CHAP. I.

I. SINCE I have begun to make use of my Reason and Understanding, I have a thousand times reflected upon the Beauty of this Universe, the Order of its Parts, the mutual Services they lend one another, and the Eternal Laws they [Page 2]observe. A thousand times, I say, have I consider'd all these Wonders, and the custom of seeing them has not lessen'd my admiration of them. I have taken notice that all this great World is nothing else but a Visible Word, that proves a GOD so evidently, that in comparison of it all our Eloquence and Rhe­torick is dumb, or at best so ob­scure and inconsistent with it self, that the more it endeavours on this account, the more it seems to hide what it would demonstrate. I have seen that all things in Nature constantly perform their respective Functions, and answer the end and perfection of their Creation, MAN only excepted, who has from the beginning taken part with the De­vils and Enemies of GOD, by offending him with so much in­gratitude, who had bestow'd so many Favours upon him, and made [Page 3]him such as it was possible for him to be, without being God, but an Image of Him. As the first conception of his Mind was a Fan­cy of Pride and Vain-glory, so the first Production of his Body was a Cain, a Murtherer of his Bro­ther, and all the Children he has brought into the World have in­herited his Rashness, and Rebellion; and consequently his Condemnati­on and Punishment. I have con­sidered Men in general, and per­ceived, that some of them were of the Nature of Devils, others of Beasts, and many of both together: that their hands were full of Blood, Extortions, Violence, and Rapine; In short, that their whole Exercise was nothing else but a kind of Monopoly and Robbery.

II. Then was I seized with a secret horror and grief, which like a shadow of Death, brought a [Page 4]Cloud upon the fairest days of my Life. Nothing could comfort me, neither the consideration that God had made me a Man, nor that I was one of those that bear the Name of Christians, seeing they were at variance together, and that Ignorance and Malice were as common amongst them, as with Barbarians and Infidels. Nothing was more contrary to me, than those I thought like my self, and I was reduced to this necessity, either to make my self odious to all by an Everlasting Contradicti­on, or to follow their Examples; and thereby be in some sort, an Accomplice with them in their de­ceit and unfaithfulness. In the mean time I observe that the same accidents equally surpriz'd both Old and Young, and I could not perswade my self, that Rational Beings could feel any true Con­tent, [Page 5]in so great an Uncertainty of what must happen to them. My Reason it self, and all the Refle­ctions it enabled me to make, did but serve to increase my sorrow, till I carefully and seriously consi­dered the Divine Oracles of the most ancient Writings, which assured me, that God had reserved some to himself who bore a Mark in their Foreheads; which the Angels re­spect, and whom the Destroyer doth not approach in the Day of Vengeance; That this World was nothing else but a Place of Tryal to discern the Good from the Bad, and a Way by which we are to pass through Darkness to Light, and from Misery to Felicity: Words I should have heard with more fear than assurance, seeing there were so few that could or would mind them; if they them­selves had not taught me, that [Page 6] Shepheards and Fishermen do much better understand them, than the Disputers of this World, and Philoso­phers; and that for the true com­prehending of them, there is not so much need of Logick, as of Faith and Piety. That they teach a Sci­ence that does not puff Men up, but makes them humble, and yet gives the most Humble and Lowly courage enough to profess it open­ly before the Proudest and Greatest Men in the World, and every day to venture their own Lives in the attempt of saving of others from Death.

III. All these Divine Revelati­ons, being accompanied with a Spirit of Comfort have calmed my Soul, and I have found my self, as it were, renew'd and transformed on a sudden, in such a manner, that though my former grief has not quite left me, at least its nature is [Page 7]changed, and has now no other cause but my Sins and Infirmities. And if still I entertain any fears, they are such as serve only to as­sure me the more, and make me press with greater eagerness towards the Mark, which Hope and Faith have set before me. In this I re­joyce, not as for some transitory Oblectation, which nothing can satisfie, and which at its full finds a want of many things; but as for an all-sufficient and perma­nent Good, which increaseth by Communication, and which I may be very liberal of without the least diminishing of it. This is that makes me now freely offer what I have received, and to joyn my de­sires with those of such Faithful Souls as Providence has sown and mix'd with others, to the end that the Voice of Truth may be heard every where, and leave them with­out [Page 8]out excuse, who having heard shall not believe, or who being Traitors to themselves for some Worldly Considerations shall fear to know it, lest thereby they should be obliged to follow it. The Days are coming when those very Men will perhaps accuse us for our not having said enough to them, and for our Cowardise in not reproving of them, and will endeavour to charge their wilful Ignorance and hardness of Heart upon our weakness or neg­lect. And yet, we no sooner open our Mouths that way, but some say they pity us, or will laugh at and despise us, and the most fa­vourable usage we receive from them, is to be looked upon as silly and extravagant Fellows. Others grow angry with us, and are ready to tear us in pieces, revile us and take us for Hereticks and Evil­doers, though our Crime be of [Page 9]such a nature as that we desire no better than to have our Judges fully informed of it, and own it before all the World.

IV. But to whom shall we speak? Idolaters will never understand us. All the Prophets have denounced a Curse against them, which takes away their Understanding, and makes them like that they Worship. Neither will we be understood by weak Minds, and destitute of Judg­ment; for such cannot apprehend any thing, being more apt to be troubled, than instructed; and if they be Wicked, they are offended to hear Words, that Condemn them. And these are by so much the more dangerous, as they are more Witty and Learned; They do nothing but use tricks, and wrest both Words and Sense. The clearest Propositions when they please become dark and doubtful; [Page 10]they can prove and deny every thing alike, and by a just Judgment for their not being willing to un­derstand the Truth they are grown such miserable wretches, as not to be able to understand them­selves; they are so given up to the study of things superfluous, that they have lost the Care of those that are necessary; an Humane Science which they have made the Judge of that which is Divine, hath render'd them worse, than if they were altogether ignorant. Be­sides, as Men will not be easily perswaded of that which they don't like, so methinks I hear the Wise Men and Courtiers of this Age cry, Pray tell us things pleasing to us, and be not wiser than the Church. They will be no bet­ter than their Fathers, nor follow other Customs, than those of their Town and Country; the Estates [Page 11]they there possess, or rather, which possess them, not permitting them so much as to think of applying themselves to a Profession, that might in the least be prejudicial to them; and they will have God and Religion to buckle to their In­terests, let it cost what it will. How is it possible (say they) not to live after the way and mode of the World, or to have different Opinions from theirs that are in possession of Chairs and Pulpits, and of the Do­ctrine in vogue, to oppose the Belief of People, Magistrates, and Princes, and to expose ones self to the Censure and Contradiction of all? Thus to speak of Reformation, is to be a trouble­some Fellow, a Fanatick, and what not: Yea Licentiousness is grown to that degree, that it cannot a­bide good and wholesom Remedies. Piety is almost wholly turn'd to Superstition; and look which way [Page 12]you will, you'll find that Corrup­tion is so great, that there is need not only of a Flood to wash the Earth, but of a Universal Confla­gration to consume it.

V. To what purpose then is so much talk? And what Illustra­tion or new face shall we give to so many old Instructions, which are always new, because always ne­cessary? If a Summary of some few Articles, a short Catechism, a Con­fession of Faith should not be thought sufficient to make the best Chri­stians in the World, yet is there a­ny thing of Man's Duty omitted in either Testament? Nevertheless, since he that puts his Word into our Hearts, will have it also in our Mouths, to the end, that being con­verted we may also labour for the Con­version of our Brethren, let us not hold our peace when there is so great need of our speaking, or at [Page 13]least, let us (if possible) write such things as Men may not scorn to read. But take we great heed of imitating those Ambitious Writers who seek for Reputation from the Number or Bulk of their Volumes, wherewith they over-load Men's minds, not considering that this multiplicity of Words intimates no­thing more than the difficulty they have to apprehend rightly, or in­capacity to express fully what they would say. Let us speak therefore in spite of all opposition and gain­saying, to try whether we can save some by fear, plucking them, as it were, out of the Fire, Jude 23. and see whether God will not open the heart of some Naaman among Men, 2 Kings, 5.15. and of some Lydia among Women, Acts 16.14.

CHAP. II.

VI. I Have consider'd that those Holy Men, who were the first Pen-men of Holy Writ, and taught us the Laws of Living well, and the Way to Salvation, did not trouble themselves to find out Arguments, or give any express Demonstration in proof of a Deity; as not imagining we could be Ra­tional Creatures, and doubt of so evident a Truth. Indeed we must confess that every thing does in its own Language so loudly pro­claim the same, that this vast U­niverse seem to be nothing else but a great Body, which God is pleased to make use of to render himself visible, who of his own Nature is Invisible. Besides, the Natural Notions we have of cer­tain Principles that make us dis­cern [Page 15]between Good and Evil; the Terrors of Conscience, those Dis­courses of Reason, that carry us so far above our own selves, that di­ligent search after a supreme Good, and the desire of Perfection and Immortality, render him much more sensible to our Mind, than he is to our Eyes. Therefore, whether we enter into our selves, or look abroad, we meet with him every where, and the sense of him is so Universal, that it must needs proceed from Nature, and they who have it not, proclaim them­selves Monsters and Unnatural. For a Man to deny a God and his Providence (say the Wise and Ju­dicious) is to be Deaf to his own Voice, and as it were, a Stranger to himself.

VII. Nevertheless, some Men there are in the World who enjoy the sweetness of Light and Life, [Page 16]and yet for all that do not ac­knowledge the Author of them, or if they do so in appearance, 'tis only to avoid the Name of Atheists. Men that accommodate themselves to all manner of Religions, be­cause they have none, and can ei­ther drop or caress them, accor­ding as they may be serviceable or prejudicial to their Worldly Interests and Pleasures. They will allow no Laws but what their Lusts prescribe, and the Justest al­ways seem the most Cruel to them; the Name of a Deity either offends them, or moves them not at all. They, as far as in them lies, would destroy him, who gave them their Being, and sooth themselves into an unbelief of That, which if they believed they would be ob­liged both to reverence and fear. Their Libertine humour never gives leave to inform themselves; [Page 17]and certainly they never read at all, or if they do, it is without Meditation; and if they Meditate, being naturally Wicked, they turn every thing to their own nature; and yet forsooth they must pass for Wits and Men of Parts, and think themselves, Head and Shoulders, above others, when from some infamous Sophister they have pick'd up two or three false Argu­ments for their detestable Opini­on, which they insolently extol before the Ignorant, or in the Company of Profane Wretches like themselves. But these set a­side, they are fain to be silent; or if they speak, it is only to shew themselves meer Ignorants, in that they are always asking Questions without answering any. And it grieves me to say, that many Princes and Great Men are so far from detesting these Monsters, [Page 18]that they often find them better Company than other Men, and admit them into their Familiarity and Confidence; not considering, that by this means they become their Accomplices, and make them­selves guilty of High-Treason a­gainst the Divine Majesty. With­out these, forsooth, Conversations and Entertainments are dull and insipid; Here it is they are highly countenanced and respected; here they are pamper'd with Dain­ties; and where they are most bound to be thankful, there it is they belch forth the blackest Blasphemies. Their Sayings are re­ceived here with the greatest ap­plause and appear so much the more witty, by how much the more bold they are, and attack God himself? Men truly the most ingrateful and the least reasonable of any other in the World, who [Page 19]are ready to thank themselves for all the good things they receive, seeing they acknowledge no other Cause thereof but their own In­dustry or good Fortune. The very Sons of the Devil (whose Name imply's a Slanderer) that would fain Signalize themselves by attempting the same thing with their Father, who did ever make it his endeavour to oppose the Truth.

