CHAP. IV. _Of listening to the voice of Providence_.
The magnificent and wise King Solomon bids us cry after knowledge, andlift up our voice for understanding; by which is meant, religiousknowledge, for it follows: _Then shalt thou understand the fear of theLord, and find the knowledge of God_. By which undoubtedly he meant, toenquire after every thing he has permitted us to know, and not to searchinto those ways that are unsearchable, and are effectually locked upfrom our knowledge.--Now, _as listening to the voice of Providence_ ismy present subject, I intend, in the first place, to write to those whoown, 1. That there is a God, a first great moving cause of all things,and eternal power, prior, and consequently superior to all created poweror being.--2. That this eternal power, which is God, is the sovereigncreator and governor of heaven and earth.
To avoid all needless distinctions, what persons in the God-headexercise the creating, and what the governing power, I offer thatglorious text, Psal. xxiii. 6. where the whole Trinity is entitled tothe whole creating work: and, therefore, in the next place, I shall laydown these two propositions.
I. _That the eternal God guides, by his providence, the whole universe, which was created by his power._
II. _That this providence manifests a particular care over, and concern in, the governing and directing man, the most noble creature upon earth_.
It is plain, that natural religion proves the first, by intimating thenecessity of a providence guiding and governing the world, from theconsequence of the wisdom, justice, prescience, and goodness of theAlmighty Creator: for otherwise it would be absurd to think, that Godshould create a world, without any care or providence over it, inguiding the operations of nature, so as to preserve the order ofhis creation.
Revealed religion gives us a light into the care and concern of hisprovidence, by the climate's being made habitable, the creaturessubjected and made nourishing, and all vegetative life made medicinal;and all this for the sake of man, who is made viceroy to the King of theearth. The short description I shall give of providence is this: _Thatit is that operation of the power, of the wisdom, and goodness of God,by which be influences, governs, and directs, not only the means, butthe events of all things, which concern us in this sublunary world; thesovereignty of which we ought always to reverence, obey its motions,observe its dictates, and listen to its voice. The prudent man forseeththe evil, and hideth himself; that is, as I take it, there is a secretprovidence intimates to us, that some danger threatens, if we strive notto shun it_.
The same day that Sir John Hotham kept out Hull against the royal martyrKing Charles I. the same day Sir John Hotham was put to death by theparliament for that very action: The same day that the King himselfsigned the warrant for the execution of the Earl of Stafford, the sameday of the month was he barbarously murdered by the blood-thirstyOliverian crew: and the same day that King James II. came to the crownagainst the bill of exclusion, the same day he was voted abdicated bythe parliament, and the throne filled with King William and Queen Mary.
The voice of signal deliverances from sudden dangers, is not only a justcall to repentance, but a caution against falling into the like danger;but such who are utterly careless of themselves after, show a lethargyof the worst nature, which seems to me to be a kind of practical atheismor at least, a living in a contempt of Heaven, when he receives good atthe hand of his Maker, but is unconcerned from whence it comes, or tothank the bountiful hand that gave it; neither, when he receives evil,does it alter his manner of life, or bring him to any state ofhumiliation.
We have a remarkable story of two soldiers being condemned to death inFlanders. The general being prevailed upon to spare one of them, orderedthem to cast dice upon the drumhead for their lives; the first havingthrown two sixes, the second fell a wringing his hands, having so poor achance to escape; however, having thrown, he was surprised when he alsothrew other two sixes. The officer appointed to see the execution,ordered them to throw again; they did so, and each of them threw fives;at which the soldiers that stood round, shouted, and said, neither ofthem was to die. Upon this, the officer acquainted the council of war,who ordered them to throw a third time, when they threw two fours: thegeneral being acquainted with it, sent for the men, and pardoned them._I love,_ said he, _in such extraordinary cases, to listen to the voiceof Providence._
We read in the holy writings, how God speaks to men by appearance ofangels, or by dreams and visions of the night. As God appeared toAbraham, Lot, and Jacob: so angels have appeared to many in other cases,as to Manoah and his wife, Zechariah, the Virgin Mary, and to theapostles; other have been warned in a dream as king Abimelech, the falseprophet Balaam, and many others.
