short observations on a printed paper, intituled, for encouraging the coining silver money in england, and after for keeping it here locke, john, 1632-1704. 1695 approx. 31 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 13 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a48893 wing l2758 estc r20204 12402506 ocm 12402506 61293 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48893) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 61293) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 767:43) short observations on a printed paper, intituled, for encouraging the coining silver money in england, and after for keeping it here locke, john, 1632-1704. 24 p. printed for a. and j. churchill ..., london : 1695. caption title. advertisement: p. 24. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng coinage -england. 2002-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-07 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-08 john latta sampled and proofread 2002-08 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion short observations on a printed paper , intituled , for encouraging the coining silver money in england , and after for keeping it here . london , printed for a. and j. churchill , at the black swan in pater-noster-row . 1695. the author says , silver yielding the propos'd 2 d. or 3 d. more by the ounce , than it will do by being coin'd into money , there will be none coin'd into money ; and matter of fact shews there 〈◊〉 none . 't would be hard to know what he means , when he says , silver yields 2 d. or ●…d . more by the ounce , than it will do by being coin'd into money : but that he tells us in plain words at the bottom of the leaf , that an ounce of silver uncoin'd , is of 2 d. mor● value , than after it is coin'd it will be which i take the liberty to say , is so far from being true , that i affirm it is impossible to be so . for which i shall only give this short reason , viz. because the stamp neither does nor can take away any of the intrinsic value of the silver and therefore an ounce of coin'd standard silver , must necessarily be of equal value to an ounce of uncoin'd standard silver . for example ; suppose a goldsmith has a round plate of standard silver just of the shape , size and weight of a coin'd crown-piece , which , for brevity's sake , we will suppose to be an ounce this ounce of standard silver is certainly of equal value to any other ounce of unwrought standard silver in his shop ; away he goes with his round piece of silver to the tower , and has there the stamp set upon it ; when he brings this numerical piece back again to his shop coin'd , can any one imagine that it is now 2 d. less worth than it was when he carried it out smooth a quarter of a● hour before , or that it is not still of equa● value to any other ounce of unwrough● standard silver in his shop ? he that can say 't is 2 d. less worth than it was before it had the king's image and inscription on it , may as well say , that 60 grains of silver brought from the tower , are worth but 58 grains of silver in lombard-street . but the author very warily limits this ill effect of coinage only to england ; why it is so in england , and not every where , would deserve a reason . but let us grant it to be true , as our author affirms , that coined silver in england is 1 / 30 worse , or of less value than uncoin'd , the natural consequence from this , if it be true , is , that it is very unfit that the mint should be employ'd in england , where it debases the silver 1 / 30 ; for if the stamp lessens the value of our silver this year , it will also do so the next , and so on to the end of the world , it always working the same way . nor will the altering the denomination , as is propos'd , at all help it . but yet he thinks he has some proof for his proposition , because it is matter of fact that there is no money coin'd at the mint . this is the great grievance , ●nd is one indeed , but for a different ●eason from what seems to inspire that ●aper . the matter in short is this ; england ●ending more consumable commodities to spain , than it receives from thence . the merchants who manage that trade , bring back the overplus in bullion , which at their return they sell as a commodity . the chapmen that give highest for this , are , as in all cases of buying and selling , those who can make most pro●… by it , and those are the returners of ou●… money by exchange into those countries where our debts any way contracted make a need of it ; for they getting 6 , 8 , 10 , &c. per cent. according to the want and demand of money fro●… england there , and according to th●… risque of the sea , buy up this bullion 〈◊〉 soon as it comes in , to send it to th●… correspondents in those parts , to ma●… good their credit for the bills they ha●… drawn on them , and so can give mo●… for it than the mint rate , i. e. more th●… an equal weight of mill'd money , for 〈◊〉 equal weight of standard bullion , th●… being able to make more profit of it 〈◊〉 returns . suppose the balance of our tr●… with holland were in all other com●…dities equal , but that in the last east-i●… sale we bought of them of east-i●… commodities to the value of a milli●… to be paid in a month ; within a mo●… a million must be return'd into holl●… this presently raises the exchange , and the traders in exchange sell their bills at high rates ; but the balance of trade being ( as is suppos'd in the case ) equal in all other commodities , this million can no way be repaid to their correspondents on whom those bills were drawn , but by sending them money or bullion to reimburse them . this is the true reason why the bullion brought from spain is not carried ●…o the mint to be coin'd , but bought by traders in foreign exchange , and exported by them to supply the overplus of our expences there , which are not paid ●…or by our commodities . nor will the propos'd raising of our money , as 't is call'd , whether we coin our money for the ●…uture 1 / 30 , or 1 / 20 , or ½ lighter than now 〈◊〉 is , bring one ounce more to the mint ●…an now , whil'st our affairs in this respect remain in the same posture . and challenge the author to shew that it ●…ill , for saying is but saying ; bullion ●…an never come to the mint to be coin'd , whil'st the over-balance of trade ●…nd foreign expences are so great , that 〈◊〉 satisfy them , not only the bullion ●…our trade in some parts now yearly ●…ings in , but also some of your former●… coin'd money is requisite , and must be sent out ; but when a change in th●… brings in and lodges bullion here , ( fo●… now it seems it only passes throug●… england ) the increase of silver and gold staying in england , will again bring it t●… the mint to be coin'd . this makes it easily intelligible how i●… comes to pass , that when now at th●… mint they can give but 5 s. 2 d. p●… ounce for silver , they can give 5 s. 4 〈◊〉 the ounce ( in lombard-street , which 〈◊〉 what our author means when he say●… silver now is worth but 5 s. 2 d. the o●… at the mint , and is worth 5 s. 4 d. el●… where ) . the reason whereof is plai●… viz. because the mint giving weigh●… money for bullion , can give so mu●… and no more for silver than it is coin'd at , which is 5 s. 2 d. the ounce , 〈◊〉 publick paying all the odds that is 〈◊〉 tween the coin'd and uncoin'd silver which is the manufacture of coinag●… but the banker or returner of mo●… having use of silver beyond sea , wh●… he can make his profit of it by answ●…ing bills of exchange , which he 〈◊〉 dear , must either send our money 〈◊〉 specie , or melt down our coin to tr●… sport , or else with it buy bullion the sending our money in specie , 〈◊〉 melting it down , has some hazard , a●… therefore if he could have bullion for 5 s. 2 d. per ounce , or a little dearer , 't is like he would always rather chuse to ●…xchange coin for bullion , with some little loss , rather than run the risque of melting it down , or exportation . but this would scarce make him pay 2 d. in the crown , which is almost 3½ per cent. if there were not something more in it , than barely the risque of melting or exportation ; and that is the lightness of the greatest part of our currant coin. for example : n. has given bills for 30000 l. sterling in flanders , and so has need of 10000 weight of silver to be transported thither ; he has ●…0000 l. sterling by him in ready money , whereof 5000 l. is weighty mill'd money , what shall hinder him then from throwing ●…hat into his melting-pot , and so reducing 〈◊〉 to bullion , to be transported ? but what ●…hall he do for the other 25000 l. which ●…ho he has by him , is yet in clipp'd and ●…ght money , that is at least 20 per cent. ●…ghter than the standard ? if he transports 〈◊〉 melts down this , there is so much clear ●…ofs to him ; it is therefore more advan●…age to him to buy bullion at 5 s. 4 d. the ounce with that light money , than to ●…ansport or melt it down ; wherein tho ●…e seller of the bullion has less weight in silver than he parts with , yet he finds his accompt as much as if he received it in weighty coin , whil'st a clipp'd crown-piece or shilling passes as well in payment for any commodity here in england as a mill'd one . thus our mint is kep●… from coining . but this paper , for encouraging the coining , &c. would fain have the mill a●… work , though there be no grist to be had , unless you will grind over agai●… what is ground already , and pay to●… for it a second time ; a proposition fit only for the miller himself to make ; s●… the meanest housewife in the count●… would laugh at it as soon as propos'●… however the author pleases himself , an●… thinks he has a good argument to ma●… it pass , viz. because the toll to be pai●… for it will not amount to 330000 l. as●… said in a late treatise about the rais●… the value of money , ( p. 170. ) for , say●… he , that writer is mistaken , in sayi●… that 3 s. and 6 d. is allowed at the mint f●… the coinage of every pound troy , where there is but 16d½ there allowed for the sa●… which 16d½ being above ⅓ of 3 s. 6 d. 〈◊〉 follows by his own computation , th●… the new coining our money will cost th●… nation above 110000 l. a small sum i●… this our plenty of riches , to be laid o●… for the purchasing these following inconveniencies without any the least advantage . 1. a loss to the king of 1 / 50 ( if you coin your money 2 d. per crown , 1 / 20 if you coin your money 3 d. per crown lighter ) of all his standing revenue . 2. a like loss of 1 / 20 or 1 / 30 in all rents that are setled , for these have , during the term , the nature of rent-seck : but 5 per cent. loss in a man's income he thinks so little , it will not be perceived . 3. trouble to merchants in their trade . these inconveniencies he is forced to allow . he might have said disorder to all people in their trade , though he says it will be but a little trouble to merchants , and without any real damage to trade . the author would have done well to have made out this and a great many other assertions in that paper ; but saying is much easier , if that may pass for proof . indeed he has , by a short way , answer'd the book abovementioned , in the conclusion of his paper , in these words : and he that so grosly mistakes in so materials points of what he would assert , 't is plain is not free from mistakes . it does not appear that he who published that book , ever thought himself free from mistakes ; but he that mistakes in two material points , may be in the right in two others , and those will still need an answer . but one of these material points will , i think , by what is already said , appear not to be a mistake ; and for any thing the author of the paper has said , or can say , it will always be true , that an ounce of silver coin'd or not coin'd , is , and eternally will be of equal value to any other ounce of silver . as to the other mistake , concerning the rate of coinage , 't is like he had his information from some disinteressed person whom he thought worthy of credit , and whether it be 3 s. 6 d. as he was told , or only 16d½ per pound troy , as the paper says , whether the reader will believe the one or the other , or think it worth his more exact enquiry , this is certain , the kingdom ought not to be at that or any other charge where there is no advantage , as there will be none in this propos'd coinage , but quite the contrary . in his answer to object . 1. he says from edw. iii. silver has from time to time ( as it grew in esteem ) been by degrees raised in all mints . if an ounce of silver now not exchanging or paying for what 1 / 10 of an ounce would have purchased in edw. iii's time , and so being ten time less worth now than it was then , be growing in esteem , this author is in the right , else silver has not since edw. iii's . reign , from time to time grown in esteem . be that as it will , he assigns a wrong cause of raising of silver , as he calls it in our mint . for if growing thus in request , i. e. by lessening its value , had been the reason of altering our money , this change of coin , or raising the denomination of silver in ours and other mints , ought to have been greater by much since henry vii's . time , than it was between that and edw. iii's . because the great change of the value of silver has been made , by the plenty of it pour'd into this part of the world from the west-indies , not discover'd till henry vii's . reign . so that i think i may say that the value of silver from edw. iii. to henry vii . changed not 1 / 10 , but from henry vii . till now it chang'd above 7 / 10 , and yet money having been raised in our mint ⅔ since edw. iii's . time , the far greater part of the raising of it was before henry vii's . time , and a very small part of it since ; so that the cause insinuated by our author , 't is evident , was not the cause of lessening our coin so often , whatever was it : and 't is possible there wanted not men of projects in those days , who for private ends , by wrong suggestions , and false reasonings , cover'd with mysterious terms , led those into mistakes , who had not the time and will nicely to examine , tho a crown piece three times as big as one of ours now might , for its size alone , deserve to be reformed . to object . 2. he says , the raising the denomination of money in spain and portugal , was making it go for more when coin'd , than its true value . this , i say , is impossible , and desire the author to prove it . it did in spain and portugal , just what it will do here and everywhere , it made not the silver coin'd go for more than its value in all things to be bought , but just so much as the denomination was raised , just so much less of commodity had the buyer in exchange for it : as it would be here , if you should coin six-pences into shillings , if any one went to market with this new money , he would find that whereas he had a bushel of wheat last week for eight shillings of the former coin , he would have now but half a bushel for eight of the new shillings , when the same denomination had but half the quantity of silver . indeed those who were to receive money upon former contracts , would be defrauded of half their due , receiving in their full tale of any denomination contracted for , but half the silver they should have ; the cheat whereof they would find , when they went to market with their new money . for this i have above proved , that one ounce of silver is , and eternally will be equal in value to another ounce of silver ; and all that can possibly put a difference between them , is only the different value of the workmanship bestow'd on one more than another , which in coinage our author tells us in this paper is but 16½d . per pound troy. i demand therefore of our author , to shew that any sort of coinage , or , as he calls it , raising of money , can raise the value of coin'd silver , or make it go for more than uncoin'd , bating the charge of coinage , unless it be to those who being to receive money upon former contracts , will , by receiving the tale agreed for , receive less than they should of silver , and so be defrauded of what they really contracted for . what effect such a raising of their money had in one particular , i will tell our author . in portugal they count their money by reys , a very small , or rather imaginary coin , just as if we here should count all our sums by farthings . it pleased the government , possibly , being told that it would raise the value of their money to raise in denomination the several species , and make them go for a greater ( let us suppose double the ) number of reys than formerly . what was the consequence ? it not only confounded the property of the subject , and disturbed affairs to no purpose ; but treaties of commerce having setled the rates of the customs , as so many reys on the several commodities , the king immediately lost in value half his customs . the same that in proportion will happen in the setled revenue of the crown here upon the proposed change . for tho' our author in these words , whereas all now desir'd by this act is , to keep silver when coin'd of the same value it was before , would insinuate , that this raising the denomination , or lessening our coin , as is propos'd , will do no such thing ; yet 't is demonstration , that when our coin is lessen'd 3 d. in 5 s. the king will receive 5 per cent. less in value in his customs , excise , and all his setled revenue , and so proportionably , as the quantity of silver in every species of our coin shall be made less than now it is coin'd in those of the same denomination . but whatever our author means by making money go for more when coin'd than its true value , or by keeping silver when coin'd of the same value it was before ; this is evident , that raising their money thus by coining it with less silver in it than it had before , had not the effect in portugal and spain , which our author proposes from it here : for it has not brought one penny more to the mint there , nor kept their money or silver from exportation since , tho' forfeiture and death be the penalties join'd in aid to this trick of raising to keep it in . but our author tells us in answer to object . 4. this will scarce ever at all be perceived . if of 100 guinea's a man has in his pocket , 5 should be picked out so as he should not perceive it , the fraud and the loss would not be one jot the less ; and tho' he perceived it not when or how it was done , yet he will find it in his accompts , and the going so much back in his estate at the end of the year . to the 3d objection he says , the raising your coin ( it may be ) may raise the price of bullion here in england . an ounce of silver will always be equal in value to an ounce of silver everywhere , bating the workmanship . i say it is impossible to be otherwise , and require our author to shew it possible in england , or any where , or else hereafter to spare his may be 's . to avoid fallacies , i desire to be understood , when i use the word silver alone , to mean nothing but silver , and do lay aside the consideration of baser metals that may be mixed with it : for i do not say that an ounce of standard silver that has almost 1 / 12 of copper in it , is of equal value with an ounce of fine silver that has no alloy at all , but that any two ounces of equally alloid silver , will always be of equal value ; the silver being the measure of commerce , 't is the quantity of silver that is in every piece he receives , and not the denomination of it which the merchant looks after , and values it by . but this raising of the denomination our author would have pass , because 't will be better for the possessors of bullion , as he says answ. 3. but who are they who now in england are possess'd of so much bullion ? or what private men are there in england of that consideration , that for their advantage all our money should be new coin'd , and of a less weight , with so great a charge to the nation , and loss to his majesties revenue ? he farther adds , answ. 3. it doth not thence inevitably follow , it will raise the price of bullion beyond sea. it will as inevitably follow , as that 19 ounces of silver will never be equal in weight or worth to 20 ounces of silver : so much as you lessen your coin , so much more must you pay in tale as will make up the quantity of silver the merchant expects for his commodity , under what denomination soever he receives it . the clothier thus buying his spanish wooll , oil and labour at 5 per cent. more in denomination , sells his woollen manufacture proportionably dearer to the english merchant , who exporting it to spain , where their money is not changed , sells it at the usual market rate , and so brings home the same quantity of bullion for it which he was wont , which therefore he must sell to you at the same raised value your money is at : and what then is gain'd by all this ? the denomination is only chang'd to the prejudice of the publick , but as to all the great matters of your trade , the same quantity of silver is paid for commodities as before , and they sold in their several foreign markets for the sa●… quantity of silver . but whatever h●… pens in the rate of foreign bullion , 〈◊〉 raising of the denomination of 〈◊〉 money , will bring none of it to 〈◊〉 mint to be coin'd ; that depends on 〈◊〉 balance of our trade , and not on 〈◊〉 sening our coin under the same de●… mination : for whether the pieces 〈◊〉 call crowns be coin'd 16 , 24 , or 〈◊〉 grains lighter , it will be all one as the value of bullion , or the bring●… more or less of it into england , or to 〈◊〉 mint . what he says in his answer to 〈◊〉 ject . 4. besides what we have already ●…ken notice of , is partly against his 〈◊〉 and partly mistake . 1. he says , it may be some ( as i●… now ) gain to those that will venture 〈◊〉 melt down the milled and heavy money 〈◊〉 coin'd . that men do venture to m●… down the mill'd and heavy money , evident , from the small part of m●… money is now to be found of that gr●… quantity of it that has been coin'd ; a●… a farther evidence is this , that mi●… money will now yield 4 or 5 m●… per cent. than the other , which must to melt down , and use as bullion , a●… not as money , in ordinary payme●… the reason whereof is , the shameful and ●…orrible debasing ( or as our author ●…ould have it raising ) our unmilled mo●…ey by clipping . for the odds betwixt mill'd and un●…ill'd money being now , modestly speak●…g , above 20 per cent : and bullion , for ●…easons elsewhere given , being not to be ●…d , refiners , and such who have need of ●…lver , find it the cheapest way to buy ●…ill'd money for clipp'd , at 4 , 5 , or more per cent. loss . i ask therefore this gentleman , what ●…all become of all our present mill'd and ●…eavy money , upon the passing of his ●…ct ? to which his paper almost con●…sses what i will venture to answer for ●…m , viz. that as soon as such a law is ●…ssed , the mill'd and heavy money will 〈◊〉 be melted down ; for it being 5 per ●…nt . heavier , i. e. more worth than what to be coin'd in the mint , no body ●…ll carry it thither to receive 5 per cent. ●…s for it , but sell it to such as will give ●…or 4½ per cent. more for it , and at that ●…e melt it down with advantage : for lombard-street is too quick-sighted to give 〈◊〉 ounces of silver for 57 ounces of ●…ver , when bare throwing it into the ●…elting pot , will make it change for its ●…ual weight ; so that by this law 5 per cent. gain on all our mill'd money , will be given to be shared between the possessor and melter of our mill'd money , out of the honest creditor and landlord's pocket , who had the guaranty of the law , that under such a tale of pieces of such a denomination as he let his land for , he should have to such a value , i. e. such a weight in silver . now i ask whether it be not a direct and unanswerable reason against this bill , that he confesses that it will be a gain to those who will melt down the mill'd and heavy money with so much loss to the publick and not , as he says , with very small loss to those that shall be paid in the new , unless he calls 5 per cent. very small loss , for just so much is it to receive but 5●… grains or ounces of silver for 60 , which is the proportion in making your crown 3 d. lighter . this is certain , no body will pay away mill'd or weighty money for debts or commodities , when it wi●● yield him 4 or 5 per cent. more ; so that which is now left of weighty money being scatter'd up and down the kingdom into private hands , which cann●● tell how to melt it down , will be kep● up and lost to our trade . and as to your clipp'd and light money , will yo● make a new act for coinage , withou● taking any care for that ? the making a new standard for your money , cannot do less than make all money which is lighter than that standard unpassable , and thus the mill'd and heavy money not coming into payment , and the light and clipp'd not being lawful money , according to the new standard , there must needs be a sudden stop of trade , and , 't is to be fear'd , a general confusion of affairs , though our author says , it will not any ways interrupt trade . 2. the latter part of this section about raising the value of land , i take the liberty to say is a mistake ; which though a sufficient reply to an assertion without proof , yet i shall not so far imitate this author , as barely to say things : and therefore i shall add this reason for what i say , viz. because nothing can truly raise the value , i. e. the rent of land , but the increase of your money ; but because raising the value of land is a phrase which , by its uncertain sense , may deceive others , we may reckon up these several meanings of it . 1. the value of land is raised , when its intrinsick worth is increased , i. e. when it is fitted to bring forth a greater quantity of any valuable product . and thus the value of land is raised only by good husbandry . 2. the value of land is raised , when remaining of the same fertiliy , it comes to yield more rent , and thus its value is raised only by a greater plenty of money and treasure . 3. or it may be raised in our author's way , which is , by raising the rent in tale of pieces , but not in the quantity of silver received for it , which , in truth , is no raising of it at all , no more than it could be accounted the raising of a man's rent , if he let his land this year for 40 sixpences , which last year he let for 20 s. nor would it alter the case , if he should call those 40 sixpences 40 s. for having but half the silver of 40 s. in them , they would be but of half the value , however their denomination were changed . in his answer to the 5th objection , there is this dangerous insinuation , that coin in any country where it is coin'd goes not by weight , i. e. has its value from the stamp and denomination , and not the quantity of silver in it . indeed in contracts already made , if your species be by law coin'd a fifth part lighter , under the same denomination the creditor must take 100 such light shillings , or 20 such light crown-pieces for 5 l. if the law calls them so , but he loses ⅕ in the intrinsick value of his debt . but in bargains to be made , and things to be purchased , money has and will always have its value from the quantity of silver in it , and not from the stamp and denomination , as has been already proved , and will some time or other be evidenced with a witness in the clipp'd money . and if it were not so , that the value of money were not according to the quantity of silver in it , i. e. that it goes by weight , i see no reason why clipping should be so severely punished . as to foreigners he is forced to confess , that 't is all one what our money is , greater or less , who regard only the quantity of silver they sell their goods for , how then can the lessening our money bring more plenty of bullion into england , or to the mint ? but he says , the owners and importers of silver , will find a good market at the mint , &c. but always a better in lombard-street , and not a grain of it will come to the mint , as long as by an under-balance of trade , or other foreign expences , we contract debts beyond sea , which require the remitting of greater sums thither than are imported in bullion . if for above forty years after silver was raised in the 43 of eliz. from 5 s. to 5 s. 2 d. the ounce , uncoin'd silver was not worth above 〈◊〉 per ounce ; the cause was not that raisi●… ver in the mint , but an over-balance 〈◊〉 which bringing in an increase of silver 〈◊〉 which men having no occasion abroad , 〈◊〉 to the mint to be coin'd , rather than 〈◊〉 dead by them in bullion ; and when ev●… the case again in england , it will occas●… again , and not till then . no money was in 〈◊〉 exported , says he , no nor bullion neither , s●… should , or how could it , when our exp●… chandize paid for all the commodities 〈◊〉 home , with an overplus of silver and g●… staying here set the mint on work . bu●… sing this bill , will not hinder the exp●… one ounce either of bullion or mo●… must go if you contract debts beyond 〈◊〉 how it s having been once melted in england is another thing propos'd in this bill , 〈◊〉 its exportation , is hard to conceive , 〈◊〉 coining has not been able to do it , a●… strable , if it be examined , what vast su●… money have been coined in the two 〈◊〉 and how little of it is now left . beside●… exportation of bullion should be broug●… any greater difficulty than of any othe●… dity , it is to be considered wherher 〈◊〉 ment of that trade which is in skilful 〈◊〉 not thereupon be so ordered , as to divert●… coming to england for the future , and 〈◊〉 be sent from spain , directly to those pl●… they know english debts will make it 〈◊〉 accompt , to answer bills of exchange ●…ther . finis . advertisement . some considerations of the consequ●… lowering of interest , and raising the money . in a letter to a member of p●… sold by awnsham and john churchill . a vindication of the reasonableness of christianity, &c. from mr. edwards's reflections locke, john, 1632-1704. 1695 approx. 52 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 25 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a48904 wing l2769 estc r18275 11871393 ocm 11871393 50134 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48904) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 50134) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 501:11) a vindication of the reasonableness of christianity, &c. from mr. edwards's reflections locke, john, 1632-1704. [3], 40, [4] p. printed for awnsham and john churchil, london : 1695. advertisement on p. [1]-[4] at end. appears in his the reasonableness of christianity. london, 1696. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng christianity. 2002-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-06 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-07 kirk davis sampled and proofread 2002-07 kirk davis text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-08 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a vindication of the reasonableness of christianity , &c. a vindication of the reasonableness of christianity , &c. from mr. edwards's reflections . london : printed for awnsham and iohn churchil , at the black swan in pater-noster-row . 1695. a vindication of the reasonableness of christianity , &c. my book had not been long out , before it fell under the correction of the author of a treatise , entituled , some thoughts concerning the several causes and occasions of atheism , especially in the present age. no contemptible adversary i 'le assure you ; since , as it seems , he has got the faculty to heigthen every thing that displeases him into the capital crime of atheism ; and breaths against those who come in his way a pestilential air , whereby every the least distemper is turned into the plague , and becomes mortal . for whoever does not just say after mr. ed's . cannot 't is evident escape being an atheist , or a promoter of atheism . i cannot but approve of any ones zeal to guard and secure that great and fundamental article of all religion and morality , that there is a god : but atheism being a crime , which for its madness as well as guilt , ought to shut a man out of all sober and civil society , should be very warily charged on any one by deductions and consequences which he himself does not own , or at least do not manifestly and unavoidably flow from what he asserts . this caution , charity , i think , obliges us to : and our author would possibly think himself hardly dealt with , if , for neglecting some of those rules he himself gives , p. 31. & 34. against atheism , he should be pronounced a promoter of it : as rational a charge , i imagine , as some of those he makes ; and as fitly put together , as the treatise of the reasonableness of christianity , &c. brought in among the causes of atheism . however i shall not much complain of him , since he joyns me , p. 104. with no worse company than two eminently pious and learned * prelates of our church , whom he makes favourers of the same conceit , as he calls it . but what has that conceit to do with atheism ? very much . that conceit is of kin to socinianism , and socinianism to atheism . let us hear mr. ed's . himself . he says , p. 113. i am all over socinianized : and therefore my book fit to be placed among the causes of atheism . for in the 64. and following pages , he endeavours to shew , that a socinian is an atheist , or lest that should seem harsh , one that favours the cause of atheism , p. 75. for so he has been pleased to mollifie , now it is published as a treatise , what was much more harsh , and much more confident in it , when it was preached as a sermon . in this abatement he seems a little to comply with his own advice against his fourth cause of atheism ; which we have in these words , pag. 34. wherefore that we may effectually prevent this folly in our selves , let us banish presumption , confidence , and self-conceit ; let us extirpate all pride and arrogance : let us not list our selves in the number of caprioious opiniators . i shall leave the socinians themselves to answer his charge against them , and shall examine his proof of my being a socinian . it stands thus , pag. 112. when he [ the author of the reasonableness of christianity , &c. ] proceeds to mention the advantages and benefits of christ's coming into the world , and appearing in the flesh , he hath not one syllable of his satisfying for us , or by his death purchasing life or salvation , or any thing that sounds like it . this and several other things shew that he is all over socinianized . which in effect is , that because i have not set down all that this author perhaps would have done , therefore i am a socinian . but what if i should say , i set down as much as my argument required , and yet am no socinian ? would he from my silence and omission give me the lye , and say , i am one ? surmizes that may be over-turned by a single denial , are poor arguments , and such as some men would be ashamed of : at least , if they are to be permitted to men of this gentleman's skill and zeal , who knows how to make a good use of conjectures , suspicions , and uncharitable censures in the cause of god ; yet even there too ( if the cause of god can need such arts ) they require a good memory to keep them from recoiling upon the author . he might have taken notice of these words in my book , pag. 107. from this estate of death jesus christ restores all mankind to life . and a little lower , the life which jesus christ restores to all men. and p. 205. he that hath incurred death for his own transgression , cannot lay down his life for another , as our saviour professes he did . this methinks sounds something : like christ's purchasing life for us by his death . but this reverend gentleman has an answer ready ; it was not in the place he would have had it in : it was not where i mention the advantages and benefits of christ's coming . and therefore , i not having one syllable of christ's purchasing life and salvation for us by his death , or any thing that sounds like it ; this , and several other things that might be offered , shew that i am all over socinianized . a very clear and ingenuous proof , and let him enjoy it . but what will become of me , that i have not mentioned satisfaction ! possibly this reverend gentleman would have had charity enough for a known writer of the brotherhood , to have found it by an inuendo in those words above quoted , of laying down his life for another . but every thing is to be strained here the other way . for the author of the reasonableness of christianity , &c. is of necessity to be represented as a socinian ; or else his book may be read , and the truths in it , which mr. ed's . likes not , be received , and people put upon examining . thus one , as full of happy conjectures and suspicions as this gentleman , might be apt to argue . but what if the author designed his treatise , as the title shews , chiefly for those who were not yet throughly or firmly christians ; proposing to work on those who either wholly disbelieved or doubted of the truth of the christian religion ? would any one blame his prudence , if he mentioned only those advantages which all christians are agreed in ? might he not remember and observe that command of the apostle , rom. 14. 1. him that is weak in the faith receive ye , but not to doubtful disputations , without being a socinian ? did he amiss , that he offered to the belief of those who stood off , that , and only that which our saviour and his apostles preached for the reducing the unconverted world ? and would any one think he in earnest went about to perswade men to be christians , who should use that as an argument to recommend the gospel , which he has observed men to lay hold on as an objection against it ? to urge such points of controversie as necessary articles of faith , when we see our saviour and the apostles in their preaching urged them not as necessary to be believed , to make men christians , is ( by our own authority ) to add prejudices to prejudices , and to block up our own way to those men whom we would have access to , and prevail upon . but some men had rather you should write booty , and cross your own design of removing mens prejudices to christianity , than leave out one tittle of what they put into their systems . to such i say ; convince but men of the mission of jesus christ ; make them but see the truth , simplicity , and reasonableness of what he himself taught , and required to be believed by his followers ; and you need not doubt , but , being once fully perswaded of his doctrine , and the advantages which all christians agree are received by him , such converts will not lay by the scriptures ; but by a constant reading and study of them , get all the light they can from this divine revelation ; and nourish themselves up in the words of faith , and of good doctrin , as st. paul speaks to timothy . but some men will not bear it , that any one should speak of religion , but according to the model that they themselves have made of it . nay , though he proposes it upon the very terms , and in the very words which our saviour and his apostles preached it in , yet he shall not escape censures , and the severest insinuations . to deviate in the least , or to omit any thing contained in their articles , is heresie under the most invidious names in fashion , and 't is well if he escapes being a down-right atheist . whether this be the way for teachers to make themselves hearkened to , as men in earnest in religion , and really concerned for the salvation of mens souls , i leave them to consider . what success it has had towards perswading men of the truth of christianity , their own complaints of the prevalency of atheism on the one hand , and the number of deists on the other , sufficiently shew . another thing laid to my charge , p. 105. & 107. is my forgetting , or rather wilful omitting some plain and obvious passages , and some famous testimonies in the evangelists ; namely , mat. 28. 19. go teach all nations , baptizing them in the name of the father , and of the son , and of the holy ghost . and iohn 1. 1. in the beginning was the word , and the word was with god , and the word was god. and verse 14. and the word was made flesh. mine it seems in this book , are all sins of omission . and yet when it came out , the buz , and flutter , and noise which was made , and the reports which were raised , would have perswaded the world that it subverted all morality , and was designed against the christian religion . i must confess discourses of this kind , which i met with spread up and down , at first amazed me ; knowing the sincerity of those thoughts which perswaded me to publish it , ( not without some hope of doing some service to decaying piety , and mistaken and slandered christianity . ) i satisfied my self against those heats with this assurance , that if there was any thing in my book , against what any one called religion , it was not against the religion contained in the gospel . and for that i appeal to all mankind . but to return to mr. ed's in particular , i must take leave to tell him , that if omitting plain and obvious passages , and famous testimonies in the evangelists , be a fault in me , i wonder why he , among so many of this kind that i am guilty of , mentions so few . for i must acknowledge i have omitted more , nay , many more , that are plain and obvious passages , and famous testimonies in the evangelists , than those he takes notice of . but if i have left out none of those passages or testimonies which contain what our saviour and his apostles preached , and required assent to , to make men believers , i shall think my omissions ( let them be what they will ) no faults in the present case . what ever doctrines mr. edwards would have to be believed , if they are such as our saviour and his apostles required to be believed to make a man a christian , he will be sure to find them in those preachings and famous testimonies of our saviour and his apostles that i have quoted . and if they are not there , he may rest satisfied , that they were not proposed by our saviour and his apostles , as necessary to be believed , to make men christ's disciples . if the omission of other texts in the evangelists ( which are all true also , and no one of them to be disbelieved ) be a fault , it might have been expected that mr. edwards should have accused me for leaving out mat. 1. 18. to 23. and mat. 17. 24. 35. 50. 60. for these are plain and obvious passages , and famous testimonies in the evangelists ; and such whereon these articles of the apostles creed , viz. born of the virgin mary , suffered under pontius pilate , was crucified , dead , and buried , are founded . these being articles of the apostles creed , are look'd upon as fundamental doctrines : and one would wonder why mr. edwards so quietly passes by their omission ; did it not appear that he was so intent on fixing his imputation of socinianism upon me , that rather than miss that , he was content to drop the other articles of his creed . for i must observe to him , that if he had blamed me for the omission of the places last quoted out of st. matthew ( as he had as much reason as for any other ) it would planily have appeared how idle and ill-grounded his charging socinianism on me was . but at any rate he was to give the book an ill name . not because it was socinian . for he has no more reason to charge it with socinianism for the omissions he mentions , than the apostles creed . 't is therefore well for the compilers of that creed , that they lived not in mr. edwards's days : for he would no doubt have found them all over socinianized , for omitting the texts he quotes , and the doctrines he collects out of ioh. 1. & ioh. 14. p. 107 , 108. socinianism then is not the fault of the book , whatever else it be . for i repeat it again , there is not one word of socinianism in it . i that am not so good at conjectures as mr. edwards , shall leave it to him to say ; or to those who can bear the plainness and simplicity of the gospel , to guess , what its fault is . some men are shrewd guessers , and others would be thought to be so : but he must be carried far by his forward inclination , who does not take notice , that the world is apt to think him a diviner , for any thing rather than for the sake of truth , who sets up his own suspicions against the direct evidence of things ; and pretends to know other mens thoughts and reasons better than they themselves . i had said , that the epistles being writ to those who were already believers , could not be supposed to be writ to them to teach them fundamentals , without which they could not be believers . and the reason i gave why i had not gone through the writings in the epistles , to collect the fundamental articles of faith , as i had through the preachings of our saviour and his apostles , was , because those fundamental articles were in those epistles promiscuously , and without distinction , mixed with other truths . and therefore we shall find and discern those great and necessary points best in the preachings , of our saviour and the apostles , to those who were yet ignorant of the faith , and unconverted . this , as far as i know my own thoughts , was the reason why i did ( as mr. edwards complains , p. 109. ) not proceed to the epistles , and not give an account of them , as i had done of the gospels and acts. this i imagined i had in the close of my book so fully and clearly expressed , particularly p. 125. that i supposed no body , how willing soever , could have mistaken me . but this gentleman is so much better acquainted with me than i am with my self ; sees so deeply into my heart , and knows so perfectly every thing that passes there ; that he with assurance tells the world , p. 109. that i purposely omitted the epistolary writings of the apostles , because they are fraught with other fundamental doctrines beside that one which i mention . and then he goes on to enumerate those fundamental articles , p. 110 , 111. viz. the corruption and degeneracy of humane nature , with the true original of it ( the defection of our first parents ) the propagation of sin and mortality , our restoration and reconciliation by christ's blood , the eminency and excellency of his priesthood , the efficacy of his death , the full satisfaction made thereby to divine iustice , and his being made an all sufficient sacrifice for sin. christ's righteousness , our iustification by it , election , adoption , sanctification , saving faith , the nature of the gospel , the new covenant , the riches of god's mercy in the way of salvation by iesus christ , the certainty of the resurrection of humane bodies , and of the future glory . give me leave now to ask you seriously whether these , which you have here set down under the title of fundamental doctrines , are such ( when reduced to propositions ) that every one of them is required to be believed to make a man a christian , and such , as without the actual belief thereof , he cannot be saved . if they are not so every one of them , you may call them fundamental doctrines as much as you please , they are not of those doctrines of faith i was speaking of , which are only such as are required to be actually believed to make a man a christian. if you say , some of them are such necessary points of faith , and others not , you by this specious list of well-sounding , but unexplained terms arbitrarily collected , only make good what i have said , viz. that the necessary articles of faith are in the epistles promiscuously delivered with other truths , and therefore they cannot be distinguished but by some other mark than being barely found in the epistles . if you say , that they are all of them necessary articles of faith , i shall then desire you to reduce them to so many plain doctrines , and then prove them to be every one of them required to be believed by every christian man to make him a member of the christian church . for to begin with the first , 't is not enough to tell us , as you do , that the corruption and degeneracy of humane nature , with the true original of it , ( the defection of our first parents ) the propagation of sin and mortality , is one of the great heads of christian divinity . but you are to tell us what are the propositions we are required to believe concerning this matter : for nothing can be an article of faith , but some proposition ; and then it will remain to be proved , that these articles are necessary to be believed to salvation . the apostles creed was taken , in the first ages of the church , to contain all things necessary to salvation ; i mean , necessary to be believed : but you have now better thought on it , and are pleased to enlarge it , and we , no doubt , are bound to submit to your orthodoxy . the list of materials for his creed ( for the articles are not yet formed ) mr. ed's . closes , p. 111. with these words : these are the matters of faith contained in the epistles , and they are essential and integral parts of the gospel it self . what , just these ? neither more nor less ? if you are sure of it , pray let us have them speedily , for the reconciling of differences in the christian church , which has been so cruelly torn about the articles of the christian faith , to the great reproach of christian charity , and scandal of our true religion . mr. ed's . having thus , with two learned terms of essential and integral parts , sufficiently proved the matter in question , viz. that all those , he has set down , are articles of faith necessary to be believed to make a man a christian , he grows warm at my omission of them . this i cannot complain of as unnatural : the spirit of creed-making always arising from an heat of zeal for our own opinions , and warm endeavours , by all ways possible to decry and bear down those who differ in a tittle from us . what then could i expect more gentle and candid , than what mr. ed's . has subjoyned in these words ? and therefore it is no wonder , that our author , being sensible of this ( viz. that the points he has named were essential and integral parts of the gospel ) would not vouchsafe to give us an abstract of those inspired writings [ the epistles ] but passes them by with some contempt . sir , when your angry fit is over , and the abatement of your passion has given way to the return of your sincerity , i shall beg you to read this passage in 297 pag. of my book . these holy writers ( viz. the pen-men of the scriptures ) inspired from above , writ nothing but truth , and in most places very weighty truths to us now , for the expounding , clearing , and confirming of the christian doctrine ; and establishing those in it who had embraced it . and again , pag. 299. the other parts of divine revelation are objects of faith , and are so to be received . they are truths , of which none that is once known to be such , i. e. revealed , may or ought to be disbelieved . and if this does not satisfie you that i have as high a veneration for the epistles , as you or any one can have , i require you to publish to the world those passages which shew my contempt of them . in the mean time i shall desire my reader to examine what i have writ concerning the epistles , which is all contained between p. 290 and 301 of my book ; and then to judge , whether i have made bold with the epistles in what i have said of them , or this gentleman made bold with truth in what he has writ of me . humane frailty will not , i see , easily quit its hold ; what it loses in one part , it will be ready to regain in another ; and not be hindred from taking reprizals , even on the most priviledged sort of men. mr. ed's . who is entrenched in orthodoxy , and so is as safe in matters of faith almost as infallibility it self , is yet as apt to err as others in matter of fact. but he has not yet done with me about the epistles : all his fine draught of my slighting that part of the scripture will be lost , unless the last strokes compleat it into socinianism . in his following words you have the conclusion of the whole matter . his words are these . and more especially , if i may conjecture , ( by all means , sir ; conjecturing is your proper talent ; you have hitherto done nothing else ; and i will say that for you , you have a lucky hand at it . ) he doth this , ( i. e. pass by the epistles with contempt ) because he knew that there are so many and frequent , and those so illustrious and eminent attestations to the doctrine of the ever to be adored trinity , in these epistles . truly , sir , if you will permit me to know what i know , as well as you do allow your self to conjecture what you please , you are out for this once . the reason why i went not through the epistles , as i did the gospels and the acts , was that very reason i printed , and that will be found so sufficient a one to all considerate readers , that i believe they will think you need not strain your conjectures for another . and if you think it be so easie to distinguish fundamentals from not fundamentals in the epistles , i desire you to try your skill again , in giving the world a perfect collection of propositions out of the epistles , that contain all that is required , and no more than what is absolutely required to be believed by all christians , without which faith they cannot be of christ's church . for i tell you , notwithstanding the shew you have made , you have not yet done it , nor will you affirm that you have . his next page , viz. 112. is made up of the same , which he calls , not uncharitable conjectures . i expound , he says , iohn 14. 9. &c. after the antitrinitarian mode : and i make christ and adam to be sons of god , in the same sense , and by their birth , as the racovians generally do . i know not but it may be true , that the antitrinitarians and racovians understand those places as i do : but 't is more than i know that they do so . i took not my sense of those texts from those writers , but from the scripture it self , giving light to it 's own meaning , by one place compared with another : what in this way appears to me its true meaning , i shall not decline , because i am told , that it is so understood by the racovians , whom i never yet read ; nor embrace the contrary , though the generality of divines i more converse with , should declare for it . if the sense wherein i understand those texts be a mistake , i shall be beholding to you if you will set me right . but they are not popular authorities , or frightful names , whereby i judge of truth or falshood . you will now no doubt applaud your conjectures ; the point is gained , and i am openly a socinian , since i will not disown that i think the son of god was a phrase that among the iews in our saviour's time was used for the messiah , though the socinians understand it in the same sense ; and therefore i must certainly be of their perswasion in every thing else . i admire the acuteness , force , and fairness of your reasoning , and so i leave you to triumph in your conjectures . only i must desire you to take notice , that that ornament of our church , and every way eminent prelate , the late arch-bishop of canterbury , understood that phrase in the same sense that i do , without being a socinian . you may read what he says concerning nathanael , in his first serm. of sincerity , published this year . his words are these , p. 4. and being satisfied that he [ our saviour ] was the messiah , he presently owned him for such , calling him the son of god , and the king of israel . though this gentleman know my thoughts as perfectly as if he had for several years past lain in my bosom , yet he is mightily at a loss about my person : as if it at all concerned the truth contained in my book , what hand it came from . however the gentleman is mightily perplexed about the author . why , sir ? what if it were writ by a scribler of bartholomew fair drolls , with all that flourish of declamatory rhetorick , and all that smartness of wit and jest about capt. tom , vnitarins , vnits , and cyphers , &c. which are to be found between 115 and 123 pages of a book that came out during the merry time of rope-dancing , and puppet-plays ? what is truth , would , i hope , nevertheless be truth in it , however odly sprused up by such an author : though perhaps 't is likely some would be apt to say , such merriment became not the gravity of my subject , and that i writ not in the stile of a graduate in divinity . i confess , ( as mr. ed's . rightly says ) my fault lyes on the other side , in a want of vivacity and elevation : and i cannot wonder that one of his character and palate , should find out and complain of my flatness , which has so over-charged my book with plain and direct texts of scripture in a matter capable of no other proofs . but yet i must acknowledge his excess of civility to me ; he shews me more kindness than i could expect or wish , since he prefers what i say to him my self , to what is offered to him from the word of god ; and makes me this complement , that i begin to mend , about the close ; i. e. when i leave off quoting of scripture : and the dull work was done , of going through the history of the evangelists and acts , which he computes , p. 105. to take up three quarters of my book . does not all this deserve at least that i should in return take some care of his credit ? which i know not how better to do , than by entreating him , that when he takes next in hand such a subject as this is , wherein the salvation of souls is concerned , he would treat it a little more seriously , and with a little more candor ; left men should find in his writings another cause of atheism , which in this treatise he has not thought fit , to mention . ostentation of wit in general he has made a cause of atheism p. 28. but the world will tell him , that frothy light discourses concerning the serious matters of religion ; and ostentation of triflng and misbecoming wit in those who come as ambassadors from god , under the title of successors of the apostles , in the great commission of the gospel , is none of the least causes of atheism . some men have so peculiar a way of arguing , that one may see it influences them in the repeating another man's reasoning , and seldom fails to make it their own . in the next paragraph ▪ i find these words : what makes him contend for one single article , with the exclusion of all the rest ? he pretends it is this , that all men ought to understand their religion . this , i confess , is a reasoning i did not think of ; nor would it hardly , i fear , have been used but by one , who had first took up his opinion from the recommendation of fashion or interest , and then sought topicks to make it good . perhaps the deference due to your character excused you from the trouble of quoting the page where i pretend , as you say ; and it is so little like my way of reasoning , that i shall not look for it in a book where i remember nothing of it , and where , without your direction , i fear the reader will scarce find it . though i have not that vivacity of thought , that elevation of mind , which mr. ed's . demands , yet common sense would have kept me from contending that there is but one article , because all men ought to understand their religion . numbers of propositions may be harder to be remembred , but 't is the abstruseness of the notions , or obscurity , inconsistency , or doubtfulness of the terms or expressions that makes them hard to be understood : and one single proposition may more perplex the understanding than twenty other . but where did you find i contended for one single article , so as to exclude all the rest ? you might have remembred , that i say , p. 44. that the article of the one only true god , was also necessary to be believed . this might have satisfied you , that i did not so contend for one article of faith , as to be at defiance with more than one . however you insist on the word one with great vigour ▪ from p. 108. to 121. and you did well , you had else lost all the force of that killing stroke , reserved for the close , in that sharp jest of vnitarians , and a clinch or two more of great moment . having found by a careful perusal of the preachings of our saviour and his apostles , that the religion they proposed , consisted in that short , plain , easie , and intelligible summary which i set down , p. 301. in these words : believing jesus to be the saviour promised , and taking him now raised from the dead , and constituted the lord and judge of men , to be their king and ruler . i could not forbear magnifying the wisdom and goodness of god ( which infinitely exceeds the thoughts of ignorant , vain , and narrow-minded man ) in these following words . the all-merciful god seems herein to have consulted the poor of this world , and the bulk of mankind : these are articles that the labouring and illiterate man may comprehend . having thus plainly mentioned more than one article , i might have taken it amiss , that mr. ed's . should be at so much pains as he is , to blame me for contending for one article ; because i thought more than one could not be understood ; had he not had many fine things to say in his declamation upon one article , which affords him so much matter , that less than seven pages could not hold it . only here and there , as men of oratory often do , he mistakes the business , as p. 115. where he says , i urge , that there must be nothing in christianity , that is not plain and exactly levelled to all mens mother wit. i desire to know where i said so , or that the very manner of every thing in christianity must be clear and intelligible , every thing must be presently comprehended by the weakest noddle , or else it 's no part of religion , especially of christianity ; as he has it , p. 119. i am sure it is not in pag. 255. 289. 292. of my book : these , therefore to convince him that i am of another opinion , i shall desire some body to read to mr. edwards : for he himself reads my book with such spectacles , as make him find meanings and words in it , neither of which i put there . he should have remembred , that i speak not of all the doctrines of christianity , nor all that is published to the world in it ; but of those truths only , which are absolutely required to be believed to make any one a christian. and these i find are so plain and easie , that i see no reason why every body , with me , should not magnifie the goodness and condescension of the almighty ; who having out of his free grace proposed a new law of faith to sinful and lost man , hath by that law required no harder terms , nothing as absolutely necessary to be believed , but what is suited to vulgar capacities , and the comprehension of illiterate men. you are a little out again , p. 118. where you ironically say , as if it were my sense , let us have but one article , though it be with defiance to all the rest . jesting apart , sir. this is a serious truth , that what our saviour and his apostles preached , and admitted men into the church for believing , is all that is absolutely required to make a man a christian. but this is without any defiance of all the rest , taught in the word of god. this excludes not the belief of any one of those many other truths contained in the scriptures of the old and new testaments , which it is the duty of every christian to study , and thereby build himself up on our most holy faith ; receiving with stedfast belief , and ready obedience all those things which the spirit of truth hath therein revealed . but that all the rest of the inspired writings , or , if you please , articles , are of equal necessity to be believed to make a man a christian , with what was preached by our saviour and his apostles ; that i deny . a man , as i have shewn , may be a christian and a believer without actually believing them ; because those whom our saviour and his apostles , by their preaching and discourses , converted to the faith , were made christians and believers barely upon the receiving what they preached to them . i hope it is no derogation to the christian religion , to say , that the fundamentals of it , i. e. all that is necessary to be believed in it by all men , is easie to be understood by all men. this i thought my self authorized to say by the very easie , and very intelligible articles insisted on by our saviour and his apostles , which contain nothing but what could be understood by the bulk of mankind ; a term which , i know not why , mr. ed's . p. 117. is offended at , and thereupon is , after his fashion , sharp upon me about captain tom and his myrmidons , for whom he tells me i am going to make a religion . the making of religions and creeds i leave to others . i only set down the christian religion , as i find our saviour and his apostles preached it , and preached it to , and left it for the ignorant and unlearned multitude . for i hope you do not think , how contemptibly soever you speak of the venerable mob , as you are pleased to dignifie them , p. 117. that the bulk of mankind , or in your phrase , the rabble , are not concerned in religion , or ought not to understand it , in order to their salvation . nor are you , i hope , acquainted with any , who are of that muscovite divine's mind , who to one , that was talking to him about religion , and the other world , replyed , that for the czar indeed , and bojars , they might be permitted to raise their hopes to heaven ; but that for such poor wretches as he , they were not to think of salvation . i remember the pharisees treated the common people with contempt , and said , have any of the rulers , or of the pharisees believed in him ? but this people , who knoweth not the law , are cursed . but yet these , who in the censure of the pharisees were cursed , were some of the poor , or if you please to have it so , the mobb , to whom the gospel was preached by our saviour , as he tells iohn's disciples , matth. xi . 5. pardon me , sir , that i have here laid these examples and considerations before you ; a little to prevail with you , not to let loose such a torrent of wit and eloquence against the bulk of mankind another time ; and that for a meer fancy of your own : for i do not see how they here came in your way ; but that you were resolved to set up something to have a fling at , and shew your parts , in what you call your different * strain , though besides the purpose . i know no body was going to ask the mob what you must believe ? and as for me , i suppose you will take my word for it , that i think no mob , ( no , not your venerable mob ) is to be asked , what i am to believe ; nor that articles of faith are to be received by the vote of club-men , or any other sort of men you will name instead of them . in the following words , pag. 115. you ask , whether a man may not understand those articles of faith which you mentioned out of the gospels and epistles , if they be explained to him , as well as that one i speak of ? 't is as the articles are , and as they are explained . there are articles that have been some hundreds of years explaining ; which , there are many , and those not of the most illiterate , who profess , they do not yet understand . and to instance in no other but he descended into hell , the learned are not yet agreed in the sense of it , the great pains has been taken to explain it . next , i ask , who are to explain your articles ? the papists will explain some of them one way , and the reformed another . the remonstrants and anti-remonstrants give them different senses . and probably the trinitarians and vnitarians will profess , that they understand not each others explications . and at last , i think it may be doubted whether any articles , which need mens explications , can be so clearly and certainly understood , as one which is made so very plain by the scripture it self , as not to need any explication at all . such is this , that jesus is the messiah . for though you learnedly tell us , that messiah is a hebrew word , and no better understood by the vulgar than arabick ; yet i guess it is so fully explained in the new testament , and in those places i have quoted out of it , that no body , who can understand any ordinary sentence in the scripture , can be at a loss about it : and 't is plain it needs no other explication than what our saviour and the apostles gave it in their preaching ; for as they preached it men received it , and that sufficed to make them believers . to conclude , when i heard that this learned gentleman , who had a name for his study of the scriptures , and writings on them , had done me the honour to consider my treatise , i promised my self , that his degree , calling , and fame in the world , would have secured to me something of weight in his remarques , which might have convinced me of my mistakes ; and if he had found any in it , justified my quitting of them . but having examined what in his concerns my book , i , to my wonder , find , that he has only taken pains to give it an ill name ; without so much as attempting to refute any one position in it , how much soever he is pleased to make a noise against several propositions ; which he might be free with , because they are his own : and i have no reason to take it amiss , if he has shewn his zeal and skill against them . he has been so favourable to what is mine , as not to use any one argument against any passage in my book . this , which i take for a publick testimony of his approbation , i shall return him my thanks for , when i know whether i owe it to his mistake , conviction , or kindness . but if he writ only for his bookseller's sake , he alone ought to thank him . after the foregoing papers were sent to the press , the witnesses to christianity , of the reverend and learned dr. patrick , now lord bishop of ely , fell into my hands . i regretted the not having seen it before i writ my treatise of the reasonableness of christianity , &c. i should then possibly , by the light given me by so good a guide , and so great a man , with more confidence directly have fallen into the knowledge of christianity ; which in the way i sought it , in its source , required the comparing of texts with texts , and the more than once reading over the evangelists and acts , besides other parts of scripture . but i had the ill luck not to see that treatise till so few hours since , that i have had time only to read as far as the end of the introduction , or first chapter : and there mr. ed's . may find , that this pious bishop ( whose writings shew he studies , as well as his life that he believes the scriptures ) owns what mr. ed's . is pleased to call a plausible conceit , which , he says , i give over and over again in these formal words , viz. that nothing is required to be believed by any christian man but this , that iesus is the messiah . the liberty mr. ed's . takes in other places deserves not it should be taken upon his word , that these formal words are to be found over and over again in my book , unless he had quoted the pages . but i will set him down the formal words which are to be found in this reverend prelate's book , p. 14. to be the son of god , and to be christ , being but different expressions of the same thing . and p. 10. it is the very same thing to believe that iesus is the christ , and to believe that iesus is the son of god ; express it how you please . this alone is the faith which can regenerate a man , and put a divine spirit into him ; that is , makes him a conquerour over the world , as iesus was . i have quoted only these few words ; but mr. ed's if he pleases , or any body else , may , in this first chapter , satisfie himself more fully , that the design of it is to shew , that in our saviour's time , son of god was a known and received name or appellation of the messiah , and so used in the holy writers . and that the faith that was to make men christians , was only the believing that iesus is the messiah . 't is to the truth of this proposition that he examines his witnesses , as he speaks , pag. 21. and this , if i mistake not , in his epist. dedicatory he calls christianity . fol. a. 3. where he calls them witnesses to christianity . but these two propositions , viz. that son of god in the gospel stands for messiah ; and that the faith which alone makes men christians , is the believing iesus to be the messiah ; displeases mr. ed's . so much in my book , that he thinks himself authorized from them to charge me with socinianism , and want of sincerity . how he will be pleased to treat this reverend prelate whilest he is alive ( for the dead may with good manners be made bold with ) must be left to his decisive authority . this i am sure , which way soever he determine , he must for the future either afford me more good company , or fairer quarter . finis . books lately printed for , and sold by a. & j. churchill , at the black swan in pater-noster-row . a view of universal history , from the creation , to the year of christ 1695. wherein the most memorable persons and things in the known kingdoms and countries of the world , are set down in several columns by way of synchronism , according to their proper centuries and years : by francis tallents , sometime fellow of magdalen-college , cambridge . the whole graven in 16 copper-plates , each 15 inches deep , and 22 broad ; bound up into books , the sheets lined . a work of great exactness and curiosity . price 16 s. camden's britannia , newly translated into english , with large additions and improvements . by edmund gibson , of queens-college in oxford . the general history of the air. by robert boyle , esq quarto . a compleat journal of the votes , speeches , and debates , both of the house of lords and house of commons , throughout the whole reign of queen elizabeth . collected by sir simonds dewes , baronet , and published by paul bowes , of the middle-temple , esq the 2d . edition . fol. the works of the famous nicholas machiavel , citizen and secretary of florence . written originally in italian , and from thence faithfully translated into english. fol. mr. lock 's essay concerning humane understanding . the third edition , with large additions . fol. — his thoughts of education . octavo the fables of aesop and other mithologists● ; made english by sir roger l' estrange , kt. fol. two treatises of government : the first an answer to filmer's patriarcha . the latter an essay concerning the true original , extent , and end of civil government . octavo . notitia monastica : or , a short history of the religious houses in england and wales , &c. by thomas tanner , a. b. octavo . the resurrection of the ( same ) body , asserted from the tradition of the heathens , the ancient jews , and the primitive church : with an answer to the objections brought against it . by humphry hody , d. d. bishop wilkins of prayer and preaching ; enlarged by the bishop of norwich , and dr. williams . octavo . considerations about lowering the interest , and raising the value of money . octavo . short observations on a printed paper , entituled , for encouraging the coining silver money in england , and after for keeping it here . octavo . sir william temple's history of the netherlands . octavo . — miscellanea . octavo . dr. gibson's anatomy of humane bodies , with figures . octavo . dr. patrick's new version of all the psalms of david in metre . twelves . two treatises of natural religion . octavo , gentleman's religion , with the grounds and reasons of it . in which the truth of christianity in general is vindicated ; its simplicity asserted ; and some introductory rules for the discovering of its particular doctrines and precepts , are proposed . by a private gentleman . the novels and tales of the renowned iohn boccacio , the first refiner of italian prose ; containing an hundred curious novels : by seven honourable ladies , and three noble gentlemen , framed in ten days . the fifth edition much corrected and amended . logica : sive , ars ratiocinandi . ontologia : sive , de ente in genere . pneumatologia , seu despiritibus . auctore ioanne clerico . twelves . the lives of the popes , from the time of our saviour jesus christ , to the reign of sixtus iv. written originally in latin by baptista platina , native of cremona , and translated into english : and the same history continued from the year 1471. to this present time ; wherein the most remarkable passages of christendom , both in church and state , are treated of , and described . by sir paul rycaut , kt. the second edition corrected . the meditations of marcus aurelius antoninus , the roman emperour , concerning himself . treating of a natural man's happiness ; wherein it consisteth , and of the means to attain unto it . translated out of the original greek , with notes ; by merio casaubon , d. d. the fifth edition . to which is added , the life of antoninus , with some remarks upon the whole . by monsieur and madam dacier . never before in english. octavo . sermons preached by dr. r. leighton , late a. bp. of glasgow . published at the desire of his friends after his death , from his papers written with his own hand . the second edition . octavo . the roman history , written in latin by titus livius , with the supplements of the learned iohn freinshemius , and iohn dujatius . from the foundation of rome , to the middle of the reign of augustus . faithfully done into english . fol. books printed for a. & j. churchill . anicius manlius severinus boetius , of the consolation of philosophy . in five books . made english by the right honourable richard lord viscount preston . octavo . sir richard baker's chronicle of the kings of england , continued down to this time. the reasonableness of christianity , as delivered in the scriptures . octavo . prince arthur ; an heroick poem . in ten books . by r. blackmore , m. d. fellow of the college of physicians , london . fol. the christians defence against the fear of death , with seasonable directions how to prepare themselves to dye well . written originally in french , by charte drilincourt , of paris , and translated into english by m. d. assigny , b. d. third edition . the royal grammar , containing a new and easie method for the speedy attaining the latin tongue . a guide to surveyers of the highways , shewing that office and duty , with cases and resolutions in law relating to the same ; with an abstract of the laws for repair of highways and bridges . by g. meriton . three several letters for toleration , 40. bishop hopkins sermons , 3 vol. — lords prayer 40. — commandments , 40. leyburn's cursus mathematicus , fol. seldens table talk. debates of oxford and westmin . parliaments . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a48904-e150 * bp. taylor , and the author of the naked truth . * preface . the fundamental constitutions of carolina constitution (1669) 1670 approx. 64 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 14 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48880) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 37158) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1781:18) the fundamental constitutions of carolina constitution (1669) locke, john, 1632-1704. [2], 25, [1] s.n., [london : 1670] drawn up by john locke. cf. encyc. amer., 1980. place and date of publication from wing. reproduction of the original in the harvard university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to 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variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng north carolina -history -colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -constitution -early works to 1800. 2002-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-06 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-07 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2002-07 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-08 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the fundamental constitutions of carolina the fundamental constitutions of carolina . our soveraign lord the king having out of his royal grace and bounty , granted unto us the province of carolina , with all the royalties , proprieties , jurisdictions , and priviledges of a county palatine , as large and ample as the county palatine of durham , with other great priviledges , for the better settlement of the government of the said place , and establishing the interest of the lords proprietors with equality , and without confusion , and that the government of this province may be made most agreeable to the monarchy under which we live , and of which this province is a part ; and that we may avoid erecting a numerous democracy , we the lords and proprietors of the province aforesaid , have agreed to this following form of government , to be perpetually established amongst us , unto which we do oblige our selves , our heirs and successors , in the most binding ways that can be devised . §. 1 the eldest of the lords proprietors shall be palatine , and upon the decease of the palatine , the eldest of the seven surviving proprietors shall always succeed him . §. 2 there shall be seven other chief offices erected , viz. the admirals , chamberlains , chancellors , constables , chief iustices , high stewards , treasurers ; which places shall be enjoyed by none-but the lords proprietors , to be assigned at first by lot ; and upon the vacancy of any one of the seven great offices by death or otherwise , the eldest proprietor shall have his choice of the said place . §. 3 the whole province shall be divided into counties ; each county shall consist of eight signiories , eight baronies , and four precincts ; each precinct shall consist of six colonies . §. 4 each signiory , barony , and colony , shall consist of twelve thousand acres , the eight signories being the share of the eight proprietors , and the eight baronies of the nobility , both which shares being each of them one fifth part of the whole , are to be perpetually annexed , the one to the proprietors , the other to the hereditary nobility , leaving the colonies , being three fifths , amongst the people ; that so in setting out , and planting the lands , the ballance of the government may be preserved . §. 5 at any time before the year one thousand seven hundred and one , any of the lords proprietors shall have power to relinquish , alienate , and dispose to any other person , his propritetorship , and all the signiories , powers , and interest thereunto belonging , wholly and intirely together , and not otherwise . but after the year one thousand seven hundred , those who are then lords proprietors , shall not have power to alienate or make over their proprietorship , with the signiories and priviledges thereunto belonging , or any part thereof , to any person whatsoever , otherwise than as in § . 18. but it shall all descend unto their heirs male ; and for want of heirs male , it shall all descend on that landgrave or cassique of carolina , who is descended of the next heirs female of the said proprietor ; and for want of such heirs , it shall descend on the next heir general ; and for want of such heirs , the remaining seven proprietors shall upon the vacancy , chuse a landgrave to succeed the deceased proprietor , who being chosen by the majority of the seven surving proprietors , he and his heirs successively shall be proprietors , as fully to all intents and purposes as any of the rest . §. 6 that the number of eight proprietors may be constantly kept ; if upon the vacancy of any propritorship , the seven surviving proprietors shall not chuse a landgrave to be a proprietor , before the second biennial parliament after the vacancy ; then the next biennial parliament but one after such vacany , shall have power to chuse any landgrave to be proprietor . §. 7 whosoever after the year one thousand seven hundred , either by inheritance or choise , shall succed any proprietor in his proprietorship , and signiories thereunto belonging , shall be obliged to take the name and arms of that proprietor whom he succeeds ; which from thenceforth shall be the name and arms of his family and their posterity . §. 8 whatsoever landgrave or cassique shall any way come to be a proprietor , shall take the signiories annexed to the said proprietorship ; but his former dignity , with the baronies annexed , shall devolve into the hands of the lords proprietors . §. 9 there shall be just as many landgraves as there are counties , and twice as many cassiques , and no more . these shall be the hereditary nobility of the province , and by right of their dignity be members of parliament . each landgrave shall have four baronies , and each cassique two baronies , hereditarily and unalterably annexed to , and setled upon the said dignity . §. 10 the first landgraves and cassiques of the twelve first countites to be planted , shall be nominated thus ; that is to say , of the twelve landgraves the lords proprietors shall each of them separately for himself , nominate and chuse one ; and the remaining four landgraves of the first twelve , shall be nominated and chosen by the palatine's court. in like manner of the twenty four first cassiques ▪ each proprietor for himself shall nominate and chuse two , and the remaining eight shall be nominated and chosen by the palatine's court ; and when the twelve first counties shall be planted , the lords proprietors shall again in the same manner nominate and chuse twelve more landgraves , and twenty four cassiques for the twelve next counties to be planted ; that is to say , two thirds of each number by the single nomination of each proprietor for himself , and the remaining one third by the joynt election of the palatine's court , and so proceed in the same manner till the whole province of carolina be set out and planted , according to the proportions in these fundamental constitutions . §. 11 any landgrave or cassique at any time before the year one thousand seven hundred and one , shall have power to alienate , sell , or make over to any other person , his dignity , with the baronies thereunto belonging , all intirely together . but after the year one thousand seven hundred , no landgrave or cassique shall have power to alienate , sell , make over , or lett the hereditary baronies of his dignity , or any part thereof , otherwise then as in § . 18 , but they shall all intirely , with the dignity thereunto belonging , descend unto his heirs males ; and for want of heirs male , all intirely and undivided , to the next heir general ; and for want of such heirs , shall devolve into the hands of the lords proprietors . §. 12 that the due number of landgraves and cassiques may be always kept up , if upon the devolution of any landgraveship or cassiqueship , the palatine's court shall not settle the devolved dignity , with the baronies thereunto annexed , before the second biennial parliament after such devolution , the next biennial parliament but one after such devolution shall have power to make any one landgrave or cassique in the room of him , who dying without heirs , his dignity and baronies devolved . §. 13 no one person shall have more than one dignity , with the signiories or baronies thereunto belonging . but whensoever it shall happen , that any one who is already proprietor , landgrave , or cassique , shall have any of these dignities descend to him by inheritance , it shall be at his choice to keep which of the dignities , with the lands annexed , he shall like best ; but shall leave the other , with the lands annexed , to be enjoyed by him , who not being his heir apparent , and certain successor to his present dignity , is next of blood. §. 14 whosoever by right of inheritance shall come to be landgrave or cassique , shall take the name and arms of his predecessor in that dignity , to be from thenceforth the name and arms of his family and their posterity . §. 15 since the dignity of proprietor , landgrave , or cassique , cannot be divided , and the signiories or baronies thereunto annexed must for ever all entirely descend with , and accompany that dignity , whensoever for want of heirs male it shall descend on the issue female , the eldest daughter and her heirs shall be preferred , and in the inheritance of those dignities , and in the signiories or baronies annexed , there shall be no cobeirs . §. 16 in every signiory , barony , and mannor , the respective lord shall have power in his own name to hold court-leet there , for trying of all causes both civil and criminal ; but where it shall concern any person being no inhabitant , vassal , or leetman of the said signiory , barony , or mannor , he upon paying down of forty shilings to the lords proprietors use , shall have an appeal from the signiory or barony court , to the county court , and from the mannor court to the precinct court. §. 17 every mannor shall consist of not less than three thousand acres , and not above twelve thousand acres in one entire piece and colony ; but any three thousand acres or more in one piece , and the possession of one man , shall not be a mannor , unless it be constituted a mannor by the grant of the palatine's court. §. 18 the lords of signiories and baronies shall have power onely of granting estates not exceeding three lives or thrity one years , in two thirds of the said signiories or baronies , and the remaining third shall be always demesne . §. 19 any lord of a mannor may alienate , sell , or dispose to any other person and his heirs for ever , his mannor , all entirely together , with all the priviledges and leetmen thereunto belonging , so far forth as any other colony lands , but no grant of any part thereof , either in fee , or for any longer term than three lives , or one and twenty years , shall be good against the next heir . §. 20 no mannor , for want of issue male , shall be divided amongst coheirs ; but the mannor , if there be but one , shall all entirely descend to the eldest daughter and her heirs . if there be moe mannors then one , the eldest daughter first shall have her choise , the second next , and so on , beginning again at the eldest , till all the mannors be taken up ; that so the priviledges which belong to mannors being indivisible , the lands of the mannors to which they are annexed , may be kept entire , and the mannor not loose those priviledges , which upon parcelling out to several owners must necessarily cease . §. 21 every lord of a mannor , within his mannor , shall have all the powers , jurisdictions , and priviledges , which a landgrave or cassique hath in his baronies . §. 22 in every signiory , barony , and mannor , all the leet-men shall be under the jurisdiction of the respective lords of the said signiory , barony , or mannor , without appeal from him . nor shall any leet-man or leet-woman have liberty to go off from the land of their particular lord , and live any where else , without licence obtained from their said lord , under hand and seal . §. 23 all the children of leet-men shall be leet-men , and so to all generations . §. 24 no man shall be capable of having a court-leet or leet-men , but a proprietor , landgrave , cassique , or lord of a mannor . §. 25 whoever shall voluntarily enter himself a leet-man in the registry of the county court , shall be a leet-man . §. 26 whoever is lord of leet-men , shall upon the marriage of a leet-man or leet-woman of his , give them ten acres of land for their lives , they paying to him therefore not more than one eighth part of all the yearly produce and growth of the said ten acres . §. 27 no landgrave or cassique shall be tried for any criminal cause , in any but the chief iustice's court , and that by a jury of his peers . §. 28 there shall be eight supreme courts . the first called the palatine's court , consisting of the palatine , and the other seven proprietors . the other seven courts of the other seven great officers , shall consist each of them of a proprietor , and six councellors added to him . under each of these later seven courts shall be a colledge of twelve assistants . the twelve assistants of the several colledges shall be chosen ; two out of the landgraves , cassiques , or eldest sons of proprietors , by the palatine's court ; two out of the landgraves , by the landgraves chamber ; two out of the cassiques , by the cassiques chamber ; four more of the twelve shall be chosen by the commons chamber , out of such as have been , or are members of parliament , sheriffs , or iustices of the county court , or the younger sons of proprietors , or eldest sons of landgraves or cassiques ; the two other shall be chosen by the palatine's court , out of the same sort of persons out of which the commons chamber is to chuse . §. 29 out of these colledges shall be chosen at first by the palatine's court , six councellors , to be joyned with each proprietor in his court ; of which six one shall be of those who were chosen into any of the colledges by the palatine's court , out of the landgraves , cassiques , or eldest sons of proprietors , one out of those who were chosen by the landgraves chamber , and one out of those who were chosen by the cassiques chamber , two out of those who were chosen by the commons chamber , and one out of those who were chosen by the palatine's court , out of the proprietors younger sons , or eldest sons of landgraves , cassiques , or commons , qualified as aforesaid . §. 30 when it shall happen that any councellor dies , and thereby there is a vacancy , the grand council shall have power to remove any councellor that is willing to be removed out of any of the proproprietors courts to fill up the vacancy , provided they take a man of the same degree and choice the other was of , whose vacant place is to be filled up . but if no councellor consent to be removed , or upon such remove , the last remaining vacant place in any of the proprietors courts , shall be filled up by the choise of the grand council , who shall have power to remove out of any of the colledges , any assistant , who is of the same degree and choice that councellor was of , into whose vacant place he is to succeed . the grand council also shall have power to remove any assistant that is willing , out of one colledge into another , provided he be of the same degree and choice . but the last remaining vacant place in any colledge , shall be filled up by the same choice , and out of the same degree of persons the assistant was of , who is dead or removed . no place shall be vacant in any proprietors court above six months . no place shall be vacant in any colledge longer then the next session of parliament . §. 31 no man , being a member of the grand council , or of any of the seven colledges , shall be turned out but for misdemeanor , of which the grand council shall be judge , and the vacancy of the person so put out shall be filled , not by the election of the grand council , but by those who first chose him , and out of the same degree he was of who is expelled . but it is not hereby to be understood , that the grand council hath any power to turn out any one of the lords proprietors or their deputies , the lords proprietors having in themselves an inherent original right . §. 32 all elections in the parliament , in the several chambers of the parliament , and in the grand council , shall be passed by baloting . §. 33 the palatine's court shall consist of the palatine , and seven proprietors , wherein nothing shall be acted without the presence and consent of the palatine or his deputy , and three others of the proprietors or their deputies . this court shall have power to call parliaments , to pardon all offences , to make elections of all officers in the proprietors dispose , and to nominate and appoint port-towns : and also shall have power by their order to the treasurer to dispose of all publick treasure , excepting money granted by the parliament , and by them directed to some particular publick use : and also shall have a negative upon all acts , orders , votes , and judgments , of the grand council and the parliament , except onely as in § . 6. and 12. and shall have all the powers granted to the lords proprietors by their patent from our soveraign lord the king , except in such things as are limited by these fundamental constitutions . §. 34 the palatine himself , when he in person shall be either in the army , or in any of the proprietors courts , shall then have the power of general , or of that proprietor in whose court he is then present , and the proprietor in whose court the palatine then presides , shall during his presence there be but as one of the council . §. 35 the chancellor's court , consisting of one of the proprietors and his six chancellors , who shall be called vice-chancellors , shall have the custory of the seal of the palatinate , under which all charters of lands or otherwise , commissions and grants of the palatine's court , shall pass . and it shall not be lawful to put the seal of the palatinate to any writing which is not signed by the palatine or his deputy , and three other proprietors or their deputies . to this court also belongs all state matters , disspatches , and treaties with the neigbor indians . to this court also belongs all invasions of the law , of liberty of conscience , and all disturbances of the publick peace upon pretence of religion , as also the licence of printing . the twelve assistants belonging to this court , shall be called recorders . §. 36 whatever passes under the seal of the palatinate , shall be registred in that propristor's court to which the matter therein contained belongs . §. 37 the chancellor or his deputy shall be always speaker in parliament , and president of the grand council , and in his and his deputy's absence , one of his vice-chancellors . §. 38 the chief iustice's court , consisting of one of the proprietors and his six chancellors , who shall be called iustices of the bench , shall judge all appeals in cases both civil and criminal , except all such cases as shall be under the jurisdiction and cognizance of any other of the proprietors courts , which shall be tried in those courts respectively . the government and regulation of the registries of writings and contracts , shall belong to the iurisdiction of this court. the twelve assistants of this court shall be , called masters . §. 39 the constables court , consisting of one of the proprietors and his six councellors , who shall be called marshals , shall order and determine of all military affairs by land , and all land-forces , arms , ammunition , artillery , garrisons and forts , &c. and whatever belongs unto war. his twelve assistants shall be called lieutenane-generals . §. 40 in time of actual war the constable , whilst he is in the army , shall be general of the army , and the six councellors , or such of them as the palatine's court shall for that time or service appoint , shall be the immediate great officers under him , and the lieutenant-generals next to them . §. 41 the admiral 's court , consisting of one of the proprietors and his six councellors called consuls , shall have the care and inspection over all ports , moles , and navigable rivers , so far as the tide flows , and also all the publick shipping of carolina , and stores thereunto belonging , and all maritime affairs . this court also shall have the power of the court of admiralty ; and shall have power to constitute judges in port-towns , to try cases belonging to law-merchant , as shall be most convenient for trade . the twelve assistants belonging to this court shall be called proconsuls . §. 42 in time of actual war , the admiral whilst he is at sea , shall command in chief , and his six councellors , or such of them as the palatine's court shall for that time and service appoint , shall be the immediate great officers under him , and the proconsuals next to them . §. 43 the treasurer's court , consisting of a proprietor and his six councellors , called under-treasurers , shall take care of all matters that concern the publick revenus and treasury . the twelve assistants shall be called auditors . §. 44 the high steward's court , consisting of a proprietor and his six councellors , called comptrollers , shall have the care of all foreign and domestick trade , manufactures , publick buildings , work-houses , highways , passages by water above the flood of the tide , drains , sewers and banks against inundations , bridges , post , carriers , fairs , markets , corruption or infection of the common air or water , and all things in order to the publick commerce and health ; also setting out and surveying of lands ; and also setting out and appointing places for towns to be built on in the precincts , and the prescribing and determining the figure and bigness of the said towns , according to such models as the said court shall order , contrary or differing from which models it shall not be lawful for any one to build in any town . this court shall have power also to make any publick building , or any new highway , or enlarge any old highway , upon any man's land whatsoever , as also to make cuts , channels , banks , locks , and bridges , for making rivers navigable , or for draining fens , or any other publick use. the damage the owner of such lands ( on or through which any such publick thing shall be made ) shall receive thereby , shall be valued , and satisfaction made by such ways as the grand council shall appoint . the twelve assistants belonging to this court , shall be called surveyors . §. 45 the chamberlain's court , consisting of a proprietor and his six councellors , called vice-chamberlains , shall have the care of all ceremonies , precedency , heraldry , reception of publick messengers , pedegrees ; the registry of all births , burials , and marriages , legitimation , and all cases concerning matrimony , or arising from it ; and shall also have power to regulate all fashions , habits , badges , games , and sports . to this court also it shall belong , to convocate the grand council . the twelve assistants belonging to this court , shall be called provosts . §. 46 all causes belonging to , or under the jurisdiction of any of the proprietors courts , shall in them respectively be tried , and ultimately determined , without any farther appeal . §. 47 the proprietors courts shall have a power to mitigate all fines , and suspend all executions in criminal causes , either before or after sentence in any of the other inferiour courts respectively . §. 48 in all debates , hearings , or trials , in any of the proprietors courts , the twelve assistants belonging to the said courts respectively , shall have liberty to be present , but shall not interpose , unless their opinions be required , nor have any vote at all ; but their business shall be , by the direction of the respective coures , to prepare such business as shall be committed to them ; as also to bear such offices , and dispatch such affairs , either where the court is kept , or elsewhere , as the court shall think fit . §. 49 in all the proprietors courts , the proprietor , and any three of his councellors shall make a quorum ; provided always , that for the better dispatch of business , it shall be in the power of the palatine's court to direct what sort of causes shall be heard and determined by a quorum of any three . §. 50 the grand council shall consist of the palatine and seven proprietors , and the forty two councellors of the several proprietors courts , who shall have power to determine any controversies that may arise between any of the proprietors courts , about their respective iurisdictions , or between the members of the same court , about their manner and methods of proceeding : to make peace and war , leagues , treaties , &c. with any of the neighbor indians : to issue out their general orders to the constable's and admiral 's courts , for the raising , disposing , or disbanding the forces by land or by sea. §. 51 the grand council shall prepare all matters to be proposed in parliament . nor shall any matter whatsoever be proposed in parliament , but what hath first passed the grand council ; which after having been read three several days in the parliament , shall by majority of votes be passed or rejected . §. 52 the grand council shall always be judges of all causes and appeals that concern the palatine , or any of the lords proprietors , or any councellor of any proprietors court , in any cause which otherwise should have been tried in the court in which the said councellor is judge himself . §. 53 the grand council by their warrants to the treasurer's court , shall dispose of all the money given by the parliament , and by them directed to any particular publick use. §. 54 the quorum of the grand council shall be thirteen , whereof a proprietor or his deputy shall be always one . §. 55 the grand council shall meet the first tuesday in every month , and as much oftner as either they shall think fit , or they shall be convocated by the chamberlain's court. §. 56 the palatine , or any of the lords proprietors , shall have power under hand and seal , to be registred in the grand council to make a deputy , who shall have the same power to all intents and purposes as he himself who deputes him , except in confirming acts of parliament , as in § . 76. and except also in nominating and chusing landgraves and cassiques , as in § . 10. all such deputations shall cease and determine at the end of four years , and at any time shall be revocable at the pleasure of the deputator . §. 57 no deputy of any proprietor shall have any power whilst the deputator is in any part of carolina , except the proprietor whose deputy he is , be a minor. §. 58 during the minority of any proprietor , his guardian shall have power to constitute and appoint his deputy . §. 59 the eldest of the lords proprietors who shall be personally in carolina , shall of course be the palatine's deputy ; and if no proprietor be in carolina , he shall chuse his deputy out of the heirs apparent of any of the proprietors , if any such be there ; and if there be no heir apparent of any of the lords proprietors above one and twenty years old in carolinia , then he shall chuse for deputy any one of the landgraves of the grand council ; and till he have by deputation under hand and seal chosen any one of the forementioned heirs apparent or landgraves to be his deputy , the eldest man of the landgraves , and for want of a landgrave , the eldest man of the cassiques who shall be personally in carolina , shall of course be his deputy . §. 60 each proprietor's deputy shall be always one of his own six councellors respectively ; and in case any of the proprietors hath not in his absence out of carolina a deputy , commissioned under his hand and seal , the eldest nobleman of his court shall of courst be his deputy . §. 61 in every county there shall be a court , consisting of a sheriff and four iustices of the county , for every precinct one . the sheriff shall be an inhabitant of the county , and have at least five hundred acres of freehold within the said county ; and the iustices shall be inhabitants , and have each of them five hundred acres apiece freehold within the precinct for which they serve respectively . these five shall be chosen and commissioned from time to time by the palatine's court. §. 62 for any personal causes exceeding the value of two hundred pounds sterling , or in title of land , or in any criminal cause , either party upon paying twenty pounds sterling to the lords proprietors use , shall have liberty of appeal from the county court unto the respective proprietor's court. §. 63 in every precinct there shall be a court , consisting of a steward and four iustices of the precinct , being inhabitants , and having three hundred acres of freehold within the said precinct , who shall judge all criminal causes , except for treason , murther , and any other offences punishable with death , and except all criminal causes of the nobility ; and shall judge also all civil causes whatsoever ; and in all personal actions , not exceeding fifty pounds sterling , without appeal : but where the cause shall exceed that value , or concern a title of land , and in all criminal causes , there either party , upon paying five pounds sterling to the lords proprietors , use , shall have liberty of appeal to the county court. §. 64 no cause shall be twice tried in any one court , upon any reason or pretence whatsoever . §. 65 for treason , murther , and all other offences punishable with death , there shall be a commission , twice ayear at least , granted unto one , or more members of the grand council or colledges , who shall come as itinerant judges to the several counties , and with the sheriff and four iustices shall hold assizes to judge all such causes : but upon paying of fifty pounds sterling to the lords proprietors use , there shall be liberty of appeal to the respective proprietor's court. §. 66 the grand iury at the several assizes , shall upon their oaths , and under their hands and seals , deliver in to the itinerant judges , a presentment of such grievances , misdemeanors , exigences . or defects , which they think necessary for the publick good of the county ; which presentment shall by the itinerant iudges , at the end of their circuit , be delivered in to the grand council at their next sitting . and whatsoever therein concerns the execution of laws already made , the several proprietors courts in the matrers belonging to each of them respectively shall take cognizance of it , and give such order about it , as shall be effectual for the due execution of the laws . but whatever concerns the making of any new law , shall be referred to the several respective courts to which that matter belongs , and be by them prepared and brought to the grand council . §. 67 for terms , there shall be quarterly such a certain number of days , nor exceeding one and twenty at any one time , as the several respective courts shall appoint . the time for the beginning of the term in the precinct court , shall be the first monday in ianuary , april , iuly , and october ; in the county court , the first monday in february , may , august , and november ; and in the proprietors courts , the first monday in march , iune , september , and december . §. 68 in the precinct court no man shall be a iury-man under fifty acres of freehold . in the county court , or at the assizes , no man shall be a grand iury-man under three hundred acres of freehold ; and no man shall be a petty iury-man under two hundred acres of freehold . in the proprietors courts no man shall be a iury-man under five hundred acres of freehold . §. 69 every iury shall consist of twelve men ; and it shall not be necessary they should all agree , but the verdict shall be according to the consent of the majority . §. 70 it shall be a base and vile thing to plead for money or reward ; nor shall any one ( except he be a near kinsman , not farther off than cosin-german to the party concerned ) be permitted to plead another man's cause , till before the iudge in open court he hath taken an oath , that he doth not plead for money or reward , nor hath nor will receive , nor directly nor indirectly bargained with the party whose cause he is going to plead , for money , or any other reward for pleading his cause . §. 71 there shall be a parliament , consisting of the proprietors or their deputies , the landgraves and cassiques , and one freeholder out of every precinct , to be chosen by the freeholders of the said preciuct respectively . they shall sit altogether in one room , and have every member one vote . §. 72 no man shall be chosen a member of parliament , who hath less than five hundred acres of freehold within the precinct for which he is chosen ; nor shall any have a vote in chusing the said member that hath less than fifty acres of freehold within the said precinct . §. 73 a new parliament shall be assembled the first monday of the month of november every second year , and shall meet and sit in the town they last sat in , without any summons , unless by the palatine's court they be summoned to meet at any other place . and if there shall be any occasion of a parliament in these intervals , it shall be in the power of the palatine's court to assemble them in forty days notice , and at such time and place as the said court shall think fit ; and the palatine's court shall have power to dissolve the said parliment when they shall think fit . §. 74 at the opening of every parliament , the first thing that shall be done , shall be the reading of these fundamental constitutions , which the palatine and proprietors , and the rest of the members then present , shall subscribe . nor shall any person whatsover sit or vote in the parliament , till he hath that session subscribed these fundamental constitutions , in a book kept for that purpose by the clerk of the parliament . §. 75 in order to the due election of members for the biennial parliament , it shall be lawful for the freeholders of the respective precincts to meet the first tuesday in september every two years , in the same town or place that they last met in to chuse parliament-men , and there chuse those members that are to sit the next november following , unless the steward of the precinct shall by sufficient notice thirty days before , appoint some other place for their meeting , in order to the election . §. 76 no act or order of parliament shall be of any force , unless it be ratified in open parliament during the same session , by the palatine or his deputy , and three more of the lords proprietors and their deputies , and then not to continue longer in force but until the next biennial parliament , unless in the mean time it be ratified under the hands and seals of the palatine himself , and three more of the lords proprietors themselves , and by their order publish'd at the next bieunial parliament . §. 77 any properietor or his deputy may enter his protestation against any act of the parliament , before the palatine or his deputy's consent be given as aforesaid , if he shall conceive the said act to be contrary to this establishment , or any of these fundamental constitutions of the government . and in such case after a full and free debate , the several estates shall retire into four several chambers , the palatine and proprietors into one , the landgraves into another , the cassiques into another , and those chosen by the precincts into a fourth ; and if the major part of any of the four estates shall vote that the law is not agreeable to this establishment , and these fundamental constitutions of the government , then it shall pass no farther , but be as if it had never been proposed . §. 78 the quorum of the parliament shall be one half of those who are members , and capable of sitting in the house that present session of parliament . the quorum of each of the chambers of parliament , shall be one half of the members of that chamber . §. 79 to avoid multiplicity of laws , which by degrees always change the right foundations of the original government , all acts of parliament whatsoever , in whatsoever form passed or enacted , shall at the end of a hundred years after their enacting , respectively cease and determine of themselves , and without any repeal become null and void , as if no such acts or laws had ever been made . §. 80 since multiplicity of comments , as well as of laws , have great inconveniences , and serve onely to obscure and perplex . all manner of comments and expositions on any part of these fundamental constitutions , or any part of the common or statute law of carolina , are absolutely prohibited . §. 81 there shall be a registry in every precinct , wherein shall be enrolled all deeds , leases , iudgments , mortgages , and other conveyances , which may concern any of the land within the said precinct ; and all such conveyances not so entred or registred , shall not be of force against any person nor party to the said contract or conveyance . §. 82 no man shall be register of any precinct , who hath not at least three hundred acres of freehold within the said precinct . §. 83 the freeholders of every precinct shall nominate three men , out of which three the chief iustice's court shall chuse and commission one to be register of the said precinct , whilst he shall well behave himself . §. 84 there shall be a registry in every signiory , barony , and colony , wherein shall be recorded all the births , marriages , and deaths , that shall happen within the respective signiories , baronies , and colonies . §. 85 no man shall be register of a colony that hath not above fifty acres of freehold within the said colony . §. 86 the time of every ones age that is born in carolina , shall be reckoned from the day that his birth is entred in the registry , and not before . §. 87 no marriage shall be lawful , whatever , contract and ceremony they have used , till both the parties mutually own it before the register of the place where they were married , and he register it , with the names of the father and mother of each party . §. 88 no man shall administer to the goods , or have right to them , or enter upon the estate of any person deceased , till his death be registred in the respective registry . §. 89 he that doth not enter in the respective registry , the birth or death of any person that is born or dies in his house or ground , shall pay to the said register one shilling per week for each such neglect , reckoning from the time of each birth or death respectively , to the time of registring it . §. 90 in like manner the births , marriages , and deaths of the lords proprietors , landgraves , and cassiques , shall be registred in the chamberlain's court. §. 91 there shall be in every colony one constable , to be chosen annually by the freeholders of the colony : his estate shall be above a hundred acres of freehold within the said colony , and such subordinate officers appointed for his assistance , as the county court shall find requisite , and shall be established by the said county court. the election of the subordinate annual officers shall be also in the freeholdres of the colony . §. 92 all towns incorporate shall be governed by a mayor , twelve aldermen , and twenty four of the common-council . the said common-council shall be chosen by the present housholders of the said town ; the aldermen shall be chosen out of the common-council , and the mayor out of the aldermen by the palatine's court. §. 93 it being of great consequence to the plantation , that port-towns should be built and preserved ; therefore whosoever shall lade or unlade any commodity at any other place but a port-town , shall forfeit to the lords proprietors for each tun so laden or unladen , the sum of ten pounds sterling , except onely such goods as the palatine's court shall licence to be laden or unladen elsewhere . §. 94 the first port-town upon every river , shall be in a colony , and be a port-town for ever . §. 95 no man shall be permitted to be a freeman of carolina , or to have any estate or habitation within it , that doth not acknowledge a god , and that god is publickly and solemnly to be worshipped . §. 96 as the countrey comes to be sufficiently planted and distributed into fit divisions , it shall belong to the parliament to take care for the building of churches , and the publick maintenance of divines , to be employed in the exercise of religion , according to the church of england , which being the onely true and orthodox , and the national religion of all the king's dominions , is so also of carolina , and therefore it alone shall be allowed to receive publick maintenance by grant of parliament . §. 97 but since the natives of that place , who will be concerned in our plantation , are utterly strangers to christianity , whose idolatry , ignorance , or mistake , gives us no right to expel , or use them ill ; and those who remove from other parts to plant there , will unavoidably be of different opinions concerning matters of religion , the liberty whereof they will expect to have allowed them , and it will not be reasonable for us on this account to keep them out ; that civil peace may be maintained amidst the diversity of opinions , and our agreement and compact with all men may be duly and faithfully observed , the violation whereof upon what pretence soever , cannot be without great offence to almighty god , and great scandal to the true religion which we profess ; and also that iews , heathens , and other dissenters from the purity of christian religion , may not be scared and kept at a distance from it , but by having an opportunity of acquainting themselves with the truth and reasonableness of its doctrines , and the peaceableness and inoffensiveness of its professors , may by good usage and perswasion , and all those convincing methods of gentleness and meekness , suitable to the rules and design of the gospel , be won over to embrace , and unfeignedly receive the truth ; therefore any seven , or more persons agreeing in any religion , shall constitute a church or prefession , to which they shall give some name , to distinguish it from others . §. 98 the terms of admittance and communion with any church or profession , shall be written in a book , and therein be subscribed by all the members of the said church or profession ; which book shall be kept by the publick register of the precinct where they reside . §. 99 the time of every ones subscription and admittance , shall be dated in the said book or religious record . §. 100 in the terms of communion of every church or profession , these following shall be three , without which no agreement or assembly of men , upon pretence of religion , shall be accounted a church or profession , within these rules : i. that there is a god. ii. that god is publickly to be worshipped . iii. that it is lawful , and the duty of every man , being thereunto called by those that govern , to bear witness to truth ; and that every church or profession shall in their terms of communion set down the external way whereby they witness a truth as in the presence of god , whether it be by laying hands on , or kissing the bible , as in the church of england , or by holding up the hand , or any other sensible way . §. 101 no person above seventeen years of age , shall have any benefit or protection of the law , or be capable of any place of profit or honor , who is not a member of some church or profession , having his name recorded in some one , and but one religious record at once . §. 102 no person any other church or profession shall disturb or molest any religious assembly . §. 103 no person whatsoever shall speak any thing in their religious assembly , irreverently or seditiously of the government or governors , or state-matters . §. 104 any person subscribing the terms of communion in the record of the said church or profession before the precinct register , and any five members of the said church or profession , shall be thereby made a member of the said church or profession . §. 105 any person striking out his own name out of any religious record , or his name being struck out by any officer thereunto authorized by each church or profession respectively , shall cease to be a member of that church or profession . §. 106 no man shall use any reproachful , reviling , or abusive language , against the religion of any church or profession , that being the certain way of disturbing the peace , and of hindring the conversion of any to the truth , by engaging them in quarrels and animosities , to the hatred of the professors and that profession , which otherwise they might be brought to assent to . §. 107 since charity obliges us to wish well to the souls of all men , and religion ought to alter nothing in any man 's civil estate or right , it shall be lawful for slaves as well as others , to enter themselves , and be of what church or profession any of them shall think best , and thereof be as fully members as any freeman . but yet no slave shall hereby be exempted from that civil dominion his master hath over him , but be in all other things in the same state and condition he was in before . §. 108 assemblies , upon what pretence soever of religion , not observing and performing the abovesaid rules , shall not be esteemed as churches , but unlawful meetings , and be punished as other riots . §. 109 no person whatsoever shall disturb , molest , or persecute another for his speculative opinions in religion , or his way of worship . §. 110 every freeman of carolina shall have absolute power and authority over his negro slaves , of what opinion or religion soever . §. 111 no cause , whether civil or criminal , of any freeman , shall be tried in any court of judicatnre , without a iury of his peers . §. 112 no person whatsoever shall hold or claim any land in carolina by purchase or gift , or otherwise , from the natives or any other whatsoever , but meerly from and under the lords proprietors , upon pain of forfeiture of all his estate , moveable or immoveable , and perpetual banishment . §. 113 whosoever shall possess any freehold in carolina , upon what title or grant soever , shall at the farthest from and after the year one thousand six hundred eighty nine , pay yearly unto the lords proprietors for each acre of land , english measure , as much fine silver as is at this present in one english peny , or the value thereof to be as a chief rent and acknowledgment to the lords proprietors , their heirs and successors for ever . and it shall be lawful for the palatine's court by their officers at any time , to take a new survey of any man's land , not to out him of any part of his possession , but that by such a survey the just number of acres , he possesseth may be known , and the rent thereupon due , may be paid by him . §. 114 all wrecks , mines , mincrals , quarries of germms , and precious stones , with pearl-fishing , whale-fishing , and one half of all ambergreece , by whomsoever found , shall wholly belong to the lords proprietors . §. 115 all revenues and profits belonging to the lords pooprietors , in common , shall be divided into ten parts , whereof the palatine shall have three , and each proprietor one ; but if the palatine shall govern by a deputy , his deputy shall have one of those three tenths , and the palatine but other two tenths . §. 116 all inhabitants and freemen of carolina above seventeen years of age , and under sixty , shall be bound to bear arms , and serve as soldiers whenever the grand concil shall find it necessary . §. 117 a true copy of these fundamental constitutions shall be kept in a great book by the register of every precinct , to be subscribed before the said register . nor shall any person of what condition or degree soever above seventeen years old , have any estate or possession in carolina , or protection or benefit of the law there , who hath not before a precinct register subscribed these fundamental constitutions in this form : i a. b. do promise to bear faith and true allegiance to our soveraign lord king charles the second ; and will be true and faithful to the palatine and lords proprietors of carolina , and with my utmost power will defend them , and maintain the government according to this establishment in these fundamental constitutions . §. 118 whatsoever alien shall in this form , before any precinct registers subscribe these fundamental constitutions , shall be thereby naturalized . §. 119 in the same manner shall every person at his admittance into any office , subscribe these fundamental constitutions . §. 120 these fundamental constitutions , in number a hundred and twenty , and every part thereof , shall be and remain the sacred and unalterable form and rule of government of carolina for ever . witness our hands and seals , the first day of march , 1669. rules of precedency . 1. the lords proprietors , the eldest in age first , and so in order . 2. the eldest sons of the lords proprietors , the eldest in age first , and so in order . 3. the landgraves of the grand council , he that hath been longest of the grand council first , and so in order . 4. the cassiques of the grand council , he that hath been longest of the grand council first , and so in order . 5. the seven commoners of the grand council that have been longest of the grand council , he that hath been longest of the grand council first , and so in order . 6. the youngest sons of proprietors , the eldest first , and so in order . 7. the landgraves , the eldest in age first , and so in order . 8. the seven commoners who next to those before mentioned have been longest of the grand council , he that hath been longest of the grand council first , and so in order . 9. the cassiques , the eldest in age first , and so in order . 10. the seven remaining commoners of the grand council , he that hath been longest of the grand council first , and so in order . 11. the male line of the proprietors . the rest shall be determined by the chamberlain's court. finis . a letter from a person of quality to his friend in the country shaftesbury, anthony ashley cooper, earl of, 1621-1683. 1675 approx. 93 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a59475 wing s2897 estc r3320 12701444 ocm 12701444 65947 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a59475) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 65947) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 368:11) a letter from a person of quality to his friend in the country shaftesbury, anthony ashley cooper, earl of, 1621-1683. locke, john, 1632-1704. [2], 32 [i.e. 34] p. s.n.], [london : 1675. written by shaftesbury. also ascribed to john locke. cf. halkett & laing (2nd ed.). place of publication from wing. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng england and wales. -parliament. church and state -england. 2002-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-11 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-12 rina kor sampled and proofread 2003-04 aptara rekeyed and resubmitted 2005-02 ben griffin sampled and proofread 2005-02 ben griffin text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a letter from a person of quality , to his friend in the country . printed in year , 1675. a letter from a person of quality , to his friend in the country . sir , this session being ended , and the bill of the test neer finished at the committee of the whole house ; i can now give you a perfect account of this state master-piece . it was first hatch't ( as almost all the mischiefs of the world have hitherto been ) amongst the great church men , and is a project of several years standing , but found not ministers bold enough to go through with it , un●il these new ones , who wanting a better bottom to support them , be●ook themselves wholly to this , which is no small undertaking if you consider it in its whole extent . first , to make a distinct party from the rest of the nation of the high episcopal man , and the old cavalier , who are to swallow the hopes of enjoying all the power and office of the kingdom , being also tempted by the advantage they may recieve from overthrowing the act of oblivion , and not a little rejoycing to think how valiant they should prove , if they could get any to fight the old quarrel over again ; now they are possest of the arms , fo●ts , and ammunition of the nation . next they design to have the government of the church sworne to as vnalterable , and so tacitely owned to be of divine right , which though inconsistent with the oath of supremacy ; yet the church men easily break through all obligations whatsoever , to attain this station , the advantage of which , the prelate of rome hath sufficiently taught the world. then in requital to the crown , they declare the government absolute and arbitrary , and allow monarchy as well as episcopacy to be iure divino , and not to be bounded , or limited by humane laws . and to secure all this they resolve to take away the power , and opportunity of parliaments to alter any thing in church or state , only leave them as an instrument to raise money , and to pass such laws , as the court , and church shall have a mind to ; the attempt of any other , how necessary soever , must be no less a crime then perjury . and as the topstone of the whole fabrique , a pretence shall be taken from the jealousies they themselves have raised , and a real necessi●y from the smallness of their partie to encrease , and keep up a standing army , and then in due time the cavalier and church-man , will be made greater fools , but as errant slaves as the rest of the nation . in order to this , the first step was made in the act for regulating corporations , wisely beginning , that in those lesser governments whi●h they meant afterwards to introduce upon the govern●ent of the nation , and making them swear to a declaration , and beleif of such propositions as themselves afterwards upon debate , were enforced to alter , and could not justifie in those words ; so that many of the wealthyest , worthyest , and soberest men , are still kept out of the magistracy of those places . the next step was in the act of the militia , which went for most of the cheifest nobility and gentry , being obliged as lord-lieutenants , deputy-lieutenants , &c. to swear to the same declaration , and belief , with the addition only of these words in persuance of such military commissions , which makes the matter rather worse then better ; yet this went down smoothly as an oath in fashion , a testimony of loyalty , and none adventuring freely to debate the matter , the humor of the age like a strong tide , carries wise and good men down before it : this act is of a piece , for it establisheth a standing army by a law , and swears us into a military government . immediately after this , followeth the act of vniformity , by which all the clergy of england are obliged to subscribe , and declare what the corporations , nobility , and gentry , had before sworn , but with this additional clause of the militia act omitted : this the clergy readily complyed with ; for you know that sort of men are taught rather to obey , then understand , and to use that learning they have , to justify , not to examine what their superiors command : and yet that bartholomew day was fatal to our church , and religion , in throwing out a very great number of whorthy , learned , pious , and orthodox divines , who could not come up to this , and other things in that act ; and it is an oath upon this occasion wor●h your knowledg , that so great was the zeal in carrying on this church affair , and so blind was the obedience required , that if you compute the time of the passing this act , with the time allowed for the clergy to subscribe the book of common prayer thereby established ; you shall plainly find it could not be printed , and distributed so , as one man in forty could have seen and read the book they did so perfectly assent and consent to . but this matter was not compleat until the five mile act passed at oxford , wherein they take an opportunity to introduce the oath in the terms they would have it : this was then strongly opposed by the l. treasurer southampton , lord wharton , l. ashley , and others not only in the concern of those poor ministers that were so severely handled , but as it was in it self , a most unlawful , and unjustifyable oath ; however , the zeal of that time against all nonconformists , easily passed the act. this act was seconded the same sessions at oxford by another bill in the house of commons , to have imposed that oath on the whole nation ; and the providence by which it was thrown out , was very remarquable ; for mr. peregrine bertie , being newly chosen , was that morning introduced into the house by his brother the now earl of lindsey , and sir tho. osborn now l. treasurer , who all three gave their votes against that bill ; and the numbers were so even upon the division ▪ that their three votes carried the question against it . but we owe that right to the earl of lindsey , and the lord treasurer as to acknowledg t●at they have since made ample satisfaction for whatever offence they gave either the church or court in that vote . thus our church became triumphant , and continued so for divers years , the dissenting protestant being the only enemy , and therefore only persecuted , whilest the papists remained undisturbed being by the court t●ought loyal , and by our great bishops not dangerous , they differing only in doctrine , and fundamentalls ; but , as to the government of the church , that was in their religion in its highest exaltation . this dominion continued unto them , untill the l. clifford , a man of a daring and ambitious spirit , made his way to the cheif ministery of affairs by other , and far different measures , and took the opportunity of the war with holland , the king was then engaged in , to propose the declaration of indulgence , that the dissenters of all sorts , as well protestants as papists , might be at rest , and so vast a number of people , not be made desperate , at home , while the king was engaged with so potent an enemy abroad . this was no sooner proposed , but the e. of shattsbury a man as daring but more able , ( though of principles and interest , diametrically opposite to the other ) presently closed with it , and perhaps the opportunity i have had by my conversation with them both , who were men of diversion , and of free and open discourses where they had a confidence ; may give you more light into both their designs , and so by consequence the aimes of their parties , then you will have from any other hand ▪ my l. clifford did in express terms , tell me one day in private discourse ; that the king , if he would be firm to himself , might settle what religion he pleased , and carry the government to what height he would ; for if men were assured in the liberty of their conscience● and undisturbed in their properties , able and upright iudges made in westminster-hall to judg the causes of meum and tuum , and if on the other hand the fort of tilbury was finished to bridle the city , the fort of plymouth to secure the west , and armes for 2●000 in each of these , and in hull for the northern parts , with some addition , which might be easily and undiscernedly made to the forces now on foot , there were none that would have either will , opportunity , or power to resist . but he added withall , he was so sincere in the maintenance of propriety , and liberty of conscience , that if he had his will , though he should introduce a bishop of durham , ( which was the instance he then made , that see being then vacant ) of another religion , yet he would not disturb any of the church beside , but suffer them to dye away , and not let his change ( how hasty soever he was in it ) overthrow either of those principles , and therefore desired he might be thought an honest man as to his part of the declaration , for he meant it really . the l. shaftsbury ( with whom i had more freedom ) i with great assurance , asked what he meant by the declaration , for it seemed to me ( as i then told him ) that it assumed a power to repeal and suspend all our laws , to destroy the church , to overthrow the protestant religion , and to tolerate popery ; he replyed half angry , that he wondered at my objection , there being not one of these in the case : for the king assumed no power of repealing laws , or suspending them , contrary to the will of his parliament , or people , and not to argue with me at that time the power of the king's supremacy , which was of ano●her nature then that he had in civills , and had been exercised without exception in this very case by his father , grand father , and queen elizabeth , under the great seal to forreign protestants , become subjects of england , nor to instance in the suspending the execution of the two acts of navigation and trade , during both this , and the last dutch war in the same words , and upon the same necessity , and as yet , without clamour that ever we heard ; but , to pass by all that , this is certain , a government could not be supposed whether monarchical , or other of any sort , without a standing supream executive power , fully enabled to mitigate , or wholly to suspend the execution of any penal law , in the intervalls of the legislative power , which when assembled , there was no doubt but wherever there lies a negative in passing of a law , there the address or sense known of either of them to the contrary , ( as for instance of either of our two houses of parliament in england ) ought to determine that indulgence , and restore the law to its full execution : for without this , the laws were to no purpose made , if the prince could annull them at pleasure ; and so on the other hand , without a power always in being of dispensing upon occasion , was to suppose a constitution extreamly imperfect and unpracticable , and to cure those with a legislative power always in being , is , when considered , no other then a perfect tyranny . as to the church , he conceived the declaration was extreamly their interest ; for the narrow bottom they had placed themselves upon , and the measures they had proceeded by , so contrary to the properties , and liberties of the nation , must needs in short time , prove fatall to them , whereas this led them into another way to live peaceably with the dissenting and differing protestants , both at home and abroad , and so by necessary and unavoidable consequences , to become the head of them all ; for that place is due to the church of england , being in favor , and of neerest approach to the most powerful prince of that religion , and so always had it in their hands to be the intercessors and procurers of the greatest good and protection , that partie throughout all christendom , can receive . and thus the a. bishop of canterbury might become , not only alterius orbis , but alterius religionis papa , and all this addition of honor and power attaind without the least loss or diminution of the church ; it not being intended that one living dignity , or preferment should be given to any but those , that were strictly conformable . as to the protestant religion , he told me plainly , it was for the preserving of that and that only that he heartily joyned in the declaration ; for besides that , he thought it his duty to have care in his place and station , of those he was convinced , were the people of god and feared him , though of different persuasions ; he also knew nothing else but liberty , and indulgence that could possibly ( as our case stood ) secure the protestant religion in england ; and he beg'd me to consider , if the church of england should attain to a rigid , blind , and undistputed conformity , and that power of our church should come into the hands of a popish prince , which was not a thing so impossible , or remote , as not to be apprehended ; whether in such a case , would not all the armes and artillery of the government of the church , be turned against the pr●sent religion of it , and should not all good protestants tremble to think what bishops such a prince was like to make , and whom those bishops would condemn for hereticks , and that prince might burn ▪ whereas if this which is now but a declaration , might ever by the experience of it , gain the advantage of becoming an established law , the true protestant religion would still be kept up amongst the cities , towns , and trading places , and the worthyest , and soberest ( if not the greatest ) part of the nobility , and gentry , and people : as for the toleration of popery he said , it was a pleasant objection , since he could confidently say that the papists had no advantage in the least by this declaration , that they did not as fully enjoy , and with less noise , by the favor of all the bishops before . it was the vavity of the l. keeper , that they were named at all , for the whole advantage was to the dissenting protestants , which were the only men disturb'd before ; and yet he confest to me , that it was his opinion , and always had been , that the papists ought to have no other pressure laid upon them , but to be made uncapable of office , court , or armes , and to pay so much as might bring them at least to a ballance with the protestants , for those chargable offices they are lyable unto ; and concluded with this that he desired me seriously to weigh , whe●her liberty and propriety were likely to be maintained long in a countrey like ours , where trade is so absolutely necessary to the very being , as well as prosperity of it , and in this age of the world , if articles of faith and matters of religion should become the only accessible ways to our civil rights . thus sir , you have perhaps a better account of the declaration , then you can receive from any other hand , and i could have wisht it a longer continuance , and better reception then it had : for the bishops took so great offence at it , that they gave the alarum of popery through the whole nation , and by their emissaries the clergy ( who by the connexture and subordination of their government , and their being posted in every parish , have the advantage of a quick dispersing their orders , and a sudden and universal insinuation of whatever they please ) raised such a cry , that those good and sober men , who had really long feared the encrease and continuance of popery , had hitherto received , began to believe the bishops were in earnest ; their eyes opened , though late , and therefore joyned in heartily with them ; so that at the next meeting of parliament , the protestants interest was run so high , as an act came up from the commons to the h. of lords in favor of the dissenting protestants , and had passed the lords , but for want of time , besides , another excellent act passed the royal assent for the excluding all papists from office , in the opposition of which , the l. treasurer clifford fell , and yet to prevent his ruine , this sessions had the speedier end. notwithstanding , the bishops attain'd their ends fully , the declaration being cancelled , and the great seal being broken off from it , the parliament having passed an act in favor of the dissenters , and yet the sense of both houses sufficiently declared against all indulgence but by act of parliament : having got this point , they used it at first with seeming moderation , there were no general directions given for prosecuting the non-con●ormists , but here and there some of the most confiding justices , were made use of to try how they could receive the old persecution ; for as yet the zeal raised against the papists , was so great , that the worthyest , and soberest , of the episcopal party , thought it necessary to unite with the dissenting protestants , and not to divide their party , when all their forces were little enough ; in this posture the sessions of parliament that began oct. 27. 1673. tound matters , which being suddenly broken up , did nothing . the next sessions which began ian 7. following , the bishops continued their zeal against the papists , and seem'd to carry on in joyning with the countrey lords , many excellent vo●es in order to a bill , as in particular , that the princes of the blood-royal should all marry protestants , and many others , but their favor to dissenting protestants was gone , and they attempted a bargain with the countrey lords , with whom they then joyned not to promote any thing of that nature , except the bill for taking away assent and consent , and renouncing the covenant . this session was no sooner ended without doing any thing , but the whole clergy were instructed to declare that there was now no more danger of the papists : the phanatique ( for so they call the dissenting protestant ) is again become the only dangerous enemy , and the bishops had found a scoth lord , and two new ministers , or rather great officers of england , who were desperate and rash enough , to put their masters business upon so narrow and weak a bottom ; and that old covenanter lauderdale , is become the patron of the church , and has his coach and table fil'd with bishops . the keeper and the treasurer are of a just size to this affair , for it is a certain rule with the church men , to endure ( as seldom as they can ) in business , men abler then themselves . but his grace of scotland : was least to be executed of the three , for having fall'n from presbitery , protestaant religion , and all principles of publick good and private friendship , and become the slave of clifford to carry on the ruine of all that he had professed to support , does now also quit even clifford's generous principles , and betake himself to a so●t of men , that never forgive any man the having once been in the right ; and such men , who would do the worst of things by the worst of means , enslave their country , and betray them , under the mask of religion , which they have the publick pay for , and charge off ; so seething the kid in the mothers milk . our statesmen and bishops being now as well agreed , as in old land's time , on the same principles ▪ with the same passion to attain their end , they in the first place give orders to the judges in all their circuits to quicken the execution of the laws against dissenters ; a new declaration is published directly contrary to the former , most in words against the papists , but in the sense , and in the close , did fully serve against both , and in the execution , it was plain who were meant . a commission besides , comes down directed to the principal gentlemen of each country , to seize the estates of both papists and phanatiques , mentioned in a li●t annexed , wherein by great misfortune , or skill , the names of the papists of best quality and fortune ( and so best known ) were mistaken , and the commission render'd ineffectual as to them . besides this , the great ministers of state did in their common publick assure the partie , that all the places of profit , command , and trust , should only be given to the old cavalier ; no man that had served , or been of the contrary party , should be left in any of them ; and a direction is issued to the great ministers before mentioned , and six or seven of the bishops to meet at lambeth-house , who were like the lords of the articles in scotland , to prepare their compleat modell for the ensuing session of parliament . and now comes this memorable session of aprill 13. 75. then , which never any came with more expectation of the court , or dread and apprehension of the people ; the officers , court lords , and bishops , were clearly the major vote in the lords house , and they assured themselves to have the commons as much at their dispose when they reckoned the number of the courtiers , officers , pensioners encreased by the addition of the church and cavalier party , besides the address they had made to men of the best quality there by hopes of honor , great employment , and such things as would take . in a word , the french king's ministers , who are the great chapmen of the world , did not out-doe ours at this time , and yet the over ruling hand of god has blown upon their politicks , and the nation is escaped this session , like a bird out of the snare of the flower . in this sessions the bishops wholly laid aside their zeal against popery . the committee of the whole house for religion , which the country lords had caused to be set up again by the example of the former sessions , could hardly get , at any time , a day appointed for their sitting , and the main thing design'd for a bill voted in the former session , viz. the marrying our princes to none but protestants , was rejected and carryed in the negative by the unanimous votes of the bishops bench ; for i must acquaint you that our great prelates were so neer an intallibility , that they were always found in this session of one mind in the lords house ; yet the lay lords , not understanding from how excellent a principle this proceeded , commonly called them for that reason the dead weight , and they really proved so in the following business , for the third day of this session this bill of test was brought into the lords house by the earl of lindsey l. high chamberlain , a person of great quality , but in this imposed upon , and received its first reading and appointment for the second without much opposition ; the country lords being desirous to observe what weight they put upon it , or how they designed to manage it . at the second reading , the l. keeper , and some other of the court lords , recommended the bill to the house in set and elaborate speeches , the keeper calling it a moderate security to the church and crown , and that no honest man could refuse it , and whosoever did , gave great suspition of dangerous , and anti-monarchicall principles , the other lords declame very much upon the rebellion of the late times , the great number of phanatiques , the dangerous principles of rebellion still remaining , carrying the discourse on as if they meant to trample down the act of oblivion , and all those whose securities depended on it , but the ●arl of shaftsbury and some other of the country lords , earnestly prest that the bill might be laid aside , and that they might not be engaged in the debate of it ; or else that that freedom they should be forced to use in the necessary defence of their opinion , and the preserving of their laws , rights , and liberties , which this bill would overthrow , might not be misconstrued : for there are many things that must be spoken upon the debate , both concerning church and state , that it was well known they had no mind to hear . notwithstanding , this the great officers and bishops called out for the question of referring the bill to a committee ; but the earl of shaftsbury , a man of great abilities , and knowledg in affairs , and one that , in all these variety of changes of this last age , was never known to be either bought or frighted out of his publick principles , at large opened the mischievous , and ill designs , and consequences of the bill , which as it was brought in , required all officers of church and state , and all members of both houses of parliament , to take this oath following . j. a. b. do declare that it is not lawful upon any pretence whatsoever , to take up armes against the king , and that i do abhorr that traiterous position of taking armes by his authority , against his person , or against those that are commission'd by him in pursuance of such commission ; and i do swear that i will not at any time endeavor the alteration of the government , either in church or state , so help me god. the earl of shaftsbury and other lords , spake with such convincing reason , that all the lords , who were at liberty from court-engagements , resolved to oppose to the uttermost , a bill of so dangerous consequence ; and the debate lasted five several days before it was committed to a committee of the whole house , which hardly ever happened to any bill before , all this and the following debates ▪ were managed cheifly by the lords , whose names you will find to the following protestations ; the first whereof , was as followeth . we whose names are under written being peers of this realm , do according to our rights and the ancient vsage of parliaments , declare that the question having been put whether the bill ( entitled an act to prevent the danger which may arise from persons disaffected to the government ) doth so far intrench upon the priviledges of this house ; that it ought therefore to be cast out . it being resolved in the negative , we do humbly conceive that any bill which imposeth an oath upon the peers with a penal●y , as this doth , that upon the refusal of that oath , they shall be made uncapable of sitting and voting in this house , as it is a thing unpresidented in former times , so is it , in our humble opinion , the highest invasion of the liberties and priviledges of the peerage , that possibly may be , and most destructive of the freedom , which they ought to enjoy as members of parliament , because the priviledges of sitting and voting in parliament is an honor they have by birth , and a right so inherant in them , and in separable from them , as that nothing can take it away , but what by the law of the land , must withal , take away their lives , and corrupt their blood ; upon which ground we do here enter our dissent from that vote , and our protestation against it buckingham bridgwater winchester salisbury bedford dorset aylisbury bristol denbigh pagitt holles peter howard e. of berks mohun stamford hallifax de la mer eure shaftsbury clarendon grey roll. say & seal wharton the next protestation was against the vote of committing the bill in the words following ; the question being put whether the bill entituled an act to prevent the dangers , which may arise from persons disaffected to the government , should be commited , it being carried in the affirmative , and we after several days debate , being in no measure satisfied , but still apprehending that this bill doth not only subvert the priviledges , and birth-right of the peers , by imposing an oath upon them with the penalty of losing their places in parliament ; but also , as we humbly conceive , stick at the very root of government ; it being necessary to all government to have freedom of votes and debates in those , who have power to alter , and make laws , and besides , the express words of this bill , obliging every man to abjure all endeavors to alter the government in the church ; without regard to any thing that rules of prudence in the government , or christian compassion to protestant dissenters , or the necessity of affairs at any time , shall or may require . vpon these considerations , we humbly conceive it to be of dangerous consequence to have any bill of this nature , so much as committed , and do enter our dissents from that vote and protestation against it , buckingham winton salisbury denbigh bristol howard of berks clarendon stamford shaftsbury wharton mohun de la mer which protestation was no sooner entred and subscribed the next day , but the great officers and bishops raised a storm against the lords that had subscrib'd it ; endeavouring not only some severe proceedings against their persons , if they had found the house would have born it , but also to have taken away the very liberty of entring protestations with reasons ; but that was defended with so great ability , learning , and reason by the l. holles , that they quitted the attempt , and the debate run for some hours either wholly to raze the protestation out of the books , or at least some part of it , the expression of christian compassion to protestant dissenters being that , which gave them most offence ; but both these ways were so disagreeable to the honor and priviledg of the house , and the latter to common sense and right , that they despaired of carrying it , and contented themselves with having voted that the reasons given in the said protestation , did reflect upon the honor of the house , and were of dangerous consequence . and i cannot here forbear to mention the worth , and honor , of that noble lord holles , suitable to all his former life , that whilst the debate was at the height , and the protesting lords in danger of the tower ; he begg'd the house to give hime leave to put his name to that protest , and take his fortune with those lords , because his sickness had forced him out of the house the day before , so that not being at the question , he could not by the rules of the house sign it . this vote against those twelve lords begat the next day this following protestation signed by 21. whereas it is the undoubted priviledg of each peer in parliament when a question is past contrary to his vote and judgment , to enter his protestation against it , and that in pursuance thereof , the bill entituled an act to prevent the dangers which may may arise from persons disaffected to the government , being conceived by some lords to be of so dangerous a nature , as that it was not fit to receive the countenance of a committment , those lords did protest against the commitment of the said bill , and the house having taken exceptions at some expressions in their protestation ; those lords who were present at the debate , did all of them severally and voluntarily declare , that they had not intention to reflect upon any member , much less upon the whole house , which , as is humbly conc●ived , was more then in strictness did consist with that absolute freedom of protesting , which is inseparable from every member of this house , and was done by them meerly out of their great respect to the house , and their earnest desire to give all satisfaction concerning themselves , and the clearness of their intentions : yet the house not satisfied with this their declaration but proceeding to a vote , that the reasons given in the said protestation do reflect upon the honor of the house , and are of dangerous consequence ; which is in our humble opinion , a great discountenancing of the very liberty of protesting . we whose names are under written , conceive our selves , and the whole house of peers , extreamly concerned that this great wound should be given ( as we humbly apprehend ) to so essential a priviledg of the whole peerage of this realm , as their liberty of protesting , do now ( according to our unquestionable right ) make use of the same liberty to enter this our dissent from , and protestation against the said vote , bucks winton bedford dorset salisbury bridgwater denbigh berks clarendon aylisbury shaftsbury say & seal hallifax audley fits water eure wharton mohun holles de la mer grey roll. after this bill being committed to a committee of the whole house , the first thing insisted upon by the lords against the bill ; was , that there ought to be passed some previus votes to secure the rights of peerage , and priviledg of parliament before they entred upon the debate , or amendments of such a bill as this ; and at last two previous votes were obtained , which i need not here set down , because the next protestation hath them both in terminis . whereas upon the debate on the bill entituled an act to prevent the dangers which may arise from persons disaffected to the government ▪ it was ordered by the house of peers the 30th . of aprill last , that no oath should be imposed by any bill , or otherwise , upon the peers with a penalty in case of refusal , to lose their places , or votes in parliament , or liberty to debate therein ; and whereas also , upon debate of the same , the bill was ordered the third of this instant may , that there shall be nothing in this bill , which shall extend to deprive either of the houses of parliament , or any of their members , of their just ancient freedom , and priviledg of debating any matter or business which shall be propounded , or debated in either of the said houses , or at any conference or committee , of both , or either of the said houses of parliament , or touching the repeal , or alteration of any old , or preparing any new laws , or the redressing any publick grievance ; but that the said members of either of the said houses , and the assistance of the house of peers , and every of them , shall have the same freedom of speech , and all other priviledges whatsoever , as they had before the making of this act. both which orders were passed as previous directions unto the committee of the whole house , to whom the said bill was committed , to the end that nothing should remain in the said bill , which might any ways tend towards the depriving of either of the houses of parliament , or any of their members , of their ancient freedom of debates , or votes , or other their priviledges whatsoever . yet the house being pleased , upon the report from the committee , to pass a vote , that all persons who have , or shall have right to sit and vote in either house of parliament , should be added to the first enacted clause in the said bill , whereby an oath is to be imposed upon them as members of either house , which vote we whose names are under written being peers of this realm , do humbly conceive , is not agreeable to the said two previous orders , and it having been humbly offered , and insisted upon by divers of us , that the proviso in the late act entituled an act for preventing dangers , that may happen from popish recusants ; might be added to the bill depending , whereby the peerage of every peer of this realm , and all their priviledges , might be preserved in this bill , as fully as in the said late act : yet the house not pleasing to admit of the said proviso , but proceeding to the passing of the said vote , we do humbly upon the grounds aforesaid , and according unto our undoubted right , enter this our dissent from , and protestation against the same . bucks bedford winton salisbury berks bridgwater stamford clarendon denbigh dorset shaftsbury wharton eure de la mer pagitt mohun this was their last protestation ; for after this they alter'd their method , and reported not the votes of the committee , and parts of the bill to the house , as they past them , but ▪ took the same order as is observed in other bills , not to report unto the house , untill they ●ad gone through with the bill , and so report all the amendments together . this they thought a way of more dispach and which did prevent all protestations , untill it came to the house ; for the votes of a committe , though of the whole house , are not thought of that weight , as that there should be allowed the entering a dissent of them , or protestation against them . the bill being read over at the committee , the lord keeper objected against the form of it , and desired that he might put it in another method , which was easily allowed him , that being not the dispute . but it was observeable the hand of god was upon them in this whole affair ; their chariot-wheels were taken off , they drew heavily : a bill so long design'd , prepared , and of that moment to all their affairs , had hardly a sensible composure . the first part of the bill that was fallen upon ; was , whether there should be an oath at all in the bill , and this was the only part the court-partie defended with reason : for the whole bill being to enjoyn an oath , the house mig●t reject it , but the committee was not to destroy it . yet the lord hallifax did with that quickness , learning , and elegance , which are inseparable from all his discourses , make appear , that as there really was no security to any state by oaths , so also , no private person , much less states-man , would ever order his affairs as relying on it , no man would ever sleep with open doors , or unlockt up treasure , or plate , should all the town be sworn not to rob ; so that the use of multiplying oaths had been most commonly to exclude , or disturb some honest consciencious men , who would never have prejudiced the government . it was also insisted on by that lord and others , that the oath imposed by the bill , contained three clauses , the two former assertory , and the last promissory , and that it was worthy the consideration of the bishops ▪ whether assertory oaths , which were properly appointed to give testimony of a matter of fact , whereof a man is capable to be fully assured by the evidence of his senses , be lawfully to be made use of to confirm , or invalidate doctrinal propositions , and whether that legislative power , which imposes such an oath , doth not necessarily assume to it self an infallibility ? and , as for prom●ssory oaths , it was desired that those learned prelates would consider the opinion of grotius de jure bellj & pacis , lib. 2. cap. xiii . who seems to make it plain that those kind of oaths are forbidden by our saviour christ , mat. 5. 34 , 37. and whether it would not become the fathers of the church , when they have well weighed that and other places of the new testament ; to be more tender in multiplying oaths , then hitherto the great men of the church have been ? but the bishops carried the point , and an oath was ordered by the major vote . the next thing in consideration , was about the persons that should be enjoyned to take this oath ; and those were to be , all such as enjoyed any beneficial office or employment , ecclesiastical , civil , or military ; and no farther went the debate for some hours , until at last the lord keeper rises up , and with an eloquent oration , desires to add privy counsellors , iustices of the peace , and members of both houses ; the two former particularly mentioned only to usher in the latter ; which was so directly against the two previous votes , the first of which was enroll'd amongst the standing orders of the house , that it wanted a man of no less assurance in his eloquence to propose it , and he was driven hard , when he was forced to tell the house , that they were masters of their own orders , and interpretation of them . the next consideration at the committee was the oath it self , and it was desired by the countrey lords , that it might be clearly known , whether it were meant all for an oath , or some of it a declaration , and some an oath ? if the latter , then it was desired it might be distinctly parted , and that the declaratory part should be subscribed by it self , and not sworn . there was no small pains taken by the lord keeper and the bishops , to prove that it was brought in ; the two first parts were only a declaration , and not an oath ; and though it was replyed that to declare upon ones oath , or to abhorr upon ones oath , is the same thing with i do swear ; yet there was some difficulty to obtain the dividing of them , and that the declaratory part should be only subscribed , and the rest sworn to . the persons being determin'd , and this division agreed to , the next thing was the parts of the declaration , wherein the first was ; j a. b. do declare that it is not lawful upon any pretence whatsoever , to take up armes against the king. this was lyable to great objections ; for it was said it might introduce a great change of the government , to oblige all the men in great trust in england , to declare that exact boundary , and extent , of the oath of allegiance , and inforce some things to be stated , that are much better involv'd in generals , and peradventure are not capable of another way of expression , without great wrong on the one side , or the other . there is a law of 25 edw. 3. that armes shall not be taken up against the king , and that it is treason to do so , and it is a very just and reasonable law ; but it is an idle question at best , to ask whether armes in any case can be taken up against a lawful prince , because it necessarily brings in the debate in every man's mind , how there can be a distinction then left between absolute , and bounded monarchys , if monarchs have only the fear of god , and no fear of humane resistance to restrain them . and it was farther urged , that if the chan●e of humane affairs in future ages , should give the french king a just title and investiture in the crown of england , and he should avowedly own a design by force , to change the religion , and make his government here as absolute as in france , by the extirpation of the nobility , gentry , and principal citizens of the protestant party , whether in such , or like cases , this declaration will be a service to the government , as it is now establisht : nay , and it was farther said , that they overthrow the government that suppose to place any part of it above the fear of man : for in our english government , and all bounded monarchys , where the prince is not absolute , there every individual subject is under the fear of the king , and his people , either for breaking the peace , or disturbing the common interest that every man hath in it , or if he invades the person or right of his prince , he invades his whole people , who have bound up in him , and derive from him , all their liberty , property , and safety : as also the prince himself , is under the fear of breaking that golden chain and connexture between him and his people , by making his interest contrary to that they justly and rightly claim : and therefore neither our ancestors , nor any other country free like ours , whilst they preserv'd their liberties , did ever suffer any mercenary , or standing guards to their prince , but took care that his safety should be in them , as theirs was in him ▪ though these were the objections to this head , yet they were but lighty touch'd , and not fully insisted upon , until the debate of the second head , where the scope of the design was opened clearer , and more distinct to every man's capacity . the second was , and that i do abhorr that trayterous position of taking armes by his authority against his person . to this was objected , that if this be meant an explanation of the oath of allegiance to leave men without pretense to oppose where the individual person of the king is , then it was to be considered , that the proposition as it is here set down is universal , and yet in most cases the position is not to be abhorred by honest or wise men : for there is but one case , and that never like to happen again , where this position is in danger to be trayterous , which was the case of the long parliament , made perpetual● by the king 's own act , by which the government was perfectly altered , and made inconsistent with its self ; but it is to be supposed the crown hath sufficient warning , and full power to prevent the falling again into that danger . but the other cases are many , and such as may every day occurr , wherein this position is so far from traiterous , that it would prove both necessary and our duty . the famous instance of hen. 6. who being a soft and weak prince , when taken prisoner by his cousin edward 4. that pretended to the crown , and the great earl of warwick , was carryed in their armies , gave what orders and commissions they pleased , and yet all those that were loyal to him adhered to his wife and son , fought in a pitcht battel against him in person , and retook him : this was directly taking up armes by his authority against his person , and against those that were commission'd by him , and yet to this day no man hath ever blamed them , or thought but that , if they had done other , they had betray'd their prince . the great case of charles 6. of france , who being of a weak and crazie brain , yet govern'd by himself , or rather by his wife , a woman of passionate , and heady humour , that hat●ed her son the dolphin , a vigorous and brave prince , and passionately loved her daughter ; so that she easily ( being pressed by the victory of hen. 5. of england ) comply'd to settle the crown of france upon him , to marry her daughter to him , and own his right , contrary to the salique law. this was directly opposed with armes and force by the dolphin , and all good french men , even in his father's life time . a third instance is that of king iames of blessed memory , who when he was a child , was seized , and taken prisoner by those , who were justly thought no friends to his crown or safe●y , and if the case should be put , that a future king of england of the same temper with hen. 6. or charl. 6. of france , should be taken prisoner by spaniard , dutch , or french , whose overgrowing power should give them thoughts of vast empire , and should , with the person and commission of the king , invade england for a conquest , were it not suitable to our loyalty to joyn with the son of that king , for the defence of his fathers crown and dignity , even against his person and commission ? in all these and the like cases it was not justified , but that the st●ict letter of the law might be otherwise co●strued , and when wisely considerd , fit it ▪ should be so , yet that it was not safe either for the kingdom , or person of the king and his crown , that it should be in express words swor● against ; for if we shall forswear all distinctions , which ill men have made ill use of , either in rebellion , or heresy , we must extend the oath to all the particulars of divinity , and politiques . to this the aged bishop of winchester reply'd , that to take up armes in such cases , is not against , but for the person of the king : but his lordship was told that he might then as well , nay much better , have le●t it upon the old oath of allegiance , then made such a wide gapp in his new declaration . the th●rd and last part of the de●laration was or against those that are commissioned by him . here the mask was plainly pluckt off , and arbitrary government appear'd bare-faced , and a standing army to be established by act of parliament , for it was said by several of the lords , that if whatever is by the kings commission , be not opposed by the king's authority , then a standing army is law when ●ver the king pleases ; and yet the king's commission was never thought sufficient to protect , or justify any man , where it is against his authority , which is the law ; this allowed alters the whole law of england , in the most essential and fundamental parts of it , and makes the whole law of property to become arbitrary , and without effect , whenever the king pleases . for instance , if in a suit with a great favourite , a man recovers house and lands , and by course of law be put into possession by the sheriff , and afterwards a warrant is obtain'd by the interest of the person , to command some souldiers of the standing army to take the possession and deliver it back , in such a case , the man in possession may justify to defend himself , and killing those who shall violently endeavour to enter his house , the party , whose house is invaded , takes up armes by the king's authority against those , who are commissioned by him . and it is the same case , if the souldiers had been commissioned to defend the house against the sheriff , when he first endeavored to take the possession according to law , neither could any order , or commission of the king 's , put a stop to the sheriff , if he had done his duty in raising the whole force of that count to put the law in execution ; neither can the court ▪ from whom that order proceeds , ( if they observe their oaths , and duty ) put any stop to the execution of the law in such a case , by any command or commission from the king whatsoever ; nay , all the guards , and standing forces in england , cannot be secured by any commission from being a direct riot , and unlawful assembly , unless in time of open war and rebellion : and it is not out of the way to suppose , that if any king hereafter , shall contrary to the petition of right , demand , and levie money by privy-seal , or otherwise , and cause souldiers to enter , and distrain fo● such like illegall taxes , that in such a case any man may by law defend his house against them ; and yet this is of the same nature with the former , and against the words of the declaration . these instances may seem somwhat rough , and not with the usual reverence towards the crown , but they alleadged , they were to be excused , when all was concerned , and without speaking thus plain , it is refused to be understood ; and , however happy we are now , either in the present prince , or those we have in prospect , yet the suppositions are not extravagant , when we consider , kings are but men , and compassed with more temptations then others ; and , as the earl of salisbury , who stood like a rock of nobility , and english principles , excellently replyed to the lord keeper , who was pleased to term them remote instances , that they would not hereafter prove so , when this declaration had made the practise of them justifiable . these arguments enforced the lords for the bill to a change of this part of the declaration , so that they agreed the second ▪ and thrid parts of it , should run th●s ; and i do abhorr that trayterous position of taking armes against by his authority , against his person , or against those , that are commissioned by him according to law , in time of rebellion , or war , acting in pursuance of such commission . which mends the matter very little ; for if they mean the king's authority , and his lawful commission , to be two things , and such as are capable of opposition , then it is as dangerous to are the liberties of the nation , as when it run in the former words , and we only chea●ed by new phrasing of it : but if they understand them to be one and the same thing , as really and truly they are , then we are only to abhorr the treason of the position of taking armes by the king's authority against the king's authority , because it is non-sense , and not practicable ; and so they had done little but confest , that all the clergy and many other persons , have been forced by former acts of this present parliament , to make this declaration in other words , that now are found so far from being justifiable , that they are directly contrary to magna charta our properties , and the establish'd law and government of the nation . the next thing in course was , the oath it self , against which the objection lay so plain , and so strong at the first entrance , viz. that there was no care taken of the doctrine , but only the discipline of the church . the papists need not scruple the taking this oath ; for episcopacy remains in its greatest lustre , though the popish religion was introduced , but the king's supremacy is justled aside by this oath , and makes better room for an ecclesiastical one , in so much that with this , and much more , they were inforced to change their oath , and the next day bring it in as followeth . i do swear that i will not endeavour to alter the protestant religion or the government either of church or state. by this they thought they had salved all , and now began to call their oath a security for the protestant religion , and the only good design to prevent popery , if we should have a popish prince . but the countrey lords wondred at their confidence in this , since they had never thought of it before , and had been but the last preceeding day of the debate by pure shame compell'd to to this addition ; for it was not unknown to them , that some of the bishops themselves had told some of the roman catholick lords of the house , that care had been taken that it might be such an oath , as might not bear upon them . but let it be whatever they would have it , yet the countrey lords thought the addition was unreasonable , and of as dangerous consequence as the rest of the oath . and it was not to be wondred at , if the addition of the best things , wanting the authority of an express divine institution , should make an oath not to endeavor to alter , just so much worse by the addition . for as the earl of shaftsbury very well urg'd , that it is a far different thing to believe , or to be fully persuaded of the truth of the doctrine of our church ; and to swear never to endeavor to alter ; which last , must be utterly unlawful , unless you place an infallibility either in the church , or your self , you being otherwise obliged to alter , when ever a clearer , or better light comes to you ; and he desir'd leave to ask , where are the boundaries , or where shall we find , how much is meant by the protestant religion . the lord keeper thinking he had now got an advantage , with his usual eloquence , desires it might not be told in gath , nor published in the streets of askalon , that a lord of so greats parts , and 〈…〉 himself for the church of england , should not know what is meant by the protestant religion . this was seconded with great pleasantness by div●rs of the lords the bishops ; but the bishop of winchester , and some others of them were pleased to condescend to instruct that lord , that the protestant religion was comprehended in 39 articles , the liturgie , the catechisme , the homilies , and the canons . to this the earl of shaftsbury replied , that he begg'd so much charity of them to believe , that he knew the protestant religion so well , and was so confirmed in it , that he hoped he should burn for the witness of it , if providence should call him to it : but he might perhaps think some things not necessary , that they accoun●ed essential , nay he might think some things not true , or agreeable to the scripture , that they might call doctrines of the church : besides when he was to swear never to endeavor to alter , it was certainly necessary to know how far the just extent of this oath was ; but since they had told him that the protestant religion was in those 5 tracts , he had still to ask , whether they meant those whole tracts were the protestant religion , or only that the protestant religion was contained in all those , but that every part of these was not the protestant religion . if they meant the ●ormer of these then he was extreamly in the dark to find the doctrine of predestination in the 18. and 17. art. to be owned by so few great doctors of the church , and to find the 19. art. to define the church directly as the independents do : besides the 20. art. sta●ing the authority of the church is very dark , and either contradicts it self , or says nothing , or what is contrary to the known laws of the land ; besides several other things , in the 39 articles , have been preached , and writ against by men of great favor , power , and preferment in the church . he humbly conceived the liturgie was not so sacred , being made by men the other day ; and thought to be more differing from the dissenting protestants , and less easy to be complyd with , upon the advantage of a pretense well known unto us all , of making alterations as might the better unite us ; in stead whereof , there is scarce one altera●ion , but widens the breach , and no ordination allow●d by it here , ( as it now stands last reformed in the act of vniformity ) but what is episcopall ; in so much that a popish priest is capable , when converted , of any church preferment without reordination ; but no protestant minister not episcopally ordain'd , but is required to be reordain'd , as much as in us lies unchurching all the forreign protestants , that have not bishops , though the contrary was both allow●d , and practis'd from the beginning of the reformation till the time of that act , and several bishops made of such , as were never ordain'd priests by bishops . moreover the vncharitableness of it was so much against the interest of the crown , and church of england ( casting off the dependency of the whole protestant partie abroad ) that it would have been bought by the pope and french king at a vast summ of money ; and it is difficult to conceive so great an advantage fell to them meerly by chance , and without their help ; so that he thought to endeavor to alter , and restore the liturgy to what it was in queen elizabeths days might consist with his being a very good protestant . as to the catachisme , he really thought it might be mended , and durst declare to them , it was not well that there was not a better made . for the homilies he thought there might be a better book made , and the 3. hom. of repairing and keeping clean of churches , might be omitted . what is yet stranger then all this , the canons of our church are directly the old popish canons , which are still in force , and no other ; which will appear , if you turn to the stat. 25. hen. 8. cap. 19 confirmed and received by 1. eliz. where all those canons are establish'd , untill an alteration should be made by the king in pursuance of that act ; which thing was attempted by edward the 6th . but not perfected , and let alone ever since , for what reasons the lords the bishops could best tell ; and it was very hard to be obliged by oath not to endeavour to alter either the english common-prayer book , or the canon of the mass. but if they meant the latter , that the protestant religion is contein'd in all those , but that every part of those is not the protestant religion , then ●e apprehended it might be in the bishops power to declare ex post facto what is the protestant religion or not , or else they must leave it to every man to judge for himself , what parts of those books are or are not , and then their oath had been much better let alone . much of this nature was said by that lord , and others , and the great officers , and bishops were so hard put to it , that they seemed willing , and convinced to admit of an expedient . the lord wharton and old and expert parliament man of eminent piety and abilities , beside a great friend to the protestant religion , and interest of england , offer'd as a cure to the whole oath , and what might make it pass in all the 3 parts of it , without any farther debate , the addition of these words at the latter end of the oath , viz. as the same is or shall be establish'd by act of parliament , but this was not endured at all , when the lord grey of rollston , a worthy and true english lord , offered another expedient , which was the addition of words , by force or fraud , to the beginning of the oath , and then it would run thus , i do swear not to endeavor by force or fraud to alter ; this was also a cure that would have passed the whole oath , and seemed as if it would have carried the whole house ▪ the duke of york and bishop of rochester both second●ng it ; but the lord trea●urer , who had privately before consented to it , speaking against it , gave the word and sign to that party , and it being put to the question , the major vote answered all arguments , and the l. grey's proposition was laid aside . having thus carried the question , relying upon their strength of votes , taking advantage that those expedients that had been offered , extended to the whole oath , though but one of the 3 clauses in the oath had been debated , the other two not mentioned at all , they attempted strongly at nine of the clock at night to have the whole oath put to the question , and though it was resolutely opposed by the lord mohun , a lord of great courage , and resolution in the publick interest , and one whose own personal merits , as well as his fathers , gave him a just title to the best favors of the court ; yet they were not diverted but by as great a disorder as ever was seen in that house proceeding from the rage those unreasonable proceedings had caused in the country lords , they standing up in a clump together , and crying out with so loud a con●inued voice adjourn , that when silence was obtain'd , fear did what reason could not do , cause the question to be put only upon the first clause concerning protestant religion , to which the bishops desired might be added , as it is now established , and one of the eminentest of those were for the bill added the words by law ; so that , as it was passed , it ran , i ▪ a. b. do swear that i will not endeavor to alter the protestant religion now by law established in the church of england . and here observe the words by law do directly take in the canons though the bishops had never mentioned them . and now comes the consideration of the latter part of the oath which comprehends these 2 clauses , viz. nor the goverment either in church or state , wherein the church came first to be considerd . and it was objected by the lords against the bill that it was not agreeable to the king's crown and dignity , to have his subjects sworn to the government of the church equally as to himself ; that for the kings of england to swear to maintain the church , was a diffe●ent thing from enjoyning all his officers , and both his houses of parliament to swear to them . it would be well understood , before the bill passed , what the government of the church ( we are to swear to ) is , and what the boundaries of it , whether it derives no power , nor authority , nor the exercise of any power , authority , or function , but from the king as head of the church , and from god as through him , as all his other officers do ? for no church or religion can justify it self to the government , but the state religion , that ownes an entire dependency on , and is but a branch of it ; or the independent congregations ; whilest they claim no other power , but the exclusion of their own members from their particular communion , and endeavor not to set up a kingdom of christ to their own use in this world , whilest our saviour hath told us , that his kingdom is not of it ; for otherwise there would be imperium in imperio , and two distinct supream powers inconsistent with each other , in the same place , and over the same persons . the bishops al●eadged ▪ that priesthood and the power thereof , and the authorities belonging thereunto were derived immediately from christ , but that the license of exercising that authority and power in any country is derived from the civil magistrate : to which was replied , that it was a dangerous thing to secure by oath , and act of parliament those in the exercise of an authority , and power in the king's country , and over his subjects , which being received from christ himself , cannot be altered , or limitted by the king's laws ; and that this was directly to set the mitre above the crown . and it was farther offered , that this oath was the greatest attempt that had been made against the king's supremacy since the reformation ; for the king in parliament may alter , diminish , enlarge , or take away any bishoprick ; he may take any part of a diocess , or a whole diocess , and put them under deans , or other persons ; ●or if this be not lawful , but that episcopacy should be jure divino , the maintaining the government : as it is now , is unlawful ; since the deans of hereford , and salisbury , have very large tracts under their jurisdiction , and several parsons of parishes have episcopal jurisdiction ; so that at best that government wants alteration , that is so imperfectly settled . the bishop of winchester affirmed in this debate several times , that there was no christian church before calvin that had not bishops ; to which he was answered that the albigenses a very numerous people , and the only visible known church of true beleivers , of some ages , had no bishops . it is very true , what the bishop of winchester replyd , that they had some amongst them , who alone had power to ordain , but that was only to commit that power to the wisest , and gravest men amongst them , and to secure ill , and unfit men from being admitted into the ministery ; but they exercis'd no jurisdiction over the others . and it was said by divers of the lords , that they thought episcopal government best for the church , and most suitable for the monarchy , but they must say with the lord of southampton upon the occasion of this oath in the parliament of oxford , i will not be sworn not to take away episcopacie , there being nothing , that is not of divine precept , but such circumstances may come in humane affairs , as may render it not eligible by the best of men. and it was also said , that if episcopacy be to be received as by divine precept , the king's supremacy is overthrown , and so is also the opinion of the parliaments both in edw. 6. and queen elizabeths time ; and the constitution of our church ought to be altered , as hath been shewd . but the church of rome it self hath contradicted that opinion , when she hath made such vast tracts of ground , and great numbers of men exempt from episcopal jurisdiction . the lord wharton upon the bishops claim to a divine right , asked a very hard question , viz. whether they then did not claim withall , a power of excommunicating their prince , which they evading to answer , and being press'd by some other lords , said they never had done it . upon which the lord hallifax told them that that might well be ; for since the reformation they had hitherto had too great a dependance on the crown to venture on that , or any other offence to it : and so the debate passed on to the third clause , which had the same exceptions against it with the two former , of being unbounded how far any man might meddle , and how far not , and is of that extent , that it overthrew all parliaments , and left them capable of nothing but giving money . for what is the business of parliaments but the alteration , either by adding , or taking away some part of the government , either in church or state ? and every new act of parliament is an alteration ; and what kind of government in church and state must that be , which i must swear upon no alteration of time , emergencie of affairs , nor variation of humane things , never to endeavor to al●er ? would it not be requ●site that such a government should be given by god himself , and that withall the ceremonie of thunder , and lightening , and visible appearance to the whole people , which god vouchsafed to the chrildren of israel at mount sinaj ? and yet you shall no where read that they were sworn to it by any oath like this : nay on the contrary , the princes and the rulers , even those recorded for the best of them , did make sever●l variations . the lord stafford , a noble man of great honor and candour , but who had been all along for the bill , yet was so far convinced with the debate , that he freely declared , there ought to be an addition to the oath , for preserving the freedom of debates in parliament . this was strongly urged by the never to be forgotten , earl of bridgwater , who gave reputation , and strength to this cause of england ; as did also those worthy earls denbigh , clarendon , and aylisbury , men of great worth and honor. to salve all that was said by these , and the other lords , the lord keeper and the bishops urged , that there was a proviso , which fully preserved the priviledges of parliament , and upon farther enquiry there appearing no such , but only a previous vote , as is before mention'd , they allow●d that that previous vote should be drawn into a proviso , and added to the b●ll , and then in their opinion the exception to the oath for this cause was perfectly removed ; but on the other side it was offered , that a positive absolute oath being taken , a proviso in the act could not dispence with it without some reference in the body of the oath , unto that proviso ; but this also was utterly denied , untill the next day , the debate going on upon other matters , the lord treasurer , whose authority easily obtained with the major vote , reassumed what was mentioned in the debates of the proceeding days , and allow'd a reference to the proviso ▪ so that it then past in these words , i a. b. do swear that i will not endeavor to alter the protestant religion now by law establisht in the church of england , nor the government of this kingdom in church , or state , as it is now by law established , and i do take this oath according to the meaning of this act and the proviso contain'd in the same , so help me god. there was a passage of the very greatest observation in the whole debate , and which with most clearness shewd what the great men and bishops aimed at , and should in order have come in before , but that it deserved so particular a consideration , that i thought best to place it here by it self , which was , that upon passing of the p●oviso for preserving the rights , and priviledges of parliaments made out of the previous votes , it was excellently observ'd by the earl of bullingbrook , a man of great abilitie , and learning in the laws of the land , and perfectly stedfast in all good english principles , that though that proviso did preserve the freedom of debates and votes in parliament , yet the oath remain'd notwithstanding that proviso upon all men , that shall take as a prohibition either by speech , or writing , or address , to endeavor any alteration in religion , church , or state ; nay also upon the members of both houses otherwise then as they speak , and vote in open parliaments or committees : for this oath takes away all private converse upon any such affairs even one with another . this was seconded by the lord de la mer , whose name is well known , as also his worth , piety , and learning ; i should mention his great merits too , but i know not whether that be lawful , they lying yet unrewarded . the lord shaftsbury presently drew up some words for preserving the same rights , priviledges , and freedoms , which men now enjoy by the laws established , that so by a side wind we might not be deprived of the great liberty we enjoy as english men , and desired those words might be inserted in that proviso before it past . this was seconded by many of the forementioned lords , and prest upon those terms , that they desired not to countenance , or make in the least degree any thing lawful , that was not already so , but that they might not be deprived by this dark way of proceeding of that liberty was necessary to them as men , and without which parliaments would be renderd useless . upon this all the great officers showd themselves , nay the d. of lauderdail himself , though under the load of two addresses , opened his mouth , and together with the lord keeper , and the lord treasurer , told the committee in plain terms , that they intended , and design'd to prevent caballing , and conspiracies against the government that they knew no reason why any of the king's officers should consult with parliament men about parliament business , and particularly mention'd those of the armie , treasury , and navy ; and when it was objected to them , that the greatest part of the most knowing gentry were either justices of the peace , or of the militia , and that this took away all converse , or discourse of any alteration , which was in truth of any business in parliament , and that the officers of the navy , and treasury , might be best able to advise what should be fit in many cases ; and that withall none of their lordships did offer any thing to salve the inconvenience of parliament men being deprived of discoursing one with another , upon the matters that were before them . besides it must be again remembred , that nothing was herein desired to be countenanced , or made lawful , but to preserve that that is already law , and avowedly justified by it ; for without this addition to the proviso , the oath renderd parliaments but a snare not a security to the people ; yet to all this was answerd sometimes with passion , and high words , sometimes with jests , and raillery ( the best they had ) and at the last the major vote answered all objections , and laid a side the addition tendered . there was another thing before the finishing of the oath , which i shall here also mention , which was an additional oath tendered by the marquess of winchester , who ought to have been mentioned in the first , and chiefest place for his conduct , and support in the whole debate , being an expert parliament man , and one whose quallity , parts , and fortune , and owning of good principles , concurr to give him one of the greatest places in the esteem of good men. the additional oath tenderd , was as followeth , i do swear that i will never by threats , injunctions , promises , advantages , or invitation , by or from any person whatsoever , nor from the hopes , or prospect of any gift , place , office , or benefit whatsoever , give my vote other then according to my opinion and conscience , as i shall be truly , and really persuaded upon the debate of any-business in parliament ; so help me god. this oath was offerd upon the occasion of swearing memb●rs of parliament , and upon this score only , that if any new oath was thought fit ( which that noble lord declared his own judgment perfectly against ) this certainly was ( all considerations , and circumstances taken in ) most necessary to be a part , and the nature of it was not so strange if they considerd the iudges oath , which was not much different from this . to this the lord keeper seemed very averse , and declared in a very fine speech , that it was an vseless oath ; for all gifts , places , and offices , were likelyest to come from the king , and no member of parliament in either house , could do too much for the king , or be too much of his side , and that men might lawfully , and worthily , have in their prospect , such offices , or benefits from him. with this the lords against the bill , were in no tearms satisfied , but plainly spoke out that men had been , might , and were likely to be , in either house , too much for the king , as they call'd it , and that whoever did endeavour to give more power to the king , then the law and constitution of the government had given , especially if it tended to the introducing an absolute and arbitrary government might justly be said to do too much for the king , and to be corrupted in his judgment by the prospect of advantages , and rewards ; though , when it is considered that every deviation of the crown towards absolute power , lessens the king in the love , and affection of his people , makeing him become less their interest , a wise prince will not think it a service done him. and now remains only the last part of the bill , which is the the penalty different according to the quallifications of the persons all that are , or shall be privy counsellors , iustices of the peace , or possessors of any beneficial office , ecclesiastical , civill , or military , are to take the oath when summoned , upon pain of 500 l. and being made uncapable of bearing office , the members of both houses are not made uncapable , but lyable to the penalty of 500 l. if they take it not . upon all which the considerations of the debate were , that those officers , and members of both houses are of all the nation the most dangerous to be sworn into a mistake , or change of the government , and that , as to the members of both houses , the penalty of 500 l. was directly against the latter of the 2. previous votes , and although they had not applied the penalty of incapacity unto the members of both houses , because of the first previous vote in the case of the lords , neither durst they admit of a proposition made by some of themselves , that those that did not come up , and sit as members , should be lyable to the taking the oath , or penalty , untill they did so : yet their ends were not to be compassed without invading the latter previous vote , and contrary to the rights and priviledges of parliament enforce them to swear , or pay 500 l. every parliament , and this they ca●ried through with so strong a resolution , that having experienced their misfortunes in replys for several hours , not one of the party could be provoked to speak one word . though , besides the former arguments , it was strongly urged , that this oath ought to be put upon officers with a heavier penalty then the test was in the act of the immediate preceding session against the papists , by which any man might sit down with the loss of his office , without being in the darger of the penalty of 500 l. and also that this act had a direct retrospect ( which ought ne●er to be in penall laws ) for this act punishes men for having an office without taking this oath , which office , before this law pass , they may now lawfully enjoy without it . yet notwithstanding it provides not a power , in many cases , for them to part with it , before this oath overtake them ; for the clause whoever is in office the 1. september will not relieve a justice of the peace , who , being once sworn , is not in his own power to be left out of commission ; and so might be instanced in several other cases ; as also the members of the house of commons were not in their own power to be unchosen ; and as to the lords , they were subjected by it to the meanest condition of mankind , if they could not enjoy their birthright , without playing tricks sutable to the humour of every age , and be enforced to swear to every fancie of the present times . three years ago it was all liberty and indulgence , and now it is strict and rigid conformity and what it may be , in some short time hereafter , without the spirit of prophesying might be shrewdly guest by a considering man. this being answerd with silence , the duke of buckingham , whose quality ▪ admirable wit , and unusual pains , that he took all along in the debate against this bill , makes me mention him in this last place , as general of the partie , and coming last out of the field , made a speech late at night of eloquent , and well placed non-sense , showing how excellently well he could do both ways , and hoping that might do , when sense ( which he often before used with the highest advantage of wit , and reason ) would not ; but the earl of winchilsea readily apprehending the dialect , in a short reply , put an end to the debate , and the major vote ultima ratio senatuum , & conciliorum , carried the question as the court , and bishops would have it . this was the last act of this tragi-comedy , which had taken up sixteen or seventeen whole days debate , the house sitting many times till eight or nine of the clock at night , and sometimes till midnight ; but the business of priviledg between the two houses gave such an interruption , that this bill was never reported from the committee to the house . i have mention'd to you divers lords , that were speakers , as it fell in the debate , but i have not distributed the arguments of the debate to every particular lord. now you know the speakers , your curiosity may be satisfied , and the lords i am sure will not quarrel about the division . i must not forget to mention those great lords , bedford , devonshire , and burlington , for the countenance and support they gave to the english interest . the earl of bedford was so brave in it , that he joyn'd in three of the protests ; so also did the earl of dorset , and the earl of stamford , a young noble man of great hopes , the lord eure , the lord viscount say and seal , and the lord pagitt in two ; the lord audley and the lord fitzwater in the 3 d and the lord peter , a noble man of great estate , and always true to the maintenance of liberty , and property in the first . and i should not have omitted the earl of dorset , lord audley , and the lord peter amongst the speakers : for i will assure you they did their parts excellently well . the lord viscount hereford was a steady man among the countrey lords ; so also was the lord townsend , a man justly of great esteem , and power in his own countrey , and amongst all those that well know him . the earl of carnarvon ought not to be mention'd in the last place , for he came out of the countrey on purpose to oppose the bill , stuck very fast to the countrey partie , and spoke many excellent things against it . i dare not mention the roman catholick lords , and some others , for fear i hurt them ; but thus much i shall say of the roman catholick peers , that if they were safe in their estates , and yet kept out of office , their votes in that house would not be the most unsafe to england of any sort of men in it . as for the absent lords , the earl of ruttland , lord sandys , lord herbert of cherbury , lord north , and lord crew , ought to be mentiond with honor , having taken care their votes should maintain their own interest , and opinions ; but the earls of exceter , and chesterfield , that gave no proxies this sessions , the lord montague of boughton , that gave his to the treasurer , and the lord roberts his to the earl of northampton , are not easily to be understood . if you ask after the earl of carlisle , the lord viscount falconbridge , and the lord berkely of berkley castle , because you find them not mentioned amongst their old friends , all i have to say , is , that the earl of carlisle stept aside to receive his pention , the lord berkely to dine with the lord treasurer , but the lord viscount falconberg , like the noble man in the gospel , went away sorrowfull , for he had a great office at court ▪ but i despair not of giving you a better account of them next sessions , for it is not possible when they consider that cromwell's major general , son in law , and friend , should think to find their accounts amongst men that set up on such a bottom . thus sir , you see the standard of the new partie is not yet set up , but must be the work of another session , though it be admirable to me , how the king can be enduced to venture his affairs upon such weak counsels , and of so fatal consequences ; for i believe it is the first time in the world , that ever it was thought adviseable , after fifteen years of the highest peace , quiet , and obedience , that ever was in any countrey , that there should be a pretense taken up , and a reviving of former miscarriages , especially after so many promises , and declarations , as well as acts of oblivion , and so much merit of the offending partie , in being the instruments of the king 's happy return , besides the putting so vast a number of the king's subjects in u●ter despair of having their crimes ever forgotten ; and it must be a great mistake in counsels , or worse , that there should be so much pains taken by the court to debase , and bring low the house of peers , if a military government be not intended by some . for the power of peerage , and a standing army are like two buckets , the proportion that one goes down , the other exactly goes up ; and i refer you to the consideration of all the histories of ours , or any of our neighbor northern monarchies , whether standing forces military , and arbitrary government , came not plainly in by the same steps , that the nobility were lessened ; and whether when ever they were in power , and greatness , they permitted the least shadow of any of them : our own countrey is a clear instance of it ; for though the white rose and the red chang'd fortunes often to the ruine , slaughter and beheading of the great men of the other side ; yet nothing could enforce them to secure themselves by a standing force : but i cannot believe that the king himself will ever design any such thing ; for he is not of a temper rob●st , and laborious enough , to deale with such a sort of men , or reap the advantages , if there be any , of such a government , and i think , he can hardly have forgot the treatment his father received from the officers of his army , both at oxford , and newark ; 't was an hard , but almost an even choice to be the parliaments prisoner , or their slave ; but i am sure the greatest prosperity of his armes could have brought him to no happier condition , then our king his son hath before him whenever he please . however , this may be said for the honor of this session , that there is no prince in christendom hath at a greater expence of money , maintained for two months space , a nobler , or more useful dispute of the politiques , mistery , and see●e●s of government , bo●h in church and state , then this hath been ; of which noble design no part is owing to any of the countrey lords , for they several of them begg'd , at the first entrance into the debate , that they might not be engaged in such disputes , as would unavoidably produce divers things to be said , which they were willing to let alone . but i must bear them witness , and so will you , having read this , that they did their parts in it , when it came to it , and spoke plain like old english lords . i shall conclude with that , upon the whole matter , is most worthy your consideration , that the design is to declare us first into another government more absolute , and arbitrary , then the oath of allegience , or old law knew , and then make us swear unto it , as it is so established : and less then this the bishops could not offer in requi●al to the crown for par●ing with its supremacy , and suffering them to be sworn to equal with it self . archbishop laud was the first founder of this device ; in his canons of 1640. you shall find an oath very like this , and a declaratory canon preceding that monarchy is of divine right , which was also affirmed in this debate by our reverend prelates , and is owned in print by no less men then a. bishop vsher , and b. sand●rson ; and i am afraid it is the avowd opinion of much the greater part of our dignified clergie : if so ▪ i am sure they are the most dangerous sort of men alive to our english government , and it is the first thing ought to be look● into , and strictly examin'd by our parliaments , ' ●is the leaven that corrupts the whole lump ; for if that be true , i am sure monarchy is not to be bounded by humane laws , and the 8. chap. of 1. sa●uel , will prove ( as many of our divines would have it ) the great charter of the royal prerogative , and our magna charta that says our kings may not take our fields , our vineyards , our corn , and our sheep is not in force , but void and null , because against divine institution ; and you have the riddle out , why the clergy are so re●dy to take themselves , & impose upon others ▪ such kind of oaths as these , they have pla●ed themselves , and their possessions upon a better , and a surer bottom ( as they think ) then magna charta , and so have no more need of , or concern for it : nay what is worse , they have tr●ckt away the rights and liberties of the people in this , and all other countries wherever they have had opportunity , that they might be owned by the prince to be iure divino , and maintain'd in that pretention by that absolute power and force , they have contributed so much to put into his hands ; and that priest , and prince may , like castor and pollux , be worshipt together as divine in the same temple by us poor lay-subjects ; and that sense and reason , law , properties , rights , and liberties , shall be understood as the oracles of those deities shall interpret , or give signification to them , and ne'● be made use of in the world to oppose the absolute , and freewill of either of them . sir , i have no more to say , but begg your pardon for this tedious trouble , and that you will be very careful to whom you communicate any of this . finis . a letter concerning toleration humbly submitted, etc. epistola de tolerantia. english locke, john, 1632-1704. 1689 approx. 126 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 38 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a48884 wing l2747 estc r14566 11845307 ocm 11845307 49822 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48884) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 49822) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 540:9) a letter concerning toleration humbly submitted, etc. epistola de tolerantia. english locke, john, 1632-1704. popple, william, d. 1708. [8], 61 p. printed for awnsham churchill, london, 1689. first published in latin, with title : epistola de tolerantia : goudae, 1689. translated from the latin of john locke by popple. attributed to john locke. cf. nuc pre-1956. reproduction of original in bristol public library, bristol, england. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng toleration. freedom of religion -england. 2002-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-08 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-09 jennifer kietzman sampled and proofread 2002-09 jennifer kietzman text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a letter concerning toleration : humbly submitted , &c. licensed , octob. 3. 1689. london , printed for awnsham churchill , at the black swan at amen-corner . 1689. a letter concerning toleration . there will be published in a few days , an agreement betwixt the present and the former government : or , a discourse of this monarchy , whether elective or hereditary . also of abdication , vacancy , interregnums , present possession of the crown , and the reputation of the church of england , &c. by a divine of the church of england , &c. foxes and firebrands : or , a specimen of the danger and harmony of popery and separation . a third-part . an hundred and fifty three chymical aphorisms : to which , whatever relates to the science of chymistry may fitly be referred . done by the labour and stidy of a country hermite , and printed in latin at amsterdam , anno 1688. sold by awnsham churchill in ave-mary lane. to the reader . the ensuing letter concerning toleration , first printed in latin this very year , in holland , has already been translated both into dutch and french. so general and speedy an approbation may therefore bespeak its favourable reception in england . i think indeed there is no nation under heaven , in which so much has already been said upon that subject , as ours . but yet certainly there is no people that stand in more need of having something further both said and done amongst them , in this point , than we do . our government has not only been partial in matters of religion ; but those also who have suffered under that partiality , and have therefore endeavoured by their writings to vindicate their own rights and liberties , have for the most part done it upon narrow principles , suited only to the interests of their own sects . this narrowness of spirit on all sides has undoubtedly been the principal occasion of our miseries and confusions . but whatever have been the occasion , it is now high time to seek for a thorow cure. we have need of more generous remedies than what have yet been made use of in our distemper . it is neither declarations of indulgence , nor acts of comprehension , such as have yet been practised or projected amongst us , that can do the work. the first will but palliate , the second encrease our evil. absolute liberty , iust and true liberty , equal and impartial liberty , is the thing that we stand in need of . now tho this has indeed been much talked of , i doubt it has not been much understood ; i am sure not at all practised , either by our governours towards the people in general , or by any dissenting parties of the people towards one another . i cannot therefore but hope that this discourse , which treats of that subject , however briefly , yet more exactly than any we have yet seen , demonstrating both the equitableness and practicableness of the thing , will be esteemed highly seasonable , by all men that have souls large enough to prefer the true interest of the publick before that of a party . it is for the use of such as are already so spirited , or to inspire that spirit into those that are not , that i have translated it into our language . but the thing it self is so short , that it will not bear a longer preface . i leave it therefore to the consideration of my countrymen , and heartily wish they may make the use of it that it appears to be designed for . a letter concerning toleration . honoured sir , since you are pleased to inquire what are my thoughts about the mutual toleration of christians in their different professions of religion , i must needs answer you freely , that i esteem that toleration to be the chief characteristical mark of the true church . for whatsoever some people boast of the antiquity of places and names , or of the pomp of their outward worship ; others , of the reformation of their discipline ; all , of the orthodoxy of their faith ; ( for every one is orthodox to himself : ) these things , and all others of this nature , are much rather marks of men striving for power and empire over one another , than of the church of christ. let any one have never so true a claim to all these things , yet if he be destitute of charity , meekness , and good-will in general towards all mankind , even to those that are not christians , he is certainly yet short of being a true christian himself . the kings of the gentiles exercise lordship over them , said our saviour to his disciples , but ye shall not be so . the business of true religion is quite another thing . it is not instituted in order to the erecting of an external pomp , nor to the obtaining of ecclesiastical dominion , nor to the exercising of compulsive force ; but to the regulating of mens lives according to the rules of vertue and piety . whosoever will lift himself under the banner of christ , must in the first place , and above all things , make war upon his own lusts and vices . it is in vain for any man to usurp the name of christian , without holiness of life , purity of manners , and benignity and meekness of spirit . let every one that nameth the name of christ , depart from iniquity . thou , when thou art converted , strengthen thy brethren , said our lord to peter . it would indeed be very hard for one that appears careless about his own salvation , to persuade me that he were extreamly concern'd for mine . for it is impossible that those should sincerely and heartily apply themselves to make other people christians , who have not really embraced the christian religion in their own hearts . if the gospel and the apostles may be credited , no man can be a christian without charity , and without that faith which works , not by force , but by love. now i appeal to the consciences of those that persecute , torment , destroy , and kill other men upon pretence of religion , whether they do it out of friendship and kindness towards them , or no : and i shall then indeed , and not till then , believe they do so , when i shall see those fiery zealots correcting , in the same manner , their friends and familiar acquaintance , for the manifest sins they commit against the precepts of the gospel ; when i shall see them prosecute with fire and sword the members of their own communion that are tainted with enormous vices , and without amendment are in danger of eternal perdition ; and when i shall see them thus express their love and desire of the salvation of their souls , by the infliction of torments , and exercise of all manner of cruelties . for if it be out of a principle of charity , as they pretend , and love to mens souls , that they deprive them of their estates , maim them with corporal punishments , starve and torment them in noisom prisons , and in the end even take away their lives ; i say , if all this be done meerly to make men christians , and procure their salvation , why then do they suffer whoredom , fraud , malice , and such like enormities , which ( according to the apostle ) manifestly rellish of heathenish corruption , to predominate so much and abound amongst their flocks and people ? these , and such like things , are certainly more contrary to the glory of god , to the purity of the church , and to the salvation of souls , than any conscientious dissent from ecclesiastical decisions , or separation from publick worship , whilst accompanied with innocency of life . why then does this burning zeal for god , for the church , and for the salvation of souls ; burning , i say , literally , with fire and faggot ; pass by those moral vices and wickednesses , without any chastisement , which are acknowledged by all men to be diametrically opposite to the profession of christianity ; and bend all its nerves either to the introducing of ceremonies , or to the establishment of opinions , which for the most part are about nice and intricate matters , that exceed the capacity of ordinary understandings ? which of the parties contending about these things is in the right , which of them is guilty of schism or heresie , whether those that domineer or those that suffer , will then at last be manifest , when the cause of their separation comes to be judged of . he certainly that follows christ , embraces his doctrine , and bears his yoke , tho' he forsake both father and mother , separate from the publick assemblies and ceremonies of his country , or whomsoever , or whatsoever else he relinquishes , will not then be judged an heretick . now , tho' the divisions that are amongst sects should be allowed to be never so obstructive of the salvation of souls ; yet nevertheless adultery , fornication , vncleanness , lasciviousness , idolatry , and such like things , cannot be denied to be works of the flesh ; concerning which the apostle has expresly declared , that they who do them shall not inherit the kingdom of god. whosoever therefore is sincerely sollicitous about the kingdom of god , and thinks it his duty to endeavour the enlargement of it amongst men , ought to apply himself with no less care and industry to the rooting out of these immoralities , than to the extirpation of sects . but if any one do otherwise , and whilst he is cruel and implacable towards those that differ from him in opinion , he be indulgent to such iniquities and immoralities as are unbecoming the name of a christian , let such a one talk never so much of the church , he plainly demonstrates by his actions , that 't is another kingdom he aims at , and not the advancement of the kingdom of god. that any man should think fit to cause another man , whose salvation he heartily desires , to expire in torments , and that even in an unconverted estate , would , i confess , seem very strange to me , and , i think , to any other also . but no body , surely , will ever believe that such a carriage can proceed from charity , love , or good-will . if any one maintain that men ought to be compelled by fire and sword to profess certain doctrines , and conform to this or that exteriour worship , without any regard had unto their morals ; if any one endeavour to convert those that are erroneous unto the faith , by forcing them to profess things that they do not believe , and allowing them to practise things that the gospel does not permit ; it cannot be doubted indeed but such a one is desirous to have a numerous assembly joyned in the same profession with himself ; but that he principally intends by those means to compose a truly christian church , is altogether incredible . it is not therefore to be wondred at , if those who do not really contend for the advancement of the true religion , and of the church of christ , make use of arms that do not belong to the christian warfare . if , like the captain of our salvation , they sincerely desired the good of souls , they would tread in the steps , and follow the perfect example of that prince of peace , who sent out his soldiers to the subduing of nations , and gathering them into his church , not armed with the sword , or other instruments of force , but prepared with the gospel of peace , and with the exemplary holiness of their conversation . this was his method . tho' if infidels were to be converted by force , if those that are either blind or obstinate were to be drawn off from their errors by armed soldiers , we know very well that it was much more easie for him to do it with armies of heavenly legions , than for any son of the church , how potent soever , with all his dragoons . the toleration of those that differ from others in matters of religion , is so agreeable to the gospel of jesus christ , and to the genuine reason of mankind , that it seems monstrous for men to be so blind , as not to perceive the necessity and advantage of it , in so clear a light. i will not here tax the pride and ambition of some , the passion and uncharitable zeal of others . these are faults from which humane affairs can perhaps scarce ever be perfectly freed ; but yet such as no body will bear the plain imputation of , without covering them with some specious colour ; and so pretend to commendation , whilst they are carried away by their own irregular passions . but however , that some may not colour their spirit of persecution and unchristian cruelty with a pretence of care of the publick weal , and observation of the laws ; and that others , under pretence of religion , may not seek impunity for their libertinism and licentiousness ; in a word , that none may impose either upon himself or others , by the pretences of loyalty and obedience to the prince , or of tenderness and sincerity in the worship of god ; i esteem it above all things necessary to distinguish exactly the business of civil government from that of religion , and to settle the just bounds that lie between the one and the other . if this be not done , there can be no end put to the controversies that will be always arising , between those that have , or at least pretend to have , on the one side , a concernment for the interest of mens souls , and on the other side , a care of the commonwealth . the commonwealth seems to me to be a society of men constituted only for the procuring , preserving , and advancing of their own civil interests . civil interests i call life , liberty , health , and indolency of body ; and the possession of outward things , such as money , lands , houses , furniture , and the like . it is the duty of the civil magistrate , by the impartial execution of equal laws , to secure unto all the people in general , and to every one of his subjects in particular , the just possession of these things belonging to this life . if any one presume to violate the laws of publick justice and equity , established for the preservation of those things , his presumption is to be check'd by the fear of punishment , consisting of the deprivation or diminution of those civil interests , or goods , which otherwise he might and ought to enjoy . but seeing no man does willingly suffer himself to be punished by the deprivation of any part of his goods , and much less of his liberty or life , therefore is the magistrate armed with the force and strength of all his subjects , in order to the punishment of those that violate any other man's rights . now that the whole jurisdiction of the magistrate reaches only to these civil concernments ; and that all civil power , right and dominion , is bounded and confined to the only care of promoting these things ; and that it neither can nor ought in any manner to be extended to the salvation of souls , these following considerations seem unto me abundantly to demonstrate . first , because the care of souls is not committed to the civil magistrate , any more than to other men. it is not committed unto him , i say , by god ; because it appears not that god has ever given any such authority to one man over another , as to compell any one to his religion . nor can any such power be vested in the magistrate by the consent of the people ; because no man can so far abandon the care of his own salvation , as blindly to leave it to the choice of any other , whether prince or subject , to prescribe to him what faith or worship he shall embrace . for no man can , if he would , conform his faith to the dictates of another . all the life and power of true religion consists in the inward and full perswasion of the mind ; and faith is not faith without believing . whatever profession we make , to whatever outward worship we conform , if we are not fully satisfied in our own mind that the one is true , and the other well pleasing unto god , such profession and such practice , far from being any furtherance , are indeed great obstacles to our salvation . for in this manner , instead of expiating other sins by the exercise of religion , i say in offering thus unto god almighty such a worship as we esteem to be displeasing unto him , we add unto the number of our other sins , those also of hypocrisie , and contempt of his divine majesty . in the second place . the care of souls cannot belong to the civil magistrate , because his power consists only in outward force ; but true and saving religion consists in the inward perswasion of the mind , without which nothing can be acceptable to god. and such is the nature of the understanding , that it cannot be compell'd to the belief of any thing by outward force . confiscation of estate , imprisonment , torments , nothing of that nature can have any such efficacy as to make men change the inward judgment that they have framed of things . it may indeed be alledged , that the magistrate may make use of arguments , and thereby draw the heterodox into the way of truth , and procure their salvation . i grant it ; but this is common to him with other men. in teaching , instructing , and redressing the erroneous by reason , he may certainly do what becomes any good man to do . magistracy does not oblige him to put of either humanity or christianity . but it is one thing to perswade , another to command ; one thing to press with arguments , another with penalties . this civil power alone has a right to do ; to the other good-will is authority enough . every man has commission to admonish , exhort , convince another of error , and by reasoning to draw him into truth : but to give laws , receive obedience , and compel with the sword , belongs to none but the magistrate . and upon this ground i affirm , that the magistrate's power extends not to the establishing of any articles of faith , or forms of worship , by the force of his laws . for laws are of no force at all without penalties , and penalties in this case are absolutely impertinent ; because they are not proper to convince the mind . neither the profession of any articles of faith , nor the conformity to any outward form of worship ( as has already been said ) can be available to the salvation of souls , unless the truth of the one , and the acceptableness of the other unto god , be thoroughly believed by those that so profess and practise . but penalties are no ways capable to produce such belief . it is only light and evidence that can work a change in mens opinions ; which light can in no manner proceed from corporal sufferings , or any other outward penalties . in the third place . the care of the salvation of mens souls cannot belong to the magistrate ; because , though the rigour of laws and the force of penalties were capable to convince and change mens minds , yet would not that help at all to the salvation of their souls . for there being but one truth , one way to heaven ; what hopes is there that more men would be led into it , if they had no rule but the religion of the court , and were put under a necessity to quit the light of their own reason , and oppose the dictates of their own consciences , and blindly to resign up themselves to the will of their governors , and to the religion , which either ignorance , ambition , or superstition had chanced to establish in the countries where they were born ? in the variety and contradiction of opinions in religion , wherein the princes of the world are as much divided as in their secular interests , the narrow way would be much straitned ; one country alone would be in the right , and all the rest of the world put under an obligation of following their princes in the ways that lead to destruction ; and that which heightens the absurdity , and very ill suits the notion of a deity , men would owe their eternal happiness or misery to the places of their nativity . these considerations , to omit many others that might have been urged to the same purpose , seem unto me sufficient to conclude that all the power of civil government relates only to mens civil interests , is confined to the care of the things of this world , and hath nothing to do with the world to come . let us now consider what a church is . a church then i take to be a voluntary society of men , joining themselves together of their own accord , in order to the publick worshipping of god , in such a manner as they judge acceptable to him , and effectual to the salvation of their souls . i say it is a free and voluntary society . no body is born a member of any church ; otherwise the religion of parents would descend unto children , by the same right of inheritance as their temporal estates , and every one would hold his faith by the same tenure he does his lands ; than which nothing can be imagined more absurd . thus therefore that matter stands . no man by nature is bound unto any particular church or sect , but every one joins himself voluntarily to that society in which he believes he has found that profession and worship which is truly acceptable to god. the hopes of salvation , as it was the only cause of his entrance into that communion , so it can be the only reason of his stay there . for if afterwards he discover any thing either erroneous in the doctrine , or incongruous in the worship of that society to which he has join'd himself , why should it not be as free for him to go out as it was to enter ? no member of a religious society can be tied with any other bonds but what proceed from the certain expectation of eternal life . a church then is a society of members voluntarily uniting to this end . it follows now that we consider what is the power of this church , and unto what laws it is subject . forasmuch as no society , how free soever , or upon whatsoever slight occasion instituted , ( whether of philophers for learning , of merchants for commerce , or of men of leisure for mutual conversation and discourse , ) no church or company , i say , can in the least subsist and hold together , but will presently dissolve and break to pieces , unless it be regulated by some laws , and the members all consent to observe some order . place , and time of meeting must be agreed on ; rules for admitting and excluding members must be establisht ; distinction of officers , and putting things into a regular course , and such like , cannot be omitted . but since the joyning together of several members into this church-society , as has already been demonstrated , is absolutely free and spontaneous , it necessarily follows , that the right of making its laws can belong to none but the society it self , or at least ( which is the same thing ) to those whom the society by common consent has authorised thereunto . some perhaps may object , that no such society can be said to be a true church , unless it have in it a bishop , or presbyter , with ruling authority derived from the very apostles , and continued down unto the present times by an uninterrupted succession . to these i answer . in the first place , let them shew me the edict by which christ has imposed that law upon his church . and let not any man think me impertinent if , in a thing of this consequence , i require that the terms of that edict be very express and positive . for the promise he has made us , that wheresoever two or three are gathered together in his name , he will be in the midst of them , seems to imply the contrary . whether such an assembly want any thing necessary to a true church , pray do you consider . certain i am , that nothing can be there wanting unto the salvation of souls ; which is sufficient to our purpose . next , pray observe how great have always been the divisions amongst even those who lay so much stress upon the divine institution , and continued succession of a certain order of rulers in the church . now their very dissention unavoidably puts us upon a necessity of deliberating , and consequently allows a liberty of choosing that , which upon consideration , we prefer . and in the last place , i consent that these men have a ruler of their church , established by such a long series of succession as they judge necessary ; provided i may have liberty at the same time to join my self to that society , in which i am perswaded those things are to be found which are necessary to the salvation of my soul. in this manner ecclesiastical liberty will be preserved on all sides , and no man will have a legislator imposed upon him , but whom himself has chosen . but since men are so sollicitous about the true church , i would only ask them , here by the way , if it be not more agreeable to the church of christ , to make the conditions of her communion consist in such things , and such things only , as the holy spirit has in the holy scriptures declared , in express words , to be necessary to salvation ; i ask , i say , whether this be not more agreeable to the church of christ , than for men to impose their own inventions and interpretations upon others , as if they were of divine authority , and to establish by ecclesiastical laws , as absolutely necessary to the profession of christianity , such things as the holy scriptures do either not mention , or at least not expresly command . whosoever requires those things in order to ecclesiastical communion , which christ does not require in order to life eternal , he may perhaps indeed constitute a society accommodated to his own opinion and his own advantage , but how that can be called the church of christ , which is established upon laws that are not his , and which excludes such persons from its communion as he will one day receive into the kingdom of heaven , i understand not . but this being not a proper place to enquire into the marks of the true church , i will only mind those that contend so earnestly for the decrees of their own society , and that cry out continually the church , the church , with as much noise , and perhaps upon the same principle , as the ephesian silversmiths did for their diana ; this , i say , i desire to mind them of , that the gospel frequently declares that the true disciples of christ must suffer persecution ; but that the church of christ should persecute others , and force others by fire and sword , to embrace her faith and doctrine , i could never yet find in any of the books of the new testament . the end of a religious society ( as has already been said ) is the publick worship of god , and by means thereof the acquisition of eternal life . all discipline ought therefore to tend to that end , and all ecclesiastical laws to be thereunto confined . nothing ought , nor can be transacted in this society , relating to the possession of civil and worldly goods . no force is here to be made use of , upon any occasion whatsoever : for force belongs wholly to the civil magistrate , and the possession of all outward goods is subject to his jurisdiction . but it may be asked , by what means then shall ecclesiastical laws be established , if they must be thus destitute of all compulsive power ? i answer , they must be established by means suitable to the nature of such things , whereof the external profession and observation , if not proceeding from a thorow conviction and approbation of the mind , is altogether useless and unprofitable . the arms by which the members of this society are to be kept within their duty , are exhortations , admonitions , and advices . if by these means the offenders will not be reclaimed , and the erroneous convinced , there remains nothing farther to be done , but that such stubborn and obstinate persons , who give no ground to hope for their reformation , should be cast out and separated from the society . this is the last and utmost force of ecclesiastical authority : no other punishment can thereby be inflicted , than that , the relation ceasing between the body and the member which is cut off , the person so condemned ceases to be a part of that church . these things being thus determined , let us inquire in the next place , how far the duty of toleration extends , and what is required from every one by it . and first , i hold , that no church is bound by the duty of toleration to retain any such person in her bosom , as , after admonition , continues obstinately to offend against the laws of the society . for these being the condition of communion , and the bond of the society , if the breach of them were permitted without any animadversion , the society would immediately be thereby dissolved . but nevertheless , in all such cases care is to be taken that the sentence of excommunication , and the execution thereof , carry with it no rough usage , of word or action , whereby the ejected person may any wise be damnified in body or estate . for all force ( as has often been said ) belongs only to the magistrate , nor ought any private persons , at any time , to use force ; unless it be in self-defence against unjust violence . excommunication neither does , nor can , deprive the excommunicated person of any of those civil goods that he formerly possessed . all those things belong to the civil government , and are under the magistrate's protection . the whole force of excommunication consists only in this , that , the resolution of the society in that respect being declared , the union that was between the body and some member comes thereby to be dissolved ; and that relation ceasing , the participation of some certain things , which the society communicated to its members , and unto which no man has any civil right , comes also to cease . for there is no civil injury done unto the excommunicated person , by the church-minister's refusing him that bread and wine , in the celebration of the lord's supper , which was not bought with his , but other mens money . secondly , no private person has any right , in any manner , to prejudice another person in his civil enjoyments , because he is of another church or religion . all the rights and franchises that belong to him as a man , or as a denison , are inviolably to be preserved to him . these are not the business of religion . no violence nor injury is to be offered him , whether he be christian or pagan . nay , we must not content our selves with the narrow measures of bare justice : charity , bounty , and liberality must be added to it . this the gospel enjoyns , this reason directs , and this that natural fellowship we are born into requires of us . if any man err from the right way , it is his own misfortune , no injury to thee : nor therefore art thou to punish him in the things of this life , because thou supposest he will be miserable in that which is to come . what i say concerning the mutual toleration of private persons differing from one another in religion , i understand also of particular churches ; which stand as it were in the same relation to each other as private persons among themselves , nor has any one of them any manner of jurisdiction over any other , no not even when the civil magistrate ( as it sometimes happens ) comes to be of this or the other communion . for the civil government can give no new right to the church , nor the church to the civil government . so that whether the magistrate joyn himself to any church , or separate from it , the church remains always as it was before , a free and voluntary society . it neither acquires the power of the sword by the magistrate's coming to it , nor does it lose the right of instruction and excommunication by his going from it . this is the fundamental and immutable right of a spontaneous society , that it has power to remove any of its members who transgress the rules of its institution : but it cannot , by the accession of any new members , acquire any right of jurisdiction over those that are not joined with it . and therefore peace , equity , and friendship , are always mutually to be observed by particular churches , in the same manner as by private persons , without any pretence of superiority or jurisdiction over one another . that the thing may be made yet clearer by an example ; let us suppose two churches , the one of arminians , the other of calvinists , residing in the city of constantinople . will any one say , that either of these churches has right to deprive the members of the other of their estates and liberty , ( as we see practised elsewhere ) because of their differing from it in some doctrines or ceremonies ; whilst the turks in the mean while silently stand by , and laugh to see with what inhumane cruelty christians thus rage against christians ? but if one of these churches hath this power of treating the other ill , i ask which of them it is to whom that power belongs , and by what right ? it will be answered , undoubtedly , that it is the orthodox church which has the right of authority over the erroneous or heretical . this is , in great and specious words , to say just nothing at all . for every church is orthodox to it self ; to others , erroneous or heretical . for whatsoever any church believes , it believes to be true ; and the contrary unto those things , it pronounces to be error . so that the controversie between these churches about the truth of their doctrines , and the purity of their worship , is on both sides equal ; nor is there any judge , either at constantinople , or elsewhere upon earth , by whose sentence it can be determined . the decision of that question belongs only to the supream judge of all men , to whom also alone belongs the punishment of the erroneous . in the mean while , let those men consider how hainously they sin , who , adding injustice , if not to their error yet certainly to their pride , do rashly and arrogantly take upon them to misuse the servants of another master , who are not at all accountable to them . nay , further : if it could be manifest which of these two dissenting churches were in the right , there would not accrue thereby unto the orthodox any right of destroying the other . for churches have neither any jurisdiction in worldly matters , nor are fire and sword any proper instruments wherewith to convince mens minds of error , and inform them of the truth . let us suppose , nevertheless , that the civil magistrate inclined to favour one of them , and to put his sword into their hands , that ( by his consent ) they might chastise the dissenters as they pleased . will any man say , that any right can be derived unto a christian church , over its brethren , from a turkish emperor ? an infidel , who has himself no authority to punish christians for the articles of their faith , cannot confer such an authority upon any society of christians , nor give unto them a right which he has not himself . this would be the case at constantinople . and the reason of the thing is the same in any christian kingdom . the civil power is the same in every place : nor can that power , in the hands of a christian prince , confer any greater authority upon the church , than in the hands of a heathen ; which is to say , just none at all . nevertheless , it is worthy to be observed , and lamented , that the most violent of these defenders of the truth , the opposers of errors , the exclaimers against schism , do hardly ever let loose this their zeal for god , with which they are so warmed and inflamed , unless where they have the civil magistrate on their side . but so soon as ever court-favour has given them the better end of the staff , and they begin to feel themselves the stronger , then presently peace and charity are to be laid aside : otherwise , they are religiously to be observed . where they have not the power to carry on persecution , and to become masters , there they desire to live upon fair terms , and preach up toleration . when they are not strengthned with the civil power , then they can bear most patiently , and unmovedly , the contagion of idolatry , superstition , and heresie , in their neighbourhood ; of which , in other occasions , the interest of religion makes them to be extreamly apprehensive . they do not forwardly attack those errors which are in fashion at court , or are countenanced by the government . here they can be content to spare their arguments : which yet ( with their leave ) is the only right method of propagating truth , which has no such way of prevailing , as when strong arguments and good reason , are joined with the softness of civility and good usage . no body therefore , in fine , neither single persons , nor churches , nay , nor even commonwealths , have any just title to invade the civil rights and worldly goods of each other , upon pretence of religion . those that are of another opinion , would do well to consider with themselves how pernicious a seed of discord and war , how powerful a provocation to endless hatreds , rapines , and slaughters , they thereby furnish unto mankind . no peace and security , no not so much as common friendship , can ever be established or preserved amongst men , so long as this opinion prevails , that dominion is founded in grace , and that religion is to be propagated by force of arms. in the third place : let us see what the duty of toleration requires from those who are distinguished from the rest of mankind , ( from the laity , as they please to call us ) by some ecclesiastical character , and office ; whether they be bishops , priests , presbyters , ministers , or however else dignified or distinguished . it is not my business to inquire here into the original of the power or dignity of the clergy . this only i say , that whence-soever their authority be sprung , since it is ecclesiastical , it ought to be confined within the bounds of the church , nor can it in any manner be extended to civil affairs ; because the church it self is a thing absolutely separate and distinct from the commonwealth . the boundaries on both sides are fixed and immovable . he jumbles heaven and earth together , the things most remote and opposite , who mixes these two societies ; which are in their original , end , business , and in every thing , perfectly distinct , and infinitely different from each other . no man therefore , with whatsoever ecclesiastical office he be dignified , can deprive another man that is not of his church and faith , either of liberty , or of any part of his worldly goods , upon the account of that difference between them in religion . for whatsoever is not lawful to the whole church , cannot , by any ecclesiastical right , become lawful to any of its members . but this is not all . it is not enough that ecclesiastical men abstain from violence and rapine , and all manner of persecution . he that pretends to be a successor of the apostles , and takes upon him the office of teaching , is obliged also to admonish his hearers of the duties of peace , and good-will towards all men ; as well towards the erroneous as the orthodox ; towards those that differ from them in faith and worship , as well as towards those that agree with them therein : and he ought industriously to exhort all men , whether private persons or magistrates , ( if any such there be in his church ) to charity , meekness , and toleration ; and diligently endeavour to allay and temper all that heat , and unreasonable averseness of mind , which either any mans fiery zeal for his own sect , or the craft of others , has kindled against dissenters . i will not undertake to represent how happy and how great would be the fruit , both in church and state , if the pulpits every where sounded with this doctrine of peace and toleration ; lest i should seem to reflect too severely upon those men whose dignity i desire not to detract from , nor would have it diminished either by others or themselves . but this i say , that thus it ought to be . and if any one that professes himself to be a minister of the word of god , a preacher of the gospel of peace , teach otherwise , he either understands not , or neglects the business of his calling , and shall one day give account thereof unto the prince of peace . if christians are to be admonished that they abstain from all manner of revenge , even after repeated provocations and multiplied injuries , how much more ought they who suffer nothing , who have had no harm done them , forbear violence , and abstain from all manner of ill usage towards those from whom they have received none . this caution and temper they ought certainly to use towards those who mind only their own business , and are sollicitous for nothing but that ( whatever men think of them ) they may worship god in that manner which they are persuaded is acceptable to him , and in which they have the strongest hopes of eternal salvation . in private domestick affairs , in the management of estates , in the conservation of bodily health , every man may consider what suits his own conveniency , and follow what course he likes best . no man complains of the ill management of his neighbour's affairs . no man is angry with another for an error committed in sowing his land , or in marrying his daughter . no body corrects a spendthrift for consuming his substance in taverns . let any man pull down , or build , or make whatsoever expences he pleases , no body murmurs , no body controuls him ; he has his liberty . but if any man do not frequent the church , if he do not there conform his behaviour exactly to the accustomed ceremonies , or if he brings not his children to be initiated in the sacred mysteries of this or the other congregation , this immediately causes an uproar . the neighbourhood is filled with noise and clamour . every one is ready to be the avenger of so great a crime . and the zealots hardly have the patience to refrain from violence and rapine , so long till the cause be heard , and the poor man be , according to form , condemned to the loss of liberty , goods , or life . oh that our ecclesiastical orators , of every sect , would apply themselves with all the strength of arguments that they are able , to the confounding of mens errors ! but let them spare their persons . let them not supply their want of reasons with the instruments of force , which belong to another jurisdiction , and do ill become a churchman's hands . let them not call in the magistrate's authority to the aid of their eloquence , or learning ; lest , perhaps , whilst they pretend only love for the truth , this their intemperate zeal , breathing nothing but fire and sword , betray their ambition , and shew that what they desire is temporal dominion . for it will be very difficult to persuade men of sense , that he , who with dry eyes , and satisfaction of mind , can deliver his brother unto the executioner , to be burnt alive , does sincerely and heartily concern himself to save that brother from the flames of hell in the world to come . in the last place . let us now consider what is the magistrate's duty in the business of toleration : which certainly is very considerable . we have already proved , that the care of souls does not belong to the magistrate : not a magisterial care , i mean , ( if i may so call it ) which consists in prescribing by laws , and compelling by punishments . but a charitable care , which consists in teaching , admonishing , and persuading , cannot be denied unto any man. the care therefore of every man's soul belongs unto himself , and is to be left unto himself . but what if he neglect the care of his soul ? i answer , what if he neglect the care of his health , or of his estate , which things are nearlier related to the government of the magistrate than the other ? will the magistrate provide by an express law , that such an one shall not become poor or sick ? laws provide , as much as is possible , that the goods and health of subjects be not injured by the fraud or violence of others ; they do not guard them from the negligence or ill-husbandry of the possessors themselves . no man can be forced to be rich or healthful , whether he will or no. nay , god himself will not save men against their wills . let us suppose , however , that some prince were desirous to force his subjects to accumulate riches , or to preserve the health and strength of their bodies . shall it be provided by law , that they must consult none but roman physicians , and shall every one be bound to live according to their prescriptions ? what , shall no potion , no broth , be taken , but what is prepared either in the vatican , suppose , or in a geneva shop ? or , to make these subjects rich , shall they all be obliged by law to become merchants , or musicians ? or , shall every one turn victualler , or smith , because there are some that maintain their families plentifully , and grow rich in those professions ? but it may be said , there are a thousand ways to wealth , but one only way to heaven . 't is well said indeed , especially by those that plead for compelling men into this or the other way . for if there were several ways that lead thither , there would not be so much as a pretence left for compulsion . but now if i be marching on with my utmost vigour , in that way which , according to the sacred geography , leads streight to ierusalem ; why am i beaten and ill used by others , because , perhaps , i wear not buskins ; because my hair is not of the right cut ; because perhaps i have not been dip't in the right fashion ; because i eat flesh upon the road , or some other food which agrees with my stomach ; because i avoid certain by-ways , which seem unto me to lead into briars or precipices ; because amongst the several paths that are in the same road , i choose that to walk in which seems to be the streightest and cleanest ; because i avoid to keep company with some travellers that are less grave , and others that are more sowre that they ought to be ; or in fine , because i follow a guide that either is , or is not , clothed in white , and crowned with a miter ? certainly , if we consider right , we shall find that for the most part they are such frivolous things as these , that ( without any prejudice to religion or the salvation of souls , if not accompanied with superstition or hypocrisie ) might either be observed or omitted ; i say they are such like things as as these , which breed implacable enmities amongst christian brethren , who are all agreed in the substantial and truly fundamental part of religion . but let us grant unto these zealots , who condemn all things that are not of their mode , that from these circumstances arise different ends. what shall we conclude from thence ? there is only one of these which is the true way to eternal happiness . but in this great variety of ways that men follow , it is still doubted which is this right one . now neither the care of the commonwealth , nor the right of enacting laws , does discover this way that leads to heaven more certainly to the magistrate , than every private mans search and study discovers it unto himself . i have a weak body , sunk under a languishing disease , for which ( i suppose ) there is one only remedy , but that unknown . does it therefore belong unto the magistrate to prescribe me a remedy , because there is but one , and because it is unknown ? because there is but one way for me to escape death , will it therefore be safe for me to do whatsoever the magistrate ordains ? those things that every man ought sincerely to enquire into himself , and by meditation , study , search , and his own endeavours , attain the knowledge of , cannot be looked upon as the peculiar possession of any one sort of men. princes indeed are born superior unto other men in power , but in nature equal . neither the right , nor the art of ruling , does necessarily carry along with it the certain knowledge of other things ; and least of all of the true religion . for if it were so , how could it come to pass that the lords of the earth should differ so vastly as they do in religious matters ? but let us grant that it is probable the way to eternal life may be better known by a prince than by his subjects ; or at least , that in this incertitude of things , the safest and most commodious way for private persons is to follow his dictates . you will say , what then ? if he should bid you follow merchandise for your livelihood , would you decline that course for fear it should not succeed ? i answer : i would turn merchant upon the princes command , because in case i should have ill success in trade , he is abundantly able to make up my loss some other way . if it be true , as he pretends , that he desires i should thrive and grow rich , he can set me up again when unsuccessful voyages have broke me . but this is not the case , in the things that regard the life to come . if there i take a wrong course , if in that respect i am once undone , it is not in the magistrates power to repair my loss , to ease my suffering , nor to restore me in any measure , much less entirely , to a good estate . what security can be given for the kingdom of heaven ? perhaps some will say that they do not suppose this infallible judgment , that all men are bound to follow in the affairs of religion , to be in the civil magistrate , but in the church . what the church has determined , that the civil magistrate orders to be observed ; and he provides by his authority that no body shall either act or believe , in the business of religion , otherwise than the church teaches . so that the judgment of those things is in the church . the magistrate himself yields obedience thereunto , and requires the like obedience from others . i answer : who sees not how frequently the name of the church , which was so venerable in the time of the apostles , has been made use of to throw dust in peoples eyes , in following ages ? but however , in the present case it helps us not . the one only narrow way which leads to heaven is not better known to the magistrate than to private persons , and therefore i cannot safely take him for my guide , who may probably be as ignorant of the way as my self , and who certainly is less concerned for my salvation than i my self am . amongst so many kings of the iews , how many of them were there whom any israelite , thus blindly following , had not fall'n into idolatry , and thereby into destruction ? yet nevertheless , you bid me be of good courage , and tell me that all is now safe and secure , because the magistrate does not now enjoin the observance of his own decrees in matters of religion , but only the decrees of the church . of what church i beseech you ? of that certainly which likes him best . as if he that compells me by laws and penalties to enter into this or the other church , did not interpose his own judgment in the matter . what difference is there whether he lead me himself , or deliver me over to be led by others ? i depend both ways upon his will , and it is he that determines both ways of my eternal state. would an israelite , that had worshipped baal upon the command of his king , have been in any better condition , because some body had told him that the king ordered nothing in religion upon his own head , nor commanded any thing to be done by his subjects in divine worship , but what was approved by the counsel of priests , and declared to be of divine right by the doctors of their church ? if the religion of any church become therefore true and saving , because the head of that sect , the prelates and priests , and those of that tribe , do all of them , with all their might , extol and praise it ; what religion can ever be accounted erroneous , false and destructive ? i am doubtful concerning the doctrine of the socinians , i am suspicious of the way of worship practised by the papists , or lutherans ; will it be ever a jot the safer for me to join either unto the one or the other of those churches , upon the magistrates command , because he commands nothing in religion but by the authority and counsel of the doctors of that church ? but to speak the truth , we must acknowledge that the church ( if a convention of clergy-men , making canons , must be called by that name ) is for the most part more apt to be influenced by the court , than the court by the church . how the church was under the vicissitude of orthodox and arrian emperors is very well known . or if those things be too remote , our modern english history affords us fresh examples , in the reigns of henry the 8 th , edward the 6 th , mary , and elizabeth , how easily and smoothly the clergy changed their decrees , their articles of faith , their form of worship , every thing , according to the inclination of those kings and queens . yet were those kings and queens of such different minds , in point of religion , and enjoined thereupon such different things , that no man in his wits ( i had almost said none but an atheist ) will presume to say that any sincere and upright worshipper of god could , with a safe conscience , obey their several decrees . to conclude . it is the same thing whether a king that prescribes laws to another mans religion pretend to do it by his own judgment , or by the ecclesiastical authority and advice of others . the decisions of church-men , whose differences and disputes are sufficiently known , cannot be any founder , or safer than his : nor can all their suffrages joined together add any new strength unto the civil power . tho this also must be taken notice of , that princes seldom have any regard to the suffrages of ecclesiasticks that are not favourers of their own faith and way of worship . but after all , the principal consideration , and which absolutely determines this controversie , is this . although the magistrates opinion in religion be sound , and the way that he appoints be truly evangelical , yet if i be not thoroughly perswaded thereof in my own mind , there will be no safety for me in following it . no way whatsoever that i shall walk in , against the dictates of my conscience , will ever bring me to the mansions of the blessed . i may grow rich by an art that i take not delight in ; i may be cured of some disease by remedies that i have not faith in ; but i cannot be saved by a religion that i distrust , and by a worship that i abhor . it is in vain for an unbeliever to take up the outward shew of another mans profession . faith only , and inward sincerity , are the things that procure acceptance with god. the most likely and most approved remedy can have no effect upon the patient , if his stomach reject it as soon taken . and you will in vain cram a medicine down a sick mans throat , which his particular constitution will be sure to turn into poison . in a word . whatsoever may be doubtful in religion , yet this at least is certain , that no religion , which i believe not to be true , can be either true , or profitable unto me . in vain therefore do princes compel their subjects to come into their church-communion , under pretence of saving their souls . if they believe , they will come of their own accord ; if they believe not , their coming will nothing avail them . how great soever , in fine , may be the pretence of good-will , and charity , and concern for the salvation of mens souls , men cannot be forced to be saved whether they will or no. and therefore , when all is done , they must be left to their own consciences . having thus at length freed men from all dominion over one another in matters of religion , let us now consider what they are to do . all men know and acknowledge that god ought to be publickly worshipped . why otherwise do they compel one another unto the publick assemblies ? men therefore constituted in this liberty are to enter into some religious society , that they may meet together , not only for mutual edification , but to own to the world that they worship god , and offer unto his divine majesty such service as they themselves are not ashamed of , and such as they think not unworthy of him , nor unacceptable to him ; and finally that by the purity of doctrine , holiness of life , and decent form of worship , they may draw others unto the love of the true religion , and perform such other things in religion as cannot be done by each private man apart . these religious societies i call churches : and these i say the magistrate ought to tolerate . for the business of these assemblies of the people is nothing but what is lawful for every man in particular to take care of ; i mean the salvation of their souls : nor in this case is there any difference between the national church , and other separated congregations . but as in every church there are two things especially to be considered ; the outward form and rites of worship , and the doctrines and articles of faith ; these things must be handled each distinctly ; that so the whole matter of toleration may the more clearly be understood . concerning outward worship , i say ( in the first place ) that the magistrate has no power to enforce by law , either in his own church , or much less in another , the use of any rites or ceremonies whatsoever in the worship of god. and this , not only because these churches are free societies , but because whatsoever is practised in the worship of god , is only so far justifiable as it is believed by those that practise it to be acceptable unto him . whatsoever is not done with that assurance of faith , is neither well in it self , nor can it be acceptable to god. to impose such things therefore upon any people , contrary to their own judgment , is in effect to command them to offend god ; which , considering that the end of all religion is to please him , and that liberty is essentially necessary to that end , appears to be absurd beyond expression . but perhaps it may be concluded from hence , that i deny unto the magistrate all manner of power about indifferent things ; which if it be not granted , the whole subject-matter of law-making is taken away . no , i readily grant that indifferent things , and perhaps none but such , are subjected to the legislative power . but it does not therefore follow , that the magistrate may ordain whatsoever he pleases concerning any thing that is indifferent . the publick good is the rule and measure of all law-making . if a thing be not useful to the common-wealth , tho it it be never so indifferent , it may not presently be established by law. and further : things never so indifferent in their own nature , when they are brought into the church and worship of god , are removed out of the reach of the magistrate's jurisdiction ; because in that use they have no connection at all with civil affairs . the only business of the church is the salvation of souls : and it no ways concerns the common-wealth , or any member of it , that this , or the other ceremony be there made use of . neither the use , nor the omission of any ceremonies , in those religious assemblies , does either advantage or prejudice the life , liberty , or estate of any man. for example : let it be granted , that the washing of an infant with water is in it self an indifferent thing . let it be granted also , that if the magistrate understand such washing to be profitable to the curing or preventing of any disease that children are subject unto , and esteem the matter weighty enough to be taken care of by a law , in that case he may order it to be done . but will any one therefore say , that a magistrate has the same right to ordain , by law , that all children shall be baptized by priests , in the sacred font , in order to the purification of their souls ? the extream difference of these two cases is visible to every one at first sight . or let us apply the last case to the child of a iew , and the thing speaks it self . for what hinders but a christian magistrate may have subjects that are iews ? now if we acknowledge that such an injury may not be done unto a iew , as to compel him , against his own opinion , to practice in his religion a thing that is in its nature indifferent ; how can we maintain that any thing of this kind may be done to a christian ? again : things in their own nature indifferent cannot , by any human authority , be made any part of the worship of god ; for this very reason ; because they are indifferent . for since indifferent things are not capable , by any virtue of their own , to propitiate the deity ; no human power or authority can confer on them so much dignity and excellency as to enable them to do it . in the common affairs of life , that use of indifferent things which god has not forbidden , is free and lawful : and therefore in those things human authority has place . but it is not so in matters of religion . things indifferent are not otherwise lawful in the worship of god than as they are instituted by god himself ; and as he , by some positive command , has ordain'd them to be made a part of that worship which he will vouchsafe to accept of at the hands of poor sinful men . nor when an incensed deity shall ask us , who has required these , or such like things at our hands ? will it be enough to answer him , that the magistrate commanded them . if civil jurisdiction extended thus far , what might not lawfully be introduced into religion ? what hodge-podge of ceremonies , what superstitious inventions , built upon the magistrate's authority , might not ( against conscience ) be imposed upon the worshippers of god ? for the greatest part of these ceremonies and superstions consists in the religious use of such things as are in their own nature indifferent : nor are they sinful upon any other account than because god is not the author of them . the sprinkling of water , and the use of bread and wine , are both in their own nature , and in the ordinary occasions of life , altogether indifferent . will any man therefore say that these things could have been introduced into religion , and made a part of divine worship , if not by divine institution ? if any human authority or civil power could have done this , why might it not also injoyn the eating of fish , and drinking of ale , in the holy banquet , as a part of divine worship ? why not the sprinkling of the blood of beasts in churches , and expiations by water or fire , and abundance more of this kind ? but these things , how indifferent soever they be in common uses , when they come to be annexed unto divine worship , without divine authority , they are as abominable to god , as the sacrifice of a dog. and why a dog so abominable ? what difference is there between a dog and a goat , in respect of the divine nature , equally and infinitely distant from all affinity with matter ; unless it be that god required the use of the one in his worship , and not of the other ? we see therefore that indifferent things how much soever they be under the power of the civil magistrate , yet cannot upon that pretence be introduced into religion , and imposed upon religious assemblies ; because in the worship of god they wholly cease to be indifferent . he that worships god does it with design to please him and procure his favour . but that cannot be done by him , who , upon the command of another , offers unto god that which he knows will be displeasing to him , because not commanded by himself . this is not to please god , or appease his wrath , but willingly and knowingly to provoke him , by a manifest contempt ; which is a thing absolutely repugnant to the nature and end of worship . but it will here be asked : if nothing belonging to divine worship be left to human discretion , how is it then that churches themselves have the power of ordering any thing about the time and place of worship , and the like ? to this i answer ; that in religious worship we must distinguish between what is part of the worship it self , and what is but a circumstance . that is a part of the worship which is believed to be appointed by god , and to be well-pleasing to him ; and therefore that is necessary . circumstances are such things which , tho' in general they cannot be separated from worship , yet the particular instances or modifications of them are not determined ; and therefore they are indifferent . of this sort are the time and place of worship , the habit and posture of him that worships . these are circumstances , and perfectly indifferent , where god has not given any express command about them . for example : amongst the iews , the time and place of their worship , and the habits of those that officiated in it , were not meer circumstances , but a part of the worship it self ; in which if any thing were defective , or different from the institution , they could not hope that it would be accepted by god. but these , to christians under the liberty of the gospel , are meer circumstances of worship , which the prudence of every church may bring into such use as shall be judged most subservient to the end of order , decency , and edification . but , even under the gospel , those who believe the first , or the seventh day to be set apart by god , and consecrated still to his worship , to them that portion of time is not a simple circumstance , but a real part of divine worship , which can neither be changed nor neglected . in the next place : as the magistrate has no power to impose by his laws , the use of any rites and ceremonies in any church , so neither has he any power to forbid the use of such rites and ceremonies as are already received , approved , and practised by any church : because if he did so , he would destroy the church it self ; the end of whose institution is only to worship god with freedom , after its own manner . you will say , by this rule , if some congregations should have a mind to sacrifice infants , or ( as the primitive christians were falsely accused ) lustfully pollute themselves in promiscuous uncleanness , or practise any other such heinous enormities , is the magistrate obliged to tolerate them , because they are committed in a religious assembly ? i answer , no. these things are not lawful in the ordinary course of life , nor in any private house ; and therefore neither are they so in the worship of god , or in any religious meeting . but indeed if any people congregated upon account of religion , should be desirous to sacrifice a calf , i deny that that ought to be prohibited by a law. melibaeus , whose calf it is , may lawfully kill his calf at home , and burn any part of it that he thinks fit . for no injury is thereby done to any one , no prejudice to another mans goods . and for the same reason he may kill his calf also in a religious meeting . whether the doing so be well-pleasing to god or no , it is their part to consider that do it . the part of the magistrate is only to take care that the commonwealth receive no prejudice , and that there be no injury done to any man , either in life or estate . and thus what may be spent on a feast , may be spent on a sacrifice . but if peradventure such were the state of things , that the interest of the commonwealth required all slaughter of beasts should be forborn for some while , in order to the increasing of the stock of cattel , that had been destroyed by some extraordinary murrain ; who sees not that the magistrate , in such a case , may forbid all his subjects to kill any calves for any use whatsoever ? only 't is to be observed , that in this case the law is not made about a religious , but a political matter : nor is the sacrifice , but the slaughter of calves thereby prohibited . by this we see what difference there is between the church and the commonwealth . whatsoever is lawful in the commonwealth , cannot be prohibited by the magistrate in the church . whatsoever is permitted unto any of his subjects for their ordinary use , neither can nor ought to be forbidden by him to any sect of people for their religious uses . if any man may lawfully take bread or wine , either sitting or kneeling , in his own house , the law ought not to abridge him of the same liberty in his religious worship ; tho' in the church the use of bread and wine be very different , and be there applied to the mysteries of faith , and rites of divine worship . but those things that are prejudicial to the commonweal of a people in their ordinary use , and are therefore forbidden by laws , those things ought not to be permitted to churches in their sacred rites . onely the magistrate ought always to be very careful that he do not misuse his authority , to the oppression of any church , under pretence of publick good. it may be said ; what if a church be idolatrous , is that also to be tolerated by the magistrate ? i answer . what power can be given to the magistrate for the suppression of an idolatrous church , which may not , in time and place , be made use of to the ruine of an orthodox one ? for it must be remembred that the civil power is the same every where , and the religion of every prince is orthodox to himself . if therefore such a power be granted unto the civil magistrate in spirituals , as that at geneva ( for example ) he may extirpate , by violence and blood , the religion which is there reputed idolatrous ; by the same rule another magistrate , in some neighbouring country , may oppress the reformed religion ; and , in india , the christian. the civil power can either change every thing in religion , according to the prince's pleasure , or it can change nothing . if it be once permitted to introduce any thing into religion , by the means of laws and penalties , there can be no bounds put to it ; but it will in the same manner be lawful to alter every thing , according to that rule of truth which the magistrate has framed unto himself . no man whatsoever ought therefore to be deprived of his terrestrial enjoyments , upon account of his religion . not even americans , subjected unto a christian prince , are to be punished either in body or goods , for not imbracing our faith and worship . if they are perswaded that they please god in observing the rites of their own country , and that they shall obtain happiness by that means , they are to be left unto god and themselves . let us trace this matter to the bottom . thus it is . an inconsiderable and weak number of christians , destitute of every thing , arrive in a pagan country : these foreigners beseech the inhabitants , by the bowels of humanity , that they would succour them with the necessaries of life : those necessaries are given them ; habitations are granted ; and they all joyn together , and grow up into one body of people . the christian religion by this means takes root in that countrey , and spreads it self ; but does not suddenly grow the strongest . while things are in this condition , peace , friendship , faith and equal justice , are preserved amongst them . at length the magistrate becomes a christian , and by that means their party becomes the most powerful . then immediately all compacts are to be broken , all civil rights to be violated , that idolatry may be extirpated : and unless these innocent pagans , strict observers of the rules of equity and the law of nature , and no ways offending against the laws of the society , i say unless they will forsake their ancient religion , and embrace a new and strange one , they are to be turned out of the lands and possessions of their forefathers , and perhaps deprived of life it self . then at last it appears what zeal for the church , joyned with the desire of dominion , is capable to produce ; and how easily the pretence of religion , and of the care of souls , serves for a cloak to covetousness , rapine , and ambition . now whosoever maintains that idolatry is to be rooted out of any place by laws , punishments , fire , and sword , may apply this story to himself . for the reason of the thing is equal , both in america and europe . and neither pagans there , nor any dissenting christians here , can with any right be deprived of their worldly goods , by the predominating faction of a court-church : nor are any civil rights to be either changed or violated upon account of religion in one place more than another . but idolatry ( say some ) is a sin , and therefore not to be tolerated . if they said it were therefore to be avoided , the inference were good . but it does not follow , that because it is a sin it ought therefore to be punished by the magistrate . for it does not belong unto the magistrate to make use of his sword in punishing every thing , indifferently , that he takes to be a sin against god. covetousness , uncharitableness , idleness , and many other things are sins , by the consent of all men , which yet no man ever said were to be punished by the magistrate . the reason is , because they are not prejudicial to other mens rights , nor do they break the publick peace of societies . nay , even the sins of lying and perjury , are no where punishable by laws ; unless in certain cases , in which the real turpitude of the thing , and the offence against god , are not considered , but only the injury done unto mens neighbours , and to the commonwealth . and what if in another country , to a mahumetan or a pagan prince , the christian religion seem false and offensive to god ; may not the christians for the same reason , and after the same manner , be extirpated there ? but it may be urged further , that by the law of moses idolaters were to be rooted out . true indeed , by the law of moses . but that is not obligatory to us christians . no body pretends that every thing , generally , enjoyned by the law of moses , ought to be practised by christians . but there is nothing more frivolous than that common distinction of moral , judicial , and ceremonial law , which men ordinarily make use of . for no positive law whatsoever can oblige any people but those to whom it is given . hear o israel ; sufficienly restrains the obligation of the law of moses only to that people . and this consideration alone is answer enough unto those that urge the authority of the law of moses ; for the inflicting of capital punishments upon idolaters . but however , i will examine this argument a little more particularly . the case of idolaters , in respect of the iewish commonwealth , falls under a double consideration . the first is of those who , being initiated in the mosaical rites , and made citizens of that commonwealth , did afterwards apostatise from the worship of the god of israel . these were proceeded against as traytors and rebels , guilty of no less than high-treason . for the common-wealth of the iews , different in that from all others , was an absolute theocracy : nor was there , or could there be , any difference between that commonwealth and the church . the laws established there concerning the worship of one invisible deity , were the civil laws of that people , and a part of their political government ; in which god himself was the legislator . now if any one can shew me where there is a commonwealth , at this time , constituted upon that foundation , i will acknowledge that the ecclesiastical laws do there unavoidably become a part of the civil ; and that the subjects of that government both may , and ought to be kept in strict conformity with that church , by the civil power . but there is absolutely no such thing , under the gospel , as a christian common-wealth . there are , indeed , many cities and kingdoms that have embraced the faith of christ ; but they have retained their ancient form of government ; with which the law of christ hath not at all medled . he , indeed , hath taught men how , by faith and good works , they may attain eternal life . but he instituted no common-wealth . he prescribed unto his followers no new and peculiar form of government ; nor put he the sword into any magistrate's hand , with commission to make use of it in forcing men to forsake their former religion , and receive his . secondly . foreigners , and such as were strangers to the commonwealth of israel , were not compell'd by force to observe the rites of the mosaical law. but , on the contrary , in the very same place where it is ordered that an israelite that was an idolater should be put to death , there it is provided that strangers should not be vexed nor oppressed . i confess that the seven nations , that possest the land which was promised to the israelites , were utterly to be cut off . but this was not singly because they were idolaters . for , if that had been the reason , why were the moabites and other nations to be spared ? no ; the reason is this . god being in a peculiar manner the king of the iews , he could not suffer the adoration of any other deity ( which was properly an act of high-treason against himself ) in the land of canaan , which was his kingdom . for such a manifest revolt could no ways consist with his dominion , which was perfectly political , in that country . all idolatry was therefore to be rooted out of the bounds of his kingdom ; because it was an acknowledgment of another god , that is to say , another king ; against the laws of empire . the inhabitants were also to be driven out , that the intire possession of the land might be given to the israelites . and for the like reason the emims and the horims were driven out of their countries , by the children of esau and lot ; and their lands , upon the same grounds , given by god to the invaders . but tho all idolatry was thus rooted out of the land of canaan , yet every idolater was not brought to execution . the whole family of rahab , the whole nation of the gibeonites , articled with iosuah , and were allowed by treaty : and there were many captives amongst the iews , who were idolaters . david and solomon subdued many countries without the confines of the land of promise , and carried their conquests as far as euphrates . amongst so many captives taken , so many nations reduced under their obedience , we find not one man forced into the jewish religion , and the worship of the true god , and punished for idolatry , tho all of them were certainly guilty of it . if any one indeed , becoming a proselyte , desired to be made a denison of their commonwealth , he was obliged to submit unto their laws ; that is , to embrace their religion . but this he did willingly , on his own accord , not by constraint . he did not unwillingly submit , to shew his obedience ; but he sought and sollicited for it , as a privilege . and as soon as he was admitted , he became subject to the laws of the common-wealth , by which all idolatry was forbidden within the borders of the land of canaan . but that law ( as i have said ) did not reach to any of those regions , however subjected unto the iews , that were situated without those bounds . thus far concerning outward worship . let us now consider articles of faith. the articles of religion are some of them practical , and some speculative . now , tho both sorts consist in the knowledge of truth , yet these terminate simply in the understanding , those influence the will and manners . speculative opinions , therefore , and articles of faith ( as they are called ) which are required only to be believed , cannot be imposed on any church by the law of the land. for it is absurd that things should be enjoyned by laws , which are not in mens power to perform . and to believe this or that to be true , does not depend upon our will. but of this enough has been said already . but ( will some say ) let men at least profess that they believe . a sweet religion indeed , that obliges men to dissemble , and tell lies both to god and man , for the salvation of their souls ! if the magistrate thinks to save men thus , he seems to understand little of the way of salvation . and if he does it not in order to save them , why is he so so sollicitous about the articies of faith as to enact them by a law ? further , the magistrate ought not to forbid the preaching or professing of any speculative opinions in any church , because they have no manner of relation to the civil rights of the subjects . if a roman catholick believe that to be really the body of christ , which another man calls bread , he does no injury thereby to his neighbour . if a iew do not believe the new testament to be the word of god , he does not thereby alter any thing in mens civil rights . if a heathen doubt of both testaments , he is not therefore to be punished as a pernicious citizen . the power of the magistrate , and the estates of the people , may be equally secure , whether any man believe these things or no. i readily grant , that these opinions are false and absurd . but the business of laws is not to provide for the truth of opinions , but for the safety and security of the commonwealth , and of every particular mans goods and person . and so it ought to be . for truth certainly would do well enough , if she were once left to shift for her self . she seldom has received , and i fear never will receive much assistance from the power of great men , to whom she is but rarely known , and more rarely welcome . she is not taught by laws , nor has she any need of force to procure her entrance into the minds of men . errors indeed prevail by the assistance of forreign and borrowed succours . but if truth makes not her way into the understanding by her own light , she will be but the weaker for any borrowed force violence can add to her . thus much for speculative opinions . let us now proceed to practical ones . a good life , in which consists not the least part of religion and true piety , concerns also the civil govrnment : and in it lies the safety both of mens souls , and of the commonwealth . moral actions belong therefore to the jurisdiction both of the outward and inward court ; both of the civil and domestick governor ; i mean , both of the magistrate and conscience . here therefore is great danger , least one of these jurisdictions intrench upon the other , and discord arise between the keeper of the publick peace and the overseers of souls . but if what has been already said concerning the limits of both these governments be rightly considered , it will easily remove all difficulty in this matter . every man has an immortal soul , capable of eternal happiness or misery ; whose happiness depending upon his believing and doing those things in this life , which are necessary to the obtaining of gods favour , and are prescribed by god to that end ; it follows from thence , 1 st , that the observance of these things is the highest obligation that lies upon mankind , and that our utmost care , application , and diligence , ought to be exercised in the search and performance of them ; because there is nothing in this world that is of any consideration in comparison with eternity . 