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 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 » O :V ^A. 'M' I CJ ^f t» ir 
 
 SAMUEL AONE^V, 
 
 OF P Jl I 1, A II E 1, P U I i . PA. 
 
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 f Vase, Divi:- SC^C^..-|| 
 SUrIf, Sec. J^^'J.^ 
 Boole, ^^ ' I 
 
 ■^ e<^^»G £<^^>Q Oi 
 
Twelve SERMONS* 
 
 UPON 
 
 The following SUBJECTS: 
 
 I. The Divinity of Chriji. 
 il. Jepthah's Vow. 
 
 III. The good Samaritan. 
 
 IV. A proper and an im- 
 proper Conformity to the 
 World. 
 
 V. Prayer— what it is, and 
 what it is not. 
 
 VI. Solomon's Requeft, 
 
 VI r. Jgur's Requeft. 
 
 VIII. Plain Truth. 
 
 IX. Truth diflembled. 
 
 X. The natural Defire of 
 long Life. 
 
 XL The Folly and Danger 
 of defpifing Religion. 
 
 XII. The Penitent upon 
 the Crofs. 
 
 By the Rev. J. S M I T H, M. A. 
 
 Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED by M. Harrison, No. 2j 
 Red Lyon Court, Fleet Street. 
 MDCCLXXVI. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 1WAS advifed by many kind 
 Friends to delay the Publication 
 of thefe Difcourfes a few Months 
 longer; but the Opinion of fome 
 of my Subfcribers correfponding 
 with my own Ideas of Delicacy in 
 in a Matter of this Kind — I hope 
 that I have not done wrong in pub- 
 lifhing them now. 
 
 I confidered it as a Duty — to be 
 fo far partktdar in the Acknowledg- 
 ment of Obligations upon this Occa- 
 fioTiy as to print the Names of my 
 
 Subfcribers, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Subfcribers, whofe Candour after 
 Publication, will, I doubt not, prove 
 equal to their Civility and Genero- 
 iity before. 
 
 The lirft, eighth, and ninth Ser- 
 mons, are partly taken from two 
 eminent French Divines. They have, 
 however, been preached before very 
 diftinguiihed Congregations, and it 
 was particularly recommended to 
 me to give them a Place in this 
 printed Colledtion. 
 
 I may fay of the Sermon upon 
 the Divinity of Chrift (what a late 
 Writer fays of his own religious 
 Treatife) that it is '^an Abftradl only 
 " — defigned to raife a proper At- 
 *' tention, and to create a Defire, in 
 
 ** young 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 ^* young or. doubting Perfon?, to 
 <* purfue theSubjed^ — till the Mind 
 " finds Reafon to be fatisfied in that 
 *' Certainty of Evidence the whole 
 ^' produces," on which this eflential 
 Article of the chriftian Faith is 
 founded. 
 
 The Reft of the Dlfcourfes (ex- 
 cept in Matters ftridly dodrinal) are 
 taken from Life rather than from 
 Books — from Obfervation rather than 
 from Reading, I have endeavoured 
 to reprefent the World as it now is 
 — to make all poffible Allowance 
 for Error and Indifcretion — to give 
 every poffible Commendat ion X.oVxm- 
 ciples and Conduct, lovely and of 
 good Report. In a Word; what- 
 ever 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 ever Imperfedlions may be difcover- 
 ed in the following {lender Perform- 
 ance, when examined with a critical 
 Attention — I hope it will appear — ■ 
 that I (at leaft) wip Religion well — 
 that I wijh my Fellow-Mortals well 
 '^—wijh them to be happy Here — 
 but at all Events to take Care that 
 they become fo Hereafter^ through 
 their own bejl Endeavours, perfeSied 
 by the Merits and Mediation oi Jefus 
 Chrijl, 
 
 London, May 6, 1776. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 Upon the Divinity of Christ. 
 
 John i. I, 2. In the Beginning was the 
 
 Word^ and the Word was with God^ and 
 
 the Word was God, ^he fame was in the 
 
 Beginning with God, Page 3, 
 
 SERMON II. 
 Upon Jepthah's Vow. 
 Judges xi. 30. uind Jepthah vowed a Vow 
 unto the Lord, p. 1 9. 
 
 SERMON III. 
 
 Upon the Good Samaritan. 
 Luke X. 36, 37. Which now of thefe 
 three thinkeji thou was Neighbour unto 
 him who fell afnojigjl the thieves f And 
 he faidy he that jhewed Mercy on him : 
 Then faid Jefus unto him, go — and do 
 thou likewife, p. 37. 
 
 SERMON 
 
CONTENTS.- 
 
 S E R M O N ly. 
 
 Upon a PROPER and an improper Con-? 
 FORM IT Y to the World. 
 
 Prov. xxix. 25. The Fear of Man bringeth 
 a Snare. P* 5^» 
 
 SERMON V. 
 
 Upon Prayer — what it is, and what it 
 is not. 
 
 Pfalm V. 3. / will diredi my Prayer unto 
 Thee. P- 65. 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 Upon Solomon's Reqjjest. 
 I. Kings iii. 10. And the Speech pkafcd 
 the Lord that Solomon had ajked this. 
 Thing. p. 81. 
 
 SERMON VII. 
 Upon A G u R ' s Re q^u est. 
 
 ■Prov. XXX. 7, 8, 9. Two Things have I 
 required of Thee^ deny me them not before 
 
 I die : 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 / die : Remove far from me Vanity and 
 Lies ; give me neither Poverty nor Riches ; 
 feed me with Food convenient for me: Leji 
 J be full and deny Thee^ and fay who is 
 the Lord ? or leji I he poor andfteal, and 
 take the Name of my God in vain* p. 97» 
 
 S E R xM O N VIII. 
 
 Upon Plain Truth, 
 
 Matt. ii. 2. Where is he that is born King 
 of the Jews ? p. 511. 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 
 Truth difTembled. 
 
 Matt. ii. 5. And they faid unto him--* in 
 Bethlehem ^ Judea. p. 129. 
 
 SERMON X. 
 
 Upon the Natural Desire of Long 
 Life. 
 
 Job xlii. 16. After this lived Job an 
 hundred and forty Tears, and faw his 
 
 Sons 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Sons and his Sons Sons, even four Ge- 
 nerations, p. 145" 
 
 SERMON XI. 
 
 Upon the Folly and Danger of de- 
 
 fpifing Rel I g ion. 
 I Theff. Iv. 8. He therefore that defpifeth 
 — defpifeth not Man — but God, p- 165. 
 
 SERMON XII. 
 
 Upon the Penitent upon the Cross* 
 
 Luke xxiii. 42, 43. j4nd he faid unto 
 
 Jefus — Lord, remember me when thou 
 
 co7nefl into thy Kingdom : And Jefus faid 
 
 unto him. Verily I fay unto thee — to Day 
 
 foalt thou be with me — in Paradife, 
 
 p. 181. 
 
A 
 
 I 
 
 T 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SUBSCRIBERS NAMES. 
 
 A. 
 
 XpHANCIsANNESLEy, Efq. 
 -*■ James Anderfon, Efq. 
 Mr. Adon. 
 Mr. Agutter. 
 Mr. Andrews. 
 Mrs. Armetage. 
 Mr. William Arnold 
 Mr. Atkins. 
 
 B. 
 Right Rev. Lord Bifhop of 
 
 Btiftol. 
 Sir William Boyer, Bart, 
 ileu. William Backhoufe, 
 
 D. D. Archdeacon of 
 
 Canterbury. 
 Rev. Lewis Boifdaune, 
 
 Chaplain in Ordinary to 
 
 his Majefty. 
 Rev. Dr. Baker, 
 jokn Batley, Efq. 
 Jeremiah Batley, Efq. 
 Mrs. Batley. 
 Thomas Beach, Efq. 
 James Brown, Efq. Fellow 
 
 Commoner of Catharine 
 
 Hall, Cambridge. 
 John Browning, Efq. 
 
 Chriftopher Buckle, Efq. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Bethune, M. A. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Bodicoate, M. A. 
 Vicar of Wefterham, in 
 Kent, 
 
 Mrs. Martha Bates. 
 
 Mrs. Bayford. 
 
 Mr. Bellet. 
 
 Mr. James Bentham, of 
 Catharine Hall, Cam- 
 bridge. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Berwick. 
 
 Mrs. Biddie. 
 
 Mrs. Bolton. 
 
 Mr. Bridges. 
 
 Mr. John Brockbank. 
 
 Air. Brown. 
 
 Mr. Ifaac Brown. 
 
 Mr. John Buckle. 
 
 Mr. Edward Butler. 
 
 Mr. Edward Butler, jun. 
 
 Mr. Buy. 
 
 Mr. G. Buy. 
 
 C. 
 
 Hon. and moft Rev. his 
 Grace the Loid Arch- 
 bifliop of Canterbury. 
 
 Right 
 
SUBSCRIBERS NAMES. 
 
 Right Hon. Lady Mary 
 
 Carr. 
 R'ght Hon. Lord Cock- 
 
 rane. 
 Hon. John Cockrane. 
 J'^on. James Cockrane. 
 Rev. J. ChevalJier, B. D. 
 Mafter of St. John's 
 College, Cambridge. 
 
 Rev. Auguftus Calvert, 
 L. L. D. Fellow of the 
 Socittv of Antiquaries. 
 
 Richard Clay, Efq. 
 
 Jo! n Chcinock, Efq. of 
 Trinity College, Ox- 
 ford. 
 
 Robert Cooke, Efq. Fel- 
 low Commoner of Ca- 
 tharine Hall, Cambridge. 
 
 John Carellius, Efq. 
 
 Mrs. Carellius. 
 
 William Caflon, Efq. 
 
 Mrs. Caflon. 
 
 Rev. Charles Coates, M. B. 
 
 Rev. Charles Coxvvell, 
 M. A. Rcdor of Bar- 
 jiefley, in Gloucefter- 
 Ihire. 
 
 Mr. James Coxwell. 
 
 Mr. Charles Carpenter. 
 
 Mr. William Caflon. 
 
 Mr. Henry Caflon. 
 
 Mr. John Chandler. 
 
 Mr. Chevors. 
 
 Mr. Chflbld. 
 
 Mr. 'John Cooper. 
 
 Mr. 'i'homas Cooper. 
 
 D. 
 
 Rev. Samuel Dennis, D.D. 
 
 Prefident of St. John's 
 College, Oxford. 
 
 Rev. William Di-lton, Pre- 
 fident of Catharine Hall, 
 Cambridge. 
 
 George Devon, Efq. 
 
 Rev. Tho. Dalton, M. A. 
 Fel!ow of Queen's Col- 
 lege, Oxford. 
 
 Francis Davvfon, M. A. 
 Fellow of Catharine 
 Hall, Cambridge. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Difturnell,M. A. 
 
 Rev. Samuel Dobfon, M. A. 
 Fellow of Catharine 
 Hail, Cambridge. 
 
 Mr. R. Davenport, of St. 
 John's College, Oxford. 
 
 Mr. Darwell. 
 
 Mr. Dawfon, 
 
 Mr. Dibbs. 
 
 James Efdaile, jun. Efq. 
 
 Mrs. Efdaile. 
 
 William Eamenfon, M. A. 
 
 Fellow of Catharine 
 
 Hall, Cambridge. 
 Mr. Ellis. 
 
 F. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Fran -klin, Chap- 
 Iain in Ordinary to his 
 M.ijcfty. 
 
 Rev. 
 
SUBSCRIBERS NAMES. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Finch, Fellow of 
 St. John's College, Ox- 
 ford. 
 
 Rev. Francis Finch, B. D. 
 
 Mr. Richard Farmer, 
 
 Mr. James Farrer. 
 
 Mrs. Feild. 
 
 Mr. Field. 
 
 Mrs. Field. 
 
 Mrs Mary Field. 
 
 Mr. Fielder. 
 
 Mr. Freeman. 
 
 Mr. Fulton. 
 
 G. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Glafs, Chaplain 
 in Ordinary to his Ma- 
 
 Robert G. fling, Efq. 
 Edward Green, Efq. 
 Abraham Guyott, Efq. 
 Rev. Philip Gardnar, B. D. 
 
 Fellow of Catharine 
 
 Hall, Cambridge. 
 Pev. Mr. Goldwyer, Vicar 
 
 of Letcomb Regis, in 
 
 Berklhire. 
 Rev. Mr. Graves, ReiStor 
 
 of Hatfield, in Hercford- 
 
 fhire. 
 Mr. John Gidley. 
 Mr. Given. 
 Mr. Griffirhs. 
 Mrs. Guichenet. 
 
 H. 
 
 Right Hon. the Earl cf 
 Hertford, Lord Cham- 
 
 berlain of his Majefty's 
 
 Houfhold. 
 George Hayter, Efq. 
 Rev. Mr. Hand, M. A. 
 
 Vicar of St. Giles's, 
 
 Cripplegate. 
 Rev. Peter Hawker, M. A. 
 
 Redlor of Woodchefter, 
 
 in Gloucefterfbire. 
 Rev. Mr. Hayter. 
 Rev. G. G. Hayter. 
 Rev. Mr. Heckftall, M. A. 
 
 Redor of St. Ann's, 
 
 Aiderfgate. 
 Rev. Mr. Hinckley. 
 Rev. Mr. Humphries. 
 Mr. G. Halifax. 
 Mr. Harper. 
 Mr Harris. 
 Mr. Hartley. 
 Mr. Hartwell. 
 Mr. John Hawker. 
 Mifs Hiwkcr. 
 Mr. William Hopkins. 
 
 J. 
 
 Edward Jones, Efq. 
 
 Rev. Thomas Johnfon, 
 
 B. A. Fellow of Cuba- 
 
 rine Hall, Cambridge, 
 Benjamin Ingham, B A. 
 
 Fellow of CatharineHali, 
 
 Cambridge. 
 Rev, Humphry Jefferics. 
 
 K. 
 Rev. Dr. Kettilby, Vicar 
 of St. Bartholemew the 
 Lefs. 
 
 J. Kirkmars 
 
SUBSCRIBERS NAMES. 
 
 J. Kirkman, Efq. 
 Mr. Francis Knight. 
 Mr. Kcarflcy. 
 Ml. William Knapp. 
 Mrs. Kcwell 
 
 L. 
 
 Right Rev. Loid Bifhop of 
 London. 
 
 James Lowther, Efq. 
 
 Samuel Lewis, Efq. 
 
 Henry Luniley, Efq. 
 
 Rev. Marmaduke Lawfon, 
 M A. Fellow of Catha- 
 rine Hall, Cambridge. 
 
 Mrs. Le Breton. 
 
 Mr. Leigh. 
 
 Mr. William Lewis. 
 
 M. 
 
 Rev. Thomas Marriot, 
 D. D. Chaplain in Or- 
 dinary to his A'l:;jtft'/. 
 
 Rev, Robert Markham, 
 D. D. Reaorof St. Ma- 
 ry, Whitechapel. 
 
 Gilbert Mellefonr, Efq. of 
 Chrift-church, Oxford. 
 
 Thomas Moore, Efq, 
 
 Rev. Jonahan Morgan, 
 M. A. Rcclor of Hcd- 
 ley in Surry, 
 
 Rev. Mr. Myers. 
 
 MfS. Murray. 
 
 Mr. M.yhcvv. 
 
 Mr. Meadows. 
 
 Mr. Francis Moore. 
 
 Mils E. Morris. 
 
 Mr. Morrel), of St. John's 
 Colicdge, Oxford. 
 
 N. 
 Mrs. Newton. 
 John Nafli, Efq. 
 William Naylor, Efq. 
 Mr. Thomas Tregonwell 
 
 Nap'er. 
 Mr. Newman. 
 
 P. 
 
 Right Rev. Lord Bifliop of 
 Peterborough. 
 
 Nathaniel Peach, Efq, 
 
 Samuel Peach, Efq. 
 
 Benjamin Peach, Efq. 
 
 Edward Peach, Efq. 
 
 William Gaisford Peach, 
 Efq. 
 
 ^Villiam Pocock, Efq. 
 
 Mrs. Pocock. 
 
 Rev. Henry Peach, B. D. 
 Fellow of St. John's Col- 
 lege, Oxford. 
 
 William Pcirfon, Efq. Fel- 
 low Commoner of Ca- 
 tharine Hall, Cambridge. 
 
 Rev. Charles Plucknett, 
 B. D. Fellow of St. 
 John's College, Oxford. 
 
 Rev. John Peddle of St. 
 Mary Hall, OxforJ. 
 
 Rev. William Pickcing, 
 M. A. Fellow of S dney 
 Sufie.x College Cam- 
 bridge. 
 
 Rev. 
 
SUBSCRIBERS NAMES. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Piggott, Fellow 
 
 of St. John's College, 
 
 Oxford. 
 Rev. Mr. Pitts. 
 Rev. Charles Prefect, M.A. 
 
 Fellow of Catharine Hall, 
 
 Cambridge. 
 Mr. Page. 
 Mifs Pierce. 
 Mr. Pope. 
 Mr. Prickett. 
 
 R. 
 
 Edward Reynolds, Efq. 
 Mr. William Ringfted. 
 Mr. Ruddle. 
 
 S. 
 Lady Anderfon Shirley. 
 
 Skect, L.L. D. 
 
 George Schoen, Efq. of St. 
 
 John's College, Oxford. 
 Thomas Shurmur, Efq. 
 Edward Skettell, Efq. of 
 
 Chrift Church, Oxford. 
 Robert Skettell, Efq. of 
 
 Chrift Church, Oxford. 
 Rev. John Spicer, M. A. 
 
 of Reading. 
 Rev. Mr. Sturgis, M. A. 
 
 Vicar of St. Mary's in 
 
 Reading. 
 Rev. Mr. Siflbn. 
 Hugh Smith, M. D. 
 Mrs. Smith. 
 Mr. Salkeld. 
 Mrs. Salkeld, 
 Mr. Sanagen, 
 
 Mr. Sandland. 
 
 Mrs. Savai^e. 
 
 Mrs. Scrimftiire, 
 
 Mr. Sealy. 
 
 Mr. Seeker. 
 
 Mr. Sherwood, junior. 
 
 Mrs. Shepley. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Shurmur, 
 
 Mr. James Sibbald. 
 
 Mrs. Smart. 
 
 Mr. Robert Smith. 
 
 Mifs Mary Smith. 
 
 Mifs E. Smith. 
 
 Mr. Smithfon. 
 
 Mr. Snowdon. 
 
 Mrs. Spencer. 
 
 Mr. Spotfwood. 
 
 Mr. William Stevens. 
 
 Mr. John Stevens. 
 
 Mrs. Henry Stevens. 
 
 Mr. Strong. 
 
 Mr. Swinfcoe. 
 
 T. 
 Right Hon. Earl Talbot, 
 
 Lord Steward of his Ma- 
 
 jeftv's Houftiold. 
 Mifs Talbot. 
 Hon. Mifs Mary Tryon, 
 
 Maid of Hunour to her 
 
 Majefty. 
 William Temple, Efq. 
 Lewis Tregonwell, Efq. of 
 
 Trinity College, Oxford, 
 George Trenchard, Efq. of 
 
 Merton College, Ox- 
 ford, 
 
 U. 
 
SUBSCRIBERS NAMES. 
 
 U. 
 
 Rev. Benjamin Underwood, 
 M. A. Reaor of Eaft 
 Earner. 
 
 Mrs. Vancourt. 
 
 W. 
 
 William Whitehead, Efq. 
 
 Poet Laureat. 
 Rev. Thomas Wright, 
 
 Chaplain in Ordinary to 
 
 his Maj'-fty. 
 Rev. Mr. Winftanley, 
 
 M. A. Prebendary of St. 
 
 Paul's. 
 John Wade, Efq. 
 
 Walford,Erq. 
 
 Thom;<s Wi-fell. Efq. 
 Mrs. Wigfell. 
 Atwood Wigfell, Efq. 
 St. John WefTell Wigfell, 
 
 Efq. 
 
 Willis, Efq. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Whalley, M. A. 
 
 Re<3or of St. Margaret 
 
 Pattens. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Wray, M. A. 
 RciSlor of Darleyin Der- 
 by (hire. 
 
 Rev. John Wilsford, M.A. 
 Fellow of Catharine Hall, 
 Cambridge. 
 
 Rev. Joftiua Wateihoufe, 
 B. A. Fellow of Catha- 
 rine Hall, Cambridge. 
 
 Rev. Jofhua Wood, B. A. 
 Fellow of CatharineHall, 
 Cambiidge. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Wigfell of 
 St. John's College, Ox- 
 ford. 
 
 Mifs Wigfell. 
 
 Rev. Mr. VVtndcborn. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Wathen, Jun, 
 
 Mr. Webb. 
 
 Mr. Williams. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Rev. Lowther Yates, B. D. 
 P'ellow of Catharine Hall, 
 Cambridge. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 90, line (i, {qv Serenity rtViA Sincerity. 
 
 108, — 19, for Fine read Pine. 
 
 152, — 15, {ox defireji K^^ii delredji. 
 
 I74, — 6, for Purity read Parity, 
 
SERMON I. 
 
 UPON THE 
 
 piVINITY OF CHRIST. 
 
 B 
 
___.! 
 
.r 
 
 PI 
 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 John 1. i, 2; 
 
 /« /j&^ Beginning was the Word, and the 
 Word was with God, and the Word was 
 God. 
 
 The fame was in the Beginning with God^ 
 
 I Shall, with, I hope, a becoming Reve- 
 rence to fo facred a Subjea:, prefume, 
 in the enfuing Sermon, to fpeak of the 
 Divinity of Jefus Chrift ; wifhing hereby to 
 prove from the plain Authorities of Scripture, 
 and from clear unprejudiced Reafoning — that 
 our Lord was, from the Glory, and the 
 B 2 very 
 
4 SERMON I. 
 
 very Spirit and Eflence of his Miniftry upon 
 Earth, manifeftly God. 
 
 The firft fliining Part of our Lord's Mi- 
 niftry is — that he was foretold and promifed 
 to Men almofl ever fince the World exifted. 
 Scarcely had Adam fallen, but is (hewed 
 him (tho* at a great Diftance) this kind Re- 
 coverer. In fuccecding Ages God appeared, 
 as it were, to be unmindful of any Thing 
 elfe, but to prepare Men for the Arrival of 
 this Saviour. In fhort our Lord was fore- 
 told by all People — declared for Four 
 Thoufand Years by a long Chain of Pro- 
 phets — figured out by all the Ceremonies 
 of the Law — and wiflied for by the Juft of 
 all Ages. Neither was all this for the Sake of 
 fome particular Event only : He was to be 
 the Refource of a condemned World — A 
 Law-giver of divers People — the Light of 
 Nations — the Salvation o^ Ifrael. But what 
 a Snare for the Religion of all Times — if 
 Preparations io great and imp ortant fpecified 
 
 SI 
 
SERMON I. 5 
 
 A Creature merely human — of thofe Times 
 efpecially, when the Creduh'ty of the World 
 fo eafily fuffered Men of uncommon Notions 
 or uncommon Abilities — to rank as Gods. 
 
 jfo&n the Baptift -. — in Order to prevent 
 Idolatry in his Nation — is ever heard to fay 
 — I am not he whom you expert. Our 
 Lord, on the Contrary, whom Four Thou- 
 fand Years of Figures and Prophecies had 
 acknowledged — at Length comes in great 
 Virtue and Power. He performs Miracles 
 which no other Perfon ever did before him, 
 and inftead of preventing the People from 
 worfhipping him — he declares himfelf to 
 be equal with God, and fuffers the World 
 to render divine Honours to hirrf. If this 
 was an idolatrous Wor{hip, Mankind feem 
 to be by no Means refponfible for it. 
 
