SElf-Love is so natural to us, that as it makes us apt to flatter our selves on all occasions, so it in­clines us to accept too easily of the flatteries of all others; even those flatteries which Decency makes us turn away from, and seem to dislike, are hearkned to by us: We open our Ears to them; we lay them up in our Memory, and do often please our selves with vain Re­flections on them. But we are so little ac­customed to find fault with our selves, or to reflect on our Errors and Follies, that when Thoughts of that kind break in upon us, we fly from them; we impute them to Vapours, to Fits of the Spleen and Melancholly. Our un­willingness to know our own Faults, or to be humbled under the sense of them, makes us un­easy when any venture on the most charitable, but [Page 2] often the most unacceptable Act of Friendship, the telling us of our Faults. If it is possible, we will either deny or extenuate them: or if Sense and good Breeding makes us civil to such Friends, yet we will feel a Sharpness arise, we will Love them the less for it; and if we can, we will be ready to revenge our selves by re­turning some Admonitions to them; perhaps not without some Acrimony of Look or Stile. All this arises from the partiality and injustice with which we treat our selves, which must incline us to love others the better, who treat us in the same manner.

But as long as we have Faults, it is very fit that we be made acquainted with them: And since we are too much blinded in our own favour, it is a great Happiness to fall into the hands of such Friends as will not spare us: It is better that we should hear of them even from Enemies, than to be kept in an Ignorance that must be fatal. There are few in the World who do not commend Friendship as the chief Happiness of Life, and are not ready to run out upon the advantages of having found a true and faithful Friend; and yet even those who are very copious upon so common a Theme, do not much care for the best Offices of Friend­ship.

[Page 3] No man can perform this Act of Friendship, without some force put upon himself; unless there is a great mixture of Roughness and Su­perciliousness in his Temper. Few love to touch a tender part, or to grieve a person who is dear to them. Therefore the harder it is to reprove another, it ought to be the more valued, and the better received. Caresses and Congra­tulations pass easily among Friends: These are the common and natural Vents of Friendship. Reproofs and Admonitions go against the grain; therefore Friends ought to encourage them, let their Friends know, that they expect them, and by the good Entertainment that they give the first Essays made of this kind, to secure themselves of a continuance of the like Free­dom.

Solomon understood well the happiness of ha­ving an ancient, and as it were a hereditary Friend made sure of; therefore he says a little after the words of my Text,Ver. 10. Thine own Friend, and thy Father's Friend, forsake not. And in the words I have read, he sets out the best use and effect of Friendship. In the preceding words he had set out the Mischiefs that may arise from Wrath and Anger, which are cruel and outragious: To which he adds, But who can stand before En­vy? Wrath and Anger are commonly pro­voked [Page 4] by ill usage, or injury; so Innocence may protect a man from them: But Envy is an ill-natur'd passion, that is raised without any provocation. The Vertues, or the Reputation, the Prosperity and Happiness of others, set men on to detract from their Fame, or undermine their Happiness, without any prospect of ad­vantage to themselves. Men therefore whose Qualities, as well as their Condition, expose them to Envy, though they must expect their share in it, yet are by my Text directed to the best Methods to prevent the advantages that Spiteful men may take; for if their Friends are before-hand with their Enemies in their Reproofs, and if they themselves are so wise as to be corrected by their means, then envious Men will not find much matter to work on. Their Friends see their Faults while they are yet secret, before they break out into open obser­vation; so by the kind severity of their rebukes, they save them that shame, which the discove­ries that Envy will soon make, may bring upon them.

