The Reasonableness of Personal Reformation, Treatise 1 · Chapter 2
CHAP. II.
Producing one Dictate or Rule of right Reason respecting Morality, allowed by Mankind; and passing current through the World without one Negative Voice, except only from those Men whose Reasons are utterly captivated by their Lusts.
SECT. I.
SUch is the degeneracy and deep Corruption of some Mens Natures by ill Education, base Company, and long Custom in Sin; that abandoning and casting away the bonds and restraints of right Reason, as well as Religion, they give the full scope and Liberty to their Lusts and Passions, reckoning their chief happiness to consist in the Gratification and Satisfaction of their Sensitive Appetites. They affect a soft, delicate, sensepleasing Life, reckoning it the only real Heaven to be desired and sought by them; and any other Heaven beside that, to be meerly notional and phantastick. This is the Element they desire to live and sport in, fitly described, Tit. 3. 3. … serving divers Lusts and Pleasures. Hence it com… to pass, that their Bodies serve only to be straine… for Meats and Drinks, and Channels for filth… Lusts to stream through. In this stream the… Masculine Agility melts away, and all publi… Hopes and Expectations from them are totall… defeated and disappointed. Appetite is the Maste… and Reason the Slave.
These Men (if it be fit to call them Men) hav… bid de…iance to their own Reason, and denounce… a War against their own faculties, as if Reaso… had licensed and priviledged (which it never di… nor can do) their worse-than bruitish Lusts, to … to the uttermost of their Abilities, without an… master of restraint over them.
SECT. II.
But notwithstanding the present Captivity … Reason under usurping and domineering Lust … so long as it hath a permanent and fixed Root an… Principle in their Nature, 'tis possible it may r…cover its Throne and Empire over them agai… as many an imprisoned King hath done, and pr…bably would do it in a very short space, if tho… prejudices they have conceived against its G…vernment, were but once fairly confuted and r… moved, which certainly is not hard to do.
They are of Opinion, that the Laws of Reaso… are too severe, strict, and rigorous. That they to much abridg them of their Pleasures and Delight… and that the Government of Sensuality bein… more easy, favourable and indulgent, is for th… reason much more eligible and d…sirable.
Whereas right Reason designs not the abandoning of all Pleasures, but only the exchange of them, and that exchange every way to our great Advantage. The only hurt or loss (if this must be accounted so) any Man can sustain by the exchange of Pleasures made by Reason and Religion, is this, that they design for you the rational, ordinate, and congruous Delights, both of a Man, and of a Christian, in lieu of the lower, baser, and filthy Pleasures of a Beast, or a Devil.
They propose to you Rules about Pleasures far more safe and grateful, without any culpable severity or austerity in them. Reason would only regulate and legitimate your Delights, and Religion sanctify them, that you might much more purely and sweetly enjoy them without either shame arising from their turpitude, or fear from their guilt. The Rules of both are large and indulgent enough, and keeping within their lines and limits, Men shall find such generous, manly, and agreeable delights, as are no where to be enjoyed without them.
SECT. III.
To make this evident, I shall postulate and presume but one thing, and that a thing so immediately true and self-evident, that in the first naked proposal of it, it naturally and easily lets it self into every Mans understanding, and … sooner asks, but gains the Approbation of right Reason. And that self-evident Principle which I take for granted no Man of sound intellectuals will quarrel or dispute, is this;
That good which compriseth and involveth the tr… Honour, Profit, and Pleasure of the whole Man, whic… is more congruous to Humane Nature, and preserv… tive of it, is to be preferred in our Estimation an… Choice to that which only yields a lower degree o… Pleasure, without Profit or Honour to the basest part o… Man; and that low and transient Pleasure it do… yield, attended and followed with many present an… future Miseries, destructive to the whole Man.
The several parts of this complex Proposition cast such a Light and Glory round about them that I cannot imagine, but as soon as it shall b… propounded to the Judgment and Censure o… sound Reason, it must immediatly gain both it… Approbation and Applause.