 In the Ages before the Coming of our 
 Lord — there appeared many very extraordi- 
 nary Men, whom the Almighty feemed to 
 have made, as it were, Confidants of his 
 B 3 Virtue 
 
6 SERMON I. 
 
 Virtue and his Power : And yet when we 
 attend to this Matter clofely, we find that all 
 thefe extraordinary Men carried about them 
 Marks of Dependence and Weaknefs : Our 
 Lord, on the Contrary, performs the moil 
 furprifing Miracles with a Facility all puif- 
 fant — and with a Sovereignty wholly inde-* 
 pendent. 
 
 Again, how glorious are the Circumilances 
 before unheard of in any one — which 
 compofe the Courfe of our Lord's mortal 
 Life ! Conceived by the Operation cf the 
 Holy Ghofl, he is born of a pure Virgin. 
 Scarcely is he born, but celeftial Legions fill 
 the Air with Songs of Triumph, and aflure 
 us that this Birth renders to God hi$ Glory, 
 and Peace to Men. A little afterwards, a 
 new Star conducts to his Cradle wife Men 
 from the Eafl: : A juft and an holy Woman 
 announces his future Glory : The Dodlors 
 being afTembled together behold, with Afto- 
 DiHiment, his Infancy more wife and under- 
 
 ftanding 
 
SERMON I. 7 
 
 landing than the Wifdom and Experience 
 of old Age. 
 
 In Proportion as he advances in Years, 
 his Glory difcovers itfelf the more, ^ohn 
 Baptift humbles himfelf before him — Heaven 
 opens itfelf upon his Head — the affrighted 
 Devils cannot abide his Prefence — the Fa- 
 ther of Heaven declares that he is his v^^eli- 
 beloved Son, and propofes him as the living 
 and eternal Law, in commanding Mankind 
 to liften to him. 
 
 If from ^abor we pafs over to Mount Cal- 
 vary — the Place where all the Reproaches 
 and Gruelties exercifed upon our Lord ex- 
 haufted themfelves ; all Nature in confu- 
 fion acknowledges him even here as it's Au- 
 thor, and confefTes his Divinity. He arifes 
 from his Grave three Days after, not by 
 Means of any foreign Help, or that he 
 might die again ; but by his own Power, 
 and that he might be in Pofleflion henceforth 
 ©f a Life immortal. To finally clofe the 
 B 4 Scene, 
 
8 SERMON I. 
 
 Scene, our Lord afcendeth into Heaven. It 
 is not a Chariot of Fire that conveys him 
 tliither, in the Twinkling of an Eye — he 
 raifes himfelf with Majefty — the Angels 
 come to meet him, and promife him a fecond 
 Appearance upon Earth, when he fhall be 
 encompaiTed with Glury and Immortality. 
 
 In Footfteps like thefe who fliould not 
 gladly trace out the God of Heaven ? In 
 him, who after having converfed with Men,, 
 in order to recover them from their Wan-r 
 derings and their Mifery, left them and their 
 World, and renewed the PofTeflion of his 
 heavenly Glory. Surely, the exceedingly 
 great Luftre of our Lord's Miniftry would 
 unavoidably be to us an Occafion of Idolatry, 
 if he was not more than mere Man. As 
 alfo would the very Spirit and EfTence of bis 
 MIniftry be an unavoidable Snare to our In- 
 nocence. 
 
 No one has ever yet denied that Jefus 
 Chrifl: was an holy Man. What Man indeed 
 
 ever 
 
SERMON I. 9 
 
 ever appeared upon Earth, in whom all 
 People remarked fo ftrong Charadters of In- 
 nocence and San6lity ? I might fay, fo great 
 Indifference for the World, fo great Love for 
 Virtue, fo great Zeal for the Glory of God, 
 fo great Ardour for the Salvation of Man- 
 kind ? We may add to all this, the total Ex- 
 emption of thofe WeaknefTes, which we 
 know to be infeparable from mere human 
 Nature. Now if Jefus Chrift be thus holy, 
 he muft be God — He muft needs be fuch, 
 as to the Dodtrlne which he bequeathed to 
 US, whether we confider it as regarding his 
 almighty Father or ourfelves. 
 
 If Chrift is nothing but a fimple EmbafTa^ 
 dor from God — he is not come but to ihew 
 to Nations an idolatrous Unity of the divine 
 Ejfence, In the next Place, our Lord muft 
 have made ufe of evil Means for the Dif- 
 charge of his Miniftry. Mofei and the Pro- 
 phets, charged with a fimilar MifTion, never 
 ceafed to publiOi that the Lord Almighty is 
 
 one. 
 
lo SERMON 1, 
 
 one, without ever making a Comparifon 
 between themfelves and the fupreme Being : 
 Whereas Chri/l feldom ceafes to equal him- 
 fclf with his Father. — He fays that he is de- 
 fcended from Heaven, and taken from the 
 Bofom of God — that he exifted before all 
 Things — that the Father and himfelf are 
 one. In every Thing indeed he compares 
 himfelf with the great Sovereign of all 
 Worlds. The ^ews murmur and reproach 
 him for thefe Expreffions, So far from de- 
 nying them, he confirms them all in the 
 Midfl of Reproaches, and does this too in 
 a Language affronting and impious, if his 
 Equality and Comparifon with his Father do 
 not inform and juftify him. Our Lord 
 furely is not come upon the Earth (if he is 
 merely Man) but to offend the Jeivs frinci- 
 pally, in giving them an Opportunity at lead 
 of believing that he compares himfelf with 
 the mo ft High : He is not come but to feduce 
 the Nations^ in caufing them to worfliip him 
 
 after 
 
SERMON I. II 
 
 after his Death — He is not come but to dif- 
 perle a frefli Darknefs throughout the Uni- 
 verfe. All thofe great Advantages which 
 the World has been promifed to derive from 
 theMiniftry of Jefus Chrifldo, in this Cafe, 
 center themfelves in feeing Mankind plunged 
 into a nevir Kind of Idolatry, and all the fu- 
 ture Magnificence of the Gofpel fo ftrongly 
 foretold by the Prophets — muft finally be 
 feen to have only tended to form and encou- 
 rage that dangerous Sedt of Socinians. But 
 feeing the Manner in which he fpeaks of his 
 Father, the Equality which he aflumes upon 
 moft Occafions with his Father — this necef- 
 farily eftablifhes the Glory of his eternal 
 Original. 
 
 Suppofe we next confider our Lord's Doc- 
 trine, with Regard to Men. This too mufl: 
 needs eftablifh at leaft the Ferity of his di- 
 line Birth. What Wifdom, what Sandity, 
 what plain Sublimity in fuch his Dodrine ! 
 Every Thing there is worthy of Reafon, and 
 
 of 
 
J2 SERMON I. 
 
 of the mofl profound Philofophy : Every 
 Thing there is proportioned to the Mifery, 
 and at the fame Time to the Excellency, of 
 Man. Remark thofe Duties of Love and 
 mutual Dependence v^rhich he requires of 
 Men one tov^^ards another. He enjoins us 
 alfo to love him — to ieek in him our Hap- 
 J)inefs — to refer to him ourfelves and our 
 Ai^ions in likt Manner as he teaches us to 
 refer to his Father. But if he be not God, 
 his Docftrine fo divine, fo admired even by 
 Heathens r- is nothing more than an horrid 
 Mixture of Impiety, of Pride, and Folly ; 
 feeing he himfelf, being nothing but a mere 
 Man, is delirous of ufurping the Place of 
 God in our Hearts. Nay more — whilft the 
 true God appeared to be contented with the 
 Sacrifices of Bulls and of Goats — Chrift for 
 himfelf is defirous that w^e facrifice even our 
 own Lives; that we give up ourfelves to 
 Death and Martyrdom for the Glory of his 
 Name. But if he be not the Author of our 
 
 Lives, 
 
SERMON I. 13 
 
 Lives, what Right can he have to require 
 them at our Hands ? His Religion is then a 
 Religion of Blood and Barbarity only — the 
 generous Martyrs of his Religion have then 
 proved themfelves only Cowards and Fana- 
 tics ; and the Defenders of Juftice and of the 
 Glory of Chrift's Divinity, only Tyrants 
 and Perfecutors. Can the Ear of Man 
 liften to thefe Blafphemies without Horror ? 
 
 I cannot clofe this important Subject with- 
 out begging your Attention a little longer, 
 whilft we confider the Spirit of our Lord's 
 Miniftry in thofe Graces and Bleffings which 
 the Univerfe has received from him. He 
 declares thixt he is come to deliver all Men 
 from eternal Death. He makes us from 
 Enemies become the Children of God—^ 
 He opens Heaven to us, and afTures us, 
 (upon eafy Conditions) of a final, certain 
 Poffeffion thereof: He nouri£hes us fron-i 
 his own Body — he wafhes us from our SinS/ 
 in applying to us the Price of his own 
 
 Blood: 
 
14 SERMON T; 
 
 Blood t In a Word, he calls himfd^ oiir 
 Way, our Truth, our Life, our Redemp- 
 tion. But as a mere Man, can he poffibly 
 be the Source of fo great Graces and Benefits 
 to other Men ? Or is it not to be feared that 
 as a Man becoming fo ufeful and neceffary to 
 Mankind, he is become, at Length, their 
 Idol ? 
 
 Sec then to what impious and dangerous 
 Lengths Infidelity is capable of carrying us. 
 I hope that this is a Character applicable to 
 none amongft us. And indeed mere Points 
 of Faith fliould, perhaps, conftitute but a 
 fmall Part of Preaching j as every Preacher 
 in a chriftian Land may, with Reafon, in 
 general conclude — that he has no Hearers, 
 but what are Believers. Sometimes, how- 
 ever, it may be both ufeful and feafonable 
 to treat of the Dodtrines of Faith, efpecially 
 when, as in the prefent Difcourfe, we can 
 mix them with the equally important Doc- 
 trines of Love and Obedience. I will only 
 
 beg 
 
SERMON I. i$ 
 
 beg Leave to add this Argument in Oppofi- 
 don to Incredulity, — that if it is an Error 
 to believe that Jefus Chrift is God, — it is 
 an Error which was born with the Chriftian 
 Church — it is an Error which has raifed the 
 whole Edifice — it is an Error which has 
 formed fo many Martyrs — it is an Error 
 which has, in a Manner, converted the 
 whole Univerfe. And ever let us conclude, 
 that Piety and Reverence towards this our 
 Saviour both God and Man — is the deep 
 Spirit of our Religion — that nothing is folid 
 or permanent but what we build upon this 
 Foundation : And the principal Homage 
 which our Lord requires of us is — that his 
 Way be the Model of our own, fo that at 
 Length being conformed to a Refemblance 
 of him here, we may finally be of the Num- 
 ber of thofe who fhall be Partakers of his 
 eternal Glory, To whom with the Father 
 and the holy Spirit — three Perfons but 
 
 one 
 
i6 SERMON I. 
 
 ene God — be afcribed all Honour and 
 Power, Might, Majefty, and Dominion —* 
 now and for evermore. Amen, 
 
 S E R- 
 
SERMON II. 
 
 UPON 
 
 7 £ P t HA H'% VOW. 
 
 PREACHED 
 
 Before the University of Cambridge, 
 on Sunday, March, 20, 1774. 
 
SERMON ir. 
 
 Judges xi. 30. firft Part. 
 "^And Jepthah vowed a Vow tcnto the Lord, 
 
 THE Words of his Vow were thefe.' 
 " If thou {halt without Fail — de- 
 liver the Children of Ammon into 
 mine Hands j then it fhall be, that whatfo- 
 cver Cometh forth of the Doors of my 
 Houfe to meet me when I return in Peace 
 from the Children of Ammon fhall furely be 
 the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a 
 Burnt-Offering." On his Return, after the 
 completeft Vidory to his own Houfe atM's;- 
 f'eb — behold, his Daughter came out to meet 
 C 2 him^ 
 
20 SERMON n. 
 
 him, and fhe was his only Child. This is 
 a Scene which muft needs awaken our 
 tender — humane Feelings, and prepare us 
 for the Exercife of all imaginable Compaf- 
 iion towards the afflided Parties. 
 
 Pidture to yourfelves a Man returning on 
 the Wings of Vidtory — having totally fub- 
 dued an Enemy who had created fo great 
 Fear in thofe who had fent for this Deli- 
 verer from a Country — whither they had 
 moft unjuftly banilhed him. Fancy to 
 yourfelves a Man thus returning not only 
 with Vidory in his Hands, but alfo with 
 Gratitude in his Soul to that Almighty Arm 
 which had wrought Succefs. Suppofe him 
 too within Sight of his own Houfe, where 
 he expeded to receive the Congratulations 
 of his neareft Friends — to impart to thena 
 likewife in Return, fome of his overflowing 
 Joy : In particular you are to fuppofe that 
 he had an amiable and a dutiful Daughter 
 to meet on this Occafion, the only Child of 
 
 his 
 
SERMON H. 21 
 
 his fond, parental Bofom. Such was 'Jep- 
 'ihah'^ Situation ! And had it not been for 
 that rai(h and inconfiderate Vow which he 
 made before his Conqueil, we might have 
 followed hlni into his Houfe, and have 
 fancied every Thing that was joyful and 
 happy. Biit through Means of this fatal 
 llefolution, wemufl: make a Tranfition from 
 a fuppofed Pidlure of perfecfl human Happi- 
 hefs, to one of (in Reality) perfed human 
 Wretchednefs. This Very "Jepthah, tho* 
 Conquerer in the Field, is now on a fudden 
 made a Coward, ,nay a Captive of, and by 
 himfelf tod. t^6\ his ^Daughter came out 
 firft to meet hini with Timbrels and 
 with Dances. Here began his contrafl — 
 Wretchednefs. At the Sight of her he rent 
 his Cloaths, and wrapped up in Vidory 
 and Joy as he before was, he breaks out 
 into a truly mournful Alas —^ -<^/^j, my 
 Daughter y thou haji brought me very low, 
 and inftead of viewing you as my firft 
 C 3 Sharer 
 
22 S E R M o Tsr ir. 
 
 Sharer of my Triumphs, thou art even one 
 of them who trouble me ; for I have open^ 
 ed my Mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot 
 go back. What fuch a Man mud feel on 
 an Occafion like this, would, I believe, be 
 difficult to exprefs. The very Rehearfal of 
 the Matter to us who were not concerned in 
 the Hiftory— 'is enough to melt Nature in- 
 to all that can be fuggefted by a generous 
 Pity, or a fympathizing Heart. Thofe 
 may, probably, feel moft, who bear the 
 venerable Name of Parent, and the Story 
 is not made the lefs affedling, by the fur- 
 prizing Refignation of the fair Vidim. Her 
 Duty to her Father — her Readinefs to be 
 given up — was a fingular Proof furely of 
 her Goodnefs — but this is a Circumflance 
 which mu^ft needs afFedl our Tendernefs 
 more, than if fhe had broken out into In- 
 vedives againft a ra{h Father, and had be- 
 come an unwilling Sacrifice : Inftead of 
 which (lie never once blames Jepthah for 
 
 the 
 
SERMON II. 23 
 
 the Vow that he had made, but on the 
 Contrary — urges the Fulfillment of it — 
 fo long as her Father was returned fafe and 
 fuccefsful, {he was ready to fufFer according 
 to what had proceeded out of his Mouth. 
 
 This Hiflory being thus far laid open — 
 i fhall now venture to proceed to that Part 
 of it which moft of all belongs to us — the 
 Confideration of the Vow itfelf : How far 
 'Jepthah may be blamed or excufed both in 
 the making or in the fulfilling of it, which 
 will naturally inftruft us with Regard to 
 Vows and Refolutions of our own. 
 
 In the Days of "Jepthah Vows were con- 
 fidered as lawful and binding, and few 
 Things of Confequence were undertaken 
 without fome facred Refolve. And when 
 we read of the Slaughters and Troubles and 
 Superftitions of thofe Days, and how deli- 
 berately Thoufands were taken and llain — - 
 we mufl ceafe to judge of the Inftance be- 
 fore us altogether as Chriftians. Yet make 
 what Allowances we will — Jepthah certainly 
 C 4 went 
 
54 SERMON II. 
 
 went beyond the Cuftoms and .Errors even 
 of his own miftaken Times. Sacrifices we 
 know were wont to be made unto the Lord, 
 and with very pious Intentions — but then 
 it was the Incenfe of Rams or of Bullocks 
 and of He- Goats, elfe of the tender 
 and innocent Lamb. IfaaCt it is true, was 
 deftined to be offered up, and by a Com- 
 mand from Heaven too — and Faith's pre- 
 vailing in this Inftance was juftly imputed 
 unto Abraham as Righteoufnefs ; yet the 
 Trial feems to be thotjght too hard an one by 
 the Lord for a Man to offer up his only Son : 
 For when Faith had fo far fubdued the Pow- 
 ers of natural Affedion as to bring Abraham 
 with his Son to the Place where he was ap- 
 pointed to be (lain — an Angel's Voice was 
 heard from Heaven to cry out to Abraham, 
 whofe Hand was now ffretched forth, and 
 in Poffeffion of the Knife prepared for the 
 Slaughter — lay not thine Hand upon the 
 Lad, Nay, a Sacrifice of this Sort was 
 
 not 
 
SERMON II. 25 
 
 '«ot only fuppofed by the Lord to be moft 
 affliding to a Parent, and indeed Injuftice 
 towards the Child — but we may colled I 
 think — that as it was not permitted to be 
 made in the Cafe of Ifaac — fo in future 
 Times it (hould have been confidered (in- 
 dependently of Nature) as an A(fl highly of- 
 fenfive in the Sight of God. As a Jew was 
 prevented, and by Heaven too prevented — 
 from committing it — a Jew fhould certain- 
 ly have been taught, even yepthab, to have 
 kept back his raOi and inconfiderate Vow 
 with Refped to a fellow Creature, and to 
 have confined it to the Sacrifice of a Ram. 
 And yet methinks our Candor is ftrongly 
 addrefiTed on the Side of yepthah. His 
 Call to engage againft the Children of Am^ 
 mon was a very fingular one. He was in 
 Banifhment, and invited to return even to 
 fight for, and to rule over, thofe who ba- 
 nifhed him. Feel for a Man thus fituated : 
 And when he had actually received the Spi- 
 rit. 
 
26 SERMON II. 
 
 rit of the Lord as his Encourager and 
 Supporter, fancy his religious Gratitude fo 
 much excited, as to make him think him- 
 felf adling with a Duty equal to the Great- 
 nefs of the Occafion, in offering up, in Cafe 
 of Vid:ory, one of his own Species, nay^ 
 one of his own Family — that he might 
 have confidered a common Sacrifice too 
 fmail a Token of fo extraordinary an Ho- 
 nour — Gratitude too limited for fo great a 
 Share of Mercy. This I fay not in Juftifica- 
 tion of the Vow itfelf— for it cannot, it 
 muft not be countenanced — I mean it only 
 as fome Excule for the unhappy Man who 
 made it. Indeed Jepthah feems to be fitu- 
 ated in this Matter much like St. Paul 
 touching a miftaken Confcience. His Pcr- 
 fecutions no Chriftian muft attempt to juf- 
 tify, tho' many Arguments may be urged iri 
 Favour of the milled Perfecutor , So with 
 Regard to 'Jepthah^ when we rciledl upon 
 what is recorded of his Difpofition and Be- 
 haviour 
 
SERMON II. 2j 
 
 havlour and Principles in general — we can- 
 not avoid in a great Meafure excufing him 
 as to the intentional Part of his Vow. 
 •^Had it been made through Cruelty and 
 Wantonncfs — had he meant to fport with 
 the Life of a fellow Creature — he would 
 doubtlefs have fought for fuch a Vidiin 
 from Home — not at his own Houfe, 
 which contained Servants who had, oro- 
 bably, by their Fidelity, gained his Efteem 
 — and hefides thefe a Daughter, an only 
 Child, who being a Perfon fo nearly con- 
 cerned in her Father's Joys and Succefles 
 was likeliefl too to come out firft to meet 
 him. And thus it even happened : A Cir- 
 cumftance, which at the fame Time that It 
 convinces us of God's peculiar Difappro- 
 bation of the Oath itfelf — increafes like- 
 wife our Pity towards the afflided Father — 
 who fuffered, I fuppofe, all that Man 
 could fuffer on this Side the Grave. How 
 mufl all his Glory which he had juft ac- 
 quired 
 
28 Sermon ii. 
 
 quired in the Field — be at once converted 
 into Shame of the moft tormenting Kind ; 
 and the Laurels of Vidory — into a CrowHk 
 of Thorns ! 
 
 But leaving 'Jepthah as far as regards his 
 making this Vow, let us briefly touch upoa 
 the Impropriety of his fulfilling it. 
 
 That Men fliould pay a facred Attention to 
 Vov^^s or Oaths, in which Religion or the 
 Happinefs of the World is concerned — - is a 
 Dodlrine which every good and honeft Man 
 muft needs inculcate : Nay, whatever we 
 engage our Faith and Promife to, whether 
 private Perfons or Society be concerned -^' 
 provided that fuch Engagement be founded 
 on moral Virtue or moral Honefty ; they are 
 the worft of Men, who flirink back when it 
 is in their Power to fulfil it. But when 
 Men make Vows in themfelves ridiculous — 
 injurious to Society, and contrary to the 
 Laws of Religion and Morality — let fuch 
 Men, at the Time that they are about t6 
 
 execute 
 
SERMON II. 29 
 
 execute their Vow from a falfe Scruple of 
 Confcience, or from a falle Notion of Hch 
 npur — rather affliift themfelves that they had 
 ever made fuch Vow ^t all, and forbear fron;i 
 fulfilling it— than after they have fulfilled it, 
 to carry about them the perpetual Senfe of 
 Injury done to thofe who have fuffered by it. 
 What are our Thoughts of the Tetrarch 
 Herod — who for paffing a few Hours in law- 
 ful Diflipation with Herodiass Daughter -— 
 was led to offer her fo far as the Half of his 
 Kingdom. Doubtlefs, he expedied that 
 her Requeft would have been a lucrative one, 
 and when ihe afked the Baptifl's Head in a 
 Charger — he was forryj yet fo idle were 
 his Notions of Honour (for Confcience 
 could no Ways be here concerned) that he 
 fuflfered his Humanity to fall fo great a Sa- 
 crifice to it, as even to order that John {hould 
 be beheaded. Now if Herod had done 
 wifely, fhould he not have reproved Hero^ 
 ^i(fs's Daughter, at leaft with faying, ** thou 
 
 ** know eft 
 
30 SERMON II. 
 
 **'knoweft not what thou ajkeji,'* and have 
 left himfelf to have refleded upon the Folly 
 ofPromifes dr Vows, which make Room 
 for the Exercife of Cruelty and Wrong — 
 without putting his own into Execution at 
 the Expcnce of the Life of fo good and va- 
 lu?.ble a Man as "John the Baptift. 
 
