THREE SERMONS AND PRAYERS BY JONATHAN SWIFT Contents: On Mutual Subjection On Sleeping in Church On the Wisdom of this World Prayers used by the Dean for Stella ON MUTUAL SUBJECTION {1}--(First Printed in 1744) "Yea, all of you be subject one to another. "--I Peter v. 5 The Apostle having, in many parts of this Epistle, given directionsto Christians concerning the duty of subjection or obedience tosuperiors, in the several instances of the subject to the prince, the child to his parent, the servant to his master, the wife to herhusband, and the younger to the elder, doth here, in the words of mytext, sum up the whole by advancing a point of doctrine, which atfirst may appear a little extraordinary. "Yea, all of you, " saithhe, "be subject one to another. " For it should seem that twopersons cannot properly be said to be subject to each other, andthat subjection is only due from inferiors to those above them; yetSt. Paul hath several passages to the same purpose. For he exhortsthe Romans "in honour to prefer one another;" and the Philippians, "that in lowliness of mind they should each esteem other better thanthemselves;" and the Ephesians, "that they should submit themselvesone to another in the fear of the Lord. " Here we find these twogreat Apostles recommending to all Christians this duty of mutualsubjection. For we may observe, by St. Peter, that having mentionedthe several relations which men bear to each other, as governor andsubject, master and servant, and the rest which I have alreadyrepeated, he makes no exception, but sums up the whole withcommanding "all to be subject one to another. " Whence we mayconclude that this subjection due from all men to all men issomething more than the compliment of course, when our betters arepleased to tell us they are our humble servants, but understand usto be their slaves. I know very well that some of those who explain this text apply itto humility, to the duties of charity, to private exhortations, andto bearing with each other's infirmities; and it is probable theApostle may have had a regard to all these. But, however, manylearned men agree that there is something more understood, and sothe words in their plain natural meaning must import, as you willobserve yourselves if you read them with the beginning of the verse, which is thus: "Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto theelder; yea, all of you be subject one to another. " So that, uponthe whole, there must be some kind of subjection due from every manto every man, which cannot be made void by any power, pre-eminence, or authority whatsoever. Now what sort of subjection this is, andhow it ought to be paid, shall be the subject of my presentdiscourse. As God hath contrived all the works of Nature to be useful, and insome manner a support to each other, by which the whole frame of theworld, under His providence, is preserved and kept up, so amongmankind our particular stations are appointed to each of us by GodAlmighty, wherein we are obliged to act as far as our power reachethtoward the good of the whole community. And he who doth not performthat part assigned him towards advancing the benefit of the whole, in proportion to his opportunities and abilities, is not only auseless, but a very mischievous member of the public; because hetakes his share of the profit, and yet leaves his share of theburden to be borne by others, which is the true principal cause ofmost miseries and misfortunes in life. For a wise man who does notassist with his counsels, a great man with his protection, a richman with his bounty and charity, and a poor man with his labour, areperfect nuisances in a commonwealth. Neither is any condition oflife more honourable in the sight of God than another; otherwise Hewould be a respecter of persons, which He assures us He is not; forHe hath proposed the same salvation to all men, and hath only placedthem in different ways or stations to work it out. Princes are bornwith no more advantages of strength or wisdom than other men, and, by an unhappy education, are usually more defective in both thanthousands of their subjects. They depend for every necessary oflife upon the meanest of their people; besides, obedience andsubjection were never enjoined by God to humour the passions, lusts, and vanities of those who demand them from us; but we are commandedto obey our governors, because disobedience would breed seditions inthe state. Thus servants are directed to obey their masters, children their parents, and wives their husbands, not from anyrespect of persons in God, but because otherwise there would benothing but confusion in private families. This matter will beclearly explained by considering the comparison which St. Paul makesbetween the Church of Christ and the body of man; for the sameresemblance will hold not only to families and kingdoms, but to thewhole corporation of mankind. "The eye, " saith he, "cannot say untothe hand, 'I have no need of thee;' nor again the hand to the foot, 'I have no need of thee. ' Nay, much more those members of the bodywhich seem to be more feeble are necessary; and whether one membersuffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. " The case is directly the sameamong mankind. The prince cannot say to the merchant, "I have noneed of thee, " nor the merchant to the labourer, "I have no need ofthee. " Nay, much more those members which seem to be more feebleare necessary; for the poor are generally more necessary members ofthe commonwealth than the rich; which clearly shows that God neverintended such possessions for the sake and service of those to whomHe lends them, but because he hath assigned every man his particularstation to be useful in life, and this for the reason given by theApostle, "that there may be no schism in the body. " From hence may partly be gathered the nature of that subjectionwhich we all owe to one another. God Almighty hath been pleased toput us into an imperfect state, where we have perpetual occasion ofeach other's assistance. There is none so low as not to be in acapacity of assisting the highest, nor so high as not to want theassistance of the lowest. It plainly appears, from what hath been said, that no one humancreature is more worthy than another in the sight of God, furtherthan according to the goodness or holiness of their lives; and thatpower, wealth, and the like outward advantages, are so far frombeing the marks of God's approving or preferring those on whom theyare bestowed, that, on the contrary, He is pleased to suffer them tobe almost engrossed by those who have least title to His favour. Now, according to this equality wherein God hath placed all mankindwith relation to Himself, you will observe that in all the relationsbetween man and man there is a mutual dependence, whereby the onecannot subsist without the other. Thus no man can be a princewithout subjects, nor a master without servants, nor a fatherwithout children. And this both explains and confirms the doctrineof the text; for where there is a mutual dependence there must be amutual duty, and consequently a mutual subjection. For instance, the subject must obey his prince, because God commands it, humanlaws require it, and the safety of the public makes it necessary;for the same reasons we must obey all that are in authority, andsubmit ourselves not only to the good and gentle, but also to thefroward, whether they rule according to our liking or not. On theother side, in those countries that pretend to freedom, princes aresubject to those laws which their people have chosen; they are boundto protect their subjects in liberty, property, and religion, toreceive their petitions and redress their grievances, so that thebest prince is, in the opinion of wise men, only the greatestservant of the nation--not only a servant to the