Compassionate Counsel to All Young Men, Chapter 14 – Chapter 15
CHAP. XIV. What are mens Duties to each other as ELDER and YONGER.
§. 1. IT is most clear in Scripture and Reason that there are many special duties, which the Elder and Younger, as such, owe to each other. The Elder are bound.
1. To be wiser than the Younger, as having longer time, and so to be their instructers in their several places.
2. And especially to deliver down to them the Sacred Scripture which they received, and the Memorials of Gods works, done for his Church in their dayes, and which they received from their Fathers.
3. And to go before them in the example of a holy and heavenly Life, Iob 32.4, and 8.8. Heb. 5.14. Tit. 2.2.3. 1 Io. 2.13, 14. Iudg. 6.13. Psal. 44.1. and 78.3, 5. Deut. 1. 21. Exod. 12.26. Deut. 11.19. Ios. 4.6.21, 22. Ioel. 1.3.
§. 2. And nature and Scripture tell us that the Younger owe much Duty to the Elder sum'd up, 1 Pet. 5.5. Ye Younger submit your selves to the Elder; this submission includeth especially, a reverence to their judgments, preferring them before their own, and supposing that ordinarily they are wiser than the younger, and therefore living towards their Elders in a humble Learning disposition, and not proudly setting their unfurnished wits against their greater experience without very evident reason. For the understanding of which note.
§. 3. 1. That it is certain that meer Age doth not make men wise or good, none are more sottishly and uncurably ignorant than the aged ignorants; and few so bad as the old obstinate sinners. For they grow worse deceiving and being deceived, and more and more abuse Gods mercy, and are still going further from him, as the faithful are growing better and nearer to him.
2. And it is certain that God greatly blesseth some young mens understandings, and maketh them wiser than the aged and their Teachers.
3. And such a one is not bound to think that he knoweth not what he knoweth; nor to believe that every old man is wiser than he; all this we grant.
§. 4. But though, Eccl. 4.13, Better is a poor and a wise Child, than an old and foolish King who will no more be admonished. Yet,
1. It is certain that knowledge cometh much by experience; and long experience and use, is farre more powerful than the short: And Time and Converse is necessary to it; naturally or ordinarily long learning and use increaseth knowledge. Do not all take it for granted that usually the boys who have been many years at School are better who Scholars than beginners; and so in all other acquisitions. Therefore it was the Elders that were commonly the Rulers of the people in Church and Commonwealth, and the Pastors and Rulers are thence called Elders: And if they were not ordinarily the wisest, why did not God make the Children the ordinary Teachers and Rulers of their Parents, but the Parents of the Children? Old men may be Ignorant and Erroneous as well as wicked: but young men cannot be ripe in wisdom without a miracle; we are not therefore now to suppose unusual things to be usual. Ordinarily youth is ignorant and raw; their conceptions undigested, not well fixed or improved: It is but few things that they know, and their ignorance of the rest, maketh them lyable to many Errours, Heb. 5.11, 12. For the Time ye ought to have been Teachers, fitness to teach supposeth Time, the young cannot digest strong meats, A Novice must not be a Bishop, the reason may seem strange, Lest he be lift up with Pride, and fall into the condemnation of the Devil, 1 Tim. 3.6. One would think youth should be most humble as conscious of defectiveness. But because the Ignorant know not that more is to be known than ever they attained, therefore they know not their own Ignorance.
2. And this PROVD IGNORANCE is so odious a sin, and the nurse of so many more, and so great an Enemy to wisdom and all good, that it is no wonder that it is the way to the condemnation of the Devil.
§. 5. Therefore though young men should not receive any Falshood, Heresie, or ill example from the aged, yet they should still reber that caeteris paribus, Age hath the great advantage for knowledge, and youth must needs live in an humble teachable sence of Ignorance; other, mens abuse of Time, and aged folly will not prove them miraculously wise. The aged are alwaies the wisest if they equally improve their time and helps.
