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guilt and blame, punishments and rewards, and plainly rendering a Day of Judgment ridiculous; and it is evident," says Cudworth, "that some have pursued it of late in order to that end." The volume published is a very learned one, in which Cudworth traces the reasonings for and against the existence of God through all ancient philosophies. I quote a passage, in which, after proposing the three principal Attributes of the Deity, which are, Infinite Goodness, with Fecundity; Infinite Knowledge and Wisdom; Infinite Active and Perceptive Power, Cudworth thus expands

THE IDEA OF GOD.

Nevertheless, if we would not only attend to what is barely necessary for a dispute with Atheists, but also consider the satisfaction of other free and devout minds, that are hearty and sincere lovers of this most admirable and most glorious Being, we might venture, for their gratification, to propose a yet more full, free, and copious description of the Deity, after this manner. God is a being absolutely perfect, unmade, or self-originated, and necessarily existing, that hath an infinite fecundity in Him, and virtually contains all things; as also an infinite benignity or overflowing love, uninvidiously displaying and communicating itself, together with an impartial rectitude or nature of justice: who fully comprehends Himself and the extent of His own fecundity; and therefore all the possibilities of things, their several natures and respects, and the best frame or system of the whole who hath also infinite active and perceptive power: the fountain of all things, who made all that could be made, and was fit to be made, producing them according to His own nature (His essential goodness and wisdom), and therefore according to the best pattern, and in the best manner possible, for the good of the whole; and in reconciling all the variety and contrariety of things in the universe, into one most admirable and lovely harmony.

Lastly, who contains and upholds all things, and governs them after the best manner also, and that without any force or violence they be all naturally subject to His authority, and readily obeying His laws. And now we see that God is such a being, as that if He could be supposed not to be, there is nothing whose existence a good man could possibly more wish or desire.

Dr. Cudworth died in 1688, leaving one daughter, who inherited her father's papers, married Sir Francis Masham, and was one of the most cordial friends of John Locke in his latter years.

Robert Leighton, son of the Alexander Leighton who suffered cruelly for writing "Zion's Plea" and "The Looking Glass of the Holy War," was born in 1613, and educated in Edinburgh. In 1643 he became minister of Newbottle, near Edinburgh, then left the Presbyterian for the Episcopal Church, became Principal of the University of Edinburgh, and then Bishop of Dumblane. The heat of dissension between Episcopal and Presbyterian Christians drove Leighton to London, but he was persuaded to go back as Archbishop of Glasgow. A year's experience of the feuds associated with that office caused him to withdraw finally, and he spent his last years quietly in

Sussex, where he died in 1684. Robert Leighton was one of the best preachers of his time, if not the best after Jeremy Taylor died, in the year of the publishing of "Paradise Lost," 1667. This passage is from a sermon of Leighton's, upon

HOPE AMIDST BILLOWS.1

"I will not be afraid, though ten thousands of the people set themselves against me round about," says David; and lest you think him singular, in the 46th Psalm it is the joint voice of the whole Church of God: "We will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled; though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God; the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved." This is the way to be immovable in the midst of troubles, as a rock amidst the waves. When God is in the midst of a kingdom or city, He makes it firm as Mount Sion, that cannot be removed. When He is in the midst of the soul, though calamities throng about it on all hands and roar like the billows of the sea, yet there is a constant calm within, such a peace as the world can neither give nor take away. On the other side, what is it but want of lodging God in the soul, and that in His stead the World is in the midst of men's hearts, that makes them shake like the leaves of trees at every blast of danger? What a shame is it, seeing natural men, by the strength of nature and by help of moral precepts, have attained such undaunted resolution and courage against outward changes, that yet they who would pass for Christians, are so soft and fainting, and so sensible of the smallest alterations! The advantage that we have in this regard is infinite. What is the best ground-work of a philosopher's constancy, but as moving sands in comparison of the rock that we may build upon? But the truth is, that either we make no provision of faith for times of trial, or, if we have any, we neither know the worth nor the use of it, but lay it by as a dead unprofitable thing, when we should most use and exercise it. Notwithstanding all our frequenting of God's House and our plausible profession, is it not too true, that the most of us either do not at all furnish ourselves with those spiritual arms that are so needful in the militant life of a Christian, or we learn not how to handle them, and are not in readiness for service?-as was the case of that improvident soldier, whom his commander found mending some piece of his armour when they were to give battle. It were not amiss, before afflictions overtake us, to try and train the mind somewhat by supposing the very worst and hardest of them; to say, What if the waves and billows of adversity were swelled and flowing in upon me? could I then believe? God hath said, "I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee," with a heap of negations; "In no wise, I will not." He hath said, When thou passest through the fire and through the water, I will be with thee." These I know, and can discourse of them; but could I repose and rest upon them in the day of trial? Put your souls to it. Is there any thing or person that you esteem and love exceedingly? -say, What if I should lose this? Is there some evil that is naturally more contrary and terrible to you than many others? Spare not to present that to the imagination too, and labour to make Faith master of it beforehand, in case it