public in general, but in some sort to every man in it. In the like manner a servantowes obedience, and diligence, and faithfulness to his master, fromwhom, at the same time, he hath a just demand for protection, andmaintenance, and gentle treatment. Nay, even the poor beggar hath ajust demand of an alms from the rich man, who is guilty of fraud, injustice, and oppression if he does not afford relief according tohis abilities. But this subjection we all owe one another is nowhere more necessarythan in the common conversations of life, for without it there couldbe no society among men. If the learned would not sometimes submitto the ignorant, the wise to the simple, the gentle to the froward, the old to the weaknesses of the young, there would be nothing buteverlasting variance in the world. This our Saviour Himselfconfirmed by His own example; for He appeared in the form of aservant and washed His disciples' feet, adding those memorablewords, "Ye call me Lord and Master, and ye say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, wash your feet, how much more oughtye to wash one another's feet?" Under which expression of washingthe feet is included all that subjection, assistance, love, andduty, which every good Christian ought to pay his brother, inwhatever station God hath placed him. For the greatest prince andthe meanest slave are not, by infinite degrees, so distant as ourSaviour and those disciples, whose feet He vouchsafed to wash. And although this doctrine of subjecting ourselves to one anothermay seem to grate upon the pride and vanity of mankind, and maytherefore be hard to be digested by those who value themselves upontheir greatness or their wealth, yet it is really no more than whatmost men practise upon other occasions. For if our neighbour, whois our inferior, comes to see us, we rise to receive him; we placehim above us, and respect him as if he were better than ourselves;and this is thought both decent and necessary, and is usually calledgood manners. Now the duty required by the Apostle is only that weshould enlarge our minds, and that what we thus practise in thecommon course of life we should imitate in all our actions andproceedings whatsoever; since our Saviour tells us that every man isour neighbour, and since we are so ready, in point of civility, toyield to others in our own houses, where only we have any title togovern. Having thus shown you what sort of subjection it is which all menowe one another, and in what manner it ought to be paid, I shall nowdraw some observations from what hath been said. And first, a thorough practice of this duty of subjecting ourselvesto the wants and infirmities of each other would utterly extinguishin us the vice of pride. For if God has pleased to intrust me with a talent, not for my ownsake, but for the service of others, and at the same time hath leftme full of wants and necessities which others must supply, I canthen have no cause to set any extraordinary value upon myself, or todespise my brother because he hath not the same talents which werelent to me. His being may probably be as useful to the public asmine; and therefore, by the rules of right reason, I am in no sortpreferable to him. Secondly, It is very manifest, from what has been said, that no manought to look upon the advantages of life, such as riches, honour, power, and the like, as his property, but merely as a trust whichGod hath deposited with him to be employed for the use of hisbrethren, and God will certainly punish the breach of that trust, though the laws of man will not, or rather indeed cannot; becausethe trust was conferred only by God, who has not left it to anypower on earth to decide infallibly whether a man makes a good useof his talents or not, or to punish him where he fails. Andtherefore God seems to have more particularly taken this matter intoHis own hands, and will most certainly reward or punish us inproportion to our good or ill performance in it. Now, although theadvantages which one possesseth more than another may, in somesense, be called his property with respect to other men, yet withrespect to God they are, as I said, only a trust, which will plainlyappear from hence: if a man does not use those advantages to thegood of the public or the benefit of his neighbour, it is certain hedoth not deserve them, and consequently that God never intended themfor a blessing to him; and on the other side, whoever does employhis talents as he ought will find, by his own experience, that theywere chiefly lent him for the service of others, for to the serviceof others he will certainly employ them. Thirdly, If we could all be brought to practise this duty ofsubjecting ourselves to each other, it would very much contribute tothe general happiness of mankind, for this would root out envy andmalice from the heart of man; because you cannot envy yourneighbour's strength if he make use of it to defend your life orcarry your burden; you cannot envy his wisdom if he gives you goodcounsel; nor his riches if he supplies your wants; nor his greatnessif he employs it to your protection. The miseries of life are notproperly owing to the unequal distribution of things, but GodAlmighty, the great King of heaven, is treated like the kings of theearth, who, although perhaps intending well themselves, have oftenmost abominable ministers and stewards, and those generally thevilest to whom they intrust the most talents. But here is thedifference, that the princes of this world see by other men's eyes, but God sees all things; and therefore, whenever He permits Hisblessings to be dealt among those who are unworthy, we may certainlyconclude that He intends them only as a punishment to an evil world, as well as to the owners. It were well if those would considerthis, whose riches serve them only as a spur to avarice or as aninstrument of their lusts; whose wisdom is only of this world, toput false colours upon things, to call good evil and evil goodagainst the conviction of their own consciences; and lastly, whoemploy their power and favour in acts of oppression or injustice, inmisrepresenting persons and things, or in countenancing the wickedto the ruin of the innocent. Fourthly, The practice of this duty of being subject to one anotherwould make us rest contented in the several stations of life whereinGod hath thought fit to place us, because it would, in the best andeasiest manner, bring us back, as it were, to that early state ofthe Gospel when Christians had all things in common. For if thepoor found the rich disposed to supply their want, if the ignorantfound the wise ready to instruct and direct them, or if the weakmight always find protection from the mighty, they could none ofthem, with the least pretence of justice, lament their owncondition. From all that hath been hitherto said it appears that greatabilities of any sort, when they are employed as God directs, do butmake the owners of them greater and more painful servants to theirneighbour and the public. However, we are by no means to concludefrom hence that they are not really blessings, when they are in thehands of good men. For, first, what can be a greater honour than tobe chosen one of the stewards and dispensers of God's bounty tomankind? What is there that can give a generous spirit morepleasure and complacency of mind than to consider that he is aninstrument of doing much good; that great numbers owe to him, underGod, their subsistence, their safety, their health, and the goodconduct of their lives? The wickedest man upon earth takes apleasure in doing good to those he loves; and therefore surely agood Christian, who obeys our Saviour's commands of loving all men, cannot but take delight in doing good even to his enemies. God, whogives all things to all men, can receive nothing from any; and thoseamong men who