THe several Feasts and Solemn Meetings which the Jews, a particular Society or Corporation of Men distinct from the rest of the World, held unto the Lord, were insti­tuted and appointed by God himself, either for a lasting Memorial of some great and remarkable Deliverance, or for a grateful acknowledgment of that extraordinary plenty of Temporal Bles­sing which they received from the open and mu­nificent hand of the Divine Providence: Ano­ther Reason as we are told of the constant Ce­lebration of those Festivals in that place where God chose to fix his Name, was, that the gene­ral appearance of all the Tribes no less than three times in the Year, might not only Com­bine them in the more strict bands of Mutual Love and Friendship, but keep them up to the due and uniform observance of that publick Form of Worship which was establisht amongst [Page 2]them. The Feast of the Passover, was Ordain­ed for a continual remembrance of their Mi­raculous Deliverance from their Egyptian Bon­dage, and the Feast of Harvest and Ingather­ing was kept, that thereby they might have an opportunity unanimously to praise the large bounty of their Heavenly Benefactor, who had Blessed them in the City, and in the Field, in their Baskets and in their Store, giving them a more than ordinary increase above their Neighbours round about them. And in all these publick Testimonies of their Gratitude, in all these Annual demonstrations of their joy, none were to appear empty before the Lord.

The occasion, Dearly beloved Brethren, of our Solemn meeting together this day, of this Anniversary Feast which we hold unto the Lord, hath, though not the same Divine Authority to warrant its Institution, yet, the same Pious and Laudable ends to approve and commend its continuation. We are come (Most worthy School-fellows, by what other titles soever you may be dignified above, or distinguished from one another) from diverse parts of the Land, as the Jews to the Celebration of the Passover, to this great City, the Center and Metropolis of the Nation, to this our Jerusa­lem, to offer up an unbloudy Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving to our God for our happy [Page 3]deliverance from the land of Darkness, from the heavy yoke of Barbarism and Ignorance under which so many unfortunately labour, by the great advantages which we have by his goodness obtained of a free and ingenuous Education.

To Praise him with our mouths, whose lips he hath opened with the key of Knowledge, to rejoyce before him that our Lot fell to us in a good ground, that he vouchsafed to plant us not only in a Literal, but a more exalted Sense, by the Water-springs, by the Rivulets of Knowledg, that we might bring forth the several Fruits of our proper Callings in our due time and seasons: We are met together to Praise God for our Seed-time, and our Harvest, for the Blessing which he gave to our first en­deavours, by Crowning our tender Years with his goodness, and also for the Ingathering the fruits of our labours; for the Improvements we have made, and the Benefits we have reaped by being nurtured and brought up at that Roy­al foundation to which we did sometime be­long.

Neither in these our Meetings must we ap­pear empty before the Lord; works of Piety and Charity should go hand in hand and kiss each other: This is the precious Ointment which no Feast should lack, which perfumes the [Page 4]whole Room, and extends likewise its Odor to those which are at a great distance from us This is the way to Sanctifie our Feast, (for if the First-fruits be holy, the lump is also holy) by making others who are in a worse condition than our selves, by our kindness, in some mea­sure partakers of that innocent mirth and free­dom which are the natural result of such loving and friendly entertainments.

And as these publick Meetings are (Subordi­nately to that great end I have already mention­ed) designed to renew that Amity and Friend­ship, without which no condition of life is to­lerable, which by long absence, and variety of accidents hath for some time been interrupted, so likewise that I may finish the parallel our ap­pearance in this place dedicated to Gods Service does testifie our unanimous conformity to those most excellent rules of his publick Worship as they are by our wholsom Laws establisht and confirmed.

Neither is it without reason that we observe this Annual Solemnity for a grateful remem­brance of those many Blessings and Benefits we received under the Care and Tuition of those who were appointed to be the Guides and In­structors of our Youth, seeing St. Paul, the Learned Apostle, in the Defence which he made for himself before his Brethren the Jews, takes [Page 5]a particular occasion to make an honourable mention of his Masters Name, under whom he became so great a proficient in the Know­ledge and Practise of the Law; telling them, that although he was Born in Tarsus, a City of Cilicia; and, as Strabo says, an Academy fur­nished with Schools of Learning; yet that he might the better compleat, and bring to per­fection those Studies which he had so happily begun, he Travelled to Jerusalem, where the great Rabbies and Doctors of the Law resided, and in that City was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel; alluding to the Custom of the Jewish Masters, who were wont to sit, whilst their Di­sciples and Scholars stood at their feet to receive those Precepts of Wisdom which those Oracles of Knowledge delivered with a Gravity becom­ing their Years and Profession.

Under the Tuition of this great Master was St. Paul Educated, and Instructed in the Know­ledge of the Law, wherein he made such vast improvements, having the Advantage of being previously well grounded in the first Principles and Elements of Learning, that he quickly out­stript his fellow-disciples. And indeed as if his Tribe, the Tribe of Benjamin had Intituled him to a double share, he seems, though Born out of time, to have had a larger portion of Know­ledge than the rest of the Apostles.