VIII. But since they will ac­knowledge no Wit paramount to their own; perhaps 'tis by their Care and Power, that the Earth is counterpois'd by its own Weight, and surrounded with so vast an Ocean without being drown'd in it. Belike, 'tis by their Industry and Providence, that so solid an Ele­ment is pierced in so many places by such a vast number of Canals, springing with Waters, that quench [Page 20]the thirst of all Living Creatures, and constitute Rivers so abounding with Fish, so Fertile and Condu­cive to Commerce through the whole World. 'Tis by their Or­der, no doubt, that the Sun rises at the set time to enlighten them, when they are satisfied with Sleep; and that the Seasons return to fill their Senses with all variety of Pleasures. Now, if in this they can't but own their Weakness, what folly is it in them not to grant that there are Intellects more powerful and sublime than theirs, employ'd in these wonderful Operations; and that we must at last come up to and stop, at some one that is Superiour to all others, which being finite have a Beginning, and consequently de­pend upon That which has none, and is Infinite? For otherwise, pro­ceeding from the smallest to the [Page 21]greatest, Men would endlesly pass from one Cause to another, and never find the First and Last, which alone deserves the Name of DEITY. O shame of Men, that now a-days we must be at the pains to prove a GOD! What greater affront can be put upon our Kind than to shew them that which is continually present to all their Senses? Is not this to go about to teach the Art of Seeing, to them whose Eyes are open, and that of Reason to such as profess them­selves to be Men? Or shall we need to add to these Considerati­ons their continual Repetitions, who have undertaken so high, but withal so reasonable a Defence? Indeed, if God were not, how could the World exist? Or must it be its own Workman and Work­manship, or have had a being be­fore it was? How could both [Page 22]these stand, and yet be but one and the same World? Or, if it were Eternal, and Independent upon any Superiour Cause, that admirable Oeconomy, which can­not proceed but from an infinite Intellect, and those stupendous Virtues which it severally Commu­nicates to all its Parts, would in­some sort, prove (what many have fancied) it to be a God. For what the least appearance is there, that its Beauty, Order, and Duration should be the effect of blind and heedless Chance, or that we owe to her Conduct, Prudence, and Power, so steady and well regu­lated a Succession of Times and Motions, and that such is her Wis­dom and Might, as to make Causes so remote one from another, to co-operate one and the self-same end? After all their pains, this would be still a God, though un­der [Page 23]another Name, and these Monstrous Blasphemers would still find in every place what their guilty Souls desire to meet no where. For, what is Fortune or Chance? but an empty Name, a Vain Idol that sub­sists only in our imagination, and to which we through Error attribute all Events, and the Effects of all Causes unknown to us, to whom it appears greater or lesser ac­cording as we have more or less knowledge; and if we could ba­nish Ignorance out of the World, Fortune would be fain to pack with her. This therefore is the Deity of the Ignorant, to whom the Wise pay no Vows, nor make Offerings; and I am astonish'd how they can think they have any reason, that speak for it, since (ac­cording to their Scheme) they must believe that it is to Chance they owe their Being, and consequently [Page 24]can neither move, act, nor speak, but by Chance. Others there are who would seem to believe a God, but are so solicitous and concern'd for his repose, as to take from him the Care, if not of the whole World, at least of all Sublunary Be­ings; fancying this would be too much trouble for him, as if he stood in need of their Impious folly to ease him. Is not this to deny him, whilst they pretend to acknow­ledge him, and rashly confine the Actions of a Power that in its Na­ture is infinite? Is not this to frame to ones self a God, that does not so much as perform the part of a Man, and to attribute to him an Understanding depriv'd of Council, a Will without Effect, and a Bounty without Communicativeness; and to say all in one Word, a Being without being, and less than that of the Elements, which is next to Non-Entity.

IX. For, not to insist any more upon that Universal Relation, and Concatenation of Causes and Acti­ons, which plainly demonstrate that things Superiour stand in need of the help of those that are Infe­riour, and that it necessarily de­pends upon the same Wisdom and Power both to make them and pre­serve them; Let these Gigantick Wits stand forth and tell me, Who is it that chastises Kings and People in his wrath, that removes Scepters from one Hand into another, that changes, as it were in an instant, the Face of States and Empires, and that (to shew it is HE that does it) fails not of denouncing it a long time before by the Mouth of his Messengers, Prophets and Ministers? Who was it that did once punish the Sins of Men with so dreadful a Deluge own'd by all Nations; and by whose Advice [Page 26]was it that one single Family was then sav'd? Who is it that pro­mised the like Flood should never happen any more, and has so well kept his Promise? What Intellect did foresee three or four thousand Years before the Event, the Coming of the MESSIAS, of whom also Pro­phets did speak in such a manner, as one would think they had no less seen him than the Apostles? From whom but God himself, or some Angel sent by him, could proceed those Predictions concern­ing the Posterity of Abraham, the Throne of David, and the Lamp, that was to be preserved for him in his Family; the dispersed and rejected Jews, and the Converted Nations? If they tell me there are Mathematicians, Astrologers, and Magicians, that can predict future Events, I will still ask them, what Hand did write them in Hea­ven [Page 27]in such fair Characters as Men might read them? And who has put the signs of these things in the Stars, or rather the Virtues and Causes which the same Men cannot comprehend? They that are not touched with these Considerations must needs be strangely possess'd with a blind Passion that diverts their Reason to somewhat else, and makes them pass from Custom to Hardness, and from Ignorance to Security. And yet we see these Men very Wise and Prudent in Worldly Concerns; Their Igno­rance and Stupidity seem only to be about Divine Matters. And I am much mistaken if most of them do not carry their Accusers and Judge in their own Bosom, who sooner or later will force them to cry out, as well as many others, We have wearied our selves in the ways of Iniquity, and are consumed in our own Wickedness.

CHAP. III.

X. THus, all that we see, speaks to us of God, and convinces us of his Existence. But what he is, no Objects nor any Discourse of ours can ever re­present. Yet what we know of him is sufficient to make us believe and adore those his Perfections we know not. Whether therefore the Progress of Causes and Effects be not infinite, and all things arrive or tend visibly to their End; Whether from the Old Book, in comparison of which all others are New, we learn the Origine of Peo­ple and Nations; Whether the Vir­tues of Heaven grow weak, and both the Age and Strength of Man decrease in comparison of what Sacred and Profane Histories tell us was heretofore; it does evi­dently [Page 29]appear that God has crea­ted the World, and for the Top-Stone of so many Master-pieces, he has made Man after his own Image, that is to say, wholly conformable that is to say, wholly conformable to his Will; not by a Conformity of Essence, but of Imitation, and perfect with that degree of Per­fection, which the most Noble Creature was capable of, and suffi­cient for his Felicity. He held a most Honourable Rank between A­nimals and Angels; He was, as it were, the Tye and Band of the U­niverse, and the Center and End of all Created Beings, over which he would have born an Eternal Sway and Command, had he but once obey'd his Creator.

XI. But being not contented with the Favours and Munificence bestow'd on him, he rashly aspircs to a Dignity above the Supreme, and desirous to mount higher than [Page 30]the very Top, and to seek (as it were) something beyond Existence he fell down to the lowest Pit, and wanted but little of returning to that Nothing out of which he was made. What a presumption and rashness for Man to strive to be e­qual to God! What incredulity to accuse him of a Lie or of Envy! What ingratitude and rebellion to substitute the Devil in his Place! What lack of Charity, or what ex­cess of Neglect towards his Chil­dren to sell them before they were Born, and put them into Slavery before they knew what Liberty was! He little imagin'd he should be thought the worst Father in the World, and that the Curse he had drawn upon himself should reach from one end of the Earth to the other, and from the Beginning to the determination of all Ages, and be the most certain Inheritance he [Page 31]should leave to his Posterity. Nei­did he foresee that instead of that Correspondence or Society he had with the Angels, and his Commu­nion with God himself, his Unhap­py Successors should only converse with Devils, under whose Tyran­ny they would groan continually; and that to live among Men would be to walk among Lions and Ti­gers, or among Vipers and Dra­gons: Nor that instead of an E­verlasting Spring, which he had begun to enjoy, and might have transmitted to them, they should undergo the rigour of a hard Win­ter, or be consumed by the Sun­burning and Scorching heat of Summer; and that instead of those fine Trees he beheld in the Earthly Paradise, and of the sweet Flowers and Fruits he could gather there, they should frequently see nothing else but Gallows and Racks, Graves [Page 32]and Dead-Men's Bones. He did not foresee that besides the sweat of Labour, the misery of Want, the pain of Diseases, and the ter­rors of Death, there would be Judgments that should overthrow Towns and Cities, and lay waste whole Provinces; That sometimes Mortality would be so great, and the Dead themselves so dreadful, that there should be none to be found either to Mourn for, or Bury them; and that at other times Na­ture would be so deprav'd, as that Men would devour one another, and Children being all torn to bits and pieces should return into their own Mothers Wombs. In short, he did not foresee, that most of his Progeny would be so abominably Wicked as to persecute the most Innocent and Righteous of their Brethren rather than imitate them; That they would not content them­selves [Page 33]selves only to stone some, and murther others; but would be so industrious as to find out Torments whereby to oblige them to renounce the Truth, and worship Wood and Stone, or else undergo all the Cru­el and Barbarous Usage that the Malice of Hell can invent. No, he did not foresee all this; and the Devil who made him believe he should have his Eyes open'd, aim'd at nothing else than quite shutting of them, that so he might precipitate him into an Abyss; whence it was not ro be thought there should ever be any Power of Man or Angel capable to retrieve him.

XII. How has this Fall disfigur'd him, and what proportion or re­semblance is there of what he now is to what he was before! He is ashamed of himself, and has no sight but of his Nakedness, nor [Page 34]knowledge but of his Error. From the Image of God which he was, he is transformed, as it were in an instant, into that of the Devil; and there remains nothing in him of his pristine Innocence, but the grief of having lost it. Who shall comfort him for this Loss, and what can he expect from his Reason that on­ly served to betray and undo him? How is it possible that he who could not keep up while he stood, should get up again when fallen? What can he hope for either from the Angels, or God himself; having broken that Law whereby he was oblig'd to Obedience, or to Punish­ment? Punishment that is of the same age with the Offence, troubles and afflicts him already without inter mission, and he has no more Life left him, but to feel the continual strokes and attacks of Death. And which is worse, still the offence is heightned [Page 35]proportionably to the Dignity of the Person offended. So that as he has sinned against him that is Infinite, so must he dye, or suffer infinitely. O what confusion of thoughts! What remorse and what fears disturb his Mind, especially considering that he had no less been informed of his Duty, than threatned with his Disgrace; and the more to quicken in him the care of his own Preservation, it seems the Sentence of Death should in some sort, as one would think, have prevented his Crime? To what despair is he reduc'd, and what can he think in this Misera­ble State? Save only this, that God never makes a thing, which he af­terwards repents to have made; that he does not build up to pull down, and that the Glory of such a Workman will not suffer his Work to perish. That it was not [Page 36]likely that the most Excellent of all Creatures should be appointed to Eternal Woes, and that being se­duced, and the fault not wholly his own, he should be obliged to make the same Satisfaction with the Devils, which continues still, and shall never end.

XIII. Howbeit, he discover'd no Expedient for his Deliverance, and could not imagine there were any means capable of procuring him GOD's Mercy, without doing Vi­olence to his Justice. This is what neither he, nor we his Posterity, could ever have conceiv'd: And thereupon some lull'd themselves asleep and became Atheists; others framed Gods to themselves after their own way, and fell to Idola­try. This unhappy Inclination (yet so natural and so strong that 'tis grown almost to an universal Fury) did so pervert their Senses [Page 37]and Understanding, that they would have the Objects of their Worships to be as themselves, Cor­poreal and Visible, and not being able to imagine any thing beyond themselves, they attributed Hu­mane Passions to them, and ap­pointed Services for them, accor­ding to the Vanity of their own thoughts. They not only degra­ded themselves beneath the nature of Man, when they paid Adora­tion to their own kind, but made themselves less than Beasts, by Worshipping them all. Nay, they adored the most Vile and Abject of all Creatures, that were so far from having any Ray or Mark of the Divi­nity, that many times they were such as had not so much as any sign of Life in them; Yea for fear lest a­ny thing Horrid and Execrable should be wanting in their Idolatry, they worshipped the very Infernal [Page 38]Powers and Enemies of the Creator. Many judging well there must be a better state for Man than that of this World, instead of enquiring whether there was not some Di­vine Word that could inform them of their chief End and supreme Good, consulted only ambiguous and Devilish Oracles. Instead of the only and true Remedy that was able to cleanse them from all filthiness of Sin, they sought for nothing but Crooked and By-ways; and therein wearied themselves with Ceremonies, Abstinences, Purifi­cations, Fasts, and Offerings; all which had no other effect, than to add new afflictions to their Lives. For what Sacrifices, what Beasts, what Hecatombs, could ever make atonement for the Transgressions of one single Man? Or rather, what Man conceiv'd as he is in Sin, could ever satisfie, I don't say for [Page 39]others, but even for his own self? And what else could he offer in of­fering up of himself, but Ingratitude, Envy, Hatred, Malice, Thoughts of Vanity, and Words of Falshood? Nay, what are his very Virtues but dis­guis'd Vices? What is his Prudence but Deceit, his Valour but Rashness, and his Wisdom but Hypocrisie? If he prays, he does it but perfuncto­rily, and out of Custom; and if at any time he shews some Zeal, 'tis not so much his Love to God that excites and inflames him, as his apprehension of some Evil that he is threatned with, or the sense of that which presses him. What can he do better than to make a conti­nual Confession of his Sins, for which, if he be judged according to his Demerits, he ought to ex­pect nothing else but the Sentence of Death and Eternal Damnation? Therefore if all Humane Reason [Page 40]was never able to find out the means of Sanctifying so much as one single Man; nor all Philoso­phy to make one Believer, or dis­cover a Good not to be snatch'd away by Death; What remains but that we should believe what the best inspired Men could best tell us, viz. That we must have recourse to the first Beginning; That the means was to be Univer­sal, and that none but God could reveal it?

CHAP. IV.

XIV. 'TIS a thing most certain, That as Man was not made by Chance; so neither was he created in vain; That his End can never be either to suffer Eter­nal Torments, or to return to that Nothing out of which he was taken, [Page 41]and that the same Power that gave him Being, must save him. Should not he, who by the single Sparks of that Divine Image remaining in him, is able to measure the Hea­vens without leaving the Earth, think we be Immortal? What would else become of so many Re­velations and Promises, or who is it that hath taken so much care to deceive us? What would Justice and Piety be more than vain emp­ty. Names, to cheat the World withal? And to what purpose so much Regard and Caution, if af­ter this Life there be nothing to be hoped for? No doubt, our Natural Remisness and Sensuality would not be wanting in advising us to follow the beaten Road, to enjoy the things Present, without troubling our head with the Future, and to live like Beasts, since we must die like them? But away [Page 42]with all these profane and rash Thoughts. The first Act of the Creator answers for all the rest; and he that has made us of no­thing, is as able to retrieve us from Death. Should he be contented to suffer his own Image to be de­fac'd and defam'd? Should the Devil be Conqueror in this Con­test, and raise his Trophies over the Works of the Almighty? No certainly; the first State of Inno­cence was not the End of Man: How good soever he might be then, he was to be still better, and his latter end more Blessed than his Beginning. But it was requisite he should be exposed to his own desires, and left to the Counsel of his own hand, as well for his Tryal, as to the end he might know him­self, that this knowledge might be as a Step to him to raise him up to that of his Creator. Perhaps he [Page 43]would have thought he was capa­ble of maintaining himself without the Help of any other Power; not reflecting that there is but one pure Holy and true Being, on whom all others do depend, and without whom either we must not be at all, or be Eternally Miserable.

