m

is also used of fuperiors to inferiors. Which is plain in that of Ahasuerus to Haman; What fhall be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Why, he mightily advanced him, as Mordecai afterwards. And more particularly it is faid, That the Jews had light, and gladnefs, and joy, and honour: that is, they escaped the perfecution that was like to fall upon them, and by the means of Efther and Mordecai, they enjoyed not only peace, but favour and countenance too. In this fenfe the apostle Peter advised Christian men, To honour their wives: that is, to love, value, cherish, countenance, and esteem them, for their fidelity and affection to their husbands, for their tendernefs and care over their children, and for their diligence and circumfpection in their families. There is no ceremonious behaviour, or gaudy titles, requifite to exprefs this honour. Thus God honours holy men : Them, fays the Lord, that honour me, I will Honour; and they that defpife me, fhall be lightly esteemed: " that is, I will do good to them, I will love, blefs, countenance, and profper them that honour me, that obey me: but they that despise me, that refift my spirit, and break my law, they fhail be lightly esteemed,. little fet by, or accounted of; they fhall not find favour with God, nor righteous men. And fo we fee it daily among men: if the great vifit, or concern themselves to aid the poor; we fay, that fuch a great man did me

n

'Esther 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 chapters.
I Sam. ii. 30.

m 1 Pet. iii. 7.

the honour to come and fee, or help me in my need.

§. XVIII. I fhall conclude this with one paffage more, and that is a very large, plain, and pertinent one: Honour all men, and love the brotherhood: that is, love is above honour, and that is reserved for the brotherhood. But honour, which is esteem and regard, that thou owest to all men; and if all, then thy inferiors. But why for all men? Because they are the creation of God, and the nobleft part of his creation too; they are alfo thy own kind: be natural, have bowels, and affift them with what thou canst; be ready to perform any real respect, and yield them any good or countenance thou canst.

;

§. XIX. And yet there feems a limitation to this command, Honour all men, in that paffage of godly David, Who fhall abide in thy tabernacle? Who fhall dwell in thy holy hill? He in whofe eyes a vile perfon is contemned but he honoureth them that fear the Lord." Here honour is confined and affixed to godly perfons; and dishonour made the duty of the righteous to the wicked, and a mark of their being righteous, that they difhonour, that is, flight or difregard them. To conclude this fcripture inquiry after honour, I fhall contract the fubject of it under three capacities, fuperiors, equals, and inferiors: honour to fuperiors, is obedience; to equals, love; to inferiors, countenance and help: that is honour after God's mind, and the holy people's fashion of old.

f. XX. But how little of all this is to be feen or had in a poor empty hat, bow, cringe, or gaudy flattering title, let the truth-speaking witness of God in all mankind judge. For I muft not appeal to corrupt, proud, and felffeeking man, of the good or evil of thofe cuftoms; that as little as he would render them, are loved and fought by him, and he is out of humour and angry if he has them not.

This is our fecond reafon, why we refuse to practice the accustomed ceremonies of honour and refpect; because we find no fuch notion or expreffion of honour and refpect, recommended to us by the Holy Ghoft in the fcriptures of

truth.

§. XXI. Our third reafon for not using them as teftimonies of honour and respect is, because there is no discovery of honour or refpect to be made by them: it is rather cluding and equivocating it; cheating people of the honour and respect that is due to them; giving them nothing in the fhew of fomething. There is in them no obedience to fuperiors, no love to equals, no help or countenance to inferiors.

§. XXII. We are, we declare to the whole world, for true honour and respect; we honour the king, our parents, our masters, our magiftrates, our landlords, one another; yea, all men, after God's way, ufed by holy men and women of old time: but we refufe thefe cuftoms, as vain and deceitful; not answering the end they are used for..

§. XXIII. But, fourthly, there is yet more to be faid: we find, that vain, loose, and

worlly people are the great lovers and practers of them, and moit deride our fimplicity of behariver. Now we affuredly know, from the facred te mocles, that thofe people cannot give true honour, that live in a dishonourable fpirit; they naderhand it not; but they can give the hat and knee, and that they are very liberal of, nor are any more expert at it. This is to us a proof, that no true honour can be terified by thote customs, which vanity and loofene's love and use.

§. XXIV. Next to them, I will add hypocrify, and revenge too. For how little do many care for each other? Nay, what spite, envy, animofity, fecret backbiting, and plotting one against another, under the ufe of thefe idle refpects; till paffion, too ftrong for cunning, breaks through hypocrify into open affront and revenge? It cannot be fo with the fcripturehonour to obey, or prefer a man, out of fpite, is not ufually done: and to love, help, ferve, and countenance a perfon, in order to deceive and be revenged of him, is a thing never heard of: these admit of no hypocrify' nor revenge. Men do not these things to palliate ill-will, which are the testimonies of quite the contrary. It is abfurd to imagine it, because impoffible to be done.

S. XXV. Our fixth reafon is, that honour was from the beginning: but hat-refpects, and moft titles, are of late: therefore there was true honour before hats or titles; and confequently true honour stands not in them. And that which evet was the way to exprefs true

honour, is the best way ftill; and this the fcripture teaches better than dancing-masterscan do.

§. XXVI. Seventhly, If honour confists in fuch like ceremonies, then will it follow, that they are moft capable of fhewing honour, who perform it most exactly, according to the mode or fashion of the times; confequently, that man hath not the measure of true honour, from a just and reasonable principle in himself, but by the means and skill of the fantastic dancing-mafters of the times: and for this. cause it is, we fee, that many give much money to have their children learn their honours, falfly fo called. And what doth this but totally exclude the poor country people; who, though they plow, till, fow, reap, go to market, and in all things obey their juftices, landlords, fathers, and mafters, with fincerity and fobriety, rarely use those ceremonies; but if they do, it is fo aukwardly, and meanly, that they are esteemed by a court-critic fo ill-favoured, as only fit to make a jest of, and be laughed at: but what fober man will not deem their obedience beyond the others vanity and hypocrify? This bafe notion of honour turns out of doors the true, and fets the falfe in its place. Let it be further considered, that the way or fashion of doing it, is much more in the defign of its performers, as well as view of its fpectators, than the refpect itself. Whence it is commonly faid, He is a man of good mien; or, She is a woman of exact behaviour. And what is this behaviour, but fantastic, cramped pofture and cringings, unnatural to their shape;