Observations on the inslaving, importing and purchasing of Negroes with some advice thereon extracted form [sic] the Yearly Meeting epistle of London for the present year : also some remarks on the absolute necessity of self-denial, renouncing the world, and true charity for all such as sincerely desire to be our blessed Saviour's disciples. Benezet, Anthony, 1713-1784. Approx. 33 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 16 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI : 2009-04. N06540 N06540 Evans 8298 APV5843 8298 99001272

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Early American Imprints, 1639-1800 ; no. 8298. (Evans-TCP ; no. N06540) Transcribed from: (Readex Archive of Americana ; Early American Imprints, series I ; image set 8298) Images scanned from Readex microprint and microform: (Early American imprints. First series ; no. 8298) Observations on the inslaving, importing and purchasing of Negroes with some advice thereon extracted form [sic] the Yearly Meeting epistle of London for the present year : also some remarks on the absolute necessity of self-denial, renouncing the world, and true charity for all such as sincerely desire to be our blessed Saviour's disciples. Benezet, Anthony, 1713-1784. London Yearly Meeting (Society of Friends) 15, [1] p. ; (8vo) Printed by Christopher Sower., Germantown [Pa.]. : 1759. Attributed to Anthony Benezet by Evans.

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eng Slavery. Slave-trade. 2008-04 Assigned for keying and markup 2008-04 Keyed and coded from Readex/Newsbank page images 2008-06 Sampled and proofread 2008-06 Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 Batch review (QC) and XML conversion

OBSERVATIONS On the Inſlaving, importing and purchaſing of NEGROES With ſome Advice thereon extracted form the Yearly Meeting Epiſtle of London for the preſent Year ALSO Some Remarks on the abſolute Neceſſity of Self-Denial, renouncing the World, and true Charity for all ſuch as ſincerely Deſire to be our bleſſed Saviour's Diſciples.

GERMANTOWN. Printed by CHRISTOPHER SOWER. 1759.

Some obſervations on the Importation and purchaſe of Negroes.

IN ancient Times it was the Practice of many Nations, when at war with each other, to ſell the Priſoners they 〈◊〉 in Battle, in order to defray the Expences of the War. This unchriſtian or rather inhuman Practice, after many Ages continuance, is at length generally aboliſhed by the Chriſtian Powers of Europe, but ſtill continues among ſome of the Nations of Aſia and Africa, and to our ſad Experience we find it alſo practiſed by the Natives of America. In the preſent war, how many of our poor Country Men are dragged to Bondage and ſold for Slaves; how many mourn, a Husband, a Wife, a Child, a Parent or ſome near Relation taken from them; and were we to follow them a little farther, and ſee them expoſed to ſale and bought up to be made a Gain of, what Heart ſo hard that would not melt with Sympathy and Sorrow: And could we hear the Purchaſers, for the ſake of Gain, puſhing on the Savages to captivate our People, what inhuman wretches ſhould we call them, what Puniſhment ſhould we 〈◊〉 their Guilt deſerved! But while our Hearts are affected for our Brethren and Relations, while we feel for our own Fleſh and Blood, let us extend our Thoughts to others, and allow me, gentle Reader! to recommend to thy ſerious Conſideration, a Practice that prevails among ſeveral Nations who call themſelves Chriſtians, and I am ſorry to ſay it, in which we as a Nation are deeply engaged, & which is of ſuch a Nature, as that nothing can be more inconſiſtant with the Doctrines and Practice of our meek Lord and Maſter, nor ſtained with a deeper Dye or Injuſtice, Cruelty and Oppreſſion, I mean the SLAVE TRADE, the purchaſing and bringing the poor Negroes from their Native Land, and ſubjecting them to a State of perpetual Bondage, and that often the moſt cruel and oppreſſive. And this carried on cheifly at the inſtigation of thoſe to whom the Promulgation of the merciful, pure, and holy Goſpel of Chriſt Jeſus was committed. Will not the juſt Judge of all the Earth viſit for all this? Or dare we ſay, that this very Practice is not one Cauſe of the Calamities we at preſent ſuffer. And that the Captivity of our People is not to teach us to feel for others, and to induce us to diſcourage a Trade, by which many Thouſands are Yearly captivated? Evils do not ariſe out of the Duſt, nor does the Almighty willingly afflict the Children of Men; But when a People offend as a Nation, or in a publick Capacity, the Juſtice of his moral Government requires that as a Nation they be puniſhed, which is generally done by War, Famine or Peſtilence. I know there are many Arguments offered in favour of the Purchaſers, but they are all drawn from Avarice or ill founded, none will ſtand the Teſt of that divine Rule, To do unto all Men, as we would they ſhould do unto us. Without Purchaſers, there would be no Trade; and conſequently every Purchaſer as he encourages the Trade, becomes partaker in the Guilt of it, and that they may ſee what a deep dye the Guilt is of, I beg leave to quote ſome Extracts from the Writings of Perſons of Note, who have been long employed in the African Trade, and whoſe Situation and Office in the Factories will not admit any to queſtion the Truth of what thy relate. By theſe we ſhall ſee, that in order to get Slaves, the Europeans ſettled at the Factories in Africa, encourage Wars, and promote the Practice of ſtealing Men, Women and Children, which they readily purchaſe without any Regard to Juſtice, Equity or any of the tender Ties of Nature.