Open rebuke is better than secret love. A Friendship that carries a man to rebuke another plainly and roundly, with a due measure of severity, is better then secret Love; that is, a fond, tender, and indulgent Love, that may [Page 5] be sincere and deep, but is so blind and feeble, as either not to see Faults in their Friends; or if they see any, not to be able to disturb their Quiet by seasonable Reproofs. Another sense is given to these words; Open, that is, publick rebuke, is better than secret love; that is, rebuke in secret. Some can bear Reproofs in secret, but are not the better for them; therefore in such Cases, though we ought always to begin our Admonitions in private,18 S. Matth. 15. according to our Saviour's Rule; yet when these do not prevail, we ought to rebuke before all, 1 Tim. 4. 20. that if the Offen­der is not reclaimed by it, yet that others may fear. This is chiefly to take place when mens sins are so publick,24 Verse. that they go before to judgment, and do as it were extort it. Such wounds, when given by a friend with a good design, and in a proper method, are faithful, that is, they are sincere, they are proofs of his Fidelity to the Ties of Friendship, they will also attain their End; and as the Incisions of a Skilful Surgeon are faithful, and do quickly heal again, so such Rebukes will have a good effect. Others ren­der the word, Beautiful; there is nothing more amiable in True Friendship, than so exact and just a Freedom, as makes a man neither to overlook nor to neglect the Faults of his Friend. On the other hand, the Kisses or Caresses of [Page 6] an Enemy, who covers his Hatred with the Shews of Friendship, and with a dissembled Behaviour, who kisses on design to betray, as Iudas did his Master; These are deceitful; they are false in them; they flatter persons to their faces, for those very Faults for which they will censure them severely in Corners: they are also deceitful, while they see people commit Faults which they hope will be their ruin; and yet lest they should find that out, and prevent their ruin by seasonable Correction, they study to humour them in them, that they may become Incorri­gible, and be Infallibly ruined by them. But the word may be also rendred frequent and ear­nest, or hard and pressing, as well as deceitful. The sense will then be, the Kisses or Caresses of an Enemy will be redoubled; they will be offi­cious in them both in season and out of season. Flatterers, when they perceive that their base Obsequiousness is acceptable, they follow close upon that Scent; they are Assiduous and Abject in it. And whereas Friends are cautious, and must wait fit Opportunities to reprove, Flatter­ers find Access at all times, and are ever Ap­plauding every thing that is either said or done by him, whom they hope either to subdue or ruin by their mean Compliances. Nor is it easy to shake off that servile Crew; their kisses [Page 7] are hard; they strike against a weak part; few Men are wise enough to find them out, or strong enough to resist them. Some are so course in their Flatteries, that they must quick­ly be nauseated; but Men of Design, who have the Art to season their Flattery, to hit right in it, and are dextrous in the Methods of offering it, are often too hard for Men, who in all other respects may be very valuable, but in this only do really lessen themselves, by suf­fering others to magnify them too much.

Thus I have opened the various Rendrings of the Words of my Text; all amount to the same sense in general, That we do then express our Friendship in the best manner, when we do plainly and openly Reprove our Friends for their Faults, which will be much more useful to them than any Fondness, how deep or ten­der soever, when it makes us excessively Indul­gent to them. Such Reproofs may be as Wounds, and give a very painful Uneasiness: but even that will be Medicinal; it will bring our Faults into View, and into our Remem­brance; when we see that others observe us, it will bring us into a habit of looking more carefully to our selves, and of observing all our Words and Actions with due Attention: Whereas on the other hand, Enemies, who [Page 8] have no other Regards but for their own Ends, or perhaps for our Ruin, they will by frequent Flatteries, well timed, and skilfully infused, so corrupt our Minds, that as they will render us more uneasy to the Rebukes of our true and faithful Friends, so they will feed our Self-love to such a height, that we shall be thereby exposed to Errors that may end very fatally, and make us perish unpitied, as well as live inexcusable.

The Words thus opened, do lead us to exa­mine our Obligations to this Duty of Re­proving others: That will be soon setled, if we do consider the Zeal that we owe to God and to his Honour.69 Psal. 9. If the zeal of his house does as it were eat us up, then the reproaches of those who do as it were attack and defy him, will fall on us. We will feel a lively concern in us for the Honour of Religion; and when we see it dishonoured, we will interpose, if it were but to express a just Indignation at Impiety and Vice. If we have any regard to the Con­cerns of other Men, whether with respect to this Life, or to the next; and more particu­larly if we are under strict Ties of Kindred, Friendship, or any other Relation to them; but chiefly if we watch over their Souls, and must give an account of them; then certainly we will not so far hate our brother in our heart,19 Lev. 17.[Page 9] as to suffer sin upon him, but will in one way or another reprove him, lest by such a vicious fee­bleness we bring his blood on our own head; 33 Ezek. 6. that is, entitle our selves to a share in the Judg­ments that those Sins which we connived at may bring down both on him and on us.