2 dly , that seeing one man does not violate the right of another , by his erroneous opinions , and undue manner of worship , nor is his perdition any prejudice to another mans affairs ; therefore the care of each mans salvation belongs only to himself . but i would not have this understood , as if i meant hereby to condemn all charitable admonitions , and affectionate endeavours to reduce men from errors ; which are indeed the greatest duty of a christian. any one may employ as many exhortations and arguments as he pleases , towards the promoting of another man's salvation . but all force and compulsion are to be forborn . nothing is to be done imperiously . no body is obliged in that matter to yield obedience unto the admonitions or injunctions of another , further than he himself is perswaded . every man , in that , has the supreme and absolute authority of judging for himself . and the reason is , because no body else is concerned in it , nor can receive any prejudice from his conduct therein . but besides their souls , which are immortal , men have also their temporal lives here upon earth ; the state whereof being frail and fleeting , and the duration uncertain ; they have need of several outward conveniences to the support thereof , which are to be procured or preserved by pains and industry . for those things that are necessary to the comfortable support of our lives are not the spontaneous products of nature , nor do offer themselves fit and prepared for our use . this part therefore draws on another care , and necessarily gives another imployment . but the pravity of mankind being such , that they had rather injuriously prey upon the fruits of other mens labours , than take pains to provide for themselves ; the necessity of preserving men in the possession of what honest industry has already acquired , and also of preserving their liberty and strength , whereby they may acquire what they further want ; obliges men to enter into society with one another ; that by mutual assistance , and joint force , they may secure unto each other their proprieties , in the things that contribute to the comfort and happiness of this life ; leaving in the mean while to every man the care of his own eternal happiness , the attainment whereof can neither be facilitated by another mans industry , nor can the loss of it turn to another mans prejudice , nor the hope of it be forced from him by any external violence . but forasmuch as men thus entring into societies , grounded upon their mutual compacts of assistance , for the defence of their temporal goods , may nevertheless be deprived of them , either by the rapine and fraud of their fellow-citizens , or by the hostile violence of forreigners ; the remedy of this evil consists in arms , riches , and multitude of citizens ; the remedy of the other in laws ; and the care of all things relating both to the one and the other , is committed by the society to the civil magistrate . this is the original , this is the use , and these are the bounds of the legislative ( which is the supreme ) power , in every commonwealth . i mean , that provision may be made for the security of each mans private possessions ; for the peace , riches , and publick commodities of the whole people ; and , as much as possible , for the increase of their inward strength , against forreign invasions . these things being thus explain'd , it is easie to understand to what end the legislative power ought to be directed , and by what measures regulated ; and that is the temporal good and outward prosperity of the society ; which is the sole reason of mens entring into society , and the only thing they seek and aim at in it . and it is also evident what liberty remains to men in reference to their eternal salvation , and that is , that every one should do what he in his conscience is perswaded to be acceptable to the almighty , on whose good pleasure and acceptance depends their eternal happiness . for obedience is due in the first place to god , and afterwards to the laws . but some may ask , what if the magistrate should enjoyn any thing by his authority that appears unlawful to the conscience of a private person ? i answer , that if government be faithfully administred , and the counsels of the magistrate be indeed directed to the publick good , this will seldom happen . but if perhaps it do so fall out ; i say , that such a private person is to abstain from the action that he judges unlawful ; and he is to undergo the punishment , which it is not unlawful for him to bear . for the private judgment of any person concerning a law enacted in political matters , for the publick good , does not take away the obligation of that law , nor deserve a dispensation . but if the law indeed be concerning things that lie not within the verge of the magistrate's authority ; ( as for example , that the people , or any party amongst them , should be compell'd to embrace a strange religion , and join in the worship and ceremonies of another church , ) men are not in these cases obliged by that law , against their consciences . for the political society is instituted for no other end but only to secure every mans possession of the things of this life . the care of each mans soul , and of the things of heaven , which neither does belong to the common-wealth , nor can be subjected to it , is left entirely to every mans self . thus the safeguard of mens lives , and of the things that belong unto this life , is the business of the commonwealth ; and the preserving of those things unto their owners is the duty of the magistrate . and therefore the magistrate cannot take away these worldly things from this man , or party , and give them to that ; nor change propriety amongst fellow-subjects , ( no not even by a law ) for a cause that has no relation to the end of civil government ; i mean , for their religion ; which whether it be true or false , does no prejudice to the worldly concerns of their fellow-subjects , which are the things that only belong unto the care of the commonwealth . but what if the magistrate believe such a law as this to be for the publick good ? i answer : as the private judgment of any particular person , if erroneous , does not exempt him from the obligation of law , so the private judgment ( as i may call it ) of the magistrate does not give him any new right of imposing laws upon his jects , which neither was in the constitution of the government granted him , nor ever was in the power of the people to grant : much less , if he make it his business to enrich and advance his followers and fellow-sectaries , with the spoils of others . but what if the magistrate believe that he has a right to make such laws , and that they are for the publick good ; and his subjects believe the contrary ? who shall be judge between them ? i answer , god alone . for there is no judge upon earth between the supreme magistrate and the people . god , i say , is the only judge in this case , who will retribute unto every one at the last day according to his deserts ; that is , according to his sincerity and uprightness in endeavouring to promote piety , and the publick weal and peace of mankind . but what shall be done in the mean while ? i answer : the principal and chief care of every one ought to be of his own soul first , and in the next place of the publick peace : tho' yet there are very few will think 't is peace there , where they see all laid waste . there are two sorts of contests amongst men ; the one managed by law , the other by force : and these are of that nature , that where the one ends , the other always begins . but it is not my business to inquire into the power of the magistrate in the different constitutions of nations . i only know what usually happens where controversies arise , without a judge to determine them . you will say then the magistrate being the stronger will have his will , and carry his point . without doubt . but the question is not here concerning the doubtfulness of the event , but the rule of right . but to come to particulars . i say , first , no opinions contrary to human society , or to those moral rules which are necessary to the preservation of civil society , are to be tolerated by the magistrate . but of these indeed examples in any church are rare . for no sect can easily arrive to such a degree of madness , as that it should think sit to teach , for doctrines of religion , such things as manifestly undermine the foundations of society , and are therefore condemned by the judgment of all mankind : because their own interest , peace , reputation , every thing , would be thereby endangered . another more secret evil , but more dangerous to the commonwealth , is , when men arrogate to themselves , and to those of their own sect , some peculiar prerogative , covered over with a specious shew of deceitful words , but in effect opposite to the civil right of the community . for example . we cannot find any sect that teaches expresly , and openly , that men are not obliged to keep their promise ; that princes may be dethroned by those that differ from them in religion ; or that the dominion of all things belongs only to themselves . for these things , proposed thus nakedly and plainly , would soon draw on them the eye and hand of the magistrate , and awaken all the care of the commonwealth to a watchfulness against the spreading of so dangerous an evil. but nevertheless , we find those that say the same things , in other words . what else do they mean , who teach that faith is not to be kept with hereticks ? their meaning , forsooth , is that the priviledge of breaking faith belongs unto themselves : for they declare all that are not of their communion to be hereticks , or at least may declare them so whensoever they think fit . what can be the meaning of their asserting that kings excommunicated forfeit their crowns and kingdoms ? it is evident that they thereby arrogate unto themselves the power of deposing kings : because they challenge the power of excommunication , as the peculiar right of their hierarchy . that dominion is founded in grace , is also an assertion by which those that maintain it do plainly lay claim to the possession of all things . for they are not so wanting to themselves as not to believe , or at least as not to profess , themselves to be the truly pious and faithful . these therefore , and the like , who attribute unto the faithful , religious and orthodox , that is , in plain terms , unto themselves , any peculiar priviledge or power above other mortals , in civil concernments ; or who , upon pretence of religion , do challenge any manner of authority over such , as are not associated with them in their ecclesiastical communion ; i say these have no right to be tolerated by the magistrate ; as neither those that will not own and teach the duty of tolerating all men in matters of meer religion . for what do all these and the like doctrines signifie , but that they may , and are ready upon any occasion to seise the government , and possess themselves of the estates and fortunes of their fellow-subjects ; and that they only ask leave to be tolerated by the magistrate so long until they find themselves strong enough to effect it ? again : that church can have no right to be tolerated by the magistrate , which is constituted upon such a bottom , that all those who enter into it , do thereby , ipso facto , deliver themselves up to the protection and service of another prince . for by this means the magistrate would give way to the settling of a forrein jurisdiction in his own country , and suffer his own people to be listed , as it were , for souldiers against his own government . nor does the frivolous and fallacious distinction between the court and the church afford any remedy to this inconvenience ; especially when both the one and the other are equally subject to the absolute authority of the same person ; who has not only power to perswade the members of his church to whatsoever he lists , either as purely religious , or in order thereunto , but can also enjoyn it them on pain of eternal fire . it is ridiculous for any one to profess himself to be a mahumetan only in his religion , but in every thing else a faithful subject to a christian magistrate , whilst at the same time he acknowledges himself bound to yield blind obedience to the mufti of constantinople ; who himself is intirely obedient to the ottoman emperor , and frames the feigned oracles of that religion according to his pleasure . but this mahumetan living amongst christians , would yet more apparently renounce their government , if he acknowledged the same person to be head of his church who is the supreme magistrate in the state. lastly , those are not at all to be tolerated who deny the being of a god. promises , covenants , and oaths , which are the bonds of humane society , can have no hold upon an atheist . the taking away of god , tho but even in thought , dissolves all . besides also , those that by their atheism undermine and destroy all religion , can have no pretence of religion whereupon to challenge the privilege of a toleration . as for other practical opinions , tho not absolutely free from all error , if they do not tend to establish domination over others , or civil impunity to the church in which they are taught , there can be no reason why they should not be tolerated . it remains that i say something concerning those assemblies , which being vulgarly called , and perhaps having sometimes been conventicles , and nurseries of factions and seditions , are thought to afford the strongest matter of objection against this doctrine of toleration . but this has not hapned by any thing peculiar unto the genius of such assemblies , but by the unhappy circumstances of an oppressed or ill-setled liberty . these accusations would soon cease , if the law of toleration were once so setled , that all churches were obliged to lay down toleration as the foundation of their own liberty ; and teach that liberty of conscience is every mans natural right , equally belonging to dissenters as to themselves ; and that no body ought to be compelled in matters of religion , either by law or force . the establishment of this one thing would take away all ground of complaints and tumults upon account of conscience . and these causes of discontents and animosities being once removed , there would remain nothing in these assemblies that were not more peaceable , and less apt to produce disturbance of state , than in any other meetings whatsoever . but let us examine particularly the heads of these accusations . you 'll say , that assemblies and meetings endanger the publick peace , and threaten the commonwealth . i answer : if this be so , why are there daily such numerous meetings in markets , and courts of judicature ? why are crowds upon the exchange , and a concourse of people in cities suffered ? you 'll reply ; those are civil assemblies ; but these we object against , are ecclesiastical . i answer : 't is a likely thing indeed , that such assemblies as are altogether remote from civil affairs , should be most apt to embroyl them . o , but civil assemblies are composed of men that differ from one another in matters of religion ; but these ecclesiastical meetings are of persons that are all of one opinion . as if an agreement in matters of religion , were in effect a conspiracy against the commonwealth ; or as if men would not be so much the more warmly unanimous in religion , the less liberty they had of assembling . but it will be urged still , that civil assemblies are open , and free for any one to enter into ; whereas religious conventicles are more private , and thereby give opportunity to clandestine machinations . i answer , that this is not strictly true : for many civil assemblies are not open to every one . and if some religious meetings be private , who are they ( i beseech you ) that are to be blamed for it ? those that desire , or those that forbid their being publick ? again ; you 'll say , that religious communion does exceedingly unite mens minds and affections to one another , and is therefore the more dangerous . but if this be so , why is not the magistrate afraid of his own church ; and why does he not forbid their assemblies , as things dangerous to his government ? you 'll say , because he himself is a part , and even the head of them . as if he were not also a part of the commonwealth , and the head of the whole people . let us therefore deal plainly . the magistrate is afraid of other churches , but not of his own ; because he is kind and favourable to the one , but severe and cruel to the other . these he treats like children , and indulges them even to wantonness . those he uses as slaves ; and how blamelesly soever they demean themselves , recompenses them no otherwise than by gallies , prisons , confiscations , and death . these he cherishes and defends : those he continually scourges and oppresses . let him turn the tables : or let those dissenters enjoy but the same privileges in civils as his other subjects , and he will quickly find that these religious meetings will be no longer dangerous . for if men enter into seditious conspiracies , 't is not religion inspires them to it in their meetings ; but their sufferings and oppressions that make them willing to ease themselves . just and moderate governments are every where quiet , every where safe . but oppression raises ferments , and makes men struggle to cast off an uneasie and tyrannical yoke . i know that seditions are very frequently raised , upon pretence of religion . but 't is as true that , for religion , subjects are frequently ill treated , and live miserably . believe me , the stirs that are made , proceed not from any peculiar temper of this or that church or religious society ; but from the common disposition of all mankind , who when they groan under any heavy burthen , endeavour naturally to shake off the yoke that galls their necks . suppose this business of religion were let alone , and that there were some other distinction made between men and men , upon account of their different complexions , shapes , and features , so that those who have black hair ( for example ) or gray eyes , should not enjoy the same privileges as other citizens ; that they should not be permitted either to buy or sell , or live by their callings ; that parents should not have the government and education of their own children ; that all should either be excluded from the benefit of the laws , or meet with partial judges ; can it be doubted but these persons , thus distinguished from others by the colour of their hair and eyes , and united together by one common persecution , would be as dangerous to the magistrate , as any others that had associated themselves meerly upon the account of religion ? some enter into company for trade and profit : others , for want of business , have their clubs for clarret . neighbourhood joyns some , and religion others . but there is one only thing which gathers people into seditious commotions , and that is oppression . you 'll say ; what , will you have people to meet at divine service against the magistrates will ? i answer ; why , i pray , against his will ? is it not both lawful and necessary that they should meet ? against his will , do you say ? that 's what i complain of . that is the very root of all the mischief . why are assemblies less sufferable in a church than in a theater or market ? those that meet there are not either more vicious , or more turbulent , than those that meet elsewhere . the business in that is , that they are ill used , and therefore they are not to be suffered . take away the partiality that is used towards them in matters of common right ; change the laws , take away the penalties unto which they are subjected , and all things will immediately become safe and peaceable ; nay , those that are averse to the religion of the magistrate , will think themselves so much the more bound to maintain the peace of the commonwealth , as their condition is better in that place than elsewhere ; and all the several separate congregations , like so many guardians of the publick peace , will watch one another , that nothing may be innovated or changed in the form of the government : because they can hope for nothing better than what they already enjoy ; that is , an equal condition with their fellow-subjects , under a just and moderate government . now if that church , which agrees in religion with the prince , be esteemed the chief support of any civil government , and that for no other reason ( as has already been shewn ) than because the prince is kind , and the laws are favourable to it ; how much greater will be the security of a government , where all good subjects , of whatsoever church they be , without any distinction upon account of religion , enjoying the same favour of the prince , and the same benefit of the laws , shall become the common support and guard of it ; and where none will have any occasion to fear the severity of the laws , but those that do injuries to their neighbours , and offend against the civil peace ? that we may draw towards a conclusion . the sum of all we drive at is , that every man may enjoy the same rights that are granted to others . is it permitted to worship god in the roman manner ? let it be permitted to do it in the geneva form also . is it permitted to speak latin in the market-place ? let those that have a mind to it , be permitted to do it also in the church . is it lawfull for any man in his own house , to kneel , stand , sit , or use any other posture ; and to cloath himself in white or black , in short or in long garments ? let it not be made unlawful to eat bread , drink wine , or wash with water , in the church . in a word : whatsoever things are left free by law in the common occasions of life , let them remain free unto every church in divine worship . let no mans life , or body , or house , or estate , suffer any manner of prejudice upon these accounts . can you allow of the presbyterian discipline ? why should not the episcopal also have what they like ? ecclesiastical authority , whether it be administred by the hands of a single person , or many , is every where the same ; and neither has any jurisdiction in things civil , nor any manner of power of compulsion , nor any thing at all to do with riches and revenues . ecclesiastical assemblies , and sermons , are justified by daily experience , and publick allowance . these are allowed to people of some one perswasion : why not to all ? if any thing pass in a religious meeting seditiously , and contrary to the publick peace , it is to be punished in the same manner , and no otherwise , than as if it had happened in a fair or market . these meetings ought not to be sanctuaries for factious and flagitious fellows : nor ought it to be less lawful for men to meet in churches than in halls : nor are one part of the subjects to be esteemed more blameable , for their meeting together , than others . every one is to be accountable for his own actions ; and no man is to be laid under a suspition , or odium , for the fault of another . those that are seditious , murderers , thieves , robbers , adulterers , slanderers , &c. of whatsoever church , whether national or not , ought to be punished and suppressed . but those whose doctrine is peaceable , and whose manners are pure and blameless , ought to be upon equal terms with their fellow-subjects . thus if solemn assemblies , observations of festivals , publick worship , be permitted to any one sort of professors ; all these things ought to be permitted to the presbyterians , independents , anabaptists , arminians , quakers , and others , with the same liberty . nay , if we may openly speak the truth , and as becomes one man to another , neither pagan , nor mahumetan , nor iew , ought to be excluded from the civil rights of the commonwealth , because of his religion . the gospel commands no such thing . the church , which judges not those that are without , wants it not . and the commonwealth , which embraces indifferently all men that are honest , peaceable and industrious , repuires it not . shall we suffer a pagan to deal and trade with us , and shall we not suffer him to pray unto and worship god ? if we allow the iews to have private houses and dwellings amongst us , why should we not allow them to have synagogues ? is their doctrine more false , their worship more abominable , or is the civil peace more endangered , by their meeting in publick than in their private houses ? but if these things may be granted to iews and pagans , surely the condition of any christians ought not to be worse than theirs in a christian commonwealth . you 'll say , perhaps , yes , it ought to be : because they are more inclinable to factions , tumults , and civil wars . i answer : is this the fault of the christirn religion ? if it be so , truly the christian religion is the worst of all religions , and ought neither to be embraced by any particular person , nor tolerated by any commonwealth . for if this be the genius , this the nature of the christian religion , to be turbulent , and destructive to the civil peace , that church it self which the magistrate indulges will not always be innocent . but far be it from us to say any such thing of that religion , which carries the greatest opposition to covetousness , ambition , discord , contention , and all manner of inordinate desires ; and is the most modest and peaceable religion that ever was . we must therefore seek another cause of those evils that are charged upon religion . and if we consider right , we shall find it to consist wholly in the subject that i am treating of . it is not the diversity of opinions , ( which cannot be avoided ) but the refusal of toleration to those that are of different opinions , ( which might have been granted ) that has produced all the bustles and wars , that have been in the christian world , upon account of religion . the heads and leaders of the church , moved by avarice and insatiable desire of dominion , making use of the immoderate ambition of magistrates , and the credulous superstition of the giddy multitude , have incensed and animated them against those that dissent from themselves ; by preaching unto them , contrary to the laws of the gospel and to the precepts of charity , that schismaticks and hereticks are to be outed of their possessions , and destroyed . and thus have they mixed together and confounded two things that are in themselves most different , the church and the commonwealth . now as it is very difficult for men patiently to suffer themselves to be stript of the goods , which they have got by their honest industry ; and contrary to all the laws of equity , both humane and divine , to be delivered up for a prey to other mens violence and rapine ; especially when they are otherwise altogether blameless ; and that the occasion for which they are thus treated does not at all belong to the jurisdiction of the magistrate , but intirely to the conscience of every particular man ; for the conduct of which he is accountable to god only ; what else can be expected , but that these men , growing weary of the evils under which they labour , should in the end think it lawful for them to resist force with force , and to defend their natural rights ( which are not forfeitable upon account of religion ) with arms as well as they can ? that this has been hitherto the ordinary course of things , is abundantly evident in history : and that it will continue to be so hereafter , is but too apparent in reason . it cannot indeed be otherwise , so long as the principle of persecution for religion shall prevail , as it has done hitherto , with magistrate and people ; and so long as those that ought to be the preachers of peace and concord , shall continue , with all their art and strength , to excite men to arms , and sound the trumpet of war. but that magistrates should thus suffer these incendiaries , and disturbers of the publick peace , might justly be wondred at ; if it did not appear that they have been invited by them unto a participation of the spoil , and have therefore thought fit to make use of their covetousness and pride as means whereby to increase their own power . for who does not see that these good men are indeed more ministers of the government , than ministers of the gospel ; and that by flattering the ambition , and favouring the dominion of princes and men in authority , they endeavour with all their might to promote that tyranny in the commonwealth , which otherwise they should not be able to establish in the church ? this is the unhappy agreement that we see between the church and state. whereas if each of them would contain it self within its own bounds , the one attending to the worldly welfare of the commonwealth , the other to the salvation of souls , it is impossible that any discord should ever have hapned between them . sed , pudet haec opprobria , &c. god almighty grant , i beseech him , that the gospel of peace may at length be preached , and that civil magistrates growing more careful to conform their own consciences to the law of god , and less sollicitous about the binding of other mens consciences by humane laws , may , like fathers of their country , direct all their counsels and endeavours to promote universally the civil welfare of all their children ; except only of such as are arrogant , ungovernable , and injurious to their brethren , and that all ecclesiastical men , who boast themselves to be the successors of the apostles , walking peaceably and modesty in the apostles steps , without intermedling with state-affairs , may apply themselves wholly to promote the salvation of souls . farewell . perhaps it may not be amiss to add a few things concerning heresy and schism . a turk is not , nor can be , either heretick or schismatick , to a chrishian : and if any man fall off from the christian faith to mahumetism , he does not thereby become a heretick or schismatick , but an apostate and an infidel . this no body doubts of . and by this it appears that men of different religions cannot be hereticks or schismaticks to one another . we are to enquire therefore , what men are of the same religion . concerning which , it is manifest that those who have one and the same rule of faith and worship , are of the same religion : and those who have have not the same rule of faith and worship are of different religions . for since all things that belong unto that religion are contained in that rule , it follows necessarily that those who agree in one rule are of one and the same religion : and vice versa . thus turks and christians are of different religions : because these take the holy scriptures to be the rule of their religion , and those the alcoran . and for the same reason , there may be different religions also even amongst christians . the papists and the lutherans , tho' both of them profess faith in christ , and are therefore called christians , yet are not both of the same religion : because these acknowledge nothing but the holy scriptures to be the rule and foundation of their religion ; those take in also traditions and the decrees of popes , and of these together make the rule of their religion . and thus the christians of st. iohn ( as they are called ) and the christians of geneva are of different religions : because these also take only the scriptures ; and those i know not what traditions , for the rule of their religion . this being setled , it follows ; first , that heresy is a separation made in ecclesiastical communion between men of the same religion , for some opinions no way contained in the rule it self . and secondly , that amongst those who acknowledge nothing but the holy scriptures to be their rule of faith , heresy is a separation made in their christian communion , for opinions not contained in the express words of scripture . now this separation may be made in a twofold manner . 1. when the greater part , or ( by the magistrate's patronage ) the stronger part , of the church separates it self from others , by excluding them out of her communion , because they will not profess their belief of certain opinions which are not the express words of the scripture . for it is not the paucity of those that are separated , nor the authority of the magistrate , that can make any man guilty of heresy . but he only is an heretick who divides the church into parts , introduces names and marks of distinction , and voluntarily makes a separation because of such opinions . 2. when any one separates himself from the communion of a church , because that church does not publickly profess some certain opinions which the holy scriptures do not expresly teach . both these are hereticks : because they err in fundamentals , and they err obstinately against knowledge . for when they have determined the holy scriptures to be the only foundation of faith , they nevertheless lay down certain propositions as fundamental , which are not in the scripture ; and because others will not acknowledge these additional opinions of theirs , nor build upon them as if they were necessary and fundamental , they therefore make a separation in the church ; either by withdrawing themselves from the others , or expelling the others from them . nor does it signifie any thing for them to say that their confessions and symboles are agreeable to scripture , and to the analogy of faith. for if they be conceived in the express words of scripture , there can be no question about them ; because those things are acknowledged by all christians to be of divine inspiration , and therefore fundamental . but if they say that the articles which they require to be profess'd , are consequences deduced from the scripture ; it is undoubtedly well done of them who believe and profess such things as seem unto them so agreeable to the rule of faith. but it would be very ill done to obtrude those things upon others , unto whom they do not seem to be the indubitable doctrines of the scripture . and to make a separation for such things as these , which neither are nor can be fundamental , is to become hereticks . for i do not think there is any man arrived to that degree of madness , as that he dare give out his consequences and interpretations of scripture as divine inspirations , and compare the articles of faith that he has framed according to his own fancy with the authority of the scripture . i know there are some propositions so evidently agreeable to scripture , that no body can deny them to be drawn from thence : but about those therefore there can be no difference . this only i say , that however clearly we may think this or the other doctrine to be deduced from scripture , we ought not therefore to impose it upon others , as a necessary article of faith , because we believe it to be agreeable to the rule of faith ; unless we would be content also that other doctrines should be imposed upon us in the same manner ; and that we should be compell'd to receive and profess all the different and contradictory opinions of lutherans , calvinists , remonstrants , anabaptists , and other sects , which the contrivers of symbols , systems and confessions , are accustomed to deliver unto their followers as genuine and necessary deductions from the holy scripture . i cannot but wonder at the extravagant arrogance of those men who think that they themselves can explain things necessary to salvation more clearly than the holy ghost , the eternal and infinite wisdom of god. thus much concerning heresy ; which word in common use is applied only to the doctrinal part of religion . let us now consider schism , which is a crime near a-kin to it . for both those words seem unto me to signifie an ill-grounded separation in ecclesiastical communion , made about things not necessary . but since use , which is the supream law in matter of language , has determined that heresy relates to errors in faith , and schism to those in worship or discipline , we must consider them under that distinction . schism then , for the same reasons that have already been alledged , is nothing else but a separation made in the communion of the church , upon account of something in divine worship , or ecclesiastical discipline , that is not any necessary part of it . now nothing in worship or discipline can be necessary to christian communion , but what christ our legislator , or the apostles , by inspiration of the holy spirit , have commanded in express words . in a word : he that denies not any thing that the holy scriptures teach in express words , nor makes a separation upon occasion of any thing that is not manifestly contained in the sacred text ; however he may be nick-named by any sect of christians , and declared by some , or all of them to be utterly void of true christianity , yet indeed and in truth this man cannot be either a heretick or schismatick . these things might have been explained more largely , and more advantageously : but it is enough to have hinted at them , thus briefly , to a person of your parts . finis . books lately printed for awnsham churchill at the black swan at amen-corner . an historical account of making the penal laws by the papists against the protestants , and by the protestants against the papists . wherein the true ground and reason of making the laws is given , the papists most barbarous usage of the protestants here in england , under a colour of law , set forth ; and the reformation vindicated from the imputation of being cruel and bloody , unjustly cast upon it by those of the romish communion . by samuel blackerby , barrister of grays-inn . fol. a modest enquiry , whether st. peter were ever at rome , and bishop of that church ? wherein , i. the arguments of cardinal bellarmine and others , for the affirmative , are considered . ii. some considerations taken notice of , that render the negative highly probable . quarto . the spirit of france , and the politick maxims of lewis xiv . laid open to the world. quarto . memorials of the method and manner of proceedings in parliament in passing bills : together with several rules and customs , which by long and constant practice have obtained the name of orders of the house . gathered by observation , and out of the journal-books , from the time of edward vi. octavo . dr. burnet's tracts in two volumes . vol. i. containing , 1. his travels into switzerland , italy and germany ; with an appendix . 2. animadversions on the reflections upon the travels . 3. three letters of the quietists , inquisition , and state of italy . vol. ii. 4. his translations of lactantius of the death of persecutors . 5. his answers to mr. varillas : in three parts . twelves . a collection of texts of scripture , with short notes upon them and some other observations against the principal popish errors . twelves . the fallibility of the roman church , demonstrated from the manifest error of the second nicene and trent councils , which assert , that the veneration and honorary worship of images , is a tradition primitive and apostolical . quarto . a demonstration that the church of rome , and her councils , have erred ; by shewing , that the councils of constance , basil , and trent , have , in all their decrees touching communion in one kind , contradicted the received doctrine of the church of christ : with an appendix , in answer to the xxi . chapter of the author of a papist misrepresented , and represented . quarto . a treatise of traditions , part i. wherein it is proved , that we have evidence sufficient from tradition ; 1. that the scriptures are the word of god. 2. that the church of england owns the true canon of the books of the old testament . 3. that the copies of the scripture have not been corrupted . 4. that the romanists have no such evidence for their traditions . 5. that the testimony of the present church of rome can be no sure evidence of apostolical tradition . 6. what traditions may securely be relied upon , and what not . quarto . a treatise of traditions , part ii. shewing the novelty of the pretended traditions of the church of rome ; as being , 1. not mentioned by the ancients of their discourses of traditions apostolical , truly so called , or so esteemed by them . nor , 2. in their avowed rule , or symbol of faith. nor , 3. in the instructions given to the clergy , concerning all those things they were to teach the people . nor , 4. in the examination of a bishop at his ordination . nor , 5. in the ancient treatises designed to instruct christians in all the articles of their faith. 6. from the confessions of romish doctors : with an answer to the arguments of mr. mumford for traditions ; and a demonstration , that the heathens made the same plea from tradition as the romanists do ; and that the answer of the fathers to it doth fully justifie the protestants . quarto . all these four books written by the reverend d. whitby , d. d. an exhortation to charity ( and a word of comfort ) to the irish protestants : being a sermon preached at steeple in dorsetshire , upon occasion of the collection for relief of the poor protestants in this kingdom , lately fled from ireland : by samuel bold , rector of steeple . quarto . foxes and firebrands , or a specimen of the danger and harmony of popery and separation , first , second , and third parts . sir w. temple's observation on holland . — miscellanea . mr. selden's table-talk , or discourses on various subjects . a list of the present parliament , lords and commons , present case stated about allegiance to king william and queen mary . debates of the late oxford and westminster parliament . monsieur ierew's accomplishment . octavo . scripture-prophesies , compleat : in 2 vol. octavo . a new system of the revelations . twelves . voyages of syam . octavo . obedience due to the present king , notwithstanding our oaths to the former : by a divine of the church of england . the late lord russell's case , with observations upon it . writ by the right honourable henry lord delamere . fol. considerations humbly offered for taking the oath of allegiance to king william and queen mary . quarto . mr. masters of submission to divine providence . dr. worthington of the resurrection . octavo . an answer to bishop lake's ( late of chichester ) declaration of his dying in belief of the doctrine of passive obedience , &c. dr. carsael's assize-sermon at abingdon , aug 6. 1689. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a48884-e410 luk. 22.25 . 2 tim. 2.19 . luke 22.32 . rom. 1. gal. 5. matth. 18.20 . exod. 22.20 , 21. deut. 2. 1 cor. 5.12 , 13. the two charters granted by king charles iid to the proprietors of carolina with the first and last fundamental constitutions of that colony. charter (1663) england and wales. sovereign (1660-1685 : charles ii) 1698 approx. 164 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 32 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a32677 wing c3622 estc r4148 12268928 ocm 12268928 58167 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32677) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 58167) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 176:31) the two charters granted by king charles iid to the proprietors of carolina with the first and last fundamental constitutions of that colony. charter (1663) england and wales. sovereign (1660-1685 : charles ii) locke, john, 1632-1704. carolina (colony). charter (1665) carolina (colony). constitution (1669) 60 p. printed and are to be sold by richard parker ..., london : [1698] date of publication from wing. reproduction of original in huntington library. the first charter granted by king charles iid to the proprietors of carolina (march 24, 1663) -the second charter (june 30, 1665) -the fundamental constitutions of carolina (march 1, 1669; drawn up by john locke) -copy of the fundamental constitutions of carolina (april 11, 1698). created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed 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or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng constitutional history -north carolina. constitutional history -south carolina. north carolina -history -colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -charters. north carolina -history -colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -constitution. south carolina -history -colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -constitution. south carolina -history -colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -charters. 2005-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-04 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-06 john latta sampled and proofread 2006-06 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the two charters granted by king charles iid . to the proprietors of carolina . with the first and last fundamental constitutions of that colony . london : printed , and are to be sold by richard parker , at the vnicorn , under the piazza of the royal exchange . the first charter granted by king charles iid . to the proprietors of carolina . charles iid . by the grace of god , &c. to all to whom these presents shall come greeting . whereas , our right trusty , and right well-beloved cousins and counsellors , edward earl of clarendon , our high chancellor of england , and george duke of albemarle , master of our horse , and captain general of all our forces ; our right trusty and well-beloved william lord craven , john lord berkeley , our right trusty , and well-beloved counsellor , anthony lord ashley , chancellor of our exchequer , sir george carterett knight and baronet , vice-chamberlain of our houshold , and our trusty and well-beloved , sir william berkeley knight , and sir john colleton knight and baronet , being excited with a laudable and pious zeal for the propagation of the christian faith , and the enlargement of our empire and dominions , have humbly besought leave of us by their industry and charge , to transport and make an ample colony of our subjects , natives of our kingdom of england , and elsewhere , within our dominions , unto a certain country , hereafter described , in the parts of america not yet cultivated or planted , and only inhabited by some barbarous people , who have no knowledge of almighty god. and whereas , the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley , sir john colleton , have humbly besought us to give , grant and confirm unto them and their heirs , the said country , with priviledges and jurisdictions , requisite for the good government and safety thereof . know ye therefore , that we favouring the pious and noble purpose of the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley and sir john colleton of our special grace , certain knowledge and meer motion , have given , granted and confirmed , and by this our present charter , for us , our heirs and successors , do give , grant and confirm unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley and sir john colleton , their heirs , and assigns , all that territory or tract of ground scituate , lying , and being within our dominions in america ; extending from the north end of the island called lucke island , which lyeth in the southern virginia seas , and within six and thirty degrees of the northern latitude ; and to the west as far as the south seas ; and so southerly , as far as the river st. matthias , which bordereth upon the coast of florida , and within one and thirty degrees of northern latitude , and so west in a direct line , as far as the south seas aforesaid ; together with all and singular ports , harbours , bays , rivers , isles and islets , belonging unto the country aforesaid . and also , all the soil , lands , fields , woods , mountains , ferms , lakes , rivers , bays and islets , scituate ▪ or being within the bounds or limits aforesaid , with the fishing of all sorts of fish , whales , sturgeons and all other royal fishes in the sea , bays , islets and rivers , within the premises , and the fish therein taken . and moreover , all veins , mines , quarries , as well discover'd as not discover'd , of gold , silver , gems , precious stones , and all other whatsoever ; be it of stones , metals or any other thing whatsoever , found , or to be found within the countries , isles and limits aforesaid . and furthermore , the patronage and avowsons of all the churches and chapels , which as christian religion shall increase within the country , isles , islets and limits aforesaid , shall happen hereafter to be erected ; together with license and power to build and found churches , chapels and oratories in convenient and fit places within the said bounds and limits ; and to cause them to be dedicated and consecrated , according to the ecclesiastical laws of our kingdom of england ; together with all and singular , the like , and as ample rights , jurisdictions , priviledges , prerogatives , royalties , liberties , immunities and franchises , of what kind soever , within the countries , isles , islets and limits aforesaid . to have , use , exercise and enjoy , and in as ample manner as any bishop of durham in our kingdom of england , ever heretofore have held , used or enjoyed , or of right ought , or could have , use or enjoy ; and them the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns . we do by these presents , for us , our heirs and successors , make , create and constitute the true and absolute lords and proprietors of the country aforesaid , and of all other the premises , saving always the faith , allegiance and sovereign dominion due to us , our heirs and successors , for the same ; and saving also the right , title and interest of all and every our subjects of the english nation , which are now planted within the limits and bounds aforesaid , ( if any be : ) to have , hold possess , and enjoy the said country , isles , islets , and all and singular , other the premises to them , the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , vvilliam lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir vvilleam berkeley and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns for ever , to be holden of us , our heirs and successors , as of our mannor of east greenwich , in our county of kent , in free and common soccage , and not in capite , nor by kn●ghts service , yeilding and paying yearly to us , our heirs and successors , for the same , the yearly rent of twenty marks of lawful money of england , at the feast of all saints , yearly for ever . the first payment thereof , to begin , and to be made on the feast of all saints , which shall be in the year of our lord one thousand six hundred sixty and five , and also the fourth part of all gold and silver oar which within the limits aforesaid , shall from time to time , happen to be found . and that the country thus by us granted and described , may be dignifyed by us with as large titles and priviledges as any other parts of our dominions and terretories in that region . know ye , that we of our further grace , certain knowledge , and meer motion , have thought fit to erect the same tract of ground , country and island , into a province , and out of the fullness of our royal power and prerogative ; we do , for us , our heirs and successors , erect , incorporate and ordain the same into a province ; and do call it the province of carolina : and so , from henceforth , will have it called . and forasmuch as we have hereby made , and ordained the aforesaid edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns , the true lords and proprieters of all the province aforesaid . know ye therefore moreover , that we reposing especial trust and confidence in their fidelity , wisdom , justice and provident circumspection for us , our heirs and successours , do grant full and absolute power by virtue of these presents , to them , the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley and sir john colleton , and their heirs for the good and happy government of the said province , to ordain , make , enact , and under their seals to publish any laws whatsoever , either appertaining to the publick state of the said province , or to the private utility or particular persons , according to their best discretion , of and with the advice , assent and approbation of the freemen of the said province , or of the greater part of them , or of their delegates or deputies , whom for enacting of the said laws , when and as often as need shall require , we will that the said edward earl of clarendon , george guke of albermarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley and sir john colleton and their heirs , shall from time to time , assemble in such manner and form as to them shall seem best , and the same laws duely to execute upon all people within the said province and limits thereof , for the time being , or which shall be constituted under the power and government of them , or , any of them , either sailing towards the said province of carolina , or , returning from thence towards england , or any other of our , or forreign dominions , by imposition of penalties , imprisonment , or any other punishment ; yea , if it shall be needful , and the quality of the offence requires it , by taking away member and life , either by them the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , vvilliam lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir vvilliam berkeley , and sir john colleton , and their heirs , or by them , or their deputies , lieutenants , judges , justices , magistrates , officers and ministers , to be ordained , or appointed according to the tenor and true intention of these presents ; and likewise , to appoint and establish any judges , or justices , magistrates , or officers whatsoever , within the said province , at sea or land , in such manner and form , as unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , vvilliam lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkely , and sir john colleton , and their heirs , shall seem most convenient . also to remit , release , pardon , and abolish , ( whether before judgment , or after ) all crimes and offences whatsoever against the said laws , and to do all and every other thing and things which unto the compleat establishment of justice unto courts , sessions and forms of judicature , and manners of proceedings therein , do belong , although in these presents , express mention be not made thereof , and by judges , and by him , or them delegated to award , process , hold pleas , and determine in all the said courts and places of judicature , all actions , suits and causes whatsoever , as well criminal as civil , real , mixt , personal , or of any other kind or nature whatsoever ; which laws , so as aforesaid to be published , our pleasure is , and we do require , enjoyn and command , shall be absolute , firm and available in law , and that all the leige people of us , our heirs and successors within the said province of carolina , do observe and keep the same inviolably , in those parts , so far as they concern them , under the pains and penalties therein expressed , or to be expressed ; provided nevertheless , that the said laws be consonant to reason , and as near as may be , conveniently agreeable to the laws and customs of this our kingdom of england . and because such assemblies of free-holders cannot be so conveniently called , as there may be occasion to require the same ; we do therefore by these presents , give and grant unto the said earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley , and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns , by themselves , or their magistrates in that behalf lawfully authorized , full power and authority from time to time , to make and ordain fit and wholesome orders and ordinances within the province aforesaid , to be kept and observed , as well for the keeping of the peace , as for the better government of the people there abiding , and to publish the same to all to whom it may concern ; which ordinances we do by these presents , streightly charge and command to be inviolably observed , within the said province , under the penalties therein expressed , so as such ordinances be reasonable and not repugnant , or contrary , but as near as may be , agreeable to the laws and statutes of this our kingdom of england , and so as the same ordinances do not extend to the binding , charging , or taking away of the right or interest of any person or persons , in their freehold goods , or chattels whatsoever . and to the end the said province may be the more happily increased by the multitude of people resorting thither , and may likewise be the more strongly defended from the incursions of savages , and other enemies , pirates and robbers ; therefore , we for us , our heirs and successors do give and grant by these presents , power , license and liberty unto all the leige people of us , our heirs and successors in our kingdom of england , or elsewhere within any other our dominions , islands , colonies , or plantations ( excepting those who shall be especially forbidden ) to transport themselves and families unto the said province , with convenient shipping , and ●itting provisions and there to settle themselves , dwell and inhabit , any law , statute , act , ordinance , or other thing , to the contrary in any wise , notwithstanding : and we will also , and of our more special grace for us , our heirs and successors do streightly enjoyn , ordain , constitute and command that the said province of carolina shall be of our allegiance , and that all and singular the subjects , and liege people of us , our heirs and successors transported , or to be transported into the said province , and the children of them , and of such as shall descend from them , there born , or hereafter to be born , be , and shall be , denizons and leiges of us , our heirs and successors of this our kingdom of england , and be in all things held , treated and reputed as the leige faithful people of us , our heirs and successors , born within this our said kingdom , or any other of our dominions , and may inherit , or otherwise purchase and receive , take , hold , buy and possess any lands , tenements , or hereditaments within the same places , and them may occupy possess and enjoy ▪ give , sell , aliene and bequeath ; as likewise , all liberties , franchises and priviledges of this our kingdom of england and of other our dominions aforesaid , and may freely and quietly have , possess and enjoy as our leige people born within the same , without the least molestation , vexation , trouble or grievance of us , our heirs and successors , any statute , act , ordinance or provision to the contrary notwithstanding . and furthermore that our subjects of this our said kingdom of england and other our dominions , may be the rather encouraged to undertake this expedition with ready and chearful minds ; know ye , that we of our special grace , certain knowledge and meer motion , do give and grant , by vertue of these presents , as well to the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir vvilliam berkeley and sir john colleton and their heirs , as unto all others as shall , from time to time , repair unto the said province , with a purpose to inhabit there , or to trade with the natives of the said province , full liberty and license to lade and freight in any ports whatsoever , of us , our heirs and successors , and into the said province of carolina , by them , their servants and assigns , to transport all and singular their goods , wares and merchandizes ; as likewise , all sorts of grain whatsoever , and any other things whatsoever , necessary for the food and cloathing , not prohibited by the laws and statutes of our kingdoms and dominions , to be carry'd out of the same without any lett or molestation of us , our heirs and successors , or of any other of our officers or ministers whatsoever , saving also to us , our heirs and successors , the customs , and other dutys and payments , due for the said wares and merchandizes , according to the several rates of the places from whence the same shall be transported . we will also , and by these presents , for us , our heirs and successors , do give and grant license by this our charter , unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley , and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns , and to all the inhabitants and dwellers in the province aforesaid , both present and to come , full power and absolute authority to import or unlade by themselves , or their servants , factors or assigns , all merchandizes and goods whatsoever , that shall arise of the fruits and commodities of the said province , either by land or by sea , into any the ports of us , our heirs and successors , in our kingdom of england . scotland or ireland , or otherwise to dispose of the said goods in the said ports ; and if need be , within one year next after the unlading , to lade the said merchandizes and goods again into the same , or other ships , and to export the same into any other countries , either of our dominions , or forreign , being in amity with us , our heirs and successors , so as they pay such customs , subsidies and other dutys for the same to us , our heirs and successors , as the rest of our subjects of this our kingdom , for the time being , shall be bound to pay , beyond which , we will not that the inhabitants of the said province of carolina shall be any way charged . provided nevertheless , and our will and pleasure is , and we have further for the considerations aforesaid , of our more especial grace , certain knowledge and meer motion , given and granted , and by these presents , for us , our heirs and successors , do give and grant unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , vvilliam lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir vvilliam berkeley and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns , full and free license , liberty and authority at any time , or times , from and after the feast of st. michael the arch-angel , which shall be in the year of our lord christ , one thousand six hundred , sixty and seven ; as well to import , and bring into any of our dominions , from the said province of carolina , or any part thereof , the several goods and commodities herein after mentioned ; that is to say , silks , wines , currants , raisons , capers , wax , almonds , oyl and olives , without paying or answering to us , our heirs or successors , any custom , impost or other duty , for , or in respect thereof , for and during the term and space of seven years , to commence and be accompted from and after the first importation of four tons of any the said goods in any one bottom ship or vessel , from the said province , into any of our dominions ; as also , to export and carry out of any of our dominions into the said province of carolina , custom-free , all sorts of tools which shall be useful or necessary for the planters there , in the accomodation and improvement of the premises , any thing before in these presents contained , or any law , act , statute prohibition , or other matter or thing heretofore had , made , enacted or provided or hereafter to be had , made , enacted , or provided to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding . and furthermore , of our more ample and especial grace , certain knowledge and meer motion , we do for us , our heirs and successors , grant unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , vvilliam lord craven , john lord berkley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir vvilliam berkeley and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns , full and absolute power and authority to make , erect and constitute within the said province of carolina , and the isles and islets aforesaid , such and so many sea-ports , harbours , creeks and other places , for discharge and unlading of goods and merchandizes out of ships , boats and other vessels , and for lading of them in such and so many places , and with such jurisdictions , priviledges and franchises , unto the said ports belonging , as to them shall seem most expedient ; and that all and singular , the ships , boats and other vessels , which shall come for merchandizes , and trade into the said province , or shall depart out of the same , shall be laden and unladen at such ports only as shall be erected and constituted by the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , vvilliam lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns , and not elsewhere any use , custom , or any thing to the contrary in any wise , notwithstanding . and we do furthermore will , appoint and ordain by these presents , for us , our heirs and successors , do grant unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkely , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns , that they the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir vvilliam berkeley and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns , may from time to time , for ever , have and enjoy the customs and subsidies in the ports , harbours , creeks and other places within the province aforesaid , payable for goods , merchandizes and wares there laded , or to be laded or unladed , the said customs to be reasonably assessed upon any occasion by themselves , and by and with the consent of the free people there , or the greater part of them , as aforesaid ; to whom we give power by these presents , for us , our heirs and successors , upon just cause and in a due proportion to assess and impose the same . and further , of our especial grace , certain knowledge and meer motion , we have given , granted and confirmed , and by these presents , for us , our heirs and successors , do give , grant and confirm unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , vvilliam lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir vvilliam berkeley and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns , full and absolute license , power and authority , that the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , vvilliam lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett . sir vvilliam berkley and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns , from time to time , hereafter for ever , at his and their will and pleasure , may assign , alien , grant , demise or enfeoft the premises or any parts or parcells thereof to him or them , that shall be willing to purchase the same ; and to such person or persons , as they shall think fit , to have , and to hold to them the said person or persons , their heirs and assigns in fee simple or fee tayle , or for term of life or lives , or years to be held of them , the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , vvilliam lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley , and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns , by such rents , services and customs , as shall seem meet to the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , vvilliam lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns , and not immediately of us , our heirs and successors : and to the same person and persons , and to all and every of them , we do give and grant by these presents , for us , our heirs and successors , license , authority and power , that such person or persons , may have or take the premises , or any parcel thereof , of the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , vvilliam lord craven , john lord berkely , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns , and the same to hold to themselves , their heirs or assigns , in what estate of inheritance whatsoever , in fee simple , or in fee tayle , or otherwise , as to them and the said earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns , shall seem expedient . the statute made in the parliament of edward , son of king henry , heretofore king of england , our predecessor , commonly called , the statute of quia emptores terrae ; or any other satute , act , ordinance , use , law , custom , or any other matter , cause or thing heretofore published or provided to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding . and because many persons born or inhabiting in the said province , for their deserts and services may expect , and be capable of marks of honour and favour , which in respect of the great distance cannot conveniently be conferred by us ; our will and pleasure therefore is , and we do by these presents , give and grant unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , willliam lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns , full power and authority to give and conferr unto , and upon such of the inhabitants of the said province , as they shall think , do , or shall merit the same , such marks or favour , and titles of honour , as they shall think fit , so as these titles of honour be 〈…〉 conferred upon any the 〈◊〉 of this our kingdom of 〈◊〉 . and further also , we do by these presents , for us , our heirs and successors , give and grant , license to them the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns , full power , liberty and license to erect , raise and build within the said province and places aforesaid , or any part or parts thereof , such and so many forts , fortresses , castles , cities , borroughs , towns , villages and other fortifications whatsoever , and the same or any of them to fortify and furnish with ordinance , powder , shot , armory and all other weapons , ammunition , habiliments of war , both offensive and defensive , as shall be thought fit and convenient for the safety and welfare of the said province , and places , or any part thereof , and the same , or any of them , from time to time , as occasion shall require , to dismantle , disfurnish , demolish and pull down , and also to place , constitute and appoint in , or over all , or any of the said castles , forts , fortifications , cities , towns and places aforesaid , governours , deputy governours , magistrates , sheriffs , and other officers , civil and military , as to them shall seem meet , and to the said cities , burroughs , towns , villages , or any other place , or places , within the said province , to grant letters or charters of incorporation , with all liberties , franchises , and priviledges requisite , and usual , or to , or within any corporations within this our kingdom of england granted , or belonging ; and in the same citties , burroughs , towns and other places , to constitute , erect and appoint such , and so many markets , marts and fairs , as shall in that behalf be thought fit and necessary ; and further also , to erect and make in the province aforesaid , or any part thereof , so many mannors as to them shall seem meet and convenient , and in every of the same mannors to have and to hold a court-baron with all things whatsoever , which to a court-baron do belong , and to have and to hold views of franck pledge and court-leet for the conservation of the peace , and better government of those parts , within such limits , jurisdictions and precincts , as by the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkely , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley and sir john colleton , or their heirs , shall be appointed for that purpose , with all things whatsoever , which to a court leet , or view of franck pledge ; do belong , the said court to be holden by stewards , to be deputed and authorized by the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley and sir john colleton , or their heirs , or by the lords of other mannors and leets for the time being , when the same shall be erected . and because that in so remote a country , and scituate among so many barbarous nations , and the invasions as well of salvages as other enemies ; pirates and robbers may probably be feared ; therefore we have given , and for us , our heirs and successors do give power by these presents , unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns by themselves , or their captains , or other their officers to levy , muster and train all sorts of men , of what condition , or wheresoever born in the said province , for the time being ; and to make war and pursue the enemies aforesaid , as well by sea , as by land ; yea , even within the limits of the said province , and by god's assistance , to vanquish and take them , and being taken , to put them to death by the law of war , or to save them at their pleasure ; and to do all and every other thing , which unto the charge and office of a captain general of an army , belongeth , or hath accustomed to belong , as fully and freely as any captain general of an army hath ever had the same . also , our will and pleasure is , and by this our charter , we give unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir gorge carterett , sir william berkeley and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns , full power , liberty and authority in case of rebellion , tumult , or sedition ( if any should happen ) which god forbid either upon the land within the province aforesaid or upon the main sea , in making a voyage thither , or returning from thence , by him and themselves , their captains , deputies or officers , to be authorized under his or their seals , for that purpose : to whom also for us , our heirs and successors , we do give and grant by these presents , full power and authority to exercise martial law against mutinous and seditious persons of those parts , such as shall refuse to submit themselves to their government , or shall refuse to serve in the wars , or shall fly to the enemy , or forsake their colours or ensigns , or be loyterers or straglers , or otherwise howsoever offending against law , custom or discipline military , as freely , and in as ample manner and form as any captain general of an army , by virtue of his office , might , or hath accustomed to use the same . and our further pleasure is , and by these presents , for us , our heirs and successors , we do grant unto the said earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns , and to the tenants and inhabitants of the said province of carolina , both present and to come , and to every of them , that the said province and the tennants and inhabitants thereof , shall not from henceforth , be held or reputed a member , or part of any collony what●oever , in america or elsewhere , now transported or made , or hereafter to be transported or made ; nor shall be depending on , or subject to their government in any thing , but be absolutely separated and divided from the same : and our pleasure is , by these presents , that they be separated , and that they be subject immediately to our crown of england , as depending thereof for ever . and that the inhabitants of the said province , nor any of them , shall at any time hereafter , be compelled or compellable , or be any ways subject , or liable to appear or answer to any matter , suit , cause , or plaint whatsoever , out of the province aforesaid , in any other of our islands , collonies or dominions in america or elsewhere , other than in our realm of england and dominion of wales . and because it may happen , that some of the people and inhabitants of the said province , cannot in their private opinions conform to the publick exercise of religion according to the liturgy , form and ceremonies of the church of england , or take and subscribe the oaths and articles made and established in that behalf ▪ and for that the same , by reason of the remote distances of these placees will we hope , be no breach of the unity , and uniformity , established in this nation . our will and pleasure therefore is , and we do by these presents for us , our heirs , and successors , give and grant unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley , and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns , full and free license , liberty and authority , by such legal ways and means as they shall think fit to give and grant unto such person and persons , inhabiting , and being within the said province , or any part thereof , who really in their judgments , and for conscience sake , cannot , or shall not conform to the said liturgy and ceremonies , and take and subscribe the oaths and articles aforesaid , or any of them , such indulgences and dispensations , in that behalf , for , and during such time and times , and with such limitations and restrictions as they the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir vvilliam berkely and sir john colleton , their heirs , or assigns , shall in their discretion think fit , and reasonable , and with this express proviso , and limitation also , that such person and proviso , to whom such indulgencies and dispensations shall be granted as aforesaid , do , and shall from time to time , declare , and continue all fidelity , loyalty and obedience to us , our heirs and successors , and be subject and obedient to all other the laws , ordinances and constitutions of the said province , in all matters whatsoever , as well ecclesiastical as civil , and do not in any wise disturb the peace and safety thereof , or scandalize , or reproach the said liturgy , forms and ceremonies , or any thing relating thereunto , or any person or persons whatsoever , for , or in respect of his , or their use , or exercise thereof , or his , or their obedience , or conformity thereunto . and in case it shall happen , that any doubts or questions should arise concerning the true sense and understanding of any word , clause or sentence , contained in this our present charter , we will ordain and command , that at all times , and in all things , such interpretation be made thereof , and allow'd in all and every of our courts whatsoever , as lawfully may be adjudged most advantageous and favourable to the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley and sir john colleton , their heirs and assigns , although express mention be not made in these presents , of the true yearly value and certainty of the premises , or any part thereof , or of any other gifts and grants made by us , our ancestors , or predecessors , to them the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , vvilliam lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir william berkeley and sir john colleton , or any other person , or persons whatsoever , or any statute , act , ordinance , provision , proclamation , or restraint heretofore had , made , published , ordained , or provided , or any other thing , cause , or matter whatsoever , to the contrary thereof , in any wise notwithstanding . in witness , &c. witness the king , at vvestminster , the four and twentieth day of march , in the fifteenth year of our reign . per ipsum regem . the second charter granted by king charles iid . to the proprietors of carolina . charles iid . by the grace of god , &c. whereas , by our letters patents , bearing date the four and twentieth day of march ; in the fifteenth year of our reign , we were graciously pleas'd to grant unto our right trusty , and right well-beloved cousin and counsellor edward earl of clarendon , our high chancellor of england , our right trusty , and right intirely beloved cousin and counsellor , george duke of albemarle , master of our horse , our right trusty , and well beloved william , now earl of craven , our right trusty and well-beloved counsellor , john lord berkeley , our right trusty , and well-beloved counsellor , anthony lord ashley , chancellor of our exchequer , our right trusty and well-beloved counsellor sir george carterett knight and baronet , vice-chamberlain of our houshold , our right trusty and well-beloved , sir john colleton knight and baronet , and sir william berkeley knight , all that province , territotory , or tract of ground , called carolina , scituate , lying and being within our dominions of america , extending from the north end of the island , called luke island , which lyeth in the southern virginia seas , and within six and thirty degrees of the northern latitude ; and to the west , as far as the south seas ; and so respectively as far as the river of mathias , which bordereth upon the coast of florida , and within one and thirty degrees of the northern latitude , and so west in a direct line , as far as the south seas aforesaid . now , know ye , that we , at the humble request of the said grantees in the aforesaid letters , patents named , and as a further mark of our especial favour towards them , we are gratiously pleased to enlarge our said grant unto them , according to the bounds and limits hereafter specifyed , and in favour to the pious and noble purpose of the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton ▪ and sir william berkeley , their heirs and assigns , all that province , territory , or tract of ground , scituate , lying , and being within our dominions of america aforesaid , extending north and eastward , as far as the north end of carahtuke river , or gulet , upon a streight westerly line , to wyonoake creek , which lyes within , or about the degrees of thirty six , and thirty minutes northern latitude , and so west , in a direct line as far as the south seas ; and south and westward , as far as the degrees of twenty nine inclusive northern latitude , and so west in a direct line , as far as the south seas ; together with all and singular ports , harbours , bays , rivers and islets , belonging unto the province or territory , aforesaid . and also , all the soil , lands , fields , woods , mountains , ferms , lakes , rivers , bays and islets , scituate , or being within the bounds , or limits , last before mentioned ; with the fishing of all sorts of fish , whales , sturgeons , and all other royal fishes in the sea , bays , islets and rivers , within the premises , and the fish therein taken ; together with the royalty of the sea , upon the coast within the limits aforesaid . and moreover ▪ all veins , mines and quarries , as well discovered as not discover'd , of gold , silver , gems and precious stones , and all other whatsoever ; be it of stones , mettal , or any other thing found , or to be found within the province , territory , islets and limits aforesaid . and furthermore , the patronage and avowsons of all the churches and chappels , which as christian religion shall encrease within the province , territory , isles and limits aforesaid , shall happen hereafter to be erected ; together with license and power to build and found churches , chappels and oratories in convenient and fit places , within the said bounds and limits ; and to cause them to be dedicated and consecrated , according to the ecclesiastical laws of our kingdom of england ; together with all and singular , the like , and as ample rights , jurisdictions , priviledges , prerogatives , royalties , liberties , immunities and franchises , of what kind soever , within the territory , isles , islets and limits aforesaid . to have , hold , use , exercise and enjoy the same as amply , fully , and in as ample manner as any bishop of durham in our kingdom of england , ever heretofore had , held , used , or enjoyed , or of right ought , or could have , use , or enjoy ; and them the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton , and sir william berkeley , their heirs and assigns ; we do by these presents , for us , our heirs and successors , make , create and constitute the true and absolute lords and proprietors of the said province , or territory , and of all other the premises , saving always the faith , allegiance and sovereign dominion due to us , our heirs and successors , for the same ; to have , hold , possess and enjoy the said province , territory , islets , and all and singular , other the premises , to them the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir william berkeley , their heirs and assigns , for ever , to be holden of us , our heirs and successors , as of our mannor of east greenwich , in kent , in free and common soccage , and not in capite , or by knights service , yeilding and paying yearly to us , our heirs and successors , for the same the fourth part of all goods and silver oar , which within the limits hereby granted , shall from time to time , happen to be found , over and besides the yearly rent of twenty marks and the fourth part of the gold and silver oar , in and by the said recited letters patents reserved and payable . and that the province , or territory hereby granted and described , may be dignifyed with as large titles and priviledges as any other parts of our dominions and territories in that region . know ye , that we , of our further grace , certain knowledge and meer motion , have thought fit to annex the same tract of ground and territory , unto the same province of carolina ; and out of the fulness of our royal power and prerogative , we do for us , our heirs and successors , annex and unite the same to the said province of carolina . and forasmuch as we have made and ordained , the aforesaid edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir william berkeley , their heirs and assigns , the true lords and proprietors of all the province or territory aforesaid . know ye therefore moreover , that we reposing especial trust and confidence in their fidelity , wisdom , justice and provident circumspection for us , our heirs and successors , do grant full and absolute power , by virtue of these presents , to them the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir vvilliam berkeley ▪ and their heirs and assigns , for the good and happy government of the said whole province or territory , full power and authority to erect , constitute , and make several counties , baronies , and colonies , of and within the said provinces , territories , lands and hereditaments , in and by the said recited letter , patents , and these presents , granted , or mentioned to be granted , as aforesaid , with several and distinct jurisdictions , powers , liberties and priviledges . and also , to ordain , make and enact , and under their seals , to publish any laws and constitutions whatsoever , either appertaining to the publick state of the said whole provi●●● or territory , or of any distinct or particular county , barony or colony , of or within the same , or to the private utility of particular persons , according to their best discretion , by and with the advice , assent and approbation of the freemen of the said province or territory , or of the freemen of the county , barony or colony , for which such law or constitution shall be made , or the greater part of them , or of their delegates or deputies , whom for enacting of the said laws , when , and as often as need shall require , we will that the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir william berkeley , and their heirs or assigns , shall from time to time , assemble in such manner and form as to them shall seem best : and the same laws duly to execute upon all people within and the said province or territory , county , barony or colony the limits thereof , for the time being , which shall be constituted under the power and government of them , or any of them , either sailing towards the said province or territory of carolina , or returning from thence towards england , or any other of our , or forreign dominions , by imposition of penalties , imprisonment , or any other punishment : yea , if it shall be needful , and the quality of the offence require it , by taking away member and life , either by them , the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir vvilliam berkeley and their heirs , or by them or their deputies , lieutenants , judges , justices , magistrates , or officers whatsoever , as well within the said province as at sea , in such manner and form as unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir william berkeley , and their heirs , shall seem most convenient : also , to remit , release , pardon and abolish , whether before judgement or after , all crimes and offences whatsoever , against the said laws ; and to do all and every other thing and things , which unto the ●ompleat establishment of justice , unto ●o●●ts , sessions and forms of judicature , and manners of proceedings therein , do bel●●g , al●●● in these presents , express 〈…〉 made thereof , and by judges , to 〈…〉 process , ●●●d pleas , and determine 〈…〉 judicature all actions ▪ suits and causes whatsoever , as well criminal as civil , real , mixt , personal , or of any other kind or nature whatsoever : which laws so as aforesaid , to be published . our pleasure is , and we do enjoyn , require and command , shall be absolutely firm and available in law ; and that all the leige people of us , our heirs and successors , within the said province or territory , do observe and keep the same inviolably in those parts , so far as they concern them , under the pains and penalties therein expressed , or to be expressed ; provided nevertheless , that the said laws be consonant to reason , and as near as may be conveniently , agreeeble to the laws and customs of this our realm of england . and because such assemblies of free-holders cannot be so suddenly called as there may be occasion to require the same . we do therefore by these presents , give and grant unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir william berkeley , their heirs and assigns , by themselves or their magistrates in that behalf , lawfully authorized , full power and authority from time to time , to make and ordain fit and wholsome orders and ordinances , within the province or territory aforesaid , or any county , barony or province , of or within the same , to be kept and observed , as well for the keeping of the peace , as for the better government of the people there abiding , and to publish the same to all to whom it may concern : which ordinances we do , by these presents , streightly charge and command to be inviolably observed within the same province , countys , territorys , baronys and provinces , under the penalties therein expressed ; so as such ordinances be reasonable and not repugnant or contrary , but as near as may be agreeable to the laws and statutes of this our kingdom of england ; and so as the same ordinances do not extend to the binding , charging or taking away of the right or interest of any person or persons , in their freehold , goods or chattels , whatsoever . and to the end the said province or territory , may be the more happily encreased by the multitude of people resorting thither , and may likewise be the more strongly defended from the incursions of savages and other enemies , pirates and robbers . therefore , we for us , our heirs and successors , do give and grant by these presents , power , license and liberty unto all the leige people of us , our heirs and successors in our kingdom of england , or elsewhere , within any other our dominions , islands colonies or plantations ; ( excepting those who shall be especially forbidden ) to transport themselves and families into the said province or territory , with convenient shipping , and fitting provisions ; and there to settle themselves , dwell and inhabit , any law , act , statute , ordinance , or other thing to the contrary in any wise , notwithstanding . and we will also , and of our especial grace , for us , our heirs and successors , do streightly enjoyn , ordain , constitute and command , that the said province or territory , shall be of our allegiance ; and that all and singular , the subjects and leige people of us , our heirs and successors , transported , or to be transported into the said province , and the children of them , and such as shall descend from them , there born , or hereafter to be born , be , and shall be denizens and leiges of us , our heirs and successors of this our kingdom of england , and be in all things , held , treated and reputed as the leige faithful people of us , our heirs and successors , born within this our said kingdom , or any other of our dominions ; and may inherit , or otherwise purchase and receive , take , hold , buy and possess any lands , tenements or hereditaments , within the said places , and them may occupy , and enjoy , sell , alien and bequeath ; as likewise , all liberties , franchises and priviledges of this our kingdom , and of other our dominions aforesaid , may freely and quietly have , possess and enjoy , as our leige people born within the same , without the molestation , vexation , trouble or grievance of us , our heirs and successors , any act , statute , ordinance , provision to the contrary , notwithstanding . and furthermore , that our subjects of this our said kingdom of england , and other our dominions , may be the rather encouraged to undertake this expedition , with ready and chearful means . know ye , that we , of our especial grace , certain knowledge and meer motion , do give and grant , by virtue of these presents , as well to the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir william berkeley and their heirs , as unto all others as shall , from time to time , repair unto the said province or territory , with a purpose to in habit there , or to trade with the natives thereof ▪ full liberty and license to lade and freight in every port whatsoever , of us , our heirs and successors ; and into the said province of carolina , by them , their servants and assigns , to transport all and singular , their goods , wares and merchandizes ; as likewise , all sort of grain whatsoever , and any other thing whatsoever , necessary for their food and cloathing , not prohibited by the laws and statutes of our kingdom and dominions , to be carried out of the same , without any lett or molestation of us , our heirs and successors , or of any other our officers or ministers whatsoever ; saving also to us , our heirs and successors , the customs , and other duties and payments due for the said wares and merchandizes , according to the several rates of the places from whence the same shall be transported . we will also , and by these presents , for us , our heirs and successors , do give and grant license by this our charter , unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , vvilliam earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir vvilliam berkeley , their heirs and assigns , and to all the inhabitants and dwellers in the province or territory aforesaid , both present and to come , full power and absolute authority to import or unlade by themselves , or their servants , factors or assigns , all merchandizes and goods whatsoever , that shall arise of the fruits and commodities of the said province or territory , either by land or sea , into any the ports of us , our heirs and successors , in our kingdom of england , scotland or ireland , or otherwise , to dispose of the said goods , in the said ports . and if need be , within one year next after the unlading , to lade the said merchandizes and goods again into the same , or other ships ; and to export the same into any other countrys , either of our dominions or forreign , being in amity with us , our heirs and successors , so as they pay such customs , subsidies and other duties for the same to us , our heirs and successors , as the rest of our subjects of this our kingdom , for the time being , shall be bound to pay . beyond which we will not that the inhabitants of the said province or territory , shall be any ways charged . provided , nevertheless , and our will and pleasure is , and we have further , for the considerations aforesaid , of our 〈…〉 certain knowledge and meer motion , given and granted , and by these presents , for 〈…〉 heirs and successors , do give and grant unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir william berkeley , their heirs and assigns , full and free license , liberty , power and authority , at any time or times , from and after the feast of s● michael the arch-angel , which shall be in the year of our lord christ , one thousand six hundred , sixty and seven ; as we●● to import and bring into any our dominions from the said province of carolina , or any part thereof , the several goods and commodities herein after mentioned ; that is to say , silks , wines , currants , raysons , capers , wax , almonds , oyl and olives , without paying or answering to us , our heirs and successors , any custom , impost , or other duty , for , or in respect thereof , for an during the time and space of seven years to commence and be accompted from and after the first importation of four tons of any the said goods , in any one bottom ship or vessel , from the said province or territory , into any of our dominions ; as also , to export and carry out of any of our dominions into the said province or territory , custom-free , all sorts of tools , which shall be useful or necessary for the planters there , in the accomodation and improvement of the premises , any thing before in these presents contained , or any law , act , statute , prohibibition , or other matter or thing , heretofore had , made , enacted or provided , or hereafter to be had , made , enacted or provided , in any wise notwithstanding . and furthermore , of our more ample and especial grace , certain knowledge and meer motion , we do for us , our heirs and successors , grant unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , vvilliam earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir vvilliam berkeley , their heirs and assigns , full and absolute power and authority to make , erect and constitute within the said province or territory , and the isles and islets aforesaid , such and so many sea-ports , harbours , creeks and other places for discharge and unlading of goods and merchandizes out of ships , boats , and other vessels , and for lading of them in such and so many places , 〈…〉 such jurisdictions , priviledges and franchises , unto the said ports belonging , as to them shall seem most exped 〈…〉 and 〈…〉 ngular , the ships , boats and other vessels , which shall come for merchandizes , and trade into the said province or territory , or shall depart out of the same , shall be laden and unladen at such ports only , as shall be erected and constituted by the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , vvilliam earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir william berkley , their heirs and assigns , and not elsewhere , any use , custom , or any thing to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding . and we do furthermore will , appoint and ordain , and by these presents , for us , our heirs and successors , do grant unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkely , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir william berkeley , their heirs and assigns , that they the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir vvilliam berkeley , their heirs and assigns , may from time to time , for ever , have and enjoy the customs and subsidies in the ports harbours , creeks and other places within the province aforesaid , payable for the goods , merchandizes and wares there laded , or be laded or unladed , the said customs to be reasonably assessed to upon any occasion by themselves , and by and with the consent of the free people , or the greater part of them , as aforesaid ; to whom we give power by these presents , for us , our heirs and successors , upon just cause and in a due proportion to assess and impose the same . and further , of our especial grace , certain knowledge and meer motion , we have given , granted and confirmed , and by these presents , for us , our heirs and successors , do give , grant and confirm unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , vvilliam earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir vvilliam berkeley , their heirs and assigns , full and absolute power , license and authority , that they the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , vvilliam earl craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett . sir john colleton and sir vvilliam berkley , their heirs and assigns , from time to time , hereafter for ever , at his and their will and pleasure , may assign , alien , grant , demise or enfeoff the premises or any part or parcell thereof to him or them , that shall be willing to purchase the same , and to such person and persons , as they shall think fit , to have , and to hold to them the said person or persons , their heirs and assigns in fee simple or in fee tayle , or for the term of life or lives , or years to be held of them , the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , vvilliam earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir william berkeley , their heirs and assigns , by such rents , services and customs , as shall seem fit to them the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , vvilliam earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir william berkeley , their heirs and assigns , and not of us , our heirs and successors : and to the same person and persons , and to all and every of them , we do give and grant by these presents , for us , our heirs and successors , license , authority and power , that such person or persons , may have and take the premises , or any parcel thereof , of the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , vvilliam earl of craven , john lord berkely , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir william berkeley , their heirs and assigns , and the same to hold to themselves , their heirs or assigns , in what estate of inheritance soever , in fee simple , or in fee tayle , or otherwise , as to them the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir william berkley , their heirs and assigns , shall seem expedient . the statute in the parliament of edward , son of king henry , heretofore king of england , our predecessor , commonly called , the statute of quia emptores terrar ; or any other satute , act , ordinance , use , law , custom , or any other matter , cause or thing heretofore published or provided to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding . and because many persons born and inhabiting in the said province for their deserts and services may expect , and be capable of marks of honour and favour , which in respect of the great distance cannot conveniently be conferred by us ; our will and pleasure therefore is , and we do by these presents , give and grant unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir william berkeley , 〈◊〉 heirs and assigns , full power and authority to give and conferr unto , and upon such of the inhabitants of the said province , or territory , as they shall think , do , or shall merit the same , such marks of favour , and titles of honour , as they shall think fit , so as their titles or honours be not the same as are enjoyed by , or conferred upon any of the subjects of this our kingdom of england . and further also , we do by these presents , for us , our heirs and successors , give and grant , license to them the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir william berkeley , their heirs and assigns , full power , liberty and license , to erect , raise and build within the said province and places aforesaid , or any part or parts thereof , such and so many forts , fortresses , castles , cities , burroughs , towns , villages and other fortifications whatsoever ; and the same or any of them to fortify and furnish with ordnance , powder , shot , armour and all other weapons , ammunition and habiliments of war , both defensive and offensive , as shall be thought fit and convenient for the safety and welfare of the said province , and places , or any part thereof ; and the same , or any of them , from time to time , as occasion shall require , to dismantle , disfurnish , demolish and pull down ; and also to place , constitute and appoint in , or over all , or any of the said castles , forts , fortifications , cities , towns and places aforesaid , governours , deputy governours , magistrates , sheriffs and other officers , civil and military , as to them shall seem meet ; and to the said cities , burroughs , towns , villages , or any other place , or places , within the said province or territory , to grant letters or charters of incorporation , with all liberties , franchises and priviledges requisite , or usual , or to , or within this our kingdom of england granted , or belonging ; and in the same citties , burroughs , towns and other places , to constitute , erect and appoint such , and so many markets , marts and fairs , as shall in that behalf be thought fit and necessary ; and further also , to erect and make in the province or territory aforesaid , or any part thereof , so man mannors with such signories as to them shall seem meet and convenient , and in every of the same mannors to have and to hold a court-baron with all things whatsoever , which to a court-baron do belong , and to have and to hold views of franck pledge , and courts-leet , for the conservation of the peace , and better government of those parts , with such limits , jurisdiction and precincts , as by the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkely , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton , and sir william berkeley , or their heirs , shall be appointed for that purpose , with all things whatsoever , which to a court leet , or view of franck pledge ; do belong , the same courts to be holden by stewards , to be deputed and authorized by the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton , and sir william berkeley or their heirs , by the lords of the mannors and leets , for the time being , when the same shall be erected . and because that in so remote a country , and scituate among so many barbarous nations , the invasions as well of salvages as other enemies , pirates , and robbers may probably be feared ; therefore we have given , and for us , our heirs and successors do give power by these presents , unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir william berkeley , their heirs or assigns by themselves , or their captains , or other officers to levy , muster and train up all sorts of men , of what condition soever , or wheresoever born , whether in the said province , or elsewhere , for the time being ; and to make war and pursue the enemies aforesaid , as well by sea , as by land ; yea , even without the limits of the said province , and by god's assistance , to vanquish and take them , and being taken , to put them to death by the law of war , and to save them at their pleasure ; and to do all and every other thing , which to the charge and office of a captain general of an army belongeth , or hath accustomed to belong , as fully and freely as any captain general of an army hath had the same . also , our will and pleasure is , and by this our charter , we do give and grant unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william lord craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir gorge carterett , sir john colleton and sir william berkeley , their heirs and assigns , full power , liberty and authority in case of rebellion , tumult , or sedition ( if any should happen which god forbid ) either upon the land within the province aforesaid , or upon the main sea , in making a voyage thither , or returning from thence , by him and themselves , their captains , deputies or officers , to be authorized under his or their seals , for that purpose : to whom also for us , our heirs and successors , we do give and grant by these presents , full power and authority to exercise martial law against mutinous and seditious persons of those parts ; such as shall refuse to submit themselves to their government , or shall refuse to serve in the wars , or shall fly to the enemy , or forsake their colours or ensigns , or be loyterers or straglers , or otherwise howsoever offending against law , custom , or military discipline , as freely , and in as ample manner and form as any captain general of an army , by virtue of his office , might , or hath accustomed to use the same . and our further pleasure is , and by these presents , for us , our heirs and successors , we do grant unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton , and sir william berkeley , their heirs and assigns , and to the tenants and inhabitants of the said province , or territory , both present and to come , and to every of them , that the said province , or territory , and the tennants and inhabitants thereof , shall not from henceforth , be held or reputed any member , or part of any collony whatsoever , in america or elsewhere , now transported or made , or hereafter to be transported or made ; nor shall be depending on , or subject to their government in any thing , but be absolutely separated and divided from the same : and our pleasure is , by these presents , that they be separated , and that they be subject immediately to our crown of england , as depending thereof for ever . and that the inhabitants of the said province or territory , nor any of them , shall at any time hereafter , be compelled or compellable , or be any ways subject , or li●●●● to appear or answer to any matter , suit , cause , or plaint whatsoever , out of the province or territory aforesaid , in any other of our 〈◊〉 , collonies or dominions in america , or elsewhere , other than in our 〈◊〉 of england and dominion of wales . and because it may happen , that some of the people and inhabitants of the said province , cannot in their private opinions conform to the publick exercise of religion according to the liturgy , forms and ceremonies of the church of england , or take or subscribe the oaths and articles made and established in that behalf : and for that the same , by reason of the remote distances of those places will as we hope , be no breach of the unity , and conformity , established in this nation . our will and pleasure therefore is , and we do by these presents for us , our heirs , and successors , give and grant unto the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir william berkeley , their heirs and assigns , full and free licence , liberty and authority , by such ways and means as they shall think fit , to give and grant unto such person and persons , inhabiting , and being withi the said province or territory , hereby or by the said recited letters patents , mentioned to be granted as aforesaid , or any part thereof , such indulgencies and dispensations , in that behalf , for , and during such time and times , and with such limitations and restrictions as they the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir vvilliam berkely , their heirs , or assigns , shall in their discretion think fit and reasonable . and that no person or persons , unto whom such liberty shall be given , shall be any way molested , punished , disquieted , or called in question for any differences in opinion or practise , in matters of religious concernment , who do not actually disturb the civil peace of the province , county or colony , that they shall make their abode in . but all and every such person and persons , may from time to time , and at all times , freely and quietly have and enjoy his and their judgments and consciences , in matters of religion , throughout all the said province , or colony , they behaving them selves peaceably , and 〈◊〉 this liberty to licentiousness , nor to the civil injury or outward disturbance of others . any law , statute or clause contained , or to be contained , 〈◊〉 or customs of our realm of england to the contrary hereof : any 〈◊〉 notwithstanding . and in case it shall happen , that any doubts or questions should arise concerning the true sense and understanding of any word , clause , or sentence , contained in this our present charter , we will , ordain , and command , that at all times , and in all things , such interpretations be made thereof , and allow'd in all and every of our courts whatsoever , as lawfully may be adjudged most advantageous and favourable to the said edward earl of clarendon , george duke of albemarle , william earl of craven , john lord berkeley , anthony lord ashley , sir george carterett , sir john colleton and sir william berkeley , their heirs and assigns , although express mention &c. witness our self at westminster , the thirtieth day of june , in the seventeenth year of our reign . per ipsum regem . the fundamental constitutions of carolina . our sovereign lord the king having out of his royal grace and bounty , granted unto us the province of carolina , with all the royalties , proprieties , jurisdictions and privileges of a county palatine , as large and ample as the county palatine of durham , with other great privileges ; for the better settlement of the government of the said place , and establishing the interest of the lords proprietors with equality , and without confusion , and that the government of this province may be made most agreeable to the monarchy under which we live , and of which this province is a part ; and that we may avoid erecting a numerous democracy , we the lords and proprietors of the province aforesaid , have agreed to this following form of government , to be perpetually established amongst us , unto which we do oblige our selves , our heirs and successors , in the most binding ways that can be devised . § . 1. the eldest of the lords proprietors shall be palatine , and upon the decease of the palatine , the eldest of the seven surviving proprietors shall always succeed him . § . 2. there shall be seven other chief offices erected , viz. the admirals , chamberlains , chancellors , constable , chief-justices , high-stewards and treasurers ; which places shall be enjoy'd by none but the lords proprietors , to be 〈◊〉 at first 〈…〉 upon the vacancy of any one of the seven great 〈…〉 , or otherwise , the eldest proprietor shall 〈…〉 the said place . § . 3. the whole province shall be 〈◊〉 into counties ; each county shall consist of eight 〈◊〉 , eight baronies , and four precincts , each precinct shall consist of six colonies . § . 4. each signiory , barony and colony , shall consist of twelve thousand acres , the eight signiories being the share of the eight proprietors , and the eight baronies of the nobility , both which shares being each of them one fifth part of the whole , are to be perpetually annex'd the one to the proprietors , the other to the hereditary nobility , leaving the colonies , being three fifths , amongst the people ; that so in setting out , and planting the lands , the ballance of the government may be preserved . § . 5. at any time before the year one thousand seven hundred and one , any of the lords proprietors shall have power to relinquish , alienate , and dispose to any other person , his proprietorship , and all the signiories , powers , and interest thereunto belonging , wholly and intirely together , and not otherwise . but after the year one thousand seven hundred , those who are then lords proprietors , shall not have power to alienate , or make over their proprietorship , with the signories and privileges thereunto belonging , or any part thereof , to any person whatsoever , otherwise than as in § . 18. but it shall all descend unto their heirs male ; and , for want of heirs male , it shall all descend on that landgrave or cassique of carolina , who is descended of the next heirs female of the said proprietor ; and for want of such heirs , it shall descend on the next heir general ; and for want of such heirs , the remaining seven proprietors , shall , upon the vacancy , chuse a landgrave to succeed the deceased proprietor , who being chosen by the majority of the seven surviving proprietors , he and his heirs successively shall be proprietors , as fully to all intents and purposes as any of the rest . § . 6. that the number of eight proprietors may be constantly kept ; if upon the vacancy of any proprietorship , the seven surviving proprietors shall not chuse a landgrave to be a proprietor , before the second biennial parliament after the vacancy ; then the next biennial parliament but one , after such vacancy , shall have power to chuse any landgrave to be proprietor . § . 7. whosoever after the year one thousand seven hundred , either by inheritance or choice , shall succeed any proprietor in his proprietorship , and signiories thereunto belonging , shall be obliged to take the name and arms of that proprietor whom he succeeds ; which from thenceforth shall be the name and arms of his family and their posterity . § . 8. whatsoever landgrave or cassique shall any way come to be a proprietor , shall take the signiories annex'd to the said proprietorship ; but his former dignity , with the baronies annexed , shall devolve into the hands of the lords proprietors . § . 9. there shall be just as many landgraves as there are counties , and twice as many cassiques , and no more . these shall be the hereditary nobility of the province , and by right of their dignity be members of parliament . each landgrave shall have four baronies , and each cassique two baronies , hereditarily and unalterably annexed to , and settled upon the said dignity . § . 10. the first landgraves and cassiques of the twelve first counties to be planted , shall be nominated thus ; that is to say , of the twelve landgraves , the lords proprietors shall each of them separately for himself , nominate and chuse one ; and the remaining four landgraves of the first twelve , shall be nominated and chosen by the palatine's court. in like manner of the twenty four first cassiques , each proprietor for himself shall nominate and chuse two , and the remaining eight shall be nominated and chosen by the palatine's court ; and when the twelve first counties shall be planted , the lords proprietors shall again in the same manner nominate and chuse twelve more landgraves , and twenty four cassiques for the twelve next counties to be planted ; that is to say , two thirds of each number by the single nomination of each proprietor for himself , and the remaining one third by the joint election of the palatine's court , and so proceed in the same manner till the whole province of carolina be set out and planted , according to the proportions in these fundamental constitutions . § . 11. any landgrave or cassique at any time before the year one thousand seven hundred and one , shall have power to alienate , sell , or make over to any other person , his dignity , with the baronies thereunto belonging , all entirely together . but after the year one thousand seven hundred , no landgrave or cassique shall have power to alienate , sell , make over , or lett the hereditary baronies of his dignity , or any part thereof , otherwise than as in § . 18. but they shall all entirely , with the dignity thereunto belonging , descend unto his heirs male ; and for want of heirs male , all entirely and undivided , to the next heir general ; and for want of such heirs , shall devolve into the hands of the lords proprietors . § . 12. that the due number of landgraves and cassiques may be always kept up , if upon the devolution of any landgraveship or cassiqueship , the palatine's court shall not settle the devolved dignity , with the baronies thereunto annexed , before the second biennial parliament after such devolution , the next biennial parliament but one after such devolution shall have power to make any one landgrave or cassique in the room of him , who dying without heirs , his dignity and baronies devolved . § . 13. no one person shall have more than one dignity , with the signiores or baronies thereunto belonging . but whensoever it shall happen , that any one who is already proprietor , landgrave , or cassique , shall have any of these dignities descend to him by inheritance , it shall be at his choice to keep which of the dignities , with the lands annexed , he shall like best ; but shall leave the other , with the lands annexed , to be enjoyed by him , who not being his heir apparent , and certain successor to his present dignity , is next of blood. § . 14. whosoever by right of inheritance shall come to be landgrave or cassique , shall take the name and arms of his predecessor in that dignity , to be from thenceforth the name and arms of his family and their posterity . § . 15. since the dignity , of proprietor , landgrave , or cassique , cannot be divided , and the signiories or baronies thereunto annexed must for ever all entirely descend with , and accompany that dignity , whensoever for want of heirs male it shall descend on the issue female , the eldest daughter and heirs shall be preferred , and in the inheritance of those dignities , and in the signiories or baronies annexed , there shall be no co-heirs . § . 16. in every signiory , barony , and mannor , the respective lord shall have power in his own name to hold court-leet there , for trying of all causes both civil and criminial ; but where it shall concern any person being no inhabitant , vassal , or leetman of the said signiory , barony , or mannor , he upon paying down of forty shillings to the lords proprietors use , shall have an appeal from the signiory or barony court , to the county court , and from the mannor court to the precinct court. § . 17. every mannor shall consist of not less than three thousand acres , and not above twelve thousand acres in one entire piece and colony ; but any three thousand acres or more in one piece , and the possession of one man , shall not be a mannor , unless it be constituted a mannor by the grant of the palatine's court. § . 18. the lords of signiories and baronies shall have power only of granting estates not exceeding three lives , or thirty one years , in two thirds of the said signiories or baronies , and the remaining third shall be always demesne . § . 19. any lord of a mannor may alienate , sell , or dispose to any other person , and his heirs for ever , his mannor , all entirely together , with all the privileges and leetmen thereunto belonging , so far forth as any other colony lands , but no grant of any part thereof , either in fee , or for any longer term than three lives , or one and twenty years , shall be good against the next heir . § . 20. no mannor , for want of issue male , shall be divided amongst co-heirs ; but the mannor , if there be but one , shall all entirely descend to the eldest daughter and her heirs . if there be more mannors than one , the eldest daughter first shall have her choice , the second next , and so on ; beginning again at the eldest , till all the mannors be taken up ; that so the privileges which belong to mannors being indivisible , the lands of the mannors to which they are annexed , may be kept entire , and the mannor not lose those privileges , which upon parcelling out to several owners , must necessarily cease . § . 21. every lord of a mannor , within his mannor , shall have all the powers , jurisdictions , and privileges , which a landgrave or cassique hath in his baronies . § . 22. in every signiory , barony , and mannor , all the leet-men shall be under the jurisdiction of the respective lords of the said signiory , barony , or mannor , without appeal from him . nor shall any leet-man or leet-woman have liberty to go off from the land of their particular lord , and live any where else , without license obtained from their said lord , under hand and seal . § . 23. all the children of leet-men shall be leet-men , and so to all generations . § . 24. no man shall be capable of having a court-leet or leet-men , but a proprietor , landgrave , cassique , or lord of a mannor . § . 25. whoever shall voluntarily enter himself a leet-man in the registry of the county court , shall be a leet-man . § . 26. whoever is lord of leet-men , shall upon the marriage of a leet-man or leet-woman of his , give them ten acres of land for their lives , they paying to him therefore not more than one eighth part of all the yearly produce and growth of the said ten acres . § . 27. no landgrave or cassique shall be try'd for any criminal cause , in any but the chief-justice's court , and that by a jury of his peers . § . 28. there shall be eight supreme courts . the first called , the palatine's court , consisting of the palatine , and the other seven proprietors . the other seven courts of the other seven great officers , shall consist each of them of a proprietor , and six councellors added to him . under each of these latter seven courts shall be a college of twelve assistants . the twelve assistants of the several colleges shall be chosen ; two out of the landgraves , cassiques , or eldest sons of proprietors , by the palatine's court ; two out of the landgraves , by the landgraves chamber ; two out of the cassiques , by the cassiques chamber ; four more of the twelve shall be chosen by the commons chamber , out of such as have been , or are members of parliament , sheriffs , or justices of the county court , or the younger sons of proprietors , or eldest sons of landgraves of cassiques ; the two other shall be chosen by the palatine's court , out of the same sort of persons out of which the commons chamber is to chuse . § . 29. out of these colleges shall be chosen at first by the palatine's court , six councellers , to be joined with each proprietor in his court ; of which six , one shall be of those who were chosen into any of the colleges by the palatine's court , out of the landgraves , cassiques , or eldest sons of proprietors , one out of those who were chosen by the landgraves chamber , and one out of those who were chosen by the cassiques chamber , two out of those who were chosen by the commons chamber , and one out of those who were chosen by the palatine's court , out of the proprietors younger sons , or eldest sons of landgraves , cassiques , or commons , qualified as aforesaid . § . 30. when it shall happen , that any councellor dies , and thereby there is a vacancy , the grand council shall have power to remove any councellor that is willing to be removed out of any of the proprietors courts to fill up the vacancy , provided they take a man of the same degree and choice the other was of , whose vacant place is to be filled up . but if no councellor consent to be removed , or upon such remove , the last remaining vacant place in any of the proprietors courts , shall be filled up by the choice of the grand council , who shall have power to remove out of any of the colleges , any assistant , who is of the same degree and choice that councellor was of , into whose vacant place he is to succeed . the grand council also shall have power to remove any assistant that is willing , out of one college into another , provided he be of the same degree and choice . but the last remaining vacant place in any college , shall be filled up by the same choice , and out of the same degree of persons the assistant was of , who is dead or removed . no place shall be vacant in any proprietors court above six months . no place shall be vacant in any college longer than the next session of parliament . § . 31. no man , being a member of the grand council , or of any of the seven colleges , shall be turned out but for misdemeanor , of which the grand council shall be judge , and the vacancy of the person so put out shall be filled , not by the election of the grand council , but by those who first chose him , and out of the same degree he was of , who is expelled . but it is not hereby to be understood , that the grand council hath any power to turn out any one of the lords proprietors , or their deputies , the lords proprietors having in themselves an inherent original right . § . 32. all elections in the parliament , in the several chambers of the parliament , and in the grand council , shall be passed by balotting . § . 33. the palatine's court shall consist of the palatine , and seven proprietors , wherein nothing shall be acted without the presence and consent of the palatine or his deputy , and three others of the proprietors or their deputies . this court shall have power to call parliaments , to pardon all offences , to make elections of all officers in the proprieters dispose , and to nominate and appoint port-towns : and also shall have power , by their order to the treasurer , to dispose of all publick treasure , excepting money granted by the parliament , and by them directed to some particular publick use : and also shall have a negative upon all acts , orders , votes , and judgments , of the grand council and the parliament , except only as in § . 6. and 12. and shall have all the powers granted to the lords proprietors , by their patent from our sovereign lord the king , except in such things as are limited by these fundamental constitutions . § . 34. the palatine himself , when he in person shall be either in the army , or in any of the proprietors courts , shall then have the power of general , or of that proprietor in whose court he is then present , and the proprietor , in whose court the palatine then presides , shall during his presence there be but as one of the council . § . 35. the chancellor's court , consisting of one of the proprietors and his six councellors , who shall be called vice-chancellors , shall have the custody of the seal of the palatinate , under which all charters of lands or otherwise , commissions and grants of the palatine's court , shall pass . and it shall not be lawful to put the seal of the palatinate to any writing which is not signed by the palatine , or his deputy , and three other proprietors , or their deputies . to this court also belongs all state matters , dispatches and treaties with the neighbour indians . to this court also belongs all invasions of the law , of liberty of conscience , and all disturbances of the publick peace upon pretence of religion , as also the licence of printing . the twelve assistants belonging to this court shall be called recorders . § . 36. whatever passes under the seal of the palatinate , shall be register'd in that proprietor's court to which the matter therein contained belongs . § . 37. the chancellor or his deputy shall be always speaker in parliament , and president of the grand council , and in his and his deputy's absence , one of his vice-chancellors . § . 38. the chief-justice's court , consisting of one of the proprietors and his six councellors , who shall be called justices of the bench , shall judge all appeals in cases both civil and criminal , except all such cases as shall be under the jurisdiction and cognizance of any other of the proprietors courts , which shall be tried in those courts respectively . the government and regulation of the registries of writings and contracts , shall belong to the jurisdiction of this court. the twelve assistants of this court shall be called masters . § . 39. the constables court , consisting of one of the proprietors and his six councellors , who shall be called marshals , shall order and determine of all military affairs by land , and all land-forces , arms , ammunition , artillery , garrisons and forts , &c. and whatever belongs unto war. his twelve assistants shall be called lieutenant-generals . § . 40. in time of actual war , the constable , whilst he is in the army , shall be general of the army , and the six councellors , or such of them as the palatine's court shall for that time or service appoint , shall be the immediate great officers under him , and the lieutenant-generals next to them . § . 41. the admiral 's court , consisting of one of the proprietors and his six councellors called consuls , shall have the care and inspection over all ports , moles , and navigable rivers , so far as the tide flows , and also all the publick shipping of carolina , and stores thereunto belonging , and all maritime affairs . this court also shall have the power of the court of admiralty ; and shall have power to constitute judges in port-towns , to try cases belonging to law-merchant , as shall be most convenient for trade . the twelve assistants belonging to this court shall be called pro-consuls . § . 42. in time of actual war , the admiral whilst he is at sea , shall command in chief , and his six councellors , or such of them as the palatine's court shall for that time and service appoint , shall be the immediate great officers under him , and the pro-consuls next to them . § 43. the treasurer's court , consisting of a proprietor , and his six councellors , called vnder-treasurers , shall take care of all matters that concern the publick revenue and treasury . the twelve assistants shall be called auditors . § . 44. the high-stewards court , consisting of a proprietor and his six councellors , called comptrollers , shall have the care of all foreign and domestick trade , manufactures , publick buildings , work-houses , high-ways , passages by water above the floud of the tide , drains , sewers and banks , against inundations , bridges , posts , carriers , fairs , markets , corruption or infection of the common air or water , and all things in order to the publick commerce and health ; also setting out and surveying of lands ; and also setting out and appointing places for towns to be built on in the precincts , and the prescribing and determining the figure and bigness of the said towns , according to such models as the said court shall order , contrary or differing from which models , it shall not be lawful for any one to build in any town . this court shall have power also to make any publick building , or any new high-way , or enlarge any old high-way , upon any man's land whatsoever ; as also to make cuts , channels , banks , locks , and bridges , for making rivers navigable , or for draining fens , or any other publick use . the damage the owner of such lands ( on or through which any such publick thing shall be made ) shall receive thereby , shall be valued , and satisfaction made by such ways as the grand council shall appoint . the twelve assistants belonging to this court , shall be called surveyors . § . 45. the chamberlain's court , consisting of a proprietor and his six councellors , called vice-chamberlains , shall have the care of all ceremonies , precedency , heraldry , reception of publick messengers , pedegrees , the registry of all births , burials , and marriages , legitimation , and all cases concerning matrimony , or arising from it ; and shall also have power to regulate all fashions , habits , badges , games , and sports . to this court also it shall belong , to convocate the grand council . the twelve assistants belonging to this court , shall be called provosts . § . 46. all causes belonging to , or under the jurisdiction of any of the proprietors courts , shall in them respectively be tryed , and ultimately determined , without any farther appeal . § . 47. the proprietors courts shall have a power to mitigate all fines , and suspend all executions in criminal causes , either before or after sentence in any of the other inferior courts respectively . § . 48. in all debates , hearings or trials , in any of the proprietors courts , the twelve assistants belonging to the said courts respectively , shall have liberty to be present , but shall not interpose unless their opinions be required , nor have any vote at all ; but their business shall be , by the direction of the respective courts , to prepare such business as shall be committed to them ; as also to bear such offices , and dispatch such affairs , either where the court is kept , or elsewhere , as the court shall think fit . § . 49. in all the proprietors courts , the proprietor , and any three of his councellors shall make a quorum ; provided always , that for the better dispatch of business , it shall be in the power of the palatine's court to direct what sort of causes shall be heard and determined by a quorum of any three . § . 50. the grand council shall consist of the palatine and seven proprietors , and the forty two councellors of the several proprietors courts , who shall have power to determine any controversies that may arise between any of the proprietors courts , about their respective jurisdictions , or between the members of the same court , about their manner and methods of proceeding : to make peace and war , leagues , treaties , &c. with any of the neighbour indians : to issue out their general orders to the constable's and admiral 's courts , for the raising , disposing , or disbanding the forces by land or by sea. § . 51. the grand council shall prepare all matters to be proposed in parliament . nor shall any matter whatsover be proposed in parliament , but what hath first passed the grand council ; which after having been read three several days in the parliament , shall by majority of votes be passed or rejected . § . 52. the grand council shall always be judges of all causes and appeals that concern the palatine , or any of the lords proprietors , or any councellor of any proprietor's court , in any cause which otherwise should have been tried in the court in which the said councellor is judge himself . § . 53. the grand council by their warrants to the treasurer's court , shall dispose of all the money given by the parliament , and by them directed to any particular publick use . § . 54. the quorum of the grand council shall be thirteen , whereof a proprietor or his deputy shall be always one . § . 55. the grand council shall meet the first tuesday in every month , and as much oftner as either they shall think fit , or they shall be convocated by the chamberlain's court. § . 56. the palatine , or any of the lords proprietors , shall have power under hand and seal , to be registred in the grand council to make a deputy , who shall have the same power to all intents and purposes as he himself who deputes him , except in confirming acts of parliament , as in § . 76. and except also in nominating and chusing landgraves and cassiques , as in § . 10. all such deputations shall cease and determine at the end of four years , and at any time shall be revocable at the pleasure of the deputator . § . 57. no deputy of any proprietor shall have any power whilst the deputator is in any part of carolina , except the proprietor , whose deputy he is , be a minor. § . 58. during the minority of any proprietor , his guardian shall have power to constitute and appoint his deputy . § . 59. the eldest of the lords proprietors , who shall be personally in carolina , shall of course be the palatine's deputy ; and if no proprietor be in carolina , he shall chuse his deputy out of the heirs apparent of any of the proprietors , if any such be there ; and if there be no heir apparent of any of the lords proprietors above one and twenty years old in carolina , then he shall chuse for deputy any one of the landgraves at the grand council ; and till he have by deputation under hand and seal chosen any one of the forementioned heirs apparent or landgraves to be his deputy , the eldest man of the landgraves , and for want of a landgrave , the eldest man of the cassiques , who shall be personally in carolina , shall of course be his deputy . § . 60. each proprietor's deputy shall be always one of his own six councellors respectively ; and in case any of the proprietors hath not in his absence out of carolina a deputy , commissionated under his hand and seal , the eldest nobleman of his court shall of course be his deputy . § . 61. in every county there shall be a court , consisting of a sheriff and four justices of the county , for every precinct one . the sheriff shall be an inhabitant of the county , and have at least five hundred acres of freehold within the said county ; and the justices shall be inhabitants , and have each of them five hundred acres apiece freehold within the precinct for which they serve respectively . these five shall be chosen and commissionated from time to time by the palatine's court. § . 62. for any personal causes exceeding the value of two hundred pounds sterling , or in title of land , or in any criminal cause , either party , upon paying twenty pounds sterling to the lords proprietors use , shall have liberty of appeal from the county court unto the respective proprietor's court. § . 63. in every precinct there shall be a court , consisting of a steward and four justices of the precinct , being inhabitants , and having three hundred acres of freehold within the said precinct , who shall judge all criminal causes , except for treason , murther , and any other offences punishable with death , and except all criminal causes of the nobility ; and shall judge also all civil causes whatsoever ; and in all personal actions , not exceeding fifty pounds sterling , without appeal : but where the cause shall exceed that value , or concern a title of land , and in all criminal causes , there , either party , upon paying five pounds sterling to the lords proprietors use , shall have liberty of appeal to the county court. § . 64. no cause shall be twice tried in any one court , upon any reason or pretence whatsoever . § . 65. for treason , murther , and all other offences punishable with death , there shall be a commission , twice a year at least , granted unto one or more members of the grand council , or colleges , who shall come as itinerant judges to the several counties , and , with the sheriff and four justices shall hold assizes to judge all such causes : but upon paying of fifty pounds sterling to the lords proprietors use , there shall be liberty of appeal to the respective proprietor's court. § . 66. the grand-jury at the several assizes , shall , upon their oaths , and under their hands and seals , deliver in to the itinerant judges , a presentment of such grievances , misdemeanors , exigences , or defects which they think necessary for the publick good of the county ; which presentment shall by the itinerant judges , at the end of their circuit , be delivered in to the grand council at their next sitting . and whatsoever therein concerns the execution of laws already made , the several proprietors courts in the matters belonging to each of them respectively shall take cognizance of it , and give such orders about it , as shall be effectual for the due execution of the laws . but whatever concerns the making of any new law , shall be referred to the several respective courts to which that matter belongs , and be by them prepared and brought to the grand council . § . 67. for terms , there shall be quarterly such a certain number of days , not exceeding one and twenty at any one time , as the several respective courts shall appoint . the time for the beginning of the term in the precinct court , shall be the first monday in january , april , july and october ; in the county court , the first monday in february , may , august and november ; and in the proprietors courts , the first monday in march , june , september and december . § . 68. in the precinct court no man shall be a jury-man under fifty acres of freehold . in the county court , or at the assizes , no man shall be a grand jury-man under three hundred acres of freehold ; and no man shall be a petty jury-man under two hundred acres of freehold . in the proprietors courts no man shall be a jury-man under five hundred acres of freehold . § . 69. every jury shall consist of twelve men ; and it shall not be necessary they should all agree , but the verdict shall be according to the consent of the majority . § . 70. it shall be a base and vile thing to plead for money or reward ; nor shall any one ( except he be a near kinsman , not farther off than cousin-german to the party concern'd ) be permitted to plead another man's cause , till before the judge in open court he hath taken an oath , that he doth not plead for money or reward , nor hath nor will receive , nor directly nor indirectly bargain'd with the party whose cause he is going to plead , for money or any other reward for pleading his cause . § . 71. there shall be a parliament , consisting of the proprietors , or their deputies , the landgraves and cassiques , and one freeholder out of every precinct , to be chosen by the freeholders of the said precinct respectively . they shall sit altogether in one room , and have every member one vote . § . 72. no man shall be chosen a member of parliament , who hath less than five hundred acres of freehold within the precinct for which he is chosen ; nor shall any have a vote in chusing the said member that hath less than fifty acres of freehold within the said precinct . § . 73. a new parliament shall be assembled the first monday of the month of november every second year , and shall meet and sit in the town they last sat in , without any summons , unless by the palatine's court they be summon'd to meet at any other place . and if there shall be any occasion of a parliament in these intervals , it shall be in the power of the palatine's court to assemble them in forty days notice , and at such time and place as the said court shall think fit ; and the palatine's court shall have power to dissolve the parliament when they shall think fit . § . 74. at the opening of every parliament , the first thing that shall be done , shall be the reading of these fundamental constitutions , which the palatine and proprietors , and the rest of the members then present , shall subscribe . nor shall any person whatsoever sit or vote in the parliament , till he hath that session subscribed these fundamental constitutions , in a book kept for that purpose by the clerk of the parliament . § . 75. in order to the due election of members for the biennial parliament , it shall be lawful for the freeholders of the respective precincts to meet the first tuesday in september every two years , in the same town or place that they last met in to chuse parliament-men , and there chuse those members that are to sit the next november following , unless the steward of the precinct shall by sufficient notice thirty days before , appoint some other place for their meeting , in order to the election . § . 76. no act or order of parliament shall be of any force , unless it be ratified in open parliament during the same session , by the palatine or his deputy , and three more of the lords proprietors , or their deputies , and then not to continue longer in force but until the next biennial parliament , unless in the mean time it be ratified under the hands and seals of the palatine himself , and three more of the lords proprietors themselves , and by their order publish'd at the next biennial parliament . § . 77. any proprietor or his deputy may enter his protestation against any act of the parliament , before the palatine or his deputy's consent be given as aforesaid , if he shall conceive the said act to be contrary to this establishment , or any of these fundamental constitutions of the government . and in such case , after a full and free debate , the several estates shall retire into four several chambers , the palatine and proprietors into one , the landgraves into another , the cassiques into another , and those chosen by the precincts into a fourth ; and if the major part of any of the four estates shall vote , that the law is not agreeable to this establishment , and these fundamental constitutions of the government , then it shall pass no farther , but be as if it had never been proposed . § . 78. the quorum of the parliament shall be one half of those who are members , and capable of sitting in the house that present sessions of parliament . the quorum of each of the chambers of parliament , shall be one half of the members of that chamber . § . 79. to avoid multiplicity of laws , which by degrees always change the right foundations of the original government ; all acts of parliament whatsoever , in whatsoever form passed or enacted , shall at the end of a hundred years after their enacting , respectively cease and determine of themselves , and without any repeal become null and void , as if no such acts or laws had ever been made . § . 80. since multiplicity of comments , as we ●●a● of laws , have great inconveniences , and serve only to obscure and perplex ; all manner of comments and expositions on any part of these fundamental constitutions , or any part of the common or statute law of carolina , are absolutely prohibited . § . 81. there shall be a registry in every precinct , wherein shall be enrolled all deeds , leases , judgments , mortgages , and other conveyances , which may concern any of the land within the said precinct ; and all such conveyances not so entred or registred , shall not be of force against any person nor party to the said contract or conveyance . § . 82. no man shall be register of any precinct , who hath not at least three hundred acres of freehold within the said precinct . § . 83. the freeholders of every precinct shall nominate three men , out of which three the chief justice's court shall chuse and commission one to be register of the said precinct , whilst he shall well behave himself . § . 84. there shall be a registry in every signiory , barony , and colony ▪ wherein shall be recorded all the births , marriages , and deaths , that shall happen within the respective signiories , baronies , and colonies . § . 85. no man shall be register of a colony that hath not above fifty acres of freehold within the said colony . § . 86. the time of every one's age that is born in carolina , shall be reckoned from the day that his birth is entred in the registry , and not before . § . 87. no marriage shall be lawful , whatever contract and ceremony they have used , till both the parties mutually own it before the register of the place , where they were married , and he register ●● with the names of the father and mother of each party . § . 88. no man shall administer to the goods , or have right to them , or enter upon the estate of any person deceased , till his death be registred in the respective registry . § . 89. he that doth not enter in the respective registry , the birth or death of any person that is born , or dies in his house or ground , shall pay to the said register one shilling per week , for each such neglect , reckoning from the time of each birth or death respectively , to the time of registring it . § . 90. in like manner the births , marriages , and deaths of the lords proprietors , landgraves , and cassiques , shall be registred in the chamberlain's court. § . 91. there shall be in every colony one constable , to be chosen annually by the freeholders of the colony : his estate shall be above a hundred acres of freehold within the said colony , and such subordinate officers appointed for his assistance , as the county court shall find requisite , and shall be established by the said county court. the election of the subordinate annual officers shall be also in the freeholders of the colony . § . 92. all towns incorporate shall be governed by a mayor , twelve aldermen , and twenty four of the common-council . the said common-council shall be chosen by the present housholders of the said town ; the aldemen shall be chosen out of the common-council , and the mayor out of the aldermen by the palatine's court. § . 93. it being of great consequence to the plantation , that port-towns should be built and preserved ; therefore whosoever shall lade or unlade any commodity at any other place but a port-town , shall forfeit to the lords proprietors for each tun so laden or unladen , the sum of ten pounds sterling , except only such goods , as the palatine's court shall licence to be laden or unladen elsewhere . § . 94. the first port-town upon every river , shall , be in a colony , and be a port-town for ever . § . 95. no man shall be permitted to be a freeman of carolina , or to have any estate or habitation within it , that doth not acknowledge a god , and that god is publickly and solemnly to be worshipped . § . 96. as the country comes to be sufficiently planted and distributed into fit divisions , it shall belong to the parliament to take care for the building of churches , and the publick maintenance of divines , to be employed in the exercise of religion , according to the church of england , which being the only true and orthodox , and the national religion of all the king's dominions , is so also of carolina , and therefore it alone shall be allowed to receive publick maintenance by grant of parliament . but since the natives of that place who will be concerned in our plantation , are utterly strangers to christianity , whose idolatry , ignorance , or mistake , gives us no right to expel , or use them ill ; and those who remove from other parts to plant there , will unavoidably be of different opinions concerning matters of religion , the liberty whereof they will expect to have allowed them , and it will not be reasonable for us , on this account , to keep them out ; that civil peace may be maintained amidst the diversity of opinions , and our agreement and compact with all men , may be duly and faithfully observed , the violation thereof upon what pretence soever , cannot be without great offence to almighty god , and great scandal to the true religion which we profess ; and also that jews , heathens , and other dissenters from the purity of christian religion , may not be scared and kept at a distance from it , but by having an opportunity of acquainting themselves with the truth and reasonableness of its doctrines , and the peaceableness and inoffensiveness of its professors , may by good vsage and perswasion , and all those convincing methods of gentleness and meekness , suitable to the rules and design of the gospel , be won over to embrace , and unfeignedly receive the truth ; therefore , any seven , or more persons agreeing in any religion , shall constitute a church or profession , to which they shall give some name , to distinguish it from others . § . 98. the terms of admittance and communion with any church or profession , shall be written in a book , and therein be subscribed by all the members of the said church or profession ; which book shall be kept by the publick register of the precinct where they reside . § . 99. the time of every ones subscription and admittance , shall be dated in the said book , or religious record . § . 100. in the terms of communion of every church or profession , these following shall be three , without which no agreement or assembly of men , upon pretence of religion , shall be accounted a church or profession , wiehin these rules : i. that there is a god. ii. that god is publickly to be worshipped . iii. that it is lawful , and the duty of every man , being thereunto called by those that govern , to bear witness to truth ; and that every church or profession shall in their terms of communion set down the external way whereby they witness a truth as in the presence of god , whether it be by laying hands on , or kissing the bible , as in the church of england , or by holding up the hand , or any other sensible way . § . 101. no person above seventeen years of age , shall have any benefit or protection of the law , or be capable of any place of profit or honour , which is not a member of some church or profession , having his name recorded , in some one and but one religious record , at once . § . 102. no person of any other church or profession , shall disturb or molest any religious assembly . § . 103. no person whatsoever , shall speak anything in their religions assembly , irreverently or seditiously , of the government or governours , or state-matters . § . 104. any person subscribing the terms of communion in the record of the said church or profession , before the precinct register , and any five members of the said church or profession , shall be thereby made a member of the said church or profession . § . 105. any person striking out his own name , out of any religious record , or his name being struck out by any officer thereunto authorized by each church or profession respectively , shall cease to be a member of that church or profession . § . 106. no man shall use any reproachful , reviling , or abusive language , against the religion of any church or profession , that being the certain way of disturbing the peace , and of hindring the conversion of any to the truth , by engaging them in quarrels and animosities , to the hatred of the professors and that profession , which otherwise they might be brought to assent to . § . 107. since charity obliges us to wish well to the souls of all men , and religion ought to alter nothing in any man 's civil estate or right , it shall be lawful for slaves as well as others , to enter themselves , and be of what church or profession any of them shall think best , and thereof be as fully members as any freeman . but yet no slave shall hereby be exempted from that civil dominion his master hath over him , but be in all other things in the same state and condition he was in before . § . 108. assemblies , upon what pretence soever of religion , not observing and performing the abovesaid rules , shall not be esteemed as churches , but unlawful meetings , and be punished as other riots . § . 109. no person whatsoever , shall disturb , molest or persecute another for his speculative opinions in religion , or his way of worship . § . 110. every freeman of carolina shall have absolute power and authority over his negro slaves , of what opinion or religion soever . § . 111. no cause , whether civil or criminal , of any freeman , shall be tried in any court of judicature , without a jury of his peers . § . 112. no person whatsoever shall hold or claim any land in carolina by purchase or gift , or otherwise , from the natives or any other whatsoever , but meerly from and under the lords proprietors , upon pain of forfeiture of all his estate , moveable or immoveable , and perpetual banishment . § . 113. whosoever shall possess any freehold in carolina , upon what title or grant soever , shall at the farthest from and after the year one thousand six hundred eighty nine , pay yearly unto the lords proprietors for each acre of land , english measure , as much fine silver as is at this present in one english penny , or the value thereof to be as a chief rent and acknowledgment to the lords proprietors , their heirs and successors for ever . and it shall be lawful for the palatine's court by their officers at any time , to take a new survey of any man's land , not to out him of any part of his possession , but that by such a survey the just number of acres he possesseth , may be known , and the rent thereupon due , may be paid by him . § . 114. all wrecks , mines , minerals , quarries of gems , and precious stones , with pearl-fishing , whale-fishing , and one half of all ambergreece , by whomsoever found , shall wholly belong to the lords proprietors . § 115. all revenues and profits belonging to the lords proprietors , in common , shall be divided into ten parts , whereof the palatine shall have three , and each proprietor one ; but if the palatine shall govern by a deputy , his deputy shall have one of those three tenths , and the palatine the other two tenths . § . 116. all inhabitants and freemen of carolina above seventeen years of age , and under sixty , shall be bound to bear arms , and serve as soldiers whenever the grand council shall find it necessary . § . 117. a true copy of these fundamental constitutions shall be kept in a great book by the register of every precinct , to be subscribed before the said register . nor shall any person , of what condition or degree soever , above seventeen years old , have any estate or possession in carolina , or protection or benefit of the law there , who hath not before a precinct register subscribed these fundamental constitutions in this form : i a. b. do promise to bear faith and true allegiance to our soveraign lord king charles the second , his heirs and successors ; and will be true and faithfull to the palatine and lords proprietors of carolina , their heirs and successors , and with my utmost power will defend them , and maintain the government according to this establishment in these fundamental constitutions . § . 118. whatsoever alien shall in this form , before any precinct register subscribe these fundamental constitutions , shall be thereby naturalized . § . 119. in the same manner shall every person at his admittance into any office , subscribe these fundamental constitutions . § . 120. these fundamental constitutions , in number a hundred and twenty , and every part thereof , shall be and remain the sacred and unalterable form and rule of government of carolina , for ever . witness our hands and seals , the first day of march , 1669. rules of precedency . 1. the lords proprietors , the eldest in age first , and so in order . 2. the eldest sons of the lords proprietors , the eldest in age first , and so in order . 3. the landgraves of the grand council , he that hath been longest of the grand council first , and so in order . 4. the cassiques of the grand council , he that hath been longest of the grand council first , and so in order . 5. the seven commoners , of the grand council that have been longest of the grand council , he that hath been longest of the grand council first , and so in order . 6. the youngest sons of proprietors , the eldest first , and so in order . 7. the landgraves , the eldest in age first , and so in order . 8. the seven commoners , who next to those before mentioned have been longest of the grand council , he that hath been longest of the grand council first , and so in order . 9. the cassiques , the eldest in age first , and so in order . 10. the seven remaining commoners of the grand council , he that hath been longest of the grand council first , and so in order . 11. the male line of the proprietors . the rest shall be determined by the chamberlain's court. copy of the fundamental constitutions of carolina . agreed on by all the lords proprietors , and signed and sealed by them , ( the original being sent to carolina by major daniel : ) april the eleventh , 1698. our late sovereign lord king charles iid , having out of his royal grace and bounty , granted unto us , the province of carolina , with all the royalties , properties , jurisdictions and priviledges of a county palatine , as large and ample as the county palatine of durham , with other great priviledges ; for the better settlement of the government of the said place , and establishing the interest of the lords proprietors with equality , and without confusion ; and that the government may be made most agreeable to the monarchy under which we live , and of which this province is a part ; and that we may avoid erecting a numerous democracy , we the lords proprietors of the province aforesaid , with the advice and consent of the landgraves and cassiques and commons in this present parliament assembled , have agreed to this following form of government , to be perpetually establish'd amongst us , unto which we do oblige our selves , our heirs and successors , in the most binding ways that can be devised . 1. the proprietor's court shall consist of the palatine , and seven proprietors ; wherein nothing shall be acted without the presence and consent of the palatine , and three others of the lords proprietors : this court shall have power to call and dissolve parliaments , to pardon all offences , to make elections of all offices in the proprietor's disposal , to nominate and appoint port towns ; and also , shall have power by their order , to the treasurer , to dispose of all publick treasure , excepting money granted by the parliament , and by them directed to some particular publick use : and also , shall have a negative upon all acts , orders , votes and judgments of the parliament . and shall have all power granted to the lords proprietors , by their patent , from our sovereign lord the king , except in such things as are limited by these fundamental constitutions . 2. during the absence of the palatine and proprietors from carolina , the governour , commissionated by the proprietors , together with their respective deputies , shall be the proprietor's court there , and shall have all the powers above mentioned , excepting in pardoning offences , and constituting port-towns . 3. in the proprietor's court , the palatine , and any three of the proprietors or the governour , and any three of the proprietor's deputys shall make a quorum . 4. no deputy of any proprietor shall have any power , whilst the deputator is in any part of carolina , except the proprietor ( whose deputy he is ) be a minor. 5. during the minority of any proprietor , his guardian shall have power to constitute and appoint his deputy . 6. there shall be a parliament , consisting of the proprietors or their deputies , by themselves , the landgraves and cassiques in the upper house , and the freeholders out of every county , to be chosen by the freeholders of the said county , respectively ; together with the citizens and burgesses , to be elected by the cities and borroughs ( which shall be hereafter created ) in the lower house . 7. and since all power and dominion is most naturally founded in property , and that it is reasonable that every man , who is empowered to dispose of the property and estate of others , should have a property of his own , whereby he is tyed in interest to the good and welfare of that place and government , whereby he is entrusted with such power ; it is therefore declared and appointed , that no person shall be admitted , or shall continue to sit or vote in parliament as a landgrave , who has not actually taken up , and has in his possession at least , _____ acres , part of the land granted him in his patent and _____ slaves , or in the possession of his tennants , _____ acres of land. and whose real and personal estate shall not be worth at least , _____ pounds : nor as a cassique to sit or vote in parliament , who has not actually taken up , and has in his possession at least , _____ acres , part of the land granted him in his patent and _____ slaves , or in the possession of his tenants _____ acres of land. and whose real and personal estate shall not be worth at least , _____ pounds 8. no person shall be admitted , or continue to sit or vote in parliament as a representative of the commons of carolina , who is not possess'd of at least , _____ acres of land : and whose real and personal estate is not worth _____ pounds . 9. no person shall be capable of giving his voice for the election of a member to serve in parliament , that is not actually possess'd of _____ acres of land , and is a housholder , and has a family , and whose real and personal estate does not amount to _____ pounds . 10. the present number of the representatives of the commons shall be _____ who ( as the country shall encrease ) shall also proportionably be encreased , if the commons do so desire , but shall in no future time be encreased , beyond one hundred . 11. and pursuant to that just maxim of government above mentioned , and for the preservation of the ballance of power , according to the proportion of the property , it is declared and appointed , that the number of the representatives of the people to be sent from any county or place , shall be more or less , according to the charges born , and money paid by each respective division of the country , in the last general assessment foregoing such election . 12. the landgraves and cassiques who compose the upper-house , shall not at any time exceed half the number of the commons . 13. the landgraves and cassiques shall be created by the lords proprietors letters patents , under their great seal , by the joynt election of the proprietors , or a quorum of them , which shall be the hereditary nobility of the province of carolina ; and by righ● of their dignity , be members of the upper-house of parliament , each landgrave shall have _____ acres of land , to be taken up in _____ several counties and each cassique _____ acres of land to be taken up in _____ several counties , and the said honour and dignity shall descend to the eldest son , unless by deed or will devis'd to any other of the sons , or for want of sons to the eldest daughter ; unless as aforesaid ; and for want of such to the next heir ( unless devised as aforesaid by deed or will ) to be attested by three credible witnesses , whereof one at least to be of the nobility ) to any other person . 14. and to the end , that such an order of persons being made noble , and invested with great powers and privileges , whereby to engage them in a more particular affection towards this settlement and country of carolina , may not fall into contempt , or be any ways injurious to the constitution of the government , it is declared and appointed that whatsoever landgrave or cassique , his heirs and successors , shall not be qualified as in article 7th , and so be excluded from the aforesaid priviledge of sitting and voting in the upper house , and shall continue defective in the said qualification for the space of forty years successively , such landgrave or cassique , his heirs and successors shall from thenceforth be for ever utterly excluded , and his or their dignity , honour , priviledge and title of landgrave or cassique shall cease and be utterly lost , and the letters patents of creation of such dignity shall be vacated . 15. and in order to the due election of members for the biennial parliament , it shall be lawful for the freeholders of the respective precinct to meet the first tuesday in september every two years , in the same town or place they last met in , to choose parliament-men , and there to choose those members that are to sit ▪ next november following , unless the proprietors court shall by sufficient notice _____ days before , appoint some other place for their meeting . 16. a new parliament shall be assembled the first monday of the month of november every second year , and shall meet and sit in the town they last sat in , without any summons , unless by the proprietors court in carolina they be summoned to meet at any other place , and if there shall be occasion of a parliament in these intervals , it shall be in the power of the proprietors court to assemble them in _____ days notice , and at such time and place , as the court shall think fit . 17. at the opening of every parliament , the first thing that shall be done , shall be the reading of these fundamental constitutions , which the palatine and the proprietors , and the members then present , shall subscribe ; nor shall any person whatsoever sit or vote in the parliament , till he has in that session subscrib'd these fundamental constitutions , in a book kept for that purpose , by the clerk of the parliament . 18. any act or order of parliament that is ratifyed in open parliament , during the same session , by the governor and three more of the lords proprietors deputies , shall be in force , and continue till the palatine himself and three more of the lords proprietors themselves signifie their dissent to any of the said acts or orders , under their hands and seals . but if ratified under their hands and seals , then to continue according to the time limited in such act. 19. the whole province shall be divided into counties by the parliament . 20. no proprietor , landgrave or cassique , shall hereafter take up a signory or barony that shall exceed four thousand acres or thereabouts for a proprietor or landgrave ; and two thousand acres or thereabouts , for a cassique in one county . 21. no cause , whether civil or criminal , of any freeman , shall be tryed in any court of judicature , without a jury of his peers . 22. no landgrave or cassique shall be tryed for any criminal cause in any but the chief justices court , and that by a jury of his peers , unless a sufficient number of such cannot be legally had , and then to be supplyed by the best and most sufficient free-holders . 23. if upon the decease of the governor , no person be appointed by the lords proprietors to succeed him , then the proprietor's deputies shall meet and choose a governor , till a new commission be sent from the lords proprietors , under their hands and seals . 24. ballotting shall be continued in all elections of the parliament , and in all other cases where it can conveniently be used . 25. no man shall be permitted to be a freeman of carolina , or to have any estate or habitation within it , that does not acknowledge a god , and that god is publickly and solemnly to be worshipped . 26. as the country comes to be sufficiently planted and distributed into fit divisions , it shall belong to the parliament to take care for the building of churches , and the publick maintenance of divines to be employed in the exercise of religion , according to the church of england , which being the only true and orthodox , and the national religion of the king's dominions , is so also of carolina , and therefore it alone shall be allowed to receive publick maintenance by grant of parliament . 27. any seven or more persons agreeing in any religion , shall constitute a church or profession , to which they shall give some name to distinguish it from others . 28. the terms of admittance and communion with any church or profession , shall be written in a book , and therein be subscribed by all the members of the said church or profession , which shall be kept by the publick register of the precinct wherein they reside . 29. the time of every one's subscription and admittance , shall be dated in the said book of religious records . 30. in the terms of communion of every church or profession , these following shall be three , without which no agreement or assembly of men upon pretence of religion shall be accounted a church or profession , within these rules : i. that there is a god. ii. that god is publickly to be worshipped . iii. that it is lawful , and the duty of every man , being thereunto called by those that govern , to bear witness to truth , and that every church or profession shall in their terms of communion set down the external way whereby they witness a truth as in the presence of god , whether it be by laying hands on , or kissing the bible , as in the church of england , or by holding up the hand , or any sensible way . 31. no person above seventeen years of age , shall have any benefit or protection of the law , or be capable of any place of profit or honour , who is not a member of some church or profession , having his name recorded in some one , and but one religious record at once . 32. no person of any church or profession shall disturb or molest any religious assembly . 33. no person whatsoever shall speak any thing in their religious assembly , irreverently or seditiously of the government or governour , or of state-matters . 34. any person subscribing the terms of communion in the records of the said church or profession before the precinct register , and any five members of the said church or profession , shall be thereby made a member of the said church or profession . 35. any person striking out his own name out of any religious records , or his name being struck out by any officer thereunto authorized by each church or profession respectively , shall cease to be a member of that church or profession . 36. no man shall use any reproachful , reviling or abusive language against the religion of any church of profession , that being the certain way of disturbing the peace , and of hindering the conversion of any to the truth , by engaging them in quarrels , and animosities , to the hatred of the professors and that profession , which otherwise they may be brought to assent to . 37. since charity obliges us to wish well to the souls of all men , and religion ought to alter nothing in any man 's civil estate or right , it shall be lawful for slaves as well as others , to enter themselves , and be of what church or profession any of them shall think best , and thereof be as fully members as any freeman ; but yet no slave shall hereby be exempted from that civil dominion his master had over him , but be in all other things in the same state and condition he was in before . 38. assemblys upon what pretence soever of religion , not observing and performing the abovesaid rules , shall not be esteemed as churches , but unlawful meetings , and be punished as other riots . 39. no person whatsoever shall disturb , molest or prosecute another for his speculative opinions in religion , or his way of worship . 40. every freeman of carolina shall have absolute power and authority over his negro slave , of what opinion or religion soever . 41. any person at his admittance into any office or place of trust whatsoever , shall subscribe these fundamental constitutions in this form : i a. b. do promise to bear faith and true allegiance to our soveraign lord king william , and will be true and faithful to the palatine and lords proprietors of carolina , their heirs and successors , and with my utmost power will defend them , and maintain the government according to this establishment , in these fundamental constitutions . these fundamental constitutions in number forty one , and every part thereof shall be and remain the inviolable form and rule of government of carolina , for ever . witness our hands and seals , this eleventh day of april , 1698. bath palatine . a. ashley . craven . bath for the lord carterett . william thornburgh for sir john colleton . tho. amy. william thornburgh . finis . reason and religion in some useful reflections on the most eminent hypotheses concerning the first principles, and nature of things : with advice suitable to the subject, and seasonable for these times. locke, john, 1632-1704. 1694 approx. 156 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 74 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a48887 wing l2750 estc r19663 12172657 ocm 12172657 55466 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48887) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 55466) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 111:9) reason and religion in some useful reflections on the most eminent hypotheses concerning the first principles, and nature of things : with advice suitable to the subject, and seasonable for these times. locke, john, 1632-1704. [7], 135, [1] p. printed for w. rogers ..., london : 1694. ascribed to john locke. cf. arber's term cat. ii, p. 621; wing. "imprimatur mar. 9, 1693/4, ra. barker"--p. [1] at beginning. advertisement: p. [1] at end. reproduction of original in yale university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng reason -early works to 1800. religion -early works to 1800. 2002-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-08 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-09 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2002-09 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion imprimatur , mar. 9. 1693 / 4. ra. barker . reason and religion : in some useful reflections on the most eminent hypotheses concerning the first principles , and nature of things . with advice suitable to the subject , and seasonable for these times . london : printed for w. rogers , at the sun over-against st. dunstan's church in fleet-street . 1694. the preface . 't is bad , when discourses to prove the fundamentals of religion are very seasonable , worse when they are necessary , but worst of all , when no demonstrations or endeavours can affect men with a sense of piety . which of these characters our age deserves , is left to the iudgment of the most experienced : in the mean time , our continuing essays to assign the reasons of our faith , ought to be thankfully acknowledg'd by all , as an argument of our hope and charity . the design of the following papers , is , after our regards to the preservation of truth , to set upon the irreligious in their own fortresses , and turn to a good vse those philosophical reasons or conjectures , which they have perverted : to what degrees of humility this method may reduce them , can only be foreseen by the searcher of hearts ; the good it hath done already , may be a propitious omen to our future expectations : and this we may reasonably suppose , that if it makes not every attentive reader , how prejudic'd soever , more distrustful of his wicked principles , it must make him more desperate and self-condemn'd . let no wicked men pretend any arguments hereafter used , are above their reach and capacity : the method is neither confused , nor the expression ambiguous ; and their taking no care to understand them , must be look'd upon as a token of great folly : for such it must be , to entertain prejudices against god , without knowing the utmost that can be said for our respects to him ; or referr'd to diabolical instinct , drawing them off from the true oracles of reason , to listen to impostures . such bruitish infidels deserve not the treatments of humanity : when the head infects the heart , the disease will bear argumentative prescriptions ; but when the corruptions of the heart infect the head , some sharper course must be taken with them . may god of his mercy so guide us all to , and in our endeavours after a true reformation , that undissembled holiness may adorn his church , and the blessings of his love be a lasting protection to it . reason and religion . all our discourses of god , and enquiries about his holy nature , ought to be attended with caution and respect , least we derogate from the excellencies of the best being , have our minds overcast with the most dangerous errors , and wander out of the way of our principal interest . we are placed , by the divine ordination , in a part of the world , wherein we have a moderate competency of light and knowledge : and our distance from the fountain of glory is not so great , but the irradiations we have from it may enliven our hopes , and guide our endeavours in aiming and aspiring to it . if we are faithful unto our own faculties , and employ our time and our judgment in gathering into the mind the scattered rays and principles of heavenly light , their united power will frame us into a divine temper , and sublimate our nature for nearer accesses unto god : but if we bend intirely unto the earth , and suck our notions and nourishment from the same place , our minds must labour under the dominion of corrupt and cloudy principles , which will carry us further from god , and make even this earth too happy an habitation for us . the first and principal of all sacred truths , to be considered , is , the existence of god : and tho' no principles or hypothesis lead altogether to the denial of god ; yet we have reason to fear , that the strange and irreligious practises of men do spring from some naughty and irreligious perswasions ; and that their thoughts of god ( if they have any ) have but little root . it may not be amiss therefore , to be helpful to any men who will give themselves the liberty of thinking , that they may make the best even of bad principles , and be able from any hypothesis to infer the necessity of the divine nature . there are three opinions which may occur to us in the contemplations of nature : either , first , that this world was framed and fashioned into this admirable state , by an eternal mind and wisdom . or , secondly , that it had a beginning from the fortuitous motions and combinations of blind and ungnided matter . or , thirdly , that it hath been from eternity , in the same state that we have at present . some reflections on the two last , which are the usual retirements of infidelity , may not improperly follow a general confirmation of the truth in the first hypothesis . in the building up , and forming of a religious life , t is fit we should lay a good foundation ; arguing first from the principles of truth , and then from the principles of men. 1. our first essay shall be therefore to prove the existence of an eternal mind and wisdom : by whose power the universe was produced , and on whose guidance its order doth depend . and this may be perform'd , by demonstrating the existance of some eternal being , and by discovering the properties thereof . 1. that something is eternal , is as certain , as that any thing exists at present : and none can doubt of it , but on the same ground that he shall doubt , whether in every triangle , if one angle be right , the other two shall be acute : i. e. for want of a little thinking , and rightly attending to the force and signification of terms : for , either every thing is eternal , or something , or nothing . if you modestly allow something to be eternal , you are certainly in the right . if you say every thing is eternal , you decline something from it : but if you say nothing is eternal , you get into the angle of error , at farthest distance from the right , and wound your reason with the most pungent absurdity . whatsoever is not eternal , must have a beginning : whatsoever hath a beginning , must have it either from itself , from something else , or nothing . that any thing should give beginning to itself , is very absurd : for that which gives beginning being a precedent cause , a thing must be , and not be , at the same time ; must be before it had a beginning , must be the cause and the effect , must give beginning to that which had a beginning before , &c. that a thing may have its beginning from something else , is true ; but then that which gives a beginning , must either have its own beginning from itself , ( if it have any ) and then the former absurdities will recur : or from something else , and that from another , and so in infinitum , that is , from eternity . and to say , that any thing can have its beginning from nothing , is either to reconcile contradictions , to make something and nothing , cause and no cause , positive and negative the same ; or to speak a great truth , for that which hath its beginning from nothing , hath no beginning , and must be eternal . now before we ascend to the properties of an eternal being , we may do well to stop a-while in the contemplation of eternity itself : for our intent being declared , of evincing the existence of an incomprehensible being , we must not lose our advantage of any truth in itself most certain , yet to us incomprehensible . those therefore who imagine they sufficiently disprove religion , by reducing its maintainers to a mystery , will see little reason for their triumph , when they find in any case , that nothing is more certain than that which is most mysterious . take the instance before us : we cannot be more ascertain'd of our own existance , than of something 's existing from eternity : but when we apply our finite thoughts , to an infinite duration , how do we lose our selves in this vast ocean ? how do our proud pretences unto comprehension fail . had methusalem , instead of 900 , lived 900000 years , and spent his time in no other employment but the multiplication of numbers , which in the short running of a pen , 79543285012759021899723109235 72813709280639275458367689542 83159473890928446732197836290 75389259306518973259076825 , &c. amount to an unconceivable sum , and an astonishing duration , especially if you measure by the great year , he had been no nearer expressing the proper extent of eternity , than if he had said nothing . and what a strange , prodigious , wonderful , suprarational , mysterious , incredible , incomprehensible thing is this ! how does this baffle the vain essays of men , to measure eternity by mutable motion and succession ! how may this convince us , that the readiest way of fixing in the mind an undeceiving idea of eternity , is not by running over millions and millions of ages , but to abide at the first point , the most comprehensive power and point of unity ; and restraining the mind from irregular rambling , to keep it stable and permanent , as eternity itself is , in an indivisible duration . if you say this likewise is very mysterious , ( as the truth and certainty of it we reserve to be debated in another paragraph , so ) we reply , that either you must allow something mysterious , or deny the existance of all things , and truth of all propositions . the universal creed of mankind establishes and imposes truths incomprehensible . we have no need then ( as you see ) to be ashamed of laying the foundations of piety , in a doctrine mysterious and incomprehensible : something or other must be so , because eternal , and what that is will best be discover'd , when ii. the properties and necessary attributes of the eternal being come to be examin'd , and they will be evinced to be especially four , cogitation , immensity , immutability and perfection . 1. that cogitation with the fruits of it , knowledge , wisdom , justice , and goodness , must have existed somewhere or other from eternity , will appear from the difference between external and internal qualities . external qualities , as whiteness , smoothness , ponderosity , and the like may result from the agreeableness and actings of one sensible thing upon another : and a wise being knowing what will arise from the various modifications of matter , may produce some external qualities , appearances , or colours , which never were in the world before : now that which may be produced a new , and is not a derivation from another of the same kind , need not be eternal . but mental and internal qualities are of another kind ; when they are produced , they are produced by something like themselves : thought cannot be produced , as whiteness and the like are , by the mixtures , motions , and contemperings of meer matter ; but thro' the several gradations of time , and series of productions , you may trace the same quality both in the effect and cause , till at last you must acknowledge it eternal . to render this argumentation more perspicuous and firm , revolve in your mind how unlikely it is , that thought should not be eternal : how impossible it is , if not eternal , that it should ever be at all : and that there is not one instance assignable in nature , of the production of thought , but from a thinking principle . that thought , the most excellent quality in the universe , should be but of yesterday's starting up : that all the world should lie for eternal ages in confused horrour and darkness , under the dominion of hideous disorder , in an apprehension so unlikely and dismal , that nothing but the shades of the most wretched ignorance and prejudice against god can support its credibility . but if the natural traduction of the most glorious light from eternal obscurity , of the most exquisite knowledge from eternal stupidity and dulness , with the commensurateness of the vilest state , to the most excellent duration , be not absurdities sufficient to startle our pretenders unto sense : if they think it enough for them to ground their arguments , with the value and weal of their souls , on bare possibilities , and expect impossibilities , or arguments ab impossibili , that it should be otherwise from us , we will indulge their humour : and when they can once prove it possible for thought to be otherwise than self origenated , we will venture to be sceptical as well as they . in the mean time we observe in all emanations , issues , and effects a congruity in kind and temper to the spring , causality , and parentage from whence they come . the whole world is a circulation of like from like . the vegetable nature propagates itself by vegetative seeds and principles . the sensitive life is form'd , animated , and organized by homogeneous powers : the business of equivocal generations being now justly exploded . and must not those men deserve very meanly of humane nature , who would derive our original from any thing below ourselves , as tho' thought need not come from a thinking , nor rational faculties from a rational source , but might easily be attracted from the solar impregnation of a little slime and dung , which is not able to produce a worm or an insect ? we might resent the reproach they bring upon our nature , by making themselves worse than beasts : but because they knew themselves best , and may be bold in self-censures , they must not use the same freedom with all mankind . it remains then , that thought is a derivation either to man from man , or from a superiour mind , and is therefore eternal . there is no remedy then against the belief of an eternal mind . the difficulty which some mens hearts may suggest , is , where , to what object , or being , or rank of beings to apply and fix this unavoidable belief . we might proceed to the other properties of an eternal being , for the determination of this , were it not fit to pursue this property of cogitation , as far as it will lead us to the knowledge of god. 1. some may vainly seek for this eternal cogitation in the successions of humane nature ; and indeed , if all mankind were acted by the same soul , and all the various appearances and workings among us were no other than the various operations of this universal soul , according to the different capacities and aptitude of matter it co-operates with , it would be something to that purpose , tho' not to theirs . but to believe , as we must , that men have so many individual distinct souls , and yet to expect an eternity of thought among them , must be grounded on these two suppositions : that it is possible the successions of men should be eternal . and , that they actually are so . which in the sequel of this discourse will appear incredible . 2. if eternity of thought must necessarily be acknowledged in some being or beings , mankind , in the lowest supposition , cannot have the only title and claim unto it . to monopolize cogitation and reason to our selves is the greatest arrogance in nature . 't is certain , that not only the earth , but all included in the circumference of its motion about the sun , bear no sensible proportion to the rest of the world : and shall we vain wretches , who creep upon this point , called in our high conceits the terrestrial globe , fancy that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are lodged among us ? why might not the poor inhabitants of a mole-hill enter their pretensions to universal thoughtfulness , and defie all policy , all care or providence besides their own ? and yet hundreds of them are blown away by the breath of our mouths , put by all their plodding and politicks , and perish in the surprizing desolation of their country , if we turn but our foot against them . and does not a mole-hill bear as considerable a proportion to the earth , as the earth to the universe ? and must not we be esteemed as inconsiderable , when compared with the larger capacities and extent of thought in superiour beings , as inferiour beings are when compared to us ? the most irreligious hypothesis must admit and confirm this . and those persons certainly have little concern for their souls , who will venture their happiness on this presumption , that there are no cogitative intelligent beings in the universe besides mankind . 3. and if men cannot be so silly as to imagine , when they contemplate the glorious habitations above us , that there is not some being or beings endowed with more excellent degrees of thought and wisdom than themselves are ; the force of the same reason which extorts this confession from them will lead them unto god. for let a man seriously consider with himself in this manner ; there certainly is some more wise and excellent being than my senses can discover , or than sensual men are aware of ; and the ground of his so believing will be plainly this . he finds himself in a pitiful and mean condition , compared with the glorious appearances of the universe . he perceives he is not the cause of all the wonderful works , nor the contriver of all the regular motions , nor the continuer of all the harmonious and beautiful operations which the visible creation presents us with . and were a man supposed to have the wisdom of an angel , the same considerations will naturally recur to him . an angel hath neither thought nor wisdom proportionable to the magnitude and glories of the world , capable of framing the order of its parts , and fit for managing the affairs of the whole ; and must therefore in humility look out , as we do , for a being superiour and more skilful than himself : and whatsoever that being is , which could frame , manage , and order this vast fabrick of the world , in it our expectations of the most comprehensive thought and wisdom must terminate at last , and this is god. this proof of an eternal intelligence having a largeness of thought , and by consequence all other excellencies , infinitely surpassing ours , might suffice any reasonable enquirer into our belief of god : but because it may be expected from us to consider the above-mentioned attributes or properties of an eternal being , we shall from them bring some concurring evidence and strength unto our holy cause . ii. immensity is the next attribute of an eternal being . for , since 't is acknowledged on all sides , that there is something immense or without bounds , it is impossible that that should grow immense by time , which was not so from eternity . nay , the same reasons which prove an immense being now , are of an eternal validity . as , whatsoever is bounded is bounded by something else ; and whatsoever that is which bounds the extremities , or fixes the limits , of all things bounded , must of itself have no bounds at all . thus that which proves an immense being at present proves the same from eternity . and here we might digress in the contemplation of another mysterious truth , did not the usefulness of this truth call more immediately for our regards and improvement . our chief difficulty to be resolved here , is , what is this immense being : and there are no other conceivable opinions for it , than that it must be either such a gross substance as we call matter , or such a fine and pure substance as we call spirit , or an empty space : either matter , spirit , or space , or altogether must be immense . 1. that an empty space should be immense , can by no means be allowed : tho' the atomical hypothesis would suppose it . space and time are but modes of existence ; the one commensurate to the motion of substances , the other to their magnitude . our best divines and philosophers agree in this , that where there is no body , there is no space . at least this is evident , that an empty space is but another name for nothing . and when you say an emty space is immense , you say , nothing is immense : which is an absurd predicating something of nothing , or a contradiction to the precedent proof . 2. that matter , or this material world , should be immense , is extraordinary astonishing , if not impossible . an indefinite extension we can admit : for which of us shall nominate the bounds of the divine operations ? but an infinite extension , the divisibility of a material being will exclude : for whatsoever is divisible into parts , is bounded in all its parts ; and whatever is bounded in all its parts , must needs be bounded in the whole , or have ends without end : which looks very like a contradiction . besides , if a line be drawn from this point ☉ ascending , and may in the progress of material parts be continued in infinitum , and the same line drawn descending through the centre of the earth to our antipodes , or ( if you will ) in infinitum ; on the other side , from hence will follow : 1. that the ascending line shall have as many parts as the ascending and descending put together . 2. that of two lines , one shall have 10000 parts more than another , and yet they shall be both equal ; equal both as to the length and number of parts . 3. that if you add 10000 parts to your ascending line , it hath never the more ; and if you substract 10000 it hath never less . 4. that if you substract any conceivable number from the ascending line , it shall have as many parts , not only as it had , but as the substraction , and ascending , and descending put together , and even as the superficies and solid content . and what is this , but to make the part as big as the whole , the line equal to the superficies , to confound our clearest notions of distance and magnitude ; and an hundred such absurdities may be recounted , which if you are disposed to scepticism , may make you very doubtful how you attribute immensity unto matter . 3. and if we must attribute immensity to some substance , but not to such a gross one as is divisible into parts , then we must attribute it to some substance of a purer kind : that hath no parts , and is absolutely indivisible . having removed the two former opinions , we thereby establish the third . the substance to which we attribute immensity , we commonly call spirit : but because words are assum'd by the consent and approbation of men , we will have no quarrel about that : being willing to allow you , and every son of adam , the authority and privilege , of calling things by what names you please : but when we appropriate the word spirit to the signification of the divine nature , we mean no other than an immense substance , distinct from this visible , divisible , and material world. if you say , you can have no conception of this immense spirit , and can much easier conceive this world to be immense , 't is answer'd , 1. that with the same facility that you conceive the earth to be circumscribed , you may conceive the limits of the universe . the small globe on which we live , giving us the idea of one prodigiously greater . 2. that , whatever you may say or fancy , you cannot conceive material immensity at all : for you cannot conceive any material magnitude to which something may not be added ; and that magnitude to which thought can always add something , must necessarily be conceived with its bounds and limits . 3. if this world be immense , not only we , but the wisest and most excellent beings in the universe , ( except an immense spirit , which we are contending for ) cannot possibly conceive what it is , or tell what to make of it . for a finite spirit , tho' coeternal with the world , might spend millions and millions of ages , in travelling through the infinite apartments and habitations therein , and come never the nearer his journey's-end ; nor be able to inform himself what manner of thing the world , in all its parts , is . nay , two finite spirits might travel millions of ages with exceeding velocity each toward other , and that in the same right line , and never meet . why will you say then , 't is so easie to conceive this world immense , when on the supposal of its immensity , none , but an infinite spirit , either by his own peregrination , or experience , or information from others , can possibly know or conceive what it is . 4. the conception of an infinite or immense spirit , is not clogg'd with any of these difficulties : for , conceiving this world , as having its fences and bounds put to it , by an almighty power , and shaped into the most perfect , that is a sphaerical figure ; whatsoever we conceive beyond that , that is , beyond all bounds , must needs be immense . and there our minds must presently fix , without any rambling or indefinite excursions : the majesty of god swallowing up all our thoughts at once , and allowing us no material flees , no divisible progressions to go on further by . god give a blessing to these thoughts ; which proving an eternal and immense substance , and excluding this visible and material world from any claim thereto , leads us to the acknowledgment of his spiritually immense and undivided essence . iii. immutability is another attribute of an eternal being , which we shall endeavour in this paragraph to explain and prove . by immutability we mean , not only exemption from change in mind , manners , and conduct , as we have it in ordinary affairs , but such a stable , unaltering continuance as is not liable to the causes or symptoms of change ; that is , motion or succession . many are the disputes hereupon ; whether eternity be a thing fixt and immutable , or transient and successive . the prejudices of this irreligious age , affect the minds even of the religious , and make them shy of asserting that with any confidence , which others have the impudence to laugh at . who is there that is not almost willing to confess * boethius's definition of eternity , a pious whim , a well-meaning extravagance ; and yield eternity to be a duration of infinite successions . in opposition to which we need not be afraid to state these assertions . all successions are finite . nothing which hath any changes , motions , or successions , can be eternal . eternity must be something stable , simple , indivisible and immutable . and here we might be contented to shew you , that this immutability of the eternal being , and therefore of eternity itself , will follow from the former paragraph : for , a spiritually , immense , or indivisible being , must have an indivisible duration . where there is no succession of parts , for the measuring of magnitude , there can be no variations or motions to measure duration by ; but because it is best , when each particular paragraph hath strength of itself , without needing to have recourse to what went before , especially in arguments of this moment , therefore consider further . 1. that no numbers , successions , or periods of time can be an adequate measure of eternity , or bring us any thing nearer to a notion of it . which certainly those people do not rightly weigh , who wonder that we have not a larger date of time from the sacred writings than 5000 or 6000 years . they think surely the world is of a much older standing than so , though they will not be positive for its eternity . but when they revolve in their minds , that the further they go on in the numeration of years or ages , they come never the nearer to eternity ; that a minute bears as considerable a proportion to eternity as ten thousand millions of ages ; their wonder will be over , and they will perceive it is the same thing , whether they consider the world as many millions of years old , or in the very moment of its creation . that duration then , which cannot be made either longer or shorter , by any additions or substractions , which cannot be measured by any periodical revolutions , can have no parts . like is measured by like : our partible times and seasons are measured by partible and successive motions : and our thoughts applying the one to the other , can add or substract as we see good . add 366 diurnal courses of the sun to a thousand years , and it makes the whole duration a year longer . but the eternal being is the same yesterday , and to day , and for ever : not older to day than a thousand years ago ; nor will be older a thousand years hence : for that which by descending grows older and older , by ascending will prove younger and younger . but no duration can be older or longer than eternity : nor younger , or of a fresher date , if it be eternal . which shews , that eternity is another kind of a duration from our times , and the eternal being different from every thing that is changeable and various ; and having no parts or periods applicable to it , give us leave to say , possesses the same never-ending life with equal perfection and stability , thro' all ages . 2. many are the absurdities which follow from the supposal of infinite successions ; for the right apprehending which take these two admonitions along with you . first , that of successions or numbers infinite , one is not greater or less than another : for wherein soever one number or succession is greater or exceeded by another , therein you suppose one of them to be finite . secondly , that what is positively true in one age , the circumstances continuing always alike , must be true to eternity . their use follows . have there then , say you , been infinite successions , and the generations of men and beasts , the viciffitudes of night and day , of summer and winter , times and seasons , from eternity ; then eying the first admonition , from hence will follow , that there have been as many heads as hands , as many hands as fingers , as many fingers as joynts , as many men as men and beasts put together , as many beasts as beasts and men put together , as many birds as feathers , as many birds as men , beasts , birds , hairs , feathers put together ; as many ages as years , as many years as months , weeks , days , hours , minutes , &c. if you are disposed to draw back , and care not to let down these monstrous consequences , you must likewise relinquish the principle , from whence they so evidently flow : for if there have not been as many heads as hairs , &c. then the generations of men must be finite ; and reckonink men by the poll , as much as the number of men is surpassed by hands , hairs , &c. so much at least they fall short of infinity : but if you have courage to defend these consequences , and will run all hazards on this supposition , that there have been as many heads as hands or hairs ; then we must direct the second admonition against you thus . if in this age , or the compass of a thousand years , there are more hairs than heads , more years than minutes , &c. then ascend or descend as far as you can , or as far as it is possible there should be these successions , and their number must be constantly unequal . and since your infinity equals all things , in these successive generations or seasons there can be no progression to it . we might produce you great store of like absurdities , if your stomach would bearthem . but those abovementioned will try the strength of your digestive faculty , and it may be hoped the operation they will have may prove rather medicinal than noxious , and carry off with themselves this fancy of infinite successions , with other gross humours , which while they lurk in the mind , distemper its constitution . 3. the force of the former arguments , for the immutability of the eternal being , will more clearly appear , by a good refutation of the chief objection to it . it must be expected , that irreligious men will have something to say , though it be little to the purpose . and that they may not complain of wanting a fair hearing , the utmost that the wit of man can invent , shall now be considered . they may say , there have been infinite successions past , as well as there will be in the times and duration to come : and as we believe the sun , and moon , and men may endure for ever , so whatever we may object against their existing from eternity , will be as strong against our belief of their existing to eternity . many answers , were we pinched with this objection , might be made to it ; but how formidable soever it may look , there are especially two , which may be freely given by us , and may be satisfactory to you . i. men , it is true , and other things may endure for ever , but not in the way of succession and generation . as we believe a first man , so we believe a last ; and , when the times appointed by the almighty shall be fulfilled , a stop shall be put unto the generations of men. there shall be no further progress in the propagation of their kind . we wait for the accomplishment of god's elect : and the promise of such a state , when it shall be no longer with men as it is here on earth : when there shall be no marrying nor giving in marriage , the destinctions of youth and old-age , of great and small , of generation and corruption , being done away . the like may be said of the sun and moon : for tho' they be faithful witnesses in heaven , and serve for the distinctions of times and seasons , days and years , yet we also wait for their dissolution ; the final conflagration will put a period to their motions , close up their successions , level all their changes , and the revolutions of their time will be swallowed up in eternity : and the same that we say of the periods allotted to the sun , may be applied to the rest of the stars , either alternately , or altogether , as it shall please god to order it . so far we labour under no great difficulties : what we have objected to your infinite successions doth not affect us . for , as we believe a beginning of the generations of men , of night and day , of summer and winter , so we believe an end of them . but we may answer , ii. there is a great difference between eternity and perpetuity : or between that duration which is comprehensive of all time , and that which is only comprehensive of the time to come . that duration which hath no beginning must be infinite : but that duration which hath a beginning must be finite , take what measure you will of it . there can be no infinite number , and therefore no successions , which we contend for , and which we measure by number , can be infinite , tho' they endure for ever . eternity à parte post ( as they call it ) hath for ever an end , because it hath a beginning : but absolute eternity having no beginning , hath no end. it will be very convenient to make this as plain as may be ; because it may seem strange , and is really , if true , of considerable importance . begin any succession with the number one , and go on adding ( as it may be ) as fast as the succession happens : and because numbers may be continually added , if the succession shall last for ever , it shall for ever be finite . your succession having a beginning , you can for ever measure it by a number : and coming back when you will , you can for ever come to an end. suppose this the first year of the sun 's enlightning the earth : and this annual course was to remain for ever : and the reader of this book appointed , by the king of heaven , as an everlasting register of times and seasons : he may easily be sensible that he hath no very difficult employment ; one day at most in ten thousand years would be sufficient for it . his marks and numbers may be as comprehensive as he pleases : he can always add his numbers as the ages go of , and for ever prove them finite , ( as every number in reason must be , and ) even visibly , by having recourse unto his first point . you therefore do greatly err , if you fancy as much may be said for clearing absurdities from successions eternally past , as from successions in the after-eternity . because tho' you think ascending and descending from a point given may be the same , yet it is not . ascending from a point given in successions which have no beginning , you come to no end in the ascent , and have only a supposed one to ascend from , ( eternity being still current ) and therefore have no end at all : but in descending in the after-eternity you have a real beginning to descend from , and come back to ; and therefore where-ever you stop , you have two ends , and your succession is for ever numerable and finite . more may be said for clearing this objection , but this doubtless is sufficient : for if successions of night and day , or even of thought , the utmost that can be made of it shall last for ever , they shall be for ever finite , as we say , because these successions shall for ever have a beginning , and may be numbred : they may be perpetual , but not properly eternal . or , we may justly question , whether any successions shall last for ever or no : and if there be occasion we can positively deny it . could any other objection to the immutability of the eternal being , be imagined worth answering , it should have its place here . but , the main fortress being broken , other little refuges of infidelity will fall of course . and if , as it hath been proved , the common successions and changes of the world cannot have been from eternity , then that which is eternal must be a being , as eternity itself is , without parts , division , or mutability . would you be help'd to some notion of this , shut your eyes to , and draw off your mind from all corporeal changes and successions , and think of an eternally-current unity , and you are not very far from it . iii. perfection is the last attribute of an eternal being , which we are to speak of . and , as on the one side he looks with very little judgment on this visible world , who passing thro' the several ranks and gradations of beings in it , is not enclin'd to the belief of one most perfect ; so on the other , the most perfect duration must have a compleatness of all excellencies ; and it is not to be imagined , that an eternal being should acquire perfections in time which it had not from eternity . better and better includes worse and worse , and these differences succeeding in an eternal being , suppose a liableness to all possible alterations : which is the linking of things incompatible , perfection and imperfection , eternity and alteration together . to fix this attribute of perfection in the general compages of the universe , is very absurd ; as if that could be truly perfect , taken altogether , which hath many imperfections in its several parts : as sin and wickedness , deviation from what is right and good , grievous corruptions and continual changes : and if these visible imperfections put together , can never be constitutive of perfection , then we must lodge perfection in some invisible being , supreamly excellent , having no corruptions , no changes ; that is , no imperfections in his nature . besides , perfection is properly a collection and summing-up of the other above-mention'd attributes ; and resulting from their several particular powers or branches , is best proved by them . if there be an eternally cogitative being , he must be eternally wise ; and wisdom being the spring and general root of other blessed qualities , he must be likewise just and good . if there be an immense being , he must be omnipotent : if a being immutable , he must possess perfect simplicity , purity and holiness ; that is , the eternal being must have a perfect union of all blessed qualities in his nature ; of wisdom , justice , goodness , power , and holiness , and this is god. our argumentation hath hitherto proceeded on the irrefragable principles of truth . some men may cavil at the whole , but can find no flaw in its connection , no weakness in the parts ; and it carries this advantage along with it , that if it be false , nothing can be proved true ; and if it be true , all contrary opinions or pretences must be necessarily false : whereby it may seem superfluous to consider any other hypothesis , being assur'd of the truth of this ; as it would indeed , were it not for the anticipations crept into mens minds , from which they are not so effectually driven by any sudden violence , unless supernatural , as gradually wean'd from . and what follows , is an indulgence of their humour ; not constrain'd by any necessity , but conceded for the present hardness of their hearts . it may please god to open their eyes for discerning his heavenly truth , when they are a little suffer'd to go on in their own ways : like the prodigal son , they may deem it most expedient to return to their father's house , when after various perplexities they find their own extravagant inventions conspiring to bring them to it . 't is a present unhappiness to be involved in error ; but 't is no great matter where we begin to get out of it , or what dangers and by-ways we travel thro' , if we recover the right at last , and come in season and safety unto our journeys-end . ii. having in the former part clear'd the first hypothesis , and set the principles of truth in a competent light , we shall now undertake to render the patrons of infidelity self-condemn'd , and destroy their presumption , even by their own principles . i. let us begin with that fancy unaccountably invented for freeing mankind from the fear of god , by supposing this world derived its original from the fortuitous motions of eternal and unguided matter . by what fortuitous rovings of the mind , the defenders of this opinion first hit upon it , is almost as unconceivable as the opinion itself ; and it s ever entring into the heart of man , is the best argument that can be made for it . nothing may seem advanced above the power of chance ; and one would imagine , innumerable thoughts might have an eternal rendezvous in the soul , and never combine or jump into such a principle . to instance in the absurdities following from it , would be labour in vain : and if any in this age are so void of reason as to be taken with that which hath not so much as the appearance of it , there is no direct way of arguing with such people : and it shews the deplorable depravation of some mens natures , who rather than believe in god , will believe any thing . should any have this fancy running in their head , that all the churches in the nation grew out of the earth , like mushromes in one night ; or that * all the ships in an harbour did arise from the froth and ebullitions of the sea , it would not be agreeable to the profession of a philosopher to undertake their cure. we may pity or smile at the foolishness of the fancy , but cannot help it . but as persons not endowed with the firmest judgment are best dealt with by complying with their humour , by supposing as they do , that a blind impotent wretch , for instance , is the most powerful prince living , thereby to draw them off from an extravagant and harmful pursuance of their fancies ; so if any ones reason have come by such an unhappy chance , that nothing can make him believe otherwise than that blind matter and motion are the only powerful forming principles of things , the only kindness he is capable of ; that he may not pursue this persuasion to his utter perdition , is , for a while to suppose as he does , and to try if by any other means he may be kept within some bounds of respect unto a superiour being . and , 1. when they think of this opinion , they may do well to think of the authors of it ; who , as far as we can learn , unanimously professed their belief of a divine nature . what moschus the tyrian , who is supposed to live before the trojan war , * and to maintain the atomical hypothesis , thought of god , we have no account of . strabo does but just mention him ; and that with great uncertainty . nor have we any probabilities to persuade us , either from the time or place in which he lived , that his head was repleat with such a scheme of opinions as the following dealers in atoms had ; at least , we cannot think him worse than † empedocles , * democritus , and † epicurur , who are all of them very free in their discourses of a divine nature . lucretius ‖ might speak for them all , did not epicurus himself give us this profession of his faith in god : that god is a blessed and immortal being ; * and that he is not impious who denies the gods of the multitude , but he who applies the notions of the multitude unto god. many indeed who have jump'd in with the hypothesis of epicurus , have led lives unworthy of his patern , † and spoke more slightingly of matters which we ought to revere , than he did . but , must it not be very incongruous to follow such leaders in their dance in the dark , through the eternal windings and revolutions of matter and motion , and yet leave them when they come out of this maze , and speak something like themselves of an immortal being . 2. nor do the words only , but the very principles of these men , who have spoke so much of atoms , matter , and motion , lead unto the belief of god. 't is true , it hath been objected to them , that they do , after some sort , deny * the existence of god , that is , by consequence ; or , that they owned and professed it only as they joyn'd in religious rites , † for fear of the multitude . but you will not think the objection sufficient to prove them such great hypocrites , when you consider their zeal to prove the existence of some ‖ certain principle , which is able to break the fetters and power of fate ; and that epicurus * himself says , 't is much better to believe all the fabulous relations of the heathen deities , than to suppose our selves under the servitude and dominion of natural fatality . 't is , indeed , a difficulty in that hypothesis not easily to be digested , that such rational creatures as we take our selves to be , should be under the tyranny of circumambient matter : that we who sometimes have proud thoughts of our selves , and look with disdain on things below us , should be little better than logs of wood floating on impelling waters , and hurried down the stream of eternity by causes which have neither sense nor reason in them . some may please themselves with talk at this rate : supposing god to be nothing , man little different from the brutes , and brutes little better than so many senseless machines , that is , so many tools made up of matter , put together by chance , and guided by necessary impulses , they know not how . and then , for so might even a generous epicurean say , before i would have such a cheat put upon me by universal nature , before i would be affronted with the seeming concessions of choice and reason , and dominion over my self , without the real possession , were i to chuse what flesh i would wear , i had rather be a monkey or a bear , or any thing but that proud animal which boasts it self in being rational . it would not vex one half so much to be an inanimate lump , kick'd up and down the streets by a being better than ones self , as to lye at the mercy of a pitiful and ignoble crowd , not only to be trampled upon and toss'd here and there , but be forced to speak , debate , think , and believe , as every upstart in nature , every turn of blind and tumultuous matter shall make its insults upon us . the soul of epicurus abhorred so mean a thought , and would admit of any absurdity , rather than not introduce a self-commanding principle , which might break the chain of fate , and maintain the freedom and dignity of an intelligent being , against the necessitation of outward causes . be it so then , most excellent epicurus , we will not take the advantage of this concession to justle thee and thy atoms against each other , by shewing how impossible it is that a voluntary rational agent should be produced by the motions of irrational unintelligent matter , or that the pretence of a declining atom will not † defend us from the danger of fatal necessity . let us follow the supposition as far as it will lead us . 't is necessary , it seems , that there should be a principle of free-will , which checks and over-rules the otherwise fatal progression of outward causes . is it so only here upon the earth , or also in those ‖ innumerable worlds and habitations which we will grant are not believed in vain . if so , as certainly there is as much reason for the one as the other , then here is a ground for believing innumerable intelligent beings , which all over the universe are the lords paramount , and endowed with a divine prerogative of controuling the blind efforts , and guiding the irregular tendency of irrational agents . what these intelligences should be , and why they may not have power and wisdom as far different from us as the glorious apartments of heaven differ from this earth of ours ; or why they may not concern themselves about us , by their perfections supplying what is defective in us , and helping entirely to redeem us from the dominion of necessity , or , why this principle may not carry us to an universal intelligence , whose supream will and power may break and over-rule the universal power of fate , is not so easily answered . which may induce us to believe , that what * epicurus spoke and writ of sanctity and piety to the gods , and of an excelling and transcendent nature , was not merely verbal , but an agreeable consequence of his other opinions : and that the saying of † cotta might be true enough , that he never saw any one more afraid than he was of what he said there was no reason to fear , that is , death and the gods. but to leave epicurus , who might now and then have his melancholick fits , and talk a little too highly and incoherently of god and man. 3. let us advance one step nearer unto his disciples ; who make as bold with his hypothesis , to take in or leave out according as the fit works with them , as ‖ he did with his master democritus . you shall not be tied to any one's opinion of god , nor be bound to maintain free will in man , nor to answer a great many troublesome questions , how senseless disorderly matter could possibly jump into thought and order . apply your mind to the motions and supposed results of matter , and follow the guidance of it , through its visible train and consequences , how fatal soever the event may prove . mind only what you say , and compare it with what you see , and with faithfulness expect the issue . i. something , which you cannot believe is any other than matter in motion , hath produced such intelligent thinking beings as we call men. let us come from whence you will , here we are ; governing , using , and recreating ourselves with inferiour creatures ; debating the nature of truth and falshood , good and evil , and managing our affairs with much wisdom and precaution . ii. we lift up our eyes to heaven , and there we observe the sun and the stars , bodies of a wonderful magnitude , moving in an indeterminable space , in an invariable order , and at a vast distance from us . hath our atoms provided so rarely for us , as to frame such a glorious canopy ‖ merely for our benefit , for such mortal machines , such tools of necessity to look upon ? is all nonsense , and nothing but vain glistering beyond this earth of ours ? or , if we might have a compleat view of the glories represented to us in so narrow a compass , * might we not expect to meet with our match , and find beings which have sense , and thought , and reason as well as we ? iii. and if it be a piece of folly and presumption in man to think himself the only wise , it is not much less , to think himself the wisest being in the universe . the barbarous americans , before their commerce and acquaintance with the european world , might with much greater reason suppose themselves the most polite and knowing , the most skilful in all arts and sciences of any people upon earth , because they had knowledge and skill bearing some proportion to an earthly state ; but the wisest of us all are much short of what may be expected and supposed in heaven . could you have so mean an opinion of nature as to stint the powers thereof to the production of beings no better than our selves ; could you be so weak as to fancy the intelligences in all , even infinitely distant apartments , are of the same kind and capacities , equally unhappy , equally perplexed about the origin , and ministration , and end of things , and as ignorant of us as we are of them ; that nature should not make one being that could give a more certain account of its operations than we can , and enquire why any one should believe otherwise , it may be answered , from the different contextures and varieties of matter . if , indeed , all the habitations in the universe were of the same kind , it makes the argument more probable , that all the inhabitants might be of the same kind too . but if there be great variety in the coalition and segregations of matter ; if the more fine , active , and tenuious , be separated from the more gross , heavy , and unactive ; if some parts of the universe have sensibly and certainly more heat and vigour than others ; why should we not believe as much variety in the ruling inhabitants that are placed therein ? it will not be needful at this time to give a scheme of the world , or to reflect on the foolishness of epicurus , who thought the sun not above two foot broad , or about the bigness of a pretty large wheel , which needs only being laugh'd at . the innumerable worlds supposed by him will serve our turn as well . we have here heat and cold , light and darkness , and a constitution tolerably suited for bearing these changes : but when we see one star differing from another star in glory , we must suppose a more glorious and beatifying concourse ( of atoms if you please ) in some parts than in others ; where , a light too splendid for mortal eye to approach , and a heat too vigorous for flesh and blood to endure , adorns and refines both the place and the products of it . the blackness and tawniness caused by too near approaches to the sun , is little other than the scum of a filthy and over-heated nature . but those beings whose inheritance is in superabounding light , must have natures pure and defecate , clarified from the dregs and corruptions of an earthly state , not so properly * corpus , as quasi corpus , a body , ( if † we must call it a body ) ‖ tenuious and spiritual , differing in proportion , as much from us , as heaven from earth . thus you are led at least unto the heathen deities , unto an innumerable company of heavenly intelligences , or ( if we may begin to speak in the language of christianity ) to the acknowledgment of angels and archangels . iv. nor is it reasonable for us to stop here , but on the same foundation we may raise our belief of a supream intelligence ; in whom the several powers and perfections in nature do most eminently concenter . those principles from whence we infer the existence of beings in all ranks of perfection higher and more excellent than our selves , may , without much begging of the question , be supposed to prove the existence of one most high. and if our materialists shall require for this , some evident symptoms and indications in nature ; and shall profess their belief of superiour intelligences , from the appearance of more blessed and glorious habitations , but not of a supream intelligence , because the existence of a most blessed place , which may be the throne , palace , or residence of the supream being is not so visible unto them ; it may be answered , 1. that they beg the question as much as we . they suppose there is no supream intelligence , we suppose there is ; and so far we are equal , nay considering the ranks of beings , have the advantage in their own hypothesis . 2. that the unity of the god-head , tho' a certain truth , is not absolutely necessary to the enforcement of religion ; for the most ignorant heathen , whose faith and reason could not carry them beyond a multitude of gods , were nevertheless very devout and religious in their way : so that whether there be one god or more , you cannot but be under a divine influence to a religious life . 3. that our belief of a supream being need not depend on the supereminency of any particular place . the glory of the highest may manifest itself all over the universe , in measures suitable to the dignity of place and persons : and tho one place may not in itself be really more glorious than all the rest , yet it may be rendred relatively so , by the glory of his presence . 4. they who deny the supereminency of any particular place , speak contrary to the common appearances of matter . of all things within the compass of our view and vortex , the sun makes the most astonishing and brightest show : and if any religious person will say , that the supream being hath set his tabernacle in the sun , the modern epicureans , even on their own principles , can only oppose a pretty confident assertion by a more confident denial . and if any shall bring the fix'd stars in as competitors in splendour , each as the center of a particular vortex , and say , any of them may put in for the center of the universe as well as the sun , they prove nothing for themselves ; for as of the planetary , so likewise of the fix'd , one star may differ from another star in glory : and if the sun be not the most glorious , we only introduce some other in the room ; for there is no imaginable reason to believe them exactly all alike . or if any shall think , that tho' the sun makes so fine a show , the inward glory thereof is not so considerable : which they would gather from the gross and fiery eruptions from the body of the sun , discover'd by our late famous glasses , that may arise from the deceivableness of the sight ; as the unsteadiness or halfshutting of the eye , or the interposing of any small bodies , makes us think we see streams of fire from a distant light , when there are none . or secondly , the collection of such strong and powerful rays as proceed from the body of the sun , may so affect the nerves with an extraordinary vigour , that we cannot rightly judge of it , but think we see nothing but fire . or , a refraction from the atmosphere of the sun , replenished with vivid and peircing rays , may cause such a confusion in our judgment , tho' within there may be a blessed habitation of serene and pure light. 5. let the sun and fix'd stars be what their cause hath made them . 't is more than sufficient for us , that some place in the universe may be more eminently glorious than all the rest , tho' we cannot point out what or where it is . 't is not probable , that we can see the thousandth part of the stars ; which may be concealed from us not only by their smallness , but their distance . the universe is another kind of a thing than we are capable of conceiving ; and its invisible glories may as far exceed every thing visible , as the sun and fix'd stars do exceed the grosser bodies which move about them . and as every sphere or vortex retains its most lively and illuminating particles at the center , while the more scummy , feculent , and heavy , boil off to the circumference ; so the whole universe may be consider'd as one vast vortex , having in or near its center a coacervation of all blessed ingredients , for making a light most pure , a hear most benign , and a life most happy . in a careful observation of the heavens , we may perceive the glimmerings and coruscation of an extraordinary glory , which hitherto none hath been able to give any tolerable account of . but what hath been said , agrees with the opinion of our divines concerning the coelum empyraeum , a seat and residence of divine glory , the most refulgent . and have not we now humour'd our materialists , in proving from their own principles , the existence of a superiour or supream intelligence . v. we may advance , now , one step farther , and break the very heart of the epicurean hypothesis . their last refuge for irreligion is , to suppose that no superiour being meddles or concerns himself in humane affairs . and if the divine beings ( think they ) do not concern themselves at all about us , why should we concern our selves at all about them . but before you make such an irregular inference , you can never be too careful to secure the premises . for , ‖ if you propagate and entertain so mean an opinion of god , and prove mistaken , you may forfeit his love , and find it too hard a task to oppose his displeasure , when too late to atone it . in the name of god then , let us seriously debate this point , and enquire into the reasons either of denying or asserting a divine providence : which will terminate in these three considerations ; of the power , of the authority , of the will of god. if there be no heavenly being which both may , can , and will intrest himself in earthly matters , then our discourses of providence are vain and superstitious : but if something divine hath a power , right , and mind to oversee and govern us , our obligations unto providence are in force still . 1. and what imaginable reasons can we have to suppose , that the divine power and cognizance extend not to us . can the wing'd inhabitants of this lower orb mount out of our sight , and approach the very confines of invisible regions , and not exalt our faith to the acknowledgment of an entercourse between earth and heaven ? can short-sighted mortals , with some small assistance unto their visive faculty , perceive the inequalities of hills and valleys , earth and water in the body of the moon , the spots in the sun , and in the body of iupiter , the different phases of mercury and venus , and even of saturn so distant from us , with the small satellities unto the greater planets ; and shall not an heavenly eye , with transcending clearness and accuracy , penetrate into the phoenomena of our imperfect state ? can the skill of a physiognomist give notable conjectures of the inward temper by the outward lineaments and features ; can the astronomer tell you the conjunctions and oppositions , the motions , magnitude , and distance of the heavenly bodies ; can an experienc'd physician see through the colour , qualities , and agitations of the body , into its latent distempers ; and the sagacity of a chinoese , measure out the life of man by the beating of his pulse ? and shall we not allow the divine wisdom a more profound and perfect intuition into the secret windings and intricacies , the various combination , tendency , influence , and events of sublunary transactions ? we cannot prescribe the bounds even of earthly improvements : every age crowns the diligence and meditations of men with new encreases of knowledge : and since we cannot determine the utmost exaltation of humane nature , or what sacred commerce with the spiritual world we may attain unto ; why should we rashly limit the faculties of better things , or fancy that any darkness or distance , which are but relative and comparative , should cover us from the view of a superintending deity . we may positively assure ourselves , that the lowest in the angelical rank is furnish'd with abilities to pry into our affairs , and to govern and manage , as he himself pleases , the persons of all mankind . 2. our next enquiry is , concerning the authority and rightful foundation of divine government . the holy and blessed beings above will not meddle with that which they have nothing to do with : but if we will take mr. hobbes for our spiritual guide , we shall soon remove all scrupulosity in this case . power confers right ; and he justly possesses a domination over others who is most strong . 't is true , if a power be irresistible , we have no reason to quarrel with it , whether we have a right or no : and the accumulation of abilities necessary to command , seems an indication in nature where obedience should be paid . this mr. hobbes makes the ground * even of divine government ; and the † followers of mr. calvin speak conformably to it : but because it may look something strange to fix no better ground for obeying god , than for obeying a tyrant or a thief that proves too hard for us , you shall not be urged with any ones authority in this point neither . others fix the basis of god's government in the act of creation , and limit the exercise of his power to the measure of his benefits . of which number are the first refiners ‖ of platonism , and the * armenians . and because it may be supposed you will catch at this opinion , we will try the force of it , and see how well it will serve for your purpose . and , if benificence be the basis of government , are you sure that god hath no right to interpose in our affairs ? is it likely ( upon your own principles , which need not always be particularly mention'd ) that the divine nature is not more ancient than the humane ? that its antecedent excellencies should have no hand in our formation ? or may not the superiour beings , if they are disposed to meddle in our affairs , by their watching over us for good , merit our obedience and subjection ? are not several inferiour creatures fed by our kindness , and preserved by our providence , tho we did not create and form them ? and do not the blessings descending from the administrations of earthly government render a legislative rightful and reasonable , tho' they have no creative power ? the aforesaid authors have pursued a good notion a little too far ; the † one of them saying , that if matter be coeternal with god , his endeavouring to make a change therein , by drawing it into form and order , must be injurious : the other , that ‖ could we suppose ourselves not to have received the benefit of creation from god , but come into the world without any obligation to his power and goodness in forming us , we might admire the transcendent excellencies of his nature , but could not justly be subjected unto his government and disposal . the weakness of which assertions will appear by the two following arguments . first , that it is very fit , in the order of nature , that the inferiour should be subservient unto the superiour : for what other reason can you assign for the dominion of man over inferiour creatures : they are coeval with us ; and 't is certain , we could have no hand in the formation of them . but as that natural dependance and relation between superiour and inferiour justifies ( not our tyranny and cruelty , there can never be any reason in nature for that , but ) our taming and subduing them to necessary uses , our bridling and governing them as is expedient ; much stronger is the argument when applied to the difference between god and man. secondly , all beings have a general right and charter to do good , and to be the ministers of eternal rectitude , in promoting order , and preventing disorder in the universe . it is lawful for us to cultivate the earth , and draw out of the heart and bowels of it , fruits and minerals , for ornament , nourishment , and preservation ; to extirpate noxious weeds , and promote the encrease of useful plants , beautiful flowers and objects of delight : may we without the imputation of injurious medling , cherish mild , quiet , and profitable tempers , and deliver the weak and inoffensive from the wild and untameable birds and beasts and men of prey which are too strong for them ? may we unblameably rescue the good from the jaws of the wicked , and celebrate the atchievments of those ancient or modern worthies who have made it their business to * redeem mankind from oppression and to quell monsters ? may earthly magistrates draw malefactors before the judgment-seat , and consign them to punishment , protect the innocent , and reward the well-deserving according to their discretion ? and can men have the impudence to question god's right to do good , to bring order out of disorder , to take care of and reward the meek and holy , to restrain and punish the subdolous or violent workers of iniquity ? what is this , but to exalt mankind to the dignity of gods , and to depress the divine prerogative below the privileges of men. 3. and if god both can and may , the consequence is very natural , that he will and does interpose in the management of humane affairs . right and power , in the hands of a good being will not lye dormant ; but exert their force to the beneficial employments for which they are adapted . epicurus indeed * introduces the gods so much taken up with their own felicity , that they will not trouble themselves ( for , in his opinion , there must be a great trouble ) in minding any thing else . and † his wise men were to have their lives form'd according to this pattern of their gods ; enjoying their ease and privacy , and having nothing at all to do in civil administrations ; in pursuance of his principles , no doubt , that chance might bear an universal sway , without the interposing of any wise mind to order it , either in heaven or earth . not to reflect on epicurus , by shewing the need his deities had to look to themselves , and the quiet governing of the world ; must not doing good be highly agreeable and pleasing unto a good god ? must not the delight and complacency in beholding the due procedure and harmony of things , preponderate the trouble ( if there should be some ) in effecting it ? does a vertuous prince confine himself to the pleasures of his palace , or regret at his hours of watchfulness , care , and pains-taking , which secures the prosperity of his people ? does not even curiosity sweeten our tedious inquisitions into truth and falshood , right and wrong , and sympathy with the vertuous in distress , constrain us to take their part ? and can we imagine the deity should indulge an everlasting slothfulness , when there is so much good to be done , so much evil to be redressed , so many deserving objects of his compassion and care , which call for his assistance ? either we must condemn as foolish the vigilance of good governours , laugh at the compassionate essays of the pious , and confound our notions of generosity , benignity , and things praise-worthy ; or we can never persuade our selves , that god is an idle spectator , and bears the sword of power and authority in vain . the last pretext , of trouble in the conduct of providence , hardly deserves an answer . can a single man of diligence and sagacity , with comfort supervise so many affairs , and an earthly potentate boast with how little trouble the world was govern'd , and cannot god , whose knowledge and power inconceivably surpasses ours , who hath millions of heavenly agents and nuncio's to attend his pleasure , and execute his commands , dispatch the affairs of his government without any confusion or perplexity ? or , if you fear that seeing and being conversant among the evils and miseries of mankind should really grieve and afflict a mind of so great benignity , allowing the divine nature the commendable wisdom of a stoick , that difficulty you will easily surmount and cure . 4. what remains then , but that the reasons of irreligion falling , the hypothesis invented for its support should fall too . mens naughty opinions proceed not from an hard'ned malignity against god , but either from doubtfulness , or consciousness of their own demerits ; and it is no wonder , if they strive by any artifice to exclude that providence from whence they expect no good : like the iniquiry of men to their brethren ; first to offend and injure them , then to weaken their authority and credit ; and if they do not , or cannot destroy them , yet to wish them dead . but since the existence of god and his providence maintains its credit , and lives in the belief of the wise and holy ; since all you can say to the prejudice of religion profits you nothing , but even your own principles must either endear or enslave you to it ; since , to repeat it once more , the epicurean hypothesis , whatever it pretends at the first interview , will unavoidably keep you to religion , you had as good leave it , and be religious upon the most excellent principles . and is it not much more becoming the dignity of man to pay his obedience to an eternal king , whose wisdom and power is infinite , than to harbour in his mind low thoughts of the deity which he must serve , and be govern'd by chance only at the second-hand ? does it not make religion , and the offices thereof , look more venerable , and the thoughts of the divine majesty more awful in the soul , when the bent of our devotion terminates in the prime cause , and contemplates perfections not to be transcended ? there the soul , with comfort and credit , can acquiesce , and fix its adorations when it can go no further . all that hath been spoken , was intended not to improve , but gradually to wean you from the epicurean hypothesis . it s heart and spirit may be , because the design of it is , well-nigh broken : and tho' it may not be convenient to rip open its bowels , and expose its loathsomness , for fear of defilement , yet one consideration more may be suggested ; namely , what the heavenly intelligences , according to this atomical and fortuitous origination of things , must think of themselves . 't is hard for brutes to be made mere machines , and plants the composition of chance . man looks a little higher , and will stoutly argue and dispute against it . and if the heavenly intelligences can be conscious of so mean an original , they must needs be ashamed to own it . to this shall be only added , that tho' it be impossible this absurd hypothesis should be true , yet even from it so clear an account may be deduced both of divine providence and dispensations , of angelical beings and their ministrations , of the fall of the devil , of his deceiving man , and of the extent of his power and principality , that those persons cannot but be * condemn'd out of their own mouth , who dare to be irreligious on this foundation . ii. let us proceed to the second retirement of infidelity ; that the world has always been as it is ; from eternity subsisting in the same frame and order which we have at present . and what principally offers it self to our consideration on this subject , shall be introduced with 1. an explication of the hypothesis it self : for if we take it in the gross , nothing is more evidently true , than it is evidently false . how can we say the world has been from eternity as it is at present ; when every age , every year , nay every day , presents to our view such wonderful mutations . what revolutions in humane affairs , what changes in government , religion , laws , and manners , what improvements in liberal and mechanical arts and sciences , do the histories of all nations exhibit to us ? or if you can see no argument in this , against the fixed consistence of this earthly frame , take notice of the conflicts and jarrs among the elements themselves , and their interchangeable replevying from each other ; the fire making its hostile eruptions upon the earth , as often as it can gather sufficient forces , and either finds or makes a vent ; the air cherishing noxious and pestilential vapours , which destroy all before them , blast the fruits of the earth , and turns the breath of life into the minister of death . the earth and the water have their ‖ quarrels about dominion , and enlarge their bounds by mutual depredations . sometimes the earth is too hard for the waters , lifts up its head above , and places a garrison in the midst of the swelling floods . * rhodes and † delos , with many lesser monuments mention'd by ‖ pliny , shew that the earth can be sometimes brisk , and throwing off her natural dulness , recover some ground from her neighbouring foe . and again , the waters have been too many for the earth , scorning to have their forces disjoyn'd by the weak fences of nature , making their way ( if not * between england and france , yet ) between † italy and sicily , cyprus and syria , &c. taking no less than three ‖ famous cities in peloponnesus , and over-running , in a night and a day , the great island atlantis , if you will believe ‖‖ plato . nor have their swallowing some certain cities or countries bounded their ambition , which in the times of noah , ogypes , and deucalion , almost obtain'd by prodigious inundations , and threatned to establish an universal empire . 't is true , we have now a tolerably quiet temperament of things ; but these wonderful effects of contending elements minister sufficient ground of suspecting , that it hath not been always upon the earth as it is at present ; which is supposed and confessed * by the principal patrons of this hypothesis : of which we shall make our advantage afterwards . but master aristotle perchance will obviate our design by one of his distinctions , telling us , that these formidable changes happen only in the † elementary or sublunary world , but ‖ the celestial bodies , made up of his fifth or finest element , are liable to no changes or corruptions , but conserve an immutable and even tenour through all the successions of eternity . had he himself been made up of this fine incorruptible element , his own experience and modesty might have convinced him by this time of his great mistake . the moon and other planetary bodies are found to be near of the same nature and constitution with the earth . * many fix'd stars innumerated by the ancients are now unknown ; and many appear a new which former ages give no account of ; and that notable star in cassiopeia , bigger and brighter than the rest of the fix'd stars , first observed november 1572 , and disappearing march 1574 , had a very fatal influence upon , and portended the overthrow of this hypothesis . nay , those blazing stars , which in all ages shake their ominous rods over admiring mortals , forewarn us by a right calculation of their altitude , not to depend on it . the philosopher indeed , agreeably to his principles , † could not allow the blazing stars a place so high as the orb of the moon ; the senselessness of which fancy , contrary to many other reasons , is evidently demonstrated from the insensibility of their paralax . how much they are higher than the moon , we cannot certainly tell ; but , in all probability , they must needs be advanced above the sphere of saturn . hence follows , that when any one says , the world has been from eternity as it is at present their words must be a little qualified , and mean no more , than that the substance or general compages of the world may have been eternal ; though the several parts of it , both in heaven and earth , or all alternately , have undergone very considerable changes and alterations . 2. let us next enquire into the reasons which might tempt men to this opinion of the world's eternity : and they seem to be two . first , because they could perceive no changes , no symptoms of the generation or corruption of the world : and secondly , because they could give no reasonable account of the world's origin and production . † the first we find in ocellus lucanus , and aristotle ; and all their winding and circular disputes for the impossibility of its generation from the impossibility of its corruption , & vice versa , terminate in this : like the argument against the dissolution of the world , mention'd by the scoffers in ‖ st. peter . for since the fathers fell asleep , all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation . and to this we may return the same answer , that they who can see no indications of a changeable nature , must needs be willingly ignorant ; and for clearing their eye sight , may be referr'd unto the preceding paragraph . and if seeing or not seeing can be an argument on either side , it can be only against them . for we do see , and are positively assured , of very great changes in the world ; and if it had a beginning newly form'd , mankind might have sensible convictions of it : but if the world be eternal , it requires a very large faith to look back into its certainty , and no mortal could ever have a sensible or ocular demonstration of it . the second reason we take from the conceited humour of aristotle ; * who being too much given to contemn and deride others , † and servilely following his own reason to the assigning a cause for the smallest matters , * laugh'd at all accounts of the world 's original , and judged the defenders of it little better than mad . this hasty shooting of his bolt , proceeded from the excess of his pride , or the defectiveness of his own reason . he could have no satisfying notion , when , or by what means , or in what manner the world was made . and how should any thing be done without aristotle's knowing it . we will not enquire into his profound skill in the whole circle of physicks , his rare definitions of substance , form , time , motion , &c. his accurate discovery of meteors ( except comets , which you heard something of lately ) and the familiar acquaintance he had with the substantial forms and occult qualities of nature . we will only ask his disciples , what they can think of the generation of man ? can you tell how such rational beings as we are , attain our maturity and perfection ? what are the constituent principles of our nature ? how the body is form'd and organized ? at what time the soul is united to it ? or how an immaterial can operate on a material being , and receive impressions from it ? or ( for perchance you may be disposed to smile at the former questions ) how meer matter , and the rude elements of life , can expand themselves to the production and exercise of those noble functions , of sensation , cogitation , memory , &c. consider a while of it , and by that time you can return a satisfying answer to these questions , we may give you as satisfying an account of the formation of the world. but if this little world be a province too difficult for your undertaking , what humility do our contemplations of the universe require ? and how absurd must it be to assert the eternity of the world upon those principles , which either prove that there are no men in the world , or that they are all eternal . for instance , if it be impossible there should be any communion between a material and an immaterial being , or that mere matter should think reason , and remember , &c. as the difficulties are inexplicable on each side , then there are no men in the world ; and how big soever we may look , we are no better than those apparitions and shades of the night , which poor ignorant people are so commonly frighted with . or , if you are not pleased with that , since we could have our beginning neither from matter nor spirit , for chuse which you will 't is an easie matter to puzzle you , then we must have been and shall be for ever just as we are at present , and all the histories and evidences of life and death are to be rejected as fabulous fears , fancies , and traditions . this is exactly your way of dealing with us . you ask us two or three puzzling questions about the origin and formation of the world ; and because we do not explain it entirely to your satisfaction , therefore it must be eternal . 3. our third reflection shall fall on the novelty of this opinion , and its arrogant breaking in upon the prescriptions of antiquity . when time had worn off the reverence , with the uniform attestations of tradition , the world 's original began to be debated by the weak reason of man. and the wrangling philosophers raising up difficulties which they could not lay again , like so many evil spirits let loose upon the earth , they tempted men from the acknowledgment of their primitive cause ; and deceived them with the insinuations of becoming wise , nay , wiser than their forefathers . aristotle , all over his physical discourses , musters up the opinion of preceding philosophers ; gives no intimations of any that believed as he did ; but disputes against melissus , parmenides , heraclitus , empedocles , leucippus , democritus , anaxagoras , timaeus , plato , &c. pleasing himself , no doubt , in the singularity of his notion , and sufficiently confuting the world's genesis , by finding some flaw in the solutions of it , or shewing their repugnancy to each other . a little tract of ocellus , indeed , deprives aristotle of the glory which the † first inventer of so fine an hypothesis might expect : some copies of which tract ‖ came , probably , to his hands ; tho' as it happen'd , all did not . if this ocellus be the same whom diogenes laertius * mentions , ( as we will not suborn the appearing advantages both in ocellus and diogenes to witness against it ) the opinion of the world's eternity bears something a more ancient date than the time of aristotle . but , alas , what is this to the whole stream of unsuspected antiquity ? consult the archaeologies of all ages ; and if you find the most ancient monuments of reason and intelligence taking the tradition of the world 's original for granted , where can you expect to find more competent judges ? all those in caldaea , assyria , persia , phaenicia , egypt , greece , italy , palestine , &c. who lived nearest the beginning which moses speaks of , do likewise speak of it as a matter never controverted : but when those reverend worthies were gone off the stage , from whose repute for learning and laborious inquiries , and capacity for knowing most of the ages most doubted of , mankind might receive the best information ; when tradition , which in this case is a better rule than reason , grew weaker and weaker by passing through so many hands , then that became a controversie which before was none , and some , who envied the reputation , would not yield unto the authority of former ages . matter of fact is not to be known by reason , but by testimony : and since for much above 3000 years after the beginning which we contend for , we have a cloud of witnesses , in distinct ages and countries , which appear for us , and not one against us : this shews , that the nearer to that beginning , the clearer was the certainty , the stronger the belief of it : and this weight of universal consent ought much to over-ballance any arguments whatsoever , which some later pretenders to reason , in their private contemplations and retirements shall suggest . 4. our next essay shall be , to make the best of this hypothesis : and tho' the reasons for it be weak , and the tradition against it strong , yet you must know , its chief defenders were not such an ungodly generation as would now pervert and abuse it . you , therefore , whom the supposal of this world's eternity makes unmindful of god , look unto the rock from whence it was hewn , and hear what the first of your race profess concerning the divine nature . life keeps our earthly tabernacles from falling in pieces , and the cause of this is the soul : and harmony conserves the world , and the cause of this is god. the sphere of the moon is the isthmus or partition between a changeable life and immortality . the regions above being the possession of god and divine natures , and those below of [ mutable ] nature and contention . god gives to men generative faculties , organs , and appetites ; not for pleasure , but the preservation of their kind . and a little after , they who altogether abstain from the procreation of children , are injurious to the most honorable bonds of union : but from irregular and reproachful mixtures proceed a generation of wretches , vile and abominable both to god and man , to families and cities . god and nature do nothing in vain . all men have a notion or conception of god , and allot unto the divine nature the highest place , whether they be greeks or barbarians , or whoever think of god : for it is manifest , an everlasting being ought to be fitted with an everlasting habitation . we may very well think , that by one first [ mover ] these several [ heavenly bodies , or their motions ] do subsist : for you may observe in all other kinds of life or principles , the supereminence is in a first over all the rest . god gives compleatness to the whole , and makes every particular production perfect . we ought to think of god , as a being most powerful for strength , most perfect in beauty , in life immortal , in excellencies transcendent . and what the master is in a ship , the driver in a chariot , the leader in a dance , the law in a city , the general in an army , that is god in the world. except , in as much as they , in their respective places , direct with wearisomness , toil and care ; but he without pain , without labour , exempted from all bodily weaknesses whatsoever . for being fix'd on an immovable throne , he moves all things , and turns them about , according to his pleasure . it would be endless to transcribe religious expressions from the followers of aristotle . let is suffice to tell you , that the latter * platonists embraced this opinion of the world's eternity ; and made a great deal to do to reconcile † plato first to aristotle , then to himself . so that you will make this hypothesis fight against god , you must sight against the pillars and main upholders of it ; whose devout elevations of soul expressed in their several ages , a reverence for the deity , and would have abhorr'd , as a degenerous brood , the blasphemers of it . 5. all the religious principles , by natural light form'd in the mind , concerning god , are indifferently well consistent with the world's eternity : which you cannot but be satisfied in , considering , 1. many christian philosophers , believing the beginning spoken of by moses , think it not impossible ( if god had so pleased ) for the world to have been made before , even from eternity . they dare not limit the power of god , as not in efficacy , so not to time : and if any one will say , an eternal cause may have an eternal effect , they will not be positive in denying it . in which number you shall not be referred to some ancient hereticks , or to our late foolish pre-adamites , but to the debates among our ‖ most eminent school-men and metaphysicians . ii. the later platonists and aristotelians argued for the world's eternity , chiefly from the consideration of god's eternal goodness : which argument of theirs is most clearly expressed by sallustius , and in the fewest words . 't is * necessary ( says he ) the world existing through the goodness of god , that as god is always good , the world should always exist . they † recognize god as the cause , the fountain , the parent of the universe , and affirm it the effect , off-spring , and emanation from him . only they suppose a being eternally good must be eternally communicative : which reason , by the way , if it have any force in it , makes not so much for the eternal generation of the world , as of the word and son of god. iii. it does no way derogate from the spiritual nature or providence of god ; but supposes an eternal conservation and direction of all things under the government of an eternal spirit . ‖ aristotle , the most suspected person , acknowledges this . and if immaterial and incorporeal being or substance , be iargon , tobu and bobu , 't is none of our framing or invention . the fear indeed of some religious , and the hopes of some irreligious men , may deserve our notice : as if that which supposes god to act by a necessity of nature , must render instituted religion absurd , and to no purpose , and vacate the expectations of reward or dreads of punishment . this formidable difficulty will soon vanish , when it appears how preposterously it is made to work . for if god acts by a necessity of nature , that is , * his own nature , this ought to be matter of joy and comfort to the good , and terror to the wicked . for it can signifie no more , than that god is necessarily holy , wise , good , and just , and cannot act otherwise than according to the eternal rules and dictates of holiness , wisdom , goodness , and justice . what good may not the righteous expect from this ? what reason have not the wicked , instead of triumphing , to tremble at it ? and with respect to god , * it infringes not his liberty , it illustrates his perfection . iv. nor are the general arguments for god's existence endanger'd by this hypothesis ; as you may see by the enumeration of some particulars . 1. we argue for god's existence , from the necessity of acknowledging a first principle of motion . thus , every thing moving hath motion either essential to it , or by communication from another : that every thing moving hath not motion essential to it , is proved by the cessation of motion in some things , or their continuance in or tendency unto rest. and that a body once quiescent would continue so for ever , if it was not moved by something else , is agreeable both to † aristotle's principles , and ‖ cartes his first law of nature ; and indeed unto common sense . and if every thing moving is moved by something else , 't is necessary to stop somewhere , and , without * going on in infinitum , to terminate in a first mover . and since the first mover must be † immovable , and therefore ‖ indivisible , impassible and without parts , it must likewise be immaterial ; and having an infinite power of moving every thing else , 't is what we believe of god. nothing can pretend to answer this argument , but the invention of a perpetual lamp or motion ; but all our brains may be crack'd , and we may hope , by the grace of god , to have the truth of it confirm'd to our comfort , before that time comes . this , upon review , will be found a very weighty argument ; very rationally making all the motions in the universe proceed from , terminate in , and directed by one common principle ; which ( like the soul in the body , the spring and end of all humane motions ) is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the general superviser and governour of all things . 2. the existence of god is proved by the series and gradation of causes , in this manner . every thing which we see hath its beginning and production , must have its beginning and production from something else . nothing can give beginning to it self . which is true , not only of those things which we see produced , but of every thing else from whence they have their production , until we come unto some cause which is not produced . * an infinite series of causes is not to be admitted , unless you are resolved to be contradiction-proof ; for then , of two infinites , one rank may have infinitely more in number than the other : there may be every day an addition to what was infinite before , &c. 't is certain , that link which hath an end , must have a beginning ; that train or succession which hath a last must have a first : and by these steps we ascend to the supream independent cause from whence all subordinate causes do proceed , and that is god. 3. the existence of god is proved by the admirable order and beauty of the world ; its visible glories declaring his invisible power and godhead . eternal order can never be maintain'd upon the principles of chance , but supposes an eternal orderer ; by whose interposing power and wisdom , the jarrings and discords in nature are over-ruled , every part fixed in its proper place , and guided most conducively to the good and harmony of the whole . take off your eyes a little from this earth of ours , and direct your contemplations towards heaven ; look up to the sun , the moon , and the rest of the heavenly hosts ; conjecture at their magnitude , observe their motion , thankfully reflect on their benign influences ; consider how glorious objects they all seem , what blessed mansions some of them may prove to be . have these existed , say you , millions of ages longer than most of us imagine ? the more wonderful you make their frame and architecture , the greater convictions ( if possible ) you give of an incomprehensibly wise and powerful governour ; the stronger assurances against the fear of a blind and fortuitous causality . chance , possibly , may hit upon something excellent , but it doth not last long . co-ordinate and independent powers may associate for mutual benefit and defence , but it is much if they hold together to eternity . 't is only one predominant and supreamly excelling principle , which can preserve a just temperament , an eternal tenour and comeliness , a regular union and correspondence in all the parts of the universe , and this is god. shall we now proceed to the other arguments for god's existence , from the general notion of god in the mind , and the common consent of men to it , from the fabrick of the body , and the nature and operations of the soul , from the several ranks of beings , which may lead to one most excellent and perfect : rather peruse the learned discourses already extant on those several heads ; apply them to , and see their consistence with this hypothesis , and by them , with the intimations already given , you will soon perceive , that men of irreligious and ungodly principles only cheat themselves , when they think to hide themselves from god , under this subterfuge of the world's eternity . 6. one remark more , before the conclusion of this part , may be recommended to you : that even upon this hypothesis , the generations of men , in all probability , must have a beginning . and for this we will not repeat the impossibility of infinite successions , but re-mind you of matters of fact. there are two ways ( this hypothesis standing good ) whereby the inhabitants of the earth may be all destroyed : either by a general destruction of our vortex , whereof the sun is the center ; or , by some particular predominancy of fire or water . i. a general destruction of this vortex may happen either by an extinction of the sun , or by an unequal dispersion of its rays and heat . 1. if at any time there happen an extinction of the sun , all the inhabitants in this vortex ( not removed by a supernatural power ) must needs perish , as under the poles , for want of light and heat . the several instances of a gathering scum , over or near the sun's body , which , to us , have weaken'd or drowned the sun's light , and reduced it almost to a total obscuration , may be foreboding symptoms , and comminations of such a judgment . for a whole year together , after the assassination of iulius caesar , there was a * prodigious failure of the sun 's light ; at other times for several months ; and in the reign † of tiberius the most wonderful of all , tho' it was but for several hours ; as it were to blacken those moments in the records of time wherein the lord of glory suffer'd . if you think these frowns of offended nature signifie nothing ; that these threatnings of the great and only potentate , to hide the most sensible and necessary symbols of his presence , have no terror in them ; or , to speak in the language of our naturalists , that these scummy spots can never encrease into so great a quantity , as wholly to crust over the body of the sun , and extinguish the light and heat of it , let the disappearing of several fix'd stars , bodies which might rival the sun in glory and greatness , be a warning to you ; and fear lest by the encrease of sin and wickedness within our sphere , the whole mass to which we belong , be made one cursed and confused heap , tumbled out of its place , and become a word of reproach and a gazing-stock to the whole universe , as ‖ comets are . 2. if there be at any time a breaking and unequal dispersion of the suns heat , the irregular flying abroad of its fiery particles , will consume every thing within the compass of it , and * fulfil the prediction of the day of the lord , when the heavens bring on fire shall be dissolved , and the elements shall melt with fervent heat . the tradition of this world 's perishing by an universal conslagration , hath testimonies to confirm it on all sides . s. paul may be supposed to have had some skill in the wisdom of the heathens ; but , that s. iude , s. iohn , s. peter , or our saviour christ iesus , had the perusal of plato , cicero , ovid , berosus , hermes trismegistus , democritus , heraclitus , either of their works , fragments , or quotations from them , we have no reason to perswade us : and yet they all agree in this point , as if they spake by one common inspiration . to sum up evidences , will be doing what hath been sufficiently done already ; but , for the more compendious finding them , consult the commentators on 2 pet. 3.7 . and particularly gr●tius , and on 2 thes. 2.3 . and particularly zanchy : or , if you are prejudiced against any thing that may come near the sacred oracles , you may have recourse to † lipsius . you shall only have one passage of ‖ seneca , whereby to guess at the rest . fate with prodigious fires shall burn and consume all mortal things ; and when the time shall come wherein the world drawing near to its renovation shall expire , its several parts shall dash one against another , stars shall rush upon stars , and whatsoever now gives its light with order and beauty , shall with one general conflagration be set on fire . ii. there may be some particular predominancy of fire or water , destructive to all animals upon the earth , tho' the rest of our vortex receive no damage . and in reporting the general tradition of the worlds perishing , you may observe some diversity among the ancients : and besides the more universal dissolution which we learn from them , and which you may interpret of all within the compass of one or more spheres ; a particular destruction , wherein only the earth , with its parts and appurtenances , shall be concern'd , may be judged credible . of this we may interpret that passage of plato , in his book de regno , when all animals had fulfilled the task and generations appointed to them , god withdraws his conserving power , and retires from the helm of government . the consequent of which , for that vicissitude , is the ruin of all earthly creatures . and the particular manner of it is explain'd by the successive dominations of fire and water , as in the celebrated exprobration of the egyptian ‖ to solon ; o solon , solon , you grecians are always children , nor have you knowledge , of any ancient date , among you . which happens by many and various destructions of men , which have been , and will be , the greatest of which , by the force of fire and inundations of water , the lesser , by several other chances and calamities . as in the circle of the suns ordinary course we have our summer and winter , so in the great circle of time , which they call the * great year , an extraordinary summer and winter are supposed to take their turn ; the one causing a general conflagration , and the other a deluge . 1. the predominancy of heat may proceed either from the altering of our position with respect to the sun or some nearer approximation to it , as some † suppose , or by the ‖ eruption of the central fire , or by both together . the first may prepare the way for the latter , by drying the superficies of the earth , making great chinks and chasms in it , and opening a sufficient passage for the subterraneous fires , to break out with all their forces , to the calcination of the whole . all histories give us prodigious examples of excessively hot seasons , wherein such a judgment might even naturally have been feared . we know what bituminous , sulphureous , and combustible matter the bowels of the earth are replenish'd with , and what dangerous eruptions they have made from their several magazines , particularly in italy and sicily , and lately to the consumption of a hundred thousand persons ; concerning which , we may use the words of * pliny , that they threaten desolation to the whole earth : † which he had better have believ'd than have gone to see . from which eruptions of the central fire ‖ cartes is not asham'd to solve the appearing of some stars which never appear'd before . and if we can believe any reality in his supposition , by such a conspiracy of external and internal fires , the vicissitudes appointed by the eternal decrees of heaven may be compleated . to this particular exustion of the earth , and the powers thereof , many eminent divines , both ancient and modern , think fit to restrain the general expressions in scripture , concerning the last day . ‖ ‖ mr. m●de seems zealous for it , and in him you may find the best collection of authorities , to clear him from the perillous crime of novelty . but our business , at present , is not to shew what may be expected from revelation , but reason . what is possible or probable being declared , we must leave to the choice of the divine wisdom what methods are most expedient for correcting the vices of mankind . 2. the predominancy of water will require but a very brief discussion ; both the matter of fact and manner of an universal deluge , have of late been so learnedly managed , that you cannot need any references to authority in this case . you shall only be reminded of your master aristotle , ‖ who had not assurance enough to confront tradition in so plain a matter ; but allowed , that as we have our successive winters according to their seasons , so in some fatal times and periods we might have a great winter , and such excess of showers as might cause the inundations reported by antiquity . 't is time now to shew , unto what all this tends ; and to satisfie you , that all this pains is not taken without some prospect of advantage : which is no less than this ; that according to the principles of these very men who eternize the world , 't is highly probable , that mankind have had a beginning and a first of their race upon the earth . for , first , if in less than the compass of six thousand years , we have had one , two , or three prodigious deluges , how many such calamities must the earth have groaned under , if it have existed from eternity ? for referring former deluges to any thing but an eternal cause , you suppose the newness of the world , as though it wanted some accidental shakings to bring it unto a perfect settlement . and if in that great deluge we have the most pregnant proof of , only eight persons were saved alive , then in the innumerable deluges which the eternity of the earth with its inhabitants will suppose , sometimes 800 might be saved , sometimes 80 , sometimes 8 , and sometimes none at all . for , tho' the eternal causes may be regular in the general production of a deluge , they may not in reason be thought so regular and uniform in every small circumstance . and when the condition of the earth is brought to that deplorable state , that only eightscore or eight can escape , the saving of these few cannot be referred to the regular operations of nature , but either to chance or miracle . miracle you will not chuse ; and if only by chance they escape once , in the eternal rollings and revolutions of second causes , 't is more than probable , that one time or other they may chance to be all destroyed . secondly , and because the predominancy of fire and water , according to your way of reckoning , seem to be successive , and that another universal deluge cannot naturally be expected till after a conflagration , that may come in for a share in our present meditations . if any such opake and heavy bodies as the earth is may be burnt up , we will not consider the means of their renovation , but only the possibility of such a judgment 's coming to our turn . and the eternity of the earth being supposed , there may have been as many conflagrations as deluges ; and fire being a much more tyrannous element than water , if ever the earth was burnt up by the prevalency of fire , ( which if we can believe it eternal , we may as well believe has happen'd millions of times ) we cannot imagine any possible way or means ( except miraculously ) for one living creature to escape . the short of what we may infer from these two particulars is , that either mankind have had only one beginning , which we christians do believe ; or , that they had an undeterminable number of beginnings , which you heathens must believe : and then the question between us will be only this , from whence ? by what forming power they had their beginning ? and sure you will be ashamed to go back to epicurus , and to the old ridiculous fables of mankind's creeping out of the mudd and slime of the earth , enliven'd with the suns heat ; having nothing to form and organize them , but blind matter and motion . this is an absurdity so great , that the opinion of infinite successions was invented on purpose to prevent it ; your patrons wisely resolving , that of two evils or absurdities , the least was to be chosen . thus you are driven out of your mudd and matter to your infinite successions , and from infinite successions into the mudd again ; not knowing where to fix , unless the next consideration will relieve you . thirdly , if there be such mutations in the heavenly bodies , as the appearof comets , the fresh appearing or disappearing of fix'd stars , are astonishing indications and signs of , why should not you think that the like mutations have happen'd in our sphere . in an eternal course of ages , every thing that is possible may be expected . suppose , according to your laws of nature , the dissolution of one sphere having a fix'd star for the centre , may happen in a thousand years , which is a very moderate supposal , in the infinite circle of eternity , the same fate might have taken its round innumerable times . all the hosts of heaven , in their several turns , might be broken and disbanded , and recall'd to their former posts and stations . and not to say how often it might happen to our vortex , we will take only once for granted : and the sun , the moon , and all the stars about us , having been in one confused heap , without life or order , you may as well believe the beginning which moses speaks of , as any other . and tho' honest * maimonides was very zealous against the world's eternity , and thought he could never muster up too many arguments against it , as an opinion which must inevitably over-turn the religion of moses , and expose his miracles as impostures ; yet there seems not to be one sentence or word in the first chapter of genesis , except the critical interpretation of the word bara , for production out of nothing , which a necessary explication of this hypothesis may not accord with . and all those eminent doctors in the church , * who have interpreted the six days of moses not strictly according to the letter , or believed the existence of ages , persons , or places , long before the precise account of time given us by moses ; as they leave the absolute beginning of things precarious and uncertain , so they render this hypothesis ( how contrary to reason soever it may be and is , yet ) not so positively damnable from scripture . and now , o vain men ! what refuge will you flee unto ? there are no other possible conceits for justifying your infidelity . and since these will stand you in no stead at present , think within your selves , how much less serviceable they will be unto you at the revelation of a more lightsome day . even in this mortal and obscure state , the approaches of death give the irreligious other eyes to see with . danger dispels their prejudices , and coming on the brink of eternity , they begin to think of god , of separate spirits , and other regions , when they cannot think of them with comfort . now they are apt to say , as the cardinals to the religious hermit , what if there be no god , no future state ? but diseases giving them notice of their dissolution , the answer of the good father will be running in their minds , what if there be ? and is it not much the wisest and best method , to live by those sacred perswasions which probably you will dye in , especially when the great patrons of infidelity can say nothing against them . nay , we have not so much as a maybe left on our side , against the verity of religion : for , it cannot be that the world should either be eternal or made by chance . or if one of those may-be's be granted , it cannot be that either hypothesis should be exclusive of a divine nature or providence . and if you are by these considerations rendred ( as you cannot but be ) uneasie in irreligion , and know not which way to turn , read over the former part again with a pious care and attention , and it may prepare you for the following advice ; which , as the precedent discourse , is intended , not for the reproaching , but reforming of your judgment ; not for the condemning of your persons , but the safety of your souls ; not to abridge you of any present felicity , but to excite you to the attainment of that which is eternal . iii. so excellent a subject ought not to be closed without some suitable advice : and tho' the knowledge of god , as it is the foundation of all religion , may have a general reference to every religious duty ; yet it will be fit to chuse out such particular instances of address , as the prevailing vices and inadvertency of this age seem most in need of . 1. the evident connexion of reason and religion may direct us to a right judgment of those men who despise and undervalue sacred things : for hereby it appears , they despise and undervalue that which they do not understand . the psalmist hath given us an excellent character of such men , the fool hath said in his heart there is no god. they are corrupt and have done abominable works , there is none that doeth good . the lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men , to see if there were any that did understand and seek after god : which is as much as to say , that it is the ignorance and want of understanding in men , which makes them entertain any scruples or doubtfulness of heart concerning god. the acknowledgment of god is also affirm'd in sacred scripture , to be the beginning of all wisdom , and the instructions of religion the best way to perfect it . and he who consents not to the doctrine which is according to godliness , is expresly said to be a fool and know nothing . 't is therefore a great error in some , who set up for men of extraordinary parts and wisdom , to speak evil of religious matters : that singularity in profaneness which they affect , and hope by its eminency will recommend them as persons of a deep reach , is of all others the most disgraceful . 't is an argument , that really they do not see so far into the intricacies of truth as they would seem to do . their pretensions are , in the apostle's stile , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the oppositions of miscalled science ; and they only declare , that there are a great many things to be said for religion which they are not aware of . should any man go about to lessen the eloquence of cicero , the poetry of virgil , the morals of seneca or plutarch , he would only betray his own unskilfulness ; and his censures would only render himself contemptible . the same we may say of the censurers of religion . let them please themselves with a conceit of their own wit : 't is a piece not only of charity , but wisdom too , to impute their profaneness to want of judgment . whatsoever they may fancy , they are no better than vulgar mortals guided by some sensual or popular prejudices , and a superficial view of things , through which they cannot see into the excellencies of religion . ii. if reason and religion go hand in hand , then you may safely be advised not to condemn or ridicule religion , till you have carefully examined the grounds and reasons on which it is built . can any be a fairer , or more reasonable request than this ? religion is not a matter of so mean importance , as to justifie any trifling with it , or the author of it . if any think to throw off the fear of god with a scornful jest , and look no further , it may ( for ought they know ) return again upon them with a serious horror ; and then they will wish , that they had formerly thought more of it . but if they will resolve to consider before they condemn , and try before they defie it , they will then indeed act like men , and will presently find enough , if not absolutely to cure , yet at least to make them modest in their mistakes . 't is an insufferable piece of arrogance , for men to talk against religion , without enquiring into the grounds on which its reputation is supported . 't is a malicious ignorance which makes such scoffers : and 't is enough to raise the indignation of any serious christian , to see his dearest interest trampled under-foot by those who never had any of its notions in their head. and pray , observe the persons generally accustom'd to vilifie sacred things ; are they men to be depended on for their seriousness ? do they seem to be more fixed in their thoughts ? more given to contemplation than other men ? or seem they not rather , men of great levity , and little consideration ? who mind only a few sensual and silly satisfactions , and so entirely devoting their thoughts that way , as though reason was given them for no other end , but to make them beasts with some better grace and solemnity . the apostle takes notice of such men in his time , who cared not to retain god in their knowledge ; and he describes them to be such as professed themselves to be wise , but were really foolish , men of a vain imagination , and darkned in their foolish heart . and it cannot be expected otherwise in this our age. if men give themselves up to lightness and vanity , 't is no wonder if the substantial and serious matters of our belief do not relish well with them . if they are commonly engaged in the noise and jollities of a licentious life , this presently dislodges all fixedness of thought as a dull melancholick thing ; and for their ease from that grievance , instead of sober reasoning , they employ their mind in idle and empty talk ; instead of a soul , calm , sedate , and well-composed for looking into truth , they are hurried away with every ridiculous humour and frolick ; and instead of the effects of a solid judgment , nothing but froth and formality comes from them . and yet these are the men , who inspight of their own genius and good manners , must set up for the only men of sense and judgment . they think they can see further in the hurries and distractions of a vicious mind , than another in the most defecate and sober temper : they think they can enlarge their knowledge further in an instant , with the help of a little merry company and a bottle of wine , than others can in many years of thoughtfulness , and most careful meditation . and tho' the few brains and notions of truth they had , are scatter'd in an airy and frolicksome conversation , yet they fancy themselves as well stocked with solid arguments , as those who have made it their business to collect the evidences of truth all their lives . the extravagances of such kind of men , make them no very proper managers of humane affairs . and why they should not forfeit their reputation in the concerns of a divine wisdom , which above all things requires great sobriety of thought , can have a reason given for it only by those who are willing , since it cannot be disputed , that the cause of god should be laugh'd into contempt . be entreated therefore , whoever reads this book , to lay your hands upon your heart , and if any find themselves conscious of an inclination or humour to villifie sacred things , first to consider what you speak ill of , then upon what grounds you do it ; and by thus advising with your selves , or others whom you may think more exercised or fit to inform you in these matters , you will find that godliness is a matter of great weight , and supported by many considerable arguments which before you thought not of : and so , by the blessing of god , instead of despising and scoffing , you may be induced to give god that honour which is due unto him . iii. if religion and the cause of god be so evidently accountable for , to the severest reason , this may serve as a general justification of all zealous and well-meaning christians . god almighty doth variously distribute his talents among the sons of men. to some men god is pleased to give a still and contemplative temper ; and them he capacitates for to look into the hidden things of his law , and for returning a satisfactory account thereof to the rest of the world. to some god is pleased to give a more warm and stirring temper of mind , a more vigorous and nimble spirit ; and these may be zealous and active for god , tho' they do not always give the best reason and demonstration for it . but however , by these diversities of operation and temper in the creature , in carrying in the cause of god , the one supplies the defectiveness of the other . 't is therefore no sufficient occasion of insulting , in any irreligious person , if they find the zeal of some plain and honest-hearted christians to go beyond their knowledge . every one is not cut out for a disputer , especially in such matters which they could hardly ever have dream'd there should have been any dispute about : and tho' god gives them inward convictions of the truth of those heavenly doctrines they are zealous for , yet they may not be prepared to encounter the cavils and objections which an artist in profaneness may raise up . god provides other means and instruments for that purpose ; and they must not measure their conquest by the insufficiency of less contemplative christians , but by the advantage they can gain over those ( which will be but small ) who have made it their business to dive into the bottom of their unreasonable objections . 't is customary with some men , to furnish themselves with a few profane cavils : and if they can but puzzle the parson , or some honest-hearted christian , * illos exaequat victoria coele , they think the day is their own , and that religion will never be able to lift up its head more : nay , sometimes when a minister discourses very affectionately concerning the fear of god and our duty to him , concerning the providence of god , and our acknowledgment of it in many eminent occurrences of humane life ; concerning the promises of heaven , and the terrors of hell ; such men , who take themselves to be men of no ordinary parts and judgment , are ready to indulge themselves and their neighbour with a scornful smile . as if a minister of the gospel must be always laying the grounds of divinity , without making any further progress in opening to the people the whole counsel of god : as though none of his auditory were deserving of his regards but a company of desperadoes , who , like that horrible monster in the poet , are by vertue of no exhortations or arguments to be reduced from vice : as though he must be shy or stirring up to duty , of setting life and death , blessings and cursings before his charge , because a great many , who care neither for him nor his discourses , are not pleased with them . rather than religion shall be thus reason'd out of countenance , let them laugh on still . 't is better they should despise and wander , than the life of piety in humbly disposed christians should be check'd and perish . let private christians go on in their way , without being perplex'd at their cavils ; let godly preachers remind their flock of the judgments of god , without respecting their faces , or fearing their disdain ; and let all know , that as religion in general , so its particular doctrines are capable of very rational proof , though on this or that opportunity they have but little of it . it would be well , if any thing which is spoken on this subject , may as effectually over-awe the rudeness as it doth discover the ignorance of irreligious men ; and make them more modest and suspicious of their own judgment . 't is better for them to live under a sense of god and his judgments here , than feel the effects of their wicked folly and confidence hereafter ; and they have reason to be thankful for the kindness of those who will tell them plainly and affectionately , of the nature and purposes of god , of his promises and threatnings ; since there are such grounds for this religious zeal , as they , with all their knowledge , are not able to oppose . iv. the reasonableness of religion justifies the provision in all wise and well-order'd states , for the suppressing of profaneness and supporting piety . the honour of government can never be consistent with the dishonour of god : and how tolerable soever differences in religion may be , the defiance of all religion is not to be endured . the most rigorous inquisition , or enforcements to uniformity , are preferable to that indulgence , which permits the most impudent infidelity to thrive and spread under its shelter . the sword of authority is put into the hands of magistrates , for the restraint of ungodliness , and was employed by a prince after god's own heart , for rooting out all wicked doers from the city of the lord. severity against blasphemous wretches is no breach of moderation , but a piece of justice to the government , of charity to the governed , and the sufferers themselves can complain of no hard usage thereby . 