AN ENQUIRY AFTER HAPPINESS.  
VOL. I.  
By the Author of the PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Pythag. apud Stob. Serm. 80.  
Qui quod tibi parum videtur Eruditus, ea Causa est quod nullam Eruditionem esse duxit, nisi quae Beatae vitae Disciplinam juvaret. Cic. de Finib. Bonor. & Mal.  
LONDON, Printed for George Pawlett at the Bible in Chancery-Lane, and Samuel Smith at the Prince's Arms in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1685.   

To my Worthy Friend M R. WILLIAM POWELL, Rector of Llan-Wennarth, etc.  
My Dear Friend,  
WHom neither thy Prosperity nor my Affliction has ever divided from me, it has ever been your good Fortune (and your Mind has ever been better than your Fortune) from the first Day of our Friendship to stand upon the higher Ground, and to have always been doing Kindnesses, and never needed any. I will confess if you will Pardon me that I have sometimes secretly repined at this thy good luck and envied the Honour and the Pleasure which this Advantage gave you, and can you blame me since it excluded me from a share in one of the most ravishing Delights of Friendship? You know what Attempts I have made to redeem this Inequality, but all in vain till now: Now I flatter myself that I have found a Present to make you that cannot provoke your Generosity tho' it were Nicer and more scrupulous than 'tis; I have now at length found a way to End most happily, the only Difference that ever has been between us in an uninterrupted Friendship of near Seventeen years: You shall always be Fortunate, always able to do Kindnesses, and be in need of none; and I will always strive to vanquish and surmount all the Disadvantages of my Fortune, and in despite of them find some way to express my Affection, and return your Obligations. And thus if I fall' not short of my Design, I shall be equal with you; for 'tis no small Service I propose to do you, I will now be your Guide, I will Conduct you not as you have done me (tho' for that too I must ever thank you) through barren and impoverished Piccardy, but through all the Ways of Pleasantness, and all the Paths of Peace. I will give you a Sight not of France, but Canaan; I will make you a sharer of that Immortality which I aspired to, and bring you to that Heaven which is the Sacred Abode of Sacred Friendship, and Sacred Joys. What a Dark Cottage, what a Rude Heap will the now-admired Versailles then seem to you! But see whither I have suffered this Passion to transport me? how easy is it for one that follows the Conduct of Affection to be rather Obliging than Discreet! I had alalmost forgot how little you stand in need of these kind of Helps, being not only a sufficient Guide to yourself, but a Prudent and Successful one to others in the Way to Happiness: however though you need no Guide, I may serve you as the Companion of your Journey, I may ' wake you in a Morning, I may oblige you to quicken your pace, and I may Entertain you with Reflections and Remarks upon the Country as we pass, and ever and anon mind you of the Beauty and the Pleasures of that Country we Travel to; these and such like Assistances the most Perfect need, these are the Offices of the truest Friendship, and these the Papers I send you, may I hope in some measure perform. Adieu,  
Thy Affectionate R. L.   

TO THE READER.  
IT has pleased God that in a few Years I should finish the more pleasant, and delightful part of Life, if Sense were to be the Judge, and Standard of Pleasure; being confined (I will not say condemned) by well-nigh utter Blindness to Retirement, and Solitude. In this state Conversation has lost much of its former air, and briskness; Business (wherein I could never pretend to any great Address) gives me now more trouble than formerly; and that too without the usual dispatch or success: Study (which is the only Employment left me) is clogged with this Weight and Encumbrance, that all the Assistance I can receive from without, must be conveyed by another's Senses not my own; which it may easily be believed, are Instruments, or Organs as ill fitted and as awkwardly managed by me, as wooden Legs, or Hands by the Maimed.  
In this Case, should I affect to procure myself a decent Funeral, and leave an Honourable Remembrance of me behind; should I struggle to Rescue myself from that Contempt to which this Condition (wherein I may seem lost to the World, and myself) exposes me; should I ambitiously affect to have my Name march in the train of those All (tho' not all equally) great ones, Homer, Appius, Cn. Aufidius, Didymus, Walkup, Pere Jean l'aveugle, etc. All of them eminent for their service and usefulness, as well as for their affliction of the same kind with mine; Even this might seem almost a Commendable Infirmity, for the last thing a Mind truly great, and Philosophical puts off, 
Tacit. Hist. l. 4.  is the Desire of Glory: Hence Tacitus closes his Divine Character of Helvidius Priscus thus, Erant quibus appetentior fama videretur, quando etiam sapientibus cupido gloriae novissima exuitur: But this Treatise oweth neither its Conception, nor Birth to this Principle; for besides that I know my own Insufficiency too well, to flatter myself with the hopes of a Romantic Immortality from any performance of mine in this Ingenious, and Learned Age; I must confess I never had a Soul great enough to be acted by the Heroic heat which the love of Fame and Honour hath kindled in some.  — Tuta & parvula laudo. 
I have ever loved the Security and Contentment of Privacy and Retirement almost to the guilt of Singularity, and Affectation.  
But the truth is plainly this, the Vigour and Activity of my Mind, the health and strength of my body (being now in the flower of my Age) continuing unbroken, unbent under this Affliction; I found that if I did not provide some Employment that might Entertain my Mind, it would weary out itself with fruitless Desires of and Vain Attempts after its wont Objects, and so that Strength and Vivacity of Nature which should render my state more Comfortable, would make it much more Intolerable.  
I confess my Zeal for Public Good by the Propagation and Endearment of Divine Truths was less fervent in me, than could well become the particular Obligations of my Profession; or the Common ones which every Christian in proportion to his Talents lies under; I was almost induced to believe, that this Chastisement which had removed me from the Service of the Altar, did at the same time discharge me from all Duty owing to the Public; But my good Friend Mr. Lamb revived the Dying sparks of a decaying Zeal, and restored me to a proper sense of my Duty in this Point; for whether by Design or by Providence governing Chance, I know not, (for he never seemed to address or design the Discourse particularly to me) he had ever and anon in his mouth this Excellent Principle, That the life of Man is to be estimated by its usefulness and serviceableness in the World. A sober reflection upon this wrought me up to a Resolution strong enough to contemn all the Difficulties which the loss of my Sight could represent to me in an Enterprise of this Nature. Thus you see on what Principles I became engaged in this Work; I thought it my Duty to set myself some Task which might serve at once to divert my Thoughts from a melancholy Application on my Misfortune, and Entertain my Mind with such a Rational Employment as might render me most easy to myself, and most serviceable to the World. Being now abundantly convinced that I am not released from that Duty I own that Body of which I am still a Member, by being cut off from a great part of the Pleasures and Advantages of it; therefore like one that truly loves his Country, when no way else is left him, he fights for't on his stumps, so will I even in the Remains of a broken body express at least my affection for Mankind, and breath out my last Gasp in their Service.  
The fitness, and tendency of this subject to serve these Ends is so apparent, that I will not impertinently detain the Reader by a Justification of this Choice. How fit I am for it, will be best judged by the Performance; yet that this may not suffer any Disadvantage from such Prejudices with which the Consideration of my state may easily prepossess Men, I think myself obliged to some sort of Justification of myself.  
I have had so much Experience of all the several Pleasures that Prosperity can afford Man in this life, that I am sufficiently Capable of setting a true Rate and Value upon them; and of judging their Subserviency to true Happiness: And I am so well acquainted with Trouble and Affliction, that I am sufficiently sensible, as of the weakness of Humane Nature and Misery of this Mortal state; so of the Necessity, and Power of Virtue in Relieving and Supporting Man under both: And after all, my Mind lives now in the Body (like a Soul in a separate state) retired as from the Pleasures, so from the Troubles of the World, and is therefore the more able to pass a free, and more dispassionate Judgement upon both.  
It may probably be feared that the same should befall me, which has many Monkish Writers, who being much retired from the World, having much leisure and few Books, did spin out every Subject into wand'ring Mazes, and airy Speculations, like Plants which destitute of a well manured and fat soil run all into the Exuberancy of Leaves and fruitless Sprigs: but the Commerce I still maintain with the World may in part prevent this Error, and the Nature of the Subject so fruitful of many Necessary Inquiries will of itself lead me on to useful and profitable Thoughts.  
There is one thing which may be by some objected against my manner of treating this Subject, the freedom I use in it; being not altogether so common to my Profession; but I hope it will not be found that I have abused the Liberty I have taken to the Disparagement of the least Truth of our Religion, or to the least Discouragement of Virtue; and therefore I think it cannot justly reflect any Disadvantage upon my Calling.  
Besides I have in a former Treatise wherein I designed the same End, The Happiness of Mankind, treated this Subject in a manner suited to the generality of Readers: but this Discourse I design for such who are not content to submit to Inferences deduced from Received Principles, unless they can be fairly Convined of the Reasonableness and Truth of the Principles themselves: nor should I think it any Crime, were I Master of such Talents, if I did mingle with Necessary Truths all that variety of Thought, all that fineness and briskness of fancy which might render them as delightful as useful, the Example of God himself in the great Work of the Creation would justify this Liberty, who has Created as well Leaves and Flowers, as Herbs and Fruit, and in the variety and beauty, in the Colours and figures of all that he has produced; he appears plainly to have made provision not only to feed the Appetite, but even the fancies of his Creatures.  
There is after all I confess one thing that stands in need of an Excuse, which is the publishing what should come forth a just Treatise by small Parts; to this I may truly say, having laid together all the Materials I saw necessary to complete this Discourse, I found it grown unavoidably to that Voluminous Bulk, that I took this Method partly out of compliance to the Ease of my Reader, but especially in compliance to my own; for in my present Circumstances I saw no other way to avoid that Confusion which would inevitably have disordered the Contexture of a long Discourse, if I should have charged my Memory with the Contrivance and Connexion of so many, and various Parts at once: and I foresaw that all the Strength of my Mind, which should be collected and united in the treating every single Argument would be unprofitably spent in distracted, divided, and imperfect Efforts.   

THE INTRODUCTION OR A Brief Scheme of the Design OF THE Whole WORK.  
TO inform Man what is his true, and proper Happiness, and to mark out before him the Right way to it hath been, and ever must be the aim of all Philosophy and all Religion: and yet so numerous have been and are the Disputes on this Subject, and so seemingly insuperable the difficulties which encounter us in every way, that the Despair of attaining Happiness at least in this World seems almost as Universal, as the Desire of it: and as Nature will never give o●●e the pursuit of it, so will Man never forbear the Tragical Complaints of his Disappointments, and the raving Exaggerations of Humane Misery. That therefore I may attempt at least to treat this Subject satisfactorily, I will endeavour,  
§. 1. To show you, That Happiness is not a mere airy and imaginary Notion, but is a real state, and really attainable; and that our Disappointments and Unsuccessfulness must be imputed to ourselves, and this shall be the work of this present Volume.  
§. 2. To Explain the Nature of Happiness, to Examine wherein it consists, and what is the highway to it: in which to proceed successfully, I thought the plainest Method I could take would be this, To fix and define the Notion of the most absolute and Complete Happiness, that so we might discern what it behoved us to aim at, and how near we could approach the Perfection of Happiness. Now the most perfect Idea of Happiness that the Mind of Man can frame is this, Happiness is the state of a perfect Being in the unmixed, uninterrupted, and Eternal Enjoyment of the most perfect Pleasure; Such I conceive to be the Happiness of God himself: In this Definition there are Three Parts which manifestly appear to be the Ingredients of a Divine Happiness. First, Perfection of Being: Secondly, Freedom from Trouble: Thirdly, Eternal Enjoyment of the most perfect Pleasure. It is therefore now Evident that to discover the Nature of Humane Happiness and the way to it, I am obliged to Discourse.  

1. Of the Being of Man, and its Perfection.  
2. Of Indolence or freedom from Pain or Trouble.  
3. Of Fruition or the Enjoyment of Pleasure.   
Each of which shall be the Subject of a distinct Volume; and because there may some Questions arise of a more general Nature; such as, whether every Man's particular Happiness ought to be dearer to him than the Happiness of another? or whatever else can be imagined. Secondly, On supposal, that an Entire Happiness cannot be attained, what part then of it ought to be preferred? and such like. I will therefore,  
§. 3. Assign a particular Volume for the Discussion of such Questions, and the Establishment of such Inferences, as will naturally result from the former Discourses.   

ERRATA.  
PAg. 77. lin. 12. for them read him, p. 135. l. 3. omit so, p. 148. l. 4. for tutelary r. tutelar, p. 159. l. 27. omit only, l. 28. for as r. then, p. 308. l. 7. for times r. time.   

AN Enquiry after Happiness. Part I. Contains three Chapters: The First, Treats of the Motives to this Enquiry, and Objections against it. The Second, of the Possibility of attaining Happiness. The Third, of the Causes of our ill Success, and Disappointments in our pursuit of it.  

CHAP. I. Of the Motives to this Enquiry, and of the Objections which may be formed against it.  
The Importance. The Necessity of it.  
The Objections are, First, Happiness is not attainable; and therefore Inquiries after it are to no purpose.  
Secondly, It is too Divine a state for Man to aspire to.  
Thirdly, It is so little that the Attainment is not worth our while.  
Fourthly, We had best follow Nature and Custom as the Guides to Happiness without Study.  
Fifthly, There is that Variety in Men, and consequently in their Happiness, that it seems incapable of any Constant and General Rules.  
Sixthly, The Diversity of Opinions concerning Happiness.  

The Importance of this Enquiry.  THe Desire of Happiness is the first, most Powerful, and most Universal Principle of humane Actions; This moves the Prince and Peasant, the Learned and the Idiot: Revelation and Reason take this for granted, all Laws both Divine, and Humane, proposing our Happiness as the sole and sufficient Motive to our Obedience.  
But all this while, though all sorts of Religion and Government do unanimously consent in the Proposal of this one general end; yet so great is the Diversity (I may say Contrariety) in the Methods in which they pursue it, that it seems to imply the Discovery of Happiness a matter of no less Uncertainty than Importance; there being necessarily as great a Variety in the Opinions of Men about it, as in their Lives and Actions, or in the forms of Religion and Government in the World; since all these seem, according to the different Judgements of Men, so many different Paths which lead to it.  
Till therefore I have fixed the Notion of Happiness, and found out what it consists in, 'tis impossible I should live rationally: how shall I steer the Course of my Life aright, when I know not what Port I would make? how shall my Actions tend to any Wise or Noble purposes when I have no mark prefixed 'em? till than I must live extempore and act at Random, I must abandon myself to Wind and Tide, to Time and Chance.  
Hospes. 
Horat.   
Quo me cunque rapit tempestas deferor  
Tost by a Storm for my Retreat I take,  
Whatever Shore th' unguided Bark can make.  
In a word, till I have fixed this Notion, and know what to aim at, Business will be but a Mechanic Drudging out of life, and Study but a vain amusement of my Mind: whereas when all the Inclinations of Life and Soul shall have one Uniform bent and tendency, when every desire of the Soul, and every action of Life shall be a step advancing in a direct line towards Happiness, when the vigour and activity of my Mind shall not be suspended and frustrated by incertainties and fluctuation, nor deluded and lost in wand'ring Errors and Deviations, but shall ever carry me strait forwards towards my Journey's End: then certainly all my Labours will thrive and prosper, and my progress will be great, though my Motion should be but feeble and slow: Thus Plants whose native vigour mounts strait upwards, though their bulk be less, yet their height and beauty is greater than theirs whose Luxuriant nourishment wastes itself in gouty Knots, and distorted Branches.  
Having considered this I resolved, that I could not spend my time more manly, and Philosophically than in an Enquiry, what the Happiness of Man is, and how attainable: Every Advance towards this is an accession to my Life and Being; and all Travail which doth not lead me on towards this End is but so much of Life misspent and lost; what a sillyness were it to load my Memory with terms and words, with numerous Instances of Matters of Fact, to marshal up in Order, Lines, and Figures, to talk of unknown Seas and distant Shores, to tumble over each Page in Nature's Systeme? What trifling Cunning to skill the gainful Mysteries of Trade? what solemn and laborious foppery to penetrate into all the Subtleties of Government and Arts of Conversation? If after all I have no Receipt for a troubled Mind, no Cure for distempered Passions, if I have no Principle to support my Mind under a sinking Fortune, or govern it in a rising one, if I have nothing to arm me against my Fears, or to disperse my Griefs; would any one think I had spent my time well, or stocked myself with useful Knowledge?  
But to find out what would make me Happier, to find out what would free my Mind from the slavery of uneasy Passions, what would make it serene, steady, great and manly in all the Accidents of Life; this every Man sees at the first blush to be a wise, generous and serviceable Employment of my Reason. This, 

Aequè pauperibus prodest, locupletibus aequè,  
Aequè neglectum pueris senibusque nocebit.   

This Learning rich and poor alike do need,  
And its Neglect does certain Ruin breed,  
To old and young alike—    
This occasioned St. Austin's Ingenious Reflection on the Poly-theism of the Romans; when he considered that they worshipped Felicitas (by which they meant that Deity that could confer Happiness upon men) he could not but wonder, why this was not the most Ancient of all their God's; or why, when this Deity was found out, they did not presently discard the other idle multitude of superfluous and unnecessary Gods; since this alone was sufficient to supply all the Necessities, and gratify all the desires and appetites of Mankind.  
But though Happiness should be a project too great, 
The Necessity of this Enquiry for the Redress of Humane Misery.  too ambitious for a poor silly Mortal; yet sure the Redress of those Evil which oppress our State and Nature is such an humble and modest Design as may well become the meanness of Man; and therefore if I could not excuse the Confidence or Presumption of this Enquiry by pleading the innate Desire of Happiness; yet sure I might by urging the multitude of those Evils which infested Humane Life, which 'tis not only irrational but impossible so far to yield and submit to, as not to struggle to free ourselves from 'em, or endeavour to lighten their afflicting weight, or study to prevent 'em: This I confess was the first, and none of the least prevalent Arguments that engaged me; I love myself, and would be, if not Happy, at least not miserable, and I am neither insensible nor fearless; I know the common Portion of Man, and I cannot so far flatter myself as not to apprehend approaching Evils, nor am I naturally so hard and tough as not to shrink and gall under the weight of them, and I suppose most Men are of the same Nature with me, and as liable as I am to all the Evils of Time and Chance; and consequently this one Consideration of Humane Misery ought to work very powerfully in them, and effectually oblige 'em to this Study.  
In this place I took a Distinct View, and made an Exact Survey of every particular Calamity which befalls Man, reducing 'em all under their several heads; I allowed myself the Melancholy pleasure of viewing the mournful Pomp, whilst I saw their numerous Legions marching under their distinct ●●nners, armed, with great variety of fatal, dreadful weapons: but besides that this would have made too tedious an Interruption in the thread of my Discourse: I will deal freely with the World, I had in private drawn as exact and lively a Portraiture of Humane Misery, as I could, I had left no shade, no feature wanting as I thought: but when I had finished it, observing it exactly from head to foot, I found my own Sins and Follies made up the ugliest and most frightful Parts of it: and therefore I thought it not freedom but impudence to expose to open view all the Deformities of the Soul, when natural Modesty guides the Painter's hand to draw a covering over the uncomley Parts of the Body.  
However such a general Survey of Humane Misery as may serve to awaken our Concern, and quicken and inflame our Industry, will not be improper or unnecessary in this place: A rude Draught or naked Scheme of the general heads of those Evils, to which the Life of Man is exposed, will present us with a very formidable host of Plagues and Mischiefs. The Evils that harrass Mankind are either Natural, which grow out of ourselves like Rust, and Moths, and Worms, out of those very Bodies which they afterwards destroy; or else they are accidental, such as the various Chances and Revolutions of the World bring upon us: Natural Evils either have their Residence in the Soul or in the Body; the Body is liable to maiming, to loss of Senses, to Decay and Languish, to numerous Diseases, and to Death. As to the Soul, in the Understanding, there is Ignorance, Error, Superstition, Uncertainty, Suspicion, etc. In the Will Obstinacy, Precipitancy, Levity, Inconstancy, Impotence, Irresolution, Fluctuation, Distraction. In the inferior and sensitive Part of the Soul of Man a thousand restless Passions marching under the Conduct of blind and rash Love and Hate. Accidental Evils contain all that vast number which may befall those things without us, which we to our great hurt falsely call ours; such are Loss or Diminution of Reputation, Power, Estate, Friends, Relations, etc. and what is worse than this, numerous are the Evils which we suffer not only in those things which we call ours, but also in those we ourselves confess not to be ours; such are restless Desire, wakeful and laborious Pursuit, tame digestion of the Neglect, Coldness, Insolence and Insincerity of those we depend upon and address to; Contemptuous Repulses, Vexatious disappointments, etc. After all this, all these Evils are to be reckoned double, for we are liable to 'em not only in ourselves, but in our Friends and our Relations; and then we must double 'em almost all again, for we suffer 'em in Reality or in Fancy and Imagination, we suffer 'em when present and when future too: for as if the Evil of the Day were not sufficient for it, we search the dark and unknown Regions of future time, that we may find out what may make us miserable; and we frequently torture ourselves with Idle not Prophetic fears: we often suffer the want, the pain, etc. which we shall never feel; and our own suspicious, despondent, melancholy Minds do raise those hideous Apparitions which scare and frighten us. These are a few of the general Heads of Humane Misery, those Fountains that ever flow with bitter Waters; this is a brief account of the Nature and State of Man. Aristotle's Definition of him, that he is a Rational Creature, is flat and heavy in Comparison to that of Apuleius the witty though dissolute Platonic, 
Apul. de Deo Socratis.  Homines Ratione plaudentes, oratione pollentes, immortalibus animis, moribundis membris, levibus & anxiis mentibus, brutis & obnoxiis corporibus, dissimilibus moribus, similibus erroribus, pervicaci audaciâ, pertinaci spe, casso labour, fortunâ caducâ, volucri tempore, tardâ sapientiâ, citâ morte, quaerulâ vitâ terras incolunt, i. e. Men the Inhabitants of Earth are endowed with Speech, and vaunt of Reason, immortal are their Souls, mortal their Limbs, inconstant and anxious are their Minds, brutish and obnoxious are their Bodies; unlike are they in their Manners, like in their Errors, sturdy is their Confidence and obstinate their Hope, fruitless their Toil, uncertain their Fortune, swift their Years, and slow their Wisdom, speedy their Death and their Life full of Plaints.  
Thus miserable is our State, and shall we now sit down and only Childishly bewail ourselves? Shall we sink under the weight of these Evils, by adding to 'em one heavier than 'em all, Despair? Shall we think the thread of Evils is so closely and fatally wove into one Piece with the thread of Life, that no Wisdom, no Industry can prevent 'em? that no Philosophy (how Divine soever) can divide or separate the one from the other? and consequently never think of any other than that one Universal Remedy of Virgil, Patience.  

— Fortuna omnis superanda ferendo est,   

Ah wretched Nature! ah too helpless State!  
If nought but suffering can o'ercome our Fate!   
No, no, let others do what they will, I'll never thus abandon myself, I will not tamely and dastardly renounce my hopes of Happiness, I'll study and contend for it whilst I have a being, whate'er Calamities assault me, they shall find me ready armed from head to foot, nor shall they ever gain o'er me an easy Victory; Death itself, when e'er it comes, shall find me struggling to the last for life, Eternal Life and Happiness: nor can I entertain so unworthy a thought of the most perfect Being, but that he loves this Resolution where'er he meets it, and will be most ready to assist his Creatures in so just and rational an Endeavour.  
But as the Israelites when they marched in Arms to take Possession of the Promised Land, were told of Sons of Anak, Gigantic Enemies, and Cities walled and fenced up to Heaven; so shall I or any man who goes about to possess himself of so great a Blessing as Happiness, be discouraged by worldly and sensual Men with the toil we are to undergo, with the Difficulties we are to encounter, and generally with representations of the folly and rashness of the Attempt: These must indeed be contemned and slighted, but it must be upon Rational grounds, and therefore I must consider their weight and strength before I proceed.  

SECT. II. Of the Objections formed against this Enquiry.  
THe Objection which assaults this Obj. 1 Enquiry with the Rudest Violence is this, That Happiness is not a thing attainable, and therefore the study of it and endeavour after it, is a vain thing: This Objection deserves to be thoroughly examined as that which will otherwise Subvert the very Foundation of this Work; and therefore I'll reserve the Consideration of it to an entire Chapter, v. Ch. 2.  
There are other Objections which are framed partly from the Nature of Happiness, partly from the Nature of Man, which though, as all Errors, they Contradict one another; yet do they all unite their forces to oppose the Truth, and to deter Men from the Noblest and most Rational Study and Travail, That of Happiness.  
Obj. 2 Various is the working of humane Fancy, they that will pretend to be Acute and Wise above the vulgar part of Mankind (for such are always apt to despise Speculation and Learning) look upon Happiness as too Divine and Glorious a State for so mean a Creature as Man to affect; it was the not only vain but sinful Ambition of our first Parents to aspire to the likeness of God, 
Gen. 3.  Ye shall be as Gods; and what can be more truly the Prerogative and peculiar possession of God than Happiness? or what can make us more like God? to affect this therefore were the folly of those Earthborn Creatures in the Poet which sacrilegiously invaded Heaven; 

Omnis enim per se Diuûm natura necesse est,  
Immortali aevo summâ cum pace f●uatur,  
— Privata dolore omni, privata perîclis  
Ipsa suis pollens opibus.  Lucret.  let us be content with the Portion of Man, and rest satisfied with those easy and obvious Pleasures which best suit this imperfect Nature and imperfect State: I know not how well some may please themselves with this sort of Talk; but this is plain to me, these Men are contradictions to themselves and their Philosophy to all true Reason; for notwithstanding this affected debasing of humane Nature, the transports of these Voluptuaries are as bold and ambitious as those of the haughtiest Stoic, and 'tis no strange thing to hear an Epicurean boast of a Parity or Equality with his Jupiter in the point of Happiness or Pleasure. But to answer the Objection in a word, be the Nature of Mankind what it will, I do readily confess, that it were, if not a sinful, yet a vain ambition for Man to affect any other Happiness than what was suitable to his Nature; for it were to pursue what he were not capable of, it were like the folly of Semele in the Poet when she desired that she might be entertained by Jupiter, not only with the Passion of a Lover, but the Glory and Majesty of a God, and so being fatally successful in her wish, she perished in the Embraces she had so proudly begged; this therefore we readily grant, Happiness is a state of Pleasure, and Pleasure is the Result of the proportion and agreeableness of the Object to the capacity or appetite; so that he that aspires to a state of Happiness that infinitely exceeds his nature, foolishly dotes on Contradictions, and affects a Happiness devoid of Pleasure: or which is all one, covets a Pleasure which he cannot enjoy: This being yielded to on the one hand, that we ought to pursue no other state of Happiness than what suits and fits our Capacities; they ought as readily to yield on the other hand if they will suppose God the Creator of Man, and concerned in his Actions (as these seem to do) that he does not only allow of, but delight in all the Endeavours of Man after such a state: those Faculties and Capacities he endows us with being the fairest Declarations of his Will what he designs us for: the sole Difficulty therefore that remains will be this, what the Nature of Man is? what the Dignity and Excellency of the Rational Soul? which shall be discussed in its place.  
There are others of that sluggish Obj. 3 and brutish temper, that being unable to raise their Conception above Sense, or discover any Charm in a Rational and Philosophical pleasure, they seem to despise that Happiness, the Wise and Religious part of Mankind profess to seek after, and to think all the Pleasure Man can enjoy, so little, that 'tis scarce worth the while to take much pains for it: It is true I am but Man, that is, a little Atom in the vast bulk of matter, and my life is but a short moment in an endless stream of time: but then I feel a strange kind of Comprehensiveness in my Soul, it stretcheth forth itself to times past and to come, it enjoys things that are not seen by Faith and Hope, and sometimes things that are not at all by Memory and Fancy; and though my life be but a moment, Satisfaction and Pleasure hath its degrees; and therefore if I can possess it in its height and perfection, I shall live much though not long, I shall enjoy Eternity in a moment, the World in a little Globe: nor is this mere fancy and Romance, for when I read St. Austin so far inflamed with the Love of true Philosophy by Cicero's Book ad Hortensium, that he presently abandons all the luscious Pleasures of his Pagan Conversation for the sake of those which he should afterwards find in a Philosophical life; when I find Cicero in surely a holy ravishment of Soul, preferring one Day sp●nt according to the Precepts of Virtue before a sinful Immortality; and the Psalmist almost in the same words as well as the same passion, 
Psal. 84.  One day in thy Courts is better than a thousand; I cannot choose but think there are irresistible Charms and Beauties in Virtue, and Pleasures in true Philosophy as ravishing as they are pure and sacred and who then can restrain himself from the glowing desires of, and resolute Endeavours after a share in them? when I have read Socrates dying with a generous Charity, and serene Hopes, and with an undisturbed Mind, easily parting with all here below; when I have read of Simeon waiting for, and expecting Death, as weary Labourers do the Evening Shades, or Hirelings the Reward of their work; when I read St. Paul with humble Impatience expressing his devout desire of Death and Dissolution; when I have seen some (as some I have seen) setting in Calm, and Majesty, and Triumph, as if they had attended Death, as the old Romans once did the barbarous Gauls in their Chairs and Robes; when I have seen men die, not only with Content, but almost in Ecstasy, and the Soul breathed forth not in a Groan, but an Ejaculation, I must needs say I could not choose but wish with Balaam, 
Numb. 23.  that I might die the Death of the Righteous, and that my latter end might be like his. These are degrees of Happiness which I should judge it reasonable to purchase at any Rate, whatever there be hereafter; a smooth, contented, delightful life, such as would not only bear but invite Reflections on it, a cheerful, lightsome Death, able to make the living in love with it.  
But after all, whether this present life be all my Portion, whether I die all of me together with my Body, or whether this life be only the time of our probation and preparation for another, and Death be nothing but the rough passage from one shore to another, or the Horizon that parts the Hemisphere of Darkness from that of Light, is a question I will not now determine: 'tis sufficient to propose it here as a doubt whereof one side or other must be true. If therefore this life be in Order to Eternity, it nearly imports me to consider my present Relation to a future state; if it be not, than this life, call it what you please, a Span, a Dream, or a Bubble, yet is it my All, and I must make the most of it: But,  
Obj. 4 Are not Nature and Custom the best guides to Happiness? what needs there so much poring to find out that which mere instinct leads us to? we do not see that the most learned Clerks are always the most Happy men; let such demonstrate the truth of their Philosophy by their own success: And thus they magnify Nature, not out of any honour they design to do it or the Author of it, but that they may with the greater Security contemn the one, and deprave the other by sluggish Luxury and unbridled Lust. I am not easily tempted to a Contempt of Nature or of Customs, for by the one I should seem injurious to God, who is the Author of Nature; and by th' other I should seem injurious to Mankind, whose concurrent Sense and constant Practice creates a Custom. Therefore as to the former part of the Objection, were it but once truly determined what were to be understood by Nature, this Objection would vanish: I think our Souls within us may be justly supposed to constitute a part of our Nature as well as our Bodies; and therefore I cannot be content that the Body, much less vicious habits (commonly called indeed a second Nature) should usurp the Name and Authority of Nature; nor consequently can I be content to allow of the mere sensual Appetites of the Body, much less the Dictates of vicious habits for the Laws of Nature: The Body indeed is an Essential part of our Nature, but than it must be remembered 'tis not the governing part; and therefore it's Instinct cannot Arrogate to itself the Authority of a Law. It remains therefore that though the Rational Soul within us be but a part of our Nature, yet being the better part, the Ruling part, its Dictates must have the force of Laws; so that the Law of Nature will be nothing else but the Commands of right Reason: I shall be most ready to grant, that we ought to follow the Conduct of our Nature, taking it in this sense, 
Aug. contra Academicos.  Beatè vivit qui secundum eam partem animi vivit quam dominari in homine fas est, he indeed lives Happily who follows the Conduct of that part to which belongs the undoubted Right of Sovereignty and Dominion in man. As to the latter part of this Objection; By Customs is commonly meant those Principles and Practices which are generally received and fashionable in the place we live; I have a just Veneration for whatever is the sense of Mankind, but I think their suffrage is not to be taken by number, but by weight: nor are we to follow the Opinion or Example of the most, but of the best, nor indeed is it possible to understand what is the sense of Mankind in this point; for we have Custom against Custom, Nation against Nation, and Religion against Religion.  
It ought farther to be considered, That Principles taken upon trust have seldom an equal influence upon us, with those which we take up upon strict Examination and mature Deliberation: that men will easily be tempted to desert those for which they have no better Authority than the vote of a Multitude: Nor can any thing tend more to the Disparagement of any persuasion than this, that 'tis not the Result of our Judgement but our Fortune; or to the Dishonour of any Religion than this, that 'tis Magisterially obtruded by the Authority of Laws and terror of Force, and will not submit itself to the trial of sober Philosophy: and so I take it to be a Credit to the Christian Religion, that it did not force assent, but gain it by irresistible Arguments; that 'tis so far from shunning the trial of Impartial Philosophy, that it did always invite men to a sober Examination of its Evidence: and commanded its Disciples, 
1 Pet. 3.  be ready to give an answer to every man that asketh you a Reason of the hope that is in you. 'Tis true indeed as the Case now stands, Religion may, nay must be recommended by Authority of Law and Custom, and ingratiated by particular Practice of it; but afterwards must grow up and be confirmed by Reason, like a tender Plant that is first fixed by the help of another's hands, but afterwards it stands firmest upon its own Roots: and this Method our Saviour himself did sometimes make use of, when either the stupidity of Nature or Prejudice of Education rendered those to whom he addressed his Doctrine uncapable of entering into a thorough Examination of it; Then if any man will do my will, he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God.  
Lastly, That to trust to others who themselves with like Rashness and Credulity do in the same manner trust to others in the matter of the highest moment of my life, seems to me inconsistent with common Prudence, with the very Constitution of a rational Nature: for what use can be as much as fancied of Reason, if I slight its service in so important an affair as this?  
It is true, Temper Fortune and Education have de facto so great a share in the Happiness or Misery of some kind of men especially, that I must not yet dismiss this Objection till I have taken a little notice of such for whose defence and service it was at first found out; These are,  
First, The stupid and brutish part of Mankind, these seem to have met with Happiness whilst they seek it not: their Fancy's flat, their Prospect short, and their Desires few and easy, and consequently if their Pleasures be not raised, neither are their troubles deep; Time and Chance happen to 'em, and they bear the one, and wear out the other without any very melancholy or tender Resentments: Stupidity in them outdoes all the habits of Philosophy in others, and want of sense makes them laugh more loudly, live more securely, and die more unconcernedly than the acutest and thoughtfullest of Men can.  
Were the Incapacity of these Men great enough to justify their Contempt of Reason and Religion, I should almost be tempted to call them Happy: but at the same moment I should despise their Happiness, Non ideo tamen quisquam felicia dixerit, 
Senec. de Vit. Beatâ.  quibus non est felicitatis Intellectus. I cannot call those Happy, whate'er their Enjoyments be, whose Souls are too sluggish and drowsy to understand or reflect upon their Happiness: or if I must call this Happiness, 'tis the Happiness of a Beast not of a Man: with me to live is somewhat greater than to feed and Rest, and to be Happy must be much more than to live. The Extreme to these are,  
Secondly, The Gay, the Gaudy, the Modish, the unthinking part of Mankind; these in their own Opinion, and truly in the Opinion of the World (most men being either Flatterers or Enviers of their good luck) may pretend to Happiness: and if their pretence be well founded, their way to Happiness is a more ready, plain, and compendious one than any that ever was or ever will be discovered.  
But alas shortness of sight cannot pass with me for Wit, nor an unthinking Confidence for Wisdom: I have seen most of those Dreams the World can present the gayest fancy with, and upon the utmost of my trial, I have perhaps found something that could divert, nothing that could satisfy a Rational Soul: I will not here Examine what is the Employment, what the Pleasure proper to a Rational Being: Nor will I now go about to show, that that Mind can enjoy no sober or lasting Peace, much less Pleasure, which is engaged in such a Method of life as it cannot give a good account of, or rationally justify to itself; both which Considerations would be plain Refutations of this gay Objection: 'tis enough in this place to say that this, sort of life is repugnant to those Principles which Religion reveals, which Reason seems readily to embrace, and which are backed by all the Authority which the unanimous Approbation of the wisest and best part of Mankind can give 'em. It behoves us therefore not to abandon ourselves to this kind of life, till we have narrowly discused and tried these Principles; for if they should prove true, then will this sensual careless life betray us to a miserable Eternity: and though they should be false, yet till we are upon Rational Grounds convinced that they are so, we have little Reason to commit our Happiness to so great a hazard, where the Odds are very great against us that we are in the wrong.  
It remains notwithstanding all these Objections that it behoves every man to pursue his Happiness by a Rational Enquiry after it, neither undervaluing Humane Nature or its Happiness, nor giving up himself to the guidance of the brutish and blind part of him, but seriously and thoroughly to Examine whatever End be proposed to him as his Happiness, or whatever Method be proposed to him as the way to it; but when we have blown off these not formidable Objections against this Enquiry, but lose and wanton Excuses of the neglect of it; there are others yet that seem by a fairer show of Reason to deter us from it by the Difficulty and unsuccessfulness of the Attempt.  
Happiness (say they) is like Proteus Obj. 5 in the Poet, it puts on so many different Forms and Shapes, that it seems impossible to circumscribe it within general Rules, or to represent it under any one fixed, definite and single Notion or Idea; and it deserves well to be examined, what weight or Truth there is in the Vulgar Notion of Happiness, That for a man to be Happy is nothing else but to live according to his Fancy, and it seems no less absurd to invite every man to the same Heaven, or gratify every humour by the same kind of Happiness, than to entertain all Appetites with one and the same Dish. But as in that great variety of Complexion, Feature, Shape and Motion, and in that great diversity of Capacities and Endowments which we behold in men, there is yet one Common Nature wherein they all agree, whereby they are constituted Creatures of the same Species: just such accidental Varieties may the Happiness of man be capable of, and yet the Life and Being, the Soul and Substance of Happiness may be one and the same, and consequently may be comprehended under general Rules. And if this answer were not sufficient, it would not be absurd to say, that Happiness like Beauty may put on various Dresses, and yet be still charming and delightful in each, or that this Bread like that of Heaven (for so the Rabbins tell us of Manna) has that in it which gratifies every Palate; there are Sovereign and unallayed Blessings, such as Lise, and Perfection, and Indolence, etc. which take with every appetite, and are universally welcomed to all the Sons of men. Or I may truly say, That Happiness must not only be prepared and fitted for Man, but Man for his Happiness; he must become a Rational Creature  he can enjoy a Rational Pleasure: 'tis from this want of Preparation that diversity of Opinions concerning Happiness springs, which is so universal a Discouragement. For,  
It cannot last be denied but that Obj. 6 the Opinions of Men concerning Happiness have been and are extremely Various: All the Different Sects of Philosophy and Religion being so many differing Paths which the differing Apprehensions of the Minds of Men have marked out to Happiness. I have no undervaluing thoughts of the Abilities of Mankind, or overweening Opinion of my own, I cannot think myself clearer sighted, nor can I promise that I shall be more fortunate or more industrious in my search than others; this is my Comfort, that my miscarrying in this Attempt is more honourable than Success in a trifling and impertinent one— — Magnis tamen excidit ausis.  
Nor can I think that uncertainty which this Diversity of Opinions seems to imply, sufficient to deter any wise man's Enquiry; no Sick man in his Wits will renounce the Desires or Hopes of a Cure, because Physicians differ in their Opinions about the Method of it: the study of Philosophy has never been utterly forsaken, though that of one age baffle and o'erthrow that of another, and yet even this again stands rather upon the weakness and obscurity of the former, than its own Strength or Evidence. The Academics do not seem to have entertained so gross an absurdity as some have fancied, when they taught that Wisdom consisted in the search of Truth, even at the same time when they believed that it could not be fully found out: for where Certainty cannot be had, it is not unreasonable to follow the fairest probabilities. And if this were rationally practised in any Study, certainly much more in that of Happiness; since the Necessity of this Study above any other doth more indispensibly oblige us to it; for all Labour and Learning that promotes not the great End of Happiness is to no purpose, since we are ne'er the better for't; for to be the better, and to be the happier fort is all one.  
But there is no Reason why we should take up with these cold and lifeless Answers which will satisfy none, but those who are extremely well inclined: we may now boldly say, the Difficulties that former Ages met with, are of no force now to deter us we can now free ourselves from the distracting Terrors of an Invisible Power without banishing him out of that World which himself created, we can now prove a Judgement to come without the Assistance of Poetic Dreams; and the Existence of Souls after Death, without their Praeexistence before our Birth: To be short, we have now Revelation for our Rule, and every good Man a Divine Spirit for his guide; nay, every man (if he be sincere) in such Inquiries as these. If any of you lack Wisdom, 
James 1.  let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. So that now, we may very rationally conclude, that fatal Ignorance or fatal Error in this Point must be imputed either to a lazy and sottish Contempt of that Knowledge we are most nearly concerned in, and the means conducing to it, or to an obstinate Resistance of that Conviction which God endeavours to beget in us by his Word and his Spirit, or at least to the want of that just Consideration we ought to allow to revealed Truths, or of that Necessary preparation which fits us for Divine Assistance, and enables us to understand the Divine Will; and for this Reason the Dissensions and sharp Contentions of Christians ought to be no prejudice to the Authority or Perspicuity of Revelation, or to the Assertion of the Spirit's Conduct and Assistance: for besides that Unity of Faith is an Unity of Fundamentals not of Fancies, it must be confessed that our Sects and Divisions have their Rise and Propagation from these and such like Causes; nothing being more common than that men's Tempers and Complexions, and Educations, and Interests and Passions should give a Bias to their Judgements, and a Tincture to their Tenets and Opinions: it is easy to see that the Errors of some are the Dreams of a drowsy Carelessness; of others, the wander of a wanton Confidence; of others, the crooked wind of Designing Interest, and so on; for it may with much truth be affirmed, that all Erroneous Philosophy in matters Necessary and Fundamental, is the Result of some unworthy Lust and Passion; But all these Matters, namely the use of Revelation and God's Spirit, the Vanity of all Objections formed against Religion from Dissensions about it, the Difficulties the Heathens were to encounter in their Inquiries after Happiness, etc. shall be more fully treated of in their proper places.  
Thus I think I have sufficiently evinced the Importance and Necessity of an Enquiry after Happiness, since 'tis impossible to steer the Course of Life aright without a clear Knowledge of that which ought to be the End, the Centre of all our Desires and Endeavours, that is, Happiness: without this 'tis not only impossible to be happy, but what ought seriously to be weighed, impossible not to be miserable: nor let us ever so far disparage and undervalue Humane Nature or dishonour the Author of it, as ever once to fancy, that Happiness is too great for us, or we too little for it; or that God should disallow as a Sacrilegious Ambition the most rational attempts of a rational Creature, I mean those of becoming Happy: since we seek no other Happiness than what the Make and Frame of Nature, and consequently the God of Nature appears plainly to capacitate us for, and design us to; the greatness of which, nothing can so well express as the Transports and Raptures of Happy Men.  
But let us not think this Happiness so easy a purchase that it will run into the lap of the sluggish Body, or prostitute itself to the Embraces of senseless brutish Lusts. No, no, nothing but Industrious Reason, pure and vigorous Philosophy can e'er attain it; The Sluggard or the Wanton, the Fool and Vain may have some Fits of Ease and Mirth, only the Rational, only the Philosopher can possess true and lasting Happiness: Nor let the endless Quarrels, the numerous Contentions of vain and proud Pretenders discourage us from following the Conduct of Reason and Revelation, these are the Contentions of Lust, not Philosophy; Truth and Happiness, (as some have lately fancied of Love) inhabit a Palace into which none can enter, but humble, sincere, and constant Lovers.    