 And let us inftance next, on the Side of 
 a fcrupulous Confcience-^in the Cafe of 
 yepthah, who would furely have been a 
 wifer, a happier, and a better Man, if he 
 had permitted his Confcience to have dif- 
 penfed with the executhe Part of his Vow, 
 and to have exercifed it's Stings refpeding 
 the making of it only. 
 
 Vows and Refolutions like Jepthah^s are 
 indted unknown to our Times of Revela- 
 tion, and true Worfhip which admits of no 
 Sacrifice but that of a broken and a contrite 
 Heart : Yet it is a very dilpleafing and a very 
 faulty Cuftom amongft us to load our Coit- 
 fciences with idle Vows and rafh Refolu- 
 tions 
 
S. E R M Q N^ II. 31 
 
 tions— fo as to lay the greateft Foundation 
 of Unhappinefs, In Things that are lovely 
 and of good Report we oftentimes teach ouf'. 
 Confciences to evade; butin Things trifling, 
 wrong, or mifchievous to the common Good 
 • — we eafily become Slaves to this mifguided 
 Confci ence, 'till at laft, when we have {hew- 
 ed ourfelves (as we think) Men of firm 
 Principles and Refolution by executing 
 fome mad Refolvc — we make ourfelves 
 wretched, as well as thofe, to whom we 
 have proved fo cruelly and foolifhly rcfo- 
 lufc. Vows and Refolutions are always 
 made in. fome Excefs of Pafjton ; but feldom 
 as yepthah's was, in the Spirit of foy and 
 Gratitude. And belides, he meant his as a 
 Duty, and as an acceptable Service to Godi— 
 but the Vows and Refolutions of thefe Days 
 feldom have a good Tendency : They are for 
 themoft Part founded on Pique ^^nd Refe?it' 
 ment ; and even upon a Suppofition that wc 
 have received //^/f^ry-— they generally take 
 Car^ to bring us in Debtor at lafl even to the 
 
 very 
 
32 SERMON II. 
 
 very Party which Jirjl offended — A Mortl- 
 ikation as well as an Injuftice this — which 
 muft needs be very painful to a Mind the 
 leaft fufceptible of Friend (hip, or real Great- 
 nefs of Difpofition j infomuch that I doubt 
 not but there are many, let their Wealth 
 and Situation be never fo great and flattering 
 -r-who are now wretched, merely through 
 a ftrid Obfervance of fome idle unguarded 
 Refolution. 
 
 In a Word- — this Life necelTarily afFords 
 fo many and fo unexpected Changes — and 
 the Futurity even of an Hour may caufe (b 
 furprizing and fo ftriking a Viciffitude in 
 human Affairs^—that a truly wife Man will 
 make no other Refolution — than to be as 
 juft, as honeft, as friendly, as religious, 
 and as virtuous as he can. Vows of another 
 Kind are oftentimes vicious — at befl: trifling 
 and imprudent — and always to be difcoun- 
 tenanced, as being naturally hurtful to Re- 
 
 ligion and Virtue and fecial Life. 
 
 Let 
 
SERMON II. 33 
 
 Let us then endeavour to be careful of our 
 Words as well as Works-— to fay and do 
 what is moft pleafing In the Sight of Hea- 
 ven—as we would wifh to enjoy Peace on 
 Earth, and Peace at God's right Hand for 
 evermore— through the Merits and Inter- 
 ceflion of Jefus Chrift our Lord — to which 
 two facred Perfons together with the Holy 
 Spirit be afcribed all Honour and Glory, 
 World without End. Amen. 
 
 D S E R. 
 
SERMON III. 
 
 UPON THE 
 
 GOOD SAMARITAN, 
 
 Preached at COURT, 
 On Sunday, October 22, 1775. 
 
 D2 
 
SERMON Iir. 
 
 Luke x. 36, 37.' 
 
 r 
 Which now of thefe three thinkejl thou was 
 Neighbour unto him who fell among Ji the 
 Thieves ? And he faid, he that jhewed 
 Mercy on him : Then faid] q(us unto him, 
 go — and do thou likewife, 
 
 WE are doubtlefs born into this 
 World to difcharge the Offices 
 of Friendfhip and Society : The 
 very firft LefTon which we learn is — that 
 (under the Providence of the Deity) we 
 D 3 owe 
 
38 SERMON III. 
 
 owe our Exiftence and Support to the Fa- 
 vour of others, and brought up as we all 
 are in a State of Dependence — and unable 
 to fubfift alone — we fee continually the 
 NecelTity which we are under of cultivating 
 a reciprocal Kindnefs and good Will amongft 
 Men. Our neareft Relations are certainly 
 our firft and flrongeft Bonds of Endear- 
 ment; yet this Union which begins with 
 our nearefl Kindred does not end there — 
 but extends itfelf far and wide, and connedts 
 us (in a certain Degree) with our Neigh- 
 bours, our Country, and all Mankind. 
 
 It may be faid, perhaps, that the Con- 
 duct of the Priefl and Levite (as recorded 
 in this well known Narrative before us) 
 exceeded the Pra(flice of the moit inhuman 
 Chrijliam, thofe only excepted who (as Mur- 
 derers) delight in Blood ; and that tlic Part 
 of the Samaritan would be that of Chrillians 
 in general, fo particularly called upon as he 
 was. Let it be acknowledged, indeed, that 
 
 the 
 
SERMON m. 39 
 
 the Cafe of a Traveller robbed, flripped^ 
 Wounded, and, as it were, expiring for 
 Want of fome kind Friend to cloath him, 
 and to pour Oil into his Wounds — is fuch, 
 as would affedl even many very wicked Men. 
 How candidly therefore fhould we judge 
 in this Matter of the loneji and henevolent 
 Part of Mankind ? Surely there is no Doubt 
 to be made, but that thefe, under the fame 
 Circumftances, would, from natural human 
 Feelings, as well as from Principles of Chrif- 
 tianity, difcover a Sympathy, and relieve 
 with Compaffion and Care, equal to what 
 the Samaritan (hewed. Bad as the World is, 
 we are not wanting in Thoufands of In- 
 flances, wherein the Samaritan has been 
 fully equalled. 
 
 I cannot, it Is true, avoid remarking, 
 that there are to be found, I am afraid, 
 but too many, who tho' they could not 
 carry themfelves in fb relentlefs a Manner 
 as the Pfieft and Levite did ; and tho' they 
 D 4 fhould 
 
40 SERMON III. 
 
 ihould fo far imitate the Samaritan, as to 
 take a Fellow Creature, fituated as the Tra- 
 veller before us was^ upon their own Beaft 
 to a Place which could afford him Comfort 
 and Relief; yet I am afraid, I fay, that we 
 have but too many '(even in this Chriftian 
 Land) through Notions too contraded, and 
 from a criminal Love of Money, who 
 would leave this deflitute Man, unwilline 
 to exercife upon him the Generofity of a 
 Samaritan in paying the Expences of one 
 Night only, much lefs in fpeaking that moft 
 liberal and humane Language which the Sa- 
 maritan delivered in the Morning to the 
 Mafter of the Houfe when he was obliged 
 to leave the poor wounded Man : " Take Care 
 *' of him, and whatfoever thou fpendeil more, 
 *' when I come again I will repay thee." 
 Hence we may learn, that the truly good 
 Man, or he who wiflies to imitate the good 
 Samaritan, mud exercife his Mercy (accor- 
 ding to his Opportunities and Abilities) as 
 
 well 
 
"SERMON HI. 41 
 
 well, when Expences attend fuch Ads of 
 Mercy, as when they do not. 
 
 But we have before obferved, that no 
 Chrijiians could ad: the Part of the Prieft 
 and Levite — thofe only excepted, who (as 
 Murderers) delight in Blood : And I really 
 believe and hope that this Obfervation will 
 ftand good. Still, tho' Chrijiians would 
 not fuffer their Bigotry and Prejudices thus 
 far to get the better of their natural Feelings 
 even as Men, much more of their indifpen- 
 Jible Duty as Chrijiians 5 yet every Denomi- 
 nation amongft us have Bigotry and Preju- 
 dices too weak and even too criminal, to 
 render the Behaviour of the Prieft and Le- 
 vite wholly inapplicable to ourfelves. Every 
 Nation, and every religious Profeflion 
 amongft us — have hereditary Notions and 
 contracted Opinions, which border but too 
 much upon the Prefumption and Ignorance 
 and Obftinacy, always fo confpicuous in 
 the Jeimjl: Heart. It was doubtlefs the 
 
 Defign 
 
42 SERMON ill. 
 
 Defign and Employment of our Divine 
 Lord and Mafter to rediify all Diforders-— 
 to remove every little narrow Prejudice which 
 Humanity vvas prone to : For which Pur- 
 pofe he pradtifed in his own Life — a Scheme 
 of Benevolence as extenfive as the Globe : 
 " This imiverfal Benevolence our Lord 
 *' makes the FerJeWon of Religion^ and 
 *' the Ferfccfion of Religion mud needs be 
 ** the Perfe&ion of human Nature" 
 
 Should indeed two Objeifls (equally cir- 
 cumftanced in Danger and Diftrefs) prefent 
 themfelves to our Mercy — the one a good-^ 
 the other a dad Man ; or the one our Friend 
 or Acqiiainta?iC£'^ the other our Enemy or 
 710 Acquaintance 3 (if Ability be not afforded 
 us to afiill both) it feems to be the Voice of 
 Jufiice as well as of Nature, and by no 
 Means contrary to a Spirit of uni'verfal Bene- 
 volence — that we (in this Cafe) beftow our 
 Succour and AfliHance upon thc^-^t?^ Man, or 
 upon him whom we call our Friend or Ac^ 
 ^uaintance. We may, and ought to wijh 
 
 the 
 
SERMON III. 43 
 
 thQOihtr well; and if we do this, we ad, I 
 think, quite egtml to the Samaritan. But 
 when no fuch Choice of miferable Objeds 
 is prefented to our Mercy, and where no 
 fuch Comparifon of Charafters or Connections 
 can be made (as was the Cafe with the Sa- 
 maritan refpedling the poor wounded Tra- 
 veller) our Bulinefs is not to regard the 
 Country — the Religion — the Connedions, 
 or even the CharaSler and Morals of the 
 Objedt (fuppofing that his Wants are urgent^ 
 and the Danger of his Life apparent ^ as was 
 alfo manifeftiy the Situation of this Travel- 
 ler) but in Earneft, and without Hefitation, 
 haften as the Samaritan did — to adminifter 
 every Relief in our Power which may be 
 neceffary to the Eafe and Recovery of this 
 Objed: of Compaffion — wheiher known 
 or unknown — our Friend or Enemy — a 
 Jew, a Turk — or even an Infidel. 
 
 We fhall do well to obferve further, that 
 no Station, however opulent or dignified, is 
 
 ^ exempt 
 
44 SERMON III: 
 exempt from Danger and Diftrefs. We 
 none of us know what a Day may bring 
 forth, and our Misfortunes oftentimes arife 
 where we leajl expeBed them. The Cafe 
 of the poor Traveller in the Gofpel may be- 
 come in a great Meafure the Cafe of the 
 moft independent amongft us. If fo, what 
 would the Dignity, or Fortune, or Friends 
 of fuch an one elfewhere afford him ? Unlefs 
 fome kind Samaritan {hould happen to pafs 
 by, he mufl (equally with the pooreft Man) 
 lie upon the Road weltering in his Blood, 
 and perifli and die alone. Refledt then that 
 fhould our own Situation require it, how 
 freely we fliould receive Mercy j and fuch 
 a Rcfledion ftiould forcibly inftrud us, that 
 fhould the Situation of others fland in ISleed 
 of Mercy — we ought (if in our Power) as 
 freely to beflow it. The very Notion that 
 Man was made after the Image of God 
 teaches that every Individual thus afflicted 
 has a Right to be thus humanely dealt by; 
 
 mnd 
 
SERMON III. 45 
 
 and when this is not the Cafe *' Contempt 
 " is {hewed both ^o the Litage and to the 
 ** divine Original.'* 
 
 But whilft we thus infift that Humanity 
 obliges us to affift pur Brethren in their ex- 
 treme Neceffities — let it not be fuppofed that 
 the great Precept of Chrijiian Charity is ri- 
 gorous but in this Cafe only: Befides thofe 
 extreme Neceffities, there are Necejities 
 grievous and rs\Qi^ frequent, I am unwilling 
 to believe that there are any amongft the 
 Jlich fo void of Pity as to fee a fellow Crea- 
 ture perifli before, their Eyes'—- to fee him 
 reduced to the lajl Dijirefs^ and jufl ready 
 to expire — without taking Pains to preferve 
 Life in him, and to relieve him from fuch 
 Extremity : And let me remark alfo — that 
 it is a very rare Sight to behold amongft the 
 Poor any one in a Situation altogether fo mi- 
 Jerahle and defpairing. We may therefore 
 fiafely conclude that it is our Duty not only 
 to attend to thofe extraordinary Neceflitiej;, 
 
 but 
 
46 SERMON III. 
 
 but like wife — to others which are more com- 
 mon and familiar to us : For the Chriftiah 
 who forms a Refolution never to do good 
 but in the laji Neceflities of the Poor — • 
 fhews a Difpofition in a moft effential Point 
 criminal, and diredly oppoiite to the divine 
 Law. 
 
 Again ; partial Regards and partial 
 Friendfliips may pofiibly become very faulty 
 Errors. Let it be allowed thus far, that 
 fome are more linked to us as Brethren, and 
 fome of Neceflity render themfelves more 
 endearing to us, than others j and Friend- 
 Ihips of this Kind properly founded and 
 properly condu(5led— bring with them great 
 Sweets, and are produ6tive of much real 
 Virtue : Yet as God is the Father, and the 
 yerufalem above the Mother of us all- — as 
 we are all born of the fame incorruptible 
 Seed, and capable of being equal Partakers 
 
 of the fame divine Nature as every Day 
 
 makes fome Separation amongfl: us, and as 
 
 a 
 
SERMON III. 47 
 
 a few Years muft make a total one — how 
 reafonable the Duty, how tender the Rc- 
 queft, that our Benevolence towards each 
 other be extenfive — if poffible, that it be 
 univerfal ! And tho* fome {hould prove un- 
 worthy of our Regard and AfTiftance, yet 
 we may be affured that our Part is (agree- 
 ably to the Goodnefs of it) accepted with 
 God. And indeed if we would wifh to go 
 and do as the wife Samaritan did, and as the 
 Lawyer was commanded in the Text, we 
 muft effedtually defire the Good and Happi- 
 nefs of the whole World, and do all in our 
 Power really to promote it : We muft be 
 companionate and friendly, not only in 
 Thought and in Word^ but as we have Op- 
 portunity — inDeed a.ndm Tniih : By Virtue 
 of which godlike Difpofition, there will 
 exift in us an Heart felt Sympathy, which 
 will fhew itfelf by rejoicing with thofe that 
 do rejoice, and mourning with them that 
 mourn. This, in a Werd, is that well 
 
 inftruded 
 
4S SERMON III. 
 
 inftnidcd Charader which completeth all 
 Things : The Chriftian Faith may fupport,. 
 and other chriftian Virtues may defend us 
 during;our earthly Pilgrimage — but this Con- 
 du<fl which (o much refembles that of the 
 good Samaritan— is what rnvSkJinaUy perfeSi 
 us, and is therefore the beft adorned Pledge 
 and Reprefentation of eternal Glory. 
 
 SERMON 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 UPON 
 
 A PROPER and an improper Conformity 
 to the World. 
 
 PREACHED AT 
 
 ^EEN-SrREET CHAPEL, 
 
 on Sunday, November 12, 1775. 
 
 E 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 Prov. xxix, 25. 
 The Fear of Man hringcth a Snare, 
 
 IT muft be allowed (with Solomon) 
 that there is a Fear of Man which 
 bringeth a Snare or Difgrace; but it 
 feems to be equally clear and certain that 
 thete is a Fear of Man alfo which does 
 not bring a Snare or Difgrace with it, but 
 Honour and Happinefs. Now it will be 
 proper to prove this, before we enlarge 
 upon the Text j before indeed we can fay 
 any Thing in perfed Favour of the 
 Proverb which it contains, 
 
 E 2 A Defire 
 
52 SERMON IV. 
 
 A Defire to be fpokcn well of by the 
 
 World in general^- is both natural and 
 
 laudable ; therefore all honourable Methods 
 
 to obtain tbis good Opinion are to be 
 
 adopted and encouraged. Although the 
 
 good Man, and the Man of Integrity is 
 
 convinced that he has not deferved either 
 
 public or private Cenfure ; flill, he cannot, 
 
 ihould not alvi'ays be without the Fear of 
 
 it : Becaufc this prudent Fear will teach 
 
 him conftantly to endeavour to keep off 
 
 Slander from the fro/ej/ed Backbiter, and 
 
 to prevent harfli Speeches falling from the 
 
 Lips of thofe, who from a weak Head, 
 
 and a Propenfity to much idle Talking, 
 
 are apt to caufe great Mifchief to their 
 
 Friends and Acquaintance, as well as 
 
 to Society in general. Unjuft Cenfures 
 
 can never make an innocent Man truly 
 
 miferable ; yet they are, doubtlefs, a very 
 
 conjiderable Abatement to his temporal 
 
 Happinefs. 
 
 To 
 
S E R M O N IV. 53 
 
 To comply feafonably, and in Proportion 
 to their Confequence, with the innocent 
 Cuftoms and Fafliions of the World — is alfo, 
 I think, highly commendable. Wholly to 
 give up ourfelves to them — muft be 2. faulty 
 Compliance', and wholly to defpife them — 
 muft be 2i faulty Singularity, The Infirmities 
 of human Nature, and the Difficulties of 
 human Life— feem ftrongly to apologize 
 for the World, in contriving and encou- 
 raging certain Pleafures and Amufements-^ 
 intended merely as feafbnable, indeed 
 necejjary Reliefs to Care and Solitude. 
 This Indulgence, (as we have before 
 hinted) muft have its Bounds, to render 
 it either lawful or becoming ; but, furely, 
 when exercifed with Prudence and Dif- 
 cretion — the beft of Men will do right 
 even to countenance fuch occalional Inter- 
 miffions, whether oi fancied or real Joys — 
 thus authorized by the WQrld and their 
 ^wn Innocence, 
 
 E 3 But 
 
54 SERMON IV. 
 
 But let us now attend to ftill higher 
 Injundions in Favour of 2. proper Confor-- 
 mity to the World, or of a laudable Fear of 
 Man. Maflers, Parents, Princes, are to 
 be jearcd or reverenced -, and fo is every 
 Perfon (in a proportionable Degree) by 
 thofe to whom he is Juperiour, or over 
 whom he has zny jujl and /^ir/«/ Authority. 
 However dlfgracefully fuch Superiottrs may 
 fill their refpedive Chara6lers-^ftill it will 
 be dutiful and prudent in every conneded 
 or dependent Inferiour to do bis Part — ^ 
 to fliew Honour to their Stations, though 
 he might jujlly cenfure and condemn — 
 the Men. 
 
 But if we fuppofe a becoming Fear or 
 Reverence to be wanting in a Servant to- 
 wards a good Mafterj how criminal the 
 Ingratitude o^ fuch a Servant ! And what 
 are the Mifchiefs which may not arife from 
 fuch undutiful Condud ? If we fuppofe this 
 Fear or Reverence to be wanting in a Child 
 towards a ro.^^ Parent; what is there that 
 
SERMON IV. ^^ 
 
 is fhameful which we may not expeft from 
 fuc/j a Child ? Or what of Unhappinefs 
 which focS a Parent may not tenderly 
 experience? If we fuppofe this Fear or 
 Reverence to be wanting in a Subjed to- 
 wards a good Prince j it becomes a hurtful, 
 a deftrud:ive Principle indeed. And laftly, 
 if we fuppofe f/jis Fear or Reverence to 
 be wanting towards a good Magiftrate, or 
 towards a deferving Superiour of any Kind j 
 that wife DiJiinSfion of Station and Power 
 fo neceffary to the well-being of Society — 
 is hereby in Danger of being unhappily 
 converted into criminal Difcord and Con- 
 fufion : In Time — the Fear of God^ 
 together with the juji and lawful Fear of 
 Marly will become equally exploded ; and 
 Men will ad as if (literally fpeaking) they 
 neither feared them who can legally kill 
 the Body only^ nor him who is abb to 
 deftroy both Body and Soul in Hell. I wifh 
 indeed that the Period of Time may not 
 be already arrived, when the moral Ties 
 E 4 without 
 
5$ S E 'R M O N IV. 
 
 without the legal would lay but Uttk 
 Reftraint upon the Generality of Mankind. 
 Nay, can even Laws be formed clofe enough 
 to repel the bold Aflailants of our Rights 
 and Happinefs ? Or do fuch Offenders in 
 in general difcover the leaft Senfe of Shame 
 or Fear •^— tho' compelled to undergo all 
 the Pain and Ignominy, which the fevereft 
 Sentence (within the Power of the Laws) 
 can pronounce againft them. 
 
 I muft here repeat the melancholy Sup- 
 pofition -^ that the facred Ties of Religion 
 alone -^ would lay but little Reftraint upoa 
 the Generality of Mankind ! Happy, how- 
 ever, is that Man who conforms to the 
 excepted Few ^^ who thinks with tbem, 
 that if the Chriftian Religion be of the 
 leaji Importance, it is, doubtlefs, of the 
 greatejl — that if it be any Thing at all, it 
 is certainly the one Thing efpe daily needful. 
 And thrice happy that Parent, or Mafter of 
 a Family, who in this Refpcft ho\h fear etb 
 and imitateth pious Jojhua ; who like him 
 thus dareth to determine ; If it feem evil 
 
 untQ 
 
SERMON IV. 57 
 
 unto the irreligious Multitude fo to do i yet 
 as for me and m^ Houje — we will ferve 
 the Lord. 
 
 But let me haften now to a Vindication of 
 the Saying of Solomon-~^t\i2X the Fear of 
 Man bringeth a Snare. 
 
 Ahho* we have been fo flrongly recom- 
 mending a proper Conformity to the World, 
 as in Things of manifeft Importance, fo 
 likewife in Things, which, tho' in Reality 
 trifling, Cuftom and even Religion itfelf 
 may (in a great Meafure) authorize and re- 
 commend; yet if we purfue this Confor- 
 mity to the World as an ultimate Part of 
 our Duty and Happinefs — our Conduct be- 
 comes defective in it's main Springs and our 
 Innocence, with our Happinefs, is in certain 
 Danger of being finally loft. As there is a 
 Power above Man, fo that Power (hould 
 always be feared and reverenced in Fre- 
 ference to Man. Whenever the Commands 
 of the World oppofe the Commands of God-, 
 I {hould hope ever to facrifice the World 
 (and the Power and Happinefs of a thou- 
 
 fand 
 
5^ S E R M O N IV. 
 
 fund fuch Worlds) to my fuperiour Attach- 
 ments to my God, and to that Life and hn- 
 mortality fo manifeftly brought to Light by 
 the Gofpel of his blefTed Son. 
 
