THE Advantages of Religion and Government are of so Universal Influence and Concern, that since every one in their respective Spheres must bear a part in both relations, it will scarce be denied, but they may, nay ought to act one also, according to their several Powers and Capacities.

This may Apologize for my thus casting a Mite into the Publick Treasury: And while I but offer at preserving Your Honours in the distinguishing Characters and Consideration Your Ancestors and Predecessors have been eminent for, and deservedly enjoyed beyond Us of a Lower and inferior Rank, I presume to promise my self, That my Attempt will not be held inconsistent with that branch of duty to our Neighbour, The ordering my self lowly and reverently to all my Betters, ac­cording as we are taught in our Church Catechism.

For though the Advantages are many and great which we have sensibly recovered by means of the late Happy Revo­lution, yet the Nation was too long a dividing and corrupt­ing▪ [Page 2] and too far sunk with narrow, mistaken Notions of Christian and Civil Liberty, to be at once freed from all Dan­ger, and restor'd to that extensive Charity, which beareth 1 Cor. 13. 7. all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things, &c.

This makes me hope, and willing to persuade my self, That though mens Notions and Actings have seem'd in ma­ny respects very opposite, and too too passionate and exaspe­rating, that this however hath proceeded from a mistaken first, and then a misguided Zeal, rather than from any in­bred Malice of one towards another, or ill-will at bottom to their Native Country: For when our common Danger was grown to that heighth as became sensible and apparent to them, we have seen men of the most suspected Pretensions strike in, and close with, under God, the happy Instrument of our Deliverance, Our present Gracious King, in his glori­ous Expedition for Preserving of the Protestant Religion, and for P. of O's Declarat. Restoring the Laws and Liberties of England, Scotland and Ireland.

But though I apprehend we may easily err, and so judge amiss, in imputing over-much to mens Wills, and too little to our Sins and Misdoings, the grievous Pressures the Nation was reduced to, and which further threatned it; yet it's every one's duty to prevent, what in him lies, the pernicious Princi­ples and Practices that brought both Church and State to such Extremities, and which may again obstruct their Settlement; so that there may be no more danger of the Nation's falling at any Ibid. time hereafter under Arbitrary Government.

But as the watchman woketh but in vain, except the Lord doth keep Psal. 127. [...]. the city; so altogether in vain is it to presume and expect that human Means should prosper for our preservation, if we continue by our Sins to work our own destruction.

There are so many excellent Discourses full fraught with such cogent Reasons continually almost both preached and published, shewing the indispensible necessity of a good Life, and withal of a Reformation of Manners in the Age we live, that I shall not pretend to insist on that part; and indeed I think it altogether needless, here especially: For I do not ob­serve that this bears any part in our Modern Controversies▪ [Page 3] nor do I meet with any body that contradicts it in particular: For which Reasons I chuse rather to hint one Occasion (among many others, it's not improbable) whence it comes, that a matter so obvious in it self, so universally acknowledg'd, so strenuously enforced, and in its own nature and consequence so beneficial to Mankind, takes so little place, That nothing in Religion seems near so like a contradiction, as men are to themselves.

I am partly aware, that in this licentious Age, rather than of perfect Freedom, the common cry goes so much of a rank Infidelity and gross Atheism, that some will be ready to sug­gest mens Lives are▪ not such a contradiction to their Senti­ments, as I here insinuate: But under favour, and in the words of a Reverend and Learned Prelate of our Church, A Lord Bi­shop of Sarum's Pastoral Care. Lord Ba­con's Es­says. Learned or Contemplative Atheism is so hard a thing to be con­ceived, that unless a man's powers are first strangely vitiated, it is not easy to see how any one can bring himself to it; and therefore 'tis that God is observed (as the Great Lord Bacon remarks) never to have wrought a Miracle to convince Atheism, because his Ordinary Works convince it. But the truth seems rather to lie here (as the same excellent Person further expresseth it);Ibid. That all that impugn a Received Religion or Superstition, are by the Adverse Party branded with the Name of Atheists; so I remem­ber, it likewise noted, by a Modern Author, That ‘in Ger­many an Atheist once signified a Person that medled with the Pope's Mitre, or the Monks fat Bellies; and thus nearer home in some past times;’ It was little better to question the Divine Right of a special Form of Ecclesiastical, or Civil Go­vernment, exclusive of all others.

There are indeed but too too many, who in a profligate way take, it may be, a sort of fantastical vain pride in talk­ing after an Atheistical manner, as well as in living so too, which is what I with others deny not, but bewail; and be­cause I look not on this, as I said▪ to proceed from a form'd and setled Judgment, but as a prejudice they have imbib'd from men only; I will now give some account whence I take both the one and the other in great part to arise and prevail so far.

[Page 4]Though no Human Authority in▪ Religious Matters is deci­sive and absolutely binding among men, no not where Infal­libility is pretended; much less with such who renounce a Claim so empty, but withal so artificial, yet in fact I incline to think, it will be owned that nothing sways so much as the Authority and Example of Professors, especially Superiors of all sorts (it matters not to distinguish here, any more than to instance particulars) and that men for the most part, even in the weightiest Concerns of this World, and another, judge more from what they see and hear, than what they under­stand; and consequently form and regulate their Speech and Actions more by Sense, than true Knowledge: Which made that Great and Good Man, the late Archbishop Tillotson, say, That Fifth Vol. of his Ser­mons, p. 118. he could not see how Christianity can ever gain much ground in the world, till it be better adorned and recommended by the Professors of it. Nor is it easy to conceive, how in this state of Nature it can be otherwise, since God in his wisdom hath constituted the make and frame of Mankind such, That Speculative Arguments do not Lord Bi­shop of Sarum's Pastoral Care. reach the Ʋnderstanding of the greatest part, who are only capable of sen­sible ones; whence it's the less to be wondred at, if so many (considering besides we are so continually beset with outward Temptations, and inbred Passions) take up with plausible Colours, rather than just Causes of Atheism and Immorality, Le Clerc of Incre­dulity. who cannot go back to the very Spring, and examine the Christian Religion in it self, and such as it is in the Writings of the Apostles: And from hence it seems naturally to follow, That most Peo­ples false Notions and evil Practices spring from Prejudices ta­ken up among men, without any real Sentiments of their own: And if this be so, we may well reckon our selves so much our Brothers keepers, that it imports us more than a little to beware, in our respective stations, how through our de­faults we scandalize our Neighbour, lest, while we severally in our turns admonish one another, our selves become Castaways, and withal draw our Brethren into the like condemnation.

