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<NAME>John Latta</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="court order">
<PB REF="1">
<OPENER><SIGNED>Moore Mayor.</SIGNED>
<DATELINE><DATE>Martis vice&s;imo quarto die Octob. <HI>1682.</HI> Annoque Regis <HI>CAROLI</HI> Secundi Angl. <HI>&amp;c. xxxiiij.</HI></DATE></DATELINE></OPENER>
<P>UPON the Motion of Sir <HI>Wil|liam Turner</HI> Knight, and Al|derman, This Court doth de|&s;ire Mr. <HI>Evans</HI> to Print his SERMON preached in the <HI>Guild-hall</HI> Chappel the la&s;t Lords day before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of this City.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>WAGSTAFFE.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>Moderation Stated: IN A SERMON Preached before the Right Honourable THE LORD MAYOR AND ALDERMEN OF THE City of LONDON. At <HI>Guild-Hall</HI> Chappel. <HI>Octob.</HI> 22. 1682.</P>
<P>By <HI>JOHN EVANS,</HI> M. A. Rector of St. <HI>Ethelborough, London.</HI></P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>Walter Kettilby</HI> at the <HI>Bi&s;hop</HI>'s <HI>Head</HI> in S^t <HI>Paul</HI>'s Church-yard. 1682.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE Sir John Moore LORD MAYOR OF THE CITY of <HI>LONDON.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>MY LORD,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>YOUR Lord&s;hip's Deportment, during the whole time of Your Admini&s;tration, has &s;o fully illu&s;trated my Argument, that the affixing Your Name to the Di&s;cour&s;e is no more than the joining a most eminent Example to the Apo&s;tles Rule; and I am apt to think that a ju&s;t Character of Your Lord|&s;hip (dur&s;t I have attempted the forming it with any hopes of coming up to it) would have afforded a far clearer De&s;cription of the Virtue enjoined in my Text, than the be&s;t Notion and Idea of it which I have been able to conceive and de&s;cribe. That Steadine&s;s of
<PB REF="3">Temper, which is &s;o con&s;picuous in Your Lord&s;hip, &s;eems to argue You to have been made on purpo&s;e for &s;uch a Stormy Year, as this has been, in which You have &s;ate at the Helm; and the Moderation which You have with &s;o good effect exerci&s;ed in a mo&s;t difficult and Critical Juncture, and amid&s;t the highe&s;t In&s;olenci<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1 letter">s and Provocations of a Daring and Intemperate Faction, has not only gain'd You the Hearty Affection and E&s;teem of all Wi&s;e and Good Men at pre&s;ent, but a va&s;t Fund of Honour and Renown re&s;erv'd for Hi&s;tory, which remote&s;t Po&s;terity will not be able to exhau&s;t. That Al|mighty God would plentifully reward Your Lord&s;hip, and grant that Your Succe&s;&s;ors may be equally &s;uc|ce&s;sful in their Endeavourss for the Peace and Wel|fare of this City, is the Prayer of,</P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>MY LORD,</SALUTE><LB>
<SIGNED><HI>Your Lord&s;hip's<LB> Mo&s;t Humble and<LB> Obedient Servant,</HI><LB> JOHN EVANS.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="1" REF="3">
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>PHILIP. iv. Part of Ver 5.</HI></BIBL>
<P>Let your moderation be known unto all men.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>THE method which Saint <HI>Paul</HI> u|&s;ually ob&s;erved in his Epi&s;tles was this, Fir&s;t, To con&s;ider what di&s;|orders and abu&s;es were rai&s;ed and crept in among them after his departure, what Points controverted, what Truths ob&s;cure, what erroneous and corrupt Doctrines taught contrary to the purity of Chri&s;tian Religion, and were likely to find entertainment among them: and when he had di&s;patched the&s;e Heads, and endeavoured to clear and &s;ettle the&s;e Points, and rectifie what was ami&s;s in their Faith and Di&s;cipline; he then in the Conclu&s;ion of his Epi&s;tles,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">See an in|&s;tance, <HI>Rom.</HI> 12.9. to the end. 1 The&s;&s;. 5.15. to 23.</NOTE> heaps together a great many pious and prudent Rules (which have no manner of coherence with, or depen|dance upon each other, for their &s;en&s;e) for the conduct of their lives and the regulation of their manners. That they might be holy and un|blameable
<PB N="2" REF="4">in their Conver&s;ations, as well as &s;ound in the Faith; That they who were Ene|mies to the Go&s;pel, and Spies upon their acti|ons, might have no ju&s;t exception again&s;t ei|ther, and blame Chri&s;tianity for the &s;ake of its Profe&s;&s;ors. And of the&s;e kind of Rules I conceive my Text to be one, which I &s;hall con&s;ider by it &s;elf, as borrowing no light from, nor any way related to, the foregoing or fol|lowing Ver&s;es. The Duty here enjoined is of great u&s;efulne&s;s and nece&s;&s;ity at all times, but more e&s;pecially &s;o in times of trouble and per|&s;ecution, &s;uch as tho&s;e were wherein the A|po&s;tle lived; and in times of di&s;order and di&s;|cord, &s;uch as ours are at pre&s;ent; wherein men of &s;everal Parties and Intere&s;ts, upon various Cau&s;es, both Civil and Religious, are extreme|ly divided from, and their Spirits whetted a|gain&s;t one another. For by means of this Vertue of Moderation a man will certainly pre|vent a great deal of mi&s;chief and trouble, which a giddy, ra&s;h, extravagant zeal, a fierce, bu&s;ie and eager temper, will infallibly bring upon him, and in times of greate&s;t pe|ril reprieve him&s;elf longer from ruine, than o|therwi&s;e it were po&s;&s;ible for him to do, if a con|trary temper influenced his manners. So that
<PB N="3" REF="4">a man endued with Moderation, if he do &s;uffer, it will be purely for righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;ake, for that of Chri&s;t and the Go&s;pel, and not through a|ny fault or folly of his own. He will at once pre&s;erve him&s;elf and propagate Religion, win men over to it by this excellent temper of mind. Thanks be to God, notwith&s;tanding the Hue and Cry that is rai&s;ed again&s;t the Go|vernment for Per&s;ecution, we are far enough from it at pre&s;ent; we live under a mo&s;t gra|cious and gentle Prince, that can never do us harm, unle&s;s it be by being cruel to him&s;elf; and therefore Moderation cannot be inforced by Rea&s;ons drawn from that Head, but there are a great many other Rea&s;ons, too many God knows, which render a Di&s;cour&s;e of this Sub|ject very &s;ea&s;onable, and pre&s;s the practice of this Grace upon you in the full extent of it, according as it is here delivered by the Apo|&s;tle:</P>
<P><HI>Let your moderation be known unto all men.</HI></P>
<P>In handling of which words, I &s;hall do the&s;e three things:
<LIST>
<ITEM>I. Endeavour to give the proper and true Notion of Moderation.</ITEM>
<ITEM>II. Shew the Extent of it, with re&s;pect to the Degree, Objects and Occa&s;ions of it.</ITEM>
<PB N="4" REF="5">
<ITEM> III. To &s;hew the nece&s;&s;ity of it as our Ca&s;e and Circum&s;tances &s;tand; and</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>Then make &s;ome Application of the whole.</P>
<P N="1">I. I begin with the fir&s;t, To &s;tate the true Notion of Moderation: And here it will be requi&s;ite to examine the import and &s;ignificati|on of the word by which this Vertue is ex|pre&s;s'd. Now that which we render Modera|tion, is expre&s;s'd by a word which admits of &s;everal &s;ignifications in the New Te&s;tament,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> according to the diver&s;ity of matter about which it is conver&s;ant. With re&s;pect to inju|ries and provocations, it's &s;tyled gentlene&s;s or meekne&s;s; which is a Vertue that teaches us to moderate our anger and revenge, and pre&s;erves our minds from being too &s;oon, or too much, or too long ruffled and di&s;compo&s;ed upon any occa&s;ions of offence.