And truly it seemed but fit that this great Mi­nister of the uncircumcision, whom God chose to bear his Name before the Gentiles, should have an Education which might furnish him with all those useful parts of Learning that were requisite for the accomplishment of that im­portant Work for which he was designed. He was to Dispute with the Heathen Philosophers, Men versed in all the Learning of the Ancients, studied in all the Sophisms of the Schools; and therefore he was to be so prepared, as to be able to answer all those Objections which they could raise against that new Doctrine, as they thought, which he should deliver to them, to convince them by their own Arguments, and to turn their own Artillery upon themselves. Hence St. Hie­rome, in an Epistle to Magnus, a Roman Orator, taking notice of that Innocent, but cunning Ar­tifice that St. Paul made use of at his coming to Athens, when he took occasion from an Inscrip­tion which he met with upon one of their Al­tars, To the unknown God, tolead them to the know­ledge of the true one, highly applauds the Skill and readiness of his Argumentation. Behold, saith he, how this Invincible Orator pleading in the behalf of the Christian Doctrine, turns the Inscription which he seem'd casually to light upon, on the Athenians themselves, having learnt from the true David to wrest the Weapon [Page 7]out of the Enemies hand, and to cut off Go­liath's Head with his own Sword. And when this Learned Apostle would prove against the Epi­cureans that we were not the product of Chance, but of Divine Extraction, he refers them to their own Authors, to their own Poets, for whom they had a great Veneration, and a­mongst whom the choicest Treasures of My­sterious Knowledge were reposited; citing a place out of Aratus to that purpose, [...]. And though at first he seemed to some of them no better than a Babler, yet by his solid Dis­courses, and his rational Inferences, he gained so much upon them, that at his first Lecture he Converted one of their chief Doctors, Diony­sius the Areopagite; and others there were of less note, who at the same time embraced that Do­ctrine which he then with so much power and strength of Argument delivered unto them. His Eloquence was so perswasive, and his Reason so convincing, that it was hard to resist either the Charms of the one, or the Force of the other: For though his Personage was mean, and almost contemptible, yet all acknowledged that his Words were powerful, and his Reaso­nings irrefragable.

When he writes to his Church at Corinth, (to which Learned City every one was not fit to be sent an Embassadour) how does he bestir, and [Page 8]lay about himself? What Elegant Tropes, and Figures of Speech, what easie Transitions, what vehemence of Expression, what kind and pa­thetical Insinuations, what gentle, and yet co­gent Admonitions does he make use of? suita­ble to the nature of the Subject of which he treated, and the Persons to whom he directed his Discourse: So that Beza, in his Annotations upon the 11th. Chapter of his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, tells us, That having well weigh­ed the several Ornaments and Elegancies of Speech diffused over that and others of his E­pistles, he could not meet with the same height and grandeur of Expression, with the like smart and grave way of Reprehension; or with so attractive and winning a manner of Perswa­sion, either in Plato or Demosthenes, in Aristotle or Galen, though they were all great Masters and Professors of Eloquence. He that reads those Excellent and Eloquent Defences which he made in behalf of himself and his Doctrine, before Felix and King Agrippa, by the last of which, he almost perswaded his chiefest Audi­tor to become his Convert and Proselyte, will easily find what Improvements he made, and what benefits he received by virtue of his first Education in good Letters, by being brought up, as he tells us in my Text, in the City of Je­rusalem, at the feet of the Learned and great Rab­bi, Gamaliel.

In regard all the benefits and advantages of a free and ingenuous Education have been most excellently and fully in this place, and upon the same Occasion declared unto you; and that I may not build my Hay and Stubble upon that Foundation, on which so much Gold and Preci­ous Stones have been already laid: I shall endea­vour in my ensuing Discourse, taking the hint from St. Paul's Institution, and the manner of it, to shew you,

• 1. That Humane Learning, a competent skill in Arts and Sciences, a Liberal Education in good Literature, are very necessary qualificati­ons for all those who are dedicated to the Sacred Ministry, and thereby Authoriz'd to Interpret unto the People the Oracles of Divine Truth.
• 2. That a good Foundation in the Rudiments and Principles of Learning does fit and capaci­tate all Persons whatsoever for the well govern­ing and improving themselves in those several Callings and Stations, to which the Divine Pro­vidence hath assigned them.
• 3. That Publick Schools and Seminaries are the best Nurseries for the training up of Youth in all those parts of Knowledge which may ren­der them Useful and Serviceable in their several Capacities to the Common-wealth, or Society wherein they live.
• And 4. I shall shew you how that Royal Foun­dation, [Page 10]of which we were once Members, hath at least equal Advantages with any other of the same kind, in order to the obtaining the fore­mentioned great End.

My first Proposition was, that Humane Learn­ing, an early Education in good Literature, are very useful and necessary Qualifications for all those who are Dedicated to the Sacred Ministry, and thereby Commissionated to Interpret the Oracles of Divine Truth to the Congregation.