This more especially imports the Clergy, as the peculiarAsh [...]am of Confus. and Re­vol. of Govern­ment. Ambassadors of God, and as they, who deriving neither from Prince nor People, but from Jesus Christ, as the Immediate Dispen­sers of his Mysteries, interpose with greater assurance than any of another Robe.

[Page 5]Then the Nobility and Gentry, as who by their great Ad­vantages of Birth and Education, have not only stronger and more particular inducements, and who cannot be with­out clearer Light for the promoting our Sovereign Benefa­ctor's Glory, and our Neighbours Good; no more than they can be without great influences on those of low Degree: And how generally is it even demanded in the common Affairs and Fashions of life, to be honoured and imitated by Infe­riors; and how ready and obsequious, for the most part, are these to mimick those above them; but, as the Nature of Man is prone to ill, in the worst things more especially? And herein is one circumstance so peculiar, and so proper to Men of the first Quality, that it gives great assurance of their being touch'd therewith; for since they appear upon all occasions so piqu'd in Honour, to be outdone in what they take to and affect; that few things continue longer a Mode, or very va­luable, but until others take in with▪ them; I humbly move them to resolve themselves, What Vice or Immorality it is, in which the very meanest among us, in their way, are not capable (I dare not say of excelling, but) of exceeding even the Highest and the Greatest? Which alone, methinks, is sufficient to make men truly and throughly affected with the Principles of Honour and Distinction (which their Blood and Degree naturally enough inspire) head and main­tain a just and necessary Reformation of Manners, since the very scum of the People are so universally infected with all sorts of Vice and Immorality, and I wish it was not to be ad­ded (as before intimated) from the Contagion of the Highest: But Corruption, and so too Reformation, of Man­ners, descends as naturally as Love is said to do: How necessary then and commendable is such a Revolution as this? And how would it work and prove a mighty Deliverance indeed to us and our Posterities? And without it, suffer me to say, The being hitherto spared (while the very Heavens have conti­nued lowring as of late for some time past; tho our Neigh­bours at present seem to feel the more immediate and pressing effects of unkindly Seasons, &c. suffer me however to say, That this or any such like Forbearance of God towards us) is so far from securing a Blessing in the End▪ that the Mercies [Page 6] which the Almighty's Long-suffering and Forbearance hath hitherto extended to us, will one day (if a timely Repen­tance and Amendment do not follow) become our most certain, just, and terrible Confusion: This we cannot but know, as we all acknowledge by our publick Profession of Religion, and a Form at least of Godliness and Divine Wor­ship: But what availeth it to confess God with our Lips, if by our Lives we deny him? Or with what face can we ex­pect God's Blessing on us and our Endeavours; unless we are found doing his Work, which is most properly our own too?

Not that we may however take up our Rest here, as if no more was required or necessary, than the abstaining from evil, or at most, the gaining in our selves a holy disposition and temper of mind; or that both our Religious and Civil Duties were not more Positive than Negative, more Active than Passive: No, the former is but a just and due preparation for the latter; for there are sins of Omission no less than of Com­mission; and we may, and I fear often do, tempt and pro­voke Providence as well by neglecting as by abusing it. Lest therefore we incur God Almighty's displeasure through our own default, we must not stop short here: And because ge­nerals are for the most part uncertain, and oftentimes fallaci­ous, I will now with humble deference and submission, pro­ceed to hint at some few particulars, which to me seem to af­fect the Essence of every well Constituted Society, whether we consider it in a Religious or Civil Capacity.

I observe it then in the first place, as, in my poor appre­hension, a capitol Error, and which seems to hold some pa­rallel in Church and State, that whereas Christ's Church ex­tendsRom. 10. 13. it self to all that call on his name; and that all ought to be embraced upon the plain and direct Terms of the Gospel, whom coming to him, himself will in no wise cast out: And where­as,John 6. 37. in like manner, all Mankind ought to consider themselves as so many Members, making up one great entire Body throughout the Universe, to whose happiness and welfare all the divided and subdivided Societies, Parties and Denomina­tions of Men should be subservient, and esteem their own [Page 7] private separate Good as therein included: it is but too often seen, that in all particular Societies, whether for Re­ligious or Civil purposes, Men consider themselves and their small separate Parties as the whole, rather than as parts; and so cause Schisms and Factions in Church and State, by taking upon them more than of right belongs apart; and through each Party's pretending to usurp, and that all others should observe and obey them disjunctly; instead of their co-opera­ting reciprocally according to their Stations, Ranks and Ca­pacities, to the respective good and edification of the more entire Body of that Society, and instead of such Societies acting (as much as may be) for the common universal bene­fit and advantage of Mankind collectively.

It's easily seen whither this in a great measure tends; and there hath so very much ill accrued, and withal so little good, to the several distinguishing and contending Parties within our selves in their several turns, and according to the various Scenes of publick Affairs: And particularly we have lately had (under the weight of Taxes, the misfortunes of War, and more especially the notorious impairing the Coin of the Nation; and all this, &c. too in a young Government, and scarce throughly setled) such sensible and immediate effects of the Toleration hitherto allowed, that it's the more amazing to see any People so blinded, at least, towards their Country's and the publick Interest, as to think the permission that is, too much; whereas Religion, as well as Policy, inclines rather toLord Ba­con's Es­says. extend it further: For as it is noted, Christ's Coat indeed had no seam, but the Church's Vesture was of divers colours; whereupon it's said, In veste varietas sit, scissura non sit; They be two things, Ʋnity and Ʋniformity: Then as to Policy, What greater security, under God, can there be to any regular, well-con­stituted Government, than the making all People easy, espe­cially in their highest and most tender concern of this World and another; and that it be their special Interest to maintain it, and then withal to teach men so? Thus all men (as is equal in Nature, and so also under Government) are, according to their respective Demerits, let in to run the hazards, bear the burthens, and share in common the Profits and Honours of the Government they live under, as well as enjoy its com­mon [Page 8] Protection together with the rest of their Brethren, who are all such by the Bonds of Nature, of Religion, and of So­ciety.

