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againft all manner of Difficulties; for fuch

is a good Confcience, and a well-ground- 1 Joh. iii. 21. ed Confidence towards God, which is its infeparable At

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3:* The more a Man knows, and the better those Subjects are, upon which his Studies have been employed, the heavier fhall his Account be, unless his Piety and Virtue be proportionably eminent and exemplary. So little reason have we to be exalted with our Attainments; and not rather to fear more, as we improve more in Knowledge. And what Improvements indeed can poffibly be fo great, às to juftifie our being proud of them? Forno Man can ever want this Mortification of his Vanity, That what he knows is but a very little, in comparifon of what he ftill continues ignorant of. Confider this, and, inftead of boafting thy Knowledge of a few Things,confefs and be out of Countenance for the many more which thou doft not understand.And why fo forward to prefer thy felf be fore others, when there are fo many Perfons, whose Learning and Skill in the Rules of Living, give them an undoubted Right to be preferr'd before You? If you would attain to ufeful Learning indeed; learn to conceal your Attainments, and be content that the World fhould think meanly of you: For Lowlinefs of Mind, and not thinking of a Man's felf more highly than he ought to think, is the moft difficult, but withal the moft profitable Leffon; and the preferring others before our felves, is a Point of true Wisdom and high Perfection. Nor ought our Opinions of this kind be changed, though we fhould fee another guilty of fome egregious Folly, or very grievous Wickedness; fince we our felves are Men of like Paffions and Frailties; nor can we tell how long our own Virtue may continue unfhaken. Remember then, that Infirmities are common to all Mankind; and fo remember it, as to perfwade your felf, or at leaft to fufpect, that these are

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dealt to Thee in as plentiful a measure, as to any other Perfon whatsoever.

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CHA P. III.

The Doctrine of Truth.

Leffed is the Man, whom Truth condefcends to the Teach; not by dark Figures, and Words quickly forgotten,but by a full and familiar ComPfal. xciv. 12. munication of it felf. Happy fhould we be, could we but fee things as they are, free from the Errors of our fond Opinions, and the false Estimates we form from thence. How high a Value do we set upon the Knack of Diftinguishing and Difputing nicely, in Matters hid from common Apprehenfions; but Matters too, which to know nothing of, will not render a Man's Cafe one whit the worse at the Day of Judgment? Egregious and Elaborate Folly! which overlooks useful and neceffary Points, as Things not worthy our Regard; and bends our Induftry to find out thofe, which either turn to no Account, or what is worfe than none. Thus taking pains to Pfalm xcv. be Ignorant at laft, and verifying, in our own felves, the Prophet's Defcription of the Heathen Idols, which have Eyes, and yet fee not.

Why fhould we then, with fuch eager Toil, ftrive to be Mafters of Logical Definitions, or what do our abftracted Speculations profit us? He, whom the Eternal Word inftructs, takes a much fhorter Cut to Truth; For from this. Word alone are all Things; In This they center and confpire; and this is the true Principle of Knowledge, without which no Man undertands or judges any thing aright. But he, who reduces all to One Principle, and in that one difcerns

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all things, may establish his Mind in perfect Peace, and reft himself fecurely upon God. O Thou whofe very Effence is Truth, unite me to thy felf in perfect Love! The Variety of Subjects tire and diftract my Soul; in Thee alone I find the Sum of all my Wishes and Defires. Let all our Teachers be for ever Dumb, and this great Volume of the Creatures continue fhut to me, fo Thou vouchafe thy more immediate Information, and teach me thy felf alone.

The better acquainted any Man is with himself, the more he converses with, and retires in his own Breast; and the lefs he wanders abroad,and dwells upon things without him, the more extensive and fublime is his Knowledge, and the easier attained; because this Man receives immediate Illumination, and is directed by a Ray darted from Heaven into his Soul. A Mind fincere, and pure, and firm, is not diverted by Multiplicity of Objects; for the Honour of God is its conftant Aim; and having but one End to purfue, it is in perfect Peace and Unity with it felf, and does not divide its Thoughts with Vanity and Self-love. For what can be a greater Hindrance than our own ambitious and ungovern'd Paffion? A truly good and pious Man first orders and difpofes all his Business regularly, before he enters upon the Execution of any Defign: He fuffers no vicious Inclination to divert him, but makes every Undertaking fubmit to the Dictates of Reafon and Religion. The fharpeft as well as nobleft Conflict is that wherein we labour to gain a Conqueft over our felves; and this fhould be our principal and conftant Care, to get ground every Day, by bringing our Paffions more and more under, and becoming more mafterly Proficients in Virtue and Goodnefs.

