Serious reflections affectionately recommended to the well-disposed of every religious denomination, particularly those who mourn and lament on account of the calamities which attend us; and the insensibility that so generally prevails.

Serious reflections affectionately recommended to the well-disposed of every religious denomination, particularly those who mourn and lament on account of the calamities which attend us; and the insensibility that so generally prevails.

Table of contents

A COLLECTION OF Religious Tracts.

[1]

Title page

PREFACE.

THE AUTHOR's PREFACE.

CHAPTER I. Wherein is shewn, that if we are desirous to live a truly christian life, we must die unto sin, and withdraw our affections from the creatures.

CHAP. II. On Repentance and true Contrition.

CHAP. III. On true Humility.

CHAP. IV. On renouncing our own Wills.

CHAP. V. Of Brotherly love.

CHAP. VI. On the contemplation of the life and sufferings of Christ, &c.

CHAP. VII. Of the advantage of outward suffering.

CHAP. VIII. That we ought to attach ourselves to God in true love.

CHAP. IX. How we may attain to a state of purity and an union with God; and the necessity we are under of keeping our affections loose from the creatures.

CHAP. X. That we ought to attend to the motion of God's spirit, within us, and labour to preserve its presence, even whilst employed in outward concerns.

CHAP. XI. That we ought to receive all things as coming immediately from the hand of God; and that we should place our whole trust and confidence on him alone.

CHAP. XII. Of our indisposition to virtue; and how 〈◊〉 may thro' the effect of fervent prayer, be enabled to turn away from sin.

CHAP. XIII. How we ought to gather our minds unto God.

CHAP. XIV. How we may be delivered from all selfish desires; with some account of the sufferings which God permits to come upon those he loves.

CHAP. XV. Describing some weaknesses and frailties that attend many pious people, the giving way to which proves a great hinderance to their establishment in a truly christian life.

A SUPPOSITION OF TWO DROPS REASONING TOGETHER, BY WAY OF PARABLE. EXTRACED FROM THE WRITINGS OF JOHN EVERARD.

THE APPLICATION.

§

A Christian's daily Conversation with GOD, Exemplified in a short Extract OF THE HOLY LIFE of ARMELLE NICOLAS

[2]

Title page

A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE PLAGUE.

[3]

Title page

THE MIGHTY DESTROYER DISPLAYED, &c.

[4]

THOUGHTS UPON SLAVERY.

§

EXTRACT of a Sermon preached by the Bishop of Gloucester, before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel at their anniversary meeting, on the 21st of February, 1766.

[5]

Pure and Spiritual Worship: A SERMON. Preached at DEVONSHIRE-HOUSE, November 12, 1690.

The Kingdom of GOD within: A SERMON. Preached at GRACE-CHURCH-STREET, July 26, 1691.

The Necessity of an Holy Life and Conversation. Preached at ST. MARTIN'S-LE-GRAND, March the 26th, 1687.

A COLLECTION OF Religious Tracts.

[Page]

[Page]

In Proportion as we die to the Love of material Objects and earthly Affections, we advance in a spiritual Growth: we break our Bands asunder, and rise into the Liberty of the Sons of God. The proneness of the human Mind to confine itself to the Objects of Sense, joined to the inordinate Love of them; strengthened by Example and Custom, do so familiarize material Nature to the Thoughts of the learned and unlearned, that by Degrees, they become, as it were, chained down to it; hence so great a Number fall under the Predicament of the Apostle, Jude verse 19. "Sensual not having the Spirit."

Pref. to Swedeng.

PHILADELPHIA: Printed by JOSEPH CRUKSHANK, in Third-street, opposite the Work-house. M,DCC,LXXIII.

§

§

§

[Page]

THE PLAIN PATH TO CHRISTIAN PERFECTION, SHEWING That we are to seek for RECONCILIATION and UNION with GOD, solely by renouncing ourselves, denying the World, and following our BLESSED SAVIOUR, in the Regeneration.

TRANSLATED from the FRENCH.

JOHN xviii. 36.

Jesus answered, My Kingdom is not of this World.

MAT. xvi. 24.

Then said Jesus unto his Disciples, If any Man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his Cross, and follow me.

ROM. viii. 13.

If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye thro' the Spirit do mortify the deeds of Body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons of God.

PHILADELPHIA: Printed by JOSEPH CRUKSHANK, in Third-street, opposite the Work-House. MDCCLXXII.

[Page]

PREFACE.

THE treatise of which the following is an extract, was written in the German language, about two hundred and fifty years ago, and since translated into the French.— Tho' the reader is not to expect elegancy of language, in writings of that age; yet, it is thought, the plainness and honest simplicity of the author, who had solely the amendment of the hearts of his readers in view; and the divine unction which attends his writings, will make it acceptable and profitable to the awakened, unprejudiced inquirers, of every religious denomination.

In the first ages of christianity, humility and contrition of heart towards God, and love towards men, were taught to be the most acceptable sacrifice; and a compliance with those practical precepts so strongly enjoined, by our Saviour, was looked upon as the foundation of true discipleship and certain test of our affection to him, John xiv. 15. If ye love me (saith this blessed Redeemer), keep my commandments. John xv. 14. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Again, John xv. 8. Herein is my heavenly Father glorified, that ye bring forth much good fruit. And that none might [Page] mistake the true way to everlasting life, he concludes the precepts he delivered concerning it, with these remarkable words, Mat. vii. 24.—Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock, &c.

This continued to be the state of the church, till in after-ages the life of religion having much declined, the plain belief and practice of piety, founded solely on the power of the gospel, fell to decay; in the place of which pomp and shew, strange modes of worship and confused and dark opinions, till then unknown in the church, were introduced; the teachers and leaders assumed an authority and respect from their offices, which before was paid only to their virtues. Hence divisions and contentions ensued, by which that pure charity, which before had united and adorned the christian church, was gradually lost to the generality of professors. Nevertheless true religion still remains to this day, to be the power of God to salvation, changing and purifying the heart, and bringing it into true contrition and a submissive resignation to the will of God. This has, ever, been found to be the effect of its operation on all those, who by devoting themselves to God, are become the true followers and disciples of Christ Jesus.

Amongst the many instances of this kind, [Page] which might be mentioned, a particular one appeared, some years ago, in these parts, thro' the effectual workings of grace, on a number of our neighbouring Indians. These people were very earnest for the promotion of piety among themselves, which they apprehended to be the effect of an inward work, whereby the heart became changed from bad to good *. When they were solicited to join the other Indians in the war against the English, they absolutely refused, whatever might be the consequence to themselves, even if the fighting Indians should make slaves, or as they expressed it, negroes of them, rendering this reason for it, That when God made men, he did not intend they should hurt or kill one another. Upon being farther conversed with, in respect to their religious prospect, he who had been the principal instrument in raising them to a sense of good, gave in substance, the following accounts. That being by a particular providence brought under difficulty and sorrow, he was led into a deep consideration of the state of things in the world, when seeing the folly and wickedness which prevailed [Page] amongst men, his sorrows encreased. Nevertheless, being impressed with a belief that there was a great power, who had created all things, his mind was turned from beholding this lower world, to look towards him who had created it, and strong desires were begot in his heart for a further knowledge of his Creator. He was then made sensible, that evil not only prevailed in the world, but that he himself partook much of its baneful influence, and he at last found that his own heart was bad and hard. Upon this great dejection and trouble seized his mind, with an inquiry, What would become of his soul? In this situation he cried unto that powerful Being who he was sensible had made the heart of man; and after a long time of sorrow and perseverance in seeking for help, God was pleased to reveal himself to his mind, and to put his goodness in his heart:—He found he was, as he expressed it, raised above himself and above the world, and felt that his heart had undergone some great change; the hardness and badness he had so long groaned under, was taken away,* it was now become soft and good; [Page] he found so much love to prevail in it, to all men, that he thought he could bear with their revilings and abuses without resentment, appearing sensible that as the hearts of all men were bad and hard, till God made them good; the ill usage he received from them, proceeded from the same evil seed under which he himself had so long groaned. This sense of the corruption of the human heart, accompanied with a constant application to his Maker, to take away the badness and hardness of the heart, and make it soft and good, was what he called religion; and what, upon feeling the power of God to his comfort in his heart, he was concerned to exhort his brethren to seek the experience of, in themselves. And farther said, that under this dispensation he was made sensible that the spirit of religion, was a spirit of love, which led those who obeyed it, into love to all men *; but that men not keeping [Page] to this spirit of love, an opposite spirit got entrance, in their hearts; that it was from hence, that arose all those disorders which so much prevail amongst men. That he was also sensible there was still an evil spirit labouring to get the mastery in his heart, in opposition to the gospel spirit; but that those who had been visited by a power from God, and were obedient to the degree of light and love, he was pleased to favour them with, would be more and more strengthened and established therein. He had also a prospect of the necessity of that baptism of spirit and fire which the scriptures and the experience of the faithful, in all ages, have testified every true disciple of Christ must undergo; whereby, thro' mortification, and death to self, the root of sin is destroyed. This he described by the prospect he had of something, like as an outward fire would be to the natural body; which he must pass thro' in order to attain to that purity of heart he desired to attain. He farther observed, that whilst he was anxiously beholding this fire, he saw a very small path close to the fire, by walking in [Page] which, he might go round the fire, and the painful tryal be avoided.—This he understood to represent the way by which those who were esteemed wise had sound means to avoid that probation they ought to have passed thro' and yet retained a name amongst men, as though they had been purified by it. Thus this Indian, untaught by books and unlearned in what is called divinity, explained the mystery of godliness in a plain and sensible manner, and in that child-like simplicity, which our Saviour recommends as the badge of acceptance with God. This is the wisdom which on account of its plainness and simplicity, has in all ages been hid from the wise and prudent, and revealed only to babes, who in honest sincerity of heart look solely to God in their distress.

Another instance of the like kind, has lately appeared in the case of the conversion of a considerable number of the Indian natives of Greenland *. Those people were, during a long time, strongly solicited to become converts to christianity but with little or no success.

As long as the poor natives had no conception nor feeling of the corruption of their hearts; nor any longing for a better condition, but only apprehended christianity [Page] to consist in the repetition of creeds and confessions of truths contained in the scriptures, little or no impression was made upon them. But as soon, as they became sensible of the corruption and hardness of their hearts, and believed the publication of the gospel, to contain in it itself, a power thro' which they might be delivered from that burden of sin and corruption which lay upon them, they embraced it with joy, and crying to God for power, many became the objects of redeeming grace; experiencing the stony heart to be taken away, and a heart of flesh to be given them. And indeed the grace which prevailed amongst these simple, ignorant people, was cause of amazement, and such as must, by its surprizing effect, oblige people to rise to the first cause, and acknowledge it could not proceed but from God alone. The author of the history, who was on the spot, observes, that he could not help thinking that those sceptics, who incline to doubt of every thing, which their reason cannot comprehend, and who deny the efficacy of the grace, or at least judge it insufficient, towards effecting a total change of the minds and morals of men, might be clearly convinced of their error, in beholding these Indians, who had been born and brought up in an uncontrouled licence, like wild beasts, destitute of education, totally [Page] ignorant of religious impressions; and so careless and remiss, that they thought of nothing but what pleased and gratified their outward senses; these people thro' the grace and illumination of the holy spirit, to become so discreet, and carefully considerate, as voluntarily to submit their necks to the obedience of faith, and realize the great truths of the gospel to their souls, in so experimental and happy a manner, as to be able to deliver the most glorious testimonies thereof, with spirit and power, declaring to others, the grace which they had experienced in their own hearts; which together with their good deportment, amongst the unbelievers, adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour.

From these and many more instances which might be given, it evidently appears, that the gospel is the power of God to salvation in all those who believe, and in honest simplicity of heart resign themselves up to God *. The christian religion is indeed the simplest thing in the whole world, and the most easy to be understood if self is but truly renounced.

[Page]

THE AUTHOR's PREFACE.

THE narrow path which leads to christian perfection, doth not consist in the attainment of much knowledge, neither in subtility of argument, nor yet in the practice of many outward works: but it consists in this, that through grace we crucify our flesh, with all its sins and disorderly affections, resign ourselves with submission to the will of God in all things, and patiently bear with the slights and abuses which may befal us from our fellow men. That we daily take up our cross, and follow our Lord Jesus Christ, in his life and sufferings, and in the love of our enemies: It also requires that we renounce all inordinate love of parents, children, or friends; and that the love [Page] and desire of riches and other earthly delights be mortified in us: Thus we may attain to purity of heart, and be enabled to love the Lord our God, with all our hearts, with all our souls and strength, and our neighbour as ourselves, Mat. xxii. 37, 38. But this narrow and infallible path is become so desert, and so much neglected, and the love of God waxed so cold, that there are very few who are found walking therein. People are generally looking towards sensible objects, their principal desire being that their natural appetites, their covetousness, and their lusts may be satisfied: Too many being content with knowing, but not complying with, their Master's Will.

The reader will find in this abstract, a summary of the christian religion, and of the means whereby we may attain to that purity of heart and intimate union with God, to which we all are called, and for which we were created.

If this little book should, in the beginning appear too close and severe; nevertheless let the reader take courage and beg for divine help, and if he perseveres in doing that which God will manifest in his heart to be his duty; he will infallibly meet with divine aid.

[Page]

CHAPTER I. Wherein is shewn, that if we are desirous to live a truly christian life, we must die unto sin, and withdraw our affections from the creatures.

EVERY person who sincerely desires to be converted to God, must, thro' divine help, begin by forsaking all gross sins, and dying to every vicious inclination, such as pride, impurity, anger, covetousness, hatred, self-love, &c. and to all other sins, which are committed in thought, word or action. We must turn away from all sensual pleasures, renounce our attachment and dependance on the creatures, and from every thing that tends to encrease our natural corruption, and attachment to the world and the things of it, and every thing wherein the good pleasure and service of God is not our principal aim. We ought also, to be careful not to suffer our affections to fix on particular persons, as we are too easily led aside, by conforming to other people's natural dispositions; but let our regard be to all men, even as the sun equally enlightens the evil and the good, Mat. v. 45. All those good things which God in his providence [Page] favours us with, should be used with discretion for necessities, but by no means, to indulge our fleshly appetites and desires, either in eating, drinking, sleeping, or other corporeal wants.

And when we are thus disposed, we may be assured God will freely afford every necessary supply, in order to enable us to fulfil the duties he requires of us.

If we sincerely desire to love God, we must, with fervent and humble sighs, beg for divine help, carefully watch over our thoughts, words and actions, in whatever we see, do or omit, upon all that passes both within and without us, shunning, with the greatest care, all occasions of sin, such as needless company, idle conversation, &c. &c. so as continually to keep our hearts in the fear of God, which is as a fountain of spiritual strength, with the eye of the mind bent towards him in reverence and love. For he who neglects these divine and powerful supports, will be left as a city open on all sides, and become a prey to worldly mindedness and sensuality, and will finally be brought to ruin. For this reason we must exert our utmost strength against those things which we are sensible have the greatest hold of our affections, that our hearts being preserved in liberty, simplicity and purity, free from agitation [Page] and uneasiness, may not become a prey to any of those evil desires, so apt to dissipate the spirit and engross the affections. Thus may we, thro' timely care, overcome all temptations; for he that is not careful to avoid small evils, will gradually fall into greater, in which the farther he sinks, the more difficult will his conversion to God be.

Let us be particularly careful to shun all occasion of superfluous discourse, and watch over our words, that we utter nothing but what may tend to the glory of God, or the good of our neighbour. Our blessed Saviour himself has declared, "That in the day of Judgment we must give an account for every idle word." Mat. xii. 36. wherefore when we speak, let it be done with an heart full of charity; in meekness of expression, and with deep humility.

Endeavour to avoid all occasions of strife, rather suffer loss than contend. Maintain thy peace with God, and be careful not to give occasion of stumbling to any one. Have also a special care over thy eyes, for it is by them thou art drawn into temptation, and exposed to many hurtful snares.

In all tryals and contradictions look up to God, earnestly begging for strength, courage and patience; so thou mayst, by persevering in the exercise of virtue, be enabled to bring thy body in subjection, 1 Cor. ix. 27. [Page] Those who practice these precepts have good reason to hope that the spirit of God will abide with and operate in them, and that often in a wonderful manner.

The operation of the divine power is much prevented, and the love of God extinguished in us, by those sins which we, knowingly, suffer to prevail over us; such as pride, hatred, presumption, self-will, evil desires, and an unwarrantable attachment to children and relations; the desire of riches, of a name amongst men, wrong indulgence in the gratification of our appetites, and the like, which carry our thoughts and affections away from God, and to which our hearts are so attached, that we are not able to free ourselves from them, nor forsake them, for the love of God's sake. Here the creatures are possessed of that seat which God ought to occupy in the heart. Alas! how many things do we suffer to take hold of our minds, and how many things have we in our intentions to do, wherein we neither see nor seek God; thus it is that the measure of our sins are filling up, and that so many people are so long consumed by the fire of a troubled conscience, and will finally be cast into eternal sufferings, if they die without repentance.

There is a strong will in most people to live in a manner agreeable to their natural [Page] will, to gather abundance of wealth, and live in affluence, without ever making sincere and upright inquiry whether their conduct is agreeable to God, or tends to his glory.

There are others who appear virtuous in the sight of men, yet are still under the power of evil habits, which they conclude to be but small failings, not thinking themselves bound to forsake them, but look upon their state as good, because they abstain from gross sins; nevertheless, these people not being willing to give up their hearts wholly to God, the work of religion is hindred; and these very trifles which they indulge themselves in, and of which they think God takes no account, become a wall of separation between God and them. These, tho' they apprehend themselves secure, yet are walking as on the very brink of hell, and frequently fall into such grievous sins as border on destruction. Ah! how great will the lamentation of an infinite number of these kind of people be at the last day, when the thoughts of all hearts will be laid open, and every one shall clearly see whether in the course of their lives they have chosen to serve God or themselves. But how few are affected with these things; most men are, as it were, sunk into a deep lethargic state of mind, heedless of the [Page] dangers that surround them, which, if they were sensible of, would raise such deep distress of mind within them, as would not allow them rest day or night till they were delivered from this deplorable condition.

As to those failings which sometimes prevail in persons otherwise sincerely disposed to please God, which proceed from weakness, and are not the effect of an unwarrantable attachment to the creatures, but happen thro' surprise, or that weakness so prevalent in our nature, such as sudden anger, indiscreet expressions, or the like, they are not so hurtful as when they are the effect of indulgence or habit; the ground of the heart of such being good, when ever they are made sensible of their fault, they are ready to condemn themselves with true humility, and, from a lively sense of their weakness, to implore the divine mercy to [...] them from such evils.

[...] that which is very prejudicial to us, and prevents our being possessed with a true love to God, is a desire which prevails in many people to serve both God and the creatures at one and the same time; this is very hurtful to them, and prevents their being possessed of a true love to God: this the lip of truth has declared to be impossible, Mat. vi. 24. For in that degree that the heart is suffered to be filled with the love of [Page] the creatures, in that degree it is emptied of God and of his grace.

We must suffer ourselves to be stripped from all love and solicitude after terrestrial things, 1 Pet. v. 7. and be habituated, even from our youth, to serve God in spirit and truth, if we are desirous to rejoice in old age. It must be allowed that the beginning is difficult, but, thro' divine help, all things will become easy. Our kingdom is not of this world, John xviii. 36. therefore we may at least take as much pains and expose ourselves to as much inconveniency for the attainment thereof, which consists in the knowledge of, and an union with, God, as an infinite number of people do to possess those honours and delights which belong to this world, and which are sought after by its votaries with so much labour, patience and danger.

CHAP. II. On Repentance and true Contrition.

THE state of our minds ought to be carefully inspected into both morning and evening, and even often during the day time, with earnest supplication that our resolutions to live unto God might be strengthned, [Page] otherwise we shall easily slip aside. And as soon as we are sensible that we have missed our way, and are fallen into sin, let us retire into ourselves, with a sincere acknowledgment of our unworthiness, and with deep sorrow for our transgressions, not so much for the evil consequence that attend it to ourselves, but that being thereby made more sensible of the deep depravity of our nature, and how far this depravity separates us from the fountain of goodness, we may, by such conviction, have our hearts the more purified, and fitted for receiving that spirit of holiness which unites us to God. We ought always therefore, by inward recollection, carefully to observe our failings, and freely confess them to God, notwithstanding we are sensible they are not unknown to him.

All those attainments we are possessed of, and those we are endeavouring to attain to, which are not the gift of God, nor tending to unite us to him, are as so many coverings, which hide us from ourselves, and prevent our knowing ourselves as we ought; wherefore it is necessary that, thro' the help of grace, we labour to be found in the practice of every virtue, returning thanks to God for having favoured us with a state of contrition and sorrow; looking with a steady faith and an entire confidence towards [Page] our suffering and merciful Saviour, and labouring to maintain a fervent love for God, our truest friend, who can never forsake those who have their reliance on him. Isa. liv. 10. Indeed when in faith we consider the nothingness of all the works we can do, the enormity of our sins, and the excellency of the sufferings and merits of our perfect Saviour, how much he is inclined to forgive our sins, grant us his help, and give us comfort, we shall be as it were swallowed up in a deep sense of our nothingness, and of the infinite virtue contained in his merits. And when a willingness is thus begat in us to give glory to the divine justice, and patiently to submit to whatever chastisement is inflicted upon us, from a sense that the justice of God is, in mercy, exercised for the destruction of our sinful nature, with a true confidence and faith in God our Saviour, he can as easily deliver us from our sins as a drop of water is lost on a live coal.

CHAP. III. On true Humility.

HE who desires to attain and remain in as constant a state of love and union [Page] with God, as his situation in this valley of tears will permit, must lay the virtue of humility as a basis or foundation, and persevere therein, otherwise the spiritual building cannot subsist, 1 Pet. v. 5. Our blessed Saviour has, in a particular manner, given us an example of the necessity of this virtue, when he says, Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, Mat. xi. 29.

Humility is nothing but a deep submission to God's Almightiness; if therefore we desire to attain to this virtue, we must ask it of God, who himself begets it in us, James i. 17. We must gather up all the strength of our soul, and turn our eyes, with love, towards God, to contemplate his infinite excellency with deep admiration, from a consideration of his Almightiness, thro' which he created all things, and has called us to a state of such glory, that a greater can hardly be conceived, having created us in his image, that we might, thro' grace, be even what he is in his nature. Besides which he has given us, as we may say, the whole world for our entertainment and pleasure, Ps. civ. 13.14.15. And when, by means of sin, we lost this felicity, and were become miserable brands of hell, he humbled himself so low, as even to take our nature on him, Phil. ii. 7.8. and therein to perform such marvellous acts of goodness [Page] and mercy, and live a life of so sublime virtue, that these ought to be the continual objects of our contemplation and love, Heb. xii. 2.3. He was poor, abject and despised on earth, and altho' he led an amiable, humble and virtuous life, John viii. 46. nevertheless he suffered the most ignominious and bitter death; and this thro' an unexpressible love for the deliverance of these very sinners, who were his murderers, for whom he could pray, even when they were putting him to death, saying, ‘Father forgive them, for they know not what they do,’ Luke xxiii. 34. Let us consider his daily kindness and care over us, in providing all that is necessary either for the soul or body, and preserving us from a thousand afflictions which might befal us each moment, if this good and bounteous benefactor did not continually protect and succour us, Ps. cxxvii. i.

The truly humble soul who loves God, is always ready to give him the glory which is his due; and, when under a sight of his own nothingness, will freely acknowledge that God's goodness is purely the effect of his love to his creatures, as they cannot add to his happiness. Such a soul, from a feeling sense of his misery, will freely acknowledge, that from its own nature, it is as nothing, yea less than nothing, being become as a desiled vessel, which corrupts every [Page] thing which is poured into it; that he is a child of wrath, and under the curse, ready every day to fall back into his fearful nothingness. Nay, he cannot but acknowledge himself so filled with evil, and so unable to help himself, that if God did not continually prevent him, by his grace, he would be liable, each moment, to fall into the most enormous sins, and precipitate himself with the devil into eternal fire. In this humble state the soul sensibly perceives how many sins it has committed, in thought, word and action; how unfaithful and ungrateful he has been towards so good and so faithful a God, having omitted to seek, with sincerity, his glory to whom alone it is due, and thus miserably lost his time; that nevertheless God has been so good as to forgive his sins, even so fully as never to remember them any more, Mich. vii. 3. and to cause him to pass from a life of sin to a divine life; that thus from an enemy he is become his friend, which is a more excellent work than to have created a world. For God not only re-establishes in such a person what was destroyed, but also makes him a farther partaker of his most excellent gifts, which he every day experiences to encrease, if so be he, on his own part, occasion no hindrance to the drawings of God's Holy Spirit. When thus, in deep [Page] humility, we enter into ourselves, and consider the wonders which God has display'd in our favour, we must acknowledge that we are not only unworthy of the least of his benefits, but that if he should deal with us in the rigour of his justice, and according to our deserts, Ps. cxxx. iii. we could expect nothing but to experience his just indignation. Under this consideration we ought patiently and resignedly to bear every dispensation of his will, tho' ever so humbling, from a sensibility that we have no just cause of complaint, but rather reason for continually returning thanks to God for the multiude of his benefits, of which we have been such unworthy receivers, with fervent desires that the will of God may be done in and by us, and all other creatures, both in time and eternity. In this situation a man will easily bear to be despised and reputed what he indeed esteems himself to be. Those who are truly humble are not afraid of being looked upon as unworthy of honour; these equally rejoice under the exertion of that justice of God which suffers reproach to come upon them, as under the effect of that mercy which will cause every thing, even that which may be esteemed deep afflictions, to work for good to all those who love and fear him.

[Page]When we contemplate on one hand our own nothingness, and on the other view the majesty of God and his goodness so abounding in grace and love, it is astonishing that we are not wholly taken up in the exercise of humility, this being the foundation of our perfection, and of that true peace of heart which it is out of the reach and power of any creature to disturb.

Many are the straits and difficulties to which we are reduced, and the temptations and frailties under which we are liable to fall; but when any thing of this afflictive nature is suffered to attend, if we did but sink into our nothingness, we might, thro' divine help, suffer the whole vehemence of the storm to fall on us, without hurting of us; for if the devil, and all the creatures, should fall on us, in this humble resigned state, they would not hurt us, but all would work for our good, Rom. viii. 18. When a man thus sinks into his nothingness, thro' an humble resignation and submission to God, and for his sake humbles himself before men, God will necessarily be united to him; for tho' God is as nothing to man, yet he is not so in himself, he is the Jehovah, in whom are all things; yet he is as nothing with respect to the creatures, whilst their thoughts do not tend to this sovereign good, as is written, Ps. xliii. ‘The fool has said in [Page]his heart there is no God.’ Wherefore when we are in a state of true contrition, from a sense of our nothingness, with respect to God, we must be obliged to acknowledge the nothingness of all our works, and that tho' God has so long been as nothing to us, yet we must, in eternity, be something to God, in his wrath, except we become something to him in time, thro' Jesus Christ. This is the thing principally necessary, that thou know thyself, and the necessity thou art under to refrain from a pursuit after vain science and needless labour, avoiding all disputes and solicitude after earthly things, but carefully make thyself fully acquainted with the virtue of humility, and thou wilt be wise and learned enough; for the excellency of humility, and the favours and grace it draws down from God is so great, that the tongue of man can scarcely utter it to the full.

In a truly humble state we remain empty and passive before God, as an instrument or tool, which suffers itself to be handled and led by the hand of God just as it seemeth good unto the master workman.

A person thus humbled, receives all things as coming immediately from the hands of God, Lament. iii. 37.38. looking upon himself as unworthy of the least favour; if sick, or in any other afflicting dispensation, [Page] he accepts of his sickness and trouble as a messenger sent from God for his good, thanks him for it, making this very affliction an occasion of awakening his zeal for his service. If despised, he submits, as being what he deserves; if he is in honour, he esteems himself unworthy, humbling himself the more on that account; so great a sense of his nothingness prevails, that he is ready to confess himself unworthy of all the benefits he has received, and that he has well deserved all the afflictions and sufferings which are come upon him.

It is by thus setting the virtue of humility as a basis, that we shall attain to that which is really and substantially good.

We must, with one of old, Job xlii. 6. be displeased with, yea abhor ourselves, before a right amendment will take place in us, for how shall I amend in that which does not displease me. In every afflictive dispensation, there is nothing more effectual than this salutary dislike of ourselves, Luke xv. 21. This will cause us to bear in patience the slights and scorns of men; indeed nothing is of more advantage than those slights and afflictions, provided we are capable and willing to make a proper use of them.

When a man acknowledges both with heart and mouth, that he is full of guilt, and deserving of eternal death, such a sincere [Page] acknowledgment goes a great way towards his justification and reconciliation with God, 2 Sam. xii. 13. who is always ready to forgive and deliver a truly contrite sinner; but he that saith He has no sin, deceives himself, and the truth is not in him, 1 John i. 8. Our natural as well as spiritual pride is an obstacle to our receiving abundance of divine grace; for in the degree wherein we humble ourselves, in that degree God exalts us; and in the degree that we exalt and love ourselves, in that degree we are abased, Mat. xxiii. 12. Nature must pass thro' many deaths, before true humility becomes so rooted in our hearts that we can bear to be despised, and that honour from men becomes a burden to us, Mat. v. 11.12. There are people who may, in some degree, be said to be naturally disposed to humility and other virtues, but God does not esteem these people more holy on that account. He only may be said to be truly humble who, thro' the effect of grace, is desirous to renounce himself, and do the will of God in word and deed, Mat. xii. 50. It is not what a man has been, nor the good works he has performed, for God regards solely the love he bears, the inclination he has to please him, thro a pure disinterested love. True love to God is never fruitless; where ever it dwells it brings forth most excellent [Page] fruit; where there is no fruit, there is no true love, 2 Pet. i. 8. Thus a man may have a natural bent towards what is called virtue, but we are no farther truly virtuous and agreeable to God, than so far as we love him, and that is only according to the degree of our humiliation or willingness to die to ourselves, and all that is esteemed valuable in this world.

CHAP. IV. On renouncing our own Wills.

A MAN must intirely renounce his natural will, committing himself, and all that he is possessed of to God's holy will, both in time and eternity, Mat. x. 37. carefully attending to the inspiration of truth, Heb. iii. 15. taking up the cross to his own inclination, to that degree of ability and knowledge which, thro' grace, is afforded him, John vi. 65. submitting himself to all men, agreeable to the example left us by our Saviour, with humility and affection, Pet. v. 5. causing his wilful disorderly spirit to submit, saying with the Apostle, Acts ix. 6. Lord what wilt thou have me to do. God, the infinite good, is nearer to each creature than they are to themselves, Acts [Page] xvii. 28. for nothing can happen nor subsist one moment but thro' his will; wherefore they who are continually resisting him, and seeking only to fulfil their own wills, are like a troubled sea, never at rest, and have nothing to expect but misery hereafter.—God dwells with him that is of a submissive resigned spirit, making him partaker of his grace, and causing his peace to flow into his heart. The truly resigned, meek spirited, man has not only to expect happiness in a life to come, but to him it is began, even, here already, upon earth, for he enjoys celestial comfort, with an assurance that nothing can separate him therefrom, but that all that happens to him will in the end work for his good.

True renunciation requires that we chearfully submit our wills to God's will. Our whole salvation depends upon our being brought into the disposition expressed, by our dear Saviour, when he said, Nevertheless, Father, not my will but thine be done, Luke xxii. 42. The best supplication we can offer to God is, Lord let thy will be done in me; let me be in all things conformable to thy will. This prayer exceeds all others, and reaches even unto heaven.

Ah! how sweet a state is it to live always in submission to the divine will; to seek him in all things, and above all things! A [Page] man who dwells in his selfishness is neither in fellowship with God nor his children; what he once undertakes he will not quit or give up; this springs from a bottom of pride; he always prefers his own choice; he enjoys no peace, not being disposed to receive God's grace. For disquiet always springs from an indulgence of our own wills. Wherefore, if we desire peace, the first step we ought to take is to cease from all disorderly love of ourselves; till then we will not find true freedom, nor be masters of ourselves. The world and our other enemies attack us, only thro' ourselves; wherefore if we have gained a victory over ourselves, we shall have subdued all our other enemies. Nothing more worthy of hatred than self-love; this is the cause of all our griefs, and this is what hinders us from enjoying God, with all the treasures of his grace.

The less we have of selfishness, the more agreeable we are to God, and the more disposed to receive his grace. As a man who lives in self-love cannot deny himself, and had rather lead others, than be led by them; in the same manner, a man who has forsaken all things, is more inclined to suffer and follow others, than to command them; for such an one seeks to die to all pride, and [Page] God readily compleats his work in him and leads him to perfection.

If a man should forsake a kingdom, and all the world, if he cannot renounce himself, he has hardly done any thing.

Wilt thou know if thou art in the true nothingness, if thou art not yet under the dominion of a disorderly love, observe if thou art more moved at those revilings, injustice or other accidents, which happen to thyself, than those which happen to others. He who is afflicted at the loss of temporal goods, shews thereby that he is unworthy of possessing them, as claiming them in his own right: Whereas God alone is the true owner and master of all. So also he who resents affronts, shews that he indeed deserves to be despised, because he arrogates to himself that vengeance which belongs alone to God, and plainly discovers that selfishness and the love of the creatures are yet deeply rooted in his heart.

Our Saviour says, Mat. xvi. 24. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, (that is, his own inclination and will) and let him take up his cross and follow me. This is the infallible way to salvation: therefore give diligent heed to thyself, in this matter; the sooner and more thou art in the practice of this essential duty, the easier it will become to thee. Here it is thou must begin, if thou [Page] desirest to attain to any degree of solid virtue. In that degree thou renounceth thyself, and the creatures; so far God will visit and dwell in thee, by his grace, and thou wilt be enabled to become comformable to him. The more thou dieth to thyself, the more thou wilt feel the good spirit predominant within thee; for in the degree that thou art unclothed from sin in the self-same degree wilt thou be raised up to the love of God, and make advances in the way of holiness.

Wherefore give all, for all, sell all that thou hast, (i. e. thyself) to obtain all, and thou wilt find that all, in every thing, and withal a constant peace in thy heart, for nothing can alter and affect that peace which has its foundation in God. That happiness and peace which we are pursuing with so much pain and difficulty, whilst self is only in view, will be abundantly bestowed on us, if we renounce ourselves, and fix our love solely upon God. We must not so much look, at what we do, as at what we are; if the bottom of our heart was good, all our deeds would be upright and good; for a heart, whose centre is sanctified and disposed to glorify God is always favoured by him.

If we gave up ourselves and were willing to hazard all, as well that which is within, as that which is from without, we need fear [Page] no danger, and should possess true content of spirit. There are but few who entirely give themselves up to the will of God, for no one can so fully renounce himself, but what he may still find something to renounce, 1 Cor. xiii. 10.

The Lord's prayer expressed, even but once, in true self-denial, for the glory of God, is of more worth than thousands of prayers proceeding from our own will, and under the dominion of self.

An upright man, who endeavours to renounce himself, in whatever he does, is fixed in God; and God so far protects him, that to attack him is in effect to attack God. All that this man does, and all that happens to him, necessarily comes from God; hence he enjoys the greatest delight. Nothing can hurt such a man; scorn, injustice, the devil, death or hell itself, can do him no harm. Hence it appears that submission to the will of God both inward and outward, is the shortest way to attain to the highest pitch of truth and perfection.

When a man truly becomes so far conformable to the will of God, as entirely to renounce himself, ceasing from seeking his own honour and advantage; desiring nothing but barely that the honour and good pleasure of God may, in all things, be established; such an one will be freed from the [Page] guilt of his sins, even tho' they were of the deepest dye. For what a drop of water is when compared with the sea; such are the sins of a truly resigned penitent man, compared with the ocean of God's mercy. But this is a mighty work, to be thus entirely given up to do, and suffer the will of God; nature will be always seeking to satisfy herself, and is very unwilling, totally, to submit and die.

CHAP. V. Of Brotherly love.

PURITY and peace of heart, in the love of God, is much strengthened, and encreased by a constant and sincere charity towards all men; and a tender compassion for them, in their afflictions. This we are taught by our Saviour himself, when he says, John xiii. 35. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another, Mat. v. 7. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. And with the same measure that ye mete with, it shall be measured to you again, Luke vi. 38. If you have but little charity you can expect but little mercy. If you have none at all, neither have you reason to expect to obtain any yourselves. Wherefore [Page] let us demean ourselves towards all men, in that manner in which we desire they should act towards us; agreeable to our blessed Saviour's injunction, Mat. vii. 12. Our hearts ought always to be disposed to succour every man, whom we perceive to be under sufferings, either of body or mind. We ought to pray, earnestly, to God, that he would bestow on us the gifts of compassion and brotherly love. If it is in our power to assist our fellow-creature, either in word or deed, we ought to do it to the utmost of our power, with a free and willing heart; if much is not in our power, however, let us do what we can, with a lively and sincere compassion: at least give him some comfort, and we shall find God will also extend his mercy to us.

It is our duty to respect the image of God, and to regard his divine majesty in all men, and without delay, to use our best endeavours that every degree of bitterness or slight may be removed out of our hearts, which may have insensibly slipped into them, against any person, whether high or low, rich or poor, for God is no respector of persons. Let us forgive and not condemn others, as we desire God should also forgive and not condemn us. We ought always to keep a severe eye on ourselves, not esteeming ourselves above [Page] measure, rather magnifying than extenuing our own failing: On the other hard we should look with tenderness and compassion on the failings of our neighbours; endeavouring to behold them with an eye of indulgence; and let us be particularly careful never to speak evil of any in their absence, James iv. 11. If christian charity prevails with us, we shall also endeavour to think the most favourably, even of the evil actions we hear of others; rather supposing their intentions not so bad as represented; or to have been the effect of weakness; that God has suffered it for their humiliation, and that if ourselves had been exposed to the same temptation we might have fallen therein; hoping that they may have repented and obtained forgiveness of God. Thus endeavouring to make the best of things.

Some people are so much inclined to judge, that they are always ready to censure and correct others; these instead of repenting, are often lost and do great hurt to those that hear them, by raising in their minds a slight and scorn of their neighbours; this generally proceeds from pride and an unwarrantable esteem of themselves. Poor blind man. Why dost thou not, rather, judge and condemn thyself? How canst thou be acquainted with what is hid in the heart of thy neighbour; or what knowest thou of the means by which it pleases the [Page] wisdom of God to guide him, in order to bring him to a participation of his grace. And shall such a poor worm be weak enough to think, that, that which is only known of God, must be conducted agreeable to thy fancy; hence thou hast reason to blush, as before God and his saints.

Those who presume to judge, in matters which God has reserved to himself, draw on themselves unexpressible evil. When thy neighbour has taken displeasure at thy conduct, or when he has offended thee, thou oughtest to seek him, with meekness, to speak kindly to him, with an heart filled with compassion, and of love to God; thus according to the apostles advice. To overcome evil with good, Rom. xii. 21. And if it should be thy duty to lay his failings before him, be very careful not to make five wounds in endeavouring to cure one: But as God waits upon and invites thee to repentance, by goodness and patience, in order to make thee an heir of salvation; so thou oughtest to act towards thy neighbour, not in slighting him on account of his weakness, but rather in praying to God, that he would forgive him his sins; even as Jesus Christ hath prayed for thee. Otherwise thou will be sorely burdened thro' the freedom thou hast taken in judging other men. Wherefore rather exercise thyself in [Page] against thyself, than be employed in insulting others, by hard speech and uncharitable judgments.

CHAP. VI. On the contemplation of the life and sufferings of Christ, &c.

WE ought to consider and meditate, with an heart filled with love, on the doctrine and sufferings of our crucified Saviour, in order to imitate and become conformable to him, Heb. xii. 2. Wherefore earnestly call upon God that it may please him to imprint on thy body,and in thy soul, the image of his death, that his holy will may be fulfilled in thee. Such meditation leads to the possession of divine wisdom and supreme happiness; for hereby a man will be humbled in prosperity, and meet with encouragement in adversity; and maintain an equality of soul, both in joy and in suffering. Great are the advantages of such a meditation; it is as a book wherein all things are found: Happy is the man who has Christ and his sufferings always present with him, he will obtain true wisdom and unexpressible grace. If other religious exercises are too difficult for thee, let it be thy [Page] principle work to meditate on the sufferings of Christ, and to preserve a lively remembrance of them in thy mind, 1 Cor. ii. 2.

Accustom thyself to compare all thou doest and sufferest with the life and sufferings of Christ, and nothing will appear too difficult to thee; for God will help thee to support thy sufferings, and will, in the end, make thee a partaker of his mercies, thro' Jesus Christ our Saviour.