CHAP. II. Of the Possibility of attaining Happiness.  
Obj. Few or none ever actually Happy, Answered. §. Religion denies not the Possibility of present Happiness. The Doctrine of the Cross no Obstruction to this life's Happiness. Mortification recommended by the Light of Nature, as subservient to our present Happiness. The Happiness of this life granted Imperfect. §. The Possibility, etc. proved; because some are Happier than others; because there is Good and Evil in the World. Evils not more than Goods in the World. The Efficacy of Evil not greater than that of Good. Man's Good or Evil depends upon himself. §. Objections answered. God not delighted in Humane Misery. Fortune cannot prevent our Happiness. Every Man Architect of his own Fortune. Fortune not Necessary to Happiness. The Objection from Fate answered. Several Notions of Fate. No insuperable Necessity in Humane Affairs or Actions, at lest no Fate overruling the Mind of Man. No Incapacity of Happiness from Nature. Against Moral Incapacity. Against penal Incapacity. Instances of Men actually Happy in this Life. The Position of the Possibility of Happiness consonant to the Sense of Mankind. The Conclusion.  
IT is apparent from the former Chapter, that the pursuit and search after Happiness is a Rational Undertaking, an Employment becoming the Nature and State of Man: there remains only one Objection, which if true, were sufficient to discourage the Endeavours, and chill the heat of the most Virtuous and Resolved Ambition. Which is this,  
'Tis true, 
Obj. Few or none ever actually Happy in this life.  Happiness may be found in Speculation, but rarely if ever in possession and fruition: The Number of the Fortunate and Happy is extremely small; and most Men, if not all, when they have worn life to its last Period, may give that account of it which the Aged (and as others no doubt thought Happy Patriarch) did of his to Pharaoh, 
Gen. 47.  Few and Evil have the Days of the Years of my life been. But it moves me not so much to hear this from the mouth of a Shepherd who from his Youth led a laborious and unsettled life: But when I read the mournful Poems of Job, the Discontents and Melancholy of Solomon, Men no less Eminent for Wisdom and Philosophy than for their Worldly Glory and Prosperity; when I read 'em bewailing the Lot of Mankind, unable to reflect upon it without a mixture of Indignation, Contempt and Womanish Sorrow, I cannot but acknowledge that I am shrewdly tempted to despair of Happiness as of something too great and Divine to make its abode upon Earth, and to look upon all the fine Discourses that Men make of it only as so many flights of a bold fancy. Happiness! what is it? or where is it? in what distant Coasts or unknown Regions does it dwell? who and where are the Fortunate? who and where are the Darlings of Heaven to whose Lot it happens? Shall we like Bajazet in a melancholy Humour think Poor, Silly, Lazy Peasants Happy? 
Knowl's Turkish Hist.  O happy Shepherd who hadst neither Sebastia nor Orthobales to lose: as if secure Beggary and slothful want were Happiness; happy thus might I call the Man born Blind, he has no Eyes to lose. Or shall we call the gaudy swarm which (like Flies and Infects in Gleams of Sunshine) do buzz and flutter in the Rays and warmth of Greatness and Prosperity? Shall we call these Happy? Ah! These are they that furnish Theatres and Poets with Tragic Stories; amongst these, Restless Passions, Contemptible Levity, ungovernable Insolence, withered and meager Envy, wand'ring Lust, Empty Pride, Loud and Senseless Confidence, and finally shameful and fearful Sins have their abode: and can we call those Happy who are infested with such Legions of Evils? Miserere tu felicium, they are their own burden whilst they are other's Envy; Shall we then call the busy trading World Happy? alas! these would have thought it a Happiness not to have needed to trade or toil, they love Wealth, but most admire 

Martial.  Res non parta labore sed Relicta,  
Not Gold they labouring dig themselves in Mines,  
But what the toiling Ancestor resigns  
To his more happy Issue.   
Whom lastly shall we call Happy? Surely if any, the Devout and Learned: these are the Souls that converse with Heaven, that dwell continually in the pure Light, and feed upon the Bread, the Joys of Angels. But alas, if Happiness were the inseparable Companion of Learning, how came the Stoic's adored- Cato to be led by Pride and Humour and Vainglory through burning Sands and dreadful Deserts? how came he in a mood of desperate Discontent to die his own Murderer? Whence was it that the Learned and Eloquent Tully after so many brave Discourses of the Contempt of Death and Pain, and briefly all humane Evils; did sink so poorly under the weight of his Misfortunes? whence was it that after he had taught the Soul's Immortality, and its Translation into some glorious Star, he should at last be so unwilling to let it leave this vile Clod of Earth, and the Decayed, Melancholy and darksome Mansion of the Body? if Learning did put Men in possession of Happiness, why was our Raleigh so uneasy, so unfortunate, not more tosed by a restless Fortune than a restless Mind? Why was our Verulam so utterly a Stranger to Happiness in both Fortunes, as unable to govern and enjoy Prosperity aright as to bear up under Adversity? if Learning were so Sovereign an Antidote against Misery, if Philosophy were such a Paradise, and Speculations were such luscious Meals, the very fruits of the Garden; why do the Learned leave their Sacred shades to haunt the Houses of great ones, or the Courts of Princes? why do they fawn and cringe, and with all imaginable assiduity and artifice labour to insinuate themselves into such Men whose Esteem for them is a just Scandal to 'em, and their Favours but so many public marks of Reproach? O vilest sort of Servitude! can it consist with the grandeur of a Philosopher, with the true Liberty of a Christian Spirit to lackey some Favourite of Fortune, and for many years together with an obstinate Stupidity digest the Capricies of his Humour, and not only dissemble his Vices, but magnify even his Vanity and Folly? and not this only, but there are slavish Arts of Insinuation to be practised upon every one that's near him: O glorious Merit! when the same thing recommends the Philosopher that doth the Valet de Chambre, or the Footman! and yet after all, even this Equals not the baseness, the slavery of those who prostitute Philosophy and themselves to the Multitude, and make an Ignorant and Insolent Herd the Arbitrary Sovereigns of their Principles, their Liberty, their Happiness, for this depends upon their Popularity. O how far should I prefer the humble Contented and Independent drudgery of an honest Hind, before this unmanly Servitude! how far should I prefer the generous and undesigning freedom and unconcernment of a Poet (whatever Ignorance or Contempt of Interest it may be traduced for) before the former sort of servile Philosophic Proggers!  
And now there remains no place where Happiness can as much as be suspected to dwell, unless among the Devout and Religious. These sure live in Raptures and Transfigurations on the Mount, these sure have their Conversation in Heaven, and from thence derive Glory, and Liberty, and Joy, and Peace and Hope, these are Partakers of Divine Nature, how can they therefore be destitute of a Divine Happiness? But alas! behold the Blessed Jesus, and we shall find him as the Psalmist and the Prophets represent him, A man of sorrow, and acquainted with grief. Hear again the most Zealous and the most Elevated of our Divine Master's Disciples, 
1 Cor. 15.19.  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most miserable.  
O Happiness!  
Thou Blessed State or rather pleasing sound,  
Thou always sought and never to be found!  
In what Grot, dost thou, or what Cell,  
Or in what Court or Temple dwell?  
Where and what art thou? art thou merely Name,  
No otherwise known than by Reports and Fame?  
Art a Reality? or art thou just  
Like public Good and public Trust,  
A solemn, sacred, but deceitful Notion:  

Obj. answered.  But to return from this Revery, this is after all but a slight and popular Objection, which from the Evil Consequences which attend the Sins and Follies of the Multitude, and from those Complaints which humane Infirmity has sometimes wrung from the wise and virtuous, would unsoundly and illogically infer, that there is no such thing as Happiness here below: and yet this Opinion hath so universally possessed Mankind, that they seem to teach with too general a Consent, that Happiness is to be Expected only in another World; and this Doctrine is very commonly thought to have the Countenance and Patronage of Divine Revelation. These false Persuasions have not a little obstructed the Happiness of Man, deterring men at once from the Embracing of the Gospel, and from the pursuit of true Happiness. I will therefore,  
First, Endeavour to free this Assertion, That Happiness is attainable in this World, from that Prejudice which the Authority of Revelation seems to some to bring upon it, by a brief account of the sense of Revelation in this Point.  
Secondly, I will endeavour to make good the Truth of it by plain and obvious Proofs.  
Thirdly, I will answer this and what other Objection, may be started from an Imaginary incapacity of Happiness caused by Fortune, Fate, or Nature,  

SECT. I. As to the sense of Revelation in this Point.  

Religion denies not the possibility of present Happiness.  REligion ever had, and always must have the Character of its Author visibly stamped upon it; nothing that is not infinitely kind and infinitely wise can be found in any part of Revelation truly Divine, from whence we may rationally conclude, that the great aim of God in the Establishing Religion is to advance the Happiness of Man, and to advance it in a Method Consonant to those natural Principles he has implanted in him: Nor did any one-inspir'd-Author ever think otherwise; 
Prov. 29.  He that ●eepeth the Law (saith Solomon) Happy is he. 
Psal. 119.  Great Peace have they that love thy Law, and nothing shall offend them. 
Prov. 3.  Happy is the man that findeth Wisdom, and the man that getteth Understanding. That this was to be understood of actual and present Happiness in this life is apparent from what follows a little after, Length of days are in her right hand, and in her left hand Riches and Honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those that lay hold upon her. And though the Gospel as a higher and more perfect Dispensation doth propose to us as our great and Chief End, Life, and Immortality, yet it doth by no means exclude us from Happiness here; but rather doth establish it upon proper and firm Foundations; and fences it about with Impregnable Bulwarks. 
John 14.27.  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, give I unto you; let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 
Gal. 5.22.  Now the fruit of the Spirit is joy, peace, etc. 
Rom. 15.  Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, and make you abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. 
1 Tim. 4.8.  Godliness is profitable to all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. Nor can I indeed conceive how the state of a Righteous and Holy Soul should be other than a Happy and blessed one: The belief and confident Expectation of a Heaven must needs be more transporting and ravishing than the richest Fancy of a Sinner, and that Security both in respect of this and a future life, which a good Man enjoys in the Protection of God and the Assurance of his Favour, who is Almighty, Immutable, etc. must infinitely exceed any thing that a Sinner can attain to, and must exclude those uneasy Fears which do frequently interrupt the Sinner's Enjoyment and o'er cast his hopes: he that loves God and Virtue, cannot but be Happy in the daily Practice and Enjoyment of what he most delights in: and he, lastly, that hath subdued his Passions and o'ercome the World, cannot choose but reap the daily Fruits of so glorious a Conquest, and be constantly entertained with pleasing Reflections and delightful Prospects; and yet if he should enjoy nothing else, that Sovereignty, Liberty, Magnanimity, and Divine Charity, and Enlargement of Soul which he thereby gains, were an abundant Reward of his Victory. The sum of all is this, A good Man has the best Title to the Blessings of this life, and the Glories of another, he enjoys this World with as great Security as Wisdom and Moderation, and has an assured hope of a far better when he quits this; the Anticipations of which by Faith, Love, and Hope, do at once facilitate and confirm his Conquest over all unworthy Lusts and entertain him with unexpressible Satisfaction and Pleasure.  
For this Reason, I do in this Chapter discourse of Happiness without that immediate regard to another life, which might be expected: not judging myself obliged either to prove the Certainty of it, or to demonstrate the Reasonableness of embracing Misery during the space of this short life, in Expectation of that Perfect and Eternal Happiness which is promised hereafter; since I saw well enough that in the ordinary course of Providence, the Happiness of this life and the other, were not incompatible: but on the Contrary, that that wherein the Life and Being of true Happiness in this World doth consist, was but a necessary Introduction to, or Qualification of us for the Happiness of another; which doth in some measure already appear, and will much more in the progress of the following Discourses.  

The Doctrine of the Cross no Obstruction of this life's Happiness. Math. 16.24.  But what becomes now of the Doctrine of the Cross? this is a very soft and mild Commentary upon that of our Saviour, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow me. But this is not so formidable an Objection as it may at first sight seem, 'tis true Suffering through all the Progress and Stages of Evils even to the last, that is, Death itself, was a Common, nay almost an Universal Duty in the beginning of Christianity, being indispensibly Necessary to the Propagation of the Gospel; but blessed be God, the obligation of that Duty has long ago ceased; And all that I can think necessary to be said here in pursuance of my Design is, That the Pleasures of those Confessors and Martyrs did far outweigh their Sufferings whilst they lived; That when they suffered Death itself, the time was come when they must exchange Temporal for Eternal Happiness: Nor doth this at all infringe the Truth of my Proposition, which doth not vainly assert an Eternal Duration of Happiness in this life, but only teaches the possibility of attaining it. And I think the Death of Martyrs and Confessors, is rather a great Confirmation than Confutation of this Opinion: teaching us plainly that in despite of all Calamities, 'tis not only possible to live, but to die Happily; which last is no small accession to Temporal Happiness. From this little I have said on this Occasion, 'tis easy to shape an answer to what is objected from St. Paul, 
1 Cor. 15.  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable; 'tis confessedly indisputably true, that had these Christians been destitute of that hope which was their Support, they had sunk under the weight of such Sufferings, and so had been the most miserable of all men: but since their hopes did not only support 'em under their Afflictions, but also render 'em somewhat more than Conquerors; all that can follow hence is, That the Resurrection and Eternal life are unquestionable Truths, and that life who believes 'em as firmly as Confessors and Martyrs did, may like them be Happy, though a thousand Seas of Calamities and Troubles should break in upon him.  

Mortification recommended by the Light of Nature as subservient to our present Happiness.  As to Mortification which is a Duty of perpetual Obligation, (for the Purity of Religion is still the same, though its fortune in the World be altered) this did at first signify the Renunciation and Extirpation of Jewish and Pagan Lusts, according to that of St. Paul, Mortify therefore your members which are upon the Earth; Fornication, Uncleanness, Inordinate affection, Evil Concupiscence, and Covetousness which is Idolatry; and it still signifies the same thing, and whatever difficulty we are to encounter in the performance of this Duty, it must be vanquished, for 'tis impossible to be wicked and Happy: a wicked man is his own Hell, and every Passion, every Lust is a Fiend, a Fury that doth outrage and torment him: and all this the Heathens themselves did not only constantly acknowledge, but also paint out with as lively Eloquence as any Christian could ever do: their Experience, (over whom Sin had an uncontrolled dominion) most effectually convincing 'em of the Outrages, Tyranny, and unspeakable Mischiefs of wicked and abominable Passions; Nay, so manifest is it that the subduing these Irregular Passions is necessary to our Happiness, that even the Epicureans themselves (notwithstanding their confining the Happiness of Man to this short life, and by a probable Consequence, resolving it ultimately into the Enjoyments of the Body) did yet look upon themselves as extremely injured by Tully, and others, when they represented 'em as revolted from, and Enemies to Virtue. 'Tis not my business here to Examine what foundation for Virtue their Philosophy could leave, or what rank and place they could assign it, 'tis enough that they could not but acknowledge it as necessary to Happiness.  
'Tis true, Mortification in the Gospel-sense requires us not only to restrain these Irregular Lusts, but also not to over-rate and over-value this World and the things of it; not to look upon this life as our only or chief Portion, and dote upon it with fondness and passion; and I cannot think that this is any thing more than what is employed and included in the former Notion of Mortification: this Moderation of our Inclinations to the World, being a proper and necessary foundation of the former Abstinence; it being very Improbable that he who values and dotes upon the World above all things, should refrain from irregular Pursuits and Enjoyments of it. Now even this Degree of Mortification was as clearly taught, and the Necessity of it in order to Happiness, by the Wise men amongst the Heathens, as by our Saviour and his Apostles, by those conducted by the Light of Nature, as by these conducted by the Light of Revelation: and that together with the Discipline which promotes it, I mean the observation of great Abstinence from sensual Pleasures: No Monk or Anchoret can speak with a more glorious contempt of the World than a Stoic; but their flights who would allow the Body, the World, and the things of it no place nor degree in the Number of Good things are too daring and bold to lay any stress upon; but the Opinion of other Philosophers who allowed these their proper place and value ought to be of weight with us, because they show us plainly, That Mortification was ever thought by the Light of Nature subservient to our true Happiness. Hierocles in the beginning of his Divine Comments gives us a short but full account of the Pythagorean (and I may add, Platonic Philosophy) in this Point. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The substance of which is, The business of Philosophy is to purify the Soul of Man from sensual Lusts and inordinate Passions, and to transform it into the likeness and Image of God; This is that which it pursues by discovering to us Excellent Truths, and by recommending to us the practice of Excellent Virtues. And this was that Philosophy which the best and acutest of the Heathens looked upon as the only way to Happiness, so far were they from judging it inconsistent and incompatible with it; nay, they deemed this very state of Virtue a state of more Exalted Happiness, and an Image of the Divine Life: hence is that little less than Inspired Heat or Rapture of Tully, 
L. 2. de Leg.  Cum animus cognitis perceptisque virtutibus à Corporis obsequio, indulgentiaque discesserit, voluptatemque sicut labem decoris oppresserit, omnemque mortis Dolorisque timorem effugerit, Societatemque Charitatis colerit cum suis, omnesque natura conjunctos suos duxerit, Cultumque Deorum & puram Religionem susceperit, & exacuerit illam, ut oculorum sic Ingenii Aciem ad bona deligenda & rejicienda Contraria. Quid eo dici aut excogitari poterit beatius? When the Soul having discovered and entertained Virtue, has extinguished its fondness for, and indulgence of the Body, and stifled Lust as the Reproach and Slain of its Honour and Beauty, and hath put off all dread of Death and Pain, etc. What can be said, or as much as fancied, more blessed than the state of such a man? Nay, after all, the greatest Patrons and Abettors of Pleasure did ever acknowledge this moderation in our Passions and Enjoyments indispensibly Necessary to our Happiness.  

Nil admirari prope res est una Numici  
Solaque quae possit facere ac servare beatos. 
Hor.    

Nought to admire's the thing alone that can  
Cause and Preserve the Happiness of Man.   
And 'tis well known how much the followers of Epicurus gloried in his Abstinence; that these Voluptuaries should prescribe and practise the Doctrine of Mortification! but this they were compelled to by the irresistible force of Reason; for how can he who dotes upon the World, and melts in soft and sensual Pleasures, be able to secure the repose of his Mind against those melancholy Alterations which may daily and some time or other will certainly befall himself and his Enjoyments? on what foundation can the Peace or Liberty of his Mind be Established? or can he be Happy who is distressed by every change of Wether, and is divided and distracted between numerous, contrary Passions, and a slave to each?  
To come to a Conclusion, the Scripture is so far from denying, that it does affirm the possibility of attaining Happiness; nor are the Sufferings of Confessors and Martyrs, or the Doctrine of Mortification any prejudice to this Assertion; for neither Affliction nor Mortification are inconsistent with the true Happiness of Man; that Affliction is not, the Example of those very Martyrs and Confessors triumphing over it does sufficiently evince; that Mortification is not, is unanimously confessed by the Suffrages of such as were conducted by the Light of Nature, and of such too as were entirely devoted to the Pleasures of this life, and that upon undeniable Grounds.  
Having thus removed this first Objection against the Possibility of attaining Happiness by vindicating Scripture from Requiring any thing injurious to the Happiness of this life, or asserting any thing that may damp or discourage our hopes of it, it is now high time to proceed to the second thing I proposed; that is,   

SECT. II.  
TO make good the Truth of this Assertion, That Happiness may be attained by plain and obvious Proofs. And here that I may not be mistaken, 
The Happiness of this life granted Imperfect.  I think 'tis fit that I should tell the Reader, that I do not promise him a Heaven upon Earth, that I do not promise him the Happiness of Angels but of Men; and that I do not understand Happiness in this Proposition of that which is every way perfect and absolute, to which fancy it self can add nothing, but of that which is like our Nature incomplete and imperfect, speaking Comparatively, and yet truly great and excellent in itself too. Seneca doth somewhere describe his Happy man much after this manner, He is one who despises all those things which are subject to Change, who accounts nothing good or bad but Virtue or Vice, who is not puffed up by prosperous Events nor cast down by Adverse ones, one whose great Pleasure is to despise Pleasure, one above either Desire or Fear, content with the Riches which are the true and proper possession of Virtue, and coveting nothing more; such a one, he thinks cannot choose but be Happy. And I think so too, and I fear a great deal Happier than any man on Earth can ever be; this is a gay Dream, but well-suiting that Philosophy which requires the Tranquillity and Steadiness or Constancy of God to be joined with the frailty of Man; a Composition of things infinitely more incompatible than that of an Immortal Soul and Mortal Body can be fancied to be: for my part, I am content to call a Building beautiful, though there be something in it which doth not answer the Test of the strictest Art, or at least of the most accurate fancy; I am content to call it Day, though flitting Clouds and Showers do now and then a little obscure the Light: so can I not choose but call him Righteous who is sincere though not perfect, whose life is generally speaking bright and exemplary, though not utterly void of spots and blemishes, whose motion is a progress towards Virtue, though it be sometimes retarded, nay sometimes interrupted: and so am I content to think him a Happy man, not who is utterly exempt from all disturbances in Mind or Body, not who lives in constant Ecstasy; but him whose Pleasures are more and greater than his Troubles, whose Hopes are more and greater than his Fears: one whose Enjoyments, though they do not transport, do satisfy him; one whose Serenity and Calm of mind, though it may suffer Interruptions, suffer but few and slight ones: I will entreat the Reader to admit of this Notion of Happiness here, till we gradually advance to a clear and full discovery of it. Now as we are not to lay aside any advice of being Virtuous, because we cannot arrive at the height and constancy of holy Angels; so neither are we to cast off all thoughts of Happiness, because we cannot equal theirs: for if we are Happy in such a degree as the Imperfection of our Nature and this Inferior state will permit; if we can free ourselves from those Miseries which do involve the foolish and vicious part of Mankind, if we can possess ourselves of those humble and modest joys that Humane Nature is here capable of, it will be worth all the time and travail we can spend upon the Design: and that we may advance thus far, the following Considerations will, 
The possibility, etc. proved.  I think, render it more than probable.  

Because some are happier than others.  1. It cannot be denied but that some Men are more Happy, or at least less Miserable than others; who will deny Titus to have been infinitely more Happy than Nero? Titus whose Government of the Roman People was not more mild and gentle than the impartial Reflections of his Conscience upon himself and actions, 
Sueton. in vitâ Titi.  if we credit Suetonius in his Relation of his Death? Nero that guilty Wretch, whose Conscience was no less a Plague to him than he to Rome? Who prefers not the Character of Mitio in the Comedian before that of Demea? 
Terent.  Mitio whose smooth and kind as well as prudent Behaviour rendered him easy and amiable to his Family and Relations, and made the Fortune of his whole life flow calmly and gently to the End: Demea whose four, suspicious and severe Behaviour did exasperate and ruffle the minds of all that related to him, and did disturb and muddy that stream of his affairs, which would have otherwise run smooth and clear: who will compare the pleasant Retirements, the modest Contentments, the regular & virtuous Enjoyments of Atticus, with the turbulent popularity of Gracchus or the fatal Luxuries of Catiline, or the proud Cruelties of Sylla and Marius? what then? Shall we attribute no share of Happiness or Misery to the Virtues or the Vices of the one or other? or no part of their Virtues or Vices to themselves, but to (I know not) what fatal and irresistible Causes? If we assert the former, with frontless Confidence we contradict unquestionable Matters of Fact; if the latter we rob the Virtuous of that merit which rendered 'em beloved in their Lives, and ever since has preserved their Memories Sacred and Honourable, and we acquit those from all blame or guilt which the Laws of their own Country and the Common sense o● Mankind have ever condemned and detested. What gross and monstrous absurdities are these? shall we now after the Improvement of so many Ages (for we pretend to grow more Wise and Learned daily) dispute whether Vice or Virtue be the better guide of Humane Actions, or the more service able to Humane Life? Shall Sloth and Luxury be thought to conduce as much to the prosperity and decency o● our Lives, as Industry and frugal Temperance? Shall Ambition, Pride, and Choler be now judged as instrumental to promote or preserve the Peace and repose of our Minds and States, as Modesty, Meekness, and Charity? or if this be too daring a defiance to Sense and Experience, shall we contend that the slothful and luxurious, the unjust, and cruel, etc. are as blameless and innocent; nay, if we will extend Principles to their just Consequence, as commendable and worthy of Praise as the Industrious and Temperate, the Meek and Gentle, the Just and Charitable? for this must inevitably follow, if neither Men's Virtues nor Vices be in any degree to be ascribed to themselves: wretched and desperate is that shift that equals the just and unjust, the industrious and the sluggard, the great Mind that stands upright under and outbraves Misfortune, and the degenerous one which effeminately shrinks and breaks under it! wretched the Shift that equals the Tyrant and most gracious Prince, the loyallest Subject and the Traitor, the faithful Friend and the perfidious Flatterer, and all this we must be driven to, or else, as we cannot deny, that some are Happier than others, so we must not deny that the Happiness of the one, or Misery of the other, is owing in some measure at least to their Virtues and Vices, and these to themselves. And if this be true, 'tis evident, we may be Happy if we will; and though we may not equal the most Happy (for I will not exclude Temper, Education, Fortune from all share in Men's Misery or Happiness) yet since every degree of Happiness is truly valuable, let us with all our might endeavour to be as Happy as we can.  


Horat.  Nec quia desperes invicti membri Glyconis,  
Nodosa Corpus noli prohibere Chyragra,  
Est quiddam prodire tenus—   

