fills a Man with insolence and contempt of others to be patient in the meanest Condition which will prevent those anxieties that come from the contrary Passions to love Enemies and forgive Injuries which removes the perpetual torments of a malicious and revengeful Spirit FOR a Man is accomplished by two things First BY his being enlightened in his intellectual Faculties which is the perfection of his Understanding Secondly BY his being well directed