Client's Intereft his own: Now if Charity and good Will to Men were as prevalent, we fee plainly, how poffible it is for Men that have an hearty Concern for others, to enter into their Thoughts, and to have a right Feeling of their State and Circumftances. It is true, moft Men, from an Hard-heartedness and Unconcernedness in their Neighbour's Calamities, will not fuffer their Minds to enter into the Confideration of his unfortunate Circumftances; like the Priest and the Levite in the Parable, who would not trouble themselves so much as to look at the poor wounded Man, but paffed by on the other Side of . the Way, Luke x. 31, 32. But if we would accuftom ourselves to the Spirit and Temper of the charitable Samaritan, and heartily concern our felves for our Neighbour's Misfortunes, we should foon learn to act the compaffionate Part as effectually, as if we ourselves had been, at fome time of our Life, in the felf-fame Circumftances. So much for an Help to them who are willing, but really know not how to apply this Rule of my Text, of doing by others, as they would be done by themselves.

II. A fecond Sort of those who do not comply with this Rule are fuch, I told you, who overlook it by pure Negligence and Inconfideration. For it is a Rule fo manifeftly reasonable in itself, that if Men would but advert to their Actions, and advert to the Rule, they could not well miss of complying with it. But there is an infinite Number of Men and Women, as well as Children, who live altogether at Random, and scarce ever think of squaring their Actions by any Rule.

If

If they can but gratify their own evil Inclinations and unruly Paffions, they never think of living by Rule or Principle. I cannot believe but that this is pure Negligence in moft Men, and not a Flaw in their Understanding; for if any should go to treat them as they treat others, there are no Perfons fooner fenfible of the Injustice of it. There are a great many of those we call Plowden's Cafes, where a Man is very fenfible of an Injury done to himself, and knows what Reparation hould be made to it; but he can do many just fuch Injuries to his Neighbour, and has no Sense of them at all, nor does in the leaft mind the making Reparation. The fame Favours for which he would expect all Returns of Gratitude, he never minds, or thinks himself obliged to make any Returns for them. And the fame Injuries for which he would expect Reparation from others, he looks upon as no Injuries, when he does them to others.

Shall I need to ufe any Arguments to confute this Practice? No; the Perfons themselves are convinced of the Evil of it; but Self-love blinds them. Having Eyes, they fee not; they connive at their own Faults, and open their Eyes wide at the Faults of other Men. A fure Sign, that they are not ignorant of the Rules of Right and Wrong, but that there is an evil Biafs of fome corrupt Affection that blinds them, which they might easily discover, if they would be at the least Pains to do it. For it is as plain, that we ought to keep one Rule for our own and other Mens Actions, as it is that we should have one Standard, one Yard, one Bufhel, one Pot to buy and to fell with; and that we ought not to ufe

diverfe

diverfe Weights and Measures. The most proper Advice then that can be given in this Cafe, is carefully to obferve this Biafs of Self-love and Self-intereft in ourselves, and to be very fufpicious of it, as betraying us to many Acts of Injustice and Uncharitableness; and fo to be upon our Guard against it, and to use our Endeavours accordingly. And let us accuftom our felves, in all our Dealings with our Neighbour, to put the Cafe that he were in our Circumftances, and we in his, and act accordingly. It is impoffible to tell what an Habit of Righteousness, Mercy, and Goodness, this would introduce; and what a happy World it would make, if generally put in Practice. But I haften to,

III. The Third and laft Sort of Tranfgreffors of this Rule of my Text, who act from a wilful Blindness and Biafs of their own Side; and these are the worst and most unaccountable of all other Tranfgreffors of this Rule, and the moft incapable of Conviction. I fhall give you a few Inftances of this kind, that ye may perceive what Shifts Men make to tranfgrefs this noble Rule, and not only to tranfgrefs it, but to think it their Duty fo to do. Our Saviour foretold his Disciples that they should be put out of the Synagogues, nay, that the Time fhould come, that whofoever killed them, would think he did God Service. There has been abundance of this perfecuting Spirit against the Church, not only from Heathens and Jews, but, which is much stranger, from Chriftians one against another. Now these fame Men would think it the unjustest Thing in the World, if others fhould ufe them at that

Rate;

Rate; if others kill them for their Religion, this is Murder; and they die Martyrs; but if they put others to Death for their Religion, this is Zeal, and these others are Hereticks. And there is no convincing them of the Injustice of this Proceeding, when they are the Perfecutors though they are immediately very fenfible of it when they are the perfecuted. They go by this wrong Maxim, that the Orthodox Church may and ought to perfecute the heretical Church, but the heretical Church may not perfecute the Orthodox. The Maxim is a very falfe one, in fo far as it encourages Perfecution in the true and Orthodox Church; we may fay to thefe Men, what our Saviour faid to fome of the Apostles, Luke ix. 55. Ye know not what Manner of Spirit ye are of. And it is a Maxim, which if it were true, would only fet all People upon Perfecution when they are able; for every one thinks himself orthodox. And fuppofe they err in this, as it will be readily owned by these perfecuting Zealots, that there are none orthodox but themfelves, yet by the Help of another Principle, which all own to be true, namely, that even an erroneous Conscience is be obeyed, the Hereticks thinking themselves Orthodox, are obliged, by the Help of the other falfe Maxim, to persecute the Orthodox, whom they think Hereticks. But to ufe no other Arguments against this cruel Opinion, and all the bloody Perfecutions which it has occafioned, but only that of my Text, how can they think they answer this great Duty of doing by their Neighbour as they would have their Neighbour to do by them in the like Circumftances? For furely none of them will grant

that

that it is their Neighbour's Duty to perfecute them to Death, when he thinks them Hereticks; and therefore, why should they perfecute him to Death, because he is, in their Opinion, an Heretick? Another erroneous Practice of this Nature is this, and I think as expressly contrary to the Rule of my Text as any Thing can be; almost all Men, when their Party happens to be contrary to the Religion established by Law, plead mightily for Toleration, and for a Liberty to ferve God after their own Way; but when the Scene is fhifted, and these fame Men that were under come to be uppermoft, there are no Men more bitter Enemies to Toleration and Liberty of Confcience, and none more violent for Perfecution than they. This is another of those unfair Cafes ; they think Perfecution of Diffenters a good Thing, except when it is against themselves. But it is a manifeft Breach of this Rule of my Text, by which they should certainly treat Diffenters under them, with the fame Charity and Moderation, with which they would think it just to be treated themselves, when they are Diffenters under others. The fame good Rule will hold to all State, as well as Church-Diffenters. I do not mean the Enemies to Government, the Movers of Sedition or Rebellion, who have juft Reason to fear the Sword of the Magiftrate, it being given him on purpose for the Prefervation of Peace, and the Punishment of evil Doers. I mean only fuch as are not always in Favour, but experience the Changeableness of Courts and Preferments. Is there any Thing more common than to hear them complain fadly of the Violence of all that are in Power, when they them