The Christian Life Part 3 Volume 4, Part 2 · Chapter 2
CHAP. II. Of Mercy, as it relieveth the Miseries of the Body.
I SHALL now proceed to the second sort of Miseries, viz. such as do affect Mens Bodies; under which I shall shew you what Acts of Mercy this kind of Miseries requireth of us. Now these as the former, may be reduced to Five Heads:
First, NATURAL Blemishes and Defects.
Secondly, SICKNESSES and Diseases.
Thirdly, OUTWARD Force and Violence injuriously offered to them by those in whose Power they are.
Fourthly, CIVIL or arbitrary Punishments inflicted on them for Injuries received.
Fifthly, WANT of outward Necessaries.
I. ONE of the Miseries which affects Mens Bodies is their natural Blemishes and Defects; such as Lameness or Crookedness, the Want of our Senses, or the disproportion of our Parts, or Features; all which are real Infelicities, for as much as they render our Bodies either less useful to our selves, or less graceful and amiable to others. And indeed our Body being an Object of Sense is usually much more remarked and taken notice of, than our Soul which is an invisible Being; and consequently the Defects and Blemishes of our Bodies lying more in view, are much more liable to be reflected on both by our selves and those we converse with, than the Stains and Deformities of our Minds and Wills; which being placed out of sight are less exposed to Observation: Which is the reason that our Corporeal Defects are so grievous to us, because being so apparent as they are both to our own and others Senses, they do not only upbraid us to our selves, who being led by Sense are apt to value our selves by sensible Graces and Perfections; but are also prone to create a mean and contemptible Opinion of us in the Minds of others; the very suspition of which, if we are not raised above such mean Considerations, will be exceeding apt to grieve and afflict us. In this case therefore the Law of Mercy requires us not to contemn or undervalue Men, not to upbraid or reproach them upon the account of any bodily Blemish or Defect; but to over-look these as inconsiderable Flaws of their Case and Outside, and render them all those Honours and Respects which the Graces and Vertues of their Minds deserve: Considering that the Body is not the Man, but the immortal Mind that inhabits it; and that many times the richest Diamonds wear the roughest Coats and Outsides; that those natural Blemishes are Infelicities which Men could not prevent, and which they cannot rectify; that it was not in their Power to order Nature in their own Composure, but that what they had there, was such as they could neither give themselves, nor yet refuse, when it was bequeathed to them; and that therefore to deride and expose them for any Mishape or Blemish in their Composition, is to fling Salt into their Wounds, to fret and inflame their Misery. And yet alas! How common a Practice is this to sport with the Deformities of Men, as if God and Nature had designed them for so many Finger-buts of Scorn and Derision; to make them the Themes of our Jests and Laughter; which is a lamentable instance of the foul Degeneracy of Humane Nature, that can thus play upon Misery, and turn that which is an Object of Pity and Compassion, into a Triumph of Mirth and Drollery: for certainly how light and trifling soever it may appear through the common Practice of it, it is a sign of barbarous Illnature for Men to deride those Defects and Blemishes in another, which he is too prone to grieve at, but yet cannot help, as being his Infelicities and not his Faults.