The mighty Glyco's strength you can't attain,  
Don't therefore scorn to free your Limbs from Pain  
Of Knotty Gout? Ease, though not Strength to gain,  
Is no small Happiness—   
But to pursue our proof,  
2. 
Because there is Good and Evil in the World.  It is a great absurdity to confound or equal Virtue and Vice, but 'tis not the greatest they commit who deny the possibility of attaining Happiness; for he that banishes Happiness out of the World, does at the same time banish Good and Evil out of it too: for Good being nothing else but the subserviency of some things to our true Interest and Pleasure, and Evil the tendency of others to our trouble and injury; it must needs follow if there be Good and Evil in the World, that he who has a greater share of Good than Evil is a Happy man; and he that denieth Good and Evil, may with as plausible a Confidence deny all Humane Passions, and assert that there is neither Love nor Hatred, neither Joy nor Grief, nor Hope, nor Fear, nor Pity, nor Envy; for Good or Evil are the Objects or Causes of all these. I may then, I think, take it for granted, that no man will take the Confidence to say, that there is no such thing as Good or Evil in the World; and consequently all men must be obliged to acknowledge such a state as Happiness in the World too, unless they will affirm one of these three things, either First, That Evil grows up every where in thick Crops; Good thin, scattered and rarely to be found, epecially grown up to its maturity; That consequently there are none whose share of Evil doth not infinitely outweigh that of Good. Or Secondly, That Evil hath so much of Venom and Malignity in it, that a little Evil contributes more to our Misery than a great Deal of Good can to our Happiness; so ripe and full grown, is Evil, so lank, under-grown, and every way imperfect, is Good in this World. Or Thirdly, That we ourselves can contribute nothing to that Good or Evil which is our Portion, 'tis the Product not of Reason or Industry, but of Time and Chance, or of some other Principle which is not in our Power. All these deserve to be weighed, not only because the Examination of 'em will tend to cheer and encourage the Minds of Men, and to render the great Creator and Governor of the World more dear and venerable to us; but also, because it will be of some use and service to the whole Inquiry.  
First, 
1. Evils not more than Goods in the World.  Therefore let us examine what Truth there is in that fancy which supposes the weight and number of Evils in the World infinitely to exceed that of Good things. I know there are a sort of sour and murmuring, of proud and ambitious Wretches, who deal with their God, as with their Prince or Patrons; and estimate Favours and Benefits, not according to their Merit, but Expectation; greedy and haughty Expectation, which even Prodigal Bounty cannot satisfy: 'tis the strange temper of some men that they whither and grow lean with Discontent and Envy; even whilst their studied Meals distract the wanton Appetite, and their very Attendance are sleek, and full, and fat with the Remains of their Feasts; and the meanest of their Relations thrive into Pride and Insolence by the mere sprinklings of their Plenty: I know 'tis Natural to some to Blaspheme God and the King, to quarrel with and reproach Providence, and the Government; while loaded with good things, they stretch themselves on Silken Couches under Roofs of Cedar, or loll at Ease in their gilt Coaches; and yet at the same time the honest Countryman, who with Security though much Drudgery Ploughs, and Sows, and Reaps a few Acres, Eats his plain Meals with Cheerfulness, Sleeps without Disturbance, Blesses God, and magnifies the goodness of his Prince: The Contentment of the One is an evident proof of the Divine Bounty and Goodness, whose Provision doth far exceed the Necessities of his Creatures: The Discontent of th'other can be no disparagement to the Goodness of our Creator, who has dealt extremely liberally with 'em, though they enjoy not what they possess: we are not therefore to judge of the World by the Clamours and Invectives of such as are always mutinous and dissatisfied, but by the suffrages of those humble, modest, and grateful Souls who know how to value the Favours of Heaven and themselves as they ought to do; who do not mar and corrupt every Blessing by Peevishness, or Envy, or Pride, or Wantonness, but can weigh their Enjoyments, their Hopes, and their Merits in just and equal Balances, and discerning how much the one does exceed the other, cheerfully adore and praise the World's Author and Governor. If this Controversy were to be determined by such, we should find these even under uneasy and Tyrannical Governments, and in the more barren and niggardly Countries, confuting this Objection by their Cheerfulness and Contentment: what would they have done, if Providence had planted 'em there where a fertile Soil and thriving Trade had unladed the Wealth and Plenty of the World into their Arms, and a mild and gentle Government had secured and guarded their Enjoyments? But let us decide the Controversy not by Votes but Reasons, let us consider the State and Nature of the World; is there one in a Thousand who is left utterly unfurnished of all means of wise and wholesome Instruction, which is the Good of the Soul of Man? or is there one in a Thousand maimed and defective in the Powers and Faculties of the Soul, or Senses and Members of the Body? is there one in a Thousand born under so unlucky and envious Planets that he cannot by any Industry or Virtue provide himself a comfortable Subsistence? View and Survey the World; Examine and Consider Man, and then tell me whether there be any room for those Reproaches and spiteful Reflections by which some men have so outraged Nature and Providence? Phylo Judaeus tells us a Rabbinical Story to this purpose, that when God had created the World, he demanded of a Prophet, whether he saw any thing wanting to consummate and complete the glorious Work; who told him, 
Phylo-Jud. de Plantatione Noae.  Nothing, but an Intelligent Being to praise the wise and gracious Architect: God approving the Advice, etc. The Hebrew Philosophers (it seems) thought the World exactly perfect, such a Work as might bespeak God the Author of it: and no wonder, for they were inspired by Moses, who brings in God reflecting upon his own Creation, thus: And God saw every thing that he had made, 
Gen. 1.  and behold it was very good. How unlike is all this to the Epicurean Philosophy, whose great Patron Lucretius endeavours to infer from the Ill-Contrivance, the manifold Defects, the innumerable Evils of the World, that God could not be the Creator of it! That ever that Work by which God designed to exalt his Glory should be drawn into an occasion of Dishonouring and Reproaching them! That ever that work which deserved the praises of Men and Angels, should at last stand in need of Apologies and Defences! If we look up to the Heavens, such is the Beauty of those Bodies, so uniform and regular their Motions, so exactly are they disposed both for Ornament and Service, that the Speculation naturally exalts the Mind, and insensibly raises it above the Body: Nay, it has tempted some to think every Star moved and acted by some understanding Spirit. If we look upon the Earth, so wonderful is the Variety, so inconceivable the Wealth and Plenty of it, that it is not only sufficient for the Needs and Desires of the Sober and Temperate, but even for the Luxury and Wantonness of the fanciful and Intemperate: Every place almost is a Paradise, there is no Country almost which cannot afford us Tempe, or Campania, opus gaudentis naturae, a Work which Nature seems to have Created when in the gayest and the kindest humour. If there were room for fancy in Sacred things, one would almost think that Moses out of Ignorance of other Countries or love of his own, had confined Eden within those narrow Bounds he sets it: and that it had only been lost there, because a fuller Discovery of the World had now found it almost every where: This is the World we complain of. Let us now consider Man, 
Psal. 139.  and we shall find with the Psalmist that he is wonderfully made, he is but a little lower than the Angels; he is crowned with Glory and Honour, and all the Creatures are put under his Feet: 
Psal. 8.  All the Fowls of the Air, and all the Beasts of the Field, etc. How infinitely wise as well as kind does God appear in his Contrivance? So modest his Appetites that a small Portion of Nature's good is a full Meal or Feast, and yet so various, that there is nothing in all the provision, in all the joys and luxuries of Nature, which he is not capable of Tasting and Enjoying: If we regard the Mind of Man, 'tis capable of a most surprising Satisfaction in the Contemplation of the hidden Powers, the secret Laws and Operations of Nature; nay, it rises higher, it passes the Bounds of Mechanic Nature, it entertains itself with Moral Perfections, and the Spiritual Excellencies of an invisible World, and gazes on those Charms and Glories which are not subject to the bodily Eye: Vultus nimis lubricos aspici: Such is the Nature of the Soul that when it pleases it can retire within itself, withdraw from Sense, and be secure and Happy in its own Strength and Wealth, Ipsa suis pollens opibus, and when it pleases it can walk forth like Dinah to see the Daughters of the Land, those Beauties that Sense presents it with, and that too (if guarded by awful Virtue) without the Danger of a Rape. To say all of it in a word, 'tis capable of a share in all the Good, and not necessarily subject to any of the Evil of this World.  
— Fatis avolsa Voluntas.  
There are no Fates that can control  
The sovereign freedom of the Soul.  
If this be a true account of Man, and the state of that World which he inhabits, if the one be filled with all things Necessary and Delightful, and the other be endowed with all those Capacities and Appetites that fit him to enjoy 'em, nay, if his Soul can raise itself above the Pleasures, and exempt itself from the Changes and Revolutions of it, nothing is more manifest than that the Evil in life cannot be greater than the Good, unless it be owing to ourselves; and to leave this matter beyond Dispute, no man pretending to receive Revelation should admit of the contrary Opinion, for no Texts of Divine Writ are more plain than those which proclaim to us God's love of Mankind: that he doth not afflict or grieve willingly the Children of men, that the Book of Creation and Providence is writ all over with the legible Characters of Love, so legible that it renders the Idolatry and Wickedness of the Gentiles inexcusable, and finally that he gives us Richly all things to enjoy: 
1 Tim. 6.  where the Apostle excellently expresses at once the Bounty and Design of God. His Bounty in that he gives us all things Richly; his Design, not to enkindle and then delude our Desires, by being like the Tree of Life or Knowledge forbidden us, but on purpose to be enjoyed by us: So than the Christian cannot without contradicting Revelation embrace this Opinion, nor the Atheist or Epicurean without contradicting himself: if Nature has contrived the World so ill, if it has scattered good things with such a sparing and envious hand, whence are all those Transports and Ecstasies we meet with amongst these Men? what 'tis the Ground? what is the Matter of ●'em? whence so rich a Crop of Worldly sensual Pleasures? whence so much dotage on, and fondness for the World we so complain of? whence are the Charms and Irresistible Temptation which the generality of Mankind i● vanquished by? whence is it that Men are so willing to set up their Rest on this side Canaan? whence that dread and aversion of Death as the most formidable Evil? If Nature has been such a Stepmother to Man, if it has frowardly and peevishly designed him little else but Mischief, whence that sagacity and penetration of Mind searching with delight into all the Retirements of Nature? whence that Comprehensive and almost immense Capacity of Pleasure? whence that strength and greatness of Soul, enabling no● only to confront, but to despise Evil and to be Happy in despite of 'em these are Advantages so incomparabl● great and good, that no Evils can be balanced against 'em: and 'tis Eviden●● that no Writings, no not of the Stoics themselves were ever more stuffed with boasting and daring accounts of the Nature of Man, than those of the Epicureans. And thus from all put together, whether we consult the Nature and state of the World and Man, testimony of Revelation or Reason, the Suffrages of the good humoured and grateful part of Mankind, or the Confessions of the Voluptuous and Atheistical, 'tis Evident that Good does outweigh Evil in the Design of God or Nature. But have I not myself in the beginning of this Treatise presented the Reader with a large Catalogue of Evils? Yes, But not of God's Creation but our own: for the Truth of the whole is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Not things themselves but the Shades and Phantasms, wanton, superstitious, effeminate or froward Minds do raise about 'em, disturb the quiet and repose of Man. So then, if we ourselves do not multiply the Number of our Evils, our share of Good in life may be much greater than our share of Evil; and if we be not accessary to our own Misery, we may be Happy. Unless,  
Secondly, 
2. The Efficacy of Evil not greater than that of Good.  Evil hath so much of Venom and Malignity in it, that a little Evil contributes more to our Misery, than a great deal of Good can to our Happiness. We may here judge of the force and energy of Good and Evil either by that Influence they generally have, or that they ought to have upon the state of Mankind: if we consider what Impressions they ought to make upon Men, the question will come to a speedy and a Happy Issue; for than we must either reckon nothing an Evil but a Moral one, that is Sin and Vice; or at least we must acknowledge that the Venom and Malignity of other Evils is not comparable to that of Moral ones: This latter opinion is an unquestionable Truth, for who wil● not make a wide difference between a Misfortune and a Crime, between an Affliction and a Punishment, between those Inconveniences, Trouble, and Pain which we suffer as guilty Criminals, and those we suffer as unfortunate Innocents', or afflicted Hero's or Saints? for notwithstanding the Evils or Pains should be in the matter of 'em the same; yet there is a vast difference in the Suffering, the one makes Man much more miserable than the other for our Misfortunes should only reach the Body not the Mind: But when we suffer for our Crimes, the whole Man suffers, the Soul as well as Body: Misfortunes, when the Storm is o'erpast leave no deformed Ruins, no Wounds nor Scars behind 'em; but our Crimes leave stains and guilt behind, which haunt the Mind with perpetual horror. From this Distinction of the Nature and Effect of Evils we may infer this Comfortable Conclusion; That nothing can make man wholly, truly miserable but himself; Nothing can oppress him by the weight of Moral Evils, but his own Choice, for nothing can compel or necessitate him to be wicked; the strokes, the wounds of natural Evils (so I will call all the rest distinct from moral and owing their Being to the Revolutions of time and Chance and Nature, etc.) are faint and slight; the Mind of Man ought not to suffer itself to be too deeply and sensibly affected by them: it is the work of Reason and Religion to fortify the Mind against the Impressions of these Evils: and truly that Mind that is furnished with true Notions of things, with a rational and solid Faith, with steady and well-grounded hopes may bear the impetuous shock of all these Waves and Storms, calm and unmoved; Nay, I may boldly affirm, not only that Virtue checks and controls these Evils, blunts their Edge and abates their force; but what is more, that their natural strength, their own proper force is weak and contemptible; unless our own Vices be combined and confederated with 'em against us: Our Pride must aid our Enemy to render his affront provoking; Our Covetousness and Ambition must assist Fortune to render its Contempt or Hatred of us destructive to the Tranquillity of our state. Falsehood under a disguise of Friendship could never have abused our Confidence, by betraying our Infirmities, or forsaking us in Affliction, had not our own folly and self-conceit first betrayed us, exposing us a naked prey to Flattery and Treachery: The Coldness or Neglect of great Men could never wound us, the hollow deceitful Professions of those above us could never fool or fret us, did not the fondness of our own desires betray us first into vain Presumption and a flattering Credulity: The Storm that snatcheth away a Relation or a Friend could never overthrow me, if I stood upon my own Bottom, if I were not guilty of one of the greatest weaknesses, of placing my Happiness in any thing out of my own Power, and so making myself dependent upon another man's fancy or fortune. Finally Death itself must derive its terrors from the mournful Solemnities we dress it in, from the darkness and horrors of our deluded Imaginations; or else it would prove but a contemptible Bugbear, a very inconsiderable Evil, or none at All. Thus 'tis Evident, that if we distinguish Evils into Natural and Moral, we shall have little reason to think the Influence of Evil so Malignant and Deadly, since 'tis in our own Power to avoid moral Evils, and natural ones strike but half way, they wound not the Soul that is armed and guarded with Reason and Religion. But now,  
If with the Stoics we should admit of no other sort of Evil but what is Moral, if we should allow the name of Good to nothing but Virtue, or of Evil to nothing but Vice, than we must look upon Temporal and External Misfortunes as Inconveniences and Disadvantages only, they may make us less Happy, but they cannot make us miserable; And truly if we should here suppose or take for granted that there were another life, or that the pleasure of Virtue triumphing over Calamities and Afflictions were considerably great, this opinion cannot imply so great an Absurdity as some would fasten upon it; or be a mere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Idle Contention of words, since I cannot tell, with what Consonancy to Truth, or Propriety of Speech we can call those troubles or hardships Evils which directly tend to procure for us an infinite Good, a Pleasure which doth abundantly outweigh our Sufferings. I ' think 'tis now sufficiently Evident that natural Evils are not of that mighty Efficacy & deadly Venomous quality that it should be thought that a little Evil doth more effectually contribute to our Misery than a great deal of Good can to our Happiness: 'tis apparent how slight the Impressions are which they ought to make upon us. It will now be time to consider what impressions they do generally make upon us, what their real Effect commonly is, how men generally are moved and affected by them. 'Tis true there are some that mix Heaven and Earth upon every slight occasion, that will receive Good but no Evil at the hand of God, most insensible of Blessing, but extremely tender and sensible of any Evil; but this speaks not the Nature of Evil, but of the Man; it speaks him ingrateful, but not the Evil intolerable. Nor is humane Nature to be measured by this whining querulous humour of a few, but by the sense and temper of the Generality; amongst whom 'tis easy to observe, how Instinct teaches us to elude the stroke and force of Evil, Nature opens its Arms and enlarges itself to receive good, and all the Powers of the mind greedily strive to share in it, but it contracts and shrinks, retires and stands upon its Defence at the Approach of Evil, 'tis apt to flatter itself, and apt to hope, apt to lessen Evil, and magnify Good, apt to put off the thoughts of approaching trouble, and to anticipate its Pleasures; 'tis full of great Designs and gaudy Projects, and easily prone to delight, and content itself with thin, airy, and imaginary Schemes of Good; this and much more is Evident in a Thousand daily instances of humane life, by which 'tis plain Nature in the Contrivance of Man kindly designed to fit and dispose him for Happiness by giving him such Inclinations as might serve to lessen the Evil, to increase the Good, to supply the Defects of this mortal and imperfect state. Is it not manifest that whereas Evil looks less to us, Good looks bigger at a Distance, we are willing to help Fortune, and call in the Aids of fancy to adorn and enrich her gifts; nor is it easy to defeat Man of this Humour, he Dreams of a bottomless Abyss in every Good, in every Pleasure, and notwithstanding the daily Confutations of Experience, he still desires to repeat his Enjoyments o'er again, as if he did still hope to find some new untasted sweet, some pleasure undiscovered untried before: how apt are we to flatter ourselves, and willing to be flattered, every Man represents himself and state under the fairest Idea that he can possibly frame of it, and turns away his Eye and Thought from every thing that may offend him: Beauty, Strength, Health, Understanding, Wisdom, Reputation, Attendants, Power, Wealth, and whatever future Good he can form though but a slender Pretention to, make up the gay Idea, nay, and even long life and undisturbed security are there drawn as two Pillars to support the Building; the Daring but kind Confidence of Man that makes himself the Master of Fate and Fortune! if you should mark this Tablet with e'er so prying and curious an Eye, you would not be able to discover either Deformity or Folly, or Dishonour, or Poverty, or Disease or Death: for these Man kind to himself banishes far from his Thoughts, and suffers not to enter into the Portraiture of himself: And hence 'tis that most Men never disturb life with the Apprehension of its End, and never feel Death till they are dying; Kind Instinct showing us an easier way to lessen this Evil, than the Reason of most Philosophers ever could, making our suffering extremely short, and even then too almost in the midst of Death men fond Dream of and hope for life, and can scarcely suffer their hope to expire in the last gasp: Nay, so willing to be deluded, so easy to be imposed upon are Men, that they make even those things which are the Trophies of Death, and the Monuments of Man's Frailty and Vanity, minister to them some slight Comforts at least against Mortality; they divert and entertain themselves with the Mourning and Pomp of their Obsequies, with Blacks and Tombs, with the dying Echoes of surviving Reputation, and with the grandeur and felicity of their Posterity; as if they did fond persuade themselves that they should be concerned in all these things, that something beyond the Grave did relate to them, and that they did not utterly perish and die. And if this kind as well as obstinate hope do in some measure break the force of the greatest Evil that is Death; we cannot but expect that it should be highly serviceable to Man in moving him to despise, or enabling him to vanquish less Evils; hence 'tis that no examples of the Inconstancy or Change of fortune, of the incertainty of Royal or Popular favour, no Instances of slighted Service, deluded Hope, sudden Death, or any thing of this kind are sufficient to discourage the attempts, the pursuits of Mankind after worldly things, we boldly adventure upon those Seas which we see scattered o'er with numerous Wrecks, and confidently pursue those Paths where we every moment meet with the ominous Ruins of disappointed hope, and fruitless drudgery, and baffled presumption. Thus it is, I determined not that thus it ought to be, I examined not what is here the office of Philosophy or the work of Virtue, I have only barely represented the humour and inclination of Man, only that you may see that he is not such a defenceless shiftless Creature, but that his Reason dares confront and can vanquish Evils in open Battle, and by downright force, and instinct teaches him how to elude 'em by various and those (if well conducted) useful and innocent Arts. After all it doth therefore manifestly appear that as the Number of Evils is not greater than that of Goods, so neither is the Vigour and Energy of the one so much greater than that of the other, that a little Evil should outweigh a great deal of Good, that a little Evil should contribute more to a man's Misery, than a great deal of Good to his Happiness There remains nothing further to be examined, but  

3. Man's Good or Evil depends upon himself.  Thirdly, That Fancy which ascribes Man's portion of Good and Evil, to time or chance, etc. not Man's Virtue or Industry, to any thing but to himself; and he that can with Confidence affirm this, may with as good grace assert, that there is neither Wisdom nor Folly in the World; for if there be, this Imagination must soon vanish, since Wisdom is nothing else but the choice of true Good and rejection of Evil, the pursuit of our true Happiness by all the most rational and probable means, and a declining and flying from all those things that are repugnant to it. And though success and good fortune do not always attend Wisdom and Virtue, yet you shall never persuade any but Madmen or Fools that 'tis in vain to be Virtuous, or irrational to be Wise. Solomon has indeed observed as an instance or proof of the vanity of all things, 
Eccles. 9  That the Race is not to the swift, nor the Battle to the strong, neither yet Bread to the Wise, nor yet Riches to men of Understanding, nor yet favour to men of Skill: I exempt not the wise from subjection to Time and Chance, which is all that Solomon complains of here; but notwithstanding I must ever think with him, 
Eccles. 2.  that Wisdom excels folly as much as light doth darkness; not only because cheerful, delightful to itself, but also because 'tis the Happiest guide of humane Life, blest generally with success as well as Rich in intrinsic Good, and in some measure self-sufficient: Nor does our English Proverb Fools have the fortune, imply any more than that the Prosperity of Fools is to be imputed to their Fortune, that of Wise men to their Merit, that success does commonly wait upon Virtue and Wisdom, and nothing but an extraordinary Chance can turn it upon the Fool or Sinner; though all this while I understand Success in things necessary not superfluous, for I cannot see how it can be any disparagement to Providence to turn that Plenty another way, which would not like soft distilling Rains and Dew cherish, refresh, and increase the tender Plants, Wisdom and Virtue, but like a Flood wash away the Earth from their Roots, and either utterly extirpate 'em, or leave 'em oppressed and buried in Rubbish: If this were not true, if the Experience as well as Reason of Mankind did not confirm it, Men would not serve Apprenticeships to Trades, Men would not study Arts or Sciences, Men would not strive with toil and hazard to make their Point, but lazily and securely stay till Fortune rain its Golden Showers into their Laps.  
By a Recapitulation of all that has been hitherto discoursed, it may easily appear how far I have advanced in the proof of that Assertion I undertook to make Good, namely, that Happiness may be attained in this World; I have showed that Religion doth no way obstruct our present Happiness, that Duty of Mortification which it enjoins, not forbidding us to allow the World a proper place in our Esteem, but to over-value it, but to dote upon it; not forbidding us the Enjoyment, but abuse of the things of this World. No man therefore will ever be able to prove that this Doctrine is injurious to our Happiness, till he be able to convince us that 'tis indispensibly necessary to our Happiness to dote upon these Temporal things, and to be as irrational and intemperate in our Enjoyment of 'em as our Passion for 'em: which he can never go about to do, without contradicting not only revealed Truth, but also the Universal Reason and Experience of Mankind. I have in the next place showed, that some are happier than others, or at least less miserable, That this Distinction of the Condition or state of Men is to be imputed to the Virtues of some, and the Vices of others. I have showed in the last place that the World abounds with good things, that there is no Appetite nor Capacity of Man that may not find Objects proper and agreeable, and such as in a great measure may delight and satisfy; and that Man is endowed with such a variety of faculties, and senses, that there is scarce any thing in all the variety of Being's the World contains, which he is not capable of enjoying. From whence it clearly follows, That Man may be happy in the Enjoyment of these good things, unless the Evil of life sour and embitter the Good, or the attainment of the Good be out of the Power of Man, to remove all suspicion of both which, I discoursed something though briefly of the Nature of Evil, and the Nature of Man, evincing plainly the Impotence and Feebleness of the one, and the Strength and Preparations of the other; and for the Close of all, I have endeavoured to make it manifest that Good and Evil are not so much the Result of Time or Chance, etc. as the Necessary Consequence of Wisdom and Folly. From all which the Conclusion that naturally arises is this; That if Man be miserable 'tis his own fault, or which is all one, a Man may be happy if he will, which was the thing to be proved. Let us try now by a Close Application of all that has been said to the Wants and Necessities of Mankind, what the Evidence, what the Conviction, what the real use and force of this Discourse is. I am unhappy, I am miserable; whoever thou art that sayest so, thou must needs mean one of these two things. Thou dost enjoy no good or art oppressed with Evil: If the latter, I demand what Evil? speak out; speak plainly. There are three sorts of Evils; the Evils of the Mind, the Evils of the Body, the Evils of Fortune. Which of those art thou oppressed by? The Evils of the Mind? These are either sinful Passions, or what is the Effect of them, guilty Fears: Nothing can compel thee to be wicked, cease to be wicked, and thou wilt cease to fear. The Evils of the Body? they are generally the Effect of unruly Passions and a disorderly Life; and where they are not, the Pleasures of the Mind will outweigh the Pains of the Body. The Evils of Fortune? 'tis in thy Power, whether these shall be really Evils, or no; they befall thy Possessions not thee; the foolish and vicious Mind only suffers in these, the Wise and Virtuous one is much above them; 'tis therefore thy own fault if thou be oppressed with Evil. But wilt thou say the former? I enjoy no Good, no satisfactory Good. why? is there no Good to be enjoyed? I have already proved the contrary; and if I had not, how easy were it here to do it? there's Truth to entertain thy Understanding; Moral Perfections to delight thy Will; Variety of Objects to treat thy senses, the Excellencies of the visible and invisible World to be enjoyed by thee: why then dost thou defer to live? why dost thou not begin to enjoy? here 'tis Evident that thou must be forced to say one of these Two things, either That thou art not capable of Enjoying these Blessings, or that they are out of thy Reach, out of thy Power: to say thou art not capable of 'em is to re-renounce the faculties of thy Soul and the senses of thy Body; to say they are out of thy Reach, is in Effect to say that Virtue and Vice, Wisdom and Folly are all one; or which is every jot as absurd, that thou art wicked and sottish, and canst not help it. And this is that indeed which in Effect, all do say that accuse Fortune, or Fate, or Nature, or any thing but themselves as the Causes of their Misery: and yet as absurd as this is, it must be now examined, because the Minds of Men are perverted and discouraged by such Notions, I will proceed therefore to the Third thing proposed. That is,   