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> Thus it is taken 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2.18. <HI>Servants be &s;ubject to your Ma&s;ters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but al&s;o to the froward.</HI> 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.3. and <HI>Tit.</HI> 3.2. it's joined with a word which we render no Brawlers,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> but &s;ignifies not given to &s;trife, not quarrel&s;om, peaceable, and in the&s;e places e&s;pecially that of St. <HI>Peter</HI> where it is oppo&s;ed to frowardne&s;s, the Subject matter re&s;trains it to &s;ignifie Meek|ne&s;s.</P>
<PB N="5" REF="5">
<P> Sometimes it &s;ignifies clemency, courte&s;ie, patience, goodne&s;s; which denotes a forward|ne&s;s or readine&s;s of mind to do kind Offices to others. <HI>Acts</HI> 24.4. <HI>Tertullus</HI> the Orator thus be&s;peaks <HI>Felix, I pray thee that thou would&s;t hear us of thy clemency a few words.</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> Sometimes it &s;ignifies Equity; which is a Vertue that in|clines us to recede from our own &s;trict Right, not to take or make u&s;e of all advantages that in &s;trict Ju&s;tice we may, not to be rigorous and extreme in our pro&s;ecutions at Law, but to take the mo&s;t amicable way in the accom|modating of differences, &s;upplying that by right rea&s;on which is not provided for in the words of the Written-Law, in &s;uch Ca&s;es as the Law-giver (could he have fore&s;een) would have provided for. In this &s;en&s;e it's taken 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.1. <HI>James</HI> 3.17. and here in my Text, though not in &s;o &s;trict a &s;ence, but more large|ly: for Moderation doth not only re&s;pect Law-Suits, but all Differences and Controver|&s;ies, of what kind &s;oever, that happen to a|ri&s;e.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Maccab. 10.4. <GAP DESC="foreign">. Suidas. <GAP DESC="foreign">. He|&s;ychius.</NOTE> The&s;e are the &s;everal acceptations of the word in Scripture, and in the&s;e various &s;en&s;es it's al&s;o taken and u&s;ed by other Writers. It &s;ignifies mildne&s;s, mode&s;ty, moderation, that which is fit, decent, due, agreeable. The
<PB N="6" REF="6">Philo&s;opher in his Ethicks thus de&s;cribes a mo|derate man,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">. Ari&s;tot. Ethic. lib. 5.</NOTE> Who doth not pur&s;ue a|nother at Law with exqui&s;itne&s;s and &s;trictne&s;s, but remits &s;omewhat, and extenuates the fact, although he have the Law of his &s;ide, which would bear him out if he did u&s;e rigour. And in ano|ther place of the &s;ame Book he &s;aith, Equity con&s;i&s;ts in correcting the Law in &s;uch Cir|cum&s;tances as the Law giver him&s;elf would have provided for, if he had known them; de|termining as he him&s;elf would have determi|ned in the like Ca&s;e if it had come before him. And from the&s;e various &s;ignifications of the word, &s;ome have been enclined to think that it doth not denote any one &s;ingle Ver|tue,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">. ad Nicomach. lib. 5. c. 14.</NOTE> but a great many together, and is of a like nature with <HI>Tully</HI>'s <HI>Decorum,</HI> which in other
<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Lib. 1. de Offic.</NOTE> places he calls by the names of Mode&s;ty and Temperance. Which is not this or that particular Vertue,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Pertinet ad omnem Ho|ne&s;tatem hoc quod dico Decorum.</NOTE> but &s;ome|thing that doth qualifie and circum&s;tantiate all other Vertues, as to the habit and operations of them; it's an affection of Vertue it &s;elf in general,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">&V;t enim ve|nu&s;tas &amp; pulchritudo Corporis &s;ecerni non pote&s;t &agrave; valetudine, &s;ic hoc (de quo loquimur) Decorum, totum quidem illud e&s;t cum Virtute confu&s;um, &s;ed mente &amp; cogitatione di&s;tinguitur.</NOTE> and accompanies and graces every one
<PB N="7" REF="6">in particular. So that Moderation may be thus de&s;cribed in the general: Such a gracious habit of mind as will teach and incline us to ob|&s;erve a due mean and temper in our outward actions and conver&s;e with others, &s;o as to give no ju&s;t occa&s;ion of offence. But to avoid confu&s;ion, I will here give you the particular &s;en&s;e in which I take it, and to which I &s;hall a|dapt the following Di&s;cour&s;e.</P>
<P>By Moderation, I mean a Vertue which en|clines and enables us to manage and decide all matters of Conte&s;t and Controver&s;ie, whether Civil or Religious, that are or may ari&s;e a|mong us, with a calm, cool, gentle temper; and to make u&s;e of the mo&s;t amicable way of compo&s;ing them. So that, both during &s;uch differences, and after they are ended, mutual love and good will may be pre&s;erved and kept on foot, and the plea&s;ure of conver&s;ation main|tained, notwith&s;tanding the variety of opini|ons and intere&s;ts that are in the World.</P>
<P>Or if you plea&s;e, more briefly thus:</P>
<P>Moderation is a Vertue which teaches and inables a man upon all occa&s;ions of Conte&s;t and Controver&s;ie with others, to maintain and a&s;&s;ert his Principles and Opinions, who&s;e truth he is per&s;waded of, with temper.</P>
<PB N="8" REF="7">
<P> This I take to be the proper Notion of this excellent Grace, which I would willingly bring into favour and fa&s;hion, and engage all that hear me to clothe and adorn them&s;elves with. There was never more need, never greater oc|ca&s;ion for the exerci&s;e of Moderation, than now in our Age. It's much in the common talk, and in the wi&s;hes of all &s;orts of men, all &s;eem to de&s;ire and court it; and yet I believe it was never le&s;s under&s;tood, le&s;s practi&s;ed, throughout all preceding Generations.</P>
<P>I &s;hall not therefore &s;atisfie my &s;elf with this &s;hort, though plain de&s;cription that I have made of it; but endeavour more particularly to di&s;play its nature and loveline&s;s, by &s;hewing in &s;everal In&s;tances how this Vertue doth ex|ert it &s;elf on &s;everal occa&s;ions. And becau&s;e Examples teach better than naked Precepts, I will de&s;cribe the nature and &s;everal properties of it under the Character of a Moderate Man.</P>
<P>And here I &s;hall not give an Account in what mea&s;ures and degrees this Grace ought to be exerci&s;ed by Magi&s;trates, and Men inve&s;t|ed with publick authority, what proofs our Governours in Church and State ought to give of their Moderation in the enacting and impo|&s;ing
<PB N="9" REF="7">Laws, and in the interpretation or execu|tion of them; but confine my Di&s;cour&s;e to men of a private capacity, and &s;hew how they ought to manife&s;t this Vertue in their conver&s;e and concernments one with another. This I will endeavour to make evident by the&s;e fol|lowing In&s;tances:</P>
<P N="1">1. More generally, in all Matters of Debate and Controver&s;ie, a moderate Man is candid in his <HI>Thoughts</HI> concerning other mens words or actions, being apt to take every thing by the right Handle, and make the be&s;t con&s;truction of things, and interpret them in the be&s;t &s;ence, when there is no evident rea&s;on to the contra|ry; He is not prone to carp at, to find fault with, to cen&s;ure and entertain &s;ini&s;ter &s;u&s;pici|ons of tho&s;e men, from whom he differs upon any account.</P>
<P>In <HI>his Words,</HI> he is &s;oft, gentle, complacent, equally free, as from all flattery and &s;oothing, &s;o from arrogance and Magi&s;terialne&s;s, and what&s;oever &s;avours of in&s;ult or contempt.</P>
<P>In <HI>his Carriage and Behaviour,</HI> he is courteous, obliging and tractable; in opo&s;ition to fawn|ing and creeping on the one &s;ide, and a mo|ro&s;e, &s;tiff, churli&s;h deportment on the o|ther.</P>
<PB N="10" REF="8">
<P> He is affable, ea&s;ie to be &s;poke unto, with|out the lea&s;t fear or danger of being reviled or reproached.</P>
<P>In his Di&s;cour&s;es with others concerning any difference, he always makes due allowances for prejudices ari&s;ing from education or com|plexion, affords ju&s;t liberty, fitting time to &s;tate and declare the bu&s;ine&s;s in, without di&s;cover|ing impatience, untimely interpo&s;al, uncivil interruption, giving that due &s;cope and lati|tude to others which he de&s;ires to receive him|&s;elf.</P>
<P N="2">2. An Equal and Moderate Man, more particularly in Judicial Cau&s;es and Proceed|ings at Law, carries the Chancery in his Brea&s;t, is fair and rea&s;onable in his demands, willing to relieve his Adver&s;ary all he can, to recede from what he might in &s;trictne&s;s of Law challenge as his Due, tempering Ju&s;tice with Mercy, when the circum&s;tances of the Ca&s;e, when Rea&s;on and Charity require it; He acquie&s;ces gladly in all fair and equitable Determinations of his Ca&s;e by Magi&s;trates, without any further Appeals, or trying it in all Courts, bringing it about purely to tire out and worry his Adver&s;ary.</P>
<P>In minute and trifling matters that bring no
<PB N="11" REF="8">con&s;iderable damage to his Reputation, Body or Goods, he forbears to right him&s;elf, though he may, and meekly &s;its down by the lo&s;s in order to a greater benefit, that is, for the &s;ake of Peace and Charity, which are generally (through mens own folly) lo&s;t in <HI>We&s;tmin&s;ter-Hall.</HI> And the rea&s;on why men are &s;eldom Friends one with another, though the Cau&s;e that fir&s;t made them Enemies is decided by Law, is for want of this Vertue of Mode|ration; becau&s;e the Suit hath been managed with too much heat and fiercene&s;s on both &s;ides, carried on with anger and bitterne&s;s, mutual reproaches and reflections, kept a|live longer than in Ju&s;tice and Rea&s;on it ought, by &s;piteful delays, malicious arts and tricks, which afterwards are never forgotten or forgiven.</P>
