Charitable reproof a sermon preached at the Church of St. Mary-le-Bow to the Societies for Reformation of Manners, the 25th of March, 1700 / by the Right Reverend Father in God, Gilbert Lord Bishop of Sarum. Burnet, Gilbert, 1643-1715. 1700 Approx. 38 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 16 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2004-03 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A30327 Wing B5766 ESTC R3956 13677248 ocm 13677248 101250 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. A30327) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 101250) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 839:5) Charitable reproof a sermon preached at the Church of St. Mary-le-Bow to the Societies for Reformation of Manners, the 25th of March, 1700 / by the Right Reverend Father in God, Gilbert Lord Bishop of Sarum. Burnet, Gilbert, 1643-1715. Societies for the Reformation of Manners. [2], 28, [1] p. Printed for Ri. Chiswell ..., London : 1700. "Published at the request of the said societies." 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. 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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 Bible. -- O.T. -- Proverbs V, 6 -- Sermons. 2003-11 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-11 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2003-12 Mona Logarbo Sampled and proofread 2003-12 Mona Logarbo Text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion Charitable Reproof . A SERMON Preached at The Church of St. Mary-le-Bow , TO THE SOCIETIES FOR Reformation of Manners , The 25th of MARCH 1700. By the Right Reverend Father in God , GILBERT Lord Bishop of SARUM . Published at the Request of the said Societies . LONDON : Printed for Ri. Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Pauls Church-Yard . 1700. 27 Proverbs 5 , 6. Open rebuke is better than secret love . Faithful are the wounds of a friend ; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful . SElf-Love is so natural to us , that as it makes us apt to flatter our selves on all occasions , so it inclines us to accept too easily of the flatteries of all others ; even those flatteries which Decency makes us turn away from , and seem to dislike , are hearkned to by us : We open our Ears to them ; we lay them up in our Memory , and do often please our selves with vain Reflections on them . But we are so little accustomed to find fault with our selves , or to reflect on our Errors and Follies , that when Thoughts of that kind break in upon us , we fly from them ; we impute them to Vapours , to Fits of the Spleen and Melancholly . Our unwillingness to know our own Faults , or to be humbled under the sense of them , makes us uneasy when any venture on the most charitable , but often the most unacceptable Act of Friendship , the telling us of our Faults . If it is possible , we will either deny or extenuate them : or if Sense and good Breeding makes us civil to such Friends , yet we will feel a Sharpness arise , we will Love them the less for it ; and if we can , we will be ready to revenge our selves by returning some Admonitions to them ; perhaps not without some Acrimony of Look or Stile . All this arises from the partiality and injustice with which we treat our selves , which must incline us to love others the better , who treat us in the same manner . But as long as we have Faults , it is very fit that we be made acquainted with them : And since we are too much blinded in our own favour , it is a great Happiness to fall into the hands of such Friends as will not spare us : It is better that we should hear of them even from Enemies , than to be kept in an Ignorance that must be fatal . There are few in the World who do not commend Friendship as the chief Happiness of Life , and are not ready to run out upon the advantages of having found a true and faithful Friend ; and yet even those who are very copious upon so common a Theme , do not much care for the best Offices of Friendship . No man can perform this Act of Friendship , without some force put upon himself ; unless there is a great mixture of Roughness and Superciliousness in his Temper . Few love to touch a tender part , or to grieve a person who is dear to them . Therefore the harder it is to reprove another , it ought to be the more valued , and the better received . Caresses and Congratulations pass easily among Friends : These are the common and natural Vents of Friendship . Reproofs and Admonitions go against the grain ; therefore Friends ought to encourage them , let their Friends know , that they expect them , and by the good Entertainment that they give the first Essays made of this kind , to secure themselves of a continuance of the like Freedom . Solomon understood well the happiness of having an ancient , and as it were a hereditary Friend made sure of ; therefore he says a little after the words of my Text , Thine own Friend , and thy Father's Friend , forsake not . And in the words I have read , he sets out the best use and effect of Friendship . In the preceding words he had set out the Mischiefs that may arise from Wrath and Anger , which are cruel and outragious : To which he adds , But who can stand before Envy ? Wrath and Anger are commonly provoked by ill usage , or injury ; so Innocence may protect a man from them : But Envy is an ill-natur'd passion , that