Ejaculation.

What were, and are the fatal Conse­quences of the Disobedience of our First Parents, we too well know, and find by woful Experience. (And had not their heavy Sentence been allayed with a happy Promise of a Messias, both their, and our [Page 21] Condition had been altogether hopeless.) But what had been the Consequences, in case they had remain'd in that purity in which they were created: As namely, to what Numbers they had increased and multiplied? in what parts of the World they had inhabited? And if in colder Cli­mates, their Bodies had required Cover­ing and Vestments? Whether Flesh had been allowed them for Food, as well as Fruits and Herbs? And the Earth brought forth its Encrease without any Labour or Tillage? And lastly, if they had never died, but after a certain Term of Years, had been Translated from Earth to Hea­ven, as Righteous Enoch was, and af­terwards Elias? Are all Questions more cu­rious than necessary, (as the Case now stands with us.) And such, as I believe, the wisest Man living, had he all imaginable Helps of Humane Learning, and acquired Knowledge, would never be able, with any certainty, to determine.

Thus much we may reasonably believe, and safely conclude, That as they were at first created by the wonderful Contrivance and Mechany of the blessed Trinity, and made after G O D's own Image and Like­ness, they were truly Noble and Excellent Creatures.

[Page 22] Of their Bodies we have a Specimen, by the Dissection of one of our own, they be­ing undoubtedly the same with ours, as to the Figure, Number and Uses, as well of their Exterior, as their Interior parts, though extreamly different in Perfection and Duraho [...] those lasting more than twice as many Hundreds, as ours do now Scores of Years, even after they were mortified by their Fall, and were Condemned by G O D himself, the one, to daily Labour and Tillage, and to eat his Bread by the sweat of his Brows; and the other, to be subject to the Laws and Will of a Hus­band, to struggle with the sharp Pains and Throws of Child-bed, and to have her Griefs and Sorrows greatly multiplied.

In the Dissection of Humane Bodies, what thinking Men can take a serious view of the Skin, the Membranes, the Flesh, the Fibers, the Veins, the Arteries, the Nerves, the Ligaments, the Cartilages, and the Bones; as likewise of the three Cavities (or Venters) of the Trunk, namely the Abdo­men, the Chest, and the Head, with all things therein contained; as also the Arms, Thighs and Legs, with their different Po­sitions, Compositions, and admirable Use, without being struck with great Wonder [Page 23] and Astonishment, and crying out with good King David, Behold, I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

When he considers how closely the Sto­mach, with the help of its Fibers, embra­ces the Meat that is chewed in the Mouth, and the Drink that is received in, and swal­lowed down, and mixeth therewith speci­fick fermentatious Juices, bred in its inner Coat, and impregnated by the Saliva, till the finer parts, by a convenient heat, be­come a white milky Cream; after which, together with the thicker Mass, (with which they are as yet involved by the Constriction of the Stomach,) they pass down to the Guts, where by the mixture of the Bile, and the pancreatick Juice, they are by another manner of Fermenta­tion, quite separated from the thicker Mass, and so received of the Lacteal Vessels, as the thicker is ejected by the Stool.

When he rightly considers the Figure and Motion of that admirable Machine, (the Heart) and how it is suspended in the Body, by the Vessels that go in and out of it, and that as an ordinary Forcing-En­gine, being placed in the middle of a Ci­ty, or Town, draws the Water of an ad­joining [Page 24] Source, or Fountain, into its own Bowels by one Motion, or stroak of the hand, and the help of a Valve, to keep it from returning back again, and then thrusts, or forces out the same Water by another stroke of that hand, and the help of another Valve, into another Pipe, which is afterwards distributed into smaller Bran­ches, to supply the Uses of the several and respective Houses: So the Heart receives the Blood out of the Vena Cava into its Ventricles by a Djastole, (or Dilatation) and then thrusts, or forces it out again by a Systole (or Contraction) into the Arte­ries, and out of these, into the parts that are to be nourished, from whence it is to be resolved by the Capillary Veins, which conduct it back through the larger Veins into the Vena Cava again, and this by the help of divers Semi-lunar or Semi-circular Valves, curiously and conveniently placed in the aforementioned Vessels and Passa­ges, and thus is made the admirable Circu­lation of the Blood: But how, or by what secret Power the Heart receives its Motion, and makes its constant pulses, is known to God alone, the Maker and Searcher of all Hearts.

We are apt to admire the Skill of an Ar­tist, who can make us a Pendulum-Clock, [Page 25] of the choicest Brass and Iron, to vibrate with a just and equal Motion, for the space but of one Year, and that with the help of a suspended Weight: What shall we then think of a Movement, composed of fleshy Muscles and Fibers suspended in Me­thusalem's body, and continuing its Pulses, without the help of either Weight or Springs, for the space of Nine Hundred, sixty and nine Years, which time would cer­tainly wear out the Wheels and Pinions of a great many Brass and Iron Clocks.

If there were but room enough in so small a Treatise, there are yet behind ma­ny and great Wonders of the Almighty Maker's Mechany and Contrivance, rela­ting to Motion and Sense.

According to that small Skill I formerly had in Opticks, it was my Opinion, (with submission to better Judgments,) that the Figure and Colour, or Colours of a visible Object (however situated, or in what po­sture soever it be placed) make the Base of an imaginary Cone, composed of infi­nite visical Rays, which is conveyed in an instant through a Lucid Medium, to the Su­perficies of every Beholders Eye, where a small section of the Apex of that Cone, is [Page 26] refracted by the several Waters and Tu­nicks, and then the Figure of the said Ob­ject being inverted by the Humor Chrystal­linus, is, in the same posture, lodged in the Tunica Retina, from whence it is conveyed into the common Sensory.

Again, by those Experiments I have here­tofore made in Acousticks, I then judged, that different Percussions of the Air, do be­get infinite spherical Figures of Aereal Mo­tions, (as a Stone thrown into the midst of a Pool of standing Water, or (which is much more curious) a stroak with a Pin's head upon the supersicies of a long Vessel of Quick-silver, begets in the first infinite numbers of Circles, or in the last infinite Arches) which spread themselves every way, till they meet with some harder Body that makes resistance; which let us sup­pose to be a Man's Ear, in the Cavity of which the aforesaid Figures of Aereal Mo­tions suffer several Reverberations, and then make a Percussion upon the Tympanum, or Drum, (which is a Nervous, and almost pellucid Membrane, and of most exquisite Sense) and from thence are conveyed into the Brain.

And by the help of these, and other Ex­periments, I then made (which were ma­ny [Page 27] Years since) and the Blessing of God up­on my Endeavours, I found out the Tubastentero-phonica, or Speaking-Trumpet, and im­proved that Invention so far, as to make humane Voice both audible and intelligible, either in plain Words and Sentences, or else in Cypher, for conveighing Secrets in­to, or out of besieged Places, (over the heads of their Enemies) or for one Ship to speak to another, at the distance of three English Miles, or thereabouts; and had I not received some Discouragement (which then I did not think I deserved) I did not doubt but to have improved it to the di­stance of eight, nine or ten Miles.