William Boſman, Factor for the Dutch AFRICAN Company, at the Factory at DELMINA, who wrote an Account of that Country, now more than fifty Years paſt, tells his Readers That the Booty which the Negro Soldiers aim at in their Wars, are Ornaments of Gold and Priſoners of War, in Order to ſell them for Slaves at Pleaſure, that many of the Inhabitants depend on Plunder and the Slave-Trade; and that when Veſſels arrive, if they have no Stock of Slaves, the Factors truſt the Inhabitants with Coods for the Value of one or two Hundred Slaves, which they ſend into the inland Country in Order to buy Slaves, at all Markets even ſometimes two Hundred Miles deep in the Country, where Markets of Men were kept in the ſame Manner as thoſe of Beaſts with us, He farther adds. That, in his Time, the Europeans furniſhed the Negroes with an incredible Quantity of Fire-Arms and Gunpowder, which was then the Cheif vendible Merchandize there. This was the State of the Negro Trade when B •• man wrote his Account of GUINEA, which, as I have already ſaid, was more than fifty Years ago; Since that Time the Trade is prodigiously augmented, there being now more than ten Ships to one that was then imployed in it: And as the Demand for Slaves has augmented, ſo have the Negroes been the more induced not only to wage War one with another, but alſo to put in practice the moſt baſe and inhuman Methods, in Order to get their unhappy Countrymen into their Power, that they may ſell them to the European Traders.

John Barbot, Agent General of the French Royal African Company, in his Acc. printed 1732 writes as follows. Thoſe Slaves ſold by the Negroes, are for the moſt Part Priſoners of War, taken either in fight or purſuit, or in the incurſions they make into their Enemies Territories; others are ſtolen away by their own Contry-Men, and ſome there are who will ſell their own Children, Kindred or Neighbours. This has often been ſeen, and to compaſs it, they deſire the Perſon they intend to ſell, to help them in carrying ſomething to the Factory by Way of Trade, and when there, the Perſon ſo deluded, not underſtanding the Language, is ſold and delivered up as a Slave, notwithſtanding all his Reſiſtance and exclaiming againſt the Treachery. Abundance of little Blacks of both ſexes are alſo ſtolen away by their Neighbours, when found abroad on the Roads, or in the Woods; or elſe in the Corn Fields, at the Time of the Year when their Parents keep them there all Day, to ſcare away the devouring ſmall Birds,

A Perſon of Candour and undoubted Credit now living in Philadelphia, who was on a trading Voyage, on the Coaſt of Guinea, about ſeven Years ago, was an Eye Witneſs of the Miſery and Deſolation which the Purchaſe of Slaves occaſions in that Country, a particular Inſtance of which he relates in the following Manner viz. Being on that Coaſt, at a Place called Baſalia, the Commander of the Veſſel according to Cuſtom ſent a Perſon on Shore, with a Preſent to the King of the Country, acquainting him with their arrival, and letting him know that they wanted a Cargo of Slaves: The King promiſed to furniſh them with Slaves, and in Order to do it, ſet out to go to War againſt his Enemies, deſigning alſo to ſurprize ſome Town and take all the People Priſoners. Sometime after the King ſent them Word he had not yet met with the deſired ſucceſs, having been twice repulſed, in attempting to break up two Towns; but that he ſtill hoped to procure a Number of Slaves for them; and in this Deſign he perſiſted, till he met his Enemies in the Field, where a Battle was fought, which laſted three Days, during which Time the Engagement was ſo bloody, that 4500 were ſlain on the Spot. Think, ſays the Author, what a pitiable ſight it was, to ſee the Widows weeping over their loſt Huſbands, and Orphans deploring the loſs of their Fathers &c. What muſt we think of that cruel Wretch who occaſioned ſuch a Scene of Miſery, or what of thoſe who for the ſake of Gain inſtigated him to it.