II ANOTHER of the Miseries which affect Mens Bodies is Sicknesses and Diseases; by which the strength of our Natures is gradually exhausted, the Vigour of our Spirits wasted, the Activity of our Parts cramp'd and abated, and our Bodies are rendered through incessant Pains and Weakness not only useless, but burthensom to our Souls. In this case therefore the Law of Mercy requires of us to render to our sick Friends, Neighbours and Acquaintants all such good Offices as do any way conduce to their Support, Refreshment, or Recovery. As first, if their Sickness be such as will safely admit of Discourse and Conversation, we are obliged in Mercy to visit them, provided that our Company will be acceptable; and to endeavour by our Discourse to chear their drooping Spirits, to intermix their sorrowful Hours with the Pleasures of good Conversation, and to administer to their wearied Thoughts the Supports and Comforts of Religion. For chearful and good Discourse is many times better than the richest Cordial, it makes the Patient to forget his pain, or at least allays and mitigates his Sense of it; it diverts his thoughts from their sorrowful Themes, and entertains them with brisk and sprightful Idea's; it raises the languishing Heart, and like David's Musick, charms the rage of those evil Spirits which infest it with their unnatural Heats. So that by visiting our sick Friends; when they are willing to admit of our Conversation, and able to bear it, we many times prove their best Physicians, and administer to them the greatest Relief and Ease; and therefore if when we might do them so much good by our Company, we needlesly withdraw or absent our selves from them, we are very much wanting in our Charity and Mercy towards them. But then as we are obliged in Mercy to visit them, when their case will safely and conveniently admits of it; so we are also obliged by the same Mercy to render them all those necessary Assistances, which either their Souls or Bodies do require and need; to endeavour to awaken their Minds into serious Thoughts and Purposes, to advise them of their Duty, and to resolve their Doubts, to comfort and support them with the blessed Hopes of Religion, and to take all fair Opportunities to prepare their Souls for a happy Death and a glorious Eternity; that so whether they recover or no, this temporary Sickness of their Bodies may contribute to the eternal Health of their Souls. And then in order to their Recovery, we stand bound by the Laws of Mercy to contribute what we are able to their bodily Ease and Refreshment; to be ready to serve them in all their Necessities, and to help them when they cannot help themselves; to compassionate their Griefs, and bear with their Pevishnesses, and to the best of our knowledge to direct them to the ablest Physicians, or the most suitable Means; and if they are poor and indigent, to supply them with all such Remedies as are necessary to their Health and Recovery: and lastly, to be their earnest Advocates at the Throne of Grace, that the God of all Power and Goodness in whose hands are the issues of Life and Death, would commiserate their Sorrows and refresh their Weariness, and either remove their Sickness, or Sanctifie it to their Eternal Health.
III. ANOTHER of the Miseries which affect Mens Bodies is outward Force, and violence from those in whose power they are; such as Captivity and Imprisonment, Persecutions or cruel Torments; all which do importunately sollicite the timely Succors of our Mercy and Compassion. For so for the first of them, viz. Bondage and and Captivity, it is a sore and comprehensive Misery that commonly draws a long and heavy Chain of Calamities after it: for 'tis not only a Deprivation of our Liberty, which is one of the dearest of all our temporal Blessings, but also a Confiscation of it into the Hands and disposal of our Enemies: and when our Persons are exposed to the will and tyranny of our Enemies, what can be expected from them in this degenerate state of Humane Nature, but a cruel and barbarous usage; to be worn out with Stripes and Hunger and intolerable Labour, and be forced to pine away our wretched Lives in unpitied Anguish and Vexation of Soul; especially if those whom we are enslaved to happen to be▪ Enemies to our Religion, as well as Country; which is the case of those miserable Captives with whom our Mercy is most concerned; who being under the power of those that are sworn Enemies to the name of Christ, must upon that account expect to be treated with much more Rigour and Severity; there being no Enmity so fierce and cruel, as that which is backed and set on by Conscience, and enraged with zeal for Religion. And when Men are ill treated not only as they are Slaves, but as they are Christians, what a hazardous Temptation are they under to renounce their Christianity, and to exchange their hopes of Heaven for their Liberty, and to enslave their Souls to Ransom their Bodies? And when both their Souls and Bodies are thus exposed to Wretchedness and Misery, what woful Circumstances can render them more proper Objects of our Mercy? Wherefore in this case we are obliged in Mercy, when any fair Opportunity is proposed to us, to contribute to their Ransom proportionably to our Ability; and so far as it is consistent with the publick Benefit, to sollicit their Cause both with God and Men; to beseech him to support and preserve them, and to persuade all those with whom we have any Power or Interest, to a liberal Concurrence towards their Relief, and Redemption.