They are not improperly stiled the Hand­maids of Divinity, seeing they do very much fa­cilitate our access to that Divine Mistress, the Coelestial Truth, which does not Prostitute her Sacred Treasures to Profane and Ignorant Intru­ders, but suffers her self to be gain'd like Hea­ven it self, whose Off-spring she is, by the Vio­lence and Importunate sollicitations of those Wise Charmers, whose force she is neither able nor willing to withstand. They are not indeed the Heaven, but they are the bright Stars that illustrate it; they are not the Crown, but they are the Orient Gems that embellish it; they are not the Ground-work, but they are the Rich Im­broidery that adorn it. They are the sweet Oyl which feeds those golden Lamps, those burning and shining Lights, which belong unto the San­ctuary of our God: They are as the dew of Her­mon, which makes fruitful, and long may it do so, the Hill of our Sion.

That which some object, of our Saviours choosing poor simple Fishermen for the propa­gation of his Doctrine through the World, being of no validity in this case. For though our Saviour chose out such illiterate Persons to be his first Disciples, that those extraordinary endowments wherewith He their great Master and Teacher furnish'd them for the execution of their Apostolical office might appear to be de­rived to them by the immediate flowing in of his Spirit upon them, and not convey'd to them by the ordinary and slow Channel of the Senses, thereby to astonish the Learned Rabbies of that Age, and to make their Incredulity under so clear a light, and so evident a Demonstration, the more inexcusable; yet after he had left them, and in a Miraculous manner conferred the gift of Tongues upon them, to qualifie them for the discharge of that Ministry which was commit­ted to them, (which by the way shews the ne­cessity of such gifts for that purpose) now they were not only to guide and govern the Church during their own time, but to be Patterns and Examples to all succeeding Generations, these supernatural Illuminations by degrees va­nished and disappeared. Now, the Foundation was not only laid, but a superstructure raised; these Scaffolds which were only erected for the more easie and safe finishing of it, were ta­ken [Page 12]down: He therefore, who from this exam­ple of our Saviour, will argue for a necessity of Enthusiastick Inspirations for the Interpretation of Scripture, may by the same Rule maintain, that a Christian Prince with an hundred Men may encounter a Pagan Enemy coming against him with Twenty Thousand, because once by the especial Command of God, Gideon reduced his great Army to three hundred, and with them Vanquished the Host of the Midianites, which were as the Sand of the Sea for multitude.

We are to Guide and Govern the several Pe­riods and Circumstances of our Lives by those stated Rules and Measures which God in his In­finite Wisdom hath appointed for us, not to propose one or two extraordinary Examples for our Patterns and Imitation. We must make use of those plain, easie, and natural Methods which are laid down before us for the Improvement of our Reason, and the Information of our Judgments, not expect that our Understand­ing, which the Wise Man calls The Candle of the Lord, should be lighted, as the Wood upon his Altar sometimes was, by an immediate fire from Heaven. And how necessary it is for all those who are designed to be the Ministers, and dispenfers of the Word of God, to apply them­selves betimes to those means which are most proper for the attainment of that Knowledge [Page 13]which may prepare them for the through dis­charge of their Duty, will sufficiently appear by the great damage the Church hath in all Ages sustained by the Ignorance of foolish and unlearned Men. He must not pretend to un­derstand the Scriptures, or to be conversant in the Style and Language of them, who does not acknowledge that they abound in Tropes, and Figures; in Parables, and dark Speeches; and that there are divers weighty and important ve­rities couch'd under those Allegorical and Enig­matical forms of Speech, which cannot be dis­covered till that Vail and Covering be done a­way by the Skill and Industry of those whose Education entitles them to that sort of Learn­ing. What Monstrous Opinions, what Prodi­gious Absurdities, what Pernitious Doctrines hath this want of Art to distinguish between what is to be taken in a proper and literal, what in a Forein and borrowed sense, begat in the Christian World? To this the Error of the Millenaries, which began so early, and hath con­tinued so long, more or less, in the Church, owes its first rise and Original. Unskilful and unwary Men looking no farther than the bare letter of the Text, applying those Glorious and specious Metaphors, under which the Prophets of Old shadowed the Spiritual Riches and Hap­piness of Christs Kingdom, to their down-right [Page 14]Natural meaning, made such a Plat-form and Idea of that State as best suited with their Fan­cy and Imagination. And how hard a matter it was, even for our Saviour himself, the great Teacher of Truth, to wean his own Disciples from that false Opinion they had in the time of their Ignorance suck'd in of his Earthly and Temporal Kingdom, the Evangelical History does abundantly demonstrate.

This sort of Ignorance begat the Follies and idle Dreams of the Anthropomorphites, whilst taking those things which were spoken Figura­tively in favour to the weakness of our shallow Understandings, concerning the Essence of the Invisible God, in their Natural Capacity, they have represented him as a Corporeal, Visible Substance, consisting of Humane Members; and even such a one as themselves. And truly, one would almost think, that those of the Ro­mish Church, who stick so close to the literal sense of that Sacramental expression, This is my Body, had forgotten that our Saviour ever made use of any Figures of Speech in the several Dis­courses which he made whilst he was conversant here on Earth. And when their great Bellar­mine crouds in that Text, Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, to Patronize the Order of their Mendi­cant Friers, I should almost judge him to be of the same Opinion, had we not more Reason to [Page 15]believe, that he and the rest of them do rather endeavour to bend the Scriptures to their De­signs, than to accommodate their Designs to the Rules of Scripture.

