God gave us to the conftitution of our nature, and for the defigns of virtue. And all thofe tenderneffes of affection, which are the endearments of parents and chil dren, are also the bands of duty. And all that fyftem of principles and reafonable inducements to virtue, which we call the law of nature, is nothing elfe but that firm incorporation of virtue with our natural principles and difpofitions, from which whofoever prevaricates, doth more against nature than he that restrains his appetite.

And befides thefe particulars, there is not in us naturally any inclination directly contrary to the love of God; because by God we understand that fountain of being, which is infinitely perfect in itself, and of great good to us; and whatsoever is fo apprehended, it is as natural for us to love, as to love any thing in the world; for we can love nothing, but what we believe to be good in itself, or good to us. And beyond this, there are in nature many principles and reafons, to make an aptness to acknowledge and confefs God; and by the

confent

confent of nations, which they also have learned from the dictates of their nature, all men in fome manner or other worship God; and all acts against the love and worship of God, are a contradiction to out nature, and offer violence to it.

And we may obferve, and refer it to every man's reafon, and experience, that the great difficulties of virtue, as they are commonly apprehended, do not commence fo much upon the ftock of nature, as of evil habits and practices. Our virtues are difficult, because we at firft get ill habits 3 and these habits must be unrooted before we do well; And that is our trouble. But if by the ftrictness of difcipline, we begin at first in our duty and the practice of virtuous principles; we shall find virtue made as natural to us, while it is cufto, mary and habitual, as we pretend our pro penfity to vice to be.

II. Religion is most reasonable in itself. For whatsoever the wifeft men in the. world, of all nations and profeffions, have agreed upon as moft excellent in itself,

and

and of greatest power to effect our present or future happiness; all that, and much more, our bleffed Saviour hath adopted into his law. And there is nothing in the laws of our religion, but what is perfective of our spirits, and contains in it excellent expedients of obeying God, by performing thofe duties which are moft beneficial unto men. And therefore, for Christians, who profefs to believe all this, and yet to act contrary to fuch profeffion, is the most unreasonable thing in the world: They have all the figns of weak, indifcreet, and unwary perfons.

One inftance of their folly is, that they chuse the prefent, whatever it is, and neglect the infinite treasures of the future. They that have no faith nor forefight, may have an excufe for fnatching at what is now reprefented, because it is that all which can move them: But then fuch perfons are infinitely diftant from wisdom, whofe understanding neither reafon nor revelation hath carried farther than the prefent enjoyments. And he that prefers moments before eternity, and despises the

infinite

infinite fucceffion of eternal ages, that he may enjoy the prefent, not daring to trust God for what he fees not, and having no objects of his affections but those which are the objects of his eyes; hath the impatience of a child, and the indifcretion of a fool, and the faithleffness of an unbeliever.

Another inftance of the unreasonablenefs of wicked men is, that they chufe to please their senses rather than their reason. And it is a great difreputation to the understanding of any man, to be fo deceived, as to chufe that which is common to him with the beasts that perish, rather than that part which is a communication of the divine nature; to fee him run after a bubble which himself hath made, and despise a treasure which is offered to him, to call him off from pursuing that emptiness and vanity. But fo doth every vicious perfon: He worships the mammon of this world, and neglects the honour of the eternal God; he prefers the fickness of luxury, before the health of temperance; drink, before immortality; money, before mercy; VOL. IV. earth,

earth, before heaven; and folly before the crowns and glories of a kingdom.

This confideration reprefents all the flatteries of fin, to be a mere delufion of the understanding: And we find by this fcrutiny, that evil and unchriftian perfons are infinitely unwife; because they neglect their best and greatest interest. They doat paffionately upon trifles; they rely upon falfe foundations and deceiving principles they are most confident when they are most bafed; when they have the option of two things, they ever chufe the worst; they are not mafters of their own actions, but break all purposes at the first temptation; they take more pains to do themselves a mischief, than would fecure heaven: that is, they are ignorant, foolish, unwary, and undifcerning people, in all fenfes, and to all purposes; and are incurable, otherwife than by their obedience and conformity to the holy Jefus, the eternal wifdom of the Father.

III. In the ftrict obfervances of the law of Christianity, there is lefs trouble than