The Urim of conscience to which the author has had recourse for plain answers, in his own particular case (as every man living ought to do in his) to four questions of great weight and importance, viz. 1. who and what art thou? 2. where hast thous been? 3. where art thou now going? 4. whither art thou going? : together with three select prayers for private families / by Sir Samuel Morland.

Ejaculation.

King of Kings, and Lord of Lords: Who pullest down the Mighty from their Seats, and exaltest the Humble and Meek, whenever Pride and Vain-glory puffs us up, and makes us become wise in our own Eyes: Let the remembrance that we are but Dust and Ashes, pull down our haughty Looks, and abate our swelling Thoughts.

Leviathan!—Its a monstrous Goblin, that much better deserves to be exposed to publick view in Fairs and Markets than an Elephant or Rhinoceros, these being the wonderful Works of the great Crea∣tor, the other, the Mechanisme, and meer Invention of a grand Impostor.

Leviathan!—It is a Juggler's box, to cheat his Readers with meer Tricks and Legerdemains. It is, and It is not: There is a Law of Nature, and yet There is no such thing: All Men are in a state of War and Enmity, and yet remain in Love and Unity: There are Angels and Spirits, and yet they are but Phantasms, Apparitions and Delusions: There's a Kingdom of Heaven, and yet there's none: There is an Enfer, and yet Hell is but a Metaphor.

Leviathan!—Its the Trojan Horse, whose Belly and inner Cavities are fill'd with Men of War, and all sorts of Weapons, to kill and destroy their hospitable Friends and Receivers.

Leviathan!—Had learned Milton wav'd his Subject of Lost Paradise, and exercised his poetick Talent upon this Treatise, he might have found here his God Chaos, and a much more convenient Pandai∣monion for Beelzebub, and his Infernal Crew, to sit in consultation, how to make a second War with Heaven.

Leviathan!—Sure it was something a∣kin to that formidable Beast with seven Heads and ten Horns, in the Revelation••, to whom was given a Mouth to speak Great Things, and to Blaspheme against God, his Tabernacle, and them that dwell in Heaven.

This Author, in pag. 63, 64. 87. 169. and in many other places boldly asserts, That all Men by Nature, are in a Con∣dition of War, every Man against every Man: That every Man hath right to every thing, even to the Goods and Body of his Neighbour; that is to say in plain Eng∣lish; every Man, by Nature, is a Rascal, Villain, Thief, Robber and Murderer; till by a Pact or Agreement, they chose out of their Company a Soveraign, who is absolute, and nothing that he can do is any Injury or Injustice to any of his Sub∣jects, and is perfectly Master of their Estates and Lives: Insomuch, that David's killing Uriah, was no injury to Uriah, because the Right to do whatever he pleased, was given to David by Uriah himself.

In the first place, if every Man be, by Nature, such a Rascal and Villain, How great a Rascal and Villain doth this Author (even in print) acknowledge himself to be for one?

2. If all Men be such Rascals and Vil∣lains, till they agree, and chose to them∣selves a Soveraign; this Soveraign must be as great a Rascal and Villain as any of them, as well after, as before his Corona∣tion, (being no more able to shake of his Savage Qualities, than a Leopard his Spots, or a Blackmoor to change his Skin) And by making him their Soveraign, they en∣able him to be ten times a greater Ras∣cal and Villain than ever before he was; and then let the ingenuous Reader but imagine what a Hydra of a Common-Wealth this would be? And what a Cen∣taur, their supreme Governour: Nero, Domitian, and the rest of the persecuting Emperors, would not deserve to be menti∣oned in any Histories. In such a gygantick Prince's Court as this, so pittiful a Ty∣rant as Herod, would not have merit enough to be one of his Majesty's Gentle∣men-Ushers, nor Pontius Pilate to be a Page of his Back-stairs.