But because Reason in many Men is so be| clouded, and disturbed by Lusts and Passions that it can neither receive things orderly, nor judg of them truly and impartially: I conceive it needful to demand the Censure and Judgmen… of their Reason upon the Particulars comprised in this general complex Proposition, that ſo weighing and examining them one by one, we may try whether sound Reason hath any valuable Exception against any Part or Member thereof.
SECT. IV.
And First, I take it for granted, that no Man's Reason will deny or demur to this Proposition, That Good is to be chosen, and Evil to be avoided. For the will is naturally carried to that which is good, as to its proper Object, and shuns that which is Evil. And that is naturally good which is convenient, and agreeable to Nature; and that naturally Evil which is disconvenient and hurtful to Nature. So that the choice of Good rather than Evil, is the natural choice of the Will; and this choice of the Will is founded upon the Law of Self-preservation, without which the Creation would quickly disband, and no particular being could be long preserved.
And not only the Will of rational Creatures chuseth the Good, and refuseth the Evil; but every sensitive Creature is endowed with a natural Faculty to discern the one from the other in order to the preservation of their beings. You find it in the smallest and most despicable Animals, and therefore cannot deny it unto Man, the noblest and most excellent Being on Earth, except only in his Non-age, before he hath lived to the years of Discretion. Children indeed in their Infancy have no knowledg to discern between Good and Evil, Deut. 1. 39. But Men not discerning Good from Evil, or chusing Evil rather than Good, are many degrees beneath Babes.
Secondly, Nor will Reason haesitate at all upon this Particular, That there are degrees of Goodness found among Pleasures and Delights; some are better than others. Every Life is not alike pleasant and happy. To deny this, is to make the most despicable Worm, or Fly, equally happy with the most excellent Creature upon Earth. And beside, for the Conviction of such debauched Persons, as I am here arguing with, it will follow clearly from the denial of that truth, that they really gain nothing to themselves by all their extravagant and licentious Courses, there being altogether as much Pleasure and Felicity in a temperate, chast, and sober Life, as there is in that beastly Life they live. An… their very departure from the way of Sobriety, … embrace the ways of debauchery, most clea… evinceth to the World, that they do not think … Pleasures equal, but that they do confidently e…pect to find more Pleasure and Satisfaction in the way that they chuse, than they did in … way of Sobriety, which they have left and aba…doned.
Thirdly, I cannot be so uncharitable to thin… but the Relicks of Reason in the most profliga… Person, will readily admi… and grant, that wher…ever the good of Pleasure, Profit, and Honour … together, and joyntly conspire to make the life of a … more comfortable, and more durable upon Earth, th… is much rather to be chosen, than a meer transie… touch of sensitive Pleasure, accompanied with prese… regret, and followed with the Ruin of Estate, Nam… Honour, Soul, and Body. He that thinks otherwise… is more fit for a Bedlam, than a rational and sobe… Confutation. These things therefore I take fo… granted, they being innate and self-evident Not…ons and Principles in all Men.
SECT. V.
The Wisdom and Goodness of God are clearl… discernable in leaving such Principles of Reaso… and common notices of Conscience in Men aft… the fall, as prompt them naturally unto Justic… Chastity, Temperance, and Sobriety, and do strug…gle within them to restrain them from, or recove… them out of their Immoralities, from which man… advantages do result.
For hereby God is acknowledged all the World over, Men every where shewing by these things the work of the Law written in their hearts, Rom. 2. 15.
Hereby Kingdoms and Commonwealths are preserved, this being the common Bridle which restrains the outragious Lusts of millions of Men, which else would turn the World into Confusion, tho here and there some have slipt Bridle, and run into all excess of Riot. We justly admire the Providence of God in butting, bounding, and restraining the boisterous Ocean by Mountains, Rocks and Sands; and as much is he to be admired in curbing the in…ariable Lusts of Men by these innate Principles of Reason and Conscience.