§. 6. It is so odious a sin for Lads and young Students to be self-conceited, and unteachable; and set up their apprehensions with ungrounded confidence against their Elders, that all should be very fearful of that guilt, and have such humble thoughts of their own understandings, as to be jealous of their conceptions; for all these Vices make up their self-conceited prefidence.
1. It is both great ignorance of the darkness of mens understanding, and great ignorance of themselves, to be ignorant that they are ignorant, and to think they are sure of that which they know not.
2. It is an odious sort of Pride, to overvalue an ignorant understanding, and to be proudly confident of that which they have not.
3. It is folly to think that Truth can be known, without sufficient time and tryal; and contrary to the Worlds continual experience.
4. It is an absurd, an inhumane, a subverting of the order of World, for Lads to set up their Wits by groundless self-conceitedness against their Elders, as for Subjects to set their Wills against Rulers.
5. It is a continual unrighteousness; there is a justice required in our common private judging, as well as in Judges publick judgment. And all should be heard and tryed before we peremptorily judge.
6. It is a nest of continual Errour in the mind, which is the Souls deformity, and contrary to natures love of Truth.
§. 7. And it hath abundance of mischievous effects.
1. It keepeth out that Truth or Knowledge which should be received. It obstinately resisteth necessary teaching, whereas the willingest entertainment is little enough to get true knowledge, even by slow degrees. As God giveth birds an instinct to feed their young, so the young ones by instinct hunger, and open their mouths. But if they abhorr'd their meat and must be cram'd, they would commonly perish, that knowledge, that such get, must be from themselves, in their own thinking and observation only: Where their minds are yet unfurnished with those Truths that must let in more, and daily objects will occasion errour or confusion in their minds that are unprepared to improve them, and their own lusts will pervert them, and one errour draw in more, whereas the help of those that by long and successful Study, have rightly ordered and digested their conceptions, might be an exceeding help to willing Learners.
2. And such by Pride do forfeit the Grace of God, which he giveth to the humble, and resisteth the proud; and are oft given up to the self-conceitedness which they so defend, till their own Counsels and ways be their confusion.
3. And the Devil hath advantage to set in, and even possesse such proud, prepared ignorant minds, and become their Teacher, and lead them almost to what he will, against Truth, and the Church, and themselves, and God.
4. And self-conceit, and hasty confidence maketh them continual lyers; even while they rage for what they say as true: For being usually mistaken for want of patient tryal, they say what they think, and are not to be much believed in their prefidence.
§. 8. But seeing many old men are ignorant and erroneous, and some young men have sounder understandings, how shall I know when I am guilty of proud, self-conceit, and prefidence, and refusing others judgment. Answ. 1. When you rashly neglect their judgement and Counsel, who have had as good helps and parts as you, and far longer time and experience, without so much as hearing what they have to say, and taking time to trye the cause according to its weight, especially if they be such as nature or relation obliged you to learn of. 2. When you easilier suspect such than your own understandings. 3. When your confidence of your understandings is so unproportionable to your Time and Studies, that you must suppose you know by a miracle or some rare capacity and wit; as if you had got more in a few years than the rest of mankind doth in many. 4. When you judge suddenly before you take time to think, and may know that you never heard what may be said against you.
5. When you talk most in a bold asserting or a Teaching way, as if you were Oracles to be heard and reverenced, and not in a humble enquiring way, with that necessary doubting which beseemeth Learners; except ye become as Little Children in teachable humility, you are not fit for the School of Christ, Matth. 18.3. Even he that is a Teacher must be a Learner still; as conscious of his remaining ignorance, and not think himself above it, nor set himself to dispute against all that he understands not, but continue humbly to search and trie. 6. When those Reasons of your own seem good and cogent, which are sufficiently confuted, and you cannot see it, or which men of the most approved Learning & fitness to judg do judg to be but folly; & when other mens soundest reasons seem light to you, because you judg by a proud and selfish understanding, confident and tenacious of all that is your own, and contemning that which is against you.
7. When you can too easily without certain cogent reason dissent from the judgment, not only of those whose Light and Integrity, hath by self-manifestation convinced the World, but also from the generality of such as are commonly known to be the wise, godly and impartial; yea perhaps from all the Church of Christ.