1. if very severe laws were made and executed against the profaners of religion , what obligation , either of interest , conscience , generosity , or good manners , are any under , to bring themselves in danger of the penalty ? if they , like the fool in the psalmist , say in their heart , that there is no god , it is their interest to conceal their folly , and to wish none may be of that opinion besides themselves . for by this means they have a tye over all others , which others have not over them ; and whether they are masters or servants , parents or children , husbands or wives , or in whatsoever worldly commerce , relations , or business they are concern'd , the belief of a superintending deity will awe their relatives to be faithful and affectionate , and discharge a good conscience to them : a privilege ! which it is very much for their advantage to preserve . nor can conscience engage them to make proselites , by openly professing their infidelity . both the laws of god , and the laws of man , the proper rules of conscience , dispose them to be silent : and if conscience especially , as they say , be no other than the biass of education , we may hope none have so naughty an education , as to think it their duty , to disturb the religious impressions of education or conscience in other people . the most plausible pretext is , that of generosity , regard to truth , and the welfare of mankind . it grieves them to see the world so basely enslaved to religion , and man's life oppressed with superstitious fears or fancies , drawing them off from the comforts they might enjoy , or embittering their enjoyment . but , alas ! unless we are perswaded of a supream governour and a future state , the life of man hardly deserves our notice : we are here to day , and gone to morrow ; and it signifies little what different perswasions men are acted by , what different scenes they have passed through , when death in a very little time will bring them to be all alike . if men are now and then melancholick , 't is no great matter ; some critical turn of humours in the body , some favourable frown of nature , will give them their quietus , and they will sooner find a cure by the loss of life than religion . besides , most of the melancholly which religious men are infested with , is originally owing to the contagion of wicked company : from thence terrifying doubts and occasions of disorder are suggested ; from thence many unhappy turns of thought , which their holy souls abhor , but cannot so easily get clear of again : so that instead of promoting the ease and welfare of mankind , these wicked renegadoes , in tempting men from god , prove only the instruments of their torment . but , setting aside the infirmities of constitution , and some unfortunate accidents , generally speaking , religious men have much the better of it , much the more comfortable and happy part even here on earth : for which we may appeal to experience , and thereby acquaint these men of honour and generosity , that whether the votaries of religion are in the right or no ; their condition is very comfortable , and it would be much more generous and good natured to let them go on in their own way . and if any thing of good manners may be expected from these men , one would think they might make the ostentations of their particular improvements , give way to publick constitution and custom . if they are allowed to think themselves wiser then all the world , 't is not fit they should make a noise of it , and fly in the face of the most reverenc'd establishments , meerly for a vain-glorious humour . but if neither the palaces of princes , nor the laws of a state , nor the solemnities of a city , nor the consent of all grave and serious men , nor the awe of a people fearing god , the great supports to the reputation of religion , can move them to any modest regards unto it ; can they wonder if their impudence receives a check , and brings some trouble upon itself , by its presumptuous troubling of israel ? the rebating of their rudeness they must thank themselves for , and have no reason to complain , if their own perversness punish them . 2. the interposal of authority for the punishment of these evil doers , is a great piece of charity . the longer they are suffered to go on with impurity , the more will they be hardned in their wickedness , and the further will their venome spread . if the execution of good laws against them be for any time deferred , they will think that governours are like themselves : that they secretly believe as they do , tho' they do not so openly aver it . connivance at their practise will argue consent to their principle ; and gives them more then a liberty , even the allowance of the state , to be as irreligious as they please . in the mean while the souls of plain honest people are perplex'd , if not dangerously ensnared . the very confidence of infidels is enough to stagger their faith ; for it will be presumed , they durst not with so high a hand fight against god , unless they had well considered their strength , and on what grounds they engaged . every honest christian has not a stock of reason to answer their cavils : and where their insinuations against god , do not entirely bring over to the devils side , yet have we instances of many , in whose sides their deadly arrows have for a long time stuck , and even brought down their heads in sorrow to the grave . oh ye kings and princes ! let the sighing and sad estate of many poor souls engage your commiseration . ye would be esteem'd the fathers of your country , the defenders of the faith , and the refuge of the distressed : let all the world then see , you have some regard to the characters which you assume , and avenge the heritage of god of those adversaries to their internal and eternal peace , which go up and down in all companies seeking whom they may surprize , distract and devour . countenance not their reserved impieties with your favour , nor let your justice spare them when they are bold and bare-fac'd : 't is better that thousands such wretches should be cut off , than that their tongues should be suffer'd to go through the world , corrupting others , speaking wicked blasphemies , and talking at so abominable a rate against the most high. 3. as charity to others , so a just regard to your selves , and the stability of the government , may require this of you . many excellent arguments there are , shewing the necessity of maintaining religion for maintaining the state ; which the adversaries of god are very sensible of , inveighing against piety as the invention of politicians . this only at present all kings and princes ought to be put in mind of , that if they take no care of religion , in a little time , neither the religious nor irreligious will care much for them . 1. the irreligious are men for this present world , prepared indifferently for every new stamp and impression : put them in the way of their interest , and they are in their own element , let the government be what it will. every prospect of danger holds them in suspence ; every flood of affairs which changes their fortunes for the better , changes their affection . to exclaim against ingratitude and baseness , are words cast into the air : from the follies of impiety springs the wisdom of the world : their portion is in this life , and they must make the best of it . princes are exposed to dangers from abroad , and had need have some trusty friends and counsellors at home : and a greater advantage cannot a bordering enemy have against any prince , than when his people are poison'd with infidelity . they are liable then to all bribes and corruption ; and he that can give the best pension , shall have the best party . they become by degrees froward and high-gran'd ; and if they have not their revenge and ambition , their covetousness or lusts , gratified to the full ; if they are not humour'd in every thing , they begin to blow the trumpet of innovation , every man to his tents , leaving their prince to shift for himself , while they think of new measures . the character of princes is never sacred to them , but when it comes ready coin'd into their pockets : nor whatever they may pretend , would they prize the liberties or properties of any people , if it were not to preserve their own . so that nothing can secure their fidelity , when once they are fallen from their allegiance unto god : if you flatter your self , that some doctrines are so ridiculous and absurd , that nothing can dispose them to further their establishment , yea , in their opinion , as priests of all religions are alike , so is likewise the profession : and if they see things brought to a pinch , the little tyes of honour or friendship will no longer hold them . or , perchance , the fear of servitude , or the loss of their estates , may keep them steady to their duty and the service of their prince : and , questionless , this , if any thing , will make them hearty against a foreign power , and excite them to run very great adventures , rather than be ruin'd and tormented before their time . but when the calentures of a state come near unto a crisis , they begin to cast in their minds , which is the strongest side , and think it no small artifice to save themselves by the sacrifice of their country . all estates and polities are alike to the irreligious : humour and interest wind them variously about , and governours may portend how they shall be served , by the respect which is paid to god and his service among their people . 2. the religious deserve especial consideration in the state , as persons whose affection and fealty may be depended on : they esteem government as the ordinance , and governours as the ministers , of god : liberty is never more grateful to them , nor life on earth more expressive of the heavenly , than under the protection of pious kings . they look upon their authority with an obsequious love and reverence , and prosecute their commands with heartiness and integrity . they fear no diminution of their own happiness from the encreasing successes of their royal power ; but believe the best of their persons , hope the best from their conduct , and endure all things for their sake . if the number of such persons at present be very few , the religious care of governours , under the divine blessing , may add to them . but , when the reins of coercion are remitted unto blind chance , and the vermin of corruption swarm abroad , and make no small buz in the sun-shine of security , what a melancholick scene of thought does this open to all well-disposed and serious minds . scepticism , in former times , has been adjudged to merit the scrutiny and severities of the state ; and all those flourishing empires , the records of whose glory swell the cheeks of fame , have ever agrandiz'd themselves under the banners of piety : vertue inspir'd their soldiery with true courage and vigour , and religion gave reputation to their arms. the world affords never an instance of triumphant atheism : and if , through the iniquity of the times , and an extream abhorrence of having asses for subjects , irreligion be permitted to spread in the camp and council , in the city and country , how great soever the prince himself may be , the utmost such toleration will prefer him to , is , in too large and literal a sense , to be a king of devils . oh , the reproach that such a brood must bring upon a church and nation ! and the grief it must produce in all the fearers of god , to hear the hopes , the author , the means of their salvation , so frequently blasphem'd ! if it go on much further , being deliver'd over , for the correction of our sins , into the hands of those men whose mercies are cruel , is the milder judgment of the two . when a nation is once sunk into the dregs of impiety , whatever stirs or commotions may fall out , whatever changes in government may succeed , there is some hopes of its arising into a better state , no fear of its growing worse . calamity at least may reform their manners , whom prosperity had corrupted ; and they may be induced to acknowledge god in his judgments , who disdain his mercy . 't is highly behooveful therefore , for governours , in securing themselves to secure a reverence for religion : because , irreligion will break the bonds of love , honour , and fidelity , whereby subjects are tied to their authority ; and a general profaneness grieving the hearts of the religious , makes them indifferent unto the state that suffers it . v. since our belief of god is so rationally grounded , from thence we may learn , not only the folly , rashness and rudeness , but also the inexcusableness of those men , who live without the sense of god in the world. st. paul affirms of the darkest times of heathenism , that god did not leave himself without witness ; and that the eternal power and godhead was manifested to them by the things that were made ; and from thence concludes them to be without excuse . how much more inexcusable must such men be in this our age of light , wherein the advantages of the gospel doth not only appear by the new revelations made unto us , but by improving our rational faculties , and enabling us to look more judiciously into the frame and laws of nature , than they could before . if all the light , which now shines among us , will not awaken the drowsiness , remove the wilfulness , work on the infidelity of some men ; if they will still please themselves with fancy and vanity , with shadows and delusions , and prefer their own darkness before this light , their sin hath all the heightning aggravations it is capable of . and what can they answer unto god , for such their unreasonable opposition to his laws ? for perverting the excellencies of their own mind , and abusing his mercy , and turning the noblest accomplishments of humane nature against the author of them ? what can they say , when god sets these misdemeanours before their eyes ? when , to their own shame and confusion , they come to a sense of their former errors ? when their reason and consciences ( here drowned in sottishness and sensual joys ) shall be awaken'd , and the revelation of the great day , shall discover to them and to all the world , the falsity and incorrigible senselesness , the incoherence and weakness of those silly arguments and excuses wherein they prided themselves against god ? this time will come we need not doubt , but safely believe , o heavenly father , when the tongues of thy holy ones shall turn unto thy praise , and the mouth of all wickedness shall be stop'd . lastly , since our faith in god is not to be shaken by the strongest reason , this may be a matter of great joy and comfort unto all faithful christians , that god who made them and governs the world , will bear a continual respect unto them ; will reward all their pious cares and fears ; will supply all their weaknesses ; will help them through all temptations ; will be with them in all their conflicts and strivings against sin. they may boast themselves to be the only wise-men ; to build upon the wisest expectations and principles ; to use the best means for their everlasting comfort , and for securing the favour of their god , who is the best friend . they may live in a joyful perswasion of the goodness of their god , and of his intentions to make them happy ; and may think within themselves , how when the wicked shall not be able to stand in judgment , the lord will own them for his people , and glorifie their faith , and receive them to an eternal communion with himself and his son jesus christ , in whom they trusted . be exhorted therefore and encouraged in the apostle's words , heb. 10.35 . &c. cast not away your confidence in god , which hath great recompense of reward : for yet , a little while the lord will come , and will not tarry : and if like just men ye live by faith , and continue faithful unto death , the lord will raise you up in likeness to the glory of his son , and give you a crown of life . if you believe in god , and make towards heaven , the place of his abode , with heavenly hearts and affections , you will find that you are not deceived in your faith ; the god in whom you believe , being a rewarder of all those who diligently seek him . to whom be glory and obedience for ever and ever . amen . finis . books lately printed for william rogers . sermons and discourses , in 3 volumes . octav. the rule of faith ; or , an answer to the treatise of mr. i. sergeant . octav. eleven sermons , in quart. sermons concerning the divinity of our blessed saviour , octav. a sermon preach'd before the queen at white-hall , april 9th . 1693 , concerning the sacrifice and satisfaction of christ , on heb. 9.26 . quart. a sermon concerning the unity of the divine nature and trinity , on 1 tim. 2.5 . a discourse against transubstantiation . price 3 d. a perswasive to frequent communion . stich'd price 3 d. bound price 6 d. six sermons : 1. stedfastness in religion . 2. family religion . 3 , 4 , 5 , education of children . 6. the advantages of an early piety , octav. these all by his grace john lord archbishop of canterbury . a practical discourse concerning death . oct. a practical discourse concerning a future judgment . oct. a discourse concerning the divine providence . quart. these three by dr. sherlock dean of s. pauls . mr. tyrril's brief disquisition of the law of nature according to the principles and methods laid down in the reverend bishop cumberland's latin treatise on that subject . octav. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a48887-e260 * aeternitas est interminabilis vitae tota simul & perfecta possessio . de consolat . l. 5. * as several believed sir francis drake's ships in 1588 did arise from chips thrown into the water . * strabo geogr. l. 16. † plutarch de plac. phil. l. 1. c. 13. hier. in aur. car. p. 253. cic. de nat. deor. l. 1. the testimony of theophilus against empedocles , we cannot allow , which you have ad autolycum l. 3. for he says as bad of the stoicks l. 2. and may be balanced , in behalf of empedocles , by athenagoras , lactantius , and other christians . * diog. laert. in vitâ plut. de pla. phil. l. 1. c. 5. cic. de nat. deor. l. 1. † laert. in vitâ . ‖ omnis enim per se divum natura necesse est immortali aevo summa cum pace fruatur . l. 1. & alibi . * laert. in vitâ . † laert. in vitâ , & seneca osten . * cic. de nat. deor. l. 2. † plutarch against the pleasant life of epicurus . ‖ declinando faciunt primordia motus principium quoddam quod fati foedera rumpat . lucret. l. 2. cic. de fato . * diog. laert. in epicuro . rochester's satyr against man. † cicero de fato . ‖ diog. laert . in vitâ epicuri , & lucret. l. 2. & alibi . * diog. laert. in vitâ . cic. de nat. deor. l. 1. † cic. de nat. deor. l. 1. ‖ cic. de fn . l. 1. ‖ lucret. l. 5. cic. de nat. deor. l. 1. * fate are necesse est esse alios alibi congressus materi ai qualis hic est . lucr. l. 2. cic. de fin . l. 1. lucr. l. 5. plut. d plac. l. 2. c. 210. * cic. de nat. deor. l. 1. † origen . cont . celsum , ib. 4. ‖ tinuis enim natura deum longéque remotā sensibus ab nostris . lucret . lib. 5. ‖ nec bene promeritis capitur nec tangitur ira , lucret. l. 1. natura videtur libera continuo dominis privata superbis ipsa suâ per se sponte omnia diis agere expers . lucret. l. 2. * leviathan , c. 31. & alibi . † gomarus , maccovius , amyraldus , camero , &c. ‖ hierocles de provid . & fato . * arminii thes. privat . de praedest . 27. remonstrantes explic. cap. 9. ad roman . &c. especially curcellaeus de dominio dei in creaturas innocentes . † hierocles , ut supra . ‖ see curcellaeus . * causin of constantine . * lucretias . plutarch , &c. † plutarch . adversus colotem , & de repugnantiis stoicorum , & arrian , epictetus l. 1. c. 23. & alibi . * luke 19.22 . ‖ aristot. meteor . l. 1. c. 14. * diodor. sic. l. 5. c. 13. philo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plin. nat. hist. l. 2. c. 87. † pliny . philo ibid. & aristot. apud plin. lib. 4. cap. 12. ‖ nat. hist. lib. 2. cap. 85 , 87 , 89. * verstegan l. 1. c. 4. cambden , &c. † plin. l. 2. c. 88. strabo l. 1. diod. sic. l. 4. c. 14. ‖ aristot. de mun. c. 4. philo , strabo , pliny , &c. ‖‖ in trinaeo , critiâ , &c. see also the later histories of peru and mexico . lipsius physiol . stoic . p. 247. * ocellus lucanus de universo cap. 3. aristot . de mundo passim . † aristot. de coelo lib. 3. cap. 6. de mundo , & de generat . & corrupt . passim . item , ocellus lucan c. 2. ‖ aristot. de coelo lib. 1. cap. 10. lib. 2.3 . passim . plut. de pla. lib. 1. cap. 3. * cartes . princip . philosophiae , part. 3. sect. 104. plin. nat. hist. lib. 2. c. 26. † aristot. de met. l. 1. c. 67. plut. de plac. phil. 3. c. 1 , 2. † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. ocell . cap. & aristot. de coelo , l. c. 10. ‖ 2 pet. 3.4 . ●t . philo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . * aelian . var. hist. l. 3. c. 19. † diog. laert . in vitâ , & aristot. phys. l. 1. c. 1. * cicer. in lucullo . philo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . aristot . de coelo . physic. audit . de generat . & corrup . passim . † philo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ‖ vide nagarolae annot . in ocellum . * in vita archytae . ocellus lucanus . in stobaeo . eclog . phys. l. 1. c. 16. ocellus de universo , cap. 2. idem , cap. 4 aristotle de coelo , l. 1. c. 4. idem . l. 1. c. 3. de coelo , l. 2. c. 12. de generat . & corrup . l. 2. c. 10. de mundo passim . aut aristoteles , aut aristotelicus . * see marcilius ficinus , in platonis timaeum , c. 13. & iohannes grammaticus . † see hierocles de providencia , & aenaeas gazaeut . ‖ aquinas , suarez , vasquez , greg. valentia , baronias , &c. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . sallustius de diis & mundo , c. 7. † de mundo sub nomine aristotelle . metaphys . maj. cap. 2. metaphys . sub nomine theophrati , cap. 1. ‖ diog. laert . in aristotele . metaphys . maj . c. 7. * 〈…〉 * nec ob hoc minus liber & poten● est . sen. ibid. n. q. pr. 1. † phys. l. 8. c. 4. ‖ princip . philosoph . part 2. sect. 37. * aristot. phys. l. 8. c. 5. † cap. 6. ‖ ibid. c. 10. it. plato de leg. l. 10. & iohannes gram. in aristot. de animâ . prooem . * aristot. metaphys . min. l. 1. c. 2. * plin. nat. hist. lib. 2. cap. 30. † phlegon . in euseb. chron. sub tiberio . origen . tract . on matt. 35. tertul. apol. c. 21. ‖ see car●●s his account of comets . princip . philosoph . part 3. sect. 115 , &c. * pet. 3.10.12 . † physiol . stoic . l. 2. dissert . 22. ‖ consolat . ad martiam , ad finem . ‖ plato in timaeo . see also celsus apud originem centra celsum , l. 1. p. 16. sen. nat. quaest. l. 3. c. 28. * see alex. ab alexandro , and censorinus . † moor's mystery of godliness . ‖ cartes princip . phi. part 3. sect. 2. * nat. hist. l. 2. c. 116. † 〈…〉 l. 6. ep. ●● . ‖ princip . philosoph . part 3. sect. 104. ‖ ‖ 〈…〉 ‖ aristot. m●●eorol . l. 1. c. 14. diod. sic. l. 1. lucret l. 2.5 . * more nevah . p. 2. c. 25. * quum non tum primum , cum visibilem istum mundum fecit deus coeperit operari : s●d sicut , post corruptionem hujus , erit alius mundus , & ita antequam hic esset , fuisse alios credimus . origen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , l. 3. c. 5. sicut scriptum est in iob , quando factae sunt stellae , laudaverunt eum omnes angeli ejus : quasi antiquitores non solum homine post creato , sed & omni creaturâ propter eum creat● . origen . tract . 9. in matt. & alibi . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( i. e. the earth created for man ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chrysos . orat. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , c. 7. to these may be added about a dozen of the ancient fathers , many of our school-men , and philo the iew. see also commentators on iob 38.7 . psal. 14. ps. 111.10 . ps. 119.98 . 1 tim. 6.4 . 1 tim. 6.20 . rom. 1. 28. 22. 21. * lucret. l. 1. iuven. sat. 4. humana ante oculos foede cum vita faceret . in ●●rris oppressa gravi sub religione , &c. lucret. acts 14.17 . rom. 1.19 , 20. heb. 11.6 . further considerations concerning raising the value of money wherein mr. lowndes's arguments for it in his late report concerning an essay for the amendment of the silver coins, are particularly examined. locke, john, 1632-1704. 1695 approx. 163 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 65 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a48882 wing l2745 estc r23043 12238691 ocm 12238691 56723 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48882) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 56723) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 606:8) further considerations concerning raising the value of money wherein mr. lowndes's arguments for it in his late report concerning an essay for the amendment of the silver coins, are particularly examined. locke, john, 1632-1704. [16], 111, [1], 24 p. printed for a. and j. churchil ..., london : 1695. advertisement: prelim. p. [13]-[16]. errata: p. [1] following p. 111. imperfect: the author's short observations on a printed paper, intituled, for encouraging the coining silver money in england, and after for keeping it here (24 p. at end), is lacking in filmed copy. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng lowndes, william, 1652-1724. -some remarks on a report containing an essay for the amendment of the silver coins. coinage -england. 2002-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-08 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-09 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2002-09 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion further considerations concerning raising the value of money . wherein mr. lowndes's arguments for it in his late report concerning an essay for the amendment of the silver coins , are particularly examined . london , printed for a. and i. churchil at the black swan in pater-noster-row , mdcxcv . to the right honorable s r iohn sommers , kt. lord keeper of the great seal of england , and one of his majesties most honorable privy council . my lord , the papers i here present your lordship , are in substance the same with one which i delivered to you , in obedience to the commands i received by your lordship , from their excellencies , the lords justices ; and with another , which i writ in answer to some questions your lordship was pleased to propose to me concerning our coin. the approbation your lordship was pleased to give them then , has been an encouragement to me , to revise them now , and put them in an order ; fitter to comply with their desires , who will needs have me print something at this time , on this subject : and could any thing of this nature be received with indifferency in this age ; the allowance they have had from your lordship , whose great and clear judgment is , with general consent and applause , acknowledged to be the just measure of right and wrong amongst us , might make me hope that they might pass in the world without any great dislike . however , since your lordship thought they might be of use to clear some difficulties , and rectifie some wrong notions that are taken up about money , i have ventured them into the world , desiring no mercy to any erroneous positions or wrong reasonings , which shall be found in them . i shall never knowingly be of any , but truths and my countrey 's side ; the former i shall always gladly imbrace and own , whoever shews it me : and in these papers , i am sure , i have no other aim , but to do what little i can , for the service of my country . your lordship 's so evidently preferring that to all other considerations , does , in the eyes of all men , sit so well upon you , that my ambition will not be blamed ; if i in this , propose to my self so great an example ; and in my little sphere am moved by the same principle . i have a long time foreseen the mischief and ruine coming upon us by clipp'd money , if it were not timely stopp'd : and had concern enough for the publick , to make me print some thoughts touching our coin some years since . the principles i there went on , i see no reason to alter : they have , if i mistake not , their foundation in nature , and will stand : they have their foundation in nature , and are clear ; and will be so , in all the train of their consequences throughout this whole ( as it is thought ) mysterious business of money , to all those , who will but be at the easie trouble of stripping this subject of hard , obscure and doubtful words , wherewith men are often mislead and mislead others . and now the disorder is come to extremity , and can no longer be plaid with , i wish it may find a suddain and effectual cure ; not a remedy in sound and appearance , which may flatter us on to ruine in the continuation of a growing mischief , that calls for present help . i wish too , that the remedy may be as easie as possible ; and that the cure of this evil be not ordered so as to lay a great part of the burden unequally on those , who have had no particular hand in it . westminster-hall is so great a witness of your lordship's unbiassed justice , and steady care to preserve to every one their right ; that the world will not wonder you should not be for such a lessening our coin , as will , without any reason , deprive great numbers of blameless men of a fifth part of their estates , beyond the relief of chancery . i hope this age will scape so great a blemish . i doubt not but there are many , who , for the service of their countrey , and for the support of the government , would gladly part with , not only one fifth , but a much larger portion of their estates . but when it shall be taken from them , only to be bestowed on men in their , and the common opinion , no better deserving of their countrey than themselves , unless growing exceedingly rich by the publick necessities , whilst every body else finds his fortune streightned by them , be a publick merit , that deserves a publick and signal reward , this loss , of one fifth of their debts and income , will sit heavy on them , who shall feel it without the alleviation of any profit or credit , that will thereby accrue to the nation , by such a lessening of our coin. if any one ask , how i , a retired private man , come at this time to meddle with money and trade : for they are inseparable ; i reply , that your lorship , and the other great men that put me upon it , are answerable for it : whether what i say be to the purpose or no , that i my self am answerable for . this i can answer to all the world , that i have not said any thing here , without a full perswasion of its truth ; nor with any other motive or purpose than the clearing of this artificially perplexed , rather in it self mysterious subject , as far as my poor talent reaches . that which perhaps i shall not be so well able to answer , to your lordship and my self , is the liberty i have taken , in such an address as this , to profess that i am , my lord , your lordships most humble and most obedient servant iohn locke . the preface . though mr. lowndes and i differ in the way , yet i assure my self , our end is the same ; and that we both propose to our selves the service of our country . he is a man known so able in the post he is in ; to which the business of money peculiarly belongs : and has shewed himself so learned in the records , and matters of the mint ; and so exact in calculations and combinations of numbers relating to our coin , either already in use , or designed by him , that i think i should have troubled the publick no more on this subject , had not he himself engaged me in it ; and brought it to that pass , that either i must be thought to renounce my own opinion , or must publickly oppose his . whilst his treatise was yet a manuscript , and before it was laid before those great persons , to whom it was afterwards submitted , he did me the favour to shew it to me ; and made me the compliment , to ask me my opinion of it . though we had some short discourse on the subject , yet the multiplicity of his business , whilst i staid in town ; and my health , which soon after forced me out of it , allowed us not an occasion to debate any one point throughly , and bring it to an issue before i returned to town , his book was in the press ; and finished before i had the opportunity to see mr. lowndes again . and here he laid a new obligation on me , not only in giving me one of them ; but testing me , when i received it from his hands , that it was the first he had parted with to any body . i then went it over a second time , and having more leisure to consider it , i found there were a great many particulars in it drawn out of ancient records , not commonly known , wherewith he had obliged the world. these , which very pleasingly entertained me , though they prevail'd not on me to be of his opinion every where , yet joyn'd with the great civilities he had shewn me , left me in a disposition so little inclined to oppose any thing in it , that i should rather have chosen to acknowledge my self in print , to be his convert , if his arguments had convinced me ; than to troubled the world with the reasons , why i dissent from him . in this disposition my pen rested , from medling any farther with this subject whilst i was in town , soon after my own health , and the death of a friend , forc'd me into the country : and the business occasion'd thereby , and my own private affairs , took up all my time , at my first coming thither ; and had continued on to do so , had not several repeated intimations and instances from london , not without some reproaches of my backwardness , made me see , that the world concern'd me particularly in m. lowndes's postscript , and expected something from me on that occasion . though possibly i was not wholly out of his mind when mr. lowndes writ that invitation , yet i shall not make my self the compliment , to think i alone am concern'd in it . the great importance of the matter made him desire every one to contribute what he could to the clearing of it , and setting it in a true light . and i must do him this right , to think , that he prefers the publick good to his private opinion ; and therefore is willing his proposals and arguments should be with freedom examin'd to the bottom , that if there be any mistake in them , no body may be misled by his reputation and authority , to the prejudice of his country . thus i understand his postscript , and thus i shall endeavour to comply with it . i shall to the best of my skill , examine his arguments with all respect to him , and fidelity to truth , as far as i can discover it . the frankness of his proceeding in particular with me , assures me he is so great a lover of truth and right , that he will not think himself injur'd when that is defended ; and will be glad , when it is made plain , by whose hand soever it be . this is what has made me publish these papers , without any derogation to mr. lowndes , or so much as a suspition that he will take it amiss . i judge of him by my self . for i shall think my self obliged to any one , who shall shew me , or the publick , any material mistake in any thing i have here said , whereon any part of the question turns . books lately printed for , and sold by a. and j. churchill , at the black-swan in pater-noster-row . a view of universal history , from the creation , to the year of christ 1695. by francis tallents , sometimes fellow of magdalen-college , cambridge . the whole graven in 16 copper-plates , each 15 inches deep , and 12 broad ; bound up into books , the sheets lined . a work of great exactness and curiosity . price 16 s. cambden's britannia , newly translated into english , with large additions and improvements . by edmund gibson , of queens college in oxford . the general history of the air. by robert boyle , esq quarto . a compleat journal of the votes , speeches , and debates , both of the house of lords and house of commons , throughout the whole reign of queen elizabeth . collected by sir simonds dewes , baronet , and published by paul bowes , of the middle-temple , esq the 2d edition . fol. the works of the famous nicholas machivael , citizen and secretary of florence . writen originally in italian , and from thence faithfully translated into english. fol. mr. lock 's essay concerning humane understanding . the third edition with large additions . fol. — his thoughts of education . octavo . the fables of aesop and other mithologists ; made english by sir roger l'estrange , kt. fol. two treatises of government : the first an answer to filmer's patriarcha . the latter an essay concerning the true original , extent , and end of civil government . octavo . notitia monastica : or , a short history of the religious houses in england and wales , &c. by thomas tanner . a. b. octavo . the resurrection of the ( same ) body , asserted from the tradition of the heathens , the ancient jews , and the primitive church : with an answer to the objections brought against it . by humphrey hody , d. d. bishop wilkins of prayer and preaching : enlarged by the bishop of norwich , and dr. williams . 8 o. considerations about lowering the interest and raising the value of money . octav. short observations on a printed paper , entituled , for encouraging the coining silver money in england , and after for keeping it here . octavo . sir w. temple 's hist. of the netherlands . 8 o. — miscellanea . octavo . dr. gibson's anatomy of humane bodies , with figures . octavo . dr. patrick's new version of all the psalms of david in metre . twelves . two treatises of natural religion oct. gentleman's religion , with the grounds and reasons of it . the novels and tales of the renowned iohn boccacio , the first refiner of italian prose ; containing an hundred curious novels : by seven honourable ladies , and three noble gentlemen , framed in ten days . the fifth edition much corrected and amended . logica : sive , ars ratiocinandi . ontologia : sive , de ente in genere . pneumatologia , seu despiritibus . auctore ioanne clerico . 12 o. the lives of the popes , from the time of our saviour jesus christ , to the reign of sixtus iv. by sir paul rycaut , kt. the second edition corrected . the meditations of marcus aurelius antoninus , the roman emperour , concerning himself . to which is added , the life of antoninus , with some remarks upon the whole : by monsieur and mad. dacier . never before in english. octavo . sermons preached by dr. r. leighton , late arch-bp . of glasgow . the second edition . octavo . the roman history , written in latin by titus livius , with the supplements of the learned iohn freinshemius , and iohn dujatius : faithfully done into english. fol. a●icius manlius severinus boetius , of the consolation of philosophy . in five books . made english by the right honourable richard lord viscount preston . octavo . sir richard baker's chronicle of the k. of england , continued down to this time. the reasonableness of christianity , as delivered in the scriptures . octavo . prince arthur ; an heroick poem . in ten books . by r. blackmore , m. d. fellow of the college of physicians , london . fol. the christians defence against the fear of death , with seasonable directions how to prepare themselves to dye well . written originally in french , by charte drilincourt , of paris , and translated into english by m. d. assigny , b. d. third edition . the royal grammer , containing a new and easie method for the speedy attaining the latin tongue . further considerations concerning raising the value of money . silver is the instrument and measure of commerce in all the civilized and trading parts of the world. it is the instrument of commerce by its intrinsick value . the intrinsick value of silver consider'd as money , is that estimate which common consent has placed on it , whereby it is made equivalent to all other things , and consequently is the universal barter or exchange which men give and receive for other things they would purchase or part with for a valuable consideration . : and thus as the wife man tells us , money answers all things . silver is the measure of commerce by its quantity , which is the measure also of its intrinsick value . if one grain of silver has an intrinsick value in it , two grains of silver have double that intrinsick value , and three grains treble , and so on proportionably . this we have daily experience of , in common buying and selling . for if one ounce of silver will buy , i. e. is of equal value to one bushel of wheat , two ounces of silver will buy two bushels of the same wheat , i. e. has double the value . hence it is evident , that an equal quantity of silver is always of equal value to an equal quantity of silver . this common sense , as well as the market , teaches us . for silver being all of the same nature and goodness , having all the same quantities , 't is impossible but it should in the same quantity have the same value . for if a less quantity of any commodity be allowed to be equal in value to a greater quantity of the same sort of commodity , it must be for some good quality it has which the other wants . but silver to silver has no such difference . here it will be asked , is not some silver finer than other ? i answer , one mass of mixed metal not discerned by the eye to be any thing but silver , and therefore called silver , may have a less mixture of baser metal in it than another , and so in common speech is said to be finer silver . so ducatoons having a less mixture of copper in them than our english coin has , are said to be finer silver . but the truth is , the silver that is in each is equally fine , as will appear when the baser metal is separate from it . and 't is of this pure or fine silver i must be understood when i mention silver ; not regarding the copper or lead which may chance to be mix'd with it . for example : take an ounce of fine silver , and ¼ of an ounce of copper , and melt them together , one may say of the whole mass , that it is not fine silver , but it is true there is an ounce of fine silver in it ; and though this mass weighing 1 ¼ ounce be not of equal value to 1 ¼ ounce of fine silver , yet the ounce of fine silver in it is , when separate from the copper , of equal value to any other ounce of silver . by this measure of commerce , viz. the quantity of silver , men measure the value of all other things . thus to measure what the value of lead is to wheat , and of either of them to a c●●tain sort of linnen cloth , the quantity of silver that each is valued at or sells for , needs only be known . for if a yard of cloth be sold for ½ ounce of silver , a bushel of wheat for one ounce , and an hundred weight of lead for two ounces , any one presently sees and says that a bushel of wheat is double the value of a yard of that cloth , and but half the value of an hundred weight of lead . some are of opinion that this measure of commerce , like all other measures , is arbitrary , and may at pleasure be varied ; by putting more or fewer grains of silver in pieces of a known denomination , v. g. by making a penny or a shilling lighter or heavier , in silver , in a country where these are known denominations of pieces of silver money . but they will be of another mind , when they consider that silver is a measure of a nature quite different from all other . the yard or quart men measure by , may rest indifferently in the buyers and sellers , or a third persons hands , it matters not whose it is . but it is not so in silver . it is the thing bargain'd for , as well as the measure of the bargain ; and in commerce passes from the buyer to the seller , as being in such a quantity equivalent to the thing sold : and so it not only measures the value of the commodity it is apply'd to , but is given in exchange for it , as of equal value but this it does , ( as is visible ) only by its quantity , and nothing else . for it must be remembred , that silver is the instrument as well as measure of commerce , and is given in exchange for the things traded for : and every one desiring to get as much as he can of it for any commodity he sells , 't is by the quantity of silver he gets for it in exchange , and by nothing else , that he measures the value of the commodity he sells . the coining of silver , or making money of it , is the ascertaining of its quantity by a publick mark , the better to fit it for commerce . in coin'd silver or money there are these three things , which are wanting in other silver . 1. pieces of exactly the same weight and fineness . 2. a stamp set on those pieces by the publick authority of that country . 3. a known denomination given to these pieces by the same authority . the stamp is a mark , and as it were a publick voucher that a piece of such a denomination is of such a weight , and such a fineness , i. e. has so much silver in it . that precise weight and fineness , by law appropriated to the pieces of each denomination , is called the standard . fine silver is silver without the mixture of any baser metal . allay is baser metal mixed with it . the fineness of any metal appearing to be silver , and so called , is the proportion of silver is in it , compared with what there is in it of baser metals . the fineness of standard silver in england is eleven parts silver , and one part copper , near : or to speak more exactly , the proportion of silver to copper is as an hundred and eleven to nine . whatever piece or mass has in it of baser metal above the proportion of 9 to 111 , is worse or courser than standard . whatever mass of metal has a less proportion than 9 to 111 , of baser metal in it , is better or finer than standard . since silver is the thing sought , and would better serve for the measure of commerce if it were unmixt , it will possibly be asked why any mixture of baser metal is allowed in money , and what use there is of such allay , which serves to make the quantity of silver less known in the several coins of different countries ? perhaps it would have been better for commerce in general , and more convenient for all their subjects , if the princes every where , or at least in this part of the world , would at first have agreed on the fineness of the standard to have been just 1 / 12 allay , in round numbers ; without those minuter fractions which are to be found in the allay of most of the coin in the several distinct dominions of this part of the world : which broken proportion of baser metal to silver , in the standard of the several mints , seems to have been introduced by the skill of men imploy'd in coining , to keep that art ( as all trades are call'd ) a mystery ; rather than for any use or necessity there was of such broken numbers . but be that it as it will , the standard in our mint being now setled by authority , and established by custom , known at home and abroad , and the rules and methods of essaying suited to it ; and all the wrought plate as well as coin of england being made by that measure ; it is of great concernment that it should remain unvariable . but to the question ; what need is there of any mixture of baser metal with silver in money or plate ? i answer , there is great reason for it . for , 1. copper mixt with silver makes it harder , and so it wears and wastes less in use than if it were fine silver . 2. it melts easier . 3. silver as it is drawn and melted from the mine , being seldom perfectly fine , it would be a great charge by refining , to separate all the baser metals from it , and reduce it to perfectly unmixt silver . the use of coin'd silver or money is , that every man in the country where , it is current by publick authority , may , without the trouble of refining , essaying or weighing , be assured what quantity of silver he gives , receives , or contracts for , under such and such denominations . if this security goes not along with the publick stamp , coining is labour to no purpose , and puts no difference between coin'd money and uncoin'd bullion . this is so obvious , that i think no government , where money is coin'd , ever overlooks it . and therefore the laws every where , when the quantity of silver has been lessen'd in any piece carrying the publick stamp , by clipping , washing , rounding , &c. have taken off the authority of the publick stamp , and declar'd it not to be lawful money . this is known to be so in england , and every one may not only refuse any money bearing the publick stamp , if it be clipt , or any ways rob'd of the due weight of its silver ; but he that offers it in payment is liable to indictment , fine and imprisonment . from whence we may see , that the use and end of the publick stamp is only to be a guard and voucher of the quantity of silver which men contract for . and the injury done to the publick faith , in this point , is that which in clipping and false coining hightens the robbery into treason . men in their bargains contract not for denominations or sounds , but for the intrinsick value ; which is the quantity of silver by publick authority warranted to be in pieces of such denominations . and 't is by having a greater quantity of silver , that men thrive and grow richer , and not by having a greater number of denominations ; which when they come to have need of their money will prove but empty sounds , if they do not carry with them the real quantity of silver is expected . the standard once setled by publick authority , the quantity of silver established under the several denominations , ( i humbly conceive , should not be altred ) till there were an absolute necessity shewn of such a change , which i think can never be . the reason why it should not be changed is this ; because the publick authority is guarantee for the performance of all legal contracts . but men are absolv'd from the performance of their legal contracts , if the quantity of silver , under setled and legal denomination , be altred : as is evident , if borrowing 100 l. or 400 ounces of silver to repay the same quantity of silver ( for that is understood by the same sum , and so the law warrants it ) or taking a lease of land for years to come , at the like rent of 100 l. they shall pay both the one and the other in money coin'd under the same denominations with ⅕ less silver in it , than at the time of the bargain . the landlord here and creditor are each defrauded of 20 per cent. of what they contracted for , and is their due . and i ask , how much juster it would be thus to dissolve the contracts they had made ; than to make a law , that from henceforth all landlords and creditors should be paid their past debts and the rents for leases ready made , in clipt money , twenty per cent. lighter than it should be ? both ways they lose twenty per cent. of their due , and with equal justice . the case would be the same , and legal contracts be voided , if the standard should be altred on the otherside , and each species of our coin be made ⅕ heavier . for then he that had borrowed or contracted for any sum , could not be discharged by paying the quantity he agreed for , but be liable to be forced to pay 20 per cent. more than he bargained for , that is , more than he ought . on the other side ; whether the creditor be forced to receive less , or the debtor forced to pay more than his contract , the damage and injury is the same , whenever a man is defrauded of his due . and whether this will not be a publick failure of justice , thus arbitrarily to give one mans right and possession to another , without any fault on the suffering man's side , and without any the least advantage to the publick , i shall leave to be considered . raising of coin is but a specious word to deceive the unwary . it only gives the usual denomination of a greater quantity of silver to a less , ( v. g. calling four grains of silver a penny to day , when five grains of silver made a penny yesterday ) but adds no worth or real value to the silver coin , to make amends for its want of silver . that is impossible to be done . for it is only the quantity of the silver in it that is , and eternally will be , the measure of its value . and to convince any one of this , i ask , whether he that is forced to receive but 320 ounces of silver under the denomination of 100 l. ( for 400 ounces of silver which he lent under the like denomination of 100 l. ) will think these 320 ounces of silver , however denominated , worth those 400 ounces he lent ? if any one can be supposed so silly , he need but go to the next market or shop to be convinced , that men value not money by the denomination , but by the quantity of silver that is in it . one may as rationally hope to lengthen a foot by dividing it into fifteen parts , instead of twelve ; and calling them inches ; as to increase the value of the silver that is in a shilling , by dividing it into fifteen parts instead of twelve , and calling them pence . this is all that is done when a shilling is raised from twelve to fifteen pence . clipping of money is raising it without publick authority ; the same denomination remaining to the piece , that hath now less silver in it , than it had before . altering the standard , by coining pieces under the same denomination with less silver in them than they formerly had , is doing the same thing by publick authority . the only odds is , that by clipping the loss is not forced on any one ( for no body is obliged to receive clip'd money ; ) by altering the standard it is . altering the standard , by raising the money , will not get to the publick or bring to the mint to be coin'd one ounce of silver : but will defraud the king , the church , the universities and hospitals , &c. of so much of their setled revenue , as the money is raised v. g. 20 per cent. if the money ( as is propos'd ) be raised ⅕ . it will weaken , if not totally destroy the publick faith , when all that have trusted the publick , and assisted our present necessities , upon acts of parliament , in the million lottery , bank act , and other loans , shall be defrauded of 20 per cent. of what those acts of parliament were security for . and to conclude , this raising our money will defraud all private men of 20 per cent. in all their debts and ●etled revenues . clipping by english men is robbing the honest man who receives clip'd money , and transferring the silver , i. e. the value is pared off from it into the clippers pocket . clipping by foreigners is robbing england it self . and thus the spaniards lately rob'd portugal of a great part of its treasure or commodities ( which is the same thing ) by importing upon them clip'd money of the portugal stamp . clipping , and clip'd money , have besides this robbery of the publick other great inconveniences : as the disordering of trade , raising foreign exchange , and a general disturbance which every one feels thereby in his private affairs . clipping is so gainful , and so secret a robbery , that penalties cannot restrain it , as we see by experience . nothing , i humbly conceive , can put a stop to clipping , now it is grown so universal , and men become so skilful in it , but making it unprofitable . nothing can make clipping unprofitable , but making all light money go only for its weight . this stops clipping in a moment , brings out all the mill'd and weighty money , deprives us not of any part of our clip'd money for the use of trade . and brings it orderly , and by degrees , and without force into the mint to be recoin'd . if clip'd money be call'd in all at once , and stop'd from passing by weight , i fear it will stop trade , put our affairs all at a stand , and introduce confusion . whereas , if it be permitted to pass by its weight , till it can by degrees be coin'd , ( the stamp securing its fineness as well then as now , and the scales determining its weight ) it will serve for the paying of great sums as commodiously almost as weighty money , and the weighty money being then brought out will serve for the market trade , and less payments , and also to weigh the clip'd money by . on the other side ; if clip'd money be allowed to pass current by tale , till it be all recoin'd , one of these two effects will apparently follow : either that we shall want money for trade , as the clip'd money decreases by being coin'd into weighty ; ( for very few , if any body , who get weighty money into their hands , will part with it , whilst clip'd money , not of half the value is current ) or if they do , the coiners and clippers will pick it up , and new coin and clip it ; whereby clip'd money will be increased . so that , by this way , either money will be wanting to trade , or clip'd money continued . if clip'd money be stop'd all at once , there is immediately a stop of trade . if it be permitted to pass in tale , as if it were lawful weighty money whilst it is recoining , and till all be recoin'd , that way also there will be an end of trade , or no end of clip'd money . but if it be made to pass for its weight till it be all recoin'd , both these evils are avoided , and the weighty money which we want will be brought out to boot . money is necessary to the carrying on of trade . for where money fails , men cannot buy , and trade stops . credit will supply the defect of it to some small degree for a little while . but credit being nothing but the expectation of money within some limited time , money must be had or credit will fail . money also is necessary to us , in a certain proportion to the plenty of it amongst our neighbours . for if any of our neighbours have it in a much greater abundance than we , we are many ways obnoxious to them . 1. they can maintain a greater force . 2. they can tempt away our people , by greater wages , to serve them by land or sea , or in any labour . 3. they can command the markets , and thereby break our trade , and make us poor . 4. they can on any occasion ingross naval and warlike stores , and thereby endanger us . in countries where domestick mines do not supply it , nothing can bring in silver but tribute or trade . tribute is the effect of conquest : trade , of skill and industry . by commerce silver is brought in only by an over-ballance of trade . an over-ballance of trade , is when the quantity of commodities which we send to any country do more than pay for those we bring from thence : for then the overplus is brought home in bullion . bullion is silver whose workmanship has no value . and thus foreign coin hath no value here for its stamp , and our coin is bullion in foreign dominions . 't is useless , and labour in vain , to coin silver imported into any country where it is not to stay . silver imported cannot stay in any country in which , by an over-ballance of their whole trade , it is not made theirs , and does not become a real increase of their wealth . if by a general ballance of its trade , england yearly sends out commodities to the value of 400.000 ounces of silver more than the commodities we bring home from abroad cost us ; there is 100000 l. every year clear gain : which will come home in money , be a real increase of our wealth , and will stay here . on the other side , if upon a general ballance of our whole trade , we yearly import commodities from other parts to the value of 100.000 l. more than our commodities exported pay for , we every year grow 100000 l. poorer . and if we should import a million in bullion from spain every year , yet it is not ours ; it is no increase to our wealth , nor can it stay here ; but must be exported again every grain of it , with 100.000 l. of our own money to boot . i have heard it propos'd as a way to keep our money here , that we should pay our debts contracted beyond seas , by bills of exchange . the idleness of such a proposition will appear , when the nature of exchange is a little consider'd . foreign exchange is the paying of money in one country , to receive it in another the exchange is high , when a man pays for bills of exchange above the par. it is low when he pays less than the par. the par is a certain number of pieces of the coin of one country , containing in them an equal quantity of silver to that in another number of pieces of the coin of another country : v. g. supposing 36 skillings of holland to have just as much silver in them as 20 english shillings . bills of exchange drawn from england to holland at the rate of 36 skillings dutch for each pound sterling , is according to the par. he that pays the money here , and receives it there , neither gets nor loses by the exchange ; but receives just the same quantity of silver in the one place , that he parts with in the other . but if he pays one pound sterling to receive but 30 skillings in holland , he pays ⅙ more than the par , and so pays ⅙ more silver for the exchange , let the sum be what it will. the reason of high exchange , is the buying much commodities in any foreign country , beyond the value of what that country takes of ours . this makes english men have need of great sums there , and this raises the exchange or price of bills . for what grows more into demand , increases presently in price . returning money by exchange into foreign parts , keeps not one farthing from going out : it only prevents the more troublesome and hazardous way of sending money in specie forwards and backwards . bills of exchange more commodiously , by scrips of paper , even the accounts between particular debtors and creditors in different countries , as far as the commerce between those two places is equivalent : but where the over-ballance , on either side , demands payment , there bills of exchange can do nothing ; but bullion , or money in specie must be sent . for in a country where we owe money , and have no debts owing to us , bills will not find credit ; but for a short time , till money can be sent to reimburse those that paid them ; unless we can think men beyond sea will part with their money for nothing . if the traders of england owe their correspondents of holland 100.000 l. their accounts with all the rest of the world standing equal , and remaining so , one farthing of this 100.000 l. cannot be paid by bills of exchange . for example , i owe 1000 l. of it ; and to pay that , buy a bill of n. here , drawn on iohn de wit of amsterdam , to pay p. van lore my correspondent there . the money is paid accordingly , and thereby i am out of van lores debt ; but one farthing of the debt of england to holland is not thereby paid ; for n. of whom i bought the bill of exchange , is now as much indebted to iohn de wit , as i was before to p. van lore . particular debtors and creditors are only changed by bills of exchange ; but the debt owing from one country to the other , cannot be paid without real effects sent thither to that value , either in commodities , or money . where the ballance of trade barely pays for commodities with commodities , there money must be sent , or else the debt cannot be paid . i have spoke of silver coin alone , because that makes the money of account , and measure of trade , all through the world. for all contracts are , i think , every where made , and accounts kept in silver coin. i am sure they are so in england , and the neighbouring countries . silver therefore , and silver alone , is the measure of commerce . two metals , as gold and silver , cannot be the measure of commerce both together , in any country : because the measure of commerce must be perpetually the same , invariable , and keeping the same proportion of value in all its parts . but so only one metal does , or can do to it self : so silver is to silver , and gold to gold. an ounce of silver is always of equal value to an ounce of silver , and an ounce of gold to an ounce of gold ; and two ounces of the one , or the other , of double the value to an ounce of the same . but gold and silver change their value one to another : for supposing them to be in value as sixteen to one now ; perhaps the next month they may be as fifteen and three quarters , or 15 and ⅞ to one . and one may as well make a measure , v. g. a yard , whose parts lengthen and shrink , as a measure of trade of materials , that have not always a setled unvariable value to one another . one metal therefore alone can be the money of account and contract , and the measure of commerce in any country . the fittest for this use , of all other , is silver , for many reasons , which need not here be mention'd . it is enough that the world has agreed in it , and made it their common money ; and as the indians rightly call it , measure . all other metals , gold , as well as lead , are but commodities . commodities are moveables , valuable by money , the common measure . gold , though not the money of the world , and the measure of commerce , nor fit to be so , yet may , and ought to be coined , to ascertain its weight and fineness ; and such coin may safely have a price as well as stamp set upon it by publick authority ; so the value set be under the market price . for then such pieces coin'd , will be a commodity as passable as silver money , very little varying in their price : as guineas which were coin'd at the value of 20 s. but passed usually for between 21 or 22 shillings , according to the current rate ; but not having so high a value put upon them by the law , no body could be forced to take them to their loss at 21 s. 6 d. if the price of gold should happen at any time to be cheaper . from what has been said , i think it appears : 1. that silver is that which mankind have agreed on to take , and give in exchange for all other commodities , as an equivalent . 2. that 't is by the quantity of silver they give or take , or contract for , that they estimate the value of other things , and satisfie for them ; and thus by its quantity silver becomes the measure of commerce . 3. hence it necessarily follows , that a greater quantity of silver has a greater value ; a less quantity of silver has a less value ; and an equal quantity an equal value . 4. that money differs from uncoin'd silver only in this , that the quantity of silver in each piece of money , is ascertain'd by the stamp it bears ; which is set there to be a publick voucher of its weight and fineness . 5. that gold is treasure as well as silver , because it decays not in keeping , and never sinks much in its value . 6. that gold is fit to be coin'd as well as silver , to ascertain its quantity to those who have a mind to traffick in it ; but not fit to be joyn'd with silver , as a measure of commerce . 7. that iewels too are treasure , because they keep without decay ; and have constantly a great value , in proportion to their bulk : but cannot be used for money , because their value is not measur'd by their quantity ; nor can they , as gold and silver , be divided , and keep their value . 8. the other metals are not treasure , because they decay in keeping , and because of their plenty ; which makes their value little , in a great bulk ; and so unfit for money , commerce , and carriage . 9. that the only way to bring treasure into england , is the well-ordering our trade . 10. that the only way to bring silver and gold to the mint , for the increase of our stock of money and treasure , which shall stay here , is an over-ballance of our whole trade . all other ways to increase our money and riches , are but projects that will fail us . these things premised , i shall now proceed to shew wherein i differ from mr. lowndes , and upon what grounds i do so . mr. lowndes proposes , that our money should be raised ( as it is called ) one fifth : that is , that all our present denominations of money , as penny , shilling , half-crown , crown , &c. should each have ⅕ less silver in it , or be answered with coin of ⅕ less value . how he proposes to have it done i shall consider hereafter . i shall at present only examin the reasons he gives for it . his first reason , p. 68. he gives us in these words , the value of the silver in the coin ought to be raised to the foot of six shillings three pence in every crown ; because the price of standard silver in bullion is risen to six shillings five pence an ounce . this reason seems to me to labour under several great mistakes , as 1. that standard silver can rise in respect of it self . 2. that standard bullion is now , or ever was worth , or sold to the traders in it for 6 s. 5 d. the ounce , of lawful money of england . for if that matter of fact holds not to be so , that an ounce of sterling bullion is worth 6 s. 5 d. of our mill'd weighty money , this reason ceases ; and our weighty crown pieces ought not to be raised to 6 s. 3 d ; because our light clip'd money will not purchase an ounce of standard bullion , under the rate of 6 s. 5 d. of that light money . and let me add here , nor for that rate neither . if therefore the author means here , that an ounce of standard silver is risen to 6 s. 5 d. of our clip'd money , i grant it him , and higher too . but then that has nothing to do with the raising our lawful coin , which remains unclip'd ; unless he will say too , that standard bullion is so risen , as to be worth , and actually to sell for 6 s. 5 d. the ounce of our weighty mill'd money . this i not only deny , but farther add , that it is impossible to be so . for six shillings and five pence of mill'd money , weighs an ounce and a quarter near . can it therefore be possible , that one ounce of any commodity , should be worth an ounce and quarter of the self-same commodity , and of exactly the same goodness ? for so is standard silver to standard silver . indeed one has a mark upon it , which the other has not : but it is a mark that makes it rather more , than less valuable : or if the mark , by hindring its exportation , makes it less valuable for that purpose , the melting-pot can easily take it off . the complaint made of melting down our weighty money , answers this reason evidently . for can it be suppos'd , that a goldsmith will give 1 ¼ ounce of coin'd silver , for one ounce of bullion ; when by putting it into his melting-pot , he can for less than a penny charge make it bullion ? ( for 't is always to be remembred , what i think is made clear , that the value of silver , considered as it is money , and the measure of commerce , is nothing but its quantity . ) and thus a mill'd shilling , which has double the weight of silver in it to a current shilling , whereof half the silver is clip'd away , has double the value . and to shew that this is so , i will undertake , that any merchant , who has bullion to sell , shall sell it for a great deal less number of shillings in tale , to any one , who will contract to pay him in mill'd money , than if he be paid in the current clip'd money . those who say bullion is risen , i desire to tell me ; what they mean by risen ? any commodity , i think , is properly said to be risen , when the same quantity will exchange for a greater quantity of another thing ; but more particularly of that thing which is the measure of commerce in the country . and thus corn is said to be risen amongst the english in virginia , when a bushel of it will sell , or exchange for more pounds of tobacco ; amongst the indians , when it will sell for more yards of wampompeal , which ●s their money ; and amongst the english ●here , when it will exchange for a greater quantity of silver , than it would before . rising and falling of commodities is always between several commodities of distinct worths . but no body can say that tobacco ( of the same goodness ) is risen in respect of it self . one pound of the same goodness will never exchange for a pound and a quarter of the same goodness . and so it is in silver : an ounce of silver will always be of equal value to an ounce of silver ; nor can it ever rise or fall in respect of it self : an ounce of standard silver can never be worth 1 ¼ ounce of standard silver ; nor one ounce of uncoin'd silver , exchange for 1 ¼ ounce of coin'd silver : the stamp cannot so much debase its value . indeed the stamp hindring its free exportation , may make the goldsmith ( who profits by the return of money ) give 1 / 120 , or 1 / 60 or perhaps sometimes 1 / 30 more ( that is 5 s. 2 ½ d. 5 s. 3 d. or 5 s. 4 d. the ounce ) of coin'd silver for uncoin'd , when there is need of sending silver beyond seas ; as there always is when the ballance of trade will not supply our wants , and pay our debts there . but much beyond this , the goldsmith wi● never give for bullion ; since he can make it out of coin'd money at a cheaper rate . 't is said bullion is risen to 6 s. 5 d. the ounce , i. e. that an ounce of uncoin'd silver will exchange for 1 ¼ ounce o● coin'd silver . if any one can believe this i will put this short case to him . he ha● of bullion or standard uncoin'd silver two round plates , each of exact size and weight of a crown piece : he has besides of the same bullion , a round plate of the weight and size of a shilling , and another yet less , of the exact weight and size of ● three-pence . the two great plates being of equal weight , and fineness , i suppose he will allow to be of equal value , and that the two less , joyn'd to either of them make it ⅕ more worth than the other is by it self , they having all three together ⅕ more silver in them . let us suppose then , one of the greater , and the two less plates to have received the next moment ( by miracle , or by the mill , it matters not how ) the mark or stamp of our crown , our shilling , and our three-pence : can any body say , that now they have got the stamp of our mint upon them , they are so fallen in value , or the other unstamp'd piece so risen , that that unstamp'd piece which a moment before was worth only one of the other pieces , is now worth them all three ? which is to say , that an ounce of uncoin'd silver is worth an ounce and a quarter of coin'd . this is what men would persuade us , when they say , that bul●ion is raised to 6 s. 5 d. [ of lawful money ] the ounce , which i say is utterly impossible . let us consider this a little farther in an other instance . the present mill'd crown piece , say they , will not exchange for an once of bullion , without the addition of a shilling and a three-pence of weighty coin added to it . coin but that crown piece into 6 s. and 3 d. and then they say it will buy an ounce of bullion , or else they give up their reason and measure of raising the money . do that which is allow'd to be equivalent to coining of a present mill'd crown piece ●nto 6 s. 3 d. ( viz. ) call it 75 pence , and then also it must by this rule of raising ●ny an ounce of bullion . if this be so , the self-same mill'd crown peice will and will not exchange for an ounce of bullion . call ●t 60 pence , and it will not : the very next moment call it 75 pence , and it will. i am afraid no body can think change of denomination has such a power . mr. lowndes supports this his first reason with these words , p. 68. this reason , which i humbly conceive will appear irrefragable , is grounded upon a truth so apparent that it may well be compared to an axiom , even in mathematical reasoning ; to wit , th● whensoever the intrinsick value of silver in the coin , hath been , or shall be less than the price of silver in bullion , the coin hath and will be melted down . this i think , though it be allowed mr. lowndes for as apparent a truth , and as certain a maxim as he could wish , yet serve● not at all to his purpose of lessening th● coin. for when the coin , is as it should be , according to the standard ( let th● standard be what it will ) weighty an● unclip'd , it is impossible that the value o● coin'd silver should be less than the valu● or price of uncoin'd ; because , as i hav● shewn , the value and quantity of silve● are the same : and where the quantitie● are equal , the values are equal ; excepting only the odds that may be between bullio● that may be freely exported , and coin'd silver that may not ; the odds whereo● scarce ever amounts to above 2 d. per ounce and rarely to above a penny or an half-penny and this odds ( whatever it be ) will equally belong to his raised mill'd money which cannot be exported , as it will to our present mill'd money , which can not be exported ; as i shall have occasion to shew more particularly here after . all this disorder , and a thousand others , comes from light and unlawful money being current . for then it is no wonder that bullion should be kept up to the value of your clip'd money ; that is , that bullion should not be sold by the ounce for less than 6 s. 5 d. when that 6 s. 5 d. clip'd money paid for it , does not weigh above an ounce . this instance therefore of the present price of bullion , proves nothing but that the quantity of silver in money governs the value of it , and not the denomination ; as appears when clip'd money is brought to buy bullion . this is a fair tryal : silver is set against silver , and by that is seen whether clip'd money be of the same value with weighty of the same denomination , or whether it be not the quanquantity of silver in it that regulates its value . i cannot but wonder that mr. lowndes , a man so well skill'd in the law , especially of the mint , the exchequer , and of our money , should all along in this argument speak of clip'd money , as if it were the lawful money of england ; and should propose by that ( which is in effect by the clippers sheers ) to regulate a new sort of coin to be introduced into england . and if he will stand to that measure , and lessen the new coin'd to the rate of bullion sold in exchange for present current clip'd money , to prevent its being melted down ; he must make it yet much lighter than he proposes , and the raising it , or to give it its due name the lessening of it ⅕ will not serve the turn : for i will be bold to say , that bullion now in england is no where to be bought by the ounce for 6 s. 5 d. of our present current clip'd money . so that if his rule be true , and nothing can save the weighty coin from melting down , but reducing it to the weight that clip'd money is brought to , he must lessen the money in his new coin much more than ⅕ ; for an ounce of standard bullion will always be worth an ounce of clip'd money , whether that in tale amount to 6 s. 5 d. 6 s. 6 d. ten shillings , or any other number of shillings or pence of the nick-named clip'd money . for a piece of silver that was coin'd for a shilling , but has half the silver clip'd off , in the law and in propriety of speech is no more a shilling , than a piece of wood , which was once a sealed yard , is still a yard when one half of it is broke off . let us consider this maxim a little further ; which out of the language of the mint in plain english , i think , amounts to thus much , viz. that when an ounce of standard bullion costs a greater number of pence in tale , than an ounce of that bullion can be coin'd into by the standard of the mint , the coin will be melted down . i grant it , if bullion should rise to 15 pence the ounce above 5 s. 2 d. as is now pretended ; which is to say , that an ounce of bullion cannot be bought for less than an ounce and a quarter of the like silver coin'd . but that , as i have shew'd , is impossible to be : and every one would be convinced of the contrary , if we had none now but lawful money current . but 't is no wonder if the price and value of things be confounded and uncertain , when the measure it self is lost . for we have now no lawful silver money current among us : and therefore cannot talk nor judge right , by our present uncertain clip'd money , of the value and price of things , in reference to our lawful regular coin , adjusted and kept to the unvarying standard of the mint . the price of silver in bullion above the value of silver in coin , when clipping has not defac'd our current cash ( for then the odds is very rarely above a penny or two pence the ounce ) is so far from being a cause of melting down our coin , that this price given above the value of the silver in our coin , is given only to preserve our coin from being melted down : for no body buys bullion at above 5 s. 2 d. the ounce , ( which is just the value ) for any other reason , but to avoid the crime and hazard of melting down our coin. i think it will be agreed on all hands , that no body will melt down our money , but for profit . now profit can be made by melting down our money , but only in two cases . first , when the current pieces of the same denomination are unequal , and of different weights ; some heavier , some lighter : for then the traders in money , cull out the heavier , and melt them down with profit . this is the ordinary fault of coining by the hammer ; wherein it usually sufficed , that a bar of silver was cut into as many half-crowns , or shillings , as answer'd its due weight ; without being very exact in making each particular piece of its due weight ; whereby some pieces came to be heavier , and some lighter , than by the standard they should ; and then the heavier pieces were cull'd out , and there was profit to be made ( as one easily perceives ) in melting them down . but this cause of melting down our money is easily prevented , by the exacter way of coining by the mill , in which each single piece is brought to its just weight . this inequality of pieces of the same denomination , is to be found in our money , more than ever , since clipping has been in fashion ; and therefore 't is no wonder , that in this irregular state of our money , one complaint is , that the heavy money is melted down . but this also the making clip'd money go at present for its weight , ( which is a suddain reducing it to the standard ) and then , by degrees , recoining it into mill'd money ( which is the ultimate and more compleat reducing it to the standard ) perfectly cures . the other case wherein our money comes to be melted down , is a losing trade , or which is the same thing in other words , an over-great consumption of foreign commodities . whenever the over-ballance of foreign trade makes it difficult for our merchants to get bills of exchange , the exchange presently rises , and the returns of money raise them in proportion to the want of money english men have in any parts beyond seas . they who thus furnish them with bills , not being able to satisfie their correspondents on whom those bills are drawn , with the product of our commodities there , must send silver from hence to reimburse them , and repay the money they have drawn out of their hands . whilst bullion may be had for a small price more than the weight of our current cash , these exchangers generally choose rather to buy bullion , than run the risque of melting down our coin , which is criminal by the law. and thus the matter for the most part went , whilst mill'd and clipt money passed promiscuously in payment : for so long a clipt half-crown was as good here as a mill'd one , since one passed , and could be had as freely as the other . but as soon as there began to be a distinction between clipt and unclipt money , and weighty money could no longer be had for the light , bullion ( as was natural ) rose ; and it would fall again to morrow to the price it was at before , if there were none but weighty money to pay for it . in short , whenever the whole of our foreign trade and consumption exceeds our exportation of commodities , our money must go to pay our debts so contracted , whether melted , or not melted down . if the law makes the exportation of our coin penal , it will be melted down ; if it leaves the exportation of our coin free , as in holland , it will be carried out in specie . one way or other go it must , as we see in spain ; but whether melted down , or unmelted down , it matters little : our coin and treasure will be both ways equally diminished , and can be restor'd only by an over-ballance of our whole exportation , to our whole importation of consumable commodities . laws made against exportation of money or bullion , will be all in vain . restraint , or liberty in that matter , makes no country rich or poor : as we see in holland ; which had plenty of money under the free liberty of its exportation ; and spain , in great want of money under the severest penalties against carrying of it out . but the coining , or not coining our money , on the same foot it was before , or in bigger or less pieces , and under whatsoever denominations you please , contributes nothing to , or against its melting down or exportation , so our money be all kept each species in its full weight of silver , according to the standard : for if some be heavier , and some lighter allow'd to be current , so , under the same denomination the heavier will be melted down , where the temptation of profit is considerable , which in well regulated coin kept to the standard , cannot be . but this melting down carries not away one grain of our treasure out of england . the coming and going of that depends wholly upon the ballance of our trade ; and therefore it is a wrong conclusion which we find , p. 71. that continuing either old or new coins on the present foot , will be nothing else but furnishing a species to melt down at an extravagant profit , and will encourage a violent exportation of our silver for sake of the gain only , till we shall have little or none left . for example ; let us suppose all our light money new coin'd , upon the foot that this gentleman would have it , and all our old mill'd crowns going for 75 pence , as he proposes , and the rest of the old mill'd money proportionably , i desire it to be shewed how this would hinder the exportation of one ounce of silver , whilst our affairs are in the present posture . again , on the other side , supposing all our money were now mill'd coin upon the present foot , and our ballance of trade changing our exportation of commodities were a million more than our importation , and like to continue so yearly , whereof one was to holland , and the other to flanders , there being an equal ballance between england , and all other parts of the world we trade to , i ask , what possible gain could any english man make , by melting down and carrying out our money to holland and flanders , when a million was to come thence hither , and english men had more there already than they knew how to use there , and could not get home without paying dear there for bills of exchange ? if that were the case of our trade , the exchange would presently fall here , and rise there beyond the par of their money to ours , i. e. an english merchant must give in holland more silver for the bills he bought there , than he should receive upon those bills here , if the two sums were weigh'd one against the other , or run the risque of bringing it home in specie : and what then could any english man get by exporting of our money or silver thither ? these are the only two cases , wherein our coin can be melted down with profit ; and i challenge any one living to shew me any other . the one of them is removed only by a regular just coin kept equal to the standard ; be that what it will , it matters not , as to the point of melting down of the money . the other is to be removed only by the ballance of our trade kept from running us behind-hand , and contracting debts in foreign countries by an over-consumption of their commodities . to those who say that the exportation of our money , whether melted down , or not melted down , depends wholly upon our consumption of foreign commodities , and not at all upon the sizes of the several species of our money , which will be equally exported , or not exported , whether coin'd upon the old , or the proposed new foot : mr. lowndes replies , p. 72. first , that the necessity of foreign expence and exportation to answer the ballance of trade , may be diminished , but cannot in any sense be augmented by raising the value of our money . i beg his pardon , if i cannot assent to this . because the necessity of our exportation of money depending wholly upon the debts which we contract in foreign parts , beyond what our commodities exported can pay ; the coining our money in bigger or less pieces under the same or different denominations , or on the present or proposed foot , in itself neither increasing those debts , nor the expences that make them , can neither augment nor diminish the exportation of our money . 2. he replies p. 72. that melters of the coin will have less profit by fourteen pence half-penny in the crown when the money is coined upon the new foot. to this i take liberty to say , that there will not be a farthing more profit in melting down the money , if it were all new milled money upon the present foot , than if it were all new coin'd , as is proposed ⅕ lighter . for whence should the profit arise more in the one , than the other ? but mr. lowndes goes upon this supposition ; that standard bullion is now worth six shillings and five pence an ounce , of mill'd money , and would continue to sell for six shillings five pence the ounce , if our money were all weighty mill'd money : both which i take to be mistakes , and think i have proved them to be so . 3. he says , 't is hoped that the exchange to holland may be kept at a stand , or at least from falling much lower . i hope so too . but how that concerns this argument , or the coining of the money upon a new foot , i do not see . 4. he says , p. 73. there is a great difference with regard to the service and disservice of the publick , between carrying out bullion or coin , for necessary uses , or for prohibited commodities . the gain to the exporters , which is that which makes them melt it down and export it , is the same in both cases . and the necessity of exporting it is the same , for 't is to pay debts , which there is an equal necessity of paying , when once contracted , though for useful things . they are the goldsmiths and dealers in silver that usually export what silver is sent beyond sea , to pay the debts they have contracted by their bills of exchange . but those dealers in exchange seldom know , or consider , how they to whom they give their bills , have or will employ the money they receive upon those bills . prohibited commodities , 't is true , should be kept out , and useless ones impoverish us by being brought in ; but that is the fault of our importation , and there the mischief should be cured by laws , and our way of living . for the exportation of our treasure is not the cause of their importation , but the consequence . vanity and luxury spends them , that gives them vent here , that vent causes their importation , and when our merchants have brought them , if our commodities will not be enough , our money must go to pay for them . but what this paragraph has in it against continuing our coin upon the present foot , or for making our coin lighter , i confess here again , i do not see . 't is true what mr. lowndes observes here , the importation of gold , of the going of guineas at 30 s. has been a great prejudice and loss to the kingdom . but that has been wholly owing to our clip'd money , and not at all to our money being coin'd at five shillings two pence the ounce ; nor is the coining our money lighter , the cure of it . the only remedy for that mischief , as well as a great many others , is the putting an end to the passing of clip'd money by tale , as if it were lawful coin. 5. his fifth head p. 74. is to answer those , who hold , that by the lessening our money one fifth , all people who are to receive money upon contracts already made , will be defrauded of 20 per. cent. of their due : and thus all men will lose one fifth of their settled revenues , and all men that have lent money ⅕ of their principal and use. to remove this objection , mr. lowndes says , that silver in england is grown scarce , and consequently dearer , and so is of higher price . let us grant for the present , it is of higher price ( which how he makes out i shall examine by and by . ) this , if it were so , ought not to annul any mans bargain , nor make him receive less in quantity than he lent . he was to receive again the same sum , and the publick authority was guarantee that the same sum should have the same quantity of silver under the same denomination : and the reason is plain , why in justice he ought to have the same quantity of silver again , notwithstanding any pretended rise of its value . for if silver had grown more plentiful , and by consequence by our authors rule cheaper , his debtor would not have been compell'd by the publick authority to have paid him in consideration of its cheapness , a greater quantity of silver than they contracted for . cacao nuts were the money of a part of america , when we first came thither . suppose then you had lent me last year 300 , or fifteen-score cacao nuts , to be repaid this year : would you be satisfied and think your self paid your due , if i should tell you , cacao nuts were scarce this year , and that fourscore were of as much value this year as an hundred the last ; and that therefore you were well and fully paid if i restored to you only 1200 for the 1500 i borrowed ? would you not think your self defrauded of ⅕ of your right , by such a payment ? nor would it make any amends for this to justice , or reparation to you , that the publick had ( after your contract , which was made for fifteen score ) altered the denomination of score , and applyed it to sixteen instead of twenty . examine it , and you will find this just the case , and the loss proportionable in them both : that is , a real loss of 20 per. cent. and therefore a man has right done him , if he receive ⅕ less silver than his contract . as to mr. lowndes's proofs , that silver is now ⅕ more value than it was , i fear none of them will reach mr. lowndes's point . he says p. 77 by daily experience , nineteen penny weight , and three tenths of a penny weight of sterling silver , which is just the weight of a crown piece , will purchase more coin'd money than five unclip'd shillings . i wish he had told us where this daily experience , he speaks of , is to be found : for i dare say no body hath seen a sum of unclip'd shillings paid for bullion any where this twelve months , to go no further back . in the next place , i wish he had told us how much more than five lawful mill'd shillings , bullion of the weight of a crown piece will purchase . if he had said it would purchase six shillings and three pence weighty money , he had proved the matter in question . and whoever has the weight of a crown in silver paid him in mr. lowndes's new coin , instead of six shillings and three pence of our present money , has no injury done him , if it will certainly purchase him six shillings and three pence all unclip'd of our present money . but every one at first sight perceives this to be impossible , as i have already proved it . and i have in this the concurrence of mr. lowndes's new scheme , to prove it to be so . for p. 62 he proposes that his silver vnite having the weight and fineness of a present unclip'd crown piece , should go for 75 pence ; and that the present shilling should go for 15 pence ; by which establishment there will be 75 pence in his vnite , and 93 pence three farthings in six shillings three pence , weighty money of the present coin ; which is an undeniable confession , that it is as impossible for his silver vnite , ( having no more silver in it than a present unclip'd crown , to be worth , and so to purchase six unclip'd shillings and three pence of our present money , as it is for 75 pence to be worth 93 of the same pence , or 75 to be equal to 93. if he means by more , that his sterling silver of the weight of a crown piece will purchase a penny , or two pence more than five unclip'd shillings , which is the most , and which is but accidental too ; what is this rise of its value to 15 pence , and what amends will one 1 / 60 a little more or less , rise in value , make for ⅕ diminished in weight and lost in the quantity ? which is all one as to say , that a penny , or thereabouts , shall make amends for fifteen pence taken away . another way to recommend his new coin to those who shall receive it instead of the present weightier coin , he tells him , p. 77. it will pay as much debt and purchase as much commodities as our present money , which is ⅕ heavier . what he says of debts is true ; but yet i would have it well considered by our english gentlemen , that though creditors will lose ⅕ of their principal and use , and landlords will lose ⅕ of their income , yet the debtors and tenants will not get it . it will be asked , who then will get it ? these , i say , and those only who have great sums of weighty money ( whereof one fees not a piece now in payments ) hoarded up by them , will get by it . to those by the proposed change of our money will be an increase of ⅕ added to their riches , paid out of the pockets of the rest of the nation . for what these men received for four shillings , they will pay again for five . this weighty money hoarded up , mr. lowndes , p. 105 computes at one million and six hundred thousand pounds ; so that by raising our money one fifth , there will three hundred and twenty thousand pounds be given to those who have hoarded up our weighty money ; which hoarding up of money is thought by many to have no other merit in it than the prejudicing our trade and publick affairs , and increasing our necessities , by keeping so great a part of our money from coming abroad , at a time when there was so great need of it . if the sum of unclip'd money in the nation , be as some suppose , much greater ; then there will by this contrivance of the raising our coin , be given to these rich hoarders , much above the aforesaid sum of three hundred and twenty thousand pounds of our present money . no body else , but these hoarders , can get a farthing by this proposed change of our coin ; unless men in debt have plate by them , which they will coin to pay their debts . those too , i must confess , will get one fifth by all the plate of their own , which they shall coin and pay debts with , valuing their plate at bullion : but if they shall consider the fashion of their plate , what that cost when they bought it , and the fashion that new plate will cost them , if they intend ever to have plate again , they will find this one fifth seeming present profit in coining their plate to pay their debts , amount to little or nothing at all . no body then but the hoarders will get by this twenty per cent. and i challenge any one to shew how any body else ( but that little in the case of plate coin'd to pay debts ) shall get a farthing by it . it seems to promise fairest to the debtors ; but to them too it will amount to nothing . for he that takes up money to pay his debts , will receive this new money , and pay it again at the same rate he received it , just as he does now our present coin , without any profit at all . and though commodities ( as is natural ) shall be raised in proportion to the lessening of the money , no body will get by that , any more than they do now , when all things are grown dearer . only he that is bound up by contract to receive any sum under such a denomination of pounds , shillings and pence , will find his loss sensibly when he goes to buy commodities , and make new bargains . the markets and the shops will soon convince him , that his money , which is one fifth lighter , is also one fifth worse ; when he must pay twenty per. cent. more for all the commodities he buys with the money of the new foot , than if he bought it with the present coin. this mr. lowndes himself will not deny , when he calls to mind what he himself , speaking of the inconveniencies we suffer by our clip'd money , says , p. 115. persons before they conclude in any bargains , are necessitated first to settle the price or value of the very money they are to receive for their goods ; and if it be in clip'd or bad money , they set the price of their goods accordingly : which i think has been one great cause of raising the price , not only of merchandizes , but even of edibles , and other necessaries for the sustenance of the common people , to their great grievance . that every one who receives money after the raising our money , on contracts made before the change , must lose twenty per cent. in all he shall buy , is demonstration , by mr. lowndes's own scheme . mr. lowndes proposes that there should be shillings coin'd upon the new foot ⅕ lighter than our present shillings , which should go for 12 pence apiece ; and that the unclip'd shillings of the present coin should go for fifteen pence apiece , and the crown for seventy five pence . a man who has a debt of an hundred pounds owing him , upon bond or lease , receives it in these new shillings , instead of lawful money of the present standard : he goes to market with twenty shillings in one pocket of this new money , which are valued at 240 pence ; and in the other pocket with four mill'd crown pieces , ( or 20 mill'd shillings of the present coin ) which are valued at three hundred pence , which is one fifth more : 't is demonstration then that he loses one fifth , or 20 per cent. in all that he buys , by the receipt of this new money , for the present coin , which was his due ; unless those he deals with will take four for five pence , or four shillings for five shillings . he buys , for example , a quart of oyl for fifteen pence : if he pay for it with the old money in one pocket , one shilling will do it ; if with the new money in the other , he must add three pence to it , or a quarter of another shilling ; and so of all the rest that he pays for , with either the old money which he should have received his debts in , or with the new , which he was forced to receive for it . thus far it is demonstration , he loses twenty per cent. by receiving his debt in a new money thus raised , when he uses it to buy any thing . but to make him amends , mr. lowndes tells him , silver is now dearer ; and all things consequently will be bought cheaper twenty per cent. i am sure there is no demonstration of that , nor appearance of it yet ; and if i may credit housekeepers and substantial tradesmen , all sorts of provisions and commodities are lately risen excessively ; and notwithstanding the scarcity of silver , begin to come up to the true value of our clip'd money , every one selling their commodities so as to make themselves amends in the number of light pieces for what they want in weight . a creditor ought to think the new light money equivalent to the present heavier , because it will buy as much commodities . but what if it should fail , as 't is ten to one but it will , what security has he for it ? he is told so , and he must be satisfied . the salt , wine , oyl , silk , naval stores , and all foreign commodities , will none of them be sold us by foreigners for a less quantity of silver than before , because we have given the name of more peace to it , is i think demonstration . all our names ( if they are any more to us ) are to them but bare sounds ; and our coin , as theirs to us , but meer bullion , valued only by its weight . and a suede will no more sell you his hemp and pitch , or a spaniard his oyl , for less silver ; because you tell him silver is scarcer now in england , and therefore risen in value one fifth ; than a tradesman of london will sell his commodity cheaper to the isle of man , because they are grown poorer , and money is scarce there . all foreign commodities must be shut out of the number of those that will fall , to comply with our raising our money . corn also , 't is evident , does not rise or fall , by the differences of more or less plenty of money , but by the plenty and scarcity that god gives . for our money , in appearance remaining the same , the price of corn is double one year to what it was the precedent ; and therefore we must certainly make account , that since the money is one fifth lighter , it will buy one fifth less corn communibus annis . and this being the great expence of the poor , that takes up almost all their earnings ; if corn be communibus annis sold for one fifth more money in tale than before the change of our money , they too must have one fifth more in tale of the new money for their wages , than they have now ; and the day-labourer must have , not only twelve , but fifteen pence of the new money a day , which is the present shilling , that he has now , or else he cannot live . so that all foreign commodities , with corn and labour , keeping up their value to the quantity of silver , they sell for now ; and not complying in the fall of their real price with the nominal raising of our money ; there is not much left wherein landlords and creditors are to expect the recompense of 20 per cent. abatement of price in commodities to make up their loss in the lightness of our money they are paid their rents and debts in . 't would be easie to shew the same thing concerning our other native commodities , and make it clear , that we have no reason to expect they should abate of their present price , any more than corn and labour . but this is enough , and any one , who has a mind to it , may trace the rest at his leisure . and thus i fear the hopes of cheaper penny-worths , which might beguile some men into a belief , that landlords and creditors would receive no less by the proposed new money , is quite vanished . but if the promise of better penny-worths and a fall of all commodities twenty per cent. should hold true , this would not at all relieve creditors and landlords , and set them on equal terms with their neighbours : because the cheap penny-worths will not be for them alone ; but every body else , as well as they , will share in that advantage ; so that their silver being diminished one fifth in their rents and debts , which are paid them , they would still be twenty per cent. greater losers than their unhoarding neighbours , and forty per cent. greater losers than the hoar●ers of money ; who will certainly get twenty per cent. in the money , whatever happens in the price of things ; and twenty per cent. more in the cheapness of commodities , if that promised recompence be made good to creditors and landlords . for the hoarders of money ( if the price of things falls ) will buy as cheap as they . so that what ever is said of the cheapness of commodities , 't is demonstration , ) whether that proves true or no ) that creditors , and landlords , and all those who are to receive money upon bargains made before the proposed change of our coin , will unavoidably lose twenty per cent. one thing mr. lowndes says in this paragraph very remarkable , which i think decides the question . his words p. 78. are these , that if the value of the silver in the coins ( by an extrinsick denomination ) be raised above the value or market price of the same silver reduc'd to bullion , the subject would be proportionably injured and defrauded , as they were formerly in the case of base moneys coin'd by publique authority . it remains therefore only to shew , that the market-price of standard bullion is not one fifth above our coin that is to be raised , and then we have mr. lowndes of our side too against its raising . i think it is abundantly proved already , that standard bullion neither is , nor can be worth one fifth more than our lawful weighty money : and if it be not , by mr. lowndes's confession , there is no need of raising our present legal mill'd money to that degree ; and 't is only our clip'd money that wants amendment : and when that is recoin'd and reduced all to mill'd and lawful money , that then too will have no need of raising . this i shall now prove out of mr. lowndes's own words here . mr. lowndes in the forecited words compares the value of silver in our coin , to the value of the same silver reduc'd to bullion ; which he supposing to be as four to five , makes that the measure of the raising our money . if this be the difference of value between silver in bullion , and silver in coin ; and it be true , that four ounces of standard bullion be worth five ounces of the same silver coin'd ; or , which is the same thing , that bullion will sell by the ounce for six shillings and five pence unclip'd money ; i will take the boldness to advise his majesty to buy , or to borrow any where so much bullion , or rather than be without it , melt down so much plate , as is equal in weight to twelve hundred pounds sterling of our present mill'd money . this let him sell for mill'd money ; and according to our authors rule , it will yield fifteen hundred pounds . let that fifteen hundred pounds be reduc'd into bullion , and sold again , and it will produce eighteen hundred and sixty pounds : which 1860 l. of weighty money being reduced to bullion , will still produce one fifth more in weight of silver , being sold for weighty money . and thus his majesty may get at least three hundred and twenty thousand pounds by selling of bullion for weighty money , and melting that down into bullion , as fast as he receives it ; till he has brought into his hands the million and six hundred thousand pounds , which mr. lowndes computes there is of weighty money left in england . i doubt not but every one who reads it , will think this a very ridiculous proposition . but he must think it ridiculous for no other reason , but because he sees 't is impossible , that bullion should sell for one fifth above its weight of the same silver coin'd ; that is , than an ounce of standard silver should sell for six shillings five pence of our present weighty money . for if it will , 't is no ridiculous thing that the king should melt down , and make that profit of his money . if our author's rule , ( p. 78 , where he says , that the only just and reasonable foot upon which the coins should be current , is the very price of the silver thereof , in case it be molten in the same place where coins are made current ) be to be observed ; our money is to be raised but an half penny in five shillings ; for that was the ordinary odds in the price between bullion and coin'd silver , before clipping had deprived us , in commerce , of all our mill'd and weighty money . and silver in standard bullion would not be in value one jot above the same silver in coin , if clip'd money were not current by tale , and coin'd silver ( as mr. lowndes proposes , p. 73 ) as well as bullion , had the liberty of exportation . for when we have no clip'd money , but all our current coin is weight , according to the standard , all the odds of value that silver in bullion has to silver in coin , is only owing to the prohibition of its exportation in money ; and never rises , nor can rise , above what the goldsmith shall estimate the risque and trouble of melting it down ; which is so little , that the importers of silver could never raise it to above an half penny an ounce , but at such times as the east-india company , or some foreign sale , calling for a great quantity of silver at a time , made the goldsmith scramble for it ; and so the importers of bullion raise its price upon them , according to the present need of great quantities of silver , which every goldsmith ( eager to ingross to himself as much as he could ) was content to pay high for , rather than go without : his present gains from those whom he furnish'd , and whom otherwise he could not furnish , making him amends . the natural value then between silver in bullion , and in coin , is ( i say ) every where equal ; bating the charge of coinage , which gives the advantage to the side of the coin. the ordinary odds here in england , between silver in bullion , and the same in our coin , is by reason that the stamp hinders its free exportation about an half penny in the crown . the accidental difference , by reason of suddain occasions , is sometimes ( but rarely ) two pence in five shillings , or somewhat more in great urgencies . and since the ordinary rate of things is to be taken as the measure of their price , and mr. lowndes tells us , p. 78. that if the value of the silver in the coins should be raised above the value , or market price , of the same silver reduced to bullion , the subject would be proportionably injured and defrauded ; i leave him to make the inference , what will be the consequence in england , if our coin be raised here one fifth , or twenty per cent. mr. lowndes says farther , p. 80. that silver has a price . i answer ; silver to silver can have no other price , but quantity for quantity . if there be any other difference in value , it is or can be nothing but one of these two : first , either the value of the labour imploy'd about one parcel of silver more than another , makes a difference in their price ; and thus fashion'd plate sells for more than its weight of the same silver ; and in countries where the owners pay for the coinage , silver in coin is more worth than its weight in bullion ; but here , where the publick pays the coinage , they are of very near equal value , when there is no need of exportation : for then there is no more odds than the trouble of carrying the bullion to the mint , and fetching again , is worth ; or the charge of refining so much of it , as will bring it to standard , if it be worse than standard . or secondly , some priviledge belonging to one parcel of silver which is denied to another , viz. here in england a liberty of exportation allowed to silver in bullion , deny'd to silver stamp'd . this , when there is need of exportation of silver , gives some small advantage of value to uncoin'd silver here , above coin'd ; but that is ordinarily very inconsiderable ; and can never reach to one fifth , nor half one fifth , as has been already shewn . and this i think will answer all that is said about the price of silver in that place . 't is true what mr. lowndes says in the next words , p. 81. that five shillings coin'd upon the fo●t propos'd , will actually contain more real and intrinsick value of silver by a great deal , than is in the current money now commonly applied to the payment of the said rents , revenues and debts . but will he hence conclude , because there is now lost in those rents , revenues and debts , a great deal more than twenty per cent. under the present irregularity of our coin , and the robbery in clip'd money , without any the least neglect or miscarriage in the owner that intitled him to that loss , that therefore it is just that the loss of twenty per cent. be establish'd on him by law for the future , in the reforming of our coin ? mr. lowndes's second reason for lessening our coin we have p. 82. in these words , the value of the silver in the coin ought to be raised , to encourage the bringing of bullion to the mint to be coin'd . this raising of money is , in effect , as has been seen , nothing but giving a denomination of more pence to the same quantity of silver , viz. that the same quantity of silver shall hereafter be called seventy five pence , which is now call'd but sixty pence . for that is all is done : as is manifest , when a crown piece which now goes but for sixty pence , shall be made to go for seventy five pence ; for 't is plain , it contains nothing of silver , or worth in it , more than it did before . let us suppose , that all our silver coin now in england were six pences , shillings , half-crowns and crowns , all milled money , full weight according to the present standard ; and that it should be order'd , that for the future , the crown piece instead of going for sixty pence , should go for seventy five pence , and so proportionably of all the other pieces ; i ask then , how such a change of denomination shall bring bullion to the mint to be coin'd , and from whence ? i suppose this change of names , or ascribing to it more imaginary parts of any denomination , has no charms in it to bring bullion to the mint to be coin'd : for whether you call the piece coin'd twelve pence , or fifteen pence , sixty or seventy five , a crown or a scepter , it will buy no more silk , salt or bread than it would before . that therefore cannot tempt people to bring it to the mint . and if it will pay more debt , that is perfect defrauding , and ought not to be permitted . next , i ask , from whence shall this raising fetch it ? for bullion cannot be brought hither to stay here , whilst the ballance of our trade requires all the bullion we bring in , to be exported again , and more silver out of our former stock with it , to answer our exigences beyond seas . and whilst it is so , the goldsmiths and returners of money will give more for bullion to export , than the mint can give for it to coin ; and so none of that will come to the mint . but says our author , p. 83. an half-penny an ounce profit , which will be in the propos'd coin , above the present price of sterling bullion , will be an encouragement to those who have english plate , to bring it in to be coin'd . i doubt whether there will be any such profit ; for i imagine that standard bullion cannot now be bought per ounce for six shillings and five pence of our clip'd running cash , which is the measure whereby mr. lowndes determines of the price of sterling silver . but taking this half-penny an ounce profit for granted , it will not bring to the mint any plate , whose fashion is valued by the owner at an half-penny per ounce ; and how much then it is like to bring to the mint , is easie to guess . the true and only good reason that brings bullion to the mint to be coin'd , is the same that brings it to england to stay there , viz. the gain we make by an over-ballance of trade . when our merchants carry commodities abroad , to a greater value than those they bring home , the overplus comes to them in foreign coin or bullion , which will stay here , when we gain by the ballance of our whole trade . for then we can have no debts beyond sea to be paid with it : in this thriving posture of our trade , those to whose share this bullion falls , not having any use of it whilst it is in bullion , choose to carry it to the mint to have it coin'd there , whereby it is of more use to them for , all the business of silver in trade , or purchasing land ; the mint having ascertained the weight and fineness of it : so that on any occasion , every one is ready to take it at its known value , without any ●●●●ple ; a convenience that is wanting in bullion . but when our trade runs on the other side , and our exported commodities will not pay for those foreign ones we consume , our treasure must go ; and then it is in vain to bestow the labour of coining on bullion that must be exported again . to what purpose is it to make it pass through our mint , when it will away ? the less pains and charge it costs us , the better . his third reason p. 83 is , that this raising our coin by making it more in tale , will make it more commensurate to the general need thereof , and thereby hinder the increase of hazardous paper-credit , and the inconveniency of bartering . just as the boy cut his leather into five quarters ( as he call'd them ) to cover his ball , when cut into four quarters it fell short : but after all his pains , as much of his ball lay bare as before . if the quantity of coin'd silver employ'd in england falls short , the arbitrary denomination of a greater number of pence given to it , or which is all one , to the several coin'd pieces of it , will make it commensurate to the size of our trade , or the greatness of our occasions . this is as certain , as that if the quantity of a board which is to stop a leak of a ship fifteen inches square , be but twelve inches square , it will not be made to do it , by being measured by a foot that is divided into fifteen inches instead of twelve , and so having a larger tale or number of inches in denomination given to it . this indeed would be a convincing reason , if sounds would give weight to silver , and the noise of a greater number of pence ( less in quantity proportionably as they are more in number ) were a large supply of money , which our author p. 84 says our occasions require , and which he by an increase of the tale of pence hopes to provide . but that mistake is very visible , and shall be further shewn in the business of bartering . the necessity of trust and bartering is one of the many inconveniencies springing from the want of money . this inconvenience , the multiplying arbitrary denominations , will no more supply , nor any ways make our scarcity of coin commensurate to the need there is of it , than if the cloth which was provided for clothing the army , falling short , one should hope to make it commensurate to that need there is of it , by measuring it by a yard one fifth shorter than the standards or changing the standard of the yard , and so getting the full denomination of yards , necessary according to the present measure . for this is all will be done by raising our coin , as is proposed . all it amounts to , is no more but this , viz. that each piece , and consequently our whole stock of money , should be measured and denominated by a penny one fifth less than the standard . where there is not coin'd silver in proportion to the value of the commodities that daily change owners in trade , there is a necessity of trust , or bartering ; i. e. changing commodities for commodities , without the intervention of money . for example , let us suppose in bermudos but an hunderd pounds in ready money ; but that there is every day there a transferring of commodities from one owner to anther , to the value of double as much . when the money is all got into hands that have already bought all that they have need of for that day , whoever has need of any thing else that day , must either go on tick , or barter for it ; i. e. give the commodities he can best spare , for the commodities he wants , v. g. sugar for bread , &c. now 't is evident here , that changing the denomination of the coin they already have in bermudos , or coining it over again under new denominations , will not contribute in the least towards the removing this necessity of trust or bartering . for the whole silver they have in coin , being but four hundred ounces ; and the exchange of the value of commodities made in a distance of time , wherein this money is paid , not above once , being to the value of eight hundred ounces of silver ; 't is plain that one half of the commodities that shift hands , must of necessity be taken upon credit , or exchanged by barter ; those who want them having not money to pay for them . nor can any alteration of the coin , of denomination of these four hundred ounces of silver help this : because the value of the silver , in respect of other commodities , will not thereby be at all increased ; and the commodities changed , being ( as in the case ) double in value to the four hundred ounces of coin'd silver to be laid out in them ; nothing can supply this want but a double quantity , i. e. eight hundred ounces of coin'd silver ; how denominated it matters not , so there be a fit proportion of small pieces to supply small payments . suppose the commodities passing every day in england , in markets and fairs , between strangers , or such as trust not one another , were to the value of a million of ounces of silver ; and there was but half a million of coin'd silver in the hands of those who wanted those commoditie ; 't is demonstration they must truck for them , or go without them . if then the coin'd silver of england , be not sufficient to answer the value of commodities moving in trade amongst us , credit or barter must do it . where the credit and money fail , barter alone must do it : which being introduced by the want of a greater plenty of coin'd silver , nothing but a greater plenty of coin'd silver can remove it . the increase of denomination does , or can do nothing in the case : for 't is silver by its quantity , and not denomination , that is the price of things , and measure of commerce ; and 't is the weight of silver in it , and not the name of the piece that men estimate commodities by , and exchange them for . if this be not so , when the necessity of our affairs abroad , or ill husbandry at home , has carried away half our treasure , and a moiety of our money is gone out of england ; 't is but to issue a proclamation , that a penny shall go for two-pence , six-pence for a shilling , half a crown for a crown , &c. and immediately without any more ado we are as rich as before . and when half the remainder is gone , 't is but doing the same thing again , and raising the denomination anew , and we are where we were , and so on : where by supposing the denomination raised 15 / 16 , every man will be as rich with an ounce of silver in his purse as he was before when he had sixteen ounces there ; and in as great plenty of money , able to carry on his trade , without bartering ; his silver , by this short way of raising , being chang'd into the value of gold : for when silver will buy sixteen times as much wine , oyl , and bread , &c : to day , as it would yesterday ( all other things remaining the same but the denomination ) it hath the real worth of gold. this i guess every body sees cannot be so . and yet this must be so , if it be true , that raising the denomination one fifth can supply the want , or one jot raise the value of silver in respect of other commodities ; i. e. make a less quantity of it to day , but a greater quantity of corn , oyl and cloth , and all other commodities , than it would yesterday , and thereby remove the necessity of bartering . for if raising the denomination can thus raise the value of coin in exchange for other commodities one fifth , by the same reason it can raise it two fifths , and afterwards three fifths , and again , if need be , four fifths , and as much further as you please . so that by this admirable contrivance of raising our coin , we shall be as rich and as well able to support the charge of the government , and carry on our trade without bartering or any other inconvenience for want of money , with sixty thousand ounces of coin'd silver in england , as if we had six or sixty millions . if this be not so , i desire any one to shew me , why the same way of raising the denomination which can raise the value of money in respect of other commodities , one fifth , cannot when you please raise it another fifth , and so on ? i beg to be told where it must stop , and why at such a degree without being able to go farther . it must be taken notice of , that the raising i speak of here , is the raising of the value of our coin in respect of other commodities ( as i call it all along ) in contradistinction to raising the denomination . the confounding of these in discourses concerning money , is one great cause , i suspect , that this matter is so little understood , and so often talked of with so little information of the hearers . a penny is a denomination no more belonging to eight than to eighty , or to one single grain of silver : and so it is not necessary that there should be sixty such pence , no more nor less , in an ounce of silver i. e. twelve in a piece call'd a shilling , and sixty in a piece call'd a crown ; such like divisions being only extrinsical denominations , are every where perfectly arbitrary , for here in england there might as well have been twelve shillings in a penny , as twelve pence in a shilling , i. e. the denomination of the less piece might have been a shilling , and of the bigger a penny . again , the shilling might have been coin'd ten times as big as the penny , and the crown ten times as big as the shilling ; whereby the shilling would have had but ten pence in it , and the crown an hundred . but this , however order'd , alters not one jot the value of the ounce of silver in respect of other things , any more than it does its weight . this raising being but giving of names at pleasure to aliquot parts of any piece , viz. that now the sixtieth part of an ounce of silver shall be call'd a penny , and to morrow that the seventy fifth part of an ounce of silver shall be call'd a penny , may be done with what increase you please : and thus it may be order'd by a proclamation , that a shilling shall go for twenty four pence , an half-crown for sixty instead of thirty pence , and so of the rest . but that an half-crown shall be worth , or contain , sixty such pence as the pence were before this change of denomination was made , that no power on earth can do : nor can any power ( but that which can make the plenty or scarcity of commodities ) raise the value of our money thus double in respect of other commodities , and make that the same piece , or quantity of silver , under a double denomination , shall purchase double the quantity of pepper , wine or lead , an instant after such proclamation , to what it would do an instant before . if this could be , we might , as every one sees , raise silver to the value of gold , and make our selves as rich as we pleased . but 't is but going to market with an ounce of silver of one hundred and twenty pence , to be convinc'd that it will purchase no more than an ounce of silver of sixty pence . and the ringing of the piece will as soon purchase more commodities as its change of denomination , and the multipli'd name of pence , when it is call'd six score instead of sixty . 't is propos'd , that the twelve pence should be raised to fifteen pence , and the crown to seventy five pence , and so proportionably of the rest : but yet that the pound sterling should not be raised . if there be any advantage in raising , why should not that be raised too ? and as the crown piece is raised from sixty , to seventy five pence , why should not the pound sterling be raised in the same proportion , from two hundred and forty pence , to three hundred pence ? farther , if this raising our coin can so stretch our money and enlarge our pared remainder of it , as to make it more commensurate to the general need thereof , for carrying on the common traffick and commerce of the nation , and to answer occasions requiring a larger supply of money , as mr. lowndes tells us in his third reason p. 83 why are we so nigardly to our selves in this time of occasion , as to stop at one fifth ? why do we not raise it one full moiety , and thereby double our money ? if mr. lowndes's rule p. 78 that if the value of the silver in the coin , should be raised above the market price of the same silver reduc'd to bullion ; the subject would be proportionably injur'd and defrauded , must keep us from this advantages and the publick care of justice stop the raising of the money at one fifth , because if our money be raised beyond the market-price of bullion , it will be so much defrauding of the subject : i then say it must not be raised one fifth , nor half one fifth , that is , it must not be raised fifteen pence in the crown ; no nor five pence . for i deny that the market-price of standard bullion ever was , or ever can be five shillings seven pence of lawful weighty money the ounce : so that if our present mill'd money be raised one fifth , the subjects will by mr. lowndes's rule , be defrauded sixteen per cent. nay , above eighteen per cent. for the market-price of standard bullion being ordinarily under five shillings four pence the ounce , when sold for weighty money ( which is but one thirtieth ) whatever our present mill'd money is raised above one thirtieth , it is by mr. lowndes's rule so much defrauding the subject . for the market-price of any thing , and so of bullion , is to be taken from its ordinary rate all the year round ; and not from the extraordinary rise of two or three market-days in a year . and that the market-price of standard silver was not found , nor pretended to be above five shillings and four pence the ounce , before cliping had left none but light running cash to pay for bullion , or any thing else , is evident from a paper then publish'd , which i took the liberty to examine in my consideration of the consequences of raising the value of money , &c. printed 1692. the author of that paper , 't is manifest , was not ignorant of the price of silver , nor had a design to lessen its rate , set down the highest price it then bore . if then , mr. lowndes's rule of justice , and care of the subject , be to regulate the rise of our mill'd money , it must not be raised above one thirtieth part . if the advantages he promises , of making our money , by raising it one fifth , more commensurate to the general need thereof , be to be laid hold on , 't is reasonable to further , and make it yet more commensurate to the general need there is of it . which ever of the two mr. lowndes will prefer , either reason of state , or rule of justice , one fifth must not be his measure of raising our present mill'd money . if the advantage of making our money more proportionate to our trade , and other necessities , be to govern its proposed raising , every one will cry out to mr. lowndes , if your way will do what you say , the raising it one half will be much better than one fifth , and therefore pray let an half-crown be raised to a crown , and a six-pence to a shilling . if equity , and the consideration of the subjects property ought to govern in the case , you must not raise our mill'd crown to above five shillings and four pence . if it here be said to me , that i do then allow that our money may be raised one thirtieth , i. e. that the crown piece should be raised to five shillings and two pence , and so proportionably of the other species of our coin ; i answer , he that infers so , makes his inference a little too quick . but let us for once allow the ordinary price of standard silver to be five shillings four pence the ounce , to be paid for in weighty coin ( for that must always be remembred , when we talk of the rate of bullion ) and that the rate of bullion is the just measure of raising our money . this i say is no reason for the raising our mill'd crown now to five shillings four pence , and recoining all our clip'd money upon that foot ; unless we intend , as soon as that is done , to new raise , and coin it again . for whilst our trade and affairs abroad require the exportation of silver , and the exportation of our coin'd silver is prohibited , and made penal by our law , standard bullion will always be sold here for a little more than its weight of coin'd silver . so that if we shall indeavour to equal our weighty coin'd silver to standard bullion , by raising it , whilst there is a necessity of the exportation of silver , we shall do no otherwise than a child , who runs to overtake and get up to the top of his shadow , which still advances at the same rate that he does . the priviledg that bullion has , to be exported freely , will give it a little advance in price above our coin , let the denomination of that be raised or fallen as you please , whilst there is need of its exportation , and the exportation of our coin is prohibited by law. but this advance will be but little , and will always keep within the bounds which the risque and trouble of melting down our coin shall set to it in the estimate of the exporter . he that will rather venture to throw an hundred pound into his melting-pot , when no body sees him , and reduce it to bullion , than give an hundred and five pounds for the same weight of the like bullion , will never give five shillings and five pence of mill'd money for an ounce of standard bullion ; nor buy at that price , what he can have near five per cent. cheaper , without any risque , if he will not accuse himself . and i think it may be concluded , that very few , who have furnaces , and other conveniencies ready for melting silver , will give one per cent. for standard bullion , which is under five shillings and three pence per ounce , who can only for the trouble of melting it , reduce our coin to as good bullion . the odds of the price in bullion to coin on this account ( which is the only one , where the coin is kept to the standard ) can never be a reason for raising our coin to preserve it from melting down : because this price above its weight is given for bullion , only to avoid melting down our coin ; and so this difference of price between standard bullion and our coin , can be no cause of its melting down . these three reasons which i have examin'd , contain the great advantages , which our author supposes the propos'd raising of our coin will produce . and therefore i have dwelt longer upon them . his remaining six reasons being of less moment , and offering most of them , but some circumstantial conveniencies , as to the computation of our money , &c. i shall more briefly pass over . only before i proceed to them , i shall here set down the different value of our money , collected from our authors history of the several changes of our coin , since edward the first 's reign , quite down to this present time . a curious history indeed , for which i think my self and the world indebted to mr. lowndes's great learning in this sort of knowledg , and his great exactness in relating the particulars . i shall remark only the quantity of silver was in a shilling in each of those changes ; that so the reader may at first sight , without farther trouble , compare the lessening , or increase of the quantity of silver upon every change . for in propriety of speech , the adding to the quantity of silver in our coin , is the true raising of its value ; and the diminishing the quantity of silver in it , is the sinking of its value ; however they come to be transpos'd and used in the quite contrary sense . if my calculations , from the weight and fineness i find set down in mr. lowndes's extract out of the indentures of the mint , have not misled me , the quantity of silver to a grain , which was in a shilling in every change of our money , is set down in the following table . one shilling contain'd of fine silver       grains . 28 edw. 1 264 18 edw. 3 236 27 edw. 3 213 9 hen. 5 176 1 hen. 6 142 4 hen. 6 176 49 hen. 6 142 1 hen. 8 118 34 hen. 8 100 36 hen. 8 60 37 hen. 8 40 3 edw. 6 40 5 edw. 6 20 6 edw. 6 88 2 eliz.   89 43 eliz.   86 and so it has remain'd from the 43 of elizabeth to this day . mr. lowndes's 69 mr. lowndes having given us the fineness of the standard silver in every reign , and the number of pieces it was coin'd into , closes this history with words to this purpose , p. 56. by this deduction it doth evidently appear , that it hath been a policy constantly practised in the mints of england , to raise the value of the coin in its extrinsick denomination from time to time , as any exigence or occasion required , and more especially to encourage the bringing of bullion into the realm to be coin'd . this indeed , is roundly to conclude for his hypothesis . but i could wish , that from the histories of those times , wherein the several changes were made , he had shew'd us the exigences and occasions that produced the raising of the coin , and what effects it had . if i mistake not , henry the 8 ths several raisings of our coin , brought little increase of silver into england . as the several species of our coin lessen'd in their respective quantities of silver ; so the treasure of the realm decreased too : and he that found the kingdom rich , did not , as i remember , by all his raisings our coin , leave it so . another thing , ( that from this history ) makes me suspect that the raising the denomination was never found effectively to draw silver into england , is the lowering the denomination , or adding more silver to the several species of our coin , as in hen. vi's time , the shilling was increased from one hundred forty two grains of silver , to one hundred seventy six . and in the 6 th of edw. vi , in whose time raising the denomination seems to have been tried to the utmost , when a shilling was brought to twenty grains of silver . and the great alteration that was then quickly made on the other hand , from twenty to eighty grains at one leap , seems to shew that this lessening the silver in our coin , had proved highly prejudicial : for this is a greater change in sinking of the denomination in proportion , than ever was made at once in raising it ; a shilling being made four times weightier in silver in the 6 th , than it was in the 5 th year of edw. vi. his reign . kingdoms are seldom found weary of the riches they have , or averse to the increase of their treasure . if therefore the raising the denomination did in reality bring silver into the realm , it cannot be thought that they would at any time sink the denomination , which by the rule of contraries should be at least suspected to drive , or keep it out . since therefore we are not from matter of fact informed , what were the true motives that caused those several changes in the coin ; may we not with reason suspect , that they were owing to that policy of the mint , set down by our author , p. 83. in these words , that the proposed advance is agreeable to the policy that in past ages hath been practised , not only in our mint , but in the mints of all politick governments ; namely , to raise the value of silver in the coin to promote the work of the mint ? as i remember , suitable to this policy of the mint , there was , some two years since , a complaint of a worthy gentleman , not ignorant of it , that the mill in the mint stood still ; and therefore there was a proposal offer'd for bringing grist to the mill. the business of money , as in all times , even in this our quick-sighted age , hath been thought a mystery : those imploy'd in the mint must , by their places , be supposed to penetrate deepest into it . 't is no impossible thing then to imagine , that it was not hard , in the ignorance of past ages , when money was little , and skill in the turns of trade less , for those versed in the business and policy of the mint , to perswade a prince , especially if money were scarce , that the fault was in the standard of the mint , and that the way to increase the plenty of money , was to raise ( a well sounding word ) the value of the coin. this could not but be willingly enough hearkened to ; when , besides the hopes of drawing an increase of silver into the realm , it brought present gain by the part which the king got of the money , which was hereupon all coined anew , and the mint officers lost nothing , since it promoted the work of the mint . this opinion mr. lowndes himself gives sufficient ground for in his book , particularly p. 29. where we read these words , although the former debasements of the coins by publick authority , especially those in the reign of king henry viii . and king edward vi. might be projected for the profit of the crown , and the projectors might measure that profit by the excessive quantities of allay that were mixed with the silver and the gold ( and let me add , or by the quantity of silver lessened in each species , which is the same thing ) and though this was enterprized by a prince , who could stretch his prerogative very far upon his people ; and was done in times when the nation had very little commerce , inland or foreign , to be injur'd and prejudiced thereby ; yet experience presently shewed , that the projectors were mistaken , and that it was absolutely necessary to have the base money reformed . this at least they were not mistaken in , that they brought work to the mint , and a part of the money coined to the crown for seigniorage ; in both which there was profit . mr. lowndes tells us , p. 44. that henry viii . had to the value of fifty shillings for every pound weight of gold coined : i have met with it somewhere , that formerly the king might take what he pleased for coinage . i know not too but the flattering name of raising money might prevail then as it does now ; and impose so far on them , as to make them think the raising , i. e. diminishing the silver in their coin , would bring it into the realm , or stay it here when they found it going out . for if we may guess at the other , by henry viii's raising , it was probably when , by reason of expence in foreign wars , or ill managed trade , they found money begin to grow scarce . the having the species of our coin one fifth bigger , or one fifth less than they are at present , would be neither good nor harm to england , if they had always been so . our standard has continued in weight and fineness just as it is now , for very near this hundred years last past : and those who think the denomination and size of our money have any influence on the state of our wealth , have no reason to change the present standard of our coin ; since under that we have had a greater increase , and longer continuance of plenty of money , than perhaps any other country can shew ; i see no reason to think , that a little bigger or less size of the pieces coined , is of any moment one was or t'other . the species of money in any country , of whatsoever sizes , fit for coining , if their proportions to one another be suited to arithmetick and calculations , in whole numbers , and the ways of account in that country adapted to small payments , and carefully kept to their just weight and fineness , can have no harm in them . the harm comes by the change , which unreasonably and unjustly gives away and transfers men's properties , disorders trade , puzzels accounts , and needs a new arithmetick to cast up reckonings , and keep accounts in ; besides a thousand other inconveniencies ; not to mention the charge of recoining the money . for this may be depended on , that if our money be raised , as is proposed , it will inforce the recoining of all our money , both old and new ( except the new shillings ) to avoid the terrible difficulty and confusion there will be in keeping accounts in pounds , shillings , and pence ( as they must be ) when the species of our money are so ordered , as not to answer those denominations in round numbers . this consideration leads me to mr. lowndes fifth and sixth reasons , p. 85. wherein he recommends the raising our money in the proportion proposed , for its convenience , to our accounting by pounds , shillings , and pence . and for obviating perplexity among the common people , he proposes the present weigthy crown to go at six shillings three pence ; and the new scepter or vnite to be coined of the same weight , to go at the same rate ; and half-crowns , half-scepters , or half-unites , of the weight of the present half-erown , to go for two shillings seven pence half-penny : by no number of which pieces can there be made an even pound sterling , or any number of even shillings under a pound ; but they always fall into fractions of pounds and shillings , as may be seen by this following table .     l. s. d. 1 crown or scepter piece   6 3 2 crown pieces   12 6 3 crown pieces   18 9 4 crown pieces 1 5   1 half-crown piece   2 7 ½ 3 half-crown pieces   8 10 ½ 5 half-crown pieces   15 1 ½ 7 half-crowns . 1 1 4 ½ the present shilling , and new testoon going for 15. pence , no number of them make any number of even shillings , but five shillings , ten shillings , fifteen shillings , and twenty shillings ; but in all the rest , they always fall into fractions . the like may be said of the present six-pences , and future half testoons going for seven pence half-penny ; the quarter testoons , which are to go for three pence three farthings ; and the gross and groats , which are to go for five pence ; the half gross or groat , which is to go for two pence half penny ; and the prime , which is to go for a penny farthing : out of any tale of each of which species there can no just number of shillings be made , as i think , but five shillings , ten shillings , fifteen shillings , and twenty shillings ; but they always fall into fractions . the new intended shilling alone seems to be suited to our accounting in pounds , shillings , and pence . the great pieces , as scepters , and half scepters , which are made to serve for the payment of greater sums , and are for dispatch in tale , will not in tale fall into even pounds . and i fear it will puzzle a better arithmetician , than most country men are , to tell , without pen and ink , how many of the lesser pieces ( except the shillings ) however combined , will make just sixteen or seventeen shillings . and i imagin there is not one country man of three , but may have it for his pains , if he can tell an hundred pound made up of a promiscuous mixture of the species of this new raised money ( excluding the shillings ) in a days time . and that which will help to confound him , and every body else , will be the old crowns , half-crowns , shillings , and sixpences current for new numbers of pence . so that i take it for granted , that if our coin be raised , as is proposed , not only all our clipp'd , but all our weighty and mill'd money must of necessity be recoined too ; if you would no have trade disturb'd , and people more diseased with new money , which they cannot tell , nor keep accounts in , than with light and clipp'd money , which they are cheated with . and what a charge the new coining of all our money will be to the nation , i have computed in another place . * that i think is of some consideration in our present circumstances , though the confusion that this new raised money , i fear , is like to introduce ; and the want of money , and stop of trade , when the clipp'd is called in , and the weighty is to be recoin'd ; be of much greater . his fourth , eighth , and ninth reasons , p. 84. and 86. are taken from the saving our present mill'd money from being cut and recoin'd . the end i confess to be good : 't is very reasonable , that so much excellent coin , as good as ever was in the world , should not be destroyed . but there is , i think , a surer and easier way to preserve it , than what mr. lowndes proposes . 't is past doubt , it will be in no danger of recoining , if our money be kept upon the present foot : but if it be raised , as mr. lowndes proposes , all the present mill'd money will be in danger , and the difficulty of counting it upon the new proposed foot will inforce it to be recoin'd into new pieces of crowns , half-crowns , shillings , and six-pences , that may pass for the same number of pence the present do , viz. 60.30.12 . and 6. as i have above shewn . he says in his fourth reason , that if pieces , having the same bigness , should have different values , it might be difficult for the common people ( especially those not skill'd in arithmetick ) to compute how many of one kind will be equal to he summ of another . such difficulties and confusion , in counting money , i agree with him , ought carefully to be avoided . and therefore , since if pieces having the same bigness and stamp , which the people are acquainted with , shall have new values different from those which people are accustomed to ; and these new values shall in numbers of pence not answer our way of accounting by pounds and shillings ; it will be difficult for the common people ( especially those not skill'd in arithmetick ) to compute how many of any one kind will make any summ they are to pay or receive ; especially when the numbers of any one kind of pieces will be brought into so few even summs of pounds and shilings . and thus mr. lowdes's argument here turns upon himself , and is against raising our coin , to the value proposed by him , from the confusion it will produce . his 8 th . reason , p. 86. we have in these words ; it is difficult to conceive how any design of amending the clipp'd money , can be compassed without raising the value of the silver remaining in them , because of the great deficiency of the silver clipped away ( which upon recoining ) must necessarily be defraid and born one way or other . 't is no difficulty to conceive , that clipp'd money , being not lawful money , should be prohibited to pass for more than its weight . next , it is no difficulty to conceive , that clipp'd money , passing for no more than its weight , and so being in the state of standard bullion , which cannot be exported , should be brought to the mint , and there exchang'd for weighty money . by this way , it is no difficulty to conceive how the amending the clipp'd money may be compassed , because this way the deficiency of the silver clipp'd away , will certainly be defraid and born one way or other . and thus i have gone over all mr. lowndes's reasons for raising our coin : wherein , though i seem to differ from him , yet i flatter my self , it is not altogether so much as at first sight may appear ; since by what i find in another part of his book , i have reason to judge he is a great deal of my mind . for he has five very good arguments for continuing the present standard of fineness , each of which is as strong for continuing also the present standard of weight ; i. e. continuing a penny of the same weight of standard silver , which at present it has . he that has a mind to be satisfied of this , may read mr. lowndes's first five reasons for continuing the present standard of fineness , which he will find in his 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 pages of his report . and when mr. lowndes himself has again considered what there is of weight in them , and how far it reaches , he will at least not think it strange if they appear to me and others , good arguments against putting less silver into our coin of the same denominations , let that diminution be made what way it will. what mr. lowndes says about gold coins , p. 88. &c. appears to me highly rational , and i perfectly agree with him ; excepting only that i do not think gold is in regard of silver risen ⅕ in england ; which i think may be thus made out . a guinea weighing five penny weight and nine grains , or one hundred and twenty nine grains ; and a pound sterling weighing one thousand eight hundred and sixty grains ; a guinea at twenty shillings is as one hundred and twenty nine to one thousand eight hundred and sixty ; that is , as one to fourteen and an half . a guinea at two and twenty shillings , is as one hundred and twenty nine , to two thousand forty two , i. e. as one to sixteen . a guinea at thirty shillings , is as one hundred twenty nine to two thousand seven hundred eighty four , i. e. as one to twenty one and a half , near . he therefore that receives twenty shillings mill'd money for a guinea , receives one thousand eight hundred and sixty grains standard silver , for one hundred twenty nine grains of standard gold , i. e. fourteen and an half for one . he who receives two and twenty shillings mill'd money for a guinea , has two thousand forty two grains standard silver , for one hundred twenty nine grains standard gold , i. e , sixteen for one . he who receives thirty shillings mill'd money for a guinea , has two thousand seven hundred eighty four grains standard silver , for one hundred twenty nine grains of gold , i. e. twenty one and an half for one . but the current cash being ( upon tryals made about midsummer last ) computed by mr. lowndes p. 108. to want half its standard weight , and not being mended since , it is evident he who receives thirty shillings of our present clip'd money , for a guinea , has but one thousand three hundred ninety two grains of standard silver , for one hundred twenty nine grains of gold , i. e. has but ten and three quarters of silver for one of gold. i have left out the utmost precisions of fractions in these computations , as not necessary in the present case , these whole numbers shewing well enough the difference of the value of guineas at those several rates . if it be true what i here assert , viz. that he who receives 30 shillings in our current clip'd money for a guinea , receives not eleven grains of silver for one of gold ; wheras the value of gold to silver in all our neighbouring countries is about fifteen to one , which is about a third part more ; it will probably be demanded , how comes it to pass that foreigners , or others , import gold ; when they do not receive as much silver for it here , as they may have in all other countries ? the reason whereof is visibly this , that they exchange it not here for silver , but for our commodities ; and our bargains for commodities as well as all other contracts being made in pounds shillings and pence , our clip'd money retains amongst the people ( who know not how to count but by current money ) a part of its legal value , whilst it passes for the satisfaction of legal contracts , as if it were lawful money . as long as the king receives it for his taxes , and the landlord for his rent , 't is no wonder the farmer and tenent should receive it for his commodities . and this perhaps would do well enough , if our money and trade were to circulate only amongst our selves , and we had no commerce with the rest of the world , and needed it not . but here lies the loss , when foreigners shall bring over gold hither , and with that pay for our commodities at the rate of thirty shillings the guinea , when the same quantity of gold that is in a guinea is not beyond sea worth more silver than is in twenty , or one and twenty and six pence of our mill'd and lawful money : by which way of paying for our commodities england loses near one third of the value of all the commodities it thus sells . and 't is all one as if foreigners paid for them in money coin'd and clip'd beyond sea , wherein was one third less silver than there ought to be . and thus we lose near one third in all our exportation , whilst foreign gold imported is received in payment for thirty shillings a guinea . to make this appear , we need but trace this way of commerce a little , and there can be no doubt of the loss we suffer by it . let us suppose , for example , a bale of holland linnen worth there , one hundred & eighty ounces of our standard silver ; and a bale of serge here worth also the same weight of one hundred eighty ounces of the same standard silver : 't is evident , these two bales are exactly of the same value . mr. lowndes tells us p. 88 that at this time the gold that is in a guinea ( if it were carried to spain , italy , barbary and some other places , ) would not purchase so much silver there , as is equal to the standard of twenty of our shillings , i. e. would be in value there to silver scarce as one to fourteen and an half : and i think , i may say , that gold in holland is , or lately was , as one to fifteen , or not much above . taking then standard gold in holland to be in proportion to standard silver , as one to about fifteen , or a little more ; twelve ounces of our standard gold , or as much gold as is in forty-four guineas and a half , must be given for that bale of holland-linnen , if any one will pay for it there in gold : but if he buys that bale of serge here for one hundred and eighty ounces of silver , which is forty eight pounds sterling , if he pays for it in gold at thirty shillings the guinea , two and thirty guineas will pay for it . so that in all the goods that we sell beyond seas for gold imported , and coin'd into guineas , unless the owners raise them ⅓ above what they would sell them for in mill'd money , we lose twelve in forty four and an half , which is very near one third . this loss is wholly owing to the permitting clip'd money in payment . and this loss we must unavoidably suffer whilst clip'd money is current amongst us . and this robbing of england of near one third of the value of the commodities we sell out , will continue whilst people had rather receive guineas at thirty shillings , than silver coin ( no other being to be had ) that is not worth half what they take it for . and yet this clip'd money , as bad as it is , and however unwilling people are to be charged with it , will always have credit enough to pass , whilst the goldsmiths and bankers receive it ; and they will always receive it , whilst they can pass it over again to the king with advantage , and can have hopes to prevail , that at last when it can be born no longer , but must be call'd in , no part of the loss of light money , which shall be found in their hands shall fall upon them , though they have for many years dealt in it , and by reason of its being clip'd have had all the running cash of the kingdom in their hands , and made profit of it . i say , clip'd money , however had it be , will always pass whilst the king's receivers , the bankers of any kind , and at last the exchequer takes it . for who will not receive clip'd money , rather than have none for his necessary occasions , whilst he sees the great receipt of the exchequer admits it , and the bank and goldsmiths will take it of him , and give him credit for it , so that he needs keep no more of it by him than he pleases . in this state , whilst the exchequer receives clip'd money , i do not see how it can be stop'd from passing . a clip'd half-crown that goes at the exchequer , will not be refused by any one who has hopes by his own or others hands to convey it thither , and who , unless he take it , cannot trade , or shall not be paid . whilst therefore the exchequer is open to clip'd money , it will pass , and whilst clip'd money passes , clippers will certainly be at work ; and what a gap this leaves to foreigners , if they will make use of it to pour in clip'd money upon us ( as its neighbours did into portugal ) as long as we have either goods or weighty money left to be carri'd away at fifty per cent. or greater profit , its easie to see . i will suppose the king receives clip'd money in the exchequer , and at half or three quarters loss coins it into mill'd money . for if he receives all , how much soever clip'd , i suppose the clippers sheers are not so squemish as not to pare away above half . 't will be a wonderful conscienciousness in them , no where , that i know , to be parallell'd , if they will content themselves with less profit than they can make , and will leave seven penny worth of silver in an half-crown , if six penny worth and the stamp be enough to make it pass for half a crown . when his majesty hath coin'd this into mill'd money of standard weight , and paid it out again to the bankers , goldsmiths or others , what shall then become of it ? either they will lay it up to get rid of their clip'd money , for no body will part with heavy money , whilst he has any light ; nor will any heavy money come abroad whilst there is light left ; for whoever has clip'd money by him , will sell good bargains , or borrow at any rate of those who are willing to part with any weighty , to keep that by him , rather than the clip'd money he has in his hands . so that as far as this reaches , no mill'd money , how much soever be coin'd will appear abroad or if it does , will it long scape the coiners and clippers hands , who will be at work presently upon it to furnish the exchequer with more clip'd money at fifty , sixty , seventy , or i know not what advantage . though this be enough to cut off the hopes of mill'd money appearing in payments whilst any clip'd is current . yet to this we may add , that gold imported at an over value will sweep it away as fast as it is coin'd whilst clip'd money keeps up the rate of guineas above their former value . this will be the circulation of our money , whilst clip'd is permitted any way to be current . and if store enough of clip'd money from at home or abroad , can be but provided ( as 't is more than probable it may now the trade is so universal , and has been so long practised with great advantege , and no great danger , as appears by the few have suffer'd in regard of the great number 't is evident are ingaged in the trade , and the vent of it here in england is so known and sure ) i do not see how in a little while we shall have any money or goods at all left in england , if clipping be not immediately stop'd . and how clipping can be stop'd , but by an immediate positive total prohibition , whereby all clip'd money shall be forbid to pass in any payment whatsoever , or to pass for more than its weight , i would be glad to learn. clipping is the great leak , which for some time past has contributed more to sink us , than all the force of our enemies could do . 't is like a breach in the sea-bank , which widens every moment till it be stop'd . and my timerous temper must be pardon'd if i am frighted with the thoughts of clip'd money being current one moment longer , at any other value but of warrant'd standard bullion . and therefore there can be nothing more true and reasonable , nor that deserves better to be consider'd , than what mr. lowndes says in his corollary p. 90. whoever desires to know the different ways of coining money by the hammer and by the mill , may inform himself in the exact account mr. lowndes has given of both , under his second general head : where he may also see the probablest guess that has been made of the quantity of our clip'd money , and the silver deficient in it ; and an account of what silver money was coin'd in the reigns of q. elizabeth k. iames 1st . and charles 1st . more exact than is to be had any where else . there is only one thing which i shall mention , since mr. lowndes does it here again under this head p. 100. and that is , melting down our coin ; concerning which i shall venture humbly to propose these following questions . 1. whether bullion be any thing but silver , whose workmanship has no value ? 2. whether that workmanship , which can be had for nothing , has , or can have any value ? 3. whether , whilst the money in our mint is coin'd for the owners , without any cost to them , our coin can ever have any value above standard bullion ? 4. whether , whilst our coin is not of value above standard bullion , goldsmiths and others , who have need of standard silver , will not rather take what is by the free labour of the mint ready essaid and adjusted to their use , and melt that down , rather than be at the trouble of melting mixing and essaying of silver for the uses they have ? 5. whether the only cure for this wanton , though criminal melting down our coin , be not , that the owners should pay one moiety of the sixteen-pence half-penny , which is paid per pound troy for coinage of silver , which the king now pays all ? 6. whether by this means standard silver in coin will not be more worth than standard silver in bullion , and so be preserved from this wanton melting down , as soon as an overballance of our trade shall bring as silver to stay here ? for till then it is in vain to think of preserving our coin from melting down , and therefore to no purpose till then to change that law. 7. whether any laws , or any penalties can keep our coin from being carried out , when debts contracted beyond seas call for it ? 8. whether it be any odds to england , whether it be carried out , melted down into bullion , or in specie ? 9. whether , whilst the exigences of our occasions and trade call for it abroad , it will not always be melted down for the conveniency of exportation , so long as the law prohibits its exportation in specie ? 10. whether standard silver in coin and in bullion , will not immediately be of the same value as soon as the prohibition of carrying out money in specie is taken off ? 11. whether an ounce of silver the more would be caried out in a year , if that prohibition were taken off ? 12. whether silver in our coin will not always , during the prohibition of its exportation , be a little less worth than silver in bullion , whilst the consumption of foreign commodities beyond what ours pay for , makes the exportation of silver necessary ? and so , during such a state , raise your money as much and as often as you will , silver in the coin will never fetch as much as the silver in bullion , as mr. lowndes expresses it , p. 110. as to the inconveniencies and damages we sustain by clip'd money passing by tale , as if it were lawful , nothing can be more true , more judicious , nor more weighty , than what mr. lowndes says under his third general head ; wherein i perfectly agree with him , excepting only where he builds any thing upon the proposed raising our coin one fifth . and to what he says , p. 114 , concerning our being deprived of the use of our heavy money , by mens hoarding it , in prospect that the silver contained in those weghty pieces will turn more to their profit , than lending it at interest , purchasing or trading therewith . i crave leave to add , that those hoarders of money , a great many of them drive no less , but rather a greater trade by hoarding the weighty money , than if they let it go abroad . for , by that means all the current cash being light , clip'd , and hazardous money , 't is all tumbled into their hands , which gives credit to their bills , and furnishes them to trade for as much as they please , whilst every body else scarce trades at all , ( but just as necessity forces ) and is ready to stand still . where he says p. 114. 't is not likely the weighty moneys will soon appear abroad without raising their value and recoining the clip'd moneys : i should agree with him , if it ran thus ; without recoining the clip'd , and in the mean time making it go for its weight . for that will , i humbly conceive , bring out the heavy money , without raising its value , as effectually and sooner ; for it will do it immediately : his will take up some time . and i fear , if clip'd money be not stopt all at once , and presently from passing any way in tale , the damage it will bring will be irreparable . mr. lowndes 's fourth general head is , to propose the means that must be observed , and the proper methods to be used in , and for the re establishment of the silver coins . the first is , that the work should be finished in as little time as may be ; not only to obviate a farther damage by clipping in the interim , but also that the needful advantages of the new money may be the sooner obtained for the service of the nation . these i agree with him , are very good and necessary ends ; but they are both to be attain'd , i conceive , much sooner by making clip'd money go for its weight , than by the method mr. lowndes proposes . for this immediately puts an end to clipping , and obviates all further damage thereby . next , it immediately brings out all the boarded weighty money , and so that advantage will be sooner obtain'd for the service of the nation , than it can any other way besides . next it preserves the use of clip'd money for the service of the nation in the interim , till it can be re-coin'd all at the tower. his second proposition is , that the loss , or the greatest part of it , ought to be born by the publick , and not by particulars , who being very numerous will be prejudiced against a reformation for the publick benefit , if it be to be effected at the cost of particular men. a tax given to make good the defect of silver in clip'd money , will be paid by particulars , and so the loss will be born by particular men : and whether these particulars be not more numerous , or at least a greater number of innocent men of them more sensibly burden'd that way , than if it takes its chance in the hands of those men , who have profited by the having it in their hands , will be worth considering . and i wish it were well weigh'd , which of the two ways the greater number of men would be most dangerously prejudic'd against this reformation . but as mr. lowndes orders the matter , every body will i fear be prejudic'd against this reformation , when ( as he divides it p. 133 , 134. ) the owners will bear near one half of the loss in the price of his clip'd money , and every body else his part of the remainder in a tax levied on them for it . i wish a remedy could be found without any bodies loss . most of those ways i have heard proposed to make reparation to every particular man for the clip'd money shall be found in his hands , do so delay the remedy , if not entail clipping upon us , that i fear such a care of particulars indangers the whole . and if that suffer , it will go but ill with particulars . and therefore i think it will be the rational desire of all particulars , that the shortest and surest way , not interfering with law or equity , should be taken to put an effectual end , to an evil , which every moment it continues works powerfully toward a general ruin . his fourth proposition is , that no room must be left for ielousie ; i acknowledg to be a good one , if there can be a way found to attain it . i cannot but wonder to find these words p. 124 that no person whatsoever shall hereafter be oblig'd to accept in legal payments any money whatsoever , that is already clip'd or may hereafter be clip'd or diminish'd ; and that no person shall tender or receive any such money in payment , under some small penalty to be made easily recoverable , &c. as if any man now were obliged to receive clip'd money in legal payment , and there were not already a law with severe penalties against those who tendered clip'd money in payment ? 't is a doubt to me , whether the warden , master-worker , &c. of the mint at the tower , could find fit and skilful persons enough to set nine other mints at work in other parts of england in a quarter of a year , as mr. lowndes proposes p. 127. besides , mr. lowndes tells us p. 96 that the engines which put the letters upon the edges of the larger silver pieces , and mark the edges of the rest with a graining , are wrought secretly . and indeed this is so great a guard against counterfeiting as well as clipping our money , that it deserves well to be kept a secret , as it has been hitherto . but how that can be , if money be to be coin'd in nine other mints , set up in several parts , is hard to conceive . and lastly , perhaps some may apprehend it may be of ill consequence to have so many men instructed and employ'd in the art of coining , only for a short job , and then turn'd loose again to shift for themselves by their own skill and industry , as they can . the provision made in his fourth rule , p. 136. to prevent the gain of subtile dealers by culling out the heaviest of the clip'd pieces , though it be the product of great sagacity and foresight , exactly calculated , and as well contrived as in that case it can be ; yet i fear is too subtile for the apprehension and practice of country men , who , many of them , with their little quickness in such matters , have also but small summs of money by them , and so neither having arithmetick , nor choice of clip'd money to adjust it to the weight there required , will be hardly made to understand it . but i think the clippers have , or will take care that there will not be any great need of it . to conclude , i confess my self not to see the least reason why our present mill'd money should be at all altered in fineness , weight , or value . i look upon it to be the best and safest from counterfeiting , adulterating , or any ways being fraudently diminished , of any that ever was coined . it is adjusted to our legal payments , reckonings , and accounts , to which our money must be reduced : the raising its denomination will neither add to its worth , nor make the stock we have , more proportionate to our occasions , nor bring one grain of silver the more into england , or one farthing advantage to the publick : it will only serve to defraud the king , and a great number of his subjects , and perplex all , and put the kingdom to a needless charge of recoining all , both mill'd as well as clip'd money . if i might take upon me to offer any thing new , i would humbly propose , that since market and retail trade requires less divisions than six pences , a sufficient quantity of four penny , four pence half penny , and five penny pieces should be coined . these in change will answer all the fractions between six pence and a farthing , and thereby supply the want of small monies , whereof i believe no body ever saw enough common to answer the necessity of small payments ; whether , either because there was never a sufficient quantity of such pieces coined , or whether because of their smallness they are apter to be lost out of any hands , or because they oftner falling into childrens hands , they lose them , or lay them up ; so it is , there is always a visible want of them , to supply which without the inconveniencies attending very small coin , the proposed pieces , i humbly conceive , will serve . if it be thought fit for this end to have four pence , four pence half penny , and five penny pieces coined , it will , i suppose , be convenient that they should be distinguished from six pences , and from one another , by a deep and very large plain difference in the stamp on both sides , to prevent mistakes , and loss of time in telling of money . the four pence half penny , has already the harp for a known distinction , which may be fit to be continued : the five pence may have the feathers , and the four pence this mark iv. of four on the reverse , and on the other side they may each have the king's head with a crown on it , to shew on that side too , that the piece so coined is one of those under a six pence ; and with that they may each on that side also have some marks of distinction one from another , as the five penny piece this mark of v. the four pence half penny a little harp , and the four pence nothing . these , or any other better distinctions , which his majesty shall order , will in tale readily discover them , if by chance any of them fall into larger payments , for which they are not designed . and thus i have , with as much brevity and clearness as i could , complied with what mr. lowndes professes to be the end of printing his report in these words , viz. that any persons who have considered an affair of this nature , may ( if they please ) communicate their thoughts for rendring the design here aimed at , more perfect , or more agreeable to the publick service . it must be confessed that my considerations have led me to thoughts in some parts of this affair , quite opposite to mr. lowndes's : but how far this has been from any desire to oppose him , or to have a dispute with a man , no otherwise known to me but by his civilities , and whom i have a very great esteem for , will appear by what i printed about raising the value of money , above three years since . all that i have said here in answer to him , being nothing but the applying the principles , i then went on , particularly now to mr. lowndes's arguments , as they came in my way ; that so thereby others might judge what will , or will not be the consequences of such a change of our coin , as he proposes , the only way , i think , of rendring his design more agreeable to the publick services finis . errata . page 2. l. 23. same qualities . p. 4. l. 23. or sellers ' p. 10. l. 15. already . p. 27. l. 3. wampompeak ' p. 28. l. 10. the exact . p. 32. l. 4. for that raising . l. 5. that lessening . p. 31. ult . coin. p. 63. l. 4. at above . l. 23. for all . p. 64. l. 23. will not . p. 57. l. 13. or at most a peny in . p. 58. l. 3. above a peny an . l. 25. about a peny in . p. 65. l. 6. larger . p. 74. l. 29. to raise it higher to make . p. 77. l. 7. have it . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a48882-e1630 * vid. short observations on a paper entituled , for incouraging coining , &c. p. 8. a second letter concerning toleration locke, john, 1632-1704. 1690 approx. 171 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 36 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-05 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a48891 wing l2755 estc r5484 11794962 ocm 11794962 49283 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48891) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 49283) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 540:10) a second letter concerning toleration locke, john, 1632-1704. proast, jonas. argument of the letter concerning toleration. [2], 68 p. printed for awnsham and john churchill ..., london : 1690. signed: philanthropus. written by john locke in reply to jonas proast's the argument of the letter concerning toleration. cf. blc. reproduction of original in bristol public library, bristol, england. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng freedom of religion. 2002-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-07 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-08 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2003-01 apex covantage rekeyed and resubmitted 2003-02 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2003-02 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a second letter concerning toleration . licensed , june 24. 1690. london : printed for awnsham and john churchill , at the black swan in ave-mary-lane , near pater-noster-row . m dc xc . to the author of the argument of the letter concerning toleraration , briefly considered and answered . sir , you will pardon me if i take the same liberty with you , that you have done with the author of the letter concerning toleration ; to consider your arguments , and endeavour to shew you the mistakes of them . for since you have so plainly yeilded up the question to him , and do own that the severities he would disswàde christians from , are utterly unapt , and improper to bring men to imbrace that truth which must save them ; i am not without some hopes to prevail with you , to do that your self , which you say is the only justifiable aim of men differing about religion , even in the use of the severest methods : viz. carefully and impartially to weigh the whole matter , and thereby to remove that prejudice which makes you yet favour some remains of persecution : promising my self that so ingenious a person will either be convinced by the truth which appears so very clear and evident to me ; or else confess , that , were either you or i in authority , we should very unreasonably and very unjustly use any force upon the other which differ'd from him , upon any pretence of want of examination . and if force be not to be used in your case or mine , because unreasonable , or unjust ; you will , i hope , think fit that it should be forborn in all others , where it will be equally unjust and unreasonable ; as i doubt not but to make it appear it will unavoidably be , where ever you will go about to punish men for want of consideration . for the true way to try such speculations as these , is to see how they will prove when they are reduc'd into practice . the first thing you seem startled at , in the author's letter , is the largeness of the toleration he proposes : and you think it strange that he would not have so much as a pagan , mahumetan , or jew , excluded from the civil rights of the commonwealth , because of his religion . we pray every day for their conversion , and i think it our duty so to do : but it will , i fear , hardly be believed that we pray in earnest , if we exclude them from the other ordinary and probable means of conversion ; either by driving them from , or persecuting them when they are amongst us . force , you allow , is improper to convert men to any religion . toleration is but the removing that force . so that why those should not be tolerated as well as others , if you wish their conversion , i do not see . but you say , it seems hard to conceive how the author of that letter should think to do any service to religion in general , or to the christian religion , by recommending and perswading such a toleration . for how much soever it may tend to the advancement of trade and commerce , ( which some seem to place above all other considerations ) i see no reason , from any experiment that has been made , to expect that true religion would be a gainer by it ; that it would be either the better preserved , the more widely propagated , or rendred any whit the more fruitful in the lives of its professors by it . before i come to your doubt it self , whether true religion would be a gainer by such a toleration ; give me leave to take notice , that if , by other considerations , you mean any thing but religion , your parenthesis is wholly besides the matter ; and that if you do not know that the author of the letter places the advancement of trade above religion , your insinuation is very uncharitable . but i go on . you see no reason , you say , from any experiment that has been made , to expect that true religion would be a gainer by it . true religion and christian religion are , i suppose , to you and me , the same thing . but of this you have an experiment in its first appearance in the world , and several hundreds of years after . it was then better preserv'd , more widely propagated ( in proportion ) and render'd more fruitful in the lives of its professors , than ever since ; tho then jews and pagans were tolerated , and more than tolerated , by the governments of those places where it grew up . i hope you do not imagine the christian religion has lost a●… of its first beauty , force , or reasonableness , by having been ●…most 2000 years in the world ; that you should fear it should be less able now to shift for it self , without the help of force . i doubt not but you look upon it still to be the po●…er and wisdom of god for our salvation ; and therefore cannot suspect it less capable to prevail now , by its own truth and light , than it did in the first ages of the church , when poor contemptible men , without authority , or the countenance of authority , had alone the care of it . this , as i take it , has been made use of by christians generally , and by some of our church in particular , as an argument for the truth of the christian religion ; that it grew and spread , and prevailed , without any aid from force , or the assistance of the powers in being . and if it be a mark of the true religion , that it will prevail by its own light and strength ; ( but that false religions will not , but have need of force and foreign helps to support them ) nothing certainly can be more for the advantage of true religion , than to take away compulsion every where . and therefore it is no more hard to conceive how the author of the letter should think to do service to religion in general , or to the christian religion , than it is hard to conceive that he should think there is a true religion , and that the christian religion is it ; which its professors have always own'd not to need force , and have urged that as a good argument to prove the truth of it . the inventions of men in religion need the force and helps of men to support them . a religion that is of god wants not the assistance of human authority to make it prevail . i guess , when this dropp'd from you , you had narrow'd your thoughts to your own age and country : but if you will enlarge them a little beyond the consines of england , i do not doubt but you will easily imagine that if in italy , spain , portugal , &c. the inquisition ; and in france their dragooning ; and in other parts those severities that are used to keep or force men to the national religion , were taken away ; and instead thereof the toleration propos'd by the author were set up , the true religion , would be a gainer by it . the author of the letter says , truth will do well enough , if she were once left to shift for her self . she seldom hath received , and he fears never will receive much assistance from the power of great men , to whom she is but rarely known , and more rarely welcome . errors indeed prevail , by the assistance of foreign and borrowed succours . truth makes way into our vnderstanding by her own light , and is but the weaker for any borrowed force that violence can add to her . these words of his ( how hard soever they may seem to you ) may help you to conceive how he should think to do service to true religion , by recommending and perswading such a toleration as he proposed . and now , pray tell me your self , whether you do not think true religion would be a gainer by it , if such a toleration establish'd there , would permit the doctrine of the church of england to be freely preached , and its worship set up , in any popish , mahumetan , or pagan country ? if you do not , you have a very ill opinion of the religion of the church of england , and must own that it can only be propagated and supported by force . if you think it would gain in those countries , by such a toleration , you are then of the author's mind , and do not find it so hard to conceive how the recommending such a toleration might do service to that which you think true religion . but if you allow such a toleration useful to truth in other countries , you must find something very peculiar in the air , that must make it less useful to truth in england . and 't will savour of much partiality , and be too absurd , i fear , for you to own , that toleration will be advantagious to true religion all the world over , except only in this island ; though , i much suspect , this , as absurd as it is , lies at the bottom ; and you build all you say upon this lurking supposition , that the national religion now in england , back'd by the publick authority of the law , is the only true religion , and therefore no other is to be tolerated . which being a supposition equally unavoidable , and equally just , in other countries , ( unless we can imagine that every where but in england men believe what at the same time they think to be a lie ) will in other places exclude toleration , and thereby hinder truth from the means of propagating it self . what the fruits of toleration are , which in the next words you complain do remain still among us , and which you say give no encouragement to hope for any advantages from it ; what fruits , i say , these are , or whether they are owing to the want or wideness of toleration among us , we shall then be able to judg , when you tell us what they are . in the mean time , i will boldly say , that if the magistrates will severely and impartially set themselves against vice , in whomsoever it is found ; and leave men to their own consciences , in their articles of faith , and ways of worship ; true religion will be spread wider , and be more fruitful in the lives of its professors , than ever hitherto it has been , by the imposition of creeds and ceremonies . you tell us , that no man can fail of sinding the way of salvation , who seeks it as he ought . i wonder you had not taken notice , in the places you quote for this , how we are directed there to the right way of seeking . the words ( john vii . 17. ) are ; if any man will do his will , he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of god. and , psalm xxv . 9 , 12 , 14. which are also quoted by you , tell us , the meek will he guide in judgment , and the meek will he teach his way . what man is he that feareth the lord , him shall he teach in the way that he shall chuse . the secret of the lord is with them that fear him , and he will shew them his covenant . so that these places , if they prove what you cite them for , that no man can fail of finding the way of salvation , who seeks it as he ought ; they do also prove that a good life is the only way to seek as we ought ; and that therefore the ma istrates , if they would put men upon seeking the way of salvation as they ought , should , by their laws and penalties , force them to a good life ; a good conversation being the readiest and surest way to a right understanding . punishments and severities thus apply'd , we are sure , are both practicable , just , and useful . how punishments will prove in the way you contend for , we shall see when we come to consider it . having given us these broad marks of your good-will to toleration , you tell us , 't is not your design to argue against it , but only to enquire what our author offers for the proof of his assertion . and then you give us this scheme of his argument . 1. there is but one way of salvation , or but one true religion . 2. no man can be saved by this religion , who does not believe it to be the true religion . 3. this belief is to be wrought in men by reason and argument , not by outward force and compulsion . 4. therefore all such force is utterly of no use for the promoting true religion , and the salvation of souls . 5. and therefore no body can have any right to use any force or compulsion , for the bringing men to the true religion . and you tell us , the whole strength of what that letter urged for the purpose of it , lies in this argument ; which i think you have no more reason to say , than if you should tell us , that only one beam of a house had any strength in it , when there are several others that would support the building , were that gone . the purpose of the letter is plainly to desend toleration , exempt from all force ; especially civil force , or the force of the magistrate . now if it be a true consequence , that men must be tolerated , if magistrates have no commission or authority to punish them for matters of religion ; then the only strength of that letter lies not in the unfitness of force to convince mens vnderstanding . vid. let. p. 7. again ; if it be true that magistrates being as liable to error as the rest of mankind , their using of force in matters of religion , would not at all advance the salvation of mankind , ( allowing that even force could work upon them , and magistrates had authority to use it in religion ) then the argument you mention is not the only one , in that letter , of strength to prove the necessity of toleration . v. let. p. 8. for the argument of the unsitness of force to convince mens minds being quite taken away , either of the other would be a strong proof for toleration . but let us consider the argument as you have put it . the two first propositions , you say , you agree to . as to the third , you grant that force is very improper to be used to induce the mind to assent to any truth . but yet you deny that force is utterly useless for the promoting true religion , and the salvation of mens souls ; which you call the author's 4th proposition : but indeed that is not the author's 4th proposition , or any proposition of his , to be sound in the pages you quote , or any where else in the whole letter , either in those terms , or in the sense you take it . in the 8th page , which you quote , the author is shewing that the magistrate has no power , that is not right , to make use of force in matters of religion , for the salvation of mens souls . and the reason he gives for it there , is , because force has no efficacy , to convince mens minds ; and that without a full perswasion of the mind , the profession of the true religion it self is not acceptable to god. vpon this ground , says he , i affirm that the magistrate's power extends not to the establishing any articles of faith , or forms of worship , by the force of his laws . for laws are of no force at all without penalties ; and penalties in this case are absolutely impertinent , because they are not proper to convince the mind . and so again , pag. 27. which is the other place you quote , the author says ; what soever may be doubted in religion , yet this at least is certain ; that no religion which i believe not to be true , can be either true , or profitable unto me . in vain therefore do princes compel their subjects to come into their church-communion , under the pretence of saving their souls . and more to this purpose . but in neither of those passages , nor any where else , that i remember , does the author say that it is impossible that force should any way , at any time , upon any person , by any accident , be useful towards the promoting of true religion , and the salvation of souls ; for that is it which you mean by utterly of no use . he does not deny that there is any thing which god in his goodness does not , or may not , sometimes , graciously make use of , towards the salvation of mens souls ( as our saviour did of clay and spittle to cure blindness ) and that so , force also may be sometimes useful . but that which he denies , and you grant , is that force has any proper efficacy to enlighten the understanding , or produce belief . and from thence he infers , that therefore the magistrate cannot lawfully compel men in matters of religion . this is what the author says , and what i imagine will always hold true , whatever you or any one can say or think to the contrary . that which you say is , force indirectly and at a distance may do some service . what you mean by doing service at a distance , towards the bringing men to salvation , or to imbrace the truth , i confess i do not understand ; unless perhaps it be what others , in propriety of speech , call by accident . but be it what it will , it is such a service as cannot be ascribed to the direct and proper efficacy of force . and so , say you , force , indirectly , and at a distance , may do some service . i grant it : make your best of it . what do you conclude from thence , to your purpose ? that therefore the magistrate may make use of it ? that i deny . that such an indirect , and at a distance vsefulness , will authorize the civil power in the use of it , that will never be prov'd . loss of estate and dignities may make a proud man humble : sufferings and imprisonment may make a wild and debauched man sober : and fo these things may indirectly , and at a distance , be serviceable towards the salvation of mens souls . i doubt not but god has made some , or all of these , the occasions of good to many men. but will you therefore infer , that the magistrate may take away a man's honour , or estate , or liberty , for the salvation of his soul ; or torment him in this , that he may be happy in the other world ? what is otherwise unlawful in it self ( as it certainly is to punish a man without a fault ) can never be made lawful by some good that , indirectly and at a distance , or if you please , indirectly and by accident , may follow from it . running a man through may save his life , as it has done by chance , opening a lurking imposthume . but will you say therefore that this is lawful , justifiable chirurgery ? the gallies , 't is like , might reduce many a vain , loose protestant , to repentance , sobriety of thought , and a true sense of religion : and the torments they suffer'd in the late persecution , might make several consider the pains of hell , and put a due estimate of vanity and contempt on all things of this world. but will you say , because those punishments might , indirectly and at a distance , serve to the salvation of mens souls , that therefore the king of france had right and authority to make use of them ? if your indirect and at a distance serviceableness may authorize the magistrate to use force in religion , all the cruelties used by the heathens against christians , by papists against protestants , and all the persecuting of christians one amongst another , are all justifiable . but what if i should tell you now of other effects , contrary effects , that punishments in matters of religion may produce ; and so may serve to keep men from the truth and from salvation ? what then will become of your indirect , and at a distance vsefulness ? for in all pleas for any thing because of its usefulness , it is not enough to say as you do ( and is the utmost that can be said for it ) that it may be serviceable : but it must be considered not only what it may , but what it is likely to produce : and the greater good or harm like to come from it , ought to determine of the use of it . to shew you what effects one may expect from force , of what usefulness it is to bring men to imbrace the truth , be pleas'd to read what you your self have writ . i cannot but remark , say you , that these methods ( viz. depriving men of their estates , corporal punishments , starving and tormenting them in prisons , and in the end even taking away their lives , to make them christians ) are so very improper in respect to the design of them , that they usually produce the quite contrary effect . for whereas all the use which force can have for the advancing true religion , and the salvation of souls , is ( as has already been shewed ) by disposing men to submit to instruction , and to give a fair hearing to the reasons which are offer'd for the enlightning their minds and discovering the truth to them ; these cruelties have the misfortune to be commonly look'd upon as so just a prejudice against any religion that uses them , as makes it needless to look any further into it ; and to tempt men to reject it , as both false and detestable , without ever vouchsafing to consider the rational grounds and motives of it . this effect they seldom fail to work upon the sufferers of them . and as to the spectators , if they be not beforehand well instructed in those grounds and motives , they will be much tempted likewise , not only to entertain the same opinion of such a religion , but withal to judg much more favourably of that of the sufferers ; who , they will be apt to think , would not expose themselves to such extremities , which they might avoid by compliance , if they were not throughly satisfied of the justice of their cause . here then you allow that taking away mens estates or liberty , and corporal punishments , are apt to drive away both sufferers and spectators , from the religion that makes use of them , rather than to it . and so these you renounce . now if you give up punishments of a man , in his person , liberty , and estate , i think we need not stand with you , for any other punishments may be made use of . but , by what follows , it seems you shelter your self under the name of severities . for moderate punishments , as you call them in another place , you think may be serviceable ; indirectly , and at a distance serviceable , to bring men to the truth . and i say , any sort of punishments disproportioned to the offence , or where there is no fault at all , will always be severity , unjustifiable severity , and will be thought so by the sufferers and by-standers ; and so will usually produce the effects you have mentioned , contrary to the design they are used for . not to profess the national faith , whilst one believes it not to be true ; not to enter into church-communion with the magistrate , as long as one judges the doctrine there professed to be erroneous , or the worship not such as god has either prescribed , or will accept ; this you allow , and all the world with you must allow , not to be a fault . but yet you would have men punished for not being of the national religion ; that is , as you your self confess , for no fault at all . whether this be not severity , nay so open and avow'd injustice , that it will give men a just prejudice against the religion that uses it , and produce all those ill effects you there mention , i leave you to consider . so that the name of severities in opposition to the moderate punishments ' you speak for , can do you no service at all . for where there is no fault , there can be no moderate punishment : all punishment is immoderate , where there is no fault to be punished . but of your moderate punishment we shall have occasion to speak more in another place . it suffices here to have shewn , that , whatever punishments you use , they are as likely to drive men from the religion that uses them , as to bring them to the truth ; and much more likely ; as we shall see before we have done : and so , by your own confession , they are not to be used . one thing in this passage of the author , it seems , appears absurd to you ; that he should say , that to take away mens lives , to make them christians , was but an ill way of expressing a design of their salvation . i grant there is great absurdity some where in the case . but it is in the practice of those who , persecuting men under a pretence of bringing them to salvation , suffer the temper of their good-will to betray it self , in taking away their lives . and whatever absurdities there be in this way of proceeding , there is none in the author's way of expressing it ; as you would more plainly have seen , if you had looked into the latin original , where the words are vita denique ipsâ privant , ut fideles , ut salvi siant ( pag. 5. ) which tho more literally , might be thus render'd , to bring them to the faith and to salvation ; yet the translator is not to be blamed , if he chose to express the sense of the author , in words that very lively represented the extream absurdity they are guilty of , who under pretence of zeal for the salvation of souls , proceed to the taking away their lives . an example whereof we have in a neighbouring country , where the prince declares he will have all his dissenting subjects sav'd , and pursuant thereunto has taken away the lives of many of them . for thither at last persecution must come : as i fear , notwithstanding your talk of moderate punishments , you your self intimate in these words ; not that i think the sword is to be used in this business , ( as i have sufficiently declared already ) but because all coactive power resolves at last into the sword ; since all ( i do not say , that will not be reformed in this matter by lesser penalties , but ) that refuse to submit to lesser penalties , must at last fall under the stroke of it . in which words , if you mean any thing to the busines●… in hand , you seem to have a reserve for greater punishments , when lesser are not sufficient to bring men to be convinced . but let that pass . you say , if force be us●…d , not instead of reason and arguments , that is , not to convince by its own proper efficacy , which it cannot do , &c. i think those who make laws , and use force , to bring men to church-conformity in religion , seek only the compliance , but concern themselves not for the conviction of those they punish ; and so never use force to convince . for , pray tell me ; when any dissenter conforms , and enters into the church-communion , is he ever examined to see whether he does it upon reason , and conviction , and such grounds as would become a christian concern'd for religion ? if persecution ( as is pretended ) were for the salvation of mens souls , this would be done ; and men not driven to take the sacrament to keep their places , or to obtain licenses to sell ale , ( for so low have these holy things been prostituted ) who perhaps knew nothing of its institution ; and considered no other use of it but the securing some poor secular advantage , which without taking of it they should have lost . so that this exception of yours , of the use of force , instead of arguments , to convince men , i think is needless ; those who use it , not being ( that ever i heard ) concern'd that men should be convinced . but you go on in telling us your way of using force , only to bring men to consider those reasons and arguments , which are proper and sufficient to convince them ; but which , without being forced , they would not consider . and , say you , who can deny but that , indirectly , and at a distance , it does some service , towards bringing men to imbrace that truth , which either through negligence they would never acquaint themselves with , or through prejudice they would reject and condemn unheard ? whether this way of punishment is like to increase , or remove prejudice , we have already seen . and what that truth is , which you can positively say , any man , without being forced by punishment , would through carelesness never acquaint himself with , i desire you to name . some are call'd at the third , some at the ninth , and some at the eleventh hour . and whenever they are call'd , they imbrace all the truth necessary to salvation . but these slips may be forgiven , amongst so many gross and palpable mistakes , as appear to me all through your discourse . for example : you tell us that force used to bring men to consider , does indirectly , and at a distance , some service . here now you walk in the dark , and endeavour to cover your self with obscurity , by omitting two necessary parts . as , first , who must use this force : which , tho you tell us not here , yet by other parts of your treatise 't is plain you mean the magistrate . and , secondly , you omit to say upon whom it must be used ; who it is must be punished : and those , if you say any thing to your purpose , must be dissenters from the national religion , those who come not into church-communion with the magistrate . and then your proposition in fair plain terms will stand thus . if the magistrate punish dissenters , only to bring them to consider those reasons and arguments which are proper to convince them ; who can deny but that indirectly , and at distance , it may do service , &c. towards bringing men to embrace that truth which otherwise they would never be acquainted with ? &c. in which proposition , 1. there is something impracticable . 2. something unjust . and , 3. whatever efficacy there is in force ( your way apply'd ) to bring men to consider and be convinced , it makes against you . 1. it is impracticable to punish dissenters , as dissenters , only to make them consider . for if you punish them as dissenters ( as certainly you do , if you punish them alone , and them all without exception ) you punish them for not being of the national religion . and to punish a man for not being of the national religion , is not to punish him only to make him consider ; unless not to be of the national religion , and not to consider , be the same thing . but you will say the design is only to make dissenters consider ; and therefore they may be punished only to make them consider . to this i reply ; it is impossible you should punish one with a design only to make him consider , whom you punish for something else besides want of consideration ; or if you punish him whether he consider or no ; as you do , if you lay penalties on dissenters in general . if you should make a law to punish all stammerers ; could any one believe you , if you said it was designed only to make them leave swearing ? would not every one see it was impossible that punishment should be only against swweating , when all stammerers were under the penalty ? such a proposal as this , is in it self , at first sight , monstrously absurd . but you must thank your self for it . for to lay penalties upon stammerers , only to make them not swear , is not more absurd and impossible than it is to lay penalties upon dissenters only to make them consider . 2. to punish men out of the communion of the national church , to make them consider , is unjust . tlsey are punished because out of the national church : and they are out of the national church , because they are not yet convinced . their standing out therefore in this state , whilst they are not convinced , not satisfied in their minds , is no fault ; and therefore cannot justly be punished . but your method is , punish them , to make them consider such reasons and arguments as are proper to convince them . which is just such justice , as it would be for the magistrate to punish you for not being a cartesian , only to bring you to consider such reasons and arguments as are proper and sufficient to convince you : when it is possible , 1. that you being satisfied of the truth of your own opinion in philosophy , did not judg it worth while to consider that of des cartes . 2. it is possible you are not able to consider , and examine , all the proofs and grounds upon which he endeavours to establish his philosophy . 3. possibly you have examined , and can sind no reasons and arguments proper and sufficient to convince you . 3. what ever indirect efficacy there be in force , apply'd by the magistrate your way , it makes against you . force used by the magistrate to bring men to consider those reasons and arguments , which are proper and sufficient to convince them , but which without being forced they would not consider ; may , say you , be serviceable indirectly , and at a distance , to make men imbrace the truth which must save them . and thus , say i , it may be serviceable to bring men to receive and imbrace falshood , which will destroy them . so that force and punishment , by your own confession , not being able directly , by its proper efficacy , to do men any good , in reference to their future estate ; though it be sure directly to do them harm , in reference to their present condition here ; and indirectly , and in your way of applying it , being proper to do at least as much harm as good ; i desire to know what the vsefulness is which so much recommends it , even to a degree that you pretend it needful and necessary . had you some new untry'd chymical preparation , that was as proper to kill as to save an infirm man , ( of whose life i hope you would not be more tender than of a weak brother's soul ) would you give it your child , or try it upon your friend , or recommend it to the world for its rare usefulness ? i deal very favourably with you , when i say as proper to kill as to save . for force , in your indirect way , of the magistrates applying it to make men consider those ar●…uments that otherwise they would not ; to make them lend an ear to those who tell them they have mistaken their way , and offer to shew them the right ; i say in this way , force is much more proper , and likely , to make men receive and imbrace error than the truth . 1. because men out of the right way are as apt , i think i may say apter , to use force , than others . for truth , i mean the truth of the gospel , which is that of the true religion , is mild , and gentle , and meek , and apter to use prayers and intreaties , than force , to gain a hearing . 2. because the magistrates of the world , or the civil soveraigns ( as you think it more proper to call them ) being few of them in the right way ; ( not one of ten , take which side you will ) perhaps you will grant not one of an hundred , being of the true religion ; 't is likely your indirect way of using of force would do an hundred , or at least ten times as much harm as good : especially if you consider , that as the magistrate will certainly use it to force men to hearken to the proper ministers of his religion , let it be what it will ; so you having set no time , nor bounds , to this consideration of arguments and reasons , short of being convinced ; you , under another pretence , put into the magistrate's hands as much power to sorce men to his religion , as any the openest persecutors can pretend to . for what difference , i beseech you , between punishing you to bring you to mass ; and punishing you to bring you to consider those reasons and arguments which are proper and sufficient to convince you that you ought to go to mass ? for till you are brought to consider reasons and arguments proper and sufficient to convince you ; that is , till you are convinced ; you are punished on . if you reply , you meant reasons and arguments proper and sufficient to convince them of the truth . i answer , if you meant so , why did you not say so ? but if you had , it would in this case do you little service . for the mass , in france , is as much supposed the truth , as the liturgy here . and your way of applying force will as much promote popery in france , as protestantism in england . and so you see how serviceable it is to make men receive and imbrace the truth that must save them . however you tell us , in the same page , that if force so applied , as is above mentioned , may in such sort as has been said , i. e. indirectly , and at a distance , be serviceable to bring men to receive and imbrace truth , you think it sufficient to sh●…w the usefulness of it in religion . where i shall observe , 1st . that this vsefulness amounts to no more but this , that it is not impossible but that it may be useful . and such a vsefulness one cannot deny to auricular confession , doing of penance , going of a pilgrimage to some saint , and what not . yet our church do's not think sit to use them : though it cannot be deny'd but they may have some of your indirect , and at a distance usefulness ; that is , perhaps may do some service , indirectly , and by accident . 2. force your way apply'd , as it may be useful , so also it may be useless . for , 1st , where the law punishes di●…enters , without telling them it is to make them consider , they may through ignorance and over-sight neglect to do it , and so your force proves useless . 2. some dissenters may have considered already , and then force imploy'd upon them must needs be useless ; unless you can think it useful to punish a man to make him do that which he has done already . 3. god has not directed it : and therefore we have no reason to expect he should make it successful . 3. it may be hurtful : nay it is likely to prove more hurtful than useful . 1st . because to punish men for that , which 't is visible cannot be known whether they have perform'd or no , is so palpable an injustice , that it is likelier to give them an aversion to the persons and religion that uses it , than to bring them to it . 2ly . because the greatest part of mankind being not able to discern betwixt truth and falshood , that depend upon long and many proofs , and remote consequences ; nor have ability enough to discover the salse grounds , and resist the captious and fallacious arguments of learned men versed in controversies ; are so much more expos'd , by the force which is used to make them hearken to the information and instruction of men appointed to it by the magistrate , or those of his religion , to be led into falshood and error , than they are likely this way to be brought to imbrace the truth that must save them ; by how much the national religions of the world are , beyond comparison , more of them false or erroneous , than such as have god for their author , and truth for their standard . and that seeking and examining , without the special grace of god , will not secure even knowing and learned men from error . we have a famous instance in the two reynold's ( both scholars , and brothers , but one a protestant , the other a papist ) who upon the exchange of papers between them , were both turn'd ; but so that neither of them , with all the arguments he could use , could bring his brother back to the religion which he himself had found reason to imbrace . here was ability to examine and judg , beyond the ordinary rate of most men. yet one of these brothers was so caught by the sophistry and skill of the other , that he was brought into error , from which he could never again be extricated . this we must unavoidably conclude ; unless we can think , that wherein they differ'd , they were both in the right ; or that truth can be an argument to support a falshood ; both which are impossible . and now , i pray , which of these two brothers would you have punished , to make him bethink himself , and bring him back to the truth ? for 't is certain some ill-grounded cause of assent alienated one of them from it . if you will examine your principles , you will find that , according to your rule , the papist must be punished in england , and the protestant in italy . so that , in effect , ( by your rule ) passion , humour , prejudice , lust , impressions of education , admiration of persons , worldly respect , and the like incompetent motives , must always be supposed on that side on which the magistrate is not . i have taken the pains here , in a short recapitulation , to give you the view of the vsefulness of force , your way applied , which you make such a noise with , and lay so much stress on . whereby i doubt not but it is visible , that its usefulness and uselessness laid in the ballance against each other , the pretended vsefulness is so far from outweighing , that it can neither incourage nor excuse the using of punishments ; which are not lawful to be used in our case without strong probability of success . but when to its uselesness mischief is added , and it is evident that more , much more , harm may be expected from it than good , your own argument returns upon you . for if it be reasonable to use it , because it may be serviceable to promote true religion , and the salvation of souls ; it is much more reasonable to let it alone , if it may be more serviceable to the promoting falshood , and the perdition of souls . and therefore you will do well hereafter not to build so much on the vsefulness of force , apply'd your way , your indirect and at a distance vsefulness , which amounts but to the shadow and possibility of vsefulness , but with an over-balancing weight of mischief and harm annexed to it . for upon a just estimate , this indirect , and at a distance , vsefulness can directly go for nothing ; or rather less than nothing . but suppose force , apply'd your way , were as useful for the promoting true religion , as i suppose i have shew'd it to be the contrary ; it does not from thence follow that it is lawful , and may be used . it may be very useful in a parish that has no teacher , or as bad as none , that a lay-man who wanted not abilities for it ( for such we may suppose to be ) should sometimes preach to them the doctrine of the gospel , and stir them up to the duties of a good life . and yet this , ( which cannot be deny'd may be at least indirectly , and at a distance , serviceable towards the promoting true religion and the salvation of souls ) you will not ( i imagine ) allow , for this vsefulness , to be lawful : and that , because he has not commission and authority to do it . the same might be said of the administration of the sacraments , and any other function of the priestly office. this is just our case . granting force , as you say , indirectly , and at a distance , useful to the salvation of mens souls ; yet it does not therefore follow that it is lawful for the magistrate to use it : because , as the author says , the magistrate has no commission or authority to do so . for however you have put it thus , ( as you have fram'd the author's argument ) force is utterly of no use for the promoting of true religion , and the salvation of souls ; and therefore no body can have any right to use any force or compulsion for the bringing men to the true religion ; yet the author does not , in those pages you quote , make the latter of these propositions an inference barely from the former ; but makes use of it as a truth proved by several arguments he had before brought to that purpose . for tho it be a good argument ; it is not useful , therefore not fit to be used : yet this will not be good logick ; it is useful , therefore any one has a right to use it . for if the vsefulness makes it lawful , it makes it lawful in any hands that can so apply it ; and so private men may use it . who can deny , say you , but that force indirectly , and at a distance , may do some service towards the bringing men to imbrace that truth , which otherwise they would never acquaint themselves with . if this be good arguing in you , for the usefulness of force towards the saving of mens souls ; give me leave to argue after the same fashion . 1. i will suppose , which you will not deny me , that as there are many who take up their religion upon wrong grounds , to the indangering of their souls ; so there are many that abandon themselves to the heat of their lusts , to the indangering of their souls . 2dly , i will suppose , that as force apply'd your way is apt to make the inconsiderate consider , so force apply'd another way is as apt to make the lascivious chaste . the argument then , in your form , will stand thus : who can deny but that force , indirectly , and at a distance , may , by castration , do some service towards bringing men to imbrace that chastity , which otherwise they would never acquaint themselves with . thus , you see , castration may , indirectly , and at a distance , be serviceable towards the salvation of mens souls . but will you say , from such an usefulness as this , because it may indirectly , and at a distance , conduce to the saving of any of his subjects souls , that therefore the magistrate has a right to do it , and may by force make his subjects eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven ? it is not for the magistrate , or any body else , upon an imagination of its vsefulness , to make use of any other means for the salvation of mens souls than what the author and finisher of our faith hath directed . you may be mistaken in what you think useful . dives thought , and so perhaps should you and i too , if not better inform'd by the scriptures , that it would b●… useful to rouze and awaken men if one should come to them from the dead . but he was mistaken . and we are told that if men will not hearken to moses and the prophets , the means appointed , neither will the strangeness nor terror of one coming from the dead perswade them . if what we are apt to think useful were thence to be concluded so , we should ( i fear ) be obliged to believe the miracles pretended to by the church of rome . for miracles , we know , were once useful for the promoting true religion , and the salvation of souls ; which is more than you can say for your political punishments : but yet we must conclude that god thinks them not useful now ; unless we will say ( that which without impiety cannot be said ) that the wise and benign disposer and governour of all things does not now use all useful means for promoting his own honour in the world , and the good of souls . i think this consequence will hold , as well as what you draw in near the same words . let us not therefore be more wise than our maker , in that stupendious and supernatural work of our salvation . the scripture , that reveals it to us , contains all that we can know , or do , in order to it : and where that is silent , 't is in us presumption to direct . when you can shew any commission in scripture , for the use of force , to compel men to hear , any more than to imbrace the doctrine of others that differ from them , we shall have reason to submit to it , and the magistrate have some ground to set up this new way of persecution . but till then , 't will be sit for us to obey that precept of the gospel , which bids us take heed what we hear . so that hearing is not always so useful as you suppose . if it had , we should never have had so direct a caution against it . 't is not any imaginary vsefulness , you can suppose , which can make that a punishable crime , which the magistrate was never authorized to meddle with . go and teach all nations , was a commission of our saviour's : but there was not added to it , punish those that will not hear and consider what you say . no , but if they will not receive you , shake off the dust of your feet ; leave them , and apply your selves to some others . and st. paul knew no other means to make men hear , but the preaching of the gospel ; as will appear to any one who will read romans the 10th , 14 , &c. faith cometh by hearing , and hearing by the word of god. you go on , and in favour of your beloved force , you tell us that it is not only useful but needful . and here , after having at large , in the four following pages , set out the negligence or aversion , or other hinderances that keep men from examining , with that application and freedom of judgment they should , the grounds upon which they take up and persist in their religion , you come to conclude force necessary . your words are : if men are generally averse to a due consideration of things , where they are most concerned to use it ; if they usually take up their religion without examining it as they ought , and then grow so opinionative and so stiff in their prejudice , that neither the gentlest admonitions , nor the most earnest intreaties , shall ever prevail with them afterwards to do it ; what means is there left ( besides the grace of god ) to reduce those of them that are got into a wrong way , but to lay thorns and briars in it ? that since they are deaf to all perswasions , the uneasiness they meet with may at least put them to a stand , and incline them to lend an ear to those who tell them they have mistaken their way , and offer to shew them the right way . what means is there left , say you , but force . what to do ? to reduce men , who are out of it , into the right way . so you tell us here . and to that , i say , there is other means besides force ; that which was appointed and made use of from the beginning , the preaching of the gospel . but , say you , to make them hear , to make them consider , to make them examine , there is no other means but punishment ; and therefore it is necessary . i answer . 1st , what if god , for reasons best known to himself , would not have men compell'd to hear ; but thought the good tidings of salvation , and the proposals of life and death , means and inducements enough to make them hear , and consider , now as well as heretofore ? then your means , your punishments , are not necessary . what if god would have men left to their freedom in this point , if they will hear , or if they will forbear , will you constrain them ? thus we are sure he did with his own people : and this when they were in captivity : and 't is very like were ill treated for being of a different religion from the national , and so were punished as dissenters . yet then god expected not that those punishments should force them to hearken , more than at other times : as appears by ezek. 3.11 . and this also is the method of the gospel . we are ambassadors for christ ; as if god did beseech by us , we pray in christ's stead , says st. paul , 2 cor. v. 20. if god had thought it necessary to have men punish'd to make them give ear , he could have call'd magistrates to be spreaders and ministers of the gospel , as well as poor fisher-men , or paul a persecutor , who yet wanted not power to punish where punishment was necessary , as is evident in ananias and sapphira , and the incestuous corinthian . 2ly . what if god , foreseeing this force would be in the hands of men as passionate , as humoursome , as liable to prejudice and error as the rest of their brethren , did not think it a proper means to bring men into the right way ? 3ly . what if there be other means ? then yours ceases to be necessary , upon the account that there is no means left . for you your self allow , that the grace of god is another means . and i suppose you will not deny it to be both a proper and sufficient means ; and , which is more , the only means ; such means as can work by it self , and without which all the force in the world can do nothing . god alone can open the ear that it may hear , and open the heart that it may understand : and this he does in his own good time , and to whom he is graciously pleas'd ; but not according to the will and phancy of man , when he thinks sit , by punishments , to compel his brethren . if god has pronounced against any person or people , what he did against the jews , ( isa. 6.10 . ) make the heart of this people fat , and make their ears heavy , and shut their eyes ; lest they see with their eyes , and hear with their ears , and understand with their hearts , and convert , and be healed : will all the force you can use , be a means to make them hear and understand , and be converted ? but , sir , to return your argument ; you see no other means left ( taking the world as we now find it ) to make men throughly and impartially examine a religion , which they imbraced upon such inducements as ought to have no sway at all in the matter , and with little or no examination of the proper grounds of it . and thence you conclude the use of force , by the magistrate , upon dissenters , necessary . and , i say , i see no other means left ( taking the world as we now find it , wherein the magistrates never lay penalties , for matters of religion , upon those of his own church , nor is it to be expected they ever should ; ) to make men of the national church , any where , throughly and impartially examine a religion , which they imbraced upon such inducements , as ought to have no sway at all in the matter , and therefore with little or no examination of the proper grounds of it . and therefore , i conclude the use of force by dissent●…rs upon conformists necessary . i appeal to the world , whether this be not as just and natural a conclusion as yours . though , if you will have my opinion , i think the more genuine consequence is , that force , to make men examine matters of religion , is not necessary at all . but you may take which of these consequences you please . both of them , i am sure , you cannot avoid . it is not for you and me , out of an imagination that they may be useful , or are necessary , to prescribe means in the great and mysterious work of salvation , other than what god himself has directed . god has appointed force as useful and necessary , and therefore it is to be used ; is a way of arguing , becoming the ignorance and humility of poor creatures . but i think force useful or necessary , and therefore it is to be used ; has , methinks , a little too much presumption in it . you ask , what means else is there left ? none , say i , to be used by man , but what god himself has directed in the scriptures , wherein are contained all the means and methods of salvation . faith is the gift of god. and we are not to use any other means to procure this gift to any one , but what god himself has prescribed . if he has there appointed that any should be forced to hear those who tell them they have mistaken their way , and offer to shew them the right ; and that they should be punished by the magistrate if they did not ; 't will be past doubt , it is to be made use of . but till that can be done , 't will be in vain to say what other means is there left . if all the means god has appointed , to make men hear and consider , be exhortation in season and out of season , &c. together with prayer for them , and the example of meekness and a good life ; this is all ought to be done , whether they will hear , or whether they will forbear . by these means the gospel at first made it self to be heard through a great part of the world ; and in a crooked and perverse generation , led away by lusts , humours , and prejudice , ( as well as this you complain of ) prevail'd with men to hear and imbrace the truth , and take care of their own souls ; without the assistance of any such force of the magistrate , which you now think needful . but whatever neglect or aversion there is in some men , impartially and throughly to be instructed ; there will upon a due examination ( i fear ) be found no less a neglect and aversion in others , impartially and throughly to instruct them . 't is not the talking even general truths in plain and clear language ; much less a man 's own fancies in scholastick or uncommon ways of speaking , an hour or two , once a week , in publick ; that is enough to instruct even willing hearers in the way of salvation , and the grounds of their religion . they are not politick discourses which are the means of right information in the foundations of religion . for with such , ( sometimes venting antimonarchical principles , sometimes again preaching up nothing but absolute monarchy and passive obedience , as the one or other have been in vogue and the way to preferment ) have our churches rung in their turns , so loudly , that reasons and arguments proper and sufficient to convince men of the truth in the controverted points of religion , and to direct them in the right way to salvation , were scarce any were to be heard . but how many , do you think , by friendly and christian debates with them at their houses , and by the gentle methods of the gospel made use of in private conversation , might have been brought into the church ; who , by railing from the pulpit , ill and unfriendly treatment out of it , and other neglects or miscarriages of those who claimed to be their teachers , have been driven from hearing them ? paint the defects and miscarriages frequent on this side , as well as you have done those on the other , and then do you , with all the world , consider whether those who you so handsomely declaim against , for being misled by education , passion , humour , prejudice , obstinacy , &c. do deserve all the punishment . perhaps it will be answered ; if there be so much toil in it , that particular persons must be apply'd to , who then will be a minister ? and what if a lay-man should reply : if there be so much toil in it , that doubts must be cleared , prejudices removed , foundations examined , &c. who then will be a protestant ? the excuse will be as good hereafter for the one as for the other . this new method of yours , which you say no body can deny but that indirectly , and at a distance , it does some service towards bringing men to embrace the truth ; was never yet thought on by the most refined persecutors . tho indeed it is not altogether unlike the plea made use of to excuse the late barbarous usage of the protestants in france , ( designed to extirpate the reformed religion there ) from being a persecution for religion . the french king requires all his subjects to come to mass. those who do not , are punished with a witness . for what ? not for their religion , say the pleaders for that discipline , but for disobeying the king's laws . so by your rule , the dissenters ( for thither you would , and thither you must come , if you mean any thing ) must be punished . for what ? not for their religion , say you , not for following the light of their own reason , not for obeying the dictates of their own consciences . that you think not fit . for what then are they to be punished ? to make them , say you , examine the religion they have imbraced , and the religion they have rejected . so that they are punished , not for having offended against a law : for there is no law of the land that requires them to examine . and which now is the fairer plea , pray judg . you ought , indeed , to have the credit of this new invention . all other law-makers have constantly taken this method ; that where any thing was to be amended , the fault was first declared , and then penalties denounced against all those , who after a time set , should be found guilty of it . this the common sense of mankind , and the very reason of laws ( which are intended not for punishment , but correction ) has made so plain ; that the subtilest and most resined law-makers have not gone out of this course , nor have the most ignorant and barbarous nations mist it . but you have out-done solon and lycurgus , moses and our saviour , and are resolved to be a law-maker of a way by your self . 't is an old and obsolete way , and will not serve your turn , to begin with warnings and threats of penalties to be inflicted on those who do not reform , but continue to do that which you think they fail in . to allow of impunity to the innocent , or the opportunity of amendment to those who would avoid the penalties , are formalities not worth your notice . you are for a shorter and surer way . take a whole tribe and punish them at all adventures ; whether guilty or no , of the miscarriage which you would have amended ; or without so much as telling them what it is you would have them do , but leaving them to find it out if they can . all these absurdities are contained in your way of proceeding ; and are impossible to be avoided by any one who will punish dissenters , and only dissenters , to make them consider and weigh the grounds of their religion , and impartially examine whether it be true or no , and upon what grounds they took it up , that so they may find and imbrace the truth that must save them . but that this new sort of discipline may have all fair play ; let us enquire , first , who it is you would have be punished . in the place above cited , they are those who are got into a wrong way , and are deaf to all perswasions . if these are the men to be punished , let a law be made against them : you have my consent ; and that is the proper course to have offenders punished . for you do not , i hope , intend to punish any fault by a law , which you do not name in the law ; nor make a law against any fault you would not have punished . and now , if you are sincere , and in earnest , and are ( as a fair man should be ) sor what your words plainly signify , and nothing else ; what will such a law serve for ? men in the wrong way are to be punished : but who are in the wrong way is the question . you have no more reason to determine it against one , who differs from you ; than he has to conclude against you , who differ from him . no , not tho you have the magistrate and the national church on your side . for , if to differ from them be to be in the wrong way ; you , who are in the right way in england , will be in the wrong way in france . every one here must be judg for himself : and your law will reach no body , till you have convinced him he is in the wrong way . and then there will be no need of punishment to make him consider ; unless you will assirm again , what you have deny'd , and , have men punished for imbracing the religion they believe to be true , when it differs from yours or the publick . besides being in the wrong way , those who you would have punished must be such as are deaf to all perswasions . but any such , i suppose , you will hardly sind , who hearken to no body , not to those of their own way . if you mean by deaf to all perswasions , all perswasions of a contrary party , or of a different church ; such , i suppose , you may abundantly find in your own church , as well as else-where ; and i presume to them you are so charitable , that you would not have them punished for not lending an ear to seducers . for constancy in the truth , and perseverance in the faith , is ( i hope ) rather to be incouraged , than by any penalties check'd in the orthodox . and your church , doubtless as well as all others , is orthodox to it self , in all its tenets . if you mean by all perswasion , all your perswasion , or all perswasion of those of your communion ; you do but beg the question , and suppose you have a right to punish those who differ from , and will not comply with you . your next words are , when men fly from the means of a right information , and will not so much as consider how reasonable it is , throughly and impartially to examine a religion , which they embraced upon such inducements as ought to have no sway at all in the matter , and therefore with little or no examination of the proper grounds of it ; what human method can be used , to bring them to act like men , in an affair of such consequence , and to make a wiser and more rational choice , but that of laying such penalties upon them , as may ballance the weight of those prejudices which inclin'd them to prefer a false way before the true , and recover them to so much sobriety and reflection , as seriously to put the question to themselves ; whether it be really worth the while to undergo such inconveniencies , for adhering to a religion , which , for any thing they know , may be false , or for rejecting another ( if that be the case ) which , for any thing they know , may be true , till they have brought it to the bar of reason , and given it a fair trial there . here you again bring in such as prefer a false way before a true : to which having answered already , i shall here say no more , but that , since our church will not allow those to be in a false way who are out of the church of rome , because the church of rome ( which pretends infallibity ) declares hers to be the only true way ; certainly no one of our church ( nor any other , which claims not infallibility ) can require any one to take the testimony of any church , as a sufficient proof of the truth of her own doctrine . so that true and false ( as it commonly happens , when we suppose them for our selves , or our party ) in essect , signify just nothing , or nothing to the purpose ; unless we can think that true or false in england , which will not be so at rome , or geneva : and vice versâ . as for the rest of the description , of those on whom you are here laying penalties ; i beseech you consider whether it will not belong to any of your church , let it be what it will. consider , i say , if there be none in your church who have imbrac'd her religion , upon such inducements as ought to have no sway at all in the matter , and therefore with little or no examination of the proper grounds of it ; who have not been inclin'd by prejudices ; who do not adhere to a religion , which for any thing they know may be false , and who have rejected another which for any thing they know may be true . if you have any such in your communion ( and 't will be an admirable , tho i fear but a little , flock that has none such in it ) consider well what you have done . you have prepared rods for them , for which i imagine they will con you no thanks . for to make any tolerable sense of what you here propose , it must be understood that you would have men of all religions punished , to make them consider whether it be really worth the while to undergo such inconveniencies for adhering to a religion which for any thing they know may be false . if you hope to avoid that , by what you have said of true and false ; and pretend that the supposed preference of the true way in your church , ought to preserve its members from your punishment ; you manifestly triste . for every church's testimony , that it has chosen the true way , must be taken for it self ; and then none will be liable ; and your new invention of punishment is come to nothing : or else the differing churches testimonies must be taken one for another ; and then they will be all out of the t●…ue way , and your church need penalties as well as the rest . so that , upon your principles , they must all or none be punished . chuse which you please : one of them , i think , you cannot escape . what you say in the next words ; where instruction is stifly refused , and all admonitions and perswasions prove vain and ineffectual ; differs nothing but in the way of expressing , from deaf to all perswasions : and so that is answer'd already . in another place , you give us another description of those you think ought to be punished , in these words ; those who refuse to embrace the doctrine , and submit to the spiritual government of the proper ministers of religion , who by special designation , are appointed to exhort , admonish , reprove , &c. here then , those to be punished , are such who refuse to imbrace the doctrine , and submit to the government of the proper ministers of religion . whereby we are as much still at uncertainty , as we were before , who those are who ( by your scheme , and laws suitable to it ) are to be punished . since every church has , as it thinks , its proper ministers of religion . and if you mean those that refuse to imbrace the doctrine , and submit to the government of the ministers of another church ; then all men will be guilty , and must be punished ; even those of your church , as well as others . if you mean those who refuse , &c. the ministers of their own church ; very few will incur your penalties . but if , by these proper ministers of religion , the ministers of some particular church are intended ; why do you not name it ? why are you so reserv'd , in a matter wherein , if you speak not out , all the rest that you say will be to no purpose ? are men to be punished for refusing to imbrace the doctrine , and submit to the government , of the proper ministers of the church of geneva ? for this time , ( since you have declared nothing to the contrary ) let me suppose you of that church : and then , i am sure , that is it that you would name . for of what-ever church you are , if you think the ministers of any one church ought to be hearken'd to , and obey'd , it must be those of your own . there are persons to be punished , you say . this you contend for , all through your book ; and lay so much stress on it , that you make the preservation and propagation of religion , and the salvation of souls , to depend on it : and yet you describe them by so general and equivocal marks ; that , unless it be upon suppositions which no body will grant you , i dare say , neither you , nor any body else , will be able to find one guilty . pray find me , if you can , a man whom you can , judicially prove ( for he that is to be punished by law , must be fairly tried ) is in a wrong way , in respect of his faith ; i mean , who is deaf to all perswasions , who flies from all means of a right information , who refuses to imbrace the doctrine , and submit to the government of the spiritual pastors . and when you have done that , i think , i may allow you what power you please to punish him ; without any prejudice to the toleration the author of the letter proposes . but why , i pray , all this bogling , all this loose talking , as if you knew not what you meant , or durst not speak it out ? would you be for punishing some body , you know not whom ? i do not think so ill of you . let me then speak out for you . the evidence of the argument has convinced you that men ought not to be persecuted for their religion ; that the severities in use amongst christians cannot be defended ; that the magistrate has not authority to compel any one to his religion . this you are forced to yield . but you would fain retain some power in the magistrate's hands to punish dissenters , upon a new pretence ; viz. not for having imbraced the doctrine and worship they believe to be true and right , but for not having well consider'd their own and the magistrate's religion . to shew you that i do not speak wholly without-book ; give me leave to mind you of one passage of yours . the words are , penalties to put them upon a sorious and impartial examination of the controversy between the magistrates and them . though these words be not intended to tell us who you would have punished , yet it may be plainly inferr'd from them . and they more clearly point out whom you aim at , than all the foregoing places , where you seem to ( and should ) describe them . for they are such as between whom and the magistrate there is a controversy : that is , in short , who differ from the magistrate in religion . and now indeed you have given us a note by which these you would have punished may be known . we have , with much ado , found at last whom it is we may presume you would have punished . which in other cases is usually not very difficult : because there the faults to be mended easily design the persons to be corrected . but yours is a new method , and unlike all that ever went before it . in the next place ; let us see for what you would have them punished . you tell us , and it will easily be granted you , that not to examine and weigh impartially , and without prejudice or passion , ( all which , for shortness-sake , we will express by this one word consider ) the religion one embraces or refuses , is a fault very common , and very prejudicial to true religion , and the salvation of mens souls . but penalties and punishments are very necessary , say you , to remedy this evil. let us see now how you apply this remedy . therefore , say you , let all dissenters be punished . why ? have no dissenters considered of religion ? or have all conformists considered ? that you your self will not say . your project therefore is just as reasonable , as if a lethargy growing epidemical in england ; you should propose to have a law made to blister and scarify and shave the heads of all who wear gowns : though it be certain that neither all who wear gowns are lethargick , nor all who are lethargick wear gowns . — dii te damasippe deaeque verum ob consilium donent tonsore . for there could not be certainly a more learned advice , than that one man should be pull'd by the ears , because another is asleep . this , when you have consider'd of it again , ( for i find , according to your principle , all men have now and then need to be jog'd ) you will , i guess , be convinced is not like a fair physician , to apply a remedy to a disease ; but , like an engag'd enemy , to vent one's spleen upon a party . common sense , as well as common justice , requires , that the remedies of laws and penalties should be directed against the evil that is to be removed , where-ever it be found . and if the punishment , you think so necessary , be ( as you pretend ) to cure the mischief you complain of , you must let it pursue and fall on the guilty , and those only , in what company soever they are ; and not , as you here propose , and is the highest injustice , punish the innocent considering dissente●… , with the guilty ; and , on the other side , let the inconsiderate guilty conformist scape , with the innocent . for one may rationally presume that the national church has some , nay more , in proportion , of those who little consider or concern themselves about religion , than any congregation of dissenters . for conscience , or the care of their souls , being once laid aside ; interest , of course , leads men into that society , where the protection and countenance of the government , and hopes of preferment , bid fairest to all their remaining desires . so that if careless , negligent , inconsiderate men in matters of religion , who without being forced would not consider , are to be roused into a care of their souls , and a search after truth , by punishments ; the national religion , in all countries , will certainly have a right to the greatest share of those punishments ; at least , not to be wholly exempt from them . this is that which the author of the letter , as i remember complains of ; and that justly , viz. that the pretended care of mens souls always expresses it self , in those who would have force any way made use of to that end , in very unequ●…l methods ; some persons being to be treated with severity , whilst others guilty of the same faults are not to be so much as touched . though you are got pretty w●…ll out of the deep mud , and renounce punishments directly for religion ; yet you stick still in this part of the mire ; whilst you would have dissenters punished to make them consider , but would not have any thing done to conformists , tho never so negligent in this point of considering . the author's letter pleas'd me , because it is equal to all mankind , is direct , and will , i think , hold every where ; which i take to be a good mark of truth . for , i shall always suspect that neither to comport with the truth of religion , or the design of the gospel , which is suited to only some one country , or party . what is true and good in england , will be true and good at rome too , in china , or geneva . but whether your great and only method for the propagating of truth , by bringing the inconsiderate by punishments to consider , would ( according to your way of applying your punishments only to dissenters from the national religion ) be of use in those countries , or any where but where you suppose the magistrate to be in the right , judg you . pray , sir , consider a little , whether prejudice has not some share in your way of arguing . for this is your position ; men are generally negligent in examining the grounds of their religion . this i grant . but could there be a more wild and incoherent consequence drawn from it , than this ; therefore dissenters must be punished ? but that being laid aside , let us now see to what end they must be punished . sometimes it is , to bring them to consider those reasons and arguments which are proper and sufficient to convince them . of what ? that it is not easy to set grantham steeple upon paul's church ? what-ever it be you would have them convinced of , you are not willing to tell us . and so it may be any thing . sometimes it is , to incline them to lend an ear to those who tell them they have mistaken their way , and offer to shew them the right . which is , to lend an ear to all who differ from them in religion ; as well crafty seducers , as others . whether this be for the procuring the salvation of their souls , the end for which you say this force is to be used , judg you . but this i am sure ; whoever will lend an ear to all who will tell them they are out of the way , will not have much time for any other business . sometimes it is , to recover men to so much sobriety and reflection , as seriously to put the question to themselves , whether it be really worth their while to undergo such inconveniences , for adhering to a religion which , for any thing they know , may be false , or for rejecting another ( if that be the case ) which , for ought they know , may be true , till they have brought it to the bar of reason , and given it a fair trial there . which , in short , amounts to thus much , viz. to make them examine whether their religion be true , and so worth the holding , under those penalties that are annexed to it . dissenters are indebted to you , for your great care of their souls . but what , i beseech you , shall become of those of the national church , every where ( which make sar the greater part of mankind ) who have no such punishments to make them consider ; who have not this only remedy provided sor them ; but are lest in that deplorable condition , you mention , of being suffer'd quietly , and without molestation , to take no care at all of their souls , or in doing of it to follow their own prejudices , humours , or some crafty seducers : need not those of the national church , as well as others , bring their religion to the bar of reason , and give it a fair trial there ? and if they need to do so , ( as they must , if all national religions cannot be supposed true ) they will always need that which , you say , is the only means to make them do so . so that if you are sure , as you tell us , that there is need of your method ; i am sure , there is as much need of it in national churches , as any other . and so , for ought i can see , you must either punish them , or let others alone ; unless you think it reasonable that the sar greater part of mankind should constantly be without that soveraign and only remedy , which they stand in need of equally with other people . sometimes the end for which men must be punished is , to dispose them to submit to instruction , and to give a fair hearing to the reasons are offer'd for the inli●…htning their minds , and discovering the truth to them . if their own words may be taken for it , there are as sew dissenters as consormists , in any country , who will not profess they have done , and do this . and if their own word ; may not be taken ; who , i pray must be judg ? you and your magistrates ? if so , then it is plain you punish them not to dispose them to submit to instruction , but to your instruction ; not to dispose them to give a fair hearing to reasons offer'd for the inlightning their minds , but to give an obedient hearing to your reasons . if you mean this ; it had been sairer and shorter to have spoken out plainly , than thus in fair words , of indesinite signification , to say that which amounts to nothing . for what sense is it , to punish a man to dispose him to submit to instruction , and give a fair hearing to reasons offer'd for the inlightning his mind , and discovering truth to him , who ●…s two or three times a week several 〈◊〉 on purp●…se to do i●… , and that with the hazard of his liberty or purse ; 〈◊〉 you mean your instructions , your reasons , your truth : which brings us but back to what you have disclaimed , plain persecution for differing in religion . sometimes this is to be done , to prevail with men to weigh matters of religion carefully , and impartially . discountenance and punishment put into one scale , with impunity and hopes of preferment put into the other , is as sure a way to make a man weigh impartially , as it would be for a prince to bribe and threaten a judg to make him judg uprightly . sometimes it is , to make men bethink themselves , and put it out of the power of any foolish humor , or unreasonable prejudice , to alienate them from truth and their own happiness . add but this , to put it out of the power of any humour or prejudice of their own , or other mens ; and i grant the end is good , if you can find the means to procure it . but why it should not be put out of the power of other mens humour or prejudice , as well as their own , wants ( and will always want ) a reason to prove . would it not , i beseech you , to an indifferent by-stander , appear humour or prejudice , or some thing as bad ; to see men , who profess a religion reveal'd from heaven , and which they own contains all in it necessary to salvation , exclude men from their communion , and persecute them with the penalties of the civil law , for not joining in the use of ceremonies which are no where to be found in that reveal'd religion ? would it not appear humour or prejudice , or some such thing , to a sober impartial heathen ; to see christians exclude and persecute one of the same faith , for things which they themselves confess to be indifferent , and not worth the contending for ? prejudice , humour , passion , lusts , impressions of education , reverence and admiration of persons , worldly respects , love of their own choice , and the like , ( to which you justly impute many mens taking up and persisting in their religion ) are indeed good words ; and so , on the other side , are these following ; truth , the right way , inlightning , reason , sound judgment ; but they signify nothing at all to your purpose , till you can evidently and unquestionably shew the world that the latter ( viz. truth and the right way , &c. ) are always , and in all countries , to be found only in the national church ; and the former ( viz. passion and prejudice , &c. ) only amongst the dissenters . but to go on : sometimes it is , to bring men to take such care as they ought of their salvation . what care is such as men ought to take , whilst they are out of your church , will be hard for you to tell me . but you endeavour to explain your self , in the following words ; that they may not blindly leave it to the choice neither of any other person , nor yet of their own lusts and passions , to prescribe to them what faith or worship they shall imbrace . you do well to make use of punishment to shut passion out of the choice : because you know fear of suffering is no passion . but let that pass . you would have men punished , to bring them to take such care of their salvation , that they may not blindly leave it to the choice of any other person to prescribe to them . are you sincere ? are you in earnest ? tell me then truly : did the magistrate or national church , any where , or yours in particular , ever punish any man , to bring him to have this care which , you say , he ought to take of his salvation ? did you ever punish any man , that he might not blindly leave it to the choice of his parish-priest , or bishop , or the convocation , what faith or worship he should imbrace ? 't will be suspected care of a party , or any thing else rather than care of the salvation of mens souls ; if , having found out so useful so necessary a remedy , the only method there is room left for , you will apply it but partially , and make trial of it only on those who you have truly least kindness for . this will , unavoidably , give one reason to imagine , you do not think so well of your remedy as you pretend , who are so sparing of it to your friends ; but are very free of it to strangers , who in other things are used very much like enemies . but your remedy is like the helleboraster , that grew in the woman's garden , for the cure of worms in her neighbours children : for truly it wrought too roughly , to give it to any of her own . methinks your charity , in your present persecution , is much what as prudent , as justisiable , as that good woman's . i hope i have done you no injury , that i here suppose you of the church of england . if i have , i beg your pardon . it is no offence of malice , i i assure you : for i suppose no worse of you , than i confess of my self . sometimes this punishment that you contend for is , to bring men to act according to reason , and sound judgment . tertius è coelo cecidit cato . this is reformation indeed . if you can help us to it , you will deserve statues to be erected to you , as to the restorer of decay'd religion . but if all men have not reason and sound judgment , will punishment put it into them ? besides , concerning this matter mankind is so divided , that he acts according to reason and sound judgment at auspurg , who who would be judged to do the quite contrary at edinburgh . will punishment make men know what is reason and sound judgment ? if it will not , 't is impossible it should make them act according to it . reason and sound judgment are the elixir it self , the universal remedy : and you may as reasonably punish men to bring them to have the philosopher's stone , as to bring them to act according to reason and sound judgment . sometimes it is , to put men upon a serious and impartial examination of the controversy between the magistrate and them , which is the way for them to come to the knowledg of the truth . but what if the truth be on neither side ( as i am apt to imagine you will think it is not , where neither the magistrate nor the dissenter is either of them of your church ) how will the examining the controversy between the magistrate and him be the way to come to the knowledg of the truth ? suppose the controversy between a lutheran and a papist ; or , if you please , between a presbyterian magistrate and a quaker subject . will the examining the controversy between the magistrate and the dissenting subject , in this case bring him to the knowledg of the truth ? if you say yes , then you grant one of these to have the truth on his side . for the examining the controversy between a presbyterian and a quaker , leaves the controversy either of them has with the church of england , or any other church , untouched . and so one , at least , of those being already come to the knowledg of the truth , ought not to be put under your discipline of punishment ; which is only to bring him to the truth . if you say no , and that the examining the controversy between the magistrate and the dissenter , in this case , will not bring him to the knowledg of the truth ; you consess your rule to be salse , and your method to no purpose . to conclude , your system is , in short , this . you would have all men ( laying aside prejudice , humour , passion , &c. ) examin the grounds of their religion , and search for the truth . this , i consess , is heartily to be wish'd . the means that you propose to make men do this , is that dissenters should be punished , to make them do so . it is as if you had said : men generally are guilty of a fault ; therefore l●…t one sect , who have the ill luck to be of an opinion different from the magistrate , be punished . this at first sight shocks any who has the least spark of sense , reason or justice . but having spoken of this already , and concluding that upon second thoughts , you your self will be ashamed of it ; let us consider it put so as to be consistent with common sense , and with all the advantage it can bear ; and then let us see what you can make os it . men are negligent in examining the religions they imbrace , refuse , or persist in ; therefore it is sit they should be punished to make them do it . this is a con●…e indeed which may , without desiance to common s●…nse , be drawn from it . this is the use , the only use , which you think punishment can indirectly , and at a distance , have , in matters of religion . you would have men by punishments d●…iven to examine . what ? religion . to what end ? to bring them to the knowledg of the truth . but i answer . first , every one has not the ability to do this . secondly , every one has not the opportunity to do it . would you have every poor protestant , for example , in the palatinate , examine throughly whether the pope b●… insallibl●… , or head of the church ; whether there be a purgatory ; whether saints are to be pray'd to , or the dead pray'd sor ; whether the s●…ripture be the only rule of faith ; whether there be no salvantion out of the church ; and whether there be no church without bishops ; and an hundred other questions in controversy between the papists and those protestants ; and when he had master'd these , go on to sortify himself against the opinions and objections of other churches he dissers from ? this , which is no small task , must be done ; before a man can have brought his religion to the bar of reason , and given it fair trial there . and if you will punish men till this be done ; the country-man must leave off plowing and sowing , and betake himself to the study of greek and latin ; and the artisan must sell his tools , to buy fathers and school-men , and leave his family to starve . if something less than this will satisfy you , pray tell me what is enough . have they considered and examined enough , if they are satisfied themselves where the truth lies ? if this be the limits of their examination , you will sind sew to punish ; unless you will punish them to make them do what they have done already . for , however he came by his religion , there is scarce any one to be found who does not own himself satisfied that he is in the right . or else , must they be punished to make them consider and examine till they imbrace that which you choose for truth ? if this be so , what do you but in effect choose for them , when yet you would have men punished , to bring them to such a care of their souls that no other person might choose for them ? if it be truth in general you would have them by punishments driven to seek ; that is to offer matter of dispute , and not a rule of discipline . for to punish any one to make him seek till he sind truth , without a judg of truth , is to punish for you know not what ; and is all one as if you should whip a scholar to make him find out the square root of a number you do not know . i wonder not therefore that you could not resolve with your self what degree of severity you would have used , nor how long continued ; when you dare not speak out directly whom you would have punished , and are far from being clear to what end they should be under penalties . consonant to this uncertainty , of whom , or what , to be punished ; you tell us , that there is no question of the success of this method . force will certainly do , if duly proportioned to the design of it . what , i pray , is the design of it ? i challeng you , or any man living , out of what you have said in your book , to tell me directly what it is . in all other punishments that ever i heard of yet , till now that you have taught the world a new method , the design of them has been to cure the crime they are denounced against ; and so i think it ought to be here . what i beseech you is the crime here ? dissenting ? that you say not , any where , is a fault . besides you tell us , that the magistrate hath not an authority to compel any one to his religion : and that you do not require that men should have no rule but the religion of the country . and the power you ascribe to the magistrate is given him to bring men , not to his own , but to the true religion . if dissenting be not the fault ; is it that a man does not examine his own religion , and the grounds of it ? is that the crime your punishments are designed to cure ? neither that dare you say ; lest you displease more than you satisfy with your new discipline . and then again , ( as i said before ) you must tell us how far you would have them examin , before you punish them for not doing it . and i imagine , if that were all we required of you , it would be long enough before you would trouble us with a law , that should prescribe to every one how far he was to examine matters of religion ; wherein if he fail'd and came short , he was to be punished ; if he perform'd and went in his examination to the bounds set by the law , he was acquitted and free . sir , when you consider it again , you will perhaps think this a case reserv'd to the great day , when the secrets of all hearts shall be laid open . for i imagine it is beyond the power or judgment of man , in that variety of circumstances , in respect of parts , tempers , opportunities , helps , &c. men are in , in this world , to determine what is every one's duty in this great business of search , enquiry , examination , or to know when any one has done it . that which makes me believe you will be of this mind , is , that where you undertake for the success of this method , if rightly used , it is with a limitation , upon such as are not altogether incurable . so that when your remedy is prepared according to art , ( which art is yet unknown ) and rightly apply'd , and given in a due dose , ( all which are secrets ) it will then infallibly cure . whom ? all that are not incurable by it . and so will a pippin posset , eating fish in lent , or a presbyterian lecture , certainly cure all that are not incurable by them . for i am sure you do not mean it will cure all , but those who are absolutely incurable ; because you your self allow one means left of cure , when yours will not do , viz. the grace of god. your words are , what means is there left ( except the grace of god ) to reduce them , but to lay thorns and briars in their way . and here also , in the place we were considering , you tell us , the incurable are to be left to god. whereby , if you mean they are to be left to those means he has ordained for mens conversion and salvation , yours must never be made use of : for he indeed has prescribed preaching and hearing of his word ; but as for those who will not hear , i do not find any where that he has commanded they should be compell'd or beaten to it . there is a third thing that you are as t●…nder and reserv'd in , as either naming the criminal ; to be punished , or positively telling us the end for which they should be punished : and that is with what sort of penalties , what degree of punishment they should be forced . you are indeed so pracious to them , that you renounce the severities and penal●…s hith●…rto made use of . you ●…ell us , they should be but 〈◊〉 penalti●…s . but if we ask you what are moderate penalties , you confess you cannot tell us . so th●…t by moderate , here , you yet mean nothing . you tell us , the outward force to be apply'd , should be duly temper'd . but what that due temp●…r is , you do not , or cannot say ; and so in effect , it signisies just nothing . yet if in this you are not plain and direct , all the rest of your design will signify ●…ing . for it being to have some men , and to some end , punished ; yet if it cannot be found what punishment is to be used , i●… 〈◊〉 ( notwithstanding all you have said ) utterly useless . you tell us modestly , that to determine precisely the just measure of the punishment , will require some consideration . if the faults were preci●…ly determined , and could be prov●…d , it would require no more consideration to determine the measure of the punishment , in this , than it would in ●…ny other cas●… , where those were known . but where the fault is undesined , and the guilt not to be proved , ( as i suppose it will be sound in this present business of examining ) it will without doubt require consideration to proportion the force to the design . just so much consideration as it will require to sit a co●…t to the moon , or proportion a shooe to the feet of those who inhabit her . for to proportion a punishment to 〈◊〉 fault that you do not name , ( and so we in charity ought to think you do not yet know ) and a fault that when you have named it , will be imposible to be proved who are or are not guilty of it ; will i suppose require as much consideration as to sit a shooe to feet whose size and shape are not known . however , you offer some measures whereby to regulate your punishments ; which when they are looked into , will be sound to be just as good as none ; they being impossible to be any rule in the case . the sirst is , so much force , or such penalties as are or-dinarily sufficient to prevail with men of common discretion , and not desperately perverse and obstinate , to weigh matters of religion carefully and impartially , and without which ordinarily they will not do this . where it is to be observed : first , that who are these men of common discretion , is as hard to know , as to know what is a fit degree of punishment in the case ; and so you do but regulate one uncertainty by another . some men will be apt to think , that he who will not weigh matters of religion , which are of infinite concernment to him , without punishment , cannot in reason be thought a man of comm●…n discretion . many women of common discretion enough to manage the ordinary affairs of their families , are not able to read a page in an ordinary author , or to understand and give an account what it means , when read to them . many men of common discretion in their callings , are not able to judg when an argument is conclusive or no ; much less to trace it through a long train of consequences . what penalties shall be sufficient to prevail with such ( who upon examination i ●…ear will not be found to make the least part of mankind ) to examine and weigh matters of religion carefully and impartially ? the law allows all to have common discretion , for whom it has not provided guardians or bedlam . so that , in effect , your men of common discretion , are all men , not judg'd ideots or madmen : and penalties sufficient to prevail with men of common discretion , are penalties sufficient to prevail with all men , but ideots and mad-men . which what a measure it is to regulate penalties by , let all men of common discretion judg . secondly , you may be pleased to consider , that all men of the same degree of discretion , are not apt to be moved by the same degree of penalties . some are of a more yielding , some of a more stiff temper ; and what is sufficient to prevail on one , is not half enough to move the other ; tho both men of common discretion . so that common discretion will be here of no use to determine the measure of punishment : especially , when in the same clause you except men desperately perverse and obstinate ; who are as hard to be known , as what you seek : viz. the just proportitions of punishments necessary to prevail with men to consider , examine , and weigh matters of religion ; wherein , if a man tells you he has consider'd , he has weigh'd , he has examin'd , and so goes on in his former course , 't is impossible for you ever to know whether he has done his duty , or whether he be desperately perverse and obstinate . so that this exception signifies just nothing . there are many things in your use of force and penalties , different from any i ever met with elsewhere . one of them , this clause of yours , concerning the measure of punishments , now under consideration , offers me : wherein you proportion your punishments only to the yielding and corrigible , not to the perverse and obstinate ; contrary to the common discretion which has hitherto made laws in other cases , which levels the punishments against refractory offenders , and never spares them because they are obstinate . this however i will not blame , as an oversight in you . your new method , which aims at such impracticable and inconsistent things as laws cannot bear , nor penalties be useful to , forced you to it . the uselessness , absurdity , and unreasonableness of great severities , you had acknowledg'd in the foregoing paragraphs . dissenters you would have brought to consider by moderate penalties . they lye under them ; but whether they have consider'd or no ( for that you cannot tell ) , they still continue dissenters . what is to be done now ? why , the incurable are to be left to god , as you tell us , p. 12. your punishments were not meant to prevail on the desperately perverse and obstinate , as you tell us here . and so whatever be the success , your punishments are however justified . you have given us in another place , something like another boundary to your moderate penalties : but when examined , it proves just like the rest , trifling only , in good words , so put together as to have no direct meaning ; an art very much in use amongst some sort of learned men. the words are these ; such penalties as may not tempt persons who have any concern for their eternal salvation , ( and those who have none , ought not to be considered ) to renounce a religion which they believe to be true , or profess one which they do not believe to be so . if by any concern , you mean a true concern for their eternal salvation , by this rule you may make your punishments as great as you please ; and all the severities you have difclaim'd may be brought in play again : for none of those will be able to make a man , who is truly concerned for his eternal salvation , renounce a religion he believes to be true , or prosess one he does not believe to be so . if by those who have any concern , you mean such who have some faint wishes for happiness hereafter , and would be glad to have things go well with them in the other world , but will venture nothing in this world for it ; these the moderatest punishments you can imagine , will make change their religion . if by any concern , you mean whatever may be between these two ; the degrees are so infinite , that to proportion your punishments by that , is to have no measure of them at all . one thing i cannot but take notice of in this passage , before i leave it : and that is that you say here , those who have no concern for their salvation deserve not to be considered . in other parts of your letter you pretend to have compassion on the careless , and provide remedies for them : but here , of a sudden , your charity fails you ; and you give them up to eternal perdition , without the least regard , the least pity ; and say they deserve not to be considered . our saviour's rule was , the sick , and not the whole , need a physician . your rule here is , those that are careless are not to be considered , but are to be lest to themselves . this would seem strange , if one did not observe what drew you to it . you perceiv'd that if the magistrate was to use no punishments but such as would make no body change their religion , he was to use none at all : for the careless would be brought to the national church , with any sl●…ght punishments ; and when they are once there , you are , it seems , satisfied , and look no further after them . so that by your own measures , if the careless , and those who have no concern for their eternal salvation , are to be regarded and taken care of ; if the salvation of their souls is to be promoted there is to be no punishments used at all : and therefore you leave them out as not to be considered . there remains yet one thing to be enquired into , concerning the measure of the punishments , and that is the length of their duration . moderate punishments that are continued , that men find no end of , know no way out of , sit heavy , and become immoderately uneasie . dissenters you would have punished , to make them consider . your penalties have had the effect on them you intended ; they have made them consider ; and they have done their utmost in considering . what now must be done with them ? they must be punish'd on ; for they are still dissenters . if it were just , if you had reason at first to punish a dissenter , to make him consider , when you did not know but that he had considered already ; it is as just , and you have as much reason to punish him on , even when he has perform'd what your punishments was designed for , when he has considered , but yet remains a dissenter . for i may justly suppose , and you must grant , that a man may remain a dissenter , after all the consideration your moderate penalties can bring him to ; when we see greater punishments , even those severities you disown , as too great , are not able to make men consider so far as to be convinced , and brought over to the national church . if your punishments may not be inflicted on men , to make them consider , who have or may have considered already for ought you know ; then dissenters are never to be once punished , no more than any other sort of men i●… dissenters are to 〈◊〉 punished , to make them consider , whether they have considered or no ; then their punishments , tho they do consider , must never cease , as long as they are dissenters ; which whether it be to pun●…sh them only to bring them to consider , let all men judg . this i am sure ; punishments , in your method , must either never begin upon dissenters , or never cease . and so pre●…end , moderation as you please , the punishments which your method requires , must be either very immoderate , or none at all . and now , you having yielded to our author , and that upon very good reasons which you your self urge , and which i shall set down in your own words , that to prosecute men with fi●…e and sword , or to d●…prive them of their estates , to maim them with ●…ral punishments , to starve and t●…rture them in noisom prisons , and in the end even to take away their lives , to make them christians , is but an ●…ll way of expressing mens desire of the salvation of th●…se wh●…m they treat in this manner . and that it will be very difficult to pers●…ade men of sense , that he who with dry eyes and satisfaction of mind can deliver his brother to the executioner , to be burnt alive , does sincerely and heartily concern himself to save that brother from the flames of hell in the world to c●…me . and that these methods are so very impr●…per , in respect to the design of them , that they usually pr●…duce the quite contrary effect . for whereas all the use which force can have for the advancing true religion , and the salvation of souls , is ( as has already been ●…wed ) by disposing men to submit to instruction , and to give a fair hearing to the reasons which are off●…red , for the enlightning their minds , and discovering the truth to them ; these cruelties have the misfortune to be commonly look'd upon as so just a prejudice against any religion that uses them , as makes it needless to look any further into it ; and to tempt men to reject it , as both false and detestable , without ever v●…ucbsafing to consider the rational grounds and motives of it . this effect they seldom sail to work upon the sufferers of them ; and as to the spectators , if they be not before-hand well instructed in those grounds and motives , they will be much tempted likewise , not only to entertain the same opinion of such a religion , but withal to judg much more favourably of that of the sufferers ; who they will be apt to think , would not exp●…se themselves to such extremities , which they might avoid by compliance , if they were not throughly satisfied of the justice of their cause . and upon these reasons you conclude , that these severities are utterly unapt and improper for the bringing men to embrace that truth which must save them . again , you having acknowledged , that the authority of the magistrate is not an authority to compel any one to his religion . and again , that the rigor of laws , and force of penalties are not capable to convince and change mens minds . and yet further , that you do not require that men should have no rule , but the religion of the court ; or that they should be put under a necessity to quit the light of their own reason , and oppose the dictates of their own consciences , and blindly resign up themselves to the will of their governors ; but that the power you ascribe to the magistrate , is given him to bring m●…n not to his own , but to the true religion now you having , i say , granted this ; whereby you directly condemn and abolish all laws that have been made here , or any where else ( that ever i heard of ) to compel men to conformity , i think the author , and whosoever else are most for liberty of conscience , might be content with the toleration you allow , by condemning the laws about religion , now in force ; and rest satisfied , until you had made your new method consistent and practicable , by telling the world plainly and directly ; 1. who are to be punished . 2. for what . 3. with what punishments . 4. how long . 5. what advantage to true religion it would be , if magistrates every where did so punish . 6. and lastly , whence the magistrate had commission to do so . when you have done this plainly and intelligibly , without keeping in the uncertainty of general expressions , and without supposing all along your church in the right , and your religion the true ; ( which can no more be allow'd to you in this case , whatever your church or religion be , than it can be to a papist or a lutheran , a presbyterian , or an anabaptist ; nay no more to you , than it can be allowid to a jew or a mahometan ) ; when , i say , you have by setling these points , fram'd the parts of your new engine , set it together , and shew'd that it will work , without doing more harm than good in the world ; i think then men may be content to submit to it . but imagining this , and an engine to shew the perpetual motion , will be found out together ; i think toleration in a very good state , notwithstanding your answer ; wherein you having said so much for it , and for ought i see , nothing against it ; unless an impracticable chimera be , in your opinion , something mightily to be apprehended . we have now seen and examined the main of your treatise ; and therefore i think i might here end , without going any farrher . but , that you may not think your self or any of your arguments neglected , i will go over the remainder , and give you my thoughts on every thing i shall meet with in it , that seems to need any answer . in one place you argue against the author thus : if then the author's fourth proposition , as you call it , viz. that force is of no use for promoting true religion and the salvation of souls , be not true ( as perhaps by this time it appears it is not ) then the last proposition , which is built upon it , must fall with it : which last proposition is this , viz. that no body can have any right to use any outward force or compulsion , to bring men to the true religion , and so to salvation . if this proposition were built , as you alledg , upon that which you call his fourth , then indeed if the fourth fell , this built upon it would fall with it . but that not being the author's proposition , ( as i have shew'd ) nor this built wholly on it , but on other reasons , ( as i have already prov'd , and any one may see in several parts of his letter , particularly p. 7 , 8 , and 9. ) what you alledg falls of it self . the business of the next paragraph is to prove , that if force be useful , then somebody must certainly have a right to use it . the first argument you go about to prove it by , is this , that usefulness is as good an argument to prove there is somewhere a right to use it , as uselessness is to prove no body has such a right . if you consider the things of whose usefulness or uselessness we are speaking , you will perhaps be of another mind . it is punishment , or force used in punishing . now all punishment is some evil , some inconvenience , some suffering ; by taking away or abridging some good thing , which he who is punished has otherwise a right to . now to justifie the bringing any such evil upon any man , two things are requisite . first , that he who does it has commission and power so to do . secondly , that it be directly useful for the procuring some greater good . whatever punishment one man uses to another , without these two conditions , whatever he may pretend , proves an injury and injustice , and so of right ought to have been let alone . and therefore , though usefulness ( which is one of the conditions that makes punishments just ) when it is away , may hinder punishments from being lawful in any bodies hands ; yet usefulness , when present ( being but one of those conditions ) cannot give the other , which is a commission to punish ; without which also punishment is unlawful . from whence it follows , that tho useless punishment be unlawful from any hand ; yet useful punishment from every hand is not lawful . a man may have the stone , and it may be useful ( more than indirectly and at a distance useful ) to him to be cut ; but yet this usefulness will not justifie the most skilful chirurgeon in the world , by force to make him endure the pain and hazard of cutting ; because he has no commission , no right , without the patients own consent to do so . nor is it a good argument , cutting will be useful to him ; therefore there is a right somewhere to cut him , whether he will or no. much less will there be an argument for any right , if there be only a possibility that it may prove useful indirectly and by accident . your other argument is this ; if force or punishment be of necessary use , then it must be acknowledged , that there is a right somewhere to use it ; unless we will say ( what without impiety cannot be said ) , that the wise and benign disposer and governour of all things has not furnished mankind with competent means for the promoting his own honour in the world , and the good of souls . if your way of arguing be true ; 't is demonstration , that force is not of necessary use . for i argue thus , in your form . we must acknowledg force not to be of necessary use ; unless we will say ( what without impiety cannot be said ) that the wise disposer and governour of all things did not , for above 300 years after christ , furnish his church with competent means for promoting his own honour in the world , and the good of souls . 't is for you to consider whether these arguments be conclusive or no. this i am sure ; the one is as conclusive as the other . but if your supposed usefulness places a right somewhere to use it , pray tell me in whose hands it places it in turky , persia , or china , or any country where christians of d●…fferent churches live under a heathen or mahometan sovereign ? and if you cannot tell me in whose hands it places it there , ( as i believe you will find it pretty hard to do ) there are then ( it seems ) some places where ( upon your supposition of the necessary usefulness of force ) the wise and benign governour and disposer of all things , has not furnish'd m●…n with competent means for promoting his own honour , and the good of souls ; unless you will grant , that the wise and benign disposer and governour of all things , bath for the pr●…moting of his honour , and the good of souls , placed a power in mah metan or heathen princes , to punish christians , to bring them to consider reasons and arguments proper to convince them . but this is the advantage of so sine an invention , as that of force d●…ing some service indirectly and at a distance ; which usefulness , if we may believe you , places a right in mahometan or pagan princes hands , to use force upon christians ; for fear lest mankind , in those countries , should be unfurnish'd with means for the promoting god's honour and the good of souls . for thus you argue ; if there be so great use of force , then there is a right somewhere to use it . and if there be such a right somewhere , where should it be but in the civil sovereign ? who can deny now , but that you have taken care , great care , for the promoting of truth and the christian religion ? but yet it is as hard for me , i consess , and i believe for others , to conceive how you should think to do any service to truth and the christian religion , by putting a right into mahometans or heathens hands to punish christians ; as it was for you to conceive how the author should think to do any service to truth , and the christian religion , by exempting the professors of it from punishment every where ; since there are more ●…agan , mahometan , and erroneous princes in the world , than orthodox ; truth , and the christian religion ( taking the world as we find it ) is sure to be more punished and suppress'd , than error and falshood . the author having endeavour'd to shew that no body at all , of any rank or condition , had a power to punish , torment , or use any man ill , for matters of religion ; you tell us you do not yet understand why clergy-men are not as capable of such power as other men. i do not remember that the author any where , by excepting eccles●…sticks more than others , g●…ve you any occasion to shew your concern in this point . had he ●…seen that this would have touch'd you so nearly , and that you set your h●…t so much upon the lergys power of punishing ; 't is like h●… 〈◊〉 have told you , he thought eccles●…sticks as capable of it as any men ; and that if forwardness and diligence in the exercise of such power may recommend any to it , clergy-men in the opinion of the world stand sairest for it . however , you do well to put in your claim for them , tho the author excludes them no more than their neighbours . nay , they must be allow'd the pretence of the fairest title . for i never read of any se●…es that were to bring men to christ , but those of the law of m●… ; which is therefore call'd a ped●…gue . ( gal. 3 14. ) and the next verse tells us , that aft●…r that faith is c●…e , 〈◊〉 are no longer under a school-master . but yet if we are still to be driven to christ by a rod , i shall not envy them the pleasure of wi●…ng it : only 〈◊〉 desire them , when they have got the scourge into their hands , to remember our saviour , and sollow his example , who never us'd it but once ; and that they would , like him , imploy it only to drive vile and seand●…ons trasikers for the things of this world out of their church , r●…ther than to drive whoever they can into it . whether that latter be not a proper method to make their church what our saviour there pronounced of the ●…emple , they who use it were best look . for in matters of religion , none are so easy to be so driven , as those who have nothing of religion at all ; and next to them , the vicious , the ignorant , the worldling , and the hypocrite ; who care for no more of religion but the name , nor no more of any church , but its prosperity and power ; and who , not unlike those describ'd by our saviour , luke 20.47 . ) for a shew come to , or cry up the prayers of the church , that they may dev●…ur widows , and other helpless people's houses . i say not this of the serious professors of any church , who are in earnest in matters of religion . such i value , who conscientiously , and out of a sincere perswasion , imbrace any religion , tho different from mine , and in a way , i think , mistaken . but no body can have reason to think otherwise than what i have said , of those who are wrought upon to be of any church , by secular hopes and fears . those truly , place trade above all other considerations , and merchandize with religion it self , who regulate their choice by worldly profit and loss . you endeavour to prove , against the author , that civil society is not instituted only for civil ends , i. e. the procuring , preserving , and advancing mens civil interests . your words are : i must say , that our author does but beg the question , when he affirms that the commonwealth is constituted only for the procuring , preserving , and advancing of the civil interests of the members of it . that commonwealths are instituted for these ends , no man will deny . but if there be any other ends besides these , attainable by the civil society and government , there is no reason to affirm , that these are the only ends , for which they are designed . doubtless common-wealths are instituted for the attaining of all the benefits which political government can yield . and therefore , if the spiritual and eternal interests of men may any way be procured or advanced by political government , the procuring and advancing those interests must in all reason be reckon'd among the ends of civil societies , and so , consequently , fall within the compass of the magistrates jurisdiction . i have set down your words at large , to let the reader see , that you of all men had the least reason to tell the author he does but beg the question ; unless you mean to justify your self by the pretence of his example . you argue thus . if there be any other ends attainable by civil society , then civil interests are not the only ends for which commonwealths are instituted . and how do you prove there be other ends ? why thus . doubtless commonwealths are instituted for the attaining all the benefits which political government can yeild . which is as clear a demonstration , as doubtless can make it to be . the question is , whether civil society be instituted only for civil ends ? you say , no ; and your proof is , because , doubtless , it is instituted for other ends. if i now say , doubtless this is a good argument ; is not every one bound without more ado to admit it for such ? if not , doubtless you are in danger to be thought to beg the question . but notwithstanding you say here , that the author begs the question ; in the following page you tell us , that the author offer three considerations which seem to him abundantly to demonstrate , that the civil power neither can , nor ought in any manner to be extended to the salvation of souls . he does not then beg the question . for the question being , whether civil interest be the only end of civil society , he gives this reason for the negative ; that civil power has nothing to do with the salvation of souls ; and offers three considerations for the proof of it . for it will always be a good consequence , that , if the civil power has nothing to do with the salvation of souls , then civil interest is the only end of civil society . and the reason of it is plain ; because a man having no other interest , but either in this world , or the world to come ; if the end of civil society reach not to a man's interest in the other world , ( all which is comprehended in the salvation of his soul ) 't is plain , that the sole end of civil society is civil interest , under which the author comprehends the good things of this world. and now let us examine the truth of your main position , viz. that civil society is instituted for the attaining all the benefits that it may any way yeild . which , if true , then this position must be true , viz. that all societies whatsoever are instituted for the attaining all the benefits that they may any way yeild ; there being nothing peculiar to civil society in the case , why that society should be instituted for the attaining all the benefits it can any way yeild , and other societies not . by which argument it will follow , that all societies are instituted for one and the same end : i. e. for the attaining all the benefits that they can any way yeild . by which account there will be no difference between church and state ; a commonwealth and an army ; or between a family and the east-india company ; all which have hitherto been thought distinct sorts of societies , instituted for different ends. if your hypothesis hold good , one of the ends of the family must be to preach the gospel , and administer the sacraments ; and one business of an army to teach languages , and prop●…gate religion ; because these are benefits some way or other attainable by those societies : unless you take want of commission and authority to be a sufficient impediment : and that will be so too in other cases . 