XV. To the end therefore that all Men might know they are not to rely upon the strength and virtue vouchsafed them, God has given them the means to try themselves, and acknowledge that they are all of them equally fallen by the fall of One; that they are naturally the Slaves of Sin, and consequently Tributaries to Hell and Death. He gave them his Law, which how perfect soever it be, yet brings nothing to its full Perfection; whose Justice serves on­ly to make them the more guilty, whose Instructions are but in order [Page 44]to confound them, and which seems not to promise them good things, but to make them despair of ever attaining them It is a Letter that kills, an intolerable Yoke, a Mi­nistry of Death, which is so far from justifying Men, that it ranks them all under one and the same Condemnation. Or to speak more favourably of it; It is a Glass wherein they may see what they were, what they are, and what they shall be; It is a Flower, whose Fruit is the greatest Favour that can ever happen to them; It is a Candle that lightens them du­ring the Night, till the Sun rise upon them.

XVI. Now, as the incomprehen­sible Unity, which comprehends all multiplicity, is the supreme Per­fection of God, so in like manner Union with God is the supreme Perfection of Man. But we are [Page 45]not able to raise up our selves to him, unless he first draws us, or rather vouchsafes to come down to us. This is the Mystery of our Redemption, which even they themselves who had received the Promises of it, confirmed by so many Signs and Miracles, did see so far off, and through so many shadows and so much darkness, that they were better able to believe and hope for it, than comprehend it. Seeing the vast distance there is between Heaven and Earth, they could not think of any means to fill up their great Abyss, and were not informed there were any Steps by which they might ascend to Heaven, save only by Jacob's Lad­der. Yet Reason does for all that give its assent to things that hap­pen beyond Reason it self; and helps us apprehend that at last, which at first it could not so much [Page 46]as in the least make us imagine. Since therefore it teaches us that a Mean ought equally to partake of both Extremes, and doth unite them, howsoever disagreeing they may be; that a Mediator ought to be capable of the Sentiments and Affections of both Parties he intends to reconcile, and set a just Esti­mate upon the Right or Wrong of either of them: Who doubts but that he that for this end is sent to us from Heaven is fully possess'd of all the Qualities requisite for him as such; that he partakes of the Humane and Divine Nature; in a Word, that he is Man and God both together? Moreover, who doubts but that he is a Man conceiv'd otherwise than other Men, lest his Natural Corruption and Sin should make him incapable of an intimate essential Union with the Divine Justice and Purity? For [Page 47]if he were not Man, we could have no share in him, neither could his satisfaction be imputed to us. If he were not God, he could not communicate his Immor­tal Virtues, Glory and Felicity to us. If he were Man only, he could not overcome Death, nor raise himself from the Grave, but sink under the Burthen, and be soon reduc'd to nothing: And if he were God only, he could not have Died, nor received from him­self that Payment to which we are bound by the Law. Therefore he must suffer, and yet be altogether incapable of Dying; he must die, and yet withal be Immortal too; He must descend into Hell, and come up thence again; He must be above all the Infernal Powers, and shew that to him truly belong all the ways that lead to, as well as the Issues from, Death. He that [Page 48]will deliver others from the Curse, must undergo and overcome it; and to the end there might be some proportion between the Of­fence and the Punishment, there must be a Person of an infinite Worth and Excellency, to make a temporal and finite torment of in­finite Merit. For certainly it is more with God that his Son dies for the Sins of the World, then to see all Mankind perish together. Now, tho' there be no Law that allows the Innocent to suffer for the Guilty; neither is there any that forbids it, provided he offer himself willingly, and be not ab­solutely destroy'd by the Punish­ment, but have power as to lay down his Life so to take it up again.

XVII. O the Wonders of the Eternal Power and Wisdom, who in the Beginning was pleased to take out of Man a Woman that [Page 49]caused us all to Die, that after­wards out of the Woman he might take a Man that will make us all alive again! Thus Humane, and Divine Nature in the fulness of time are by a stupendious Myste­ry united together, and without any the least alteration in the pro­perties of either, the Son of God has joyn'd himself in Unity of Person with the Son of Man. I say the Son, and not the Father; for we cannot have him for an In­tercessor, who is to be interceded with. He that does send cannot be sent; and because the Father does nothing by himself, but all things by his Son, it is reasonable that he should exert the Second Crea­tion, who was the Author of the First. And who could speak bet­ter on our behalf, than he who is the Word it self? Who could re­print the Divine Image better in us, [Page 50]than he that formed it there at first, or intitle us better to the right of Children, than he that possesses it in the highest degree? But it is not enough that he should make satisfaction, and that this satisfacti­on should be imputed to us, but he must also confer that Grace upon, and apply it to us; and this is the Office of the Spirit, which equally proceeds from the Son and the Fa­ther. He it is that enlightens and purifies us, that enables us to un­derstand, love, and believe these Mysteries, that impregnates us, as he did the Blessed Virgin, and makes us conceive our Saviour. He is that Band of Love which unites us to the Divinity, that real Unction, wherewith we are all anointed, and thereby made Kings, Prophets and Priests. In short, it is he that gives himself for a Pledge and Security of the Promises of the [Page 51]Life to come, of the Resurrection, and Glory.

XVIII. This great Mediator therefore is come, such as he was foretold, not like some great Con­queror, a Cyrus or an Alexander; but in the form of a Man full of sorrows and acquainted with griefs, like one Consecrated by suffering; to be a Propitiatory Victim for Mankind, whose Merit is sufficient for all, but appliable only to them that believe in him. He is come not to shed another's Blood, but his own, and combate Rebellion with Obedience; Strength with Weak­ness; Pride with Humility; This is that which makes him appear grea­ter and more Divine; This is that which overcomes and ravishes us into admiration, and obliges us to fall down and worship him. This is the sole Object of Religion, which is not only the Art of saving [Page 52]Man, but of making a God of him, without any the least prejudice to the Divine Unity, or the Holy Tri­nity. For what name can be given to the Son of Man, who makes but one and the same Person with the Son of God? And of what Extract must we esteem them to be, whom he has vouchsafed so far to honour, as to call them his Brethren? Now this RELIGION has been established not by any Bribings, Companies, or Combinati­ons; not by the Favour of Princes, or the Votes of People; not by the Subtilty of Philosophers, or the Per­swasion of Orators; In a word, not by a Multitude of Men, as the Mahometan, nor a great Number of Gods, as the Pagan; but only by the plain Proposal of a simple and naked Truth. Which Truth has, notwithstanding all manner of Op­position and Gain-saying, made it [Page 53]self to be heard throughout the World; and at its appearance has seen all Errors confounded, all Sects dissipated and vanishing all False Oracles struck Dumb, and all Idols and their Worshippers fall down before it.

CHAP. V.

XIX. AFter all that this RE­LIGION lays before us of the only Way for Man to be sav'd, what can all the Religions in the World besides teach us? And what can Mahomet pretend to perswade us, if the Name of a Christian be so odious to him, and he so little agree with Christ, who does so perfectly agree with all the Prophets? Is it not a wonder­ful thing, that so many Men should be inspired in so different [Page 54]Places, and at so different times, to proclaim the Coming of a Man, who was to be rejected of his own, and receiv'd of all the Nations of the Earth? Certainly, after what the Scriptures tell us, and the Commands and Counsels they give us, there is no more room left for Curiosity, but for Submission and Obedience. Let those who make their own Gods appoint them what Services they please: it must not be so with him, who is not made by our Opinion, but we are all made by him: Whose Will cannot be manifested to us by Imaginations or Conjectures, but only by his own Word. This is the Light he hath given us to be our Guide, and wo to them that call that Light Darkness. So high and excellent is the knowledge it raises us to, that no man can ever be supposed to have invented it: [Page 55]Besides it is so conformable to Rea­son, that 'tis impossible to consider it, and not to approve it. In the first place it discovers Man to him­self, and makes him sensible of his own Weakness and Misery; but immediately comforts him again; shewing him his Distemper, only to dispose him to be presented with a Remedy for it. It contains Reve­lations and Predictions, which after so many Ages have been confirmed by the Events, and tend to no o­ther end but the Salvation of the Creature, and Glory of the CREA­TOR. The Natural Simplicity and Plainness; the Scope, Style, Antiqui­ty, Energy, Duration, and so many other Signs that shine in it, are so clear an Evidence of its being Di­vine, that it manifestly appears, that 'tis GOD himself that speaks, and consequently it behoves Man to give attention and be siilent. [Page 56]What History of the greatest and most flourishing Empires in the World, was ever confirmed by their own Friends, as this is by its Foes? What other History besides this, begins with the World, continues from Age to Age, speaks of things to come, as if they were present, and ends with the World it self? This is the Way to Salvation, the Gate of Heaven; and whoever en­ters in any other way is a Thief and a Robber. This is the Model of Perfection, that shews us what Good or what Evil we are capable of, and teaches us to examine, know, and reform our selves. This is the true Paradise, wherein the Tree of Life is to be found, the Leaves whereof are for the Healing of the Nations. In a Word, these are the ALMIGHTY's Letters, which he writes as well to his Ser­vants, as his Friends, and are neither [Page 57]closed nor seal'd up to any of them, whom he has appointed Heirs of Eternal Salvation.

XX. Whosoever therefore does know, that there is a Holy Scrip­ture for the Instruction and Infor­mation of Man in the Service he ought to pay to his God, and the Reward he may expect for it, and he is not careful to look into it, whatever shew of Religion such a one may make, he is a Liar, an Hypocrite, and a Deceiver of his own self; seeing it is written for the Common People, as well as for the Learned; for Women, as well as for Men; for Children, as well as for Parents. And it is a bad sign for those, who have once read it, per­haps out of Curiosity, not to be affected with the Love of it, and continually desire to read it over and over again. Is this to deal honestly and faithfully; or rather, [Page 58]is it not a siding with Satan, and being as it were at his Wages, and taking his pay, to hinder the Salva­tion of Men, by forbidding the reading of it to so many People of good will, who thirst after the WORD of ETERNAL LIFE? Let Turks and Hereticks hide their false Doctrines and Errors, as much as they please, the GOSPEL of CHRIST, which is the TRUTH it self, must be Visible and Commu­nicable to all; it must shine as bright as the day, and this Spiri­tual Light must be no more hid than the Corporeal. Perhaps some will say, We need not so much Reading, nor so much Study; has not the Church prescribed whatsoever is necessary for us, and are not we under the Conduct of Men that cannot err? But to this I answer, that there can be no grea­ter Error than that which perswades us we cannot err; and that this [Page 59]is rashly to assume to our selves a Divine Property incommunicable to any Man, besides Prophets and Apostles; and that so far, as they are commissionated to be the Bearers of the Word they have re­ceiv'd, and the Preachers of what has really been reveal'd to them. But perhaps, the WORD of GOD is not to be understood without the help of Plato or Aristotle? But I answer, that the Wise of this World are so much the farther from this Know­ledge, because their Wisdom is Folly before GOD, and prompts them to gain-say the Holy Spirit with Obstinacy and Violence, as two Contraries are wont to do. Per­haps, 'tis but a part, or half of the Rule, and therefore not suffi­cient perfectly to instruct us about our Salvation? But say I, there is no Man so simple, nor so dull, but this will enable him to conceive [Page 60]more good things than the most Holy can practise, and there is no Saint but comes far short of the Perfection it proposes.

XXI. Methinks, I hear these wilfully ignorant Persons complain of the Difficulty of a Science, a­bout which they never made any more Enquiry, than if the Know­ledge of Salvation did not at all concern them; and through a Re­ligious, or rather, Superstitious Scruple profess that they are not worthy to read it. 'Tis true, you are unworthy of the Favour that God is willing to shew you; but being he is pleased to do it, pray, who would you have to receive it for you? You suspect him, and suppose his Word to be dangerous and dreadful, and that it is spoken or inspir'd to no other end, but to lay Snares for Men's minds, to de­ceive and undo them. You know [Page 61](say you) your own Weakness and Insufficiency; and that you would be apt to wrest or mistake the meaning of it. Say rather, you know your own Malice and Wick­edness, and that you would turn that into rank Poison, which o­thers do convert into Sweet Hony. You say that Sacred WORD is dark and obscure, whose first Words made the Light, that Spiri­tual Lamp, which was given us to this very end, that it might enligh­ten us. You hear not that Word which the very Rocks have heard, and which does not only raise the Dead, but calls those things that are not as if they were; which Com­mands things out of Nothing, and the Command is obey'd. Confess therefore that you are less sensible than Rocks, than the Dead, yea than Nothing it self. This is the proper Effect, Counsel, and In­struction, [Page 62]of your Guides and Masters, who at once made their own Precepts to be regarded, and the Scripture despised; whose Pu­rity cannot serve their Ambition, and who not daring to accuse it of Lies, have given it the bad Name, that it is dark and obscure; and not being able openly to gain-say it, have put their own Sense upon it. And though it be full of strict Prohibitions of adding any thing to, or taking ought from it, yet have they not contented themselves to lay heavy Burthens upon Con­sciences, and load them with new Ceremonies and Ordinances, which make the State of the Gospel more intolerable than that of the Law: But their insolence and bold­ness has carried them to that excess, as to cut off some Commandments from the Law it self; though one would think the Respect due to the [Page 63]Hand of God that wrote it, should have exempted it from such a Sa­criledge, and render'd it for ever inviolable. These Men study Di­vinity only to oppose and baffle the Scripture; and some of them have run over their Course of Divi­nity and are admmitted Doctors, without ever having read it. Before they read it, they learn the Sense of the School, and understand it not but by the false Light of Pre­judice. After all this, 'tis very hard for them to admit another im­pression, than what they have re­ceived in their Youth; And then (O Vanity, wherewith▪ the Devil deludes Men!) thus to understand it, is to be thought Learned.