I did likewise, at the same time, con­trive, and cause to be made by my Dire­ctions, a very large Otocoustacon, one end whereof being laid to my Ear in a still Evening, in the middle of St. Jame's Park, brought into it (as I thought) innumera­ble Sounds of Coach and Cart-wheels, and humane Voices, in, and throughout all the Streets, as well those of Westminster, St. James's and Pickadilly, as the others between White-hall and London-Bridge; but those Sounds being often confused, and those that were nearer, drowning those which were more remote, and sometimes offen­ding [Page 28] the Ear by the sharpness of the noise, (not to mention the large Dimensions, and great Weight of such Instruments.) I then desisted from my making any further Experiments: However, some years since, having received several Visits, in the be­half of several deaf Persons, and believing that it might be an acceptable Service to all Mankind, I determined to proceed, not doubting to contrive such a Machine, as would have taken a just Gage, or Measure, of the Degrees of any Persons deafness, and likewise to invent another small Instru­ment, to hang upon the Ear as an Orna­ment, whereby those Degrees of Deafness should have been in a great measure, or altogether restored; had it not pleased Al­mighty GOD, in the interim, to visit me with Blindness.

But now, in all the aforementioned O­perations, how the Soul of Man, by the help of the Brain, (which is the general Organ of Sense) perceives and judges Sen­sations of all sentient parts, and out of it, as out of a Fountain, by the help of eight or ten pair of Nerves (whose Origin is derived from the Medulla-substance of the Brain) it communicateth the Animal Spi­rits (being first elaborated) to all the sen­tient [Page 29] parts of the Body, and thereby en­dows them with the faculty of performing Animal Actions: For example, how, and in what mysterious manner, the Soul sends out the Animal Spirits, so many several ways, to receive in, and judge of the Fi­gures and Colours of so many hundred Objects in one Minutes space, and so many different Sounds of Vocal and Instrumental Musick, within the compass and measure of a Semibref, and that without confoun­ding visual Rays, or Aereal Percussions, which must of necessity very often inter­fere with each other, or what manner of Creatures those Animal Spirits are, which have never yet been discerned by the shar­pest Eye, or best Glasses?

Let the ablest Philosopher in the World tell me, otherwise than by the empty Terms of Anatomy.— Et erit mihi mag­nus Apollo.

And this is all I have here room to treat of, relating to Sense. There is yet some­thing that very well deserves to be taken notice of, concerning The Motion of the Limbs, and their great force, in lifting up, thrusting from them, or pulling to them great weights with the nimble Motion of all the Parts, some of those Operations a­greeing [Page 30] with, and others confounding our ordinary Doctrine of Staticks.

I know very well, That a pound weight, suspended at one end of an iron Rod pla­ced horizontally, at six foot distance from its Fulcrum, or perpendicular Axis, equi­ponderates a Weight of six pounds suspen­ded at the other end of the said iron Rod, at one foot distance from the said Fulcrum, or Axis, (the length of one foot of that Rod, on the one side of the Axis being first made equal in Weight, to the aforesaid length of six foot of the same Rod, on the other side of the Axis) And if the afore­said Weight of six pound, be raised two Inches in perpendicular height▪ by the force of the said one pound, (with some small addition) that one pound weight must of necessity descend Twelve Inches, or one Foot.

Likewise I am not ignorant, that if a Globular weight of six pound, be suspen­ded at one end of an Iron Rod of six foot in length, hanging perpendicularly upon a small Pin, or Joint, the force of two pound weight being fastned by a Pack-thread, to the Center of Gravity of that Globular weight, and conveniently placed, so as to [Page 31] move up and down over a Pulley, will heave up that Globular weight, (a propor­tional part of the said Rod being first equi­ponderated) to the perpendicular height of two foot. Again, the weight of four pound applied in the same manner, will heave up the said Globular weight, to the perpendicular height of four foot, and the force of six pound Weight, will heave it up to the Horizontal Line, (or 90 Degrees) which Experiment, being exactly perform­ed, gives great light to young Practitioners in the Mechanicks.

Lastly, I know by Experience, that an Engineer standing on the top of a Tower, may by the help of Ropes and Pullies, with a small force, heave up a Tun weight, or more, to the perpendicular height of 10 or 20 Foot, provided there be proportion­able time given him for that Operation; and also, that he has a sufficient Fulcrum, or place, to which he may fasten one of his Blocks.

I can likewise imagine the Soul of a Man, whilst his Body stands bolt up right, to be a spiritual Engineer, and to be sea­ted in the Brain, as in its Watch-Tower, and there to make use of each hand and [Page 32] arm to lift up a ponderous Weight, to the perpendicular height of 6 or 12 Inches: But I must, at the same time, ingeniously acknowledge, that I do not at all appre­hend, neither have I any Idea, or Imagina­tion, by what secret power the Soul con­tracts or dilates the Muscles, how it ela­borates, and sends forth the Animal Spirits, or how it makes use of any of the ten pair of Nerves, whose Origin is derived from the Medulla substance of the Brain, which is, in a manner, as soft as Butter: And I leave, to the Contemplation of the most skilful and subtil Mechanick, or Philosopher, in the World, the innumerable Difficulties that will arise from all the following In­stances.

1. Of a Porter, taking up great and pon­derous Burthens from off the ground, and heaving them on his shoulders.

2. Of a Waterman, who, upon a Wa­ger, pulls in his Oars with both his Arms towards his body, and, at the same time, thrusts from him with his Thighs and Legs, in which Motion, viz. that of his Arms and Hands, he works with a Quintiple dis­advantage, according to the Doctrine of Staticks; because the Muscle of the Hume­rus, [Page 33] is fastned but to a 6th. part of the Cubi­tus, or Radius, as I my self have measured upon a dead Man's bones.

3. Of a Seaman, working at a Drum-Capstan (a Contrivance I presented to the late King Charles the Second, many years ago) to weight up the ponderous Anchors of great Ships, which has since saved great Numbers of English Sea-men's lives.

4. Of one, who distorts all the Parts, Members and Joints of his Body, so as to make it appear in many different Figures, and strange Shapes: Such a one I have seen at Paris, and such a one there was, not long since, in the City of London, who went by the Name of Posture John.

5. Of one, who jumps, wrestles, throws the Bar, runs a Race, or fights a Prize.

6. Of one, who performs strange Feats of Activity, Vaults and cuts Capers in the Air to a great height, as he is dancing on the Stage, or on the Ropes.

7. A skilful and active Musician, the dif­ferent Motions of whose Fingers, are of in­credible swiftness.

Ejaculation.

All that I shall add to what has been al­ready mentioned upon this Subject, shall be only this: That if there are so many insuperable Difficulties, about Bodily Opera­tions, as to Motion and Sense; how much greater must of necessity be the Difficulties of the Souls Operations, which are wholly abstracted from, and have no Correspon­dence at all with Bodies or Sense.

Of this Sort, as I think, is a late learned Philosopher's (Cogito) though I understand not at all his Inference of (Ergo sum.)

But whatever he intends, my meaning is, the Soul's drawing necessary Conclusi­ons from undoubted Premises, and so forming within it self Syllogisms: As like­wise its Apprehensions of a Supreme Diety, [Page 35] or an Almighty MAKER of all Things, who is from Everlasting to Everlasting, and depends upon none.

And its Reflections of Conscience, either Accusing, or Excusing Moral Actions.

