either in place or value. So undifcernable will be the difference between the greateft Queen and the meaneft Servant, when Death, that great Leveller, fhall have mix'd them; there will be no inquifition in the Grave, who came Embalm'd or Perfum'd thither; and, as a Learned Man fays, the Ulcers of Lazarus will make as good duft as the Paint of Jezebel.

19. BUT I fhall be thought to have outrun my Subject, and inftead of that amiable Image of Affability, and univerfal obligingnefs, the great Ornament of Life, to introduce the grim figure of Death, that fullen Executioner, whom no Gift, no Prayers, can mollify. Yet I cannot yield it wholly impertinent; for as it's final ftroke cures all the infirmities of the Body, fo the forefight and contemplation of it, is as much a Catholicon for all the maladies of the Mind; especially that of infolence and difdain. For fure they cannot much pride themselves in any Exaltation, that remember they muft finally fall into the duft: nor arrogantly defpife others, who confider that themselves fhall one day be infulted over by Worms and Infects. Such mental descents into the Vault or Charnel-house, are the beft difciplines for the demeanour in other places, according to the Admonition of the Wife Man, Remember thy end, and thou shalt never do amifs.

SECT.

I.

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SECT. V.

Of Piety.

ASTLY, To Compleat and Crown all other Excellencies, nothing is fo proper, fo neceffary, as Piety and Devotion. This is the Salt which feafons all Sacrifices; yea, the Altar which fanctifies the Gift; no good (how fplendid foever in the fight of Man) being acceptable to God, 'till it be thus Confecrated, and have this feal of the Sanctuary upon it. This is a Vertue truely Divine, as well in it's original as it's end; for as it comes from Heaven, (is an afflation of the bleffed Spirit) fo it tends thither also, and thither raifes it's Votaries. This is it which fublimates and fpiritualizes Humanity, defecates and refines it from all the dregs of Mortality, and fo wings our Earthly lumpish Nature, that we can foar aloft to the Region of Spirits, and by it's Raptures, make fome Effay of that ftate of Separation, even while we are link'd to the Body. This is it which combines us fo with God, that we have the fame intereft, the fame choices; nay, it do's in a fort, Communicate and Enterchange proprieties with Him, the All-powerful God feems impotent and un

able

able to refift it's influence, whil'ft it invefts us feeble Wretches in a kind of Omnipotency, by engaging Him for us who can do all things.

2. Now this Piety may be confider'd either in a larger, or more limited fenfe in the former 'tis as wide as the whole fcheme of Duty, not confin'd to any one Act, but extended to all the Commands of God. For, as the animal Spirit diffuses it's felf into all the most diftant members of the Body: fo this more vital Principle has as univerfal an influence on the Mind; ftamps that with fuch an admiration and reverence of God, fuch a love and complacency in him, that every act is (at least har bitually) defign'd to obey and glorify him.

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3. IN the more limited fenfe, Piety is taken for our more immediate entercourfe with God, in things purely Divine, as Adorations, Prayers, Afpirations,and all pantings and breathings of the Soul after Him; and in this notion 'tis more particularly call'd Devotiona And this is comprehended in the other, as a part in the whole: nay indeed, as an effect in it's caufe; for where Piety has not first form'd and modell'd the Soul, there can be no true Devotion. External forms of it there may be, but thefe are but Ceremony and Pageantry, the moft fubmiffive Proftrations are there but like that of Dagon before the Ark, the fall of a livelefs Trunk; the moft elevated Eyes but a kind of convulfive motion; and the most rigid

Mortifications, but the Cuttings and Launcings of Baal's Priefts. Of this the very Heathen had fome notion, and therefore in their Worships, had many preparatory Ceremonies of Luftration and Purifying, as being confcious of the incongruity, that unholy Perfons should be admitted to Sacred things. And accordingly Socrates has Excellently (I had almoft faid Evangelically) defin'd, the best way of worfhipping God, to be the doing what he commands. Indeed, without this, our Devotion is mere ftratagem and defign, we invoke God as we ufe to cajole Men, only to ferve a present turn; and of fuch difingenuous Addreffes, tis easy to read the event, or if we cannot, Solomon will inftruct us, Prov. 15. 8. The prayers of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord.

4. To treat of the feveral branches of Piety in the first notion, is not agreeable to the intended brevity of this Treatife; nor neceffary, because there are so many diftinct Tracts extant on that Subject; yet I fhall, the more closely to adapt it to my Female Readers, obferve the propriety of it to Women, not only as it is their greatest Ornament and Advantage; but especially as they have fomewhat more of pre-difpofition towards it in their native Temper. God's Laws which are the rule of Piety have this common with Men's, that they are inforc'd upon us by the propofals both of pu

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nishments

nishments and rewards, by that means engageing two of our most fenfible paffions, Fear and Love; and the female Sex being eminent for the pungency of both thefe, they are confequently the better prepar'd for the impreffions of Religion.

5. THIS is fo much acknowledg'd, that our Masculine Atheists make an ill use of it, and are willing to think, that Religion ows it's force only to the impotence of the fubject, on which it works, that 'tis only an impofition upon the eafy credulity of Women, and are content to allow them the inclofure of it; wherein, tho' they fufficiently fhew their contempt of Piety, yet they unawares give a greater honour to that Sex than they intend, whilft they confess it more capable of an affimilation to the fupreme Goodness, and of the renewal of God's Image (for to that all Piety is defign'd) than their own. And therefore Women have fo little reason to be afham'd, that they ought to glory in the conceffion, and gratefully to celebrate the goodnefs of God to them, who, as he brings light out of darkness, fo converts their natural infirmities into a means of Spiritual strength, makes the impotencies and defects of their Nature, fubfervient to the operations of Grace; and by confecrating their very paffions, makes even those Gibeonites ferviceable to the Tabernacle. But then 'tis to be remember'd, that the greater is their obligation

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