YOU have already had (worthy Friends and School-fellows) the advantages of a Learned and Li­beral Education, set forth in Terms befitting such an Education, and full of such a Learning. Learn­ing, the Refiner of Mens Manners, the Polisher of their Understandings, the Builder of Cities, the Founder of Empires, the Counsellor of Kings, the Companion of Inspired Prophets and Apo­stles. In short, Learning, the Heathens Grace, the Christians Glory and Aureola, the Ornament of the World, the Arcanum of Paradice. You have had also the Beauties and Advantages of your particular Education, set forth with all that Gratitude and Affection that becomes the Disci­ples of so many worthy Teachers, and the Fo­ster-Children, the Alumni of so many Kings: After this, little more could have been added to the honour of your Solemnities, even this so fer­tile an Argument had been quite exhausted, if [Page 2]in our late Revolutions, the Mischief and Ma­lice of other Meetings had not set off the Inno­cence and Beauty of yours: And the Practices of Unruly and Unreasonable Men had not fur­nished us with a fresh and new Topick of Praise and Thanksgiving to God the Father of all Mercies, who by the Providence of our Educa­tion admonisht, that we have not so learned Christ; and by the Inspiration of his Grace has disposed us to offer up this truly Holy, Ingenuous, and Reasonable Service. It is a joy to see the Members of this worthy Christian Assembly crowd and press through the throng of business: And from all Quarters of Professions and Employ­ments, and from all distinctions of Degree and Quality hasten up to this Rendezvous of Love and Friendship; such a March, and with so good a Will I conceive the Disbanded Atoms of our Bodies shall make at the day of Resurrection, when they shall rally up, and re­unite again.

And now we are here, It is a Pleasure to con­sider the Conduct of God's Providence over us; From what Beginnings we are thus grown up; To remember with what Staff we past our Jor­dan: And now, Behold what a mighty Band we are, Tho this, I say, be joyful, yet let me tell you, 'tis a greater Comfort to have made our Passage hither untainted, uninfected with Popish [Page 3]or Fanatick Pollutions: That ye have scap'd the Leaven both of the Scribes and Pharisees, the Men of meer Text and Tradition: And that ye have brought hither the same honest hearts, and the same Festival faces, the same Integrity and Alacrity as ever. And because next to God's preventing Grace we owe this happiness to the Principles we imbib'd in our first and younger years; Therefore it shall be our Task this day, among the rest of our [...], to render Almigh­ty God our most hearty and unfeigned thanks, who hath enabled us To eschew the Evil and choose the Good; the God who hath preserved us steady and upright, amidst the many late Confusions and Apostacies: and by affording us some little part of Solomon's Blessing, A Wise and Understanding heart, has continued us hitherto in one constant course of regular Piety, and unble­mish'd Loyalty.

Brethren, in the List and Catalogue of your Endowments, your Accomplishments, could I have pitch't on any thing so considerable as this: Learning and Breeding gives you a vivacity of Spirit, it furnishes you with Dexterity for Busi­ness, with Prudence for Counsel, with pertinent Examples for Practice, and an Useful Profitable Reputation to your Persons. But above all, Learning enables you to search into Mysteries, to understand the Nature, Order, and Connexion [Page 4]of things to comprehend Divine Truths, To be wise unto Salvation, and even to seize upon Heaven it self, with the victorious Violence of a Reason that is Train'd and Tutor'd in the School, and Armed in the Church.

Even your old School-Authors, Tully, and some others, how little did they want to become Chri­stians? How far did they go by the light of Rea­son improv'd by Education? You may reckon them in some measure with the Patriarchs, That desired to see the things that ye see; or with him in the Gospel, That was not far from the Kingdom of Heaven. At least this we may say, That the Learning of Greece and Rome disposed the World to receive Christianity; That Plato and Aristotle were the Gentiles John Baptists, to pre­pare Christ's way and Make his paths streight; and among ingenuous inquisitive Men that were aweary of the Reign of Jupiter, and tir'd with the Tales of Elysium, it was no difficult matter to introduce so reasonable a Service as that of our Religion. And for the Honour of your Pro­fession (for such you shall give me leave to call it) you may observe, that tho God imployed not the Wise and the Learned to convince the World at first, but us'd illiterate Persons to make his Power in them more manifest; yet as the World came in He withdrew his Arm and his Miracles, and at last he entirely committed the defence [Page 5]of his Cause to Study and Learning, to Arts and Sciences, then when the Philosophers succeeded the Fisher-men, and Learned Apologies and Ora­tions to Verily, Verily I say unto you.