Forgive me, Courteous Reader, I am already lost in a Labyrinth of Thoughts, and my Soul is over-whelmed with a De­luge of Imaginations, and can make no further progress: At the Resurrection, you and I shall know more, and be much wi­ser than we now are, When this Mortal shall put on Immortality; When our Un­derstandings shall be more illuminated, and when the Eyes of our Souls shall be no longer forced to look, or peep through such thick Humors, muddy Waters, dull Tunicks, and horny Spectacles.

Ejaculation.

[Page 38] In the Morning of my Life, for several Hours, I stood idle in the Market-place, with others of my Companions, pleasing my self with childish Toys and youthful Vanities.

In my more mature Age, though I had frequent Calls and Invitations to labour in God's Vineyard, yet nevertheless I rather chose to gratify my own roving Fancy, and satisfy my vain Curiosity, in ranging Abroad, and making enquiry into the Cu­stoms and Manners of foreign Countries, and then to enter into the secret Intregues and mysterious Transactions of my own; where I had opportunity to hear, see and observe many things, which must be bu­ried in Oblivion.

And here, I must acknowledge, I met with no small variety of Cares and Trou­bles, Fears and Jealousies, Crosses and Dis­appointments, and found my self at the brink of many a deep pit, and steep preci­pice, and in great danger to have perished, without a wonderful preservation and de­liverance.

Besides all this, I leave it to Men of grea­ter Wisdom and Experience to consider, [Page 39] how hard and difficult a thing it is, to be entangled with the Cross-purposes of pub­lick Affairs, and yet have leisure to mind that one Thing necessary, The Salvation of our Souls; with which all the Riches, Ho­nours and Pleasures which this World af­fords, are not worthy to be laid in the Ballance.

Ejaculation.

Methinks this World does not unfitly resemble a Theatre or Stage, whereon eve­ry Man presents himself, Acts his Part, and so makes his Exit.

[Page 40] But in all the various Passages of his Life, and frequent shifting of Scenes, the Devil, and his Agents, are always at hand, to di­sturb and hinder the Actor in his perfor­mances, both of Religious and Moral Du­ties, and at last to carry him off the Stage, with Eternal Dishonour and Disgrace.

It will not be difficult to trace his Clo­ven-Footsteps, from the first Creation to this present Time.

Having beguiled our first Parents, he re­solved to mischief their two Sons: First, by polluting Cain's Offering, and laying Sin at his door; then by urging him to be wroth and angry with his Maker, for not accepting it. And lastly, by provo­king him to break all the Bonds of Na­ture, and to become his own Brother's Murtherer.

This done, he proceeds to tempt the Old World to the Commission of gross and enormous Impieties, till God destroyed them with a Deluge.

After the Flood, when Noah's Posterity was multiplied, the Devil turned Archi­tect, [Page 41] and drew a Design for the Children of Men, to build a Tower in the Plain of Shinaar, whose top was to reach to Hea­ven, from which he himself had so lately fallen.

When God had dispersed those Buil­ders, by the Confusion of Languages, he took upon him the Office of an Infernal Prophet, Priest and King, instructing his Disciples and Followers, to forsake the Worship of the True God, to yield Obe­dience to all his Commands; and to erect Altars, plant Groves, and to offer Sacrifice to Devils, under various Forms of Beasts, Birds and Creeping Things. And so great was his Malice, that he would not spare that Grove of Oaks, at or near the Plains of Mamre, which the good old Patriarch Abraham had planted, and made use of as an Oratory, orselect place of Divine Worship for himself, and his numerous Family; but caused it to be converted to Idolatrous Uses, till such time as Constantine the Great took care to have the Heathen Altars and Images demolished by the Bishop of Jeru­salem, and those of Palestine, and a Christian Church erected in their stead.

[Page 42] It would be endless, to make enquiry into all the Actions, and various Forms of Worship among the Men of the Old Gentile World, and Heathen Idolaters: Or to make an Enumeration of the Names of their respective Idols. I shall only en­tertain the Reader with a brief Narrative, of what I have collected out of a late Traveller of no small Credit amongst us, which may give him some light into the Practices of former Ages.

There is (saith my Author) a King­dom in the East Indies called Tunquin, where some of the Inhabitants worship four Gods, whose Names are Rauma, Betols, Ramonu and Brama, and a Goddess called Satis­bana. Others of them hold Transmigration of Souls, and have a great Veneration for a certain Hermit called Chacabout, one of the greatest Impostors that ever was in Asia.

A third Sort, have great esteem for one Lanthu, one of the greatest Magicians of the East: That Impostor's Disciples having given it out, that his Mother carried him in her Womb, without losing her Virgi­nity, for the space of Seventy years, which, [Page 43] I am apt to believe is a Mock the Devil puts upon our blessed Saviour's being carried Ten Months in the Womb of a Virgin.

It is the Custom of the Tunquineses to Adore three things: The first is the Hearth of their Chimney, made of Three Stones. The second is an Idol, which they call Ti­ensa, the Patroness of Handy-Crafts. The Third is the Idol Buabin, which they im­plore before they build their Houses.

They likewise present Offerings to Trees, Elephants, Horses, Cows, and almost all kinds of Animals.

Besides all this, they have great Venera­tion for two Magicians, and one Magicia­ness: The first Magician foretells future Events: To the second, they have recourse in all their Sicknesses. And sometimes af­ter several Apish-tricks, he himself, together with the sick Party, and those who brought him, do Homage and the Devil, and the sick Party's friends present him and the Devil, with an Entertainment of their choisest Meats.

But if the sick Person, after all their Of­ferings, do not recover, his Friends and Re­lations, [Page 44] with as many Soldiers as they can get together, discharge their Guns and Musquets three times, to drive away his Devilship from those parts.

Sometimes the chief Magician (Thaybou) being consulted, and finding that the Di­stemper arises from the Souls of the Dead, he, or his Brother Thay-phouthouy, finds ways to draw to him that Soul that is the Author of the Disease, and then shuts it up in a bottle of water well stopt, till the Party be cured, afterwhich he breaks the Bottle, and lets that Soul loose to go about its business.

The Magicianess Bacoti, keeps con­stant Correspondence with the Devil, (to whom, if she has a Daughter, she offers her as soon as she is born,) and if any Mother happen to lose a Child, she makes her Ad­dress to this Magicianess, who, by the beat of a Drum, pretends to Summon the Soul of that Child, and tell the Mother, whe­ther its Condition in the other World be Good, or otherwise.

When the Moon is in an E [...]clipse, they believe it is assaulted by a Dragon, and therefore they make a hideous noise with [Page 45] Drums, Trumpets, Bells and Musquets, till the Ecclipse be over, and then make great Rejoycings for having conquered that mon­strous Creature.

It is very wonderful to consider, what cruel Tyranny the Devil exercises over many of the poor Idolatrous Indians.

Some he makes to carry their Arms over their Heads, during their Lives, which cau­ses certain Carnosities to breed in their Joints, that they can never bring them down again.

Others he makes to stand upon one Foot, holding a Chaffing-dish in one hand, and with the other pouring out Incense, as an Offering to their God, fixing their Eyes all that while upon the Sun.