<P N="3">3. Another Property of this Grace of Mo|deration is this: In matters relating to Reli|gion and Debates about the truth and fal&s;hood of &s;everal Opinions, it teaches us to be con|cerned for &s;uch things more or le&s;s in proporti|on to their nature and worth.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">For <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ignifies comeline&s;s, <GAP DESC="foreign">, as I hinted be|fore out of <HI>He&s;ych.</HI></NOTE> The Moderate man ob&s;erves what's fit and decorous on all occa&s;ions, and con&s;equently e&s;teems it as inde|cent and ridiculous to be greatly concerned a|bout
<PB N="12" REF="9">trifles, as to be remi&s;s and unconcerned on weighty occa&s;ions. Indeed, when the Ho|nour of God or the King, when Religion and the welfare of his Country lye at &s;take, he then thinks it a mo&s;t worthy and weighty oc|ca&s;ion of employing his zeal and activity in their &s;ervice, of defending them with courage and re&s;olution, with his life and fortunes; But even in &s;uch Cau&s;es of the greate&s;t importance, his Moderation is the Balla&s;t of his mind, which pre&s;erves him from being over&s;et with violent gu&s;ts or tran&s;ports of pa&s;&s;ion, and re|&s;trains him from being bitter and cruel towards his enemies. He never breaks the Second Ta|ble to pre&s;erve the Fir&s;t, nor makes u&s;e of any ways to &s;ecure Chri&s;tian Religion, that are con|tradictory to, or de&s;tructive of its Principles. His zeal for Religion is regulated by it, it's e|ver accompanied and tempered with the <HI>fruits of the Spirit,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 5.22.</NOTE> <HI>love, joy, peace, long-&s;uffering, gen|tlene&s;s, goodne&s;s, fidelity, temperance;</HI> not (as that of many Zealots and Reformers now a|days) with the <HI>works of the Fle&s;h,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 5.19, 20, 21.</NOTE> <HI>adultery, for|nication, uncleanne&s;s, la&s;civiou&s;ne&s;s, hatred, vari|ance, wrath, &s;trife, &s;editions, here&s;ies, envyings, murders, drunkenne&s;s, and &s;uch like;</HI> concerning which St. <HI>Paul</HI> is very po&s;itive in his Sen|tence,
<PB N="13" REF="9"><HI>that they which do &s;uch things &s;hall not inherit the Kingdom of God.</HI></P>
<P>In matters of a doubtful nature, He keeps both his eyes and ears open, ready always to be in&s;tructed, and receive information, to alter his mind and relinqui&s;h his opinion, when better rea&s;ons than he knows, or relyes on at pre&s;ent, are offered to him; He is of a docile, ductile temper, not po&s;itive and dogmatical in &s;uch things.</P>
<P>In things that lye out of his reach, where he is incapacitated to judge for him&s;elf, he al|ways yields up him&s;elf to the Conduct of his Governours in Church and State, who by their Office, abilities and experience, may mode&s;t|ly and fairly be &s;uppo&s;ed to be qualified for the under&s;tanding and determining &s;uch Points better than he.</P>
<P N="4">4. A moderate man with re&s;pect to injuries, affronts and provocations, thus demeans him|&s;elf: He is not of a touchy, wa&s;pi&s;h Spirit, exa&s;perated upon every trivial occa&s;ion; He winks at, and pa&s;&s;es by a great many faults that are the effects of wilfulne&s;s, and bears with, and pities a great many that proceed from weakne&s;s or ignorance: according to that excellent Rule of the Apo&s;tle,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 15.1.2, 3.</NOTE> <HI>We that
<PB N="14" REF="10">are &s;trong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to plea&s;e our &s;elves; but our Neighbour, for his good: for even Chri&s;t plea&s;ed not him&s;elf.</HI> A moderate man is not ea&s;ily provo|ked; and when he is, he is ea&s;ily appea&s;ed, apt to be reconciled, ready to forgive, glad of all opportunities to compound the diffe|rence, e&s;pecially when he that offered the in|jury &s;ues for pardon, and di&s;covers fair &s;igns of repentance: according to the Rule of our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour in this Ca&s;e,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 17.3, 4.</NOTE> <HI>If thy Brother tre&s;|pa&s;s again&s;t thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, for|give him: And if he tre&s;pa&s;s again&s;t thee &s;even times in a day, and &s;even times in a day turn again to thee, &s;aying, I repent; thou &s;halt forgive him.</HI> And that of St. <HI>Paul,</HI> back'd with a powerful Motive, <HI>Forbearing one another,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Col. 3.13.</NOTE> <HI>and forgiving one another, if any man hath a quarrel again&s;t any: even as Christ forgave you, &s;o al&s;o do ye.</HI> In &s;hort, for bad language he returns good, for evil received he doth good, he never &s;uffers the greate&s;t enemy he hath to de&s;troy benevolence and good will, to out&s;in and outlive his pity and compa&s;&s;ion; but always affords him a &s;hare both in his Prayers and E&s;tate, when his wants and nece&s;|&s;ities call for relief from his hands. When he inflicts puni&s;hment, it's with gentlene&s;s, ra|ther
<PB N="15" REF="10">&s;hort than exceeding the merits of the Cau&s;e; it's with reluctancy and a &s;ecret wi&s;h it had been otherwi&s;e, not delighting in, not &s;o much aiming at the &s;mart and puni&s;hment, as the amendment of an offending Brother: according to the Pattern and Example of our Heavenly Father, who is <HI>kind to the unthankful,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 6.35. Nehem. 9.17. <GAP DESC="foreign">, &s;o the <HI>Sept.</HI> P&s;. 86.5. Wi&s;d. 12.18. <GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> <HI>and the evil;</HI> who is <HI>ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, &s;low to anger, and of great kindne&s;s;</HI> who is <HI>good, ready to forgive,</HI> who <HI>judgeth in e|quity.</HI></P>
<P>This is the nature, the&s;e the amiable pro|perties and goodly fruits of Moderation.</P>
<P N="2">II. I proceed to the &s;econd Head, to con&s;i|der the Extent of this Vertue, about what Objects, in what Degrees, and upon what Occa&s;ions, this Vertue is conver&s;ant, and ex|erts and di&s;plays it &s;elf. This will take up but a little time. <HI>Let your moderation be known unto all men,</HI> I think imports thus much: That all Chri&s;tians, at all times, and upon all occa&s;i|ons of difference and conte&s;t, ought to mani|fe&s;t and give clear and palpable tokens of their Moderation to all &s;orts and conditions of men. We are not only obliged to put on this temper, and manife&s;t it to our Relations, Friends, Ac|quaintance, Neighbours, to men of the &s;ame
<PB N="16" REF="11">Country, Religion, Party or Per&s;wa&s;ion, con|cerned in the &s;ame Cau&s;e, link'd with us by the &s;ame intere&s;ts; but to all that differ from us, as they happen to fall within the compa&s;s of our conver&s;e, whether they be Foreigners, Strangers, Enemies, of a different Religion and Sect, by what&s;oever odious Titles and Nick-names they &s;tand mark'd and po&s;ted up to the World at pre&s;ent, whether Jews, Hea|thens, Gno&s;ticks, the greate&s;t Enemies of the Cro&s;s of Chri&s;t as they &s;tood di&s;tingui&s;h'd in the Apo&s;tles days, with whom the Primitive Chri&s;tians were chiefly concerned; that &s;o by this means, by this goodne&s;s of temper, they may be allured and invited to enter into the Society of Chri&s;tians.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">As <HI>Era&s;mus</HI> paraphra|&s;es upon the place.</NOTE> By this &s;weetne&s;s of behaviour you will break the force of your E|nemies, and win them over to your &s;ide. <HI>The|ophylact</HI> &s;uppo&s;es that St. <HI>Paul</HI> in this Exhortati|on here in my Text had re&s;pect to tho&s;e whom in ver. 18. of the former Chapter he had ac|cu&s;ed as enemies to the Cro&s;s of Chri&s;t: Ne|verthele&s;s, though he had declared them &s;uch, he advi&s;es that they &s;hould not be outragious again&s;t them, but to treat them with all civili|ty and gentlene&s;s.</P>
<P>The &s;umm of all this matter is this, We
<PB N="17" REF="11">mu&s;t make all &s;orts of men &s;en&s;ible of our mo|deration, and give them an experiment of it on all occa&s;ions. So much in &s;hort for the extent of this Vertue.</P>
<P N="3">III. The third and la&s;t thing to be con&s;ider|ed is this: The rea&s;onablene&s;s and nece&s;&s;ity of it, and the grounds of our obligation to it. And truly there are a great many very weighty and con&s;iderable ones, which the time will not permit me to in&s;i&s;t on. I could urge the practice of this Grace by the example of God our heavenly Father, and that of our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour, in whom this Grace was &s;o re|markable, by Arguments drawn from Rea&s;on, the nature and nece&s;&s;ity of things, the Glory of God, the credit of the Religion we profe&s;s, the peace and happine&s;s of the publick as well as every private per&s;on. But I will at this time only make u&s;e of two or three Arguments drawn from the pre&s;ent &s;ad po&s;ture and conditi|on of Affairs among us, which call loudly up|on us all to abound in the practice of this Ver|tue one towards another. And methinks no|thing &s;hould more powerfully work upon us, nothing &s;hould more endear Moderation to us, and procure it a greater &s;hare of our hearts and affections, than &s;uch a con&s;ideration as