Among these Worthies ye are to be Numbred, that not only believe but understand their Re­ligion, and can defend it. And it is God's pecu­liar favour to commit this Talent to you, which, as I said, is our this days business, to give him thanks for that he has enabled us to offer him this Reasonable Service. In doing which,

• 1. I shall instance in several Particulars, wherein your Education has befriended you, to­wards the enabling you to this Duty of serving God reasonably and acceptably.
• 2. To excite your Gratitude the more, I shall compare your Condition with that of most o­thers, whom we may rank under Three Heads.
  • 1. The Formal bred and born Christian, that makes no use of his Reason.
  • 2. The Papist, That enslaves it, trusting to his implicit Faith.
  • 3. The Enthusiast, That despises and renoun­ces it.
• 3. Shew that this particular Meeting is a Rea­sonable Service, and that we are to thank him because he has enabled us to be thankful.

That is to say,

1. A Learned Education by refining a Mans Parts, elevating his Mind, ennobling his Facul­ties, and filling them with rich and worthy Ideas, does thereby enable him to have Just and Ho­nourable apprehension of God: And this is the first and most important Principle of Religion, for such as we suppose God to be, such a course shall we take to please him. Some have fan­cied God to be an unactive Being in the World, enjoying himself in an Eternal Rest and Retired­ness, accordingly they abandon themselves to Luxury and Sensuality; for how should they dread that Providence that cares for nothing? Or that Omnipotence that does Nothing? Others confine him to too narrow a Sphear, providing but for a little Flock and a small Remnant, wronging all his other Attributes to exalt his Sovereignty: And they seek private and unac­countable ways to assure themselves of an un­grounded unaccountable favour. The Papists, that they might give their People a Notion of God, dress him up in the similitude of a Man; and though they pretend not to paint Essences, yet they expose him to every vulgar Eye, and every vulgar Conception, in such resemblances which he was only pleased for secret Reasons, and in Mystical ways to Communicate to his chosen Prophets. And they Transcribe Ovid and Propertius to find a style for the loves of Angels [Page 7]and Glorified Spirits above. And not a few fan­cying God to be adorned as they best like, seek after a strange and personal Union with him. And in this Scene of their Imaginations they pursue him with Effeminate Passions, with Long­ings and Languishments, with Extravagant Joys and sudden Despairs, as their sick and distemper'd Fancies lead them.

These are Gross and Carnal Conceptions changing the Glory of the Incorruptible God into the Similitude of a Corruptible Creature, Rom. 1.3. But to make him vindicative and Sangui­nary, and with a Turkish Tyranny to fling away Souls into Eternal Perdition is next to Blasphemy. But your Predecessor Abraham [...], being a Man addicted to Study and Contempla­tion, when he consider'd the Creation, God's Work, and consulted with his Reason, which is a Beam of God himself, He found, That to be God is to be most Holy, Wise, Just, Good, Mer­ciful: In short, That which we can conceive to be most Perfect, that, and infinitely more so is God. He Judged of him by reasonable Colle­ctions, not fanciful Ideas: And such an advan­tage have ye, Brethren, who having your minds purged from all drossy and low thoughts, are en­abled by the benefit of your Education to attain to this first and fundamental Principle of Eter­nal Life; Namely, To know Thee the Only True [Page 8]God, and so to offer him a Worthy Reasonable Ser­vice.

