manner he could, all the paffages in the New Teftament relating to the doctrine of the Trinity. And fo far, his work is what thofe who differ from him, fhould be pleafed with: fince he has brought the materials together, to enable men to form a right judgment of the question in difpute; and has put into their hands, if he be in the wrong, the best weapons against himself. But he has interpreted fome texts, in a manner that is not liked: 'tis true, he has fo; but not once, that I remember, has he given an interpretation that is purely of his own head. He Brings great vouchers, and, if he errs, it is always in good company. This is his offence: He has maintained with many others, particularly with the late dean of St. Paul's, * in oppofition to Sabellianifm, that the three perfons in the Trinity are three real diftin&t Beings: and the belief of three really distinct Beings perfectly equal, he main- ̧ tains with Dr, South to be Trithe fm. And, that there must therefore be a fubordination. Now whether this notion be right, or not; if he cannot escape ill treatment, give me leave to fay, that if your study fhould lead you into any opi nions contrary to what is generally received, you can with no reafon expect better quarter. He is a man who has all the good qualities that can meet together, to recommend him. He is poffelt of all the parts of learning that are valu" Dr. Sherlock.

able in a clergyman, in a degree that few poffefs any fingle one. He has joined to a good skill in the three learned languages, a great compafs of the best philofophy and mathematicks; as appears by his Latin works: And his English ones are fuch a proof of his own piety, and of his knowledge in divin ty, and have done fo inuch fervice to religien, as would make any other man, that was not under the fufpicion of herify, fecure of the friendship and efteem of all good churchmen, efpecially of the clergy. And to all the piety and learning, and the good ufe that has been made of it; is added a temper happy beyond expreffion: A fweet, eafy, modeft, inoffenfive, obliging behaviour, adorn all his actions; and no paffion, vanity, infolence, or of tentation, appear either in what he writes or fays: And yet thefe faults are often incident to the beft men, in the freedoms of converfation, and in writing against impertinent and unreafonable adverfaries, efpecially fuch as ftrike at the foundation of virtue and religion. This is the learning, this the temper of the man, whofe Study of the Scriptures has betrayed him into at fufpicion of fome heretical opinions; and becaufe it has, he must be blackened and defamed; he must be worried out of the great and clear reputation he is poffeffed of: and he that has fo many Dining qualities, must be infulted by every worth

less wretch, as if he had as little learning and virtue as the loweft of those who are against him. What protection now can you promise yourself from your virtue, when a man of such a character cannot be safe in his good name? Whatever therefore you do, be orthod:x: Orthodoxy will cover a multitude of fins, but a cloud of virtues cannot cover the want of the minutest particle of er.hodoxy.

'Tis expected, no matter how unreasonably, that a man fhould always adhere to the party he has once taken. 'Tis the opinion of the world, that he is all his life bound by the fubfcriptions he made in his first years; as if a man were as wife at twenty-four, and knew as much of the Scripture and antiquity and could judge as well of them, as he can at fifty. And yet if a man will be ftudying these things, he cannot be fure he fhall continue a year together in the fame fentiments: And, if he should not, he must either ftiffe his perfuafion, againft the dictates of his confcience; or be expofed to the worst treatment, to be called a renegado, a falfe brother, a heretic, or any thing that malice can fuggest.

But I have not yet done. This is not the worft of it. This perhaps you may pretend to defpife, and not care what the world says of you, fo long as your confcience cannot reproach you. B 6 Well;

Well; let then all concern for reputation go Can you be proof against one farther confequence of lying under the imputation of herefy? Can you bear to see yourself, your wife and children, ruined and undone? This, I fee, ftartles you.But you afk; What danger can there be of that? An Englishman, you fay, is out of the reach of perfecution or an inquifition: That fpirit, God' be thanked, is banished the land; and evenconvict heretics are protected from the flames. Very true; the fpirit of perfecution is either gone, or is difarmed; and that I look on as one of the invaluable bleffings of the revolution: But can you be fure it will not return? And fuppofe it will not; are your therefore secure, that an imputation of herefy will not end in the ruin of yourself and family? You and your children will not be burnt indeed; but you may be as effectually ruined, as if you were. may be excommunicated; and in virtue of that Be thrown into jail, to rot there, while your family are starving. And (which cannot be too well confidered) when once you come into thofe circumftances, what is there can deliver you? Your punishment will laft and be the fame, as long as you continue in the fame mind. A rule of punishment, peculiar to the ecclefiaftick ftate. In civil cafes, the offender, if his crime be not capital, fuffers a temporary punishment, proportioned

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tioned to the fault he has committed; and when he has undergone that, nothing further is required of him, except in fome cafes to find fecurity for his good behaviour for the future. But in cafes of herefy, there is no regard to the degree of the offence, in the punishment inflicted. Nor is there any end of it. 'Tis not enough to have fuffered the feverest punishment, though for the fmalleft offence; 'tis not enough to give fecurity of not offending for the future: The innocent offender muft declare (what 'tis often times impoffi le he fhould declare) that he has changed his fentiments, and is become orthodox; and this, though perhaps no methods of conviction have been used, except that of punishment be one. This is the miferable condition of a convict heretic: The punishment which fell on him for expreffing thoughts here ical, he must continue to endure for barely thinking; which is a thing not in his power, but depends on the evidence that appears to him: He must for ever (cruel justice!) for ever fuffer for his private thoughts (though they go not beyond his own heart,) the punishment which fome overt-act has once drawn upon him. To punish toties quoties, as often as those overt-acts are repeated, will not fatisfy the holy fe: Nor can a forbearance of fuch acts avail any thing, or a promife of filence for the future; which yet is all that is in a man's

power.