<PB N="18" REF="12">this, That we &s;hall never arrive to any &s;ound and la&s;ting peace and &s;ettlement till we put on this excellent temper, and manife&s;t it accord|ing to the full extent of it. Moderation well and fully exerci&s;ed will mend our ill times and circum&s;tances, which are the matter of Uni|ver&s;al Complaint throughout the Kingdom, and the want of it will in all probability ruine both Church and State. As much as mens &s;pirits are &s;owred again&s;t one another, there is yet &s;o much charity lodging in all mens brea&s;ts as to encline them mutually to help and relieve one another in Ca&s;e of any Fire; how much more &s;hould we all join together and &s;et all hands to work to extingui&s;h the flames of our Coun|try.</P>
<P>I believe all hone&s;t and good men of all Parties would greatly rejoyce to &s;ee us a little &s;ettled after &s;o much di&s;order and confu&s;ion, which for &s;ome years la&s;t pa&s;t hath appeared, and yet to our &s;orrow continues. I am confident all true Engli&s;hmen, that love their King and their Country, would be very much plea&s;ed, and heartily glad to &s;ee us reduced but to that degree of love and friend&s;hip, civility and good neighbourhood in which we were be|fore this Cur&s;ed Popi&s;h Plot broke out, the di&s;|covery
<PB N="19" REF="12">whereof (&s;o ill an u&s;e have we made of that Providence!) hath more than half ruin'd us. Our condition is very &s;ad, and al|mo&s;t de&s;perate, when we make our Remedies improve our Di&s;ea&s;e, and our Deliverances u&s;her in our de&s;truction, when we extract judgments from the very Bowels of mercy. Our la&s;t (and unle&s;s the great Governour of the World &s;hould interpo&s;e and pa&s;s an irrevo|cable Sentence upon us, that nothing &s;hall re|trieve us from ruine) our &s;ure&s;t and mo&s;t effe|ctual remedy is Moderation, which I have propounded and explained to you: upon the neglect or practice whereof, publick happine&s;s or mi&s;ery doth depend. And now I will as briefly as I can, di&s;cover how it conduces to this great end. And fir&s;t, Let us &s;ee what our pre|&s;ent Ca&s;e is, and from what cau&s;es our danger and confu&s;ion &s;prings, and then how Modera|tion will be our refuge and our cure.</P>
<P N="1">1. I lay down this as a certain truth, which Scripture, rea&s;on, and the experience of all A|ges confirms, <HI>That a Kingdom divided again&s;t it &s;elf cannot &s;tand.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. Which is as clear as the Sun, and a &s;ad &s;ight to &s;ee; We of this Nation are mi&s;erably broken in pieces, and divided one from ano|ther;
<PB N="20" REF="13">We are crumbled into many Sects and Factions, which have every one di&s;tinct Princi|ples and private Intere&s;ts and De&s;igns to carry on, which animate them one again&s;t another, and all again&s;t the Church of <HI>England,</HI> who&s;e greate&s;t fault (what&s;oever el&s;e is pretended and charged upon her) &s;eems to be this, That She is uppermo&s;t, e&s;tabli&s;h'd and countenanc'd by the Law of the Land.</P>
<P N="3">3. I take this for granted, which I wi&s;h with all my heart were not true, though it's too much &s;o to be denyed; That our Jealou&s;ies and Animo&s;ities were never at a higher pitch, never were mens minds more exa&s;perated, their pa&s;&s;ions more inflamed, and the whole Nation in a greater ferment, than now in this pre&s;ent Age. The&s;e are dreadful &s;ymptoms and indications of approaching ruine, which (if a timely &s;top be not put to it) will e're long overtake us. What&s;oever expedient therefore can be propounded, which under God will certainly le&s;&s;en and de&s;troy the&s;e Divi&s;ions, and allay the&s;e heats, and put us in a fair way of accommodating our differences, which we are far from at pre&s;ent, ought to be heartily embra|ced by all good Chri&s;tians, all good Subjects and true Engli&s;h-men, who love either
<PB N="21" REF="13">God, their King, or their Country. Now as to the cau&s;es from whence our divi&s;ions and a|nimo&s;ities proceed, though many may be a&s;|&s;igned, yet I &s;hall mention only the&s;e three:</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Men's not &s;ubmitting their Opinions to a calm Debate in their conver&s;e with each other.</P>
<P>Secondly, Mi&s;placing their zeal upon tri|fling and unworthy Objects.</P>
<P>Thirdly, Which follows from the former, Being &s;tiff and Dogmatical.</P>
<P>The&s;e have a mighty influence upon our pre&s;ent Divi&s;ions, they both beget and cheri&s;h Feuds among us; and the&s;e, Moderation will effectually remove and de&s;troy.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Moderation will qualifie and fit us for mutual Conver&s;e and Society, and make us ea&s;ie in one anothers Company, beget in us kind affections and candid thoughts one of an|other, though we do differ upon the account of our Principles and Opinions. By this means we &s;hall have an opportunity of recti|fying one anothers judgments, of examining and di&s;cu&s;&s;ing the nature and truth of the &s;eve|ral opinions we hold. There are a great ma|ny things pa&s;s for currant Truths, only for want of examination. There are a great
<PB N="22" REF="14">many Opinions now maintained, that would quite fall and peri&s;h, if men could be brought to debate them with coolne&s;s. They are kept alive purely by heat and fiercene&s;s: Like In|&s;ects produced and fomented in Summer, which di&s;appear and dye on the approach of Winter. I have ob&s;erved it frequently among Neighbours and Acquaintance, &s;ome Story they have heard, &s;ome grudge and pique they have thereupon entertained and cheri&s;hed in their brea&s;ts one again&s;t another; and this pa&s;|&s;ion magnifies at a great rate when they are a|part; talk with either of them, and you will hear of great affronts and indignities, never was any man &s;o dirtily and ba&s;ely u&s;ed: and yet really when they have met and conferr'd to|gether, <HI>parturiunt Montes,</HI> there appears little cau&s;e of anger at all, nothing that de&s;erves to be &s;o heinou&s;ly re&s;ented. It's Di&s;tance that makes &s;ome things look terrible. Alas! if men would come near one another, and en|quire calmly into matters, they would find a great many things which are called by ill and bug names, to be but a kind of Scare-Crows in Religion, which keep us from embracing truth, they are innocent and harmle&s;s in them|&s;elves, though they appear in a formidable
<PB N="23" REF="14">dre&s;s. What &s;ome men e&s;teem great fal&s;hoods, and call Toryi&s;m and Popery, are really as true as Go&s;pel. Now when men have been nur&s;ed up in errour, and imbibed Prejudices again&s;t &s;ome things with their Mothers milk, and been taught to hate names without any knowledge of the nature of things, it's impo&s;&s;ible ever to rectifie their judgments, or convince them of their errours, but by the help of Moderation. For otherwi&s;e they will never endure to hear a|ny thing &s;aid again&s;t their way; or if they will conde&s;cend &s;o far as to enter into di&s;cour&s;e, the debate is managed with &s;o much noi&s;e and clamour, heat and bitterne&s;s, that they u&s;u|ally part greater enemies than they met; the re&s;ult is only this, they are more aver&s;e and e|&s;tranged in their minds and affections one from another than they were before, a great deal of fre&s;h matter for anger and wrath is &s;tarted, and they are farther from conviction than ever. For pa&s;&s;ion either incapacitates men for the u&s;e of their rea&s;on, and &s;uch Arguments as are proper and fit to be urged in order to convicti|on, or keeps men from attending to them when they are offered, or deads the force and effica|cy of them. It's only Moderation that gives us the advantage of coming up clo&s;e to one
<PB N="24" REF="15">another, of looking into mens minds, and viewing their opinions on all &s;ides; it's this that di&s;po&s;es for mutual conviction, that enables us to invent the be&s;t Arguments, and u&s;e them to the be&s;t purpo&s;e; that furni&s;hes us with all the wi&s;e arts of infinuation, and renders them &s;uc|ce&s;sful; that gives a reli&s;h and &s;weetne&s;s to our di&s;cour&s;es, and all the advantages we can de|&s;ire over an enemy to captivate his judgment and affections to truth, and bring him to our &s;ide: And if men were po&s;&s;e&s;s'd of this tem|per, a great deal of variance and &s;trife would vani&s;h, and peace and concord would every where much more appear than it doth at pre|&s;ent.</P>
<P>Secondly, Another cau&s;e of our pre&s;ent di&s;|order and confu&s;ion, our heats and animo&s;ities, is a mi&s;plac'd zeal. When the zeal of men is ill placed, upon undue and unworthy objects, it's generally ill natur'd and mi&s;chievous, and renders men very trouble&s;om to, and unfit for Society. Men of different Opinions and Par|ties do agree almo&s;t univer&s;ally in this, They are mighty zealous and earne&s;t about the Cir|cum&s;tantials, Rites and Appendages of Religi|on; but are very carele&s;s and negligent about the knowledge and practice of tho&s;e Duties