't is a benefit to have true knowledg and philosophy imbraced and assented to , in any civil society or government . but will you say , therefore , that it is a benefit to the society , or one of the ends of government , that all who are not peripateticks should be punished , to make men find out the truth , and prosess it . this indeed might be thought a fit way to make some men imbrace the peripatetick philosophy , but not a proper way to find the truth . for , perhaps the peripatetick philosophy may not be true ; perhaps a great many have not time , nor parts to study it ; perhaps a great many who have studied it , cannot be convinced of the truth of it : and therefore it cannot be a benefit to the commonwealth , nor one of the ends of it , that these members of the society should be disturb'd , and diseas'd to no purpose , when they are guilty of no fault . for just the same reason , it cannot be a benefit to ●…ivil society , that men should be pun shed in denmark , for not being lu●…rans ; in geneva , for not being calvinists ; and in vi●…nna , for not being papists ; as a means to make them find out the true religion . for so , upon your grounds , men most be treated in those places , as well as in england , for not being of the church of england . and then , i beseech you , consider the great benefit will accrue to men in society by this method ; and i suppose it will be a hard thing for you to prove , that ever civil governments were instituted to pun●…sh men for not being of this , or that sect in religion ; however by accident , indirectly , and at a distance , it may be an occasion to one perhaps of a thousand , or an hundred , to study that controversy , which is all you expect from it . if it be a benefit , pray tell me what benefit it is . a civil benefit it cannot be . for mens civil interests are disturb'd , injur'd , and impair'd by it . and what spiritual benefit that can be to any multitude of men , to be pun●…shed for dissenting from a false or erroneous prosession , i would have you sind out : unless it be a spiritual benefit to be in danger to be driven into a wrong way . for if in all differing sects , one is in the wrong , 't is a hundred to one but that from which one dissents , and is punished for dissenting from , is the wrong . i grant it is past doubt , that the nature of man is so covetous of good , that no one would have excluded from any action he does , or from any institution he is concerned in , any manner of good or benefit , that it might any way yeild . and if this be your meaning , it will not be denied you . but then you speak very improperly , or rather very mistakenly , if you call such benefits as may any way ( i. e. indirectly , and at a distance or by accident ) be attain'd by civil or any other society , the ends for which it is instituted . nothing can in reason be reckon'd amongst the ends of any s●…ty , but what may in reason be supposed to be designed by those who enter into it . ●…ow no body can in reason suppose , that any one ent●…ed into civil society for the procuring , securing , or advancing the salvation of his soul●… when he , for that end , needed not the force of civil society . the procuring , therefore , s●…ing , and advancing the spiritual and e●…ernal interest of men , cannot in reason be reckon'd amongst the ends of civil societies ; tho perhaps it might so fall out , that in some particular instance , some mans spiritual interest might be advanced by your or any other way of applying civil force . a nobleman , whose chappel is decayed or ●…allen , may make ●…se of his dining-room for praying and preaching . yet whatever 〈◊〉 were attainable by this use of the room , no body can in reason reckon this among the ends for which it was built ; no more than the accidental breeding of some bird in any part of it ( tho it were a benefit it yielded ) could in reason be reckon'd among the ends of building the house . but , say you , doubtless commonwealths are instituted for the attaining of all the b●…nefits which pelitical government can yield ; and therefore if the spiritual and et●…rnal interests of men may any way be procur'd or advanc'd by p●…litical government , the procuring and advancing those interests , must in all reason be reck●…n'd amongst the e●…ds of civil s●…ciety , and so con●…quently fall within the compass of the magistrates jurisdiction . upon the same grounds , i thus reason . doubtless churches are instituted ●…or the attaining of all the benefits which ecclesiastical government can yield : and therefore , if the temporal and secular interests ●…f men ma●… any way be procured or advanced by ecclesiastic●…l pol●…y , the 〈◊〉 and advancing those interests , must in all reason be reckoned among the ends of religious societies , and so consequently fall within the compass of church-mens jurisdiction . the church of rome has openly made its advantage of secular interests to be precured or advanced , indirectly and at a distance , and in ord●…e ad spiritualia ; all which ways ( if i mistake not english ) are comprehended under your any way . but i do not remember that any of the reformed churches have hitherto directly professed it . but there is a time for all things . and if the commonwealth once invades the spiritual ends of the church , by medling with the salvation of souls , ( which she has alway been so tender of ) who can deny , that the church should have liberty to make her self some amends by reprisals ? but , sir , however you and i may argue from wrong suppositions , yet unless the apostle , ( eph. 4 ; ) where he reckons up the church-officers which christ had instituted in his churh , had told us they were for some other ends than for the perfecting of the saints , for the work of the ministry , for the edifying of the body of christ ; the advancing of their secular interests will scarce be allow'd to be their business , or within the compass of their jurisdiction . nor till it can be shewn that civil society is instituted for spiritual ends , or that the magistrate has commission to interpose his authority , or use force in matters of religion ; your supposition of spiritual benefits indirectly and at a distance attainable by political government , will never prove the advancing of those interests by force , to be the magistrates business , and to fall within the compass of his jurisdiction . and till then , the force of the arguments which the author has brought against it , ( in the 7th and following pages of his letter ) will hold good . common-wealths , or civil societies and governments , if you will believe the judicious mr. hooker , are as st. peter calls them ( 1 pet. 2.13 . ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the contrivance and institution of man ; and he shews there for what end ; viz. for the punishment of evil doers , and the praise of them that do well . i do not find any where , that it is for the punishment of those who are not in church communion with the magistrate , to make them study controversies in religion , or hearken to those who will tell them they have mistaken their way , and offer to show them the right one . you must shew them such a commission , if you say it is from god. and in all societies instituted by man , the ends of them can be no other than what the institutors appointed ; which i am sure could not be their spiritual and eternal interest . for they could not stipulate about these one with another , nor submit this interest to the power of the society , or any sovereign they they should set over it . there are nations in the west-indies which have no other end of their society , but their mutual defence against their common ●…ies . in these , their captain , or prince , is sovereign commander in time of war ; but in time of peace , neither ne nor ●…y body else has any authority over any of the society . you cannot deny but other , even temporal ends , are attainable by these commonwealths , if they had been otherwise instituted and appointed to those ends . but all your saying , doubtless commonwealths are instituted for the attaining of all the benefits which they can yield , will not give authority to any one , or more , in such a society , by political government or force , to procure directly or indirectly other benefits than that for which it was instituted : and therefore , there it falls not within the compass of those princes jurisdiction to punish any one of the society for injuring another ; because he has no commission so to do ; whatever reason you may think there is , that that should be reckoned amongst the ends of their society . but to conclude : your argument has that desect in it which turns it upon your self . and that is , that the procuring and advancing the spiritual and eternal interest of souls , your way , is not a benefit to the society : and so , upon your own supposition , the procuring and advancing the spiritual interest of souls , any way , cannot be one of the ends of civil society ; unless the procuring and advancing the spiritual interest of souls , in a way proper to do more harm than good towards the salvation of souls , be to be accounted such a benefit as to be one of the ends of civil societies . for that yours is such a way , i have proved already . so that were it hard to prove that political government , whose only instrument is force , could no way by force ( however applied ) more advance than hinder the spiritual and eternal interest of men ; yet having prov'd it against your particular new way of applying force , i have sufficiently vindicated the author's doctrine from any thing you have said against it . which is enough for my present purpose . your next page tells us , that this reasoning of the author , viz. that the power of the magistrate cannot be ex●…ended to the salvation of souls , because the care of souls is not committed to the magistrate ; is proving the thing by it self . as if you should say , when i tell you that you could not extend your power to meddle with the money of a young gentleman you travelled with , as tutor , because the care of his money was not committed to you , were proving the thing by it self . for it is not necessary that you should have the power of his money ; it may be intrusted to a steward who travels with him ; or it may be left to himself . if you have it , it is but a delegated power . and in all delegated powers , i thought this a fair proof ; you have it not , or cannot use it , ( which is what the author means here by extended to ) because it is not committed to you . in the summing up of this argument , ( p. 18. ) the author says , no body therefore , in fine , neither common-wealths , &c. hath any title to invade the civil rights and worldly goods of another , upon pretence of r●…ligion . which is an exposition of what he means in the beginning of the argument , by the magistrates power cannot be extended to the salvation of souls . so that if we take these last cited words equivalent to those in the former place , his pr●…of will stand thus . the magistrate has no title to invade the civil rights or worldly goods of any one , upon pretence of religion ; because the care of souls is not committed to him . this is the same in the author's sense with the former . and whether either this , or that , be a proving the same thing by it self , we must leave to others to judg . you quote the ●…uthor's argument , which he brings to prove that the care of souls is not committed to the magistrate , in these words . it is not committed to him by god , because it appears not that god has ever given any such authority to one man over another , as to compel any one to his religion . this when first i read it , i confess i thought a good argument . but you say this is quite besides the business ; and the reason you give , is ; for the authority of the magistrate is not an authority to compel any one to his religion , but only an authority to procure all his subjects the means of discovering the way of salvation , and to procure withal , as much as in him lies . that none remain ignorant of it , &c. i fear sir , you forget your self . the author was not writing against your new hypothesis , before it was known in the world. he may be excused if he had not the gift of prophecy , to argue against a notion which was not yet started . he had in view only the laws hitherto made , and the punishments ( in matters of religion ) in use in the world . the penalties , as i take it , are lain on men for being of different ways of religion . which , what is it other , but to compel them to relinquish their own , and to conform themselves to that from which they differ ? if this be not to compel them to the magistrates religion , pray tell●… us what is ? this must be necessarily so understood ; unless it can be supposed that the law intends not to have that done , which with penalies it commands to be done ; or that punishments are not compulsion , not that compulsion the author complains of . the law says , do this and live ; embrace this doctrine , conform to this way of worship , and be at ease , and free ; or else be fined , imprisoned , banished , burnt . if you can shew among the laws that have been made in england , concerning religion , ( and i think i may say any-where else ) any one that punishes men for not having impartially examin'd the religion they have imbraced , or refus'd , i think i may yield you the cause . law-makers have been generally wiser than to make laws that could not be executed : and therefore their laws were against nonconformists , which could be known ; and not for impartial examination , which could not . 't was not then besides the author's business , to bring an argument against the persecutions here in fashion . he did not know that any one , who was so free as to acknowledg that the magistrate has not an authority to compel any one to his religion , and thereby at once ( as you have done ) give up all the laws now in force against dissenters , had yet rods in store for them , and by a new trick would bring them under the lash of the law , when the old pretences were too much exploded to serve any longer . have you never heard of such a thing as the religion establish'd by law ? which is , it seems , the lawful religion of a countrey , and to be comply'd with as such . there being such things , such notions , yet in the world ; it was not quite besides the author's business to alledge , that god never gave such authority to one man over another as to compel any one to his religion . i will grant , if you please , religion establish'd by law is a pretty odd way of speaking , in the mouth of a christian ; ( and yet it is much in fashion ) as if the magistrate's authority could add any force or sanction to any religion , whether true or false . i am glad to find you have so far considered the magistrate's authority , that you agree with the author , that he hath none to compel men to his religion . much less can he , by any establishment of law , add any thing to the truth or validity of his own , or any religion whatsoever . it remains now to examine , whether the author's argument will not hold good , even against punishments in your way . for if the magistrate's authority be , as you here say , only to procure all his subjects , ( mark what you say , all his subjects ) the means of discovering the way of salvation , and to procure withal , as much as in him lies , that none remain ignorant of it , or refuse to embrace it , either for want of using those means , or by reason of any such prejudices as may render them ineffectual . if this be the magistrate's business , in reference to all his subjects ; i desire you , or any man else , to tell me how this can be done , by the application of force only to a part of them ; unless you will still vainly suppose ignorance , ●…gligence , or prejudice , only amongst that part whi●…h any where d●…ffers from the magistrate . if those of the magistrates church may be ignorant of the way of salvation ; if it be possible there may be amongst them those who refuse to imbrace it , either for want of using those means , or by reason of any such prejudices as may render them ineffectual ; what , in this case , becomes of the magistrate's authority to procure all his subjects the means of discovering the way of sal●…ation ? must these of his subjects be neglected , and lest without the means he has authority to procure them ? or must he ase force upon them too ? and then , pray , shew me how this can be done . shall the magistrate punish those of his own religion , to procur●… them the means of discovering the way of salvation , and to procure as much as in him lies , that they remain nor ignorant of it ; or refuse not to imbrace it ? these are such contradictions in practice , this is such condemnation of a man 's own religion , as no one can expect from the magistrate ; and i dare say you desire not of him . and yet this is that he must do , if his authority ●…e to precure all his subjects the means of discovering the way to salvation . and if it be so needful , as you say it is , that he should use it . i am sure force can●…do that till it be apply'd wider , and punishment be laid upon more than you would have it . for if the magistrate be by force to pricu●…e ; ●…s much as in him lies , that none rem●…gnorant of the way of salvation ; must he not punish all those who are ignorant of the way of salvation ? and pray tell me how is this any way practicable , but by supposing none in the national church ignorant , and all out of it ignorant of the way of s●…lvation . which , what is it , but to punish men barely for not being of the magistrate's religion ; the very thing you deny he has authority to do ? so that the magistraie having , by your own confession , n●… authority thus to use force ; and it being otherways impract cable for the procuring all his subjects the means of discovering the way of salvation ; there is an end of force . and so force being laid aside , either as unlawful , or unpracticable , the author's argument holds good against force , even in your way of applying it . but if you say , as you do in the foregoing page , that the magistrate has authority to lay such penalties upon those who refuse to imbrace the doctrine of the proper ministers of religion , and ●…o submit to their spiritual government , as to make them betb●…nk themselv●…s so as not to be ali●…nated from the truth . ( ●…or , as for fo●…lish ●…umour , and uncharitable pr●…judice , &c. which are but words o●… course that opposite parties give one another , as marks of d●…ke and presumption ; i omit them , as signifying nothing to the question ; being such as will with the same reason be retor●…ed by the other side , ) against that also the author's argument holds , that the magistrate has no such authority . 1st , because god never gave the magistrate an authority to be judg of truth for another man in matters of religion : and so he cannot be judg whether any man be altenated from the truth or no. 2●…ly ) , because the magistrate had never authority given him to lay any penaltie●… on those who refuse to imbrace the doctrine of the proper ministers of his religion , ( or of any other ) or to submit to their spiritual government , more than o●… any other men . to the author's argument , that the magistrate cannot receive such authority from the people ; because no man has power to leave it to the choice of any other man to chuse a religion for him ; you give this pleasant answer . as the power of the magi-strate , in reference to religion●… is ordained for the bringing men to take such care as they ought of their salvation , that they may not blindly leave it to the choice , neither of any other person , nor yet of their own lusts and passi●…ns , to prescribe to them what faith or worship they shall embrace : so if we suppose this power to be vested in the magistrate by the consent of the people ; this will not 〈◊〉 their abandoning the care of their salvation , but rather the contray●… for if men , in chusing their religion , are so generally subject , as has been showed , when left wholly to th●…es , to be so much ●…way d by prejudice and passion , as either not at all , or not sufficiently to regard the reason●… and motives which ought alone to determine their choice ; then it is every man's true interest , not to be left who●…ly to himself in this matter ; but that care should be taken , tha●…in an affair of so vast concernment to him , be 〈◊〉 be brought even against his own incl●…ation , if it cannot be done otherwise , ( which is ordinarily the case ) to act according to reason an●… sound judgment●… and then what better course can m●…n take to provide for this , than by vesting the power i have described , in him who bears the sword ? wherein i beseech you consider ; 1st , whether it be not pleasant , that you say the power of the magistrate is orda●…'d to bring men to take such care ; and thence infer , then it is every one's interest to vest such power in the magistrate ? for if it be the power of the magistrate , it is his . and what need the people vest it in him ; unless there be need , and it be the best course they can take , to vest a power in the magistrate , which he has already ? 2dly , another pleasant thing , you here say , is ; that the power of the magistrates is to bring men to such a care of their salvation , that they may not blindly leave it to the choice of any person , or their own lusts , or passions , to prescribe to them what faith or worship they shall imbrace ; and yet that 't is their best course to vest a power in the magistrate , liable to the same lusts and passions as themselves , to chuse for them . for if they vest a power in the magistrate to punish them , when they dissent from his religion ; to bring them to act , even against their own inclination , according to reason and sound judgment ; which is , ( as you explain your self in another place ) to bring them to consider reasons and arguments proper and sufficient to convince them : how far is this from leaving it to the choice of another man to prescribe to them what faith or worship they shall imbrace ? especially if we consider , that you think it a strange thing , that the author would have the care of every man's soul left to himself alone . so that this care being vested in the magistrate , with a power to punish men to make them consider reasons and arguments proper and sufficient to convince them of the truth of his religion ; the choice is evidently in the magistrate ; as much as it can be in the power of one man to chuse for another what religion he shall be of , which consists only in a power of compelling him by punishments to embrace it . i do neither you nor the magistrate injury , when i say that the power you give the magistrate of punishing men , to make them consider reasons and arguments proper and sufficient to convince them , is to convince them of the truth of his religion , and to bring them to it . for men will never , in his opinion , act according to reason and sound judgment , ( which is the thing you here say men should be brought to by the magistrate , even against their own inclination ) till they imbrace his religion . and if you have the brow of an honest man , you will not say the magistrate will ever punish you , to bring you to consider any other reasons and arguments , but such as are proper to convince you of the truth of his religion , and to bring you to that . thus you shift forwards and backwards . you say the magistrate has no power to punish men , to compel them to his religion ; but only to compel them to consider reasons and arguments proper to convince them of the truth of his religion ; which is all one as to say , no body has power to chuse your way for you to jerusalem ; but yet the lord of the mannor has power to punish you , to bring you to consider reasons and arguments proper and sufficient to convince you ; ( of what ? ) that the way he goes in , is the right , and so to make you joyn in company , and go along with him . so that , in effect , what is all your going about , but to come at last to the same place again ; and put a power into the magistrate's hands , ( under another pretence ) to compel men to his religion ; which use os force , the author has sufficiently overthrown , and you your self have quitted . but i am tired to follow you so often round the same circle . you speak of it here as the most deplorable condition imaginable , that men should be left to themselves , and not be forced to consider and examine the grounds of their religion , and search impartially and diligently after the truth . this you make the great miscarriage of mankind . and for this you seem solicitous , all through your treatise , to find out a remedy ; and there is scarce a leaf wherein you do not offer yours . but what if , after all , now you should be found to prevaricate ? men have contrived to themselves , say you , a great variety of religions : 't is granted . they seek not the truth in this matter with that application of mind , and that freedom of judgment which is requisite : 't is confessed . all the false religions now on foot in the world , have taken their rise from the slight and partial consideration , which men have contented themselves with , in searching after the true ; and men take them up , and persist in them for want of due examination : be it so . there is need of a remedy for this ; and i have found one whose success cannot be questioned : very well . what is it ? let us hear it . why , dissenters must be punished . can any body , that hears you say so , believe you in earnest ; and that want of examination is the thing you would have amended , when want of examination is not the thing you would have punished ? if want of examination be the fault , want of examination must be punished : if you are , as you pretend , fully satisfied , that punishment is the proper and only means to remedy it . but if , in all your treatise , you can shew me one place , where you say that the ignorant , the careless , the inconsiderate , the negligent in examining throughly the truth of their own and others religion , &c. are to be punished ; i w●…ll allow your remedy for a good one . but you have not said any thing like this ; and which is more , i tell you before hand , you dare not say it . and whilst you do not , the world has reason to judg , that however want of examination be a general fault , which you with great vehemency have exaggerated ; yet you use it only for a pretence to punish dissenters ; and either distrust your remedy , that it will not cure this evil , or else care not to have it generally cur'd . this evidently appears from your whole management of the argument . and he that reads your t●…eatise with attention , will be more confirm'd in this opinion , when he shall find , that you ( who are so earnest to have men punished , to bring them to consider and examine , that so they may discover the way to salvation ) have not said one word of considering , searching , and hearkening to the scripture ; which had been as good a rule for a christian to have sent them to , as to reasons and arguments pr●…per to convince them , of you know not what ; as to the in●…ction and government of the proper ministers of religion , which who they are , men are yet ●…ar from being agreed ; or as to the ●…formation of ●…hose , who tell them they have mistak●…n their way , and offer to shew them the right ; and to the like uncertain and dangerous guides ; wh●…ch were not those that our saviour and the apostles sent men to , but to the scriptures . s●…arch the scriptures , for in them you think you have ●…nal life , says our saviour to the unbelieving persecuting jews . ( 〈◊〉 5.39 ) and 't is the scriptures which st. pauls says , are able to make wise unto salvation . ( 〈◊〉 tim. 3.15 . ) talk no more therefore , if you have any care of your reputation , how much it is every man's interest not to be left to himself , without molestation , without punishment in matters of relig●…on . talk not of bringing men to embrace the truth that must save them , by putting them upon examination . talk no more of force and punishment , as the only way left to bring men to examine . 't is evident you mean nothing less . for , tho want of examination be the only fault you complain of , and punishment be in your opinion the only way to bring men to it ; and this the whole design of your book ; yet you have not once proposed in it , that those , who do not impartially examine , should be forced to it . and , that you may not think i talk at random , when i say you dare not ; i will , if you please , give you some reasons for my saying so . first , because , if you propose that all should be punished , who are ignorant , who have not used such consideration as is apt and proper to manifest the truth ; but ●…ave been determined in the choice of their religion by impressions of education , admiration of persons , w●…rldly respects , prejudices , and the like incompetent motives ; and have tak●…n up their religion , without examining it as they ought ; you will propose to have several of your own church ( be it what it will ) p●…nished which would be a proposition too apt to o●…end too many of it , for you to venture on . for whatever need there be of re●…ormation , every one will not thank you for proposing such an one as must begin at ( or at least reach to ) the house of god. secondly , because , if you should propose that all those who are ignorant , careless , and negligent in examining should be punished , you would have little to say in this question of toleration . for if the laws of the state were made as they ought to be , eq●…al to all the subjects , without distinction of ●…en of d●…erent professions in religion ; and the faults to be amended by punishments , were impartially punished , in all who are guilty of them ; this would immediately produce a perfect toleration , or shew the uselesness of force in matters of religion . if therefore you think it so necess●…ry , as you say , for the promoting of t●…ue religion , and the salvation of souls , that me●… sh●…uld be punished to make ●…hem examine ; do but fi●…d a way to apply f●…rce to all that have not throughly and impartially examined , and you have my consent . for tho force be not the proper means of promoting religion ; yet there is no better way to snew the uselesless of it , than the applying it equally to miscarrages , in whomsoever sound ; and not to distinct parties or perswasions of men , for the reformation of them alone , when others are equally faulty . thirdly , because , without being for as large a toleration as the author proposes , you cannot be truely and sincerely for a free and impartial examination . for whoever examines , must have the liberty to judg , and follow his judgment ; or else you put him upon examination to no purpose . and whether that will not as well lead men from , as to your church , is so much a venture , that by your way of writing , 't is evident enough you are loath to hazard it ; and if you are of the national church , 't is plain your brethren will not bear with you in the allowance of such a liberty . you must therefore either change your method ; and if the want of examination be that great and dangerous fault you would have corrected , you must equally punish all that are equally guilty of any neglect in this matter , and then take your only means , your beloved force , and make the best of it ; or else you must put off your mask , and confess that you design not your punishments to bring men to examination , but to conformity . for the fallacy you have used , is too gross to pass upon this age. what follows to page 26. i think i have considered sufficiently already . but there you have found out something worth notice . in this page , out of abundant kindness , when the dissenters have their heads ( without any cause ) broken , you provide them a plaister . for , say you , if upon such examination of the matter , ( i. e. brought to it by the magistrates punishment ) they chance to find , that the truth does not lie on the magistrate's side ; they have gain'd thus much however , even by the magistrate's misapplying his power , that they know better than they did before , where the truth does lye . which is as true , as if you should say ; upon examination i find such a one is out of the way to york ; therefore i know better than i did before , that i am in the right . for neither of you may be in the right . this were true indeed , if there were but two ways in all ; a right and a wrong . but where there be an hundred ways , and but one right ; your knowing upon examination , that that which i take is wrong , makes you not know any thing better than before , that yours is the right . but if that be the best reason you have for it , 't is ninety eight to one still against you , that you are in the wrong . besides , he that has been punished , may have examin'd before , and then you are sure he gains nothing . however , you think you do well to incourage the magistate in punishing , and comfort the man who has suffer'd unjustly , by shewing what he shall gain by it . whereas , on the contrary , in a discourse of this nature , where the bounds of right and wrong are enquired into , and should be established , the magistrate was to be shew'd the bounds of his authority , and warn'd of the injury he did when he misapplies his power , and punish'd any man who deserv'd it not ; and not be sooth'd into injustice , by consideration of gain that might thence accrue to the sufferer . shall we do evil that good may come of it ? there are a sort of people who are very wary of touching upon the magistrate's duty , and tender of shewing the bounds of his power , and the injustice and ill consequences of his misapplying it ; at least , so long as it is misapply'd in favour of them , and their party . i know not whether you are of their number . but this i am sure ; you have the misfortune here to fall into their mistake . the magistrate , you confess , may in this case misapply his power ; and instead of representing to h●…m the injustice of it , and the account he must give to his sovereign one day of this great trust put into his hands for the equal protection of all his subjects : you pretend advantages which the sufferer may receive from it : and so instead of disheartning from , you give incouragement to , the mischief . which , upon your principle , join'd to the natural thirst in man after arbitrary power , may be carried to all manner of exorbitancy , with some pretence of right . for thus stands your system . if force , i e. punishment , may be any way useful for the promoting the salvation of souls , there is a right somewhere to use it . and this right ( say you ) is in the magistrate . who then , upon your grounds , may quickly find reason , where it suits his inclination , or serves his turn , to punish men directly to bring them to his religion . for if he may use force , because it may be , indirectly and at a distance , any way , useful towards the salvation of souls , towards the procuring any degree of glory ; why may he not , by the same rule , use it where it may be useful , at least indirectly , and at a distance , towards the procuring a greater degree of glory ? for st. paul assures us , that the afflictions of this life work for us a far more exceeding weight of glory . so that why should they not be punished , if in the wrong , to bring them into the right way ; if in the right , to make them by their sufferings gainers of a far more exceeding weight of glory ? but whatever you say of punishment being lawful , because indirectly , and at a distance it may be useful ; i suppose , upon cooler thoughts , you will be apt to suspect that , however sufferings may promote the salvation of those who make a good use of them , and so set men surer in the right way , or higher in a state of glory ; yet those who make men unduly suffer , will have the heavier account , and greater weight of guilt upon them , to sink them deeper in the pit of perdition ; and that therefore they should be warn'd to take take care of so using their power . because whoever be gainers by it , they themselves will ( without repentance and amendment ) be sure to be losers . but by granting that the magistrate misapplies his power , when he punishes those who have the right on their side , whether it be to bring them to his own religion , or whether it be to bring them to consider reasons and arguments proper to convince them , you grant all that the author contends for . all that he endeavours , is to shew the bounds of civil power ; and that in punishing others for religion , the magistrate misapplies the force he has in his hands , and so goes beyond right , beyond the limits of his power . for i do not think the author of the letter so vain ( i am sure for my part i am not ) as to hope by arguments , though never so clear , to reform presently all the abuses in this matter ; especially whilst men of art , and religion , endeavour so industriously to palliate and disguise , what truth , yet , sometimes , unawares forces from them . do not think , i make a wrong use of your saying , the magistrate misapplies his power , when i say you therein grant all that the author contends for . for if the magistrate misapplies , or makes a wrong use of his power , when he punishes in matters of religion any one who is in the right , though it be but to make him consider , ( as you grant he does ) he also misapplies , or makes wrong use of his power , when he punishes any one , whomsoever in matters of religion , to make him consider . for every one is here judg for himself , what is right ; and in matters of faith , and religious worship , another cannot judg for him . so that to punish any one in matters of religion , tho it be but to make him consider , is by your own confession beyond the magistrate's power . and that punishing in matters of religion is beyond the magistrate's power , is what the author contends for . you tell us in the following words ; all the hurt that comes to them by it , is only the suffering some tolerable inconveniences , for their foll●…ing the light of their own reason , and the dictates of their own consciences ; which certainly is no such mischief to mankind , as to make it more elegible , that there should be no such power vested in the magistrate , but the care of every man's soul should be left to himself alone , ( as this author demands it should be : ) that is , that every man should be suffer'd , quietly , and without the least molestation , either to take no care at all of his soul , if he be so pleased ; or in doing it , to follow his own groundless prejudices , or unaccountable humour , or any crafty seducer , whom he may think fit to take for his guide . why should not the care of every man's soul be left to himself , rather than the magistrate ? is the magistrate like to be more concern'd for it ? is the magistrate like to take more care of it ? is the magistrate commonly more careful of his own , than other men are of theirs ? will you say the magistrate is less expos'd in matters of religion , to prejudices , humours , and crafty seducers , than other men ? if you cannot lay your hand upon your heart , and say all this ; what then will be got by the change ? and why may not the care of every man's soul be left to himself ? especially , if a man be in so much danger to miss the truth , who is suffer'd quietly , and without the least molestation , either to take no care of his soul , if he be so pleased , or to follow his own prejudices , &c. for if want of molestation be the dangerous state , wherein men are likeliest to miss the right way ; it must be confessed , that of all men , the magistrate is most in danger to be in the wrong , and so the unfittest ( if you take the care of mens souls from themselves ) of all men , to be intrusted with it . for he never meets with that great and only antidote of yours against error , which you here call molestation . he never has the benefit of your sovereign remedy , punishment , to make him consider ; which you think so necessary , that you look on it as a most dangerous state for men to be without it ; and therefore tell us , 't is every man's true interest , not to be left wholly to himself in matters of religion . thus , sir , i have gone through your whole treatise , and as i think , have omitted nothing in it material . if i have , i doubt not but i shall hear of it . and now i refer it to your self , as well as to the judgment of the world , whether the author of the letter , in saying no body hath a right ; or you , in saying , the magistrate hath a right to use force in matters of religion ; has most reason . in the mean time , i leave this request with you . that if ever you write again , about the means of bringing souls to salvation , ( which certainly is the best design any one can imploy his pen in ) you would take care not to prejudice so good a cause , by ordering it so , as to make it look as if you writ for a party . i am , sir , your most humble servant , philanthropus . may 27. 1690. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a48891-e130 pag. 12 , 13 , 14. pag. 1. pag. 2. pag. 49. pag. 7. pag. 3. pag. 4. pag. 5. pag. 5. pag. 13. pag. 14. pag. 23. pag. 5. pag. 5. pag. 16. pag. 5. mark 4.24 . pag. 6. pag. 10. ezek. 11.5 , 7. pag. 10. pag. 11. pag. 11. pag. 20. pag. 26. pag. 12. pag. 5. pag. 10. pag. 27 pag. 23. pag. 11. pag. 27. pag. 12. pag. 13. pag. 14. pag. 20. pag. 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10. pag. 22. pag. 12. pag. 22. pag. 26. pag. 22. pag. 12. pag. 21. pag. 25. pag. 26. pag. 12. pag. 10. pag. 12. pag. 24. pag. 15. pag. 12. p. 14. p. 13 , 14. p. 26. p. 13 , 14 p. 21. p. 24. p. 25. p. 15. p. 16. p. 17. p. 18. p. 19. p. 21. p. 21. p. 20. p. 22. p. 22. p. 7. p. 26. p. 15. p. 16. p. 26. some considerations of the consequences of the lowering of interest, and raising the value of money in a letter to a member of parliament. locke, john, 1632-1704. 1692 approx. 248 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 101 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48895) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 56722) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 606:9) some considerations of the consequences of the lowering of interest, and raising the value of money in a letter to a member of parliament. locke, john, 1632-1704. [3], 4, [2], 192 p. printed for awnsham and john churchill ..., london : 1692. errata: p. 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ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng money -england. interest -england. 2002-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-08 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-09 john latta sampled and proofread 2002-09 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion licensed , novemb. 27. 1691. ia. fraser . some considerations of the consequences of the lowering of interest , and raising the value of money . in a letter to a member of parliament . london , printed for awnsham and iohn churchill , at the black-swan in pater-noster-row . 1692. sir , these notions , concerning coinage , having for the main , as you know , been put into writing above twelve months since ; as those other concerning interest , a great deal above so many years : i put them now again into your hands , with a liberty ( since you will have it so ) to communicate them farther , as you please . if , upon a review , you continue your favourable opinion of them , and nothing less than publishing will satisfie you , i must desire to remember , that you must be answerable to the world for the stile ; which is such as a man writes carelesly to his friend , when he seeks truth , not ornament ; and studies only to be in the right , and to be understood . i have , since you saw them last year , met with some new objections in print which i have endeavoured to remove ; and particularly , i have taken into consideration a printed sheet , entituled , remarks upon a paper given in to the lords , &c. because one may naturally suppose , that he that was so much a patron of that cause , would omit nothing that could be said in favour of it . to this i must here add , that i am just now told from holland , that the states , finding themselves abused by coining a vast quantity of their base [ schillings ] money , made of their own ducatoons , and other finer silver , melted down ; have put a stop to the minting of any but fine silver coin , till they should settle their mint upon a new foot. i know the sincere love and concern you have for your country , puts you constantly upon casting about on all hands for any means to serve it ; and will not suffer you to overlook any thing you conceive may be of any the least use , though from the meanest capacities : you could not else have put me upon looking out my old papers concerning the reducing of interest to 4 per cent , which have so long lain by forgotten . upon this new survey of them , i find not my thoughts now to differ from those i had near twenty years since : they have to me still the appearance of truth ; nor should i otherwise venture them so much as to your sight . if my notions are wrong , my intention , i am sure , is right : and whatever i have failed in , i shall at least let you see with what obedience i am , sir , your most humble servant . nov. 7. 1691. errata . page 3. l. 2. read natural ; p. 9. l. 27. r. masters ; p. 12. l. 13. r. natural price ; p. 26. l. 16. r. of 1000 l. l. ult . r. clothing his ; p. 48. l. 25. r. money being ; p. 50. l. 19. r. to their ; p. 52. l. 18. r. be 9 / 10 ; p. 64. l. 13. r. a quality which ; p. 80. l. 14. r. natural ; l. 16. r. natural ; p. 82. l. 27. r. what has ; p. 91. l. ult . r. cheaper ; p. 94. l. 27. r. landholder ; p. 95. l. 6. r. all , as ; ● . 20. r. the yearly ; p. 121. l. 6. r. mortgagee ; p. 122. l. 23 : r. and pay ; p. 123. l. 27. r. other conjurers ; p. 127. l. 11. r. virgula ; p. 129. l. 3. r. this present year 1690. p. 137. l. ult . dele more than is the standard of our other money ; p. ●38 . l. 11. r. these species ; p. 140. l. 18. r. from , it is ; p. 141. l. 8. r. debts , and in ; l. 9. r. rents for ever ; p. 147. l. 18. r. owner ; p. 153. l. ult . r. it to a ; p. 156. l. 29. r. raise the ; p. 168. l. 10. r. rate as readily as any other coin ; l. 28. r. place bringing ; p. 169. l. 8. r. because they ; p. 173. l. 7. r. by the ounce ; p. 174. l. 25. r●ise elsewhere ● p. 182. l. 2. ● . lighter than ; p. 183. l. 12. r. own coin ; p. 186. l. 23. ● . before-hand with those to whom debts are owing . sir , i have so little concern in paying or receiving of interest , that were i in no more danger to be misled by inability and ignorance , than i am to be biassed by interest and inclination , i might hope to give you a very perfect and clear account of the consequences of a law to reduce interest to four per cent. but since you are pleased to ask my opinion , i shall endeavour fairly to state this matter of use with the best of my skill . the first thing to be consider'd , is , whether the price of the hire of money can be regulated by law. and to that i think , generally speaking , one may say , 't is manifest it cannot . for since it is impossible to make a law that shall hinder a man from giving away his money or estate to whom he pleases , it will be impossible , by any contrivance of law , to hinder men , skill'd in the power they have over their own goods , and the ways of conveying them to others , to purchase money to be lent them at what rate soever their occasions shall make it necessary for them to have it . for it is to be remembred , that no man borrows money , or pays use , out of mere pleasure ; 't is the want of money drives men to that trouble and charge of borrowing : and proportionably to this want , so will every one have it , whatever price it cost him . wherein the skilful , i say , will always so manage it , as to avoid the prohibition of your law , and keep out of its penalty , do what you can . what then will be the unavoidable consequences of such a law ? 1. it will make the difficulty of borrowing and lending much greater ; whereby trade ( the foundation of riches ) will be obstructed . 2. it will be a prejudice to none but those who most need assistance and help , i mean widows and orphans , and others uninstructed in the arts and managements of more skilful men ; whose estates lying in money , they will be sure , especially orphans , to have no more profit of their money , than what in●●r●st the law barely allows . 3. it will mightily encrease the advantage of bankers and ●e●●veners , and other such expert brokers ; who skill●d in the arts of putting out money according to the true and nat●●nal value , which the present state of trade , money and debts , shall always raise interest to , they will infallibly get what the true value of interest shall be , above the legal . for men finding the convenience of lodging their money in hands where they can be sure of it at short warning ; the ignorant and lazy will be forwardest to put it into these mens hands who are known willingly to receive it , and where they can readily have the whole , or a part , upon any sudden occasion that may call for it . 4. i fear i may reckon it as one of the probable consequences of such a law , that it is likely to cause great perjury in the nation ; a crime , than which nothing is more carefully to be prevented by law-makers , not only by penalties that shall attend apparent and proved perjury , but by avoiding and lessening , as much as may be , the temptations to it : for where those are strong , ( as they are where men shall swear for their own advantage ) there the fear of penalties to follow will have little restraint ; especially if the crime be hard to be proved . all which i suppose will happen in this case , where ways will be found out to receive money upon oth●r pretences than for use , to evade the rule and rigour of the law : and there will be secret trusts and collusions amongst men , that● though they may be suspected , can never be proved without their own confession . i have heard very sober and observing persons complain of the danger mens lives and properties are in , by the frequency and fashionableness of perjury amongst us . faith and truth , especially in all occasions of attesting it upon the solemn appeal to heaven by an oath , is the great ●ond of society : this it becomes the wisdom of magistrates carefully to support , and render as sacred and ●wful in the minds of the people as they can . but if ever frequency of oaths shall make them be looked on as formalities of law , or the custom of straining of truth ( which mens swearing in their own cases is apt to lead them to ) has once dipt men in perjury , and the guilt with the temptation has spread it self very wide , and made it almost fashionable in some cases , it will ●e impossible for the society ( these bonds being dissolv●d ) to subsist : all must break in pieces● and run to confusion . that swearing in their own cases is apt , by degrees● to lead men into as little regard of such oaths , as they have of their ordinary talk , i think there is reason to suspect , from what has been observed in something of that kind . masters of ships are a sort of men generally industrious and sober , and i suppose may be thought , for their number and rank , to be equally honest to any other sort of men ; and yet , by the discourse i have had with merchants in other countries , i find , that they think in those parts , they take a great liberty in their custom-house oaths , to that degree , that i remember i was once told , in a trading town beyond sea , of a master of a vessel , there esteemed a sober and fair man , who yet could not hold saying , god forbid that a custom-house oath should be a sin. i say not this , to make any reflection upon a sort of men that i think as uncorrupt as any other ; and whom i am sure ought in england to be cherished and esteem'd as the most industrious and most beneficial of any of its subjects . but i could not forbear to give this here as an instance how dangerous a temptation it is , to bring men customarily to swear , where they may have any concernment of their own . and it will always be worthy the care and consideration of law-makers , to keep up the opinion of an oath high and sacred , as it ought to be in the minds of the people ; which can never be done , where frequency of oaths , b●●●sed by interest , has establisht a neglect of them ; and fashion ( which it seldom fails to do ) has given countenance to what profit rewards . but that law cannot keep men from taking more use than you set ( the want of money being that alone which regulates its price ) will perhaps appear , if we consider how hard it is to set a price upon wine or silks , or other unnecessary commodities : but how impossible it is to set a rate upon victuals in a time of famine ! for money being an universal commodity , and as necessary to trade , as food is to life , every body must have it at what rate they can get it , and unavoidably pay dear when it is scarce , and debts , no less than trade , have made borrowing in fashion . the bankers are a clear instance of this : for some years since the scarcity of money having made it in england worth really more than six per cent. most of those that had not the skill to let it for more than six per cent. and secure themselves from the penalty of the law , put it in the bankers hands , where it was ready at their call , when they had an opportunity of greater improvement , so that the rate you set , profits not the lenders , and very few of the borrowers , who are fain to pay the price for money , that commodity would bear , were it left free ; and the gain is only to the banker . and should you lessen the use to four per cent. the merchant , or tradesman , that borrows , would not have it one jot cheaper than he has now ; but probably these two ill effects would follow . first , that he would pay dearer ; and secondly , that there would be less money left in the country to drive the trade . for the bankers paying at most but four per cent. and receiving from six to ten per cent. or more , at that low rate could be content to have more money lye dead by them , than now when it is higher . by which means there would be less money stirring in trade . and a greater scarcity ; which would raise it upon the borrower by this monop●ly . and what a part of our treasure their skill and management , joyned with others laziness or want of skill , is apt to draw into their hands , is to be known by those vast sums of money they were found to owe at the shutting up of the exchequer . and though it be very true , yet it is almost beyond belief , that one private goldsmith of london should have credit , upon his single security , ( being usually nothing but a note under one of his servants hands ) for above 〈…〉 at once . the same reasons i suppose will still keep on the same trade : and when you have taken it down by law to that rate , no body will think of having more than four per cent. of the banker , though those who have need of money , to employ it in trade , will not then , any more than now , get it under five or six , or as some pay , seven or eight . and if they had then , when the law permitted men to make more profit of their money , so large a proportion of the cash of the nation in their hands , who can think but that by this law it should be more driven into lombard-street now ? there being many now who lend them at four or five per cent. who will not lend to others at six . it would therefore perhaps bring down the rate of money to the borrower , and certainly distribute it better to the advantage of trade in the country , if the legal use we●e kept pretty near to the natural ; ( by na●ur●l u●e , i mean that rate of money which the present scarcity of it makes it naturally at , upon an equal distribution of it ) for then men being licensed by the law to take near the full natural use , will not be forward to carry it to london , to put it into the bankers hands ; but will lend it to their neighbours in the country , where it is convenient for trade it should be . but if you lessen the rate of use , the lender , whose interest it is to keep up the rate of money , will rather lend it to the banker , at the legal interest , than to the tradesman or gentleman , who when the law is broken , shall be sure to pay the full natural interest , or more ; because of the ingrossing by the banker , as well as the risque in transgressing the law : whereas were the natural use suppose seven per cent. and the legal six ; first , the owner would not venture the penalty of the law for the gaining 1 / ● part , that being the utmost his money would yeild . nor would the banker venture to borrow , where his gains would be but one per cent. nor the money'd man lend him what he could make better profit of legally at home . all the danger lies in this , that if your being behind hand has made the natural use so high , that your tradesman cannot live upon his labour , but that your rich neighbours will so undersell you , that the return you make will not amount to pay the use and afford a livelihood , there is no way to recover from this but by a general frugality and industry , or being masters of the trade of some commodity , which the world must have from you at your rate , and cannot be other where supplied . now i think the natural interest of money is raised two ways : first , when the money of a country is but little in proportition to the debts of the inhabitants one amongst another ; for suppose 10000 l. were sufficient to manage the trade of bermudas , and that the ten first planters carried over 20000 l. which they lent to the several tradesmen and inhabitants of the country , who living above their gains , had spent 10000 l. of this money , and it wer● gone out of the island : 't is evident , that should all the creditors at once call in their money , there would be a great scarcity of money when that employ'd in trade must be taken out of the tradesmens hands to pay debts ; or else the debtors want money and be exposed to their creditors , 〈…〉 interest will be high . but this sel 〈…〉 ing , that all , or the greatest 〈…〉 creditors do at once call for 〈…〉 unless it be in some great and 〈…〉 is less and seldomer seit 〈…〉 unless where the debts 〈…〉 own to a greater pro 〈…〉 causing more 〈…〉 leade●s , will 〈…〉 high secondly . that which con 〈…〉 raises the 〈…〉 of money , is , when 〈…〉 to the trade of a country ; for in trade every body calls for money according as he wants it , and this disproportion is always felt . for if englishmen owed in all but one million , and there were a million of money in england , the money would be well enough proportionable to the debts , yet if two millions were necessary to carry on the trade , there would be a million wanting , and the price of money would be raised as it is of any other commodity in a market , where the merchandize will not serve half the customers , and there are two buyers for one seller . 't is in vain therefore to go about effectually to reduce the price of interest by a law ; and you may as rationally hope to set a fixt rate upon the hire of houses , or ships , as of money ; he that wants a vessel , rather than lose his market , will not stick to have it at the market rate , and find ways to do it , with security to the owner , though the rate were limited by a law ; and he that wants money , rather than lose his voyage , or his trade , will pay the natural interest for it , and submit to such ways of conveyance as shall keep the lender out of the reach of the law. so that your act , at ●est , will serve only to increase the arts of lending , but not at all lessen the charge of the borrower ; he 't is likely shall with more trouble , and going farther about , pay also the more for his money , unless you intend to break in only upon mortgages and contracts already made , and ( which is not to be supposed ) by a law , post factum , void bargains lawfully made , and give to richard what is peters due , for no other reason but because one was borrower and the other lender . but supposing the law reach'd the intention of the promoters of it ; and that this act be so contrived , that it forced the national price of money , and hindred its being by any body lent at a higher use than 4 l. per. cent. which is plain it cannot . let us in the next place see what will be the consequences of it . 1. it will be a loss to widows , orphans , and all those who have their estate in money , one third of their estates , which will be a very hard case upon a great number of people ; and it is warily to be consider'd by the wisdom of the nation , whether they will thus at one blow , fine and impoverish a great and innocent pa●t of the people , who having their estat●● in money , have as much right to make a● much of their money , as it is worth , ( for more they cannot ) as the landlord ha● to let his ●and for as much as it will yield , and to ●ine men one third of their estates without any crime or offence committed , seems very hard . 2. as it will be a considerable loss and injury to them , so it will be no advantage at all to the kingdom ; for so trade be not cramp'd , and the exportation of our native commodities and manufactures not hindred , it will be no matter to the kingdom , who amongst our selves gets or loses , only common charity teaches , those should be most taken care of by the law , who are least capable of taking care for themselves . 3. it will be a gain to the borrowing merchant ; for if he borrow at four per cent , and his returns be twelve per cent. he will have eight per cent. and the lender four , whereas now they divide the profit equally at six per cent. but this neither gets nor loses the kingdom in your trade , supposing the merchant and lender to be both englishmen ; only it will as i have said , transfer a third part of the monied mans estate , who has nothing else to live on , into the merchants pocket , and that without any merit in the one , or trangression in the other , and that to the prejudice of trade : since it will discourage lending at such a disproportion of profit , to risque , as we shall see more by and by , when we come to consider of what consequence it is to encourage lending , that so none of the money of the nation may lie dead , and thereby prejudice trade . 4. it will hinder trade , for there being a certain proportion of money necessary for driving such a proportion of trade , so much money of this as lies still , lessens so much of the trade : now it cannot be rationally expected , but that where the venture is great , and the gains small , ( as it is in lending in england upon low interest ) many will choose rather to hoard up their money than venture it abroad on such terms . this will be a loss to the kingdom , and such a loss as here in england ought chiefly to be looked after ; for we having no mines , nor any other way of getting or keeping of riches amongst us but by trade , so much of our trade as is lost , so much of our riches must necessarily go with it ; and the over-ballancing of trade between us and our neighbours , must inevitably carry away our money , and quickly leave us poor and exposed . in a country not furnish●d by nature with mines of gold and silver , ( and those too , as far as i can observe , are generally poor enough , the digging and resining of those metals , taking up the labour , and wasting the number of the people ; for which reason , the wise policy of the chineses will not suffer those mines they have to be wrought ) there are but two ways of growing rich , ( i. e. of bringing more riches , and consequently more plenty of all the conveniencies of life , than what falls to the share of neighbouring kingdoms and states ) and those two ways of growing rich , are either conquest or commerce . by the first , the romans made themselves masters of the riches of the world , but i think that in our present circumstances , no body is vain enough to entertain a thought of our reaping the profits of the world by our swords , and making the spoil and tribute of vanquish'd nations , the fund for the supply of the charges of the government , with an over-plus for the wants , and equally craving luxury , and fashionable vanity of the people . commerce therefore is the only way left to us , either for riches or subsistence , for this t●e advantages of our situation , as well as the industry and inc●ination of our people , bold and skil●ful at sea , do naturally fit us ; by this the nation of england ha● been hitherto supported , and trade left almost to it self , and assisted only by the natural advantages above-mentioned , brought us in plenty and riches , and always set this kingdom in a rank equal , if not superior to any of its neighbours , and would no doubt without any difficulty have continued it so , if the more enlarged , and better understood interest of trade , since the improvement of navigation had not raised us many rivals ; and the amazing politicks of some late reigns , let in other competitors with us for the sea , who will be sure to seize to themselves whatever parts of trade our mismanagement , or want of money , shall let slip out of our hands ; and when it is once lost , 't will be too late to hope , by a mistim'd care , easily to retrieve it again . for the currents of trade , like those of waters , make themselves channels , out of which they are afterwards as hard to be diverted , as rivers that have worn themselves deep within their banks . trade then is necessary to the producing of riches , and money necessary to the carrying on of trade : this is principally to be looked after and taken care of ; for if this be neglected , we shall in vain , by contrivances amongst our selves , and shu●tling the little money we have from one anothers hands , endeavour to prevent our wants : decay of trade will quickly waste all the remainder ; and then the landed man , who thinks perhaps by the fall of interest to raise the value of his land , will find himself cruelly mistaken , when the money being gone , ( as it will be if our trade be not kept up ) he can get neither farmer to rent , nor purchaser to buy his land. whatsoever therefore hinders the lending of money , injures trade : and so the reducing of money to four per cent. which will discourage men from lending , will be a loss to the kingdom , in stopping so much of the current of money , which turns the wheels of trade . but all this upon a supposition that the lender and borrower are both english men . if the lender be a foreigner , by lessening interest from six to four you get to the kingdom ⅓ of the interest we pay yearly to foreigners ; which let any one if he please think considerable . but then upon lessening interest to four per cent. it is likely one of these things will happen . that either you fall the price of your native commodities ; or lessen your trade ; or else prevent not the high use as you intended . for at the time of lessening your interest , you want money , or you do not : if you do not , there is no need to prevent borrowing at a high rate of your neighbours ; for there can be no money borrowed , but in order to trade ; for what is not employ'd in trade lyes still , and no body borrows for that . for borrowing of one to pay what we owe to another may be generally accounted to be for trade ; it being very seldom people call in their money to let it lye still . and if you do want money , necessity will still make you borrow of them , and at the rates your necessity , not your laws , shall set : or else , if there be fearcity of money , it must hinder the merchant's buying and exportation , and the artisan's manufacture . now the kingdom gets or loses by this ( for no question the merchant by low 〈◊〉 gets all the while ) only propo●tionably ( allowing the consumption of foreign commodities to be still the s●me ) as the paying of use to foreigners carries away more or less of our money , than want of money and stopping our trade keeps us from bringing in , by hindring our gains ; which can be only estimated by those who know how much money we borrow of foreigners , and at what rate ; and too , what profit in trade we make of that money : though perhaps it will appear true upon examination , that our growing rich or poor depends not at all upon our borrowing upon 〈◊〉 or not ; but only which is greater o● less , our importation or exportation of consumable commodities . for supposing two millions of money will drive the trade of england , and that we have money enough of our own to do it ; if we consume o● our own product and manufacture , and what we purchase by it of foreign commodities , one million , but of the other million consume nothing , but make a return of ten per cent. per an. we must then every year be 100000 l. richer , and our stock be so much encreast : but if we import more consumable commodities than we export , our money must go out to pay for them , and we grow poorer . suppose therefore ill husbandry hath brought us to one million stock , and we borrow the other million ( as we must , or lose half our trade ) at six per cent. if we consume one moyety , and make still ten per cent. per an. return of the other million , the kingdom gets 40000 l. per an. though it pay 60000 l. per an. use. so that if the merchant's return be more than his use , ( which 't is certain it is , or else he will not trade ) and all that is so traded for on borrowed money be but the ov●●ballance of our exportation to our importation , the kingdom gets by this borrowing so much as whatsoever the merchant's gain is above his use. but if we borrow only for our own expences , we grow doubly poor , by paying money for the commodity we consume , and use for that money ; though the merchant gets all this while , by making returns greater than his use. and therefore borrowing of foreigners in it self makes not the kingdom rich or poor ; for it may do either ; but spending more than our fruits or manufactures will pay for , brings in poverty , and poverty borrowing . for money , as necessary to trade , may be doubly considered ; first , as in his hands that pays the labourer and land-holder , ( for here its motion terminates , and through whose hands soever it passes between these , he is but a broker ) and if this man want money , ( as for example , the clothier ) the manufacture is not made ; and so the trade stops , and is lost . or secondly , money may be considered as in the hands of the consumer , under which name i here reckon the merchant who buys the commodity , when made , to export ; and if he want money , the value of the commodity , when made is lessened , and so the kingdom loses in the price . if therefore use he lessened● and you cannot tye foreigners to your terms , then the ill effects fall only upon your own landholders and artisans : if foreigners can be forc'd by your law to lend you money only at your own rate , or not lend at all , is it not more likely they will rather take it home , and think it safer in their own country at four per c●nt than abroad ; nor can their over-plus of money bring them to lend to you , on your terms ; for when your merchants want of money , shall have sunk the price of your market , a dutchman will find it more gains to buy your commodity himself , than lend his money at four per cent. to an english merchant to trade with : nor will the act of navigation hinder their coming , by making them come empty , since even al-already there are those who think , that many who go for english merchants , are but dutch factors , and trade for others in their own names : the kingdom therefore will lose by it if it makes foreigners withdraw any of their money , as well as if it hinders any of your people from lending theirs , where trade has need of it . in a treatise writ on purpose for the bringing down of interest , i find this argument of foreigners calling away their money to the prejudice of our trade , thus answer'd , that the money of foreigners is not brought into the land by read , 〈◊〉 bullion , but by goods or bills of exchange ; and when it is paid must be returned by goods or bills of exchange , and there will not be the less money in the land. i could not but wonder to see a man , who undertook to write of money and interest , talk so directly besides the matter in the business of trade ; foreigners money , he says , is not brought into the land by ready coin or bullion , but by goods , or bills of exchange . how then do we come by pullion or money ? for gold grows not that i know in our country , and silver so little , that one hundred thousandth part of the silver we have now in england , was not drawn out of any mines in this island . if he means that the monied man in holland , who puts out his money at interest here , did not send it over in pullion or specie hither , that may be true or false ; but either way helps not that authors purpose . for if he paid his money to a merchant his neighbour , and took his pills for it here in england , he did the same thing as if he had sent over that money , since he does but make that merchant 〈◊〉 in england , the money which ●e has due to him there , and otherwise would carry away : 〈◊〉 , says our author . 〈…〉 ; i must not be paid and exported in ready money , so says our law indeed , but that is a law to hedge in the cookoe , and serves to no purpose ; for if we export not goods , for which our merchants have money due to them in holland , how can it be paid by bills of exchange ? and for g●ods , 100 l. worth of goods can no where pay 200 l. in money , this being that which i find many men deceive themselves with in trade : it may be worth while to make it a little plainer . let us suppose england peopled as it is now , and its woollen manufacture in the same state and perfection that it is at present , and that we , having no money at all , trade with this our woollen manufacture for the value of 200000 l. yearly to spain , where there actually is a million in money ; let us suppose that we bring back from spain , yearly in oyl , wine , and fruit , to the value of 100000 l. and continue to do this ten years together ; 't is plain we have had for our two millions value in woollen manufacture carried thither , one million return'd in wine , oyl , and fruit , but what is become of ● other million ? will the merchants be content to lose it ? that you may be sure they would not , nor have traded on , if they had not every year returns made answering their exportation . how then were the returns made ? in money it is evident . for the spaniards having in such a trade , no debts , nor the possibility of any debts in england , cannot pay one farthing of that other million by bills of exchange ; and having no commodities that we will take off above the value of 100000 l. per annum , they cannot pay us in commodities . from whence it necessarily follows , that the 100000 l. per annum , wherein we over-ballance them in trade , must be paid us in money ; and so at the ten years end , their million of money , ( though their law make it death to export it ) will be all brought into engl●nd , as in truth , by this over-ballance of trade , the greatest part of our money hath been brought into england out of spain . let us suppose our selves now possessed of this million of money ; and exporting yearly out of england , to the several parts of the world● consumable commodities to the value of a million , but importing yearly in commodities , which we consume amongst us to the value of 1100000 l. if such a t●●de as this be managed amongst us , and continue ten y●●●s it is evident , that our million of money will at the end of the ten years be inevitably all gone from us to them , by the same way that it came to us ; that is , by their over-ballance of trade . for we importing every year 100000 l. worth of commodities more than we export , and there being no foreigners that will give us 100000 l. every year for nothing , it is unavoidable , that 100000 l. of our money must go out every year to pay for that over-plus , which our commodities do not pay for ; and 't is ridiculous to say , that bills of exchange shall pay our debts abroad ; that cannot be till scrips of paper can be made current coin. the eng●ish merchant , who has no money owing him abroad , cannot expect to have his bills paid there ; or if he has credit enough with a correspondent , to have his bills answer'd ; this pays none of the debt of england , but only changes the creditor : and if upon the general ballance of trade , english merchants owe to foreigners 100000 l. or 1000000 , if commodities do not , our money must go out to pay , or else our credit be lost , and our trade stop , and be lost too . a kingdom grows rich or poor just as a farmer doth , and no otherwise : let us suppose the whole isle of portland one farm , and that the owner , besides what serves his family , carries to market to weymouth and dorchester , &c. cattle , corn , butter , cheese , wooll , or cloath , lead and tin , all commodities produced and wrought within his farm of portland , to the value of 1000 l. yearly ; and for this , brings home in salt , wine , oyl , spice , linnen and silks , to the value of 900 l. and the remaining 100 l. in money : 't is evident he grows every year 100 l. richer , and so at the end of the ten years will have clearly got 1000 l. if the owner be a better husband , and contenting himself with his native commodities , buy less wine , spice and silk , at market , and so bring home 500 l. in money yearly , instead of 100 l. at the end of ten years he will have 5000 l. by him , and be so much richer . he dies , and his son succeeds , a fashionable young gentleman , that cannot dine without champane and burgundy , nor sleep but in a damask bed ; whose wife must spread a long train of brocard , and his children be always in the newest french cut and stuff : he being come to the estate , keeps on a very busie family ; the markets are weekly frequented , and the commodities of his farm carried out , and sold , as formerly , but the returns are made something different ; the fashionable way of eating , drinking , and clothing 〈◊〉 his wife , children and family , requires more sugar and spice , wine and fruit , silk and ribons , than in his fathers time ; so that instead of 900 l. per annum , he now brings home of consumable commodities , to the value of 1100 l. yearly . what comes of this ? he lives in splendor , 't is true , but this unavoidably carries away the money his father got , and he is every year 100 l. poorer . to his expences , beyond his income , add debauchery , idleness , and quarrels , amongst his servants , whereby his manufactures are disturbed , and his business neglected , and a general disorder and confusion through his whole family and farm ; this will tumble him down the hill the faller , and the stock , the industry , frugality , and good order of his father had laid up● will be quickly brought to an end , and he fast in prison . a farm and a kingdom in this respect di●●er no more than as greater and less . we may trade , and be busie , and grow poor by it , unless we regulate our expenses ; if to this we are idle , negligent , di●honest , malitious , and disturb the sober and industrious in their business , let it be upon what pretence it will , we shall ruine the faster . so that whatever this author , or any one else may say , money is brought into england by nothing but spending here less of foreign commodities , than what we carry to market can pay for ; nor can debts we owe to foreigners be paid by bills of exchange , till our commodities exported , and sold beyond sea , have produced money or debts due there , to some of our merchants ; for nothing will pay debts but money or moneys worth , which three or four lines writ in paper cannot be ; for if they have an intrinsick value , and can serve instead of money , why do we not send them to market instead of our cloth , lead and tin ? and at an easier rate purchase the commodities we want . all that a bill of exchange can do , is to direct to whom money due , or taken up upon credit in a foreign country , shall be paid ; and if we trace it , what is due already , we shall find , became so , for commodities , or money , carried from hence ; and if it be taken up upon credit , it must ●et the debt be shif●●d from one creditor to another as often as you will ) at last be paid by money or goods , carried from hence , or else the merchant here must turn bankrupt . we have seen how riches and money are got , kept , or lost , in any country ; and that is by consuming less of foreign commodities than what , by commodities or labour is paid for . this is in the ordinary course of things : but where great armies and alliances are to be maintain'd abroad by supplies sent out of any country , there often , by a shorter and more sensible way , the treasure is diminished . but this , since the holy war , or at least since the improvement of navigation and trade , seldom happening to england , whose princes have found the enlarging their power by sea , and the securing our navigation and trade , more the interest of this kingdom than wars or conquests on the continent ; expences in arms beyond sea have had little influence on our riches or poverty . the next thing to be considered , is , how money is necessary to trade . the necessity of a certain proportion of money to trade , ( i conceive ) lyes in this , that money in its circulation driving the several wheels of trade , whilst it keeps in that channel ( for some of it will unavoidably be dreined into standing pools ) is all shared between the land-holder , whose land a●●ords the materials ; the labourer , who works them ; the broker , ( i. e. ) merchant and shop keeper , who distributes them to those that want them : and the consumer , who spends them . now money is necessary to all these sorts of men , as serving both for counters and for pledges , and so carrying with it even reckoning and security that he that receives it shall have the same value for it again , of other things that he wants , whenever he pleases . the one of these it does by its stamp and denomination ; the other by its intrinsick value , which is nothing else but its durableness , scarcity , and not being apt to be counterfeited . which intrinsick value , though it be not natural , but is only in the opinion of men consenting to it , yet being universal , has generally , but not always , ( for we see that in a siege or man of war silver may not be of equal value to gunpowder , and in a famine gold not be worth its weight in bran ) the same effect as if it were natural the necessity therefore of a proportion of money to trade , depends on money , not as counters for the reckoning may be kept or transferred by writing , but on money as a pledge . for since the bill , bond , or other note of debt , i receive from one man , will not be accepted as security by another , he not knowing that the bill or bond is true or legal , or that the man bound to me is honest or responsible ; and so is not valuable enough to become a current pledge , nor can by publick authority be well made so , as in the case of assigning of bills ; because a law cannot give to bills that intrinsick value , which the universal consent of mankind has annexed to silver and gold. and hence foreigners can never be brought to take your bills or writings for any part of payment , though perhaps they might pass as valuable considerations among your own people , did not this very much hinder it , viz. that they are liable to unavoidable doubt , dispute and counterfeiting , and require other proofs to assure us they are true and good security , than our eyes or a touchstone . and at best this course , if practicable , will not hinder us from being poor ; but may be suspected to help to make us so , by keeping us from feeling our poverty , which in distress will be sure to find us with greater disadvantage . though it be certain it is better than letting any part of our trade fall for want of current pledges ; and better too than borrowing money of our neighbours upon use , if this way of assigning bills can be made so easie , safe and universal at home , as to hinder it . to return to the business in hand , and shew the necessity of a proportion of money to trade : every man therefore must have at least so much money , or so timely recruits , as may in hand , or in a short distance of time , satisfie the man who supplies him with the necessaries of life , or of his trade . for no body has any longer these necessary supplies than he has money or credit , which is nothing else but an assurance of money in some short time . so that it is requisite to trade there should be so much money as to keep up the landholders , labourers and brokers credit ; and therefore ready money must be constantly exchang'd for wares and labour , or follow within a short time after . this shews the necessity of some proportion of money to trade ; but what proportion that is , is hard to determine , because it depends not barely on the quantity of money , but the quickness of its circulation ; which since it cannot be easily traced , for the very same shilling may at one time pay 20 men in 20 days , at another , rest in the same hands 100 days together ; to make some probable guess , we are to consider how much money it is necessary to suppose must rest constantly in each man's hands , as requisite to the carrying on of trade . first therefore the labourers , living generally but from hand to mouth , and indeed , considered as labourers in order to trade , may well enough carry on their part , if they have but money enough to buy victuals , cloaths , and tools ; all which may very well be provided , without any great sum of money lying still in their hands . the labourers therefore being usually paid once a week , ( if the times of payment be seldomer , there must be more money for the carrying on this part of trade ) we may suppose there is constantly amongst them , one with another , or those who are to pay them , always one weeks wages in ready money . for it cannot be thought that all or most of the labourers pay away all their wages constantly as soon as they receive it , and live upon trust till next pay day . this the farmer and tradesman could not well bear , were it every labourer's case , and every one to be trusted ; and therefore they must of necessity keep some money in their hands to go to market for victuals , and to other tradesmen , as poor as themselves , for tools ; and lay up money too to buy cloaths , or pay for those they bought upon credit : which money thus necessarily resting in their hands , we cannot imagine to be one with another much less than a weeks wages , that must be in their pockets , or ready in the farmer 's hands . for he who employs a labourer at 1 s. per day , and pays him on saturday nights , cannot be supposed constantly to receive that 6 s. just the same saturday ; it must ordinarily be in his hand● one time with another , if not a whole week , yet several days before . this was the ordinary course , whil'st we had money running in the several channels o● commerce : but that now very much failing , and the farmer not having money to pay the labourer , supplies him with corn , which in this great plenty the labourer will have at his own rate , or else not take it off his hands for wages and as for the workmen who are employed in our manufacture , especially the woollen one , these the clothier not having ready money to pay , furnishes with the necessaries of life , and so truck commodities for work , which , such as they are , good or bad , the workman must take at his master's rate , or sit still and starve , whil'st by this means this new sort of ing●oners or ●oresta●lers , having the feeding and supplying this numerous body of workmen out of their warehouses , ( for they have now magazines of all sorts of wares ) set the price upon the poor landholder . so that the markets now being destroyed , and the farmer not finding vent there for his butter , cheese , bacon and corn , &c. for which he was wont to bring home ready money , must sell it to these ingrossers , on their own terms of time and rate , and allow it to their own day-labourers under the true market-price ; which what kind of influence it is like to have upon land , and how this way rents are like to be paid at quarter-day , is easie to apprehend ; and 't is no wonder to hear every day of farmers breaking and running away ; for if they cannot receive money for their goods at market , 't will be impossible for them to pay their landlord's rent : and if any one doubt whether this be so , i desire him to enquire how many farmers in the west are broke and gone since michaelmas last . want of money being to this degree , works both ways upon the landholder . for first , the ingrossing forestaller lets not the money come to market ; but supplying the workman , who is employed by him in manufacture , with necessaries , imposes his price and forbearance on the farmer , who cannot sell to the others . and the labourer , who is employed by the landholder in husbandry , imposes also his rate on him for the commodities he takes . for there being a want of day-labourers in the country , they must be humoured , or else they will neither work for you , nor take your commodities for their labour . secondly , as for the landholder , since his tenants cannot coin their rent just at quarter-day , but must gather it up by degrees , and lodge it with them till pay-day , or borrow it of those who have it lying by them , or do gather it up by degrees , which is the same thing , and must be necessarily so much money for some time lying still ; for all that is paid in great sums must somewhere be gathered up by the retail incomes of a trade , or else lye still too in great sums , which is the same stop of money , or a greater . add to this , that to pay the creditor that lent him his rent , he must gather up money by degrees , as the sale of his commodities shall bring it in , and so makes a greater stop and greater want of money , since the borrowed money that paid the landholder the 25th of march , must be supposed to lye still some time in the creditor's hand , before he lent it the tenant ; and the money that pays the creditor three months after must lye still some time in the tenant's . nor does the landlord pay away his rent usually as soon as he receives it , but by degrees , as his occasions call for it ; we cannot but suppose that between the landlord and tenant there must necessarily be at least ¼ of the yearly revenue of the land constantly in their hands . indeed considering that most part of the rents of england being paid at our lady-day and michaelmas , and that the same money which pays me my rent from my tenant the 25th of march , or thereabouts , cannot pay my next neighbour his rent from his tenant at the same time , much less one more remote in another country ; it might seem requisite to suppose half the yearly revenue of the land to be necessarily employed in paying of rent . for to say that some tenants break and pay not their rent at all , and others pay not till two , three , four , five , six , &c. months after quarter-day , and so the rent is not all paid at one time , is no more than to say , that there is money wanting to the trade : for if the tenant fail the landlord , he must fail his creditor , and he his , and so on , till somebody break , and so trade decay for want of money . but since a considerable part of the land of england is in the owners hands , who neither pay nor receive great sums for it at a certain day ; and because too , ( which is the chief reason ) we are not to consider here how much money is in any one man's , or any one sort of mens hands at any one time ; for that at other t●mes may be distributed into other hands , and serve other parts of trade ; but how much money is necessary to be in each man's hands all the year round , taking one time with another , ( i. e. ) having 200 l. in his hand one month , is to be reckon●d as 100 l. in his hand three months , and so proportionably ) i think we may well suppose ¼ of the yearly revenue to be constantly in the landlords or tenants hands ; where● by the by , we may observe , that it were better for trade , and consequent●y for every body , ( ●or more money wo●●d be stirring , and less would do t●e business ) if rents were paid by 〈◊〉 in●●rvals than six months . for su●●●sing i let a farm at 52 l. per an. i● my rent be paid half yearly , there is re●●●●ed 26 l. to be employed in the payment of it in ●ne entire sum. ( if it ●e paid well , and if it be not paid well , 〈◊〉 ●●nt of so 〈◊〉 money to be spared to that purpose , there is so much want of money , and trade is still endamag'd by it ) a great part whereof must necessarily lie still before it come out of my tenants chest to my hands : if it be paid once a quarter 13 l. alone will do it , and less money is laid up for it , and stop'd a less while in its course ; but should it be paid every week , one single 20 s. will pay the rent of 52 l. per annum , whence would follow this double benefit ; first , that a great deal less money would serve for the trade of a country ; and secondly , that less of the money would lie still , the contrary whereof must needs happen where growing debts are to be paid at larger distances , and in greater sums . thirdly , as for the brokers , since they too must lay up the money coming in by retail , either to go to market , and buy wares , or to pay at the day appointed , which is often six months ; for those wares they have already , we cannot suppose them to have less by them , one with another , than one twentieth part of their yearly returns , whether the money be their own , or they be indebted so much or more it matters not , if it be nece●sary they should have constantly by them , comparing one time with another , at least one twentieth part of their yearly return : indeed in some great towns , where the bankers are ready at hand to buy bills , or any other way to lend money , for short time at great interest , there perhaps the merchant is not forced to keep so much money by him , as in other places , where they have not such a supply . but if you consider , what money to do this must necessarily be constantly lodg'd in the bankers hands ; to which , if you add , what part of the money of a country scholars of all sorts , women , gamesters , and great mens menial servants , and all such that do not contribute at all to trade , either as landholders , labourers , or brokers , will unavoidably have constantly in their hands , it cannot well be thought , that less than one fiftieth part of the labourers wages , one fourth part of the landholders yearly revenue , and one twentieth part of the brokers yearly returns in ready money , will be enough to drive the trade of any country . at least to put it beyond exception low enough ; it cannot be imagin'd that less than one moiety of this , i. e. less than one hunderd part of the labourers yearly wages , one eighth part of the landholders yearly revenue , and one fortieth part of the brokers yearly returns , in ready money , can be enough to move the several wheels of trade , and keep up commeree in that life and thriving posture it should be ; and how much the ready cash of any country is short of this proportion , so much must the trade be impair'd and hindred for want of money ; but however these measures may be mistaken , this is evident , that the multiplying of brokers hinders the trade of any country by making the circulation , the money goes larger , and in that circuit more stops , so that the returns must necessarily be flower and ●cantier , to the prejudice of trade : besides that , they eat up too great a share of the gains of trade , by that means starving the labourer , and impoverishing the landholder , whose interest is chiefly to be taken care of , it being a settled unmoveable concernment in the commonwealth ; and therefore it would be convenient to hinder , as much as is possible , any one from selling any of our native commodities but he that makes it ; shopkeepers in this being worse than gamesters ; for they do not only keep so much of the money of a country constantly in their hands , but also make the publick pay them for their keeping of it ; though gaming too , upon the account of trade , ( as well as other reasons ) may well deserve to be restrain'd , since gamesters , in order to their play , keep great sums of money by them , which there lies dead ; for though gamesters money shift masters oftner than any , and is tumbled up and down with every cast of a die , yet as to the publick lies perfectly still , and no more of it comes into trade than they spend in lating or wearing . here too we may observe , how much manufacture deserves to be incourag'd , since that part of trade , though the most considerable , is driven with the least money , especially if the workmanship be more worth than the materials ; for to the trade that is driven by labour and handicrafts men , one two and fiftieth part of the yearly money paid them will be sufficient ; but to a trade of commodities of our bare native growth , much greater proportion of money is requir'd . perhaps it will be wondered , why having given some estimate ( how wide i know not ) of the money necessary in the hands of the landholder , labourer , and br●ker , to carry on trade , i have said nothing of the consumer , whom i had mentioned before ; but to this i answer , there are so few consumers , who are not either labourers , brokers , or landholders : ( for those who immediately depend on the landholder , as his children and servants , come in under that title , being maintained by the rent of his land , and so of the rest ) that they make a very inconsiderable part in the account . by what has been said , we may see what injury the lowering of interest is like to do us by hindering trade , when it shall either make the foreigner call home his money , or your own people backward to lend , the reward not being judged proportionable to the risque . there is another seeming consequence , of the reducing of money to a low price , which at first sight has such an appearance of truth in it , that i have known it impose upon very able men , and i guess has no small influence at this time in the promoting this alteration a●d that is , that the lowering of interest will raise the value of all other things in proportion . for money being the c●unter-ballance to all other things purchasable by it and lying , at it were , in the opposite scale of commerce , it looks like a natural consequence , that as much as you take off from the value of money 〈◊〉 much you add to the price of other things which are exchanged for it ; the raising of the price of any thing being no more but the addition to its value in respect of money , or , which is all one , lessening the value of money . for example : should the value of gold be brought down to that of silver , 100 guineas would purchase little more corn , wool , or land , than 100 shillings , and so the value of money being brought lower , say they , the price of other things will rise ; and the falling of interest from 6 to 4 per cent. is taking away so much of the price of money and so consequently the lessening its value . the mistake of this plausible way of reasoning will be easily discovered , when we consider that the measure of the value of money , in proportion to any thing purchasable by it , is the quantity of the ready money we have in comparison with the quantity of that thing and its vent ; ( which vent depends upon its necessity or usefulness , as convenience of life or opinion , guided by fansie or fashion , shall determine ) or which amounts to the same thing , the price of any commodity rises or falls by the proportion of the number of buyers and sellers ● whereby the vent comes to be increased or decreased , as a greater part of the money we have is designed to be laid out by several people , at the same time , rather in one thing than another , as we see in the change of fashions ; this rule holds universally in all things that are to be bought and sold , bateing now and then an extravagant phancy of some particular person , which never amounts to so considerable a part of trade as to make any thing in the account worthy to be thought an exception to this rule . i shall begin first with the necessaries or conveniencies of life , and the consumable commodities subservient thereunto ; and shew , that the value of money in respect of those depends only on the plenty or scarcity of money in proportion to the plenty and scarcity of those things , and not on what interest shall be by necessity , law or contract at that time laid on the borrowing of money : and then afterwards i shall shew that the same holds in land. there is nothing more confirmed by daily experience , than that men give any portion of money for whatsoever is absolutely necessary , rather than go without it : and in such things , the scarcity of them alone makes their prices . as for example : let us suppose 1 / ● ounce of silver , or half a crown now in england , is worth a bushel of wheat ; but should there be next year a great scarcity of wheat in england , and a proportionab●e want of all other food , five ounces of siver would perhaps in exchange purchase but one bushel of wheat , so that money would be then 9 / 10 less worth in respect o● food , though at the same value it was before , in respect of other things that kept their former proportion in their quantity and consumption . by the like proportions of increase and decrease , does the value of things more or less convenient rise and fall in respect of money , only with this difference , that things absolutely necessary for life must be had at any rate ; but things convenient will be had only as they stand in preference with other conveniencies ; and therefore in any one of these commodities , the value rises only as its quantity is less , and vent greater , which depends upon its being p●eferr'd to other things in its consumption ; for supposing that at the same time that there is a g●●at scarcity of wh●●t , and other grain , there were a considerable quantity of o●●s , men no question would give far more for wheat than oats , as being the healthier , pleasanter , and more convenient food ; but since oats would serve to supply that absolute necessity of sustaining life , men would not rob themselves of all other conveniencies of life , by paying all their money for wheat , when oats that are cheaper , though with some inconvenience , would supply that defect . it may then so happen at the same time , that half an ounce of silver , that the year before would buy one bushel of wheat , will this year buy but 1 / 10 of a bushel : half an ounce of silver , that the year before would have bought three bushels of oats , will this year still buy one bushel ; and at the same time half an ounce of silver , that would the year before have bought 15 pounds of lead , will still buy the same quantity . so that at the same time silver , in respect of wheat , is 9 / 10 less worth than it was , in respect of oats ⅔ less worth , and in respect of lead , as much worth as before . the fall therefore or rise of interest , making neither more or less land , money , or any sort of commodity in england , than there was before ; immediately by its change alters not at all the value of money , in reference to commodities ; because the measure of that is only the quantity and vent which are not immediately chang'd by the change of interest , but only as the change of interest in trade conduces to the bringing in or carrying out money or commodity , and so in time varying their proportion here in england from what it was before , which is not in this place to be considered . this is perfectly the value of money in respect of consumable commodities : but the better to understand it in its full latitude , in respect both of consumable commodities , and land too , we must consider , first , that the value of land consists in this , that by its constant production of saleable commodities it brings in a certain yearly income . secondly , the value of commodities consists in this , that as portable and useful things , they , by their exchange or consumption , supply the necessaries or conveniencies of life . thirdly , in m●r●y there is a double value , answering to both of these first , as it is capable by its interest to yield us such an yearly income ; and in this it has the nature of land , the income of one being called ren● , of the other , use ; only with this difference , that the land in its soil being different , as some fertile , some barren , and the products of it very various , both in their sorts , and value too , according as their quantity and vent , varies ; but money● constantly the same , and by its interest giving the same sort of product through the whole country , is capable of having a sixed yearly rate set upon it by the magistrate ; but ●and is not . but though in the uniformity of its legal worth , 100 l. of lawful money being all through england equal in its current value to any other 100 l. of lawful money , ( because by vertue of the law it will every where pass for as much ware or debt , as any other hundred pounds ) is capable to have its yearly hire valued better than land : yet in respect of the varying need , and necessity of money , ( which changes with the encrease or decay of money or trade in a country ) it is as little capable to have its yearly hire fixed by law , as land it self . for were all the land in rumney-marsh , acre for acre , equally good , that is , did constantly produce the same quantity of equally good hay or grass , one as another , the rent of it , under that consideration of every acre being of an equal worth , would be capable of being regulated by law ; and one might as well enact , that no acre of land in rumney-marsh shall be let for above 40 s. per an. as that no 100 l. shall be let for above 4 l. per an. but no body can think it fit ( since by reason of the equal value of that land it can ) that therefore the rent of the land in rumney-marsh should be regulated by law. for supposing all the land in rumney-marsh , or in england , were all of so equal a worth , that any one acre , compar'd at the same time to any one other , were equally good in respect of its product , yet the same acre , compar'd with it self in different times , would not in respect of rent be of equal value ; and therefore it would have been an unreasonable thing , if in the time of henry ● the rent of land in rumney-marsh had been settled by a law , according to the judg'd value of it at that time , and the same law , limiting the rent perhaps to 5 s. per acre , have continued still . the absurdity and impracticableness of this every one sees at the first proposal , and readily concludes within himself , that things must be left to find their own price● and it is impossible in this their constan● mutability for human foresight to se● rules and bounds to th● constantly-varying proportion and use , which will alway● regulate their value . they who consider things beyond their names , will find , that money , as well as all other commodities , is liable to the same changes and inequalities : nay in this respect of the variety of its value brought in by time in the succession of affairs , the rate of money is less capable of being regulated by a law in any country than the rent of land ; because of the quick changes that happen in trade this too must be added , that money may be brought in or carried out of the kingdom , which land cannot ; and so that be truly worth 6 or 8 per cent. this year , which would yield but 4 the last . 2. money has a value , as it is capable by exchange to procure us the necessaries or conveniencies of life ; and in this it has the nature of a commodity , only with this difference , that it serves us commonly by its exchange , never almost by its consumption ; but has not at all a more standing settled value in exchange with any other thing , than any other commodity has , but a more known one , and better sixed by name , number and weight , to enable us to reckon what the proportion of scarcity and vent of one commodity is to another . for supposing , as before , that half an ounce of silver would last year exchange for one bushel of wheat , or for 15 l. weight of lead ; if this year wheat be 10 times scarcer , and lead in the same quantity to its vent as it was , is it not evident that half an ounce of silver will still exchange for 15 l. of lead , though it will exchange but for one tenth of a bushel of wheat ; and he that has use of lead will as soon take 15 l. weight of lead , as ● ounce of silver , for one tenth of a bushel of wheat , and no more ; so that if you say that money now is 9 / 10 less worth than it was the former year , you must say so of lead too , and all other things that keep the same proportion to money they were in before ; only this variation is first observed in money , because it is the measure by which people reckon . for calling that half ounce of silver half a crown , they are understood better when they say , half a crown , or two shilling● and six pence , will now but 1 / 10 of a bushel of wheat , but do not say , that 15 l. of lead will now but 1 / 10 of a bushe● of wheat , because it is not generally used to this sort of reckoning ; nor do the● say lead is less worth than it was , though in respect of wheat lead be 〈…〉 worse than it was , as well as silver ; only by the tale of shillings we are better enabled to judge of it . this i suppose is the true value of m●●ney when it passes from one to anothe● in buying and selling ; where it runs the same changes of higher and lower , as an● other commodity doth ; for one equ●● quantity whereof you shall receive more or less of another commodity at on● time than you do at another in exchange for a farmer that carries a bushel ● wheat to market , and a labourer th●● carries half a crown , shall find that the money of one , as well as corn of the other , shall at some times purchase him more or less leather or salt , according as they are in greater plenty and scarcity one to another . so that in exchange of coin'd silver for any other commodity , which is buying and selling , the same measure governs the proportion you receive , as if you exchang'd lead or wheat , or any other commodity , which is nothing else but their quantity in proportion to their vent . if then change of use makes not your silver more in sp●ci● , or your wheat or other commodities less , it will not have any influence at all to make it exchange for less of wheat , or any other commodity , than it will have on lead , to make it exchange for less wheat , or any other commodity . money therefore in buying and selling being perfectly in the same condition with other commodities , and subject to all the same laws of value , let us next see how it comes to be of the same nature with land , by yielding a certain yearly income , which we call use or interest . for land produces naturally something new and profitable , and of value to mankind ; but money is a barren thing , and produces nothing , but by compact transfers that profit that was the reward of one man's labour into another man's pocket . that which occasions this , is the unequal distribution of money ; which inequality has the same effect too upon land that it has upon money . for my having more money in my hand than i can , or am dispos'd to use in buying and selling , makes me able to lend ; and another's want of so much money as he could employ in trade , makes him willing to borrow . but why then , and for what consideration doth he pay use ? for the same reason , and upon as good consideration , as the tenant pays rent for your land. for as the unequal distribution of land , ( you having more than you can or will manure , and another less ) brings you a tenant for your land ; and the same unequal distribution of money , ( i having more than i can or will employ , and another less ) brings me a tenant for my money : so my money is apt in trade , by the industry of the borrower , to produce more than 6 per cent. to the borrower , as well a● your land , by the labour of the tenant , is apt to produce more fruits than his rent comes to ; and therefore deserves to be paid for , as well as land , by an yearly rent . for though the usurer's money would bring in no yearly profit , if he did not lend it , ( suppo●ing he employ it not himself ) and so his six per cent. may seem to be the fruit of another mans labour , yet he shares not near so much of the profit of anothers mans labour , as he that lets land to a tenant ; for without the tenants industry ( supposing as before , the owner would not manage it himself ) his land would yield him little or no profit ; so that the rent he receives is a greater portion of the fruit of his tenants labour than the use is at 6 per cent , for generally he that borrows 1000 l. at six per cent. and so pays 60 l. per a●num use , gets more above his use in one year , by his industry , than he that rents a farm of 60 l. per annum gets in two above his rent , though his labour be harder . it being evident therefore that he that has skill in traffick , but has not money enough to exercise it , has not only reason to borrow money to drive his trade , and get a livelyhood , but as much reason to pay use for that money , as he that not having land of his own , yet has skill in husbandry , has not only reason to rent land , but to pay money for the use of it ; it follows , that borrowing money upon use is not only by the necessity of affairs , and the constitution of humane society● unavoidable to some men , but that also to receive profit for the loan of money , is as equitable and lawful , as receiving rent for land , and more tolerable to the borrower , notwithstanding the opinion of some over-scrupulous men. this being so , one would expect , that the rate of interest should be the measure of the value of land in number of years purchase , for which the fee is sold ; for 100 l. per annum being equal to 100 l. per annum , and so to perpetuity . and 100 l. per annum being the product● of 1000 l. when interest is at 10 per cent. of 1250 l. when interest is at 8 per cent. of 1666 l. or thereabouts , when interest is at 6 per cent. of 2000 l. when money is at 5 per cent. of 2500 l. when money is at 4 per cent. one would conclude , i say , that land should sell in proportion to use , according to these following rates , viz. when money is at 10 per cent. for 10 years purchase . when money is at 8 per cent. for 12 1 / ● years purchase . when money is at 6 per cent. for 16 ● / ● years purchase . when money is at 5 per cent. for 20 years purchase . when money is at 4 per cent. for 25 years purchase . but experience tells us , that neither in queen elizabeth , nor king iames the first reigns , when interest was at ten per cent. was land sold for ten ; or when it was at eighth per cent , for 12 ½ years purchase , or any thing near the low rate that high use requir'd ( if it were true , that the rate of interest govern'd the price of land ) any more than land , now yields 25 years purchase , because a great part of the monied men will now lett their money upon good security at four per cent. thus we see in fact how little this rule has held at home ; and he that will look into holland , will find that the purchase of land was not raised there when their interest fell . this is certain , and past doubt , that the legal interest can never regulate the price of land , since it is plain , that the price of land has never changed with it in the several changes have been made in the rate of interest by law , nor now that the rate of interest is by law the same through all england , is the price of land every where the same , it being in some parts constantly sold for 4 or 5 years purchase more than in others . whether you or i can tell the reason of this , it matters not to the question in hand , but it being really so , this is plain demonstration against those who pretend to advance and regulate the price of land by a law , concerning the interest of money . but yet i will give you some of my guesses , why the price of land is not regulated ( as at first sight it seems it should be ) by the interest of money . why it is not regulated by the legal use is manifest , because the rate of money does not follow the standard of the law , but the price of the market ; and men not observing the legal and forced , but the natural and current interest of money , regulate their affairs by that ; but why the rate of land does not follow the current interest of money requires a farther consideration . all things that are bought and sold , raise and fall their price in proportion , as there are more buyers or sellers : where are a great many sellers to a few buyers , there use what art you will , the thing to be sold will be cheap ; on the other side , turn the tables , and raise up a great many buyers for a few sellers , and the same thing will immediately grow dear ; this rule holds in land as well as all other commodities , and is the reason , why in england at the same time , that land in some places is at seventeen or eighteen years purchase , it is about others , where there are pro●itable manu●actures at two or three and twenty years purchase ; because there ( men thriving and getting money by their industry , and willing to leave their estates to their children in land , as the surest , and most lasting provision , and not so liable to casualties as money in untrading or unskillful hands ) there are many buyers ready always to purchase , but few sellers , for the land thereabout being already possessed by that sort of industrious and thriving men , they have neither need , nor will , to sell : in such places of manufacture , the riches o● the one not arising from the squandring and waste of another , ( as it doth in other places where men live lazily upon the product of the land ) the industry of the people bringing in increase of wealth from remote parts , makes plenty of money there without the impoverishing of their neighbours . and when the thriving tradesman has got more than he can well employ in trade , his next thoughts are to look out for a purchase , but it must be a purchase in the neighbourhood , where the estate may be under his eye , and within convenient distance , that the care and pleasure of his farm may not take him off from the engagements of his calling , nor remove his children too far from him , or the trade he breeds them up in ; and this seems to me the reason , why in places wherein thriving manufactures have erected themselves , land has been observed to sell quicker , and for more years purchase than in others , as about hallifax in the north , taunton and exeter in the west . this is that then which makes land as well as other things dear ; plenty of buyers , and but few sellers ; and so by the rule of contraries , plenty of sellers and few buyers makes land cheap . he that will justly estimate the value of any thing , must consider its quantity , in proportion to its vent , for this alone regulates the price ; for the value of any thing , compar'd with its self , or with a standing measure , is greater , as its quantity is less in proportion to its vent ; but in comparing it , or exchanging it with any other thing , the quantity and vent too of that must be allowed for in the computation of their value . but because the desire of money is constantly , almost every where the same , its vent varies very little ; but as its greater scarcity enhanses its price , and increases the scramble , there being nothing else that does easily supply the want of it the le●sening its quantity , therefore , always increase● its price , and makes an equal portion of it exchange for a greater of any other thing . thus it comes to pass , that there is no manner of settled proportion between the value of an ounce of silver , and any other commodity ; for either varying its quantity in that country , or the commodity changing its quantity in proportion to its vent , their respective values change , i. e. less of one will barter for more of the other ; though in the ordinary way of speaking , 't is only said , that the price of the commodity , not of the money is changed . for example , half an ounce of silver in england , will exchange sometimes for a bushel of wheat , sometimes for ½ , sometimes but ¼ , &c. and this it does equally , whether by use it be apt to bring in to the owner 6 / 100 of its own weight per annum , or nothing at all ; it being only the change of the quantity of wheat to its vent , supposing we have still the same summ of money in the kingdom ; or else the change of the quantity of our money in the kingdom , supposing the quantity of wheat , in respect to its vent be the same too , that makes the change in the price of wheat ; for if you alter the quantity or vent on either side , you presently alter the price , but no other way in the world. for it is not the being , adding , increasing or diminishing of any good quality in any commodity that makes its price greater or less , but only as it makes its quantity or vent greater or less , in proportion one to another . this will easily appear by two or three instances . 1. the being of any good and useful quality in any thing , neither increases its price , nor indeed makes it have any price at all , but only as it lessens its quantity or increases its vent , each of these in proportion to one another . what more useful or necessary things are there to the being or well-being of men , than air and water , and yet these have generally no price at all , nor yield any money , because their quantity is immensly greater than their vent in most places of the world ; but , as soon as ever water ( for air still offers its self every where , without restraint or inclosure , and therefore is no where of any price ) comes any where to be reduced into any proportion to its consumption , it begins presently to have a price , and is sometimes sold dearer than wine ; and hence it is , that the best and most useful things are commonly the cheapest , because , though their consumption be great , yet the bounty of providence has made their production large and suitable to it . 2. nor does the adding an excellency to any commodity , raise its price , unless it increase its consumption . for suppose there should be taught a way ( which should be published to the knowledge of every one ) to make a medicine of wheat alone , that should infallibly cure the stone , 't is certain the discovery of this quality in that grain , would give it an excellency very considerable ; and yet this would not increase the price of it one farthing in twenty bushels , because its quantity or vent would not hereby , to any sensible degree , be alter'd . 3. neither does the increasing of any good quality , in any sort of things make it yield more ; for though teasels be much better this year than they were last , they are not one jot dearer , unless they be fewer too , or the consumption of them greater . 4. nor does the lessening the good qualities of any sort of commodity lessen its price ; which is evident in hops , that are usually dearest those years they are worst . but if it happen to be a species of commodity , whose defects may be supplyed by some other , the making of it worse does lessen its price , because it hinders its vent ; for if rye should any year prove generally smutty or grown , no question it would yield less money than otherwise , because the deficiency of that might be , in some measure , made up by wheat and other grain ; but if it be a sort of commodity whose use no other known thing can supply , 't is not its being better or worse , but its quantity and vent is that alone which regulates and determines its value . to apply this now to money as capable of different rates of interest , considering money in its proper use , as a commodity passing in exchange from one to another , all that is done by interest is but adding to money by agreement or publick authority , which naturally it hath not , viz. a faculty of increasing every year six per cent ; now if publick authority sink use to four per cent. 't is certain it diminishes this good quality in money 1 / ● but yet this making the money of england not one farthing more than it was , it alters not the measures upon which all changeable commodities increase or sink their price , and so makes not money exchange for less of any commodity than it would without this alteration of its interest ; but rather if lessening use to four per cent. does at all alter the quantity of money and makes it less ; it makes money as it has the nature of a commodity dearer , i. e. a less quantity of money will exchange for a greater quantity of another commodity than it would before . this perhaps will appear a little plainer by these following particulars . 1. that the intrinsick natural worth of any thing , consists in this , that it is apt to be serviceable to the necessities or conveniencies of human life , and it is naturally more worth , as the necessity or conveniency it supplies is greater ; but yet , 2. that there is no such intrinsick natural settled value in any thing , as to make any assigned quantity of it , constantly worth any assigned quantity of another . 3. the value of any assigned quantities of two or more commodities , are pro hic & nunc , equal , when they will exchange one for another ; as supposing one bushel of wheat , two bushels of barley , 30 l. of lead , and one ounce of silver , will now in the market be taken one for another , they are then of equal worth , and our coin being that which englishmen reckon by ; an englishman would say , that now one bushel of wheat , two bushels of barley , 30 l. of lead , one ounce of silver , were equally worth five shillings . 4. the altering of this value , two things in respect of one another , or any one standing common measure , is not the altering of any intrinsick value or quality in the commodity , ( for musty and smutty corn will sell dearer at one time than the clean and sweet at another ) but the alteration of some proportion , the commodity bears to something else . 5. this proportion in all commodities , whereof money is one , is the proportion of their quantity to the vent , which vent is nothing else but the passing of commodities from one owner to another in exchange , and is then called quicker , when a greater quantity of any species of commodity is taken off from the owners of it in an equal space of time . 6. this vent is regulated , i. e. made quicker or slower , as greater or less quantities of any saleable commodity are removed out of the way , and course of trade ; separated from publick commerce ; and no longer lie within the reach of exchange . for though any commodity should shift hands never so fast , and be exchanged from one man to another ; yet if they were not thereby exempted from trade and sale , and did not cease to be any longer traffick , this would not at all make , or quicken their vent ; but this seldom or never happening , makes very little or no alteration : and thus the vent is altered three ways ; 1. by consumption , when the commodity in its use is destroy'd , as meat , drink , and cloths , &c. all that is so consumed is quite gone out of the trade of the world. 2. exportation ; and all that is so carried away , is gone out of the trade of england , and concerns englishmen no more in the price of their commodities among themselves , than if it were out of the world. 3. buying and laying up for a mans private use. for what is by any of these ways shut out of the market , and no longer moveable by the hand of commerce , makes no longer any part of merchantable ware , and so in respect of trade , and the quantity of any commodity , is not more considerable than if it were not in being . all these three terminating at last in consumption of all commodities , ( excepting only jewels and plate , and some few others which wear out but insensibly ) may properly enough pass under that name . ingrossing too has some influence on the present vent , but this inclosing some considerable part of any commodity ( for if the ingrossing be of all the commodity , and it be of general use , the price is at the will of the ingrosser ) out of the free common of trade only for some time , and afterwards returning again to sale , makes not usually so sensible and general an alteration in the vent as the others do , but yet influences the price , and the vent more according as it extends its self to a larger portion of the commodity , and hoards it up longer . 7. most other portable commodities ( excepting jewels , plate , &c. ) decaying quickly in their use , but money being less consumed or increased , i. e. by slower degrees removed from , or brought into the free commerce of any country , than the greatest part of other merchandize ; and so the proportion between its quantity and vent , altering slower than in most other commodities , it is commonly look'd on as a standing measure to judge of the value of all things , especially being adapted to it by its weight and denomination in coinage . 8. money , whilst the same quantity of it is passing up and down the kingdom in trade , is really a standing measure of the falling and rising value of other things in reference to one another : and the alteration of price is truely in them only . but if you increase or lessen the quantity of money current in traffick in any place , then the alteration of value is in the money ; and if at the same time wheat keep its proportion of vent to quantity , money to speak truly alters its worth , and wheat does not , though it sell for a greater or less price than it did before ; for money being look'd upon as the standing measure of other commodities , men consider and speak of it still as if it were a standing measure , though when it has varied its quantity , 't is plain it is not . 9. but the value or price of all commodities , amongst which money passing in trade is truly one , consisting in proportion , you alter this , as you do all other proportions , whether you increase one or lessen the other . in all other commodities , the owners when they design them for traffick , endeavour as much as they can to have them vented and gone , i. e. removed out of the reach of commerce and exchange , by consumption , exportation , or laying up , which vent is sometimes slower , and sometimes quicker , but money never lying upon peoples hands , or wanting vent , ( for any one may part with it in exchange when he pleases ; ) the endeavour of the publick , and almost every body , is to keep it from venting or consuming , i. e. exportation or hoarding up , which is its proper consumption . the vent of money therefore being always sufficient , or more than enough , its quantity alone is enough to regulate and determine its value , without considering any proportion between its quantity and vent , as in other commodities . 10. therefore lessening of use , not bringing one penny of money more into the trade or exchange of any country , but rather drawing it away from trade , and so making it less , does not at all sink its value , and make it buy less of any commodity , but rather more . 11. that which raises the natural interest of money , is the same that raises the rent of land , ( i. e. ) its aptness to bring in yearly to him that manages it , a greater overplus of income above his rent , as a reward to his labour . that which causes this in land is the greater quantity of its product , in proportion to the same vent of that particular fruit , or the same quantity of product , in proportion to a greater vent of that single commodity ; but that which causes encrease of profit to the borrower of money , is the less quantity of money , in proportion to trade , or to the vent of all commodities , taken together , & vice versa . 12. the natural value of money , as it is apt to yield such an yearly income by interest , depends on the whole quantity of the then passing money of the kingdom , in proportion to the whole trade of the kingdom , ( i. e. ) the general vent of all the commodities . but the natural value of money , in exchanging for any one commodity , is the quantity of the trading money of the kingdom , designed for that commodity , in proportion to that single commodity and its vent . for though any single man's necessity and want , either of money , or any species of commodity , being known , may make him pay dearer for money , or that commodity ; yet this is but a particular case , that does not at the same time alter this constant and general rule . 13. that supposing wheat a standing measure , that is , that there is constantly the same quantity of it in proportion to its vent , we shall find money to run the same variety of changes in its value , as all other commodities do . now that wheat in england does come nearest to a standing measure , is evident , by comparing wheat with other commodities , money , and the yearly income of land in hen. 7. time and now . for supposing 1 hen. 7. n. let 100 acres of land to a. for 6 d. per an. per acre , rack-rent● and to b. another 100 acres of land , o● the same soil and yearly worth with the former , for a bushel of wheat per acre● rack-rent , ( a bushel of wheat about that time being probably sold for about 6 d. it was then an equal rent . if therefore these leases were for years yet to come 't is certain that he that paid 6 d. per acre . would pay now 50 s. per an. and he that paid a bushel of wheat per acre , would pay about 25 l. per an. which would be ne●r about the yearly value of the land● were it to be let now . the reason where of is this , that there being ten times a● much silver now in the world , ( the discovery of the w●st-indi●s having made the plenty ) as there was then , it is 9 / 1● less worth now than it was at that time ; that is , it will exchange for 9 / 1● less of any commodity now , which bears the same proportion to its vent as it did 200 years since ; which , of all other commodities● wheat is likeliest to do . for in england , and this part of the world , wheat being th● constant and most general food , not altering with the fashion , not growing by chance ; but as the farmers sow more or less of it , which they endeavour to proportion , as near as can be guessed , to the consumption , abstracting the over-plus of the precedent year in their provision for the next ; and vice versâ , it must needs fall out that it keeps the nearest proportion to its consumption , ( which is more studied and designed in this than other commodities ) of any thing , if you take it for 7 or 20 years together ; though perhaps the plenty or scarcity of one year , caused by the accidents of the season , may very much vary it from the immediately precedent , or the following . wheat therefore , in this part of the world , ( and that grain which is the constant general food of any other country ) is the fittest measure to judge of the alter'd value of things in any long tract of time : and therefore wheat here , rice in turkey , &c. is the fittest thing to reserve a rent in , which is designed to be constantly the same for all future ages . but money is the best measure of the alter'd value of things in a few years ; because its vent is the same , and its quantity alters slowly . but wheat , or any other grain , cannot serve instead of money● because of its bulkiness and too quick change of its quantity : for had i a bond , to pay me 100 bushels of wheat next year , it might be ¾ loss or gain to me ; too great an inequality and uncertainty to be ventur'd in trade , besides the different goodness of several parcels of wheat in the same year . 14. that supposing any island separate from the commerce of the rest of mankind , if gold and silver , or whatever else , ( so it be lasting ) be their money , if they have but a certain quantity of it , and can get no more , that will be a steady standing measure of the value of all other things . 15. that if in any country they use for money any lasting material , whereof there is not any more to be got , and so cannot be encreas'd , or being of no other use , the rest of the world does not value it , and so it is not like to be diminished ; this also would be a steady standing measure of the value of other commodities . 16. that in a country where they had such a standing measure , any quantity of that money ( if it were but so much that every body might have some ) would serve to drive any proportion of trade , whether more or less , there being counters enough to reckon by , and the value of the pledges being still sufficient , as constantly encreasing with the plenty of the commodity . but these three last , being built on suppositions that are not like to be found in the practice of mankind , since navigation and commerce have brought all parts acquainted with one another , and introduced the use of gold and silver money into all trading parts of the world ; they serve rather to give us some light into the nature of money , than to teach here a new measure of traffick , though it be certain , that that part of the world , which bred most of our gold and silver , used least of it in exchange , and used it not for money . 17. that therefore in any country that hath commerce with the rest of the world , it is almost impossible now to be without the use of silver coin , and having money of that , and accounts kept in such money , it is impossible to have any standing , unalterable measure of the value of things ; for whil'st the mines supply to mankind more than wastes and consumes in its use , the quantity of it will daily grow greater in respect of other commodities , and its value less . 18. that in a country that hath open commerce with the rest of the world , and uses money made of the same materials with their neighbours , any quantity of that money will not serve to drive any quantity of trade , but that there must be a certain proportion between money and trade : the reason whereof is this , because to keep your trade going without loss , your comodities amongst you , must keep an equal , or , at least , near the price of the same species of commodities in the neighbour countries , which they cannot do , if your money be far less than in other countries ; for then , either your commodities must be sold very cheap , or a great part of your trade must stand still ; there not being money enough in the country to pay for them ( in their shifting of hands ) at that high price which the plenty , and consequently low value of money makes them at in another country ; for the value of money in general is the quantity of all the money in the world , in proportion to all the trade ; but the value of money in any one country , is the present quantity of the current money in that country , in proportion to the present trade : supposing then , that we had now in england but half as much money as we had seven years ago , and yet had still as much yearly product of commodities , as many hands to work them , and as many brokers to disperse th●m as before , and that the rest of the world we trade with , had as much money as they had before ( for 't is likely they should have more by our moiety shared amongst them ) 't is certain , that either half our rents should not be paid , half our commodities not vented , and half our labourers not imployed , and so half the trade be clearly lost , or else that every one of these must receive but half the money for their commodities and labour they did before , and but half so much as our neighbours do receive for the same labour , and same natural product at the same time , which , though it will make no scarcity of our native commodities amongst us , yet it will have these ill consequences . 1. it will make our native commodities vent very cheap . 2. it will make all foreign commodities very dear , both which will keep us poor : for the merchant making silver and gold his measure , and considering what the foreign commodity costs him ( i. e. how many ounces of silver ) in the country where money is more plenty , i. e. cheaper , and considering too how many ounces of silver it will yield him in another country , will not part with it here , but for the same quantity of silver , or as much as that silver will buy here of our commodity , which will be a great deal more than in another place ; so that in all our exchange of native for foreign commodities , we pay double the value that any other country does , where money is in greater plenty : this indeed will make a dearness , and , in time , a scarcity of foreign commodities ; which is not the worst inconveniency that it brings upon us , supposing them not absolutely necessary : but 3. it endangers the drawing away our people , both handicrafts , mariners , and soldiers , who are apt to go where their pay is best ; which will always be where there is greatest plenty of money , and , in time of war , must needs bring great distress . 19. upon this measure too it is , that the variation of exchange of money , between several countries , does somewhat depend ; for it is certain , that one ounce of silver is always of equal value to another ounce of silver considered in its intrinsick worth , or in reference to the universal trade of the world ; but 't is not of the same value at the same time , in several parts of the world , but is of most worth in that country where there is the least money , in proportion to its trade ; and therefore men may afford to give 20 ounces of silver in one place , to receive 18 or 19 ounces of silver in another : but this is not all to this then , ( to find out the alteration of the exchange ) the over-ballance of the trade must be taken into consideration ; and these two together regulate the exchange in all the commerce of the world , and , in both the increase of the exchange ( i. e. receiving a greater quantity of silver ( for that is the measure , let the coin or the denomination be what it will ) in one country for a less quantity of silver paid in another country ) depends upon one and the same thing , viz. the greater plenty of money in one country than in the other , only with this difference , that where the over-ballance of trade raises the exchange above the par , there it is the plenty of money which private merchants have in one country , which they desire to remove into another : but where the riches of the country raises the exchange above the par , there it is the plenty of the money in the whole country . in one , the merchant has more money ( or debts , which is all one ) in a foreign country than his trade there will imploy , and so is willing to allow upon exchange to him abroad , that shall pay him ready money at home , 1 , 2 , 3 , &c. per cent. more or less , proportionably as his or his countrymens plenty of ready money abroad , the danger of leaving it there , or the difficulty of bringing it home in specie , and his present need of money at home is greater or lesi . in the other , the whole country has more money than can well be imploy'd in the trade thereof , or at least , the proportion of the money to the trade is greater than in the neighbouring country , where the exchange is below the par. for , supposing the ballance of trade to be equal between england and holland , but that there be in holland a greater plenty of money than in england , ( which will appear by the lowness of the national use in holland , and the heighth of the national use in england ; and also by the dearness of food and labour in general in holland , and the cheapness of it in england . ) if n. has 10000 l. in holland , which the greater advantage he could make of it in england , either by use or purchase , tempts him to transfer into england , 't is probable he will give as much to a merchant in holland to pay him 10000 l. in england , as the ensurance of that time between holland and england is worth ; which , if it be in a country where the exportation of bullion is prohibited , he must pay the more , because his venture , if he carry it in specie , will be greater ; and , upon this ground , perhaps the prohibiting the exportation of money out of england , under penalties , may be of some use , by making the rate of the exchange greater upon those countries who import upon us more than they export in commodities , and so retain some part of the money which their over-ballance of trade would carry away from us , though , after all , if we are over-ballanc'd in trade it must go . but , since the holland merchant cannot receive n — 's 10000 l. in money in holland , and pay him 10000 l. in england , unless his over-ballance of trade make english-men indebted to him 10000 l. in money , which he is not like to take in commodity . i think the over-ballance of trade is that which chiefly raises the exchange in any country , and that plenty of money in any country does it only for so much of the money as is transfer'd either to be let out to use , or to be spent there ; and though lending to foreigners , upon use , doth not at all alter the ballance of trade between those countries , yet it does alter the exchange between those countries for so much as is lent upon use , by not calling away the money that should follow the over-ballance of trade , but letting it rest there , as if it were accounted for ; all one as if the ballance of trade were for so much altered : but this being not much in comparison of the gener●● traffick between two nations , or at lea●● varying slower , the merchant too regulating the exchange , and not the usurer i suppose it is the present ballance of trade , on which the exchange immedi●ately and chiefly depends , unless some accident shall make a great deal of money be remitted at the same time , from one place to another , which will for the timeraise the exchange all one as an ove●-ballance of trade ; and indeed , when examin'd is generally very little different from it● to be able to estimate the par with the rise and fall of the exchange , it is necessary to know the intrinsick value , i● how much silver is in the coins of th● two countries , by which you reckon and charge the bill of exchange . sir , if i have been led a little too f●● from one thing to another , in the considerat●●on of money , i beg your pardon , h● pu●●● that these particulars will afford some lig●● to our present subject . to return to the price of land , by which has been abovesaid , it is evident that the years purchase of land do not increase with the fall of interest , and the abating that good quality in money of yielding yearly six p●r cen● . to four , does not presently so sink its value , in respect of land , that 1 / ● part more is requir'd in exchange : that is , that falling of interest from six to four , will not raise land from twenty to thirty years purchase . the raising and falling of the price of land , as of other things , depends much on the quantity of land , set to sale , compar'd with the quantity of money design'd for that traffick , or which amounts to the same thing , upon the number of buyers and sellers , for where there are many sellers and few purchasers , though interest be lessened , land will be cheap , as i have already shew'd . at least , this is certain , that making a law to reduce interest , will not raise the price of lands : it will only , by driving it more into the bankers hands , leave the country barer of money , whereby , if the price of land about london , should be accidently raised , that of remoter countries would thereby have fewer purchasers , and at lower rates . this being so , that the low rate of land depends much on the great number of sellers in proportion to purchasers , the next thing to be inquir'd into , is , what makes plenty of sellers ? and to that the answer is obvious , general ill husbandry ; and the consequence of it debts . if a neglect of government and religion , ill examples , and depraved education , have introduced debauchery ; and art or chance has made it fashionable for men to live beyond their estates , debts will increase and multiply , and draw with them a necessity on men , first of incumbring , and then selling their estates ; this is generally the cause why men part with their land : and i think there is scarce one of an hundred that thinks of selling his patrimony till mortgages have pretty well eat into the freehold ; and the weight of growing debts force a man , whether he will or no , out of his possessions . when almost is there ever a clear and unincumbred estate set to sale ? 't is seldom a thriving man turns his land into money to make the greater advantage . the examples of it are so rare , that they are scarce of any consideration in the number of sellers . this i think may be the reason , why in queen elizabeth's days ( when sobriety , frugality , and industry , brought in dai●y increase , to the growing wealth of the kingdom ) ●and kept up its price , and sold for more years purchase than corresponded to the interest of money , then busily imploy●d in a thriving trade , which made the natural interest much higher than it is now , as well as the parliament then set it higher by law. on the contrary side , what makes scarcity of purchasers ; 1. the same reason , ill husbandry ; when the tradesman lives up to the height of his income , and the vanity of expences either drains the merchants coffers , or keeps them from over-flowing , he seldom thinks of purchasing : buying of land is the result of a full and satiated gain , and men in trade seldom think of laying out their money upon land , till their profit has brought them in more than their trade can well employ , and their idle bags cumbring their counting houses , put them upon emptying them on a purchase . 2. another thing that makes a scarcity of buyers of land , are doubtful and ill titles , where these are frequent and fatal , one can no more expect , that men who have money , should be forward to purchase , than ships richly laden to venture themselves amongst roc●s and quicksands . 't is no wonder such seas should not be much frequented where the examples , and remains of daily wrecks , shew the ●olly and hazard of the venture , in the number of those who have miscarried . 3. a general decay of trade discourages men from purchasing● for this threatens an universal poverty , which is sure to fall first and heaviest upon land. the merchant who furnishes the improvident landholder , will not fail to have money for his wares with gain , whether the kingdom get by his trade or no , and he will keep his money rather employ'd in trade , which brings him in profit , ( for the merchant may get by a trade that makes the kingdom poor ) than lay it out in land , whose rents he sees sinking , and foresees by the course of trade , is likely to continue on to do so . when a nation is running to decay and ruine , the merchant and monied man , do what you can , will be sure to starve last : observe it where you will , the decays that come upon , and bring to ruine any country , do constantly first fall upon the land ; and though the country gentleman , ( who u●ually securely relies upon so much a year as was given in at his marriage settlement , and thinks his land an unmoveable fund for such an income ) be not very forward to think so ; yet this neverthe●ess is an undoubted truth , that he is more concern'd in trade and ou●ht to take a greater care that it be w●ll manag'd and preserved than even the merchant himself ; for he will certainly find● that when a decay of trade has carried away one part of our money out of the kingdom , and the other is kept in the merchant and tradesmans hands , that no laws he can make , nor any little arts of shifting property amongst our selves , will bring it back to him again : but his rents will fall , and his income every day lessen , till general industry , and frugality , join'd to a well order'd trade , shall restore to the kingdom the riches and wealth it had formerly . this by the way , if well consider'd , might let us see , that taxes , however contrived , and out of whose hand soever immediately taken , do in a country , where their great fund is in land , for the most part terminate upon land. whatsoever the people is chiefly maintain●d by , that the government supports it self on : nay , perhaps it will be found , that those taxes which seem least to affect land , will most surely of all other , ●a● the rents ; which is an evil the hardest to be recovered , for rents once f●●len are not e●sily raised again . a tax laid upon land seems hard to the landholder , because it is so much money going visibly out of his pocket ; and 〈…〉 ease to ●imself , the landholder i●●●●●ys fo●ward to lay it upon commodities : but 〈…〉 through●y consid●● it , and 〈◊〉 the effects , he will find he buys this seeming ease at a very dear rate , and though he pays not this tax immediately out of his own purse , yet there will be more wanting there at the end of the year than that comes to , with the lessening of his rents , which is a settled and lasting evil , that will stick upon him beyond the present payment . to make this clear , let us suppose in the present state of affairs in england , that the rents of england are twelve millions , and that the charge and necessities of the government requires a supply of three millions from the parliament , which is laid on land ; here is one fourth part of his yearly income goes immediately out of the landlords and landholders pocket : this is a burthen very apt to be felt , he readily perceives what goes thus out of his estate , who actually pays the money out of his pocket , or finds it deducted out of his rent at quarter-day for taxes ; but though this be a quarter of his yearly income , and out of an estate of four hundred pounds a year , the publick tax now openly takes away one hundred ; yet this influences not at all the yearly rent of the land , which the rack-renter or under tenant pays ; it being the same thing to him , whether he pays all his rent to the king or his landlord , or ½ or ¼ or none at all to the king ; the case is all one to him what hand receives his rent , when due ; so trade flourishes , and his commodities go off well , he will be able to pay his rent on . this lessens not any more the value of his farm , than an high or a low chief rent does , paid out of it to the lord of the fee ; and the tenant's bargain and profit is the same , whether the land be charg'd or not charg'd with an annuity payable to another man. we see this in college leases , where though the college tenant pays for it to the college some years five times as much as he does others , upon the varying rate of corn , yet the under tenant feels not this alteration in the least , nor finds a reason to have his rent abated , because a greater part of it is diverted from his landlord . all this is but changing the hand that receives the rent , without any influence at all upon the yearly value of the estate ; which will not be let for one penny more or less to the renter , however , or amongst whomsoever , the rent he pays , be divided . from hence it is evident , that taxes laid on land do not in the least make rents fall . but suppose , to shift off the burthen from the land , some country gentlemen should think fit to raise these three millions upon commodities , to let the land go free . first , it is to be considered , that since the publick wants require three millions , ( for that we suppos'd for argument sake ; let it be three millions , or one million , that 's all one ; ) and so much must go into the king's coffers ; or else the necessities of the government will not be supplied ; that for raising these three millions on commodities , and bringing so much into the exch●quer , there must go a great deal more than three millions out of the subj●cts pockets : for a tax of that nature cannot be levied by officers , to watch every little rivulet of trade , without a great cha●ge , especially at first trial . but supposing no more charge in raising it , than of a land tax , and that there are only ● millions to be paid , t is evident that to do this out of commodities , they must to the co●●umer b● raised ¼ in their price ; so that every t●●●g , to him that uses it , must be ¼ d●●●er . ●et us see now who at long run 〈◊〉 pay this ¼ and where it will light . 't is p●ain , the merchant and broker , neither will nor c●n ; for if he pays 1 / ● more for commodities than he did , he will sell them at a price proportionably raised . the poor labourer and handicraftsman cannot ; for he just lives from hand to mouth already , and all his food , cloathing and utensils , costing ¼ more than they did before ; either his wages must rise with the price of things , to make him live , or else , not being able to maintain himself and family by his labour , he comes to the parish ; and then the land bears the burthen a heavier way . if the labourer's wages be rais'd in proportion to the encreas'd rates of things , the farmer , who pays ¼ more for wages , as well as all other things , whil'st he sells his corn and wool , either at the same rate , or lower , at the market , ( since the tax laid upon it makes people less forward to buy ) must either have his rent abated , or else break and run away in his landlord's debt ; and so the yearly value of the land is brought down , and who then pays the tax at the years end , but the landlord ; when the tenant , not able to raise his rent by his commodities , either runs away in his landlords debt , or cannot be cotinued in the farm without abatement of rent ? for when the yearly charge in his farm is greater by the increase of the labourers wages , and yet his product sells ●ea●er by reason of the tax laid on his commodities ; how will the farmer be able to make up his rent at quarter day ? for this may be worth our notice , that any tax laid on foreign commodities in england , raises its price , and makes the importer get more for his commodity ; but on the contrary , a tax laid on your native product , and home made commodities , lessens their price , and makes them yield less to the first seller . the reason whereof is plain . for the merchant importing no commodity but what the necessity , or fashionable wantonness of your people gives him vent for , will not only proportion his gain , to the cost and risque he has been at before landing , but will expect profit of his money paid here , for any tax laid on it ; and take advantage from thence to raise his price above what his tax comes to ; and if he cannot do that , he will trade no more in that commodity . for it being not the product of his farm , he is not tied to bring it to market , if he finds its price not answer his expectation there , but turns himself to other wares , which he finds your markets take off better . a merchant will never continue to trade in wares , which the change of fashion , or humour amongst your people , have made less vendible , though he may be sometimes caught by a sudden alteration . but that seldom happens in the course of trade , so as to influence the great bulk of it : for things of necessity must still be had , and things of fashion will be had as long as men have money or credit , whatever rates they cost , and the rather because they are dear ; for it being vanity not use that makes the expensive fashions of your people , the emulation is , who shall have the finest , that is the dearest things , not the most convenient or useful . how many things do we value and buy , because they come at dear rates from iapan and china , which if they were our own manufacture or product , to be had common and for a little money , would be contemned and neglected ? have not several of our own commodities offered to sale at reasonable rates been despised , and the very same eagerly bought and brag'd of when sold for french at a double price ? you must not think therefore that the raising their price will lessen the vent of fashionable foreign commodities amongst you , as long as men have any way to purchase them , but rather increase it . french wine is become a modi●h drink amongst us , and a man is asham'd to entertain his friend , or almost to dine himself without it . the price is in the memory of man rais'd from 6 d. to 2 s. and does this hinder the drinking of it ? no , the quite contrary , a man's way of living is commended , because he will give any rate for it ; and a man will give any rate rather than pass for a poor wretch , or penurious curmudgeon that is not able or knows not how to live well nor use his friends civilly . fashion is for the most part nothing but the ostentation of riches , and therefore the high price of what serves to that , rather increases than lessens its vent : the contest and glory is in the expence , not the usefulness of it , and people are then thought and said to live well , when they can make a shew of rare and foreign things , and such as their neighbours cannot go to the price of . thus we see how foreign commodities fall not in their price by taxes laid on them , because the merchant is not necessitated to bring to your market any but fashionable commodities , and those go off the better for their high rate : but on the contrary your land 〈◊〉 being forced to bring his commodities to market , such as his land and industry affords them , common and known things , must sell them there at such price as he can get . this the buyer knows ; and these home-bred commodities being seldom the favourites of your people , or any farther acceptable than as great conveniency recommends them to the vulgar or downright necessity to all , as soon as a tax is laid on them , every one makes as sparing a use of them as he can , that he may save his money for other necessary or creditable expences , whereby the price they yield the first seller is mightily abated , and so the yearly value of the land which produces them lessen'd too . if therefore the laying of taxes upon commodities does , as it is evident , affect the land that is out at rack-rent , it is plain it does equally affect all the other land in england too , and the gent● will , but the worst way , increase their own charges ; that is by lessening thei● yearly value of their estates , if they hope to ease their land by charging commodities . it is in vain in a country whose great fund is land● to hope to lay the publick charge of the government on any thing else , there at last it will terminate . the merchant ( do what you can ) will not bear it : the labourer cannot , and therefore the landholder must ; and whether he were best do it , by laying it directly where it will at last settle , or by letting it come to him by the sinking of his rents , which when they are once fallen every one knows are not easily raised again , let him consider . holland is brought as an instance of laying the charge of the publique upon trade , and 't is possible ( excepting some few small free towns ) the only place in the world that could be brought to favour this way . but yet when examin'd will be found to shew the quite contrary , and be a clear proof , that lay the taxes how you will , land every where in proportion bears the greater share of the burthen . the publick charge of the government , is , 't is said in the united provinces , laid on trade , i grant it is , the greatest part of it ; but is the land excus'd or eas'd by it ? by no means , but on the contrary so loaded , that in many places ½ , in others ¼ , in others 1 / ● of the yearly value does not come in to the owners pocket : and if i have not been misinformed , the land in some places will not pay the taxes ; so that we may say , that the charge of the government came not upon commodities till the land could not bear it . the burthen unavoidably settles upon the land first , and when it has pressed it so that it can yield no more , trade must be brought in aid to help to support the government rather than let all sink : but the first stress is always upon land , and as far as that will reach it is unavoidably carried , lay your taxes how you will. 't is known what a share of the publick charges of the government is supported by the trade of amsterdam alone , as i remember the 36 / 100 ; but are the lands of guelderland eas'd by it ? let any one see in that country of land more than trade , what they make clear of their revenues , and whether the country genttlemen there grow rich on their land , whilst the merchant having the taxes laid on his commerce is impoverish'd ? on the contrary guelderland is so low and out of cash , that amsterdam has been fain for many years to lay down the taxes for them , which is , in effect , to pay the taxes of guelderland too . struggle and contrive as you will , lay your taxes as you please , the merchants and traders will shift it off from their own gain , bear the least part of it , and grow poor last . in holland it self , where trade is so loaded , who , i pray , grows richest the land-holder or the trader ? which of them is pinch'd , and wants money most ? a country may thrive , the country gentleman grow rich , and his rents increase ( for so it has been here ) whilst the land is taxed . but i challenge any one to shew me a country wherein there is any considerable publick charge raised , where the land does not most sensibly feel it , and in proportion bear much the greater part of it . we must not therefore impute the fal●ling of the rents , or price of land to high interest : nor if i●l husbandry has wasted our riches hope by such kind of laws to raise them to their former value , i humbly conceive we shall in vain endeavour it by the fall of interest . the number of buyers must be increased and sellers lessen'd , which must be done by other ways than regulating of interest , or else the landed man will neither find chapmen for his land , nor for the corn that grow on it at the rate he desires . but could an act of parliament , bring down interest to 4 per cent. and the lowering of that immediately raise the purchasers fine from 20 to 25 years purchase ; yet it may be doubted , whethe● this be sit to be made into a law , becaus● it would be of no advantage to the king●dom . for what profit would it b● to the nation to make a law , that 〈◊〉 who sells land should instead of 4 hav● 5 hundred pounds of the purcharser . thi● indeed a little alters the distribution of th● money we have amongst us englishma● here at home , but neither helps to continue what we have , nor brings in more from abroad ; which being the only concernment of the kingdom , in reference to its wealth , is apt to be supposed by us without doors to be the only care of a parliament : for it matters not so it be here amongst us , whether it be in thomas or richards hands , provided it be so ordered , that whoever has it may be encouraged to let it go into the current of trade , for the improvement of the general stock and wealth of the nation . as this increase of the fine in the purchase of land is not an advantage to the kingdom , so neither is it to the land-holder , who is the person that bearing the greatest part of the burthens of the kingdom , ought , i think , to have the greatest care taken of him , and enjoy as many privileges and as much wealth , as the ●avour of the law can ( with regard to the publick-weal ) confer upon him . but pray consider , to raise the years purchase in buying of land gives the advantage not to the landholder , but to him that ceases to be so . he that has no longer the land has the more money , and he who has the land is the poorer . the true advantage of the landholder is , that his ●orn , flesh , and wool , sell better , and yield a greater price ; this indeed is a profit that benefits the owner of the land and goes along with it ; it is this alone raises the rent and makes the possessor richer ; and this can only be done by increasing our wealth , and drawing more money into england , which the falling of interest , and thereby ( if it could effect it ) raising the purchase of land is so far from doing , that it does visibly and directly one way hinder our increase of wealth , that is , by hindering foreigners to come here and buy land , and settle amongst us . whereby we have this double loss ; first we lose their persons , increase of people being the increase both of strength and riches : secondly we lose so much money . for though whatever an englishman gives to another for land , though raised to 40 years purchase , be not one farthing advantage to the kingdom , yet whatever a foreigner , who purchases land here , gives for it , is so much every farthing clear gain to the nation , for the money comes clear in , without carrying out any thing for it● and is all one as if it drop'd down from the clouds . but farther , if consideration be to be had only of sellers of land , the lowering of interest to 4 per cent will not be in their favour , unless , by it , you can raise land to thirty years purchase , which is not at all likely ; and i think no body by falling of interest to four per cent , hopes to get chapmen for their land at that rate ; and whatsoever they have less , if law can regulate interest , they lose of their value of land , money being thus abased . so that the landedman will scarce find his account neither , by this law when it comes to trial . and at last i imagine this will be the result of all such attempts , that experience will shew , that the price of things will not be regulated by laws , though the endeavours after it will be sure to prejudice and inconvenience trade , and put your affairs out of order . if this be thus , that interest cannot be regulated by law , or that if it could , yet the reducing of it to four per cent. would do more harm than good ; what then should there ( will you say ) be no law at all to regulate interest ? i say not so , for , 1. it is necessary that there should be a stated rate of interest , that in debts and forbearances , where contract has not setled it between the parties , the law might give a rule , and courts of judicature might know what damages to allow : this may , and therefore should , be regulated . 2. that in the present current of running cash , which now takes its course almost all to london , and is ingrossed by a very few hands in comparison , young men , and those in want , might not too easily be exposed to extortion and oppression ; and the dextrous and combining money jobbers not have too great and unbounded a power , to prey upon their ignorance or necessity , there would not be much danger of this , if money were more equally distributed into the several quarters of england , and into a greater number of hands according to the exigences of trade . if money were to be hired , as land is , or to be had as corn , or wooll , from the owner himself , and known good security be given for it , it might then probably be had at the market ( which is the true ) rate , and would be a constant gauge of your trade and wealth ; but when a kind of monopoly , by consent , has put this general commodity into a few hands , it may need regulation , though what the stated rate of interest should be in the constant change of affairs , and ●lux of money , is hard to determine . possibly it may be allowed as a reasonable proposal that it should be within such bounds 〈…〉 quite l●t up the merchants and tradesmans profit , and discourage their industry ; nor on the other hand so low , as should hinder men from risquing their money in other mens hands , and so rather chuse to keep it out of trade , than venture it upon so small profit . when it is too high , it so hinders the merchants gain , that he will not borrow ; when too low , it so hinders the monied mans profit , that he will not lend ; and both these ways it is a hindrance to trade . but this being perhaps too general and loose a rule , let me add , that if one would consider money and land alone , in relation one to another , perhaps it is now at six per cent. in as good a proportion as is possible , six per cent. being a little higher than land at twenty years purchase , which is the rate pretty near that land has generally carried in england , it never being much over nor under . for supposing 100 l. in money , and land of 5 l. per annum , be of equal value , which is land at twenty years purchase : 't is necessary for the making their value truly equal , that they should produce an equal income , which the 100 l. at 5 l. per cent. interest is not likely to do . 1. because of the many , and sometimes long intervals of barrenness , which happen to money more than land. money at use , when return'd into the hands of the owner , usually lies dead there , till he gets a new tenant for it , and can put it out again ; and all this time it produces nothing . but this happens not to land , the growing product whereof turns to account to the owner , even when it is in his hands , or is allow'd for by the tenant , antecedently to his entring upon the farm. for though a man who borrows money at midsummer , never begins to pay his interest from our lady-day , or one moment backwards , yet he who rents a farm at midsummer , may have as much reason to begin his rent from our lady-day , as if he had then entred upon it . besides the dead intervals of ceasing profit , which happen to money more than land , there is another reason why the profit and income of money let out , should be a little higher than that of land ; and that is , because money out at interest ●●●s a greater risque than land does ; the ●o●●ower may break and run away with the money , and then not only the 〈◊〉 due , but all the future profit , with the principal , is lost forever ; but in land a man can lose but the rent due , for which usually too the stock upon the land is sufficient security ; and if a tenant run away in arrear of some rent , the land remains , that cannot be carried away or lost . should a man purchase good land in middlesex of 5 l. per annum , at twenty years purchase , and other land in rumney-marsh , or elsewhere of the same yearly value , but so situated , that it were in danger to be swallowed of the sea , and be utterly lost , it would not be unreasonable he should expect to have it under twenty years purchase ; suppose 16 ½ . this is to bring it to just the case of land at twenty years purchase , and money at six per cent. where the uncertainty of securing ones money may well be allowed that advantage of greater profit ; and therefore perhaps the legal interest now in england at six per cent , is as reasonable and convenient a rate as can well be set by a standing rule , especially if we consider that the law requires not a man to pay six per cent , but ties up the lender from taking more ; so that if ever it falls of it self , the monied man is sure to find it , and his interest will be brought down to it . high interest is thought by some a prejudice to trade ; but if we will look back , we shall find that england never throve so well , nor was there ever brought into england so great an increase of wealth since , as in queen elizabeth's and king iames i. and king charles i. time . when money was at 10 and 8 per cent. . i will not say high interest was the cause of it ; for i rather think that our thriving trade was the cause of high interest , every one craving money to employ in a profitable commerce . but this i think i may reasonably infer from it , that lowering of interest is not a sure way to improve either our trade or wealth . to this i hear some say , that the dutch , skilful in all arts of promoting trade , to out do us in this as well as all other advancements of it , have observed this rule , that when we fell interest in england from 10 to 8. they presently sunk interest in holland to 4 per cent. and again , when we lower'd it to 6 , they fell it to 3 per cent. thereby to keep the advantage which the lowness of interest gives to trade . from whence these men readily conclude , that the falling of interest will a●●ance trade in england . to which i answer , 1. that this looks like an argument , rather made for the present occasion , to mislead those who are cred●lous enough to swallow it , than arising from 〈◊〉 reason and matter of fact. for if lowering interest were so advantageous to trade , why did the dutch so constantly take their measures only by us , and not as well by some other of their neighbours , with whom they have as great or greater commerce than with us ? this is enough at first sight to make one suspect this to be dust only rais'd to throw in peoples eyes , and a suggestion made to serve a purpose . for , 2. it will not be found true , that when we abated interest here in england to 8. the dutch sunk it in holland to 4 per cent. by law ; or that there was any law made in holland to limit the rate of interest to 3 per cent. when we reduced it in england to 6. it is true , iohn de witt , when he managed the affairs of holland , setting himself to lessen the publick debt , and having actually paid some , and getting money in a readiness to pay others , sent notice to all the creditors , that those who would not take 4 per cent. should come and receive their money . the creditors finding him in earnest , and knowing not how otherwise to employ their money , accepted his terms , and changed their obligations into 4 per cent. whereas before they were at 5. and so ( the great loans of the country being to the state ) it might be said in this sense , that the rate of interest was reduced lower at that time ; but that it was done by a law , forbidding to take higher interest that 4 per cent. that i deny , and require any one to shew . indeed upon good security one might lately have borrowed money in holland at 3 , and 3 ½ per cent. but not by vertue of any law , but the natural rate of interest . and i appeal to the men learned in the law of holland , whether last year ( and i doubt not but it is so still ) a man might not lawfully lend his money for what interest he could get ; and whether in the courts he should not recover the interest he contracted for , if it were 10 per cent. so that if money be to be borrowed by honest and responsible men , at 3 , or 3 ½ per cent. it is not by the force of statutes and edicts , but the natural course of things , which will always bring interest upon good security low , where there is a great deal of money to be lent , and little good security in proportion to be had . holland is a country where the land makes a very little part of the stock of the country . trade is their great fund ; and their estates lie generally in money ; so that all who are not traders , generally speaking , are lenders : of which there are so many whose income depends upon interest , that if the states were not mightily in debt , but paid every one their principal , instead of the 4 per cent. use , which they give , there would be so much more money than could be used , or would be ventured in trade , that money there would be at 2 per cent. or under , unless they found a way to put it out in foreign countries . interest , i grant these men , is low in holland ; but not as an effect of law , nor the politick contrivance of the government , to promote trade ; but as the consequence of great plenty of ready money , when their interest first fell , i say when it first fell : for being once brought low , and the publick having borrowed a great part of private mens money , and continuing in debt , it must continue so , though the plenty of money , which first brought interest low , were very much decayed , and a great part of their wealth were really gone . for the debt of the state affording to the creditors a constant yearly income , that is looked on as a safe revenue , and accounted as valuable as if it were in land ; ( and accordingly they buy it one of another ; and whether there be any money in the publick coffers or no , he who has 10000 l. owing him from the states may sell it every day in the week , and have ready money for it ) this credit is so great an advantage to private men , who know not else what to do with their stocks , that were the states now in a condition to begin to pay their debts , the creditors , rather than take their money out to lie dead by them , would let it stay in at lower interest , as they did some years since , when they were call'd on to come and receive their money . this is the state of interest in holland ; their plenty of money , and paying their publique debts , some time since lowered their interest , but it was not by law , nor in consequence of our reducing it here by law to 6 per cent. for i deny that there is any law there yet , to forbid lending of money for above 3 , or 6 , or 10 per cent. what ever some here suggest , every one there may hire out his money as freely as he does any thing else , for what rate he can get ; and the bargain being made , the law will inforce the borrower to pay it . i grant low interest , where all men consent to it is an advantage to trade , if merchants will regulate their gains accordingly , and men be perswaded to lend to them ; but can it be expected , when the publique gives 7 , 8 , or 10 per cent. that private men , whose security is certainly no better , shall have it for 4 ? and can there be any thing stranger , than that the same men who look on , and therefore allow high use as an encouragement to lending to the chequer , should think low use should bring money into trade ? the states of holland some few years since , paid but 4 l. per cent. for the money they owed ; if you propose them for an example , and interest be to be regulated by a law , try whether you can do so here , and bring men to lend it to the publique at that rate , this would be a benefit to the kingdom , and abate a great part of our publique charge : if you cannot , confess , that 't is not the law in holland has brought the interest there so low , but something else , and that which will make the states , or any body else pay dearer now , if either their credit be less , or money there scarcer . an infallible sign of your decay of wealth , is the falling of rent● , and the raising of them would be worth the nations care ; for in that , and not in the falling of interest lies the true advantage of the landed man , and with him of the publick . it may be therefore not besides our present business , to enquire into the cause of the falling of rents in england . 1. either the land is grown barrenner , and so the product is less , and consequently the money to be receiv'd for that product is less ; for it is evident that he whose land was wont to produce 100 bushels of wheat communibus annis , if by long tillage and bad husbandry it will now produce but 50 bushels , the rent will be abated half . but this cannot be suppos'd general . 2. or the rent of that land is lessen'd . 1. because the use of the commodity ceases : as the rents must fall in virginia , were taking of tobacco forbid in england . 2. or because something else supplies the room of that product : as the rate of copis-lands will fall upon the discovery of coal mines . 3. or , because the markets are supplied with the same commodity , cheaper from another place . as the breeding countries of england must needs fall their rents , by the importation of irish cattle . 4. or , because a tax laid on your native commodities , makes what the farmer sells , cheaper , and labour , and what he buys dearer . 3. or , the money in the country is less . for the exigencies and uses of money not lessening with its quantity , and it being in the same proportion to be imploy'd and distributed still in all the parts of its circulation , so much as its quantity is lesse●'d , so much must the share of every one that has a right to this money be the less ; whether he be landholder , for his goods ; or labourer , for his hire ; or merchant , for his brokage . though the land-holder usually finds it first . because money failing , and falling short , people have not so much money as formerly to lay out , and so less money is brought to market , by which the price of things must necessarily fall . the labourer feels it next . for when the landholder's rent falls , he must either bate the labourer's wages , or not imploy , or not pay him ; which either way makes him feel the want of money . the merchant feels it last . for though he sell less , and at a lower rate , he buys also our native commodities , which he exports , at a lower rate too ; and will be sure to leave our native commodities unbought , upon the hands of the farmer , or manufacturer , rather than export them to a market , which will not afford him returns with profit . if one third of the money imploy'd 〈◊〉 trade were locked up , or gone out of england , must not the land-holders necessarily receive ⅓ less for their goods , and consequently their rents fall ; a less quantity of money by ⅓ being to be distributed amongst an equal number of receivers ? indeed , people not perceiving the money to be gone , are apt to be jealous one of another● and each suspecting anothers inequality of gain to rob him of his share , every one will be imploying his skill and power the best he can to retrieve it again , and to bring money into his pocket in the same plenty as formerly● but this is but scrambling amongst 〈◊〉 selves , and helps no more against 〈◊〉 want , than the pulling off a short cover let will , amongst children that lye toge●ther , preserve them all from the col●● some will starve , unless the father of th●●amily provide better , and enlarge 〈◊〉 scanty garments . this pulling and con●●● is usually between the landed man ar● the merchant . for the labourer's share , b●●ing seldom more than a bare subsistenc● never allows that body of men time 〈◊〉 opportunity to raise their thoughts abo●● that , or 〈◊〉 with the richer 〈◊〉 theirs● ( as one common interest , ) unle●● when some common and great distre●● uniting them in one universal ferme● makes them forget respect , and emb●●dens them to carve to their wants 〈◊〉 armed force : and then sometimes the break in upon the rich , and sweep ● like a deluge . but this rarely happens 〈◊〉 in the mal-administration of neglected mis-manag'd government . the usual struggle and contest , as i said before , in the decays of wealth and riches , is between the landed man and the merchant , with whom i may here joyn the money'd man. the landed man finds himself aggrieved , by the falling of his rents , and the streightning of his fortune ; and thinking the merchant ( whom he sees flourish and thrive ) eats up his profit , and builds up a fortune upon his ruines ; he therefore endeavours , by laws , to keep up the value of lands , which he suspects lessened by the others excess of profit : but all in vain . the cause is mistaken , and the remedy too . 't is not the merchants nor mon●y'd man's gains that makes land fall ; but the loss of the kingdom , in our decay of trade , which the land always first feels . if the landed gentleman will have , and by his example , make it fashionable to have more claret , spi●● , silk , and other foreign consumable wares , than our . exportation of commodities does exchange for ; money must unavoidably follow to ballance the account , and pay the debt . and therefore i fear that another proposal , i hear talked of , to hinder the exportation of m●ney and bullion , will shew more our need of care to keep our money from going from us , than a way and method how to preserve it here . 't is death in spain to export money : and yet they , who furnish all the world with gold and silver , have least of it amongst themselves . trade fetches it away from that lazy and indigent people , notwithstanding all their artificial and forced contrivances to keep it there . it follows trade against the rigour of their laws ; and their want of foreign commodities makes it openly be carried out at noon-day . nature has bestow'd mines on several parts of the world : but their riches are only for the industrious and frugal . whomever else they visit , 't is with the diligent and sober only they stay . and if the vertue , and provident way of living of our ancestors ( content with our native conveniences of life , without the costly itch after the materials of pride and luxury from abroad ) were brought in fashion and countenance again amongst us ; this alone would do more to keep increase our wealth , and inrich our land , than all our paper helps about interest , money , bulli●n , &c. which , however eagerly we may catch at , will not , i fear , without better husbandry , keep us from sinking , whatever contrivances we may have recourse to . 't is with a kingdom , as with a family . spending less than our own commodities will pay for , is the sure and only way for the nation to grow rich. and when that begins once seriously to be consider'd , and our faces and steps are in earnest turn'd that way , we may hope to have our rents rise , and the publick stock thrive again . till then , we in vain , i fear , endeavour with noise , and weapons of law , to drive the wolf from our own to one anothers doors . the breed ought to be extirpated out of the island . for want , brought in by ill management , and nursed up by expensive vanity , will make the nation poor , and spare no body . if three millions were necessary for the carrying on the trade of england , whereof one million were for the land-holder , to maintain him ; another were for the payment of the labourer and handicraftsman ; and the third were the share of the brokers , coming to them for their care and pains in distributing ; if one million of this money were gone out of the kingdom , must not there be ⅓ part less to be shared amongst them for the product of their land , their labour and their distribution ? i do not say they will feel it at the same time . but the landholder having nothing but what the product of his land will yield ; and the buyer , according to the plenty or scarcity of money he has , always setting the price upon what is offered to sale ; the land-holder must be content to take the market-rate for what he brings thither , which always following the scarcity or plenty of money , if any part of our money be gone , he is sure first to find it in the price of his commodities . for the broker and merchant , though he sell cheaper , yet he buys cheaper too ; and he will be sure to get by his returns , or let alone a commodity which will not produce him gains ; and whatsoever is so let alone , and left upon hands , always turns to the land-holders loss . supposing that of our woollen manufacture , foreign markets took off one half , and the other half were consumed amongst our selves ; if a sensible part , ( as ⅓ of our money ) were gone , and so men had equally ⅓ less than they had ( for , 't is certain , it must be tantamount ; and what i 'scape of ⅓ less , another must make up ) it would follow , that they would have less to lay out in cloaths , as well as other things , and so would either wear them longer , or pay less for them . if a clothier finds a want of vent , he must either sell cheaper or not at all : if he sells cheaper , he must also pay less , both for wool and labour : and if the labourer hath less wages , he must also pay less for corn , butter , cheese , flesh , or else forbear some of these quite . in all which cases , the price of wool , corn , flesh , and the other products of land are brought down , and the land bears the greatest part of the loss . for where-ever the consumption or vent of any commodity is stopt , there the stop continues on till it comes to the land-holder . and where-ever the price of any commodity begins to fall , how many hands soever there be between that and the land-holder , they all take reprisals one upon another , till at last it comes to the land-holder ; and there the abatement of price , of any of his commodities , lessens his income , and is a clear loss . the owner of land , which produces the commodity , and the last buyer , who consumes it , are the two extreams in commerce . and though the falling of any sort of commodity in the land-holder's hand , does not prove so to the last consumer , the arts of intervening brokers and ingrossers keeping up the price to their own advantage ; yet whenever want of money , or want of desire in the consumer , make the price low , that immediately reaches the first producer ; no body between having any interest to keep it up . now , as to the two first causes of falling of rents , falling of interest has no influence at all . in the latter , ●it has a great part : because it makes the money of england less , by making both english-men and foreigners withdraw or withhold their money . for that which is not let loose into trade , is all one whil'st hoarded up , as if it were not in being . i have heard it brought for a reason , why interest should be reduced to four per cent ; that thereby the landholder , who bears the burthen of the publick charge , may ●e , in some degr●e , eased by falling of interest . this argument will be put right , if you 〈◊〉 it will case the forrower , and say the less on the lender ; but it concern not the land in general , unless you will suppose all land-holders in debt . 〈…〉 we may yet think that men in ●●gland , who have land , have money too ; and that landed men , as well a● others , by their providence and good husbandry , accommodating their expences to their income , keep themselves from going backwards in the world. that which is urged , as most deserving consideration and remedy in the case , is , that it is hard and unreasonable , that one , who has mortgaged half his land , should yet pay taxes for the whole , whil'st the mortgage goes away with the clear profit of an high interest . to this i answer , 1. that if any man has run himself in debt , for the service of his country , 't is fit the publick should reimburse him , and set him free . this is a care that becomes the publick justice ; that men , if they receive no rewards , should , at least , be kept from suffering , in having served their country . but i do not remember the polity of any nation , who altered their constitution , in favour of those whose mismanagement had brought them behind-hand ; possibly , as thinking the publick little beholding to those who had misimploy'd the stock of their country , in the excess of their private expences , and , by their example , spread a fashion that carries ruine with it : mens paying taxes of mortgaged lands , is a punishment for ill-husbandry , which ought to be discouraged ; but it concerns very little the frugal and the thrifty . 2. another thing to be said in reply to this , is , that it is with gentlemen in the country , as with tradesmen in the city . if they will own titles to greater estates than really they have , it is their own faults , and there is no way left to help them from paying for them . the remedy is in their own hands , to discharge themselves when they please . and when they have once sold their land , and paid their debts , they will no longer pay taxes for what they own , without being really theirs . there is another way also , whereby they may be relieved , as well as a great many other inconveniencies remedied ; and that is by a registry : for if mortgages were registred , i and taxes might reach them , and order the lender to pay his proportion . i have met with patrons of four per cent , who ( amongst many other fine things they tell us of ) affirm , that if interest were reduc'd to four per cent , then s●me men would , borrowing money at this low rate , pay their debts ; others would borrow more than they now do , and improve their land ; others would borrow more , and imploy it in trade and manufacture . gilded words indeed , were there any thing substantial in them ! these men talk as if they meant to shew us , not only the wisdom but riches of solomon , and make gold and silver as common as the stones in the street ; but at last , i fear , 't will be but wit without money ; and , i wish it amount to that . 't is without question , that could the country-man and the trades-man take up money cheaper than now they do , every man would be forward to borrow , and desire that he might have other mens money to imploy to his advantage ; and therefore , i confess , those who contend for four per cent , have found out a way to set mens months a watering for money at that rate , and to increase the number of the borrowers in england ; if any body can imagine it would be an advantage to increase them . but to answer all their fine projects , i have but this one short question to ask them : will four per cent increase the number of the lenders ? if it will not , as any man at the very first hearing , will shrewdly suspect it will not , then all the plenty of money these conjurers bestow upon us for improvement of land , paying of debts , and advancement of trade , is but like the gold and silver which old women believe others conjurers , bestow sometimes by whole lapfuls , on poor credulous girls , which , when they bring to the light , is found to be nothing but wither'd leaves , and the possessors of it are still as much in want of money as ever . indeed i grant it would be well for england , and i wish it were so , that the plenty of money were so great amongst us , that every man could borrow as much as he could use in trade , for four per cent ; nay , that men could borrow as much as they could imploy for six per cent. but even at that rate , the borrowers already are far more than the lenders . why else doth the merchant upon occasion , pay six per cent , and often above that rate for brokage ? and why doth the country gentleman of 1000 l. per annum find it so difficult , with all the security he can bring to take up 1000 l ? all which proceeds from the scarcity of money , and bad security ; two causes which will not be less powerful to hinder borrowing , after the lowering of 〈◊〉 ; and i do not see how any one can imagine how reducing use to four per cent , should abate their force ; or how lessening the reward of the lender , without diminishing his risque , should make him more forward and ready to lend . so that these m●n , whilst they talk , that at four 〈…〉 m●n would take up , and ●mploy more money to the publick advantage , do but 〈◊〉 to multip●y the number of borrowers among us , of which it is certain we have too many already . whilst they thus set men a longing for the golden days of four per cent , methinks they use the poor indigent debtor , and needy tradesman , as i have seen pratling jack-daws do sometimes their young , who kawing and fluttering about the nest , set all their young ones a gaping , but having nothing in their empty mouths but noise and air , leave them as hungry as before . 't is true these men have found out by a cunning project , how by the restraint of law to make the price of money ⅓ cheaper , and then they tell iohn a nokes , that he shall have 10000 l. of it to employ in merchandise , or cloathing ; and iohn a stiles shall have 20000 l. more to pay his debts ; and so distribute this money as freely as dego did his legacies , which they are to have even where they can get it . but till these men can instruct the forward borrowers where they shall be furnished , they have perhaps done something to increase mens desire , but not made money one jot easier to come by . and till they do that , all this sweet gingling of money in their discourses , goes just to the tune of , if all the world were oatmeal . methinks these undertakers , whilst they hav● put men in hopes of borrowing more plentifully at easier rates , for the supply of their wants and trades , had done better to have bethought themselves of a way , how men need not borrow upon use at all ; for this would be much more advantageous , and altogether as feisible . for i am sure , 't is as easie to contrive in a country that wants money in proportion to its trade , how every man shall be supplied with as much money as he needs , ( i. e. can employ in improvement of land , paying his debts , and return of trade ) for nothing , as for four per cent ; as it is as easie to distribute twenty pair of shooes amongst thirty men , if they pay nothing for them at all , as if they paid 4 s. a pair . ten of them ( notwithstanding the statute rate should be reduced from 6 s. to 4 s. a pair ) will be necessitated to sit still barefoot , as much as if they were to pay nothing for shooes at all . either we have already more money than the owners will lend , or we have not . if part of the money , which is now in england , will not be lent at the rate interest is at present at , will men be more ready to lend , and borrowers be furnished for all those brave purposes more plentifully , when money is brought to four per cent ? if people do already lend all the money they have , above their own occasions , whence are those who will borrow more at 4 per cent , to be supplied ? or is there such plenty of money , and scarcity of borrowers , that there needs the reducing of interest to 4 per cent , to bring men to take it ? all the imaginable ways of increasing money in any country , are these two : either to dig it in mines of our own , or get it from our neighbors . that 4 per cent , is not of the nature of the de●sing-rod , or virgila divina , able to discover mines of gold and silver , i believe will easily be granted me . the way of getting from foreigners , is either by force , borrowing , or trade . and whatever otherways besides these men may fansie or propose , for increasing of money , ( except they intend to set up for the philosophers stone ) would be much the same with a destracted man's device , that i knew , who , in the beginning of his distemper first discover'd himself to be out of his wits , by getting together , and boiling a great number of groats , with a design , as he said , to make them plim , and grow thicker . that 4 per cent , will raise armies , discipline soldiers , and make men valiant , and fitter to conquer countries , and enrich themselves with the spoils , i think was never pretended . and that it will not bring in more of our neighbours money upon loan , than we have at present among us , is so visible in it self , that it will not need any proof ; the contenders for 4 per cent looking upon it as an undeniable truth , and making use of it as an argument to shew the advantage it will be to the nation , by lessening the use paid to foreigners , who upon falling of use will take home their money . and for the last way of increasing our money , by promoting of trade , how much lowering of interest is the way to that , i have , i suppose , shew'd you already . having lately met with a little tract intituled a letter to a friend concerning usury , printed in the year 1690 ; which gives in short , the arguments of some treatises printed many years since , for the lowering of interest ; it may not be amiss , briefly to consider them . 1. a high interest decays trade . the advantage from interest is greater than the profit from trade , which makes the rich merchants give over , and put out their stock to interest , and the lesser merchants break. answ. this was printed in 1621 , when interest was at 10 per cent. and whether england had ever a more flourishing trade than at that time , must be left to the judgment of those who have consider'd the growing strength and riches of this kingdom in q. e. and king i. the 1st reigns : not that i impute it to high interest , but to other causes i have mention●d , wherein usury had nothing to do . but if this be thought an argument , now in 1690 , when the legal interest is 6 per cent ; i desire those who think fit to make use of it , to name those rich merchants who have given over and put out their stocks to interest . 2. interest being at 10 per cent , and in holland at 6 ; our neighbor merchants undersell us . answ. the legal interest being here now at 6 per cent , and in holland not limited by law ; our neighbor merchants under-sell us , because they live more frugally , and are content with less profit . 3. interest being lower in holland than in england , their contributions to war , works of piety , and all charges of the state , are cheaper to them than to us . answ. this needs a little explication . contributions greater or less , i understand : but contributions cheaper or dear●r , i confess i do not . if they manage their wars and charges cheaper than we , the blame is not to be laid on high or low interest . 4. interest being so high , prevents the building of shipping , which is the strength and safety of our island , m●st merchant ships being built in holland . answ. though this argument be now gone , such ships being prohibited by a law , i will help the author to one as good . the du●ch buy our rape-seed , make it into oil , bring it back to us , and sell it with advantage . this may be as well said to be from high interest here , and low there . but the truth is , the industry and frugality of that people , makes them content to work cheaper , and sell at less profit than their neighbours , and so get the trade from them . 5. the high r●te of usury makes land sell so cheap , being n●t worth more than 14 or 15 years purcha●● ; whereas in holland , where interest is at 6 , it is worth above 25. so that a low interest raises the price of land. where money is dear land is cheap . ans. this argument plainly confesses , that there is something else regulates the price of land , besides the rate of interest ; else when money was at 10 per cent here , land should have been at 10 years purchase ; whereas he confesses it then to have been at 14 or 15. one may suppose , to favour his hypothesis , he was not forward to speak the most of it . and interest , as he says , being at 6 per cent in holland . land there should have sold by that rule for 16 ● / ● years purchase , whereas he says it was worth about 25. and mr. manly says , ( p. 33. ) that 〈◊〉 in france being at 7 per cent , noble 〈…〉 4 and 35 years purchase , and 〈◊〉 land for 25. so that the true 〈…〉 from hence is not what our 〈…〉 that 't is not the legal 〈…〉 something else , that governs the 〈◊〉 of land. i grant his position , that 〈…〉 . but it must be so by the natural , not legal interest . for where money will be lent on good security at 4 or 5 per cent , 't is a demonstration that there is more than will be ventured on ordinary credit in trade . and when this plenty becomes general , 't is a sign there is more money than can be employed in trade ; which cannot but put many upon seeking purchases , to lay it out in land , and so raise the price of land , by making more buyers than sellers . 6. 't is not probable lenders will call in their money , when they cannot make greater interest any where . besides , their security upon l●nd will be better . answ. some unskilful and timorous men will call in their money ; others put it into the banker's hands . but the bankers and skilful will keep it up , and not lend it , but at the natural vse , as we have shewn . but how securities will be●ne e●d●d by lowering of interest , is i confess beyond my comprehension . of raising our coin. being now upon the consideration of interest and money , give me leave to say one word more on this occasion , which may not be wholly unseasonable at this time . i hear a talk up and down of raising our money , as a means to retain our wealth , and keep our money from being carried away . i wish those that use the phrase of raising our money , had some clear notion annex'd to it ; and that then they would examine , whether , that being true , it would at all serve to those ends , for which it is propos'd . the raising of m●n●y then signifies one of these two things ; either raising the value of our money , or raising the denomination of our coin. the raising of the value of money , or any thing else , is nothing but the making a less quantity of it exchange for any oth●r thing , than would have been taken for it before . v. g. if 5 s. will exchange for , or ( as we call it ) buy a bushel of wheat ; if you can make 4 s. buy another bushel of the same wheat , it is plain the value of your money is raised , in respect of wheat , ⅕ . but thus nothing can raise or fall the value of your money , but the proportion of its plenty or scarcity , in proportion to the plenty , scarcity , or vent of any other commodity , with which you compare it , or for which you would exchange it . and thus silver , which makes the in●●ntick value of money , compar'd with it self , under any stamp or denomination of the same or different countries , cannot be raised . for an ounce of silver , whether in p●ne● , g●o●●● ● or cr●wn pieces , stivers or du●●t●●ns , or in bullion , is and always eternally will be of equal value to any other ounce of si●ver , under what stamp or denomination soever ; unless it can be shewn that any stamp can add any new and better 〈…〉 parc●l of silver , which 〈…〉 of silver 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 therefore 〈…〉 of equal value to silver , 〈…〉 coin , com 〈◊〉 with 〈…〉 less , or equal , 〈…〉 or equal silve● 〈◊〉 and 〈…〉 can by no 〈…〉 your money . 〈…〉 of the world , 〈…〉 being a●oy●d , 〈…〉 so much silver alloy'd , or mixed with baser metals : because , besides the weight of the silver , those who have need of fine ( i. e. unmixed silver ; as gilders , wyre-drawers , &c. ) must according to their need , besides an equal weight of silver mixed with other metals , give an overplus to reward the refiner's skill and pains . and in this case , fine silver and alloy'd or mixed silver are considered as two distinct commodities . but no money being coin'd of pure fine silver , this concerns not the value of money at all ; wherein an equal quantity of silver is always the same value with an equal quantity of silver , let the stamp or denomination be what it will. all then that can be done in this great mystery of raising money , is only to alter 〈…〉 , and call that a crown now , which before by the law was but a part of a crown . for example : supposing , according to the standard of our law , 5 ● . or a crown , were to weigh an ounce , ( as it does now , wanting 18 grains ) whereof , ● ½ were copper , and 11 / 12 silver , ( for there abouts it is ) 't is plain here 't is the quantity of silver gives the value to it . for let another piece be coined of the same weight , wherein half the silver is taken out , and copper or other alloy put into the place , every one knows it will be worth but half as much . for the value of the alloy is so inconsiderable as not to be reckon'd . this crown now must be raised● and from henceforth our crown pieces coined 1 / 20 lighter than an ounce ; which is nothing but changing the denomination , calling that a crown now , which yesterday was but a part , viz. 19 / 20 of a crown ; whereby you have only raised 19 parts to the denomination formerly given to 20. for i think no body can be so senseless , as to imagine that 19 grains or ounces of silver can be raised to the value of 20 ; or that 19 gr. or ounces of silver shall at the same time exchange for or buy as much corn , oyl , or wine , as 20 ; which is to raise it to the value of 20. for if 19 ounces of silver can be worth 20 ounces of silver , or pay for as much of any other commodity , then 18 , 1● , or ● ounce may do the same . for if the abating 1 / 20 of the quantity of silver of any coin , does not lessen its value , the abating 1● / 20 of the quantity of the silver of any coin , will not abate its value . and so a single three-pence , or a single penny , being call'd a crown , will buy as much spice , or silk , or any other commodity , as a crown-piece , which contains 20 or 60 times as much silver ; which is an absurdity so great , that i think no body will want eyes to see , and sense to disown . now , this raising your money , or giving a less quantity of silver the stamp and denomination of a greater , may be done two ways . 1. by raising one species of your money . 2. by raising all your silver coin at once , proportionably ; which is the thing i suppos'd , now propos'd . 1. the raising of one species of your coin , beyond its intrinsick value , is done by coining any one species , ( which in account bears such a proportion to the other species of your coin ) with less silver in it than is required by that value it bears in your money . for example , a crown with us goes for 60 pence , a shilling for 12 pence , a t●ster for 6 pence , and a groat for 4 pence : and accordingly , the proportion of silver in each of them , ought to be as 60. 12. 6. and 4. now , if in the mint there should be coin'd groats , or testers , that being of the same alloy with our other money , had but 2 / ● of the weight that those species are coin'd at now ; or else , being of the same weight , were alloy'd with ⅓ of copper 〈…〉 〈…〉 ; and should thus , by law , be made current ; ( the rest of your silver money being kept to the present standard in weight and fineness ) 't is plain those species would be raised ⅓ part ; that passing for 6 d which had but the silver of 4 d in it ; and would be all one as if a groat should by law be made current for 6 d ; and every 6 d in payment pass for 9 d. this is truly raising the species : but is no more in effect , than if the mine should coin clip'd money . and has , besides the cheat that is put , by such base or light money , on every particular man that receives it , that he wants ⅓ of that real value which the publick ought to secure him , in the money it obliges him to receive as lawful and current ; it has● i say , this great and unavoidable inconvenience to the publick , that , besides the opportunities it gives to domestick coin●●● to cheat you with lawful money , it p●●● it into the hands of foreigners to 〈◊〉 away your money without any commodities for it● for if they find that two-penny we●ght of silver , marked with a certain impression , shall ●●re in e●gland be equivalent to 3 d weight marked with anoth●r impression ; they will not fail to 〈◊〉 pieces of that fashion ; and so importing that base and low coin , will , here in england , receive 3 d for 2 d , and quickly carry away your silver in exchange for copper , or barely the charge of coynage . this is unavoidable in all countries where any one species of their money is disproportionate in its intrinsick value , ( i. e. in its due proportion of silver to the rest of the money of that country ) which the king of france could not avoid , with all his watchfulness . for though , by edict , he made his 4 s●ls pieces , whereof 15 were to pass for ● french crown , though 20 of them had not so much silver in them , as was in a french crown piece ) pass in the inland parts of his kingdom , 15 for a crown , in all payments ; yet he durst not make them current in his sea-port towns , for fear that should give an opportunity to their importation . but yet this caution served not the turn . they were still imported ; and , by this means , a great loss and damage brought upon his country . so that he was forced to cry them down , and sink them to near their intrinsick value ; whereby a great many particular men , who had quantities of that species in their hands , lost a great part of their estates ; and every one that had any , lost proportionably by it . if we had groats or six-pences current by law , amongst us , that wanted ⅓ of the silver they now have by the standard , to make them of equal value to our other species of money ; who can imagine that our neighbours would not presently pour in quantity of such money upon us , to the great loss and prejudice of the kingdom ? the quantity of silver that is in each piece or species of coin , being that which makes its real and intrinsick value , the due proportions of silver ought to be kept in each species , according to the respective rate set on each of them by law. and when this is ever varied from , it is but a trick to serve some present occasion ; but is alway● with loss to the country where the trick is play'd . 2. the other way of raising m●ny is by raising all your silver coin at once ; the proportion of a crown , a shilling , and a penny , in reference to one another , being still kept , ( viz. that a shilling shall weigh 1 / ● of a crown piece , and a penny weigh 1 / 12 of a shilling , in standard silver ) but out of every one of these , you abate 1 / 20 of the silver they were wont to have in them . if all the species of money , be , as 't is call'd , rais'd by making each of them to have 1 / 2● less of silver in them than formerly ; and so your whole money be lighter than it was : these following will be some of the consequences of it . 1. it will rob all creditors and landlords of 1 / 20 ( or 5 per cent ) of their debts , in their 〈◊〉 rents , for ever ; and all other rents , as far as their former contracts reach , of 5 per cent of their yearly income ; and this without any advantage to the debtor or farmer : for he receiving no more pounds sterling for his land or commodities , in this new lighter coin , than he should have done of your old and weightier money , gets nothing by it . if you say yes , he will receive more crown , half-crown , and shilling pieces , for what he now sells for new money , than he should have done if the money of the old standard had continued ; you confess your money is not raised in value , but in denomination ; since what your new pieces want in weight , must now be made up in their number . but which way ever this falls , 't is certain , the publick ( which most men think , ought to be the only reason of changing a settled law , and disturbing the common current course of things ) receives not the least profit by it ; nay , as we shall see by and by , it will be a great charge and loss to the kingdom . but this , at first sight , is visible ; that in all payments to be received upon precedent contracts , if your money be in effect raised , the receiver will lose 5 per cent. for money having been lent , and leases and other bargains made , when money was of the same weight and fineness that it is now , upon confidence that under the same names of pounds , sh●l . and pence , they should receive the same value , ( i. e. the same quantity of silver ) by giving the denomination now to less quantities of silver by 1 / 20 , you take from them 5 per cent of their due . when men go to market to buy any other commodities with their new , but lighter money , they will find 20 s. of their new money will buy no more of any commodity than 19 would before . for it not being the denomination but the quantity of silver , that gives the value to any coin , 19 grains or parts of silver , however denominated or marked● will no more be worth , or pass for , or buy so much of any other commodity as 20 grains of silver will , than 19 s. will pass for 20 s. if any one thinks a shilling or a crown in name has its value from the denomination , and not from the quantity of silver in it , let it be tried ; and hereafter let a penny be called a shilling or a shilling be called a crown . i believe no body would be content to receive his debts or rents in such money ; which though the law should raise thus , yet he foresees he should lose 11 / 12 by the one , and by the other ⅘ of the value he received ; and would find his new shilling , which had no more silver in it than 1 / 12 of what a shilling had before , would buy him of corn , cloth , or wine but 1 / 12 of what an old shilling would . this is as plainly so in the raising , as you call it , your crowns to 5 s. and 3 d. or ( which is the same thing ) making your crown 1 / 2● lighter in silver ; the only difference being that in one the loss is so great , ( it being 11 / 12 ) every body sees and abhors it at first proposal ; but in the other ( it being but 1 / 20 , and covered with the deceitful name of raising our money ) people do not so readily observed it . if it be good to raise the crown-piece this way 1 / 20 this week , i suppose it will be as good and profitable to raise it as much again the next week . for there is no reason why it will not be as good to raise it again another 1 / 20 the next week , and so on ; wherein , if you proceed but 10 weeks successively , you will by new-years-day next have every half-crown raised to a crown , to the loss of ½ of peoples debts and rents , and the king's revenue , besides the confusion of all your affairs : and if you please to go on in this beneficial way of raising your money , you may by the same art bring a penny-weight of silver to be a crown . silver , i. e. the quantity of pure silver separable from the alloy , makes the real value of money . if it does not , coin copper with the same stamp and denomination , and see whether it will be of the same value . i suspect your stamp will make it of no more worth than the copper-money of ireland is , which is its weight in copper and no more . that money lost so much to ireland as it passed for above the rate of copper . but yet i think no body suffered so much by it as he by whose authority it was made current . if silver give the value , you will say what need is there then of the charge of coinage . may not men exchange silver by weight , for other things ; make their bargains , and keep their accounts in silver by weight ? this might be done , but it has these inconveniencies . 1. the weighing of silver to every one we had occasion to pay it to , would be very troublesome , for every one must carry about scales in his pocket . 2. scales would not do the business . for , in the next place , every one cannot distinguish between fine and mix'd silver : so that though he received the full weight , he was not sure he received the full weight of silver ; since there might be a mixture of some of the baser metalls , which he was not able to discern . those who have had the care and government of politick societies , introduced coinage as a remedy to those two inconveniencies . the stamp was a warranty of the publick , that under ●●ch a denomination they should receive a piece of such a weight and such a ●iness ; 〈◊〉 is , they should receive so much silver . and this is the reason why the counter●iting the stamp is made the highest crime , and has the weight of treason ●aid upon it ; because the stamp 〈…〉 of the intrins●ck value . the royal authority gives the 〈…〉 the law ●●lows and confirms the denomination , and both together give as it were the pub●●●k faith , as a secu●ity that 〈◊〉 of money 〈◊〉 for 〈…〉 , be of such a 〈…〉 have 〈◊〉 them so much silver . for 〈◊〉 si●ver ●nd not names that pay deb●● and pur●●ase commodities . if therefore i have contracted for twenty crowns , and the law then has required that each of those crowns should have an ounce of silver ; 't is certain my bargain is not made good , i am defrauded ( and whether the publick faith be not broken with me , i leave to be considered ) if , paying me 20 crowns , the law allows them to be such as have but 19 / 2● of the silver they ought to have , and really had in them , when i made my contract . 2. it diminishes all the kings revenue 5 per cent. for though the same number of pounds , shillings , and pence are paid into the exchequer as were wont , yet these names being given to coin that have each of them 1 / 20 less of silver in them ; and that being not a secret conceal'd from strangers , no more than from his own subjects , they will sell the king no more pitch , ●arr , or hemp , for 20 shillings , after the raising your money , than they would before for 19 : or to speak in the ordinary phrase , they will raise their commodities 5 per cent , as you have rais'd your money 5 per cent : and 't is well if they stop there . for usually in such changes , an out-cry being made of your lessening your coin , those who you have to deal with you , taking the advantage of the allarm to secure themselves from any loss by your new trick , raise their price even beyond the par of your lessening your coin. i hear of two inconveniencies complain'd of , which 't is proposed by this project to remedy . the one is , the melting down of our coin ; the other , the carrying away of our bullion . these are both inconveniencies i fear we lie under , but neither of them will be in the least removed or prevented by the proposed alteration of our money . 1. it is past doubt , that our money is melted down ; the reason whereof is evidently the cheapness of coinage for a tax on coin , paying the coinage , the particular owners pay nothing for it . so that 100 ounces of silver coined , comes to the owner at the same rate , as 100 ounces of the standard silver in bullion . for delivering into the mint his silver in bars , he has the same quantity of silver deliver'd out to him again in coin , without any charges to him . whereby if at any time he has occasion for bullion , 't is the same thing to melt down our mi●'d money as to buy bullion from abroad , or take it in exchange for other commodities . thus our mint to the only advantage of our officers , but at the publick cost , la●●urs in vain , as will be found . but yet this makes you not have one jot less money in england , than you would have otherwise ; but only makes you coin that which otherwise would not have been coin'd , nor perhaps been brought hither ; and being not brought hither by an over-ballance of your exportation , cannot stay when it is here . it is not any sort of coinage , does or can keep your money here . that wholly and only depends upon the ballance of your trade . and had all the money in king charles the ii. and king iames the ii. time , been minted according to this new proposal , this raised money would have been gone as well as the other , and the remainder been no more , nor no less than it is now ; though i doubt not but the mint would have coined as much of it as it has of our present mil●'d money . the short is this ; an over-ballance of trade with spain brings you in bullion ; cheap coinage , when it is here , carries it into the mint , and money is made of it ; but if your exportation will not ballance your importation in the other parts of your trade , away must your silver go again , whether monied or not monied . for where goods do not , silver must pay for the commodities you spend . that this is so will appear by the books of the mint , where may be seen how much mill'd money has been coin'd in the two last reigns . and in a paper i have now in my hands , ( supposed written by a man not wholly ignorant in the mint ) 't is confessed , that whereas 1 / ● of the current payments were some time since of mil●'d money , there is not now 1 / ●● gone then it is . but let not any one mistake and think it gone , because in our present coinage , an ounce wanting ●8 grains is denominated a crown● or that ( as is now proposed ) an 〈…〉 about 40 grains , being 〈…〉 denominated a 〈…〉 it , or will ( if our money be 〈…〉 for the future fix it here . coin what quantity of silver you please , in one peice bigger or less , and give it the denomination of a crown ; when your money is to go to pay your foreign debts , ( or else it will not go out at all ) your heavy money , ( i. e. that which is weight according to its denomination , by the standard of the mint ) will be that which will be melted down , or carried away in coin by the exporter , whether the pieces of each species be by the law greater or less . for whilst coinage is whol●y paid for by a tax , whatever your size of money be , he that has need of bullion to send beyond sea , or of silver to make plate , need but take mill'd money , and melt it down and he has it as cheap as if it were in pieces of eight , or other silver coming from abroad ; the stamp , which so well secures the weight and fineness of the mill'd money , costing nothing at all . to this perhaps will be said , that if this be the effect of milled money , that it is so apt to be melted down , it were better to return to the old way of coining by the hammer ; to which i answer by no means . for , 1. that way of coinage less secures you from having a great part of your money melted down . for in that way there being a greater inequality in the weight of the pieces , some being too heavy and some too light , those who know how to make their advantage of it , cull out the heavy pieces , melt them down , and make a benefit of the over-weight . 2. coinage by the hammer exposes you much more to the danger of false coin. because the tools are easily made and concealed , and the work carried on with fewer hands , and less noise than a mill ; whereby false coiners are less liable to discovery . 3. the pieces not being so round , even , and fairly stamp'd , nor marked on the edges are expos'd to clipping , which mill'd money is not . mill'd-money is therefore certainly best for the publique . but whatever be the cause of melting down our mill'd-money , i do not see how raising our money ( as they call it ) will at all hinder its being melted down . for if our crown-pieces should be coin'd 1 / 20 lighter ; why should that hinder them from being melted down more than now . the intrinsique value of the silver is not alter'd , as we have shewn already : therefore that temptation to melt them down remains the same as before . but they are lighter by 1 / 20. that cannot hinder them from being melted down . for half crowns are lighter by half , and yet that preserves them not . but they are of less weight , under the same denomination , and therefore they will not be melted down . that is true , if any of these present crowns that are 1 / ●0 heavier , are current for crowns at the same time . for then they will no more melt down the new light crowns , than they will the old clipp'd ones , which are more worth in coin , and tale , than in weight and bullion . but it cannot be suppos'd that men will part with their old and heavier money , at the same rate that the lighter new coin goes at ; and pay away their old crowns for 5 s. in tale , when at the mint they will yield them 5 s. 3 d. and then if an old mill'd crown goes for 5 s. 3 d. and a new mill'd crown ( being so much lighter ) go for a crown , what i pray will be the odds of melting down the one or the other ? the one has 1 / 20 less silver in it , and goes for 1 / 20 less , and so being weight , they are melted down upon equal terms . if it be a convenience to melt one , it will , be as much a convenience to melt the other ; just as it is the same convenience , to melt mi●l'd half crowns as mill'd crowns ; the one having with half the quantity of silver , half the value . when the money is all brought to the new rate , i. e. to be ● / 20 lighter , and commodities raised as they will proportionably ; what shall hinder the melting down of your money then more than now , i would fain know ? if it be coin'd then as it is now g●●tis , a crown piece , ( let it be of what weight soever ) will be as it is now , just worth it s own weight in bullion , of the same fineness for the coinage , which is the manufactury about it , and makes all the difference , ●●●●ing nothing ; what can make the difference of value ? and therefore , whoever wants bullion , will as cheaply melt down these new crowns , as buy bullion with them . the raising of your money cannot then ( the act for free coinage standing ) hinder its being meltted down . nor , in the next place , much less can it , as is pretended , hinder the exportation of our bullion . any denomination or stamp we shall give to silver here , will neither give silver a higher value in england , nor make it less prized abroad . so much silver will always be worth ( as we have already shew'd ) so much silver given in exchange one for another . nor will it , when in your mint a less quantity of it is raised to a higher denomination ( as when 19 / 20 of an ounce has now the denomination of a crown , which formerly belong'd only to the whole 20 ) be one jot raised , in respect of any other commodity . you have rais'd the denomination of your stamped silver 1 / 20 , or which is all one 5 per cent. and men will presently raise their commodities 5 per cent. so that if yesterday 20 crowns would exchange for 20 bushels of wheat , or 20 yards of a certain sort of cloth , if you will to day coin current crowns 1 / 20 lighter , and make them the standard , you will find 20 crowns will exchange for but 19 bushels of wheat , or 19 yards of that cloth , which will be just as much silver for a bushel , as yesterday . so that silver being of no more real value , by your changing your denomination , and giving it a less quantity ; this will no more bring in , or keep your bullion here , than if you had done nothing . if this were otherwise , you would be beholden ( as some people foolishly imagin ) to the clippers for keeping in your money . for if keeping the old denomination to a less quantity of silver , be raising your money ( as in effect it is all that is or can be done in it by this project of making your coin lighter ) the clippers have sufficiently done that ; and if their trade go on a little while longer , at the rate it has of late , and your mi●l'd-money be melted down and carried away , and no more coin'd ; your money will , without the charge of new coinage , be , by that sort of artificers , raised above 5 per cent , when all your current money shall be clipp'd , and made above 1 / ●0 lighter than the standard , preserving still its former denomination . it will possibly be here objected to me , that we see 100 l. of clipt money , above 5 per cent lighter than the standard , will buy as much corn , cloth , or wine , as 100 l. in mill'd mon●y , which is 1 / 20 heavier ; whereby it is evident that my rule fails , that it is not the quantity of silver that gives the value to money , but its stamp and denomination . to which i answer , that men make their estimate and contracts according to the standard , upon supposition they shall receive good and lawful money ; which is that of full weight ; and so in effect they do , whil'st they receive the current money of the country . for since 100 l. of clipt money will pay a debt of 100 l. as well as the weightiest mill'd money , and a new crown out of the mint will pay for no more flesh , fruit , or cloth , than five clipt shillings ; 't is evident that they are equivalent as to the purchase of any thing here at home , whil'st no body scruples to take five clipt shillings in exchange for a weighty mill'd crown . but this will be quite otherwise as soon as you change your coin , and● to raise it , as you call it ) make your money 1 / ●0 lighter in the mint ; for then no body will any more give an old crown of the former standard for one of the new , than he will now give you 5 s. and 3 d. for a crown ; for so much then his old crown will yield him at the mint . clipt and unclipt money will always buy an equal quantity of any thing else , as long as they will without scrup●e change one for another . and this makes that the foreign merchant , that comes to fell his goods to you , always counts upon the value of your money by the silver that is in it , and estimates the quantity of silver by the standard of your mint ; though perhaps by reason of clipt money , any sum that is ordinarily received is much lighter than the standard , and so has less silver in it than what is in a like sum new coin'd in the mint . but whilst clipt and weighty will equally change one for another , it is all one to him whether he receive his money in clipt money or no , so it be but current . for if he buy other commodities here with his money , whatever sum he contracts for , clipt as well as weighty money equally pays for it . if he would carry away the price of his commodity in ready cash , 't is easily chang'd into weighty money ; and then he has not only the sum in tale that he contracted for , but the quantity of silver he expected for his commodities , according to the standard of our mint . if the quantity of your clipt money be once grown so great , that the foreign merchant cannot ( if he has a mind to it ) easily get weighty money for it , but having sold his merchandise , and received clip'd money , finds a difficulty to procure what is weight for it ; he will , in selling his goods , either contract to be paid in w●ighty money , or else raise● the price of his commodities , according to the diminish'd quantities of silver in your current coin. in holland , ( ducatoons being the best money of the country , as well as the largest coin ) men , in payments , received and paid those indifferently , with the other money of the country , till of late the coining of other species of money , of baser alloy , and in greater quantities , having made the ducatoons , either by melting down , or exportation , scarcer than formerly , it became difficult to change the baser money into ducatoons ; and since that no body will pay a debt in ducatoons , unless he be allowed ½ per cent , more than they were coin'd for . to understand this , we must take notice , that guilders is the denomination that in holland they usually compute by , and make their contracts in . a ducatoon formerly passed at three guilders , and three stuyvers , or 63 stuyvers . there were then ( some years since ) began to be coin'd another piece , which was call'd a three guilders piece , and was order'd to pass for three guilders , or sixty stuyvers . but 21 three guilders pieces , which were to pass for 63 guilders , not having so much silver in them as 20 ducatoons , which passed for the same summ of 63 guilders , the ducatoon● were either melted down in their mints , for the making of these 〈…〉 , or yet baser money , with profit ; or were carried away by foreign merchants ; who when they carried back the product of their sale in money , would be sure to receive their payment of the number of guilders they contracted for in ducatoons , or change the money they received into ducatoons ; whereby they carried home more silver than if they had taken thei payment in three guilder pi●ces , or any other species . thus ducatoons became scarce . so that now he that will be paid in ducatoons must allow ½ per cent , for them . and therefore the merchants , when they sell any thing now , either make their bargain to be paid in ducatoons , or if they contract for guilders in general , ( which will be sure to be paid them in the baser money of the country ) they raise the price of their commodities accordingly . by this example in a neighbour country , we may see how our new mill'd money goes away . when foreign trade imports more than our commodities will pay for ; 't is certain , we must contract debts beyond sea , and those must be paid with money , when either we cannot furnish , or they will not take our goods to discharge them to have money beyond sea to pay our debts , when our commodities do not raise it , there is no other way but to send it thither . and since a weighty crown costs no more here than a light one ; and our coin beyond sea , is valued no otherwise than according to the quantity of silver it has in it ; whether we send it in specie , or whether we melt it down here , to send it in bullion ( which is the safest way , as being not prohibited ) the weightiest is sure to go . but when so great a quantity of your money is clip'd , or so great a part of your weighty money is carried away , that the foreign merchant , or his factor here , cannot have his price paid in weighty money , or such as will easily be changed into it , then every one will see , ( when men will no longer take five clip'd shillings for a mill'd or weighty crown ) that it is the quantity of silver that buys commodities and pays debts , and not the stamp and denomination which is put upon it . and then too it will be seen what a robbery is committed on the publick , by clipping . every grain diminished from the just weight of our money , is so much loss to the nation ; which will , one time or other , be sensibly felt ; and which , if it be not taken care of , and speedily stop'd , will , in that enormous course it is now in , quickly , i fear , break out into open ill effects ; and , at one blow , deprive us of a great part , ( perhaps , near ¼ ) of our money . for that will be really the case , when the increase of clip'd money makes it hard to get weighty , and men begin to put a difference of value between that which is weighty , and light money , and will not sell their commodities but for money that is weight , and will accordingly make their bargains . let the country gentleman , when it comes to that pass , consider what the decay of his estate will be , when receiving his rent in the tale of clip'd shillings● according to his bargain , he cannot get them to pass at market for more than their weight . and he that sells him salt or silk , will bargain for 5 s. such a quantity , if he pays him in fair weighty coin , but in clip'd money he will not take under 5 s. 3 d. here you see you have your money without this new trick of coinage , raised 5 per cent. but whether to any advantage of the kingdom i leave every one to judge . hitherto we have only consider'd the r●isi●g of silver c●in , and that has been only by coining it with les● silver in it , under the same denomination . there is another way yet of raising money , which has something more of reality , though as little good as the former in it : which now , that we are upon the chapter of raising of money , it may not be amiss to mention ; and that is , when either of the two richer metals , ( which money is usually made of ) is by law raised above its natural value , in respect of the other . gold and silver , have , in almost all ages and parts of the world ( where money was used ) generally been thought the fittest materials to make it of . but there being a great disproportion in the plenty of these metals in the world , one has always been valued much higher than the other ; so that one ounce of gold has exchanged for several ounces of silver : as at present , our guinea passing for 21 s. 6 d. in silver , gold is now about 15 ½ times more worth than silver ; there being about 15 ½ times more silver in 21 s. 6 d. than there is gold in a guinea . this being now the market rate of gold to silver ; if by an established law the rate of guinea's should be set higher , ( as to 22 s. and 6 d. ) they would be raised indeed , but to the loss of the kingdom . for by this law gold being raised , 5 per cent above its natural true value , foreigners would find it worth while to send their gold hither , and so fetch away your silver at 5 per cent profit , and so much loss to you . for when so much gold as would purchase but 100 ounces of silver any where else , will in england purchase the merchant 105 ounces , what shall hinder him from bringing his gold to so good a market ; and ( ei●her selling it at the mint , where it will yield so much , or having it coin'd into guinea's ) either go with them to market , with that advantage of 5 per cent in the very sort of his money , or change them into silver , and carry that away with him ? on the other side , if by a law you would raise your silver money and make 4 crowns or 20 s. in silver , equal to a guinea , at which rate i suppose it was first coin'd ; so that by your law a guinea should pass but for 20 s. the same inconvenience would follow . for then strangers would bring in silver , and carry away your gold , which was to be had here at a lower rate than any where else . if you say , that this inconvenience is not to be fear'd ; for that as soon as people found that gold began to grow scarce , or that it was more worth than the law set upon it , they would not then part with it at the statute-rate ; as we see the broad pieces that were coin'd in k. iames i. time for 20 s. no body will now part with under 23 s. or more , according to the market value ; this i grant is true ; and it does plainly confess the foolishness of making a law which cannot produce the effect it is made for ; as indeed it will not , when you would raise the price of silver in respect of gold , above its natural market value : for then , as we see in our gold , the price of it will raise its self . but on the other side , if you should by a law set the value of gold above its 〈◊〉 then peopl● would be bound to receive it at that high rate , and so part with their silver at an under value . but supposing that having a mind to raise your silver in re●pect of 〈◊〉 ( for when you would raise the value of money , fansie what you will 't is but in respect of something you 〈…〉 it for , and is only 〈…〉 make a less quantity of the 〈…〉 money is made of change 〈…〉 quantity of that thing 〈…〉 to ) you make a law 〈…〉 of that ? if your law 〈…〉 that as much as you 〈…〉 gold ( for they are 〈…〉 things pu● in 〈…〉 the one 〈…〉 clear loss to the kingdom as you raise silver and debase gold by your law , below their natural value . if you raise gold in proportion to silver the same effect follows . the effect and ill consequence indeed is not so easily observed in the one as in the other : because your accounts being kept , and your reckonings all made in pounds , shillings , and pence , which are denominations of silver coins or numbers of them ; if gold be made current at a rate above the free and market value of those two metals , every one will easily perceive the inconvenience . but there being a law for it , you cannot refuse the gold in payment for so much . and all the money or bullion people will carry beyond sea from you will be in silver , and the money or bullion brought in , will be in gold and the same just will happen when your silver is raised and gold debased in respect of one another , beyond their true and natural proportion : ( natural proportion or value i call that respective rate they find any where without the prescription of law ) for then silver will be that which is brought in , and gold will be carried out ; and that still with loss to the kingdom , answerable to the over-value , set by the law. only as soon as the mischief is felt , people will ( do what you can ) raise their gold to its natural value . for your accounts and bargains being made in the denomination of silver-money ; if , when gold is raised above its proportion , by the law , you cannot refuse it in payment , ( as if the law should make a guinea current at 22 s. and 6 d. you are bound to take it at that rate in payment ; but if the law should make guineas current at 20 s. he that has them is not bound to pay them away at that rate , but may keep them if he pleases , or get more for them if he can : yet from such a law , one of these 3 things follow . either 1st , the law forces them to go at 20 s. and then being found passing at that rate , foreigners make their advantage of it ; or 2 ly , people keep them up and will not part with them at the legal rate , understanding them really to be worth more , and then all your gold lies dead , and is of no more use to trade than if it were all gone out of the kingdom ; or 3 ly , it passes for more than the law allows , and then your law signifies nothing , and had been better let alone . which way ever it succeeds it proves either prejudicial or ineffectual . if the design of your law take place , the kingdom loses by it ; if the inconvenience be felt and avoided , your law is eluded . mo●ny is measure of commerce , and of the rate of every thing , and therefore ought to be kept ( as all other measures ) as steady and unvariable as may be . but this cannot be● if your money be made of two me●●l● , whose proportion , and consequently whose price , constantly varies in respect of one another . silver , for many reasons is the 〈◊〉 of all metals to be this measure , and therefore generally made use of for money . but then it is very unfit and inconvenient , that gold , or any other met●l should be made current legal money● at a standing settled rate . this i● to do by law , what justly cannot be done ; set a rate upon the varying value of things ; and is● a● i have shew'd , as far 〈◊〉 it 〈◊〉 , a constant damage and prej●dice to the country where it is prac●ised . suppose fifteen to one be now the exact p●r between g●ld and si●ver ; 〈…〉 make it lasting , and establish it so tha● next year , or twenty years 〈…〉 just value of gold to silver● and that one ounce of gold shall be 〈…〉 ounces of silver , neither more nor les● ? ●tis possible , the 〈…〉 trade sweeping away great 〈◊〉 of gold , may make it scarcer in 〈◊〉 . pe●haps the guinea trade , and mines of peru , affording it in a greater abundance , may make it more plentiful ; and so its value in respect of silver , come on the one side to be as sixteen , or on the other as fourteen to one . and can any law you shall make alter this proportion here , when it is so every where else round about you ? if your law set it at fifteen , when it is at the free market rate , in the neighbouring countries , as sixteen to one ; will they not send hither their silver to fetch away your gold at 1 / 16 loss to you ? or if you will keep its rate to silver , as fifteen to one , when in holland , france , and spain , its market value is but fourteen ; will they not send hither their gold● and fetch away your silver at 1 / 1● loss to you ? this is unavoidable , if you will make money of both gold and silver at the same time , and set rates upon them by law in respect of one another . what then ? ( will you be ready to say ) would you have gold kept out of engl●nd ? or being here , would you have it useless to trade , and must there be no money made of it ? i answer , quite the contrary . 't is sit the kingdom should make use of the treasure it has . 't is necessary your gold should be coin'd , and have the kings stamp upon it to secure men in receiving it , that there is so much gold in each piece . but 't is not necessary that it should have a fixed value set on it by publick authority . 't is not convenient that it should in its varying proportion have a settled price . let gold , as other commodities , find its own rate . and when , by the kings image and inscription , it carries with it a publick assurance of its weight and fineness ; the gold money so coin'd will never fail to pass at the known market rates ; as readily as any other twenty 〈◊〉 , though designed at first for 20 l , go now as current for 21 l. 10 s. as any other money , and sometimes for more , as the rate varies . the value or price of any thing being only the respective estimate it bears to some other , which it comes in competition with , can only be known by the quantity of the one which will exchange for a certain quantity of the other . there being no two things in nature , whose proportion and use does not vary , 't is impossible to set a standing regular price between them . the growing plenty or scarcity of either in the market ; ( whereby i mean the ordinary places , where they are to be had in tra●fick ) the real use , or changing fashion of the place bringing either of them more into demand than formerly ; presently varies the respective value of any two things . you will as fruitlesly endeavour to keep two different things steadily at the same price one with another , as to keep two things in an aequilibrium , where their varying weights depend on different causes . put a piece of spunge in one scale , and an exact counterpoise of silver in the other , you will be mightily mistaken if you imagine , that because th●t they are to day equal they shall always remain so . the weight of the spunge varying with every change of moisture in the air , the silver in the opposite scale will sometimes rise and sometimes fall. this is just the state of silver and gold in regard of their mutual value . their proportion , or use , may , nay constantly does vary , and with it their price . for being estimated one in reference to the other , they are as it were put in opposite scales , and as the one rises the other falls , and so on the contrary . farthings made of a baser metal , may on this account too deserve your consideration . for whatsoever coin you make current , above the intrinsick value , will always be dammage to the publick , whoever get by it . but of this i shall not at present enter into a more particular enquiry . only this i will confidently affirm , that it is the interest of every country , that all the current . money of it should be of one and the same metal ; that the several species should be all of the same alloy , and none of a baser mixture : and that the standard once thus settled , should be inviolably and immutably kept to perpetuity . for whenever that is alter'd upon what pretence soever , the publick will lose by it . since then it will neither bring us in more money , bullion , nor trade ; nor keep that we have here ; nor hinder our weighty money of what denomination soever from being melted ; to what purpose should the kingdom be at the charge of coining all our money a-new ? for i do not suppose any body can propose , that we should have two sorts of money at the same time , one heavier , and the other lighter , as it comes from the mint . that is very absurd to imagine . so that if all your old money must be coin'd over again , it will indeed be some advantage , and that a very considerable one , to the officers of the mint . for they being allow'd 3 s. 6 d. for the coinage of every pound troy , which is very near 5 ½ per cent ; if our money be six millions , and must be coin'd all over again , it will cost the nation to the mint 330000 l. if the c●ipt money must scape , because it is already as light as your new standard ; do you not own that this design of new coinage is just of the nature of c●ipping ? this business of money and coinage is by some men , and amongst them some very ingenious persons , thought a great mystery , and very hard to be understood . not that truly in it self it is so : but because interessed people that treat of it , wrap up the secret they make advantage of in mystical , obscure , and unintelligible ways of talking ; which men , from a preconceiv'd opinion of the difficulty of the subject , taking for sense , in a matter not easie to be penetrated but by the men of art , let pass for current without examination . whereas , would they look into those discourses , enquire what meaning their words have , they would find , for the most part , either their positions to be false ; their deductions to be wrong ; or ( which often happens ) their words to have no distinct meaning at all . where none of these be ; there , their plain , true● honest sense , would prove very easie and intelligible , if express'd in ordinary and direct language . that this is so , i shall shew , by examining a printed sheet on this subject , intituled , remarks on a paper given in to the lords , &c. remarks . 't is certain , that what place soever will give most for silver by weight , it will thither be carried and sold : and if of the money which now passes in england , there can be 5 s. 5 d. the ounce , given for standard silver at the mint ; when but 5 s. 4 d. of the very same money can be given elsewhere for it ; it will be certainly brought to the mint ; and when coined , cannot be sold , ( having one penny over-value set upon it by the ounce ) for the same that other plate may be bought for , so will be left unmelted ; at least , 't will be the interest of any exporters , to buy plate to send out , before money ; whereas now 't is his interest to buy money to send out before plate . answ. the author would do well to make it intelligible , how , of the money that now passes in england , at the mint can be given 5 s. 5 d. the ounce for standard silver , when but 5 s. 4 d. of the same money can be given elsewhere for it . next , how it has one penny over-value set upon it by the ounce ; so that , when coin'd it cannot be sold. this , to an ordinary reader , looks very mysterious ; and , i fear , is so ; as either signifying nothing at all , or nothing that will hold . for , 1. i ask who is it at the mint , that can give 5 s. 5 d. per ounce , for standard silver , when no body else can give above 5 s. 4 d ? is it the king , or is it the master worker , or any of the officers ? for to give 5 s. 5 d. for what will yield but 5 s. 4 d. to any body else , is to give 1 / ●5 part more than it is worth . for so much every thing is worth , as it will yield . and i do not see how this can turn to account to the king , or be born by any body else . 2. i ask , how a penny over-value can be set upon it by the o●ne● ; so that it cannot be sold ? this is so mysterious , that i think it near impossible . for an equal quantity of standard silver will always be just worth an equal quantity of standard silver . and it is utterly impossible to make 64 parts of standard silver equal to , or worth 65 parts of the same standard silver ; which is meant by setting a penny over-value upon it by the ounce , if that has any meaning at all . indeed , by the workmanship of it , 64 ounces of standard silver may be made not only worth 65 ounces , but 70 or 80. but the coinage , which is all the workmanship here , being paid for by a tax , i do not see how that can be reckon'd at all : or if it be , it must raise every 5 s and 4 d coin'd , to above 5 s. 5 d. if i carry 64 ounces of standard silver in bullion to the mint , to be coin'd ; shall i not have just 64 ounces back again for it in coin ? and if so , can these 64 ounces of coin'd standard silver , be possibly made worth 65 ounces of the same standard silver uncoin'd ; when they cost me no more , and i can , for barely going to the mint , have 64 ounces of standard silver in bullion turn'd into coin ? cheapness of coinage in england , where it costs nothing , will , indeed , make money be sooner brought to the mint , than any where else ; because there i have the convenience of having it made into mony for nothing . but this will no more keep it in england , than if it were perfect bullion . nor will it hinder it from being melted down ; because it cost no more in coin than in bullion : and this equally , whether your pieces , of the same denomination , be lighter , heavier , or just as they were before . this being explain'd , 't will be easie to see , whether the other things , said in the same paragraph , be true or false ; and particularly , whether 't will be the interest of every exporter , to buy plate to send out before money . remark . 't is only barely asserted , that 〈◊〉 silver be raised at the mint , that 't will ●●ise elsewhere above it ; but can never be known till it be tried . answ. the author tells us in the last paragraph , that si●v●r th●t is worth but 5 s. 2 d. per ounce at the 〈◊〉 is w●●th 5 s. 4 d. elsewhere . this how true or what inconvenience it 〈…〉 not here examine . but be the inconvenience of it what it will , this raising the money he proposes as a remedy : and to those who say , upon raising our money silver will rise too , he makes this answer , that it can never be known , whether it will or no , till it be tried . to which i reply , that it may be known as certainly , without trial , as it can , that two pieces of silver that weighed equally yesterday , will weigh equally again to morrow in the same scales . there is silver , ( says our author ) whereof an ounce ( i. e. 480 grains ) will change for 5 s. 4 d. ( i. e. 496 grains ) of our standard silver coin'd . to morrow you coin your money lighter ; so that then 5 s. 4 d. will have but 472 grains of coin'd standard silver in it . can it not then be known , without trial , whether that ounce of silver , which to day will change for 496 grains of standard silver coin'd , will change to morrow but for 472 grains of the same standard silver coin'd ? or can any one imagine that 480 grains of the same silver , which to day are worth 496 grains of our coin'd silver , will to morrow be worth but 472 grains of the same silver , a little differently coin'd ? he that can have a doubt about this till it be tried , may as well demand a trial to be made , to prove , that the same thing is aequiponderent , or aequivalent to it self . for i think it is as clear , that 472 grains of silver are aequiponderent to 496 grains of silver , as that an ounce of silver , that is to day worth 496 grains of standard silver , should to morrow be worth but 472 gr. of the same standard silver ; all circumstances remaining the same , but the different weight of the pieces stamp'd : which is that our author asserts , when he says , that 't is only barely asserted , &c. what has been said to this , may serve also for an answer to the next parapraph . only i desire it may be taken notice of , that the author seems to insinuate that silver goes not in england , as in foreign parts , by weight ; which is a very dangerous as well as false position ; and which , if allowed , may let into our mint what corruption and debasing of our money one pleases . remark . that our trade hath heretofore furnished us with an overplus , brought home in gold and silver , is true : but that we bring home from any place more goods than we now export to it , i do not conceive to be so . and more goods might be sent to those parts ; but by reason of the great value of silver in this part of the world , more money is to be got by exporting silver , than by any other thing that can be sent ; and that is the reason of it . and for its being melted down , and sent out , because it is so heavy , is not by their paper denied . answ. that we bring home from any place more goods than we now export , ( the author tells us ) he doth not conceive . would he had told us a reason for his conceit . but since the money of any country is not presently to be changed , upon any private man's groundless conceit , i suppose this argument will not be of much weight with many men. i make bold to call it a groundless conceit ; for if the author please to remember the great sums of money are carried every year to the east-indies , for which we bring home consumable commodities ; ( though i must own that it pays us again with advantage . ) or if he will examine how much only two commodities , wholly consumed here , cost us yearly in money , ( i mean canary wine and currants ) more than we pay for with goods exported to the canaries and zant ; besides the over-ballance of trade upon us in several other places ; he will have little reason to say , he doth not conceive we bring home from any place more goods than we ●ow export to it . as to what he says concerning the melting down and exporting our money , because it is heavy ; if by heavy , he means , because our crown-pieces ( and the rest of our sp●cies of money in proportion ) are 23 or 24 grains heavier than he would have them coin'd . this , whoever grants it , i deny ; upon grounds which i suppose , when examined , will be found clear and evident . indeed when your debts beyond sea , to answer the over-ballance of foreign importations , call for your money ; 't is certain the heavy money , that is that which has the standard weight , will be melted down and carried away ; because foreigners value not your stamp , but your silver . he would do well to tell us what he means by the great value of silver in this part of the world. for he speaks of it as a cause that draws away our money more now than formerly ; or else it might as well have been omitted as mentioned in this place : and if he mean , by this part of the world , england ; 't is scarce sense to say . that the great value of silver in england should draw silver out of england . if he means the neighbouring countreys to england , he should have said it , and not doubtfully this part of the world. but let him● by this part of the world , mean what he will , i dare say every one will agree , that silver is not more valued in this , than any other part of the world ; nor in this age , more than in our grandfathers days . i am sorry if it be true , what he tells us , that more money is to be got by exportation of silver , than by any other thing that can be sent . this is an evidence , that we bring home more goods than we export : for till that happens , and has brought us in debt beyond sea , silver will not be exported ; but the overplus of peoples gain , being generally laid up in silver , it will be brought home in silver ; and so our people will value it as much as any other , in this part of the world. the truth of the case in short is this . whenever we , by a losing trade , contract debts with our neighbours ; they will put a great value on our silver , and more money will be got by transporting silver than any thing can be sent : which comes about thus . suppose that , by an over-ballance of their trade ( whether by a sale of pepper , spices , and other east-india commodities , it matters not ) we have received great quantities of goods , within these two or three months , from h●lland , and sent but little thither ; so that the accounts ballanced between the inhabitants of england and the united provinces , we of england were a million in their debt ; what would follow from hence ? this : that these dutch creditors , desiring to have what is due to them , give order to their factors and correspondents here , to return it them . for enquiring , as we do , what are the effects of an over-ballance of trade , we must not suppose they invest their debts in commodities , and return their effects that way . a million then being to be returned from england to holland in money , every one seeks bills of exchange : but englishmen not having debts in holland to answer this million , or any the least part of it , bills are not to be got . this presently makes the exchange very high ; upon which the bankers , &c. who have the command of great quantities of money and bullion , send that away to holland in specie , and so take money here to pay it again there upon their bills at such a rate of exchange as gives them five , ten , fifteen , &c. per cent. profit ; and thus sometimes a 5 s. piece of our mill'd money may truely be said to be worth 5 s. 3 d. 4 d. 6 d. 9 d. in holland . and if this be the great value of silver in this part of the world , i easily grant it him . but this great value is to be remedied , not by the alteration of our mint , but by the regulation and ballance of our trade . for be your coin what it will , our neighbours , if they over-ballance us in trade , will not only have a great value for our silver , but get it too ; and there will be more to be got by exporting silver to them , than by any other thing can be sent . remarks . the alteration of the coins in spain and portugal are no way at all like this . for there they alter'd in denomination near half , to deceive those they paid , with paying those to whom they owed one ounce of silver , but half an ounce for it . but in the alteration here designed , to whoever an ounce of silver was owing , an ounce will be paid in this money ; it being here only designed , that an ounce of money should equal an ounce of silver in value , at home , as well as abroad , which now it does not . answer . in this paragraph the author confesses the alteration of the coin in spain and portugal was a cheat ; but the alteration here design'd , he says , is not : but the reason he gives for it is admirable ; viz. because they there alter'd in denomination near half , and here the denomination is alter'd but 5 per cent ; for so in truth it is , whatever be designed . as if 50 per cent were a cheat , but 5 per cent were not ; because perhaps less perceiveable . for the two things that are pretended to be done here by this new coinage , i fear will both fail , viz. 1. that to whom 〈◊〉 an ounce of silver is owing , an ounce 〈◊〉 silver shall be paid in this money . for when an ounce of silver is coin'd , as is proposed , into 5 s. 5 d. ( which is to make our money 5 per cent. higher than it is now ) i that am to receive an 100 l. per annum , fee farm rent ; shall i in this new money receive 105 l. or barely 100 l. ? the first i think will not be said . for if by law you have made it 100 l. 't is certain the tenant will pay me no more . if you do not mean that 400 crowns , or 2000 shillings of your new coin shall be an 100 l. but there must be 5 per cent , in tale , added to every 100 , you are at the charge of new coinage to no other purpose but to breed confusion . if i must receive 100 l , by tale , of this new money for my fee farm rent , 't is demonstration that i lose five ounces per cent of the silver was due to me . this a little lower he confesses in these words , that where a man has a rent-sec , that can never be more , this may somewhat affect it , but so very little , that it will scarce ever at all be perceived . this very little is 5 per cent. and if a man be cheated of that , so he perceives it not , it goes for nothing . but this loss will not affect only such rents as can never be more , but all payments whatsoever that are contracted for before this alteration of our money . 2. if it be true , what he affirms , that an ounce of money doth equal an ounce of silver in value abroad , but not at home ; then this part of the undertaking will also fail . for i deny that the stamp on our money does any more debase it here at home than abroad , or make the silver in our money not equal in value to the same weight of silver every where . the author would have done well to have made it out , and not left so great a paradox only to the credit of a single assertion . remarks . and for what is said in this bill to prevent exportation , relates only to the keeping in our coin , and bullion , and leaves all foreign to be exported still . answer . what the author means by our own and foreign bullion , will need some explication . remarks . there is now no such thing as payments made in weighty and mill'd money . answer . i believe there are very few in town , who do not very often receive a mill'd crown for 5 s. and a mill'd half crown for 2 s. 6 d. but he means i suppose in great and entire sums of mill'd money . but i ask , if all the clipp'd money were call'd in , whether then all the payments would not be in weighty money ; and that not being call'd in , whether if it be lighter than your new mill'd money , the new mill'd money will not be melted down as much as the old ; which i think the author there confesses , or else i understand him not . remark . nor will this any way interrupt trade ; for trade will find its own course ; the denomination of money in any country no way concerning that . answ. the denomination to a certain weight of money , in all countries , concerns trade ; and the alteration of that necessarily brings disturbance to it . remark . for if so be it occasions the coining more money , answ. he talks as if it would be the occasion of coining more money . out of what ? out of money already coin'd , or out of bullion ? for i would be glad to know where it is . remarks . it may be some gain to those that will venture to melt down the coin , but very small loss ( if any ) to those that shall be paid in the new : 't is not to be denied , but that where any man has a rent-sec , that can never be more , this may somewhat affect it ; but so very little , 't will scarce ever at all be perceived . ans. as much as it will be gain to melt down their coin , so much loss will it ●e to those who are paid in the new : 〈◊〉 5 per cent ● which , i suppose , is more than the author would be willing to lose , unless he get by it another way . rem . and if the alteration designed should have the effect of making our native commodities any way dearer , ans. here the author confesses , that proportionably as your money is raised , the price of other things will be raised too . but to make amends , he says , rem . it does at the same time make the land which produces them , of more than so much more in value . ans. this more than so much more in value , is more than our author , or any body else for him , will ever be able to make out . the price of things will always be estimated by the quantity of silver is given in exchange for them . and if you make your money less in weight , it must be made up in tale. this is all this great mystery of raising money , and raising land. for example , the mannor of blackacre would yesterday have yielded 100000 crowns , which , let us suppose , numero re●und● , to be ounces a piece of standard silver . to day your new coin comes in play , which is 5 per cent lighter . there 's your money raised . the land now at sale yields 105000 crowns , which is just the same 100000 ounces of standard silver . there 's the land raised . and is not this an admirable invention , for which the publick ought to be at charges for new coinage , and all your commerce put in disorder ? and then to recommend this invention , you are told , as a great secret , that , had not money , from time to time , been raised in its denomination , lands had not so risen too : which is to say , had not your money been made lighter , fewer pieces of it would have bought as much land as a greater number does now . rem . the loss of payments therespoken of , will , in no sort , be so great as if the parties to whom these debts are owing , were now bound to receive them in the money now passes , and then to melt the same down ; so at this they will have no cause to complain . ans. a very good argument ! the clippers have rob'd the publick of a good part of their money ( which men will , some time or other , find in the payments they receive ) and 't is desired the mint may have a liberty to be before-hand in it . they are told they will have no reason to complain at it , who suffer this loss ; because it is not so great as the other . the damage is already done to the publick , by clipping . where at last it will light , i cannot tell . but men who receive clip'd money , not being forced to melt it down , do not yet receive any loss by it . when clip'd money will no longer change for weighty , than those who have clip'd money in their hands , will find the loss of it . rem . 't will make the customs better paid , because there will be more money . ans. that there will be more money in tale , 't is possible : that there will be more money in weight and worth , the author ought to shew . and then , what-ever becomes of the customs , ( which i do not hear are unpaid now ) the king will lose in the excise above 30000 l. per annum . for in all taxes where so many pounds , shillings , or pence are determin'd by the law to be paid , there the king will lose 5 per cent. the author here , as in other places , gives a good reason for it . for , his majesty being to pay away this money by tale , as he received it , it will be to him no loss at all . as if my receiving my rents in full tale , but in money of undervalue 5 per cent , were not so much loss to me , because i was to pay it away again by tale. try it at 50 per cent. the odds only is , that one being greater than the other , would make more noise . but our author 's great refuge in this is , that it will not be perceived . remark . if all foreign commodities were to be purchased with this new species of money sent out ; we agree , that with 100 l. of it there could not be so much silver or other commodities bought , as with 100 l. in crown pieces as now coined ; because they would be heavier ; and all coin in any kingdom , but where 't is coined , only goes by weight ; and for the same weight of silver , the same every where still will be bought ; and so there will , with the same quantity of goods . and if those goods should cost 5 per cent more here in england than heretofore , an● yield but the same money ( we mean by the ounce abroad ) the same money brought ho●●●nd coined , will yield the importer 5 per cent more at the mint than it heretofore could do , and so no damage to the trader at all . answ. here truth forces from the author a confession of two things , which demonstrate the vanity and usele●nes● of the project . 1. that upon this c●ange of your coin , foreign goods will be raised . 2. your own goods will 〈◊〉 more 5 per cent. so that goods of all kind● being thereupon raised ; wherein con●●● the raising of your money , when an 〈◊〉 of standard silver , however 〈◊〉 ●tamped , or denominated , will buy 〈◊〉 more commodities than it did before ? this confession also shews the falshood of that dangerous supposition , that money , in the kingdom where it is coin'd , goes not by weight , i. e. is not valued by its weight . rem . 't is true , the owners of silver will find a good market for it , and no others will be damaged ; but , on the contrary , the making plenty of money will be an advantage to all . answ. i grant it true , that if your money were really raised , 5 per cent , the owners of silver would get so much by it , by bringing it to the mint to be coin'd . but since , as is confessed , commodities will ( upon this raising your money ) be raised to 5 per cent , this alteration will be an advantage to no body but the officers of the mint . rem . when standard silver was last raised at the mint , ( which it was , from 5 s to 5 s and 2 d the ounce , in the 43 d of eliz. ) and , for above forty years after , silver uncoin'd was not worth above 4 s 10 d the ounce , which occasioned much coining ; and of money , none in those days was exported : whereas silver now is worth but the very same 5 s and 2 d the ounce still at the mint , and is worth 5 s 4 d elsewhere . so that if this bill now with the lords does not happen to pass , there can never any silver be ever more coined at the mint ; and all the mill'd money will in a very little time more be destroyed . answ. the reason of so much money coin'd in queen elizabeth's time , and afterwards , was not the lessening your crown pieces from 480 to 462 gr . and so proportionably all the rest of your money , ( which is that the author calls , raising standard silver from 5 s to 5 s 2 d the ounce ) but from the over-ballance of your trade , bringing then in plenty of bullion , and keeping it here . how standard silver ( for if the author speaks of other silver , it is a fallacy ) should be worth it s own weight in standard silver at the mint , ( i. e. 5 s 2 d the ounce ) and be worth more than its own weight in standard silver , ( i. e. 5 s 4 d the ounce ) in lombard-street , is a paradox that no body , i think , will be able to comprehend , till it be better explain'd . it is time to give off coining , if the value of standard silver be lessened by it ; as really it is , if an ounce of coin'd standard silver will not exchange for an ounce of uncoin'd standard silver , but an ounce of coin'd standard silver will not exchange for an ounce of uncoin'd standard silver , unless you add 15 or 16 grains overplus to it : which is what the author would have taken upon his word , when he says , silver is worth five shillings four pence elsewhere . five shillings four pence of money coin'd at the mint , the author must allow to be at least 495 grains . an ounce is but 480 grains . how then an ounce of uncoin'd standard silver can be worth five shillings four pence , ( i. e. how 480 grains of uncoin'd standard silver can be worth 495 grains of the same standard silver , coin'd into money ) is unintelligible ; unless the coinage of our mint lessens the value of standard silver . sir , coin and interest are two things of so great moment to the publick , and of so great concernment in trade , that they ought , very accurately to be examin'd into , and very nicely weigh'd , upon any proposal of an alteration to be made in them . i pretend not to have treated of them here as they deserve . that must be the work of an abler hand . i have said something on th●se subjects , because you required it . and , i hope , the readiness of my obedience will excuse , to you , the faults i have committed , and assure you that i am , sir , your most humble servant . finis . five letters concerning the inspiration of the holy scriptures translated out of french. défense des sentimens de quelques théologiens de hollande sur l'histoire critique du vieux testament contre la réponse du prieur de bolleville. english. selections le clerc, jean, 1657-1736. 1690 approx. 289 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 134 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a49895 wing l815 estc r22740 12572179 ocm 12572179 63500 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a49895) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 63500) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 322:8) five letters concerning the inspiration of the holy scriptures translated out of french. défense des sentimens de quelques théologiens de hollande sur l'histoire critique du vieux testament contre la réponse du prieur de bolleville. english. selections le clerc, jean, 1657-1736. locke, john, 1632-1704. le clerc, jean, 1657-1736. sentimens de quelques théologiens de hollande sur l'histoire critique du vieux testament, composée par le p. richard simon. english. selections. 239 p. s.n.], [s.l. : 1690. selections from two separate titles, défense des sentimens de quelques théologiens de hollande sur l'histoire critique du vieux testament, and sentimens de quelques théologiens written by jean le clerc. translation attributed to john locke. cf. halkett & laing (2nd ed.). title page is missing in the filmed copy. beginning-page 27 photographed from bodleian library copy and inserted at the end. errata: p. 239. reproduction of original in yale university library. marginal notes. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng simon, richard, 1638-1712. -histoire critique du vieux testament. bible -inspiration. 2002-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-07 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-08 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2002-08 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion advertisement : by the translator , to the reader . for the better understanding of these five letters , it seems necessary in a few words to explain the occasion and subject of them . they are not , in french , one distinct volume , as they are here made in english ; but a part of two larger volumes written in an epistolary form. the first entituled , 1 the thoughts or reflections of some divines in holland , upon father simon 's critical history of the old testament . the second , 2 a defence of those thoughts , in answer to the prior of bolleville ; who is supposed to be also the same mr. simon , disguised under a borrowed name . the general design that mr. simon drives at in the critical history of the old testament , as well as in that of the new ( which are now both of them published in english ) is to represent the many difficulties that are amongst the learned concerning the text of the scriptures , and thereby to infer the necessity of receiving the roman doctrine of oral tradition . this design raised him many antagonists amongst the protestants beyond the seas ▪ who have opposed him in their writings , each according to his different genius or principles . the book first above mentioned was one of the earliest of that kind ; and it 's anonymous author appears second to none , either in critical learning , or solid iudgment . but it is not necessary to my purpose in this place to insist upon his particular differences with mr. simon in points of criticism . this only in general , is needful to be observed ; that though on the one side he sufficiently overthrows the pretended necessity of oral tradition ; and on the other side , ingenuously acknowledges all the difficulties that are amongst the learned about the text of the scriptures ; yet he does not thereupon leave the iudgment of his reader in suspence about so weighty a matter ; but propounds a middle way , which he conceives proper to settle in mens minds a just esteem of the scriptures , upon a solid foundation . the scheme or system of this middle way , he says , he received from his friend mr. n. and therefore he gives it not in his own , but in his friend's words . it is comprized in the eleventh and twelfth letters of his foresaid book . and because that is a distinct subject of it self , and of more consequence to the generality of christians , than those nice disputes of criticism , with which he is obliged , in following mr. simon , to fill up the rest of that volume , i have therefore thought fit to translate those two letters into english. they are the two first of these five ; and are the ground and occasion of the rest . the publishing of that volume of letters produced an answer from mr. simon , or the prior of bolleville , as he calls himself ; and further gave opportunity to the author to learn from several hands , whatsoever was objected most materially by others against the fore-mentioned scheme , which he had published in his friend's words . this afforded him occasion , in replying to the prior of bolleville , to insert a further explanation and defence of that scheme , from the hand of the author ; as also to justifie himself for having published it ; and in the last place to remove the great popular objection arising from a iealousy , lest that system of mr. n's should prejudice the foundation of the christian religion . i say , it prompted him to answer that objection , by giving a solid demonstration of the truth of our religion , without interessing it in this controversy . this is done in the ninth , tenth , and eleventh letters of his second book , entituled , a defence , &c. and they are the three last of these following five . i have translated them all , that the reader may at once have a full view , both of mr. n's opinions concerning the holy scriptures , in the fore-mentioned system ; of the objections that have been made against it ; of the answers he gives to those objections ; and of the vse that may be made of all , in setling the christian religion upon a basis not to be shaken by the difficulties about the scripture , which the learned are forced to acknowledg to be insuperable . this is all that i think needful to premonish the reader upon this subject . only if in the perusal of the two first of these letters , any one should be apt to condemn me for publishing things of this nice concernment in our language , i intreat him to suspend his censare , till he have read the rest ; and as he goes along , to apply unto me the author's apology . our case is the same , and i think , he has said all that is needful upon it . in a word , we live in an age of so much light , that it is not only now ( as at all times ) unbecoming the dignity of such sacred truths , as the christian religion teaches us , to build them upon unsound principles , or defend them by sophistical arguments ; but it is also vain to attempt it , because impossible to execute . the doctrine of implicit faith has lost its vogue . every man will judg for himself , in matters that concern himself so nearly as these do . and nothing is now admitted for truth , that is not built upon the foundation of solid reason . let not therefore any simple-hearted pious persons be scandalized at these disquisitions . they are not calculated for their vse . but they are absolutely needful for many others , who are more curious , and less religious . and that they may be in some measure useful to the propagation and advancement of true religion amongst such , is the strong hope , and hearty desire of the translator . the first letter . you are desirous , sir , that i should inform you more particularly about the thoughts of mr. n. concerning the inspiration of the sacred writers ; and you ask me if our friends do not suspect him to be tainted with deism ? he that gave me the essay , which i send you , told me nothing of his other opinions , nor of his manner of life : and for his thoughts concerning that divine inspiration , which the sacred pen-men received from god , it is conceived that from thence he cannot be concluded to be a deist . it is presumed on the contrary , without entring into the examination of what he says , that he believes by this method he better answers the objections , which the deists and atheists have used to make against the stile of holy scriptures : and it appears by this essay , that he is far from being of their opinions . we ought not always to measure , or judg of the extent of any man's thoughts , in reference to religion , by the manner of his explaining or defending them ; as if all those who do not defend well their religion , were men of ill design , that only seemingly defend , in order to destroy it . 't is said that the impious vannini designed to shew there is no god , in making as if he would prove there is one . but it does not follow from thence , that all others do the same , who defend , or oppose , weakly any opinion . otherwise we must believe many writers both catholicks and protestants , who injudiciously oppose the opinions of their adversaries , and as ill defend their own , to be guilty of ill design . if a man would make an exact catalogue of all the catholick authors , who have made impertinent answers to the protestants , and have used as impertinent objections against them , it would amount to several volumes in folio ; and the number of protestant authors , who have succeeded no better , would be little less . nevertheless , i do not believe there is any body so unjust , as to pretend , that the generality of those authors , on both sides , have been cheats , who maintained what they did not believe , or opposed what they did . you sir , have too much knowledg of the frame and constitution of man's mind , to be ignorant , that it is capable of believing in good earnest the most ridiculous things in the world ; and , which is yet more astonishing , of giving its assent at the same time to two things directly opposite . if you should , on purpose , invent the most ridiculous religion imaginable , there would be people found in asia , whose opinions would not appear more rational . you have read mr. bernier's travels , and the history of the bramins . what do you think of the heathens of the great mogul's country , and of those famous indian philosophers ? do you think there is none among them , that believes the monstrous principles of their theology ? for my part i am perswaded there are very few that see the absurdity of it . you will say perhaps , that those nations are under a blindness , which is next to down-right . foolishness ; and that the europeans are not to be judged of by indians . but are there not , in your opinion , some even among the christians , who believe things absurd , and against all sort of appearance ? the protestants at least do pass that censure upon many of the roman catholic doctrines , as transubstantiation , the infallibility of the pope , or council , &c. and the catholicks are not wanting to make like reproaches to protestants . the catholicks believe , that many units make more than a single one ; and do so much believe it , that he would pass for a fool amongst them , as well as amongst other christians , that would undertake to deny it ; and nevertheless they believe that a million of humane bodies , separate from one another , make but one. this is a visible contradiction : yet you know this is their opinion concerning the body of christ. there are some that assuredly believe , that god is not the author of sin , &c. who at the same time assert , that he created man with a design to let him fall into sin ; as a means to make his justice eminent , in punishing the greatest part ; and his mercy , in pardoning some few . it is evident , that to say god ordered sin should be , on purpose to accomplish thereby his ends , is to make him the author of it . but this is the frailty of man's mind ; he sees not these contradictions , because he has been so long accustomed to shut his eyes , when they are presented to him . a man may then not only defend an ill opinion that he believes , but also believe things absurd , and even contrary to one another , without being aware . and that 's the reason our friends suspect not mr. n. to be a deist , though some may think his opinions favour those that are so called . but that you may be able to judg , i send you here an abridgment of what he says ; which one of my friends imparted to me a while ago . there are , says mr. n. three sorts of things in holy writ , prophecies , histories , and doctrines , which are not ascribed to particular revelation . to begin with the first ; god made himself known to the prophets after several manners ; but it seems as if they might be reduced to these three . they had visions by day or by night ; they heard voices ; or they were inwardly inspired . it is not our business here to examine these things in themselves . we only enquire after what manner they have written that which they learnt by these visions , bythese voices , or by these inspirations . prophecies have been written by god's express command ; by the prophets themselves , or by others . for we cannot tell whether the prophets themselves have always written , or dictated them ; or whether their disciples have collected and written them as exactly as their memory would serve . however it be , we cannot doubt but god made known to the prophets that which we find in their books , and that we ought to believe st. peter , when he says , prophecy came not in old time by the will of man , but holy men of god spake as they were moved by the holy ghost . to tell us that which appeared to them in visions , whether it be they themselves that writ it , or others that heard them tell it ; there needed nothing but a good memory . a man has no need of inspiration to relate faithfully what he has seen , especially when the impression it made upon him was strong ; as commonly happen'd to those to whom god sent any vision . hence it is observed , that every prophet has his particular stile ; by which it appears that they related what they had seen , as they used to relate other things . their stile was the same when they spake by the order of god , with that which they us'd in their ordinary discourse . the same judgment is to be made concerning the recital of the words they heard . there needed no more but a good memory to retain them . but we cannot be assured that they have always recited exactly the very words they heard , and not sometimes thought it sufficient only to tell us the sense . when god told them the name of some person , it was necessary they should retain the syllables of that name ; as when god ordered isaiah to foretel that cyrus should give the jews liberty to return into palestine , it behoved isaiah to remember those two syllables , co-res . but there is no likelihood , that in the rest of his discourse isaiah has related word for word what he heard . the diversity of stile does moreover prove , that the prophets expressed after their own manner the sense of what they heard . there is , for example , much difference between the stiles of isaiah and amos. isaiah's manner of writing is high and lofty . on the contrary , that of amos is low and vulgar ; and we find in it divers popular expressions , and many proverbs , which sufficiently testify that this prophet , who was a shepherd , expressed after his own way what god had said to him . this is the opinion of st. ierom , in the preface of his commentary on this prophet . * the prophet amos , saith he , was skilled in knowledg , not in language ; for the same holy spirit spoke in him that spoke by all the prophets . this doctrine attributes clearly the expression to the prophets , and the thing it self to the holy spirit ; which appears also by the remark he makes on chap. iii. saying , † we told you that he uses the terms of his own profession ; and because a shepherd knows nothing more terrible than a lion ; he compares the anger of god to lions . st. ierom should have said , according to the common opinion , that god made use , in speaking to amos , of popular terms , and suitable to his profession , whereas he attributes plainly to the prophet the choice of the terms in which the prophecy is expressed . * that words were dictated by god to the prophets , ( says a late learned critick ) as it cannot be denied to have been done sometimes , so it does not seem to have been done always : and hence it is , that according to the variety of the times , and the speakers , the phrase of the prophets is also different . but it is commonly alledged , that the prophets recite the same words they heard ; because they introduce god himself , speaking , thus saith the lord , &c. that is no proof . for it is the custom , both of the hebrews and greeks , to bring in always those , whose sense they relate , as speaking in their own persons ; though in doing so , they tye not themselves to their words . i will give you a plain example thereof . it is the different manner in which the decalogue is set down in exodus and in deuteronomy ; although god is said to speak personally in both places . god says in exodus , remember the sabbath day , &c. in deuteronomy , keep the sabbath-day , &c. it is in exodus , to keep it holy . six days shalt thou labour , &c. in deuteronomy , to keep it holy , as the lord thy god commanded thee . six days shalt thou labour , &c. it is in exodus , nor thy cattel &c. in deuteronomy , nor thine ox , nor thine ass , nor any of thy cattel , &c. and this commandment ends thus , that thy man-servant , and thy maid-servant , may rest as well as thou ; and remember that thou wast a servant in the land of egypt , and that the lord thy god brought thee out thence , thrô a mighty hand , and a stretched-out-arm ; therefore the lord thy god commanded thee to keep the sabbath day . in exodus , the reason of keeping the sabbath , is taken from the creation of the world in six days , without any mention of slaves , or of the slavery of egypt . there are some other differences in that which follows , but not considerable . however it appears by this , that either moses in deuteronomy , or the author of the book of exodus , did not tie themselves scrupulously to exact words , as the jews now a-days do ; altho both these authors bring in god speaking personally . grotius has hereupon made this judicious remark . * it is to be observed , says he , that the words set down in this place in exodus , were pronounced by an angel in the name of god ; but those which are in deuteronomy , are the words of moses repeating the same things ; and that with so great liberty , that sometimes he transposes words ; changes some for others of the same signification ; omits some as sufficiently known by those gone before ; and adds others by way of interpretation . the like liberty of changing words is obvious to a careful reader in other places of sacred writ , as gen. xvii . 4. compared with 7. gen. xxiv . 17. compar'd with 43 exod. xi . 4. compar'd with xii . 28. exod. xxxii . 11 , &c. compar'd with deut. ix . 27 , &c. now this shews , that we should not catch at words in holy writ , as some of the iews do , who fancy that those words in exodus , and those in deuteronomy were pronounc'd in one and the same moment of time . they fancy also that where there is transposition , and changing the order of what was said first , what last ; that the last importing the same sense were also said first . there are in the holy histories so many miracles , that we ought not to invent new ones without necessity , and such as are of no use . if you require yet another convincing proof , that this manner of speaking personally , does not denote that they are the proper words of him that is introduc'd speaking after this manner , you have no more to do but to look into the gospels , where the evangelists always make our saviour to speak personally , and yet recite not the same words that he made use of . for , beside that christ spoke syriac or chaldee , there is oft great difference between their recitals . the holy spirit never tied it self up to words , as many of our divines do now a-days . he only prompted the holy pen-men to give us the true sense of the words that god made use of to make the prophets understand his will ; and it is only in respect to the sense , and to the things , that the apostles assure us that they were inspired from god. the third sort of prophecy , or manner by which god made known his will , was by inward inspiration , without vision , and without voice . hereof two different sorts may be conceiv'd . for either god might inspire prophecies or predictions word for word , as the prophets should pronounce them : as when there was occasion to tell some name , unknown before to the prophet : or he might inspire only the sense , which they might express afterwards in their own way : as most commonly it happen'd : the first occasion being very rare . it seems to me , that when any one does apprehend a sense distinctly , it is not difficult for him to express it faithfully . and we ought to suppose , that the prophets full of the thoughts wherewith god inspir'd them , had a very clear and distinct idea thereof : which will be easily understood , if we consider , that the things wherewith god inspir'd them were easy to be conceiv'd , and proportion'd to the understanding of all the world ; at least as to the literal sense . it happened also sometimes , that without inspiring either words or sense , god drew from the mouth of some persons , prophecies which those who spoke them understood otherwise , and did not think them to be prophecies . he cast them into certain circumstances , and involv'd them in certain events , which made them say things that were true predictions , without their knowing them to be so . such was caiaphas's prediction , when he says , that it was better that one man should die for the people , than that the whole nation should perish . now he said not that of himself , says st. iohn , but being high priest that year , he prophesied . to speak properly , god inspir'd him not those words , but the nature of the business they were about in the sanhedrim drew them from him . they were afraid that jesus would draw all the people to him , and enterprise something against the roman authority , which would not then fail to send a puissant army into palestine , and totally waste it . caiaphas thereupon urges a very common politic maxim , that is were better to destroy one man , though he were innocent , than to expose the whole state to utter desolation . in caiaphas's sense there is nothing of prophetic or inspir'd . but in the gospel-sense , that which caiaphas said , signifi'd more than he intended , and contained a true prophecy . it 's very likely that more predictions of this nature may be found in the old testament . for example : david says of himself and of his enemies divers things , without thinking of prophesying , which contain nevertheless predictions of that which ought to happen to christ and his enemies . he says psal. xli . 