Nor may we fuppofe any fo exalted Degree of Vir-tue, that it fhould ceafe to be a State of Proficiency; for fuch is the Condition of Mortals, that their utmost poffible Perfection in this Life,is ever embafed with an

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Allay of Imperfection; and their brightest Notions clouded with fome Confufion and Obfcurity: But in the Study of our felves we are beft capable of avoiding Mistakes; and therefore a true Senfe of what we are, and that Humility, which cannot but proceed from fuch a Senfe, is a furer Way of bringing us to God, than the most laborious and profound Enquiries after Knowledge. Not that Learning is in its own Nature blameable; for the Understanding of any thing whatfoever, as confidered fimply, and as it really is, ought to be acknowledged commendable and good; the Gift and Ordinance of God; but the Danger is, when we give this the Precedence in our Efteem, before things abundantly better, I mean, a good Confcience, and a virtuous Converfation. The true Reason then why, in an Age where Learning is had in univerfal Admiration, fo little Proof is made; and both Error and Vice do,notwithstanding, fo wretchedly abound, is, in Truth,no other than that Men generally mistake their main Business and proper Excellence. They had rather cultivate their Parts than their Manners, and account it a greater Accomplishment,to Know much, than to Live well.

Oh! Would Men but beftow half the Pains in rooting out Vice and planting Virtue in its ftead, which they are content to throw away upon captious and unprofitable Questions, and that Oppofiti1 Tim. iv. 20. on of Science, falfly fo called, what a blef

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fed Reformation fhould we fee? Then would not the Vulgar, and Meaner Sort, abandon themselves to fuch fcandalous, brutish, and abominable Wickedness nor would the Men of Senfe, and Learning, and Qua lity, continue foprofligate and diffolute in their Manand blemish, as they do, their Honour and Attainments, with fhameless and licentious Impurities. Surely this could not be, did men but confider at all, that a Day of Judgment there will come, wherein Mea

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fures will be taken very different from ours; when the Enquiry, upon which our Affairs muft all turn, will be, not how much we have Heard or Read, but how much we have Done; not how Eloquent our Expreffions, but how Pure and Devout our Lives ; how much our Manners, not our Capacity or Breeding, our Wit or Rhetorick, diftinguifhed us from common Men. But if the Credit and Honour of the thing were the only Confideration, yet even thus, Where is the Fruit of all this mighty Toil? What is become of all the Eminent Divines, Philofophers, Lawyers, Orators, Perfons celebrated far and near juft at the time when they lived and flourished; but now fomebody elfe enjoys the Gains of all that Learning and Fatigue; and 'tis odds, whether he that lives after their Labours, ever fo much as fends one Thought after them. These Men, fo eminent in their refpective Profeffions, no doubt, thought themselves confiderable in their own time; but now that time is gone, and they are loft in univerfal Silence: Their very Names buried as deep as their Bodies; and the one was scarce fooner out of Sight, than the other out of all Mention and Remembrance.

Ah wretched Men! How have you been deluded ? How short and withering a Good does that Fame and Reputation prove, which you vainly promised your felves would be Eternal; always fresh and flourishing, always precious in the Mouths and Memories of Pofterity? But this, and no better, is the Condition of all worldly Honour. Oh! had you but been equally careful to improve in Piety, and rendered your Virtues as eminent as your Learning, your Studies then had not been fruitlefs; but followed with a Recompence which would not thus have forfaken you. But this is the fatal Error of our Age, that infinite Numbers are deftroyed by unprofitable Knowledge. They lay themselves out upon Subtleties and Curiosities, which

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