236 wherein lies dial exaa Riibteoufnefs,whieh Serme i o. i$inr?'td1JIi. Mark io. to, 2i. Ofic. Lib. 3. kno,vn to the patient, than to the agent, 'menknow better what they fuffcr,than what they de,he that is injur'd feels it,and knows how grie- vous it is,and will he do that to another ? 2. life. Let mepreis this rule tit- o7 you ; Live by it, in all your carriage and dealings with men, let it be prefent to you. Ask your felves up- on every occafion, Would I that another should deal thus with me, andcarry himfelf thus towards me ? But I shall preis this chiefly, as to juice and righteoufnefs in our commerce. It is faid that Severui the Emperour caused this rule to be written upon his Palace, and in all publick places ; Let it be writ upon our Houfes and Shops , and Exchanges. This exhortationis not altogether improper for this Au- ditory ; you that frequent thefe Exercifes seem to have a good fenfe of char part of Religion, which is contained in the firfl Table ; do not by your violations of the fecond, marre your obedience to the firti ; do not prove your felves Hypocrites in the firft Table , by being wicked in the fecond ; give not the World jufl caufe to fay,That you are ungodly becaufc they finde you to be unrighteous , but manifefl your love ro God, whom you have not feen, by your love to your Brother whom you have feen ; and if any man wrong his Brother , he cannot love him. Do not reje& or defpife this Exhortation, under the contemp- tuous name of Morality. Our Saviour tells us, this is a chief part of that which hath ever been accounted Religion in the World, It is the Lam and the Prophets ; and he by injoyning it hash adopted it into Chriflianity, and made it Gofpel. We should have an efpecial love to this precept, not onely as it is the dietare of Nature, and the Law of Mofes, not onely as it is a Jewish, and Gentile principle, but as it is of the Houfhold of Faith. When the young man told Christ, that he hadDept the Commandments from his youth , it is faid 7efus loved him ; whereever wehave learned to defpife morality, Jefus loved it ; When I read theHeathen-writers, efpecially Tully and Seneca, and take notice what precepts of morality, andLaws of kindness are eve- ry where in their writings, I am ready to fall in lovewith them. How fhould it make our blood to rife in many of our faces who are Chrifii- ans,ro hear withwhat flric`inesTullydetermines cafes of Confcience, and how generously he fpeaks of equity and juffice towards all men.So- cietatis arEligimum vinculum eft magis arbitrari íßr, contra naturarg, ho- minem homini detrahere fai commodi catefa,quocm omnia incommodafug- re ; This is the firongeft bond of fociety , to account it to be more againft toature,
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