is raised without any provocation . The Vertues , or the Reputation , the Prosperity and Happiness of others , set men on to detract from their Fame , or undermine their Happiness , without any prospect of advantage to themselves . Men therefore whose Qualities , as well as their Condition , expose them to Envy , though they must expect their share in it , yet are by my Text directed to the best Methods to prevent the advantages that Spiteful men may take ; for if their Friends are before-hand with their Enemies in their Reproofs , and if they themselves are so wise as to be corrected by their means , then envious Men will not find much matter to work on . Their Friends see their Faults while they are yet secret , before they break out into open observation ; so by the kind severity of their rebukes , they save them that shame , which the discoveries that Envy will soon make , may bring upon them . Open rebuke is better than secret love . A Friendship that carries a man to rebuke another plainly and roundly , with a due measure of severity , is better then secret Love ; that is , a fond , tender , and indulgent Love , that may be sincere and deep , but is so blind and feeble , as either not to see Faults in their Friends ; or if they see any , not to be able to disturb their Quiet by seasonable Reproofs . Another sense is given to these words ; Open , that is , publick rebuke , is better than secret love ; that is , rebuke in secret . Some can bear Reproofs in secret , but are not the better for them ; therefore in such Cases , though we ought always to begin our Admonitions in private , according to our Saviour's Rule ; yet when these do not prevail , we ought to rebuke before all , that if the Offender is not reclaimed by it , yet that others may fear . This is chiefly to take place when mens sins are so publick , that they go before to judgment , and do as it were extort it . Such wounds , when given by a friend with a good design , and in a proper method , are faithful , that is , they are sincere , they are proofs of his Fidelity to the Ties of Friendship , they will also attain their End ; and as the Incisions of a Skilful Surgeon are faithful , and do quickly heal again , so such Rebukes will have a good effect . Others render the word , Beautiful ; there is nothing more amiable in True Friendship , than so exact and just a Freedom , as makes a man neither to overlook nor to neglect the Faults of his Friend . On the other hand , the Kisses or Caresses of an Enemy , who covers his Hatred with the Shews of Friendship , and with a dissembled Behaviour , who kisses on design to betray , as Iudas did his Master ; These are deceitful ; they are false in them ; they flatter persons to their faces , for those very Faults for which they will censure them severely in Corners : they are also deceitful , while they see people commit Faults which they hope will be their ruin ; and yet lest they should find that out , and prevent their ruin by seasonable Correction , they study to humour them in them , that they may become Incorrigible , and be Infallibly ruined by them . But the word may be also rendred frequent and earnest , or hard and pressing , as well as deceitful . The sense will then be , the Kisses or Caresses of an Enemy will be redoubled ; they will be officious in them both in season and out of season . Flatterers , when they perceive that their base Obsequiousness is acceptable , they follow close upon that Scent ; they are Assiduous and Abject in it . And whereas Friends are cautious , and must wait fit Opportunities to reprove , Flatterers find Access at all times , and are ever Applauding every thing that is either said or done by him , whom they hope either to subdue or ruin by their mean Compliances . Nor is it easy to shake off that servile Crew ; their kisses are hard ; they strike against a weak part ; few Men are wise enough to find them out , or strong enough to resist them . Some are so course in their Flatteries , that they must quickly be nauseated ; but Men of Design , who have the Art to season their Flattery , to hit right in it , and are dextrous in the Methods of offering it , are often too hard for Men , who in all other respects may be very valuable , but in this only do really lessen themselves , by suffering others to magnify them too much . Thus I have opened the various Rendrings of the Words of my Text ; all amount to the same sense in general , That we do then express our Friendship in the best manner , when we do plainly and openly Reprove our Friends for their Faults , which will be much more useful to them than any Fondness , how deep or tender soever , when it makes us excessively Indulgent to them . Such Reproofs may be as Wounds , and give a very painful Uneasiness : but even that will be Medicinal ; it will bring our Faults into View , and into our Remembrance ; when we see that others observe us , it will bring us into a habit of looking more carefully to our selves , and of observing all our Words and Actions with due Attention : Whereas on the other hand , Enemies , who have no other Regards but for their own Ends , or perhaps for our Ruin , they will by frequent Flatteries , well timed , and skilfully infused , so corrupt our Minds , that as they will render us more uneasy to the Rebukes of our true and faithful Friends , so they will feed our Self-love to such a height , that we