XXII. I Know there are Myste­ries and Prophecies in it, which were not understood even by those who delivered them, and that the Knowledge thereof was reserved [Page 64]for them that should see their E­vents. Neither is there one Pas­sage threatning Men with Eternal Death, who cannot fully explain the Revelation. A Man may work out his own Salvation with less Difficulty, than to understand throughly all the Visions of Eze­kiel and other Prophets. Nay, I say further, that the Predictions, Threats, and Promises, the Evi­dence whereof necessarily depends upon futurity, leave certain Im­pressions and Idea's on our Minds of those horrible Torments prepa­red for the Wicked, and of that glorious Reward and Happiness designed for the Righteous. The Things we understand assure us of the Truth of those we understand not; and when those Places that are clear and evident of themselves are not sufficient to render the o­ther intelligible, the Reader ought [Page 65]to humble himself, to confess his Ignorance Indocility, and Hu­man Presumption to stop here. But however, every one may here clearly see the Commands he is to obey, the Belief he is to hold, the Pattern of the Prayers he is to make, and Praises he is to return to GOD. And this indeed is all our Preach­ers ought to teach us, without their needing to trouble and per­plex our Minds with Curious Que­stions, and lose both themselves and others in the Vanity of their own thoughts. But don't we run the hazard of making our selves Lyars, if in the least we seem to assert this Word to be clear and plain, when the Doctors of this Age declare the contrary, and the People believe them? Yes, indeed it is Dark, our SAVIOUR testi­fies it himself; but it is only so to the Worldly Wise and Learned. [Page 66]He thanks his Father, that he has hid these things from such, and revealed them to Babes. It is ob­scure to them that perish, and whom the God of this World has blinded. So that we may confidently affirm that it cannot be apprehended by an Understanding meerly Human, and that it must be a Divine Spi­rit that can conceive a Divine Word. They that have not this Spirit can by no means compre­hend it. None but the Children of God know the Voice of their Father; None but Sheep that of the Shepheard. True it is, and I confess, that its excessive Bright­ness makes it Dark to many that behold it, and that Noble and true Born Eagles only can fix their Eyes upon this Sun, the Light whereof never fails to strike Owls and Bats with Blindness.

CHAP. VI.

XXIII. IT is not to be doubted at all but that the E­nemy of God, the Author of the Universal Rebellion and Great Ty­rant of the World will make him­self to be ador'd in his own King­dom, and that consequently most Religions are Worldly and Diabo­lical. 'Tis no matter to him by whom, or how they are instituted, whether Ignorance, Opinion, Error, or Custom introduces them, pro­vided they be equally Superstiti­ous and Profane, or whether those who at the first worshipped Bel or Jupiter do afterward worship the Sun, the Moon and all the Host of Heaven, nay, and that of Hell too. There is no Religion so extravagant or ri­diculous, which he doth not favour; neither there is, any besides the [Page 68]True, that is displeasing to him. He has first heaped Gods upon Gods, introduced their Idols even into the Holy Place, and then found out a way to combate Scripture with Scripture, and raised false Doctrines from false Interpretations. He has made use of the Light, only to dazle and blind People; and em­ploy'd Truth, to cover and dis­guise a Lie, the better to get off his own Impostures. He has his Doctors, through whose Mouths he teaches and disputes continually. He has his Votaries, by whom he exposes the Pattern of a good and devout Life: Nor doth he want his Priests, Prophets, Holy Men, or Mar­tyrs. In the mean time, Men don't consider what Spirit they are led by; And they are often harden'd and delivered up to Satan; yea in a manner possess'd, or at lest blind­ed by him, who have quite other [Page 69]thoughts of themselves. Besides they are of so presumptuous and profane a Temper, and have so good an Opinion of their Natural Reason, that they would fain re­form his Works, who has formed both themselves and all things, and pass their Judgment upon the Di­vine Word, with as much peremp­toriness, as if it were meerely Hu­man. They are not content with what Divinity teaches them, they must (forsooth) call in Philosophy to their assistance, and so confound and corrupt both the one and the other; without perceiving that by this means they leave their Christi­an Vocation, and fall under the dis­advantageous state of Heathens. They spend their time in exami­ning Curious and Subtle Questions, and laying aside things that are clear, they make it their glory to raise Scruples and foment Contra­dictions, [Page 70]to the diverting (by these affected Difficulties) both them­selves and others from the know­ledge of Truth. Whensoever it pleases them they take Figurative Expressions in the Literal Sense, wrest those that are dark or doubtful, and are very dexterous in putting upon equivocal terms, a constructi­on fit for their Turn. They dazle one another's Eyes with specious Arguments, and their weak Judg­ment suffers two Contradictories to appear equally probable. In­deed one would think that their Learning serves only to make them more Ignorant, and their Study to accomplish them in the Art of doubting of every thing; thereby making Learning worse than Igno­rance, they are all Scepticks by Pro­fession, and Christians only by Name.

XXIV. Indeed, if there were any certainty in Human Learning, they who presume to be so accom­plish'd in the Art of Reasoning should all agree. But if their O­pinions be so various and different, when yet there is but one TRUTH, what does their Science amount to? Their Learning consists in a kind of Divinity, that is meerly artifici­al, intricate, thorny, and all full of Quiddities, Instances, Relati­ons and Formalities; which neither the Prophets, nor the Apostles, ever thought necessary to Salvation, or rather were never acquainted with them; and it were much bet­ter for us to be so too (after their Examples) than to know them. They are learned in Human Inven­tions, Chimaera's, ridiculous Fan­cies, and in every thing that is apt to advance Error, and confound Reason by its own Subtilty. All [Page 72]Places swarm with vain Bablers, everlasting Disputers, who employ their whole study in the art of gain-saying; that let a Man say what he will, they may always be ready to contradict him, and are more allarm'd with a false Syllogism, than they are concerned for the Peace of the Church, or the Happi­ness of Mankind. They never come to any Conferences with intent of yielding any thing for the love of Truth, but only to try whether they can gain their Adversaries by Perswasions and Promises, or sup­plant them by all manner of So­phistry and cunning Devices. They dread nothing more than to grant one Point, lest they should be ob­lig'd to grant them all; and if any one of them should chance to yield never so small a matter, this would presently ruin his Credit among those of his own Party, and the [Page 73]least act of sincerity would be accounted a crime unpardonable. Wherefore they resort to those Meetings, well provided with all manner of School-Stratagems, Argu­ments, and Instances, grounded upon certain Axioms, or Maxims of their own, or others contrivance, and constrain all to submit to them, as to Principles of Sovereign Truth, that neither admit of doubts, nor need any evidencing, and on which depends the infallible Consequence of what they themselves believe, or would fain perswade others. Yea, though their Frauds be disco­ver'd, yet they have still some co­lour at hand to make them look plausible, and so by a pious Cheat keep the People in their impious Devotions. They are dexterous at taking their advantage. They have the Art of eluding the most formal Allegations: They Wire­draw [Page 74]the knot of the matter, the state of the Question. They have their Sophistical Distinctions, their set Glosses, their Sleights and Eva­sions at their Fingers end; and in Disputes, as well as in Combates, their sole intent is to come off Vi­ctors. Cursed Wretches! who prefer their own Honour and In­terest to that of Religion it self, and who being more solicitous a­bout what they must object or an­swer, than what they should be­lieve, are very little concern'd for their want of Faith, provided they do not seem to want Reason. How can we expect, that these Men should faithfully explain to us Things dark and abstruse, whose whole business it is to darken those that are the most clear, and so much change the Ordinances of God, that there needs no point of Wit to perceive it; Common sense [Page 75]and Eye-sight being sufficient to make one a competent judge of it? No other fruits can be look'd for either from their Animosity or Hard-heartedness, which render them sociable only to such as are willing to be instructed in their way, or abandon themselves to their Guidance. For as for them­selves, they are no more capable of learning any thing; because they presume they have learn'd all; and so proposing to themselves no­thing else but the teaching of o­thers, no wonder if they had ra­ther pass for Masters of Error, than Disciples of Truth.

XXV. But I hear them already demanding of me, Whether in a matter of this importance, I may without too much presumption, pretend my Opinion or Judgment to be infallible, or at least better informed, than that of the Doctors [Page 76]themselves? To which I answer, That I will have no other, but that which the most clear and intelligi­ble Words of the Scripture do ob­viously afford to the most simple among the People, and which God is pleased to reveal to the humble, and hide from the proud. I will have no other, than that which teaches me, 1 Cor. 4.6. That none ought to presume to know beyond what is Written; That it is absolutely forbidden either to add to, or take from it; and that they in vain make profession of honouring God, who honour him only with the Doctrines of Men, and make void his Law by their Tradition. I will have no other, than that which com­mands me to avoid profane Que­stions, vain Disputations, and tedious Contradictions of a Science, falsly so call'd, which one cannot follow, without erring from the Faith, and [Page 77]abandoning one's self to Impiety. I further answer, That such Que­stions ought not in justice to be ask'd of those who make use of their Senses and Reason only to discern the Voice of their Lord and Father, to receive his Commands and obey him, who do not rashly mix their own Fancies with his Ordinances, and who do not ex­plain the Scripture, but by it self. 'Tis from the exorbitant Curiosity and sublime Visions of these in­lightened, Angelical and Seraphick Doctors, that so many extrava­gant Opinions arise, and not from the innocent Reading of those poor and simple Creatures, that in the Word of Eternal Life seek for no­thing else, but a Light to guide them in the Way to Conversion and Salvation. None ever were the Authors of Heresie, but such as presume themselves able to defend [Page 78]it, and who with the same Spirit of Pride and Rashness, wherewith they have started it, are resolved to maintain it. These are Errors, which none but the Learned are ca­pable of, and Follies that none but Wise Men can commit. The va­nity of knowing what others know not, of being esteemed the Author of some Novelty, of giving a Name to a Sect, and being the Ring-leader of it; the Dread of Poverty, Thirst after Riches and Honours, the De­sire of pleasing Great Men, of de­serving their Favours, flattering their Passions, promoting their In­terests, and thereby advancing their own: These are the Secret Articles and chief Mysteries of their Faith. They are very willing to quit the Pretensions of the Soul for the Ease of the Body. They are for a Religion that may insure them a Fortune, and a Conscience [Page 79]that may yield to Necessity. In the mean time, an Error is no sooner hatcht, bur there are al­ways some ready to receive and embrace it; and that not out of any Devotion, but from a design of forming a new Party, and raising Troubles and Divisions in a peace­able State. Whole Europe is all be­dappl'd with Sects, and as it were rent to pieces by the Violence of so many Factions; at the sight whereof Atheists encrease, Mahome­tans are confirmed in their Error, Jews are scandaliz'd, and all equal­ly harden'd. There is no end of Questions; Sometimes about the Elect, and at other times about the Reprobate. But who are those rash Persons, that seek for a Reason, where so great an Apostle as St. Paul finds no other but the good Will and Pleasure of God? For my part, I confess I cannot won­der [Page 80]enough at them, who with so much ingratitude despise those things, which God has been pleased to make known to us, that they may rashly dive into those, which for a time he would have hid from us. Without too indiscreet a pre­sumption, and a Curiosity not on­ly needless, but pernicious, I shall never disturb the publick Peace, nor raise new Doubts, either about the two Natures, the two Wills, or Sub­stance of JESUS CHRIST, and without a too great Love of my self, I shall never pretend to be the COMFORTER with Montanus, nor the SAVIOUR of Men, with Menander. I will live as a Believer with Believers, and neither scanda­lize my Brethren by any private Opinion, taken up of my own head, nor by a general undervaluing of the Opinion of others.

