can blafpheme God and his Subftitutes, and murder and ruin his moft faithful Servants, nay, and think themselves the greater Saints for all these their irreligious Extravagances. But on the other hand, as for thofe ftanding Duties of Judgment, Mercy and Faith; their Duties to their Chriftian Brethren of Charity, Fidelity, mutual Condefcenfion, Love, Humility, Obedience to Superiors (whether Spiritual, Civil,or Natural) a real Innocence and Holinefs of Life and Converfation; thefe Things they very rarely trouble their Admirers with. They teach them very little of Regularity in their Devotions, or of Frequency even in those which they call Sacraments: They teach them not how to beat down their own proud and haughty Spirits, or according to the Apoftles Doctrine, not to think more highly of themselves than others. Not but that fome of these Things may fometimes be mention'd by the By, tho' it be as haftily as the Dogs in Egypt drink at the Nile. The naming of thefe Chriftian Vir tues is fometimes unavoidable; but they'll never grate fo much upon Humour and Intereft, as to inculcate them earneftly and incef fantly upon their Hearers: They know very well, that were but thefe Things diligently prefs'd upon them. we could have no Tere ticks, no Schifmaticks from the Church of God: But while they take Care not to urge thefe Things, it is plain they keep their Followers ignorant of the moft weighty and neceffary Parcels of Divine Truth. And from hence it comes, that we find our Separatifts generally the moft felf-conceited and fupercilious, but withal the moft fcandaloufly ignorant of the VOL. II. Fun

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Fundamentals of Chriftianity of any People in the World.

3. Thefe Intruders into the Fold of Chrift's Church without any lawful Commiffion, prove themselves to be influenc'd by an Antichriftian Spirit, by their lavish Cenfuring of others only for the Advancement of their own Reputation. It were indeed, impoffible, that ill Men and Seducers fhould ever get fuch an Intereft in the World, as they ufually do, if they could not impofe fo far upon fome as to appear to them under a very plaufible Character. And the credulous and unthinking Part of Mankind very naturally conclude, that none could prefume to make fuch fevere Animadverofins upon the Mifcarriages of others, if they were not very blameless and innocent themselves. For tho' the World every Day meets with many Inftances of Impudence in that kind; yet it ftill inclines to the more favourable Conclufions: And many can scarce be beaten out of their good and kind Thoughts of those whom they once admired, tho' they fee their Villanies laid open beyond the Poffibility of Contradiction. It was hard to convince Abab King of Ifrael, that Zedekiab the Son of Chenaanah was a falfe Prophet, or that he was faulty, when in his great Zeal to carry on the Defign of the Lying Spirit, and to prevent Ahab's liftening to better Counfels, he ftruck God's true Prophet Micaiah the Son of Imlah. The fame Abab had feen the Follies and Falfhood of the Prophets of Baal; he had feen how unable they were to defend themfelves against the Satyrical Reproofs and the Sword of Elijah: Yet all that he had feen

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could not reclaim him, but that he doated on that idolatrous Vermin ftill. He had once had a good Opinion of them, and a full Discovery of their abominable Cheats and Impoftures, could not yet make him a Master of common Senfe. In the fame manner, the Jews were feduc'd into a very high Opinion of those falfe and deceitful Prophets who continually dinn'd their Ears with the delightful Sound of Peace, Peace, and put them entirely out of God's favourable Protection for a repenting People, while they confirm'd them in their Rebellion against God, and when deftructive Wars and the difmal Captivity of Babylon was at hand; and tho' the Jews found all the flattering Predictions of thofe falfe Prophets vain and altogether delufive; tho' they law themfelves foon) made miferable Exiles from their Native Country, that Land once flowing with Milk and Honey, and the Glory of all Lands, and become wretched Captives to a foreign Enemy: In which deplorable State, they were fo far from being cured of their Diftemper, that holy Jeremiah was fain to ingeminate his Cautions against their Infinuations; and Ezekiel to do the fame, if it were poffible to awaken them out of their unhappy Diftemper, to bring them fo to themselves that they might think and act like Men: So very ready were they ftill to liften to thofe idle Dreamers, who had betray'd them before into Captivity, and for their Sakes to defpife the Ambaffadors of the living God. For we have a great deal of Reafon to believe, that if thofe idolatrous Priefts had not ftrangely bewitch'd the unconfidering Multitude, by their Pretences to even Supererogatory

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erogatory Sanctity, and by their fevere and impudent Reflections upon the Character and Conduct of fuch as Micaiah, Jeremiah, &c; "if they were the Counterfeits,or Men who took "Pleasure in intimidating the Spirits of Men "otherwife of Courage and Bravery enough; "and that they daunted them fo by fo many Threatnings in the Name of that God who never had any Thoughts but thofe of Peace "and Profperity, for his own peculiar People, "or of Deliverance, as ufual, from the Hands "oftheir most infolent,powerful and implacable "Enemies; that, indeed, they ftruck their Weac pons out of their Hands, and made them inca"pable of defending themselves and the holy "City, and that glorious Temple in which he "had in a more peculiar Manner fix'd his own greatName: All which fhew'd plainly enough "that they had acted beyond their Commiflion 66 and laid thofe Burthens of the Lord upon them, the Effect of which could be only the putting them into the Hands of the King of "Babylon, a young Conqueror lately fet up, and "who, if they would but pluck up their Spi

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rits, and play the Men for their Cities, and "for their Country, and for the House of their "God, would unquestionably go off the Stage with as little Honour as the Benhadads and the "Senacheribs in former Days. As for themselves, they were very frequent in their Conversation "with God, they pray'd, they confulted the "Divine Spirit, they look'd into the Tenour of

antient Prophefies; and knew not which Way "the Spirit of God fhould pafs from themfelves "and enter into any of thefe who were always "Meflengers of ill Tidings, and never spoke

" any

any good thing concerning them." Such kind of Talk we may juftly fuppofe these false Prophets generally entertain'd the credulous Jews with; otherwife the true Meffengers of Heaven would have been better attended to, and their approaching Calamities prevented by a timely Repentance.

Thefe unhappy Jews lay ftill under the fame Prejudices at the Time when our Saviour, their long expected Meffias came into the World. Thofe accurfed Hypocrites the Scribes and Pharifees, thofe polluted Carcafes, who imagined themfelves yet too holy to converfe with the ordinary Sort of Men; took upon themselves the fame Bufinefs which the falfe Prophets had managed fo fuccefsfully before. They were the fame Cheats and Impoftors, the fame Abusers of the Credulity of the Multitude as the others had been; a ftrange and unaccountable Awe they had upon the Spirits of their Brethren, they were almoft ador'd by them,and all the happy Portions defign'd for the Good and Virtuous in the future World, were fuppos'd to belong to them. This Grandeur of theirs they maintain'd, by condemning all fuch of Impiety and Prophanenefs who did not follow their abfurd or fuperftitious Prefcriptions: They defpis'd the Vulgar of their own Nation, as not knowing the Law, and trampled upon all the reft of Mankind as Dogs or Swine, because they were uncircumcis'd, and had not taken upon them the Yoke of the Law of Mofes. None were more formal or affiduous than they in the outward Ceremonies of Religion; our Saviour taking Notice of the Nicety and Exactnefs, in their paying Tythes of Mint, Anife T3

and