Hereby the way to Sin is in some measure b…rr'd and shut up, and the further progress of Sinners, already entered into it, stop'd and denied. For Actions done with regret, cannot be supposed to be done so frequently and furiously, as if they were done without any regret; or that the way …o Sin were smoothed to them with a full Cons…nt and Approbation of their whole self. For most Sinners find in themselves what Med…a did,
—Video melior… proboque,
… s…quor—
They both … and approve that which is better, tho they follow that which is worse.
In a word, these R…li…s of Reason and Conscience in Men, are …it handles to catch hold on, for the turning them about from Satan unto God. When Paul reasoned with Felix about Temperance, Righteousness, and Judgment to come, … words laid hold upon these handles, and gave … such a shake, that the Text saith, Felix trem… And oh! that this Discourse might take hold the Reason and Conscience of every profane …der, and produce some more excellent and las… effect upon his Soul.
SECT. VI.
These notices and dictates of Reason and … science in Men being so necessary and many … beneficial to themselves, as well as to the w… Community; it must therefore be an horrid …lany to war against them, and by violence to … press and enslave them to our own Lust.
This is as if a Company of desperate R… should assault Innocent and Noble Traveller… on the lawful Road, bind and gag their Gu… whilst they Rob and Prostitute them. Thus … bruitish Lusts, headed by the Devil, with the …ctions of Men, travelling along the lawful R… of Duty, under the conduct of Reason and …science. For this Villany it was that the …stle tells us, The wrath of God was revealed … Heaven against the Heathens, who held the … in unrighteousness, Rom. 1. 18. They ha… Light of Natural Reason and Conscience in … the inbred Notions of Good and Evil, … raised their hopes or fears according to the N… and Quality of their Actions.
Conscia mens ut cuique su… est, ita concipit int…
Pectora pro facto spemque me…umq…e suo.
But their head-strong boisterous Lusts rudely and violently brake in upon Reason and Conscience, imprisoned and bound them as Zedekiah did the faithful Prophet Jeremiah for the discharge of his Duty to him. For this the Wrath of God was revealed from Heaven against them. And indeed we cannot wonder it should be incensed against them, as it will against all that act like them. For into such a Sin as this, many direful Aggravations fall in together to make it a monstrous and prodigious Sin.
Here we find an high and causeless Abuse of the noblest natural …aculties and Powers of a Mans own Soul. What harm have thy Reason and Conscience done thee by stimulating and perswading to Temperance, Chastity, and Sobriety, or by strugling and striving with thee to prevent both thy present and future Ruin? Do they lay their faithful and loving Hands of restraint upon thee, when they see thee running headlong into Destruction? And do they deserve for this, and no worse than this, to be thus trampled under foot and abused? Ask thy self, Man, whether thou thinkest thy very Dog deserves to be hanged for opening at midnight, and taking that thief by the throat who came to cut thine? And darest thou use those noble Powers within thee, worse than thou wouldst use a Dog? Humanity would blush at such an Action.
These vile Abuses of thy Reason and Conscience car…y also in them an horrid contempt of God, whose Patent, Officers, and Delegates thy Reason and Conscience are. Those certainly Sin with an high hand against the Lord, who make nothing to controul, kick, and lay in Irons his Commission-Officers, appointed for no other end, by their present and future Felicity. Nay,
Such Men as these are found in a plain Conf…racy with the Devil, and that in a most unnat… and horrid Plot against their own Souls and Bod… Their Light and their Lusts are strugling to…ther. Sin and Conscience are combating one w… the other; the one to destroy, the other to save … Man. Darest thou joyn with thy Lusts against … light, and think not to be brought in as a Party, … confederate with the Devil? The stopping of … Mouth of thy Conscience, fully proves both … Consent and Concealment. And if proved C…sent and Concealment make the… not a Party … Accessary, it will be very strange.
