upon Those who dare to fet their Mouth against the Heavens, and by Confounding the Inftruments and Means of National Piety, Provoke the most High to pour down his Judgments upon the Na

tion.

Indeed if any particular Perfons concerned in this great Defign fhould, by any kind of Iniquity or Enormity, become Obnoxious, Reafon and Religion require, that They fhould fuffer condign Punishment, in common with other Offenders; And a peculiar Infamy would reft upon Them, who are Happily engaged in fo Sacred a Defign, if They should, upon any Account, be found in the Number of Evil doers. But ftill, neither the Demerits nor the Deferts of particular Perfons, can alter the Nature of Things: The Caufe which is Sacred, ought to be accounted inviolable still; And every Man's Obligations, not only to dread the Thoughts of oppofing it, but to Espouse and Promote it, and that with Conftancy, and Zeal, and Delight, are still the fame, ftill indifpenfably Incumbent upon him.

3

Finally

Finally therefore, Let other Mens Neglect of this Good Work be anfwer'd by your Earnest Concern for it; Let their Coldness be Anfwer'd by Your Zeal; and let their Oppofition to it, if it be poffible for fuch an Impious Oppofition ever to arife, be repell'd and defeated by Your Activity in providing for its Support and Accomplishment. And let all Those join with you in your Holy and Indefatigable Labours, who would evince that their Profeffions of Religion are not purely Formal, and Superficial, and Hypocritical; who would faithfully bear Their Part, with all Other created Beings, in Displaying the Glory of their Creatour; who would act Correfpondently to the Glorious Privileges vouchfafed them in the Gospel, and Teftify that Chrift is in them of a Truth; who are really affected with the Love of their Country, and a Defire of its Peace and Profperity; who do Truly wish to fee the Number of Thofe who fhall be faved continually Encreased, to be Themfelves in that Bleffed Number, and to be the Bleffed Inftruments of Encreasing it;

and

and who are influenced by the Laudable, and Pure, and Spiritual Ambition of Shining as the Brightness of the Firmament, and as the Stars for ever.

Now to Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, three Perfons and one God, be afcribed, as is most due, all Glory and Majefty, Dominion and Power, both now and ever, Amen.

To the Right Reverend and Right Honourable NATHANAEL Lord Crewe, Lord Bishop of Durham and Baron of Stene.

My LORD,

Y

OUR Command, that this Sermon should be Publifhed, is as full a Teftimony of the Prevalency of True Zeal and Candour in Your Lordship, as the Publication of it is, of a Readiness in me to Obey Your Commands. For the Warmth of Your Pious Regard to the Greatness of the Subject, made You Overlook the Weakness of the Difcourfe. The very Mention of fo Important an Article, was fufficient to put Your Lordship upon Exercifing and Filling Your Soul, with Your Own Inlarged and Moving Notions of it; infomuch, that You were not at Leifure to Recollect, that the Holy Flame, which You felt in Your Breaft, was of Your Own Raifing. And Hence it easily came to pass, that in the Heat of Thought, Your LordShip Generously Approved of my Difcourfe, which only gave Occafion to Your Own exalted Sentiments, as if it had indeed Supplied You with 'em.

If This had not been Plainly the cafe, Your Lordship's Approbation might have proved a Dangerous Trial of my Humility. And the Reader will eafily Agree with me in This, when I have told him, for his Satisfaction, what I have Lately obferved, with a mixture of Wonder and Delight

230 my felf, That All the Faculties of Your Noble Mind are ftill as Perfect and Intire, as they can be well Imagin'd to have been, even in thofe Remote Times, when You were, for many years together, Particularly Diftinguifh'd in a Court, which did as fiftly, and as Nicely, and as Conftantly Diftinguish men of Accurate and Polite UnderStanding, as any Court that the English Nation ever faw. And yet the Senfe of fuch Engaging Favours and Honours, was not Able to Shake Your Lordship, either with Vanity, whilst they were Prefent, or, with Uneafiness, when they were Paft.

Your Example will be a Lafting Evidence, that 'tis no Impracticable Thing, to Reconcile thofe Powerful Temptations to Indulgence and Eafe, which prefs Hardest upon men of Quality and a State of Affluence, with Strictness and Purity of Life; or, a True Spirit of Difcipline and Government, with all the Endearments of Affability and Good Breeding; or, the Integrity and Simplicity of a Chriftian, with the Arts and Glories of a Court.

Such a Faithful and Wife Conduct as This in all the Active parts of Life, hath made thofe fucceeding periods of it, Seafons of Refreshment to Your Lordship, which are, Commonly, with Others, the Subject of Complaint. You are now Bleffed with all the Soft, and Serene, and Satisfactory Reflections, which Tully afcribes to Cato's Age; and thofe Improved and Inrich'd, to fuch a Degree by full Streams of Confolation Derived from the Gospel, as the Virtuous Heathen could not conceive,

But