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1 Its text is, "Yet the Lord will command His loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life." (Ps. xlii. 8.)

should befall you; and if the first thought of it scare you, look upon it the oftener, till the visage of it become familiar to you, that you start and scare no more at it. Nor is there any danger in these thoughts. Troubles cannot be brought the nearer by our thus thinking on them, but you may be both safer and stronger by breathing and exercising of your faith in supposed cases. But if you be so tender-spirited that you cannot look upon calamities so much as in thought or fancy, how would you be able for a real encounter? No, surely. But the soul that hath made God his stay can do both. See it in that notable resolution of the prophet, Hab. iii. 17: "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord is my strength"-and in that saying of David, Ps. xxiii. 4: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me." You see how faith is as cork to his soul, keeping it from sinking in the deeps of afflictions. Yea, that big word which one' says of his morally just man, is true of the believer: "Though the very fabric of the world were falling about him, yet would he stand upright and undaunted in the midst of its ruins."

In this confidence, considered in itself, we may observe (1) the object of it, "The loving kindness of the Lord;" (2) the manner or way by which he expects to enjoy it, "The Lord will command it;" (3) the time, "In the day." The object; "His loving kindness." He says not, "The Lord will command my return to the House of God," or, "will accomplish my deliverance from the heavy oppression and sharp reproaches of the enemy," which would have answered more particularly and expressly to his present griefs, but, "will command His loving kindness." And the reason of his thus expressing himself, I conceive to be two-fold. First, in the assurance of this, is necessarily comprised the certainty of all other good things. This special favour and benignity of the Lord, doth engage His power and wisdom, both which you know are infinite, to the procurement of every thing truly good for those whom He so favours. Therefore it is, that David chooses rather to name the streams of particular mercies in this their living source and fountain, than to specify them severally. Nor is it only thus more compendious, but the expression is fuller too, which are the two great advantages of speech. And this I take to be the other reason

a man may enjoy great deliverances and many positive benefits from the hand of God, and yet have no share in "His loving kindness." How frequently doth God heap riches, and honour, and health on those He hates; and the common gifts of the mind too, wisdom and learning; yea, the common gifts of His own Spirit; and give a fair and long day of external prosperity to those on whom He never vouchsafed the least glance of His favourable countenance! Yea, on the contrary, He gives all those specious gifts to them with a secret curse. As He gave a king in wrath to His people, so He often gives kingdoms in His wrath to kings. Therefore

1 Horace, Odes, iii. 3.

"Justum et tenacem propositi virum Non civium ardor prava jubentium Non vultus instantis tyranni Mente quatit solida . . . .

Si fractus illabitur orbis, Impavidum ferient ruinæ."

David looks higher than the very kingdom which God promised him and gave him, when he speaks of "His loving kindness." In a word, he resolves to solace himself with the assurance of this, though he was stripped of all other comforts, and to quiet his soul herein, till deliverance should come; and when it should come, and whatsoever mercies with it, to receive them as fruits and effects of this loving kindness; not prizing them so much for themselves, as for the impressions of that love which is upon them. And it is that image and superscription that both engages and moves him most to pay his tribute of praise. And truly this is everywhere David's temper. His frequent distresses and wants never excite him so much to desire any particular comfort in the creature, as to entreat the presence and favour of God Himself. His saddest times are when, to his sense, this favour is eclipsed. "In my prosperity I said, I shall not be moved." And what was his adversity that made him of another mind? "Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled." This verifies his position in that same psalm, "In thy favour is life." Thus, in the 63rd Psalm, at the beginning, "My soul thirsteth for Thee, in a dry land where no water is;" not for water where there is none, but, "for Thee, where no water is." Therefore he adds in verse 3, "Thy loving kindness is better than life." And all that be truly wise are of this mind, and will subscribe to his choice. Let them enjoy this loving kindness and prize it, because, whatever befalls them, their happiness and joy is above the reach of all calamities. Let them be derided and reproached abroad, yet still this inward persuasion makes them glad and contented; as a rich man said, though the people hated and taunted him, yet when he came home and looked upon his chests, "Egomet mihi plaudo domi."2 With how much better reason do believers bear our external injuries! What inward contentment is theirs, when they consider themselves as truly enriched with the favour of God! And as this makes them contemn the contempts that the world puts upon them, so likewise it breeds in them a neglect and disdain of those poor trifles that the world admires. The sum of their desires is, as the cynic's was of the sunshine, that the rays of the love of God may shine constantly upon them. The favourable aspect and large proffers of kings and princes would be unwelcome to them, if they should stand betwixt them and the sight of that sun. And truly they have reason. What are the highest things the world affords? What are great honours and great estates, but great cares and griefs well dressed and coloured over with a show of pleasure, that promise contentment and perform nothing but vexation? That they are not satisfying is evident; for the obtaining of much of them doth but stretch the appetite, and teach men to desire more. They are not solid neither. Will not the pains of a gout, of a strangury, or some such malady, to say nothing of the worst, the pains of a guilty conscience, blast all these delights? What relish finds a man in large revenues and stately buildings, in high preferments and honourable titles, when either his body or his mind is in anguish? And besides the emptiness of all these things, you know they want one main point, continuance. But the loving kindness of God hath all requisites to make the soul happy. "O satisfy us early with