God's unspotted purity requires that all thy sins should be thoroughly purged; he, therefore, who has lived a great part of his life, as it were, without God in the world, and who still lives too much to the flesh, with its affections and lusts, can scarce sufficiently resign himself up to him in humility, and lowliness of spirit, begging him for his mercies sake, in Christ Jesus, to purge him from that evil spirit of rebellion, which has taken so deep a root in his heart, and separated him from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

And if thou art one of those who have neglected or forgot this most essential duty, until thou thinks thyself on a death bed, and should then be distressed with a sense of thy sins; take this salutary counsel, plunge thyself, as it were, in the ocean of thy Saviour's sufferings; entreat him to wash away thy sins, thro' his infinite mercy, [Page] and hereupon abandon thyself to him, with a true faith and confidence in his holy will, and thou wilt experience, that the promises of Christ will be fulfilled, viz. that he will not reject the truly repenting sinner. And shouldest thou survive, be careful to watch during the remaining part of thy life, against sin, and serve God with all thy power, that on thy death bed, thou mayest have a sense of peace and reconciliation with God, which will be of more value to thee than if thou shouldest gain the whole world.

The sufferings of Christ ought not to be meditated on in a superficial manner, but with a lively inward sensibility and an ardent and constant love. If thou can'st not do it with tears and dolorous sight, do it with praise and thankfulness, under a consideration of the infinite goodness of thy Saviour. And tho' thou can'st not attain to such sensible feelings as thou desirest, and thy heart should remain dry and hard: Yet cease not from such meditation; keep thy mind in submission, and this offerings will be agreeable to God.

Thou art not only to consider thy Saviour as being perfect in holiness, as a man, but also as an Almighty God, who by his word created the heavens and the earth, and who can also bring them to nothing: Who, tho' he is infinite and incomprehensible, has condescended [Page] to abase himself so far, for the sake of so poor a creature. From this sight thou oughtest to be covered with confusion, in that thou darest give way to the least degree of pride. The sufferings of Christ may be considered in a three-sold manner, First, In themselves, to move us with compassion, at the sight of his poverty, his misery, his persecutions, his sorrows and painful death upon the cross. Secondly, By his obedience, his patience, his humility and charity, in a word all those virtues which we are called to imitate. Thirdly, In the cause of his sufferings, which was the ardent love he bore to us, which he manifested in so striking a manner. It was thro' the effect of this love, to us his creatures, that he lived in so destitute a state, as not to have whereon to lay his head, Mat. viii. 20. and finally ended his life in pain, so that he spared nothing, but gave up all freely and willingly for us. There is no mortal man who has so vehement a desire for life as Jesus Christ had to redeem sinners, and to deliver them from that sin, by which they had separated themselves from him. Ought not this consideration to incite us to reciprocal love towards him. It is surprizing, that the consideration of our Saviour's most bitter sufferings, doth not inflame our hearts with his love, and penetrate even to the very [Page] bottom of our souls. But none do testify more gratitude to God, nor compassion for the sufferings of our Saviour, than he who labours to imitate him; this is as agreeable to God, as if we gave our life for him. If we submit to his cross, either outwardly or inwardly, this will cause our proud spirit to bend, under his [...] of thorns, and our sufferings will produce living fruit in us.

If thou art really desirous to manifest thy gratitude for the infinite goodness of God, and to bear in thy body the marks of the dying of the Lord Jesus, before the world, and in the face of the celestial armies, Gal. vi. 17. thou must submit to God, without reserve; thou must die to thy wandering eyes, thy curious ears, thy vain talk, and to all thy fleshly lusts, Col. iii. 5. thus wilt thy feet be, as it were, nailed to the cross. Neither thy spiritual nor thy corporeal strength must be overcome by sloth, but thou must, agreeable to the example of Christ, suffer thy arms to be extended in the service of God; and thy body to persevere in spiritual exercises for the glory of thy Redeemer, and to fulfil his will. Those spiritual sufferings, thro' which thou finds thyself so pressed, ought to drive thee towards the Lord, then wilt thou appear as it were clothed with his righteousness, and lovely in the sight of God and his holy angels. Thy willingness to suffer, [Page] ought to be as a bed for thy Saviour to repose himself on: Thy resistance against sin, and thy efforts to surmount thy evil nature will rejoice his spirit, and thy prayers allay his grief.

And if when thou hast done to the best of thy power, and art nevertheless despised, abused, persecuted, and ranked with sinners, and thereby brought thee more to die to thyself; and that thou freely forgives and prays for those who abuse thee, then art thou, indeed, with Christ under his cross. When thou art willing to be deprived of thy friends and of all that can be as a wall of separation between God and thee, it is then thou (as it were) helps thy Saviour to bear his cross. When God will permit thee to be deprived of all comfort; to remain in an inward dryness, without any sense of grace, in which state thou art ready to cry out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me; and when, in this situation, thou seeks no strange consolation, but looks to God alone in humble submission to his will, then the more bitter thy sufferings are, and thyself given up to God; the more thou art conformable and agreeable to him; for this is the last trial of God's children.

Break off from those desires which thirst for any thing else but God, and turn them entirely towards him; then, indeed, wilt [Page] thou satisfy that longing of thy Saviour, which causes him to weep over the stubborn and obstinate. Sigh for the salvation of all men, commit thy soul into the hands of thy heavenly father, with a mind turned from time to eternity, as tho' each hour was to be thy last, and here thou wilt be conformable to thy Saviour, who thro' much tribulation has entered into the glory of his father. This is the path thro' which thou art to follow him, if thou expectest to become a partaker of his eternal glory, Rom. viii. 17.

CHAP. VII. Of the advantage of outward suffering.

THERE are three sorts of crosses which the Almighty dispenses to his children. The first is, when a man is converted to God from the course of the world, dies to his evil lusts, and forsakes those sins to which he is inclined. This is hard to the flesh, for in this case that which was before his pleasure, now becomes his grievous pain. This is one of the heaviest crosses he has to bear, Mat. v. 29, 30.

The other kind of cross is that which God himself dispenses, when he sends to a man many sorts of inward and outward [Page] tryals and crosses. If we could receive these tryals as proceeding from the depth of God's love, from which they indeed proceed, Heb. xii. 7, 8. then would we be happy; for God cannot bestow on thee a more precious gift, than when he brings any kind of sufferings on thee, this being the only way to cure thy wounds, and heal thee of the plague and leprosy of sin, Isa. xlv. 7. Whether thou hast deserved these evils or not? Whether thro' thy own fault or without thy having contributed thereto: Know this, that it is God who sends them to thee; therefore suffer them patiently, and return him thanks for having thus accomplished his will in thee.

And that we should not be left without a witness, of the necessity of adversity, and suffering, all the creatures, and the very elements declare the same. The wild beasts, the hail, snow, cold, heat, storms, plagues, war, famine and sickness, testify to man, that it is thro' many tribulations that he must enter the kingdom. These are the lively paints, colours, and drapery wherewith God animates and perfects his glorious picture of meekness and humility in his beloved creature man. Let all kinds of afflictions and sufferings therefore be patiently endured by thee, if thou desirest God to perform his good pleasure in thee.

[Page]There are people who being convinced of this doctrine, are not satisfied with those crosses which are allotted them, but are desirous to impose more upon themselves; these do but torment themselves without reaping much fruit, as they are building on their own will and fancy, Mat. xv. 9. they hinder God's work, and, as it were, oblige him to wait their time. Thus it happens, that when God would work, on such, their nature being depraved, cannot follow God's draught; and when great temptations come, they have no strength to resist. Wherefore it is sufficient that thou mortify thy evil lusts, and thy corruption without tormenting thyself, but rather dwell in the patience, which is most agreeable to God. The third kind of crosses are very bitter, for they consist in hard temptation, in disstress and frighful darkness, which at times press so hard on a man, that he chooses death rather than life. These tryals alter a man's nature more than the hardest outward suffering; for God sometimes so visits him with strange inward temptations, darkness and dryness, that none can apprehend them, but he who passes thro' them. Nevertheless God knows well to what end he does these things. They are certainly the effect of his love; so that if we bear them as we ought, they will be of unexpressible benefit unto us. [Page] For all sufferings will be productive of good to thee, if thou canst but silently submit to them, and resign thyself up to God; he will cause good to spring up to thee from these very sufferings; but if thou seekest for comfort any other way; comforts of another kind will also spring up in thee. Wherefore we ought freely to offer up ourselves to God, as being willing to suffer all those afflictions with which he shall please to visit us, whether inward or outward, that we may therein be made conformable to Christ. For God even also suffers with him, who wholly resigns himself to the divine will. And when sufferings thus proceed from God, they are sweet in the end, and turn to great advantage to us. Wherefore we ought rather to prefer scorn before honour, grief rather than joy; for he who is assured he suffers for God's glory, cannot but feel a lively joy proceeding from it.

All those sufferings which we suffer patiently, and from which we do not, even, desire to be delivered, but agreeable to God's will, are more agreeable to him, than the best of our works, and all burnt offerings, 1 Sam. xv. 22.

It is also more agreeable to God, and of more advantage to us, in our religious progress, to suffer with pure resignation, than to be employed in many good works; for suffering [Page] being more opposite to nature, it is thereby more abased and the spirit the more exalted; for this reason that God requires of a strong and vigorous beginner bodily exercises, altho' with discretion, in such sort that spiritual exercise may be thereby helped; but from old men already humbled by submission and resignation, he expects that they suffer, in patience and resignation all that may befall them.

To be willing to suffer in and according to the will of God is so excellent a thing, that our frail nature could not support, in this life, the fruition and reward which God intends to give, in eternity, for the most slight sufferings, to which we have been willing to be subject, for his sake. Wherefore it is said, That the sufferings of this time is not to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us, Rom. viii. 18. so that we cannot sufficiently return thanks to God for those sufferings he permits to come upon us. All the saints have drank of this cup, and have testified that it has not been hurtful but salutary to them, Psal. cxix. 67. James i. 12. so that they have not refused to expose themselves thereto, and often even to spill their blood for that cause. Let us remember that the saints were men as well as we, and that we may obtain the same help that they were favoured with, James v. 17.— [Page] When in seeking for rest, we turn from God and seek comfort in the creatures, we expose ourselves to fall into enormous sins, in dangerous temptations, and finally into eternal death; wherefore God at such times visits us with affliction, that our lusts may be subdued, and that we may return to him with a sincere sense and confession of our sins. Wherefore let us not fear sufferings, but rather give thanks to God when he sends them, Job v. 17. It is a patient bearing of sufferings which sits us for the possession of supernatural gifts. Many have fallen by prosperity, but few have been hurt thro' adversity; the one as it were, undermines the foundations of virtue and goodness, but the other lays it stedfastly sure in a profound humility, Isa. xxvi. 16.

When we receive chastisement; when we are despised and persecuted, and bear these tryals without complaint; and that so far from allowing ourselves in any thoughts of vengeance, we are not even anxious to vindicate ourselves, leaving the whole to God; we shall, thro' divine goodness, receive a plentiful reward of peace and comfort; and shall experience those earthly chains which bind us to the world to be much loosened; and a desire will prevail that we may, even, be more abased before God and men, Sam. vi. 22. To suffer patiently those afflictions [Page] which God sends, is a principal means to obtain his grace, 2 Tim. ii. 12. And let us be particularly careful not to give way to resentment against such persons as God may make use of as a rod, for our amendment. But seriously consider in what spirit we suffer, that it be done with patience and resignation, then will all things work for our good. It is often our impatience, under sufferings, which causes our greatest hurt.

There are those who fast, who watch, and assist the poor, or give themselves up to other outward exercises; but we meet with very few, who can, with patience, suffer to be despised and treated with injustice. People are generally full of hidden pride, holding themselves in much esteem; and are desirous to be thought well of by others. But to what purpose is it to appear clean without, and yet to permit anger, revenge, and other impurities to remain in the heart; this is but the whited sepulchre of a religious Pharisee. For altho' outward purity is so far well, yet it cannot be accounted of any worth, in the sight of God, whilst sin and the love of the creatures defile the inward part; which ought to be God's dwelling place; wherefore first see that the inside be cleansed, and the outside will soon become clean also. It's rather a mark of divine displeasure that we should pass the whole [Page] time of our life in peace and happiness, without affliction, as the apostle witnesseth, Heb. xii. 8. If you are without chastisement, you are bastards and not sons. Lazarus had his evil things in this life, and the rich man his good things; but observe how it fared with each after death. The one is comforted, the other tormented; thus each received the reward meet for him, and such as his humility or pride had sitted him for; thus every man receiving according to his works. It is almost the highest degree of the spiritual life, to be destitute of comfort, either from God or man, and to bear such a state, with patience and submission.

We may become martyrs without passing thro' the sword of persecution from the world, provided we maintain true patience in sufferings.

Let us then suffer with joy, since none will be crowned if he has not warred, 2 Tim. ii. 5. A man may attain to a knowledge of himself by spiritual exercises; but it is thro' suffering alone that he manifests what his growth in religion is.

The Lord our God is with us in our sufferings, and will deliver us from them in his own time; for he is faithful and will not suffer that we should be tempted beyond our strength; but with the temptation will make such way, as that we may be able to [Page] support it. The sufferings of the present time are not to compare with the glory which will be revealed, Rom. viii. 18.

CHAP. VIII. That we ought to attach ourselves to God in true love.

IT is necessary, as much as possible, to keep our minds disengaged from outward things, looking with ardent desires towards God, our good and beneficient Lord; continually watching, with prayer, against all vain and needless thoughts; otherwise we shall make but little progress in virtue. We must also be careful to avoid all sloth and idleness; for these soften the heart, and cool charity; but let us endeavour to keep, continually, as in the presence of God, with deep and serious recollection, remembering, that he is near us, always beholding and ready to assist us with his grace and love. Wherefore let us cast ourselves often, as at the feet of his divine majesty, in deep humility, begging for the forgiveness of our sins; often meditating on the life and sufferings of Christ, with grateful acknowledgements of his benefits, and sincere desires to imitate him. Let us also meditate upon God's [Page] wonderful works in his creatures; as also, on his infinite wisdom and inexpressible love.

We ought also, with deep reverence, to consider that God is in himself, the sovereign God, incomprehensible, unmovable and infinite; that he, only, is worthy to be sought and embraced with an entire and constant love: In him ought all the desires of every heart to be reunited, without measure; the more he is known, the more he is loved; and the more we draw near to him, the greater evidence we have of his love. The most feeble ray of joy which a chaste soul, who loves God, feels of his divine presence surpass all the pleasures the creatures can produce; they are but bitterness compared with divine joy. He who gives up his heart wholly to God, abides in joy, and dies with an assurance of its everlasting continuance. He is already possessed of heaven and earth, and will enjoy it to all eternity: For the things which God has prepared for those who love him, are such as never entered into the heart of man to conceive, 1 Cor. ii. 9. There is no comparison to be made between the love of God and the love of the creatures; all that appears amiable in the world will be seen to be mere illusion, when the inward eye is opened in us. What doth the love of the world afford to its votaries, but a deplorable misuse of time, spent in vanity, and a soul filled with sin.

[Page]This is all to be gained from the world, a short joy and long and lasting regret and sorrow. We desire to fly from scorn and suffering, and we often deeply plunge ourselves into them; we are not willing to bear Christ's easy yoke, and we find ourselves oppressed under the iron yoke of vanity and sin; but if agreeable to our Saviour's exhortation, Mat. xxii. 3. We desire to love our divine Lord, with all our heart, and with all our soul; we must turn the inward eyes of the soul with a sweet inclination, and an invariable love towards him; endeavouring to be always united to, and sighing sincerely after him. This ardent love of God is the spring of perfection, it is hereby we die to all sin and are made conformable to God, and partakers of the divine nature, 2 Pet. i. 6. But in order to attain to this happy disposition, our wills must be given up, to do or suffer that which the holy spirit calls us to: We must forsake all these pleasures the sensual mind [...] so much taken up with, either in vain amusements, fleshly indulgence, unprofitable conversation, or other vanities; these must be mortified, Col. iii. 5. as also, all other disorderly affections, such as fear, joy, and grief; endeavouring to draw away from the multiplicity of cares and inquietudes, so apt to carry away the heart, that it may be fixed in God, and disengaged from all those accidents [Page] which human life is subject to; that an equality of soul may be maintained, as well in prosperity as in adversity; and as we cannot do this, by our own strength, John xv. 5. we ought with the most ardent desire to beg help of God, that we may be preserved from sin, and enabled to walk constantly in the footsteps of Christ, in all good works; consecrating to God's glory, our wealth, our honour, and our life itself.

Let us labour to give up our wills into God's will, to unite ourselves closely to his will, that the fulfilling of it may be the end and purpose of all our wishes and our sweetest pleasures; agreeable to our Saviour's example, John iv. 34. then may we bear all outward evils, as shame, sickness, persecutions, and even inward poverty and barrenness of spirit, without seeking comfort in any creature, remaining, always, faithful to God, in all states. This hidden way is generally made known but to God's intimate friends, that they may be willingly stripped from all false supports, and that fervent prayers may prevail in them for the attainment of solid virtue and divine love; which God is more ready to give, than we are ready to ask, Isa. lxv. 24. If we earnestly pray to him from a sincere desire to love and please him, we shall infallibly, in his time, obtain the end of our wishes, John. ii. 4. tho' perhaps not till the latter end of our lives.

[Page]God is so filled with love to his creatures, that he is better pleased to give the greatest, than the smallest gifts. He who asks in a true considence, and with a sincere self-denial of himself, will obtain whatever he asks, Psalm cxlv. 18, 19. We must not imagine that he is gone far from us, because it is not in our power to do great works, provided there be but a sincere desire towards him, and a will to do our duty. God looks at and requires only the heart. My Son give me thy heart, Prov. xxiii. 26. And altho' such a person should think himself at a distance from God; nevertheless he is not so; for tho' God has not yet revealed himself to him; yet if he remains at the door and knocks, it will finally be opened to him, Mat. vii. 7.

All consists in our good will, and in the sincerity of our desires. He who desires to be possessed with humility, the love of God, or any other virtue, and seeks it with a fervent and sincere heart, has it already, and none can take it from him. It was in this sense that a servant of God returned thanks to his Maker in these words. ‘I thank thee, in that I find thee in all places; that thou accepts the sincerity of my will, and that none can falsely accuse me unto thee.’

Dost thou sincerely desire to please God, to love him, to render him the most pure [Page] praise, to renounce thyself, to do good to all men, even as thou would'st have them to do to thee; in fine, to live as holy as it is possible; if this is indeed thy case so that nothing is wanting, but strength to fulfil these good desires, God will take pleasure in thee, and with them will also give ability to fulfil his will agreeable to his good pleasure, for he is faithful, Phil. ii. 13. 1 Thess. v. 24.

The foundation of our love to God, lies in the sincerity of our will, and is perfected by good works, which if they are sincere, will be constantly maintained, to the utmost of our power, even in the midst of sufferings. Love is as it were, imprinted in our nature, and when this love is under proper government; man loves God more than all the creatures, and even more than himself. It is a deplorable case, that we should have so perverted the excellent order of our nature, as not to direct this most precious treasure of love towards the sovereign good, but fix it on ourselves and on the poor fleeting creatures of this world. This so much afflicts those who are indeed the friends of God, that they could, as it were, pour down floods of tears, under a sense, that our blessed Redeemer is thus drove away, with so much indignity, from those hearts, for whom he laid down his life, and on whose behalf he is still pouring forth his prayers to his Father.

[Page] Where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also, Mat. vi. 21. Inquire carefully where that treasure which thou lovest the most is, if in God or the creatures. If thou lovest God with uprightness, thou wilt continually sigh after him, as one oppressed with a burning thirst. As the hunted hart panteth after the water-brooks, so doth my soul after thee O God, is the language of all truly longing hearts. We cannot more acceptably serve God, than in thus desiring to keep near him, always keeping watch over our hearts, Prov. iv. 23. God loves the heart; he looks not at what is outward; he looks not as man looks, who sees that only which the natural eye perceives; but he looks even into the bottom of the heart, 1 Sam. xvi. 16. He regards only a lively inclination for divine and virtuous things. Those works done by men with esteem and complaisancy of themselves, are disagreeable to God. Wherefore all thy works should proceed from an heart sincerely given up to God; having the good pleasure of him, to whom all things belong, solely in view. Wherefore in the use of those gifts and comforts which he affords us, we ought to seek nothing but his glory and most holy will, 1 Cor. x. 31. It is scarce to be expressed, how much God loves a man so disposed, and how abundantly he opens to him his hidden treasures. God [Page] is always inclined and ready to receive every one who in sincerity of heart, is willing to be converted to him, who empties and frees himself from the creatures; he, as it were, runs to meet such a man, and embraces him, with sweetness and love, Luke xv. 20.

We can wish for nothing, but what is to be found in God. Dost thou wish for love, for fidelity, for truth, for comfort, all these are found without measure, and in the most perfect manner in him? Dost thou desire beauty; he is beauty itself? Dost thou desire almightiness; he is the Almighty? Dost thou wish for riches; he is the master of all things? Thus thou wilt find in the only sovereign good, which is God, all thy heart can desire in the most accomplished manner. Wherefore drive far from thee all the creatures, in order that thou mayest, without ceasing, raise up thy spirit to the Creator, and thus abide in his presence. For whilst the creatures still remain, with affection, imprinted in thy mind; whilst thou yet esteemest these uncertain things, as matters of weight, thou hast but very little love for God, and art still much a stranger to that which is heavenly, 1 John ii, 15.

Turn thyself each moment towards God, for he is so good, that all those who seek him with sincerity, will obtain all things from him, Psalm clxv. 19. He not only clears them [Page] from the punishment they have merited; but also delivers them from their sins. Let us therefore look diligently unto him who gives those good desires and operates thro' his grace, to the perfecting of them; carefully observing the day of our visitation, that it pass not over, Isa. lv. 6. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.

CHAP. IX. How we may attain to a state of purity and an union with God; and the necessity we are under of keeping our affections loose from the creatures.

IF thou desires to attain to that purity and perfection which the gospel proposes, thou must keep in silence and retirement as much as thy several duties will permit, avoiding the conversation of men; always seeking for time and opportunity to meditate on God and heaven. Keep the door of thy senses shut to all vanity; and the door of thy heart and reason closed to all images, and impressions from passing objects. Thou oughtest also to hold the power of thy desires at liberty from all that can bind thy freedom, and engage thy will in affectionate solicitude oranxious care for the things of this [Page] life; and having thus gathered together thy desires and thy reason, turn them towards the sovereign and only good, and rest quiet there; thus thy mind will be raised above temporal things, and set upon God, in a continual contemplation of him, Psalm cxxi. We must, as it were, bind ourselves to God, in an entire resignation to his holy will, keeping our eyes upon him, and receiving every thing as coming from his immediate hand. But as we cannot always dwell in a steady contemplation of God, we ought, as much as is in our power, to persevere in such a state. And when we find ourselves deprived of the sight of God, don't let us rest satisfied under this deprivation, but turn into ourselves, gather all our inward strength in order to seek after God; even tho' it should be an hundred times in a day, and we shall find daily more ease and satisfaction in this labour; so that it will be easier for us to think on God in retirement, than it was before to be scattered in the multitude of objects.

If thou desires to make any progress in this way, remember that God is every moment saying unto thee, My child enter into thyself, watch thy heart, that it may be kept pure from every vice, and thy desires free from all solicitude and love of earthly things. Hold the strength of thy imagination directed towards [Page] God, and attach thyself to him, as to the sovereign good, with fervent love; that so thy whole soul, with all its faculties, may be gathered in God, and become one spirit with him. This is in short, an abstract of the foundation of all happiness. It is by this means thou shalt receive all that is most sublime and perfect, to which very few attain, because most people are so much taken up with solicitude and love of earthly comforts.

But seek thou the hidden wisdom, which the heavenly doctor himself has inscribed, thro' his divine inspiration, in the hearts of those who seek him, with an humble confidence and serious desires, in a quiet silence, and renouncing all fleshly freedoms, to the utmost of their power. God often manifests more of himself to a simple country man, or to a weak woman who are in this frame of mind, than to those wise ones of the world, whose knowledge is not founded on a true humility of heart, Mat. xi. 25. It is a most deplorable case, that we who were created for to be partakers of this sublime grace; who are called to it, who may receive it continually, from God, should neglect it in this life, to such a degree as may occasion our being eternally deprived of it.

The soul of man is placed between time and eternity; if it turns towards time, it forgets eternity and all divine things appear [Page] little and at a distance, as an object appears small when we behold it afar off. In this world the body is, as it were, in its own country, surrounded with natural conveniences, which are as its friends, by whom it is continually served, as meat, drink, and all terrestrial things! But the spirit is here below in misery, its friends having their residence in heaven, Phil. iii. 20. Wherefore the body must be kept under, by mortification, thro' watching and prayer, 1 Cor. ix. 27. If thou desirest to attain to a pure and divine life, dispose thyself as tho' thou wert to die each moment, Gal. ii. 20. as in effect thou must soon leave this body Imagine thy soul to be already separated from the body and united to God for all eternity; this will shew the emptiness of lower things. Endeavour, by the help of thy superior faculties, to remain always with God, whilst with thy inferior thou submittest thyself on earth, and sink into thy proper nothingness in profound humility. Thou oughtest to use temporal things only for necessity, to lead to that happy eternity which ought to be the end thou proposest to attain.

Shun needless employments, and conversations, and every attachment to the creatures, even with such as may appear well disposed; such converse often brings much dimness over the spiritual mind; wherefore [Page] we ought to give great attention in this respect, and endeavour to maintain a due converse with God. We shall frequently experience the falshood and unfaithfulness of such supports, even in those from whom we expect to receive much comfort. God is to be met with in a more especial manner in retreat and solitude, Isa. xxx. 15. Hos. ii. 14. Wherefore be silent, keep thyself disengaged from men, and gathered into thyself. Seek rather the time and place where thou mayest be alone, and fly the tumults and the dangers of the world. If thou really desirest to make a progress in the christian life; be advised (in true charity) contract no familiarity with any who are not possessed of these dispositions; make short work with all others, answer them with kindness, in few words, and if such a behaviour cause some to be offended or to speak evil of thee, endeavour, thro' grace, to bear it without uneasiness or murmuring.

It is better, for thee, that God should be thy friend and thy protector against all men, who may be against thee, than if all the creatures were on thy side, and God should on that account be against thee.

Keep thy outward man in tranquillity, and thy soul in purity; for purity and innocency afford more knowledge and wisdom than great study. Psalm cxi. 10. Wis. 1.4. Turn [Page] thyself from the creatures; and if any accident befal thee, be not hasty to come out of trouble, for he who makes haste to get from under trouble, will not find succour from truth. Let the dead bury their dead, but remain quiet in thyself; as if thou hadst forgot thyself, trust in God who will provide all that is necessary for thee.

If thou desirest to be united to God, thou must resign thy own will, thy carnal cares and delights, in order to obtain this sovereign good: If thou expectest that God will take his residence in thy heart, it must be empty and naked, and thou must be poor in spirit and preserved free from solidtude, 2 Tim. ii. 4, 5. then will the sun of righteousness marvelously operate therein. Keep out of thy mind all those images and figures which will be presenting themselves to take possession of thy mind and heart, retain them not with thee, and they will soon vanish away; for all images of the creatures must be erased out of thy mind, that the mind of Christ may be imprinted therein: Neither suffer thy will to be fixed in any thing, but let it rest upon God alone, Psalm lxxiii. 25. Preserve thy heart in simplicity, and keep closely inward with all thy strength; thus mayest thou remain firm and unshaken in the divine unity. Watch that thou mayest accomplish the divine will, then will thy soul pass from the [Page] wounds of thy Saviour's humanity, to the light of his divinity, and thou wilt, with delight, begin to taste that which is heavenly.

If thou can'st even do nothing more, than to strip thyself from all imaginations, and from all self-love; attaching thyself to God alone, there is no temptation can overcome thee. Be not careful what derision and scorn thou hast to meet with; what perfection thou hast to suffer; the word of God, which is God himself has separated thy body from thy spirit, so that thou looks upon a sensual man so far off as to think little of him; for the soul in this situation is more united to God, whom it loves, than to the body it animates: Watch carefully over thine inward man, for in him is contained all the happiness of man, Prov. iv. 23. Remain fixed in watching over thyself, till thou art freed from selfishness. Nature must always be watched over, 1 Cor. ix. 27. and one missstep produces another [...] Keep clear from every thing which may captivate thy will; do not seek to please the fleshly appetite, any farther than what is necessary; feed it with such temperance as may fit thee for farther good works. Keep always inward, for it is there that all truth will be made known to thee, and where thou wilt be taught what thou ought'st to do or to leave undone.

Pass thro' all the accidents of life, as thro' [Page] that which thou holdest in little esteem; be concerned only for that which is necessary; suffer not thy mind to be affected by what may happen to thee, whether it be good or bad; entrust all into the hands of God, and endeavour to preserve, in simplicity, the presence of God in thy heart. And if thou should apprehend thou hast lost this comfort, bend all thy strength to remove all obstacles, in order to its return to thee. Those who are espoused to God, ought rather to suffer death than voluntarily to do any thing which may displease God: Nothing ought to give joy to such an one, but God alone, and that which pleases him: For to his penetrating eyes all things are present. As often as a man turns his heart towards God in true confidence, so often, tho' sometimes insensibly, does he receive of the holy spirit, a fresh supply of grace. When a man, in deep humility, sincerely labours to draw near to God, this real and sincere return to God, will infallibly be rewarded: Whilst for all other works, where the honour of God is not the principle end, we must expect but a slight recompence. Do not scatter thy strength in outward words and actions, for these are productive of great dissipation, but, with Mary of old, chuse the better part, Luke x. 42. Don't loose time in running hither and thither, of complaining [Page] of this or the other, for this is the manner of those who have little good in them: Thou mayest thereby so scatter this strength, as not to recover it in twenty years, if ever.— Seek rather, always solitude, and say within thyself, He whom I seek is above all senses, incomprehensible to reason; it is a pure heart which desires and receives him. This is he, alone, which I seek, Psalm lxxiii. 25. Whatever else befals me, I will bear it and travel on.

When thou thus witnessest, this Lord of all Lords sitting, as it were, on throne of thy soul, he will enlighten thy heart and so inflame it with his love, that thy faculties will be strengthened and made participaters of the divine nature. Wherefore thou needest no other exercise but to bring thy will in submission to the will of God; and to make an entire offering up of thyself on all occasions; and thus wilt thou return to God, from whom thou dost proceed. Wait for the Lord, be courageous and intrepid in sufferings. Yea attend on God constantly until the time of thy deliverance be accomplished.

[Page]

CHAP. X. That we ought to attend to the motion of God's spirit, within us, and labour to preserve its presence, even whilst employed in outward concerns.

ART thou desirous of being favoured by grace, abase thyself, deeply, at the feet of God, the inexhaustible fountain of divine love, from a sense of thy nothingness and vanity. Pray, humbly, to him that he may enable thee to glorify him; be deeply abased in the center of thy heart; there wait for a revelation of the will of God, in deep silence. Cease from running hither and thither, for this exercise is better than if thou could'st move the whole world. If thou art in doubt what may be most agreeable to God, inquire into thyself, and join with that part which is most opposite to nature; for this is the safest choice, and that to which nature is the most inclined, is the most doubtful.

There are those who look outward, when God, by his spirit, would draw them inward, and who seek to be inwardly gathered, when he calls them to outward service; thus they join not with, but resist God's will. [Page] Some undertake mighty things, so that it appears as tho' they were like to become extraordinary people; yet many of these are apt to return to their old course of life, to join with nature and to seek comfort in the creatures. Others come on with courage and pass, as it were, thro' fire and water, but not having passed thro' death, tho' they endeavour to gather inward, cannot come to any settlement, but meet with much anguish and pain; the sooner these people die to themselves, the sooner they attain to peace.

As many diversities of dispositions as there are amongst men, so many different means doth God use to lead us to peace. That which is the life of one, is the death of another; wherefore grace is dispensed, in common, according to the frame and disposition of men. Be careful not to endeavour to imitate other men's ways, except it [...] their essential virtues, for the essential path which leads to God is but one and always the same. Nevertheless attend to thy religious call, and inquire what God requires of thee. He who properly attends to what passes in the inward center of his heart, and is rightly sensible of his natural corruption, will renounce himself, and follow God, in that path into which he pleases to lead him; such an one remains stable in himself, and [Page] receives all which happens to him, whether inward or outward, as coming from the hand of God. He submits to God's hidden judgment, having the will of God and not himself sincerely in view. He will not be in doubt what he ought to do, and will soon overcome all obstacles, however strange and difficult they may be; such a state is of more worth than the most sublime exercises. God will not permit such a man to go astray, however dangerous his way may be.

A continual attention to one's self is difficult in the beginning, but it becomes easy. When a man truly proves his whole life, his ways, his words and habits, in order to discover if they are agreeable to the will of God, he will learn to know himself and will discover his sins and be painfully desirous to be delivered from them.

A man of God should accustom himself to have God, as much as possible, present in his mind. Keep thy spirit in the same disposition, both in the time and out of the time of prayer. Thou oughtest also when in company, strongly to labour to keep God present in thy mind. Let not any thing thou seest or hearest be retained or dwelt upon in thy mind, more than is really necessary, lest thy imaginations and thy desires be defiled by strange images or a disorderly love; for what we suffer to be impressed on [Page] our minds, whether it be agreeable or the contrary, presents itself, and will disturb us when in prayer. Thou must not be satisfied with having thought upon God, as a passing object, for such thoughts soon vanish, and where there is one thought of God, there will be ten others relating to temporal things, which drive away the first. Wherefore it is necessary that we labour vigorously to turn our minds entirely towards God, to preserve a sense of God's presence within, with a simple and sweet inclination towards him; so that whatever happens to us, we may always maintain an equality of soul, a fidelity and constant sincerity to God, that he in all things may be the principle object of all our actions. Thus none will be able to turn, or separate us from God. And he who remains thus united to him, will not easily be drawn into sin. But it is a most deplorable case, that almost every one descends from that holy mountain, and so far debases himself as to be taken up with things of comparitively no worth. And it is a surprizing instance of love, that our Lord Jesus should, still, condescend to visit souls, who have been so unfaithful to him.

But don't be so far mistaken as to imagine, that outward acts of obedience and charity; such as the worship of God, visiting the afflicted, taking care of and administring [Page] to the necessities of the poor, and such like, will draw thee away from God, lest thou neglect thy duty under the pretence of more perfectly serving God in spirit; it is solely thy want of submitting to the order of truth, following thy own will and not having thy eye single enough to God, which alone wilt hurt thee. If thou performed these outward acts of duty purely from love to God, he would make up all wants and deficiencies to thee, so that they would not impede thy spiritual progress. And even if thou shouldest sometimes find it difficult to gather in the scattered powers of thy mind. God can easily make this up to thee; he requires but little time to perfect his work, Ps. xxx. 9. If thy sins and thy attachment to the creatures doth not cause a distance betwixt thee and God, neither outward works, nor any accident whatever can occasion it.

Wherefore it is not necessary to be very solicitous for the enjoyment of inward consolation, it is sufficient that thou remain united to God, from a sincere desire of pleasing him; for a sincere will of pleasing God exceeds all gifts and endowments. He who finds in himself a good will and disposition to serve him, cannot be sufficiently thankful and ought to be very careful to preserve it to the end. Wouldst thou know whether thy thoughts, words, and actions are agreeable [Page] to God consider, carefully, whether thou art more weaned from the love of the creatures, encreasest in humility and art more and more inwardly gathered to God; if that is thy case, thou mayest be assured that thou art growing in grace, but if on the contrary thy words and actions tend to trouble and dissipate thee, it is a sign they are not wholly and purely directed to the glory of God, and that something remains, in thee, of which God is not solely the cause and end.

CHAP. XI. That we ought to receive all things as coming immediately from the hand of God; and that we should place our whole trust and confidence on him alone.

THE strong will of man acting in opposition to the divine will, is a principal obstruction to our progress towards the land of rest, in proportion as a man is more or less given up to do and suffer the will of God, so is he the more or less sensibly touched with things that happen to him.

He that is truly given up receives all things as coming from the hand of God, esteeming the creatures only as God's instruments. Hence his labour is, that neither [Page] accidents nor adversity should be grievous to him; knowing that if God is for him, nothing can really hurt him, Rom. viii. 28. To such a man nothing is an evil, all is equal. He is not cast down by disgrace nor exalted in prosperity. He is able to bear pleasure and grief, sweet and bitter, honour and shame, health and sickness, elevation and abasement with an equality of mind, Phil. iv. 11, 13. He is always giving thanks to God, and his eye is ever upon him from a sense of his goodness, and an assurance that all the creatures are under his direction. The heavens and the earth are as his book in which he reads and meditates on the mighty wonders of God; such a man being delivered from his own will, rests in God, in an inward peace of mind, for in that degree that we dwelt truly in God, in that degree we find ourselves in peace; and in that degree we are out of him, in that degree we are in inquietude, John xvi. 33. It is in this peace of the soul that God dwells, and it is in him who is, indeed, possessed of this peace that God works, and makes use of as his instrument; Oh! how happy is such a man, thus truly given up to God, his heart is preserved from sin, and he enjoys much divine comfort. A steady labour to give ourselves up to God, and to be freed from any attachment to the creatures, is the most noble exercise we can be employed in; but the [Page] great enemy of mankind endeavours, with all his power, to draw the soul from this labour, by temptation to anger, disquietude and cares, needless discourses, vain and subtile studies and other misssteps. Indeed a a little matter will put us by; wherefore be careful not to be surprised; when in danger retire quickly, as it were, under the wing of God's care. In controversies or differences, that may happen, give up all, that thy duty will permit, rather than dwell in contention and debate: Whatever thou seest, hearest, or dost, do not suffer the thought of it to fix in thy imagination, so as that it may dwell much in thy mind, then will it not be a temptation to thee; and that which thou hast not suffered to be imprinted on thy heart and memory will not hurt thee, thy soul will always be gathered in its center and strong to resist temptation; wherefore forsake thyself, whatever happens to thee, thro' the immutable providence of God, and commit thy whole concerns to his care, 1 Pet. v. 7. for it is certain that if thou castest all thy cares upon him, he will provide better for all thy wants, both inwrardly and outwardly, than if thou wast day and night taken up with solicitous cares and should'st consume thy strength therein; wherefore receive all things with contentment, from God's paternal care over thee, with an entire confidence in his everlasting providence; [Page] looking upon all events such as wealth, poverty, health, sickness, good or evil, life or death as directed for thy happiness, Mat. x. 29, 31.

God gives being, strength and motion to all things, they have their numbers and measures, nothing can draw from under his divine providence: All things even the least (sin excepted) are under God's direction; wherefore when thou dost not wholly confide in God, but givest thyself much pains and care; he often leaves thee in trouble and necessity, that thou mayestknow how far thy own solicitude and carecan reach.— God is so full of grace and so faithful, that in him is found all that we stand in need of, Mat. vii. 7, 8. and so much as we open the breast of our trust in him, so far he fills it; for the riches of his grace are infinite or without end. As we can never love God too much, neither can we confide too far in him and the more that confidence is firm, humble, and respectable, the more and in greater abundance, do we receive what we ask, Deut. iv. 29, 31.—Let not even thy sins be an hinderance to thy trust and confidence. God can as easily forgive the most enormous sins, as the least and it is as impossible for thee to forsake only one sin by thy own strength as a great number.

He who in his last hours puts his trust in [Page] God and gives himself up entirely to his care, with an assurance that every thing will turn to his good, whether joy or grief, and that he is willing and able to succour him, such an one forces and penetrates into his heart, in such a manner that God (if we may so speak) cannot refuse him his help, Isa. xlix. 15, 16. For if God would not succour him, nothing could comfort him. He who asks of our Lord that which seems impossible, with entire confidence, will sooner have his request granted, than he who asketh little with a weak confidence. For our Saviour himself declares, that every thing is possible to him that believes, Mat. ix. 23. And he tells his disciples, Mat. xxi. 21. Whatsoever ye ask in my name, if ye believe, ye shall receive it.

CHAP. XII. Of our indisposition to virtue; and how [...] may thro' the effect of fervent prayer, be enabled to turn away from sin.

