a mimical, apish Pharisee, who finds nothing at all of the gentle and mighty heat, nor the divine aud noble life of it in his own soul, whereby he may fairly deceive the credulous world, as I have partly hinted already. But it is possible, I wish it be not common, for men that are somewhat more convinced, enlightened, and affected, to imitate the very power and spirit of religion, and to deceive themselves too, as if they possessed some true living principle; and herein they exceed the most exquisite painters. Now, this may be done by the power of a quick and raised fancy; men hearing such glorious things spoken of heaven, the city of the great King, the new Jerusalem, may be carried out by the power of self-love, to wish themselves there, being mightily taken with a conceit of the place. But how shall they come at it? Why, they have seen in books, and heard in discourses, of certain signs of grace, and evidences of salvation; and now they set their fancies on work, to find or make some such things in themselves. Fancy is well acquainted with the several affections of love, fear, joy, grief, which are in the soul, and having a great command over the animal spirits, it can send them forth to raise up these affections, even almost when it listeth; and when it hath raised them, it is but putting to some thoughts of God and heaven, and then these look like a handsome platform of true religion drawn in the soul, which they presently view, and fall in love with, and think they do even taste of the powers of the world to come, when indeed it is nothing but a self-fulness and sufficiency that they feed upon. Now, you may know this artificial religion by this;

these men can vary it, alter it, enlarge it, straiten it, and new-mould it at pleasure, according to what they see in others, or according to what themselves like best; one while acting over the joy and confidence of some Christians, anon the humiliation and brokenness of others. But this fanciful religion, proceeding indeed from nothing but low and carnal conceits of God and heaven, is of a flitting and vanishing nature. But true Christians are gently, yet powerfully, moved by the natural force of true goodness, and the beauty of God, and do move on steadily and constantly in their way to him, and pursuit of him. The spirit of regeneration in good men spreads itself upon the understanding, and sweetly insinuates itself through the will and affections, which makes true religion to be a consistent and thriving principle in the soul, as not being acted upon the stage of imagination, but upon the highest powers of the soul itself, and may be discerned by the evenness of its motions, and the immortality of its nature; for a good man, though indeed he cannot go on always with like speed and cheerfulness in his way, yet he is not willing at any time to be quite out of it.

By this same nature of true religion you may examine all those spurious and counterfeit religions, that spring from a natural belief of a Deity, from convictions, observations, fleshly and low apprehensions of heaven, book-learning, and the precepts of men, as the prophet calls them, and the rest, which are seated in the fancy, and swim in the brain; whose effect is but to gild the outward man, or, at best, but to move the soul by an external force, in

In

an unnatural, inconstant, and transient manner. a word, all these pretenders to religion may seem to have water, but they have no well; as there are others, deep men, principled indeed with learning, policy, ingenuity, &c. but not with true goodness, whom the Apostle calls "wells," but "without water." But the truly godly, and godlike soul, hath in itself a principle of pure religion." The water that I shall give him, shall be a well of water springing up into eternal life.”

these men can vary it, alter it, enlarge it, straiten it, and new-mould it at pleasure, according to what they see in others, or according to what themselves like best; one while acting over the joy and confidence of some Christians, anon the humiliation and brokenness of others. But this fanciful religion, proceeding indeed from nothing but low and carnal conceits of God and heaven, is of a flitting and vanishing nature. But true Christians are gently, yet powerfully, moved by the natural force of true goodness, and the beauty of God, and do move on steadily and constantly in their way to him, and pursuit of him. The spirit of regeneration in good men spreads itself upon the understanding, and sweetly insinuates itself through the will and affections, which makes true religion to be a consistent and thriving principle in the soul, as not being acted upon the stage of imagination, but upon the highest powers of the soul itself, and may be discerned by the evenness of its motions, and the immortality of its nature; for a good man, though indeed he cannot go on always with like speed and cheerfulness in his way, yet he is not willing at any time to be quite out of it.

By this same nature of true religion you may examine all those spurious and counterfeit religions, that spring from a natural belief of a Deity, from convictions, observations, fleshly and low apprehe⠀sions of heaven, book-learning, and the precepts of men, as the prophet calls them, and the rest, which are seated in the fancy, and swim in the brain; whose effect is but to gild the outward man, or, at best, but to move the soul by an external force, in

In

an unnatural, inconstant, and transient manner. a word, all these pretenders to religion may seem to have water, but they have no well; as there are others, deep men, principled indeed with learning, policy, ingenuity, &c. but not with true goodness, whom the Apostle calls "wells," but "without water." But the truly godly, and godlike soul, hath in itself a principle of pure religion.-"The water that I shall give him, shall be a well of water springing up into eternal life."