shall be thereby exposed to Errors that may end very fatally , and make us perish unpitied , as well as live inexcusable . The Words thus opened , do lead us to examine our Obligations to this Duty of Reproving others : That will be soon setled , if we do consider the Zeal that we owe to God and to his Honour . If the zeal of his house does as it were eat us up , then the reproaches of those who do as it were attack and defy him , will fall on us . We will feel a lively concern in us for the Honour of Religion ; and when we see it dishonoured , we will interpose , if it were but to express a just Indignation at Impiety and Vice. If we have any regard to the Concerns of other Men , whether with respect to this Life , or to the next ; and more particularly if we are under strict Ties of Kindred , Friendship , or any other Relation to them ; but chiefly if we watch over their Souls , and must give an account of them ; then certainly we will not so far hate our brother in our heart , as to suffer sin upon him , but will in one way or another reprove him , lest by such a vicious feebleness we bring his blood on our own head ; that is , entitle our selves to a share in the Judgments that those Sins which we connived at may bring down both on him and on us . Eli had a large share of Punishment for his Remisness to his Sons : We have Sins enough of our own , we need not therefore take an additional Load of partaking in other mens sins ; and indeed , if we desire to keep our selves pure , and to maintain in our Minds a just abhorrence of Sin , we ought never to contract so easy a neighbourhood and familiarity with it , even in others , as to let it pass without feeling an indignation at it , and expressing that in the properest methods we can fall on . We owe it to the Society we live in , and to the next Generation that is growing up before us , to take care that Sins , especially open ones , and such as are apt to spread and infect others , should be either repressed by secret Reproofs , or the Sinners be brought to open Shame and Punishment , that such as see the one , may likewise see or hear of the other . If Sins grow National , and are avowedly practised without Shame or Check , they will probably be put to the account of the whole Nation , and so they may draw down National Judgments , from which we have no reason to expect an Exemption , if we do not except our selves , by doing our duty in order to their correction : But when that is done , we may expect a distinction , even in a common Calamity ; or at least we shall have this comfort , even if we are overwhelm'd in it , that we were not wanting in our Endeavours to stave it off , by putting a stop to those Sins that brought it on . I will dwell no longer on this ; for how little soever some may like Reproof , as generally those who need it most , like it least ; yet all will agree in the general , That it is absolutely necessary for the preserving the Order and Peace of Society , that there should be both Reprovers to admonish , and Magistrates to punish Offenders . It is therefore more necessary to shew how this ought to be managed to the best advantage , and with the most probable hopes of succeeding in it . The first and most necessary Rule , is that given by our Saviour , That no man should offer to reprove another , who is eminently and notoriously faulty himself ; he who having a beam before his eye , does not remove that , but goes about to take a small chip of wood out of his neighbour's eye , does justly lay himself open , according to our Saviour's words , to the Imputation of hypocrisy . The aversion that is in every man to the being subject to the Corrections of others , will then rise up into a just Indignation , when he finds that he is thus set on , by a man who is known to be more guilty than himself . It is an impudent thing to make that pass for a crime in another , which we know we are practising every day our selves . Nor is it enough to authorize a man to be a Monitor , that he does not offend just in that sort and manner for which he blames others . He must be a man of Integrity in all respects ; Education , Age , Habits , and the different Circumstances of Life , may make a great diversity with relation to particular Sins ; yet both Virtue and Vice are complicated Things ; and if a man is in some parts of his Life irregular , especially if he lives in those Sins that carry a Train along with them , his Reproofs cannot have a great Effect . Let a man be ever so sober and temperate , yet if he is false and deceitful , if he is unjust and spiteful , those things which require Thought and Study , and in which Men do pursue a design , and where they are not convinced of their Faults , nor redress them by restoring or repairing that in which they have wronged others ; all this man's Reproofs will be thrown off , as soon as it is known how crafty or false he is : they will be reckon'd among the Arts of Hypocrisy , by which he studies to gain some Credit and Authority , that it may help him to go on in his other wicked Practices , and may at least keep him long from being suspected of them , or discovered in them ; for a man who passes for a grave Admonisher of others , seems to be thereby covered from all black Imputations . I am afraid some Discoveries of this sort that have been made , may have brought a Scandal upon all Pretenders to Religion : For as there