A TRUE christian ought, daily, by divine help, to grow stronger and stronger in the path of virtue, never allowing himself to commit the least sin, either voluntarily or thro' custom. For habitual sins prevent all progress in virtue; wherefore it [Page] is absolutely necessary to watch continually over the roots of sin, in the heart, of which great numbers often remain, tending to disorderly passions, even in those who have been long exercised in the practice of piety; such as anger, hatred, luxury and other vices, which have often drawn away and sunk into perdition, even persons who had made great progress in piety and had been much favoured by God, for want of having carefully watched over these dangerous roots. Evil thoughts and loose imaginations also greatly hinder the divine operation, trouble the heart and drive from it the holy spirit, which cannot dwell with impure or vain thoughts; these the more they are given way to, the deeper roots they take in the heart.

The devil is always about us and mixes with that to which he knows our nature is most inclined, in order to strengthen sin in us. He walketh about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, 1 Pet. v. 8. He seeks to find us in a weak moment off of our watch and destitute of devotion, when one of the windows of our senses are, as it were open, to give entrance to some bad thoughts; then, if we are not on our guard he comes in and robs us of what we have. It is a most lamentable case when a christian suffers himself to be overcome by satan, more [Page] especially as we may obtain from God the most powerful help against him, if we seek properly for it.

If thou wilt overcome thy spiritual enemies, thou must shun company and all occasions of sin; keeping thy flesh under, with discretion, and driving away satan by thy prayers.

As soon as thou art sensible of the motion of any evil passion in thee turn from it, without delay, enter into thy nothingness, and hasten to draw near to God, by a wise renunciation of thyself; even, as a poor beggar and servant filled with sin. Lay before God, with a religious fear, the depth of corruption attendant on thy nature; confide fully in him and altho' he does not immediately grant thy request do not run out into words and deeds; thou shalt be safe; for it is certain that there is none but God, alone, who can and will deliver thee from the burden of thy sins. Thou oughtest also, thro' a contemplation of Jesus Christ, to withstand the image of, and inclination to thy former corruptions; for as God has inclosed great virtue, even in stones and plants, towards curing of bodily diseases; how much more thinkest thou, there is virtue contained in our blessed Saviour's sufferings, to cure the maladies of the soul. It is there thou oughtest to cast thyself, at the feet of [Page] thy heavenly Father, that he may vouchsafe to come to thy help, thro' the mediation of his Son's sufferings; it is by this holy mediation, that thou mayest obtain every particular grace from God.—When we find ourselves guilty of any fault, don't let us dwell thereon, but gather up the scattered powers of our minds under a sense of deep sorrow, for our transgression, having our recourse, in simplicity, to God alone, pouring out our grief with deep sighs into his bosom; making fervent application to our dear Lord for forgiveness and grace in time of need; with a renewal of our good resolution of living entirely to him, and a firm confidence in his mercy. Let us not stand, as it were, afar off thro' fear of approaching him; our strength lies in being near him. On humble application to God, confessing and forsaking our sins he will forgive them, Sam. xii. 13.

God is much more disposed to receive us, than we are to go to him. Our daily sins can never be more easily blotted out than by a quick, fervent and sincere return to God and turning away from sin, to the utmost of our power. Wherefore continually watch over thyself, and maintain a mutual return from thee to God, and from God to thee; with sincere thanks, more especially as thou [Page] hast, so frequently, found forgiveness, thro' the precious treasure of the sufferings of Jesus Christ, Zach. xiii. 1.

CHAP. XIII. How we ought to gather our minds unto God.

A SERVANT of Christ has said, If thou wilt gather thyself into God, thou must be divorced from thy senses, for God is a spirit, John iv. 24. Observe if thou hast not suffered something to come betwixt thee and God, by giving way to a self-seeking disposition. Be careful to observe by his light and grace, the presence of the divine essence in thee, how God reveals himself to thee in himself, and in all creatures. Go continually forth from thy selfishness and activity; (much is contained in these expressions) and in order more distinctly to understand them, thou must observe that the more thy soul is poured out, thro' the force of reason and the senses, the more it is filled with imaginations. The more it labours for that which is outward, the more it is weakened and becomes inwardly sick as to God. For when the inferior faculties attend on their own operations, the soul is obliged to co-operate with them. Here the creatures darken the [Page] spirit, and so fill it with other objects, that the soul cannot see God, nor give itself up entirely to him.

We must seek God in ourselves, by the strength of a chaste love, which gathers up all the powers of the soul, and draws them from all outward dissipations and operations; that we may re-enter the inward rest, and the door may be shut to every figure and image which may disturb the mind.— Wherefore let us turn our senses, our reason and our memory with love towards God, in the center of the soul, and there cleave to him, in humble silent adoration, where all thoughts and imaginations are brought down and silenced; it is in this interior recollection that grace begins its operation and from whence this pure spirit flows into the faculties of the soul.

Turn thyself in this manner towards God, amend thy evil practices, abstract thy senses, as much as possible from exterior objects. It is by submission of the will, by drawing off from the creatures and a proper application of God's gifts, that thou wilt be clothed with true humility, and receive the spirit. For in order to do God's work, he requires a soul empty and freed from care; depending on him alone: God has no want of any thing else to do his work in us, but [Page] that we be truely emptied and stand in pure nothingness before him.

Dwell under a sense of thy proper nothingness, thy natural nothingness, thy sinful nothingness, and there remain firm.— And if, at any time, thou feelest thy heart raised in love and gratitude towards God, and finds a disposition to celebrate his majesty and goodness towards thee, do it with humility and return immediately into thy nothingness, there to meditate on this wonderful bounty as well to mankind in general, as to thee in particular; also, to contemplate with awe on his humanity and his sufferings. Return him hearty thanks for all these benefits.—Ask of him all those virtues which thou standest in need of; submit thyself, with all thy heart to his secret will, in an entire submission of thyself; thus flow, as it were, entirely into God.— Embrace him, in a full confidence; represent to thyself, at all times, thy bloody spouse, and thus pass from the wounds of his humanity into the light of his divinity; in this exercise adhere strongly to the advise given in scripture, Psalm xxxvii, 5, 7. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the lights and thy judgment as the noon-day. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him.

[Page]The creatures as they come out of the hand of God are good and amiable, but they are not the goodness itself; nor are they that on which we ought to fix our love.—God is alone the essence of goodness and of love. Consider that he, tho' so great and good is always with thee; that he looks upon thee in his inexpressible love, that he sees thee, in all thy actions, thy words and thy thoughts; even a thousand times better than thou seest thyself, and withal is always, thro' his benignity, waiting upon thee and willing to receive thee. Wherefore labour with all thy strength and desire to be united to him, in a perfect and efficacious love; that thy nothingness and weakness may be quite swallowed up and reformed, so may thou become something in him, who is the only true and truly existing being.

Then consider the secret places of the Almighty; for he is hidden in all things as saith, Isa. xlv, 15. Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. It is marvellous concerning the Almighty, that he so hideth himself that we cannot perceive nor contemplate his presence, except at such times and moments as he disposes us, in spirit, thereto.

And yet he is nearer to all things than they are to themselves, who altho' he dwells in the center of the soul, nevertheless is hid [Page] to all the senses and unknown to all outward things, yet there is nothing so easy to be obtained as God, where a good will and sincere desire prevails, we may reach his immensity with a poor and broken spirit.

Thou oughtest to enter upon the work of thy salvation, with a resolute and unshaken mind, which in a lively and chaste love of God, as it were, hates itself and dying to all creatures, renounces earthly loves, that it may eternally possess God, in a pure and faithful love. And when thy merciful Father perceives thy heart thus purified and tending towards him, he will pour himself into thy soul, as the sun pours out its rays into the open air.

When the spirit is sensible of the presence of God, it goes, as it were, out of itself, all that it has leaves it, and it plunges itself into its own nothingness, even sometimes imagining that its intelligence is more stupid than that of the brute creation. But then the King upholds it by his divine virtue, for the more we are abased, the more we are exalted, and we do not properly see the height of God but in the valley of humility.

Here a man receives so great light, and so much knowledge of the truth, that all that is not God is irksome to him, Psalm lxxiii. 15. The more humility he maintains in his heart, the more light he receives. Hence [Page] proceeds great joy in spirit. The whole world cannot hurt him that is fixed in this state; neither can he ever fall from it, except he should take a delight in himself, or should attribute to himself those graces he has received, as tho' he was the author of them.

CHAP. XIV. How we may be delivered from all selfish desires; with some account of the sufferings which God permits to come upon those he loves.

WHEN a man finds himself deeply exercised and nature is quite poor, he is, as it were, surprised and would have something to himself; he would willingly look into and understand the work of God; but be careful of such an an inquiry, else the Lord may leave thee in this time of need.— Before nature becomes wholly mortified many sorrowful things come to pass, for she is so corrupted since the fall of our first father, and has so vehement an inclination to satisfy herself, that she would willingly have always before her some object, wherein to delight herself, either in words or actions amongst men or in solitude; and when overcome on one side, she raises on the other, always seeking to satisfy self, even in the [Page] gifts of God; so that she prefers herself to God in appropriating all things to herself, by which she deprives God of his praises and glory, and imperceptibly hinders his gifts and graces from operating in the soul.

This immoderate love of one's self reigns at this time in a deplorable manner in all states, 2 Tim. iii. 2. Nevertheless it must perish and be entirely extinguished. We must die to ourselves and be entirely stripped of our own will, of a vain complacency in surveying our own attainments, with delight, as well as of all other sins, if we are sincerely willing to be united to God; but this will not come to pass without sustaining several grievous combats, by many victories obtained, and by renewedly making a sacrifice of our selfishness. This is not the work of a day, it will require much pains and labour before the mind can be drawn away from temporal things; and our own wills so reduced as to submit to God's will as well in prosperity as in adversity.—Contrary things cannot subsist together. If we will have fire the wood must be consumed. The seed must die before we can reap fruit: If thou desires that God may always operate in thee, thou must remain in a passive state, and keep thy faculties from their own operation, in a full and entire renunciation of self from a sense of thy inability and nothingness. [Page] The deeper this nothingness is, the more real is the divine operation; for our own righteousness is as filthy rags, Isa. lxiv. 6. When God speaks, all the faculties of thy soul must keep silence and must cease from action. This death and destruction of self is so heavy to him that bears it and his nature so pressed thereby, that he knows not what to do; this pain proceeds from an unwillingness in the creature to die, nevertheless we must necessarily pass thro' it by virtue of the death of Christ. The more there is of sin and selfishness in our natural state, the more sensible is the pain. Our salvation is sooner perfected in suffering and in cessation of action, than in activity. In this state we meet with many hinderances, for nature is active and would willingly co-operate and have some object wherewith to ease her pain, as pious readings, religious conversations, and the like; but in this state it is better to deny ourselves of such comforts, if able to support without it. For the new spiritual birth will not attain its perfection, if not preceeded by deadly anguish; and every thing that alleviates these sufferings, will prevent that birth which would have been attained thro' a constant perservance therein.

Our dear Saviour conducts those of his friends whom he would bring into the [Page] greatest perfection, by a path so strait and desert that they are often fearful what will become of them. He proves them for their greater advantage, as he did that good man Job. Sometimes he withholds, from them all sense of his grace, of his union and of his love, leaving them thus stripped and barren; as tho' he had never known nor loved them. This was the state of desertion wherein our dear Saviour was in, when upon the cross he cried out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, Mat. xxvi. 39. From whence we learn, that in whatever state we be, either of joy or grief, we ought to remain quiet, and to labour, truly, to give ourselves up, even tho' all sense of grace should be taken from us: Our virtues mostly proceed from our afflictions as patience proceeds from persecution; humility from disgrace; and so of all the rest.

Sometimes God permits his friends to be exposed to many sorts of temptations, as pride, luxury, hellish envy and other sins which they thought they had already overcome.—They are sometimes exposed to checks of conscience, to doubts, incredulity, blasphemy and hatred of God and to other like terrible assaults, which it seems impossible to support. These temptations are at times so pressing that they seem to [...] overcome us: Nevertheless there is yet some [Page] resistance in the superior part of the soul; but which is hardly to be perceived, on account of the obscurity and weakness in which [...] find ourselves.—This pain becomes the harder when the faculties of the soul most strongly resists sin; especially in fleshly liberties, for he who is pressed down with sorrow, willingly seeks for comfort from nature; except when forbidden by the spirit. But whatever may be thy trials, whether light or hard, bear them with patience, don't endeavour to withdraw from under them; but remain in quiet, don't turn away from the presence of God, however distressing may be the thoughts which trouble thee; let them return as they come, don't notice them. For tho' all the devils in hell and the whole world should pour into thy soul and body, all their malice and all their impurities, if thou art truly sincere before God, and thy resolution be to die rather than voluntarily to commit any one sin, they will purify thee in the virtue of Christ, and will prepare thee for the most excellent gifts! If thou couldst only remain in humility and be truly given up, thy heavenly Father would not fail to deliver thee in a suitable time and send thee comfort, from himself, in a manner which would infinitely exceed all thy afflictions. All accidents, whatever they be, will prepare thee for God, if thou [Page] wilt only note and make proper use of them in silence and patience.

It is thus God often tries his children, and they also meet with tryals from those with whom they live, by hard words and violent reproaches, condemning their ways and actions, as mere folly and dangerous heresy and error, that thereby, they may be truly humbled, as well in their own spirits, as in the eyes of the world. For they must be fastened to the cross with Christ, naked and destitute of all support, and freed from every thing they were naturally attached to; so that their own will may be truly brought under subjection. Wherefore suffer with patience; forsake thyself, be circumspect and keep silence, saying in thyself, Lord thou knowest I seek thee alone, then God will combat for thee. Be thou silent. Ah! if thou knewest the inexpressible good which results from this state and how great is the love of God to thee, even in the pains he brings thee under, and with how much ease these tryals drive away the evil spirit, thou wouldst run to meet the cross and wouldst look upon that day as lost, wherein thou shouldst have no occasion of suffering.

He who can suffer in patience, with an humble trust, under the secret judgments of God, as long as it pleaseth him, is sure [Page] of his protection, God draws him to himself and fills him with his love.

Turn thyself towards God, with all thy strength, verify in acts what thou hast now read; retire into the inward center of thy heart, it is there that truth resides; it will not be thro' a multitude of words that thou wilt attain it, but rather in keeping silent, in suffering and remaining quiet, in denying thyself, and confiding in God. Ever remember, what thou art, where thou art, from whence thou sprung, and where thou wouldst go. Take also care what thou dost, why thou dost it, and persevere constantly in virtue and truth until death.

CHAP. XV. Describing some weaknesses and frailties that attend many pious people, the giving way to which proves a great hinderance to their establishment in a truly christian life.

OUR spiritual progress is much hindered thro' giving way to self-love of any kind, as also to an unwarrantable affection for any creature whatever. Every love that takes possession of the heart of man, and which kindles in him the desire of seeing, hearing, or possessing any thing, that does [Page] not tend to the glory of God, is a disorderly love of the creatures; such as is the love and desire after earthly things; money, wealth, houses, clothes, books, furniture and such things which we may possess, or make use of, for necessity, or for superfluity; and which we often seek after thro' fleshly liberty; setting our affections thereon, in such sort, that we bear with impatience to have them taken from us. Such persons, as these, are esteemed to have a propriety in those things, as they hold them without regard, whether their possessing of them is, or is not agreeable to the will of God; this situation is by some spiritual writers called PROPRIETY the will of the creature not being subservient to the divine will, which requires of those who are truly poor in spirit, that their desires be so disengaged from what they possess, as that they possess them, as tho' they possessed them not, 1 Cor. vii. 29, 31. being ready, freely to give up and forsake all, when God requires it; so that if these things are taken from them, by God's permission, their understanding and will should consent thereto, without murmur.

Another hinderance arises from the desire of riches and honour; from sensuality and immoderate indulgence, in eating, drinking, &c. giving way to vain, needless and uncharitable words and actions; also in [Page] vain curiosity and other dissipations and disfusions of our senses. It is by means of these things, that we lose a taste to spiritual exercises; for a sensual man has no relish for those things which belong to the spirit: Here the inferior powers debase the spirit, and turn it away from the sovereign good, causing it to take its rest in things that are sensible and vile. Truth allows us all that is necessary, provided we do not desire to satisfy our fleshly appetites; for the beginning of the spiritual life is a death to the natural senses; and requires that we turn away from all the creatures in whom we used to confide; in order that we may attach ourselves to that which is eternal and divine.

A further hinderance in our spiritual progress lies in the good opinion we have of ourselves, and our hidden pride, this often arises from the esteem we have of our good works, and other religious exercises; as also from the sweetness and inward joy we are sometimes sensible of. Here the very progress such make in virtue is itself a cause of stumbling to them; this false esteem of their virtues becomes their chief hinderance, as it proceeds from an heart unmortified, impure and proud; such persons possess all they have in propriety. They depend more on their own works than on the freedom of the children of God, purchased by the precious [Page] sufferings of Christ, in which alone, they ought to seek for peace and rest, Rom. iii. 24, 25. Hence they fall into pride; seek a vain reputation; look upon themselves as of consequence and are too ready to judge other people with sourness and passion.— There is nothing so hurtful in a spiritual life as pride and self-love; this casts many into perdition who had made a good beginning and been once divinely favoured.

There also arises a great obstruction to an establishment in religion from a desire which prevails in some to be esteemed and favoured by men, James iv. 4. Many, from a desire of these things, do that which they ought not to do, and omit to do what they ought, in order to gain favour, or avoid being exposed to the jest, the scorn and hatred of men; these forget the apostolick advice, Gal. i. 10. Do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. Such if they do not humble themselves and amend, will suffer an irreparable damage.

An inordinate care for and desire of earthly things, is also often a considerable hinderance; the apostle tells the believers, That he that goeth to war does not entangle himself in the affairs of this life, Tim. ii. 2, 4. Nevertheless most are solicitous, and even torment themselves to attain to many things they do not really stand in need of: In these the inclination is [Page] so much on outward things, and the desire of the soul so filled therewith, that it is painful for them, to think of, and confide in God as they ought to do. We are indeed, exhorted in scripture to labour and be careful for that which is necessary, nevertheless lest the heart should be carried away with such cares, distrust and solicitude is wholly forbidden to the disciples and believers in Christ, Mat. vi. 25, 28. These things obscure our faith in, and dependance on God; lessen our charity to our neighbour, and expose us to many temptations and snares of the devil, 1 Tim. vi. 9.—We must also be very careful to preserve our hearts from bad or vain thoughts, and even from such thoughts, which tho' not evil in themselves, yet are not of use. Indulgences of this kind shew the heart to be relaxed and vain; and to have but little love to God. Those bad thoughts and suggestions proceed from the enemy and altho' we may not wholly give ourselves up to them, yet where they are indulged, they are a great hinderance to true piety and tend to drive away the holy spirit. They manifestly shew that there is a want of mortification, and that a sufficient watch is not kept. If a sufficient degree of zeal prevailed we could not thus abuse our time; but these thoughts would, thro' divine help, be drove away and the heart continually [Page] recur to the contemplation of Christ, and meditation of his sufferings.

These hinderances and many more, which might be mentioned, must sooner or later be mortified, and entirely stripped off, thro' the divine power, Eph. iv. 12. The reason that they still live in us, is because we do not closely enough observe and watch over the inward state of our hearts. The foundation of the heavenly life lies in retirement, silence, tranquillity and a continual attention to the voice of God speaking inwardly to our hearts.

Those who voluntarily indulge themselves in these evil dispositions, either in whole, or in part, will still remain alive, unto sin, nor will they be delivered, notwithstanding their confession of them, Prov. xxviii. 13. Even the good works of such people are defiled with sin; they can make no progress in the spiritual life: For the vices to which they are still attached, are like so many thick veils, black and hard, which cover the eyes of the soul, so that they know not themselves; for the light of grace cannot enlighten them, because this covering of their inward eyes and ears hinders them, so from seeing and hearing that they will excuse and even vindicate their practice, which occasions their still remaining under captivity to sin. The tye by which they are united to the light is so small, that they easily fall into great sins, and there is scarce one amongst an hundred of such persons, but are [Page] carried away by death, before they are prepared. If we could but sensibly feel the deplorable state of such souls, who after they have been in a good degree enlightened, give way to such evil indulgences, we should very much dread the dangerous consequences of voluntarily giving way to commit even one sin. On the other hand, how happy is that soul who dies to itself; how pure, how chaste and free from sin and of all inordinate desire; how quiet and free from pain and fear; united to God in spirit here and eternally hereafter.

The sum of what has been said, is contained in two expressions, that is in self-love and in the love of God. Self-love seeks its own advantage. The love of God seeks his will and glory, and the advantage of others. So much love as a man has to God so much does he despise himself, and so much does he renounce his own will, thro' the power of God. Self-love can go so far as to cause us to despise God; and the love of God can so encrease, that we come so to hate ourselves, and our own will, that in all things we wholly renounce ourselves for the love of God:—Hence it clearly appears that self-love and the love of the creatures and of sin, is the spring which defileth the heart, and casts it into trouble and disorder. God give us grace, with entire sincerity, to enter into this labour, and to love him, in time, and dwell with him in an happy eternity.

[Page]

A SUPPOSITION OF TWO DROPS REASONING TOGETHER, BY WAY OF PARABLE. EXTRACED FROM THE WRITINGS OF JOHN EVERARD.

SUPPOSE two drops apart from the sea, should reason together, and the one should say to the other

Fellow drop! Whence are we? Canst thou conceive either whence we come, or to whom we belong, or whither we shall go? Something we are, but what will in a short time become of us, canst thou tell? And the other drop should answer: Alas poor fellow drop! Be assured, we are nothing; for the sun may arise, and draw us up, and scatter us, and bring us to nothing. Says the other again, suppose it do? For all that, yet [Page] we are, we have a being, we are something.

Why, what are we? Saith the other.

Why, brother drop! Dost thou not know? We, even we, as small and contemptible as we are, in ourselves, yet we are members of the sea: Poor drops though we be, yet let us not be discouraged: We, even we, belong to the vast ocean.

How? Saith the other, we belong to the sea, to the ocean: How can that be? We have heard of the mighty greatness of the ocean.—We have heard that the sea is great and wide wherein are things creeping innumerable.—That they who go down into the sea, in ships they see the wonders of Lord in the deep.—In the sea also we hear, there be these mighty rocks, whose foundations are unmoveable. Thou sayest, that we are of the sea, and belong to the ocean. Where is any such vastness or strength in us? Therefore, whatever thou sayest, we cannot be of the ocean.

No, 'tis true, saith the other; for the present we are not of the ocean, because we are not yet joined to the ocean: And except we perish, and be dissolved, as it were, to nothing; we are nothing, but if the sun draws us up, scatters us and dissolves us to nothing; so that we are not seen to be so much as drops, then are we like to be something; for then we shall return into the [Page] mighty ocean to which we belong: And then we are of those that have in us these rocks, these ships and fish innumerable: Then we may claim and appropriate to ourselves, whatever may be appropriated to the sea, or to the ocean, as well as any other drops; for then we are united and made one with the ocean.

THE APPLICATION.

SO just in like manner, suppose two mortal men reasoning together:—The one in fear and jealousy, and the other in vision and revelation. What are we? says the one: We are nothing says the other; we are but a shadow, a dream, a bubble; not so much as the drop of a bucket, or as the dust of the balance, we are but as the morning dew before the sun, and as stubble before the sire, and as smoke before the wind, ready to be consumed, scattered and dissolved to nothing.

Oh! says the other: Though in ourselves we are but shadows, bubbles and poor drops, and as thou sayest, we are no more than a drop, a bubble, soon up and soon down: We have no power in ourselves, yet we are, we have a being. Nay, we are more than thou [Page] canst imagine.—Why brother, what are we? Why? I'll tell thee what we are: We are members of the very body of Jesus Christ, we are (as I may say) flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone; and we shall be made one spirit with him, and therefore be contented: Though we in ourselves are poor and contemptible, and apart from him nothing, yea worse than nothing: Yet by the grace of God we are, what we are: We (in ourselves) cannot say, I am, or I live: We cannot call ourselves I:—I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and in time I shall see myself to live in him, and then I may, and thou mayest claim the same life, the same power with him; for we shall return into him who is almighty; 'tis truth, we shall be dissolved in ourselves, but we shall be emptied into him, who is infinitely vaster than ten thousand seas or oceans.

Ah brother! says the other, sayest thou so, how can these things be? We have heard, that Jesus Christ is God equal with his Father; that he is almighty, incomprehensible, immense, &c. We have heard, that he hath all power given him in heaven and in earth, that he rules over all his enemies, and treads them all under his feet; that he rules them with a rod of iron, and crushes them in pieces like a potter's vessel.—In us, behold, there is none of these things; we are poor drops and weak creatures; as little as we [Page] are, we are full of nothing but sin and corruption; we are empty, vile and despicable, not only because of our smallness and nothingness, but by reason of our sinfulness and impurity. Oh! saith the other be contented; Corn cannot bring forth fruit except it die, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit: Neither can a drop return to the ocean, except it be dissolved in itself, and from its own proper being: So, even so we, poor drops in ourselves, we are nothing, empty, poor despised nothings, less than nothing, apart from the immense ocean; but if we can be content to die, and forsake ourselves, then shall we return, and be made one with that immense ocean.— Could we but be contented to suffer ourselves to be annihilated, and be brought to nothing we should be made something. If that blessed sun of righteousness would but arise, dissolve us, and draw us up into himself, then we, even we, as poor as we be, should be united and made one with the Almighty. The only reason, why we remain such empty drops, is because we esteem ourselves to be somewhat, when indeed we are nothing. Oh these high swelling towering thoughts must be brought down, that so God himself may take possession of us, that we may be joined to the Lord himself and so be made partakers of his life and glory. As [Page] long as thou art something in thyself, so long thou art nothing, and when thou beginnest to be nothing in thy own esteem, then thou beginnest to be really something; then is Jesus Christ beginning to arise and to exalt himself in thee—till this work is done. Christ is kept under and thyself is exalted, and it rules and governs thee and terminates all thy actions, however they may seem to thee and to other men, as much lifted up in themselves as thou art (I say) to thee and to others in the same sphere with thee, they seem never so glorious and beautiful; yet Christ is crucified and SELF is alive, and set in the throne. As David saith, Up Lord! why sleepest thou? Avenge us on our adversaries. God is asleep in men, till this work is brought about in them.—Till thou art laid low, till thyself be brought down, the heathen are exalted, and Jesus Christ is trampled down.— These things, we ought to find in our own experience. Not only to hear and read the history of them, as done in and by others; but to see and feel, how they are really accomplished in ourselves; for except we see these fightings, conflicting and resisting accomplished in us: Except we have found the strong man bound in us, and felt those fightings and resistings that he makes, till he be bound and overcome, we are yet in our sins: In ourselves indeed, in our own wisdom we can know nothing; and in our own [Page] strength we can do nothing; but by his wisdom and by the communication thereof; by his power of Christ, and by his strength in us, we shall be more than conquerors; and we shall find the words of our Saviour true in ourselves: All power is given to me in heaven and earth.—Then is the day come that God shall wipe away tears from thine eyes, and thou shalt hear Christ himself in thee proclaiming, Behold I make all things new. Then also art thou that blessed meek one, spoken of, Mat. v. That shall inherit the earth.

The way to life is being dead to the world, and dead to the flesh, the world being crucified to us and we to the world:— Come, I'll tell thee, thou blessed soul! To such a pass thou art now come that as thou stinkest to the world, so the world stinks to thee; as all things are ready to forsake thee, so thou art ready to forsake them: So that thou beginnest to see no excellency in any thing the world presents to thee; no not in PROPRIETY, which the whole world, ye generally all esteem so highly of, and are of all thing lothest to forego; I say to this man, even propriety, one of the world's chiefest goods, begins to die to him, and he to it: It departs from us, and we depart from the love of propriety, or laying claim, with affection, to any thing in the world, but having it, as having it not, as 1 Cor. vii. [Page] That both they that have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it; for the fashion of this world passeth away. Here is your meek man, your emptied man, your sequestered man. This man is a man dead, and clean cast out of sight, as David saith, clean out of mind; he is as a bubble, that nobody sets by, and it is his life, his glory, his riches to be so, and these men are fools to the world, yea stark idiots: But yet be contented, happy, yea thrice happy are those men, that are come to this, to be thus dead men. This was the condition, the blessed apostles and disciples were brought to: Oh! But where are such disciples now? As the apostle challenges, 1 Cor. i. 20. Wherenow is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Where are your great doctors, and your learned men? Are they doctors in this school of the cross of Christ? No! No! nothing less: Are they dead men? Are they come to this, to let others rejoice in the heaping up riches, and adding house to house, land to land, and making themselves and their posterity great in the world? These things should not concern dead men: And saith David again: I am as a broken pitcher, that can hold no water: Just so is this man; he is as a broken pitcher, [Page] that can hold nothing:—Pour riches into him, pour health, pour wealth, pour praise, pour honour into him, or pour into him the contrary; whatever ye give to him or take from him, he is all one; if thou strikest him on one the cheek, he cannot revenge, he will rather turn the other; curse him, and he will pray for thee; and this he learns of his dear Saviour Jesus Christ; and this he hath attained by being united, and by being made one with him; whose practice and command you know it was so to do, and whose nature and life he partakes of, knowing assuredly (by real experience) that there is no other way to find rest to his soul, but by forsaking his own will, and living free in the world and dead unto it and to his own proper will and affections; dead to propriety. This is the throne of peace and rest, where God raiseth up the poor from the dust, and lifted up the needy from the dunghill, that he may set them with princes, even with the princes of his people, Psalm cxiii. 7, 8.—Oh! How happy, and how free doth such a soul live? How at liberty and free from those chains, that most men are fettered with? As love of money, honours, houses and lands, distracted with hopes on one hand and fears on the other, and are never at rest; but are like the troubled sea, tumbled this way and that way; rolling to and again, and never quiet: [Page] But this man is delivered, set free from all such things. What a comfort is it, not to fear death, to account death his gain (for this man dies daily) not to fear to answer all our enemies in the gate; for death is but one of God's bailiffs? And what care I, which of his collectors, or toll-gatherers seize upon me? To look boldly, undauntedly on death, on satan, on sin, as knowing them all overcome and brought under? What a comfort is it to feel and see our graces, faith, hope and patience, &c. to revive, to live and flourish, which in former times flagged and died? What a comfort is this to see, that when either the north wind or the south wind blow, yet still he is safe. Let him be in any kind of condition, yet his garden prospers, his soul flourishes, and the spices thereof flow out; nay I will be bold to say to this man: Nothing is a rod, nothing a judgment; let God do what he will with him, he can see no anger, no frowns in any thing, but all that comes, is to him mercies and loving-kindnesses; he can see a great deal of comfort in God's rod: Thy rod and thy staff (saith David) they comfort me. Then the rod is no rod, but a favour and a mercy; for he hath expanded, opened and given up himself solely to God and his will: This is the soul that lives with God and lives in God, this soul is at rest, and none else but this [Page] soul; for he hath in part possession of the kingdom of heaven already, and the kingdom of heaven possession of him, he having received the first fruits, even while he is in the body: And now is fulfilled, and the days are come, that the bride speaks of, Cant. ii. 11, 12. For lo! The winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing of birds is come, the voice of the turtle is heard in the land.

AN eminent servant of God, who had known deliverance from the dark powers, and experimentally felt the powers of the world to come, a few hours before his death, expressed himself in the following words: ‘There is a spirit which I feel, that delights to do no evil, nor to revenge any wrong, but delights to endure all things, in hopes to enjoy its own in the end; its hope is to outlive all wrath and contention, and to weary out all exaltation and cruelty, or whatsoever is of a nature contrary to itself; it sees to the end of all temptations; as it bears no evil in itself, so it conceives none in thought to any other; for its ground and spring is the mercies and forgiveness of God; its crown is meekness; its life is everlasting love [Page] unfeigned, and takes its kingdom with intreaty, and not with contention, and keeps it by lowliness of mind; in God alone it can rejoice, though none else reregard it, or can own its life; 'tis conceived in sorrow, and brought forth without any to pity it, nor doth it murmur at grief and oppressions; it never rejoiceth but through sufferings, for with the world's joy it is murdered. I found it alone, being forsaken: I have fellowship therein with those that lived in dens and desolate places of the earth, who through death obtained resurrection and eternal holy life.’

§

[Page]

VIRTUE, when abstractedly considered, often makes but a faint impression on the human mind; but when the lives of those are set before us, who have adorned the ordinary stations of life by a steady and uniform pursuit of virtue, and a chearful and resolute discharge of the duties incumbent upon them, there is scarce any thing that can have a more happy influence upon our minds, or more effectually induce us to seek for divine help, to rouse us from that lethargy and inactive state into which the generality of mankind are sunk: Even the vicious, and those who are enslaved to corruption, from a feeling view of the happy effects of a virtuous life, are ready, with one of old, to cry out, Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his, Numb. xxiii. 10.

IN the life of the lady ELIZABETH HASTINGS, * we meet with an extraordinary instance of the happy effects, which christianity has upon those who, by [Page] joining with the calls of grace, become willing to give up their whole hearts to follow its dictates. This pious lady's first principle appears to have been the glory of God, and the purity of her own heart; next to this, a continual solicitude and labour to hold all her capacities, all her power, and all her fortunes continually upon the stretch for the good of all men, weeping with those that wept; rejoicing with those that rejoiced; given to the hospitality; distributing to the necessities of saints, and to those that were less so, having joy at the conversion of a sinner, or the least appearance of it; but the care of all her cares was the stranger; the fatherless and the widow; the needy, and he that hath no helper; the lame, the halt and the blind.— And in this place, says the author of her life, what shall I say! or how can I expect to be believed! The bent of her spirit ever lay towards these: She had a share in all their sufferings; she would often converse with them, and enquire into their history with as much poverty of spirit, as they were in of outward condition; she would study their particular cases, and put them in the way of better welfare; some of these were ever in her house, and frequently in great numbers; and it was no neglect of her's, if any one went away unrelieved with meat, physic, raiment or money; many of these that lived [Page] remote, had yearly allowances, and large sums issued out into distant parts of the kingdom. Her still larger applications were fixed pensions upon reduced families, the maintenance of her own charity-school, contributions to others, &c. &c. She was a great mistress of all parts of oeconomy with respect to what she laid out upon herself; her body, she knew, was the temple of the Holy Ghost, which the believer must possess in sanctification and honour, wherefore her support of it in meat, drink and sleep, was ever bounded by necessity; for they that walk in the spirit, as this pious lady did, die progressively to every vanity, and dare not indulge the hurtful gratifications of the flesh, but labour to keep it under, as knowing it to be the seat and repository of their most dangerous and deadly enemy. Nevertheless she sought not her salvation by the force of her alms, highly affluent as they were; for these, though necessary duties, yet, she well knew, were not the charity of the gospel; not that charity which the apostle Paul so divinely describes at 1 Cor. xiii. 3. She was sensible, that Jesus Christ must be revealed in the heart, before we can have any just claim to discipleship, and that it is his ruling and bringing all things therein subjection to his spirit, that was the great and only principle of christian charity.—She knew, that the [Page] great scene of religion lay within, in the right government of the heart; accordingly her eye was ever upon her heart, to see that all its principles were cleansed from evil mixtures, had no taint from self-love, were not sullied with vain-glory; her care was to observe the tendency of all its motions, how its struggles weakened in sinful desires, endeavouring continually to nourish it by acts of faith in the blood of her Redeemer. She had well learnt to overcome evil with good, to suffer long, and be kind, to bear all things, and if ever by speech, carriage or otherwise, she suspected that she had disturbed the spirit of any, she had no peace with herself, till she had taken care for the recovery of theirs.

Much more might be said of the endowments and virtues of this true disciple of Jesus Christ, more especially of her patience under sufferings, and resignation to the divine will; under the painful dispensation she passed through, during the last eighteen months of her life, occasioned by a cancer in her breast, which, notwithstanding she suffered it to be separated from her body, yet in the end occasioned her death. This painful operation she not only bore with patience, but even rejoiced, that she was counted worthy to suffer, knowing her Saviour had suffered in his flesh, and that as sufferings was the way to his perfection, it must [Page] also be the way to ours, this being the declared condition of our being glorified with him, the truest marks of adoption, and the most sovereign medicine sent from heaven for our cure. These truths this truly pious lady was so well acquainted with, that she declared, She would not wish to be out of her present situation, nor exchange it for any other at any price. Thus with great meekness and tranquillity, with chearfulness scarce to be believed, in perfect serenity and freedom, she continued her usual life, till the time appointed for the operation. When that time of deep trial came, she shewed no reluctance or struggle, but endured all even without complaint; only towards the end she drew such a sigh, as the compassionate reader who reads this, may do. Hence it appears, how those that follow the Lamb with sincerity, are endowed with virtue and power resulting from the true spirit of his religion, which others are unacquainted with. The night following the operation was not indeed a night of much sleep, but of truly celestial rest; a night of thanksgiving to her God, for the visible demonstration of his power in her, and about her, for his stretched-out arm in her great deliverance, for the bountiful provision he had made for the body and soul, holding all the powers of her spirit exercised in acts of love, gratitude and adoration. [Page] She sooner than was expected got upon her feet, and with every improvement that could be made, into the same way of life, that she had been in before, wholly intent upon the glory of God, and the good of her fellow-creatures. But the distemper only repressed for a time, rose up with new malignity, to the much greater affliction of numbers in the world, than of her that bore it; for she had now been, for some time, in the school of affliction, exercised with its sharp discipline, and found its salutary effects. Under these sentiments her hope was full of immortality, and the eternal weight of glory, now in full view, made all her afflictions light. In this near and certain approach of death, her cherishing warmth, like that of the sun, tho' it might be most felt by those nearest, yet also reached those at greater distance; witness the great number of letters she writ, and dictated to others, when she became unable to write, full of sweet counsel, having for their argument the blessedness of piety; pressing home the necessity of it, and setting forth its true nature; witness also the number of persons of all conditions, who resorted at her house, to behold the living power of religion in her, and to be benefited by her wisdom. With some of these she continued in heavenly conferences as long as she had strength. Her [Page] life was near drawing to its last stage, but her lamp and her life must be extinguished together, and she must occupy till her Lord comes.—Accordingly she convened her houshold, to strengthen and enforce every thing that she had done or shewn them before, by her dying counsels; and would have extended this care to the whole village, but was restrained by the physician. The path of the just is as a shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. ‘The truly religious, whose evidences for heaven are clear, rational, and well grounded, have a tide of joy springing up in their minds beyond expression; something more moving and satisfactory than any one can imagine, but they that perceive it.—When they are just entering upon the promised land, the splendor of the eternal day dawns upon them, and shines as thro' the breaches of their shattered bodies, and raises in the inward man such earnest of happiness, such foretastes of joy, as enables them to pass thro' the valley of death in peace and triumph.’ As death drew near, she was in transport, quite melted down with the impression of glory, broke out with a raised accent into these words: Bless me, Lord! What is that I see! Oh! the greatness of the glory that is revealed [Page]in me,—that is before me. And some time after she had so said, she fell asleep.

And now, reader, let me ask, What mistakes or delusions did this lady live under; or what wrong judgment did she make of the nature and obligation of our common christianity? Common I call it, for it is one and the same to every man, and to every woman, wherever it is known, and to the practice of the essential and life-giving part of it, is every man and every woman tied down at their utmost peril. And if it be asked, what these are? The answer is, That they cannot here indeed be well drawn out in particulars; but two principal ones, to which the rest are reducible, are, A firm faith in, and dependance upon, Christ—And under the help and power of his spirit, a mighty labour to perfect that holiness which he hath taught us.

All indeed have not this lady's possibilities, and cannot give in alms sevenfold more than they expend upon themselves; but there is scarce one, but may give a cup of cold water, and great things are promised even to that, if it is done in a right manner, and with a devont spirit. Again, all have not near the same disengagements and leisure that she had, [...] have in common with her, the same [...]mand of their time, and therefore cannot maintain so close an attendance upon spiritual exercises; yet nevertheless almost [Page] all may, at all times, and in all places, preserve some sort of heavenly-mindedness, may strive against sin, and use their best endeavours to keep themselves unspotted from the world, and by locking up their senses against temptation, in good measure quench the fiery darts of the enemy.—And if of themselves they are not (as most certainly they are not) sufficient for these things, yet the grace of God is, if they turn to it, seek it earnestly, follow its holy motions, and put themselves under its government. And that all may obtain the grace of God, is certain; for it is common to all. Our gracious and merciful Saviour, the sure and faithful friend of those who are helpless and heavy laden, repeatedly declares it to be so, and the whole tenor of the gospel contains a gracious offer of salvation to every soul, who in sincerity prays to God for it.