Another ill consequence of mens narrow Notions and par­tial Consideration for themselves; besides their muttering at Liberty of Conscience (the great and special Blessing of Heaven, as well as of this Reign) is the grumbling some discover at the Liberty of the Press, which hath been, and is so peculiarly in­strumental for the dispelling Popish Ignorance, and all such blind and passive Superstitions, that the Reformation it self had prov'd Abortive, had not God of his mercy brought to light the Ex­cellent Art of Printing; whereby we are mutually enabled to reap the Advantages of one another's Labours: And there can be nothing of a civil nature assign'd so much the cause why that hath hitherto made no greater progress, but seems rather in many places at this day to lose ground, than Persecution, and the Restraint of the Press. Papists indeed may be said to be so far in the right, as to take right Measures for the upholding their Temporal Hierarchy, or Spiritual Ʋsurpation; but it's unac­countable why Protestants, with a Cause that needs only a true Liberty and Light to render it amiable and prevailing over the face of the whole Earth, and to bring in in God's appointed time the fulness of the Gentiles, should tread in their steps and paths of Darkness, which is their chief, I may say their only, Subter­fuge; or that we should turn Inquisitors upon our selves, be­cause, God be thanked, it's not yet in their power to set any over us.

There are against this (as against what not?) some Objections may be started, but they appear either such Cavils, or Preju­dices, or at most affect only some wild Excesses of Licentious­ness, not a Just Liberty, and which may be well enough and easily regulated, without denying or destroying such a Liberty of mens publishing their Thoughts to the World, that I here purposely pass them by in silence, as of no weight to the me­rits of the matter, nor altogether consistent with my proposed brevity; only, lest it seem to thwart what I have contended for but even now, the Reform of Manners, I crave leave to add, That there need no Supervisors of the Press to prevent the pub­lishing of Principles or Notions, in themselves Scandalous, [Page 9] Immoral or Prophane, because it was scarce ever, or rather never known, that under the Inquisition of the Press, any have sought an Imprimatur for them.

A second fatal Error, and of somewhat like kind with the former, I take to be the Opinion some seem to entertain of the Perfection of our Church▪ Reformation and State-settlement; for as soon as they become so possess'd, they no longer strive after any thing beyond themselves and their present Circum­stances: And the nature of Man, and of all human things besides, is such, that if they grow not, nor improve, be their height and degree of Perfection, Settlement, or Esta­blishment what it will, they stand not long at a stay, but de­cline, degenerate, and grow worse and worse; non progredi est regredi: But the Reformation was never look'd upon, nor can be understood to be or to have been, compleat. The first Re­formers were eminent indeed to a degree, but the Evil had been too long contracting, and was grown to too great a Head, to have its Reform be the Work but of a Day, of a Reign, or even of an Age. That Reverend and Learned Prelate of our Church, who hath so incontestably Reform'd and Imbelish'd its History, will scarce be rejected as an in­competent Judge or Witness in this Case; and he hath not long since assur'd the World, That there remains yet a great deal to be done for the compleating of our Reformation. But the Account he gives of its having made a full stand for above an hundred years, would not, 'tis like, be so properly inserted here, as it is in the Preface to his Discourse of the Pastoral Care. But put the Case, That those who succeeded our first most worthy Re­formers, had gone on, and taken the same liberty in examining theirs, as they did their Predecessors Opinions: And that thereby, as it could scarce have fail'd, they had happily discover'd much more Truth: If any say, That then the same would have continued to us and to Posterity; by the very self-same Rea­son may they say too, That no Errors or Corruptions have ever been since our Saviour Christ's and his Apostles times: And so farewell at once all Reformation, past, present, or to come. But I would only ask (in the Lord Bacon's words),Resuscitat. why the Civil State should be purged and reformed by good and wholesome Laws, devising Remedies as fast as time breedeth Mis­chiefs? [Page 10] And contrariwise, the Ecclesiastical State should still continue upon the Dregs of Time, and receive no Alteration. But if it be said to me, That there is a difference between Civil Causes and Ec­clesiastical; they may as well tell me, That Churches and Chappels need no Reparations, tho Castles and Houses do. Whereas common­ly, to speak truth, Dilapidations of the Inward and Spiritual Edi­fications of the Church of God are in all times as great as the Out­ward and Material.

Then as to the State-Settlement, let any body, without going further, but look into His Majesty's most just and righte­ous Declarations, upon his so Charitable Expedition hither; and then, considering the many notorious Breaches on our Civil and Religious Rights therein expressed and implied, let him, I say, satisfy himself, if he can, that there is nothing more to do, notwithstanding the great Advance towards the promoting a Settlement of the Religion, and of the Liberties and Properties of the Subjects, upon so sure a Foundation, that there P. of O's Addit. Declarat. may be no danger of the Nations relapsing into the like Miseries at any time hereafter; which we are abundantly assured was his Majesty's only design in that Undertaking.

It would be no hard matter to suggest divers Particulars, that have a natural Tendency to compleat so Pious, so Glorious an Enterprise; and men are apt, with a good and laudable Intention, to instance in what occurs for that purpose, ac­cording to their various Sentiments and Turns of Imagina­tions; as, among others, in a General Naturalization, and a Publick Registry, &c. But I shall content my self here to point at only in short some few of the many Instances parti­culariz'd in the forementioned Declarations, as carrying with them both their own Evidence and Authority; referring the rest to the more accurate, able, and discerning Conside­rations of those and▪ such the Lords and Commons, as upon the Agreement and Concurrence of both Houses, having entire Confidence, That his Highness the Prince of Orange would perfect the Delive­rance so far advanced by him, &c. did resolve and declare the Prince and Princess of Orange, King and Queen of England, France, and Ireland, &c. And did pray them to accept the Crown and Royal Dignity of the said Kingdoms and Dominions accordingly.

[Page 11]The Particulars then that I shall here on this Head touch upon, are in order as I find them there; where the 10th Paragraph runs thus, They have also invaded the Privileges, and seized on the Charters of most of those Towns that have a Right to be represented by their Burgesses in Parliament; and have procured Surrenders to be made of them; by which the Magistrates in them have delivered up all their Rights and Privileges, to be dispo­sed of at the pleasure of those Evil Counsellors; who have thereupon placed new Magistrates in those Towns, such as they can most entirely confide in; and in many of them they have put Popish Magistrates, notwithstanding the Incapacities under which the Law has put them. Again in the 18th Paragraph we have these words, And con­trary to the Charters and Privileges of those Boroughs that have a Right to send Burgesses to Parliament, they have ordered such Regu­lations to be made, as they thought fit and necessary for assuring themselves of all the Members that are to be chosen by those Corporations. And in the 21st it's declared, That in order to (the having a free and lawful Parliament assembled) all the late Charters, by which the Elections of Burgesses are limited, contrary to the ancient customs, shall be considered as null and of no force: And likewise all Magistrates who have been unjustly turned out, shall forthwith resume their former Employments, as well as all the Boroughs of England, shall return again to their ancient Prescriptions and Charters. But whether the bare restoring these to their ancient Pro­prietors and their Successors, especially after such bold presi­dents of manifest violations committed upon them, be a suf­ficient security against a precarious Tenure in times to come, I submit to your better and more deliberate Considerations; and may it please your Honours to consider withal, what His Majesty, Prince-like, adds in his concurring second Declara­tion, That the seeming release from their great Oppressions offered to the City of London upon the hearing of his Preparations to assist the People, was done only, hoping thereby to quiet the People, and to divert them from demanding a secure Re-establishment of their Reli­gion and Laws: And that such security might not in aftertimes prove fallacious, His Highness, out of his deep foresight and Princely Wisdom (whose care of the People hath been all along transcendent) at the same time subjoin'd, That the de­fectiveness of the redress was apparent, while they laid down no­thing [Page 12] which they may not take up at pleasure, and they reserved en­tire and not so much as mentioned their claims and pretences to an Arbitrary and Despotick Power; which has been the Root of all their Oppression, and of the total Subversion of the Government: Hinc illae Lachrime. His Majesty herein hath abundantly done his part; the preceding Parliaments have gone a good way, and 'tis not to be doubted, but Your Honours will proceed. And that the good people of England will persevere and adhere to His Majesty, his most Just and Gracious Declarations; as also to the present Government founded thereupon and thereafter.