2. Hereby we come to know the true Na­ture, Excellency and Perfection of Religion. For since God is such, such also must be the way to Honour and Worship him. And if in any of his Commands there be any doubtful Expres­sions, and variety of Interpretations, that is to be esteemed most agreeable to God's Will, which is most consonant to Reason. God Governs us as he has made us; so that being neither Engins nor Angels, we act not by Instinct nor Intuition, but by discourse and rational Progressions. If you consider the Articles, the Mysteries of our most Holy Faith, none but a considering Man will be induc'd to receive them: And for the practical Points of our Obedience, none but a Brute will reject them. There must be wise Consideration and serious Pondering: The Be­raean Generosity, and a full Conviction of the Understanding to make a Man a Christian; for Faith is not the Milk of the Nurse, nor the Cre­dulity of the Simple, nor a point of Honour a­mong Sword-men; nor the Sence of the House among Politicians, nor a blind Subjection to the Infallible Chair: But it is the deliberate Choice of a Prudent Rational Man, that without con­tending for rigorous Demonstrations, and Scien­tifical Surefootings, is content to submit to every [Page 9]degree of Truth, and entertain every Beam of Light, is ready to comply when the motives to belief preponderate, tho the things themselves be incomprehensible.

But Oh the loss, the misery of those whose Talent it is to hold the Plough; How should they comprehend with all illuminated Saints, Eph. 3.18. What is the Breadth and Length, and Heigth and Depth; and observe the Lines of the Great Mystery of Godliness, from so many Points of so vast a Circumference beautifully centring in the Messias? How should they with the Wise­men follow his Star, or trace the Great Birth, the Promised Seed from its first quick'ning in Eve, through the long-liv'd Patriarchs, through the Sacrifices and Ceremonies of the Law, through all the Prophets down to the Midwifry of the Baptist, when in the fulness of time it ripned into the Stature of a Man in Christ Jesus? What a Glorious Knowledge is this, to discourse out of the Scriptures, and from them to be able to give a reason of our Faith: To Summon in the An­tiquities of Nations, the Histories of Times, the Rites and Religious Solemnities of Priests, the Fables of Poets, the Results of Philosophers? In short, to press the whole Creation to make bare every Shoulder for this Service of attesting to the Truth of our Religion, and Illustrating the Glo­ry of Jesus. These things, Brethren, ye are cal­led [Page 10]to know, that is, ye have been put into the way to know them, your Fleece, like Gideon's, has been moist'ned with this Heavenly Dew, when so many others has been left dry. So that having your hearts filled with these Sacred Truths, and your whole Man Transported with Raptures of Love, Joy, and Admiration, ye will find fresh cause to bless God for the benefit of being able to offer him this Reasonable Ser­vice.

3. It is a great help towards discerning the Spirits, that so we may better hold fast the Truth. It is a difficult matter among the many Cries, Lo here is Christ, and there is Christ, to distin­guish the Voice of God; so that 'tis necessary to our other Graces to add Knowledge, and to have our Sences exercised in Spiritual Matters. Is it likely and reasonable that God should entrust one Man with a Spirit of Infallibility for the be­nefit of his Church, and yet no where declare so much? Or that it should never be put in Pra­ctice, or that so Divine a gift should be lodged in a vicious Man, and God should liken his Vice­gerent to the fallen Angels, who with Perfecti­on of Knowledge abound in Wickedness? Or where is the Reason of fighting for Faith, and Rebelling for Religion? Our Saviour refused all force and violence, tho he could have call'd [Page 11]in more than twelve Legions to his Assistance. But the Saints may do more than the Angels, and Reform the Government even of Christ himself. We hear The noise of the Whip, and the ratling of the Wheels, and the Prancing of the Horses; The Horse­man lifteth up his bright Sword and his glittering Spear, Nahum 3.2, 3. Every part of Christendom al­most is a Stage of War, and how narrowly did we escape it? And their Pretence is written in their Banners, For God and Religion. But ye see this is all but Masquery and Disguise. And when we come to compare these practices, with such Notions of God and Religion as are reasonable and becoming them, then do we find the Mercy in these times of deceit and distraction, that God has endued us with a Spirit of Understanding, and rescued us from the common Errors and De­lusions of the Age.