10. he that ate of my bread hath lift up his heel against me : he meant surely some of those who were risen against him in asolom's conspiracy , as achitophel or some other , and he speaks plainly of a thing happened to himself . it is this very thing that inspires him , if one may so say , these words ; which betoken what should befal jesus christ by the treachery of one of his disciples , as appears by iohn xiii . 18. the author of the lxix th , and cix th psalms , whether it were david , or some other , did not probably think of fore-telling what should one day befal a disciple of the messiah , when he curs'd his enemies : and yet st. peter in the acts applies some words of these psalms to iudas . there needs no great sharpsightedness to see that the author pretended not to speak of iudas , and that he was not immediately inspir'd by the good and merciful spirit of god , when he said , set thou a wicked man over him , and let satan stand at his right-hand : when he shall be judged let him be condemned , and let his prayer become sin : let his days be few , and let another take his office : let his children be fatherless , and his wife a widow : let his children continually be vagabonds and beg ; let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places : let the extortioner catch all that he hath , and let the stranger spoil his labour : let there be none to extend mercy unto him ; neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children : let his posterity be cut off , and in the generation following let their name be blotted out : let the iniquity of his fathers be remembred with the lord ; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out , &c. it is plain that these are the words of a man full of excessive choler , and of an extream desire to be revenged . now the law of moses permitted not , any more than the gospel , to with ill , or do it , to children , in revenge of the injury received from their parents . yet some famous divines have put in the title of this psalm , that david , as a type of jesus christ , being driven on by a singular zeal , prays that vengeance may be executed on his enemies . and where do they find that jesus christ does curse his enemies at that rate ? have they forgotten the words that proceeded from his dying mouth , in favour of the wickedest race that ever was ? those that crucified him , were they not the greatest enemies he had , and the most obstinate adversaries of the gospel ? and , far from making the imprecations against them that they deserved , did not he pray to his father to forgive them ? has he not ordered us to imitate him , and to pray for those that persecute us ? i cannot understand how it can be said , that david , as a type of iesus christ , made such horrible imprecations against his enemies . i confess , i understand not christian religion , if it permit the pronouncing such curses , and the wishing to be revenged after so cruel a manner , as does the author of this psalm , and those of divers others , in which we find such like imprecations ; as that of psal. cxxxvii . o daughter of babylon , who art to be destroyed , happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us : happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones ! god forbid that we should desire to dash out the brains of infidel's children ! yet nevertheless we see that all these psalms are indifferently sung in protestant churches , without taking notice that they are not all equally inspir'd . and i remember that asking a divine , how we could sing psalms full of such imprecations ? he answered me slightly , that it was lawful to use them against the enemies of the church , and that for his part he made that application to them , when he sung these psalms . thus you see what the jewish opinion of the inspiration of words , and of the divinity of each verse of the scripture produces . we may conceive another sort of prophecies , which consisted not in foretelling things to come , but in explaining the scripture , and in composing readily hymns to the honour of god. there are some examples of these hymns in the new testament , as that of the blessed virgin mary , and some others . it seems as if there went only piety and zeal to the composing them . at least it is very conceivable , that a pious , zealous man may easily now a days praise god in that manner , without any preparation . a good part of the psalms seems to have been thus compos'd , as also divers other songs which are in the old testament . the psalms where the verses , or the pauses , begin with the letters of the hebrew alphabet , seem to have been compos'd at more leisure . for this regularity shews that there was meditation and pains used , as is in acrosticks . see psal. cxix . and the lamentations of ieremy . so we see too , that in this sort of works , the holy writers do not speak in the name of god , nor begin their discourse with , thus saith the lord. yet we may say that the authors of these pious songs were full of the holy spirit , when they compos'd them ; that is to say , it was a spirit of piety that carry'd them to take pains in those compositions ; and in that sense we may say that they were inspir'd by god , though not so immediately as predictions . the spirit of god is often taken for the spirit of holiness , that is to say , for a disposition of spirit conformable to the commandments of god ; as many learned men have observed . i will now remark briefly in what manner the sacred histories have been written : and then , in treating of doctrines , i will speak of that sort of prophecy that consists in explaining the holy scripture . it is certain that those who took pains in the histories of the old and new testament , were pious persons ; who had not writ those histories , but out of a principle of piety . it was not to satisfy our curiosity that they undertook those works ; but to show us the care that the providence of god hath always taken of good people , and the punishments it inflicts upon the wicked ; to give us examples of piety and vertue ; and lastly , to inform us of certain matters of fact , upon which our faith is founded , and of the precepts which god had given to jews and christians , by the ministry of his prophets , apostles , angels themselves , and even of his own son. we ought also to believe that they have given us the truth of the history to the best of their knowledg , without adding or substracting any thing out of design to deceive us . and as they were very well informed of the principal matters of fact which they relate , having themselves seen them , or taken them out of good records , we may be consident that for the main of the history they tell us nothing that is not exactly true . these qualifications alone are sufficient to oblige us to give credit to them . an historian that is honest , and well inform'd of that which he relates , is worthy of credit : and if you add thereto , that he has also suffer'd death in maintaining the truth of his history , as the apostles did , who were put to death for maintaining that they had seen and heard , that which the gospel tells us of jesus christ ; then not only that history will be worthy of credit , but they who shall refuse to believe it , can pass for no other than fools or obstinate persons . in this manner we may be fully assur'd of the truth of the history of the new testament ; that is to say , that there was a jesus who did divers miracles , who was rais'd from the dead , & ascended up into heaven , and who taught the doctrine which we find in the gospels . and this jesus having born witness to the history of the jews , we cannot doubt its truth , at least as to the principal matters . this can not be call'd in question , without absolutely renouncing christianity . but people believe commonly two things which seem to me groundless ; unless they ground them upon jewish tradition , a principle , as is well known , extreamly uncertain . they believe , first , that the sacred historians were inspir'd with the things themselves : and next , that they were inspir'd also with the terms in which they have express'd them . in a word , that the holy history was dictated word for word by the holy spirit , and that the authors , whose names it bears , were no other than secretaries of that spirit , who writ exactly as it dictated . as to what concerns the inspiration of historical matters of fact , i observe , first , that they suppose it without bringing any positive proof , and that consequently a man may with good reason reject their supposition . they say only that if it were not so , we could not be perfectly certain of the truth of the history . but , beside that a consequence cannot undeniably prove a fact ; and that it may happen that one cannot disprove a consequence , although that which is pretended to be prov'd thereby be not true ; i affirm that it is false , that we cannot be perfectly certain of the main substance of a history unless we suppose it inspir'd . we are , for example , perfectly certain that iulius caesar was kill'd in the senate by a conspiracy , whereof brutus and cassius were the chiefs ; without believing that they who have inform'd us hereof were inspir'd . there are such like matters in the histories of all nations , which we cannot doubt of , without being guilty of folly and opiniatrety ; and yet without supposing that these histories were writ by divine inspiration . in the second place , this opinion supposes without necessity a miracle , of which the scripture it self says nothing . to relate faithfully a matter of fact , which a man has seen and well observed , requires no inspiration . the apostles had no need of inspiration to tell what they had seen , and what they had heard christ say . there needs nothing for that but memory and honesty . neither had those authors who writ only the things that came to pass before their time , as the author of the books of chronicles , any more need of inspiration for copying of good records . and as for those who made the records , there was no more requisite , than that they should be well inform'd of what they set down , either by their eyes , or by their ears , or by faithful witnesses . it will be said , perhaps , that according to this opinion , the faith which we build upon the scripture will be no other than a faith purely human , because it will be grounded only upon human testimonies . to this i answer , that neither do we know , any more than by a human faith , that the book which we call the gospel of st. matthew is truly his . it is nothing but the uniform consent of christians , since the beginning of christianity to this day , that makes us believe it ; which in truth is no more than a testimony purely human. we do not believe it because we are assur'd of it by an oracle from heaven , which has told us that this book is truly that apostle's ; but on the same account that we believe that the eneid is truly virgil's , and the iliad homer's . but that which they here call human faith is of as great certainty , as the demonstrations of geometry . and even divine faith it self , as they call it , is built upon this certainty . for , in truth , we do not believe in jesus christ , but because we are perswaded that the history we have of him is true . and how do we know that this history is true ? because eye-witnesses have written it , and have suffer'd death to maintain the truth of their testimonies . and how are we certain that these were eye-witnesses , and that they suffer'd death rather than deny what they said ? by history ; that is to say , by the testimony of men , who affirm it to us constantly from the time of the establishment of the christian religion to the age we live in . so that human faith is found to be the ground of divine faith. but we need not fear that this foundation is not solid enough . for without ceasing to be a man , and reasoning no more than a brute , it cannot be disputed ; as has been made appear by many learned men , who have written of the truth of christian religion . in the third place ; the common opinion is contrary to the testimony even of the sacred writers . st. luke begins his gospel after this manner . for asmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things , which are most surely believed among us , even as they delivered them unto us , who from the beginning were eye-witnesses , and ministers of the word : it seemed good to me also , having had perfect vnderstanding of all things from the very first , to write unto thee in order ▪ most excellent theophilus , that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed . you may observe in these words a confirmation of what i have been saying , and a full proof that st. luke learn'd not that which he told us by inspiration , but by information from those who knew it exactly . now if you allow st. luke to have so faithfully related to us the life and discourses of jesus ( without having been particularly inspir'd ) that we ought to receive what he tells us with an entire belief in his fidelity ; you ought not to make any difficulty to grant the same concerning the other historians of the scripture . if any of them ought to be inspir'd , certainly they were the evangelists . and if you will have another example of a histoory written without inspiration , you have but to read the books of kings , and of the chronicles , being extracts out of publick registers , and out of particular writings of divers prophets , to whom the authors at every turn refer the reader . lastly , it is very plain that the historians of the scripture were not inspir'd ; by the contradictions that are found in several circumstances of their histories . the evangelists agree perfectly among themselves in what concerns the main of the history of jesus christ , but there are some circumstances wherein they disagree ; a clear proof that every particular was not inspir'd . for although the circumstances wherein they differ are things of small consequence , yet if the holy spirit had dictated all to them , as is pretended , they would perfectly agree in every thing ; these circumstances being as well known to god as the main of the history . for example ; st. matthew says , that judas , repenting that he had delivered our lord to the iews , threw the mony into the temple ; that going away he hang'd himself ; and that the priests , having gathered up the mony , bought therewith a field . st. luke in the acts brings in peter saying , that judas , after having purchased a field with the reward of iniquity , falling headlong , burst asunder in the midst , insomuch that his bowels gushed out . here is a manifest contradiction , which the learned in vain endeavour to reconcile . and there are many other such like but this , you will say , lessens very much the authority of the evangelists . for if they could be deceiv'd in any thing , who will secure us that they were not deceiv'd in every thing ? i answer to that in the words of grotius ; * even this it self ought to free these writers from all suspicion of deceit , for those who testify falshoods , use so to agree their stories , that there may not so much as seem to be any difference . but if because of any small disagreement , although it could not be reconcil'd , whole books should lose their credit , then no book , especially of history , would deserve to be believed ; whereas the authority of polibius , and halicarnassensis , and livy , and plutarch , in whom such things are found , as to the main stands firm among us . st. chrysostom also in his first homily on st. matthew , very plainly assures us , that god permitted the apostles to fall into these little contrarieties ; that we might see that they were not agreed to feign a history at pleasure ; and that we might more readily believe them in the main of the history . when a man has seen most of the things which he relates , in those he can hardly be deceiv'd . but he may be easily deceiv'd in some circumstances of things which he has not seen we might yet add a fifth proof , which grotius affords us , in his notes on that part of his treatise of the verity of the christian religion , which i lately cited . it is , that the evangelists , in setting down a certain time , do not determine it exactly ; because they did not know it so precisely that they could set down the number of days or months . see luke i. 56. iii. 23. iohn ii. 6. vi. 10 , 19. xix . 14. you find in those places , about a certain time ; or , about a certain number : which shews evidently , that the history was not dictated immediately by the holy spirit , who knew exactly the number and the time that was in question . it is clear then , in my judgment , that the things were not inspir'd ; nor by consequence the words ; which are less considerable than the things . it is not certain terms that are the rule of our faith ; but a certain sense . and it is little matter what words we make use of , provided we go not astray from the doctrine which god has reveal'd . those who read the originals , are in no better way of being sav'd , than those that can read only the translations . for there is no translation so false , but that taken in gross , it expresses clearly enough that which is necessary to salvation . otherwise it would be necessary that all christians had learn'd hebrew and greek , which is altogether impossible ; and we should exclude from salvation , almost all those who have made profession of the christian religion in our western parts , from the time of the apostles , to the age we live in that providence also which has preserved us these holy books , to lead us in the way to salvation , so many ages after the death of those that writ them , has preserv'd inviolably nothing but the sense . it has suffer'd men to put in synonimous words one for another ; and not hinder'd the slipping in of a great many varieties , little considerable as to the sense , but remarkable as to the words and order . there is in st. matthew , for example , more than a thousand divers readings in less than eleven hundred verses ; but whereof there is not perhaps fifty , that can make any change in the sense ; and that change too is but in things of little importance to piety . if god had thought it necessary , for the good of his church , to inspire into the sacred historians the terms which they ought to use , he would undoubtedly have taken more care to preserve them . it is plain therefore that he design'd principally to preserve the sense . thus then neither the words , nor the things , have been inspir'd into those who have given us the sacred history ; altho in the main that history is very true in the principal facts . it may be , that in certain circumstances , little considerable , there may be some fault ; as appears sufficiently by the contradictory passages . it is ture , that some have strain'd themselves to reconcile those passages , as i have already observ'd ; but it is after so violent and constrain'd a fashion ; and there are such divers opinions about these reconciliations ; that if we examine the thing never so little , without prejudice , we shall find that the learned trouble themselves to no purpose ; and that they would do much better to confess ingenuously , that there are some contradictions in things of small importance . nay further , i know some that believe we ought not to receive all the jewish histories , without distinction , for true histories . they pertend we ought to except the book of esther . and it is true , that if assuerus , of whom the book of esther speaks , be ochus that raign'd after artaxerxes mnemon , this book would have been written at such a time as there was no prophet in israel . but altho mr. cappel pretend that achasueros is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , his conjecture is not unquestionable . they pretend also , that this history has all the characters of a history made at pleasure . i shall not examine that at present . but however it be , it is no heresy to reject a book of the iewish canon ; as neither is it to reject one of our own . at least , the protestants have not call'd a lutheran an heretick , for having said that the epistle of st. iames is an * epistle of straw ; no more than they have many of the learned , for not receiving the second epistle of st. peter , which a famous critic stiles , † a fiction of some ancient christian misimploying his leasure-time . the iewish sanhedrim may easily have received into their canon books that had no divine authority . to come now to the doctrines which are in the holy scriptures , and not there attributed to a partcular revelation ; i will begin with examining those which are in the writings of the apostles , after which i will pass to those of the old testament . it is commonly believed , that the apostles , as well as the prophets , were inspir'd both as to words and things . yet with this difference , that the prophets were not always inspir'd , but only when god gave them order to speak to the people in his name . whereas the apostles were always inspir'd , without being ravisht into extasies , as the prophets were before their prophesying . this opinion is founded upon the promise that christ made his apostles to send them the holy spirit , which he performed on the day of pentecost . the words of christ are , iohn xvi . 13. when he , the spirit of truth , shall come , he will guide you into all truth . he says also elsewhere to his apostles ; when they bring you into the synagogues , and unto magistrates , and powers , take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer , or what ye shall say , for the holy ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say , luk. xii . 11. these are two the most formal passages that can be quoted in this matter . it is requisite that we examine them with some attention , to see if they prove that which they are produc'd for ; viz. that the apostles were honour'd with a continual presence of the holy ghost , who dictated to them all that they said in matter of religion ; insomuch that all their words ought to be considered as oracles . to begin with the latter ; i observe first , that he does not promise a perpetual inspiration , but only upon certain occasions ; viz. when the apostles should be brought before the tribunals of judges . so that if there were nothing else in it , this passage would not at all favour the common opinion . but there is more in it : for it wholly destroys it . if jesus christ had resolv'd to give his apostles the holy spirit to inspire them perpetually , he would not have told them singly , that they should not troble themselves for what they had to say before the judges , because then the spirit should speak in them . but he would have said that they need not fear that at any time they should want words , because the holy spirit should accompany them without ceasing , as well before the powers of the world , as when they should speak to the people . if a man had a design to supply another with mony for all his expences ; would he say to him , do not trouble your self to get mony for the journies you are to take , for you shall then be supplied ? he would rather say to him , doubtless , that he should not fear to want mony , because he should be suppli'd constantly for all his occasions . a man promises not for a particular occasion , that which he intends to give alike at all times . and when a man makes a particular promise , it is a plain sign that he intends to perform it but upon certain occasions . in the second place ; as i acknowledg that the apostles may have had prophetick inspirations on certain occasions , and that in effect they have had them ; so i confess that i find my self tempted to believe , that by these words , the holy ghost shall teach you in that hour what ye ought to say : or as st. matthew has expressed it , it is not ye that speak , it is the spirit of your heavenly father that speaks in you ; i am , i say , tempted to believe , that by these words christ meant only to say this ; viz. the spirit of courage and holiness , which the gospel produces in your hearts , will teach ye what ye ought to say . that is to say , that the apostles had no more to do , but to believe in the gospel , to be assur'd that the disposition of spirit which that heavenly doctrine would give them , would never let them want words ; not even when they were to defend themselves before the tribunals of the greatest powers . that which inclines me to this explication of christ's words , is , that in comparing this promise with the event , it seems not to have been performed in any other sense than that which i have now observ'd ; and that neither ought it to be interpreted so strictly , as if on these occasions a word might not slip from the apostles , that were not conformable to the spirit of the gospel . st. luke tell us , acts xxiii . that st. paul having been brought before the sanhedrim , began to speak after this manner ; men and brethren , i have liv'd in all good conscience before god until this day . here is nothing yet that one might not say without inspiration ; as neither is there any thing but what is conformable to the gospel . but what follows is a sign of passion , wherewith neither the spirit of prophecy , nor the patient spirit of the gospel inspired st. paul. at that words , says st. luke , ananias the high priest commanded them that stood by , to smite him on the mouth . the apostle , provok'd by this unjustice , answers him angrily , god shall smite thee , thou whited wall. for sittest thou to judg me according to the law , and commandest thou me to be smitten contrary to the law ? and they that stood by , says st. luke , said to paul , revilest thou god's high priest ? then said paul , i wist not brethren that he was the high priest : for it is written , thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people . it is plain , me-thinks , that if the spirit of prophecy had inspir'd st. paul with the beginning of this discourse ; it did not so neither with the answer he made the high priest ; nor with the excuse he made use of afterward when they told him he was the high priest that he spoke to . he gave sentence against himself by his answer , supposing that he had known him who order'd him to be smitten . and as for the excuse , it is plain it is not very good ; because the gospel allows not to revile any man ; whether he be a magistrate , or a private man. iesus christ , says st. peter , has suffered for us , leaving us an example that we should follow his steps ; who when he was reviled , reviled not again ; when he suffered , threatned not , but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously . neither do i believe that the spirit of prophecy inspir'd st. paul with what he said afterward : at least there is no body but could have said as much , without inspiration . now st. paul knowing , says the historian , that the one part were sadduces , and the other pharisees , cried out in the council , men and brethren , i am a pharisee , the son of a pharisee : of the hope and resurrection of the dead , i am called in question . this expression also of st. luke , ( paul knowing ) makes it evident that his speech was an effect of his prudence , rather than of prophetic inspiration . i am not the first that has made such-like observations . st. ierom in his dialogue against the pelagians , lib. 3. brings in atticus , who bears the part of an orthodox doctor , speaking of st. paul ; * do you think st. paul , at that time when he writ , ( the cloak which i left at troas , when thou comest bring with thee , and the books , but especially the parchments ) did think of the heavenly mysteries , and not of those things which are useful to humane life , and necessary to the body , & c ? the apostle is struck by an officer , and he falls foul upon the high priest that commanded him to be smitten : god shall smite thee thou whited wall. where is that patience of our saviour , who as a lamb led to the slaughter open'd not his mouth , but answered mildly to him that struck him ? if i have spoken ill , convince me of the ill ; but if well , why do you strike me ? we do not detract from the apostle , but we declare the glory of our lord ; who suffering in the flesh , overcame the difficulties and weaknesses of the flesh. not to mention what he says in another place . alexander the copper-smith did me much evil ; the lord , the righteous iudg , will reward him in that day . it is true , st. ierom elsewhere disapproves a part of that which here he makes his orthodox doctor speak ; but it is plain , at least , that one might speak it without being guilty of heresy . lastly ; when we examine the discourses which we have of christ's disciples before divers judges , we may easily perceive that they speak with much piety and courage ; but it seems not that they say any thing which one might not as well say without inspiration . if we read the histories of those that have been put to death for religion in the last ages , we shall find many that were not prophets , making excellent . discourses at their trials , without being prepar'd before-hand . st. stephen was full of the gospel-spirit , when he made the harangue we read acts vii . it seems nevertheless , that he therein mix'd divers circumstances of history , which were nothing to the purpose of the matter he spoke about ; and which neither can tolerably be reconcil'd with the history of the old testament . and indeed very learned men have been of opinion , that st. stephen's memory fail'd him . mr. cappel in his spicilegium on vers. 16. says : * it is certain that in this place we should read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and understand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that it might not be said abraham , but his grandchild jacob bought this monument . or we may say , that stephen , by the fault of his memory , confounded two facts that were somewhat alike , to wit , the purchase made by abraham , whereof gen. xxiii . with that made by jacob , gen. xxxiii . 19. however , it is no ways incongruous , that by the holy spirit , or the spirit of god , we should understand the spirit of holiness and constancy , which the gospel gives ; or such a disposition of mind , as is an effect of our faith. we know it is a manner of speaking common in the old and new testament ; and that the hebrews call the spirit of iealousy , the spirit of stupidity , the spirit of fear , the spirit of courage , the spirit of meekness , &c. the different dispositions of mind , that render a man jealous , stupid , fearful , couragious , meek , &c. the criticks have observ'd this long ago . but i must needs desire you once again to take notice , that when i say the disciples of christ had not prophetic inspirations , for answering before the tribunal of judges , to the accusations brought against them ; i do not mean thereby that it never so fell out ; but only that ordinarily they spoke without particular inspiration . i conceive indeed , that if one of them had appeared before a judg , whose language he naturally understood not , it would have been necessary that god should have dictated to him the proper words he was to make use of . and i doubt not but god has often done even that , in favour of such of the apostles as have preach'd the gospel to barbarous nations beyond the limits of the roman empire , and perhaps too sometimes amongst the romans and greeks . however it be , it seems to me that if what i have been saying be consider'd , it must be granted that the passages of st. luke and st. matthew , where christ promises his spirit to his disciples , are not strong enough to render the common opinion indisputable . this , sir , is about half the writing which was given me concerning the thoughts of mr. n. on this subject . it is too long to make an end of transcribing it at present . but you shall have the rest by the next post : upon condition you will promise me to peruse it carefully , and give me your sense of it . it were extreamly to be wished , that some able and judicious person would undertake to handle this matter thorowly , in opposition to our author , but without heat and passion . this opinion is maintain'd by so many proofs , and arguments that seem so strong ; that tho i know it may be render'd very odious , and that very malicious consequences may be drawn from it ; yet i must confess i do not know by what principles it can be overthrown . and that which gives this author yet more advantage , is , that this matter has been so little handled , that all the writings upon the scripture to this day afford us scarce any light therein . a man must fetch all out of his own stock , to answer him . and it is no small trouble to have one's mind continually exercised in clearing up the difficulties of a subject so little known , and giving clear principles in so obscure a matter . i would be glad , sir , that there were any in your province , or elsewhere , that would undertake to clear it : for i know none of my friends here that will ingage in it . if you could prevail with some learned and moderate divine to take that task in hand , without railing as divines too often do , when they know not how to answer their antagonist , you would infinitely oblige those who have read this little writing . i am , &c. the second letter . i am not surpriz'd , sir , at your desire to see the latter part of that writing , whereof i sent you the former by last post , before your are willing to give me your judgment on it . a matter so important and so delicate requires to be considered with much attentiveness . we must lay aside then once again the examination of the critical history , to resume it next post. for i cannot transcribe the rest of the writing of mr. n. and entertain you at the same time upon any other subject . mr. — whom you mention , is well qualified to instruct his flock in matters of piety , but has not , i doubt , learning sufficient , nor parts strong enough to master the difficulties that attend the answering directly , and by positive arguments , a writing which some other very able divines dare not meddle with . it were better , in my judgment , not to answer at all than to answer ill ; and to seek only to defame an author whom one cannot confute . i should be the more troubled to see that done , by how much i understand that the author is a very pious man , and one who assuredly believes not the evil consequences , which some men , ( too ready to judg of their neighbours ) may draw from his notions . i fear that he you speak of would content himself in gathering together a great number of those odious consequences , and would think that he had thereby sufficiently refuted the opinion , without considering , that tho a man cannot disingage a doctrine from the absurd consequences that by some may be link'd to it , it does not therefore follow that the doctrine is false . it should first be made appear that the arguments brought for an opinion are not solid ; and after that one may come to the consequences . otherwise while the arguments that prove an opinion subsist in full force , all the consequences that may be deriv'd from it cannot overthrow it . nevertheless if you believe him capable to acquit himself of this undertaking , you may perswade him to it when you think fit . but put him in mind at the same time , that it is the part of an honest man , and of one that would bestow his pains to some good purpose , to do it with all the moderation and meekness imaginable . st. ierom commends nepotien , * that he used to hear willingly , answer modestly , allow truth , not sharply confute error , and teach rather than conquer whom he disputed with . and it were to be wished that our divines now adays would make it their business to deserve so good an elogy ; whereas it seems that they strive only to attain to the name of great railers , and value not peoples having an ill opinion of their manners , provided that they pass for men of parts . i speak not this as if i suspected that mr. — resembles one of those divines i find fault with ; but because i believe a man cannot be too much caution'd against so general a defect . but these moralities would carry me too far , if i should give my self the liberty to pursue them . it is better that i keep my word with you , and give you the following part of that writing . and here it is . let us now examine that passage of st. iohn , when the spirit of truth shall come , he will lead you into all truth . interpreters observe that we must not understand by all truths , any others than those which the apostles were ignorant of , and which it was needful for them to know , that they might be able to acquit themselves as they ought to do of their charge . they receiv'd not the holy spirit to learn , for example , that there was a god ; nor to be instructed in the mathematicks . they knew already this first truth , and of the other they had no need . the generality of interpreters believe that these words denote a perpetual assistance of the holy spirit , that made the apostles absolutely infallible . to know whether they are in the right or no , we must examine the accomplishment of the promise ; and if it appear that it agrees not with this explanation of our saviour's words , we must seek another sense , and try to discover wherein the infallibility of the apostles consists . we find a story acts xv . whereby it appears manifestly that the apostles did not pass in their own time for persons , whose every word was an oracle , as they are now reputed to have done . some jews converted to the christian religion , not being able to shake off their ancient opinion concerning ceremonies , would have had the gentiles circumcis'd . st. paul , and st. barnabas were against this : but their authority was not sufficient to put to silence the judaizing christians . altho st. paul was as much an apostle , as those whom our lord had chosen while he was on earth , yet they would not believe him . the church at ierusalem must be consulted . further also , the apostles and elders of the church , being assembl'd to examine and determine this affair , dispute a great while before they agree upon it ; and it was not till after they had heard st. peter , st. paul , st. barnahas , and st. iames , that the assembly came to a resolution . if they had been fill'd with the spirit of infallibility , such as is conceiv'd now adays , they would have been all at first of one mind ; and there would have needed no more to be done , but to charge one of them to give out the oracle in the name of the whole assembly . there happen'd likewise , before that , another thing related by st. luke , acts x. which makes it also very evident , that the holy ghost which the apostles receiv'd the day of pentecost , had not taught them all they ought to know , ( so far was it from rendring them at first dash infallible ) and that they were not then consider'd as persons out of danger of falling into error , as they have been since accounted . st. peter needed a vision , as appears by the story of cornelius the centurion , to learn that he ought not to scruple preaching the gospel to the gentiles ; although christ had order'd his apostles before his ascending into heaven , to preach the gospel unto all creatures ; whereby he clearly enough denoted the gentiles as well as the iews . st. peter after having obey'd the express order which he receiv'd from god , to preach the gospel to cornelius , was no sooner returned to ierusalem , but the faithful ones of the circumcision , not dreaming that his apostleship render'd him infallible , dispute with him ; and tell him , after a manner that shows that the infallibility which we now attribute to him , was to them unknown , thou wentest unto men uncircumcis'd , and didst eat with them . many years , as it seems after that , peter being at antioch , had not the courage to maintain openly that the jews might eat with the gentiles without scruple . for before that certain persons came from james , he did eat with the gentiles : but when they were come he withdrew , and separated himself , fearing them which were of the circumcision : and the other iews dissembled likewise with him , insomuch that st. paul observing , that they walked not uprightly , was obliged to tell peter before them all , if thou being a iew livest after the manner of gentiles , and not as do the iews , why compellest thou the gentiles to live as do the iews ? it is said that st. peter . was guilty of a fault only in his conduct , and not in his doctrine ; that he believ'd and maintain'd the same with st. paul , but that on this occasion he dissembled his opinion ; and that he did not otherways constrain the gentiles to live as the iews , but in abstaining to eat with them . the gentiles , say they , seeing that st. peter did not eat with them because they were uncircumcis'd , did , by reason of this his conduct , believe themselves oblig'd to be circumcis'd , and consequently to observe the other ceremonies of the law. they believ'd that it was a sin to continue uncircumcis'd , because st. peter forbore to live familiarly with them on that account ; and on the contrary that it was a duty to observe the circumcision . so that it was by his conduct only that st. peter forc'd them to live as iews . and indeed it is true that by efficaciously engaging one to do a thing , after what manner soever it be , we are said to force one to do it . see gen. xix . 3. luke xxiv . 19. i believe really that this is the best explanation . but it proves clearly that the metaphysical infallibility which is attributed to the apostles is not of apostolick tradition . for , in truth , to dissemble a true doctrine when they ought to preach it , and to ingage people in an error by their conduct , is visibly a human weakness , and which becomes not those who are look'd upon as the simple instruments of the holy spirit speaking by their mouths . st. peter's conduct gave the gentiles to understand , as well as if he had told it them , that they must observe the circumcision ; and to give them to understand it by forbearing to eat with them , was almost the same thing as to tell it them by word of mouth . nay more , it is not unlikely that st. peter believed that this dissimulation was lawful , as well as st. barnabas , and the other iews who had followed his example ; otherwise it is not credible that so pious men , who were the first ministers of the gospel , would have done it . and so we must confess that they were guilty of some weakness even in doctrine , although they recanted it soon , nor was it of great importance . there is also a great difference observable in the manner of christ's speaking ( he that had received the spirit without measure ) and that in which the apostles express themselves ; whereas according to the common opinion it ought to be the same . if the same spirit had render'd them infallible , they had right to declare to the world the doctrine of salvation with the same power , and to speak as authoritatively as jesus christ. but we see the contrary in their writings . christ spoke as one having authority . you have heard it was said of old , &c. but i say unto you , &c. the apostles , on the contrary , declare that they say nothing of themselves , and refer all to the prophets , and to jesus christ : acts xxvi . 22. 1 cor. xi . 23. and that which is yet more considerable is , that they distinguish manifestly that which they say themselves from that which christ had said . and unto the married , i command , yet not i , but the lord , &c. but to the rest speak i , not the lord , &c. so st. paul speaks , 1 cor. vii . 10 , 12. which he would not have done , had he been aware that his auditors had believ'd his words as infallible as the words of christ. methinks these are convincing proofs that the apostles had not a perpetual inspiration , which might give their words an indisputable authority . i do not deny but they had many immediate inspirations , and divers heavenly visions ; as appears by the acts , by the revelations , and by divers other places of scripture ; nay , i am so fully perswaded they had , that i think him no good christian who doubts of it . but the question here is concerning an uniform , constant and ordinary inspiration , as it is commonly explained in the divinity-schools . it may be you will say there are divers arguments for this sort of inspiration as strong as those i have brought to shew the contrary . the apostles began their letter acts xv . after this manner , it has seemed good to the holy ghost and to us . by which it appears , say some , that they were fill'd with the spirit of infallibility , which dictated to them what they ought to say , i desire first , that those who say so , reconcile this supposition with the dispute that was among the apostles , before they came to this conclusion . in the second place : it is not likely that if the holy ghost had possess'd them in such a manner , that they had been only simple instruments by which he express'd his will they should not have plac'd themselves in equal rank with the him ; but should have said simply , it has appear'd good to the holy ghost , who speaks by us . what prophet ever said , it seem'd good to god and to me ? in the third place : suppose there be here , as the critics say , a figure by which is express'd one and the same thing by two words ; and that this manner of speaking amounts to no more but this , it has seemed good to us who are full of the holy ghost ; the perpetual inspiration about which i am now arguing cannot be hence concluded . the apostles and all the church of ierusalem were animated by the spirit of the gospel , without being continually full of the spirit of prophecy . if it were otherwise , we should be forced to say that the whole church of ierusalem , not only the apostles , but also the elders of the church , and all those who were assembled , were perpetually accompanied with a spirit of infallibility ; which no body ever yet said , nor is it at all likely . in the fourth place ; the conclusion of the letter they write , seems extreamly weak for the conclusion of a positive law. from which you shall do well to keep your selves . a prophet under the old testament would have said , from which keep your selves ; for so saith the lord , whose commandments you cannot slight without your own destruction , &c. some may also here object the spirit of miracles and tongues , which the apostles received the day of pentecost . but the effusion of that miraculous spirit did not necessarily render all those that receiv'd it infallible in doctrine . otherwise all the christians of that time had been infallible . the church of corinth had receiv'd the holy ghost , as appears by the epistles st. paul directs to it ; and so should not have needed that apostle's instructions , because it had a great number of infallible persons within it self : but it appears , on the contrary , that it needed his instructions , not only to correct its vices , but also to resolve its doubts , and even to rectify its errors . thus then the spirit of miracles not being accompanied with infallibility ▪ it connot be concluded , because the apostles receiv'd that spirit the day of pentecost , that they became as gods , and that they were out of all danger of ever falling into the least error . but what signify then these words ; when the spirit of truth shall come , he will lead you into all truth ? this spirit of truth is it not the miraculous spirit which the apostles receiv'd . i have already observ'd that these words cannot be understood rigorously , as if the apostles had known all sciences . i must add further , that there is something extreamly figurative in them ; as appears by the following words ; for he shall not speak of himself , but what soever he shall hear , that he shall speak ; and he shall shew ye things to come . he shall glorify me , for he shall receive of mine , and shall shew it unto you . all things that the father hath are mine ; therefore said i that he shall take of mine , and shew it unto you . what opinion soever a man may be of concerning the holy spirit , it is plain that these words cannot be taken properly , as if the holy spirit had heard from god , or jesus christ , that with which he ought to inspire the apostles . the most simple sense , and most conformable to the accomplishment of this promise , which can be given to these words , is , to my thinking , this . i should explain many things to you more clearly than i have done , but you are not yet in condition to receive them as you should . when you shall have received the spirit of miracles , he will teach you the rest that you ought to know ; either by visions , or by making you call to mind that which i have told you ; so that he will make you apprehend the sense , and will teach you what you ought to do afterwards . to speak properly , he will tell you nothing new ; he will but recal into your memory , to make you better understand it , the doctrine of my father ; which is the same that i have taught you ; and which i may also call my doctrine , because my father has charg'd me to preach it , as the only doctor of his church . the holy spirit led the apostles into all truths ; and took that which was christ's , without ever speaking of himself ; in making them call to mind that which they had forgotten ; and in making them understand on divers occasions , or even by extraordinary revelations , that which christ had said to them , but which they then understood not . this is plainly that which christ teaches us in these words ; these things have i spoken unto you , being yet present with you . but the comforter , which is the holy ghost , whom the father will send in my name , he shall teach you all things , and bring all things to your remembrance , whatsoever i have said unto you , iohn xiv . 25 these last words apparently explain the foregoing , he shall teach you all things . in effect , there is nothing in the doctrine of the apostles , which christ had not told them ; and in leaving them , he gave them no other order for the preaching of the gospel , but to teach all people to observe all those things which he had commanded them . and the apostles observe in several places , that it was not till after they had received the holy spirit , that they remember'd , and understood divers things which christ had told them when he was here below . these things understood not the disciples at the first , says st. ioh. xii . 16. but when iesus was enter'd into his glory , then remember'd they that these things were written of him . see the same evangelist , ii. 22. and acts xi . 16. this is , in my opinion , the sense of christ's words ; at least i find nothing among the interpreters , that answers so well to the event ; which thorowly convinces me that . christ must have meant some such thing . for when all 's done , whatsoever may be said , the promise ought to be understood by its correspondency with the accomplishment , and there is no better interpreter of prophecies than their execution . this being so , the infallibility of the apostles , according to my judgment , consisted in this . they knew clearly the general principles of the jewish religion , which had been taught them from their cradle ; they had heard christ often tell what the gospel added to judaism ; or if you will , christ had explain'd to them more clearly the will of god , and had shown them the errors of the pharisees ; he had instructed them concerning the messiah , and had made appear to them by many proofs , that himself was he ; god had rais'd him from the dead , and they had convers'd with him after his resurrection ; and in the last place , they had seen him ascend into heaven , from whence he assur'd them he would come one day to judg the quick and the dead . they preach'd faithfully that which they had heard , that which they had seen with their eyes , that which they had observ'd with attention , and that which they had touch'd with their hands . they could declare , without any mistake , what they had seen ; they could preach what they had heard . for the doctrine of jesus christ was compris'd in a few articles , plain enough to be understood , and consequently easy to be remembered . thus they related infallibly what they had seen and heard ; and therein it is that their infallibility consisted . perhaps also the spirit of miracles which christ sent them , strengthned their memories , and open'd their minds after a manner we comprehend not . but it is certain , as i have made it appear , that this spirit directed them not in so miraculous a manner , as to make it necessary for us to regard all they said or writ with the same respect as the words of jesus christ , the only master , and the only infallible doctor that ever was amongst men. he was the only mystical ark , in which the godhead dwelt bodily , from whence proceeded nothing but oracles . some may ask , perhaps ▪ whether it might not so happen that the apostles might abandon the truth of the gospel , and preach a false doctrine ; and if it might be so , how we can be assur'd that they were not deceivers ? i confess , that though it was very unlikely , that after having receiv'd so many illuminations and graces , they should fall into apostacy ; yet it was not absolutely impossible . but in that case god would not have approv'd by miracles the doctrine they taught ; and thereby it is that we may know they were no seducers . there crept in , during their time , many false prophets among the christians ; but they were presently discover'd because they could not maintain by miracles , a doctrine contrary to that of the apostles , which was confirm'd by an infinity of wonders . god made appear , by those prodigies , that the apostles declar'd nothing but what was conformable to his will , nor any thing that could be hurtful to piety ; for it is impossible that god would favour a doctrine which should turn men from holiness . but we must not believe neither , as i have already observ'd , that because god wrought miracles in favour of any person , it therefore follows that all things pronounced by that person , were immediately inspir'd , and ought to be receiv'd as the infallible decisions of him that never errs . provided that person maintained the substance of the gospel , and said nothing but what conduced to piety , god would not cease to bear witness to his doctrine , although all his reasonings were not demonstrations . god would not that this mark of his approbation should be interpreted , as if he had thereby declared that he would have all the words of those that had miraculous gifts receiv'd as oracles . to be fully convinc'd hereof we need but read the first epistle to the corinthians . i must nevertheless ingenuously confess , that there is mention made in this epistle of some miraculous gifts , which seem to have been pure inspirations ; and which ought to make the speakers attended unto , as if they were the simple interpreters of the holy spirit . the spirit , says st. paul , 1 cor. vii . 8. gives to one the word of wisdom , to another the word of knowledg . it seems as if he meant thereby the gift of prophesying ; that is to say , of instructing others in piety ; of which he says many things in the xivth chapter of the same epistle . this seems contrary to what i have been saying concerning the inspiration of the apostles , and i confess i cannot see how , according to my notion , this difficulty can be clearly solv'd . i might say that this gift of prophecy was perhaps no other than a disposition of mind , which god infus'd sometimes into those on whom he bestow'd it , by which they became fit to instruct ; although he inspir'd them not extraordinarily with that which they were to say ; which is so much the more likely , by how much this gift was preserv'd and increas'd by study and reading ; as appears by those words of st. paul to timothy . first epist. chap. iv. 13 , &c. vntil i come , give thy self to reading , to exhortation , to instruction : neglect not the grace which is in thee , which was given thee by prophecy , through the imposition of the presbytery : meditate on these things , be always imployed , to the end they improvement may be known of all men. now it is plain that the gifts which are owing to an actual and immediate inspiration of the holy spirit , such as curing diseases , &c. could not be increas'd by application of mind , as not depending upon man in any sort . the most assiduous study cannot contribute any thing to prophetick , or immediate revelations . this conjecture seems probable enough . and indeed i see no other way of explaining what st. paul says to timothy . but without determining any thing concerning the gift of prophecy , it appears plainly by what st. paul says , 1 cor. xiv . that it consisted not in an immediate revelation of the holy spirit , that forced the prophets to speak . he there gives them this advice ; let the prophets speak two or three , and let another judg ; but if any thing be revealed to one of those that sits by , let the first hold his peace : for ye may all prophesy one by one , to the end that all may learn , and all may be comforted : and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets . the prophets whom the holy spirit had inspir'd immediately with what they ought to say , had no need of this advice . nay it had even been ridiculous . because the holy spirit inspiring them with what they had to say , would have inspired them likewise as to the occasion and the place , and would not have put many persons on speaking at one time in the same place , nor so as to interrupt others who spake by his inspiration . moreover st. paul would have the prophets judg one another , and that the spirits of the prophets be subject to the prophets ; which cannot be understood of prophets immediately inspir'd , who are subject to none but god , and who are to give account to none but him . the prophets of the old testament spoke as long as god inspir'd them ; after which they held their peace , without needing any advertisement ; because they easily perceiv'd when the inspiration ceas'd . it seems to me that we may now conclude , that there never was any body but our saviour , who had a constant and perpetual inspiration , and all whose words we ought to receive as oracles . as he alone amongst men was incapable of sinning , so it was he alone whom god indow'd with an absolute infallibility . the same light which perpetually inlighten'd his mind , regulated also the motions of his affections : otherwise it would be difficult to conceive how he could chuse but be subject to error , if he had been subject to sin. there is so great a correspondence between the mind and the affections , that it is not almost possible there should be any irregularity in the one , without a disorder in the other . but that you may not believe i am the first author of this opinion , and that it is a desire to appear singular , or an affectation of novelty that has ingag'd me in this notion , i must also let you see that some great men have been of the same mind before me . st. ierom makes this observation upon the fifth chapter of the prophet micah , in speaking of this passage ; and thou bethlehem ephratah , though thou be little among the thousands of judah , &c. which st. matthew cites otherwise than it is either in the hebrew or septuagint . * there are , says he , that affirm there is the like error in almost all the testimonies that are taken out of the old testament ; that either the order is chang'd , or the words , and that sometimes the sense it self differs ; the apostles or evangelists not transcribing the testimonies out of the book , but trusting to their memory which sometimes fail'd them . it is true , st. ierom says not that he approves this opinion , but he makes it appear elsewhere that he is not very far from it . in his letter to pammachius ( de optimo genere interpretandi ) of the best way of interpreting ; he gathers together many examples of the new testament , by which he shews that the apostles tie themselves more to the sense than to the words ; and maintains , with good reason , that we should not play the criticks on them for it , nor even for the places where they have mistaken names . after having compar'd the quotation matth. xxvii . 9. with the original , he adds ; † one may accuse the apostle of falsity in that he agrees neither with the hebrew nor with the septuagint ; and which is more , that he is mistaken in the name , putting jeremy for zachary . he seems indeed elsewhere to disapprove that opinion ; but it is usual with him to accommodate himself to the common opinion , and yet not omit to give his own ; without being concern'd whether he contradicted himself or no. when he speaks as others do , you must not conclude presently that he is of the same opinion with them , because it may be he speaks so by way of condescension ; whereas when he says the contrary , it seems rather that he speaks his own thoughts . you need but read what he says of the dissimulation which he attributes to st. peter and st. paul ( in his commentary upon the second chapter of the epistle to the galatians , and in his answer to st. austin ) to see that he believ'd that st. paul by a prudence purely human ( which he calls a dispensation ) made shew of believing that st. peter was in the wrong ; insomuch that when st. paul says that st. peter was to be reprov'd , because he walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel ; it was not that he believ'd so , but only to hinder the converted gentiles from imitating that apostle . i say not that st. ierom was herein in the right ; but at least it hereby appears that he believ'd not that the apostles were mov'd by a perpetual inspiration to write what they did . we may joyn with st. ierom , origen , ( from whom he had this opinion concerning the dispensation that he attributes to these two apostles ) and divers greek fathers , who also followed origen ; as st. ierom writing to st. austin observes , in the apology he makes for this part of his commentary . thus you see that the most able interpreters of scripture , that christian antiquity has had , have been of the same opinion with me . i may also say that the most learned criticks of these last ages have believ'd the same thing , since erasmus and grotius have publickly maintain'd it ; those two great men , who are beyond dispute in the first rank amongst the moderns that have concern'd themselves in writing on the bible . ( — quorum se pectore tota vetustas condidit , & major collestis viribus exit . ) erasmus upon the second chapter of st. matthew says thus , * st. jerom abhors the imputation of falshood to the apostles , not that of slips of memory . nor is the authority of the scripture forthwith questionable because they differ in words or sense , as long as the main of the matter treated of , and that whereon our salvation depends , is clear . for as that divine spirit , that govern'd the mind of the apostles , suffered them to be ignorant of some things , to make mistakes , and to err ( either in iudgment or affection ) without any damage to the gospel ; nay it improves that failing to the help of our faith ; so it is not unlikely that it so influenced the faculty of their memory that though something after the manner of men might scape them , yet that should not only not derogate from the credit of the holy scripture , but might even gain credit to it , with those who otherwise might be apt to slander it as written by confederacy . of this sort is that of putting one name for another , which jerom confesses to be somewhere done ; or of relating things out of order , &c. christ only is stiled the truth , he alone was free from all error . he says also upon acts x. * neither do i think it necessary to attribute every thing that was in the apostles to a miracle . they were men , some things they were ignorant of , in some they were mistaken . he maintains likewise the same opinion at large in his epistles , ( lib. 2. ep. 6. ) against eckius , who had blam'd him in a letter he had written to him ; and he thus concludes all that matter , † christ suffer'd his own to err , even after they had receiv'd the comforter ; but without danger of apostatizing from the fundamentals of the christian faith ; even as at this day we confess the church may err witthout that danger . and to conclude ; how do you know , whether christ would not that this compleat praise should be kept only for himself , who stiles himself alone the truth ? as he alone was without spot or blemish of sin , according to the opinion of the antients , so perhaps he only was beyond all exception true . nothing could be said more formally upon this subject . but grotius who speaks not so plainly , is not wanting for all that to explain himself sufficiently ; giving us to understand that all that the apostles said was not , in his opinion , immediately inspir'd . * paul , says he in his appendix to his commentary concerning anti-christ , in two places , 1 thess. iv. 14. and 2 cor. xv. 22. speaking of the resurection , divides those that are to rise again into two kinds ; those who are already dead , and those who shall be alive at that time : but of this last number he makes himself one , using this pronoun we : and in that to the corinthians , we that shall be alive ; as much as to say , he made account that the resurrection would happen within the time of his life ; speaking herein not dogmatically , but conjecturally ; as he does also concerning his iourney into spain , rom. xv. 28. and frequently in other places . as not the prophets , so neither had the apostles constant revelations in all things . and the things in which they had not receiv'd revelation , of those they speak conjecturally as other men. we have examples thereof 1 sam. xvi . 6. 2 sam. vii . 3. the ablest divine among the arminians was also of this opinion , as you may see by consulting the place in the margent ; but to ease you of seeking it , if you are not at leisure , or want convenience , i will transcribe some of the words . † it is not absurd to grant ( says he ) that the holy spirit may have left the writers of the sacred books to the common condition of mankind , and to their own frailty , in relating those things that belonged to the circumstance of a fact , for which a due knowledg , and memory was sufficient ; even altho that was subject to failing . he says also a little lower ; * it is better , and would perhaps cause less scandal , to acknowledg freely and willingly a light failing of memory ( that so we may not seem to favour things wrested and absurd ) rather than to make use of absurd interpretations in excuse of lighter failings . otherwise the suspicion of a failing is not only not avoided , but it is increased ; and because the fault is not acknowledged , it seems as if truth were not in good earnest sought by us , but that obstinacy were for some reason or other made use of ; which ought to be look'd upon as the greatest reproach imaginable to professors of the christian religion . he shows afterwards , that it follows not , because the apostles might be deceived in things of small importance , that therefore they could fall into any considerable error for want of memory . and the principal reason he gives is , for that the fundamental doctrines depend not on a circumstance , which they could forget ; nor have they any thing in them obscure , or hard to be retain'd ; which is so true , says he , that i make no difficulty to affirm , that if any one says there is a sense in the scripture necessary to salvation , which appears at first contrary to reason , we ought thereby to judg he attributes to the scripture a sense it has not . and this is what i believe , and am convinc'd of by reading the sacred books . i confess that the most part of divines now a days are of a contrary opinion . but as i pretend not to oblige any body to approve my judgment by the authority of those i have quoted , so neither do i hold my self obliged to submit to the authority of a crowd of learned men , who do but say the same thing one after another , without ever examining or bringing reasons for it . we must however observe here two things of very great importance , which are not ordinarily reflected on : the first is , that in one controversy which we have with the roman church , our divines do all agree , that we ought not to have so much regard to words as things ; for , upon supposition that in the apocryphal books there is nothing contrary to piety , they say that the controversy about them is not considerable . now if there be no danger in believing expressions to be divine that have nothing in them but human , when the doctrines therein contain'd are not contrary to the reveal'd truth ; what danger can there be in believing that any truths which we acknowledg to be divine , are express'd in terms not divinely inspir'd ? the same reason that makes us believe there is no danger in the one , perswades us also there is none in the other . it is because we are not sav'd by the words , but by the things . the other thing observable is , that we receive amongst the canonical books of the new testament , writings whose authors are not well known ; which we could not do , if we thought it necessary , in receiving a book as canonical , to be assur'd that every word was inspir'd ; since to be assur'd thereof we sought to have evident proofs that it was a man inspir'd by god who was the author of that book . for example , it is not known who writ the epistle to the hebrews , whether it were an apostle , or some disciple of the apostles ; so that we cannot know whether the words of that epistle were inspir'd or not . but for all that , it is receiv'd ; because it is certain it was written in the apostles time , and because it contains nothing that is not perfectly conformable to their doctrine . thus it is generally thought of little importance , whether the words be divinely inspir'd or no , provided the things they express be true . so that one may say , that in truth divines are generally very favourable to the opinion i maintain , although themselves are not aware of it . i do not think it necessary to insist much in proving that god has not always dictated to the apostles the very words that they used ; since it is evident that he did not always dictate to them the things . not that i make any doubt but he has often reveal'd to them the things , and even inspir'd them with the very words , as in the prophecies where there was need to remember divers names , and when they spoke strange languages . tho it may nevertheless be suppos'd , that ( as to what concerns the gift of tongues ) god dispos'd at once the brains of them that receiv'd it , in such a manner that they could without trouble joyn certain sounds to certain ideas ; just as they would have done if they had been us'd to it from their infancy ; and that afterwards he left them at liberty to make use of those new languages according as they should think fit . and thus those that learn'd , by inspiration the language of the medes , for example , had their brains dispos'd in the same manner as they would have had if they had learn'd that language from their infancy , and could make use of it as easily as their mother-tongue . at least it is evident that some who had receiv'd this miraculous gift did sometimes abuse it ; which they would not have done , if they never had spoken those languages but by present immediate inspiration . see 1 cor. xiv . but without determining that point , i believe , with erasmus , that the apostles learn'd not the greek they us'd by inspiration ; because if it were so , they would have spoke it like the native grecians ; whereas they mix'd with it a world of hebraisms , as the french that speak latin do gallicisms . see erasmus upon acts x. not that i believe , neither , that they had learn'd the greek language by the commerce they had with the greeks during the functions of their charge , as erasmus thought probable : it is more likely they had learn'd it from their infancy . for st. paul who was born in cilicia , where they spoke nothing but greek , undoubtedly had learn'd it young ; but he corrupted it afterwards by his long dwelling in iudaea ; where besides the greek , they spake a broken chaldee , whose dialect mixing with the greek render'd it obscure and difficult , such as is the stile of that apostle . the others that were born in iudaea had learn'd it also from their infancy , as it was commonly there spoken ; that is to say , extreamly corrupted by the ancient language of the country , which was still spoken there , as appears by divers places of the new testament . this the same erasmus has well observ'd in the places already cited : * when i excuse the apostles , says he in his letter to eckius , who learn'd their greek not out of demosthenes his orations , but out of the discourse of the common people , i deny not their gift of tongues ; nor does it thence follow that they might not learn greek by common converse . assuredly they learn'd the syriac by common converse . why might they not in like manner learn the greek ? for ( by means of alexander , the great , and the roman empire ) aegypt , and the greater part of syria , and all the lesser asia , nay almost all the east , as jerom says , spoke greek . and i cannot think that the holy spirit made them to forget what they had formerly learn'd . the greek language then was spoken in iudaea , together with the ancient language which the jews brought from babylon , that is to say the chaldean ; but corrupted in process of time , as the french and flemish are spoke together now adays in flanders . and as the french they now speak in flanders is full of the flemish dialect , and of terms unknown in france , so the greek of iudaea vvas heretofore full of chaldaisms , and of barbarous ways of speaking , which undoubtedly grated the grecian's ears . the history of the acts of the apostles , that tells us in several places that hebrew or chaldean was spoken in iudaea , tells us also that they us'd another language , which could be no other than greek . st. luke observes acts xxii . that st. paul haranguing the jews , began to speak to them in hebrew , and that when they understood him speak to them in the hebrew language , they hearken'd to him with the greater silence ; which gives us to understand that he might have spoke to the people in another language ; for otherwise there had been no ground to observe that they listn'd more attentively , when they perceiv'd he spake hebrew ; seeing that in speaking any other language but hebrew they could not have understood him . it appears then that greek was spoken in iudaea , and it is likely pilat spoke greek to our lord , and that our lord answer'd him in the same . the people only preferr'd the language of the country before the greek ; which was not so ancient , and which they had not learn'd but by force , because of the kings of syria that tyranniz'd over them ; and so they spoke it not exactly . it is true , there were iews that spoke greek very purely ; but they were such as were born in countries where only greek was spoken , as philo ; or they had acquir'd a habit of speaking good greek by reading or studying , as iosephus . so at this day there are walloons that speak french very well , ( altho the generality of that people speak it extreamly ill ) because they have taken much pains to correct in themselves the faults which others commit , they have apply'd themselves to reading , or they have travell'd in france . these jews born in the countries where nothing but greek was spoken , understood not the ancient hebrew , nor the hebrew then spoken in iudaea . they made use in their synagogues of the version of the septuagint , and because they spoke nothing but greek , they were call'd the hellenist iews . salmasius in his book of the hellenist tongue , against heinsius , shows that these jews spoke very good greek ; and that it is very absurd in some learned men to imagine there was an hellenish tongue ; as if the hebrews that knew not their own language , had a particular one different from that of the places where they dwelt ; and that this language was that of the septuagint and of the new testament . if a name were to be given to this corrupted greek , it should rather be call'd hebraistic ; because it is full of hebraisms , or chaldaisms . but as the language of the walloons , or of some of the provinces of france , cannot pass for a particular language , being nothing but a corrupted french , so neither ought the barbarous greek of iudaea to pass for a language by it self , different from the greek language . it is no wonder then if the apostles , who had liv'd a good part of their lives in iudaea , or who were born there , and had not apply'd themselves to learn perfectly the greek tongue , nor to speak it in purity , use it so improperly in their writings . st. paul himself , born in a town that spoke nothing but greek , had so corrupted his speech by his long dwelling in iudaea , that he confesses , he was ignorant in the language , 2 cor. xi . 6. as sufficiently appears by all his epistles , the greek whereof is very different from that of iosephus . and therefore the greek fathers have complain'd of the obscurity of his stile , of the barbarous phrases that are therein , and of apparent confusion in the order of his discourses ; and those who very readily understood plato and demosthenes , were oblig'd , as erasums judiciously observes , to take great pains to understand st. paul. we need but compare his stile with that of some greek author , to find that this apostle apply'd himself not much to the greek eloquence . it is plain then that the holy spirit inspir'd not the apostles with the expressions they were to use . if it had been so , st. paul could not have said , he was ignorant in the language . he should have said , that the holy spirit inspir'd him with a language such as was that of the people . and all the greek fathers would have blasphemed against the holy spirit , when they observ'd the little eloquence of st. paul : for according to this supposition , that would not have proceeded from st. paul , but from the holy spirit . if any one doubt of this , he need but read erasmus , in the places i have cited . it is true , that a famous protestant divine has undertaken to confute him , in his annotations upon the 10 th chapter of the acts ; but he does nothing but declame , as he is us'd to do , against an author more learned and more judicious than himself , without bringing any solid reason . we must now speak a word of some books of the old testament , that contain neither history nor prophecy ; such are the books of proverbs , ecclesiastes , the song of solomon , and iob ; which last is apparently a dramatic piece , whereof nothing but the subject is true ; as are the tragedies of the greek poets . there is no proof that what is contained in the proverbs was inspir'd to solomon by god , after a prophetic manner . they are moral sentences , which a good man might well pronounce , without inspiration ; as are those contain'd in ecclesiastious . there are very many of them that are but vulgar proverbs , which carry indeed a good sense , but have nothing in them of divine . there are a great many directions about oeconomy , which women and country-people every-where know without revelation . see chap. xxiv . 27. and xxvii . 23. and the description of a vertuous woman at the latter end of the book . the name of prophet is very liberally bestow'd on agur the son of iakeh , for some moralities that are found under his name : prov. xxx . whereas i dare be bold to say better things might have been said without the spirit of prophecy . three things , says he , for example , are too marvellouss for me , and even four which i know not ; the way of an eagle in the air , the way of a serpent on a rock , the way of a ship in the midst of the sea , and the way of a man with a maid . one must have a mean opinion of the spirit of prophecy , to believe that it dictated such things as these . and indeed neither does the author pretend to that eminency ; but says modestly concerning himself , that he is more brutish than any man , and has not the vnderstanding of a man. but there is particularly one precept of good husbandry , that is often repeated , which our merchants now adays know , as well as the israelites that liv'd in solomon's time . it is that which expresly forbids them to be surety for any body , chap. vi. 1. xvii . 18. xx. 16. xxii . 26. xxvii . 13. it is true by the rules of good husbandry a man should never be surety , but there happens oftentimes cases wherein charity ought to be preferr'd before good husbandry ; as appears by the parable of the samaritan , who became surety for the expence of the jew , that was found hurt on the road. there is , methinks , no great need that god should send prophets to teach men good husbandry ; on the contrary it was very necessary that christ should preach liberality . some learned men have believ'd that ecclesiastes is a dialogue ; where a pious man disputes with an impious one who is of the opinion of the sadduces . and in effect there are things directly oppos'd one to another , which it cannot be suppos'd the same person speaks . the epicurean conclusion ( to eat , drink and be merry , because a man has nothing else ) which is up and down in many places of this book , is altogether contrary to that conclusion at the end of the work ; fear god , and keep his commandments , &c. but it is extreamly difficult to distinguish the persons , or to find out exactly in the name of what person the author speaks in every passage . however it be , there appears in it nothing of prophetic ; and there is little likelihood that the spirit of god would set out , with so great strength , the arguments of sadduces , or perhaps of worse men , to answer them but in two or three words . read the beginning of the ninth chapter , and make reflection on these words : the living know that they shall die ; but the dead know not any thing , neither have they any more a reward ; for the memory of them is forgotten . also their love and their hatred , and their envy is now perish'd ; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun. go thy way , eat thy bread with ioy , and drink thy wine with a merry heart ; for god now accepteth thy works . grotius is of opinion that this book was not writ by solomon himself , but that it is a work compos'd under his name , by one that had been in caldea ; because there are divers caldean words in it . if this conjecture be true , as is not impossible , then this book will be nothing but a piece of wit and fancy , compos'd by some of those that had been in the captivity . and i know one who has studied much the criticks of the holy scripture , that suspects the author of this book to have been of the opinion that the sadduces were of afterwards , about the immortality of the soul and the world to come . it seems to him that this author says nothing which a true sadduce might not say . but for my part , i think it best to determine nothing herein . it is commonly believ'd that the song of solomon is a mysterious book , describing the mutual love between christ and his church . but there is no proof of it neither in the old nor new testament , nor in the book it self . all that can be said is , that the jews explain this book allegorically of god , of moses , and of the jewish church . but a man need but read their allegories , to see that they are the visions of rabbins , having no foundation but in the fanciful extravagance of their brains ; which frame of mind our divines have so much inherited from them , that they give themselves wholly up to find mysteries in every thing . nay it must be confess'd that some of them have in that out-done the rabbins ; and that there is nothing so chimerical in the chaldee paraphrast , as in the commentaries of those who pretend this book ought to be explained by revelations ; and that in it are to be found all the wars about religion of this past age , in germany , the interim , the league of smalcald , the peace of passau , &c. there being then no proof of the mysteries that are pretended to be in this book ; if we judg by the book it self , we shall find it to be an idyle , or eglogue , where solomon brings himself in as a shepherd , and one of his wives ( perhaps pharaoh's daughter , as the learned think ) as a shepherdess ; that the stile is the same with that of the pastoral poems of the greeks and latins , saving that it is more rough and dithyrambic , acccording to the genius of the hebrew poetry . you may compare the similitudes solomon makes use of in the fourth chapter with those ovid uses in the pastoral song he makes polyphemus sing , in the xiiith book of his metamorphosis . the book of iob is also a piece that has nothing in it of prophetic . the critics , who have any thing of a nice judgment , agree that it is a sort of tragi-comedy . it is likely there was such an one as iob ( since the prophet ezekiel speaks of him ) and that he met with great afflictions , which afforded subject to some jew of the captivity to exercise his wit upon . there are in this book , as well as in ecclesiastes , many chaldean words , which show that it was compos'd either in chaldea , or after the return from the captivity . divines agree that god inspir'd not iob's friends with what the author makes them say ; and this book being written in verse , seems to be a work of meditation , wherein the author would make his parts appear . neither iob , nor his friends could talk in that manner , extempore . the design of the work is to show , that providence oft-times afflicts good people , not to punish them for any particular sin , as if they had deserv'd those afflictions more than others , but simply to try them , and give them occasion to exercise their vertue . this is without doubt a truth , but there is no need of being a prophet to know it . and on the other side there is one very remarkable fault in this book . the author brings in iob complaining chap. iii. with bitterness , and extream impatience , unworthy , not only of a pious man , who had the knowledg of the true god , but even of a pagan that had any wisdom . let the day perish in which i was born , and the night wherein it was said , a man-child in born , &c. this manner of cursing the day of his birth with so much passion becomes not a pious man , such as iob , to what extremity soever he might be reduc'd . it is to be guilty of great indecorum , to put into a good man's mouth so passionate words ; as well as those that are in chap. x. i will say unto god , do not condemn me ; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me . becomes it thee to oppress ? &c. after such expressions as these , which are very like blasphemies , god finds , says the author , that his servant job has spoke the thing that is right before him , and is angry with his friends for believing that iob was afflicted for his sins . it appears , methinks , hereby clearly enough , that there was no inspiration in this book , no more than in the three foregoing . not but that these books are useful , and may be read with profit and edification , as well as antiquity read those which we at present call apochrypha . nay it may be allow'd that they which compos'd them had the spirit of god ; that is to say , were full of piety ; and that they writ them with a prospect of leading those that should read them into the ways of piety . but it may be objected , that these books being in the jews canon ought to be acknowledg'd for divinely inspir'd , rather than the apocryphas that never were in it . i answer to that ; first , that no clear reason is brought to convince us , that those who made the canon , or catalogue of their books , were infallible , or had any inspiration , whereby to distinguish inspir'd books from those which were not . this collection is commonly attributed to esdras and the great sanhedrim of his time , amongst whom they say were zacchary , haggai and malachy . but many learned men believe not this story , because no proof is brought for it , except a very uncertain jewish tradition . there is much more likelihood that this collection which we have is the remainder of the ancient books of the jews , which divers particular men at first gathered together , and of which afterwards public use was made in the synagogues ; whereas in the time of nehemiah ( as appears by the book that bears his name ) they read publickly only the book of the law. in the second place , if you will stand to the jews canon , it is plainly on my side . they divide the scripture into three parts ; of which the first contains the books of the law ; the second the books they call the prophets ; and the third contain others which they call chetoubim , or simply writings ; that is to say , the psalms , the proverbs , iob , daniel , esdras , nehemiah , the chronicles , and those which they call the five little books , the song of solomon , ruth , the lamentations , ecclesiastes , and esther . they believ'd that these books ( which they call'd chetoubim ) were not inspir'd as the other ; and therefore they made them a separate part of scripture , distinct from the two former which they believed to be inspir'd . this division is very ancient , having been in use in the time of our lord , luke xxiv . 44. and iosephus owns it in his first book against appion ; which makes me believe that this opinion of the jews is grounded upon the judgment , that those who collected the books of their canon made of them . it is certain daniel is truly a prophet , as well as isaiah ; but it is likely they have rank'd his book among the chetoubim , only because it was brought out of caldea after the collection was made ; and perhaps because , being written in chaldean , it was in part translated into hebrew by some others , as some of the learned have conjectur'd . for the other writings which make up this division of the scripture , being but histories , or books of morality , or songs , they had reason to determine that there was nothing of prophetic in them ; at least not of the same kind of prophecy with that of isaiah , and others who are properly call'd prophets . it is true indeed there are some predictions in the book of psalms , but they are not of that sort of predictions that proceed from inspiration or revelation , as were those of isaiah . david never says , thus saith the lord ; nor is it said in his history that in his time he passed for a prophet . it only happen'd that in speaking of his own person , he spoke things that agreed not so much to himself as to the messiah , of whom he was ( unknown to himself ) the type . but i have already handl'd this sort of prophecy . it may be said perhaps , that christ has acknowledg'd for divinely inspir'd all the books of the old testament , and that for that reason alone , all christians ought to be of that belief . but there is not any passage in the gospel , where christ tells us that all the books of the old testament were inspir'd by god , both as to the words and things . he approves them only in gross , without descending to particulars , and examining every book by it self . it was sufficient that there were divers prophecies in the old testament , the authority whereof was receiv'd among the jews , that pointed at him . our saviour never undertook to make a critical treatise upon the sacred books , nor to clear the historical differences in them . his design was not to make us able critics , but good men ; and to bring us to render to god the obedience due to him . he omitted nothing that might instruct us in our duty , but he never trouble himself to correct certain errors of small importance , which might be among the jews . and if we must take all the words of christ , when he speaks of the scripture , in a strict sense ; as if he acknowledg'd the books he cites to be all inspir'd even to the least syllable , and the others on the contrary to be excluded out of the number of the sacred books ; we must reject many of those that are commonly reputed inspir'd . neither he nor his apostles ever cite the works of solomon , or the book of iob ; except that st. iames praises the patience of iob , which , to speak properly , is not to cite the book but the history . and if we must conclude from thence that all these books have been wrongfully put into the jews canon , the common opinion would be found contrary to the authority of christ and of his apostles . these books then that we have spoken of are not necessarily to be accounted divine for being in the canon , or catalogue of the books of the jews ; which jesus christ never call'd in question : and there is no reason to interpret the word canonical as if it signified inspir'd of god. the jews put in their collection all the fragments they had remaining of their ancient books ; they left out none , because they had no others . it was all their library , the rest having been lost in the captivity , or before , or after ; for the story sets not down the time of that fatal loss . they pretended not at first that this collection consisted of no other but what was divinely inspir'd . but in process of time as there were therein many writings that were truly prophetic , and as these were the only books that had escap'd the general loss which had involv'd the rest , they began to be look'd on with more respect than they had been at first ; and at length it came to be believ'd that all these books , that were in the ancient catalogue , were truly divine . and whereas before that time ▪ men apply'd themselves to the observation of what was most considerable in the law , without making many commentaries ; from thence forwards they grew nice about the words ; would take every thing in a strict-sense ; and by seeking for mysteries where there were none , they abandon'd the most essential part of the jewish religion . they made the knowledg of religion to consist in the study of a thousand vain subtilties , and piety to consist in the scrupulous observations of ceremonial laws , according as the doctors interpreted them . this the pharisees did in our lord's time , and it is also that which the divines among the christians , both ancient and modern , have imitated since the death of the apostles . in their time men apply'd themselves to learn their doctrine , without subtilizing about their expressions ; and this they did upon the assurance they had that those holy men taught faithfully what they had learn'd from christ. since then , it has been the practice to dispute about their words , and to strain to the utmost divers of their expressions , which were not over exact ; from whence many factions have been begot amongst christians , who have fall'n foul one upon another about the meaning of some such particular expressions of the apostles , and have neglected at the same time to obey the precepts of jesus christ ; that is to say , they have abandon'd the inward substance of religion , to busy themselves about the outside . men have thought it an honour to be stil'd that which they call zealous orthodox , to be firmly link'd to a certain party , to load others with calumnies , and to damn by an absolute authority the rest of mankind ; but have taken no care to demonstrate the sincertity and fervor of their piety , by an exact observation of the gospel morals ; which has come to pass by reason that orthodoxy agrees very well with our passions , whereas the severe morals of the gospel are incompatible with our way of living . thus much by the by , to let you see that this great zeal which men have for the letter of the scripture , is but a cloak they make use of , to hide the little esteem they have for the religion it self of jesus christ ; which consists not in criticisms , or controversies , but in keeping god's commandments . but it will be ask'd then , what authority we allow the holy scripture , and what use is to be made of it according to these principles ? to answer hereto , i begin with the new testament , which is the principal foundation of our faith. in the first place then , jesus christ in whom were hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledg , and whom god had expresly commanded us to hear , was absolutely infallible . we must believe without questioning it whatever he says ; because he says it , and because god hath testified that he speaks nothing but truth . in the second place , since we have nothing writ by christ himself , we ought to believe what his apostles have said concerning his life and doctrine ; because god has given testimony to them by the miracles he inabl'd them to do ; and because they seal'd the truth of their deposition with their blood. they tell us what they had seen and heard , so that it was impossible they should be deceiv'd in the substance of the history and doctrine . it may be that in some circumstance of small importance they do not relate things exactly as they happen'd , and that therein they do not agree together . but they all agree in the historical facts whereon the faith we have in jesus christ , is grounded ; his birth of a virgin , his miracles , his death , his resurrection , and his ascension into heaven ; though there may be some difference among them in some circumstance , which is nothing to the substance of the history . it is not necessary for the foundation of our faith , as i have already observ'd , that they should agree exactly in all things to the least tittle ; and the trouble the learned have given themselves to reconcile these sort of contradictions is of no use . it were better to own ingenuously that there are some , than to strain the sense of their writings , to make them agree one with another ; which instead of converting libertins , does but excite their railery and confirms them in their impiety . as to what concerns the doctrine of jesus christ , there is not the least contradiction among the evangelists ; although it be express'd in different terms , and they relate it on divers occasions . we must observe therefore that they relate only the sense , and keep not exactly the same order that christ kept in preaching it ; so neither ought we to insist rigorously upon their expressions , as if they made use of some words rather than others , to insinuate certain niceties which are ordinarily attributed to them , without any probable ground ; nor ought we to lay such stress upon the order they make use of in their writings , as to colour thereby certain inferences , which are not otherwise obvious in the sense of our saviour's words . if a man observe never so little , he will find that they use every where popular expressions ; that they have not aim'd at any elegancy in their stile ; and that they have been very far from speaking with such exactness , as philosophers or geometricians use in their writings . we ought not then to insist too much , as commonly men do , upon the manner of their expressing the doctrine of christ. we should only indeavour to understand the genius of the language they use , and to stick to the substance of things essential ; which are express'd in so many places , and after so many ways , that it is not difficult to frame to our selves an idea thereof , clear enough to instruct us perfectly in our duty . in the third place , as for the epistles of the new testament , they do not only afford us the same considerations with those we have last mention'd , in respect of their stile , but there are also two things further to be observ'd and distinguish'd in them . we find there the same doctrines we have in the evangelists , and those the apostles assure us often they learn'd from christ. but there are others things , which the apostles speak of their own heads , or which they draw by divers consequences from the old. testament . the first of these are to be believ'd on the same account as the gospels ; that is to say , because of the authority of jesus christ , who preach'd them to the jews . the second are to be receiv'd , because they contain nothing but what is very conformable to the doctrine of christ , or what is founded upon right reason . the apostles will not have us believe them upon their own word . they distinguish in that their authority from the authority of christ. see 1 cor. vii . 10 , 12 , 25. but as they apply'd themselves cerefully to mind doctrines tending to edification ( which are few in number ) and never ingag'd in too nice inquiries ; they have told us nothing that is not conformable to the spirit of the gospel ( with which they were fill'd ) and which right reason will not easily admit . it is to be observ'd , that having no extraordinary inspiration for writing their epistles , they insert in them divers things that concern their designs , or their particular affairs ; where we ought by no means to seek for or expect any thing mysterious . such are the salutations found at the end of their epistles ; the order st. paul gives timothy to take mark along with him in his return , to bring the cloak he had left at troas with carpus , the books , and above all the parchments ; the counsel he gives him to drink a little wine for his stomachs sake , and because of his weaknesses ; and other such like things . see st. ierom's preface to his commentary upon the epistle to philemon . in the fourth place , there are divers prophecies scatter'd in these epistles ; and the apocalipse is wholly prophetic . now we ought to give credit to these revelations ; because it is god that imparted them immediately to the apostles . and it is easy to distinguish them from other things , which the apostles give out only as their own conjectures ; of which you have some examples in the words of grotius , which i cited concerning the inspiration of the pen-men of the new testament . thus then , according to my hypothesis , the authority of the scripture continues in full force . for you see i maintain that we are oblig'd to believe the substance of the history of the new testament ; and generally all the doctrines of jesus christ ; all that was inspir'd to the apostles ; and also whatsoever they have said of themselves , so far as it is conformable to our saviour's doctrine , and to right reason . it is plain that nothing farther is necessarily to be believ'd , in order to our salvation . and it seems also evident to me that those new opinions , brought into the christian religion since the death of the apostles , which i have here refuted , being altogether imaginary and ungrounded , instead of bringing any advantage to the christian religion , are really very prejudicial to it . an inspiration is attributed to the apostles to which they never pretended , and whereof there is not the least mark left in their writings . hereupon it happens that very many persons who have strength enough of understanding to deny assent to a thing for which there is no good proof brought ( though preach'd with never so much gravity ) ; it happens , i say , that these persons reject all the christian religion ; because they do not distinguish true christianity from those dreams of fanciful divines . it is easy to guess , after this , what we ought to think of the authority of the books of the old testament . the prophecies that are in it ought to be believ'd , because christ has authoriz'd them . the substance of the history ought also to be believed for the same reason ; notwithstanding any uncertainty there may be in some inconsiderable circumstances ; as it appears there is still some uncertainty , by divers contradictions which the divines with all their subtilty have not been able to reconcile , after puzling about it above three thousand years . the doctrines that are in it ought also to be receiv'd , so far as they are conformable to those of the gospel ; or , if you will , let us say that the true meaning of the law is to be learn'd from christ. no conclusion is to be drawn from those books that appear to be only pieces of wit and fancy , or wherein nothing but human is to be found , such as the song of solomon , ecclesiastes , &c. lastly , we ought not to strain too far the sense of particular expressions , as do the jews ; because , if we except a very few places , the expressions are the same with those which the sacred writers were wont to make use of in explaining their other thoughts ; that is to say , they have worded both the jewish history , and the revelations they had from heaven , after their own ordinary manner of expressing themselves . these , sir , are the thoughts of mr. n. concerning the inspiration of the sacred pen-men . i am told he draws from these principles three consequences . the first is , that by admitting this hypothesis we may terminate many great disputes among christians , which have risen from the false subtilty of divines interpreting too mysteriously the expressions of the holy scripture , as if every syllable had been dictated by god. the second is , that whereas by sticking too close to the letter of the scripture , the essence of religion comes to be neglected ; as if god required no more of us at present but to believe that the holy scripture is divinely inspir'd ; instead , i say , of this practice , it will be found necessary to apply our selves wholly to the obeying christ's precepts , which is the only thing god indispensably requires from us . the third consequence is , that hereby at one blow will be solv'd an infinite number of difficulties , which libertines are wont to alledg against the holy scripture , and which it is not possible to solve by the ordinary principles . their mouths will be stopp'd , says mr. n. and it wil no longer avail them to object against christians the contradictions which are found in the scriptures ; the lowness of the stile of the sacred writers ; the little order observ'd to be in many of their discourses ; and whatsoever else they have been us'd to say against our divines , who have in vain puzled themselves to answer them . by imposing nothing upon these men as necessary to be believ'd , but the truth of what is most essential in the histories of the old and new testament , and the divinity of our saviour's doctrine , ( in which there is nothing that is not conformable to right reason ) they will be brought ( says he ) to acknowledg that christian religion is really descended from heaven ; and will be easily inclin'd to embrace that which hitherto they have obstinately rejected , because it was grounded on suppositions repugnant to that light of reason by which they are guided . i shall not undertake , sir , to examine these consequences , nor the principles from whence they are drawn . i promis'd you only a bare account of the thoughts of mr. n. and i hope you will use means that some divine , verss'd in these matters , may satisfy us both upon this subject , better than i my self am able to do . i am , &c. the third letter . you have seen , sir , to how little purpose it is that mr. simon indeavours to defend his particular opinions , as well as those which are common to him with all other roman-catholic doctors . you shall see now that he is no happier in going about to play the critic on two letters , in which he was not concern'd . it appears evidently that nothing but the itch he hath of carping at other mens writings has made him undertake to examine those letters . for he embraces the greatest part of the opinions which the author there maintains . and i doubt not but those who have judg'd the opinions of mr. n. too bold , will be as much scandaliz'd at those of the pious prior of bolleville . that incomparable critic maintains at first dash , as boldly as if he were assur'd of it by revelation , that he that is call'd mr. n. is noel aubert de versé ; which i have told you already is nothing but a dream of mr. simon ; 's who thinks he may lawfully say any thing that comes in his head , and believes that by boldly affirming it he shall make his reader be of his mind . that is a secret of his rhetoric , which he puts in practice as soon as ever he finds himself puzl'd , or when he imagines he may thereby worst his antagonist . but by ill fortune he has us'd it so long , that his art being plainly discover'd , can no more deceive any body . by saying whatever came in his mind , although in truth he did not believe it , he has so grosly contradicted himself , that he has now lost all credit with men of worth. i need therefore return no other answer to the beginning of our author's xiith chap. than by saying , that i am sorry his choler does so much blind him , as to make him affirm a falshood as boldly as the clearest truth . i pray god , as i have often done , to cure him of a passion that discomposes him in so deplorable a manner ; and which may in time render him incapable of serving the public , as he might do , if he considered a little more on what he thinks fit to publish . i will not spend my labour singly upon his remarks ; for i write not this to satisfy him . in the ill humour he is , nothing is so fit to settle his mind as time. i will therefore but touch on them as i go along , when the nature of what i have to say leads me to it . neither is it my design to defend the opinions of mr. n. concerning the inspiration of the sacred writers . tho i said it was hard to answer his proofs fully , i said not that i was convinc'd . on the contrary , i propos'd them to the learned , that i might provoke them to examine the matter carefully , and might draw from their observations some further light than my own meditations could furnish me with . but as mens intentions are not interpreted always so favourably as they ought to be , i find my self oblig'd ( that i may satisfy the scruples of some pious persons , and repel the calumnies of some divines who have more zeal than knowledg ) to answer four sorts of reflections that are made upon the treatise concerning inspiration . i. some learned men , who approve the opinions of mr. n. conceive nevertheless that they ought not to have been publish'd ; because in their judgments it is not fit that all truths should indifferently be communicated to all people . there are , say they , certain things , which though good in themselves , may easily be apply'd to ill uses ; and it is better that the public should be depriv'd of the advantage it might draw from the knowledg of such truths , than be visibly expos'd to the danger of abusing them so lamentably as it would be apt to do . ii. others , who are of the same mind , in approving the opinions of mr. n. believe that since he was willing those his thoughts should be publish'd , he ought to have express'd them more distinctly ; and above all to have propos'd in the first place , the state of the question between him and the generality of divines . these gentlemen think that if he had done as they say , he had prevented a great many calumnies which are grounded upon nothing but the obscurity that is observ'd to be in some places of his writing . iii. some of those who look upon the opinion of mr. n. as false doctrine , cannot indure that i should have said , it appears not by what principle it can be overthrown . they say that nothing is more easy . and to let you see they are in the right , they make divers answers to the arguments of mr. n. and propose some objections , which they believe sufficient to refute all he has said . iv. lastly , the most hot , and the least reasonable of these objectors affirm , that the opinions of our friend lead directly to deism ; and stick not to accuse him of favouring that abominable opinion . you see , sir , to what heads i am oblig'd to make answer , being of opinion ( as i am ) that it was convenient to publish that writing concerning inspiration . to begin with the first : i acknowledg , sir , that what they say is true . i grant that all sorts of truths are not fit to be spoken at all times , and on all occasions . it is undoubtedly a very ill thing to publish any truth not necessary to be known , how certain soever it may be , when we are assur'd , that those who shall read or understand it will infallibly be so scandaliz'd at it , that the knowledg thereof will produce more hurt than good . on such occasions , christian prudence indispensably obliges us to the contrary . the question is not then , whether the maxim of these gentlemen be true or not . in that we are agreed . but my opinion was , that this writing of mr. n. would do infinitely more good than hurt ; and i dare yet maintain , that in the times wherin we live , it is very fit that such matters as these be throughly examin'd , without concealing from the public any of the difficulties that attend them . you know , sir , that most of the sciences being arriv'd in this our age to a greater degree of perfection than formerly ; though from thence it might be expected , that such improvements should have render'd christians so much the more wise and more judicious ; yet on the contrary , libertinism and impiety have prevail'd more scandalously than ever . the libertines of former ages profess'd their opinions only in some extravagant sallies of wit , or debauchery ; and oppos'd the christian religion only by some insipid railleries , which could have no weight with any persons of sound judgment and unbiass'd affections . but the libertines of our times make use of their philosophy and criticism , to overthrow the most sacred and most solid doctrines of our religion . divers impious books have been publish'd not only in latin , but also in french , in english , and in dutch ; which many unlearned persons read with much greediness . abundance of people are fond of spinoza's opinions ; because they have read his books in french , in english , and in dutch , though they never study'd philosophy nor criticism . we are in times wherein every body pretends to depth of learning , freedom of thought , and strength of judgment ; and this reputation is easily acquir'd by reading those books . but that which renders this yet more deplorable , is that it is not a disease of youth , that men grow out of as they advance in years . they whose minds are once tainted with these unhappy opinions do very seldom get quit of them . this is undoubtedly a great mischief , and to which those who are any ways able to bring remedy are oblig'd to do it . it has been endeavoured to overthrow the authority of the holy scriptures , by making appear that the stile of the sacred writers was not inspir'd , and that they did not receive every thing they said from immediate inspiration . and in effect it has happen'd that many people have hereupon believ'd , that the authority of the scripture was intirely ruin'd ; and imagining that the reasons brought by spinoza to prove this opinion were unanswerable , they have fall'n into deism or into atheism . what remedy , sir , for this ? for my part , i confess , i see but one of these three . either a way must be found to burn all the copies of these impious books , that have corrupted so many men , and to blot out of mens memory the arguments of these libertines ; or else there must solid demonstration be made of the falsity of the arguments they make use of to maintain their opinions ; or , lastly , in granting to them that the sacred pen-men were not inspir'd , neither as to the stile , nor as to those things which they might know otherwise than by revelation , it must be yet demonstrated that the authority of the scriptures ought not for all that to be esteemed less considerable . it is plain that the first of these three is absolutely impossible ; and that , tho an inquisition should now be settl'd in france , in england , and in holland , it would already be too late . there is then no other means left to cure this libertinism that is spread so wide , but one of the two last propos'd remedies . for my part i could wish with all my heart that some body would try the second ; and would make it evident that god has inspir'd the sacred authors , not only with the matter they have spoken about , but also with the very expressions . but since no body has yet done , nor that i know undertaken to do it , why should it be ill taken that mr. n. has made use of the third method , or that i have publish'd his writing ? it is true , there are some who believe that it were better to hold ones peace in a matter so delicate , than to run the hazard of giving scandal to others , by contradicting the opinions which they think most reasonable . this indeed would be very well , if libertines also forbore writing , or if no body read their books . but since it is otherwise , such silence is not at all seasonable . if any weak minds take offence without reason at what is offer'd , there are an hundred others that may be brought off from their inclination to libertinism , by the same reasons which those are offended at . if indeed we ought always to be afraid of saying any thing that is not generally approv'd , we should quickly be oblig'd not only to keep silence , but also to suppress many things which are both useful and necessary to salvation . there is no doctrine in the gospel , how holy soever , which some sect of christians has not perverted and misused . nay the same is yet done daily . all the difficulty then lies in knowing , whether the treating concerning this question of the inspiration of the authors of the bible will occasion more good or hurt ? in it self the thing is good , even by the concession of those that argue against it ; and there is nothing but the weakness of some mens minds that can render it dangerous . thus then the good or evil of this disquisition depends wholly upon the event ; which therefore these gentlemen ought to suffer us to expect , before we acknowledg that we have done ill in publishing this writing of mr. n. we must add to this , that mr. n. is not the first that has spoken , as he does , of the inspiration of the sacred writers . we see many proofs of it in his dissertation . and besides the places which he has cited out of some books of grotius , there are others infinitely more strong and more express in those against rivet . now after having thus answer'd those that would have had this writing suppress'd ; it is necessary to give some satisfaction to those also who complain that the author has not express'd his opinion with sufficient clearness . i have therefore desir'd mr. n. to explain it to me himself , if it were possible in few words , and more distinctly ; in order to remove those injurious suspicions that may have risen from any obscurity in his writing , concerning his faith and his piety . and these are the heads to which he has reduc'd his opinion , and wherein he agrees with us . in the first place , says he , i believe that no prophet , either of the old or new testament , has said any thing in the name of god , or as by his order , which god had not effectually order'd him to say ; nor has undertaken to foretel any thing , which god had not indeed truly reveal'd to him ; and that this cannot be doubted of without great impiety . i have said it expresly in many places of my treatise . in the second place , i believe , that there is no matter of fact , of an importance , related in the history of the old or new testament , which in effect is not true . and that tho there may be some slight circumstances , wherein some of the historians were mistaken ; yet we ought nevertheless to look upon that history in general as the truest and most holy history that ever was publish'd amongst men. i am perswaded that those who writ it were very well inform'd of all they relate , and that they had not the least intention to deceive us ; insomuch that it was impossible they should fall into any considerable error ; as neither can we do , in believing what they have said . and , that there may be no equivocation ; by a matter of importance i mean all the commandments that the sacred historians assure us were given to the jews by god ; all the miracles that are found in the history of the scripture ; all the principal events in that history ; and generally all the matters of fact on which our faith is grounded . in the third place , i believe , with all christians , that all the doctrines propos'd by the authors of the scriptures to jews and christians to be believ'd , are really and truly divine doctrines , although it may be suppos'd that they did not immediately learn them from heaven ; i am as much perswaded as any man , that there is no sort of reasoning made use of in the dogmatical places of the holy scripture ( where the prophets and apostles instruct us concerning the promises or the will of god ) that can lead us into error , or into the belief of any thing that is false , or contrary to piety . i believe in the fourth place , that jesus christ was absolutely infallible , as well as free from all sin , because of the godhead that was always united to him , and which perpetually inspir'd him : insomuch that all that he taught is as certain as if god himself had pronounc'd it . i have explain'd this clearly in my writing . in the last place , i believe that god has often dictated to the prophets and to the apostles the very words which they should use . of this i have also given some examples . in these things i agree with all christian divines . and i believe further , as well as they , that these five heads of our belief may be undeniably prov'd against libertines and atheists , by the authority of jesus christ and his apostles ; to whom god has born testimony by an infinite number of miracles , which are more clearly demonstrable to have been really done , than any fact whatsoever of all ancient history . for example , it may be prov'd by positive testimonies of matters of fact , that jesus christ did really rise again from the dead , and that the apostles had the gift of miracles , more clearly than it can be prov'd that ever there was a roman emperor call'd trajan . if any one conceive that this kind of evidence is not sufficient to convince us of the truth of these facts , or that the resurrection of jesus christ , and the miracles of his apostles , do not sufficiently prove ( without any thing further ) that they were not deceivers ; i confess i understand not what further proofs can be given of these things ; unless god should raise in our days a prophet that should do the same miracles over again before our eyes . it may be there are some who believe that the holy spirit gives them inward assurance of the truth of the gospel , and who imagine that this inward testimony is a more convincing proof than all those i have spoken of . but as there are not many that have this belief , and as those that have it cannot make use of that pretended inward testimony to convince another , who does not himself feel it ; we may , without troubling our selves further with them , leave them to enjoy that chimerical satisfaction which their meer imagination affords them . the authority of the holy scriptures being thus settl'd , i will now shew you wherein it seems to me that the generality of divines are deceiv'd , and in what i am not of their opinion . they affirm that all that is in the sacred books , histories , prophecies , &c. has been immediately inspir'd both as to the matter and words : that all the books in the jews catalogue ought to be reckon'd amongst the inspir'd books : that when the apostles preach'd the gospel , they were so inspir'd that they could not be deceiv'd , not even in a thing of no consequence at all ; and that they knew at the very first , without any exercise either of reason or memory , what they were to say . on the contrary my opinion is , that it is only in prophecies , and some other places , as in the sermons of jesus christ , and where god himself is introduc'd speaking , that the matter or things have been immediately reveal'd to those who spoke them : that the stile , for the most part , was left to the liberty of those who spoke or writ : that there are some books that are not inspir'd , neither as to the matter nor words , as iob , ecclesiastes , &c. that there are some passages which passion dictated to those that writ them , as many curses in the psalms : that the sacred historians might commit , and have actually committed some light faults , which are of no moment : that the apostles in preaching the gospel , or in writing their works , were not ordinarily inspir'd , neither as to the matter , nor the words ; but that they had recourse to their memory and judgment , in declaring what jesus christ had taught them , or framing arguments , or drawing consequences from thence : that the apostles while they liv'd were only look'd upon as faithful witnesses of what they had seen and heard , and as persons well instructed in the christian religion , whereof no part was unknown to them , or conceal'd by them from their disciples ; but not as men that preach'd and taught by perpetual inspiration . i believe indeed that they were not deceiv'd in any point of doctrine , and that it was very unlikely they should be so ; because christian religion is easy , and compris'd in a few articles : that they pretended not to enter into deep argumentations , and to draw conseqrences remote from their principles : and that they never undertook to treat of nice and controversial matters , as is plain by reading of their writings : or , if it happen'd sometimes that they were mistaken in any thing , as it seems to have happen'd to st. peter and to st. barnabas , it has been in things of small consequence , and they soon perceiv'd their error , as did these two apostles . this sort of infallibility is easy to be conceiv'd ; if it be consider'd that a man of sense and integrity , who is well instructed in his religion , and who does not much enter into argumentations and drawing of inferences , can hardly err , so long as he continues in that temper , and observes that conduct . this is the sum of what i have said in my writing concerning the inspiration of the sacred pen-men ; and it is herein precisely that i differ from the common opinion of divines . you see how much these principles are contrary to those of the deists , who reject all sort of inspiration , and who look upon the holy scripture as a work full of falsities , and wherein there is nothing but what is purely human . the divines that have accus'd me of deism on account of this writing , certainly either never took the pains to read it , or did not understand it ; for i cannot believe that they would accuse me of so detestable an opinion out of pure malice , and against their own consciences . they were undoubtedly in some measure mis-led by a false zeal , that render'd them little attentive to what they read , or made them suspect that the author had not discover'd all that he had in his mind . it is an ill custom that some peevish and ill-natur'd persons have , to judg of other mens opinions rather by the suspicions which their own deprav'd imaginations suggest to them , than by those mens expressions and actions ; which are the only evidence that ought to be regarded on these occasions . a man ought to be judged by what he says , and not by what he says not , nor by what is injuriously imputed to him without any proof . and if this ought always to be the rule of our carriage one towards another , there is more particular reason that it should be so when a man protests ( as i do at present ) that he is not of any other opinion than what he expresly sets down ; and that he disowns the ill consequences which are pretended to be drawn from his discourses , and which to him seem not to be deducible from them . by this explanation of mr. n's principles , which i receiv'd from himself , you may see , sir , that he is very far from those impious opinions which some too hot-headed divines have charg'd him with . candid and equitable readers had no need of this explanation , in which i see nothing but what is plainly enough set down in his first writing . but as equity is a vertue seldom practis'd in theological controversies , he thought it necessary to give these further explications , to those who persisted still in suspecting him to believe things which he abhors . we shall see hereafter if any ill consequence can be drawn from his opinion . but before i come to that , i will transcribe here what he further adds to that which you have already seen . in reading , says he , the prior of bolleville's answer to the thoughts of some holland divines , i observ'd that mr. simon accuses me of having taken part of what i have said out grotius his book , call'd votum pro pace ecclesiasticâ . i should be well pleas'd that my reader believ'd it . i could not then be accus'd , as i am by some , of innovation . it is true , i have read that book ; but it being long ago , that passage of grotius was not in my mind ; otherwise i should not have fail'd to have cited it , as i have cited others of the same author that are less express . i think it therefore not amiss to take advantage of this advertisement , and now to set down that passage , together with another taken out of his defence of the vow for peace , titl'd , discussio apologetici rivetiani . grotius had said in a work wherein he defends his observations upon the consultation of cassander against rivet , that this last divine was very much deceiv'd in believing that all the books of the old testament , that are in the hebrew canon , were dictated by the holy ghost ; that esdras in the opinion of all the iews was not a prophet , nor had the holy spirit ; that his books , and the collection he made of the more ancient books , had been approv'd by the great synagogue , in which indeed there were some prophets ; although the iews hold that there was a doubt concerning the book of ecclesiastes , &c. rivet liked not this opinion of grotius , and indeavoured to prove the contrary , by scripture , and by some jewish authors . grotius replied to him in these terms , in his vow for peace . * i said indeed that the books in the hebrew canon were not all dictated by the holy spirit ; but i do not deny that they were written with a pious intention of mind . and this was the determination of the great synagogue , whose iudgment in this matter the iews submit to . for there was no need that the histories should be dictated by the holy spirit . it was sufficient that the writer had a good memory , for the things he had seen ; or that he were careful in transcribing the ancient records . the word holy spirit is also ambiguous ; for either it signifies , as i have taken it , a certain divine inspiration which both the ordinary prophets had , and sometimes david and daniel ; or it signifies a pious motion or faculty stirring a man up to utter useful precepts relating to human life , or political or civil matters . thus maimonides interprets the word holy spirit , where he treats of those historical and moral writings . if luke had written by the dictating of the holy spirit , he would have fetch'd his authority from thence , as the prophets do , rather than from witnesses , whose credit he follows , &c. * rivet was mightily scandalized , or at least seem'd to be so , at an answer so contradictory to the common opinions . but ‖ grotius explain'd himself yet more clearly and strongly in his refutation of rivet 's apology . † grotius , says he , himself , willingly acknowledges , that the prophets , who were commanded by god to write or speak , did write and spoke by inspiration from him : his opinion is also the same as to the apocalyse , and the predictions made by the apostles : he esteems it the highest impiety to make any doubt that all that was said by iesus christ was said by god himself . concerning the historical writings , and the moral sentences of the hebrews , he is of another opinion : he thinks it sufficient to believe that they were written out of a pious intention , and with great ingenuity , and concerning matters of highest importance , &c. neither esdras nor luke were prophets ; but grave and prudent men , who neither were minded to deceive , nor would suffer themselves to be deceived . did luke say , the word of the lord came to luke , and the lord said to him , write , as the prophets us'd to say ? nothing like it . what then ? for as much as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us : ( he says not that by command , but by the example of others , he was induced to write ) : even as they delivered them to us , who from the beginning were eye-witnesses , and ministers of the word ; ( viz. mary the mother of our lord , other of his kinsmen , the apostles , the seventy disciples , and the saints that had been rais'd again by iesus , many witnesses of his resurrection : ) it seemed good to me also , having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first , &c. vnderstanding , how acquir'd ? from eye-witnesses , not by revelation . to write , not things dictated , but in order . the prophets then had another sort of impulse than luke ; whose good design nevertheless may be ascrib'd to the holy spirit . after the death of grotius there came out a third answer of rivert's , wherein he strives to defend the common opinion against his famous antagonist . it appears plainly by the manner of his answering , that he believ'd that the holy spirit had dictated the scripture word for word ; and this opinion is known to be the common opinion of protestants ; who on all occasions call the sacred writers , amanuenses of the holy spirit . nay even catholick authors , gregory de valence , bellarmin , tolet , and estius , cited by rivet , seem to have been of the same opinion . cornelius à lapide , whom mr. simon cites , holds the same concerning the law and the prophets ; though he confesses it was not necessary that god should dictate the words , when it was only matter of history , or of moral precepts , which might be known otherways . so that it may be reasonably suppos'd that the greatest part of christian divines now adays are of the opinion of verbal inspiration , if we may so call it ; since there are very few that say the contrary ; and those who do , say it only of some books , as cornelius à lapide . every body knows that not only in sermons , but also in divinity-lectures , upon any part of scripture , some men strangely wire-draw the words of the scripture ; and seek after reasons why the holy spirit , as they speak , makes use of one expression rather than another . the same thing they do also in commentaries : which would be altogether absurd if my supposition were admitted , that the stile of the scriptures is for the most part human and even careless enough . but this is because they commonly take the opinion of the jews for granted ; who have a proverb or general maxim concerning the books of the law ( in which they believe all to be inspir'd , even to a single letter ) that there is not a letter in the law , whereon there depends not great mountains . i am very glad , however , that mr. simon declares himself openly of the same opinion with me , concerning the stile of the sacred writers . i wish all protestants would do the same . we should then soon be free from many disputes that are grounded upon nothing but grammatical subtilties . we should then perceive , that we ought not rigorously to insist upon a great many expressions in the utmost extent of their signification , as if the sacred pen-men had spoken with the same exactness , as do geometricians . we should then understand that no doctrines , which we esteem important , ought to be grounded barely upon certain manners of speaking ; which we cannot be sure were exact ; because the sacred writers , not affecting exactness of stile , may have used that manner of expression without any design . such is the doctrine of the antecedent imputation of the sin of adam , which is founded upon the comparison st. paul makes ( chap. v. of the epistle to the romans ) between the grace that came by jesus christ , and the sin that entred into the world by adam . men stretch this comparison with too much rigor , not considering that st. paul's stile is the stile of one that observes little exactness in his expressions , although in the main his arguments are admirable ; and that the laying too great stress upon the turn of his phrases may expose us to the hazard of falling into gross error . the general design that he proposes to himself ought only to be stuck to ; without insisting particularly upon every term , and every distinct period ; which taken separately and strictly , may oft-times prove contrary to what he drives at . those who are a little conversant in the disputes amongst protestants , will easily see the importance of this remark . the ingenuous acknowledgment of what there is of human in the sacred writings , would render the truth of our religion more conspicuous to the eyes of the incredulous ; whereas it is hid from them , by clothing it in certain notions which common sense makes them reject , and from among which they are not able to pick out the heavenly truths . men fancy that for the establishment of religion it is requisite to maintain every thing , or any thing , that ( if true ) would be an invincible proof of it . they cast therefore about in their own minds for such foundations as they conceive would make it most stable . with this their brain becomes so heated , that in the end they rashly assert that these are the real foundations of religion ; and that if these be taken away , religion will fall to the ground and be destroy'd . thus some romish doctors have fancy'd that men , for the most part , not being capable to examine religion themselves , it was necessary that god should settle a way whereby they might find it , without examination ; viz. by the way of authority . and from thence they have concluded , that to deny there is an authority in the world to which people ought intirely to submit , is to overthrow religion . but to these gentlemen it is answer'd , that it is absurd in them to fancy that god will not preserve the true religion amongst men , unless it be in the way that they have imagin'd . the same may be answer'd to our protestant divines , who believe the inspiration of every word ; viz. that they are deceived in believing that the truth of christian religion is founded upon that opinion . we ought not to reckon every thing among the principles of our religion , that unto us seems proper to strengthen it ; nor to trouble our selves in examining after what manner we would have establish'd it , had the thing depended upon us ; or in asserting how god ought to have done it . but we ought to consider things in themselves as they really are , and learn what has been the will of god , by what he has done ; not conclude that he has done this or the other thing , because we fancy he ought to have will'd it . libertines who see that to uphold the truth of christian religion , men bring long metaphysical arguments ( which often prove nothing , but that , according to the suppositions they have thought fit to make , it ought to be so ) believe presently that christian religion has no better foundation , and so reject it ; as much perhaps through the fault of those divines who argue in that manner , as their own . but if things were represented to them as they are in themselves , without going about to force them to allow that which is not prov'd , they would submit to our reasons ; and we should not need to teach them any thing but what religion injoins them , after having convinc'd them of its truth . this is , sir , what mr. n. has writ to me , upon the desire that was intimated of his giving some further explication of his thoughts . i hope it will be found sufficient to convince those who may have mistaken his sense , and who on that account have charg'd him with opinions which he never had , that he is very far from being guilty of what he is so uncharitably accus'd of . i will send you , by the next , the answers which he makes to divers objections that have been propos'd to him . the fourth letter . i believe , sir , there is no condition in the world more deplorable , than theirs that publish any thing in print ; if it be so that they are bound to satisfy all those that censure them . some persons have taken it ill that it should be said , it was hard to confute the opinions of mr. n. they hold it very easy , and that there needs no great ability to do it . but they either undertake it not ; or if they make any objection , they show that they understand nothing of the matter ; as the prior of bolleville , who seems to understand neither what mr. n. has said , nor what himself objects . others confess that it is a very difficult matter ; and pretend that therefore a man ought not to trouble himself with it ; nor raise scruples in weak heads which the strongest would find it a difficulty to remove . to satisfy the first , it would be requisite to show , that the objections propos'd are not strong enough to refute mr. n's opinions : and that is the very thing that will infallibly offend the others , who would have nothing said on that subject . if the advice of these last be taken , the first will undoubtedly say that we were much in the wrong , to say that it was very hard to confute an opinion , which they have easily overthrown . they will be apt even to say that it is not without design that we have made use of weak arguments , and their crazy fancies will set no bounds to their suspicions ; according to the custom of too many divines , who glory in a shew of diving into other mens thoughts . what is to be done in this case ? one of the two must unavoidably be displeas'd . i will not then be afraid , sir , to communicate to you the answers of mr. n. to some objections . such as have not read the explanations which i sent you a while ago , with sufficient attention , may perhaps by our friend's answers better apprehend his true meaning . objection 1. to say that the prophets have often express'd themselves in their prophecies , after the same manner that they were wont to do on other occasions , and that they were not constantly inspir'd by god with all their expressions , is to lessen the authority of the prophecies . answer . they that make this objection could not say any thing that can give more advantage to the profane . for it is as clear as day , that the stile of the prophets varies according to the diversity of their genius ; as has been observ'd , and as is agreed by the most able interpreters . mr. simon proves it himself , pag. 123. of his answer , and makes appear that what the prophets said was not the less god's word . but i cannot forbear to observe that our divines are even more scrupulous than the jews . for these believe the inspiration of words only in the pentateuch ; whereas they believe it throughout all the old testament . * the prophecy of moses , says manasseth ben. israel , after many other rabbins , was in every respect more honourable , and more excellent , than the prophecies of all the other prophets . for to them , whensoever they receiv'd the prophecy , the sense only , or the substance of the matter to be foretold was reveal'd ; but they declar'd to the people this thing or matter in their own words . and for that reason they made use of this form of speaking ; and the lord said unto me ; as if they would say , these things which we say to you , although we express them in our words , contain the sense which we have receiv'd from god , &c. many christian divines have said the same things of all the prophets in general ; as mr. huet in his demonstration ; who plainly affirms , that the things are to be attributed to the holy spirit , but the words and the language to the prophets . he says also elsewhere , that prophetic extasy does ordinarily produce a † hard , rough and broken stile . many others have held the same thing , without being thought guilty of heterodoxy . objection 2. it has been said , that david says many things of himself , and of his enemies , not thinking to prophesy ; which contain notwithstanding predictions of what was to happen to jesus christ and his enemies ; as what he says psal. xli . 10. lxix . 26. cix . 8. places which christ and his apostles apply to iudas . nevertheless st. peter , after citing some words of psal. xvi . where david speaks of himself in the first person , thou wilt not leave my soul in hell , nor suffer thy holy one to see corruption , &c. adds , that this cannot be understood of david , since he was dead and rotten many years ago ; but that as he was a prophet , and knew that god had sworn with an oath to him , that of the fruit of his loins he would raise up christ to sit upon his throne ; he seeing this before-hand , spake of the resurrection of christ , when he said , that his soul , &c. by which it appears that david , speaking in the first person , knew nevertheless that he spoke not concerning himself . answer . i did not say , that david never prophesy'd , in speaking of himself as of a type of the messiah ; or that he understood not that in the properest and highest sense of his words he spake concerning the messiah , though what he said had also some relation to himself . i make no question but there are in the psalms divers prophecies of this nature . it is plain , david could not say of himself , unless in a very metaphorical sense , that god would not leave his soul in hell , nor suffer his holy one to see corruption , although the rest of the psalm may be suitable enough to him . objection 3. the curses in the cixth psalm are imputed to a human passion ; yet st. peter teaches us , acts i. 20. that it is a prophecy . it seems the better way therefore to take all those curses for simple predictions , and not for imprecations , and so to translate in the future tense ; thou shalt set a wicked man over him , and his adversary shall , &c. answer . this might be a prophecy , of that sort which we said were sometimes pronounc'd without their being aware who pronounc'd it ; of which we brought some examples : which sort of prophecy is not inconsistent with a violent passion ; as appears by the example of caiaphas . but indeed these expressions cannot be translated in the future tense , without extream violence to the text ; and accordingly the ancient interpreters , as well as modern , have made use of the imperative or optative mood : nor ought it to seem strange that we think there was in this an excess of passion , since it is impossible to explain any other way those words of psalm cxxxvii . happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones , &c. let any one compare the words of psal. cix . with those which a heathen poet puts into the mouth of a desperate woman . vivat , per urbes erret ignotas egens , exul , pavens , invisus , incerti laris , — quoque non aliud queam pejus precari , liberos similes patri , similesque matri . in fine , if it were necessary to render all these words in the future tense , to avoid making the psalmist pronounce such curses , there are a great many other places where the version would need to be reform'd , and where we should be oblig'd to strain the text ; as may easily be perceiv'd in turning over the book of psalms . objection 4. it has been said , that inspiration seems not absolutely necessary to the composing of pious hymns ; and concluded from thence that it ought not to be said that all such hymns were immediately inspir'd . the same sort of argument has been applied also afterwards to divers other places of scripture . but it no ways follows , because inspiration was not absolutely necessary , that therefore there was none . answer . my argument proves not directly that there was no inspiration on these occasions , but only that there was nothing in the thing it self to induce us to believe that there was any ; and consequently , that such inspiration is suppos'd without any necessity . when a thing may be done by the ordinary course of nature , we ought not to have recourse to miracles . hence i conclude , that there ought to be no recourse to inspiration , when there is nothing in a book to make us believe it was inspir'd ; and when all that is in it might have been said without inspiration ; unless we have some positive proof that he who compos'd it was inspir'd . now i maintain that there is no proof of this nature , sufficient to perswade us that all the books of the scripture were inspir'd in the same manner that they are commonly said to have been . objection 5. it has been inferr'd from the evident marks of meditation , and pains taking , which appear in several places of the scripture ( as those where the verses begin with all the letters of the alphabet in order ) that those places have not been inspir'd . but it does not appear that inspiration excludes all sort of meditation and pains-taking , as mr. simon has observ'd , &c. resp. p. 125 , &c. answer . i acknowledg that it cannot from thence be concluded that the matter was not inspir'd ; nor was this argument made use of , but only against those who hold the inspiration of the very words ; that is to say , principally , against the generality of protestant divines . there is certainly little likelihood that the spirit of god would inspire such things as those . but the consequence i have drawn from thence is only this , that the stile not being inspir'd , we cannot be sure that the things are ; unless the characters of inspiration appear in those things themselves , or that we have otherwise some positive proof of it . objection 6. what has been said concerning the inspiration of the sacred historians is not enough : there ought to have been added also , as mr. simon has it , that god directed the pen of the sacred historians in such a manner , that they could not fall into error . they were men that wrote ; and the spirit that directed them depriv'd them not of their reason , nor their memory , to inspire them with matters of fact , which they themselves knew perfectly : but it determin'd them in general to write of some matters , rather than others , though they knew both alike well . resp. p. 128. answer . this may be granted ; provided that by directing the pen of the sacred historians be only understood the determining them in general to write of some matters rather than others , though they knew both alike well . mr. simon fights here with his own shadow : for no body deny'd that . on the contrary , it was said that the sacred historians have writ of no matter , whereof they were not well instructed : and this in opposition to those who pretend that the historians of the bible were inspir'd with the matters , in the same manner as if they could not have known them any other way . but these people would condemn mr. simon as well as me . objection 7. it is suppos'd , without any reason , that there are sometimes real contradictions amongst the sacred historians , whereas they are but seeming ones . the learned have reconcil'd them all , not excepting that about the death of iudas , which is cited as an example of a manifest contradiction . answer . to answer this objection fully , it would be requisite not only to quote the places , where 't is believ'd there is some little contradiction ; but also all the explications which many learned men have given of those places , whereby to show that there is not any of those explications that clears the difficulty . but to do this would require a book for every place ; for there is so great variety of opinions upon these passages , that there may be reckon'd up ten or twelve interpretations of one single place . one learned man has made a volume in quarto , of an hundred and ninety two pages , upon that single place concerning the death of iudas . but if the most of these interpretations be consider'd without prepossession , they will be found to be very much strain'd . words are never wanting . and it is no easy matter to silence a man of an indifferent capacity , who undertakes to defend an opinion that cannot be demonstratively disprov'd . let me therefore , on this occasion , intreat the reader to examine some of those places , that have given the learned the most trouble ; and then let him ask himself whether he would admit of those reconcilements that he finds in the commentators , if the question concern'd other authors than those of the bible . assuredly he would reject them ; and would say that it were better to confess that there is some contrariety in small things , than to render the whole history doubtful , by persisting obstinately in defence of things of no consequence . if this were done in what concerns the death of iudas , which is brought for an example , i am well assur'd there is no opinion would appear more reasonable than that of salmasius , in his third letter to bartholin concerning the cross. * it is manifest , says he , that it was usual with the evangelists not to take much heed of minute circumstances , when they were in the right , as to the principal history : nor do i see how otherwise that wherein matthew and luke differ , concerning the death of judas , can be reconcil'd . objection 8. whereas it is doubted , whether it were well done to admit the history of esther in the hebrew canon , because there are some circumstances in it which seem to be pure invention ; ought not those circumstances to have been cited ? and supposing they were such ; may it not be said , with mr. simon ( pag. 129. of his answer ) that the book might be a parable , and not the less canonical for that ? answer . i might save my self the labour of answering this objection , because i have affirmed nothing in this matter . on the contrary , i said that i would not examine the opinion of those who believe the history of esther to be a feigned history . neither will i make my self at present a party in the dispute . but since it is desir'd , i will barely recite the reasons for which some reject this book . in the , first place ; mordecai and esther , whom the author represents as pious persons , and particulaly favour'd by heaven , agree to do a thing forbidden by the law. it is where mordecai counsels esther to indeavour to please ahasuerus , which she consents to ; though moses had expresly forbidden them to make alliance with the heathens . in the second place ; all the circumstances of this story are very observable . esther pleases the king , who proclaims her queen of the medes and persians , but does not oblige her to tell him from what extraction she is sprung . mordecai discovers a conspiracy against ahasuerus , and advertises him of it by the means of the queen , without receiving nevertheless any recompence ; only the conspirators were hang'd , and the whole matter recorded . haman grows in great favour at court , insomuch that all the world bowed and reverenced him . mordecai thinks not fit to do it . haman cannot bear his neglect ; and having learn'd that he is a jew , resolves to make the whole jewish nation perish for his sake . he offers king ahasuerus ten thousand talents , if he will consent to that nation 's destruction . the king presently consents ( without taking the money ) and gives haman his ring ; who makes use of it in sealing the letters , wherein it is order'd to lay violent hands on all the jews , not sparing women nor little children . messengers are dispatch'd to carry theses letters all over the kingdom , and the edict is publish'd at shushan . esther , who had not yet told what extraction she was of , is inform'd that mordecai was at the king's gate all in sackcloath . she sends him raiment ; which he refuses , and expects a second message before he tells what makes him so sad . esther having learn'd the matter , is afraid to appear before the king ; because it was fobidden by the laws of the kingdom , unless the king by reaching out his scepter of gold dispensed with it ; but being blam'd by mordecai , she resolves to run the hazerd , after a fast of three days observ'd by her self , her ladies of honour , and all the jews in shushan . esther appears before the king. he sees her , and reaches out his scepter of gold that she might come near him . she invites the king and haman to a banquet in her apartment . they go , and the king at the banquet asks the queen what she would have him grant her . she invites ahasuerus and haman again the next day . haman puff'd up with his good fortune , boasts of his happiness to his wife and all his friends ; but complains at the same time extreamly of mordecai the jew for not doing him reverence . his wife advises him to cause a gibbet to be made fifty foot high , and to speak unto the king on the morrow that mordecai might be hanged thereon . haman goes to bed thereupon , secure that the next day he should be reveng'd of the insolence of the jew . but the king , who could not sleep that night , causes the records of state to be read to him , where he finds the good office that jew had done him ; for which , on inquiry he was told that no reward had been given him . haman comes to court early in the morning , to speak to the king that mordecai might be hang'd . but he is no sooner in the presence , than the king calls to him , and asks him what should be done to the man whom the king would extreamly honour . haman , who fancy'd it was himself that the king was minded so to honour , answers in a way that tended to the advantage of the person that was to be honoured . immediately the king commands him ( what a thunderbolt for an ambitious and revengeful person ! ) to go do it to mordecai the jew . he retires home in confusion , to bewail his misfortune with his friends ; who tell him plainly that the jew will be too hard for him . presently the king's chamberlains come to call him to the banquet in the queen's apartment . at the banquet esther tells the king there was a design to destroy her and her people . the king in a passion asks who it was design'd it ; and being told it was haman , he goes out in wrath into the garden . haman , on the other side , stays with the queen , and throws himself upon her bed , indeavouring to pacify , her wrath. the king returns while he was in that rosture , and believes haman was about to force the queen . haman is seiz'd upon to be put to death , and the gibbet being found ready sitted for mordecai , haman by the king's order is hanged upon it . mordecai succeeds in the place of haman ; and by esther's means obtains another edict , whereby the jews are permitted to take arms , and defend themselves against those that should fall upon them . the day mention'd in the edict being come , the jews kill all those that went about to destroy them . they slay five hundred in shushan . and the like leave being given them the next day , they kill three hundred more , besides haman's ten sons who were hang'd by the king's order . now upon the consideration of all these circumstances , it is observ'd by some , that if vnity of time and place had been observ'd in this story , there would have been nothing wanting to have made it a good tragi-comedy . for my part i determine nothing upon the point . but this i can say , that in all likelihood mr. simon had not read of a long time this book , when he writ the 129th page of his answer ; where he says , that though it should be suppos'd that the books of esther , judith , and tobit are not true histories , yet it does not follow therefore that they ought to be left out of the catalogue of canonical books : and that he has observ'd in his critical history , after st. jerom , that the parabolical stile has always been in esteem amongst the eastern people , and that a book whether it contain a true history , or a plain parable , or a history mix'd with parables , is not therefore the less true or less canonical . if the histories contain'd in these books are not true , they are certainly not parables , but romances . the bare reading them is sufficient to show that those who writ them publish'd them not for books of morality , but only as surprizing and wonderful stories . to say nothing of iudith and tobit , it is plain by the original which the author of the book of esther gives to the feast of purim , that he compos'd that book with design to make it look like a true history . see the ixth chap. v. 27. to the end . the original of a feast uses not to be founded upon a parable ; and such a history as that of esther is not wont to be mix'd with parables . mr. simon says well , that there are parables in the new testament so well circumstantiated , that one would take them for true histories . but we must not have read either the book of esther , or the new testament , to be perswaded that there is any resemblance betwixt the history of that book , and the parables of our saviour . the parable most like to a history is that of dives and lazarus , but there is nothing in it like the history of esther . see ioseph . antiq. lib. 11. cap. 6. objection 9. the prudence and reason of the apostles is often spoken of , * as if the use they made thereof were inconsistent with the inspiration attributed to them ; but these things may well agree together , as mr. simon observes . answer . if mr. simon understood what he would say , when he speaks of reconciling human prudence with inspiration , he believes undoubtedly the same thing that i do , concerning the inspiration of the apostles . we agree that the terms were not inspir'd . the question is only about the things . the inspiration of the things consists , either in presenting to the mind general principles , from whence they that are inspir'd , according as they have occasion afterward , draw consequences ; or in furnishing it with arguments ready fram'd . if god furnish'd the minds of the apostles with arguments ready fram'd , they made no use of their reason , having nothing to do but to declare what the holy spirit had inspir'd them with ; as the prophets were only to express the sense of what god had said to them . and this is that which every body calls properly inspiration . but if it be suppos'd that god presented to the minds of the apostles only general principles , of which by their own reasoning they made necessary and fit application , upon emergent occasions ; they were in that case no more inspir'd than those , who having carefully read the holy scripture , have the ideas thereof so present in their minds , that they never fail to make use of it when it is necessary . in this last supposition reason indeed is made use of ; but in the other it is not . now it appears that mr. simon is not of the opinion that excludes the use of reason . and therefore i say it is probable that he is of the same opinion with me , though he know it not . for i deny not but god might have presented to the minds of the apostles , either by supernatural or natural ways , the general ideas of which they should stand in need , to defend themselves at their trials . i only deny that god always inspir'd them with all the arguments they made use of on those occasions . mr. simon adds , that to say that the spirit of courage and holiness , which the gospel produces in our hearts , dictated to the apostles what they should say , is to destroy intirely the inward grace which god did spread abroad in the hearts of his apostles , and which he yet daily spreads abroad in the hearts of the faithful . but what does he mean by this inward grace , which is common to the apostles and the faithful ? is it not the spirit of the gospel ? at least the faithful have nothing else in common with the apostles . now if the apostles by virtue of this promise , it is not you that speak , it is the spirit of your father that speaks in you , have receiv'd ( as mr. simon gives us to understand ) only the inward grace which god spreads abroad daily in the hearts of the faithful , the inspirations of the apostles were not different from those of the faithful now a days . objection 10. whereas it is said , that the apostles spoke many things at their trials which might have been spoken without inspiration , and from thence is inferr'd that it is not necessary to believe that they were inspir'd with those things ; this way of arguing may be apply'd to the prophets , whom nevertheless we acknowledg to have been truly inspir'd . mr. simon resp. 131. answer . mr. simon , who sees nothing in books but what his passion shows him , might have taken notice that i said , that the prophets teach us they are inspir'd , when they say thus saith the lord , &c. there are two ways to know if a thing be inspir'd . the first consists in observing if those who say this or that thing , maintain that they had it from god by an extraordinary revelation , whereof they give undeniable proofs , as did the prophets . the second is when the thing it self declar'd shows it to be so . when the first way fails , we must have recourse to the second ; and where they both fail , we have no reason to believe there is any inspiration . now this is that which appears in many discourses of the apostles , where they do not say that god has taught them by extraordinary revelation that which they publish ; and where the matter it self shows that there was no need of his doing it . it does not therefore follow , that those who acknowledge the inspiration of the prophets are obliged to acknowledg the like of all other sacred writers ; because there are convincing reasons which oblige us to believe that the prophets speak truth , when they say thus saith the lord ; &c. and no reason to believe that the apostles were extraordinarily inspir'd , when they say it not ; and when their discourses have in them no mark of such like inspiration . if we reflect upon this difference between prophecies , and discourses which have nothing of prophetic in them , we shall take heed of applying to this subject a loose maxim , and which is good for nothing ; viz. that is happens most frequently that those who distinguish and divide matters , with design to make use of part and reject the other , do give great advantage to their adversaries . on the contrary , it scarce ever happens , that in handling a compounded subject there can be made such general rules as may be equally apply'd to all the parts of it . parts of different nature must of necessity be differently handled . objection 11. it has been said , that by the holy spirit , or the spirit of god , may be understood the spirit of holiness and of constancy , which the gospel inspires ; or such a disposition of mind as is an effect of our faith. but the general reasons there made use of , which are grounded only upon equivocal words , can prove nothing but generals : they must be apply'd , and particular enquiry made , whether the holy spirit has any other signification in scripture or no. mr. simon resp. pag. 131. answer . when a passage is to be answer'd wherein there is an equivocal word , upon which an objection is founded , it is sufficient to show that such a word may be understood in another sense , than that in which it has been taken . there is no need of examining all the other significations that it may have . it suffices to show that the signification then given it is agreeable to the ordinary use of the language , and suitable to the subject there treated of . it was mr. simon 's part therefore to show that where it is said of st. stephen , ( on occasion of whom the observation was made ) that they could not resist the wisdom and spirit by which he spoke ; i say it was his part to show that by the word sprit any thing ought to be understood but the spirit of the gospel ; that is to say , a disposition of mind conformable to the precepts of jesus christ. he ought to have shown that this word in this place ought necessarily to be understood in another sense . but mr. simon seldom gives himself the trouble to read the places of scripture that are cited ; as appears in the same page , where he says that st. paul told the high priest with a just indignation , god shall smite thee thou whited wall ; and where he compares the words of st. paul to those of jesus christ , when he calls herod fox ; and to the reproaches that the prophets make to the kings of israel . but he should have shown us in what place jesus christ and the prophets confess'd they were to blame in doing so , as st. paul confesses he was . god has power to censure princes : but it belongs not to subjects to do it , when they think sit . so st. paul had no right to abuse the high priest , on his own head : though those who had receiv'd express order from god to make such like reproaches to princes , cannot be blam'd for it . but mr. simon , who probably never thought of all this , is not aware of this difference ; and argues always on , without understanding what he finds fault with . obiection 12. the promise which jesus christ made his apostles , that the holy spirit should teach them what they should say when they came before the iudges , seems to have been explain'd as a general promise for all that they should say ; whereas it only relates to what they should say for the defence of the gospel . luc. chap. 12. ver . 11. answer . the promise is express'd in general terms , and must relate to that which the apostles should be oblig'd to say as well for the defence of their own persons , as for that of the gospel . for it was of the greatest importance that these first ministers of jesus christ should then say nothing unworthy of the doctrine of which they were the heraulds . but if this promise must not be taken in so large a sense , in relation to the discourses which the apostles should make before judges ; neither ought it to be so taken in relation to their preaching of the gospel . my design was only to shew , that since the words could not be taken in the whole extent of their signification , it could not from thence be necessarily inferr'd that the apostles had then a prophetic inspiration , objection 13. the promise ( iohn 16. ) that when the spirit of truth shall come , it shall lead you into all truth , ought not to be understood so , as if it were intirely accomplish'd the day of pentecost ; but as a thing that should be accomplish'd according to the occasions and necessities that the apostles should be in , of knowing some further truths . but it seems as if mr. n. suppos'd that this promise is ordinarily understood , as if it ought to have been accomplish'd all at once . answer . the reason of my insisting upon that was to make appear that this promise , though conceiv'd in so general terms , ought necessarily to receive some qualification ; and consequently that it ought not to be understood , like an axiom of geometry , in the utmost signification of its terms . now that being once granted , it cannot be made appear that this promise relates to a prophetic inspiration . there is a passage very like this in the first epistle of st. iohn , chap. 2. ver . 27. but the anointing which ye have received of him , abideth in you : and ye need not that any man teach you : but , as the same anointing teacheth you of all things , and is truth , and is no lie : and even as it hath taught you , ye shall abide in him . it is apparent that this cannot be understood strictly , since st. iohn speaks to all the christians to whom he writ . objection 14. whereas it has been affirmed that the apostles did not agree ( acts 15. ) till after they had disputed a great while ; it is not said in that chapter , that the apostles disputed ; but only that when there had been much disputing , peter rose up , &c. answer . two things were considered in this history . the first is , the opinion that men had of the apostles , viz. that they were not look'd upon as persons infallible , whensoever they began to speak of the gospel ; since they were not believ'd just at their first speaking . the second is , the conduct of the apostles on this occasion , which is express'd in these terms : the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter . and when there had been much disputing , peter rose up , and said , &c. the common opinion is , that when the debate was about doctrinal matters , the truth was immediately presented to the minds of the apostles , without any need of meditation . this is undoubtedly true as to the things that jesus christ had taught them clearly : and they needed no extraordinary inspiration to call them to mind . but this principle is extended by some to all the functions of their charge . now ask if that were so , what need was there that the apostles should not only meet , but also talk a long while together ? the first that had spoke would have sound all the rest of the same mind , and there would have been no more to do but for him to pronounce upon the question , according to their general , though tacit , agreement . it cannot be said there was no conference amongst the apostles and elders concerning this doctrine ; since st. luke , after having said that the apostles and elders came together , immediately adds , that there was much disputing , and that peter rose up and said , &c. neither can the principle of mr. simon be here made use of , who says that the apostles might not determine any thing by their own authority , but by the common consent of all the church , and that therefore it was that they assembl'd , and expos'd in publick their reasons for not imposing jewish ceremonies upon the gentiles . if the apostles were as much inspir'd as the jewish prophets of the old testament , it is ridiculous to say that they ought to determine nothing by their own authority , but by the consent of all the church . they had no more to do but to declare what the holy spirit had reveal'd to them , as did the prophets ; who met not together to confer about their prophecies before the pronouncing of them ; but pronounc'd them as soon as god had commanded them , without staying for any body's consent . and herein they acted not by their private authority , but by the authority that god gave them , in commanding them to speak to the people . no more would the apostles have acted by their own private authority , in following the motions of the holy spirit . but mr. simon has fancy'd a very particular sort of inspiration in the apostles . he says it was necessary they should declare that they determin'd nothing , which was not conformable to the holy scriptures , and to the doctrine which they had receiv'd from their master , and that for that reason it was necessary to deliberate thereupon in assemblies ; in which their opinions happen'd to be sometimes divided . a man must be very acute , that can comprehend how men inspir'd after a prophetic manner could be of different opinions . but mr. simon clears this difficulty wonderfully in the following words . we ought not ( says he ) to be surpriz'd at this diversity of opinions , since every one grounded his particular one upon inspiration . now this is that which should have hinder'd them from being of different opinions ; since assuredly god inspires not several opinions about one and the same thing . it is all one as if one should say that we ought not to be surpriz'd , that of two prophets , one should say a thing shall happen , and the other that it shall not happen , because they both ground their predictions upon inspiration . and indeed mr. simon corrects himself , after a fashion , by adding ; or rather upon the authority of the scriptures , and the light which they had receiv'd from religion . if he understands by the inspiration of the apostles , nothing but the light which they had receiv'd from religion , why does he make all this ado ; since herein we agree with him ? he ought to tell us whether or no , when the apostles spoke by inspiration , they did any thing , but express , in their own way , the reasonings which god had put ready fram'd into their minds . if that be so , how can we conceive that their opinions should not be one and the same ? and if he inspir'd them not with the reasonings they used , then we cannot attribute prophetic inspiration to them ; since it is therein that prophetic inspiration consists . it is very absurd therefore to believe , that all the reasonings the apostles us'd in preaching the gospel , and all those we read in their books , were inspir'd . for it is therein that the inspiration of the apostles is ordinarily conceiv'd to consist . this is that uniform , constant , and ordinary inspiration which mr. simon comprehends not , because he never thought well upon it . nor indeed does he know what opinion he is of sometimes he speaks like the generality of divines , sometimes again he openly contradicts them , as may be seen by the words i have cited . he must study a little better this matter , if he will have us answer him : for it is very likely that for the most part he understands not himself . i will give but one example more of it . ( it is that which he says concerning the author of ecclesiastes ▪ p. 138. ) for we need but read his words , to find that the prior of bolleville minds not what he says . the author , says he , of this work did not design only to perswade men to pass their time in pleasure . — to which may be added , that declamation being the proper character of a preacher , it is no wonder to see him despise all the ordinary business and imployments of the world , and to prefer an easy commodious life before all the troubles that attend a contrary practice : for which he is not to be censur'd as if he were an epicure , after the manner that mr. n. here understands the opinions of the epicureans . he would have done well to have told us of what sort of epicurism the author of the ecclesiastes may be accus'd . objection 15. it is a great piece of boldness to judg four books of the old testament ( three that bear the name of solomon , and that of iob ) as unworthy to be in the hebrew canon . that liberty of censuring would weaken the principles of our religion . for every one by the same rule may say that such or such a book is not canonical , according to his own fancy . answer . although we may reject some books of the old testament , it does not follow that we may do the same by all of them . neither does it follow , because many ancient and modern divines have thought it would have been better not to have joined , with the writings of the apostles , certain books that are now in the canon of the new testament , that therefore we may reject all the books of the apostles . there are books that are indisputably of those authors whose name they bear ; and there are others which have been questionable , and are so still amongst the learned ; as the epistle to the hebrews , that of st. iames , the second of st. peter , the two last of st. iohn , and that of st. iude. these doubts hinder us not from agreeing about the gospels , and st. paul's epistles ; nor from proving clearly that they are the books of those whose name they bear . i know not why we may not doubt of some of the books of the old testament , as well as of some of those of the new ; and why ill consequences should be drawn from their opinions who doubt of some of the former , when none is drawn from theirs that reject the latter . the canon of the books of the new testament ought to be of much greater importance with us than that of the old. it is a mistake that we ought to receive all or reject all . it is not true that we ought to receive all . it is less true that we ought to reject all . but there is a mean betwixt these two extreams . objection 16. but what will be said to these words of st. paul , 2 tim. iii. 16. all scripture is of divine inspiration ? for they ought to be read in the vulgar translation , according to the greek , and also according to the ancient vulgar , omnis scriptura divinitùs inspirata & utilis ; whereas mr. n. reads them , omnis scriptura divinitùs inspirata utilis est . the verb est is not in the greek , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which signifies et , is before utilis . if this verb be to be supply'd ( because it is often wanting in the hebrew and the syriac , and consequently in the greek of the new testament ) it ought to be done in this manner , omnis scriptura divinitùs inspirata est & utilis . answer . mr. simon 's decrees are not without appeal . we maintain , against him , that this passage may very well be thus translated ; all scripture that is divinely inspir'd is also profitable for instruction , for reproof , &c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. so the vulgar translates it ; which mr. simon improperly corrects , and which the gentlemen of port-royal have judiciously follow'd . st. paul's design favours this version . he tells timothy , that the holy scriptures are able to make him wise unto salvation : to which he adds , that all scripture given by inspiration of god is profitable for doctrine , for reproof , for instruction in righteousness ; that the man of god may be perfect , &c. these words are a sort of explanation of those foregoing , where st. paul sets down after what manner the holy scriptures may instruct to salvation . there is a tacit opposition here between holy writ and certain prophane studies ; as will easily appear , if we go back a little higher to find the thred of st. paul's discourse , and observe the occasion of his saying , that all writ divinely inspir'd is profitable , &c. st. paul describes in the * beginning of the chapter a sort of wicked people , whom in the 5 th verse he orders timothy to avoid . the characters he marks them by suit very well to the gnostics . but it matters not of whom he speaks . it suffices that we observe that they were persons who boasted of teaching their hearers many things ; witness those * women they had seduc'd , which were always learning , and never arriv'd to the knowledg of the truth . † but the apostle foretels their seducement should not long continue . ‖ he represents to timothy that he had fully known his doctrine , his manner of life , and the persecutions he had suffer'd ; in order to strengthen him by his example . * he declares that the good shall always be persecuted , and that there shall still be seducers , and persons seduced . † but thou , continues he , be stedfast in the things thou hast learn'd , and hast been assured of , knowing from whom thou hast learn'd them , and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures , which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith in iesus christ. he opposes plainly the study of the holy scriptures to the study of fabulous doctrines ; which some impostors then taught , and whereof he complains in many places of his two epistles to timothy ( 1 ep. ch. 1. v. 4. ch. 4. v. 7. 2 ep. ch. 4. v. 4. ) and as here he orders his dear disciple to continue firm in those things he had learn'd , and which he had been assur'd of ; he likewise ends his first epistle with this exhortation , o timothy , keep that which is committed to thy trust , avoiding profane and vain bablings , and opposition of science falsly so called ; which some professing , have err'd concerning the faith. and thus when he adds , that all scripture given by inspiration , &c. it is as if he had said to timothy , that he ought to keep close , as he had done hitherto , to the study of the old testament ; which would instruct him sufficiently in the way to salvation , by joining thereunto faith in jesus christ : because all scripture inspir'd by god , as is a great part of the old testament , is profitable for instruction : whereas if he apply'd himself to the false science that some impostors then boasted of , he would cultivate doctrines that would be proper for nothing , but to raise disputes , instead of edifying ; as he had else-where told him . by this it is evident , that all this reasoning of st. paul does in no wise suppose that all the scripture of the old testament is inspir'd ; and that the apostle pretends thereby only to intimate that the inspir'd writings ( without fixing the number of them ) are more profitable than those that some persons at that time boasted of . rivet had objected this passage to grotius , against the opinion of that incomparable critic concerning the inspiration of the sacred books . let us see how grotius answers him . * the place , says he , ( 2 tim. chap. 3. v. 16. ) has another signification than d. rivet thinks : for st. paul says not , all writing is divinely inspir'd . ( for how many are the writings of human invention ? ) nor does he mean that all that is inspir'd is divinely inspir'd . that would be trifling . but this is his meaning : all scripture that is divinely inspir'd ( that is the word of prophecy , as st. peter stiles it , 2 ep. chap. 1. v. 19. ) is not only useful in its own time , to show god's praescience , and to give authority to the prophets : but is moreover at all times profitable : because it contains many standing rules , reproofs of vices , incitements to righteousness , &c. this sense was rightly observ'd by the syriac interpreter who thus renders it ; in the scripture , which is written by the spirit , there is profit in respect of doctirne , &c. this passage then of st. paul proves nothing against me ; let mr. simon say what he pleases . he seems not to understand christian religion throughly enough , to treat of these matters . these , sir , are the principal objetions that have been made to mr. n. against his essay concerning the inspiration of the sacred pen-men . you may judg whether he has solv'd the difficulties propos'd or no. for my part i will not judg of that question . but this i dare boldly say ; that mr. simon is not the man that will run him down ; and that the answers you have now read , are plausible enough to puzzle an abler man than he . i am , &c. the fifth letter . i am perswaded , sir , that the two last letters i writ you , will have fully satisfied those among your friends , who wish'd that the writing about inspiration had been suppress'd , or who desir'd some explanation of the author's opinion , or even who believ'd they were in the wrong that said it was hard to confute it . we must now try to give some satisfaction to those who have said that this opinion leads to deism , and that our friend was infected with the detestable opinions of the deists . now i having openly maintain'd the contrary , he has impos'd upon me the task of justifying him in this particular . and i think i can evidently demonstrate , that they who have brought this accusation against our friend , have therein violated that which is most sacred in christian religion ; and that while they endeavour to maintain it by a zeal , not only wanting knowledg , but also void of charity , they have not sufficiently reflected upon the true proofs of the divinity of our religion , and upon the method us'd by many of those who have undertaken to desend it against atheists and infidels . but i confess to you i dare not promise to my self ever to satisfy intirely this sort of people ; because they are such as fancy they know every thing . they have given over all study ; they examine nothing ; and they think they should do a thing unworthy of their character , if they should confess they had condemn'd any one wrongfully , and if they abated never so little of the heat of their zeal . this zeal , or rather blind passion , which is made up of choler , and animated by superstition , pride and envy , discomposes them so violently , and with so little intermission , that it is very hard to find a moment wherein they are fit to hear quietly the justifications of those , whom they have too rashly condemned . it is not amiss however to tell them our reasons . if they themselves will not hear them , yet perhaps these reasons may prevent some other persons of more ingenuous dispositions from forming such rash judgments , as the vehement declamations of these implacable zealots would otherwise move them to . two things ought here to be distinguish'd : the person , and the opinions . a man may have opinions , the consequences whereof are very evil and very dangerous , without being aware of these consequences , how necessarily soever they may seem unto others to follow from them . i have made this plain in the beginning of my first letter on this subject . it ought not then to be concluded , because a man embraces a certain opinion , that therefore he admits all the consequences . this truth is own'd by every one ; but little made use of by any , when they pass judgment upon those that are opposite to their party . nevertheless , none that are equitable can refuse to allow this justification of our friend ; i mean that protesting , as he does , an utter abhorrence of those impious consequences , which in his judgment are unduly wrested from his opinions , he himself ( at least ) ought to be absolv'd , although his doctrine be condemned . natural equity obliges us to believe that a man is perswaded of a thing when he affirms it , and when we have no evident signs of his design to deceive us . this also is a rule in morality generally agreed upon , but of which as little use is made as of the foregoing one . but let men do what they will ; it must be acknowledg'd that those who refuse to believe our friend , when he affirms that he is perfectly convinc'd of the truth of the christian religion , do violate the charity , and the equity , which we ought to have naturally one for another ; seeing they have no evident sign to convince them that this protestation of his is hypocritical . the truth is , these zealots , who judg amiss of his piety , ground their rash judgment but upon very light suspicions . they believe that our friend has discover'd but part of his opinions concerning the inspiration of the holy writers , for fear of too much thwarting the public , and losing altogether his reputation . but he , on the other side , protests that he has laid open the very bottom of his thoughts , without any reserve ; and without hiding any thing , which he thought might contribute to discover the whole extent of his opinion in this matter . this is all he can do to repel so unjust a suspicion . if they who frame a rash judgment upon so ill-grounded suspicions , met with the like usage , none of them would be found innocent . it might always be said , when they maintain any thing from whence an ill consequence may be drawn ( and from what may not that be done ? ) that they speak not all they think , for fear of being cry'd down , and losing their pensions . the zeal , for example , of which they are so proud , might pass for an effect of an artificial policy ; by which they endeavour to render themselves masters of the peoples minds ; in order to satisfy their ambition , and oppress their enemies . in a word , they should not make one step , which might not be interpreted maliciously , and made look odiously . but it behoves us and them to remember that precept of our saviour , founded upon the plain light of nature , do not to another that which ye would not should be done to you . if the heat of an indiscreet zeal keep them from observing this precept , yet nothing shall make us trangress it . i conclude then that our friend cannot be ill thought of , without wronging the universal rules of equity and charity ; and in this case those rules will be the more enormously broken , by how much the impiety which our friend is accus'd of is more detestable . rash judgments and ill-grounded suspicions are always crimes , although the matter they relate to be of small importance : but when the concern is not only the reputation of a person , but also his life , and which is yet more , his salvation , they become still more hainous . to affirm that a man is of an opinion such as is that of the deists , without having evident proofs of it , is to say that a man is an enemy of god and men ; that he is in a state wherein he can expect nothing but the anger of heaven ; wherein he merits even to be no longer suffer'd upon earth ; and it argues that these calumniators , after having made him lose his good name , would if they could deprive him also of his life . let any reasonable man judg , if , without certain and convincing proofs , a man may pronounce so terrible a sentence against his neighbour , and not be guilty of the greatest injustice imaginable . it seems to me , sir , that this is so plain i need dwell no longer upon it . the person of our friend then being justified against these rash suspicions ; we will now show that the truth of the christian religion may be undeniably prov'd , without taking any side about the doctrine of inspiration ; and consequently without supposing the common opinion . this i intend to do ; after i have first observ'd that several great men , and who have pass'd for good christians , have held this opinion without losing the reputation they had of piety . there is not a man of worth and honour among the protestants , who will dare to say that erasmus and grotius were libertines ; and yet both of them defended openly this same opinion . but because there are some divines who esteem none but those that have been of the society they live in , i will repeat some reremarkable words of a divine famous amongst the presbyterians in england , and even amongst those on this side the water . it is mr. richard baxter , who speaks thus in an english book translated not long since into dutch , and intituled , the saints everlasting rest. 22. though all scripture be of divine authority : yet he who believeth but some one book , that containeth the substance of the doctrine of salvation , may be sav'd : much more they that have doubted but of some particular books . 23. they that take the scripture to be but the writings of godly honest men , and so to be only a means of making known christ , having a gradual precedency to the writings of other godly men : and do believe in christ upon those strong grounds which are drawn from his doctrine , miracles , &c. rather than upon the testimony of the writing , it being purely infallible and divine , may yet have a divine and saving faith. 24. much more those that believe the whole writing to be of divine inspiration where it handleth the substance , but doubt whether god infallibly guided them in every circumstance . and in the next page . 32. the circumstantials are many of them divine , yet so as they have in them something humane , as the bringing of st. paul 's cloke and the parchments , and ( as it seems ) his counsel about marriage , &c. 33. much more is there something human in the method and phrase , which is not so immediately divine as the doctrine . 34. yet is there nothing sinfully humane , and therefore nothing false in all . 35. but all innocent imperfection here is in the method and phrase , which of we deny , we must renounce most of our logick and rhetorick . nothing can be more expresly said for the justification of our friend . those who have a value for mr. baxter , must forgo their esteem of him , or else not condemn so lightly those who in his judgment may have a saving faith , together with some opinions different from those commonly receiv'd . it may likewise be observ'd , that many of those who have writ of the truth of the christian religion , have prov'd it without supposing the particular inspiration of the historians of the new testament to be such as it is ordinarily taken to be ; as grotius , whose book has been alike esteem'd by all parties . which shows that our belief is not founded upon this supposition ; and that consequently one may be a good christian without admitting it . but it is better to represent this by an example , which will give you a more lively impression of what i aim at . i will therefore now indeavour , in as few words as is possible , to give you the idea of a method that seems to me very strong , and very proper to convince a libertine of the truth of our religion , without once mentioning any thing of particular inspiration . i do not pretend thereby to condemn all other methods that may be used to the like purpose ; but it seems to me that this is the simplest of all , and subject to the fewest difficulties . you will allow me , sir , this small digression ; which may perhaps not be unuseful , in a time when there are every where so many that doubt of the truth of the christian religion . the first , and the greatest objection the libertines make us is , that our judgments are pre-possess'd , which hinders us from being undeceiv'd . we say the same of them ; and maintain that it is nothing but sensual inclinations that raise those difficulties in their minds , which would vanish if they examin'd them without passion . it is not just that either they or we should take for granted our pre-possessions , as principles demonstrated , or which need not be demonstrated . let us then act on both sides as if we had not yet espous'd any party , and let us urge nothing that is not founded upon principles which both sides acknowledg . it is agreed that there are certain characters by which we may be assur'd whether a thing has been done or no , and by which we may distinguish the truth or falshood of a history . if we do not agree in that , we are pyrrhoniens ; or , to give it a better name , altogether senseless : for none but a mad-man can doubt of the truth of all the histories in the world. but farther , we must also agree in another thing , which is no less certain . it is , that there are certain matters of fact , the truth whereof is better conceiv'd than it can be prov'd ; and which are of such a nature , that unless a man be in a proper disposition of mind he can hardly be induc'd to believe them . for example , if any one should tell us here that the inquisition of spain and italy has approv'd the works of calvin , and allow'd the people to read them in spanish and italian ; although it is impossible for us to believe it , and that we are firmly perswaded of the contrary , we should not be able to convince a person who should be obstinate in maintaining it , until we had given him evident proofs thereof . in like manner , if there were false witnesses ready to swear that one of our friends , ( whose vertue had been well known to us for divers years , and who but just then was gone out of our company ) went then immediately in cold blood to assassinate a person unknown to him , for no other reason but only to make an anatomical dissection of his body ; it is certain we should not believe them , although it might not be in our power to prove judicially the contrary . it is easy to imagine a thousand examples of such like truths , which we apprehend better than we can prove . that being suppos'd , if we come to the christian religion , there occurs at the very first a difficulty in discerning what are the doctrines of this religion : for christians have great controversies among themselves about their belief . there would be no end of going about to examine all these controversies . let us therefore suspend our judgment thereupon , and see first wherein all christians are agreed . they all agree , for example , that most of the books of the new testament are the writings of those authors whose name they bear , and who writ them more than sixteen hundred years ago ; that the history therein is true , and that we ought to obey the commandments therein contain'd . this obedience may be reduc'd to these general heads ; a rendering to god the service due to him ; a trusting in his promises ; and a keeping his commandments , in what concerns both our selves and our neighbour . but this supposes a belief of all those scriptural truths without which a man cannot perfom his duty ; as that there is a god , absolutely perfect , who has sent jesus christ into the world to draw men from their sins , and guide them to eternal salvation ; that this jesus has been rais'd from the dead , and that he now reigns in heaven , &c. all christians agree in all this . let us suspend still our jugdment concerning doctrines , and speak yet only of the practical part of our religion . it cannot be deny'd but that if all men liv'd according to the precepts of the gospel ; and that , out of the hope of another life , they betook themselves with care to adore the creator of the universe , to live always in temperance , and sobriety , and to do constantly to their neighbour as they desire their neighbour should do to them ; it cannot be deny'd , i say , but this manner of living would be very agreeable and very advantagious to human society . we should not then hear any words spoken that could cause us trouble , or that would kindle divisions in religion . there would be no sickness through intemperance , no vexation , nor any quarrel occasion'd by debauchery . the doing wrong to ones neighbour , and the suffering any inconvenience through the inhumanity or malice of men would be things unknown : men would help one another in all their needs , with all the fervency and earnestness that could be desir'd : if by mistake any of them had been the occasion of inconvenience to one another , they would mutually pardon one another , and repair that damage by all sorts of services . the love of honours , or of riches , would trouble no man's mind , nor cause any envy or discord . in a word , the mind being in a perfect tranquillity , the body as healthful as feeble nature will admit , and both mind and body enjoying the innocent pleasures which the gospel allows , this amiable life would not be quitted but for the enjoyment of another , freed from all the inevitable inconveniences entail'd by nature upon the inhabitants of this earth . all that have any idea of the rules of morality taught by jesus christ , must necessarily agree in this truth ; that by generally observing them , men would be exceedingly happy . but it may perhaps be ask'd , where is there in the world a society in which , men live conformably to these rules of morality ? that is not the question . it is sufficient for our present purpose that there are at this time many nations that make profession of it , though they live not up to the practice . let us enquire whether these nations invented those rules , or receiv'd them from their predecessors ? they all tell us they are not the inventers ; and it may well be judg'd , by their way of living , that they say true : for it is not probable they should have invented the precepts of the gospel , and yet live so contrary to them . inventions always savour something of the temper of the spirit of the inventors . but we have no need of arguments to convince us of this : we may examine from age to age the authors that are left us , beginning at our own , and going backwards to that wherein christian religion was first spoken of , to see who they were that brought it into the world. we shall readily find , by reading those authors , that it is more than thirteen hundred years since the roman emperors being become christians , christianity has flourish'd in a great part of europe , asia , and africa . since that time we may be convinced , by a very great number of christian authors , that profession has been constantly made of believing that the morality taught us in the gospel came from heaven . if we go yet further backwards , we shall find that even under the pagan emperors there was a great multitude of christians that profess'd the same doctrine . we have many christian authors , of those times , who assure us of it . but , without staying to reckon up needlesly authors sufficiently known , let us examine in what age christianity began first to be spoken of . all christians agree that it was under the reign of tiberius ; and if we consult heathen authors , we shall see that before that time it was altogether unknown . tacitus , who was born towards the end of the reign of claudius , or about the beginning of that of nero , says that nero , after having set rome on fire in divers places , and thereby destroy'd the city , accus'd the christians of it , and made them suffer horrible punishments . upon that occasion he speaks of the beginning of christianity in these terms . the author of this sect ( says he ) was christ , who in the reign of tiberius was put to death by pontius pilate governour of judaea . this dangerous superstition , continues he , in speaking of the christian religion , though nipp'd in the bud , broke out a fresh , and spread not only through judaea , where the mischief first began , but came even into rome it self , where all things shameful and abominable are brought , and find persons ready to join with and uphold them . presently as many as confess'd they were christians , were seiz'd on , and soon after a great many more were discover'd , but were not found guilty of the fire , though they were the objects of the public hatred , &c. you see here the testimony of a heathen author , who being born in the beginning of christianity , and very well vers'd in the passages of his time , assures us of two things then publickly notorious . the one , that the authors of the christian religion had liv'd in iudaea in the reign of tiberius , and had been punish'd during the government of pontius pilate . the other , that after his death , in few years , the embracers of his doctrine were extreamly multiply'd . suetonius also tells us , that in the time of the emperor claudius , the christians were banish'd out of rome ; which shows that there were then a great number of them in that capital city . we find also by the testimony of another author , contemporary to tacitus , that the christians at that time made profession of the same morals they teach now a-days . pliny being proconsul of bithynia , about threescore and ten years after pontius pilate had been governour of iudaea , by trajan's order sought out the christians within his province , and inform'd himself with all the care imaginable concerning their opinions : hereupon he writes a letter to trajan , which letter is still preserv'd . i was inform'd , says he , that all their crime , or error , consisted only in that they us'd to assemble themselves upon a certain night , and to sing together a hymn to christ , as to a god : that they all oblig'd themselves by oath not to any crime ; but on the contrary , that they would not commit felony , robbery , or adultery ; and that they would deceive no man , nor break a trust : this done , they dispers'd and return'd again after sometime to eat together , which they did in common , and without any harm : but that they had given over doing it upon my proclamation , wherein , according to your orders , i had forbidden all sorts of conventicles . this made me believe that i could not get out the truth better than by putting to the rack two women servants , whom they call diaconesses ; but i discover'd nothing but a strange and excessive superstition . they that understand the latin tongue , will not wonder that tacitus and pliny make use of the word superstition . the romans gave that name to all sorts of religious worship that were not establish'd by public authority . two such witnesses as these cannot be excepted against ; seeing it is evident they had no favour for christians , and were perhaps the most able men of their time ; but especially if we consider that they treat of matters of fact , which they themselves had either seen , or which were known by all men , as was the death of jesus christ under pontius pilate . the writings that we have of christians living between the times of pilate and those of tacitus or trajan , attest the same truths : they date the beginning of christianity from the same christ that pilate put to death , and they preach to us precisely the same morals . we must then necessarily allow that there was in iudaea , during the reign of tiberius , a person that laid the foundation of the christian religion , and had many disciples . let us now examine some of his first disciples , and see what sort of people they were . let us read the epistle which clement , bishop of rome , writ to the christians of corinth , forty years after the death of iesus christ , and in the beginning of the raign of vespasian . there appears in this epistle a spirit of peace , of charity , of humility , and many lively and pathetical exhortations to the observation of the gospel-morals . he reproves severely those that had not observ'd them , but commends those that had . in the beginning of that epistle , he says among other things , that the christians of corinth had labour'd day and night for their brethren ( to the end that the number of the elect might be sav'd ) in applying themselves to works of mercy , and of a good conscience ; that they had been sincere , without malice , and without remembring the ill that any of them might formerly have done to one another ; that all division and schism was abhorr'd by them ; that they were afflicted for their neighbour's failings ; that they look'd upon his necessities as their own ; that they never repented them of well-doing , but were always ready to do all sorts of good works ; that in their conversation , full of vertue , and worthy of veneration , they did all things in the fear of god , whose commandments were writ in their hearts . he adds afterwards , that he had known may christians , who , to redeem others out of slavery , had put themselves in chains ; that many having sold themselves for slaves , had maintain'd others out of the price of their own liberty . the masters of this clement were the first disciples of iesus of nazareth , who was the first teacher of christianity ; and he gives testimony of their great piety . indeed if we read their writings , we find nothing in them but what speaks a profound veneration of the deity , an extream tenderness towards all men , and an extraordinary strictness in all that concerns the government of a man's self . let us chuse which we will of them , we shall find nothing in their works but what tends to piety . if some of their writings have been question'd , let us take those concerning which there never was any question ; or , without looking further , the gospel according to st. luke , and the first epistle of st. paul to the corinthians , which are cited by clement , and we shall perceive every where the same morals which they endeavour to implant in the hearts of their disciples . i suppose all along that the reader has some knowledg of the precepts of the gospel , and has given some attention to what i said at the beginning ; and then i dare boldly say , that unless he have lost all sense , he will acknowledg that there is nothing more reasonable that the morals of the gospel ; and that it were to be wish'd that all the world observ'd them . the apostles then in exhorting their hearers to live after a manner so reasonable , and so profitable to human society , requir'd nothing of them contrary to reason , or to the true interests of all mankind . and this puts me in mind of the saying of a person , that once had no great opinion of the truth of our religion . when the morals , which the disciples of jesus christ preach'd throughout the world , were thus livelily describ'd to him , he could not but fall into these words , which the evidence of the thing drew from him , i wish all the world had believ'd them . this doctrine of the apostles ought undoubtedly to make all those who love human society , and their own advantages , to listen to it . but it may here be objected that perhaps the apostles preach'd not this doctrine , but in design to insinuate themselves into the minds of the people ; and afterwards , upon pretext of piety , to get from them whatsoever they had a mind to . but to answer that objection , in the first place i observe , and suppose it will be granted me , that this suspicion has no foundation in the doctrine which they preach'd . for that condemns the love of honours , of riches , and of pleasures . there cannot so much as one single passage of their works be alledg'd that favours ambition , covetousness , or concupiscence . this being so , this suspicion can be grounded but upon one of these two things ; either that the apostles could hope to make some advantage of this their doctrine , when it should be receiv'd ; or that they actually made it , when they preach'd it . i understand here by advantage a good out-ballancing all the inconveniences that the apostles underwent in preaching the gospel , or at least such a one as they esteem'd in that degree . it is not probable , if they were deceivers , but that they propos'd an advantage to themselves greater than the pains they took : otherwise they might justly be look'd upon as fools , which they cannot ( without great impertinence ) be suppos'd to have been by any that read their writings . now the apostles could not hope to make any advantage of their doctrine , unless it were receiv'd by the generality of those amongst whom they preach'd it . for without that , they would have been expos'd to perpetual persecution . none but fools could expect to live quietly amongst people vehemently prepossest with opinions directly contrary to those they resolv'd to profess and teach ; people that believed themselves oblig'd for the interest of the state , and of religion , to take away both the estates and lives of those that oppos'd their superstition . such were the romans , the greeks , and the iews , in the times of the apostles . they must then have hoped that their preaching would take such effect as would draw after them the greatest part of the world. but that was impossible to be hop'd for , by any that had never so little knowledg of the disposition of the heart of man. and the apostles , who had a great share of this knowledg , as appears by their writings , could less than others imagine such a thing . the iews were so passionately wedded to their ceremonies , that there was not the least likelihood of succeeding with them . the romans and greeks were so over head and ears in pleasures , so covetous , so ambitious , that the small number amongst them who had not lost all thought of vertue , speak of the manners of that age with horror and detestation . the histories of both those people ( if we judg of them by the ideas of the gospel ) present us , in the events of those times , with a picture of the most horrible corruption that ever was . and can it then be imagin'd that the apostles should hope to draw to their opinions the generality of those that liv'd in such times ? how could they promise themselves , that people so blinded by their passions , and so harden'd in their crimes , would ever relent ? no , they tell us plainly ( after their master ) that they hoped not to make the gospel be receiv'd by any great number of persons , in comparison of those that would remain in unbelief . but if yet it be suppos'd that the simplicity of the apostles might have incourag'd them to hope for the conversion of the greatest part of the roman empire , experience however would at length have undeceiv'd them ; since after having preach'd many years they were forc'd to acknowledg they had gain'd very few . history shows us clearly , that for some ages after the beginning of christianity there were much fewer christians in the roman empire than heathens . thus then we see that the apostles were necessarily exposed to cruel persecutions all their lives ; scorn'd , and hated alike by jews and gentiles , they could have no recompence any way proportionable to their labours . and so they tell us plainly , that they expected nothing but afflictions in this life ; and that it was all they hoped for from men of this world , in recompence of what they undertook in preaching unto them a doctrine so reasonable as are the gospel-morals . nor were they deceiv'd ; for after having suffer'd great torments , they in the end lost their lives in an ignominious manner , by the hands of executioners , asserting to the last the truth of the doctrine they had preach'd . it was by great injustice and malice , says clement , whom we cited before , that peter underwent not one or two , but many pains ; and after having thereby born testimony to the truth , went to the place of glory that was due to him . it was through the like malice of men that paul receiv'd the reward of his patience ; having been seven times put in chains , whipp'd and ston'd ; having been the herauld of the gospel in the east and in the west , and having render'd his faith illustrious ; having preach'd iustice to all the earth , and being arriv'd at the utmost part of the west , after having born testimony to the truth before the principal rulers there , he departed out of this world. this event of the preaching of the apostles , absolutely overthrows the second ground whereon men might build suspicions of their sincerity , viz. that they had made an advantage by their preaching equivalent to the troubles and dangers they were subject to . if they were esteem'd by a small number of persons of mean condition , that hinder'd them not from being despis'd by all the rest of mankind , jews and gentiles ; from being ill treated and persecuted ; from suffering extream poverty ; and at last from dying upon scaffolds and grosses ; as we have seen by what clement says , and as all their disciples unanimously affirm . one of the apostles themselves also tells us the same thing in one of his epistles : even to this present hour ( says he ) we hunger and thirst , and are naked and buffeted , and have no certain dwelling-place ; and labour , working with our own hands . and again if in this life only we have hope in christ , we are of all men most miserable . there is no body surely that has common sense , who to obtain the esteem of a small number of people , without power and without reputation , would suffer so great troubles , become the horror of mankind , be us'd as the worst of men , and as those that were condem'd to the amphitheatres , be made a spectacle to the people . a man may be tickl'd with the itch of glory , when he fancies to himself that most of those among whom he lives will applaud that which he is doing : but it never came into the mind of any man to expose himself to long sufferings , and at last to a cruel and ignominious death , to the end only to be esteem'd by a very few contemptible people , and in the mean while to be look'd upon as a wicked and as a mad man , by the greatest part of those with whom he liv'd . the truth of these matters of fact cannot be deny'd : that they preach'd the doctrine which we read in their writings ( and whereof the christians still make profession ) in the reigns of tiberius , and some of the following emperors : that they liv'd in great trouble , and under many afflictions : and that at last they dy'd miserably , in maintaining the doctrine they had for divers years publish'd . we have seen these truths attested by heathens , as well as by their own disciples . if we would suppose that the apostles liv'd after a voluptuous manner , and contrary to the morals they preach'd , we must be oblig'd to deny their having undergone those sufferings which are attested by their disciples ; the first whereof , in imitation of their masters , as they themselves say , offer'd themselves couragiously to very many afflictions , without making any advantage thereof in this life . to these men , says clement , speaking of st. peter and st. paul , who liv'd after a divine manner , there joyn'd themselves a great number of the elect , who having suffer'd many punishments and torments , have left us a fair example . nay , supposing their living so voluptuously , we must also suppose an absurdity that is inconsistent even with common sense ; viz. that they preaching that men ought to undergo much suffering for religion , exhorting the people to all sorts of vertue , and yet living themselves at their ease ( without taking care to practise the precepts they gave to others , except only so far as might serve to deceive the world ) did nevertheless make a great number of disciples , not only sincere imitators of their master's pretended vertues , but who also dy'd for a doctrine , for which those that had taught them it refus'd to suffer any thing . it is conceiveable enough that seduc'd persons may be as thoroughly perswaded of a falshood , as others are of the most evident truths ; and may consequently , in maintenance of a falshood , do all that the most resolute men would do in justification of truths of the greatest importance . but it cannot be conceiv'd , that persons prepossess'd from their infancy with opinions contrary to those of the apostles , would let themselves be so miserably seduc'd , that after having embrac'd their doctrine , they would suffer for it the most cruel punishments , whilst they saw that their masters would not undergo any at all for it . now we see , by the passage of tacitus which we cited , that at the beginning of christianity a great number of people declared themselves christians , tho they saw that the bare public profession of that religion would expose them to the punishments due to incendiaries , and to nero's fury . the reason of this must necessarily be that some of the first preachers of the gospel , as their disciples assure us , gave examples to others . without that it is impossible to conceive they could draw so many after them , and especially so many who endur'd such horrible torments for the religion they learn'd from them . from all this i draw no other consequence than that the apostles were sincere persons , who believed their own doctrine ; as were also those who by their example dy'd for it . they must have been truly perswaded of the thing , that would suffer so many inconveniences , fatigues , and punishments as they suffer'd , rather that abandon it . now the apostles having been indisputably sincere persons , we must confess that if ever there were any in the world whose vertue deserved esteem , they certainly deserv'd it from all men. no design could be conceiv'd more profitable to mankind than theirs , as has been shown in treating of the morals they preach'd . none could go about to bring that design to pass with more earnestness and zeal than they did , who sacrific'd to it their fortunes , their preferments , their honours , their pleasures , their repose and their lives . they compass'd sea and land under a thousand dangers , attempted a thousand difficulties , suffer'd inconveniences and pains unexpressible . they expos'd themselves to most mens scorn , malice and cruelty . and to what end ? to perswade the same men to live one with another after a manner so conformable to reason , so advantagious to socity , so pleasant , so sweet , that , except the soveraign happiness to be injoy'd in the life that never ends , nothing can be imagin'd preferable to it . i ask now , if ( being perswaded of the probity and sincerity of the apostles , and otherwise satisfied by their discourses that they were not at all out of their wits ) we could deny credit to their testimony , if they had said they had seen with their own eyes certain matters of fact , which they related with many circumstances ; and that they had heard with their own ears discourses full of sense and wisdom , which they repeated from beginning to end . let every man ask himself , if he would refuse to believe one of his friends , whom he knew to be sincere and judicious , if he assur'd him positively that he had heard such and such a thing . would one suspect for a lie the testimony of a rational man , and one who gave good signs of sincerity , when he affirm'd that he had been present at the execution of one of his friends , had seen him die , and had heard him say many things which he very distinctly remember'd ? i confess they that know not the sincerity or judgment of a person , may make a doubt of the truth of what they hear him say ; but if once they are perswaded of his integrity and understanding , it is impossible they should refuse to believe him . every man may be convinc'd of this by his own experience , and may , as i have already observ'd , frame a thousand particular examples to himself of what i have been saying . now the apostles tell us they liv'd some years with jesus of nazareth , from whom they learn'd all their doctrine ; that they saw him crucified , such a day , of such a month , of such a year ; that they saw him die upon the cross , and after that buried in a sepulchre , hewn out of a rock for the family of a jewish counsellor call'd ioseph of arimathea , who begged the body of jesus from pilate , and who , after having put it into the sepulchre , roul'd a great stone to the door ; that they saw the roman souldiers keep guard about the sepulchre , and that the chief of the jews had carefully seal'd it up , for fear any should take away the body . can we , being perswaded as we ought to be of the sincerity and wisdom of the apostles , refuse to believe them in these things ? certainly we must have lost all sense , to believe that persons of wisdom and integrity would prevaricate , in affirming a thing of this nature with so many circumstances . the same judgment must be made concerning the discourses of jesus christ , which they relate to us after a manner so lively , and so circumstantiated , that we could not relate them better , if we came directly from hearing them . it is more clear than day , to those who are perswaded that the apostles had but common sense and sincerity , that they really spoke truth in all these particulars . that being so , why should we not believe the same apostles , when they assure us that they have often seen their master , in a moment , cure many incurable diseases ; restore the dead to life ; raise himself , after having lain more than thirty hours in the sepulchre ; eat and drink with them afterwards , for several days ; and at last ascend , in their presence , in a cloud to heaven ? i perceive indeed that many persons who would not have question'd the testimony of the apostles if they had said nothing of the miracles , resurrection , and ascension of jesus christ , do , for that reason only , doubt of it . they would have easily believed that in iudaea , during the government of pontius pilate , there had been a man named jesus , who taught the morals we read now in the gospels ; that the jewish priests through envy and malice put him to death ; but that his disciples refrained not from teaching his precepts , and that the most afrightful torments hinder'd them not from publishing them . they would praise all christ's doctrine , as the most excellent philosophy that ever was known to have been taught amongst men , and the best principles that can be thought on to oblige them to live well one with another . but they reject all this , and believe that the apostles were impostors , only because they speak of miracles , which they say they saw their master do . let us consider a little why these men do so . there are but two ways whereby the falshood of a matter of fact may be known . the first is , when it is known that the witnesses who relate it are deceiv'd , or have a design to deceive , though otherwise what they relate seem very possible . the second is , when by clear and evident proofs we know that the fact in question is in it self absolutely impossible . that the apostles design'd not to deceive us has been made appear ; nor can it be said that they were themselves constantly deceiv'd in all the miracles of jesus christ which they relate . if the question were about a small number of miracles , that could not without difficulty be examin'd , this suspicion might with some probability be started : but they relate so many , and of so many different sorts , that if what they say be not true , it must of necessity be that they have gone about to deceive us . for example , they could not be mistaken in christ's ascension into heaven , which they have constantly affirm'd , and of which the christians from the very beginning have made one of the chief articles of their faith. those who , as pliny reports , sung hymns to jesus christ as to a god , believ'd without doubt that christ was ascended into heaven . and indeed i cannot but think that any who will take the pains to read only the gospel of st. luke , and the first epistle of st. paul to the corinthians ( where are related the circumstances of many of the miracles of christ , and particularly of his resurrection , and after that of his appearing divers times unto the disciples ) must certainly agree that those who spoke after that manner were not seduced ; and that if what they say be not true , of necessity they must have design'd to deceive those to whom they related these matters . now it has been shown demonstratively that the apostles were very sincere persons . and those who 〈◊〉 to admit their testimonies do not tax them of having been deceived ; nor do they undertake to oppose directly the reasons , by which we prove their sincerity . they content themselves in making objections upon the nature of miracles ; and so reduce themselves to the second way of knowing the falshood of a matter of fact , which consists in showing that the thing related is in it self absolutely impossible . i cannot ingage my self here in the examination of their reasons ; neither is it necessary . it is sufficient to observe in general , that all the arguments , with which spinoza and those that follow his opinions do dispute against miracles , are not comparable in evidence and force to the principles we have establish'd . these men endeavour to show that the extraordinary effects of the divine power , which we call miracles , may be the necessary consequences of some of the laws of nature , to us unknown ; and that they are no more to be made use of as proofs in this matter , than those which occur daily in the ordinary course of nature . they bring also some metaphysical arguments , to show that every thing comes to pass necessarily . but all this overthrows not the direct proofs which we have brought of the truth of these events , and which are infinitly more clear than their reasons , which no body can understand , as perhaps neither do they themselves . but there is no danger that they should perswade any man that the resurrection of a dead body , or the ascension of jesus christ into heaven , could happen as naturally as the birth of a man into the world. as long as the direct proofs of the truth of those matters of fact hold good , no man will be perswaded that the miracles which the apostles relate are natural effects of certain laws of nature , unknown to men : because it will presently be ask'd , why then are no more of these effects produced ? how could jesus christ know that after he was buried , he should rise again and ascend into heaven ? and how came it to pass , at that instant that he commanded a lame or a paralytic man to go , &c. that the laws of nature ( unknown to us ) were prepared and ready to cause the lame or paralytic man to walk . it is plain then that the philosophical difficulties alledg'd against the testimony of the apostles , are not of so great force as the arguments we have brought to confirm it ; nor can they rake place , so long as a man is perswaded of the sincerity of the first disciples of jesus christ. and the truth is , that those who make these objections do take this course , only because they cannot possibly alledg any thing against the matters of fact , which we have prov'd . they indeavour to confound the minds of their admirers by obscure metaphysical arguments , and suppositions , which they cannot prove , and which they assert nevetheless to be common notions . this being so , it cannot be doubted that christ jesus was extraordinarily favoured by god : and as it cannot be suppos'd , with any colour of reason , that god would work miracles in favour of an impostor , it must necessarily be acknowledged that he was a teacher sent from heaven , to set men right that were gone astray ; and consequently , that his doctrine is true . but i will not insist upon this consequence , as well because it is evident in it self , as because many learned men already have thoroughly handled it . i will add only this reflection before i end ; viz. that we have no reason to suspect that jesus christ himself designed to deceive us : because all the reasons brought to prove the sincerity of the apostles are as strong in respect of him as of them . to be convinc'd of this , we need but apply to him , both as to his person and doctrine , all that has been said concerning the apostles . all the religion which he taught men , and which we find in the gospels , tends only to bring us to the observation of the most holy and most admirable morals that can possibly be imagin'd . and he could have no other interest in the establishment thereof than what we all have ; that is , the universal welfare of all men. thus then you see the christian religion establish'd after an invincible manner , without supposing any inspiration in the histories of our lord and his apostles . there remains nothing more to be added , but that to apprehend the truth of all our proofs , it is necessary only that we have the same disposition of mind towards the apostles , that we have towards any person whose sincerity is very well known to us , and whom we could not refuse to believe when he should assure us of a thing he had seen and heard , and in which it is morally impossible that he should be deceived . the chief thing then is , to be well assur'd of the integrity of the apostles , which is easy to be done in following the method we have described . otherwise , while we attend not to the reasons which give evidence thereunto , we shall never be sufficiently sensible of the strength of the other arguments , that may be brought to prove the divine original of our religion . i intreat you , sir , to examine what i have said exactly , and to let me know if i have been to blame in affirming that we may be perfectly assured of the truth of christianity , without believing the history of the new testament to be inspir'd . if i would have treated of this subject thoroughly , i must have compos'd a book , not writ a letter . but what i have said is sufficient to let you see , that our friend is not with any sort of justice to be suspected of irreligion , upon the account of his not believing the inspiration of the scriptures as it is commonly believed . i am , &c. finis . the chief errors of the press , which the reader is desired to correct , are in page 63. line for read 17 it is not likely it is apparent . 21 should would . 22 with the him with him. 23 should would . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a49895-e10 1 sentiments de quelques theologiens de hollande sur l' historie critique du vieux testament , composée par le p. richard simon . 2 defense des sentimens , &c. contre la response du prieur de bolleville . notes for div a49895-e340 1. of prophecies . 2 pet. 1. 21. * amos propheta fuit imperitus sermone , sed non scientia : idem enim qui per omnes prophetas in eo spiritus sanctus loquebatur . † diximus illum artis suae usum sermonibus : & quia pastor gregum nibil terribilius leone cognoverat , iram domini leonibus comparat . * vt verba ae deo prophetis dictata sint , sicuti interum evenisse non est negandum , ita non videtur perpetuum . atque hinc factum est ut pro temporum atque loquentium varietate etiam sermo prophetarum differret . * sciendum est autem quae in exodo hoc loco habentur verba per angelum dei nomine prolata , quae vero sunt deuter . v. esse mosis eadem memoriter referentis , & quidem ea libertate , ut voces transponat interdum , quasdam cum idem significantibus commutet , omittat quaedam satis nota ex prioribus , addat alia interpretamenti vice . par mutandi verba libertas & aliis in locis sacrae scripturae non indiligentiejus lectori apparet . ut gen. xvii . 4. collato 7. gen. xxiv . 17. collato 43. exod. xi . 4. collato xii . 28. exod. xxxii . 11. & seq . collato deut. ix . 27. & seq . pertinet autem haec observatio eò ne in sacris literis simus vocularum aucupes , ut judaei quidam , qui & illa quae in exodo & quae in deuteronomio sunt verba pariter , uno eodemque puncto temporis prolata , simulque ubi transpositio est inverso ordine , quae prius fuerant dicta & posterius , posteriora eundem sensum continentia prius etiam dicta somniant . satis multa sunt in sacris historiis miracula , ut nova extra necessitatem , nulloque usui comminisci nihil sit opus . acts i. 20. ii. of the histories in the holy scripture . * imo hoc ipsum scriptores illos ab omni doli suspicione liberare debet ; com soleant illi qui falsa testantur , de compacto omnia ita narrare , ut ne in spciem quidem quicquam diversum , appareat : quod siex levi aliquâ discrepantiâ , etiam quae conciliari nequiret , totis libris fides decederct , jam nulli libro , praesertim historiarum , credendum esset ; cum tamen polybio & halicarnassensi , & livio & plutarcho , in quibus talia deprehenduntur , sua apud nos de rerum summa constet autoritas . * straminea epistola . † commentum veteris christiani otio suo abutentis . ios. scaliger . iii. of the doct. of the scriptures , and inspiration of the apostles . * putasne apostolum eo tempore quo scribebat ; lacernam sive penulam , quam reliqui troade veniens affer , ac libros & maximè membranas ; de coelestibus cogitasse misteriis & non de his quae in usu communis vitae vel corpori necessaria sunt , & c ? caeditur apostolus à ministro , & contra pontificem qui caedere imperaverat sententiam dirigit : percutiet te deus paries dealbate . ubi est illa patientia salvatoris qui quasi agnus ductus ad victimam non aperuit os suum , sed clementer loquitur verberanti ? si malè loquutus sum argue de malo , sin autem benè quid me caedis ? non apostolo detrahimus , sed gloriam domini praedicamus , qui in carne passus carnis injuriam superat & fragilitatem . ut taceam illud quod commemorat ; alexander aerarius multa mihi mala ostendit : reddet illi dominus in die illa justus judex . * certum est hoc loco legendū esse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , sub audiendumque 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ut hic dicatur non ipse abraham , sed ejus nepos jacob emisse monumentum illud ; vel dicendum est stephanum lapsu 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 duo similia facta confudisse , emtionem nempe ab abrahamo factam de qua gen. c. xxiii . cum eâ quae à jacobo facta est , de quâ gen. xxxiii . 19. notes for div a49895-e3620 * quod soleret libenter audire , respondere verecundè , recta suscipere , prava non acriter confutare , disputantem contra se magis docere quam vincere . continuation of the writing of mr. n. concerning the inspiration of the apostles . * sunt qui asserunt in omnibus poenè testimoniis , quae de veteri testamento sumuntur , istiusmodi esse errorem ; ut aut ordo mutetur , aut verba , & interdum sensus quoque ipse diversus sit ; vel apostolis vel evangelistis non ex libro carpentibus testimonia , sed memoriae credentibus , quae nonnunquam fallitur . † accusent apostolum falsitatis quod nec cum hebraico , nec cum septuaginta congrauat translatoribus , & quod his majus est , erret in nomine , pro zacharia quippe jeremiam posuit . * falsitaris crimen abominatur hieronimus in evangelistis , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , memoriae lapsum non item . neque enim continuo forte vacillet totius scripturae autoritas , sicubi varient vel in verbis vel in sensu , modo summa constet earum rerum de quib . agitur , & unde cardo pendet nostrae salutis . ut enim spiritus ille divinus , mentium apostolicarū moderator , passus est suos ignorare quaedam , & labi , errareque alicubi , judicio sive affectu , non solum nullo incommodo evangelii sed hunc etiam ipsum errorem vertit in adjumentum nostrae fider ; ita fieri potuit ut sic temperarit organum apostolicae memoriae ut etiamsi quid humano more fugisset , id non solum non deroget fidei divinae scripturae , verum etiam fidem arroget apud eos , qui alicqui de composito scriptum calumniari poterant . quod genus sit , si nomen pro nomine sit positum , id quod alicubi factum fatetur hieronimus , aut si quid non suo narretur ordine , &c. solus christus dictus est veritas , unus ille caruit omni errore . * neque vero necesse est , opinor , quicquid fuit in apostolis protinus tribuere miraculo . homines erant , quaedam ignorabant , in nonnullis errabant . † passus est errare suos christus etiam post acceptum paracletum ; at non usque ad fidei periculum : quemadmodum & hodie fatemur ecclesiam labi posse citra discrimen tamen pietatis ac fidei . denique qui scis an hanc laudem omnib . modis absolutam sibi servari voluit christus , qui se unum veritatem dixit ? ut unus ille absque naevo innocens , juxta veterum opinionem , ita fortassis unus citra omnem exceptionem verax . * paulus duobus in locis 1 thess. iv. 14. & 2 cor. xv. 22. de resurrectione agens , resurrecturos in duo dividit genera , in eos qui praemortui erant , & in eos qui vivent eo tempore ; his autem se accenset , utens pronomine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , & in illa ad corinthios , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nimirum quod existimaret ad id usque tempus fieri posse ut resurrectio accideret intra illud spatium quo ipse erat victurus ; loquens hac in re non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , sed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , ut de itinere per hispaniam : rom. xv. 28. & alibi saepe . sicut prophetae , ita & apostoli non de omnib . habuere revelationem : in quib . revelationem non habent , aut nondum accepere , de iis loquuntur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quomodo homines caeteri . exempla habemus , 1 sam. xvi . 6. 2 sam. vii . 3. episc. instit. theol. lib. 4. sect. 1. §. 4. p. 232. † nihil vetat ut concedamus spiritum dei sanctum reliquisse scriptores sacrorum librorum humanae conditioni , & fragilitati suae , in narrandis istis quae ad circumstantiam facti pertinebant , ad quae sufficiebat sensata notitia & memoria , quanquam ea lapsui erat obnoxia . * satius enim potiusque est , & calumnia minus obnoxium forte effet liberaliter lubenterque levem lapsum memoriae agnoscere , ne manifestè absurdis & contortis favere videamur , quam absurdâ nimis interpretatione uti ad lapsuum leviorum excusationem ; alioquin suspicio lapsus non niodo non tollitur , sed augetur ; & quia culpa non agnoscitur , non bonâ fide veritas à nobis quaeri sed pertinacia pro qualibet causâ indui videtur ; quod non potest , ac non debet videri christianae religionis professorib . esse quam probrosissimum . * dum excuso apostolos , qui graecitatem suam non ex orationib . demosthenis , sed ex vulgi colloquio didicerint , non nego donum linguarum ; neque tamen inde sequitur eos non potuisse graecè discere ex vulgi colloquio : certe syriace didicerant ex vulgi colloquio ; quidni potuerunt & graecè ? quandoquidem ob alexandrū victorem , & romanum imperium , aegyptus ac syriae maxima pars , totaque minor asia , imò totus fere oriens , ut loquitur hieronimus , graecè loqueretur . neque enim arbitror spiritum illum oblivione obliterasse quod antea didicerunt . notes for div a49895-e7980 animadv . in animadv . rivet . p. 647. pdg. 672. * verè dixi non omnes libros qui sunt in hebraeo canone dictatos à spiritu sancto ; scriptos esse cum pio animi motu non nego ; & hoc est quod judicavit synagoga magna , cujus judicio in hac re stant hebraei . sed à spiritu sancto dictari historias nihil fuit opus : satis fuit scriptorem memoriâ valere circa res spectatas , aut diligentiâ in describendis veterum commentariis . vox quoque spiritus sanctiambigua est ; nam aut significat , quomodo ego accepi , afflatum divinum qualem habuere tum prophetae ordinarii , tum interdum david & daniel ; aut significat pium motum , sive facultatem impellentem ad loquendum salutaria vivendi praecepta , vel res politicas & civiles , quomodo vocem spiritus sancti interpretatur maimonides , ubi de scriptis illis aut historicis aut moralib . agit . si lucas divino afflatu dictante sua scripsisset , inde potius sibi sumpsisset autoritatem , ut prophetae faciunt , quam à testibus quorum fidem est sectus , &c. * apologet. §. 118 , & 119. ‖ p. 722. † afflatu dei locutos quae locuti sunt , scripsisse quae scribere jussi sunt prophetus toto animo ag●●●● grotius : idem 〈◊〉 de apocalypsi & apostolorum praedictionibus . christi dicta omnia quin sint dei dicta dubitari nefas . de secriptis historicis & moralibus hebraeorum sententiis aliud putat . satis est quod pi●●animo scripta sint , & optima fide , & de rebus summis , &c. neque esdras , neque lucas prophetae sucre , sed viri graves , prudentes , qui nec fallere vellent , nec ●alli se sinerent . dixitne lucas , factum est ad lucam verbum domini , & dixit ei dominus scribe , ut solent prophetae ? nihil tale . quid ergo ? quoniam quidem multi conati sunt ordinare narrationem , quae nobis completae sunt , rerum . dicit se non praecepto sed aliorum exemplo adductum ut scriberet . sicut tradiderunt nobis qui ab initio ipsi viderunt , & ministri fuere sermonis , nempe maria mater : domini , cognati ejus alii , apostoli , discipuli septuagina , sancti & resuscitati à jesu , testes resurrectionis complures . visum est mihi assecuto omnia à principio , &c. quomodo assecuto ? ex ipsis testibus non ex revelatione . scribere non dictata sed diligenter ex ordine . longè ergo aliter acti prophetae , aliter lucas : cujus tamen pium con●lium spiritui sancto potest adscribi . grotianae discuss . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , sect. 14. §. 3 , 4. notes for div a49895-e9620 page 15. * prophetia mofis per omnia tanto dignior prastantiorque fuit caeterorum omnium prophetarum prophetiâ ; quod his quo tempore prophetiam accipiebant , tantummodo sensus , sive res prophetiâ comprehensa revelabatur : istam autem rem seu sensum propriis suis verbis populo enarrabant . atque eâ de causâ usurpabant hanc loquendi formulam : et loquutus dominus mihi : quasi dicerent , ea quae dicimus , licet verbis nostris exprimamus , sensum tamen habent quem à deo ipso accepimus . † scabrum salebrorum ac dissipatum . page 23. page 26. page 27. pag. 28 , &c. page 35. j. gronovius de pernicie & casu judae . * constat evangelistis hunc morem fuisse ut minutias 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 neglexerint , cum de principali historiâ sibi rationem veritatis scirent constare . nec video quomodo aliter id in quo dissident de morte judae , matthaeus & lucas , componi queat . p. 618. page 40. * page 46. page 45 , 48. page 49. page 42 , &c. page 58. page 57. ibid. * ver. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4. * ver. 6 , 7. † ver. 8 , 9 , ‖ ver. 10 , 11. * ver. 12 , 13. † v. 14. & fol. * locus 2 tim. 3. 16. alium sensum habet quam putat d. rivetus . non enim hoc dicit paulus , omnis scriptura est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 divinitus inspirata ; quam multae enim sunt scripturae humani ingenii ? nec hoc vult omnem eam quae est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; id enim esset nugari : sed hoc vult , omnem scripturam quae à deo inspirata est ( id est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sermonem propheticum , ut loquitur petrus 2 ep. ch . 1. v. 19. ) non in hoc tantum valuisse suo tempore , ut ostenderet dei praescientiam , & prophetis auctoritatem daret , verum semperesse utilem , quia simul multa continet documenta perpetua , vitiorum reprehensiones , excitamenta and justiam . hunc sensum recte vidit syrus , sic interpretans ; in scripturâ , quae per spiritum scripta est , utilitas est ad doctrinam , &c. notes for div a49895-e13580 in 4 o lond. 1656. edit . 6. par . 2. ch . 3. sect. 2. pag. 210. an. l. 15. c. 44. in claud. c. 15. lib. 10. ep. 97. page 123. ed. ox. in 12 o. 1 cor. iv. 11. ib. xv. 19. ib. iv. 9. some thoughts concerning education locke, john, 1632-1704. 1693 approx. 301 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 138 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48896) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 101550) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 845:17) some thoughts concerning education locke, john, 1632-1704. [10], 262, [2] p. printed for a. and j. churchill ..., london : 1693. written by john locke. cf. dnb. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng education -early works to 1800. education -philosophy -early works to 1800. 2002-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-07 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-08 john latta sampled and proofread 2002-08 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion asileae , impensis lvdov . regis typis ioannis schroeteri . mdc xxv . some thoughts concerning education . london , printed for a. and j. churchill , at the black swan in pater-noster-row , 1693. to edward clarke of chipley , esq sir ; these thoughts concerning education , which now come abroad into the world , do of right belong to you , being written several years since for your sake , and are no other than what you have already by you in my letters . i have so little varied any thing , but only the order of what was sent you at different times , and on several occasions , that the reader will easily find , in the familiarity and fashion of the style , that they were rather the private conversation of two friends , than a discourse designed for publick view . the importunity of friends is the common apology for publications men are afraid to own themselves forward to . but you know i can truly say , that if some who having heard of these papers of mine had not pressed to see them , and afterwards to have them printed , they had lain dormant still in that privacy they were designed for . but those whose judgment i deferr much to , telling me , that they were persuaded , that this rough draught of mine might be of some use , if made more publick , touch'd upon what will always he very prevalent with me : for i think it every man 's indispensible duty to do all the service he can to his country : and i see not what difference he puts between himself and his cattel , who lives without that thought . this subject is of so great concernment , and a right way of education is of so general advantage , that did i find my abilities answer my wishes , i should not have needed exhortations or importunities from others . however , the meanness of these papers , and my just distrust of them , shall not keep me , by the shame of doing so little , from contributing my mite , when there is no more required of me , than my throwing it into the publick receptacle . and if there be any more of their size and notions , who liked them so well , that they thought them worth printing , i may flatter my self they will not be lost labour to every body . i my self have been consulted of late by so many , who profess themselves at a loss how to breed their children , and the early corruption of youth , is now become so general a complaint , that he cannot be thought wholly impertinent , who brings the consideration of this matter on the stage , and offers something , if it be but to excite others , or afford matter of correction . for errours in education should be less indulged than any : these , like faults in the first concoction , that are never mended in the second or third , carry their afterwards incorrigible taint with them , through all the parts and stations of life . i am so far from being conceited of any thing i have here offered , that i should not be sorry , even for your sake , if some one abler and fitter for such a task , would in a just treatise of education , suited to our english gentry , rectifie the mistakes i have made in this ; it being much more desirable to me , that young gentlemen should be put into ( that which every one ought to be sollicitous about ) the best way of being formed and instructed , than that my opinion should be received concerning it . you will however , in the mean time bear me witness that the method here propos'd has had no ordinary effects upon a gentleman's son , it was not designed for . i will not say the good temper of the child did not very much contribute to it , but this i think you and the parents are satisfied of , that a contrary usage according to the ordinary disciplining of children , would not have mended that temper , nor have brought him to be in love with his book , to take a pleasure in learning , and to desire as he does to be taught more than those about him think fit always to teach him . but my business is not to recommend this treatise to you , whose opinion of it i know already ; nor it to the world , either by your opinion or patronnge . the well educating of their children is so much the duty and concern of parents , and the welfare and prosperity of the nation so much depends on it , that i would have every one lay it seriously to heart , and after having well examined and distinguished what fancy , custom or reason advises in the case , help to promote that way in the several degrees of men , which is the easiest , shortest and likeliest to produce vertuous , useful and able men in their distinct callings : though that most to be taken care of , is the gentleman 's calling , for if those of that rank are by their education once set right , they will quickly bring all the rest into order . i know not whether i have done more than shewn my good wishes towards it , in this short disourse ; such as it is the world now has it , and if there be any thing in it worth their acceptance , they owe their thanks to you for it . my affection to you gave the first rise to it , and i am pleased that i can leave to posterity this mark of the friendship has been between us . for i know no greater pleasure in this life , nor a better remembrance to be left behind one than a long continued friendship , with an honest , usefull and worthy man , and lover of his country . i am , sir , your most humble and most faithful servant . some thoughts concerning education . § . 1. a sound mind in a sound body , is a short , but full description of a happy state in this world : he that has these two , has little more to wish for ; and he that wants either of them , is but little the better for any thing else . mens happiness or misery is most part of their own making . he , whose mind directs not wisely , will never take the right way ; and he , whose body is crazy and feeble , will never be able to advance in it . i confess , there are some mens constitutions of body and mind so vigorous and well framed by nature , that they need not much assistance from others , but by the strength of their natural genius , they are from their cradles carried towards what is excellent ; and by the privilege of their happy constitutions are able to do wonders : but examples of these are but few , and i think i may say , that of all the men we meet with , nine parts of ten are what they are , good or evil , useful or not , by their education . 't is that which makes the great difference in mankind : the little , and almost insensible impressions on our tender infancies , have very important and lasting consequences : and there 't is , as in the fountains of some rivers , where a gentle application of the hand turns the flexible waters into chanels , that make them take quite contrary courses , and by this little direction given them at first in the source , they receive different tendencies , and arrive at last , at very remote and distant places . § . 2. timagine the minds of children as easily turned this or that way , as water it self ; and though this be the principal part , and our main care should be about the inside , yet the clay cottage is not to be neglected . i shall therefore begin with the case , and consider first the health of the body , as that , which perhaps you may rather expect from that study , i have been thought more peculiarly to have applied my self to ; and that also , which will be soonest dispatched , as lying , if i guess not amiss , in a very little compass . § . 3. how necessary health is to our business and happiness : and how requisite a strong constitution , able to endure hardships : and fatigue , is to one that will make any figure in the world , is too obvious to need any proof . § . 4. the consideration , i shall here have of health , shall be , not what a physician ought to do with a sick or crazy child ; but what the parents , without the help of physick , should do for the preservation and improvement of an healthy , or at least , nor sickly constitution in their children : and this perhaps might be dispatched , all in this one short rule , viz. that gentlemen should use their children , as the honest farmers and substantial yeomen do theirs . but because the mothers possible may think this a little too hard , and the fathers too short , i shall explain my self more particularly , only laying down this as a general and certain observation for the women to consider , viz. that most children's constitutions , are either spoiled or harmed by cockering and tenderness . § . 5. the first thing to be taken care of , is , that children be not too warmly clad or covered winter or summer . the face , when we are born , is no less tender than any other part of the body : 't is use alone hardens it , and makes it more able to endure the cold ; and therefore the scythian philosopher gave a very significant answer to the athenian , who wonder'd how he could go naked in frost and snow . how , said the scythian can you endure your face exposed to the sharp winter-air ? my face is used to it , said the athenian . think me all face , replyed the scythian . our bodies will endure any thing , that from the beginning they are accustomed to . and therefore , amongst other things , i think that when nature has so well covered his head with hair , and strengthen'd it with a year or two's age , that he can run about , by day , without a cap , it is best , that by night a child should also lie without one , there being nothing that more exposes to head-ach , colds , catarrhs , coughs , and several other diseases , than keeping the head warm . § . 6. i have said he here , because the principal aim of my discourse is , how a young gentleman should be brought up from his infancy , which , in all things , will not so perfectly suit the education of daughters , though where the difference of sex requires different treatment , 't will be no hard matter to distinguish . § . 7. i would also advise his feet to be washed every night in cold water ; and to have his shooes so thin , that they might leak and let in water , when ever he comes near it . here , i fear , i shall have the mistress and maids too against me ; one will think it too filthy , & the other , perhaps , too much pains to make clean his stockings . but yet truth will have it , that his health is much more worth than all such considerations and ten-times as much more . and he that considers how mischievous and mortal a thing , taking wet in the feet is to those , who have been bred nicely , will wish he had , with the poor people's children , gone bare-foot ; who , by that means , come to be so reconciled , by custom , to wet in their feet , that they take no more cold or harm by it , than if they were wet in their hands . and what is it , i pray , that makes this great difference between the hands , and the feet in others , but only custom ? i doubt not , but if a man from his cradle had been always used to go bare-foot , whilst his hands were constantly wrapped up in warm mittins , and covered with hand-shooes , as the dutch call gloves ; i doubt not , i say , but such a custom , would make taking wet in his hands , as dangerous to him , as now taking wet in their feet is to a great many others . the way to prevent this , is , to have his shooes made so , as to leak water ; and his feet washed every night in cold water , both for health and cleanliness sake . but begin first in the spring , with luke-warm , and so colder and colder every night , till , in a few days , you come to perfectly cold water , and then continue it so . for it is to be observed in this , as in all other alterations from our ordinary way of living , the changes must be made by gentle and insensible degrees ; and so we may bring our bodies to any thing , without pain and without danger . § . 8. i shall not need here to mention his learning to swim , when he is of age able to learn , and has any one to teach him . the advantages ( besides that of swiming ) to health , by often bathing in the summer in cold water , are so many , that i think nothing need to be said to encourage it , provided this one caution be used , that he never go into the water , when exercise has at all warm'd him , or left any emotion in his blood or pulse . § . 9. another thing that is of great advantage to every one's health , but especially children's , is , to be much in the open air , and very little as may be by the fire , even in winter . by this he will accustom himself also to heat and cold , shine and rain ; all which if a man's body will not endure , it will serve him to very little purpose in this world ; and when he is grown up , it is too late to begin to use him to it ; it must be got early , and by degrees . thus the body may be brought to bear almost any thing . if i should advise him to play in the wind and the sun without a hat , i doubt whether it could be born ; there would a thousand objections be made against it , which at last would a mount to no more , in truth , than being sun-burnt : and if my young master be to be kept always in the shade , and never exposed to the sun and wind , for fear of his complexion , it may be a good way to make him a beau , but not a man of business . and although greater regard be to be had to beauty in the daughters , yet i will take the liberty to say , that the more they are in the air , without prejudice to their faces , the stronger and healthier they will be ; and the nearer they come to the hardships of their brothers in their education , the greater advantage will they receive from it all the remaining part of their lives . § . 10. playing in the open air has but this one danger in it , that i know ; and that is , that when he is hot with running up and down , he should sit or lie down on the cold or moist earth . this , i grant , and drinking cold drink , when they are hot with labour or exercise , brings more people to the grave , or to the brink of it , by fevers , and other diseases , than any thing i know . these mischiefs are easily enough prevented whilst he is little , being then seldom out of sight : and if , during his childhood , he be constantly and rigorously kept from sitting on the ground , or drinking any cold liquor , whilst he is hot , the custom of forbearing grown into habit , will help much to preserve him , when he is no longer under his maid's or tutor's eye . this is all i think can be done in the case ; for , as years increase , liberty must come with them ; and in a great many things he must be trusted to his own conduct , since there cannot always be a guard upon him , except what you have put into his own mind by good principles , and established habits , which is the best and surest , and therefore most to be taken care of : for from repeated cautions and rules , never so often inculcated , you are not to expect any thing farther than practice has established them into habits . § . 11. one thing the mention of the girls brings into my mind , which must not be forgot ; and that is , that your son's cloths be never made strait , especially about the breast . let nature have scope to fashion the body as she thinks best ; she works of her self a great deal better , and exacter , than we can direct her : and if women were themselves to frame the bodies of their children in their wombs , as they often endeavour to mend their shapes when they are out , we should as certainly have no perfect children born , as we have few well-shaped that are strait-laced or much tamper'd with . this consideration should , me-thinks , keep busie people ( i will not say ignorant nurses and bodice-makers ) from medling in a matter they understand not ; and they should be afraid to put nature out of her way in fashioning the parts , when they know not how the least and meanest is made , and yet i have seen so many instances of children receiving great harm from strait-lacing , that i cannot but conclude , there are other creatures as well as monkeys , who little wiser than they destroy their young ones by sensless fondness , and too much embracing . § . 12. narrow breasts , short and stinking breath , ill lungs , and crookedness , are the natural and almost constant effects of hard bodice , and cloths that pinch . that way of making slender wastes and fine shapes , serves but the more effectually to spoil them . nor can there indeed but be disproportion in the parts , when the nourishment prepared in the several offices of the body , cannot be distributed as nature designs ; and therefore what wonder is it , if it being laid where it can on some part not so braced , it often makes a shoulder or a hip higher or bigger than its just proportion . 't is generally known , that the women of china ( imagining i know not what kind of beauty in it ) by bracing and binding them hard from their infancy , have very little feet . i saw a pair of china shooes lately , exceedingly disproportioned to the feet of one of the same age amongst us ; their womens shooes would scarce be big enough for one of our little girls . besides this , 't is observed , that their women are also very little and short lived , whereas the men are of the ordinary stature of other men , and live to a proportionable age. these defects in the female sex in that country , are by some , imputed to the unreasonable binding of their feet , whereby the free circulation of the blood is hindred , and the growth and health of the whole body suffers . and how often do we see , that some small part of the foot being injured by a wrench or a blow , the whole leg and thigh thereby lose their strength and nourishment , and dwindle away ? how much greater inconveniences may we expect , when the thorax , wherein is placed the heart and seat of life , is unnaturally compressed , and hindred from its due expansion ? § . 13. as for his diet , it ought to be very plain and simple . flesh once a day , and of one sort at a meal , is enough . beef , mutton , veal , &c. without other sawce than hunger , is best ; and great care should be used , that he eat bread plentifully , both alone and with every thing else . and whatever he eats that is solid , make him chew it well . we english are often negligent herein ; from whence follow indigestion , and other great inconveniences . § . 14. for breakfast and supper , milk , milk-pottage , water-gruel , flummery , and twenty other things that we are wont to make in england , are very fit for children : only , in all these let care be taken that they be plain , and without much mixture , and very sparingly seasoned with sugar , or rather none at all ; especially all spice , and other things that may heat the blood , are carefully to be avoided . be sparing also of salt in the seasoning of all his victuals , and use him not to high-seasoned meats : our palates like the seasoning and cookery they are set to , and an over much use of salt , besides that it occasions thirst , and over-much drinking , has other ill effects upon the body . i should think that a good piece of well made , and well baked brown bread , sometimes with , and sometimes without butter or cheese , would be often the best breakfast for my young master . i am sure 't is as wholsom , and will make him as strong a man as greater delicacies : and if he be used to it , it will be pleasant to him . if he at any time calls for victuals between meals , use him to nothing but dry bread ; if he be hungry more than wanton , bread alone will down ; and if he be not hungry , 't is not fit he should eat . by this you will obtain two good effects ; 1. that by custom he will come to be in love with bread ; for , as i said , our palates are pleased with the things we are used to . another good you will gain hereby is , that you will not teach him to eat more , nor oftner than nature requires . i do not think that all people's appetites are alike ; some have naturally stronger , and some weaker stomachs . but this i think , that many are made gormans and gluttons by custom , that were not so by nature ; and i see in some countries men as lusty and strong that eat but two meals a day , as others that have for their stomachs by a constant usage , like larms , to call on them for four or five : and therefore , if it should not be thought too severe , i should judge it most convenient that he should have nothing but bread too for breakfast : you cannot imagine of what force custom is : and i impute a great part of our diseases in england to our eating too much flesh , and too little bread. § . 15. as to his meals , i should think it best , that , as much as can be conveniently avoided , they should not be kept constantly to an hour ; for when custom has fixed his eating to certain stated periods , his stomach will expect victuals at the usual hour ; and if he passes it , either grow indisposed , and as it were peevish , or lose its appetite . in short , i think it best he should eat flesh but once a day , plain flesh , and of one sort at a time ; and whilst young , spoon-meat also once a day ; and if you please , once a day cheese or butter with his bread ; but i would have no time kept constantly to , but rather varied almost every day . and if betwixt these which i call meals he will eat , let him have , as often as he calls for it , good dry bread. if any one think this too hard and sparing a diet for a child , let them know , that a child will never starve , nor want nourishment , who , besides flesh once a day , and other things once or twice more , may have good bread and beer as often as he has a stomach . nor let any one think this unsuitable to one of estate and condition : a gentleman in any age ought to be so bred , as to be fitted to bear arms , and be a soldier ; but he that in this breeds his son so , as if he designed him to sleep over his life in the plenty and ease of a full fortune he intends to leave him , little considers the examples he has seen , nor the age he lives in . § . 16. his drink should be only small beer ; and that too he should never be suffered to have between meals , but after he had eat a piece of bread. the reasons why i say this are these : § . 17. 1. more fevers and surfeits are got by people's drinking when they are hot , than by any one thing i know ; therefore , if by play he be hot and dry , bread will ill go down , and so if he cannot have drink , but upon that condition , he will be forced to forbear . for , if he be very hot , he should by no means drink ; at least , a good piece of bread first to be eaten , will gain time to warm the beer blood-hot , which then he may drink safely . if he be very dry , it will go down so warm'd , and quench his thirst better : and if he will not drink it so warm'd , abstaining will not hurt him . besides , this will teach him to forbear , which is an habit of greatest use for health of body and mind too . § . 18. 2. not being permitted to drink without eating , will prevent the custom of having the cup often at his nose ; a dangerous beginning , and preparation to good-fellowship . men often bring habitual hunger and thirst on themselves by custom ; and if you please to try , you may , though he be weaned from it , bring him , by use , to such a necessity again of drinking in the night , that he will not be able to sleep without it : and it being the lullaby used by nurses , to still crying children , i believe mothers generally find some difficulty to wean their children from drinking in the night , when they first take them home . believe it , custom prevails as much by day as by night ; and you may , if you please , bring any one to be thirsty every hour . i once lived in an house , where , to appease a froward child , they gave him drink as often as he cried ; so that he was constantly bibbing : and tho' he could not speak , yet he drunk more in twenty four hours than i did . try it when you please , you may with small , as well as with strong beer , drink your self into a drought . the great thing to be minded in education is , what habits you settle ; and therefore in this , as all other things , do not begin to make any thing customary , the practice whereof you would not have continue , and increase . it is convenient for health and sobriety , to drink no more than natural thirst requires : and he that eats not salt meats , nor drinks strong drink , will seldom thirst between meals , unless he has been accustomed to such unseasonable drinking . § . 19. above all , take great care that he seldom , if ever , taste any wine , or strong drink . there is nothing so ordinarily given children in england , and nothing so destructive to them . they ought never to drink any strong liquor , but when they need it as a cordial , and the doctor prescribes it . and in this case it is , that servants are most narrowly to be watched , and most severely to be reprehended when they transgress . those mean sort of people , placing a great part of their happiness in strong drink , are always forward to make court to my young master , by offering him that , which they love best themselves ; and finding themselves made merry by it , they foolishly think 't will do the child no harm . this you are carefully to have your eye upon , and restrain with all the skill and industry you can , there being nothing that lays a surer foundation of mischief , both to body and mind , than childrens being used to strong drink ; especially , to drink in private , with the servants . § . 20. fruit makes one of the most difficult chapters in the government of health , especially that of children . our first parents ventur'd paradise for it , and 't is no wonder our children cannot stand the temptation , though it cost them their health . the regulation of this cannot come under any one general rule . for i am by no means of their mind , who would keep children almost wholly from fruit , as a thing totally unwholsome for them : by which strict way they make them but the more ravenous after it ; and to eat good and bad , ripe or unripe , all that they can get , whenever they come at it . melons , peaches , most sorts of plumbs , and all sorts of grapes in england . i think children should be wholly kept from , as having a very tempting taste , in a very unwholsome juice ; so that , if it were possible , they should never so much as see them , or know there were any such thing . but straw-berries , cherries , goose-berries , or currans , when through ripe , i think may be very safely allowed them , and that with a pretty liberal hand , if they be eaten with these cautions 1. not after meals , as we usually do , when the stomach is already full of other food : but i think they should be eaten rather before , or between meals , and children should have them for their breakfasts . 2. bread eaten with them . 3. perfectly ripe . if they are thus eaten , i imagine them rather conducing , than hurtful to our health : summer-fruits being suited to the hot season of the year , they come in and refresh our stomachs , languishing and fainting under it : and therefore i should not be altogether so strict in this point , as some are to their children ; who being kept so very short , instead of a moderate quantity of well-chosen fruit , which being allowed them , would content them , when-ever they can get loose , or bribe a servant to supply them , satisfie their longing with any trash they can get , and eat to a surfeit . apples and pears too , which are through ripe , and have been gathered some time , i think may be safely eaten at any time , and in pretty large quantities ; especially apples , which never did any body hurt , that i have heard , after october . fruits also dried without sugar , i think very wholesome : but sweet-meats of all kinds to be avoided ; which , whether they do more harm to the maker , or eater , is not easie to tell . this i am sure , it is one of the most inconvenient ways of expence that vanity hath yet found out ; and so i leave them to the ladies . § . 21. of all that looks soft and effeminate , nothing is more to be indulged children than sleep : in this alone they are to be permitted to have their full satisfaction , nothing contributing more to the growth and health of children than sleep . all that is to be regulated in it is , in what part of the twenty four hours they should take it : which will easily be resolved , by only saying , that it is of great use to accustom them to rise early in the morning . it is best so to do , for health : and he that , from his childhood , has by a setled custom , made rising betimes easie and familiar to him , will not , when he is a man , waste the best and most useful part of his life in drowziness , and lying a bed . if children therefore are to be called up early in the morning , it will follow of course , that they must go to bed betimes ; where by they will be accustomed to avoid the unhealthy and unsafe hours of debauchery , which are those of the evenings : and they who keep good hours , seldom are guilty of any great disorders . i do not say this , as if your son , when grown up , should never be in company past eight , nor ever chat over a glass of wine till midnight . you are now , by the accustoming of his tender years , to indispose him to those inconveniences , as much as you can : and that will be no small advantage , that contrary practice having made sitting up uneasie to him , it will make him often avoid , and very seldom propose mid-night-revels . but if it should not reach so far , but fashion and company should prevail , and make him live as others do about twenty , 't is worth the while to accustom him to early rising , and early going to bed between this and that , for the present improvement of his health , and other advantages . § . 22 let his bed be hard , and rather quilts than feathers . hard lodging strengthens the parts ; whereas being buried every night in feathers melts and dissolves the body , is often the cause of weakness , and the fore-runner of an early grave : and besides the stone , which has often its rise from this warm wrapping of the reins , several other indispositions ; and that which is the root of them all , a tender weakly constitution , is very much owing to downe-beds . besides , he that is used to hard lodging at home , will not miss his sleep ( where he has most need of it ) in his travels abroad , for want of his soft bed and his pillows laid in order ; and therefore i think it would not be amiss to make his bed after different fashions , sometimes lay his head higher , sometimes lower , that he may not feel every little change , he must be sure to meet with , who is not design'd to lie always in my young master's bed at home , and to have his maid lay all things in print , and tuck him in warm . the great cordial of nature is sleep ; he that misses that , will suffer by it : and he is very unfortunate , who can take his cordial only in his mother's fine gilt cup , and not in a wooden dish . he that can sleep soundly , takes the cordial ; and it matters not whether it be on a soft bed , or the hard boards ; 't is sleep only that is the thing necessary . § . 23. one thing more there is , which has a great influence upon the health , and that is , going to stool regularly . people that are very loose , have seldom strong thoughts , or strong bodies : but the cure of this , both by diet and medicine , being much more easie than the contrary evil , there needs not much to be said about it ; for if it come to threaten , either by its violence , or duration , it will soon enough , and sometimes too soon , make a physician be sent for ; and if it be moderate or short , it is commonly best to leave it to nature . on the other side , costiveness has too its ill effects , and is much harder to be dealt with by physick ; purging medicines , which seem to give relief , rather increasing than removing the evil. § . 24. it having been an inconvenience , i had a particular reason to enquire into ; and not finding the cure of it in books , i set my thoughts on work , believing , that greater changes than that might be made in our bodies , if we took the right course , and proceeded by rational steps . 1. then i considered , that going to stool , was the effect of certain motions of the body , especially of the perristaltick motion of the guts . 2. i considered , that several motions , that were not perfectly voluntary , might yet by use and constant application be brought to be habitual , if by an unintermitted custom , they were at certain seasons endeavoured to be constantly produced . 3. i had observed some men , who by taking after supper a pipe of tabaco , never failed of a stool , and began to doubt with my self , whether it were not more custom , than the tabaco , that gave them the benefit of nature ; or at least , if the tabaco did it , it was rather by exciting a vigorous motion in the guts , than by any purging quality , for then it would have had other effects . having thus once got the opinion , that is was possible to make it habitual ; the next thing was to consider , what way and means was the likeliest to obtain it . 4. then i guessed , that if a man , after his first eating in the morning , would presently sollicite nature , and try , whether he could strain himself so , as to obtain a stool , he might in time , by a constant application , bring it to be habitual . § . 25. the reasons that made me chuse this time , were , 1. because the stomach being then empty , if it received any thing grateful to it ( for i would never , but in case of necessity , have any one eat , but what he likes , and when he has an appetite ) it was apt to imbrace it close by a strong constriction of its fibres , which constriction , i supposed , might probably be continued on in the guts , and so increase their peristaltick motion , as we see in the ileus , that an inverted motion , being begun any where below , continues it self all the whole length , and makes even the stomach obey that irregular motion . 3. because when men eat , they usually relax their thoughts , and the spirits , then free from other imployments , are more vigorously distributed into the lower belly , which thereby contribute to the same effect . 3. because , when ever men have leisure to eat , they have leisure enough also to make so much court to madam cloacina , as would be necessary to our present purpose ; but else , in the variety of humane affairs and accidents , it was impossible to affix it to any hour certain , whereby the custom would be interrupted . whereas men in health , seldom failing to eat once a day , tho' the hour changed , the custom might still be preserved . § . 26. upon these grounds , the experiment began to be tried , and i have known none , who have been steady in the prosecution of it , and taken care to go constantly to the necessary house , after their first eating , when ever that happen'd , whether they found themselves called on or no , and there endeavoured to put nature upon her duty , but in a few months obtained the desired success , and brought nature to so regular an habit , that they seldom ever failed of a stool , after their first eating , unless it were by their own neglect . for , whether they have any motion or no , if they go to the place , and do their part , they are sure to have nature very obedient . § . 27. i would therefore advise , that this course should be taken with a child every day , presently after he has eaten his break-fast . let him be set upon the stool , as if disburthening were as much in his power , as filling his belly ; and let not him , or his maid know any thing to the contrary , but that it is so ; and if he be forced to endeavour , by being hindred from his play , or eating again , till he has been effectually at stool , or at least done his utmost , i doubt not , but in a little while it will become natural to him . for there is reason to suspect , that children being usually intent on their play and very heedless of any thing else , often let pass those motions of nature , when she calls them but gently , and so they neglecting the seasonable offers , do by degrees bring themselves into an habitual costiveness . that by his method costiveness may be prevented , i do more than guess , having known , by the constant practice of it for some time , a child brought to have a stool regularly after his break-fast every morning . § . 28. how far any grown people will think fit to make tryal of it , i know not , tho' i cannot but say , that considering the many evils that come from that defect , of a requisite easing of nature , i scarce know any thing more conducing to the preservation of health than this is . once in four and twenty hours , i think , is enough , and no body , i guess , will think it too much ; and by this means , it is to be obtained without physick , which commonly proves very ineffectual , in the cure of a settled and habitual costiveness . § . 29. this is all i have to trouble you with concerning his management , in the ordinary course of his health ; and perhaps it will be expected from me , that i should give some directions of physick to prevent diseases . for which i have only this one very sacredly to be observed : never to give children any physick for prevention . the observation of what i have already advised , will , i suppose , do that better than apothecarie's drugs and medicines ; have a great care of tampering that way , least , instead of preventing , you draw on diseases . nor even upon every little indisposition is physick to be given , or the physician to be called to children , especially if he be a busy-man , that will presently fill their windows with gally-pots , and their stomachs with drugs . it is safer to leave them wholly to nature , than to put them into the hands of one , forward to tamper , or that thinks children are to be cured in ordinary distempers , by any thing but diet , or by a method very little distant from it . it seeming suitable both to my reason and experience , that the tender constitutions of children , should have as little done to them , as is possible , and as the absolute necessity of the case requires . a little cold , still'd red popy-water , which is the true surfeit-water , with ease , and abstinence from flesh , often puts an end to several distempers in the beginning , which by too forward applications , might have been made lusty diseases . when such a gentle . treatment will not prevent the growing mischief , but that it will turn into a form'd disease , it will be time to seek the advice of some sober and discreet physician . in this part , i hope , i shall find an easy belief , and no body can have a pretence to doubt the advice of one , who has spent some time in the study of physick , when he counsels you not to be too forward in making use of physick and physicians . § . 30. and thus i have done with what concerns the body and health , which reduces it self to these few and easily observable rules . plenty of open air , exercise and sleep ; plain diet , no wine or strong drink , and very little or no physick ; not too warm and straight clothing , especially the head and feet kept cold , and the feet often used to cold water , and exposed to wet . § . 31. due care being had to keep the body in strength and vigor , so that it may be able to obey and execute the orders of the mind . the next and principal business is , to set the mind right , that on all occasions it may be disposed , to do nothing , but what may be suitable to the dignity and excellency of a rational creature . § . 32. if what i have said in the beginning of this discourse , be true , as i do not doubt but it is , viz. that the difference to be found in the manners and abilities of men , is owing more to their education , than to any thing else , we have reason to conclude , that great care is to be had of the forming children's minds , and giving them that seasoning early , which shall influence their lives always after . for when they do well or ill , the praise or blame will be laid there ; and when any thing is done untowardly , the common saying will pass upon them , that it is suitable to their breeding . § . 33. as the strength of the body lies chiefly in being able to endure hardships , so also does that of the mind . and the great principle and foundation of all vertue and worth , is placed in this , that a man is able to deny himself his own desires , cross his own inclinations , and purely follow what reason directs as best , tho' the appetite lean the other way . § . 34. the great mistake i have observed in people's breeding their children has been , that this has not been taken care enough of in its due season . that the mind has not been made obedient to rules , and pliant to reason , when at first it was most tender , most easy to be bowed . parents , being wisely ordain'd by nature to love their children , are very apt , if reason watch not that natural affection very warily ; are apt , i say , to let it run into fondness . they love their little ones , and 't is their duty : but they often , with them , cherish their faults too . they must not be crossed , forsooth ; they must be permitted to have their wills in all things , and they being in their infancies not capable of great vices , their parents think , they may safely enough indulge their little irregularities , and make themselves sport with that pretty perverseness , which , they think , well enough becomes that innocent age. but to a fond parent , that would not have his child corrected for a perverse trick , but excused it , saying , it was a small matter ; solon very well replied , ay , but custom is a great one . § . 35. the fondling must be taught to strike , and call names ; must have what he cries for , and do what he pleases . thus parents , by humoring and cockering them when little , corrupt the principles of nature in their children , and wonder afterwards to tast the bitter waters , when they themselves have poisoned the fountain . for when their children are grown up , and these ill habits with them ; when they are now too big to be dandled , and their parents can no longer make use of them , as play-things , then they complain , that the brats are untoward and perverse ; then they are offended to see them wilfull , and are troubled with those ill humours , which they themselves inspired and cherished in them . and then perhaps , too late , would be glad to get out those weeds , which their own hands have planted , and which now have taken too deep root to be easily extirpated . for he that has been used to have his will in every thing , as long as he was in coats , why would we think it strange , that he should desire it , and contend for it still , when he is in breeches ? indeed , as he grows more towards a man , age shews his faults the more , so that there be few parents then so blind , as not to see them ; few so insensible as not to feel the ill effects of their own indulgence . he had the will of his maid before he could speak or go ; he had the mastery of his parents ever since he could prattle ; and why now he is grown up , is stronger and wiser than he was then , why now of a sudden must he be restrained and curbed ? why must he at seven , fourteen , or twenty years old , lose the privilege which the parent's indulgence , till then , so largely allowed him ? try it in a dog or an horse , or any other creature , and see whether the ill and resty tricks , they have learn'd when young , are easily to be mended when they are knit ; and yet none of those creatures are half so wilful and proud , or half so desirous to be masters of themselves and others , as man. § . 36. we are generally wise enough to begin with them when they are very young , and discipline betimes those other creatures we would make usefull to us . they are only our own off-spring , that we neglect in this point ; and having made them ill children , we foolishly expect they should be good men. for if the child must have grapes or sugar-plumbs , when he has a mind to them , rather than make the poor baby cry , or be out of humour , why when he is grown up , must he not be satisfied too , if his desires carry him to wine or women ? they are objects as suitable to the longing of one of more years , as what he cried for when little , was to the inclinations of a child . the having desires suitable to the apprehensions and relish of those several ages is not the fault : but the not having them subject to the rules and restraints of reason : the difference lies not in the having or not having appetites , but in the power to govern and deny our selves in them . and he , that is not used to submit his will to the reason of others , when he is young , will scarce hearken or submit to his own reason , when he is of an age to make use of it . and what a kind of a man such an one is like to prove , is easie to fore-see . § . 37. it seems plain to me , that the principle of all vertue and excellency , lies in a power of denying our selves the satisfaction of our own desires , where reason does not authorize them . this power is to be got and improved by custom , made easy and familiar by an early practice . if therefore i might be heard , i would advise , that contrary to the ordinary way , children should be used to submit their desires , and go without their longings , even from their very cradles . the first thing they should learn to know should be , that they were not to have any thing , because it pleased them , but because it was thought fit for them . if things suitable to their wants were supplied to them , so that they were never suffered to have what they once cried for , they would learn to be content without it , would never with bawling and peevishness contend for mastery , nor be half so uneasy to themselves and others , as they are , because from the first beginning , they are not thus handled . if they were never suffered to obtain their desire by the impatience they expressed for it , they would no more cry for other things , than they do for the moon . § . 38. i say not this , as if children were not to be indulged in any thing ; or that i expected they should , in hanging-sleeves , have the reason and conduct of councellors . i consider them as children that must be tenderly used , that must play , and have play-things . that which i mean , is , that whenever they crave what was not fit for them to have or do , they should not be permitted it , because they were little , and desired it : nay , whatever they were importunate for , they should be sure , for that very reason , to be denied . i have seen children at a table , who , whatever was there , never asked for any thing , but contentedly took , what was given them : and at another place i have seen others cry for every thing they saw , must be served out of every dish , and that first too . what made this vast difference but this ; that one was accustomed to have what they called or cried for ; the other to go without it ? the younger they are , the less , i think , are their unruly and disorderly appetites to be complied with ; and the less reason they have of their own , the more are they to be under the absolute power and restraint of those , in whose hands they are . from which , i confess , it will follow , that none but discreet people should be about them . if the world commonly does otherwise , i cannot help that : i am saying what i think should be ; which , if it were already in fashion , i should not need to trouble the world with a discourse on this subject . but yet i doubt not , but when it is considered , there will be others of opinion with me , that the sooner this way is begun with children , the easier it will be for them , and their governors too . and , that this ought to be observed as an inviolable maxim , that whatever once is denied them , they are certainly not to obtain by crying or importunity , unless one has a mind to teach them to be impatient , and troublesome , by rewarding them for it , when they are so . § . 39. those therefore that intend ever to govern their children , should begin it whilst they are very little ; and look , that they perfectly comply with the will of their parents . would you have your son obedient to you when past a child ? be sure then to establish the authority of a father as soon as he is capable of submission , and can understand in whose power he is . if you would have him stand in awe of you , imprint it in his infancy ; and , as he approaches more to a man , admit him nearer to your familiarity ; so shall you have him your obedient subject ( as is fit ) whilst he is a child , and your affectionate friend when he is a man. for , methinks they mightily misplace the treatment due to their children , who are indulgent and familiar , when they are little , but severe to them , and keep them at a distance when they are grown up : for , liberty and indulgence can do no good to children , their want of judgment makes them stand in need of restraint and discipline : and , on the contrary , imperiousness and severity is but an ill way of treating men , who have reason of their own to guide them , unless you have a mind to make your children , when grown up , weary of you ; and secretly to say within themselves , when will you die , father ? § . 40. i imagine every one will judge it reasonable , that their children , when little , should look upon their parents as their lords , their absolute governors , and as such , stand in awe of them : and that , when they come to riper years , they should look on them as their best , as their only sure friends ; and as such , love and reverence them . the way i have mentioned , if i mistake not , is the only one to obtain this . we must look upon our children , when grown up , to be like our selves ; with the same passions , the same desires . we would be thought rational creatures , and have our freedom ; we love not to be uneasie , under constant rebukes and brow-beatings ; nor can we bear severe humours , and great distance in those we converse with . whoever has such treatment when he is a man , will look out other company , other friends , other conversation , with whom he can be at ease . if therefore a strict hand be kept over children from the beginning , they will in that age be tractable , and quietly submit to it , as never having known any other : and if , as they grow up to the use of reason , the rigour of government be , as they deserve it , gently relaxed , the father's brow be more smooth to them , and the distance by degrees abated , his former restraints will increase their love , when they find it was only a kindness to them and a care to make them capable to deserve the pavour of their parents , and the esteem of every body else . § . 41. thus much for the setling your authority over your children in general . fear and awe ought to give you the first power over their minds , and love and friendship in riper years to hold it : for the time must come , when they will be past the rod , and correction ; and then , if the love of you make them not obedient and dutifull , if the love of vertue and reputation keep them not in laudable courses , i ask , what hold will you have then upon them , to turn them to it ? indeed , fear of having a scanty portion if they displease you , may make them slaves to your estate , but they will be never the less ill and wicked in private ; and that restraint will not last always . every man must some time or other be trusted to himself , and his own conduct ; and he that is a good , a vertuous , and able man , must be made so within ; and therefore , what he is to receive from education , what is to sway and influence his life , must be something put into him betimes , habits woven into the very principles of his nature ; and not a counterfeit carriage , and dissembled out-side , put on by fear , only to avoid the present anger of a father , who perhaps may dis-inherit him . § . 42. this being laid down in general , as the course ought to be taken , 't is fit we now come to consider the parts of the discipline to be used , a little more particularly . i have spoken so much of carrying a strict hand over children , that perhaps i shall be suspected of not considering enough what is due to their tender ages and constitutions . but that opinion will vanish , when you have heard me a little farther . for i am very apt to think , that great severity of punishment does but very little good ; nay , great harm in education : and i believe it will be found , that , caeteris paribus , those children who have been most chastised seldom make the best men. all , that i have hitherto contended for , is that whatsoever rigour is necessary , it is more to be used the younger children are ; and having , by a due application , wrought its effect , it is to be relaxed , and changed into a milder sort of government . § . 