AND then as for Imprifonment, which is a sort of Captivity too, what a calamitous Condition is it for a Man to be shut up in a close and unwholsom Durance, to dwell with Hunger and Cold, and be confined to a hard Lodging, a dark Solitude, or a wretched Company; to be sequestred from the Conversation of his Friends, from the Comforts of Diversion, and from his Business and Employment, and all opportunities of making Provision for his poor Family? All which unhappy Circumstances do commonly meet in the State and Condition of Prisoners, and render it exceedingly wretched and miserable. In which case the Mercy which is required of us is, first to visit them in this their uncomfortable Solitude and Confinement, supposing that they are our Friends and Acquaintants; and to endeavour by our Conversation to divert their Sorrows, to raise and strengthen their Hopes, and to chear them with fresh Assurances of our Friendship; and then to use all just endeavours to mollifie their Adversaries, to vindicate their Innocence, or to Compound their Debts, if they are not able to discharge them. But whether they are our Friends or Acquaintants, or no, the Law of Mercy obliges us, as we have Opportunity and Ability, to relieve their Necessities, to redress their Injuries, and if it be just and feasible, to contribute to their Enlargement, that so they may enjoy themselves with Comfort, and by their honest Industry make Provision for those who depend on them.
AND then lastly, for bodily Torments and Persecutions, you need not be told what a Misery that is; for your own Sense will inform you, how dolorous it is to Flesh and Blood, to be cruelly scourged, beaten and abused; to be pinched with Hunger, harrassed with Labour, and dispirited for Want of necessary Ease and Refreshment; and therefore as Mercy binds you by the strictest Obligations, not to inflict these Evils upon your Children, or Servants, or any others that are in your Power and Disposal; so it also engages you to endeavour the Relief of all such unhappy Persons, whom you know to be thus cruelly treated; to intercede in their behalf with those their hard-hearted Parents, Masters, or Conquerors, by whom they are thus unmercifully dealt with, to remonstrate to them their Cruelty and Inhumanity, and to endeavour, by such Arguments as are most likely to affect them, to reduce them to a more merciful Temper and Treatment: and if in despight of your Arguments they still persist in their Cruelty, to use all just and lawful ways to curb and restrain them, to complain of them to those who have power to Correct them, and to rescue the miserable Wretches out of their Power and Disposal.
AND then as for those who are unjustly perfecuted for their Conscience and Religion, who to secure their Souls, and their Loyalty to God and their Saviour, are forced to fly from their Habitations and Countries, or to submit themselves to Spoil and Depredation, to Imprisonment and Famine; Torture and Death; these doubtless are of all others the greatest Objects of our Mercy, because they suffer for our common Master and in our common Cause, which ought to be dearer to us than our own Lives; because our Religion suffers with them, and what they suffer we must suffer (unless we will renounce our Religion) if ever we are reduced to their Circumstances. And can we with unconcerned Hearts behold our persecuted Brethren, flying into our Arms for Succour before the mighty Nimrods of the Earth, with their Souls; their Consciences, and their Religion in their Hands; and with pitiful Looks beseeching us to deliver them from the dreadful Dilemma they are put to, of delivering up their Souls, or Bodies for a Prey; without Agonies of Pity and Compassion? And if we have any Mercy or Compassion for them, by what more suitable Acts can we express it, than by a kind and welcome Reception of those who fly to us for Succour, and a free and liberal Contribution towards their Relief and Subsistence; and by assisting those with the Charity of our Prayers; whom we cannot reach with the Charity of our Alms; or as the Apostle expresses it, by remembring those that are in bonds, that is, so as to pity them and pray for them, and if it were in our Power, so as to visit and comfort and relieve them, as being bound with them, and also with the same effect to remember those that suffer Adversity as being our selves also in the body. Heb. xiii. 3.