3. What an high Affront and Indignity does he here cast upon God Almighty, who created Adam in his own Image and Likeness, and made him an absolute Lord and Soveraign of this lower World, and endued him with sufficient Wisdom and Understanding to govern it▪ And 〈1 page duplicate〉〈1 page duplicate〉

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though Adam by his first Transgression ex∣posed himself, and his Posterity, to the Wrath and Displeasure of his Maker; yet we no where find that his Maker took from him that Soveraignty and Dominion, or the use of his Reason to manage it, which he had before given him; or that he left his Subjects in a state of War, to Rob, Spoil, and Murder one another. But on the other side, have good Reason to believe, that Adam enjoyed his Soveraignty while he lived; and consequently, that all that came forth of his Loins, were his Natural Subjects, and yielded him due Obedience: And though there might be many wicked Men amongst them, yet that there was not so much as one that durst publish a Leviathan, neither were they in the general, so far degenerated, and become worse than any of the brute Creatures, (as the Author pretends) having quite lost all those Principles of Honour and Justice, which were originally stamped in their Souls.

We have likewise reason to believe, that the Patriarchs, Noah and Abraham, and others, were Soveraigns in their respective Families, till such time, as Families being multiplied, there arose Quarrels and Dissen∣tions, and the stronger subduing the weak∣er,

enlarged their Dominions, but without those senseless Pacts and Agreements, as this Author would fain perswade us; for no such thing was ever yet in practise, but is a product of his own waking Thoughts, of which he makes mention, page 60. in the following words, viz. That waking, he thought of his absurd Dreams; but never dreamt of the Absurdity of his waking Thoughts. And the plain truth is, I think in my Conscience, no other Man in the whole World, ever dreamt of them, till he him∣self so absurdly publisht them.

Again, how confidently soever this Au∣thor asserts, That David did Uriah no injury. We read, 2 Sam. 12. That the Lord sent Na∣than to David to complain of Two of the greatest Injuries and Acts of Oppression and Injustice that could possibly be offered, by a Prince to his Subjects; or indeed, by one private Person to another. The first was, kil∣ling of Uriah wrongfully. The 2d. was, de∣filing his Wife. The words of Nathan are these, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I a∣nointed thee King over Israel, and I delivered Thee out of the hand of Saul, and I gave thee thy Master's house, and thy Master's Wives into thy bosom; wherefore hast thou killed Uriah the Hit∣tite, by the hands of the Children of Ammon, and taken his Wife to be thy Wife?

Now one of these Injuries being repre∣sented darkly by Nathan to David, in a Parable of two Men living in one City, the one Rich, and the other Poor, and the rich Man taking wrongfully the poor Man's Lamb out of his bosom, the faid King waxed wroth, and so highly re∣sented it, that he swore to Nathan, that this cruel Deed should cost the Offender his life: And why? Because he had no pitty.

So then it is manifest, that, to assert that David neither did, nor could do any wrong to Uriah, is not only to give Nathan and David, but also God himself the Lye, which is no less than Blasphemy.

In page 152. He instructs his Disciples, That in case a Man shall come from the Indies hither, and perswade Men here to receive a new Religion▪ though he be never so well perswaded of the truth of what he teaches, he commits a Crime, and may be justly punished for the same; now this Lobster-like-argument of his, be∣ing artificially thrown forward, does again naturally crawl backwards. His meaning is, as he has too plainly exprest in many places; That if a Man go from hence, and preach a New Doctrine in Africa, he commits a Crime, and consequently St.

Jude did very ill after Christ's Resurrection, to take a Journey from Jerusalem into Per∣sia, and there to take upon him to rebuke the Superstition of the Magi, and to preach a New Doctrine, and so was put to death deservedly.

The like may be said of St. Paul, for his making a Mutiny and Uproar at Athens, and disturbing the Worship of the great Goddess Diana of the Ephesians: And in fine, both he, and all the Apostles, com∣mitted great Crimes, in presuming to preach New Doctrine amongst all Nations, where Idolatry was Established, and owned by publick Authority. (for, says the same Author, page 152. To maintain a Doctrine contrary to the Religion Established, is a greater Fault in an authorized Preacher, than in a private Person.) And therefore they all suffered condign Punishments, and were accessary to their own cruel Deaths. But now, this reflects more severely upon our blessed Saviour, who gave his Disciples their Commissions, Matth. 28. 19. Go yee and teach all Nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

And which is yet more, it reflects upon God the Father, who sent his Son into the World for that end and purpose; and

also the Holy Spirit, which was sent down from Heaven after our Saviour's Resur∣rection, to inspire those Apostles with diversity of Tongues, and such other mira∣culous Gifts, as might rightly qualify them for the preaching the Gospel throughout all the Nations of the World.