SECT. III. To answer the Objections against the Attainment of Happiness.  
THose who deny the Possibility of attaining Happiness in this Life, are of two sorts; First, such who argue from Experience and Observation (without troubling themselves to assign any Reason or Cause of what they affirm) No man ever has been Happy; and therefore No man can: This has in part been already answered, and shall more fully in the close of this Chapter. Secondly, Such who assign a Cause or Reason, why some are miserable and cannot possibly be otherwise. The Number of these, if men would talk Coherently, if they would be firm, and steady to their Principles, would be very small: for as the Belief of a God, the Creator and Governor of the World, destroys Fate; so doth the Denial of a God destroy the Liberty of the Mind of Man, and render all its motion as Determinate and Necessary, as that of Fire, or Air, or any inanimate Body whatever: and therefore (as it were fit) the Atheist only should oppose this Proposition, and he who has excluded God out of the World, should exclude Happiness too: for if whatever be not voluntary (I speak of Humane Misery) be necessary and unavoidabe, and whatever be so, be Fatal, as needs it must, for I am not able to distinguish between a fatal Event, and one that is Necessary and unavoidable: Then it naturally follows, that the Atheist only should deny the possibility of attaining Happiness, as he who only asserts Fate. But the Reasonings of many men are wild and inconsistent, and therefore some who widely differ in their Principles, do yet conclude and centre in one common Error; and thus it happens here, Theists as well as Atheists endeavouring to introduce Fate into the World, and consequently to make the misery of such as are miserable involuntary, fatal, and unavoidable: 'tis true, he that affirms some men to be unavoidably miserable, doth not deny, that others may be Happy; but he doth in Effect discourage all who are not already Happy, from endeavouring to be so: and therefore must here be opposed by me.  
Now 'tis true that I might this way with one stroke cut off all Objections at once; for he that baffles the Opinion of Fate, leaves every man in a Capacity of Happiness, and proves his misery voluntary; for that Choice which Man makes, being not necessarily or fatally determined to it, is a voluntary one; and this were a very easy Task. For first, I do not know, that there were ever any in the World (a few only excepted) so addicted to maintain an Universal Fate, as that they did not exempt the Mind of Man from its Sovereignty and Dominion (of which anon) and in the second place, if any at this Day do not, as a Philosopher once proved, motion by walking; so were it as easy and ready a way to prove the Liberty of Mankind by some free Choice or other: But when one is obliged to answer Objections, that Method must be taken, not which the Nature of things invites to, but the manner of men's proposing their Opinions compels to; Therefore because men do generally impute their Misery to either God, Fortune, Fate, or their own Incapacity of Happiness; I will speak distinctly to each of these. And,  
First, I'll endeavour to show that God is not the Cause of any man's Misery, to which purpose I must assert and vindicate the infinite Goodness of God, and his love of Mankind: If what Epictetus said with respect to many Gods had been spoke, with respect to one, nothing had ever been said with more exact truth, or a better poised judgement, 
Epicteti. Enchirid. c. 37.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The first and Chief thing in Religion is to have Rational and true Notions of God, it being otherwise impossible that Religion should serve the great Interest of God's Glory, and Man's Happiness: for false and unworthy Notions of him must needs bereave God of the Honour and Worship due to him from his Creatures, by alienating the Minds of Men from him, and betraying 'em into Superstition, Idolatry or Atheism: and thus that Religion which was designed to glorify God by the manifestation and acknowledgement of his Divine Excellencies and Perfections, and to advance Man into a state of Blessedness, by influencing his life, and filling his Mind with Security and Cheerfulness, shall be perverted to Ends directly contrary, and prove instrumental to Dishonour God and tender Man miserable. The truth of this has been too too Evident in those visible Effects the Ignorance, or misrepresentation of the Divine Nature produced amongst the Gentiles, the want of conceiving aright his Omnipotence and Immensity, etc. joined with the numerous Necessities of Mankind did bring forth, or at least confirm Polytheism; Groundless Apprehensions of Cruelty in God brought forth Superstition, and the Absurdities of Polytheism and Superstition gave Being to Atheism: and at this Day there are many mischiefs which I must impute either to false Notions of God, or want of just Consideration of the true Ones, or at least to not arguing clearly and truly from 'em. For from one of these Reasons it proceeds, that the Worship of some Men is so slight, empty and trifling; the Religion of others so melancholy and uncomfortable, and truly Superstitious; and I am afraid there is too much of Atheistical looseness, sensual, carnal Presumption and wretchless Despair, and many other Evils owing to the same Cause: had Men worthy Notions of God, how were it possible they should ever fancy, that God would accept the Sincerity and Devotion of a Communicant sitting, but not kneeling? after Supper, but not in the Morning? that the whiteness of the Garment would pollute and unhallow the Spiritual Sacrifice of Prayer and Praises? and such like. Would not a right Notion of God easily convince such a weak and scrupulous trifler, That God were not to be pleased but by sincere and substantial Holiness and Righteousness, nor to be displeased but by voluntary wickedness? All things else weighing nothing in the Balance of the Sanctuary, and not deserving the Notice or Regard of the Governor of the World: and though such a one should suppose his scruples warranted by Divine Command, and consequently because the Sovereignty of God renders all his Commandments indisputably Authoritative and binding, he should therefore think himself as indispensibly obliged to reject these things, as to shun a Sin; yet even here a right Understanding of the Divine Nature, would soon instruct him how to distinguish the Divine Commands, and teach him that those which did enjoin Holiness and Righteousness were the standing and Fundamental Laws of the Divine Government; that those which did enjoin Duties subservient to that End were of an Inferior Nature, and did bind in proportion to their Necessity and Tendency; that such as did enjoin or forbid things of a more remote and distant Nature, Circumstantial, Ritual, etc. were merely Positive and Arbitrary, Temporary and mutable, and the interposing Necessity of Superior Duties is at any time sufficient to supersede their Obligation. To proceed to other Effects of misconceptions of the Divine Nature, how were it possible that any one who rightly understood the unspeakable goodness of God should, after he had done all he could, be tormented with doubtful Fears and Jealousies concerning his state, nay sometimes with a melancholy dread of God, as if he were a hard Master and impossible to be pleased? or how could such a persuasion as this, That one were Damned from Eternity, and that neither Prayers, nor Tears, nor Industry could ever reverse the fatal Sentence, find any Entertainment in that Man who were possessed with a true sense and firm belief of the boundless love which God has for all his Rational Creatures?  
It is evident therefore of what Importance 'tis to propagate and settle in the Minds of Men a right Understanding of the Divine Nature; and of all the Attributes of God, there are none that have a more immediate and powerful Influence either upon the Conduct of Man's Life, or the Comfort of his Mind, than these two, his Holiness and Goodness: These make us willing and desirous to believe that there is a God, these make us love him and depend upon him, as one from whom we may rationably expect all that is Good, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Epict.  He that comes to God (saith St. Paul) must believe that he is, and that he is a Rewarder of all those that diligently seek him. These words do not only assert the Being of a God; but also his Holiness and Goodness; both which may be clearly inferred from three Propositions couched in those words of the Apostle, that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him: First, That all men may seek God diligently if they will; Secondly; That it is the desire of God that they should do so; and Thirdly, That God will reward all that do so: On these Principles is Religion founded, on these Principles the Honour of God, and the Happiness of Man must be established: I will therefore discourse here, First, of the Goodness; and Secondly, of the Holiness of God, which I distinguish from one another only for Methods sake.  
Cruelty was the property of the Gentil Gods, not of the true God, 
Of the Goodness of God.  Humane Blood in which the Canaanites, Carthaginians, and others Sacrificed, was an Oblation fit for Baal, Moloch, etc. that is, for Devils not for God: Innate Wrath and Cruelty is inconsistent with a Happy Nature or a Happy state, for these are furious and tormenting Passions: Nor can we imagine that such a Being should make its Residence in Heaven, a place of Peace and Love, or be delighted with Hallelujahs and Adorations of Angels; This were no Pleasure, no Music to a Being in whom Wrath and Cruelty were Predominant. Nor were those Good, those Holy, those Charitable Spirits fit Attendance, fit Ministers for such a Being; No, could we suppose (as some Heretics once fancied) that there were two first Principles, A good and bad one? could we suppose there were an Evil God? one in whom Cruelty, and Wrath were his beloved Attributes? We must necessarily conclude that he would make Hell his Court, that his Guards and Courtiers would be Fiends and Furies, and that the shrieks and torments of wretched Creatures would be the Pleasure, the Harmony he delighted in; this were a God fit for a Hobbist, one who can discern no difference between Virtue and Vice, between Good and Evil, between Love or Charity and devilishness. And yet, I cannot in Charity, but retract and condemn this thought; for Oh! no other God is fit for him, but he whom he denieth! no other God is fit for such a Wretch but the God of Love and Mercy! to whom I recommend him and proceed. All who believe a God, must believe him a most perfect Being, for whence else should the scattered Perfections of his Creatures have Beginning? But if any man will say, that there is no Difference between Perfections and Imperfections, I would know, why doth he reverence Wisdom more than Folly? or why he dotes on Beauty rather than Deformity? or if he tell me, that he acknowledges a Distinction between Natural, but none between Moral Perfections or Imperfections; not to urge that the Virtues of the Will are as truly Natural as those of the Understanding, the Capacities of and Aptitudes to each being born with us, not the habits, and the one being as agreeable to the Nature and Consonant to the Interest of Man as the other; I will ask him, why he does not love the froward and peevish as well as the Sweet and Gentle? the Cruel and Implacable, as well as the Kind and Charitable? the Proud and Wilful as well as the Humble and Modest? and whatever answer he gives me, will abundantly serve to refute his fancy; If then there be Natural and Moral Perfections, and God be the most perfect Being, we must needs ascribe to him those Properties which we look upon as Perfections in his Rational Creatures, and that in such degrees as exempt him from all Imperfection; if therefore Goodness, Charity, Clemency be universally acknowledged for Perfections, we must necessarily suppose them in God in the most perfect Degree: Nor let any one think it absurd that the same should be the Virtue's o● God and Man, of a finite and an infinite Being, for we suppose them in God in a manner suitable to His Majesty, and in Man in a manner suitable to his meanness; and unless we acknowledge this, there cannot possibly be any settled and certain Reason for our Love, or Hope, or Dependence the great parts of Divine Worship: That therefore God is Good and Merciful, a lover of Mankind, was ever the constant and unanimous sense o● the wise and good part of Mankind▪ Poets indeed and Painters degenerous dastardly, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Plutarch De Superstitione.  cruel and vicious Men did represent the Deity under hideous Shapes and in such Colours, as their guilty Fears or Vices furnished 'em with but Philosophers, as Plutarch observes, were always wont to represent him most amiable and lovely, always tempering his Majesty with Love and Goodness, his Power and Justice, with Tenderness, Mercy and Compassion towards Mankind. Hence it was that they were wont to attribute all those things that were extremely useful and beneficial, to God as the Author of 'em, as Government, Laws, Arts and Sciences, etc. they looked upon their Gods as the Guides and Guardians of Men, and ascribed to 'em whatever they achieved bravely and Happily in life: But on the other hand, frowardness, wrath and cruelty did ever seem so ugly and detestable to Wise and Virtuous men, that they not only despised but abhorred as well the wickedness as folly of Superstition, which represented God, or rather dishonoured him under such Characters: 
Ibid.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And this Notion of the Deity which represented that Being which was kind and benign, as terrible and dreadful; which was gracious and fatherly, as Tyrannical; which was friendly and careful of us, as injurious and hurtful; which was mild and gentle as fierce and savage; gave such a distaste and disgust to all ingenious Tempers, that they thought Atheism a much more Excusable Impiety than Superstition; Hence is that of Plutarch (so generally praised by all Writers) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Ibid.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. I had rather men should say of me, there neither was, nor is such a one as Plutarch, than that they should say, that he was a man of a fickle, unconstant froward, revengeful and implacable temper. Let us not therefore entertain such an Idea of God, as Humane Nature would recoil from, and start back pale and scared at the sight: Let us not fasten those Characters upon God, which a good-tempered man, if charged with 'em would look upon, as the foulest Reproaches and most injurious Accusations; Especially since a Defect is not only more Conspicuous, but more Reproachful, where there should be nothing but Perfection: And Peevishness and Cruelty are infinitely more mischievous in an Almighty than Impotent Being: I might shun Polycrates, Dionysius, Periander, etc. but how should I shun God? I might leave Samos, Sicily, or Corinth, and where Clemency and Justice made their Abode, I might make mine: But whither should I go, what place should be my Refuge, if the Governor of the World were but an Almighty Tyrant? Thus 'tis manifest such kind of Representations of God tend not to enamour Man of God, but to alienate and estrange him: they tend not to advance Religion but Superstition; they tend to make Men dread God, but not love him; they are therefore to be banished out of the World, and God is to be represented such as our Dear Lord, who lay in the Bosom of his Father has revealed him, A God of Hope, a God of Love, a God who is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him. This is the Dictate of Nature, This is the Dictate of the Spirit, God is Love. Let it not be thought an absurd or barren Tautology, though I should recite this one Text a Thousand times oftener than I do: for no Tongue can express the Divine Nature so much to the life, as his who was inspired by the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Love.  
Nor let God's deal with the Gentil World before the Revelation of Christianity be alleged as an Objection against the Goodness of God, and his Tenderness and Compassion for Mankind; 
Act. 14. and 17.  'tis true, God in times past suffered all Nations to walk in their own ways; and the times of this Ignorance he winked at: he published not revealed Law to the Gentiles from Heaven, he deputed no Prophets to 'em, as to his People the Jews, with a Commission to restore by Signs and Miracles, that Natural Religion conformably to which they were to Worship God: which is the Import of those places of St. Paul; and yet 'tis true that the Belief of the Living and true God, and the natural Law of Good and Evil was strangely effaced and obliterated amongst the Gentiles: but notwithstanding all this, it must be remembered too; 1. That God left not himself without a witness in any age of Gentilism: the Heathen were never destitute of so much Light as might have conducted 'em to God, and that Happiness he designed 'em: for besides the Traditions transmitted from Noah to Posterity, the Book of Nature and Providence was ever open to 'em, and this did in most legible Characters assert the Being of one Supreme God, and instructed 'em in the Knowledge of his Power and Goodness; Thus St. Paul, 
Acts 14.  Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us Rain from Heaven, and fruitful Seasons, filling our hearts with Food and Gladness. Nor was this Testimony so unsuccessful, 
Sunt autem alii Philosophi & high quidem magni atque nobiles, qui Deorum ment atque ratione omnem mundum administrari & regi censeant, neque verò id solum, sed etiam ab iisdem vitae hominum consuli & Provideri: Nam & fruges & reliqua quae terra pariat, & tempestates, ac tem porum Varietates, coelique mutationes, quibus omnia, quae terra gignat, maturata pubescant, à Diis Immortalibus tribui generi humano putant. Cic. l. 1. De Natura Deorum.  but that in all Ages there were some Excellent men who did ascribe the Original & Government of the World to God, and gave such an account of his Holiness and Goodness as was sufficient to have founded a Rational and Excellent Worship upon: these were so many Lights shining in dark places, as so many Justifications of Divine Providence, and Reproaches of Man's wilful Stupidity.  
2. 'Tis not in the least to be doubted, but that the Nature of their Duty and consequently the Condition of their Happiness was Proportioned and Conformed to those Manifestations which God made 'em, to those Obligations which he laid before 'em, and to that Strength and Assistance which he Vouchsafed 'em: for God is not a hard Master, he will not make good the Accusation of the wicked Servant; he will not take up what he laid not down, 
Luk. 19  nor reap what he did not sow. In a word, if God do at the last Day deal with Men according to those several Oeconomies of his Providence which they were under, and if he has afforded all Nations means proportionable to those Duties he required of them, and to those Degrees of Happiness to which he designed them, than he was always the God of the Gentiles as well as once of the Jews, or now of the Christians, and there is no one part in the whole series of Providence which can give us any Colour to call into question the Care or Goodness of God towards Mankind. This I think is enough to remove this Objection as it lay in my way: if my Design did not hasten me on, and I did not judge this Satisfactory, I could easily make appear God's Goodness to the Gentiles, by presenting the Reader with a Scheme of the Religion of the Pythagoreans, Platonics, and Stoics; by examining the Difference of the Idolatry of the Wise and Virtuous part of the Gentil World, and that of the sottish and vicious part of it; by considering the Assistances that God vouchsafed 'em, and giving an Account whence it came to pass that the Worship of one true God by Holiness and Virtue, was so far stifled and oppressed in the Gentil World: But I have said enough to Vindicate the Goodness of God; and the state of Gentiles and Infidels does not so nearly concern my present Enquiry, as to deserve so exact a Discussion.  
The Barrenness of some Countries, the Servitude and Poverty of some People is a much slighter Objection; for till it can appear, that Poverty is an Enemy to Virtue, or that Wealth which is the Instrument of Luxury, and the Nurse of Sloth and Wantonness, is absolutely necessary to Man's Happiness, it will weigh but very little against so many Demonstrations of Divine Love, that he has not heaped upon all Nations so many Temporal Blessings as might put 'em into a Capacity of being Lazy, Wanton and Insolent.  
Now give me leave to make a stand, and like a Traveller when he has gained an Ascent, look back upon the way I have gone, and see how much of my Journey I have dispatched: My Undertaking was to demonstrate the Love of God to Mankind; thus far I have advanced towards this with undeniable Evidence; I have proved, That Peevishness, Malignity and Cruelty cannot belong to God, because this were inconsistent with the Perfection of his Nature, or the Happiness of his State: nor can it rationally be supposed, that the same Properties should belong to those Evil Spirits which for a long time deluded the World, and that God who has done so much to destroy that Kingdom of Darkness, and rescuing Man, to restore him to a Capacity of Happiness and Glory: how could it be, that God should have done so much, as it is apparent he has, in the Contexture of our Nature, and the Contrivance of our state, to make us in Love with Goodness, and irreconcilably Enemies to Tyranny, Cruelty, Arbitrary Revenge, etc. if he himself were passionate, furious, and Arbitrary in his Cruelties? Nay, I have advanced further, and have proved, Secondly, That boundless Love and Goodness are the unquestionable Attributes of God, for the very same Arguments which exclude all manner of Imperfections and Evils from the Deity, do necessarily assert to it all manner of Perfection and Good: Nor doth the unconceivable Majesty and Eminence of the Divine Nature only, but also the Indigence and Weakness of Humane Nature require this; since without it, he could not be the Object of our Love or Dependence, nor consequently our Worship: Having proceeded thus far and proved that Tyranny or Cruelty are utterly repugnant to the Divine Nature; and boundless Love and Goodness the Essential and Inseparable Properties of it; I do not think it Necessary to prove that the Emanations o● this his Goodness do extend even to Man; for though the Epicureans acknowledging God Perfect, did at the same time allow him no other Employment than the Enjoyment of his own Perfections; and though Aristotle confined the Providence of God, and consequently the Irradiation of his Goodness within Heaven; and though lastly before the Creation of the World, we are uncapable of conceiving any Subjects, about which Divine Love could exercise itself, and consequently can conceive of it no otherwise than confined within himself; All which seems to conclude thus much that the Deity may be infinitely good, and yet this Goodness not extend itself to Man: All this concerns not our present question, for though Man should not be the Object of Divine Goodness, yet if God be infinitely good, this will be enough to free Man from unreasonable and superstitious fear of him, and to acquit God from the least suspicion of being the Cause of Humane Misery; which is the utmost I was obliged to make good, in pursuance of the design of this Chapter: Besides, they who accuse God of their Misery, do not suppose him unconcerned about all things but himself, as Epicurus, nor bound and limit his Providence within the Enclosures of Heaven, but do plainly suppose all the affairs of Mankind to depend upon the first Contrivance of God in the Creation, or upon the overruling Influences of his Providence in his present Government of the World: However, I am not willing to quit one Inch of the ground I have got, and therefore I cannot but acknowledge, that the World being now created, and Mankind formed after God's Image (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, we are his Offspring, saith St. Paul out of the Poet) unactive and unconcerned Love seems to me a Contradiction, and infinite, boundless Goodness confined within Heaven cannot but seem as gross a one: let it therefore remain an unshaken truth, The God is Good, and that this Goodness doth exert and express itself toward Mankind, and we shall from hence gain these two Points.  
1. That God is not the Cause o● Man's Misery, and what is more yet,  
2. That he is most ready and willing to further and assist him in all his Endeavours after Happiness.  
The first of these is apparent, for if God be infinitely Good, than every thing that came out of his hands must in the state of its Creation have been exceeding Good; the End of the Creation must have been something extremely kind and gracious, and the Law he prescribed his Creatures for the Attainment of that End, must be as Good as Wise; this must have been the glorious state of things, when God contrived this wonderful frame of Nature, when he erected this vast Work the World; and in all the continued progress of Divine Providence we are to expect no other acts of Government than what may become the most gracious Prince, the most tender Father; for the same Immense Goodness that once created, doth ever continue to Rule the World: Let us not therefore accuse God but ourselves if we be not Happy; Blessings indeed and Mercies, like warm Sun and fruitful Seasons, descend upon us without our Importunity or Merit, but Evils and Mischiefs come not till our Sins and Provocations have pulled 'em down upon us: Solon indeed in Herodotus tells Croesus' 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, That the Deity was envious and froward, and delighted to magnify itself in the Disturbance of the settled Happiness and Calm of Poor Men: But alas! 'tis our Fondness or our Pride, our Peevishness or our Wantonness, which raises in us these unworthy thoughts of God; he may indeed like a kind Parent train up a Son through a strict Discipline to Virtue and Glory, he may throw difficulties into our way on purpose to reward our Conquest, he may like a wise Physician restore us to our Health by bitter Potions, and will like an Excellent Governor vindicate, if need be, our wanton Contempt of Love and Mercy by Severity and Chastisements, but he will never, like a Savage Tyrant, delight in the Sufferings or Ruin of Innocent or humble Subjects: he will never prescribe Impossible Laws, that he may enjoy the Pleasure of bloody Executions; he will never make the groans of wretched People his Music; nor think Misery and Death the best marks of his absolute Power, or fairest Ornaments of his Throne; No, we shall never need any other proof to clear the Divine Majesty from any such Imputation, than to Examine ourselves and reflect upon our own behaviour, we shall soon find that we alone are guilty of our Ruin, and that God is utterly free from it; our excessive Enjoyments create the Diseases of the Body, and our excessive Passion the pains and torments of the Mind, and most of the Changes in our Fortune derive themselves from both; a languishing Body, and a languishing Reputation, a broken Estate, and a dejected Mind are the Common Effects of a Disorderly and Debauched life; and such a life is the natural Effect of a Mind enslaved to the Body and estranged from God, not only by a Neglect, but by a Contempt and Defiance of all those means by which a Good God designed to bring him through Virtue to Glory; and then at last a guilty Conscience, a distracted Mind, and a most melancholy, miserable Death is the Consequence and End of all: This is the Progress which our Voluntary Sin and Folly makes, we cannot think that a Good God can direct or Necessitate us to these Courses; they are as repugnant to his Laws, as to our own Interest, and the same time we forfeit our Happiness, we disappoint his Love and Goodness; all the Ways and Methods of God are Kind and Gracious, and Wise and Rational, inanimate Bodies do not desert those Offices he has prescribed 'em, Animals move regularly by those Instincts he has implanted in them, and so both the one and the other do necessarily serve those Excellent Ends, for which they were Created: But Man having no Necessity but Liberty wove into the Constitution of his Nature, and having no Compulsory, but only directing Law prescribed him, has perverted his own ways, abused his Liberty and made that his Ruin, which 〈◊〉 well-used, had enhanced his Merit and Reward; This is the Account which the Scripture gives us of Man's Misery, it imputes it wholly to himself, and represents his Obstinacy as ungrateful and displeasing to God, as 'tis fatal to himself: 
Hos. 13. Ezek. 38.  O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself: As I live, I delight not b● the Death of a Sinner, turn ye, into ye, 
Math. 23.  why will ye die? O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee: how often would I have gathered thy Children together, even as a He● gathers her Chickens under her wings, and ye would not? Nor is this account of things which the Scripture gives ●s any other than that which was generally embraced by the Heathens, this being not the sense of any particular prepossessions or private Opinions instilled by Custom or Education, but of natural Reason, and fairly and easily deduced from those Notions of Divine Goodness which were universally entertained by all judicious and understanding Heathens: and how scandalous a thing were it, if that Comfortable and Heavenly Truth which the Darkness and Idolatry of the Superstitious could not extinguish in the Pagan World, should be rejected or suppressed by Christians, 
Jamblichus de Vitâ Pythag. l. 1.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉— That is,  
Not the Will of the Gods, 
Idem l. 2.  but the Luxury and Riot of Men is the Cause of those Evils which infest the Body, etc. Hence that Charitable piece of Heathen Devotion.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉,  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
O Father Jove, from numerous Evils free  
Mankind, or show 'em their Ruins not from thee,  
A Gracious and Benign Deity.  
But from themselves—  
I will here add a Testimony of Apuleius, as containing the Sense of the Platonic Philosophy in this Point of God's Government of Mankind: 
Apul. de Dogmate Platonis.  Omnia quae naturaliter & propterea rectè feruntur, Providentiae Custodiâ gubernantur, nec ullius mali Causa Deo poterit ascribi: All the Motions of Providence are wise and regular, nor must any Evil be ascribed to God as its Cause: But this is not all we gain from the Assurance of God's Infinite Goodness, that we have no Reason to apprehend any harm or mischief from him, that he cannot be the Author of our Misery. But we may confidently persuade ourselves on the other side,  
Secondly, That he is most ready and willing to further and assist us in all our Endeavours after Happiness. And now methinks, I am so far from questioning the possibility of attaining Happiness, that I begin already to feel and enjoy it; I see the Day breaking in upon me from above; how can he choose but be Happy who is the Love, the Care of God I may walk like Peter on the Waves, and bid defiance to the Storms, I know I shall never sink, whilst that God upholds me, who calls me this way to him; I can now easily believe that my temper may be transformed, my Corruptions may be put off, and I be made partaker of a Divine Nature; since the Spirit of God will dwell with me, the Light of God will always shine upon me, and the Power of God will always secure and aid me; can I imagine as much as any Colour or Pretext, why I should not now be able to attain to an Excellent state of Virtue, or why this Virtue should not be able to Vanquish all those Difficulties that oppose my Happiness, since I am assured that God will not refuse me his Spirit if I ask it, and that his Grace will be sufficient for me? You see, of what vast Importance this Truth is, that God will be always ready to assist every man in his Endeavours after Happiness; and therefore though it stand here as a Necessary and undeniable Conclusion from the foregoing Discourse, though the Perfection of the Divine Nature do amount to a little less than a Demonstration of it; for 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; Max. Tyrius Disser. 22.  Beneficence to his Creatures is as necessarily included in the Notion of Perfection, as Perfection is in the Notion of a God; yet as well for my own Pleasure, as that interest which is nearly concerned in this Truth, I will dwell a little longer on the Confirmation and Illustration of it: There are three Eminent Acts of Divine Assistance; The First, is such a Direction of the Events of Secular Affairs, that they may tend to our Good: The Second is his Assistance of us in the Attainment of Virtue; And the Third is, his recruiting us by fresh supplies of Strength in all our hazardous Conflicts and Extraordinary Trials: Now though I could not give an account of the manner how God performs this kind Work of his Providence, yet ought not that to dissuade me from the belief of it; because we know that our Comprehension ought not to be the Standard of Divine Perfections, nor the narrow bounds of our Imagination be the utmost extent of the Almighty's Power. However 'tis not difficult so to explain this Assistance of God in such sort as may free it from the least suspicion of Implying a Contradiction: For First, as to his Direction and Conduct of Temporal Events, how easy will it be for us to Conceive this possible to God, if we consider, First, That God can form what Impressions he pleases in the Minds of Men, and inspire 'em with what Affections he shall think most serviceable to his Designs? for there is not the least pretext or colour to imagine that the Soul is any more exempt from the Sovereignty of God than the Body: or that God cannot do that which the Great, or the Cunning, or the Eloquent, nay the Popular and Ambitious, do seldom fail to do, raise what Passions he pleases in the Mind of Man. Or if we consider Secondly, That the Power and Efficacy of Nature is wholly in his hands, that Life or Death, Plenty or Poverty, every thing depends upon his Will; for the Winds and Seas, Earth and Air, Fire, Hail and Vapour obey his Voice, and are all of 'em, as often as he pleases the Instruments and Executioners of his Will: he that stills the Ragings of the Multitude, and becalms the Passions of the Mighty; he at whose Command, new Creatures enter upon the Stage of the World, and the old leave it, what is it impossible for him to do? nay, what is it this Almighty Governor cannot do, without moving one step out of the Common Road of his Providence, without employing any extraordinary Instrument, or exerting any Act of extraordinary Power? for what Secular Interest can there be imagined whose Success or Disappointment depends not upon some or other of these Natural Causes? And yet we must acknowledge further, Thirdly, That the Almighty has not prefixed or set himself such immutable, inalterable Laws, but that he has reserved to himself the Prerogative of suspending or overruling 'em when he pleases, I mean with respect to the Motions of Natural Bodies, or Revolutions of Secular Affairs; and if such an Interposal of Divine Power cannot be conceived to be other than a Miracle, I must confess, I do not look upon one Age only, but every Age an Age of Miracles; Nay, I believe such as these wrought every Day for the Protection or Relief of those who depend upon this Governor of the World; for I know not to what purpose I should, like Jonah or his Mariners, call upon God in a Storm, if it were never to be laid, till it had naturally spent its force and fury: I know not, to what purpose I should implore the Almighty's direction upon all my Deliberations in perplexed and entangled Affairs, if I could expect no other Light than what my Labouring Mind could give itself: I know not why I should address myself to God in the Pains and Danger of an insupportable Disease, if the Medicines will be the same, and their Virtue the same, if the Fever will abate, and its flames be extinguished or extinguish life in the same degree and manner, if I Pray or if I do not. All these ways of Divine Providence are very plain and intelligible, and therefore 'tis manifest that we may without any absurdity ascribe to God such a Super-intendency and Direction over Humane Affairs, as may render the issue of 'em most serviceable to the true interest of those that Worship him.  
As to the second Part of Divine Assistance which consists in aiding us in the Attainment of Holiness and Virtue, I do readily acknowledge as far as this is performed by the internal Operations of his Spirit, by the Influx of Divine Light or Heavenly Vigour, I do no more understand the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the manner of Sanctification, than that of the Creation of the Soul; This I know, that Virtue is the Rational work of a Rational Creature, 'tis the work of Man, though assisted by God, 'tis a Rational work which implies the Knowledge of our Duty, and a Power to perform it: and therefore this I know, that this aid must consist in the Improvement of my rational Faculties in some accession to the Reason of my Understanding, and to the Power and Liberty of my Will; Now though I cannot comprehend how God does this, yet how easily can I believe it possible for him to do it, since 'tis natural to imagine, that he who created my Understanding can improve it, and he who invested me with a Rational Liberty can confirm or enlarge it, or if you please, rescue it from that diseased and servile Condition, unto which it was degenerated, and restore it to the health and soundness of its first State?  
The Third Act of Divine Providence does not imply a new manner, but a new degree of Assistance, and therefore contains in it no further Difficulty: this time which I have spent upon the illustration of Divine Goodness towards Man, will not I hope be judged misemployed or lost, if it be considered, that such is the Confidence, or rather such is the wantonness of some Men, that they reject every thing which carries in it, I will not say, any seeming Contradiction, but any seeming Difficulty.  
But it doth not so nearly concern the Happiness of Man to be instructed in the manner, as to be throughly persuaded of the Truth of Divine Assistance; and therefore choosing rather to be tedious than defective in the proof of it, I will add to those Arguments taken from the Nature of God, whatever force and strength can be derived from the Consideration of Divine Government, which is the Expression of the Divine Nature and the Image of its Perfection visible in its Effects; The Gospel contains this Doctrine in almost every Page, and the lives of Apostles and Martyrs are so many illustrious Instances of the Divine Faithfulness and Love, performing those Promises which he had made 'em by his Son. The Jewish Polity was a Theocracy, God did for a great while preside over 'em immediately, and govern 'em (if I may so speak) without a Substitute or Viceroy; Repeated Miracles, repeated Prophecies, extraordinary Manifestations of himself, and extraordinary Revelations were the Illustrious proofs of God's affection and care for that People; so that it were to insult over my Reader's Patience, or to reproach his Stupidity if I should go about to confirm this Truth from the old or New Testament: 'tis therefore only necessary to Examine what the Heathen thought of the Necessity of this Divine Assistance, and what instances of it may be found amongst them: whether the Gentiles had any Notion of the Fall and Corruption of Man is not here Necessary to be enquired, but this I am sure, they were extremely sensible of that opposition, which Virtue met with from the World and the Body; they were extremely sensible that the Inclinations of the one, and the Affluence and Troubles of the other did naturally tend to engage 'em in Vice; and therefore though they do sometimes magnify Humane Nature, yet they were not so forgetful of their own Infirmities, or the Condition of this Life as not to judge the Assistance of God indispensably necessary to render them Virtuous and Happy: Hence 'tis that Pythagoras, Socrates and Plato were Eminent in that part of Religion which consists in Prayer and Invocation: 
Max. T●t. Disser. 30.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The life of Socrates was a life of Prayer. And hence it was that they did generally ascribe their Laws to those Gods from whom they received their Oracles; The cretans, Romans, etc. not more Confidently believing that they received their Laws from Minos, Numa Pompilius, etc. than that these received them from Jove, Aegeria and other Gods: and I wonder not that Cicero should somewhere say, Nunquam vir magnus sine Divino afflatu, That there never was a great Man who enjoyed not some Divine Impulse; since it did so generally obtain through the Pagan World to attribute all the surprising Excellencies, or extraordinary Exploits of their Heroes and eminent Men to the immediate Favour and Patronage of their Gods. 
Hist. Rom.  Must Vespasian restore life to the expiring State of Rome? Prodigies and Miracles shall prepare his way; and the extraordinary marks of some Divine Assistance shall consecrate and destiny him to this great Work. Must Alexander conquer the Eastern World? Miracles shall attend his March as it did that of Moses, 
Josephus.  & the Pamphylian Sea retreat before the one, as the Red Sea did before the other; Nor let any one think, that this was usual only amongst the barbarous People, Athens itself, Athens the very abode of Wit and Philosophy did attribute the Perfections of Eleusinian Melesagoras and Cretan Epimenides to the Instruction of some Divine Being, and those of Socrates to his Guardian Angel, as well as the Scythians those of their Zamolxis, or they of Proconesus those of Aristeas to the peculiar favour and assistance of their Gods; nor ought it to seem strange that the Works of Hesiod, Homer, or other Poets should be ascribed by the Heathens to Divine Inspiration, since those of Aholiab and Bezaleel are by Moses himself ascribed to the Spirit of God: for the Poems of the former could not but seem to the Heathens as Rich a piece of Fancy, as the Embroideries of the Latter, did to the Jews: and this puts me in Mind of an excellent Argument Maximus Tyrius makes use of to prove Virtue to be derived from the Assistance and Bounty of God, If Arts (saith he) less Excellent in their Nature, and less useful in their End, be owing to God, how much more Virtue the Divine Guide and Comfort of Humane life? If there be no Good that descends not from above, 
Max. Tyr. Dissert. 22.  much less surely the Chief and Sovereign good of Man, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Thus far I have proceeded to show you what the Heathens thought of the Necessity of Divine Assistance, particularly in the Attainment of Virtue; for as to Secular Matters and Temporal Events their sense of the overruling Power and Influence of Divine Providence, was so notorious that 'tis not to be called into question; the Being, and Providence of God (in this sense of it) seemed so inseparable, that the Epicurean who denied the latter, could never find belief, when he professed himself to own the former; Nay, even those very Men who could not be convinced of a Providence by the Bounty, were convinced of it by the Severity of God in his Chastisement of Sins, hence that bold and brisk, though not very Religious Reflection of Tacitus upon the Miseries the Roman Empire suffered under Galba, Otho and Vitellius, Nec enim unquam atrocioribus populi Romani Cladibus, 
Tacit. l. 1. Hist.  magisuè justis Judiciis approbatum est: non esse Curae Diis securitatem Nostram, esse Ultionem. The justice and the greatness of our Plagues abundantly evince the Gods concerned, though not for our Prosperity, yet for our Punishment; such is Man's disingenuous temper, that he is more easily convinced by the wideness and fatality of a Wound, that it was inflicted by an Almighty Arm, than he is by the greatness of the Benefits he receives, that they are distributed by a Divine Munificence; though the number and infinite value of the good things we receive be in itself a much clearer proof of a Divine Providence, than the Evils we suffer, can be; for these we can create ourselves, those none but a God can bestow: there needs then nothing to be said to convince you what the Heathens thought of Providence with respect to outward and temporal things; nor is it I think now to be questioned, whether it were their opinion that the Divine Assistance was necessary to the Attainment of Virtue and Happiness; nor would I add a word more but that the words of Hierocles on this Subject carry in 'em not only so full a Conviction, but also so extraordinary a Relish of a Wise and Religious Humility, that I cannot prevail with myself to pass 'em by: 
Hierocles in Pythagori Aurea Carm.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is, We need no Motive or Incentive to Vice but our Own Inclinations, But to make us Virtuous we stand in need 〈◊〉 the aid of God, joined with that 〈◊〉 Reason.  
And this Opinion of the Necessity of God's Assistance sprung not only from the Experience of the weakness and corruption of Humane Nature, but also of the Power and Goodness of the Divine Nature; for I cannot think that the Order, Beauty, and greatness of the Creation, the fixed and constant Returns of fruitful Seasons, the filling men's hearts with food and gladness, were the only Testimonies which God gave the Gentiles of himself and his Care for Mankind: when I read that Angels are the ministering Spirits of God; when I read in Daniel of the Princes of Grecia and Persia, and find that Provinces were committed to Angels as the Vice-Roys and Lieutenants of God, I cannot think, that these Devout and Charitable Spirits did with less Zeal in their Provinces labour to promote the Honour of God, and the Good of Man, than Evil Spirits did the Dishonour of the one and the Ruin of the other: and unless the frequent Appearances of Angels in the Beginning had possessed Men's Minds with a firm persuasion that there was a constant Commerce maintained between Heaven and Earth; and that Spirits very frequently did visibly engage themselves in the Protection and Assistance of Men; I cannot as much as Imagine, what foundation there could be for the numerous Impostures of Oracles, or upon what ground the Custom of putting themselves under the Patronage of some Tutelary Spirit, could so generally have prevailed in the Pagan World: without this Supposition the Poetry of Homer had been so far from being entertained as Sacred and Inspired, that it had been universally contemned and disliked as an idle Rhapsody of un-natural, incredible and fulsome Characters of their Gods: how could any Man, who had never heard of the Appearances of Spirits, nay who could not conceive any other Notion of such Fancies than as something absurd and impossible, ever digest the gross Confidence of a Poet bringing in a God upon the Stage at every turn? I do not therefore doubt, but that the Gentile World received very many good Offices and Advantages from good Angels, as well as suffered many Mischiefs from Evil ones: and I think I might with good probability believe that every good Heathen as well as Socrates had the Assistance of a good Spirit very frequently.  
Nor was the Ministry of Angels the only assistance that God afforded the Gentil World, but in every Age he raised up Wise and Good Men to be his Prophets or Interpreters of Nature's Law to the Gentiles: I know St. Austin does in two places at least of his Retractations censure and condemn that Charity which he had elsewhere expressed for the Philosophers or Excellent Men among the Gentiles, which is the more to be wondered at, since he so frequently acknowledges himself to have been first inflamed with the Holy Love of true Philosophy by reading a Piece of Tully; but were the matter to be carried by Votes, I do not question, but I could produce Testimonies in favour of those Men, of such whose Antiquity, Learning and Piety might more than Balance the Authority of St. Austin: 'tis true, their Faith differed much from that of a Christian, and no Man, I think, in his Wits could expect it otherwise; for how vast is the Distance between the Light of Nature and that of Revelation? but if we look upon those Motives and Principles to Virtue by which they were acted, they were such as a Christian need not blush at, or be ashamed of; they looked upon it not only as the Perfection of Humane Nature; the Bond and Support of Society; the Delight, the Guide and Comfort of every particular Man's life; but also as the Image of God, that which did render us like him, and therefore acceptable to him; as the only thing that could unite Man to God, that could raise Man above the bodily Pollutions of sensuality; that could enable him to outbrave the fears of Fortune and of Death; as that which could fit him for the Conversation of Heaven; And lastly, they looked upon it as the gift of God. 'Tis true, together with all this, you'll say, they were Idolaters: I do not question, but they did often partake in the Pollution of the Idolatrous multitude; But if we regard the Idolatry of their Religion, and compare it with that of the Heathen Multitude, there was a vast difference between both; and that in these three Points: the Object, the Acts of Worship, and the Effects of it.  
As to the Object, the Philosophers, 'tis true, did Worship Spirits, but good ones; the Multitude did worship Devils: how contradictory are those Characters which the sensual, infatuated Multitude bestowed upon their Idols, and those by which the Philosophers describe the Nature of their Gods or their Genii? Lust and Cruelty make up the one; Purity, Goodness and Charity the other: This needs no proof, 'tis Evident from almost all the Writings of ancient Philosophy that are extant: yet I think it cannot seem superfluous to produce one Testimony containing an Account of the Nature of their Genii or Guardian Angels, by which it will be easy to conclude what Notion they had of those Superior Spirits whom they supposed to dwell always in Heaven in the presence of the Supreme God: and whom, though they called 'em Gods, they thought infinitely inferior to that one God, their Creator and ours; But yet much Superior as well in the Excellency of their Nature as Dignity of their place to those Angels which they looked upon as the Messengers and Ministers of God to Man, and as the Guardians of Man, and the Interpreters or Conveyers of his Requests to God. These are thus described by Apuleius, 
Apuleius de Deo Socratis, p. 68  Hic quem Dico prorsus Custos, singularis praefectus, Domesticus speculator, proprius Curator, intimus Cognitor, assiduus Observator, individuus Arbiter; inseparabilis testis, malorum improbator, bonorum probator, si ritè animadvertatur, sedulò cognoscatur, religiosè colatur, ita ut à Socrate justitiâ & Innocentiâcultus est, in Rebus incertis prospector, dubiis praemonitor, periculosis tutator, egenis opitulator, qui tibi quaeat tum in Somniis, tum in Signis, tum etiam fortassè cor●m, c●m usus postulat mala averruncare, bona prosperare, humilia sublimare, nutantia fulcire, obscura clarare, secunda regere, adversa corrigere. The substance of all which is, This our truly Guardian Angel, our immediate Superintendent, the Domestic spy of all our Actions, the Conscious witness of our Desires and Thoughts, the Approver and Encourager of our Virtue, and the Hater and Discourager of our Vice, if he be heedfully minded by us, rightly known, and religiously worshipped with Righteousness and Innocence, as he was by Socrates, will be our Council in doubtful, our Guard in hazardous Affairs, etc. But all this while they were Idolaters? admit it if they were damned for this Idolatry, Good God what will become of that great part of the Christian Church, whose Practice at this Day is infinitely more inexcusable than theirs was? because God has publicly declared that he has appointed one Mediator, through whom he wills us to approach him: there was then Room for the Plea of Humility; but now a pretence of Humility, what can it be in Reality, but wanton fondness or Presumptuous wilfulness?  
Thus widely did the virtuous and understanding part of Mankind differ in the Object of their Worship from the sensual and stupid Herd; and since the manner of Worship is naturally derived from the Notions men entertain, of that Being, which is the Object of it; it could not be otherwise, but that they must differ as widely in the Essential parts of Worship, as they did in the Objects of it: Hence it was, that while the People offered to their Gods their Lusts and Passions, and sacrificed to 'em in Uncleanness or Cruelty, the Philosopher's thought, that nothing could be so welcome a Sacrifice to Theirs, as the Imitation of their Purity and Goodness, holy Affections, and good Works: From both these differences, there followed a  
Third, Consisting in the different Effects which the Religion of the one and the other did produce; the Idolatry of the one, (as Wickedness always will) utterly estranged them more and more from the true God; the Idolatry of th' other (for so I'll call it to avoid dispute) seemed to unite them more and more to him, since they looked upon the Spirits they worshipped, not only as the Creatures, but most lively Images of the true God; and acknowledged that all good Gifts proceeded from him, though they received 'em by the Ministry and Mediation of Angels, and that Virtue which they looked upon as the only grateful Worship of God did exalt their Minds, and by rendering 'em more like him, must needs render 'em more near to him: Thus they talked, whether thus they lived or no, is not very material to my present purpose; for after all, though their lives should not have come up to their Philosophy, these their Discourses could not choose but be some way serviceable to Mankind, being a manifest reproof to the stupid Idolatry, to the brutish and barbarous Worship which then prevailed in the World. These Doctrines could not but manifestly tend to convince the World of the Being and Nature of the Supreme God, they could not but tend to restore the Law of Nature to its just Authority, and present the corrupt and degenerous World with a natural, that is lovely, Idea of Virtue; and give 'em a just sense of the Obligation they lay under, and of the Sanctions, by which God established that Law which he writ in the Minds of Men: who sees not now, that God by raising up such Men, and by assisting 'em with a Spirit of Wisdom and a Spirit of Courage, which the Constancy of a great many of 'em in Suffering for these Truths, and the Lustre and Beauty of their Writings in those dark Times do abundantly testify, was an undoubted proof of God's Goodness to the Gentiles, and of his Concern for their true Interest and Happiness? why should not this Light, which God lent the then-wandring benighted part of Mankind, be as kindly interpreted by Man as it was designed by God? why should not the Philosophers of the Gentiles be looked upon as Priests and Prophets, well enough suited to the Oeconomy of the Law of Nature? very excellent use have Christians, even the most Learned and Pious made of 'em; and surely they ought to have proved as much more beneficial to the World they lived in, as they were then more necessary.  
I think I have by this time said enough not only to extinguish in any Man all superstitious Fears, and unworthy Apprehensions of the Divine Majesty, but also to enkindle in him a grateful Love of God, and cheerful hopes of true Happiness by establishing this persuasion upon unshaken foundations, That God is a Good and gracious God, That he is always ready to further and assist every Man in his Endeavours after Happiness: But now let not that Doctrine be perverted to the betraying of us into sloth, which was designed to inspire the Mind with a fresh vigour, to quicken and confirm us in an Industrious pursuit after our true Happiness: for we must remember, that God is not only good and gracious, but also  
Holy too; I shall not insist long on this Point, 
2 Holiness of God.  because I think 'tis already proved; Holiness being as necessarily employed in Perfection, as Love or Goodness: I know some have talked, as if God were a mere Arbitrary Being, as if his Laws were not the Image or Expression of his Nature, but merely the positive Precepts of an Arbitrary Will. If any Man can be so senseless, as to believe that the most perfect Being can love or hate without any Reason for't; or that all the Laws and Actions of God shall be Consonant to the Strictest Rules of Justice and Goodness, and all this by Chance, for mere Arbitrary Motion is blind and unguided; such a one seems to me as uncapable as he is unworthy of Instruction: I can as soon believe Lightning and Thunder, Wind and Storm a God, as believe him to be a mere Arbitrary Being: The Heathens believed a God, Proteus that could turn himself into all shapes; but these Men believe what is infinitely more absurd, a God, not of various and uncertain shapes only, but also of an unfixt, uncertain, indetermined Nature: for the Will must always be agreeable and consonant to the Nature of that Being whose Will it is: thus Liberty and Indetermination of Will in Man proceeds from some contrariety in the Principles which Constitute him; unsteady Judgement produces unsteady Will, and brutish Nature brutish Will or Inclination. If we consult the Scriptures, nothing is more Evident than the Sanctity of the Divine Nature, we are there exhorted to walk in the Light, because God is light; and to be holy, because he is holy; which Holiness doth not regard the Declaration of his Will, but his Nature; this being given as a Motive to oblige us to walk according to his Righteous Precepts, because this alone is that which can please a Righteous God, this alone is that which can make us like and dear to him. From this Attribute of God, that is Holiness, we may plainly infer,  
First, That we are not to expect any Assistance from him; but then, when that which we Enterprise, is just and lawful, and we ourselves are not wanting to ourselves; for 'tis inconsistent with the Holiness of God to make his Providence the Refuge of Laziness or Impiety. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Plutarch de Superstitione.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, God is the Hope of Virtue, not the Excuse of Sloth and Cowardice. 'Tis a rational and wellweighed Prayer, which Josephus puts into the Mouth of Moses standing on the Shore of the Red Sea; inaccessible Rocks and Mountains denied the Israelites passage one way, the numerous Host of the Egyptians had filled all other's: only before them was the Red Sea, whose Waves threatened as certain, and more dreadful a Destruction as the Sword of the Egyptians, there was no Weapon for Fight, no Provision for a Camp, no place for Flight. In this Case Moses Prays thus, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. Lord thou knowest, that no Contrivance, Industry, nor force of ours can here avail us, 'tis in thee alone to find out a way to the Rescue of this People, who by thy Command and under thy Conduct, have left Egypt: despairing of all other ways, we fly to thee alone for succour; Lord let it come speedily, give us a Clear Proof of thy Divine Omnipotence and Faithfulness; we are in great straits, great to us, but slight and inconsiderable to thee. The Sea is thine that stops our Progress, the Mountains that shut us up are thine, thou canst divide this Sea, or turn its Waves into firm Land, and make us find a safe passage through the devouring Deep: or if thou thinkest fit, thou canst make us march in Triumph aloft through the open Sky: This was a Noble Faith, this was indeed an Expectation, almost as wonderful as the success it met with: But then, it was no less rational than successful, their Condition was capable of no Deliverance but a miraculous one, and it was their Obedience to the Divine Commands had reduced 'em to this Condition: This is a safe Rule to guide our Faith and Reliance by, in all our Distresses and Difficulties, we must have recourse unto God, for these are the times wherein Humane infirmity requires the Support and Comfort of Divine Assistance; The utmost Strength and Perfection of Virtue is too weak to bear the shock and brunt of Calamity alone, 
Max. Tyr. Disser. 26.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, it must be reinforced by Power from above. But then these Difficulties must be such to which our Vice has not betrayed us; and our own Courage and Industry must be as vigorous as our Prayers; for in vain do we beg new supplies of Strength, if we use not what we enjoyed before. Divine Bounty doth never supersede Man's Industry, fruitful Showers, and enlivening Rays do not prevent, but second the Labours of the Husbandman: God observes the same Method in the Production of a nobler sort of fruit, Wisdom and Virtue: the Soul, as well as the Field of the Sluggard shall be o'errun with Weeds; there only shall the Divine fruit of Philosophy and Happiness grow where Religious Discipline Tills the Ground, and wakeful Study sows the seeds of thriving Truths among the furrows. Accordingly, if we consider the lives and practice of Excellent Men, none were ever so much Favourites of Heaven, that its Gifts grew up in 'em, like Corn and Wine in the Golden Age without Culture or Dressing: Inspiration itself did not exempt Man from the Necessity of Industry, but oblige him to a greater: Thus under the Old Testament a Prophetic life was a life of greater strictness and retirement than that of others; and in the New, not to mention the Watch, the Fast, the Retirements, the Prayers of our Lord and Master, that account of himself which St. Paul gives us, will inform us, not only what his life was, but what it was expected the life of every one should be that shared with him in the Ministry and Dignity of an Apostle. But in all things approving ourselves as the Ministers of God, in much Patience, in Afflictions, in Necessities, in Distresses:— in Labours, 
2 Cor. 6.  in Watch. By Pureness, by Knowledge. Amongst the Heathens whatever Perfection and Excellency they attributed to Humane Nature, whatever they attributed to an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Contexture and frame of Nature more than Common, whatever lastly they attributed to the favour, the Extraordinary favour of God; yet did they always judge a strict life and indefatigable Industry necessary to the acquiring of true Philosophy and Happiness: their Pythagoras so dear to their Gods, that it seemed to be a doubt amongst 'em, whether he were not himself a God incarnate, not content to have been the Scholar first of Pherecydes Syrus, and afterwards of Hermodamas, travailed first into Egypt, and afterwards to Babylon, and I know not whither, pursuing Wisdom and Happiness with great Industry, and as great Abstinence. Socrates, however inspired by his Genius, did yet learn Music of Connus, Poetry of Evenus, Agriculture of Ischomachus, Geometry of Theodorus, etc. And to all this he added the Religious Discipline of Mortification even to a voluntary Poverty: what should I multiply Instances? there is not a Man amongst the Gentiles remarkable for Wisdom or Virtue, that is not as remarkable for that Travail and Self-denial by which he purchased both; I add Self-denial, Industry alone being not judged sufficient; for,  
Secondly, 'Tis easy in the next place to infer from the Sanctity of God, that they who expect his Assistance should endeavour to be Good and Holy: 'tis Virtue that constitutes a Man a Subject of the Heavenly Kingdom and a Favourite of God, and therefore 'tis this that gives him the best Claim to his Protection and Patronage: Vice is a state of Rebellion and Defiance against God, and he that has put off his Allegiance, cannot expect rationally the Benefits of that Government which he refuses to be under. 'Tis true, the Infinite Goodness and Clemency of God which is not easily vanquished by Man's Ingratitude, may pursue such a Man with repeated overtures & tenders of Grace and Pardon, and may leave him in the possession of common Benefits, such as Health, Plenty, Friends, etc. but God will never confer upon him the most Excellent Gifts, the marks of his especial Presence, and particular Favour, he will withdraw from him the aids of his Spirit, and leave him to himself a blind indigent, and forlorn Creature: 
Wisd. 1.  The Holy Spirit of Discipline will fly Deceit, and will not abide, when unrighteousness comes in. Which is nothing more than what the Heathen by the Light of Nature did affirm concerning his Genius, 
Max. Tyr. Dissert. ●6.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Wicked Souls have no good Angels sojourning with 'em or presiding over them. Our Souls, like Temples must be prepared and consecrated to him, if we would have God dwell in them: Righteousness and Holiness are the only things that Charm and Captivate God, nothing else can invite him to dwell with Man, this very Reason Maximus Tyrius assigns for the Residence and abode of a Daemon with Socrates after so extraordinary a manner. 
Idem ibid.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Dost thou wonder that a Prophetic Spirit should dwell with Socrates so intimately united, so friendly, so inseparable, that he seemed only not mixed, and become one with his own mind? with Socrates whose Purity of Body, Charity and Goodness of Soul, strictness of Conversation, depth of Judgement, Melody, and perswasiveness of Speech, Religion towards God, and Integrity towards Man, rendered him worthy of such a Guest, such a Friend? From all which 'tis Evident,  
Thirdly, What different Rates we are to set upon the different Gifts of God: 
James ●.  Every good gift, and every perfect gift comes down fr●m above; but every Gift is not equally Good, equally Perfect, being neither equally necessary, nor profitable. Wealth, Power, Friends, Relations, Health, Strength, Beauty, Wit, Discretion, Virtue, are all good; but not all equal, their value is different, and therefore the Degrees of our Importunity and of our Faith or Reliance upon God, must be proportioned accordingly: a confident Faith, and an almost impatient Zeal doth well become us when we seek the Kingdom of Heaven and the Righteousness thereof; when we seek of God the Divine gifts of Wisdom and Virtue; but an humble Modesty, and a most profound Submission is the Ornament and Beauty of those who are Petitioners for inferior temporal Blessings: for God has promised the former to all that earnestly sue for them, peremptorily and without any Tacit Reservations; but his promises of the latter do always imply this Condition, If they shall be for our Good; for the Perfections of the Mind are Moral and Immutable Beauties; but those of the Body, and all the gaudy things of Fortune are like the fading Beauties of a Flower, the heat scorches it, the cold nips it, every little chance cracks the stalk, and the hand of a Child, will serve to crop it: Nothing therefore is more acceptable to God than the modesty of our Petitions for these good things, and the fervency of them for the other, nothing more delightful to him, unless the granting of them: the things therefore that we are to beg of God, not only with the greatest Importunity; but also in the first place, are those which Maximus Tyrius thought the subject of Socrates his Prayers, 
Max. Tyr. Dissert. 30.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, what were these? a virtuous Mind, a quiet State, an unblameable Life, and a cheerful Death full of good Hopes. These were the matter of his requests, not Wealth, or Honour, or Popularity, or Power, or Sovereignty. This at once brings to my thought another Objection raised against the possibility of attaining Happiness, and instructs me how to answer it.  
A Second thing which Men charge Obj. 2 with the guilt of their Ruin is Fortune. I might pass over this Point slightly, because Afflictions will come more properly to be considered in the Third Volume, where I treat of Indolence, and because I have already cleared two great Truths, which are of themselves abundantly sufficient to baffle and defeat this trifling Objection, Namely First, That Virtue and Vice, Wisdom and Folly, are the things to which generally speaking, we own our Temporal Prosperity or Adversity: and consequently that those, supposing the Ordinary assistance of God being in our Power, these must be so too. Secondly, That we are assured of the Assistance of God even in these things, as far as he shall see them truly subservient to our Good. However, because the persuasion of the Usefulness, nay absolute Necessity of the favour of Fortune has taken such deep root in the Minds of Men, that it would be thought little less than a Contradiction to imagine that a Man can be Unfortunate and Happy, (so that even Seneca himself has let fall one of the greatest Paradoxes, a Stoic was ever guilty of) such an Expression as this better becoming the mouth of a Peasant than a Philosopher. 
Seneca de Vit. Beatâ.  Sed ei qui ad Virtutem tendit, etiamsi multum processit, opus est tamen aliquâ Fortunae Indulg●ntiâ, adhuc inter humana Luctanti, dum Nodum illum exolvit, & omne vinculum Mortal: That not only Beginners but Proficients in Virtue, till they have put off Mortality, will stand in need of some Indulgence of Fortune; and few Men find any belief with the World, when they talk of the contempt of Wealth, it being generally interpreted either the Laziness of an unactive and degenerous Mind, or the Dissimulation of one who affects to be thought to defy Fortune, while he doth secretly and inwardly repine and fret at the Neglect and Coldness she expresses towards him; I will therefore bestow a little time on the Consideration of this Objection.  

