rem con

vel faltem

ous in the Heroes of the Gentile World. And for the Encouragement of those that are deftitute of the Advantages of Riches and Honours, of Authority and Learning, to use their Diligence and Zeal in the Inftances I have given, or in any other Expreffions of their Duty for the Promoting ofthis Work, I will put them t Si quis in mind, that it hath been long obferved, that fiderare the Perfons who have been thought to have velit, omperformed the braveft Actions, and done the nes eos greatest Service to the World, have frequent- maximam ly been Men of obfcure Birth and Parentage, partem who were without Riches and Honours, and qui in hoc often, I conceive, without Learning; of which toto tera multitude of Inftances might be given, if tumor'twas neceffary here to infert them. That ftantiores though 'tis freely allowed, that Authority and aggreffi Quality, when they are accompanied with inter cæ Virtue, as they ought to be, or when they are teros ævi the Rewards of it, which too feldom hap- excelluepens, are truly honourable, and enable thofe runt, aut that have them to be more ferviceable to the obfcuro Interest of Religion, and the Good of Mankind, je&to lo

*

eorum,

be res præ

funt, atq;

fui heroes

aut ab

co editos, & prognatos fuiffe abjectis parentibus. Non eft prætereundum maximorum virorum plerofque patres ignoratos, matres impudicas fuiffe, Scaliger.

*Alii pro pecunia emunt Nobilitatem, alii illam lenocinio, alii veneficiis, alii parricidiis; multis perditio nobilitatem conciliat, pleriq; adulatione, detractione, calumniis, &c. Agrippa de vanit. Scien.

Aude aliquid brevibus gyaris, aut carcere dignum, Si vis effe aliquid.

Indigniffimus digniffimo præfertur, plerunque illaudatus laudatiffiIlle crucem fceleris pretium tulit, hic diadema,

mo.

nium re

terarum

temperan

T

which is their proper Business; but when they are feparated from Virtue, they render those

that poffefs them truly fcandalous, and highly *Ut om- pernicious. 'Tis true likewife, That when rum fic li- Learning is moderately pursued, and for the Service of Religion, and Good of the World, quoque, in it is both innocent and laudable, and the Adtia labore- vantages of it for thofe ends are confeft; yet mus, Sen. tis plain, from too fad Experience, that 'tis Ep. 106. too generally fought upon bafe Confiderations, and frequently applied to very ill Purpofes; as is allow'd, when 'tis made ufe of for the Raifing of Herefies, the Adulterating or Confounding the Simplicity of the Chriftian Doctrine with Philofophical Notions and Diflinctions, or to the raifing and continuing of unneceffary and dangerous difputes out of Pride and Vanity, of Paffion or Worldly Intereft, to the disturbing of the Peace of the Church, the Ruine of Charity, and manifest Injury of Religion. † But as Virtue may be obtained without great Natural parts, or acquired Knowledge, as is evident by the Lives of the common Body of Chriftians in the first Ages,and Nobili- is honourable without any Ornaments from Birth and Honour, Authority or Learning; fo quàm it makes Men capable of doing much good: Let them confider not only this; but further,

+ Paucis opus eft literis ad

mentem

bonam.

tas nil a

liud fit

Cognita

virtus,

2

quis in eo quem veterafcentem videat ad gloriam, generis antiquitatem defiderat ? Sed genus & proavos & quæ non fecimus ipfi, Vix ea noftra voco. Tota licet veteres exornent undique cera atria, Nobilitas fola est atque unica virtus.

That

I

27.

