felf to be crucified to the World, not only indifferently or moderately affected towards it; but perfectly dead and cold to all its Embraces, and altogether infenfible and unmoved at all its Charms. For indeed to what purpose should a Man hug and embrace a Carcase, or be alive to that which is dead to him? Let me embrace the World never fo long, I fhall never be able to impart a vital Heat to it, to quicken it into Life and Motion; but that perhaps may communicate some of its Coldness to me, chill and benumb my Faculties. It may, if I throw my Arms about it and embrace it; but I will not; I will be as dead to that as that is to me, keep at a distance from it, and not glance one languishing Look towards it, but rather treat it as a dead Carcafe; bury it out of my fight, and leave it to putrifie in Silence and Forgetfulness.

And thus have I reprefented the full and true Latitude and Extent of Divine Love, and in that the full and true Import of this first and great Commandment of loving the Lord our God with our whole Heart, Soul and Mind; which now appears to be a great Commandment indeed, both worthy of him that gave it, and worthy of that folemn Mark of Attention wherewith it was delivered, Hear, O Ifrael, Deut. 6. 4. And let all the whole Creation hear, and with Silence attend to the Words of this great Law; which left any fhould fancy himself exempt or unconcern'd, feems to be exprefly directed to every particular Creature by Name, as it were, in the fecond Perfon.

Thon

Thon fhalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart, all thy Soul, and all thy Mind. My Son, give me thy Heart, we may now fuppofe to be the Language of the Great God to every Rational Creature. Give me thy Heart, for 'twas I that made it, 'twas I that gave it thee, 'twas I that kindled in it a vital Flame, 'twas I that gave it its Pulse and its Motion, and that for no other end but to direct and incline it towards me, the only proper Object of its tendency. For 'tis I also that am thy true Good, all thy Springs are in me, 'tis I that refresh thy dry and thirsty Soul with the Streams of Eden, 'tis I that raise in thee all thy grateful Senfations,and am the true Cause of all thy Pleasure and Delight. Therefore, my Son, give me thy Heart. I only merit, and 'tis I alone that can reward, thy Love; Let none there fore have any Share in it but me,and let me have it all. This is the Measure of Divine Love, and this is the Scope and Intendment of this great. Law, and these are the Natural and Moral Reafons upon which it is founded. By which you may fee, what noble Divinity may be dug up out of the Mines of Philofophy, and how neceffary it is to have a right Syftem of Nature in order to the thorough Comprehenfion of Chriftian Mora lity, which has its Bottom and Foundation in the Nature of things, and is accordingly as capable of Demonstration as any Theorem in that Science, whose Character is Evidence and Certainty.

If it fhould now be objected (as 'tis very probable it may) that the enlarging this First ComE

mand

mandment to fuch a Magnitude, will make it devour and fwallow up the Second. For if the Love of God must be thus perfect and entire, fo as to be exclufive of all Creatures; what room can then be left for the Love of our Neighbour? To this the Answer is very eafie and very clear. If our Love to God and our Neighbour were of the fame kind, the entire Love of the former would indeed wholly exclude that of the later. But this is not the Cafe. We are not here suppofed to love God in the fame sense, or with the fame fort of Love wherewith we love our Neighbour. We do not love God by wishing any Good to him (whereof he is not capable) but by wifhing him as a Good to our felves. On the contrary, we do not, or at least should not love our Neighbour by wishing him as a Good to our felves, (for he is not our Good) but by wishing Good to him. That is in fhort, we love God with Love of Defire, and we love our Neighbour with Love of Benevolence or Charity. But now the entire Defire of God is very confiftent with áll manner of Benevolence to our Neighbour. It does indeed wholly exclude all love of Defire towards him. But this is what I contend for; I would have the Love of God so vehement and fo ardent, as to burn up, devour, yea, utterly annihilate all Defire of the Creature.

Muft I not then you'll say,at all love Creatures? What, may I not love this or that delicate Fruit, or this or that rich Wine? May not I love what delights my Palate, and yields me pleasure? Yes,

if Bodies were the true Caufes of your pleasure, you might, nay you ought to love them, as being upon that fuppofition your proper Good. But this is the very thing they are defective in we have clear and incontestable Reason to affure us, that they are not the true real Causes of any of our Sensations. But however, there is Pleafure, you'll fay, annex'd to them; for we feel Pleafure in the Use of fuch and fuch fenfible things. True, we do fo, but the most that ought to be concluded from hence is, that we may seek and use these fenfible things, to which by the Order and Institution of Nature,Pleasure is annex'd As on the contrary, that we are to shun and avoid those fenfible things to which is annex'd the oppofite Sentiment of Pain. But it will not hence follow, that either the former is to be loved, or the latter to be fear'd. 'Tis true indeed, that Pleasure it self is always lovely, and fo is the true Cause of it. We muft love whatever is able to caufe Pleasure in us, and in whofe power it is to make us Happy. But then we must take heed, left we mistake that for the true Efficient Caufe, which is only the Occafion; left we attribute our Senfations to Bodies as their proper Effect; to the production of which they ferve only as Pofitive Conditions, determining the Operation of God, the only true Efficient Cause. So much indeed muft be allow'd them, but our Reafon will not fuffer us to allow them any more; and though in regard that they do fo much they may be innocently fought for and ufed, yet because they do no more, E 2

༡

they

they must not be loved. As we must love the Efficient Cause of our Pleasure,fo we may seek after, and make use of that which is the Occafion of it; but this is all, we must not advance one step higher, for we have no Warrant beyond this. So that though I may eat of a pleasant Fruit, and enjoy Pleasure in the use of it, yet I must not make it the object of my Love; I must not place any degree of Affection upon it. I am to remember, that though in the Eating of this Fruit I find my felf delighted, yet this Pleasure is neither in the Fruit it felf, nor from it; but that 'tis God that raises this grateful Sentiment in my Soul;and accordingly I am thankfully and devoutly to acknowledge and reverence his Divine Operation, and to Love him all the while I use and enjoy the other. The fhort then of this matter refolves into this, we may feek and use fenfible things for our Good, but we muft not love them as our Good.

But may we not love the Creatures with a Relative Love? So indeed it is faid by fome, who think they strain the Love of God to a very high Pitch, when they tell us, that we must love nothing but God,or in Order and Relation to God. So then, according to these Men, we are allow'd to love Creatures, provided it be in a way of Relation and Subordination to God; who upon this Principle is not to be the Only, but only the Final and Ultimate Object of our Love. But methinks these Men's Relative Love is very much like the Relative Worship of the Papifts.

They

.make