4. It teaches us to give a due Value to every thing; and to give due Limits to every Action, and choose apt Seasons. It moderates Zeal with Knowledge: It fortifies Innocence with Pru­dence: It Inspires Meekness with a becoming Fortitude, and distinguishes Patience from Pusil­lanimity: It guides the hand of Charity, and by a wise observation of fitting Circumstances makes the action Beautiful and Decorous. Certainly Religion deserves our utmost care and skill to [Page 12]recommend it dext'rously to the Affections of Men, St. Paul has Commanded us to adorn the Gospel, and to take heed lest our God be evil spoken of, and our most Holy Religion Blasphe­med through our means. And those that strain at a Gnat and swallow a Camel, That will re­buke a Servant for Recreating on the Lord's day, and entice him from his Calling to take up Arms against the Lords Anointed. Those that are Imprudent and Inconsiderate, that are rude in their Rebukes, and scurrillous in their Lan­guage: That Reproach Kings to their faces, and thereby make Truth odious and offensive, do a great disservice to their most Holy Cause, by their untutor'd, undisciplin'd fierceness. But Educa­tion makes a Man soft and plyable, and like the Learned Apostle to become all things to all Men: It makes him watch all Opportunities, and wait at all the Avenues of the Soul to gain En­trance, to use honest Flatteries, and proper In­sinuations to do a Man good. Were there no other benefit, yet this were Considerable, that it takes away that brutish Impetus that makes a Man rush like a Horse into the Battle: It allays his heat, composes his Mind and Countenance, mo­dulates his very Tone and Action, and gives a Charm to every thing he does, besides the Re­putation it gives to his Discourses.

Reputation, I say, that important bubble, which tho it be but noise and vapour, yet is the most powerful thing in Nature, without which Goodness is but a weak helpless thing: Neither is there any fame so considerable as that of a Learned Knowing Man; all his Words are Ora­cles, and his Actions Presidents and rul'd Cases: Nature affix'd a shame to Ignorance, and gives an Authority and Reverence to Learning; therefore no impertinent Question, Have the Pharisees believ'd in him? And St. Paul, when he would bespeak the favour and attention of the Athenians, he made use of his acquaintance with their own Poets and Philosophers. This is another addition to the advantages ye receive by Education.

5. It gives a Man courage and boldness in the day of Tryal, and at all times a love and hearty concern for his Religion, because he un­derstands it. You have a late Example of this, they were the wise and well disciplin'd Christi­ans that stem'd the Tyde, and stopt the Torrent. How little does the Scoff of the Atheist, or the Cavil of the Heretick, or the Sword of Persecu­tion, or the Example of the Multitude work up­on a mind that is setled and assured in it self? I know, I am perswaded, I am assured, I have confidence, said the Apostles. And in the Vir­tue of this Strength they could endure all things [Page 14]not only with Patience but Joy, not only with Meekness but Magnanimity. So little does the two great Vices of the Age, the Droll of the Atheist, and the Rage of the Religionist signifie to a Soul that is Armed with Syllogism and the Spirit; and at all times a concern for it. It is true the knowing Soul is naturally calm and quiet; and when after a few previous vibrati­ons it is once setled on its Basis, there it rests, enjoying its self in its own Circle of light and temperate heat: While conceited Ignorants are noisy and restless: But when once they become sensible of the necessity of their assistance, then they afford a hearty, generous, and lasting Ser­vice: It is too true, That the Affection of ma­ny is grown Cold; and by shifting off their Du­ties upon God's and the Magistrates Care for the Church, Evil Men had like to have swallowed us up Quick; and the noise of Arms would have drown'd the voice of Thanksgiving, and Trium­phant Fanaticism would have taken away not only the Memorials of our Education, but the Places themselves too. But among the few that have retain'd their first Love I may well reckon the Sons of Learning, the Heirs of Kings, Men obliged and instructed by their breeding to un­dertake this labour of Love. None can so well understand the value of our present enjoyments, nor foresee the misery of a change, nor more [Page 15]timely prevent, nor more effectually redress; so that ye have a peculiar Call to this Honou­rable Work of preserving Religion, and suppor­ting the Crown, and so making as it were some returns to the Piety and Bounty of our Royal Founder.