A Christian's daily Conversation with GOD, Exemplified in a short Extract OF THE HOLY LIFE of ARMELLE NICOLAS

THE person, whose daily conversation is here described, was not long since a poor simple country maid, and servant to [Page] a great family in France. The whole course of her life [...] very instructive, and a most shining pattern of a true spiritual conversation. 'Tis remarkable, that this person who served God with such unwearied prayer and watchfulness, was so ignorant, that she could neither read nor write, and was in the station of a servant, constantly employed in business and hard labour. Hence we see, that the true service of God is spiritual, universal, plain and easy, so that no person can be excused from it by any pretence whatsoever.

'Tis not so much the changing of places, or names, or modes and forms, of any thing without us, as the changing of our will and heart, that will render our service acceptable to God.—Hence the scripture declaring, what sort of change is to be wrought in a soul, requires a translation from darkness to light, (Acts xxvi. 18.) from death to life, (Eph. ii. 5.) and from being lost to be found again.

The Lord give his grace to all that heartily desire is, always to walk before him after such a pious manner as this devout soul did! wherefore she herself gave the following account to the author of her life.

As soon as I wake in the morning, I throw myself into the arms of my heavenly love, as a child into the arms of his father. I rise [Page] with a design to serve and please him, and if I have time to pray, I fall upon my knees in his holy presence, and speak to him as if I really saw him with my bodily eyes. I give myself up wholly to him, and desire him to fulfil all his holy will in me, and that he would not suffer me that day to do the least thing which might be offensive to him. In short, I love and praise him as much and as long as my affairs permit; though very often I have hardly so much time as to say the Lord's prayer. But I do not trouble myself about that; for I have God always in my heart, as well when I am about my business, which I do in obedience to his will, as when I retire on purpose to pray to him. This he himself has taught me, that whatever I do out of love to him, is a real prayer.

I dress myself in his presence, and he shews me that his love supplies me with raiment. And when I go about my business, even then doth he not forsake me, nor I him, but he converses with me; yea, I am then as much united to him, as when I am at my prayers, set apart on purpose for my spiritual recollection. Oh! how sweet and easy is all labour and toil in such good company! Sometimes I perceive such strength and support in my mind, that nothing is too hard for me. Nothing but the body is at work, the heart and myself burn with love to God.

[Page]When the body begins to be weary, or to repine, or to desire unseasonable rest, being oppressed with uneasiness; my divine love enlightens me forthwith, and shews me how I ought to suppress those rebellious motions of corrupt nature, and not to nourish them at all, either by word or deed.—This love keeps the door of my lips, and watches over my heart, that it may not in the least contribute to such irregular passions.

But if, at any time, for want of care, I am surprised with these or the like faults, I cannot be at rest till I have obtained pardon, and God be reconciled to me. I lie prostrate before his foot-stool, confessing all my faults to him, and there I continue till he has forgiven me, renewed his friendship with me, and confirmed it more than before. If people persecute me, and by soul and uncharitable censures raise scandals upon me, or any other way afflict me; or if evil spirits attack me with their crafty and cunning temptations, I then presently run to my heavenly love, who readily stretches forth his sacred arms to receive me, shewing me his heart and wounds open for my security, in which I hid myself as in a strong castle and fortress.—And then I am so mightily strengthened, that if the whole army of hell itself, together with all the creatures, should rise up against me, I fear them not, because [Page] I am under the protection of the most high God, his love being the hiding-place and safeguard of my soul.

If God at any time hides his face, making as if he would go away from me, I tell him, O! 'tis no matter, my love, conceal thyself as much as thou pleasest, nevertheless I'll serve thee; for I know thou art my God. And then I stand upon my guard more than ever, to be faithful to him, for fear of displeasing my love. And at the same time perceiving the greatness of my misery and poverty, I insist the more upon the merits of our Saviour, and resolve to rest contented, tho' it should please him to leave me all the days of my life in such a condition. But he never lets me continue long under these circumstances, and if I may venture so to speak, he cannot forbear loving me, any more than I can live without him.

If I am persuaded on holidays to be merry in company, I excuse myself. For nothing can be compared to the pleasures of my love, which are so much the sweeter and greater for my withdrawing from all company whatsoever. If people wonder, how I can stay always at home alone, I think within myself: O! if you knew the glorious company I have, you would not say that I was alone; for I am never less alone, than when I have nobody with me.

[Page]The night coming on, and every one going to rest, I find rest only in the arms of divine love: I sleep leaning on his holy breast, like a child in his mother's bosom. I say, I go to sleep, but being still busied about the love and praises of my God, till I fall quite asleep. Many times this love rouses up all my senses, so that I cannot sleep the greatest part of the night, but I spend it in the embraces of the grace of God, which never forsakes such a poor miserable creature as I am, but preserves me, and takes special care of me.

If in the night the evil spirits hover about, to torment or to surprise me, (which often happens) this divine love guards me, and fights for me. Yea, he gives me grace too, to resist them courageously, as if I were awake. For they seldom continue long to assault me, unless it be in my sleep.

And this is the life I have led for these twenty years past, without perceiving the least change of that love which was poured out into my heart, after my sincere conversion unto him. Nay, I have observed its daily increase, tho' every day it seemed impossible to endure any addition to what I already enjoy. But truly, it is an infinite love, which satisfies and nourishes me, so that every day I have a new hunger, tho' [Page] methinks I can receive no more, than what I possess already every moment.

THE author of her life says, concerning the manner of her expressions, that they were always very modest, without any noise or vehemence: her common discourses were always holy and edifying; whereas others too commonly mis-spend their time in useless conversation and unprofitable talk.

For a long while she could bear no other discourse but of God and his holy love. I I cannot imagine, said she, how a soul, created for heaven, can be concerned about the dross of this world. From that time, if she happened to be in company, where the subject of the discourse was but indifferent, either she did not mind it at all, entertaining herself in the mean while with God; or, as soon as she thought it proper, she diverted and changed the discourse; thinking it but lost time, which was spent in the trifles of this world.

To every body that had a mind to be acquainted with God Almighty she gave this advice: To be silent, and to learn to keep their thoughts together in the center of the heart: for this (said she) is the beginning of our union with God, and by these means the soul forgets earthly things, and raises herself up to the contemplation of heavenly [Page] objects. We ought to lose our familiarity with the creatures, if we desire to enjoy the conversation of the Creator; a moment of which doth afford more delight and satisfaction, than all the finest discourses in the world.

The real experience she had of the inward and spiritual life of grace, and of the manifold operations it was attended with, doth abundantly appear from the larger account of her life and conversion.

One time when her mistress was afraid that Armelle was like to run quite mad by an excess of devotion, she forbad her all spiritual exercises, and would not let her go even to church, except on the Lord's day only: Armelle, being sensible of the false step her mistress took, smiled within herself, saying, Truly, I am not mad, after I have found my beloved, whom I now love with all my heart. I remember a time, when I was seeking only God without me, and then I was mad indeed.—This mistress of hers being of a sour and morose humour, shewed a deal of ill-nature to Armelle, of which, however, she never complained, but rather thanked God, that he was pleased to make this a means of her fuller purification. Some seeing what she suffered in that house, advised her entirely to quit that place; she replied, according to her usual earnestness: [Page] Why should you have me to flee from the cross which the Lord himself has entailed upon me? No, by no means: I shall never do it, except they turn me away by force. In which unexpected answer her friends entirely aquiesced, never prompting her again to quit a place where she had daily opportunity to practise patience and self-denial; virtues so much contrary to the whole bent of corrupt nature, and yet so necessary for rightly framing a christian life and conversation. At another time she said: If the soul be but well grounded in the favour of God, and lively affected with the operations of his grace, all the insults of the devil, and of the creatures, are borne with joy and comfort. But this is misery indeed, when the Lord himself withdraws from the soul, and lets her shift for herself.

In what company soever she was, she talked of nothing more, than of being faithful to God. Nothing dropped more from her mouth, than, Let us be faithful, let us be faithful to the Lord. This word she thought sit for any time, and suitable to every company. Being asked by her friends, whether she had nothing else to say, she answered: Don't wonder at my saying this over and over again. If I should live a thousand years, I should still tell you the same thing. For 'tis faithfulness, wherein the perfection of a christian life consists.

[Page]Of the constraining power of the divine love she has the following expression: Whenever I happened to adhere a little too much to my natural inclinations, (apt to steal in upon the mind under the specious pretence of necessity) I was immediately reproved by the love of God. This divine love is like a careful tutor, who takes all the pains imaginable for advancing his pupil in the way of learning he is engaged in; and for this reason keeps his eye constantly fixed on him, both to correct his failings, though never so small, and to prevent his being led away by any thing that might divert him from his chief employment. Thus, says she, dealt the Lord with me. He kept me closely confined to an holy awe and wariness; and when I happened by one oversight or other to withdraw, as it were, from his eye, he in that very moment pursued after me, and recalled me to my duty. But all this was done with so much love and tenderness, that it must be a heart of brass, if not mollified by such endearing marks of love and kindness.

She often wondered at some people's dilatory doings in the service of God, and said, it was a cunning fetch and stratagem of the devil, to make people put off from one day to another such designs as might serve to advance the glory of God, and the good of our fellow-creatures. For, said she, if often [Page]happens that grace which at one hour offers itself to a man, in order to support him under some difficult enterprises, is not so easily met with at another time. And besides this, how uncertain is our life! nay, if we were sure to live longer, yet ought we not to linger upon that account at all, nor to defer from one day to another what might be done this day. A man that is full of delays in the service of God, must needs have but little love at the bottom. Wherever love is raised to any considerable degree, there the soul can't rest, whilst there remains any thing to be done required by the beloved.—And this dilatory temper, she said, was a great impediment in the way of perfection. Many souls were convinced of the will of God, but being too backward constantly to struggle against the corrupt propensities of their dull and lazy temper, they made but a slow progress in the work of religion. They say, to-morrow, to-morrow it shall be done in good earnest; but that to-morrow never comes. The consequence whereof is, that the longer they flatter themselves in their disorderly and wonted customs, the less able they are to resist them at last at all: the Lord leaves them now to their own will, since they did not improve faithfully what once they had received.

[Page]Her humility was also grounded on a true and solid foundation. She confesses, that the infinite love of God kept her undefiled as to the vanity of pride. I was astonished, says she, when I was told to watch against pride, for I thought whilst I was well in my wits, I could not possibly be proud. I was so fully convinced that every thing really good was from God, that if all angels and men had offered to persuade me to the contrary, I should never have believed them.—And this sense fortified me against every kind of pride.

Because her love to God was so great and fervent, the love she bore to her fellow-creatures was also wonderfully influenced and inflamed thereby.—When she considered the woful state of the wicked, and the dreadful judgment that is like to befal them at last, she then felt a more tender and commiserating love, and her very bowels began to yearn for compassion. When she looked upon the happy state she was arrived to, and the severe doom attending such prosligate wretches, she used to say, she seemed unto herself like one that had been in a great storm at sea, and by stress of weather like to be cast away every minute; but getting off at last safe and sound, remembered now ashore the dangers his brethren and near relations were still exposed to, being tossed up [Page] and down in the huge ocean, and left to the mercy of the roaring billows. Alas! said she, thus it is with me, when I lay to heart the the danger sinners run themselves into. For the more endearing marks of divine grace the Lord has been pleased to bestow upon me, the more fervent is my desire, that also others might partake of the same with me.

AND now, ye learned men, and refined wits of the age, come hither and admire the ignorance and simplicity of this poor country-maid! Consider how far she exceeds your high flown superficial wisdom, and the dark flashes of human wit and learning? And was it possible for her to attain to this heavenly wisdom and divine knowledge, to such a nobleness and elevation of mind, without the scraps and assistance of artificial learning and philosophy? then truly there must be another school wherein those that flow unto the Lord, (Ps. xxxiv. 5.) are lighted. Indeed to know the love of Christ, passeth all knowledge, Eph. iii. 19. Concerning which our Saviour was pleased thus to express his grateful sentiments with hearty joy and heavenly triumph: I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight, Matth. xi. 25, 26.

FINIS.

Notes

*

ISA. xlix. 6.

I will also give thee (i. e. Christ our Saviour) for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation to the ends of the earth.

JOHN i. 9.

Who was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

↵

*

EZEKIEL xxxvi. 26.

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

↵

*

That this Indian had a true prospect of the happy effect of the power of the gospel-state, upon those who submit to its requirings, appears from many parts of scripture, particularly from the prophesy of the evangelick prophet, Isa. chap. xxxv. 1—9. ‘The wilderness and the solitary places shall be glad for them, and the deserts shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose:’—It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing.—They shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God.—An high way shall be there, and it shall be called the way of holiness. The way-fareing men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beasts shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there. Chap. lx. 17. I will make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness; violence shall no more be heard in the land, nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shall call thy wall salvation, and thy gates praise.

↵

*

See David Grantz's History of Greenland, printed 176.

↵

*

JOHN i. 12.

To as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God.

↵

*

A very amiable account is given of the extraordinary charity, piety, &c of this lady, by Sir RICHARD STEEL in the Tatler, No. 42, under the character of ASPASIA. She died in 1789.

↵

§

§

§

[Page]

THE DREADFUL VISITATION, IN A SHORT ACCOUNT of the PROGRESS and EFFECTS OF THE PLAGUE, The last time it spread in the city of London, in the year 1665, extracted from the memoirs of a person who resided there during the whole time of that infection.

O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end.

Deut. xxxii. 29.

PHILADELPHIA: Printed by JOSEPH CRUKSHANK on the North side of Market-Street, between Second and Third Streets. MDCCLXXIV.

[Page]

A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE PLAGUE.

AMONGST the many calamities with which the Almighty is pleased to visit the children of men, in order to reduce them to a just sense of their own weakness and entire dependence upon him, there is scarce any that are more productive of true penitent humiliation, and of a sight of what is really good and truly evil, than those contagious distempers, which an offended God sometimes suffers to rage amongst the people. In the year 1665 the city of London was sorely visited by the plague: An account of the progress and effects of that visitation was kept by a citizen who remained there during the whole time of the sickness, and appears to have been candid and judicious in his remarks thereon. I trust my readers may, in a short description of that memorable judgment, meet with such lessons of best wisdom, which nothing can so effectually produce, as a close and serious converse with death and the grave. The introduction of this contagion in London was by some goods imported from Holland, which had been brought thither from the Levant. It first broke out in the [Page] house where those goods were opened, from whence it spread to other houses. In the first house that was infected there died four persons: A neighbour who went to visit them returning home, gave the distemper to her family, and died with all her houshold. The parish officers who were employed about the sick persons being also infected, the physicians perceived the danger, and, upon narrow inspection, assured, that it was indeed the plague with all its terrifying particulars, and that it threatened a general infection. The people began now to be alarmed all over the town; the usual number of burials within the bills of mortality for a week were generally about 240 to 300, but from the 17th to the 24th Jan. the printed bill was 474. However this went off again, and the frost continuing very severe till near the end of February, the bills decreased again, and people began to look upon the danger as good as over; but in May the bills greatly increased, and the weather becoming hot, the infection spread again, in a dreadful manner.

I lived, says the author, without Aldgate, and as the distemper had not reached to that side of the city, our neighbourhood continued easy; but at the other end of the town the consternation was very great, and the nobility and gentry thronged out of the town with their families in an unusual manner; nothing was to be seen but waggons, carts and coaches with goods and people, and horse-men attending them, hurrying away; then empty waggons [Page] and carts appeared, who were apparently returning to fetch more people, besides innumerable numbers of people on horseback, fitted out for travelling. This was a very melancholy prospect; indeed there was nothing else of moment to be seen; it filled my mind with very serious thoughts of the misery that was coming upon the city, and the unhappy condition of those that would be left in it. By the end of July the contagion had spread and increased to a great degree: Sorrow and sadness sat upon every face; and though some parts were not yet overwhelmed, all looked deeply concerned. London might well be said to be all in tears, the mourners did not go about the streets, for nobody made a formal dress of mourning for their nearest relations, but the voice of mourning was indeed heard in the streets; the shrieks of women and children at the windows and doors of their houses where their dearest relations were dying, were so frequent to be heard as we passed the streets, that it was enough to pierce the stoutest heart in the world. Tears and lamentations were seen almost in every house, especialiy in the first part of the visitation; for towards the latter end people did not so much concern themselves for the loss of their friends, expecting that themselves would be summoned the next hour.

It was a time of very unhappy breaches amongst us; in matters of religion, divisions and separate opinions prevailed; the Church of England was lately restored, and the Presbyterians [Page] and other professions had set up their meetings for worship, apart, in which they were frequently disturbed, the government endeavouring to suppress their meetings. But this dreadful visitation reconciled the different parties, and took away all manner of prejudice and scruple from the people. But after the sickness was over, that spirit of charity subsided, and things returned to their own channel again. Here we may observe, that a nearer view of death would soon reconcile men of good principles to one another, and that it is chiefly owing to our easy situations in life, and our putting these things far from us, that our breaches are somented, and that there is so much prejudice and want of christian charity and union amongst us. A close view and converse with death, or with diseases that threaten death, would scum off the gall of our temper, remove our animosities, and bring us to see with different eyes. On the other side of the grave we shall all be brethren again.

The inns of court were now all shut up, there was but few lawyers to be seen in the city, indeed there was no need of them, for quarrels and divisions about interest had ceased; every body was at peace.

It was also worthy of observation, as well as fruitful of instruction, to observe with what alacrity the people of all persuasions embraced the opportunities they had of attending upon the publick worship, and other appointed times of devotion, as humiliations, fastings and publick [Page] confessions of sins, to implore the mercy of God, and avert the judgment which hung over their heads. The churches were so thronged, that there was often no coming near, no, not to the very door of the largest churches. There was also daily prayers appointed morning and evening, at which the people attended with uncommon devotion.

All plays and interludes which had lately began to increase amongst us, were forbid to act; the gaming-tables, publick dancing-rooms and musick-houses, which multiplied and began to debauch the manners of the people, were shut up and suppressed, finding indeed no trade; for the minds of the people were generally humbled and agitated with other things, death was before their eyes, and every body began to think of their graves.

The infection still gradually increased till the middle of August, when there died a thousand a day, by account of the weekly bills, though they never gave a full account by many thousands; many of the parish officers were taken sick themselves and died when their account was to be given in. The parish of Stepney alone had within the year, one hundred and sixteen sextons, grave-diggers and carriers of the dead, &c. Indeed the work was not of a nature to allow them leisure to take an exact tale of the dead bodies, which were all thrown together in the dark in a pit, to which no man could come near without the utmost peril.

I had, says the author, the care of my brother's [Page] house, which obliged me sometimes to go abroad. In these walks I had dismal scenes before my eyes, as, particularly, of persons falling dead in the streets, terrible shrieks of women, who in their agonies would throw open their chamber-windows, and cry out in a dismal surprising manner; it is impossible to describe the variety of postures in which the passions of the poor people would express themselves. Passing through Token-House yard, of a sudden a casement violently opened just over my head, and a woman gave three frightful screeches, and then cry'd: Oh! Death, Death, Death, which struck me with horror and a chilness in my very blood. There was nobody to be seen in the whole street, neither did any window open, for people had no curiosity now in any case. I went on to pass into Bell-Alley, where there was a greater cry than that; I could hear women and children run screaming about the rooms like distracted, when a garret-window opened, and somebody from a window on the other side asked, What is the matter? Upon which it was answered, Oh Lord! my old master has hanged himself. The other asked again, Is he quite dead? And the first answered, Ay, ay quite dead and cold. This person was a Deputy-Alderman and very rich. But this is but one instance; it is scarce credible what dreadful cases happened in particular families every day. People in the rage of the distemper or in the torment of the swelling, which was indeed intolerable, becoming raving [Page] and distracted, oftentimes laid violent hands upon themselves, throwing themselves out of windows, or breaking out of the houses, would dance naked about the streets, not knowing one extasy from another; others, if not prevented, would run directly down to the river, and plunge into the water. Some dying of mere grief as a passion, and some of fright and surprize, without having received the infection. It often pierced my very soul, to hear the groans and cries of those who were thus tormented; but this of the swellings was accounted the most promising particular in the whole infection; for if these swellings could be brought to break and run, the patient generally recovered. Whereas those who were struck with death at the beginning of the distemper, and had spots come upon them, often went about indifferent easy, till a little before they died, and some till the moment they dropt down; such would be taken suddenly very sick, and would run to some convenient place, or to their own houses if possible, and there sit down, grow faint and die.

Death did not now hover over every one's head only, but looked into their houses and chambers, and even stared in their very faces; and though there was some stupidity and dulness of mind, yet there was a great deal of just alarm sounded in the inmost soul: Many consciences were awakened; many hard hearts melted into tears; many a penitent confession was made of crimes long concealed. People [Page] might be heard even in the streets as we passed along calling upon God for mercy, through Jesus Christ, and saying: I have been a thief; I have been an adulterer; I have been a murderer, and the like; and none durst stop to make inquiry into such things, or to administer comfort to the poor creature, who in the anguish both of soul and body thus cried out. Many were the warnings that were then given by dying penitents to others, not to put off and delay their repentance to a day of distress, that such a time of calamity as this was no time for repentance. I wish, says the author, I could repeat the very sound of those groans and exclamations that I heard from some poor dying creatures, when in the height of their agonies and distress, and that I could make him that reads this, hear as I imagine, I now hear them, for the sound seems still to ring in my ears. In the beginning of September the number of burials increasing, the church-wardens of Aldgate parish ordered a large pit to be dug, to hold all the dead which might die in a month, it was about forty feet long and sixteen broad; some blamed the church-wardens for suffering such a frightful gulf to be dug; nevertheless in two weeks they had thrown more than eleven hundred bodies into it, when they were obliged to fill it up, as the bodies were come within six feet of the surface. My curiosity drove me to go and see this pit, when there had been near four hundred people buried in it. I got admittance into the church-yard, by [Page] means of the sexton, who was a sensible, religious man. He would have persuaded me not to go, saying, That it was indeed their duty to venture, and in it they might hope to be preserved; but that, as I had no apparent call, he thought, my curiosity could not justify my running that hazard. I told him, I had been pressed in my mind to go, and that perhaps it might be an instructing sight. Nay, says the good man, if you will venture upon that score, in the name of God go in; it will be a sermon to you, it may be the best you ever heard in your life. His discourses had shock'd my resolution, and I stood wavering for a good while; but just then I heard the bell-man, and the cart, loaded with dead bodies, appearing, I went in. There was nobody, as I could perceive, at first with the cart but the buriers, and the man that led the cart; but when they came to the pit, they saw a man muffled in a cloak who appeared in great agony; the buriers immediately gathered about him, supposing he was one of those poor delirious or desperate creatures, that would sometimes run to the pit, wrapt in blankets, and throw themselves in, and as they said, bury themselves. When the buriers came to him, they soon found he was neither desperate nor distempered in mind, but one oppressed with a dreadful weight of grief, having his wife and several children all in the cart, that was just come in with him, and he followed in agony and excess of sorrow. He calmly desired the buriers to let him alone, said he would only see the bodies thrown in, and go away; [Page] so they left importuning him. But no sooner was the cart turned round, and the bodies shot into the pit promiscuously, which was a surprise to him, for he at least expected, they would have been decently laid in, though indeed he was afterwards convinced that was impracticable, I say, no sooner did he see the sight, but he cryed out aloud, unable to contain himself, and fell down in a swoon; the buriers ran to him, and took him up, and when he was come to himself, led him to a place where he was taken care of. He looked into the pit again, as he went away, but the buriers had covered the bodies so immediately with throwing earth, that nothing could be seen. The cart had in it sixteen or seventeen bodies. Some were wrapt up in linen sheets, some in rugs, some little other than naked, or so loose, that what covering they had fell from them, in the shooting out of the cart, and they fell quite naked among the rest; but the matter was not much to them, or the indecency much to any one else, seeing they were to be huddled together into the common grave of mankind; for here was no difference made, but poor and rich went together; there was no other way of burials, neither was it possible there should.

John Hayward, under-sexton, that is, grave digger and bearer of the dead, never had the distemper at all, but lived about twenty years after it. His wife was employed to nurse the infected people; yet she herself never was infected. The only preservative he used against [Page] the infection, was holding garlick and rue in his mouth, and smoaking tobacco; this I had from his own mouth. His wife's remedy was washing her head in vinegar, and sprinkling her head-clothes so with vinegar, as to keep them always moist; and if the smell of any of those she waited on was more than ordinary offensive, she snuffed vinegar up into her nose, sprinkled her head-clothes and held a hankerchief wetted with vinegar to her mouth.

And here I must not omit mentioning the disposition of the people of that day, with respect to their charity to the poor, which indeed was very large both in a publick and a private way. Some pious ladies were so zealous in this good work, and so confident in the protection of providence, in the discharge of this great duty, that they went about themselves distributing alms, and visiting the poor families that were infected, in their very houses, appointing nurses and apothecaries to supply them with what they wanted; thus giving their blessings to the poor in substantial relief, as well as hearty prayers for them. I will not undertake to say, that none of these charitable people were suffered to die of the plague, but this I may say, that I never knew any of them miscarried, which I mention for the encouragement of others in case of like distress; and doubtless, if they, that give to the poor, lend to the Lord, and he will repay it, those that hazard their lives to give to the poor, and to comfort and assist them in such a misery as this, may hope to be protected therein.

[Page]From the middle of August to the middle of September the infection still increased and spread itself, with an irresistible fury; it was reckoned, that during that time there died no less than sixteen hundred a day, one day with another. It was then that the confusion and terror was inexpressible; the courage of the people appointed to carry away the dead, began to fail them; the vigilance of the magistrates was now put to the utmost trial. At last the violence of the distemper came to such a height that the people sat still looking at one another, and seemed quite abandoned to despair. In a word, people began to give themselves up to fear, that there was nothing to be expected but a universal desolation. This despair made people bold and venturous, they were no more shy of one another, as expecting there was now no avoiding the distemper, but that all must go, this brought them to crowd into the churches, they inquired no more what condition the people who sat near them were in, but looking upon themselves also as so many dead corps, they came to the churches without the least caution, and crowded together, as if their lives were of no consequence, compared to the work which they were come about: Indeed, their zeal in coming, and the earnestness and affectionate attention they shewed to what they heard, made it manifest what value people would put upon the worship of God, if they thought, every day they attended at the church, would be their last. It was in the height of this despair, that it pleased God to [Page] stay his hand, and to slacken the fury of the contagion, in a manner as surprising as that of its beginning, and which demonstrated it to be his own particular hand above the agency of means; nothing but omnipotent power could have done it; the contagion, despised all medicine; death raged in every corner, and had it gone on as it did then, a few weeks more would have cleared the town of all its inhabitants. In that very moment when thirty thousand were dead in three weeks, nay, when it was reported three thousand died in one night, and an hundred thousand more were taken sick, when we might well say, Vain was the help of man, it pleased God to cause the fury of it to abate, and by his immediate hand to disarm the enemy. It was wonderful! The physicians were surprised, wherever they visited, to find their patients better, and in a few days every body was recovering: Nor was this by any medicine found out, or any new method of cure discovered, but it was evidently from the secret invisible hand of him that had at first sent this disease, as a judgment upon us. Let the philosophers search for reasons in nature to account for it, and labour as much as they will to lessen the debt they owe to their maker; those physicians who had the least share of religion in them, were obliged to acknowledge, that it was all supernatural. The streets were now full of poor recovering creatures, who appeared very sensible and thankful to God for their unexpected deliverance: Yet I must own, [Page] that as for the generality of the people, it might too justly be said of them, as was said of the children of Israel, after they had been delivered from the host of Pharaoh, that they sung his praise, but they soon forgot his works.

The author, who was preserved unhurt with his whole family, during the time of the sickness, gives in his memoirs a particular account of the many reasonings and fears which affected his mind, before he could come to a fixed conclusion, whether to stay, and take his lot in the station in which God had placed him, or by leaving the city, run the hazard of unsettling himself, and lose his effects which lay scattered among the merchants. At the earnest solicitations of his brother he had concluded to go; but being always crossed in this design by several accidents, it came one morning, as he expresses it, very warmly in his mind, whether these repeated disappointments were not intimations to him, that it was the will of heaven he should not go, which was succeeded by a further thought, that if this suggestion was from God, he was able effectually to preserve him in the midst of all deaths and dangers that would surround him, and that if he attempted to secure himself, by fleeing from his habitation, and acted contrary to these intimaons, which he believed to be divine, it was a kind of flying from God, who could cause his justice to overtake him, when and where he thought fit.

[Page]But what finally sixed him in a resolution to stay, and cast himself entirely upon the protection and good pleasure of the Almighty, was, that at a time, when his thoughts were more than commonly serious upon this weighty subject, turning over the bible which lay before him, he cried out, Well, I know not what to do, Lord direct me! at that juncture happening to stop and casting his eye on the second verse of the 91st Psalm, he read to the 10th, as follows, viz. I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrows that flieth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord which is thy refuge, even the most high thy habitation: There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling, &c.

THE END.

§

§

§

[Page]

THE MIGHTY DESTROYER DISPLAYED, IN SOME ACCOUNT OF THE Dreadful HAVOCK made by the mistaken USE as well as ABUSE of DISTILLED SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS.

BY A LOVER OF MANKIND.

ECCLESIASTES vii. 29. Lo this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

PHILADELPHIA: Printed by JOSEPH CRUKSHANK, between Second and Third Streets, in Market-Street. M.DCC.LXXIV.

[Page]

THE MIGHTY DESTROYER DISPLAYED, &c.

OBSERVING some years ago the dreadful havock made by the excessive use of distilled spirituous liquors in this part of the world, I was induced to insert in one of the almanacks an extract of what had been written on that subject by Dr. Hales, fellow of the Royal Society, containing his own remarks, with the sentiments of several persons of note in the physical way; whose knowledge of the nature of distilled liquors, as well as of their effects on the human frame, best qualified them to give a right judgment thereon. And as the excessive and indeed mistaken use of these liquors continues, and rather increases, on this Continent, 'tis thought a republication of those sentiments, [Page] with some additions, may, thro' divine blessing, be beneficial to many; particularly to some well-minded people, who are under mistaken prejudices on this most interesting subject. "My principal and indeed only motive," says this benevolent author, ‘is to endeavour to rouse the caution and indignation of mankind, against those mighty destroyers and debasers of the human species, fermented distilled spirituous liquors; those worse than infernal spirits, which bewitch and infatuate the nations with their sorceries.’—An evil so amazingly great, that did not woeful experience too fully prove it, it seems incredible, that any whom it concerns could possibly be so negligent, as not to use their utmost endeavours to suppress this destructive manbane.

That eminent physician Dr. Hoffman expresly cautions against the use of distilled spirituous liquors. "Because," says he, ‘they are, above all things, most unwholesome, being caustic burning spirits; which, by inflaming the solids, and thickening the fluids, cause obstructions, which bring on many fatal diseases, such as hectick fevers, jaundices, dropsies, &c. whereby multitudes are yearly and daily destroyed.’ He also [Page] observes, ‘that they rot the entrails, such as the liver, stomach and bowels; as it is evident, not only by opening the bodies of those who are killed by drinking them, but also by what is observed in Germany of the effect which the caustic, fiery, remaining wash of the distillers, has on the guts of hogs; which are thereby so tendered, that they cannot make puddings with them.’—He farther observes, ‘That the flesh of such hogs will not keep, even when salted, so well as the flesh of other hogs.’ Dr. Cheyne, in his essay of health and long life, says, ‘All people, who have any regard to their health and lives, ought to tremble at the first cravings for such poisonous liquors. The maladies begot by them, bring forth necessity upon necessity of drams and gills; till, at last, a kind dropsy, nervous convulsion, flux, if not a fever, or phrenzy, sets the poor soul free. It has often raised in me the most melancholly reflections, to see the virtuous and sensible, bound in such chains and fetters, as nothing less than omnipotent grace or the unrelenting grave could release them from.’

Doctor Short, in his history of mineral waters, page 225. says, ‘The oftner I reflect on the mischief done by distilled [Page] spirits, the more I am confirmed, that the human race had been happier had drams never been known: and I cannot help cordially joining with Doctor Allen, in his Synopsis Medici, A. 1633. That the plentiful devouring of those spirits has killed as many thousands of men, as there are stars in the sky. Nay, ten times ten thousands have died by these, more than all the rest of the poisons whatever.’

Doctor Lind, in his treatise on the scurvy, says, ‘He observed most destructive distempers to be much increased, even to mortality, by distilled spirituous liquors; which sailors are too apt greedily to swallow down.’ And Doctor Hales observes, from the remarks made to him by an eminent surgeon, ‘That the stomachs of great dram-drinkers were contracted into half the common natural size, and hard; somewhat like leather, that had been held to the fire. The consequence of which was, loss of appetite, and a wasting consumption.’

It is pretended, that drams comfort, warm, and defend from the severity of weather, to which men are sometimes exposed; without which, they say, they should perish with cold; which is probably, in a great measure, true of those [Page] who are habituated to drink them; the blood of such being thereby so much impoverished, that it is well known many of the drinkers of drams are cold and lifeless in the midst of summer, without frequent repetitions: this is what some of them have owned. But on the other hand, how much more able are sober persons to endure cold and hardships? their vital heat not being extinguished by intemperance, does, by its kindly genial warmth, more effectually secure them from the inclemency of the weather, than the false flash of a dram. Besides, it is well known, that men did not perish in the coldest countries for want of drams formerly, when they were not to be had. Of the undoubted truth of this, Captain Ellis gives a full proof in the account of his voyage to Hudson's Bay, page 199. Where he observes, ‘That the natives on the very cold coast, of that Bay, to whom the French are kinder than to sell distilled spirituous liquors, are tall, hardy, robust and active; whereas those of them that are supplied with drams from the English, are a meagre, dwarfish, indolent people, hardly equal to the severity of the country, and subject to many disorders.’

[Page]And as to the pernicious effects of spirituous liquors in very hot climates, (as on the coast of Guinea) it is observed, that the French and Portuguese, who do not indulge in distilled spirits, are healthy compared with the English; who, drinking freely of spirits, &c. die fast. Thus, also, it is observed of the women in the West-Indies, that being sober, they live long; but it is often otherwise with the men, who are more generally intemperate.

The unhappy dram-drinkers are so absolutely bound in slavery to these infernal spirits, that they seem to have lost the power of delivering themselves from this worst of bondage. How much then is it the bounden duty of those, who have it in their power, to with-hold this destructive man-bane, either as parents, masters, or rulers to the people committed to their trust.

Since then the evil is become so notoriously epidemical as to debilitate and destroy multitudes, in most parts of the world; it behoves all, who have any bowels of pity for their fellow-creatures, more especially the governors of the nations, as guardians and tender fathers, to guard the people committed to their charge from this mighty destroyer. Can there be any [Page] consideration, of sufficient weight, to the contrary. Is it sound policy to encourage vice in the people, because a present revenue arises from their debaucheries? Where will the revenue be, when the people, who should pay them, are destroyed? Are not a hardy, industrious healthy people, always found to be the most able to contribute amply to the support of government? And will not temperance, in the end, be found a more effectual means to increase the real wealth and strength of a nation, than to make drunkenness the cheapest of vices? But if the consideration of the inhumanity of being instrumental to the destruction of multitudes, and in a manner, in some parts of the world, of whole nations, is not of weight enough to influence; yet, sure, the awful consideration, that it must needs be highly displeasing to our merciful Creator, to have his favourite creature man thus debased, disgraced, and destroyed both in body and soul, ought to have its due weight. Can it in reason be expected, that he will always remain an unconcerned spectator of such astonishing proceedings? And will he not in mercy visit the nations for these things, to prevent the still much greater ruin of future generations, in conformity to his usual [Page] method of proceeding, when irregularities are arrived to great excesses? This disease has now attained to so enormous a pitch, that it is much to be feared nothing less than God's severe fatherly correction, will effectually cure it in many of the nations; who seem as supine and unconcerned about it, as if only so many thousands of locusts were destroyed thereby: for if in fifty or sixty years this destructive pest has spread thus far and wide, how vastly greater will the havock amongst mankind be in an hundred years more, if some check be not put to its career?

If it had been said, an hundred years ago, to any of the rulers of the nations, that they should patiently, and even unconcernedly, see such multitudes of their subjects destroyed both body and soul, and that only for siltny lucre; would they not, with indignation, have said as Hazael did to Elisha, 2 Kings viii. 13. ‘But what is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?’ The plain truth is, that it is with the nations as it frequently happens to private persons, that when they grow gradually from bad to worse, they, at the same time, become more and more hardened, so as to be even reconciled to practices for which they had [Page] at first the utmost detestation and abhorrence; for familiarity takes away our attention, and robs things of their power to strike strongly upon us.

Though thousands and tens of thousands perish every year by distilled spirituous liquors, yet few appear to lay it effectually to heart. I must here except the heads of the poor wild Indians, of the Six Nations situate back of New-York, and other parts of North-America, who being sensible of the great destruction made amongst them by distilled spirituous liquors, have long since, and do still continue, earnestly to desire, that no such spirit should be sold to their people. At a treaty held at Carlisle in this province, with the deputies of the Six Nations, the Delawares and other western Indians, in the year 1753, Scarrooyady, one of the chiefs of the Six Nations, speaking on behalf of all the Indians present, expressed himself to the following effect, viz. ‘The rum ruins us: we beg you would prevent its coming in such quantities, by regulating the traders. We never understood the trade was for whiskey *. We desire it may be forbidden, and none [Page] sold in the Indian country; but that if the Indians will have any, they may go amongst the inhabitants, and deal with them for it. When these whiskey traders come, they bring thirty or forty cags, puts them down before us, and make us drink, and get all the skins that should go to pay the debts we have contracted, for goods bought of the fair trader; and by these means, we not only ruin ourselves, but them too. These wicked whiskey sellers, when they have once got the Indians in liquor, make them sell their very clothes from their backs. In short, if this practice be continued, we must be inevitably ruined. We most earnestly, therefore, beseech you to remedy it.’ The Indian speaker gave, as is usual with them in matters of moment, a treble string of wampum, in confirmation of this request. The destructive effect of distilled spirits, have also extended their baneful influence amongst the people of Africa. It is, in a great measure, through the introduction of those infernal spirits, that the poor negroes have been as it were bewitched, and prevailed upon to captivate their unhappy country people, in order to bring them to the European market: hence devastation, bloodshed and misery [Page] have spread in their land; many thousands, and hundreds of thousands, have been doomed to a miserable thraldom; and many, very many, brought to a cruel and untimely end: innumerable instances might be mentioned, to confirm this melancholy truth; of which I shall mention two, viz. Andrew Brue, the noted French factor, who resided sixteen years in Guinea, tells us, ‘That, in general, brandy is the best commodity amongst the negroes, as they love it to excess: that it is easy, from hence, to estimate the vast profit made by the company, when its store-house is well provided with this liquor.’ And Francis Moor, the English factor, in his account of Africa, says, ‘That it was to the king of Barsailly's insatiable thirst for brandy, that his subjects freedom and families were in so precarious a situation,’ &c. &c.

It is no uncommon thing for habitual rum-drinkers, when a fit of sickness comes on, which they conclude will be their last, to desire to have plenty of rum by them; by which means, they continue intoxicated till death: to so astonishing and deplorable a sottish condition have they reduced themselves! This is a case so calamitous to mankind, that to have a thorough [Page] sense of it, and yet not to remonstrate, nor earnestly caution against it, is certainly as criminal as it is unfriendly not to warn a blind person of a dangerous precipice or pit; yet, alas! how unconcerned are the greatest part of mankind at this most enormous ruin of multitudes! In trials for life, what diligence is used to find the occasion of the loss of one subject! What care will not a faithful physician bestow for the preservation of one life! How did the wise Romans honour him, who saved the life of one Roman citizen! But in the present case, it is not one, nor one hundred, nor one thousand, but probably no less than a million that perish, yearly, by this worst of plagues. How then dare the governors of nations be unconcerned or silent in a cause in which humanity, virtue, and the real welfare of mankind, both civil and religious, are so deeply concerned? A cause, which tends not only to the weakening the faculties, enervating the bodies of men, but also in debasing the species, and shortening the lives of multitudes.

But the most afflictive and dreadful effect of the common use of distilled spirituous liquors, are, that it not only heightens the passions of men and depraves their [Page] morals; but what is infinitely worse, and ought to be an awakening consideration, they become prophane and abandoned, and to the last degree regardless of their duty to God and man; the feelings of the mind are gradually benumb'd, and an insensibility to the healing influence of religion ensues.