When the Inhabitants of the City Malde, in Bengala, on a certain Day go out of that City, great Numbers of them hang them­selves by the flesh of their Bodies upon iron Hooks, fastned to Trees for that pur­pose, till the weight of their Bodies tear­ing away the Flesh, they fall off themselves to the ground; and which is almost incre­dible, not a Drop of Blood issues out of [Page 46] the Wounds, nor the least bit of Flesh is left upon the Hooks, and within the space of two Days they are cured by the Bramans.

Ejaculation.

It is very remarkable, that the Devil, notwithstanding his great Power and Do­minion over the Heathen World for so ma­ny Thousand Years, has never yet been able utterly to deface those Principles of Right, Justice and Conscience, which the Almighty Maker has stampt upon Men's Souls, though at the same time, in most places, he has extreamly sullied them with hellish Impostures and Delusions, and Ido­latrous Worship of divers kinds, so as to make sure of them in the main, and [Page 47] always hold them fast within his Clutches.

Thus, in the foregoing Instance of the Tunquineses, the Hermite Chacabout left be­hind him Ten Commandements, which he enjoined his Followers to observe with all manner of strictness, viz. First, Not to Kill. Secondly, Not to Steal. Thirdly, Not to defile their Bodies. Fourthly, Not to Lye. Fifthly, Not to falsify their Words. Sixthly, To restrain their inordinate Desires. Seventhly, Not to do Injury to any Man. Eighthly, Not to be great Talkers. Ninthly, Not to give way to their Anger. Tenthly, To labour to their ut­most to get Knowledge. Besides all this, They who designed to lead a Religious Life, must re­nounce the Delights of this Life; be Charitable to the Poor; overcome their Passions, and give themselves up to Meditation.

He taught moreover, That after this Life, there were Ten distinct Places of Joy and Torment; and that the Contemners of these Laws, should feel Torment propor­tionable to their Offences, without any End of their Torments. That they who endeavoured to fulfil his Law, and had fai­led in any point, should wander in divers Bodies (holding Transmigration of Souls) [Page 48] for the space of Three Thousand Years, before they entred into Happiness. But that those who had perfectly Obeyed his Laws, should be rewarded, without suffer­ing any Change of their Bodies: And that he himself had been Born ten times, be­fore he enjoyed the Bliss that he possessed; not having in his first Youth, been illumi­nated with that Knowledge which he afterwards attained.

Ejaculation.

But to return to my Observations of the Devil's practices.

When God had covenanted with Abra­ham, that his Seed should be multiplied as [Page 59] the Stars of Heaven, and inherit the Pro­mised Land, What Stone did Satan leave unturn'd? Or what Opportunities did he ever lose of attempting to frustrate God's gracious Designs?

His first Atchievement was to exaspe­rate Esa [...] to murder his Brother Jacob, upon whose individual Person his aged Father had so lately fixt a Blessing; and out of whose Loyns were to come forth 12 Tribes, whose Posterity were to be as innumerable as the Sands of the Sea, ho­ping that he being once removed, the blessed Effects of all God's promises would be utterly vacated and disappointed.

When Jacob's Family were kindly received by K. Pharaoh and the Egyptians, How watch­ful and diligent was that old Serpent, to wait for the coming of another King, whom he might incense, and so bring the Isratlites under Slavery and Bondage?

When Moses was deputed immediately by God for their Deliverance, what dia­bolical Artifices did he use, to help the Magicians to counterfeit some of his Mi­racles, and so to harden the heart of Pha­raoh, and the hearts of all his Servants?

When the distressed Israelites were got out of that King's Dominions, How rea­dy was he, upon all occasions, to improve [Page 60] to the utmost the sullen Nature, and un­thankful Disposition of that People, so as to provoke God in the Wilderness, by their frequent Murmurings and Complaints, for the space of forty Years?

When they had got possession of the Promised Land, How quickly did▪ he bring them acquainted with Baal and Ashtaroth, and the rest of the false Gods of the Na­tions round about them, whom Joshua had not yet extirpated?

And thus they continued their Rebelli­on, and brought upon themselves many severe Judgments, and were very often subject to the Will and Pleasure of their E­nemies; till at last a great part of them were carried away Captive to Babylon, with their Wives and Children, and others of them ex­pos'd to the Sword, Pestilence and Famine.

When our Saviour was born in Bethle­hem, How subtilly and maliciously did he prompt that cruel Tyrant Herod, in his Rage and Anger, to murther for his sake, all the Male-Children in those parts, from two years old, and under?

Ejaculation.

[Page 98] And methinks our Saviour's making so often mention of a Lake of Fire and Brim­stone, should strike all Atheists and Liber­tines with as great a dread and fear, as the Hand-writing on the Wall, did of old Belshaz­zar: When they do but consider what vast quantities of sulphureous Matters have been cast out of the gaping Orifices of Mount Aetna and Vesuvius in Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples; and what horrid Noises, (as Travellers report) have been sometimes heard out of those burning fiery Furnaces, like the howlings and skreeches of some miserable living Creatures: Especial­ly that prodigious Lake of burning Brim­stone, which a few Years since (if we may believe Gazettes) was vomited out of one of those Mountains, and like a mighty Torrent, run along upon the ground, and so into the Sea, a whole League in length before it was extinguish­ed.

For my own particular, if it were law­full to make Conjectures in matters of that consequence, I should be apt to believe, that the Sun, were a Body much more convenient for that purpose; forasmuch as

First, It is a Body greater than the Bo­dy of the Earth, by many Degrees, as is plainly demonstrable by Ecclipses.

[Page 99] Secondly, We have reason to believe from Sacred Writ, that at the End of the World, there will be no further use of the Sun's light.

Thirdly, According to the Opinion of the best, and most accurate Astronomers of latter Ages, the Sun is placed in the very Center of the World, (however in the Holy Scriptures that are written, as is supposed, ad captum vulgi, it is expressed otherwise) And therefore must be, of all other Bodies, the most infernal, and then one would think that place is most likely to be Hell, which is furthest off from Heaven.

Fourthly, If the Rays of the Sun, which are sent out from its lucid body at a vast distance, being contracted here below, and with the help of parabolical and eliptical Figures, become in their Focus much hot­ter, and sooner melt down Gold and Silver, than any Culinar, or indeed, any chymical Fire, How great must we then imagine the heat of that fiery Globe to be, in its own proper body, especially if the Sun were darkned, and its glowing Rays turned in­wards; and those few Spots which we dis­cern on its supersicies, were multiplied till they should become an entire Cover, and be made the Blackness of Darkness for ever [Page 100] and the body of the Sun made a fluid and eternal Fire by God's Almighty Power.

And now if all these things should be so, the History of Abraham, Dives and Lazarus would not be extream difficult to be explained by Interpreters.

If Telescopes help us to discover un­known Stars, of different Lights: If spea­king-Trumpets, or close Pipes, may be so made, as to conveigh Words several Leagues: And if Stephen's mortal Eyes could look from Earth into Heaven, and there see Je­sus standing, at the distance of, no Man knows how many mvriads of Miles, how easy had it been for the Maker of all things, by his Almighty Power, first to translate the Bodies of Dives and Lazarus, after they were dead and buried, (as well as those of Enoch and Elias, before they were interr'd) the one to Heaven and the other to Hell? And afterwards so to clear up all the Mediums between Heaven and the Cen­ter of the World, as that the immor­taliz'd Eyes of Abraham and Dives might plainly see one another's Persons and Postures, and their Ears might hear each other's Voices at as great a distance, as the length of the Semidiameter of the whole Universe.