Eli had a large share of Punishment for his Remisness to his Sons:1 Sam. 2. 13. We have Sins enough of our own, we need not therefore take an additional Load of partaking in other mens sins; and indeed,1 Tim. 5 22. if we desire to keep our selves pure, and to maintain in our Minds a just abhorrence of Sin, we ought never to contract so easy a neighbourhood and familiarity with it, even in others, as to let it pass without feeling an in­dignation at it, and expressing that in the pro­perest methods we can fall on. We owe it to the Society we live in, and to the next Genera­tion that is growing up before us, to take care that Sins, especially open ones, and such as are apt to spread and infect others, should be either repres­sed by secret Reproofs, or the Sinners be brought to open Shame and Punishment, that such as see the one, may likewise see or hear of the other.

If Sins grow National, and are avowedly practised without Shame or Check, they will probably be put to the account of the whole Nation, and so they may draw down Natio­nal [Page 10] Judgments, from which we have no reason to expect an Exemption, if we do not except our selves, by doing our duty in order to their cor­rection: But when that is done, we may expect a distinction, even in a common Calamity; or at least we shall have this comfort, even if we are overwhelm'd in it, that we were not wanting in our Endeavours to stave it off, by putting a stop to those Sins that brought it on.

I will dwell no longer on this; for how little soever some may like Reproof, as generally those who need it most, like it least; yet all will agree in the general, That it is absolutely necessary for the preserving the Order and Peace of Society, that there should be both Repro­vers to admonish, and Magistrates to punish Offenders. It is therefore more necessary to shew how this ought to be managed to the best advantage, and with the most probable hopes of succeeding in it.

The first and most necessary Rule, is that gi­ven by our Saviour, That no man should offer to reprove another, who is eminently and no­toriously faulty himself; he who having a beam before his eye, 7 Matth. 3, 4, 5. does not remove that, but goes about to take a small chip of wood out of his neigh­bour's eye, does justly lay himself open, according to our Saviour's words, to the Imputation of hy­pocrisy. [Page 11] The aversion that is in every man to the being subject to the Corrections of others, will then rise up into a just Indignation, when he finds that he is thus set on, by a man who is known to be more guilty than himself. It is an impudent thing to make that pass for a crime in another, which we know we are practising every day our selves. Nor is it enough to authorize a man to be a Monitor, that he does not offend just in that sort and manner for which he blames others. He must be a man of Integrity in all respects; Education, Age, Habits, and the different Circumstances of Life, may make a great diversity with relation to particular Sins; yet both Virtue and Vice are com­plicated Things; and if a man is in some parts of his Life irregular, especially if he lives in those Sins that carry a Train along with them, his Re­proofs cannot have a great Effect. Let a man be ever so sober and temperate, yet if he is false and deceitful, if he is unjust and spiteful, those things which require Thought and Study, and in which Men do pursue a design, and where they are not convinced of their Faults, nor redress them by restoring or repairing that in which they have wronged others; all this man's Reproofs will be thrown off, as soon as it is known how crafty or false he is: they will be reckon'd among the Arts of Hypocrisy, by which he studies to [Page 12] gain some Credit and Authority, that it may help him to go on in his other wicked Practi­ces, and may at least keep him long from be­ing suspected of them, or discovered in them; for a man who passes for a grave Admonisher of others, seems to be thereby covered from all black Imputations. I am afraid some Disco­veries of this sort that have been made, may have brought a Scandal upon all Preten­ders to Religion: For as there is no Principle nor Party in Religion that can support Men in those deceitful Practices; so no man is guilty of them, but he himself knows it, he goes in­to them with Deliberation and Study, and he lives in them still, till by as full a restitution as he can possibly make, he has compleated his Repenting of them. After all, it is not enough to qualify a man to rebuke with authority, that he cannot be charged with as bad things as those are for which he blames others; he must shine as a light in the world; 2 Phil. 15. there must be something Eminent and Exemplary in his whole Deport­ment. His Candor and Integrity, his Humility and Meekness, his Modesty and Charity, must be so conspicuous,5 Matth 16. that his light may thereby shine before others; and then he may more reasonably hope, that others may be wrought on both by his Ex­ample and Influence to glorify his Father which is in Heaven.

