Treatise of Moral and Intellectual Virtues, Imprimatur – Dedication
Imprimatur.
Carolus Alſton, R. P. D.
Hen. Epiſc. Lond. à Sacris.
Nov. 20. 1690.
A TREATISE OF Moral and Intellectual VIRTUES; WHEREIN Their NATURE is fully explained, and their USEFULNESS proved, AS BEING The beſt Rules of LIFE.
AND The Cauſes of their Decay are enquired into; concluding with ſuch Arguments as tend to revive the Practice of them.
WITH A PREFACE ſhewing the Vanity and Deceitfulneſs of VICE.
Eſt modus in rebus, ſunt certi denique fines,
Quos ultrà citráque nequit conſiſtere rectum.
By JOHN HARTCLIFFE, B. D. and Fellow of Kings College, Cambridge.
London: Printed for C. Harper, at the Flower-de-luce over againſt S. Dunſtan's Church, Fleet-ſtreet, 1691.
To the Right Honorable CHARLES Earl of Maclesfeld, Lord Preſident and Lord Lieutenant of the Principality of Wales, Lord Lieutenant of the Counties of Glouceſter, Hereford, and Monmouth, and of the City and County of Briſtol, and one of the Lords of Their Majeſties moſt Honorable Privy Council.
May it pleaſe your Lordſhip,
THE Cauſe of Virtue belongs to great and brave Men; therefore I thought it my Duty to lay this Treatiſe at your Lordſhips Feet; it will not much enlarge your Thoughts, or acquaint you with any new things; but I hope, it may pleaſe the Generoſity of your Temper, to read the Characters of Virtues, the greateſt Ornaments of that pure Religion, which your Lordſhip hath laboured ſo much to recover from the Knavery and baſe Corruptions, as well as Bondage of Popery: For the Jeſuits Morals are as deſtructive of a good Life, and as pernicious to human Society, as their Plots and their Gun-Powder.
I am very well ſatisfied, that if I had ſought a Patron in all the Liſt of Noble Perſons, I could not have found a more proper or competent Judge in a Diſcourſe of this Nature; becauſe your Lordſhips Caſe, and that of Virtue it ſelf, have been much alike; you have been both perſecuted for your Integrity and Truth; but like Truth, you muſt and ſhall prevail, in ſpight of the malicious and the falſe, the Paraſite or the Detractor.
I have not troubled your Lordſhip with the fine and nice Speculations in Divinity, becauſe they have done our Religion much Diſ-ſervice, by raiſing a multitude of Queſtions, which neither advance true Piety, nor good Manners: But I preſent your Lordſhip with the Rules of naked Truth and Reaſon; the free Uſe whereof is as much our Birthright, as any thing elſe: Therefore your Lordſhips Name, and the Names of all thoſe ſhall be had in everlaſting remembrance, who have placed Their Majeſties upon the Throne; whereby not only our Properties, but our Underſtandings are ſecured to us, and an healing Plaiſter is laid upon all our Maladies: For we muſt needs ſay, our Nation was in a very diſtempered Condition, before it came into the hands of this wiſe and great Prince WILLIAM the Third, whoſe Breaches in its Manners, as well as in its Laws, may be made up by his ſeaſonable Application of the moſt proper Remedies; as its Greatneſs and Glory will ever be maintained by His Wiſdom, Power, and Courage under the Influence of theſe Royal Virtues; England, methinks, begins to recover its juſt Temper apace, and the old Britiſh Genius revives; ſo that in time it may be reſtored to a perfect Health, as ſtrong Bodies will work out the Poyſon they take, by degrees.
That this Deliverance, which hath been ſo wonderfully wrought for us, may have the ſame effect upon our Country, which the Chriſtian Religion had at its firſt entrance into it, when it did ſo quickly turn the firſt Inhabitants of this Iſland, who were uncivilized and barbarous, into humble, affable, meek, charitable, modeſt, prudent, tender, and compaſſionate Creatures.
That the Practice of Virtue may be eſtabliſh'd in theſe Kingdoms, without which the firmeſt Government muſt diſſolve; becauſe a regard to that will ever have an Influence upon the Honour and Authority of thoſe, who rule, as well as upon the Happineſs and ſafety of thoſe who obey.
And that your Lordſhip may long enjoy the only Sweetneſs of Life, a retreat from Noiſe and Diſturbance, that nothing may break or interrupt your Thoughts in the ways of Virtue and Goodneſs, is the Prayer of
May it pleaſe your Lordſhip, Your Lordſhip's moſt humble, and moſt obedient Servant, J. HARTCLIFFE.