[Page 101] But here I must put the Reader in mind, that, in truth, all these things are meer Conjectures, And far be it from such a poor Worm as I am, to be the Broacher of new Opinions, in Matters so far above the reach of my own Understanding and Conception: For, I must ingenuously confess once more, That I am lost in a Labyrinth of Thoughts, and should I go on further, but a few steps, I should lose both my Reason and Senses, and never be able to finish this small Treatise. And therefore all I shall here add, is to beseech all Libertines to take heed and beware, how they turn plain Scriptures into meer Metaphors, or make a derision of the true Tophet, or Vally of Hinnon; least one day they hear the dreadful Voice, Go ye Cursed into the place of Torments, where the Worm of Conscience never dies, where the Fire that burns is never to be quenched, nor the Body that is burning never con­sumed.

Ejaculation.

[Page 135] Leviathan!—Its a monstrous Goblin, that much better deserves to be exposed to publick view in Fairs and Markets than an Elephant or Rhinoceros, these being the wonderful Works of the great Crea­tor, the other, the Mechanisme, and meer Invention of a grand Impostor.

Leviathan!— It is a Juggler's box, to cheat his Readers with meer Tricks and Legerdemains. It is, and It is not: There is a Law of Nature, and yet There is no such thing: All Men are in a state of War and Enmity, and yet remain in Love and Unity: There are Angels and Spirits, and yet they are but Phantasms, Apparitions and Delusions: There's a Kingdom of Heaven, and yet there's none: There is an Enfer, and yet Hell is but a Metaphor.

Leviathan!—Its the Trojan Horse, whose Belly and inner Cavities are fill'd with Men of War, and all sorts of Weapons, to kill and destroy their hospitable Friends and Receivers.

Leviathan!—Had learned Milton wav'd his Subject of Lost Paradise, and exercised his poetick Talent upon this Treatise, he might have found here his God Chaos, and a much more convenient Pandai­monion for Beelzebub, and his Infernal Crew, to sit in consultation, how to make a second War with Heaven.

[Page 136] Leviathan!—Sure it was something a­kin to that formidable Beast with seven Heads and ten Horns, in the Revelation [...], to whom was given a Mouth to speak Great Things, and to Blaspheme against God, his Tabernacle, and them that dwell in Heaven.

This Author, in pag. 63, 64. 87. 169. and in many other places boldly asserts, That all Men by Nature, are in a Con­dition of War, every Man against every Man: That every Man hath right to every thing, even to the Goods and Body of his Neighbour; that is to say in plain Eng­lish; every Man, by Nature, is a Rascal, Villain, Thief, Robber and Murderer; till by a Pact or Agreement, they chose out of their Company a Soveraign, who is absolute, and nothing that he can do is any Injury or Injustice to any of his Sub­jects, and is perfectly Master of their Estates and Lives: Insomuch, that David's killing Uriah, was no injury to Uriah, because the Right to do whatever he pleased, was given to David by Uriah himself.

In the first place, if every Man be, by Nature, such a Rascal and Villain, How great a Rascal and Villain doth this Author (even in print) acknowledge himself to be for one?

[Page 137] 2. If all Men be such Rascals and Vil­lains, till they agree, and chose to them­selves a Soveraign; this Soveraign must be as great a Rascal and Villain as any of them, as well after, as before his Corona­tion, (being no more able to shake of his Savage Qualities, than a Leopard his Spots, or a Blackmoor to change his Skin) And by making him their Soveraign, they en­able him to be ten times a greater Ras­cal and Villain than ever before he was; and then let the ingenuous Reader but imagine what a Hydra of a Common-Wealth this would be? And what a Cen­taur, their supreme Governour: Nero, Domitian, and the rest of the persecuting Emperors, would not deserve to be menti­oned in any Histories. In such a gygantick Prince's Court as this, so pittiful a Ty­rant as Herod, would not have merit enough to be one of his Majesty's Gentle­men-Ushers, nor Pontius Pilate to be a Page of his Back-stairs.

3. What an high Affront and Indignity does he here cast upon God Almighty, who created Adam in his own Image and Likeness, and made him an absolute Lord and Soveraign of this lower World, and endued him with sufficient Wisdom and Understanding to govern it▪ And [...] [Page 134] [...] [Page 135] [...] [Page 136] [...] [Page 137] [Page 138] though Adam by his first Transgression ex­posed himself, and his Posterity, to the Wrath and Displeasure of his Maker; yet we no where find that his Maker took from him that Soveraignty and Dominion, or the use of his Reason to manage it, which he had before given him; or that he left his Subjects in a state of War, to Rob, Spoil, and Murder one another. But on the other side, have good Reason to believe, that Adam enjoyed his Soveraignty while he lived; and consequently, that all that came forth of his Loins, were his Natural Subjects, and yielded him due Obedience: And though there might be many wicked Men amongst them, yet that there was not so much as one that durst publish a Leviathan, neither were they in the general, so far degenerated, and become worse than any of the brute Creatures, (as the Author pretends) having quite lost all those Principles of Honour and Justice, which were originally stamped in their Souls.

We have likewise reason to believe, that the Patriarchs, Noah and Abraham, and others, were Soveraigns in their respective Families, till such time, as Families being multiplied, there arose Quarrels and Dissen­tions, and the stronger subduing the weak­er, [Page 139] enlarged their Dominions, but without those senseless Pacts and Agreements, as this Author would fain perswade us; for no such thing was ever yet in practise, but is a product of his own waking Thoughts, of which he makes mention, page 60. in the following words, viz. That waking, he thought of his absurd Dreams; but never dreamt of the Absurdity of his waking Thoughts. And the plain truth is, I think in my Conscience, no other Man in the whole World, ever dreamt of them, till he him­self so absurdly publisht them.

Again, how confidently soever this Au­thor asserts, That David did Uriah no injury. We read, 2 Sam. 12. That the Lord sent Na­than to David to complain of Two of the greatest Injuries and Acts of Oppression and Injustice that could possibly be offered, by a Prince to his Subjects; or indeed, by one private Person to another. The first was, kil­ling of Uriah wrongfully. The 2d. was, de­filing his Wife. The words of Nathan are these, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I a­nointed thee King over Israel, and I delivered Thee out of the hand of Saul, and I gave thee thy Master's house, and thy Master's Wives into thy bosom; wherefore hast thou killed Uriah the Hit­tite, by the hands of the Children of Ammon, and taken his Wife to be thy Wife?

[Page 140] Now one of these Injuries being repre­sented darkly by Nathan to David, in a Parable of two Men living in one City, the one Rich, and the other Poor, and the rich Man taking wrongfully the poor Man's Lamb out of his bosom, the faid King waxed wroth, and so highly re­sented it, that he swore to Nathan, that this cruel Deed should cost the Offender his life: And why? Because he had no pitty.

So then it is manifest, that, to assert that David neither did, nor could do any wrong to Uriah, is not only to give Nathan and David, but also God himself the Lye, which is no less than Blasphemy.

