but univerfal Righteoufnefs and Peace, and Love and Good-will among them; which is what all good Men with and pray for.

Queft. Can you think it lawful, to give the ufual Titles and Expreffions of Respect to Men; feeing the Apostle James fays, If ye have refpect to perfons, ye commit fin, and are convinced of the law as tranfgreffors, James ii. 9.?

Anf. The having refpect to perfons, which the Apostle St. James fays, is a committing Sin, and a Tranfgreffion of the Law, is the refpecting the Perfons of Men in Judgment, or in judicial Caufes, contrary to the Law; ye fhall not refpect perfons in judgment, but ye fhall bear the fmall as well as the great; ye fhall not be afraid of the face of Man, Deut. i. 17. But it is both lawful and neceffary, for the good Order and Government of the World, to give the ufual Titles, and outward Expreifions of civil Respect to Men, according to their feveral Ranks and Degrees in the World, and to keep up thefe Distinctions among Men. For fome are allowed by our Saviour, to be more honourable than others, and to have the precedency and upper room, Luke xiv. 8. And therefore, befides the inward Honour due to good Men, and the outward Honour of Obedience to Magiftrates and Su periors; we are to give to all Men their due Titles, and the ufual outward Expreffions of civil Honour and Refpect, fuitable to their feveral Ranks and Degrees, and Conditions in the World; fuch as rifing up, ftanding or bowing, and the Titles of Sir, or Lord, or Noble, or Excellent, which have been generally given and ufed, both by and to good Men in Holy Scripture, and even to bad Men with regard to their outward Character and Station,

M 3

*R. B's Ap. p.

Station, and never cenfured or reproved; and fuch other Marks of Refpect, as are commonly ufed by fober and good Men in the Place where we live, and are no where forbidden in Scripture; in giving of which therefore there can be no Sin, Seeing where there is no law, there is no tranfgreffion, Luke i. 3. Acts xxiv. 3. xxvi. 25. 1 Pet. iii. 16. 1 Chron. xxix. 25. Dan. v. 18, 19.

And though the Quakers are against giving the ufual Expreffions of civil Honour and Refpect to others; yet they are not against receiving them from others, but like well enough to be maftred, and miftreffed by other People, without any fear of, Be not ye called Mafters, for one is your Mafter even Chrift; which they ufe to mifapply to this purpose; but is meant of being abfolute Masters of the Faith and Confciences of Men, Matth. xxiii. 10.

Queft. Is not the taking off the Hat to a Man, and bowing and cringing of the Body, vain Cuftoms which Man has invented to feed his Pride; and therefore to be rejected by fuch as fear God, as Mordecai refused to bow to Haman, Efth. iii. 2.? *

Anf. No. For there is no Law of God, 512, 513. forbidding us to exprefs our Civility to one another, and our Honour to our Superiors, by fuch outward Signs and Gestures; and therefore they cannot be unlawful. And the Quakers would think themselves disrespected, if we did not give them to them. And as for that fingle Example of Mordecai not bowing to Haman; befides that there feems to have been a fingular Providence in it, that made it an extraordinary Cafe; he might think it unlawful for him, to give him any Honour,

as

as being of the Race of the Amalekites, be tween whom and the Jews, there was to be a perpetual war, till they should blot out the remembrance of them from under heaven, Deut. XXV. 17. And the bowing of the Body, as a Mark of Refpect, tho' it is a Pofture that looks liker Idolatry, and more abject in its nature, than the Hat, is what the Quakers now generally allow of, and practice themfelves, tho' contrary to their formerly avowed Principle and Practice. * And though they Ap. p. will not put off their Hats to their Superiors, not to the King himself; yet they will make their own Servants ftand bare before them in their Houses and Shops, and their Children to fit bare in their Schools, Gen. xix. 1.—xxxiii. 3. Lev. xix. 32. Rom. xiii. 7.

Queft. Is not the Command of honouring our Father and Mother, meant only of the inward Honour of the Mind?

Anf. No. For then they may make all the other Commands of God require only the inward acts of the Mind, as well as this. And thus all outward acts of Piety and Reverence to God, might be laid afide, as well as outward Marks of Honour to our Parents.

Queft. Is not a Christian exprefly enjoined, not to be conformed to the World, or to its Fashions and Customs, Rom. xii. 1.?

Anf. Yes. But it is to be understood only, of his not being conformed to the World as to its Fafhions and Customs, in any thing that is evil and finful. And fo he is not to give flattering Titles, nor ufe lying Compliments, nor vain and coftly Apparel, unbecoming his Age, or Sex, or Ability, or his Rank and Condition in the World; nor to give religious Worship to Men. But he is M 4

not

*

R. B's

532.

not to be too nice and fcrupulous, in conforming himself to the Cuftoms of the Place, in all innocent and indifferent things; as in his Habit or Garb, in his manner of Saluting, and way of Addrefs, and in his modes of Speech or Gefture, where there is nothing in thefe contrary to decency and gravity. And the affecting a fingularity in fuch things as thefe, as it is contrary to the Practice of the Primitive Chriftians; fo it favours too much of Pride and a levelling Spirit, and is very hurtful to Religion, in fetting up wrong Notions of it, and placing it in things wherein God never placed it.

Queft. Is it either proper, or confiftent with Truth, to fay you, to a fingle Person, or with Humility to accept of it?

Anf. Yes, It is proper to fay you, to a fingle Perfon, when Cuftom, which gives the Signification to Words, has made you in fpeaking to one fingle Perfon, to fignify the fame with thou, and thee; whereas, the Word ye, is only or moftly used in speaking to more than one. And therefore, you being now generally used in our common Converfation, in fpeaking to any one fingle Person indifferently, it may both be used without any Lying or Flattery, and accepted without any Pride and Vanity. But it looks like a much greater fign of Pride and Vanity, to affect the Saying thou and thee, to every Man, as a diftinguishing Badge of a particular Sect

of Men.

SECT. XIII.

Queft. What is the Measure of Obedience to the Commands of God, now indifpenfibly required of us under the Gofpel, in order to

our

e

our Salvation, if it is not a perfect and unfin-ning Obedience?

Anf. The Law of God, as it is a Rule of Life, requires of us ftill a perfect unfinning Obedience, as a Duty; or elfe the coming fhort of it, would be no Sin, nor need no Repentance. But by the Tenor of the Gofpel or Covenant of Grace we are now under, all that is indifpenfibly required of us in order to our Salvation, is a fincere Obedience, from

true Principle of Love to God, and of univerfal Respect to all his Commands; which will now be graciously accepted of, through the Merits of Jefus Chrift, and his perfect Obedience; and for the Performance whereof, we may have all Grace fufficient for us, if we are not wanting to our felves, in the ufe of the Means of Grace, which God has appointed.

Quest. What are the means of Grace which God has appointed us to use, for his conveying his Grace to us?

An. They are, the holding Communion with his Church; and our due attending on his publick Worship and Service, and the Preaching of the Word; and the receiving Chrift's outward Baptifm and Supper; and the diligent Reading the Scripture, and meditating thereon; and pious Self-examination, and private Devotion.

Queft. Is every Man bound to be of the Communion of the Church, that is eftablished by the Laws of the Land where he lives?

Anf. No. He is not bound to it, but only when there is nothing required as a Condition of Communion with it, that is unlawful, or contrary to the Commands of God; for we

are