And as the inconveniences are many which have accrued to the Church by the Ignorance and Impudence of those who have presumed to touch the Mysteries of the Sanctuary with un­wash'd and unhallowed Hands; so on the other side, she must acknowledge her self to owe the Defence of her Religion, the Propagation of her Faith, and the Confutation of her Adver­saries to the Learned Pens, and the Eloquent Discourses of those Wise Master-Builders which God raised up in all Ages, for her Security and Preservation. The Ancient Fathers and Wri­ters, who spent themselves and their time to serve the Church, not only in their own Age, but to succeeding Generations, had lost much of their aim, and the People of God much of the Benefit was intended them, had their Learn­ned Apologies for the Christian Religion, their Pious Explanations of the same Faith, their useful Commentaries, their strong and solid Arguments layen moulding in Libraries, with­out a Key to unlock the meaning of them, their Books had long since undergone the same Fate with themselves, and become, as they have done, a prey for Moths and Worms. But now [Page 16]by us, though dead, they yet speak, and be­come profitable, like the Scriptures of which they treat, for Doctrine, for Reproof, for Cor­rection, for Instruction in Righteousness. Who, unless he attain to the Knowledge of the Greek Tongue, by the Advantages of a happy Educa­tion, can discover the Golden Mines of St. Chry­sostom's Eloquence? For where is that Excellent, Fluent, Comprehensive Language Naturally now spoken? Even Greece her self, once the great Nurse and Favourer of Arts, that labours as well under the sad and deplorable Fate of Bar­barism and Ignorance, as the Yoke of Turkish Slavery, needs the help of acquired Learning to enable her to understand the great Masters of her own Attick Elegance. I might Instance in the other Famous Language, which, like a Vagabond, hath no certain home; for Rome her self hath lost her Ancient Tongue, as well as her first Faith: Both, whatever some pretend to say in the defence of them, are Corrupted; and her Language as well as Manners in the de­cay and declination of her Empire, degenera­ted into a soft, and effeminate Delicacy.

Should I pursue this Argument as far as it would go, I might tire both my self and you; but I must remember that I told you, that that Learning which is the product of a Liberal Edu­cation, was not only, though chiefly necessary [Page 17]for those who wait at the Altar, but also ser­viceable to all Persons in those several stations and Professions to which the Divine Providence hath assigned them, which was the second Pro­position I laid down.

Setting aside the Studies of Law and Physick, in which none can be supposed without a good Stock and Bottom of this sort of Learning to arrive at any Degree of Eminence, either for their own, or others Advantage, I shall instance in others, whose Callings may seem to be so remote, as not to be capable of receiving any beneficial Influence from those Beams of early Knowledge, wherewith their Infant-understand­ings were at first but faintly inlightned.

I am not of the Opinion of those who Argue for the parity and equality of Souls; but this I may be bold to Affirm, That Education, a timely seasoning of the Mind with the sound and wholsome Principles of Knowledge, hath oftentimes differenced those, who otherwise had the same intellectual Faculties: And al­though all Souls have not the same Genius and Inclination, nor the same Capacity and Com­prehension, (the Almighty Wisdom having in some measure proportioned the gifts of the Mind to the several Uses and Ends for which he designed the Persons) yet an Ingenuous Breed­ing does fit and prepare every one for that [Page 18]Employment to which his Choice and Inclina­tion leads him: Like the former and the latter Rain it raises and quickens those Seeds which before lay dormant and unactive in the solid mass, and gives to every Grain its own Body. 'Tis this that makes Men the easier to compre­hend the several Mysteries of their Profession, and to make considerable Additions to the ordi­nary Measures and Standards of those Arts which they Profess. This puts them upon new Discoveries and Improvements, and makes them Eminent in the Sphere wherein they move, and in the place wherein they live. So that the Learned as well as the Righteous Man, becomes more excellent than his Neigh­bour. Thus Education is the Elixir that ripens all sorts of Metals, and brings them to their due perfection; every thing taking a form suit­able to that Spirit wherewith it was first impreg­nated: It assimilates, and by a Spiritual Alchy­my turns all that it hath digested, into its own Substance, and by its heat and vigour makes that to be Gold, which otherwise would have continued an imperfect Mineral. Divers, per­haps, do not consider that those extraordinary Parts and Abilities of which they are sometimes Masters, are the result of those Rudiments of Knowledge, which were instilled into them in their first Years. But yet upon a serious recol­lection they must be forced to allow those Im­provements [Page 19]to be chiefly the off-spring of a good and virtuous Institution; for the facul­ties of the Mind were thereby enlarged, and capacitated to entertain greater proportions of Knowledge and Wisdom than they could have received, had they then been un-employed. And although in some those Notions, which were, it may be, with great difficulty and reluctancy fixt upon their Minds, do not exert their ope­rations presently, not being able to extricate themselves from that viscous and tenacious matter wherein they were absorpt; yet after they have conquered their Phlegmatick temper, and wrought themselves into a clearer Liberty, they must acknowledge, whatever other appre­hensions they had in the days of their dulness and obscurity, that their several accomplish­ments are the effect and product of those first Characters, which were, though with much labour, imprinted on them. 'Tis to a generous Education likewise that the Nobility and Gen­try, (of which kind no Foundation can boast more, or more deserving than our own) are indebted for those excellent Qualities which ren­der them not only acceptable to all ingenuous Company, and useful to the Common-wealth, but for the happy Comforts of entertaining themselves at their most leisure, and spare hours. It being the saying of the Wise Lord Faukland, [Page 20]That he pitied an unlearned Gentleman in a Rainy Day. Those who by vertue of the Rudiments which were gently infus'd into them in their first years, (whose tincture, like that of our first Notices, can never be wash'd off) arrive at any competency of Learning, being able upon any emergent accident of their Life, or when either Weather, or their present temper does not dis­pose them to Field-Recreations, to employ their time, not only to their own private satisfaction, but for the benefit of the Publick also: Where­as the unthinking, and unitelligent Croud are forced upon such occasions, either to doze away their time in sleep and idleness, or else to take up with some ungenerous and unmanly Vice for their present Divertisement; thereby com­pounding for their Ignorance at no less a rate than the price of their precious and immortal Souls. And the great Seneca tells us to this pur­pose, in his Eighty second Epistle, Otium sine literis mors est, & vivi hominis Sepultura. Those who have not learnt wisely to dispose of their most vacant Minutes, being buried alive in that gross and heavy Earth, which they carry about them: And surely there is neither Wit, nor Counsel, nor Knowledge, nor Invention in that Grave.

