A Difcourfe of the Honour due to Good Men,and of the great Crime of treating them with Scorn and Contempt.

NEV

2 TIM. iij. 3.

Defpifers of those that are good.

Ever does an ill Man appear fo truly Contemptible, as when he defpifes him that is Good and Virtuous; and never does the Good Man appear more truly Honourable, than when he can patiently and meekly indure, defpife, and forgive that Contempt; which however difficult upon a Surprize, he will find both more reafonable and more cafie to do, when he fhall filently recollect with himself; and confider, First, What an inward fufficiency and felf-Contentedness there is in true Goodness, how little it needs that Honour and Refpect which it deferves. Secondly, In what Credit and Eftimation he is with God, and with the Saints and Angels of Light, and Wife and Good Men upon Earth, the best Judges both of Perfons and Things. When he shall confider, Thirdly, the great and Honourable Cha

racters

racters and Representations which are given of him in Holy Scripture, where he is always fet forth as the only Wife, Rich, Great, Powerful and Happy Man,as the only Perfon of true Worth and Honour. And Fourthly, The Figure that Virtue and Goodness makes in Human Writings, the best and greatest part of which are imployed in drawing fair and beautiful Ideas of it, and in recommending its Practice upon the strongest Arguments of Reason and Interest. And withal Fifthly; That these are the Result of Mens Cool, Sober and Best Thoughts, compofed in Solitude and Retirement, upon the deepest Confideration and Recollection, when they are best able to think, and most fincere in the delivery of their Sentiments. And that Sixthly, Though a great many have the Impudence to make Goodness the Object of their Sport and Raillery in Common Talk, yet very few have ventured to give this their Folly under their Hands, and to let it stand upon publick Record; fo that there are it may be above a Thousand Volumes foberly and judiciously, written in the Honour and Vindication of Virtue, to one Libel that dares appear against it. When he shall moreover confider,Seventhly, the Secret Approbations and Applaufes of his own Conscience continually clearing him of the Contempt that is caft upon him, and commending him for his Patience under it. Eighthly, The inward Veneration that Goodness often extorts from many of those who are the greatest Strangers to it, and seem at the greatest defiance with it.Ninthly,

The

The Confeffions of the most Extravagant that occafionally drop from them in their more fober intervals, when kept from Wine and Company, they have been fuffered to come a little to themfelves, and have had a little leifure to Reflect. And Tenthly, The more permanent and standing Declarations of Returning Sinners, the folemn Retractations of Repentance, which upon the Review and with the advantage of Second Thought, determines on the fide of Goodness and Virtue. When he shall confider Eleventhly, That the brightest Examples of Virtue have ever been most undervalued, and met with the greatest Despite. That Twelfthly, This is one of those Perfecutions which those that will live Godly in Chrift Jefus muft fuffer. That Thirteenthly, The Best of Men have fuffered it: And Fourteenthly, That even our Bleffed Lord himself was thus treated,among whofe Prophetick Characters this is one of the Chief, He is defpifed and rejected of Men, Ifa. 53. 3. When he fhall yet further confider, Fifteenthly, That the Judgments and Opinions of Men make no real alteration either in the value of things, or in the condition of Perfons; and confequently the little or no hurt that Contempt does to any Body, befides him that Entertains it. And Sixteenthly, The Glory that Virtue casts about the Head of thofe who fuffer this little Martyrdom for her fake here; and Seventeenthly, The Crown that he is preparing and refining for them hereafter.

Upon these Confiderations,a Good Man may

eafily raise himself fo far above all that Contempt which his Goodness exposes him to, as not only to bear and forgive, but even despise it. But if these are too many to be prefently recollected, or attended to at once; and if he would be more compendiously affifted, let him but confider from what Quiver this Arrow comes, who it is that treats him with Contempt: That 'tis a Fools Bolt, which indeed is quickly foot, but blindfold and at random, without much aim or force, with a dark Eye, and with an unfteddy Hand,and accordingly with little Execution.That 'tis in fhort an Ill Man that defpifes him, (for with the Good he is in better Repute,) one whofe Judgment is of no Authority, whofe Reprefentations of things are always otherwife than their Natures, and whofe Good Word is the trueft Defamation. One that is utterly Blind and Ignorant, as not being illuminated by the true Light, that lives and walks in Darkness, that understands neither God nor himself, nor his Fellow-Creatures, that has all over falfe Ideas of Greatness and Goodness, of Honour and Dishonour, of Shame and Glory; whofe Notions and Characters of things are cross and tranfpofed, that calls Evil Good, and Good Evil, that puts Darkness for Light, and Light for Darkness, Bitter for Sweet, and Sweet for Bitter, that confounds every thing, and understands nothing as he ought, the most Miftaken Creature in the World. This is the true Character of Wicked Men, that which the Scripture gives of them, that which their whole Con

du&

duct Juftifies and Confirms, and that which they themfelves own and take upon them, fome of them in this World, as often as they are so happy as to Repent; and all of them in the other World, where they shall recant and transpose their former Sentences, and with regret fay, We Fools thought his Life Madness. Error is the true Original Cause of all the Sin and Mifery that is in the World, and 'tis nothing but Ignorance and Mistake that makes Wicked Men Will and A& amiss. They are in the dark, and have not a clear view either of their End or of their VVay; and 'tis that which makes them so often stumble and wander. They chufe and Practice ill, because at that inftant it feems good to them, (for Evil as fuch is not Eligible) and therefore it seems good to them, because they are Deceived. They do not fufficiently attend to the Nature, Moment, Relations and Confequences of things; they do not view them in a good Light, nor it may be with good Eyes, which being imbued with the Colours of Luft and Prejudice, derive the like Tincture upon the Object; they have not their Thoughts and Confiderations about them, nor do they fee to the end of their Actions: And hence 'tis that they pafs falfe Judgments, and take ill Measures; that their whole Life (like an ill compofed Difcourfe,) runs all along upon wrong Principles and mistaken Reasonings, and is all over Fallacy and Paralogifm; that they are nothing but Error, Darknefs and Confufion; whereof they give fufficient Demonstration in all their Discourses