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Show The Parr». C E. The PRE FACE. Iiijultice; but we cannot arrive Death by feveral Reps of dif» And? befide the natural Laws, written on the Tables of tin lo alty to God, becaufl: ever); tingle act of difobedience to him merits the highelt punilhment, but the other Violations lxit'iaii's bieart, God rai ed up many liVlflg hxamples, Confor, (Eta ming tnemfelvesto thsfe Laws, the Holy Patriarchs cllfperfing t; of the Law of Nature, did produce heretofore no greater ill themfelves into many Countries of the VVorld, to infirué‘c gm)?" confequences then the Analogy of their own obliquity, in breaking the Law of Nature, till God by pofitive Commands others by their excellent Precepts and lives to obferve the re, gular Sanctions inflituted by God in Nature. hath made them become acts of diiloyalty to him, as well as .And the Traditions of the lives and actions of many pri, obliquity in Nature , The firi'c being morally evil, the fecond naturally. - mitive Heroes Were handed down from Ace: to Age, and re, . b commended to Pofierity as fo many excellent Prefidentsfldalatry a And therefore the Great Law/giver, as the molt Gracious worthy the imitation of others; And all this was too little to fiiiiiiilinfas ~ and Wife difpofer of all things, did not only engrave with iniorm andinfluence after Ages in reference to a thick Cloud 233315;" mm mm". lively Charac'ters his molt reafonable Sanctions in the Heart of ill-ills" him as the inltrumcnts and meafures of their happinefs, but ni ' that drew a Van] upon Man's Intelleétuals, and as a darknefs and Hm"; almofi covered the face of the Earth in a great part,as the whole alfo made a more bright revealed light to arife, to guide our {teps in his Divine paths, adopting fome parts of natural Sana ctions into Religion. Thus the pofitive Command againf'c [bedding Mans Blood became an initance of Religion in after ‘ World was almofi befotted With Idolatry, a Sin highly dif» pleating to God, as robbing him of his Glory and Majefiy, at- tributing that Worfhiptotie Creature, which is due only to the Creator. And the breaches of theft: Natural Laws Ages, and fome Other Supplements were Enacted by God, concerning his Worfliip, againft Idolatry, and againf'c unkhd» ly and filthy pollutions of Carnal enjoyments. And becaufe the cuf'tom in Sin doth firl'c lefleii and then take away the fenfe of Sin, and malteth by degrees acts very bafe and degenerate in their own nature, not to be ill in the v _ were accompanied with others which followed of courfle; And . . tipprehenlion of Man. yet for all this God is [b infinite in Mercy, that He had a compafsion for miferable Man as the work of His hands, and gave him many temporal blefsings as fo many endearments Tempom and pledges of His love, to engage him in all honor and in, Kill/5;"; ig'eiiuity to obferve his Commands as . diétated. to .him by. Ana; God'slove ""9"" °f ogy of reafon; and adopted apeculiar Nation into his dine, to Man Whereupon God was plmfcd to i-xexiye 127: 7‘04» :, hlarriage, very much loft in the primitiie Ages, "by : g fevere punilhirient upon offenders, by makingr them exampies of his Inflice to give them at oncea fenfe of their mifdemea' nors, and in being their remembrancer, that the natural per» Cow"; mifsions of Concubines, were not given meerly to complace ' 'd j and indulge their fenfual Appetites, but in order to the propaa , n it . ; r allowed only. by the defigii and of Man, and were gm 3"?" gaten . cial favour and patronage, efpoufing them as his Great Fa: vourites , whole Fathers were great obfervers of all natural Sanctions, and fome few pofitive Laws, which did in Iome de» gree reinforce and perfect the Law of Nature; And therefore God made it feemed good to the great Law/maker to make afarther De» 333230,, claration of his divine Will, in many infiances of Religion 9""5 W1" and Jufiice, which were enaéted into pofitive Sanctions, and fixings: - A . . a s had an equivalent authority and force to the prlme Natural m nd. l‘af er 5313011011 of his holy lnftitiition of Marriage. And God in the periods of former Ages did iiiltittite many fignal Judge; Laws, they being f0 many explications of them, and do claim gllsiilif a due obfervance , being equally obligatory with the Prime Rutguthoa nitnts, as the expreffes of his Anger upon great oftenders , which were manifbfi‘ed to the World as inftances of his Good, nefs and Mercy, to caufe them to make due reflections upon men Ciimes, that their iwiwiances might be an ed, and the o much defaced and almof't rafedaout natural Law, might be fo received, repaired, and as it were, reprinted in the heart of Sanctions of Nature, of which all fuperadded Precepts are To many infiances more clearly féttln" forth the oriOinal Inflia tutions of Nature. D 3 And Ibme of them did more peculiarly relate to the Judaic}; Polity, And thief Inflitutions were ofa more univerfal ex; l , 3 . ' ' a A', MTW' and. that ‘llfo 1 "JUd‘CCb [lug taken 0&3 fl]? Law‘of Rature might be in fome degree reflored to its primitive purity and perfection. And tent, obliging all Nations by. Virtue of their common Juitic, ' A . . and equity, which all Mankind is equally concerned to rec And thefe the great LaWAgiver Wtit with his own Fingei ' ' fl . ,, fifeyillllfi mum TlieMora'l $1?" |