[Page 13] Another Rule to be observed in Reproving is, to do it in such a manner, that it may ap­pear we are their Friends whom we reprove, and that we Correct them for their own Good. Some by indulging too much to a sharp and morose Temper, reprove with an acrimony and heat, that is liker to provoke than to gain upon any:Ps. 141. 5. We ought to reprove in kindness (for so the words of the Psalm may be rendred) and then those smitings will be as an excellent oil that will not break their heads whom we re­prove. The tenderness we express will enforce our Admonitions, and it will raise the spirits of those, whom freer Reproofs might otherwise Re­press too much: As therefore we ought▪ chiefly when we begin to deal with any in this way, to address our Reproofs in the softest manner possible, and shew while we Reprove others, a readiness in our selves to submit to the like Reproofs from them, so we ought to watch all occasions in which it may be in our power to do acts of kindness to them; that having by this means got some interest in their affections▪ we may have thereby the more credit with them. We ought to be ready to own how near we our selves may have been in other parts of our life to those very faults for which we blame them. We ought to make our first essays at [Page 14] fit times and in the likeliest way to succeed, in private, or in a Letter; thus to make our ap­proaches in the properest manner, that so we may conquer and gain him whom we take to task; and we must be sure to join with the Se­verity that may be necessary, such mollifying strokes as may secure to us a ready access for the future, if there is occasion to return again to the like Admonitions; but then tho we must rise in the severities of our stile, yet we ought never to sink in the expressions of our affection, as long as we have any hopes of succeeding in the way of private Admonition.

But the most comprehensive Rule in the ma­nagement of Reproofs, is to order them with discretion and prudence; otherwise all we can do that way will have no effect; we will pass either for hypocritical, morose, supercilious, or fantastical Men. This is a thing of great ex­tent, and may be so much diversified, that it will not be easy to bring it all under clear and certain Rules; but some few of the more obvi­ous are to be considered.

First, With relation to the things for which we find fault with others, they ought to be of some Importance: In trifles it is not worth the while to reprove. To stand too nicely upon [Page 15] small matters, may give others such a mean opinion of our Understanding, that our Ad­monitions on greater occasions will make no impression, because they have been often applied to such inconsiderable things. The insisting too much on a peculiar Cut of the Hair, as was too common in the last Age, or on Modes of Dress, is a sure way to bring our Re­proofs into such Contempt, that all we can of­fer at, will look like Affectation or Singula­rity. We ought not to lay too much weight on small or disputable things, but should pro­portion our Zeal to the importance of the Matters we are concerned for. We ought also to have some good reason to believe Men to be guilty of those things for which we deal roundly with them. It is hard enough to submit to Re­proof even when Men know that they do de­serve it, but if they know they are Innocent, they will very naturally justify themselves, they will accuse their Reprovers as Credulous and Uncharitable, and will not fail to put them in mind at another time when reproved, though they know themselves guilty, how that upon another occasion they were unjustly suspected and blamed; therefore when we do Reprove, we ought to make just allowances for the false Reports that go in the World, and be ready [Page 16] both to be disabused by them, or at least to make all the just abatements that in reason can be supposed, and be ready rather to lessen than to aggravate the Offence.

Another measure of Discretion is with rela­tion to the Persons to whom we may address our Reproofs; generally speaking, Junior or Infe­rior Persons ought not to Reprove those who are above them in Age and Rank; yet some Ex­ceptions must be made even to this, for Old Men are not always Wise. Our Saviour after he had given the Rule which I named first of all, of Cor­recting our own greater faults before we presume to blame others for lesser ones, adds another that will require great attention,Matt. 7. 6. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. Some Men are of so boisterous and insolent a Tem­per, that we can have no reason to believe they will be the better for Reproof, or that they are capable of bearing it. They will probably turn upon us with fury, and ask us, What right we have to tell them of their Faults: Perhaps to revenge themselves, they will treat us opprobriously and charge us falsely with gross faults for no other reason, but because we have offered some charitable Reproofs to them: [Page 17] These are the Persons meant by our Saviour un­der the Figure of dogs, who will turn upon us and rend us, by all the injuries they can think on. Others are as Swine so brutal and impu­dent, so depraved and stupid, that they despise all that can be laid before them. When it ap­pears that our Admonitions are like either to have no effect at all, or to have bad ones, we may reckon that we are not under the common Obligations of Reproving, if there are no pro­babilities of our succeeding in them.