6. Because 'tis a Reasonable Service, therefore such a Man has a real and solid Satisfaction when he comes to take a Review of his Method. Cer­tainly the greatest happiness of this life is a peaceful temperate Alacrity and Tranquility of mind; but this is gain'd only by Reason, and is the result of Prudence and Conduct. Fools that do good by Chance, or put on by Example, or a fit of good humour, are carried into Extrava­gant Transports, their Joys are indecent and freakish, Happiness sits not handsomly on them, because they laid no Foundation, nor went wise­ly to work. It is a delightful thing to stand on the Shore, after a long and dangerous Voyage, and see others struggling with the contrarieties of the Wind and Waves. And it is a noble Applause that the Pilot gives himfelf: And it fattens his Soul to consider the success of his skill: And in his mind he repeats all the passages, what Rocks and what Sands he escap'd, where he bore up against the Storm, and where he sided and complyed a little: And upon the whole to prove and demonstrate [Page 16]his Course by the Rules of his Art. Such is the sa­tisfaction of a wise man. What the comforts be that God bestows by extraordinary Irradiations upon some Great and Eminent Persons, is a bold curiosity to enquire; but all the ordinary Con­fidences which the Spirit of God creates in the Elect are built upon Duty and conditional A­greements: Hereby we know we are Translated from Death to Life, if we love the Brethren, 1 John 3.14. And many the like Scriptures are but Rational Inferences from supposed Premisses: And when departing Saints cast the last Eye upon them­selves, their securest Anchor, next to the All-sufficient Merits of Christ, is, I say, ordinarily but the Conclusion of a Syllogism, whereof God makes the Major: And every Man by the As­sistance of his Reason, and Examination of his Conscience is to add the Minor. Such a joyful Prospect I presume shall ye one day have, when after the Toil and Troubles of a busie Life ye shall seek Privacy, and be glad to retire into the Sim­plicity of the years ye this day Commemorate: For I reckon we must once more go to School, to Con over this dull Lesson of the World again, where Experience will be your Master, and Re­pentance your Discipline: It shall be a joy then, I say, upon rational grounds to conclude, I have run my Race, I have finished my Course, henceforth a Crown of Life is laid up for me.

Lastly, and not the least, this Education, this Ability, this Knowledge is best to teach us our own Ignorance, and consequently Humility, Meekness and Condescention to others. He that knows the intricacies of Things, the variety of Apprehensions, the different sizes of Understan­dings: The Power of Prejudice, and Passion, must needs have compassionate thoughts for the gene­rality of Men; and can with equal affection maintain Reason, and pity Ignorance. In Sum, Among all your Gifts and Graces, there is none so Amiable, so Honourable, so becoming a Schol­lar, as Humility, and Modesty, and Mercy: In­somuch that though you could speak With all Tongues, and work Miracles, yet without this Charity they were nothing worth: So that if we bethink our selves well, we shall find this one of the most Reasonable Services of all.

These are some few of the many advantages of your Education, as it qualifies to serve God Reasonably, and with Understanding; than which, next to his Sanctifying Grace, he has not bestowed a nobler Talent upon the Sons of Men, and which therefore deserves our most serious Consideration, and our most sincere acknowledg­ments. To illustrate this a little more, and set­tle it upon your affections, it will not be amiss briefly from these Regions of Light to look down and behold the Children of Darkness, [Page 18]grovling and wandering in the Mazes of Error, whom I reduced to three ranks; in our Se­cond Part,

• 1. Such as make no use, Formal, Customary Christians.
• 2. Such as Enslave it by an implicit Faith.
• 3. Such as renounce and despise it, under Pre­tence of the Spirit.