IV. ANOTHER of the Miseries which affect Mens Bodies is Civil, or Arbitrary Punishments inflicted on them for Injuries received. For all considerable Injuries do give us a Right to punish the Of-Offender, either by due course of Law, or else immediately by our own Power and Authority. If by Nature or Compact the Offender be put under our Power and Disposal, his offence giveth us a Right to correct him by our own Authority; if not, his offence giveth us Right to appeal to the Publick Tribunals, and there to exact of him such Penalties as the Law denounces in the case. Now because Mens Souls are out of the reach of all Humane Punishments, and liable only to the lash of the Father of Spirits; therefore we can exact no other Penalties of Offenders, but only such as do affect their Bodies with Shame, or Pain, with loss of bodily Goods, or wearisome Labour, or confinement of Liberty; all which being Miseries to the Body, are proper Objects of our Compassion and Mercy. And what Mercy these Miseries require, may be easily collected from the natural End of Punishment, which is not so much to offend the Guilty, as to defend the Innocent, not so much to hurt or damnifie the Offender, as to restrain him from hurting himself, or others; and to warn others, by the Example of his Punishment, not to imitate the Example of his Offence. So that according to its true and natural Design, Punishment is rather an act of Mercy, than an act of Revenge; the End of it being to do good, and not to retaliate evil; to defend my self, or others against the Offenders, or else to defend the Offenders against themselves, or to defend others against the prevailing Infection of their lewd and pernicious Examples: and whosoever punishes to vent and ease his Spleen, or gratifie his Malice with the Hurt and Mischief of the Offender; transgresses the End of punishment, and under pretence of Iustice Sacrifices to his own Cruelty. No Man hath Right to do another Hurt, unless it be necessary to some good End; for to hurt without any Reason is a brutish Savageness, and to hurt without a good Reason devilish Rancour: he therefore who hurts another merely to hurt him, acts with the intention of a Devil, who doth mischief for mischiefs sake and plagues his wretched Vassals merely to recreate himself with their Miseries, and pacifie his own black Rage and Malice. Since therefore the End of punishment is doing good, it ought to be executed with a good Will, and a kind and benevolent Intention; not to discharge our Rage, or tickle and recreate our Malice, but either to vindicate our own Right, or to reclaim the Offender, or to terrifie others from his sin by his Sufferings. This therefore is the first thing which the Law of Mercy requires of us, in respect to our punishing Offenders, that we should always do it with a good and benevolent Intention. But then,
II. IT also requires us not to exact Punishment for small and trifling Offences: for since the End of Punishment is doing good, it is Cruelty to exact it for slight and inconsiderable Evils; because in this case the Punishment is a greater Hurt than the Offence. And what Reason can I have to hurt another for such small Offences, as do little or no hurt either to my self or others, but only to gratifie my own Revenge and Malice? As for instance, suppose that in a heat of Passion a Man should give me the Lye, or call me by an ill Name, or treat me with reproachful Language; and thereupon I should strike, or wound him, or prosecute him with with a vexatious Suit at Law: in this case it is plain my Punishment would hurt him more than his Offence could hurt me, and consequently my Design in punishing him would be to do Hurt and not Good; and to design to do Hurt is Malice and Cruelty. Wherefore in case of lighter Injuries, the Law of Mercy requires us wholy to remit and forgive them; and not rigidly to exact the Hurt of the Offender for such trifling Offences, as do no great Hurt either to our selves, or others.
III. THE Law of Mercy also obliges us not to punish an Offender, when we can do no Good by it either to our selves, or to him, or to others; for in this Case to punish can serve no other End, but to fulfill the Lust of our Revenge and Malice. As for instance, suppose I have a poor insolvent Debtor, that owes me a great deal and can pay me nothing; and it were in my power not only to cast him into Prison, but to force him to languish away his wretched Life; to what end should I inflict this Punishment upon him? I cannot hope to recover my own by it, for a Prison, we say, will pay no Debts; and where nothing is, nothing can be expected: I cannot design to reform him by it, since Prisons are commonly the most fruitful Nurseries of Wickedness: I cannot aim to warn others by it, for what Warning can oblige Men to do that which is impossible? What End can I propose then, but only the humouring of a wrathful Mind, and to glut it with Revenge and Mischief? and if this be the Point I drive at, I run from all the Rules of Mercy.