N. N. Bru , a noted Traveller, a Narative of whoſe Travels is to be met with in a new Collection of Voyages, printed by the King's Authority in the Year 1745, Tells his Readers; That the Europeans are far from deſiring to act as Peace-Makers, amongſt the Negroes, which would be acting contrary to their Intereſt, ſince the greater the Wars, the more Slaves are procured. He alſo gives an Account of the Manner in which the Slaves are got, in the Place where he then was, in the following Terms viz. When a Veſſel arrives, the King of the Country ſends a Troop of Guards to ſome Village, which they ſurround; then ſeizing as many as they have Orders for, they bind them and ſend them away to the Ship, were the Ship's Mark being put upon them, they are hear'd of no more. They uſually carry the Infants in Sacks, and gag the Men and Women for fear they ſhould alarm the Villages, thro' which they are carried: For, ſays he, theſe Actions are never committed in the Villages near the Factories, which it is the King's Intereſt not to ruin, but in thoſe up the Country.

Alſo, Joſeph Randal, in his Book of Geography, printed in the Year 1744, in the Account he gives of the Guinea Trade, after generally confirming the above Account, adds: That in time of full Peace nothing is more common, than for the Negroes of one Nation to ſteal thoſe of another, and ſell them to the Europeans. There has, ſays he, been Inſtances amongſt the Negroes of Children ſelling their Fathers and Mothers, when they have been weary of them, and wanted to enjoy what they had; which I ſuppoſe, ſays that Author, gave birth to the Laws, by which the Children are not to inherit the Goods or Eſtates of their Fathers and Mothers. Thus, theſe poor Creatures are brought down to the Coaſt to be ſold to the Merchants of Europe. When the Price is agreed upon, which for an able bodied Man, under thirty five Years of age, may be about 5 Pounds, the Women a fifth Part leſs, and the Children in proportion to their Age, the European Merchants brand them with hot Irons to diſtinguiſh them, and looks the poor wretches up in ſome Priſon, till they can be ſent on board; When they come to America, they are diſpoſed of, ſome to the Spaniards to work in the Mines, (for the Engliſh are obliged by the Aſſiento Contract, to deliver thirty Thouſand Slaves every Year to the Spaniards, and the reſt are ſold to the Planters in America.) It is thought that the Engliſh tranſport annually near fifty Thouſand of thoſe unhappy Creatures, and the other European Nations together about Two Hundred Thouſand more. Let but any one reflect that each Individual of this Number had ſome tender attachment which was broken by this cruel Separation; ſome Parent or Wife, who had not even the Opportunity of mingling Tears in a parting Embrace; or perhaps ſome Infant whom his Labour was to feed and Vigilance protect,; or let any conſider what it is to loſe a Child, a Husband or any dear Relation, and then let them ſay what they muſt think of thoſe who are ingaged in, or encourage ſuch a Trade. By the fore mentioned Accounts it appears, how by various perfidious, and cruel Methods, the unhappy Negroes are inſlaved, and that moſtly, by the Procurement of thoſe called Chriſtians, and violently rent from the tendereſt Ties of Nature, to toil in hard Labour, often without ſufficient Supplies of Food, and under hard Taſkmaſters, and this moſtly to uphold the Luxury or Covetouſneſs of proud ſelfiſh Men, without any Hope of ever ſeeing again their native Land; or an end to their Miſeries. Oh ye cruel Taſkmaſters! ye hard-hearted Oppreſſors! will not God hear their Cry; and what ſhall ye do; when God riſeth up; and when he viſiteth; what will ye anſwer him? Did not he that made you make them? and did not one faſhion you in the Womb?

Hitherto I have conſidered the Trade as inconſiſtent with the Goſpel of Chriſt, contrary to natural Juſtice, and the common feelings of Humanity, and productive of infinite Calamities to many Thouſand Families, nay to many Nations, and conſequently offenſive to God the Father of all Mankind. Yet it muſt be allowed, there are ſome well minded Perſons, into whoſe Hands ſome of the Negroes have fallen, either by Inheritance, Executorſhip, or even ſome perhaps purely from Charitable Motives, who rather deſire to Manage wiſely for their good, than to make Gain by their Labour; theſe I truly ſympathize with, for, conſidering the general ſituation of thoſe unhappy People, they have indeed a difficult Path to tread.