But in vain do I inveigh against Ignorance, or commend the general usefulness of Know­ledge, [Page 21]unless I can shew you the most ready and proper way to escape the Follies and Inconve­niencies of the one, by attaining the Wisdom and Advantages of the other, which is that which in the third place I am to speak to, viz. That Publick Schools and Seminaries of Learn­ing are the best Nurseries for the training up of Youth in all those parts of Knowledge which may render them Serviceable and Useful in their several Capacities, to the Common-wealth or Society wherein they live.

The first publick Seed-plots for Learning a­mongst the Jews were in, or adjoyning to the Cities of the Levites, of which there were some in every Tribe, for the greater convenience of Gods Worship, and the better Instructing of those who were designed for the performance of it. Afterwards about Samuel's time, the Le­vites neglecting their Duty of Instructing their Charge, and applying themselves chiefly to the deciding of Controversies arising about the Ce­remonial Law, which Trade was gainful to them, and the Priesthood it self being much de­generated, the Priests being both loose and ig­norant, that great Prophet Founded two Socie­ties or Colledges, which were called the Schools of the Prophets for the training up of Young Students in all those Scholastical Exercises, which might tend to the Improvement of their [Page 22]Natural Faculties, and their Advancement in the Rules of Piety and Devotion, thereby to prepare them for the Discharge of their Pro­phetical Office: The number of these in pro­cess of time was increased, and their Founda­tions enlarged. Thus we read of divers of these Publick Schools, at Bethel, Jericho, Jordan, and elswhere; so necessary did those great Masters and Governours of the Jewish Church think those places of publick Education for the In­structing of Youth in all those Sciences, which might dispose them for the more orderly Cele­bration of Gods Worship, and the better Infor­mation of his People. And indeed if we right­ly consider the Advantages which great Semi­naries have above those Private Corners where­in Youth are sometimes Instituted, we shall easi­ly grant, that those Ancient Foundations were Built upon a firm Basis and ground of Reason. Such exact Methods of Teaching, such regu­lar Discipline, such free and open Communi­cation of Notions, such generous Emulations, as are common and usual in Publick Schools, cannot be expected in those small and inconsi­derable Laboratories, as I may call them, that are set up in Countrey Villages.