So that this last Assertion is, in effect, Blasphemy against the Three Persons of the sacred Trinity.

Our blessed Saviour 10 Matth. 33. Says, Whosoever shall deny me before Men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in Hea∣ven: And in another place, By your Words you shall be justified, and by your Words con∣demned. So that, to deny Christ before Men, is our Saviour's sense, in a Crime that excludes and shuts a Man out of Heaven. But this Author affirms positively, page 271. That the denying of Christ before an Infi∣del Prince, is not a Christian's Act, but his So∣veraign's Act, and consequently no Sin. And so he plainly gives the Son of God the Lye.

Our blessed Saviour, when he sent out his Disciples 10 Matth. 15. Tells them, That into whatsoever City they entred, and were not received, it should be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, in the Day of Judgment, than for that City. That is to say, the refusing to receive and hear the

Doctrine of Christ's Disciples was a grea∣ter Sin then that of Sodom.

But this Author tells us, page 286. That those who refused so to hear and receive them, did not Sin in so doing. And here we see again, the Arrogance and Impudence of the same Author, in giving the Lye to the Lord Jesus.

Our Hebrew Masters, do indeed, teach us to read the Words and Sentences of part of the Scriptures; but this politick Pedagogue would instruct us to read, not only the Words and Sentences, but the true Sense and Meaning of them backwards.

Our Saviour Christ, in divers places, owns his casting out Devils and unclean Spirits; and sometimes these unclean Spirits owned him to be the Son of the most high God, as did the Legion of Devils, with which the Man was possessed in the Coun∣try of the Gadarenes, 5 Mark 7. and divers others. And the Pharisees, (the worst, and most malicious of his Enemies) ac∣knowledged his casting out Devils: Yet notwithstanding, the composer of this Treatise had the Confidence to affirm, page 354. That no Man was ever possessed with any other Spirit, than that by which his Body was naturally moved. And so gives the Lye, not only to our Saviour, but to all

the Four Evangelists, who have left upon Record most remarkable Instances of those Miracles.

In page 62, 63, and 64. this Author tells us, That Man, by Nature is in a State of War, every Man against every Man; and every Man has a right to every thing, over the Goods and Body of his Neighbour: And yet in his next Chapter, (which is not above eight pages further, he sets down Ten Laws of Nature, which Laws of Nature are immuta∣ble and eternal, and stamped upon Men's Souls, and every of them tends to Peace and Quietness, Love and Kindness, Grati∣tude and doing to others, as we would be willing they should do to us; and these two Assertions, are as contrary one to the other, as Light is to Darkness; however it is much more modest to give himself the Lye, then to give it so often, as he has done, to the Saviour of the World, and the second Person of the Trinity.

In page 88. he acquaints us, That by the People assembled, are transferr'd all their Right on him whom they chose their Soveraign, which Soveraign can do no Injustice, though at his pleasure, he take away any of their Lives: And yet page 152. he asserts, That no Man in the institution of their Soveraign, can be supposed to give away the Right of pre∣serving

his own Body. And page 112. If an Assembly meet and agree together, they may rebel, and make War against their Soveraign. And I affirm, that no Man of Sense or Rea∣son, can be supposed to defend the Au∣thors reputation in so notorious a Con∣tradiction.

In page 285. and divers other places, he affirms, That Christ's Kingdom not being of this World, he left the Jews to the Law of Moses, and other Nations to their respective Soveraigns; and yet page 106. he plainly affirms, That Christ acted in this World, as King of the Jews, and by his Soveraign Power and Authority, sent two of his Disciples to un∣tie, and bring away the She-ass, and her Colt, on which he was to ride into Jerusalem.