do the most good and receive the fewest returns domost resemble the Creator; for which reason St. Paul delivers it asa saying of our Saviour, that "it is more blessed to give thanreceive. " By this rule, what must become of those things which theworld values as the greatest blessings--riches, power, and the like--when our Saviour plainly determines that the best way to make themblessings is to part with them? Therefore, although the advantageswhich one man hath over another may be called blessings, yet theyare by no means so in the sense the world usually understands. Thus, for example, great riches are no blessings in themselves, because the poor man, with the common necessaries of life, enjoysmore health and has fewer cares without them. How then do theybecome blessings? No otherwise than by being employed in feedingthe hungry, clothing the naked, rewarding worthy men, and, in short, doing acts of charity and generosity. Thus, likewise, power is noblessing in itself, because private men bear less envy, and trouble, and anguish without it. But when it is employed to protect theinnocent, to relieve the oppressed, and to punish the oppressor, then it becomes a great blessing. And so, lastly, even great wisdom is, in the opinion of Solomon, nota blessing in itself; for "in much wisdom is much sorrow;" and menof common understanding, if they serve God and mind their callings, make fewer mistakes in the conduct of life than those who havebetter heads. And yet wisdom is a mighty blessing when it isapplied to good purposes, to instruct the ignorant, to be a faithfulcounsellor either in public or private, to be a director to youth, and to many other ends needless here to mention. To conclude: God sent us into the world to obey His commands, bydoing as much good as our abilities will reach, and as little evilas our many infirmities will permit. Some He hath only trusted withone talent, some with five, and some with ten. No man is withouthis talent; and he that is faithful or negligent in a little shallbe rewarded or punished, as well as he that hath been so in a greatdeal. Consider what hath been said, &c. ON SLEEPING IN CHURCH "And there sat in the window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep; and while Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and wastaken up dead. "--Acts xx. 9. I have chosen these words with design, if possible, to disturb somepart in this audience of half an hour's sleep, for the convenienceand exercise whereof this place, at this season of the day, is verymuch celebrated. There is indeed one mortal disadvantage to which all preaching issubject, that those who, by the wickedness of their lives, stand ingreatest need, have usually the smallest share; for either they areabsent upon the account of idleness, or spleen, or hatred toreligion, or in order to doze away the intemperance of the week; or, if they do come, they are sure to employ their minds rather anyother way than regarding or attending to the business of the place. The accident which happened to this young man in the text hath notbeen sufficient to discourage his successors; but because thepreachers now in the world, however they may exceed St. Paul in theart of setting men to sleep, do extremely fall short of him in theworking of miracles, therefore men are become so cautious as, tochoose more safe and convenient stations and postures for takingtheir repose without hazard of their persons, and upon the wholematter choose rather to trust their destruction to a miracle thantheir safety. However, this being not the only way by which thelukewarm Christians and scorners of the age discover their neglectand contempt of preaching, I shall enter expressly intoconsideration of this matter, and order my discourse in thefollowing method:- First, I shall produce several instances to show the great neglectof preaching now among us. Secondly, I shall reckon up some of the usual quarrels men haveagainst preaching. Thirdly, I shall get forth the great evil of this neglect andcontempt of preaching, and discover the real causes whence itproceedeth. Lastly, I shall offer some remedies against this great and spreadingevil. First, I shall produce certain instances to show the great neglectof preaching now among us. These may be reduced under two heads. First, men's absence from theservice of the church; and secondly, their misbehaviour when theyare here. The first instance of men's neglect is in their frequent absencefrom the church. There is no excuse so trivial that will not pass upon some men'sconsciences to excuse their attendance at the public worship of God. Some are so unfortunate as to be always indisposed on the Lord'sday, and think nothing so unwholesome as the air of a church. Others have their affairs so oddly contrived as to be alwaysunluckily prevented by business. With some it is a great mark ofwit and deep understanding to stay at home on Sundays. Others againdiscover strange fits of laziness, that seize them particularly onthat day, and confine them to their beds. Others are absent out ofmere contempt of religion. And lastly, there are not a few who lookupon it as a day of rest, and therefore claim the privilege of theircattle, to keep the Sabbath by eating, drinking, and sleeping, afterthe toil and labour of the week. Now in all this, the worstcircumstance is that these persons are such whose company is mostrequired, and who stand most in need of a physician. Secondly, Men's great neglect and contempt of preaching appear bytheir misbehaviour when at church. If the audience were to be ranked under several heads, according totheir behaviour when the Word of God is delivered, how small anumber would appear of those who receive it as they ought! How muchof the seed then sown would be found to fall by the wayside, uponstony ground, or among thorns! and how little good ground wouldthere be to take it! A preacher cannot look round from the pulpitwithout observing that some are in a perpetual whisper, and by theirair and gesture give occasion to suspect that they are in those veryminutes defaming their neighbour. Others have their eyes andimagination constantly engaged in such a circle of objects, perhapsto gratify the most unwarrantable desires, that they never onceattend to the business of the place; the sound of the preacher'swords do not so much as once interrupt them. Some have their mindswandering among idle, worldly, or vicious thoughts; some lie atcatch to ridicule whatever they hear, and with much wit and humour, provide a stock of laughter by furnishing themselves from thepulpit. But of all misbehaviour, none is comparable to that ofthose who come here to sleep. Opium is not so stupefying to manypersons as an afternoon sermon. Perpetual custom hath so brought itabout that the words of whatever preacher become only a sort ofuniform sound at a distance, than which nothing is more effectual tolull the senses. For that it is the very sound of the sermon whichbindeth up their faculties is manifest from hence, because they allawake so very regularly as soon as it ceaseth, and with muchdevotion receive the blessing, dozed and besotted with indecencies Iam ashamed to repeat. I proceed, secondly, to reckon up some of the usual quarrels menhave against preaching, and to show the unreasonableness of them. Such unwarrantable behaviour as I have described among Christians inthe house of God in a solemn assembly, while their faith and dutyare explained and delivered, have put those who are guilty uponinventing some excuses to extenuate their fault; this they do byturning the blame either upon the particular preacher or uponpreaching in general. First, they object against the particularpreacher: his manner, his delivery, his voice, are disagreeable;his style and expression are flat and slow, sometimes improper