 And yet hew many has a criminal Fear 
 of Men or of the World prevailed upon to 
 ridicule facred Truths ! Bat if to be impious 
 is to be faJl:ionable ; who in his Senfes will 
 dare to comply with the World, in a Matter 
 fo affronting to his God and Saviour — fo de- 
 grading to the hum.an Nature — and withal 
 fo dangerous to his own eternal Safety ? 
 
 Again, with Rcfped: to Morals alfo— * 
 how many have been weak and finful enough 
 to plead Fajhion or Perfuajion in Favour of 
 Fraud, OpprefTion, Perjury, and indeed 
 Vice in general. But, furely, to coiijmit 
 evil to oblige others — mufl be always making 
 that l£i\'i\ — our own-, and to commit Evil 
 bccaufe others commit it — is to make our- 
 f elves — equally guilty and refponfible. Few 
 Men {li any) have it in^heir Power, I fear, 
 uholly to avoid the Contagion of the World 
 
 where 
 
SERMON IV. 59 
 
 where the private Vices are concerned : But 
 <?// Men have it in their Power ischoUy to 
 avoid this Contagion of the World where the 
 public Vices are concerned. If we may not 
 always be able to refrain from doing Injury 
 to ourfelves ; yet no Temptation (either of 
 Inclination ^or Ferfuafion) can poffibly jufti- 
 fy US' in doing Injury to others : In the for^ 
 mer Cafe, Principle t?iay exijl even with 
 Quilt ', but in the latter, it cannot : Yet 
 rather thzn Jbrjeit — real Principle — every 
 good an4 honeft Man would Jo rj} it — his 
 earthly all. 
 
 But methinks I hear Flattery particularly 
 vindicated— that it does not amount to a 
 FicCj but is (at mofl) only aJliJJjionahle^ in- 
 deed a necejfary — Error. If it hQ fafi ion- 
 able, yet never let us fink tlie human 
 Underftanding fo low as to account it -ncccf- 
 Jary. There is the greateft Difference be^ 
 tween Refped and Flattery : The one may 
 be a Duty — the other mufl be a Fault. 
 Rudely or unfeafonably to tell Men of their 
 
 Imperfedions 
 
6o S E R M O N IV. 
 
 Imperfcdiions will ever deferve Rebuke— • 
 but to afcribe to Men Virtues or Merit which 
 we know that they are not poflefTed of — is 
 as mean as it is criminal. But however 
 Flattery may fometimes ferve a prefent Pur- 
 pofe ; yet upon the whole it feldom anfwers ; 
 Men who are pleafed with it— /o Day — » 
 may htjujlly diguJied2X il-^to-Morrow j and 
 Men who exercife it with Succefs to Day-^ 
 may htjujlly degraded for it — /o Morrow: 
 Whether therefore Flattery be a Vice or an 
 Error only — we may venture to pronounce 
 Sincerity to be the chief Glory of every Man's 
 Charader— and the Want of it our greatcfl 
 Shame and Dijhonour ; as we fliall hope 
 more fully to make appear in two fubfe^ 
 quent Difcourfes. 
 
 As a Conclufion of the Subjedl before us — - 
 let it be acknowledged that the Pradlice of 
 all Vice and Error, whether of a public or 
 private Nature — whether done to pleafe 
 ourfehes or others'— h generally feen (fooner 
 or later) to bring a Snare with it : May none 
 
 of 
 
SERMON IV. 6i 
 
 of us ever experience this in both Worlds ! 
 To fpeak, however, nearly in the Words of 
 the amiable Dr. Rogers — after wq have 
 ufed our utmoft Precaution— after we have 
 called in every imaginable Affiftance — great 
 is the Work of qualifying ourfelves for Hea- 
 ven, and for the Characters of Saints. Let 
 then neither the Cujioms of Mankind nor our 
 ovfnfelf- corrupt ed'iiiQznS'-^lct neither Pro- 
 fit, Pleafure, nor Fear, fo far biafs our 
 Judgments, as to make us court the Ho- 
 nours or the Company — flatter the Foibles— 
 or commend the Vices and Infidelity — of 
 wicked and prophane Men. Religion and 
 it's exalted Lift of Virtues — Heaven and 
 all it's glorious Pretenfions — are Things of 
 too great Value — either to be parted with 
 — in a Compliment — or facrificed to an im^ 
 pious and dijfolute World, 
 
 SERMON 
 
SERMON V. 
 
 UPON 
 
 PRAYER — what it is, and 
 
 what it is not. 
 
 Preached before the University of 
 Cambridge, 1773, 
 
SERMON V. 
 
 PsaLm v. 5. 
 I will direB tny Prayer unto Tbee, 
 
 PRAYER has ever been confidered in 
 all Ages and by all Nations however 
 barbarous and unenlightened — as a 
 Duty becoming — incumbent upon Man, 
 Not the Neceffity nor Importance of Prayer 
 then — but the Manner in which it ought 
 to ht performed — is intended for the Subje<ft 
 of our prcfent Refledtion -, which feems to 
 be happily fuggefted to us in the Language 
 of the Text : ** I will dire£l my Prayer un- 
 to rhee:' 
 
 F That 
 
66 SERMON V. 
 
 That human Nature is capable of at- 
 tending fo long or fo fteadily to iiivijible as it 
 is to vifible Objeds — all Philofophers deny. 
 God therefore (the Obje£l of our Devotion) 
 being an invifible Objecfl — even the moft 
 pious Men find foaie Difficulty entirely to 
 bring the Mind over from attending to the 
 Things which are feen — tofuch a Diredlion 
 of itfelf to the Deity, as is required in the 
 great Duty of Prayer. Yet this very Caufe 
 of natural Wandering or Inattention in 
 Prayer — marks out a natural Relief, tho' 
 not, at all Times, an abfolute Cure for it. 
 It is beyond Dlfpute, that great Degrees of 
 Perfedlion in the A61 of Prayer are in cur 
 Power of attaining — if we could but be con- 
 vinced of the Method of performing it 
 aright — and fecure Faith and Inclination in 
 it's Favour. 
 
 And here I am forry to find myfelf (in 
 Jufticc to my Subjedl) under the Neceffity 
 of introducing a Variety of Oblervations — 
 
 the 
 
SERMON V. 67 
 
 the Truth of which will, I trull:, fuffici- 
 entJy apologize for the feemtng Freedom 
 with which they may be delivered. 
 
 " The Countenance of true Devotion tho' 
 " not to confift of any hypocritical Marks 
 ** —is, neverthelefs, peculiar to itfelf, and 
 ** generally to be diftinguifhed from the 
 '* carelefs WorQiipper.'* I mean to pafs 
 over private Devotion, and only to fpeak of 
 the Church. But If we look around our 
 Churches ; by how few does the Deity 
 leem to be truly worfliipped ? Few even 
 amongfl the religious Part of our Congre- 
 gations appear to have a juft Idea of the 
 Properties of Prayer. They fancy that 
 they have been praying, when in Fad: they 
 may not have offered up a fingle Petition : 
 They are apt, I fear, to miftake Meditation for 
 Prayer — and thinking only of their Sins for 
 confejjing them. Now nothing can confti- 
 tute a real Confeflion of Sins, but a deep 
 Contrition of the Spirit 3 and nothing can 
 F 2 conftitute 
 
68 SERMON V. 
 
 conftitutc real Prayer but a DireSiion of the 
 Soul to the divine Objeifl of it. The Er- 
 ror of good Men in this Matter is more to 
 be lamented as a Misfortune than as a 
 Crime ; yet for their own Happinefs as well 
 as for the Honour of public Worfhip — 
 how much is it to be wifhed that they 
 would find out and redify fo general a Mif- 
 take! But what Excufe can we make for 
 thofe of our Congregation, who feem to be 
 entirely loft to all Senfe of Prayer ; as if 
 they were not at all concerned in what was 
 doing, nor even defirous of becoming io} 
 Again, what muft we think of thofe who 
 hope to pafs for Devotionifts, and to par- 
 take of the Benefits of public Worfliip — 
 merelvfrom the Afliftanceand Efficacy of the 
 Word — Amen^ " The Prayer offered up by 
 ** the Minifter becomes the undoubted Prayer 
 " of the Man, who with a DireBion of his 
 ** Heart to G^?^ attends in every Part of it, 
 *•' and at the End delivers his own, So be it : 
 
 ''But 
 
SERMON V. 69 
 
 " But what can be the Efficacy oithat Man's 
 ** Ameriy who fpeaks it only from a Kind of 
 *' mechanical LiJI en ioihtYoict of the Minif- 
 ** ter at the Clofe of a Prayer or Colled" — 
 when he himfelf, perhaps, during the deli- 
 vering of fuch Prayer or Colled — has been 
 engaged — either in telling his Gold — in 
 envying or fupplanting his Neighbour — in 
 cherifhing fome finful Pafllon — elfe (which 
 is to make the beil of it) in an idle Vacancy 
 of Thought ? 
 
 Such is the Charge which the Clergy in 
 too many Inftances may jiiftly lay to the 
 People : A Charge too of a ferious and af- 
 fronting Nature. But have the People no 
 Caufe to complain of the Clergy in this 
 Matter ? Not that fuch a Complaint, how- 
 ever great orjuft, can lefTen their Q\i\Vi or 
 excufe their Irreverence towards God. Yet 
 furely if we can with Truth be arraigned of 
 general Negligence and Inattention in Prayer 
 —our onjon Guilt and Irreverence towards 
 
70 SERMON V. 
 
 God fhould ftrike us with Concern and Re-r 
 morfe. And I am afraid that upon true 
 Sffceculation we fhall find — that we have 
 really lefTened ourfelves more^ and have 
 given greater Advantages to our dijfenting 
 Brethren, by thefe Means, than by any 
 other whatever. Their Objedions to our 
 Liturgy (great as they originally were and 
 ftill may be) feem to be manifeftly exceeded 
 by their Objections to the Manner ^ in which 
 it is but too generally performed. This 
 Opinion I gained fome Years ago from the 
 Mouth of one of their moil eminent Di- 
 vines ; and I am concerned to add that my 
 own Experience, fince that Time, has too 
 fully convinced me of the Juftnefs of his 
 Remark. We fhould ever remember that 
 merely to read a Form of Prayer cannot be 
 praying in the Clergy, any more than 
 finking into a mere Formality of Pofture and 
 refponding can be praying in the People. The 
 Articles of our Faith and our Mode of 
 
 Church- 
 
SERMON V. 71 
 
 Church- Government — we (hall, I hope, be 
 always able to defend; but an irreverent 
 Method of performing Divine Service — is 
 (doubtlefs) altogether indefenjible. Do we 
 boafl: of ihtjingidar Bleffing of a Form of 
 Prayer folemnly adapted to the divine Ear ? 
 The greater our Boaft, the greater furely is 
 our Reproach : And was fuch Form even 
 more perfe<5l than it Is — even more folemnly 
 adapted to the divine Ear ; yet if in the Ufe 
 or Performanee of it, we fhould be 'wilfully 
 deficient ip that Attention — that DireBiort 
 of the Soul which alone can conftitute true 
 Devotion — however we might admire it as 
 a Compofition ; it's Beauties would foon be- 
 come too familiar to us — and for Want of 
 Inclination to perform the Service — -wc 
 (hould be as ready then as fome of us may be 
 now — to cry out — ** the Church docs indeed 
 " take up too much of our Time in Prayer." 
 F 4 I wifh 
 
73 SERMON y. 
 
 I wifh that it may not be confidered as a 
 Misfortune, that the dignified amongft us 
 fhould fo univerfally confine themfelvcs tp 
 preachings anid that the ftill more important 
 Services of the Deik fhould be the conftant 
 Lot of the inferiour Clergy. This Cuftorn 
 (tho* exercifed with great Reafon in the 
 early Parts of the Reformation) has proved, 
 perhaps, of no fmall DifTervicc to public 
 Worfliip— noy7(?«^(?r Weapon of Defence to 
 our Liturgical Adverfaries : It has, perhaps, 
 been innocently inftrumental towards raijing 
 F reaching (let me be juftified in the Ex- 
 preffion) above itfelf^ hy Jinking Prayer '^ 
 infinitely below itfelf^tovfdivAs making too 
 many of us (for the Sake oijuperiour Fame 
 i^nd./uperiour Dignity, and fearlefs now of 
 the unmeaning Terms — Herefy and Schifm) 
 become extravagant Enthufiajis (I had al- 
 mofl faid Mountebanks) in the Pulpit, and 
 irreverent — infenjible Drones in the Dejk, 
 Far be it from me to degrade rational, nay 
 
 frequent 
 
S E R M O N V. 73 
 
 frequent preaching : It is a nohle and impor' 
 tant Ordinance of the Churchy and cannot be 
 cenfured but in a comparative Viewj as it 
 appears to render us wilfully and habitually 
 negligent in an Ordinancejlill more noble, Jlill 
 more important : And if this fliould be found 
 to be in Reality the Cafe ; might we not with 
 Reafon complain that we have too much of 
 preaching inftead of praying-— zn^ contend^ 
 that if any Part of xht full Service upon a Sun^ 
 day Morning is ever to be dfpenfed with— 
 let it be — the Sermon. 
 
 And pardon me for fuggefling that this 
 Negligence and Inattention in the Delk, fo 
 generally, and, I fear, iojujily laid to our 
 Charge— ■hasy^'Wfw to of a Foundation even 
 earlier than the Period of taking holy Orders, 
 I w}ll not, I need not explain myfclf any 
 further. Advice in this Matter would come 
 with more Gracefulnefs from an older and a 
 wifer Man ; yet Principiis obfia we all know 
 to be mofl excellent Admonition : We ihall 
 
 find 
 
74 SERMON V. 
 
 find it fo, refpedling every faulty Step 
 throughout the whole Journey of Life, and 
 efpecially ferviceable towards preventing a 
 Cuflom or Habit in the Performance of re- 
 ligious Offices, which muft needs refletft 
 Difhonour upon ourfelves and our Profeffion. 
 Whatever our Errors may be out of the. 
 Church J yet I fhould hope that no one 
 would wifh to increafe them in it. Our 
 Paffions, our Temptations, our Com- 
 pany, may, poffibly, plead fomewhat in 
 our Favour for Tranfgreffions out of the 
 Church — but our Underflandings as well 
 as our Hearts muft reprefent us as wholly 
 unpardonable for any confcious or habitual 
 Irreverence within it's facred Walls. 
 
 If it (hould be conjedlured, that in 
 this Sermon I have had a partial Re- 
 verence to a certain modern Contro- 
 verfyj I wiH beg Leave to obferve, that 
 altho' too Jlri5f an Adherence to Tradit^ion 
 was complained of by our Saviour in the 
 
 JewiHi 
 
SERMON V. 75 
 
 Jewifh Elders — yet that ih^ faulty Love 
 of Novdty in the Athenian feems to be 
 as fliarply reprehended by St. Faul. Anti- 
 quity, (merely as fuchj muft never be con- 
 fidered by Protejiants as the Standard 
 of Religion : Neither muft Antiquity {be^ 
 caufe fuchJ be necejjarily obje^cd to, and 
 given up at Random, in Compliment to 
 every new religious Syftem : At this Rate 
 pf Difcretion (to fpcak in the Words of 
 one, who made a Study of the human 
 Heart) *^ We may at Length grow weary 
 ** of the plain Truths of the Gofpel— fueh 
 " as Death and Judgement — - Heaven and 
 *•* Hell ; and fo (even before we are aware 
 ** of it) turn univerfal Sceptics, and throw 
 f* up every Thing that is worthy of the 
 ** Name of Religion." 
 
 To revert, however, more immediately 
 to the Point in Queftion ; we know that 
 in our Liturgy as it now flands — God is 
 papable of being greatly glorified -, and let 
 
 us 
 
76 5 E R M O N V. 
 
 us fuppofe that had it undergone an Alter- 
 ation He would have been equally fo : Yet 
 fince this our Form of Prayer is not likely 
 to undergo any Alteration — it feems to be 
 both prudent and our Duty to hope that 
 no fuch Alteration was at all necejfary — 
 and to endeavour to fupply the feeming 
 Defedls of it, by an additional Zeal and 
 Propriety in the Ufe or Performance of it. 
 An Experiment of this Sort will unavoid- 
 ably be fome Relief to the prefent Com- 
 plaint — it will alfo greatly raife us in the 
 Charadler of Devotionifts — and in Time 
 may, probably, alter — poffibly^ amend our 
 Judgments as Critics j in foftening what 
 we may now call — a tedious Prolixity ~^ 
 into an interejling Copioufnefs ; or an beavy 
 and ufelefs Tautology — into a pious and 
 profitable Repetition, Be this, however, as 
 it may; what I have been now contending 
 for — is a Sincerity of Soul in the Aft of 
 Prayer — a Sincerity which fliall in nowife 
 
 lofe 
 
SERMON V. 77 
 
 lofe it's Reward J in nowife lofe it here 
 upon Earth — in the Approbation of the 
 Heart j in nowife lofe it in Eternity — in 
 the perfbnal Approbation of our God. 
 
 SERMON 
 
SERMON VL 
 
 O N 
 
 SOLOMONS REQJJEST. 
 
 Preached at St. Mary L e Bow, 
 oaSuNDAY, April 20, 1771. 
 
SERMON VI. 
 
 I Kin Gs iii. lo. 
 
 And the speech pleafed the Lord that 
 Solomon had ajked this Tubing, 
 
 OOLOMON was now in the Beginning 
 of his Reign, having but in the former 
 Chapter buried his Father King David, 
 At the fifth Verfe of the prefent Chapter 
 we read that in Gibeon the Lord appeared 
 to Solomon in a Dream by Night — and 
 God faid, *' Afk what I fhall give Thee." 
 We are not to judge of the Vifions of thofe 
 Days by the Dreams of our own 5 becaufe 
 G then 
 
82 SERMON VL 
 
 then it was very ufaal for the Lord to make 
 Difcoveries to the Mind when the Senfes 
 were afleep and ina6iive. And indeed that 
 God does this fometimes even to Us, (tho' 
 in a lefs important Way) I am very ready 
 to believe: To fay that He cannot— would 
 be impious ; to fay that He has never done 
 It — would, I fuppofe, be contradicting the 
 certain Experience of many in every Age of 
 the World. But to confine ourfelves to 
 Solomon^ whofe Mind feems to have been 
 quite as full of regular Thought at the 
 Time of this Vifion — as we might have 
 expeded that it would have been, had not 
 the Senfes been locked up in Sleep : We 
 find no rambling Anfwer returned to the 
 Lordi but fuch an one as (hewed the great- 
 eft Power of accurate and conliftent fpeak- 
 ing, as well as a moft ftriking Diffidence, 
 and Sublimity of Sentiment. And the 
 Speech, we find, pleafed the Lord. It 
 could not do otherwife. Pidlure to your- 
 
 felves 
 
SERMON VI. 83 
 
 felves fo young a Man fucceedirig to the 
 Crown of fo vaft a Kingdom : Think too 
 of the natural Gaiety of Solomons Temper; 
 and then let us wondering — revere him for 
 his Choice, in afking only for Wifdom and 
 Under {landing, by which he might dif- 
 cern between good and Evil, and fo judge 
 his People rightcoufly. 
 
 And here let me refer you to the liberal 
 reply on God's Part. No Wonder that a 
 Promife fo much exceeding the Requeft-^ 
 caufed the rapturous Heart of Solomon to 
 wipe the drowfy Slumbers from his Eyes, 
 and every other Senfe to arife into peculiar 
 Adivity. Yes, he awoke, and behold It 
 was a Dream : Yet not doubting the Rea- 
 lity of the heavenly Vifion, ** he came to 
 ** Jerujakm^ and flood before the Ark of 
 ** the Covenant of the Lord, and offered 
 '* up Burnt- Offerings, and Peace- Offerings." 
 
 Now as a Trial of his Wifdom and 
 
 righteous Judgment — there came two Wo- 
 
 G 2 men 
 
84 SERMON VI. 
 
 men before him, bringing with them a 
 dead and a living Child. The Conteft: be- 
 fore the King was — whofe the living Child 
 fhould be — each declaring that it was hers. 
 Solomons Method of fearching out the Mo- 
 ther was every Thing that is juft, wonder- 
 ful, and affeding. Juft indeed it could 
 not well be to have taken away the Life of 
 the innocent Babe : Yet as we are to fup- 
 pofe that Solomon knew how human Nature 
 would work in this Matter — he in Ap- 
 pearance forgets that the Thing claimed had 
 a Being valuable even to thofe who claimed 
 it ', and therefore by ordering the Child 
 to be divided, he fuppofes that he might 
 pleafe them both, and be thought by the 
 Court to have pafTed a righteous Judgment. 
 It may not be uninterefting, perhaps, to 
 fancy this Scene now before us. Solomon 
 upon his Throne — the Sword drawn in his 
 Pland — and the poor little Innocent upon 
 the Point of being facrificed. Behold the 
 
 real 
 
SERMON VI. 85 
 
 real Mother fwooning, jis it were, at the 
 Sight of the drawn Sword, jufl: ready to fall 
 upon, nay and to divide her Infant! How 
 do her maternal Bowels yearn upon the lit- 
 tle Viflim — to fave whom (tho' it be de- 
 livered up to a pretended Parent) mark her 
 generous Refignation : " O my Lord— give 
 ** her the living Child, and in no wife flay 
 ** it." Upon which, fancy the other (un- 
 natural) Woman (lofmg all Regard for the 
 Babe, and filled with Revenge towards the 
 agitated, humane Mother) exulting at the 
 Sentence of the Judge, and anxious for the 
 Execution of it — hear her own barbarous 
 Expreffion — let it be neither mine nor 
 thine, but divide it. Then did the King's 
 Difcernment appear juft both to himfelf 
 and to thofe prefent. The Difference of 
 Countenance and Behaviour in the two 
 Women — plainly pointed out the real Mo- 
 ther of the Child : And the King anfwered 
 and faid — *^ Give her the living Child" — 
 G 3 her 
 
86 SERMON VI. 
 
 her who afked it's Life — " and in no wife 
 *' flay it — for fie is the Mother thereof. 
 *' And all Jfrael heard of the Judgment 
 " which the King had judged, and they 
 *' feared the King, for they faw that the 
 ** Wifdom of God was in him to do Judg' 
 *' ment/' 
 
 The chief Ufe that I would wifh to 
 make of this Promife to Solomon and the 
 Fulfillment of it is— that as he afked of 
 God the Blefiing of a wife and underftand- 
 : ing Heart to govern his People — fo we 
 fhould learn to apply to the fame all pow- 
 erful Deity for the Enjoyment of every law- 
 ful and eligible Wi(h. It is poffible for us 
 to thirft after Things, which tho' lawful^- 
 may not be expedient to our Happinefs. 
 Now all the Pleafures dependent upon Time 
 ' or the World — are capable of being thus 
 miAaken by us; and theiefore altho' we 
 ^ (hould aflc any of them of God, or fliould 
 wijh for them only, and he iliould not 
 
 perrqit 
 
SERMON VI. 87 
 
 permit them to be given to us — yet if 
 we fearch diligently we (hall find, by and 
 by, upon Refledion and Experience — that , 
 fuch Difappointment has been profitable to 
 us. So likewife if we (as it were) infift 
 upon being gratified — and God acquiefces 
 in our random and ill-jadged Petitions — 
 Time and Circumftances in Life, will, pro- 
 bably, foon convince us, that our Notions 
 of Happinefs were falfly grounded; for 
 that by the Enjoyment of our hafty and 
 pojitive Wifhes — we are become wretched. 
 Where fhall we meet with the Man, who 
 in fome material Inflance or another — has 
 not experienced the Truth of thefe Obfer- 
 vatlons ? 
 