The Almighty who has so curiously wrought our wonderful frame out of the dust, knowing how prone we are to disorder it by irregularities, hath of his tender fatherly care of us, not only implanted in us a strong desire of life and self-preservation, but has also strictly warned us to avoid all destructive irregularities and vices, and to practise those virtues which are so well adapted to our nature, that they have a direct tendency to give health to the soul, as well as marrow to the bones, Prov. cxi. 8. Yet how is this delicate, this curiously wrought frame, abused and disordered by repeated irregularities of many kinds, but never before to the enormous degree that it has of late years arrived at by the excessive abuse of these fermented, distilled spirituous liquors, which, by their mischievous effects, seem to claim Satan himself for their author. The benevolent author first mentioned from whose collection great part of [Page] the foregoing is collected, observes, ‘That if any of his readers should think the subject is overpressed, such are desired to consider that the calamitous urgency of the case absolutely requireth the most pathetical expostulation, to rouse the attention and indignation of mankind, against this greatest of all plagues that ever befel unhappy man, which is both our sin and our most severe punishment.’

Dr. Cheyne farther observes, ‘That if only the profligate, the scoundrel, the abandoned run into these excesses, it were as vain to endeavour to reclaim them, as it were to stop a tempest, or calm a storm: But that now the vice is become epidemical, since it has got not only among mechanics and tradesmen, but among persons of the brightest genius, the finest taste, and the most accomplished parts. And oh! that I could (adds the doctor) give my conscience the lye in not mentioning them, even among the first and least fallen part of the creation itself, and those of them too, of the most elegant parts and the strictest virtue, even of those who are in other respects blameless. Since the case is so, it will not be amiss to shew, to the evidence of a demonstration, [Page] the folly as well as fruitlessness of such a course. A fit of the colick, or of the vapours; a family misfortune; the death of a child, or of a friend, with the assistance of the nurse or the next neighbour, often gives rise and becomes the weighty causes of so fatal an effect. A little lowness requires drops, which pass readily down under the notion of physic: Drops beget drams, and drams beget more drams, till they come to be without weight and without measure—did this bewitching poison actually cure or relieve them from time to time, something might be said to extenuate the folly and the frenzy of such a course, but on the contrary, it heightens and enrages all their symptoms and sufferings ever afterwards, excepting the few moments immediately after taking it down; and every dram begets the necessity of two more to cure the ill effects of the first, and one minute's indulgence they purchase with many hours of greater pain and misery, besides making the malady more incurable. Low spiritedness itself is no disease; besides there are remedies that will relieve it so long as there is any oil remaining in the lamp.—Exercise, abstinence and proper evacuations, with [Page] time and patience, will continually make it tolerable; very often they will perfectly cure. The running into drams is giving up the whole at once, for neither laudanum nor arsenick will kill more certainly, altho' more quickly.’

The mistaken use and grievous abuse of rum and other distilled spirits, perhaps in no case appear more palpably than at the time of harvest, a business which, under the Mosaic Dispensation, was particularly enjoined to be carried on with humiliation and thanksgiving, and ought by all means, to be observed as such under the gospel; but through the abuse of spirituous liquors, is made an occasion of a greater abuse of the creature and dishonour of the Creator; this arises, in many, from a mistaken persuasion that hard labour, particularly that of the harvest field, cannot be carried on without a quantity of rum or other distilled spirits; and in support of this opinion, we are frequently told of the many people who have died in the field through extream heat and fatigue, and it is supposed that many more would die, if a plentiful use of spirituous liquors was not allowed. But this I am persuaded is a great mistake, it being much more likely that the free use of rum occasioned the death of those people; the [Page] quantity they had swallowed down, sending a greater flow of spirits into the head than the strength of the body could support. Indeed the repeated large quantities of rum commonly drank during the whole time of harvest, keeps up the blood in a continual serment and fever, in which state people cannot have a proper restorative sleep; their constitutions are thereby enervated, their lives shortened, and an unfitness for religious impressions generally prevails.

These most solemn and weighty considerations, have induced some well-minded people to endeavour to lead, by their example [...] their friends and neighbours into a contrary practice; and under these attempts, experience has made it manifest, that very little or no strong liquor is necessary at those times; indeed they have been convinced that the harvest and other laborious work, can be very well managed without making use of any spirituous liquors at all. If such labour was carried on with steadiness and proper moderation, there would certainly be no need of a recruit of strength being sought for by that means; more frequent intervals of rest, with a little food, oftener allowed the reapers, and small drinks; such as molasses and water made agreeable with a little [Page] cyder, small beer, or even milk and water, would fully enable them to perform their work to their employer's satisfaction and their own advantage; and the overplus wages they would receive, instead of the spirituous liquors usually given, might be sufficient to purchase bread for their families.

This sober and moderate manner of proceeding was certainly the general practice in this province, for a considerable number of years after its first settlement, when but small quantities of strong liquors, and often none at all could be procured*, The people in those early times maintained their health, and were enabled to perform their labour to satisfaction. But this did not long continue, the great call for our provisions [Page] visions brought us into connections with those countries from whence rum was procured; and the desire of gain has since in a progressive encrease, induced our traders to bring us plenty of distilled spirits, and together with them diseases and death in return for our flour, and other useful produce. So early as the year 1728,* we find the introduction and consumption, of rum had made an amazing progress, and began to rouse the attention of some of the considerate, may I not say, of the lovers of their country in that day. And from the too apparent general use, there is [Page] no room to suppose but that it has gone on in an increased proportion to our numbers; tho' not now so easily ascertained, from the additional numbers of ports, and various means of procuring it: Nor ought we to omit, in such accounts, the large quantities of whisky and other liquors distilled amongst ourselves from grain, fruit, and molasses, which cannot well be calculated.

I have heard of several thoughtful people who, from a persuasion that the common method of giving spirituous liquors to labourers was exceeding hurtful, have made it a condition with those they have employed, not to use any spirituous liquors in their fields; these have had their work performed to good satisfaction, and without any damage ensuing to their labourers. Nay, where they have remained any considerable time with such employers, they have generally acknowledged themselves sensible of the benefit arising from having thus totally refrained the use of those liquors. A particular instance of this kind occurred last summer, in the case of Joshua Evans, of Haddonfield; this considerate person being convinced that the use of rum and other spirituous liquors, was extreamly hurtful to the labouring people; more especially during [Page] the time of harvest, apprehended it to be his duty, to become an example in opposition to this pernicious custom; and he concluded to run all risques of loss and damage, which might happen to himself by the delay of bringing in his harvest, rather than comply with a custom which he apprehended to be so destructive of his fellow men.

He therefore offered six-pence per day more than other farmers, to such labourers as were willing to assist in bringing in his harvest, on condition that no spirituous liquors should be used in his fields. Notwithstanding the singularity of such a proposal, a sufficient number of labourers offered themselves, to whom he remarked, That the hurrying manner in which the people drove on their labour in the harvest field, caused an unnatural ferment and heat in their bodies, and of course an excessive thirst ensued, which often occasioned their drinking water, or small liquors, in such immoderate degree as to become hurtful and very dangerous, that this was generally assigned as a reason for the use of spirituous liquors: That, in order to avoid these extremes, he proposed to lead them himself in the harvest work, desiring they would go no faster than he did; they acted accordingly, [Page] and his corn was cut down and brought in as well, if not better, than ever it had been before; and tho' the people drank little but water or milk and water, chusing it rather than cyder and water, or small beer, which they were not used to; they went thro' their business with satisfaction to him and themselves. This person has pursued the same course with labourers he has hired for other work; who, tho' accustomed to spirituous liquors, after having served him several days, have frankly acknowledged they had done very well without them, finding themselves in a better state both of body and mind, than when they began to work for him.

This is a plain instance in contradiction to the common prejudice, that labouring people cannot with safety perform their work without using those liquors. Several more examples might be instanced of some considerate people who have made it a rule not to make any use of spirituous liquors, either amongst their workmen in the prosecution of their trades, or on their plantations. To these experience has shewn, that their people could not only do as well without it, but found themselves much better in health, and well satisfied in mind.

Several physicians of eminence have declared themselves in favour of this sentiment; [Page] amongst others, the celebrated doctor Buchan, in his Domestic Medicine, or Family Physician, a work so well esteemed as to have been, within these two years, twice reprinted in this city. At page 71, of the English edition, he says, ‘Many imagine that hard labour could not be supported without drinking strong liquors. This, tho' a common, is a very erroneous notion. Men who never tasted strong liquors are not only able to endure more fatigue, but also live much longer than those who use them daily*. But suppose strong liquors did enable a man to do more work, they must nevertheless waste the powers of life, and of course occasion premature old age. They keep up a constant fever, which wastes the spirits, heats and inflames the blood, and predisposes the body to numberless diseases.’

At page the same, the author tells us, ‘That all intoxicating liquors may be considered as poisons. However disguised, [Page] that is their real character, and sooner or later they will have their effect.’ It is a prevailing opinion in savour of drinking spirituous liquors at harvest, and other hard labour, that it gives relief by throwing out the sweat. Now, moderate quantities of any small liquor, even water itself, if not drank too cold, and particularly if sweetned with molasses, and a little sour'd with some proper acid, would certainly answer the purpose, without the bad effects which attend the use of spirits.

It is well known that a pint of good molasses will, in distillation, afford rather more than a pint of good proof rum; therefore must contain as much, if not more real strength than the same quantity of rum, without any of its noxious qualities; being then in the state the Almighty first formed it, the fiery property so clothed and united with the earthy and balsamick parts, as to cause it to be quite friendly to our nature, and not liable to intoxicate; as the spirit alone will, when separated by distillation from the other parts.

Small beer or water mixed with some of our home-made wines; or, as before said, water mixed with a due quantity of molasses, made agreeably acid, to such as chuse it, by mixing it with a due proportion [Page] of cyder, or some other acid liquor, or even good vinegar*; milk and water, or even water itself, if used with caution, will answer all the purposes of common drink for labouring people.

Amongst the several prejudices in favour of the mistaken use of spirituous liquors, there is none gives it a greater sanction or support, than the prevailing opinion, even with persons of reputation, that what they term a moderate quantity of rum mixed with water, is the best and safest liquor that can be drank; hence confirming it, that spirit in one form [Page] or other is necessary. To such who have not been accustomed, and think they cannot habituate themselves to drink water, there may appear to be some kind of plea in this argument, especially to travellers, who often meet with beer, cyder, or other fermented liquors that are dead, [...], sour, or not properly fermented, which tend to generate air in the bowels, producing colicks, &c. But I believe if those persons suffered the weight of the subject, and the consequence of the encouragement they thereby give to the use of these destructive spirits, to take proper place with them, it might suggest the propriety, if not necessity, of introducing a more salutary practice to themselves and families. That pure fluid (water) which the benevolent father of the family of mankind points out for general use, is so analogous to the human frame, that except in a very few cases, people might with safety gradually use themselves to it: And as to such well disposed people who still retain a favourable opinion for the use of spirit mixed with water, ought they not, even from love to mankind, to endeavour to refrain from, and example others against it, (on account of the prodigious havock made by the use of spirits) agreeable to the example set us by the Apostle [Page] Paul, Cor. viii. 13. If meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend; how much more then ought they to refrain from that which may tend to establish mankind in a practice so generally destructive; more especially when they consider the danger themselves are in, of encreasing the quantity of spirit with their water; as it has been observed, that the use of this mixture is particularly apt, almost imperceptibly, to gain upon those who use it; so that many otherwise good and judicious people, have, unwarily to themselves and others, fallen with the common herd, a sacrifice to this mighty devourer. And where water is met with, as is sometimes the case, which is scarce fit to drink; its vain to think to remove the noxious qualities by mixing it with spirit; for tho' bad water may be made more palatable by mixing spirit with it, yet all the bad qualities of the water will remain, to which will only be superadded the bad qualities of the spirit. There are many ways proposed by which water may be helped without any such additions, as by filtration, thro' porous stones, or thro' an earthen vessel, in the bottom of which there is a quantity of sand, which retains the noxious mixture. Hard water [Page] may be made soft by boiling, or by being exposed to the sun and air. Some propose mixing water, which is impure, with loam; this being well stirred and left to settle, the noxious parts will subside with the loam, and the water may be drawn off clear and fit for use.

Dr. Cheyne in his treatise before mentioned, observes, That without all peradventure, water is the primitive original beverage; as it is the only simple fluid fitted for diluting, moistening and cooling— the ends of drink, appointed by nature, and happy had it been for the race of mankind, if other mixed and artificial liquors had never been invented. ‘It has been an agreeable appearance to me, says this author, to observe with what freshness and vigour those who, tho' eating freely of flesh meat, yet drank nothing but this element, have lived in health, indolence, and chearfulness to a great age. Water alone is sufficient and effectual for all the purposes of human want in drink. Strong liquors were never designed for common use. They were formerly kept in England, as other medicines are, in apothercaries shops.’ Speaking of the effects of wine (a liquor in general much less hurtful than distilled spirits) which he says to have been so much in use at the time he wrote, [Page] that the better sort of people scarcely diluted their food with any other liquor, he remarks, ‘That as natural causes will always produce their proper effects, their blood was inflamed into gout, stone, and rheumatism, raging fevers, pleurisies, &c. Water is the only dissolvent or menstruum, and the most certain diluter of all bodies proper for food.’

Doctor Short, in his discourse of the inward use of water, speaks much in its commendation. He says, we can draw a very convincing argument of the excellency of water, from the longevity and healthfulness of those who at first had no better liquor, and the health and strength of body and serenity of mind of those who at this day have no other common liquor to drink. Of this the common people amongst the Highlands of Scotland, are a sufficient instance, amongst whom it is no rarity to find persons of eighty, ninety, yea an hundred years of age, as healthy, strong, and nimble, as wine or ale bibbers are at thirty-six or forty*. The excellency of [Page] water, the doctor says, may be argued from the great success people, otherwise despicable, have attained over other nations, while they remained content with the product of nature for drink. Of this the Persian, Grecian, and Roman monarchies are instances. This was also the case of our ancestors, the Saxons, Danes, and Normans, whilst their manners remained simple, and their food and drink such as nature had provided, they encreased to such a degree, that their country not being able to contain them, they were obliged to send out swarms of people to seek for settlements in the more southern parts of the world; these gradually settled themselves in the different parts of the Roman empire: But since those Northern Kingdoms have forsaken the wholsome customs of their forefathers, and habituated themselves to the use of strong liquors, they are so enfeebled, and their numbers have so much decreased, that many parts of [Page] their own country now remain uncultivated. The rulers easy under the pecuniary advantages which arise, themselves enslaved to the practice of drinking to excess, look without concern on this enormous ruin of multitudes of their fellow men. Thus it is in Russia, where a vast revenue is raised from distilled spirituous liquors, and a multitude of people proportionably large, are destroyed thereby. Again says the doctor, ‘There is a ridiculous maxim used by drinkers, that water makes but thin blood, not fit for business—I say it is water only that can endue its drinkers with the strongest bodies and most robust constitutions, where exercise or labour is joined with it, since it best assists the stomach and lungs to reduce the aliments into the smallest particles, that they may better pass the strainers of the body, which separates the nutritious parts of the blood to be applyed to the sides of the vessels, and exercise invigorates the fibres and muscles; whereas the rapid motion of the blood excited by drinking spirituous liquors, can not fail of being prejudicial to the body, it will cause the watery parts to dissipate and the remaining grow thick and tough, and the event be obstructions, inflammations, imposthumations, &c.— and tho' strong liquors afford a greater [Page] flow of spirit for a short time, yet this is always followed with as much lowness of spirit; so that to gain a necessary stock of spirits, the person is obliged to repeat the same force, till he learns a custom of drinking drams. In this we are confirmed, if we consider the great strength and hardiness of poor rusticks in many parts of the world, whose provisions is mostly vegetable food, and their drink water.’ The doctor adds, ‘That it often happens that persons of tender, weakly, crazy constitutions, by refraining strong liquors and accustoming themselves to drink water, make shift to spin out many years.’

Doctor Cadogan, in his treatise on the gout, lately printed in this city, tells us, ‘That water is the only liquor nature knows of, or has provided for all animals, and whatsoever nature gives we must depend upon it, is best and safest for us; accordingly we see that when we have committed any excess or mistake of any kind, and suffer for it, 'tis water that relieves. Hence the chief good of bath, spa, and many other medicinal waters, especially to hard drinkers. It is that element that dilutes and carries off crudities and indigestions, &c. the mineral virtues they contain may [Page] make them tolerable to the stomach in their passage, but do, as I believe, little more in the body, it is the water that cures. Wine was given us as a cordial.’

Cheyne says he has known men of weak and tender constitutions, who could neither eat nor digest upon drinking wine, who, by drinking at meals common water heated, have recovered their appetites and digestion, &c. have thriven and grown plump. Speaking of malt liquors, he gives it as his sentiment, that a weak stomach can as readily, and with less pain, digest pork and pease soup, as Yorkshire or Nottingham ale: he adds, That they are of so glutinous a nature as to make excellent bird lime, and when simmered sometime over a gentle fire, make the most sticking, and the best plaster for old strains that can be contrived. Even the small beer that is commonly drank at London, if it be not well boiled, very clear, and of a due age, must be hurtful to persons of weak nerves and slow digestion.

Doctor Buchan tells us, The great quantity of viscid malt liquor drank by the common people of England, cannot fail to render the blood sizy and unfit for circulation, from whence proceed obstructions and inflammations of the lungs. Those who drink ardent spirits or strong [Page] wine, do not run less hazard; these liquors heat and inflame the blood, and tear the tender vessels of the lungs in pieces.

Doctor Short, page 33, after describing the many distempers produced by drinking of malt and other fermented liquors, adds, That seeing constitutions differ, it is not to be expected that spirituous liquors should produce all the same symptoms in one and the same person, yet that all drinkers have several of them; and if they come not to that height, its because they afterwards use great exercise or hard labour, with sometimes thin diluting liquors, which prevent their immediate hurting*.

[Page]Its customary, and often necessary in the summer season, particularly in afternoons, for people who are spent by labour or application, to have recourse to some kind of refreshment. This is generally of two kinds, very different in their nature and effect, viz. The one is a mixture of spirituous liquors, as punch, grog, &c. or fermented liquors, as cyder, beer, &c. The other is mild and diluting, such as tea, or coffee, &c. The use of spirituous or fermented liquors, for the reasons already given, are hurtful and dangerous; more especially, as the sorrowful experience of many within knowledge, has taught that there is very great danger of even sober [Page] people who use them, with what is termed moderation, becoming habituated and gradually encreasing their strength and quantity, till it proves the ruin of themselves and families.

This caution can scarcely be too often repeated, as it has been so frequently the melancholy situation of persons, otherwise valuable members of society. But the use of mild diluting drinks, such as coffee, or the several sorts of teas, either of our own produce or those brought from the Indies, may be truly termed innocent and friendly to our natures, and very proper to promote a good perspiration and recruit our spirits when dissipated thro' application or labour. And as the use of these innocent dilutors have not escaped censure, more especially from persons who are attached to the use of spirituous or fermented liquors; it may be agreeable to the reader, to hear the sentiments of doctor Cheyne on the subject. And here it may be well to remark that these observations were addressed to the people of England, where the heat not being so great as in these parts, those restorative dilutent drinks are not so frequently necessary. A dish or two of coffee, the doctor says, with a little milk to soften it, in raw or damp weather, or on a waterish [Page] and flegmatick stomach, is not only innocent but a present relief.—Tea *, particularly Green, when light and softened with a little milk, if neither too strong nor too hot, he looks upon as a very proper dilutent, very suitable to cleanse the alimentary passages, and wash of the scorbutick and urinous salts: He also recommends tea made of sliced orange or lemon, as one of the best promoters of digestion after a full meal, or when people are dry between meals. As to persons of weak and tender nerves, who find that upon using of these drinks with freedom, or in too great quantity, they fall into lowness and trembling; such ought to use them with moderation and caution.

Again we know, says he, that warm water will most of any thing, promote and assist digestion in persons of weak stomachs and tender nerves; by this alone I have seen several such persons recover to a miracle, when cold mineral waters, bitters, cordials, and drams have done rather harm than good.—Tea is but an infusion in water of an innocent plant: Innocent, he says, because we find by its taste, it has [Page] neither poisonous, deleterious, nor acrimonious qualities; and we are certain from its use, in the countries it come from †, (which are larger than Europe) that they receive no damage from it; but on the contrary, that it promotes both digestion and perspiration. The arguments for its relaxing the coats of the stomach and bowels by its heat, are of no force; for unless it be drank much hotter than the blood, it can do no hurt that way.—However, I would advise those who drink tea plentifully, not to drink it much hotter than blood warm, whereby they will receive all its benefits, and be secure against all the harm it can possibly do.

Doctor Engelbertus Kaempfer, physician of the Dutch embassy to the emperor of Japan, in his account of that country, giving a particular account of the growth, preparation, and use of tea; says, It is so common in Japan, that travellers drink scarce any thing else upon the road.—The fresh gathered leaves are dried or roasted [Page] over the fire in an iron pan, and when hot, rolled with the palm of the hand on a matt, till they become curled. They have public roasting houses built for this very purpose, and contrived so that every body may bring their leaves to be roasted. The doctor makes no distinction between green and bohea; the only difference from his account, arises from the different time of gathering. The first, gathered whilst the leaves are tender, has the best flavour and is most valuable; the second is less so: the last, gathered when the leaves are full grown is the cheapest. He gives it as his sentiments, from his observations of the effect of tea, that when properly prepared and of a due age, it gently refreshes the animal spirits, and wonderfully chears and comforts the mind; it opens obstructions, cleanses the blood, and more particularly removes that tartarous matter which is the efficient cause of gravelly and gouty distempers. This he says it does so effectually, that he never met with any who was troubled either with the gout or stone, amongst the tea-drinkers of Japan. He adds that he is wholly of opinion that the use of teas would be attended with the same success in the like cases, even in Europe, were it not for an hereditary disposition, for either of these distempers derived to some persons from their [Page] ancestors; and which is frequently cherished and fomented by a too plentiful use of wine, beer, strong liquors and flesh meats. It appears the use of tea meets with opposition in the East countries, as well as amongst ourselves, from those persons whose practice contradicts the use of these kinds of innocent diluting drinks: for the doctor remarks, That in Japan the use of tea is very much cried down by those persons who are lovers of sakki beer, which is there brewed from rice.

All the good qualities ascribed by the above mentioned physicians, to foreign tea, may be as truly applied to teas made of our own country produce, such as sage, balm, burnet, sassafrass, &c. &c. these I am persuaded would answer all, if not more and better purposes than the foreign teas. But I spare to say much on this head at present, lest by discouraging the use of any mild diluting drink, (especially one in such general use, and which simply considered as a diluent, must be acknowledged a good substitute,) any strength should be given to the use of spirituous or fermented liquors in its stead.

We may also make a very good refreshing drink of the nature of coffee; from roasted wheat, barley, rye, or chesnuts, full as agreeable, wholesome, and nourishing, if not much more so than coffee itself.

[Page]Upon the whole it may be asked, What can be done towards preventing or putting a check to the prodigious havock made by the present use of spirituous liquors? To this I shall reply with the respectable author first mentioned. Let such lawmakers, governors, and rulers, who retain any love and pity for their fellow men; let these be earnestly requested seriously, and solemnly to consider, whether it is not their indispensable duty to use their utmost endeavours, that a stop may be put to this dreadful calamity; let not the apprehension of loss or any present inconveniency, deter any from doing their duty in this respect, because there cannot any inconveniencies possibly arise from the redress of this grievance, which deserves to be named with those evils which will be the undoubted consequence of its continuance. The reasons that have hitherto prevailed to the countenancing of this most destructive practice, ought surely to be rejected with scorn and indignation, when the welfare of such vast numbers are so deeply concerned. What multitudes of lives would thereby be saved, and what innumerable outrages, as theft, murder, &c. prevented: To rectify which, were an apparently vain and fruitless attempt, while drunkenness is made the cheapest of all vices. A vice which can no otherwise be [Page] effectually prevented from raging with its present excessive enormity, and spreading devastation all around, but by laying such high taxes upon distilled spirituous liquors, as well those made amongst us, as those imported from abroad, as will make the drinking it sufficiently expensive to put it out of the reach of so great a number of insatiable drinkers, to use it; at least in its present degree of strength.—‘Alas, says he, how astonishing a calamity is this, depraving the morals and shortening and destroying the lives of such multitudes, probably no less than a million yearly all over the world—were but one fourth of this number yearly destroyed by raging pestilence, with what earnest supplications would mankind deprecate so terrifying and sore an affliction.’ How severe a judgment is it, when God leaves men to be their own scourgers? with how unrelenting and unmerciful a heart do they execute the most severe punishment upon themselves!—Particulars who view this matter in its full importance, will query, What can an individual or private man do in the case? To these it may be observed, That as popular amendments consist wholly of the actions of individuals, every one who is sincere in his desires, that a remedy may be applied to this mighty evil, must, to [Page] the utmost of his power, discourage the encrease of spirituous liquors either by importation, distillation, or otherwise, and not deceive themselves, or rather suffer the God of this world to deceive them by means of the specious pretences commonly advanced; such as, That other people will be active in augmenting the quantity if they do not; or, That however people may abuse themselves thro' excess, yet what is deemed a moderate quantity, may lawfully be used; but it may easily be shewn, that these and other arguments commonly advanced, are vain, tho' plausible pretences; that the true motive is the desire of gain: That every new importer and distiller, (and oh that the vender also may bring his situation to the true balance) becomes a party to the evil; gives fresh strength to the practice, by holding out an additional quantity, and of course making it in some degree cheaper, at least easier for their fellow men to come at, to the destruction of their brethren, children of the same father, and who as christians they profess to love as themselves.

And as for such who, tho' convinced of the impropriety of the practice, yet for fear of not having their labour performed, or for other reasons, cannot prevail upon themselves to refrain giving it to their servants and labourers, let these at least so [Page] weaken and qualify it, as to prevent its immediate destructive effects.

A very eminent physician has given the following direction for the benefit of those who have not wisdom enough left at once to abandon the odious and pernicious practice of drinking distilled spirituous liquors, viz. By degrees to mix water with the spirit; to lessen the quantity every day, and keep to the same quantity of water, till in about the course of a week, nothing of the dram kind be used along with the water. By this means the person will suffer no inconveniency, but reap great benefit upon leaving off drams or spirits, as has been tried by many. If any gnawing be left in the stomach upon quite leaving it off, a little warm broth, weak tea, or any thing of that kind, will be of service. The appetite always increases in a few days after leaving off drams, unless by the too long continuance of them, the tone of the stomach is destroyed. And when the stomach is thus affected, a cup of carduus, camomile tea, wormwood or centaury every morning fasting and every evening, will be found a good remedy.

[Page]Some GENERAL MAXIMS, mostly drawn from the foregoing, which as they cannot be too obviously held up in the view of the young and inconsiderate, its hoped the observant reader will excuse the repetition.

THE great rule of diet is to study simplicity: Nature delights in the most plain and simple food; and every animal, except man, follows her dictates.

Nothing conduces more to health and long life, than abstinence and plain food, with due labour.

Water alone is sufficient and effectual for all the purposes of human want in drink: It is the universal dissolvent nature has provided, and the most certain diluter of all bodies proper for food; quickens the appetite and strengthens digestion most. Doctor Cheyne and doctor Cadogan.

Strong and spirituous liquors were never designed for common use: They were formerly kept in England, as other medicines are, in apothecaries shops: If freely indulged, they become a certain tho' slow poison. Cheyne.

All intoxicating liquors may be considered as poisons; however disguised, that is their real character, and sooner or later they will have their effect. Doctor Buchan.

Every act of intoxication puts nature to the expence of a fever, in order to discharge the poisonous draught; when this is repeated almost every day, it is easy to foresee the consequence.

Fevers occasioned by drinking, do not always go off in a day, they frequently end in an inflammation of the breast, liver, or brain, and produce fatal effects.

There is no danger in leaving off drinking strong liquors at once, the plea for continuing them being false and groundless. Cheyne.

Strong liquors do not prevent the mischiefs of a [Page] surfeit, nor carry it off so sefely as water, tho' they seem to give present relief. Cheyne.

Many imagine that hard labour could not be supported without drinking strong liquors. This tho' a common, is a very erroneous opinion: Men who never tasted strong liquors, are not only able to endure more fatigue, but also live much longer than those who use them daily. Buchan.

Every thing that has past the fire, so that it has had due time to divide and penetrate its parts, as in distillation, as far as it possibly can, retains a caustic corrosive and burning quality ever afterwards.

In the continued distillation of spirits, the action of fire is so strong as to reduce them to liquid fire at last; which will of themselves evaporate in visible flames and fumes, Cheyne.

The great quantity of viscid malt liquor drank by the common people of England, cannot fail to render the blood sizy and unfit for circulation, from whence proceed obstructions and inflammations of the lungs, &c. Buchan.

Malt liquors (excepting clear small beer of due age) are extreamly hurtful to tender and studious persons. Cheyne.

There are few great ale drinkers who are not phthisical, nor is that to be wondered at, considering the glutinous and almost indigestible nature of strong ale. Buchan.

Those who drink ardent spirits or strong wines do not run less hazard; these liquors heat and inflame the blood, and tear the tender vessels of the lungs in pieces. Buchan.

Doctor Cadogan in his late treatise on the gout, says, He cannot allow him to be strictly temperate, who drinks any wine or strong liquors at all, unless it be medicinally.

THE END.

Notes

*

A spirit made of grain.

↵

*

In a printed oration, not long since pronounced by Dr. Rush, before the Philosophical Society of this city, we are told at page 65, ‘Some of you may remember the time, and your fathers have told those of us who do not, when the diseases of Pennsylvania were as few and as simple as those of the Indians. The food of the inhabitants was then simple; their only drink was water; their appetites were restrained by labour: religion excluded the influence of sickening passions: private hospitality supplied the want of public hospitals: nature was their only nurse: temperance their principal physician.’

↵

*

Extract from the Pennsylvania Gazette, for the year 1728. Philadelphia, the 7th of the 11th month, 1728, we have the following surprizing tho' authentick account of rum imported in Pennsylvania the last year.

6 Puncheons,

1556 Hogsheads,

927 Tierces,

276 Barrels,

Which, by computation is 224,500 gallons, of which there was exported but 11400 gallons.

So that by a modest computation there has been consumed in one year, at least twenty five thousand pounds in rum. This excessive drinking of rum, as it has slain its thousands, is likely to destroy its ten thousands, for by its corrosive and fiery property, it debauches the stomach, dries up the radical moisture, poisons the juices, inflames the blood; unsheaths the bowels, debilitates the nerves and stupifies the brain.

↵

*

The few of these, who notwithstanding their excess, may have attained to a considerable age, it is most reasonable to suppose, would have lived much longer, had they been temperate.

↵

*

We find by history, that the Roman soldiers in their long marches, often thro' parching deserts, loaded with heavy armour, used vinegar and water as the most suitable refreshment, they carried with them two vessels, either of tin or leather, the one filled with water, the other with vinegar. It also appears from scripture, in the case of Ruth, when in the harvest field of Boaz, that it was customary to make use of vinegar, as a suitable refreshment in that labour. Ruth, chap. ii.

I was informed by a person who resided some time with the Indians, that they made a drink with parched corn, which was very agreeable and refreshing. The corn, after being parched, is pounded and sifted, the mealy part mixed in water, with molasses or sugar, to this some proper acid might be added, which would make it yet more agreeable and wholsome.

↵

*

I was informed by a person of credit, from his own observations in Scotland, of the strength and hardiness of the common people there; and of their ability to bear cold and fatigue; tho' the cold is great in winter, and their support in some parts principally, if not wholly when abroad, confined to oatmeal and water; he has seen a shepherd laid down to rest or sleep on the mountain, without any shelter, wrapt up in his plaid in cold snowy weather, such as would have froze most other people.

↵

*

Doctor Edward Bancroft, in his natural history of Guiana, which includes the colonies of Surinam, Barbices, &c. writes, That the inhabitants derive no small assistance from the Indians—some of whom reside on almost every plantation.—These Indians however, are debauched by luxury and intemperance, and their manners but ill agree with those of the Indians who have preserved their natural innocence and simplicity. They are encouraged in their propensity to intemperance by the whites, who freely supply them with rum, thereby to attach them more firmly to their service, which considerably impairs their health and diminishes their numbers.— Speaking of the diseases incident to the country, he says, These are as numerous as in other countries, where they have been augmented by cookery, with its stimulating, provocative arts, exciting inordinate appetites, by multiplying the variety of dishes, which blended in the stomach, compose such an incongruous medly, that the digestive organs cannot possibly assimilate the pernicious mass to wholesome chyle. Nor has intemperate luxury been confined to this single innovation. Water, the natural drink of mankind as of all other animals, is now contaminated by the mixture of pernicious spirits, which have poisoned one of the principal blessings of life. From this source are derived those tribes of diseases which oppress humanity.

↵

*

The middling priced is esteemed the most wholsome.

↵

†

Chambers in his dictionary of arts and sciences, tells us, That the Chinese are always taking tea, especially at meals; it is the chiefest treat wherewith they regale their friends. The most moderate take it at least thrice a day.

↵

§

§

[Page]

THOUGHTS UPON SLAVERY.

I. BY slavery I mean domestic slavery, or that of a servant to a master. A late ingenious writer well observes, "The variety of forms in which slavery appears, makes it almost impossible to convey a just notion of it, by way of definition. There are however certain properties which have accompanied slavery in most places, whereby it is easily distinguished from that mild domestic service which obtains in our own country*."

2. Slavery imports an obligation of perpetual service, an obligation which only [Page] the consent of the master can dissolve. Neither in some countries can the master himself dissolve it, without the consent of judges appointed by law. It generally gives the master an arbitrary power of any correction not affecting life or limb.— Sometimes even these are exposed to his will: or protected only by a sine, or some slight punishment, too insiconderable to restrain a master of an harsh temper. It creates an incapacity of acquiring any thing, except for the master's benefit. It allows the master to alienate the slave, in the same manner as his cows and horses. Lastly, it descends in its full extent from parent to child, even to the latest generation.

3. The beginning of this may be dated from the remotest period, of which we have an account in history. It commenced in the barbarous state of society, and in process of time spread into all nations. It prevailed particularly among the Jews, the Greeks, the Romans, and the antient Germans: And was transmitted by them to the various kingdoms and states, which arose out of the ruins of the Roman empire. But after christianity prevailed, it gradually fell into decline in almost all parts of Europe. This great change began in Spain, about the end of the eighth century: [Page] And was become general in most other kingdoms of Europe, before the middle of the fourteenth.

4. From this time slavery was nearly extinct, till the commencement of the sixteenth century, when the discovery of America, and of the western and eastern coasts of Africa, gave occasion to the revival of it. It took its rise from the Portuguese, who to supply the Spaniards with men, to cultivate their new possessions in America, procured negroes from Africa, whom they sold for slaves to the American Spaniards. This began in the year 1508, when they imported the first negroes into Hispaniola. In 1540 Charles the fifth, then king of Spain, determined to put an end to negro-slavery: Giving positive orders, That all the negro slaves in the Spanish dominions should be set free. And this was accordingly done by Lagasca, whom he sent and impowered to free them all, on condition of continuing to labour for their masters. But soon after Lagasca returned to Spain, slavery returned and flourished as before. Afterwards other nations, as they acquired possessions in America, followed the examples of the Spaniards; and slavery has now taken deep root in most of our American colonies.

[Page]II. Such is the nature of slavery: Such the beginning of negro-slavery in America. But some may desire to know, what kind of country it is, from which the negroes are brought? What sort of men, of what temper and behaviour are they in their own country? And in what manner they are generally procured, carried to, and treated in America?

1. And first, What kind of country is that from whence they are brought? Is it so remarkably horrid, dreary and barren, that it is a kindness to deliver them out of it? I believe many have apprehended so: But it is an entire mistake, if we may give credit to those who have lived many years therein, and could have no motive to misrepresent it.

2. That part of Africa whence the negroes are brought, commonly known by the name of Guinea, extends along the coast, in the whole, between three and four thousand miles. From the river Senegal, (seventeen degrees north of the line) to Cape Sierra Leona, it contains seven hundred miles. Thence it runs eastward about fifteen hundred miles, including the Grain-Coast, the Ivory-Coast, the Gold-Coast, and the Slave-Coast, with the large kingdom of Benin. From thence it runs southward, about twelve hundred miles, and [Page] contains the kingdoms of Congo and Angola.

3. Concerning the first, the Senegal-Coast, Mons. Brue, who lived there sixteen years, after describing its fruitfulness near the sea, says, "The farther you go from the sea, the more fruitful and well-improved is the country, abounding in pulse, Indian corn, and various fruits. Here are vast meadows, which feed large herds of great and small cattle. And the villages which lie thick, shew the country is well peopled." And again: "I was surprized, to see the land so well cultivated; scarce a spot lay un-improved: The low lands divided by small canals, were all sowed with rice: The higher grounds were planted with Indian corn, and peas of different sorts. Their beef is excellent; poultry plenty and very cheap, as are all the necessaries of life."

4. As to the Grain and Ivory Coast, we learn from eye witnesses, that the soil is in general fertile, producing abundance of rice and roots. Indigo and cotton thrive without cultivation.—Fish is in great plenty; the flocks and herds are numerous, and the trees loaded with fruit.

5. The Gold-Coast and Slave-Coast, all who have seen it agree, is exceeding fruitful and pleasant, producing vast quantities [Page] of rice and other grain, plenty of fruit and roots, palm-wine, and oil, and fish in great abundance, with much tame and wild cattle. The very same account is given us of the soil and produce of the kingdoms of Benin, Congo and Angola.— From all which it appears, That Guinea in general, far from being an horrid, dreary, barren country, is one of the most fruitful, as well as the most pleasant countries in the known world. It is said indeed to be unhealthy. And so it is to strangers, but perfectly healthy to the native inhabitants.

6. Such is the country from which the negroes are brought. We come next to enquire, What sort of men they are, of what temper and behaviour, not in our plantations, but in their native country. And here likewise the surest way is to take our account from eye and ear witnesses. Now those who have lived in the Senegal country observe, it is inhabited by three nations, the Jalofs, Fulis, and Mandingos. The king of the Jalofs has under him several ministers, who assist in the exercise of justice. The chief justice goes in circuit through all his dominions, to hear complaints and determine controversies. And the viceroy goes with him, to inspect the behaviour of the Alkadi, or Governor [Page] of each village. The Fulis are a numerous people; the soil of their country represented as rich, affording large harvests, and the people laborious and good farmers: Of some of these Fuli blacks who dwelt on the river Gambia, William Moor the English factor gives a very favourable account.— He says, they are governed by their chief men, who rule with much moderation. Few of them will drink any thing stronger than water, being strict Mahometans. The government is easy, because the people are of a good and quiet disposition; and so well instructed in what is right, that a man who wrongs another is the abomination of all.—They desire no more land than they use, which they cultivate with great care and industry: If any of them are known to be made slaves by the white men they all join to redeem them. They not only support all that are old, or blind, or lame among themselves; but have frequently supplied the necessities of the Mandingos, when they were distrest by famine.

7. The Mandingos, says Mons. Brue, are rigid Mahometans, drinking neither wine nor brandy. They are industrious and laborious, keeping their ground well cultivated, and breeding a good stock of cattle. Every town has a governor, and he [Page] appoints the labour of the people. The men work the ground designed for corn; the women and girls, the rice-ground.— He afterwards divides the [...] rice among them: And decides all quarrels if any arise. All the Mahometan negroes constantly go to public prayers thrice a day: there being a priest in every village, who regularly calls them together: Some authors say, it is surprizing to see the attention and reverence which they observe during their worship.—These three nations practise several trades; they have smiths, sadlers, potters and weavers. And they are very ingenious at their several occupations.—Their smiths not only make all the instruments of iron, which they have occasion to use, but likewise work many things neatly in gold and silver. It is chiefly the women and children who weave fine cotton cloth, which they dye blue and black.

8. It was of these parts of Guinea, that Mons. Adanson, correspondent of the royal academy of sciences at Paris from 1749 to 1753, gives the following account, both as to the country and people. "Which way soever I turned my eyes, I beheld a perfect image of pure nature: An agreeable solitude, bounded on every side by a charming landscape; the rural situation [Page] of cottages, in the midst of trees; the ease and quietness of the negroes, reclined under the shade of the spreading foliage, with the simplicity of their dress and manners: The whole revived in my mind the idea of our first parents, and I seemed to contemplate the world in its primitive state. They are generally-speaking, very good-natured, sociable and obliging. I was not a little pleased with my very first reception, and it fully convinced me, that there ought to be a considerable abatement made, in the accounts we have of the savage character of the Africans." He adds, "It is amazing that an illiterate people should reason so pertinently concerning the heavenly bodies. There is no doubt, but that with proper instruments, they would become excellent astronomers."