It is certainly a very great and noble inquiry, _What we shall be afterthis life?_ for there is scarce a doubt, that there is a place reservedfor the reception of our souls after death: for if we are to be, we musthave a where, which the scriptures assert by the examples of Dives andLazarus. The doctrine of spirits was long believed before our Saviour'stime; for when the disciples of the blessed Jesus perceived our Saviourwalking on the sea, they were as much surprised as though they had seena spirit. Nay, in those ages of the world, it was believed that spiritsintermeddled in the affairs of mankind; and, throughout the OldTestament, I do not find any thing that in the least contradicts is. Allthe pains and labour that some learned men have taken, to confute thestory of the witch of Endor, and the appearance of an old manpersonating Samuel, cannot make such apparitions inconsistent withnature or religion; and it is plain, that it was either a good or badspirit, that prophetically told the unfortunate king what should happenthe next day; for, said the spirit, _The Lord will deliver thee into thehands of the Philistines; and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons bewith me._
Abundance of strange notions possessed me, when I was in the desolateisland; especially on a moonshine night, when every bush seemed a man,and every tree a man on horseback. When I crept into the dismal cavewhere the old goat lay expiring, whole articulate groans even resembledthose of a man, how was I surprised! my blood chilled in my veins,a cold sweaty dew sat on my forehead, my hair stood upright, and myjoints, like Belshazzar's knees, struck against one another. And, indeed,though I afterwards found what it was, the remains of this surprise didnot wear off for a great while; and I had frequently returns of thosevapours on different occasions, and sometimes without any occasion at all.
One night, after having seen some appearance in the air, as I had justlain down in my bed, one of my feet pained me; after that came anumbness, succeeded with a tingling in my blood; when on a sudden Ithought something alive lay upon me, from my knee to above half my leg.Upon this I flung myself out of bed where I thought the creature lay;but finding nothing, _Lord deliver me from evil spirits_, said I, _whatcan this be?_ When I lighted a candle, I could perceive no livingcreature in the place with me, but the poor parrot, who, being frighted,cried out, _Hold your tongue_, and _What's the matter with you_, whichwords I had taught him, by saying so to him, when he made such screamingnoises as I did not like. _Lord_, said I aloud, _surely the devil hasbeen here._ _Hold your tongue_, says Poll. I was then mad at the bird,and putting on my clothes, cried, _I am terribly frighted._ _What's thematter with you_? says Poll. _You toad_, said I, _I'll knock your brainsout._ _Hold you tongue_, cried he again, and so fell a chattering, andcalling Robinson Crusoe, as he did before. But after I had composedmyself, and went to bed again, I began plainly to see it was a distemperthat affected my nerves, and so my terrors vanished at once.
How intelligences are given or received, we do not know; nor are wesensible how they are conveyed from spirits embodied to ours that arein life; or, on the contrary, from us to them; the latter is certainlydone without help of the organs, and the former is conveyed by theunderstanding, and the retired faculties of the soul.
The spirits, without the help of voices, converse, and the moreparticular discoveries of converse of the spirits, seem to me asfollow: to wit, dreams, voices, noises, impulses, hints, apprehensions,invo
luntary sadness, &c.
Dreams of old were the ways by which God himself was pleased to warnmen what services to perform, and what to shun. Joseph was directed ofGod in a dream to go to Egypt; and so were the wise men warned in adream to depart into their own country another way, to avoid the furyof Herod. I am not like those who think dreams are the mere designs ofa delirious head, or the relics of a day's perplexities or pleasures;but, on the contrary, I must beg leave to say, I never met with anycapital mischief in my life, but I had some notice of it by a dream;and had I not been a thoughtless unbelieving creature, I might havetaken many a warning, and avoided many of the evils I afterwards fellinto, merely by total neglect of those dreams.
I was once present at a dispute between a layman and a clergyman, uponthe subject of dreams. The first thought no regard should be given untothem; that their communication from the invisible to the visible worldwas a mere chimera, without any solid foundation. For, first, said he,if dreams were from the agency of any prescient being, the motives wouldbe more direct, and the discoveries more plain, and not by allegoriesand emblematic fancies, expressing things imperfect and obscure. 2.Since, with the notice of evil, there was not a power given to avoid it,it is not likely to proceed from a spirit, but merely fortuitious. 3.That the inconstancy of such notices, in cases equally important, provesthey did not proceed from any such agent. 4. That as our most distinctdreams had nothing in them of any significancy, it would be irrationaland vain to think that they came from heaven. And, 5. That as men werenot always thus warned or supplied with notice of good or evil, so allmen are not alike supplied with them; and what reason could we give,why one man or one woman should not have the same hints as another.