Indeed it is not every ones good Fortune to go to Corinth, or to be brought up at the feet of a Gamaliel, but it were to be wish'd, that we had [Page 23]more Publick Nurseries, and so conveniently Situated, that none of those who are design­ed for the Study of good Letters might want the benefit of a Liberal Education, nor be ex­posed to the hazards which divers run by being tampered with in their first years, by those lit­tle Mountebanks, those Dabblers in Grammar, who, like other Quacks, Kill more than they Cure; who by infusing their unsound and So­phisticate Notions into their easie and tender Minds, fix such ill habits upon the several Fa­culties, as are scarce ever to be eradicated by the most potent Remedies of a contrary Insti­tution. Like Diseased Nurses, they Infect those Children they should nourish, and by convey­ing their unwholsome Juices into the empty veins of their Young Pupils, they not only weaken and corrupt the before Healthy Consti­tution of the Soul, but leave such Marks and Characters of their own Imperfections upon them, as are never to be obliterated and worn out. Those raw Beginners, who it may be have made a transient Visit to the University for Fa­shion-sake, cannot have those Qualifications that are requisite in those to whom the Govern­ment of wild and unbridled Youth ought to be committed. They want that Discretion, Pru­dence, and Moderation, (to say no more) which are the most commendable Qualities in [Page 24]those who take that difficult, but withal most useful Profession upon them. And not being able to Govern their own Passions, nor having Judgment to proportion their Corrections to the measure of the Fault committed, nor to distinguish between the several dispositions of Youth, by their unreasonable and exorbitant Cruelties, they force their little Flock to take Sanctuary at their own home, or else create such an aversion and prejudice against all man­ner of Learning in their Minds which is never to be removed: And indeed what else can be expected, when the Young Orbilius, who hath scarce the sound of the Ferula out of his Ears, nor the smart of it out of his Hands, having gotten that wooden Sceptre into his power, be­gins to Rule Arbitrarily in his little Aedileship, and thinks it but just to deal with others, as he was served himself. Whereas the grave Rector of the Publick School takes his measures from the Capacities and Dispositions of those who are under his Care, whose Inclinations he knows as well as their Faces, and from thence suits his demeanour towards them; he knows how to quicken the Slothful, and to reclaim the Extra­vagant, by shaming them into better Manners, and reduces more to Obedience by Stratagem than by Force. He knows by proposing little Praemio's to make all so run as to strive for the [Page 25]Mastery; and by mixing some few grains of pleasure with those useful Principles he instills into them, he makes his Scholars in love with himself and their Books at the fame time.

But alas, nothing of this Nature is to be ex­pected from the Countrey Chancel, which sel­dom produces any thing fit for the Use and Ser­vice of the Church. Indeed some of us may remember, (and may we never see such days again) when divers of the choicest of Gods Servants, some of the Chief and most Emi­nent Pastors of our Church, whose only Crime was their Loyalty, were forced for the Testimony of a good Conscience, to wander up and down in Desarts, to bide themselves in Dens and Caves of the Earth, destitute, and Afflicted, of whom our English World was not worthy. These, I say, were glad to Teach Youth in some private corner for a mean Livelyhood, to retire into some by, un­frequented place to shelter themselves from the Tyranny of those Oppressors, which then rid on the Necks of Gods People. Under those shades did those great Shepherds feed their Lambs, being driven from their Sheep, in the Noon-day, in the heat and fury of that Perse­cution that then raged amongst us: Amongst those were many of our Loyal Nobility and Gentry bred, and by their wholsom Doctrines kept stedfast in the Purity of that Worship, and [Page 26]in those just and honest Principles for which their Worthy Parents then Suffered, either by Death, or Banishment, or Consiscation of Goods, or else Imprisonment. But he that will urge this as an Argument for the countenancing of private Schools, may as well make the secret Meetings, and Nocturnal Assemblies of the Pri­mitive Christians in Dens and Caves, during the heat of Persecution, an Argument to uphold those unlawful Conventicles which are but too frequent amongst us at this day. Neither do I Condemn all private places which are made use of for the Breeding of Youth, in some of which, without question, divers Worthy and Eminent Men have been Educated, who either have met with some extraordinary Master, or else who by the strength of their Natural parts have con­quered the Malignity of those ill Principles wherewith they were first tainted. But still give me leave, as our Learned Apostle St. Paul says upon another account, to tell you, That I shew unto you a more excellent way.

And thus having shewn you the Usefulness of Humane Learning, as to the several Occasions and Emergencies wherein we can be concerned in the World, and the most probable way of at­taining that Knowledge by an early Education in publick Schools: Suffer me, in the last place, that I may conclude my Discourse with some­thing [Page 27]pertinent to the Solemnity of this present Day, to offer somewhat in behalf of that Roy­al Foundation of Eton Colledge, the Pious and Charitable Work of Henry the Sixth, one of the best, though most unfortunate, of our Prin­ces, at which we received the better part of our Education, and from which divers of us, a­mongst whom I my self (which I shall ever gratefully acknowledge) though the most un­worthy, derived other secular Advantages. I will not say, that though her Sisters, of which she hath many, and of great Renown, (but few of the same Noble extract with her self) have all done virtuously, that yet she hath excel­led them all: But I think I may affirm that which our Apostle does of himself, That she comes not behind the very chiefest of them all.