8. When the most and wisest men that know you, think you not so wise as you think your selves, nor your reason so good; but pity your self-conceitedness, and yet this brings you not to suspect and trie.
9. When you are hardly and rarely brought to an humble confession of your errours, but in all debates you seem still, what ever the cause be, to be in the right, and when you have once said it you will stand to it, and justifie untruths, or extenuate and excuse them.
10. When you too much affect the esteem of wisdom, and love to have your judgments a Rule to others, and are unfit for true subjection.
In a word when instead of being swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath, you are swift to speak and dictate, slow to hear and learn, and swift to wrathful censure of Dissenters.
§. 9. So common and hurtful is this sin in mankind, that you should still be duely fearful of it; Errour I fear taketh up the greater half of the thoughts of men, and most are rather deceived than in the right, and mans mind in flesh is in great darkness, and therefore PROVD IGNORANCE is a monstrous and pernicious vice; and most of the confusions and miseries of the World, of Kingdoms, Churches and all Societies come from it. Yea though it seems most contrary to Scepticism, it tendeth at last to Infidelity or Atheism. For when experience hath convinced such, that their most confident rage, was but a mistake, they turn to think that there is nothing certain, and deny the greatest Truths. It is by this one sin of proud self-conceitedness in false thoughts, that Kingdoms, Churches and the World by obstinacy seems remediless, and the wisest men that would cure them can do no good, but on themselves and few.
§. 10. But it is no where more unnatural than in Children against their Parents Counsel, and Scholars against their Tutors, and Ignorant persons, against the common consent of the most able Godly Pastors. What an odious thing is it to see an ignorant Lad run against all his Fathers words, and think that he is wiser and always in the right; and to hear ignorant persons magisterially judge and despise their wise and faithful Teachers, before they are capable to understand them, or the matter of which they talk? Oh! how happily might Parents, and Pastors, and wise men promote knowledge and goodness in the world, were it not, for this selfish prefidence which shuts the door against their necessary helps.
CHAP. XV. The Conclusion, to Ministers.
THere is another sort of Helpers, on whom the wellfare of Youth much depends; even the Ministers of Christ. But I presume not here to teach them: In my Reformed Pastor, I have spoken somewhat freely when I had leave. I cannot expect that those that silence me should hear me; nor will I think that able faithfull Ministers need my Counsell. But all that I will now say is, humbly to intreat those who take no great pains with the young persons in their Parishes, and will not be admonished by such as I, but to read Martin Bucer (who had so great a hand in counselling our Reformers that made the Liturgy) his Book de Regno Dei, his Censure of the Liturgy, especially of Baptism, Confirmation, Ordination and Discipline, and his vehement pressing the necessity of Congregational Discipline, and denying the Sacrament to the unmeet, and the necessity of keeping Baptized Youths among the Catechumens, till at age they come to true understanding of the Covenant, which they made and must renew, and till they give credible signs of real Godlyness by a Godly Life, and of what mischievous effects it is to confirm them, and admit them to the Lords Supper, on their bare saying the words of the Catechism, the Creeds, Lords Prayer and Decalogue, without tryed Vnderstanding and serious Piety; And what a wrong it is to the Christian Church and Religion, to confound and corrupt our Communion for want of Parish Discipline and distinctions. And how little good all Canons or Laws for Reformation or Religious duty will do, if the Ministry be ignorant, worldly and ungodly, and the Churches be not taught and guided by able godly, humble, self-denying and loving Pastors.
I beseech you read him diligently, he was no violent man, and his books here mentioned were purposely written for K. Edward, and the Bishops, and Church of England, and accepted kindly by them. His burnt bones were honourably vindicated by the publick praise, and his memory by many in Cambridge solemnly commended to posterity: I beseech you let his Counsel in these Books be revived, and true Reformation be tryed by their Light. I hope they will hear that great and moderate Reformer that will not hear me, or such as I. And if you will adde the Reading of old Salvian, and of Nic. Clemangis, it may do you good, and excite you to do good to others, and promote the ends of this Advise to Youth.
March 25. 1681.
FINIS.