To all this the clergyman gave answer: 1. That as to the signification ofdreams, & the objections against them, as being dark and doubtful, they areexpressed generally by hierogliphical representations, similies, allusions,and figurative emblematic ways, by which means, for want of interpretation,the thing was not understood, and, consequently, the evil not shunned. 2.That we charge God foolishly, to say, that he has given the notice of evil,without the power to avoid it; for, if any one had not power to avoid theevil, it was no notice to him; and it was want of giving due head to thatnotice, that men first neglected themselves, and then charged the Judge ofall the earth with injustice. 3. That we ought not to find fault with theinconstancy of these notices; but rather with our weak understandings, bypretending dreams were not to be regarded, and negligent when the voicereally spoke to us for our good. It is a mistake to say, dreams have noimport at all: we might, with more reason, have said, none that we couldperceive the reason of, owing to our blindness and supine negligence, toosecure at one time, and too much alarmed at another; so that the spirit,which we might be said to be conversing with in a dream, was constantlyand equally kind and careful; but our powers are not always in the samestate of action, not equally attentive too, or retentive of the hintsthat were given. And, 5. To answer the last question, Why people are notequally supplied? This seemed to be no question; for Providence itselfmight have some share in the direction of it, and then that Providencemight be limited by a superior direction; that as to the converse ofspirits, he could not call it a stated converse: such a thing there was,but why there was so much of it, and no more, was none of his business,and that no such discovery had ever yet been made to mankind. Nor werewe to imagine less of waking dreams, trances, visions, noises, hints,impulses, and all the waking testimonies of an invisible world, and ofthe communication that there is between us and them, which commonlyentertain us with our open eyes.
One time my fancy soared on high, to see what discoveries I could makein those clearer regions. I found that such immense bodies as the sun,stars, planets, and moon, in the great circle of the lower heaven, arefar from being found in the study of nature on the surface of the earth.Here I saw many things that we can entertain little or no notion of, ina state of common life, and the emptiness of our notion, that theplanets are habitable worlds; that is, created like ours, for thesubsistence and existence of man and beast, and the preservation of thevegitative and sensitive life: No, no, this is, I assure you, a world ofspirits; for here I saw a clear demonstration of Satan being the _princeof the power of the air_, keeping his court or camp, with innumerableangels to attend him; but his power is not so great as we imagine, hecan tempt us to the crime, but cannot force us to commit: _Humanium estpeccare_. Neither has the devil power to force the world into arebellion against heaven, though his legions are employed among savagenations, to set up their master for a god, who make the heathens eitherworship him in person, or by his representatives, idols and monsters,with the cruel sacrifices of human blood. Now, as to the limitations ofthe devil's power, you must understand, that as there are numbers ofevil spirits employed in mischief, so there are numbers of good angelssent from the higher and blessed abodes to disconcert and oppose theirmeasures; and this every Christian, I hope, believes, when he prays toGod, the father of spirits, to give his angels charge over him while heslumbereth and sleepeth. For if by these preventing powers the devil wasnot restrained, the earth would be subjected to dearth, droughts, andfamine; the air infected with noxious fumes; and, in a word, mankindwould be utterly destroyed, which might oblige our Maker (if I may beallowed the expression) to the necessity of a new _fiat_, or else haveno more creatures to honour and worship him.
As the devil never wanted insinuators, I shall observe, that I learned away how to make a man dream of what I pleased. For instance, let us supposeone to be found asleep; let another lay his mouth close to his ear, andwhisper any thing so softly as not to awake him, the sleeping man shalldream of what has been so whispered in his ear; nay, I can assure you,those insinuating devils can do this even when we are awake, which I callimpulses of the mind: for from whence, but from these insinuators, comeour causeless passions, involuntary wickedness, or sinful desires? Whoelse form ideas in the mind of man when he is asleep, or present terribleor, beautiful figures to his fancy: Mr. Milton represents the deviltempting Eve in the shape of a toad, lying just at her ear, when in herbower she lay fast asleep; and brings in Eve telling Adam what an uneasynight's rest she had, and relating her dream to him. And likewise Ibelieve that good spirits have the same intercourse with us, in warningus against those things that are evil, and prompting us to that which isgood.