9. The inhabitants of the Grain and Ivory-Coast are represented by those that deal with them, as sensible, courteous, and the fairest traders on the coasts of Guinea. They rarely drink to excess: If any do, they are severely punished by the king's order. They are seldom troubled with war: If a difference happen between two nations, they commony end the dispute amicably.

The inhabitants of the Gold and Slave-Coast likewise, when they are not artfully [Page] incensed against each other, live in great union and friendship, being generally well-tempered, civil, tractable, and ready to help any that need it. In particular, the natives of the kingdom of Whidah are civil, kind, and obliging to strangers.—And they are the most gentleman-like of all the negroes, abounding in good manners towards each other. The inferiors pay great respect to their superiors:— So wives to their husbands, children to their parents. And they are remarkably industrious: All are constantly employ'd; the men in agriculture, the women in spinning and weaving cotton.

10. The Gold and Slave Coasts are divided into several districts, some governed by kings, others by the principal men, who take care each of their own town or village, and prevent or appease tumults.— They punish murder and adultery severely; very frequently with death.—Theft and robbery are punished by a fine proportionable to the goods that were taken. —All the natives of this coast, though heathens, believe there is one GOD, the author of them and all things. They appear likewise to have a confused apprehension of a future state. And accordingly every town and village has a place of public worship.— It is remarkable that [Page] they have no beggars among them: Such is the care of the chief men, in every city and village, to provide some easy labour, even for the old and weak. Some are employ'd in blowing the smiths bellows; others in pressing palm-oil; others in grinding of colours. If they are too weak even for this, they sell provisions in the market.

11. The accounts we have of the natives of the kingdom of Benin is, that they are a reasonable and good-natured people, sincere and inoffensive, and do no injustice either to one another or to strangers.— They are civil and courteous: If you make them a present, they endeavour to repay it double. And if they are trusted, till the ship returns next year, they are sure honestly to pay the whole debt.—Theft is punished among them, altho' not with the same severity as murder. If a man and woman of any quality, are taken in adultery, they are certain to be put to death, and their bodies thrown on a dunghill, and left a prey to wild beasts. They are punctually just and honest in their dealings; and are also very charitable: The king and the great lords taking care to employ all that are capable of any work. And those that are utterly helpless they keep for GOD's sake; so that here also are [Page] no beggars. The inhabitants of Congo and Angola are generally a quiet people. They discover a good understanding, and behave in a friendly manner to strangers, being of a mild temper and an affable carriage.—Upon the whole therefore the negroes who inhabit the coast of Africa, from the river Senegal to the southern bounds of Angola, are so far from being the stupid, senseless, brutish, lazy barbarians, the fierce, cruel, perfidious savages they have been described, that on the contrary, they are represented by them who had no motive to flatter them, as remarkably sensible, considering the few advantages they have for improving their understanding:—As very industrious, perhaps more so than any other natives of so warm a climate.—As fair, just and honest in their dealings, unless where whitemen have taught them to be otherwise:—And as far more mild, friendly and kind to strangers, than any of our forefathers were. Our forefathers! Where shall we find at this day, among the fair-faced natives of Europe, a nation generally practising the justice, mercy, and truth, which are related of these poor black Africans? Suppose the preceding accounts are true, (which I see no reason on pretence to doubt of) and we may [Page] leave England and France, to seek genuine honesty in Benin, Congo, or Angola.

III. We have now seen, what kind of country it is, from which the negroes are brought: And what sort of men (even whitemen being the judges) they were in their own country. Enquire we, Thirdly, In what manner are they generally procured, carried to, and treated in America.

1. First. In what manner are they procured? Part of them by fraud. Captains of ships from time to time, have invited negroes to come on board, and then carried them away. But far more have been procured by force. The christians landing upon their coasts, seized as many as they found, men, women and children, and transported them to America. It was about 1551, that the English began trading to Guinea: At first, for gold and elephants teeth, but soon after, for men. In 1566, Sir John Hawkins sailed with two ships to Cape Verd, where he sent eighty men on shore to catch negroes. But the natives flying, they fell farther down, and there set the men on shore, "to burn their towns and take the inhabitants." But they met with such resistance, that they had seven men killed, and took but ten negroes. So they went still farther down, [Page] till having taken enough, they proceeded to the West-Indies, and sold them *.

[Page]2. It was some time before the Europeans found a more compendious way of procuring African slaves, by prevailing upon them to make war upon each other, and to sell their prisoners,—Till then they seldom had any wars: But were in general quiet and peaceable. But the white men first taught them drunkenness and avarice, and then hired them to sell one another. Nay, by this means, even their kings are induced to sell their own subjects. [Page] So Mr. Moore (factor of the African company in 1730) informs us, "When the king of Barsalli wants goods or brandy, he sends to the English governor at James' sort, who immediately sends a sloop.—Against the time it arrives, he plunders some of his neighbours towns, selling the people for the goods he wants. At other times he falls upon one of his own towns, and makes bold to sell his own subjects." So Mons. Brue says, "I wrote to the king (not the same) "if he had a sufficient number of slaves I would treat with him. He seized three hundred of his own people, and sent word, he was ready to deliver them for the goods." He adds, "Some of the natives are always ready" (when well paid) "to surprize and carry off their own countrymen. They come at night without noise, and if they find any lone cottage, surround it and carry off all the people."—Barbot, (another French factor) says, "Many of the slaves sold by the negroes are prisoners of war, or taken in the incursions they make into their enemy's territories.—Others are stolen. Abundance of little blacks of both sexes, are stolen away by their neighbours, when found abroad on the road, or in the woods, or else in the corn-fields, at the time of year when their parents keep [Page] them there all day to scare away the devouring birds." That their own parents sell them, is utterly false:

3. To set the manner wherein Negroes are procured in a yet stronger light, it will suffice to give an extract of two voyages to Guinea on this account. The first is taken verbatim from the original manuscript of the Surgeon's Journal.

"SESTRO, Dec. 29, 1724. No trade to day, though many traders came on board. They informed us, that the people are gone to war within land, and will bring prisoners enough in two or three days; in hopes of which we stay.

"The 30th. No trade yet: but our traders came on board to-day, and informed us the people had burnt four towns: So that to-morrow we expect slaves off.

"The 31st. Fair weather: but no trading yet. We see each night towns burning. But we hear, many of the Sestro men are killed by the inland Negroes: So that we fear this war will be unsuccessful.

"The 2d. of January. Last night we saw a prodigious fire break out about eleven o'clock, and this morning see the town of Sestro burnt down to the ground." (It contained some hundred houses.) "So that we find their enemies are too hard [Page] for them at present, and consequently our trade spoiled here. Therefore about seven o'clock we weighed anchor, to proceed lower down."

4. The second extract taken from the journal of a Surgeon, who went from New-York on the same trade, is as follows. "The Commander of the vessel sent to acquaint the king, that he wanted a cargo of slaves. The king, promised to furnish him, and in order to it, set out, designing to surprize some town, and make all the people prisoners. Some time after, the king sent him word, he had not yet met with the desired success▪ Having attempted to break up two towns, but having been twice repulsed: But that he still hoped to procure the number of slaves. In this design he persisted, till he met his enemies in the field. A battle was fought, which lasted three days. And the engagement was so bloody, that four thousand five hundred men were slain upon the spot." Such is the manner wherein the Negroes are procured! Thus the christians preach the gospel to the heathens!

5. Thus they are procured. But in what numbers and in what manner are they carried to America?—Mr. Anderson in his History of trade and commerce, [Page] observes, "England supplies her American colonies with Negro-slaves, amounting in number to about an hundred thousand every year." That is, so many are taken on board our ships; but at least ten thousand of them die in the voyage: About a fourth part more die at the different Islands, in what is call the Seasoning. So that at an average, in the passage and seasoning together, thirty thousand die: That is, properly are murdered. O earth, O Sea, cover not thou their blood!

6. When they are brought down to the shore in order to be sold, our surgeons thoroughly examine them, and that quite naked, women and men, without any distinction: Those that are approved are set on one side. In the mean time a burning iron, with the arms or name of the Company, lies in the fire, with which they are marked on the breast. Before they are put into the ships, their masters strip them of all they have on their backs: So that they come on bord stark naked, women as well as men. It is common for several hundreds of them to be put on board one vessel; where they are stowed together in as little room, as it is possible for them to be crowded. It is easy to suppose what a condition they must [Page] soon be in, between heat, thirst, and stench of various kinds. So that it is no wonder, so many should die in the passage; but rather, that any survive it. *

[Page]7. When the vessels arrive at their destined port, the Negroes are again exposed naked, to the eyes of all that flock together, and the examination of their purchasers: Then they are separated to the plantations of their several masters, to see each other no more. Here you may see mothers hanging over their daughters, bedewing their naked breasts with tears, and daughters clinging to their parents, till the whipper soon obliges them to part. And what can be more wretched than the condition they then enter upon? Banished from their country, from their friends and relations for ever, from every comfort of life, they are reduced to a state scarce any way preferable to that of beasts of burthen. In general a few roots, not of the nicest kind, usually yams or potatoes, are their [Page] food, and two rags, that neither screen them from the heat of the day, nor the cold of the night their covering. Their sleep is very short, their labour continual, and frequently above their strength; so that death sets many of them at liberty, before they have lived out half their days. The time they work in the West Indies, is from day break to noon, and from two o'clock till dark: During which time they are attended by overseers, who, if they think them dilatory, or think any thing not so well done as it should be, whip them most unmercifully, so that you may see their bodies long after whealed and scarred usually from the shoulders to the waist. And before they are suffered to go to their quarters, they have commonly something to do, as collecting herbage for the horses, or gathering fewel for the boilers. So that it is often past twelve, before they can get home. Hence if their food was not prepared, they are sometimes called to labour again, before they can satisfy their hunger. And no excuse will avail. If they are not in the field immediately, they must expect to feel the lash. Did the Creator intend, that the noblest creatures in the visible world, should live such a life as this!

[Page]"Are these thy glorious works, Parent of Good?"

8. As to the punishments inflicted on them, says Sir Hans Sloan, "they frequently geld them, or chop off half a foot: After they are whipped till they are raw all over, some put pepper and salt upon them: Some drop melted wax upon their skin. Others cut off their ears, and constrain them to broil and eat them. "For Rebellion," (that is, asserting their native Liberty, which they have as much right to as to the air they breathe) "they fasten them down to the ground with crooked sticks on every limb, and then applying fire by degrees, to the feet and hands, they burn them gradually upward to the head." *

[Page]9 But will not the laws made in the Plantations, prevent or redress all cruelty and Oppression? We will take but a [Page] few of those Laws for a specimen, and then let any man judge.

In order to rivet the chain of slavery, the law of Virginia ordains, "That no [Page] slave shall be set free, upon any pretence whatever, except for some meritorious services, to be adjudged and allowed by the governor and coucil: And that where [Page] any slave shall be set free by his owner, otherwise than is herein directed, the church-wardens of the parish wherein such negro shall reside for the space of [Page] one month are hereby authorized and required, to take up and sell the said negro, by public outcry."

Will not these Law-givers take effectual care, to prevent cruelty and oppression?

[Page]The law of Jamaica ordains, "Every slave that shall run away, and continue absent from his master twelve months, shall be deemed rebellious:" And by another [Page] law, fifty pounds are allowed [...] those who kill or bring in alive a rebellious slave." So their law treats these poor men with as little ceremony and consideration, as if they were merely brute beasts! But the innocent blood which is shed in consequence of such a detestable law, must call for vengeance on the murderous abettors and actors of such deliberate wickedness.

11. But the law of Barbadoes exceeds even this. "If any negro under punishment, by his master, or his order, for running away, or any other crime or misdemeanor, shall suffer in life or member, no person whatever shall be liable to any fine therefore. But if any man of WANTONNESS, or only of BLOODY-MINDEDNESS or CRUEL INTENTION, wilfully kill a negro of his own" (Now observe the severe punishment!) "He shall pay into the public treasury fifteen pounds sterling! And not be liable to any other punishment or forfeiture for the same!"

[Page]Nearly allied to this is that law of Virginia: "After proclamation is issued against slaves that run away, it is lawful for any person whatsoever to KILL AND DESTROY such slaves, by SUCH WAYS AND MEANS AS HE SHALL THINK FIT.

We have seen already some of the ways and means which have been thought fit on such occasions. And many more might be mentioned. One gentleman, when I was abroad thought fit to roast his slave alive! But if the most natural act of "running away" from intolerable tyranny, deserves such relentness severity, what punishment have these law-makers to expect hereafter, on account of their own enormous offences?

IV. 1. This is the plain, un-aggravated matter of fact. Such is the manner wherein our African slaves are procured: Such the manner wherein they are removed from their native land, and wherein they are treaed in our Plantations. I would now enquire, whether these things can be defended, on the principles of even heathen honesty? Whether they can be reconciled (setting the Bible out of the question) with any degree of either justice or mercy.

2. The grand plea is, "They are authorized by law." But can law, human law, change the nature of things? Can [Page] it turn darkness into light, or evil into good? By no means. Notwithstanding ten thousand laws, right is right, and wrong is wrong still. There must still remain an essential difference between justice and injustice, cruelty and mercy. So that still I ask, Who can reconcile this treatment of the negroes, first and last, with either mercy or justice.

Where is the justice of inflicting the severest evils, on those that have done us no wrong? Of depriving those that never injured us in word or deed, of every comfort of life? Of tearing them from their native country, and depriving them of liberty itself? To which an Angolan, has the same natural right as an Englishman, and on which he sets as high a value? Yea where is the justice of taking away the lives of innocent, inoffensive men? Murdering thousands of them in their own land, by the hands of their own countrymen: Many thousands, year after year, on shipboard, and then casting them like dung into the sea! And tens of thousands in that cruel slavery, to which they are so unjustly reduced?

3. But waving, for the present, all other considerations, I strike at the root of this complicated villainy. I absolutely deny all slave-holding to be consistent [Page] with any degreee of even natural justice.

I cannot place this in a clearer light, than that great ornament of his profession, judge Blackstone has already done. Part of his words are as follows:

"The three origins of the right of slavery assigned by Justinian, are all built upon false foundations. 1. Slavery is said to arise from captivity in war. The conqueror having a right to the life of his captive, if he spares that, has then a right to deal with him as he pleases. But this is untrue, if taken generally, That by the law of nations, a man has a right to kill his enemy. He has only a right to kill him in particular cases in cases of absolute necessity for self-defence. And it is plain, this absolute necessity did not subsist, since he did not kill him, but made him prisoner. War itself is justifiable only on principles of self-preservation. Therefore it gives us no right over prisoners, but to hinder their hurting us by confining them. Much less can it give a right to torture, or kill, or even to enslave an enemy when the war is over. Since therefore the right of making our prisoners slaves, depends on a supposed right of slaughter, that founddation failing, the consequence which is drawn from it must fail likewise."

[Page]"It is said, Secondly, slavery may begin, by one man's selling himself to another. And it is true, a man may sell himself to work for another: But he cannot sell himself to be a slave, as above defined. Every sale implies an equivalent given to the seller, in lieu of what he transfers to the buyer. But what equivalent can be given for life or liberty? His property likewise, with the very price which he seems to receive, devolves ipso facto to his master, the instant he becomes his slave: In this case therefore the buyer gives nothing, and the seller receives nothing. Of what validity then can a sale be, which destroys the very principles upon which all sales are founded?"

"We are told, Thirdly, that men may be born slaves, by being the children of slaves. But this being built on the two former rights, must fall together with them. If neither captivity, nor contract can by the plain law of nature and reason, reduce the parent to a state of slavery, much less can they reduce the offspring." It clearly follows, that all slavery is as irreconcileable to justice as to mercy.

4. That slave-holding is utterly inconsistent with mercy, is almost too plain to need a proof. Indeed it is said, "That these negroes being prisoners of war, our [Page] captains and factors buy them merely to save them from being put to death. And is not this mercy?" I answer, 1. Did Sir John Hawkins, and many others, seize upon men, women and children, who were at peace in their own fields or houses, merely to save them from death? 2. Was it to save them from death, that they knock'd out the brains of those they could not bring away? 3. Who occasioned and fomented those wars, wherein these poor creatures were taken prisoners? Who excited them by money, by drink, by every possible means, to fall upon one another? Was it not themselves? They know in their own conscience it was, if they have any conscience left. But 4. To bring the matter to a short issue. Can they say before GOD, That they ever took a single voyage, or bought a single negro from this motive? They cannot. They well know, to get money, not to save lives, was the whole and sole spring of their motions.

5. But if this manner of procuring and treating negroes is not consistent either with mercy or justice, yet there is a plea for it which every man of business will acknowledge to be quite sufficient. Fifty years ago, one meeting an eminent statesman in the lobby of the house of commons, [Page] said, "You have been long talking about justice and equity. Pray which is this bill? Equity or justice?" He answered, very short, and plain, "D—n justice: It is necessity." Here also the slave-holder fixes his foot: Here he rests the strength of his cause. "If it is not quite right, yet it must be so: There is an absolute necessity for it. It is necessary we should procure slaves: And when we have procured them, it is necessary to use them with severity, considering their stupidity, stubbornness and wickedness."

I answer, You stumble at the threshold: I deny that villany is ever necessary. It is impossible that it should ever be necessary, for any reasonable creature to violate all the laws of justice, mercy, and truth. No circumstances can make it necessary for a man to burst in sunder all the ties of humanity. It can never be necessary for a rational being to sink himself below a brute. A man can be under no necessity, of degrading himself into a wolf. The absurdity of the supposition is so glaring, that one would wonder any one can help seeing it.

6. This in general. But to be more particular, I ask, 1. What is necessary? And, secondly, To what end? It may be be answered, "The whole method now [Page] used by the original purchasers of negroes, is necessary to the furnishing our colonies yearly with an hundred thousand slaves." I grant, this is necessary to that end. But how is that end necessary? How will you prove it necessary, that one hundred, that one of those slaves should be procured? "Why, it is necessary to my gaining an hundred thousand pounds." Perhaps so: But how is this necessary? It is very possible you might be both a better and an happier man, if you had not a quarter of it. I deny that your gaining one thousand is necessary, either to your present or eternal happiness. "But however you must allow, these slaves are necessary for the cultivation of our islands; inasmuch as white men are not able to labour in hot climates†." I answer, 1. It were better [Page] that all those islands should remain uncultivated for ever, yea, it were more desirable that they were all together sunk in the depth of the sea, than that they should be cultivated at so high a price, as the violation of justice, mercy, and truth. But, Secondly, the supposition on which [Page] you ground your argument is false. For white men, even Englishmen, are well able to labour in hot climates: provided they are temperate both in meat and drink, and that they inure themselves to it by degrees. I speak no more than I know by experience. It appears from the thermometer, [Page] that the summer heat in Georgia, is frequently equal to that in Barbadoes, yea to that under the line. And yet I and my family, (eight in number) did employ all our spare time there, in felling of trees and clearing of ground, as hard labour as any negro need be employed in. The German family likewise, forty in number, [Page] were employed in all manner of labour. And this was so far from impairing our health, that we all continued perfectly well, while the idle ones all round about us, were swept away as with a pestilence. It is not true therefore that white men are not able to labour, even in hot climates, full as well as black. But if they were not, it would be better that none should [Page] labour there, that the work should be left undone, than that myriads of innocent men should be murdered, and myriads more dragged into the basest slavery.

7. "But the furnishing us with slaves is necessary, for the trade, and wealth, and glory of our nation:" Here are several mistakes. For 1. Wealth is not necessary to the glory of any nation; but wisdom, virtue, justice, mercy, generosity, public spirit, love of our country. These are necessary to the real glory of a nation; but abundance of wealth is not. Men of understanding allow, that the glory of England was full as high, in Queen Elizabeth's time as it is now: Although our riches and trade were then as much smaller, as our virtue was greater‡. But, [Page] Secondly, It is not clear, that we should have either less money or trade, (only less of that detestable trade of man-stealing) if there was not a negro in all our islands, or in all English America. It is demonstrable, white men, inured to it by degrees can work as well as them: And they would do it, were negroes out of the way, and proper encouragement given them. However, Thirdly, I come back to the same point; better no trade, than trade procured by villany. It is far better to have [Page] no wealth, than to gain wealth, at the expence of virtue. Better is honest poverty, than all the riches bought by the tears, and sweat, and blood of our fellow-creatures.

8. "However this be, it is necessary when we have slaves, to use them with severity." What, to whip them for every petty offence, till they are all in gore blood? To take that opportunity, of rubbing pepper and salt into their raw flesh? To drop burning sealing wax upon their skin? To castrate them? To cut off half their foot with an axe? To hang them on gibbets, that they may die by inches, with heat, and hunger, and thirst? To pin them down to the ground, and then burn them by degrees, from the feet, to the head? To roast them alive? When did a Turk or a Heathen find it necessary to use a fellow-creature thus?

I pray, to what end is this usage necessary? "Why, to prevent their running away: And to keep them constantly to their labour, that they may not idle away their time. So miserably stupid is this race of men, yea, so stubborn, and so wicked." Allowing them to be as stupid as you say, to whom is that stupidity owing? Without question it lies altogether at the door of their inhuman masters: [Page] Who give them no means, no opportunity of improving their understanding: And indeed leave them no motive, either from hope or fear, to attempt any such thing. They were no way remarkable for stupidity, while they remained in their own country: The inhabitants of Africa where they have equal motives and equal means of improvement, are not inferior to the inhabitants of Europe: To some of them they are greatly superior. Impartially survey in their own country, the natives of Benin and the natives of Lapland. Compare, (setting prejudice aside) the Samoeids and the Angolans. And on which side does the advantage lie, in point of understanding? Certainly the African is in no respect inferior to the European.— Their stupidity therefore in our plantations is not natural; otherwise than it is the natural effect of their condition.— Consequently it is not their fault, but your's: You must answer for it, before GOD and man.

9. "But their stupidity is not the only reason of our treating them with severity. For it is hard to say, which is the greatest, This, or their stubbornness and wickedness."—It may be so:—But do not these, as well as the other, lie at your door? Are not stubbornness, cunning, pilfering, and [Page] divers others vices, the natural, necessary fruits of slavery? Is not this an observation which has been made, in every age and nation.—And what means have you used to remove this stubbornness? Have you tried what mildness and gentleness would do? I knew one that did: That had prudence and patience to make the experiment: Mr. Hugh Bryan, who then lived on the borders of South-Carolina.— And what was the effect? Why, that all his negroes (And he had no small number of them) loved and reverenced him as a father, and chearfully obeyed him out of love. Yea, they were more afraid of a frown from him, than of many blows from an overseer. And what pains have you taken, what method have you used, to reclaim them from their wickedness? Have you carefully taught them, "That there is a GOD, a wise, powerful, merciful Being, the Creator and Governor of Heaven and Earth? That he has appointed a day wherein he will judge the world, will take an account of all our thoughts, words and actions? That in that day he will reward every child of man according to his works: That "then the righteous shall inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world: And the wicked shall be cast into everlasting [Page] fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." If you have not done this, if you have taken no pains or thought about the matter, can you wonder at their wickedness? What wonder, if they should cut your throat? And if they did, whom could you thank for it but yourself? You first acted the villain in making them slaves, (whether you stole them or bought them.) You kept them stupid and wicked, by cutting them off from all apportunities of improving either in knowledge or virtue: And now you assign their want of wisdom and goodness as the reason for using them worse than brute beasts!

V. 1. It remains only, to make a little application of the preceding observations. —But to whom should that application be made? That may bear a question. Should we address ourselves to the public at large? What effect can this have? It may inflame the world against the guilty, but is not likely to remove that guilt. Should we appeal to the English nation in general? This also is striking wide: And is never likely to procure any redress, for the sore evil we complain of.—As little would it in all probability avail, to apply to the parliament. So many things, which seem of greater importance lie before them that [Page] they are not likely to attend to this. I therefore add a few words to those who are more immediately concerned, whether captains, merchants or planters.

2. And, first, to the captains employed in this trade. Most of you know, the country of Guinea: Several parts of it at least, between the river Senegal and the kingdom of Angola. Perhaps now, by your means, part of it is become a dreary uncultivated wilderness, the inhabitants being all murdered or carried away, so that there are none left to till the ground. But you well know, how populous, how fruitful, how pleasant it was a few years ago. You know the people were not stupid, not wanting in sense, considering the few means of improvement they enjoyed. Neither did you find them savage, fierce, cruel, treacherous, or unkind to strangers. On the contrary, they were in most parts a sensible and ingenious people. They were kind and friendly, courteous and obliging, and remarkably fair and just in their dealings. Such are the men whom you hire their own countrymen, to tear away from this lovely country; part by stealth, part by force, part made captives in those wars, which you raise or foment on purpose. You have seen them torn away, children from [Page] their parents, parents from their children: Husbands from their wives, wives from their beloved husbands, brethren and sisters from each other. You have dragged them who had never done you any wrong, perhaps in chains, from their native shore. You have forced them into your ships like an herd of swine, them who had souls immortal as your own: (Only some of them have leaped into the sea, and resolutely stayed under water, till they could suffer no more from you.) You have stowed them together as close as ever they could lie, without any regard either to decency or convenience. —And when many of them had been poisoned by foul air, or had sunk under various hardships, you have seen their remains delivered to the deep, till the sea should give up his dead. You have carried the survivors into the vilest slavery, never to end but with life: Such slavery as is not found among the Turks at Algiers, no, nor among the heathens in America.

3. May I speak plainly to you? I must. Love constrains me: Love to you, as well as to those you are concerned with.

Is there a GOD? You know there is. Is He a just GOD? Then there must be a state of retribution: A state wherein the just GOD will reward every man according to [Page] his works. Then what reward will he render to you? O think betimes! Before you drop into eternity! Think now, He shall have judgment without mercy, that shewed no mercy.

Are you a man? Then you should have an human heart. But have you indeed? What is your heart made of? Is there no such principle as compassion there? Do you never feel another's pain? Have you no sympathy? No sense of human woe? No pity for the miserable? When you saw the flowing eyes, the heaving breasts, or the bleeding sides and tortured limbs of your fellow-creatures, was you a stone, or a brute? Did you look upon them with the eyes of a tiger? When you squeezed the agonizing creatures down in the ship, or when you threw their poor mangled remains into the sea, had you no relenting? Did not one tear drop from your eye, one sigh escape from your breast? Do you feel no relenting now? If you do not, you must go on, till the measure of your iniquities is full. Then will the great GOD deal with you, as you have dealt with them, and require all their blood at your hands. And at that day it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gemorrah than for you! But if your heart does relent, though in a small degree, know it is a call from [Page] the GOD of love. And to day, if you hear his voice, harden not your heart.— To day resolve, GOD being your helper, to escape for your life.—Regard not money! All that a man hath will he give for his life? Whatever you lose, lose not your soul: nothing can countervail that loss. Immediately quit the horrid trade: At all events, be an honest man.

4. This equally concerns every merchant, who is engaged in the slave-trade. It is you that induce the African villain, to sell his countrymen; and in order thereto, to steal, rob, murder men, women and children without number: By enabling the English villain to pay him for so doing; whom you over pay for his execrable labour. It is your money, that is the spring of all, that impowers him to go on: So that whatever he or the African does in this matter, is all your act and deed. And is your conscience quite reconciled to this? Does it never reproach you at all? Has gold entirely blinded your eyes, and stupified your heart? Can you see, can you feel no harm therein? Is it doing as you would be done to? Make the case your own. "Master, (said a slave at Liverpool to the merchant that owned him) "what if some of my countrymen were to come here, and take away my mistress, and master [Page] Tommy, and master Billy, and carry them into our country, and make them slaves, how would you like it?." His answer was worthy of a man: "I will never buy a slave more while I live." O let his resolution be yours! Have no more any part in this detestable business. Instantly leave it to those unfeeling wretches, "Who laugh at human nature and compassion!" Be you a man! Not a wolf, a devourer of the human species! Be merciful, that you may obtain mercy!

5. And this equally concerns every gentleman that has an estate in our American plantations: Yea all slave-holders of whatever rank and degree; seeing men-buyers are exactly on a level with men-stealers. Indeed you say, "I pay honestly for my goods: and I am not concerned to know how they are come by." Nay, but you are: You are deeply concerned, to know they are honestly come by. Otherwise you are partaker with a thief, and are not a jot honester than him. But you know, they are not honestly come by: You know they are procured by means, nothing near so innocent as picking of pockets, house-breaking, or robbery upon the highway. You know they are procured by a deliberate series of more complicated villany, of fraud, robbery and [Page] murder) than was ever practised either by Mahometans or Pagans: in particular by murders, of all kinds; by the blood of the innocent poured upon the ground like water. Now it is your money that pays the merchant, and thro' him the captain, and the African butchers. You therefore are guilty, yea, principally guilty, of all these frauds, robberies and murders. You are the spring that puts all the rest in motion: they would not stir a step without you:—Therefore the blood of all these wretches, who die before their time, whether in their country, or elsewhere lies upon your head. The blood of thy brother, (for, whether thou wilt believe it or no, such he is in the sight of him that made him) crieth against thee from the earth, from the ship, and from the waters. O, whatever it costs, put a stop to its cry before it be too late. Instantly, at any price, were it the half of your goods, deliver thyself from blood-guiltiness! Thy hands, thy bed, thy furniture, thy house, thy lands are at present stained with blood. Surely it is enough; accumulate no more guilt: spill no more the blood of the innocent! Do not hire another to shed blood: Do not pay him for doing it! Whether you are a christian or no, shew yourself a man; be not more savage than a lion or a bear!

[Page]6. Perhaps you will say, "I do not buy any negroes: I only use those left me by my father."—So far is well: but is it enough to satisfy your own conscience? Had your father, have you, has any man living, a right to use another as a slave? It cannot be, even setting revelation aside. It cannot be, that either war, or contract, can give any man such a property in another as he has in his sheep and oxen. Much less is it possible, that any child of man, should ever be born a slave. Liberty is the right of every human creature, as soon as he breathes the vital air. And no human law can deprive him of that right, which he derives from the law of nature.

If therefore you have any regard to justice, (to say nothing of mercy, nor of the revealed law of GOD) render unto all their due. Give liberty to whom liberty is due, that is to every child of man, to every partaker of human nature. Let none serve you but by his own act and deed, by his own voluntary choice.— Away with all whips, all chains, all compulsion! Be gentle towards all men. And see that you invariably do unto every one, as you would he should do unto you.

7. O thou GOD of love, thou who art loving to every man, and whose mercy is over all thy works: Thou who art the [Page] father of the spirits of all flesh, and who art rich in mercy unto all: Thou who hast mingled of one blood, all the nations upon earth: Have compassion upon these outcasts of men, who are trodden down as dung upon the earth! Arise and help these that have no helper, whose blood is spilt upon the ground like water! Are not these also the work of thine own hands, the purchase of thy Son's blood? Stir them up to cry unto thee in the land of their captivity; and let their complaint come up before thee; let it enter into thy ears! Make even those that lead them away captive to pity them, and turn their captivity as the rivers in the south. O burst thou all their chains in sunder; more especially the chains of their sins: Thou, Saviour of all, make them free, that they may be free indeed!

The servile progeny of Ham

Seize as the purchase of thy blood!

Let all the heathen know thy name:

From idols to the living GOD

The dark Americans convert,

And shine in every pagan heart!

FINIS.

§

[Page]

SIMILAR causes will produce similar effects; the dreadful consequence of slavery is the same amongst every people and in every nation where it prevails: this truth is verified in the following accounts of the inhuman treatment the negroes met with both from the Hollanders and the French.

The first is taken from the late writings of Edward Bancroft, an English physician, who resided some years in that part of America, called Dutch Guiana, which includes the several settlements of Surinam, Barbices, Demarara, &c. The insensibility with which this author relates and vindicates the cruelties and indignities exercised, by the Dutch, on the miserable Africans, shew that the advantage accruing to him from the labour of the slaves, as well as his connection with their oppressors, had its usual and natural effects, in obscuring his understanding, and hardning his heart against the dictates of reason and humanity.

[Page]The French author appears to have been in a very different situation; he was an officer belonging to the troops quartered in the island Mauritus, now called The Isle of France, who not reaping any advantage from the labour of the slaves, nor having any dependence on the planters, his mind remained so unprejudiced, that the dictates of reason and tender feelings of humanity, had free liberty to exert themselves.

Doctor Bancroft, whilst he is giving his readers a genuine relation of the prodigious oppression and cruelty exercised on the negroes, advances such arguments in defence of the practice of slavery, as are, indeed, a dishonour to reason, and shocking to humanity. He tells us, ‘That the labour of the country is almost wholly performed by negroes—that they are kept at a submissive and humble distance, by severity of discipline,’ which he is so hardned as to say, ‘not only contributes to the safety of the white inhabitants, but even the happiness of the slaves, because, adds he, the impossibility of attaining is ever found to destroy the desire of enjoyment, and rigid treatment, by annihilating every hope of liberty, renders the slaves content with the enjoyment of slavery.’— [Page] He acknowledges, ‘That the negroes are indeed spurred to industry by the whip of correction, which is ever at their heels, and not sparingly exercised; but, that there is no medium: either the minds of the slaves must be depressed by abject slavery, or the lives of the masters are in imminent danger: For this reason (he says) they have been oppressed by many humiliating penalties and distinctions. The evidence of slaves relating to white persons are of no validity. An attempt to strike a white inhabitant is punished with death. Their masters or overseers have not only the power of inflicting corporal punishment, but are in some measure allowed to exercise a right over their lives, since the putting a negro to death is attended only with a pecuniary punishment. In which situation, he confesses, they are subject to many complicated species of misery, exposed to the tyrann [...] of the imperious, and lust of the libidinous; and to an incessant toil which will have no period but with their lives.’ Thus this author thro' the whole of his reasoning, manifestly shews the depraving effect which the sight and practice of those hard and cruel measures which are attendant on [Page] slavery, has upon the heart and reason of men, otherwise of good judgment.— Hence he adds, ‘That tho' this treatment has the appearance of cruelty, and cannot be reconciled to the principles of justice and equity, yet many things which are repugnant to humanity, may be excused on account of their necessity and for self-preservation.’—Speaking of the provision made for the negroes in food and cloathing, he says, ‘The expence of maintaining them in this climate is very trifling—they are assigned a piece of ground, from this the slave is supplied with a sufficient stock for his sustenance; on which however he is not allowed to labour but only on sundays; receiving from his master a weekly allowance of dried fish to the amount of a pound and an half; which is all that his master contributes towards his food. The females receive the same treatment, and the drink of both is nothing but water: yet from this water and vegetables, with a morsel of dried fish, these people derive sufficient nutriment to sustain the hardest labour in the most enervating climate. The cloathing of the negroes (who work in the fields) is scarce sufficient to answer the demands of’ [...] [Page] indignation against the murderer, or commiseration for the unhappy victim; they seemed quite hardned to such scenes. He heard but one person take any manner of notice of the matter.

Another instance fell under the immediate notice of a person of credit, when in the island of Jamaica, now residing in this city. Hearing a grievous cry, he went to the place from whence it came, where he saw a young negro woman of about eighteen years of age, swung by her hands, with heavy weights at her feet, and a man lashing her naked body with a hard whip; making pauses from time to time, and flinging pickle or salt and water on the wounds, the whip had made. The sight was so horrible, that he turned from it and came home. Sometime after, looking out, he saw this same young woman carried dead on a board: She had been cruelly whipped to death; neither did he observe that this pitious spectacle drew the concern or hardly attention of the people.

A third instance happened in Charles-Town, in the presence of a person now residing there. A vessel had taken in a number of slaves, on the coast of Guinea, amongst these was a man, who probably [Page] from the dignity of his situation in his own country, or from some other cause, did not shew such submission as the ship's people expected and require of slaves. They attempted to tie him with ropes, but that not answering their purpose, they confined him in irons, and otherwise so tormented him during their passage from Guinea, in order to bring down his spirit, that when they arrived at Charles-Town, he was in so weak a condition as to be scarce able to walk to the place of sale, but as he was urged on with the whip. When the slaves returned in the evening, this man remaining unsold, was forced along with the rest towards the vessel, he walked on for a while, till he came to the market-place, where he fell; but the whip being exercised upon him, he rose, and going on a little farther dropt down dead. The relater, a person of credit, saw the transaction, and exclaimed against the barbarity; but no notice was taken, either judicially or otherwise; he was dragged along and flung into the sea, to be devoured by the sharks.

The last instance I shall mention, happened in Carolina, on board a vessel with slaves from Guinea, related by a person lately in this city from thence. It [Page] seems the poor negroes had let in a persuasion, from a fire appearing on the shore, that the white people proposed to put them to death; this made them unwilling to leave the ship: However they were all made to comply except one man, who had taken so strong hold of some part of the ship, that the sailors were not able to loose him. This raised the anger of the captain to so great a degree, that he struck the poor fellow so hard a blow, with something like an handspike, as broke both his arms, whereby the captain looking upon the fellow as disabled and unfit for sale, gave him another blow on the head, which caused his brains to fly about the vessel.

"We know, says a late respectable author, that the negroes (employed in our plantations) are purchased from their princes in Guinea, who pretend to have a right to dispose of them, and that they are like other commodities, transported by the merchants, who have bought them into America, in order to be exposed to sale. If this trade admits of a moral or a rational justification, every crime, even the most atrocious, may be justified. Government [Page] was instituted for the good of mankind; kings, princes, governors, are not proprietors of those who are subject to their authority; they have not a right to make them miserable. On the contrary, their authority is vested in them, that they may, by the just exercise of it, promote the happiness of their people. Of course they have not a right to dispose of their liberty, and to sell them for slaves. Besides, no man has a right to acquire or to purchase them: Men and their liberty are not either sileable or purchaseable.—No one, therefore, has any but himself to blame, in case he shall find himself deprived of a man, whom he thought he had, by buying for a price, made his own; for he dealt in a trade which was illicit, and was prohibited by the most obvious dictates of humanity. For these reasons, every one of those unfortunate men, who are pretended to be slaves, has a right to be declared to be free, for he never lost his liberty; he could not lose it; his prince had no power to dispose of him. Of course the sale was ipso jure void. This right he carries about with him, and is entitled every where to get declared. As soon, therefore, as he comes into a country in which the judges are not forgetful [Page] of their own humanity, it is their duty to remember that he is a man, and to declare him to be free. I know it has been said, that questions concerning the state of persons ought to be determined by the law of the country to which they belong; and that, therefore, one who would be declared to be a slave in America, ought, in case he should happen to be imported into Britain, to be adjudged according to the law of America to be a slave; a doctrine, than which nothing can be more barbarous. Ought the judges of any country, out of respect to the law of another, to shew no respect to their kind and to humanity. Out of respect to a law, which is in no sort obligatory upon them, ought they to disregard the law of nature, which is obligatory on all men at all times, and in all places: Are any laws so binding as the eternal laws of justice? It is doubtful, whether a judge ought to pay greater regard to them, than to those arbitrary and inhuman usages which prevail in a distant land? Aye, but our colonies would be ruined, if slavery was abolished. Be it so; would it not from thence follow, that the bulk of mankind ought to be abused, that our pockets may be filled with money, or our mouths with [Page] delicacies? The purses of highwaymen would be empty in case robberies were totally abolished; but have men a right to acquire money by going out to the highway? Have men a right to acquire it by rendering their fellow creatures miserable? Is it lawful to abuse mankind, that the avarice, the vanity, or the passion of a few may be gratified? No! There is such a thing as justice, to which the most sacred regard is due. It ought to be inviolably observed. Have not these unhappy men a better right to their liberty and to their happiness, than our American merchants have to the profits which they make by torturing their kind? Let therefore our colonies be ruined, but let us not render so many men miserables. Would not any of us, who should—be snatched by pirates from his native land, think himself cruelly abused, and at all times intiled to be free. Have not these unfortunate Africans, who meet with the same cruel fate, the same right? Are not they men as well as we, and have they not the same sensibility?"

"But it is false, that either we, or our colonies would be ruined by the abolition of slavery. It might oecasion a stagnation of business for a short time. Every great alteration produces that effect: Because [Page] mankind cannot on a sudden, find ways of disposing of themselves and of their affairs: But it would produce many happy effects. It is the slavery which is permitted in America that has hindered it from becoming so populous, as it would otherwise have done. Let the negroes free, and in a few generations, this vast and fertile continent, would be crowded with inhabitants; learning, arts, and every thing would flourish amongst them: Instead of being inhabited by wild beasts, and by savages, it would be peopled by philosophers, and by men." Prins. law of Scott.

"He who detains another by force in slavery, is always bound to prove his title. The slave sold or carried into a distant country, must not be obliged to prove a negative, that he never forfeited his liberty. The violent possessor must in all cases shew his title, especially where the old proprietor is well known. In this case, each man is the original proprietor of his own liberty. The proof of his losing it must be incumbent on those who deprive him of it by force." Syst. mor. phil.