43. a compliance , and suppleness of their wills , being by a steady hand introduced by parents , before children have memories to retain the beginnings of it , will seem natural to them , and work afterwards in them as if it were so , preventing all occasions of strugling , or repining . the only care is , that it be begun early , and inflexibly kept to , till awe and respect be grown familiar , and there appears not the least reluctancy in the submission and ready obedience of their minds . when this reverence is once thus established , ( which it must be early , or else it will cost pains and blows to recover it ; and the more , the longer it is deferred , ) 't is by it , mixed still with as much indulgence as they make not an ill use of ; and not by beating , chiding , or other servile punishments , they are for the future to be governed as they grow up to more understanding . § . 44. that this is so , will be easily allowed , when it is but considered , what is to be aimed at in an ingenuous education ; and upon what it turns . 1. he that has not a mastery over his inclinations , he that knows not how to resist the importunity of present pleasure or pain , for the sake of what reason tells him is fit to be done , wants the true principle of vertue and industry ; and is in danger never to be good for any thing . this temper therefore , so contrary to unguided nature , is to be got betimes ; and this habit , as the true foundation of future ability and happiness , is to be wrought into the mind , as early as may be , even from the first dawnings of any knowledge , or apprehension in children ; and so to be confirmed in them , by all the care and ways imaginable , by those who have the over-sight of their education . § . 45. 2. on the otherside , if the mind be curbed , and humbled too much in children ; if their spirits be abased and broken much , by too strict an hand over them , they lose all their vigor , and industry , and are in a worse state than the former . for extravagant young fellows , that have liveliness and spirit , come sometimes to be set right , and so make able and great men : but dejected minds , timorous , and tame , and low spirits , are hardly ever to be raised , and very seldom attain to any thing . to avoid the danger , that is on either hand , is the great art ; and he that has found a way , how to keep up a child's spirit , easy , active and free ; and yet at the same time , to restrain him from many things , he has a mind to , and to draw him to things that are uneasy to him ; he , i say , that knows how to reconcile these seeming contradictions , has , in my opinion , got the true secret of education . § . 46. the usual lazy and short way by chastisement , and the rod , which is the only instrument of government , that tutors generally know , or ever think of , is the most unfit of any to be used in education , because it tends to both those mischiefs , which , as we have shewn , are the sylla and charybdis , which on the one hand or other , ruine all that miscarry . § . 47. 1. this kind of punishment , contributes not at all to the mastery of our natural propensity , to indulge corporal and present pleasure , and to avoid pain at any rate , but rather encourages it ; and so strengthens that in us , which is the root of all vitious and wrong actions . for what motives , i pray , does a child act by , but of such pleasure and pain , that drudges at his book against his inclination , or abstains from eating unwholsome fruit , that he takes pleasure in , only out of fear of whipping ? he in this only preferrs the greater corporal pleasure , or avoids the greater corporal pain , and what is it to govern his actions , and direct his conduct by such motives as these ? what is it , i say , but to cherish that principle in him , which it is our business to root out and destroy ? and therefore i cannot think any correction usefull to a child , where the shame of suffering for having done amiss , does not more work upon him than the pain . § . 48. 2. this sort of correction naturally breeds an aversion to that which 't is the tutor's business to create a liking to . how obvious is it to observe , that children come to hate things liked at first , as soon as they come to be whipped or chid , and teased about them ; and it is not to be wonder'd at in them , when grown men , would not be able to be reconciled to any thing by such ways . who is there , that would not be disgusted with any innocent recreation in it self indifferent to him , if he should with blows or ill language be haled to it , when he had no mind ? or be constantly so treated , for some circumstance in his application to it ? this is natural to be so : offensive circumstances ordinarily infect innocent things , which they are joined with ; and the very sight of a cup , wherein any one uses to take nauseous physick , turns his stomach , so that nothing will relish well out of it , tho' the cup be never so clean , and well shaped , and of the richest materials . § . 49. 3. such a sort of slavish discipline , makes a slavish temper . the child submits , and dissembles obedience , whilst the fear of the rod hangs over him ; but when that is removed , and by being out of sight , he can promise himself impunity , he gives the greater scope to his natural inclination , which by this way is not at all altered , but on the contrary heightned and increased in him , and after such restraint , breaks out usually with the more violence ; or , § . 50. 4. if severity carried to the highest pitch does prevail , and works a cure upon the present unruly distemper , it is often by bringing in the room of it , a worse and more dangerous disease , by breaking the mind , and then in the place of a disorderly young fellow , you have a low spirited , moap'd creature , who , however with his unnatural sobriety , he may please silly people , who commend tame , unactive children , because they make no noise , nor give them any trouble ; yet , at last , will probably prove as uncomfortable a thing to his friends , as he will be , all his life , an useless thing to himself and others . § . 51. beating then , and all other sorts of slavish and corporal punishments , are not the discipline fit to be used in the education of those , we would have wise , good , and ingenuous men ; and therefore very rarely to be applied , and that only in great occasions , and cases of extremity . on the other side , to flatter children by rewards of things , that are pleasant to them is as carefully to be avoided . he that will give his son apples or sugar-plumbs , or what else of this kind he is most delighted with , to make him learn his book , does but authorize his love of pleasure , and cocker up that dangerous propensitie , which he ought by all means to subdue and stifle in him . you can never hope to teach him to master it , whilst you compound for the check you give his inclination in one place , by the satisfaction you propose to it in another . to make a good , a wise , and a vertuous man , 't is fit he should learn to cross his appetite , and deny his inclination to riches , finery , or pleasing his palate , &c. when ever his reason advises the contrary , and his duty requires it . but when you draw him to do any thing that is fit , by the offer of money , or reward the pains of learning his book , by the pleasure of a luscious morsel : when you promise him a lace-crevat , or a fine new suit upon the performance of some of his little tasks , what do you by proposing these as rewards , but allow them to be the good things , he should aim at , and thereby encourage his longing for them , and accustom him to place his happiness in them ? thus people to prevail with children to be industrious about their grammar , dancing , or some other such matter , of no great moment to the happiness or ufefullness of their lives , by misapplied rewards and punishments , sacrifice their vertue , invert the order of their education , and teach them luxury , pride , or covetousness , &c. for in this way , flattering those wrong inclinations , which they should restrain and suppress , they lay the foundations of those future vices , which cannot be avoided but by curbing our desires , and accustoming them early to submit to reason . § . 52. i say not this , that i would have children kept from the conveniences or pleasures of life , that are not injurious to their health or vertue . on the contrary , i would have their lives made as pleasant and as agreeable to them , as may be , in a plentiful enjoyment of whatsoever might innocently delight them : provided it be with this caution , that they have those enjoyments , only as the consequences of the state of esteem and acceptation , they are in with their parents and governors , but they should never be offer'd or bestow'd on them as the rewards of this or that particular performance , that they shew an aversion to , or to which they would not have applied themselves without that temptation . § . 53. but if you take away the rod on one hand , and those little encouragements , which they are taken with on the other , how then ( will you say ) shall childern be govern'd ? remove hope and fear , and there is an end of all discipline . i grant , that good and evil , reward and punishment , are the only motives to a rational creature ; these are the spur and reins whereby all mankind are set on work and guided , and therefore they are to be made use of to children too . for i advise their parents and governors always to carry this in their minds , that they are to be treated as rational creatures . § . 54. rewards , i grant , and punishments must be proposed to children , if we intend to work upon them ; the mistake , i imagine , is , that those , that are generally made use of , are ill chosen . the pains and pleasures of the body are , i think , of ill consequence , when made the rewards and punishments , whereby men would prevail on their children : for they serve but to increase and strengthen those appetites , which 't is our business to subdue and master . what principle of vertue do you lay in a child , if you will redeem his desires of one pleasure by the proposal of another ? this is but to enlarge his appetite , and instruct it to wander . if a child cries for an unwholsome and dangerous fruit , you purchace his quiet by giving him a less hurtful sweet-meat ; this perhaps may preserve his health , but spoils his mind , and sets that farther out of order . for here you only change the object , but flatter still his appetite , and allow that must be satisfied : wherein , as i have shewed , lies the root of the mischief ; and till you bring him to be able to bear a denial of that satisfaction , the child may at present be quiet and orderly , but the disease is not cured . by this way of proceeding you foment and cherish in him , that which is the spring , from whence all the evil flows , which will be sure on the next occasion to break out again with more violence , give him stronger longings , and you more trouble . § . 55. the rewards and punishments then , whereby we should keep children in order , are quite of another kind , and of that force , that when we can get them once to work , the business , i think , is done , and the difficulty is over . esteem and disgrace are , of all others , the most powerful incentives to the mind , when once it is brought to relish them : if you can once get into children a love of credit , and an apprehension of shame and disgrace , you have put into them the true principle , which will constantly work , and incline them to the right . but it will be asked , how shall this be done ? i confess , it does not at first appearance want some difficulty ; but yet i think it worth our while , to seek the ways ( and practise them when found , ) to attain this , which i look on as the great secret of education . § . 56. first , children ( earlier perhaps than we think ) are very sensible of praise and commendation . they find a pleasure in being esteemed , and valued , especially by their parents , and those whom they depend on . if therefore the father caress and commend them , when they do well ; shew a cold and neglectful countenance to them upon doing ill : and this accompanied by a like carriage of the mother , and all others that are about them , it will in a little time make them sensible of the difference ; and this , if constantly observed , i doubt not but will of it self work more than threats or blows , which lose their force when once grown common , and are of no use when shame does not attend them ; and therefore are to be forborn , and never to be used , but in the case hereafter mentioned , when it is brought to extremity . § . 57. but secondly , to make the sense of esteem or disgrace , sink the deeper , and be of the more weight , other agreeable or disagreeable things should constantly accompany these different states ; not as particular rewards and punishments of this or that particular action , but as necessarily belonging to , and constantly attending one , who by his carriage has brought himself into a state of disgrace or commendation . by which way of treating them , children may , as much as possible , be brought to conceive , that those that are commended , and in esteem , for doing well , will necessarily be beloved and cherished by every body , and have all other good things as a consequence of it . and on the other side , when any one by miscarriage , falls into dis-esteem , and cares not to preserve his credit , he will unavoidably fall under neglect and contempt ; and in that state , the want of what ever might satisfie or delight him will follow . in this way , the objects of their desires are made assisting to vertue , when a setled experience from the beginning teaches children , that the things they delight in , belong to , and are to be enjoyed , by those only , who are in a state of reputation . if by these means you can come once to shame them out of their faults , ( for besides that , i would willingly have no punishment , ) and make them in love with the pleasure of being well thought on , you may turn them as you please , and they will be in love with all the ways of vertue . § . 58. the great difficulty here is , i imagine , from the folly and perverseness of servants , who are hardly to be hinder'd from crossing herein the design of the father and mother . children discountenanced by their parents for any fault , find usually a remedy and retreat in the caresses of those foolish flatterers , who thereby undo whatever the parents endeavour to establish . when the father or mother looks sowre on the child , every body else should put on the same carriage to him , and no body give him countenance , till forgiveness asked , and a contrary carriage restored him to his esteem and former credit again . if this were constantly observed , i guess there would be little need of blows , or chiding : their own ease and satisfaction would quickly teach children to court commendation , and avoid doing that which they found every body condemned , and they were sure to suffer for , without being chid or beaten . this would teach them modesty and shame ; and they would quickly come to have a natural abhorrence for that , which they found made them slighted and neglected by every body . but how this inconvenience from servants is to be remedied , i can only leave to parents care and consideration ; only i think it of great importance : and they are very happy , who can get discreet people about their children . § . 59. frequent beating or chiding is therefore carefully to be avoided , because it never produces any good , farther than it serves to raise shame and abhorrence of the miscarriage that brought it on them : and if the greatest part of the trouble be not the sense that they have done amiss , and the apprehension that they have drawn on themselves the just displeasure of their best friends , the pain of whipping will work but an imperfect cure ; it only patches up for the present , and skins it over , but reaches not to the bottom of the sore . shame then , and apprehension of displeasure , being that which ought alone to give a check , and hold the reins , 't is impossible but punishment should lose that efficacy , when it often returns . shame has in children the same place as modesty in women , which cannot be kept , and often transgressed against . and as to the apprehension of displeasure in the parents , that will come to be very insignificant , if the marks of that displeasure quickly cease . and therefore i think , parents should well consider what faults in their children are weighty enough to deserve the declaration of their anger : but when their displeasure is once declared to a degree , that carries any punishment with it , they ought not presently to lay by the severity of their brows , but to restore their children to their former grace with some difficulty ; and delay till their conformity , and more than ordinary merit , make good their amendment . if this be not so ordered , punishment will be , by familiarity , but a thing of course ; and offending , being punished , and then forgiven , be as natural and ordinary , as noon , night , and morning following one another . § . 60. concerning reputation , i shall only remark this one thing more of it ; that though it be not the true principle and measure of vertue , ( for that is the knowledge of a man's duty , and the satisfaction it is , to obey his maker , in following the dictates of that light god has given him , with the hopes of acceptation and reward , ) yet it is that , which comes nearest to it ; and being the testimony and applause that other people's reason , as it were by common consent , gives to vertuous , and well-ordered actions , is the proper guide and encouragement of children , till they grow able to judge for themselves , and to find what is right , by their own reason . § . 61. but if a right course be taken with children , there will not be so much need of the application of the common rewards and punishments as we imagine , and as the general practice has established : for , all their innocent folly , playing , and childish actions are to be left perfectly free and unrestrained , as far as they can consist with the respect due to those that are present ; and that with the greatest allowance . if these faults of their age , rather than of the children themselves , were as they should be , left only to time and imitation , and riper years to cure , children would escape a great deal of mis-applied and useless correction ; which either fails to over-power the natural disposition of their childhood , and so , by an ineffectual familiarity , makes corection in other necessary cases of less use ; or else , if it be of force to restrain the natural gaiety of that age , it serves only to spoil the temper both of body and mind . if the noise and bustle of their play prove at any time inconvenient , or unsuitable to the place or company they are in , ( which can only be where their parents are , ) a look or a word from the father or mother , if they have established the authority they should , will be enough either to remove , or quiet them for that time. but this gamesome humour , which is wisely adapted by nature to their age and temper , should rather be encouraged to keep up their spirits , and improve their strength and health , than curbed , or restrained , and the chief art is , to make all that they have to do , sport and play too . § . 62. and here give me leave to take notice of one thing i think a fault in the ordinary method of education ; and that is , the charging of children's memories , upon all occasions , with rules and precepts which they often do not understand , and constantly as soon forget as given . if it be some action you would have done , or done otherwise ; whenever they forget , or do it awkardly , make them do it over and over again , till they are perfect : whereby you will get these two advantages ; first , to see whether it be an action they can do , or is fit to be expected of them : for sometimes children are bid to do things , which , upon trial , they are found not able to do ; and had need be taught and exercised in , before they are required to do them . but it is much easier for a tutor to command , than to teach . secondly , another thing got by it will be this ; that by repeating the same action till it be grown habitual in them , the performance will not depend on memory , or reflection the concomitant of prudence and age , and not of childhood , but will be natural in them . thus bowing to a gentleman when he salutes him , and looking in his face when he speaks to him , is by constant use as natural to a well-bred man as breathing ; it requires no thought , no reflection . having this way cured in your child any fault , it is cured for ever : and thus one by one you may weed them out all , and plant what habits you please . § . 63. i have seen parents so heap rules on their children , that it was impossible for the poor little ones to remember a tenth part of them , much less to observe them . however they were either by words or blows corrected for the breach of those multiplied and often very impertinent precepts . whence it naturally followed , that the children minded not , what was said to them ; when it was evident to them , that no attention , they were capable of , was sufficient to preserve them from transgression and the rebukes which followed it . let therefore your rules , to your son , be as few as is possible , and rather fewer than more than seem absolutely necessary . for if you burden him with many rules , one of these two things must necessarily follow ; that either he must be very often punished , which will be of ill consequence , by making punishment too frequent and familiar ; or else you must let the transgressions of some of your rules go unpunished : whereby they will of course grow contemptible , and your authority become cheap to him . make but few laws , but see they be well observed , when once made . few years require but few laws , and as his age increases , when one rule is , by practice , well established , you may add another . § . 64. but pray remember , children are not to be taught by rules , which will be always slipping out of their memories . what you think necessary for them to do , settle in them by an indispensible practice , as often as the occasion returns ; and if it be possible , make occasions . this will beget habits in them , which being once established , operate of themselves easily and naturally without the assistance of the memory . but here let me give two cautions , 1. the one is , that you keep them to the practice of what you would have grow into a habit in them , by kind words , and gentle admonitions , rather as minding them of what they forget , than by harsh rebukes and chiding , as if they were wilfully guilty . 2dly , another thing you are to take care of , is , not to endeavour to settle too many habits at once , least by variety you confound them , and so perfect none . when constant custom has made any one thing easy and natural to them , and they practise it with reflection , you may then go on to another . § . 65. manners , as they call it , about which children are so often perplexed , and have so many goodly exhortations made them , by their wise maids and governesses , i think , are rather to be learnt by example than rules ; and then children , if kept out of ill company , will take a pride , to behave themselves prettily , after the fashion of others , perceiving themselves esteemed and commended for it . but if by a little negligence in this part , the boy should not put of his hat , nor make leggs very gracefully , a dancing-master would cure that defect , and wipe of all that plainness of nature , which the alamode people call clownishness . and since nothing appears to me to give children so much becoming confidence and behaviour , and so to raise them to the conversation of those above their age , as dancing , i think , they should be taught to dance as soon as they are capable of learning it . for though this consist only in outward gracefulness of motion , yet , i know not how , it gives children manly thoughts , and carriage more than any thing . but otherwise , i would not have children much tormented about punctilio's , or niceties of breeding . never trouble your self about those faults in them , which you know age will cure . and therefore want of well-fashion'd civility in the carriage , whilst civility is not wanting in the mind ( for there you must take care to plant it early ) should be the parent 's and tutor's least care , whilst they are young . if his tender mind be fill'd with a veneration for his parents and teachers , which consists in love and esteem , and a fear to offend them ; and with respect and good will to all people , that respect will of it self teach those ways of expressing it , which he observes most acceptable . be sure to keep up in him the principles of good nature and kindness ; make them as habitual as you can by credit and commendation , and the good things accompanying that state : and when they have taken root in his mind , and are settled there by a continued practice , fear not , the ornaments of conversation , and the out-side of fashionable manners , will come in their due time . whilst they are young , any carelesness is to be born with in children , that carries not with it the marks of pride or ill nature : but those , when they appear in any action , are to be corrected immediately by the ways above-mentioned ; and what else remains like clownishness , or want ofg ood breeding , time and observation will of it self reform in them as they ripen in years , if they are bred in good company ; but if in ill , all the rules in the world , all the correction imaginable , will not be able to polish them . for you must take this for a certain truth , that let them have what instructions you will , what teachers soever you please , that , which will most influence their actions , will be the company they converse with ; children ( nay , and men too ) do most by example : we are all a sort of camelions , that still take a tincture from things about us ; nor is it to be wonder'd at in children , who better understand what they see , than what they hear . § . 66. i mentioned above , one great mischief that came by servants to children , when by their flatteries they take off the edge and force of the parents rebukes , and so lessen their authority . and here is another great inconvenience which children receive from the ill examples , which they meet with amongst the meaner servants . they are wholly , if possible , to be kept from such conversation : for the contagion of these ill precedents , both in civility and vertue , horribly infects children , as often as they come within reach of it . they frequently learn from unbred or debauched servants , such language , untowardly tricks and vices , as otherwise they possibly would be ignorant of all their lives . § . 67. 't is a hard matter wholly to prevent this mischief , you will have very good luck , if you never have a clownish or vitious servant , and if from them your children never get any infection . but yet as much must be done towards it , as can be , and the children kept as much as may be in the company of their parents , and those to whose care they are committed . to this purpose , their being in their presence , should be made easie to them ; they shall be allowed the liberties and freedom suitable to their ages , and not to be held under unnecessary restraints , when in their parent 's or governour 's sight . if it be a prison to them , 't is no wonder they should not like it . they must not be hindred from being children , or from playing , or doing as children , but from doing ill ; all other liberty is to be allowed them . next to make them in love with the company of their parents , they should receive all their good things there , and from their hands . the servants should be hindred from making court to them , by giving them strong drink , wine , fruit , play-things , and other such matters , which may make them in love with their conversation . § . 68. having named company , i am almost ready to throw away my pen , and trouble you no farther on this subject . for since that does more than all precepts , rules and instructions , methinks 't is almost wholly in vain , to make along discourse of other things , and to talk of that almost to no purpose ; for you will be ready to say , what shall i do with my son ? if i keep him always at home , he will be in danger to be my young master ; and if i send him abroad , how is it possible to keep him from the contagion of rudeness and vice , which is so every where in fashion ? in my house , he will perhaps be more innocent , but more ignorant too of the world , and being used constantly to the same faces , and little company , will , when he comes abroad , be a sheepish or conceited creature . i confess , both sides have their inconveniences , but whilst he is at home , use him as much to your company , and the company of men. genteel and well-bred people , that come to your house , as you can ; and keep him from the taint of your servants , and meaner people : and about his going abroad , or staying at home , it must be left to the parents conveniences and circumstances . but this is certain , breeding at home in their own sight , under a good governour , is much the best , when it can be had , and is ordered , as it should be . § . 69. having under consideration how great the influence of company is , and how prone we are all , especially children , to imitation , i must here take the liberty to mind parents of this one thing , viz. that he that will have his son have a respect for him and his orders , must himself have a great reverence for his son. maxima debetur pueris reverentia . you must do nothing before him , which you would not have him imitate . if any thing scape you , which you would have pass for a fault in him , he will be sure to shelter himself under your example : and how then you will be able to come at him to correct it in the right way i do not easily see : and if you will punish him for it , he cannot look on it as a thing which reason condemns , since you practise it ; but he will be apt to interpret it , the peevishness , and arbitrary imperiousness of a father , which , without any ground for it , would deny his son the liberty and pleasures he takes himself . or if you would have it thought , it is a liberty belonging to riper years , and not to a child , you add but a new temptation , since you must always remember , that children affect to be men earlier than is thought : and they love breeches , not for their cut , or ease , but because the having them is a mark of a step towards manhood . what i say of the father's carriage before his children , must extend it self to all those who have any authority over them , or for whom he would have them have any respect . § . 70. thus all the actions of childishness , and unfashionable carriage , and whatever time and age will of it self be sure to reform , being exempt from the discipline of the rod , there will not be so much need of beating children , as is generally made use of . to which if we add learning to read , write , dance , foreign languages , &c. as under the same privilege , there will be but very rarely any occasion for blows or force in an ingenuous education . the right way to teach them those things is , to give them a liking and inclination to what you propose to them to be learn'd ; and that will engage their industry and application . this i think no hard matter to do , if children be handled as they should be , and the rewards and punishments above-mentioned be carefully applied , and with them these few rules observed in the method of instructing them . § . 71. 1. none of the things they are to learn should ever be made a burthen to them , or imposed on them as a task : whatever is so proposed , presently becomes irksome ; the mind takes an aversion to it , though before it were a thing of delight or indifferency . let a child be but ordered to whip his top at a certain time every day , whether he has , or has not a mind to it ; let this be but required of him as a duty , wherein he must spend so many hours morning and afternoon , and see whether he will not soon be weary of any play at this rate . is it not so with grown men ? what they do chearfully of themselves , do they not presently grow sick of , and can no more endure , as soon as they find it is expected of them , as a duty ? children have as much a mind to shew that they are free , that their own good actions come from themselves , that they are absolute and independent , as any of the proudest of your grown men , think of them as you please . § . 72. 2. as a consequence of this , they should seldom be put upon doing even those things you have got an inclination in them to , but when they have a mind and disposition to it . he that loves reading , writing , musick , &c. finds yet in himself certain seasons wherein those things have no relish to him : and if at that time he forces himself to it , he only pothers and wearies himself to no purpose . so it is with children : this change of temper should be carefully observed in them , and the favourable seasons of aptitude and inclination be heedfully laid hold of , to set them upon any thing . by this means a great deal of time and tiring would be saved ; for a child will learn three times as much when he is in tune , as he will with double the time and pains , when he goes awkardly and unwillingly to it . if this were minded as it should , children might be permitted to weary themselves with play , and yet have time enough to learn what is suited to the capacity of each age. and if things were order'd right , learning any thing , they should be taught , might be made as much a recreation to their play , as their play is to their learning . the pains are equal on both sides : nor is it that which troubles them , for they love to be busie , and the change and variety is that which naturally delights them ; the only odds is , in that which we call play , they act at liberty , and employ their pains ( whereof you may observe them never sparing ) freely ; but what they are to learn , they are driven to it , called on , or compelled . this is that that at first entrance balks and cools them ; they want their liberty : get them but to ask their tutor to teach them , as they do often their play-fellows , instead of this calling upon them to learn , and they being satisfied that they act as freely in this , as they do in other things , they will go on with as much pleasure in it , and it will not differ from their other sports and play. by these ways , carefully pursued , i guess , a child may be brought to desire to be taught any thing , you have a mind he should learn. the hardest part , i confess , is with the first , or eldest ; but when once he is set right , it is easie by him to lead the rest whether one will. § . 73. though it be past doubt , that the fittest time for children to learn any thing , is , when their minds are in tune , and well disposed to it , when neither flagging of spirit , nor intentness of thought upon something else makes them awkard and averse ; yet two things are to be taken care of : 1. that these seasons either not being warily observed , and laid hold on , as often as they return ; or else , not returning as often as they should , ( as always happens in the ordinary method and discipline of education , when blows and compulsion have raised an aversion in the child to the thing he is to learn , ) the improvement of the child be not thereby neglected , and so he be let grow into an habitual idleness , and confirmed in this indisposition . 2. that though other things are ill learned when the mind is either indisposed , or otherwise taken up , yet it is a great matter , and worth our endeavours , to teach the mind to get the mastery over it self ; and to be able , upon choice , to take it self off from the hot pursuit of one thing , and set it self upon another with facility and delight ; or at any time to shake off its sluggishness , and vigorously employ it self about what reason , or the advice of another shall direct . this is to be done in children by trying them sometimes , when they are by laziness unbent , or by avocation bent another way , and endeavouring to make them buckle to the thing proposed . if by this means the mind can get an habitual dominion over it self , lay by idea's , or business , as occasion requires , and betake it self to new and less acceptable employments , without reluctancy or discomposure , it will be an advantage of more consequence than latin or logick , or most of those things children are usually required to learn. § . 74. children being more active and busie in that age than any other part of their life , and being indifferent to any thing they can do , so they may be but doing , dancing and scotch-hoppers would be the same thing to them , were the encouragements and discouragements equal . but to things we would have them learn , the great and only discouragement i can observe is , that they are called to it , 't is made their business , they are teas'd and chid about it , and do it with trembling and apprehension ; or , when they come willingly to it , are kept too long at it , till they are quite tired : all which intrenches too much on that natural freedom they extreamly affect , and 't is that liberty alone which gives the true relish and delight to their ordinary play games . turn the tables , and you will see they will soon change their application ; especially if they see the examples of others , whom they esteem and think above themselves : and if the things they see others do be ordered so , that they are persuaded it is the privilege of an age or condition above theirs , then ambition , and the desire still to get forward , and higher , and to be like those above them , will give them an inclination which will set them on work in a way wherein they will go on with vigour and pleasure , enjoying in it their dearly beloved freedom ; which , if it brings with it also the satisfaction of credit and reputation , i am apt to think , there will need no other spur to excite their application and assiduity as much as is necessary . i confess , there needs patience and skill , gentleness and attention , and a prudent conduct to attain this at first . but , why have you a tutor , if there needed no pains ? but when this is once established , all the rest will follow more easily , than in any more severe and imperious discipline ; and i think it no hard matter , to gain this point ; i am sure it will not be , where children have no ill examples set before them . the great danger therefore i apprehend , is only from servants , and other ill-ordered children , or such other vicious or foolish people , who spoil children , both by the ill pattern they set before them in their own ill manners , and by giving them together , the two things they should never have at once , i mean , vicious pleasures and commendation . § . 75. as children should very seldom be corrected by blows ; so , i think , frequent , and especially , passionate chiding , of almost as ill consequence . for it lessens the authority of the parents , and the respect of the child , for i bid you still remember , they distinguish early between passion and reason ; and as they cannot but have a reverence for what comes from the latter , so they quickly grow into a contempt of the former ; or if it causes a present terrour , yet it soon wears off , and natural inclination will easily learn to slight such scare-crows , which make a noise , but are not animated by reason . children being to be restrained by the parents only in vicious ( which , in their tender years , are only a few ) things , a look or nod only ought to correct them , when they do amiss : or , if words are sometimes to be used , they ought to be grave , kind and sober , representing the ill , or unbecomingness of the fault , rather than a hasty rating of the child for it , which makes him not sufficiently distinguish , whether your dislike be not more directed to him , than his fault . § . 76. i fore-see here it will be objected to me ; what then , will you have children never beaten nor chid for any fault ? this will be to let loose the reins to all kind of disorder . not so much , as is imagined , if a right course has been taken in the first seasoning of their minds , and implanting that awe of their parents above-mentioned . for beating , by constant observation , is found to do little good , where the smart of it is all the punishment is feared , or felt in it ; for the influence of that quickly wears out , with the memory of it . but yet there is one , and but one fault , for which , i think , children should be beaten ; and that is , obstinacy or rebellion , and in this too , i would have it ordered so , if it can be , that the shame of the whipping , and not the pain , should be the greatest part of the punishment . shame of doing amiss , and deserving chastisement , is the only true restraint belonging to vertue . the smart of the rod , if shame accompanies it not , soon ceases , and is forgotten , and will quickly , by use , lose its terrour . i have known the children of a person of quality kept in awe , by the fear of having their shooes pulled off , as much , as others by apprehensions of a rod hanging over them . some such punishment , i think , better than beating ; for , 't is shame of the fault , and the disgrace that attends it , that they should stand in fear of , rather than pain , if you would have them have a temper truly ingenuous . but stubbornness , and an obstinate disobedience , must be mastred with force and blows , for this there is no other remedy . whatever particular action you bid him do , or forbear , you must be sure to see your self obey'd , no quarter in this case , no resistance ; for when once it comes to be a trial of skill , a contest for mastery betwixt you , as it is if you command , and he refuses , you must be sure to carry it , whatever blows it costs , if a nod or words will not prevail , unless , for ever after , you intend to live in obedience to your son. a prudent and kind mother , of my acquaintance , was , on such an occasion , forced to whip her little daughter , at her first coming home from nurse , eight times successively the same morning , before she could master her stubbornness , and obtain a compliance in a very easy and indifferent matter . if she had left off sooner , and stop'd at the seventh whiping , she had spoiled the child for ever , and by her unprevailing blows , only confirmed her refractariness , very hardly afterwards to be cured : but wisely persisting , till she had bent her mind , and suppled her will , the only end of correction and chastisement , she established her authority throughly in the very first occasion , and had ever after , a very ready compliance and obedience in all things from her daughter . for as this was the first time , so i think , it was the last too she ever struck her . § . 77. this , if well reflected on , would make people more wary in the use of the rod and the cudgel ; and keep them from being so apt to think beating , the safe and universal remedy to be applied at random , on all occasions . this is certain however , if it does no good , it does great harm ; if it reaches not the mind , and makes not the will supple , it hardens the offender , and whatever pain he has suffered for it , it does but indear to him his beloved stubbornness , which has got him this time the victory , and prepares him to contest and hope for it for the future . this , i doubt not , but by ill order'd correction many have been taught to be obstinate and refractary , who otherwise would have been very pliant and tractable . for if you punish a child , so as if it were only to revenge the past fault , which has raised your choler , what operation can this have upon his mind , which is the part to be amended ? if there were no sturdy wilfulness of mind mixed with his fault , there was nothing in it , that needed the severity of blows : a kind or grave admonition would have been enough , to remedy the faults of frailty , forgetfullness , or inadvertency , as much as they needed . but if there were a perverseness in the will , if it were a designed , resolved disobedience , the punishment is not to be measured by the greatness or smallness of the matter , wherein it appeared , but by the opposition it carries , and stands in , to that respect and submission is due to the father's orders , and must always be rigorously exacted , and the blows , by pauses , laid on till they reach the mind , and you perceive the signs of a true sorrow , shame , and resolution of obedience . this , i confess , requires something more than setting children a task , and whipping them without any more adoe , if it be not done , and done to our phansy : this requires care , attention , observation , and a nice study of children's tempers , and weighing their faults well before we come to this sort of punishment : but is not that better , than always to have the rod in hand , as the only instrument of government ? and by frequent use of it on all occasions misapply and render inefficacious this last and usefull remedy , where there is need of it . for what else can be expected , when it is promiscuously used upon every little slip , when a mistake in concordance , or a wrong position in verse , shall have the severity of the lash , in a well-temper'd and industrious lad , as surely , as a willfull crime , in an obstinate and perverse offender ? how can such a way of correction be expected to do good on the mind , and set that right , which is the only thing to be looked after ; and when set right , brings all the rest , that you can desire , along with it ? § . 78. where a wrong bent of the will , wants not amendment , there can be no need of blows . all other faults , where the mind is rightly disposed , and refuses not the government and authority of the father or tutor , are but mistakes , and may often be over-looked ; or when they are taken notice of , need no other , but the gentler remedies of advice , direction and reproof , till the repeated and willfull neglect of those , shews the fault to be in the mind , and that a manifest perversness of the will , lies at the root of their disobedience : but when ever obstinacy , which is an open defiance , appears , that cannot be winked at , or neglected , but must in the first instance , be subdued and master'd ; only care must be had , that we mistake not , and we must be sure it is obstinacy and nothing else . § . 79. but since the occasions of punishment , especially beating , are as much to be avoided as may be , i think it should not be often brought to this point : if the awe i spoke of be once got , a look will be sufficient in most cases . nor indeed , should the same carriage , seriousness , or application be expected from young children , as from those of riper growth : they must be permitted , as i said , the foolish and childish actions suitable to their years , without taking notice of them : inadvertency , carelessness and gayety is the character of that age. i think the severity i spoke of is not to extend it self to such unseasonable restraints . keep them from vice , and vicious dispositions , and such a kind of behaviour in general will come with every degree of their age , as is suitable to that age , and the company they ordinarily converse with ; and as they grow in years , they will grow in attention and application . but that your words may always carry weight and authority with them , if it shall happen , upon any occasion , that you bid him leave off the doing of any even childish thing , you must be sure to carry the point , and not let him have the mastery . but yet , i say , i would have the father seldom interpose his authority and command in these cases , or any other , but such as have a tendency to vicious habits : i think there are better ways of prevailing with them ; and a gentle perswasion in reasoning ( when the first point of submission to your will is got ) will most times do much better . § . 80. it will perhaps be wondered that i mention reasoning with children , and yet i cannot but think that the true way of dealing with them . they understand it as early as they do language ; and , if i mis-observe not , they love to be treated as rational creatures sooner than is imagined . 't is a pride should be cherished in them , and , as much as can be , made the great instrument to turn them by . but when i talk of reasoning , i do not intend any other , but such as is suited to the child's capacity and apprehension . no body can think a boy of three or seven years old should be argued with , as a grown man : long discourses , and philosophical reasonings , at best , amaze and confound , but do not instruct children . when i say therefore , that they must be treated as rational creatures , i mean , that you should make them sensible by the mildness of your carriage , and the composure even in your correction of them , that what you do is reasonable in you , and useful and necessary for them : and that it is not out of caprichio , passion , or fancy , that you command or forbid them any thing . this they are capable of understanding ; and there is no vertue they should be excited to , nor fault they should be kept from , which i do not think they may be convinced of ; but it must be by such reasons as their age and understanding are capable of , and those proposed always in very few and plain words . the foundations on which several duties are built , and the fountains of right and wrong , from which they spring , are not perhaps easily to be let into the minds of grown men , not used to abstract their thoughts from common received opinions : much less are children capable of reasonings from remote principles ; they cannot conceive the force of long deductions : the reasons that move them must be obvious , and level to their thoughts , and such as may ( if i may so say ) be felt , and touched . but yet if their age , temper and inclinations be considered , there will never want such motives as may be sufficient to convince them . if there be no other more particular , yet these will always be intelligible , and of force to deterr them from any fault fit to be taken notice of in them , ( viz. ) that it will be a discredit and disgrace to them , and displease you . § . 81. but of all the ways whereby children are to be instructed , and their manners formed , the plainest , easiest , and most efficacious , is , to set before their eyes the examples of those things you would have them do , or avoid . which , when they are pointed out to them , in the practice of persons within their knowledge , with some reflection on their beauty , or unbecomingness are of more force to draw or deterr their imitation , than any discourses can be made to them . vertues and vices can by no words be so plainly set before their understandings , as the actions of other men will shew them , when you direct their observation , and bid them view this or that good or bad quality in their practice . and the beauty or uncomeliness of many things in good and ill breeding will be better learnt , and make deeper impressions on them , in the examples of others , than from any rules or instructions can be given about them . this is a method to be used , not only whilst they are young , but to be continued even as long as they shall be under another's tuition or conduct . nay , i know not whether it be not the best way to be used by a father , as long as he shall think fit , on any occasion , to reform any thing he wishes mended in his son : nothing sinking so gently , and so deep , into men's minds , as example . and what ill they either over-look , or indulge in them themselves , they cannot but dis-like , and be ashamed of , when it is set before them in another . § . 82. it may be doubted concerning whipping , when , as the last remedy , it comes to be necessary ; at what time , and by whom it should be done ; whether presently upon the committing the fault , whilst it is yet fresh and hot ; and whether parents themselves should beat their children . as to the first , i think it should not be done presently , lest passion mingle with it , and so , though it exceed the just proportion , yet it lose the authority : for even children discern when we do things in passion ; but , as i said before , that has most weight with them , that appears sedately to come from their parents reason ; and they are not without this distinction . next , if you have any discreet servant capable of it , and has the place of governing your child ( for if you have a tutor , there is no doubt ) i think it is best the smart should come more immediately from another's hand , though by the parents order , who should see it done ; whereby the parent 's authority will be preferred , and the child's aversion for the pain it suffers rather be turned on the person that immediately inflicts it . for i would have a father seldom strike his child , but upon very urgent necessity , and as the last remedy ; and then perhaps it will be fit to do it so , that the child should not quickly forget it . § . 83. but , as i said before , beating is the worst , and therefore the last means to be used in the correction of children ; and that only in cases of extremity , after all gentler ways have been tried , and proved unsuccessful ; which , if well observed , there will be very seldom any need of blows . for it not being to be imagined that a child will often , if ever , dispute his father's present command in any particular instance ; and the father not rigorously interposing his authority in positive rules concerning childish or indifferent actions , wherein his son is to have his liberty ; nor concerning his learning or improvement , wherein there is no compulsion to be used ; there remains only the prohibition of some vicious actions , wherein a child is capable of obstinacy , and consequently can deserve beating : and so there will be but very few occasions of that discipline to be used by any one , who considers well , and orders his child's education as it should be . for the first seven years , what vices can a child be guilty of , but lying , or some ill-natur'd tricks ; the repeated commission whereof , after his father's direct command against it , shall bring him into the condemnation of obstinacy , and the chastisement of the rod ? if any vicious inclination in him be , in the first appearance and instances of it , treated as it should , first with your wonder , and then if returning again a second time , discountenanced with the severe brow of the father , tutor , and all about him , and a treatment suitable to the state of discredit before-mentioned ; and this continued till he be made sensible , and ashamed of his fault , i imagine there will be no need of any other correction , nor ever any occasion to come to blows . the necessity of such chastisement is usually the consequence only of former indulgencies , or neglects . if vicious inclinations were watched from the beginning , and the first irregularities they caused corrected by those gentler ways , we should seldom have to do with more than one disorder at once , which would be easily set right without any stir or noise , and not require so harsh a discipline as beating . thus one by one as they appear'd , they might all be weeded out without any signs or memory that ever they had been there . but we letting their faults ( by indulging and humouring our little ones ) grow up till they are sturdy and numerous , and the deformity of them makes us asham'd and uneasy , we are fain to come to the plough and the harrow , the spade and the pick-ax must go deep to come at the roots ; and all the force , skill , and diligence we can use , is scarce enough to cleanse the vitiated seed-plat over-grown with weeds , and restore us the hopes of fruits to rewards our pains in its season . § . 84. this course , if observed , will spare both father and child the trouble of repeated injunctions and multiplied rules of doing and forbearing . for , i am of opinion , that of those actions which tend to vitious habits ( which are those alone that a father should interpose his authority and commands in ) none should be forbidden children till they are found guilty of them . for such untimely prohibitions , if they do nothing worse , do at least so much towards teaching and allowing them , that they suppose that children may be guilty of them ; who would possibly be safer in the ignorance of any such faults . and the best remedy to stop them , is , as i have said , to shew wonder and amazement at any such action , as hath a vitious tendency , when it is first taken notice of in a child . for example , when he is first found in a lye or any ill natur'd trick , the first remedy should be to talk to him of it as a strange , monstrous matter , that it could not be imagin'd he would have done , and so shame him out of it . § . 85. it will be ( 't is like ) objected , that whatever i fansie of the tractableness of children , and the prevalency of those softer ways of shame and commendation , yet there are many who will never apply themselves to their books , and to what they ought to learn , unless they are scourged to it . this i fear is nothing but the language of ordinary schools and fashion which has never suffered the other to be tried as it should be , in places where it could be taken notice of . why , else , does the learning of latin and greek need the rod , when french and italian needs it not ? children learn to dance and fence without whipping ; nay , arithmetick , drawing , &c. they apply themselves well enough to without beating , which would make one suspect , that there is something strange , unnatural and disagreeable to that age , in the things requir'd in grammar-schools , or the methods used there , that children cannot be brought to , without the severity of the lash , and hardly with that too , or else that it is a mistake , that those tongues could not be taught them without beating . § . 86. but let us suppose some so negligent or idle , that they will not be brought to learn by the gentler ways proposed ; for we must grant that there will be children found of all tempers , yet it does not thence follow , that the rough discipline of the cudgel is to be used to all ; nor can any one be concluded unmanagable by the milder methods of government , till they have been throughly tried upon him ; and if they will not prevail with him to use his endeavours , and do what is in his power to do , we make no excuses , for the obstinate blows are the proper remedies for those ; but blows laid on in a way different from the ordinary . he that wilfully neglects his book , and stubbornly refuses any thing he can do , required of him by his father , expressing himself in a positive serious command , should not be corrected with two or three angry lashes , for not performing his task , and the same punishment repeated again and again upon every the like default . but when it is brought to that pass , that wilfulness evidently shews it self , and makes blows necessary , i think the chastisement should be a little more sedate and a little more severe , and the whipping ( mingled with admonitions between ) so continued , till the impressions of it on the mind were found legible in the face , voice and submission of the child , not so sensible of the smart as of the fault he has been guilty of , and melting in true sorrow under it . if such a correction as this tried some few times at sit distances , and carried to the utmost severity , with the visible displeasure of the father all the while , will not work the effect , turn the mind , and produce a future compliance , what can be hoped from blows , and to what purpose should they be any more used ? beating , when you can expect no good from it , will look more like the fury of an enraged enemy , than the good will of a compassionate friend ; and such chastisements carries with it only provocation without any prospect of amendment . if it be any father's misfortune to have a son thus perverse and untractable , i know not what more he can do but pray for him . but , i imagine , if a right course be taken with children from the beginning , very few will be found to be such , and when there are any such instances , they are not to be the rule for the education of those who are better natur'd , and may be managed with better usage . § . 87. if a tutor can be got , that thinking himself in the father's place , charged with his care , and relishing these things , will at the beginning apply himself to put them in practice , he will afterwards find his work very easy ; and you will , i guess , have your son in a little time a greater proficient in both learning and breeding , than perhaps you imagine . but let him by no means beat him , at least without your consent and direction . he must be sure also to shew him the example of the things , he would have the child practise , and carefully to preserve him from the influence of ill precedents , especially the most dangerous of all , that of the servants , from whose company he is to be kept , not by prohibitions , for that will but give him an itch , but by other ways i have mentioned . § . 88. in all the whole business of education , there is nothing like to be less hearken'd to , or harder to be well observed , than what i am now going to say , and that is , that i would from their first beginning to talk , have some discreet , sober ; nay , wise person about children , whose care it should be to fashion them aright , and keep them from all ill , especially the infection of bad company . i think this province requires great sobriety , temperance , tenderness , diligence and discretion , qualities hardly to be found united in persons that are to be had for ordinary salaries , or easily to be found any where . as to the charge of it , i think it will be the money best laid out , that can be , about our children ; and therefore though it may be expensive more than is ordinary , yet it cannot be thought dear . he that at any rate procures his child a good mind , well principled , temper'd to vertue and usefulness , and adorned with civility and good breeding , makes a better purchase for him , than if he laid out the money for an addition of more earth to his former acres . spare it in toys and play-games , in silk and ribbons , laces and other useless expences , as much as you please ; but be not sparing in so necessary a part as this . 't is not good husbandry to make his fortune rich , and his mind poor . i have often with great admiration seen people lavish it profusely in tricking up their children in fine clothes ; lodging and feeding them sumptuously , allowing them more than enough of useless servants , and yet at the same time starve their minds , and not take sufficient care to cover that , which is the most shameful nakedness , viz. their natural wrong inclinations and ignorance . this i can look on as no other than a sacrificing to their own vanity ; it shewing more their pride than true care of the good of their children . whatsoever you imploy to the advantage of your son's mind will shew your true kindness , though it be to the lessening of his estate . a wise and good man can hardly want either the opinion or reality of being great and happy . but he , that is foolish or vicious , can be neither great nor happy , what estate soever you leave him : and i ask you , whether there be not men in the world , whom you had rather have your son be with 500 l. per annum , than some other you know with 5000 l. § . 89. the consideration of charge ought not therefore to deterr those who are able ; the great difficulty will be where to find a proper person . for those of small age , parts and vertue , are unfit for this imployment ; and those that have greater , will hardly be got to undertake such a charge . you must therefore look out early , and enquire every where ; for the world has people of all sorts ; and i remember , montaigne says in one of his essays , that the learned castalio was fain to make trenchers at basle to keep himself from starving , when his father would have given any money for such a tutor for his son , and castalio have willingly embraced such an imployment upon very reasonable terms , but this was for want of intelligence . § . 90. if you find it difficult to meet with such a tutor as we desire , you are not to wonder ; i only can say , spare no care nor cost to get such an one ; all things are to be had that way , and i dare assure you , that if you get a good one , you will never repent the charge , but will always have the satisfaction to think it the money of all other the best laid out . but be sure take no body upon friends or charitable , no nor bare great commendations : nor will the reputation of a sober man with learning enough ( which is all usually that is required in a tutor ) serve the turn . in this choice be as curious as you would in that of a wife for him : for you must not think of trial or changing afterwards , that will cause great inconvenience to you , and greater to your son. when i consider the scruples and cautions i here lay in your way , methinks it looks as if i advised you to something , which i would have offer'd at , but in effect not done . but he that shall consider how much the business of a tutor rightly imployed lies out of the road , and how remote it is from the thoughts of many , even of those who propose to themselves this imployment , will perhaps be of my mind , that one sit to educate and form the mind of a young gentleman is not every where to be found ; and that more than ordinary care is to be taken in the choice of him , or else you may fail of your end. § . 91. but to return to our method again . tho' i have mentioned the severity of the father's brow , and the awe settled thereby in the mind of children when young , as one main foundation , whereby their education is to be managed : yet i am far from being of an opinion , that it should be continued all a long to them , whilst they are under the discipline and government of pupilage . i think it should be relaxed as fast as their age , discretion , and good behaviour could allow it , even to that degree , that a father will do well , as his son grows up , and is capable of it , to talk familiarly with him ; nay , ask his advice , and consult with him about those things , wherein he has any knowledge , or understanding . by this , the father will gain two things , both of great moment . the one is , that it will put serious considerations into his son's thoughts , better than any rules or advices he can give him . the sooner you treat him as a man , the sooner he will begin to be one : and if you admit him into serious discourses sometimes with you , you will insensibly raise his mind above the usual a musements of youth , and those trifling occupations it is commonly wasted in : for it is easie to observe , that many young men continue longer in the thoughts and conversation of school-boys , than otherwise they would , because their parents keep them at that distance , and in that low rank , by all their carriage to them . § . 92. another thing of greater consequence , which you will obtain by such a way of treating him , will be his friendship . many fathers , though they proportion to their sons liberal allowances , according to their age and condition ; yet they keep them as much unacquainted with their estates , and all other concernments , as if they were strangers . this if it looks not like jealousie , yet it wants those marks of kindness and intimacy , which a father should shew to his son ; and , no doubt , often hinders , or abates , that cheerfullness and satisfaction , wherewith a son should address himself to , and rely upon his father ; and i cannot but often wonder to see fathers , who love their sons very well , yet so order the matter by a constant stiffness , and a mien of authority and distance to them all their lives , as if they were never to enjoy or have any comfort from those they love best in the world , till they had lost them , by being removed into another . nothing cements and establishes friendship and good-will , so much as confident communication of concernments and affairs . other kindnesses without this , leave still some doubts ; but when your son sees you open your mind to him , that you interest him in your affairs , as things you are willing should in their turn come into his hands , he will be concerned for them , as for his own ; wait his season with patience , and love you in the mean time , who keep him not at the distance of a stranger . this will also make him see , that the enjoyment you have is not without care , which the more he is sensible of , the less will he envy you the possession , and the more think himself happy under the management of so favourable a friend , and so careful a father . there is scarce any young man of so little thought , or so void of sense , that would not be glad of a sure friend , that he might have recourse to , and freely consult on occasion . the reservedness and distance , that fathers keep , often deprives their sons of that refuge , which would be of more advantage to them , than an hundred rebukes and chidings . would your son engage in some frolick , or take a vagary , were it not much better he should do it with , than without your knowledge ? for since allowances for such things must be made to young men , the more you know of his intrigues and designs , the better will you be able to prevent great mischiefs ; and by letting him see what is like to follow , take the right way of prevailing with him to avoid less inconveniencies . would you have him open his heart to you , and ask your advice ? you must begin to do so with him first , and by your carriage beget that considence . § . 93. but whatever he consults you about , unless it lead to some fatal and irremediable mischief , be sure you advise only as a friend of more experience ; but with your advice mingle nothing of command or authority , no more than you wou●d to your equal , or a stranger . that would be to drive him for ever from any farther demanding or receiving advantage from your counsel . you must consider , that he is a young man , and has pleasures and fancies , which you are pass'd . you must not expect his inclinations should be just as yours , nor that at twenty he should have the same thoughts you have at fifty . all that you can wish is , that since youth must have some liberty , some out-leaps , they might be with the ingenuity of a son , and under the eye of a father , and then no very great harm can come of it . the way to obtain this , as i said before , is ( according as you find him capable ) to talk with him about your affairs , propose matters to him familiarly , and ask his advice ; and when he ever lights on the right , follow it as his , and if it succeeds well , let him have the commendation . this will not at all lessen your authority , but increase his love and esteem of you . whilst you keep your estate , the staff will still be in your own hands , and your authority the surer , the more it is strengthen'd with confidence and kindness . for you have not that power , you ought to have over him , till he comes to be more afraid of offending so good a friend , than of losing some part of his future expectation . § . 94. when , by making your son sensible that he depends on you , and is in your power , you have establish'd your authority ; and by being inflexibly severe in your carriage to him , when obstinately persisting in any ill natur'd trick , you have forbidden especially lying , you have imprinted on his mind that awe , which is necessary : and on the other side , when , by permitting him the full liberty due to his age , and laying no restraint in your presence to those childish actions and gaiety of carriage , which , whilst he is very young , is as necessary to him as meat or sleep , you have reconcil'd him to your company , and made him sensible of your care and love of him by indulgence and tenderness , especially , caressing him on all occasions wherein he does any thing well , and being kind to him after a thousand fashions suitable to his age , which nature teaches parents better than i can ; when , i say , by these ways of tenderness and affection , which parents never want for their children , you have also planted in him a particular affection for you , he is then in the state you could desire , and you have formed in his mind that true reverence , which is alway afterwards carefully to be increased and maintained in both the parts of it , love and fear , as the great principle , whereby you will always have hold upon him , to turn his mind to the ways of vertue of honour . § . 95. when this foundation is once well laid , and you find this reverence begin to work in him , the next thing to be done is carefully to consider his temper , and the particular constitution of his mind . stubbornness , lying and ill natur'd actions are not ( as has been said ) to be permitted in him from the beginning , whatever his temper be : those seeds of vices are not to be suffered to take any root , but must be suppress'd in their appearance ; and your authority is to be establish'd from the very dawning of any knowledge in him , that it may operate as a natural principle , whereof he never perceived the beginning , never knew that it was or could be otherwise . by this , if the reverence he owes you be establish'd early , it will always be sacred to him , and it will be as hard for him to resist it as the principles of his nature . § . 96. having thus very early established your authority , and by the gentler applications of it , shamed him out of what leads towards any immoral habit , as soon as you have observed it in him ( for i would by no means have chiding used , much less blows , till obstinacy and incorrigibleness make it absolutely necessary ) it will be fit to consider which way the natural make of his mind inclines him . some men by the unalterable frame of their constitutions are stout , others timorous some confident , others modest , tractable or obstinate , curious or careless . there are not more differences in men's faces , and the outward lineaments of their bodies , than there are in the makes and tempers of their minds , only there is this difference , that the distinguishing characters of the face , and the lineaments of the body grow more plain and visible with time and age , but the peculiar physiognomy of the mind is most discernable in children , before art and cunning hath taught them to hide their deformities and conceal their ill inclinations under a dissembled out-side . § . 97 , begin therefore betimes nicely to observe your son's temper , and that when he is under least restraint . see what are his predominant passions and prevailing inclinations , whether he be fierce or mild , bold or bashful , compassionate or cruel , open or reserv'd , &c. for as these are different in him , so are your methods to be different , and your authority must hence take measures to apply it self different ways to him . these native propensions , these prevalencies of constitution are not to be cured by rules , or a direct contest , especially those of them that are the humbler and meaner sort , that proceed from fear and lowness of spirit ; though with art they may be much mended , and turned to good purposes . but this , be sure , after all is done , the byas will always hang on that side , that nature first placed it : and if you carefully observe the characters of this mind now in the first scenes of his life , you will ever after be able to judge , which way his thoughts lean , and what he aims at , even hereafter , when , as he grows up , the plot thickens , and he puts on several shapes to act it . § . 98. i told you before that children love liberty , and therefore they should be brought to do the things are fit for them , without feeling any restraint laid upon them . i now tell you , they love some thing more , and that is dominion , and this is the first original of most vicious habits , that are ordinary and natural . this love of power and dominion shews it self very early and that in these two things : § . 99. 1. we see children ( as soon almost as they are born ( i am sure long before they can speak ) cry , grow peevish , sullen , and out of humour , for nothing but to have their wills. they would have their desires submitted to by others ; they contend for a ready complyance from all about them , especially from those that stand near or beneath them in age or degree , as soon as they come to consider others with those distinctions . § . 100. another thing wherein they shew their love of dominion , is , their desire to have things to be theirs ; they would have propriety and possession , pleasing themselves with the power that seems to give , and the right they thereby have to dispose of them as they please . he , that has not observed these two humours working very betimes in children , has taken little notice of their actions : and he , that thinks that these two roots of almost all the injustice and contention , that so disturb humane life , are not early to be weeded out , and contrary habits introduced , neglects the proper season to lay the foundations of a good and worthy man. to do this , i imagine , these following things may somewhat conduce . § . 101. 1. that a child should never be suffered to have what he craves , or so much as speaks for , much less if he cries for it . what then , would you not have them declare their wants ? yes , that is very fit ; and 't is as fit , that with all tenderness they should be hearken'd to , and supplied , at least whilst they are very little . but 't is one thing to say , i am hungry ; another to say , i would have roast-meat . having declared their wants , their natural wants , the pain they feel from hunger , thirst , cold , or any other necessity of nature , 't is the duty of their parents , and those about them , to relieve them : but children must leave it to the choice and ordering of their parents , what they think properest for them , and how much ; and must not be permitted to chuse for themselves , and say , i would save wine , or white-bread ; the very naming of it should make them lose it . § . 102. this is for natural wants , which must be relieved : but for all wants of fancy and affectation , they should never , if once declar'd , be hearken'd to , or complied with . by this means they will be brought to get a mastery over their inclinations , and learn the art of stifling their desires , as soon as they rise up in them , and before they take vent , when they are easiest to be subdued , which will be of great use to them in the future course of their lives . by this i do not mean , that they should not have the things , that one perceives would delight them : 't would be inhumanity , and not prudence , to treat them so . but they should not have the liberty to carve , or crave any thing to themselves ; they should be exercised in keeping ; their desires under , till they have got the habit of it , and it be grown easie ; they should accustom themselves to be content in the want of what they wished for : and the more they practised modesty and temperance in this , the more should those about them study to reward them with what is suited and acceptable to them : which should be bestowed on them , as if it were a natural consequence of their good-behaviour , and not a bargain about it . but you will lose your labour , and what is more , their love and reverence too , if they can receive from others , what you deny them . this is to be kept very stanch , and carefully to be watched . and here the servants come again in my way . § . 103. if this be begun betimes , and they accustom themselves early to silence their desires , this usefull habit will settle in them ; and as they come to grow up in age and discretion , they may be allowed greater liberty , when reason comes to speak in them , and not passion . for when ever reason would speak , it should be hearken'd to . but as they should never be heard , when they speak for any thing they would have , unless it be first , proposed to them ; so they should always be heard , and fairly and kindly answered , when they ask after any thing they would know , and desire to be inform'd about . curiosity should be as carefully cherished in children , as other appetites suppressed . § . 104. 2. children who live together often strive for mastery , whose will shall carry it over the rest ; whoever begins the contest , should be sure to be crossed in it : but not only that , but they should be taught to have all the deference , complaisance , and civility one for another imaginable . this when they see it procures them respect , and that they lose no superiority by it ; but on the contrary , they grow into love , and esteem with every body , they will take more pleasure in , than in insolent domineering ; for so plainly is the other . the complaints of children one against another , which is usually but the desiring the assistance of another to revenge them , should not be favourably received , nor hearken'd to : it weakens and effeminates their minds to suffer them to complain : and if they endure sometimes crossing , or pain from others , without being permitted to think it strange or intolerable , it will do them no harm to learn sufferance , and hearden them early . but though you give no countenance to the complaints of the querulous , yet take care to suppress all insolence and ill-nature . when you observe it your self , reprove it before the injured party : but if the complaint be of something really worthy your notice , and prevention another time , then reprove the offender by himself alone , out of sight of him that complained , and make him go and ask pardon , and make reparation . which coming thus , as it were , from himself , will be the more cheerfully performed , and more kindly received , the love strengthened between them , and a custom of civility grow familiar amongst your children . § . 105. 3. as to the having and possessing of things , teach them to part with what they have easily and freely to their friends ; and let them find by experience , that the most liberal has always most plenty , with esteem and commendation to boot , and they will quickly learn to practise it . this i imagine will make brothers and sisters kinder and civiller to one another , and consequently to others , than twenty rules about good manners , with which children are ordinarily perplexed and cumbred . covetousness and the desire of having in our possession , and under our dominion , more than we have need of , being the root of all evil , should be early and carefully weeded out , and the contrary quality of a readiness to impart to others , implanted . this should be encouraged by great commendation and credit , and constantly taking care , that he loses nothing by his liberality . let all the instances he gives of such freeness be always repaid , and with interest ; and let him sensibly perceive , that the kindness he shows to others , is no ill husbandry for himself , but that it brings a return of kindness both from those that receive it , and those who look on . make this a contest among children , who shall out-do one another this way ; and by this means , by a constant practice , children having made it easie to themselves to part with what they have , good nature may be setled in them into an habit , and they may take pleasure and pique themselves in being kind , liberal , and civil to others . § . 106. crying is a fault that should not be tolerated in children , not only for the unpleasant and unbecoming noise it fills the house with , but for more considerable reasons in reference to the children themselves , which is to be our aim in education . their crying is of two sorts ; either stubborn and domineering , or querulous and whining . 1. their crying is very often a contention for mastery , and an open declaration of their insolence , or obstinacy , when they have not the power to obtain their desire , they will by their clamour and sobbing , maintain their title and right to it . this is an open justifying themselves , and a sort of remonstrance of the unjustness of the oppression , which denies them , what they have a mind to . § . 107. 2. sometimes their crying is the effect of pain , or true sorrow , and a bemoaning themselves under it . these two if carefully observed may by the mien , looks and actions , and particularly by the tone of their crying be easily distinguished , but neither of them must be suffer'd , much less incourag'd . 1. the obstinate or stomachful crying should by no means be permitted , because it is but another way of flattering their desires , and incouraging those passions , which 't is our main business to subdue : and if it be , as often it is , upon the receiving any correction , it quite defeats all the good effects of it : for a punishment , which leaves them in this declar'd opposition , only serves to make them worse . the restraints and punishments laid on children are all misapplied and lost , as far as they do not prevail over their wills , teach them to submit their passions , and make their minds supple and pliant , to what their parents reason advises them now , and so prepare them to obey , what their own reasons shall advise hereafter . but if , in any thing wherein they are crossed , they may be suffer'd to go away crying , they confirm themselves in their desires , and cherish the ill humour with a declaration of their right , and a resolution to satisfy their inclination the first opportunity . this therefore is another reason why you should seldom chastise your children , for , whenever you come to that extremity , 't is not enough to whipp or beat them , you must do it till you find you have subdued their minds ; till with submission and patience they yield to the correction , which you shall best discover by their crying and their ceasing from it upon your bidding . without this , the beating of children is but a passionate tyranny over them , and it is mere cruelty and not correction to put their bodies in pain , without doing their minds any good . as this gives us a reason why children should seldom be corrected , so it also prevents their being so . for if when-ever they are chastised , it were done thus without passion , soberly and yet effectually too , laying on the blows and smart not all at once , but slowly , with reasoning between , and with observation how it wrought , stopping when it had made them pliant , penitent and yielding ; they would seldom need the like punishment again , being made carefull to avoid the fault , that deserved it . besides , by this means , as the punishment would not be lost for being too little and not effectual , so it would be kept from being too much , if we gave off , as soon as we perceived , that it reach'd the mind , and that was better'd . for since the chiding or beating of children should be always the least , that possible may be ; that which is laid on in the heat of anger , seldom observes that measure , but is commonly more than it should be , though it prove less than enough . § . 108. 2. many children are apt to cry upon any little pain they suffer , and the least harm that befals them puts them into complaints and bawling . this few children avoid , for it being the first and natural way to declare their sufferings or wants , before they can speak , the compassion that is thought due to that tender age , foolishly incourages and continues it in them long after they can speak . 't is the duty , i confess , of those about children to compassionate them , when-ever they suffer any hurt ; but not to shew it in pitying them . help and ease them the best you can , but by no means bemoan them . this softens their minds , and makes the little harms , that happen to them , sink deep into that part , which alone feels ; and make larger wounds there , than otherwise they would . they should be harden'd against all sufferings , especially of the body , and have a tenderness only of shame and for reputation . the many inconveniencies this life is exposed to , require we should not be too sensible of every little hurt . what our minds yield not to , makes but a slight impression , and does us but very little harm : 't is the suffering of our spirits that gives and continues the pain . this brawniness and insensibility of mind is the best armour , we can have , against the common evils and accidents of life ; and being a temper that is to be got by exercise and custom , more than any other way , the practice of it should be begun betimes , and happy is he that is taught it early . that effeminacy of spirit , which is to be prevented or cured , as nothing , that i know , so much increases in children as crying , so nothing , on the other side , so much checks and restrains , as their being hindred from that sort of complaining . in the little harms they suffer from knocks and falls , they should not be pitied for falling , but bid do so again , which is a better way to cure their falling , than either chiding or bemoaning them . but let the hurts they receive , be what they will , stop their crying , and that will give them more quiet and ease at present , and harden them for the future . § . 109. the former sort of crying requires severity to silence it , and where a look or a positive command will not do it , blows must . for it proceeding from pride , obstinacy , and wilfullness , the will , where the fault lies , must be bent , and made to comply by a rigour sufficient to subdue it : but this latter being ordinarily from softness of mind , a quite contrary cause , ought to be treated with a gentler hand . persuasion , or diverting the thoughts another way , or laughing at their whining , may perhaps be at first the proper method . but for this the circumstances of the thing , and the particular temper of the child must be considered ; no certain unvariable rules can be given about it , but it must be left to the prudence of the parents or tutor . but this i think i may say in general , that there should be a constant discountenancing of this sort of crying also ; and that the father by his looks , words and authority , should always stop it , mixing a greater degree of roughness in his looks or words , proportionably as the child is of a greater age , or a sturdier temper : but always let it be enough to master the disorder . § . 110. one thing i have frequently observed in children , that when they have got possession of any poor creature , they are apt to use it ill : they often torment , and treat very roughly young birds , butterflies , and such other poor animals , which fall into their hands , and that with a seeming kind of pleasure . this i think should be watched in them , and if they incline to any such cruelty ; they should be taught the contrary usage . for the custom of tormenting and killing of beasts will , by degrees , harden their minds even towards men ; and they who delight in the suffering and destruction of inferiour creatures , will not be apt to be very compassionate or benigne to those of their own kind . our practice takes notice of this in the exclusion of butchers from juries of life and death . children should from the beginning be bred up in an abhorrence of killing , or tormenting any living creature ; and be taught not to spoil or destroy any thing , unless it be for the preservation or advantage of some other that is : nobler . and truly , if the preservation of all mankind , as much as in him lies , were every one's persuasion , as indeed it is every one's duty , and the true principle to regulate our religion , politicks and morality by , the world would be much quieter , and better natur'd than it is . but to return to our present business , i cannot but commend both the kindness and prudence of a mother i knew , who was wont always to indulge her daughters , when any of them desired dogs , squirils , birds or any such things , as young girls use to be delighted with . but then , when they had them , they must be sure to keep them well , and look diligently after them , that they wanted nothing , or were not ill used : for if they were negligent in their care of them , it was counted a great fault , which often forfeited their possession , or at least they fail'd not to be rebuked for it ; whereby they were early taught diligence and good nature . and indeed , i think people should be accustomed , from their cradles , to be tender to all sensible creatures , and to spoil or waste nothing at all . this delight they take in doing of mischief , whereby i mean spoiling of any thing to no purpose ; but more especially the pleasure they take to put any thing in pain , that is capable of it , i cannot persuade my self to be any other than a foreign and introduced disposition , an habit borrowed from custom and conversation . people teach children to strike , and laugh , when they hurt , or see harm come to others : and they have the examples of most about them , to confirm them in it . all the entertainments and talk of history is of nothing almost but fighting and killing : and the honour and renown , that is bestowed on conquerours ( who for the most part are but the great butchers of mankind ) farther misleads growing youth , who by this means come to think slaughter the laudable business of mankind , and the most heroick vertue . this custom plants unnatural appetites , and reconciles us to that , which it has laid in the way of honour . thus by fashion and opinion that comes to be a pleasure , which in it self neither is ; nor can be any . this ought carefully to be watched , and early remedied , so as to settle and cherish the contrary and more natural temper of benignity and compassion in the room of it : but still by the same gentle methods , which are to be applied to the other two faults before mentioned . but pray remember , that the mischiefs , or harms , that come by play , inadvertency , or ignorance , and were not known to be harms , or designed for mischief's sake , though they may perhaps be sometimes of considerable damage , yet are not at all , or but very gently to be taken notice of . for this , i think , i cannot too often inculcate , that whatever miscarriage a child be guilty of , and whatever be the consequence of it , the thing to be regarded in taking notice of it , is only , what root it springs from , and what habit it is like to establish ; and to that the correction ought to be directed , and the child not to suffer any punishment for any harm may have come by his play or inadvertency . the faults to be amended lie in the mind ; and if they are such as either age will cure , or no ill habits will follow from the present action , whatever displeasing circumstances it may have , is to be passed by without any animadversion . § . 111. curiosity in children ( which i had occasion just to mention § . 103 ) is but an appetite after knowledge , and therefore ought to be encouraged in them , not only as a good sign , but as the great instrument , nature has provided , to remove that ignorance they were born with ; and which , without this busie inquisitiveness , will make them dull and useless creatures . the ways to encourage it , and keep it active and vigorous , are , i suppose , these following : 1. not to check or discountenance any enquiries he shall make , nor suffer them to be laugh'd at ; but to answer all his questions , and explain the matters , he desires to know , so , as to make them as much intelligible to him , as suits the capacity of his age and knowledge . but confound not his understanding with explications or notions , that are above it , or with the variety or number of things , that are not to his present purpose . mark what 't is his mind arms at in the question , and not what words he expresses it in : and when you have informed and satisfied him in that , you shall see how his thoughts will proceed on to other things , and how by fit answers to his enquiries , he may be led on farther than perhaps you could imagine : for knowledge to the understanding is acceptable , as light to the eyes ; and children are pleased and delighted with it exceedingly , especially if they see , that their enquiries are regarded , and that their desire of knowing is encouraged and commended . and i doubt not , but one great reason , why many children abandon themselves wholly to silly play , and spend all their time in trifling , is , because they have found their curiosity bauk'd , and their enquiries neglected . but had they been treated with more kindness and respect , and their questions answered , as they should , to their satisfaction , i doubt not , but they would have taken more pleasure in learning and improving their knowledge , wherein there would be still newness and variety , which is what they are delighted with , than in returning over and over to the same play and play-things . § . 112. 2. to this serious answering their questions , and informing their understandings , in what they desire , as if it were a matter that needed it , should be added some peculiar ways of commendation . let others whom they esteem , be told before their faces of the knowledge they have in such and such things ; and since we are all , even from our cradles , vain and proud creatures , let their vanity be flattered with things , that will do them good ; and let their pride set them on work on something which may turn to their advantage . upon this ground you shall find , that there cannot be a greater spur to the attaining what you would have the eldest learn , and know himself , than to set him upon teaching it his younger brothers and sisters . § . 113. 3. as children's enquiries are not to be slighted ; so also great care is to be taken that they never receive deceitful and eluding answers . they easily perceive when they are slighted , or deceived , and quickly learn the trick of neglect , dissimulation , and falshood , which they observe others to make use of . we are not to intrench upon truth in any conversation , but least of all with children ; since if we play false with them , we not only deceive their expectation , and hinder their knowledge , but corrupt their innocence , and teach them the worst of vices . they are travellers newly arrived in a strange country , of which they know nothing : we should therefore make conscience not to mis-lead them . and though their questions seem sometimes not very material , yet they should be seriously answer'd : for however they may appear to us ( to whom they are long since known ) enquiries not worth the making , they are of moment to those who are wholly ignorant . children are strangers to all we are acquainted with ; and all the things they meet with , are at first unknown to them , as they once were to us ; and happy are they who meet with civil people , that will comply with their ignorance , and help them to get out of it . if you or i now should be set down in japan , with all our prudence and knowledge about us , a conceit whereof makes us perhaps so apt to slight the thoughts and enquiries of children ; should we , i say , be set down in japan , we should , no doubt ( if we would inform our selves of what is there to be known ) ask a thousand questions , which , to a supercilious or inconsiderable japaner , would seem very idle and impertinent ; and yet to us would be natural : and we should be glad to find a man so kind and humane , as to answer them , and instruct our ignorance . when any new thing comes in their way , children usually ask , the common question of a stranger , what is it ? whereby they ordinarily mean nothing but the name ; and therefore to tell them how it is call'd , is usually the proper answer to that demand . the next question usually is , what is it for ? and to this it should be answered truly and directly ; the use of the thing should be told , and the way explained , how it serves to such a purpose , as far as their capacities can comprehend it : and so of any other circumstances they shall ask about it , not turning them going , till you have given them all the satisfaction they are capable of ; and so leading them by your answers into farther questions . and perhaps to a grown man , such conversation will not be altogether so idle and insignificant , as we are apt to imagine . the native and untaught suggestions of inquisitive children , do often offer things , that may set a considering man's thoughts on work . and i think there is frequently more to be learn'd from the unexpected questions of a child , than the discourses of men , who talk in a road according to the notions they have borrowed , and the prejudices of their education . § . 114. 4. perhaps it may not sometimes be amiss to excite their curiosity , by bringing strange and new things in their way on purpose to engage their enquiry , and give them occasion to inform themselves about them : and if by chance their curiosity leads them to ask , what they should not know , it is a great deal better to tell them plainly , that it is a thing that belongs not to them to know , than to pop them off with a falshood , or a frivolous answer . § . 115. pertness , that appears sometimes so early , proceeds from a principle , that seldom accompanies a strong constitution of body , or ripens into a strong judgment of mind . if it were desirable to have a child a more brisk talker , i believe there might be ways found to mak him so : but , i suppose , a wise father had rather that his son should be able and useful when a man , than pretty company , and a diversion to others , whilst a child . though if that too were to be consider'd , i think i may say there is not so much pleasure to have a child prattle agreeably , as to reason well . encourage therefore his inquisitiveness all you can , by satisfying his demands , and informing his judgment as far as it is capable . when his reasons are any way tolerable , let him find the credit and commendation of it ; and when they are quite out of the way , let him , without being laugh'd at for his mistake , be gently put into the right ; and take care as much as you can , that in this inclination , he shews to reasoning about every thing , no body bauk , or inpose upon him . for when all is done , this , as the highest and most important faculty of our minds , deserves the greatest care and attention in cultivating it ; the right improvement and exercise of our reason , being the highest perfection that a man can attain to in this life . § . 116. contrary to this busie inquisitive temper there is sometimes observable in children , a listless carelesness , a want of regard to any thing , and a sort of trifling even at their business . this sauntring humour i look on as one of the worst qualities can appear in a child , as well as one of the hardest to be cured where it is natural . but it being liable to be mistaken in some cases , care must be taken to make a right judgment concerning that trifling at their books or business , which may sometimes be complained of in a child . upon the first suspicion a father has , that his son is of a sauntring temper , he must carefully observe him , whether he be listless and indifferent in all his actions , or whether in some things alone he be slow and sluggish , but in others vigorous and eager . for though he find that he does loyter at his book , and let a good deal of the time he spends in his chamber or study run idly away , he must not presently conclude , that this is from a sauntring humour in his temper . it may be childishness , and a preferring something to his study which his thoughts run on ; and he dislikes his book , as is natural , because it is forced upon him as a task . to know this perfectly , you must watch him at play , when he is out of his place and time of study following his own inclinations , and see there , whether he be vigorous and active ; whether he designs any thing , and with labour and eagerness pursues it , till he has accomplished what he aimed at ; or whether he lazily and listlesly dreams away his time . if this sloth be only , when he is about his book , i think it may be easily cured . if it be in his temper it will require a tittle more pains and attention to remedy it . § . 117. if you are satisfied by his earnestness at play or any thing else , he sets his mind on , in the intervals between his hours of business , that he is not of himself inclin'd to laziness , but only want of relish of his book makes him negligent and sluggish in his application to it . the first step is to try by talking to him kindly of the folly and inconvenience of it , whereby he loses a good part of his time which he might have for his diversion ; but be sure to talk calmly and kindly , and not much at first , but only these plain reasons in short . if this prevails you have gain'd the point by the most desirable remedy , which is reason and kindness . if it prevails not , try to shame him out of it , by laughing at him for it , asking every day , if there be no strangers there , when he comes to table , how long he was that day about his business , and if he has not done it in the time he might be well supposed to have dispatch'd it , expose and turn him into ridicule for it , but mix no chiding , only put on a pretty cold brow towards him , and keep it till he reform and let his mother . tutor and all about him do so too . if this work not the effect you desire , then tell him , he shall be no longer troubled with a tutor , to take care of his education , you will not be at the charge to have him spend his time idly with him ; but since he preferrs this or that [ whatever play he delights in ] to his book , that only he shall do , and so in earnest set him on work on his beloved play , and keep him steadily and in earnest to it morning and afternoon , till he be fully surfeited , and would at any rate change it for some hours at his book again . but when you thus set him a task of his play , you must be sure to look after him your self , or set some-body else to do it , that may constantly see him employ'd in it , and that he be not permitted to be idle at that too . i say , your self look after him , for it is worth the father's while , whatever business he has , to bestow two or three days upon his son , to cure fo great a mischief as is sauntring at his business . § . 118. this is what i propose , if it be idleness not from his general temper , but a peculiar or acquir'd aversion to learning , which you must be careful to examine and distinguish , which you shall certainly know by the way above propos'd . but though you have your eyes upon him , to watch what he does , with the time he has at his own disposal , yet you must not let him perceive , that you , or any body else do so . for that may restrain him from following his own inclination , and that being the thing his head or heart is upon , and not daring to prosecute it for fear of you , he may forbear doing other things , and so seem to be idle and negligent ; when in truth it is nothing , but being intent on that , which the fear of your eye or knowledge keeps him from executing . you must therefore , when you would try him , give full liberty : but let some body , whom you can trust , observe what he does , and it will be best he should have his play-day of liberty , when you , and all , that he may suspect to have an eye upon him , are abroad , that so he may without any check follow his natural inclination . thus by his employing of such times of liberty , you will easily discern , whether in be listlesness in his temper , or aversion to his book , that makes him saunter away his time of study . § . 119. if listlesness and drearning be his natural disposition . this unpromising temper is one of the hardest to be dealt with , because it generally carrying with it an indifferency for future things , may be attributed to want of fore-sight and want of desire : and how to plant or increase either of these , where nature has given a cold or contrary temper , is not i think very easie . as soon as it is perceived , the first thing to be done , is to find out his most predominate passion , and carefully examine , what it is , to which the greatest bent of his mind has the most steady and earnest tendency : and when you have found that , you must set that on work to excite his industry to any thing else . if he loves praise or play or fine cloths , &c. or , on the other side , dreads shame and disgrace , your displeasure , &c. whatever it be that he loves most , except it be sloth ( for that will never set him on work ) let that be made use of to excite him to activity . for in this listless temper , you are not to fear an excess of appetite ( as in all other cases ) by cherishing it : 't is that which you want , and therefore must labour to stir up and increase . for where there is no desire , there will be no industry . § . 120. if you have not hold enough upon him this way to stir up vigor and activity in him , you must imploy him in some constant bodily labour , whereby he may get an habit of doing something . the keeping him hard to some study were the better way to get him an habit of exercising and applying his mind : but because this is an invisible attention , and no body can tell , when he is , or is not idle at it , you must find bodily imployments for him , which he must be constantly busied in , and kept to : and if they have some little hardship and shame in them , it may not be the worse , to make them the sooner weary him , and desire to return to his book . but be sure , when you exchange his book for his other labour , set him such a task , to be done in such a time , as may allow him no opportunity to be idle : only after you have by this way brought him to be attentive and industrious at his book , you may , upon his dispatching his study within the time set him , give him , as a reward , some respit from his other labour , which you may diminish , as you find him grow more and more steddy in his application , and at last wholly take off , when his sauntring at his book is cured . § . 121. we formerly observed , that variety and freedom was that , that delighted children , and recommended their plays to them : and that therefore their book , or any thing , we would have them learn , should not be enjoined them as business . this their parents , tutors , and teachers are apt to forget ; and their impatience to have them busied in what is fit for them to do , suffers them not to deceive them into it ; but by the repeated injunctions they meet with , children quickly distinguish between what is required of them , and what not . when this mistake has once made his book uneasie to him , the cure is to be applied at the other end : and since it will be then too late to endeavour to make it a play to him , you must take the contrary course ; observe what play he is most delighted with ; enjoin that , and make him play so many hours every day , not as a punishment for playing , but as if it were the business required of him . this , if i mistake not , will , in a few days , make him so weary of his most beloved sport , that he will preferr his book , or any thing to it , especially if it may redeem him from any part of the task of play is set him , and he may be suffered to imploy some part of the time , destined to his task of play , in his book , or such other exercise as is really useful to him . this i at least think a better cure , than that forbidding ( which usually increases the desire ) or any other punishment should be made use of to remedy it . for when you have once glutted his appetite ( which may safely be done in all things but eating and drinking ) and made him surfeit of what you would have him avoid , you have put into him a principle of aversion , and you need not so much fear afterwards his longing for the same thing again . § . 122. this i think is sufficiently evident , that children generally hate to be idle . all the care then is , that their busie humour should be constantly imploy'd in something of use to them ; which if you will attain , you must make , what you would have them do , a recreation to them , and not a business . the way to do this , so that they may not perceive you have any hand in it , is this proposed here ; viz. to make them weary of that , which you would not have them do , by enjoyning , and making them under some pretence or other do it , till they are surfeited . for example : does your son play at top , and scourge too much ? enjoin him to play so many hours every day , and look that he do it ; and you shall see he will quickly be sick of it , and willing to leave it . by this means making the recreations you dislike a business to him , he will of himself with delight betake himself to those things , you would have him do , especially if they be proposed as rewards for having performed his task in that play is commanded him . for if he be ordered every day to whip his top so long as to make him sufficiently weary , do you not think he will apply himself with eagerness to his book , and wish for it , if you promise it him as a reward of having whipped his top lustily , quite out all the time that is set him ? children , in the things they do , if they comport with their age , find little difference so they may be doing ; the esteem they have for one thing above another , they borrow from others : so that what those about them make to be a reward to them , will really be so . by this art it is in their governour 's choice , whether scotch-hoppers shall reward their dancing , or dancing their scotch-hoppers ; whether peg-top , or reading ; playing at trap , or studying the globes , shall be more acceptable and pleasing to them . all that they desire being to be busie , and busie , as they imagine , in things of their own choice , and which they receive as favours from their parents , or others , for whom they have respect , and with whom they would be in credit . a sett of children thus ordered , and kept from the ill example of others , would all of them i suppose , with as much earnestness and delight , learn to read , write , and what else one would have them , as others do their ordinary plays : and the eldest being thus entered , and this made the fashion of the place , it would be as impossible to hinder them from learning the one , as it is ordinarily to keep them from the other . § . 123. play-things i think children should have , and of all sorts , but still to be in the keeping of their tutors , or some body else , whereof the child should have in his power but one at once , and should not be suffered to have another , but when he restor'd that . this teaches them betimes to be carefull of not losing , or spoiling the things they have , whereas plenty and variety in their own keeping , makes them wanton and carless , and teaches them from the beginning to be squanderers and wasters . these , i confess , are little things and such as will seem beneath the care of a governour ; but nothing , that may form children's minds , is to be over-look'd and neglected , and whatsoever introduces habits , and settles customs in them , deserves the care and attention of their governours , and is not a small thing in its consequences . § . 124. lying is so ready and cheap a cover for any miscarriage , and so much in fashion amongst all sorts of people , that a child can hardly avoid observing the use is made of it on all occasions ; and so can scare be kept , without great care , from getting into it : but it is so ill a quality , and the mother of so many ill ones that spawn from it , and take shelter under it , that a child should be brought up in the greatest abhorrence of it imaginable . it should be always ( when occasionally it comes to be mentioned ) spoke of before him with the utmost detestation , as a quality so wholly incompetent with a gentleman , that no body of any credit can bear the imputation of a lye , that it is proper only to beggar-boys , and the abhorr'd rascality , and not tolerable in any one , who would converse with people of condition , or have any esteem or reputationin the world : and the first time he is found in a lye , it should rather be wondered at as a monstrous thing in him , than reproved as an ordinary fault . if that keeps him not from relapsing , the next time he must be sharply rebuked , and fall into the state of great displeasure of his father and mother , and all about him , who take notice of it . and if this way work not the cure , you must come to blows . for after he has been thus warned , a premeditated lye must always be looked upon as obstinacy , and never be permitted to 'scape unpunished . § . 125. children , afraid to have their faults seen in their naked colours , will , like the rest of the sons of adam , be apt to make excuses . this is a fault usually bordering upon , and leading to untruth , and is not to be indulged in them . but yet it ought to be cured rather with shame than roughness . if therefore when a child is questioned for any thing , his first answer be an excuse , warn him soberly to tell the truth ; and then if he persists to shuffle it off with a falshood , he must be chastised . but if he directly confess , you must commend his ingenuity , and pardon the fault , be it what it will ; and pardon it so , that you never so much as reproach him with it , or mention it to him again . for if you would have him in love with ingenuity , and by a constant practice make it habitual to him , you must take care , that it never procure him the least inconvenience ; but on the contrary , his own confession bringing always with it perfect impunity , should be besides incouraged by some marks of approbation . if his excuse be such at any time , that you cannot prove it to have any falshood in it , let it pass for true , and be sure not to shew any suspicion of it . let him keep up his reputation with you as high as is possible ; for when once he finds he has lost that , you have lost a great and your best hold upon him . therefore let him not think he has the character of a liar with you , as long as you can avoid it without flattering him in it . thus some slips in truth may be over-looked . but after he has once been corrected for a lye , you must be sure never after to pardon it in him , when ever you find , and take notice to him , that he is guilty of it . for it being a fault , which he has been forbid , and may , unless he be wilful , avoid , the repeating of it is perfect perversness , and must have the chastisement due to that offence . § . 126. this is what i have thought concerning the general method of educating a young gentleman , which though i am apt to suppose may have some influence on the whole course of his education , yet i am far from magining it contains all those particulars , which his growing years , or peculiar temper may require . but this being premised in general , we shall in the next place descend to a more particular consideration of the several parts of his education . § . 127. that which every gentleman ( that takes any care of his education ) desires for his son , besides the estate he leaves him , is contain'd , i suppose , in these four things , virtue , wisdom , breeding and learning . i will not trouble my self whether these words do not some of them sometimes stand for the same thing , or really include one another . it serves my turn here to follow the popular use of these words , which i presume , is clear enough to make me be understood , and i hope there will be no difficulty to comprehend my meaning . § . 128. i place vertue as the first and most necessary of those endowments , that belong to a man or a gentleman , as absolutely requisite to make him valued and beloved by others , acceptable or tolerable to himself ; without that , i think , he will neither be happy in this , nor the other world. § . 129. as the foundation of this , there ought very early to be imprinted on his mind a true notion of god , as of the independent supreme being , author and maker of all things , from whom we receive all our good , that loves us , and gives us all things ; and consequent to it a love and reverence of him . this is enough to begin with , without going to explain this matter any farther , for fear , least , by talking too early to him of spirits , and being unseasonably forward to make him understand the incomprehensible nature of that infinite being , his head be either fill'd with false , or perplexed with unintelligible notions of him . let him only be told upon occasion of god , that made and governs all things , hears and sees every thing , and does all manner of good to those , that love and obey him . you will find that being told of such a god , other thoughts will be apt to rise up fast enough in his mind about him , which , as you observe them to have any mistakes , you must set right ; and i think it would be better if men generally rested in such an idea of god , without being too curious in their notions about a being , which all must acknowledge incomprehensible , whereby many , who have not strength and clearness of thought , to distinguish between what they can , and what they cannot know , run themselves into superstition or atheism , making god like themselves , or ( because they cannot comprehend any thing else ) none at all . § . 130. having by gentle degrees , as you find him capable of it , setled such an idea of god in his mind , and taught him to pray to him , forbear any discourse of other spirits , till the mention of them coming in his way upon occasion hereafter to be set down , and his reading the scripture-history , put him upon that enquiry . § . 131. but even then , and always whilst he is young , be sure to preserve his tender mind from all impressions and notions of sprites and goblins , or any fearful apprehensions in the dark . it being the usual method of servants to awe children , and keep them in subjection , by telling them of raw-head and bloody-bones , and such other names , as carry with them the idea's of some hurtful terrible things , inhabiting darkness . this must be carefully prevented . for though by this foolish way , they may keep them from little faults , yet the remedy is much worse than the disease , and there is stamped upon their minds idea's , that follow them with terror and affrightment . for such bug-bear thoughts once got into the tender minds of children , sink deep there , and fasten themselves so , as not easily , if ever , to be got out again , and whilst they are there , frequently haunt them with strange visions , making children dastards when alone , and afraid of their shadows and darkness all their lives after . for it is to be taken notice , that the first impressions sink deepest into the minds of children , and the notions , they are possess'd with when young , are scarce by any industry or art ever after quite wiped out . i have had those complain to me , when men , who had been thus used when young , that though their reason corrected the wrong idea's , they had then taken in ; and though they were satisfied , that there was no cause to fear invisible beings more in the dark , than in the light ; yet that these notions were apt still upon any occasion to start up first in their preposses'd fancies , and not to be removed without some pains . and to let you see , how lasting frightful images are , that take place in the mind early , i shall here tell you a pretty remarkable but true story . there was in a town in the west , a man of a disturb'd brain , whom the boys used to teaze , when he came in their way : this fellow one day seeing in the street one of those lads , that used to vex him , step'd into a cutlers shop he was near , and there seizing on a naked sword , made after the boy , who seeing him coming so armed , betook himself to his feet , and ran for his life ; and by good luck , had strength and heels enough to reach his father's house , before the mad-man could get up to him : the door was only latch'd , and when he had the latch in his hand , he turn'd about his head to see how near his pursuer was , who was at the entrance of the porch with his sword up ready to strike , and he had just time to get in and clap to the door to avoid the blow , which though his body escaped , his mind did not . this frightning idea made so deep an impression there , that it lasted many years , if not all his life after . for , telling this story when he was a man , he said , that after that time till then , he never went in at that door ( that he could remember ) at any time , without looking back , whatever business he had in his head , or how little soever , before he came thither , he thought of this mad-man . if children were let alone , they would be no more afraid in the dark , than of the broad sun-shine : they would in their turns as much welcome the one for sleep , as the other to play in : and there should be no distinction made to them by any discourse of more danger or terrible things in the one than the other ; but if the folly of any one about them should do them this harm , to make them think there is any difference between being in the dark and winking , you must , get it out of their minds as soon as you can , and let them know , that god , who made all things good for them , made the night that they might sleep the better and the quieter ; and that they being under his protection , there is nothing in the dark to hurt them . what is to be known more of god and good spirits , is to be deferr'd till the time we shall hereafter mention , and of evil spirits , 't will be well if you can keep him from wrong francies about them , till he is ripe for that sort of knowledge . § . 123. having laid the foundations of vertue in a true notion of a god , such as the creed wisely teaches , as far as his age is capable , and by accustoming him to pray to him . the next thing to be taken care of , is to keep him exactly to speaking of truth , and by all the ways imaginable , inclining him to be good natur'd . let him know that twenty paul●s are sooner to be forgiven than the straining of truth to cover any one by an excuse . and to teach him betimes to love , and be good natur'd to others , is to lay early the true foundation of an honest man : all injustice generally springing from too great love of our selves , and too little of others . this is all i shall say of this matter in general , and is enough for laying the first foundations of vertue in a child . as he grows up , the tendency of his natural inclination must be observed , which , as it inclines him , more than is convenient , on one or t'other side from the right path of vertue , ought to have proper remedies applied . for few of adam's children are so happy , as not to be born with some byass in their natural temper which it is the business of education either to take off , or counter-balance ; but to enter into the particulars of this , would be beyond the design of this short treatise of education . i intend not a discourse of all the vertues and vices , and how each vertue is to be attained , and every particular vice by its peculiar remedies cured . though i have mentioned some of the most ordinary faults , and the ways to be used in correcting them . § . 133. wisdom , i take in the popular acceptation , for a man's managing his business ablely , and with fore-sight in this world. this is the product of a good natural temper , application of mind , and experience together , and not to be taught children . the greatest thing that in them can be done towards it , is to hinder them , as much as may be , from being cunning , which being the ape of wisdom , is the most distant from it that can be , and as an ape , for the likeness it has to a man , wanting what really should make him so , is by so much the uglier . cunning is only the want of understanding , which , because it cannot compass its ends by direct ways , would do it by a trick and circumvention ; and the mischief of it is , a cunning trick helps but once , but hinders , ever after . no cover was ever made either so big or so fine as to hide its self . no body was ever so cunning as to conceal their being so ; and when they are once discovered , every body is shie , every body distrustful of crafty men , and all the world forwardly joyn to oppose and defeat them . whilst the open , fair , wise man has every body to make way for him , and goes directly to his business . to accustom a child to have true notions of things , and not to be satisfied till he has them . to raise his mind to great and worthy thoughts , and to keep him at a distance from falshood and cunning which has always a broad mixture of falshood in it , is the fittest preparation of a child for wisdom , which being to be learn'd from time , experience , and observation , and an acquaintance with men , their tempers , and designs , are not to be expected in the ignorance and inadvertency of childhood , or the inconsiderate heats and unwariness of youth : all that can be done towards it , during this unripe age , is , as i have said , to accufrom them to truth , and submission to reason ; and , as much as may be , to reflection on their own actions . § . 134. the next good quality belonging to a gentleman , is good breeding . there are two sorts of ill breeding , the one a sheepish bashfulness , and the other a mis-becoming negligence and disrespect in our carriage , both which are avoided by duly observing this one rule , not to think meanly of our selves , and not to think meanly of others . § . 135. the first part of this rule must not be understood in opposition to humility , but to assurance : we ought not to think so well of our selves , as to stand upon our own value , or assume a preference to others , because of any advantage , we may imagine , we have over them ; but modestly to take what is offered , when it is our due . but yet we ought to think so well of our selves , as to perform those actions , which are incumbent on , and expected of us , without discomposure , or disorder , in whose presence soever we are , keeping that respect and distance , which is due to every one's rank and quality . there is often in people , especially children , a clownish shamefac'dness before strangers , or those above them : they are confounded in their thoughts , words , and looks ; and so lose themselves in that confusion , as not to be able to do any thing , or at least not to do it with that freedom and gracefulness , which pleases , and makes them acceptable . the only cure for this , as for any other miscarriage , is by use to introduce the contrary habit. but since we cannot accustom our selves to converse with strangers , and persons of quality , without being in their company , nothing can cure this part of ill-breeding , but change and variety of company , and that of persons above us . § . 136. as the before-mentioned consists in too great a concern , how to behave our selves towards others ; so the other part of ill-breeding , lies in the appearance of too little care of pleasing , or shewing respect to those we have to do with . to avoid these , two things are requisite : first , a disposition of the mind not to offend others ; and , secondly , the most acceptable , and agreeable way of expressing that disposition . from the one , men are called civil ; from the other well fashion'd . the latter of these is , that decency and gracefullness of looks , voice , words , motions , gestures , and of all the whole outward demeanour , which pleases in company , and makes those easie and delighted , whom we converse with . this is , as it were , the language , whereby that internal civility of the mind is expressed ; and being very much governed by the fashion and custom of every country , as other languages are , must , in the rules and practice of it , be learn'd chiefly from observation , and the carriage of those , who are allow'd to be exactly well-bred . the other part , which lies in the mind , is that general good-will and regard for all people , which makes any one have a care not to shew , in his carriage , any contempt , disrespect , of neglect o them ; but to express according to the fashion and way of that country , a respect and value far them , according to their rank and condition . § . 137. there is another , fault in good manners , and that is excess of ceremony , and an obstinate persisting to force upon another , what is not his due , and what he cannot take without folly or shame . this seems rather a design to expose than oblige : or at least looks like a contest for mastery , and at best is but troublesome , and so can be no part of good breeding , which has no other use nor end , but to make people easie and satisfied in their conversation with us . this is a fault few young people are apt to fall into ; but yet if they are ever guilty of it , or are suspected to encline that way , they should be told of it , or warned of this mistaken civility . the thing they should endeavour and aim at in conversation , should be to shew respect , esteem , and good-will , by paying to every one that common ceremony and regard which is in civility due to them . to do this , without a suspicion of flattery , dissimulation , or meanness , is a great skill , which good sense , reason , and good company can only teach ; but is of so much use in civil life , that it is well worth the studying . § . 138. though the managing our selves well , in this part of our behaviour , has the name of good-breeding , as if peculiarly the effect of education ; yet , as i have said , young children should not be much perplexed about it ; i mean about putting off their hats , and making legs modishly . teach them humility , and to be good-natur'd , if you can , and this sort of manners will not be wanting : civility being , in truth , nothing but a care not to shew any slighting , or contempt , of any one in conversation . what are the most allow'd and esteem'd ways of expressing this , we have above observed . it is as peculiar and different , in several countries of the world , as their languages ; and therefore if it be rightly confidered , rules and discourses , made to children about it , are as useless and impertinent , as it would be now and then to give a rule or two of the spanish tongue , to one that converses only with english-men . be as busie as you please with discourses of civility to your son , such as is his company , such will be his manners . a plough-man of your neighbourhood , that has never been out of his parish , read what lectures you please to him , will be as soon in his language as his carriage a courtier ; that is , neither will be more polite than of those he uses to converse with : and therefore of this , no other care can be taken . and , in good earnest , if i were to speak my mind freely , so children do nothing out of obstinacy , pride , and ill-nature , 't is no great matter how they put off their hats , or make legs . if you can teach them to love and respect other people , they will , as their age requires it , find ways to express it acceptably to every one , according to the fashions they have been used to : and as to their motions and carriage of their bodies , a dancing-master , as has been said , when it is fit , will teach them what is most becoming . in the mean time , when they are young , people expect not that children should be over-mindful of these ceremonies ; carelesness is allow'd to that age , and becomes them as well as complements do grown people : or at least , if some very nice people will think it a fault , i am sure it is a fault , that should be over-look'd and left to time and conversation only to cure . and therefore i think it not worth your while to have your son ( as i often see children are ) molested or child about it : but where there is pride or ill-nature appearing in his carriage , there he must be persuaded or shamed out of it . § . 139. this that i have said here , if it were well reflected on , would , perhaps , lead us a little farther , and let us see of what influence company is . 't is not the modes of civility alone , that are imprinted by conversation : the tincture of company sinks deeper than the out-side ; and possibly if a true estimate were made of the morality and religions of the world , we should find , that the far greater part of mankind received even those opinions and ceremonies they would die for , rather from the fashions of their country , and the constant practice of those about them , than from any conviction of their reasons . i mention this only to let you see of what moment , i think , company is to your son , in all the parts of his life , and therefore how much that one part is to be weighed , and provided for ; it being of greater force to work upon him , than all you can do besides . § . 140. you will wonder , perhaps , that i put learning last , especially if i tell you i think it the least part . this will seem strange in the mouth of a bookish man ; and this making usually the chief , if not only bustle and stir about children , this being almost that alone , which is thought on , when people talk of education , makes it the greater paradox . when i consider what a-do is made about a little latin and greek , how many years are spent in it , and what a noise and business it makes to no purpose , i can hardly forbear thinking , that the parents of children still live in fear of the schoolmasters rod , which they look on as the only instrument of education , as a language or two to be its whole business . how else is it possible that a child should be chain'd to the oar , seven , eight , or ten of the best years of his life to get a language or two , which i think , might be had at a great deal cheaper rate of pains and time , and be learn'd almost in playing . forgive me therefore , if i say , i can not with patience think , that a young gentleman should be put into the herd , and be driven with whip and scourge , as if he were to run the gantlet through the several classes , ad capiendum ingenii cultum . what then , say you , would you not have him write and read ? shall he be more ignorant than the clerk of our parish , who takes hopkins and sternhold for the best poets in the world , whom yet he makes worse , than they are , by his ill reading ? not so , not so fast , i beseech you . reading , and writing , and learning , i allow to be necessary , but yet not the chiefest business . i imagine you would think him a very foolish fellow , that should not value a vertuous or a wise man , infinitely before a great scholar : not but that i think learning a great help to both in well dispos'd minds ; but yet it must be confess'd also , that in others not so dispos'd , it helps them only to be the more foolish or worse men. i say this , that when you consider of the breeding of your son , and are looking out for a school-master , or a tutor , you would not have ( as is usual ) latin and logick only in your thoughts . learning must be had , but in the second place , as subservient only to greater qualities : seek out some-body , that may know how discreetly to frame his manners : place him in hands , where you may , as much as possible , secure his innocence cherish and nurse up the good , and gently correct and weed out any bad inclinations , and settle in him good habits . this is the main point , and this being provided for , learning , may be had into the bargain , and that , as i think , at a very easie rate , by methods that may be thought on . § . 141. when he can talk ; 't is time he should begin to learn to read . but as to this , give me leave here to inculcate again , what is very apt to be forgotten , viz. that a great ca●e is to be taken , that it be never made as a business to him , nor he look on it as a task . we naturally , as i said , even from our cradles , love liberty , and have therefore an aversion to many things , for no other reason , but because they are enjoyn'd us . i have always had a fancy , that learning might be made a play and recreation to children ; and that they might be brought to desire to be taught , if it were propos'd to them as a thing of honour , credit , delight and recreation , or as a reward for doing something else ; and if they were never chid or corrected for the neglect of it . that which confirms me in this opinion , is , that amongst the portugueses , 't is so much a fafhion , and emulation , amongst their children , to learn to read , and write , that they cannot hinder them from it : they will learn it one from another , and are as intent on it , as if it were forbidden them . i remember that being at a friend's house , whose younger son , a child in coats , was not easily brought to his book ( being taught to read at home by his mother ) i advised to try another way , then requiring it of him as his duty ; we therefore , in a discourse on purpose amongst our selves , in his hearing , but without taking any notice of him , declared , that it was the privilege and advantage of heirs and elder brothers , to be scholars ; that this made them fine gentlemen , and beloved by every body : and that for younger brothers , 't was a favour to admit them to breeding ; to be taught to read and write , was more than came to their share ; they might be ignorant bumpkins and clowns , if they pleased . this so wrought upon the child , that afterwards he desired to be taught ; would come himself to his mother to learn , and would not let his maid be quiet till she heard him his lesson . i doubt not but some way like this might be taken with other children ; and when their tempers are found , some thoughts be instilled into them , that might set them upon desiring of learning themselves , and make them seek it , as another sort of play or recreation . but then , as i said before , it must never be imposed as a task , nor made a trouble to them . there may be dice and play-things , with the letters on them , to teach children the alphabet by playing ; and twenty other ways may be found , suitable to their particular tempers , to make this kind of learning a sport to them . § . 142. thus children may be cozen'd into a knowledge of the letters ; be taught to read , without perceiving it to be any thing but a sport , and play themselves into that others are whipp'd for , children should not have any thing like work , or serious , laid on them ; neither their minds nor bodies will bear it . it injures their healths ; and their being forced and tied down to their books in an age at enmity with all such restraint , has , i doubt not , been the reason , why a great many have hated books and learning , all their lives after : 't is like a surfeit , that leaves an aversion behind not to be removed . § . 143. i have therefore thought , that if play-things were fitted to this purpose , as they are usually to none , contrivances might be made to teach children to read , whilst they thought they were only playing . for example , what if an ivory-ball were made like that of the royal-oak lottery , with thirty two sides , or one rather of twenty four , or twenty five sides ; and upon several of those sides pasted on an a , upon several others b , on others c , and on others d. i would have you begin with but these four letters , or perhaps only two at first ; and when he is perfect in them , then add another ; and so on till each side having one letter , there be on it the whole alphabet . this i would have others play with before him , it being as good a sort of play to lay a stake , who shall first throw an a or b , as who upon dice shall throw six or seven . this being a play amongst you , tempt him not to it , least you make it business ; for i would not have him understand 't is any thing but a play of older people , and i doubt not but he will take to it of himself . and that he may have the more reason to think it is a play , that he is sometimes in favour admitted to , when the play is done , the ball shall be laid up safe out of his reach , that so it may not , by his having it in his keeping at any time , grow stale to him . to keep up his eagerness to it , let him think it a game belonging to those above him : and when by this means he knows the letters , by changing them into syllables , he may learn to read , without knowing how he did so , and never have any chiding or trouble about it ; nor fall out with books , because of the hard usage and vexation they have caused him . children , if you observe them , take abundance of pains to learn several games , which if they should be enjoined them , they would abhorr as a task and business . i know a person of great quality ( more yet to be honoured for his learning and vertue , than for his rank and high place ) who by pasting on the six vowels ( for in our language y is one ) on the six sides of a die , and the remaining eighteen consonants on the sides of three other dice , has made this a play for his children , that he shall win , who at one cast throws most words on these four dice ; whereby his eldest son , yet in coats , has play'd himself into spelling with great eagerness , and without once having been child for it , or forced to it . § . 144. i have seen little girls exercise whole hours together , and take abundance of pains to be expert at dibstones , as they call it : whilst i have been looking on , i have thought , it wanted only some good contrivance , to make them employ all that industry about something that might be more useful to them ; and methinks 't is only the fault and negligence of elder people , that it is not so . children are much less apt to be idle , than men ; and men are to be blamed , if some part of that busie humour be not turned to useful things ; which might be made usually as delightful to them , as those they are employ'd in , if men would be but half so forward to lead the way , as these little apes would be to follow . i imagine some wise portuguese heretofore began this fashion amongst the children of his country , where , i have been told , as i said , it is impossible to hinder the children from learning to read and write : and in some parts of france they teach one another to sing and dance from the cradle . § . 145. the letters pasted upon the sides of the dice , or polygon , were best to be of the size of those of the folio bible to begin with , and none of them capital letters ; when once he can read what is printed in such letters , he will not long be ignorant of the great ones : and in the beginning , he should not be perplexed with variety ; with this die , also , you might have a play just like the royal-oak , which would be another variety , and play for cherries or apples , &c. § . 146. besides these , twenty other plays might be invented , depending on letters , which those , who like this way , may easily contrive and get made to this use if they will. but the four dice above-mentioned , i think so easy , and useful , that it will be hard to find any better , and there will be scarce need of any other . § . 147. thus much for learning to read , which let him never be driven to , nor chid for ; cheat him into it if you can , but make it not a business for him ; 't is better it be a year later before he can read , than that he should this way get an aversion to learning . if you have any contests with him , let it be in matters of moment , of truth , and good nature ; but lay no task on him about abc . use your skill to make his will supple and pliant to reason : teach him to love credit and commendation ; to abhor being thought ill or meanly of , especially by you and his mother , and then the rest will come all easily . but i think , if you will do that , you must not shackle and tie him up with rules about indifferent matters , nor rebuke him for every little fault , or perhaps some , that to others would seem great ones : but of this i have said enough already . § . 148. when by these gentle ways he begins to be able to read , some easy pleasant book suited to his capacity , should be put into his hands , wherein the entertainment , that he finds , might draw him on , and reward his pains in reading , and yet not such as should fill his head with perfectly useless trumpery , or lay the principles of vice and folly. to this purpose , i think , aesop's fables the best , which being stories apt to delight and entertain a child , may yet afford useful reflections to a grown man. and if his memory retain them all his life after , he will not repent to find them there amongst his manly thoughts , and serious business . if his aesop has pictures in it , it will entertain him much the better , and encourage him to read , when it carries the increase of knowledge with it . for such visible objects children hear talked of in vain and without any satisfaction , whilst they have no idea's of them ; those idea's being not to be had from sounds , but either the things themselves , or their pictures . and therefore i think , as soon as he begins to spell , as many pictures of animals should be got him , as can be found , with the printed names to them , which at the same time will invite him to read , and afford him matter of enquiry and knowledge . raynard the fox , is another book , i think , may be made use of to the same purpose . and if those about him will talk to him often about the stories he has read , and hear him tell them , it will , besides other advantages , add incouragement , and delight to his reading , when he finds there is some use and pleasure in it , which in the ordinary method , i think learners do not till late ; and so take books only for fashionable amuzements or impertinent troubles good for nothing . § . 149. the lord's prayer , the creeds , and ten commandments , 't is necessary he should learn perfectly by heart , but i think , not by reading them himself in his primer , but by some-body's repeating them to him , even before he can read . but learning by heart , and learning to read , should not i think be mixed , and so one made to clog the other . but his learning to read should be made as little trouble or business to him as might be . what other books there are in english of the kind of those above-mentioned , fit to engage the liking of children , and tempt them to read , i do not know : but am apt to think that children , being generally delivered over to the method of schools , where the fear of the rod is to inforce , and not any pleasure of the imployment to invite them to learn , this sort of useful books amongst the number of silly ones , that are of all sorts , have yet had the fate to be neglected ; and nothing that i know has been consider'd of this kind out of the ordinary road of the horn-book , primer , psalter , testament , and bible . § . 150. as for the bible , which children are usually imploy'd in , to exercise and improve their talent in reading , i think , the promiscuous reading of it through , by chapters , as they lie in order , is so far from being of any advantage to children , either for the perfecting their reading , or principling their religion , that perhaps a worse could not be found . for what pleasure or incouragement can it be to a child to exercise himself in reading those parts of a book , where he understands nothing ? and how little are the law of moses , the song of solomon , the prophecies in the old , and the epistles and apocalypse in the new testament , suited to a child's capacity ? and though the history of the evangelists , and the acts , have something easier ; yet taken altogether , it is very disproportionate to the understanding of childhood . i grant , that the principles of religion are to be drawn from thence , and in the words of the scripture : yet none should be propos'd to a child , but such , as are suired to a child's capacity and notions . but 't is far from this to read through the whole bible , and that for reading's sake . and what an odd jumble of thoughts must a child have in his head , if he have any at all such as he should have concerning religion , who in his tender age , reads all the parts of the bible indifferently , as the word of god without any other distinction . i am apt to think , that this in some men has been the very reason , why they never had clear and distinct thoughts of it all their life-time . § . 151. and now i am by chance fallen on this subject , give me leave to say , that there are some parts of the scripture , which may be proper to be put into the hands of a child , to ingage him to read ; such as are the story of joseph , and his brethren , of david and goliah , of david and jonathan , &c. and others , that he should be made to read for his instruction , as that , what you would have others do unto you , do you the same unto them ; and such other easy and plain-moral rules , which being fitly chosen , might often be made use of , both for reading and instruction together : but the reading of the whole scripture indifferently , is what i think very inconvenient for children , till after having been made acquainted with the plainest fundamental parts of it , they have got some kind of general view of what they ought principally to believe and practise , which yet , i think , they ought to receive in the very words of the scripture , and not in such , as men prepossess'd by systems and analogies , are apt in this case to make use of , and force upon them . dr. worthington , to avoid this , has made a catechism , which has all its answers in the precise words of the scripture . a thing of good example , and such a sound form of words , as no christian can except against , as not fit for his child to learn , of this , as soon as he can say the lord's prayer , creed , and ten commandments by heart , it may be fit for him to learn a question every day , or every week , as his understanding is able to receive , and his memory to retain them . and when he has this catechism perfectly by heart , so as readily and roundly to answer to any question in the whole book , it may be convenient to lodge in his mind the moral rules scattered up and down in the bible , as the best exercise of his memory , and that which may be always a rule to him ready at hand , in the whole conduct of his life . § . 152. when he can read english well , it will be seasonable to enter him in writing : and here the first thing should be taught him is , to hold his pen right ; and this he should be perfect in , before he should be suffered to put it to paper : for not only children , but any body else , that would do any thing well , should never be put upon too much of it at once , or be set to perfect themselves in two parts of an action at the same time , if they can possibly be separated . when he has learn'd to hold his pen right ( to hold it betwixt the thumo and fore-finger alone , i think best ; but in this , you should consult some good writing-master , or any other person who writes well and quick ) then next he should learn how to lay his paper , and place his arm and body to it . these practices being got over , the way to teach him to write , without much trouble , is to get a plate graved , with the characters of such an hand as you like best : but you must remember to have them a pretty deal bigger than he should ordinarily write ; for every one naturally comes by digrees to write a less hand , than he at first was taught , but never a bigger . such a plate being graved , let several sheets of good writing-paper be printed off with red ink , which he has nothing to do but to go over with a good pen fill'd with black ink , which will quickly bring his hand to the formation of those characters , being at first shewed where to begin , and how to form every letter . and when he can do that well , he must then exercise on fair paper ; and so may easily be brought to write the hand you desire . § . 153. when he can write well , and quick , i think it may be convenient , not only to continue the exercise of his hand in writing , but also to improve the use of it farther in drawing , a thing very useful to a gentleman in several occasions ; but especially if he travel , as that which helps a man often to express , in a few lines well put together , what a whole sheet of paper in writing , would not be able to represent , and make intelligible . how many buildings may a man see , how many machines and habits meet with , the idea's whereof would be easily retain'd and communicated , by a little skill in drawing ; which being committed to words , are in danger to be lost , or at best but ill retained in the most exact descriptions ? i do not mean , that i would have your son a perfect painter ; to be that to any tolerable degree , will require more time than a young gentleman can spare from his other improvements of greater importance : but so much insight into perspective , and skill in drawing , as will enable him to represent tolerably on paper any thing he sees , except faces , may , i think , be got in a little time , especially if he have a genius to it : but where that is wanting , unless it be in things absosutely necessary , it is better to let him pass them quietly , than to vex him about them to no purpose : and therefore in this , as in all other things not absolutely necessary , the rule holds , nihil invita minerva . § . 154. as soon as he can speak english , 't is time for him to learn some other language : this no body doubts of , when french is proposed . and the reason is , because people are accustomed to the right way of teaching that language : which is by talking it into children in constant conversation , and not by grammatical rules . the latin tongue would easily be taught the same way if his tutor , being constantly with him , would talk nothing else to him , and make him answer still in the same language . but because french is a living language , and to be used more in speaking , that should be first learn'd , that the yet pliant organs of speech might be accustomed to a due formation of those sounds , and he get the habit of pronouncing french well , which is the harder to be done the longer it is delay'd . § . 155. when he can speak and read french well , which in this method is usually in a year or two , he should proceed to latin , which 't is a wonder parents , when they have had the experiment in french , should not think ought to be learn'd the same way , by talking and reading . only care is to be taken whilst he is learning these foreign languages , by speaking and reading nothing else with his tutor , that he do not forget to read english , which may be preserv'd by his mother , or some-body else , hearing him read some chosen parts of the scripture , or other english book every day . § . 156. latin , i look upon as absolutely necessary to a gentleman , and indeed , custom , which prevails over every thing , has made it so much a part of education , that even those children are whipp'd to it , and made spend many hours of their precious time uneasily in latin , who , after they are once gone from school , are never to have more to do with it as long as they live . can there be any thing more ridiculous , than that a father should waste his own money , and his son's time , in setting him to learn the roman language , when at the same time he designs him for a trade , wherein he having no use of latin , fails not to forget that little , which he brought from school , and which 't is ten to one he abhorrs , for the ill usage it procur'd him ? could it be believ'd , unless we had every where amongst us examples of it , that a child should be forced to learn the rudiments of a language , which he is never to use in the course of life , he is designed to , and neglect all the while the writing a good hand , and casting account , which are of great advantage in all conditions of life , and to most trades indispensibly necessary ? but though these qualifications , requisite to trade and commerce , and the business of the world , are seldom or never to be had at grammar schools , yet thither , not only gentlemen send their younger sons , intended for trades ; but even tradesmen and farmers fail not to send their children , though they have neither intention nor ability to make them scholars . if you ask them why they do this , they think it as strange a question , as if you should ask them , why they go to church . custom serves for reason , and has to those who take it for reason , so consecrated this method , that it is almost religiously observed by them , and they stick to it as if their children had scarce an orthodox education unless they learn'd lily's grammar . § . 157. but how necessary soever latin be to some , and is thought to be to others , to whom it is of no manner of use or service ; yet the ordinary way of learning it in a grammar school is that , which having had thoughts about i cannot be forward to encourage . the reasons against it are so evident , and cogent , that they have prevailed with some intelligent persons , to quit the ordinary road , not without success , though the method made use of , was not exactly that which i imagine the easiest , and in short is this : to trouble the child with no grammar at all but to have latin , as english has been , without the perplexity of rules talked into him ; for if you will consider it , latin is no more unknown to a child , when he comes into the world , than english : and yet he learns english without master , rule , or grammar ; and so might he latin too , as tully did , if he had some-body always to talk to him in this language . and when we so often see a french-woman teach a young girl to speak and read french perfectly in a year or two , without any rule of grammar , or any thing else but pratling to her , i cannot but wonder , how gentlemen have over-seen this way for their sons , and thought them more dull or incapable than their daughters . if therefore a man could be got , who himself speaks good latin , who would always be about your son , and talk constantly to him , and make him read latin , that would be the true genuine , and easy way of teaching him latin , and that that i could wish , since besides teaching him a language , without pains or chiding ( which children are wont to be whipp'd for at school six or seven years together ) he might at the same time , not only form his mind and manners , but instruct him also in several sciences , such as are a good part of geography , astronomy , chronology , anatomy , besides some parts of history , and all other parts of knowledge of things , that fall under the senses , and require little more than memory : for there , if we would take the true way , our knowledge should begin , and in those things be laid the foundation ; and not in the abstract notions of logick and metaphysicks , which are fitter to amuze , than inform the understanding , in its first setting out towards knowledge : in which abstract speculations when young men have had their heads imploy'd a while without finding the success and imployment or use of it which they expected , they are apt to have mean thoughts , either of learning or themselves , to quit their studies , and throw away their books , as containing nothing but hard words , and empty sounds ; or else concluding , that if there be any real knowledge in them , they themselves have not understandings capable of it ; and that this is so , perhaps i could assure you upon my own experience . amongst other things to be learn'd by a young man in this method , whilst others of his age are wholly taken up with latin and languages , i may also set down geometry for one , having known a young gentleman , bred something after this way , able to demonstrate several propositions in eucbid before he was thirteen . § . 158. but if such a man can not be got , who speaks good latin , and being able to instruct your son in all these parts of knowledge , will undertake it by this method ; the next best is to have him taught as near this way as may be , which is by taking some easie and pleasant book , such as aesop's fables , and writing the english translation ( made as literal as it can be ) in one line , and the latin words which answer each of them , just over it in another . these let him read every day over and over again , till he perfectly understands the latin. ( but have a care still , whatever you are teaching him , of cloging him with too much at once ; or making any thing his business but down-right vertue ; or reproving him for any thing but vice ) and then go on to another fable till he be also perfect in that , not omitting what he is already perfect in , but sometimes reviewing that , to keep it in his memory . and when he comes to write , let these be set him for copies , which with the exercise of his hand , will also advance him in latin. this being a more imperfect way than by talking latin unto him ; the formation of the verbs first , and afterwards the declensions of the nouns , and pronouns perfectly learn'd by heart , may facilitate his acquaintance with the genius and manner of the latin tongue , which varies the signification of verbs , and nouns , not as the modern languages do by particles prefixt , but by changing the last syllables . more than this of grammar , i think he need not have till he can read himself sanctii minerva with scioppius's notes . § . 159. when by this way of interlining latin and english one with another , he has got a moderate knowledge of the latin tongue , he may then be advanc'd a little farther to the reading of some other easie latin book , such as justin or eutropius , and to make the reading and understanding of it the less tedious and difficult to him , let him help himself if he please with the english translation . nor let the objection , that he will then know it only by roat ( which is not when well consider'd of any moment against , but plainly for this way of learning a language ) fright any one . for languages are only to be learn'd by reat ; and a man who does not speak english or latin perfectly by roat , so that having thought of the thing he would speak of , his tongue of course without thought of rule or grammar , salls into the proper expressions and idiom of that language , does not speak it well , nor is master of it . and i would fain have any one name to me that tongue , that any one can learn , or speak as he should do by the rules of grammar . languages were made not by rules , or art , but by accident , and the common use of the people . and he that will speak them well , has no other rule but that ; nor any thing to trust to , but his memory , and the habit of speaking after the fashion learn'd from those , that are allow'd to speak properly , which in other words is only to speak by roat . § . 160. for the exercise of his writing , let him sometimes translate latin into english : but the learning of latin , being nothing but the learning of words , a very unpleasant business both to young and old , join as much other real knowledge with it as you can , beginning still with that which lies most obvious to the senses , such as is the knowledge of minerals , plants , and animals ; and particularly timber and fruit-trees , their parts and ways of propagation : wherein a great deal may be taught a child , which will not be useless to the man. but more especially geography , astronomy , and anatomy . § . 161. but if , after all , his fate be to go to school to get the latin tongue , 't is in vain to talk to you concerning the method i think best to be observed in schools ; you must submit to that you find there ; nor expect to have it changed for your son : but yet by all means obtain , if you can , that he be not employ'd in making latin themes and declamations , and least of all verses of any kind . you may insist on it if it will do any good , that you have no design to make him either a latin orator , or a poet ; but barely would have him understand perfectly a latin author ; and that you observe , that those , who teach any of the modern languages , and that with success , never amuse their scholars , to make speeches , or verses , either in french or italian , their business being language barely , and not invention . § . 162. but to tell you a little more fully , why i would not have him exercis'd in making of themes and verses 1. as to themes , they have , i confess , the pretence of something usefull , which is to teach people to speak handsomly and well , on any subject ; which if it could be attained this way , i own , would be a great advantage ; there being nothing more becoming a gentleman , nor more useful in all the occurrences of life , than to be able , on any occasion , to speak well , and to the purpose . but this i say , that the making of themes , as is usual in schools , helps not one jot toward it . for do but consider what 't is in making a theme , that a young lad is employ'd about : 't is to make a speech on some latin saying ; as , omnia vincit amor ; or , non licet in bello bis peccare , &c. and here the poor lad , who wants knowledge of these things he is to speak of , which is to be had only from time and observation , must set his invention on the rack to say something , where he knows nothing ; which is a sort of egyptian tyranny , to bid them make bricks , who have not yet any of the materials : and therefore it is usual , in such cases , for the poor children , to go to those of higher forms with this petition , pray give me a little sense ; which whether it be more reasonable , or more ridiculous , is not easie to determine . before a man can be in any capacity to speak on any subiect , 't is necessary to be acquainted with it : or else 't is as foolish to set him to discourse on it , as to set a blind man to talk of colours , or a deaf man of musick . and would you not think him a little crack'd who would require another to make an argument on a moot point , who understands nothing of our laws ? and what , i pray , do school-boys understand concerning those matters , which are used to be proposed to them in their themes , as subjects to discourse on , to whet and exercise their fancies ? § . 163. in the next place consider the language that their themes are made in : 't is latin , a language foreign in their country , and long since dead every-where : a language , which your son , 't is a thousand to one , shall never have an occasion once to make a speech in , as long as he lives , after he comes to be a man ; and a language , wherein the manner of expressing ones self is so far different from ours , that to be perfect in that , would very little improve the purity and facility of his english style . besides that , there is now so little room , or use , for set speeches in our own language , in any part of our english business , that i can see no pretence for this sort of exercise in our schools , unless it can be supposed , that the making of set latin speeches , should be the way , to teach men to speak well in english extempore . the way to that , i should think rather to be this : that there should be propos'd some rational and material question to young gentlemen , when they are of a fit age for such exercise , which they should extempore , or after a little meditation in the place , speak to , without penning of any thing . for , i ask , if we will examine the effects of this way of learning to speak well , who speak best in any business , when occasion calls them to it , upon any debate , either those who have accustomed themselves to compose and write down before-hand , what they would say ; or those , who thinking only of the matter , to understand that as well as they can , use themselves only to speak extempore ? and he , that shall judge by this , will be little apt to think , that the accustoming him to studied speeches , and set compositions , is the way to fit a young gentleman for business . § . 164. but , perhaps , we shall be told , 't is to improve and perfect them in the latin tongue . 't is true , that is their proper business at school ; but the making of themes is not the way to it : that perplexes their brains about invention of things to be said , not about the signification of words to be learn'd : and when they are making a theme , 't is thoughts they search and sweat for , and not language . but the learning and mastery of a tongue , being uneasie and unpleasant enough in it self , should not be cumbred with any other difficulties , as is done in this way of proceeding . in fine , if boys invention be to be quickn'd by such exercise , let them make themes in english ; where they have facility , and a command of words , and will better see what kind of thoughts they have , when put into their own language : and if the latin tongue be to be learn'd , let it be done the easiest way , without toiling and disguisting the mind , by so uneasie an imployment , as that of making speeches join'd to it . § . 165. if these may be any reasons against children's making latin themes at school , i have much more to say , and of more weight , against their making verses ; verses of any sort : for if he has no genius to poetry , 't is the most unreasonable thing in the world , to torment a child , and waste his time about that which can never succeed : and if he have a poetick vein , 't is to me the strangest thing in the world , that the father should desire , or suffer it to be cherished , or improved . methinks the parents should labour to have it stifled , and suppressed , as much as may be ; and i know not what reason a father can have , to wish his son a poet , who does not desire to have him bid defiance to all other callings , and business , which is not yet the worst of the case ; for if he proves a successful rhymer , and get once the reputation of a wit , i desire it may be consider'd what company and places he is like to spend his time in , nay , and estate too . for it is very seldom seen , that any one discovers mines of gold or silver in parnassus . 't is a pleasant air , but a barren soil ; and there are very few instances of those , who have added to their patrimony by any thing they have reaped from thence . poetry and gaming , which usually go together , are alike in this too , that they seldom bring any advantage , but to those who have nothing else to live on . men of estates almost constantly go away losers ; and 't is well if they escape at a cheaper rate than their whole estates , or the greatest part of them . if therefore you would not have your son the fiddle to every jovial company , without whom the sparks could not relish their wine , nor know how to pass an afternoon idly ; if you would not have him waste his time and estate , to divert others , and contemn the dirty acres left him by his ancestors , i do not think you will much care he should be a poet , or that his school-master should enter him in versifying . but yet , if any one will think poetry a desirable quality in his son , and that the study of it would raise his fancy and parts , he must needs yet confess , that to that end reading the excellent greek and roman poets is of more use , than making bad verses of his own , in a language that is not his own . and he , whose design it is to excell in english poetry , would not , i guess , think the way to it were to make his first essays in latin verses . § . 166. another thing very ordinary in the vulgar method of grammar-schools there is , of which i see no use at all , unless it be to balk young lads in the way to learning languages , which , in my opinion , should be made as easie and pleasant as may be ; and that which was painful in it , as much as possible quite removed . that which i mean , and here complain of , is , their being forced to learn by heart , great parcels of the authors which are taught them ; wherein i can discover no advantage at all , especially to the business they are upon . languages are to be learn'd only by reading , and talking , and not by scraps of authors got by heart ; which when a man's head is stuffed with , he has got the just furniture of a pedant , and 't is the ready way to make him one ; than which , there is nothing less becoming a gentleman : for what can be more ridiculous , than to mix the rich and handsome thoughts and sayings of others , with a deal of poor stuff of his own ; which is thereby the more exposed , and has no other grace in it , nor will otherwise recommend the speaker , than a thread-bare , russet coat would , that was set off with large patches of scarlet , and glittering brocard . indeed , where a passage comes in the way , whose matter is worth remembrance , and the expression of it very close and excellent ( as there are many such in the ancient authors ) it may not be amiss to lodge it in the mind of young scholars , and with such admirable stroaks of those great masters , sometimes exercise the memory of school-boys . but their learning of their lessons by heart , as they happen to fall out in their books , without choice or distinction , i know not what it serves for , but to mis-spend their time and pains , and give them a disgust and aversion to their books , wherein they find nothing but useless trouble . § . 167. but under whose care soever a child is put , to be taught , during the tender and flexible years of his life , this is certain , it should be one , who thinks latin and language the least part of education ; one who knowing how much vertue , and a well-temper'd soul is to be preferr'd to any sort of learning or language , makes it his chief business to form the mind of his scholars , and give that a right disposition , which if once got , though all the rest should be neglected , would , in due time , produce all the rest ; and which if it be not got , and setled , so as to keep out ill and vicious habits , languages and sciences , and all the other accomplishments of education will be to no purpose , but to make the worse , or more dangerous man. and , indeed , whatever stir there is made about getting of latin , as the great and difficult business , his mother may teach it him her self , if she will but spend two or three hours in a day with him , and make him read the evangelists in latin to her : for she need but buy a latin testament , and having got somebody to mark the last syllable but one , where it is long , in words above two syllables ( which is enough to regulate her pronunciation and accenting the words ) read daily in the gospels , and then let her avoid understanding them in latin if she can . and when she understands the evangelists in latin , let her , in the same manner , read aesop's fables , and so proceed on to eutropius , justin , and other such books . i do not mention this , as an imagination of what i fansie may do , but as of a thing i have known done , and the latin tongue with ease got this way . but to return to what i was saying : he that takes on him the charge of bringing up young men , especially young gentlemen , should have something more in him than latin , more than even a knowledge in the liberal sciences : he should be a person of eminent vertue and prudence , and with good sense , have good humour , and the skill to carry himself with gravity , ease , and kindness , in a constant conversation with his pupils . § . 168. at the same time that he is learning french and latin , a child , as has been said , may also be enter'd in arithmetick , geography , chronology , history , and geometry too . for if these be taught him in french or latin , when he begins once to understand either of these tongues , he will get a knowledge in these sciences , and the language to boot . geography , i think , should be begun with : for the learning of the figure of the globe , the situation and boundaries of the four parts of the world , and that of particular kingdoms and countries , being only an exercise of the eyes and memory , a child with pleasure will learn and retain them : and this is so certain , that i now live in the house with a child , whom his mother has so well instructed this way in geography , that he knew the limits of the four parts of the world , could readily point being asked , to any county upon the globe , or any country in the map of england , knew all the great rivers , promontories , straits , and bays in the world , and could find the longitude and latitude of any place , before he was six years old . these things , that he will thus learn by sight , and have by roat in his memory , is not all , i confess , that he is to learn upon the globes . but yet it is a good step and preparation to it , and will make the remainder much easier , when his judgment is grown ripe enough for it : besides , that it gets so much time now ; and by the pleasure of knowing things , leads him on insensibly to the gaining of languages . § . 169. when he has the natural parts of the globe well fix'd in his memory , it may then be time to begin arithmetick . by the natural parts of the globe , i mean the several positions of the parts of the earth , and sea , under different names and distinctions of countries , not coming yet to those artificial and imaginary lines , which have been invented , and are only suppos'd for the better improvement of that science . § . 170. arithmetick , is the easiest , and consequently the first sort of abstract reasoning , which the mind commonly bears , or accustoms it self to ; and is of so general use in all parts of life and business , that scarce any thing is to be done without it : this is certain , a man cannot have too much of it , nor too perfectly ; he should therefore begin to be exercis'd in counting , as soon , and as far , as he is capable of it ; and do something in it every day , till he is master of the art of numbers . when he understands addition and substraction , he may then be advanced farther in geography , and after he is acquainted with the poles , zones , parallel circles and meridians , be taught longitude and latitude , and the use of maps , and by that time he is perfected in these circles of the globe , with the horizon and the eclyptick , he may be taught the same thing also on the celestial globe , with the figure and position of the several constellations , which may be shewed him first upon the globe , and then in the heavens . but in this as in all other parts of instruction , great care must be taken with children , to begin with that , which is plain and simple , and to teach them as little as can be at once , and settle that well in their heads , before you proceed to the next , or any thing new in that science , whereby children 'scape being amazed and confounded ; by which way of giving them first one simple idea , and taking care that they took it right and perfectly comprehended it before you went any farther , and then adding some other simple idea ( which lay next in your way to what you aim'd at ) and no more to it , and so proceeding by gentle and insensible steps , children have had early righter apprehensions , and their thoughts extended farther , than could have been expected . and when he has learn'd any thing himself , there is no such way to fix it in his memory , and to incourage him to go on , as to set him to teach it others . § . 171. when he has once got such an acquaintance with the globes , he may be fit to be tried a little in geometry ; wherein i think the six first books of euelid enough for him to be taught . for i am in some doubt , whether more to a man of business be necessary or useful . at least if he have a genius and inclination to it , being enter'd so far by his tutor , he will be able to go on of himself without a teacher . the globes therefore must be studied , and that diligently , and i think , may be begun betimes , if the tutor will but be careful to distinguish , what the child is capable of knowing , and what not ; for which this may be a rule that perhaps will go a pretty way ( viz. ) that children may be taught any thing , that falls under their senses , especially their sight , as far as their memories only are exercised : and thus a child very young may learn , which is the aequator , which the meridian , &c. which europe and which england upon the globes , as soon almost as he knows the rooms of the house he lives in , if care be taken not to teach him too much at once , nor to set him upon a new part , till that , which he is upon , be perfectly learn'd and fix'd in his memory . § . 172. with geography , chronology ought to go hand in hand , i mean the general part of it , so that he may have in his mind a view of the whole current of time , and the several considerable epochs that are made use of in history . without these two history , which is the great mistress of prudence and civil knowledge ; and ought to be the proper study of a gentleman , or man of business in the world , without geography and chronology , i say , history will be very ill retained , and very little useful ; but be only a jumble of matters of fact , confusedly heaped together without order or instruction . 't is by these two , that the actions of mankind are ranked into their proper places of times and countries , under which circumstances , they are not only much easier kept in the memory , but in that natural order , are only capable to afford those observations , which make a man the better and the abler for reading them . § . 172. when i speak of chronology as a science he should be perfect in , i do not mean the little controversies , that are in it . these are endless , and most of them of so little importance to a gentleman , as not to deserve to be inquir'd into , were they capable of an easy decision . and therefore all that learned noise and dust of the chronologist is wholly to be avoided . the most useful book i have seen in that part of learning , is a small treatise of strauchius , which is printed in twelves , under the title of breviarum chronologium , out of which may be selected all that is necessary to be taught a young gentleman concerning chronology ; for all that is in that treatise a learner need not be cumbred with . he has in him the most remarkable or usual epochs reduced all to that of the julian period , which is the easiest and plainest , and surest method , that can be made use of in chronology . to this treatise of strauchius , helvicus's tables may be added as a book to be turned to on all occasions . § . 173. as nothing teaches , so nothing delights more than history . the first of these recommends it to the study of grown-men , the latter makes me think it the fittest for a young lad , who as soon as he is instructed in chronology , and acquainted with the several epochs in use in this part of the world , and can reduce them to the julian period , should then have some latin history put into his hand . the choice should be directed by the easiness of the stile ; for where-ever he begins , chronology will keep it from confusion ; and the pleasantness of the subject inviting him to read the language will insensibly be got , without that terrible vexation and uneasiness , which children suffer , where they are put into books beyond their capacity , such as are the roman orators and poets , only to learn the roman language . when he has by reading master'd the easier , such perhaps as justin , eutropius , quintus curtius , &c. the next degree to these , will give him no great trouble : and thus by a gradual progress from the plainest and easiest historians , he may at last come to read the most difficult and sublime of the latin authors , such as are tully , virgil , and horace . § . 174. the knowledge of vertue , all along from the beginning , in all the instances he is capable of , being taught him , more by practice than rules ; and the love of reputation instead of satisfying his appetite , being made habitual in him , i know not whether he should read any other discourses of morality , but what he finds in the bible ; or have any system of ethicks put into his hand , till he can read tully's offices , not as a school-boy to learn latin , but as one that would be informed in the principles and precepts of vertue , for the conduct of his life . § . 175. when he has pretty well digested tully's offices , it may be seasonable to set him upon grotius de jure belli & pacis , or which i think , is the better of the two , puffendorf de jure naturali & gentium ; wherein he will be instructed in the natural rights of men , and the original and foundations of society , and the duties resulting from thence . this general part of civil-law and history , are studies which a gentleman should not barely touch at , but constantly dwell upon , and never have done with . a vertuous and well behaved young man , that is well versed in the general part of the civil-law ( which concerns not the chicane of private cases , but the affairs and intercourse of civilized nations in general , grounded upon principles of reason ) understands latin well , and can write a good hand , one may turn loose into the world , with great assurance , that he will find imployment and esteem every where . § . 176. it would be strange to suppose an english gentleman should be ignorant of the law of his country . this , whatever station he is in , is so requisite , that from a justice of the peace , to a minister of state , i know no place he can well fill without it . i do not mean the chicane or wrangling and captious part of the law ; a gentleman , whose business it is to seek the true measures of right and wrong , and not the arts how to avoid doing the one , and secure himself in doing the other , ought to be as far from such a study of the law , as he is concerned diligently to apply himself to that , wherein he may be serviceable to his country . and to that purpose , i think the right way for a gentleman to study our law , which he does not design for his calling , is to take a view of our english constitution and government , in the ancient books of the common law ; and some more modern writers , who out of them have given an account of this government . and having got a true idea of that , then to read our history , and with it join in every king's reign the laws then made . this will give an insight in to the reason of our statutes , and shew the true ground upon which they came to be made , and what weight they ought to have . § . 177. rhetorick and logick being the arts that in the ordinary method usually follow immediately after grammar , it may perhaps be wondered that i have said so little of them : the reason is , because of the little advantage young people receive by them : for i have seldom or never observed any one to get the skill of reasoning well , or speaking handsomly by studying those rules , which pretend to teach it : and therefore i would have a young gentleman take a view of them in the shortest systems could be found , without dwelling long on the contemplation and study of those formalities . right reasoning is founded on something else than the predicaments and predicables , and does not consist in talking in mode and figure it self . but 't is besides my present business to enlarge upon this speculation : to come therefore to what we have in hand ; if you would have your son reason well , let him read chillingworth ; and if you would have him speak well , let him be conversant in tully , to give him the true idea of eloquence ; and let him read those things that are well writ in english , to perfect his style in the purity of our language . if the use and end of right reasoning , be to have right notions and a right judgment of things ; to distinguish betwixt truth and falshood , right and wrong , and to act accordingly ; be sure not to let your son be bred up in the art and formality of disputing , either practising it himself , or admiring it in others ; unless instead of an able man , you desire to have him an insignificant wrangler , opiniater in discourse , and priding himself in contradicting others ; or , which is worse , questioning every thing , and thinking there is no such thing as truth to be sought , but only victory in disputing . truth is to be found and maintained by a mature and due consideration of things themselves , and not by artificial terms and ways of arguing , which lead not men so much into the discovery of truth , as into a captious and fallacious use of doubtful words , which is the most useless and disingenous way of talking , and most unbecoming a gentleman or a lover of truth of any thing in the world. natural philosophy , as a speculative science , i think we have none , and perhaps , i may think i have reason to say we never shall . the works of nature are contrived by a wisdom , and operate by ways too far surpassing our faculties to discover , or capacities to conceive , for us ever to be able to reduce them into a science . natural philosophy being the knowledge of the principles , properties and operations of things , as they are in themselves , i imagine there are two parts of it , one comprehending spirits with their nature and qualities ; and the other bodies . the first of these is usually referr'd to metaphysicks , but under what title soever the consideration of spirits comes , i think it ought to go before the study of matter , and body , not as a science that can be methodized into a system , and treated of upon principles of knowledge ; but as an enlargement of our minds towards a truer and fuller comprehension of the intellectual world to which we are led both by reason and revelation and since the clearest and largest discoveries we have of other spirits besides god and our own souls is imparted to us from heaven by revelation , i think the information , that at least young people should have of them , should be taken from that revelation . to this purpose , i think , it would be well if there were made a good history of the bible for young people to read , wherein every thing , that is fit to be put into it , being laid down in its due order of time , and several things omitted , which were suited only to riper age , that confusion , which is usually produced by promiscuous reading of the scripture , as it lies now bound up in our bibles , would be avoided . and also this other good obtained , that by reading of it constantly , there would be instilled into the minds of children , a notion and belief of spirits , they having so much to do in all the transactions of that history , which will be a good preparation to the study of bodies , for without the notion and allowance of spirits , our philosophy will be lame and defective in one main part of it , when it leaves out the contemplation of the most excellent and powerful part of the creation . § . 179. of this history of the bible , i think too it would be well if there were a short and plain epitome made , containing the chief and most material heads , for children to be conversant in as soon as they can read . this , though it will lead them early into some notion of spirits , yet is not contrary to what i said above , that i would not have children troubled whilst young with notions of spirits , whereby my meaning was , that i think it inconvenient , that their yet tender minds should receive early impressions of goblins , spectres , and apparitions , wherewith their maids and those about them are apt to fright them into a compliance with their orders , which often proves a great inconvenience to them all their lives after , by subjecting their minds to frights , fearful apprehensions , weakness , and superstition , which , when coming abroad into the world , and conversation , they grow weary and asham'd of , it not seldom happens , that to make as they think , a through cure , and ease themselves of a load has sate so heavy on them , they throw away the thoughts of all spirits together , and so run into the other but worse extream . § . 180. the reason why i would have this premised to the study of bodies ; and the doctrine of the scriptures well imbibed , before young men be entered in natural philosophy , is , because matter being a thing , that all our senses are constantly conversant with , it is so apt to possess the mind , and exclude all other beings , but matter , that prejudice grounded on such principles often leaves no room for the admittance of spirits , or the allowing any such things as immaterial beings , in rerum natura , when yet it is evivent that by mere matter and motion , none of the great phoenomena of nature can be resolved , to instance but in that common one of gravity , which i think impossible to be explained by any natural operation of matter or any other law of motion , but the positive will of a superiour being , so ordering it . and therefore since the deluge cannot be well explained without admitting something out of the ordinary course of nature , i propose it to be considered whether god's altering the center of gravity in the earth for a time ( a thing as intelligible as gravity it self , which , perhaps a little variation of causes unknown to us would produce ) will not more easily account for noah's flood , than any hypothesis yet made use of to solve it . but this i mention by the by , to shew the necessity of having recourse to something beyond bare matter and its motion in the explication of nature , to which the notions of spirits and their power , to whose operation so much is attributed in the bible , may be a fit preparative reserving to a fitter opportunity , a fuller explication of this hypothesis , and the application of it to all the parts of the deluge , and any difficulties can be supposed in the history of the flood as recorded in the bible . § . 181. but to return to the study of natural philosophy , though the world be full of systems of it , yet i cannot say , i know any one which can be taught a young man as a science , wherein he may be sure to find truth and certainty , which is what all sciences give an expectation of . i do not hence conclude that none of them are to be read : it is necessary for a gentleman in this loarned age to look into some of them , to fit himself for conversation . but whether that of des cartes be put into his hands , as that which is most in fashion ; or it be thought fit to give him a short view of that and several other also . i think the systems of natural philosophy that have obtained in this part of the world , are to be read , more to know the hypotheses , and to understand the terms and ways of talking of the several sects , than with hopes to gain thereby a comprehensive scientifical and satisfactory knowledge of the works of nature : only this may be said , that the modern corpusoularians talk in most things more intelligibly than the peripateticks , who possessed the schools immediately before them . he that would look farther back , and acquaint himself with the several opinions of the ancients , may consult dr. cudworth's intellectual system ; wherein that very learned author hath with such accurateness and judgment collected and explained the opinions of the greek philosophers , that what principles they built on , and what were the chief hypotheses , that divided them , is better to be seen in him , than any where else that i know . but i would not deterr any one from the study of nature , because all the knowledge we have , or possibly can have of it , cannot be brought into a science . there are very many things in it , that are convenient and necessary to be known to a gentleman : and a great many other , that will abundantly reward the pains of the curious with delight and advantage . but these , i think , are rather to be found amongst such , as have imployed themselves in making rational experiments and observations , than in writting barely speculative systems . such writings therefore , as many of mr. boyles are , with others , that have writ of husbandry , planting , gardening , and the like , may be fit for a gentleman , when he has a litle acquainted himself with some of the systems of the natural philosophy in fashion . § . 182. though the systems of physick , that i have met with , afford little encouragement to look for certainty or science in any treatise , which shall pretend to give us a body of natural philosophy from the first principles of bodies in general , yet the incomparable mr. newton , has shewn how far mathematicks , applied to some parts of nature , may , upon principles that matter of fact justifie , carry us in the knowledge of some , as i may so call them , particular provinces of the incomprehensible universe . and if others could give us so good and clear an account of other parts of nature , as he has of this our planetary world , and the most considerable phoenomena observable in it , in his admirable book , philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica , we might in time hope to be furnished with more true and certain knowledge in several parts of this stupendious machin , than hitherto we could have expected . and though there are very few , that have mathematicks enough to understand his demonstrations , yet the most accurate mathematicians , who have examined them , allowing them to be such , his book will deserve to be read , and give no small light and pleasure to those , who willing to understand the motions , properties , and operations of the great masses of matter , in this our solar system , will but carefully mind his conclusions , which may be depended on as propositions well proved . § . 183. this is , in short , what i have thought concerning a young gentleman's studies ; wherein it will possibly be wondred , that i should omit greek , since amongst the grecians is to be found the original , as it were , and foundation of all that learning which we have in this part of the world. i grant it so ; and will add , that no man can pass for a scholar , that is ignorant of the greek tongue . but i am not here considering of the education of a profess'd scholar , but of a gentleman , to whom latin and french , as the world now goes , is by every one acknowledged to be necessary . when he comes to be a man , if he has a mind to carry his studies farther , and look into the greek learning , he will then easily get that tongue himself : and if he has not that inclination , his learning of it under a tutor will be but lost labour , and much of his time and pains spent in that , which will be neglected and thrown away , as soon as he is at liberty . for how many are there of an hundred , even amongst scholars themselves , who retain the greek they carried from school ; or ever improve it to a familiar reading , and perfect understanding of greek authors ? § . 184. besides what is to be had from study and books , there are other accomplishments necessary to a gentleman , to be got by exercise , and to which time is to be allowed , and for which masters must be had . dancing being that which gives graceful motions all the life , and above all things manliness , and a becoming confidence to young children , i think it cannot be learn'd too early , after they are once of an age and strength capable of it . but you must be sure to have a good master , that knows , and can teach , what is gracefull and becoming , and what gives a freedom and easiness to all the motions of the body . one that teaches not this , is worse than none at all , natural unfashionableness being much better , than apish , affected postures ; and i think it much more passable to put off the hat , and make a leg , like an honest country-gentleman , than like an ill-fashion'd dancing-master . for as for the jigging part and the figures of dances , i count that little or nothing farther , than as it tends to perfect graceful carriage . § . 185. musick is thought to have some affinity with dancing , and a good hand , upon some instruments , is by many people mightily valued ; but it wastes so much of a young man's time , to gain but a moderate skill in it , and engages often in such odd company , that many think it much better spared : and i have , amongst men of parts and business , so seldom heard any one commended , or esteemed for having an excellency in musick , that amongst all those things that ever came into the list of accomplishments , i think i may give it the last place . our short lives will not serve us for the attainment of all things ; nor can our minds be always intent on something to be learn'd : the weakness of our constitutions , both of mind and body , requires that we should be often unbent , and he , that will make a good use of any part of his life , must allow a large portion of it to recreation . at least this must not be denied to young people , unless whilst you , with too much haste , make them old , you have the displeasure to see them in their graves , or a second childhood , sooner than you could wish . and therefore , i think , that the time and pains allotted to serious improvements , should be employ'd about things of most use and consequence , and that too in the methods the most easie and short , that could be at any rate obtained : and perhaps it would be none of the least secrets in education , to make the exercises of the body and the mind , the recreation one to another . i doubt not but that something might be done in it , by a prudent man , that would well consider the temper and inclination of his pupil . for he that is wearied either with study , or dancing , does not desire presently to go to sleep ; but to do something else , which may divert and delight him . but this must be always remembred , that nothing can come into the account of recreation , that is not done with delight . § . 186. fencing and riding the great horse , are look'd upon as so necessary parts of breeding , that it would be thought a great omission to neglect them : the latter of the two being for the most part to be learn'd only in great towns , is one of the best exercises for health which is to be had in those places of ease and luxury ; and upon that account makes a fit part of a young gentleman's employment during his abode there . and as far as it conduces to give a man a firm and graceful seat on horseback , and to make him able to teach his horse to stop and turn quick , and to rest on his haunches , is of use to a gentleman both in peace and war. but whether it be of moment enough to be made a business of , and deserve to take up more of his time than should barely for his health be employed at due intervals in some such vigorous exercise , i shall leave to the discretion of parents and tutors , who will do well to remember , in all the parts of education , that most time and application is to be bestowed on that which is like to be of greatest consequence , and frequentest use , in the ordinary course and occurrences of that life the young man is designed for . § . 187. as for fencing , it seems to me a good exercise for health , but dangerous to the life . the confidence of it being apt to engage in quarrels , those that think they have some skill , and to make them more touchy than needs , on points of honour , and slight occasions . young men in their warm blood are forward to think , they have in vain learned to fence , if they never shew their skill and courage in a duel , and they seem to have reason . but how many sad tragedies that reason has been the occasion of , the tears of many a mother can witness . a man that cannot fence will be the more careful to keep out of bullies and gamesters company , and will not be half so apt to stand upon punctilio's , nor to give affronts , or fiercely justifie them when given , which is that , which usually makes the quarrel . and when a man is in the field , a moderate skill in fencing rather exposes him to the sword of his enemy , than secures him from it . and certainly a man of courage who cannot fence at all , and therefore will put all upon one thrust , and not stand parrying , has the odds against a moderate fencer , especially if he has skill in wrestling , and therefore if any provision be to be made against such accidents , and a man be to prepare his son for duels , i had much rather mine should be a good wrestler than an ordinary fencer , which is the most a gentleman can attain to in it , unless he will be constantly in the fencing-school , and every day exercising . but since fencing and riding the great horse , are so generally looked upon as necessary qualifications in the breeding of a gentleman , it will be hard wholly to deny any one of that rank these marks of distinction . i shall leave it therefore to the father , to consider , how far the temper of his son , and the station he is like to be in , will allow or incourage him to comply with fashions , which having very little to do with civil life , were yet formerly unknown to the most warlike nations , and seem to have added little of force or courage to those who have received them , unless we will think martial skill or prowess , have been improved by duelling , with which fencing came into , and with which i presume it will go out of , the world. § . 188. these are my present thoughts concerning learning and accomplishments . the great business of all is vertue and wisdom . nullum numen abest si sit prudentia . teach him to get a mastery over his inclinations , and submit his appetite to reason . this being obtained , and by constant practice settled into habit , the hardest part of the task is over . to bring a young man to this , i know nothing which so much contributes , as the love of praise and commendation , which should therefore be instilled into him by all arts imaginable . make his mind as sensible of credit and shame as may be : and when you have done that , you have put a principle into him , which will influence his actions , when you are not by , to which the fear of a little smart of a rod is not comparable , and which will be the proper stock , whereon afterwards to graft the true principles of morality and religion . § . 189. i have one thing more to add , which as soon as i mention , i shall run the danger to be suspected to have forgot what i am about , and what i have above written concerning education , which has all tended towards a gentleman's calling , with which a trade seems wholly to be inconsistent . and yet , i cannot forbear to say , i would have him learn a trade , a manual trade ; nay , two or three , but one more particularly . § . 190. the busy inclination of children being always to be directed to some thing , that may be useful to them . the advantage may be considered of two kinds ; 1. where the skill it self , that is got by exercise , is worth the having . thus skill not only in languages , and learned sciences , but in painting , turning , gardening , tempering , and working in iron , and all other useful arts is worth the having . 2. where the exercise it self , without any other consideration , is necessary , or useful for health . knowledge in some things is so necessary to be got by children whilst they are young , that some part of their time is to be allotted to their improvement in them , though those imployments contribute nothing at all to their health : such are reading and writing and all other sedentary studies , for the improvement of the mind , and are the unavoidable business of gentlemen quite from their cradles . other manual arts , which are both got and exercised by labour , do many of them by their exercise contribute to our health too , especially , such as imploy us in the open air. in these , then , health and improvement may be joyn'd together , and of these should some fit ones be chosen , to be made the recreations of one , whose chief business is with books and study . in this choice , the age and inclination of the person is to be considered , and constraint always to be avoided in bringing him to it . for command and force may often create , but can never cure an aversion : and whatever any one is brought to by compulsion , he will leave as soon as he can , and be little profited , and less recreated by , whilst he is at it . § . 191. that which of all others would please me best , would be a painter , were there not an argument or two against it not easie to be answered . first , ill painting is one of the worst things in the world ; and to attain a tolerable degree of skill in it , requires too much of a man's time. if he has a natural inclination to it , it will endanger the neglect of all other more useful studies , to give way to that , and if he have no inclination to it , all the time , pains , and money shall be employ'd in it , will be thrown away to no purpose . another reason why i am not for painting in a gentleman , is , because it is a sedentary recreation , which more employs the mind than the body . a gentleman 's more serious employment i look on to be study ; and when that demands relaxation and refreshment , it should be in some exercise of the body , which unbends the thought , and confirms the health and strength . for these two reasons i am not for painting . § . 192. in the next place , for a country-gentleman , i should propose one , or rather both these ; viz. gardening , and working in wood , as a carpenter , joyner , or turner , as being fit and healthy recreations for a man of study , or business . for since the mind endures not to be constantly employ'd in the same thing , or way ; and sedentary or studious men , should have some exercise , that at the same time might divert their minds , and employ their bodies ; i know none that could do it better for a country-gentleman , than these two , the one of them affording him exercise , when the weather or season keeps him from the other . besides , that by being skill'd in the one of them , he will be able to govern and teach his gardener ; by the other , contrive and make a great many things both of delight and use : though these i propose not as the chief end of his labour , but as temptations to it ; diversion from his other more serious thoughts and employments , by useful and healthy manual exercise , being what i chiefly aim at in it . § . 193. nor let it be thought that i mistake , when i call these or the like trades , diversions or recreations : for recreation is not being idle ( as every one may observe ) but easing the wearied part by change of business : and he that thinks diversion may not lie in hard and painful labour , forgets the early rising , hard riding , heat , cold and hunger of huntsmen , which is yet known to be the constant recreation of men of the greatest condition . delving , planting , inoculating , or any the like profitable employments , would be no less a diversion , than any of the idle sports in fashion , if men could but be brought to delight in them , which custom and skill in any trade will quickly make any one do . and i doubt not , but there are to be found those , who being frequently call'd to cards , or any other play , by those they could not refuse , have been more tired with these recreations , than with any the most serious employment of life , though the play has been such , as they have naturally had no aversion to , and with which they could willingly sometimes divert themselves . § . 194. though when one reflects on these and other the like pastimes , ( as they are call'd , ) one finds they leave little satisfaction behind them , when they are over ; and most commonly give more vexation than delight to people , whilst they are actually engaged in them , and neither profit the mind , nor the body . they are plain instances to me , that men cannot be perfectly idle ; they must be doing something . the skill should be so to employ their time of recreation , that it may relax and refresh the part , that has been exercised , and is tired , and yet do something , which besides the present delight and ease , may produce what will afterwards be profitable . it has been nothing but the vanity and pride of greatness and riches , that has brought unprofitable and dangerous pastimes into fashion , and persuaded people into a belief , that the learning or putting their hands to any thing , that was useful , could not be a diversion fit for a gentleman . this has been that which has given cards , dice , and drinking so much credit in the world : and a great many throw away their spare hours in them , through the prevalency of custom , and want of some better employment to pass their time , more than from any real delight is to be found in them , only because it being very irksome and uneasie to do nothing at all , they had never learn'd any laudable manual art where with to divert themselves . ; and so they betake themselves to those foolish , or ill ways in use , to help off their time , which a rational man , till corrupted by custom , could find very little pleasure in . § . 195. i say not this , that i would never have a young gentleman accommodate himself to the innocent diversions in fashion , amongst those of his age and condition . i am so far from having him austere and morose to that degree , that i would persuade him to more than ordinary complaisance sor all the gaieties and diversions of those he converses with , and be averse or resty in nothing , they should desire of him , that might become a gentleman and an honest man. but allowance being made for idle and jovial conversation , and all fashionable becoming recreations ; i say , a young man will have time enough , from his serious and main business , to learn almost any trade . 't is want of application , and not of time , that men are not skilful in more arts than one ; and an hour in a day , constantly employ'd in such a way of diversion , will carry a man , in a short time , a great deal farther than he can imagine : which if it were of no other use , but to drive the common , vicious , useless , and dangerous pastimes out of fashion ; and to shew there was no need of them , would deserve to be encouraged . if men from their youth were weaned from that sauntring humour , wherein some , out of custom , let a good part of their lives run uselesly away , without either business or recreation , they would find time enough to acquire dexterity and skill in hundreds of things ; which though remote from their proper callings , would not at all interfere with them . and therefore , i think , for this , as well as other reasons before-mentioned , a lazie , listless humour , that idlely dreams away the time , is of all others the least to be indulged , or permitted in young people . it is the proper state of one sick , and out of order in his health , and is tolerable in no body else , of what age or condition soever . § . 196. to the arts above-mentioned , may be added perfuming , varnishing , graving , and several sorts of working in iron , brass , and silver : and if , as it happens to most young gentlemen , that a considerable part of his time be spent in a great town , he may learn to cut , pollish , and set precious stones , or employ himself in grinding and pollishing optical glasses . amongst the great variety there is of ingenuous manual arts , 't will be impossible that no one should be found to please and delight him , unless he be either idle or debauch'd , which is not to be supposed in a right way of education . and since he cannot be always employ'd in study , reading , and conversation , there will be many an hour , besides what his exercises will take up , which , if not spent this way , will be spent worse : for , i conclude , a young man will seldom desire to sit perfectly still and idle ; or if he does , 't is a fault that ought to be mended . 197. but if his mistaken parents , frighted with the disgraceful names of mechanick and trade , shall have an aversion to any thing of this kind in their children ; yet there is one thing relating to trade , which when they consider , they will think absolutely necessary for their sons to learn. merchants accompts , though a science not likely to help a gentleman to get an estate , yet possibly there is not any thing of more use and efficacy , to make him preserve the estate he has . 't is seldom observed , that he who keeps an accompt of his income and expences , and thereby has constantly under view the course of his domestick affairs , le ts them run to ruine : and i doubt not but many a man gets behind-hand , before he is aware , or runs further on , when he is once in , for want of this care , or the skill to do it . i would therefore advice all gentlemen to learn perfectly merchants accounts , and not think it is a skill , that belongs not to them , because it has received its name , and has been chiefly practised by men of traffick . § . 198. when my young master has once got the skill of keeping accounts ( which is a business of reason more than arithmetick ) perhaps it will not be amiss , that his father , from thenceforth , require him to do it in all his concernments : not that i would have him set down every pint of wine , or play , that costs him money , the general name of expences will serve for such things well enough , nor would i have his father look so narrowly into these accounts , as to take occasion from thence to criticize on his expences . he must remember that he himself was once a young man , and not forget the thoughts he had then , nor the right his son has to have the same : and to have allowance made for them . if therefore , i would have the young , gentleman obliged to keep an account , it is not at all to have that way a check upon his expences ( for what the father allows him , he ought to let him be fully master of ) but only , that he might be brought early into the custom of doing it , and that that might be made familiar and habitual to him betimes , which will be so useful and necessary to be constantly practised the whole course of his life . a noble venetian , whose son wallowed in the plenty of his father's riches , finding his son's expences grow very high and extravagant , ordered his casheer to let him have for the future , no more money , than what he should count , when he received it . this one would think no great restraint to a young gentleman's expences , who could freely have as much money , as he would tell . but , yet this , to one who was used to nothing but the pursuit of his pleasure , proved a very great trouble , which at last ended in this sober and advantageous reflection . if it be so much pains to me barely to count the money , i would spend , what labour and pains did it cost my ancestors , not only to count , but get it ? this rational thought , suggested by this little pains impos'd upon him , wrought so effectually upon his mind , that it made him take up , and from that time forwards , prove a good husband . this at least every body must allow , that nothing is likelier to keep a man within compass , than the having constantly before his eyes , the state of his affairs in a regular course of accounts . § . 199. the last part usually in education is travel , which is commonly thought to finish the work , and compleat the gentleman . i confess travel into foreign countries has great advantages , but the time usually chosen to send young men abroad , is , i think , of all other , that which renders them least capable of reaping those advantages . those which are propos'd , as to the main of them , may be reduced to these two , first language , secondly an improvement in wisdom and prudence , by seeing men , and conversing with people of tempers , customs , and ways of living , different from one another , and especially from those of his parish and neighbourhood . but from sixteen to one and twenty , which is the ordinary time of travel , men are of all their lives , the least suited to these improvements . the first season to get foreign languages , and from their tongue to their true accents , i should think , should be from seven to fourteen or sixteen ; and then too a tutor with them is useful and necessary , who may with those languages teach them other things . but to put them out of their parents view at a great distance , under a governour , when they think themselves too much men to be governed by others , and yet have not prudence and experience enough to govern themselves , what is it , but to expose them to all the greatest dangers of their whole life , when they have the least fence and guard against them ? till that boyling boisterous part of life comes in , it may be hoped , the tutor may have some authority . neither the stubbornness of age , nor the temptation or examples of others can take him from his tutor's conduct , till fifteen or sixteen : but then , when he begins to consort himself with men , and think himself one ; when he comes to relish , and pride himself in manly vices , and thinks it a shame to be any longer under the controul and conduct of another , what can be hoped from even the most careful and discreet governour , when neither he has power to compel , nor his pupil a disposition to be perswaded ; but on the contrary , has the advice of warm blood , and prevailing fashion , to hearken to the temptations of his companions , just as wise as himself , rather than to the perswasions of his tutor , who is now looked on as the enemy to his freedom ? and when is a man so like to miscarry , as when at the same time he is both raw and unruly ? this is the season of all his life , that most requires the eye and authority of his parents , and friends to govern it . the flexibleness of the former part of a man's age , not yet grown up to be head-strong , makes it more governable and safe ; and in the after part , reason and fore-sight begin a little to take place , and mind a man of his safety and improvement . the time therefore i should think the fittest for a young gentleman to be sent abroad , would be , either when he is younger , under a tutor , whom he might be the better for : or when he was some years older , without a governour , when he was of age to govern himself , and make observations of what he found in other countries worthy his notice , and that might be of use to him after his return : and when too , being throughly acquainted with the laws and fashions , the natural and moral advantages and defects of his own country , he has something to exchange , with those abroad , from whose conversation he hoped to reap any knowledge . § . 200. the ordering of travel otherwise is that , i imagine , which makes so many young gentlemen come back so little improved by it . and if they do bring home with them any knowledge of the places and people , they have seen , it is often an admiration of the worst and vainest fashions they met with abroad , retaining a relish and memory of those things wherein their liberty took its first swing , rather than of what should make them better and wiser after their return . and indeed how can it be otherwise , going abroad at the age they do , under a governour , who is to provide their necessaries , and make their observations for them ? thus under the shelter and pretence of a governour , thinking themselves excused from standing upon their own legs , or being accountable for their own conduct , they very seldom trouble themselves with enquiries , or making useful observations of their own . their thoughts run after play and pleasure ; wherein , they take it as a lessening , to be controul'd ; but seldom trouble themselves to examine the designs , observe the address , and consider the arts , tempers and inclinations of men , they meet with ; that so they may know how to comport themselves towards them . here he that travels with them , is to skreen them ; get them out when they have run themselves into the briars , and in all their miscarriages be answerable for them . i confess , the knowledge of men is so great a skill , that it is not to be expected , that a young man should presently be perfect in it : but yet his going abroad is to little purpose , if travel does not somewhat open his eyes , make him cautious and wary , and accustom him to look beyond the out-side , and , under the inoffensive guard of a civil and obliging carriage , keep himself free and safe in his conversation with strangers , and all sorts of people , without forfeiting their good opinion . he that is sent out to travel at the age , and with the thoughts of a man designing to improve himself , may get into the conversation and acquaintance of persons of condition where he comes ; which though a thing of most advantage to a gentleman that travels , yet i ask amongst our young men , that go abroad under tutors , what one is there of an hundred , that ever visits any person of quality ? much less makes an acquaintance with such , from whose conversation he may learn , what is good breeding in that country , and what is worth observation in it : though from such persons it is , one may learn more in one day , than in a years rambling from one june to another . nor indeed is it to be wondred ; for men of worth and parts , will not easily admit the familiarity of boys , who yet need the care of a tutor ; though a young gentleman and a stranger , appearing like a man , and shewing a desire to inform himself in the customs , manners , laws , and government of the country he is in , will find welcome assistance and entertainment , amongst the best and most knowing persons every-where , who will be ready to receive , encourage , and countenance an ingenuous and inquisitive foreigner . § . 201. this , how true soever it be , will not , i fear alter the custom , which has cast the time of travel upon the worst part of a man's life ; but for reasons not taken from their improvement . the young lad must not be ventured abroad at eight or ten , for fear what may happen to the tender child , though he then runs ten times less risque than at sixteen or eighteen . nor must he stay at home till that dangerous heady age be over , because he must be back again by one and twenty to marry and propagate . the father cannot stay any longer for the portion , nor the mother for a new sett of babies to play with ; and so my young master , whatever comes on 't must have a wife look'd out for him , by that time he is of age ; though it would be no prejudice to his strength , his parts , nor his issue , if it were respited for some time , and he had leave to get , in years and knowledge , the start a little of his children , who are often found to tread too near upon the heels of their fathers , to the no great satisfaction either of son or father . but the young gentleman being got within view of matrimony , 't is time to leave him to his mistress . § . 202. though i am now come to a conclusion of what obvious remarks have suggested to me concerning education , i would not have it thought that i look on it as a just treatise on this subject : there are a thousand other things that may need consideration , especially if one should take in the various tempers , different inclinations , and particular defaults , that are to be found in children , and prescribe proper remedies : the variety is so great , that it would require a volume ; nor would that reach it . each man's mind has some peculiarity , as well as his face , that distinguishes him from all others ; and there are possibly scarce two children , who can be conducted by exactly the same method . besides , that i think a prince , a nobleman , and an ordinary gentleman's son , should have different ways of breeding . but having had here only some general views , in reference to the main end and aims in education , and those designed for a gentleman's son , who being then very little , i considered only as white paper , or wax , to be moulded and fashioned as one pleases ; i have touch'd little more than those heads , which i judged necessary for the breeding of a young gentleman of his condition in general ; and have now published these my occasional thoughts with this hope , that though this be far from being a compleat treatise on this subiect , or such , as that every one may find what will just fit his child in it , yet it may give some small light to those , whose concern for their dear little ones , makes them so irregularly bold , that they dare venture to consult their own reason , in the education of their children , rather than wholly to rely upon old custom . the contents of the sections . a. alteration sect. 7. air 9. awe 43. arithmetick 169. astronomy 170. b. bed 22. beating 46. breeding 134 c. cloths 11. costiveness 23. craving 36 , 101. childishness 61. company 66 , 139. compulsion 74 , 121. chiding 75. curiosity 103 , 111. complaints 104. crying 106. cruelty 110 chronology 172. civil-law 175. d. diet 13. drink 16. drink strong 19. dejected 44. dancing 65 , 184. disposition 72. dominion 98. drawing 153. e early 34 , 39. example 69 , 81. excuses 125. ethicks 174. f feet 7. fruie 20. familiarity 91. french 154. fencing 185. g government 88. governour 64. god 129. goblins 131. geography 168. geometry 171. greek 183. gardening 192. h health 2. history 173. i. joyner 192. l. liberality 104. lying 124. learning 140. latin 155 , 167. law 176. logick 177. m. meals 15. mind 31. maimers 65. memoriter 166. musick 185. merchants accounts 197. o. obstinacy 76. p. physick 29. punishment 42 , 70. play-games 123. philosophy natural 177. 188. painting 191. r. rewards 51. reputation 55 , 60. rules 62. reasoning 80. reverence 91. reading 141. rhetorick 177. recreation 193. s. swiming 8. sleep 21. self-denial 44. shame 59. sauntring 116. spirits 130. t. tenderness 4. task 71. tutor 87. temper 95. truth 122. themes 162. trade 189 , 195. travel 199. v. vertue 128. verses 165. w. warmth 5. whipping 82. wisdom 133. writing . 152. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a48896-e310 health . tenderness . warmth . feet . alterations . swiming . air. cloths . diet. meals . drink . strong drink . fruit sleep . bed. costiveness . physick . mind . early . craving . early . punishments . awe . self-denial . dejected . beating . rewards . reputation . shame . reputation . childishness . rules . manners . dancing . manners . company . example . punishment task . disposition . compulsion . chiding . obstinacy . reasoning . examples . whipping . tutor governour . familiarity . reverence . governour . temper . dominion . craving . curiosity . complaints . liberality . crying . cruelty . curiosity . sauntring . compulsion . play-games . lying . excuses . vertue . god. spirits . goblins . truth . wisdom . breeding . company . learning . reading . writing . drawing . french. latin. themes . verses . memoriter . latin. geography . arithmetick . astronomy . geometry . chronology . history . ethicks . civil-law . law. rhetorick . logick . natural philosophy . greek . dancing . musick . fencing . trade . painting . gardning . joyner . recreation . trade . merchants accompts . merchants accounts . travel . an abridgment of mr. locke's essay concerning humane [sic] understanding essay concerning human understanding locke, john, 1632-1704. 1696 approx. 374 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 165 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a48871 wing l2735 estc r23044 12238693 ocm 12238693 56724 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48871) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 56724) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 606:7) an abridgment of mr. locke's essay concerning humane [sic] understanding essay concerning human understanding locke, john, 1632-1704. wynne, john, 1667-1743. [8], 310, [10] p. printed for a. and j. churchill ..., and edw. castle ..., london : 1696. advertisement: p. [10] at end. dedication signed: john wynne. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng knowledge, theory of. 2004-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-12 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-01 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2005-01 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an abridgment of m r. locke's essay concerning humane understanding . london , printed for a. and j. churchill at the black swan in pater-noster-row , and edw. castle next scotland-yard-gate , near whiiehall , 1696. to the much esteemed mr. john locke . honoured sir , i send you this imperfect draught of your excellent essay concerning humane understanding , which i must confess , falls as much short of the perfection , as it does of the length of the original . nevertheless , as i lately intimated to you ( and you were pleased to think , that what i propos'd in reference to this design , would not be wholly lost labour ) i am not without hopes , that it may in this contracted form , prove in some measure serviceable to that noble end , which you have so successfully aimed at in it , viz. the advancement of real and useful knowledge . the inducement which moved me to think of abridging it , was a consideration purely extrinsical to the work it self ; and in effect no other than this ; that it would be better suited , to the ease and convenience of some sort of readers , when reduced into this narrow compass . in order to this , i thought the first book , which is employ'd in refuting the common opinion of innate notions and ideas , might be best spared in this abridgment ; especially , since the reader may be convinced by what he shall find here , that such a supposition is at least needless , in regard he may attain to all the knowledge he has , or finds himself capable of , without the help of any such innate ideas . besides this , i have retrench'd most of the larger explications ; and some useful hints , and instructive theories i have wholly omitted , not because they are less considerable in themselves ; but because they seemed not so necessary to be insisted on in this abridgment , considered as a previous instrument , and preparatory help , to guide and conduct the mind in its search after truth and knowledge . i did particularly pass by that accurate discourse , concerning the freedom and determination of the will contained in cap. 21. l. 2. because i found it too long to be inserted here at large , and too weighty and momentous to be but slightly and imperfectly represented . this i hope will prove no prejudice to the essay it self ; since none i presume will think it reasonable to form a judgment of the whole work , from this abridgment of it : and i perswade my self , that few readers will be content with this epitome , who can conveniently furnish themselves with the essay at large . however , i am apt to think , that this alone will serve to make the way to knowledge somewhat more plain and easie ; and afford such helps for the improvement of reason , as are perhaps in vain sought after in those books , which profess to teach the art of reasoning . but nevertheless , whether you shall think fit to let it come abroad , under the disadvantages that attend it in this form , i must leave you to judge . i shall only add , that i think my own pains abundantly recompenc'd by the agreeable , as well as instructive entertainment , which this nearer view , and closer inspection into your essay , afforded me : and i am not a little pleased , that it has given me this opportunity of expressing the just value and esteem i have for it , as well as the honour and respect i have for its author . i am honoured sir , your very humble and oblig'd servant , john wynne . oxon , ap. 17. 1695. errata . page 11 , line 2. r. for body . l. 4. r. to body . l. 13. r. to any . p. 12. l. 17. r. its stock . p. 23. l. 5. for esteem r. existence . p 30. l. 17. r. not the. p. 32. l. 16. r or jet ) p. 33. l. 11. r. vegetables many of them . p. 34. l. 11. r. receiv'd . p. 37. l. 4. r. occasions . p. 40. l. 17. universals . p. 41. l. 3. self . p. 42. l. 10. r. substances , thirdly . l. 26. beholder . theft . p. 43. l. 3. substances . p. 44. penult . dele the. p. 53. l. 18. r. than . p. 65. l. 12. r. observed , p. 70. l. 9. r. by the , p. 73. l. 15. r. complex one , p. 75. l. 14. r. disposition . p. 77. l. 2. r. ideas of . p. 78. l. 16. r. ideas . l. 19. r. idea . penult . r. capacities . p. 81. l. 12. r. one . is as . p. 84. l. 2. r. this notion . p. 90. l. 2. r. where . l. 19. dele they . p. 91. l. 17. r. united , l. 20. r. nourishment ; p. 92. l. 15. r. body , animal is . p. 94. l. 7. dele a. p. 96. l. 6. r. shall be . p. 110. l. 17. r. represent . p. 111. l. 22. r. because it agrees . l. 23. to be its . p. 113. l. 3. dele in l. 8. r. ideas . p. 132. l. 14. r. classing . p. 223. l. 5. r. pr●econcessis . p. 248. l. 17. r. then . p. 251. l. 23. dele are . p. 253. l. 2. dele out . p. 256. l. 23. r. one on another . p. 257. l. 6. r. veritates . p. 259. l. 24. r. an . p. 261. l. 23. r. very . p. 280. l. 6. r. capricie's . the introduction . 1. since it is the understanding that sets man above the rest of sensible beings , and gives him all the advantage and dominion which he has over them ; it is certainly a subject , even , for its nobleness , worth the enquiring into . 2. my purpose therefore is to enquire into the original , certainty , and extent of human knowledge ; together with the grounds and degrees of belief , opinion , and assent , which i shall do in the following method . 3. first , i shall enquire into the original of those ideas or notions , which a man observes and is conscious to himself he has in his mind ; and the ways whereby the understanding comes to be furnished with them . secondly , what knowledge the understanding hath by those ideas ; and the certainty , evidence , and extent of it . thirdly , i shall make some enquiry into the nature and grounds of faith and opinion . 4. if by this enquiry into the nature of the understanding , i can discover the powers thereof , how far they reach , and where they fail us , it may be of use to prevail with the busy mind of man to be more cautious in medling with things exceeding its comprehension , to stop when it is at the utmost extent of its tether , and to sit down in a quiet ignorance of those things , which upon examination are found to be beyond the reach of our capacities . we should not then perhaps be so forward , out of an affectation of universal knowledge , to perplex our selves with disputes about things to which our understandings are not suited ; and of which we cannot frame in our minds any clear or distinct perceptions , or whereof ( as it has perhaps too often happened ) we have not any notions at all : but should learn to content our selves with what is attainable by us in this state. 5. for though the comprehension of our understanding comes exceeding short of the vast extent of things ; yet we shall have cause enough to magnifie the bountiful author of our being , for that portion and degree of knowledge , he has bestowed on us so far above all the rest of the inhabitants of this our mansion . men have reason to be well satisfied with what god hath thought fit for them , since he has given them ( as st. peter says , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) whatsoever is necessary for the conveniencies of life , and information of virtue ; and has put within the reach of their discovery , the comfortable provision for this life , and the way that leads to a better . how short soever their knowledge may come of an universal , or perfect comprehension of whatsoever is , it yet secures their great concernments , that they have light enough to lead them to the knowledge of their maker , and the sight of their own duties . men may find matter sufficient to busie their heads , and employ their hands with variety , delight and satisfaction ; if they will not boldly quarrel with their own constitution , and throw away the blessings their hands are filled with , because they are not big enough to grasp every thing . we shall not have much reason to complain of the narrowness of our minds , if we will but employ them about what may be of use to us ; for of that they are very capable : and it will be an unpardonable , as well as childish pelvishness , if we undervalue the advantages of our knowledge , and neglect to improve it to the ends for which it was given us , because there are some things that are set out of the reach of it . it will he no excuse to an idle and untoward servant , who would not attend his business by candle-light , to plead that he had not broad sun-shine . the candle that is set up in us , shines bright enough for all our purposes . the discoveries we can make with this , ought to satisfie us . and we shall the● use our understandings right , when we entertain all objects in that way and proportion , that they are suited to our faculties ; and upon those grounds , they are capable of being proposed to us ; and not peremptorily or intemperately require demonstration , and demand certainty , where probability only is to be had , and which is sufficient to govern all our concernments . if we will disbelive every thing , because we cannot certainly know all things ; we shall do much what as wiseiy as he who would not use his legs , but sit still and perish because he had no wings to fly. 6. when we know our own strength , we shall the better know what to undertake with hopes of success . and when we have well survey'd the powers of our own minds , we shall not be enclin'd either to sit still , and not set our thoughts on work at all , in despair of knowing any thing ; nor on the other side , question every thing , and disclaim all knowledge , because some things are not to be understood . our business here , is not to know all things but those things which concern our conduct . if we can find out those measures whereby a rational creature , put into that state which man is in , in this world , may and ought to govern his opinions and actions depending thereon , we need not be troubled that some other things scape our knowledge . 7. this was that which gave the first rise to this essay concerning the understanding . for i thought that the first step towards satisfying several enquiries the mind of man was very apt to run into , was , to take a survey of our understandings , examine our own powers , and see to what things they were adapted . till that was done , i suspected we began at the wrong end , and in vain sought for satisfaction in a quiet and secure possession of truths that most concern'd us , whilst we let loose our thoughts in the vast ocean of being , as if all that boundless extent were the natural and undoubted possession of our understandings ; wherein there was nothing exempt from its decisions , or that escaped its comprehension . thus men extending their enquiries beyond their capacities , and letting their thoughts wander into those depths where they can find no sure footing ; it is no wonder , that they raise questions , and multiply disputes , which never coming to any clear resolution , are proper only to continue and increase their doubts , and to confirm them at last in perfect scepticism . whereas , were the capacities of our understandings well considered , the extent of our knowledge once discovered , and the horizon found , which sets bounds between the enlightened and dark parts of things , between what is , and what is not comprehensible by us , men would perhaps with less scruple acquiesce in the avow'd ignorance of the one , and imploy their thoughts and discourse , with more advantage and satisfaction to the other . book ii. chap. i. of ideas in general , and their original . by the term idea , i mean whatever is the object of the understanding , when a man thinks ; or whatever it is which the mind can be employ'd about in thinking . i presume it will be easily granted me , that there are such ideas in mens minds : every one is conscious of them in himself ; and men's words and actions will satisfie him that they are in others . our first inquiry then shall be , how they come into the mind . it is an establish'd opinion amongst some men , that there are in the understanding certain innate principles , some primary notions , ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) characters , as it were stamp'd upon the mind of man , which the soul receives in its very first being , and brings into the world with it . this opinion is accurately discuss'd , and refuted in the first book of this essay , to which i shall refer the reader , that desires satisfaction in this particular . it shall be sufficient here to shew , how men barely by the use of their natural faculties , may attain to all the knowledge they have , without the help of any innate impressions ; and may arrive at certainty without any such original notions or principles . for i imagine , any one will easily grant , that it would be impertinent to suppose the ideas of colours innate in a creature to whom god hath given sight , and a power to receive them by the eyes from external objects . i shall shew by what ways and degrees all other ideas come into the mind ; for which i shall appeal to every one 's own experience and observation . let us then suppose the mind to be , as we say white paper , void of all characters , without any ideas : how comes it to be furnished ? whence has it all the materials of reason and knowledge ? to this i answer , in one word , from experience and observation . this , when employ'd about external sensible objects , we may call sensation : by this we have the ideas of bitter , sweet , yellow , hard , &c. which are commonly call'd sensible qualities , because convey'd into the mind by the senses . the same experience , when employ'd about the internal operations of the mind , perceiv'd , and reflected on by us , we may call reflection . hence we have the ideas of perception , thinking , doubting , willing , reasoning , &c. these two , viz. external material things , as the objects of sensation ▪ and the operations of our own minds , as the objects of reflection , are to me the only originals from whence all our ideas take their beginnings . the understanding seems not to have the least glimmering of ideas , which it doth not receive from one of these two sources . these , when we have taken a full survey of them , and their several modes and compositions , we shall find to contain out whole stock of ideas ; and that we have nothing in our minds which did not come in one of these two ways . 't is evident that children come by degrees to be furnish'd with ideas from the objects they are conversant with . they are so surrounded with bodies that perpetually and diversly affect them , that some ideas will ( whether they will or no ) be imprinted on their minds . light and colours , sounds and tangible qualities , do continually sollicite their proper senses , and force an entrance into the mind . 't is late commonly before children come to have ideas of the operations of their minds ; and some men have not any very clear or perfect ideas of the greatest part of them all their lives . because , tho' they pass there continually ; yet , like floating visions , they make not deep impressions enough to leave in the mind clear and lasting ideas , till the understanding turns inward upon its self , and reflects on its own operations , and makes them the objects of its own contemplation . when a man first perceives , then he may be said to have ideas ; having ideas , and perception , signifying the same thing . it is an opinion maintain'd by some , that the soul always thinks , and that it always has the actual perception of ideas , as long as it exists : and that actual thinking is an inseparable from the soul , as actual extension is from the body . but i cannot conceive it any more necessary for the soul always to think , than for the body always to move : the perception of ideas being ( as i conceive ) to the soul , what motion is to the body , not its essence , but one of its operations : and therefore , though thinking be never so much the proper action of the soul ; yet it is not necessary to suppose , that it should always think , always be in action . that perhaps is the priviledge of the infinite author and preserver of all things , who never slumbers nor sleeps ; but is not competent in any finite being . we know certainly by experience , that we sometimes think ; and thence draw this infallible consequence , that there is something in us that has a power to think , but whether that substance perpetually thinks or no , we can be no farther assured than experience informs us . i would be glad to learn from those men , who so confidently pronounce , that the human soul always thinks , how they come to know it : nay , how they come to know that they themselves think , when they themselves do not perceive it . the most that can be said of it , is , that 't is possible the soul may always think ; but not always retain it in memory : and i say , it is as possible the soul may not always think ; and much more probable that it should sometimes not think , than it should often think , and that a long while together , and not be conscious to it self the next moment after that it had thought . i see no reason therefore to believe , that the soul thinks before the senses have furnished it with ideas to think on ; and as those are increas'd and retain'd , so it comes by exercise to improve its faculty of thinking , in the several parts of it ; as well as afterwards by compounding those ideas , and reflecting on its own operations , it increases in stock , as well as facility in remembring , imagining , reasoning , and other modes of thinking . chap. ii. of simple ideas . of ideas some are simple , others complex . a simple idea , is one uniform appearance or conception in the mind , which is not distinguishable into different ideas . such are sensible qualities , which though they are in the things themselves so united and blended , that there is no separation , no distance between them ; yet the ideas they produce in the mind , enter by the senses simple and unmix'd . thus , tho' the hand feels softness and warmth in the same piece of wax ; yet the simple ideas thus united in the same subject , are as perfectly distinct as those that come in by different senses . these simple ideas are suggested no other way than from the two ways above-mentioned , viz. sensation and reflexion . the mind being once stored with these simple ideas , has the power to repeat , compare , and unite them to an infinite variety : and so can make at pleasure new complex ideas . but the most enlarged understanding cannot frame one new simple idea ; nor by any force destroy them that are there . chap. iii. of ideas of one sense . ideas with reference to the different ways wherein they approach the mind , are of four sorts . first , there are some which come into our minds by one sense only . secondly , there are others convey'd into the mind by more senses than one . thirdly , others that are had from reflexion only . fourthly , there are some suggested to the mind by all the ways of sensation and reflection . first , some enter into the mind only by one sense peculiarly adapted to receive them . thus colours , sounds , smells , &c. come in only by the eyes , ears , and nose . and if these organs are any of them so disorder'd as not to perform their functions , they have no postern to be admitted by ; no other way to bring themselves in view , and be perceiv'd by the understanding . it will be needless to enumerate all the particular simple ideas belonging to each sense ; nor indeed is it possible ; there being a great many more than we have names for . chap. iv. of solidity . i shall here mention one which we receive by our touch , because it is one of the chief ingredients in many of our complex ideas ; and that is the idea of solidity : it arises from the resistance , one body makes to the entrance of another body into the place it possesses , till it has left it . there is no idea which we more constantly receive from sensation than this . in whatever posture we are , we feel somewhat that supports us , and hinders us from sinking downwards : and the bodies we daily handle , make us perceive that while they remain between them , they do by an unsurmountable force hinder the approach of the parts of our hands that press them . this idea is commonly called impenetrability . i conceive solidity is more proper to express it , because this carries something more of positive in it than impenetrability , which is negative , and is perhaps more a consequence of solidity , than solidity it self . this seems to be the most essential property of body , and that whereby we conceive it to fill space : the idea of which is , that where we imagine any space taken up by a solid substance , we conceive it so to possess it , that it excludes all other solid substances . this resistance is so great , that no force can surmount it . all the bodies in the world pressing a drop of water on all sides , will never be able to overcome the resistance it makes to their approaching one another , till it be removed out of their way . the idea of solidity is distinguished from that of pure space , in as much as this latter is neither capable of resistance , nor motion : 't is distinguished from hardness , in as much as hardness is a firm cohaesion of the solid parts of matter making up masses of a sensible bulk , so that the whole doth not easily change its figure . indeed , hard and soft , as commonly apprehended by us , are but relative to the constitutions of our bodies : that being called hard , which will put us to pain sooner than change its figure , by the pressure of any part of our bodies ; and that soft , which changes the situation of its parts upon an easie and unpainful touch. this difficulty of changing situation amongst the parts gives no more solidity to the hardest body , than to the softests nor is an adamant one jot more solid than water : he that shall fill a yielding soft body well with air or water , will quickly find its resistance . by this we may distinguish the idea of the extension of body , from the idea of the extension of space : that of body , is the cohaesion or continuity of solid , separable , and moveable parts ; that of space , the continuity of unsolid , inseparable , and immoveable parts . upon the solidity of bodies depends their mutual impulse , resistance , and protrusion : of pure space and solidity there are several ( among which i confess my self one ) who perswade themselves they have clear and distinct ideas : and that they can think on space without any thing in it that resists or is protruded by body , as well as on something that fills space , that can be protruded by the impulse of other bodies , or resist their motion ; the idea of the distance between the opposite parts of a concave surface , being equally clear without , as with the idea of any solid parts between . if any one ask what this solidity is , i send him to his senses to inform him : let him put a flint or foot-ball between his hands , and then endeavour to joyn them , and he will know . chap. v. of simple ideas of divers senses ▪ some ideas we get into the mind by more than one sense , as space , extension , figure , rest and motion . these are perceivable by the eyes or touch. chap. vi. of simple ideas of reflection . some are had from reflection , only : such are the ideas we have of the operations of our minds : of which the two principal are perception or thinking ; and volition or willing . the powers of producing these operations are call'd faculties , which are the understanding and will , the several modes of thinking , &c. belong to this head. chap. vii . of simple ideas of sensation and reflection . there are some simple ideas convey'd into the mind by all the ways of sensation and reflection ; such are pleasure , pain , power , existence , unity , succession . pleasure or delight , pain or uneasiness accompany almost every impression of our senses , and every . action or thought of the mind . by pleasure or pain we mean whatever delights or molests us , whether it arises from the thoughts of our minds ; or any thing operating on our bodies . satisfaction , delight , pleasure , happiness and uneasiness , trouble , torment , misery , &c. are but different degrees , the one of pleasure , the other of pain . the author of our beings having given us a power over several parts of our bodies , to move or keep them at rest as we think fit ; and also by their motion to move our selves and other contiguous bodies ; having also given a power to our minds in several instances , to chuse amongst its ideas which it will think on : to excite us to these actions of thinking and motion he has joyn'd to several thoughts and sensations a perception of delight : without this we should have no reason to prefer one thought or action to another motion to rest : in which state man however furnish'd with the faculties of understanding and will , would be a very idle unactive creature , and pass his time only in a lazy lethargick dream . pain has the same efficacy to set us on work that pleasure has ; since we are as ready to avoid that , as to pursue this . this is worth our consideration , that pain is often produc'd by the same objects and ideas that produce pleasure in us . this their near conjunction gives us new occasion of admiring the wisdom and goodness of our maker , who designing the preservation of our being , has annex'd pain to the application of many things to our bodies , to warn us of the harm they will do us , and as advices to withdraw us from them . but he not designing our preservation barely , but the preservation of every part and organ in its perfection , hath in many cases annexed pain to those very ideas which delight us . thus heat that is very agreeable to us in one degree , by a little greater increase of it , proves no ordinary torment : which is wisely ordered by nature , that when any object does by the vehemence of its operation disorder the instruments of sensation , whose structures cannot but be very delicate , we might by the pain be warn'd to withdraw before the organ be quite put out of order . that this is the end of pain , appears from this consideration ; that tho' great light is insufferable to the eyes ; yet the highest degree of darkness does not at all disease them : because that causes no disorderly motion in that curious organ the eye . but excess of cold , as well as heat pains us ; because it is equally destructive to the temper which is necessary to the preservation of life . another reason why god hath annex'd several degrees of pleasure and pain to all the things that environ and affect us , and blended them together in all things that our thoughts and senses have to do with , is , that we finding imperfection and dissatisfaction , and want of compleat happiness in all the enjoyments of the creatures , might be led to seek it in the enjoyment of him with whom is fulness of joy , and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore . thô what is here said concerning pleasure and pain may not perhaps make those ideas clearer to us , than our own experience does , yet it may serve to give us due sentiments of the wisdom and goodness of the sovereign disposer of all things , which is not unsuitable to the main end of these enquiries : the knowledge and veneration of him being the chief end of all our thoughts , and the proper business of all understandings . 