XXVI. So long as the Weak­ness of Men shall introduce into the Church no other Scruples, save about the difference of Meat, and have no other Ornaments but Pi­ctures, and not provoke God's Jea­lousie by Graven Images. So long as there shall be only some super­fluous Ceremonies, which in the Judgment of many will pass some­times for indifferent, and at other times be thought necessary; though indeed an Error, that seems but small at first, is commonly a step to a greater. So long as its Purity shall be, if not altogether such as it might be wish'd, yet at least such as is tolerable; I will not depart from its Communion. But I must and will withdraw from any Assem­bly, where I shall be forced to con­form with the outward actions of Superstition and Idolatry, and pay a Religious Honour and Worship, [Page 82]not only to Saints and Angels, who are Fellow-Servants with us, but to Wood and Stone; where the Sa­craments are not entire, and where the Commandments of God are made void by the Precepts of Men. Neither shall I think this is any Schism, where there is so just a reason of Separating, and an im­possibility of doing otherwise. For what else should be the meaning or use of these Words, that command Believers to go without the Camp, Heb. 13.13. and to come out of Babylon, Rev. 18.4. which going out is not meant of the Spirit only, but of the Body too, seeing that both are equally to be consecrated to the Glory of the Creator? And when we shall see the abomination of Deso­lation set in the Holy Place, Dan. 9.27. must not we fly into the Mountains, Mat. 24. Or if once Antichrist be seated in the Temple of God, must [Page 83]he therefore be obey'd, and what he pleaseth to injoyn, be called, the Commandments of the Church?

CHAP. VII.

XXVII. WHen therefore I saw the univer­sal Division of so many Sects, which all of them had their Doctors, and some of them their Prophets too, I thought, that upon this account the necessity of Prayer was very urgent, that there was great occa­sion for us to humble our selves, and consult, not the uncertain Imaginations of Men, but those infallible Rules which God himself has laid down. And this I desired with so much the more care to do, because the Word of God tells us, that not only many Antichrists will arise in the Church, and one above [Page 84]all the rest, but also that in the time of the Apostles themselves the Mystery of Iniquity began already to put forward, and consequently must be by this time grown to a great height, notwithstanding their blindness, who have no minds to see it, and think they are safe e­nough whilst they can find some pretence or other for their wilful Ignorance. I therefore suspected all Religions, which are not purely Evangelical and Divine, which are mixt with Human Inventions, med­dle with Questions too high, and too difficult to be resolved, and the Controversy whereof is too subtle, and fine-spun. I had also an ill Opinion of those, that are brought in by the Sword and Ty­ranny, which are so little assur'd of themselves, that they are afraid of a Communication with others, and to that end keep their Follow­ers [Page 85]in a Brutish Ignorance. In like manner I mistrusted all those, that comport with the several interests of the World, and put in for a share in its Government, whatever pompous Title of the Church they may assume; because they over­throw the Order of CHRIST's own Appointment, and rashly change that into a Time of Glory, which is appointed for the Patience of the Saints.

XXVIII. Besides, if we will be­lieve universal Experience; Every thing that is under the Govern­ment of Men is like them, subject to Alteration, Mutability, and Cor­ruption, and soon or late follows the Way of their Inconstancy. Children do not willingly continue in their Fathers, or at least An­cestors Belief; and Faith is not he­reditary, as the Title of a Family or an Estate is. For the most part [Page 86]they have nothing left of it, but an outward Profession, to which they being no otherwise engaged but by Birth or Custom, they ea­sily abandon what their depraved Nature neither incline them to know, or love; so that if they have begun with good and sound Doctrine, a bad one is their Por­tion at last. Thus we see that the purity of the Gospel, wheresoever it hath been received, has been seldom transmitted to the third Generation: and the Apostles were yet alive, when in the very Church­es they had planted, Error crept in insensibly into the room of Truth. God threaten'd them already with the removal of their Candlestick; giving them to understand, that Faith was no more the peculiar Priviledge of any one Place, Fami­ly, or People, and that the Church being become Universal, could not [Page 87]be subjected to the Jurisdiction of one King only, or the Administra­tion of one single Priest. 'Tis in vain for Men to pretend to lay the Foundation of a permanent State, or to find a Supreme Good here in this Life; They are not able to bear Prosperity long, and the surest way to undo them, is to grant them their desires. If our first Parents, though in the State of Innocency, could not among the Flowers and Fruits of a most pleasant and de­lightful Garden resist the suggesti­on of the Evil Spirit, who to tempt them, took no other Form, than that of a Serpent, nor offer'd any thing but an Apple; how is it possible for those who are Sinners by Na­ture to withstand him, especially when he transforms himself into an Angel of Light, and offers them all the advantages their Hearts can desire? It is indeed in a Paradise [Page 88]of Pleasures, that the Devil, for the most part, tempts Men, to precipi­tate them into Hell; and on the other hand, it is in a Hell of Sor­rows and Afflictions, that God trys them in order to raise them up to the Glory of Paradise. Riches are so hurtful to those that possess them, that like a heavy Burthen, they hinder them from mounting up to Heaven. And so incompati­ble are they with the Profession of the Gospel, that even he to whom they all belong, and who could use them without the least abuse, did of his own accord become Poor, that he might trace us the way of Eternal Salvation, and by his Po­verty we might be made Rich. In­deed, all good Men do acknow­ledge what is confirmed by Histo­ries, viz. That the Bountiful Dona­tions of Emperors, and the free Gifts of Lords and Ladies have proved [Page 89]the most dangerous Poison, that could ever have been handed to the Church; That from that time Piety began to grow cold, and make room for the Cares of this World, and that all Christian Vir­tues were soon choak'd by great Plenty and Luxury. All those great Benefactors, who are so ex­tremely commended to us, plainly shew'd, that they were not through­ly informed of the Will of our SAVIOUR, nor of the true Call­ing of his Ministers, when they thus inriched them with Temporal Estates, and made of them so ma­ny Members and Favourers of the Kingdom of this World. This great Wealth that flow'd in upon them, all on a Sudden, was but an ill omen to the Faithful, who easi­ly judged that for the future none but the Ambitious, Covetous, Wicked, and Profligate could aspire [Page 90]to any Office in the Church, and that she was going to be reduced to that extream Misery, as not to be governed by any, but by her worst Enemies.

XXIX. From that time, the Corruption has (by a strange Per­mission of Heaven) grown to this height, that the Clergy are grown worse than the Laity. They have received from Men that Authority, which in their station they should receive from none but God, and if they have taken any care about Spiritual Things, it was not to serve, but to command, to advance themselves to the Highest Dignities, and to be made Bishops over other Bishops. They have imitated him, who despising a Common Joy with the other Angels, had the boldness to attempt the raising himself to the highest Pitch of Singularity and Superiority, saying in his [Page 91]Heart, I will set up my Throne above the Stars, and be like the Most High. Instead of confining themselves to the Observation of that true Ser­vice, which God had institued and prescribed himself, they have de­spised its Simplicity, would not away with any Devotions, but such as were Pompous and Dazling, or if you'l have it in their own Words, they have hallowed the Ce­remonies of Paganism, by admitting them into the Church. They could not endure the Purity of the Gospel-Doctrine, without adulte­rating and disguising it a thousand ways; and to that end, have chosen Doctors and Teachers after their own fancies: They have started subtle Questions, which they that teach or preach them, often under­stand no better, than their Audi­tors, however full of sense they may appear, when utter'd from an [Page 92]Eloquent Mouth, wherewith both the one and the other seem equally satisfied. We have seen wretched Worms, that were but a while since come out of the Dust, and ready to return to it again, have the insolence to assume the Title of God, and dare to command An­gels, as their Ushers, and dispose of Heaven and Hell, as if they were their own Demain. But in­deed, what likelihood is there for them to be the infallible Trustees of God's Will, and the just Um­pires of the Faith of the World, who owe their Promotion only to Bought Voices, Bribes, Corrupti­ons, Promises, Threats, Factious Combinations, Contracts, and Con­federacies? What Patience would not be tired, to see such, as are sway'd by no other Spirit, than that of self-interest, who make of the Church a House of Merchandise, and [Page 93]a Den of Thieves, should yet be steel'd to that excess of Impiety, as to render the Holy Ghost not an Accomplice, but a Principal in their Crimes? Now if after all the Credit they have in Heaven, they would shew themselves a little less concerned for their Earthly Pelf, perhaps one might doubt, whether their Authority did not (as they pretend it does) run parallel with the Divine. But as they are like Lions for cruelty and violence, so are they like Leeches for Covetous­ness; and there is no end of their new Contrivances for the alluring of Men to make vast Contributi­ons to the insatiable Idol they Worship. For to pass by so many Excommunications, Interdictions, E­vocations, Appeals, Suits, and Exacti­ons, under the pretext of support­ing a War against the Enemies of Christendom. There is no end with [Page 94]their Reversions of Benefices, First Fruits, Bulls, Indulgences, Canons, Cases of Conscience, Pardons, Remis­sions, both of Guilt and Punishment, and Supererogatory Satisfactions. All which Inventions make not Sins Venial, except it be by making them Venal; they expose Prayers, Sacraments, Heaven, and God him­self to sale, and prostitute them to the highest Bidder. Horrid Inven­tions! that turn Simon Peter into a Simon Magus, and make, as far as in them lies, a Tyrant of Christ, and Hirelings and Brokers of his Apostles! What a goodly Divinity is this! That all, who have wherewith to pay, how heinons soever their Sins be, may be in a moment, deliver'd from the pains of Hell, or at least from those of Purgatory; which others must swelter through for some thousands of Years, unless perhaps, Poverty, voluntary, or perforce; [Page 95] Fastings, to that excess as to be their own Murtherers; Naked­ness, Hair-Cloth and Scourges do re­trieve them thence! But besides this Spiritual Merchandizing and Selling of every thing that is Sa­cred; by what Divine Inspiration are they authoriz'd to absolve Men from their Oaths of Allegiance, and discharge them of their Obe­dience and Duty to their Lawful Kings and Princes, whom they ra­ther endeavour to terrifie with their Thunderbolts, than to make them truly devout? or can that horrid and abominable Inquisition, which makes them stop their Ears to the just Remonstrances of those that long for a Reformation, be called an Imitation of the Tenderness and Bowels of our SAVIOUR, and not rather of the Cruelty of Herod, who caused so many Innocent Babes to be be put to Death, for fear on­ly [Page 96]of missing Him who was Inno­cence it son.

XXX. O GOD! how long wilt thou bear with the Usurpati­on of the Children of Pride, to whom Religion serves but for a Cloak and a Pretext, and who make use of thy Name only to en­tice people to give more willingly? How long wilt thou suffer that horrid Scandal, which on their ac­count those Nations do receive, with whom there still remains at least some Shadow of Respect for that Law thou didst pronounce thy self; and who seeing the Objects of thy Jealousie, those Images set up in Churches, those Festivals appointed in honour of them, and that Religious Service paid to them, fancy all this is done by the command of thy CHRIST, and that Christians do indeed Worship as many Men and Women, as the [Page 97]Heathens ever did Gods and God­desses! How long wilt thou for­bear destroying with the Breath of thy Mouth, all those who with so much insolence and hypocrisie thus impose upon the People by their juggling Delusions, which both Jews and Atheists flock to see, that they may discover the cheat of them, and be confirmed in their aversion to that Religion that en­deavours to justifie and maintain it self by such lying Miracles! For redress of which abuses there is no other way but to apply our selves to thy Supream Power; for it is in vain for us to think of working upon such as will not be cur'd of the good Opinion they have taken up of themselves, who think they are so well endowed by Heaven, that they excell all others in Com­mon Sense, that they have no Con­ceptions but what are the Dictates [Page 98]of Reason, nor no impressions but what they have received from the Mouth of Truth. If the Pagans did so strongly oppose the Gospel, and the Knowledge of the TRUE GOD, when preached to them, who had no other Gods but such as Men had made, what resistance may not we expect from them who assume to themselves GOD's own Authority, who think they are in possession of all Right and Power both Divine and Humane, who imagine that from henceforth to the end of the World, all Might is given them in Heaven and on Earth, and who under the Name of the Church, make all manner of Errors to be applauded, and put off their Cheats and Impostures without either fear or shame? Princes, who could at first have prevented those Abuses, tolerated them, through what irreligious [Page 99]Prudence I know not; whether it was that they wanted Light to dis­cern them, or that the Cares of the World, and of their Estates obli­ged them to dissemble their know­ledge, or whether they were in some sort forced to yield to the Decree of Heaven, and could not but in vain oppose themselves against the fulfilling of what the Prophets had foretold. Prophecies which having long since represented things to us just as now we see them, render so many Doctors inexcusable, who through fear or hope held their Peace, and with a faithless and un­accountable Silence strengthned that which they might have weak­ned by a just Contradiction and Opposition; Nay, they have been observed to be the most industrious in the Defence of that Error, which they could once have buried under an Eternal Condemnation.

CHAP. VIII.