Fortune cannot prevent our Happiness.  What dost thou mean by Fortune? If mere Chance, then to envy the Lot of others, or murmur at thine own, is Folly: if Providence, then 'tis Impiety; for whatever goodness guided by unerring Wisdom doth, must be so well done, that it cannot be mended: and whatever is merely in the Power of a blind, giddy, and inconstant humour, (which is the Notion, by which Men choose to express Fortune) can neither be prevented, fixed nor regulated: But what is it Secondly, thou dost put in the power of Fortune? the Understanding and Liberty of men's Minds? Wisdom, Temperance, Industry, Courage, and in one word Virtue? if not, she has no Influence on thy Happiness, she cannot prevent thy attainment of it, nor bereave thee of it when attained: If thou dost, thou dost enlarge the Empire of Fortune too too far, let her rule and insult over Soldiers, Courtiers, Lovers, Factious Demagogues and Time-servers, but not over Philosophers: Let those who are her Minions be her Slaves: Let her dispose of Money, Lands, Farms, Commissions, Benefices, Honours, Graces, Fame; nay, if you will, Crowns and Sceptres too: Virtue, and Happiness, and Souls are too precious Commodities to be the Sport and Traffic of Fortune: Solom●● observed long ago, Wisdom cries out, 〈◊〉 uttereth her voice in the streets; 
Prov. 1.  〈◊〉 cries in the chief place of Concourse, 〈◊〉 the openings of the Gates; in the City she utters her words. 
John 7.  Our Saviour 〈◊〉 the great Day of the Feast cried saying If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink: which is an Invitation of the same Nature with that in the Prophet, 
Isaiah 55.  Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money: come ye buy and eat, buy wine and milk without money, and with out price. This ever was, and ever will be true; a great Fortune is not necessary for the Attainment of Faith Hope, or Charity. And he that is endowed with these, can't be miserable: you may learn the whole Systeme of Divine and Important Truths, you may acquaint yourself with all the Beauty and Enjoyments of Virtue, at a very cheap rate, and you may learn Temperance, Fortitude, Justice, Modesty, Constancy, Patience, Contempt of the World, without the Assistance of much more Wealth than will serve ●o Feed and  you: and canst ●hou not be content with these Possessions? is not this a sort of Merchandise to be preferred before that of fine Gold? I kow the greater part of ●hose who accuse their Fortune of their Misery do at least pretend that their Condition and Circumstances of life are so incommodious, that they have not time to attend to the great Interest of the Soul, or at least not with that Application which they should. Alas, thus not the mean only, but almost all talk, from the Porter to the Prince, the Circumstances of one are too straight, too narrow; of another too full of Trouble, because too full of State: one complains that he is withdrawn from his great End, by the many allurements & sensual temptations, to which his rank and quality in the World exposes him: another that he is daily fretted and indisposed by the little cross Accidents and the rugged Conversation which he is necessarily obliged to bear with: one complains of too much Business, another of too little; the hurry and multitude of things distracts the one, Infidel Fears, and Anxious Despondencies the other. One complains that his Acquaintances and Friends are too numerous; and entrench too far upon his precious hours; fewer querulous melancholy, and peevish, because he looks upon himself either for his meanness neglected, or for his misfortune deserted and forsaken: Company is burdensome to the one, and Solitude to the other. Thus all Conditions, are full of Complaints from him that trudges on his clouted , to him who can scarce mention the Manners or the Fortunes of the Multitude without some Expressions of contumely and disdain. Thou Fool, dost thou not see that all these Complaints are Idle and Contradictions? for shame correct the wantonness of thy humour, and thou wilt soon correct thy Fortune; learn to be Happy in every state and every place: learn to enjoy thyself, to know and value the Wealth that is in thine own Power, I mean Wisdom and Goodness: learn to assert the Sovereignty and Dignity of thy Soul; methinks that if Philosophy could not, Pride and Indignation might conquer Fortune: 'tis beneath the Dignity of a Soul that has but a grain of sense, to make Chance, and Winds, and Waves, the Arbitrary disposers of his Happiness; or what's worse, to depend upon some Mushroom upstart which a chance-smile raised out of his Turf and Rottenness, to a Condition to which his mean Soul is so unequal, that he himself fears and wonders at his own height. O how I hug the memory of those honest Heathens, who in a rugged Gown, and homely Cottage, bid defiance to Fortune, and laughed at those pains and hazards, the Vanity and Pride of Men, not their Misfortune drove 'em to! Men may call this Pride, or spite in them; as the beggarly Rabble does usually envy the Fortune which it doth despair of; But there were a great many of these, who laid by, envied Greatness, to enjoy this quiet, though generally-despicable meanness: But let the Contempt of the World be, what it will, in a Heathen; let it be Pride or Peevishness, Vainglory or any thing, rather than a Reproach to Christians, what say you to the followers of our Lord and Master? Then said Peter, Silver and Gold have I none; 
Acts 3.  None? what hast thou then, thou poor Disciple of a poor Master? a true Faith, a Godlike Charity, and unshaken Hope: Blessed art thou amongst men, nothing can make thee Greater, nothing Richer, nothing Happier, but Heaven. You see plainly then, a Man may be virtuous, though not wealthy, and that Fortune which prevents his being Rich, cannot prevent his being Happy. This Discourse will never down; This is not calculated for this Age; Philosophy must be a little more mannerly, and Religion a little more gentile and complaisant than formerly, 'ere it can be adapted and accommodated to the present state of things. Go on then, let's try how far it will be Necessary to condescend; You cannot be Happy, why? because you are not Rich; go then to God, and beg you may be Rich; I have not the face to put up such Arrogant and Intemperate Requests to God; 'tis plain then, 'tis not necessary to be Rich in Order to be Happy: for whatever is necessary to this, thou mayest with good Assurance beg of God. But thy Desires are more humble and modest, thou aim'st at nothing but what is very Necessary, a fairer House, another Servant, a dish or two of Meat more for thy Friends, a Coach for thy Convenience and Ease, and a few Hundred Pounds a piece more for thy Children: O Heavenly Ingredients of a Rational Pleasure! O Divine Instruments of humane Happiness! O the humble and mortified requests of modest Souls! well, if these things be so necessary, and these desires be so decent and virtuous, if thou canst not be Happy, and consequently must be miserable without them; put up a Bill, represent thy Condition in it, Such a one— wants a more Commodious House, more Servants, more Dishes, etc. and desires the Prayers of the Congregation for Support under this Affliction: you are Profane; far be it from me; I would only let thee see the wantonness of thy Desires: if thou thinkest this would expose thee to public Laughter, go to thy Minister, unfold thy Case to him, let him Pray for thee, he is a good Man, and his Prayers will go far: you rally and ridicule me; Enter then into thy Closet, shut thy Door, thou may'st trust God, he Pities and Considers even Humane Infirmities, I could even almost in my Mind desire it of him, but I am ashamed to do it in a Set and Solemn Prayer, I could almost make the Petition in the Gross, but I blush to think of Descending to Particulars. Well, than I see plainly that Wealth in any Degree of it is so far from being necessary to our Happiness, that it has so little of Usefulness, or Conveniency in it, that in thy Conscience between God and thee, thou canst not think it fit to complain of the want of it.  

Every Man the Architect of his own Fortune.  But this Answer will never satisfy him who complains of Want, or of being engaged in continual Troubles, and tossed by the daily Changes and Revolutions of the World: I confess it, it will not; But I must tell such a one, if Solomon's Observation be true, 
Prov. 10.  The hand of the diligent makes Rich, and that other, 
Prov. 22.  Seest thou a man diligent in his business, he shall stand before Kings, he shall not stand before mean men: then his Poverty is his Crime as well as his Calamity, he must redeem himself from this his Punishment by Industry and Prayer: As to Calamities, this must be acknowledged, that the Mind of a good and great Man which stands firm upon its own Basis, a good God, a Good Saviour, and a Good Conscience, may remain unmoved, when the Earth trembles and the Sea roars round about him; Changes indeed befall things Temporal, but he leans not upon them; I may say farther, that he who upon mature Deliberation, and upon necessary Obligations of Duty engages himself in a just Cause, may be unfortunate, but he cannot be miserable; his Sufferings carry a secret Pleasure in 'em, and his Misfortunes are full of Hope and Glory, if he consider, if he reflect, if he do not feed on vain and airy Projects, and suffer himself to be unwarily transported by very irrational, though seemingly just Passions: I must lastly add, that 'tis not the Necessity of their Affairs, nor the Iniquity of Times, which doth commonly involve and entangle Men in public or private Calamities, but some secret Vanity, some blind impetuous Passion, some ill-laid Project, or some treacherous or dishonourable fear. The State of Rome never felt more or greater Changes than in the life of Atticus, as is obvious to any one, who shall reflect upon the History of his time, and yet in all the turns and mighty Changes of Fortune, Atticus enjoyed a constant Tranquillity and well-settled Peace, being scarce ever reduced as much as to the Necessity of a Retirement but once, as I remember: nor was it the meanness of his Quality, or the narrowness of his Fortune that secured him, he was a Man great in both; nor was it the secrecy of a private life, or the sluggishness of a stupid Mind, which rendered him unworthy of any Man's fear, and unable to provoke a Danger; No, he was a Man, as well for the Eminence of his Parts, and Vigour of his Mind, as for the Largeness of his Fortune, well known to the greatest and most Active men of all Pa●ties; and yet steering his life by the Rules of Virtue and true Wisdom, he lived untouched by, unconcerned in, the strange Alterations of so long a life as his, which were such and so many, that the Historian has observed, that they who were one day in the height of Power and Honour, were the next in the Gulf of Danger and Despair; so that his Remark is generally very true, 
Corn. Nep. in Vitâ Attici.  Sui cuique mores fingunt Fortunam. Every man may fashion and shape his fortune as he will his manners. Nor was the success of his Behaviour less in private than public. For Cornelius Nepos has observed in his Life, That those Friendships he entered into, he was very Happy and Constant in; nay, such was the Gentleness, such the Discretion of his Behaviour, that it preserved him in the favour of an Uncle (I think) of his, who was so sour and peevish that none could please him, such a Nabal a man could not speak to him, nay he not only kept in with him, but possessed him so entirely, that he was left his Heir. Nor was all this in Atticus, the Effect of Temper or Nature, but of Virtue: 
Ibid.  Neque id fecit naturâ Solum, quanquam omnes ei parêmus, sed etiam Doctrina: nam & Principum Philosophorum ita percepta habuit praecepta, ut iis ad vitam agendam, non ad Ostentationem utebatur; For he had studied Philosophy not for Ostentation, but the Conduct of his life. I might now presume. I had given satisfaction to this Objection, especially, since I oblige myself to take the Case of Temporal and outward Calamities into full Consideration hereafter. But the infection is got into the mass of Blood, and has diffused itself through Mankind, and 'tis not a slight and weak Medicine that can Purge it out; therefore I have observed that the Heathen were never more copious or more vehement than in the Refutation of this Error, our Baptism doth scarce proclaim a more solemn War against the Pomp's and Vanities of the World, than Philosophy did in all Ages: No doubt therefore the Expugning this Fancy which makes Man's Happiness depend upon his Fortune in the World, must needs be a matter of great Importance, since both Revelation and Reason have so earnestly and solemnly endeavoured it; I shall not therefore I hope seem impertinent or tedious, if looking upon this Objection as considerable, in Opinion though not in itself, I treat it with more Respect and Solemnity than it really deserves.  
My Design here is to examine what real Good or Convenience there is in Wealth, how Valuable, 
Fortune not necessary to Happiness.  or how Necessary 'tis, and that not in a Declamatory or Sophistical, but such a sober and rational manner as may be Satisfactory and Convictive to every unprejudiced Mind. First therefore, I will give some account, whence 'tis that Men are so intent upon their Worldly interest, so wholly bend upon being Rich: Secondly, I will state what is meant by a Competency, and what the Advantage and Necessity of it is. Thirdly, I will consider what the natural tendency of Wealth is. From all which, it will easily appear, what Connexion & Dependence there is between our Fortune and our Happiness.  
If we inquire whence 'tis, Men are so intent upon the World; one Reason is, a secret Infidelity, Men are desirous to lay such a Foundation as Time cannot wear, nor Winds and Tempests o'erthrow: they cannot trust Providence, till they see, or at least fancy themselves in a Condition to defy it: and this they look upon as a great piece of Prudence, to provide for themselves a safe Retreat at once from the Storms and Changes that generally pursue Mankind; and the Contempt which unjustly pursues those: I cannot tell which is the greater, the Folly or the Impiety of this Humour; for 'tis a wretched Folly to flatter ourselves with the vain hopes of a Security which is not to be found any where beneath Heaven; or to imagine that a great State is less liable to the blasts of Fortune, than a small one; or to fancy that the Contempt which attends those who never rise, is more insupportable than that which attends those who fall: Nor is the Impiety one jot less than the Folly; for what can be more wicked than amidst so many visible and undeniable proofs and assurances of a God, and Providence, to let the same anxious and jealous Fears fill and disturb our Minds, which would scarce be pardonable, if there were neither? what greater Affront can we offer to the Goodness, the Wisdom, the Omnipotence and Faithfulness of God, than to refuse to repose the Care, the Trust of providing for us upon him, when he not only offers, but presses himself upon the Employment? a second Cause why we so eagerly pursue Wealth, is Sensuality; Being Strangers to the Peace and Joy of Faith, insensible of the Divine Delight of Charity, uncapable of the Ecstasies, of the full Assurance of Hope, and in general of the Rational Pleasure of a Philosophical Mind; what can be expected but that both Wind and Tide should drive us violently on another shore? I mean the whole Force and Inclination of our Nature should impetuously tend towards sensual, worldly Pleasures and Enjoyments; and consequently towards Wealth, as the Necessary Instrument of Both: you grant therefore that Wealth is Necessary to a pleasurable life? To a pleasurable one 'tis, to a pleasant one 'tis not. The sensual Pleasure of a sensual Man, i. e. one who is all Body and Fancy requires a good Fund of Wealth, but the Temporal Enjoyments of a virtuous Man do not: I grant, that ease and rest are Necessary to the Sluggish, state and height to the Proud, variety to the Intemperate and the Wanton, and to all this Wealth is Necessary; but I deny that Sloth or Pride, Intemperance (I will add Niceness) or Wantonness is Necessary to our Happiness; nay, I will confidently affirm, that a vigorous Mind and active Body is a much greater Pleasure than sluggish Ease; that an humble, if contented state is much more easy than Proud Grandeur and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or the Ostentation of life in St. John, that sober and thrifty Temperance is a far greater Pleasure than Variety, and the Modesty, Constancy, and Friendship of a Virtuous affection is not only a more calm, generous and steady, but a more transporting satisfaction than the fanciful Rambles of a wand'ring Lust: And I hope none will be so fond as to judge Wealth Necessary to the obtaining these Virtues; if any are, their Silliness and Vanity is to be exploded and laughed at, not seriously confuted: For who in his Wits can believe, that Ease is the best Nurse of Industry; that affected State and Ambitious Grandeur, are the Parents of Humility and Contentment; That Affluence and daily Delicacies are the most Effectual Instruments of Abstinence; and that Variety is the Mother of Chastity? If not, then 'tis apparent how far serviceable Wealth is, for all that lies in its Power is to provide for us these Temptations: But though a Wise and Virtuous Man wants no Wealth, I deny not but that he needs a Competency; what this is, is the next thing to be enquired: for this pretext of Having what is enough, is frequently made use of to justify and legitimate Avarice and Ambition.  
The measure of Competency is the Necessities of Nature, 
2. Competency.  not the Extravagancies of Fancy: A little Heap, where frugal Temperance and humble Industry are the Stewards, is a plentiful Provision; But wherever wasteful Luxury and wanton Fancy rule and govern, Plenty itself is a mere Dearth: what Treasures would not the Expensive Riots of Apicius, Orata, Clodius exhaust? how small a Particle of which would have been ample Revenues to Curius, Aemilius Pappus, or Fabricius? Competency then is that Provision which the Virtuous Man needs as his Viaticum, as the Support of Life, and Instrument of Virtue, the modest wish of Jacob, Gen. 28. Bread to eat, and Raiment to put on: The Use and Advantage of this, is not to keep us or our Children from being exposed to the Contempt (that is too slight an Evil for a Christian or Philosopher to dread) but to the barbarous Pity or Charity of Rich and great Friends. A second Use or Advantage of it is, that it helps to keep the Mind erect and free; that it puts us into a Capacity of Employing our Reason, and enjoying ourselves our own way; and leaves us not under any Temptation to unmanly Compliances, or Unchristian Jealousies and Fears: for he whose Ambition goes not beyond this, will easily trust Providence, if he believe there be any; or his own Industry, if he believe none: how he that divides and separates Providence and Industry will thrive in this matter, I know not; but he that joins his own Industry with God's Blessing obtained by Prayer, can never miss of this his aim. Having proceeded thus far, I shall be more easily able to resolve,  
Thirdly, What the Value, 
The Tendency of Wealth. Serm. 89. ex Tele●e.  what the Necessity of Riches is. 'Tis a pretty Speech which Pluto in Stobaeus makes in the Defence and Commendation of Wealth; but in the first place, I do not call every thing Wealth, that is not mere Beggary; I have allowed of a Competency as very Convenient even for a Virtuous and Wise man; in the next place, I trouble not myself about the Grandeur or Security of Kingdoms, though Peradventure the Scythian Poverty, or Roman Virtue is a stronger Bulwark, a better Guard of these than the Riches of Asia: And in the last place, I do not inquire, what use Wisdom and Virtue are able to make of Wealth, which can extract Pleasure and Happiness even out of Troubles and Afflictions, but what the Natural tendency of Wealth is; these things being observed, that and all other Discourses of the like Nature will appear to contain very little of solid Truth, and to have very little of weight in them: let us come to a trial of the Matter. If Contentment and Security were the natural Effects of Wealth, if to be Rich and to be Happy were the same thing, than it were not to be wondered at, that Wealth should be the great Idol and Ambition of Mankind; but if it neither free Men from those Passions of the Mind, nor those Diseases of the Body, nor other Calamities which embitter life to the Inferior part of Mankind; what then is the Advantage of it? Let us then stand still and consider this, do not Hatred and Anger, Envy and Anxiety, Ambition and Lust reign more frequently and more insolently in the Bosom of the great and wealthy, than of the labouring Cottager? Nay, I believe upon a narrow search we shall find that some Passions are the Prerogative of a proud and insolent Fortune, and are not incident to a mean one, such as haughty Anger, irreconcilable Hatred, an unlimited Ambition and an uneasy Wantonness: the Ploughman and the Artist, the Labourer and the Hind know none of these; Ambition does not break their Sleep, nor a fastidious Niceness make 'em disgust and nauseate their best Meals, Nor are they troubled with wild and ungovernable Lusts, bred by Excess, and nursed by gaudy Bravery, deluding Arts and more deluding Fancy: Nor are the Rich more Exempt from the Diseases of the Body, than from the Passions of the Mind; excessive Meals, disorderly Sleeps, much Sloth and much Wantonness, as they are the privileges of a gay Fortune, so are they the sources of Innumerable Diseases: Scurvies, Gouts, Rheumatisms, Surfeits, Putrid Fevers, and I know not what are the Consequences of Proud Idleness, and Excessive Enjoyments, i. e. of ill governed Wealth: whereas a plain Table and a sober Life, Regular and Cheap Pleasures and moderate Labour beget and improve an entire Habit of Health, and prolong life to the utmost Period of Nature: This is a second great Advantage of Wealth, that it gives us a diseased Body, and a short Life: Sure then, the Rich are the Minions of Fortune, and the Disasters which oppress the rest of Mankind touch not them: On the quite contrary, all Annals are stuffed with the Calamities and Misfortunes of these Men, rifled Wealth, defeated Hopes, baffled Ambition, blasted Honours, broken dejected Power, and in a word mighty Changes are the Argument of Tragedies, and the Subject of a loud and raving Passion: whereas the Strokes of Fortune are soft and gentle, when they light upon the mean, these are not capable of Tragical Alterations; their Minds are of a stronger Temper, their Bodies firmer, their Senses not nice and delicate, and their little Sufferings draw not after 'em the mournful Pomp and State which attends the fall, I may call it, the Funeral of a great one: Here Envy insults not, Malice traduces not, the petulant Multitude do not follow the Corpse with confused Clamours and Censures: Nor do Acquaintance flock to express outwardly a Cold and formal Regard, while they feel inwardly a secret Joy, for that Man's fall is always unpitied whose Power was a barren and useless Title: But to come closer yet, what is it that makes up the Comfort of Humane Life? a quiet State, faithful Friends, good Wives and good Children? if we consider it, we shall find the Life of Man a little beholden to Wealth in these Points: in all Changes of time, are not the Rich the greatest Sufferers? the mark of Envy, the prey of Violence and Usurpation? have they not more Enemies as well as more Friends than other Men? Friends did I say? they have None. They have Dependants, Flatterers, Companions and Ministers of their Pleasures, no Friends. Hence is it, that nothing is more Common, than for those above us to wish for the Content, the Ease, and Enjoyment of those below 'em: for the truth of it is, (if we proceed) Relations which are the pleasure of Men of Middle Fortune, are the Burden and Encumbrance of the Rich and Great, for in all their Contracts and Disposals, they are Servants to their Fortune, not their Inclination, Marriages amongst these are the Matches of Estates, not Minds; and therefore they attend not to the Temper or the Honour of the Families they link with, nay, what is worse, they have no regard to their Education, or Virtue, or Wisdom: But Money weighs all down, whatever Objections are put in the opposite Scale; in the whole Method of their Lives, they are Slaves to their Fortune, and to their Reputation in the World, judging themselves obliged to live, not according to their Reason, but their quality and the Humour, that is, the Folly of the Age, and of the Acquaintance they converse with: Nor dare they walk by any other Maxims, in the Government of the nearest to them, or in the Education of their Children, in all these things they must do what becomes Men of their figure in the World, not what becomes true Wisdom. Who sees not now that upon the whole, there is in this State or Condition of life more encumbrance and less true freedom; more of show, and less of Enjoyment than in any other? If all this be true, you'll be apt to conclude Mankind is Mad, if Wealth neither makes us more Wise, nor more healthy, more free in ourselves, nor more fortunate in our Relations, what bewitches Men into this Extravagant Dotage? what makes the World gaze upon and envy the Rich, as the only Happy Creatures? what makes us fawn upon 'em and flatter 'em, as the only Powerful and great things the World has? Something there is in it, and that's this, we see the outside, the Pomp and the Pageantry of Wealth: we see the gilt Coaches, the rich Liveries, the little Town of Buildings, gay Furniture, and a whole Squadron of Dishes; and together with all this, the gaudy Trappings the Happy Man's bedight with; the Port, the Grace, the Confidence that all this gives to Ignorance and Nonsense: But if you'll consider this truly, you will find all this mere Pageantry and Apparition, nothing solid nor real in it. As for gay Clothing; 'tis an Advantage not worth the speaking to, 'tis the Pride of Children, and the weakest of Women, the little Soul that converses no higher than the Looking-glass and a Fantastic Dress may help to make up the show of the World, but must not be reckoned among the rational Inhabitants of it; serving only as Painture, Images, and Ornaments to the Stage, not Actors on it: as to all the Rest, they seem to enjoy some Pre-eminence, but doth not; the mean Man eats his Morsel with more Pleasure, because more appetite; and sleeps with more delight, because with more ease, neither oppressed in Body by Luxury, nor in Mind by Care: 
Eccles. 5.12.  The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much; but the Abundance of the Rich will not suffer him to sleep: All the rest, as numerous Attendants, many Dependants, Flocks of Parasites, and the like, are but mere encumbrance, the unwieldiness of a gross and heavy Body: all these serve to increase the Noise and Hurry, the Care and the Pomp, but not the Pleasure or Enjoyment of the Wealthy. Hence was that Observation of Solomon, If Riches increase, they are increased that eat them, 
Ibid.  and what profit has the owner thereof, saving the beholding of it with his Eyes? a most Extraordinary Happiness, this, to be the Host of the Neighbourhood, to have one's House the Rendezvous of the Idle and the Gluttonous, of Buffoons and Flatterers, and yet if the Rich live otherwise, presently they grow infamous and stink, they are looked upon as Indian Graves, where Wealth is not laid up, but lost and buried: they are loaded with the Curses of some, with the Hatred of others, and with the Censures of all; and this is almost as bad as to be pestered with Impertinences and Flattery; This is the whole of the matter, if People gaze and admire, 'tis their Ignorance: if they fawn or flatter, 'tis their Baseness; but still remember, 'tis the People, 'tis the Crowd that doth this: should a Man of Letters or of Spirit, be overawed by the Laws of Custom or some unhappy Necessity into the Commission of this Idolatry, he could not but despise the Idol he bowed down to, and see it a mere lump of Wood or Stone, notwithstanding its gaudy Dresses; though I acknowledge, I comprehend not, what can reduce a Philosopher to this piece of shameful Dissimulation; the Soul that is great in itself is so in despite of Fortune: he that can live virtuously, can live Happily in the lowest Sat: he that desires but little, has no need of much: he that can despise Riches, can despise the Insolence and Pride of the Rich: in one word, he that can Command himself, needs be a slave to none. After all, I think it were possible to evince the mischievousness of Wealth as plainly, as I have its uselessness; but that were to press the point further than my present Design requires, for my Business was to show, either that Fortune, was not necessary to our Happiness, or as far as it is, that 'tis in our own Power: both which I may now presume myself to have sufficiently performed. I will therefore pass on to the  
Obj. 3 3. Objection from Fate. Amongst the many Shifts and Devices Men have invented to quiet Conscience, 
From Fate answered.  and at once to excuse and enjoy their Lusts, this is none of the least that they impute all to Fate, not only the Events that befall 'em, but, even their Crimes and Follies, as Juvenal did the Dissoluteness of Peribomius; that is, they believe or would be thought to do so, that all our Affections and Actions, and all Events that befall us are fatal and inevitable; That no Prudence can prevent, no Industry frustrate the Decrees of Fate, against which we struggle but in Vain. This is the popular and general Notion of Fate taught first by Democritus, Empedocles, Heraclitus and Leucippus, and so derived down from Age to Age, and prevailing mostly amongst the Multitude. Thus Bacchylides in Stobaeus his Eclogee expresses the popular Notion of Fate, 
Stob. Ec. Phys. c. 9  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 'Tis not in Man to choose his state, whether wealthy Peace, or Inexorable War, or all-confounding Sedition; but Fate the Sovereign Arbiter of Each, leads us on blind and hoodwinked to our Ruin. And Euripides expresses the other part of the opinion containing the Adamantine Chain, the insuperable Necessity of Fate thus, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 'Tis not permitted us to shun our Destiny, nor can any Humane Prudence ward its blows, nor can any thing but endless and fruitless troubles attend our Contention with it. 'Tis a sign of a Desperate Cause or Desperate Impudence to dispute against our Common sense, and to defy the daily Experience of Mankind; and yet all this, the Abettors of an Universal Fate (such as this is) are guilty of; for they deny that Liberty in Man which all Laws Divine and Humane, all Exhortations and Advices, all Commendation and Reproof, i. e. plainly God and Man, do suppose; for if the Mind of Man were o'erruled, if his present and future State were fixed and determined by a Fatal and Inexorable Necessity; then as Laws, Advice and Exhortation would be useless and impertinent, so all Reproof and Punishment would be unjust, and all Praise and Reward undeserved: and yet though the Assertion of Fate be oppressed and o're-born by all these Absurdities, yet it wants not at this Day its maintainers and sticklers; For there are who maintain a Necessity in humane Affairs, and Events derived from the Influence of Heavenly Bodies, which Notion of Fate take in the words of Manilius: 

Fata Regunt Orbem, 
Manilius Astronomicon. 4.  certâ stant omnia Lege,  
Longaque per Certos signantur tempora Cursus,  
Nascentes morimur, Finisque ab Origine pendet.   

Fates Rule the World, fixed Laws do all things guide,  
And long Times through their certain Channels slide.  
Death of the Birth of the Beginning the End,  
And all the Events of Humane life depend.   And there are others, who though they condemn Judicial Astrology in set Treatises writ against it, do yet maintain such Eternal Decrees as Employ a more inflexible Fate than any Pagan but Democritus, and those just now mentioned with him, did ever hold; Nay, a Fate more impious than that of Democritus, for what he imputed to senseless matter, these do to God; and as much more rigid as it is more impious than his, for he never thought of another life wherein Eternal Misery should punish those Actions that were unavoidable in this.  
Now the Reason why this Doctrine of Fate, this absurd and baffled Doctrine is so greedily embraced and eagerly defended by many, is very plain; it feeds the Vanity and Curiosity of some, and the Pride of others, 'tis a luscious Pleasure to curious and vain Minds to fancy themselves Masters of the starry Cabala, able to spell out and interpret the Laws of Fate, and pry into the Destinies of future Ages, which are covered with thick Clouds and Impenetrable Darkness to all but them alone; 'tis a delicious pleasure no doubt of it, to the Proud and haughty, and ill-natured, to see themselves caressed and exalted by God as his particular Favourites, while the miserable Multitude, the rest of Mankind are excluded from the Capacity and much more, the Hopes of Happiness and Heaven: and in general 'tis an acceptable opinion to the lose and profligate, since 'tis a ready Apology for Idleness and Lust, and all manner of Sins: for Men might Sin confidently and without remorse, if they did Sin fatally; or rather nothing could be branded with the Infamy of Sin and Shame, when whatever Men did, were the Effect, the unavoidable Effect of Nature and Necessity, an act of Obedience to those Fatal Laws which they could not transgress. Tertullian therefore speaks very properly when he saith, 
Tertul. Apol.  Mentis malae impetus vel Fato vel Astris imputant, nolunt suum esse quod malum agnoscunt: They impute the Heat and Sallies of their Lust to Stars and Fate, being unwilling to Charge themselves with the guilt of that which they own to be Evil. This is the use Cerealis makes of this Doctrine of Fate in Tacitus, 
Donec Cerealis mulceret animos, Fato acta Dictitans quae militum Ducumque Discordiâ, vel fraude Hostium evenissent. Tacit. l. 4. Histor.  the Roman Legions had behaved themselves very unworthy of that Name and Reputation they possess't, and were extremely dejected under the Conscience of it; therefore he to cheer and encourage 'em, and to wipe off the stain and dishonour of their Misdemeanour, imputed to Fate, that which ought with truth to have been imputed to the Dissension of their Leaders and themselves, and to the Fraud and Cunning of their Enemies. From this little that has been said, as it appears why Proud and Vicious Men contend for Fate; so does it likewise of what importance it is, to free Men's Minds from a persuasion so pernicious to the Interest of Virtue, the Peace of the Public, the Happiness of Man, and the Honour of God. To which purpose that I may contribute all I can, I'll consider, First, On which side stands the Advantage of Authority, whether for or against Fate. Secondly, what plain Reason and as plain Revelation do dictate in this Point.  
As to the first, I will not pretend to make a just and intelligible Collection of the Different Notions which have been taken up of Fate, 'tis Evident from that which Grotius has done of this kind, not only how tedious and voluminous, but also how obscure and confused the Discourses of Men have been on this Subject; I shall only therefore as far as my Memory will serve me, consider their Opinions in such a manner as the Nature of this present Enquiry shall oblige me. Most Philosophers do agree in one general Notion of Fate, that it is a Connexion or Series of Causes successively depending upon one another, 
Nomesius.  and producing a Necessary Effect or Event, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; But their Opinions concerning the first Ground or Original of this Necessary Connexion or Dependence were very Various, some ascribing it to Daemons or Spirits, some to the Influence of Stars, some to the Circumaction or whirling about of the Heavens, some to an Universal Soul, some to the Force of Motion, some to the Contexture and Contrivance of Nature, others to Atoms, and others to God; and indeed since Matter or Mind, are the two only things into which all Philosophers have ultimately Resolved their Search and Inquiries after the Original of all things, they ought to have looked for no other Original of Fate than one of these two: but this concerns my present Question but very little, for if Man be overruled and determined by Fatal Laws, it matters little how he came to be so: Nor did I mention this variety of Opinions for any other Reason than this, that it gives us just Occasion to suspect Fate itself as an Erroneous and ill-grounded Position; for obscurity and intricacy and multiplicity of different Notions about the same thing are the general Marks of Falsehood and Error: but there are two things very material to be enquired. First, How far the Empire or Dominion of Fate was generally extended: And Secondly, what kind of Necessity, or what degrees of it were generally supposed to constitute Fate. As to the Extent of its Power, this one thing is very Remarkable, that the Heathens did Exempt the Mind of Man from its Sovereignty. Democritus indeed believed the Soul of Man as Necessarily and Fatally moved by the Impression of his Atoms as any other Natural or Irrational Body, but Epicurus deserted him in this, and following the Conduct of common Sense & Experience, acknowledged the Liberty of the Soul of Man, and laboured (as Plutarch tells us) with all his might to assert it, and to preserve the Distinction of Virtue and Vice, which Fate destroys; to serve this Hypothesis, it was that he invented that new Motion of his Atoms, called by Lucretius Clinamen, sufficiently exposed by Tully, and how well defended by Gassendus, I am not concerned to Examine; for I have produced his Opinion only as an Instance of the clearness of this Truth, That the Soul of Man is not subject to Fate; for had not its Liberty been undeniable and self-evident, the Principles of Epicurus his Philosophy had certainly obliged him to follow Democritus in this, as in all other Points, and to have believed the Soul itself, o'erruled by Fate. The Poets indeed made the Monarchy of Fate so Universal, that they believed the Gods themselves subject to it. Thus Jupiter in Homer bemoans the Fate of his Sarpedon, which he could not prevent: And thus another Poet represents Apollo striving in vain by all the Power of Art, and Virtue of Herbs to restore life to his Hyacinthus. Nor was this only a Poetic Fancy, 'tis usual with Plato to extend the Dominion of Fate over the Gods themselves; but this was no wonder, for Fate with him imports the immutable Laws of the Supreme God, and God's those Spirits that were created by him. The Stoics indeed (at least some of them) assigned a worse Reason for this Sovereignty of Fate, namely, That the Supreme Architect could not Correct the Defects and Incapacities of Matter. 
De Civ. Dei l. 5. c. 1.  After all this, 'tis no wonder that St. Austin should take this to be the general Notion of Fatal Events, that they were such as proceeded from the Necessity of I know not what Order, maugre God and Man: But all this while, it must be remembered, that this Dominion of Fate, though it limited the Power, did not over-awe or necessitate the Will of their Gods. And no wonder, for I never find as I remarked before, that any but Democritus and his Tribe, did extend the Dominion of Fate over the Soul of Man: Hierocles makes the Pythagorean Fate nothing else but the Execution of that immutable Divine Decree, That the Virtuous should be rewarded, and the Vicious punished, and at the same time doth utterly deny that Man is any way necessitated or overruled in his Choice or Actions. 
De Decret Platonicis, c. 19  Alcinous representing the Platonic Fate, determines indeed the Events of things fatal, but at the same time, he leaves the Minds of Men possess't of their just and natural Liberty. And whatever unavoidable Connexion of Causes the Stoic talked of, no one did more exalt and magnify the Liberty and Power of the Mind of Man: So that 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Nemes. c. 37.  Nemesius might very well in general affirm, That the wisest of the Greeks believed men's Minds free, and the Events of their Actions Fatal, whether he had respect to the former or the Latter. Thus far then, the Pythagorean, Platonic, and Stoic agreed, That the Mind of Man was free, That Events were Fatal: Now 'tis not to be wondered at, that they who did not judge the Calamitous or Prosperous Issues of outward things to deserve the Name of Good or Evil, should place such Events wholly out of our own Power, and deem 'em no way dependent upon our Behaviour: 'tis enough that they left Man's true Happiness, i. e. Wisdom and Virtue in his own Power, 
Marcus Antor, l. 2.  which they always did. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. (scil. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. And it deserves here to be remembered that they confined this Fatality of Events to this life, for such of them as did believe the Eternal Duration or Immortality of the Soul, did also believe that its Misery or Happiness in that State, did depend on its Behaviour in this. But how came the Platonics and Pythagoreans, who set that Value upon Temporal things which they deserved, to agree thus far with the Stoics in Asserting the Fatality of Events? or how came the storm and fury of all Writers to Light so heavily only upon the Stoic's Fate, if these taught the same thing with Pythagoras and Plato? they did indeed all of 'em acknowledge Events Fatal, and yet they differed widely in their Notion of this Fatality; for first the Stoic Fate depended partly upon Matter, partly upon God, whereas the Platonic Fate depended wholly upon the Will of a Wise Powerful and good God. Secondly, The Pythagorean and Platonic did believe Good and Evil to be dispensed by a Divine and immutable Law, but so, that the one should be the Reward of Virtue, and the other the Punishment of Vice: So that Fate with 'em was nothing else but the Execution of that Decree of God in the Prophet, Say ye to the Righteous that it shall be well with him; for they shall eat the fruit of their do. woe unto the Wicked, 
Isaiah 3.  it shall be ill with him; for the Reward of his hands shall be given him. But the Stoics in their Assertion of the Fatality of Events had no such Regard to the Virtue or Vice of Man; nor did they settle or suppose any such Necessary Connexion or Dependence between Vice and Virtue of Man on the one hand, and Punishment and Reward on the other. Thirdly, though the Platonics taught that all things were comprehended within the Compass of Fate, that is the general and immutable Laws of the Supreme Being, yet did they not believe th●t all particulars were decreed and determined, whereas the Stoics (if we follow the Common Opinion) did not exempt any particular Event from the overruling Necessity of Fate.  