Another measure of Discretion to be used in Reproving, is to chuse the time of doing it as nicely as we can; but even in this, caution must be used: Commonly speaking, Afflictions bring Men into a temper fit for being the better for Admonition; but some may sink so much under their burthen, that it may be too severe to lay more load upon them. In sickness, as the danger may be greater, so the Obligation is more indispensable: But in all those cases it will be necessary to use a due mixture of Skill, as well as Fidelity, that we may not add affliction to the afflicted, more than is absolutely necessary both for the good of those concerned, and for the discharge of our own Consciences. A prudent method in addressing Reproof, we see in Nathan, who though he acted upon an im­mediate [Page 18] Commission from God,2 Sam. 12. yet introduced that severe Message he had to David by a Pa­rable, which engaged him before he saw into the Prophet's design, to pronounce his own Condemnation. A Man may furnish himself with many Stories of what passes daily in the World, by the telling of which he may prepare a Person to bear with his freedom: In some of those Stories a guilty Person may find both his faults and the consequences of them so plainly set forth, that if he does not feel that, he would not feel, or at least he would not bear a closer application.

But the last and chief Rule in managing Reproof, is to order it so, that it may not pass barely as a finding fault with another upon some general and popular Notions, which will have no great operation, but that it may carry with it so full a Conviction, that he who is Repro­ved may see that there is great and just causes for such Admonitions. I shall in this descend to Instances of two sorts, which relate to some of those things, the Correcting of which is chiefly designed by these Societies.

When we Reprove any for entring into that lewd commerce of forbidden pleasure, at which the corruption of Youth does commonly be­gin; we ought to let them see, that if they [Page 19] break through the measures of Modesty, their Appetites will grow more and more violent and unruly. These will be for some time re­sisted by the checks of Conscience; but when by ill practices often repeated, those are blunted, and young Men free themselves from stricter Rules, this will involve them in ill designs, these will draw them into much lying, and many base methods to support the expence of a vitious course of life. They will become sloth­ful in all their Affairs, and thus their care and in­dustry being once slackned, they have no rea­son to hope that they can succeed in their busi­ness, as they can have none to expect a Blessing from God upon their endeavours. Nor can they go long or far in those unlawful pleasures, but they will be discovered, and by that they must suffer much in their Reputation; for though Men may take too much pleasure in lewd Company, yet few care to deal with such Persons, or put any confidence in them: And this is all evident, besides the ill effects that such a course of life may have on their Persons and Families; for if the Banks of Modesty are once cut through, they are seldom made up again; such a course of life must strangely agitate the Mind between the violence of passi­on, and the fear of a discovery: This must let [Page 20] in such a black train of base and cursed thoughts upon a Man's Mind, and must set him at such a distance from God and all Reli­gious Exercises, that the setting this in a true light before one, with such stories as may be easily pick'd up to confirm from daily experi­ence what is thus to be set out; all this, I say, may through the Blessing of God, make a deep Impression, and raise stedfast Resolutions of keeping this Sin at the greatest distance, by not entring into those liberties, into that conversa­tion, and into those nearnesses to it, which may be fatal, and must certainly be so, where Nature is so strong on the side of Sin, that it ought not to be too much trusted to.

