ambition than virtue, justice, and true honour, fall into the way of all other nations, and lose their liberty.'

Nor could I help foreseeing to whose charge a great deal of this dreadful mischief, whenever it should happen, would be laid, whether justly or unjustly, was not my business to determine; but I resolved for my own particular part, to deliver myself as well as I could, from the reproaches and the curses of posterity, by publicly declaring to all the world, that although in the constant course of my ministry, I have never failed on proper occasions to recommend, urge, and insist upon the loving, honoring, and reverencing the Prince's person, and hold it according to the laws, inviolable. and sacred; and paying all obedience and submission to the laws, though never so hard and inconvenient to private people yet did I never think myself at liberty, or authorised to tell the people, that either Christ, St. Peter, or St. Paul, or any other holy writer, had by any doctrine delivered by them, subverted the Laws and Constitutions of the country in which they lived, or put them in a worse condition with respect to their civil liberties, than they would have been had they not been Christians. I ever thought it a most impious blasphemy against that holy religion, to father any thing upon it that might encourage tyranny, oppression, or injustice in a Prince, or that easily tended to make - a free and happy people slaves and miserable. No. People may make themselves as wretched as they will, but let not God be called into that wicked party. When force and violence, and hard necessity have brought the yoke of servitude upon a people's neck; Religion will supply them with a patient and submissive spirit under it till they can innocently shake it off: but certainly Religion never puts it on, This always was, and this at present is, my judgement of these matters: and I would be transmitted to posterity (for the little share of time such names as mine can live) under the

character

character of one who loved is country, and would be thought a good Englishman, as well as a good Clergy

man.

• This character I thought would be transmitted by the following Sermons, which were made for and preached in a private audience, when I could think of nothing else but doing my duty on the occasions that were then offered by God's providence, without any manner of design of making them public: and for that reason I give them now as they were then delivered; by which I hope to satisfy those people who have objected a change of principles to me, as if I were not now the same man I formerly was. I never had but one opinion of these matters; and that I think is so reasonable and well-grounded, that I believe I can never have any other.

:

Another reason of my publishing these Sermons at this time, is, that I have a mind to do myself some honour by doing what honour I could to the memory of two most excellent Princes, and who have very highly deserved at the hands of all the people of these dominions, who have any true value for the Protestant Religion, and the Constitution of the English Government, of which they were the great deliverers, and defenders. I have lived to see illustrious names very rudely handled, and the great benefits they did this nation treated slightly and contemptuously. I have lived to see our deliverance from Arbitrary Power and Popery, traduced and vilified by some who formerly thought it was their greatest merit, and made it part of their boast and glory, to have had a little hand and share in bringing it about; and others who without it, must have lived in exile, poverty, and misery, meanly disclaiming it, and using ill the glorious instruments thereof. Who could expect such a requital of

such

*The friends of the Tory ministers of QUEEN ANNE, ⚫ften stigmatised our glorious deliverer KING WILLIAM.

such merit? I have, I own it, an ambition of exempting myself from the number of unthankful people and as I loved and honoured those great Princes living, and lamented over them when dead, so I would gladly raise them up a monument of praise as lasting as any thing of mine can be; and I choose to do it at this time, when it is so unfashionable a thing to speak honorably of them.

The Sermon that was preached upon the Duke of GLOUCESTER'S death was printed quickly after, and is now, because the subject was so suitable, joined to the others. The loss of that most promising and hopeful Prince was at that time, I saw, unspeakably great; and many accidents since have convinced us that it could not have been over-valued. That precious life, had it pleased God to have prolonged it the usual space, had saved us many fears and jealousies, and dark distrusts, and prevented many alarms, that have long kept us, and will keep us still, waking and uneasy. Nothing remained to comfort and support us under this heavy stroke, but the necessity it brought the King and nation under of settling the succession in the House of HANOVER, and given it an hereditary right by act of parliament, as long as it continues Protestant. So much good did God in his merciful Providence, produce from a misfortune, which we could never otherwise have sufficiently deplored!

The fourth Sermon was preached upon the Queen's accession to the throne, and the first year in which that day was solemnly observed (for by some accident or other, it had been over-looked the year before); and every one will see without the date of it, that it was preached very early in this reign, since I was able only to promise and presage its future glories and successes, from the good appearances of things, and the happy turn our affairs began to take; and could not then count up the victories and triumphs, that for seven years after, made it, in the prophet's language,

a name

7

a name and a praise among all the people of the
earth. Never did seven such years together pass over
the head of any English Monarch, nor cover it with
so much honour. The crown and sceptre seemed to
be the Queen's last ornaments; those other Princes
wore in common with her, and her great personal vir-
tues were the same before and since; but such was the
fame of her administration of affairs at home, such was
the reputation of her wisdom and felicity in choosing
ministers, and such was then esteemed their faithful-
ness and zeal, their diligence and great abilities in exe-
cuting her commands; to such a height of military
glory did her Great GENERAL and her armies carry the
British name abroad; such was the harmony and con-
cord betwixt her and her allies; and such was the
blessing of God upon all her counsels and undertakings;
that I am as sure as history can make me, no Prince
of ours ever was so prosperous and successful, so be
loved, esteemed, and honoured by their subjects and
their friends, and near so conformidable to their
enemies. We were as the world imagined then, just
entering on the ways that promised to lead to such
a peace as would have answered all the prayers of our
religious Queen, the care and vigilance of a most able
ministry, the payments of a willing and most obedient
people, as well as all the glorious toils and hazards of
the soldiery; when God for our sins, permitted the
spirit of discord to go forth, and by troubling sore the
camp, the city, and the country, (and oh that it had
altogether spared the places sacred to his worship!)
to spoil, for a time, this beautiful and pleasing pro-
spect, and give us in its stead, I know not what-
Our enemies will tell the rest with pleasure. It will
become me better to pray to God to restore us to the
power of obtaining such a peace as will be to his glory,
the safety, honour, and welfare of the Queen and her
dominions, and the general satisfaction of all her high
and mighty allies.

May 2, 1712.

No. 385.

THURSDAY, MAY 12, 1712.

-The sea pectora juncta fide.

OVID. i. TRIST. iii. 66.

"Hearts joined by a friendship such as that between Theseus "and Pireth us,"

ON FRIENDSHIP.

I INTEND the Paper for this day as a loose Essay upon FRIENDSHIP, in which I shall throw my observations together without any set form, that I may avoid repeating what has been often said on this subject.

Friendship is a strong and habitual inclination in two persons to promote, the good and happiness of one another. Though the pleasures and advantages of friendship have been largely celebrated by the best moral writers, and are considered by all as great ingredients of human happiness, we very rarely meet with the practice of this virtue in the world.

Every man is ready to give in a long catalogue of those virtues and good qualities he expects to find in the person of a friend, but very few of us are careful to cultivate them in ourselves.

Love and Esteem are the first principles of FRIENDSHIP, which always is imperfect where either of these two is wanting.

As on the one hand, we are soon ashamed of loving a man whom we cannot esteem; so, on the other, though we are truly sensible of a man's abilities, we can never raise ourselves to the warmth of Friendship, without an affectionate good will towards his person.

Friendship immediately banishes envy under all its disguises, Aman who can once doubt whether he should

rejoice