Were we to have the eyes of our souls opened, through the eyes of ourbodies, we should see this very immediate region or air which we breathin, thronged with spirits now invisible, and which otherwise would bethe most terrible; we should view the secret transactions of thosemessengers who are employed when the parting soul takes it's leave ofthe reluctant body, and perhaps see things nature would shrink back fromwith the utmost terror and amazement. In a word, the curtain ofProvidence for the disposition of things here, and the curtain ofjudgment for the determination of the state of souls hereafter, would bealike drawn back; and what heart could support here its future state inlife; much less that, of its future state after life, even good or bad.
A gentleman of my acquaintance, being about seven miles distant fromLondon, a friend that came to dine with him, solicited him to go to thecity. _What_, said the gentleman, _is there any occasion for me? No,Sir_, said the other, _nothing at all except the enjoyment of your goodcompany_: and so gave over importuning him. Just then a strong impulseof mind urged the gentleman and pursued him like a voice, with, _Go toLondon, Go to London. Hark ye_, says he to his friend, _is all well atLondon? Am I wanted there? Or did you ask me to go with you on anyparticular account? Are all my family well? Yes, indeed, Sir_, said he,_I perceived them all very hearty; and I did not ask you to go to Londonupon any particular account whatsoever, except it was for the sake ofyour good company_. Again, he put off his resolution: but still theimpulse suggested to him, _Go to London_; and at length he did so. Whenhe came there, he found a letter and a messenger had been there to seekhim, and to tell him of a particular business, which was at first andlast above a th
ousand pounds to him, and which might inevitably havebeen lost, had he hot gone to London that night.
The obeying of several hints, of secret impulses, argues great wisdom.I knew a man that was under misfortunes, being guilty of misdemeanorsagainst the goverment; when, absconding for fear of his ruin, all hisfriends advising him not to put himself in the hands of the law, onemorning as he awaked, he felt a strong impulse darting into his mindthus, _Write a letter to them;_ and this was repeated several times tohis mind, and at last he answered to it, as if it had been a voice,_Whom shall I write to?_ Immediately it replied, _Write to the judge:_and this impulse pursued him for several days, till at length he tookpen, ink, and paper, and sat down to write to him: when immediatelywords flowed from his pen, like streams from a fair fountain, thatcharmed even himself with hopes of success. In short, the letter was sostrenuous in argument, so pathetic in its eloquence, and so persuasivelymoving, that when the judge had read it, he sent him an answer he mightbe easy, he would endeavour to make that matter light to him; and,indeed, never left exerting himself, till he had stopt the prosecution,and restored him to his liberty and family.
I know a person who had so strong an impression upon her mind, that thehouse she was in would be burnt that very night, that she could notsleep; the impulse she had upon her mind pressed her not to go to bed,which, however, she got over, and went to bed; but was so terrified withthe thought, which run in her mind, that the house would be burnt, thatshe could not go to sleep; but communicating her apprehensions toanother in the family, they were both in such a fright, that theyapplied themselves to search from the top of the house to the bottom, &to see every fire and candle safe out, so that, as they all said, it wasimpossible that any thing could happen then, and they sent to theneighbours on both sides to do the like. Thus far they did well: But hadshe obeyed the hint which pressed upon her strangely, not to go to bed,she had done much better; for the fire was actually kindled at that verytime, though not broken out. About an hour after the whole family was inbed, the house just over the way, directly opposite, was all in flames,and the wind, which was very high, blowing the flame upon the house thisgentlewoman lived in, so filled it with smoke and fire, in a fewminutes, the street being narrow, that they had not air to breathe, ortime to do any thing, but jump out of their beds, and save their lives.Had she obeyed the hint given, and not gone to bed, she might have savedseveral things; but the few moments she had spared to her, were but justsufficient to leap out of bed, put some cloathes on, and get downstairs, for the house was on fire in half a quarter of an hour.