<PB N="25" REF="15">wherein the &s;oul and &s;ub&s;tance of Religion do con&s;i&s;t. How highly are they con|cerned, and with what eagerne&s;s do they contend for Mint, Cummin, Meats, Drinks, times, po&s;tures, habits, and &s;uch external forms and Modes of Wor&s;hip: but as for a &s;incere hearty love of God and goodne&s;s, for wor&s;hipping of him with pure hearts, heavenly a&s;&s;ections, for righteou&s;ne&s;s and peace, ju&s;tice and mercy, truth and fidelity, meekne&s;s and humility, brotherly kindne&s;s and charity to all men, contentedne&s;s and re&s;ignation of our wills to Gods, a governable teachable frame of mind, and &s;uch like Graces and vertuous di&s;po&s;itions? how regardle&s;s are men general|ly of them? they are little in the thoughts, and le&s;s in the lives,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 5.3. to ver. 13. Matt. 7.21. Matth. 23.23. Rom. 14.17, 18. 1 Cor. 13. 2 Pet. 1.5.</NOTE> of tho&s;e who make great profe&s;&s;ions of Religion; and yet the whole, the e&s;&s;ence of Religion con&s;i&s;ts in the&s;e fore|mentioned Duties, and &s;uch like. Now when men generally live in the neglect of the&s;e Du|ties, the&s;e weighty matters of the Law, and in the open violation of them, and yet are ve|ry zealous in other trifling circum&s;tances of Religion, which do not of them&s;elves com|mend us to God, it is impo&s;&s;ible but that our animo&s;ities &s;hould encrea&s;e, our breaches wi|den,
<PB N="26" REF="16">and mi&s;ery break in upon us like a deluge. Tho&s;e men that live under the tyranny of their unruly lu&s;ts, that are en&s;laved to their &s;en&s;ual appetites, will cau&s;e trouble and di&s;order where&s;oever they come: Trouble&s;ome men will make the times trouble&s;ome too wherein they live: Magi&s;trates will find it a very diffi|cult matter to govern tho&s;e men by Law, who will not be governed by rea&s;on. Every Vice doth &s;ome way or other, either in its na|ture, or effects and con&s;equences, reach and prejudice the publick, and make a man unfit for &s;ociety: And therefore where men are ge|nerally wicked, there the publick is in great danger of being torn in pieces by violent and unrea&s;onable men: &s;o many wicked men as you can reckon up in a Kingdom, &s;o many Banditi again&s;t the Government, and publick peace. The peace and happine&s;s of a Nati|on certainly ebbs and flows according to the righteou&s;ne&s;s or iniquity of its Inhabitants. <HI>Whence come wars and fightings</HI> (or contentions) <HI>among you,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">James 4.1.</NOTE> &s;aith St. <HI>James, come they not hence, even of your lu&s;ts that war in your members?</HI> All the&s;e open tumults, di&s;orders and contentions that are among us are derived from this &s;e|cret &s;pring, from our own carnal hearts; our
<PB N="27" REF="16">bu&s;tling, our fierce and fiery zeal for Reli|gion, proceeds from the want of it. For the Religion <HI>that is from above,</HI> &s;aith the &s;ame Di|vine Author, <HI>is fir&s;t pure, then peaceable, gentle,</HI>
<NOTE PLACE="marg">James 3.17.</NOTE> <HI>and ea&s;ie to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, without hypocri&s;ie.</HI> So that when a War commences between mens lu&s;ts and their rea&s;on,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 7.25.</NOTE> when the <HI>Law in their members wars again&s;t the Law of their minds, and brings them into captivity to the Law of &s;in;</HI> the&s;e Dome&s;tick jarrs will embroil the Society wherein they live, and nothing can put a full and happy end to tho&s;e di&s;cords and di&s;orders that will ari&s;e, but a general reformation of their hearts and lives. For &s;o long as the Members of any Society are de&s;titute of all tho&s;e Graces which naturally tend to beget and promote love and good will, peace and concord, and on the contrary &s;o long as they live under the influence of tho&s;e pa&s;&s;ions, and in the practice of tho&s;e vices which naturally tend to promote &s;trife and di&s;|cord, there can be no hopes of ever &s;eeing peaceable and quiet times. Now all this natu|rally follows from zeal mi&s;placed, which en|gages men in hot and eager conte&s;ts about tri|fles, and takes them off from intending and pur&s;uing the &s;olid and &s;ub&s;tantial parts of Re|ligion,
<PB N="28" REF="17">and renders them carele&s;s of, and un|concerned about things of greate&s;t worth and moment. For by this means in &s;ome tract of time the very &s;pirit and life of Religion will e|vaporate and expire, and nothing but Athei&s;m and Prophanene&s;s, or Super&s;tition, Enthu&s;i|a&s;m and formal Hypocri&s;ie, will &s;ucceed. The more wickedne&s;s abounds, the more will mens guilt and fears multiply; and this will make them the more formal and Ceremonious, put them upon the &s;tudy and invention of ea&s;ie and cheap methods of attaining the favour of God, and a future happine&s;s, of compound|ing the great Debt they have contracted with him, and &s;upplying the defect of inward good|ne&s;s by outward Rites, and (as they phra&s;e it) purer ways of Wor&s;hip. I will acquaint you with a &s;erious and &s;ad truth: We may ruine Chri&s;tian Religion, though we never embrace Popery; and I am &s;orry I have &s;o familiar and lively an in&s;tance to offer. What think you of a numerous Sect called Quakers? How mi&s;e|rably are they lap&s;ed and degenerated from the truth and purity of Chri&s;tian Religion, and that in a Land where the Go&s;pel &s;hines with the cleare&s;t light that ever it did &s;ince the Apo&s;tles Age! Or if ye plea&s;e to look abroad,
<PB N="29" REF="17">what &s;ay ye to the Greek Church,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Vid.</HI> Mr. <HI>Brerewood</HI>'s Enquiries, p. 170. a|mong w^c^h are the <HI>Sy|rians</HI> or <HI>Melchites,</HI> The <HI>Geor|gians, Cir|ca&s;&s;ians</HI> w^c^h celebrate their Litur|gies in the Greek Tongue. And the <HI>Mu&s;covites</HI> and <HI>Ru&s;&s;ians</HI> which per|form them in their own Mother Tongue.</NOTE> once the Glory of the Earth, and tho&s;e of the Greek Com|munion, which for number exceed tho&s;e of the Romi&s;h Religion (according to the computati|on of the Learned <HI>Brerewood</HI>) excepting the Fo|reign Purcha&s;es <HI>Rome</HI> hath made in the <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> and <HI>We&s;t-Indies?</HI> Her Glory is eclip&s;ed and over|&s;pread with Clouds of ignorance and errour; they are &s;unk into Barbari&s;m, and have adulte|rated the purity of Chri&s;tian Wor&s;hip with a great many Super&s;titious and Heatheni&s;h mix|tures; and yet they &s;tand in defiance of the Pope, deny his Supremacy, repute him and his Church Schi&s;maticks, and exclude them from their Communion. And (which I de&s;ire may be remarked) if we look back and trace out the Cau&s;es of the&s;e dire effects, and enquire by what means that once illu&s;trious Church hath been reduced to this doleful, &s;qualid con|dition, in which She at pre&s;ent lyes, we &s;hall find their own inte&s;tine Broils and Divi&s;ions to be the chief.</P>
<P>If we would therefore at once pre&s;erve the beauty and the purity of our Faith, and pre|vent not only the corruption but the ruine of our mo&s;t excellent Religion, we mu&s;t make it our bu&s;ine&s;s to abound in the practice of this
<PB N="30" REF="18">Vertue of Moderation, which is peculiarly concerned in the regulation of our zeal. This will teach us to place it where it &s;hould and ought to be, upon tho&s;e truths which are in them&s;elves weighty, upon tho&s;e objects that are really honourable and worthy, to pur&s;ue and promote the e&s;&s;ential Parts and Duties of Religion with confidence and love, to owne them with joy and courage, to value our &s;elves and others chiefly upon them, and highly concern our &s;elves in the defence of them. And all tho&s;e other matters about which we &s;o fiercely now contend, will appear of little weight and value, they will fall of them&s;elves when once it appears that they are not worth &s;triving for, nor de&s;erve to be pur&s;ued with ea|gerne&s;s and devotion. We &s;hall be a&s;hamed to think that we have been concerned for things much beyond their value and impor|tance. It's not ami&s;s in a Child to cry and take on for a Rattle, but 'tis mo&s;t &s;hameful and ridiculous in a Man &s;o to do. When once we come to &s;ee the beauty of holine&s;s, to under|&s;tand what we ought chiefly to mind and e|&s;teem, to be heartily in love with &s;olid good|ne&s;s, we &s;hall heartily love and value one ano|ther chiefly for goodne&s;s &s;ake, and then mat|ters
<PB N="31" REF="18">of little import will break no friend&s;hip. Though we do differ from one another upon the account of &s;everal opinions, yet if a &s;in|cere and unaffected piety appear among us, this will outweigh all other con&s;iderations and cau&s;es of di&s;like. This would &s;o attract our eyes, &s;o retain and engage our hearts and affe|ctions, that nothing el&s;e could ever bribe us off and divide us. Variety of opinions about o|ther matters (when the main of Religion is &s;ecured) will not only furni&s;h out di&s;cour&s;e, but like foils &s;et it off too; and we &s;hall be no more di&s;plea&s;ed that we differ in our minds, than becau&s;e we differ in our faces. And this leads me to the third and la&s;t Particular.</P>
<P>Thirdly, Moderation will contribute to our Peace and &s;ettlement, by teaching us to main|tain our &s;everal Opinions with temper, &s;obriety and gentlene&s;s; and abating of that headine&s;s and &s;tiffne&s;s which every where reigns in men of different Per&s;wa&s;ions, hereby we &s;hall be di&s;po&s;ed for the knowledge and entertainment of truth on what &s;ide &s;oever it lyes. A great many differences are occa&s;ioned and kept up purely by the fond and overweening conceits of men about the truth and nece&s;&s;ity of their par|ticular Tenents: their confident belief where|of