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Thy goodness or mercy," says Moses, "that we may rejoice and be glad all our days," Ps. xc. 14. There is fulness in that for the vastest desires of the soul-" satisfy us;" there is solid contentment-that begets true joy and gladness; and there is permanency-"all our days." It is the only comfort of this life, and the assurance of a better.

John Dryden-in whose mind, with a bias towards authority, opinion tended towards Absolutism in the State and Catholicism in the Church-in accordance with his natural bent, became avowedly a Roman Catholic in James II.'s reign. Already, in November, 1682, his point of view was Roman Catholic, when his "Religio Laici" closed with these lines :

"Faith is not built on disquisitions vain;

The things we must believe are few and plain :
But since men will believe more than they ne
And every man will make himself a creed,
In doubtful questions 'tis the safest way
To learn what unsuspected ancients say;
For 'tis not likely we should higher soar

In search of Heaven than all the Church before;
Nor can we be deceived, unless we see
The Scripture and the Fathers disagree.
If after all they stand suspected still,
(For no man's faith depends upon his will,)
"Tis some relief, that points not clearly known
Without much hazard may be let alone;
And after hearing what our Church can say,
If still our reason runs another way,
That private reason 'tis more just to curb
Than by disputes the public peace disturb.
For points obscure are of small use to learn:
But common quiet is mankind's concern."

There is the natural issue of this reasoning in Dryden's surrender of private judgment in the "Hind and Panther," published in April, 1687, a dialogue between beasts upon the questions of the Churches; between the milk-white Hind, type of the Church of Rome, and the spotted Panther, type of the Church of England.

"What weight of ancient witness can prevail, If private reason hold the public scale?

But, gracious God, how well dost Thou provide

For erring judgments an unerring guide!
Thy throne is darkness in the abyss of light,

A blaze of glory that forbids the sight.
O teach me to believe Thee thus concealed,
And search no farther than Thyself revealed;
But her alone for my director take,
Whom Thou hast promised never to forsake!
My thoughtless youth was winged with vain desires;
My manhood, long misled by wandering fires,
Followed false lights; and when their glimpse was gone,
My pride struck out new sparkles of her own.
Such was I, such by nature still I am;
Be Thine the glory and be mine the shame!
Good life be now my task; my doubts are done;
What more could fright my faith than Three in One!"

Thomas Ken, author of one of the most familiar pieces of English sacred verse, the "Evening Hymn,"

was one of the seven bishops who in May, 1688, protested against a repetition by King James II. of his illegal Declaration of Indulgence. The king ordered it to be read in all places of worship in London on Sunday, the 20th of May, and in the country on the 3rd of June. On the 18th of May, a protest was signed on behalf of a great body of the clergy by William Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, and six bishops, of whom one was Thomas Ken, Bishop of Bath and Wells. Ken, born in 1637, was the son of an attorney. His eldest sister became Izaak Walton's second wife. He lived, when a boy, with Izaak Walton, and was helped in life by George Morley, Bishop of Winchester, Izaak Walton's sonin-law, who died in 1684. Young Thomas Ken went to Winchester School, and thence to Oxford. He was already, as an Oxford student, poet and musician, playing on the lute, viol, and organ. Soon after the Restoration Ken became Rector of Easton Parva, in Essex, and chaplain to Bishop Morley, with whom Izaak Walton and his family were then domesticated. Ken obtained also a fellowship of Winchester College. In 1667, year of the publication of "Paradise Lost," the Bishop of Winchester gave Ken the rectory of Brightstone, in the Isle of Wight, and it was in the Isle of Wight that the Rector of Brightstone wrote the Morning and Evening Hymns for his own use. He sang them himself to his lute, morning and evening.

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Praise God, from whom all blessings flow, Praise him, all creatures here below; Praise him above, ye heavenly host, Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

EVENING HYMN.

All praise to thee, my God, this night, For all the blessings of the light! Keep me, O keep me, King of kings, Beneath thine own almighty wings.