IV. THE Law of Mercy also obliges me not to punish an Offender, so long as the End of punishing him is fairly attainable by gentler Means. For if when I can obtain my End of an Offender by Persuasion and Forbearance, I rather chuse to extort it from him by Punishment; it is plain that I have a cruel Intention towards him, and do affect to hurt and mischief him: for when I may obtain my End of him by Forbearance or gentle Persuasions, why should I chuse to force it from him by Rigour and Severity; but that I am either insensible of his hurt, or else do take pleasure to afflict and grieve him? Wherefore in all such Punishments as are within our Power, the Law of Mercy obligeth us, first to try softer and gentler ways, and make a long and through Experiment of the methods of Kindness, Persuasion and Forbearance; and if by these we can obtain our End, and conquer the Offender and vindicate our own Right, to remit our Right of punishing him, and forbear all Rigour and Severity. For Punishment is our last Remedy, and ought never to be applied to Offenders, till gentler means have been tried, and defeated.
V. THE Law of Mercy also obliges us to inflict no more Punishment on Offenders, than what is absolutely necessary to the obtaining those good Ends we design by it. For he who punishes an Offender more than is needful to the natural End of punishment, can design no other End by it but what is cruel and barbarous: and whatsoever is more than needful either to the vindicating our own Right, or the reforming the Offender, or the giving fair warning to others, serves to no other purpose but to gratifie our own Revenge and Fury. So far as Punishment is needful to these good Ends, it is not only lawful, but good: but all beyond what is needful to these, is perfect Savageness and Cruelty. When therefore for the obtaining these Ends, we are necessitated to punish an Offender, the Law of Mercy obliges us first to try lighter and gentler Punishments; and if by these we cannot obtain our End, to proceed in our Severities by degrees, and not to fly to extreme Rigour, till we have found all gentler Corrections ineffectual. For if a lighter Punishment will do the work, it is Cruelty to lay on a heavier: and whether it will or no, is no otherwise to be known than by Tryal.
Sixthly and Lastly, THE Law of Mercy also requires us, always to punish short of the Offence, i. e. where the Punishment is in your power, and you are not determined by a legal Necessity to use the utmost Extremity. For where you are legally obliged either to judge, or prosecute an Offender, there you are to proceed by the measures of the Law which obliges you, and which usually determines you to the kind and degrees of the Punishment to be inflicted: but where the matter is wholly in your power, either to remit of, or augment the punishment, there the Law of Mercy obliges you not to exact the utmost. For if you punish more than the Offence deserves, you are unjust and tyrannical; because as your Right to punish accrues from the Offence that is done to you, so your Right to punish to such a degree accrues from the degree of the Offence; which you cannot exceed without exceeding your Right, and exacting more Punishment of the Offender than he owes you. So that every degree of punishment which exceeds the demerit of the fault, is lawless and licentious Violence, to which we can pretend no Right, and by which we do an injurious Outrage to the Offender. And as when our Punishment exceeds the Offence, we punish without Iustice; so when it equals the Offence, we punish without Mercy. For the utmost degree of just Severity admits no Intermixture of Mercy; the Office of which is to relieve the miserable, and consequently to relieve them, when they have injured and offended us, of some part of the Evils and Miseries they deserve. Wherefore as he is an unmerciful Creditor, who rather than abate the least part of his Due, will strip his poor Debtor to the Skin, and reduce him to the utmost Pinch and Extremity of Need; so he is an unmerciful Punisher, that exacts to the full demerit of the Fault, and stretches his Right of punishing to the utmost extent, to make the Offender miserable. In this case therefore the Law of Mercy requires us to follow the great Example of God, who in the midst of Iustice doth always remember Mercy; who makes large Abatements of his Right to punish us, and never exacts of us the utmost Plagues and Sufferings which our Iniquities deserve. Conformably to which excellent Pattern, we are obliged in punishing others to intermingle Mercy with our Severities; and proportionably to the Offender's Penitence, or the pitiable Circumstances of his Fault, or the Misery and Necessities of his present Condition, to make an equitable Abatement, and Defalcation of his Punishment. And thus you see what that Mercy is which is required of us with respect to our punishing of others.