1. Formal, The bred and born Christian, he that sucks in his Religion with his Country Air, and holds his Creed by the courtesie of England; that distinguishes Christianity from Mahometanism by Crosses and Half-Moons; and the Reforma­tion from Popery by Beads and Bibles. In short, He that is a Proselyte to Custom, and the Laws, a Disciple of Leviathan rather than Christ. And it is a sad truth: How few are able to render a reason of their Faith, and yet what a noise and a bustle do they make for the Cause, and the True Protestant Religion? to whose Support they Contribute no more, than the Antick Fa­ces do to the strengthning of a Church: 'Tis true, 'tis a mercy to be born within the Pale of the Church, to open our Eyes in the Light of the Gospel, and so 'tis to be born in a Temperate Clime. I make no doubt but God accepts the sincerity of the Plough-man as well as the reason of the Philosopher: That he will favour his own Gift, and receive those to Glory whom he [Page 19]has predestin'd to Grace. Altho then These little Ones have their Angels, and a Title to the King­dom of Heaven, yet in this blind Felicity they are apt to stumble, and when Persecution comes, to draw back: It is little more then the Homage which Birds and Beasts pay; It is seeing by the benefit of Clay and Spittle; a Sacrifice without Salt. Whereas the Excellency of Religion con­sists in a free and rational complyance with God's Commands, to understand the Excellency of them, and this is it that fixed David's heart, that preserved Lot amidst a crooked and perverse Generation: And made St. Paul so confident, That nothing of any Nature should be able to se­parate them from the Love of Jesus.

2. From hence turn your Eye to the Men of implicit Faith, and you shall see them creep­ing before Images, adoring of Wafers, paying Pensions for Purgatory, and Traffiquing for the price of Sins. In the midst of all this Pagean­try, and this Nonsense, Their comfort is, they believe as the Church believes. But God calls upon us to employ our Talent, to Exercise our selves in these things, to Build up our selves in our most holy Faith, and to Stand fast in the Li­berty wherewith Christ has made us Free. There can be no Articles de Novo impos'd upon the Church, because the Church signifies a Number of Men already agreed upon common Terms: [Page 20]And to impose New, is to alter the Primitive Constitution of the Church: But this device serves the ends of both Parties: And the Jug­gle is, That what the People part with of their Understanding, and the Use of their Reason, is made up to them in Allowances and Indulgences for sin, in easie Absolutions and cheap Penances. 'Tis a powerful Temptation to be freed from the trouble of Searching, Discussing, Examining: and it is a strong support of the Papal Tyranny. But where has God allowed this shifting and shuffling of Duties from one to another? How is it possible for one Man to understand and be­lieve for another? But God accepts not the Sa­crifice of Fools, nor can any Man Redeem his Brothers Life. And at the last day, whatever aggravations there may be for our Pride and our Sloth in this Case, yet there will be no Com­mutations of Punishments, no engagements for one anothers Souls will there be accepted. But every Man shall suffer in his own person accor­ding as He has done in the Body.

Lastly, Behold the Enthufiast, that is above Reason, and the Carnality of Discourse; and you shall find him to be given over to folly and madness, to giddy Doctrines, and destructive dan­gerous Impulses. If he commits a murther 'tis with the Sword of the Spirit, and if he throws down Churches 'tis with the Breath of the Spi­rit: [Page 21]In the Transactions with Mankind God de­clared not only his Attributes but his Nature, subsisting in a Trinity of Persons, and as such he will be worshipped: But is it reasonable that the manifestation of the Spirit should swallow up the work of the Creation, and by being Chri­stians we should cease to be Men. If the Scrip­tures which were given by Inspiration of the Holy Ghost be not perfect, all Mankind is at a loss, in a Maze still, and the Apostles did not as they said, Declare the whole Truth of God; and it would disparage the Divine Providence, and affront the Spirit of God, which is a Spirit of Wisdom, and Knowledge, of Order and Regular Dispensations.