That it pleases Almighty God fometimes, as it feems, to raise the Spirits of Men above their natural pitch for great Performances, to make ufe of mean and contemptible Inftruments, in Humane Appearance, to bring about the great Ends of his Providence, whereby his Wildom and Power is more vifible, and the Pride of Man is more humbled; and that among the various inftances of this kind, which Sacred and Prophane History acquaint us with, he did fo in the Publishing of Christianity, when he chofe the foolish things of the World to con- 1 Cor. 1. found the Wife, and the weak things of the World to confound the things which are Mighty: when he Commiffioned a few mean and illiterate Perfons to Preach the Gospel, which notwithstanding prevailed over the Policy and Learning, the Worldly Interest and Prejudice, the Strength and Oppofition of the World; and that as then not many Wife Men after the Flesh, 1 Cor 1. not many Mighty, not many Noble were called; fo in the Ages fince, though there hath been of all Conditions, as well Noble, as Ignoble; Learned, as Illiterate; Kings, and Philofophers; Emperours, and Statef-men, who have been truly devoted to Religion, and have shewed the mighty Power and Energy of it, and adorned the Ages in which they have lived yet it hath been a general Obfervation among Heathens as well as Chriftians, and 'tis a terrible one for great Men to reflect upon, K 4 *That

;

I

26.

ant animi

Prima pe

runt fe

molles.

Luxuri- *That Riches and Honours do in the Nature rebus ple- of them tend to corrupt Men's Minds, are runque fe- great Clogs to Wisdom, mighty Obftructions cundis. in the Business of the Chriftian Warfare to regrinos thofe that poffefs them: And therefore, That obfcoena the Great and the Noble are too generally dipecunia mores in- verted and carried away from the One thing netulit, tur- cesary, the working out of their own Salvatipi fregeon, and confequently their being concerned cula luxu for that of others, by the violent TemptatiDivitiæ ons that their Condition expofes and fubjects Pecuniis them to, which Perfons of a lower Rank are augetur much without; wherefore our Saviour hath improbi affur'd us how hard it is for a Rich Man to enDivitiæ ter into the Kingdom of Heaven; out of a feculi funt fenfe whereof a great number of Chriftians in boli. most, if not all Ages, have refused Titles and Diviti Honours, and have renounced Riches and tutis funt Worldly Grandeur: Nay, Princes and Potencomites. tates, Kings and Queens, have forfaken their Crowns, their Fortunes and Territories, for a privata bo- fafe and happy Retirement: And it accordingna funt. ly appears, by the Account that is given of quem ni- the Endeavours that have been fo fuccessfull miumfo- towards a National Reformation, That as they tum facit. Were not begun, fo they have not been affift

tas.

laquei dia

rarò vir

Pietas, pro

bitas, fides,

Fortuna

vet, ftul

ed by many of the Rich and Mighty, but by Matth.19. Perfons of a lower Rank, who fubmitted to be 23, 24 reckoned Difturbers of the publick Peace, Im

prudent and Hypocritical Perfons, &c. as the Chriftians of cld were by the Heathens, and

as

).

as fuch will hardly fail to be who in a corrupt Age fhall faithfully go about to convince fome Men of their Lukewarmnefs and neglect of their Duty, and to disturb the Generality in their Vices, for the effecting a National Reformation; who were willing, I fay, to bear the Cenfures, the cruel Mockings, and the Frowns of the World, and perhaps fome of them to hazard their Lives for the Vindicating of the Honour of the Laws of God, the Good of Souls, and the Service of their Country; and that though it may perhaps be expected from the Character of fome few of the Great and Noble among us, who feem to be much more honourably diftinguifh'd from those of their own Rank, by their Virtue, than they are from those below them, by their Quality, that they have it in their Inclinations, as it seems to be in their Power, with God's Bleffing, to. be Inftruments of Reforming us from publick Prophaneness and Immoralities; yet, that 'tis ftill to be feared, that great Men will not generally at least obtain of themselves to declare for oppreffed Virtue, and engage in its Cause till it hath regained its Reputation more generally in the World, and it is accounted a Mark of greater Infamy to be vicious.

Prophaneness and Debauchery have, in truth, been ever Infamous in the Opinions of the wife and good Men in all Ages of the World, and treated as fuch by the Religion

and