andabsurd; the matter is heavy, trivial, and insipid, sometimesdespicable and perfectly ridiculous; or else, on the other side, heruns up into unintelligible speculation, empty notions, andabstracted flights, all clad in words above usual understandings. Secondly, They object against preaching in general. It is a perfectroad of talk; they know already whatever can be said; they haveheard the same a hundred times over. They quarrel that preachers donot relieve an old beaten subject with wit and invention, and thatnow the art is lost of moving men's passions, so common among theancient orators of Greece and Rome. These and the like objectionsare frequently in the mouths of men who despise the foolishness ofpreaching. But let us examine the reasonableness of them. The doctrine delivered by all preachers is the same: "So we preach, and so ye believe. " But the manner of delivering is suited to theskill and abilities of each, which differ in preachers just as inthe rest of mankind. However, in personal dislikes of a particularpreacher, are these men sure they are always in the right? Do theyconsider how mixed a thing is every audience, whose taste andjudgment differ, perhaps, every day, not only from each other, butthemselves? And how to calculate a discourse that shall exactlysuit them all, is beyond the force and reach of human reason, knowledge, or invention. Wit and eloquence are shining qualitiesthat God hath imparted in great degrees to very few, nor any more tobe expected in the generality of any rank among men than riches andhonour. But further, if preaching in general be all old and beaten, and that they are already so well acquainted with it, more shame andguilt to them who so little edify by it! But these men, whose earsare so delicate as not to endure a plain discourse of religion, whoexpect a constant supply of wit and eloquence on a subject handledso many thousand times, what will they say when we turn theobjection upon themselves, who, with all the rude and profaneliberty of discourse they take upon so many thousand subjects, areso dull as to furnish nothing but tedious repetitions, and littlepaltry, nauseous commonplaces, so vulgar, so worn, or so obvious, as, upon any other occasion but that of advancing vice, would behooted off the stage? Nor, lastly, are preachers justly blamed forneglecting human oratory to move the passions, which is not thebusiness of a Christian orator, whose office it is only to work uponfaith and reason. All other eloquence hath been a perfect cheat, tostir up men's passions against truth and justice for the service ofa faction, to put false colours upon things, and, by an amusement ofagreeable words, make the worst reason appear to be the better. This is certainly not to be allowed in Christian eloquence, andtherefore St. Paul took quite the other course. He "came not withthe excellency of words, or enticing speech of men's wisdom, but inplain evidence of the Spirit and power. " And perhaps it was forthat reason the young man Eutychus, used to the Grecian eloquence, grew tired and fell so fast asleep. I go on, thirdly, to set forth the great evil of this neglect andscorn of preaching, and to discover the real causes whence itproceedeth. I think it is obvious that this neglect of preaching hath very muchoccasioned the great decay of religion among us. To this may beimputed no small part of that contempt some men bestow on theclergy, for whoever talketh without being regarded is sure to bedespised. To this we owe in a great measure the spreading ofatheism and infidelity among us, for religion, like all otherthings, is soonest put out of countenance by being ridiculed. Thescorn of preaching might perhaps have been at first introduced bymen of nice ears and refined taste, but it is now become a spreadingevil through all degrees and both sexes; for, since sleeping, talking, and laughing are qualities sufficient to furnish out acritic, the meanest and most ignorant have set up a title, andsucceeded in it as well as their betters. Thus are the last effortsof reforming mankind rendered wholly useless. "How shall theyhear, " saith the Apostle, "without a preacher?" But if they have apreacher, and make it a point of wit or breeding not to hear him, what remedy is left? To this neglect of preaching we may alsoentirely impute that gross ignorance among us in the very principlesof religion, which it is amazing to find in persons who very muchvalue their own knowledge and understanding in other things; yet itis a visible, inexcusable ignorance, even in the meanest among us, considering the many advantages they have of learning their duty. And it hath been the great encouragement to all manner of vice; forin vain we preach down sin to a people "whose hearts are waxedgross, whose ears are dull of hearing and whose eyes are closed. "Therefore Christ Himself in His discourses frequently rouseth up theattention of the multitude, and of His disciples themselves, withthis expression, "He that hath ears to hear let him hear. " Butamong all neglects of preaching, none is so fatal as that ofsleeping in the house of God. A scorner may listen to truth andreason, and in time grow serious; an unbeliever may feel the pangsof a guilty conscience; one whose thoughts or eyes wander amongother objects may, by a lucky word, be called back to attention; butthe sleeper shuts up all avenues to his soul; he is "like the deafadder, that hearkeneth not to the voice of the charmer, charm henever so wisely;" and we may preach with as good success to thegrave that is under his feet. But the great evil of this neglect will further yet appear fromconsidering the real causes whence it proceedeth, whereof the firstI take to be an evil conscience. Many men come to church to save orgain a reputation, or because they will not be singular, but complywith an established custom, yet all the while they are loaded withthe guilt of old rooted sins. These men can expect to hear ofnothing but terrors and threatenings, their sins laid open in truecolours, and eternal misery the reward of them; therefore, no wonderthey stop their care and divert their thoughts, and seek anyamusement rather than stir the hell within them. Another cause of this neglect is a heart set upon worldly things. Men whose minds are much enslaved to earthly affairs all the weekcannot disengage or break the chain of their thoughts so suddenly asto apply to a discourse that is wholly foreign to what they havemost at heart. Tell a usurer of charity, and mercy, andrestitution--you talk to the deaf; his heart and soul, with all hissenses, are got among his bags, or he is gravely asleep and dreamingof a mortgage. Tell a man of business, that the cares of the worldchoke the good seed; that we must not encumber ourselves with muchserving; that the salvation of his soul is the one thing necessary;you see, indeed, the shape of a man before you, but his facultiesare all gone off among clients and papers, thinking how to defend abad cause or find flaws in a good one; or he weareth out the time indrowsy nods. A third cause of the great neglect and scorn of preaching arisethfrom the practice of men who set up to decry and disparage religion;these, being zealous to promote infidelity and vice, learn a rote ofbuffoonery that serveth all occasions, and refutes the strongestarguments for piety and good manners. These have a set of ridiculecalculated for all sermons and all preachers, and can be extremelywitty as often as they please upon the same fund. Let me now, in the last place, offer some remedies against thisgreat evil. It will be one remedy against the contempt of preaching rightly toconsider the end for which it was designed. There are many whoplace abundance of merit in going to church, although it be with noother prospect but that of being well