If Experience, which cannot lye, be a sure Rule to go by, I have many living Instances be­fore me at this time to Witness those great and extraordinary Improvements and Accomplish­ments which are the result and effect of those many hours they carefully spent under the hap­py Tuition of the several Masters of that Fa­mous and well Disciplin'd School; and who do Naturally commend the same Education to others, which they found so useful and benefi­cial to themselves. But give me leave to shew you likewise, how that Royal Society, to which [Page 28]you did once belong, hath all those conveni­ences which the Wisest and Discreetest Men have judged to be most proper and conducing to that great End for which it was designed. The most Learned of the Jewish Writers have given their Opinion, that congruity of place, and separation from the World, were two Cir­cumstances not to be omitted in the Building of their Schools of the Prophets, in Order to the quicker and easier attaining of that Natural Knowledge which might dispose them the soon­er for the gift of Prophecy. By congruity of place, they meant its Situation in a good Air; by the other, a private Retirement from the noise and hurry of the World; both very useful for the fitting and preparing the Mind for the free Entertaining the Principles and Elements of good Learning. A chearful serene Air hath a great Influence upon the temper and com­plexion of the Body, it puts the Spirits upon a gentle, but active ferment, and thereby ren­ders the whole Crasis and Constitution more pliant and serviceable to the motions and sallies of the Soul than otherwise it would have been: As Glasses are no where made in the same per­fection for Beauty and Lustre, as in Murano, an Island near to Venice, which is attributed to the clearness of the circumambient Air which hangs over the place, and is continually purified and [Page 29]attenuated by the constant fires; so it is obser­vable, that no Wits have been so pure and re­fined as those who were Bred and Educated in a Healthful and Temperate Clime. And on the contrary, a gross, heavy, thick Air imprisons and chains up the Spirits, and robs them of their elastick Faculty, so that the Soul cannot shew forth her Native brightness, but only put forth some dull and faint glimmerings, whilst she la­bours under the indisposition of a Body choak'd up and opprest with the impurities of a foul and Corrupted Air.

Retirement also, and Solitude do very much incline the Mind to receive the Characters and Images of Truth and Knowledge into the Sa­cred Treasury of the unprejudiced Memory, which had it been distracted with variety of Ob­jects, would have been wholly filled, and pre­possest with trifling and impertinent Vanities. Hence most of the fore-mentioned Schools of the Prophets were erected not in the Towns, but in the Neighbour-hood of them. Not in the Towns, (I speak with Reverence to the Fa­mous Schools of this great City) in regard the Temptations are so great, and the Avocations so many, amidst the throng and concourse of the Multitude, the Youthful Fancy being apt to be taken with every thing that is gay and new, and so please it self with those little useless [Page 30]Trifles it first meets with, to its own prejudice and disadvantage. In the Neighbour-hood, that so the Mind may not be altogether a stran­ger to what passes in the World, but have some private notices of things and persons (as she will necessarily have, if not purposely debarred of that Intelligence) for the Improvement of her Judgment, and the polishing her Conver­sation. Otherwise if she be kept still in the dark, and coopt up from the cognizance of the most material passages that are the common Theme and Subject of the present Time, when she comes abroad, she is frighted with the sudden Light, and her Organs being not well fitted for the reception of those violent impressions, which if entertained by degrees, had been easily per­ceptible, she becomes amazed, and startles at that which every common Capacity that hath had a more free and open converse, under­stands. And this is the Reason why divers who have been Cloystered up from the Society of Men, and only Conversed with their Books, when they have chanced to appear in the World, have rendred themselves contemptible, and their Stu­dies unfruitful, it being all one to have no Learn­ing; and not to know how to make a right use of it.

And here I cannot but praise and commend the Wisdom of our Pious Founder, in Building [Page 31]that Colledge which he designed for the Educa­tion and Instruction of Youth in such a place, where the pleasantness of the Situation, the temperature of the Air, not so subtil as to prey upon, yet so clear as to refine the Spirits, and its proper distance from Town and Court, do insensibly inlighten the Faculties of the Soul, and make them more quick and ready to ap­prehend those excellent Lessons of Knowledge that are inculcated into them; and indeed it seems as if it were contrived on purpose for the Head-Mansion-Seat of the Muses, who have long dwelt in those delightful shades, and I hope will never, through the levelling designs of those who would root up the Church, the Govern­ment, and Leatning, the Supporter of them both, (as was once intended) be forced to for­sake their Ancient Habitation. This is our Nayoth, which, as Peter Martyr tells us, signi­fies Green Pasture, Situate by those pleasant Meadows and gentle Streams, which enliven the Fancy, and quicken and exalt the Imagina­tion. This is the Palace which Wisdom built for her self, setting it upon those seven hewen Pillars, the seven Liberal Sciences, whose Foun­dation can never fail. This is the place, that I may with the addition of a word allude as our Learned Apostle, St. Paul, does in another case, to one of your own Poets, to your old [Page 32]School-fellow, and Companion to one that will never leave your Society as long as Learning is encouraged, to your beloved Homer. [...] for which Quotation, not well to be omitted, I hope I shall easily ob­tain a Pardon from this Learned Auditory, being assured that should I have occasion, which I shall rather avoid than seek, of making use of any more of the same Nature, that I shall not in­cur our Apostles displeasure, in speaking to you in an unknown Tongue. And now, before I take my leave of you, suffer me, most worthy School-fellows and Companions, to apply my self to you in a few words, and I shall cease to be further troublesome to you at this time.