<PB N="32" REF="19">flows not &s;o much from rea&s;on as fancy. And this begets in them eager appetites to &s;uch things as they conceive to be true. Now Moderation will qualifie and regulate tho&s;e two faculties of the &s;en&s;itive &s;oul, the Fan|cy and the Appetite, which are very apt to hinder us from the knowledge of truth, un|le&s;s they be well and rightly di&s;po&s;ed, and put men upon the u&s;e of their rea&s;on; and then a great many Opinions which now &s;eem &s;o clear to us, that we e&s;teem it folly in any to oppo&s;e them; and &s;o nece&s;&s;ary, that we can't part with them without parting with our Souls and our Religion; will appear quite otherwi&s;e, and their Owners by degrees will be|come pliant and docile, who before were ob|&s;tinate in their way. For &s;everal Opinions which are e&s;teemed Doctrines of God and Chri&s;t, are really no other than the whim&s;ies and inventions of men, which they have ado|pted into the Chri&s;tian Religion, rai&s;ed to an equal value, and made of equal nece&s;&s;ity with the Laws of our Saviour. Which is a very heinous &s;in, and was &s;martly reprehended by our Lord in the Phari&s;ees,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 15.9.</NOTE> and the very Root of that abominable thing called Popery. Moderation therefore as it will enable us to di&s;|cern
<PB N="33" REF="19">our errours, and di&s;po&s;e us to relinqui&s;h them when di&s;cerned; &s;o upon a di&s;covery of any one mi&s;take in a Point which we were once fond and confident of, it will create a &s;u&s;|picion and jealou&s;ie in us of all other Points which we have not examined by Scripture and Rea&s;on. And by that loo&s;ene&s;s of mind, and in|differency of affection to &s;uch things which will follow hereupon, we &s;hall be in a fair way to Peace and Unity. But, on the other &s;ide, what the lea&s;t hopes or pro&s;pect can we have of peace|able and quiet times, of Union and Concord, &s;o long as men are of &s;uch a temper, that all they believe and &s;ay is Go&s;pel; &s;o long as they are eager and vehement in maintaining and impo&s;ing their &s;everal Opinions upon each o|ther as nece&s;&s;ary to &s;alvation; &s;o long as every man carries a Pope in his Belly, and lays claim to Infallibility; &s;o long as men do not carry teachable minds about them, will not &s;uppo&s;e they may be in the wrong, and are very wroth and boi&s;terous with all that go about to con|vince them; I am &s;ure nothing can ari&s;e from hence, but emulation and &s;trife, here&s;ie and &s;chi&s;m in the Church, faction and &s;edition in the State. For &s;uch a temper will bia&s;s and influence men in Civil, as well as Religious Af|fairs,
<PB N="34" REF="20">which is &s;o evident in our Age as to need no farther Proof. So that unle&s;s we clear our &s;elves from this malignant quality, which at pre&s;ent &s;o di&s;quiets the Nation, our common Enemies may now &s;it down and be quiet, and with le&s;s danger to them&s;elves, and more cre|dit to their Religion, &s;ee us bite and devour one another, and expect a fatal blow to the Prote&s;tant Religion from the hands of tho&s;e who zealou&s;ly contend for its pre&s;ervation. They are Fools if they venture their Necks and E&s;tates, as our Ca&s;e at pre&s;ent &s;tands, to bring in Popery; no, let them but keep Pro|te&s;tants at variance, &s;oment our Divi&s;ions, im|prove our animo&s;ities, and by &s;uch heats their Hay will make it &s;elf, and their work will be effectually done to their hands, if they will have but patience. This is a &s;ly and &s;ure way to compa&s;s their long de&s;ired ends, though not &s;o quick a way as that of Gunpowder; and by this they may make their Plot take in our hands, which mi&s;carried in theirs. I will con|clude all with this Remark, We may and &s;hall (if we do not timely take up) bring in Popery by a heady, extravagant zeal again&s;t it; and ruine and in&s;lave our &s;elves by our fierce and pa&s;&s;ionate contentions for Liberty, Property
<PB N="35" REF="20">and Safety. I pray God of his infinite mercy make us to know in this our day the things that belong to our Peace.</P>
<P>Nothing now remains but to make &s;ome Application of all this Di&s;cour&s;e, and &s;hew what good U&s;es may be made of it; and tho&s;e I will reduce to the&s;e two Heads, 1. Of Infe|rence, 2. Of Advice. And</P>
<P N="1">1. I inferr from what hath been &s;aid con|cerning the nature of Moderation, That the generality of men among us are greatly mi&s;ta|ken in their Sen&s;e and Notion of it. The common Notion of it is very fal&s;e and defe|ctive, both in its Nature and Extent. And I am heartily glad of this opportunity of confu|ting and reproving a popular Errour, which reflects very much upon the excellent Con|&s;titution of our Church, and whereby the Credit and Reputation of all Her Members, e|&s;pecially the Clergy, are &s;o nearly touch'd and concern'd. That I may do this with all clearne&s;s and &s;trength, I will crave leave to re|peat here the Notion which I gave of this Ver|tue in the foregoing Di&s;cour&s;e: Moderation is a Vertue that teaches and inables us in all mat|ters of Conte&s;t and Controver&s;ie, to maintain and a&s;&s;ert our Principles and Opinions, who&s;e
<PB N="36" REF="21">Truth we are per&s;waded of, with Temper.</P>
<P>Now the common Notion that men have entertained of Moderation or a Moderate Man, is very wide and different from this, both in its Nature and Extent.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, As to its Nature. For by a Moderate Man con&s;idered in a Lay-Capacity, is com|monly under&s;tood, One who will frequent the Publick Churches, and Conventicles too; one who will &s;eem devout at Divine Service, and appear for the Church of <HI>England</HI> on a Sunday, and the other &s;ix Days work hard a|gain&s;t it; one who talks much of Union and wi&s;hes for it, but yet &s;ees no harm at all in Schi&s;m; one who thinks he doth God good Service, and takes a good cour&s;e to promote Peace, by frequenting unlawful Meetings, and yet he is clearly too for the Religion e&s;ta|bli&s;h'd by Law; one who is in with all Parties, and vigorou&s;ly a&s;&s;i&s;ts them in all their De&s;igns again&s;t the Government, but yet crys, God forbid that there &s;hould be any Alteration in it: one who looks upon the Bi&s;hops as nece&s;&s;ary Evils, and the Ceremonies as heavy intolera|ble Yokes, under which their Necks and Con|&s;ciences ake and groan; and had much rather be without them all, if he could, though at
<PB N="37" REF="21">the &s;ame time he profe&s;&s;es him&s;elf, and would be thought to be a Son of the Church of <HI>Eng|land.</HI> And the truth of it is, the&s;e are Mode|rate Church-men in one &s;en&s;e, that is, they have a very Moderate E&s;teem of, and a very Mo|derate Love for that Church, in who&s;e Com|munion they pretend to live, and re&s;olve to dye, &s;o long as She is up: But if She were down, they could contentedly enough &s;urvive her ruine, and perhaps they might live the longer. This is a ju&s;t and true Character of a Moderate Man as the World now goes. I a&s;|&s;ure you this is no Fiction of mine, it's not the Creature of my own fancy; but matter of Fact, vi&s;ible to every Eye, and confirmed by daily Experience. Now this Moderation is &s;o far from being a Vertue, that it's the quite con|trary, a great Vice, and of very mi&s;chievous con&s;equence to the Publick. Moderation, as it is a Vertue, teaches a man to maintain his Principles and Opinions, who&s;e truth he is per&s;waded of, with Temper; but this either leads to Sceptici&s;m, creates in men loo&s;e and va|grant minds, acted by no &s;teddy and fix'd Prin|ciples, renders them indifferent to, and uncon|cerned about all truths, carele&s;s whether any thing be certain and e&s;tabli&s;h'd or no: Or el&s;e
<PB N="38" REF="22">(which is as bad or wor&s;e, a mo&s;t indecent and unrea&s;onable thing) teaches them to act contrary to their Principles and Profe&s;&s;ion, and the inward per&s;wa&s;ion of their minds. And then as to that good temper wherewith a Mo|derate man ought to manage all Debates, that's not at all con&s;idered in the common acceptati|on of the Phra&s;e; for by how much the more fiercely and vehemently any man &s;tands up for Toleration, Liberty of Con&s;cience and Fa|natici&s;m; by &s;o much he is accounted the more moderate, provided he be but very cold and remi&s;s in a&s;&s;erting the Cau&s;e of the Church whereof he profe&s;&s;es him&s;elf a Member.</P>
<P>That this kind of men act again&s;t their Con&s;ciences, or the inward per&s;wa&s;ions of their mind, I think is no difficult matter to prove; for really a moderate man in the com|mon Notion, if examined, is but a &s;ofter Phra&s;e for a Knave: For it's &s;uppo&s;ed that their Con&s;ciences are very unea&s;ie in the u&s;e of tho&s;e Ceremonies that are e&s;tabli&s;hed by Law: And this unea&s;ine&s;s in the Con&s;cience of a Moderate Church-man in the Ca&s;e of Ceremonies impo|&s;ed on him by Authority, can ari&s;e from no|thing el&s;e but the nature of &s;uch Ceremonies, as being unlawful in them&s;elves, and &s;inful in