Another instance of managing Reproofs shall be given in the Sin of Swearing. It is a com­mon, but a very unbecoming answer, when Men are told of their Swearing, I ask you Pardon, I did not think on't: As if the Offence were against a Mortal like our selves, and not against the Sovereign Lord of Heaven and Earth: Much as if a Subordinate Magistrate finding fault for a high Offence committed against the King, should be so answered. Alas! how small is the Offence committed against us in comparison of the dishonour done to God! And it aggravates the Sin when a Man is so [Page 21] habituated to it, that he falls into it without re­flection, or so much as knowing that he had so transgressed. But if a Man who has unhap­pily accustomed himself to this cursed Dialect, will be so far calm as to hearken to what may be offered to him, it may be fit to shew him that the root of all Religion is a Veneration for the Deity, and that nothing weakens this more, than a Custom of thinking and speaking slight­ly of God; nothing is more unbecoming the dread that ought to possess us, and the awe of God under which we ought to live, than this profane practice; which is so contrary to all decency and just respect: Besides, no Man goes into the habit of common Swearing, but he will be very apt to support Falsehoods with repeated Oaths; and the more he sees he is su­spected, he will study to fortify his credit by whole peals of them; though such as do not believe a Man upon his Word, are seldom con­vinced by the frightfullest Oaths he can bring forth, which do rather serve to increase than to lay jealousy. Now if we have any right No­tions of God, we must conclude that an Oath being an Appeal to him, a false Oath is an Appeal to him as it were to vouch for our Lies: And if no Honest Man could with patience hear another appeal to him to give credit to a [Page 22] Lie, What do we think of the God of Truth, if we can imagine that false Oaths will go un­punished?

This matter may be carried yet further, to shew what dismal consequences arise from the habit of common Swearing: Nothing tends more visibly to the perverting the course of Justice, and the dissolving our whole Govern­ment, which turns much upon Swearing, than a vicious habit that takes away the fear of an Oath. He who never Swears but upon great and just occasions, comes to it full of dread, and full of the Impressions that arise from a belief of the Attributes of God: Whereas he to whom common practice has made Oaths become familiar, cannot have that fear of an Oath that is necessary to strike the sense of an Obligation from it deep into his Conscience.

England is the Nation of the whole World that has studied the most to secure it self by Oaths. All Employments are entred upon by peculiar Oaths; many of these are very large and comprehensive. How great is the extent of the Oath of a Grand Jury? Does not all matters of Life and Death, as well as of Pro­perty, turn upon the regard that Jurors have to their Oath? so that Blood-shed, or Property, given unjustly by their Verdict, must lie heavy [Page 23] on them; and to bind it the heavier, they take the Oath of God upon them to give a just Ver­dict. The Evidence given upon Oath, is that which must direct both Judge and Jury. A Man must have strangely subdued his Conscience that dares prevaricate and go against it, when he is under the quick sense of an Oath newly taken. When Men are once corrupted to such a degree, there is an end of all Justice and Order. How far are we got into this? What loud com­plaints do we hear every where of Sets of Sub­orned Witnesses, and of Partial Juries? The Obligations to Justice and Equity ought to be strong of themselves, nothing can force them more than these sacred Bonds of a solemn Ap­peal to God. But can Men, whose common Dia­lect is made up of Oaths and Imprecations, con­sider an Oath so much as to be under any deep Impressions of dread and horror from it? Oaths of Magistrates, or Men in other Employ­ments, are very Comprehensive, and too soon let go out of their Minds. It were a good me­thod to enter such Oaths as one takes, in a Book that comes often in view, that so it may be fre­quently considered as a powerful motive to en­gage him to the faithful discharge of his Duty. It were to be wished, that the Oaths of Magi­strates were more explicite; but Men of Consci­ence [Page 24] will consider Oaths well before they come to take them, that so they may make a true judgment whether they think they can or will keep them, and accordingly they will either avoid the occasions of being entangled by them, or if they do take them, they will be governed exactly by them.

Upon the whole matter, when all this is laid together, it will appear that the cursed habit of common Swearing, has so many ill tendencies and effects, that there being nothing on the other hand to recommend it, but a depraved Custom, every one will soon see, what need there is to watch over himself, till he wears out of that profane and impious Stile; and if he is not watchful enough over himself, he will ea­sily be convinced, how much he is obliged to those to help him to be more careful; when all he suffers by it, is that at the expence of a lit­tle trouble and shame, and a small Forfeit, he is taught to keep his Tongue with more caution.

And now I have done with all that I intend to say from my Text: It remains that I say some­what with relation to the occasion of our Meet­ing together at this time.