 With Regard indeed to Bleffings which . 
 owe not their Exiftence or Support to the 
 Changes and Chances of this mortal Life 
 — for Bleflings like thefe we cannot be too 
 importunate. It never can be wrong to 
 befeech the Almighty to make us honeft, 
 G 4 humane. 
 
S8 SERMON VI. 
 
 humane, juft, and good. We may reft af- 
 
 furcd that it never can be againft the divine 
 
 Will — that Mankind (hould be poffeffed of 
 
 Virtues like thefe : On the Contrary, that 
 
 he is ever moftly delighted with thofe Dif- 
 
 pofitions, in whom thefe Virtues are moftly 
 
 to be found. The more averfe we are by 
 
 Nature from the Pradice of what is right 
 
 -^the more importunate fhould our Re- 
 
 quefts be. Solomon, it is true, received as 
 
 foon as he afked : Yet at the Time that we 
 
 admire the Power and extraordinary Favour 
 
 of the Deity refpecting Solomon — let us« 
 
 take Care that we diftruft him not refpedl- 
 
 ing otirfehes ; tho' we feek our fpiritual 
 
 Bleffings with Sighs and Tears — and tho* 
 
 lee wait long for Enjoyment, Never let us 
 
 defpair — never let us give over petitioning 
 
 the Almighty for any Thing which tends 
 
 to his Glory, and the good of the Chriftian 
 
 and moral V/orld. Altho' Days of imme-^ 
 
 diate Infpiration as well as heavenly Vilions 
 
 — are 
 
S E R M O N VI. 89 
 
 —are now Things not to be expeded 5 yet 
 what happened to our Forefothers ihould be 
 fufficient to fix in us the fame Confidence; 
 in the fame God : Added to all this— iftf 
 believe and preach, for our happy Conviiftion 
 in this Point —the Omnipotent himfelf ri*. 
 fen from the^Dead. 
 
 As to the exaB Nature of Solomons Re- 
 queft (however meritorious, and however 
 proper for him) it is of Concern but to Fe'm 
 Few are born to govern over a great Peo-^ 
 pie! Thofe indeed who a£t as Rulers in 
 Life (tho' it be only over a private Family 
 or a fmall Community of Men) will do ' 
 right to join in Solomons Petition. Let it 
 be remembered, that to govern well is 
 more difficult than to be well governed; 
 more difficulty I mean, with Regard to 
 pleafing God: To wifh to do this— is 
 therefore certainly a moral Wifh, and as^ 
 fuch muft be always lawful and expedient. 
 The Wifdom of Solomon, as it is never to be 
 
 found 
 
9b" SERMON VI. 
 
 found in any Man, fo it can ne^er be «^- 
 cejfary in tf«y Man. — But as to a good 
 Heart — this is always necefary in ^r^ry 
 Man, (efpecially in him who governs)— 
 and it fhould be the Bufincfs of our Lives 
 to obtain and to preferve it. And an un- 
 derftandlng Heart in this Senfe — to difcern 
 between good and evil— brings the Appli- 
 cation of Solomon home — to Mankind in 
 general. The Man who dcfires to love 
 his God with all poflible Sstinity of Soul 
 —to do to others as he would wi(h that 
 they fhould do to /&/>»— and to learn and 
 labour to do his Duty in that State of Life 
 unto which it (hall have pleafed God to 
 call him ; the Man, I fay, who wijhei 
 thus cannot be without an underftanding 
 Heart to judge and well govern himfelf, 
 and fuch an one may reft affured, that the 
 Speech will ever pleafe the Lord that he 
 afked this Thing. 
 
 And 
 
SERMON -VI. 91 
 
 And vvhilft we thus apply for moral or 
 fpiritual Bleflings 077^ — we may, probably, 
 procure temporal Bleffings alfo, Promifes 
 indeed belong to Times of Inlpiration— 
 we muil not exped them ; but it is the Pro- 
 perty of divine Goodnefs to confer even 
 more than we dejire. It was but too natural 
 to fuppofe that Solomon would have afked 
 for Riches and Honours — or Succefs in 
 War — or long Life : Yet when he confined 
 his Requeft fo intirely to the Mind — how 
 gracious was the Promife on God's Part, 
 touching every temporal Comfort and Ad- 
 vantage ! 
 
 But let it be with great Serioufnefs con- 
 fidered- — that our own bejl Endeavours arc 
 ahfolutely neceJJ'ary -^ i\\2X our Prayers and 
 Confidence on God will not do alone. As 
 the Proof of a good Heart cannot be given 
 without a Temptation to evil or an Oppor- 
 tunity of adting well; fo unlefs we ufe the 
 natural Means to keep oiF an Evil, and 
 
 allow 
 
9^ SERMON VI. 
 
 allow ourfelves Time for the Pradic6 of 
 Good — fuch Proof of an underftanding 
 Heart muft needs be wanting with Refped 
 to the World, and as I {hould think — it 
 luuft be very imperfed in the Sight of God. 
 Solomon himfelf, tho* his Knowledge was 
 in a great Meafure infufed, did not negled 
 to cultivate fuch Knowledge, thus by Ap* 
 plication and Care perfeding the extraor- 
 dinary Gifts which he had received of 
 Heaven. 
 
 The chief Inftrudion, however, which 
 the prefent Subjed conveys to us — is ma- 
 nifeftly confined to Petitions to the divine 
 Throne. If then we wi{h for profperous 
 Fortune, or to efcape an impending Af- 
 flidion — always let us addrefs the Deity in 
 thefe Words of our refigned Saviour— J* 
 ** Father, if Thou art willing." This let 
 us do, altho* we feek Profperity with plea- 
 fing Senfations— and back our Petitions to 
 avoid Misfortunes, witli flrong Crying and 
 
 Tears. 
 
SERMON VI. 93 
 
 Tears. But for fpiritual Bleffings — Blef- 
 fings which intirely depend upon the Mind 
 — for thefe (as we have before obferved) — 
 we cannot be too pojitive or too importu- 
 nate: **The more earneftly we cry — the 
 ** more lively Senfe do we difcover of the 
 ** Worth of fuch Bleflings, and the better 
 ** Difpofition to receive them.'* And if 
 we find (for fome wife Purpofes) that God 
 witholds from us a Goodnefs of Heart -, let 
 us perfcvere in afking it — even in the Words 
 of the Patriarch Jacob — "I will not let 
 " Thee go, unlefs Thou blefs me/' To 
 this divine Being, who is always more ready 
 to hear than we to pray — and to give more 
 than we defire or deferve — to Him (the 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft) be ever- 
 lafting Praife — even from Generation to 
 Generation — World without End. Amen. 
 
 SERMON 
 
SERMON VII. 
 
 UPON 
 
 A G U R\ RE Q^U EST. 
 
SERMON VII. 
 
 Preached at Court on Sunday, OB, 2, 
 1774. 
 
 Proverbs xxx. 7, 8, 9. 
 
 Two Things have I required of Thee, deny 
 me them not) before I die : Remove far 
 from me Vanity and Lies ; give me neither 
 Riches nor Poverty, feed me with Food 
 convenient for me : Left I be full and deny 
 Thee, and fay who is the Lord? or left 1 
 be poor and fteal, and take the Name of 
 my God in vain, 
 
 FROM the Text we are invited to 
 draw the two Extremes — Greatncfs 
 and Obfcurity — of Station — Riches, 
 and Poverty : Afterwards, the Medium of 
 H thefe. 
 
98 SERMON VII. 
 
 thefe, which according to wife j^gur is the 
 Standard oi human Happinefs. But I (hall, 
 finally, have Occafion to obferve, that only 
 the Nature of Things is here to be attend- 
 ed to, which Men may either improve or 
 vitiate, as they are influenced by their 
 Paffions and Condud:. 
 
 *' Profperity then confidered in the bejl. 
 ** Light is accompanied with many Incon- 
 ** veniencies — confidered in any other Light 
 ** — it is, doubtlefs, a dangerous State/* 
 The profufe, giddy, diffipating Man of 
 Fortune has ever round him a thoufand 
 fervile Parafites — a thoufand fawning Sy- 
 cophants — ready to immortalize his few 
 and, perhaps, but little Virtues j or if he 
 be even devoid of any Virtues — to conflrue 
 into Virtues, the mofl: glaring Vices. His 
 Life, in fhort, is a continued Delufion ; and 
 when he comes to die, it is well for him 
 if he does not experience, that he has not 
 only been flattered out of his Fortune^ but 
 
 out of his Happinefs alfo. 
 
 Again, 
 
SERMON VII. 99 
 
 Again, in our Acquifition of Riches and 
 Honours — we too generally negle(ft to fa- 
 crifice to Contentment, the chief Spring of 
 human Happinefs. " Some of this Stamp 
 ** are governed by the Clue of Ambition, 
 " others by the Lure of Avarice.'* Ambi- 
 tion when it excites a Man to juft and ho- 
 nourable Actions upon juft and honourable 
 Principles — ^fuch as make him grateful for 
 his prefent Situation, tho' willing to raife 
 it — fuch as render him delighted with no 
 Popularity but what is feconded by the 
 I'eftitnony of his own Heart-, this Man's 
 Ambition is laudable, and muft afford him 
 real Satisfaction : But we are now ipeaking 
 of a Paflion which prevails upon a Man 
 to go into the World mindful of himfelf 
 only J " who catches at the Applaufe of an 
 ** idle, impetuous, midaken Multitude, 
 ** without once caring whether he has de- 
 *' ferved it or not — or what Ufe he (hould 
 '* put it to." Now fjch an one is necefT;^- 
 H 2 rily 
 
100 SERMON VII. 
 
 rily difquieted both in his Succejfes and in 
 his Difappoint merits: If Hundreds attend 
 upon him to proclaim his Greatnefs — his 
 Vanity wiflies for Thoufands — and if 
 Thoufands — then for Tens of Thoufands 
 — and fo on, till the whole Earth fhould 
 pay him Adoration : And even in this Cafe, 
 he would be more apt with Alexander to 
 wifh for other Worlds which may afford 
 his Vanity frefi Qualifications — than with 
 the fatufied D omit i an (after he had pof- 
 feffed himfelf of the Roman Empire) to 
 turn his Delires upon catching Flies. But 
 fhould the Man of this Turn be difap- 
 pointed in Lis Hopes and Expedations — 
 totally unfuccefsful in any of his favourite 
 Schemes — he henceforth leads a Life of 
 Difcouragement, and if 1 may fo fay — of 
 proud Defpair. 
 
 Next let us take a faint Survey of the 
 Mifer, and fee how far his Condition is to 
 be e}wied — or rather dreaded. Avarice is 
 
 faid 
 
SERMON VII. 101 
 
 faid to ftick deeper into the Soul than any 
 other Vice ; and indeed very little of Ob- 
 fervation will convince us of the Truth of 
 this : In general. Avarice flrikes at the 
 Root of every Thing great and becoming : 
 It's PoflefTor (according to Mr. Addifoii) is 
 neither happy himfelf, nor will he let thofe 
 conneBed with him be (o : His Charader is 
 feldom other, than that of a peevifli and 
 cruel Majler — a fevere Parent — a gloomy, 
 unafFedtionate Hvjband — a referved and a 
 fufpeding Friend. Surely Avarice is a Jin- 
 gular Curfe upon whomfoever it falls : For 
 notwithftanding every Argument in Favour 
 of prudent Gain and prudent Management 
 — the Opinion of a Mifer debafes the very 
 Being of a human Creature, ** and caufes 
 ** our valuable PalTions, which might other - 
 ** wife have made us happy, to leave their 
 ** natural Bent, and expofe us to the Hatred 
 ♦* of God and the World." 
 
 H 3 But 
 
102 SERMON VII. 
 
 But to fhift this Scene, and to fuppofc 
 Wealth and Honours to exift without Ava- 
 rice and Difcontent : Still how naturally 
 do thefe Situations lead Men on to Noife 
 and Hurry, and a continued Round of idle 
 Diffipation. What great Command muft 
 thefe Men have over themfelves — to give 
 the Mind Leifure to think Jerioujly j and 
 how apt their Situations in Life are to make 
 them fo fenfible of being able to help them^ 
 /elves ^ as io forget^ or even, I fear, fome- 
 times, to dijbwn the All-Jufficiency of God 
 -^or in the Words of Agur — to be full 
 and deny Him, and fay, who is the Lord? 
 To wilh then for any of thefe Charaders 
 (if fuch be the EfFeds of them) would be 
 Folly, and hurtful to us, who have all the 
 Reafon in the World to wi/h to be removed 
 far from them. Nor, as I am now to ob- 
 ferve— -will extreme Poverty or extreme 
 Obfcurity of Station be found dejirabk, or 
 indeed, generally fpeaking, conducive to 
 
 Religion 
 
SERMON Vn. 103 
 
 Religion and Virtue, As wretched as they 
 are numerous are the Inconveniencies of 
 this State. Even the very Nature of a 
 Man may be changed by it. A Thoufand 
 Things happen to him which the World 
 do not, or will not know of — cannot, or 
 will not prevent. Friend{hip he finds but 
 an airy Sound : The rich and goodly Pro- 
 duce of the Earth is nothing to him ; he 
 enjoys thefe Things no more than the irra^ 
 iional Ps^rts of the Creation: Nay, nor Jo 
 »7«f/6— becaufe Nourifhment is dealt out to 
 them agreeably to their refpedive Natures: 
 He feems, in a Word, to be fhut out from 
 Society — to be denied every Privilege due 
 to his Exiftence. Now w^hat Encourage- 
 ment is to be expedled in fuch a Breaft as 
 this? Is it, can it be pleafing thus to 
 breathe, known only to Contempt, Soli- 
 tude, and Want? Is it unlikely indeed 
 that we may be led to charge God foolijhly 
 when fuch a Scene of complicated Ills is 
 H 4 placed 
 
104 SERMON VII. 
 
 placed before us ? To think that our Piety, 
 our many humane Virtues, and withal an 
 honeft, inceflant Induftry — to think that 
 all thcfe are fomettmes infufficient to keep 
 us from the fad School of Poverty — muft 
 be a Refledion, which none but very great 
 Souls can poffibly fupport : The Chances, 
 however, are fo much againft even the beji 
 of us, that if we have a Mind to be {e- 
 cure — we fiiall never requejl to be put to 
 the Trial oi it. And if this be the Cafe 
 with the Man of Poverty who is willing to 
 make every pofTibie Refinance againft the 
 Evils fo incident to his Situation ; how 
 much more dangerous muft his Condition 
 be, who at once falls into the Snare which 
 pious j^gur wi(hes to avoid — who at once 
 is induced to Jieal, and to take the Name 
 of his God in vain ? How fuch a Difpo- 
 fition increafes by Indulgence — I need not 
 undertake to prove : The Man — who be- 
 ing expofed to Want t/jus readily parts with 
 
 his 
 
SERMON VII. 105 
 
 his Honejly to gain Relief — will very foon 
 be prevailed upon to part with his Religion 
 too ; and having once given up thefe Valu- 
 ables — he finds no Inclination — but if an 
 Inclination, he feldom has Power to defift 
 from following this unjufl and illegal 
 Courfe, till he becomes a Sacrifice to the 
 Laws of his Country. 
 
 Let not what I have urged againft Af- 
 fluence and Poverty — or againfl the mofl 
 exalted and the mofl obfcure Situations — 
 be received, as if I fuppofed that God by 
 placing us in either puts it out of our 
 Power to pleafe Him : We may, doubtleis, 
 and it is expeded that we Jhall be good 
 Servants under any Circumftances, What 
 I have endeavoured to prove is — that fojne 
 Situations require greater Fortitude, greater 
 Perfeverance than others — that the rich or 
 great Man's Life is far from a fecure, and 
 jkould be as far from an idle one — that his 
 Truft is of an important Nature, and that 
 
 he 
 
io6 SERMON VIL 
 
 he has the whole World to pcrfuade him 
 to break and violate it. So on the other 
 Hand, that a State of Poverty and extreme 
 Obfcuri'.y is alfo vaftly intricate, and dan- 
 gerous to our Virtue — that the poor Man's 
 general Fate in the World is fuch as muft 
 hurt a rational Creature, and that unlefs he 
 puts on the whole Armour of God, he 
 will have an hard Matter to withftand fo 
 fevere a Conflidt. Yet if we were but to 
 guard the Mind with Reafon and Reflec- 
 tion enough to make us look upon our-» 
 felves at all Times as under the Guidance 
 of a God, who (if we afk it with Since- 
 rity) will give us Ability to overcome our 
 Trials, (however great and numerous) and 
 who (hereafter at leaft) will reward us ac- 
 cording to the Nature and Frequency of 
 fuch Vidories ; if, I fay, we can but be 
 convinced of this moft happy Truth (which 
 as Chriftians we are bound to believe) -^ 
 then may we be indifferent, as it were, in 
 
 our 
 
SERMON VII. 107 
 
 our Choice of Situations : Or though (to 
 avoid a greater Share of (iiifal Temptation, 
 and to enjoy the lefs difturbed Mediocrity) 
 we fliould requeft to be removed from 
 Riches and Poverty — yet we (hall be hap- 
 py, becaufe we fhall ad: becomingly and as 
 God's Servants—let either the one or the 
 other prove our appointed Lot. 
 
 But it may he Time now to introduce 
 the EUgiblenefs of that State which JIgur 
 fo much wifhes to enjoy — the Happtnefs of 
 that Man whom Agur fo much wiibes to 
 be^^K Man whom Poverty does not afflidt, 
 nor Riches torment— A Man neither ob- 
 noxious to the Envy fo peculiar to the 
 Great, nor yet to the Contempt (o oftea 
 thrown upon the Man of Poverty — A Man. 
 who deeps found j undifturbed either by 
 the Bitternefs of Diftrefs, or by the Reft- 
 leflhefs of Luxury -^ A Man, who when 
 he awakes — ? wants not Means to obtain his 
 dally Breads nor yet is filled with trifling 
 
 Care 
 
io8 SERMON VII. 
 
 Care how to pafs the Day in expenjive Dif- 
 fipation — A Man who thinks upon his God 
 with Gratitude, and juftly commends his 
 Eftate before him j which, though it for- 
 bids him the Pomp of a Monarch, amply 
 fills up this Degree of dangerous Greatnefs, 
 by placing him above the fad Ills of the 
 wretched Slave — A Man, who has it not 
 in his Power to be fo loft in Senfuality and 
 Independency — to be fo full as to deny his 
 God; nor has he any Inducement from the 
 Feelings of Adverfity, either to fteal, or to 
 take the Name of his God in vain — A 
 Man, in a Word, who has great Reafon 
 to be pleafed and happy with his Lot, 
 which is, doubtlefs, caft upon the faireft 
 Ground — where he is not " liable to be 
 trampled upon as the humble Shrub, nor 
 expofed to Winds like the lofty ,^ne." 
 
 If the Eligiblenefs of the State and the 
 Happinefs of the Man were always Jure to 
 be thus united j we might congratulate the 
 
 far 
 
SERMON VII. 109 
 
 far greater Part of Mankind upon being 
 happy, to whofe Lot this middle Station 
 manifeftly falls. But this, I fear, is by no 
 Means the Cafe. Perfons in the middle 
 Station are too apt to behave tyrannically 
 to their Inferiours, and infolently to their 
 Betters ; and to adopt a Mode of Living 
 in Imitation of their Superiours — as auk- 
 ward as it is miftaken — as abfurd and ridi- 
 culous, as it is hurtful to their Fortunes 
 and dangerous to their Reputations, Nay, 
 upon a ftridl Obfervance it will be found 
 perhaps — that Men thus placed in a Situa- 
 tion fo calculated by Nature to render them 
 happiejl' — are the Characters in Life who 
 make themfehes more wretched, and offend 
 Religion and Society more than Men placed 
 in the extreme Stations — of Greatnefs and 
 Obfcurity — of Riches and Poverty. So 
 that after all — it is not this or that Situa- 
 tion, but our well or /// behaving ourfelves 
 in our own refpeSfive ones — which alone can 
 
 ju% 
 
iro SERMON VII. 
 
 juftly gain us either Efteem or Reproach, 
 or juftly conflitute us either happy or mife- 
 rable. Happy did I fay ? It is eafily pro- 
 nounced, and the Word carries with it a 
 moft delightful Sound j but it is an Epithet 
 of fuch a Nature, that in order to prove 
 it's Juftnefs, a Man muft fpeak it of him^ 
 felf. Nay, fo fudden and fo great are the 
 Changes of the human Heart— that a Man 
 may think himfelf and may be^^ happy -^ 
 to Day — and think himfelf and may be—^ 
 defervedly wi' etched' — to Morrow : There- 
 fore no juji Eltimate of human Happinefs 
 can be taken — till we come to die. This 
 is the only Period, when Things are likely 
 to appear Gripped of all Difguife — the only 
 Period when we may be fuppofed incapable 
 of deceiving — either ourfelves or others : 
 No Room being now left for a Change of 
 Sentiment and Condudt — we are likelieft 
 to arrive at an almojl certain Knowledge of 
 what we are^-what we have been — what 
 
 we 
 
SERMON VII. II, 
 
 we Jhall be : In order to gain this moft im- 
 portant Secret — the grand Queftion will be 
 —not what Station we have^/W, but hoit) 
 we have filled it ? Notwithftanding there- 
 fore the Wijdom of Agiirs> Requeft — we 
 fhall do well to attend to the ftill wifer 
 Confideration — that the true Eftimate of 
 Man's Happinefs is not to be formed from 
 Station — but from ABion — A(flion found- 
 ed upon this great Chrijlian Principle 
 
 that Vice in any Station — mufi be punlfhed 
 Virtue in any Station — z??z^ be re- 
 warded. 
 
SERMON VIII. 
 
 UPON 
 
 PLAIN TRUTH. 
 
SERMON Vlir. 
 