is no Principle nor Party in Religion that can support Men in those deceitful Practices ; so no man is guilty of them , but he himself knows it , he goes into them with Deliberation and Study , and he lives in them still , till by as full a restitution as he can possibly make , he has compleated his Repenting of them . After all , it is not enough to qualify a man to rebuke with authority , that he cannot be charged with as bad things as those are for which he blames others ; he must shine as a light in the world ; there must be something Eminent and Exemplary in his whole Deportment . His Candor and Integrity , his Humility and Meekness , his Modesty and Charity , must be so conspicuous , that his light may thereby shine before others ; and then he may more reasonably hope , that others may be wrought on both by his Example and Influence to glorify his Father which is in Heaven . Another Rule to be observed in Reproving is , to do it in such a manner , that it may appear we are their Friends whom we reprove , and that we Correct them for their own Good. Some by indulging too much to a sharp and morose Temper , reprove with an acrimony and heat , that is liker to provoke than to gain upon any : We ought to reprove in kindness ( for so the words of the Psalm may be rendred ) and then those smitings will be as an excellent oil that will not break their heads whom we reprove . The tenderness we express will enforce our Admonitions , and it will raise the spirits of those , whom freer Reproofs might otherwise Repress too much : As therefore we ought ▪ chiefly when we begin to deal with any in this way , to address our Reproofs in the softest manner possible , and shew while we Reprove others , a readiness in our selves to submit to the like Reproofs from them , so we ought to watch all occasions in which it may be in our power to do acts of kindness to them ; that having by this means got some interest in their affections ▪ we may have thereby the more credit with them . We ought to be ready to own how near we our selves may have been in other parts of our life to those very faults for which we blame them . We ought to make our first essays at fit times and in the likeliest way to succeed , in private , or in a Letter ; thus to make our approaches in the properest manner , that so we may conquer and gain him whom we take to task ; and we must be sure to join with the Severity that may be necessary , such mollifying strokes as may secure to us a ready access for the future , if there is occasion to return again to the like Admonitions ; but then tho we must rise in the severities of our stile , yet we ought never to sink in the expressions of our affection , as long as we have any hopes of succeeding in the way of private Admonition . But the most comprehensive Rule in the management of Reproofs , is to order them with discretion and prudence ; otherwise all we can do that way will have no effect ; we will pass either for hypocritical , morose , supercilious , or fantastical Men. This is a thing of great extent , and may be so much diversified , that it will not be easy to bring it all under clear and certain Rules ; but some few of the more obvious are to be considered . First , With relation to the things for which we find fault with others , they ought to be of some Importance : In trifles it is not worth the while to reprove . To stand too nicely upon small matters , may give others such a mean opinion of our Understanding , that our Admonitions on greater occasions will make no impression , because they have been often applied to such inconsiderable things . The insisting too much on a peculiar Cut of the Hair , as was too common in the last Age , or on Modes of Dress , is a sure way to bring our Reproofs into such Contempt , that all we can offer at , will look like Affectation or Singularity . We ought not to lay too much weight on small or disputable things , but should proportion our Zeal to the importance of the Matters we are concerned for . We ought also to have some good reason to believe Men to be guilty of those things for which we deal roundly with them . It is hard enough to submit to Reproof even when Men know that they do deserve it , but if they know they are Innocent , they will very naturally justify themselves , they will accuse their Reprovers as Credulous and Uncharitable , and will not fail to put them in mind at another time when reproved , though they know themselves guilty , how that upon another occasion they were unjustly suspected and blamed ; therefore when we do Reprove , we ought to make just allowances for the false Reports that go in the World , and be ready both to be disabused by them , or at least to make all the just abatements that in reason can be supposed , and be ready rather to lessen than to aggravate the Offence . Another measure of Discretion is with relation to the Persons to whom we may address our Reproofs ; generally speaking , Junior or Inferior Persons ought not to Reprove those who are above them in Age and Rank ; yet some Exceptions must be made even to this , for Old Men are not always Wise. Our Saviour after he had given the Rule which I named first of all , of Correcting our own greater faults before we presume to blame others for lesser ones , adds another that will require great attention , Give not that which is holy unto the dogs , neither cast ye your pearls before