We have enjoyed a long continuance of Peace and Plenty; even a long and devouring War has made no great Impression: We have [Page 25] been safe and quiet at home, when all the World about us was in a flame. Nor has the great expence of the War altered the face of Plenty every where: I am sorry to say it, our Luxury and Vanity, the Symptoms of an over­flowing Plenty, have not lessened upon all that Charge; I wish it were not too visible, that they increase upon us. We may remember how near we were to great dangers; it is not so long since we saw a Cloud gathered and set over our heads, that we had reason to fear was to burst out in Storms and Tempests; and must have thrown us into terrible Convulsions, if not in­to utter Ruin.

All this went over with so little disturbance that we scarce felt our Danger, till we were De­livered from it; and after a War that gave so melancholy a prospect, in a course of many Years, we are now at Peace with all the World abroad: But, alas! Are we at Peace with God or among our selves? Does not Impiety and Atheism, that walk abroad without either fear or shame, seem to dare and defy God even to his Face? This is such a plain Revolt from God, and a rising, as it were, up against him, that we have no reason to think that he will not at last arise and visit for all these things. How soon can he withdraw his Defence? And then how [Page 26] easily may that which we rely on be blasted? Storms may shatter our Fleets, and if God should for our Sins deliver us so far to an Enemy that they should but once Land upon us, How naked and defenceless are we? How soon must all be over-run? And what a scene of Confu­sion and Pillage, of desolation and Ruin would quickly open upon us? But we need not ano­ther Enemy than our selves; we are going into such strong and deeply rooted Animosities, our hatred to one another, our jealousy of one ano­ther, our quarrels and factions, do so increase, and are growing to such a height, that if no Temper can be found, and if there is no Inter­position from the Goodness of God, or the Wisdom of Men, to put a stop to the progress of all these Evils, they must end fatally at last; we may go on to bite and devour one another, till in conclusion we are consumed one of ano­ther. What can put a stop to all these sad things that we may justly fear? A general Reforma­tion is too great a Blessing to be soon hoped for. In these matters Men seldome go all of the sud­den from one extreme to another. God knows how near we are the extreme of an universal Depravation. It gives us some small beginnings of hope, that in and about this great City, from which the Nation is apt to take its ply, whither [Page 27] to good or bad; there has been for some years past a Spirit stirring, that looks like a reviving, as if even our dry bones could live: A Spirit of true devotion, a seriousness in the service of God, a frequency at Sacrament, with a Zeal for Religi­on and against Vice, shew themselves upon ma­ny eminent occasions, as if by a noble Opposi­tion the more that the Men of Impiety shew themselves, and enter into Clubs and Confede­racies to advance their wicked designs, the Spi­rit of Zeal should take fire from thence, and be fortified by the joint endeavours of those, who while many say,Malac. 3. 14, 16, 17. It is Vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance? those who fear the Lord speak often one to another. Their words how secret soever are heard by God, and all is en­tred in a book of remembrance written for them that fear the Lord, and that think of his name, for they shall be his; and in that day when he makes up his jewels, he will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Blessed be God for this door of hope which he is thus opening to us! and Blessed be they of the Lord who have offered themselves so willingly before him and before all the People! Their Name shall be of a good Savour in the present and in the succeeding Ge­nerations, who have begun the first to set for­ward so noble a Design, to put a stop to so ma­ny [Page 28] vicious practices, and to raise a true Spirit of Piety and Virtue among us. These are the salt of the earth, the Pillars of it, and the light of the world.

Go on you noble Christians, shine more and more as patterns of those Virtues which you en­deavour to recommend to others. Your Ene­mies wait for your halting, that by your Errors they may bring up a scandal upon Religion and Godliness. The publick Crimes of some who pretended highly, brought within our memory such an ill reputation upon Religion, that we have laboured under the ill effects of those pre­judices ever since. This we hope will make you the more watchful and diligent, lest by your means the Name of God should be agains Blas­phemed. Go on and see to the Execution of the Laws, but do it with a Zeal becoming the Go­spel, and not with a Pharisaical or bitter Zeal. Be not discouraged, neither by the slow progress that you can make, nor by the contradiction and slanders that you may meet with. Go on and prosper, for great is your Reward in Heaven; and while you study to repair the Breaches that are made in the House of God, you may hope that God will build up Houses for you and your Posterity, and will at last receive you into Ever­lasting Habitations. To whom be Glory for ever.