Sen. Oed.  Quicquid patitur mortale genus,  
Quicquid facimus venit ex alto;   

Whatever ill unhappy Man sustains  
whate'er he Doth, 'tis what his Fate ordains.   
And lastly, The Necessity of the Stoic Fate was Rigid and Inflexible, but that of the Platonic was not, or at least not in all Cases. And this puts me in Mind of the  
Second thing Considerable in the Notion of Fate, i. e. what kind of Necessity or what degrees of it are supposed to render an Event Fatal? The Stoics. did indeed think that the Necessity of Fate was , irresistible, inevitable; though I cannot deny but that the Opinion of Chrysippus and Seneca too (as he explains it somewhere in his Natural Questions concerning Fate, if placed in an advantageous Light would look with a more pleasing and favourable Aspect upon the Liberty of Man; but let the Stoics think what they will, I do not find that others thought such a Necessity as this alone, and nothing less sufficient to make up Fate; for the Egyptians which supposed an Astrological Fate, or overruling Influence of the Stars did yet believe that the Evil they threatened might be diverted by Prayers, Sacrifices and other Religious Rites, according to that of Nemesius, 
Nom●s. p. 262.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Which is, There are no Influences, no Aspects of Stars so froward and Malignant, so fatal and irresistible, but that Prayers and Expiations may sweeten and mitigate them, or else prevail with those Powers which govern them to divert their Menaces. Besides this, the Distinction of Fate into Denunciative and Peremptory or Conditional, was very well known to the Heathens; this Last was a Fate whose Necessity depended upon some Antecedent Conditions, upon some Suppositions which might or might not be fulfilled: This, Servius discourses largely of upon that place of Virgil: 

Nam quia nec Fato, meritâ nec morte peribat,  
Sed misera ante Diem—   

Before her Day fell the Unhappy Maid  
By Love, not Fate, nor her own Crimes betrayed:   Where he that pleases may see many Instances of this Conditional Fate; and to come to an End, the Necessity of Fate in the opinion of Aristotle and Epicurus, if Gassendus represents it rightly, was not an inflexible,  one, but one subject to Alteration and Change, to Chance and many Impediments, being nothing else but that Energy or Efficacy in Natural Bodies, which the Wisdom of Man did often prevent, the Industry and Courage of Man did often master, and Chance did often hinder and overrule. By all this we see plainly how careful the Heathens were, that the Necessity of Fate might not destroy the Liberty of Man, how earnestly they contended for such a Fatality of Events, as might not cancel Man's Obligation to Virtue, nor discourage him from the Expectation and Pursuit of Happiness; for now to draw to a Point, and to make some use of this tedious Recital of the Pagan Notions of Fate: If we assert a Stoical Fate, we yet leave the Wise Man whatever Encouragements he can derive from the Rewards of another life, and whatever Satisfaction he can derive from Virtue itself in this. And certainly though temporal Events were Fatal without any Connexion to, or Dependence upon the Choice and Actions of Man; yet even on this Supposition, Virtue were eligible, as that which teaches us to enjoy Prosperity, and bear bravely that Adversity which we could not prevent: But if with other Philosophers we did believe, not only that the success of another life, but even that of this too, did depend wholly upon our behaviour, and that Events were therefore only Fatal, because those Decrees of God which did award Happiness to the Virtuous, and Misery to the Wicked, are fixed and immutable; then we could not desire more powerful Encouragements to Virtue, or more Evident proof that it is in our own Power to be Happy. If we grant the Necessity that makes up Fate flexible and mutable, or if we suspend a fatal Event upon Conditions, as it were but reasonable to imagine that all Evil ones are suspended: there will be no Reason to question whether Man's Happiness be in his own Power. If we make the Necessity of a Denunciative Fate, which even Wisdom and Virtue cannot surmount, extend itself to some few things; and that Fate or Fortune, which drags only Fools and Sluggards in Chains after it, more general and universal, which is a Notion Caelius Rodiginus seems to have taken from the Platonics; 
Celius Rodigium, l. x. c. 20.  we meet with nothing in all this which can rationally deter the Industry and Hopes of any Man. If lastly, with Aristotle and Epicurus, we attribute no more force or strength to Fate, than to that Efficacy of Natural Causes, which we experience every Day, is not irresistible (for the Mind over-comes those Inclinations we derive from Natural Temper, and life may be lengthened or shortened by Temperance or Luxury, it being a flame which is not of itself so inextinguishable, but that it requires our Care to cherish it, and barren Grounds may be improved and cultivated, etc.) than nothing is more Evident than that it behoves us to act like Men, since our Reason and Virtue have their Necessary tendency and efficacy as well as any other natural Causes; and since the Concurrence of our Endeavours may so much more properly be supposed Necessary to promote our Happiness than the Influence of Stars, as it has a more direct and immediate operation upon our Affairs, than the Motion of those Heavenly Bodies can have. And now who would expect to find that Fate in the Christian which was banished the Pagan World? who would expect that the Mind of Man should be fettered and bound by a more inexorable and deplorable Necessity now in this Age of Light and Grace, than ever it was in the thickest Darkness of Paganism? who could now believe that Man's Eternal success, in another life, should be as Fatal as ever the Stoic did believe his Temporal one in this? or who could ever imagine that Christians would Charge that upon the Decrees of a Wise and Good God, which the Heathens out of their Honour for him, did ever refuse to do? for those of them who made Fate entirely the Decree of God did believe that in the Dispensation of Evils God did wholly regard Men's Crimes and Sins; that there was no other Fate attended any Man than what he was himself the Author of. And they who did believe a Fatality of Events without any dependence upon the Behaviour of Man, did impute it to Matter, not to God, to the deficiency of the one, not to the Will of the other.  
'Tis true, such a Fate is not to be found in the Scriptures, as we shall see anon; nor is it to be found in the Fathers of the Church, we may find Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Lactantius, and St. Austin himself, (however accused by some as a Fatalist) zealously Disputing against the Pagan Fate: what would they have done, had there been then such a Notion of Fate, as has since prevailed amongst some Christians, which is briefly this, That the Eternal misery of Nineteen Parts of the World, (I speak modestly) and the Eternal Happiness of the Twentieth, is Fatal; that the means conducing to these Ends are Fatal; the one being shut up under the invincible Necessity of Natural Impotence, and Rejection from sufficient Grace: the other being called and acted by Grace, Irresistible. That this Necessity of Fate is the Result of a Divine Decree, That this Decree proceeded from mere Arbitrary Will, without any regard to the Behaviour of Man, they that cried out against the Pagan Fate, that it subverted Humane life, that it defeated all Laws, that it left Man no use of his Reason, that it left no place for rational Hopes or Fears, with what bitter invectives must they needs have assaulted this Fate? the Pagan Fate left the Will free, this bound and fettered, not only bereaved of Natural Power and Liberty (for we contend not about that) but destitute of Grace and Divine Assistance: The Pagan Fate in the Opinion of a great many, if not most, did not teach a rigid and inflexible Necessity, this doth: they amongst the Pagans who taught the Necessity of Fate inexorable, understood it of Necessity in Temporal Events, but this Fate extends it to Eternal ones. The Stoic the great Assertor of Fate acknowledged, nay, eagerly contended, that Man might be Virtuous and Happy in despite of Fate, but these Men make humane Happiness and Virtue the very Object of their Fate, making Sin and Misery, Virtue and Happiness as Fatal as any Events whatever. In vain now shall any one of 'em think to excuse their Doctrine from the Imputation of Fate, by telling us (as 
* Calvin. brevis Responsio, etc. in Praef.  some do) that Fate in the Pagan Notion did involve God as well as Man within the Compass of its Necessity; that what they teach, is nothing else but God's voluntary Decree: this is a miserable shift, for this doth not at all lighten the weight of that Fatal Necessity that lies upon unhappy Man, to think that God is not subject to the same: Nay, on the quite contrary, the Pagan Notion was more easy to the Mind, and whilst it freed God from the guilt of Man's Ruin, it frees Man from all hard and irreligious thoughts of God.  
Numina cùm videas diris obnoxia Fatis  
Invidiâ possis exonerare Deos. 
Mart.   
Since Heavenly Powers to Cursed Fate subject be,  
The Gods you cannot but from Envyfree.  
It was pure Piety in the Stoic, to impute that Fatality of Event, which he thought independent of the good or ill-behaviour of Man, to any thing rather than to God, what Impiety!— But I have done, I have sufficiently considered which way the stream of Authority runs, and it evidently appears to be against all such Notions of Fate, as put it out of a Man's Power to be Virtuous and Happy, and determine his Sin and Misery wholly Necessary and unavoidable. I will now proceed to consider,  

Reason and Revelation against Fate.  Secondly, What plain Reason and as plain Revelation do dictate in this point. Thou dost believe Fate, and therefore dost despair of Happiness; Thy sense must be plainly this, All is in the Power of Fate, nothing in thine own, there is nothing in thee to do that can contribute to make thee Virtuous or Happy. Whence can this Necessity, this Fate proceed? there are but two Principles that were ever fancied to be the first Causes of all things, God and Matter. Dost thou believe this Necessity proceeds from Matter, from the Motion of Atoms, or the Influence of Stars? This belief as St. Austin argues, doth subvert the Foundation of all Religion, for he who believes that he depends upon Fate not God, can have no sufficient Reason for the Worship of that God, on whom he hath no Dependence: but this is that peradventure thou wouldst have; well, when thou art able to prove Reason and Understanding to derive themselves from senseless Atoms, when thou canst find out any kind of Natural Motion of Matter or Atoms, which can be the Cause of Liberty or Freedom in the Will, any Motion that can at once be Necessary (for so all Motion of Atoms must, be it of what kind it will) and yet free too, for such all my Deliberations and all my Choices I make, prove the Motion of the Mind to be, than I will acknowledge a Fate, not only independent from, but if thou wilt, Superior to God; then I will forbear all farther attempts of Charity, as vain, and leave thee to thy Fate and Misery: But these are Notions so absurd in themselves, that no Similitudes, no Arguments, can make 'em appear one jot more ridiculous or irrational than they do to all Men of sense at the first hearing. There are some Errors as well as Truths that are self-evident, there needs no Demonstration to convince us that the one are Errors, and the other Truths, and of this kind are the Errors we are speaking of; if a Man should assert that Death is the Original of Life, that senseless Matter gives Being to an Understanding Mind, that Necessity is the Parent of Liberty and such like, it were an unpardonable weakness in any Man to think, that such assertion did stand in need of a laborious Confutation. But there are who suppose God the Author of all things, and yet suppose Events fatal too, the former Opinion was ridiculous, this is impious; for suppose Mankind fatally guided by the Influence of the Stars, and these Stars to have received this Power and Energy from God, is it not natural for every Man to break out into the words of St. Austin, 
Aug. de C. D. l. 5. c. 1.  Illi verò qui positionem Stol. alarm quodammodo decernentium qualis quisque sit, & quid ei proveniat boni, quidve mali accidat, ex Dei voluntate suspendunt, si easdem stellas putant habere hanc potestatem traditam sibi à summâ illius potestate, ut volentes ista decernant, magnam Coelo faciunt Injuriam: in Cujus velut Clarissimo senatu ac Splendidissima Curiâ scelera facienda decerni, qualia si aliqua terrena Civitas decrevisset, genere humano decernente fuerat evertenda. How outrageously do these Men reproach Heaven whilst they believe those Crimes and Villainies decreed by that August Senate and glorious Court in Heaven, which had any City upon Earth decreed, it had deserved to have been damned by the Common Vote, and razed to the ground by the united Arms of Mankind. When I consider that the Stars are the Work of God, that their Order and Motion was prescribed by him, that whatever Vigour and Efficacy they have, they have received it from him; and then Remember that God is a most infinitely kind and good Being; I should easily suffer myself to be persuaded that they could shed no influence upon this lower World, but what were extremely beneficial to it, that they could have no Aspects but what were favourable and benign: I could easily believe that all the Inclinations they form in the Body (if they form any) could be no other than Innocent and Virtuous; I can never believe that Lust or Falshood, Malice or Cruelty can come down from above; or that our Minds should be impregnated with Sin and Folly by the Influences of Heaven. No certainly, if there be any Virtue in the Stars that extends itself to Man, it must rather be the seed of Life, and Health, and Virtue; than of Diseases, Death or Vice. 
Antiq. Lect. l. x. c. 20.  I can easily fall in with the opinion of those Learned Men in Coelius Rhodiginus, who thought that that Virtue of Celestial Bodies, which tended of itself to excellent Ends, was marred and perverted by a vicious Education. And so the Gravity of Saturn did degenerate into Sullenness, Niggardliness and Melancholy. The Magnanimity of Mars into Rashness and Fool-hardiness. The Sharpness and Sagacity of Mercury into mischievous Craft and deceitful Subtlety. The Sweetness and Gentleness of Venus into filthy Lust, and so on: And this Thought does well become every one that pretends to any Religion, whether Revealed or Natural; for this is Consonant to the excellency of the Divine Nature; But this sort of Fate springing from the Influence of any Natural Bodies, is not only repugnant to Reason, but to our Sense and Experience: for nothing is more plain than this, that any such Influence cannot affect the Mind, but through the Body, and we do frequently find our Reason asserting its Power and Dominion against all the force and strength of the Body: Nor doth Reason only but in every Nation, Law and Custom triumph over the strongest Inclinations of Nature. As the Innocence of the Seres, the Chastity of those in Arabia and Osroene, the Abstinence of the brahmin's, and numerous Instances which he that pleases may see in Bardesanes the Syrian, and others, does abundantly manifest, that their manners are the Effects not of the Influence of those Planets that Rule their Birth, but of those Laws and Customs that Rule their Country. Since therefore that Necessity which our Natural Tempers and Inclinations do impose upon the Mind, is the utmost Fate that we can imagine to proceed from the Influence of any Natural Bodies, 'tis Nonsense to suppose that Fate insuperable or incontroulable which we see baffled and defeated every day, and in every Nation.  
The sum of those Reasons I have offered against Fate is this, If we make God the Author of it, we impiously Charge him with what is repugnant to his Nature, for a Good God cannot be the Cause of Man's Sin and Misery: if Matter, we ridiculously suppose, that what is itself senseless and inanimate should produce and govern a Being endowed with Life, Understanding and Liberty: If the Stars, we run again into the same absurdities; for if they have their fatal Influence from God, then properly speaking, God is the Author, they but the Instrument of our Fate. If from themselves, than our Dependence on, and Worship of God is vain, and besides we absurdly subject the Reason and the Liberty of the Mind of Man to the senseless Tyranny of Atoms. If from the Consideration of the Causes of Fate we descend to examine what our Experience teaches us, what common sense informs us, each of 'em bears witness to the Sovereignty and Liberty of the Mind of Man. If we should come in the last place to Examine what would be the Consequences of a Fatal Necessity overruling Man and Humane Affairs, they are such as are not only grossly Contradictions in themselves, but Fatal and Destructive both to the public and private Good of Mankind. 'Tis true, were the Liberty of doing Evil taken from Man, we should have no Reason to complain, for then there would be nothing wanting to make the state of Man Happy as that of Angels, but Immortality: But to bereave Man of all Power to do good, to necessitate and compel him to be wicked, how dreadful are the Effects which must follow this? he that stains his hands in the Blood of his Sovereign or his Parent, will accuse his Stars not himself; he that pollutes himself in the incestuous Embraces of a Mother or a Daughter, may defend his action as his Fate not Choice; and how readily shall we do all that Rage or Lust invites us to, when there is an Excuse prepared for all we do? for he is no more  who commits the Evil which he could not help, than he is worthy of Praise who did the Good which he could not forbear. Were it true, that whatever mischief Man did, he were necessitated to do, we might with more Justice arraign the Stars and Atoms, than Malefactors; and all the Instruments of Mischief would be every jot as Guilty and Criminal, as the Man that used them. Were this true we might as properly betake ourselves to Magic and Enchantments, as to Advices and Exhortations, when we would reclaim the vicious; nor yet could the one be more Effectual than the other; for what could alter what is unalterable? and for the same Reason, we might forbear our Sacrifices and Prayers, since what will be, must be, and cannot be otherwise.  

Desine Fata Deûm flecti sperare precando.   

