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<DATE>2009-09-05</DATE>
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<NAME>Mona Logarbo</NAME>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B090111.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<BIBNO T="oclc">49521008</BIBNO>
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<HEAD>A POSTSCRIPT.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">To the Paper of HUMILIATION.</HEAD>
<P>THAT Religion and Vertue do greatly conduce to the Weal and Happine&s;s of Kingdoms, States, and of all Societies of Men, as well as of &s;ingle Per&s;ons; and Irreligion, Profanene&s;s, Vice and Debauchery, to their Di&s;&s;olution and De&s;truction, hath been ob&s;erved by Philo&s;ophers and Wi&s;e Men in all Ages: And that they have both a Natural Ten|dancy thereunto, and are moreover often directed by a &s;pe|cial Providence of God in concurrence with other cau&s;es to tho&s;e Ends, I have both by dome&s;tict Examples and Rea&s;ons, as far as I thought nece&s;&s;ary in &s;o plain a Ca&s;e, &s;hewed in the <HI>Caveat</HI> before mentioned. In which taking notice of the great Degeneracy and Corruption of the Manners of this Na|tion, I al&s;o &s;hewed that our late Extraordinary, though unde|&s;erved, <HI>Deliverance</HI> did in a more &s;pecial manner oblige us to a &s;peedy &amp; effectual <HI>Reformation</HI> thereof: And that we could not expect but that the Neglect thereof under &s;uch &s;pecial Obli|gations would be attended with &s;ome ob&s;ervable Di&s;appoint|ments or Ob&s;tructions in our Councils and the Cour&s;e of our Affairs, as we have &s;een it hitherto fall out. To this our Solemn <HI>Thank&s;giving</HI> added a further &s;pecial Obligation; and the not doing it thereupon doth beyond all que&s;tion aggravate the Fault of our Neglect, whereupon I pre&s;umed to repre&s;ent the Ca&s;e briefly in a particular <HI>Dedication</HI> of tho&s;e Papers to the King. And when we had another Solemn day appointed for <HI>Fa&s;ting and Praying</HI> for God's Ble&s;&s;ing upon our Forces in the Warr again&s;t the French King, which certainly adds ano|ther Obligation, it was but a rea&s;onable Pro&s;ecution of the &s;ame hone&s;t De&s;ign to note briefly the Nece&s;&s;ity of making a Publick Reformation a Concomitant of &s;uch a Publick Humi|liation. To all this I will now add the&s;e few Con&s;iderations:</P>
<P>They, <HI>who have any real Love to their Country,</HI> be their Religi|on what it will, if they will acquit them&s;elves but like men
<PB N="2" REF="2"><!-- PDF PAGE 11 -->of &s;en&s;e and rea&s;on, ought certainly to endeavour the promoti|on of &s;uch a Publick Reformation, by the promoting of &s;ome good and Effectual Laws for that purpo&s;e, even upon Civil Con&s;iderations, as a thing tending by a natural Efficacy to make the People much better either for Peace or Warr, and for the Common Benefit and Advantage of the whole Socie|ty. And for an Experiment of the truth of this we need not go far from home, or from our own times. It will be &s;ufficient but to reflect back, and con&s;ider well the different Morals of the two Parties in our late Civil Warrs, and their different Succe&s;s.</P>
<P>And if they have indeed any thing of <HI>true Loyalty</HI> in them (whereof many have made &s;o high Profe&s;&s;ion) this they ought to demon&s;trate both by ab&s;taining them&s;elves from contem|ning and affronting the Laws and Goverment of their Coun|try in things &s;o &s;acred with all well con&s;tituted States, as the Religion Publickly profe&s;&s;ed by them; and by a real and active concern, as they have occa&s;ion, that all others be effect|ually re&s;trained. If they have no ju&s;t concern it is certain their Loyalty is but a Superficial thing, a meer pretence for &s;ome de&s;ign or advantage to them&s;elves: Nor ever did or ever will &s;uch Men prove &s;teddy to any Goverment, but ba&s;e|ly betray all, and &s;acrifice them to their own Intere&s;t; and therefore are by no means to be tru&s;ted by any wi&s;e Govern|ours, notwith&s;tanding any Parts or Abilities, for which they ought the more to be &s;u&s;pected.</P>
<P>And for tho&s;e who are <HI>Men of Religion,</HI> and more particu|larly tho&s;e of the Church of England, be&s;ides the Obligations and Con&s;iderations before mentioned, <HI>the Common Prayers</HI> of the Church which are daily u&s;ed, and in each Hou&s;e of Par|liament, as they do afford to them who are there pre&s;ent a daily Admonition of their Duty, &s;o are they in my apprehen|&s;ion a &s;pecial and great obligation upon them to it. For to pray that God will be plea&s;ed <HI>to direct and pro&s;per all their Con|&s;ultations to the Advancement of his Glory,</HI> &amp;c. and never &s;o much as enterinto any Con&s;ultation for the effectual re&s;train|ing the Abominable Profanation of his mo&s;t holy Name by all &s;orts of people throughout the whole Nation, and mo&s;t impu|dent and pre&s;umptuous violation of his Laws; to pray <HI>that