In page 152. He instructs his Disciples, That in case a Man shall come from the Indies hither, and perswade Men here to receive a new Religion▪ though he be never so well perswaded of the truth of what he teaches, he commits a Crime, and may be justly punished for the same; now this Lobster-like-argument of his, be­ing artificially thrown forward, does again naturally crawl backwards. His meaning is, as he has too plainly exprest in many places; That if a Man go from hence, and preach a New Doctrine in Africa, he commits a Crime, and consequently St. [Page 141] Jude did very ill after Christ's Resurrection, to take a Journey from Jerusalem into Per­sia, and there to take upon him to rebuke the Superstition of the Magi, and to preach a New Doctrine, and so was put to death deservedly.

The like may be said of St. Paul, for his making a Mutiny and Uproar at Athens, and disturbing the Worship of the great Goddess Diana of the Ephesians: And in fine, both he, and all the Apostles, com­mitted great Crimes, in presuming to preach New Doctrine amongst all Nations, where Idolatry was Established, and owned by publick Authority. (for, says the same Author, page 152. To maintain a Doctrine contrary to the Religion Established, is a greater Fault in an authorized Preacher, than in a private Person.) And therefore they all suffered condign Punishments, and were accessary to their own cruel Deaths. But now, this reflects more severely upon our blessed Saviour, who gave his Disciples their Commissions, Matth. 28. 19. Go yee and teach all Nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

And which is yet more, it reflects upon God the Father, who sent his Son into the World for that end and purpose; and [Page 142] also the Holy Spirit, which was sent down from Heaven after our Saviour's Resur­rection, to inspire those Apostles with diversity of Tongues, and such other mira­culous Gifts, as might rightly qualify them for the preaching the Gospel throughout all the Nations of the World.

So that this last Assertion is, in effect, Blasphemy against the Three Persons of the sacred Trinity.

Our blessed Saviour 10 Matth. 33. Says, Whosoever shall deny me before Men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in Hea­ven: And in another place, By your Words you shall be justified, and by your Words con­demned. So that, to deny Christ before Men, is our Saviour's sense, in a Crime that excludes and shuts a Man out of Heaven. But this Author affirms positively, page 271. That the denying of Christ before an Infi­del Prince, is not a Christian's Act, but his So­veraign's Act, and consequently no Sin. And so he plainly gives the Son of God the Lye.

Our blessed Saviour, when he sent out his Disciples 10 Matth. 15. Tells them, That into whatsoever City they entred, and were not received, it should be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, in the Day of Judgment, than for that City. That is to say, the refusing to receive and hear the [Page 143] Doctrine of Christ's Disciples was a grea­ter Sin then that of Sodom.

But this Author tells us, page 286. That those who refused so to hear and receive them, did not Sin in so doing. And here we see again, the Arrogance and Impudence of the same Author, in giving the Lye to the Lord Jesus.

Our Hebrew Masters, do indeed, teach us to read the Words and Sentences of part of the Scriptures; but this politick Pedagogue would instruct us to read, not only the Words and Sentences, but the true Sense and Meaning of them backwards.

Our Saviour Christ, in divers places, owns his casting out Devils and unclean Spirits; and sometimes these unclean Spirits owned him to be the Son of the most high God, as did the Legion of Devils, with which the Man was possessed in the Coun­try of the Gadarenes, 5 Mark 7. and divers others. And the Pharisees, (the worst, and most malicious of his Enemies) ac­knowledged his casting out Devils: Yet notwithstanding, the composer of this Treatise had the Confidence to affirm, page 354. That no Man was ever possessed with any other Spirit, than that by which his Body was naturally moved. And so gives the Lye, not only to our Saviour, but to all [Page 144] the Four Evangelists, who have left upon Record most remarkable Instances of those Miracles.

In page 62, 63, and 64. this Author tells us, That Man, by Nature is in a State of War, every Man against every Man; and every Man has a right to every thing, over the Goods and Body of his Neighbour: And yet in his next Chapter, (which is not above eight pages further, he sets down Ten Laws of Nature, which Laws of Nature are immuta­ble and eternal, and stamped upon Men's Souls, and every of them tends to Peace and Quietness, Love and Kindness, Grati­tude and doing to others, as we would be willing they should do to us; and these two Assertions, are as contrary one to the other, as Light is to Darkness; however it is much more modest to give himself the Lye, then to give it so often, as he has done, to the Saviour of the World, and the second Person of the Trinity.

In page 88. he acquaints us, That by the People assembled, are transferr'd all their Right on him whom they chose their Soveraign, which Soveraign can do no Injustice, though at his pleasure, he take away any of their Lives: And yet page 152. he asserts, That no Man in the institution of their Soveraign, can be supposed to give away the Right of pre­serving [Page 145] his own Body. And page 112. If an Assembly meet and agree together, they may rebel, and make War against their Soveraign. And I affirm, that no Man of Sense or Rea­son, can be supposed to defend the Au­thors reputation in so notorious a Con­tradiction.

In page 285. and divers other places, he affirms, That Christ's Kingdom not being of this World, he left the Jews to the Law of Moses, and other Nations to their respective Soveraigns; and yet page 106. he plainly affirms, That Christ acted in this World, as King of the Jews, and by his Soveraign Power and Authority, sent two of his Disciples to un­tie, and bring away the She-ass, and her Colt, on which he was to ride into Jerusalem.

Page 62. He affirms, That the Desires and Passions of Man are no Sin, though it be an absolute Breach of the Tenth Command­ment.

Our Saviour forbids swearing by Hea­ven, Earth, Jerusalem, or a Man's own head, 5 Matth. 34, 35, 36. but this Author asserts, page 71. That such kind of Oaths is no swearing, and so makes our Saviour guilty of Lying.

Page 152. he says, That every man is sup­posed to know the Law of Nature, it being so plain; and yet, pag. 141. he avers, That [Page 146] the Law of Nature is, of all Laws the most obscure.

Pag. 261. he says, Christ▪s death did not satisfy God 's justice, and yet, pag. 356. he acknowledges, That the Passion of Christ is a full Ransom for all manner of Sins.

Pag. 272. he affirms, That there were no true Martyrs, but those who conversed with our Saviour while he was here upon Earth; and that he who is no Minister, can be no Martyr: Now if so, all other Martyrs have thrown away their Lives, and were accessary to their own Deaths▪

Pag. 60. he says, That Contempt is the Immobility of the Heart: But this cannot be, for when the Pulse ceases to beat, the Man can no longer live; and consequently, this Author, contemning all sorts of Laws, Learning and Religion, could never have lived to finish his Leviathan.

Our Saviour acknowledges, that if he had not done such Miracles as no Man else could do, the Scribes and Pharisees might have had for their Unbelief some just pretence.

But this Author avers, pag. 148. That Miracles are not at all sufficient to give evi­dence: But sure I am, that this bold Asser­tion of his, which is a Wonder, though not a Miracle, gives the whole World a [Page 147] sufficient Evidence of his great Arrogance and Impudence.

Our Saviour says, That the Reprobates shall go into everlasting Punishment: And St. Paul says, That this Mortal must put on Immortality: but this Author says p. 345. That the Reprobates Bodies shall not be im­mortal.

And pag 245. That no individual Person shall be punished with Torment Eternal.

Pag. 360. he says, That to pray to the King for fair Weather, is Idolatry: But if the King command a Man to do so, and he do it, it is no Idolatry.