I might next conſider the Trade as it is deſtructive of the Welfare of human Society, and inconſiſtent with the Peace and Proſperity of a Country; as by it the number of natural Enemies muſt be encreaſed, and the Place of thoſe taken up who would be its ſupport and ſecurity. Or I might ſhew from innumerable Examples, how it introduces Idleneſs, diſcourages Marriage, corrupts the Youth, and ruins and debauches Morals. I might likewiſe expoſe the weakneſs of thoſe Arguments, which are commonly advanced in Order to vindicate the Purchaſers, ſuch, as their being Slaves in their own Country and therefore may be ſo to us, or that they are made acquainted with Chriſtianity in lieu of their Liberty, or that the laſt Purchaſer will uſe them better than they formerly were: But not to mention, that theſe are only vain pretences, that the true Motive of encouraging the Trade is ſelfiſh Avarice; to ſay nothing of the weakneſs of the Argument. That becauſe others do ill, we may do ſo too; or the abſurdity of recommending the Chriſtian Religion by Injuſtice and a diſregard to the Rights and Liberties of Mankind, or the Encouragement that every new Purchaſer gives to a Trade altogether unjuſt and iniquitous. What is already ſaid, will I hope be ſufficient to prevent any conſiderate Chriſtian from being, in any Degree, defiled with a Gain ſo full of Horrors, and ſo palpably inconſiſtent with the Goſpel of our bleſſed LORD and Saviour JESUS CHRIST, which breaths nothing but Love and Goodwill to all Men of every Nation, Kindred, Tongue and People.

Extract from the Epiſtle of the yearly Meeting of Friends, held at London in the Year 1758.

WE fervently warn All in Profeſſion with us, that they be careful to avoid being any Way concerned, in reaping the unrighteous Profits ariſing from that iniquitous Practice of Dealing in Negroes & other Slaves; whereby in the original Purchaſe one Man ſelleth Another, as he doth the Beaſts that periſhes, without any better Pretenſion to a Property in him, than that of ſuperior Force; in direct Violation of the Goſpel-Rule, which teacheth Every One to do as they would be done by, and to do Good unto All; being the Reverſe of that covetous Diſpoſition, which furniſhes Encouragement to thoſe ignorant People to perpetuate their ſavage Wars, in Order to ſupply the Demands of this moſt unnatural Traffick, whereby great Numbers of Mankind, free by Nature, are ſubjected to inextricable Bondage; and which hath often been obſerved, to fill their Poſſeſſors with Haughtineſs, Tyranny, Luxury and Barbarity, corrupting the Minds, and debaſing the Morals of their Children, to the unſpeakable Prejudice of Religion and Virtue, and the Excluſion of that holy Spirit of univerſal Love, Meekneſs and Charity, which is the unchangeable Nature and the Glory of true Chriſtianity. We therefore can do no leſs than, with the greateſt Earneſtneſs, to impreſs it upon Friends every where, that they endeavour to keep their Hands clear of this uprighteous Gain of Oppreſſion.

Love not the World, neither the Things that are in the World. If any Man loves the World the Love of the Father is not in him

1 John 2, 15.

IF any Man will be a Diſciple of our bleſſed Lord and Saviour Jeſus Chriſt. He muſt deny himſelf and take up his Croſs dayly. He muſt be willing to loſe that Life, thoſe Affections and Deſires we naturally have to that which is earthly and ſenſual. Hence it appears, that one of the greateſt Defection any one can make from Chriſtianity, is by indulging in them ſelves a worldly Spirit, a Spirit that ſeeks its Joy and Conſolation in the Riches, Honours, and Friendſhips of this World: And indeed this ſeems to have been the chief Inlet, of that ſtream of Corruption, which in different Ages has overſpread the Chriſtian Churches.