"Long and serious reflections upon the nature and consequences of slavery have [Page] convinced me, that it is a violation both of justice and religion; that it is dangerous to the safety of the community in which it prevails; that is it destructive to the growth of arts and sciences; and lastly, that it produces a numerous and very fatal train of vices, both in the slave, and in his master.—Freedom is unquestionably the birth right of all mankind; Africans as well as Europeans: to keep the former in a state of slavery, is a constant violation of that right, and therefore also of justice.—The British merchants obtains the negroes form Africa, by violence, artifice, and treachery, with a few trinkets to prompt those unfortunate people, to enslave one another, by force or stratagem. Purchase them, indeed they may, under the authority of an act of the British parliament. An act entailing upon the Africans (with whom we were not at war, and over whom a British parliament could not of right assume even a shadow of authority) the dreadful curse of perpetual slavery, upon them and their children forever. There cannot be in nature, there is not in all history, an instance in which every right of men is more flagrantly violated." Lee's Add.

[Page]

EXTRACT of a Sermon preached by the Bishop of Gloucester, before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel at their anniversary meeting, on the 21st of February, 1766.

FROM the free-savages I now come (the last point I propose to consider) to the savages in bonds. By these I mean the vast multitudes yearly stolen from the opposite continent, and sacrificed by the colonists to their great idol, the GOD OF GAIN. But what then, say these sincere worshippers of Mammon, they are our own property, which we offer up. Gracious God! to talk (as in herds of cattle) of property in rational creatures! creatures endowed with all our faculties, possessing all our qualities but that of colour; our brethren both by nature and grace, shocks all the feelings of humanity, and the dictates of common sense. But, alas! what is there in the infinite abuses of society which does not shock them? Yet nothing is more certain in itself, and apparent to all, than that the infamous traffic for slaves directly infringes both divine and human law. Nature created man free,; and grace invites him to assert his freedom. In excuse of [Page] this violation, it hath been pretended, that though indeed these miserable outcasts of humanity be torn from their homes and native country by fraud and violence, yet they thereby become the happier, and their condition the more eligible. But who are YOU, who pretend to judge of another man's happiness? That state, which each man, under the guidance of his maker, forms for himself; and not one man for another. To know what constitutes mine or your happiness, is the sole prerogative of him who created us, and cast us in so various and different moulds. Did your slaves ever complain to you of their unhappiness amidst their native woods and desarts? Or, rather, let me ask, did they ever cease complaining of their condition under you their lordly masters? Where they see, indeed, the accommodations of civil life, but see them all pass to others, themselves, unbenefited by them. Be so gracious then, ye petty tyrants over human freedom, to let your slaves judge for themselves, what it is which makes their own happiness. And then see whether they do not place it in the return to their own country, rather than in the contemplation of your grandeur, of which [Page] their misery makes so large a part. A return so passionately longed for, that despairing of happiness here, that is, of escaping the chains of their cruel task masters they console themselves with feigning it to be the gracious reward of heaven in their future state; which I do not find their haughty masters have as yet concerned themselves to invade. The less hardy indeed wait for this felicity till overwearied nature sets them free; but the more resolved have recourse even to self-violence, to force a speedier passage.

But it will be still urged, that though what is called human happiness be of so fantastic a nature, that each man's imagination creates it for himself, yet human misery is more substantial and uniform throughout all the tribes of mankind. Now, from the worst of human miseries, the savage Africans by these forced emigrations, are intirely secured, such as the being perpetually hunted down like beasts of prey or profit, by their more savage and powerful neighbours—In truth, a blessed change!— from being hunted to being caught. But who are they that have set on foot this general HUNTING? Are they not [Page] these very civilized violators of humanity themselves? Who tempt the weak apoetites, and provoke the wild passions of the fiercer savages to prey upon the rest."

THE END.

Notes

*

See Mr. Hargrave's plea for Somerset the negro.

↵

*

Here it may be well to give a particular account of that transaction in the very words in which it is transmitted to us by early historians, as it is a clear proof, that it was solely from a desire of gain that the English first undertook to seize and bring the unhappy Africans from their native country; and is a clear and positive refutation of those false arguments frequently advanced in vindication of the slave trade, viz. That the first purchase of negro slaves by the English, was from motives of compassion, with views of saving the lives of some of those blacks who being taken prisoners in battle, would, if not thus purchased, have been sacrificed to the revenge of their conquerors: but this plea is manifestly false; from all the accounts we have of the disposition of the negroes in those early times, they appear to have been an innocent people, gentle and easy in their nature; rather averse to war, as is the general disposition of the natives of these warm climates; till being corrupted by an intercourse with the Europeans, and stimulated by the excessive use of spirituous liquors, they were induced to join them in their cruel depradations against their unhappy countrymen. The account given of that transaction by Thomas Lediard in his naval history, at page 141, is in the following words: ‘That Sir John Hawkins in his several voyages to the Canary islands, understanding that negroes were a very good commodity in Hispaniola, (then settling by the Spaniards) and that they were easy to be had in great numbers on the coast of Guinea. Having opened his mind to his friends, he soon found adventurers for his undertaking; amongst whom were Sir Lionel Docket, Sir Thomas Lodge, and others: and having fitted out three small vessels, manned only with 100 men, he departed from the coast of England in October 1562, and sailed first to Tenerisse, where he took in several refreshments; from thence to the coast of Guinea, where he got in possession, partly by the sword, and by other means, upwards of three hundred of the natives, besides several commodities which that country afforded: with this booty he set sail for the island of Hispaniola in the West-Indies, where he disposed of his negroes. Two years after, he went another voyage on the coast of Guinea; there he staid several days at the island Sabula, where every day they took some of the inhabitants; burning and ravaging their towns: when having compleated their number of negroes, they set sail for the West-Indies.’

↵

*

Thomas Philips in his account of a voyage he made to Guinea, and from thence to Barbadoes, with, a cargo of slaves relates, "That they took seven hundred slaves on board. When they were brought in the vessel, the men were all put in irons, two and two shackled together, to prevent their mutinying or swimming ashore. The negroes, he says, are so loath to leave their own country, that they have often leaped out of the canoe, boat and ship, into the seas, and kept under water till they were drowned, to avoid being taken up, and saved by the boats which pursue them."—They had about twelve negroes who willingly drowned themselves; others starved themselves to death— Philips was advised to cut off the legs and arms of some to terrify the rest; (as other captains had done) but this he refused to do: From the time of his taking the negroes on board, to his arrival at Barbadoes, no less than three hundred and twenty died of various diseases: Which the author says. "was to their great regret, after enduring much misery and stench, so long, among a parcel of creatures nastier than swine: No gold-finder, says Philips, can suffer such noisome drudgery as they do who carry negroes, having no respite from their afflictions so long as any of their slaves are alive." How unreasonable was it in Philips, thus to reflect on negroes; could such a number be crowded together in so warm a climate, even if they had all been healthy, without being extremely offensive: How much more when so many lay sick, dead and dying. He speaks of the English people's great sufferings by nastiness, stench, &c. but he forgets the sufferings of the poor blacks, which must have been incomparably greater than their's; not to mention the painful sorrow, and anxiety of mind these distressed creatures must have laboured under.

↵

*

Sir Hans Sloan after describing the severe tortures practised on the negroes, sums up the pains they are made to suffer under the terms of exquisite and extravagant.

Now must not the reasonable and humane nature of those who order these dreadful tortures as well as those who execute them, be changed into develish, who can thus put their fellow creatures to such extravagant, such exquisite torment? And for what? Often, even for that which their tormentors themselves would have done if in their situation. If thro' the exertion of barbarous and unjust laws, the natural attendant on slavery, these our hapless fellow men are doomed to die, yet in their deaths, let it at least be remembered that they are men. We hear with horror and detestation of some such execution in the inquisitions and under some tyrannic governments; but these inhumanities are certainly contrary to the genius and disposition of the British nation, and quite abhorent of its laws, which do not allow of tortures either in punishment, or to extort confessions. Sir I Dalrymple in his memoirs says that the Parliament in the declaration of right asserted, that pitying and respecting humane nature, no cruel and unusual punishment should be inflicted.

How Britons can so readily admit of a change in their disposition and sentiments, as to practice in America what they abhor and detested in Britain, can be accounted for on no other principle, but as being the natural effect of slave-keeping, which as the celebrated Montesquieu observes, "insensibly accustoms those who are in the practice of it, to want all moral virtues, to become haughty, hasty hard hearted, passionate, voluptuous and cruel. The evil attendant on the condition of the poor slaves will end with their lives, and the merciful father of the family of mankind will doubtless look on their deep affliction, and where their hearts are thereby humbled, requite them good in another state of existence for their sufferings in this: but with respect to their lordly oppressors, this horrible abuse of their fellow men, will doubtless extend its baneful influence even into the regions of eternity. It is surprising that the thoughtful people, where slavery prevails should so little advert to its dreadful consequent effects to themselves and families, particularly on the necessity they are in of sending away their offspring from under their own paternal care, in very early life, lest their tender minds should be corrupted, and every noble and generous sentiments eradicated by the oppression and cruelty they are daily witnesses of.— That parents should be thus incapacitated and deprived of the opportunity and satisfaction of forming the minds of their offspring to virtue and happiness, but that this most sacred and delightful trust must be left to the care of the hireling and the stranger, must to every tender thinking parent, appear an evil of so afflictive a nature, and so contrary to the divine order, that no human advantage can compensate for.

The author of the history of Jamaica, wrote about the year 1740, in his account of the sufferings of the negroes, says, The people of that island have indeed the severest ways of punishing; no country exceeds them in a barbarous treatment of their slaves, or in the cruel methods by which they are put to death. After confirming what is before said▪ he adds, "They starve them to death, with a loaf hanging over their mouths. I have seen these unfortunate wretches gnaw the flesh off their shoulders, and expire in all the frightful agonies of one under the most horrible tortures. He adds, I incline to touch the hardship which these poor creatures suffer in the tenderest manner, from a particular regard which I have to many of their masters; but I cannot conceal their sad circumstances entirely: the most trivial error is punished with terrible whipping. I have seen some of them treated in that cruel manner, for no other reason but to satisfy the brutish pleasure of an overseer, who has their punishment mostly at his discretion. I have seen their bodies all in a gore of blood, the skin torn off their backs with the cruel whip, beaten pepper and salt rubbed in the wounds, and a large stick of sealing-wax dropped leisurely upon them. It is no wonder, (adds this author) if the horrid pain of such inhuman tortures incline them to rebel." The same author gives us extracts of some of the laws of Jamaica relating to the punishment of slaves, taken as he says, from a general collection of the plantation laws, the printed statutes, or the secretary's-office, viz.

"If any slave by punishment from his owner for running away, or other offence, suffer in life or limb, none shall be liable to the law for the same; but whosoever shall kill a slave out of wilfulness, wantonness, or bloody mindedness, shall suffer three months imprisonment, and pay fifty pounds to the owner of the slave. If the party so offending be a servant, he or she shall have on the bare back thirty-nine lashes, and also (after the expiration of the term with his or her master or mistress) shall serve the owner of the deceased slave the full term of four years. If any person kill a slave stealing or running away, or found by night out of his owner's ground, road, or common path, such person shall not be subject to any damage or action for the same.

"Those that go out in parties to reduce the negroes, shall receive from the treasurer for every rebellious negro that shall be killed, bringing in his head to any justice, forty pounds; for every negro taken and brought in alive, and not maimed, ten pounds, to be paid by the owner, who is hereby obliged under the penalty of fifty pounds, to transport such slave so taken; and in case the owner cannot be found, then the treasurer shall pay the ten pounds, receive the slave, sell and transport him, and retain the produce to be employed in the said service."

The following advertisement was taken from one of the North-Carolina news papers. "Run-away last November, from the subscriber, a negro fellow named Zeb, about 36 years of age, about 5 feet 8 inches high, a very good cooper by trade &c.—As he is outlawed, I will pay twenty pounds proclamation money out of what the act of assembly allows in such cases, to any person who shall produce his head severed from his body, and five pounds proclamation money if brought home alive."

JOHN MOSLEY.

An advertisement of the same kind was printed in London, in the general evening-post, Jan 1, 1774, said to be taken from the Williamsburgh gazette, where after describing the negro, the master adds, "The said fellow is outlawed, and I will give ten pounds reward for his head severed from his body, or forty shillings if brought alive." As strange as such publications may appear to such whose hearts as are not hardned by the practice of slavery, yet I am informed advertisements of this kind are frequent in the southern colonies.

It is alledged by the planters in excuse for these unnatural, these monstrous cruelties, that the greatest severity, the most cruel punishments, are absolutely necessary for the management of slaves, on account of those train of vices which slavery necessarily introduces. A late author remarks how shocking it is to think that those unhappy victims must from the nature of the thing become dangerous and refactory, in proportion to the greatness and generosity of their minds.

Can there be a more dangerous maxim, than that necessity is a plea for injustice? For who shall fix the degree of this necessity? What villain so atrocious who may not urge this excuse? or as Milton expresses it—

—And with necessity

The tyrant's plea, excuse his dev'lish deed.

How many thousands and tens of thousands has this dev'lish plea of necessity brought to a cruel and untimely end? What account will in future states of existence, be given to the father of the family of mankind, for the lives of so many of our fellow men so inhumanly murdered. A particular instance of the destruction of human beings, under the pretence of necessity, is related by captain Cook, in his voyage round the world, in company with messieurs Banks and Solander, in the year 1768, being at Rio Janiero, one, if not the principal town of Brazil; he relates, page 29, "That the inhabitants, who are very numerous, consists of Portuguese, Negroes and Indians. The township of Rio Janiero, which he was told was but a small part of the province, is said to contain thirty-seven thousand white people, and six hundred and twenty nine thousand blacks, many of whom are free, in the proportion of seventeen to one."

Page 34. (he tells us "The riches of the place consists chiefly in the mines; that much gold is brought from these mines, but at an expence of life that must strike every man, to whom custom has not made it familiar, with horror. No less than four thousand Negroes are annually imported on the king's account to dig in the mines; and (he adds) we are credibly informed, that the last year but one before we arrived here, this number fell so short, probably from some epidemic disease, that twenty thousand more were draughted from the town of Rio Janiero."

↵

†

It is not proposed to remove the negroes from labouring in the several provinces and islands where they are now employed; in order to employ white men in their stead, what is proposed, is only to prevent any farther import of negroes, except those who may come voluntarily and in a free condition; and to fall upon such just regulations and proper encouragement with respect to those already amongst us, that from dangerous grudging slaves, they may become willing hearted labourers, who having an interest in the peace and welfare of the country, will be parties in its strength and support. But whilst deficiencies by the death of the labouring slaves can be so easily made up by the continual fresh imports from Guinea, and the planters find it cheaper to make new purchases than to raise the children, or spare and cherish the parents at those already in their service, little amendment can be expected in the hardship they are put to, and the cruelties exercised upon them. Surely the number already in our colonies and islands, which on a calculation made four or five years past, was between eight and nine hundred thousand, besides that there has been a vast number, said to be about [...] hundred thousand since yearly imported: all these, with their increase, if well used, would certainly be sufficient to perform all necessary labour.

If an end was put to the import of negroes, and the odious and cruel distinction of master and slaves, with all its attendant horrors should cease, many labouring people from Europe, who are new discouraged from an apprension of being put on a level with slaves, would probably be willing to come over and engage in the service.

John Miller, professor of law at Glasgow, in his late observations concerning distinction of ranks in society, observes, "That the slavery established in our colonies is an object of great importance, and is attended with difficulties which cannot be easily removed. It has been thought that the management of our plantations requires a labour in which free men would not be willing to engage, and which the white people are from their constitution incapable of performing. How far this opinion is well founded according to the present manner of labouring in that part of the world, seems difficult to determine, as it has never been properly examined by those who are in a condition to ascertain the facts in question. But there is ground to believe, that the institution of slavery is the chief circumstance that has prevented those contrivances to shorten and facilitate the more laborious employments of the people, which takes place in other countries, where freedom has been introduced. With regard to the planting of sugar, experiments have been made in some of the islands, from which it appears, that in some species of cultivation, cattle might be employed with advantage, and that the number of slaves might be greatly diminished But these experiments have been little regarded, in opposition to the former usage, and in opposition to a lucrative branch of trade which these innovasions would in a great measure destroy. At any rate, the interest of our colonies seems to demand, that the negroes should be better treated, and even that they should be raised to a better condition.—The author of a late elegant account of our American settlements, has proposed, that small wages should be given them, as an encouragement to industry. If this measure were once begun, it is probable that the master would soon find the utility of pushing it to a greater extent. Nothing can appear more astonishing than the little attention that has hitherto been paid to any improvement of this nature, after the good effects of them have been so fully illustrated in the case of the villains in Europe. At the same time, it affords a curious spectacle to observe, that the same people who talk in so high a strain of political liberty, and who consider the privilege of imposing their own taxes, as one of the unalienable rights of mankind, should make no scruple of reducing a great proportion of the inhabitants into circumstances by which they are not only deprived of property, but almost of every right whatsoever. Fortune, perhaps never produced a situation more calculated to ridicule a grave and even a liberal hypothesis, or to show how little the conduct of men is at bottom directed by any philosophical principles."

We have accounts from England of some regulations that have taken place in the Spanish colonies, which do the Spaniards much honour, and are certainly worthy our imitation; they are to the following effect:—"As soon as a slave is landed, his name, price, &c. are registered in a public register, and the master is obliged by law, to allow him one working day in every week to himself, besides sundays: so that if the slave chuses to work for his master on that day, he receives the wages of a freeman for it; and whatever he gains by his labour on that day, is so secured to him by law, that the master cannot deprive him of it. As soon as the slave is able to purchase another working day, the master is obliged to sell it to him at a proportionable price, viz. one fifth part of his original cost, and so likewise the remaining four days at the same rate, as soon as the slave is able to redeem them; after which he is absolutely free." This is such encouragement to industry, that even the most indolent would be tempted to exert themselves. Men who have thus worked out their freedom, are inured to the labour of the country, and are certainly the most useful subjects that a colony can acquire.

↵

‡

We are told in Hill's naval history, page 239, That when captain Hawkins returned from his first voyage to Africa, he was sent for by Queen Elizabeth, who expressed her concern to him, lest any of the African negroes should be carried off without their free consent, declaring it would be detestable, and call down the vengeance of heaven upon the undertakers.— Captain Hawkins promised to comply with the Queen's injunction, but acted quite contrary to his promise, which occasioned that author to remark, "That here began the horrid practice of forcing the Africans into slavery, an injustice and barbarity which so sure as there is vengeance in heaven for the worst of crimes, will sometime be the destruction of all who act, or who encourage it."

Geraldus Cambrensis, a noted author who lived about six hundred years past, in his observations concerning the causes of the prosperity of the English undertakings in Ireland, when they conquered that island, tells us, "That a synod or council of the clergy being then assembled at Armagh, and that point fully debated, it was unanimously agreed, that the sins of the people were the occasion of that heavy judgment then fallen upon their nation; and that especially their buying of English men from merchants and pirates, and detaining them under most miserable hard bondage, had caused the Lord by way of just retaliation, to leave them to be reduced by the English to the same state of slavery; whereupon they made a public act in that council, that all the English held in captivity throughout the whole land should be presently restored to their former liberty."

↵

§

§

[Page]

Pure and Spiritual Worship: A SERMON. Preached at DEVONSHIRE-HOUSE, November 12, 1690.

BY STEPHEN CRISP.

THE Worship of God, of the Great God, is pure: he is a Holy God, Of Purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity; and they who will worship God, whose Souls are breathing to have a Return of a Testimony in his Sight, must offer up pure Worship, and it must come from that which is pure: For that purpose the Greatness of the Love of God is made manifest in Christ Jesus; and there is a diffusing of his Grace and Virtue in the Hearts of the Sons and Daughters of Men, whereby he hath laid a Foundation for his own Worship; because his Worship must be pure. Therefore he hath freely [Page] given unto us, through his Son, the Knowledge of that pure Principle of Life and Grace, from whence and out of which, all true Worship doth spring, and all true Honour to God ariseth, and real Obedience to his holy Will springs forth out of that which is from himself.

And therefore all that will be Worshippers of God aright, must first know and be sensible wherein the Ability and Capacity stands, that may enable them to so great and so good a Work. Some have conceived it to stand in their own Will, and according to the Working of their own Will, they have framed Worships, Religions, and Observations, thinking thereby to please God: But you know the Apostle in a few short Words lays down a positive Christian Doctrine, Without Faith it is impossible to please God.

Now this doth declare and signify, that there must be something upon which this Faith must work, that must be the Object and Foundation of it: Faith as it worketh in the Creature, worketh upon something; it lays hold upon something in which there is a Capacity of pleasing God. Now if we are all by Nature Children of Wrath, and that no one of himself can please God, then there must be something that is supernatural that must be the object of that Faith, by which Men [Page] alone can please God; and this must be made manifest to the Creature for its Help, for to be its Director and Supporter in that Work, that is too mighty for himself, too great a Work for a Man or Woman, too deep, too profound for any Man's Abilities, Power, Wisdom, and Acquirements, that he can attain to in this World, to worship God aright: To worship God, that is, to perform a pure Worship to a pure God; Who can bring a clean Thing out of an unclean? Now if we are all obliged to bring a clean Worship, a pure Worship to a pure and Holy God, who hath created us and all Things; where shall we have it? Not out of an unclean Heart, not out Of a defiled Mind; there is no bringing it forth from thence, for that is the State and Condition that Men are fallen into by Sin, in which their Minds and Consciences are defiled, their Hearts are polluted, and their Affections depraved and set upon wrong Objects; and in this State none can serve God aright: That which is pure and holy must be first made known, revealed, discovered and believed before People can perform a right Worship to God.

And therefore in vain it is, to go and drive People to this and that Worship, and force People to this and that Service and Conformity, upon the Account of the Worship of God. This is vain Worship; when they [Page] have done all, it is not acceptable to God; the poor Creature hath no return from the the Lord, for God accepts no Service or Worship, but only thro' his Son. And if so be, Men cannot pray and preach in the Spirit of his Son, and cannot present their complaints and Supplications to God, but by the Assistance and Help of his blessed Spirit, there is no Reason in Religion why People should expect a Return and Answer from God of the Prayers they make: For it is the general Doctrine of Christendom, That Christ Jesus is appointed of God for a Mediator between God and Man, and all the Acceptance we have, or desire to have, must be through him: and therefore if we pray without him, and perform this and the other Duties without him; it is contrary to the Doctrine of Christianity to think that ever we should have Acceptance in God's Sight.

Therefore there is a Necessity for every Man and Woman that desires to be religious, that hath a religious Mind, and is willing to worship God, and serve God aright, there is a Necessity that they come to the Knowledge of Christ, who tells us that he is The Way to the Father: They that go any other Way go a wrong Way: but they that go unto God by Christ, they do receive from him Power to draw near to God; and [Page] through him they receive from God all those Blessings that their Souls stand in need of.

So here would be an End of all Religions the World is full of, of all the several Worships that Men have made: They have invented and found out several Ways for People to worship and serve God; This and the other Ceremony, this and the other Observation and Method of Preaching and Praying: If all this be without the Assistance and Divine Help of the Mediator, thro' whom alone we can justly expect Acceptance at God's Hands, it is all good for nothing. Therefore the first Lesson of a Christian in Point of Worship, is that he come to the Knowledge of Christ, by whom, and thro' whom he may expect Favour with God.

Now say some People, We are already come to the Knowledge of Christ, we have read the Relation in the Gospel of his Conception, Birth, Life and Death, Resurrection and Ascension: Now whether this Belief doth give a Man this Kind of Christian Knowledge, that doth open a Door and Way for him into the Presence of God: This is a Question that ought seriously to be considered, for if we err in this Question, we err in all; this is like stumbling at the Threshold, and never come into the House. If we mistake in laying hold of Christ, we [Page] mistake in our Worship, and in all Matters that relate to Life and Salvation.

For if we must have another Sort of Knowledge of Christ than we can have from the Reports of others; if I must have Christ revealed in me before I can have the Hope of Glory; if I must have the Spirit of Christ in me, to help me to put up my Requests and Supplications before he can present them to the Father, then all literal Knowledge and Faith cannot stand Men in any Stead, but this is evident by the Testimony of all the Writers of the New Testament. Christ and his Apostles did concurrently signify, that the Hope of a Christian, that the Power and Strength of a Christian, it all lies in this, in that they had known the Revelation of Christ, and the powerful Operation of the Spirit working in them; this was that which was well pleasing to God; many Scriptures might be spoken of, but you know the Scriptures, and can read them, and see in them the concurrent Testimony of all Holy Men to this Day, that the Knowledge they had of Christ was a divine Knowledge, a spiritual Knowledge, it was knowing him after the Spirit, it was a Revelation of Christ in them, that separated and distinguished them from Reprobates, even the Knowledge of God thro' Jesus Christ their Lord: Why should not we come to this [Page] Knowledge as well as they? The Lord is the same, and his Power is the same and his Arm is not shortened: We may see as much Need of divine Assistance, and divine Love as ever Men did; we can perform no Duty, either of Prayer or Preaching, without divine Assistance; not so much as a Sigh or Groan, that may have Acceptance with God, without the Help of his Spirit, Rom. viii. 26. The Spirit helpeth our Infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh Intercession for us with Groanings which cannot he uttered. If we go about the Duty of Prayer without divine Assistance, we see what sad Work we make of it; if we pray not in the Spirit and with the Understanding, how can we receive the Thing we pray for? But if we Pray in the Spirit, and with the understanding also, then the Spirit helps our Infirmities; the Spirit that came from God brings us the Things we stand in Need of.

So that a Christian hath a Foundation for his Worship and Christian Performance; what is that Foundation? Nothing that is corrupt, if it be, it is good for nothing; for nothing that is corrupted and that defiles, can be acceptable and pleasing to God; we are all polluted and defiled by Nature; how can carnal Men worship a Spiritual God? Carnal Men that are in Death and Darkness, [Page] cannot worship that God that is Light, and dwels in Light, that is inaccessible, that is of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity. Carnal Men want a Foundation for their Worship, and will do till they come to that Foundation that God hath laid.

Now, that I may speak intelligibly what the Lord hath laid upon my Heart, I would say thus; There is an universal Benefit and Privilege distributed and given freely of God, unto the Sons and Daughters of Men, in their natural State, through his Son Jesus Christ, in that he hath caused his Light to shine, and his Grace to be extended to every Man; for the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation (for it is not by Works) hath appeared unto all Men, and bringeth Light, by which every Man may see how to worship God; God hath enlightened every Man, and this Light comes by Christ the Mediator; this Mediator is the Way that Men must walk in, if they will come back again to God; for Men are run out and departed from God; if Men will draw near to God, and take some Footsteps towards the Kingdom of God, from the Kingdom of Sin and Satan, they must mind the Way, the Way must be their Director, they must not go which Way they list.

This is that which was prophesied of Christ, saith God by the Prophet Isaiah, I [Page]will give him for a Leader. I would fain return to God, and go out of the Kingdom of Sin and Satan, to the Kingdom of God: God hath given Christ to lead me, if I knew that Way he would lead me in, I would go that Way. As soon as a Man takes hold of Christ, his Grace, and Spirit, and Life, he will be ready to say, I am corrupt, my Senses are corrupt, my Mind is depraved, my Conscience defiled and polluted; but I have found out something or that God hath bestowed upon me, that is Essential, Holy and Pure, that did never consent to my Corruption, but is a Witness for God against it: Here now a Christian lays hold on Christ, the Leader; which Way will he lead me? If thou layest hold of this Guide, he will lead thee out of Evil, he will teach thee to cease to do Evil, and speak Evil: This Light will lead thee to Nothing that will dishonour God, or defile thy own Soul: But this is not all, we must not only cease to do Evil, but we must be doing something; there must be a breaking off from Pride, Foolish Jesting, Evil Communication; but this is not all that he will lead me to; let us learn that Lesson, Cease to do Evil. This Doctrine was preached before Christianity was preached, as it is now preached; the Prophets of old preached this Doctrine to the Jews that were under an outward Administration, Cease to do [Page]Evil, and learn to do well, then I will plead with you, and discourse with you, saith the Lord: Come now let us reason together, saith the Lord, though your Sins be as Scarlet, they shall be as white as Snow; though they be red like Crimson, they shall be as Wool.

This is the first Lesson that a true Christian learns in his turning to God, in his Change and Translation, to cease from that which is Evil: Here is a Cessation of Rebellion, and her is some hopes of being reconciled to God; a Man hath beer a Rebel against his Maker, but he hath now received help to resist those Temptations that prevail over him: But there is no worshipping yet, there is a forward mind in Men to do something that is pleasing to God; but there are some that are not troubled at all for their Evil Ways, and dread not God's Anger, but make a mock at Sin, that draws others to it, and make themselves merry in it: But there is a sort so far touched with a divine Sense of God's Love to them, that they have also a Sense of his Anger and Indignation, because of their Sin; and they would fain be out of his Anger; and who can blame them? When a Man feels the Anger of God burning like a Fire in his Bosom, who can blame that Man if he desire Peace with God? If he be under a Sense of the Displeasure and Indignation of the Almighty, he must not [Page] haste too soon out of that Condition he is brought into; for this is God's Purpose, and this is the Fruit of all his Troubles and Afflictions, to take away Sin: God had no other End or Design in the Affliction that came upon him, than to take away Sin; when God hath brought a People into a distressed and dejected State for their Sin, the Fruit that God expects, is the taking away of their Sin, and he will hide Pride from them, and humble them before him; if this be the Purpose of God that he intends to purge and purify his People; then saith the poor Creature, if God design to purify me from Sin, then I will pray to God to support me, and bear me up under his Indignation: That is the Cry of the Soul that he may not be brought too soon from under the Judgment of God, but he may be supported and hid in the Hollow of God's Hand, until the Time of Remission and Refreshing comes, that he may behold the Light of God's Countenance.

Here is Encouragement for every one that is acquainted with this divine Principle of Grace, that will be led by it, and follow it so far as to be led out of Evil; then they will be fitted to do something in the Work of God; every Sigh and Groan that thou hast the Assistance of the Spirit of God to help thee in, is Part of Worship: All thy [Page] Brokenness of Heart is part of Worship; hereby thou acknowledgest the great God, that he is able to help thee on in thy Way, and to pardon thy Iniquity, and blot out thy Transgression, and give thee all those heavenly Blessings that thy Soul doth stand in Need of: Then thy Soul will bow down to God in Acts of holy Worship, and say, with an humble Confidence and Expectation, God will do all these things in me, and for me, that will promote my Salvation. It is nothing in Religion for People to go from Praying and Preaching to Sinning; but God must have a holy Sacrifice, and that must come out of a pure Heart: Now when a Man is brought by the Help of God, and by the divine Assistance of the Mediator, Jesus Christ, to break off from his Sin, then he stands fair to become a Child of God, and to be a Servant of God, and to do something for God in his Generation, and to offer to God Praise and Thanksgiving, and to perform all other Duties that God shall lead him into.

But some will say, What, must we do any thing? I have deeply weighed that Question, what a poor Man or Woman must do, that is come out of Bondage? There is a Propensity in People to be doing, they would fain do something, they would be doing; they say, What shall I do? If I do [Page] something that pleases not God, I had better let it alone; and I can do nothing acceptable to God without divine Assistance: Such an one that sees his own Impotency and Inability will cast his Care upon God, and will say, The Lord is able to lead me and guide me: I am ready to do thy Will, O God: Make it clear to me that this is thy Will, and that this is that which thou requirest, I am ready to do it, tho' it be cross to mine own Will: He is ready to go on in God's Way, in the Way of Christianity; such an one that hath the true Knowledge of Christ, if he speaks, the Spirit of Christ speaks in him; if he prays, it is through the Assistance of the Spirit of Christ, through whom God alone is appeased and reconciled, and through whom they may receive a Blessing from God's Hands: But for Men to run on in their own Wills, and to do a thing because they will do it, they had better sit still; this doing in their own Wills, hath filled the World with a Sort of Christians that want Acceptance with God, which is to be had alone through the Lord Jesus Christ; and the Want of the Guidance of God's Holy Spirit, is the Misery and Downfal of Christianity in our Days.

Therefore it is our Work and Business to build upon that Foundation which God hath laid; no Worship is pleasing to God, [Page] but that which ariseth from that Spring that is pure and Holy: If I cannot find that which will keep me from all pollution and defilement, if I cannot find that, I must stay till I can; for to begin a Worship and a Religion without that which I know is acceptable to God, it is but lost Labour, and Time spent in vain.

Therefore, Friends, let every one that desires to be religious, turn their Mind inward, wait for the Gift of God, which is essentially pure, that never did consent to Evil, that never mixed with the Corruption of Nature, but bears witness to the Light, that will guide you and lead you, and conduct you, first out of Sin, and then it will lead you into that Worship and Religion, and the Performance of those Things that are pleasing to God. They that are come to this Worship, they do not only know what the Lord requires of them, and when he requires it of them, but they are given up into the Hands of God; they pray, preach, exhort and live according to the Will of God.

It is hard for People in a carnal State to believe this; but you that are Believers, that are come to know the Gift of God in yourselves, and the Necessity of being ruled by him; you will believe us, for none else will believe us; let us preach to as many People [Page] and Nations us we will, none will receive us as true Ministers, but those that have the Truth in their own Hearts; if there be any that despiseth the Grace of God in his own Heart, he hates that which chides and reproves him; if there be such a Man, he will hate me because I am a Minister and a Witness of the Grace of God, and of that Truth in the inward Parts, which is the Ground and Foundation that Man hath of Acceptance with God. A wicked carnal Wretch will say, I hate such an one, I hate the Light, that which checks me, and witnesseth against me, thou art such an one as bearest Witness against me, therefore I hate thee: It is very true, it cannot be otherwise: Now our Desire and Labour is, that Men may come to the Love of the Truth in themselves.

You know there are a great many other Ministers, whose Labours are to perswade People to believe what they say: to lay down a Doctrine, and prove it by Scripture and Reason, and set it home upon their Minds by such Testimony as the Scripture affords, and hereupon they prevail upon the Minds and Judgments of People, to believe what they lay down.

It is easy to lay down a Position and prove it, and convince People that it must be according to Scripture; but when a Person is convinced of a Principle [Page] of Truth, he is not Regenerate thereby and come to God; therefore, though he cannot deny the Doctrine of Truth in Words, yet he can deny it in Works, and doth not rightly come to love it. If People would believe what we say, and observe what Argument we bring for proving a Position, they may be convinced of the Doctrine of Truth, and come to a Profession of it, and yet be Strangers to it, till they come to love it in themselves; if it were not for this, we would leave Preaching, if God had not given a Measure and Manifestation of the Spirit to every Man to profit withal: You have it in yourselves, we are but as Monitors to you, to put you in Mind of it; you have so much Business in the World, that you have not had leisure to take Notice of it.

A Man may have a rich Jewel, and be poor notwithstanding, till he comes to know the Value of it. A Man hath a rich and precious Jewel, a Pearl bestowed upon him that would make him rich in Faith and Love to God, and qualify him for the Kingdom of God, and make him an Heir of it, but he knows not, nor understands the Value of it, and esteems it not; therefore God hath raised up Ministers to put you in mind of it, that you may be happy forever, and live in Blessedness to all Eternity; Whoever hath an Ear to hear, let him hear; and when they [Page] hear what we say, let them take the Benefit of it to their own Souls. We bring not Truth to you, but God hath bestowed it upon you; you will be rich indeed, if you do as a Man that bought a Field where the precious Pearl was, and digged till he found it. Come to the Foundation upon which you should build all your Hopes of Happiness, and depend not upon your own Works, or religious Performances, for Acceptance with God; for there is no Acceptance with God, but only through Christ, we are only accepted of God through him: Those that will become Christians indeed, and worship God as he hath ordained and appointed himself to be worshipped; they must come to the Principle of Light and Grace in their own Hearts, which they have in, and thro' Christ, and they will find Acceptance with God.

The Kingdom of GOD within: A SERMON. Preached at GRACE-CHURCH-STREET, July 26, 1691.

YOU have read and heard much concerning the Day of the Lord, as a great and notable Day; many of you are [Page] now living Witnesses that the great, and notable Day of the Lord is coming, in which the accomplishment of great and notable Things, the mighty Works of God, which have been prophesied of, may be lawfully expected. It is the Work of every Christian to wait upon the Lord in the Light of this Day, and to be acquainted with the Works of the Lord, both inwardly and outwardly; for the Day of the Lord is a Day of Power, and that Power of God worketh wonderful Things; and if we were not kept in the Light of that Day, the Lord may work great things, and we not know it; we shall be looked upon as careless and negligent Witnesses of the Works of the Lord, as those that do not regard them. If you would be faithful Witnesses, you must have regard to the Works of the Lord, and the Operation of his Hands. One that is minded to be a faithful Witness, he will take Notice of what is said and done; you are called to be Witnesses of the Works of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of his Doings; you must stand where you may hear, and see, and understand what the Lord is about to do at this Time.

In your Testimony and Witness bearing, the greatest Thing we have to expect in this Day of the Lord is, that God will set up the Kingdom of his Son Christ Jesus; and unto [Page] this all the Prophets did bear witness in their Time, and now it is our Turn to bear witness of it by sensible and living Experiences of the Accomplishment of those Things that they prophesied of, that the Lord will set up the Kingdom of Christ, and bring down and lay waste the Kingdom of Antichrist. This our Saviour taught his Disciples to pray for, sixteen hundred years ago, that the Kingdom of God might come; and all the true Disciples of Christ ever since have prayed for the coming of this Kingdom, and many of them have seen the coming of it, and rejoiced; and others have died in the Faith of it, and have been gathered into the Kingdom of Heaven.

But, my Friends, that which chiefly concerns us at this Day, is to behold the Kingdom of Christ, the eternal Son of God, within us, to go forward and prosper; and the Kingdom of Antichrist suppressed and destroyed, and utterly laid waste; and this is wrought two Ways, 1. Inwardly. 2. Outwardly.

First, Inwardly, There is a greater Inclination in the Minds of People, to look more at the Operation of God's Power in this great Work outwardly, than to look at it inwardly, but unto that there must be a daily Cross taken up, and it is my Business at this Time to tell you in the Name of the [Page] Lord, that your Duty and mine is to turn our Minds to the Working of the Power of God in ourselves, and to see that other Kingdom of the Man of Sin weakened and brought down within us; then there is no Fear but he will carry on his Work outwardly, and we shall see as much of that Work as belongs to our Generation; but the great Matter and chief Concernment of you and me, is to see the Kingdom of God set up within us, which stands in Holiness and Righteousness: Our Business is to walk till we see the Righteousness of this Kingdom set up within us in our Hearts and Souls, and to have a real change made.

We all know, and we must confess, that wre have been subject to the Man of Sin, whatsoever we are now. We have seen the Reign and Government, the Rage and Tyranny of the Wicked One that hath led us into Rebellion and Disobedience to the Lord our Maker; how do we like that Government to be ruled by the Devil, and to be led Captive, and to be made to do his Will, and to rebel against God that gave us our Life, and our Breath, and our Being? How do we like that Government of Satan? I hope we do none of us like it. It was so with me, and they that are under the tyrannical Government of Satan, have many Cries and Wishes in their Souls that they were freed [Page] and delivered from it, and brought under the Government and Obedience of Christ Jesus: and they were able to serve God as they ought to do, that they might be translated from the Kingdom of Sin and Satan, into the Kingdom of the blessed and dearly beloved Sen of God.

This hath been the Cry of some ever since they have known the World; and I am perswaded it is the Cry of many at this Day: I have good news to bring you; not that the Day of your Redemption draws nigh, but that it is come; the Day of Redemption is now come, and there are a great many blessing and glorifying the Name of God that they are redeemed, and delivered from the Bondage of Corruption, and have more Joy and Delight in the Service of God, that made them, than ever they had in the Service of the God of this World.

But may not some say, How shall this great Work be wrought; for it is a great Work, and we verily think that nothing but an Almighty Power can effect it? For there are many in this Assembly have been trying to no Purpose, and done what they could in their own Strength▪ to deliver their own Souls from Death, and yet they find themselves in Bondage still; nay, they have called in the Help and Assistance of those that they thought to be stronger than themselves, [Page] and all have failed, and they are yet weak and entangled, and they cannot find themselves at Liberty to serve the Lord as they ought to do.