While I am mentioning these things, methinks it is very hard that weshould obey the whispers of evil spirits, and not much rather receivethe notices which good ones are pleased to give. We never perceive themisfortune of this, but when in real danger; and then we cry, _My mindmisgave me when I was going about it_; but if so, why do you fight thecaution? Why not listen to it as to a voice? and then there had been noreason to make this complaint.
I remember about fourteen or fifteen years ago (as to time I cannot bevery positive) there was a young clergyman in the city of Dublin, inIreland, who dreamed a very uncommon dream, that a gentleman had killedhis wife, a relation of his, by stabbing her in several places; thefright of this awaked him, but finding it a dream, he composed himselfagain to sleep, when he dreamed a second time the same dream. This madehim a little uneasy; but thinking it proceeded from the impression madeon his mind by the former, he went to sleep again, and dreamed the samedream a third time also. So troubled was he at this, that he arose, andknocked at his mother's chamber, told his concern, and his apprehensionsthat all was not right at his relation's house. _Dear son_, says thegood old gentlewoman, _do not mind these foolish dreams; and I very muchwonder, that you, being a person in holy orders, should have regard tosuch illusions_. Upon this he went to bed again, fell asleep, anddreamed a fourth time as before. And then indeed he put on hisnight-gown, and went to Smithfield, the place where his relation dwelt.Here it was, alas! he perceived his dream too sadly fulfilled, by seeinghis relation the young lady, big with child, who was a Protestant,stabbed in several places by her barbarous husband, Mr. Eustace, aviolent Papist, only for some discourses of religion that happened theday before. After the wretch had stabbed her in three places, he went tomake his escape out at a window; but she cried out, _My dear! don'tleave me, come back, and I shall be well again_. At which he returned ina hellish rage, and gave her four wounds more; when, even in thiscondition, rising from her bed, she wrapped herself in her night-gown,and went to the Lord Bishop of Rapho's chamber door (the Bishop lodgingat that time in the house). _My Lord_, said she, _O my Lord, make hasteunto me_; but as soon as his Lordship came, she expired in his arms,resigning her precious soul into the hands of Almighty God. The cruelwretch her husband was shot by the pursuers; too good a death for onewho deserved the gibbet; and the lady was universally lamented by alltender and religious people. And this tragical relation I havementioned, upon the account of that impulse, or dream, that theclergyman had at the fatal time of the bloody action.
It might be expected I should enter upon the subject of apparitions,and discourse concerning the reality of them; and whether they canrevisit the place of their former existence, and resume those facultiesof speech and shape as they had when living; but, as these are verydoubtful matters, I shall only make a few observations upon them.
I once heard of a man that would allow the reality of apparitions, butlaid it all upon the devil, thinking that the souls of men departed, orgood men, did never appear. To this very man something did appear: Hesaid, he saw the shape of an ancient man pass by him in the dusk, who,holding up his hand in a threatening posture, cried out, _O wicked man,repent, repent_. Terrified with this apparition, he consulted severalfriends, who advised him to take the advice. But after all, it was notan apparition, but a grave and pious gentleman, who met him by mereaccident, and had been sensible of his wickedness; and who neverundeceived him, lest it should hinder his reformation.
Some people make a very ill use of the general notion, that there are noapparitions nor spirits at all: which is worse than those who fancy theysee them upon every occasion; for those carry their notions farther,even to annihilate the devil, and believe nothing about him, neither ofone kind or other: the next step they come to, is to conclude, _There isno God_, and so atheism takes its rise in the same sink, with acarelessness about futurity. But there is no occasion to enter upon anargument to prove the being of the Almighty, or to illustrate his powerby words, who has so many undeniable testimonies in the breasts of everyrational being to prove his existence: and we have sufficient proofsenough to convince us of the great superintendency of Divine Providencein the minutest affairs of this world; the manifest existence of theinvisible world; the reality of spirits, and intelligence between us andthem. What I have said, I hope, will not mislead any person, or be ameans whereby they may delude themselves; for I have spoken of thesethings with the utmost seriousness of mind, and with a sincere andardent desire for the general good and benefit of the world.