〈◊〉 and unity are two other ideas suggested by every object without , and every idea within : when ideas are in our minds , we consider them as being actually there , as well as we consider things to be actually without us ; which is , that they exist , or have existence : and whatever we consider as one thing , whether a real being , or idea , suggests the idea of unity . power is anothér idea deriv'd from these sources : for finding in our selves that we can think , and move several parts of our bodies at pleasure ; and observing the effects that natural bodies produce in one another ; by both these ways we get the idea of power . succession is another idea suggested by our senses , and by reflection on what passes in our minds . for if we look into our selves , we shall find our ideas always whilst we are awake , or have any thought , passing in train , one going and another coming without intermission . chap. viii . some farther considerations concerning simple ideas . whatsoever is able by affecting our senses , to cause any perception in the mind , doth thereby produce in the understanding a simple idea ; which whatsoever be the cause of it , is look'd upon as a real positive idea in the understanding . thus the ideas of heat and cold , light and darkness , motion and rest , &c. are equally positive in the mind , thô some of their causes may be meer privations . an enquiry into their causes concerns not the ideas as in the understanding ; but the nature of the things existing without us . thus a painter has distinct ideas of white and black , as well as the philosopher , who tells us what kind of particles , and how rang'd in the surface occasion'd those colours . that a privative cause may produce a positive idea , appears from shadows , which ( thô nothing but the absence of light ) are discernible ; and cause clear and positive ideas . the natural reason of which may be this , viz. that since sensation is produced only by different degrees and modes of motion in our animal spirits , variously agitated by external objects ; the abatement of any former motion must as necessarily produce a new sensation , as the increase and variation of it ; and thereby introduce a new idea . we have some negative names , which stand for no positive ideas : but consist wholly in negation of some certain ideas , as silence , invisible . these signify not any ideas in the mind , but their absence . it will be useful to distinguish ideas as they are perceptions in our minds , from what they are in the bodies that cause such perceptions in us : for we are not to think the former exact images and resemblances of something inherent in the subject . most of those of sensation being in the mind , no more the likeness of something existing without us , than the names that stand for them are the likeness of our ideas , which yet upon hearing , they are apt to excite in us . whatsoever the mind perceives in it self , or is the immediate object of perception , thought or understanding , that i call an idea : and the power to produce any idea in our mind i call the quality of the subject wherein that power is : thus a snow-ball having the power to produce in us the ideas of white , cold and round , those powers as they are in the snow-ball i call qualities ; and as they are sensations or perceptions in our understandings i call them ideas : which ideas if i speak of sometimes , as in the things themselves , i would be understood to mean those qualities in the objects which produce them in us . these qualities are of two sorts , first original or primary , such are solidity , extention , motion or rest , number and figure . these are inseparable from body , and such as it constantly keeps in all its changes and alterations : thus take a grain of wheat , divide it into two parts , each part has still solidity , extension , figure , mobility : divide it again , and it still retains the same qualities , and will do so still , thô you divide it on till the parts become insensible . the next thing to be consider'd , is , how bodies operate upon one another , and that is manifestly by impulse , and nothing else . for body cannot operate on what it does not touch : nor when it does touch , any other way than by motion . if so , then when external objects ( which are not united to our minds ) produce ideas in us ; 't is evident that some motion must be thence continued by our nerves or animal spirits to the brains , or seat of sensation . and since extension , figure , motion , &c. may be perceived at a distance by the sight , t is evident that some bodies must come from them to the eyes , and thereby convey to the brain some motion which produces those ideas we have in us . secondly , secondary qualities , such as colours , smells , tasts ; sounds , &c , which whatever reality we by mistake may attribute to them , are in truth nothing in the objects themselves but powers to produce various sensations in us ; and depend on the qualities before-mentioned . the ideas of primary qualities of bodies are resemblances of them ; and their patterns really exist in bodies themselves : but the ideas produced in us by secundary qualities , have no resemblance of them at all , and what is sweet , blue , or warm in the idea , is but the certain bulk , figure , and motion of the insensible parts in the bodies themselves , which we call so . thus we see that fire at one distance produces in us the sensation of warmth , which at a nearer approach causes the sensation of pain . now what reason have we to say that the idea of warmth is actually in the fire , but that of pain not in the fire , which the same fire produces in us the same way . the bulk , number , figure , and motion of the parts of fire , are really in it , whether we perceive them or no ; and therefore may be call'd real qualities , because they really exist in that body . but light and heat are no more really in it , than sickness or pain : take away the sensation of them ; let not the eyes see light or colours , nor the ear hear sounds ; let the palate not taste , or the nose smell , and all colours , tasts , odours , and sounds , as they are such particular ideas vanish and cease ; and are reduced to their causes , ( that is ) bulk , motion , figure , &c. of parts . these secondary qualities are of two sorts , first immediately perceiveable , which by immediately operating on our bodies , produce several different ideas in us . secondly , mediately perceivable , which by operating on other bodies , change their primary qualities , so as to render them capable of producing ideas in us different from what they did before . these last are powers in bodies which proceed from the particular constitution of those primary and original qualities , to make such a change in the bulk , figure , texture , &c. of another body , as to make it operate on our senses different from what it did before ; as in fire to make lead fluid : these two last being nothing but powers relating to other bodies , and resulting from the different modifications of the original qualities are yet otherwise thought of ; the former being esteemed real qualities ; but the later barely powers : the reason of this mistake seems to be this ; that our ideas of sensible qualities containing nothing in them of bulk , figure , &c. we cannot think them the effect of those primary qualities which appear not to our senses to operate in their productions , and with which they have not any apparent congruity , or conceivable connexion : nor can reason shew how bodies by their bulk , figure , &c. should produce in the mind the ideas of warm , yellow , &c. but in the other case when bodies operate upon one another , we plainly see that the quality produced hath commonly no resemblance with any thing in the thing producing it , and therefore we look upon it as the effect of power : but our senses not being able to discover any unlikeness between the idea produced in us , and the quality of the object producing it , we imagine that our ideas are resemblances of something in the objects and not in the effects of certain powers placed in the modification of the primary qualities , with which primary qualities the ideas produced in us , have no resemblance . this little exeursion into natural philosophy was necessary in our present enquiry to distinguish the primary and real qualities of bodies which are always in them , from those secundary and imputed qualities , which are but the powers of several combinations of those primary ones , when they operate without being distinctly discern'd ; whereby we learn to know what ideas are , and what are not resemblances of something really existing in the bodies we denominate from them . chap. ix . of perception . perception is the first idea we receive from reflection : it is by some called thinking in general : thô thinking in the propriety of the english tongue , signifies that sort of operation of the mind about its ideas , wherein the mind is active ; where it considers any thing with some degree of voluntary attention : for in bare perception the mind is for the most part only passive : and what it perceives it cannot avoid perceiving . what this is , we cannot otherwise know , than by reflecting on what passes in our minds when we see , feel , hear , &c. impressions made on the outward parts if they are not taken notice of within , cause no perception : as we see in those whose minds are intently busied in the contemplation of certain objects . a sufficient impulse there may be upon the organs of sensation : but if it reach not the observation of the mind , there follows no perception : so that wherever there is sense or perception , there some idea is actually produced and present in the understanding . we may observe that the ideas we receive from sensation , are often in grown people alter'd by the judgment without our taking notice of it . thus a globe of any uniform colour ( as of gold ) or jet , being set before our eyes , the idea thereby imprinted is of a flat circle variously shadowed . but being accustomed to perceive what kind of appearances convex bodies are wont to make in us ; the judgment alters the appearances into their causes ; and from that variety of shadow or colour , frames to it self the perception of a convex figure of one uniform colour . this in many cases by a settl'd habit is perform'd so readily , that we take that for the perception of our sensation , which is but an idea formed by the judgment : so that one serves only to excite the other , and is scarce taken notice of itself . as a man who reads and hears with attention , takes little notice of the characters or sounds , but of the ideas that are excited in him by them . thus habits come at last to produce actions in us , which often scape our observation . the faculty of perception seems to be that which puts the distinction between the animal kingdom , and the inferior parts of nature : since vegetables have some degrees of motion , and upon the different application of other bodies to them , do very briskly alter their figutes and motions , and thence have obtain'd the name of sensitive plants : which yet is , i suppose , but bare mechanism , and no otherwise produced , than the shortning of a rope by the affusion of water . but perception , i believe , is in some degree in all sorts of animals : thô i think we may from the make of an oister or cockle , reasonably conclude that it has not so many , nor so quick senses as a man , or several other animals . perception is also the first step and degree towards knowledge , and the inlet of all the materials of it : so that the fewer senses any man has , and the duller the impressions that are made by them are , the more remote he is from that knowledge which is to be found in other men. chap. x. of retention . the next faculty of the mind whereby it makes a farther progress towards knowledge , i call retention : which is the keeping of those ideas it has receiv'd . which is done two ways . first , by keeping the idea which is brought into the mind for some time actuactually in view , which is called contemplation . secondly , by reviving those ideas in our minds which have disappeared , and have been as it were , laid out of sight ; and this is memory , which is as it were , the store-house of our ideas , for the narrow mind of man not being capable of having many ideas under view at once , it was necessary to have a repository to lay up those ideas which at another time it may have use of . but our ideas being nothing but actual perceptions in the mind which cease to be any thing , when there is no perception of them , this laying up of our ideas in the repository of the memory signifies no more but this , that the mind has a power in many cases to revive perceptions it has once had , with this additional perception annex'd to them , that it has had them before . and it is by the assistance of this faculty , that we are said to have all those ideas in our understandings , which we can bring in sight , and make the object of our thoughts , without the help of those sensible qualities which first imprinted them there . attention and repetition help much to the fixing ideas in our memories : but those which make the deepest and most lasting impressions are those which are accompanied with pleasure and pain . ideas but once taken in and never again repeated are soon lost ; as those of colours in such as lost their sight when very young . the memory in some men is tenacious , even to a miracle : but yet there seems to be a constant decay of all our ideas , even of those which are struck deepest ; and in minds the most retentive : so that if they be not sometimes renewed , the print wears out , and at last there remains nothing to be seen . those ideas that are often refresh'd by a frequent return of the objects or actions that produce them , fix themselves best in the memory , and remain longest there : such are the original qualities of bodies , viz. solidity , extension , figure , motion , &c. and those that almost constantly affect us , as heat and cold : and those that are the affections of all kinds of beings , as existence , duration , number : these and the like , are seldom quite lost while the mind retains any ideas at all . in memory the mind is oftentimes more than barely passive ; for it often sets it self on work to search some hidden ideas ; sometimes they start of their own accord : and sometimes turbulent and tempestuous passions tumble them out of their cells . the defects of the memory are two. first , that it loses the idea quite , and so far it produces perfect ignorance . secondly , that it moves slowly and retrieves not the ideas laid up in store quick enough to serve the mind upon occasions . this if it be to a great degree is stupidity . in the having ideas ready at hand on all occasions , consists what we call invention , fancy , and quickness of parts . this faculty other animals seem to have to a great degree as well as man , as appears by birds learning of tunes , and their endeavour to hit the notes right . for it seems impossible that they should endeavour to conform their voices ( as 't is plain they do ) to notes , whereof they have no ideas . chap. xi . of discerning , and other operations of the mind . another faculty of the mind is , that of discerning between its ideas : on this depends the evidence , and certainty of several even general propositions , which pass for innate truths : whereas indeed they depend on this clear discerning faculty of the mind , whereby it perceives two ideas to be the same or different . in being able nicely to distinguish one thing from another , where there is the least difference , consists in a great measure , that exactness of judgment and clearness of reason , which is to be observed in one man above another ; which is quite opposite to wit , which consists most in the assemblage of ideas , and putting those together with quickness and variety , which have the least resemblance , to form agreeable visions : whereas judgment separates carefully those ideas , wherein can be found the least difference to prevent error and delusion . to the well distinguishing our ideas , it chiefly contributes that they be clear and determinate , and when they are so , it will not breed any confusion or mistake about them , thô the senses should convey them from the same object differently on different occasions . the comparing of our ideas one with another in respect of extent , degree , time , place , or any other circumstances , is another operation of the mind about its ideas , which is the ground of relations . brutes seem not to have this faculty in any great degree . they have probably several ideas distinct enough ; but cannot compare them farther than some sensible circumstances annex'd to the objects themselves . the power of comparing general ideas , which we may observe in men , we may probably conjecture beasts have not at all . composition is another operation of the mind whereby it combines several of its simple ideas into complex ones : under which operation we may reckon that of enlarging , wherein we put several ideas together of the same kind , as several unites to make a dozen . in this also i suppose brutes come far short of man ; for tho' they take in and retain together several combinations of simple ideas , as possibly a dog does the shape , smell and voice of his master ; yet these are rather so many distinct marks , whereby he knows him , than one complex idea made out of those several simple ones . abstraction is another operation of the mind , whereby the mind forms general ideas from such as it receiv'd from particular objects , which it does by considering them as they are in the mind such appearances seperate from the circumstance of real existence , as time , place , &c. these become general representatives of all of the same kind , and their names applicable to whatever exists conformable to such abstract ideas . thus the colour which i receive from chalk , snow , and milk , is made a representative of all of that kind ; and has a name given it ( whiteness ) which signifies the same quality , wherever to be found or imagin'd . and thus universally both ideas and terms are made . this puts the great difference between man and brutes : they seem to reason about particular objects , and ideas , but there appear no footsteps of abstraction in them , or of making general ideas . chap. xii . of complex ideas . in the reception of simple ideas the mind is only passive , having no power to frame any to its self , but as these simple ideas do exist in several combinations united together , so the mind may consider them as united , not only as they are really united in external objects , but as it self has joyned them . ideas thus made up of several ones put together , i call complex , as a man , army , beauty , gratitude , &c. by this faculty of repeating and joyning together its ideas , the mind has great power in varying and multiplying the objects of its thoughts . but it is still confin'd to those simple ideas which it received from the two sources of sensation and reflection . it can have no other ideas of sensible qualities , than what come from without by the senses , nor any other ideas of the operations of a thinking substance , than what it finds in it self , but having once got these simple ideas , it can by its own power put them together and make new complex ones , which it never received so united . complex ideas however compounded and decompounded , tho' their number be infinite , and their variety endless , may all be reduced under these three heads , first modes , secondly , substances , thirdly , relations . modes , i call such complex ideas which contain not the supposition of subsisting by themselves , but are consider'd as dependences on , and affections of substances , as triangle , gratitude , murder , &c. these modes are of two sorts , first simple , which are but the combinations of the same simple idea as a dozen , score , &c. which are but the ideas of so many distinct unites put together . secondly , mix'd , which are compounded of simple ideas of several kinds , as beauty , which consists in a certain composition of colour and figure , causing delight in the beholder . theft , which is the concealed change of the possession of any thing without the consent of the proprietor . these visibly contain a combination of several ideas , of several kinds . secondly substance , the ideas of substances are only such combinations of simple ideas as are taken to represent distinct particular things subsisting by themselves ; in which the confused idea of substance is always the chief . thus a combination of the ideas of a certain figure , with the powers of motion , thought , and reasoning joyn'd to substance , make the ordinary idea of man. these again are either of single substances , as man , stone , or of collective , or several put together , as army , heap : ideas of several substances thus put together , are as much each of them one single idea , as that of a man , or an unite . thirdly , relations which consist in the consideration and comparing one idea with another . of these several kinds we shall treat in their order . caap. xiii . of simple modes , and first of the simple modes of space . concerning simple modes we may observe that the modifications of any simple idea , are as perfectly different , and distinct ideas in the mind , as those of the greatest distance or contrariety ; thus two is as distinct from three , as blueness from heat . under this head i shall first consider the modes of space . space is a simple idea which we get both by our sight and touch. when we consider it barely in length between two bodies , 't is called distance , ; when in length , breadth , and thickness , it may be called capacity . when consider'd between the extremities of matter which fills the capacity of space with something solid , tangible and moveable , it is called extension , and thus extension will be an idea belonging to the body : but space may be conceived without it . each different distance is a different modification of space : and each idea of any different space is a simple mode of this idea . such are an inch , foot , yard , &c. which are the ideas of certain stated lengths , which men settle in their minds , for the use , and by the custom of measuring . when these ideas are made familiar to men's thoughts , they can in their minds repeat them as often as they will , without joyning to them the idea of body , and frame to themselves the ideas of feet , yards or fathoms beyond the utmost bounds of all bodies : and by adding these still one to another , enlarge their idea of space as much as they please . from this power of repeating any idea of distance , without being ever able to come to an end , we come by the idea of immensity . another modification of space is taken from the relation of the parts of the termination of capacity or extension amongst themselves : and this is what we call figure . this the touch discovers in sensible bodies , whose extremities come within our reach : and the eye takes both from bodies and colours , whose boundaries are within its view ; where observing how the extremities terminate either in straight lines , which meet at discernible angles ; or in crooked lines , wherein no angles can be perceiv'd : by considering these as they relate to one another in all parts of the extremities of any body or space , it has that idea we call figure : which affords to the mind infinite variety . another mode belonging to this head , is that of place . our idea of place is nothing but the relative position of any thing with reference to its distance from some fix'd , and certain points . whence we say , that a thing has or has not changed place , when its distance either is , or is not altered with respect to those bodies with which we have occasion to compare it . that this is so , we may easily gather from hence ; that we can have no idea of the place of the universe , tho' we can of all its parts . to say that the world is somewhere means no more than that it does exist . the word place is sometimes taken to signifie that space which any body takes up ; and so the universe may be conceived in a place . chap. xiv . of duration and its simple modes . there is another sort of distance , the idea of which we get from the fleeting , and perpetually perishing parts of succession which we call duration . the simple modes of it are any different lengths of it , whereof we have distinct ideas , as hours , days , years , &c. time and eternity . the idea of succession is got by reflecting on that train of ideas which constantly follow one another in our minds as long as we are awake . the distance between any parts of this succession is what we call duration : and the continuation of the existence of our selves , or any thing else commensurate to the succession of any ideas in our minds , is what we call our own duration , or that of another thing co-existing with our thinking . that this is so , appears from hence , that we have no perception of succession or duration , when that succession of our ideas ceases , as in sleep : the moment that we sleep , and awake , how distant soever seems to be joyn'd and connected . and possibly it would be so to a waking man , could he fix upon one idea without variation , and the succession of others . and we see that they whose thoughts are very intent upon one thing , let slip out of their account a good part of that duration , : and think that time shorter than it is . but if a man during his sleep dream , and variety of ideas make themselves perceptible in his mind , one after another he hath then , during such dreaming , a sense of duration and of the length of it . a man having once got this idea of duration , can apply it to things which exist while he does not think : and thus we measure the time of our sleep , as well as that wherein we are awake . those who think we get the idea of succession from our observation of motion , by our senses , will be of our opinion , when they consider that motion produces in the mind an idea of succession , no otherwise than as it produces there a continu'd train of distinguishable ideas . a man that looks upon a body really moving perceives no motion , unless that motion produces a constant train of successive ideas . but wherever a man is , tho' all things be at rest about him , if he thinks , he will be conscious of succession without perceiving any motion . hence motions very slow are not perceived by us : because the change of distance is so slow , that it causes no new ideas in us , but after a long interval . the same happens in things that move very swift , which not affecting the sense with several distinguishable distances of their motion , cause not any train of ideas in our minds , and consequently are not perceived . thus any thing that moves round in a circle in less time than our ideas are wont to succeed one another in our minds , is not perceived to move , but seems to be a perfect entire circle of that matter which is in motion . such a part of duration as takes up the time of only one idea in our minds , wherein we perceive no succession , we call an instant . duration , as mark'd by certain periods and measures , is what we most properly call time : which we measure by the diurnal and annual revolutions of the sun , as being constant , regular , and universally observable by all mankind , and supposed equal to one another , it is not necessary that time should be measured by motion : any constant periodical appearance in seemingly equidistant spaces , may as well distinguish the intervals of time as what we make use of . for supposing the sun to be lighted , and then extinguish'd every day : and that in the space of an annual revolution , it should sensibly increase in brightness , and so decrease again ; such a regular appearance would serve to measure out the distances of duration , to all that could observe it , as well without , as with motion . the freezing of water , the blowing of a plant returning at equidistant periods in all the parts of the earth would serve for the same purpose . in effect , we find that a people of america counted their years by the coming and going away of birds at certain seasons . the mind having once got such a measure of time as the annual revolution of the sun , can easily apply it to duration wherein that measure it self did not exist : and the idea of duration equal to an annual revolution of the sun , is as easily applicable in our thoughts to duration where no sun , nor motion was , as the idea of a foot or yard to distances beyond the confines of the world. by the same means we come by the idea of eternity : for having got the ideas of certain lengths of duration , we can in our thoughts add them to one another as oft as we please , without ever coming to an end . chap. xv. of duration and expansion considered together . time is to duration as place is to space or expansion . they are so much of those boundless oceans of eternity and immensity as is set out , and distinguished from the rest ; and so are made use of to denote the position of finite real beings in respect one to another , in those infinite oceans of duration and space . each of these have a twofold acceptation . first , time in general is taken for so much of infinite duration as is coexistent with the universe , and measured out by the motions of its great bodies . thus it is used in the phrases before all time , when time shall be no more . place is likewise taken for that portion of infinite space possessed by the material world , tho' this might be more properly called extension . within these two are confined the particular time or duration , extension or place of all corporeal beings . secondly , time is sometimes applied to parts of that infinite duration that were not really measured out by real existence , but such as we upon occasion do suppose equal to certain lengths of measur'd time. as in the julian period which makes an excursion of seven hundred sixty four years beyond the creation . thus we may speak of place or distance in the great inane , wherein i can conceive a space equal to , or capable of receiving a body of any assigned dimensions . chap. xvi . of numbers . the complex ideas of number are form'd by adding several unites together . the simple modes of it are each several combination , as , two , three , &c. these are of all others most distinct , the nearest being as clearly different from each other as the most remote : two being as distinct from one , as two hundred . but it is hard to form distinct ideas of every the least excess in extension . hence demonstrations in numbers are more general in their use , and more determinate in their application than those of extension . simple modes of numbers , being in our minds but so many combinations of unites which have no variety , but more or less : names for each distinct combination , seem more necessary then in any other sort of ideas . for without a name or mark , to distinguish that precise collection , it will hardly be kept from being a heap of confusion . hence some americans have no distinct idea of any number beyond twenty : so that when they are discoursed with of greater numbers , they shew the hairs of their head. so that to reckon right two things are required . first , that the mind distinguish carefully two ideas which are different one from another , only by the addition or substraction of one unite . secondly , that it retain in memory the names or marks of the several combinations from an unite to that number ; and that in exact order , as they follow one another . in either of which if it fails , the whole business of numbring will be disturbed : and there will remain only the confused idea of multitude : but the ideas necessary to distinct numeration will not be attain'd to . chap. xvii . of infinity : the idea signified by the name infinity , is best examined , by considering to what infinity is by the mind attributed , and then how it frames it . finite and infinite then are look'd upon as the modes of quantity , and attributed primarily to things that have parts , and are capable of increase or diminution , by the addition or substraction of any the least part . such are the ideas of space , duration , and number . when we apply this idea to the supream being : we do it primarily in respect of his duration and ubiquity ; more figuratively when to his wisdom , power , goodness , and other attributes which are properly inexhaustible and incomprehensible : for when we call them infinite , we have no other idea of this infinity , but what carries with it some reflexion on the number , or the extent of the acts or objects of god's power and wisdom , which can never be supposed so great or so many , which these attributes will not always surmount and exceed , thô we multiply them in our thoughts , with the infinity of endless number . i do not pretend to say , how these attributes are in god , who is infinitely beyond the reach of our narrow capacities : but this is our way of conceiving them , and these our ideas of their infinity . the next thing to be considered , is how we come by the idea of infinity . every one that has any idea of any stated lengths of space , as a foot , yard , &c. finds that he can repeat that idea , and joyn it to another , to a third , and so on without ever coming to an end of his additions : from this power of enlarging his idea of space , he takes the idea of infinite space or immensity . by the same power of repeating the idea of any length of duration we have in our minds , with all the endless addition of number , we come by the idea of eternity . if our idea of infinity be got by repeating without end our own ideas ; why do we not attribute it to other ideas , as well as those of space and duration ; since they may be as easily and as often repeated in our minds as the other ? yet no body ever thinks of infinite sweetness , whiteness , thô he can repeat the idea of sweet or white as frequently , as those of yard or day . i answer , that those ideas that have parts , and are capable of increase , by the addition of any parts , afford us by their repetition an idea of infinity ; because with the endless repetition there is continued an enlargement , of which there is no end : but it is not so in other ideas : for if to the perfectest idea i have of white , i add another of equal whiteness ; it enlarges not my idea at all . those ideas that consist not of parts , cannot be augmented to what proportion men please , or be stretch'd beyond what they have received by their senses ; but space , duration and number being capable of increase by repetition , leave in the mind an idea of an endless room for more ; and so those ideas alone lead the mind towards the thought of infinity . we are carefully to distinguish between the idea of the infinity of space , and the idea of a space infinite , the first is nothing but a supposed endless progression of the mind over any repeated idea of space . but to have actually in the mind the idea of a space infinite , is to suppose the mind already passed over all those repeated ideas of space , which an endless repetition can never totally represent to it ; which carries in it a plain contradiction . this will be plainer , if we consider infinity in numbers . the infinity of numbers , to the end of whose addition every one perceives there is no approach , easily appears to any one that reflects on it : but how clear soever this idea of the infinity of number be , there is nothing yet more evident , than the absurdity of the actual idea of infinite number . chap. xviii . of other simple modes . the mind has several distinct ideas of sliding , rolling , walking , creeping , &c. which are all but the different modifications of motion . swift and slow are two different ideas of motion , the measures whereof are made out of the distances of time and space put together . the like variety we have in sounds : every articulate word is a different modification of sound : as are also notes of different length put together , which make that complex idea called tune . the modes of colours might be also very various : some of which we take notice of , as the different degrees , or as they are termed shades of the same colour . but since we seldom make assemblages of colours , without taking in figure also , as in painting , &c. those which are taken notice of do most commonly belong to mixed modes , as beauty , rainbow , &c. all compounded tastes and smells are also modes made up of the simple ideas of those senses : but they being such as generally we have no names for , cannot be set down in writing , but must be left to the thoughts , and experience of the reader . chap. xix . of the modes of thinking . when the mind turns its view inwards upon its self , thinking is the first idea that occurs : wherein it observes a great variety of modifications ; and thereof frames to it self distinct ideas . thus the perception annex'd to any impression on the body made by an external object , is call'd sensation . when an idea recurs without the presence of the object , it is called remembrance . when sought after by the mind , and brought again in view , it is recollection . when held there long under attentive consideration , it is contemplation . when ideas float in the mind without regard or reflection , 't is called in french resvery , our language has scarce a name for it . when the ideas are taken notice of , and as it were registred in the memory , it is attention . when the mind fixes its view on any one idea , and considers it on all sides , it is intention and study . sleep without dreaming is rest from all these . and dreaming , is the perception of ideas in the mind , not suggested by any external objects , or known occasions ; nor under any choice or conduct of the understanding . of these various modes of thinking , the mind forms as distinct ideas , as it does of white and red , a square or a circle . chap. xx. of the modes of pleasure and pain . pleasure and pain are simple ideas which we receive both from sensation and reflection . there are thoughts of the mind , as well as sensations , accompanied with pleasure or pain . their causes are termed good or evil. for things are esteemed good or evil only in reference to pleasure or pain . that we call good which is apt to cause or increase pleasure , or diminish pain in us : to procure or preserve the possession of any good , or absence of any evil : and on the contrary , that we call evil , which is apt to produce or increase any pain , or diminish any pleasure in us ; or else to procure us any evil , or deprive us of any good , by pleasure and pain i would be understood to mean of body or mind , as they are commonly distinguished ; thô in truth they are only different constitutions of the mind , sometimes occasion'd by disorder in the body , sometimes by thoughts of the mind . pleasure and pain , and their causes good and evil , are the hinges upon which our passions turn : by reflecting on the various modifications or tempers of mind , and the internal sensations which pleasure and pain , good and evil produce in us , we may thence form to our selves the ideas of our passions . thus by reflecting upon the thought we have of the delight , which any thing is apt to produce in us , we have an idea we call love : and on the contrary , the thought of the pain , which any thing present or absent produces in us , is what we call hatred . desire is that uneasiness which a man finds in himself , upon the absence of any thing , the present enjoyment of which carries the idea of delight with it . joy is a delight of the mind arising from the present or assur'd approaching possession of a good. sorrow is an uneasiness of the mind , upon the thought of a good lost , or the sense of a present evil. hope is a pleasure in the mind upon the thought of a probable future enjoyment of a thing which is apt to delight . fear is an uneasiness of the mind upon the thought of a future evil , likely to befall us . anger is a discomposure of mind upon the receipt of injury , with a present purpose of revenge . despair is the thought of the unattainableness of any good. envy is an uneasiness of mind , caused by the consideration of a good we desire , obtained by one we think should not have had it before us . it is to be considered that in reference to the passions , the removal or lessening of a pain , is considered , and operates as a pleasure : and the loss or diminishing of a pleasure , as a pain . and farther , that the passions in most persons operate on the body , and cause various changes in it : but these being not always sensible , do not make a necessary part of the idea of each passion . besides these modes of pleasure and pain which result from the various considerations of good and evil , there are many others , i might have instanced in , as the pain of hunger and thirst , and the pleasure of eating and drinking ; and of musick , &c. but i rather chose to instance in the passions , as being of much more concernment to us . chap. xxi . of power . the mind being every day informed by the senses , of the alteration of those simple ideas it observes in things without : reflecting also on what passes within it self , and observing a constant change of its ideas , sometimes by the impressions of outward objects upon the senses ; and sometimes by the determination of its own choice : and concluding from what it has so constantly observed to have been , that the like changes will for the future be made in the same things , by the same agents , and by the like ways , considers in one thing , the possibility of having any of its simple ideas changed ; and in another , the possibility of making that change , and so comes by that idea which we call power . thus we say fire has a power to melt gold , and make it fluid ; and gold has a power to be melted . power thus considered is twofold , viz. . as able to make or able to receive any change : the one may be called active , the other passive power . of passive power all sensible things abundantly furnish us with ideas , whose sensible qualities and beings we find to be in a continual flux , and therefore with reason we look on them as liable still to the same change . nor have we of active power , fewer instances : since whatever change is observed : the mind must collect a power somewhere able to make that change . but yet if we will consider it attentively , bodies by our senses do not afford us , so clear and distinct an idea of active power , as we have from reflection on the operations of our minds . for all power relating to action , and there being but two sorts of action , viz. thinking and motion , let us consider whence we have the clearest ideas of the powers , which produce these actions . of thinki●g , body affords us no idea at all : it is only from reflection that we have that ; neither have we from body any idea of the beginning of motion . a body at rest affords us no idea of any active power to move ; and when it isset in motion it self , that motion is rather a passion than an action in it . the idea of the beginning of motion we have only by reflection on what passes in our selves ; where we find by experience , that barely by willing it , we can move the parts of our bodies , which were before at rest. we find in our selves a power to begin or forbear , continue or end several actions of our minds , and motions of our bodies , barely by a thought or preference of the mind . this power which the mind has thus to order the consideration of any idea , or the forbearing to consider it ; or to prefer the motion of any part of the body to its rest , and vice versa in any particular instance , is , that we call the will. the actual exercise of that power , is that which we call volition or willing : the forbearance or performance of that action , consequent to such order or command of the mind , is called voluntary : and whatsoever action is performed without such a thought of the mind is called involuntary . the power of perception is that we call the understanding . perception which we make the act of the understanding is of three sorts . first , the perception of ideas in our minds , secondly , the perception of the signification of signs . thirdly , the perception of the agreement or disagreement of any distinct ideas . these powers of the mind , viz. of perceiving and preferring are usually called by another name ; and the ordinary way of speaking is that the understanding and will are two faculties of the mind . a word proper enough , if it be used so as not to breed any confusion in men's thoughts , by being supposed , ( as i suspect it has been ) to stand for some real beings in the soul that performed those actions of understanding and volition . from the consideration of the extent of the power of the mind , over the actions of the man , which every one finds in himself , arise the ideas of liberty and necessity : so far as a man has a power to think , or not to think ; to move , or not to move , according to the preference or direction of his own mind , so far is a man free. wherever any performance or forbearance , are not equally in a man's power ; wherever doing or not doing will not equally follow upon the preference of his mind , there , he is not free , thô perhaps the action may be voluntary . so that the idea of liberty , is the idea of a power in any agent , to do or forbear any action according to the determination or thought of the mind , whereby either of them is preferred to the other ; where either of them is not in the power of the agent to be produced by him , according to his volition , there he is not at liberty : that agent is under necessity . so that liberty cannot be where there is no thought , no volition , no will : but there may be thought , there may be will , there may be volition , where there is no liberty . thus a tennis-ball , whether in motion by the stroke of a racket , or lying still at rest , is not by any one taken to be a free agent ; because we conceive not a tennis-ball to think , and consequently not to have any volition or preference of motion to rest , or vice versâ . so a man striking himself or his friend by a convulsive motion of his arm , which it is not in his power by volition or the direction of his mind , to stop or forbear ; no body thinks he has in this liberty , every one pities him as acting by necessity , and constraint . again , suppose a man be carried whilst fast asleep into a room where is a person he longs to see , and be there locked fast in beyond his power to get out ; he awakes , and is glad to see himself in so desirable company , which he stays willingly in ; that is , prefers his staying to going away . is not this stay voluntary ? i think no body will doubt it , and yet being locked fast in , he is not at liberty to stay , he has not freedom to be gone . so that liberty is not an idea belonging to volition or preferring ; but to the person having the power of doing or forbearing to do , according as the mind shall chuse or direct . as it is in the motions of the body , so it is in the thoughts of our minds : where any one is such , that we have power to take it up , or lay it by according to the preference of the mind , there we are at liberty . a waking man is not at libetty to think or not to think , no more than he is at liberty , whether his body , shall touch any other or no : but whether he will remove his contemplation from one idea to another , is many times in his choice . and then he is in respect of his ideas , as much at liberty as he is in respect of bodies he rests on . he can at pleasure remove himself from one to another : but yet some ideas to the mind , like some motions to the body are such , as in certain circumstances it cannot avoid nor obtain their absence by their utmost effort it can use . thus a man on the rack , is not at liberty to lay by the idea of pain , and entertain other contemplations . wherever thought is wholly wanting , or the power to act or forbear , according to the direction of thought , there necessity takes place . this in an agent capable of volition , when the beginning or continuation of any action is contrary to the preference of his mind , is called compulsion : when the hindring or stopping any action is contrary to his volition , it is called restraint . agents that have no thought , no volition at all , are in every thing necessary agents . and thus i have in a short draught given a view of our original ideas , from whence all the rest are derived , and of which they are made up . and which may be all reduc'd to these few primary and original ones , viz. extention , solidity , and mobility which by our senses we receive from body : thinking , and the power of moving , which by reflection we receive from our minds . existence , duration , number which belong both to the one , and to the other . by these i imagine might be explained the nature of colours , sounds , tasts smells , and all other ideas we have ; if we had but faculties acute enough to perceive the several modified extensions and motions of these minute bodies which produce those several sensations in us . chap. xxii . of mixed modes . mixed modes are combinations of simple ideas of different kinds , ( whereby they are distinguished from simple modes , which consist only of simple ideas of the same kind , put together by the mind ) as virtue , vice , a lie , &c. the mind being once furnished with simple ideas can put them together in several compositions , without examining whether they exist so together in nature : to form such ideas it suffices , if they are consistent : there are three ways whereby we get these complex ideas of mixed modes . first , by experience and observation of things themselves : thus by seeing two men wrestle , we get the idea of wrestling . secondly , by invention or voluntary putting together of several simple ideas in our own minds ; so he that first invented printing , had an idea of it first in his mind , before it ever existed . thirdly , by explaining the names of actions we never saw , or notions we cannot see ; and by enumerating all those ideas which go to the making them up . thus the mixed mode which the word lie stands for , is made up of these simple ideas : first , articulate sounds . secondly , certain ideas in the mind of the speaker . thirdly , words , the signs of these ideas . fourthly , those signs put together by affirmation or negation , otherwise than the ideas they stand for , are in the mind of the speaker . since languages are made , complex ideas are usually got by the explication of those terms that stand for them , for since they consist of simple ideas combined , they may by words standing for those simple ideas be represented to the mind of one who understands those words , thô that combination of simple ideas was never offer'd to his mind by the real existence of things . mixed modes have their unity from an act of the mind , combining those several simple ideas together , and considering them as one complex one : the mark of this union , is one name given to that combination . men seldom reckon any number of ideas to make one complex one : but such collections as there be names for . thus the killing of an old man , is as fit to be united into one complex idea , as that of a father : yet there being no name for it , it is not taken for a particular complex idea ; nor a distinct species of action , from that of killing any other man. those collections of ideas have names generally affixed , which are of frequent use in conversation : in which cases men endeavour to communicate their thoughts to one another with all possible dispatch . those others which they have seldom occasion to mention , they tie not together , nor give them names . this gives the reason , why there are words in every language , which cannot be rendred by any one single word of another . for the fashions and customs of one nation , make several combinations of ideas familiar in one , which another had never any occasion to make . such were , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 among the greeks , proscriptio among the romans . this also occasions the constant change of languages ; because the change of custom and opinions , brings with it new combinations of ideas , which , to avoid long descriptions , have new names annexed to them , and so they become new species of complex modes . of all our simple ideas , those that have had most mixed modes made out of them are thinking ; and motion ; ( which comprehend in them all action ) and power , from whence these actions are conceived to flow . for actions being the great business of mankind , it is no wonder if the several modes of thinking , and motion should be taken notice of , the ideas of them observed , and laid up in memory , and have names assigned them . for without such complex ideas with names to them , men could not easily hold any communication about them . of this kind are the modes of actions distinguished by their causes , means , objects , ends , instruments , time , place , and other circumstances ; as also of the powers , sitted for those actions : thus boldness is the power to do or speak what we intend without fear or disorder : which power of doing any thing , when it has been acquired by the frequent doing the same thing , is that idea we call habit : when forward and ready upon every occasion to break into action , we call it dispositions . thus testiness , is a disposition or aptness to be angry . power being the source of all action , the substances wherein these powers are , whenthey exert this power , are called causes : and the substances thereupon produced , or the simple ideas introduced into any subject , effects . the efficacy whereby the new substance or idea is produced , is called , in the subject exerting that power , action ; in the subject wherein any simple idea is changed , or produced , passion : which efficacy in intellectual agents , we can i think , conceive to be nothing else but modes of thinking and willing : in corporeal agents , nothing else but modifications of motion . whatever sort of action , besides these produces any effect ; i confess my self to have no notion , or idea of . and therefore many words which seem to express some action , signify nothing of the action , but barely the effect , with some circumstances of the subject wrought on , or cause operating . thus creation , annihilation , contain in them no idea of the action or manner , whereby they are produced , but barely of the cause , and the thing done . and when a country-man says the cold freezes water , thô the word freezing , seem to import some action , yet it truly signifies nothing but the effect , viz. that water that was before fluid , is become hard , and consistent , without containing any idea of the action whereby it is done . chap. xxiii . of our complex ideas or substances . the mind observing several simple ideas to go constantly together , which being presumed to belong to one thing , are called , when so united by one name ; and by mistake afterwards considered as one simple idea . we imagine not these simple ideas to subsist by themselves , but suppose some substratum , wherein they subsist , which we call substance , the idea of pure substance is nothing but the suppos'd , but unknown support of these qualities , which are capable of producing simple ideas in us . the ideas of particular substances are composed out of this obscure , and general idea of substance , together with such combinations of simple ideas , as are observed to exist together , and supposed to flow from the internal constitution , and unknown essence of that substance . thus we come by the ideas of man , horse , gold , &c. thus the sensible qualities of iron , or a diamond make the complex idea of those substances , which a smith or a jeweller commonly knows better , than a philosopher . the same happens concerning the operations of the mind viz. thinking , reasoning , &c. which we concluding not to subsist by themselves , nor apprehending how they can belong to body , or be produced by it ; we think them the actions of some other substance , which we call spirit : of whose substance or nature we have as clear a notion as of that of body ; the one being but the supposed substratum of the simple idea , we have from without ; as the other of those operations which we experiment in our selves within : so that the ideas of corporeal substance in matter , is as remote from our conceptions as that of spiritual substance . hence we may conclude that he has the perfectest idea of any particular substance , who has collected most of those simple ideas which do exist in it : among which we are to reckon its active powers , and passive capacities . tho' not strictly simple ideas . secondary qualities for the most part serve , to distinguish substances . for our senses fail us in the discovery of the bulk , figure , texture , &c. of the minute parts of bodies on which their real constitutions , and differences depend : and secondary qualities are nothing , but powers with relation to our senses . the ideas that make our complex ones of corporeal substances , are of three sorts . first , the ideas of primary qualities of things , which are discovered by our senses : such are bulk , figure , motion , &c. secondly , the sensible secondary qualities , which are nothing but powers to produce several ideas in us by our senses . thirdly , the aptness we consider in any substance to cause , or receive such alterations of primary qualities , as that the substance so altered , should produce in us different ideas , from what it did before : and they are called active and passive powers . all which , as far as we have any notice , or notion of them , terminate in simple ideas . had we senses acute enough to discern the minute particles of bodies , it is not to be doubted , but they would produce quite different ideas in us ; as we find in viewing things with microscopes . such bodies as to our naked eyes are coloured and opaque , will through microscopes appear pellucid . bloud , to the naked eye appears all red ; but by a good microscope we see only some red globules swimming in a transparent liquor . the infinite wise author of our beings has fitted our organs , and faculties to the conveniences of life and the business we have to do here : we may by our sences know and distinguish things so far as to accommodate them to the exigencies of this life . we have also insight enough into their admirable contrivances , and wonderful effects to admire , and magnify the wisdom , power , and goodness of their author . such a knowledge as this which is suited to our present condition , we want not faculties to attain ; and we are fitted well enough with abilities to provide for the conveniencies of living . besides the complex ideas we have of material substances ; by the simple ideas t●●en from the operations of our own minds , which we experiment in our selves , as thinking , understanding , willing , knowing , &c. coexisting in the same substance , we are able to frame the complex idea of a spirit . and this idea of an immaterial substance , is as clear as that we have of a material . by joyning these with substance , of which we have no distinct idea , we have the idea of a spirit : and by putting together the ideas of coherent , solid parts , and power of being moved , joyned with substance , of which likewise we have no positive idea , we have the idea of matter . the one is so clear and distinct as the other . the substance of spirit is unknown to us ; and so is the substance of body equally unknown to us : two primary qualities or properties of body , viz. solid coherent parts , and impulse , we have distinct clear ideas of : so likewise have we , of two primary qualities or properties of spirit , thinking , and a power of action . we have also clear and distinct ideas of several qualities inherent in bodies , which are but the various modifications of the extension of cohering solid parts , and their motion . we have likewise the ideas of the several modes of thinking , viz. believing , doubting , hoping , fearing , &c. as also of willing and moving the body consequent to it . if this motion of spirit may have some difficulties in it , not easie to be explained , we have no more reason to deny or doubt of the existence of spirits , than we have , to deny or doubt of the existence of body : because the notion of body is cumbred with some difficulties very hard , and perhaps impossible to be explained . the divisibility in infinitum , for instance , of any finite extension involves us , whether we grant or deny it in consequences impossible to be explicated , or made consistent . we have therefore as much reason to be satisfied with our notion of spirit , as with our notion of body ; and the existence of the one , as well as the other . we have no other idea of the supream being , but a complex one of existence , power , knowledge , duration , pleasure , happiness , and of several other qualities , and powers which it is better to have than be without , with the addition of infinite to each of these . in which complex idea we may observe that there is no simple one , bating infinity , which is not also a part of our complex idea of other spirits : because in our ideas , as well of spirits as other things , we are restrained to those we receive from sensation and reflection . chap. xxiv . of collective ideas of substances . there are other ideas of substances which may be call'd collective , which are made up of many particular substances considered as united into one idea , as a troop , army , &c. which the mind makes by its power of composition . these collective ideas , are but the artificial draughts of the mind bringing things remote , and independent into one view , the better to contemplate and discourse of them united into one conception , and signified by one name . for there are no things so remote , which the mind cannot by this art of composition , bring into one idea as is visible in that signified by the name , universe . chap. xxv . of relation . there is another sett of ideas which the mind gets from the comparing of one thing with another . when the mind so considers one thing , that it does as it were bring it to , and set it by another , and carry its view from one to the other , this is relation or respect : and the denominations given to things intimating that respect , are what we call relatives . and the things so brought together related . thus when i call cajus , husband , or whiter , i intimate some other person , or thing in both cases , with which i compare him . any of our ideas may be the foundation of relation . where languages have failed to give correlative names , there the relation is not so easily taken notice of : as in concubine , which is a relative name , as well as wife . the ideas of relation may be the same , in those men who have far different ideas of the things that are related . thus those who have different ideas , of man , may agree in that of a father . there is no idea of any kind , which is not capable of an almost infinite number of considerations , in reference to other things : and therefore this makes no small part of men's words , and thoughts . thus one single man , may at once sustain the relations of father , brother , son , husband , friend , subject , general , european , englishman , islander , master , servant , bigger , less , &c. to an almost infinite number ; he being capable of as many relations , as there can be occasions of comparing him to other things in any manner of agreement , disagreement , or respect whatsoever . the ideas of relations are much clearer and more distinct , than of the things related ; because the knowledge of one simple idea , is oftentimes sufficient to give me the notion of a relation : but to the knowing of any substantial being , an accurate collection of sundry ideas is necessary . chap. xxvi . of cause and effect and other relations . the ideas of cause and effect , we get from our observation of the vicissitude of things , while we perceive some qualities or substances begin to exist , and that they receive their existence from the due application and operation of other beings : that which produces , is the cause ; that which is produced , the effect . thus fluidity in wax is the effect of a certain degree of heat , which we observe to be constantly produced by the application of such heat . we distinguish the originals of things into two sorts . first when the thing is wholly made new , so that no part thereof did ever exist before , as when a new particle of matter , doth begin to exist which had b●fore no being ; 't is ca●led creation . secondly , when a thing is made up of particles which did all of them before exist , but the thing so constituted of pre-existing particles , which altogether make up such a collection of simple ideas , had not any existence before , as this man , this egg , this rose , &c. when produced in the ordinary course of nature , by an internal principle , but set on work by some external agent , and working by insensible ways which we perceive not ; 't is called generation . when the cause is extrinsical , and the effect introduced by a sensible separation or juxta-position of discernible parts , we call it making ; and such are all artificial things . when any simple idea is produced , which was not in that subject before , we call it alteration . the denominations of things taken from time , are for the most part only relations . thus when it is said that queen elizabeth lived sixty nine , and reigned forty five years , no more is meant , than , that the duration of her existence , was equal to sixty nine , and of her government to forty five annual revolutions of the sun : and so are all words answering , how long . young and old , and other words of time , that are thought to stand for positive ideas , are indeed relative ; and intimate a relation to a certain length of duration , whereof we have the idea in our minds . thus we call a man young , or old , that has lived little or much of that time that men usually attain to . this is evident from our application of these names to other things ; for a man is called young at twenty , but a horse old , &c. the sun and stars we call not old at all , because we know not what period god has set to that sort of beings . there are other ideas , that are truly relative , which we signify by names that are thought positive and absolute ; such as great and little , strong and weak . the things thus denominated are referred to some standards with which we compare them . thus we call an apple great , that is bigger than the ordinary sort of those we have been used to . and a man weak , that has not so much strength or power to move as men usually have , or those of his own size . chap. xxvii . of identity and diversity . another occasion the mind takes of comparing , is the very being of things : when considering a thing as existing at any certain time , or place , and comparing it with it self as existing at any other time , &c. we form the ideas of identity , and diversity . when we see any thing in any certain time and place , we are sure , it is that very thing ; and can be no other how like soever it may be in all other respects . we conceiving it impossible , that two things of the same kind should exist together in the same place , we conclude that whatever exists any where at the same time , excludes all of the same kind , and is there it self alone . when therefore we demand whether any thing be the same , or no , it refers always to something that existed such a time , in such a place , which it was certain at that instant was the same with it self , and no other . we have ideas of three sorts of substances , first , god : secondly , finite intelligence : thirdly , bodies . first , god being eternal , unalterable , and every where concerning his identity , there can be no doubt . secondly , finite spirits having had their determinate time and place of beginning to exist , the relation to that time and place will always determine to each its identity , as long as it exists . thirdly , the same will hold of every particle of matter to which no addition or substraction is made . these three exclude not one another out of the same place , yet each exclude those of the same kind , out of the same place . the identity and diversity of modes and relations are determined after the same manner , that substances are : only the actions of finite beings , as motion and thought , consisting in succession , they they cannot exist in different times , and places as permanent beings : for no motion or thought considered as at different times can be the same , each part thereof having a different beginning of existence . from whence it is plain , that existence it self is the principium individuationis , which determins a being to a particular time , and place incommunicable to two beings of the same kind . thus , suppose an atom existing in a determin'd time , and place ; it is evident that considered in any instant , it is the same with it self , and will be so , as long as its exstence continues . the same may be said of two , or more , or any number of particles , whilst they continue together . the mass will be the same however jumbled , but if one atom be taken away , it is not the same mass. in vegetables , the identity depends not on the same mass , and is not applied to the same thing . the reason of this is the difference between an animate body , and mass of matter ; this being only the cohesion of particles any how united . the other , such a disposition and organization of parts , as is sit to receive and distribute nourishment . so as to continue and frame the wood , bark , leaves , &c. of an oak , for instance , in which consists the vegetable life . that therefore which has such an organization of parts partaking of one common life , continues to be the same plant , thô that life be communicated to new particles of matter vitally united to the living plant. the case is not so much different in brutes , but that any one may hence see what makes an animal , and continues it the same . the identity of the same man likewise consists in a participation of the same continued life , in succeeding particles of matter vitally united to the same organized body . to understand identity aright , we must consider what idea the word it is applied to , stands for . it being one thing to be the same substance , another the same man , and a third the same person . an animal , is a living organized body and the same animal , is the same continued life communicated to different particles of matter , united to that organized , living body ; our notion of man , is but of a particular sort of animal : should we see a creature of our own shape , thô it had no more reason than a parret , we should call it a man : or should we hear a parret discourse rationally , we should hardly call , or think it any thing but a parret . person stands for an intelligent being , that reasons and reflects , and can consider it self the same thing in different times and places ; which it doth by that consciousness that is inseparable from thinking . by this every one is to himself what he calls self , without considering whether that self be continued in the same , or divers substances . in this consists personal identity , or the sameness of a rational being : and so far as this consciousness extends backward to any past action , or thought , so far reaches the identity of that person . it is the same self now , it was then ; and it is by the same self , with this present one , that now reflects on it , that that action was done . self is that conscious thinking thing , whatever substance it matters not , which is conscious of pleasure or pain , capable of happiness or misery ; and so is concerned for it self , as far as that consciousness extends . that with which the consciousness of this present thinking thing , can joyn it self , makes the same person , and is one self with it ; and so attributes to its self , and owns all the actions of that thing , as its own , as far as that consciousness reaches . this personal identity , is the object of reward and punishment , being that by which every one is concerned for himself . if the consciousness went along with the little finger , when that was cut off it would be the same self , that was just before concerned for the whole body . if the same socrates , waking and sleeping , did not partake of the same consciousness , they would not be the same person : a socrates waking , could not be in justice accountable for what socrates sleeping did , no more than one twin , for what his brother twin did , because their outsides were so like , that they could not be distinguished . but suppose i wholly lose the memory of some parts of my life , beyond a possibility of retrieving them ; so that i shall never be conscious of them again : am i not again the same person that did those actions , thô i have now forgot them ? i answer , that we must here take notice what the word i is applied to , which in this case is the man only : and the same man being presumed to be the same person , i is easily here suppos'd to stand also for the same person . but if it be possible for the same man , to have distinct incommunicable consciousness at different times , it is past doubt the same man would , at different times , make different persons . which we see is the sense of mankind in the solemnest declaration of their opinions , human laws not punishing the madman , for the sober man's actions , nor the sober man , for what the madman did ; thereby making them two persons . thus we say in english , such a one is not himself , or is besides himself , in which phrases it is insinuated , that self is changed , and the self same person is no longer in that man. but is not a man drunk or sober the same person ? why else is he punished for the same fact he commits when drunk , thô he be never afterwards conscious of it ? just as much the same person , as a man that walks , and does other things in his sleep , is the same person : and is as answerable for any mischief he shall do in it . human laws punish both , with a justice suitable to their way of knowledge : because in these cases , they cannot distinguish certainly what is real , and what is counterfeit : and so the ignorance in drunkenness or sleep is not admitted as a plea. for thô punishment be annexed to personality , and personality to consciousness ; and the drunkard perhaps is not conscious of what he did : yet human judicatures justly punish him , because the fact is proved against ; but want of consciousness cannot be proved for him . but in the great day wherein the secrets of all hearts shall be laid open , it may be reasonable to think no one should be made to answer , for what he knows nothing of ; but shall receive his doom , his own conscience accusing , or else excusing him . to conclude , whatever substance begins to exist , it must during its existence be the same : whatever compositions of substances begin to exist , during the union of those substances , the concrete must be the same . whatsoever mode begins to exist , during its existence it is the same : and so if the composition be of distinct substances , and different modes , the same rule holds . whence it appears that the difficulty or obscurity that has been about this matter , rather arises from the names ill used , than from any obscurity in the things themselves . for whatever makes the specifick idea , to which the name is applied , if that idea be steadily kept to , the distinction of any thing into the same , and divers , will easily be conceived , and there can arise no doubt concerning it . chap. xxviii . of other relations . all simple ideas , wherein are parts or degrees , afford an occasion of comparing the subjects wherein they are to one another in respect of those simple ideas . as whiter , sweeter , more , less , &c. these depending on the equality , and excess of the same simple idea , in several subjects may be called , proportional relations . another occasion of comparing things is taken from the circumstances of their origine , as father , son , brother , &c. these may be called natural relations . sometimes the foundation of considering things , is some act whereby any one comes by a moral right , power , or obligation to do something : such are general , captain , burgher ; these are instituted , and voluntary relations , and may be distinguished from the natural , in that they are alterable and separable from the persons to whom they sometimes belonged , thô neither of the substances so related be destroyed . but natural relations are not alterable , but are as lasting as their subjects . another relation is the conformity or disagreement of mens voluntary actions to a rule to which they are referred , and by which they are judged of : these may be called moral relations . it is this conformity or disagreement of our actions to some law ( whereby good or evil is drawn on us from the will and power of the law-maker , and is what we call reward or punishment ) that renders our actions morally good , or evil. of these moral rules or laws there seem to be three sorts with their different ensorcements . first , the divine law. secondly , civil law. thirdly , the law of opinion or reputation . by their relation to the first , our actions are either sins or duties : to the second , criminal or innocent : to the third vertues or vices . 1st . by the divine law , i mean that law which god has set to the actions of men , whether promulgated to them by the light of nature , or the voice of revelation . that god has given a law to mankind , seems undeniable , since he has , first , a right to do it , we are his creatures . secondly , goodness and wisdom to direct our actions to what is best . thirdly , power to enforce it by reward , and punishment of infinite weight , and duration . this is the only true touchstone of moral rectitude , and by which men judge of the most considerable moral good or evil of their actions : that is , whether as duties or sins they are like to procure them happiness or misery from the hands of the almighty . 2 ly . the civil law , is the rule set by the common-wealth , to the actions of those that belong to it . this law no body over-looks ; the rewards and punishments being ready at hand to enforce it , extending to the protecting or taking away of life , liberty , and estate of those who observe or disobey it . 3ly . the law of opinion or reputation . vertue and vice are names supposed every where , to stand for actions in their own nature , right and wrong . as far as they are really so applied , they so far are co-incident with the divine law. but it is visible that these names in the particular instances of their application , through the several nations and societies of men , are constantly attributed only to such actions as in each countrey and society , are in reputation or discredit . so that the measure of what is every where called and esteemed vertue and vice , is the approbation or dislike , praise or blame , which by a tacit consent establishes it self in the societies and tribes of men in the world ; whereby several actions come to find credit or disgrace amongst them , according to the judgment , maxims or fashions of the place . that this is so , appears hence ; that tho' that passes for vertue in one place , which is elsewhere accounted vice ; yet every where vertue and praise , vice and blame go together ; vertue is every where that which is thought praise-worthy : and nothing else but that which has the allowance of publick esteem , is called vertue . these have so close an alliance , that they are often called by the same name . 't is true , vertue and vice. do in a great measure every where correspond with the unchangeable rule of right and wrong , which the laws of god have established ; because the observation of these laws visibly secures and advances the general good of mankind , and the neglect of them breeds mischief and confusion : and therefore men without renouncing all sense and reason , and their own interest , could not generally mistake in placing their commendation and blame on that side , that deserved it not . they who think not commendation and disgrace sufficient motives to engage men to accommodate themselves to the opinions and rules of those with whom they converse , seem little skill'd in the history of mankind . the greatest part whereof govern themselves chiefly by this law of fashion . the penalties that attend the breach of god's laws are seldom seriously reflected on , and those that do reflect on them , entertain thoughts of future reconciliation . and for the punishment due from the laws of the common-wealth , men flatter themselves with the hopes of impunity : but no man escapes censure and dislike who offends against fashion ; nor is there one of ten thousand stiff and insensible enough , to bear up under the constant dislike and condemnation of his own club. morality then is nothing but a relation to these laws or rules ; and these rules being nothing but a collection of several simple ideas ; the conformity thereto is but so ordering the action , that the simple ideas belonging to it , may correspond to those which the law requires . by which we see how moral beings , and notions are founded on , and terminated in the simple ideas of sensation and reflection . for example , let us consider the complex idea signified by the word murder . first from reflection , we have the ideas of willing , considering , purposing , malice , &c. also of life , perception , and self-motion . secondly from sensation , we have the ideas of man , and of some action whereby we put an end to that perception , and motion in the man , all which simple ideas , are comprehended in the word murder . this collection of simple ideas being found to agree or disagree with the esteem of the country i have been bred in , and to be held worthy of praise or blame , i call the action vertuous , or vicious . if i have the will of a supreme invisible , law-maker for my rule , then , as i suppose the action commanded or forbidden by god , i call it good or evil , sin or duty : if i compare it with the civil-law of my country , i call it lawful or unlawful , a crime or no crime . moral actions may be considered two ways , first , as they are in themselves a collection of simple ideas , in which sense they are positive absolute ideas . secondly , as good , or bad , or indifferent : in this respect they are relative , it being their conformity or disagreement with some rule , that makes them be so . we ought carefully to distinguish between the positive idea of the action , and the reference it has to a rule : both which are commonly comprehended under one name , which often occasions confusion , and misleads the judgment . it would be infinite to go over all sorts of relations ; i have here mentioned some of the most considerable , and such as may serve to let us see from whence we get our ideas of relations , and wherein they are founded . chap. xxix . of clear obscure , distinct and confused ideas . having shewn the original of our ideas , and taken a view of their several sorts : i shall offer some few other considerations concerning them . the first , is that some are clear , others obscure : some distinct , and others confused . our simple ideas are clear , when they are such as the objects themselves from whence they were taken , did in a well-ordered sensation or perception present them . whilst the memory retains them thus , and can produce them so to the mind when it has occasion to consider them , they are clear ideas . our complex ideas are clear when the ideas that go to their composition are clear : and the number and order of those simple ideas , that are their ingredients , is determinate and certain . the cause of obscurity in simple ideas seems to be either dull organs , or slight impressions made by the objects , or a weakness in the memory , not able to retain them as received . a distinct idea is that wherein the mind perceives a difference from all other : and a confused , is such an one as is not sufficiently distinguishable from another from which it ought to be different . obscurity is opposed to clearness . confusion to distinctness . confusion is occasioned chiefly by the following defaults . first , when any complex idea ( for it is complex ideas that are most liable to confusion ) is made up of too small a number of simple ideas , and such as are common to other things : whereby the differences that make it deserve a different name , are left out . thus an idea of a leopard being conceived only as a spotted beast , is confused ; it not being thereby sufficiently distinguished from a panther , and other sorts of beasts that are spotted . secondly , when the ideas are so jumbled together in the complex one , that it is not easily discernible , whether it more belongs to the name given it , than to any other . we may conceive this confusion by a sort of pictures , usually shewn , wherein the colours mark out very odd and unusual figures , and have no discernible order in their position . this , when said to be the picture of a man or caesar , we reckon confused , because it is not discernible in that state , to belong more to the name man or caesar , than to the name baboon or pompey . but when a cylindrical mirrour rightly placed , hath reduced those irregular lines on the table , into their due order and proportion , then the eye presently sees that it is a man , or caesar : that is , that it belongs to those names , and is sufficiently distinguishable from a baboon or pompey ; that is , from the ideas signified by those names . thirdly , when any one of our ideas signified by a name is uncertain and undetermined . thus he that puts in , or leaves out an idea out of his complex one of church or idolatry , every time that he thinks of either , and holds not steady to any one precise combination of ideas , that makes it up , is said to have a confused idea of church or idolatry . confusion always concerns two ideas , and those most which most approach one another . to avoid confusion therefore we ought to examine what other it is in danger to be confounded with , or which it cannot easily be separated from ; and that will be found an idea belonging to another name , and so should be a different thing , from which yet it is not sufficiently distinct , and so keeps not that difference from that other idea which the different name imports . it is to be observed that our complex ideas may be very clear and distinct in one part , and very obscure and confused in another . thus in chiliaedrum , or body of a thousand sides , the idea of the figure may be confused , tho' that of the number be very distinct : we can discourse and demonstrate concerning that part of this complex idea which depends on the number thousand ; thô it is plain we have no precise idea of its figure , so as to distinguish it by that from one that has but nine hundred ninety nine sides . the not observing this , causes no small error in men's thoughts , and confusion in their discourses . chap. xxx . of real and fantastical ideas . our ideas in reference to things from whence they are taken , or which they may be supposed to represent , come under a threefold distinction , and are first either real or fantastical . secondly adequate or inadequate . thirdly true or false . by real ideas i mean such as have a foundation in nature ; such as have a conformity with the real being and existence of things , or with their archetypes . fantastical are such as have no foundation in nature , nor any conformity with that reality of being , to which they are referred as to their archetypes . by examining the several sorts of ideas we shall find , that first our simple ideas are all real ; not that they are images or representations of what does exist , but as they are the certain effects of powers in things without us , ordained by our maker , to produce in us such sensations : they are real ideas in us , whereby we distinguish the qualities that are really in things themselves . their reality lies in the steady correspondence they have with the distinct constitutions of real beings . but whether they answer to those constitutions as to causes or patterns , it matters not : it suffices that they are constantly produced by them . complex ideas being arbitrary combinations of simple ideas put together , and united under one general name , in forming of which the mind uses its liberty ; we must enquire which of these are real , and which imaginary combinations , and to this i say , that , first , mixed modes and relations having no other reality , than what they have in the minds of men ; nothing else is required to make them real , but a possibility of existing conformable to them . these ideas being themselves archetypes , cannot differ from their archetypes , and so cannot be chimerical ; unless any one will jumble together in them inconsistent ideas . those indeed that have names assigned them in any language , must have a conformity to the ordinary signification of the name that is given them , that they may not be thought fantastical . secondly , our complex ideas of substances being made , in reference to things existing without us , whose representations they are thought , are no farther real , than as they are such combinations of simple ideas , as are really united , and co-exist in things without us . those are fantastical which are made up of several ideas , that never were found united , as centaur , &c. chap. xxxi . of ideas adequate or inadequate . real ideas are either 1. adequate , which perfectly represents those archetypes which the mind supposes them taken from , and which it makes them to stand for . secondly , inadequate , which are such as do but partially or incompleatly represent those archetypes to which they are referred : whence it appears . first , that all our simple ideas are adequate , for they being but the effects of certain powers in things fitted and ordained by god , to produce such sensations in us ; they cannot but be correspondent and adequate to such powers , and we are sure they agree to the reality of things . secondly , our complex ideas of modes being voluntary collections of simple ideas , which the mind puts together without reference to any real archetypes , cannot but be adequate ideas . they are referred to no other pattern , nor made by any original , but the good-liking and will of him that makes the combination . if indeed one would conform his idea , to that which is formed by another person , it may be wrong or inadequate , because they agree not to that which the mind designs to be their archetype and pattern . in which respect only , any ideas of modes can be wrong , imperfect or inadequate . thirdly , our ideas of substances , have in the mind a double reference : first , they are sometimes referred to a supposed real essence , of each species of things . secondly , they are designed for representations in the mind of things that do exist , by ideas discoverable in them : in both which respects they are inadaequate . first , if the names of substances stand for things , as supposed to have certain real essences , whereby they are of this or that species , ( of which real essences men are wholly ignorant and know nothing ) it plainly follows that the ideas they have in their minds , being referr'd to real essences , as archetypes which are unknown , they must be so far from being adequate , that they cannot be supposed to be any representation of them at all . our complex ideas of substances are , as has been shewn , nothing but certain collections of simple ideas that have been observed , or supposed constantly to exist together . but , such a complex idea cannot be the real essence of any substance : for then the properties we discover in it would be deducible from it , and their necessary connexion with it be known , as all the properties of a triangle depend on , and are deducible from the complex idea of three lines including a space : but it is certain that in our complex ideas of substances , are not contained in such ideas on which all the other qualities that are to be found in them depend . secondly , those that take their ideas of substances from their sensible qualities , cannot form adequate idaeas of them : because their qualities and powers are so various , that no man's complex idaea can contain them all . most of our simple idaeas , whereof our complex ones of substances do consist , are powers which being relations to other substances ; we cannot be sure we know all the powers , till we have tryed what changes they are fitted to give and receive from other substances , in their several ways of application : which being impossible to be tryed upon one body , much less upon all , it is impossible we should have adequate idaeas of any substance , made of a collection of all its properties . chap. xxxii . of true and false ideas . truth and falshood in propriety of speech belong only to propositions ; and when ideas are termed true or false , there is some secret or tacit proposition , which is the foundation of that denomination . our ideas being nothing but appearances or perceptions in the mind , can in strictness of speech no more be said to be true or false , than single names of things . the idea of centaur has no more falshood in it , when it appears in our minds , than the name centaur when it is pronounced or writ on paper . for truth or falshood lying always in some affirmation or negation , our ideas are not capable any of them , of being false , till the mind passes some judgment on them ; that is , affirms or denies something of them . in a metaphysical sense they may be said to be true , that is , to be really such as they exist ; tho' in things called true , even in that sense , there is perhaps a secret reference to our ideas , looked upon as the standards of that truth ; which amounts to a mental proposition . when the mind refers any of its ideas to any thing extraneous to it , they are then capable of being true or false : because in such a reference the mind makes a tacit supposition of their conformity to that thing ; which supposition , as it is true or false , so the ideas themselves come to be denominated , this happens in these cases : first , when the mind supposes its idea , conformable to that in other mens minds , called by the same name , such as that of justice , vertue , &c. secondly , when the mind supposes any idea conformable to some real existence . thus that of a man is true , that of centaur false , the one having a conformity to what has really existed ; the other not . thirdly , when the mind refers any of its ideas to that real constitution , and essence of any thing whereon all its properties depend : and thus the greatest part , if not all our ideas of substances , are false . as to the first , when we judge of our ideas by their conformity to those of other men , they may be any of them false . but simple ideas are least liable to be so mistaken ; we seldom mistake green for blue , or bitter for sweet ; much less do we confound the names belonging to different senses , and call a colour by the name of a taste . complex ideas are much more liable to falshood in this particular : and those of mixed modes more than substances . because in substances their sensible qualities serve for the most part to distinguish them clearly : but in mixed modes we are more uncertain , and we may call that justice , which ought to be called by another name . the reason of this is , that the abstract ideas of mixed modes , being mens voluntary combinations of such a precise collection of simple ideas , we have nothing else to refer our ideas of mixed modes as standards to ; but the ideas of those who are thought to use names in their proper significations : and so as our ideas conform or differ from them , they pass for true or false . as to the second , when we refer our ideas to the real existence of things , none can be termed false , but our complex ideas of substances . for our simple ideas being nothing but perceptions in us answerable to certain powers in external objects , their truth consists in nothing but such appearances , as are produced in us suitable to those powers : neither do they become liable to the imputation of falshood , whether we judge these ideas to be in the things themselves , or no. for god having set them as marks of distinguishing things , that we may be able to discern one thing from another ; and thereby chuse them as we have occasion : it alters not the nature of our simple ideas , whether we think the idea of blue ( for instance ) to be in the violet it self , or in the mind only : and it is equally from that appearance to be denominated blue , whether it be that real colour , or only a peculiar texture in it , that causes in us that idea : since the name blue notes properly nothing but that mark of distinction , that is in a violet , discernible only by our eyes , whatever it consists in . neither would our simple ideas be false , if by the different structure of our organs it were so ordered , that the same object should produce in several mens minds different ideas . for this could never be known , since objects would operate constantly after the same manner . it is most probable nevertheless , that the ideas produced by objects in different mens minds , are very near and undiscernibly like . names of simple ideas may be mis-applied , as a man ignorant in the english tongue may call purple , scarlet : but this makes no falshood in the ideas . complex ideas of modes , cannot be false in reference to the essence of any thing really existing ; because they have no reference to any pattern existing , or made by nature . our complex ideas of substances , being all referr'd to patterns in things themselves , may be false . they are so , first , when looked upon as representations of the unknown essences of things . secondly , when they put together simple ideas which in the real existence of things , have no union : as in centaur . thirdly , when from any collection of simple ideas , that do always exist together , there is separated by a direct negation any one simple idea , which is constantly joyned with them . thus , if from extension , solidity , fixedness , malleableness , fusibility , &c. we remove the colour observed in gold. if this idea be only left out of the complex one of gold , it is to be looked on as an inadequate and imperfect , rather than a false one : since , thô it contains not all the simple ideas , that are united in nature : yet it puts none together , but what do really exist together . upon the whole , i think that our ideas as they are considered by the mind , either in reference to the proper signification of their names , or in reference to the reality of things , may more proproperly be called right or wrong ideas , according as they agree or disagree to those patterns to which they are referred . the ideas that are in mens minds simply considered , cannot be wrong , unless complex ideas , wherein inconsistent parts are jumbled together . all other ideas are in themselves right , and the knowledge about them right , and true knowledge . but when we come to refer them to any patterns , or archetypes , then they are capable of being wrong , as far as they disagree with such archetypes . having thus given an account of the original sorts and extent of our ideas , which are the materials of our knowledge , before i proceed to shew what use the understanding makes of them , and what knowledge we have by them , i find it necessary , because of that close connexion between ideas , and words ; and that constant relation , which our abstract ideas and general words have one with another , to consider , first , the nature , use , and signification of language , which therefore must be the business of the next book . book iii. chap. i. of words or language in general . god having design'd man for a sociable creature , made him not only with an inclination , and under a necessity to have fellowship with those of his own kind : but furnished him also with language , which was to be the great instrument and common tye of society . man therefore had by nature his organs so fashioned , as to be fit to frame articulate sounds , which we call words . but besides articulate sounds ( which birds may be taught to imitate ) it was further necessary that he should be able to use these sounds as signs of internal conceptions , and make them stand as marks of the ideas of his mind , whereby they might be made known to others . but neither is it enough for the perfection of language , that sounds can be made . signs of ideas , unless these can be made use of , so as to comprehend several particular things : for the multiplication of words would have perplexed their use , had every particular thing need of a distinct name to be signified by . to remedy this inconvenience , language had yet a farther improvement in the use of general terms , whereby one word was made to mark a multitude of particular existences , which advantageous use of sounds was obtained only by the difference of the ideas they were made signs of . those names becoming general , which are made to stand for general ideas ; and those remaining particular , where the ideas they are used for are particular . there are other words which signify the want or absence of ideas , as ignorance , barrenness , &c. which relate to positive ideas , and signify their absence . it is observable that the words which stand for actions and notions , quite removed from sense , are borrowed from sensible ideas , v. g. to imagine , apprehend , comprehend , understand , adhere , conceive , instill , disgust , disturbance , tranquillity , &c. which are all taken from the operations of things sensible , and applied to modes of thinking . spirit in its primary signification is no more than breath ; angel a messenger . by which we may guess what kind of notions they were , and whence derived ; which filled the minds of the first beginners of languages , and how nature , even in the naming of things unawares suggested to men , the originals of all their knowledge : whilst to give names that might make known to others any operations they felt in themselves , or any other ideas , that came not under their senses , they were fain to borrow words from the ordinary and known ideas of sensation . the better to understand the use and force of language , as subservient to knowledge , it will be convenient to consider , first , to what it is that names in the use of language are immediately applyed . secondly , since all ( except proper names ) are general , and so stand not for this or that single thing , but for sorts and ranks : it will be necessary to consider what those sorts and kinds of things are ; wherein they consist , and how they come to be made . this shall be considered in the following chapters . chap ii. of the signification of words . man , thô he have great variety of thoughts , yet are they all within his own breast , invisible and hidden from others , nor can of themselves be made to appear . it was necessary therefore , for the comfort and advantage of society , that man should find out some external signs , whereby those invisible ideas might be made known to others . for which purpose nothing was so fit , either for plenty or quickness , as those articulate sounds he found himself able to make . hence words came to be made use of by men , as signs of their ideas : not upon the account of any natural connexion between articulate sounds , and certain ideas ; for then there would be but one language amongst all men : but by a voluntary imposition , whereby such a word is made arbitrarily the mark of such an idea . the use then of words , is to be sensible marks of our ideas : and the ideas they stand for , are their proper and immediate signification . in which they stand for nothing more but the ideas in the mind of him that uses them . for when a man speaks to another , it is that he may be understood ; that is , that his sounds may make known his ideas to the hearer . words being voluntary signs cannot be imposed on things we know not : this would be to make them signs of nothing , sounds without significations . a man cannot make his words the signs either of qualities in things , or of conceptions in the mind of another , whereof he has none in his own . words in all mens mouths ( that speak with any meaning ) stand for the ideas which those that use them have : and which they would express by them . thus a child that takes notice of nothing more in the mettal he hears called gold , than the yellow colour , calls the same colour in a peacock's tail gold. another , that hath better observed , adds to shining yellow , great weight ; and then the sound gold stands , when he uses it , for a complex idea of a shining yellow , and very weighty substance . thô words signify properly nothing but the ideas in mens minds , yet they are in their thoughts secretly referred to two other things . first , they suppose their words to be marks of ideas , in the minds of other men with whom they communicate ; else they could not discourse intelligibly with one another : in this case men stand not to examine whether their ideas , and those of other men be the same ; they think it enough that they use the word in the common acceptation of that language . secondly , they suppose their words to stand also for the reality of things . words then being immediately the signs of mens ideas , whereby they express their thoughts and imaginations to others , there arises by constant use such a connexion between certain sounds and the ideas they stand for ; that the names heard almost as readily excite certain ideas , as if the objects themselves were present to the senses . and because we examine not precisely the signification of words , we often in attentive consideration set our thoughts more on words , than things : nay , some ( because we often learn words before we know the ideas they stand for ) speak several words no otherwise than parrots do , without any meaning at all . but so far as words are of use and signification , so far there is a constant connexion between the sound and idea ; and a designation that the one stand for the other ; without which application of them , they are nothing but insignificant noise . since then words signifie only mens peculiar ideas , and that by an arbitrary imposition , it follows that every man has an inviolable liberty to make words stand for what ideas he pleases . it is true , common use by a tacit consent appropriates certain sounds to certain ideas in all languages ; which so far limits the signification of each sound , that unless a man applies it to the same ideas , he cannot speak properly : and unless a man's words excite the same ideas in the hearer , which he makes them stand for in speaking , he cannot speak intelligibly . but whatever be the consequence of any man's use of words , different either from their publick use , or that of the persons to whom he addresses them ; this is certain , their signification in his use of them is limited to his ideas , and they can be signs of nothing else . chap. iii. of general terms . all things that exist being particulars , it might be expected that words should be so too in their signification : but we find it quite contrary , for most of the words that make all languages are general terms . this is the effect of reason and necessity , for , first , it is impossible that every particular thing should have a distinct peculiar name , because it is impossible to have distinct ideas of every particular thing ; to retain its name , with its peculiar appropriation to that idea . secondly , it would be useless , unless all could be supposed to have these same ideas in their minds . for names applyed to particular things , whereof i alone have the ideas in my mind , could not be significant or intelligible to another , who is not acquainted with all those particular things which had fallen under my notice . thirdly , it would be of no great use for the improvement of knowledge , which thô founded in particular things , enlarges it self by general views ; to which , things reduced into sorts under general names , are properly subservient . in things where we have occasion to consider , and discourse of individuals , and particulars we use proper names : as in persons , countreys , cities , rivers , mountains , &c. thus we see that jockeys have particular names for their horses , because they often have occasion to mention this or that particular horse when he is out of sight . the next thing to be considered , is how general words come to be made . words become general by being made signs of general ideas : ideas become general by separating from them , the circumstances of time , place , or any other ideas that may determinate them to this or that particular existence . by this way of abstraction , they become capable of representing more individuals , than one : each of which having a conformity to that abstract idea , is of that sort . but it may not be amiss to trace our notions and names , from their beginning ; and observe by what degrees we proceed , and enlarge our ideas from our first infancy . it is evident that the first ideas children get , are only particular , as of the nurse or mother , and the names they give them are confined to these individuals . afterwards observing that there are a great many other things in the world , that resemble them in shape , and other qualities , they frame an idea which they find those many particulars do partake in ; to that they give with others the name man for example ; in this they make nothing new , but only leave out of the complex idea they had of peter , james , mary , &c. that which is peculiar to each , and retain only what is common to all . and thus they come to have a general name , and a general idea . by the same method they advance to more general names and notions . for observing several things that differ from their idea of man , and cannot therefore be comprehended under that name , to agree with man in some certain qualities , by retaining only those qualities , and uniting them into one idea , they have another more general idea , to which giving a name they make a term of a more comprehensive extension . thus by leaving out the shape , and some other properties signified by the name man , and retaining only a body with life , sense , and spontaneous motion ; we form the idea , signified by the name animal . by the same way the mind proceeds to body , substance , and at last to being , thing , and such universal terms which stand for any ideas whatsoever . hence we see that the whole mystery of genus and species , is nothing else but abstract ideas more or less comprehensive , with names annexed to them . this shews us the reason why in defining words , we make use of the genus : namely to save the labour of enumerating the several simple ideas , which the next general term stands for : general terms then belong not to the real existence of things ; they are inventions of the understanding , and concern only signs , either words or ideas . it must be considered in the next place , what kind of signification it is that general words have . it is evident that they do not barely signify one particular thing : for then they would not be general terms , but proper names : neither do they signify a plurality : for then man and men would signifie the same thing ; but that which they signifie , is a sort of things , and this they do , by being made a sign of an abstract idea in the mind , to which idea , as things existing are found to agree , so they come to be ranked under that name , or to be of that sort . the essences then of the sorts or species of things , are nothing but these abstract ideas . it is not denyed here that nature makes things alike , and so lays the foundation of this sorting and cleansing : but the sorts of species themselves are the workmanship of human understanding : so that every distinct abstract idea , is a distinct essence , and the names that stand for such distinct ideas , are the names of things essentially different thus oval , circle , rain and snow are essentially different . to make this clearer , it may not be amiss to consider the several significations of the word essence . first , it may be taken for the very being of any thing whereby it is , what it is ; thus the real internal , ( but unknown ) constitution in substances , may be called their essence . this is the proper signification of the word . secondly , in the schools the word essence has been almost wholly applyed to the artificial constitution of genus and species ; it is true , there is ordinarily supposed a real constitution of the sorts of things : and it is past doubt there must be some real constitution , on which any collection of simple ideas , co-existing , must depend . but it being evident , that things are ranked into sorts , under names only as they agree to certain abstract ideas , to which we have annexed those names , the essence of each genus , or species , is nothing but the abstract idea , which the name stands for ; this the word essence imports in its most familiar use . these two sorts of essence may not unfitly be termed the one real , the other nominal . between the nominal essence and the name , there is so near a connexion , that the name of any sort of things , cannot be attributed to any particular being , but what has the essence whereby it answers that abstract idea , whereof that name is the sign . concerning the real essences of corporeal substances , there are two opinions . first , some using the word essence for they know not what . suppose a certain number of those essences , according to which , all natural things are made , and of which they equally partake , and do become of this or of that species . secondly . others look on all natural things to have a real , but unknown constitution of their insensible parts , from whence flow their sensible qualities , which serve us to distinguish them one from another ; and according to which we rank them into sorts , under common denominations . the former supposition seems irreconcilable with the frequent production of monsters , in all the species of animals : since it is impossible that two things partaking of the same real essence , should have different properties . but were there no other reason against it ; yet the supposition of essences which cannot be known , and yet the making them to be that which distinguisheth the species of things , is so wholly useless and unserviceable to any part of knowledge , that that alone were sufficient to make us lay it by . we may farther observe that the nominal , and real essences of simple ideas and modes , are always the same : but in substances always quite different . thus a figure including a space between three lines , is the real as well as nominal essence of a triangle ; it being that foundation from which all its properties flow , and to which they are inseparably annexed ; but it is far otherwise in gold or any other sort of substance , it is the real constitution of its insensible parts , on which depend all those properties that are to be found in it ; which constitution since we know not , nor have any particular idea of , we can have no name that is the sign of it . but yet it is its colour , weight , fusibility , and fixedness , &c. which makes it to be gold , or gives it a right to that name ; which is therefore its nominal essence , since nothing can be called gold but what has a conformity to that abstract complex idea , to which that name is annexed . that essences are but abstract ideas , may farther appear by their being held ingenerable and incorruptible . this cannot be true of the real constitution of things . all things in nature ( save the author of it ) are liable to change : their real essences and constitutions are destroyed and perish : but as they are ideas established in the mind , they remain immutable . for whatever becomes of alexander or bucephalus , the ideas of man and horse remain the same . by these means the essence of a species rests safe and entire , without the existence of one individual of that kind . it is evident then that this doctrine of the immutability of essences is founded only on the relation established between abstract ideas and certain sounds : and will always be true , as long as the same name can have the same signification . chap. iv. of the names of simple ideas . words , thô they signifie nothing immediately , but the ideas in the mind of the speaker ; yet we shall find that the names of simple ideas , mixed modes , and natural substances have each of them something peculiar , and , first , the names of simple ideas and substances , with the abstract ideas in the mind , intimate some real existence , from which was derived their original pattern : but the names of mixed modes terminate in the idea that is in the mind . secondly , the names of simple ideas and modes signifie the real as well as nominal essences of their species : the names of substances signifie rarely , if ever any thing , but barely the nominal essences of those species . thirdly , the names of simple ideas are not capable of definitions ; those of complex ideas are : the reason of which i shall shew from the nature of our ideas , and the signification of words . it is agreed that a definition is nothing else but the shewing the meaning of one word , by several other , not synonymous terms . the meaning of words being only the ideas they are made to stand for ; the meaning of any term is then shewed , or the word defined , when by other words the idea it is made the sign of , is as it were , represented or set before the view of another , and thus its signification ascertained . the names then of simple ideas are incapable of being defined , because the several terms of a definition signifying several ideas , they can altogether by no means represent an idea which has no composition at all , and therefore a definition , which is but the shewing of the meaning of one word , by several others not signifying each the same thing , can in the names of simple ideas have no place . the not observing this difference in our ideas , has occasioned those trisling definitions which are given us of those simple ideas : such as is that of motion , viz. the act of a being in power , as far forth as in power . the atomists who define motion to be a passage from one place to another , what do they more than put one synonymous word for another ? for what is passage other than a motion ? nor will the successive application of the parts of the superficies of one body to those of another , which the cartesians give us , prove a much better definition of motion when well examined . the act of perspicuous , as far forth as perspicuous , is another peripatetick definition of a simple idea , which it is certain can never make the meaning of the word light , which it pretends to define understood by a blind man , and when the cartesians tell us , that light is a great number of little globules striking briskly in the bottom of the eye ; these words would never make the idea the word light stands for , known to a man that understood it not before . simple ideas then can only be got by the impressions objects make on our minds , by the proper in-letts appointed to each sort . if they are not received this way , all the words in the world will never be able to produce in us the ideas they stand for . words being sounds , can produce in us no other simple ideas , but sounds , nor excite any in us , but by that voluntary connexion which they have with some ideas , which common use has made them signs of : and therefore he that has not before received into his mind by the proper in-lett the simple idea , which any word stands for , can never come to know the signification of that word , by any other words or sounds whatsoever . but in complex ideas which consist of several simple ones , the cause is quite otherwise ; for words standing for those several ideas that make up the composition , may imprint complex ideas in the mind , that never were there before , and so make their names be understood . in them definitions take place . thus the word rainbow , to one who knew all those colours , but yet had never seen that phaenomenon , might by enumerating the figure , largeness , position and order of the colours be so well defined , that it might be perfectly understood . the names of simple ideas , substances , and mixed modes have also this disserence ; that those of mixed modes stand for ideas perfectly ararbitrary : those of substances are not perfectly so , but refer to a pattern , thô with some latitude : and those of simple ideas are perfectly taken from the existence of things , and are not arbitrary at all . the names of simple modes , differ little from those of simple ideas . chap. v. of the names of mixed modes and relations . the names of mixed modes being general , stand for abstract ideas in the mind , as other general names do ; but they have something peculiar which may deserve our attention . and first , the ideas they stand for , or if you please the essences of the several species of mixed modes , are made by the understanding ; wherein they differ from those of simple ideas . secondly , they are made arbitrarily , without patterns , or reference to any real existence , wherein they differ from those of substances . the mind unites and retains certain collections , as so many distinct specifick ideas , whilst other combinations that as often in nature occur , and are as plainly suggested by outward things , pass neglected without particular names , or specifications . the mind in forming these complex ideas , makes no new idea , but only puts together those which it had before , wherein it does three things . first , it chuses a certain number . secondly , it gives them connexion , and makes them into one idea . thirdly , it ties them together by a name ; all this may be done before any one individual of that species of modes ever existed : as the ideas of sacrilege or adultery might be framed , before either of them was ever committed ; and we cannot doubt but law-makers have often made laws about species of actions , which were only the creatures of their own understanding . but thô mixed modes depend on the mind , and are made arbitrarily ; yet they are not made at random , and jumbled together without any reason at all , but are always made for the convenience of communication , which is the chief end of language , and therefore such combinations are only made as men have frequent occasion to mention . thus men having joyned to the idea of killing the idea of father and mother , and so made a distinct species from the killing a man's son or neighbour , because of the different heinousness of the crime , and the distinct punishment due to it , found it necessary to mention it by a distinct name , which is the end of making that distinct combination . in mixed modes it is the name that seems to preserve their essences , and to give them their lasting duration . the collection of ideas is made by the mind , but the name is as it were the knot which ties them fast together ; hence we seldom take any other for distinct species of mixed modes , but such as are set out by names . we must observe that the names of mixed modes always signify the real essences of their species , which being nothing but the abstract complex ideas , and not referred to the real existence of things ; there is no supposition of any thing more signified by any name of a mixed mode , but barely that complex idea the mind it self has formed : which when the mind has formed , is all it would express by it , and is that on which all the properties of the species depend , and from which alone they flow : and so in these the real and nominal essence is the same . this also shews the reason why the names of mixed modes are commonly , got , before the ideas they stand for are perfectly known : because there being no species of these ordinarily taken notice of , but such as have names , and those species being complex ideas made arbitrarily by the mind , it is convenient , if not necessary to know the names , before we learn the complex ideas ; unless a man will fill his head with a company of abstract complex ideas , which others having no names for , he has nothing to do with , but to lay by , and forget again . in the beginning of languages it was necessary to have the idea before one gave it the name ; and so it is still , where a new complex idea is to be made , and a name given it . in simple ideas and substances i grant it is otherwise ; which being such ideas as have real existence and union in nature , the ideas or names are got , one before the other , as it happens , what has been said here of mixed modes , is with very little difference applicable to relations also , which since every man himself may observe , i may spare my self the pains to enlarge on . chap. vi. of the names of substances . the common names of substances stand for sorts as well as other general terms ; that is , for such complex ideas , wherein several particular substances do , or might agree , by virtue of which they are capable to be comprehended in one common conception , and be signified by one name ; i say do or might agree , for thô there be but one sun existing , yet the idea of it being abstracted , is as much a sort , as if there were as many suns as there are stars . the measure and boundary of each sort whereby it is constituted that particular sort , and distinguished from others ; is what we call its essence : which is nothing but that abstract idea to which that name is annexed , so that every thing contained in that idea , is essential to that sort. this i call nominal essence , to distinguish it from that real constitution of substances , on which this nominal essence , and all the properties of that sort depend , and may be called its real essence : thus the nominal essence of gold is that complex idea the word gold stands for , let it be for instance a body , yellow , weighty , malleable , fusible , and fixed : but its real essence is the constitution of its insensible parts , on which those qualities , and all its other properties depend ; which is wholly unknown to us . that essence in the ordinary use of the word , relates to sorts , appears from hence , that if you take away , the abstract ideas by which we sort individuals , and rank them under common names , then the thought of any thing essential to any of them , instantly vanishes : we have no notion of the one without the other , which plainly shews their relation . no property is thought essential to any individual whatsoever , till the mind refers it to some sort or species of things , and then presently , according to the abstract idea of that sort , something is found essential ; so that essential or not essential , relates only to our abstract ideas , and the names annexed to them , which amounts to no more but this , that whatever particular thing has not in it those qualities contained in the abstract idea which any general term stands for , cannot be ranked under that species , nor be called by that name ; since that abstract idea is the very essence of that species . thus if the idea of body with some people be bare extension , or space , then solidity is not essential to body : if others make the idea , to which they give the name body , to be solidity and extension ; then solidity is essential also to body . that alone therefore is considered as essential , which makes a part of the complex idea the name of a sort stands for , without which no particular thing can be reckoned of that sort , nor be entituled to that name . substances are distinguished into sorts and species by their nominal essence ; for it is that alone , that the name which is the mark of the sort signifies : and the spicies of things to us are nothing but the ranking them under distinct names , according to the complex ideas in us , and not according to precise , distinct , real essences in them. we cannot rank and sort things by their real essences , because we know them not : our faculties carry us no farther in the knowledge of substances , than a collection of those sensible ideas we obobserve in them . but the internal constitution whereon their properties depend , is utterly unknown to us . this is evident when we come to examine but the stones we tread on , or the iron we daily handle : we soon find that we know not their make , and can give no reason of the different qualities we find in them ; and yet how infinitely these come short of the fine contrivances and unconceivable real essences of plants and animals , every one knows . the workmanship of the all-wise and powerful god in the great fabrick of the universe , and every part thereof farther exceeds the comprehension of the most inquisitive and intelligent man , than the best contrivance of the most ingenious man , doth the conceptions of the most ignorant of rational creatures . in vain therefore do we pretend to range things into sorts and dispose them into certain classes , under names by their real essences , that are so far from our discovery or comprehension . but thô the nominal essences of substances are made by the mind , they are not yet made so arbitrarily as those of mixed modes . to the making of any nominal essence , it is necessary . first , that the ideas whereof it consists , have such an union as to make but one idea , how compounded soever . secondly , that the particular ideas so united , be exactly the same , neither more or less : for if two abstract complex ideas differ , either in number or sorts of their component parts , they make two different , and not one and the same essence . in the first of these , the mind in making its complex ideas of substances , only follows nature , and puts none together which are not supposed to have an union in nature . for men observing certain qualities always joyned and existing together therein copy nature , and of ideas so united , make their complex ones of substances . secondly , thô the mind in making its complex ideas of substances , never puts any together that do not really , or are not supposed to co-exist : yet the number it combines depends upon the various care , industry or fancy of him that makes it . men generally content themselves with some few obvious qualities , and often leave out others as material and as firmly united as those that they take . in bodies organized and propagated by seeds , as vegetables and animals , the shape is that which to us is the leading quality and most characteristical part that determines the species : in most other bodies not propagated by seed , it is the colour we chiefly fix on , and are most led by . thus where we find the colour of gold , we are apt to imagine all the other qualities comprehended in our complex idea , to be there also . thô the nominal essences of substances are all supposed to be copied from nature ; yet they are all , or most of them very imperfect : and since the composition of those complex ideas is in several men very different , we may conclude that these boundaries of species are as men , and not as nature makes them ; if at least there are in nature any such prefixed bounds . it is true , that many particular substances are so made by nature , that they have an agreement and likeness one with another , and so afford a foundation of being ranked into sorts : but the sorting of things by us , being in order to naming and comprehending them under general terms ; i cannot see how it can be properly said , that nature sets the boundaries of the species of things . but if it be so , our boundaries of species , are not exactly conformable to nature . if the first sorting of individuals depends on the mind of man , variously collecting the simple ideas , that make the nominal essence of the lowest species ; it is much more evident that the more comprehensive classes , called genera , do so . in forming more general ideas that may comprehend different sorts , the mind leaves out those qualities that distinguish them , and puts into its new collection only such ideas as are common to several sorts . thus by leaving out those qualities which are peculiar to , gold , silver , &c. and retaining a complex idea , made up of those that are common to each species , there is a new genus constituted , to which the name metal is annexed . so that in this whole business of genera and species , the genus or more comprehensive , is but a partial conception of what is in the species , and the species but a partial idea , of what is to be found in each individual . in all which there is no new thing made , but only more or less comprehensive signs , whereby we may be enabled to express in a few syllables great numbers of particular things , as they agree in more or less general conceptions , which we have framed to that purpose . if these abstract general idaeas be thought to be compleat , it can only be in respect of a certain established relation between them , and certain names , which are made use of to signify them , and not in respect of any thing existing as made by nature . this is adjusted to the true end of speech , which is to be the easiest and shortest way of communicating our notions . this is the proper business of genus and species : and this men do without any consideration of real essences , and substantial forms , which come not within the reach of our knowledge , when we think of those things ; nor within the signification of our words , when we discourse with others . chap. vii . of particles . besides words which are the names of ideas in the mind , there are others made use of to signify the connexion that the mind gives to idaeas or propositions one with another , and to intimate some particular action of its own at that time relating to those ideas . this it does several ways : as is , is not , are marks of the mind affirming or denying : besides which , the mind does in declaring its sentiments to others connect not only the parts of propositions , but whole sentences one to another with their several relations , and dependencies to make a coherent discourse . the words signifying , that connexion the mind gives to several affirmations and negations , that it unites in one continued reasoning or narration , are called particles . and it is in the right use of these , that more particularly consists the clearness and beauty of a good stile . to express the dependance of his thoughts and reasonings one upon another , a man must have words to shew what connexion , restriction , distinction , opposition , emphasis , &c. he gives to each respective part of his discourse . these cannot be understood rightly , without a clear view of the postures , stands , turns , limitations , exceptions and several other thoughts of the mind ; of these there are a great variety , much exceeding the number of particles that most languages have to express them by , for which reason it happens , that most of these particles have divers , and sometimes almost opposite significations . thus the particle but in english , has several very different significations , as , but to say no more : here it intimates a stop of the mind , in the course it was going , before it came to the end of it . i saw but two planets : here it shews that the mind limits the sense to what is expressed with a negation of all other ; you pray , but it is not that god would bring you to the true religion , but that he would confirm you in your own . the former of these intimates a supposition in the mind of something otherwise than it should be : the latter shews , that the mind makes a direct opposition between that and what goes before . all animals have sense , but a dog is an animal . here it signifies the connexion of the latter proposition with the former . to these ; divers other significations of this particle might be added , if it were my business to examine it in its full latitude . i intend not here a full explication of this sort of signs , the instances i have given in this one , may give occasion to reflect on their use and force in language , and lead us into the contemplation of several actions of our minds in discoursing , which it has found a way to intimate to others by these particles , some whereof constantly , and others in certain constructions , have the sense of a whole sentence contained in them . chap. viii . of abstract and concrete terms . the mind as has been shewn , has a power to abstract its idea , whereby the sorts of things are distinguished : now each abstract idaea being distinct , so that the one can never be the other , the mind will by its intuitive knowledge perceive their difference ; and therefore in propositions , no two whole ideas can ever be affirmed one of another : nor does the common use of language permit that any two abstract words or names of abstract ideas , should be affirmed one of another . all our affirmations are only in concrete , which is the affirming one abstract idea to be joyned to another : which abstract ideas in substances , may be of any sort , thô the most of them are of powers : in all the rest these are little else but relations . all our simple ideas have abstract as well as concrete names , as whitness white , sweetness sweet , &c. the like also holds in our ideas of modes and relations , as justice just , equality equal , &c. but as to our ideas of substances , we have very few abstract names at all . those few that the schools have forged , as animalitas , humanitas , &c. hold no proportion with the infinite number of names of substances , and could never get admittance into common use , or obtain the licence of publick approbation , which seems to intimate the confession of all mankind , that they have no ideas of the real essences of substances , since they have not names for such ideas . it was only the doctrine of substantial forms and the confidence of mistaken pretenders to a knowledge they had not , which first coin'd , and then introduced animalitas , humanitas , and the like : which yet went very little farther than their own schools , and could never get to be current amongst understanding men. chap. ix . of the imperfection of words . to examine the perfection or imperfection of words , it is necessary to consider their use , and end : which is twofold , first , to record our own thoughts ; secondly , to communicate our thoughts to others : the first is for the help of our own memories , whereby we do as it were talk to our selves : for this purpose any words may serve turn : words being arbitrary signs , we may use which we please for this purpose ; and there will be no imperfection in them , if we constantly use the same sign for the same idea . secondly , as to communication by words ; that too has a double use : first , their civil use , which is such a communication of thoughts and ideas by words , as may serve in common conversation and commerce , about the ordinary affairs and conveniences of civil life . secondly , the philosophical use of words , by which i mean such an use of them , as may serve to convey the precise notions of things , and to express certain truths in general propositions , these two uses are very distinct , and a great deal less exactness will serve in the one , than in the other . the end of language in communication is to be understood ; that is , to excite by sounds in the hearer , the same idea which they stand for in the mind of the speaker . the doubtfulness and uncertainty of their signification , which is the imperfection we are here speaking of has its cause more in the ideas themselves than in any incapacity in the sounds to signifie them ; for in that regard they are all equally perfect . that then which makes the difference , is the difference of ideas they stand for , which must be learned and retained by those , who would discourse together intelligibly . now this is difficult in these cases . first , where the ideas they stand for are very complex : hence the names of mixed modes are liable to great uncertainty and obscurity in their signification . for here the idea being made up of many parts , it is not easy to form and retain it exactly ; of this sort chiefly are moral words , which have seldom in two different men , the same precise signification . secondly , where the ideas they stand for , have no certain connexion in nature , and therefore no settled standard to rectifie and adjust them by . this again is the case of the names of mixed modes , which are assemblages of ideas put together at pleasure . common use indeed regulates the meaning of words pretty well for common conversation : but it is not sufficient to adjust them to philosophical discourses ; there being scarce a name of any very complex idea , which in common use has not a great latitude ; and is not made the sign of far different ideas . the way of learning these names does not a little contribute to the doubtfulness of their signification . for we may observe that children are taught the names of simple ideas , and substances , by having the things shewn them ; and then they repeat the name that stands for it ; as white , sweet , milk , sugar , ctc. but in mixed modes the sounds are learned first , and men are to learn afterwards their signification , by their own observation and industry , or the explication of others : which is the reason that these words are little more than bare sounds in the minds of most , because few are at the pains to settle their ideas , and notions precisely ; and those which are , make them the signs of ideas , different from what others understand by them , which is the occasion of most disputes . thirdly , where the signification of a word is referred to a standard which is not easily known : this is the case of the names of substances , which being supposed to stand for their real essences must needs be of uncertain application , because these essences are utterly unknown ; and it will be impossible to know what is , or is not antimony , v. g. when that word is to stand for the real essence of it ; whereof we have no idea at all . or suppose these names only stand for simple ideas , found to co-exist in substances , yet thus they will be liable to great uncerainty too : because these simple ideas being very numerous , men frame different ideas os the same subjects , by putting different ideas into their complex one , of such substances . several men observe several properties in the same substance , and none of them all ; who having but imperfect descriptions of things , can have but uncertain significations of words . fourthly , where the signification of the word , and the real essence of the thing , are not the same . which is still the case of substances ; from hence we may observe . first , that the names of simple ideas are least liable to mistakes : first , because the ideas they stand for , being each but one single perception , are easier got , and more clearly retained , than the more complex ones of substances and mixed modes . secondly , because they are not referr'd to any other essence , but barely that perception they immediately signify . secondly , names of simple modes are next to simple ideas least liable to doubt or uncertainty , especially those of figure and number , of which men have so clear and distinct ideas . thirdly , in mixed modes , when they are composed of a few and obvious ideas , their names are clear and distinct enough ; otherwise doubtful and uncertain . fourthly , the names of substances being annexed to ideas , that are neither the real essences , nor exact representations of things , are liable yet to greater imperfection , when we come to a philosophical use of them . chap x. of the abuse of words . beside the natural and unavoidable imperfections of languages , there are wilful faults and neglects , which men are often guilty of in their use of words . for , first , they use words without clear and distinct ideas , or , which is worse , signs without any thing signified ; such are for the most part introduced by sects of philosopy and religion , either out of an affectation of singularity , or to support some strange opinion ; or to cover the weakness of their hypothesis . these are commonly such as had no determinate collection of ideas annexed to them , when they were first invented ; or at least such , as if well examined , will be found inconsistent , and therefore may justly be called insignificant terms : instances of this kind may easily be had from the school-men and metaphysicians . others learn words which the propriety of language has affixed to very important ideas , and often upon occasion use them without any distinct meaning at all : whence their notions being unsteady and confused , their discourse must be filled with empty unintelligible noise and jargon , especially in moral matters where the words stand for arbitrary , and numerous collections of ideas , not regularly and permanently united in nature . secondly , another abuse is inconstancy in the use of words ; it is hard to find a discourse on any subject wherein the same words are not used sometimes for one collection of ideas , sometimes for another . the wilful doing whereof can be imputed to nothing but great folly , or greater dishonesty : and a man in his accompts with another , may with as much fairness make the characters of numbers , stand sometimes for one , and sometimes for another collection of unites ; as in his discourse , or reasoning , make the same words stand for different collections of simple ideas . thirdly , another is an affected obscurity , either by using old words in new significations , or by introducing new and ambiguous terms , without defining them , or putting them together , so as to confound their ordinary meaning . thô the peripatetick philosophy has been most eminent in this way , yet other sects have not been wholly clear of it . the admired art of disputing hath added much to the natural imperfection of languages , whilst it has been made use of , and fitted to perplex the signification of words , more than to discover the knowledge and truth of things : and he that will look into that sort of learned writings , will find the words there much more obscure , uncertain , and undetermined in their meaning , than they are in ordinary conversation . fourthly , another is the taking words for things : this , thô it in some degree concerns all names in general ; yet more particularly affects those of substances . thus in the peripatetick philosophy , substantial forms , abhorrence of vacuum , &c. are taken for something real . to this abuse those men are most subject , who confine their thoughts to any one system ; and give themselves up into a firm belief of the perfection of any received hypothesis ; whereby they come to be perswaded , that the terms of that sect , are so suited to the nature of things , that they perfectly correspond with their real existence . fifthly , another is the setting them in the place of things , which they can by no means signify . we may observe that in the general names of substances , whereof the nominal essences are only known to us , when we affirm or deny any thing about them , we do most commonly tacitly suppose or intend they should stand for the real essence of a certain sort of substances . thus when a man says , gold is malleable , he would insinuate something more than this , what i call gold is malleable , ( thô truly it amounts to no more ) namely , that what has the real essence of gold is malleable , that is , that malleableness depends on , and is inseparable from the real essence of gold. but a man not knowing wherein that real essence consists the connexion in his mind of malleableness , is not truly with an essence he knows not , but with the sound gold he puts for it . it is true , the names of substances would be much more useful ; and propositions exprest by them much more certain , were the real essences of substances the ideas in our minds , which those words signified . and it is for want of those real essences that our words convey so little knowledge , or certainty in our discourses about them . but to suppose these names to stand for a thing , having the real essence on which the properties depend , is so far from diminishing the imperfection of our words , that by a plain abuse it adds to it ; when we would make them stand for something , which not being in our complex ideas , the name we use can no way be the sign of it . in mixed modes , any idea of the complex one being left out , or changed , it is allowed to be another thing , that is , to be of another species , as is plain in chance-medley , man-slaughter , murder , &c. because the complex idea signified by that name , is the real as well as nominal essence ; and there is no secret reference of that name to any other essence , but that . but in substances it is not so ; for thô in that called gold , one puts in his complex idea , what another leaves out , and vice versâ , yet men do not usually think the species changed , because they refer the name in their minds to a real immutable essence of a thing existing , on which those properties depend : but this reference of the name to a thing we have not the idea of , is so far from helping us at all , that it only serves the more to involve us in difficulties . this reference is grounded on this supposition , namely , that the same precise internal constitution goes always with the same specifick name : in which are contained these two false suppositions . first , that there are certain precise essences , according to which , nature makes all particular things ; and by which they are distinguished into species . secondly , this tacitly insinuates as if we had ideas of these essences ; for why do we enquire , whether this or that thing have the real essence of that species man for instance , if we did not suppose it known , which yet is utterly false ; and therefore such applications of names as would make them stand for ideas we have not , must needs cause great disorder in discourse and reasonings about them ; and be a great inconvenience in our communication by words . sixthly , another more general , thô less observed , abuse of words , is , that men having by long and familiar use , annexed to them certain ideas , they are apt to imagine so near and necessary a connexion , between the names , and the significations they use them in , that they forwardly suppose one cannot but understand what their meaning is ; as if it were past doubt , that in the use of these common received sounds , the speaker and hearer had necessarily the same precise ideas . and so likewise taking the words of others , as naturally standing for just , what they themselves have been accustomed to apply them to , they never trouble themselves to explain their own , or understand anothers meaning : from whence commonly proceeds noise , and wrangling without improvement or information ; whilst men take words to be the constant regular marks of agreed notions , which in truth are no more but the voluntary and unsteady signs of their own ideas . thus life is a term , none more familiar : any one almost would take it for an affront , to be asked what he meant by it , and yet if it comes in question , whether such a thing has life , or not , it is easy to perceive , that a clear distinct settled idea , does not always accompany the use of so known a word . seventhly , figurative speech is also an abuse of language : for thô in discourses , where we seek rather pleasure and delight , than information and improvement , such ornaments as are borrowed from figurative speeches and allusions , can scarce pass for faults ; yet if we would speak of things as they are , we must allow , that all the art of rhetorick , besides order and clearness , all the artificial and figurative application of words , eloquence hath invented , are for nothing else , but to insinuate wrong ideas , move the passions , and thereby mislead the judgment , and so indeed are perfect cheat. and therefore however allowable , they may be in harangues and popular addresses ; they are certainly in all discourses that pretend to inform and instruct , wholly to be avoided ; and where truth and knowledge are concerned , cannot but be thought a great fault , either of the language or person that makes use of them . to conclude this consideration , the ends of language , in our discourse with others , are chiefly these three . first , to make our thoughts or ideas known to another ; this we fail in first , when we use names without clear and distinct ideas in our minds . secondly , when we apply received names to ideas , to which the common use of that language does not apply them . thirdly , when we apply them unsteadily , making them stand now for one , and by and by for another idea . secondly , to make known our thoughts with as much ease and quickness as is possible . this men fail in when they have complex ideas , without having distinct names for them , which may happen , either through the defect of a language , which has none , or the fault of that man who has not yet learned them . thirdly , to convey the knowledge of things : this cannot be done , but when our ideas agree to the reality of things . he that hath names without ideas , wants meaning in his words , and speaks only empty sounds : he that hath complex ideas , without names for them , wants dispatch in his expression . he that uses his words loosely and unsteadily , will either not be minded , or not understood . he that applies his names to ideas , different from their common use , wants propriety in his language , and speaks gibberish . and he that hath ideas of substances , disagreeing with the real existence of things , so far wants the materials of true knowledge in his understanding , and has instead thereof , chimaeras . language being the great conduit whereby men convey their discoveries , reasonings , and knowledge from one to another , he that makes an ill use of it , thô he does not corrupt the fountains of knowledge which are in things themselves ; yet he does as much as in him lies , break or stop the pipes whereby it is distributed to the publick use , and advantage of mankind . he that uses words without any clear and steady meaning , what does he but lead himself and others into errors ? and he that designedly does it , ought to be looked on , as an enemy to truth and knowledge . if we look into books of controversy of any kind , we shall see that the effect of obscure , unsteady , and aequivocal terms , is nothing but noise and wrangling about sounds , without convincing or bettering a man's understanding . for if the idea be not agreed on between speaker and hearer , for which the words stand , the argument is not about things but names . it deserves to be considered , and carefully examined , whether the greatest part of the disputes in the world , are not meerly verbal , and about the signification of words ; and that , if the terms they are made in were defined and reduced in their significations , to the single ideas they stand for , those disputes would not end of themselves , and immediately vanish . chap. xi . of the remedies of the foregoing imperfections and abuses . to remedy the defects of speech above-mentioned , the following rules may be of use . first , a man should take care to use no word without a signification , no name without an idea for which he makes it stand . this rule will not seem needless to any one , who will take the pains to recollect how often he has met with such words , as instinct , sympathy , antipathy . &c. so made use of , as he might easily conclude , that those that used them , had no ideas in their minds , to which they applied them . secondly , those ideas , he annexes them to , should be clear and distinct , which in complex ideas is by knowing the particular ones , that make that composition ; of which , if any one be again complex , we must know also the precise collection that is united in each , and so till we come to simple ones . in substances the ideas must not only be distinct , but also conformable to things as they exist . thirdly , he must apply his words as near as may be to such ideas , as common use has annexed them to ; for words , especially of languages already framed , are no man's private possession , but the common measure of commerce and communication ; and therefore it is not for any one to change the stamp they are current in , nor alter the ideas they are affixed to ; or at least , when there is a necessity to do so , he is bound to give notice of it . and therefore , fourthly , when common use has left the signification of a word uncertain , and loose , or where it is to be used in a peculiar sense ; or where the term is liable to any doubtfulness or mistake , there it ought to be defined , and its signification ascertained . words standing for simple ideas being not defineable , their signification must be shewn either , first , by a synonymous word . secondly , by naming a subject , wherein that simple idea is to be found . thirdly , by presenting to the senses that subject , which may produce it in the mind , and make him actually have the idea that word stands for . mixed modes may be perfectly defined , by exactly enumerating those ideas that go to each composition . this ought more especially to be done in mixed modes belonging to morality : since definition is the only way whereby the precise meaning of moral words can be known ; and yet a way whereby their precise meaning may be known certainly , and without leaving any room for any contest about it . for the explaining the signification of the names of substances , both the forementioned ways , viz. of shewing , and defining are requisite in many cases to be made use of ; their names are best defined by their leading qualities , which are mostly shape in animals , and vegetables : and colour in inanimate bodies ; and in some , both together . now these leading qualities are best made known by shewing , and can hardly be made known otherwise . the shape of a horse or cassowary will be but imperfectly imprinted on the mind by words : the sight of the animals doth it much better . and the idea of the particular colour of gold is not to be got by any description of it , but only by the frequent exercise of the eyes about it . the like may be be said of those other simple ideas , peculiar in their kind to any substance , for which precise ideas there are no peculiar names . but because many of the simple ideas , which make up our specifick ideas of substances , are powers which lie not obvious to our sense in the things , as they ordinarily appear ; therefore in the signification of our names of substances , some part of the signification will be better made known , by enumerating those simple ideas , than in shewing the substance it self . for he that to the yellow shining colour of gold , got by sight , shall from my enumerating them have the ideas of great ductibility , fusibility , fixedness , and solubility in aqua regia will have a perfecter idea of gold , than he can have by seeing a piece of gold , and thereby imprinting in his mind only its obvious qualities . it were to be wished that words standing for things , which are known and distinguished by their outward shapes should be expressed by little draughts and prints made of them . a vocabulary made after this fashion , would perhaps with more ease , and in less time teach the true signification of many terms , especially in languages of remote countreys , or ages ; and settle truer ideas in mens minds of several things , whereof we read the names in ancient authors , than all the large and laborious comments of learned criticks . naturalists that treat of plants and animals , have found the benefit of this way : and he that consults them will find that he has a clearer idea of apium and ibex from a little print , of that herb or beast , than he could have from a long definition of the names of either of them : and so no doubt he would have of strigil , and sistrum , if instead of a curry-comb or cymbal , which are the english names dictionaries render them by , he could see stamped in the margin small pictures of these instruments , as they were in use amongst the ancients . fifthly , the last rule that i shall mention is , that in all discourses wherein one man pretends to instruct or convince another , he should use the same word , constantly in the same sense ; if this were done ( which no body can refuse , without great disingenuity ) many of the books extant might be spared ; many of the controversies in dispute , would be at an end ; several of those great volumes swollen with ambiguous words , now used in one sense , and by and by in another , would shrink into a very narrow compass : and many of the philosophers ( to mention no other ) as well as poets works , might be contained in a nutshell . book iv. chap. i. of knowledge in general . since the mind in all its thoughts and reasonings , has no other immediate object but its own ideas , which alone it does or can contemplate ; it is evident that our knowledge is only conversant about them . knowledge then seems to be nothing but the perception of the connexion and agreement , or disagreement and repugnancy of any of our ideas : where this perception is , there is knowledge ; and where it is not , there thô we fancy , guess , or believe , yet we always come short of knowledge . when we know that white is not black , what do we but perceive that these two ideas do not agree ? or that the three angles of a triangle , are equal to two rightones ; what do we more but perceive that equality to two right ones , does necessarily agree to , and is inseparable from the three angles of a triangle ? but to understand a little more distinctly , wherein this agreement or disagreement consists ; we may reduce it all to these four sorts ; first , identity or diversity ; secondly , relation ; thirdly , co-existence ; fourthly , real existence . 1. identity or diversity ; 't is the first act of the mind , to perceive its ideas ; and so far as it perceives them , to know each what it is , and thereby to perceive their difference , that is , the one not to be the other : by this the mind clearly perceives each idea to agree with it self , and to be what it is ; and all distinct ideas to disagree . this it does without any pains or deduction , by its natural power of perception and distinction . this is what men of art have reduced to those general rules , viz. what is is . and it is impossible for the same thing to be , and not to be . but no maxime can make a man know it clearer , that round is not square , than the bare perception of those two ideas , which the mind at first sight perceives to disagree . 2. the next sort of agreement or disagreement the mind perceives in any of its ideas may be called relative , and is nothing but the perception of the relation , between any two ideas of what kind soever : that is , their agreement or disagreement one with another in several ways the mind takes of comparing them . 3. the third sort of agreement or disagreement to be found in our ideas , is co-existence or non-coexistence in the same subject ; and this belongs particularly to substances . thus when we pronounce concerning gold , that it is fixed , it amounts to no more but this , that fixedness , or a power to remain in the fire unconsumed , is an idea that always accompanies that particular sort of yellowness , weight , fusibility , &c. which make our complex idea , signified by the word gold. 4. the fourth sort is that of actual and real existence agreeing to any idea . within these four sorts of agreement or disagreement , i suppose is contained all the knowledge we have , or are capable of . for all that we know or can affirm concerning any idea , is , that it is , or is not the same with some other : as that blue is not yellow . that it does , or does not co-exist with another in the same subject : as that iron is susceptible of magnetical impressions ; that it has that or this relation to some other ideas : as that two triangles upon equal bases between two parallels are equal : or that it has a real existence without the mind : as , that god is . there are several ways wherein the mind is possess'd of truth , each of which is called knowledge . first , there is actual knowledge , when the mind has a present view of the agreement or disagreement of any of its ideas , or of the relation they have one with another . secondly , a man is said to know any proposition , when having once evidently perceived the agreement or disagreement of the ideas , whereof it consists , and so lodged it in his memory , that whenever it comes to be reflected on again , the mind assents to it without doubt or hesitation , and is certain of the truth of it . and this may be called habitual knowledge : and thus a man may be said to know all those truths which are lodged in his memory , by a foregoing clear , and full perception . of this there are vulgarly speaking two degrees . the one is of such truths laid up in the memory , as whenever they occur to the mind , it actually perceives the relation , that is between those ideas . and this is in all those truths , where the ideas themselves , by an immediate view , discover their agreement or disagreement one with another . the other is of such truths , whereof the mind having been convinced , it retains the memory of the conviction , without the proofs . thus a man that remembers certainly , that he once perceived the demonstration , that the three angles of a triangle are equal to two right ones , is commonly allowed to know it , because he cannot doubt of the truth of it . but yet having forgot the demonstration , he rather believes his memory , than knows the thing ; or rather it is something between opinion and knowledge : a sort of assurance , that exceeds bare belief , which relies on the testimony of another ; and yet comes short of perfect knowledge . chap. ii. of the degrees of our knowledge . all our knowlede consisting in the view the mind has of its own ideas , which is the utmost light , and greatest certainty we are capable of ; the different clearness of our knowledge , seems to lye in the different way of perception , the mind has of the agreement or disagreement of any of its ideas . when the mind perceives this agreement or disagreement , of two ideas , immediately by themselves , without the intervention of any other ; we may call it intuitive knowledge , in which cases the mind perceives the truth , as the eye does light , only by being directed towards it ; of this sort are , that white is not black , that three are more than two , and equal to one and two. this part of knowledge is irresistible , and like the bright sun-shine , forces it self immediately to be perceived as soon as ever the mind turns its view that way . it is on this intuition , that depends all the certainty and evidence of our other knowledge ; which certainty every one finds to be so great , that he cannot imagine , and therefore not require a greater . the next degree of knowledge is , where the mind perceives not this agreement or disagreement immediately , or by the juxta-position as it were of the ideas , because those ideas , concerning whose agreement or disagreement the enquiry is made , cannot by the mind be so put together , as to shew it . in this case the mind is sain to discover the agreement or disagreement which it searches , by the intervention of other ideas : and this is that which we call reasoning : and thus if we would know the agreement or disagreement in bigness , between the three angles of a triangle , and two right angles ; we cannot by an immediate view , and comparing them do it ; because the three angles of a triangle cannot be brought at once , and be compared with any other one , or two angles . and so of this , the mind has no immediate or intuitive knowledge . in this case the mind is fain to find out some other angles , to which the three angles of a triangle have equality , and finding those equal to two right ones , comes to know the equality of these three angles to two right ones . those intervening ideas , which serve to shew the agreement of any two others , are called proofs and where the agreement or disagreement is by this means plainly and clearly perceived , it is called demonstration . a quickness in the mind to find those proofs , and to apply them right , is , i suppose , that which is called sagacity . this knowledge , thô it be certain , is not so clear and evident as intuitive knowledge . it requires pains and attention , and steady application of mind , to discover the agreement or disagreement of the ideas it considers , and there must be a progression by steps and degrees , before the mind can in this way arrive at certainty . before demonstration there was a doubt , which in intuitive knowledge cannot happen to the mind , that has its faculty of perception left to a degree capable of distinct ideas , no more than it can be a doubt to the eye ( that can distinctly see white and black ) whether this ink and paper be all of a colour . now in every step that reason makes in demonstrative knowledge ; there is an intuitive knowledge of that agreement or disagreement it seeks with the next intermediate idea which it uses as a proof ; for if it were not so , that yet would need a proof ; since without the perception of such agreement or disagreement . there is no knowledge produced . by which it is evident , that every step in reasoning , that produces knowledge , has intuitive certainty ; which when the mind perceives , there is no more required but to remember it , to make the agreement or disagreement of the ideas concerning which we enquire , visible and certain . this intuitive perception of the agreement or disagreement of the intermediate ideas in each step and progression of the demonstration , must also be exactly carried in the mind ; and a man must be sure that no part is left out : which because in long deductions , the memory cannot easily retain ; this knowledge becomes more imperfect than intuitive ; and men often embrace falshoods , for demonstrations . it has been generally taken for granted , that mathematicks alone are capable of demonstrative certainty . but to have such an agreement or disagreement as may be intuitively perceived , being as i imagine not the priviledge of the ideas of number , extension and figure alone ; it may possibly be the want of due method and application in us , and not of sufficient evidence in things , that demonstration has been thought to have so little to do in other parts of knowledge . for in whatever ideas the mind can perceive the agreement or disagreement immediately , there it is capable of intuitive knowledge : and where it can perceive the agreement or disagreement of any two ideas , by an intuitive perception of the agreement or disagreement they have with any intermediate ideas , there the mind is capable of demonstration , which is not limited to the ideas of figure , number , extension , or their modes . the reason why it has been generally supposed to belong to them only , is because in comparing their equality or excess , the modes of numbers have every the least difference , very clear and perceivable : and in extension , thô every the least excess is not so perceptible , yet the mind has found out ways to discover the just equality of two angels , extensions or figures : and both , that is , numbers and figures can be set down by visible and lasting marks . but in other simple ideas , whose modes and differences are made and counted by degrees , and not quantity , we have not so nice and accurate a distinction of their differences , as to perceive , or find ways to measure their just equality , or the least differences . for those other simple ideas being appearances or sensations produced in us , by the size , figure , motion , &c. of minute corpuseles singly insensible ; their different degrees also depend on the variation of some , or all of those causes , which since it cannot be observed by us in particles of matter , whereof each is too subtile to be perceived , it is impossible for us to have any exact measures of the different degrees of these simple ideas . thus for instance , not knowing what number of particles , nor what motion of them is fit to produce any precise degree of whiteness ; we cannot demonstrate the certain equality of any two degrees of whiteness , because we have no certain standard to measure them by , nor means to distinguish every the least difference : the only help we have being from our senses , which in this point fail us . but where the difference is so great as to produce in the mind ideas clearly distinct ; there ideas of colours , as we see in different kinds , blue and red ( for instance ) are as capable of demonstration , as ideas of number and extension . what is here said of colours , i think holds true in all secondary qualities . these two then , intuition and demonstration , are the degrees of our knowledge , whatever comes short of one of these , is but faith or opinion , not knowledge , at least in all general truths . there is indeed another perception of the mind employed about the particular existence of finite beings , without us , which going beyond probability , but not reaching to either of the foregoing degrees of certainty , passes under the name of knowledge . nothing can be more certain , than that the idea we receive from an external object is in our minds : this is intuitive knowledge ; but whether we can thence certainly infer the existence of any thing without us , corresponding to that idea , is that whereof some men think there may be a question made , because men may have such an idea in their minds , when no such thing exists , no such object affects their senses . but 't is evident that we are invincibly conscious to our selves of a different perception , when we look upon the sun in the day , and think on it by night ; when we actually taste wormwood , or smell a rose , or only think on that savour or odour : so that i think we may add to the two former sorts of knowledge , this also of the existence of particular external objects , by that perception and consciousness we have , of the actual entrance of ideas from them , and allow these three degrees of knowledge , viz. intuitive , demonstrative , and sensitive , but since our knowledge is founded on , and employed about our ideas only : will it follow thence that it must be con●ormable to our ideas , and that where our ideas are clear and distinct , obscure and confused , there our knowledge will be so too ? i answer , no : for our knowledge consisting in the perception of the agreement or disagreement of any two ideas ; its clearness or obscurity consists in the clearness or obscurity of that perception , and not in the clearness or obscurity of the ideas themselves . a man ( for instance ) that has a clear idea of the angles of a triangle , and of equality to two right ones , may yet have but an obscure perception of their agreement ; and so have but a very obscure knowledge of it . but obscure and confused ideas can never produce any clear or distinct knowledge : because , as far as any ideas are obscure or confused , so far the mind can never perceive clearly , whether they agree or disagree . chap. iii. of the extent of humane knowledge . from what has been said concerning knowledge , it follows that , first , we can have no knowledge farther than we have ideas . secondly , that we have no knowledge farther than we can have perception of that agreement or disagreement of our ideas , either by intuition , demonstration , or sensation . thirdly , we cannot have an intuitive knowledge that shall extend it self to all our ideas , and all that we would know about them ; because we cannot examine and perceive all the relations they have one to another , by juxta-position , or an immediate comparison one with another . thus we cannot intuitively perceive the equality of two extensions , the difference of whose figures makes their parts uncapable of an exact and immediate application . fourthly , our rational knowledge can not reach to the whole extent of our ideas ; because between two different ideas we would examine , we cannot always find such proofs , as we can connect one to another , with an intuitive knowledge in all the parts of the deduction . fifthly , sensitive knowledge reaching no farther than the existence of things actually present to our senses , is yet much narrower than either of the former . sixthly , from all which it is evident , that the extent of our knowledge , comes not only short of the reality of things , but even of the extent of our own ideas . we have the ideas of a square , a circle and equality , and yet perhaps shall never be able to find a circle equal to a square . the affirmations or negations we make concerning the ideas we have , being reduced to the four sorts above-mentioned , viz. identity , co-existence , relation , and real existence ; i shall examine how far our knowledge extends in each of these . first , as to identity and diversity , our intuitive knowledge is as far extended as our ideas themselves ; and there can be no idea in the mind , which it does not presently by an intuitive knowledge , perceive to be what it is , and to be different from any other . secondly , as to the agreement or disagreement of our ideas in co-existence : in this our knowledge is very short , thô in this consists the greatest and most material part of our knowledge , concerning substances : for our ideas of substances being as i have shewed , nothing but certain collections of simple ideas , co-existing in one subject , ( our idea of flame for instance , is a body hot , luminous and moving upward . ) when we would know any thing farther concerning this or any other sort of substance , what do we but enquire what other qualities or powers these substances have or have not ? which is nothing else but to know , what other simple ideas do , or do not co-exist with those that make up that complex idea . the reason of this is , because the simple ideas which make up our complex ideas of substances , have no visible necessary connexion or inconsistence with other simple ideas , whose co-existence with them we would inform our selves about . these ideas being likewise for the most part secundary qualities , which depend upon the primary qualities of their minute or insensible parts , or on something yet more remote from our comprehension ; it is impossible we should know which have a necessary union , or inconsistency one with another , since we know not the root from whence they spring , or the size , figure , and texture of parts on which they depend , and from which they result . besides this , there is no discoverable connexion between any secundary qualitie , and those primary qualities that it depends on . we are so far from knowing what figure , size or motion produces , ( for instance ) a yellow colour , or sweet taste , or a sharp sound , that we can by no means conceive how any size , figure , or motion can possibly produce in us the idea of any colour , taste or sound whatsoever ; and there is no conceivable connexion between the one and the other . our knowledge therefore of co-existence reaches little farther than experience . some few indeed of the primary qualities have a necessary dependance , and visible connexion one with another : as figure necessarily supposes extension : receiving or communicating motion by impulse , supposes solidity . but qualities co-existent in any subject , without this dependance and connexion , cannot certainly be known to co-exist any farther , than experience by our senses informs us . thus , thô upon trial we find gold yellow , weighty , malleable , fusible and fixed , yet because none of these have any evident dependance , or necessary connexion with the other ; we cannot certainly know , that where any four of these are , the fifth will be there also , how highly probable soever it may be : but the highest degree of probability , amounts not to certainty ; without which there can be no true knowledge : for this co-existence can be no farther known , then it is perceived ; and it cannot be perceived , but either in particular subjects , by the observation of our senses ; or in general , by the necessary connexion of the ideas themselves . as to incompatibility , or repugnancy to co-existence , we may know that any subject can have of each sort of primary qualities , but one particular at once . one extension , one figure ; and so of sensible ideas peculiar to each sense : for whatever of each kind , is present in any subject , excludes all other of that sort ; for instance , one subject cannot have two smells , or two colours at the same time . as to powers of substances , which makes a great part of our enquiries about them , and is no inconsiderable branch of our knowledge : our knowledge as to these reaches little farther than experience ; because they consist in a texture and motion of parts , which we cannot by any means come to discover ; and i doubt whether with those faculties we have , we shall ever be able to carry our general knowledge much farther in this part . experience is that which in this part we must depend on ; and it were to be wished that it were improved : we find the advantages some mens generous pains , have this way brought to the stock of natural knowledge . and if others , especially the philosophers by fire who pretend to it , had been so wary in their observations , and sincere in their reports , as those who call themselves philosophers ought to have been : our acquaintance with the bodies here about us , and our insight into their powers and operations had been yet much greater . as to the third sort the agreement or disagreement of our ideas in any other relation : this is the largest field of knowledge , and it is hard to determine how far it may extend . this part depending on our sagacity in finding intermediate ideas , that may shew the habitudes and relations of ideas ; it is an hard matter to tell when we are at an end of such discoveries . they that are ignorant of algebra , cannot imagine the wonders in this kind , are to be done by it : and what farther improvements and helps , advantageous to other parts of knowledge , the sagacious mind of man may yet find out , it is not easy to determine . this at least i believe that the ideas of quantity , are not those alone that are capable of demonstration and knowledge : and that other , and perhaps more useful parts of contemplation , would afford us certainty , if vices , passions , and domineering interests , did not oppose or menace endeavours of this kind . the idea of a supream being , infinite in power , goodness , and wisdom , whose workmanship we are , and on whom we depend ; and the idea of our selves , as understanding rational creatures , would i suppose , if duly considered , afford such foundations of our duty , and rules of action , as might place morality among the sciences capable of demonstration : wherein i doubt not but from principles as incontestable as those of the mathematicks , by necessary consequences , the measure of right and wrong might be made out , to any one that will apply himself with the same indifferency and attention to the one , as he does to the other of these sciences . the relations of other modes may certainly be perceived as well as those of number , and extension . where there is no property , there is no injustice , is a proposition as certain as any demonstration in euclid : for the idea of property , being a right to any thing ; and the idea of injustice , being the invasion or violation of that right : it is evident that these ideas being thus established , and these names annexed to them , i can as certainly know this proposition to be true , as that a triangle has three angles equal to two right ones . again , no government allows absolute liberty . the idea of government being the establishment of society upon certain rules or laws , which require conformity to them ; and the idea of absolute liberty , being for any one to do whatever he pleases , i am as capable of being certain of the truth of this proposition , as of any in mathematicks . what has given the advantage to the ideas of quantity , and made them thought more capable of certainty and demonstration , is , first , that they can be represented by sensible marks , which have a nearer correspondence with them , than any words or sounds . diagrams drawn on paper , are copies of the ideas , and not liable to the uncertainty that words carry in their signification . but we have no sensible marks that resemble our moral ideas , and nothing but words to express them by ; which thô , when written , they remain the same ; yet the ideas they stand for , may change in the same man ; and it is very seldom that they are not different in different persons . secondly , moral ideas are commonly more complex than figures : whence these two inconveniencies follow : first , that their names are of more uncertain signification ; the precise collection of simple ideas they stand for , not being so easily agreed on , and so the sign that is used for them in communication always , and in thinking often , does not steadily carry with it the same idea . secondly , the mind cannot easily retain those precise combinations so exactly and perfectly as is necessary ; in the examination of the habitudes and correspondencies , agreements or disagreements of several of them one with another , especially where it is to be judged of by long deductions , and the intervention of several other complex ideas , to shew the agreement ' or disagreement of two remote ones . one part of these disadvantages in moral ideas , which has made them be thought not capable of demonstration , may in a good measure be remedied by definitions , setting down that collection of simple ideas which every term shall stand for , and then using the terms steadily and constantly for that precise collection . as to the fourth sort of knowledge , viz. of the real actual existence of things , we have an intuitive knowledge of our own existence : a demonstrative knowledge , of the existence of god ; and a sensitive knowledge of the objects that present themselves to our senses . from what has been said we may discover the causes of our ignorance , which are chiefly these three ; first , want of ideas ; secondly , want of a discoverable connexion between the ideas we have . thirdly , want of tracing and examining our ideas . first , there are some things we are ignorant of for want of ideas . all the simple ideas we have , are confined to the observation of our senses , and the operations of our own minds , that we are conscious of in our selves . what other ideas it is possible other creatures may have , by the assistance of other senses and faculties more or perfecter than we have , or different from ours , it is not for us to determine ; but to say or think , there are no such , because we conceive nothing of them , is no better an argument , than if a blind man should be positive in it , that there was no such thing as sight and colours , because he had no manner of idea of any such thing . what faculties therefore other species of creatures have to penetrate into the nature and inmost constitutions of things , we know not . this we know , and certainly find , that we want other views of them , besides those we have to make discoveries of them more perfect . the intellectual and sensible world are in this perfectly alike , that the parts which we see of either of them , hold no proportion with that we see not , and whatsoever we can reach with our eyes , or our thoughts of either of them , is but a point , almost nothing , in comparison of the rest . another great cause of ignorance , is the want of ideas that we are capable of . this keeps us in ignorance of things we conceive capable of being known . bulk , figure and motion we have ideas of : yet not knowing what is the particular bulk , motion and figure of the greatest part of the bodies of the universe , we are ignorant of the several powers , efficacies , and ways of operation , whereby the effects we daily see , are produced . these are hid from us in some things , by being too remote , in others by being too minute . when we consider the vast distance of the known and visible parts of the world , and the reasons we have to think that what lies within our ken , is but a small part of the immense universe ; we shall then discover an huge abyss of ignorance . what are the particular fabricks of the great masses of matter , which make up the whole stupendous frame of corporeal beings , how far they are extended , and what is their motion , and how continued , and what influence they have upon one another , are contemplations that at first glimpse our thoughts lose themselves in . if we confine our thoughts to this little canton , i mean this system of our sun , and the grosser masses of matter that visibly move about it ; what several sorts of vegetables , animals , and intellectual corporeal beings , infinitely different from those of our little spot of earth , may probably be in other planets , to the knowledge of which , even of their outward figures , and parts , we can no way attain , whilst we are confined to this earth , there being no natural means , either by sensation or reflection , to convey their certain ideas into our minds ? there are other bodies in the universe , no less concealed from us by their minuteness . these insensible corpuscles being the active parts of matter , and the great instruments of nature , on which depend all their secundary qualities and operations , our want of precise distinct ideas , and their primary qualities , keeps us in incurable ignorance of what we desire to know about them . did we know the mechanical affections of rhubarb or opium , we might as easily account for their operations of purging and causing sleep , as a watch-maker can for the motions of his watch. the dissolving of silver in aqua fortis , or gold in aqua regia , and not vice versâ , would be then perhaps no more difficult to know , than it is to a smith , to understand why the turning of one key , will open a lock , and not the turning of another . but whilst we are destitute of senses , acute enough to discover the minute particles of bodies , and to give us ideas of their mechanical affections , we must be content to be ignorant of their properties and operations ; nor can we be assured about them any farther , than some few trials we make , are able to reach : but whether they will succeed again another time , we cannot be certain . this hinders our certain knowledge of universal truths concerning natural bodies : and our reason carries us herein very little beyond particular matter of fact. and therefore i am apt to doubt , that how far soever humane industry may advance useful and experimental philosophy in physical things , yet scientifical will still be out of our reach ; because we want perfect and adequate ideas of those very bodies which are nearest to us , and most under our command . this at first sight shews us how disproportionate our knowledge is to the whole extent , even of material beings : to which , if we add the consideration of that infinite number of spirits that may be , and probably are , which are yet more remote from our knowledge , whereof we have no cognizance : we shall find this cause of ignorance , conceal from us in an impenetrable obscurity , almost the whole intellectual world : a greater certainly , and more beautiful world than the material . for bating some very few ideas of spirit , we get from our own mind by reflection , and from thence the best we can collect , of the father of all spirits , the author of them , and us , and all things : we have no certain information , so much as of the existence of other spirits but by revelation : much less have we distinct ideas of their different natures , states , powers , and several constitutions , wherein they agree or differ one from another , and from us . and therefore in what concerns their different species , and properties , we are under an absolute ignorance . the second cause of ignorance is the want of discoverable connexion between those ideas we have ; where we want that , we are utterly incapable of universal and certain knowledge ; and are as in the former case , left only to observation and experiment . thus the mechanical affections of bodies , having no affinity at all with the ideas they produce in us ; we can have no distinct knowledge of such operations beyond our experience ; and can reason no otherwise about them , than as the effects or appointment of an infinitly wise agent , which perfectly surpass our comprehensions . the operation of our minds upon our bodies , is as unconceivable . how any thought should produce a motion in body , is as remote from the nature of our ideas , as how any body should produce any thought in the mind . that it is so , if experience did not convince us , the consideration of the things themselves , would never be able in the least to discover to us . in some of our ideas , there are certain relations , habitudes , and connexions , so visibly included in the nature of the ideas themselves , that we cannot conceive them separable from them by any power whatsoever : in these only we are capable of certain and universal knowledge . thus the ideas of a right lined triangle , necessarily carries with it , an equality of its angles to two right ones . but the coherence and continuity of the parts of matter ; the production of sensation in us , of colours and sounds , &c. by impulse , and motion , being such wherein we can discover no natural connexion with any ideas we have , we cannot but ascribe them to the arbitrary will and good pleasure of the wise architect . the things that we observe constantly to proceed regularly , we may conclude do act by a law set them ; but yet by a law that we know not ; whereby , thô causes work steadily , and effects constantly flow from them ; yet their connexions and dependencies being not discoverable in our ideas , we can have but an experimental knowledge of them . several effects come every day within the notice of our senses , of which we have so far sensitive knowledge . but the causes , manner and certainty of their production , we must for the foregoing reasons be content to be ignorant of . in these we can go no farther than particular experience informs us of matter of fact , and by analogy , guess what effects the like bodies are upon other tryals like to produce . but as to perfect science of natural bodies ( not to mention spiritual beings ) we are , i think , so far from being capable of any such thing , that i conclude it lost labour to seek after it . the third cause of ignorance is our want of tracing those ideas we have , or may have ; and finding out those intermediate ideas which may shew us what habitude of agreement or disagreement , they may have one with another : and thus many are ignorant of mathematical truths , for want of application in enquiring , examining , and by due ways comparing those ideas . hitherto we have examined the extent of our knowledge , in respect of the several sorts of beings that are . there is another extent of it , in respect of universality , which will also deserve to be considered ; and in this regard our knowledge follows the nature of our ideas . if the ideas are abstract , whose agreement or disagreement we perceive , our knowledge is universal . for what is known of such general ideas , will be true of every particular thing in which that essence , that is , that abstract idea is to be found : and what is once known of such ideas , will be perpetually , and for ever true . so that as to all general knowledge , we must search and find it only in our own minds : and it is only the examining of our own ideas , that furnishes us with the truths belonging to essences of things ( that is , to abstract ideas ) that are eternal , and are to be found out by the contemplation only of those essences ; as the existence of things is to be known only from experience . but i shall say more of this in the following chapters , where i shall speak of general , and rèal knowledge . chap. iv. of the reality of our knowledge . i doubt not but my reader by this time , may be apt to think that i have been all this while , only building a castle in the air : and be ready to object , if it be true , that all knowledge lies only in the perception of the agreement or disagreement of our own ideas , the visions of an enthusiast , and the reasonings of a sober man will be equally certain : it is no matter how things are , so a man observe but the agreement of his own imaginations , and talk conformably , it is all truth , all certainty , that an harpy is not a centaur , is by this way as certain knowledge , and as much truth , as that a square is not a circle . but of what use is all this knowledge of mens own imaginations , to a man that enquires after the reality of things ? to which i answer , that if our knowledge of our ideas should terminate in them , and reach no farther , where there is something farther intended ; our most serious thoughts would be of little more use , than the reveries of a crazy brain . but i hope before i have done , to make it evident , that this way of certainty by the knowledge of our own ideas , goes a little farther , than bare imagination : and that all the certainty of general truths a man has , lies in nothing else but this knowledge of our ideas . 't is evident that the mind knows not things immediately , but by the intervention of the ideas it has of them . our knowledge therefore is real , only so far as there is a conformity between our ideas , and the reality of things . but how shall we know when our ideas agree , with things themselves ? i answer , there be two sorts of ideas that , we may be assured agree with things : these are , first , simple ideas ; which since the mind can by no means make to it self , must be the effect of things operating upon the mind , in a natural way ; and producing therein those perceptions , which by the will of our maker , they are ordained and adapted to . hence it follows , that simple ideas are not fictions of our fancies , but the natural and regular productions of things without us , really operating upon us ; which carry with them all the conformity our state requires , which is to represent things , under those appearances they are fitted to produce in us . thus the idea of whiteness , as it is in the mind , exactly answers that power which is in any body to produce it there . and this conformity between our simple ideas , and the existence of things , is sufficient for real knowledge . secondly , all our complex ideas , except those of substances , being archetypes , of the mind 's own making , and not referred to the existence of things as to their originals , cannot want any conformity necessary to real knowledge . for that which is not designed to represent any thing but it self , can never be capable of a wrong representation . here the ideas themselves are considered as archetypes , and things no otherwise regarded , than as they are conformable to them . thus the mathematician considers the truth and properties belonging to a rectangle or circle only , as they are ideas in his own mind , which possibly he never found existing mathematically , that is , precisely true : yet his knowledge is not only certain , but real ; because real things are no farther concern'd nor intended to be meant by any such propositions , than as things really agree to those archetypes in his mind . it is true of the idea of a triangle , that its three angles are equal to two right ones ; it is true also of a triangle , wherever it exists : what is true of those figures , that have barely an ideal existence in his mind , will hold true of them also , when they come to have a real existence in matter . hence it follows that moral knowledge , is as capable of real certainty as mathematicks . for certainty being nothing but the perception of the agreement or disagreement of our ideas , , and demonstration nothing , but the perception of such agreement by the intervention of other ideas ; our moral ideas as well as mathematical , being archetypes themselves , and so adequate or complete ideas all the agreement or disagreement we shall find in them , will produce real knowledge as well as in mathematical figures . that which is requisite to make our knowledge certain , is the clearness of our ideas ; and that which is required to make it real , is , that they answer their archetypes . but it will here be said , that if moral knowledge be placed in the contemplation of our own moral ideas ; and those be of our own making , what strange notions will there be of justice and temperance ? what confusion of vertues and vices , if every man may make what ideas of them he pleases ? i answer , no confusion , nor disorder at all , in the things themselves , nor the reasonings about them ; no more , than there would be a change in the properties of figures , and their relations one to another , if a man should make a triangle with four corners , or a trapezium with four right angles ; that is in plain english , change the names of the figures , and call that by one name , which is called ordinarily by another . the change of name will indeed at first disturb him , who knows not what idea , it stands for : but as soon as the figure is drawn , the consequences and demonstration are plain , and clear . just the same is it in moral knowledge : let a man have the idea of taking from others , without their consent , what they are justly possessed of , and call this justice , if he pleases : he that takes the name here , without the idea put to it , will be mistaken by joyning another idea of his own to that name ; but strip the idea of that name , or take it such as it is in the speakers mind ; and the same things will agree to it , as if you called it injustice . one thing we are to take notice of , that where god , or any other law-maker has defined any moral names , there they have made the essence of that species to which that name belongs : and there it is not safe to apply , or use them otherwise . but in other cases it is bare impropriety of speech , to apply them contrary to the common usage of the country they are used in . thirdly , but the complex ideas which we refer to archetypes without us , may differ from them , and so our knowledge about them may come short of being real : and thus are our ideas of substances . these must be taken from something , that does or has existed , and not be made up of ideas arbitrarily put together , without any real pattern . herein therefore is founded the reality of our knowledge concerning substances , that all our complex ideas of them must be such , and such only , as are made up of such simple ones , as have been discovered to co-exist in nature . wherever then we perceive the agreement or disagreement of any of our ideas , there is certain knowledge ; and wherever we are sure those ideas agree with the reality of things , there is certain real knowledge . chap v. of truth in general . truth in the proper import of the word , signifies the joyning or separating of signs ; as the things signified by them , do agree or disagree one with another . the joyning or separating of signs , is what we call propositions ; so that truth properly belongs only to propositions ; whereof there are two sorts , mental and verbal , as there are two sorts of signs commonly made use of , ideas and words . 't is difficult to treat of mental propositions without verbal : because in speaking of mental , we must make use of words , and then they become verbal . again , men commonly in their thoughts and reasonings , use words instead of ideas ; especially if the subject of their meditation contains in it complex ideas . if we have occasion to form mental propositions about white , black , circle , &c. we can , and often do , frame in our minds the ideas themselves , without reflecting on the names . but when we would consider , or make propositions about the more complex ideas , as of a man , vitriol , fortitude , glory , &c. we usually put the name for the idea ; because the idea these names stand for , being for the most part confused , imperfect , and undetermined ; we reflect on the names themselves , as being more clear , certain , and distinct , and readier to occur to our thoughts , than pure ideas : and so we make use of these words instead of the ideas themselves , even when we would meditate and reason within our selves , and make tacit mental propositions . we must then observe two sorts of propositions that we are capable of making . first , mental propositions , wherein the ideas in our understandings are put together , or separated by the mind , perceiving or judging of their agreement or disagreement . secondly , verbal propositions , which are words put together , or separated in affirmative or negative sentences : so that proposition consists , in joyning or separating signs : and truth consists , in putting together or separating these signs , according as the things they stand for , agree or disagree . truth as well as knowledge may well come under the distinction of verbal and real ; that being only verbal truth , wherein terms are joyned according to the agreement or disagreement of the ideas they stand for , without regarding whether our ideas are such as really have or are capable of having an existence in nature . but then it is they contain real truth , when these signs are joyned , as our ideas agree ; and when our ideas are such as we know , are capable of having an existence in nature : which in substances we cannot know , but by knowing that such have existed . truth is the marking down in words , the agreement or disagreement of ideas , as it is . falshood is the marking down in words , the agreement or disagreement of ideas , otherwise than it is ; and so far as these ideas thus marked by sounds , agree to their archetypes , so far only is the truth real . the knowledge of this truth consists in knowing what ideas the words stand for , and the perception of the agreement or disagreement of those ideas , according as it is marked by those words . besides truth taken in the strict sense before-mentioned ; there are other sorts of truths , as first , moral truth , which is , speaking things according to the perswasion of our own minds . secondly , metaphysical truth , which is nothing but the real existence of things conformable to the ideas , to which we have annexed their names . these considerations of truth , either having been before taken notice of , or not being much to our present purpose ; it may suffice here only to have mentioned them . chap. vi. of universal propositions , their truth and certainty . the prevailing custom of using sounds , for ideas , even when men think and reason within their own breasts , makes the consideration of words and propositions so necessary a part of the treatise of knowledge , that it is very hard to speak intelligibly of the one , without explaining the other . and since general truths , which with reason are most sought after , can never be well made known , and are seldom apprehended , but as conceived and expressed in words ; it is not out of our way in the examination of our own knowledge to enquire into the truth and certainty of universal propositions . but it must be observed , that certainty is twofold , certainty of truth , and certainty of knowledge . certainty of truth is , when words are so put together in propositions , as exactly to express the agreement or disagreement of the ideas they stand for ; as really it is . certainty of knowledge , is to perceive the agreement or disagreement of ideas , as expressed in any propositions . this we usually call knowing , or being certain of the truth of any proposition . now because we cannot be certain of the truth of any general proposition , unless we know the precise bounds and extent of the species its terms stand for ; it is necessary we should know the essence of each species , which is that which constitutes and bounds it . this in all simple ideas , and modes is not hard to do : for in these the real and nominal essence be-being the same , there can be no doubt how far the species extends , or what things are comprehended under each term : which it is evident are all that have an exact conformity with the idea it stands for , and no other . but in substances , wherein a real essence , distinct from the nominal , is supposed to constitute , and bound the species , the extent of the general word is very uncertain ; because not knowing this real essence , we cannot know what is , or is not of that species , and consequently what may , or may not with certainty be affirmed of it . hence we may see that the names of substances , when made to stand for species , supposed to be constituted by real essences , which we know not , are not capable of conveying certainty to the understanding , of the truth of general propositions made up of such terms , we cannot be sure . for how can we besure that this or that quality is in gold , for instance , when we know not what is , or is not gold , that is , what has , or has not the real essence of gold , whereof we have no idea at all . on the other side , the names of substances when made use of for the complex ideas , men have in their minds ; thô they carry a clear and determinate signification with them , will not yet serve us to make many universal propositions , of whose truth we can be certain : because the simple ideas , out of which the complex are combined , carry not with them any discoverable connexion , or repugnancy , but with a very few other ideas . for instance , all gold is fixed , is a proposition we cannot be certain of how universally soever it be believed : for if we take the term gold , to stand for a real essence , it is evident we know not what particular substances are of that species , and so cannot with certainty affirm any thing universally of gold. but if we make the term gold stand for a species , determined by its nominal essence , be its complex idea what it will ; for instance , a body yellow , fusible , malleable , and very heavy ; no quality can with certainty be denyed or affirmed universally of it , but what has a discoverable connexion , or inconsistency with that nominal essence : fixedness , for instance , having no necessary connexion that we can discover with any simple idea that makes the complex one , or with the whole combination together : it is impossible that we should certainly know the truth of this proposition , all gold is fixed . but is not this an universal certain proposition , all gold is malleable ? i answer , it is so , if malleableness be a part of the complex idea , the word gold stands for : but then here is nothing affirmed of gold , but that , that sound stands for an idea , in which malleableness is contained . and such a sort of truth and certainty it is , to say , a centaur is four-footed . i imagine amongst all the secundary qualities of substances , and the powers relating to them , there cannot any two be named , whose necessary co-existence or repugnance to co-exist can be certainly known , unless in those of the same sense , which necessarily exclude one another . thus by the colour we cannot certainly know what smell , tast , &c. any body is of . 't is no wonder then that certainty is to be found but in very few general propositions concerning substances : our knowledge of their qualities and properties goes very seldom farther than our senses reach , or inform us . inquisitive and observing men may by strength of judgment , penetrate farther ; and on probabilities taken from wary observations , and hints well laid together , often guess right at what experience has not yet discovered to them : but this is but guessing still , it amounts only to opinion ; and has not that certainty , which is requisite to knowledge . to conclude , general propositions of what kind soever , are then only capable of certainty , when the terms used in them , stand for such ideas , whose agreement or disagreement , as there expressed , is capable to be discovered by us . and we are then certain of their truth or falshood , when we perceive the ideas they stand for , to agree or not agree , according as they are affirmed or denyed one of another ; whence we may take notice , that general certainty , is never to be found but in our ideas . chap. vii . of maxims . there are a sort of propositions , which under the name of maxims and axioms , have passed for principles of science : and because they are self-evident , have been supposed innate . it may be worth while to enquire into the reason of their evidence , and examine how far they influence our other knowledge . knowledge being but the perception of the agreement or disagreement of ideas , where that agreement or disagreement is perceived immediately by it self , without the intervention or help of any other , there our knowledge is self-evident : which being so , not only maxims , but an infinite number of other propositions partake equally with them in this self-evidence . for , in respect of identity and diversity , we may have as many self-evident propositions as we have distinct ideas . t is the first act of the mind , to know every one of its ideas by it self , and distinguish it from others . every one finds in himself , that he knows the ideas he has ; that he knows also when any one is in his understanding , and what it is ; and that when more than one are there , he knows them distinctly and unconfusedly , one from another ; so that all affirmations , or negations concerning them , are made without any possibility of doubt or uncertainty ; and must necessarily be assented to , as soon as understood : that is , as soon as we have in our minds the ideas clear and distinct , which the terms in the proposition stand for . thus a circle is a circle , blue is not red , are as self-evident propositions , as those general ones , what is , is , and 't is impossible for the same thing to be and not to be ; nor can the consideration of these axioms add any thing to the evidence , or certainty of our knowledge of them . as to the agreement or disagreement of co-existence , the mind has an immediate perception of this , but in very few . and therefore , in this sort we have very little intuitive knowledge : thô in some few propositions we have . two bodies cannot be in the same place i think is a self-evident proposition . the idea of fitting a place equal to the contents of its superficies , being annexed to our idea of body . as to the relations of modes , mathematicians have framed many axioms concerning that one relation of equality , as equals taken from equals , the remainder will be equal , &c. which however received for axioms , yet i think have not a clearer self-evidence than these , that one and one are equal to two , that if from the five fingers of one hand , you take two , and from the five fingers of the other hand two , the remaining numbers will be equal . these , and a thousand other such propositions may be found in numbers , which carry with them an equal , if not greater clearness , than those mathematical axioms . as to real existence , since that has no connexion with any other of our ideas , but that of our selves , and of a first being ; we have not so much as a demonstrative , much less a self-evident knowledge , concerning the real existence of other beings . in the next place let us consider what influence these maxims have upon the other parts of our knowledge . the rules established in the schools , that all reasonings are ex praecognitis & praeconceptis , seem to lay the foundation of all other knowledge in these maxims , and to suppose them to be praecognita ; whereby i think is meant two things : first , that these axioms are those truths that are first known to the mind : secondly , that upon them the other parts of our knowledge depend . first , that these axioms are not the truths first known to the mind , is evident from experience : for who knows not that a child perceives that a stranger is not its mother , long before he knows , that it is impossible for the same thing to be and not to be ? and how many truths are there about numbers , which the mind is perfectly acquainted with , and fully convinced of , before it ever thought on these general maxims ? of this the reason is plain ; for that which makes the mind assent to such propositions , being nothing but the perception it has of the agreement or disagreement of its ideas , according as it finds them affirmed or denied in words one of another ; and every idea being known to be what it is , and every two distinct ideas not to be the same , it must necessarily follow , that such self-evident truths must be first known , which consist of ideas , that are first in the mind ; and the ideas first in the mind , it is evident , are those of particular things ; from whence , by slow degrees the understanding proceeds to some few general ones , which being taken from the ordinary and familiar objects of sense , are settled in the mind , with general names to them . thus particular ideas are first received and distinguished , and so knowledge got about them , and next to them the less general or specifick , which are next to particular ones . secondly , from what has been said , it plainly follows , that these magnified maxims are not the principles and foundations of all our other knowledge : for if there be a great many other truths , as self-evident as they , and a great many that we know before them , it is impossible that they should be the principles , from which we deduce all other truths . thus , that one and two are equal to three , is as evident , and easier known then that the whole is equal to all its parts . nor after the knowledge of this maxim , do we know that one and two are equal to three , better , or more certainly , than we did before . for if there be any odds in these ideas , the ideas of whole , and parts , are more obscure , or at least more difficult to be setled in the mind , than those of one , two and three . either therefore all knowledge does not depend on certain praecognita , or general maxims , called principles ; or else , such as these ( that one and one are two , that two and two are four , &c. ) and a great part of numeration will be so . to which if we add all the self-evident propositions that may be made about all our distinct ideas ; principles will be almost infinite , at least innumerable , which men arrive to the knowledge of , at different ages ; and a great many of those innate principles , they never come to know all their lives . but whether they come in view earlier or later , they are all known by their native evidence , and receive no light , nor are capable of any proof one from another ; much less the more particular , from the more general ; or the more simple from the more compounded : the more simple , and less abstract , being the most familiar , and the easier and earlier apprehended . these general maxims then , are only of use in disputes , to stop the mouths of wranglers ; but not of much use to the discovery of unknown truths ; or to help the mind forwards in its search after knowledge . several general maxims , are no more than bare verbal propositions ; and teach us nothing but the respect and import of names , one to another , as , the whole is equal to all its parts : what real truth does it teach us more , than what the signification of the word totum , or whole does of it self import ? but yet , mathematicians do not without reason place this , and some other such amongst their maxims ; that their scholars having in the entrance perfectly acquainted their thoughts with these propositions , made in such general terms , may have them ready to apply to all particular cases : not that if they be equally weighed , they are more clear and evident , than the particular instances they are brought to confirm , but that being more familiar to the mind , the very naming them is enough to satisfy the understanding . but this i say , is more from our custom of using them , than the different evidence of the things . so that if rightly consider'd , i think we may say , that where our ideas are clear and distinct , there is little , or no use at all of these maxims , to prove the agreement or disagreement of any of them . he that cannot discern the truth , or falshood of such propositions , without the help of these and the like maxims , will not be helped by these maxims to do it . he that needs any proof to make him certain , and give his assent to this proposition , that two are equal to two , or that white is not black , will also have need of a proof to make him admit that , what is , is , or , that it is impossible for the same thing to be and not to be . and as these maxims are of little use , where we have clear and distinct ideas ; so they are of dangerous use , where our ideas are confused , and where we use words that are not annexed to clear and distinct ideas ; but to such as are of a loose and wandring signification , sometimes standing for one , and sometimes for another idea , from which follows mistake and error , which these maxims ( brought as proofs to establish propositions wherein the terms stand for confused and uncertain ideas ) do by their authority confirm and rivet . chap. viii . of trifling propositions . there are universal propositions , which thô they be certainly true , yet add no light to our understandings , bring no increase to our knowledge , such are , first , all purely identical propositions . these at first blush , appear to contain no instruction in them : for when we affirm the same term of it self , it shews us nothing but what we must certainly know before , whether such a proposition be either made by , or proposed to us . secondly , another sort of trifling propositions is , when a part of the complex idea is praedicated of the name of the whole ; a part of the definition , of the word defined , as ; lead is a metal , man an animal . these carry no information at all , to those who know the complex ideas , the names lead , and man stand for : indeed , to a man that knows the signification of the word metal , and not of the word lead , it is a shorter way to explain the signification of the word lead , by saying it is a metal , than by enumerating the simple ideas one by one , which make up the complex idea of metal . alike trifling it is to predicate any one of the simple ideas of a complex one , of the name of the whole complex idea : as all gold is fusible ; for fusibility being one of the simple ideas that goes to the making up the complex one , the sound gold stands for ; what can it be but playing with sounds , to affirm that of the name gold , which is comprehended in its received signification ? what instruction can it carry , to tell one that which he is supposed to know before ? for i am supposed to know the signification of the word another uses to me , or else he is to tell me . the general propositions that are made about substances , if they are certain , are for the most part but trifling . and if they are instructive , are uncertain ; and such as we have no knowledge of their real truth , how much soever constant observation and analogy may assist our judgments in guessing . hence it comes to pass , that one may often meet with very clear and coherent discourses , that amount yet to nothing . for names of substantial beings , as well as others , having setled significations affixed to them , may with great truth be joyned negatively and affirmatively in propositions , as their definitions make them fit to be so joyned ; and propositions consisting of such terms , may with the same clearness be deduced one from another , as those that convey the most real truths ; and all this without any knowledge of the nature or reality of things existing without us . thus he that has learnt the following words , with their ordinary acceptations annexed to them , viz. substance , man , animal form , soul , vegetative , sensitive , rational , may make several undoubted propositions about the soul , without any knowledge at all of what the soul really is . and of this sort a man may find an infinite number of propositions , reasonings and conclusions in books of metaphysicks , school-divinity , and some part of natural philosophy ; and after all , know as little of god , spirits , or bodies , as he did before he set out . thirdly , the worst sort of trifling , is , to use words loosely and uncertainly , which sets us yet farther from the certainty of knowledge we hope to attain to by them , or find in them . that which occasions this , is , that men may find it convenient to shelter their ignorance or obstinacy , under the obscurity or perplexedness of their terms ; to which , perhaps , inadvertency and ill custom does in many men much contribute . to conclude , barely verbal propositions may be known by these following marks . first , all propositions , wherein two abstract terms are affirmed one of another , are barely about the signification of sounds . for since no abstract idea can be the same with any other , but it self ; when its abstract name is affirmed of any other term , it can signifie no more but this , that it may , or ought to be called by that name ; or that these two names signify the same idea . secondly , all propositions , wherein a part of the complex idea , which any term stands for , is predicated of that term , are only verbal : and thus all propositions wherein more comprehensive terms called genera , are affirmed of subordinate , or less comprehensive , called species , or individuals , are barely verbal . when by these two rules we examine the propositions that make up the discourses we ordnarily meet with , both in and out of books ; we shall , perhaps find , that a greater part of them , than is usually suspected , are purely about the signification of words , and contain nothing in them , but the use and application of these signs . chap. ix . of our knowledge of existence . hitherto we have only considered the essences of things , which being only abstract ideas , and thereby removed in our thoughts from particular existence , give us no knowledge of existence at all . we proceed now to enquire concerning our knowledge of the existence of things , and how we come by it . i say then that we have the knowledge of our own existence , by intuition ; of the existence of god , by demonstration ; and of other things , by sensation . as for our own existence , we perceive it so plainly , that it neither needs , nor is capable of any proof . i think , i reason ; i feel pleasure and pain ; can any of these be more evident to me , than my own existence ? if i doubt of all other things , that very doubt makes me perceive my own existence , and will not suffer me to doubt of that . if i know i doubt , i have as certain a perception of the thing doubting , as of that thought which i call doubt . experience then convinces us that we have an intuitive knowledge of our own existence ; and an internal infallible perception that we are . in every act of sensation , reasoning or thinking , we are conscious to our selves of our own being , and in this matter come not short of the highest degree of certainty . chap x. of our knowledge of the existence of a god. tho' god has given us no innate ideas of himself , yet having furnished us with those faculties our minds are endowed with , he hath not left himself without a witness , since we have sense , perception , and reason ; and cannot want a clear proof of him , as long as we carry our selves about us : nor can we justly complain of our ignorance in this great point , since he has so plentifully provided us with means to discover , and know him , so far as is necessary to the end of our being , and the great concernment of our happiness . but thô this be the most obvious truth that reason discovers , yet it requires thought and attention : and the mind must apply it self to a regular deduction of it , from some part of our intuitiv knowledge ; or else we shall be as ignorant of this as of other propositions which are in themselves capable of clear demonstration . to shew therefore , that we are capable of knowing , that is , being certain , that there is a god , and how we may come by this certainty , i think we need go no farther than our selves , and that undoubted knowledge we have of our own existence . i think it is beyond question , that man has a clear perception of his own being : he knows certainly , that he exists , and that he is something . in the next place , man knows by an intuitive certainty , that bare nothing can no more produce any real being , than it can be equal to two right angles . if therefore we know there is some real being , it is an evident demonstration , that from eternity there has been something ; since what was not from eternity , had a beginning ; and what had a beginning , must be produced by something else next it is evident , that what has its being from another , must also have all that which is in , and belongs to its being from another too : all the powers it has must be owing to , and received from the same source . this eternal source then of all being must he also the source and original of all power ; and so this eternal being , must be also the most powerful . again , man finds in himself perception , and knowledge : we are certain then that there is not only some being , but some knowing , intelligent being in the world. there was a time then , when there was no knowing being , or else there has been a knowing being from eternity . if it be said , there was a time when that eternal being , had no knowledge ; i reply , that then it is impossible there should have ever been any knowledge . it being as impossible that things wholly void of knowledge , and operating blindly , and without any perception , should produce a knowing being , as it is impossible that a triangle should make it self three angles , bigger than two right ones . thus from the consideration of our selves , and what we infallibly find in our own constitutions , our reason leads us to the knowledge of this certain and evident truth , that there is an eternal , most powerful , and knowing being , which , whether any one will call god , it matters not . the thing is evident , and from this idea duly consider'd , will easily be deduced all those other attributes , we ought to ascribe to this eternal being . from what has been said , it is plain to me , we have a more certain knowledge of the existence of a god , than of any thing our senses have not immediately discovered to us . nay , i presume i may say , that we more certainly know that there is a god , than that there is any thing else without us . when i say , we know , i mean , there is such a knowledge within our reach , which we cannot miss , if we will but apply our minds to that , as we do to several other enquiries . it being then unavoidable for all rational creatures to conclude , that something has existed from eternity ; let us next see what kind of thing that must be : there are but two sorts of beings in the world , that man knows or conceives ; first , such as are purely material , without sense or perception , as the clippings of our beards , and parings of our nails . secondly , sensible perceiving beings ; such as we find our selves to be . these two sorts we shall hereofter call cogitative and incogitative beings ; which to our present purpose are better than material and immaterial . if then there must be something eternal , it is very obvious to reason , that it must necessarily be a cogitative being , because it is as impossible to conceive that ever bare incogitative matter should produce a thinking intelligent being , as that nothing should of it self produce matter . let us suppose any parcel of matter eternal , we shall find it in it self unable to produce any thing . let us suppose its parts firmly at rest together : if there were no other being in the world , must it not eternally remain so , a dead unactive lump ? is it possible to conceive it can add motion to it self , or produce any thing ? matter then by its own strength cannot produce in it self , so much as motion . the motion it has , must also be from eternity , or else added to matter by some other being , more powerful than matter . but let us suppose motion eternal too , yet matter , incogitative matter and motion could never produce thought : knowledge will still be as far beyond the power of motion and matter to produce , as matter is beyond the power of nothing to produce . divide matter into as minute parts as you will , vary the figure and motion of it , as much as you please , it will operate no otherwise upon other bodies of proportionable bulk , than it did before this division . the minutest particles of matter , knock , impell , and resist one another , just as the greater do , and that is all they can do , so that if we will suppose nothing eternal , matter can never begin to be . if we suppose bare matter without motion eternal , motion can never begin to be . if we suppose only matter and motion eternal , thought can never begin to be : for it is impossible to conceive , that matter either with , or without motion , could have originally in and from it self , sense , perception , and knowledge , as is evident from hence , that the sense , perception and knowledge , must be a property eternally inseparable from matter , and every particle of it . since therefore whatsoever is the first eternal being , must necessarily be cogitative : and whatsoever is first of all things , must necessarily contain in it , and actually have , at least , all the perfections that can ever after exist , it necessarily follows , that the first eternal be●ng cannot be matter . if therefore it be evident that something necessarily must exist from eternity , it is also as evident that , that something must necessarily be a cogitative being . for it is as impossible that incogitative matter should produce a cogitative being , as that nothing , or the negation of all being should produce a positive being or matter . this discovery of the necessary existence of an eternal mind , does sufficiently lead us into the knowledge of god. for it will hence follow , that all other knowing beings , that have a beginning , must depend on him , and have no other ways of knowledge or extent of power , than what he gives them : and therefore if he made those , he made also the less excellent pieces of this universe , all inanimate bodies , whereby his omniscience , power and providence will be established ; and from thence all his other attributes necessarily follow . chap. xi . of our knowledge of the existence of other things . the knowledge of our own being we have by intuition : the existence of a god , reason clearly makes known to us , as has been shewn : the knowledge of the existence of any other thing , we can have only by sensation ; for there being no necessary connexion of real existence with any idea , a man hath in his memory ; nor of any other existence , but that of god , with the existence of any particular man ; no particular man can know the existence of any other being , but only , when by actual operating upon him , it makes it self be perceived by him . the having the idea of any thing in our mind , no more proves the existence of that thing , than the picture of a man evidences his being in the world , or the visions of a dream , make thereby a true history . it is therefore the actual receiving of ideas from without , that gives us notice of the existence of other things , and makes us know that something doth exist at that time without us , which causes that idea in us , thô perhaps we neither know nor consider how it does it ; for it takes not from the certainty of our senses , and the ideas we receive by them , that we know not the manner wherein they are produced . this notice we have by our senses of the existing of things without us , thô it be not altogether so certain as intuition and demonstration , deserves the name of knowledge , if we perswade ourselves that our faculties act and inform us right , concerning the existence of those objects , that affect them . but besides the assurance we have from our senses themselves , that they do not err in the information they give us of the existence of things without us , we have other concurrent reasons : as first , it is plain those perceptions are are produced in us by exterior causes affecting our senses , because those that want the organs of any sense ; never can have the ideas belonging to that sense produced in their minds . this is too evident to be doubted , and therefore we cannot but be assured , that they come in by the organs of that sense , and no other way . secondly , because we find sometimes that we cannot avoid the having those ideas produced in our minds , as when my eyes are shut , i can at pleasure recall to my mind the ideas of light or the sun , which former sensations had lodged in my memory ; but if i turn my eyes towards the sun , i cannot avoid the ideas which the light or the sun , then produces in me : which shews a manifest difference between those ideas laid up in the memory , and such as force themselves upon us , and we cannot avoid having . and therefore it must needs be some exterior cause , whose efficacy i cannot resist , that produces those ideas in my mind , whether i will or no. besides , no man but perceives the difference in himself , between actually looking upon the sun , and contemplating the idea he has of it in his memory ; and therefore he hath certain knowledge , that they are not both memory or fancy ; but that actual seeing has a cause without . thirdly , add to this , that many ideas are produced in us without pain , which we afterwards remember without the least offence . thus the pain of heat or cold , when the idea of it is received in our minds , gives us no disturbance : which when felt was very troublesome ; and we remember the pain of hunger , thirst , head-ach , &c. without any pain at all ; which would either never disturb us , or else constantly do it , as often as we thought of it , were there nothing more but ideas floating in our minds , and appearances entertaining our fancies , without the real existence of things affecting us from abroad . fourthly , our senses in many cases , bear witness to the truth of each others report , concerning the existence of sensible things without us : he that doubts when he sees a fire , whether it be real , may , if he please , feel it too ; and by the exquisite pain he will be convinced , that it is not a bare idea or phantom . if after all this , any one will be so sceptical , as to distrust his senses , and to question the existence of all things , or our knowledge of any thing ; let him consider that the certainty of things existing in rerum naturâ , when we have the testimony of our senses for it , is not only as great as our frame can attain to , but as our condition needs . for our faculties being not suited to the full extent of being , nor a clear comprehensive knowledge of all things , but to the preservation of us , in whom they are , and accommodated to the use of life ; they serve our purpose well enough , if they will but give give us certain notice of those things , that are convenient or inconvenient to us . for he that sees a candle burning , and has experimented the force of the flame , by putting his finger in it , will little doubt , that this is something existing without him , which does him harm , and puts him to pain , which is assurance enough ; when no man requires greater certainty to govern his actions by , than what is as certain as his actions themselves : so that this evidence is as great as we can desire , being as certain to us as our pleasure or pain , that is happiness or misery , beyond which we have no concernment , either of knowing , or being . in fine , when our senses do actually convey into our understandings any idea , we are assured that there is something at that time really existing without us . but this knowledge extends only as far as the present testimony of our senses , employed about particular objects , that do then affect them , and no farther my seeing a man a minute since , is no certain argument of his present existence . as when our senses are actually employed about any object , we know that it does exist : so by our memory we may be assured , that heretofore things that affected our senses , have existed : and thus we have the knowledge of the past existence of several things ; whereof our senses having informed us , our memories still retain the ideas : and of this we are past all doubt , so long as we remember well . as to the existence of spirits , our having ideas of them , does not make us know , that any such things do exist without us ; or that there are any finite spirits ; or any other spiritual beings but the eternal god. we have ground from revelation , and several other reasons , to believe with assurance , that there are such creatures : but our senses not being able to discover them , we want the means of knowing their particular existence , for we can no more know that there are finite spirits really existing , by the idea we have of such beings , than by the ideas any one has of fairies or centaurs , he can come to know that things answering those ideas , do really exist . hence we may gather , that there are two sorts of propositions , one concerning the existence of any thing answerable to such an idea ; as that of an elephant , phenix , motion , or angel , viz. whether such a thing does any where exist : and this knowledge is only of particulars , and not to be had of any thing without us , but only of god , any other way than by our senses . another sort of propositions is , wherein is expressed the agreement or disagreement of our abstract ideas , and their dependence of another . and these may be universal and certain : so having the idea of god , and my self , of fear and obedience , i cannot but be sure that god is to be feared and obeyed by me ; and this proposition will be certain concerning man in general ; if i have made an abstract idea of such a species , whereof i am one particular . but such a proposition , how certain soever , proves not to me the existence of men in the world ; but will be true of all such creatures , whenever they do exist : which certainty of such general propositions , depends on the agreement or disagreement discoverable in those abstract ideas . in the former case , our knowledge is the consequence of the existence of things , producing ideas in our minds by our senses : in the later , the consequence of the ideas that are in our minds , and producing these general propositions , many whereof are called , eternae veritatis ; and all of them indeed are so , not from being written all , or any of them in the minds of all men , or that they were any of them propositions in any ones mind , till he having got the abstract ideas , joyned or separated them by affirmation or negation : but wheresoever we can suppose such a creature as man is , endowed with such faculties , and thereby furnished with such ideas , as we have ; we must conclude , he must needs , when he applies his thoughts to the consideration of his ideas , know the truth of certain propositions , that will arise from the agreement or disagreement he will perceive in his own ideas . such propositions being once made about abstract ideas , so as to be true , they will whenever they can be supposed to be made again , at any time past , or to come by a mind having those ideas , alway actually be true . for names being supposed to stand perpetually for the same ideas ; and the same ideas having immutably the same habitudes one to another ; propositions concerning any abstract ideas , that are once true , must needs be eeternal verities . chap. xii . of the improvement of our knowledge . it being the received opinion amongst men of letters , that maxims are the foundations of all knowledge , and that sciences are each of them built upon certain proecognita , from whence the understanding was to take its rise , and by which it was to conduct it self in its inquiries in the matters belonging to that science , the beaten road of the schools has been to lay down in the beginning one or more general propositions , called principles , as foundations whereon to build the knowledge , was to be had of that subject . that which gave occasion to this way of proceeding , was , i suppose , the good success it seem'd to have in mathematicks , which of all other sciences , have the greatest certainty , clearness , and evidence in them . but if we consider it , we shall find that , the great advancement and certainty of real knowledge men arrived to in these sciences , was not owing to the influence of these principles , but to the clear distinct and compleat ideas their thoughts were employed about ; and the relation of equality and excess , so clear between some of them , that they had a intuitive knowledge ; and by that , a way to discover it in others : and this without the help of those maxims : for i ask , is it not possible for a lad to know that his whole body is bigger than his little finger , but by virtue of this axiom , the whole is bigger than the part ; nor be assured of it , till he has learned that maxim ? let any one consider from what has been elsewhere said , which is known first and clearest by most people , the particular instance , or the general rule ; and which it is that gives life and birth to the other . these general rules are but the comparing our more general and abstract ideas , which ideas are made by the mind , and have names given them , for the easier dispatch in its reasonings : but knowledge began in the mind , and was founded on particulars , thô afterwards perhaps no notice be taken thereof : it being natural for the mind , to lay up those general notions , and make the proper use of them , which is to disburthen the memory of the cumbersome load of particulars . the way to improve in knowledge , is not to swallow principles , with an implicite faith , and without examination , which would be apt to mislead men , instead of guiding them into truth ; but to get and fix in our minds , clear and complete ideas , as far as they are to be had , and annex to them proper , and constant names : and thus barely by considering our ideas , and comparing them together , observing their agreement or disagreement , their habitudes and relations , we shall get more true and clear knowledge by the conduct of this one rule , than by taking up principles , and thereby putting our minds into the disposal of others . we must therefore , if we will proceed as reason advises , adapt our methods of enquiry , to the nature of the ideas we examine , and the truth we search after . general and certain truths , are only founded in the habitudes and relations of abstract ideas . therefore a sagacious methodical application of our thoughts for the finding out these relations , is the only way to discover all that can with truth and certainty be put into general propositions . by what steps we are to proceed in these , is to be learned in the schools of the mathematicians , who from every plain and easie beginnings , by gentle degrees , and a continued chain of reasonings , proceed to the discovery and demonstration of truths , that appear at first sight beyond humane capacity . this , i think i may say , that if other ideas , that are real as well as nominal essences of their species , were pursued in the way familiar to mathematicians , they would carry our thoughts farther , and with greater evidence and clearness , than possibly we are apt to imagine . this gave me the confidence to advance that conjecture , which i suggest , chapter the third , viz. that morality is capable of demonstration , as well as mathematicks : for moral ideas being real essences , that have a discoverable connexion and agreement one with another , so far as we can find their habitudes and relations , so far we shall be possessed of real and general truths . in our knowledge of substances , we are to proceed after a quite different method : the bare contemplation of their abstract ideas ( which are but nominal essences , will carry us but a very little way , in the search of truth and certainty . here experience must teach us what reason cannot : and it is by trying alone , that we can certainly know , what other qualities co-exist with those of our complex idea ; ( for instance ) whether that yellow heavy fusible body , i call gold , be malleable , or no , which experience ( however it prove in that particular body we examine ) makes us not certain that it is so in all , or any other yellow , heavy , fusible bodies , but that which we have tried ; because it is no consequence one way or the other from our complex idea : the necessity or inconsistence of malleability , hath no visible connexion with the combination of that colour , weight , and fusibility in any body . what i have here said of the nominal essence of gold , supposed to consist of a body of such a determinate colour , weight , and fusibility , will hold true , if other qualities be added to it . our reasonings from those ideas , will carry us but a little way in the certain discovery of the other properties , in those masses of matter wherein all those are to be found . as far as our experience reaches , we may have certain knowledge , and no farther . i deny not , but a man accustomed to rational and regular experiments , shall be able to see farther into the nature of bodies , and their unknown properties , than one that is a stranger to them . but this is but judgment , and opinion , not knowledge and certainty . this makes me suspect that natural philosophy is not capable of being made a science : from experiments and historical observations we may draw advantages of ease and health , and thereby increase our stock of conveniences for this life ; but beyond this , i fear our talents reach not ; nor are our faculties , as i guess , able to advance . from whence it is obvious to conclude , that since our faculties are not fitted to penetrate the real essences of bodies , but yet plainly to discover to us the being of a god , and the knowledge of our selves ; enough to give us a clear discovery of our duty , and great concernment ; it will become us as rational creatures , to employ our faculties , about what they are most adapted to , and follow the direction of nature , where it seems to point us out the way . for it is rational to conclude , that our proper employment lies in those enquiries , and that sort of knowledge which is most suited to our natural capacities , and carries in it our greatest interest , that is , the condition of our eternal state : and therefore it is , i think , that morality is the proper science and business of mankind in general ( who are both concerned and fitted to search out their summum bonum ) as several arts conversant about the several parts of nature , are the lot and private talent of particular men , for the common use of humane life , and their own particular subsistance in this world. the ways to enlarge our knowledge , as far as we are capable , seem to me to be these two : the first is to get and settle in our minds , as far as we can , clear , distinct , and constant ideas of those things we would consider and know . for it being evident that our knowledge cannot exceed our ideas ; where they are either imperfect , confused or obscure , we cannot expect to have certain , perfect , or clear knowledge . the other is the art of finding out the intermediate ideas , which may shew us the agreement or repugnancy of other ideas , which cannot be immediately compared . that these two ( and not the relying on maxims , and drawing consequences from some general propositions ) are the right method of improving our knowledge , in the ideas of other modes , besides those of quantity , the consideration of mathematical knowledge will easily inform us . where first , we shall find that he that has not clear and perfect ideas of those angles or figures , of which he desires to know any thing , is utterly thereby incapable of any knowledge about them . suppose a man not to have an exact idea of a right angle , scalenum , or trapezium , and it is clear , that he will in vain seek any demonstration about them . and farther it is evident , that it was not the influence of maxims or principles , that hath led the masters of this science into those wonderful discoveries they have made . let a man of good parts know all the maxims of mathematicks never so well , and contemplate their extent and consequences as much as he pleases , he will by their assistance , i suppose , scarce ever come to know , that the square of the hypotenuse , in a right angl'd triangle , is equal to the squares of the two other sides . this , and other mathematical truths have been discovered by the thoughts , otherwise applied . the mind had other objects , other views before it , far different from those maxims which men well enough acquainted with those received axioms , but ignorant of their method , who first made these demonstrations , can never sufficiently admire . chap. xiii . some farther considerations concerning knowledge . our knowledge , as in other things , so in this , has a great conformity with our sight , that it is neither wholly necessary , nor wholly voluntary . men that have senses cannot chuse but receive some ideas by them ; and if they have memory , they cannot but retain some of them ; and if they have any distinguishing faculty , cannot but perceive the agreement or disagreement of some of them , one with another . as he that has eyes , if he will open them by day , cannot but see some objects , and perceive a difference in them , yet he may chuse whether he will turn his eyes towards an object , curiously survey it , and observe accurately all that is visible in it . but what he does see , he cannot see otherwise than he does : it depends not on his will , to see that black which appears yellow : just thus it is with our understanding ; all that is voluntary in our knowledge , is the employing or with-holding any of our faculties from this or that sort of objects ; and a more or less accurate survey of them : but they being employed , our will hath no power to determine the knowledge of the mind , one way or other . that is done only by the objects themselves , as far as they are clearly discovered . thus he that has got the ideas of numbers , and hath taken the pains to compare one , two and three , to six , cannot chuse but know that they are equal . he also that hath the idea of an intelligent , but weak and frail being , made by and depending on another , who is eternal , omnipotent , perfectly wise and good , will as certainly know that man is to honour , fear , and obey god , as that the sun shines when he sees it . but yet these truths , being never so certain , never so clear , he may be ignorant of either or both of them , who will not take the pains to employ his faculties as he should , to inform himself about them . chap. xiv . of judgment . the understanding faculties being given to man , not barely for speculation , but also for the conduct of his life ; a man would be at a great loss if he had nothing to direct him , but what has the certainty of true knowledge : he that will not eat till he has demonstration that it will nourish him ; nor stir till he is infallibly assured of success in his business , will have little else to do , but sit still and perish . therefore as god has set some things in broad day-light , as he has given us some certain knowledge , thô limited to a few things , in comparison , probably as a taste of what intellectual creatures are capable of , to excite in us a desire and endeavour after a better state : so in the greatest part of our concernment , he has afforded us only the twilight , as i may so say , of probability , suitable to that state of mediocrity and probationership , he has been pleased to place us in here . the faculty which god has given man to enlighten him , next to certain knowledge is judgment , whereby the mind takes its ideas to agree or disagree , without perceiving a demonstrative evidence in the proofs . the mind exercises this judgment , sometimes out of necessity , where demonstrative proofs , and certain knowledge are not to be had ▪ and sometimes out of laziness , unskilfulness , or haste , even where they are to be had . this faculty of the mind when it is exercised immediately about things , is called judgment ; when about truths delivered in words , is most commonly called assent , or dissent . thus the mind has two faculties conversant about truth and falshood : first , knowledge , whereby it certainly perceives , and is undoubtedly satisfied of the agreement or disagreement of any ideas . secondly , judgment , which is the putting ideas together , or separating them from one another in the mind , when their certain agreement or disagreement is not perceived , but presumed to be so . and if it so unites or separates them , as in reality things are , it is right judgment . chap. xv. of probability . probability is nothing but the appearance of the agreement or disagreement of two ideas , by the intervention of proofs , whose connexion is not constant , and immutable ; or is not perceived to be so ; but is , or appears for the most part to be so , and is enough to induce the mind to judge the proposition to be true or false , rather than the contrary . of probability there are degrees from the neighborhood of certainty and demonstration , quite down to improbability and unlikeliness , even to the confines of impossibility : and also degrees of assent from certain knowledge and what is next it , full assurance and confidence , quite down to conjecture doubt , distrust , and disbelief . that proposition then is probable , for which there are arguments or proofs to make it pass , or be received for true. the entertainment the mind gives to this sort of propositions , is called belief , assent or opinion . probability then being to supply the defect of our knowledge , is always conversant about a thing , whereof we have no certainty , but only some inducements to receive it for true . the grounds of it are in short these two following . first , the conformity of any thing with our own knowledge , experience or observation . secondly , the testimony of others , vouching their observation and experience . in the testimony of others , is to be considered ; first , the number ; secondly , the integrity ; thirdly , the skill of the witnesses ; fourthly , the design of the author , if it be a testimony cited out of a book ; fifthly , the consistency of the parts and circumstances of the relation ; sixthly , contrary testimonies . the mind before it rationally assents or dissents to any probable proposition , ought to examine all the grounds of probality , and see how they make , more or less , for or against it ; and upon a due balancing of the whole , reject or receive it , with a more or less firm assent , according to the preponderancy of the greater grounds of probability , on one side or the other . chap. xvi . of the degrees of assent . the grounds of probability laid down in the foregoing chapter , as they are the foundations on which our assent is built ; so are they also the measure whereby its several degrees are , ( or ought ) to be regulated . only we are to take notice that no grounds of probability operate any farther on the mind , which searches after truth , and endeavours to judge right , than they appear ; at least in the first judgment , or search that the mind makes . it is indeed in many cases impossible , and in most very hard , even for those who have admirable memories , to retain all the proofs , which upon a due examination , made them embrace that side of the question . it suffices that they have once with care and fairness , sifted the matter as far as they could , and having once found on which side the probability appeared to them , they lay up the conclusion in their memories , as a truth they have discovered ; and for the future remain satisfied with the testimony of their memories , that this is the opinion , that by the proofs they have once seen of it , deserves such a degree of their assent as they assord it . it is unavoidable then that the memory be relied on in this case , and that men be perswaded of several opinions , whereof the proofs are not actually in their thoughts , nay , which perhaps they are not able actually to recall ; without this the greatest part of men , must be either scepticks , or change every moment , when any one offers them arguments , which for want of memory , they are not presently able to answer . it must be owned that men's sticking to past judgments , is often the cause of a great obstinacy in error and mistake . but the fault is not , that they relye on their memories , for what they have before well judged ; but because they judged , before they had well examined . who almost is there that hath the leisure , patience , and means to collect together , all the proofs concerning most of the opinions he has , so as safely to conclude that he has a clear and full view , and that there is no more to be alledged for his better information ? and yet we are forced , to determine our selves on one fide or other : the conduct of our lives , and the management of our great concerns , will not bear delay . for those depend for the most part , on the determination of our judgment in points wherein we are not capable of certain knowledge , and wherein it is necessary for us to embrace one side or the other . the propositions we receive upon inducements of probability , are of two sorts : first , concerning some particular existence , or matter of fact , which falling under observation , is capable of humane testimony . secondly , concerning things which being beyond the discovery of our senses , are not capable of humane testimony . concerning the first of these , viz. particular matter of fa●t . first , where any particular thing , consonant to the constant observation of our selves , and others in the like case , comes attested with the concurrent reports of all that mention it , we receive it as easily , and build as firmly upon it , as if it were certain knowledge . thus , if all englishmen who have occasion to mention it , should report , that it froze in england last winter , or the like , i think a man would as little doubt of it , as that seven and four are eleven . the first and highest degree of probability then is , when the general consent of all men , in all ages , as far as can be known , concurs with a man 's own constant experience in the like cases , to confirm the truth of any particular matter of fact , attested by fair witnesses : such are the stated constitutions and properties of bodies , and the regular proceedings of causes and effects in the ordinary course of nature ; this we call an argument from the nature of things themselves . for what we and others always observe to be after the same manner , we conclude with reason , to be the effects of steddy and regular causes , thô they come not within the reach of our knowledge . as that fire warmed a man , or made lead fluid ; that iron sunk in water , swam in quick-silver . a relation affirming any such thing to have been , or a predication that it will happen again in the same manner , is received without doubt or hesitation : and our belief thus grounded , rises to assurance . secondly , the next degree of probability , is when by my own experience , and the agreement of all others that mention it : a thing is found to be for the most part so , and that the particular instance of it is attested by many and undoubted witnesses : thus history giving us such an account of men in all ages , and my own experience confirming it , that most men prefer their own private advantage , to the publick : if all historians that write of tiberius , say that he did so , it is extreamly probable : and in this case , our assent rises to a degree which we may call confidence . thirdly , in matters happening indifferently , as that a bird should fly this or that way : when any particular matter of fact comes attested by the concurrent testimony of unsuspected witnesses , there our assent is also unavoidable . thus , that there is in italy such a city as rome ; that about one thousand and seven hundred years ago , there lived such a man in it as julius caesar , &c. a man can as little doubt of this , and the like , as he does of the being and actions of his own acquaintance , whereof he himself is a witness . probability , on these grounds , carries so much evidence with it , that it leaves us as little liberty to believe or disbelieve , as demonstration does , whether we will know or be ignorant . but the difficulty is , when testimonies contradict common experience , and the reports of witnesses clash with the ordinary course of nature , or with one another . here diligence , attention , and exactness is required to form a right judgment , and to proportion the assent to the evidence and probability of the thing , which rises and falls , according as the two foundations of credibility , favour , or contradict it . these are liable to such variety of contrary observations , circumstances , reports , tempers , designs , over sights , &c. of reporters , that it is impossible to reduce to precise rules , the various degrees wherein men give their assent . this in general may be said , that as the proofs upon due examination , shall to any one appear , in a greater or less degree , to preponderate on either side , so they are fitted to produce in the mind , such different entertainments , as are called belief , conjecture , guess , doubt , wavering , distrust , disbelief , &c. it is a rule generally approved , that any testimony the farther off it is removed from the original truth , the less force it has : and in traditional truths , each remove weakens the force of the proof . there is a rule quite contrary to this , advanced by some men , who look opinions to gain force by growing older : upon this ground , propositions evidently false or doubtful in their first beginning , come by an inverted rule of probability , to pass for authentick truths ; and those which deserved little credit from the mouths of their first relators , are thought to grow venerable by age , and are urged as undeniable . but certain it is , that no probability can rise above its first original . what has no other evidence than the single testimony of one witness , must stand or fall by his only testimony , thô afterwards cited by hundreds of others ; and is so far from receiving any strength thereby that it becomes the weaker . because passion , interest , inadvertency , mistake of his meaning , and a thousand odd reasons , or caprichois mens minds are acted by , may make one man quote another's words or meaning wrong . this is certain , that what in one age was affirmed upon slight grounds , can never after come to be more valid in future ages , by being often repeated . the second sort of probability , is concerning things not falling under the reach of our senses , and therefore not capable of testimony : and such are , first , the existence , nature and operations of finite , immaterial beings without us , as spirits , angels , &c. or the existence of material beings , such as for their smallness or remoteness , our senses cannot take notice of : as whether there be any plants , animals , &c. in the planets , and other mansions of the vast universe . secondly , concerning the manner of operation in most parts of the works of nature , wherein , thô we see the sensible effects ; yet their causes are unknown , and we perceive not the ways , and manner how they are produced . we see animals are generated , nourished and move ; the loadstone draws iron , &c. but the causes that operate , and the manner they are produced in , we can only guess , and probably conjecture . in these matters analogy is the only help we have ; and it is from that alone we draw all our grounds of probability . thus observing , that the bare rubbing of two bodies violently upon one another , produces heat , and very often fire ; we have reason to think that what we call heat and fire , consists , in a certain violent agitation of the imperceptible minute parts of the burning matter . this sort of probability , which is the best conduct of rational experiments , and the rise of hypotheses has also its use and influence . and a wary reasoning from analogy leads us often into the discovery of truths , and useful deductions , which would otherwise lie concealed . thô the common experience , and the ordinary course of things , have a mighty influence on the minds of men , to make them give or refuse credit , to any thing proposed to their belief ; yet there is one case wherein the strangeness of the fact lessens not the assent to a fair testimony given of it . for where such supernatural events are suitable to ends aimed at by him , who has the power to change the course of nature ; there under such circumstances they may be the fitter to procure belief , by how much the more they are beyond , or contrary to ordinary observation . this is the proper case of miracles , which well attested , do not only find credit themselves , but give it also to other truths . there are propositions that challenge the highest degree of our assent upon bare testimony , whether the thing proposed agree or disagree with common experience , and the ordinary course of things or no : the reason whereof is , because the testimony is of such an one , as cannot deceive nor be deceived ; and that is god himself . this carries with it certainty beyond doubt , evidence beyond exception . this is called by a peculiar name , revelation , and our assent to it , faith ; which has as much certainty in it , as our knowledge it self ; and we may as well doubt of our own being , as we can , whether any revelation from god be true. so that faith is a settled and sure principle of assent and assurance , and leaves no manner of room for doubt or hesitation ; only we must be sure , that it be a divine revelation , and that we understand it right ; else we shall expose our selves to all the extravagancy of enthusiasm , and all the error of wrong principles , if we have faith and assurance , in what is not divine revelation . chap. xvii . of reason . the word reason in english , has different significations . sometimes it is taken for true and clear principles : sometimes for clear and fair deductions from those principles : sometimes for the cause , and particularly for the final cause ; but the consideration i shall have of it here , is , as it stands for a faculty , whereby man is supposed to be distinguished from beasts ; and wherein it is evident , he much surpasses them . reason is necessary , both for the enlargement of our knowledge , and regulating our assent : for it hath to do both in knowledge and opinion , and is necessary and assisting to all our other intellectual faculties ; and indeed , contains two of them , viz. first , sagacity . whereby it finds intermediate ideas . secondly , illation , whereby it so orders and disposes of them , as to discover what connexion there is in each link of the chain , whereby the extremes are held together , and thereby , as it were , to draw into view the truth sought for ; which is that we call illation or inference : and consists in nothing , but the perception of the connexion there is between the ideas , in each step of the deduction , whereby the mind comes to see , either the certain agreement or disagreement of any two ideas , as in demonstration , in which it arrives at knowledge : or their probable connexion , on which it gives or with-holds its assent , as in opinion . sense and intuition reach but a little way : the greatest part of our knowledge depends upon deductions , and intermediate ideas . in those cases where we must take propositions for true , without being certain of their being so , we have need to find out , examine , and compare the grounds of their probability : in both cases , the faculty which finds out the means , and rightly applies them to discover certainty in the one , and probability in the other , is that which we call reason . so that in reason we may consider these four degrees ; first , the discovering and finding out of proofs . secondly , the regular and methodical disposition of them , and laying them in such order , as their connexion may be plainly perceived . thirdly , the perceiving their connexion . fourthly , the making a right conclusion . there is one thing more which i shall desire to be considered concerning reason , and that is , whether syllogism , as is generally thought , be the proper instrument of it ; ant the usefullest way of exercising this faculty . the causes i have to doubt of it , are these . first , because syllogism serves our reason , but in one only of the fore-mentioned parts of it , and that is to shew the connexion of the proofs of any one instance , and no more : but in this it is of no great use , since the mind can perceive such connexion , where it really is ; as easily , nay , perhaps better without it . we may observe that there are many men that reason exceeding clear and rightly , who know not how to make a syllogism : and i believe scarce any one makes syllogisms in reasoning within himself . indeed , sometimes they may serve to discover a fallacy , hid in a rhetorical flourish ; or by stripping an absurdity of the cover of wit and good language , shew it in its naked deformity . but the mind is not taught to reason by these rules ; it has a native faculty to perceive the coherence or incoherence of its ideas , and can range them right , without any such perplexing repetitions : and i think every one will perceive in mathematical demonstrations , that the knowledge gained thereby comes shortest and clearest without syllogism . secondly , because thò syllogism serves to shew the force or fallacy of an argument made use of in the usual way of discoursing , by supplying the absent proposition , and so setting it before the view in a clear light ; yet it no less engages the mind in the perplexity of obscure and equivocal terms , wherewith this artificial way of reasoning , always abounds : it being adapted more to the attaining of victory in dispute , than the discovery or confirmation of truth in fair enquiries . but however it be in knowledge , i think it is of far less , or no use at all in probabilities : for the assent there being to be determined by the preponderancy , after a due weighing of all the proofs on both sides ; nothing is so unfit to assist the mind in that , as syllogism ; which running away with one assumed probability , pursues that till it has led the mind quite out of sight of the thing under consideration . but let it help us ( as perhaps may be said ) in convincing men of their errors or mistakes ; yet still it fails our reason in that part , which if not its highest perfection , is yet certainly its hardest task ; and that which we must need its help in , and that is , the finding out of proofs , and making new discoveries . this way of reasoning , discovers no new proofs , but is the art of marshalling and ranging the old ones we have already . a man knows first , and then he is able to prove syllogistically ; so that syllogism comes after knowledge ; and then a man has little or no need of it . but it is chiefly by the finding out those ideas that shew the connexion of distant ones , that our stock of knowledge is increased ; and that useful arts and sciences are advanced . reason , thô of a very large extent fails us in several instances : as first , where our ideas fail . secondly , it is often at a loss , because of the obscurity , confusion , or imperfection of the ideas , it is employed about . thus having no perfect idea of the least extension of matter , nor of infinity , we are at a loss about the divisibility of matter . thirdly , our reason is often at a stand , because it perceives not those ideas which would serve to shew the certain or probable agreement or disagreement of any two other ideas . fourthly , our reason , is often engaged in absurdities and difficulties , by proceeding upon false principles , which being followed , lead men into contradictions to themselves , and inconsistancy in their own thoughts . fifthly , dubious words , and uncertain signs often puzzle mens reason , and bring them to a non-plus . in reasoning , men ordinarily use four sorts of arguments . the first , is to alledge the opinions of men , whose parts , learning , eminency , power , or some other cause , has gained a name , and settled their reputation in the common esteem with some kind of authority . this may be called argumentum ad verecundiam . secondly , another way is , to require the adversary to admit what they alledge as a proof ; or to assign a better . this i call argumentum ad ignorantiam . a third way , is to press a man with consequences drawn from his own principles or concessions . this is already known under the name of argumentum ad hominem . fourthly , the using of proofs drawn from any of the foundations of knowledge or probability . this i call argumentum ad judicium . this alone of all the four , brings true instruction with it , and advances us in our way to knowledge . for first , it argues not another man's opinion to be right , because i , out of respect , or any other consideration , but that of conviction , will not contradict him . secondly , it proves not another man to be in the right way , nor that i ought to take the same with him , because i know not a better . thirdly , nor does it follow , that another man is in the right way , because he has shewn me that i am in the wrong . this may dispose me perhaps , for the reception of truth , but helps me not to it : that must come from proofs and arguments , and light arising from the nature of things themselves ; not from my shame facedness , ignorance or error . by what has been said of reason , we may be able to make some guess at the distinction of things , into those that are according to , above , and contrary to reason . according to reason , are such propositions , whose truth we can discover , by examining and tracing those ideas we have from sensation and reflection , and by natural deduction find to be true , or probable . above reason are such propositions , whose truth or probability we cannot by reason derive from those principles . contrary to reason , are such propositions as are inconsistent with , or irreconcilable to , our clear and distinct ideas . thus the existence of one god , is according to reason : the existence of more than one god , contrary to reason : the resurrection of the body after death , above reason . above reason , may be also taken in a double sense , viz. above probability , or above certainty . in that large sense also , contrary to reason , is , i suppose , sometimes taken . there is another use of the word reason , wherein it is opposed to faith ; which , thô authorized by common use , yet is it in it self , a very improper way of speaking : for faith is nothing but a firm assent of the mind , which if it be regulated , as is our duty , cannot be afforded to any thing but upon good reason ; and so cannot be opposite to it . he that believes without having any reason for believing , may be in love with his own fancies ; but neither seeks truth as he ought , nor pays the obedience due to his maker , who would have him use those discerning faculties he has given him , to keep him out of mistake and error . but since reason and faith are by some men opposed , we will so consider them in the following chapter . chap xviii . of faith and reason , and their distinct provinces . reason , as contra-distinguished to faith , i take to be the discovery of the certainty or probability of such propositions or truths which the mind arrives at by deductions made from such ideas , which it has got by the use of its natural faculties , viz. by sensation or reflection . faith on the other side , is the assent to any proposition , upon the credit of the proposer , as coming immediately from god ; which we call revelation : concerning which we must observe . first , that no man inspired by god , can by any revelation communicate to others , any new simple ideas , which they had not before from sensation or reflection : because words , by their immediate operation on us , cannot cause other ideas , but of their natural sounds , and such as custom has annexed to them , which to us they have been wont to be signs of , but cannot introduce any new , and formerly unknown simple ideas . the same holds in all other signs , which cannot signify to us things , of which we have never before had any idea at all . for our simple ideas , we must depend wholly on our natural faculties , and can by no means receive them from traditional revelation ; i say traditional , in distinction to original revelation . by the one , i mean that impression which is made immediately by god on the mind of any man , to which we cannot set any bounds . and by the other , those impressions delivered over to others in words , and the ordinary ways of conveying our conceptions one to another . secondly , i say , that the same truths may be discovered by revelation , which are discoverable to us by reason ; but in such there is little need or use of revelation : god having furnished us with natural means to arrive at the knowledge of them : and truths discovered by our natural faculties , are more certain , than when conveyed to us by traditional revelation . for the knowledge we have , that this revelation came at first from god , can never be so sure as the knowledge we have from our own clear and distinct ideas . th●s also holds in matters of fact , know●●le by our senses : as the history of the deluge is conveyed to us by writings , which had their orignal from revelation , and yet no bo●y , i think , will say he has as certain and clear knowledge of the flood , as noah that saw it , or that he himself would have had , had he then been alive and seen it . for he has no greater assurance , than that of his senses , that it is writ in the book , supposed to be writ by moses inspired . but he has not so great an assurance , that moses writ that book , as if he had seen moses write it ; so that the assurance of its being a revelation , is still less than our assurance of his senses . revelation cannot be admitted against the clear evidence of reason . for since no evidence of our faculties , by which we receive such a revelation , can exceed , if equal , the certainty of our intuitive knowledge ; we can never receive for a truth any , that is directly contrary to our clear and distinct knowledge . the ideas of one body and one place do so clearly agree , that we can never assent to a proposition that affirms the same body to be in two distinct places at once ; however , it should pretend to the authority of a divine revelation : since the evidence first , that we deceive not our selves in ascribing it to god. secondly . that we understand it right , can never be so great as the evidence of our own intuitive knowledge , whereby we discern it impossible , for the same body to be in two places at once . in propositions therefore , contrary to our distinct and clear ideas , it will be in vain to urge them as matters of faith. for faith can never convince us of any thing that contradicts out knowledge . because , thô faith be founded upon the testimony of god , who cannot lye , yet we cannot have an assurance of the truth of its being a divine revelation , greater than our own knowledge . for if the mind of man can never have a clearer evidence of any thing to be a divine revelation , than it has of the principles of its own reason ; it can never have a ground to quit the clear evidence of its reason , to give place to a proposition , whose revelation has not a greater evidence than those principles have . in all things therefore where we have clear evidence from our ideas , and the principles of knowledge above-mentioned reason is the proper judge ; and revelation cannot in such cases invalidate its decrees ; nor can we be obliged , where we have the clear and evident sentence of reason , to quit it for the contrary opinion , under a pretence that it is matter of faith , which can have no authority against the plain and clear dictates of reason . but , thirdly , there being many things , of which we have but imperfect notions , or none at all ; and other things , of whose past , present , or future existence , by the natural use of our faculties , we can have no knowledge at all : these being beyond the discovery of our faculties , and above reason , when revealed , become the proper matter of faith. thus , that part of the angels rebelled against god : that the bodies of men shall rise and live again , and the like , are purely matters of faith , with which reason has directly nothing to do . first then , whatever proposition is revealed , of whose truth our mind , by its natural faculties and notions cannot judge ; that is purely mater of faith , and above reason . secondly , all propositions , whereof the mind by its natural faculties , can come to determine and judge from natural acquired ideas , are matter of reason : but with this difference ; that in those concerning which it has but an uncertain evidence , and so is perswaded of their truth only upon probable grounds : in such i say , an evident revelation ought to determine our assent , even against probability . because the mind , not being certain of the truth of that , it does not evidently know , is bound to give up its assent to such a testimony , which it is satisfied comes from one , who cannot err , and will not deceive . but yet it still belongs to reason to judge of the truth of its being a revelation , and of the signification of the words wherein it is delivered . thus far the dominion of faith reaches ; and that without any violence to reason , which is not injured or disturbed , but assisted and improved by new discoveries of truth , coming from the eternal fountain of all knowledge . whatever god hath revealed is certainly true ; no doubt can be made of it , this is the proper object of faith : but whether it be a divine revelation , or no , reason must judge ; which can never permit the mind , to reject a greater evidence , to embrace what is less evident , nor prefer less certainty to the greater . there can be no evidence , that any traditional revelation is of divine original , in the words we receive it , and the sense we understand it , so clear and so certain , as those of the principles of reason : and therefore , nothing that is contrary to the clear and self-evident dictates of reason , has a right to be urged or assented to , as a matter of faith , wherein reason has nothing to do . whatsoever is divine revelation , ought to over-rule all our opinions , prejudices and interests , and hath a right to be received with a full assent . such a submission as this , of our reason to faith , takes not away the land-marks of knowledge : this shakes not the foundations of reason , but leaves us that use of our faculties , for which they were given us . chap. xix . of wrong assent or error . error is a mistake of our judgment , giving assent to that which is not true . the reasons whereof may be reduced to these four ; first , want of proofs . secondly , want of ability to use them . thirdly , want of will to use them . fourthly , wrong measures of probability . first , want of proofs , by which i do not mean only the want of those proofs which are not to be had , but also of those proofs which are in being , or might be procured . the greatest part of mankind want the conveniencies , and opportunities of making experiments and observations themselves , or of collecting the testimonies of others , being enslaved to the necessity of their mean condition , whose lives are worn out only in the provisions for living . these men are by the constitution of humane affairs , unavoidably given over to invincible ignorance of those proofs , on which others build ; and which are necessary to establish those opinions . for having much to do to get the means of living , they are not in a condition to look after those of learned and laborious enquiries . it is true , that god has furnished men with faculties sufficient to direct them in the way they should take , if they will but seriously employ them that way , when their ordinary vocations allow them leisure . no man is so wholly taken up with the attendance on the means of living , as to have no spare time at all , to think on his soul , and inform himself in matters of religion , were men as intent on this , as they are on things of lower concernment . there are none so enslaved to the necessity of life , who might not find many vacancies , that might be husbanded to this advantage of their knowledge . secondly , want of ability to use them . there be many who cannot carry a train of consequences in their heads , nor weigh exactly the preponderancy of contrary proofs , and testimonies . these cannot discern that side on which the strongest proofs lie ; nor follow that which in it self is the most probable opinion . it is certain that there is a wide difference in mens understandings , apprehensions and reasonings , to a very great latitude , so that one may , without doing injury to mankind , affirm that there is a greater distance between some men and others in this respect , than between some men and some beasts ; but how this comes about , is a speculation , thô of great consequence ; yet not necessary to our present purpose . thirdly , for want of will to use them . some , thô they have opportunities and leisure enough , and want neither parts nor learning , nor other helps , are yet never the better for them , and never come to the knowledge of several truths that lie within their reach ; either upon the account of their hot pursuit of pleasure , constant drudgery in business , laziness and oscitancy in general , or a particular aversion for books and study : and some out of fear that an impartial inquiry would not favour those opinions , which best suit their prejudices , lives , designs , interests , &c. as many men forbear to cast up their accounts , who have reason to fear that their affairs are in no very good posture . how men , whose plentiful fortunes allow them leisure to improve their understandings , can satisfie themselves with a lazy ignorance , i cannot tell : but methinks they have a low opinion of their souls , who lay out all their incomes in provisions for the body , and employ none of it to procure the means and helps of knowledge . i will not here mention how unreasonable this is for men that ever think of a future state , and their concernment in it , which no rational man can avoid to do sometimes : nor shall i take notice what a shame it is to the greatest contem●ers of knowledge , to be found ignorant in things they are concerned to know . but this , at least , is worth the consideration of those who call themselves gentlemen ; that however they may think credit , respect , and authority , the concomitants of their birth and fortune ; yet they will find all these still carried away from them by men of lower condition , who surpass them in knowledge . they who are blind , will always be led by those that see , or else fall into the ditch : and he is certainly the most subjected , the most enslaved , who is so in his understanding . fourthly , wrong measures of probability , which are , first , propositions that are not in themselves certain and evident , but doubtful and false , taken for principles . propositions looked on as principles , have so great an influence upon our opinions , that it is usually by them we judge of truth , and what is inconsistent with them , is so far from passing for probable with us , that it will not be allowed possible . the reverence born to these principles is so great , that the testimony , nor only of other men , but the evidence of our own senses are often rejected , when they offer to vouch any thing contrary to these established rules . the great obstinacy that is to be found in men , firmly believing quite contrary opinions , thô many times equally absurd , in the various religions of mankind , are as evident a proof , as they are an unavoidable consequence of this way of reasoning from received traditional principles : so that men will disbelieve their own eyes , renounce the evidence of their senses , and give their own experience the lye , rather than admit of any thing disagreeing with these sacred tenents . secondly , received hypotheses . the difference between these and the former , is , that those who proceed by these , will admit of matter of fact , and agree with dissenters in that ; but differ in assigning of reasons , and explaining the manner of operation . these are not at that open defiance with their senses as the former ▪ they can endure to hearken to their information a little more patiently : but will by no means admit of their reports in the explanation of things ; nor be prevailed on by probabilities which would convince them , that things are not brought about just after the same manner , that they have decreed within themselves that they are . thirdly , predominant passions or inclinations : let never so much probability hang on one side of a covetous man's reasoning , and mon●y on the other , it is easie to foresee which will prevail . thô men cannot always openly gain-say , or resist the force of manifest probabilities , that make against them , yet yield they not to the argument . not but that it is the nature of the understanding , constantly to close with the more probable side ; but yet a man hath power to suspend , and restrain its enquiries , and not permit a full and satisfactory examination . until that be done there will be always these two ways left of evading the most apparent probabilities . first , that the arguments being brought in words , there may be a fallacy latent in them ; and the consequences being perhaps , many in train , may be some of them incoherent . there are few discourses so short and clear , to which men may not , with satisfaction enough to themselves raise this doubt , and from whose conviction they may not without reproach of disingenuity or unreasonableness set themselves free . secondly , manifest probabilities may be evaded upon this suggestion , that i know not yet all that may be said on the contrary side : and therefore , thô a man be beaten , it is not necessary he should yield , not knowing what forces there are in reserve behind . fourthly , authority , or the giving up our assent to the common received opinions , either of our friends or party , neighbourhood or country . how many men have no other ground for their tenents , than the supposed honesty or learning , or number of those of the same profession ? as if honest or bookish men could not err ; or truth were to be established by the vote of the multitude . yet this with most men , serves the turn . all men are liable to error , and most men are in many points by passion or interest under temptation to it . this is certain , that there is not an opinion so absurd , which a man may not receive upon this ground . there is no error to be named , which has not had its professors . and a man shall never want crooked paths to walk in , if he thinks that he is in the right way , wherever he has the footsteps of others to follow ▪ but , notwithstanding the great noise is made in the world about errors and opinions , i must do mankind that right as to say , there are not so many men in errors and wrong opinions as is commonly supposed : not that i think they embrace the truth , but indeed , because , concerning those doctrines they keep such a stirr about , they have no thought , no opinion at all . for if any one should a little catechize the greatest part of the partisans of most of the sects in the world , he would not find concerning those matters they are so zealous for , that they have any opinions of their own . much less would he have reason to think , that they took them upon the examination of arguments , and appearance of probability . they are resolved to stick to a party , that education or interest has engaged them in ; and there , like the common soldiers of an army , shew their courage and warmth , as their leaders direct , without ever examining , or so much as knowing the cause they contend for . chap. xx. of the division of the sciences . all that can fall within the compass of humane understanding , being either , first , the nature of things ; their relations , and their manner of operation : or , secondly , that which man himself ought to do as a rational and voluntary agent , for the attainment of any end , especially happiness : or , thirdly , the ways and means whereby the knowledge of both of these are attained , and communicated : i think science may be properly divided into these three sorts . first , the knowledge of things , their constitutions , properties , and operations ; whether material or immaterial : this , in a litt●e more enlarged sense of the word , i call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or natural philosophy . the end of this is bare speculative truth , and whatsoever can afford the mind of man any such , falls under this branch : whether it be god himself , angels , spirits , bodies , or any of their affections , as number , figure , &c. secondly , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the skill of right applying our own powers and actions for the attainment of things , good and useful . the most considerable under this head , is ethicks , which is the seeking out those rules and measures of humane actions , which lead to happiness , and the means to practise them . the end of this is not bare speculation but right , and a conduct suitable thereto . thirdly , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or the doctrine of signs : the most usual being words , it is aptly enough termed logick : the business whereof is to consider the nature of signs , which the mind makes use of for the understanding of things , or conveying its knowledge to others . things are represented to the mind by ideas : and mens ideas are communicated to one another , by articulate sounds , or words . the consideration then of ideas and words , as the great instruments of knowledge makes no despicable part of their contemplation , who would take a view of humane knowledge in the whole extent of it . this seems to me the first and most general , as well as natural division , of the objects of our understanding . for a man can employ his thoughts about nothing , but either the contemplation of things themselves for the discovery of truth , or about the things in his own power , which are his actions , for the attainment of his own ends ; or the signs the mind makes use of , both in the one and the other , and the right ordering of them , for its clearer information . all which three , viz. things , as they are in themselves knowable : actions , as they depend on us in order to happiness , and the right use of signs , in order to knowledge , being toto coelo different , they seemed to me to be the three great provinces of the intellectual world wholly separate , and distinct one from another finis . the contents of the second book . the introduction . page 1 chap. i. of ideas in general , and their original . 7 chap. ii. of simple ideas . 13 chap. iii. of ideas of one sense . 14 chap. iv. of solidity . 15 chap. 5. of simple ideas of divers senses . 18 chap. 6. of simple ideas of reflection . 19 chap. 7. of simple ideas of sensation and reflection . 19 chap. 8. some farther considerations concerning simple ideas . 24 chap. 9. of perception . 31 chap. 10. of retention . 34 chap. 11. of discerning , and other operations of the mind . 37 chap. 12. of complex ideas . 41 chap. 13. of simple modes ; and first of the simple modes of space . 44 chap. 14. of duration , and its simple modes . 47 chap. 15. of duration and expansion considered together . 51 chap. 16. of numbers . 53 chap. 17. of infinity . 54 chap. 18. of other simple modes . 58 chap. 19. of the modes of thinking . 59 chap. 20. the modes of pleasure and pain . 61 chap. 21. of power . 64 chap. 22. of mixed modes . 71 chap. 23. of our complex ideas of substances . 77 chap. 24. of collective ideas of substances . 83 chap. 25. of relation . 84 chap. 26. of cause and effect , and other relations . 86 chap. 27. of identity and diversity . 89 chap. 28. of other relations . 97 chap. 29. of clear , obscure , distinct , and confused ideas . 104 chap. 30. of real and fantastical ideas . 108 chap. 31. of ideas adequate or inadequate . 110 chap. 32. of true and false ideas . 114 the contents of the third book chap. 1. of words or language in general page 121 chap. 2. of the signification of words . 124 chap. 3. of general terms . 128 chap. 4 of the names of simple ideas . 137 chap. 5. of the names of mixed modes and relations . 141 chap. 6. of the names of substances . 145 chap. 7. of particles . 153 chap. 8. of abstract and concrete terms . 156 chap. 9. of the imperfection of words . 158 chap. 10. of the abuse of words . 163 chap. 11. of the remedies of the foregoing imperfections and abuses . 174 the contents of the fourth book . chap. 1. of knowledge in general . page 180 chap. 2. of the degrees of our knowledge . 185 chap. 3. of the extent of humane knowledge . 194 chap. 4. of the reality of our knowledge . 213 chap. 5. of truth in general . 220 chap. 6. of universal propositions , their truth and certainty . 223 chap. 7. of maxims . 229 chap. 8. of trifling propositions 237 chap. 9. of our knowledge of existence . 241 chap. 10. of our knowledge of the existence of a god. 243 chap. 11. of our knowledge of the existence other things . 250 chap. 12. of the improvement of our knowledge . 258 chap. 13. some farther considerations concerning knowledge . 267 chap. 14. of judgment . 269 chap. 15. of probability . 271 chap. 16. of the degrees of assent . 273 chap. 17. of reason . 283 chap. 18. of faith and reason , and their distinct provinces . 292 chap. 19. of wrong assent or error . 299 chap. 20. of the division of the sciences . 308 books printed for , and sold by a. and j. churchill at the black swan in pater-noster-row . a view of universal history , from the creation , to the year of christ , 1695. by francis tallents , sometime fellow of magdalen colledge , cambridge . the whole graven in 16 copper-plates , each 15 inches deep , and 12 broad ; bound up into books , the sheets lined . price 16s . the general hist ▪ of the air. by r. boyl , esq 4to . a compleat journal of the votes , speeches , and debates , both of the house of lords and commons , throughout the whole reign of queen elizabeth . collected by sir simonds dewes , baronet , and published by paul bowes of the middle temple . esq the 2d . edit . fol. the works of the famous nith . machiavel , citizen and secretary of florence . written originally in italian , and from thence faithfully translated into eng. fol. mr. lock 's essay concerning humane understanding . the 3d edition with large additions . fol. — his thoughts of education . octav. two treatises of government ; the first , an answer to filmer's patriarcha . the later an essay concerning the true original , extent , and end of civil government . octav. the resurrection of the ( same ) body asserted from the tradition of the heathens , the ancient jews , and the primitive church . with an answer to the objections brought against it . by humphry hody d. d. considerations about lowering the interest , and raising the value of money . oct. 3d par. by mr. lock . two treatises of natural religion , octav. gentleman's religion , with the grounds and reasons of it . sermons preached by dr. r. leighton , late arch-bishop of glasgow . the second edi. oct the reasonableness of christianity , as delivered in the scriptures . octav. prince arthur , an heroick poem . in ten books , by r. blackmore , m. d. fellow of the colledge of physicians , london . fol. the reasonableness of christianity as delivered in the scriptures locke, john, 1632-1704. 1695 approx. 363 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 157 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a48888 wing l2751 estc r22574 12364234 ocm 12364234 60354 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a48888) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 60354) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 216:5) the reasonableness of christianity as delivered in the scriptures locke, john, 1632-1704. [5], 304 p. printed for awnsham and john churchil ..., london : 1695. written by j. locke. cf. wing. first ed. cf. nuc pre-1956. errata: p. [5]. advertisements: p. 304. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng church history -17th century. christianity -early works to 1800. philosophy and religion -early works to 1800. apologetics -early works to 1800. apologetics -history -17th century. 2002-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-07 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-08 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2002-08 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the reasonableness of christianity , as delivered in the scriptures . london : printed for awnsham and iohn churchil , at the black swan in pater-noster-row . 1695. the preface . the little satisfaction and consistency is to be found in most of the systems of divinity i have met with , made me betake my self to the sole reading of the scripture ( to which they all appeal ) for the understanding the christian religion . what from thence by an attentive and unbiassed search i have received , reader , i here deliver to thee . if by this my labour thou receivest any light or confirmation in the truth , joyn with me in thanks to the father of lights for his condescention to our vnderstandings . if upon a fair and unprejudiced examination , thou findest i have mistaken the sense and tenor of the gospel , i beseech thee , as a true christian , in the spirit of the gospel ( which is that of charity ) and in the words of sobriety , set me right in the doctrine of salvation . errata . page 35. line 22. read on the. p. 62. l. 26. r. bethesda . p. 63. l. 26. r. little of any thing ; p. 64. ult . r. it was . p. 65. l. 6. r. them at ierusalem . ibid. l. 10 r. ing in that place . p. 67. l. 17. r. that remained . p. 69. l. 23. r. a king , or rather messiah the king , p. 75. l. 6. dele these . ibid. l. 14. r. nor 〈◊〉 . p. 112. l. 4. r. bethesda . p. 161. l. 2. r. and of . p. 165. l. 20. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 present world. p. 194. l. 11. r. availed not devils . p. 217. l. 11. r. in his sermon in the. p. 263. l. ● . r. before observed . p. 264. l. 24. r. custom . p. 271. l. 2. r. apophthegms . ibid. l. 24. r. themselves ; and deduces . p. 282. l. 〈◊〉 . r. no touch of . p. 284. 1. 〈◊〉 confusion . p. 287. l. 17. r. life and. p. 295. l. 22. r. the apostles . p. 203. l. 20. r. treatise ? p. 304. l. 4. ● abstract . ibid. l. 14. read them , the reasonableness of christianity , as delivered in the scriptures . t is obvious to any one who reads the new testament , that the doctrine of redemption , and consequently of the gospel , is founded upon the supposition of adam's fall. to understand therefore what we are restored to by jesus christ , we must consider what the scripture shews we lost by adam . this i thought worthy of a diligent and unbiassed search : since i found the two extreams , that men run into on this point , either on the one hand shook the foundations of all religion , or on the other made christianity almost nothing . for whilst some men would have all adam's posterity doomed to eternal infinite punishment for the transgression of adam , whom millions had never heard of , and no one had authorized to transact for him , or be his representative ; this seemed to others so little consistent with the justice or goodness of the great and infinite god , that they thought there was no redemption necessary , and consequently that there was none , rather than admit of it upon a supposition so derogatory to the honour and attributes of that infinite being ; and so made jesus christ nothing but the restorer and preacher of pure natural religion ; thereby doing violence to the whole tenor of the new testament . and indeed both sides will be suspected to have trespassed this way , against the written word of god , by any one , who does but take it to be a collection of writings designed by god for the instruction of the illiterate bulk of mankind in the way to salvation ; and therefore generally and in necessary points to be understood in the plain direct meaning of the words and phrases , such as they may be supposed to have had in the mouths of the speakers , who used them according to the language of that time and country wherein they lived , without such learned , artificial , and forced senses of them , as are sought out , and put upon them in most of the systems of divinity , according to the notions , that each one has been bred up in . to one that thus unbiassed reads the scriptures , what adam fell from , is visible , was the state of perfect obedience , which is called justice in the new testament , though the word which in the original signifies justice , be translated righteousness : and by this fall he lost paradise , wherein was tranquility and the tree of life , i. e. he lost bliss and immortality . the penalty annexed to the breach of the law , with the sentence pronounced by god upon it , shew this . the penalty stands thus , gen. ii. 17. in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die . how was this executed ? he did eat , but in the day he did eat , he did not actually die , but was turned out of paradise from the tree of life , and shut out for ever from it , lest he should take thereof and live for ever . this shews that the state of paradise was a state of immortality , of life without end , which he lost that very day that he eat : his life began from thence to shorten , and wast , and to have an end ; and from thence to his actual death , was but like the time of a prisoner between the sentence past and the execution , which was in view and certain . death then enter'd and shewed his face , which before was shut out , and not known . so st. paul , rom. v. 12. by one man sin entred into the world , and death by sin ; i. e. a state of death and mortality : and 1 cor. xv. 22. in adam all die ; i. e. by reason of his transgression all men are mortal , and come to die . this is so clear in these cited places , and so much the current of the new testament , that no body can deny , but that the doctrine of the gospel is , that death came on all men by adam's sin ; only they differ about the signification of the word death . for some will have it to be a state of guilt , wherein not only he , but all his posterity was so involved , that every one descended of him deserved endless torment in hell-fire . i shall say nothing more here how far , in the apprehensions of men , this consists with the justice and goodness of god , having mentioned it above : but it seems a strange way of understanding a law , which requires the plainest and directest words , that by death should be meant eternal life in misery . could any one be supposed by a law , that says , for felony you shall die , not that he should lose his life , but be kept alive in perpetual exquisite torments ? and would any one think himself fairly dealt with , that was so used ? to this they would have it be also a state of necessary sinning , and provoking god in every action that men do : a yet harder sense of the word death than the other . god says , that in the day that thou eatest of the forbidden fruit , thou shalt die ; i. e. thou and thy posterity shall be ever after uncapable of doing any thing , but what shall be sinful and provoking to me , and shall justly deserve my wrath and indignation . could a worthy man be supposed to put such terms upon the obedience of his subjects , much less can the righteous god be supposed , as a punishment of one sin wherewith he is displeased , to put man under a necessity of sinning continually , and so multiplying the provocation ? the reason of this strange interpretation we shall perhaps find in some mistaken places of the new testament . i must confess by death here i can understand nothing but a ceasing to be , the losing of all actions of life and sense . such a death came on adam , and all his posterity by his first disobedience in paradise , under which death they should have lain for ever , had it not been for the redemption by jesus christ. if by death threatned to adam were meant the corruption of humane nature in his posterity , 't is strange that the new testament should not any where take notice of it , and tell us , that corruption seized on all because of adam's transgression , as well as it tells us so of death . but as i remember every ones sin is charged upon himself only . another part of the sentence was , cursed is the ground for thy sake ; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life , in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread , till thou return unto the ground : for out of it wast thou taken ; dust thou art , and to dust shalt thou return . this shews that paradise was a place of bliss as well as immortality , without toyl , and without sorrow . but when man was turned out , he was exposed to the toyl , anxiety , and frailties of this mortal life , which should end in the dust , out of which he was made , and to which he should return ; and then have no more life or sense than the dust had , out of which he was made . as adam was turned out of paradise , so all his posterity were born out of it , out of the reach of the tree of life , all like their father adam in a state of mortality , void of the tranquility and bliss of paradise . rom. v. 12. by one man sin entered into the world , and death by sin . but here will occur the common objection , that so many stumble at : how doth in consist with the justice and goodness of god , that the posterity of adam should suffer for his sin ; the innocent be punished for the guilty ? very well , if keeping one from what he has no right to be called a punishment . the state of immortality in paradise is not due to the posterity of adam more than to any other creature . nay , if god afford them a temporary mortal life ' 't is his gift , they owe it to his bounty , they could not claim it as their right , nor does he injure them when he takes it from them . had he taken from manking any thing , that was their right ; or did he put men in a state of misery worse than not being without any fault or demerit of their own ; this indeed would be hard to reconcile with the notion we have of justice , and much more with the goodness and other attributes of the supream being , which he has declared of himself , and reason as well as revelation must acknowledge to be in him ; unless we will confound good and evil , god and satan . that such a state of extream irremidiable torment is worse than no being at all , if every one ones sense did not determine against the vain philosophy , and foolish metaphysicks of some men ; yet our saviour's peremptory decision , matt. xxvi . 24. has put it past doubt , that one may be in such an estate , that it had been better for him not to have been born . but that such a temporary life as we now have , with all its frailties and ordinary miseries is better than no being , is evident by the high value we put upon it our selves . and therefore though all die in adam , yet none are truly punished but for their own deeds . rom. ii. 6. god will render to every one , how ? according to his deeds . to those that obey unrighteousness , indignation and wrath , tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil , v. 9. 2 cor. v. 10. we must appear before the iudgment-seat of christ , that every one may receive the things done in his body , according to that he has done , whether it be good or bad . and christ himself , who knew for what he should condemn men at the last day , assures us in the two places where he describes his proceeding at the great judgment , that the sentence of condemnation passes only on the workers of iniquity , such as neglected to fulfil the law in acts of charity , mat. vii . 23. luke xiii . 27. mat. xxv . 42. but here is no condemnation of any one , for what his fore-father adam had done , which 't is not likely should have been omitted , if that should have been a cause , why any one was adjudged to the fire with the devil and his angels . and he tells his disciples , that when he comes again with his angels is the glory of his father , that then he will render to every one according to his works , mat. xvi . 27. adam being thus turned out of paradise , and all his posterity born out of it , the consequence of it was , that all men should die , and remain under death for ever , and so be utterly lost . from this estate of death jesus christ restores all mankind to life ; 1 cor. xv. 22. as in adam all die , so in christ shall all be made alive . how this shall be , the same apostle tells us in the foregoing v. 21. by man death came , by man also came the resurrection from the dead . whereby it appears , that the life , which jesus christ restores to all men , is that life , which they receive again at the resurrection . then they recovered from death , which otherwise all mankind should have continued under lost for ever , as appears by st. paul's arguing , 1 cor. xv. concerning the resurrection . and thus men are by the second adam restored to life again : that so by adam's sin they may none of them lose any thing , which by their own righteousness they might have a title to . for righteousness , or an exact obedience to the law , seems by the scripture to have a claim of right to eternal life , rom. iv. 4. to him that worketh ; i. e. does the works of the law , is the reward not reckoned of grace , but of debt . and rev. xxii . 14. blessed are they who do his commandments , that they may have right to the tree of life , which is in the paradise of god. if any of the posterity of adam were just , they shall not lose the reward of it , eternal life and bliss , by being his mortal issue : christ will bring them all to life again ; and then they shall be put every one upon his own tryal , and receive judgment , as he is found to be righteous or no. and the righteous , as our saviour says , mat. xxv . 46. shall go into eternal life . nor shall any one miss it , who has done what our saviour directed the lawyer , who asked , luke x. 25. what he should do to inherit eternal life ? do this , i. e. what is required by the law , and thou shalt live . on the other side , it seems the unalterable purpose of the divine justice , that no unrighteous person , no one that is guilty of any breach of the law , should be in paradise ; but that the wages of sin shold be to every man , as it was to adam , an exclusion of him out of that happy state of immortality , and bring death upon him . and this is so conformable to the eternal and established law of right and wrong , that it is spoke of too as if it could not be otherwise . st. iames says , chap. i. 15. sin when it is finished bringeth forth death , as it were by a natural and necessary production . sin entred into the world , and death by sin , says st. paul , rom. v. 12. & vi. 23. the wages of sin is death . death is the purchase of any , of every sin . gal. iii. 10. cursed is every one who continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them . and of this st. iames gives a reason , chap. ii. 10 , 11. whosoever shall keep the whole law , and yet offend in one point , he is guilty of all : for he that said , do not commit adultery , said also , do not kill : i. e. he that offends in any one point , sins against the authority which established the law. here then we have the standing and fixed measures of life and death . immortality and bliss belong to the righteous ; those who have lived in an exact conformity to the law of god , are out of the reach of death : but an exclusion from paradise , and loss of immortality , is the portion of sinners , of all those who have any way broke that law , and failed of a compleat obedience to it by the guilt of any one transgression . and thus mankind by the law are put upon the issues of life or death ; as they are righteous , or vnrighteous ; iust or vnjust ; i. e. exact performers , or transgressors of the law. but yet all having sinned , rom. iii. 23. and come short of the glory god , i. e. the kingdom of god in heaven , which is often called his glory , both iews and gentiles , v. 22. so that by the deeds of the law no one could be justified , v. 20. it follows , that no one could then have eternal life and bliss . perhaps it will be demanded , why did god give so hard a law to mankind , that to the apostles time no one of adam's issue had kept it ? as appears by rom. iii. and gal. iii. 21 , 22. answ. it was such a law as the purity of god's nature required , and must be the law of such a creature as man , unless god would have made him a rational creature , and not required him to have lived by the law of reason , but would have countenanced in him irregularity and disobedience to that light which he had ; and that rule , which was suitable to his nature : which would have been , to have authorized disorder , confusion , and wickedness in his creatures . for that this law was the law of reason , or as it is called of nature , we shall see by and by : and if rational creatures will not live up to the rule of their reason , who shall excuse them ? if you will admit them to forsake reason in one point , why not in another ? where will you stop ? to disobey god in any part of his commands ( and 't is he that commands what reason does ) is direct rebellion ; which if dispensed with in any point , government and order are at an end ; and there can be no bounds set to the lawless exorbitancy of unconfined men . the law therefore was , as st. paul tells us , rom. vii . 12 , holy , just , and good , and such as it ought , and could not otherwise be . this then being the case , that whoever is guilty of any sin , should certainly die , and cease to be , the benefit of life restored by christ at the resurrection would have been no great advantage , ( for as much as here again death must have seized upon all mankind , because all had sinned ; for the wages of sin is every where death , as well after as before the resurrection ) if god had not found out a way to justifie some , i. e. so many , as obeyed another law , which god gave , which in the new testament is called the law of faith , rom. iii. 27. and is opposed to the law of works . and therefore the punishment of those who would not follow him was to lose their souls . i. e. their lives , mark viii . 35-38 . as is plain , considering the occasion it was spoke on . the better to understand the law of faith , it will be convenient in the first place to consider the law of works . the law of works then , in short , is that law , which requires perfect obedience , without any remission or abatement ; so that by that law a man cannot be just , or justified without an exact performance of every tittle . such a perfect obedience in the new testament is termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which we translate righteousness . the language of this law is , do this and live , transgress and die . lev. xviii . 5. ye shall keep my statutes and my judgments , which if a man do he shall live in them . ezek. xx. 11. i gave them my statutes , and shewed them my judgments , which if a man do he shall even live in them . moses , says st. paul , rom. x. 5. describeth the righteousness which is of the law , that the man which doth those things shall live in them . gal. iii. 12. the law is not of faith , but that man that doth them shall live in them . on the other side , transgress and die ; no dispensation , no atonement . v. 10. cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them . where this law of works was to be found , the new testament tells us , ( viz. ) in the law delivered by moses . iohn i. 17. the law was given by moses , but faith and truth came by iesus christ. cap. vii . 19. did not moses give you the law , says our saviour , and yet none of you keep the law. and this is the law which he speaks of , where he asks the lawyer , luke x. 26. what is written in the law ? how readest thou ? v. 28. this do and thou shalt live . this is that which st. paul so often stiles the law , without any other distinction , rom. ii. 13. not the hearers of the law are just before god , but the doers of the law are justified . 't is needless to quote any more places , his epistles are all full of it , especially this to the romans . but the law given by moses being not given to all mankind , how are all men sinners ; since without a law there is no transgression ? to this the apostle , v. 14. answers , for when the gentiles which have not the law , do ( i. e. find it reasonable to do ) by nature the things contained in the law ; these having not the law , are a law unto themselves : which shew the work of the law written in their hearts , their consciences also bearing witness , and amongst one another their thoughts accusing or excusing . by which , and other places in the following chapter , 't is plain , that under the law of works is comprehended also the law of nature , knowable by reason as well as the law given by moses . for , says st. paul , rom. iii. 9. 23. we have proved both iews and gentiles , that they are all under sin : for all have sinned , and come short of the glory of god : which they could not do without a law. nay , whatever god requires any where to be done without making any allowance for faith , that is a part of the law of works . so the forbidding adam to eat of the tree of knowledge was part of the law of works . only we must take notice here , that some of god's positive commands being for peculiar ends , and suited to particular circumstances of times , places , and persons , have a limited and only temporary obligation by vertue of god's positive injunction ; such as was that part of moses's law which concerned the outward worship , or political constitution of the jews , and is called the ceremonial and judaical law , in contradistinction to the moral part of it ; which being conformable to the eternal law of right , is of eternal obligation , and therefore remains in force still under the gospel ; nor is abrogated by the law of faith , as st. paul found some ready to infer , rom. iii. 31. do we then make void the law through faith ? god forbid ; yea , we establish the law. nor can it be otherwise : for were there no law of works , there could be no law of faith. for there could be no need of faith , which should be counted to men for righteousness , if there were no law to be the rule and measure of righteousness , which men failed in their obedience to . where there is no law , there is no sin ; all are righteous equally with or without faith. the rule therefore of right is the same that ever it was , the obligation to observe it is also the same : the difference between the law of works and the law of faith is only this ; that the law of works makes no allowance for failing on any occasion . those that obey are righteous , those that in any part disobey are unrighteous , and must not expect life the reward of righteousness . but by the law of faith , faith is allowed to supply the defect of full obedience ; and so the believers are admitted to life and immortality as if they were righteous . only here we must take notice , that when st. paul says , that the gospel establishes the law , he means the moral part of the law of moses : for that he could not mean the ceremonial or political part of it , is evident by what i quoted out of him just now , where he says , the gentiles that do by nature the things contained in the law , their consciences bearing witness . for the gentiles neither did nor thought of the judaical or ceremonial institutions of moses , 't was only the moral part their consciences were concerned in . as for the rest , st. paul tells the galatians , cap. iv. they are not under that part of the law , which v. 3. he calls elements of the world ; and v. 9. weak and beggarly elements . and our saviour himself in his gospel-sermon on the mount , tells them , mat. v. 17. that whatever they might think , he was not come to dissolve the law , but to make it more full and strict : for that that is meant by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is evident from the following part of that chapter , where he gives the precepts in a stricter sense than they were received in before . but they are all precepts of the moral law which he reinforces . what should become of the ritual law he tells the woman of samaria in these words , iohn iv. 21. 23. the hour cometh when you shall neither in this mountain , nor yet at jerusalem worship the father . but the true worshippers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth , for the father seeketh such to worship him . thus then as to the law in short . the civil and ritual part of the law delivered by moses obliges not christians , though to the jews it were a part of the law of works ; it being a part of the law of nature , that man ought to obey every positive law of god , whenever he shall please to make any such addition to the law of his nature . but the moral part of moses's law , or the moral law , ( which is every where the same , the eternal rule of right ) obliges christians and all men every where , and is to all men the standing law of works . but christian believers have the priviledge to be under the law of faith too ; which is that law whereby god justifies a man for believing , though by his works he be not just or righteous , i. e. though he came short of perfect obedience to the law of works . god alone does , or can , justifie or make just those who by their works are not so : which he doth by counting their faith for righteousness , i. e. for a compleat performance of the law. rom. iv. 3. abraham believed god , and it was counted to him for righteousness . v. 5. to him that believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly , his faith is counted for righteousness . v. 6. even as david also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom god imputeth righteousness without works ; i. e. without a full measure of works , which is exact obedience . v. 7. saying , blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven , and whose sins are covered . v. 8. blessed is the man to whom the lord will not impute sin . this faith for which god justified abraham , what was it ? it was the believing god when he engaged his promise in the covenant he made with him . this will be plain to any one who considers these places together , gen. xv. 6. he believed in the lord , or believed the lord. for that the hebrew phrase believing in , signifies no more but believing , is plain from st. paul's citation of this place , rom. iv. 3. where he repeats it thus : abraham believed god , which he thus explains , v. 18-22 . who against hope , believed in hope , that he might become the father of many nations : according to that which was spoken , so shall thy seed be . and being not weak in faith , he considered not his own body now dead , when he was about an hundred years old , nor yet the deadness of sarah's womb . he staggered not at the promise of god through unbelief ; but was strong in faith , giving glory to god. and being fully perswaded , that what he had promised , he was also able to perform . and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness . by which it is clear , that the faith which god counted to abraham for righteousness , was nothing but a firm belief of what god declared to him , and a steadfast relying on him for the accomplishment of what he had promised . now this , says st. paul , v. 23 , 24. was not writ for his [ abraham 's ] sake alone , but for us also ; teaching us , that as abraham was justified for his faith , so also ours shall be accounted to us for righteousness , if we believe god as abraham believed him . whereby 't is plain is meant the firmness of our faith without staggering , and not the believing the same propositions that abraham believed ; viz. that though he and sarah were old , and past the time and hopes of children , yet he should have a son by her , and by him become the father of a great people , which should possess the land of canaan . this was what abraham believed , and was counted to him for righteousness . but no body i think will say , that any ones believing this now , shall be imputed to him for righteousness . the law of faith then , in short , is for every one to believe what god requires him to believe , as a condition of the covenant he makes with him ; and not to doubt of the performance of his promises . this the apostle intimates in the close here , v. 24. but for us also , to whom it shall be imputed , if we believe on him that raised up iesus our lord from the dead . we must therefore examine and see what god requires us to believe now under the revelation of the gospel : for the belief of one invisible , eternal , omnipotent god , maker of heaven and earth , &c. was required before , as well as now . what we are now required to believe to obtain eternal life , is plainly set down in the gospel . st. iohn tells us , iohn iii. 36. he that believeth on the son , hath eternal life ; and he that believeth not the son , shall not see life . what this believing on him is , we are also told in the next chapter . the woman saith unto him , i know that the messiah cometh : when he is come , he will tell us all things . iesus said unto her , i that spake unto thee am he . the woman then went into the city , and saith to the men , come see a man that hath told me all things that ever i did . is not this the messiah ? and many of the samaritans believed on him ; for the saying of the woman , who testified , he told me all that ever i did . so when the samaritans were come unto him , many more believed because of his words , and said to the woman ; we believe not any longer because of thy saying , for we have heard our selves , and we know that this man is truly the saviour of the world , the messiah , john iv. 25 , 26. 29. 39 , 40 , 41 , 42. by which place it is plain , that believing on the son is the believing that iesus was the messiah ; giving credit to the miracles he did , and the profession he made of himself . for those who were said to believe on him for the saying of the woman , v. 39. tell the woman , that they now believed not any longer because of her saying ; but that having heard him themselves , they knew , i. e. believed past doubt that he was the messiah . this was the great proposition that was then controverted concerning jesus of nazareth , whether he was the messiah or no ; and the assent to that , was that which distinguished believers form unbelievers . when many of his disciples had forsaken him , upon his declaring that he was the bread of life which came down from heaven , he said to the apostles , will ye also go away ? then simon peter answered him ; lord , to whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternal life . and we believe , and are sure thou art the messiah , the son of the living god , iohn vi. 69. this was the faith which distinguished them form apostates and unbelievers , and was sufficient to continue them in the rank of apostles : and it was upon the same proposition , that iesus was the messiah the son of the living god , owned by st. peter , that our saviour said , he would build his church . mat. xvi . 16-18 . to convince men of this he did his miracles : and their assent to , or not assenting to this , made them to be , or not to be of his church ; believers , or not believers . the iews came round about him , and said unto him , how long dost thou make us doubt ? if thou be the messiah tell us plainly . iesus answered them ; i told you , and ye believed not : the works that i do in my father's name they bear witness of me . but ye believe not , because ye are not of my sheep , john x. 24-26 . conformable hereunto st. iohn tells us , that many deceivers are entered into the world , who confess not that iesus , the messiah , is come in the flesh . this is a deceiver , and an antichrist , whosoever abideth not in the doctrine of the messiah has not god. he that abideth in the doctrine of the messiah , i. e. that jesus is he , hath both the father and the son , 2 john 7. 9 , 10. that this is the meaning of the place , is plain from what he says in his foregoing epistle , whosoever believeth that iesus is the messiah , is born of god , 1 john v. 1. and therefore drawing to a close of his gospel , and shewing the end for which he writ it , he has these words : many other signs truly did iesus in the presence of his disciples , which are not written in this book ; but these are written , that ye may believe that iesus is the messiah , the son of god ; and that believing ye might have life through his name , john xx. 30 , 31. whereby it is plain , that the gospel was writ to induce men into a belief of this proposition , that iesus of nazareth was the messiah ; which if they believed , they should have life . accordingly the great question amongst the jews was , whether he were the messiah or no : and the great point insisted on and promulgated in the gospel was , that he was the messiah . the first glad tidings of his birth , brought to the shepherds by an angel , was in these words : fear not , for behold i bring you good tidings of great joy , which shall be to all people ; for to you is born this day in the city of david a saviour , who is the messiah the lord , luke ii. 11. our saviour discoursing with martha about the means of attaining eternal life , saith to her , iohn xi . 27. whosoever believeth in me shall never die . believest thou this ? she saith unto him , yea , lord , i believe that thou art the messiah , the son of god , which should come into the world . this answer of hers sheweth what it is to believe in jesus christ , so as to have eternal life , viz. to believe that he is the messiah the son of god , whose coming was foretold by the prophets . and thus andrew and philip express it : andrew says to his brother simon , we have found the messiah , which is , being interpreted , the christ. philip saith to nathanael , we have found him of whom moses in the law , and the prophets did write , iesus of nazareth , the son of joseph , iohn i. 41. 