Fifthly and Lastly, ANOTHER of the Miseries which affect Mens Bodies is want of the outward Necessaries of this present Life, such as Meat and Drink, Lodging and Apparel; the want of which cannot but render our Life exceeding wretched and miserable. For what an insupportable Grievance is it to our Nature, to be pinched with an impatient Hunger, or suffocated with a burning Drought; to be forced to prey upon it self for want of other Fewel, or to appease its furious Appetites with loathsom, heartless or unwholesome Sustenance; to see a hungry Family crying about us for want of Bread, and have little or none to give them; to behold our Children shivering with Cold, and drooping with Famine, and not be able to succour and relieve them; whilst our pined and miserable Carkasses are either covered with loathsom Rags, or nakedly exposed to the Injuries of the Weather, and more destitute and unprovided than the Foxes and Birds, for want of a Hole, or Nest where to lay their Heads? These are Circumstances miserable enough to move a Heart of Stone to Pity and Compassion: In this case therefore we are obliged by the Law of Mercy, first, to a tender Sympathy and Commiseration; to affect our Souls with a soft and compassionate sense of the Wants of our poor Brethren, to put our selves in their Case, and represent their Condition to our own Hearts and Affections, as if it were our own; and thereby to endeavour and excite in our selves a proportionable Feeling of their Calamity and Misery. And to this we are universally obliged, whether we are high or low, rich or poor, whether we are in Circumstances to relieve the Needs of others, or to need Relief for our selves: for so the Precept runneth universally, Finally be all of one mind, having compassion one of another; love as Brethren, be pitiful, be courteous, 1 Pet. iii. 8. And as we are universally obliged to compassionate those that are in Need, so we are also bound, according as we have opportunity and ability, to succour and relieve them. Indeed if we are poor and needy, we are by no means obliged to pinch our selves, or our Families, to relieve the Necessities of others; for the desire of Self-Preservation being of all others the most vehement Passion, which God hath implanted in our Natures; he doth thereby not only warrant, but direct us to take care of our selves in the first place, and not to sacrifice the means of our own Preservation to the Needs and Necessities of others. And then our nearest Relatives being next to our selves, we are obliged in the next place to relieve them; and consequently in all Competitions for our Relief and Mercy, to prefer the Wants and Necessities of our own Families. But though we may not be able, without wronging our Families, to give Alms to our necessitous Brother; yet if by representing his Necessities to others who are better able to relieve him, if by solliciting his Cause and begging Relief for him, which he perhaps is ashamed to do for himself, we can any way contribute to his Succour and Support, we stand strictly obliged to it by the Laws of Mercy: and this, if we can do no more, will be as acceptable to God, as the most liberal Alms. For where the Deed is impossible, God always accepts the Will for it, and reckoneth in all those good Works to our account, which he knows we would do, if we were able. But when he hath furnished us with Means, as well as Opportunities, to relieve the Necessitous, he expects the Deed, as well as the Will from us; knowing that we cannot sincerely will the Deed, if when it is in our power we do not effect it: Hence is that of the Heb. xiii. 16. To do good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifice God is well pleased. And accordingly the Apostle biddeth Timothy, 1 Tim. vi. 17, 18. To charge them that are rich, i. e. whose enjoyments do exceed their necessities, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate. And how necessary the Deed is to the Sincerity of the Will, when it is in our power, that passage of St. Iohn doth fully Evidence, 1 Epist. chap. iii. v. 17. But whoso hath this worlds good and seeth his Brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him. This therefore is an Act of Mercy indispensably due from us to those who are in Necessity, to contribute according to our ability towards their Relief and Support; and accordingly, Alms, which signifies a gift to one that is in need, cometh from the Greek word foreign, and that from foreign, which signifieth Mercy: which plainly denotes it to be one of the greatest and most principal Acts of Mercy that we owe to the Miserable.