entertained, wherein if theyhappen to fail, they return wholly disappointed. Hence it is becomean impertinent vein among people of all sorts to hunt after whatthey call a good sermon, as if it were a matter of pastime anddiversion. Our business, alas! is quite another thing; either tolearn, or at least be reminded of, our duty; to apply the doctrinesdelivered, compare the rules we hear with our lives and actions, andfind wherein we have transgressed. These are the dispositions menshould bring into the house of God, and then they will be littleconcerned about the preacher's wit or eloquence, nor be curious toinquire out his faults and infirmities, but consider how to correcttheir own. Another remedy against the contempt of preaching is that men wouldconsider whether it be not reasonable to give more allowance for thedifferent abilities of preachers than they usually do. Refinementsof style and flights of wit, as they are not properly the businessof any preacher, so they cannot possibly be the talents of all. Inmost other discourses, men are satisfied with sober sense and plainreason; and, as understandings usually go, even that is not over-frequent. Then why they should be so over-nice in expectation ofeloquence, where it is neither necessary nor convenient, is hard toimagine. Lastly, The scorners of preaching would do well to consider thatthis talent of ridicule they value so much is a perfection veryeasily acquired, and applied to all things whatsoever; neither isanything at all the worse because it is capable of being pervertedto burlesque; perhaps it may be the more perfect upon that score, since we know the most celebrated pieces have been thus treated withgreatest success. It is in any man's power to suppose a fool's-capon the wisest head, and then laugh at his own supposition. I thinkthere are not many things cheaper than supposing and laughing; andif the uniting these two talents can bring a thing into contempt, itis hard to know where it may end. To conclude: These considerations may perhaps have some effectwhile men are awake; but what arguments shall we use to the sleeper?What methods shall we take to hold open his eyes? Will he be movedby considerations of common civility? We know it is reckoned apoint of very bad manners to sleep in private company, when, perhaps, the tedious impertinence of many talkers would render it atleast as excusable as the dullest sermon. Do they think it a smallthing to watch four hours at a play, where all virtue and religionare openly reviled; and can they not watch one half hour to hearthem defended? Is this to deal like a judge (I mean like a goodjudge), to listen on one side of the cause and sleep on the other?I shall add but one word more. That this indecent sloth is verymuch owing to that luxury and excess men usually practise upon thisday, by which half the service thereof is turned to sin; mendividing their time between God and their bellies, when, after agluttonous meal, their senses dozed and stupefied, they retire toGod's house to sleep out the afternoon. Surely, brethren, thesethings ought not so to be. "He that hath ears to hear let him hear. " And God give us all, grace to hear and receive His Holy Word to the salvation of our ownsouls. ON THE WISDOM OF THIS WORLD "The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. "--I Cor. Iii. 19. It is remarkable that about the time of our Saviour's coming intothe world all kinds of learning flourished to a very great degree, insomuch that nothing is more frequent in the mouths of many men, even such who pretend to read and to know, than an extravagantpraise and opinion of the wisdom and virtue of the Gentile sages ofthose days, and likewise of those ancient philosophers who wentbefore them, whose doctrines are left upon record, either bythemselves or other writers. As far as this may be taken forgranted, it may be said that the providence of God brought thisabout for several very wise ends and purposes; for it is certainthat these philosophers had been a long time before searching outwhere to fix the true happiness of man; and not being able to agreeupon any certainty about it, they could not possibly but conclude, if they judged impartially, that all their inquiries were in the endbut vain and fruitless, the consequence of which must be not only anacknowledgment of the weakness of all human wisdom, but likewise anopen passage hereby made for letting in those beams of light whichthe glorious sunshine of the Gospel then brought into the world, byrevealing those hidden truths which they had so long before beenlabouring to discover, and fixing the general happiness of mankindbeyond all controversy and dispute. And therefore the providence ofGod wisely suffered men of deep genius and learning then to arise, who should search into the truth of the Gospel now made known, andcanvass its doctrines with all the subtilty and knowledge they weremasters of, and in the end freely acknowledge that to be the truewisdom only "which cometh from above. " However, to make a further inquiry into the truth of thisobservation, I doubt not but there is reason to think that a greatmany of those encomiums given to ancient philosophers are taken upontrust, and by a sort of men who are not very likely to be at thepains of an inquiry that would employ so much time and thinking. For the usual ends why men affect this kind of discourse appeargenerally to be either out of ostentation, that they may pass uponthe world for persons of great knowledge and observation, or, whatis worse, there are some who highly exalt the wisdom of thoseGentile sages, thereby obliquely to glance at and traduce Divinerevelation, and more especially that of the Gospel; for theconsequence they would have us draw is this: that since thoseancient philosophers rose to a greater pitch of wisdom and virtuethan was ever known among Christians, and all this purely upon thestrength of their own reason and liberty of thinking; therefore itmust follow that either all revelation is false, or, what is worse, that it has depraved the nature of man, and left him worse than itfound him. But this high opinion of heathen wisdom is not very ancient in theworld, nor at all countenanced from primitive times. Our Saviourhad but a low esteem of it, as appears by His treatment of thePharisees and Sadducees, who followed the doctrines of Plato andEpicurus. St. Paul likewise, who was well versed in all the Grecianliterature, seems very much to despise their philosophy, as we findin his writings, cautioning the Colossians to "beware lest any manspoil them through philosophy and vain deceit;" and in another placehe advises Timothy to "avoid profane and vain babblings, andoppositions of science falsely so called;" that is, not to introduceinto the Christian doctrine the janglings of those vainphilosophers, which they would pass upon the world for science. Andthe reasons he gives are, first, that those who professed them diderr concerning the faith; secondly, because the knowledge of themdid increase ungodliness, vain babblings being otherwise expoundedvanities or empty sounds; that is, tedious disputes about words, which the philosophers were always so full of, and which were thenatural product of disputes and dissensions between several sects. Neither had the primitive fathers any great or good opinion of theheathen philosophy, as is manifest from several passages in theirwritings; so that this vein of affecting to raise the reputation ofthose sages so high Is a mode and a vice but of yesterday, assumedchiefly, as I have said, to disparage revealed knowledge and theconsequences of it among us. Now, because this is a prejudice which may prevail with some personsso far as to lessen the influence of the Gospel, and whereas, therefore, this is an opinion which men of education are likely tobe