Page 62. He affirms, That the Desires and Passions of Man are no Sin, though it be an absolute Breach of the Tenth Command∣ment.

Our Saviour forbids swearing by Hea∣ven, Earth, Jerusalem, or a Man's own head, 5 Matth. 34, 35, 36. but this Author asserts, page 71. That such kind of Oaths is no swearing, and so makes our Saviour guilty of Lying.

Page 152. he says, That every man is sup∣posed to know the Law of Nature, it being so plain; and yet, pag. 141. he avers, That

the Law of Nature is, of all Laws the most obscure.

Pag. 261. he says, Christ▪s death did not satisfy God's justice, and yet, pag. 356. he acknowledges, That the Passion of Christ is a full Ransom for all manner of Sins.

Pag. 272. he affirms, That there were no true Martyrs, but those who conversed with our Saviour while he was here upon Earth; and that he who is no Minister, can be no Martyr: Now if so, all other Martyrs have thrown away their Lives, and were accessary to their own Deaths▪

Pag. 60. he says, That Contempt is the Immobility of the Heart: But this cannot be, for when the Pulse ceases to beat, the Man can no longer live; and consequently, this Author, contemning all sorts of Laws, Learning and Religion, could never have lived to finish his Leviathan.

Our Saviour acknowledges, that if he had not done such Miracles as no Man else could do, the Scribes and Pharisees might have had for their Unbelief some just pretence.

But this Author avers, pag. 148. That Miracles are not at all sufficient to give evi∣dence: But sure I am, that this bold Asser∣tion of his, which is a Wonder, though not a Miracle, gives the whole World a

sufficient Evidence of his great Arrogance and Impudence.

Our Saviour says, That the Reprobates shall go into everlasting Punishment: And St. Paul says, That this Mortal must put on Immortality: but this Author says p. 345. That the Reprobates Bodies shall not be im∣mortal.

And pag 245. That no individual Person shall be punished with Torment Eternal.

Pag. 360. he says, That to pray to the King for fair Weather, is Idolatry: But if the King command a Man to do so, and he do it, it is no Idolatry.

Pag. 360. he tells us, That if a Man, who is no Pastor, worships an Idol, and others follow him, this is no Scandal given: However, I wonder he should not think this to be a very scandalous Doctrine.

If the Author were yet living, I should take the boldness to give him this civil Item, (oportet mendacem esse memorem) espe∣cially since he asserts, pag. 60. That Imagi∣nation and Memory are the same thing: For if so, I greatly wonder how he could imagine so many Falsities and Contradictions, and yet, at the same time not remember them. For my part, I must confess, I do not ap∣prehend Imagination and Memory to be the same thing; and if it were practicable, I

should thus reason the Case with him: Sir, Your Leviathan is a product of meer Ima∣gination; for never any such thing yet was: But of that which never yet was, you could have no Remembrance, Egregie magister ergo falleris.

I cannot here omit his positive Asser∣tion in the same page, That all Men have equal Faculties of Body and Mind; but God forbid it should be true, for then every Man, equal to him as to Education and acquired Learning, would write and pub∣lish a Leviathan, and by that means, all Booksellers shops would soon be fill'd with impious and pernicious Books.

What other Men may judge of this his positive Assertion, I know not: For my part, I am not of that Opinion, That a Marius, Dioclesian, Julius Caesar, or Tamber∣lane had not Gifts and Endowments of Na∣ture far above a Plebeian, or Common Soul∣dier; or that every Pesant, or Country Thatcher, had equal parts to compare with Jack Straw, or Wat Tyler.

I must needs confess, That if all other Men were like the Author of this Levia∣than, I should then conclude, That all Men are indeed both by Nature and Art in a State of War.

It's too plain, That he was in War with the whole World; and its great pitty the whole World was not in War with him, when he first published his accursed Le∣viathan.