Pag. 360. he tells us, That if a Man, who is no Pastor, worships an Idol, and others follow him, this is no Scandal given: However, I wonder he should not think this to be a very scandalous Doctrine.

If the Author were yet living, I should take the boldness to give him this civil Item, (oportet mendacem esse memorem) espe­cially since he asserts, pag. 60. That Imagi­nation and Memory are the same thing: For if so, I greatly wonder how he could imagine so many Falsities and Contradictions, and yet, at the same time not remember them. For my part, I must confess, I do not ap­prehend Imagination and Memory to be the same thing; and if it were practicable, I [Page 148] should thus reason the Case with him: Sir, Your Leviathan is a product of meer Ima­gination; for never any such thing yet was: But of that which never yet was, you could have no Remembrance, Egregie magister ergo falleris.

I cannot here omit his positive Asser­tion in the same page, That all Men have equal Faculties of Body and Mind; but God forbid it should be true, for then every Man, equal to him as to Education and acquired Learning, would write and pub­lish a Leviathan, and by that means, all Booksellers shops would soon be fill'd with impious and pernicious Books.

What other Men may judge of this his positive Assertion, I know not: For my part, I am not of that Opinion, That a Marius, Dioclesian, Julius Caesar, or Tamber­lane had not Gifts and Endowments of Na­ture far above a Plebeian, or Common Soul­dier; or that every Pesant, or Country Thatcher, had equal parts to compare with Jack Straw, or Wat Tyler.

I must needs confess, That if all other Men were like the Author of this Levia­than, I should then conclude, That all Men are indeed both by Nature and Art in a State of War.

[Page 149] It's too plain, That he was in War with the whole World; and its great pitty the whole World was not in War with him, when he first published his accursed Le­viathan.

He was in War with Man's Creation, and in War with his Redemption; in War with the Law of Moses, and in War with the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles; in War with the Subsistence of Departed Souls, and in War with that of Angels and Spirits▪ (and yet I have heard it reported of him, that he was afraid to be alone in a dark Room) in War with the marvellous Act, and Deeds of the Old Prophets, and in War with our blessed Saviour's Miracles; in War with those Heavenly Mansions, which the holy Jesus is gone before to prepare for his blessed Saints and Martyrs, and in War with the place of Eternal Torments prepa­red for the Devil and his Angels; or else, (if it be true what is commonly said of him, when his Man was rubbing his Body in a Morning) he would never have ad­ventured to pronounce such Words in raillery, as (Rub you Rogue for Eternity;) in War with all civil Common Wealths and E­stablished Laws, and in War with all Church Governments and Gospel Ordinances; in War with all Moral Honesty and Rules of Sobrie­ty, [Page 150] and in War with Religion and all its Fundamentals; in War with the Works of Aristotle and the Heathen Philosophers, and in War with Euclid's Elements and Mathe­matical Demonstrations; in War with Schools and Universities, and in War with all the Liberal Sciences▪ in War with his own Defi­nitions, and in War with his own pernici­ous Principles, between many of which, there is a much greater Contrariety and Distance, than he allows at the Resurrection between the Saints and Reprobates, ma­king all both Good and Bad to stand, at the last Day, upon the Earth's superficies, pag. 242. And making the Punishment of the one, to consist only in beholding, for a short time, the Glory and Happiness of the other: How they must be placed I do not well understand; some few of the Reprobates, I confess, might look over the shoulders of others, but they being so ex­ceeding numerous, the Saints, Antecii and Perecii, must certainly have great difficul­ty to see them plainly: But how to find Expedients, or how to make Spectacles for the eyes of their Antipodes, would have been past the Author's little Skill in Geo­metry or Opticks.

As to the Design in▪ general of this im­pious Discourse, I am willing to believe [Page 151] that the Author's Res Angusta Domi, and personal Vain-glory, might move him in such a juncture as that was, to fish in troubled waters, in hopes to advance his Fortune, and get himself a Name: But Satan who stood behind the Curtain, and prompted him to this Undertaking, had undoubtedly a further and deeper Design; namely, to encourage all Persons whate­ver, to follow the Devices and Desires of their own hearts, without the least fear or dread of burning Lakes, or endless Tor­ments, by shamefully distorting and wre­sting the plain Texts of the holy Scrip­tures, by searching for Errours in the Books of Moses, by undervaluing and les­sening our Saviour's Miracles, and so en­deavouring to overthrow the Fundamen­tals of Christian Faith, by calling in que­stion the Subsistence of blessed Angels, Unclean Spirits, and Departed Souls; by turning heavenly Mansions, and the place of Eternal Torments into meer Metaphors: And lastly, by setting up a New Common-Wealth, and a Soveraign, who, by an in­comprehensible Law of Nature, must have the absolute Command, not only of the Estates and Bodies, but also of the Souls and Consciences of all his Subjects, though it be to deny the Doctrine of Christ and his [Page 152] and to Worships Idols, and Sacrifice to De­vils.

This Arch Enemy of Souls is, alas! too well acquainted with Humane Frailties; (which are, in truth, the effects of his be­guiling our First Parents) and knows, That Quicquid volumus, facile credimus, that very slender Arguments, if they do but gratify fleshly Desires, have great power and force with poor Mortals. It was a promise of sensual Delights and Pleasures (though in the other World,) by which Mahomet so advanced his Dominions, and gained so many Proselites, and at last exalted himself above our blessed Saviour Christ Jesus, who indeed, as a Prophet, is by the Alcoran ac­knowledged; but as to his Divinity, or his being the Second Person of the Trini­ty, it is by the Turks utterly denied. I can never forget a Passage in Mahomet the Fourth's insulting Letter to the Emperor, at the beginning of this last War, namely, (I value not) or (I am not afraid of your CRUCIFIED GOD) to which blas­phemous Expression, I do really attribute his being Deposed a few Years after with great Dishonour and Disgrace, and all the Misfortunes and Disasters (as so many Marks and Tokens of God's displeasure) which have ever since befallen that Otto­man Empire.

[Page 153] And here I hope it will not be ill taken, to make an humble Address to the young Nobility and Gentry of this Nation, that they will be pleased to have so great a regard to their own Eternal Welfare and Happiness, as neither to countenance this impious Book themselves, nor allow it a place in their Libraries, for fear it may one day corrupt some of their no­ble Race, when they are laid in their cold Tombs.

I most earnestly beseech you, Sirs, to hearken to a poor Man's Advice, who has no sinister Ends or Designs; and what­ever he here urges, is out of true respect and kindness. Who reflects with great remorse upon his own mispent Hours, Days and Years; and were it in his power to recall Time and Opportunities, would certainly (with God's assistance) employ them to better Ends and Purposes.

Hitherto, your tender years, and little Experience, may justly plead for your not discerning Id manticae quod in tergo est, or diving into the subtil Fallacies and Myste­ries of the Composer of this Treatise: But now that you have some of his Blas­phemies, Arrogancies, Contradictions and Extravagancies laid so plainly and clearly before your Eyes, to harbour or cherish [Page 154] in your Bosoms such Snakes and Vipers, would admit of no excuse.

If you find a Gamester making use but of one false Die, he never wins a Shil­ling more of your Monies. If a Trades­man cheats you with false Wares, you ne­ver after, by your good Wills, come with­in his doors: And then, Why should you give the least respect or countenance, to one who endeavours to cheat you of your Souls, and rob you of Eternal Hap­piness.