swine , lest they trample them under their feet , and turn again and rend you . Some Men are of so boisterous and insolent a Temper , that we can have no reason to believe they will be the better for Reproof , or that they are capable of bearing it . They will probably turn upon us with fury , and ask us , What right we have to tell them of their Faults : Perhaps to revenge themselves , they will treat us opprobriously and charge us falsely with gross faults for no other reason , but because we have offered some charitable Reproofs to them : These are the Persons meant by our Saviour under the Figure of dogs , who will turn upon us and rend us , by all the injuries they can think on . Others are as Swine so brutal and impudent , so depraved and stupid , that they despise all that can be laid before them . When it appears that our Admonitions are like either to have no effect at all , or to have bad ones , we may reckon that we are not under the common Obligations of Reproving , if there are no probabilities of our succeeding in them . Another measure of Discretion to be used in Reproving , is to chuse the time of doing it as nicely as we can ; but even in this , caution must be used : Commonly speaking , Afflictions bring Men into a temper fit for being the better for Admonition ; but some may sink so much under their burthen , that it may be too severe to lay more load upon them . In sickness , as the danger may be greater , so the Obligation is more indispensable : But in all those cases it will be necessary to use a due mixture of Skill , as well as Fidelity , that we may not add affliction to the afflicted , more than is absolutely necessary both for the good of those concerned , and for the discharge of our own Consciences . A prudent method in addressing Reproof , we see in Nathan , who though he acted upon an immediate Commission from God , yet introduced that severe Message he had to David by a Parable , which engaged him before he saw into the Prophet's design , to pronounce his own Condemnation . A Man may furnish himself with many Stories of what passes daily in the World , by the telling of which he may prepare a Person to bear with his freedom : In some of those Stories a guilty Person may find both his faults and the consequences of them so plainly set forth , that if he does not feel that , he would not feel , or at least he would not bear a closer application . But the last and chief Rule in managing Reproof , is to order it so , that it may not pass barely as a finding fault with another upon some general and popular Notions , which will have no great operation , but that it may carry with it so full a Conviction , that he who is Reproved may see that there is great and just causes for such Admonitions . I shall in this descend to Instances of two sorts , which relate to some of those things , the Correcting of which is chiefly designed by these Societies . When we Reprove any for entring into that lewd commerce of forbidden pleasure , at which the corruption of Youth does commonly begin ; we ought to let them see , that if they break through the measures of Modesty , their Appetites will grow more and more violent and unruly . These will be for some time resisted by the checks of Conscience ; but when by ill practices often repeated , those are blunted , and young Men free themselves from stricter Rules , this will involve them in ill designs , these will draw them into much lying , and many base methods to support the expence of a vitious course of life . They will become slothful in all their Affairs , and thus their care and industry being once slackned , they have no reason to hope that they can succeed in their business , as they can have none to expect a Blessing from God upon their endeavours . Nor can they go long or far in those unlawful pleasures , but they will be discovered , and by that they must suffer much in their Reputation ; for though Men may take too much pleasure in lewd Company , yet few care to deal with such Persons , or put any confidence in them : And this is all evident , besides the ill effects that such a course of life may have on their Persons and Families ; for if the Banks of Modesty are once cut through , they are seldom made up again ; such a course of life must strangely agitate the Mind between the violence of passion , and the fear of a discovery : This must let in such a black train of base and cursed thoughts upon a Man's Mind , and must set him at such a distance from God and all Religious Exercises , that the setting this in a true light before one , with such stories as may be easily pick'd up to confirm from daily experience what is thus to be set out ; all this , I say , may through the Blessing of God , make a deep Impression , and raise stedfast Resolutions of keeping this Sin at the greatest distance , by not entring into those liberties , into that conversation , and into those nearnesses to it , which may be fatal , and must certainly be so , where Nature is so strong on the side of Sin , that it ought not to be too much trusted to . Another instance of managing Reproofs shall be given in the Sin of Swearing . It is a common , but a very unbecoming answer , when Men are told of their Swearing , I ask you Pardon , I did not think on 't : As if the Offence were against a Mortal like our selves , and not against the Sovereign Lord of Heaven and Earth : Much