.

King of Heaven's Daughter, the bleffed and redeemed Church of Chrift. Miferable Apoftacy that it is! And a wretched Supplement in the Lofs and Abfence of the apoftolick Life, the spiritual Glory of the primitive Church.

§. VII. But yet fome of thefe Admirers of external Pomp and Glory in Worship, would be thought Lovers of the Crofs, and to that End have made to themselves many. But alas! what Hopes can there be of reconciling that to Chriftianity, that the nearer it comes to its Refemblance, the farther off it is in Reality? For their very Crofs and Self-denial, are most unlawful Self: And whilft they fancy to worship God thereby, they most dangerously err from the true Cross of Christ, and that holy Abnegation that was of his bleffed Appointment. 'Tis true, they have got a Crofs, but it seems to be in the Room of the true One; and fo mannerly, that it will do as they will have it that wear it: For inftead of mortifying their Wills by it, they made it, and ufe it according to them. So that the Crofs is become their Enfign, that do nothing but what they lift. Yet by that they would be thought his Difciples, who never did his own Will, but the Will of his heavenly Father.

§. VIII. This is fuch a Crofs as Flesh and Blood can carry, for Flesh and Blood invented it; therefore not the Crofs of CHRIST, that is to crucify Flesh and Blood. Thousands of them have no more Virtue than a Chip: Poor empty Shadows, not fo much as Images of the

true

true one.

Some carry them for Charms about them, but never repel one Evil with them. They fin with them upon their Backs; and though they put them in their Bosoms, their beloved Lufts lie there too, without the leaft Difquiet. They are as dumb as Elijah's Mock-1Kings18. gods; no Life nor Power in them: And how 27. should they, whofe Matter is earthly, and whofe Figure and Workmanship are but the Invention and Labour of worldly Artifts? Is it poffible that fuch Croffes fhould mend their Makers? Surely not.

§. IX. These are Yokes without Restraint, and Croffes that never contradict: A whole Cart-load of them would leave a Man as unmortified as they find him. Men may fooner knock their Brains out with them, than their Sins: And that, I fear, too many of them know in their very Confciences that use them, indeed adore them, and, which can only happen to the false Cross, are proud of them too, fince the true One leaves no Pride, where it is truly borne.

§. X. For as their Religion, fo their Cross is very gaudy and triumphant: But in what? In precious Metals and Gems, the Spoil of Superftition upon the Peoples Pockets. Thefe Croffes are made of earthly Treafure, inftead of learning their Hearts that wear them to deny it: And like them they are refpected by their Finery. A rich Crofs fhall have many Gazers and Admirers; the mean, in this, as other Things, are more neglected. I could appeal

to

to themselves of this great Vanity and Superftition. O how very fhort is this of the bleffed Crofs of JESUS, that takes away the Sins of the World.

§. XI. Nor is a reclufe Life, the boasted Righteousness of fome, much more commendable, or one whit nearer to the Nature of the true Crols: For if it be not unlawful as other Things are, 'tis unnatural, which true Religion teaches not. The Chriftian Convent and Monastery are within, where the Soul is encloiftered from Sin. And this religious House the true Followers of Chrift carry about with them, who exempt not themfelves from the Converfation of the World, though they keep themfelves from the Evil of the World in their Converfation. That is a lazy, rufty, unprofitable Self-denial, burdenfome to others to feed their Idlenefs; Religious Bedlams, where People are kept up left they should do Mischief abroad: Patience per Force: Self-denial against their Will, rather ignorant than virtuous; and out of the Way of Temptation, than conftant in it. No Thanks if they commit not, what they are not tempted to commit. What the Eye views not, the Heart craves not, as well as rues

not.

§. XII. The Crofs of Christ is of another Nature: It truly overcomes the World, and leads a Life of Purity in the Face of its Allurements: They that bear it, are not thus chained up, for Fear they fhould bite; nor lock'd up, left they should be ftole away: No, they re

ceive Power from Chrift their Captain, to resist the Evil, and do that which is good in the Sight of God; to defpife the World, and love its Reproach above its Praife: And not only not to offend others, but love thofe that offend them, though not for offending them. What a World should we have, if every Body, for Fear of tranfgreffing, fhould mew himself up within four Walls? No fuch Matter; the Perfection of the Chriftian Life extends to every honest Labour or Traffick used among Men. This Severity is not the Effect of Christ's free Spirit, but a voluntary, fleshly Humility, meer Trammels of their own making and putting on, without Prefcription or Reafon. In all which, 'tis plain, they are their own Lawgivers, and fet their own Rule, Mulct and Ranfom: A constrained Harfhnefs, out of Joint to the rest of the Creation: For Society is one great End of it, and not to be destroyed for Fear of Evil; but Sin banifh'd, that spoils it, by steady Reproof, and a confpicuous Example of tried Virtue. True Godliness does not turn Men out of the World, but enables them to live better in it,and excites their Endeavours to mend it: Not hide their Candle under a Bufhel, but fet it upon a Table in a Candleftick. Befides, 'tis a felfifh Invention; and that can never be the Way of taking up the Crofs, which the true Crofs is therefore taken up to fubject. But again, this Humour runs away by itself, and leaves the World behind to be loft; Chriftians fhould keep the Helm, F

and

.

and guide the Veffel to its Port; not meanly fteal out at the Stern of the World, and leave those that are in it without a Pilot, to be driven by the Fury of evil Times, upon the Rock or Sand of Ruin. In fine, this Sort of Life, if taken up by young People, is commonly to cover Idleness, or to pay Portions; to fave the Lazy from the Pain of Punishment, or Quality from the Difgrace of Poverty: One won't work, and the other fcorns it. If aged, a long Life of Guilt fometimes flies to Superftition for a Refuge; and after having had its own Will in other Things, would finish it in a wilful Religion to make God amends.

§. XIII. But taking up the Crofs of JESUS is a more interior Exercife: It is the Circumfpection and Difcipline of the Soul, in Conformity to the divine Mind therein revealed. Does not the Body follow the Soul, and not the Soul the Body? Do not fuch confider, that no outward Cell can fhut up the Soul from Luft, the Mind from an Infinity of unrighteous Imaginations? The Thoughts of Man's Heart are evil, and that continually. Evil comes from within, and not from without: How then can an external Application remove an internal Caufe; or a Reftraint upon the Body, work a Confinement of the Mind? Lefs much than without Doors: For where there is leaft of Action, there is moft Time to think; and if thofe Thoughts are not guided by an higher Principle, Convents are more mischievous to the World than Exchanges. And yet a Retire