Great Noiſe has been made about Schiſms and Hereſies, but the true Foundation of all theſe Evils, the Hereſy of all Hereſies is and has in all Ages been, a proud, ſelfiſh worldly Spirit, more or leſs cloaked under the Appearance of Zeal, with which it has not only deceived many, but has often deceived it ſelf. We are called to love God with all our Heart, and with all our Strength, to turn from every Thing, that leads not to God and his holy Will; with all the Deſire, Delight and Longing of our Heart, to give up ourſelves wholly to the Light and holy Spirit of God; pleaſed with nothing in this World, but as it gives Time and Place, and Occaſion of doing and being that, which our heavenly Father would have us to do and be, ſeeking for no Happineſs from this earthly fallen Life, but that of overcoming all its Spirits and Tempers.

The ancient Philoſophers began all their Virtue in a total Renunciation of the Spirit of this World; they ſaw with the Eyes of Heaven, that Darkneſs was not more contrary to Light, than the Spirit and Wiſdom of this World was contrary to divine Wiſdom: Therefore they allowed of no Progreſs in Virtue, but ſo far as a Man had overcome himſelf, and the Spirit of this World. This gave a divine Solidity to all their Inſtructions, and proved them to be Maſters of true Wiſdom. But the Doctrine of the Croſs of Chriſt, the laſt, the higheſt, the moſt finiſhing Stroke given to the Spirit of this World, that ſpeaks more in one Word, than all the Philoſophy of volumnious Writers, is yet profeſſed by thoſe, who are in more Friendſhip with the World, than was allowed to the Diſciples of Pithagoras, Socrates, Plato or Epictetus. Nay, if thoſe ancient Sages were to ſtart up amongſt us with their divine Wiſdom, they would bid fair to be treated by the Sons of the Goſpel, if not by ſome Fathers of the Church, as dreaming Enthuſiaſts. But, this is a ſtanding Truth, the World can only love its own, and Wiſdom can only be juſtified of her Children. The heaven born Epictetus told one of his Scholars, that then he might firſt look upon himſelf as having made ſome true Proficiency in Virtue, when the World took him for a Fool; an Oracle like that, which ſaid, the Wiſdom of this World is Fooliſhneſs with God.

If you aſk what is the Apoſtacy of theſe laſt Times, or whence is all the degeneracy of the preſent Chriſtian Church, it muſt be placed to a worldly Spirit. If here you ſee open Wickedneſs, there only Form of Godlineſs, if here ſuperficial Holineſs, political Piety, crafty Prudence, there haughty Sanctity, partial Zeal, envious Orthodoxy, if almoſt every where, you ſee a Jewiſh Blindneſs, and Hardneſs of Heart, and the Church trading with the Goſpel, as viſibly, as the old Jews bought and ſold Beaſts in their Temple, all this is only ſo many Forms, and proper Fruits of the worldly Spirit. This is the great Net, with which the Devil becomes a Fiſher of Men; and be aſſured of this, that every Son of Man is in this Net, till through, and by the Spirit of Chriſt he breaks out of it. I ſay the Spirit of Chriſt, for nothing elſe can deliver him from it. If you truſt to any Kind or Form of religious Obſervances, to any Kind of Learning, or Effort of human Prudence, and then I will tell you what your Caſe will be, you will overcome one Temper of the World, only and merely by cleaving to another: For nothing can overcome or renounce the World, but ſingly, and ſolely the Spirit of Chriſt. Hence it is, that many learned Men with all the rich Furniture of their Brain, live and die Slaves to the Spirit of this World, the Spirit of Chriſt is not the one only Thing that is the Deſire of their Hearts, and therefore their Learning only works in and with the Spirit of this World, and becomes itſelf no ſmall Parts of the Vanity of Vanities.