Plutarch in this Book de Ami…ti… relates a St… of a Persian, who scuffling in the dark with a M…an, against whom he had a grudge, and not … able to conquer him himself, called upon … Friend, who stood by with a naked Sword read… strike, but durst not for fear of killing his Fri… The Persian crys out, Strike, strike, however … stroke fall; thrust at an adventure; I care not so … kill the Magician, tho thou kill him through my … Body.
Much so stands the case here with a little …riation. Thou art furiously set upon the En… ment of thy Lusts, nothing will quiet thee … their Satisfaction. Thy Reason and Conscie… will oppose it, and struggle hard with thee to w… hold thee from them. But thou carest not in… rage of thine insatiable Appetite, tho thy Re… and Conscience both fall in the Combate, rat… than thy Lusts should not be satisfied Oh, … Bruits! yea, what Monsters can Sin turn … into!
SECT. VII.
If Men have not quite extinguished both Reason …nd Conscience by debauchery, and divested them…elves of Humanity, one would think no Motion … Address can possibly be made to them more fair, …ational, and inoffensive than this, that they would …e pleased but to consult themselves, and hearken …o the native and unconstrained Voice of their …wn Reason and Conscience, before they engage …emselves in matters of great Concernment, up…n which both their present and eternal welfare do …epend; or if they are already engaged, yet at …st to lend an ear to what they have to offer for …eir recovery, before it be too late.
You are not here urged and pressed to hearken …o the Voices of your Enemies that hate you, or …o the counsel and advice of meer Strangers who …now not your Affairs; but to hearken to your …lves, to be your own Arbitrators and Judges, …o draw up the Award with your own hand. 'Tis …strange and an hard case ind…ed, and scarce to be …upposed, that Men should fall out with themselves … such a rate, that they had rather hear the Voice …f their mortal Enemy the Devil, and listen to his Advice and Counsel, than to the Voice of their …wn Reason and Conscience.
We all account in madness in Balaam to beat …is innocent Ass, and threaten to kill her for …unning the Sword of the Angel that opposed his …assage in a sin…ul and dangerous Expedition. But …ow many use both their Reason and Conscience …orse than Asses, because they dare not go forward, and desperately carry them into the very midst of Dangers and Miseries, which they plainly foresee and warn them of?
What Injuries have thy Reason or Conscienc… done thee, Man? What Affronts have they give… thee? That thou wilt not suffer them to speak o… offer one word, tho never so pertinent, seasonable… and necessary? There is a Civility due from us t…meer Strangers, yea, to Strangers of an inferio… Rank and Quality. The least we can do, is … give them a patient hearing, and not interrup… them whilst they speak nothing but what is rational, pertinent, and necessary, especially if it b… to their own good and advantage. 'Tis strang… Men should not think themselves as much oblige… to pay Civility and Respect to their own Reason and Consciences, as they daily pay to meer Strangers and Inferiors. Give them but a patient hearing, and they will both tell thee:
We are thine appointed Guardians, and have ou… Commission from God to advise, direct, and counsel th… We are thy faithful and inward Friends; yea, we an… thine own self, and the best and noblest part of thy se… too. At our hands G… will require thy Blood, should… thou perish by our Silence or Treachery. We cannot b… both Silent and Innocent, are both in such hazar… Don't abuse us, and stop our Mouths for crying ou… Stop, Stop, when we see thee departing from the Paths … Honesty, Honour, and Safety, and taking the direct Roa… to that Gulph of Misery, in which few, if any foot-step are found of such as return again, that are far engage… therein.
Suffer us but fairly and friendly to expostulate th… matter with thee. What design can we have against th… true Interest, whilst thine and ours cannot possibly … opposite or disjunct, but one and the same Interest.
Well then, that which thy Reason and Conscience offers being so weighty, fair, and just, and what thine own Interest plainly lies in, I will not be so uncharitable, as to suppose thou wilt either refuse to hear, or reject what they have to say in the following Cases and Debates.