He was in War with Man's Creation, and in War with his Redemption; in War with the Law of Moses, and in War with the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles; in War with the Subsistence of Departed Souls, and in War with that of Angels and Spirits▪ (and yet I have heard it reported of him, that he was afraid to be alone in a dark Room) in War with the marvellous Act, and Deeds of the Old Prophets, and in War with our blessed Saviour's Miracles; in War with those Heavenly Mansions, which the holy Jesus is gone before to prepare for his blessed Saints and Martyrs, and in War with the place of Eternal Torments prepa∣red for the Devil and his Angels; or else, (if it be true what is commonly said of him, when his Man was rubbing his Body in a Morning) he would never have ad∣ventured to pronounce such Words in raillery, as (Rub you Rogue for Eternity;) in War with all civil Common Wealths and E∣stablished Laws, and in War with all Church Governments and Gospel Ordinances; in War with all Moral Honesty and Rules of Sobrie∣ty,

and in War with Religion and all its Fundamentals; in War with the Works of Aristotle and the Heathen Philosophers, and in War with Euclid's Elements and Mathe∣matical Demonstrations; in War with Schools and Universities, and in War with all the Liberal Sciences▪ in War with his own Defi∣nitions, and in War with his own pernici∣ous Principles, between many of which, there is a much greater Contrariety and Distance, than he allows at the Resurrection between the Saints and Reprobates, ma∣king all both Good and Bad to stand, at the last Day, upon the Earth's superficies, pag. 242. And making the Punishment of the one, to consist only in beholding, for a short time, the Glory and Happiness of the other: How they must be placed I do not well understand; some few of the Reprobates, I confess, might look over the shoulders of others, but they being so ex∣ceeding numerous, the Saints, Antecii and Perecii, must certainly have great difficul∣ty to see them plainly: But how to find Expedients, or how to make Spectacles for the eyes of their Antipodes, would have been past the Author's little Skill in Geo∣metry or Opticks.

As to the Design in▪ general of this im∣pious Discourse, I am willing to believe

that the Author's Res Angusta Domi, and personal Vain-glory, might move him in such a juncture as that was, to fish in troubled waters, in hopes to advance his Fortune, and get himself a Name: But Satan who stood behind the Curtain, and prompted him to this Undertaking, had undoubtedly a further and deeper Design; namely, to encourage all Persons whate∣ver, to follow the Devices and Desires of their own hearts, without the least fear or dread of burning Lakes, or endless Tor∣ments, by shamefully distorting and wre∣sting the plain Texts of the holy Scrip∣tures, by searching for Errours in the Books of Moses, by undervaluing and les∣sening our Saviour's Miracles, and so en∣deavouring to overthrow the Fundamen∣tals of Christian Faith, by calling in que∣stion the Subsistence of blessed Angels, Unclean Spirits, and Departed Souls; by turning heavenly Mansions, and the place of Eternal Torments into meer Metaphors: And lastly, by setting up a New Common-Wealth, and a Soveraign, who, by an in∣comprehensible Law of Nature, must have the absolute Command, not only of the Estates and Bodies, but also of the Souls and Consciences of all his Subjects, though it be to deny the Doctrine of Christ and his

and to Worships Idols, and Sacrifice to De∣vils.

This Arch Enemy of Souls is, alas! too well acquainted with Humane Frailties; (which are, in truth, the effects of his be∣guiling our First Parents) and knows, That Quicquid volumus, facile credimus, that very slender Arguments, if they do but gratify fleshly Desires, have great power and force with poor Mortals. It was a promise of sensual Delights and Pleasures (though in the other World,) by which Mahomet so advanced his Dominions, and gained so many Proselites, and at last exalted himself above our blessed Saviour Christ Jesus, who indeed, as a Prophet, is by the Alcoran ac∣knowledged; but as to his Divinity, or his being the Second Person of the Trini∣ty, it is by the Turks utterly denied. I can never forget a Passage in Mahomet the Fourth's insulting Letter to the Emperor, at the beginning of this last War, namely, (I value not) or (I am not afraid of your CRUCIFIED GOD) to which blas∣phemous Expression, I do really attribute his being Deposed a few Years after with great Dishonour and Disgrace, and all the Misfortunes and Disasters (as so many Marks and Tokens of God's displeasure) which have ever since befallen that Otto∣man Empire.