Would you know the evil Nature and Effect of a Spirit given up to the World, and not ſubjected to the Spirit of Grace: You need only look at the bleſſed Effect of a continual State of Watching, a continual humble Application to God in the true Spirit of Prayer, for the one goes downwards with the ſame Strength, as the other goes upward, the one betroths, and weds to an earthly Nature, with the ſame certainty, as the other eſpouſes, and unites to Chriſt. The Spirit of continual Watchings and Prayer, is a preſſing forth of the Soul out of this Earthly Life, it is a ſtretching with all its Deſire after the Life of God, it is a Leaving as far as it can, all its own Spirit, to receive a Spirit from above, to be one Life, one Love, one Spirit with Chriſt in God. This Prayer which is an Emptying itſelf of all its own Luſts and natural Tempers, and an Opening it ſelf for the Light and Love of God to enter into it, is the Prayer in the Name of Chriſt, to which nothing is denyed; for the Love which God bears to the Soul, is an eternal never ceaſing Deſire to open the Birth of his holy Word and Spirit in it, and ſtays no longer till the Door of the Heart open for Him; and nothing does or can keep God out of the Soul, or hinder his Union with it, but the Deſire of the Heart turned from it. What the Soul deſireth, that is the Fewel of its Fire, and as its Fewel is, ſo is the Flame of its Life. As we ſow, we ſhall reap; if to the Spirit, we ſhall reap Life and Peace; if to the Fleſh, we ſhall of the Fleſh reap Corruption. Wherever and in whatſoever the Will chuſeth to dwell and delight, that becometh the Soul's Food, its Cloathing and Habitation. Since this is the Caſe, let us ſtop a While, let our Hearing be turned into Feeling. Let us conſider whether there is any Thing in Life, that deſerves a Thought, but how to keep in a continual State of Watching and Prayer, that we may attain to that Purity of Heart, which alone can ſee, find and poſſeſs God

The abſolute Neceſſity of Self-Denial, Mortification and true Charity, in Order to follow our bleſſed Saviour in the Regeneration, is alſo livingly ſett forth in the excellent Writings of a pious Member of the Church of England * of which I ſhall here give ſome Extract: It being a Doctrine, which of all others appears at this Time the moſt neceſſary to be ſtrongly inculcated.

WHat Cauſe, ſays that Author, ſhall we aſſign for the Oppoſition to Goſpel-Truths that appears amongſt us, and for that Diſlike to thoſe, who urge the Neceſſity of Regeneration and of the ſpiritual Life? The true Reaſon is nigh at Hand, tho' others are pretended: Such Doctrines are contrary to the Maxims and Principles that govern the Hearts and Conduct of the Children of this Generation, are at Variance with the falſe Intereſts of Fleſh and Blood, declare open War againſt the Kingdom of Self, and ſtrike at every Thing that is moſt near and dear to corrupt Nature; and therefore carnal Men of every Denomination think themſelves concerned in Character to oppoſe and diſcredit ſuch a Repreſentation of Chriſtianity. They can be zealous for Opinions, Forms, and an external Worſhip of any Kind, becauſe they leave them in quiet Poſſeſſion of their Ambition, their Covetouſneſs, their Love of themſelves, and their Love of the World: They can readily take up a Profeſſion of Faith in a ſuffering Saviour, nay bring themſelves to truſt in an outward Covering of his Merits and Righteouſneſs for Salvation, becauſe this coſts them nothing; but to be cloathed with his Spirit of Humility, Poverty and Self-denial; to renounce their own Wills in his Lowlineſs, Meekneſs, and total Reſignation to the Will of God, to mortify the fleſhly Appetites; to be crucified to the World; to ſtrip themſelves of all Complacency and Satiſfaction in thoſe Endowments, whether natural or acquired, which appear great and glorious in the Eyes both of themſelves and Others; and, in a Word, to take up their Croſs, and nakedly follow a naked Chriſt in the Regeneration: Theſe are hard Savings, they cannot bear them: But Wiſdom is juſtified of her Children; unacceptable as theſe Doctrines are to Others yet to them, and in them too, they are the Power of God, and the Wiſdom of God. It was by ſuch Fooliſhneſs of Preaching that Chriſt's Kingdom firſt prevailed over the Kingdoms of this World; and it muſt be by the ſame Doctrine, under the Influence of the ſame Spirit, that we can only hope for its Continuance to the End of it.