You strive in vain with Prayers to move  
The inexorable Fates above.   
Repentance and Tears may be what Seneca calls Expiation on this Supposition Aegrae mentis solatia, The deluding Dreams of a superstitious Mind; but could never procure us any real Advantage; so that on this Supposition, what is now thought the only Wisdom, would be then the only Folly of a Sinner, Repentance. I think I may conclude here, for if it be not by this time Evident, whether Reason be for or against Fate, we may justly despair of discovering what Reason dictates in this or any other Question. I will now proceed to Examine,  
What plain Text of Scripture speaks in this Point. And here in the first place we are to expect no other Fate than what depends upon God, for the Scripture makes all things derive their Original from him, and all things depend upon him, there is but one Creator, and one Lord, and therefore the Creature can be subject to no Laws but such as he Enacts; so that whatever Fate we now lie under, must be imputed to the voluntary Decree of God. Is then the Eternal Ruin of Man Fatal and unavoidable? If we inquire into the Original of this Unhappy Necessity, it must be ultimately resolved into the Divine Will; when God then decreed the inevitable Ruin of Man, under what Notion did he consider his Ruin? under that of Misery? or that of Punishment? If under the Notion of Punishment, this Implies plainly, that we are to thank ourselves for our Ruin: for Punishment is nothing else but the Infliction of that Misery which our Sin and Folly have deserved. But if under the Notion of Misery, how can this consist with the Infinite Goodness or Wisdom of God? Alas! how Contradictory is this to Scripture? there God swears that he delights not in the Death of a Sinner, This Decree would suppose him to delight in the Death of the Innocent: there he is represented full of Compassion, and slow to wrath, even upon repeated Provocations, this Decree represents him so addicted to Wrath, and Cruelty, that he made a World on purpose to have whereon to exercise it, and doth exercise it merely for the delight he takes in it; The Scripture finally represents him full of Divine love for Mankind, and not only not desirous that they should perish, but extremely desirous that they should be partakers of Everlasting life; this Decree supposes him so utter an Enemy to, and hater of Mankind, that he made the far greater part to no other End, but only to make 'em miserable. Let any unprejudiced Man judge now, whether this be not as Contradictory to Scripture as it is to Sense: Nor is it possible that any unprejudiced Man should look into Holy Writ, and not discern evidently that Man's Ruin is the Effect of Sin, not only wilfully and presumptuously Committed, but also obstinately and impenitently persisted in: and that God is so far from being fond of our Sufferings and Calamities, that he is ever and anon bewailing the Disappointment of his Love, the defeat of his Grace and Mercy by our Obstinacy and Impenitence: it is the voice of his Son, 'tis the voice of God. O Jerusalem, 
Matth. 23.  Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee: how often would I have gathered thy Children together, even as a Hen gathers her Chickens under her wings, and ye would not! If therefore we desire to know what the Will of God is, with respect to Man, this is a full and plain Declaration of it; there can be no other, much less any Contradictory to this, if I may not confidently rely upon this Declaration of the Divine Will, there is no revealed Truth that I can depend upon; Nor can Revelation stand us in any stead, for nothing can be asserted with greater perspicuity or stronger Asseveration. But I have no Scruples in me about this Matter, I have no Fears nor Jealousies of any secret Decree or Latent Will repugnant to his declared one; I am as sure that God is Good and True as that he is Eternal or Almighty: and were he not, we could reap but very little Comfort from all his other Attributes how great or glorious soever in themselves. But blessed be God, if we proceed from examining those Declarations of his Will, which God has made us to examine the Manner and Method of his Government as it relates to Mankind (which is another and the only way left us to judge of his Will and Decrees) we shall find no Instance in the whole Series of Divine Dispensations, which can create in us the least Suspicion of lying under an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Fate; nay, if we consider the Acts of Divine Providence, we shall find the quite Contrary, that God so governs the World, that the Issues of things are not fatal and unavoidable, but dependent upon ourselves, that God is free, Man free, and the Events of things free from any inevitable Necessity; God indeed is ever bound to do what is best, what is wisest, and can do no otherwise; This is the only Fate that God is subject to; But a possibility of Different Events is no way repugnant to his Wisdom, Justice, or Goodness. In a proper sense therefore there is no Fate above him, that can impose a Necessity upon him, nor does he impose any upon himself: if there were in any part of his Government, a fatal and a peremptory Necessity, we should certainly find the tracks and footsteps of it amongst inanimate and sensitive Being's: how great a Liberty does God make use of in this part of his Government; 
Josh. x.  The Sun, whose Course seems certain and invariable as the Imaginary Laws of Fate, shall if need be, stand stock still, or what is more, move backwards towards its East. An instance of both we read of in Scripture, when God thought fit to execute his Judgements upon the Amorites, 
● King's 20.  and condescended to give Hezekiah a miraculous Assurance of his Mercy: The fire shall not exert its natural Heat, but shall cease to burn and consume, 
Dan. 3.  and when he sees fit (as in the case of the three Children) become as harmless as the morning light: The Waters shall cease to flow as did the Red Sea, when the Army of Israel marched through it, and saw with horror and delight, the rolling Waves stand fixed and unmoved, as the Rocks and Shores that bounded them; and yet what Necessity, what Fate can we conceive more immutable, what ever Connexion of Natural Causes it be produced by, than that which makes the Sun move, the Fire burn, the Water flow? If we consider his Government of Kingdoms, where if any where the Periods and Revolutions of Misery and Prosperity should seem Fatal and immutable; here again we shall find the footsteps of unquestionable Liberty: Let us for Instance consider God's Government of the Jews, what are the Laws which God obliges himself to observe towards them; If ye walk in my Statutes, 
Levit. 26.3, 4, etc.  and keep my Commandments and do them; then I will give you rain in due Season, and the Land shall yield her increase; and the trees of the field shall yield their Fruit. And your threshing shall reach unto the Vintage, and the Vintage shall reach unto the sowing time; and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your Land safely, etc. But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these Commandments. And if ye shall despise my Statutes, or if your Soul abhor my Judgements, so that you will not do all my Commandments, but that ye break my Covenant. I also will do this unto you; 
And 14, 15, 16, etc.  I will even appoint over you Terror, Consumption, and the burning Ague that shall consume the Eyes and cause sorrow of Heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your Enemies shall eat it, etc. Doth not God here lay Life and Death, Good and Evil before 'em? is not the one and the other to be the Effect of their own Choice, their own behaviour? are we not reasonably to suppose the Israelites at the time of entering into that Covenant, whereof these are the Sanctions, as capable of Happiness, as they were of Misery? what was finally the Issue of things? the Jews rebelled and revolted from God, and as he threatened they were harrassed and exhausted by continual Plagues and Punishments. Well, did this happen so, because it could not happen otherwise? was this the Event, the fatal Event of things which God did really Will, and immutably and peremptorily resolve from the beginning, notwithstanding whatever Professions he might make of his sincere desire of the welfare and prosperity of that People? Let God himself be the Judge, who best understands his own Mind. 
Psal. 81.  O that my People had harkened to me, and Israel had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued their Enemies, and turned my hand against their Adversaries: the haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him, but their time should have endured for ever. By this sure, if we can judge of the meaning of God by any of his Expressions, we may safely conclude, not only that the Obedience and Prosperity of Israel were things possible, and consequently their Disobedience and Ruin was not fatal; but also that their obedience and prosperity were the things which God did most hearty and sincerely desire If we come to God's Government of particular Men, we may be sure that this is of a piece with his Government of Mankind or Kingdoms, it being nothing else but a more particular Application of those Universal Laws of Wisdom, Goodness, and Justice by which he Rules: An Instance of Liberty in Temporal Events, we meet with in that Voyage which St. Luke describes Acts 27. 
Acts 27.  Verse the Tenth, we have St. Paul foretelling the Fate that was like to attend themselves and their Ship, if they pursued the Voyage they had resolved on: Verse 19 we meet with the Accomplishment in part, of his Prediction, Darkness and Horror invades 'em, Seas break in upon 'em, and at the same breach had Death entered, had not Divine Providence interposed in favour, and at the Request of St. Paul. Was this their Suffering fatal? was it unavoidable? had they not escaped the Tempest, if they had believed St. Paul, and not departed from Crete? or was their obstinacy or unbelief as fatal as the Danger and Damage which attended it? The Expostulation of St. Paul, Ver. 21. will easily clear this Doubt, Ye should have harkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. What then! Shall we think the Issues of Eternity fatal, when those of time wherein we are comparatively so little concerned are free? Shall God not only leave us the use of our Reason, but also assist us by the Aid of his Providence for the avoiding temporal Evils, and will he allow us neither for the avoiding of Eternal ones? must temporal Ruin be the Effect only of our sinful Choice and Obstinacy, Eternal Ruin the Effect not of our Folly or Sin, but Fate? No surely, how often do we find God in the Revelation respiting his final Sentence, and giving Men space and time to repent? but they repent not: 'tis true, and this was their Obstinacy, not their Fate; for if Repentance had been impossible, to what purpose did God allow 'em time for't? that they might fill up the Measure of their Iniquity: an excellent Paraphrase! whom shall I believe? God saith, he gave the Sinner, time to Repent; thou sayest he gave him time to Sin: God says, he gave him time to make himself capable of Mercy; thou sayest, he gave him time only to increase his Gild and Punishment: How cruel are the Mercies of some Men! this is just such a Grace or Favour as griping Usurers vouchsafe the careless Debtor, whose Fortune and Estate they would swallow up and devour.  
I have now I hope dispersed those Clouds which seemed to hover over our heads big with Storm and Ruin; I mean those melancholy Imaginations which scare and terrify the weak and superstitious Minds of Men: we may now boldly pursue, and possess ourselves of Happiness; the way to it is open, there is no cruel Deity, no spiteful Fortune, no inexorable Fate that will oppose us; there is no God but one of Love and Goodness, which moderate his Almighty Power, and temper the Severity of his Justice; a God who passionately desires our Happiness, and delights in nothing more than in promoting it; All is lightsome and cheerful where he is, Perfection and Happiness dwell with him, 
Psal. 16.  in his presence is fullness of Joy, and at his right hand are Pleasures for evermore. He scatters and dissipates Evil, and troubles by the Light of his Countenance, Death and Hell fly far from before him, and hid themselves in their own Darkness. What can we apprehend from such a God as this is! how can he delight in our Misery who is all Love! No, nothing but our guilt or folly can raise our Fears, we may rest secure of his Favour, if we do not despise it; nor can he ever be made our Enemy, unless we first become the Enemies of Virtue and Goodness: what then have we to fear? there is no Fate but the immutable Law of God, that Universal Law which adjudges Happiness to the Righteous and Misery to the Wicked: there is no Fortune but his Providence; which is nothing but the Execution of that one general Law, and the Application of its several parts, in particular Instances: 'tis plain therefore we have nothing now to fear but ourselves, if we be but true to our own Reason, and faithful to our own Interest, we may confidently presume both of the Assistance and Reward of Heaven; there is therefore nothing left now to excuse us from the guilt of our own Ruin; but only that which is wont to be objected by such as are enslaved to some impious Lust, and groan under the weight of those Chains which they made themselves, I mean an Incapacity of Happiness, which is a fourth Objection against the possibility of Attaining Happiness, and is now to be considered.  
Obj. 4 They who urge their Incapacity as an Objection against the possibility of attaining Happiness do suppose Happiness to consist in Virtue in the Pleasure that flows from it, 
Incapacity of Happiness.  and the bliss that will one Day or other Eternally reward it: they acknowledge, could they but be Virtuous, they should be Happy; but they despair of obtaining such a Conquest over their Vices as may suffice to render their life smooth, equal and steady; and preserve the Peace of their Conscience by giving 'em an unquestionable proof of their Sincerity towards God; without which 'tis impossible that they should be filled with a rational Joy and Peace, or abound in a rational Hope. This therefore must be the supposition of my following Discourse.  
There may be three different kinds of Incapacities fancied, which for Distinction sake I'll call Natural, Moral, and Penal: each of which may be thus explained in the Notion the Objector forms of 'em: Penal Incapacity is that desperate state wherein Man is by God immutably rejected both from Pardon and Assistance. Moral Incapacity results from the Strength and Absoluteness of that Dominion which Sin has established over some Men, through a long and continued course of Wickedness. Natural Incapacity consists in such an inteachable stupidity of Temper, or in such violent and invincible Inclinations to Vice, or in such a slightness, levity and inconstancy of Mind, as render Men utterly unfit to receive any lasting Impressions of Virtue, or to make any steady and resolute Attempt of attaining it. 
No Incapacity from Nature.  I'll begin with this first, and here I desire to be excused if I do not take upon me to mark out the distinct bounds and limits of Nature and Grace; These two Sisters are not like those Chaldee Brethren 
* Gen. 13.  Abraham and Lot, that were too mighty to dwell together. No, they delight to mix in loving Embraces, their Wealth and Power increases by being United; and like some Plants I have read of, they never thrive when divided: I shall not dispute, what Power in Man is a Birthright, what a Donative; for alas! Every thing he possesses is a Grace, a Favour of his Prince: his Natural Abilities are so many Graces he derives from God, and as properly such as any accession to 'em which is inspired afterwards: So that when ever I contend that any thing is in the Power of Man, I desire to be understood of all that Power which God has invested him with, whether Natural or Supernatural.  
Did Men decry and vilify Nature, to beget in themselves the more profound Humility, and the more wakeful and solicitous Industry, did they like the Semnones, in 
* Morib. German.  Tacitus, load themselves with Chains as the Badge of their subjection to and dependence upon the Deity, did they magnify Divine Grace, in order to convince themselves of the Necessity and Efficacy of it, and so to inflame their Importunity and Industry in Quest of it; This were Piety and Devotion, not Error; or however they might exaggerate the Impotence of Nature beyond strict Truth, yet this would be a Safe and Pious Error, as all humble and modest ones are: But when they Endeavour to represent Nature vile and corrupt, on purpose that they may the more licentiously pollute and abuse it, when they magnify and exalt Divine Grace out of a most contradictious and preposterous Design to justify their Neglect and Contempt of it, for they would fain have all to be so entirely imputed to Grace, that they would not themselves be put to as much as the trouble of seeking it, 'tis not only an Error, but a pernicious and fatal one: for he that abandons the use of his Reason, renders himself incapable of any Heavenly aid; God gives his Grace to Men, not Beasts; I must therefore oppose this Fancy and Endeavour to persuade Men, that it is in their Power to be Virtuous and Happy: Nor can I think this Assertion any way injurious to the Honour or Goodness of God, if it be remembered, that whatever Power I attribute to Man, I acknowledge derived from God. I will therefore with good Assurance proceed and try whether I cannot take in and demolish this Fort which stops our way to Happiness.  
They who affirm a great part of Mankind incapable of Virtue, forget that they dishonour God whilst they reproach their Nature: for were it so, To what End could we imagine such Men endowed with Reason and Understanding? not to worship but defy their Maker? and was it for this End that they were made immortal too? had God made Man only to take his Pastime in the World, like the Leviathan in the Waves, such a Soul as that which moves the Fish of the Sea, or the Beasts of the Earth, a Sensitive Soul had been most proper for this End; Then might he have enjoyed himself without Reluctancy, without Control, without Remorse, without Shame: what can be the proper work of a rational Creature, to which you allow not a Capacity of Virtue and Religion? till you can show me this, I can never believe that God should endow Man with a Rational and Immortal Mind out of any other Design than such a one as might become such a Being Created after his own Image, which is the Practice of Holiness and Virtue. But what should I wonder that Men should not be ware of their contradicting Reason when they seem to be insensible of that Contradiction even to the common Sense and Experience of Mankind which they are guilty of? To what purpose are there so many Schools of Learning and good Manners founded? To what purpose are there so many Treatises of the Education of Youth writ? To what purpose does the wakeful Parent strive to inculcate the Seeds of Virtue into the Child, and train him up by a wise Discipline to the Practice and Custom of Virtue? To what purpose is the proposal of Rewards and Punishments, and the Restraint of Laws, if either they do not raise those Hopes and Fears they aim at, or if Hopes and Fears be altogether useless and ineffectual, if no Instruction no Discipline can mould and fashion rough, unpolished, crooked, incorrigible Nature? Now here though any Man might have confidence enough to disparage the judgement of Mankind, and attribute all the Pains they take in the Education of Youth, or the Government and Direction of riper Years, to Custom not to right Reason; yet surely he would not so far disparage his own Observation and Knowledge as utterly to deny the success of these means; for not to instance in particulars, 'tis not unknown to any one the least versed in the History of the World, that there have been National Virtues as well as Vices, That there have been times wherein Learning and Religion have been as much in Fashion and Reputation, as Wickedness and Barbarism in others, shall we say, those Nations, those times bred none of those Natures, which the Objector affirms are uncapable of Virtue? Let 'em show what Heavenly Influences, what miraculous Power produced this Change in Nature: what should I urge the Power of vain and false principles, the mighty force even of irrational Customs, vanquishing those Inclinations which are more deeply rooted, more closely interwove with our Blood and Spirits than any Inclination to Vice and Folly can be? Such are for Example the love of Life, and the Abhorrence of Pain; and yet what a Contempt of Death is to be found even in the most timorous Sex, as in the Indian Women! what a Contempt of Pain even in the weakest Age, as in the Spartan Youth! And all this having no stronger Foundation than irrational Custom, and vain Fantastic Principles: why should we therefore be unwilling to attribute to excellent Principles and virtuous Customs, blessed and aided by Heaven, as much Power and Virtue as we do to such as these? if the Natural tendencies of Man to wickedness can be kerbed, if his most furious and violent Passions can be restrained and stifled, than I think, it may be as reasonably supposed that Divine Truths, Religious Discipline, together with the Grace of God may effect this, as any thing else whatever. If the pressing Necessities and Perplexities of the State could change the softness and luxury of Otho into Military Hardship and Courage; I know not why a rational sense of the true Honour and Glory of Virtue, and of our Eternal Interest, and innumerable other Considerations which the Gospel lays before us Christians, should not be able to work the same wonders? if the Reverence of Seneca or the Senate, or any other Motive could produce a Quinquennium Neronis, could restrain the violent Inclinations of that wretched Man, so that his Government for so many years, should be as gentle and just as that of the most Gracious and Virtuous Princes, why should not the Reverence of God and the Terrors of Eternity be able to awe and curb the most vicious Nature? This methinks aught well to be weighed by all who assert Man's Impotence and Incapacity of Virtue, they disparage the Gospel and reproach Grace as well as Man with Impotence and Insufficiency; and yet both the one and the other is the Power of God, and that in order to Salvation: do you Consider, that if you suppose Man by Nature unable to do any thing that is Good, and then deny him, and utterly debar him from God's Grace, you introduce Fate? for what more fatal Necessity can a wretched Creature lie under than Natural Impotence utterly destitute and for ever forsaken of Divine Assistance? or if you bereave not Man of Grace, but yet bereave Grace of its Sufficiency, do you not understand that the fatal Necessity continues still the same? there is no Change in the Man's Condition, only in this Hypothesis, Grace is dishonoured and reproached as well as Nature: and this reflects very rudely too upon God, it calls the Wisdom, the Goodness, the Sincerity, the Power of God into Dispute: 'tis inconsistent with the Power of God not to be able by his Spirit and Truth to subdue and overpower the Corruptions of Nature; 'tis Inconsistent with his Goodness, not to be willing to aid his poor Creatures, when they call upon him; inconsistent with his Sincerity to afford 'em such aid as must tend to their greater mischief not good, as Grace its self would, if it were only sufficient to increase their Gild, but not to subdue their Sin: This were indeed when a Child asked Bread to give him a Stone, 
Matth. 7.  and when he asked Fish to gie him a Scorpion. 'Tis last, as inconsistent with the Wisdom of God to confer Grace to no purpose, as it was with his Goodness to confer it to an ill one. These with many others are the absurd Consequences which attend the Denial of the Universality or Sufficiency of Grace; but if on the other hand, we do grant that God Almighty is ready to assist every Man who calls on him in his Endeavours after Virtue and Happiness, and that his Assistance is sufficient to the End, for which 'tis designed; then we must needs acknowledge that 'tis in every Man's Power to be Good and Happy: for 'tis no more than to acknowledge that Man can do what he can do, or which is all one, what God has put in his Power to do. By what a crowd of Arguments might I confirm this Truth, sufficient to bear down and even shame the most Impudent Caviller? why are not Men Good? why are they not Happy? shall we say that God doth not Vouchsafe 'em his Grace? shall we impute Men's misery to God? shall we charge that glorious and most perfect Being with want of Compassion or Sincerity towards his poor Creatures? how easy will it be for him to appeal to the Sufferings of his Son; to the vigorous Attempts and Endeavours of his Spirit; to Heaven and Earth stamped with the Impress of his Power and Goodness, on purpose to teach, invite and almost compel us to worship and obey him; to the various Methods of his Providences contriving and pursuing our Happiness? How easily last may he appeal for his Purgation to our own Consciences? And these will tell us, as they ever do, in the Distresses of our Fortune, and the Approaches of Danger and Death to what we are to impute the Cause of our Ruin: what shall we say then? doth God vouchsafe Men his Grace, the Revelation of his Truth, and the Assistances of his Spirit, but that this Grace is not sufficient for us? Alas! how easy were it for any of us to refute this Fancy by appealing to the solemn Covenant of our Baptism, to the Characters and Descriptions of Good Men in the Gospel, to the Effects which our Reason teaches us, must be Natural and Inseparable from a true Faith and Divine Assistance? But I will choose to make use of one Argument which St. Paul furnishes us with, 
Heb. 11.  Heb. 11. there the Apostle proves the possibility of pleasing God by Faith from undeniable Instances of Matter of Fact, inferring from what Men have actually done, what 'tis still possible for 'em to do. Omitting the miraculous and extraordinary Effects of Faith, I will reduce the Instances of this Chapter to three Heads. First, Such wherein Faith appears victorious over the Temptations which arise from the vicious Customs of the Place Men live in, from the prevalency & fashionableness of Sin amongst those they Converse with. Secondly, Such wherein Faith triumphs over Temptations arising from sensual Pleasures. Thirdly, Such wherein it overcomes the sense of Pain, and fear of approaching Evil.  
I will begin with the first sort of Instances. It must be confessed that considering the Propensions of our Body and the Vanity and Sensuality which the Mind naturally derives from it, and from its Commerce with the World, that 'tis a difficult thing to encounter Temptations naked and alone; how much more Difficult when backed and assisted by Custom and Fashion, when universal Practice gives Authority and Reputation to Sin and Folly; and the poor Man is left destitute of the Assistance of Good Counsel and the Encouragement of good Examples to encounter not only the Difficulty with which the Reluctancies of our Nature, but also the Reproach with which the popularity and prevalency of Sin clogs and imbitters Virtue: And yet behold Enoch in a World (it seems) given up to Sin, did not only keep up in private to the Practice of despised forsaken Virtue; but was openly and in an extraordinary manner Eminent and Exemplary in it; and therefore was his End as extraordinary as his Life: for having obtained this Testimony that he pleased God he was translated. This was owing to his Faith, he was content to endure the Reproach of the World, that he might obtain the Approbation of God; and despise the Honour and Applause of popular Vice, and fashionable Compliances that he might gain the Kingdom wherein dwells Righteousness. Such an other Example was Noah, his Righteousness, was like his Ark afterwards, raised above a Deluge not of Waters but Impiety; he lived in a World so wicked, that it grieved God at his heart that he had made it; in this World he was a Preacher and Example of Righteousness, and his Zeal by an Antiperistasis, was not quenched but enkindled by the wickedness of the World he lived in: This too was owing to his Faith, he feared those threats which that Impious World scoffed at, and so prepared an Ark to the saving of his House, 
C. 7.  by which he Condemned the World, and became Heir of the Righteousness which is by Faith. No doubt when this strange Building was preparing, Noah was assaulted by all the Raillery and Contempt by all the shows of Wit and Reason, Lust and Profaneness could furnish an impious Age with: This Man (say they) has ever been Singular and Fantastic in the whole Method of his Conversation; there wanted but such a prank as this to complete Fancy into Madness: He ever dreamt of Judgements, and yet we (he threatened) continued our Mirth and Pleasure, he alone in Fears and Anxieties has suffered the Evils which his Melancholy Fancy created, and which are all that we shall ever see: for how long has he been Preaching dreadful things, and yet still the Sun shines, the Heavens are fair and clear, our Feasts and Lusts have the same relish still: nor does our Experience only convince us of the Falsehood, but our Reason of the Impossibility of this Man's Dreams; for which way shall the fixed state of Nature be turned upside down? Whence will this universal Deluge come? will his God break up the Fountains of the Deep? or will he open the Cataracts of Heaven? but while they thus profanely scoffed and measured the Divine Power by their depraved Fancies, Noah religiously feared who had a different sense of the Majesty of God and Provocation of Sin: he knew that as Mercy, so Wrath is with God: That as he is mighty to forgive, 
Eccles. 16.  so is he too to pour out Displeasure. And by this Faith he preserved himself as from the Impiety so from the Punishment of the Old World: for though he was not like Enoch translated, yet being preserved out of a general Ruin, he lived to see an End of the Old World, and give beginning to the New.— To these I might add Lot, whose righteous Soul was not infected, but provoked and grieved by the Impieties of Sodom. Joshuah, as Eminent for his Faith, as Victories, who resolved whatever Course the Israelites would take (who to the last stood in need of as great Prodigies to rescue 'em from Idolatry, as once from Egypt) He and his House would serve the Lord. 
Josh. 24.  These Instances are sufficient to show the Power of Faith in its Victory over popular Errors and fashionable Sins, and by Consequence, over many Inclinations at once; for the popularity and prevalency of any Sin is a bait appropriated to our Pride and Vanity, which makes Men affect Precedence and Superiority in all things which the World admires and applauds; nor is this all, it awakens our Natural Inclinations, and Invites us to gratify 'em, nay, it enrages Natural Appetite by giving it Security and Confidence, and by working upon the Fancy and Imagination: for the Sin is always wonderfully set off, that is prevailing and fashionable. I will now pass on to the  
Second sort of Instances, wherein we may behold the Strength and Power of Faith in its Victory over all Temptations which sensual Pleasure can present us. Numerous are the Instances of this kind which I might produce among the Heathens, where we may find a sense of the Dignity of Humane Nature, of the Decency and Honour of Virtue, and a persuasion of the Necessity of Purity in order to a future state, achieving most manifest Victories over all Carnal and Sensual Lusts; but I will confine myself to two in this Chapter: The first is that of Moses, and this is a very full and Comprehensive one. His Station being so near the Crown of Egypt presented him at once with all that the World can entertain sensual Man with: There was Pleasure the Snare of the Soft: There was Power and Wealth the Temptations of the Ambitious Mind; (falsely called great) and there was Honour the airy Bait of vain unballasted Minds. These each of 'em single and Stone have like Saul and David slain their Thousands and ten Thousands; and yet that it may appear that their overthrow is to be imputed to their own Negligence and Folly, behold here Moses triumphing by Faith over all these, i. e. over all the strengths and forces of sensual Pleasures joined and united together: when he was come to years, he refused to be called the Son of Pharaoh's Daughter, and so deserted a Station wherein nothing was bigger than his present Enjoyments if he had pleased, unless his future Hopes, which is the utmost Felicity of a state of sensuality. And what is more yet, what was it he did quit all this for? what was it that he did choose in Exchange? was his Soul too little to fill the great place he left? No, Moses his Courage was great as any thing, but his Meekness and Humility; was that height too open and too busy for sensual Enjoyments, and so he retired like Tiberius to Capria, that he might indulge himself with more security and freedom, and fewer Interruptions? No, he changed Pleasure for Affliction, Treasure for Reproach, the Court of Egypt for the Desert of Midian, he chose rather to suffer Affliction with the People of God, than to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a season: Esteeming the Reproach of Christ greater Riches than the Treasures of Egypt. This was all the great work of Faith: his Mind was betimes possessed with a just Notion of, and awful Reverence for the God of his Fathers, the God of Heaven and Earth; and therefore beyond the Wants and Dangers of the Desert, he discovered the Peace and Plenty of a Canaan, and beyond both the Glories of Eternity; and therefore reasonably concluded that it was more eligible to be the Son of God than of Pharaoh's Daughter, to be the Heir of Heaven than of the Crown of Egypt; all this is intimated Verse 26. for he had respect to the Recompense of the Reward.  
I will add but one Instance more to that of Moses, and indeed there can be but one Instance added that is greater, which is that of Abraham offering up Isaac. In the former we have seen Faith triumphing over superfluous and unnecessary Pleasures; in this we shall see it triumphing over the Natural and inseparable Appetites of Man. What might not Abraham, if he had been under the Power of any Principle but that of Faith, have objected against this Command of God? what, shall I sacrifice my Son, my only Son? This is a Sacrifice might become Baal or Moloch, but how unsuitable to the Nature of that God I worship? Nor is this less repugnant to his Veracity than his Goodness; Shall I sacrifice the Son of the Promise? is it for this I have forsaken my Home, my Country, my Birthright, and followed God through Inhospitable Deserts, and more Inhospitable Nations? are all my Expectations of a numerous and glorious Posterity come to this at last? Thus might Abraham have argued, but having a firm belief of the Power, Goodness, and Faithfulness of God, he would not go about to prescribe his Wisdom Methods, or to limit his Omnipotence by unbelieving Fancies, or derogatory Conceptions concerning it, but firmly believing that he could do whatever he pleased, that he would do whatever he promsed; he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten Son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac thy Seed shall be called, accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the Dead; from whence also he received him in a Figure. We have seen Men vanquishing all the Pleasures that the World can present us with, and consequently all those Inclinations and Appetites by which we are carried towards 'em. Faith in these Men encountered and defeated whatever strength and force can be supposed either in Fancy or Imagination or in sensual Appetite, or in Natural Affection. The Conclusion deducible from hence is, That there is no desire of worldly Pleasure in Man so vehement, but that it may be conquered; and consequently that we cannot be necessarily betrayed into Sin by any inbred Inclination of this kind: there is but one Natural Principle more, from whence we can imagine any Necessity of sinning to arise, which is an Aversion to all Pain or Trouble: there are therefore Temptations suited to this Principle in us, such as deter us from our Duty, either by the sense of present, or the fear of impending Evil: And it is thought to be the highest and difficultest trial of Virtue to surmount these Temptations, i. e. to be virtuous when Virtue is immediately attended or visibly threatened with great Evils. And yet behold,  
Thirdly, In this Chapter numerous Instances of as great Constancy in suffering Pain, as we have seen before of Continence in Rejecting Pleasure, Vers. 35, 36, 37. Others were tortured not accepting Deliverance, that they might obtain a better Resurrection. And others had trial of Cruel Mockings and Scourge, yea moreover of Bonds and Imprisonment, they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the Sword; they wandered about in Sheepskins and Goatskins being destitute, afflicted, tormented. See here Faith triumphing over all those things that are the Dread and Terror of Humane Nature, Reproach, Imprisonment, Banishment, Death, Death in all its most affrightful Shapes, Death in all its variety of Torments, nay, many Deaths in the lingering Torments they were frequently put to; how strong, how firm is this frail weak Nature when supported by a Divine Faith! All these expected a Happy Resurrection, they saw beyond these Midnight-Clouds the Dawnings of Eternity, and unspeakable Comforts ready to swallow up and extinguish the memory of their Sufferings; and in this Confidence they outbraved all sorts of Evils. Nor is it to be wondered at, if Faith which overcomes the sense of present Evils should disperse the fears of future ones: Hence it was that the Parents of Moses despised the Menaces of Pharaoh, a Prince Arbitrary in his Power, Cruel in his Temper, resolved and bloody in the Execution of Mischief.— Hence it was that Moses in the same manner despised the Wrath of this King, and well knowing that no place would be able to protect him from his Power and Cruelty but the Desert, he forsook Egypt, and fled thither; where he could not but foresee he was to encounter insuperable Difficulties; but he endured, as seeing him who is invisible, and knew that the God of Heaven was every where present, & that in despite of every thing under his Protection he should be both Safe and Happy.  
Now since there is no Evil the World can threaten us with equal to that of Torments and Death, it were vain and superfluous after we have seen these Conquered, to fancy other Evils of a much slighter Nature unconquerable; it were absurd to think that that Man could be frighted from his Duty by popular Reproach, or the Displeasure of great Men, or the Diminution of his Estate, who cannot by Death itself? 'twere absurd to Fancy that he who despises Imprisonments, Stripes, Hunger, Nakedness, Torment in Obedience to his Duty and respect to its Reward, should be discouraged by any little Austerities or Hardships which Virtue may sometimes exact from him.  
Tell me now then, you who complain of the Corruption and Impotence of Man, you who magnify the Force and Power of Temptation, and from both infer the Impossibility of being Virtuous and consequently of being Happy, what have you to answer to these things, these Matters of Unquestionable Fact? you see Resolution and Faith in these Examples raised to that height and strength, which no Worldly no Carnal Temptation can resist; tell me then why should the Faith of a Jew out do that of a Christian? were their Promises more Glorious and therefore more Efficacious than ours? Look how far short Time is of Eternity, Corruption of Incorruption, so far was their Canaan of our Heaven: But suppose they had (as these sure had) a Prospect of the same Heaven, had they a clearer sight of it; or more convincing Evidence of the certainty of it than we have? Alas their Shechina, Bath-col, the Thunders and Lightnings of Mount Sinai, their Pillar of Cloud and Fire were not half so clear assurances of God amongst 'em, as that Glory which eat in the face of Jesus Christ, that Power Communicated from above to his Apostles, the Resurrection of Jesus from the Dead, and his Ascension into Heaven, were a manifest Testimony of God, asserting and bearing witness to the truth of our Religion, and particularly of that Fundamental Article in it, the Resurrection of the Body, and Everlasting life. What then, are our Temptations greater than theirs? the Confidence of the most sensual Sinner dares not arrive at this Plea: Let the Voluptuary, the Ambitious confront his Temptations with the Enjoyments or the Hopes of Moses: Let the most afflicted, miserable Man balance his Temptations with Abraham's Sacrifice of his Son; or with the Sufferings of those Righteous Men mentioned in the latter part of this Chapter, and he must confess, that his Temptations are as much weaker than theirs, as is his Faith. What then can be said? nothing, unless plainly this, that our Case is not the same with theirs either in Respect of our Inclinations or our Assistances: if this were so, then how could these Men stand as a Cloud of Witnesses against us in the last Day? which St. Paul intimates in the beginning of the following Chapter: how Natural would it be for us, to wipe off any Accusation or Reproach which their Virtue could fasten upon us by this easy answer? 'Tis true we were foiled and o'erthrown by those Temptations which these Men conquered, and well might this happen, for neither had they our Infirmities, nor we their Grace; their Nature was not so depraved as ours, nor our Grace so sufficient as theirs. Were this so, the Sinner might be more infortunate, but not more Criminal than the Saint; the different Event of things at the last Day were to be imputed to the different Dispensation not different use of Grace, i. e. to the partiality of God, not the negligence or wilfulness of Man, than which nothing can be more impiously or absurdly affirmed.  
And now, let not hereafter a fancied Impossibility of Virtue discourage the Weak, nor a pretended one excuse the wilful; nothing is more Evident than that there is no Inclination in Man that is Incorrigible, nor any temptation Incident to our State which is Insuperable: Let any Man that pretends the contrary, consider what Reason has done in some, what Custom, what Faith in others; Let him himself try, what Reason, what Discipline, what Faith, (from all which I never separate Divine Assistance) can do in him, and I am Confident, he will not then stand in need of any further answer to his Objection; his own success as well as that of others, will be a sufficient proof of its weakness: Thus I think I have in general given a satisfactory answer to as many at least as plead Natural Incapacity against the Possibility of being Happy: however that no Discouragement, no scruple may remain, I will give a particular and clear though brief answer to each part of this Objection. There are three things supposed by it to render Man naturally incapable of Virtue and Happiness. First, Violent and invincible Inclinations to Vice: against this, as the most considerable part of the Objection, the whole bent and force of the precedent Discourse was levelled, and therefore this needs no farther answer, only here it will be worth our remarking, That those differences that are in the Natures and Tempers of Men are not Essential, but Accidental, and consequently they may make the way to Happiness more difficult to some than others, but impossible to none. The strongest Inclination to Virtue (I speak of that which is the result of Natural Temper) seems to me but a weaker Inclination to Vice, every Man has naturally a propension to Pleasure, and consequently the sensitive Part of us to sensitive Pleasure; how much finer mould our our first Parents were made of than we are, I know not; but this I find, the Desire of Pleasure was Natural to 'em even in Innocence; This was that which the Beauty of the Apple did easily inflame, and that was such a Degree, that I am not able to discern by the Text, to which I should rather impute their Sin and their loss of Paradise, to the Desire of Knowledge, or the Desire of Pleasure: This tendency of the Sensitive Part is Natural to all, but in some 'tis more, in some less violent; unless we may say upon one ground, 'tis equal in all, for the difference of Temper discovers itself rather in the different kinds of Pleasure we pursue, than in the different degrees of our Inclination to it; we are all equally allured and drawn, yet not by the same but several Objects, so that if Lust prevail in one, Ambition as much prevails in another, and Covetousness in a third, and in others Intemperance or Sloth: So that the difficulty of Virtue seems much the same to all the Sons of Adam, the strength of Temptation consisting especially in our weakness; not in the Excellency of the Object we are taken with, but in our Inclination to it: hence is it as Difficult for one Man to overcome his Covetousness, as to another to o'ercome his Lust; and restless toilsome Ambition is as luscious and taking with some tempers as lazy and delicious Luxury with others: if this were wellweighed, it would make us more mild and gentle in our Censure of others, and not so soft and easy in excusing ourselves. 'Tis further worth our observing here, that every Man's Virtue derives some tincture from his Constitution and Temper, so that generally speaking, 'tis not difficult to guests a Man's Natural Constitution by the Complexion of his Religion; however Virtue ceases not to be Virtue; nor will that slight Alloy of the natural Constitution extinguish its Vigour and Merit, though it behoves every Man to keep a strict and jealous guard upon his Inclinations, for Nature soon revives even after it has been some time Buried, and to labour most after that Perfection which does most contradict and oppose the particular Vice of his Constitution; for it will be otherwise morally impossible to gain a Conquest over it, and as impossible to gain a Rational Peace and Security without this Conquest.  
A Second thing which is supposed in the Objection to incapacitate Man for Happiness is an unteachable stupidity, consisting in a slow Conception and treacherous Memory: 'Tis true indeed, the Heathen Philosophers did require in their Scholars the Knowledge of many abstruse and difficult Matters, as antecedently necessary to Virtue and Happiness, Skill in Mathematics fitted a Man for the Platonic Philosophy, and the Knowledge of Natural things was the Foundation on which the Epicuraean pretended his Divine Happiness and Virtue was to be built; and Seneca reckons the unthinking Crowd amongst the Beasts that Perish: all of 'em did with one consent require three things to Complete a Virtuous and Happy Man; Nature, Education or Instruction, and Custom. To the First, they attributed the Disposition to Virtue; To the Second the Beginning; To the Third, the Easiness and Constancy; and to all three together the Perfection of it. And hence it is that they did distinguish between Perfect and Imperfect, between Political or Social and Philosophical Virtue, and did not deem every Nature Capable of that Virtue which was Perfect and Philosophical. But our blessed Lord and Master the Author of the Christian Philosophy requires no such qualifications in those who will be his Disciples; All that he requires, is, an humble and an honest Mind, freed from proud Prejudices, possessed with a sincere Love of the Truth, and a sincere Resolution of obeying it: accordingly St. Paul observes that such were most wrought upon by the Preaching of the Gospel: 
1 Cor. 1.  Ye see your Calling Brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called; But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise: and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty: And base things of the world, and things that are despised has God chosen. Nor will any one imagine that Acute and Eminent parts are Necessary to render a Man capable of Being a Christian, who shall consider the Brevity and Plainness of the Christian Faith and Law: doth it require a deep and penetrating Judgement, or a firm and tenacious Memory, to enable us to understand or remember that plain and short Summary of Christian Practice? The Grace of God teacheth us to deny all ungodliness and worldly Lusts, 
Titus 2.  and live Righteously, Soberly and Godlily in this present world: or that as brief and perspicuous Abridgement of the Christian Faith? 
* John 17.  This is life Eternal, to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent: or that excellent Abridgement of both by St. Paul? 
* Acts 20.  Repentance towards God and Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 'Tis true all things are now ravelled and entangled, and the Faith and Virtue of Christianity is not half so conspicuous amongst Christians as their Theological Wars, Tumults and Factions; But this is owing to Man, not to the Gospel, to the Pride and Superstition of the one, not to the Obscurity of the other: Nor may any one here with any show of Reason object, That though the substance of the Christian Faith and Practice is clear, yet the Reasons of both are not so; for who can ever imagine such a Stupidity of Nature as can disable any one to understand the Proofs by which the Scripture establishes the great Fundamental Article of our Faith, That Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah or Mediator between God and Man? or what Stupidity of Nature can render it an impossible Task to us to comprehend the two Fundamental Reasons of Evangelical Righteousness, namely, the Subserviency of it to the Happiness of this, and of another Life, and the Holiness of the God we Worship? I do not write this as if I meant hereby to represent Industry in search of Divine Truths, as Superfluous and un-necessary; but to assure all of how mean Capacities soever, of the success of it. I am not Ignorant how much some applaud themselves on the account of acquired Knowledge of doubtful or abstruse things; how much others value themselves on a peculiar sort of Politics remote enough indeed from Virtue; and others on Accomplishments as remote from Reason, as the others Politics from Virtue; and how much all of 'em do despise the dulness of those who cannot, and the simplicity of those who strive not to equal 'em in these Attainments: But all this doth not beget in me the least Scruple or Suspicion of the Truth I have before asserted; I know that our Duty is plain, and that the Path of Duty is the most direct and Compendious one to the Happiness of this life and of another: for I know that nothing is so taking with God as an humble Faith, Devout, Pure, Peaceable and Charitable Religion. As to worldly Happiness I know that a Man's own Virtue supported by God's Spirit, and guided by his Truth is the safest and the plainest Guide he can follow in Dark and Tempestuous times; true Policy consists not in that Address or subtlety of Spirit, which furnishes a Man at all times with plausible Shifts, but in that Integrity and Virtue that needs none: and the Beauty and Life of Conversation consists not in Artificial Faces, Fantastic Dresses, Mechanic Motions, Shrugs and Cringes, much less in Mechanic (for so I may call set forms of Chat) but in an humble, diligent and faithful discharge of the Duties we own to all those several Relations we stand in, and the observance of those Laws of Conversation which true Philosophy prescribes; This is that which will make us acceptable to all, and dear to the Wise and Good; Slights, and Tricks, and Arts may divert and entertain, but Virtues do charm and captivate, those may open us the way to men's Houses and their Tables, but these to their Bosoms to their Hearts. The sum of all is, Great Endowments of Nature seem to be Necessary for the Attainment of Unnecessary Accomplishments, common Endowments are sufficient to make us capable of Virtue and Happiness. This Marcus Antoninus had well observed, and has as well expressed in several places, more fully, Lib. 5. Sect. 3. more briefly elsewhere thus, 
Marc. Ant. lib. 7. §. 41.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Though thou despair'st of being a Logician, a Naturalist, a Mathematician, a Courtier, a State-Empiric, a Talkative Bigot, or a Mimical Fop, (for these too pass for Accomplishments with some) yet despair not of becoming a Wise Man and a Philosopher; though thou hast not Abilities big enough to make thy Confidence pass for Wit and Demonstration, though thou hast not the Art of Wheedling, nor the Talon of shifting and deluding, though thou hast no faculty for deep Dissimulation nor slight Insinuation, though thy parts lie below all these and a great many other Perfections, yet for all this despair not, thou hast Parts sufficient to make thee Happy, thou may'st be free (Redeemed from the Servitude of Vice) Modest, Humble, Charitable, and Obsequious to God, And in these very few things consists 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, The Blessedness of Life.  
A Third thing wherein the Objection supposes Natural Incapacity to consist, is such a slightness, levity, and inconstancy of Temper as seems to render Men neither fit for any close Application, nor susceptible of any deep and lasting Impression; it cannot be denied but that some are of such an airy, volatile, and various Temper, that they seem to be designed for nothing serious, nothing great, as if like Flowers, they were the Sport not Work of Nature, made not for Use but Ornament: But I have always observed, that Nature makes up defects of one kind by Advantages of another; Thus it happens here, those Constitutions which do most want solidity and strength do most partake of Softness and Tenderness; so that they are as much more apt to receive Impressions, as they are more unapt to retain 'em than others, like yielding air which the gentlest stroke doth as easily divide and part, as it doth easily return and unite itself again. Hence 'tis generally observed, that that Age and that Sex which are supposed to have least of fixtness and Constancy, have most of Heat and Passion in Religion, and those Minds which are worst furnished with Courage and Experience, with Judgement and Resolution are most apt and easy to be moved and wrought upon by Religious, or deluded by Superstitious Fears; and as apt to be tenderly affected by the Representations of Divine Goodness and Compassion; so that like Bodies which have less bulk, but more agility, their Motion's nimbler, though their, force and strength be less. Now if this be so, than the Disadvantage of this Temper is not so great as it is fancied, for though their Passions last not long, they are easily raised; and consequently, if our Addresses to such a Temper be but a little more frequently repeated, they cannot but prove successful, and such Persons by the frequent Returns of Holy Passions will grow habitually devout, and their Devotion will be as steady and more elevated than that of a slower and firmer Constitution: But after all wherever there appears an Exuberancy of this Humour, this is to be imputed rather to their Fortune than their Nature; a wanton Fortune and too indulgent an Education is generally attended with a gay, wanton and unfixed Mind. And 'tis true that it is a difficult Matter for such Minds as these to attain to Wisdom and Virtue, but 'tis not because they cannot consider, but because they will not; let but such exchange their haunts of Pleasure for the House of Mourning; let 'em but now and then intermix the Conversation of the wise and serious with that of the giddy, fanciful, and frolicsome; and they will soon find their Humour much corrected, and their Minds better fixed; to all this, if they could be persuaded to add the Contemplation of a suffering Saviour, of a Holy God and of a Judgement to come; and to this the Devotion of the Closet made up of serious Reflection on these Subjects and their own Eternity, this would soon reduce their lose and scattered Desires, it would soon recall the roving, wand'ring Mind, and make it delight to dwell at home in the Company of Wise, Devout and Important Thoughts.  
And now I think, I have left no part of this Objection founded upon Natural Incapacity unconsidered. Do Men complain of their heaviness and stupidity? acute Parts and a tenacious Memory are not necessary to make us Virtuous or Happy; do they complain of their violent Inclinations to Sin? I have showed 'em Reason, Custom, Faith, curbing and subduing the most Natural or the most outrageous and ungovernable Appetites of Man: do they Complain of the Levity and Inconstancy of their Temper? let 'em retire from the Flatteries and Caresses of a wanton Fortune, and a wanton Conversation; let 'em acquaint themselves with the Wise or the Afflicted, with Divine Truths and their Closets, and this will soon work a Happy change upon 'em, if they are too soft and delicate for the bitterness and severity of these Prescriptions, nothing but the much severer Discipline of Afflictions and Judgements can effect their Cure. Under this Head of Natural Incapacity that other Objection from Moral Incapacity has been sufficiently answered, for Custom is at most but a second Nature; and I have at large discoursed of the Power of Reason and Faith over Nature; I have produced many and unquestionable Instances, wherein we have seen 'em overcome our most natural and most necessary Appetites, such as are, our Aversion to pain, our love of Life, and such like. Nor is it possible that any vicious Custom should have taken deeper Root in us, or united themselves more closely with our very Being's than these, and therefore it were absurd to fancy 'em more violent, stubborn, or insuperable; That Expression of the Prophet, 
Jer. 13.  Can the Ethiopian change his skin? or the Leopard his spots? Then may ye also learn to do Good, who are accustomed to do Evil; is but a Pathetic Exaggeration (which is usual in a Prophetic stile) of the Difficulty, not an Assertion of the Impossibility of an habitual Sinner's Change; what has been done, and daily is done can be done, and 'tis in vain to prove what no Man can deny; St. Paul when he had recited a Catalogue of such Sinners as should not enter into the Kingdom of God, doth afterwards add, 
1 Cor. 6.  and such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. And Tertullian does appeal to the Power and Efficacy of the Christian Religion visible in the Extirpation of vicious Habits wrought by it, as a proof of its Divine Original; nor are such Instances as these wanting this Day, These, as they do now refute all the Idle Excuses of Sinners, so will they one Day be urged in Judgement against 'em to convince 'em that they own their Ruin to their sloth and obstinacy, not their Impotence; though these Men ought to remember too, that Moral Impotence is ever derived from a voluntary Neglect or Contempt of all the means of Happiness and Virtue: I think I might now dismiss this Objection, having given full satisfaction to all scruples that might disturb or discourage any well-meaning and honest Mind: and evidently defeated the pretences of such as would fain shroud and shelter their voluntary Sin & Folly under the feigned Excuses of Impotence, Incapacity and insupportable Infirmity or insuperable Temptations: for all these are mixed and combined in every part of the former Objection, and receive one and the same Answer. But I foresee, I shall be thought in this whole Discourse to have had too little regard to our Original Corruption, and Divine Assistance; and therefore though I endeavoured to guard it in the beginning against all sinister Interpretation, I will here add a brief account of both; especially as far as it shall appear to me to concern my present Enquiry.  
First, 
The Corruption of Nature Considered.  As to the Natural Corruption of Man, if Corruption may be called Natural, on the account of the Tendency of our sensitive Inclinations; some things are very plain, some very obscure; what is plain is this, what the present state of Man is with respect to that Righteousness which the Gospel requires; what is obscure is this, what the state of Adam before the Fall was, without a clear knowledge of which 'tis impossible to determine how much our Nature is now degenerated (as is supposed) from the Primitive Purity and Excellency of its Creation. Secondly, how Gild and Corruption could be transmitted or derived from Adam upon his Posterity; Third●y, What can be supposed properly speaking to be the Demerit, Offence, or Provocation of Original Corruption; what Punishment can be due to it, divided and separated from Voluntary Transgressions: These and a great many things of the like Nature I purposely pass over, as either of no great Importance in themselves, or at leastwise of no great Use to my present Enquiry, and go on to what is Plain and Necessary, and that is, What the present state and Condition of Humane Nature is, for nothing can be more Evident than that the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit, 
Gal. 5.  and the Spirit against the Flesh; These two being contrary one to another in their Tendencies and Inclinations, This Conflict or Opposition of Spirit and Body discovers itself the more, the more pure and perfect the Law is, that we are under; This tendency of the Body is so apparent and undeniable, that it was ever acknowledged by all Wise Heathens. Hence the 
* Plotinus Ennead. 1. lib. 1. c. 9 Enn. 2. lib. 3. c. 15. Enn. 3. lib. 1. c. 8. Aug. de Civ. Dei.  Platonics frequently impute the Diminution of the Power and Liberty of the Soul of Man to its Conjunction with the Body; and Hence it was that some of 'em whom St. Austin refutes by giving an Account of the Nature of the raised Body, rejected the Christian Doctrine of the Resurrection, judging the restitution of the Body, rather a diminution of than accession to the Happiness of the Mind. The Pythagoreans looked upon the Body as the Prison and the Punishment of the Soul, and in short the Philosophy of the Heathens did consist chief in this, the subduing the Appetites of the Body to the Reason of the Mind: and this appears most plainly to be the Drift and Scope of Christian Philosophy; From whence it follows, that the Disorder of Humane Nature (call it Original Corruption or what you please) consists in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Lust and Concupiscence of the Flesh, This is Evident from all the Writings of St. Paul, especially Romans the 7th, and this is the sense of our Church Art. the 9th; Nor indeed are we Capable of Imagining any other Corruption in Man; for if there be a Conflict betwixt Right Reason, and Carnal Appetite, if the Tendency of the Body and the Mind be opposite and controdictory, 'tis Nonsense to suppose both Corrupt and Sinful; for then the Contradiction and Conflict would cease: From hence it follows plainly, that we are born with Capacities of and Inclinations to Virtue as well as Vice, though nothing be more manifest than that the Appetite of the Body exerts itself first, grows up to Strength and Maturity soon, and doth more powerfully and forcibly move than the Suggestions and Persuasions of Reason: Secondly, It is from hence plain, that a state of Righteousness consists in the prevalency of the Mind over the Body, and a state of Sin in the prevalency of the Body over the Mind. And from hence appears the Necessity of 
* Divine Assistance or Grace Considered.  Divine Grace or Assistance; for since the Dominion of Righteousness cannot be Established, but in the subjection of the Body, and the Body doth in Power so much o'rematch the Mind, the Appetites of it being both more forward, more violent, more constant, I had almost said, more Natural, than the Dictates of Reason; and this Power receiving daily increase and augmentation by a sensual Education, and by a daily and unavoidable Commerce with the World, and those Temptations which awaken, gratify and inflame the Appetites of the Body, it were morally impossible that the Mind should master and o'ercome the Body, if it were not aided by Divine Grace and Assistance; but than it must be remembered, that 'tis repugnant to the very Notion of Aid or Assistance, that it should make void the Necessity of our own Endeavours; as the Light of Revelation doth not extinguish that of Reason but increase it; so neither does the strength of God's Grace render our Natural strength useless, but improve and help it: This added to what I have said before, comprises all that is necessary to be known concerning Grace, and may be reduced to these three or four Heads. First, That the Grace of God is necessary to enable us to live Virtuously and Happily; Secondly, That Grace does not extinguish Nature, or cancel our Obligation to Industry or a careful use of that Natural Power God has invested us with; Thirdly, That God is most ready and desirous to further and assist all Men in their Endeavours after Virtue and Happiness: And lastly, That the Grace of God is sufficient for us, or, that we receive by it as great an addition of Strength or Spiritual Aid, as being joined with our sincere Endeavours, is necessary to make us Virtuous and Happy: if we deny the first of these, we subvert the Foundation of Prayer to and dependence upon God, we can give no tolerable account of at least one third part of the Gospel of Christ, and we unavoidably discourage Mankind from all hopes of Happiness; if we deny the second, we destroy the very Nature of Man, render all Laws, Exhortations, Admonitions, Rewards and Punishments useless, silly and impertinent; and make Divine Grace the very foundation of carnal Security, of desperate and destructive Negligence and Sloth: if we deny the third or fourth, we must unavoidably affirm, either that the Happiness of Man does no way depend upon the Grace of God, or that his Misery is fatal and unavoidable: All which are Absurdities gross and palpable to all Minds which lie not under the thickest darkness of blind Superstition and Prejudice. Whoever shall now reflect upon all that has been said will easily be able to conclude, that we have no Enemy without us, none within us that can necessitate and compel us to be miserable; Misery may be our Choice or Punishment, it can never be our Fate: Our natural Corruption may invite and incline us, but can never force and compel us to be wicked: for there is no Temptation, no Inclination, which God's Grace and our Industry are not able to resist and o'ercome: So that now there remains at last no other Incapacity of Happiness than what is Penal, which is the next thing to be spoke to.  

Of Penal Incapacity.  Penal Incapacity consists in God's final and immutable rejection of Man from Grace and Pardon. The matter of this Objection shall be fully handled, Vol. 3. where I shall be obliged to treat of the Troubles of the Mind, and their Cure; In the mean time, all that is Necessary to be observed here is, First, That this state of final Rejection from Grace and Pardon is Penal, a state to which no thing but men's voluntary Transgressions can betray 'em, and those too Transgressions of the deepest guilt, and most crying aggravations; for surely nothing less can provoke a God who delights to exercise loving Kindness and Mercy, a God of infinite long-Suffering and Patience, to pass a Sentence, an irreversible Sentence of eternal Ruin and Damnation upon any of his Creatures. Secondly, That no mistaken Fancies of the Unpardonableness of our state may either tempt us desperately to renounce God, our Saviour, and Virtue; it behoves us to consider what ought to be the proper Influence of this Persuasion that there is such a Penal state on this side the Grave.  
First, If they who believe such a state will act consonant to their own Opinion, they must not allow themselves in a course of wilful Sin, lest they be insensibly betrayed into that dreadful state.  
Secondly, Since Impenitence and Hardness of heart is a Necessary and inseparable Consequence of that dreadful Sentence which excludes Men from Grace and Pardon; therefore no Man can rationally conclude himself in this state, till he has made all possible attempts to recover himself from his Sin, and that without success; And because,  
Lastly, No man can conclude his Endeavours unsuccessful, till Death surprise him in an Obdurate and Impenitent state; for habitual Sinners have become eminent Saints, and lapsed Christians, nay Apostates have not only recovered their former state, but redeemed their Crimes by more than Ordinary degrees of Repentance, Devotion, and Charity, and by undeniable Consequence have been restored to God's Favour; for Grace is in order to Pardon, Sanctification in order to Justification, Virtue in order to Glory; therefore no Man must give over his Attempts of appeasing God, and subduing his Corruptions, while God continues him in the Land of the Living: These Rules if observed will, I question not render the Persuasion of such a Penal state, as the Objection supposes, very profitable and useful to some, and not pernicious to the eternal Interest of any: For he who by the Dread of such a state, is deterred from bold and provoking Sins, and from an habitual Course of wilful Impiety, reaps an Unspeakable Advantage by it; and he who adheres to Religion and Virtue, and continues to his life's End, sincerely endeavouring to please God and obtain his Pardon, shall never suffer any Prejudice in another life by his melancholy and mistaken Fancies in this. I have now spoke to all those Objections which seem to oppose and assault my Position of the Possibility of Attaining Happiness with any show of Reason. It is now high time I should proceed.   

SECT. II.  
TO answer those who against this Assertion oppose not Reasons and Arguments, but Observation and Experience; they do not find that ever any have been Happy, and therefore they conclude that none ever can. The Answer to this Objection will be a most convincing Argument of the Truth of my Position, That Happiness is attainable in this Life; for if I prove this Observation false, and can produce undeniable Instances of Happy Men, the Dispute falls of itself. 
Instances of Happy Men.  But where shall I find them? Shall I present you with the Envied Happiness or Glory of Mighty Princes? Alas! the Wisest of the Heathen Gods preferred the Happiness of Aglaus Sophydius before that of Gyges! And the wisest of Men (in his time at least) preferred the Happiness of Tellus before that of Croesus! And this Sentence seems not only to deny those particular Princes Happy but also to pronounce the very state of Royalty uncapable of Happiness, or at least less capable than that of a Ploughman; indeed this state when active and glorious is full of Fears, and Cares, and Hazards; when sluggish and unactive full of shame: what can be the Happiness of a state too big for Friendship or for Pleasure? for love is the Business and Enjoyment of Equals; Obedience is all Subjects can offer, or indeed Monarches can receive; All higher and nearer approaches to the Throne are but Intrusions of Ambition and Design: Nor can I possibly discern what Satisfaction the great Mortal can take in any Expressions of Duty or Affection, which he can never distinguish from the fawning and flattery of those who in their hearts despise and hate him: How shall he know that any truly love him, when none dare slight him? or how shall he discern who serves him out of Duty, where every Man even obtrudes himself upon his Commands out of Interest? In a word, the Passions of a Prince are so much greater than other Men's as is his Mind and Fortune; his Conversation is not with the Minds of Men, but with Faces, or rather Masks and Disguises. And as to his Pleasures, his gust of 'em is very flat, being cloyed and surfeited by his Affluence: And whereas all other Men as the Ambitious, the Vainglorious, the Covetous, the Lover seem to ascend and rise above themselves in the Acquisition of those Pleasures they aspire to; the Monarch debases himself, descends and stoops below his Fortune to meet his. And yet I am not of Apollo's nor Solon's Mind, I cannot think there is any great Happiness in the Ignorance and the quietness of a labouring Cottager, such as Tellus or Aglaus Sophydius; I love Security, but not that which Contempt breeds, I would have my Security owing not to the Littleness of my Fortune, but the Greatness of my Mind: I love a Quiet, but a Philosophical life, I would have my Tranquillity spring not from the Ignorance but Reason of my Mind; from the Right Government of my Passions, not from the Meanness of my Education or Fortune. For the same Reason I do not call Men happy, whose slow and easy Temper like the waters of the Dead Sea, is not to be moved even by Wind and Storm: I do not call Stupidity a Calm, the Soul that is insensible of Trouble, is so of Joy too: whoever is incapable of any deep Impression, is so of any serious Reflection too, and what is the state of such a Man? I would not have my life pass by like a Dream, whilst fleeting or imperfect Images of things do scarce awake, and too too slightly affect my drowsy or dazzled sense. In a word, the Happiness I seek after is such a one which is owing neither to Natural Constitution, nor to Fortune: for then, it would not be in our Power. The Men then whom I call Happy, are such who are possessed of true and solid Goods, and those such which Fortune cannot give nor take away; such were Christ and his Apostles, and such are all those at this Day as are transformed into the Glory and Image of the Divine Nature by the mighty Energy of the Divine Spirit and Divine Truths. Let us consider therefore what the state of Christ and his Apostles was in this Life: I will not take notice of those Ecstatic Pleasures which they felt when they did those Godlike Works which we call Miracles, what Triumph could be equal to theirs who saw Diseases, Devils and Death subject to their Commands? what joy could be equal to theirs, when they gave Life to the Dead, Sight to the Blind, Strength to the Lame, & c? To what a height was Wonder and Delight raised in each of these Performances? for nothing could be more wonderful than the Power, or delightful than the Charity conspicuous in 'em: but this I pass over, because this Power is not to be attained by us: Let us come to that which is, I mean the Virtues of Christ and his Apostles; He had not a hole where to lay his Head: 'tis true, but how truly great was he in himself? how much above the mean and unmanly desires of Ambition, Covetousness, or Lust? he indulged himself in no sensual Carnal Pleasures, 'tis true, but how Calm that Soul which no Angry or Envious Passion disturbed, where nothing but sacred Love dwelled? the love of God, the love of Man, and the rational and wise love of himself? how Happy that Soul which was illuminated with Divine Knowledge, supported by an unshaken Faith, filled with joyful Reflections and glorious Hopes? that Soul which in the silence of the Night, and the Retirements of the Mount did pour forth itself in Prayers and Hallelujahs, that Soul which full of God and full of Heaven, had no room for uneasy Cares or afflicting Sorrows? 'tis true, our Saviour met Death with pale looks and melancholy pangs of Soul; but 'tis as true, that his Faith surmounted his Fears, his Agony endured but for a little while an undisturbed Peace, and a well-settled serenity of Mind immediately followed it, and his trouble and Pain in Death, like the Eclipse that attended it, did but overcast and darken the joy, the light within, not extinguish it: who could finish the last Act of Life with more humble Majesty, or with more settled Peace? in the Life and Death of our dear Lord we behold that of his Disciples, for they were all Followers of him, as they desired we should be of them: what can be happier than their state here was? their Life was Regular and Philosophical, their Joy steady and Rational, their Love of God vigorous, their Charity to Man servant and Diffused; their Desires, as to the World, modest; their Minds resolved and brave in Afflictions, Cheerful and Composed in Death itself.  
Let it stand then as an unshaken Truth, That Happiness may be attained in this Life; for what the Followers of our Lord and Master attained to, that may we; their Natural Passions and Infirmities were the same with ours, our Trials and Temptations are far less than theirs; we serve the same God, we are guided by the same Truths, supported by the same Power, elevated by the same Hopes; we have the same Peace bequeathed us, the same Spirit, the same Heaven promised us, and we march under the Conduct of the same Captain of our Salvation, who by his Death has Abolished Death, and brought Life and Immortality to Light. Nor ought this to seem to us an overdaring or presumptuous Position, since the Possibility of Happiness is a Notion Consonant to the Common sense of all Mankind: for 'tis Happiness which Laws enacted for the Government of the Multitude, and Philosophical Rules prescribed for the Government of our Passions, do aim at; All Lawgivers have ever promised the people Wealth, and Peace, and Glory, and Security, as the fruits of their Obedience: and all Philosophers have ever promised Tranquillity of Mind and Rational Pleasure to their Followers as the Rewards of Conformity to their Precepts: And as it cannot surely be denied, but that the Kingdom is most Happy, which by just Laws and a well-tempered Authority, is freed from those Fears and Distractions, from those Mischiefs and Confusions to which others are exposed by Anarchy or Tyranny by the Insolence of the Multitude, or the Impotence of the Prince; so it cannot be denied, but that the Man is most Happy, whose well-settled Peace is established upon solid Grounds of true Wisdom; being neither oppressed by the Tyranny of Superstition, nor vexed and disquieted by the Insolence of unruly Passions, to which the weakness of Reason subjects Men. As to Religion, which is a third governing Principle, this only proposes a more perfect Happiness, and a more plain and direct way to it, than Nature of itself could: it only relieves and recruits our Natural Power by that of Grace, and increases the Light of Reason by a participation of new Rays of Revelation. If then Happiness be the great End which Law and Philosophy, Revelation and Reason, God and Man, do unanimously propose to us, how absurd and palpable a Contradiction were it to all these, to deny the Attainment of it possible?  
To look back now upon this whole Chapter, 
The Conclusion  and sum up the substance and force of it, 'tis this, God who made us, made us on purpose to be Happy; for what other design could Infinite Love propose to itself in our Creation? and proposing to himself this End, he endowed us with Faculties and Capacities that might fit us for the Contemplation and Enjoyment of himself, and of his Works: The World provided by him for our Entertainment, he filled with all things that could Minister either to our Necessities or Delights: here God has planted us, not as Inhabitants but Sojourners; for this is but our state of Probation, Angels had their times of Trial, so have Men; here he would have us aspire after, as near as we can, that life Angels lead in Heaven; for we are one Day to be equal to 'em: here he would have us learn and practise those Virtues which fit us for the Society & Enjoyment of that Kingdom wherein dwells Righteousness, for that is the blessed End and Consummation of all our Endeavours, Desires and Hopes; but when we make Heaven the Abode, the Seat of Perfect Happiness, we do not thereby suppose that it is banished from the Earth, but rather on the contrary, if that state be the Consummation of all things, 'tis Necessarily to be concluded that every step we advance nearer to it, we mount and ascend higher, into brighter, calmer and purer Regions: Heaven is like a Glorious Building, whose access is full of Delight and Beauty; for as that Youth which precedes our Manhood, has its Sweetness, its Beauty, its natural Perfection and Pleasure; so has this mortal-state which precedes our Angelical, its proper Degree of Perfection and Blessedness: and this is no small one neither, for as we are created but a little lower than the Angels in respect to the Dignity of our Nature, so surely our Happiness gins nearly to approach and resemble theirs: When our Mind filled with Divine Truths, Charity and Hope becomes Free, Generous, Resolved, Constant, Cheerful, Meek, Gentle, Devout Heavenly: when it has so accustomed itself to Virtue, and familiarly acquainted itself with Heaven, that the Sins and Pleasures of the sensual Part of the World look like the Manners and Entertainments, not only of a Foreign, but Barbarous and Impoverished Country; and when lastly by its frequent Retirements from the Body and daily Commerce with Rational and Spiritual Pleasures, it not only asserts its Sovereignty over it, but gins to live so independent of it, that at the last when it shall in Death mount up upon the Wings of pure Flame to Heaven, it shall not suffer as if the Body needed to be torn from it, but shall let it fall, as Elijah did his Mantle. Those Complaints therefore which we make against our present state, and those Reproaches with which we outrage and vilify our Nature, are false and unjust, for we are by God created and designed for Happiness, and this Happiness God hath been pleased to put in our own power to place within our reach: There is no Fate, but what God has made us ourselves Arbiters of; we lie under no Necessity, no Fatality, but what our own Vices betray us to; Nor do we stand in need of the Indulgences of Fortune, the Tranquillity and Pleasure of a Virtuous Man is an Image of God's own; it springs from within, not from without; 'tis true there are Difficulties which obstruct our Progress to Happiness; but they are such as all Wise and Good Men have conquered: 'tis true, Nature labours under its Infirmities, that is, sensual Propensions and Inclinations; but it is strengthened and supported by Reason, by Revelation, by Grace: we may fall ('tis true) a Sacrifice to God's Wrath, but it must be after we have lived long in Contempt of his Mercy, and obstinate Defiance of his Grace. Methinks these Considerations should raise and exalt the Mind of Man, they should inspire us with Desires and Hopes worthy of Rational and Immortal Souls, like the Israelites when they marched out of Egypt, we should dream of nothing but Triumph, Glory, and Happiness.    