<PB N="39" REF="22">their u&s;e; for as to the number, that can't po&s;|&s;ibly prove heavy and burthen&s;om to them. To make the mo&s;t of them, there are but &s;ix in all, notwith&s;tanding the great noi&s;e and clamour that hath been made, as if there were Cart-Loads; Bowing at the Name of <HI>Je&s;us,</HI> Kneeling at the Sacrament, Ring at Marriage, Godfathers and Godmothers, Cro&s;s in Bapti&s;m, and the Surplice: though properly &s;peaking, there are not &s;o many; and the two la&s;t, the Laity are no farther concerned in than to &s;ee them performed by the Clergy. I am &s;ure the Church hath been very moderate in enjoin|ing Ceremonies, they are very few in number, very grave, decent, &s;ignificant, edifying in their nature and u&s;e; they are no incum|brances or incroachments upon Chri&s;tian Re|ligion or Chri&s;tian Liberty; but helps and or|naments of Devotion; they are not incon&s;i|&s;tent with, or contradictory to any Law of Rea&s;on, any Law or Rule of the Go&s;pel, any Article of our Faith, any part of Chri&s;tian Wor&s;hip, or the practice of the Univer&s;al Church in the fir&s;t and pure&s;t Ages; and there|fore that man who is &s;o skitti&s;h as not to endure either the &s;ight or weight of them, but &s;tarts and groans every time he comes to Church or
<PB N="40" REF="23">a Chri&s;tning, is a per&s;on of more mettle than judgment, and endued with a great &s;hare of the Vice of Moderation, but little or none of the Vertue. In &s;hort, Moderate men in the vulgar and ill &s;en&s;e are &s;o far from contributing any thing towards the compo&s;ing of our pre|&s;ent Differences, that they create, keep up and credit our Divi&s;ions, they are fal&s;e and treacherous friends to that &s;ide they profe&s;s to be of; for they really weaken the Church of <HI>England,</HI> while they &s;eem to &s;trengthen her hands. I am &s;ure they have cau&s;ed one fre&s;h Divi&s;ion among&s;t us, and occa&s;ioned a new and invidious di&s;tinction. It's upon the ac|count of the&s;e kind of Moderate Church-men that the Church is &s;et up again&s;t the King and the State, and there is now a Court and a Church of <HI>England,</HI> as well as a Court and a Church of <HI>Rome.</HI></P>
<P>As for the Clergy, the common Notion of a moderate Mini&s;ter is this: One who will marry upon occa&s;ion without the Ring, Chri|&s;ten without the Cro&s;s, Godfathers and God|mothers, in complyance with weak and tender Con&s;ciences, Give the Sacrament Kneeling or Sitting or Standing, Bury with an Exhortation of his own, permit a man to convey his Dead
<PB N="41" REF="23">into the Grave without any Common-Prayer at all; one that will be out of the way, and in the way, as men plea&s;e, how they will; one that will comply with the humours and fancies of all Parties, and oblige them by conde&s;centions of this nature. And if this be Moderation, the old Vicar of <HI>Bray</HI> was the mo&s;t moderate man that ever breathed. How this Notion came to obtain in the World, or what gave it birth, I know not. I do believe there never was a more regular, and (if it may not be thought a reproach) a more loyal Cler|gy, take them all together throughout <HI>England,</HI> than now in this Age, and more particularly than are now fixed and concerned in and a|bout this great City, I declare I am not ac|quainted with any of the moderate men, nor can I of my own knowledge accu&s;e any Mi|ni&s;ter what&s;oever: All that I &s;hall &s;ay upon this Point is, That if there be any &s;uch, I am very &s;orry for them; and that I don't under|&s;tand by what Principles their Con&s;ciences are guided; and that if I &s;hould humour any per|&s;on after the forementioned rate, I &s;hould think my &s;elf a very di&s;hone&s;t man: which liberty I &s;uppo&s;e every man will allow me to take and u&s;e with my &s;elf without the lea&s;t offence to
<PB N="42" REF="24">others. The Rea&s;ons why I &s;hould think &s;o ill of my &s;elf are the&s;e: Our Church is incor|porated into the State, and the Ceremonies re|lating to Chri&s;tnings, Marriages, Sacrament, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> are e&s;tabli&s;hed by Law, and the con&s;tant u&s;e of them enjoined by an Act, intituled, <HI>An Act for the Uniformity of Publick Prayers, and other Rites and Ceremonies:</HI> which is &s;et before the Book of Common-Prayer, that every man may under&s;tand his Duty, and by what Au|thority it's impo&s;ed. Now I infer from hence, That it's not in the power of any private per|&s;on in any Ca&s;e what&s;oever to di&s;pen&s;e with the obligation of this Act, as to the u&s;e of tho&s;e things enjoined in it: For if after &s;uch a Law made, every man might u&s;e or not u&s;e the Ceremonies at his plea&s;ure, the whole de|&s;ign of it would have been fru&s;trated and of none effect. In&s;tead of Uniformity, nothing but di&s;order and confu&s;ion would follow. That no Mini&s;ter can di&s;pen&s;e with him&s;elf as to the ob&s;ervance or non-ob&s;ervance of the&s;e Ceremonies, will evidently appear from that &s;ecurity which the Publick requires them to give of their good behaviour and Conformity to what is e&s;tabli&s;hed by Law; and from the &s;en&s;e and opinion both of His Maje&s;ty and the
<PB N="43" REF="24">Honourable Hou&s;e of Commons. Every Mini|&s;ter at his fir&s;t admittance into &s;acred Orders, &s;ub&s;cribes to this Article,
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Vid.</HI> Can. 36, 38, 54.</NOTE> <HI>That the Book of Com|mon-Prayer, and of Ordering of Bi&s;hops, Prie&s;ts and Deacons, containeth in it nothing contrary to the Word of God; and that it may be lawfully u&s;ed, and that he him&s;elf will u&s;e the Form in the &s;aid Book pre&s;cribed, in Publick Prayer, and Admini&s;tration of the Sacraments, and no other.</HI> Secondly,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">See the Act of Unifor|mity.</NOTE> Every Mini&s;ter upon his promotion to any Eccle&s;ia|&s;tical Preferment is obliged, publickly in the face of the Congregation, on &s;ome Lord's Day, to declare his unfeigned A&s;&s;ent and Con|&s;ent to the u&s;e of all things in the Book of Common-Prayer contained and pre&s;cribed: And the end of this Solemn Declaration is there &s;pecified, to wit, <HI>That Uniformity in the publick Wor&s;hip of God may be effected.</HI> Third|ly, Every Mini&s;ter takes an Oath whereby he obliges him&s;elf to obey his Dioce&s;an in all lawful and hone&s;t things. And our Dioce&s;an the Right Reverend Father in God the Lord Bi&s;hop of <HI>London,</HI> hath laid his Commands up|on us punctually to ob&s;erve the&s;e Rites and Ce|remonies by Law e&s;tabli&s;hed. Fourthly, To make all &s;ure, and prevent all eva&s;ions that may be occa&s;ioned by nice di&s;tinctions about
<PB N="44" REF="25">the force and obligation of humane Laws; I will briefly &s;hew that there is no room for E|quity and Moderation here in this Ca&s;e. For Moderation with re&s;pect to Law con&s;i&s;ts in &s;up|plying that by right Rea&s;on which is not pro|vided for by the words of the Written Law, in &s;uch Ca&s;es as the Law-giver (could he have fore&s;een) would have provided for; but in the Ca&s;e before us, there is nothing but what the Law-giver did fore&s;ee, and provide again&s;t. For the&s;e are the expre&s;s words of the Act: <HI>Now in regard that nothing conduceth more to the &s;etling of the Peace of this Nation (which is de&s;ired of all good men) nor to the honour of our Religion, and the propagation thereof, than an univer&s;al agree|ment in the publick Wor&s;hip of Almighty God; and to the intent that every per&s;on within this Realm may certainly know the Rule to which he is to conform in publick Wor&s;hip, and Admini&s;tration of Sacra|ments, and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of</HI> England, <HI>&amp;c. Be it enacted by the Kings mo&s;t Excellent Maje&s;ty, by the Advice and with the Con&s;ent of the Lords Spiritual and Teinporal, and of the Commons, in this pre&s;ent Parliament a&s;&s;embled,</HI> &amp;c. And that this was the naked &s;en&s;e and true in|tent of the Law-giver, receives further con|firmation from the Preamble to the Act, which
<PB N="45" REF="25">you may con&s;ult at your lei&s;ure; and from that Declaration His Maje&s;ty made, 1662. of His re&s;olution to maintain the Act of Unifor|mity, and the Thanks and Advice of the whole Hou&s;e of Commons returned thereupon; <HI>Re&s;olved,</HI> Nemine Contradicente,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">Vot. <HI>Feb.</HI> 25. 1662.</NOTE> <HI>That it be pre&s;ented to the Kings Maje&s;ty as the bumble Advice of this Hou&s;e, That no indulgence be granted to the Di&s;&s;enters from the Act of Uniformity.</HI> This was not a &s;udden re&s;olution, but the effect of ma|ture deliberation, and prudent foreca&s;t; and back'd with &s;trong and weighty Rea&s;ons. Seeing then the Sen&s;e and Letter of the Law is &s;o expre&s;s and clear, the intent and de&s;ign of the Law-giver &s;o evident, &s;eeing We Mini|&s;ters have by private Sub&s;criptions and Promi|&s;es, by open Declarations, and &s;olemn Oaths to our Dioce&s;an, obliged our &s;elves to the con|&s;tant u&s;e of the Ceremonies e&s;tabli&s;hed by Law; I infer, That nothing le&s;s than &s;trict|ne&s;s and exactne&s;s of Duty, and a con&s;tant clo&s;e Conformity is required at our hands, and that no man can di&s;pen&s;e with him&s;elf, and re|lax the Law in this Ca&s;e. From &s;uch a Mode|ration therefore as &s;hall qualifie and di&s;po&s;e me to break loo&s;e from all the&s;e Obligations, to gratifie the de&s;ires of any per&s;on what&s;oever,
<PB N="46" REF="26">Good Lord deliver me. I allow that all tho&s;e who di&s;&s;ent from the Church, are intituled to gentle language, courteous and civil behavi|our on our &s;ides, That We ought to comply with weak minds and tender Con&s;ciences, &s;o far as We lawfully and innocently may, in or|der to their conviction, and the bringing them over to the Church. I ought to give no ju&s;t occa&s;ion of offence to tho&s;e who differ from me; but to be &s;o careful and tender of a Di&s;|&s;enter, as for his &s;ake to pro&s;titute my Con|&s;cience, break my Faith with God and man, be fal&s;e and perfidious to that Church whereof I am a Member in order to bring another o|ver to it, is &s;uch a piece of civility as I can|not under&s;tand, nor &s;hall ever practi&s;e. I am for the Apo&s;tles Rule,