The Way to any good Degree of Perfection in the divine Life, lies thro' great Mortification and Self-denial: Some think it enough to get Doctrines into the Head; but till the Heart is in ſome Meaſure purified by Faith, nothing is rightly done: And in Order to this, the Children of An k, (thoſe corrupt Paſſions and Inclinations that war againſt the Soul,) muſt be driven out, the Perverſneſs of the Will broken, the Underſtanding ſimplified, the Pride of our Hearts plukt up by the Roots, and all the Cords that bind us to the World and the Things of it untwiſted; in a Word, our Idols muſt be caſt out, and every curſed Thing removed that ſeparates betwixt God and us; for the Pure in Heart, and they only ſhall ſee God. It was by this Kind of holy Violence practiſed on themſelves, that the Worthies both of the Old and New Teſtament, in all Ages of the Church, have laid hold on the Kingdom of Heaven been favoured with ſuch rich Communications from God, and enabled to work ſuch Wonders as ſurpaſs the Belief of Many in this degenerate incredulous Age: And that a preparatory Diſcipline of Strictneſs and Severity is neceſſary in Order to qualify us for any extraordinary Vouchſafements of Illumination and Grace, we may learn from the Schools inſtituted among the Jews for the Training up of Perſons for the prophetic Office, where they were educated in great Abſtraction from the World, in the Government of their Paſſions, and the Mortification of their natural Propenſions, that being ſo diſengaged from the common Impediments of a holy Life, they might be more at Liberty for Devotion and the Contemplation of heavenly Things, and by ſuch previous Exerciſes become fit Inſtruments for the Holy Spirit, and more receptive of heavenly Wiſdom. Thus came they out holy Enthuſiaſts, Men of God furniſhed to every good Word and Work, Scribes well inſtructed unto the Kingdom of Heaven, and fearleſs of giving Offence in the Way of Duty, even before Kings, being no leſs qualified for Reproof and Correction, than for Doctrine and Inſtruction in Righteouſneſs: Patterns theſe for all Perſons of a religious Character, whether they live in Colleges or in Kings Houſes; whether they attend on thoſe who go clothed in Purple and fine Linnen, and fare ſumptuouſly every Day. or are called forth to a more promiſcuous Employment of their Office; for tho' the Diſpenſation of Prophecy as it reſpects the foretelling future Events, has a long Time ceaſed in the Church, yet the Character of Prophets in the Capacity of Declarers of God's Word and Will, and as Denouncers of his Judgments on all impenitents, even the moſt dignified Offenders, is never to ceaſe in it, neither is the Lord's Hand ſhortned that it cannot extend Comfort and Courage, Light and Direction for theſe Purpoſes now as formerly: But, Alas! our Hearts are ſtraitned that they cannot receive it as they ought, and we are ſo entangled, as to Many of us, with ſuch an evil Covetouſneſs after the Things of this Life, ſo ſtudious to ſeek the Honour that cometh of Man, more than the Honour that cometh of God, that we want Boldneſs to hold the Faith of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt without Reſpect of Perſons: For let Men be never ſo highly titled or charactered, let their Pretenſions to Learning be what they will, and their Acquaintance with Creeds, Canons and Commentators never ſo extenſive, yet ſo long as they continue Men of this World, and follow the Things of it, ſo long as their Affections are ſet on Things beneath, and their Hearts unſurrendered to God, they are no better than dry Bones as to the divine Life, without Marrow or Moiſture; and as they cannot in ſuch a State receive the Things of the Spirit of God, not having ſpiritual Senſes exerciſed thereto, ſo will theſe Things of Courſe appear Fooliſhneſs unto them in Others, and they will ſpeak Evil of that which they know not. A Party Spirit, ſays the ſame Author, whether it be in Religion or Politics, proceeds from Littleneſs of Mind and Narrowneſs of Heart, it puts out both the Eye of the Judgment and the Eye of Charity, and ſo hinders us from ſeeing the brighteſt Excellence in our Neighbour that is not juſt as high or low as our ſelves, as I heared a Man of Learning once ſay, that he could not allow Milton's Paradiſe loſt to be a good Book, becauſe written by an Oliverian. But the Chriſtian knows no ſuch Straitneſs; for his Bowels are enlarged towards All that will come within the Embraces of his Charity, which is as wide as the Eaſt is from the Weſt. He cannot wrangle and hate about Differences of Opinion, for he is got above them; his Call, his univerſal Call is Love, and he has adopted for his Motto that Saying of Luther: In whomſoever I ſee any Thing of Chriſt, him I love. In this Man, whereſoever he lives, and by what Name ſoever he is called, the Kingdom of Chriſt is come; and of ſuch heavenly Men and Women it will conſiſt in that enlarged glorious State of it which we are given to look for: And what, if it be already begun on Earth!

The one true Church of Chriſt is the Communion of Saints, and Charity; true Charity, i. e. the Love of Chriſt is the Life and Soul of it: Is then the Love of God ſhed abroad in our Hearts, and have we fervent Charity among Ourſelves? For, be it known of a Truth, that as much as we poſſeſs of this heavenly Treaſure, ſo much have we of Chriſtianity, and no more; and that without it, all Zeal for Religion is but Contention, all Modes of Worſhip but Formality, and all Orthodoxy but vain Opinion.

FINIS.