CHAP. III. Of the Causes of Man's Misery.  
The Deviation of our Lives from Right Reason, the true and Universal Cause of Man's Misery: This Deviation discovers itself, First, In our proposing to ourselves some false and irrational End of Life. Secondly, In our Insincerity in pursuing our true and Rational End. The Reasons of both these, are, 1. The Frame, and Contexture of our Nature. 2. Vicious Education. 3. A vicious Conversation and Course of Life; from whence proceed, Inconsideration, Insincerity, False Notions, ungovernable Passions, Remissness and Inconstancy. A Representation of the whole Matter. From all inferred, First, What Happiness in general is. Secondly, Two general Rules for the Attaining of it.  
WEre the Happy, like 
* Quem adhuc nos quidem vidimus Neminem, sed Phylosophorum sententiis qualis futurus sit si modo aliquando fuerit, exponitur. Tusc. Quest. l. 2.  Tully's Wise man, a mere Idea, something no where to be found but in the Characters and Descriptions which Philosophers give us of him, this were an unconquerable Discouragement; no Briskness of Wit, no Charms of Fancy, no force of Eloquence, no height of Spirits or heat of Confidence were sufficient to remove it, and to engage Men in such a Desperate and unaccountable Enterprise as this Supposition would render the pursuit of Happiness: for how fond and groundless a Presumption were it to pursue that which all Mankind had ever as Unsuccessfully as Earnestly and Indefatigably attempted? I have therefore endeavoured with all my might in the former Chapter to free men's Minds from any Suspicion or Fears of this Kind, answering all Objections that might seem to represent Misery fatal, or Happiness unattainable, and by undeniable proofs Confirming the Opposite Truth. But if this be true, that Happiness is attainable, and if it be as true, as certainly 'tis, that there needs no Eloquence to enkindle in any Man the Desires of Happiness, or to incite and spur him on to Endeavour its Attainment, all Mankind being carried on towards it by Natural, and therefore Constant and Passionate Inclinations: will it not be Natural to demand, Whence is it that so few are Happy? Whence is it that Misery and Trouble, Affliction and Sorrow fill almost every place and every Bosom? Not only no Kingdom or City, but no Town, no Village, no Family, I might almost add no one particular Person, being exempt and free; no place or person is privileged against Grief and Trouble, it invades the Tribunal of Judges, the Thrones of Princes, and what is almost as sacred as either, the Retirements and Closets of the Devout and Learned; nay scarcely is the Church and the Altar a secure Sanctuary against it.  
This will not be difficult to Comprehend, if we do thoroughly weigh and soberly consider the true Causes of Man's Misery; but the particular and distinct Discussion of each of these will fall in, in its proper place in the following Treatises, and therefore I shall Discourse of 'em here only generally and briefly, as the Nature of an Introduction requires.  
Many are the particular Causes of Humane Misery, 
Deviation from Reason the general Cause of Man's Misery.  but they may all be reduced to this Universal and Immediate One, Namely, That we do not live Conformable to our Reason.  — Quid enim Ratione timemus aut Cupimus— 
When do our Affections spring from, or when are they governed by Reason? When are our Desires or Fears, our Joys or Sorrows Wife, and Just, and Rational and Holy? how frequently are our Actions nothing else but the brutish and blind Sallies of foolish Passions, and our lives are generally nothing else but the Wander and Rambles of deluded Imaginations? How commonly do we act what we ourselves Condemn? and how commonly doth the whole Course of our Lives displease ourselves as much as others? and yet we live on in Contradiction to our Reason, and sometimes to our Inclinations too: How unlike are we in our Conversation to ourselves in our Retirement? how unlike are we in the Devotions of our Closets to ourselves in the Employment of our several Professions? how calm, sedate, wise, holy, and resolved in the one? how anxious and uneasy, how foolish, earthy, and inconstant in the other? but in nothing does our Deviation from Reason more evidently appear than in two things.  

This Deviation discovers itself in our false Ends and Insincerity.  First, In our proposing to ourselves false and Irrational Ends of Life; and Secondly, In our Insincerity in pursuing the true and rational one, that is Happiness. As to the first, who sees not how the Life of Man is perverted, the force and tendency of Nature crooked and bowed to Designs utterly unsuitable to the Capacities and Faculties of a Rational Mind, and to the great End of our Creation? who can look into the Life of Man, and not easily conclude that his chief Aim is Wealth and Greatness, not Happiness? or which is something sillyer, that his Design is some unnecessary Accomplishment, not Virtue and Goodness, or a vain Esteem and popular Applause, not the Peace and Wisdom of his Mind? who sees not how greedily Men pursue those sensual Satisfactions which naturally tend to enslave the Soul, and to extinguish the rational Pleasure and Vigour of our Minds? In a word, Wealth, and Honour, and Power, and Pleasure, are the Idols of Mankind, these are the things for which they live, for which they love and value life; these are the glorious Possessions which inflame our Emulations and our Industry; these are the things which the Unfortunate man Envies, and the Fortunate Honours; these are the things which distinguish and discriminate Mankind into their several Ranks and Degrees, the Contempt or Esteem of the World, the Respects and Affronts, the Love and Hate of Mankind being ever proportioned to the Degrees of Wealth and Power which they fancy others possessed of. To these noble Ends the sage and experienced Parent trains up his young ones, instilling daily into 'em all the subtle Maxims of Covetousness and Ambition, and judging of their Proficiency and Hopefulness by the Progress they make towards these Ends, that is, the more enslaved they are, the more Hopeful, the more promising is their Youth; Nor are Men more Zealous in pursuing the false, than insincere in pursuing the true Ends of Life, Virtue and Happiness. This is too too Evident to any one who shall consider how fond we are of our Diseases and our Errors, how Impatient of that Instruction or Reproof which tends to Cure, undeceive and disabuse us, how sluggish we are in the study of Important Truths, how listless and remiss in the use of those means which conduce to Virtue, to the freeing our Minds, and to the Confirming our Resolutions: and therefore lastly how light, wavering and unconstant we are in the Practice of those things which Right Reason convinces us to be our Duty. All this is plain and Evident, we see and feel it and bemoan it, but yet we live on in the same manner still; whence therefore is this Infatuation of our Understanding that enslaves us to false and irrational Ends? whence is that Impotence of Mind? whence is that Insincerity that deludes our Desires, and produces nothing but feeble and unsuccessful Endeavours? neither is this a difficult Matter to discover; that we live and act irrationally proceeds evidently from three Causes. First, The Contexture and Frame of our Nature. Secondly, A vicious Education. Thirdly, Vicious Conversation.  
The first spring or source of Irrational Desires and Actions is the Contrivance and Composition of our Nature; 
The Contexture of Nature the first Cause of an Irrational Life.  our sensual and brutish Appetites have their Foundation in our Natural Constitution as well as our rational Affections; for we are made up of Body, as well as Soul; Hence it is that there is in Man a doubtful fluctuation and indetermination to different Objects, the Reason of the Mind, and the Appetite of the Body distracting and dividing him by their different Proposals. The Impressions of sense and Representations of Reason, successively awakening in him very different and generally very contrary Desires: Whereas Angels by the Perfection, and Beasts by the Imperfection of their Nature are determined and confined to their Proper and Necessary Objects; Man is left to a strange uncertainty, undetermined by the Reason of the Mind, or the Instinct or Appetite of the Body, moved indeed successively by each, perfectly governed and overruled by neither. But it were well for Man that the Inclinations of these two different Principles were so justly poised, that he were naturally left in a true Liberty and pure Indifference equally able to follow the Dictates of Reason, and the Appetites of Flesh and Blood: But alas! how Impetuous are the Lusts of the Body! how Irresistible are those Passions which the Objects of Sense aided by a Carnal Imagination raise in us! On the other side, how Cold are the Representations of Reason, when we most need its Assistance and Authority! how faint and feeble the Natural Inclination of the Soul to what is truly good and great! how remote and distant the Rewards of Virtue, and consequently how weak and cold their Influence, and how faint and imperfect is the Pleasure that attends it abstracted from future Rewards in all other Minds besides those who are arrived in some sort at Perfection! 'tis true, at some Seasons, and upon some Occasions the Remonstrances of Conscience are so sharp, its Reproaches so bitter, the Disdain and Confusion of the Mind so unsufferable that they render that which is a Pleasure to the Sense, a Torment to the Soul, and its agreeableness to our Imagination cannot make amends for its harshness and Contradiction to our Reason. But alas! these are but short-lived Fits which soon pass over, for Business diverts, Pleasure enchants, and Repeated Violence offered to our Reason stupifies and deadens the Natural Conscience, and what is worse than all this, a silly and vicious Education does generally so corrupt our Judgements, and prepossess us with vain and foolish Affections that the Checks of Conscience are extremely seldom and extremely faint, unless the Commission of some gross Sin do awaken it by a deep and Deadly Wound. This is,  

Education a second Cause of Man's Misery.  2. A second Cause of that general Apostasy and Defection from Reason so notorious in the World, A silly and vicious Education. How well does it far with Children when they derive only their Original Corruption from their Parents? Ah! how often are their weak Dispositions to Vice nursed and cherished by their Parents into an Absolute,  and settled Tyranny. Nay, what is worse yet, how often are the seeds of Virtue, those towardly Dispositions which many bring into the World with 'em choked and stifled, not only by the Neglect, not only by the Indulgence, but even by the Example and Authority of Parents?  

— Velocius & Citius nos  

Juven. Sat. 14.  Corrumpunt Vitiorum Exempla Domestica, magnis  
Cùm subeant animos Autoribus—   

Ah, with what speed must the Infection spread,  
When Youth by Parent's Crimes are warranted,  
And Tempted on to Sin!—   
When Corrupt Inclination is ripened into a second Nature, when our innate weaknesses and Follies are confirmed by those false Principles, and that vicious Confidence which we derive from Education, than we are sent into the World left to our own disposal, abandoned to our own Government; Poor Creatures! not only exposed unarmed, unguarded to Temptations, but like Samson to the Philistines tied and bound too: Ah! could we so easily burst our Bonds as he did his! but whence should we recover our lost Liberty? Conversation, 
Conversation a third.  instead of being an Assistance to us in our Endeavours after Happiness, doth generally tend to promote our Misery; Philosophy is not now the business of Conversation, nor is Friendship any way useful or serviceable to the great End of Life: the Ligament of Society is Riot and Revelling or sordid Profit and Interest, or peradventure folly, trifling, and impertinence: these are the ties and bonds of our Confederacies; so that whatever Authority our Friends and Acquaintance have over us, whatever influence they have upon us, is employed to no other purpose but to recommend and endear Vice to us, to render it, if not beautiful and lovely to us, at leastwise less deformed and ugly than it is: Hence it is that retirement is so generally recommended to those who design to make any Progress in true Wisdom, and that such as are truly Virtuous do so passionately Complain of the Disadvantages they suffer by Conversation with the World: for the truth is, Wisdom and Goodness are such unfashionable Themes of Discourse, such unusual, nay, I may add unwelcome Subjects of Entertainment, that the Company deserves now to be praised, which is only barren and unprofitable not hurtful, and wherein we suffer no greater loss than that of our time.  
It is now easy to imagine what fruit a Corrupt Nature must bring forth, when not only left destitute of Necessary Cultivation, but depraved yet more by a vicious Education, and vicious Conversation; what can all these together bring forth, but a loathsome brood of Diseases and Vices such as these, Rashness, Precipitancy, Heedlessness, and Unthoughtfulness, False Notions, Ungovernableness and Impotence of Will, Insincerity, Levity and Inconstancy, which are the Plagues of Humane Life, and the fatal Obstacles of our Tranquillity? for either they obstruct our true Happiness by preventing our search after it; or delude our search by Corrupting and Perverting our Understanding; or else they frustrate and defeat the Influence of its Discovery by Obstinate Reluctancies in the Body, and an Unhappy Impotence in the Mind: All this is manifest upon the most transient glance we can take, of these particulars. To begin with Want of Consideration: 
Inconsideration.  This is a Necessary Effect of that Corruption and Depravation which I have ascribed to Nature, Education, and Conversation; The Body unaccustomed to obey is Impatient of Deliberation when its Pleasure is in view, and a taking Imagination overrules whatever weak Plea Reason makes; Nay, what is worse, the very difuse of Reason in Men abandoned to the Conduct of Custom, and swayed by the Enticement of Inclination, and Authority of Example, bereaves 'em almost of the Faculty itself: So that their Life and Actions are not the Effects of Judgement and Deliberation; but injudicious, unweighed Custom; or more rash, heedless and precipitant Passion: And can any Man think, that when the meanest Art or Profession is not learned without Right Instruction or just Diligence, Wisdom the great Art of Living Happily should be attained without as much as just Consideration? when a Man cannot grow Rich or Prosperous without Contrivance and Industry, is it probable he should grow Happy by Inadvertency and Chance? it is impossible; for Innumerable will be the false and pernicious Notions which such a one corrupted and depraved, 
False Notions.  rash and unadvised must be betrayed into and confirmed in, there is no Principle so false, no Practice so absurd which such do not readily entertain: Hence 'tis that Men do so generally live by Rote, that Men's Principles are the fashionable ones of the Neighbourhood or Nation, that their manner of Life takes that shape which their Rank and Quality, and the Chance of their Conversation gives it; and their very Religion itself is the Native Commodity of the Soil they are planted in: Hence 'tis finally that Men are Unrighteous and Wicked, careless and unconcerned, notwithstanding all the Calls or Invitations, all the Rewards and Menaces of the Gospel, Convictions of Conscience, Impulses of Grace, Mercies, Threats and Judgements of God: and Covetousness, Luxury, Uncleanness, Profaneness, Ambition are as constantly practised in Court and City as condemned in the Pulpit and Press; nor is it to be expected otherwise, for false Notions give Countenance and Authority to our Follies, and fortify us in all our wretched Miscarriages against the Assaults of Law and Reason, of Conscience and God himself: No Condition is so desperately forlorn as that of Sin and Folly, backed and authorised by Inveterate Principles! These render our very Industry not only useless and unserviceable, but even fatal and destructive to our Happiness: these defeat the very tendency of our Nature towards Happiness, and turning it into a wrong Channel, 
Vngovernableness and Impotence of will.  make it run with Violence toward our Misery: these help to render our Passions both numerous and ungovernable by representing some things as Evils which are not, and by augmenting real Evils beyond their Natural proportion: and herein consist the very Essence and being of humane Misery, or at least a part of it, when our own folly increases both the Number and Weight of Evils, and our numberless Passions do exceed all just and natural bounds: and this is a Constant truth, the less Understanding there is in any Man, the more violent is his Passion, the Passion of a Fool being like the Zeal of a Bigot, the more blind, the more furious. All this makes good the Observation of the * Poet, 

Non qui Sidonio contendere Callidus Ostro,  
Nescit Aquinatem potantia vellera fucum,  
Certius accipiet Damnum, 
Hor. l. 1. Ep. x.  propiusque Medullis,  
Quàm qui non poterit vero distinguere falsum.   

Not the Deluded Trader who doth buy  
Caunterfeit Aquin for the Tyrian dye,  
His folly shall more surely or dearly Rue,  
Than he who does, false Notions take for true.    
Insincerity is another fruit of the Corruption of our Nature, 
Insincerity.  and the Depravation of Education and Conversation. This is that which makes us Lazy in our search after Truth, and Partial in the Examination of our Opinions and Actions; for when the bend of our Nature runs towards Carnal Pleasures, and this is confirmed by Education and false Notices of things, we shall be apt to take up and caress ourselves with present, easy and ready Entertainments. We shall not extend our Care or Prospect very far, but be Content to enjoy the sweet in every present Circumstance and Event, without Regard to their future tendency, which was the Happiness (if my memory deceive me not) of the Cyrenaics: the same distemper prevailing, we shall be apt to think every thing healthful that is pleasant, and easily admit those principles most true, which are most grateful to our Appetites. 'Tis not therefore to be wondered at, if the same Humour which makes us greedy of Embracing, make us obstinate in defending pleasing Errors. For the same Fondness and Partiality renders us incapable of Instruction, and Impatient of Advice, though designed by the most faithful Affection, and managed with the most Prudent Tenderness.  

Hor. l. 1. Ep. 8.  Fidis offendar Medicis, Irascar amicis  
Cur me funesto properant arcere veterno?  
Quae nocuere sequar, fugiam quae profore credam.  
The Plainness of Physicians and of Friends,  
Tho' by Affection moved and Truth, offends;  
Can't I enjoy my Fatal Rest for you?  
Let me alone my Ruin to pursue  
And fly my Happiness.—  
It is easy now to judge what must be be the state of that Man who is insincere and false to himself in all his Deliberations, and Obstinate in the Defence of his Errors, who is partial in all his own Reflections, and Impatient of the faithful Reflections of others: how is it probable that that Man should attain to any Rational Happiness who is uncapable of using his own Reason aright; or enjoying the benefit of another's.  
But 'tis not the only Mischief we suffer by these Diseases of the Mind that they render us uncapable of Discovering true Happiness, 
Levity and Inconstancy.  they do also disable us to pursue it when discovered with that earnestness and vigour which the Importance of the thing requires; for they must needs beget in us a slothful Remissness in our Endeavours, and an unhappy Levity and Inconstancy in all our Designs and Purposes: 'tis very improbable that we should be steady and  in those purposes which are not founded upon clear and solid Reason, or Zealous in such as are encountered with violent Opposition from ourselves: 
* Quidam alternis Vatinii, alternis Catones; & modo parum illis Severus est Curius, parùm pauper Fabricius, parùm frugi & contentus vili Tubero. Modo Licinum Divitiis, Apicium Coenis, Mecaenarem deliciis provocant. Maximum Judicium est malae mentis Fluctuatio, & inter simulationem Virtutum, amoremque Vitiorum, assidua jactatio, Sen. Epist. cxx.  Hence 'tis that the Scenes of Man's Life are so various, so frequently Changed, that every Man does so often shift his Person, and appear a very different Actor on the Stage. Thus we meet with Epicurean and Stoic, Clergyman and Merchant, Devoto and Statesman, Enthusiast and Parasite, all acted in their turn by the selfsame Man; who is tossed to and fro by the sudden Sallies or Gusts of various Desires and Passions. Nor is it any Man's Wit or Sagacity that turns him into all these different shapes, but his Vice and Folly, for being ignorant of the true good, the true Happiness of Man, he catches at fleeting Shadows, and Courts thin, airy Dreams, and uncertain Apparitions; and therefore daily sets up New Projects, and those too, repugnant to the Old: And thus, Man wearieth out himself by vain and unsuccessful, because unconstant vanishing Attempts. This were tolerable, did it befall us only in Temporal things, whose Emptiness makes our success itself frustration and disappointment; but alas we suffer the same thing in the weighty Concerns of Virtue and Happiness, our Religious purposes do generally die strangled in the Birth, and all our glorious Designs dash and break themselves to pieces against the next Difficulty or Temptation; and yet relapsed into a state of Folly, and Sin, and Danger, we would again return to that narrow Path whose steep and rough ascent discouraged us; wand'ring in Night, and Fogg and Storm, fain would we reach the Happy Region where calm light and cheerful day does ever dwell: plainly and without a Metaphor, when we resolve to be good and virtuous, we are kept from it by the seeming Ease and Pleasure of Sin, and the hardships necessary to be undergone in the attainment of Virtue; and yet the Remorse, and Danger, and Dissatisfaction which do always accompany a Negligent and Sinful Life, make us wish for the Peace and Comfort, the Security and Rewards of Virtue. But, Oh! how seldom do we proceed further than wishes or some Attempts more lazy and dis-spirited than our Wishes! The Reason's plain, Virtue is more Rational, Vice is more grateful; The Understanding is convinced, but the Will is enslaved; The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. A Sinner cannot purchase the Pleasures of the Mind, but by some uneasy Penances, and Severities of the Body, nor enjoy the Pleasures of the Body without the Checks and Reproaches of the Mind; and this makes him unsteady and irresolute in all his purposes.  

A Scheam or Representation of the whole.  Would you see an Instance of the whole Matter? you feel it, better than I can describe it, and yet 'tis not difficult to make a tolerable Representation of that which I have in myself often proved and often bewailed: Nor can I see, why I should blush to own those frailties which are so incident to Humane Nature, that the greatest Glory and Happiness of mortal Man is not to have been never subject to 'em, but to have conquered 'em.  
One while moved by the gaze and wonder, the respect and reverence, with which the World treats greatness, and by those Opportunities of Pleasure which I saw Wealth and Power put into Men's hands; I resolved to rouse all the Strength, to employ all the Force and Power of Mind and Body for the Attainment of Wealth and Greatness; I flattered myself, I knew how to merit, nor did I think myself uncapable of practising all the subtle humble Arts of Candidates and Dependants, could I once prevail with myself to stoop to 'em; but when the toil and Difficulty and Meanness too of this attempt had given me a little disgust; and the Pleasures of Friendship and Fortune, (by neither of which have I ever been utterly deserted) encountered my Natural Inclinations to ease, and softness, I soon exchanged my former Notion of Happiness for a more calm and quiet one: I began to think it wise to live to day, and to prefer my present Blessings in Possession before the uncertain future ones of Opinion and Expectation. I wished for an Opportunity to retire from every thing that might awaken my Ambition, or interrupt my quiet, and thought that in a lazy shade, and obscure retreat, I might with most freedom and truest Contentment enjoy myself, a cheap Pleasure, and an humble Friend, and laugh at the Ambitious restless part of Mankind.  
Sometimes springing a thought of light, and lost in the Pleasure of a Speculation, I have resolved to devote myself entirely to a Studious Life, I adored the Memory of those great Souls whose Works have given 'em an Immortality here below, I looked upon the Learned (as Epicurus words it) as Gods amongst Men, I did not question but Contemplation which once seemed to me to be the Business of Angels, must needs be the Joy and Delight of Man, but alas! that I must say it, all that Learning which is purchased with toil and Difficulty is but a vain, uncertain Amusement of the Mind, it has much of Pomp and Ostentation in it, but is of very little use: I would it were not true that those parts of Learning which are of most Use have least of Certainty and Demonstration, and those which can justly pretend to most Certainty make Men the worst Return of their Studies, and are of least use. I have observed accordingly that the most Learned are not always the most serviceable to the World, not only for this Reason, but also Thoughtfulness and Retirement rendering Men very Commonly as unfit for as a verse to Business, bereaving 'em of that Sufficiency and Skill, that Address and Presence of Mind, which is not to be gained but by Conversation and Experience: and it was easy for me to remark that the active and busy Man was not only more Skilful, but more Eloquent too than the Contemplative, as having a much clearer insight into the Humours and Passions of Men, and the secret Springs and Interests by which they are moved, and being able to manage 'em with a more popular Dexterity and more cleanly, gentile Insinuation. And now I began to esteem of Learning as a pretty Ornament of Life, but not fit to be the support of it, I thought it might serve to fill the void and empty spaces, but not to be the Business and Employment of Life.  
I have been sometimes ravished with the Beauty of a Noble Action, and resolved to lead a Life severe and Virtuous, spent, not in private Ease, and lazy Divertions, but in the Honour and Pleasure of doing good. But good God how weak is Nature! how slight are such Impressions! how numerous the Temptations! how prevalent the Inclinations which carry us another way!  
This has been a long time my state, tossed on uncertain Seas, and hoisting Sail to every Wind that blew, and I find that neither greatness of Mind nor Fortune doth raise Men above this Inconstancy. For I meet with my own Reflections, my own Passions in the Excellent 
* De Tranquillitate animi.  Seneca; only the Character of himself he there presents us with, is expressed with more life and briskness, and exalted as much above this of mine, as was the Nature and Station of that great Man above mine. I cannot say that I have yet made my Port, but I have discovered it, and I Sail though slowly, yet in a direct Line, having my Happiness, my Haven all along in ken.  
From this Account of the Rise and Progress of Man's Misery, 
The Nature or Universal and Immediate Cause of Happiness Inferred.  'tis easy to infer what it is, wherein the Happiness of this present life consists, or at lest what the Universal and Immediate Cause of it is, namely a Conformity of our Minds and Lives to true Reason and sound Philosophy; this is a state of Light and Knowledge, of Peace and Security, of lasting and rational Delight, This invests the Understanding in its just Sovereignty and Dominion, and restores the Will to it's true Liberty, this makes our prospect of the future taking and inviting, and our Reflection on the time past easy and comfortable, This lays a solid foundation for our Reliance on the Merits and Intercession of our Mediator, and raises our Hope as high as Heaven; this prevents our Misfortunes and Calamities or, what is more Happy, enables us to Conquer 'em: In a word, this makes us great in Life, but much more great and venerable in Death, Righteousness and Goodness revealing its Beauty and Glory most then, when all things else do shrink and fade.  

Two general Rules for attaining Happiness inferred.  We see the Happiness that springs from our Conformity and Subjection to Reason, and 'tis easy from those two things wherein especially I have declared the Sinners Deviation from Reason to consist, to infer, what we must do, if we will live Rationally, First, We must propose to ourselves a Wise and Rational End of Life. Secondly, We must pursue this End with Life, and Spirit, and Constancy. These I laid down as the first and most Comprehensive Rules for the Attainment of Happiness, I will therefore say something of each, but briefly and in general terms as the Nature of this Treatise requires.  
First, We must propose to ourselves a Rational and wise End of Life; that is, the true Happiness of a Rational Creature: When we have done this, when our Understandings are fully convinced and persuaded of the Excellence and Necessity of it, and when we have possessed our Minds with a sacred Reverence, a firm and devout Love for it: This like the Eastern Star the Magis, will lead us through all the wind and turn of Life to Bethlehem and Happiness; this will soon disengage us from that Labyrinth of Contradictious Desires and wild Opinions, in which the Fool and Sinner is endlessly entangled. When we have done this, we shall find every place a School, every one we Converse with a Tutor, and every passage of our Life, or another's full of Instruction: Not a look whether Cheerful or Melancholy; not a word whether wise or foolish; not a Sigh that an oppressed Heart vents, not a Joy that smiles in the face but will teach us Philosophy; show us the Use and Beauty of Divine Truth and Divine Virtue; for in the Vicious, we shall see what false and fading Pleasures, what idle fears, what vain sorrows, false Principles, and the Tyranny of Sin fills their Minds with; in the Good we shall see, what true Peace, Virtue creates in the Mind, what Constancy and Majesty in the Life, what Courage and Hopes it inspires in Affliction, what Magnanimity and Humility in Prosperity; and in a word, what Light, what Serenity it diffuses through the whole Man: we shall see in many Instances every Day, what the Mischief of irrational Desires and ungovernable Passions are; and on the contrary, how great the Advantages, how charming the Beauty of Truth and Virtue, of Wisdom and the Due Government and Regulation of all our Passions: Nor is the Instruction and Illumination of our Understanding promoted by every Accident which falls under our Observation, and by all sorts of People, with whom we converse: the only Advantage which we shall reap from the prefixing ourselves a rational End of Life, and the possessing our Souls with the Love of it; for when we have done this, we shall be actually freed from the greater part at least of the Troubles and Calamities of Life, we shall be raised above all senseless silly Desires, and consequently above all senseless, silly Vexations and Griefs, and unmanly Complaints: for when we have set our Hearts upon true and rational Happiness, how unnecessary, nay how despicable will most of those things appear which we now admire and Covet: we shall not then think it reasonable to sigh and toil for this House or that Land, for this Preferment or that Trade, this Honour or that Beauty, for these are no Essential, no Necessary Ingredients of a Rational Happiness. Nor is this all, thy Joys and Pleasures will grow and increase upon thee; for by approaching every day nearer and nearer to thy great End, thou wilt be wonderfully surprised with fresh Delight, whilst thou dost behold the fruit of thy Travail, the Advantage of thy Philosophy, and the daily increase of thy Wealth: thou wilt see thyself, like a thriving Plant grow up daily more strong and beautiful: the toil of others sorts to no Happy End, The Covetous Man grows not Richer by Heaping up, nor the Ambitious Man greater by rising higher, or at least neither grows Happier by being either Richer or Greater; but thou wilt every day grow wiser by study, more Virtuous by Practice, Calmer and Happier by both. O to what a height and Perfection will thy Pleasure rise, when thy store shall grow big enough to Feast and Entertain not thyself only, but all Men else; when the thirsty shall come and drink at thy Streams, and the scorched shall refresh themselves under thy shade; when thou led by the same Spirit with our great Lord and Master shalt open the Eyes of the Blind, and the Ears of the Deaf, shalt cast out Devils and strengthen the Feet of the Lame; I mean, when thou shalt teach the foolish Wisdom, when thou shalt persuade and Charm the Obstinate, when thou shalt deliver the Unclean and the Passionate from the Evil Spirits, the Vices that possessed 'em, and when thou shalt teach the Enslaved and Impotent Sinner, how to overcome the World, the Flesh, and the Devil, thou wilt then indeed, as thou art the Image, so do the Works of God, thou wilt be a Heavenly and Tutelar though mortal Angel amongst Men; and wherever thou dost, there Wisdom, Virtue, and Happiness will dwell too. But to attain to this state, 'tis not only Necessary to prefix ourselves a Rational End of Life; But also  
Secondly, We must pursue this End with Life, and Spirit, and Constancy. It is not a good Fit or a Devout Passion that will make us either Virtuous or Happy, there must go more than this to conquer an ill habit, or implant a good one; 'tis not one brisk Sally, or one warm Charge that will subdue the World and Flesh, and put us into an entire Possession of Victory and Security; No, when Warmth and Passion have made a prosperous Impression on the Enemy, a sober Patience must make good the ground we have gained, a steady and resolved Courage must urge and press the Advantage to an Issue; without Vigour, Patience & Constancy to carry us still forwards, the warmth and Passion with which we begin the Course of Virtue, will stand us in little stead; Ah! how many have marched out of Egypt, and perished in the Wilderness! how many have wrecked within sight of Shore? How many have lost their Reward of Repentance by their Relapse and Revolt? how many have fallen by Negligence, Security, and Sloth into that wretched state, out of which they had once delivered themselves by Courage, and Resolution, and Self-denial? Nor is the Necessity of Vigour, Patience, and Constancy, in our pursuit of Happiness, the only Motive to it; the Certainty of Success and the Greatness and Eminence of the Advantages, which attend it are sufficient to animate and encourage any Man that seriously Considers it: the Labour and Hope of the Husbandman is lost, unless the fruitful Earth, and fruitful Seed be blessed with fruitful Seasons too; The Trade of the Merchant is properly but Adventuring, and his increase depends as much on Winds and Waves, and other as uncertain Chances, as on his own Skill and Diligence: Fortune must assist the Courage and the Conduct of the Soldier, or else Poverty and Dishonour will be the only purchase of his Blood and hazard; But it fares not thus with Man in his pursuit of true Happiness, the Traffic of the Philosopher depends not upon Winds nor Tide, the Seeds of Virtue, if the Ground be well Cultivated will thrive in any Wether, and sometimes better in Storms than Sunshine, and finally the success of our Conflicts against Sin and Misery depends not on our Fortune, but our Courage and our Industry. How unspeakable a Pleasure is it now to think that we cannot be disappointed in our Travails, nor defeated of our Hopes, while we Labour for Virtue and Happiness, if our Endeavours be sincere and persevering, our success is certain and unquestionable; but what an accession doth this Pleasure receive when we consider, what will be the glorious fruit of this Success, Tranquillity, Cheerfulness, Greatness and Enlargement of Soul, Indolence, Pleasure, Life, Immortality, Security, and in one word Happiness. O Glorious reward of our Conflict and our Victories! what neither Wealth nor Greatness, nor Honour nor Crowns; what neither Blood nor Toil, nor Cunning nor Fortune can give! that Rational and sincere Endeavours after Wisdom and Virtue will give the meanest Man upon Earth, that is, Happiness! O Blessed Issue of Philosophical, that is, truly Christian Travail! the Rich, the Great the Honourable, the Mighty may Complain even of their success, and repent 'em of the Purchase they have made at too dear a Rate; but the Philosopher, the Christian can never repent of the success of his Study, his Self-denial, his Patience, his Prayers: for how is it possible to complain of being Happy, or repent of being Wise and Virtuous? there is nothing Empty, nothing Evil, nothing Mean, nothing Uncertain in true Wisdom, in Rational Happiness.  
This brief & general Account of Happiness, & of the way to it, does naturally instruct us how we are to treat the Body, and what it is that a Rational Education, and wise Conversation ought to design and aim at, if our Conformity to Reason be either the Happiness of this present Life or the Immediate Cause of it, (for I will not trouble myself with Nice and subtle Distinctions in Moral Discourses) then 'tis plain that we are obliged to such a kind of Discipline and Government of ourselves as may render the Body most Obsequious to the Mind, and may exalt and establish the Power and Dominion of Reason; for whatever tends to obscure our Understanding, to enfeeble the Will, to cherish our sensual Inclinations, and augment their force and violence, doth so far Necessarily tend to deprave the Nature of Man, and to subvert and o'erthrow his Happiness; and from hence it appears that the Excellence of Education consists in possessing the Minds of Youth with wise Principles, with true Notions of Good and Evil, and informing and moulding their Minds into an Esteem and veneration for Wisdom and Virtue. The first Virtue I conceive a Child capable of is Obedience, and this is indeed the Foundation of all Virtue: to this let him be inur'd and trained up betimes, he that finds it easy to obey another's Reason, will not find it difficult to obey his own; for when the judgement comes to be formed and ripened, when it comes to exercise its Authority, it will find a Body not used to give, but receive Commands; from this virtue of Obedience he is to be led gently on to a Rational and voluntary Choice of what is good, he must be taught gradually not only his plain Duty, but the Motives to it; for it is as necessary to his Happiness that he should love, as that he should know his Duty: But this we strive in vain to instill by Art and Instruction, if we do not instill it by the Influence and Authority of wise and excellent Examples too.  
As to Conversation 'tis plain, that it ought to be the Practice of those Virtues which a Pious Education instilled, and that we ought to have no less Reverence for our Reason, when we are at our own Disposal, and under our own Government, than we had for the Authority of our Parents when we were under theirs: what ought to be the tie and Ligaments of Friendship, what the Rules of Conversation, and what the great Ends of Society, is abundantly manifest from the Nature of that Happiness which it behoves us to propose as the great End of Life; what is the great End of Man ought to be the Design of Society; and therefore 'tis plain that Wisdom and Virtue ought to be the foundation and bond of those Friendships which we enter into, voluntarily and of Choice, That Conversation should be so regulated that we may grow by it more Wise and Virtuous, or at least that our Discourse, if it be not profitable should be innocent, and that we should do and say nothing in Company which we should have Reason to blush at, or repent of in private.  
I have now finished this Discourse which I designed only as an Introduction to, or Preparative for those which are to follow: I do not think, that 'tis now Necessary for me in a Pathetic Conclusion, to persuade Men to endeavour to be Happy; the Desires of Happiness are inseparable from all Being's, at leastwise 'tis impossible to be Rational and not desire to be Happy: if I have therefore sufficiently proved that 'tis possible to be Happy, and if I have showed that a diligent Enquiry, a vigorous and persevering Industry is Necessary to the Attainment of it; if I have pointed out the general Causes of Humane Misery, and together with 'em their general Cure and Remedy. I have done enough to enkindle those Desires & beget those Resolutions in my Reader, which if they do not make him actually Happy, will at least dispose and prepare him for a further Enquiry after Happiness, which was the utmost design of these Papers; I have therefore nothing more to put him in mind of now, but this, That as I do all along suppose the Grace of God Necessary to second and enforce our Reason, so I would ever be understood to urge and press the Necessity of our Prayers as much as that of our Endeavours, the Fervency of the one, as much as the Sincerity of the other.   
FINIS.