The next particular in course that follows, and which also depends much on the preceding Article (as the foregoing References do plainly intimate) is the Being and Business of Parliaments, concerning which the 18th Paragraph uncon­troulably asserts, That according to the Constitution of the English Government and immemorial Custom, all Elections of Parliament-men ought to he made with an intire Liberty, without any sort of force, or the requiring the Electors to chuse such persons as shall be named to them: And the persons thus freely Elected ought to give their Opi­nions freely upon all matters, that are brought before them, having the good of the Nation ever before their Eyes, and following in all things the Dictates of their Conscience. This manifestly relates, as to the Freedom of Election of Members, so also to the entire freedom of such Members acting afterwards: Towards the former of these especially, there have been some good things Enacted; but yet the laying Penalties or Incapacities on Candidates may not probably be sufficient (I say not to cure, but) to prevent the evil, without laying the Electors themselves under like Penal­ties and Incapacities; nor is there good reason why the for­mer should be interdicted, and not the latter. In case it be said, That if no body did Tempt, no body would be Cor­rupted; I reply, if no body was to be, or would be corrupt­ed, no body would tempt; so that by this means there would, at least, be both less Temptation and less Corruption. As to the other branch, their Freedom of acting, the name of the Pen­tioner Parliament is not so stale as to be forgotten, nor of the nature of sowr Wines, which by turning Vinegar come again in vogue. God Almighty hath taught man, that to be [Page 13] delivered from evil, he must pray, not to be led into temptation. There is a Reverend and Worthy Class among you, whose Predecessors lay some time since under the imputation of the dead Weight; which yet was not owing so much to men's aversion, or their objections to the Order it self (however craftily it hath been given out and vulgarly taken) as to their D [...]pendencies, and the effects that these have wrought in times past; and if ever the like effects appear in the other House, as the consequence would not be less fatal, so the Parties themselves would not be less obnoxious. It would be well therefore, if such modest and reasonable provisions were herein timely made, as consist with the publick service; and that this Rock of Offence be so done away, as that our Enemies may not at any time whatever, have it, or take it, for a handle to pervert, blast, or invalidate any Parliaments Pro­ceedings.

The last thing that I shall here mention of this nature is, That His Majesty was so very cautious of endangering the Nation, though by a temporary or occasional means of its preservation, and of even giving umbrage of any such of­fence, that after he had represented in a peculiar instance (§. 19.) the failure, or rather neglect, of the then Evil Counsellors, in not doing more to satisfy the many good Subjects of these Kingdoms, or to put an end to their doubts; He declares in very express terms (§. 21.) that he brought over with him a force sufficient, by the blessing of God, to defend him from the violence (only) of those (the then) Evil Counsellors. And further promiseth (§. 23.) That as soon as the state of the Nation will admit of it, he would send back all those Foreign Forces that he had brought along with him. Not only so, but in his additional Declaration (we all may remember how occasion'd) he most emphatically disclaims, abhors, and renounceth all suspicion of a wicked design of Conquering the Nation. And as jealous for the People, of their abandoning themselves al­together, and their Deliverance too at last, after such Instan­ces given of their over-great and too easy Passiveness, he yet further there minds them of the fatal Consequences of put­ting the Free People of England under a Force, as that which would make void their own lawful Titles to their Honours, Estates, [Page 14] and Interests. This as it shews His Majesty's great Wisdom and Goodness together, so it serves to speak and make appear the Considerateness and sound Reasons of the late Parliaments Proceedings in relation to the Army, and also strongly implies the Defectiveness of what is yet done therein, which may not be unworthy your further Consideration. For as it was one of the State-Policies, calculated to serve the sinister Ends of the late Reigns, to neglect, discourage, and discountenance The Militia of the Kingdom, thereby to render it both con­temptible, and in a great measure useless, in order to the su­perinducing in process of time, and as time should serve, A Standing Force; so it appears but a reasonable Jealousy or Con­jecture, That notwithstanding what is already done in this matter, if more do not follow, and that the Militia of the Kingdom at least be not new-modell'd and better form'd, than it can possibly be on the Foot it now stands; it may yet prove, for want of some ready, disciplin'd, domestick Power of one kind or another, to withstand and oppose any Foreign At­tempt; but as a Postern-gate to let in at one time or other, A Standing Force upon the Nation; and then they that would have Honours, Estates, and Interests, (according to what goes before) must have them there or no where.