In 1681, Ken published a "Manual of Prayers the Scholars of Winchester College." He was " Bishop of Bath and Wells not many days b the death of Charles II. On the 8th of June, 1 he was among the seven bishops committed On the 30th of J

Tower for seditious libel.

the day of the acquittal of the seven bishop messenger was sent to invite William of Ora who landed in Torbay on the 5th of Nove William and Mary became King and Q England on the 13th of February, 1689. Bi

William Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, and four more of the seven, including Ken, refused to take the oaths of allegiance to the new sovereigns, and, with about four hundred clergymen and members of the university, they were deprived. Ken was housed and cared for by his friend Lord Weymouth, at Longleate House, until his death in 1711. In these latter years he was suffering excruciating pain from chronic disease, and "for many years travelled with his shroud in his portmanteau, as what he often said might be as soon wanted as any other of his habiliments." During these years of suffering he wrote several poems entitled "Anodynes," of which these are two :

PAIN.

Since 'tis God's will, Pain, take your course,
Exert on me your utmost force-

I well God's truth and promise know.
He never sends a woe,

But His supports divine

In due proportion with the affliction join.

Though I am frailest of mankind,
And apt to waver as the wind-
Though me no feeble bruised reed
In weakness can exceed-

My soul on God relies,

And I your fierce, redoubled shocks despise.

Patient, resigned, and humble wills
Impregnably resist all ills.

My God will guide me by His light,
Give me victorious might:
No pang can me invade

Beneath His wing's propitious shade.

EASE.

In pity my most tender God
Now takes from me His rod;
And the transporting Ease I feel,
Enkindles in me ardent zeal,

That love, joy, praise, may all combine,
To sing infinity of love divine.

My love, joy, praise, all powers within,
Your heavenly task begin!

My love shall ever keep on wing,
Incessantly shall heaven-ward spring;
Love, the beloved still keeps in mind,
Loves all day long, and will not be confined.

CHAPTER XI.

ROM THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION TO THE DEATH OF QUEEN ANNE.-TILLOTSON, LOCKE, BURNET, STEELE, ADDISON, BLACKMORE, ISAAC WATTS, AND OTHERS.-A.D. 1689 To A.D. 1714.

OHN DRYDEN remained firm to his principles, and ied a Roman Catholic, on May-day of the year 700. There is a paraphrase by him of the hymn to he Holy Ghost, "Veni, Creator Spiritus," said to

have been written in the fourth century by St. Ambrose, for Pentecost. In the year 1100 it was inserted in the office for the consecration of a bishop, and afterwards into that for the ordination of priests. It was retained, as opening part of the same ceremony, in the Lutheran churches. This is Dryden's Paraphrase:

VENI, CREATOR SPIRITUS.
Creator Spirit, by whose aid

The world's foundations first were laid,
Come, visit every pious mind;
Come, pour thy joys on human kind;
From sin and sorrow set us free,
And make Thy temples worthy Thee.
O source of uncreated light,
The Father's promised Paraclete!
Thrice holy fount, thrice holy fire,
Our hearts with heavenly love inspire;
Come, and Thy sacred unction bring
To sanctify us while we sing.
Plenteous of grace, descend from high,
Rich in Thy sevenfold energy!

Thou strength of His Almighty hand,

Whose power does heaven and earth command;

Proceeding Spirit, our defence,

Who dost the gift of tongues dispense,

And crownst Thy gift with eloquence;
Refine and purge our earthly parts;
But, oh, inflame and fire our hearts!
Our frailties help, our vice control,
Submit the senses to the soul;

And when rebellious they are grown,
Then lay Thy hand, and hold them down.
Chase from our minds the infernal foe,
And Peace, the fruit of Love, bestow;
And lest our feet should step astray,
Protect and guide us in the way.
Make us eternal truths receive,
And practise all that we believe:
Give us Thyself, that we may see
The Father and the Son by Thee.
Immortal honour, endless fame,
Attend the Almighty Father's name :
The Saviour Son be glorified,
Who for lost man's redemption died:
And equal adoration be,

Eternal Paraclete, to Thee.

The religious aspect of the Revolution as it was regarded by a leader among the clergy who most favoured it, may be found in "A ThanksgivingSermon for our Deliverance by the Prince of Orange," preached at Lincoln's Inn Chapel, by Dr. John Tillotson, on the 31st of January, 1689.

John Tillotson (whose great-grandfather had changed the family name from Tilston to Tillotson) was eldest of three sons of a clothier at Sowerby, in Yorkshire, and was born there in 1630. He entered Clare Hall, Cambridge, in 1647, commenced B.A. in 1650, and M.A. in 1654. His tutor had been a Nonconformist who was among those in controversy with Stillingfleet. Writings of Chillingworth had much influence upon his mind, and he had a long personal friendship with Dr. John Wilkins.

In

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