And here I hope it will not be ill taken, to make an humble Address to the young Nobility and Gentry of this Nation, that they will be pleased to have so great a regard to their own Eternal Welfare and Happiness, as neither to countenance this impious Book themselves, nor allow it a place in their Libraries, for fear it may one day corrupt some of their no∣ble Race, when they are laid in their cold Tombs.

I most earnestly beseech you, Sirs, to hearken to a poor Man's Advice, who has no sinister Ends or Designs; and what∣ever he here urges, is out of true respect and kindness. Who reflects with great remorse upon his own mispent Hours, Days and Years; and were it in his power to recall Time and Opportunities, would certainly (with God's assistance) employ them to better Ends and Purposes.

Hitherto, your tender years, and little Experience, may justly plead for your not discerning Id manticae quod in tergo est, or diving into the subtil Fallacies and Myste∣ries of the Composer of this Treatise: But now that you have some of his Blas∣phemies, Arrogancies, Contradictions and Extravagancies laid so plainly and clearly before your Eyes, to harbour or cherish

in your Bosoms such Snakes and Vipers, would admit of no excuse.

If you find a Gamester making use but of one false Die, he never wins a Shil∣ling more of your Monies. If a Trades∣man cheats you with false Wares, you ne∣ver after, by your good Wills, come with∣in his doors: And then, Why should you give the least respect or countenance, to one who endeavours to cheat you of your Souls, and rob you of Eternal Hap∣piness.

Forasmuch as you may be well assured, That all such impious Discourses as these, are Traps and Snares laid for you by the Devil, and his Emissaries, to entice you to Sin and Wickedness, and then to plunge you in endless Woes and Miseries;

For the timely prevention of which, the best and safest Advice that I can possibly give to the Youth of both Sexes is, to em∣ploy some part of their precious Hours in reading the Holy Scriptures, (rather than Plays and Romances, (which are appoin∣ted by God himself to be the Rule of their Lives, and by which they must be one day judg'd, and give an account of all those extraordinary Talents and Dona∣tives, which they have received at his hands, above the vulgar and meaner fort

of Human Race: By which I mean,

1. In the first place, their ingenuous, li∣beral, and more refined Education, there being few Parents among the Gentry or Nobility, who, for their own Reputation, are not exceeding careful to put their Children under such Discipline of Tutors and Governesses, as may break their na∣tural rudeness, and mould them into some form of Civility, and teach them that fundamental Lesson of Obedience, upon which must be built all future Instructi∣ons; and afterwards to cultivate their Un∣derstandings, to bend their Wills, and ••n∣cline their Affections, as they grow up in years, to those things, which are proper Accomplishments for each of the respe∣ctive Sexes: Which is an Advantage, that poor and indigent Parents can never pur∣chase for either Sons or Daughters, by rea∣son of the great Expence, they being for∣ced to send them abroad, into all places, and among all Companies, where the one are in danger of learning all sorts of Vi∣ces, and the other liable to manifold Temptations, and can seldom or never observe or practise such a Severity and Reservedness, as otherwise would become a Virgin-Innocence.

2. A second Advantage is, Wealth and Riches, which many times comes into the hands of young Heirs and Heiresses, as if they were dropt out of the Clouds: Hou∣ses and Pallaces, which they built not; Goods, which they provided not; Lands and Possessions, of which they never made the purchase; But are now become God's stewards, and must one day give accompt of all particulars, that is to say, what they have laid out upon themselves, what they have distributed among the Poor, the Widow and the Fatherless, and what they have left behind them to their Children and Families.