Or if Gentlemen, notwithstanding our present sure and hap­py Peace, apprehend it requisite as an immediate Guard and Defence of the Nation, to continue on foot for this one Year longer, a certain Number of Men (call them Regular Troops, a Standing Force or Army, or whatever else their Appellation be) yet taking the real meaning to be, That their Being shall deter­mine with the Year; it may nevertheless sure with Decency and good reason be expected, not only that some special Reason be assigned, why These must be continued This Year, more than The Ensuing; for a Perpetual Reason and a Yearly Expedient cor­respond not over-well; and Perpetuity it self is made up, and in some sort consists of One Year after Another. But further, I humbly presume, it may moreover be expected, that the same Gentlemen will rather chuse to move First, than wait to Second any Motion for suitable Provisions for Futurity; (suppose one be, for instance, as before, The new forming the Militia of the Kingdom; that thus, under the Cover of the foremention'd [Page 15] Expedient, this at least may be gain'd, that it be better settled, Trained, and become more and every way useful; [...] upon this supposition still, that as yet we want what is sufficient for the Safety, Honour and Happiness of the Kingdom: The glorious Ends His Sacred Majesty not only came hither for at first, but which is all (as he, to his immortal Honour be it ever spoken, conti­nues gratiously to assure us in his late Speech to both Houses of Parliament) he hath to ask: After which, I see not how it can any longer remain a doubt (if any hitherto hath been) but that an English Parliament will (and without prejudice to any their more particular Engagements) most carefully hold those general Engagements above-mentioned, to the Safety, Honour and Happiness of the Kingdom, in all and every respect sacred; or His Majesty is but too like to fail of the honourable Expecta­tion he so graciously expresseth of the present Parliament, And they will appear to come infinitely below the thoughts he en­tertain'dP. of O's Letter to the Offi­cers of the Army. even of the Officers of the late King James's Army, who, he had goodness enough to hope, would not suffer themselves to be abused by a false notion of Honour; but that they would in the first place consider what they owed to Almighty God, to their Religi­on, to their Country, to themselves, and to their Posterity, which they as men of honour (and it seems to hold much the same with all men of honour) ought to prefer to all private Considerations and En­gagements whatsoever; but besides the force and extent of these Considerations, yet even for the obtaining of the present sup­posed Point in issue, a certain Land-Force for this one Year; As such provisions and such concurrence, (by removing all Reasonable Jealousies, and by that means inducing Men of somewhat other thoughts, to quit their fears of this, or any present, Expedi­ent, that upon mature deliberation and debate shall be found oc­casionally necessary) do both plainly and naturally tend to faci­litate the End; so they also help to make it easy for the time, if not every way and altogether agreeable to those of such dif­ferent Sentiments; which, with humble submission I take it,His Maje­sty's late Gracious Speech to both Hou­ses of Par­liament. is of more weight, and better account, than perhaps the bare car­rying This, or, it may be, any Other Point can, in its self, possibly be. It being beyond all contradiction no less than self-evident, That the flourishing of Trade, the supporting of Credit, and the quiet of Peoples minds at home, will depend on the opinion they have of their Security.

[Page 16]I have been the freer to give some before-hinted Jealousies in this place the term of Reasonable; because I observe, That the raising and keeping a standing Army in time of Peace, without con­sent of Parliament, is assign'd, in the Agreement of the House of Lords, with the concurrence of the House of Commons, as one of the Acts whereby the late King James did endeavour to subvert the Protestant Religion, and the Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom, and which (together with all other the particulars therein enumerated) was by them declared utterly and directly contrary to the known Laws and Freedom of this Realm; whereupon fol­lowed the Abdication and Vacancy, which made way for, under God, our present Gracious Deliverer and Sovereign to fill the Throne, thereby to supply that Vacancy: And that these words, without Consent of Parliament, stand part of this fore­cited Article, takes not off the force thereof: For besides the foreignness of the Supposition, That a Free English Parliament would e're consent to raise or keep up an Army in time of peace without some imminent danger apparently impendent on the Nation and Government; This only obviates the Exceptions and Of­fence that might be taken from the Ways and Means of com­ing by, or of retaining, such a Force, but by no means provides against the many and great Dangers (if no more immediate Evils) naturally accruing and arising thence; which is by far the greatest part of the difficulty, as it is most evidently of the last and utmost Concern to a free People: Now, how any can think it (if any do) altogether unreasonable to be, though but thus remotely, jealous for His Majesty, and our own sakes, of any thing that had such a part in the late King James's Fate, and the Nations Sufferings under him, is beside, I confess, (or it may be rather, it surpasseth) my small Capacity and Under­standing, which way soever the merits of the matter turns, as to a Standing Land-Force, being a present necessary Expedient for preserving the safety, honour and happiness of the Kingdom: And as to what consideration it may have Abroad, His Majesty is also pleased in his before-mentioned late Speech, (so full of Wisdom and Grace,) to give us this fresh Information and Assu­rance, That to preserve to England the weight and influence it has at present on the Councels and Affairs Abroad, it will be requisite Europe should see, we will not be wanting to our selves. ☞

[Page 17]But as to this, (and indeed in what not?) His Majesty more­over had before acquitted himself in so solemnly declaring (§ 21.) the design of his Expedition to be, That so the Two Houses may concur in the preparing of such Laws, as they upon full and free debate shall judge necessary and convenient, both for the con­firming and executing the Law concerning the Test, and such other Laws as are necessary for the security and maintenance of the Prote­stant Religion; as likewise for making such Laws as may establish a good Agreement between the Church of England, and all Protestant Dissenters; as also for the covering and securing of all such who will live peaceably under the Government, as becomes good Subjects, from all persecution upon the account of their Religion, even Papists them­selves not excepted; and for the doing all other things, which the Two Houses of Parliament shall find necessary for the peace, honour and safety of the Nation, so that there may be no more danger of the Nation's falling at any time hereafter under Arbitrary Government; by which he fully refers to your Honours (as he still continues to do); And there, in all humility, I leave these Considerations, at a Season, which in many respects appears proper, and adap­ted to such Cares and Endeavours: For an end being put to the growing Expences and Hazards of a tedious War, the time is come, that the Nation, by report at least and speech of Peo­ple, has been referr'd to: The Time is also come, that (such as for distinction-sake have been call'd) Whiggs are said to be more in play, and have greater Parts and Interests in State-Affairs than formerly, who have hitherto loudly call'd for a full Regulation and better Settlement in these Matters: And God be thanked, our Case is not at present so forlorn, and past all remedy, that it should seem to be with us (as Bishop Sanderson on another occasion express'd himself) as with decaying Merchants, almost become desperate; who when Creditors call fast upon them, being hopeless of paying all, grow careless of all, and pay none: And if These neglect their Opportunities which God and the King have, and do put into their hands (and more if they withstand them) in so dishonouring their own Principles, and sinning so much against knowledge and conviction, they'll en­danger the rendring themselves contemptible, and of becom­ing more a common scorn, than I am willing to say; for thus, as Popish Policy sowed Divisions among us, that we might do [Page 18] their work by, in our turns, devouring one another, when they, without our help, were not sufficient to effect our Ruin; so Tories (as men have been distinguished) might well laugh in their Sleeves, (nor scarce would they stop there) if the Whiggs, but through neglect or indiscretion, suffer those Evils to overtake Posterity which the Others could not (whether wit­tingly or unwittingly) bring upon the present Generation; and so it would be justified beyond dispute, that (though it would be hard perhaps, nay next to impossible it may be, to establish the Government altogether by Tories, yet however that) it's also possible it may not be preserv'd with Whiggs; Quod Deus avertat.

