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to the confideration of fome arguments SERM. whereby he inforceth it, and urgeth us to II. study, embrace, and conform our lives to its direction. One argument is contained in the text, which is a part of wisdom's elegant fpeech, addreffed to the fons of men, in the moft open and folemn manner. She is represented, in the beginning of this chapter, as making a public appearance in a rude, ignorant, and corrupt world, loudly proclaiming her doctrines and counfels, and calling upon all men, without exception, even of the moft fimple and stupid, to hearken to them. And what confideration could be more powerful to engage their attention than this, that fhe fpeaketh of excellent things; the opening of her lips is of right things, and her mouth fpeaketh truth.

That this is the juft character of the inftructions and precepts of religious virtue, I will endeavour to fhew you in this discourse; and then I shall make fome practical reflections. You cannot but obferve, that other writers of fcripture, as well as Solomon, attribute high excellency to religion; particularly we meet with many declarations of that fort in the books of fob and the Pfalms. It is compared with things which are among men of the greatest price, and preferred to

them;

SERM. them; which method of comparison is á II. very natural one in enquiring into and defcribing worth. It must indeed be supposed that we are, in fome measure, acquainted with the things which wifdom speaketh, otherwise it would be a vain attempt to fhew their excellence. But, befides that, I have already mentioned fome of them, in the brief account I gave of the defign and main fubject of this book; I hope that is a fuppofition not unfit to be made in such an affembly: For though it must be acknowledged, that the compleat scheme of reli gion and morality, and every thing belonging to it which may be comprehended in the doctrine of wisdom, is not without difficulties; fome of the smaller lines in the divine draught may not be clearly discerned, perhaps not all of them, by any even of those who have fearched into it with the greatest care; yet the principal strokes are fo clear, that he who runs may read, as the prophet fpeaketh; scarcely any Chriftian can be ignorant of them, at least so far ignorant, as not to be able to judge of their excellence.

My method for illuftrating Solomon's argument in the text, fhall be this:

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II.

First, I will confider the excellence of SERM,
the doctrines and injunctions of wif
dom, abfolutely and in themfelves, and
under that head explain their rectitude
and truth.

Secondly, I fhall, after the example of
this, and other facred writers, compare
them with other things which are most
valued by men, and fhew their fupe-
rior worth.

First, let us confider the excellence of the doctrines and injunctions of wisdom, abfolutely and in themselves. And here it would feem reasonable, first of all, that we fhould fix an idea of excellence, making it the ftandard whereby to try every thing which pretendeth to that character: But, as far as I can fee, the facred writers fatisfy themselves, with refpect to this matter, by appealing to the common fenfe of mankind, and suppose a neceffary approbation and esteem which must be the ftandard, at leaft the characteristic, of excellency to us. Their manner of speaking feems to be altogether unintelligible, unless there be fome common and plain rule wherein all men are agreed, and which must have fo deep a foundation VOL. III.

in

1

II.

SERM. in nature, as the neceffary invariable determination of our minds. If you fuppofe the character of excellent and right to be the refult of arbitrary human conftitutions, it would never be uniform, but must have as much variety as the meafures of the underftandings, fancies, cuftoms, affections, prejudices, or whatever elfe might influence men in making fuch conftitutions. But we will find, by looking into our own minds, that we do not learn our notions of excellent and right that way; they are before the confideration of all laws, appointments, orders, and inftructions whatsoever; for we bring all these to the test in our own minds, and try them by a fenfe which we have prior to any of them. This is not acquired (though it may be improved) by study and learning, for then very few would be qualified to judge; but in the text wisdom appealeth to the fimple and to fools, fubmitting her inftructions to their examination. Nay, this fenfe cannot depend on any pofitive declaration even of God's will, nor is the meaning, properly, of excellent and right things, fuch things as he hath commanded. When St. Paul giveth these epithets to religious virtue, much of the fame fignification with those in the text, whatso

ever

II.

ever things are true, and pure, and just, SERMI and honeft, and lovely, I cannot think he means that these things are fo because prescribed as duty in the word of God, confidered as a divine law; for then he would have expreffed himself more plainly and intelligibly thus; whatsoever things are com manded, think on these things; and though the very fame things are enjoined by the supreme authority of God, and inforced by the gospel motives, by which they derive a new obligation upon the mind of man; yet honesty and turpitude, loveliness and deformity, are characters of actions which can have no reference to legislative authority, but purely to that impreffion of moral excellence which is made deep in the human heart. Befides, the character of excellent is in a peculiar, and indeed the highest sense, applied to God's laws and to himself, which fhews that it is not to be understood to be fixed by a pofitive declaration of his will; for if it were, when it is faid that his laws are excellent, and himfelf an excellent Being, the meaning would be, that his laws are, and himself is, juft what he pleases; which is in effect to fay, that his moral perfections are not effential to him. It remains then, that the original idea of excellence

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