as if a Subordinate Magistrate finding fault for a high Offence committed against the King , should be so answered . Alas ! how small is the Offence committed against us in comparison of the dishonour done to God! And it aggravates the Sin when a Man is so habituated to it , that he falls into it without reflection , or so much as knowing that he had so transgressed . But if a Man who has unhappily accustomed himself to this cursed Dialect , will be so far calm as to hearken to what may be offered to him , it may be fit to shew him that the root of all Religion is a Veneration for the Deity , and that nothing weakens this more , than a Custom of thinking and speaking slightly of God ; nothing is more unbecoming the dread that ought to possess us , and the awe of God under which we ought to live , than this profane practice ; which is so contrary to all decency and just respect : Besides , no Man goes into the habit of common Swearing , but he will be very apt to support Falsehoods with repeated Oaths ; and the more he sees he is suspected , he will study to fortify his credit by whole peals of them ; though such as do not believe a Man upon his Word , are seldom convinced by the frightfullest Oaths he can bring forth , which do rather serve to increase than to lay jealousy . Now if we have any right Notions of God , we must conclude that an Oath being an Appeal to him , a false Oath is an Appeal to him as it were to vouch for our Lies : And if no Honest Man could with patience hear another appeal to him to give credit to a Lie , What do we think of the God of Truth , if we can imagine that false Oaths will go unpunished ? This matter may be carried yet further , to shew what dismal consequences arise from the habit of common Swearing : Nothing tends more visibly to the perverting the course of Justice , and the dissolving our whole Government , which turns much upon Swearing , than a vicious habit that takes away the fear of an Oath . He who never Swears but upon great and just occasions , comes to it full of dread , and full of the Impressions that arise from a belief of the Attributes of God : Whereas he to whom common practice has made Oaths become familiar , cannot have that fear of an Oath that is necessary to strike the sense of an Obligation from it deep into his Conscience . England is the Nation of the whole World that has studied the most to secure it self by Oaths . All Employments are entred upon by peculiar Oaths ; many of these are very large and comprehensive . How great is the extent of the Oath of a Grand Jury ? Does not all matters of Life and Death , as well as of Property , turn upon the regard that Jurors have to their Oath ? so that Blood-shed , or Property , given unjustly by their Verdict , must lie heavy on them ; and to bind it the heavier , they take the Oath of God upon them to give a just Verdict . The Evidence given upon Oath , is that which must direct both Judge and Jury . A Man must have strangely subdued his Conscience that dares prevaricate and go against it , when he is under the quick sense of an Oath newly taken . When Men are once corrupted to such a degree , there is an end of all Justice and Order . How far are we got into this ? What loud complaints do we hear every where of Sets of Suborned Witnesses , and of Partial Juries ? The Obligations to Justice and Equity ought to be strong of themselves , nothing can force them more than these sacred Bonds of a solemn Appeal to God. But can Men , whose common Dialect is made up of Oaths and Imprecations , consider an Oath so much as to be under any deep Impressions of dread and horror from it ? Oaths of Magistrates , or Men in other Employments , are very Comprehensive , and too soon let go out of their Minds . It were a good method to enter such Oaths as one takes , in a Book that comes often in view , that so it may be frequently considered as a powerful motive to engage him to the faithful discharge of his Duty . It were to be wished , that the Oaths of Magistrates were more explicite ; but Men of Conscience will consider Oaths well before they come to take them , that so they may make a true judgment whether they think they can or will keep them , and accordingly they will either avoid the occasions of being entangled by them , or if they do take them , they will be governed exactly by them . Upon the whole matter , when all this is laid together , it will appear that the cursed habit of common Swearing , has so many ill tendencies and effects , that there being nothing on the other hand to recommend it , but a depraved Custom , every one will soon see , what need there is to watch over himself , till he wears out of that profane and impious Stile ; and if he is not watchful enough over himself , he will easily be convinced , how much he is obliged to those to help him to be more careful ; when all he suffers by it , is that at the expence of a little trouble and shame , and a small Forfeit , he is taught to keep his Tongue with more caution . And now I have done with all that I intend to say from my Text : It remains that I say somewhat with relation to the occasion of our Meeting together at this time . We have enjoyed a long continuance of Peace and Plenty ; even a long and devouring War has made no great Impression : We have been safe and quiet at home , when all the World about us was in a flame . Nor has the great expence of the