It were, 'tis confess'd, to a high degree vain to imagine, that so general a defection and corruption as well in Politicks as Manners, as hath over-run the Nation since the very Remar­kable Restauration of King Charles the Second, should be wiped off, corrected, and set right in an instant; but so your Faces, my Lords and Gentlemen, are but seen and observ'd to keep looking towards the peace and prosperity of our Jerusalem, that we continue not still under a Government of Expedients, the Na­tion, it's not to be doubted, will repose themselves on you as their present best and ablest Physicians, when to apply, and how to proportion either Remedies or Preservatives; and thus persisting, you'll still more ennoble your selves, by giving more glory to God, in doing more good to men; and beyond any thing besides, thereby also will you endear His Sacred Majesty (whom God long preserve a publick Blessing to those Nations) yet more and more to all His Subjects universally, render His Reign happy, and His Memory precious to all Posterity; agreeable to the judicious Observation of a Wise and Experienc'd Gen­tleman, now living, That a King of England at the head of His Sir W. Tem­ple in his Essays. Parliament and People, and in their hearts and interests, can never fail of making what figure he pleases in the World, nor of being safe and easy at home; and may despise all the Designs of factious men, who can only make themselves considered, by seeming to be in the in­terest of the Nation, when the Court seems to be out of it: But in run­ning on Councels contrary to the general humour and spirit of the People, the King indeed may make his Ministers great Subjects, but they can never make Him a great Prince. Which, notwithstanding [Page 19] in its true and genuine sense and signification, concludes not, but that at long run too, the King's is as truly and properly His Ministers Interest, as the People's is always His.

I come now to the Third and Last Error (or rather it may be Failure) that I shall at present mention, as affecting So­ciety in general, and which too is oft-times a consequent of the preceding; and that is, The want of a Regular Exercise of good and wholsome Discipline in Church and State: For Execu­tion (as hath been ever held) is the Life of the Law; and far better is it that Laws be not in many cases made, than that they should afterwards be neglected, and so fall into contempt; for which reason 'tis a noted Rule, That Penalties ought not to be too great, because any over-great Penalty (besides the Acer­bity L^d Bacon's Resuscitat. of it) deads the Execution of the Law. And there is a fur­ther Inconvenience (as) of Penal Laws obsolete and our of use, or in disuse, That it brings a Gangreen, Neglect, and Habit of Dis­obedience.

Some, on behalf of the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, may possibly reply, That admitting the Error or Failure, it is not to be imputed so much to want of Good-Will and Intention, as of Wealth, of Credit, and of Power; and that this par­ticularly may well be reckon'd one among the Deficiencies of our Reformation it self; which neither will I altogether deny, but 'twould be more easily granted, if our Spiritual Guides and Governors were seen to exercise those Powers they have, more strictly to Edification, and in a more especial manner over their own Body; so would they by thus first casting out the beam out of their own eye, not only avoid the Reproach of Hypocrisy, but also see clearly to cast out the mote out of their brother's eye.

To say

• That they, who wait at the Altar, should partake with the Altar,
• That the Labourer is worthy of his hire,

is not to say

• That they must par­take with the Al­tar, who wait not, or but little, there.
• That he is worthy, who doth not la­bour.

[Page 20]To say

• That we may not muzzle the mouth of the Ox, that treadeth out the Corn,
• That men should eat of the Milk of the Flock, they seed,

is not to say

• That the Ox which treadeth not, may not be muzzled.
• That such should live of the Flock, as do not feed it.

And such like. No; so far from it, that it's a known Max­im founded upon Natural Reason, That the Benefice is given for the L^d B^p of Sarum's Past. Care. Office. But what shall we say, when we find often the poorest Clerks in the richest Livings? Whose Incumbents (not content to d [...]vour the Patrimony of the Church, while they feed themselves and not the Flock out of it) are so scandalously hard in their Allowance to their Curats, as if they intended equally to starve both Curat and People. And yet the outcry of the Contempt of the Clergy, is upon oc­casion given out to proceed from the insufficiency of their established Maintenance. However, I find it queried, and that too by a Reverend Divine, ‘Whether it be rational to proceed in this matter Ascendendo, to bring up the Lean Vi­cariges to the Corpulency of Fat Parsonages; or D [...]scen­dendo, to reduce the Gouty Benefices to the Medium of the Meagre Vicariges; and not rather, to make an Equality, that they may Both meet in the half way?’ And when these Fat Kine shall have thus laid themselves out to raise the Lean ones, a man without risquing over much might possibly ensure, That the Laity, after this is done, shall readily and chearfully fill up and supply any then remaining Deficiency: For you'll Le Clere of Incredul. hear those, for example, preach Charity and Impartiality, who have neither the one nor the other; but are wonderfully pleas'd to find those they have to do with not selfish or uncharitable, because it makes for their advantage. I have read besides of, for a season, a Painful Labourer in God's Vineyard, and who, being preferr'd by his Bi­shop for his Work sake, to a much better (as 'tis call'd, i. e. a bigger) Benefice, fell off from the Exercise of his Ministe­rial Function; and being ask'd how such a Change was wrought? replied only, Parvae loquuntur Curae Ingentes stupent. To the same purpose Q Elizabeth was wont to say often upon the [Page 21] making a Bishop, That she lost a good Preacher. And so the Woman in the Fable not content with one Egg a day, over fed her Hen, that she laid none at all. And thus it may fall out with men now-a-days; for they who do not in a good degree employ the Faculties and Powers they have, would no more make due use, and improve greater, than people who neglect the present opportunities would retrieve the loss of time past (was it to return again), tho scarce any thing is more common than to hear men speak so; but their present Behaviour shews evidently, how apt we are herein to deceive our selves more than others; so that it cannot be absolutely said, That 'tis al­ways the want of sufficient Powers, &c. as before, that is the cause no more is done towards the Reformation and Regulations necessary; nor that such Powers, &c. alone can work those effects, but as Men and Things are therewith also circumstan­tiated. ‘In short, Religion is a thing cannot be long kept Reflection the Gr. of Deism. up, as Secular Factions may be, by Interest or Grandeur, or any thing of that kind: No, it must have real internal esteem in the hearts of men, otherwise the effect is very like to be, that they will leave that (i e. any separate Mode or Establishment) for some other, or else look upon all Re­ligion to be only Trick and Design.’ These Prejudices lye so much and justly at the doors of many such Complainants, that they are themselves in a great measure to answer for the ill consequences of this want of Powers (if so it be) which because I do not wholly deny, but wish rather a Regulation first of those in being, and then a Supply of what is defici­ent, I will here observe another Prejudice which seems to have no less obstructed the increase of these Powers, than the for­mer, and till remov'd will go nigh to continue an invincible Obstacle to the enlarging them for the good, it may be, they might otherwise do, and which themselves may charitably be suppos'd to intend; and this is, their so strongly and so strangely affecting a separate and distinct Headship, Superiority, and Jurisdiction from, and over, the Laity; whereas the Powers of the Church (except the immediate Power of the Keys, which is purely indeed Spiritual) is wholly Civil, however at any time exercised by Spiritual persons. The Magistrate, 'tis true, hath been acknowledg'd to be Custos utriusqueTabulae; but I do [Page 22] not understand that Priests are held to be, or are, so. And it's truly noted by a modern Writer, and well worth our Obser­vation, ‘That the tearing the Ecclesiastical Power from theEssay of Magistr. Power. Postsc. Temporal, was the cursed Root of Antichrist; those Powers were not distinct in England, nor in most Nations, till the See of Rome got the Ascendant; then, and not till then, did the Clergy attempt to bind the Laity by those Laws they never consented to. And in another place, That the Powers the Clergy claimed to themselves, being inconsistent with the Principles of the Reformation, and, in England, with the Oath of Supremacy, and that Power the Laws have invested the King with, there is nothing so contradictory as their pretended Power, and that which they are forced to own does belong to the Magistrate: So that our High Churchmen are not consistent with them­selves, no, not in one point; but (what is worse) assert such Principles as make the Reformation it self criminal; and which must unavoidably oblige a man that acts agree­able to those Principles, to return to the Popish Yoke.’ I find it likewise queried by the same Reverend Divine before referr'd to, ‘Whether it be not more agreeable to the Primi­tive Times, and the Nature of the Christian Religion, that the Clergy should have some dependance on the People as to Temporals, who depend so much on their Clergy as to Spirituals?’Who thereupon also notes, ‘That we consider the Inconveniences of a Depending Clergy, but not the greater ones of having them Absolute and Independent.’ No won­der then if the Laity be, it may be, over and above jealous of intrusting more Powers with men of such Pretensions; but remove the Obstacles, and the Effect follows, in a man­ner, as naturally as the Cause being taken away, the Effect is said and known to cease.