<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 10.32.</NOTE> <HI>Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God.</HI> I am &s;ure, compliance in Mini&s;ters con|trary to the forementioned Obligations would be extremely prejudicial and mi&s;chievous to the Church. For &s;uch practices would be a Libel upon the Con&s;titution of it, they would beget ill opinions in the minds of men con|cerning it, as if She had no regard to tender Con&s;ciences, that her Laws were rigorous, and &s;tood in need of mitigation and abatemennts;
<PB N="47" REF="26">and then they would introduce a Schi&s;m into the bowels of the Church, and lay a founda|tion for perpetual &s;euds and di&s;turbances: For the multitude would quickly canton us out into men worthy, or worthy men, Tantivies, Tories, Popi&s;hly affected, men ri|ding po&s;t to <HI>Rome,</HI> or into men of moderate, &s;weet, peaceable, Chri&s;tian &s;pirits, according as we comply with, or reject &s;uch motions as they make us about the&s;e matters. I confe&s;s if we were left at liberty to u&s;e, or not u&s;e the&s;e Ceremonies, and out of humour, cro&s;&s;ne&s;s, pride, &s;elf-conceit, &s;pite and revenge, would not conde&s;cend to the reque&s;ts of any Pari&s;h|ioner to omit them, men might ju&s;tly term us ill-natured, moro&s;e and churli&s;h. But &s;ince we &s;tand obliged as we do, it would, to &s;peak mode&s;tly, be very rude and unmannerly on their parts to de&s;ire it, and highly criminal and wicked in us to grant it. Methinks the bare relation of our ca&s;e, &s;hould &s;top any mans mouth who hath not put off all mode&s;ty and con&s;cience him&s;elf, or thinks not that we have. I declare, I love Piety and goodne&s;s in whom|&s;oever they are found; I can, and do love a meek, humble, peaceable, governable Di&s;|&s;enter; I can allow for a great many prejudices,
<PB N="48" REF="27">mi&s;takes and opinions that are con&s;i&s;tent with probity of mind, with ju&s;tice, truth, charity to men, with an unaffected &s;incere Piety to God. Give me the man that is hone&s;t, and con&s;tant to his principles and to what he pro|fe&s;&s;es, what&s;oever party or per&s;wa&s;ion he is of, he is much more valuable to me than he that plights his faith to the Church, and gives all the &s;ecurity that can be taken for his Con|formity to it, and then after he hath wound him&s;elf into its Communion and preferments plays booty, and acts like a Non-Conformi&s;t. The&s;e are treacherous Friends that like Vipers prey upon the bowels of their mother, and be|tray her as <HI>Judas</HI> did our Lord with a ki&s;s. Of all &s;orts of men the Non-Conforming Confor|mi&s;ts are the lea&s;t to be valued, as mo&s;t unfit for &s;ociety.</P>
<P>Secondly, Moderation in the vulgar &s;en&s;e differs in the Extent of it, from that pre&s;cribed here by the Apo&s;tle: Its only a Vertue on one &s;ide, and e&s;teemed a Vice in any but a Church|man. Moderate men run the &s;ame Fate with Informers; an information again&s;t an Epi&s;co|pal man or a Malignant, heretofore, was a &s;ign of a Saint; again&s;t a Di&s;&s;enter now is the certain &s;ign of a Sinner. All the &s;everal par|ties
<PB N="49" REF="27">among us exact that of us which they will by no means practi&s;e them&s;elves. They are all &s;tiff and &s;tout, and maintain their &s;everal Po&s;ts re&s;olutely; they won't &s;tir a foot, nor bate an ace of their preten&s;ions. If any profe&s;t Di&s;&s;enter, and enrolled member of a Private Meeting &s;hould frequent our publick Church|es, &s;peak kindly of our Liturgy, joyn with us in our Publick Prayers, receive the Sacrament according to the Church of <HI>England,</HI> unle&s;s it be to qualifie him for an Office, and &s;erve the Cau&s;e; this would be &s;tiled lukewarmne&s;s, a looking towards <HI>Rome,</HI> a hankering after the fle&s;h-pots of <HI>Egypt,</HI> a halting between two opini|ons, between God and Baal, an argument of a carnal mind, a decay in grace, and apo&s;ta|&s;ie from the Faith; and with &s;uch kind of op|probious names and characters do they &s;tigma|tize all who &s;eem to be favourably enclined to the Religion e&s;tabli&s;hed by Law: that is, all that are moderate of their way, in their &s;en&s;e of a Moderate Church-man.</P>
<P N="2">2.
<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Inference.</HI></NOTE> This &s;erves to reprove tho&s;e among us who &s;ink and damn all tho&s;e that differ from them, who drink to the confu&s;ion of their &s;ouls and bodies, and who &s;wear and hector for the King and the Church. The be&s;t cau&s;e
<PB N="50" REF="28">in the world would pall and &s;uffer in the&s;e mens hands. We had better a thou&s;and times be without, than with them. They can do us no good, but on the contrary entail mi&s;|chief upon us. The&s;e are our &s;pots and ble|mi&s;hes which afford ju&s;t matter of &s;candal and grief to all &s;ober and pious minds. The mo&s;t wicked and damnable de&s;igns have been al|ways ma&s;qued with Religion: They put on heavenly looks though they are derived from Hell: The Devil him&s;elf frequently trans|forms him&s;elf into an Angel of light, in or|der to make his Plots take. Athei&s;m and Pro|phanene&s;s, bare-faced and open Impiety never carried any cau&s;e. Seeing then that a bad cau&s;e thrives and triumphs under the colours of Religion, how much more will a good one pro&s;per in good mens hands. Sobriety there|fore and gentlene&s;s of temper and behaviour, will recommend us, and our good cau&s;e, to the embraces of others; it will win upon our enemies, le&s;&s;en their numbers, and increa&s;e ours; and which is more, engage God to &s;tand by us, and &s;ix him on our &s;ide. I would therefore be&s;eech &s;uch men, for the &s;ake of God and Religion, and (le&s;t the&s;e &s;hould be e&s;teemed weak motives) for the Kings &s;ake,
<PB N="51" REF="28">for whom they pretend a great veneration, either to leave of &s;wearing and cur&s;ing for the King and the Church, or leave their &s;ide: let them turn male-contents and fugitives to their Enemies quarters. I am &s;ure we &s;hall gain con&s;iderably by their ab&s;ence. Every wicked man is really (though not in the eyes of the Law) a Traytor to the King and his intere&s;t. Let them talk and &s;wear never &s;o much for their Loyalty, I don't at all doubt but mo&s;t of tho&s;e that &s;wear on his Maje&s;ties &s;ide, will &s;wear off too, if the tide &s;hould turn, and their intere&s;ts and dependencies lye ano|ther way. I look upon &s;uch to be only a kind of State-Weathercocks, which tell us from what point the wind blows, and who hath the better of it. Honour and the being too far enga|ged to come off &s;afely may take &s;ome hold of &s;ome men; but I am &s;ure nothing but Religion can effectually and in&s;eparably &s;ix a Sub&s;ect to his Prince, and that the mo&s;t firm and inviolable bonds of Loyalty are derived from Con&s;cience. Such Huffs I am &s;ure too will never &s;tand by Religion or the Church, no more than by the King. For why &s;hould any man venture his life and fortune for any one Religion who is in|different to all, and carele&s;s whether there be any or none.</P>
<PB N="52" REF="29">
<P> And now in the la&s;t place, Right Honour|able, Right Wor&s;hipful and Well-beloved, &s;uf|fer one word of Exhortation.</P>
<P>I be&s;eech you all by the meekne&s;s and gen|tlene&s;s of Chri&s;t;
<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">, 2 Cor. 10.1.</NOTE> for the honour of Chri&s;tian Religion in general, the credit of that Church whereof ye are members, in particular; for the &s;ake of the King; for the &s;afety, peace, and happine&s;s of your Country, as good Chri|&s;tians, as true &s;ons of the Church, as Loyal Subjects, as true Engli&s;h-men; be exemplary and remarkable for this excellent Virtue of Moderation, at all times, upon all occa&s;ions of Controver&s;ie, whether publick or private, maintain your Loyalty and Principles, and all cau&s;es who&s;e truth you are per&s;waded of, with calmne&s;s, with a cool gentle &s;pirit, with courteous behaviour, and with courage and re|&s;olution; without remi&s;&s;ne&s;s, &s;ordid neutrali|ty, &s;inful compliances on the one hand; with|out being fierce, furious and rigorous on the other. I am fully of the opinion of an emi|nent Divine of our own in this particular: <HI>Moderation is one of the peculiar ornaments and ad|vantages of the excellent Con&s;titution of our Church, and mu&s;t at la&s;t be the temper of her Members, e&s;pe|cially the Clergy, if ever we &s;eriou&s;ly intend the firm
<PB N="53" REF="29">e&s;tabli&s;hment of it.</HI> It's this temper that mu&s;t and will render her great and glorious, and recommend her Doctrine and Di&s;cipline to all that differ from her. It's not roaring for the Prote&s;tant Religion that will give it any &s;upport or reputation. Such a carriage, on what &s;ide &s;o ever it is found, is a great blot and di&s;paragement, whether it appear in tho&s;e who pretend to be our Friends, or are ju&s;tly e&s;teemed our Enemies.</P>
<P>I will conclude all with that &s;ea&s;onable ad|vice of the Apo&s;tle St. <HI>Paul, Eph.</HI> 4.31. which God grant we may all follow: <HI>Let all bitter|ne&s;s, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-&s;peaking be put from you, with all malice; and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christs &s;ake hath forgiven you.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