XXXI. THere is no Tyrant that makes himself to be better obey'd than Custom, especi­ally in Religion: It is so much the more absolute, by how much the more it influences and engages the Conscience, and out of fear of do­ing amiss, obliges them to conti­nue that homage they have begun to pay to it. Which plainly shews that notwithstanding the presump­tion that attends Men, and the good Opinion they have of their own Wit, they are for all that for the most part so weak by Nature, that one would take their Soul not to be derived from Heaven, but purely Animal, and to have no o­ther Form, than that which Instru­ction has given it. They are so much by ass'd by their Birth, Edu­cation, [Page 101]and Company, that the first that possesses them carries them away, and does not give them leave to believe any thing but what they have been once perswaded of. Therefore I have, as much as in me lies, se­parated my self from my self, that is to say, from those impressions I had received in my Youth; I have consider'd them, as foreign and remote, that so, Truth might be the sole Object of my Faith, and that Custom in me might exercise no Tyranny over my Reason. Besides I always considered that none could say he really was a Man, who suf­fer'd himself to be carried away with the Stream of the World, who was not in some measure above the Councils that were given him, and had so little courage as not to make use of his own Judgment, but yielded it a Slave to Common [Page 102]Errors. Yet as most Men approve no­thing but what they have been us'd to and judge of every thing accord­ing as Custom has render'd it fa­miliar to them; so whenever they have contracted any ill habit, the Remedy is extreamly difficult; be­cause the Faculties are seized, and it must be a powerful Endeavour that can deliver them from it. They grow up and are formed with cer­tain Impressions, which become so con-natural to them, that they make up the chief part of their Reason; They have been taught no other Science; they understand no other Language, and unless they be born again, or have their Nature chang'd, they cannot alter their Belief. They do not perceive that instead of standing up for the Truth, they undertake the Defence of the first Opinion, they have receiv'd, with­out examining whether it be as [Page 103]true as it is favourable, and whe­ther it be not grounded upon meer Prejudices, specious Pretences, Likelihoods, Conjectures, and Worldly Considerations. They don't observe that all Sects pretend the same Advantages, that all He­resies have their Followers, who defend them with a like Zeal, and have their Doctors, who think themselves no ways inferior to o­thers, whether in Point of Judg­ment or Learning. They do not perceive that they are smoothly carried away by the stream of Self-Love, which perswades them that they are very different from others of their kind; that they can pene­trate things better, and that they enjoy the Divine Light, whilst o­thers have scarcely that which is Humane. According to their say­ing, there is nothing so true, no­thing so easie to comprehend, as [Page 104]that which they believe; the Proof of it is clear and evident, the De­monstration certain and infallible, and he that does not understand it, can understand nothing at all: Reason is always on their side, and Error and Obstinacy the portion of their Adversaries. What Blind Fury, what Madness, what Pre­sumption hinders them from per­ceiving that those they are so much astonish'd at, look upon them with equal astonishment; that they appear ridiculous to them they laugh at, and that they for whom they make but a shew of pity, are really and in good ear­nest moved with pity towards them? Should not they, consi­dering the uncertainty of things, and the miserable condition of Man's Mind, have recourse to uni­versal Maxims, and stand firm to the Ordinances of the Supream [Page 105]Law-giver, who expresly ferbids to depart therefrom, and turn ei­ther to the Right or to the Left?

XXXII. But so far are they pre­possess'd with what the World of­fers to them, and the Cares of this Life have so blinded their Judg­ment, that they will not enquire about any Principle, nor judge that neither Space of Time, nor Priviledge of Places, nor any man­ner of Considerations whatsoever can give any prescription against Truth. Besides this, they are per­swaded of their Parents Faith; by Domestick Examples, by the Num­bers, and by Antiquity it self; which may be attributed to an Error that has insensibly crept-in, and by process of time taken en­crease; and at length grown to such a height and power, that those E­nemies who have ventur'd to op­pose it, have been bruis'd or crush'd [Page 106]by it. It is a hard thing, without doubt, for a Man to pronounce a Sentence of Condemnation against his own Country and Prince; a­gainst his Ancestors, Parents, and Friends, and against his own Teachers; But the case here is to rid and undeceive ones self of the Errors of all Human Imaginations; to justifie the Truth against the false Testimonies of so many Ene­mies; to cure the diseases of a Dying Life; to seek one Sovereign Good and Felicity, and to assent to his Word, who says, That who­soever loves Father or Mother, or any thing else more than him, is not wor­thy of him. But for all this they are resolved to follow the Exam­ples of so many Honest Men they alledge; not considering that the Turks can at least say as much; that the Pagans could say yet more; and they had rather keep [Page 107]to those ill chosen Principles, than examine the best Doctrine that can be proposed to them. Besides, they are, as it were, listed and made Slaves, to live and dye under the Tyranny of certain Leaders, who pretend they cannot err, and say, that they have the Spirit of God assisting in their Consistories, and directing them in all their De­cisions; that they are the Commis­sioners of a Sovereign Court, and over and above this, know how to reconcile Religion with the Ad­vantages and Pleasures of this World. This is a thing they easi­ly suffer themselves to be perswa­ded of, as being more agreeable to their humour, and subservient to their Designs. They gladly lend an ear to Calumny; take de­light to see them convinc'd of Error, who speak for the Truth, which in­deed they suspect, and dare not so [Page 108]much as cast an Eye towards it, lest being taken with its transcen­dent▪ Beauty, they should be o­blig'd to follow it, and undergo some just severities and hardships, which their wilful Humours could never yield to. They are willingly ignorant of those Maxims, they have no mind to practice, as find­ing some kind of quiet in this Igno­rance; and are loath to receive a Law, how just soever it be, that may force their Liberty. For, the truth is, that Afflictions make up a great part of the Profession of the Gospel, is enough to deter World­ly Men from it. They had rather yield to the swift Stream that car­ries them along, than to row a­gainst it; They had rather be drou­sing in a sweet Sleep full of pleasant Dreams, than hear their trouble­some Voice, who awake them on­ly to afflict them. O brutish stu­pidity! [Page 109]O visible Obstinacy! What? must then Vices and Errors, that are grown Publick, lose their Name, and acquire that of Virtue and Wisdom? and must Custom have so much Power over Men, as to hinder them from being reasonable Creatures? But who doubts but that those who are by the Scrip­ture said to be Drunk, are so far depriv'd of their Senses and Judg­ment, as to take Falshood for Truth, and not to perceive what their Eyes see? Who doubts but that they are like those People, who had so used themselves to Poison, that at last it served them instead of Food?

XXXIII. In the mean time they have reduced all Religion to Hu­man Traditions, and Superstitions; Neither Reason nor Understand­ing are once call'd in to give their Verdict in the case; and I do not [Page 110]know by what Error, or how it is come to pass, that most Men, who are curious of all other Sciences, do not so much as inquire into that which is the most necessary. They, with the Barbarians, have no other Knowledge of GOD, but such as is obscure, idle, empty, fruitless, and dead; and had they been born among the Turks, they would have been of the same Belief with them, having nothing but an Acquired Faith, that depends only upon Tra­dition, which never saved any Man. This Faith they have in common, both with the Devils and wicked Men, who (as well as they) con­fess that God is Almighty; that he has created the World and sent his Son, the whole Mystery of whose Birth, Life, and Death they believe, and yet must not pretend to have any share in his Kingdom and Glory. It is a thing that de­serves [Page 111]both our Pity, and our Hor­ror, to see the indiscreet zeal of a People, who pray they know not what; who feed themselves with Shews, and suffer themselves to be led away by such Teachers as make them thirst more after their Neigh­bour's Blood, than his Salvation. A People imposed upon, and de­luded with vain Things, who fancy God is better pleased in one Place than in another, and who go to seek among Strangers what they might as well find in the midst of themselves. An ignorant and un­thinking People, that without con­sidering what they do, under the Gospel revive Judaism, in direct opposition to the Word, which saith, That the hour is come when the true Worshippers shall worship the Fa­ther in Spirit and in Truth. What can Places or Pilgrimages conduce to this? Or all those Religious [Page 112]Services, which are valued only for their Number, not for their Quality, and the performance whereof is imposed neither out of Piety, nor Faith, but as certain Tasks they put upon themselves, and certain Numbers which they at­tribute some Virtue to, and do af­fect, much after the same manner as Magicians do? Devotions full of Superstition, Scruples, and Jea­lousies, as of Men that are afraid to know the Truth, and to whom the Light is hurtful, who conceive nothing of the true Religion but what is told them by the very Ene­mies of it, who can entertain no­thing better for it than hatred and calumny; always representing it in the most hideous shape they can imagine. Indeed, it is an easie matter to perswade them any thing, who have already been perswaded to that blind Obedience, to which [Page 113]they give their consent with as much Unmanliness and Senseless­ness, as if they should say, I will be stupid, I will be sensible of nothing. For if once they say they will fol­low the Church, they contradict themselves, and own that they will follow what they know. Now how many things must a Man know to be able to discern the false Church from the true? To what purpose is Blind Obedience in them whom God has endu'd with Reason, and after that given them his Or­dinances with an express Command to Parents to teach their Children the same, and to all, to search the Scrip­tures, which alone plainly shew the Way to the Kingdom of Heaven? But how should those instruct o­thers, who are so ill instructed themselves, who for a just Punish­ment for worshipping things inani­mate, are struck with such a pro­digious [Page 114]hardness, that to ask them for Advice or Answers, would be the same as to consult Marble.

XXXIV. Ye Blind, don't you perceive that you lose your Senses only by applying your selves too much to things insensible? Don't you see that Reason it self makes you inferior to the Object of your Adoration, and that your wicked inclinations have made you less then the Work of your own hands? O ye Fools, leave Puppets and Ba­bies for Children; they are ridicu­lous for an Age that can exert Rea­son. Ye are no less guilty than the Atheists; for with them you annihilate the Deity, when you fix the form thereof to any Matter whatsoever, and when you repre­sent Him, who is a Spirit by a piece of Wood or Stone, notwithstand­ing that he has said, with so much jealousie, To what will ye liken me? [Page 115]Thus you rashly make him that has made you, and through an unaccountable insolence and ingra­titude, you seem to endeavour to render him ridiculous, by giving him Eyes that cannot see, Ears that cannot hear, Hands that cannot handle, and Feet that cannot walk. Perhaps you think your good In­tention will be an Excuse for your Ignorance; You go as you are led, and whatever you do, you believe you do God Service, even when you afflict the Faithful, and put them to Death. Ye Hypocrites, know that numerous Abuses are ready to croud in under the pre­tence of Good Intentions, which, if they be not grounded upon the Word of God, are but so many Sins. Thus the Children of Israel justly under-went the Punishment due to their Rashness, who whilst they were worshipping the Golden Calf, [Page 116]thought they did celebrate a So­lemn Feast to the Lrod, Thus Na­dab and Abihu stir'd up God's An­ger, and the Fire that consumed them, though they had no other Intention but to offer up Perfumes and incense to him. Thus Uzzah was immediately struck Dead for having stretched forth his hand to the Ark, which seemed ready to fall; though he had no other design than to keep it up. If good In­tentions only are sufficient to justi­fie Men, the Jews, Enemies of CHRIST, were not guilty; St. Paul giving them this Testimony, Rom. 10.2. That they had the zeal of God. By this means, that is, up­on the account of Good Intentions, many unjust Sentences might be justified, many Murthers and Mas­sacres ranked among Pious Works; all Religions might bring us to Heaven, and almost all Men would be saved.

CHAP. IX.

XXXV. THerefore in an Exer­cise or Practice, wherein Men have received suffici­ent Instructions and inviolable Or­ders, 'tis in vain for them to al­ledge or pretend Good Intentions, which can have no place but in O­bedience. There is no need of seeking for new Counsels or Advice in a matter in which there is nei­ther doubts nor danger, and where­in the ablest Professors and Ma­sters have no other Authority than to cause Men carefully to observe the Divine Ordinances; And in this Sense it is, that the Church cannot err. So that they who de­ceive both themselves and others with these vain Excuses, are as so many Hypocrites that never did seriously set their Hearts upon Hea­venly [Page 118]Things, aiming at nothing else but to make an advantage of the Trade and Commerce of the World. I have considered them under all their Circumstances; and whether it be because the Scripture has foretold it, or Experience con­firm'd it, I find that Great Men have seldom any sense of true Pie­ty in them, that they suffer them­selves to be carried away more by Faction than by Reason, and like no Counsels better than such as are favourable to their Worldly Ends. They make use of Religion as a Cloak to their boundless Ambiti­on, and many conspire against their own Princes or the Government, and are hatching Hellish Designs under the specious Pretence of pro­pagating (forsooth) the Catholick Faith. From their very infancy they have those that puff them up with Pride, and egg them on [Page 119]to a false Generosity. They are rarely entertain'd with any dis­course about the Knowledge of God; unless it be at a Sermon, which they never frequent but with reluctancy and impatience; They look upon their Conversation as rude, uncouth, and tedious, who speak to them of Religion and Sal­vation. They have no Desire for that they know not; or if any one of them pretend to have some glimpse of that knowledge, they are only Surmises and Probabili­ties, wherewith they fill their heads, and perswade themselves that things are really so as their Passion makes them to fancy. It were rashness to contradict them: for being possess'd of Fortune and Power, they think they cannot want Sense and Reason; They joyn Authority to their Opinion, and pronounce Sentences from which [Page 120]there is no Appeal. They can hardly abide any Company, but such as indulge their Self-Love, nor any Discourses that do not flatter their humours and idle ima­ginations. They are altogether vain in their Words and Thoughts; they suffer themselves to be delu­ded only with outward Show and Appearances, and to that Degree please themselves with looks and colours, that they would reject the best things in the World, if they were convey'd to them by weak or mean Instruments. They would never have received the Law from the Mouth of Moses, because of his impediment in his Spheeh. Truth must be presented to them in a fine Dress, and sumptuously adorned, that is with the artifice of Lies, and unless a Man be Elo­quent, and his discourse Florish'd, he must never think to perswade [Page 121]them any thing, were it a Com­mission from God himself. Who if at any time he thinks fit to send his Messengers to them, and they be taken from the meanest of the People, from among Shepheards and Fishermen, they will pass the same Judgment upon them, as the Pharisees did on the Apostles, whom they look'd upon as worse than abominable, and the very off­scouring of Men, if they do not proceed to stone and murther, or to imprison and banish them.