War altered the face of Plenty every where : I am sorry to say it , our Luxury and Vanity , the Symptoms of an overflowing Plenty , have not lessened upon all that Charge ; I wish it were not too visible , that they increase upon us . We may remember how near we were to great dangers ; it is not so long since we saw a Cloud gathered and set over our heads , that we had reason to fear was to burst out in Storms and Tempests ; and must have thrown us into terrible Convulsions , if not into utter Ruin. All this went over with so little disturbance that we scarce felt our Danger , till we were Delivered from it ; and after a War that gave so melancholy a prospect , in a course of many Years , we are now at Peace with all the World abroad : But , alas ! Are we at Peace with God or among our selves ? Does not Impiety and Atheism , that walk abroad without either fear or shame , seem to dare and defy God even to his Face ? This is such a plain Revolt from God , and a rising , as it were , up against him , that we have no reason to think that he will not at last arise and visit for all these things . How soon can he withdraw his Defence ? And then how easily may that which we rely on be blasted ? Storms may shatter our Fleets , and if God should for our Sins deliver us so far to an Enemy that they should but once Land upon us , How naked and defenceless are we ? How soon must all be over-run ? And what a scene of Confusion and Pillage , of desolation and Ruin would quickly open upon us ? But we need not another Enemy than our selves ; we are going into such strong and deeply rooted Animosities , our hatred to one another , our jealousy of one another , our quarrels and factions , do so increase , and are growing to such a height , that if no Temper can be found , and if there is no Interposition from the Goodness of God , or the Wisdom of Men , to put a stop to the progress of all these Evils , they must end fatally at last ; we may go on to bite and devour one another , till in conclusion we are consumed one of another . What can put a stop to all these sad things that we may justly fear ? A general Reformation is too great a Blessing to be soon hoped for . In these matters Men seldome go all of the sudden from one extreme to another . God knows how near we are the extreme of an universal Depravation . It gives us some small beginnings of hope , that in and about this great City , from which the Nation is apt to take its ply , whither to good or bad ; there has been for some years past a Spirit stirring , that looks like a reviving , as if even our dry bones could live : A Spirit of true devotion , a seriousness in the service of God , a frequency at Sacrament , with a Zeal for Religion and against Vice , shew themselves upon many eminent occasions , as if by a noble Opposition the more that the Men of Impiety shew themselves , and enter into Clubs and Confederacies to advance their wicked designs , the Spirit of Zeal should take fire from thence , and be fortified by the joint endeavours of those , who while many say , It is Vain to serve God , and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance ? those who fear the Lord speak often one to another . Their words how secret soever are heard by God , and all is entred in a book of remembrance written for them that fear the Lord , and that think of his name , for they shall be his ; and in that day when he makes up his jewels , he will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him . Blessed be God for this door of hope which he is thus opening to us ! and Blessed be they of the Lord who have offered themselves so willingly before him and before all the People ! Their Name shall be of a good Savour in the present and in the succeeding Generations , who have begun the first to set forward so noble a Design , to put a stop to so many vicious practices , and to raise a true Spirit of Piety and Virtue among us . These are the salt of the earth , the Pillars of it , and the light of the world . Go on you noble Christians , shine more and more as patterns of those Virtues which you endeavour to recommend to others . Your Enemies wait for your halting , that by your Errors they may bring up a scandal upon Religion and Godliness . The publick Crimes of some who pretended highly , brought within our memory such an ill reputation upon Religion , that we have laboured under the ill effects of those prejudices ever since . This we hope will make you the more watchful and diligent , lest by your means the Name of God should be agains Blasphemed . Go on and see to the Execution of the Laws , but do it with a Zeal becoming the Gospel , and not with a Pharisaical or bitter Zeal . Be not discouraged , neither by the slow progress that you can make , nor by the contradiction and slanders that you may meet with . Go on and prosper , for great is your Reward in Heaven ; and while you study to repair the Breaches that are made in the House of God , you may hope that God will build up Houses for you and your Posterity , and will at last receive you into Everlasting Habitations . To whom be Glory for ever . FINIS . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A30327-e160 Ver. 10. 18 S. Matth. 15. 1 Tim. 4. 20. 24 Verse . 69 Psal. 9. 19 Lev. 17. 33 Ezek. 6. 1 Sam. 2. 13. 1 Tim. 5 22. 7 Matth. 3 , 4 , 5. 2 Phil. 15. 5 Matth 16. Ps. 141. 5. Matt. 7. 6. 2 Sam. 12. Malac. 3. 14 , 16 , 17.