3. A third Advantage is, that of Time, the Rich have no need to employ their time, to gain that wherewith they alrea∣dy abound; whereas the poor Man has scarce any vacant Hours, or such as he can call his own, but they are all fore∣stall'd by their pressing Necessities: The Shepherd must, by Day and Night, watch his Flocks and his Folds; the Husband∣man is confined to his Plough, his Goad, and his Oxen; the Carpenter to his Saw and Ax; the Smith to his Hammer and Anvil; the Potter to his Clay and Wheel; and so are all Workmen and Artificers to

their several Manufactures and Employ∣ments.

So that the Rich and Wealthy have, by this means, their Time at their own dis∣posal, (God having prevented them with the Blessings of his Goodness) but must be accomptable to God how they have employed it; that is to say, what part or portion has been by them set apart for pri∣vate and publick Devotions, and what for reading of the Holy Scriptures; what has been spent in lawful or unlawful Pastimes, and what in sloth and idleness; what in gratifying Pride and Vanity, or indulging any manner of Excess.

Besides all this, as the Inclinations and Aversions of great Princes, are very much imitated by their Courtiers and Attendants▪ (Regis ad exemplum totus componitur Orbis) so have the Examples of Persons of Qua∣lity of both Sexes, no small Influence up∣on the Actions and Behaviours of their Inferiors, and those of lower Ranks; and therefore they are highly concerned, throughout the whole Course of their Lives, to become eminent Patterns of Pie∣••y and Godliness.

A Prayer for the Youth of both Sexes.

MOst gracious God, and merciful Father in Christ Jesus, who, while he was here on Earth, took little Chil∣dren in his Arms, and blessed them: Be graciously pleased to have a particular Regard to the Youth of both Sexes; but in a more especial manner, to bestow a larger portion of Spiritual Graces, and Heavenly Benedictions, on those whom thou hast placed in higher Ranks and Degrees; let no Wind of false Doctrine blast those fragrant Flowers in their blooms, nor any Composers of Levia∣thans, or other Impostors, beguile them of Eternal Life and Happiness: Let them remember their Creator in the Days of their Youth, before the Evil Days come, and the Years when they shall say, We have no pleasure in them. Ere ever the silver Chord be loosed, or the golden Bowl be broken, make them truly sen∣sible that there is a Maker of all things, and Judge of all Men; (at the Bar of whose Tribunal all Men must one Day appear) that there is verily a Reward for the Righteous, of Eternal Joys; and as verily a Punishment for Reprobates, of

endless Miseries. That the Sentence be∣ing once past, (be it for Good or Evil) must stand for ever fixt, and be irrevo∣cable: That all the Riches and Honours which this World affords, can never counterballance the least or meanest of Rational Souls; that ten Thousand times ten Thousand Years, either in Happiness or Misery, neither make nor measure the least imaginable part of Eternity: That no Person of any Sex or Age, in the ordinary way of Providence, has any Assurance of Life, for so much as one Hour or Minutes space: That who∣ever harbours in his, or her bosom, any one known or habitual Sin, is for every Moment of that time, liable to Eternal Damnation.

That to trust, either to a Death-bed Re∣pentance, or to be encouraged by the Example of the Thief upon the Cross, is very unsafe and dangerous: The first of which may be obstructed by Lethargies, Megrims, Bodily-pains and anguish, and many other Accidents; and the last, can afford no hopes, forasmuch as, before Christ's Passion, it never was, and after∣wards it neither could, nor ever can be any other Man's case. And lastly, That as the Tree falls, so it lies; and after

Death, Judgment follows, and there can be no place for Repentance, or Believing, in the Grave, whither (sooner or later) some are hastening, and all the rest are going.

Be pleased therefore, Gracious Father, to guard and protect them, from all the malicious practises of that invisible Ene∣my of Souls; and to plant thy true Fear in their hearts, now in their youthful Days, and tender Years; that so they may hereafter become burning and shin∣ing Lights in their Generations. And having finished their Course, and run their Race, and been faithful to Death, they may wear the Crown of Life, and their Souls be safely conveyed by their Tutelar and Guardian Angels, to the place of everlasting Rest and Happiness: And all for the sake of thy dearly belo∣ved Son, and our blessed Lord and Sa∣viour Jesus Christ.