XXXVI. There is in the World a seeming Wisdom, which is no­thing else but an habit of making Faces, and a refin'd piece of Hy­pocrisie, by which Men deceive one another, so that their whole Life is but a continual Masquerade or Comedy, where every one perso­nates another than himself, and affects nothing more than to ap­pear [Page 122]what he is not. This incura­ble Phrenzy, to which they give the Name of Prudentials, does so much disturb their Understanding, and feed them with so many fan­cies and Chimaera's, that it renders them incapable of apprehending a­ny Divine Truth. They only bu­sie and concern themselves about things that are perishable, not con­sidering that they heap up Riches only for such as will one day squander them away, and are co­vetous only to make Prodigals and Luxurious. What Parents are these, who whether they indulge their Children at home, or send them to a Monastry, seem equal­ly to have resolved their Ruin, who for fear of wanting wherewith to pamper the Vanity of those they keep with them, rob the other of their lawful Inheritance, and be­fore they know what Lust or Con­tinence [Page 123]is, under pretence of de­voting them to God, inhumanely sacrifice them to their ambitious Avarice! O Degenerate Prudence! which makes the Mind become a Slave to the Body! Which makes Men only dexterous to shun their Sovereign Good! How ingenious to destroy, and cunning to deceive themselves! It was this, made our First Parents forfeit the Blessed State they enjoy'd in Paradise, and which by making Man fancy a thousand Ways of ordering his Life, has filled the World with impious Superstitions, Idolatries, Sects, He­resies, and Religions. This is it that has persecuted the Saints, cru­cified our SAVIOUR, and used all its endeavours for the Advance­ment and Defence of several Anti­christs, whose Kingdom was to be of this World. It is this Prudence, falsly so called, that continually [Page 124]resists and contradicts the Holy Ghost, and is so daring as to dis­pense contrary to the express Word of God, either by wresting the Meaning of it, or leaving out some Expressions, where they can­not be so well alter'd and disguis'd, as not to appear quite opposite to it. In short, it is this Prudence, that has the Art of making every thing suit with its own interest, which seeing the Divine Service perform'd in an unknown Tongue (whereby People are kept in igno­rance) Prayers diverted from the Creator to the Creature, Images carried upon Men's Shoulders, and celebrated with Hymns, and many such like or worse actions, would fain make them pass for slight in­conveniencies, or things altogether indifferent.

XXXVII. Of all the Hypocrites in the World, they are the most dangerous, who cover themselves with the Cloak of Religion, be­cause none can with more ease im­pose upon others than those that make profession of Holiness, and who have the vogue of never de­ceiving any. Some of them ap­pear of a sweet and mild Temper, and others are as severe: but all of them equally endeavour to put a gloss on their own Virtue. If their seeming Sweetness betrays us, their Severity despises us, and the high esteem they have for them­selves, makes them have but a very mean one for their Neighbours. They have got the art of appearing for a while what their Profession and Character oblige them to be. But this forced Good Nature and affected Condescension lasts no longer than their Interests and O­pinions [Page 126]are not thwarted. For though they seem to be very tame, yet they cannot play the Coun­terfeits long, for Nature damm'd up will at last take its course with more violence; If you do provoke them never so little, they will dis­cover those Lions and Tigers they kept hidden under an Human Figure; and, if you will believe them, their Anger is the pure effect of Right Reason, and their Crimes are more just than the best Actions of other Men. If Men think them to be Saints, they easily believe them­selves such, and lay claim to the Ti­tle as the true Reward of their false Devotion. Indeed this Shadow of Piety, or rather, Flashing Zeal has often surpriz'd me, till I consider'd that all Nations have their Zealots, and that ours cannot equal the Vo­luntary Austerity of the Cynicks, Py­thagoreans, Hierophantes, or Gymno­sophists. [Page 127]And there is, besides, this difference between them, that those miserable Heathens worshipp'd Daemons, as they would be wor­shipp'd; but these worship the True God, in a way directly op­posite to his Commands. Moreo­ver, who knows upon what grounds Men resolve for Devotion; whe­ther it be not from some Natural Inclination, which they have in common with the Barbarians and Infidels, or out of Pride and Am­bition, as if the State and Publick Affairs stood in need of their Reli­gion and Honesty? None of them will do a Virtuous Action for Vir­tues sake; they have all By-ends, and those whom the fear of Punish­ment cannot keep in their Duty, are restrain'd by the Hope of Riches and Honours. Many of them have the patience to dissem­ble their Malice, till they have [Page 128]compass'd their Designs; but when they can mount no higher, and want neither Votes nor Favour to give them a further Lift, they dis­cover it. To arrive to this pitch them employ all manner of artifice. They talk like Saints, write good Books, and preach some Truths; and have often forc'd me to expo­stulate, Who has put the Divine Word into the Mouths of these Men, and made us also in our Days find Saul a­mong the Prophets? I have with care and attention heard their Ser­mons, which want neither Com­mon Places, profound Thoughts, nor Tragical Passions, more fit for the Stage than the Pulpit, nor any of all the Colours that the Art of moving and pleasing can contribute to them: But whatever good Lessons they may mix with them, they still keep firm to their rotten Foundation; and forasmuch as [Page 129]they have no other aim but of ob­taining Benefices, trucking them for others, and heaping Dignities upon Dignities, they preach Christ out of strife and emulation only, and bear witness to him much like those evil Spirits, who confess'd that he was the Son of God, and were no sooner come out of one Body but presently begg'd leave to go into others. And as if it were but a small thing for them to disguise themselves to Men, even to the dissembling of their very dissi­mulation, they make Profession of a manifest and publick Hypocrisie toward God: For so I call that outside and show-worship, that painted Devotion, by which Peo­ple are amaz'd with the eying of Gestures, hearing of Sounds, and pronouncing of Words, they do not at all understand.

XXXVIII. Yet we see with what earnestness they bristle up for the Defence of what they know not, and are willing to be still ig­norant of. They are charmed with a seeming Good; and true Religion appears to them but a poor cold thing, in comparison of the more gay and pompous My­steries of Superstition. Wretched Superstition! which makes it self to be follow'd with Passion, or ra­ther Fury, by so many weak Minds and silly Women, that are called Devout, and are exactly of the same Nature with those that could not be quiet till they had stirred up a Sedition against those two Holy Apostles Paul and Barnabas. They frame to themselves a very difficult God, whom nothing can satisfie, and with whom one has never done: From whence arise their rash Vows, Pilgrimages, Pray­ers [Page 131]delivered in Tale, and ever­lasting Repititions. They spend more time in the Church, than in their Houses, whither they never return but to grieve and vex their Families, and never shew them­selves merry amongst them, but when they submit to their hu­mours, and consent to their cove­tous Fasts. Under a shew of great Piety they make way for them­selves into the Courts of Kings, and the greatest and richest Houses, where some desire them, and others suffer them, many are troubled with them, complain of them, defie them, and look upon them as the worst of the World, and the best judgments commonly afford them the worst testimony. They see well enough that they are igno­rant, of little judgment, and timo­rous, full of Jealousies, Doubts, and Scruples; that upon very slight [Page 132]occasions they are sometimes ra­vished into admiration, and at other times seiz'd with horror: That they are easily provoked, the least thing troubles and disquiets them, and are amaz'd at any Event above their capacity. Every thing is to them a proof of what they have a mind to believe, and Legerdemain, Juggling Tricks, Slights, and De­lusions are by them look'd upon as true Miracles. You may per­swade them what you will about things of remote Countries, and make them esteem Trash for the greatest Rarities: They often re­vere that upon the faith of an Im­postor, which was gathered on their own Mountains, or found on their Shores, as if it came from Mounr Libanon, from the Banks of the River Jordan, or from the most Sacred Places of Palestina. Sure Mount Calvary must be quite le­vell'd [Page 133]by this time, or at least is nothing but Earth and Dust; all the Stones even to the least Peb­bles, having been pick'd up long since for Holy Things and Relicks, to adorn the Oratories of an infinite Number of Virgins, who would think they gave but a very ill proof of their good Education, if they did not shew themselves more Superstitious than their Mothers.

XXXIX. All these abuses are well enough known to many, who for all that cannot hinder them­selves either from condemning, or from following them; and whose Works give their Words the Lye. For if any Weakness keep them back, and they desire to be secret Disciples of JESUS CHRIST, why don't they contribute to the relief of the poor Members of his Church? Or, if they cannot yet make any great shew of their zeal, why (at [Page 134]least) do they not take care that their Idolatry may not appear at all? But press them a little upon this Point, and you will make the Venom gush out. They presently fall into a passion, grow very angry, and use the Authority they have of imposing Silence; and discover their Hypocrisy. You are (say they) not above an hundred years standing; You are Schismaticks; Why did you leave the Church? But the Fops should add, You will not worship that which is lifted up at the Altar, nor be­lieve that a piece of Bread is made your God. You will not prostrate your selves before the Likeness of any thing that is in Heaven above, or on the Earth be­neath; and you are scandalized at the Submission of those People who run a whoring after Shrines and Images with Himns of Devotion and Praise. You are so presumptuous, as that you will needs receive the Sacrament whole, and [Page 135]in both kinds, according to CHRIST's Institution, and are not contented with that share thereof which the Church has thought sufficient for you. You will understand the Word which GOD di­rects to you, the Prayers you put up, and the whole Service you are bound to render to him. In a word, you will not submit your selves to the Au­thority of the Learned, the Examples of Magistrates and Princes, and will allow nothing to Tradition or Custom. Certainly these Men must believe that Religion consists in the Suc­cession of Persons, and not in the Doctrine of the Gospel. I can think no other of them but that they do not know Truth, but by meer human reasoning, and that they have no manner of Zeal either for this or that Party; but follow that which they find the most con­venient for them, and have never minded the Word, which rejects [Page 136]the Lukewarm, and ranks the Fear­ful, the Murtherers, and Adulterers, under the same Condemnation. Here I am forced to confess my own weakness in accusing theirs, and to own that sometimes I look upon them with pity; at other times with anger; and then again with indifference. But I can hard­ly see without horror, the Apostates from the Faith; the most wicked of all Men, the very express Ima­ges of him that is the Head of all Apostacy. These are they who be­tray their own Brethren, make a Trade of their Revolt, scandalize a whole People, and think more of growing rich, than of saving their own Souls. Do but give them the Bag, and they will side with you as Judas did, (who like them) was not sensible that his Sale of his Master, was the purchase of his own despair. As they never had a [Page 137]good will, so they neglected to in­form themselves, when they made an outward Profession of the True Religion; and they are no sooner turn'd, but they immediately start up great Disputants, grow troublesome with their Questions, and subtle in maintaining their Change. To which purpose they make use of all the reasons in the World, though they know in their Conscience they have no other for it but the weak­ness of their Judgment, the per­verseness of their Nature, and the difficulty of reconciling their Pride and Avarice with the Reproach and Poverty of JESUS CHRIST: Be­sides, the Promises of Great Per­sons, and their gracious looks car­ry, I do not know what Charms with them, from which it is hard to defend ones self. On these oc­casions mean and mercenary Minds surrender themselves, in a manner, [Page 138]without any resistance, and their bastardly Spirits can hold out no longer, when courted by those who used to command them; and when their Masters turn their Flat­terers. In short, the greatest part of Men seems to be born for Sla­very; neither is there any so hard, but they will yield to, nay, and prefer it too before the Liberty of Christ, so their Chains be but of Gold. They are always ready to pay their Adoration to them that make them rich, or confer Honours upon them; and with the Heathen know no other Gods but their Benefactors.

CHAP. X.

XL. AMong so many bewitch­ed or sick Minds; a­mong so many wilful Blind and vile Slaves of this World, I have been seeking for some, in whom I might discover some Purity of Conscience, and some Testimony of their Election, and with whom I might joyn my self in that Spi­ritual Communion and Bond of Per­fection that makes them to be in­separable from their Creator and Neighbours. For what Comfort could I reap from those Favourers and Favourites of this World, in whose Company a Man is oblig'd, by I don't know what preposterous Good Manners, ever to hold his Tongue about Religion; and who either discourse not at all of Divine Matters, or if they do, it is in a [Page 140]meer human way? What sweetness could I reap from their Friendship whose heart was not united to mine in what should be the chief end of our Hopes and Desires? I wished I could discern the Children of Heaven, from the Children of the Earth; and the meeting with a Believer was to me as if I had seen the face of an Angel. But amidst so many Men I have often laboured (but in vain) to find out one Man only, though I was not so clear sighted as Elias, 1 Kings, 19.10, 14, 18. who did not see one single person in all Israel, though indeed there were a great many. My lot is fallen in an Age where Men are already degenerated from that former Simplicity and new Reformation, and wherein those that bear the Name of Reformed, with large steps pursue the same ways with those who have destroy'd [Page 141]the most flourishing Churches. I saw among them the same Licen­tiousness in Words and Actions, the same superfluity in their Dress and Habits, and the same Luxury, which heretofore scandaliz'd Julian the Emperor, and confirmed him in his Apostacy. Iniquity was so en­creased that the Charity of many waxed cold: Mat. 24.12. And by what appear'd outwardly I could not see any difference between the False Christians and those that were True.