 Matthew ii. 2. 
 Where is he that is born King of the Jeivs f 
 
 TRUTH (by which I mean efps- 
 cially — divifie Truth) is the one 
 Thing here below — worthy of the 
 Care and Refearches of Man. It alone is 
 the Source of folid Satisfaflion ; the Foun- 
 dation of our Hopes, the Confolation of 
 our Fears — the Soother of our Misfortunes, 
 the Remedy of all our Pains : It a/one is 
 the Re/ource of a good Confcience, the Ter^ 
 I 2 ror 
 
ii6 SERMON VIII. 
 
 ror of a bad one — the fecret torture of 
 Vice^ the inward Recompence of Virtue : It 
 tf/o;z^ immortalizes thofe who love it — ren- 
 ders glorious the Chains of thofe who ftiffer 
 for it — and refpe(ftable the Poverty of 
 thofe, who have quitted all for it's Sake, 
 
 There are, who love to make Truth the 
 Subje6t of the Contention of vain Philofo- 
 phy. There are again, who wifh (as it 
 were) to know the Truth, but they fearch 
 not for it as they ought^ becaufe (at the 
 Bottom) they would be difpleafed to find 
 it. And there are a third Sort of Men, 
 who being fomewhat more flexible — fuffer 
 themfelves to ftagger at the Evidence- of 
 divine Truth ; yet repulfed by the Difficul- 
 ties which it propofes, and the Ferfeverance 
 which it requires — they receive it not with 
 that Joy and Knowledge which it infpires, 
 vi'hen Men have been for fome Time ac- 
 quainted with' it. 
 
 How 
 
S, E R M O N VIII. 117 
 
 How different tbefe Difpofitlons to that 
 of the three eaftern Sages ! Acciiftomed as 
 they had been by a public Profeffion of 
 Wifdom and Philofophy to have Recourfe 
 to the Powers of vain human Reafon, and 
 to foar above popular Prejudices ; yet in the 
 prefent Cafe they did not fo much as at- 
 tempt to examine if this new Star could not 
 find it's Caiifcs in Nature: Indruded by 
 the infpired Prophets concerning this new 
 Star of 'Jacob — that it mujl one Day ap- 
 pear — they fuffer it at once to determine 
 and to condu(ft them — knowing that divine 
 Grace always leaves fame Obfcurities in the 
 Ways wherein it calls us, in order that it 
 might not take from our Faith the Merit 
 of a Submiflion — and that when Men are 
 fo happy as to difcover only one Glimmer^ 
 ing of Truth, the Uprightnefs of the Heart 
 fhould fupply what is wanting in the Evi- 
 dence of the Light : " We have feen his 
 I 3 Star 
 
ii8 SERMON Vin. 
 
 " Star, fay the wife Men, and arc come to 
 *' worfhip Him." 
 
 Thefe eaftern Sages could not be igno- 
 rant that the News which they came to 
 pronounce at Jerufalem would be difpleaf- 
 ing to Herod: He was ever in Fear that 
 feme Heir of the Blood of the Kings of 
 'Judah would claim the Heritage of his 
 Fathers, and fit upon the Throne promifed 
 to their Pofterity : Upon which Account 
 we muft not wonder that he appears fo 
 little to refped: Men, who declare in the 
 Midit of Jerujakm that the King of the 
 "Jews is bor7i^ and declare him too to a 
 People fo zealous for the Blood of David^ 
 and fo impatient of all foreign Dominion. 
 And yet the wife Men conceal nothing of 
 what they had feen in the Eaft: — They do 
 not cover this great Event over with Ex- 
 prefTions at all calculated to fupprefs the 
 Jealoufy of Herod. They might indeed 
 have called the MeJJiah, whom tliey were 
 
 feckin^ 
 
SERMON VIII. 119 
 
 feeking, the 'Emhajfador of Heaven, or the 
 Defire of Nations : They might, it is true, 
 have marked him out by Titles even lefs 
 odious to the Ambition of Herod : But full 
 of the Truth which had appeared to them 
 
 — they know nothing of fuch timid Ma- 
 nagement — concluding that thofe who had 
 not a Mind to receive the Truth but thro' 
 the Channel o^ Error — were not worthy of 
 it: They could not explain their Errand 
 under Rejerves and Difguifes unworthy of 
 it: They alk without Hefitation — where is 
 he who is born King of the 'Jews ^ They 
 do not propofe their Queffcion with a foft 
 Medium likely to produce an Anfwer to de^ 
 ceive them — they wi(hed to be convinced 
 
 — they fought the Truth with Sincerity, 
 and therefore it was that they fo happily 
 
 found it. 
 
 A Difpofition this, as rare and uncom« 
 
 mon in Degree, as the great Event itfelf, 
 
 which we are here contemplating. Men do 
 
 1 4 not 
 
120 SERMON VIII. 
 
 not find the Truth^ becaufe they do not 
 feek it with an Heart upright and fincere : 
 They difperfe throughout all Points which 
 lead to it —Clouds, which caufe them to 
 lofe their Way : We indeed confult touch- 
 ing this Matter — but we cover our Paf- 
 fions over with Colours fo foft and fo like 
 unto the Truth, that we force ourfelves, at 
 Length, to anfwer — that fuch Deception — 
 is Truth itfelf : We have no Inclination to 
 be inJlruBed — we wifli to h^ deceived -, and 
 to add to the Fajjion which thus injlaves qs 
 — an Authority t which ferves only to calm 
 and llupify us. Such is the lUulion of, I 
 fear, the far greater Part of Mankind! Even 
 the befl: of Men have, I fear, within them 
 Jotrie fecret and privileged Attachment, by 
 Means of which they take but Half the 
 Guide of Confcience — fome cheriflied, ill- 
 turned PafTion (laved from the Allies of 
 others) which prevents them from feaich- 
 iiig heartily foi' the Truih. 
 
 Again, 
 
SERMON VIII. 121 
 
 Again, there are always of our Neigh- 
 bours and Acquaintance, whofe Condud 
 betrays us. Our Friends are filent: Our 
 Superiours, through Complaifance, are very 
 careful and tender of their Sentiments; Our 
 Inferiours are perpetually upon their Guard, 
 left they fhould offend us : The World in 
 general indeed fpeak in fuch foothing Ac- 
 cents, as only ferve to draw a frefh Veil 
 over our Afflidtion : The Hand which 
 fhould kindly mark out our Defedls to us— • 
 fo far from attempting to reclaim us — is 
 thus too often ufed, only to ftamp us with a 
 fre/h Blemifh. Behold the contrary Con- 
 dud; of the wife Men : Alone — without 
 any Regard to their Friends and Neighbours 
 — in Spite of all the public Speeches and 
 Derifions — whilft the Reft of the People 
 cither defpife the miraculous Star, or con- 
 fider it only as the Obfervation and the 
 Defign of thefe three Sages — as an affront' 
 ing Defign, and a Weaknefs unn^orthy of 
 
 them 
 
122 SERMON VIII. 
 
 them to receive and countenance. — Alone, 
 I fay, thefe good and wife Men declare 
 againft the common Sentiment: They alone 
 obey the new Guide : They alone forfake 
 their Country and their Children, and ac- 
 count as nothing impoffible that Singularity^ 
 of which the heavenly Luminary difcovers 
 to them the NeceJJtty and the WiJ'dom. 
 
 And here I am kd to another Inftrudion 
 well worthy of our Attention. What of- 
 tentimes caufes the Truth to be ufelefs even 
 to good inclined Men is — that they do not 
 judge of it by the Lights of their owfi 
 Mind, but by the Imprefljon which it 
 makes upon others. In thofe happy Mo- 
 ments, when vft feek not the Truth but 
 in our own particular Confcience, we ne- 
 crjjhrily fee our Errors, and condemn our- 
 felves in the Sight of God. We injlantly 
 propofe to ourfclves a new Way. In a fhort 
 Time after, we enter again into the World, 
 and not confulting any longer more than 
 
 common 
 
SERMON VIIL 123 
 
 common Example — we begin to jujlify our- 
 felves — we reftore to ourfelves again that 
 Jalfe Peace, which before, in private, we 
 had endeavoured to deftroy. Hence we 
 may alfo learn, that the F erf ever ance which 
 the Caufe of Truth requires — makes // too 
 often to become extindl within us : It af- 
 fedls us as it did the young Man in the 
 Gofpel — not as it did the wife Men, when 
 on their Return Home — the miraculous 
 Star appeared to them again. 
 
 They had feen the Magnificence of Je-^ 
 7'ufalem — the Pomp of it's Edifices — the 
 Majefty of it's Temple — the Grandeur of 
 the Court of Herod: But the Gofpel does 
 not remark that they were touched with 
 this Spedtacle of human Glory : They be- 
 hold all thefe grand Objeds without At- 
 tention — without Pleafure — without any 
 Mark of Approbation or Surprize : They 
 do not once afk for the Treafury, and the 
 Riches of the Temple; being wholly in- 
 tent 
 
124 SERMON Vm. 
 
 tent upon the Light from Heaven which 
 had fliewed itfelf to them — [hey had no 
 Eyes for what pafled in the World: Their 
 Hearts being thus detached from every 
 Thing elfe — would find out nothing but 
 that Truth, which fo rejoiced, which fo 
 interefled, which fo comforted and refrefh- 
 ed them. 
 
 But where fhall we meet with Men, 
 who, like thefe eafiern Sages, after having 
 known the T^ruth — will not henceforth 
 look upon any Thing elfe but it f Who 
 make it the Refource of all their Labours 
 
 — the Spur of their Inactivity — the Suc- 
 cour of their Temptations — the moft folid 
 and endearing Delight of their Soul? And 
 yet we may reft affured — that the World 
 
 — that it's Pleafures — that it's Hopes — that 
 it's Greatnefs — muft needs appear vain, 
 puerile, difguftful — when compared with 
 thofe Pleafures, thofe Hopes, and that 
 Greatnefs, which prefent themfclves to the 
 
 Man 
 
SERMON VIII. 12 s 
 
 Man who knows, and is known of God — 
 to the Man, who regards not this lower 
 Earth, but as a Country which muft, one 
 Day, be totally deftroyed — to the Man, 
 whom nothing can Jubjiantially pleafe, but 
 what in its Nature mull continue to pleafe 
 for ever : Finally, all the Objeds of Va- 
 nity are nothing to fuch a Man as this — 
 but either as EmbarrafTments in the Way 
 of his Duty, or fad Monuments, which 
 force upon him the Remembrance of his 
 Crimes. 
 
 Such are the happy Fruits of receiving 
 the T'ruth (as the three eaftern Sages did) 
 with Submiffion, with Sincerity, with Joy. 
 May all Mankind experience thefe good 
 Effects of an honeft and an undifTembling 
 Heart, if it were only that we might live 
 quiet and peaceable Lives here ; but chief- 
 ly, as an Heart devoted to the 'Truth can- 
 not fail ©f rendering us happy in another 
 
 and 
 
126 SERMON VIII. 
 
 and a better Life, through the Merits and 
 Interceflion of that divine Perfonage, who 
 the' born King of the Jews — came into 
 the World, and died — for the Benefit and 
 Salvation of all Kingdoms and Nations of 
 the World. 
 
 SERMON 
 
SERMON IX. 
 
 UPON 
 
 TRUTH DISSEMBLED. 
 
SERMON IX. 
 
 Matthew ii. 5. 
 
 And they /aid unto kirn — in Bethlehem of 
 Judea. 
 
 WE are here to point out the De- 
 formity of Truth — when diffem^ 
 bled in the Manner that it was by 
 the chief PrieRs and Scribes — in the An- 
 fwer given to Herod in the Text. 
 
 Confulted by Herod upon the Place where 
 
 the Cbriji (hould be born — they anfwer to 
 
 the Truth — that Bethlehem was the Place 
 
 marked out by the Prophets — wherein 
 
 K W9uld 
 
130 S E R M O N IX. 
 
 would be accompli(hed this great Event : 
 But they do not add — that the Star fore- 
 told in the infpired Books having, at Length, 
 appeared — that the Kings of Saba and 
 Arabia being come with Prefents to adore 
 the new-born Chief deftined to rule over 
 Ifrael —'It ought to be no longer doubted 
 but that the Clouds had now brought forth 
 this Juji One : They do not affemble the 
 People together to declare to them thefe 
 happy Tidings : They do not attend the 
 wife Men to Bethlehem, that by thefe Means 
 they might animate 'Jerufalem by their 
 Example : Repulfed by a criminal Timidity 
 they obferve a total Silence refpeding thefe 
 Matters — they retain the Truth in Injuf- 
 tice-, and whilft Strangers come from the 
 Extremities of the Eaft to publifli aloud in 
 yertifalem — that the King of the Jews is 
 born — thefe Preachers — thefe Eiders and 
 Scribes — fay nothing about this Event, but 
 facrifice to the Ambition of Herod — the 
 
 Interefts 
 
S E R M O N IX. 131 
 
 Interefts of Truth the Hope moft dear 
 
 to their Nation — and the Chief Honour 
 of all their Miniflry. 
 
 But this Defedt, in certain Points, is but 
 too prevailing in private Life : Even the 
 beft of us oftentimes render ourfelves cul- 
 pable by \\)\s Jilent Diffimulation towards 
 our Brethren : We are apt to think that 
 we have difcharged our Duty to Truth, fo 
 long as we fay nothing agatnjl it : We hear 
 Virtue decried, the Doctrine of the World 
 maintained — it's Abufes and Maxims jujli' 
 Jiedi and thofe of the Gofpel ridiculed and 
 blafphemed : We hear all this, I fay^ with- 
 out fubmitting, perhaps, to fuch Impiety 
 ourfelves; and yet we have not Fortitude 
 enough to difavow it openly ^ but content 
 ourfelves in not authoriiing it by our own 
 Example. Now it appears to me certain-r^ 
 that as we are all charged individually with 
 the Interefrs of Truth , to be Jilent when 
 Men attack it openly before us — is, in a 
 K 2 criminal 
 
132 S E R M O N IX. 
 
 criminal Degree, to become ourf elves — it's 
 Enemy and Deceiver. 
 
 There is a fecond Manner, by which 
 Men dijfembk the Truth ; in foftening it 
 with Temperaments and a Complaifance 
 which affront and wound it. The Priefts 
 and the Scribes forced by the Evidence of 
 the wife Men to give Glory to the 'Truth — 
 /often the Authority of it, by Expreffions 
 of Refrve. They attempt to lefTen the 
 Refpe5l which they owe to the Truth, by 
 a Complaifance which they wifh to fhew 
 to Herod, They fupprefs the Title of 
 King, which the wife Men came to give, 
 and which the Prophets had fo often given 
 — to the Meffiah : They mark Him out by 
 one Quality only — Him who had all Know- 
 ledge and all Power at his own Difpofal : 
 They chufe rather to reprefent him as a 
 Lawgiver eftabliflied to rule the Manners, 
 than as a Saviour rifen up to deliver his 
 People from Slavery : And altho' they them- 
 
 fclves 
 
SERMON IX. 133 
 
 felves looked for a MeffiaJj — a King and 
 Conqueror — yet they palliate the Truth, 
 which they have even a Mind to avow — 
 and labour to blind the Prince, vi'hofe Ear 
 they had fo firmly obtained. 
 
 In this Particular the Deftiny of great 
 Men is really deplorable. It is feldom that 
 they are injiru^ed, becaufe it is feldom that 
 thofe about them vt^ill attempt to inJlruB 
 them, but by pleafmg them. And yet me- 
 thinks the Generality of them would love 
 Sincerity, if they were but once to become 
 acquainted with it. The Paffions, and the 
 Follies of the Age, afTifled by all the Plea- 
 fures which naturally encompafs the Dwel- 
 lings of the Great — are able, I will allow, 
 but too often to drag Them into Attention : 
 But at the Bottom — I am willing to be- 
 lieve that Sincerity is refpe&ed by them. 
 Such is the Fafhion of the World, that 
 Ignorance of Truth caufes more Frinces and 
 great Men to be cenfured and condemned 
 K 3 — thm 
 
1^4 SERMON IX. 
 ' — than Perfons of the meaneji State and 
 Condition j and I am convinced, that that 
 bafe Complaifance which is too generally 
 fhewed towards the Greats both by State 
 and Church Minifters — difhonour a Country 
 more, and brings more Odium upon Reli- 
 gion — than the moft glaring Scandals and 
 Misfortunes which afflid either the Church 
 or the State. 
 
 But are Princes and great Men only-— 
 deceived? And are thofe about Princes and 
 great Men the only Perfons who flatter and 
 deceive ? Look into private Life, and you 
 will find that the Converfation, the Con- 
 dud, and Behaviour of Mankind — are 
 but too often Palliations of the Truth — 
 Temperaments intended to reconcile it with 
 the Prejudices and Paffions of thofe with 
 whom they live and are acquainted, or ' 
 from whom they conceive Hopes and Ex- 
 pectations of Favours. How feldom do 
 we fliew them real Truths, but by Ways 
 
 which 
 
SERMON IX. 135 
 
 which we know will pleafe them ? How 
 ready are we to difcover a fair Side even in 
 their moft glaring Imperfedions ? And as 
 all the Paffions bear a Refemblance to fome 
 Virtue, how apt is miftaken Man to feek to 
 know himfelfy by the Affi fiance only of fucb 
 Refemblance I 
 
 Thus it happens — that in the Prefence 
 of a too ambitious Man, we fpeak of the 
 Love of Glory and of the Defire of gain- 
 ing it, as the only Thoughts becoming a 
 great Mind: We flatter his Pride — we fet 
 Fire to his Wifhes by Hope, and by flat- 
 tering and chimerical Predidions: We 
 nourifh the Error of his Imagination, in 
 bringing near to him FhantomSy with which 
 he is e'uer feeding himfelf. We venture, 
 perhaps, to complain in general — that Men 
 fhould be fo much agitated about Things 
 which Hazard diftributes, and which 
 Death to Morrow may fnatch from us : 
 But how feldom do we 'venture to blame 
 K 4 that 
 
1^6 SERMON IX. 
 
 th^tjbo/i/^ Friend, who facrifices to fuch a 
 mere Fapour — his Repofe — his Life — and 
 his Confcience ! 
 
 In the Prefence of a Man given to Re- 
 venge — we are apt to juftify his Refent- 
 ment and his Choler: We juftify his Crime 
 in his Spirit : We gratify his Paflion, in 
 exaggerating the Rancour of his Enemy. 
 We venture, perhaps, to fay, that we ought 
 to pardon one another ; but how feldom do 
 we venture to add — that the fir ft Degree of 
 a Pardon — is never more to fpeak of an 
 Injury which we have received ! 
 
 In the Prefence of a Prodigal — his Pro- 
 fufions ftrike us only as an Air of Genero- 
 Jity and "Elegance: Before a Mifer — his 
 hard-heartedncfs and fordid Soul — are no- 
 thing more than wife Moderation, 2Lndgood 
 domeftic Conduct : Nay, and before the 
 Great themfelves-^Men, whom at a Dif- 
 tfince, we are fo ready to find Fault with — 
 
 their 
 
S E R M O N IX. 137 
 
 their Prejudices and their Errors— receive 
 from us Apologies altogether borrowed: We 
 feem to refpeft their Imperfedions as we 
 do their Perfons — and even to make their 
 Prejudices become our own. 
 
 In fliort, fuch is the miftaken Turn of 
 Mankind in general — that they too readily 
 borrow the Errors of thofe, with whom 
 they are conne<fted. Few of us fpeak our 
 own Language : And this unworthy Breach 
 of Sincerity we call — the Science of the 
 World — the great Art of pledftng and prof- 
 pering. 
 
 Think not that I mean to condemn the 
 Temperaments of a wife and difcreet Pru- 
 dencCy which does not appear to encourage 
 Men in their Prejudices^ but to fix them 
 more firmly in the Ways of Rule and 
 "Duty. I know that Sincerity loves not that 
 it's Defenders ihould be indifcreet and rafh: 
 I know that the Paffions of Men require 
 Caution and Confideration — that they are 
 
 Maladies 
 
138 SERMON IX. 
 
 Maladies of fuch a Nature — as to make it 
 oftentimes neccflary to cure the Patient in 
 a Manner even unknown to him/elf: I am 
 convinced that the grand Rule of Zeal in 
 this important Matter — is Prudence and 
 Charity. What v^e are here lamenting is 
 — that (o many Men ftiould make a Science 
 and even an Honour of Artifice and Difli- 
 mulation. Thus not knovvring v^^hat Since- 
 rity is ihewfehes — they know not how to 
 fuppofe it to exift in others: It is their deep 
 Corruption of Thought, which renders the 
 Sincerity and the Refolution of good Men 
 fufpeBed by them : It is a Difpofition which 
 appears to them romantic and ridiculous 
 becaufe that it is fo great a Novelty ; and 
 as they find in it fo much Singularity — 
 they chufe to believe that it is Pride or Ex- 
 travagance — and not Virtue. 
 
 Hence it happens, that we not only dif- 
 guife the Truth, but openly betray it. This 
 is the laft Kind of DifTimulation exercifed 
 
 by 
 
SERMON IX. 139 
 
 by the Scribes and Elders — a Diflimulation 
 of downright Falihood. 
 
 They do not content themfelves in quo- 
 ting the Prophets in Terms obfcure and 
 equivocal : Not feeing the three eaflern 
 Sages to return to Jerufakm — - they add 
 (without Doubt to quiet Herod) that thef© 
 Aftrologers alhamed not to have found 
 the new King, dared not to appear in 
 yerufalem again — that they were Strangers 
 but little verfed in the Knowledge of the 
 Law and the Prophets — and that the Light 
 from 'Heaven which they pretended to obey, 
 was only a vulgar Illufion, and the fuper- 
 flitious Prejudice of a grofs and credulous 
 Nation. And it was very artful in the 
 Scribes and Elders to maintain this Lan- 
 guage to Herod \ becaufe they themfelves 
 a6ted agreeably to it, in not going to Beth' 
 lehem to feek their new born King, and in 
 perfuading Herod that there was more of 
 
 Credulity 
 
 i 
 
140 S E R M O N IX. 
 
 Credulity than of Truth in the fuperftitious 
 Refearch of the wife Men. 
 
 See then what we, at Length, arrive at ! 
 Obliged, as it were, to humour the Paflions 
 of Mankind, and to pleafe them at the Ex- 
 pence of Truth — we at laft openly renounce 
 the Truth : As foon as it incommodes us — 
 expofes us — places us behind a Cloud — 
 renders us difagreeable to the World — then 
 we openly difavow it -, we profefs to know 
 nothing at all of it — we give it up to Op- 
 preffion and Injuftice. Thus we form for 
 ourfehes an Heart cowardly and fervile, to 
 which the ufcful Lie is henceforth a Virtue 
 •—an Heart artificial and pliant, which af- 
 fumes all Forms, and which is never fixed 
 to any one Point — an Heart fo corrupted 
 and felfiQi, as to make to ferve it's own 
 Piirpofes — Religion, Integrity, Juftice, and 
 every Thing holden facred amongft Men. 
 Happy that People, amongft whom. Men 
 
 of 
 
SERMON IX. 141 
 
 of this Chara(fter and Complexion are fel- 
 dom to be found. 
 