45. according to what the evangelist says in this place , i have , for the clearer understanding of the scripture , all along put messiah for christ. christ being but the greek name for the hebrew messiah , and both signifying the anointed . and that he was the messiah , was the great truth he took pains to convince his disciples and apostles of ; appearing to them after his resurrection : as may be seen , luke xxiv . which we shall more particularly consider in another place . there we read what gospel our saviour preach'd to his disciples and apostles ; and that , as soon as he was risen from the dead , twice the very day of his resurrection . and if we may gather what was to be believed by all nations , from what was preached unto them ; we may observe , that the preaching of the apostles every where in the acts tended to this one point , to prove that jesus was the messiah . indeed , now after his death , his resurrection was also commonly required to be believed as a necessary article , and sometimes solely insisted on : it being a mark and undoubted evidence of his being the messiah , and necessary now to be believed by those who would receive him as the messiah . for since the messiah was to be a saviour and a king , and to give life and a kingdom to those who received him , as we shall see by and by , there could have been no pretence to have given him out for the messiah , and to require men to believe him to be so , who thought him under the power of death , and corruption of the grave . and therefore those who believed him to be the messiah , must believe that he was risen from the dead : and those who believed him to be risen from the dead , could not doubt of his being the messiah . but of this more in another place . let us see therefore how the apostles preached christ , and what they proposed to their hearers to believe . st. peter at ierusalem , acts ii. by his first sermon , converted three thousand souls . what was his word , which , as we are told , v. 41. they gladly received , and thereupon were baptized ? that may be seen from v. 22. to v. 36. in short this ; which is the conclusion drawn from all that he had said , and which he presses on them as the thing they were to believe , viz. therefore let all the house of israel know assuredly , that god hath made that same iesus , whom ye have crucified , lord and messiah , v. 36. to the same purpose was his discourse to the jews in the temple , acts iii. the design whereof you have , v. 18. but those things that god before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets , that the messiah should suffer , he hath so fulfilled . in the next chapter acts iv. peter and iohn being examined about the miracle on the lame man , profess it to have been done in the name of jesus of nazareth , who was the messiah , in whom alone there was salvation , v. 10-12 . the same thing they confirm to them again , acts v. 29-32 . and daily in the temple , and in every house they ceased not to teach and preach iesus the messiah , v. 42. what was stephen's speech to the council , acts vii . but a reprehension to them , that they were the betrayers and murderers of the iust one ? which is the title by which he plainly designs the messiah , whose coming was foreshewn by the prophets , v. 51 , 52. and that the messiah was to be without sin ( which is the import of the word just ) was the opinion of the jews , appears from iohn ix . v. 22. compared with 24. acts viii . philip carries the gospel to samaria . then philip went down to samaria , and preached to them . what was it he preached ? you have an account of it in this one word , the messiah , v. 5. this being that alone which was required of them , to believe that iesus was the messiah ; which , when they believed , they were baptized . and when they believed philip 's preaching the gospel of the kingdom of god , and the name of iesus the messiah , they were baptized both men and women , v. 12. philip being sent from thence , by a special call of the spirit , to make an eminent convert , out of isaiah preaches to him jesus , v. 35. and what it was he preached concerning iesus , we may know by the profession of faith the eunuch made , upon which he was admitted to baptism . v. 37. i believe that iesus christ is the son of god : which is as much as to say , i believe that he , whom you call jesus christ , is really and truly the messiah that was promised . for that believing him to be the son of god , and to be the messiah , was the same thing , may appear by comparing iohn i. 45. with v. 49. where nathanael owns jesus to be the messiah in these terms : thou art the son of god ; thou art the king of israel . so the jews , luke xxii . 70. asking christ , whether he were the son of god ; plainly demand of him , whether he were the messiah ? which is evident by comparing that with the three preceding verses . they ask him , v. 67. whether he were the messiah ? he answers , if i tell you , you will not believe ; but withal tells them , that from thenceforth he should be in possession of the kingdom of the messiah , expressed in these words , v. 69. hereafter shall the son of man sit on the right hand of the power of god : which made them all cry our , art thou then the son of god ? i. e. dost thou then own thy self to be the messiah ? to which he replies ; ye say that i am . that the son of god was the known title of the messiah at that time amongst the jews , we may see also from what the jews say to pilate , john xix . 7. we have a law , and by our law he ought to die , because he made himself the son of god ; i. e. by making himself the messiah , the prophet which was to come , but falsely ; and therefore he deserves to die by the law , deut. xviii . 20. that this was the common signification of the son of god , is farther evident form what the chief priests , mocking him , said , when he was at the cross , mat. xxvii . 42. he saved others , himself he cannot save : if he be the king of israel , let him now come down from the cross , and we will believe him . he trusted in god , let him deliver him now , if he will have him ; for he said , i am the son of god ; i. e. he said , he was the messiah : but 't is plainly false ; for if he were , god would deliver him : for the messiah is to be king of israel , the saviour of others ; but this man cannot save himself . the chief priests mention here the two titles then in use whereby the jews commonly designed the messiah , viz. son of god , and king of israel . that of son of god , was so familiar a compellation of the messiah , who was then so much expected and talked of , that the romans it seems , who lived amongst them , had learned it ; as appears from v. 54. now when the centurion , and they that were with him , watching iesus , saw the earthquake , and those things that were done , they feared greatly , saying , truly this was the son of god ; this was that extraordinary person that was looked for . acts ix . st. paul exercising the commission to preach the gospel , which he had received in a miraculous way , v. 20. straitway preached christ in the synagogues , that he is the son of god ; i. e. that jesus was the messiah : for christ in this place is evidently a proper name . and that this was it which paul preached , appears from v. 22. saul increased the more in strength , and confounded the jews who dwelt in damascus , proving that this is the very christ , i. e. the messiah . peter , when he came to cornelius at cesarea ; who by a vision was ordered to send for him , as peter on the other side was by a vision commanded to go to him ; what does he teach him ? his whole discourse , acts x. tends to shew what he says god commanded the apostles to preach unto the people , and to testifie ; that it is he [ jesus ] which was ordained of god to be the iudge of the quick and the dead . and that it was to him that all the prophets give witness , that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall have remission of sins , v. 42 , 43. this is the word which god sent to the children of israel ; that word which was published throughout all judea , and began from galilee , after the baptism which iohn preached , v. 36 , 37. and these are the words which had been promised to cornelius , acts xi . 14. whereby he and all his house should be saved : which words amount only to thus much , that iesus was the messiah , the saviour that was promised . upon their receiving of this ( for this was all was taught them ) the holy ghost fell on them , and they were baptized . 't is observable here , that the holy ghost fell on them before they were baptized ; which in other places converts received not till after baptism . the reason whereof seems to be this ; that god by bestowing on them the holy ghost , did thus declare from heaven , that the gentiles , upon believing iesus to be the messiah , ought to be admitted into the church by baptism as well as the jews . whoever reads st. peter's defence , acts xi . when he was accused by those of the circumcumcision , that he had not kept that distance which he ought with the uncircumcised , will be of this opinion ; and see by what he says , v. 15 , 16 , 17. that this was the ground , and an irresistible authority to him for doing so strange a thing , as it appeared to the jews ( who alone yet were members of the christian church ) to admit gentiles into their communion , upon their believing . and therefore st. peter , in the foregoing chapter , acts x before he would baptize them , proposes this question to those of the circumcision , which came with him , and were astonished , because that on the gentiles also was poured out the gift of the holy ghost : can any one forbid water , that these should not be baptized , who have received the holy ghost as well as we ? v. 47. and when some of the sect of the pharisees , who believed ▪ thought it needful that the converted gentiles should be circumcised , and keep the law of moses , acts xv. peter rose up and said unto them , men and brethren , you know that a good while ago god made choice amongst us , that the gentiles , viz. cornelius , and those here converted with him , by my mouth should hear the gospel , and believe . and god , who knoweth the hearts , bear them witness , giving them the holy ghost , even as he did unto us , and put no difference between us and them , purifying their hearts by faith , v. 7-9 . so that both jews and gentiles , who believed jesus to be the messiah , received thereupon the seal of baptism ; whereby they were owned to be his , and distinguished from unbelievers . from what is above said , we may observe , that this preaching jesus to be the messiah , is called the word , and the word of god ; and believing it , receiving the word of god. vid. acts x. 36 , 37. & xi . 1. 19 , 20. and the word of the gospel , acts xv. 7. and so likewise in the history of the gospel , what mark , chap. iv. 14 , 15. calls simply the word , st. luke calls the word of god , luke xiii . 11. and st. matthew , chap. xiii . 19. the word of the kingdom ; which were , it seems , in the gospel-writers synonymous terms , and are so to be understood by us . but to go on : acts xiii . paul preaches in the synagogue at antioch , where he makes it his business to convince the jews , that god , according to his promise , had of the seed of david raised to israel a saviour , iesus , v. 24. that he was he of whom the prophets writ , v. 25-29 . i. e. the messiah : and that as a demonstration of his being so , god had raised him from the dead , v. 30. from whence be argues thus , v. 32 , 33. we evangelize to you , or bring you this gospel , how that the promise which was made to our fathers , god hath fulfilled the same unto us , in that he hath raised up iesus again ; as it is also written in the second psalm , thou art my son , this day have i begotten thee . and having gone on to prove him to be the messiah , by his resurrection from the dead , he makes this conclusion ; v. 38 , 39. be it known unto you therefore , men and brethren , that through this man is preached unto you forgiveness of sins ; and by him all who believe are justified from all things , from which they could not be justified by the law of moses . this is in this chapter called the word of god over and over again : compare v. 42. with 44. 46. 48 , 49. and chap. xii . v. 24. acts xvii . 2-4 . at thessalonica , paul , as his manner was , went into the synagogue , and three sabbath-days reasoned with the iews out of the scriptures ; opening and alledging , that the messiah must needs have suffered , and risen again from the dead : and that this iesus , whom i preach unto you , is the messiah . and some of them believed , and consorted with paul and silas : but the iews which believed not , set the city in an uproar . can there be any thing plainer , than that the assenting to this proposition , that jesus was the messiah , was that which distinguished the believers from the unbelievers ? for this was that alone which , three sabbaths , paul endeavoured to convince them of , as the text tells us in direct words . from thence he went to berea , and preached the same thing : and the bereans are commended , v. 11. for searching the scriptures , whether those things , i. e. which he had said , v. 2 , 3. concerning jesus his being the messiah , were true or no. the same doctrine we find him preaching at corinth , acts xviii . 4-6 . and he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath , and perswaded the iews and the greeks . and when silas and timotheus were come from macedonia , paul was pressed in spirit , and testified to the iews , that iesus was the messiah . and when they opposed themselves , and blasphemed , he shook his raiment , and said unto them , your blood be upon your own heads , i am clean ; from henceforth i will go unto the greeks . upon the like occasion he tells the jews at antioch , acts xiii . 46. it was necessary that the word of god should first have been spoken to you : but seeing you put it off from you , we turn to the gentiles . 't is plain here , st. paul's charging their blood on their own heads , is for opposing this single truth , that iesus was the messiah ; that salvation or perdition depends upon believing or rejecting this one proposition . i mean , this is all is required to be believed by those who acknowledge but one eternal and invisible god , the maker of heaven and earth , as the jews did . for that there is something more required to salvation , besides believing , we shall see hereafter . in the mean time , it is fit here on this occasion to take notice , that though the apostles in their preaching to the jews , and the devout , ( as we translate the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , who were proselytes of the gate , and the worshippers of one eternal and invisible god , ) said nothing of the believing in this one true god , the maker of heaven and earth ; because it was needless to press this to those who believed and professed it already ( for to such , 't is plain , were most of their discourses hitherto ) yet when they had to do with idolatrous heathens , who were not yet come to the knowledge of the one only true god ; they began with that , as necessary to be believed ; it being the foundation on which the other was built , and without which it could signifie nothing . thus paul speaking to the idolatrous lystrians , who would have sacrificed to him and barnabas , says , acts xiv . 15. we preach unto you , that you should turn from these vanities unto the living god , who made heaven , and earth , and the sea , and all things that are therein . who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways . nevertheless he left not himself without witness in that he did good , and gave us rain from heaven , and fruitful seasons , filling our hearts with food and gladness . thus also he proceeded with the idolatrous athenians , acts xvii . telling them , upon occasion of the altar dedicated to the unknown god , whom ye ignorantly worship , him declare i unto you ; god who made the world , and all things therein : seeing that he is lord of heaven and earth , dwelleth not in temples made with hands . — forasmuch then as we are the off-spring of god , we ought not to think that the godhead is like unto gold , or silver , or stone , graven by art , and man's device . and the times of this ignorance god winked at ; but now commandeth all men every where to repent : because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness , by that man whom he hath ordained : whereof he hath given assurance unto all men , in that he hath raised him from the dead . so that we see , where any thing more was necessary to be proposed to be believed , as there was to the heathen idolaters , there the apostles were careful not to omit it . acts xviii . 4. paul at corinth reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath-day , and testified to the iews , that iesus was the messiah . ver. 11. and he continued there a year and six months , teaching the word of god amongst them ; i. e. the good news , that jesus was the messiah ; as we have already shewn is meant by the word of god. apollos , another preacher of the gospel , when he was instructed in the way of god more perfectly , what did he teach but this same doctrine ? as we may see in this account of him , acts xviii . 27. that when he was come into achaia , he helped the brethren much who had believed through grace . for he mightily convinced the iews , and that publickly , shewing by the scriptures that iesus was the messiah . st. paul , in the account he gives of himself before festus and agrippa , professes this alone to be the doctrine he taught after his conversion : for , says he , acts xxvi . 22. having obtained help of god , i continue unto this day , witnessing both to small and great , saying none other things than those which the prophets and moses did say should come : that the messias should suffer , and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead , and should shew light unto the people , and to the gentiles . which was no more than to prove that jesus was the messiah . this is that , which , as we have above observed , is called the word of god ; acts xi . 1. compared with the foregoing chapter , from v. 34. to the end . and xiii . 42. compared with 44. 46. 48 , 49. and xvii . 13. compared with v. 11. 3. it is also called the word of the gospel , acts xv. 7. and this is that word of god , and that gospel , which , where-ever their discourses are set down , we find the apostles preached ; and was that faith , which made both jews and gentiles believers and members of the church of christ ; purifying their hearts , acts xv. 9. and carrying with it remission of sins , acts x. 43. so that all that was to be believed for justification , was no more but this single proposition ; that iesus of nazareth was the christ , or the messiah . all , i say , that was to be believed for justification : for that it was not all that was required to be done for justification , we shall see hereafter . though we have seen above from what our saviour has pronounced himself , iohn iii. 36. that he that believeth on the son , hath everlasting life ; and he that believeth not the son , shall not see life , but the wrath of god abideth on him ; and are taught from iohn iv. 39. compared with v. 42. that believing on him , is believing that he is the messiah , the saviour of the world ; and the confession made by st. peter , mat. xvi . 16. that he is the messiah , the son of the living god , being the rock , on which our saviour has promised to build his church ; though this , i say , and what else we have already taken notice of , be enough to convince us what it is we are in the gospel required to believe to eternal life , without adding what we have observed from the preaching of the apostles ; yet it may not be amiss , for the farther clearing this matter , to observe what the evangelists deliver concerning the same thing , though in different words ; which therefore perhaps are not so generally taken notice of to this purpose . we have above observed , from the words of andrew and philip compared , that the messiah , and him of whom moses in the law and the prophets did write , signifie the same thing . we shall now consider that place , iohn i. a little further . ver. 41. andrew says to simon , we have found the messiah . philip , on the same occasion , v. 45. says to nathanael , we have found him , of whom moses in the law and the prophets did write , iesus of nazareth , the son of joseph nathanael , who disbelieved this , when upon christ's speaking to him , he was convinced of it , declares his assent to it in these words ; rabbi , thou art the son of god , thou art the king of israel . from which it is evident , that to believe him to be him of whom moses and the prophets did write , or to be the son of god , or to be the king of israel , was in effect the same as to believe him to be the messiah : and an assent to that , was what our saviour received for believing . for upon nathanael's making a confession in these words , thou art the son of god , thou art the king of israel ; iesus answered and said to him , because i said to thee , i saw thee under the fig-tree , dost thou believe ? thou shalt see greater things than these , v. 51. i desire any , one to read the latter part of the first of iohn , from v. 25. with attention ▪ and tell me , whether it be not plain , that this phrase , the son of god , is an expression used for the messiah . to which let him add martha's declaration of her faith , iohn xi . 27. in these words ; i believe that thou art the messiah , the son of god , who should come into the world ; and that passage of st. iohn , chap. xx. 31. that ye might believe that iesus is the messiah , the son of god ; and that believing , ye might have life through his name : and then tell me whether he can doubt that messiah and son of god were synonymous terms , at that time , amongst the jews . the prophecy of daniel , chap. ix . where he is called messiah the prince ; and the mention of his government and kingdom , and the deliverance by him , in isaiah , daniel , and other prophesies , understood of the messiah ; were so well known to the jews , and had so raised their hopes of him about this time , which by their account was to be the time of his coming to restore the kingdom to israel , that herod no sooner heard of the magi's enquiry after him that was born king of the iews , mat. ii. but he forthwith demanded of the chief priests and scribes , where the messiah should be born , v. 4. not doubting , but if there were any king born to the jews , it was the messiah : whose coming was now the general expectation , as appears , luke iii. 15. the people being in expectation , and all men musing in their hearts of john , whether he were the messiah or not . and when the priests and levites sent to ask him who he was ; he understanding their meaning , answers , iohn i. 19. that he was not the messiah : but he bears witness that jesus is the son of god , i. e. the messiah , v. 34. this looking for the messiah at this time , we see also in simeon ; who is said to be waiting for the consolation of israel , luke ii. 21. and having the child jesus in his arms , he says he had seen the salvation of the lord , v. 30. and anna coming at the same instant into the temple , she gave thanks also unto the lord , and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in israel , v. 38. and of ioseph of arimathea , it is said , mark xv. 43. that he also expected the kingdom of god : by all which was meant the coming of the messiah . and luke xix . 11. 't is said , they thought that the kingdom of god should immediately appear . this being premised , let us see what it was that iohn the baptist preached , when he first entred upon his ministry . that st. matthew tells us , chap. iii. 1 , 2. in those days came john the baptist preaching in the wilderness of judea , saying , repent , for the kingdom of heaven is at hand . this was a declaration of the coming of the messiah ; the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of god being the same , as is clear out of several places of the evangelists ; and both signifying the kingdom of the messiah . the profession which iohn the baptist made , when sent to the jews , iohn i. 19. was , that he was not the messiah ; but that jesus was . this will appear to any one , who will compare v. 26-34 . with iohn iii. 27. 30. the jews being very inquisitive to know whether iohn were the messiah ; he positively denies it , but tells them , he was only his fore-runner ; and that there stood one amongst them , who would follow him , whose shoe-latchet he was not worthy to untie . the next day seeing jesus , he says , he was the man ; and that his own baptizing in water , was only that iesus might be manifested to the world ; and that he knew him not , till he saw the holy ghost descend upon him . he that sent him to baptize having told him , that he on whom he should see the spirit decend , and rest upon , he it was that should baptize with the holy ghost ; and that therefore he witnessed , that this was the son of god , v. 34. i. e. the messiah . and chap. iii. 26 , &c. they came to iohn the baptist , and tell him , that iesus baptized , and that all men went to him . iohn answers , he has his authority from heaven ; you know i never said , i was the messiah , but that i was sent before him ; he must increase , but i must decrease ; for god hath sent him , and he speaks the words of god ; and god hath given all things into the hands of his son , and he that believes on the son , hath eternal life ; the same doctrine , and nothing else but what was preached by the apostles afterwards : as we have seen all through the acts , v. g. that jesus was the messiah . and thus it was that iohn bears witness of our saviour , as jesus himself says , iohn v. 33. this also was the declaration was given of him at his baptism , by a voice from heaven ; this is my beloved son , in whom i am well pleased , mat. iii. 17. which was a declaration of him to be the messiah ; the son of god being ( as we have shewed ) understood to signifie the messiah . to which we may add the first mention of him after his conception , in the words of the angel to ioseph ; mat. i. 21. thou shalt call his name iesus , or saviour ; for he shall save his people from their sins . it was a received doctrine in the jewish nation , that at the coming of the messiah , all their sins should be forgiven them . these words therefore of the angel we may look on as a declaration , that jesus was the messiah ; whereof these words , his people , are a further mark ; which suppose him to have a people , and consequently to be a king. after his baptism , jesus himself enters upon his ministry . but before we examine what it was he proposed to be believed , we must observe , that there is a three-fold declaration of the messiah . 1. by miracles . the spirit of prophecy had now for many ages forsaken the jews : and though their common-wealth were not quite dissolved , but that they lived under their own laws , yet they were under a foreign dominion , subject to the romans . in this state their account of the time being up , they were in expectation of the messiah ; and of deliverance by him in a kingdom , he was to set up , according to their ancient prophesies of him : which gave them hopes of an extraordinary man yet to come from god , who with an extraordinary and divine power , and miracles , should evidence his mission , and work their deliverance . and of any such extraordinary person who should have the power of doing miracles , they had no other expectation but only of their messiah . one great prophet and worker of miracles , and only one more , they expected ; who was to be the messiah . and therefore we see the people justified their believing in him , i. e. their believing him to be the messiah , because of the miracles he did ; iohn vii . 31. and many of the people believed in him , and said , when the messiah cometh , will he do more miracles than this man hath done ? and when the jews , at the feast of dedication , iohn x. 24 , 25. coming about him , said unto him , how long dost thou make us doubt ? if thou be the messiah , tell us plainly . iesus answered them , i told you , and ye believed not ; the works that i do in my father's name , bear witness of me . and iohn v. 36. he says , i have a greater witness than that of john ; for the works which the father hath given me to do , the same works that i do , bear witness of me , that the father hath sent me . where , by the way , we may observe , that his being sent by the father , is but another way of expressing the messiah ; which is evident from this place here , iohn v. compared with that of iohn x. last quoted . for there he says , that his works bear witness of him : and what was that witness ? viz. that he was the messiah . here again he says , that his works bear witness ? of him : and what is that witness ? viz. that the father sent him . by which we are taught , that to be sent by the father , and to be the messiah , was the same thing , in his way of declaring himself . and accordingly we find , iohn iv. 53. & xi . 45. and elsewhere , many hearkened and assented to this testimony , and believed on him , seeing the things that he did . 2. another way of declaring the coming of the messiah , was by phrases and circumlocutions , that did signifie or intimate his coming ; though not in direct words pointing out the person . the most usual of these were , the kingdom of god , and of heaven ; because it was that which was oftnest spoken of the messiah , in the old testament , in very plain words : and a kingdom was that which the jews most looked after , and wished for . in that known place , isa. ix . the government shall be upon his shoulders ; he shall be called the prince of peace : of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end : vpon the throne of david , and upon his kingdom , to order it , and to establish it with iudgment , and with iustice , from henceforth even for ever . micah v. 2. but thou , bethlehem ephratah , though thou be little among the thousands of judah , yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me , that is to be the rvler in israel . and daniel , besides that he calls him messiah the prince , chap. ix . 25. in the account of his vision of the son of man , chap. vii . 13 , 14. says , there was given him dominion , glory , and a kingdom , that all people , nations , and languages should serve him : his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away ; and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed . so that the kingdom of god , and the kingdom of heaven , were common phrases amongst the jews , to signifie the times of the messiah . luke xiv . 15. one of the jews that sat at meat with him , said unto him , blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of god. chap. xvii . 20. the pharisees demanded , when the kingdom of god should come ? and st. iohn baptist came , saying , repent , for the kingdom of heaven is at hand : a phrase he would not have used in preaching , had it not been understood . there are other expressions that signified the messiah , and his coming ; which we shall take notice of as they come in our way . 3. by plain and direct words , declaring the doctrine of the messiah ; speaking out that jesus was he : as we see the apostles did , when they went about preaching the gospel , after our saviour's resurrection . this was the open clear way , and that which one would think the messiah himself , when he came , should have taken ; especially if it were of that moment , that upon mens believing him to be the messiah , depended the forgiveness of their sins . and yet we see that our saviour did not : but on the contrary , for the most part , made no other discovery of himself , at least in iudea , and at the beginning of his ministry , but in the two former ways , which were more obscure ; not declaring himself to be the messiah , any otherwise than as it might be gathered from the miracles he did , and the conformity of his life and actions with the prophesies of the old testament concerning him ; and from some general discourses of the kingdom of the messiah being come , under the name of the kingdom of god , and of heaven . nay , so far was he from publickly owning himself to be the messiah , that he forbid the doing of it : mark viii . 27-30 . he asked his disciples , whom do men say that i am ? and they answered , john the baptist ; but some say , elias ; and others , one of the prophets . ( so that it is evident , that even those who believed him an extraordinary person , knew not yet who he was , or that he gave himself out for the messiah ; though this was in the third year of his ministry , and not a year before his death . ) and he saith unto them , but whom say ye that i am ? and peter answered , and said unto him , thou art the messiah . and he charged them that they should tell no man of him . luke iv. 41. and devils came out of many , crying , thou art the messiah , the son of god : and he rebuking them , suffered them not to speak , that they knew him to be the messiah . mark iii. 11 , 12. unclean spirits , when they saw him , fell down before him , and cryed , saying , thou art the son of god : and he straitly charged them that they should not make him known . here again we may observe from the comparing of the two texts , that thou art the son of god ; or , thou art the messiah ; were indifferently used for the same thing . but to return to the matter in hand . this concealment of himself will seem strange , in one who was come to bring light into the world , and was to suffer death for the testimony of the truth . this reservedness will be thought to look as if he had a mind to conceal himself , and not to be known to the world for the messiah ; nor to be believed on as such . but we shall be of another mind , and conclude this proceeding of his according to divine wisdom , and suited to a fuller manifestation and evidence of his being the messiah ; when we consider , that he was to fill out the time foretold of his ministry ; and , after a life illustrious in miracles and good works , attended with humility , meekness , patience , and suffering , and every way conformable to the prophesies of him , should be lead as a sheep to the slaughter , and with all quiet and submission be brought to the cross , though there were no guilt nor fault found in him . this could not have been , if as soon as he appeared in publick , and began to preach , he had presently professed himself to have been the messiah ; the king that owned that kingdom he published to be at hand . for the sanhedrim would then have laid hold on it , to have got him into their power , and thereby have taken away his life ; at least , they would have disturbed his ministry , and hindred the work he was about . that this made him cautious , and avoid , as much as he could , the occasions of provoking them , and falling into their hands , is plain from iohn vii . 1. after these things iesus walked in galilee ; out of the way of the chief priests and rulers ; for he would not walk in iewry , because the iews sought to kill him . thus , making good what he foretold them at ierusalem , when at the first passover after his beginning to preach the gospel , upon his curing the man at the pool of bethesday , they sought to kill him , iohn v. 16. ye have not , says he , v. 38. his word abiding amongst you : for whom he hath sent , him ye believe not . this was spoken more particularly to the jews of ierusalem , who were the forward men , zealous to take away his life : and it imports , that because of their unbelief and opposition to him , the word of god , i. e. the preaching of the kingdom of the messiah , which is often called the word of god , did not stay amongst them : he could not stay amongst them , preach and explain to them the kingdom of the messiah . that the word of god , here , signifies the word of god that should make jesus known to them to be the messiah , is evident from the context : and this meaning of this place is made good by the event . for after this , we hear no more of jesus at ierusalem , till the pentecost come twelve month ; though 't is not to be doubted but that he was there the next passover , and other feasts between , but privately . and now at ierusalem , at the feast of pentecost , near fifteen months after , he says very little , and not a word of the kingdom of heaven being come , or at hand ; nor did he any miracle there . and returning to ierusalem at the feast of tabernacles , it is plain , that from this time till then , which was a year and a half , he had not taught them at ierusalem . for , 1. it is said , iohn vii . 2. 15. that he teaching in the temple at the feast of tabernacles , the iews marvelled , saying , how knoweth this man letters , having never learned ? a sign they had not been used to his preaching : for if they had , they would not now have marvelled . 2. ver. 19. he says thus to them : did not moses give you the law , and yet none of you keep the law ? why go you about to kill me ? one work , or miracle , i did here amongst you , and ye all marvel . moses therefore gave unto you circumcision , and ye on the sabbath-day circumcise a man : if a man on the sabbath-day receive circumcision , that the law of moses should not be broken , are ye angry with me , because i have made a man every way whole on the sabbath-day ? which is a direct defence of what he did at ierusalem a year and a half before , when he last preached to them there ; which is reported , iohn v. 1-16 . and it is at that very time when he told them v. 38. ye have not the word of god remaining among you , because whom he hath sent ye believe not . whereby , i think , he signifies his not staying and being frequent amongst them , preaching the gospel of the kingdom ; because their great unbelief , opposition , and malice to him would not permit his stay and preaching amongst them . this was manifestly so in fact . for the first miracle he did at ierusalem , which was at the second passover after his baptism , brought him in danger of his life ; which made him forbear preaching again there till the feast of tabernacles , immediately preceding his last passover : so that till half a year before his passion , he did but one miracle , and preached but once publickly , at ierusalem . these tryals he made there : but found their unbelief such , that if he had staid and persisted to preach the good tidings of the kingdom , and to shew himself by miracles among them , he could not have had time and freedom to do those works which his father had given him to finish , as he says , v. 36. of this fifth of st. iohn . when upon the curing of the withered hand on the sabbath-day , the pharisees took counsel with the herodians , how they might destroy him ; iesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea : and a great multitude from galilee followed him , and from judea , and from ierusalem , and from idumea , and from beyond jordan , and they about tyre and sidon a great multitude ; when they had heard what great things he did , came unto him , and he healed them all , and charged them that they shovld not make him known : that it might be fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet isaiah , saying : behold my servant whom i have chosen ; my beloved , in whom my soul is well pleased : i will put my spirit upon him , and he shall shew iudgment to the gentiles . he shall not strive , nor cry , neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets , mat. xii . and mark iii. and iohn xi . 47. upon the news of our saviour's raising lazarus from the dead , the chief priests and pharisees convened the sanhedrim , and said , what do we ? for this man does many miracles . v. 53. then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death . v. 54. iesus therefore walked no more openly amongst the iews . his miracles had now so much declared him to be the messiah , that the jews could no longer bear him , nor he trust himself amongst them ; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness , into a city called ephraim , and there continued with his disciples . this was but a little before his last passover , as appears by the following words , v. 55. and the iews passover was nigh at hand : and he could not , now his miracles had made him so well known , have been secure the little time that now remained till his hour was fully come ; if he had not with his wonted and necessary caution withdrawn , and walked no more openly amongst the iews , till his time ( at the next passover ) was fully come ; and then again he appeared amongst them openly . nor would the romans have suffered him , if he had gone about preaching that he was the king whom the jews expected . such an accusation would have been forwardly brought against him by the jews , if they could have heard it out of his own mouth ; and that had been his publick doctrine to his followers , which was openly preached by the apostles after his death , when he appeared no more . and of this they were accused , acts xvii . 5-9 . but the iews which believed not , moved with envy , took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort , and gathered a company , and set all the city in an uproar ; and assaulted the house of jason , and sought to bring them out to the people . and when they found them [ paul and silas ] not , they drew jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city , crying , these that have turned the world upside down , are come hither also , whom jason hath received : and these all do contrary to the decrees of caefar , saying , that there is another king , one iesus . and they troubled the people and the rulers of the city , when they heard these things : and when they had taken security of jason and the other , they let them go . though the magistrates of the world had no great regard to the talk of a king , who had suffered death , and appeared no longer any where ; yet if our saviour had openly declared this of himself in his life-time , with a train of disciples and followers every where owning and crying him up for their king , the roman governour of iudea could not have forborn to have taken notice of it , and have made use of their force against him . this the jews were not mistaken in ; and therefore made use of it as the strongest accusation , and likeliest to prevail with pilate against him for the taking away his life ; it being treason , and an unpardonable offence , which could not scape death from a roman deputy , without the forfeiture of his own life . thus then they accuse him to pilate , luke xxiii . 2. we found this fellow perverting the nation , and forbidding to give tribute to caesar , saying , that he himself is the messiah , a king. our saviour indeed , now that his time was come , ( and he in custody , and forsaken of all the world , and so out of all danger of raising any sedition or disturbance , ) owns himself , to pilate , to be a king ; after having first told pilate , iohn xviii . 36. that his kingdom was not of this world : and for a kingdom in another world , pilate knew that his master at rome concerned not himself . but had there been any the least appearance of truth in the allegations of the jews , that he had perverted the nation ; forbidding to pay tribute to caesar , or drawing the people after him , as their king ; pilate would not so readily have pronounced him innocent . but we see what he said to his accusers , luke xxiii . 13 , 14. pilate , when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers of the people , said unto them , you have brought this man unto me , as one that perverteth the people ; and behold , i having examined him before you , have found no fault in this man , touching those things whereof you accuse him : no , nor yet herod , for i sent you to him ; and lo , nothing worthy of death is done by him . and therefore finding a man of that mean condition , and innocent life , ( no mover of seditions , or disturber of the publick peace , ) without a friend or a follower ; would have dismissed him , as a king of no consequence ; as an innocent man , falsely and maliciously accused by the jews . how necessary this caution was in our saviour , to say or do nothing that might justly offend , or render him suspected to the roman governour ; and how glad the jews would have been to have any such thing against him ; we may see , luke xx. 20. the chief priests and the scribes watched him , and sent forth spies , who should feign themselves just men , that might take hold of his words , that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governour . and the very thing wherein they hoped to entrap him in this place , was paying tribute to caesar , which they afterwards falsely accused him of . and what would they have done , if he had before them professed himself to have been the messiah , their king and deliverer ? and here we may observe the wonderful providence of god , who had so ordered the state of the jews at the time when his son was to come into the world ; that though neither their civil constitution , nor religious worship were dissolved , yet the power of life and death was taken from them ; whereby he had an opportunity to publish the kingdom of the messiah ; that is , his own royalty , under the name of the kingdom of god , and of heaven : which the jews well enough understood , and would certainly have put him to death for , had the power been in their own hands . but this being no matter of accusation to the romans , hindred him not from speaking of the kingdom of heaven , as he did : sometimes in reference to his appearing in the world , and being believed on by particular persons ; sometimes in reference to the power should be given him by the father at his resurrection ; and sometimes in reference to his coming to judge the world at the last day in the full glory and completion of his kingdom . these were ways of declaring himself , which the jews could lay no hold on , to bring him in danger with pontius pilate , and get him seized and put to death . another reason there was , that hindred him as much as the former from professing himself in express words to be the messiah ; and that was , that the whole nation of the jews expecting at this time their messiah , and deliverance by him from the subjection they were in to a foreign yoke , the body of the people would certainly upon his declaring himself to be the messiah their king , have rose up in rebellion , and set him at the head of them . and indeed , the miracles that he did so much disposed them to think him to be the messiah , that though shrouded under the obscurity of a mean condition , and a very private simple life , and his passing for a galilean , ( his birth at bethlehem being then concealed ) and he not assuming to himself any power or authority , or so much as the name of the messiah , yet he could hardly avoid being set up by a tumult , and proclaimed their king. so iohn tells us , chap. v. 14 , 15. then those men , when they had seen the miracles that iesus did , said , this is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. when therefore iesus perceived that they would come to take him by force to make him king , he departed again into a mountain himself alone . this was upon his feeding of five thousand with five barley loaves and two fishes . so hard was it for him , doing those miracles which were necessary to testifie his mission , and which often drew great multitudes after him , mat. iv. 25. to keep the heady and hasty multitude from such disorder , as would have involved him in it ; and have disturbed the course , and cut short the time of his ministry ; and drawn on him the reputation and death of a turbulent seditious malefactor : contrary to the design of his coming , which was to be offered up a lamb blameless , and void of offence ; his innocence appearing to all the world , even to him that delivered him up to be crucified . this it would have been impossible to have avoided , if in his preaching every where , he had openly assumed to himself the title of their messiah ; which was all was wanting to set the people in a flame ; who , drawn by his miracles , and the hopes of finding a deliverer in so extraordinary a man , followed him in great numbers . we read every where of multitudes ; and in luke xii . 1. of myriads that were gathered about him . this conflux of people , thus disposed , would not have failed , upon his declaring himself to be the messiah , to have made a commotion , and with force set him up for their king. it is plain therefore from these these two reasons , why , ( though he came to preach the gospel , and convert the world to a belief of his being the messiah , and though he says so much of his kingdom , under the title of the kingdom of god , and the kingdom of heaven , ) he yet makes it not his business to perswade them that he himself is the messiah , or does in his publick preaching declare himself to be him . he inculcates to the people , on all occasions , that the kingdom of god is come . he shews the way of admittance into this kingdom , viz. repentance and baptism ; and teaches the laws of it , viz. good life , according to the strictest rules of vertue and morality . but who the king was of this kingdom , he leaves to his miracles to point out to those who would consider what he did , and make the right use of it , now ; or to witness to those who should hearken to the apostles hereafter ; when they preached it in plain words , and called upon them to believe it , after his resurrection ; when there should be no longer any fear that it should cause any disturbance in civil societies and the governments of the world. but he could not declare himself to be the messiah , without manifest danger of tumult and sedition . and the miracles he did , declared it so much , that he was fain often to hide himself , and withdraw from the concourse of the people . the leper that he cured , mark i. though forbid to say any thing , yet blazed it so abroad , that iesus could no more openly enter into the city , but was without in desart places ; and there they came to him from every quarter . and thus he did more than once . this being premised , let us take a view of the promulgation of the gospel by our saviour himself , and see what it was he taught the world , and required men to believe . the first beginning of his ministry , whereby he shewed himself , seems to be at cana in galilee , soon after his baptism ; where he turned water into wine : of which st. iohn , chap. ii. 11. says thus , this beginning of miracles iesus made , and manifested his glory , and his disciples believed in him . his disciples here believed in him , but we hear not of any other preaching to them , but by this miracle , whereby he manifested his glory ; i. e. of being the messiah the prince . so nathanael , without any other preaching , but only our saviour's discovering to him that he knew him after an extraordinary manner , presently acknowledges him to be the messiah ; crying , rabbi , thou art the son of god ; thou art the king of israel . from hence , staying a few days at capernaum , he goes to ierusalem to the passover ; and there he drives the traders out of the temple , iohn ii. 12-15 . saying , make not my father's house a house of merchandize . where we see , he uses a phrase , which by interpretation signifies that he was the son of god , though at that time unregarded . v. 16. hereupon the jews demand , what sign dost thou shew us , since thou doest these things ? iesus answered , destroy ye this temple , and in three days i will raise it again . this is an instance of what way jesus took to declare himself : for 't is plain by their reply , the jews understood him not , nor his disciples neither ; for 't is said , v. 22. when therefore he was risen from the dead , his disciples remembred that he said this to them : and they believed the scripture , and the saying of iesus to them . this therefore we may look on , in the beginning , as a pattern of christ's preaching , and shewing himself to the jews ; which he generally followed afterwards , viz. such a manifestation of himself , as every one at present could not understand ; but yet carried such an evidence with it to those who were well disposed now , or would reflect on it when the whole course of his ministry was over , as was sufficient clearly to convince them that he was the messiah . the reason of this method used by our saviour , the scripture gives us here , at this his first appearing in publick ; after his entrance upon his ministry ; to be a rule and light to us in the whole course of it . for the next verse taking notice that many believed on him , because of his miracles , ( which was all the preaching they had . ) 't is said , v. 24. but iesus did not commit himself unto them , because he knew all men ; i. e. he declared not himself so openly to be the messiah , their king , as to put himself into the power of the jews , by laying himself open to their malice ; whom he knew would be so ready to lay hold on it to accuse him . for , as the next verse 25. shews , he knew well enough what was in them . we may here farther observe , that believing in his name , signifies believing him to be the messiah . v. 22. tells us , that many at the passover believed in his name , when they saw the miracles that he did . what other faith could these miracles produce in them , who saw them , but that this was he , of whom the scripture spoke , who was to be their deliverer ? whilst he was now at ierusalem , nicodemus , a ruler of the jews , comes to him , iohn iii. 1-21 . to whom he preaches eternal life by faith in the messiah , v. 15. & 17. but in general terms , without naming himself to be that messiah ; though his whole discourse tends to it . this is all we hear of our saviour the first year of his ministry ; but only his baptism , fasting , and temptation in the beginning of it ; and spending the rest of it after the passover in iudea with his disciples , baptizing there . but when he knew that the pharisees reported that he made and baptized more disciples than john , he left judea , and got out of their way again into galilee , john iv. 1. 3. in his way back , by the well of sichar , he discourses with the samaritan woman ; and after having opened to her the true and spiritual worship which was at hand , which the woman presently understands of the times of the messiah , who was then looked for ; thus she answers , v. 25. i know that the messiah cometh : when he is come , he will tell us all things . whereupon our saviour , though we hear no such thing from him in ierusalem or iudea , or to nicodemus , yet here to this samaritan woman , he in plain and direct words owns and declares , that he himself , who talked with her , was the messiah , v. 26. this would seem very strange , that he should be more free and open to a samaritan , than he was to the jews ; were not the reason plain from what we have observed above . he was now out of iudea , with a people with whom the iews had no commerce ; v. 9. who were not disposed out of envy , as the iews were , to seek his life , or to accuse him to the roman governour , or to make an insurrection to set a iew up for their king. what the consequence was of his discourse with this samaritan woman , we have an account , v. 28. 39-42 . she left her water-pot , and went her way into the city , and saith to the men , come , see a man who told me all things that ever i did : is not this the messiah ? and many of the samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman , which testified , he told me all that ever i did . so when the samaritans were come unto him , they besought him that he would tarry with them : and he abode there two days . and many more believed because of his own word : and said unto the woman , now we believe not because of thy saying ; for we have heard him our selves ; and we know , ( i. e. are fully perswaded , ) that it is indeed the messiah , the saviour of the world. by comparing v. 39. with 41 & 42. it is plain , that believing on him signifies no more than believing him to be the messiah . from sichar jesus goes to nazareth , the place he was bred up in ; and there reading in the synagogue a prophecy concerning the messiah out of the lxi of isaiah , he tells them , luke iv. 21. this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears . but being in danger of his life at nazareth , he leaves it , for capernaum : and then , as st. matthew informs us , chap. iv. 17. he began to preach , and say , repent , for the kingdom of heaven is at hand . or , as st. mark has it , chap. i. 14 , 15. preaching the gospel of the kingdom of god ; and saying , the time is fulfilled , and the kingdom of god is at hand , repent ye , and believe in the gospel ; i. e. believe this good news . this removing to capernaum , and seating himself there in the borders of zabulon and naphtali , was , as st. matthew observes , chap. iv. 13-16 . that a prophecy of isaiah might be fulfilled . thus the actions and circumstances of his life answered the prophesies , and declared him to be the messiah . and by what st. mark says in this place , it is manifest , that the gospel which he preached and required them to believe , was no other but the good tidings of the coming of the messiah , and of his kingdom ; the time being now fulfilled . in his way to capernaum , being come to cana , a noble-man of capernaum came to him , v. 47. and besought him that he would come down and heal his son , for he was at the point of death . v. 48. then said iesus unto him , except ye see signs and wonders , you will not believe . then he returning homewards , and finding that his son began to mend at the same hour in which iesus said unto him , thy son liveth ; he himself believed , and his whole house , v. 53. here this noble-man is by the apostle pronounced to be a believer . and what does he believe ? even that which jesus complains , v. 48. they would not believe , except they saw signs and wonders : which could be nothing but what those of samaria , in the same chapter , believed ; viz. that he was the messiah . for we no where in the gospel hear of any thing else had been proposed to be believed by them . having done miracles , and cured all their sick at capernaum , he says , let us go to the adjoyning towns , that i may preach there also ; for therefore came i forth , mark i. 38. or , as st. luke has it , chap. iv. 43. he tells the multitude , who would have kept him ▪ that he might not go from them , i must evangelize , or tell the good tidings of the kingdom of god , to other cities also ; for therefore am i sent . and st. matthew , chap. iv. 23. tells us how he executed this commission he was sent on . and iesus went about all galilee , teaching in their synagogues , and preaching the gospel of the kingdom , and curing all diseases . this then was what he was sent to preach every where , viz. the gospel of the kingdom of the messiah ; and by the miracles and good he did , let them know who was the messiah . hence he goes up to ierusalem , to the second passover since the beginning of his ministry . and here discoursing to the jews , who sought to kill him , upon occasion of the man , whom he had cured , carrying his bed on the sabbath-day ; and for making god his father ; he tells them , that he wrought these things by the power of god ; and that he shall do greater things : for that the dead shall , at his summons , be raised ; and that he , by a power committed to him from his father , shall judge them ; and that he is sent by his father ; and that whoever shall hear his word , and believe in him that sent him , has eternal life . this , though a clear description of the messiah , yet we may observe , that here to the angry iews , who sought to kill him , he says not a word of his kingdom , nor so much as names the messiah ; but yet that he is the son of god , and sent from god , he refers them to the testimony of iohn the baptist , to the testimony of his own miracles , and of god himself in the voice from heaven ; and of the scriptures , and of moses . he leaves them to learn from these the truth they were to believe , viz. that he was the messiah sent from god. this you may read more at large , iohn v. 1-47 . the next place where we find him preaching , was on the mount , mat. v. and luke vi. this is by much the longest sermon we have of his any where ; and , in all likelihood , to the greatest auditory . for it appears to have been to the peple gathered to him from galilee , and iudea , and ierusalem , and from beyond iordan ; and that came out of idumea , and from tyre and sidon ; mentioned mark iii. 7 , 8. and luke vi. 17. but in this whole sermon of his we do not find one word of believing , and therefore no mention of the messiah , or any intimation to the people who himself was . the reason whereof we may gather from mat. 12. 16. where christ forbids them to make him known ; which supposes them to know already who he was . for that this xii . chapter of matthew ought to precede the sermon in the mount , is plain , by comparing it with mark ii. beginning at v. 13. to mark iii. 8. and comparing those chapters of st. mark with luke vi. and i desire my reader once for all here to take notice , that i have all along observed the order of time in our saviour's proaching ; and have not , as i think , passed by any of his discourses . in this sermon our saviour only teaches them what were the laws of his kingdom , and what they must do who were admitted into it , of which i shall have occasion to speak more at large in another place ; being at present only enquiring what our saviour proposed as matter of faith to be believed . after this , iohn the baptist sends to him this message , luke vii . 19. asking , art thou he that should come , or do we expect another ? that is , in short , art thou the messiah ? and if thou art , why dost thou let me , thy fore runner , languish in prison ? must i expect deliverance from any other ? to which jesus returns this answer , v. 22 , 23. tell john what you have seen and heard : the blind see , the lame walk , the lepers are cleansed , the deaf hear , the dead are raised , to the poor the gospel is preached ; and blessed is he who is not offended in me . what it is to be offended or scandalized in him , we may see by comparing mat. xiii . 28. and mark iv. 17. with luke viii . 13. for what the two first call scandalized , the last calls standing off from , or forsaking ; i. e. not receiving him as the messiah ; ( vid. mark vi. 1-6 . ) or revolting from him . here jesus refers iohn , as he did the jews before , to the testimony of his miracles , to know who he was ; and this was generally his preaching , whereby he declared himself to be the messiah : who was the only prophet to come , whom the iews had any expectation of ; nor did they look for any other person to be sent to them with the power of miracles , but only the messiah . his miracles , we see by his answer to iohn the baptist , he thought a sufficient declaration amongst them , that he was the messiah . and therefore , upon his curing the possessed of the devil , the dumb , and blind , mat. xii . the people , who saw the miracle , said , v. 23. is not this the son of david ? as much as to say , is not this the messiah ? whereat the pharisees being offended , said , he cast out devils by beelzebub . jesus shewing the falshood and vanity of their blasphemy , justifies the conclusion the people made from this miracle ; saying , v. 28. that his casting out devils by the spirit of god , was an evidence that the kingdom of the messiah was come . one thing more there was in the miracles done by his disciples , which shewed him to be the messiah ; that they were done in his name . in the name of iesus of nazareth , rise up and walk , says st. peter to the lame man whom he cured in the temple , acts iii. 6. and how far the power of that name reached , they themselves seem to wonder , luke x. 17. and the seventy returned again with joy , saying , lord , even the devils are subject to us in thy name . from this message from iohn the baptist , he takes occasion to tell the people , that iohn was the fore-runner of the messiah ; that from the time of iohn the baptist the kingdom of the messiah began ; to which time all the prophets and the law pointed , luke vii . and mat. xi . luke viii . 1. afterwards he went through every city and village , preaching and shewing the good tidings of the kingdom of god. here we see , as every where , what his preaching was ; and consequently what was to be believed . soon after , he preaches from a boat to the people on the shoar . his sermon at large we may read , mat. xiii . mark iv. and luke viii . but this is very observeable , that this second sermon of his here , is quite different from his former in the mount. for that was all so plain and intelligible , that nothing could be more so : whereas this is all so involved in parables , that even the apostles themselves did not understand it . if we enquire into the reason of this , we shall possibly have some light from the different subjects of these two sermons . there he preached to the people only morality ; clearing the precepts of the law from the false glosses which were received in those days ; and setting forth the duties of a good life in their full obligation and extent , beyond what the judiciary laws of the israelites did , or the civil laws of any country could prescribe or take notice of . but here in this sermon by the sea-side , he speaks of nothing but the kingdom of the messiah , which he does all in parables . one reason whereof st. matthew gives us , chap. xiii . 35. that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet , saying , i will open my mouth in parables , i will utter things that have been keep secret from the foundations of the world. another reason our saviour himself gives of it , v. 11 , 12. because to you is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven , but to them it is not given . for whosoever hath , to him shall be given , and he shall have more abundantly : but whosoever hath not , i. e. improves not the talents that he hath , from him shall be taken away , even that that he hath . one thing it may not be amiss to observe ; that our saviour here in the explication of the first of these parables to his apostles , calls the preaching of the kingdom of the messiah , simply the word ; and luke viii . 21. the word of god : from whence st. luke , in the acts , often mentions it under the name of the word , and the word of god , as we have elsewhere observed . to which i shall here add that of acts viii . 4. therefore they that were scattered abroad , went every where preaching the word : which word , as we have found by examining what they preached all through their history , was nothing but this , that iesus was the messiah : i mean , this was all the doctrine they proposed to be believed . for what they taught , as well as our saviour , contained a great deal more ; but that concerned practice , and not belief . and therefore our saviour says , in the place before quoted , luke viii . 21. they are my mother , and my brethren , who hear the word of god , and do it : obeying the law of the messiah their king , being no less required than their believing that jesus was the messiah , the king and deliverer that was promised them . mat. ix . 13. we have an account , again of this preaching ; what it was , and how . and iesus went about all the cities and villages , teaching in their synagogues , and preaching the gospel of the kingdom ; and healing every sickness , and every disease amongst the people . he acquainted them that the kingdom of the messiah was come , and left it to his miracles to instruct and convince them that he was the messiah . mat. x. when he sent his apostles abroad , their commission to preach we have v. 7 , 8. in these words : as ye go , preach , saying , the kingdom of heaven is at hand ; heal the sick , &c. all that they had to preach , was , that the kingdom of the messiah was come . whosoever should not receive them , the messengers of this good tidings , nor hearken to their message , incurred a heavier doom than sodom and gomorrha at the day of judgment , v. 14 ▪ 15. but v. 32. whosoever shall confess me before men , i will confess him before my father who is in heaven . what this confessing of christ is , we may see , by comparing iohn xii . 4. with ix . 22. nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed in him ; but because of the pharisees they did not confess him , lest they should be put out of the synagogue . and chap. ix . 22. these words spake his parents , because they feared the iews : for the iews had agreed already , that if any man did confess that he was the messiah , he should be put out of the synagogue . by which places it is evident , that to confess him , was to confess that he was the messiah . from which give me leave to observe also ( what i have cleared from other places , but cannot be too often remark'd , because of the different sense has been put upon that phrase ; ) viz. that believing on or in him ( for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is rendred either way by the english traslation ) signifies believing that he was the messiah . for many of the rulers ( the text says ) believed on him ; but they durst not consess what they believed , for fear they should be put out of the synagogue . now the offence for which it was agreed that any one should be put out of the synagogue , was ▪ if he did confess that iesus was the messiah . hence we may have a clear understanding of that passage of st. paul to the romans , where he tells them positively , what is the faith he preaches ; rom. x. 8 , 9. that is the word of faith which we preach ; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the lord iesus , and believe in thine heart , that god hath raised him from the dead , thou shalt be saved : and that also of st. iohn iv. 14 , 15. we have seen , and do testifie , that the father sent the son to be the saviour of the world : whosoever shall confess that iesus is the son of god , god dwelleth in him , and be in god. where confessing jesus to be the son of god , is the same with confessing him to be the messiah : those two expressions being understood amongst the jews to signifie the same thing , as we have shewn already . how calling him the son of god came to signifie that he was the messiah , would not be hard to shew . but it is enough that it appears plainly that it was so used , and had that import amongst the jews at that time ; which if any one desires to have further evidenced to him , he may add mat. xxvi . 63. iohn vi. 69. & xi . 27. & xx. 31. to those places before occasionally taken notice of . as was the apostles commission , such was their performance ; as we read , luke ix . 6. they departed , and went through the towns , preaching the gospel , and healing every where . jesus bid them preach , saying , the kingdom of heaven is at hand . and st. luke tells us , they went through the towns , preaching the gospel ; a word which in saxon answers well the greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and signifies , as that does , good news . so that what the inspired writers call the gospel , is nothing but the good tidings that the messiah and his kingdom was come ; and so it is to be understood in the new testament ; and so the angel calls it good tidings of great joy , luke ii. 10. bringing the first news of our saviour's birth . and this seems to be all that his disciples were at that time sent to preach . so luke ix . 59 , 60. to him that would have excused his present attendance , because of burying his father ; iesus said unto him , let the dead bury their dead , but go thou and preach the kingdom of god. when , i say , this was all they were to preach , i must be understood , that this was the faith they preached ; but with it they joyned obedience to the messiah , whom they received for their king. so likewise when he sent out the seventy , luke x. their commission was in these words , v. 9. heal the sick , and say unto them , the kingdom of god is come nigh unto you . after the return of his apostles to him , he sits down with them in a mountain ; and a great multitude being gathered about them , st. luke tells us , chap. ix . 11. the people followed him , and he received them , and spake unto them of the kingdom of god ; and healed them that had need of healing . this was his preaching to this assembly , which consisted of five thousand men , besides women and children : all which great multitude he fed with five loaves and two fishes , mat. xiv . 21. and what this miracle wrought upon them , st. iohn tells us , chap. vi. 14 , 15. then these men , when they had seen the miracle that iesus did , said , this is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world ; i. e. the messiah . for the messiah was the only person that they expected from god , and this the time they looked for him . and hence iohn the baptist , mat. xi . 3. stiles him , he that should come ; as in other places , come from god , or sent from god , are phrases used for the messiah . here we see our saviour keeps to his usual method of preaching : he speaks to them of the kingdom of god , and does miracles ; by which they might understand him to be the messiah , whose kingdom he spake of . and here we have the reason also , why he so much concealed himself , and forbore to own his being the messiah . for what the consequence was , of the multitudes but thinking him so , when they were got together , st. iohn tells us in the very next words : when iesus then perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king , he departed again into a mountain himself alone . if they were so ready to set him up for their king , only because they gathered from his miracles that he was the messiah , whilst he himself said nothing of it ; what would not the people have done ; and what would not the scribes and pharisees have had an opportunity to accuse him of ; if he had openly professed himself to have been the messiah , that king they looked for ? but this we have taken notice of already . from hence going to capernaum , whither he was followed by a great part of the people , whom he had the day before so miraculously fed ; he , upon the occasion of their following him for the loaves , bids them seek for the meat that endureth to eternal life : and thereupon , iohn vi. 22-69 . declares to them his being sent from the father ; and that those who believed in him , should be raised to eternal life : but all this , very much involved in a mixture of allegorical terms of eating , and of bread , bread of life , which came down from heaven , &c. which is all comprehended and expounded in these short and plain words , v. 47. & 54. verily , verily i say unto you , he that believeth on me , hath everlasting life and i will raise him up at the last day . the sum of all which discourse is , that he was the messiah sent from god ; and that those who believed him to be so , should be raised from the dead at the last day to eternal life . these who he spoke to , were of those who the day before would by force have made him king ; and therefore 't is no wonder he should speak to them of himself , and his kingdom and subjects , in obscure and mystical terms ; and such as should offend those who looked for nothing but the grandeur of a temporal kingdom in this world , and the protection and prosperity they had promised themselves under it . the hopes of such a kingdom , now that they had found a man that did miracles , and therefore concluded to be the deliverer they expected , had the day before almost drawn them into an open insurrection , and involved our saviour in it . this he thought fit to put a stop to ; they still following him 't is like with the same design . and therefore though he here speaks to them of his kingdom , it was in a way that so plainly bauk'd their expectation ; and shock'd them ; that when they found themselves disappointed of those vain hopes , and that he talked of their eating his flesh , and drinking his blood , that they might have life ; the jews said , v. 52. how can this man give us his flesh to eat ? and many , even of his disciples , said , it was an hard saying , who can bear it ? and so were scandalized in him , and forsook him , v. 60. 66. but what the true meaning of this discourse of our saviour was , the confession of st. peter , who understood it better and answered for the rest of the apostles shews : when jesus asked him , v. 67. will ye also go away ? then simon peter answered him , lord , to whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternal life ; i. e. thou teachest us the way to attain eternal life ; and accordingly we believe , and are sure that thou art the messiah , the son of the living god. this was the eating his flesh , and drinking his blood , whereby those who did so had eternal life . sometime after this , he enquires of his disciples , mark viii . 27. who the people took him for ? they telling him , for iohn the baptist , or one of the old prophets risen from the dead ; he asked , what they themselves thought ? and here again peter answers in these words , mark viii . 29. thou art the messiah . luke ix . 20. the messiah of god. and mat. xvi . 16. thou art the messiah , the son of the living god : which expressions , we may hence gather , amount to the same thing . whereupon our saviour tells peter , mat. xvi . 17 , 18. that this was such a truth as flesh and blood could not reveal to him , but only his father who was in haven ; and that this was the foundation on which he was to build his church . by all the parts of which passage it is more than probable , that he had never yet told his apostles in direct words that he was the messiah ; but that they had gathered it from his life and miracles . for which we may imagine to our selves this probable reason ; because that if he had familiarly , and in direct terms , talked to his apostles in private that he was the messiah the prince , of whose kingdom he preached so much in publick every where ; iudas , whom he knew false and treacherous , would have been readily made use of to testifie against him , in a matter that would have been really criminal to the roman governour . this perhaps may help to clear to us that seemingly abrupt reply of our saviour to his apostles , iohn vi. 70. when they confessed him to be the messiah . i will , for the better explaining of it , set down the passage at large . peter having said , we believe , and are sure that thou art the messiah , the son of the living god. iesus answered them , have not i chosen you twelve , and one of you is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ? this is a reply seeming at first sight nothing to the purpose ; when yet it is sure all our saviour's discourses were wise and pertinent . it seems therefore to me to carry this sense , to be understood afterwards by the eleven ( as that of destroying the temple , and raising it again in three days was ) when they should reflect on it after his being betray'd by iudas : you have confessed , and believe the truth concerning me ; i am the messiah your king : but do not wonder at it , that i have never openly declared it to you : for amongst you twelve , whom i have chosen to be with me , there is one who is an informer , or false accuser , ( for so the greek word signifies , and may possibly here be so translated , rather than devil ) who , if i had owned my self in plain words to have been the messiah , the king of israel , would have betrayed me , and informed against me . that he was yet cautious of owning himself to his apostles positively to be the messiah , appears farther from the manner wherein he tells peter , v. 18. that he will build his church upon that confession of his , that he was the messiah . i say unto thee , thou art cephas , or a rock , and upon this rock i will build my church , and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it . words too doubtful to be laid hold on against him , as a testimony that he professed himself to be the messiah ; especially if we joyn with them the following words , v. 19. and i will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; and what thou shalt bind on earth , shall be bound in heaven ; and what thou shalt loose on earth , shall be loosed in heaven . which being said personally to peter , render the foregoing words of our saviour ( wherein he declares the fundamental article of his church to be the believing him to be the messiah ) the more obscure and doubtful , and less liable to be made use of against him ; but yet such as might afterwards be understood . and for the same reason he yet here again forbids the apostles to say that he was the messiah , v. 20. from this time ( say the evangelists ) jesus began to shew to his disciples , ( i. e. his apostles , who are often called disciples ) that he must go to jerusalem , and suffer many things from the elders , chief priests , and scribes ; and be killed , and be raised again the third day . these , though all marks of the messiah , yet how little understood by the apostles , or suited to their expectation of the messiah , appears from peter's rebuking him for it in the following words , mat. xvi . 22. peter had twice before owned him to be the messiah , and yet he cannot here bear that he should suffer , and be put to death , and be raised again . whereby we may perceive , how little yet jesus had explained to the apostles what personally concerned himself . they had been a good while witnesses of his life and miracles ; and thereby being grown into a belief that he was the messiah , were in some degree prepared to receive the particulars that were to fill up that character , and answer the prophesies concerning him ; which from henceforth he began to open to them , ( though in a way which the jews could not form an accusation out of ) the time of the accomplishment of all , in his sufferings , death , and resurrection , now drawing on . for this was in the last year of his life ; he being to meet the jews at ierusalem but once more at the passover , who then should have their will upon him ; and therefore he might now begin to be a little more open concerning himself : though yet so , as to keep himself out of the reach of any accusation , that might appear just or weighty to the roman deputy . after his reprimand to peter , telling him that he savoured not the things of god , but of man ; mark viii . 34. he calls the people to him , and prepares those , who would be his disciples , for suffering ; telling them , v. 38. whoever shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation , of him also shall the son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his father with the holy angels : and then subjoyns , mat. xvi . 27 , 28. two great and solemn acts , wherein he would shew himself to be the messiah the king : for the son of man shall come in the glory of his father , with his angels ; and then he shall render every man according to his works . this is evidently meant of the glorious appearance of his kingdom , when he shall come to judge the world at the last day ; described more at large , mat xxv . when the son of man shall come in his glory , and all the holy angels with him , then shall be sit upon the throne of his glory . then shall the king say to them on his right hand , &c. but what follows in the place above quoted , mat. xvi . 28. verily , verily , there be some standing here , who shall not tast of death , till they see the son of man coming in his kingdom ; importing that dominion , which some there should see him exercise over the nation of the jews , was so covered ; by being annexed to the preceding v. 27. ( where he spoke of the manifestation and glory of his kingdom at the day of judgment ) that though his plain meaning here in v. 28. be , that the appearance and visible exercise of his kingly power in his kingdom was so near , that some there should live to see it ; yet if the foregoing words had not cast a shadow over these later , but they had been left plainly to be understood , as they plainly signified , that he should be a king ; and that it was so near , that some there should see him in his kingdom ; this might have been laid hold on , and made the matter of a plausible and seemingly just accusation against him , by the jews , before pilate . this seems to be the reason of our saviour's inverting here the order of the two solemn manifestations to the world of his rule and power ; thereby perplexing at present his meaning , and securing himself , as was necessary , from the malice of the jews , which always lay at catch to intrap him , and accuse him to the roman governour ; and would , no doubt , have been ready to have alledged these words , some here shall not tast of death , till they see the son of man coming in his kingdom , against him , as criminal ; had not their meaning been , by the former verse , perplexed , and the sense at that time rendred unintelligible , and not applicable by any of his auditors to a sense that might have been prejudicial to him before the roman governour . for how well the chief of the jews were disposed towards him , st. luke tells us , chap. xi . 54. laying wait for him , and seeking to catch something out of his mouth , that they might accuse him : which may be a reason to satisfie us of the seemingly doubtful and obscure way of speaking used by our saviour in other places ; his circumstances being such , that without such a prudent carriage and reservedness , he could not have gone through the work which he came to do ; nor have performed all the parts of it , in a way correspondent to the descriptions given of the messiah , and which should be afterwards fully understood to belong to him , when he had left the world. after this , mat. xvii . 10 , &c. he , without saying it in direct words , begins , as it were , to own himself to his apostles to be the messiah ; by assuring them , that as the scribes , according to the prophecy of malachy , chap. iv. 5. rightly said , that elias was to usher in the messiah ; so indeed elias was already come , though the jews knew him not , and treated him ill : whereby they understood that he spoke to them of john the baptist , v. 13. and a little after he somewhat more plainly intimates that he is the messiah , mark ix . 41. in these words : whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name , because ye belong to the messiah . this , as i remember , is the first place where our saviour ever mentioned the name of messiah ; and the first time that he went so far towards the owning , to any of the jewish nation , himself to be him . in his way to jerusalem , bidding one follow him , luke ix . 59. who would first bury his father , v. 60. iesus said unto him , let the dead bury their dead ; but go thou and preach the kingdom of god. and luke x. 1. sending out the seventy disciples , he says to them , v. 9. heal the sick , and say , the kingdom of god is come nigh unto you . he had nothing else for these , or for his apostles , or any one , it seems , to preach ; but the good news of the coming of the kingdom of the messiah . and if any city would not receive them , he bids them , v. 10. go into the streets of the same , and say , even the very dust of your city , which cleaveth on us , do we wipe off against you : notwithstanding , be ye sure of this , that the kingdom of god is come nigh unto you . this they were to take notice of , as that which they should dearly answer for ; viz. that they had not with faith received the good tidings of the kingdom of the messiah . after this , his brethren say unto him , iohn vii . 2 , 3 , 4. ( the feast of tabernacles being near ) depart hence , and go into judea , that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest : for there is no man that does any thing in secret , and he himself seeketh to be known openly . if thou do these things , shew thy self to the world. here his brethren , which the next verse tells us did not believe in him , seem to upbraid him with the inconsistency of his carriage ; as if he designed to be received for the messiah , and yet was afraid to shew himself : to whom he justified his conduct , ( mentioned v. 1. ) in the following verses ; by telling them , that the world ( meaning the jews especially ) hated him , because he testified of it , that the works thereof are evil ; and that his time was not yet fully come , wherein to quit his reserve , and abandon himself freely to their malice and fury : and therefore , though he went up unto the feast , it was not openly ; but as it were in secret , v. 10. and here coming into the temple about the middle of the feast , he justifies his being sent from god ; and that he had not done any thing against the law in curing the man at the pool of bethesday , v. iohn v. 1-16 . on the sabbath-day ; which , though done above a year and an half before , they made use of as a pretence to destroy him . but what was the true reason of seeking his life , appears from what we have in this vii . chapter , v. 25-34 . then said some of them at jerusalem , is not this he whom they seek to kill ? but lo , he speaketh boldly , and they say nothing unto him . do the rulers know indeed that this is the very messiah ? howbeit , we know this man whence he is ; but when the messiah cometh , no man knoweth whence he is . then cryed iesus in the temple , as he taught , ye both know me , and ye know whence i am : and i am not come of my self , but he that sent me is true , whom ye know not . but i know him , for i am from him , and he hath sent me . then they sought [ an occasion ] to take him , but no man laid hands on him , because his hour was not yet come . and many of the people believed on him , and said , when the messiah cometh , will be do more miracles than these which this man hath done ? the pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him ; and the pharisees and chief priests sent officers to take him . then said iesus unto them , yet a little while am i with you , and then i go to him that sent me : ye shall seek me , and not find me ; and where i am there ye cannot come . then said the iews among themselves , whither will he go , that we shall not find him ? here we find that the great fault in our saviour , and the great provocation to the jews , was his being taken for the messiah ; and doing such things as made the people believe in him ; i. e. believe that he was the messiah . here also our saviour declares , in words very easie to be understood , at least after his resurrection , that he was the messiah : for if he were sent from god , and did his miracles by the spirit of god , there could be no doubt but he was the messiah . but yet this declaration was in a way that the pharisees and priests could not lay hold on to make an accusation of , to the disturbance of his ministry , or the seizure of his person , how much soever they desired it : for his time was not yet come . the officers they had sent to apprehend him , charmed with his discourse , returned without laying hands on him , v. 45 , 46. and when the chief priests asked them , why they brought him not ? they answered , never man spake like this man. whereupon the pharisees reply , are ye also deceived ? have any of the rulers , or of the pharisees believed on him ? but this people , who know not the law , are cursed . this shews what was meant by believing on him ; viz. believing that he was the messiah . for , say they , have any of the rulers , who are skilled in the law , or of the devout and learned pharisees , acknowledged him to be the messiah ? for as for those who in the division among the people concerning him , say , that he is the messiah , they are ignorant and vile wretches , know nothing of the scripture , and being accursed , are given up by god to be deceived by this impostor , and to take him for the messiah . therefore , notwithstanding their desire to lay hold on him , he goes on ; and v. 37 , 38. in the last and great day of the feast , iesus stood and cryed , saying ; if any man thirst , let him come unto me and drink : he that believeth on me , as the scripture hath said , out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water . and thus he here again declares himself to be the messiah ; but in the prophetick stile ; as we may see by the next verse of this chapter , and those places in the old testament that these words of our saviour refer to . in the next chapter , iohn viii . all that he says concerning himself , and what they were to believe , tends to this ; viz. that he was sent from god his father ; and that if they did not believe that he was the messiah , they should die in their sins : but this in a way , as st. iohn observes , v. 27. that they did not well understand . but our saviour himself tells them , v. 28. when ye have lift up the son of man , then shall ye know that i am he . going from them , he cures the man born blind , whom meeting with again , after the jews had questioned him , and cast him out , iohn ix . 35-38 . jesus said to him , dost thou believe on the son of god ? he answered , who is he , lord , that i might believe on him ? and iesus said unto him , thou hast both seen him , and it is he that talketh with thee . and he said , lord , i believe . here we see this man is pronounced a believer , when all that was proposed to him to believe , was , that jesus was the son of god ; which was , as we have already shewn , to believe that he was the messiah . in the next chapter , iohn x. 1-21 . he declares the laying down of his life for both jews and gentiles ; but in a parable , which they understood not , v. 6. 20. as he was going to the feast of the dedication , the pharisees ask him , luke xvii . 20. when the kingdom of god , i. e. of the messiah , should come ? he answers , that it should not come with pomp , and observation , and great concourse ; but that it was already begun amongst them . if he had stopt here , the sense had been so plain , that they could hardly have mistaken him ; or have doubted , but that he meant , that the messiah was already come , and amongst them ; and so might have been prone to infer , that jesus took upon him to be him . but here , as in the place before taken notice of , subjoyning to this the future revelation of himself , both in his coming to execute vengeance on the jews , and in his coming to judgment mixed together , he so involved his sense , that it was not easie to understand him . and therefore the jews came to him again in the temple , iohn x. 23. and said , how long dost thou make us doubt ? if thou be the christ tell us plainly . iesus answered , i told you , and ye believed not : the works that i do in my father's name , they bear witness of me . but ye believed not , because ye are not of my sheep , as i told you . the believing here , which he accuses them of not doing , is plainly their not believing him to be the messiah , as the foregoing words evince , and in the same sense it is evidently meant in the following verses of this chapter . from hence iesus going to bethabara , and thence returning to bethany ; upon lazarus's death , iohn xi . 25-27 . jesus said to martha , i am the resurrection and the life , he that believeth in me , though he were dead , yet he shall live ; and whosoever liveth , and believeth in me , shall not die for ever . so i understand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , answerable to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the septuagint , gen. iii. 22. or iohn vi. 51. which we read right in our english translation , live for ever . but whether this saying of our saviour here can with truth be translated , he that liveth and believeth in me , shall never die , will be apt to be questioned . but to go on . believest thou this ? she said unto him , yea , lord , i believe that thou art the messiah , the son of god , which should come into the world. this she gives as a full answer to our saviour's demands ; this being that faith , which whoever had , wanted no more to make them believers . we may observe farther , in this same story of the raising of lazarus , what faith it was our saviour expected ; by what he says , v. 41 , 42. father , i thank thee that thou hast heard me . and i know that thou hearest me always . but because of the people who stand by , i said it , that they may believe that thou hast sent me . and what the consequence of it was , we may see , v. 45. then many of the iews who came to mary , and had seen the things which iesus did , believed on him : which belief was , that he was sent from the father ; which in other words was , that he was the messiah . that this is the meaning , in the evangelists , of the phrase of believing on him , we have a demonstration in the following words , v. 47 , 48. then gathered the chief priests and pharisees a council , and said , what do we ? for this man does many miracles ; and if we let him alone , all men will believe on him . those who here say , all men would believe on him , were the chief priests and pharisees his enemies ; who sought his life ; and therefore could have no other sense nor thought of this faith in him , which they spake of , but only the believing him to be the messiah : and that that was their meaning , the adjoyning words shew . if we let him alone , all the world will believe on him ; i.e. believe him to be the messiah . and the romans will come and take away both our place and nation . which reasoning of theirs was thus grounded . if we stand still , and let the people believe on him , i.e. receive him for the messiah ; they will thereby take him and set him up for their king , and expect deliverance by him ; which will draw the roman arms upon us , to the destruction of us and our country . the romans could not be thought to be at at all concerned in any other belief whatsoever , that the people might have in him . it is therefore plain , that believing on him , was , by the writers of the gospel , understood to mean , the believing him to be the messiah . the sanhedrim therefore , v. 53 , 54. from that day forth consulted for to put him to death . iesus therefore walked not yet ( for so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies , and so i think it ought here to be translated ) boldly , or open-fac'd among the iews ; i.e. of ierusalem . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cannot well here be translated no more , because within a very short time after , he appeared openly at the passover , and by his miracles and speech declared himself more freely than ever he had done ; and all the week before his passion taught daily in the temple , mat. xx. 17. mark x. 32. luke xviii . 31 , &c. the meaning of this place seems therefore to be this : that his time being not yet come , he durst not yet shew himself openly , and confidently , before the scribes and pharisees , and those of the sanhedrim at ierusalem , who were full of malice against him , and had resolved his death ; but went thence unto a country near the wilderness , into a city called ephraim , and there continued with his disciples , to keep himself out of the way till the passover , which was nigh at hand , v. 55. in his return thither , he takes the twelve aside , and tells them before hand what should happen to him at ierusalem , whither they were now going ; and that all things that are written by the prophets concerning the son of man , should be accomplished . that he should be betrayed to the chief priests and scribes ; and that they should condemn him to death , and deliver him to the gentiles ; that he should be mocked , and spit on , and scourged , and put to death ; and the third day he should rise again . but st. luke tells us , chap. xviii . 34. that the apostles understood none of these things , and this saying was hid from them ; neither knew they the things which were spoken . they believed him to be the son of god , the messiah sent from the father ; but their notion of the messiah was the same with the rest of the jews ; that he should be a temporal prince and deliverer . that which distinguished them from the unbelieving jews , was , that they believed jesus to be the very messiah , and so received him as their king and lord accordingly . we see , mark x. 35. that even in this their last journey with him to ierusalem , two of them , iames and iohn , coming to him , and falling at his feet , said , grant unto us , that we may fit , one on thy right hand , and the other on thy left hand , in thy glory ; or , as . st. matthew has it , chap. xx. 21. in thy kingdom . and now the hour being come that the son of man should be glorified , he , without his usual reserve , makes his publick entry into ierusalem , riding on a young ass ; as it is written , fear not , daughter of sion , behold , thy king cometh fitting on an asses colt. but these things , says st. iohn , chap. xii . 16. his disciples understood not at the first ; but when iesus was glorified , then remembred they that these things were written of him , and that they had done these things unto him . though the apostles believed him to be the messiah , yet there were many occurrences of his life which they understood not , at the time when they happened , to be fore-told of the messiah ; which after his ascension they found exactly to quadrate . and all the people crying hosanna , blessed is the king of israel , that cometh in the name of the lord ; this was so open a declaration of his being the messiah , that luke xix . 39. some of the pharisees from among the multitude said unto him , master , rebuke thy disciples . but he was so far from stopping them , or disowning this their acknowledgment of his being the messiah , that he said unto them , i tell you , that if these should hold their peace , the stones would immediately cry out . and again , upon the like occasion of their crying hosanna , to the son of david , in the temple , mat. xxi . 15 , 16. when the chief priests and scribes were sore displeased , and said unto him , hearest thou what they say ? iesus said unto them , yea ; have ye never read , out of the months of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise ? and now , v. 14 , 15. he cures the blind and the lame openly in the temple . and when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did , and the children crying in the temple hosanna , they were enraged . one would not think , that after the multitude of miracles that our saviour had now been doing for above three years together , that the curing the lame and blind should so much move them . but we must remember , that though his ministry had abounded with miracles , yet the most of them had been done about galilee , and in parts remote from ierusalem : there is but one left upon record hitherto done in that city ; and that had so ill a reception , that they sought his life for it ; as we may read , iohn v. 16. and therefore we hear not of his being at the next passover , because he was there only privately , as an ordinary jew : the reason whereof we may read , iohn vii . 1. after these things , iesus walked in galilee , for he would not walk in jewry , because the iews sought to kill him . hence we may guess the reason why st. iohn omitted the mention of his being at ierusalem at the third passover after his baptism ; probably because he did nothing memorable there . indeed , when he was at the feast of tabernacles , immediately preceding this his last passover , he cured the man born blind : but it appears not to have been done in ierusalem it self , but in the way as he retired to the mount of olives ; for there seems to have been no body by , when he did it , but his apostles . compare v. 2. with v. 8. 10. of iohn ix . this , at least , is remarkable ; that neither the cure of this blind man , nor that of the other infirm man , at the passover above a twelve month before at ierusalem , was done in the sight of the scribes , pharisees , chief priests , or rulers . nor was it without reason , that in the former part of his ministry he was cautious of shewing himself to be the messiah ; and by repeated miracles done in their sight before the people , of provoking the rulers in ierusalem , where he was in their power . but now that he was come to the last scene of his life , and that the passover was come , the appointed time wherein he was to compleat the work he came for , in his death and resurrection , he does many things in ierusalem it self , before the face of the scribes , pharisees , and whole body of the jewish nation , to manifest himself to be the messiah . and , as st. luke says , chap. xix . 47 , 48. he taught daily in the temple : but the chief priests , and the scribes , and the chief of the people sought to destroy him ; and could not find what they might do , for all the people were very attentive to hear him . what he taught , we are not left to guess , by what we have found him constantly preaching elsewhere ; ( the kingdom of god's being come , and requiring repentance . ) but st. luke tells us , chap. xx. 1. he taught in the temple , and evangelized ; or , as we translate it , preached the gospel : which , as we have shewed , was the making known to them the good news of the kingdom of the messiah . and this we shall find he did , in what now remains of his history . in the first discourse of his , which we find upon record after this , iohn xii . 20 , &c. he fore-tells his crucifixion ; and the belief of all sorts , both iews and gentiles , on him after that . whereupon the people say to him , v. 34. we have heard out of the law , that the messiah abideth for ever ; and how sayest thou , that the son of man must be lifted up ? who is this son of man ? in his answer he plainly designs himself , under the name of light ; which was what he had declared himself to them to be , the last time that they had seen him in ierusalem . for then at the feast of tabernacles , but six months before , he tells them in the very place where he now is , viz. in the temple , i am the light of the world ; whosoever follows me , shall not walk in darkness , but shall have the light of life ; as we may read , iohn viii . 12. & ix 5. he says , as long as i am in the world , i am the light of the world. but neither here , nor any where else , does he , even in these four or five last days of his life ( though he knew his hour was come , and was prepared for his death , v. 27. and scrupled not to manifest himself to the rulers of the jews to be the messiah , by doing miracles before them in the temple ) ever once in direct words own himself to the jews to be the messiah ; though by miracles , and other ways , he did every where make it known to them , so that it might be understood . this could not be without some reason ; and the preservation of his life , which he came now to ierusalem on purpose to lay down , could not be it . what other could it then be , but the same which had made him use caution in the former part of his ministry ; so to conduct himself , that he might do the work which he came for , and in all parts answer the character given of the messiah in the law and the prophets ? he had fulfilled the time of his ministry ; and now taught , and did miracles openly in the temple , before the rulers and the people , not fearing to be seized . but he would not be seized for any thing that might make him a criminal to the government ; and therefore he avoided giving those , who in the division that was about him enclined towards him , occasion of tumult for his sake ; or to the jews his enemies , matter of just accusation against him out of his own mouth , by professing himself to be the messiah , the king of israel in direct words . it was enough , that by words and deeds he declared it so to them , that they could not but understand him ; which 't is plain they did , luke xx. 16. 19. mat. xxi . 45. but yet neither his actions , which were only doing of good ; nor words , which were mystical and parabolical ; ( as we may see , mat. xxi . & xxii . and the parallel places of matthew and luke ; ) nor any of his ways of making himself known to be the messiah ; could be brought in testimony , or urged against him , as opposite or dangerous to the government . this preserved him from being condemned as a malefactor ; and procured him a testimony from the roman governour his judge , that he was an innocent man , sacrificed to the envy of the iewish nation . so that he avoided saying that he was the messiah , that to those who would reflect on his life and death after his resurrection , he might the more clearly appear to be so . it is farther to be remarked , that though he often appeals to the testimony of his miracles who he is , yet he never tells the iews that he was born at bethlehem ; to remove the prejudice that lay against him , whilst he passed for a galilean , and which was urged as a proof that he was not the messiah , iohn vii . 41 , 42. the healing of the sick , and doing of good miraculously , could be no crime in him , nor accusation against him . but the naming of bethlehem for his birth-place , might have wrought as much upon the mind of pilate , as it did on herod's ; and have raised a suspicion in him as prejudicial to his innocence , as herod's was to the children born there . his pretending to be born at bethlehem , as it was liable to be explained by the iews , could not have failed to have met with a sinister interpretation in the roman governour , and have rendred iesus suspected of some criminal design against the government . and hence we see , that when pilate asked him , iohn xix . 9. whence art thou ? iesus gave him no answer . whether our saviour had not an eye to this straitness , this narrow room that was left to his conduct , between the new converts and the captious jews , when he says , luke xii . 50. i have a baptism to be baptized with , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 how am i straitned till it be accomplished , i leave to be considered . i am come to send fire on the earth , says our saviour , and what if it be already kindled ? i.e. there begin already to be divisions about me , v. iohn vii . 12. 43. & ix . 16. & x. 19. and i have not the freedom , the latitude , to declare my self openly as i am , the messiah , till after my death . my way to my throne is closely hedged in on every side , and much straitned , within which i must keep , till it bring me to my cross ; in its due time and manner , so that it do not cut short the time , nor cross the end of my ministry . and therefore to keep up this inoffensive character , and not to let it come within the reach of accident or calumny , he withdrew with his apostles out of the town every evening ; and kept himself retired out of the way , luke xxi . 37. and in the day-time he was teaching in the temple , and every night he went out and abode in the mount that is called the mount of olives ; that he might avoid all concourse to him in the night , and give no occasion of disturbance , or suspicion of himself in that great conflux of the whole nation of the iews , now assembled in ierusalem at the passover . but to return to his preaching in the temple . he bids them , iohn xii . 36. to believe in the light whilst they have it . and he tells them , v. 46. i am the light come into the world , that every one who believes in me should not remain in darkness . which believing in him , was the believing him to be the messiah , as i have elsewhere shewed . the next day , mat. xxi . he rebukes them for not having believed iohn the baptist , who had testified that he was the messiah . and then , in a parable , declares himself to be the son of god , whom they should destroy ; and that for it god would take away the kingdom of the messiah from them , and give it to the gentiles . that they understood him thus , is plain from luke xx. 16. and when they heard it , they said , god forbid . and v. 19. for they knew that he had spoken this parable against them . much to the same purpose was his next parable concerning the kingdom of heaven , mat. xxii . 1-10 . that the jews not accepting of the kingdom of the messiah , to whom it was first offered , others should be brought in . the scribes and pharisees , and chief priests , not able to bear the declaration he made of himself to be the messiah ; ( by his discourses and miracles before them , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , iohn xii . 37. which he had never done before ) impatient of his preaching and miracles ; and being not able otherwise to stop the increase of his followers ; ( for , said the pharisees among themselves , perceive ye how ye prevail nothing ? behold , the world is gone after him , iohn xii . 19. so that the chief priests , and the scribes , and the chief of the people ) sought to destroy him , the first day of his entrance into ierusalem , luke xix . 47. the next day again they were intent upon the same thing , mark xi . 17 , 18. and he taught in the temple ; and the scribes , and the chief priests heard it , and sought how they might destroy him ; for they feared him , because all the people were astonished at his doctrine . the next day but one , upon his telling them the kingdom of the messiah should be taken from them ; the chief priests and scribes sought to lay hands on him the same hour ; and they feared the people , luke xx. 19. if they had so great a desire to lay hold on him , why did they not ? they were the chief priests and the rulers , the men of power . the reason st. luke plainly tells us , in the next verse : and they watched him , and sent forth spies , which should feign themselves just men , that they might take hold of his words ; that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governour . they wanted matter of accusation , against him , to the power they were under . that they watched for ; and that they would have been glad of , if they could have entangled him in his talk ; as st. matthew expresses it , chap. xxii . 15. if they could have laid hold on any word that had dropt from him , that might have rendred him guilty or suspected to the roman governour ; that would have served their turn , to have laid hold upon him , with hopes to destroy him . for their power not answering their malice , they could not put him to death by their own authority , without the permission and assistance of the governour ; as they confess , iohn xviii . 31. it is not lawful for us to put any man to death . this made them so earnest for a declaration in direct words , from his own mouth , that he was the messiah . 't was not that they would more have believed in him , for such a declaration of himself , than they did for his miracles , or other ways of making himself known , which it appears they understood well enough . but they wanted plain direct words , such as might support an accusation , and be of weight before an heathen judge . this was the reason why they pressed him to speak out , iohn x. 24. then came the iews round about him , and said unto him , how long dost thou hold us in suspense ? if thou be the messiah , tell us plainly , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; i. e. in direct words : for that st. iohn uses it in that sense , we may see , chap. xi . 11-14 . jesus saith to them , lazarus sleepeth . his disciples said , if , he sleeps , he shall do well ; howbeit , iesus spake of his death ; but they thought he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep . then said iesus to them plainly , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , lazarus is dead . here we see what is meant by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , plain direct words , such as express the thing without a figure ; and so they would have had jesus pronounce himself to be the messiah . and the same thing they press again , mat. xvi . 63. the high-priest adjuring him by the living god , to tell them whether he were the messiah , the son of god ; as we shall have occasion to take notice by and by . this we may observe in the whole management of their design against his life . it turned upon this ; that they wanted and wished for a declaration from him , in direct words , that he was the messiah : something from his own mouth , that might offend the roman power , and render him criminal to pilate . in the 21 st . verse of this xx of luke , they asked him , saying , master , we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly ; neither acceptest thou the person of any , but teachest the way of god truly . is it lawful for us to give tribute to caesar or no ? by this captious question they hoped to catch him , which way soever he answered . for if he had said , they ought to pay tribute to caesar , 't would be plain he allowed their subjection to the romans ; and so in effect disowned himself to be their king and deliverer : whereby he would have contradicted , what his carriage and doctrine seemed to aim at , the opinion that was spread amongst the people , that he was the messiah . this would have quash'd the hopes , and destroyed the faith of those who believed on him ; and have turned the ears and hearts of the people from him . if on the other side , he answered no , it is not lawful to pay tribute to caesar ; they had had out of his own mouth wherewithal to condemn him before pontius pilate . but st. luke tells us , v. 23. he perceived their craftiness , and said unto them , why tempt ye me ? i. e. why do ye'lay snares for me ? ye hypocrites , shew me the tribute-money ; so it is , mat. xxii . 19. whose image and inscription has it ? they said , caesar ' s. he said unto them , render therefore to caesar the things that are caesar's ; and to god the things that are god's . by the wisdom and caution of which unexpected answer , he defeated their whole design . and they could not take hold of his words before the people ; and they marvelled at his answer , and held their peace , luke xx. 26. and leaving him , they departed , mat. xxii . 22. he having by this reply , ( and what he answered to the sadducees concerning the resurrection , and to the lawyer , about the first commandment , mark xii . ) answered so little to their satisfaction or advantage ; they durst ask him no more questions , any of them . and now their mouths being stop'd , he himself begins to question them about the messiah ; asking the pharisees , mat. xxii . 41. what think ye of the messiah , whose son is he ? they say unto him , the son of david . wherein , though they answered right , yet he shews them in the following words , that however they pretended to be studiers and teachers of the law , yet they understood not clearly the scriptures concerning the messiah ; and thereupon he sharply rebukes their hypocrisie , vanity , pride , malice , covetousness , and ignorance ; and particularly tells them , v. 13. ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men : for ye neither go in your selves , nor suffer ye them that are entring , to go in . whereby he plainly declares to them , that the messiah was come , and his kingdom began ; but that they refused to believe in him themselves , and did all they could to hinder others from believing in him ; as is manifest throughout the new testament : the history whereof sufficiently explains what is meant here by the kingdom of heaven , which the scribes and pharisees would neither go into themselves , nor suffer others to enter into . and they could not choose but understand him , though he named not himself in the case . provoked a new by his rebukes , they get presently to council , mat. xxvi . then assembled together the chief priest , and the scribes , and the elders of the people , unto the palace of the high-priest , who was called caiphas , and consulted that they might take iesus by subtilty , and kill him . but they said , not on the feast-day , lest there be an vproar among the people . for they feared the people , says st. luke , chap. xxii . 2. having in the night got jesus into their hands , by the treachery of iudas , they presently led him away bound to annas the high-priest , iohn xviii . 13. 19. the high-priest then asked iesus of his disciples , and of his doctrine . iesus answered him , i spake openly to the world ; i ever taught in the synagogue , and in the temple , whither the iews always resort ; and in secret have i said nothing . a proof that he had not in private to his disciples declared himself in express words to be the messiah , the prince . but he goes on . why askest thou me ? ask iudas , who has been always with me . ask them who heard me , what i have said unto them ; behold , they know what i said . our saviour we see here warily declines , for the reasons above mentioned , all discourse of his doctrine . annas getting nothing out of him for his turn , v. 24. sends him away to caiphas , and the sanhedrim ; who , mat. xxvi . 59. sought false witness against him : but when they found none that were sufficient , or came up to the point they desired ; which was to have something against him to take away his life , ( for so i think the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mean , mark xiv . 56. 59. ) they try again what they can get out of him himself , concerning his being the messiah ; which if he owned in express words , they thought they should have enough against him at the tribunal of the roman governour , to make him laesae majestatis reum , and so to take away his life . they therefore say to him , luke xxii . 67. if thou be the messiah , tell us . nay , as st. matthew hath it , the high-priest adjures him by the living god to tell them whether he were the messiah . to which our saviour replies : if i tell you , ye will not believe ; and if i ask you , ye will not answer me , nor let me go . if i tell you , and prove to you , by the testimony given of me from heaven , and by the works that i have done among you , you will not believe in me , that i am the messiah . or if i should ask you where the messiah is to be born ; and what state he should come in ; how he should appear , and other things that you think in me are not reconcileable with the messiah ; you will not answer me , and let me go , as one that has no pretence to be the messiah , and you are not afraid should be received for such . but yet i tell you , hereafter shall the son of man sit on the right hand of the power of god , v. 70. then said they all , art thou then the son of god ? and he said unto them , ye say that i am . by which discourse with them , related at large here by st. luke , it is plain , that the answer of our saviour , set down by st. matthew , chap. xxvi . 64. in these words , thou hast said ; and by st. mark , chap. xiv . 62. in these , i am ; is an answer only to this question , art thou then the son of god ? and not to that other , art thou the messiah ? which preceded , and he had answered to before : though matthew and mark , contracting the story , set them down together , as if making but one question ; omitting all the intervening discourse ; whereas 't is plain out of st. luke , that they were two distinct questions , to which iesus gave two distinct answers . in the first whereof , he , according to his usual caution , declined saying in plain express words , that he was the messiah ; though in the latter he owned himself to be the son of god. which , though they being iews , understood to signifie the messiah ; yet he knew could be no legal or weighty accusation against him before a heathen ; and so it proved . for upon his answering to their question , art thou then the son of god ? ye say that i am ; they cry out , luke xxii . 71. what need we any further witnesses ? for we our selves have heard out of his own mouth : and so thinking they had enough against him , they hurry him away to pilate . pilate asking them , iohn xviii . 29-32 . what accusation bring you against this man ? they answered , and said , if he were not a malefactor , we would not have delivered him up unto thee . then said pilate unto them , take ye him , and iudge him according to your law. but this would not serve their turn , who aimed at his life , and would be satisfied with nothing else . the iews therefore said unto him , it is not lawful for us to put any man to death . and this was also , that the saying of iesus might be fulfilled which he spake , signifying what death he should dye . pursuing therefore their design , of making him appear to pontius pilate guilty of treason against caesar , luke xxiii . 2. they began to accuse him , saying ; we found this fellow perverting the nation , and forbidding to give tribute to caesar ; saying , that he himself is the messiah the king : all which were inferences of theirs , from his saying , he was the son of god : which pontius pilate finding ( for 't is consonant , that he examined them to the precise words he had said ) their accusation had no weight with him . however , the name of king being suggested against jesus , he thought himself concerned to search it to the bottom . iohn xviii . 33-37 . then pilate entred again into the iudgment-hall , and called iesus , and said unto him , art thou the king of the iews ? iesus answered him , sayest thou this of thy self , or did others tell it thee of me ? pilate answered , am i a iew ? thine own nation and the chief priest have delivered thee unto me : what hast thou done ? iesus answered , my kingdom is not of this world : if my kingdom were of this world , then would my servants fight , that i should not be delivered to the iews : but my kingdom is not from hence . pilate therefore said unto him , art thou a king then ? iesus answered , thou sayest that i am a king. for this end was i born , and for this cause came i into the world , that i should bear witness to the truth : every one that is of the truth heareth my voice . in this dialogue between our saviour and pilate , we may observe , 1. that being asked , whether he were the king of the iews ? he answers so , that though he deny it not , yet he avoided giving the least umbrage , that he had any design upon the government . for though he allows himself to be a king , yet to obviate any suspicion , he tells pilate his kingdom is not of this world ; and evidences it by this , that if he had pretended to any title to that country , his followers , which were not a few , and were forward enough to believe him their king , would have fought for him ; if he had had a mind to set himself up by force , or his kingdom were so to be erected . but my kingdom , says he , is not from hence ; is not of this fashion , or of this place . 2. pilate , being by his words and circumstances satisfied that he laid no claim to his province , or meant any disturbance of the government , was yet a little surprized to hear a man , in that poor garb , without retinue , or so much as a servant or a friend , own himself to be a king ; and therefore asks him , with some kind of wonder , art thou a king then ? 3. that our saviour declares , that his great business into the world was , to testifie and make good this great truth , that he was a king ; i. e. in other words , that he was the messiah . 4. that whoever were followers of truth , and got into the way of truth and happiness , received this doctrine concerning him , viz. that he was the messiah their king. pilate being thus satisfied , that he neither meant , nor could there arise any harm from his pretence , whatever it was , to be a king ; tells the jews , v. 38. i find no fault in this man. but the jews were the more fierce , luke xxiii . 5. saying , he stirreth up the people to sedition , by his preaching through all jewry , beginning from galilee to this place . and then pilate , learning that he was of galilee , herod's jurisdiction , sent him to herod ; to whom also the chief priest and scribes , v. 10. vehemently accused him . herod finding all their accusations either false or frivolous , thought our saviour a bare object of contempt ; and so turning him only into ridicule , sent him back to pilate : who calling unto him the chief priests , and the rulers , and the people , v. 14. said unto them , ye have brought this man unto me , as one that perverteth the people ; and behold , i having examined him before you , have found no fault in this man , touching these things whereof ye accuse him ; no , nor yet herod ; for i sent you to him : and so nothing worthy of death is done by him : and therefore he would have released him . for he knew the chief priests had delivered him through envy , mark xv. 10. and when they demanded barrabbas to be released , but as for jesus , cryed , crucifie him ; luke xxiii . 22. pilate said unto them the third time , why ? what evil hath he done ? i have found no cause of death in him ; i will therefore chastise him , and let him go . we may observe in all this whole prosecution of the jews , that they would fain have got it out of iesus's own mouth , in express words , that he was the messiah : which not being able to do with all their art and endeavour ; all the rest that they could alledge against him , not amounting to a proof before pilate , that he claimed to be king of the jews ; or that he had caused or done any thing towards a mutiny or insurrection among the people ; ( for upon these two , as we see , their whole charge turned ) pilate again and again pronounced him innocent : for so he did a fourth , and a fifth time ; bringing him out to them , after he had whip'd him , iohn xix . 4. 6. and after all , when pilate saw that he could prevail nothing , but that rather a tumult was made , he took water , and washed his hands before the multitude , saying , i am innocent of the blood of this just man ; see you to it , mat. xxvii . 24. which gives us a clear reason of the cautious and wary conduct of our saviour ; in not declaring himself , in the whole course of his ministry , so much as to his disciples , much less to the multitude or the rulers of the jews , in express words , to be the messiah the king : and why he kept himself always in prophetical or parabolical terms : ( he and his disciples preaching only the kingdom of god , i. e. of the messiah , to be come ) and left to his miracles to declare who he was ; though this was the truth , which he came into the world , as he says himself , iohn xviii . 37. to testifie , and which his disciples were to believe . when pilate , satisfied of his innocence , would have released him ; and the jews persisted to cry out , crucifie him , crucifie him , iohn xix . 6. pilate says to them , take ye him your selves , and crucifie him : for i do not find any fault in him . the jews then , since they could not make him a state-criminal , by alledging his saying that he was the son of god ; say , by their law it was a capital crime , v. 7. the iews answered to pilate , we have a law , and by our law he ought to die ; because he made himself the son of god. after this , pilate was the more desirous to release him , v. 12 , 13. but the iews cried out , saying , if thou let this man go , thou art not caesar 's friend : whosoever maketh himself a king , speaketh against caesar. here we see the stress of their charge against jesus ; whereby they hoped to take away his life ; viz. that he made himself king. we see also upon what they grounded this accusation , viz. because he had owned himself to be the son of god. for he had , in their hearing , never made or professed himself to be a king. we see here likewise the reason why they were so desirous to draw , from his own mouth , a confession in express words that he was the messiah ; viz. that they might have what might be a clear proof that he did so . and last of all , we see the reason why , though in expressions , which they understood , he owned himself to them to be the messiah ; yet he avoided declaring it to them , in such words as might look criminal at pilate's tribunal . he owned himself to be the messiah plainly to the understanding of the iews ; but in ways that could not , to the understanding of pilate , make it appear that he laid claim to the kingdom of iudea , or went about to make himself king of that country . but whether his saying , that he was the son of god , was criminal by their law , that pilate troubled not himself about . he that considers what tacitus , suetonius , seneca , de benef. l. 3. c. 26. say of tiberius and his reign , will find how necessary it was for our saviour , if he would not dye as a criminal and a traytor , to take great heed to his words and actions ; that he did , or said not any thing , that might be offensive , or give the least umbrage to the roman government . it behoved an innocent man , who was taken notice of for something extraordinary in him , to be very wary ; under a jealous and cruel prince , who encouraged informations , and filled his reign with executions for treason ; under whom words spoken innocently , or in jest , if they could be misconstrued , were made treason ; and prosecuted with a rigor , that made it always the same thing to be accused and condemned . and therefore we see , that when the iews told pilate , iohn xix . 12. that he should not be a friend to caesar , if he let iesus go ; ( for that whoever made himself king , was a rebel against caesar ; ) he asks them no more , whether they would take barrabbas , and spare iesus ; but ( though against his conscience ) gives him up to death , to secure his own head. one thing more there is , that gives us light into this wise and necessarily cautious management of himself , which manifestly agrees with it , and makes a part of it : and that is , the choice of his apostles ; exactly suited to the design and fore-sight of the necessity of keeping the declaration of the kingdom of the messiah , which was now expected , within certain general terms during his ministry ; and not opening himself too plainly or forwardly , to the heady jews , that he himself was the messiah ; but leaving it to be found out by the observation of those who would attend to the purity of his life , and the testimony of his miracles , and the conformity of all with the predictions concerning him ; without an express promulgation that he was the messiah , till after his death . his kingdom was to be opened to them by degrees , as well to prepare them to receive it , as to enable him to be long enough amongst them ; to perform what was the work of the messiah to be done ; and fulfil all those several parts of what was foretold of him in the old testament , and we see applyed to him in the new. the iews had no other thoughts of their messiah , but of a mighty temporal prince , that should raise their nation into an higher degree of power , dominion , and prosperity than ever it had enjoyed . they were filled with the expectation of a glorious earthly kingdom . it was not therefore for a poor man , the son of a carpenter , and ( as they thought ) born in galilee , to pretend to it . none of the iews , no not his disciples , could have born this ; if he had expresly avowed this at first , and began his preaching , and the opening of his kingdom this way ; especially if he had added to it , that in a year or two he should dye an ignominious death upon the cross. they are therefore prepared for the truth by degrees . first , iohn the baptist tells them , the kingdom of god ( a name by which the jews called the kingdom of the messiah ) is at hand . then our saviour comes , and he tells them of the kingdom of god ; sometimes that it is at hand , and upon some occasions , that it is come ; but says in his publick preaching little or nothing of himself . then come the apostles and evangelists after his death , and they in express words teach what his birth , life , and doctrine had done before , and had prepared the well-disposed to receive ; viz. that iesus is the messiah . to this design and method of publishing the gospel , was the choice of the apostles exactly adjusted ; a company of poor , ignorant , illiterate men ; who , as christ himself tells us , mat. xi . 25. and luke x. 21. were not of the wise and prudent men of the world : they were , in that respect , but meer children . these , convinced by the miracles they saw him daily do , and the unblameable life he lead , might be disposed to believe him to be the messiah : and though they with others expected a temporal kingdom on earth , might yet rest satisfied in the truth of their master ( who had honoured them with being near his person ) that it would come , without being too inquisitive after the time , manner , or seat of his kingdom ; as men of letters , more studied in their rabbins , or men of business , more versed in the world , would have been forward to have been . men great , or wise , in knowledge or ways of the world , would hardly have been kept from prying more narrowly into his design and conduct ; or from questioning him about the ways and measures he would take , for ascending the throne ; and what means were to be used towards it , and when they should in earnest set about it . abler men , of higher births or thoughts , would hardly have been hindred from whispering , at least to their friends and relations , that their master was the messiah ; and that though he concealed himself to a fit opportunity , and till things were ripe for it , yet they should ere long see him break out of his obscurity , cast off the cloud , and declare himself , as he was , king of israel . but the ignorance and lowness of these good poor men made them of another temper . they went along in an implicite trust on him , punctually keeping to his commands , and not exceeding his commission . when he sent them to preach the gospel , he bid them preach the kingdom of god to be at hand ; and that they did , without being more particular than he had ordered ; or mixing their own prudence with his commands , to promote the kingdom of the messiah . they preached it , without giving , or so much as intimating that their master was he : which men of another condition , and an higher education , would scarce have forborn to have done . when he asked them , who they thought him to be ; and peter answered , the messiah , the son of god , mat. xvi . 16. he plainly shews , by the following words , that he himself had not told them so ; and at the same time , v. 20. forbids them to tell this their opinion of him , to any body . how obedient they were to him in this , we may not only conclude from the silence of the evangelists concerning any such thing , published by them any where before his death ; but from the exact obedience three of them paid to a like command of his . he takes peter , iames , and iohn into a mountain ; and there moses and elias coming to him , he is transfigured before them : mat. xvii . 9. he charges them , saying ; see that ye tell no man what you have seen , till the son of man shall be risen from the dead . and st. luke tells us , what punctual observers they were of his orders in this case : chap. ix . 36. they kept it close , and told no man , in those days , any of those things which they had seen . whether twelve other men , of quicker parts , and of a station or breeding which might have given them any opinion of themselves , or their own abilities ; would have been so easily kept from medling beyond just what was prescribed them , in a matter they had so much interest in ; and have said nothing of what they might in humane prudence have thought would have contributed to their master's reputation , and made way for his advancement to his kingdom ; i leave to be considered . and it may suggest matter of meditation , whether st. paul was not for this reason , by his learning , parts , and warmer temper , better fitted for an apostle after , than during our saviour's ministry : and therefore , though a chosen vessel , was not by the divine wisdom called till after christ's resurrection . i offer this only as a subject of magnifying the admirable contrivance of the divine wisdom , in the whole work of our redemption , as far as we are able to trace it by the foot-steps which god hath made visible to humane reason . for though it be as easie to omnipotent power to do all things by an immediate over-ruling will ; and so to make any instruments work , even contrary to their nature , in subserviency to his ends ; yet his wisdom is not usually at the expence of miracles ( if i may so say ) but only in cases that require them , for the evidencing of some revelation or mission to be from him . he does constantly ( unless where the confirmation of some truth requires ▪ it otherwise ) bring about his purposes by means operating according to their natures . if it were not so , the course and evidence of things would be confounded ; miracles would lose their name and force , and there could be no distinction between natural and supernatural . there had been no room left to see and admire the wisdom , as well as innocence , of our saviour ; if he had rashly every where exposed himself to the fury of the jews , and had always been preserved by a miraculous suspension of their malice , or a miraculous rescuing him out of their hands . it was enough for him once to escape from the men of nazareth , who were going to throw him down a precipice , for him never to preach to them again . our saviour had multitudes that followed him for the loaves ; who barely seeing the miracles that he did , would have made him king. if to the miracles he did , he had openly added in express words , that he was the messiah , and the king they expected to deliver them ; he would have had more followers , and warmer in the cause , and readier to set him up at the head of a tumult . these indeed , god , by a miraculous influence , might have hundred from any such attempt : but then posterity could not have believed that the nation of the iews did at that time expect the messiah , their king and deliverer ; or that iesus , who declared himself to be that king and deliverer , shewed any miracles amongst them , to convince them of it ; or did any thing worthy to make him be credited or received . if he had gone about preaching to the multitude which he drew after him , that he was the messiah , the king of israel ; and this had been evidenced to pilate ; god could indeed , by a supernatural influence upon his mind , have made pilate pronounce him innocent ; and not condemn him as a malefactor , who had openly , for three years together , preached sedition to the people , and endeavoured to perswade them that he was the messiah their king , of the blood-royal of david , come to deliver them . but then i ask , whether posterity would not either have suspected the story , or that some art had been used to gain that testimony from pilate ? because he could not ( for nothing ) have been so favourable to iesus , as to be willing to release so turbulent and seditious a man ; to declare him innocent ; and cast the blame and guilt of his death , as unjust , upon the envy of the jews . but now the malice of the chief priests , scribes , and pharisees ; the headiness of the mob , animated with hopes , and raised with miracles ; iudas's treachery , and pilate's care of his government , and the peace of his province , all working naturally as they should ; iesus , by the admirable wariness of his carriage , and an extraordinary wisdom visible in his whole conduct , weathers all these difficulties , does the work he comes for , uninterruptedly goes about preaching his full appointed time , sufficiently manifests himself to be the messiah in all the particulars the scriptures had foretold of him ; and when his hour is come , suffers death ; but is acknowledged both by iudas that betrayed , and pilate that condemned him , to dye innocent . for , to use his own words , luke xxiv . 46. thus it is written , and thus it behooved the messiah to suffer . and of his whole conduct , we have a reason and clear resolution in those words to st. peter , mat. xxvi . 53. thinkest thou that i cannot now pray to my father , and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels ? but how then shall the scripture be fulfilled , that thus it must be ? having this clue to guide us , let us now observe how our saviour's preaching and conduct comported with it , in the last scene of his life . how cautious he has been in the former part of his ministry , we have already observed . we never find him to use the name of the messiah but once , till he now came to ierusalem this last passover . before this , his preaching and miracles were less at ierusalem ( where he used to make but very short stays ) than any where else . but now he comes six days before the feast , and is every day in the temple teaching ; and there publickly heals the blind and the lame , in the presence of the scribes , pharisees , and chief priests . the time of his ministry drawing to an end , and his hour coming , he cared not how much the chief priests , elders , rulers , and the sanhedrim were provoked against him by his doctrine and miracles ; he was as open and bold in his preaching and doing the works of the messiah now at ierusalem , and in the sight of the rulers , and of all the people , as he had been before cautious and reserved there , and careful to be little taken notice of in that place , and not to come in their way more than needs . all now that he took care of , was , not what they should think of him , or design against him , ( for he knew they would seize him ) but to say or do nothing that might be a just matter of accusation against him , or render him criminal to the governour . but as for the grandees of the iewish nation , he spares them not , but sharply now reprehends their miscarriages publickly in the temple ; where he calls them , more than once , hypocrites ; as is to be seen , mat. xxiii . and concludes all with no softer a compellation , than serpents and generation of vipers . after this serve reproof of the scribes and pharisees , being retired with his disciples into the mount of olives , over against the temple ; and there fore-telling the destruction of it ; his disciples ask him , mat. xxiv . 3 , &c. when it should be , and what should be the signs of his coming ? he says to them , take heed that no man deceive you : for many shall come in my name ; i. e. taking on them the name and dignity of the messiah , which is only mine ; saying , i am the messiah , and shall deceive many . but be not you by them mislead , nor by persecution driven away from this fundamental truth , that i am the messiah ; for many shall be scandalized , and apostatize , but he that endures to the end , the same shall be saved : and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world : i e. the good news of me , the messiah , and my kingdom , shall be spread through the world. this was the great and only point of belief they were warned to stick to ; and this is inculcated again , v. 23-26 . and mark xiii . 21-23 . with this emphatical application to them in both these evangelists , behold , i have told you before-hand ; remember ye are fore-warned . this was in his answer to the apostles enquiry concerning his coming , and the end of the world , v. 3. for so we translate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; we must understand the disciples here to put their question , according to the notion and way of speaking of the iews . for they had two worlds , as we translate it , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; the present world , and the world to come . the kingdom of god , as they called it , or the time of the messiah , they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the world to come , which they believed was to put an end to this world : and that then the just should be raised from the dead ; to enjoy , in that new world , a happy eternity , with those of the jewish nation who should be then living . these two things , viz. the visible and powerful appearance of his kingdom , and the end of the world , being confounded in the apostles question , our saviour does not separate them , nor distinctly reply to them apart ; but leaving the enquirers in the common opinion , answers at once concerning his coming to take vengeance of the iewish nation , and put an end to their church , worship , and common-wealth ; which was their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which they counted should last till the messiah came : and so it did , and then had en end put to it . and to this he joyns his last coming to judgment , in the glory of his father , to put a final end to this world , and all the dispensation belonging to the posterity of adam upon earth . this joyning them together , made his answer obscure , and hard to be understood by them then ; nor was it safe for him to speak plainer of his kingdom , and the destruction of ierusalem ; unless he had a mind to be accused for having designs against the government . for iudas was amongst them : and whether no other but his apostles were comprehended under the name of his disciples , who were with him at this time , one cannot determine . our saviour therefore speaks of his kingdom in no other stile but that which he had all along hitherto used , viz. the kingdom of god ; luke xxi . 31. when you see these things come to pass , know ye that the kingdom of god is nigh at hand . and continuing on his discourse with them , he has the same expression , mat. xxv . 1. then the kingdom of heaven shall be like unto ten virgins . at the end of the following parable of the talents , he adds , v. 31. when the son of man shall come in his glory , and all the holy angels with him , then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory , and before him shall be gathered all the nations . and he shall set the sheep on his right hand , and the goats on his left . then shall the king say , &c. here he describes to his disciples the appearance of his kingdom , wherein he will shew himself a king in glory upon his throne ; but this in such a way , and so remote , and so unintelligible to a heathen magistrate ; that if it had been alledged against him , it would have seemed rather the dream of a crazy brain , than the contrivance of an ambitious or dangerous man designing against the government : the way of expressing what he meant , being in the prophetick stile ; which is seldom so plain , as to be understood , till accomplished . 't is plain , that his disciples themselves comprehended not what kingdom he here spoke of , from their question to him after his resurrection , wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to israel ? having finished these discourses , he takes order for the passover , and eats it with his disciples ; and at supper tells them , that one of them should betray him : and adds , iohn xiii . 19. i tell it you now , before it come , that when it is come to pass , you may know that i am . he does not say out the messiah ; iudas should not have that to say against him if he would ; though that be the sense in which he uses this expression , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i am , more than once . and that this is the meaning of it , is clear from mark xii . 6. luke xxi . 8. in both which evangelists the words are , for many shall come in my name , saying , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i am : the meaning whereof we shall find explained in the parallel place of st. matthew , chap. xxiv . 5. for many shall come in my name , saying , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i am the messiah . here in this place of iohn xiii . jesus fore-tells what should happen to him , viz. that he should be betrayed by iudas ; adding this prediction to the many other particulars of his death and suffering , which he had at other times foretold to them . and here he tells them the reason of these his predictions , viz. that afterwards they might be a confirmation to their faith. and what was it that he would have them believe , and be confirmed in the belief of ? nothing but this , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that he was the messiah . the same reason he gives , iohn xiii . 28. you have heard , how i said unto you , i go away , and come again unto you : and now i have told you before it come to pass , that when it is come to pass , ye might believe . when iudas had left them , and was gone out , he talks a little freer to them of his glory , and his kingdom , than ever he had done before . for now he speaks plainly of himself , and his kingdom , iohn xiii . 31. therefore when he [ judas ] was gone out , iesus said , now is the son of man glorified , and god is also glorified in him . and if god be glorified in him , god ▪ shall also glorifie him in himself , and shall straitway glorifie him . and luke xxii . 29. and i will appoint unto you a kingdom , as my father hath appointed unto me ; that ye may eat and drink with me at my table in my kingdom . though he has every where all along through his ministry preached the gospel of the kingdom ; and nothing else but that and repentance , and the duties of a good life ; yet it has been always the kingdom of god , and the kingdom of heaven : and i do not remember , that any where , till now , he uses any such expression , as my kingdom . but here now he speaks in the first person , i will appoint you a kingdom ; and in my kingdom : and this we see is only to the eleven , now iudas was gone from them . with these eleven , whom he was now just leaving , he has a long discourse to comfort them for their loss of him ; and to prepare them for the persecution of the world ; and to exhort them to keep his commandments , and to love one another . and here one may expect all the articles of faith should be laid down plainly ; if any thing else were required of them to believe , but what he had taught them , and they believed already ; viz. that he was the messiah , john xiv . 1. ye believe in god , believe also in me . v. 29. i have told you before it come to pass , that when it is come to pass , ye may believe . it is believing on him , without any thing else . iohn xvi . 31. iesus answered them , do you now believe ? this was in answer to their professing , v 30. now are we sure that thou knowest all things , and needest not that any man should ask thee : by this we believe that thou comest forth from god. john xvii . 20. neither pray i for these alone , but for them also which shall believe on me through their word . all that is spoke of believing , in this his last sermon to them , is only believing on him , or believing that he came from god ; which was no other than believing him to be the messiah . indeed , iohn xiv . 9. our saviour tells philip , he that hath seen me , hath seen the father . and adds , v. 10. believest thou not that i am in the father , and the father in me ? the words that i speak unto you , i speak not of my self : but the father that dwelleth in me , he doth the works . which being in answer to philip's words , v. 9. shew us the father , seem to import thus much : no man hath seen god at any time , he is known only by his works . and that he is my father , and i the son of god , i. e. the messiah , you may know by the works i have done ; which it is impossible i could do of my self , but by the union i have with god my father . for that by being in god , and god in him , he signifies such an union with god , that god operates in and by him , appears not only by the words above-cited out of v. 10. ( which can scarce otherwise be made coherent sense ) but also from the same phrase used again by our saviour presently after , v. 20. at that day , viz. after his resurrection , when they should see him again , ye shall know that i am in my father , and you in me , and i in you ; i. e. by the works i shall enable you to do , through a power i have received from the father : which whoever sees me do , must acknowledge the father to be in me ; and whoever sees you do , must acknowledge me to be in you . and therefore he says , v. 12. verily , verily i say unto you , he that believeth on me , the works that i do shall he also do , because i go unto my father . though i go away , yet i shall be in you , who believe in me ; and ye shall be enabled to do miracles also for the carrying on of my kingdom , as i have done ; that it may be manifested to others that you are sent by me , as i have evidenced to you that i am sent by the father . and hence it is that he says , in the immediately preceding v. 11. believe me that i am in the father , and the father in me ; if not , believe me for the sake of the works themselves . let the works that i have done convince you that i am sent by the father ; that he is with me , and that i do nothing but by his will , and by vertue of the union i have with him ; and that consequently i am the messiah , who am anointed , sanctified , and separate by the father to the work for which he hath sent me . to confirm them in this faith , and to enable them to do such works as he had done , he promises them the holy ghost , iohn xiv . 25 , 26. these things i have said unto you , being yet present with you . but when i am gone , the holy ghost , the paraclet ( which may signifie monitor as well as comfortor , or advocate ) which the father shall send you in my name , he shall shew you all things , and bring to your remembrance all things which i have said . so that considering all that i have said , and laying it together , and comparing it with what you shall see come to pass , you may be more abundantly assured that i am the messiah , and fully comprehend that i have done and suffered all things foretold of the messiah ; and that were to be accomplished and fulfilled by him , according to the scriptures . but be not filled with grief that i leave you ; iohn xvi . 7. it is expedient for you that i go away : for if i go not away , the paraclet will not come unto you . one reason why , if he went not away , the holy ghost could not come , we may gather from what has been observed concerning the prudent and wary carriage of our saviour all through his ministry , that he might not incur death with the least suspicion of a malefactor : and therefore though his disciples believed him to be the messiah , yet they neither understood it so well , nor were so well confirmed in the belief of it , as after that he being crucified and risen again , they had received the holy ghost ; and with the gifts of the holy spirit , a fuller and clearer evidence and knowledge that he was the messiah ; and were enlightned to see how his kingdom was such as the scriptures foretold , though not such as they , till then , had expected . and now this knowledge and assurance received from the holy ghost , was of use to them after his resurrection ; when they could then boldly go about , and openly preach , as they did , that iesus was the messiah ; confirming that doctrine by the miracles which the holy ghost impowered them to do . but till he was dead and gone , they could not do this . their going about openly preaching , as they did after his resurrection , that iesus was the messiah ; and doing miracles every where to make it good , would not have consisted with that character of humility , peace , and innocence , which the messiah was to sustain ; if they had done it before his crucifixion . for this would have drawn upon him the condemnation of a malefactor , either as a stirrer of sedition against the publick peace ; or as a pretender to the kingdom of israel . and hence we see , that they who before his death preached only the gospel of the kingdom ; that the kingdom of god was at hand ; as soon as they had received the holy ghost after his resurrection , changed their stile , and every where in express words declare that iesus is the messiah , that king which was to come . this , the following words here in st. iohn xvi . 8-14 . confirm ; where he goes on to tell them ; and when he is come , he will convince the world of sin : because they believed not on me . your preaching then , accompanied with miracles , by the assistance of the holy ghost , shall be a conviction to the world that the iews sinned in not believing me to be the messiah . of righteousness , or justice : because i go to my father , and ye see me no more . by the same preaching and miracles you shall confirm the doctrine of my ascension ; and thereby convince the world that i was that iust one , who am therefore ascended to the father into heaven , where no unjust person shall enter . of iudgment : because the prince of this world is judged . and by the same assistance of the holy ghost ye shall convince the world that the devil is judged or condemned , by your casting of him out , and destroying his kingdom , and his worship where ever you preach . our saviour adds , i have yet many things to say unto you , but you cannot bear them now . they were yet so full of a temporal kingdom , that they could not bear the discovery of what a kind of kingdom his was , nor what a king he was to be ; and therefore he leaves them to the coming of the holy ghost , for a farther and fuller discovery of himself , and the kingdom of the messiah ; for fear they should be scandalized in him , and give up the hopes they had now in him , and forsake him . this he tells them , v. 1. of this xvi . chapter : these things i have said unto you , that you may not be scandalized . the last thing he had told them before his saying this to them , we find in the last verses of the precedent chapter : when the paraclet is come , the spirit of truth , he shall witness concerning me . he shall shew you who i am , and witness it to the world ; and then ye also shall bear witness , because ye have been with me from the beginning . he shall call to your mind what i have said and done , that ye may understand it , and know , and bear witness concerning me . and again here , iohn xvi . after he had told them , they could not bear what he had more to say , he adds ; v. 13. howbeit , when the spirit of truth is come , he will guide you into all truth ; and he will shew you things to come : he shall glorifie me . by the spirit , when he comes , ye shall be fully instructed concerning me ; and though you cannot yet , from what i have said to you , clearly comprehend my kingdom and glory ; yet he shall make it known to you wherein it consists : and though i am now in a mean state , and ready to be given up to contempt , torment , and death ; so that ye know not what to think of it ; yet the spirit , when he comes , shall glorifie me , and fully satisfie you of my power and kingdom ; and that i sit on the right hand of god , to order all things for the good and increase of it , till i come again at the last day in fulness of glory . accordingly , the apostles had a full and clear sight and perswasion of this , after they had received the holy ghost ; and they preached it every where boldly and openly , without the least remainder of doubt or uncertainty . but that they understood him not , yet even so far as his death and resurrection , is evident from v. 17 , 18. then said some of the disciples among themselves , what is this that he saith unto us ; a little while , and ye shall not see me ; and again , a little while , and ye shall see me ; and because i go to the father ? they said therefore , what is this that he saith , a little while ? we know not what he saith . upon which he goes on to discourse to them of his death and resurrection , and of the power they should have of doing miracles ; but all this he declares to them in a mystical and involved way of speaking ; as he tells them himself , v. 25. these things have i spoken to you in proverbs ; i. e. in general , obscure , aenigmatical , or figurative terms . ( all which , as well as allusive apologues , the jews called proverbs or parables ) hitherto my declaring of my self to you hath been obscure , and with reserve ; and i have not spoken of my self to you in plain and direct words , because ye could not bear it . a messiah , and not a king , you could not understand ; and a king living in poverty and persecution , and dying the death of a slave and malefactor upon a cross , you could not put together . and had i told you in plain words that i was the messiah , and given you a direct commission to preach to others that i professedly owned my self to be the messiah , you and they would have been ready to have made a commotion , to have set me upon the throne of my father david , and to fight for me , that your messiah , your king , in whom are your hopes of a kingdom , should not be delivered up into the hands of his enemies , to be put to death ; and of this , peter will instantly give you an example . but the time cometh when i shall no more speak unto you in parables ; but i shall shew unto you plainly of the father . my death and resurrection , and the coming of the holy ghost , will speedily enlighten you , and then i shall make you know the will and design of the father ; what a kingdom i am to have , and by what means , and to what end , v. 27. and this the father himself will shew unto you ; for he loveth you , because ye have loved me , and have believed that i came out from the father ; because ye have believed that i am the son of god , the messiah ; that he hath anointed and sent me ; though it hath not been yet fully discovered to you , what kind of kingdom it shall be , nor by what means brought about . and then our saviour , without being asked , explaining to them what he had said ; and making them understand better , what before they stuck at , and complained secretly among themselves that they understood not ; they thereupon declare , v. 30. now are we sure that thou knowest all things , and needest not that any man should ask thee . 't is plain thou knowest mens thoughts and doubts before they ask . by this we believe that thou comest forth from god. iesus answered , do ye now believe ? notwithstanding that you now believe that i came from god , and am the messiah , sent by him ; behold , the hour cometh , yea , is now come , that ye shall be scattered ; and as it is , mat. xxvi . 31. and shall all be scandalized in me . what it is to be scandalized in him , we may see by what followed hereupon , if that which he says to st. peter , mark xiv . did not sufficiently explain it . this i have been the more particular in ; that it may be seen , that in this last discourse to his disciples ( where he opened himself more than he had hitherto done ; and where , if any thing more was required to make them believers , than what they already believed , we might have expected they should have heard of it ; ) there were no new articles proposed to them , but what they believed before , viz. that he was the messiah , the son of god , sent from the father ; though of his manner of proceeding , and his sudden leaving the world , and some few particulars , he made them understand something more than they did before . but as to the main design of the gospel , viz. that he had a kingdom , that he should be put to death , and rise again , and ascend into heaven to his father , and come again in glory to judge the world ; this he had told them : and so had acquainted them with the great council of god , in sending him the messiah , and omitted nothing that was necessary to be known or believed in it . and so he tells them himself , iohn xv. 15. henceforth i call ye not servants ; for the servant knoweth not what his lord does : but i have called ye friends ; for all things i have heard of my father , i have made known unto you ; though perhaps ye do not so fully comprehend them , as you will shortly , when i am risen and ascended . to conclude all , in his prayer , which shuts up this discourse , he tells the father what he had made known to his apostles ; the result whereof we have iohn xvii . 8. i have given unto them the words which thou gavest me , and they have received them , and they have believed that thov didst send me : which is in effect , that he was the messiah promised and sent by god. and then he prays for them , and adds , v. 20 , 21. neither pray i for these alone , but for them also who shall believe on me through their word . what that word was , through which others should believe in him , we have seen in the preaching of the apostles all through the history of the acts , viz. this one great point , that jesus was the messiah . the apostles , he says , v. 25. know that thou hast sent me ; i. e. are assured that i am the messiah . and in v. 21. & 23. he prays , that the world may believe ( which v. 23. is called knowing ) that thou hast sent me . so that what christ would have believed by his disciples , we may see by this his last prayer for them , when he was leaving the world , as well as by what he preached whilst he was in it . and as a testimony of this , one of his last actions , even when he was upon the cross , was to confirm this doctrine ; by giving salvation to one of the thieves that was crucified with him , upon his declaration that he believed him to be the messiah ; for so much the words of his request imported , when he said , remember me , lord , when thou comest into thy kingdom , luke xxiii . 42. to which jesus replied , v. 43. verily i say unto thee , to day shalt thou be with me in paridise . an expression very remarkable : for as adam , by sin , left paradise ; i. e. a state of happy immortality ; here the believing thief , through his faith in iesus the messiah , is promised to be put in paradise , and so re-instated in an happy immortality . thus our saviour ended his life . and what he did after his resurrection , st. luke tells us , acts i. 3. that he shewed himself to the apostles forty days , speaking things concerning the kingdom of god. this was what our saviour preached in the whole course of his ministry , before his passion : and no other mysteries of faith does he now discover to them after his resurrection . all he says , is concerning the kingdom of god ; and what it was he said concerning that , we shall see presently out of the other evangelists ; having first only taken notice , that when now they asked him , v. 6. lord , wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to israel ? he said , unto them , v. 7. it is not for you to know the times , and the seasons , which the father hath put in his own power : but ye shall receive power after that the holy ghost is come upon you ; and ye shall be witnesses unto me unto the utmost parts of the earth . their great business was to be witnesses to iesus , of his life , death , resurrection , and ascension ; which put together , were undeniable proofs of his being the messiah : which was what they were to preach , and what he said to them concerning the kingdom of god ; as will appear by what is recorded of it in the other evangelists . the day of his resurrection , appearing to the two going to emmaus , luke xxiv . they declare , v. 21. what his disciples faith in him was : but we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed israel ; i.e. we believed that he was the messiah ▪ come to deliver the nation of the iews . upon this iesus tells them , they ought to believe him to the messiah , notwithstanding what had happened ; nay , they ought by his suffering and death to be confirmed in that faith , that he was the messiah . and v. 26 , 27. beginning at moses and all the prophets , he expounded unto them in all the scriptures , the things concerning himself ; how that the messiah ought to have suffered these things , and to have entred into his glory . now he applies the prophesies of the messiah to himself , which we read not that he did ever do before his passion . and afterwards appearing to the eleven , luke xxiv . 36. he said unto them , v. 44-47 . these words which i spoke unto you while i was yet with you , that all things must be fulfilled which are written in the law of moses , and in the prophets , and in the psalms concerning me . then opened he their vnderstandings , that they might understand the scripture , and said unto them ; thus it is written , and thus it behoved the messiah to suffer , and to rise from the dead the third day ; and that repentance , and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations , beginning at ierusalem . here we see what it was he had preached to them , though not in so plain open words , before his crucifixion ; and what it is he now makes them understand ; and what it was that was to be preached to all nations , viz. that he was the messiah , that had suffered , and rose from the dead the third day , and fulfilled all things that was written in the old testament concerning the messiah ; and that those who believed this , and repented , should receive remission of their sins through this faith in him . or , as st. mark has it , chap. xvi . 15. go into all the world , and preach the gospel to every creature ; he that believeth , and is baptized , shall be saved ; but he that believeth not , shall be damned , v. 20. what the gospel , or good news was , we have shewed already , viz. the happy tidings of the messiah being come . v. 20. and they went forth and preached every where , the lord working with them , and confirming the word with signs following . what the word was which they preached , and the lord confirmed with miracles , we have seen already out of the history of their acts ; having given an account of their preaching every where , as it is recorded in the acts , except some few places , where the kingdom of the messiah is mentioned under the name of the kingdom of god ; which i forbore to set down , till i had made it plain out of the evangelists , that that was no other but the kingdom of the messiah . it may be seasonable therefore now , to add to those sermons we have formerly seen of st. paul ( wherein he preached no other article of faith , but that iesus was the messiah , the king , who being risen from the dead , now reigneth , and shall more publickly manifest his kingdom , in judging the world at the last day ) what farther is left upon record of his preaching . acts xix . 8. at ephesus , paul went into the synagogues , and spake boldly for the space of three months ; disputing and perswading concerning the kingdom of god. and acts xx. 25. at miletus he thus takes leave of the elders of ephesus : and now behold , i know that ye all among whom i have gone preaching the kingdom of god , shall see my face no more . what this preaching the kingdom of god was , he tells you , v. 20 , 21. i have kept nothing back from you , which was profitable unto you , but have shewed you , and have taught you publickly , and from house to house ; testifying both to the iews , and to the greeks , repentance towards god , and faith towards our lord iesus christ. and so again , acts xxviii . 23 , 24. when they [ the jews at rome ] had appointed him [ paul ] a day , there came many to him into his lodging ; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of god ; perswading them concerning iesus , both out of the law of moses , and out of the prophets , from morning to evening . and some believed the things which were spoken , and some believed not . and the history of the acts is concluded with this account of st. paul's preaching : and paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house , and received all that came in unto him , preaching the kingdom of god , and teaching those things which concern the lord iesus the messiah . we may therefore here apply the same conclusion , to the history of our saviour , writ by the evangelists ; and to the history of the apostles , writ in the acts ; which st. iohn does to his own gospel , chap. xx. 30 , 31. many other signs did iesus before his disciples ; and in many other places the apostles preached the same doctrine , which are not written in these books ; but these are written , that you may believe that iesus is the messiah , the son of god ; and that believing , you may have life in his name . what st. iohn thought necessary and sufficient to be believed , for the attaining eternal life , he here tells us . and this , not in the first dawning of the gospel ; when , perhaps , some will be apt to think less was required to be believed , than after the doctrine of faith , and mystery of salvation , was more fully explained , in the epistles writ by the apostles . for it is to be remembred , that st. iohn says this not as soon as christ was ascended ; for these words , with the rest of st. iohn's gospel , were not written till many years after not only the other gospels , and st. luke's history of the acts ; but in all appearance , after all the epistles writ by the other apostles . so that above threescore years after our saviour's passion ; ( for so long after , both epiphanius and st. ierome assure us this gospel was written ) st. iohn knew nothing else required to be believed for the attaining of life , but that iesus is the messiah , the son of god. to this , 't is likely , it will be objected by some , that to believe only that iesus of nazareth is the messiah , is but an historical , and not a justifying or saving faith. to which i answer ; that i allow to the makers of systems and their followers , to invent and use what distinctions they please ; and to call things by what names they think fit . but i cannot allow to them , or to any man , an authority to make a religion for me , or to alter that which god hath revealed . and if they please to call the believing that which our saviour and his apostles preached and proposed alone to be believed , an historical faith ; they have their liberty . but they must have a care how they deny it to be a justifying or saving faith , when our saviour and his apostles have declared it so to be , and taught no other which men should receive , and whereby they should be made believers unto eternal life ; unless they can so far make bold with our saviour , for the sake of their beloved systems , as to say , that he forgot what he came into the world for ; and that he and his apostles did not instruct people right in the way and mysteries of salvation . for that this is the sole doctrine pressed and required to be believed in the whole tenour of our saviour's and his apostles preaching , we have shewed through the whole history of the evangelists and the acts. and i challenge them to shew that there was any other doctrine , upon their assent to which , or disbelief of it , men were pronounced believers , or unbelievers ; and accordingly received into the church of christ , as members of his body , as far as meer believing could make them so , or else kept out of it . this was the only gospel-article of faith which was preached to them . and if nothing else was preached every where , the apostles argument will hold against any other articles of faith to be be believed under the gospel ; rom. x. 14. how shall they believe that whereof they have not heard ? for to preach any other doctrines necessary to be believed , we do not find that any body was sent . perhaps it will farther be urged , that this is not a saving faith ; because such a faith as this the devils may have , and 't was plain they had ; for they believed and declared iesus to be the messiah . and st. iames , chap. ii. 19. tells us , the devils believe , and tremble ; and yet they shall not be saved . to which i answer , 1. that they could not be saved by any faith , to whom it was not proposed as a means of salvation , nor ever promised to be counted for righteousness . this was an act of grace , shewn only to mankind . god dealt so favourably with the posterity of adam , that if they would believe iesus to be the messiah , the promised king and saviour ; and perform what other conditions were required of them by the covenant of grace ; god would justifie them , because of this belief . he would account this faith to them for righteousness , and look on it as making up the defects of their obedience ; which being thus supplied by what was taken instead of it , they were looked on as just or righteous , and so inherited eternal life . but this favour shewn to mankind , was never offered to the fallen angels . they had no such proposals made to them : and therefore whatever of this kind was proposed to men , it availed them not , whatever they performed of it . this covenant of grace was never offered to them . 2. i answer ; that though the devils believed , yet they could not be saved by the covenant of grace ; because they performed not the other condition required in it , altogether as necessary to be performed as this of believing , and that is repentance . repentance is as absolute a condition of the covenant of grace , as faith ; and as necessary to be performed as that . iohn the baptist , who was to prepare the way for the messiah , preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins , mark 1. 4. as iohn began his preaching with repent , for the kingdom of heaven is at hand , mat. iii. 2. so did our saviour begin his , mat. iv. 17. from that time began iesus to preach , and to say , repent , for the kingdom of heaven is at hand . or , as st. mark has it in that parallel place , mark i. 14 , 15. now after that john was put in prison , iesus came into galilee , preaching the gospel of the kingdom of god , and saying ; the time is fulfilled , and the kingdom of god is at hand : repent ye , and believe the gospel . this was not only the beginning of his preaching , but the sum of all that he did preach ; viz. that men should repent , and believe the good tidings which he brought them ; that the time was fulfilled for the coming of the messiah . and this was what his apostles preached , when he sent them out , mark vi. 12. and they going out , preached that men should repent . believing jesus to be the messiah , and repenting , were so necessary and fundamental parts of the covenant of grace , that one of them alone is often put for both . for here st. mark mentions nothing but their preaching repentance ; as st. luke , in the parallel place , chap. ix . 6. mentions nothing but their evangelizing , or preaching the good news of the kingdom of the messiah : and st. paul often in his epistles puts faith for the whole duty of a christian. but yet the tenour of the gospel is what christ declares , luke xii . 3. 5. vnless ye repent , ye shall all likewise perish . and in the parable of the rich man in hell , delivered by our saviour , luke xvi . repentance alone is the means proposed of avoiding that place of torment , v. 30 , 31. and what the tenor of the doctrine , which should be preached to the world , should be , he tells his apostles after his resurrection , luke xxiv . 27. viz. that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name , who was the messiah . and accordingly , believing iesus to be the messiah , and repenting , was what the apostles preached . so peter began , acts ii. 38. repent , and be baptized . these two things were required for the remission of sins , viz. entring themselves in the kingdom of god ; and owning and professing themselves the subjects of iesus , whom they believed to be the messiah , and received for their lord and king ; for that was to be baptized in his name : baptism being an initiating ceremony known to the iews , whereby those , who leaving heathenism , and professing a submission to the law of moses , were received into the common-wealth of israel . and so it was made use of by our saviour , to be that solemn visible act , whereby those who believed him to be the messiah , received him as their king , and professed obedience to him , were admitted as subjects into his kingdom : which in the gospels is called the kingdom of god ; and in the acts and epistles often by another name , viz. the church . the same st. peter preaches again to the iews , acts iii. 19. repent , and be converted , that your sins may be blotted out . what this repentance was ; which the new covenant required as one of the conditions to be performed by all those who should receive the benefits of that covenant ; is plain in the scripture , to be not only a sorrow for sins past , but ( what is a natural consequence of such sorrow , if it be real ) a turning from them , into a new and contrary life . and so they are joyned together , acts iii. 19. repent and turn about ; or , as we render it , be converted . and acts xxvi . repent and turn to god. and sometimes turning about is put alone , to signifie repentance , mat. xiii . 15. luke xxii . 32. which in other words is well expressed by newness of life . for it being certain that he who is really sorry for his sins , and abhors them , will turn from them , and forsake them ; either of these acts , which have so natural a connexion one with the other , may be , and is often put for both together . repentance is an hearty sorrow for our past misdeeds , and a sincere resolution and endeavour , to the utmost of our power , to conform all our actions to the law of god. so that repentance does not consist in one single act of sorrow ( though that being the first and leading act , gives denomination to the whole ) but in doing works meet for repentance , in a sincere obedience to the law of christ , the remainder of our lives . this was called for by iohn the baptist , the preacher of repentance , mat. iii. 8. bring forth fruits meet for repentance . and by st. paul here , acts xxvi . 20. repent and turn to god , and do works meet for repentance . there are works to follow belonging to repentance , as well as sorrow for what is past . these two , faith and repentance ; i. e. believing jesus to be the messiah , and a good life ; are the indispensible conditions of the new covenant . the reasonableness , or rather necessity of which , ( as the only conditions required in the covenant of grace , to be performed by all those who would obtain eternal life ) that we may the better comprehend , we must a little look back to what was said in the beginning . adam being the son of god ; and so st. luke calls him , chap. iii. 38. had this part also of the likeness and image of his father , viz. that he was immortal . but adam transgressing the command given him by his heavenly father , incurred the penalty , forfeited that state of immortality , and became mortal . after this , adam begot children : but they were in his own likeness , after his own image ; mortal , like their father . god nevertheless , out of his infinite mercy , willing to bestow eternal life on mortal men , sends jesus christ into the world ; who being conceived in the womb of a virgin ( that had not known man ) by the immediate power of god , was properly the son of god ; according to what the angel declared to his mother , luke i. 30-35 . the holy ghost shall come upon thee , and the power of the highest shall over shadow thee : therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee , shall be called the son of god. so that being the son of god , he was , like his father , immortal . as he tells us , iohn v. 26. as the father hath life in himself , so hath be given to the son to have life in himself . and that immortality is a part of that image , wherein these ( who were the immediate sons of god , so as to have no other father ) were made like their father , appears probable , not only from the places in genesis concerning adam , above taken notice of , but seems to me also to be intimated in some expressions concerning iesus , the son of god. in the new testament , col. i. 15. he is called the image of the invivisible god. invisible seems put in , to obviate any gross imagination , that he ( as images use to do ) represented god in any corporeal or visible resemblance . and there is farther subjoyned , to lead us into the meaning of it , the first-born of every creature ; which is farther explained , v. 18. where he is termed the first-born from the dead : thereby making out , and shewing himself to be the image of the invisible god ; that death hath no power over him : but being the son of god , and not having forfeited that son-ship by any trangression , was the heir of eternal life ; as adam should have been , had he continued in his filial duty . in the same sense the apostle seems to use the word image in other places , viz. rom. viii . 29. whom he did foreknow , he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son , that he might be the first-born among many brethren . this image , to which they were conformed , seems to be immortality and eternal life . for 't is remarkable that in both these places st. paul speaks of the resurrection ; and that christ was the first-born among many brethren ; he being by birth the son of god , and the others only by adoption , as we see in this same chapter , v. 15-17 . ye have received the spirit of adoption , whereby we cry , abba , father : the spirit it self bearing witness with our spirits that we are the children of god. and if children , then heirs ; and ioynt-heirs with christ : if so be that we suffer with him , that we may also be glorified together . and hence we see that our saviour vouchsafes to call those , who at the day of judgment are through him entring into eternal life , his brethren ; mat. xxv . 40. in as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren . and may we not in this find a reason why god so frequently in the new testament , and so seldom , if at all , in the old , is mentioned under the single title of the father ? and therefore our saviour says , mat. xi . no man knoweth the father save the son , and he to whomsoever the son will reveal him . god has now a son again in the world , the first-born of many brethren , who all now , by the spirit of adoption , can say , abba , father . and we by adoption , being for his sake made his brethren , and the sons of god , come to share in that inheritance , which was his natural right ; he being by birth the son of god : which inheritance is eternal life . and again , v. 23. we groan within our selves , waiting for the adoption , to wit , the redemption of our body ; whereby is plainly meant the change of these frail mortal bodies , into the spiritual immortal bodies at the resurrection ; when this mortal shall have put on immortality , 1 cor. xv. 54. which in that chapter , v. 42-44 . he farther expresses thus : so also is the resurrection of the dead . it is sown in corruption , it is raised in incorruption : it is sown in dishonour , it is raised in glory : it is sown in weakness , it is raised in power : it is sown a natural body , it is raised a spiritual body , &c. to which he subjoyns , v. 49. as we have born the image of the earthy , ( i. e. as we have been mortal , like earthy adam our father , from whom we are descended , when he was turned out of paradise ) we shall also bear the image of the heavenly ; into whose sonship and inheritance being adopted , we shall , at the resurrection , receive that adoption we expect , even the redemption of our bodies ; and after his image , which is the image of the father , become immortal . hear what he says himself , luke xx. 35 , 36. they who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world , and the resurrection from the dead , neither marry , nor are given in marriage . neither can they die any more ; for they are equal unto the angels , and are the sons of god , being the sons of the resurrection . and he that shall read st. paul's arguing , acts xiii . 32 , 33. will find that the great evidence that jesus was the son of god , was his resurrection . then the image of his father appeared in him , when he visibly entred into the state of immortality . for thus the apostle reasons ; we preach to you , how that the promise which was made to our fathers , god hath fulfilled the same unto us , in that he hath raised up iesus again ; as it is also written in the second psalm , thou art my son , this day have i begotten thee . this may serve a little to explain the immortality of the sons of god , who are in this like their father , made after his image and likeness . but that our saviour was so , he himself farther declares , iohn x. 18. where speaking of his life , he says , no one taketh it from me , but i lay it down of my self : i have power to lay it down , and i have power to take it up again . which he could not have had , if he had been a mortal man , the son of a man , of the seed of adam ; or else had by any transgression forfeited his life . for the wages of sin is death : and he that hath incurred death for his own transgression , cannot lay down his life for another , as our saviour professes he did . for he was the just one , acts vii . 57. and xii . 14. who knew no sin . 2 cor. v. 21. who did no sin , neither was guile found in his mouth . and thus , as by man came death , so by man came the resurrection of the dead . for as in adam all die , so in christ shall all be made alive . for this laying down his life for others , our saviour tells us , iohn x. 17. therefore does my father love me , because i lay down my life , that i might take it again . and this his obedience and suffering was rewarded with a kingdom ; which , he tells us , luke xxii . his father had appointed unto him ; and which , 't is evident out of the epistle to the hebrews , chap. xii . 2. he had a regard to in his sufferings : who for the joy that was set before him , endured the cross , despising the shame , and is set down at the right hand of the throne of god. which kingdom given him upon this account of his obedience , suffering , and death , he himself takes notice of , in these words , iohn xvii . 1-4 . iesus lift up his eyes to heaven , and said , father , the hour is come , glorifie thy son , that thy son also may glorifie thee . as thou hast given him power over all flesh , that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him . and this is life eternal , that they may know thee the only true god , and iesus the messiah , whom thou hast sent . i have glorified thee on earth : i have finished the work which thou gavest me to do . and st. paul , in his epistle to the philippians , chap. ii. 8-11 . he humbled himself , and became obedient unto death , even the death of the cross. wherefore god also hath highly exalted him , and given him a name that is above every name : that at the name of iesus every knee should bow , of things in heaven , and things in earth , and things under the earth ; and that every tongue should confess that iesus christ is lord. thus god , we see , designed his son christ iesus a kingdom , an everlasting kingdom in heaven . but though as in adam all die , so in christ all shall be made alive ; and all men shall return to life again at the last day ; yet all men having sinned , and thereby come short of the glory of god , as st. paul assures us , rom. iii. 23. ( i.e. not attaining to the heavenly kingdom of the messiah , which is often called the glory of god ; as may be seen , rom. v. 2. & xv. 7. & ii. 7. mat. xvi . 27. mark viii . 38. for no one who is unrighteous , i. e. comes short of perfect righteousness , shall be admitted into the eternal life of that kingdom ; as is declared , 1 cor. vi. 9. the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of god ; ) and death , the wages of sin , being the portion of all those who had transgressed the righteous law of god ; the son of god would in vain have come into the world , to lay the foundations of a kingdom , and gather together a select people out of the world , if , ( they being found guilty at their appearance before the judgment-seat of the righteous judge of all men at the last day ) instead of entrance into eternal life in the kingdom he had prepared for them , they should receive death , the just reward of sin , which every one of them was guilty of . this second death would have left him no subjects ; and instead of those ten thousand times ten thousand , and thousands of thousands , there would not have been one left him to sing praises unto his name , saying , blessing , and honour and glory , and power , be unto him that sitteth on the throne , and unto the lamb for ever and ever . god therefore , out of his mercy to mankind , and for the erecting of the kingdom of his son , and furnishing it with subjects out of every kindred , and tongue , and people , and nation , proposed to the children of men , that as many of them as would believe iesus his son ( whom he sent into the world ) to be the messiah , the promised deliverer ; and would receive him for their king and ruler ; should have all their past sins , disobedience , and rebellion forgiven them : and if for the future they lived in a sincere obedience to his law , to the utmost of their power ; the sins of humane frailty for the time to come , as well as all those of their past lives , should , for his son's sake , because they gave themselves up to him to be his subjects , be forgiven them : and so their faith , which made them be baptized into his name ; ( i.e. enroll themselves in the kingdom of iesus the messiah , and profess themselves his subjects , and consequently live by the laws of his kingdom ) should be accounted to them for righteousness ; i.e. should supply the defects of a scanty obedience in the sight of god ; who counting this faith to them for righteousness , or compleat obedience , did thus justifie , or make them just , and thereby capable of eternal life . now , that this is the faith for which god of his free grace justifies sinful man ; ( for 't is god alone that justifieth , rom. viii . 33. rom. iii. 26. ) we have already shewed ; by observing through all the history of our saviour and the apostles , recorded in the evangelists , and in the acts , what he and his apostles preached and proposed to be believed . we shall shew now , that besides believing him to be the messiah their king , it was farther required , that those who would have the priviledge , advantages , and deliverance of his kingdom , should enter themselves into it ; and by baptism being made denizons , and solemnly incorporated into that kingdom , live as became subjects obedient to the laws of it . for if they believed him to be the messiah their king , but would not obey his laws , and would not have him to reign over them , they were but greater rebels ; and god would not justifie them for a faith that did but increase their guilt , and oppose diametrically the kingdom and design of the messiah ; who gave himself for us , that he might redeem us from all iniquity , and purifie unto himself a peculiar people , zealous of good works , titus ii. 14. and therefore st. paul tells the galatians , that that which availeth is faith ; but faith working by love. and that faith without works , i.e. the works of sincere obedience to the law and will of christ , is not sufficient for our justification , st. iames shews at large , chap. ii. neither indeed could it be otherwise ; for life , eternal life being the reward of justice or righteousness only , appointed by the righteous god ( who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity ) to those only who had no taint or infection of sin upon them , it is impossible that he should justifie those who had no regard to justice at all , whatever they believed . this would have been to encourage iniquity , contrary to the purity of his nature ; and to have condemned that eternal law of right , which is holy , just , and good ; of which no one precept or rule is abrogated or repealed ; nor indeed can be ; whilst god is an holy , just , and righteous god , and man a rational creature . the duties of that law arising from the constitution of his very nature , are of eternal obligation ; nor can it be taken away or dispensed with , without changing the nature of things , overturning the measures of right and wrong , and thereby introducing and authorizing irregularity , confusion , and disorder in the world. which was not the end for which christ came into the world ; but on the contrary , to reform the corrupt state of degenerate man ; and out of those who would mend their lives , and bring forth fruit meet for repentance , erect a new kingdom . this is the law of that kingdom , as well as of all mankind ; and that law by which all men shall be judged at the last day . only those who have believed iesus to be the messiah , and have taken him to be their king , with a sincere endeavour after righteousness , in obeying his law , shall have their past sins not imputed to them ; and shall have that faith taken instead of obedience ; where frailty and weakness made them transgress , and sin prevailed after conversion in those who hunger and thirst after righteousness ( or perfect obedience ) and do not allow themselves in acts of disobedience and rebellion , against the laws of that kingdom they are entred into . he did not expect , 't is true , a perfect obedience void of all slips and falls : he knew our make , and the weakness of our constitutions too well , and was sent with a supply for that defect . besides , perfect obedience was the righteousness of the law of works ; and then the reward would be of debt , and not of grace ; and to such there was no need of faith to be imputed to them for righteousness . they stood upon their own legs , were just already , and needed no allowance to be made them for believing jesus to be the messiah , taking him for their king , and becoming his subjects . but whether christ does not require obedience , sincere obedience , is evident from the laws he himself pronounces ( unless he can be supposed to give and inculcate laws only to have them disobeyed ) and from the sentence he will pass when he comes to judge . the faith required was , to believe iesus to be the messiah , the anointed ; who had been promised by god to the world. amongst the iews ( to whom the promises and prophesies of the messiah were more immediately delivered ) anointing was used to three sorts of persons , at their inauguration ; whereby they were set apart to three great offices ; viz. of priests , prophets , and kings . though these three offices be in holy writ attributed to our saviour , yet i do not remember that he any where assumes to himself the title of a priest , or mentions any thing relating to his priesthood : nor does he speak of his being a prophet but very sparingly , and once or twice , as it were , by the by : but the gospel , or the good news of the kingdom of the messiah , is what he preaches every where , and makes it his great business to publish to the world. this he did , not only as most agreeable to the expectation of the iews , who looked for their messiah , chiefly as coming in power to be their king and deliverer ; but as it best answered the chief end of his coming , which was to be a king , and as such to be received by those who would be his subjects in the kingdom which he came to erect . and though he took not directly on himself the title of king till he was in custody , and in the hands of pilate ; yet 't is plain , king , and king of israel , were the familiar and received titles of the messiah . see iohn i. 50. luke xix . 38. compared with mat. xxi . 9. and mark xi . 9. iohn xii . 13. mat. xxi . 5. luke xxiii . 2. compared with mat. xxvii . 11. and iohn xviii . 33-37 . mark xv. 12. compared with mat. xxvii . 22. mat. xxvii . 42. what those were to do , who believed him to be the messiah , and received him for their king , that they might be admitted to be partakers with him of this kingdom in glory , we shall best know by the laws he gives them , and requires them to obey ; and by the sentence which he himself will give , when , sitting on his throne , they shall all appear at his tribunal , to receive every one his doom from the mouth of this righteous judge of all men. what he proposed to his followers to be believed , we have already seen ; by examining his , and his apostles preaching , step by step , all through the history of the four evangelists , and the acts of the apostles . the same method will best and plainest shew us , whether he required of those who believed him to be the messiah , any thing besides that faith , and what it was . for he being a king , we shall see by his commands what he expects from his subjects : for if he did not expect obedience to them , his commands would be but meer mockery ; and if there were no punishment for the transgressors of them , his laws would not be the laws of a king , that had authority to command , and power to chastise the disobedient ; but empty talk , without force , and without influence . we shall therefore from his injunctions ( if any such there be ) see what he has made necessary to be performed , by all those who shall be received into eternal life in his kingdom prepared in the heavens . and in this we cannot be deceived . what we have from his own mouth , especially if repeated over and over again , in different places and expressions , will be past doubt and controversie . i shall pass by all that is said by st. iohn baptist , or any other , before our saviour's entry upon his ministry and publick promulgation of the laws of his kingdom . he began his preaching with a command to repent ; as st. matt. tells us . iv. 17. from that time iesus began to preach ; saying , repent , for the kingdom of heaven is at hand . and luke v. 32. he tells the scribes and pharisees , i came not to call the righteous ; those who were truly so , needed no help , they had a right to the tree of life , but sinners to repentance . in this sermon , as he calls it , in the mount , luke vi. and matt. v , &c. he commands they should be exemplary in good works . let your light so shine amongst men , that they may see your good works , and glorify your father which is in heaven , matt. v. 15. and that they might know what he came for , and what he expected of them , he tells them , v. 17-20 . think not that i am come to dissolve or loosen the law , or the prophets : i am not come to dissolve , or loosen , but to make it full , or compleat ; by giving it you in its true and strict-sense . here we see he confirms , and at once reinforces all the moral precepts in the old testament . for verily i say to you , till heaven and earth pass , one jot or one tittle , shall in no wise pass from the law , till all be done . whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments , and shall teach men so , he shall be called the least , ( i. e. as it is interpreted ) shall not be at all , in the kingdom of heaven . v. 21. i say unto you , that except your righteousness , i. e. your performance of the eternal law of right , shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees , ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven : and then he goes on to make good what he said , v. 17. viz. that he was come to compleat the law , viz. by giving its full and clear sense , free from the corrupt and loosning glosses of the scribes and pharisees , v. 22-26 . he tells them , that not only murder , but causeless anger , and so much as words of contempt , were forbidden . he commands them to be reconciled and kind towards their adversaires ; and that upon pain of condemnation . in the following part of his sermon , which is to be read luke vi. and more at large , matt. v , vi , vii . he not only forbids actual uncleanness , but all irregular desires , upon pain of hell-fire ; causless divorces ; swearing in conversation , as well as forswearing in judgment ; revenge ; retaliation ; ostentation of charity , of devotion , and of fasting ; repetitions in prayer ; covetousness ; worldly care ; censoriousness : and on the other side , commands loving our enemies ; doing good to those that hate us ; blessing those that curse us ; praying for those that despightfully use us ; patience , and meekness under injuries ; forgiveness ; liberality , compassion : and closes all his particular injunctions , with this general golden rule , matt. vii . 12. all things whatsoever ye would have that men should do to you , do ye even so to them : for this is the law and the prophets . and to shew how much he is in earnest , and expects obedience to these laws ; he tells them luke vi. 35. that if they obey , great shall be their reward ; they shall be called , the sons of the highest . and to all this , in the conclusion , he adds this solemn sanction ; why call ye me lord , lord , and do not the things that i say ? 't is in vain for you to take me for the messiah your king , unless you obey me . not every one who calls me lord , lord , shall enter into the kingdom of heaven , or be sons of god ; but he that does the will of my father which is in heaven . to such disobedient subjects , though they have prophesied and done miracles in my name , i shall say at the day of judgment ; depart from me ye workers of iniquity , i know you not . when matt. xii . he was told , that his mother and brethren sought to speak with him , v. 49. stretching out his hands to his disciples , he said , be hold my mother and my brethren ; for whosoever shall do the will of my father , who is in heaven , he is my brother , and sister , and mother . they could not be children of the adoption , and fellow heirs with him of eternal life , who did not do the will of his heavenly father . matt. xv. and mark. vi. the pharisees finding fault , that his disciples eat with unclean hands , he makes this declaration to his apostles : do ye not perceive , that whatsoever from without entreth into a man , cannot defile him ; because it enters not into his heart , but his belly . that which cometh out of the man , that defileth the man : for from within , out of the heart of men , proceed evil thoughts , adulteries , fornicati-murders , thefts , false witnesses , covetousness , wickedness , deceit , laciviousness , an evil eye , blasphemy , pride , foolishness . all these ill things come from within , and defile a man. he commands self-denial , and the exposing our selves to suffering and danger , rather than to deny or disown him : and this upon pain of loosing our souls ; which are of more worth than all the world. this we may read , matt. xvi . 24-27 . and the parallel places , matt. viii . and luke ix . the apostles disputing amongst them , who should be greatest in the kingdom of the messiah , matt. xviii . 1. he thus determines the controversy : mark. ix . 35. if any one will be first , let him be last of all , and servant of all ; and setting a child before them adds , matt. xviii . 3. verily i say unto you , vnless ye turn , and become as children , ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven . mat. xviii . 15. if thy brother shall trespass against thee , go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone : if he shall hear thee , thou hast gained thy brother . but if he will not hear thee , then take with thee one or two more , that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established . and if he shall neglect to hear them , tell it to the church : but if he neglect to hear the church , let him be unto thee as an heathen and publican . v. 21. peter said , lord , how often shall my brother sin against me , and i forgive him ? till seven times ? iesus said unto him , i say not unto thee , till seven times ; but until seventy times seven . and then ends the parable of the servant , who being himself forgiven , was rigorous to his fellow-servant , with these words ; v. 34. and his lord was worth , and delivered him to the tormentors , till he should pay all that was due unto him . so likewise shall my heavenly father do also unto you , if you from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses . luke x25 . to the lawyer , asking him , what shall i do to inherit eternal life ? he said , what is written in the law ? how readest thou ? he answered , thou shalt love the lord thy god with all thy heart , and with all thy soul , and with all thy strength , and with all thy mind ; and thy neighbour as thy self . jesus said , this do , and thou shalt live . and when the lawyer , upon our saviour's parable of the good samaritan , was forced to confess , that he that shewed mercy , was his neighbour ; jesus dismissed him with this charge , v. 37. go , and do thou likewise . luke xi . 41. give alms of such things as ye have : behold , all things are clean unto you . luke xii . 15. take heed , and beware of covetousness . v. 22. be not sollicitous what ye shall eat , or what ye shall drink , nor what ye shall put on ; be not fearful , or apprehensive of want , for it is your father's pleasure to give you a kingdom . sell that you have , and give alms : and provide your selves bags that wax not old , and treasure in the heavens that faileth not : for where your treasure is , there will your heart be also . let your loyns be girded , and your lights burning ; and ye your selves like unto men that wait for the lord , when he will return . blessed are those servants , whom the lord when he cometh , shall find watching . blessed is that servant , whom the lord having made ruler of his houshold , to give them their portion of meat in due season , the lord , when he cometh , shall find so doing . of a truth i say unto you , that he will make him a ruler over all that he hath . but if that servant say in his heart , my lord delayeth his coming ; and shall begin to beat the men-servants , and maidens , and to eat and drink , and to be drunken : the lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him , and at an hour when he is not aware , and will cut him in sunder , and will appoint him his portion with vnbelievers . and that servant who knew his lord's will , and prepared not himself , neither did according to his will , shall be beaten with many stripes . for he that knew not , and did commit things worthy of stripes , shall be beaten with few stripes . for unto whomsoever much is given , of him shall be much required : and to whom men have committed much , of him they will ask the more . luke xiv . 11. whosoever exalteth himself , shall be abased : and he that humbleth himself , shall be exalted . v. 12. when thou makest a dinner or supper , call not thy friends , or thy brethren , neither thy kinsmen , nor thy neighbours ; lest they also bid thee again , and a recompence be made thee . but when thou makest a feast , call the poor and maimed , the lame , and the blind ; and thou shalt be blessed : for they cannot recompence thee : for thou shalt be recompenced at the resurrection of the iust. v. 33. so likewise , whosoever he be of you , that is not ready to forego all that he hath , he cannot be my disciple . luke xvi . 9. i say unto you , make to your selves friends of the mammon of vnrighteousness ; that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations . if ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon , who will commit to your trust the true riches ? and if ye have not been faithful in that which is another mans , who shall give you that which is your own ? luke xvii . 3. if thy brother trespass against thee , rebuke him ; and if he repent , forgive him . and if he trespass against thee seven times in a day , and seven times in a day turn again to thee , saying , i repent ; thou shalt forgive him . luke xviii . 1. he spoke a parable to them , to this end , that men ought always to pray , and not to faint . v. 18. one comes to him , and asks him , saying , master , what shall i do to inherit eternal life ? iesus said to him , if thou wilt enter into life , keep the commandments . he says , which ? iesus said , thou knowest the commandments : thou shalt not kill ; thou shalt not commit adultery ; thou shalt not steal ; thou shalt not bear false witness ; defraud not ; honour thy father , and thy mother ; and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self . he said , all these have i observed from my youth . iesus hearing this , loved him ; and said unto him , yet lackest thou one thing : sell all that thou hast , and give it to the poor , and thou shalt have treasure in heaven ; and come , follow me . to understand this right , we must take notice , that this young man asks our saviour , what he must do , to be admitted effectually into the kingdom of the messiah ? the jews believed , that when the messiah came , those of their nation that received him , should not die ; but that they , with those who being dead should then be raised again by him , should enjoy eternal life with him . our saviour , in answer to this demand , tells the young man , that to obtain the eternal life of the kingdom of the messiah , he must keep the commandments . and then enumerating several of the precepts of the law , the young man says , he had observed these from his childhood . for which , the text tells us , jesus loved him . but our saviour , to try whether in earnest he believed him to be the messiah , and resolved to take him to be his king , and to obey him as such , bids him give all he has to the poor , and come , and follow him ; and he should have treasure in heaven . this i look on to be the meaning of the place . this , of selling all he had , and giving it to the poor , not being a standing law of his kingdom ; but a probationary command to this young man ; to try whether he truly believed him to be the messiah , and was ready to obey his commands , and relinquish all to follow him , when he his prince required it . and therefore we see , luke xix . 14. where our saviour takes notice of the jews not receiving him as the messiah , he expresses it thou ; we will not have this man to reign over us . 't is not enough to believe him to be the messiah , unless we also obey his laws , and take him to be our king , to reign over us . mat. xxii . 11-13 . he that had not on the wedding-garment , though he accepted of the invitation , and came to the wedding , was cast into utter darkness . by the wedding-garment , 't is evident good works are meant here . that wedding-garment of fine linnen , clean and white , which we are told , rev. xix . 8. is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 righteous acts of the saints : or , as st. paul calls it , ephes. iv. 1. the walking worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called . this appears from the parable it self : the kingdom of heaven , says our saviour , v. 2. is like unto a king , who made a marriage for his son. and here he distinguishes those who were invited , into three sorts . 1. those who were invited , and came not ; i.e. those who had the gospel , the good news of the kingdom of god proposed to them , but believed not . 2. those who came , but had not on a wedding-garment ; i.e. believed iesus to be the messiah , but were not new clad ( as i may so say ) with a true repentance , and amendment of life ; nor adorned with those vertues , which the apostle , col. iii. requires to be put on . 3. those who were invited , did come , and had on the wedding-garment ; i.e. heard the gospel , believed iesus to be the messiah , and sincerely obeyed his laws . these three sorts are plainly designed here ; whereof the last only were the blessed , who were to enjoy the kingdom prepared for them . mat. xxiii . be not ye called rabbi : for one is your master , even the messiah , and ye all are brethren . and call no man your father upon the earth : for one is your father which is in heaven . neither be ye called masters : for one is your master , even the messiah . but he that is greatest amongst you , shall be your servant . and whosoever shall exalt himself , shall be abased ; and he that shall humble himself , shall be exalted . luke xxi . 34. take beed to your selves , lest your hearts be at any time over-charged with surfeiting and drunkenness , and cares of this life . luke xxii . 25. he said unto them , the kings of the gentiles exercise lordship over them ; and they that exercise authority upon them , are called benefactors . but ye shall not be so . but he that is greatest amongst you , let him be as the younger ; and he that is chief , as he that doth serve . john xiii . 34. a new commandment i give unto you , that ye love one another ; as i have loved you , that ye also love one another . by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples , if ye love one another . this command , of loving one another , is repeated again , chap. xv. 12. & 17. john xiv . 15. if ye love me , keep my commandments . v. 21. he that hath my commandments , and keepeth them , he it is that loveth me : and he that loveth me , shall be loved of my father , and i will love him , and manifest my self to him . v. 23. if a man loveth me , he will keep my words . v. 24. he that loveth me not , keepeth not my sayings . john xv. 8. in this is my father glorified , that ye bear much fruit ; so shall ye be my disciples . v. 14. ye are my friends , if ye do whatsoever i command you . thus we see our saviour not only confirmed the moral law ; and clearing it from the corrupt glosses of the scribes and pharisees , shewed the strictness as well as obligation of its injunctions ; but moreover , upon occasion , requires the obedience of his disciples to several of the commands he afresh lays upon them ; with the enforcement of unspeakable rewards and punishments in another world , according to their obedience , or disobedience . there is not , i think , any of the duties of morality , which he has not some where or other , by himself and his apostles , inculcated over and over again to his followers in express terms . and is it for nothing , that he is so instant with them to bring forth fruit ? does he their king command , and is it an indifferent thing ? or will their happiness or misery not at all depend upon it , whether they obey or no ? they were required to believe him to be the messiah ; which faith is of grace promised to be reckoned to them for the compleating of their righteousness , wherein it was defective : but righteousness , or obedience to the law of god , was their great business ; which if they could have attained by their own performances , there would have been no need of this gracious allowance , in reward of their faith : but eternal life , after the resurrection , had been their due by a former covenant , even that of works ; the rule whereof was never abolished , though the rigour were abated . the duties enjoyned in it were duties still . their obligations had never ceased ; nor a wilful neglect of them was ever dispensed with . but their past transgressions were pardoned , to those who received iesus , the promised messiah , for their king ; and their future slips covered , if renouncing their former iniquities , they entred into his kingdom , and continued his subjects , with a steady resolution and endeavour to obey his laws . this righteousness therefore , a compleat obedience and freedom from sin , are still sincerely to be endeavoured after . and 't is no where promised , that those who persist in a wilful disobedience to his laws , shall be received into the eternal bliss of his kingdom , how much soever they believe in him . a sincere obedience , how can any one doubt to be , or scruple to call , a condition of the new covenant , as well as faith ; whoever read our saviour's sermon in the mount , to omit all the rest ? can any thing be more express than these words of our lord ? mat. vi. 14. if you forgive men their trespasses , your heavenly father will also forgive you : but if ye forgive not men their trespasses , neither will your father forgive your trespasses . and ioh. xiii . 17. if ye know these things , happy are ye if ye do them . this is so indispensible a condition of the new covenant , that believing without it will not do , nor be accepted ; if our saviour knew the terms on which he would admit men into life . why call ye me lord , lord , says he , luke vi. 46. and do not the things which i say ? it is not enough to believe him to be the messiah , the lord , without obeying him . for that these he speaks to here , were believers , is evident , from the parallel place , matt. vii . 21-23 . where it is thus recorded : not every one who says lord , lord , shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that doth the will of my father , which is in heaven . no rebels , or refractory disobedient , shall be admitted there ; though they have so far believed in jesus , as to be able to do miracles in his name ; as is plain out of the following words . many will say to me in that day , have we not prophesied in thy name , and in thy name have cast out devils ; and in thy name have done many wonderful works ? and then will i profess unto them , i never knew you , depart from me ye workers of iniquity . this part of the new covenant , the apostles also , in their preaching the gospel of the messiah , ordinarily joined with the doctrine of faith. st. peter in his first sermon , acts ii. when they were pricked in heart , and asked , what shall we do ? says , v. 38. repent , and be baptized , every one of you , in the name of iesus christ , for the remission of sins . the same he says to them again in his next speech , acts iv. 26. vnto you first , god having raised up his son iesus , sent him to bless you . how was this done ? in tvrning away every one from yovr iniqvities . the same doctrine they preach to the high priest and rulers , acts v. 30. the god of our fathers raised up iesus , whom ye slew and hanged on a tree . him hath god exalted with his right hand , to be a prince and a saviour for to give repentance to israel , and forgiveness of sins ; and we are witnesses of these things , and so is also the holy ghost , whom god hath given to them that obey him . acts xvii . 30. paul tells the athenians , that now under the gospel , god commandeth all men every where to repent . acts xx. 21. st. paul in his last conference with the elders of ephesus , professes to have taught them the whole doctrine necessary to salvation . i have , says he , kept back nothing that was profitable unto you ; but have shewed you , and have taught you publickly , and from house to house ; testifying both to the iews and to the greeks : and then gives an account what his preaching had been , viz. repentance towards god , and faith towards our lord iesus the messiah . this was the sum and substance of the gospel which st. paul preached ; and was all that he knew necessary to salvation ; viz. repentance , and believing iesus to be the messiah : and so takes his last farewel of them , whom he should never see again , v. 32. in these words . and now brethren , i commend you to god , and to the word of his grace , which is able to build you up , and to give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified . there is an inheritance conveyed by the word and covenant of grace ; but it is only to those who are sanctified . acts. xxiv . 24. when felix sent for paul , that he and his wife drusilla might hear him , concerning the faith in christ ; paul reasoned of righteousness , or justice , and temperance ; the duties we owe to others , and to our selves ; and of the judgment to come ; till he made felix to tremble . whereby it appears , that temperance and iustice were fundamental parts of the religion that paul professed , and were contained in the faith which he preached . and if we find the duties of the moral law not pressed by him every where ; we must remember , that most of his sermons left upon record , were preached in their synagogues to the jews , who acknowledged their obedience due to all the precepts of the law : and would have taken it amiss to have been suspected , not to have been more zealous for the law than he . and therefore it was with reason that his discourses were directed chiefly to what they yet wanted , and were averse to ; the knowledge and imbracing of jesus their promised messiah . but what his preaching generally was , if we will believe him himself , we may see acts xxvi . where giving an account to king agrippa of his life and doctrine , he tells him , v. 20. i shewed unto them of damascus , and at ierusalem , and throughout all the coasts of iudea , and then to the gentiles , that they should repent and turn to god , and do works meet for repentance . thus we see , by the preaching of our saviour and his apostles , that he required of those who believed him to be the messiah , and received him for their lord and deliverer , that they should live by his laws : and that ( though in consideration of their becoming his subjects , by faith in him , whereby they believed and took him to be the messiah , their former sins should be forgiven ) yet he would own none to be his , nor receive them as true denizons of the new ierusalem , into the inheritance of eternal life ; but leave them to the condemnation of the unrighteous ; who renounced not their former miscarriages , and lived in a sincere obedience to his commands . what he expects from his followers , he has sufficiently declared as a legislator . and that they may not be deceived , by mistaking the doctrine of faith , grace , free-grace , and the pardon and forgiveness of sins and salvation by him , ( which was the great end of his coming ) he more than once declares to them ; for what omissions and miscarriages he shall judge and condemn to death , even those who have owned him , and done miracles in his name ; when he comes at last to render to every one according to what he hath done in the flesh ; sitting upon his great and glorious tribunal , at the end of the world. the first place where we find our saviour to have mentioned the day of judgment , is ioh. v. 28 , 29. in these words ; the hour is coming , in which all that are in their graves shall hear his [ i. e. the son of god's ] voice , and shall come forth ; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil , unto the resurrection of damnation . that which puts the distinction , if we will believe our saviour , is the having done good or evil . and he gives a reason of the necessity of his judging or condemning those who have done evil , in the following words ; v. 30. i can of my own self do nothing . as i hear i judge ; and my iudgment is just : because i seek not my own will , but the will of my father who hath sent me . he could not judge of himself ; he had but a delegated power of judging from the father , whose will he obeyed in it , and who was of purer eyes than to admit any unjust person into the kingdom of heaven . matt. vii . 22 , 23. speaking again of that day , he tells what his sentence will be , depart from me ye workers of iniquity . faith in the penitent and sincerely obedient , supplies the defect of their performances ; and so by grace they are made just. but we may observe ; none are sentenced or punished for unbelief ; but only for their misdeeds . they are workers of iniquity on whom the sentence is pronounced . matt. xiii . 14. at the end of the world , the son of man shall send forth his angels ; and they shall gather out of his kingdom all scandals , and them which do iniqvity ; and cast them into a furnace of fire ; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth . and again , v. 49. the angels shall sever the wicked from among the ivst ; and shall cast them into the furnace of fire . matt. xvi . 24. for the son of man shall come in the glory of his father , with his angels : and then be shall reward every man according to his works . luke xiii . 26. then shall ye begin to say ; we have eaten and drunk in thy presence , and thou hast taught in our streets . but he shall say , i tell you , i know you not ; depart from me ye workers of iniquity . matt. xxv . 21-26 . when the son of man shall come in his glory ; and before him shall be gathered all nations ; he shall set the sheep on his right hand , and the goats on his left : then shall the king say to them on his right hand , come ye blessed of my father , inherit the kingdom prepared for you , from the foundation of the world ; for , i was an hungred , and ye gave me meat ; i was thirsty , and ye gave me drink ; i was a stranger , and ye took me in ; naked , and ye cloathed me ; i was sick , and ye visited me ; i was in prison , and ye came unto me . then shall the righteous answer him , saying , lord , when saw we thee an hungred , and fed thee ? &c. and the king shall answer , and say unto them ; verily , i say unto you , in as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren , ye have done it unto me . then shall he say unto them on the left hand , depart from me , ye cursed , into everlasting fire , prepared for the devil and his angels . for i was an hungred , and ye gave me no meat ; i was thirsty , and ye gave me no drink ; i was a stranger , and ye took me not in ; naked , and ye cloathed me not ; sick and in prison , and ye visited me not . in so much that ye did it not to one of these , ye did it not to me . and these shall go into everlasting punishment : but the righteous into life eternal . these , i think , are all the places where our saviour mentions the last judgment ; or describes his way of proceeding in that great day : wherein , as we have observed , it is remarkable , that every where the sentence follows , doing or not doing ; without any mention of believing , or not believing . not that any to whom the gospel hath been preached , shall be saved , without believing iesus to be the messiah : for all being sinners , and transgressors of the law , and so unjust ; are all liable to condemnation ; unless they believe , and so through grace are justified by god for this faith , which shall be accounted to them for righteousness . but the rest wanting this cover , this allowance for their transgressions , must answer for all their actions : and being found transgressors of the law , shall by the letter , and sanction of that law , be condemned , for not having paid a full obedience to that law : and not for want of faith. that is not the guilt , on which the punishment is laid ; though it be the want of faith , which lays open their guilt uncovered ; and exposes them to the sentence of the law , against all that are unrighteous . the common objection here , is ; if all sinners shall be condemned , but such as have a gracious allowance made them ; and so are justified by god , for believing iesus to be the messiah , and so taking him for their king , whom they are resolved to obey , to the utmost of their power ; what shall become of all mankind , who lived before our saviour's time ; who never heard of his name ; and consequently could not believe in him ? to this , the answer is so obvious and natural , that one would wonder , how any reasonable man should think it worth the urging . no body was , or can be , required to believe what was never proposed to him , to believe . before the fulness of time , which god from the council of his own wisdom had appointed to send his son in ; he had at several times , and in rent manners , promised to the people of israel , an extraordinary person to come ; who , raised from amongst themselves , should be their ruler and deliverer . the time ; and other circumstances of his birth , life , and person ; he had in sundry prophesies so particularly described , and so plainly foretold , that he was well known , and expected by the jews ; under the name of the messiah , or anointed , given him in some of these prophesies . all then that was required before his appearing in the world , was to believe what god had revealed ; and to rely with a full assurance on god for the performance of his promise ; and to believe , that in due time he would send them the messiah ; this anointed king ; this promised saviour , and deliverer ; according to his word . this faith in the promises of god ; this relying and acquiescing in his word and faithfulness ; the almighty takes well at our hands , as a great mark of homage , paid by us poor frail creatures , to his goodness and truth , as well as to his power and wisdom ; and accepts it as an acknowledgment of his peculiar providence , and benignity to us . and therefore our saviour tells us , iohn xii . 44. he that believes on me , believes not on me ; but on him that sent me . the works of nature shew his wisdom and power : but 't is his peculiar care of mankind , most eminently discovered in his promises to them , that shews his bounty and goodness ; and consequently engages their hearts in love and affection to him . this oblation of an heart , fixed with dependance and affection on him , is the most acceptable tribute we can pay him ; the foundation of true devotion ; and life of all religion . what a value he puts on this depending on his word , and resting satisfied in his promises , we have an example in abraham ; whose faith was counted to him for righteousness ; as we have before remarked out of rom. iv. and his relying firmly on the promise of god , without any doubt of its performance ; gave him the name , of the father of the faithful ; and gained him so much favour with the almighty , that he was called the friend of god : the highest and most glorious title can be bestowed on a creature . the thing promised was no more , but a son by his wife sarah ; and a numerous posterity by him , which should possess the land of canaan . these were but temporal blessings ; and ( except the birth of a son ) very remote ; such as he should never live to see , nor in his own person have the benefit of . but because he questioned not the performance of it ; but rested fully satisfied in the goodness , truth , and faithfulness of god who had promised ; it was counted to him for righteousness . let us see how st. paul expresses it ; rom. iv. 18-22 . who , against hope , believed in hope , that he might become the father of many nations ; according to that which was spoken , so shall thy seed be . and being not weak in his faith , he considered not his own body now dead , when he was above an hundred years old ; neither yet the deadness of sarah 's womb. he staggered not at the promise of god through unbelief , but was strong in faith , giving glory to god ; and being fully perswaded , that what he had promised , he was able to perform . and therefore , it was imputed to him for righteousness . st. paul having here emphatically described the strength and firmness of abraham's faith , informs us ; that he thereby gave glory to god ; and therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness . this is the way that god deals with poor frail mortals . he is graciously pleased to take it well of them ; and give it the place of righteousness , and a kind of merit in his sight ; if they believe his promises , and have a steadfast relying on his veracity and goodness . st. paul heb. xi . 6. tells us ; without faith it is impossible to please god : but at the same time tells us what faith that is . for , says he , he that cometh to god , must believe that he is ; and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him . he must be perswaded of god's mercy and good will to those , who seek to obey him ; and rest assured of his rewarding those who rely on him , for whatever , either by the light of nature , or particular promises , he has revealed to them of his tender mercies ; and taught them to expect from his bounty . this description of faith ( that we might not mistake what he means by that faith , without which we cannot please god , and which recommended the saints of old ) st. paul places in the middle of the list of those who were eminent for their faith ; and whom he sets as patterns to the converted hebrews , under persecution ; to encourage them to persist in their confidence of deliverance by the coming of iesus christ ; and in their belief of the promises they now had under the gospel : not to draw back from the hope that was set before them ; nor apostatize from the profession of the christian religion . this is plain from v. 35-38 . of the precedent chapter : cast not away therefore your confidence , which hath great recompence of reward . for ye have great need of persisting , or perseverance ; ( for so the greek word signifies here , which our translation renders patience . vid. luke viii . 15. ) that after ye have done the will of god , ye might receive the promise . for yet a little while , and he that shall come will come , and will not tarry . now the just shall live by faith. but if any man draw back , my soul shall have no pleasure in him . the examples of faith , which st. paul enumerates and proposes in the following words , chap. xi . plainly shew , that the faith whereby those believers of old pleased god , was nothing but a steadfast relyance on the goodness and faithfulness of god , for those good things , which either the light of nature , or particular promises , had given them grounds to hope for . of what avail this faith was with god , we may see , v. 4. by faith abel offered unto god a more excellent sacrifice than cain ; by which he obtained witness that he was righteous . v. 5. by faith enoch was translated , that he should not see death : for before his translation he had this testimony , that be pleased god. v. 7. noah , being warned of god of things not seen as yet ; being wary , by faith prepared an ark , to the saving of his house ; by the which be condemned the world , and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. and what it was that god so graciously accepted and rewarded , we are told , v. 11. through faith also sarah her self received strength to conceive seed , and was delivered of a child ; when she was past age . how she came to obtain this grace from god , the apostle tells us ; because she judged him faithful who had promised . those therefore who pleased god , and were accepted by him before the coming of christ , did it only by believing the promises , and relying on the goodness of god , as far as he had revealed it to them . for the apostle , in the following words , tells us , v. 13. these all died in faith , not having received ( the accomplishment of ) the promises ; but having seen them afar off : and were perswaded of them , and embraced them . this was all that was required of them ; to be perswaded of , and embrace the promises which they had . they could be perswaded of no more than was proposed to them ; embrace no more than was revealed ; according to the promises they had received , and the dispensations they were under . and if the faith of things seen afar off ; if their trusting in god for the promises he then gave them ; if a belief of the messiah to come ; were sufficient to render those who lived in the ages before christ , acceptable to god , and righteous before him ; i desire those who tell us , that god will not , ( nay , some go so far as to say ) cannot accept any who do not believe every article of their particular creeds and systems ; to consider , why god , out of his infinite mercy , cannot as well justifie man now for believing iesus of nazareth to be the promised messiah , the king and deliverer ; as those heretofore , who believed only that god would , according to his promise , in due time send the messiah , to be a king and deliverer . there is another difficulty often to be met with , which seems to have something of more weight in it : and that is , that though the faith of those before christ ; ( believing that god would send the messiah , to be a prince , and a saviour to his people , as he had promised ; ) and the faith of those since his time , ( believing iesus to be that messiah , promised and sent by god ) shall be accounted to them for righteousness , yet what shall become of all the rest of mankind ; who having never heard of the promise or news of a saviour , not a word of a messiah to be sent , or that was come , have had no thought or belief concerning him ? to this i answer ; that god will require of every man , according to what a man hath , and not according to what he hath not . he will not expect the improvement of ten talents , where he gave but one ; nor require any one should believe a promise , of which he has never heard . the apostle's reasoning , rom. x. 14. is very just : how shall they believe in him , of whom they have not heard ? but though there be many , who being strangers to the common-wealth of israel , were also strangers to the oracles of god committed to that people ; many , to whom the promise of the messiah never came , and so were never in a capacity to believe or reject that revelation ; yet god had , by the light of reason , revealed to all mankind , who would make use of that light , that he was good and merciful . the same spark of the divine nature and knowledge in man , which making him a man , shewed him the law he was under as a man ; shewed him also the way of attoning the merciful , kind , compassionate author and father of him and his being , when he had transgressed that law. he that made use of this candle of the lord , so far as to find what was his duty ; could not miss to find also the way to reconciliation and forgiveness , when he had failed of his duty : though if he used not his reason this way ; if he put out , or neglected this light ; he might , perhaps , see neither . the law is the eternal , immutable standard of right . and a part of that law is , that a man should forgive , not only his children , but his enemies ; upon their repentance , asking pardon , and amendment . and therefore he could not doubt that the author of this law , and god of patience and consolation , who is rich in mercy , would forgive his frail off-spring ; if they acknowledged their faults , disapproved the iniquity of their transgressions , beg'd his pardon , and resolved in earnest for the future to conform their actions to this rule , which they owned to be just and right . this way of reconciliation , this hope of attonement , the light of nature revealed to them . and the revelation of the gospel having said nothing to the contrary , leaves them to stand and fall to their own father and master , whose goodness and mercy is over all his works . i know some are forward to urge that place of the acts , chap. iv. as contrary to this . the words , v. 10. & 12. stand thus : be it known unto you all , and to all the people of israel , that by the name of iesus christ of nazareth , whom ye crucified , whom god raised from the dead , even by him doth this man , [ i. e. the lame man restored by peter ] stand here before you whole . this is the stone which is set at nought by you builders , which is become the head of the corner . neither is there salvation in any other : for there is none other name under heaven given among men , in which we must be saved . which , in short , is ; that iesus is the only true messiah ; neither is there any other person but he given to be a mediator between god and man , in whose name we may ask and hope for salvation . it will here possibly be asked , quorsum perditio hoec ? what need was there of a saviour ? what advantage have we by iesus christ ? it is enough to justifie the fitness of any thing to be done , by resolving it into the wisdom of god , who has done it ; whereof our narrow understandings , and short views may utterly incapacitate us to judge . we know little of this visible , and nothing at all of the state of that intellectual world ; wherein are infinite numbers and degrees of spirits out of the reach of our ken or guess ; and therefore know not what transactions there were between god and our saviour , in reference to his kingdom . we know not what need there was to set up a head and a chieftain , in opposition to the prince of this world , the prince of the power of the air , &c. whereof there are more than obscure intimations in scripture . and we shall take too much upon us , if we shall call god's wisdom or providence to account , and pertly condemn for needless , all that that our weak , and perhaps biaffed vnderstandings , cannot account for . though this general answer be reply enough to the forementioned demand , and such as a rational man , or fair searcher after truth , will acquiesce in ; yet in this particular case , the wisdom and goodness of god has shewn it self so visibly to common apprehensions , that it hath furnished us abundantly wherewithal to satisfie the curious and inquisitive ; who will not take a blessing , unless they be instructed what need they had of it , and why it was bestowed upon them . the great and many advantages we receive by the coming of iesus the messiah , will shew that it was not without need , that he was sent into the world. the evidence of our saviour's mission from heaven is so great , in the multitude of miracles he did before all sorts of people ; ( which the divine providence and wisdom has so ordered , that they never were , nor could be denied by any of the enemies and opposers of christianity , ) that what he delivered cannot but be received as the oracles of god , and unquestionable verity . though the works of nature , in every part of them , sufficiently evidence a deity ; yet the world made so little use of their reason , that they saw him not ; where even by the impressions of himself he was easie to be found . sense and lust blinded their minds in some ; and a careless inadvertency in others ; and fearful apprehensions in most ( who either believed there were , or could not but suspect there might be , superiour unknown beings ) gave them up into the hands of their priests , to fill their heads with false notions of the deity , and their worship with foolish rites , as they pleased : and what dread or craft once began , devotion soon made sacred , and religion immutable . in this state of darkness and ignorance of the true god , vice and superstition held the world. nor could any help be had or hoped for from reason ; which could not be heard , and was judged to have nothing to do in the case : the priests every where , to secure their empire , having excluded reason from having any thing to do in religion . and in the croud of wrong notions , and invented rites , the world had almost lost the sight of the one only true god. the rational and thinking part of mankind , 't is true , when they sought after him , found the one , supream , invisible god : but if they acknowledged and worshipped him , it was only in their own minds . they kept this truth locked up in their own breast as a secret , nor ever durst venture it amongst the people ; much less amongst the priests , those wary guardians of their own creeds and profitable inventions . hence we see that reason , speaking never so clearly to the wise and vertuous , had never authority enough to prevail on the multitude ; and to perswade the societies of men , that there was but one god , that alone was to be owned and worshipped . the belief and worship of one god , was the national religion of the israelites alone : and if we will consider it , it was introduced and supported amongst that people by revelation . they were in goshen , and had light ; whilst the rest of the world were in almost egyptian darkness , without god in the world. there was no part of mankind , who had quicker parts , or improved them more ; that had a greater light of reason , or followed it farther in all sorts of speculations , than the athenians : and yet we find but one socrates amongst them , that opposed and laughed at their polytheism , and wrong opinions of the deity ; and we see how they rewarded him for it . whatsoever plato , and the soberest of the philosophers thought of the nature and being of the one god , they were fain , in their outward professions and worship , to go with the herd , and keep to the religion established by law ; which what it was , and how it had disposed the mind of these knowing , and quick-sighted grecians , st. paul tells us , acts xvii . 22-29 . ye men of athens , says he , i perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious . for as i passed by , and beheld your devotions , i found an altar with this inscription , to the vnknown god. whom therefore ye ignorantly worship , him declare i unto you . god that made the world , and all things therein , seeing that he is lord of heaven and earth , dwelleth not in temples made with hands : neither is worshipped with mens hands , as though he needed nay thing , seeing he giveth unto all life , and breath , and all things ; and hath made of one blood all the nations of men , for to dwell on the face of the earth ; and hath determined the times before appointed , and the bounds of their habitations ; that they should seek the lord , if haply they might feel him out , and find him , though he be not far from every one of us . here he tells the athenians , that they , and the rest of the world ( given up to superstition ) whatever light there was in the works of creation and providence , to lead them to the true god , yet they few of them found him . he was every where near them ; yet they were but like people groping and feeling for something in the dark , and did not see him with a full clear day-light ; but thought the godhead like to gold , and silver , and stone , graven by art and man's device . in this state of darkness and error , in reference to the true god , our saviour found the world. but the clear revelation he brought with him , dissipated this darkness ; made the one invisible true god known to the world : and that with such evidence and energy , that polytheism and idolatry hath no where been able to withstand it . but where ever the preaching of the truth he delivered , and the light of the gospel hath come , those mists have been dispelled . and in effect we see that since our saviour's time , the belief of one god has prevailed and spread it self over the face of the earth . for even to the light that the messiah brought into the world with him , we must ascribe the owning , and profession of one god , which the mahumetan religion had derived and borrowed from it . so that in this sense it is certainly and manifestly true of our saviour , what st. iohn says of him ; i iohn iii. 8. for this purpose the son of god was manifested , that he might destroy the works of the devil . this light the world needed , and this light it received from him : that there is but one god , and he eternal ; invisible ; not like to any visible objects , nor to be represented by them . if it be asked , whether the revelation to the patriarchs by moses , did not teach this , and why that was not enough ? the answer is obvious ; that however clearly the knowledge of one invisible god , maker of heaven and earth , was revealed to them ; yet that revelation was shut up in a little corner of the world ; amongst a people by that very law , which they received with it , excluded from a commerce and communication with the rest of mankind . the gentile world in our saviour's time , and several ages before , could have no attestation of the miracles , on which the hebrews built their faith , but from the iews themselves ; a people not known to the greatest part of mankind ; contemned and thought vilely of by those nations that did know them ; and therefore very unfit and unable to propagate the doctrine of one god in the world , and diffuse it through the nations of the earth , by the strength and force of that ancient revelation , upon which they had received it . but our saviour , when he came , threw down this wall of partition ; and did not confine his miracles or message to the land of canaan , or the worshippers at ierusalem . but he himself preached at samaria , and did miracles in the borders of tyre and sydon , and before multitudes of people gathered from all quarters . and after his resurrection , sent his apostles amongst the nations , accompanied with miracles ; which were done in all parts so frequently , and before so many witnesses of all sorts , in broad day-light , that , as i have often observed , the enemies of christianity have never dared to deny them ; no , not iulian himself : who neither wanted skill nor power to enquire into the truth ; nor would have failed to have proclaimed and exposed it , if he could have detected any falshood in the history of the gospel ; or found the least ground to question the matter of fact published of christ , and his apostles . the number and evidence of the miracles done by our saviour and his followers , by the power and force of truth , bore down this mighty and accomplished emperour , and all his parts , in his own dominions . he durst not deny so plain matter of fact ; which being granted , the truth of our saviour's doctrine and mission unavoidably follows ; notwithstanding whatsoever artful suggestions his wit could invent , or malice should offer , to the contrary . 2. next to the knowledge of one god ; maker of all things ; a clear knowledge of their duty was wanting to mankind . this part of knowledge , though cultivated with some care , by some of the heathen philosophers ; yet got little footing among the people . all men indeed , under pain of displeasing the gods , were to frequent the temples : every one went to their sacrifices and services : but the priests made it not their business to teach them virtue . if they were diligent in their observations and ceremonies ; punctual in their feasts and solemnities , and the tricks of religion ; the holy tribe assured them , the gods were pleased ; and they looked no farther . few went to the schools of the philosophers , to be instructed in their duties ; and to know what was good and evil in their actions . the priests sold the better pennyworths , and therefore had all the customs . lustrations and processions were much easier than a clean conscience , and a steady course of virtue ; and an expiatory sacrifice , that attoned for the want of it , was much more convenient , than a strict and holy life . no wonder then , that religion was every where distinguished from , and preferred to virtue ; and that it was dangerous heresy and prophaneness to think the contrary . so much virtue as was necessary to hold societies together ; and to contribute to the quiet of governments ; the civil laws of commonwealths taught , and forced upon men that lived under magistrates . but these laws , being for the most part made by such who had no other aims but their own power , reached no farther than those things , that would serve to tie men together in subjection ; or at most , were directly to conduce to the prosperity and temporal happiness of any people . but natural religion in its full extent , was no where , that i know , taken care of by the force of natural reason . it should seem by the little that has hitherto been done in it ; that 't is too hard a thing for unassisted reason , to establish morality in all its parts upon its true foundations ; with a clear and convincing light . and 't is at least a surer and shorter way , to the apprehensions of the vulgar , and mass of mankind ; that one manifestly sent from god , and coming with visible authority from him , should as a king and law-maker tell them their duties ; and require their obedience ; than leave it to the long , and sometimes intricate deductions of reason , to be made out to them : which the greatest part of mankind have neither leisure to weigh ; nor , for want of education and use , skill to judge of . we see how unsuccessful in this , the attempts of philosophers were before our saviour's time . how short their several systems came of the perfection of a true and compleat morality is very visible . and if , since that , the christian philosophers have much outdone them ; yet we may observe , that the first knowledge of the truths they have added , are owing to revelation : though as soon as they are heard and considered , they are found to be agreeable to reason ; and such as can by no means be contradicted . every one may observe a great many truths which he receives at first from others , and readily assents to , as consonant to reason ; which he would have found it hard , and perhaps beyond his strength to have discovered himself . native and original truth , is not so easily wrought out of the mine , as we who have it delivered , ready dug and fashon'd into our hands , are apt to imagine . and how often at fifty or threescore years old are thinking men told , what they wonder how they could miss thinking of ? which yet their own contemplations did not , and possibly never would have helped them to . experience shews that the knowledge of morality , by meer natural light , ( how agreeable soever it be to it ) makes but a flow progress , and little advance in the world. and the reason of it is not hard to be found ; in men's necessities , passions , vices , and mistaken interests , which turn their thoughts another way . and the designing leaders , as well as following herd , find it not to their purpose to imploy much of their meditations this way . or whatever else was the cause , 't is plain in fact ; humane reason unassisted , failed men in its great and proper business of morality . it never from unquestionable principles , by clear deductions , made out an entire body of the law of nature . and he that shall collect all the moral rules of the philosophers , and compare them with those contained in the new testament , will find them to come short of the morality delivered by our saviour , and taught by his apostles ; a college made up for the most part of ignorant , but inspired fishermen . though yet , if any one should think , that out of the sayings of the wise heathens , before our saviour's time , there might be a collection made of all those rules of morality , which are to be found in the christian religion ; yet this would not at all hinder , but that the world nevertheless stood as much in need of our saviour , and the morality delivered by him . let it be granted ( though not true ) that all the moral precepts of the gospel were known by some body or other , amongst mankind , before . but where or how , or of what use , is not considered . suppose they may be picked up here and there ; some from solon and bias in greece ; others from tully in italy : and to compleat the work , let confutius , as far as china , be consulted ; and anacarsis the scythian contribute his share . what will all this do , to give the world a compleat morality ; that may be to mankind , the unquestionable rule of life and manners ? i will not here urge the impossibility of collecting from men , so far distant from one another , in time , and place , and languages . i will suppose there was a stobeus in those times , who had gathered the moral sayings , from all the sages of the world. what would this amount to , towards being a steady rule ; a certain transcript of a law that we are under ? did the saying of aristippus , or confutius , give it an authority ? was zeno a lawgiver to mankind ? if not , what he or any other philosopher delivered , was but a saying of his . mankind might hearken to it , or reject it , as they pleased ; or as it suited their interest , passions , principles or humours . they were under no obligation : the opinion of this or that philosopher , was of no authority . and if it were , you must take all he said under the same character . all his dictates must go for law , certain and true ; or none of them . and then , if you will take any of the moral sayings of epicurus ( many whereof seneca quotes , with esteem and approbation ) for precepts of the law of nature ; you must take all the rest of his doctrine for such too ; or else his authority ceases : and so no more is to be received from him , or any of the sages of old , for parts of the law of nature , as carrying with it an obligation to be obeyed , but what they prove to be so . but such a body of ethicks , proved to be the law of nature , from principles of reason , and reaching all the duties of life ; i think no body will say the world had before our saviour's time . 't is not enough , that there were up and down scattered sayings of wise men , conformable to right reason . the law of nature , was the law of convenience too : and 't is no wonder , that those men of parts , and studious of virtue ; ( who had occasion to think on any particular part of it , ) should by meditation light on the right , even from the observable convenience and beauty of it ; without making out its obligation from the true principles of the law of nature , and foundations of morality . but these incoherent apohtegms of philosophers , and wise men ; however excellent in themselves , and well intended by them ; could never make a morality , whereof the world could be convinced , and with certainty depend on . whatsoever should thus be universally useful , as a standard to which men should conform their manners , must have its authority either from reason or revelation . 't is not every writer of morals , or compiler of it from others , that can thereby be erected into a law-giver to mankind ; and a dictator of rules , which are therefore valid , because they are to be found in his books ; under the authority of this or that philosopher . he that any one will pretend to set up in this kind , and have his rules pass for authentique directions ; must shew , that either he builds his doctrine upon principles of reason , self-evident in themselves ; or that he deduces all the parts of it from thence , by clear and evident demonstration : or must shew his commission from heaven ; that he comes with authority from god , to deliver his will and commands to the world. in the former way , no body that i know before our saviour's time , ever did ; or went about to give us a morality . 't is true there is a law of nature . but who is there that ever did , or undertook to give it us all entire , as a law ; no more , nor no less , than what was contained in , and had the obligation of that law ? who , ever made out all the parts of it ; put them together ; and shewed the world their obligation ? where was there any such code , that mankind might have recourse to , as their unerring rule , before our saviour's time ? if there was not , 't is plain , there was need of one to give us such a morality ; such a law , which might be the sure guide of those who had a desire to go right ; and if they had a mind , need not mistake their duty ; but might be certain when they had performed , when failed in it . such a law of morality , jesus christ hath given us in the new testament ; but by the later of these ways , by revelation . we have from him a full and sufficient rule for our direction ; and conformable to that of reason . but the truth and obligation of its precepts ; hath its force , and is put past doubt to us , by the evidence of his mission . he was sent by god : his miracles shew it ; and the authority of god in his precepts cannot be questioned . here morality has a sure standard , that revelation vouches , and reason cannot gainsay , nor question ; but both together witness to come from god the great law-maker . and such an one as this out of the new testament , i think the world never had , nor can any one say is any where else to be found . let me ask any one , who is forward to think that the doctrine of morality was full and clear in the world , at our saviour's birth ; whether would he have directed brutus and cassius , ( both men of parts and virtue , the one whereof believed , and the other disbelieved a future being ) to be satisfied in the rules and obligations of all the parts of their duties ; if they should have asked him where they might find the law , they were to live by , and by which they should be charged or acquitted , as guilty or innocent ? if to the sayings of the wise , and the declarations of philosophers ; he sends them into a wild wood of uncertainty , to an endless maze ; from which they should never get out : if to the religions of the world , yet worse : and if to their own reason , he refers them to that which had some light and certainty ; but yet had hitherto failed all mankind in a perfect rule ; and we see , resolved not the doubts that had risen amongst the studious and thinking philosophers ; nor had yet been able to convince the civilized parts of the world , that they had not given , nor could without a crime , take away the lives of their children , by exposing them . if any one shall think to excuse humane nature , by laying blame on men's negligence , that they did not carry morality to an higher pitch ; and make it out entire in every part , with that clearness of demonstration which some think it capable of ; he helps not the matter . be the cause what it will , our saviour found mankind under a corruption of manners and principles , which ages after ages had prevailed , and must be confessed was not in a way or tendency to be mended . the rules of morality were in different countries and sects , different . and natural reason no where had , nor was like to cure the defects and errors in them . those just measures of right and wrong , which necessity had any where introduced , the civil laws prescribed , or philosophy recommended ; stood not on their true foundations . they were looked on as bonds of society , and conveniencies of common life , and laudable practises . but where was it that their obligation was throughly known and allowed , and they received as precepts of a law ; of the highest law , the law of nature ? that could not be , without a clear knowledge and acknowledgment of the law-maker , and the great rewards and punishments , for those that would or would not obey him . but the religion of the heathens , as was before observed ; little concerned it self in their morals . the priests that delivered the oracles of heaven , and pretended to speak from the gods ; spoke little of virtue and a good life . and on the other side , the philosophers who spoke from reason , made not much mention of the deity in their ethicks . they depended on reason and her oracles ; which contain nothing but truth . but yet some parts of that truth lye too deep for our natural powers easily to reach , and make plain and visible to mankind , without some light from above to direct them . when truths are once known to us , though by tradition , we are apt to be favourable to our own parts ; and ascribe to our own understandings the discovery of what , in truth , we borrowed from others ; or , at least , finding we can prove what at first we learnt from others , we are forward to conclude it an obvious truth , which , if we had sought , we could not have missed . nothing seems hard to our understandings , that is once known ; and because what we see we see with our own eyes , we are apt to over-look or forget the help we had from others , who first shewed and pointed it out to us , as if we were not at all beholden to them for that knowledge ; which being of truths we now are satisfied of , we conclude our own faculties would have lead us into without any assistance ; and that we know them , as they did , by the strength and perspicuity of our own minds , only they had the luck to be before us . thus the whole stock of human knowledge is claimed by every one , as his private possession , as soon as he ( profiting by others discoveries ) has got it into his own mind ; and so it is : but not properly by his own single industry , nor of his own acquisition . he studies , 't is true , and takes pains to make a progress in what others have delivered ; but their pains were of another sort , who first brought those truths to light , which he afterwards derives from them . he that travels the roads now , applauds his own strength and legs , that have carried him so far in such a scantling of time ; and ascribes all to his own vigor , little considering how much he ows to their pains , who cleared the woods , drained the bogs , built the bridges , and made the ways passable ; without which he might have toiled much with little progress . a great many things we have been bred up in the belief of from our cradles , ( and are notions grown familiar , and as it were natural to us , under the gospel , ) we take for unquestionable obvious truths , and easily demonstrable ; without considering how long we might have been in doubt or ignorance of them , had revelation been silent . and many are beholden to revelation , who do not acknowlede it . 't is no diminishing to revelation , that reason gives its suffrage too to the truths revelation has discovered . but 't is our mistake to think , that because reason confirms them to us , we had the first certain knowledge of them from thence , and in that clear evidence we now possess them . the contrary is manifest , in the defective morality of the gentils before our saviour's time ; and the want of reformation in the principles and measures of it , as well as practice . philosophy seemed to have spent its strength , and done its utmost ; or if it should have gone farther , as we see it did not , and from undenyable principles given us ethicks in a science like mathematicks in every part demonstrable , this yet would not have been so effectual to man in this imperfect state , nor proper for the cure. the bulk of mankind have not leisure nor capacity for demonstration ; nor can carry a train of proofs ; which in that way they must always depend upon for conviction , and cannot be required to assent till they see the demonstration . wherever they stick , the teachers are always put upon proof , and must clear the doubt by a thread of coherent deductions from the first principle , how long , or how intricate soever that be . and you may as soon hope to have all the day-labourers and tradesmen , the spinsters and dairy maids perfect mathematicians , as to have them perfect in ethicks this way . hearing plain commands , is the sure and only course to bring them to obedience and practice . the greatest part cannot know , and therefore they must believe . and i ask , whether one coming from heaven in the power of god , in full and clear evidence and demonstration of miracles , giving plain and direct rules of morality and obedience , be not likelier to enlighten the bulk of mankind , and set them right in their duties , and bring them to do them , than by reasoning with them from general notions and principles of humane reason ? and were all the duties of humane life clearly demonstrated ; yet i conclude , when well considered , that method of teaching men their duties , would be thought proper only for a few , who had much leisure , improved understandings , and were used to abstract reasonings . but the instruction of the people were best still to be left to the precepts and principles of the gospel . the healing of the sick , the restoring sight to the blind by a word , the raising , and being raised from the dead , are matters of fact , which they can without difficulty conceive ; and that he who does such things , must do them by the assistance of a divine power . these things lye level to the ordinariest apprehension ; he that can distinguish between sick and well , lame and sound , dead and alive , is capable of this doctrine . to one who is once perswaded that jesus christ was sent by god to be a king , and a saviour of those who do believe in him ; all his commands become principles : there needs no other proof for the truth of what he says , but that he said it . and then there needs no more but to read the inspired books , to be instructed : all the duties of morality lye there clear , and plain , and easy to be understood . and here i appeal , whether this be not the surest , the safest , and most effectual way of teaching : especially if we add this farther consideration ; that as it suits the lowest capacities of reasonable creatures , so it reaches and satisfies , nay , enlightens the highest . and the most elevated understandings cannot but submit to the authority of this doctrine as divine ; which coming from the mouths of a company of illiterate men , hath not only the attestation of miracles , but reason to confirm it ; since they delivered no precepts but such , as though reason of it self had not clearly made out , yet it could not but assent to when thus discovered ; and think itself indebted for the discovery . the credit and authority our saviour and his apostles had over the minds of men , by the miracles they did ; tempted them not to mix ( as we find in that of all the sects of philosophers , and other religions ) any conceits ; any wrong rules ; any thing tending to their own by-interest , or that of a party ; in their morality . no tang of prepossession or phansy ; no footsteps of pride or vanity , ostentation or ambition , appears to have a hand in it . it is all pure , all sincere ; nothing too much , nothing wanting : but such a compleat rule of life , as the wisest men must acknowledge , tends entirely to the good of mankind : and that all would be happy , if all would practise it . 3. the outward forms of worshipping the deity , wanted a reformation . stately buildings , costly ornaments , peculiar and uncouth habits , and a numerous huddle of pompous , phantastical , cumbersome ceremonies , every where attended divine worship . this , as it had the peculiar name , so it was thought the principal part , if not the whole of religion . nor could this possibly be amended whilst the jewish ritual stood ; and there was so much of it mixed with the worship of the true god. to this also our saviour , with the knowledge of the infinite invisible supream spirit , brought a remedy ; in a plain , spiritual , and suitable worship . iesus says to the woman of samaria , the hour cometh , when ye shall neither in this mountain , nor yet at jerusalem , worship the father . but the true worshippers , shall worship the father , both in spirit and in truth ; for the father seeketh such to worship . to be worshipped in spirit and in truth ; with application of mind and sincerity of heart , was what god henceforth only required . magnificent temples , and confinement to certain places , were now no longer necessary for his worship ; which by a pure heart might be performed any where . the splendor and distinction of habits , and pomp of ceremonies , and all outside performances , might now be spared . god who was a spirit , and made known to be so , required none of those ; but the spirit only : and that in publick assemblies , ( where some actions must lie open to the view of the world ) all that could appear and be seen , should be done decently , and in order , and to edification . decency , order , and edification , were to regulate all their publick acts of worship ; and beyond what these required , the outward appearance , ( which was of little value in the eyes of god ) was not to go . having shut out indecency and confusions out of their assemblies , they need not be solicitous about useless ceremonies . praises and prayer , humbly offered up to the deity , was the worship he now demanded ; and in these every one was to look after his own heart , and know that it was that alone which god had regard to , and accepted . 4. another great advantage received by our saviour , is the great incouragement he brought to a virtuous and pious life : great enough to surmount the difficulties and obstacles that lie in the way to it ; and reward the pains and hardships of those , who stuck firm to their duties , and suffered for the testimony of a good conscience . the portion of the righteous has been in all ages taken notice of , to be pretty scanty in this world. virtue and prosperity , do not often accompany one another ; and therefore virtue seldom had many followers . and 't is no wonder she prevailed not much in a state , where the inconveniencies that attended her were visible , and at hand ; and the rewards doubtful , and at a distance . mankind , who are and must be allowed to pursue their happiness ; nay , cannot be hindred ; could not but think themselves excused from a strict observation of rules , which appeared so little to consist with their chief end , happiness ; whilst they kept them from the enjoyments of this life ; and they had little evidence and security of another . 't is true , they might have argued the other way , and concluded ; that , because the good were most of them ill treated here . there was another place where they should meet with better usage : but 't is plain , they did not . their thoughts of another life were at best obscure : and their expectations uncertain . of manes , and ghosts , and the shades of departed men , there was some talk ; but little certain , and less minded . they had the names of styx and acheron ; of elisian fields , and seats of the blessed : but they had them generally from their poets ▪ mixed with their fables . and so they looked more like the inventions of wit and ornaments of poetry , than the serious perswasions of the grave and the sober . they came to them bundled up amongst their tales ; and for tales they took them . and that which rendred them more suspected , and less useful to virtue , was , that the philosophers seldom set on their rules on men's minds and practises , by consideration of another life . the chief of their arguments were from the excellency of virtue : and the highest they generally went , was the exalting of humane nature . whose perfection lay in virtue . and if the priest at any time talked of the ghosts below , and a life after this , it was only to keep men to their superstitious and idolatrous rites ; whereby the use of this doctrine was lost to the credulous multitude ; and its belief to the quicker sighted , who suspected it presently of priest-craft . before our saviour's time , the doctrine of a future state , though it were not wholly hid , yet it was not clearly known in the world. 't was an imperfect view of reason ; or , perhaps the decay'd remains of an ancient tradition ; which rather seemed to float on mens phansies , than sink deep into their hearts . it was something , they knew not what , between being and not being . something in man they imagined might scape the grave : but a a perfect compleat life of an eternal duration , after this ; was what entred little into their thoughts , and less into their perswasions . and they were so far from being clear herein , that we see no nation of the world publickly professed it , and built upon it : no religion taught it : and 't was no where made an article of faith , and principle of religion till jesus christ came ; of whom it is truly said , that he at his appearing brought light and immortality to light . and that not only in the clear revelation of it ; and in instances shewn of men raised from the dead ; but he has given us an unquestionable assurance and pledge of it , in his own resurrection and ascention into heaven . how hath this one truth changed the nature of things in the world ? and given the advantage to piety over all that could tempt or deter men from it . the philosophers indeed shewed the beauty of virtue : they set her off so as drew mens eyes and approbation to her : but leaving her unendowed , very few were willing to espouse her . the generality could not refuse her their esteem and commendation ; but still turned their backs on her and forsook her , as a match not for their turn . but now there being put into the scales , on her side , an exceeding and immortal weight of glory ; interest is come about to her ; and virtue now is visibly the most enriching purchase , and by much the best bergain . that she is the perfection and excellency of our nature ; that she is her self a reward , and will recommend our names to future ages , is not all that can now be said for her . 't is not strange that the learned heathens satisfied not many with such airy commendations . it has another relish and efficacy , to perswade men that if they live well here , they shall be happy hereafter . open their eyes upon the endless unspeakable joys of another life ; and their hearts will find something solid and powerful to move them . the view of heaven and hell , will cast a slight upon the short pleasures and pains of this present state ; and give attractions and encouragements to virtue , which reason , and interest , and the care of our selves , cannot but allow and prefer . upon this foundation , and upon this only , morality stands firm , and may defy all competition . this makes it more than a name ; a substantial good , worth all our aims and endeavours ; and thus the gospel of jesus christ has delivered it to us . 5. to these i must add one advantage more we have by jesus christ , and that is the promise of assistance . if we do what we can , he will give us his spirit to help us to do what , and how we should . 't will be idle for us , who know not how our own spirits move and act us , to ask in what manner the spirit of god shall work upon us . the wisdom that accompanies that spirit , knows better than we how we are made , and how to work upon us . if a wise man knows how to prevail on his child , to bring him to what he desires ; can we suspect , that the spirit and wisdom of god should fail in it ; though we perceive or comprehend not the ways of his operation ? christ has promised it , who is faithful and just ; and we cannot doubt of the performance . 't is not requisite on this occasion , for the inhancing of this benefit , to enlarge on the frailty of our minds , and weakness of our constitutions ; how liable to mistakes , how apt to go astray , and how easily to be turned out of the paths of virtue . if any one needs go beyond himself , and the testimony of his own conscience in this point ; if he feels not his own errors and passions always tempting , and often prevailing , against the strict rules of his duty ; he need but look abroad into any age of the world to be convinced . to a man under the difficulties of his nature , beset with temptations , and hedged in with prevailing custom ; 't is no small encouragement to set himself seriously on the courses of virtue , and practise of true religion , that he is from a sure hand , and an almighty arm , promised assistance to support and carry him through . there remains yet something to be said to those who will be ready to object , if the belief of jesus of nazareth to be the messiah , together with those concomitant articles of his resurrection , rule , and coming again to judge the world , be all the faith required as necessary to justification , to what purpose were the epistles written ; i say , if the belief of those many doctrines contained in them , be not also necessary to salvation ? and if what is there delivered , a christian may believe or disbelieve , and yet nevertheless be a member of christ's church , and one of the faithful ? to this i answer , that the epistles were written upon several occasions : and he that will read them as he ought , must observe what 't is in them is principally aimed at ; find what is the argument in hand , and how managed ; if he will understand them right , and profit by them . the observing of this will best help us to the true meaning and mind of the writer : for that is the truth which is to be received and believed ; and not scattered sentences in scripture-language , accommodated to our notions and prejudices . we must look into the drift of the discourse , observe the coherence and connexion of the parts , and see how it is consistent with it self , and other parts of scripture ; if we will conceive it right . we must not cull out , as best suits our system , here and there a period or a verse ; as if they were all distinct and independent aphorisms ; and make these the fundamental articles of the christian faith , and necessary to salvation , unless god has made them so . there be many truths in the bible , which a good christian may be wholly ignorant of , and so not believe ; which , perhaps , some lay great stress on , and call fundamental articles , because they are the distinguishing points of their communion . the epistles , most of them , carry on a thread of argument , which in the stile they are writ , cannot every where be observed without great attention . and to consider the texts , as they stand and bear a part in that , is to view them in their due light , and the way to get the true sense of them . they were writ to those who were in the faith , and true christians already : and so could not be designed to teach them the fundamental articles and points necessary to salvation . the epistle to the romans was writ to all that were at rome beloved of god , called to be saints , whose faith was spoken of through the world , chap. 1. 7 , 8. to whom st. paul's first epistle to the corinthians was , he shews , chap i. 2. 4. &c. vnto the church of god which is at corinth , to them that are sanctified in christ iesus , called to be saints ; with all them that in every place call upon the name of iesus christ our lord , both theirs and ours . i thank my god always on your behalf , for the grace of god which is given you by iesus christ ; that in every thing ye are enriched by him in all utterance , and in all knowledge : even as the testimony of christ was confirmed in you . so that ye come behind in no gift ; waiting for the coming of the lord iesus christ. and so likewise the second was , to the church of god at corinth , with all the saints in achaia , chap. i. 1. his next is to the churches of galatia . that to the ephesians was , to the saints that were at ephesus , and to the faithful in christ iesus . so likewise , to the saints and faithful brethren in christ at colosse , who had faith in christ iesus , and love to the saints . to the church of the thessalonians . to timothy his son in the faith. to titus his own son after the common faith. to philemon his dearly beloved , and fellow-labourer . and the author to the hebrews calls those he writes to , holy brethren , partakers of the heavenly calling , chap. iii. 1. from whence it is evident , that all those whom st. paul writ to , were brethren , saints , faithful in the church , and so christians already ; and therefore wanted not the fundamental articles of the christian religion ; without a belief of which they could not be saved : nor can it be supposed , that the sending of such fundamentals was the reason of the apostle's writing to any of them . to such also st. peter writes , as is plain from the first chapter of each of his epistles . nor is it hard to observe the like in st. iames and st. iohn's epistles . and st. iude directs his thus : to them that are sanctified by god the father , and preserved in iesus christ , and called . the epistles therefore being all written to those who were already believers and christians , the occasion and end of writing them , could not be to instruct them in that which was necessary to make them christians . this 't is plain they knew and believed already ; or else they could not have been christians and believers . and they were writ upon particular occasions ; and without those occasions had not been writ ; and so cannot be thought necessary to salvation : though they resolving doubts , and reforming mistakes , are of great advantage to our knowledge and practice . i do not deny , but the great doctrines of the christian faith are dropt here and there , and scattered up and down in most of them . but 't is not in the epistles we are to learn what are the fundamental articles of faith , where they are promiscuously , and without distinction mixed with other truths in discourses that were ( though for edification indeed , yet ) only occasional . we shall find and discern those great and necessary points best in the preaching of our saviour and the aples , to those who were yet strangers , and ignorant of the faith , to bring them in , and convert them to it . and what that was , we have seen already out of the history of the evangelists , and the acts ; where they are plainly laid down , so that no body can mistake them . the epistles to particular churches , besides the main argument of each of them , ( which was some present concernment of that particular church to which they severally were address'd ) do in many places explan the fundamentals of the christian religion ; and that wisely ; by proper accommodations to the apprehensions of those they were writ to , the better to make them imbibe the christian doctrine , and the more easily to comprehend the method , reasons , and grounds of the great work of salvation . thus we see in the epistle to the romans , adoption ( a custom well known amongst those of rome ) is much made use of , to explain to them the grace and favour of god , in giving them eternal life ; to help them to conceive how they became the children of god , and to assure them of a share in the kingdom of heaven , as heirs to an inheritance . whereas the setting out , and confirming the christian faith to the hebrews , in the epistle to them , is by allusions and arguments , from the ceremonies , sacrifices , and oeconomy of the jews , and reference to the records of the old testament . and as for the general epistles , they , we may see , regard the state , and exigencies , and some peculiarities of those times . these holy writers , inspired from above , writ nothing but truth ; and in most places very weighty truths to us now ; for the expounding , clearing , and confirming of the christian doctrine , and establishing those in it who had embraced it . but yet every sentence of theirs must not be taken up , and looked on as a fundamental article necessary to salvation ; without an explicit belief whereof , no body could be a member of christ's church here , nor be admitted into his eternal kingdom hereafter . if all , or most of the truths declared in the epistles , were to be received and believed as fundamental articles , what then became of those christians who were fallen asleep ? ( as st. paul witnesses in his first to the corinthians , many were ) before these things in the epistles were revealed to them ? most of the epistles not being written till above twenty years after our saviour's ascension , and some after thirty . but farther , therefore , to those who will be ready to say , may those truths delivered in the epistles , which are not contained in the preaching of our saviour and his apostles , and are therefore by this account not necessary to salvation , be believed , or disbelieved without any danger ? may a christian safely question or doubt of them ? to this i answer , that the law of faith , being a covenant of free grace , god alone can appoint what shall be necessarily believed by every one whom he will justifie . what is the faith which he will accept and account for righteousness , depends wholly on his good pleasure . for 't is of grace , and not of right , that this faith is accepted . and therefore he alone can set the measures of it : and what he has so appointed and declared , is alone necessary . no body can add to these fundamental articles of faith ; nor make any other necessary , but what god himself hath made and declared to be so . and what these are , which god requires of those who will enter into , and receive the benefits of the new covenant , has already been shewn . an explicit belief of these , is absolutely required of all those to whom the gospel of jesus christ is preached , and salvation through his name proposed . the other parts of divine revelation are objects of faith , and are so to be received . they are truths whereof none that is once known to be such , may or ought to be disbelieved . for to acknowledge any proposition to be of divine revelation and authority , and yet to deny or disbelieve it , is to offend against this fundamental article and ground of faith , that god is true . but yet a great many of the truths revealed in the gospel , every one does , and must confess , a man may be ignorant of ; nay , disbelieve , without danger to his salvation : as is evident in those , who allowing the authority , differ in the interpretation and meaning o several texts of scripture , not thought fundamental : in all which 't is plain the contending parties , on one side or tother , are ignorant of , nay , disbelieve the truths delivered in holy writ ; unless contrarieties and contradictions can be contained in the same words , and divine revelation can mean contrary to it self . though all divine revelation requires the obedience of faith ; yet every truth of inspired scriptures is not one of those , that by the law of faith is required to be explicitly believed to justification . what those are , we have seen by what our saviour and his apostles proposed to , and required in those whom they converted to the faith. those are fundamentals ; which 't is not enough not to disbelieve : every one is required actually to assent to them . but any other proposition contained in the scripture , which god has not thus made a necessary part of the law of faith , ( without an actual assent to which he will not allow any one to be a believer ) a man may be ignorant of , without hazarding his salvation by a defect in his faith. he believes all that god has made necessary for him to believe , and assent to : and as for the rest of divine truths , there is nothing more required of him , but that he receive all the parts of divine revelation , with a docility and disposition prepared to imbrace , and assent to all truths coming from god ; and submit his mind to whatsoever shall appear to him to bear that character . where he , upon fair endeavours , understands it not ; how can he avoid being ignorant ? and where he cannot put several texts , and make them consist together ; what remedy ? he must either interpret one by the other , or suspend his opinion . he that thinks that more is , or can be required , of poor frail man in matters of faith , will do well to consider what absurdities he will run into . god out of the infiniteness of his mercy , has dealt with man as a compassionate and tender father . he gave him reason , and with it a law : that could not be otherwise than what reason should dictate ; unless we should think , that a reasonable creature , should have an unreasonable law. but considering the frailty of man , apt to run into corruption and misery , he promised a deliverer , whom in his good time he sent ; and then declared to all mankind , that whoever would believe him to be the saviour promised , and take him now raised from the dead , and constituted the lord and judge of all men , to be their king and ruler , should be saved . this is a plain intelligible proposition ; and and the all-merciful god seems herein to have consulted the poor of this world , and the bulk of mankind . these are articles that the labouring and illiterate man may comprehend . this is a religion suited to vulgar capacities ; and the state of mankind in this world , destined to labour and travel . the writers and wranglers in religion fill it with niceties , and dress it up with notions ; which they make necessary and fundamental parts of it ; as if there were no way into the church , but through the academy or lyceum . the bulk of mankind have not leisure for learning and logick , and superfine distinctions of the schools . where the hand is used to the plough , and the spade , the head is seldom elevated to sublime notions , or exercised in mysterious reasonings . 't is well if men of that rank ( to say nothing of the other sex ) can comprehend plain propositions , and a short reasoning about things familiar to their minds , and nearly allied to their daily experience . go beyond this , and you amaze the greatest part of mankind : and may as well talk arabick to a poor day labourer , as the notions and language that the books and disputes of religion are filled with ; and as soon you will be understood . the dissenting congregations are supposed by their teachers to be more accurately instructed in matters of faith , and better to understand the christian religion , than the vulgar conformists , who are charged with great ignorance ; how truly i will not here determine . but i ask them to tell me seriously , whether half their people have leisure to study ? nay , whether one in ten of those who come to their meetings in the country , if they had time to study them , do or can understand , the controversies at this time so warmly managed amongst them , about justification , the subject of this present treatise . i have talked with some of their teachers , who confess themselves not to understand the difference in debate between them . and yet the points they stand on , are reckoned of so great weight , so material , so fundamental in religion , that they divide communion and separate upon them . had god intended that none but the learned scribe , the disputer or wise of this world , should be christians , or be saved , thus religion should have been prepared for them ; filled with speculations and niceties , obscure terms , and abstract notions . but men of that expectation , men furnished with such acquisitions , the apostle tells us , i cor. i. are rather shut out from the simplicity of the gospel ; to make way for those poor , ignorant , illiterate , who heard and believed promises of a deliverer ; and believed jesus to be him ; who could conceive a man dead and made alive again , and believe that he should at the end of the world , come again , and pass sentence on all men , according to their deeds . that the poor had the gospel preached to them ; christ makes a mark as well as business of his mission . mat. xi . 5. and if the poor had the gospel preached to them , it was , without doubt , such a gospel , as the poor could understand , plain and intelligible : and so it was , as we have seen , in the preachings of christ and his apostles . finis . printed for a. & j. churchil , in pater-noster-row . a view of universal history from the creation to 1695. wherein the most remarkable persons and things in the known kingdoms and countries of the world are set down in several columns , by way of synchronism , according to their proper centuries and years . in 16 copper plates . by f. talents , a. m. a compleat journal of both houses of parliament throughout the whole reign of q. elizabeth . by sir symonds dewes , knight . fol. notitia monastica : or , a history of all the religious houses in england and wales , &c. 8vo . by tho. tanner . the resurrection of the ( same ) body , asserted from the tradition of the heathens , the ancient jews , and the primitive church . with an answer to the objections brought against it . by humph. hody , d. d. octavo . bishop wilkins of prayer and preaching , enlarged by the bp. of norwich and dr. williams . octavo . the gentleman's religion , with grounds and reasons of it . 20. by a private gentleman . dr. patrick's new version of all the psalms of david . 120. to be sung in churches . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a48888-e280 gen. iii. 17-19 .