Chaff! 3t. An Expetitea xpon the Books of J o B. Verl. 33. 685 Fifthly -, Another will fay, true, I have done it, but are there not many who doe the like or work ? Iorn fo farre from being alone in it, that almoft all men are with me in it.An! I hope that which all men doe, no man (hall be blamed for This is a com- mon practice. It was theerror of theold melagianr, that corrupion was not traduced into the nature of man by the fall of the firti man, but that fin is continued by imitation -; Children ( fay they ) feting their parentsor others doe evil! take it up by ex mple ; Now, thotigh this bath been juftly condemned as a greffe error; and the contrary afferted both as a Scriptural! and as an experimen- tal! truth, that the whole m fle of mankind by nature is fteeped in finis, and that we have the 'root of every evil! matter in our felves ; yet'tis a truth al fo, that we doe ill by example, and that fin is mightily increafed by imitation. What onedoth others are apt to doe, and the molt of men goe where they fee others goe, rather then where they ought to goe ; yea they begin to conclude they may goe fafely enough in a bad way, if they fee o. thers goe betore them in it. But what though many goe inwrongwages, and doe unrigh- teous things, yea what though all fhould goe and doe fo, yet that would not excufe any one that goethor doth fo. Would it have been any excufe, thinke you, for 2Vjab to have compl; ed with that wicked generation, when all Reih had corrupted their way before God ; Noahmight have laid, I follow the track, I doe as the reft,ali gee this way, and fhould I Eland alone? lhould I be fi ngular? ZVah had no loch reafonings,he followed the rule.not the exampleof that age. Thus faith the text ( gen. 6.9 ) Noah eras apelt man andperftEt in his gencratirn.r, and Noah walked with god; That is, hekept dole communion with God, let the world goe whether it would; He was not led away with the courfe, nor caryed downy with the current of the times, nor would he write after their crooked and blotted copy. Lt dwelt in Sodome, where ten righteous perfons were not to be found, though the prefervation of the wholeCitie, and the pardon of themall from prefent perifbing lay upon it Yet Lot preferved himfelfe pure, and hie righteous fule was vexed fromday to day, with their sr:lawful' deeds. The Lord gave a fpeciall Law by Mo- fes to obviate this mifchiefe (Ex d. 23. 2.) Thou 'halt not fol- low
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