But then again as to the State, I am far from exciting Ri­gour, or stirring up an extreme Execution of the Laws, as convinc'd that summum Jus est summa Injutia. And tho agree­able to what goes before, I hold that a due regard should be had to a Regular Exercise of Civil Discipline, yet I readily con­fess withal, that Example goes as much beyond Penal Laws and Human Penalties, as beyond Precepts; and therefore I desire to [Page 23] be understood to lay the far greater stress there, according to what is said at the beginning of this Paper; but yet the one may be done, without leaving the other undone. I will therefore conclude this Head, with an Instance assign'd as a Cause of the Deism of the Age, in some Reflections on an Account of the Growth thereof, in further Proof of the Force of Example, be­yond, as I said, or Law or Precept; and which the Author seems at least to allow as it were (propter duritiam cordis) as a Plea for the common practice he complains of and decries; and that is (in the Author's words) this; That by the false Laws of Honour now in vogue, they see they cannot live and act like Gentlemen, and at the same time keep to the plain Rules of their Religion. Christ commands us to forgive Injuries, Not to render evil for evil: But if a Gentleman at present won't cut his Neighbour's Throat for a small Affront, he must be contented to suffer himself, what is very hard to be born, to be expos'd, and counted a Coward, and be perhaps kick'd out of Company: By which means the Christian Religion is really in a state of Persecution. Now this is a great snare to young Gentlemen, and must make very many of them resolve rather to leave their Religion in that point, than undergo what is so hard to be born. And tho the Case do never happen to them, yet the very Resolution must debauch the Con­science, take away much, if not all the Authority Religion has over it, which must needs make that very uneasy, and so incline him for his own quiet to throw it quite off, or come to despise it, as not being fit to be the Rule of the Life and Actions of a Gentleman. Which pra­ctice notwithstanding, however evil in it self, and destructive in its Consequences, is hardly, scarce possibly, to be superseded, till and unless the State so take upon it to inspect, protect, and preserve all particular mens Reputations, and to judge and de­termine between them in those nice and tender Points of Ho­nour; so as by this means, or some other of the like or more efficacy, it become Reputable to appeal and submit in such matters to its final and peremptory Decision.

But after all; the Business of a Religious and Civil Reforma­tion, doth not wholy lye on any Set, or any sort of men what­ever (tho such as sit at the Helm of Church and State, should no doubt lead, and may steer and influence a great way): But this is so much every one's own in one kind and degree or another, as in his respective Station to bear a part at least (wherein, by the way, the voluntary Societies of one and another Denomination now associated for any of these purpo­ses, [Page 24] are particularly commendable, deserve encouragement, and are wor­thy imitation) in animating and encouraging our Heads and Chiefs, and in manifesting in our selves, and helping to work in others, for that pur­pose, a disposition to so noble and such generous Impressions, without which even the utmost care and endeavours, whether of preaching, or due pu­nishing &c. in our Superiors, will be labour in vain: For though mens Wills are often found very perverse and obstinate, yet there is nothing in Nature so stubborn and inflexible as the nature of things themselves, which yet may be, and often is subdu'd, o'recome and corrected; but it's more by humouring it in some sort▪ than opposing it; more by go­ing, as it were, along with it, than against it: This His Majesty in His Princely Wisdom hath admirably well considered in His late Royal Pro­clamation for preventing and punishing Immorality and Prophaneness, (issued as thereunto moved by the pious Address of the Commons in Parliament assem­bled;) as appears not only by his exciting in us a due sense to whom we owe our peace, His so judiciously pointing at the unquestionable occasions of the Nation's being so universally over-run with those Enormities, His declaring His Royal Purpose and Resolution to discountenance and punish all manner of Vice, Immorality, and Prophaneness, in all persons, from the highest to the lowest degree, within this His Realm; and particularly in such who are employed near His Royal Person: But more especially by His adding, That fer the greater Encouragement of Religion and Morality, He will upon all occa­sions distinguish men of Piety and Virtue, by Marks of His Royal Favour. ‘For the Bulk of Mankind is so made, that there is no working on them, butL^d B^p of Sarum's Past. Care. by moving their Affections, and commanding their Esteem;’ who yet with all their Natural Propensions to Evil, are not such utter Enemies to Godliness, as to the Forms of it; nor such Abhorrers of the Priesthood, as of the Craft: But would thus (without the mystick Appendages of mens Inventions) be soon more thoroughly persuaded, That

Which is yet abundantly cleared and confirmed by the Inestimable Re­velations of himself superadded to the Impressions, Light, and Law of Nature. In short, if we, however dignified or distinguished, did but seve­rally seek the praise of God more than the praise of men: were we found doing the Lord's work more than (what we too fondly call) our own. If we sought Good, rather than a Great Living: In so asking, and sin­cerely seeking first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, all these things would be added unto us; according as we find God dealt with Solomon.