encountered with when they have produced themselves into theworld, I shall endeavour to show that their preference of heathenwisdom and virtue before that of the Christian is every way unjust, and grounded upon ignorance or mistake; in order to which I shallconsider four things:- First, I shall produce certain points wherein the wisdom and virtueof all unrevealed philosophy in general fell short and was veryimperfect. Secondly, I shall show, in several instances, where some of the mostrenowned philosophers have been grossly defective in their lessonsof morality. Thirdly, I shall prove the perfection of Christian wisdom from theproper characters and marks of it. Lastly, I shall show that the great examples of wisdom and virtueamong the heathen wise men were produced by personal merit, and notinfluenced by the doctrine of any sect; whereas, in Christianity, itis quite the contrary. First, I shall produce certain points wherein the wisdom and virtueof all unrevealed philosophy in general fell short and was veryimperfect. My design is to persuade men that Christian philosophy is in allthings preferable to heathen wisdom; from which, or its professors, I shall, however, have no occasion to detract. They were as wiseand as good as it was possible for them to be under suchdisadvantages, and would have probably been infinitely more so withsuch aids as we enjoy; but our lessons are certainly much better, however our practices may fall short. The first point I shall mention is that universal defect which wasin all their schemes, that they could not agree about their chiefgood, or wherein to place the happiness of mankind; nor had any ofthem a tolerable answer upon this difficulty to satisfy a reasonableperson. For to say, as the most plausible of them did, "Thathappiness consisted in virtue, " was but vain babbling, and a meresound of words to amuse others and themselves; because they were notagreed what this virtue was or wherein it did consist; and likewise, because several among the best of them taught quite differentthings, placing happiness in health or good fortune, in riches or inhonour, where all were agreed that virtue was not, as I shall haveoccasion to show when I speak of their particular tenets. The second great defect in the Gentile philosophy was that it wantedsome suitable reward proportioned to the better part of man--hismind, as an encouragement for his progress in virtue. Thedifficulties they met with upon the score of this default weregreat, and not to be accounted for; bodily goods, being onlysuitable to bodily wants, are no rest at all for the mind; and ifthey were, yet are they not the proper fruits of wisdom and virtue, being equally attainable by the ignorant and wicked. Now humannature is so constituted that we can never pursue anything heartilybut upon hopes of a reward. If we run a race, it is in expectationof a prize; and the greater the prize the faster we run; for anincorruptible crown, if we understand it and believe it to be such, more than a corruptible one. But some of the philosophers gave allthis quite another turn, and pretended to refine so far as to callvirtue its own reward, and worthy to be followed only for itself;whereas, if there be anything in this more than the sound of thewords, it is at least too abstracted to become a universalinfluencing principle in the world, and therefore could not be ofgeneral use. It was the want of assigning some happiness proportioned to the soulof man that caused many of them, either on the one hand, to be sourand morose, supercilious and untreatable, or, on the other, to fallinto the vulgar pursuits of common men, to hunt after greatness andriches, to make their court and to serve occasions, as Plato did tothe younger Dionysius, and Aristotle to Alexander the Great. Soimpossible it is for a man who looks no further than the presentworld to fix himself long in a contemplation where the present worldhas no part; he has no sure hold, no firm footing; he can neverexpect to remove the earth he rests upon while he has no supportbesides for his feet, but wants, like Archimedes, some other placewhereon to stand. To talk of bearing pain and grief without anysort of present or future hope cannot be purely greatness of spirit;there must be a mixture in it of affectation and an alloy of pride, or perhaps is wholly counterfeit. It is true there has been all along in the world a notion of rewardsand punishments in another life, but it seems to have rather servedas an entertainment to poets or as a terror of children than asettled principle by which men pretended to govern any of theiractions. The last celebrated words of Socrates, a little before hisdeath, do not seem to reckon or build much upon any such opinion;and Caesar made no scruple to disown it and ridicule it in opensenate. Thirdly, the greatest and wisest of all their philosophers werenever able to give any satisfaction to others and themselves intheir notions of a deity. They were often extremely gross andabsurd in their conceptions, and those who made the fairestconjectures are such as were generally allowed by the learned tohave seen the system of Moses, if I may so call it, who was in greatreputation at that time in the heathen world, as we find byDiodorus, Justin, Longinus, and other authors; for the rest, thewisest among them laid aside all notions after a deity as adisquisition vain and fruitless, which indeed it was upon unrevealedprinciples; and those who ventured to engage too far fell intoincoherence and confusion. Fourthly, Those among them who had the justest conceptions of aDivine power, and did also admit a providence, had no notion at allof entirely relying and depending upon either; they trusted inthemselves for all things, but as for a trust or dependence uponGod, they would not have understood the phrase; it made no part ofthe profane style. Therefore it was that, in all issues and events which they could notreconcile to their own sentiments of reason and justice, they werequite disconcerted; they had no retreat, but upon every blow ofadverse fortune, either affected to be indifferent, or grew sullenand severe, or else yielded and sunk like other men. Having now produced certain points wherein the wisdom and virtue ofall unrevealed philosophy fell short and was very imperfect, I goon, in the second place, to show, in several instances, where someof the most renowned philosophers have been grossly defective intheir lessons of morality. Thales, the founder of the Ionic sect, so celebrated for morality, being asked how a man might bear ill-fortune with greatest ease, answered, "By seeing his enemies in a worse condition. " An answertruly barbarous, unworthy of human nature, and which included suchconsequences as must destroy all society from the world. Solon lamenting the death of a son, one told him, "You lament invain. " "Therefore, " said he, "I lament, because it is in vain. "This was a plain confession how imperfect all his philosophy was, and that something was still wanting. He owned that all his wisdomand morals were useless, and this upon one of the most frequentaccidents in life. How much better could he have learned to supporthimself even from David, by his entire dependence upon God, and thatbefore our Saviour had advanced the notions of religion to theheight and perfection wherewith He hath instructed His disciples! Plato himself, with all his refinements, placed happiness in wisdom, health, good fortune, honour, and riches, and held that they whoenjoyed all these were perfectly happy; which opinion was indeedunworthy its owner, leaving the wise and good man wholly at themercy of uncertain chance, and to be miserable without resource. His scholar Aristotle fell more grossly into the same notion, andplainly affirmed, "That virtue, without the goods of