Forasmuch as you may be well assured, That all such impious Discourses as these, are Traps and Snares laid for you by the Devil, and his Emissaries, to entice you to Sin and Wickedness, and then to plunge you in endless Woes and Miseries;

For the timely prevention of which, the best and safest Advice that I can possibly give to the Youth of both Sexes is, to em­ploy some part of their precious Hours in reading the Holy Scriptures, (rather than Plays and Romances, (which are appoin­ted by God himself to be the Rule of their Lives, and by which they must be one day judg'd, and give an account of all those extraordinary Talents and Dona­tives, which they have received at his hands, above the vulgar and meaner fort [Page 155] of Human Race: By which I mean,

1. In the first place, their ingenuous, li­beral, and more refined Education, there being few Parents among the Gentry or Nobility, who, for their own Reputation, are not exceeding careful to put their Children under such Discipline of Tutors and Governesses, as may break their na­tural rudeness, and mould them into some form of Civility, and teach them that fundamental Lesson of Obedience, upon which must be built all future Instructi­ons; and afterwards to cultivate their Un­derstandings, to bend their Wills, and [...]n­cline their Affections, as they grow up in years, to those things, which are proper Accomplishments for each of the respe­ctive Sexes: Which is an Advantage, that poor and indigent Parents can never pur­chase for either Sons or Daughters, by rea­son of the great Expence, they being for­ced to send them abroad, into all places, and among all Companies, where the one are in danger of learning all sorts of Vi­ces, and the other liable to manifold Temptations, and can seldom or never observe or practise such a Severity and Reservedness, as otherwise would become a Virgin-Innocence.

[Page 156] 2. A second Advantage is, Wealth and Riches, which many times comes into the hands of young Heirs and Heiresses, as if they were dropt out of the Clouds: Hou­ses and Pallaces, which they built not; Goods, which they provided not; Lands and Possessions, of which they never made the purchase; But are now become God's stewards, and must one day give accompt of all particulars, that is to say, what they have laid out upon themselves, what they have distributed among the Poor, the Widow and the Fatherless, and what they have left behind them to their Children and Families.

3. A third Advantage is, that of Time, the Rich have no need to employ their time, to gain that wherewith they alrea­dy abound; whereas the poor Man has scarce any vacant Hours, or such as he can call his own, but they are all fore­stall'd by their pressing Necessities: The Shepherd must, by Day and Night, watch his Flocks and his Folds; the Husband­man is confined to his Plough, his Goad, and his Oxen; the Carpenter to his Saw and Ax; the Smith to his Hammer and Anvil; the Potter to his Clay and Wheel; and so are all Workmen and Artificers to [Page 157] their several Manufactures and Employ­ments.

So that the Rich and Wealthy have, by this means, their Time at their own dis­posal, (God having prevented them with the Blessings of his Goodness) but must be accomptable to God how they have employed it; that is to say, what part or portion has been by them set apart for pri­vate and publick Devotions, and what for reading of the Holy Scriptures; what has been spent in lawful or unlawful Pastimes, and what in sloth and idleness; what in gratifying Pride and Vanity, or indulging any manner of Excess.

Besides all this, as the Inclinations and Aversions of great Princes, are very much imitated by their Courtiers and Attendants▪ (Regis ad exemplum totus componitur Orbis) so have the Examples of Persons of Qua­lity of both Sexes, no small Influence up­on the Actions and Behaviours of their Inferiors, and those of lower Ranks; and therefore they are highly concerned, throughout the whole Course of their Lives, to become eminent Patterns of Pie­ [...]y and Godliness.

Ejaculation.

I am going! But as Travellers use, when they are going long Journeys into far Countries, and are uncertain of their Re­turns, to take their solemn Leaves of all their Acquaintance: So do I, being a Stranger and Sojourner here, and enga­ged in a much longer Journey, than any that can be made upon this Terrestrial Globe, namely, to a City situated in the upper Regions, think my self obliged, in Honour and Conscience, to take my final Leave of all sublunary Things.

Away then! yee worldly Pomps, and Ly­ing Vanities; yee Blazing-stars, and short­liv'd Meteors; yee golden Dreams, and visionary Phantasms; yee False Gods, and [Page 171] airy Goddesses; yee fine spun-Cobwebs, and gawdy Peacocks Tails; yee fickle and inconstant Weather-cocks, and wavering half-toucht Magnetick-needles; yee plea­sing Troubles, fading Flowers, and deceit­ful Pleasures, that make as false Represen­tations of true Content and Happiness, as the shadows of Human Bodies that are cast at different hours, when the Sun shines, give false measures of their respe­ctive Statures, being sometimes of such prodigious Lengths, as though they were the Bodies of Giants, or Sons of the Ana­kims; and at other times, so extream short, as though they were Dwarfs, or Pig­mies.

What advantage is it now to me, or what addition does it make to my inward Peace, to have seen, in my youthful Days, the Riches, Glory and Magnificence of King's Courts, with their numerous Guards, and Royal Attendance?

What have I gotten, in my riper and more mature Age, by turning aside out of my way, to gaze about, and to ob­serve, how the Balls of Honour, Interest and Power, have been tost and banded [Page 172] to and fro, and struck from hand to hand, with the Rackets of Fas & Nefas, and alternatively rebounded from King­doms to States, as from the Walls of Tennis Courts, by the World's Great Hero's, Master-Players, and skilfull Gamesters?

What satisfaction have I now? Or, What pleasure can any reasonable Man think I take, in calling to remembrance, how many Balls and Banquets, Plays and Musick-meetings, publick Shows, or other vain and sinful Pastimes I have been pre­sent at, either to please my self, or to gra­tify others?

On the contrary, What would I now give? (or rather, What would I not give,) to have spent the greatest part of those precious Hours, in private Prayer and Meditation: And the expence of all, in casting my Bread upon the Waters, and administring to the Necessities of the Poor, the Widow, and the Father­less?

As for Stage-plays, (not to mention other vain and unnecessary Divertise­ments) I am inclined to believe, that [Page 173] the Original intent of them, was to ap­plaud Vertuous Actions, and to discounte­nance Vitious Livers. But I appeal to all sober Persons, whether the Practice of this last Age, has not produced contra­ry effects.

And I crave leave to ask one short Question of young Gentlemen and La­dies, and their Inferiours of both Sexes, What satisfaction they hope to have, when they come to lie on their sick or Death-beds (none of them knowing how soon they may receive the fatal Summons) for having been the Auditors and Spectators of so many Prophane and and Obscene Plays: Or to have read so many vain and idle Romances, where they learn little else, than to make or re­ceive unlawful Courtships; or to gain such a kind of Knowledge, as their Mother Eve got by eating the Forbidden Fruit, or to be instructed in those Intregues, which otherwise, its possible, they had never known, or thought of all their lives.

I would also demand of the Authors and Actors of some certain Plays, with what face they can ask of God from day [Page 174] to day, a Blessing upon their Labours and Endeavours? Or what Account they will one day give, at the Bar of his Tribunal, for having been the un­happy Instruments of corrupting and debauching so many hopeful Persons of both Sexes; who, otherwise might have been eminent Examples of Piety and Godliness in their several Gene­rations.