You were all, my dear Brethren, planted at first in the same Pleasant and Fruitful Soyl, had the same or the like cultivating, and Manuring, and drunk in the same sweet dews of Knowledge which distilled from the lips of those who were the Teachers and Governours of your Youth: And all of you in your due seasons transplanted from that Nursery into larger Gardens of diffe­rent Moulds and goodness one from another, but all sufficient by virtue of that Original tin­cture you had imbibed there, to enable you to bring forth in great abundance the proper fruits of your several Callings and Professions. I need not desire you, I know your own Ingenuity, [Page 33]and geinerous Inclinations lead you to behave your selves so in your several Posts and Stations, as that you may neither derogate from the place of your Education, nor the Credit of your Professions, but prove rather, what I have great Reason to believe you are, Ornaments to both. You have received largely at the hands of God, it will, and ought to be expected that you make suitable returns. And though, as our great Apostle says in another sense, when you were Children, you spake, and thought, and understood, and acted as Children; yet remember that now you write Men, and such too, as by virtue of your ingenuous Education, have had greater Advantages than many others of improving your Reason and Understanding. Wherefore forgetting what is behind, reach forward towards that which is before you, that you may prove as Eminent in your several ways, as the Na­ture and Quality of your Employment will bear. To shut up all, Let your Garments, as the Preacher Advises, Eccles. 9. v. 8. be white, and let your Heads, upon this Solemn Festival, lack no Oyntment; and carry along with you a chear­ful Countenance, and all the civil marks and signatures of an Innocent and inoffensive joy, to the place whither you are going.

Innocence and true Mirth are near Allyed, and it is pity they should ever be asunder. 'Tis [Page 34]a good Conscience, a welcome Remembrance, that you have in some measure answered the Ends of your Liberal Institution at that Royal Foundation where you were Bred, which will be the best relish, and give the highest taste not only to your publick Entertainment this day, but be a continual Feast to you afterwards. And let us all, it being a Duty which my Text, and our own Obligations require of us, retain a Venerable Esteem for those Wise, Learned, and Good Men, who were the careful and painful Instructors of our Youth, who brought us from Darkness unto Light; who by bearing with our Infirmities, complying with our several Dispo­sitions, informing our Judgments, and filling up the Blanks and empty spaces of our Souls, distinguish'd us from the Common Herd, who being void of Knowledge, are like the Beasts that perish. Let us likewise praise the Lord for those Excellent Kings and Queens whom he raised in several Ages to be the Nursing-Fathers, and the Nursing-Mothers of his Church, especially let us return our hearty and unfeigned Thanks un­to Almighty God, for putting those good Thoughts into the Heart of our Religious Founder, Henry the Sixth, of Blessed Memory, to erect that Famous Seminary and Nursery of good Learning, Eton Colledge, our Common and Indulgent Mother, from whose full and [Page 35]overflowing Breasts we suck'd that wholsome and kindly Nourishment, which hath added to the stature of our Knowledge, and increased the growth of our Understanding.

Finally, seeing Et spes, & ratio studiorum in Caesare; Seeing we enjoy not only the Freedom, but the Benefits and Advantages of our Studies by the Protection, and under the Peaceable and Auspicious Government of our Gracious Sove­reign, Charles the Second, who is not only the Promoter and Encourager of all Ingenious Learning, but a great Master of all those use­ful Arts and Sciences which are worthy a Prince's knowledge: And seeing he vouchsafes to own us in a particular manner as his own, and to Grace this our Meeting with peculiar Marks of his Royal Favour, let us all unanimously, as our Duty and Allegiance binds us, pray for the long and Prosperous Reign of His Most Sacred Majesty, and that there may be still a continued Succession of Princes from that Ancient Stock to Rule these Nations in Peace and Quietness till the Dissolution of all Humane Authority; and that they may continue to be still Defenders of the true Primitive Faith, till Faith it self be no more, and the Church which is now Militant become Triumphant. And I hope in putting up this Address to the Throne of Grace, I shall [Page 36]meet with no Dissenters in this Congregation. Let all the Lucky Signs of a favourable Provi­dence attend his Sacred Person; Let the Sun of­fer him his Beams, the Earth her Fruits, and all his Subjects their Loyal Hearts. Let the Poor Bless him, and his very Enemies be forced to praise him. Let Peace remain in his Dwellings, and Integrity dwell in his Bosom: Let true Religion and the welfare of the Church be ever dear un­to him; Let all his Laws and Commands be duly Executed, and Religiously Observed. Let Wisdom be the Supporter of his Throne, and let her carry for him, as she usually does, in her Right Hand length of Days, and in her left Hand Riches and Honour. Let Patience (a Virtue he hath but too much occasion to make use of) possess his Royal Heart; Let Majesty sit still up­on his Brow, and yet Mercy continue to couch between his Eye-lids. Let the Angels of God be his Guardians, and his particular Providence his Shield of Defence. Let the many Headed Hydra that hisses and spits its Venom in Libels and Pamphlets against the Government, be de­stroyed, and those that speak evil of Dignities, receive their just Reward; and let him trample all Rebellion and Conspiracies, wherever they be, under his Feet: And after a long and hap­py Reign, let the Glorious Spirits, those Wing­ed Chariots of God, convey him to that Blessed [Page 37]place of Rest that is prepared for all true Be­lievers.

Where may all his Loyal Subjects who fear God, and Honour their King, meet him, and a­mongst them we who are met together this Day.

And that for the sake, and through the Me­rits of our Blessed Saviour and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit, Three Persons, and One God, be all Ho­nour, Praise, and Glory, for ever and ever. Amen.