I am of this Mind, that nothing but the Almighty Power of God can do it; and when you come to my Experience, to know this as I have done, then I hope you will seek after that, and you will see good Reason for it; and you will then come to this Profession, If the Lord puts not forth his Almighty Power, I must then perish, for there is no other Power can deliver me: When you come to know this, what must you do? Why, you must wait for the Revelation of that Power that will take you off from all Trust and Confidence that you have ever had in any Thing else; a Man that hath nothing to trust to but the Almighty Power, and Mercy, and Goodness of God, he puts his whole Trust and Confidence therein, or else he knows he must perish.

When a Man or Woman comes to this pass, that they have nothing to rely upon but the Lord, then they will meet together to wait upon the Lord: And this was the first Ground or Motive of our setting up Meetings; and I would to God that this was the use that every one would make of them that come to them, then they would be justly and properly used according to the [Page] End of the Institution of them at first; we should use them as poor desolate helpless People that are broken off from all their own Confidence and Trust, and have nothing to rely upon but the Mercy and Goodness of God; and if he pleaseth to reveal his Power among us, we know that he is able to save us; and we have met with the Revelation of God's Power; and when we have met together in Simplicity of Mind, the Lord was pleased to communicate his Spirit to us, and open a Door for us, and discover and reveal to us that it was the Day of his Power: And when we came to examine ourselves, whether we were willing in this Day of God's Power (for the Prophet gives us a Note of Distinction between the People of God, and other People; Thy People shall be willing in the Day of thy Power, which is as much as to say, God discovers and reveals his Power to them, such a People are willing to give themselves over to the Government of it, when we found we were subject to it) we had Joy in believing, before we attained the End of our Hope; it was Gladness to us we found ourselves willing; and I am perswaded that every one of you would be glad to find yourselves willing to part with that which you cry out of.

What a Cry is there of our Bondage and Corruption, and of our being led Captive by [Page] our Lusts? We may hear such a Cry from one End of the Kingdom to the other: People cry out of the Bondage of Corruption, and of their Subjection to Sin and Satan: I would they were in earnest; there is not that Earnestness and Reality in Men and Women that God looks for, and so there comes nothing of it. There is no Redemption, and no Deliverance, the Lord doth not hear them, though they come now adays into his Presence, to offer up their Prayers: I would have you to be in good earnest, I wish well to you all; and it would be hard to say that you do not wish well to yourselves: Here lies your Welfare, that you find yourselves willing to be subject to the Power that made you; you have been subject doubtless to the Power that destroyed you; that Power that never gave you Life and Breath, hath been instrumental of your Destruction: The Power of the God of this World never did Men good, but destroyed them, deceived them, and deprived them of their Lives.

Now if there was but a Willingness in every one of us, freely to give up ourselves to that Power that created us to obey his Will: I am sure there is never a Man or Woman among us shall long be without the knowledge of it. If I am but willing to be subject to the Law of him that made me, it will not be long before he discover it to me, and reveal his [Page] Power in me in the Glory and Excellency of it; that Power which is more able to preserve me than all the Power of Men on Earth, or all the Power of the Devils in Hell is able to destroy me. When the Lord shall discover and reveal his Power in you, you will be willing to be subject to it.

But methinks the Sound and Noise of Flesh and Blood grows loud here: I would be subject to God, but I would not have him cross mine interest, and deprive me of that I love and thirst after: I would not have him imbitter my carnal Delights and Pleasures, and undo me as to my Reputation in the World.

You may see whence this comes, that you would make a Bargain, and draw a Contract with the God of your Lives about these Things, this is a nonsensical Thing; because of all People in the World, you are a People that have had a Veneration for the Holy Scriptures, the Scriptures of Truth, and have been acquainted with them so familiarly as with any Book in the World, wherein you find Articles drawn, long ago fixed and sealed; and no new ones are to be drawn. If any one will be my Disciple, John or Thomas, James or Peter, or whosoever he be, he must take up his Daily-Cross, and deny himself, and follow me. Now here is a Contract made, therefore turn aside from all [Page] Kind of Reasoning and Consulting with Flesh and Blood.

If you will become spiritual, and partake of spiritual Blessings and Benefits, I would advise you to turn from all Kind of Reasonings that come from the Bit of Darkness, that hath thus far deceived you, and will ruin you for ever, if you hearken to them: For assure yourselves new Gospel-Terms no Man can make; and if any come to preach new Gospel-Terms, count him a Deceiver; for there is no possibility of being a Disciple of Christ, but by taking up a Cross daily, and denying ourselves, and following him as our Leader and Guide. To him I must go, and go in no other Way, speaking nothing, or doing nothing but what is holy and pure; he must conduct me in my Walking, guide me in my Way, and justify me in it: This is to be a true Disciple of Christ.

As soon as he comes to adhere, and join to the Power of God revealed in his Soul, he sees the coming of the Kingdom of God, he sees it at a Distance, he saith within himself, and makes this Conclusion, I will follow my Captain, I will become subject to the Kingdom of Christ. If I obey this divine Principle of the Grace of God, and the Gospel of Christ, I shall be his Disciple. I read in his blessed Book, That as many as are led by [Page]the Spirit of God, are the Children of God. I am not to propose new Terms, but accept of the old Terms of the Gospel of Christ: I see that the Kingdom of God is to be set up, and the Kingdom of the Devil to be brought down in me; if I follow this divine Principle, I should never follow the Devil more; if he would have me lye, I shall refuse, and say I cannot; if he would have me run into vain and corrupt Communication, and foolish Jesting, that will be a Bridle to me, that I cannot do it.

I speak now to Persons that live under the Light of the Gospel of Christ, and that are subdued by his Grace; I would speak that which all the Logick in the World cannot overthrow, that which the most cunning Logicjan, with all his Wit and Quirks, cannot refute and prove erronious. If a Man be led by the Spirit of God, he cannot lye; this is a common Cure for all Men; if I be led by the Spirit of Truth, and hearken to the Principle of Truth in my own Soul; this will cure and heal me of the Wounds and Maladies of my corrupt Nature, and set me at Liberty from my old Master; I do not like his Service.

I hope if any of you like the Servitude and Bondage of Sin and Satan, you will desire Liberty before you die: Why do not you desire it now? It may be thou thinkest [Page] to enjoy a little Liberty and Reputation, and Pleasure in Sin for many Years, for Six or Seven, Nine or Ten Years, and then break off from it, and repent and turn to God: How dost thou know that thou hast Ten Days to live? It is of high Concernment to every one of us to wait for a Discovery of Gospel-Liberty, and an Ability and Power in his Soul, to enable him to break off from the Servitude and Bondage of Sin and Satan, that he hath so long lived under; and to wait upon God with Patience for the setting his Soul at Liberty, and setting up the Kingdom of Christ within him, and pulling down the Kingdom of Satan, that he may be brought into the Kingdom of Christ, that consists in Peace and Righteousness and Joy in the Holy Ghost. These are the Things that follow one another; when Righteousness is set up in me, I shall not be disturbed, I shall have Peace; and if I have Peace I shall have joy, and this joy is in the Holy Ghost the Apostle saith the Kingdom of God consists in these Things.

Now that every one might be perswaded that God hath given a Measure of his Grace to them, as well as to other Folks: Let them consider and say within themselves, God hath not shut me out of the Number of his People: He hath knocked at the Door of my Heart, to bring me to Repentance, he hath [Page] waited upon me so long, surely he hath a Mind to save me: Would he call upon me, but that he intends I should repent and turn to him?

But where is the Power? You will say knocking at the Door of the Heart, and Checks of Conscience, we understand them; but we understand not where the Power is, to be comformable to the Will of God.

People will never understand it while they are in the Kingdom of Satan, and under the Power of the Prince of Darkness; the Apostle tells us, That the God of this World hath blinded the Minds of them that believe not lest the Light of the Glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the Image of God, should shine upon them. If Men saw the Beauty of the Gospel, they would run after it, and embrace it; therefore the Devil blinds their Minds, that they should not see the Beauty and Amiableness of the Gospel, and like the Terms of it: He hath the Rule and Government of the Children of Disobedience. So long as I live in Subjection to that devilish hellish Power, which leads me forth into Sin: I shall be a Stranger to God's Power, that would enable me to break off from it.

You never read in Scripture of any that ever came to be saved by the Power of God, but there was Faith mixed with it, that came to join with that Power of God, Our Saiour [Page] said to the impotent Man, Thy Faith hath made the whole; thy Faith joining with that Power of God. We shall be made strong in the Lord, and in the Power of his Might, and be able to withstand Temptations.

As soon as the Soul of Man joins with the Grace of God, he doth forsake the Service of his old Master and Governor, Sin shall no longer have Dominion over him; though he may meet with the same Temptation, it shall not have the same Power over him, but he will be enabled, by the Grace of God to withstand it, and overcome it. If you ask such a Man, how it is that he overcomes that Temptation that formerly prevailed over him; he will tell you, I have now an Helper, I am now joined to the Grace of God in my Soul, therefore do I withstand Temptations, and have Power over them. Thus comes the Kingdom of Christ to be set up in the Soul, and this is that which will fit and prepare us for the everlasting Kingdom of God: They that do wait upon God, shall see this Work wrought inwardly in them, they know more by Faith than they can see by Sense.

I know and am certain, that the Power the Devil hath in the World, shall be broken down, and Righteousness shall be exalted, and Justice and Equity shall prevail in the Nations. I shall not perhaps live to [Page] see it, but I may see it by Faith; I have seen enough for my Generation, and they that live in the next Generation shall see it also; for the Church of God is the same from one Generation to another. Now unto us it is given to see the Things that in former Generations were prophesied of, God having (saith the Apostle) provided some better Thing for us, that they without us, shall not be made perfect.

The Church of God from one Generation to another, have their Measure and Degree of Service, and bear their proper Testimony, and leave the rest to succeeding Generations: It concerns us in our Generation to see a Change made inwardly in our Souls, and the Kingdom of Christ set up within us, and the Kingdom of Satan brought down in ourselves. This doth not concern my Son or Grandson only, but it concerns me, and when they grow up to mature Age, in their Time it will concern them. Therefore that which is most profitable to us, is, that we have such a Station, and stand in such a Place in our Time, where we may see the Work of God carried on.

I have considered many a Time, that there are many brave Men and Women in this Age, that might have been eminent Witnesses of God in this World, and borne their Testimony to his Truth, but their Faith [Page] hath been weak and ineffectual: They have discovered their unbelieving Hearts, and have joined with the common Herd of the World, because they thought such great Things could never be done, that the Kingdom of Satan could never be pulled down and destroyed, and the Kingdom of Christ set up within us. But I would hope better Things of you, Things that accompany Salvation and that he that hath begun a good Work in you will carry it on to Perfection; that living Praises and joyful Thanksgivings may be rendered to him who alone worthy, who is God over all, blessed for ever; to whom be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

The Necessity of an Holy Life and Conversation. Preached at ST. MARTIN'S-LE-GRAND, March the 26th, 1687.

O HOW happy are they that have Bread in their own Houses! and that can draw Water out of their own Wells! These have a blessed glorious Dwelling-Place, these are the Children that their Father provides for: All the divine Treasures and the Riches of heavenly Things are laid up for these; O [Page] that all that have a Sight of this blessed State, were got into it! that their Minds might not more wander, that People might not be scattered in their Thoughts, that when they meet together, they might have their Expectations entirely from that God whom they profess to worship: Lord thou hast said that thou wilt teach thy People thyself; here a Cry goes up to the Lord, and their Expectations thro' Faith pitched upon God; they never meet in vain, but a Well springs up, and the Water of Life comes to them, by which they meet with divine Refreshments; for, you know, the Promise that our Lord made to his Disciples, He that drinketh of the Water that I shall give him, shall never thrist more. Why, will once drinking serve? Because I have tasted of the living Water that the Lord Christ gives me; will that serve? No, but he giveth me a substantial River, that is the Reason why I shall thirst no more, it shall be in me a Well of living Water, springing up to everlasting Life; blessed are the Witnesses of it; these are they that are satisfied concerning Religion and Doctrine, they are satisfied concerning Worship, they are looking after no new Things; when they meet together, they meet in the Name of the Lord, and they have their Eyes to him, who is a Fountain, and they discern a Brightness and a Glory that is unspeakable; and the [Page] Glory that is speakable, that appears many Times through Instruments, will not satisfy them; there is something beyond that, which must satisfy; this will never do it: People will never be satisfied with hearing, nor never satisfied with seeing, till they come to hear and see that which is unutterable, and then they are satisfied; Christ had preached many Sermons in the hearing of his Disciples, and there were a great many said, That there was never any Man spake like him, preached like him; yet one of them that was nearest to him, and most acquainted and intimate with him, after some Years meeting and hearing of his Sermons, he cries out Shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

My Friends, this comes near to many of your States; many of you have heard long, and have heard the speakable Word of God, that which could be uttered, that which could be spoken forth, by the Demonstration of the Holy Ghost, by them that have received of the Father; this you have heard long, and yet there are many of you, that if you come to a serious Search, you will find a Want, you will find still that you have not that Satisfaction that puts you beyond Doubt, beyond Fear; there is something that stands in the Way, that hinders your Enjoyment of the unspeakable Glory of the unspeakable Word, and this will never be [Page] removed, but by your innocent submitting to the Work of the Power of God in your own Hearts, that so you may not only be Believers, but come to be really baptized, and then all is out of doubt; for our Lord said, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he doth not say, He may be saved, but, He shall be saved.

Woful Experience hath told us in our Days, That a great many have believed the Truth, and yet they are never like to be saved, they have made Shipwreck of their Faith; but if they had been baptized, if they would have endured the Baptism, if they would have been buried with Christ in Baptism, they should have been saved every one of them; and now there are a great many that remain in the Belief of the Truth and yet they are not baptized, they are not dead, not buried, notwithstanding they have received like precious Faith with us, that Faith which is of the Operation of God, and that is like precious in its Nature to all that do receive it, and would work the same Effect in all too, if it were not obstructed; but notwithstanding they have received Faith towards the saving of their Souls, yet their Souls are Captives, their Souls are subject to Lusts, and Pleasures, and Vanities, and unto empty and foolish Things, and to Passions and Corruptions, after they have received Faith.

[Page]For if you take one that is a Believer of Truth, that is overtaken with his Lust, and Passions, and Corruptions, he will commonly own that he believeth the contrary, he believeth that these Things should not be, that it ought to be otherwise: This is the Signification of Truth against Untruth: If it should be otherwise, why is it thus then? Why, he finds a Life to spring up in that which is corruptible, that is always contrary to the Life of God, and at Enmity with it: What shall I do? I believe the Truth, I know it is an holy Thing, it leads all that submits to it to an holy Life, and there is this and that unholy Thing, this and that corrupt Thing remains, what shall I do?

It is an evident Demonstration that thou wantest the Baptism of him in whom thou believest; thou hast believed in Christ Jesus that cometh after John, and was before him; and now having believed in him, thou wantest to be baptized by him, and for want of that, the Pollution and Corruption that was grown up in thy Nature, in the Time of thy Alienation prevails still upon thee, contrary to thy Faith; and there is no coming to obtain this Baptism, but by sinking down into that which will slay thee, that which will kill thee: But there is such a shifting to save ones Life, there are so many Twistings and Twinings of People to save [Page] their Lives, that at last they lose them; but there are none that could ever find that Life that is eternal, but those that are willing to be given up to the Dead, and submit to this Baptism, that is, by the Holy Ghost and by Fire: These only do come to Life, they come to the Resurrection, for you never knew any that died this Death but they rose again; it is as impossible for Death to hold any one down that is buried in this Baptism, as it was impossible to hold Christ down, when he was in the Grave; The same Power that brought again our Lord Christ from the Dead, the same Power it is that quickens us, while we remain in these mortal Bodies, after we have sustained this Death and Crucifiction.

But who can believe this saying? for this is a hard Saying, who can bear it? Is it not enough that I am a Believer, which makes me a Friend, and entitles me to a Community among you, and as long as I hold the Truth, and profess the Truth, I am looked upon as one of your Society? This is very true, this doth entitle People unto the outward Privileges of the Church of Christ; but there is another inner Court, that lies under the Angel's Reed, the Measuring-Reed, that is to be measured, the Temple is measured, and every Worshipper in the Temple is measured; there was an outward Court, that was for representing the Church [Page] of God in general, from the particular; the outward Court was not measured, that the Gentiles might come in; the unbaptized People, which were never regenerated, they might come so far as the outward Court, but this did not entitle them to the Privileges of the House of God, nor to any Worship or Sacrifice that was accepted upon God's Altar.

It concerns you and me (my Friends) to be serious about Matters of this Moment and Importance, and not spend your Days, and, as it were speak by rote, under an airy Profession, though of Truth itself, without considering what Progress you have made, what Benefit you have obtained, and whether you are come not only to the Shadow of good Things to come, but to the very Substance of the heavenly Things; for the Comers to the outward Worship, could never with those Sacrifices they offered be made perfect; the Comers thereunto were not made perfect as to the Things pertaining to the Conscience, speaking there of the outward Worship, Heb. 10.1. but coming to the heavenly Things, whereof the other were but a Shadow, they made People perfect, as to the Conscience, and did bring them to Salvation. The Apostle alludes to this Baptism, for he speaks in a Figure of the Eight Persons that were saved in Noah's Ark; then he brings down the [Page] Allegory to Christian Baptism, not only the Baptism of John, the Fore-runner of Christ, that preached of Christ, but to the Christian Baptism itself; By the like Figure whereof Baptism now saveth us, saith the Apostle, not the putting away of the Filth of the Flesh, but the Answer of a good Conscience. What doth he mean by Baptism saving us? He means, the Answer of a good Conscience towards God, through the Resurrection of Christ from the Dead; so that Christian Baptism did bring along with it the cleansing and putting away of all Sin out of the Conscience, that might bring them under Doubts and Scruples; and then there is an arising of Jesus, the Saviour in the Conscience, the Mediator that brought them to answer for them in the Sight of God; for if People be conscious of Sin; and do leave off their Sin, this doth not yet cleanse the Conscience; for there still remains a Conscience of Sin: 'tis not the leaving off our Sin that makes our Attonement with God, or that expiates our Guilt, or doth away the Guilt of the Sins that we have committed; but there must be a Forsaking and a Leaving off Sin by the Virtue and Power of the Spirit, by which we are enabled, not only to leave off Sin, but are guided and directed to the Mediator, whose Blood alone reconcileth us to God, and cleanseth us from all Sin. If I should never [Page] commit a Sin while I live, it is not this simply in itself that will make me have the Answer of a good Conscience in the Sight of God; for there remains the Guilt of Sin contracted in the Days of Unbelief, which is a Bar and Hindrance that none can approach the Holy God but in the Attonement and Salvation that comes by Jesus Christ; for all that believe and obey the Gospel are accepted in Christ, and upon the Account of Christ's precious Blood, that cleanseth us from all Sin and Unrighteousness. Whom doth it cleanse? Those only that forsake their Sins, and by his Power are brought to a holy Life; they by the Virtue of his Power, and the Cleansing of his Blood, come to have their former Sins removed from them, as far as the East is from the West.

But what is this to them that remain in their Sins? what is this to them that are not baptized? for the Dead that have not put off the old Man, nor put on the new Man, but have only put on the Name and Profession of Christ, and put on the outside of him, his Garment, but have not put him on, they are not created again in Christ Jesus unto good Works, that they might walk in them? No wonder there remains a Conscience of Sin in them, there is a Bar that hinders them from the Sight of the Glory of God, and from real and true Satisfaction, concerning their [Page] Attonement and Reconciliation with God, and this hinders them from the Enjoyment of that Peace that passeth understanding; and it is no Wonder, because they are not come to this Baptism that brings the Answer of a good Conscience in the Sight of God; they are not risen with Christ; how should they? for they are not buried with him, Rom. vi. 3. Know ye not that so many of us (saith the Apostle) as were baptised into Christ, were baptised into his Death; therefore we are buried with him by Baptism into Death; that like as Christ was raised from the Dead by the Glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of Life; here is a Change figured out between them that had partaken of the spiritual Baptism, and were come again to the Participation of Life in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and those that were not baptized.

So it is now with every one that cometh to believe the Truth, and make a Profession of it: there is a Way cast up, and there is a Door opened for Salvation; but the grand Question that every one ought to enquire about, and put to themselves, is, What Progress they have made this Way? Whether they are baptized yet or no? Whether they have put off the old Man with his Deeds, and put on the new Man and the new Man's Deeds, which are Righteousness and Holiness? They [Page] that find that, though they are Believers, they are short of this, they do also find that their Shortness is their Hindrance, their Shortness in not coming up to the Pattern that hath been shewed them, is their Hindrance, so that they enjoy not the things here spoken of the being under this Sense, and really sitting under this Sense in a Meeting, though there should be no Man speaking to them outwardly, yet being come to this Faith, and made Partakers of this Baptism, People would find in their own Bosoms the hidden Word of Life ministring to their Condition; they would have enough, there would not be a Famine of the Word unto them, nor they should not need to be in Expectation of going out to this or the other Instrument, but they would be satisfied when they are met together with the Presence of the Lord, that the Lord is in the midst of them, ministring them the Word of Life, in his Operating and Working, speaking in a Tongue that every one can understand it, speaking with a kind of Voice and Language, that every one may understand his own State and Condition; and this is the Way that God brought up People from the Beginning, to the Knowledge of Heavenly Things, and opening of the Mysteries of Salvation; we had it not of Men, but of Jesus our Lord; he was our great Minister, we [Page] waited upon him, and trusted in him, and he taught us himself; he hath ministred to us at our silent and quiet Waiting upon him those Things that were convenient for us; we might well say, He gave us our Food in due Season; he hath not only given strong Meat unto Men, but hath ministred of the sincere Milk of his Word unto Babes, that lived in Sincerity and Self-denial, loving God above all things; and he taught and conducted us in our Way, this Way of Simplicity, until our Understandings came to be opened, until our Souls came to be prepared to receive the Mysteries of his Kingdom.

In those Days there were some that started up in Knowledge, and that built their Nests on high, and took Flax and Wool, and Silver and Gold, and decked themselves with them; but the Lord found them out, and brought them down, and took the Crown from their Head, and cloathed them with Dishonour: So God doth from Age to Age, his Judgment will begin at his own House if you would Grow in the Grace and in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, then grow in Humility and Self-denial, and keep a constant watch upon your Hearts; examine your Hearts, and Commune with yourselves upon your Beds, and be still; take Heed lest you sin against the Lord, and provoke him; There were some that provoked the Lord [Page]of old, and they committed two great Evils, What be they? They have gone away and forsaken the Fountain of living Water; as much as to say, they have not the Dependance upon an invisible Power, as they ought to have; for I am a living Fountain, and 'tis by an invisible Power that I am able to counsel and teach, direct, and purify and open their Understanding; but they have forsaken me, that is one great Evil; and the other is, they would not be without some what, they have forsaken the Lord, and they would have somewhat instead of God: They have digged to themselves broken Cisterns, that will hold no Water. And how many in this Age have committed these two great Evils?

My Friends, examine yourselves; are there not many that have been guilty of these two great Evils? They do not keep their close Dependance, Trust and Reliance upon the invisible Power of God, as they profess they ought to do, but are hurried away from it; some by the Love of the World, some by Lusts and Pleasures, some by Passions, and others by worldly Interests, are drawn away from the Power, to do and say that which the Power is against: Is not this a Forsaking of the Lord, the living Fountain? What do they do then? Are they not for this and that, and the other Man? for hearing this and the other Man's Word, and [Page] digging to themselves broken Cisterns? And have they not their Trust and Confidence in going to Meetings, in commending this and the other Way? Have they not their trust in their Profession outwardly, when it ministers nothing to their Souls, so that they secretly wither for all this? If you had all the Men and Angels that were ever sent of God, appointed to preach to you, that could not minister Life to you, unless there be that Faith that stands in the Power of God. The Faith that stands in any Man's Words, that will not overcome your Lusts: but the Faith that stands in the Power purifies the Heart, it will not suffer any unclean thing there. As for Preaching, let a Man preach against this and the other Lust and Corruption, there it will remain for all his Preaching, unless Men know God's Power and Life in which there is Righteousness; for Words and Knowledge, and Sight and Speculation, will never give People Victory over their Sins.

Therefore you know, every one who is settled must be settled where the Foundation of Religion is; it is not coming to Meetings, and owning this and the other Doctrine which is the Foundation of our Religion; God hath revealed his Power to every one of us; God hath not given his Spirit to Preachers and Prophets only, for [Page] then there would be a Famine of the Word, as was in Israel, The Priest's Lips preserved Knowledge. If you did take away the Priest, you did take away their Knowledge. The Prophets had the Word of God, and they only spake the Word of God. If the Prophet was taken away, then the Word of God was taken away. The Lord threatened to send a Famine among them, they grieved and vexed, and killed and destroyed the Priests and Prophets; therefore saith the Lord, I will send a Famine among you, not of Bread, but of the Word, and they shall go from City to City, and enquire for the Word of the Lord.

Thus it was in the Jewish Church; if there was a Prophet they would go 30, 40, or 100 Miles to him that had the Word of the Lord; They shall go from City to City to enquire for the Word of the Lord: but blessed be God we are come to another Day, for now the Word of the Lord is manifested in the Hearts of all that believe; they know the Word: I do not say all that believe do preach the Word, or ought to preach; but the Word preacheth to them; they are not as broken Cisterns that can hold no Water; when they find the Word and hear it, they speak it presently what is ministred to their own Condition, that they tell to other Folks; when People come to the Blessing of this Dispensation that God's Word revealeth in their Hearts, [Page] they then know what the Signification of it is, they understand the Doctrine of it, the Doctrine preacheth Holiness to them, not that they should preach Holiness and yet remain Unholy; not that they should preach Humility, and yet remain Proud: It preacheth Holiness, Humility and Singleness of Heart to a Remnant, that like good Scholars and Disciples learn the Lessons and Doctrine of the Word of God.

Now when thou hast learned them well, and art come to see the Effect of the Word, and dost bring forth the Deeds and Works which are the Fruits of Holiness, Perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God, and with Humility known and witnessed in Christ Jesus, and art not only meek in Shew, but meek and low in Heart; when People come to be meek and lowly, and of a clear Conscience, purged from all dead Works to serve the living God; then if the Lord gives them a Word of Exhortation, of Doctrine or Counsel it is very welcome, and it hath a Savour through the Blessing of God, and they come by it to be built up in their most holy Faith, and this Word is brought forth in Holiness and Righteousness in their Lives, and shews itself in a Life of Holiness; then thou wilt shine in thy Conversation to all that thou conversest with, so that they may see thee to be such a Man or Woman as hast been with Jesus, and learned of Jesus, [Page] and receivedst a Word engrafted; when thou dost receive the Word into thy Heart, there is the Engrafting of it: If it hath not Root there, then, saith Christ, My Word doth not abide in you. If you feel something of this invisible Word in your Hearts, it brings you to a Resolution to serve God, and to keep yourselves from Sin, and to answer the Profession which you make of God; this is the Effect of the Word of God, if it doth abide in you. Doth it abide? You shall know anon or To-morrow, so soon as a Temptation comes to stir you up to Pride or Passion, to Fraud or Deceit, then you will see whether the Word abide: If it abide, you sin not.

This is Scripture, a certain Foundation Doctrine, that may be as safely preached as any Doctrine: If the Word abide in you, you sin not; What of that? Let the Word go, and you will sin, whenever you are tempted to it. I write to you young Men, because you have overcome the wicked One, you are strong and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked One. We shall see as soon as Temptation meets with thee, whether the Word abides in thee; if it abide, thou wilt not Sin, but resist the Tempter. Set thy foot upon the Temptation, and go over it, and thou wilt have the Dominion; and this will make thee a free Man or [Page] Woman, and thou wilt stand fast in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made thee free. The Apostle supposeth them free, and that they have got Dominion; then Stand fast, saith he, in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made thee free. It is a Liberty not of Lust and Sin, but a Liberty of the Soul; the Soul now is not at the Devil's Will and Call.

For it is a Shame to the Doctrine of Christianity, that we profess Things, and yet deny them in Practice: We profess that there is a Power in Christ to keep and preserve us out of Sin, and we profess to believe that this Power is communicated to them that do believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for their Preservation; that is, he will not with-hold it from them: We profess these Things in the Face of the whole World; and yet when the Devil calls one Man to Covetousness, and another to defraud his Neighbour, and another to defile himself, he is drawn away thereby; what Hypocrisy is here, to profess this, and act the contrary? I do not wonder that they who profess they cannot live a Day without Sin, that they should fall; but they that profess to believe there is Power enough in Christ, and that it is offered to them; for them to live in Sin and yield to Temptation, this is horrid Wickedness. They that are of an upright single Mind, would die before they would [Page] sin, knowing that God is Almighty and gracious, and willing to bestow his Power and Wisdom, and Grace upon them that ask it; they would die rather than sin against God presumptuously: Let it cost me my Goods, my Estate, my Liberty, or my Life, How can I do this great Wickedness, and Sin against God? They love God above all; you never heard them complain that they wanted Power, For the Lord is at their right Hand, and they shall not be moved. They cannot fall; though they are tempted, they will not fall into Temptation. They have Power when they see the Devil before them, to put him behind them; the Nobility of their Extract, of their new Birth and Regeneration puts such a Temper and Disposition into their Souls, that they scorn to be at the Devil's Command, as if they were his Children.

Oh! it is a noble and honourable thing to be a Child of God, a very high Dignity to be in such an honourable Relation to God, and to have a Right to the heavenly Mansions, To sit down in heavenly Places in Christ Jesus. I would to God you were all ready for it, that you had the Wedding Garment on, that you might not be bound Hand and Foot, and cast into utter Darkness. What is the Reason that you do not sit down in this heavenly Frame and Temper, and draw the [Page] Waters of Salvation out of your own Souls: Could the Lord do any Thing more than he hath done, and could his Servants do any more than they have done for your Help? Are not their Labours Demonstrations of it? We have been as Epistles of Christ written in your Consciences: We have been testifying that there is something wanting in too many the Want of resigning up themselves to the Baptism of the Cross. People are willing to be counted Friends; but they are Friends of God, that do whatsoever he commandeth them; that is the Christian Lesson, not to say I will be a Friend to you, and a Friend to the Church, and to such a Sort of People; but I will be a Friend to God, and do whatsoever he commanded me; whatsoever Command God lays upon you, either to take up a Cross, or to deny yourselves and follow him.

Learn this Lesson, and you will be Disciples indeed, and Members of the Church too; not members of a Church privileged outwardly only, but Members of a Church of the First-born, and you will have your Names written in Heaven; when one comes to have his Name written in Heaven, he comes to know his Name, 'tis a white Stone, not a speckled one; they that have it, they know it, they are not ignorant of one another's Names that are written in this Book; they [Page] have a Fellowship that nobody can declare; their Communion is in that Bread and that Cup: This is a Cup of Blessing indeed, and this hath blessed us, and will bless us: God will preserve a People in this Fellowship. You that are at a Distance now, you must come nearer to him; God will chuse a People by whom his Name shall be magnified; because the Love of God is shed abroad in our Hearts, we cannot but desire this for all, especially for the Houshold of Faith; we cannot but desire their Perfection, their growing up in the Grace of God, that they might come to be Partakers of Heaven. And in the next Place, our Love is to all People, every where; we would be glad that all were saved; they that despise us when we are speaking of heavenly Things, speaking like a Child, like a stammering Child, speaking of the glorious Excellencies of God, of the Loving-kindness of God, speaking of those Things which God hath spoken to our Souls, they that despise these Things, we would be glad that they might be saved: If they were Partakers of these Things, they would be glad as well as we, and they would be more really happy in respect to this World, for the Time that they are to live here; they would live a happier Life, even in this World, and they would have everlasting Life in the World to come.

[Page] The Love of Christ constrains Men thus to judge, that every one that hath received like precious Faith, ought to answer that Grace and Faith which God hath ministred to them in an holy Life and Conversation, and every one who is a Stranger to this Thing, ought to be of an enquiring Mind and an open Heart to wait for the Day when God will visit them with the same Grace; when you give up yourselves to a daily Cross, as Christ's Disciples, you will not be running after any one to teach you to know the Lord, for you will all know the Lord, from the least to the greatest; I that have been but a little convinced, shall I know the Lord? Thou shalt know the Lord, thou that art dead in thy Sins and Trespasses, thou that hast not known the Blood of cleansing, thou shalt know the Lord to be thy Judge, and thy Lawgiver, to teach thee how thou must live, walk, and act; and is not that a good Knowledge? This is the Way they reckoned upon in old Time, it is a notable Expression, The Lord is our Judge; there is the Beginning, he began there, Judgment began at the House of God; those he brings into his House, he brings them under the Discipline of his House, The Lord is our Judge, he is our King and Lawgiver, and he will save us; this same Exercise of Discipline under Judgment brought to them the Faith and Experience of his being [Page] their Law-giver, and this brought them to a Faith of the last Sentence, we shall be saved; and the Lord answers such a People, That he will bring Salvation to them, Salvation shall be for Walls and Bulwarks: Did the People of this Nation but know Salvation was brought near to them, and that it was their Bulwark, there would not be a Crying up of this and the other rotten Thing for a Bulwark.

We talk of a Bulwark as well as others; we have a Bulwark, blessed be the God of Heaven, made of better Stuff than theirs; for it is the Salvation of God which hath kept us from the Pollution of Sin, and from a running into all Excess and Riot that others have run into; it hath kept us from the Evil, it hath kept Evils out of us, and we have found that certainly true, That all Things work together for Good, to them that love God, and fear God; that all the Providences of God together, they have all wrought for our Good; and this is the Bulwark that we have trusted in, and it hath served hitherto, and it will serve us and our Posterity to the End of the World. This is a Bulwark that will never be stormed, that will never be thrown down nor laid waste: Though all the Powers on Earth, and all the Potentates in this World should agree together, they shall not prevail [Page] against it; we have Salvation for Walls and Bulwarks; if I be within these Walls, Salvation is round about me; if I am got into this eternal Bulwark, I am safe from the Devil and his Instruments; here is a Bulwark to be relied upon.

Many wonder we differ with them in some Opinions; we have that Confidence in this Bulwark, that we desire not another; God will last and abide for ever, so will this Bulwark; all the Care that I take, and all the Care that you should take, is to keep within these Walls: Do not sally out, if you go out, the Devil is watching, and seeking continually whom he may devour; he will catch straglers; if that People will go out for Profit, or for Pleasure, or Interest, the Devil will catch them: What, such People talk of Salvation for Walls and Bulwarks? the Devil hath got them in his Snare, and they are caught in Drunkenness, Uncleanness and other Sins; the Reason is, they have gone out of their Bulwark, they have sallied out of their Walls, for the Devil could never have fetched them out.

O take Heed, says the Apostle, lest there spring up in any of you an Evil Heart of Unbelief in departing from the living God; as if he had said, You are Christians now, you are a People come to a good Estate in Christ; but consider you have no Strength to stand but [Page] in him, no Power to keep yourselves but in him; Take Heed at all Times that there spring not up in you an evil Heart of Unbelief, in departing from the living God; take heed lest there spring up in you such a Thought as this; I may take this Pleasure, and the other Profit: Consider that thou diest and witherest if thou depart from the living God; take heed of taking Liberty above the Fear of God: It is not our Talk of Salvation for Walls and Bulwarks that will do us good but our keeping within these Walls.

I remember a notable Saying of the Apostle, which hath a great Emphasis in it, and a great Deal of Doctrine, he writeth to the Church after they were become a People of Professing Christians, Take heed lest you come to be beguiled by the Serpent, as he beguiled Eve; he did not speak of Jezabel, a wicked Woman; but he spoke of Eve, a good Woman created after the Image of God, in Righteousness and Holiness: They were come to a Life of Sanctification, to a Life that was hidden from Ages and Generations; You must look to yourselves, and look upon yourselves as in the State of your Mother Eve, a Woman brought forth in Righteousness and Holiness, that might have stood in that Primitive State, notwithstanding all the Subtilty of all the Serpents in the World; [Page] but letting her Ear hearken to this Old Serpent, she was beguiled; there grew up a Consultation in her reasoning Part; it may be so as he saith, I will try.

So I say to you that are come to a State of Sanctification, and in some measure to know the cleansing Power of God, and that you have not believed in it in vain, but it hath effectually wrought some Change and Alteration in you, and is still carrying on the Work of your Salvation: Many Temptations will attend you, and many Snares will be laid in your Way, but God hath preserved you to this Day: I know the Devil's Wiles and Temptations are manifold; they are fitted to every one's Inclinations, fitted to every Opportunity, and to every Occasion in this World; Men are tryed every Way by the Tempter, to see which Way he may ensnare them; he tries every Way to ensnare and entangle the simple, that he may turn them to the right hand or to the left, that their Souls may be destroyed and perish.

I cannot speak to you by a more emphatical Word, by a more familiar Exhortation than this, Take heed you be not beguiled as Eve was: many will be tempted as she was; but I would not have you do as she did, and yield to the Temptation: Take heed that you do not defile yourselves, but keep your Garments white; you that have been washed [Page] and cleansed, labour to keep yourselves unspotted from the World; this is pure Religion and undefiled, that which hath enlightened many a Nation, and shall enlighten many of those whose Religion is to be undefiled, and to keep themselves unspotted from the World: I pray God increase the Number of them, that so the blessed Work of Sanctification, that hath begun in this Way, may be carried on to his Praise, and the Salvation of our Souls, to the spreading forth of his Glory, and the exalting of his Name; that the Strangers which are scattered and desolate, may be brought into his holy Way, and walk in it; that we all, in a Fellowship together, walking in that holy Way, may through the Eternal Spirit, offer Praise and Thanksgiving to God, who is worthy to receive Glory and Honour, Power and Dominion, for ever and ever. Amen.

[Page]THERE is a divine Philosophy and there is also a false Philosophy. This last leads to Infidelity and Atheism; it confines [...] Speculation to Matter, and aims at explaining every Thing from no higher Principle; it denies all Communications betwixt the Soul and the spiritual World; and so banishes Man from his own Country. On the contrary, divine Philosophy ascends from visibles to invisibles, and traces Effects from their next immediate Cause up to their first Cause which is God. When this Light breaks in upon the Soul, she, as it were, soars above the Regions of Sense; a new World opening to her View: She beholds her original Dignity, feels her Immortality, and seems, in some Sort, to have already entered upon the Blessedness of it, through a Faith more luminous than the brightness of the Sun, and a Love stronger than Death. Two Philosophers of these distinct Classes differ vastly from one another; the Feelings of the one are all earthly, those of the other, heavenly. The one guesses and studies, and, with Labour, reasons to give Plausibility to his System, which at best is but Darkness, whilst the clearest Conviction flashes on the Mind of the other.

Information about this book

Title statement

Serious reflections affectionately recommended to the well-disposed of every religious denomination, particularly those who mourn and lament on account of the calamities which attend us; and the insensibility that so generally prevails.

Benezet, Anthony, 1713-1784.

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI :

Date

2009-10.

ID [DLPS]

N10352

ID [TCP]

N10352

ID [STC]

Evans 13145

ID [NOTIS]

APV5845

ID [IMAGE-SET]

13145

ID [EVANS-CITATION]

99001274

Availability

This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal. The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

Series

Early American Imprints, 1639-1800 ; no. 13145.

Notes

(Evans-TCP ; no. N10352)

Transcribed from: (Readex Archive of Americana ; Early American Imprints, series I ; image set 13145)

Images scanned from Readex microprint and microform: (Early American imprints. First series ; no. 13145)

Source

— Serious reflections affectionately recommended to the well-disposed of every religious denomination, particularly those who mourn and lament on account of the calamities which attend us; and the insensibility that so generally prevails., Benezet, Anthony, 1713-1784..

Extent

4 p. ; 16 cm. (12mo)

s.n.,. [Philadelphia :: 1778?]. (Signed on p. 3: AB [i.e., Anthony Benezet].) (Issued as part of some copies of: A Collection of religious tracts. Philadelphia : Joseph Crukshank, 1773[-1778?] (Evans 13145). Also issued separately (Evans 15738).)

Creation

Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford.

Editorial practices

EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). The general aim of EEBO-TCP is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic English-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in EEBO.

EEBO-TCP aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the Text Encoding Initiative (http://www.tei-c.org).

The EEBO-TCP project was divided into two phases. The 25,363 texts created during Phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 January 2015. Anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source.

Users should be aware of the process of creating the TCP texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data.

Text selection was based on the New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (NCBEL). If an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in NCBEL, then their works are eligible for inclusion. Selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. In general, first editions of a works in English were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably Latin and Welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so.

Image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. Quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in Oxford and Michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet QA standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. After proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. Any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. Understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of TCP data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. Users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a TCP editor.

The texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the TEI in Libraries guidelines.

Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements).

Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site.