[Page 25]So would Religion no longer suffer under the opprobrious Nick-name of a Trade; but the Gospel would run a-pace and be glorified, which wants nothing, but its false Lights, Colours and Obscurities to be done away, and its Vails to be taken off, to spread far and near its true and native lustre.

The Clergy would be renown'd beyond expression; since Reverence and Esteem is so inseparably annexed to that high Calling and Office, that it may be said of them, as our Saviour Christ saith of his own Life, No man taketh it from them, but they lay it down of themselves; and in John 10. 18. Lord Bi­shop of Sarum's Past. Care. this we have good reason to rest assured, since we do not find many Instances of Clergymen, who live and labour, who preach and visit as they ought to do, that are under any eminent degrees of contempt; This shews evidently how pi­ous also and just is the Observation, That the most capital and comprehen­sive of all Abuses is, That the false Opinion of the worst Ages of Popery, that made the chief, if not the only obligation of Priests to be the performing Offices, and judged that if these were done, the chief part of their business was also done, by which the Pastoral Care came to be in a great measure neglected, does continue still to leven us; while men imagine that their whole work consists in publick Functions, and so reckon, that if they either do these themselves, or pro­cure and hire another person in holy Orders to do them, that then they answer the Obligation that lies on them. And thus the Pastoral Care, the Instruct­ing, the Exhorting, the Admonishing and Restoring, the Directing and Conduct­ing, the Visiting and Comforting the People of the Parish, is generally neglected; while the Incumbent does not think fit to look after it; and the Curate thinks himself bound to nothing, but barely to perform Offices according to Agreement. And how natural and just is it, that such, whoever they be, as in their own persons neglect and contemn the great Duties of Religion, and of their proper Ministerial Office, should thence in conclusion draw contempt upon themselves.

Our Church also would be united and established upon a Rock, that not men, nor Devils, could prevail against, as (in the particular it relates to) is agreeable to the observation of its Right Reverend Dignitary, ThatIbid. it was the Opinion many had of the Dissenters strictness, and of the looseness that was among us, that gained them their credit, and made such numbers fall off from us: They have in great measure lost the good character they once had; if to that, we should likewise lose our bad one; if we were stricter in our Lives, more serious and constant in our Labours, and studied more effectually to reform those of our Communion, than to rail at their's; if we took occasion to let them see, that we love them, that we wish them no harm, but good; then we might hope, by the blessing of God, to lay the Obligations to love and Peace, to Unity and Con­cord, before them with such Advantages, that some of them might open their Eyes, and see at least upon how slight grounds they have now so long kept up such a Wrangling, and made such a Rent in the Church, that both the power of Religion in general, and the strength of the Protestant Religion, have suf­fered extreamly by them.

His Majesty, under God, our Great Deliverer, would be still more and more esteem'd and rever'd as a Soverain-Benefactor, more than Sove­raign; and so will His Throne be established by righteousness.

All State-Ministers and Magistrates too, as ruling well, would be counted Ashcam of Confus. and Revol of Gover. worthy of double honour, while they abandoning the dominion of their own per­sons, take care of thousands of others. So also will they in a great measure [Page 26] avoid the Envy and Designs of many, who might otherwise aspire to their Dignities and Offices; and in an especial manner would they elude and divert, if not altogether prevent, the reproachful Malice of Crimi­nals of all sorts and sizes, who are ever forward to recriminate, and it may be, too too apt to hold themselves excused, (by the Judgment they usually, but corruptly, make from comparison, not by the Rules of Eter­nal Truth and Righteousness) if they can but retort, Thou art inexcusable. Rom. 2. 1. O man, whosoever thou art, that judgest: For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thy self; for thou that judgest, doest the same, or the like, things.

In fine, No more could the People hence fail of their particular Ac­counts, who would hereby find, that they enjoy the quiet, easy and plea­sing, as well fruits, as much better hopes, of their retirements, from such persons watching over them, and for them, that, as it were, encumber themselves for their Service with

That guilded Nothing, being Great; Mrs. Phi­lips's Po­ems. Le Clerc of Incredu­lity.

We should all soon learn, and better understand, That (as) we should not court Honour, Riches, &c. but by lawful ways; (so) not as a means to live great, But to be useful to the Society wherein we live; and (that) this cannot be, ex­cept we are capable of duly discharging those Offices which we seek, and of using those Honours we are ambitious of, to good purpose.

This would teach us to try, find out, and know our own Strengths and Abilities, and thereby prevent, 'tis probable, much trouble both to our selves and others: For not every one, that, whether by feeling or seeing, finds a fault, is fit to be entrusted with its cure; 'tis not every Goose, that some how takes an alarm, can save a Capitol; no, not even many, that are masters of reading, men of good Notions, and competent Judges of the Theory, are capable of the Practique; and that, among other Reasons, for this material one, That, though they study Books, they read not, nor understand, Men.

Thus it would be no such hard matter to convince men, That all man­dane Goods, Pleasures and Enjoyments whatsoever, are but permissive, in some sense rather negative, than positive, to be considered and accounted only as means, not as ends, and as such, and no otherwise, are to be sought after.

This would instruct us how effectually (and that not without plea­sure, and the truest Delights we are yet capable of) to moderate our Pas­sions, and subject our Ambitions, contenting our selves respectively withChurch-Catechis. Mr. Collier of the Stage. doing our duties in that state of life unto which it shall please God to call us; as knowing, that, in earnest a Christian's time for entertainment is not yet; that we are too craving and ill-manag'd, if we are so violent for delight—who (by these means, at least, would better) know, Death ought to be our pleasure; and therefore, tis hoped, Life may be a little without it: For as God makes Vertue the condition of Glory, and trains men up to happiness by hard­ships and Industry; so the Devil's Road to Destruction lies through Sensuality and Epicurism; and as pretended Evils lead us on to uncounterfeited Bliss, so Visionary Satisfactions are the causes of Real Misery.