 I have only to obferye by Way of Ap- 
 plication — that it behoves us to take Care, 
 that in attempting to defend the Truth and 
 to prove ourfelvcs Men of Integrity — we 
 do not defend the Illufwns of our own pe- 
 culiar Temper. Pride, Ignorance, Infatua- 
 tion, have ever been feen to give to Error — 
 Champions as intrepid and as refolute — as 
 thofe whom the Chriftian Faith fo much 
 and fo juftly glories in. The only Point 
 of Integrity worthy of our Love, of our 
 Zeal, and of our Fortitude — is that which 
 Chriflianity plainly marks out to us : It is 
 for that alone which we ought to fuffer the 
 Lofs of all Things : In other Cafes, we are 
 Martyrs only to our own Obflinacy and Va- 
 nity. Let us then endeavour to honour 
 this eternal Truth by a Sandity of Man- 
 ners : Let us ever oppofe it — to Error and 
 Vanity : Let us ftrive to annihilate in our 
 
 Hearts 
 
142 S E R M O N IX. 
 
 Hearts thofe worldly Fears, which refpe(ft 
 
 Vice equally with the Per/on who commits 
 
 it: Let us ever be ajloamed to become a 
 
 feeble Reed whicA is turned by ^'u^ry ^iT/wi 
 
 that blows — but never be known to llufi 
 
 in carrying Integrity written upon our 
 
 Foreheads^ as a ^itle the mofl: exalted^ and 
 
 as a iVftfr;^ the mod exprejjive, by which 
 
 we can glorify Gody and regard and benefit 
 
 Mankind, 
 
SERMON X. 
 
 UPON 
 
 The natural Desire of Long Life. 
 
 PREACHED At 
 
 St. MARY Le BOW, on Sunday, 
 October 29, 1769. 
 
SERMON X. 
 
 Job xlii. 1 6. 
 
 After this lived Job an hundred and forty 
 Years, and faw his Sons and his Sons* 
 Sons, even four Generations. 
 
 NATURAL is the Defire of long 
 Life. fob indeed may at firfl 
 Sight appear as an Inftance to the 
 contrary, who often wiflied for Death but 
 it came not — who digged for It more than 
 for hidden Treafures. Many others like- 
 wife have done the fame I fuppofe^ but 
 upon Examination we fliall generally find 
 L that 
 
146 S E R M O N X. 
 that fuch WiQies have been iffued forth in 
 the Spirit of PaJJion, not in the cooler Mo- 
 ments of Refledtion. At bejl this Conduft- 
 is but Cowardice, and in ge?ieral it is JinfuL 
 Cowardice it certainly was even in Job, fe- 
 vere as his Trials were -, but as to the Reji 
 of Mankind, their Caufe of Complaint is, 
 for the liioft Part, fo inadequate to the 
 Complaint itfelf, that when Men thus wifli 
 to die on Account of their ^'roubles and 
 Difappointments — they doubtlefs fin greatly, 
 and may juftly expert as a Punifliment for 
 their Raflinefs — an Addition to their Mif- 
 fortuncs and Sorrow. 
 
 We feldom defire to die, when Life goes 
 on agreeably; only when our Expectations 
 are fruftrated, and when Trouble is nigh at 
 Hand. We never hear even a Job crying 
 out, ** my Soul is weary of my Life"^-- 
 after the Lord was pleafed to turn his Cap- 
 tivity, snd to give him twice as much as lie 
 had before. 
 
 To 
 
SERMON X. 147 
 
 To what then (tiall we impute this ftrorig 
 Defire of living to be old ? To the general 
 tleafiires of human Life ? Or to the pecu- 
 liar Pleafurcs which old Agte brings along 
 with it? To it's fuperioUr Virtue— ^Dig- 
 nity, and Experience ? That it difqiialifies 
 us for the idle and vicious Entertainments 
 df younger Life, and teaches uS (in drder 
 to confult 6\Xt own Mortality) to vifit the 
 Tombs of thofe of our Friends and Ac- 
 i^Uaintance, who have long fince fdffered 
 Corruption ? Do we wijh to live long from 
 a pleafing Attention to a riling Progeny? 
 Or laftly, does liot the natural Defire of 
 living — ^proceed principally from the natu- 
 i-al Fear of dying f This Fear I think 
 equally naturdl, with this Defire -^inCo- 
 touch that I neVer tvifli tb retommend ot- 
 experience (as a mortal Being) a pbilofopbival 
 Contempt of Death. In thii World I own 
 that Death has its Sting, the Grave it*s 
 ViSfory, When indeed We have (hot the 
 L 2 Gu/pk 
 
148 SERMON X. 
 
 Gulph and finilhed welly the triumphant Ex- 
 clamations — O Death where is thy Sting! 
 O Grave where is thy Vidory ! will hap- 
 pily became us — but not before, I have 
 been here fpeaking as a Man — yet, I truft, 
 not foolljhly. 
 
 But fuppofe we now make brief Inquiry 
 into the Nature of old Age, and mark out 
 Means by which it may become light and 
 eafy to be borne, and reverenced alfo by the 
 generous Part of Mankind. 
 
 The juft Creator of all Things — though 
 he fuffered Man to fall, and to be ever ca- 
 pable of falling during his Exiftence in this 
 World ; though he has ordained that Man 
 fhall be born in Sorrow and permits the 
 Commiflion of fo much Evil, that without 
 great Care he may live and die alfo in Sor- 
 row ; has, neverthelefs, amply provided 
 Man with Inftruments of Defence againft 
 all the Mifchiefs which can poflibly happen 
 to him. In every Part of Life this is ap- 
 
 prently 
 
SERMON X. 149 
 
 parently the Cafe, yea, in the extremefi old 
 Age the Refle<ftion is infallibly true. But 
 would it not be cenfuring the Deity to ima- 
 gine otherwife ? To imagine that he has 
 given us Powers to combat againft other 
 Parts of Life, and yet leaves us defencelefs 
 in the laft Ad of it ? It cannot be. Let 
 not aged Perfons expert the Strength, nor 
 thirft after the Pleafures of their younger 
 Days : Age is to be regarded for, and to 
 be made eafy and comfortable by Means of 
 it's fuperior Virtue — -Dignity — and Expe- 
 rience. Indolence and Infenfibility are, I 
 will allow, often to be found in aged Minds, 
 but old Age itfelf muft never be confidered 
 as neceJJ'arily inactive. Let us refled: (with 
 Cicero) that Bufinefs of the higheft Concern 
 to Society — is not tranfaded by bodily Ve- 
 locity, or Power of Conftitution, but by 
 Counfel and experimental Judgment : Upon 
 which Account, Age is moft fit to advife. 
 In younger Perfons there is confefledly an 
 L 3 unlimitted 
 
I50 S E R M O N X. 
 
 unljmitted Defirc of Novelty- — a Defire of 
 altering (at all Events) ^yhat has been done 
 before; whiph Prppenfity too frec[uently 
 begets Rafjinefs : Whereas jige being no 
 Jonger fubje(ft to the headftrong Paffions pf 
 Toutb-^\s lefs liable to have it's Judgment 
 qr it's Jleafon perverted, Yioyf many In- 
 ftances have we in piftory -r- within our 
 own Knowledge indeed — of thofe whq 
 have pafTed a quiet — an ufeful — an erir 
 paging old Age ? 
 
 Happy and highly to be honoqred furely 
 afp thofe venerable Charadler^ who are free 
 froi^ lyjqrofenefs and PeeviQinefs — but ef- 
 pecially from Avarice. How common thefe 
 Imperfedlions are to this iEra pf Man's Life 
 r— need not be obferved: It may be ne- 
 ceffary indeed to infijl — that where they are 
 to be found predominant^ it is owing to the 
 Confequences of Habit and indulged Cuf- 
 tom, not to the unavoidable Confequcnces of 
 the State itfelf. As to a Jmall Degree of 
 
 Mprofenef^ 
 
S E R M O NX. 151 
 
 Morofenefs and Pecvifhnefs, we muft, in 
 fome Meafure, excufe it : Old Age, con- 
 fcious of it's own Decay, is apt to be fuf- 
 picious. Where there is any Fortune to 
 leave behind, it imagines (and often with 
 too much Reafon) that it's Heirs (hew an 
 improper Anxioufnefs for the Inheritance 'y 
 and where there is nothing to bequeath — 
 being unavoidably the Caufe of fome Trou- 
 ble, and of Courfe in the Way — it con- 
 cludes that it is confidered as an Incum^ 
 brance, and that the final Period of it's Ex- 
 iftcnce is impatiently expeded. Now to a 
 Mind the leaft fafceptible of Generofity or 
 even common Tendernefs — thefe Reflec- 
 tions muft needs be exceedingly hurtful; 
 nor fhould the World be too fevcre, if in 
 this Cafe old Age betrays fometimes a Want 
 of Chearfulnefs, and (liews itfelf fomewhat 
 peevifh andmorofe. As to Avarice in aged 
 Perfons, it is furely altogether without Ej^- 
 cufe. What? When we have but a little- 
 L 4 JVay 
 
1^2 S E R M O N X. 
 
 Way to go, fhall we upon this Account 
 become the more careful to procure the 
 Luxuries of a long 'Journey^ Or becaufe 
 we have but little Breath within us, fhall 
 we exercife this in a greedy Anxioufnefs for 
 the lavifh Provilion of a whole Life ? 
 
 Here then let us confider our Subjed in 
 a- religious Light, and difcourfe old Age 
 upon the mtiral Ad of dying. Methinks I fee 
 grey Hairs with<all the Infirmities of Age 
 — ftartling at the Sound of Death. Yet 
 why art thou fo terrified, good old Man ? 
 Does he anfwer, " why callefl thou me 
 good^ I am ;2i?/ good ? " Nay, but thou de- 
 firefi: long Life, and God has been pleafed 
 to grant it thee : Thou didft not furely isoifi 
 lor.tjiis, merely io fill up a greater Meafure 
 m /iniquity againft the Hour of thy De- 
 parture? " No J but I am unwilling to die 
 ** —unwilling to believe that the Warning 
 ** given to mc by my trembling Nerves — 
 
 will 
 
S E R M O N X. i^j; 
 
 "will prove fo very ihort." But whyf 
 Thy very Entrance upc«» . old Age was ^ 
 kind and preffihg Invitation. to. thee, tftprq- 
 vide for the Grave;, and every Dayfiiicc 
 fhould have been confidefed by (hee as a 
 flill further Indulgence of ! Nature ; info-» 
 much that come Death when it will^-^thou 
 fhouldeft be ready to depart. * Young 
 Men appear indeed to die, as when thfe 
 Violence of a Flame is fupprefled by the 
 fuperiour Force of Water ; but as to old 
 Age like thine — it drops, as it were, fport'^ 
 taneoujly into the Grave : Nor fhould fuch 
 an aged Perfon murmur, any more than the 
 Hulbandman after a plentiful Harveft — at 
 the Approach or Arrival of Autumn. But 
 continues the hoary Charader before us-*- 
 ** the Truth is — I am afraid to die." Yet 
 whence arifes this Fear? from Nature or 
 from Sin ? ** From both.'' Unhappy old 
 
 •Cicero de Senectute, 
 
 Man! 
 
154 SERMON X. 
 
 Man 1 How abfurd have been thy Wiflics 
 for long Life! What Advantage has it been 
 to thee to fee thy Sons, and thy Sons Sons 
 9— even four Generations, perhaps, go be- 
 fore thee, fince thou thyfelf now Jhudderefi 
 at the Sight of Death ? What has been thy 
 Employment ? Where — - thy Reafpn ? — 
 that in Jo many Years thou hafl made no 
 "Defence againft this King of Terrors. In 
 a Momenti-^ unable to reply— he dies— :- 
 looking as if he heard the Voice of his 
 angry Judge proclaiming it through Hea- 
 ven and Earth -e^" he dies, and let his aged 
 Name for ever peri(h.'* 
 
 Suppofe we fancy next another hoary 
 Charadtcr in View, chrijiianly expecting his 
 Departure, merely from extreme old Age* 
 Hear him then before he retires, to be no 
 more feen. '* I confefs myfelf to have been 
 *^ onp of thofe who nvijh for long Life : 
 " God has gracioufly given it to me, and 
 ** I truft that I have made a real Bleffing 
 
 «'pf 
 
S E R M O N X. 155 
 
 ** of it. But to effedl this, I always knew 
 ** that it was neceflary to bring ihc Means 
 ^* of Happinefs 'wt'tHf me in^o the State, not 
 *' to expedi that the Sfafe itfelf would ia- 
 *' fallibly furnifti me with them. On the 
 *' Contrary, I muft have feen in others the 
 " Wv^tchednefSf of old Age, when they have 
 ^' entered upon it without one Defence 
 ** againft it*s Inconveniencies ! I ever con- 
 ** fidered that a regular and upright Touth 
 " could alone qualify me for an happy old 
 *^ Age: I haye far exceeded my threefcore 
 ^* Years and ten, yet believe that if I had 
 •' lived much longer than I have — I fhould 
 *♦ never have repented me of mine old Age: 
 '* My approaching Diffolution iroubleth me 
 " as a Man — yet as a Chrijiian I am more 
 " than comforted: The intervening Paffagc 
 ** has it's natural Horrors — // is a bitter 
 ^' Cup, and I muft drink thereof^ yet in 
 '* undergoing this fpecial Exigency of Na- 
 J* |ure I feel myfelf more thap Conqueror. 
 
 « 
 
156 SERMON X. 
 
 " O happy Hour, when I hope to be uni- 
 ** ted to that divine Company, who are 
 *' enjoying perfed Blifs in the eternal Hea- 
 *' vens ! To thofe efpecially of my own 
 **• Friends and Kindred — nay of mine own 
 *' pious Offspring, whom even to the fourth 
 ," Generation I have lived to fee defcend 
 ** into their Graves." Having thus Ipoken 
 — let us fuppofe this venerable and chriftian 
 Father to expire with all the Profpedls of 
 the happieft Immortality : Fancy him re- 
 ceived into the Arms of his Saviour, and 
 the Angels adminiflering to him the tran- 
 fcendcnt Joys of Heaven. 
 
 Our Subje(5t being of fo tender and fo 
 interefting a Nature, I hope that a (hort 
 Application more immediately to ourfehes 
 will prove both ufeful and agreeable. 
 
 What then are our Thoughts of long 
 Life ? Do we join the Generality of Man- 
 kind in wijbing to arrive at it ? If we dp; 
 that we may never repent of our Choicprr- 
 
 let 
 
SERMON X. 157 
 
 let us be influenced by the Example lafl: 
 reprefented — to go as early as we can, and 
 do likewife. But the Arguments on both 
 Sides duly confidered 3 he is the wifer Man, 
 perhaps, vfho wijhes to retire — before Na- 
 ture leads him Home, I can conceive it to 
 be very poflible for us to be richly fraught 
 with ^irtuesind worldly Profperity when 
 we enter upon old y^ge, and yet to 
 Juffer greatly even from a Tendernefs 
 of Difpofition. As Thought and Re". 
 JleBion are the proper Entertainments of 
 this State, how may an Affection for our 
 deceafed Friends break in upon our Chear^ 
 fulnefs I Again ; altho' our own Lives may 
 bear reflec^ting upon — yet it will almoft 
 necejfarily happen, that fome amongft the 
 Number of thofe whom we loved befl-^. 
 were unfortunate — either in their moral 
 Condu<5l — in their Commerce and Engage-^ 
 ments with the World — or in the untimely 
 Manner of their Death. It is not unlikely 
 
 that 
 
1^8 SERMON X. 
 
 that "Job btmfelf^ bleffed as he was with To 
 remarkable an old Age, and however qua^ 
 lijkd for it his great PerfeStion of Cha-* 
 radter had made him j it is not unlikely, 
 I fay, that even Job btmfelf was fometimes 
 wholly unmindful of the Bleflings of thh 
 ^eafon of his Life, by taking into tender 
 Confideration the unhappy Fate of his former 
 Children. 
 
 And aftet all*— tho* long Life fliould 
 prove a natural Delire — let it be remem- 
 bered— ^ that ficb Wip is granted but to 
 few. Our infant State is attended with a 
 Variety of Circumftances which continu- 
 ally threaten DifToIution ; and when we are 
 grown to Maturity, we are oftentimes 
 feizcd fo violently, and cured with fo much 
 Difficulty --^th?! it appears a Wonder almoft 
 •«-that any of us fliould live to be old. Let 
 us then learn not to dejire it — at leaft, not 
 to expedl it. And indeed — if we even fet 
 Afide the Precarioufnefs of the T enure by 
 
 which 
 
 ^ 
 
SERMON X. 159 
 ^hich we hold all temporal Advantages; yet 
 our Hopes as Chriftians after Death, and the 
 Difficulties which'we unavoidably meet with 
 Here being ferioufly weighed and confidered 
 —there feems to be no real Foundation for 
 the Defire of living long. Nor do I think 
 a Man juftified in his Defire of dyingy ef- 
 pecially when he makes Troubles and Dif- 
 appointments, or even Fain it/elf — the 
 Cdtife of fuch Defire. W hen the Mind is 
 heavily oppreffed, or the Body racked with 
 Pain — the Soul is apt, I will allow, to cry 
 out for the Wings of a Dove, that it might 
 flee away and be at Reft : Still, it is the 
 Duty of the Chrifiian to inform the Man 
 — that he errs in thu% v^ifliing to forfake 
 his Standard, till God thinks fit to fend the 
 Summons, and order his Difmiffion. And 
 it may here be very proper to remark, that 
 when a murmuring Spirit has once taken 
 pofleffion of us— we are difpofed to fee 
 
 all 
 
i6o SERMON X. 
 
 all Obje<5ts in a difagreeahk Light— -to be 
 out of Humour with human Nature in 
 general from our own particular Feelings 
 and Sufferings — and to infifl as Madmen 
 and Brutes rather than as Chriftians — that 
 *J the Day of Death is better than the Day 
 f« of one*s Birth." 
 
 The true Spirit of Chriftianity refpe^- 
 ing the Matter in Queflion is clearly this 
 Neither to wifli for Life nor for 
 "Death — to be grateful for Life whilft we 
 can enjoy or preferve it ; and to be ready 
 with equal Gratitude to deliver it up — 
 when Nature {hall become irreparable^ or 
 when the God of Nature manifeflly calleth 
 for it. This Difpofition happily implies a 
 moral Preparation for old Age^ if God fhould 
 be pleafed to beflow upon us fuch Length 
 of Days : Or (hould he ordain otherwife — 
 that we be cut oS fooner, even in the Prime 
 of Life; yet I will hope that from this 
 cbrijiian Readinefs to depart, we fhould be 
 
 found 
 
SERMON X. i6i 
 
 found equally preparing for an happy Eter^ 
 nlty. And upon Refle(flion, we could not 
 be injured furely— in being made fo early 
 —meet Partakers of the Kingdom of Hea* 
 ven« 
 
 mmitmmmtmtmmiik 
 
 M SERMON 
 
SERMON XI. 
 
 UPON 
 
 The Folly and Danger of defpifing 
 RELIGION. 
 
 PREACHED 
 
 Before their Majesties, on Sunday, 
 May 31, 1772. 
 
t^^mtliiammi ilJii ti H -"k^Jmii 
 
 SERMON Xr. 
 
 I Thess. iv. S. 
 
 He therefore that defpifeih—defpifeth not 
 Man — but God, 
 
 THE Apoftle, in his ufual^ — ^f- 
 tionate Manner, is here exhorting 
 the ^hejfaloniam to proceed in the 
 Ways of Godlinefs — that they live holily 
 and juftly, and in chriftian Love and Cha- 
 rity one with another j informing them, 
 that he who dcfpifeth in thefe eflential 
 Points, defpifeth not Man — but God — 
 God, the confeflcd Author and Patron of 
 M 3 all 
 
i66 S E R M O N XI. 
 
 all true Religion, and folid, fubftantial 
 Virtue, 
 
 But as it will ever be right, perhaps, to 
 apply a Difcourfe of this Kind as foon as 
 we can — I (hall now take Leave of the 
 T^hejfaloniansy and addrefs myfelf to the 
 Chriftians of later Ages in the Language 
 of the Text — He that defpifeth — defpi- 
 feth not Man — but God. 
 
 " One would be almofl led to imagine, 
 *■ that fome Men objeded to Chriftianity, 
 ** becaufe it has confirmed every Hopey 
 ** every ExpeSiation of Nature" and made 
 fecure to us — the warmeji Wiihes of the 
 human Heart. " Nature^ with unutterable 
 ** Groans, pants after Immortality : V/eep- 
 " ing fhe fees her Children drop into their 
 ** Graves ;" becaufe all beyond the Grave 
 appears to her — puzzling zx^A uncertain-^ 
 a Land too extenjive for her Knowledge — 
 too deep for her Refearches : When her 
 Thoughts attempt to traverfe Eternity 
 
 through 
 
SERMON XI. 167 
 
 thro* all it's 'variegated Paths — ^* now (he 
 *' hopes — now again — (he fears 3" and thus 
 agitated by the Vicijjitude of thefe oppofite 
 Paffions — fhe finds noyfrw, no folid Ground 
 whereon to re/l herfelf— languid, and wea- 
 ried out by vain and fruitlefs Wanderings. 
 How different the Profpedt which the 
 Gofpel affords ! Here we may view the 
 heavenly Canaan — the new 'Jerufalem — that 
 Place of many happy Manfions, prepared 
 for wife and obedient Souls, departed in the 
 Lord. Nay, fo great a Friend is Chrifti- 
 anity to human Nature — that it's Concern 
 reaches even to our more ignoble Part — the 
 Body, and not only during this Life, but 
 to it's Recovery from all the Difionours of 
 the Grave — to Glory, and Honour, and 
 Liimortality. . 
 
 " Whoever therefore can frofefs to vilify 
 " thefe happy and important Truths, and 
 " to reprefent them in a ridiculous Light-^ 
 ** he not only fixes certain Reproach and 
 
 to M 4. ** Infamy 
 
i^ SERMON XI. 
 
 ** Infamy upon himfelf'^ht not only Ihcws 
 *' himfelf to be a Jlight and carekfs Ob? 
 *' fcrver— but is in FaB (whatever his In-- 
 ** tentions may be ; whether to gratify a 
 ** trifling Humour — to difplay the Arcbnefs 
 " of his Genius-^ or dejignedly to corrupt 
 ** the Morals of the Age.) Such an one is 
 " in FaSi and of Necejjity — an Enemy to 
 ** Society y and the general Happlnefs of 
 «• Mankind." 
 