XLI. These I could no where better look for, than in the most lawful Assemblies; but I could not discern the Church in the Church it self. She does not stand in need of those whose Devotion chiefly consists of Gestures and Wry-faces, who never find a Sermon too long, nor a Communion too frequent, and to whom Religion would seem too cold, if it had not something [Page 142]of the Zeal of Superstition. She does but too much abound with such as serve only to make up a Number, and seem to be engaged therein more by their Birth or Chance, than by any desire or af­fection they have of improving themselves in the knowledge of Truth. One would think they only come to see the World in a Place from whence the World should in some sort, be banished, where they behave themselves with so little respect, that it would be a great mistake to call them Hypocrites, in whom not the least sign of Zeal or Devotion is to be observed. They aim at nothing else but to make a shew in the most conspicuous Places; whereas they should return thanks to God that he allows them any in the Company of the Saints; and it should suffice them (without pre­tending [Page 143]to any other advantage) to have only so much room there as they need to put both knees to the ground. Some make of the Day of Rest a day of trouble, and perform the most just Duty in the World, as a toilfom and tedious Task. Others are so abominably wicked and profligate, as to hear Sermons, with no other intent than to find fault with them, and wrest the meaning, or make a mock of the Preacher. Many cannot relish plain, pure, easie, and rational Exhortations; and no Truth can move them, unless it be presented to them in a pleasing Elocution, a thundering Voice, and eloquent Tongue; and unless it be adorned with all the Flowers of Rhetorick. They slight those things that are plain and obvious, and think that below them, which the common sort are able to apprehend. You [Page 144]cannot satisfie them, unless you undertake some high Mystery, fa­thom the great Deeps, or wire­draw some difficult Point or other, that only belongs to God to re­solve, and the knowledge whereof he has reserved to himself. They have forgotten, That as he who has chosen the weak things of the World to confound the mighty, 1 Cor. 1.27. was humble, so he will have our Knowledge to be modest, and not presumptuous; that he has put his Word into the Mouths of the sim­ple, who yet cannot express it so weakly, but that they that love it, will know how to discern it from the flash and glittering out­side of Lie. They have forgot that he doth not willingly employ the skill of so many Languages, but to harden those, to whom he has so often offer'd his Grace, and they as often rejected it, to main­tain [Page 145]Error with an obstinacy, which they will have pass for strength, and may be call'd the Constancy and Virtue of Reprobates. True Believers, in order to their being perswaded, need not the Ministry of Eloquence; which indeed is sel­dom introduced into the Church, but upon the Decay of Faith; and when so much Art is used for mo­ving Men, and stirring them up to Piety, 'tis a visible mark of the hardness of their Hearts. Yet the Preachers are oblig'd in compli­ance with the itching Ears and nice Palates of their Hearers, to be­come nice and over-curions them­selves, and leave the Simplicity of the Apostles to betake themselves sometimes to the subtleties of Phi­losophers, and at other times to to the lofty Terms of Orators. Censure is no longer of use in these cases, no more than for the cor­rupt [Page 146]Manners of the Great Men of the World; and many Evils have got such footing in most Churches already, that very few can be found who have either courage or strength to remove them. The Saints in our Days have much ado to resist the torrent of the Age, and the Devil makes him self insensi­bly to be honoured in the Persons of the Mighty.

XLII. I Found therefore no Re­formation but in the Doctrine, yet doubted not but that there were Believers, where I saw the Word of Truth was preach'd. But it was so much the more difficult for me to know them, because the Wicked have all the Actions of the Good, and the Good all the Infirmities of the Wicked. Very few are found who always take care that their Works should be so conformable to the Precepts of the Gospel, as not to be some­times [Page 147]diverted by other Promises and to pursue other Hopes. Be­sides, God calls them in each Sex, Age, and Profession; He invites them to him, that persecute him; and of his greatest Foes (when he pleases) makes his most faithful Friends. Yea, and by a Judg­ment, the causes whereof are un­searchable, he in an instant con­verts them who lead an ill Life, and prefers them before those whose Manners seem to be perfectly good and holy, and who do even boast that they have fulfilled the Law. Certainly the most Righteous do but fall too often, either through an extraordinary Fear, or a Sur­prize of Satan, or by a Trial from God himself, who for a while a­bandons them to the weakne [...]s of their own Nature, that they may not misdeem themselves, nor im­pute that to their own Virtue, [Page 148]which is the meer Product of the Heavenly Grace in them. But with these the Gift of God is al­ways the strongest; so that not­withstanding the Sinful Pleasures whereby they are over-taken, and the Errors that carry them away, it happens to them as to the Pro­digal Son; They must soon or late return to their Father. However 'tis not by any composed or demure Looks, nor any peculiar Garb they are to be known: They do not affect to appear otherwise than o­ther Men, nor recommend them­selves by any extravagant or unu­sual Form: All their Actions have nothing common with those of Hy­pocrites; Their Devotion serves not for a Cloak to their Covetous­ness; nor their Humility for a Mask to their Ambition: They put on no disguise; nor is there any alteration to be seen outwardly in [Page 149]their Countenances, but such as really proceeds from an inward feeling, God affords them of those supernatural things which World­lings cannot be sensible of. When once the Holy Ghost has touched them, there always remains in them a certain Character and im­pression that makes them shine in the sight of the Almighty, as the Stars in the Night, which yet have no other Light but what is commu­nicated to them from the Sun. He that made, and is the Searcher of all Hearts does both know them, and make them known to whom he pleases. But many there are that seem to be Believers, who are not so indeed, or at the best have but a temporal Faith. Nevertheless, if we may be allowed to pass any Judgment upon it, methinks Men's Conversation shews their Affecti­ons [Page 150]plain enough. And I am con­fident that those who do love God with a true heart, are for the most part, taken up with the Contem­plation of his Works, and above all, with the Meditation of his Sa­cred Word: in the reading of which they continually exercise themselves, not out of meer curio­sity, nor to find fault with it; nei­ther out of a vain desire of Learn­ing, nor as Mercenaries, to teach it to others, and make a Gain of it, but only to instruct themselves, seek for Comfort, strengthen their Faith, and assure their Hopes. They have it always in their Mouths, or in their Thoughts, and their greatest trouble is, that they cannot impart it to those who mistrust it, and keep themselves as industriously from it, as they would from a Snare, who fear it as much as the Singing of Mermaids, and [Page 151]whose abominable Wickedness make them incompatible with its Purity. A Spirit of discerning is a Gift, so few are blessed with, that none but the true Elect know how or what to choose, none but they that are truly Spiritual know how to try all things, and hold fast that which is good, 1 Thess. 5.21. They are not disturbed that so many false Prophets, who rashly assume the Name of God; boast themselves to be the Dispensers of his Word, make it serve their wicked ends, and explain it as the Devil did, when he was so daring as to tempt the Son of God him­self, as he still does those who make it their profession to follow him.

XLIII. In short, the Hurries and Intrigues of the World, are none of their Concerns; they slight them, and for that reason, [Page 152]are slighted too; Nay, they are not only vilified and contemned upon this account; but hated and persecuted, as if their manner of Living, as well as their Belief, was a Reproach to that of others. They do not willingly engage themselves in any Party, unless the Service of God, or the Good of their own Country obliges them thereto: And if they are called to any Office or Dignity, 'tis not in their Nature to canvas, give bribes, or use any underhand-dealings to obtain Mens Votes or Favours for it. Neither is it their Practice to encrease their Wealth to the prejudice of Faith and Charity. These Common Sayings, To get an Estate, To make one's Fortune, To raise one's Family, are none of their usual Talk; tho' in­deed their Ambition may be said to be greater than that of others, foras­much as no Worldly Grandeur can [Page 153]set bounds to it. They are not ignorant what the lawful use of Things is, nor what Advanta­ges, Decency and Necessity allow them who are possessed of Honours and great Places. But they do not understand, for whom they labour, who never grow weary of heaping up Riches, who raise such high structures, undertake so vast de­signs, that they can never expect to live long enough to see the end of them. They think no Man can be call'd Judicious or Rational, but he that seriously applys himself to the knowledge of his Supream Good; and they look with pity upon the miserable Occupations of them that are as much ty'd to the Earth, as if they had no Pretensi­ons at all to Heaven. They be­hold with grief and horror the in­solence of those, who deny nothing to their Senses or Appeti [...]es, and [Page 154]make no other use of their Riches and Power, than to commit all manner of crimes, and to tyranize over their Neighbours with the more freedom and impunity. They withdraw themselves, as far as they can, from the conversation of the Wicked, and as they are no flat­terers, so is their company less pleasing to others. They cannot without great reluctancy, be complaisant to such whose Man­ners are displeasing to them, or to give their approbation to so many Errors and Vanities. They cannot admire that which God con­demns, nor afford a pleasant look to those Objects that grieve their Hearts. But notwithstanding all the constraint and unca [...]ness they suffer in this troublesome com­merce, and the great aversion they have for these things, yet is their severity always less than their Cha­rity, [Page 155]Under pretence of forsaking the World, they do not defraud their lawful Heirs, neither do they strive to grow rich by the ruin of others; they know they should be worse than Publicans, did they not take care of their own Fami­lies, and that, according to the Divine Rule, They that will not work must not feed, 2. Thess. 3.10. Upon which account, Working Days are no less welcome, than the Days of Rest is Sacred to them. But they are so far from minding nothing else but their Temporal Concerns, that they will ever and anon cry out with their Master, Lo I come, I delight to do thy will, O my God, Psal. 40.9. And though they live, or rather languish in this World, as being out of their own Element; though they are, as it were, alone in the midst of a Multitude, and as Strangers to their Mothers Children; [Page 156]though their Purity and Holiness be accounted Foolishness, and their Strength look'd upon as Weakness in them, yet that does not give them the least trouble; they are very little concerned to see them­selves Evil spoken of for well doing, 1 Pet. 3.17, and to lose their Credit, provided they keep but their Consciences. They know very well that if they would be Men-Pleasers, they could not be God's Servants; That it is impossible to believe in him, and at the same time be so eager in the pursuit of the glory of the World, which most infallibly becomes bitter to them, to whom Christ begins to be Sweet. They are well aware, that this Life is but a Passage, a Place of Trial, or rather a Field of Battle, where such as will not fight ought to expect neither Honour nor Re­ward.

XLIV. Now, how to reconcile the Learning of so many Doctors, with their obduration in this Case, I am quite at a loss: I cannot Imagine how they can think of the Gospel, and never think of their own Conscience; I am astonished that so much Light as they have, should not oblige them to know them­selves, and cry out, Certainly we are in Error; and our Profession is quite contrary to that of Christ and his Apostles. It is Written, that all those who will live godlily in Christ Jesus shall suffer Persecution; Where is the Persecution we suffer? We are the Darlings and Favourites of the World; both Princes and People are for us; We enjoy the pleasures of the Earth, and our lot falls always in the best place. If this be not the Kingdom of this World, pray tell me what is? ‘Shall we cast into this account the Vows of Poverty, [Page 158]Fastings, Austerities, and Mor­tifications of some of our own Party? But so far are they from being blamed, hated, or persecu­ted therefore, that they are ho­noured of Men, and so receive their reward: And after all, these voluntary Afflictions are of Hu­man Invention, and of the Na­ture of those concerning which the Scripture thus expostulates with Men, Who has required these things at your hand? Isa. 1.12.’ In­deed I am astonished that the Pha­risees of this Age do not some­times reflect upon these Matters, since Affliction is so certainly an­nex'd to the Profession of True Christianity, that I doubt whether they may be said to have once be­gan to be Christians, who were never persecuted. For if in some Countries in the World, the Bles­sing of Heaven, which perhaps [Page 159]favours the zeal of some Gene­ration, suffers Religion to flourish, and (as the Scripture speaks) possess the Gates of her Enemies, Gen. 22.17. and 24.60; present­ly Abuses and Insolence, that are commonly the Attendants of Pros­perity, the Practices of the Devil and his Emissaries, are apt to al­ter and corrupt her, and inspire her with an emulation of Worldly Religions, and a Contempt of her Primitive Simplicity. Would we have the Servants greater than their Master, and partake of his Consolation and Glory, and not of his Sufferings and Patience? No, no, they must find Joy in the midst of Sorrows, and be as a Rose among thorns; And the same must happen to them as befell Joseph, who was made greater by his Exile, and whose Elevation was from a Dungeon; and as Job, [Page 160]whose Youth was renew'd through Affliction. They ought with St. Paul, to look upon it as a singular favour, That unto them it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake, Ph. 1.29. and still think their sufferings are very small in comparison of what they hope for. Hope and Charity are the in­separable Companions of Faith; all three together constitute a Be­liever, and are the infallible Cha­racters by which he is known. I don't mean that Faith that is obscure, blind, weak and stag­gering, which depends upon Birth, Opinion, Custom, and Tradition, which is always doubtful and apt to be scandaliz'd at every thing, which does not mortifie the Affe­ctions, nor forsake the World, is a stranger to Self-denial, and sinks under Persecutions. I do not mean [Page 161]that Faith which does not follow Christ but for its own convenience, and which, of all his Miracles, chiefly eyes that which multiply's the Loaves. But I speak of a Faith that is clear, certain, and constant, which proceeds from the Virtue of the Holy Spirit, from the Word of Eternal Life, from Prayer and Humility; which is not acquired but revealed, and which does not enter the hearts of those that have but a Human Faith. I speak of that Faith that rids us of the Cares of transitory things, that ravishes us into an admiration of the Divine Graces, that surpasses all human discourse and reasoning, and engages us to glorifie Him who gave it us, with groans that cannot be uttered, Rom. 8.26.

WHICH Precious Gift the FATHER of MERCIES vouchsafe to us all through JE­SUS CHRIST Our Lord.

AMEN.