<PB N="3" REF="2"><!-- PDF PAGE 11 -->all things may be &s;o ordered &amp; &s;etled by their Endeavours that Reli|gion &amp; Piety may be E&s;tabli&s;hed,</HI> and never u&s;e any Endeauours for the &s;uppre&s;&s;ing of &s;o common and notorious Impieties in the Nation; What is it but to add Impiety to Impiety, to turn Religion into meer Formality, and in&s;ted of procuring a Ble&s;&s;ing to help to fill up the Mea&s;ure of our Sins and pull down the Judgments we have rea&s;on to fear, the &s;ooner upon us; And the like ob&s;ervations may be made upon the <HI>occa&s;i|onall</HI> Prayers and Confe&s;&s;ions purpo&s;ely compo&s;ed for the late Solemnities.</P>
<P>And for tho&s;e, who perhaps may think better of &s;ome <HI>&s;e|parate Churches,</HI> certainly they would take it ami&s;s if we &s;hould que&s;tion whether they do con&s;tantly Pray for God's Direction and Ble&s;&s;ing upon this Parliament, or le&s;s then is expre&s;&s;ed in the Common Prayers: And if they come not behind in their Prayers, and yet are as backward in their Con&s;ultations and Endeavours, I &s;ee not how they are one jot more excu&s;able, but mu&s;t necce&s;&s;arily fall into the &s;ame Condemnation, if not greater for having de&s;erted the Church and yet be no better.</P>
<P>And the&s;e few <HI>Que&s;tions</HI> I would propo&s;e to them all, who pretend to be Chri&s;tians: Whether they can hope for any good &s;ucce&s;s in this Undertaking without <HI>God's Ble&s;&s;ing,</HI> unle&s;s it be &s;uch as God &s;ometimes gives to wicked men, whom he u&s;eth for the correction of others? Whether there be not &s;uch <HI>Cur&s;ed Things,</HI> and <HI>National Sins,</HI> which may provoke him to withdraw his <HI>Pre&s;ence,</HI> and withhold his <HI>Ble&s;&s;ings</HI> from Chri&s;tians, as well as from others, untill they be removed? Whether there be not rea&s;on to believe that <HI>this Nation is Po|luted and defiled</HI> and entangled in &s;ome &s;uch National Sins and Cur&s;ed Things, which may ob&s;truct the Divine Ble&s;&s;ing? whether their unaccountable flow, or Retrograde <HI>Cour&s;e of our Affairs</HI> (no le&s;s to be admired than the precedent ea&s;y Revolution,) may not with rea&s;on be reduced and imputed to &s;ome &s;uch &s;ecret cau&s;e? And whether a diligent <HI>&s;earch</HI> into that remoter but mo&s;t prevalent Cau&s;e, and &s;peedy and ef|fectual <HI>Reformation</HI> of what is ami&s;s, be not the mo&s;t proper bu&s;ine&s;s to begin with, (if we do indeed depend more upon God's Ble&s;&s;ing, now under &s;uch inviting Circum&s;tances, than
<PB N="4" REF="3"><!-- PDF PAGE 12 -->upon our own &s;hallow and ineffectual Policies) to compleat a happy Progre&s;s of our Affairs?</P>
<P>This, if it was done to purpo&s;e, as it ea&s;ily may, and ought to be, would &s;oon produce a great Alteration by the Ble&s;&s;ing of God in the Cour&s;e of our Affairs for the better. Magnanimity, and Courage is the part and duty of a Chri&s;ti|an, as much as of an upright Judge or a Souldier: and if we will ever &s;hew it, now is the time. If we ba&s;ely fear the lo&s;s of a few debauched Mini&s;ters, Gentlemen or Souldiers, we &s;hall really lo&s;e a far greater Number of much better men, and be en&s;laved and betrayed, as we well de&s;erve, by the Company we choo&s;e: whereas by a generous doing our Du|ty we &s;hould better &s;ecure them better'd by reformation to our Party.</P>
<P>PO&s;&s;ibly, in the Peru&s;al of this Paper, &s;ome who are mo&s;t attentive to the Importance of the Matter, may over-look other things, and think it very good and hone&s;t; but the&s;e mu&s;t be Men who have &s;ome reli&s;h of &s;uch things But others, who are not much affected with that, will be apt the more to regard the Form, and cen&s;ure it for rude and in&s;olent; and that I am well plea&s;ed they &s;hould do, and as &s;everely as they will: For I know no better way to convince them of a Fault of their own, than to make them judge them&s;elves in the Per|&s;on of another. For If I be rude by plain-dealing with my Fellow-Creatures for their Good, who are perhaps but a little above me in &s;ome petty, accidental, tran&s;itory Advan|tage, what are they who are not only more rude toward the State, but impious again&s;t their Creator, or can behold &s;uch Rudene&s;s and Impiety without any Cen&s;ure, or Endeavour to re&s;train it? Mu&s;t I be cen&s;ured for breaking the Laws of Man, or but of Civility, and out of a good De&s;ign? And it is equal then that others &s;hall be permitted in impudent Contempt of the Religion of the State, and impious violation of the Laws of Almighty God? <HI>Therefore thou art inexcu&s;able, O Man, who&s;oever thou art that judge&s;t; for wherein thou judge&s;t another, thou condemne&s;t thy &s;elf. And thinke&s;t thou, O Man that judge&s;t, &mdash;and do&s;t the &s;ame, that thou &s;halt e&s;cape the Judgment of God? Or de&s;pi&s;e&s;t thou,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS</TRAILER>
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