And this, in brief, may be sufficient to let you see the folly and mischief of all other Methods and Institutions, save those that Minister to a Reasonable Service: Which brings me to the third and last Particular, The Reasonableness of this present Service; concerning which so much has been already said by my Predecessors, that I may be allowed to be the shorter.

1. Nothing is so Reasonable, so Spiritual and acceptable to God as these Eucharistical Oblati­ons: As for other Services by way of Petition or Deprecation, they are peculiar to this Life on­ly, and so of a lower Allay, and are in some sort common to Beasts, for even they lift up [Page 22]their Eyes to God; and the whole Creation groaneth when it is in pain or want. Only In­tellectual Beings can return Thanks, and Con­verse with God by Reciprocal intercourses. It argues a deep sence of favours received, and a thorough understanding of their worth, and a Soul not only fram'd and moulded by the Holy Spirit to this Noble Work, but Crown'd with Joy and Raptures, and the unspeakable satisfa­ctions of the Holy Ghost.

It was God's Command, Deut. 16, That the Males should appear Three times a year before him; and that not empty, but bringing their returns of Gratitude with them. Among Christians this is our [...], and as at the Primitive Eucha­rists they us'd to offer Thanks for all the Pa­triarchs and Confessors, the Founders and Benefactors of the Church; so we do for all our particular Fa­vours and Blessings: And as in the Law every one was to give as he was able, so we are to present him with our Souls and Bodies, and the several proportions of Goodness, Wisdom, Wealth, Honour we have attain'd to. If the Souls of de­parted Saints have any Sence of what is done here below, no doubt but all your glorious friends above, will rejoyce and applaud them­selves in their work, and reap the abundant fruits of their labour, in seeing their Pupils, their [Page 23]Charge advanc't by the benefit of their Educa­tion, to a work so like their own: For I conceive Love and Learning to be the employment of Angels and glorified Spirits too as well as yours, who after they have taken out their Lesson from the face of God, the Beatifick Vision, betake themselves to Laud and Thansgivings, to Feasts, such as Angels make, and mutual Embracements. If not, if they be laid up in their secret Reposi­tories till the day of Judgment, God shall be a sufficient reward and recompence, who will fill your hearts with more grace, and your minds with more light, and your Families with more Blessings; and your Names both Living a Dead with the Perfume of good and faithful Servants.

2. It is an act highly Reasonable and infinite­ly Commendable, to declare your Gratitude in this publick Assembly to those worthy Persons, the Instructors of your Youth, your Guides, your Teachers, your Angel-Guardians, here below, when you were little Ones. Among the other degeneracies of the Age, there is this common one of Ingratitude to Teachers: And the first act our Gallants do when they write Man is this piece of Inhumanity of despising and villifying their Education: So that this Assembly may in some measure Atone for many others, and your Charity cover a multitude of faults. It is much that the regular Method, and the Indefatigable [Page 24]Industry, and the rich Stock of Learning in our Schools and Academies should so soon be out­stript by a Clubb and a Coffee-house; but Vice abhors all Learning, and Sloth invents Compen­diums; and a great deal of Conceit, and a little of Mr. Hobbs sets up a raw young Man for a Philosopher, and a Statesman, and a Man of the World. I shall not stand to reckon up the Ho­nours that Emperors and Cities in all Nations have given to the Instructors of their Youth: Of how great importance it is to Season wisely the growing hopes, the Futurus Populus of a Na­tion; it is sufficient that our Blessed Saviour, in whom the Fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily, and in Whom all the Treasures of Wisdom were laid up, yet in his Minority he went among the Doctors, if I may so say, to School; and he honour'd and Authoris'd their Profession by his Conversing with them: I will in your Names therefore return to as many as are living and capable of receiving them, your unfeigned and acknowledgments thanks, and pray that God would return an 100 fold into their Bosom, all that Love and Care they have bestowed upon us.