 That Men are but too apt to indulge a 
 Propenfity at kafl-^io a Tafte of this Kind, 
 nay and to condud their Lives accordingly 
 — you will, I dare fay, with me^ be ready 
 to acknowledge. But that we may not ap- 
 pear morofe and cynical — -let us allow, that 
 even Levity itfelf, in fome Cafes, may be 
 feafonable, and J'afely cxercifed by the ivifeji 
 and the bejl of Men : Still, altho' human 
 Nature cannot at all Times attend to the 
 Contemplation oi Jerious Things — fuch as 
 God and Eternity -, let every Man be wife 
 
 a«d 
 
SERMON XL 169 
 
 and prudent enough never to make Sport 
 of thefe awful Confiderations, fo indeed as 
 intirely to lofe Sight of them in his Prac- 
 tice, Again, Chearfulnefs has always been 
 efteemed difocial Virtue ; and even Raillery 
 hfometimes a pleafant Entertainment to moji 
 of us : Yet it behoves every man to chufe 
 Subjects proper for Raillery ; elfe he (hews 
 a wrong judgment — and makes his Wit 
 and Clevernefs — Folly and Impertinence: 
 This is as offenjive to Men of Reafon^ as 
 the Converfation of one who thinks it a 
 Crime to fmile — is (for the moft Part) 
 (tuU and difagreeahle : However fond any 
 Man may be of a ^oke — he fhould take 
 Care, even to be commended as a Compa^ 
 »/<?«— that fuch Joke be well founded and 
 well timed', and as a Chriftian and good 
 Member of Society—- «fi;fr to give Way 
 to Jefling upon fokmn Matters, or upon 
 folemn Occafions. 
 
 But 
 
170 SERMON XL 
 
 But what muft we think of a Man, 
 vvhofe Reafon is employed as a public Ad- 
 'vocate for Vice and Irreligion ? ** Who 
 *' profejj'edly endeavours to fet off the Shame 
 ** and Mifery of human Nature with falfe 
 and delufive Chan?is ?" Not only to be an 
 Infidel kimfelf, but to labour to make the 
 Rejl of Mankind become Infidels alfo. — 
 Not only to pradice Vice him/elf] but to 
 approve it afterwards^ and to recommend it 
 
 to the World, O 'is it pojjibky that the 
 
 Mind of Man, fo capable of Exaltation,, 
 iliould ever thus have funk itfelf ! 
 . As much, however, as Men of this Stamp 
 may difturb the Quiet of the Community 
 in which they live by their open ProfeJJion 
 of Vice and Irreligion — yet the Contempt 
 €)i the Matter, in which the Pleajure and 
 the ^^^^ ^^c fuppofed chiefiy to confilt — 
 the Qontempt^ I fay, is levelled at God: 
 He that thus defpifeth — defpifeth nor Man^ 
 but God. And let us confider, that \i the 
 
 Piinciplcs 
 
S^E R M O N XL 171 
 
 Principles of Chrillianity (hould happen to 
 be true ; ** the Man, who has fo groflly 
 *' abufed his Reafon, as to employ it againft 
 " his Maker, and all that is amiable^nd 
 ** ufeful in human Life" — muft furely 
 expeA to be finally treated with inconceiv-is 
 able Rigour and Seventy. Let fuch an 
 one fuppofe the infulted Redeemer of the 
 World to direct a.Jecret *^rrow to his Heart 
 whilfl he is pouring forth Blafphemy j or 
 let him only fuppofe thofe of his own flat- 
 tering Community to attend him upon a 
 dying Bed, "and to endeavour to banifh.his 
 ** Fears by the Relation of fome ludicrous and 
 *Vprophane Story j" yet how does he fancy 
 that he fliould be able to receive it ? Per- 
 haps, inftead of liftening to thefe vile De- 
 ceivers, and in Spite of all his former 
 Infidelity — he will now cry out, in a Kind 
 of Delirium — what fhall I do to ht Javcd? 
 And dejpairing of Salvation, extend this 
 
 Cry 
 
17a S E R M O N XL 
 
 Cry— to the Mbuntains to Jail npoa him, 
 and to the Hills to cover him. 
 
 I win hope to be indulged with your ftill 
 furtl^r Attention. 
 
 Far be it from me to recommend a 
 Wildnefs in Religion — or to contend for 
 Refinements above this World, or human 
 Nature. The Chriftian Religion even eti" 
 joineih us to ufe this World, fo that we do 
 but always (hew by our Belief and Con- 
 duct:, that we have fomething more mbk^ 
 fomething more excellent t which engages our 
 principal Attention : The Chriftian Religion 
 by no Means confifts of one continued 
 Courfe of Severities and Hardfliips, thus 
 excluding Men from all the Comforts of 
 Life, and dooming them, as it were, to an 
 abfurd and perpetual Melancholy: Noi the 
 Chriftian Religion is of a chearful Nature, 
 and embellijhes and improves the Blefllngs of 
 frojperity — whilft it affords a never-failing; 
 
 Comfort 
 
S E R M O N XI. 173 
 
 Comfort — adequate to tht fever eft Difpen- 
 fations. 
 
 To fee then fuch a Religion as this — 
 neglcdted and defpifed — muft needs he p^am- 
 ful to every one, who calleth himfelf a 
 Cbriftian—^io every one indeed, who calleth 
 himfelf a Man, We may be fully afTured 
 that the Chriflian Religion ought to be our 
 happieft Confideration : *' It is certainly our 
 ** chief Honour and Dignity — the onl^ 
 *' Source of inward Satisfaction, and the Ba- 
 *' fis and Support oi facial Good:" Added to 
 all this-^it aft©rds us the mod tranfcendent 
 Frofpefts in another Life. To fubmit there- 
 fore to the Tenets of tbis Religion as far as 
 wq are able — is not only meet and right, but 
 the Height of Prudence alfo : On the other 
 Hand, to profefs an open Rebellion againil 
 all it's Precept?, is furely not only inconceiv- 
 ably criminal, but alfo i?ico?2ceivable Folly: 
 For \VQ are here to be informed, that it is 
 God who protnifeth all the Bleffings of Reli- 
 gion 
 
174 S E R M O N XL 
 
 glon, and not Man, who (at beft) is only 
 God's Emhajfddoiir in this Cafe : It is God 
 too, who alone can fulfil fuch Promifes, 
 Since then to God fliould be given Thanks 
 for tbefe noble Privileges of our Nature -, fo 
 by Pffrity of Rcafoning, if we turn a deaf 
 Ear to them, and defpife them — let us not 
 think that we hereby degrade a Fellow- 
 Creature who may have been our friendly 
 
 Monitor for the Contempt is (JlriBly 
 
 fpeakingj thrown upon God. On this Ac- 
 count it behoves us to be always very cau- 
 ticui of giving hard Names to good Injlruc-^ 
 tions ', and feeing the Chriftian Religion in 
 particular fo manifeftly wiflieth us well -^ 
 what ferious Man would venture, and what 
 wife Man would even wifi to reprefent it — 
 as " the Effedt of Frieftcraft, combined 
 ** with the Cunning of Statefmen and Foli- 
 ** ticians — with a View to enjlave and ///;- 
 po'vei-ip the Reft of Mankind. 
 
 When 
 
SERMON XT. 175 
 
 When Men are inclined to give Way to 
 a ludicrous Turn o^ /peaking or writing — 
 there are SubjeBs enough to be found in the 
 World, without engaging in Religion, It is 
 really fo fhocking to make this the Matter 
 of ridicule, that I could conceive a Man to 
 be guilty of almofi every Vice under the 
 Sun, and yet Jhudder at the Thought only of 
 ridiculing — a God — Eternity — Salvation. 
 
 As great Sinners as Men may be — yet let 
 them (at leaft) confefs that they arc doing 
 wrong : As little as they may believe that 
 they (hould be made happy Hereafter by a 
 contrary Condud: ; yet let' them (at leaft) 
 forbear {rom. defpijing or treating w^ith un- 
 becoming Levity — the divine and benevolent 
 Hand, which profeffes to offer this Happi^ 
 nefs to them. 
 
 We, I truft, have taken Care to keep at 
 the utmoji Dijlance from a Crime fo very 
 hurtful to cool Rcafoning — and to the Na- 
 ture and Expedtations of out better Part — 
 
 the^^ 
 
jyG S E R M O N XT. 
 
 the Soul. I will hope that our Condud in 
 Life has alfo been (upon the Whole) be- 
 coming thofe who are perfuaded that they 
 ihall live in 2l future State, and who fully 
 believe in future Rewards and Tunijkments ; 
 and that even with Regard to thofe Vices 
 and Imperfedlions to which we may be fe- 
 verally addifted — let me hope likewife^ that 
 we are always ferlous and generous enough 
 to own — that we iviJJ:> we were without 
 them 5 and that the yielding to them — re* 
 quires fome Conceflion to that God, if not 
 to that IVorld, again ft whom they are com- 
 mitted. 
 
 And when Religion is the Subjedl of (?ur 
 Converfation or Correfpondence — I am will- 
 ing to think that we faithfully defend all 
 Points ** which defcribe Virtue in it's pro-^ 
 " per Beauty and Luflre, and ftrip Vice of 
 *' thofe artificial Ornaments which hide it's 
 " natural Horror and Infamy : That we 
 ^^Jlrongly recommend the Exercife of Juf- 
 
 tice. 
 
SERMON XL 177 
 
 " tice, Truth, and Benevolence — and /«- 
 ** genuoujly expofe the Mi [chiefs of loofe and 
 " ungoverncd PaJJions : That we can, in a 
 " Word, at all Times trace the Footfteps 
 *' of God's flupendous Wifdom and un- 
 ** bounded Goodnefs— in the Works of his 
 " Creation — in the Conduft of his Provi- 
 ** dence — and in the wonderful Scheme of 
 ** our Redemption." 
 
 Thefe are, doubtlefs, refined and exalted 
 Speculations^^ the noblefl: Entertainment to* 
 our rational Faculties : And whilft we en- 
 gage thus on the Side of Religion^ we {hall 
 never fuffer ourfelves to be bantered out of 
 our Duty j but (hall always have Security 
 at Hand againft the mo!l: dangerous Delu- 
 Jiotls, which could ejfentially affect our Hap^ 
 ;2fy}-^and may in our Lord's own Senfe of 
 the Expreffion, be hereby faid to have cho- 
 fen that good Fart— which fliall mver be 
 taken from us. 
 
 N 
 
SERMON XII. 
 
 UPON 
 
 The Penitent upon the Cross; 
 
 PREACHED AT 
 
 St. Luke's, Old Street, on Sunday^ 
 July 3, 1774. 
 
SERMON XII. 
 
 Luke xxiii. 42, 43. 
 
 And he /aid unto Jefus — Lord, remember 
 me when thou comeji into thy Kingdom: 
 And Jefus Jaid, Verily I fay unto thee — 
 to Day fialt thou be with me — in Pa-' 
 radife, 
 
 I HAVE chofen for our prefent Me- 
 ditation — the ftriking Example of the 
 Penitent upon the Crofs. A plealing 
 - — a truly comfortable Scene this— ^ to every 
 fincere, praBical Believer : But what a 
 Misfortune is it — that Men fhould build 
 fuch a Confidence on the Acceptance of 
 this Penitent — as appears manjfeflly incon- 
 N 3 fillent 
 
i82 SERMON XII. 
 
 fiftent with the Word of God, and the 
 immutable Conditions of Salvation ! I muft 
 therefore defire your particular Attention, 
 whilft I ftate this Matter to you in a clear 
 and reafonable Light. 
 
 To grant at once the Whole that can be 
 contended for with Regard to the Penitent 
 himfelf — we will allow that his Salvation 
 Was begwt and completed at the Crofs. Still, 
 how much more equitable was his Plea of 
 Acceptance, than any which the Chrifiian 
 of thefe Days can make, who cries out for 
 Salvation only at the very Gate of Eternity ! 
 How juftly might he have lamented (as, 
 probably, he did lament) the Unhappinefs 
 of a whole Life fpent in the dark Mazes 
 of Ignorance and Error — deftitute of a 
 Guide to dired: him — and without the 
 flightefl: Conception of a Chrifl or his Gof- 
 pel ! Nay, might he not, with fome De- 
 gree of Reafon, modcjlly have afked of God, 
 why fuch Bleflings had been denied him ? 
 
 Not 
 
SERMON XII. 183 
 
 Not indeed to cenfure the Almighty^ but to 
 make his own Cafe the more qff'eSfing : Not 
 indeed to commajid Acceptance, but by thus 
 addreffing the Compaffion of God — ear- 
 nejily to beg it. And could divine Mercy 
 do lefs than receive him ? We will fuppofe 
 that he was a Stranger even to the Name 
 of 'JcfuSi till he met Him at the Crofs: 
 Did he not then believe — as foon as he 
 knew what was required of him to believe ? 
 Did he not repent — as foon as he knew 
 what the Nature of Chrijlian Repentance 
 moas'^ 
 
 But if we fuppofe otherwife, and that 
 divine Mercy was exercifed with manifefi 
 Partiality towards this repenting Malefac- 
 tor : Yet even in this Cafe, no Encourage- 
 ment can be given to the Reft of Mankind 
 from fuch an Example. Infinite HolinefsT 
 and a condemned Criminal were going to 
 be crucified together : This was an Event 
 which never happened before^ nor ever is to 
 N 4 happen 
 
iS4 SERMON XIT. 
 
 happen again : The Singularity therefore of 
 the Occafion puts the Reji of Mankind en- 
 tirely out of the Queftion ; and the Great- 
 nefs of the Occafion even more than pleaded 
 for the Acceptance of this repenting Male- 
 fa £f or : For what could be fo flriking an 
 Intercedion in his Favour — " as for him to 
 '* leave the World — with the God and Sa- 
 " viour of it ? '* 
 
 Do Men, however, flill infift — that a 
 like Acceptance of the Penitent before us is 
 offered to every expiring penetential Chrif- 
 tian ? For a Moment we will fuppofe this, 
 and even fct afide the Polllbility of fudden 
 Deatht Yet here let Mankind recall to 
 their Memories the mournful Example of 
 the impenitent Thief. This Man had all 
 the Advantages which his Companion had ', 
 and yet wanted even the Inclination to ac- 
 cept them: And how many Inftanccs of 
 this perverfe and relentlefs Kind muft we 
 have heard of — amongft thofe unhappy 
 
 Wretches 
 
SERMON XII. 185 
 
 Wretches, who have fuffered at the fataT 
 Tree ! I am afraid too, that in the Courfe 
 of my own Minlftry — I have feen fome of 
 my Fellow Creatures fo hardened and fo im- 
 penitent upon a dying Bed — as to he refohed 
 not to fue for a Far don — by only crying 
 out— Lord, Lord. 
 
 Again, how apt are all Men (however 
 aged, however infirm, however afflided 
 with Pain and Difeafe) to flatter themfelves 
 with the Thought of a Recovery^ or that 
 Nature will hold out a little lomer. 
 Now upon our prefent fiippofed Plan of 
 Salvation, how likely will bad Men be to 
 take fuch an Advantage of it, as to poft- 
 pone the fiort and eafy Work of their in- 
 tended Converfion, till it be even too late to 
 put it into Execution ! The penitent Thief 
 (ignominious as his Mode of dying was) 
 became happy in this great I* articular —^ 
 that the Certainty of his Death made hit 
 Repentance 2X(o fure — allowed him no idle 
 
 Evafions 
 
i86 SERMON XII. 
 
 Evafions — no deluding Profpeds of a more 
 convenient Seafon. 
 
 But I have an Argument to introduce 
 next, which I think muft very povi^erfuUy 
 alarm the more w^icked and finful Part of 
 an Audience, I would wiih you then to 
 refled: — that this repenting Malefa6tor 
 brought with him to his Crofs or Death- 
 Bed — Senfes perfed — Reafon calm and 
 fober— and withal a Body free from Pain 
 and Sicknefs : Whereas how often do other 
 dying Perfons labour under Pains and Dif- 
 eafes fo acute and fo fevere-^that what pro- 
 nounces them human — is their Shape only. 
 Now inftead of knowing, inflead of being 
 able to become reconciled to their Redeemer 
 at fuch a Time as this — their own neareft 
 Family Friend, perhaps, may be landing 
 by their Bed-Side as a Figure Jirange and 
 indifferent — if not ghajlly and perplexing 
 to them, 
 
 Suppofe 
 
SERMON XII. 187 
 
 Suppofe then that the wicked Man is 
 allowed every Advantage conceivable either 
 from Nature or the Example of the peni- 
 tent Thief; ftill, his Situation, when he 
 comes to die, may prove an unhappy, be- 
 caufe a dangerous, one. If he (hould be 
 hardened — (infenfible of his Crimes, and 
 carelefs of what may happen to him here- 
 after) — then he will be fure to die Hke the 
 impenitent upon the Crofs : And if he fliould 
 have the Power and the Inclination to re- 
 fled: — yet he will perceive it a difficult 
 Tafk, in a dying State, fo to employ and 
 manage his Thoughts, as to render himfelf 
 Jit either for this World or the next. 
 
 But, furely, the Cafe of the penitent 
 Thief, and that of any other dying Perfon, 
 born and educated under the chriftian Dif- 
 penfation, are fo vajlly different — that it is 
 Impiety itfelf to fuppoie that their final Ac- 
 ceptance can (upon any Terms) ever prove 
 the fame. The Moans of Happinefs y^ Io?7g 
 
 denied 
 
i88 SERMON XTI. 
 
 denied to the one^ have been offered to the 
 other from the Moment that he was capable 
 of. diftinguifhing Right from Wrong : As 
 foon as the Door of Mercy was open to 
 receive the owf-^he pioufly and gratefully 
 fought Admiffion: Whereas the Door of 
 Mercy was always open to receive the other 
 — till by his own impious Prefumption he 
 (hqt it againft bimjelf. Nothing, I fear, 
 but extraordinary Grace can fave fuch a 
 Man as this ; and whether he who has 
 throughout Life called himfelf a Chriftian 
 without having the Faith of a ChriRian- — 
 or who in ProfeJJion has been a Difciple of 
 Chrijl, and in his ConduEi the manifefi: Dif- 
 ciple of a different Mafter ; whether, I fay, 
 this Man, becoming a true Believer and a 
 fincere Penitent even at the Clofe of the ele- 
 venth Hour — can be thought an Objed de- 
 
 ferving of extraordinary Interpofuion 
 
 let any one in his Senfes determine. I will 
 pnly venture to add-^that if it fhould be 
 
 tlue 
 
SERMON XII. 189 
 
 the Defign of Godi finally to reft-ore the mojl 
 flagrant Sinners after this Manner-, the 
 Gofpel Injun<5lions are but of little Ufe, and 
 the Virtues and confident Piety of good 
 Chriflians but of fmall Advantage : But, 
 beloved, be not deceived, for God will not 
 tbus be mocked. 
 
 Happieft of Refledions furely — that 
 Chrijl came into the World and died for 
 Sinners — and that he now fitteth at the 
 right Hand of his Father as Mediator be- 
 tween God and' fallen Man ! Upon this 
 kind Redeemer of ours let us al/ depend, 
 as Salvation cometh from none other. The 
 beft Men upon Earth cannot c/aim For- 
 givenefs or eternal Happinefs upon the Score 
 of their own Merit: But altho' they cannot 
 demand this, as having offered to God per- 
 ^<S? Innocence, or Things of equal Value-, 
 yet it is but reafonable to expedl that a juft 
 Creator will accept their good Works^ and 
 reward them accordingly. Indeed the very 
 
 Term 
 
190 SERMON XII. 
 
 Term Mediation implies fome Merit, at 
 leaft fome extenuating Circumjlances in 
 the Condu(a of the Perfon or Perfons 
 pleaded for ; and likewife a 'Doubt of Ac- 
 ceptance. Unlefs therefore we can furnilh 
 Chrijl our divine Interceflbr with fome Me^ 
 rit^ or fome extenuating Circumftances, on 
 
 which he may found an Interceffion 
 
 prefumptious, I think, is the Refolve to afk 
 it of him ; nor do I fee that Chrifl would 
 deviate from his CharaBer — if he refufed to 
 mediate in fuch a Cafe as this-, nor God 
 from his — was he even to rejeB the Me^ 
 diaiion. 
 
 Here then let me mention the ftrange 
 Inconfiftency of fome even of the worft of 
 Men — in fending for their Minifters juflr^ 
 at the Clofe of Life; only to make us Wit- 
 neffes of their mock Faith and mock Conver- 
 fwny and to implore the Sandion of tho- 
 Church for Hopes of a final Acceptar.ce 
 with God, as happy as that of the Penitent 
 
 upon 
 
SERMON XIL 191 
 
 upon the Crofs. There is, doubtlefs, no 
 Care more deeply incumbent upon God's 
 Minifters — than to deal charitably with 
 Souls upon the Wing for Eternity : But we 
 are to remember — that we mufl: deal faith- 
 fully alfo i muft yo order our Counfels and 
 Exfreffions — as to caufe no fick Man to de- 
 fart — either in a vain Hope, or in a flat- 
 tering and deliifve Peace, Would Men 
 indeed live — at leaft in a Kind of Prepa- 
 ration for another and a better World — we 
 fliould then be pleafed to attend their Death 
 Beds J and our Vifitiy inflead of ftriking 
 them with Horror, and painfully affecting our 
 own Tendernefs, would comfort their depart- 
 ing Souls : And furely you muft think — that 
 fatisfaBory is the Tafk — when "WQcan from 
 the general Redlitude of the Tick Man's 
 paji Life^ (and confequently from the Word 
 of God) with Safety pronounce his Peace 
 folid — and his Hope of Happinefs certaiui 
 -» I hope 
 
192 SERMON Xll. 
 
 I truft that you fee the Force of this 
 Manner of Reafoning. To preach — and 
 not to preach to the Under ft andings as well 
 as to the Fajjiom of Mankind — muft ever 
 be preaching to no Purpofe — or what isftill 
 ijoorfe — to a had Purpofe. I (hall therefore 
 clofe the whole, with this falutary and 
 friendly Advice. 
 
 Lay not the kaft Strefs upon the Accept- 
 ance of the Penitent upon the Crofs : It 
 cannot poffibly afford any of m the leaji 
 liappy Protection. If you really mean to par- 
 take of chriftian Salvation — be mindful of 
 it^ — whilft it may be called — to Day. Re** 
 member that the Night advanceth apace, 
 when it may be too late either for you 
 to ajk, or for divine Mercy itfelf to 
 bejiow — Forgivenefs. The Change — the 
 irrefiftible Change of Death — will foon 
 take the youngeft and the ftrongeft of 
 us from our favourite Earth — will foon 
 hurry us to the Judgment Seat of 
 
 Chrifl 
 
SERMON XII. 193 
 
 Chrjji : There — will the Sinner ( on 
 Earth, perhaps, inflexible) beftow the vo- 
 luntary Bend : There •— will Pride (on 
 Earthy perhaps, exulting) level itfelf with 
 the 'uery Duft. Nor would I have you 
 deem thefe the wild Suggeftions of Frenzy 
 or Enthujiafm — but believe them to be 
 - — what they really are — the Words of 
 Truth and Sobernefs. May they fo operate 
 upon the Minds of every one of us — -Jo 
 influence our Lives and Converfation-^ 
 as to induce the dear Redeemer (upon 
 his own obvious and general Plan of Sal- 
 vation) to whifper in our dying Ear — 
 *' let not thy Soul — let not thy Soul be dif- 
 •* quieted within Thee — to Day fhalt thou 
 " be with me — in Paradi/e.'' 
 
 FINIS. 
 

4 
 
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