fortune, wasnot sufficient for happiness, but that a wise man must be miserablein poverty and sickness. " Nay, Diogenes himself, from whose prideand singularity one would have looked for other notions, deliveredit as his opinion, "That a poor old man was the most miserable thingin life. " Zeno also and his followers fell into many absurdities, among whichnothing could be greater than that of maintaining all crimes to beequal; which, instead of making vice hateful, rendered it as a thingindifferent and familiar to all men. Lastly, Epicurus had no notion of justice but as it was profitable;and his placing happiness in pleasure, with all the advantages hecould expound it by, was liable to very great exception; foralthough he taught that pleasure did consist in virtue, yet he didnot any way fix or ascertain the boundaries of virtue, as he oughtto have done; by which means he misled his followers into thegreatest vices, making their names to become odious and scandalouseven in the heathen world. I have produced these few instances from a great many others to showthe imperfection of heathen philosophy, wherein I have confinedmyself wholly to their morality. And surely we may pronounce uponit, in the words of St. James, that "This wisdom descended not fromabove, but was earthly and sensual. " What if I had produced theirabsurd notions about God and the soul? It would then have completedthe character given it by that Apostle, and appeared to have beendevilish too. But it is easy to observe from the nature of thesefew particulars that their defects in morals were purely theflagging and fainting of the mind for want of a support byrevelation from God. I proceed, therefore, in the third place, to show the perfection ofChristian wisdom from above; and I shall endeavour to make it appearfrom those proper characters and marks of it by the Apostle beforementioned, in the third chapter, and 15th, 16th, and 17th verses. The words run thus - "This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. "For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evilwork. "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. " "The wisdom from above is first pure. " This purity of the mind andspirit is peculiar to the Gospel. Our Saviour says, "Blessed arethe pure in heart, for they shall see God. " A mind free from allpollution of lusts shall have a daily vision of God, whereofunrevealed religion can form no notion. This is it that keeps usunspotted from the world, and hereby many have been prevailed uponto live in the practice of all purity, holiness, and righteousness, far beyond the examples of the most celebrated philosophers. It is "peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated. " The Christiandoctrine teacheth us all those dispositions that make us affable andcourteous, gentle and kind, without any morose leaven of pride orvanity, which entered into the composition of most heathen schemes:so we are taught to be meek and lowly. Our Saviour's last legacywas peace, and He commands us to forgive our offending brother untoseventy times seven. Christian wisdom is full of mercy and goodworks, teaching the height of all moral virtues, of which theheathens fell infinitely short. Plato indeed (and it is worthobserving) has somewhere a dialogue, or part of one, about forgivingour enemies, which was perhaps the highest strain ever reached byman without Divine assistance; yet how little is that to what ourSaviour commands us, "To love them that hate us, to bless them thatcurse us, and to do good to them that despitefully use us. " Christian wisdom is "without partiality;" it is not calculated forthis or that nation of people, but the whole race of mankind. Notso the philosophical schemes, which were narrow and confined, adapted to their peculiar towns, governments, or sects; but "inevery nation, he that feareth God and worketh righteousness isaccepted with Him. " Lastly, It is "without hypocrisy;" it appears to be what it reallyis; it is all of a piece. By the doctrines of the Gospel we are sofar from being allowed to publish to the world those virtues we havenot, that we are commanded to hide even from ourselves those wereally have, and not to let our right hand know what our left handdoes, unlike several branches of the heathen wisdom, which pretendedto teach insensibility and indifference, magnanimity and contempt oflife, while at the same time, in other parts, it belied its owndoctrines. I come now, in the last place, to show that the great examples ofwisdom and virtue among the Grecian sages were produced by personalmerit; and not influenced by the doctrine of any particular sect, whereas in Christianity it is quite the contrary. The two virtues most celebrated by ancient moralists were fortitudeand temperance, as relating to the government of man in his privatecapacity, to which their schemes were generally addressed andconfined, and the two instances wherein those virtues arrived at thegreatest height were Socrates and Cato. But neither these, nor anyother virtues possessed by these two, were at all owing to anylessons or doctrines of a sect. For Socrates himself was of none atall; and although Cato was called a Stoic, it was more from aresemblance of manners in his worst qualities, than that he avowedhimself one of their disciples. The same may be affirmed of manyother great men of antiquity. Whence I infer that those who wererenowned for virtue among them were more obliged to the good naturaldispositions of their own minds than to the doctrines of any sectthey pretended to follow. On the other side, as the examples of fortitude and patience amongthe primitive Christians have been infinitely greater, and morenumerous, so they were altogether the product of their principlesand doctrine, and were such as the same persons, without those aids, would never have arrived to. Of this truth most of the Apostles, with many thousand martyrs, are a cloud of witnesses beyondexception. Having, therefore, spoken so largely upon the formerheads, I shall dwell no longer upon this. And if it should here be objected, Why does not Christianity stillproduce the same effects? it is easy to answer, first, that, although the number of pretended Christians be great, yet that oftrue believers, in proportion to the other, was never so small; andit is a true lively faith alone that, by the assistance of God'sgrace, can influence our practice. Secondly, We may answer that Christianity itself has very muchsuffered by being blended up with Gentile philosophy. The Platonicsystem, first taken into religion, was thought to have given matterfor some early heresies in the Church. When disputes began toarise, the Peripatetic forms were introduced by Scotus as bestfitted for controversy. And however this may now have becomenecessary, it was surely the author of a litigious vein, which hassince occasioned very pernicious consequences, stopped the progressof Christianity, and been a great promoter of vice; verifying thatsentence given by St. James, and mentioned before, "Where envyingand strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. " This wasthe fatal stop to the Grecians in their progress both of arts andarms; their wise men were divided under several sects, and theirgovernments under several commonwealths, all in opposition to eachother, which engaged them in eternal quarrels among themselves, while they should have been armed against the common enemy. And Iwish we had no other examples, from the like causes, less foreign orancient than that. Diogenes said Socrates was a madman; thedisciples of Zeno and Epicurus, nay, of Plato and Aristotle, wereengaged in fierce disputes about the most insignificant trifles. And if this be the present language and practice among us Christiansno wonder that Christianity does not still produce the same