3. This Publick Legal Assembly is a suitable return for the mercy of our Publick Legal Edu­cation. A Blessing no ways to be pretermitted since it brings so many considerable Advantages with it. It is a common Question, Which is [Page 25]the readier way to Learning, Private or Publick Teaching: For the former there is urg'd, A constant Care and Attendance upon one or a few Persons, a particular and exact observation of their Natural Inclinations, Intellectual Abili­ties, and acquired Improvements, and so a just apportionating his Task to his Capacity. On the other side, There is the light of Example, and the heat of Emulation, and the joy of Society, and a vivacity of Spirit thence resulting, neces­sary to all the Parts and Duties of a Scholar, and a very probable security of Success; and it is better to know how to secure Harvest, then how to hasten Fruits. But if the Question be, Which is the best way to make him an useful honest sound Scholar? For a few Criticisms and Spe­culations, or to teach the Greek Grammer a year before others, hold no Comparison with Con­cord and Unity; here without doubt the Ad­vantage lyes on the Publick side: For here are no unsound Documents, no private poisonous Intermixtures, no preparatory Doses for Schism and Faction: but all things are Administred ac­cording to the setled Dispensatory of Laws and Statutes: And the Domus Doctrinae joyns to the Synagogue, and Men of Fame and Integrity teach in Solomon's Porch, in the view and obser­vation of the whole World. Experience teaches us the mischief of Foreign Seminaries and unli­cens'd [Page 26]Academies at home: And as from the remote Corners of Scythia from Dens and Mar­shes, the barbarous Goths and Vandals brake in upon and destroyed fair and Learned Italy, so from these private Holes it was that our Locusts over­spread the face of our Church and Nation. But that which I would recommend to your obser­vation, and so I have done, is,

That a private, secret Education does not only expose a Youth to the Malignant Influences of evil Men, but Secrecy and Solitariness it self does naturally poison the Candour and Ingenui­ty of his Nature. For as soon as they are seated in their places, they look upon themselves in a state of Opposition and Hostility with other Schools; and so they catch at Paradoxes and No­velties, and study Cavils and Quirks and Eva­sions, and hunt after Slanders and Stories to ad­vance their Party, and illustrate the obscurity of their Education. It is almost necessary they should grow either Proud or Splenatick, or Sad and Gloomy, or Sullen and Morose, or Envious and Wrathful; and with these accomplishments they come into the World, and are exactly qualified at least to become the Author's in Characters, and your Julians, and your Growth of Popery, and all that Spawn of Pamphlets that have of late di­sturb'd and infected the Nation.

Solitude is a thing so dangerous, that our Lord himself, speaking of him as a Man, would not venture into the Wilderness, but under the Guidance and Protection of the Spirit. In Sum, The several Forms of Angels in gladsom Troops and Lightsom Places, celebrate the Divine Praise, and study the good of Mankind: Only Furies in dark and desolate Caves, and Witches in Melan­cholly midnight Meetings, and Traytors at Se­cret Consults and Cabals Complot their Mis­chiefs and Destruction.

I have now done with your Patience; And it remains only to pray,

That God would Inspire us with a due Sence and Acknowledgments of the many Blessings he has bestowed upon us. That we may live like the Children of Light and Knowledge, and shew our Gratitude by our right use and improve­ment of them, to his Honour and Glory.

That God would showre down his Blessings upon the Head of our most Gracious Sovereign Lord King Charles, the Heir of our Royal Foun­der's Piety and Patrimony, and the Protector of our Fortunes, and the Encourager, and (if I may say it with Reverence) in some sort the Compa­nion of our present Meetings; and that he would Accumulate upon his Head all the Blessings due to the constant Defender of the Faith, and the Munificent Nursing Father of the Church: And [Page 28]that the Prayers of all the Poor, and the Orphan, and all that have received Life and Warmth, or any benefit from the Charity of this Royal Foundation, may descend upon Himself and his Posterity to all Generations.

Lastly, May Love, and Unity, and all the good natur'd Vertues dwell amongst your selves, and preserve you ever, till you meet together again, and Feast in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Now, to God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Three Persons, and One God, be all Honour, Power, Praise and Glory attributed for these and all his other Mercies, now and for ever more. Amen.