effectswhich it did at first, when it was received and embraced in itsutmost purity and perfection; for such wisdom as this cannot"descend from above, " but must be "earthly, sensual, devilish, fullof confusion and every evil work, " whereas, "the wisdom from aboveis first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and withouthypocrisy. " This is the true heavenly wisdom, which Christianityonly can boast of, and which the greatest of the heathen wise mencould never arrive at. Now to God the Father, &c. THREE PRAYERS USED BY THE DEAN FOR STELLA IN HER LAST SICKNESS, 1727 I. Almighty and most gracious Lord God, extend, we beseech Thee, Thypity and compassion toward this Thy languishing servant; teach herto place her hope and confidence entirely in Thee; give her a truesense of the emptiness and vanity of all earthly things; make hertruly sensible of all the infirmities of her life past, and grant toher such a true sincere repentance as is not to be repented of. Preserve her, O Lord, in a sound mind and understanding during thisThy visitation; keep her from both the sad extremes of presumptionand despair. If Thou shalt please to restore her to her formerhealth, give her grace to be ever mindful of that mercy, and to keepthose good resolutions she now makes in her sickness, so that nolength of time nor prosperity may entice her to forget them. Let nothought of her misfortunes distract her mind, and prevent the meanstoward her recovery, or disturb her in her preparations for a betterlife. We beseech thee also, O Lord, of Thy infinite goodness, toremember the good actions of this Thy servant; that the naked shehath clothed, the hungry she hath fed, the sick and the fatherlesswhom she hath relieved, may be reckoned according to Thy graciouspromise, as if they had been done unto Thee. Hearken, O Lord, tothe prayers offered up by the friends of this Thy servant in herbehalf, and especially those now made by us unto thee. Give Thyblessing to those endeavours used for her recovery; but take fromher all violent desire either of life or death, further than withresignation to Thy holy will. And now, O Lord, we implore Thygracious favour toward us here met together. Grant that the senseof this Thy servant's weakness may add strength to our faith; thatwe, considering the infirmities of our nature and the uncertainty oflife, may by this example be drawn to repentance before it shallplease Thee to visit us in like manner. Accept these prayers, webeseech Thee, for the sake of Thy dear Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, who, with Thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, ever oneGod, world without end. Amen. II. Written October 17, 1727 Most merciful Father, accept our humblest prayers in behalf of thisThy languishing servant; forgive the sins, the frailties, andinfirmities of her life past. Accept the good deeds she hath donein such a manner that, at whatever time Thou shalt please to callher, she may be received into everlasting habitations. Give hergrace to continue sincerely thankful to Thee for the many favoursThou hast bestowed upon her, the ability and inclination andpractice to do good, and those virtues which have procured theesteem and love of her friends and a most unspotted name in theworld. O God, Thou dispensest Thy blessings and Thy punishments asit becometh infinite justice and mercy; and since it was Thypleasure to afflict her with a long, constant, weakly state ofhealth, make her truly sensible that it was for very wise ends, andwas largely made up to her in other blessings more valuable and lesscommon. Continue to her, O Lord, that firmness and constancy ofmind wherewith Thou hast most graciously endowed her, together withthat contempt of worldly things and vanities that she has shown inthe whole conduct of her life. O All-powerful Being, the leastmotion of whose will can create or destroy a world, pity us, themournful friends of Thy distressed servant, who sink under theweight of her present condition, and the fear of losing the mostvaluable of our friends. Restore her to us, O Lord, if it be Thygracious will, or inspire us with constancy and resignation tosupport ourselves under so heavy an affliction. Restore her, OLord, for the sake of those poor who, by losing her, will bedesolate, and those sick who will not only want her bounty, but hercare and tending; or else, in Thy mercy, raise up some other in herplace with equal disposition and better abilities. Lessen, O Lord, we beseech Thee, her bodily pains, or give her a double strength ofmind to support them. And if Thou wilt soon take her to Thyself, turn our thoughts rather upon that felicity which we hope she shallenjoy, than upon that unspeakable loss we shall endure. Let hermemory be ever dear unto us, and the example of her many virtues, asfar as human infirmity will admit, our constant imitation. Accept, O Lord, these prayers, poured from the very bottom of our hearts, inThy mercy, and for the merits of our blessed Saviour. Amen. III. Written November 6, 1727 O merciful Father, who never afflictest Thy children but for theirown good, and with justice, over which Thy mercy always prevaileth, either to turn them to repentance, or to punish them in the presentlife in order to reward them in a better; take pity, we beseechThee, upon this Thy poor afflicted servant, languishing so long andso grievously under the weight of Thy hand. Give her strength, OLord, to support her weakness, and patience to endure her painswithout repining at Thy correction. Forgive every rash andinconsiderate expression which her anguish may at any time forcefrom her tongue, while her heart continueth in an entire submissionto Thy will. Suppress in her, O Lord, all eager desires of life, and lessen her fears of death by inspiring into her an humble yetassured hope of Thy mercy. Give her a sincere repentance for allher transgressions and omissions, and a firm resolution to pass theremainder of her life in endeavouring to her utmost to observe allThy precepts. We beseech Thee likewise to compose her thoughts, andpreserve to her the use of her memory and reason during the courseof her sickness. Give her a true conception of the vanity, folly, and insignificance of all human things, and strengthen her so as tobeget in her a sincere love of Thee in the midst of her sufferings. Accept and impute all her good deeds, and forgive her all thoseoffences against Thee which she hath sincerely repented of orthrough the frailty of memory hath forgot. And now, O Lord, we turnto Thee in behalf of ourselves and the rest of her sorrowfulfriends. Let not our grief afflict her mind, and thereby have anill effect on her present distemper. Forgive the sorrow andweakness of those among us who sink under the grief and terror oflosing so dear and useful a friend. Accept and pardon our mostearnest prayers and wishes for her longer continuance in this evilworld, to do what Thou art pleased to call Thy service, and is onlyher bounden duty, that she may be still a comfort to us and to allothers who will want the benefit of her conversation, her advice, her good offices, or her charity. And since Thou hast promised thatwhere two or three are gathered together in Thy name Thou wilt be inthe midst of them to grant their request, O gracious Lord, grant tous who are here met in Thy name that those requests, which in theutmost sincerity and earnestness of our hearts we have now made inbehalf of this Thy distressed servant and of ourselves, mayeffectually be answered, through the merits of Jesus Christ ourLord. Amen. Footnotes: {1} A clearer style, or a discourse more properly adapted to apublic audience, can scarce be framed. Every paragraph is simple, nervous, and intelligible. The threads of each argument are closelyconnected and logically pursued. --Orrery.