Moral Action what.

How an Action

or bad.

Moral Action is fuch as renders the Agent or Doer good or bad, or worthy of Reward or Punishment.

THAT an Action be good or bad, it is requir'd becomes good there be a certain Agreement or Difagreement of the Act and Object to which it is referr'd; that fo Reafon may determine whether the Action, with regard to the Object, may be aptly, meetly, and prudently exerted, or not. And if there be any Action wherein no fuch Regard can be had to the Object, that Action is faid to be indifferent. An Action alfo may become good or bad, from the End or Design thereof, and feveral other Circumstances attending it, as Time, Place, Perfon, Order, Age, Condition, Caufe, &c.

Actions either

wholly good, or except indiffe

wholly evil,

rent ones.

The fame exemplified.

In order to denominate an Action good, it is requifite that the Object, End, and Circumstances, are together all good, at leaft none of them bad. Hence it follows, that no Action can be partly good, and partly bad; and that if either the Object, End, or Circumstances be fingly bad, the Action will be evil, and that wholly fo. Laftly, it follows that there is no Participation of Good and Evil, and that Evil is only the Privation of Good, or Want of due Conformity between the Act and its Object.

FOR Example, in doing Alms, the Object is a poor neceffitous Perfon; the End is to abate or prevent Mifery arifing from Want of Neceffaries; the Circumstances are the Perfon's Merit, Quality, the Time, Place, Number, &c. Now if from all thefe Things duly confider'd, Reafon approves our giving an Alms, the Action is good, and then becomes our Duty: But if the Object be not poor and need it, or our End be the Praife of Men; or, laftly, if he be an idle, worthless, or undeferving Perfon; if a Vagrant, to whom the Laws have forbid the Act; or the Number of Objects

fo

fo
great, that in relieving them you must reduce
yourself and Family: I fay, in any one of those
Cafes, even fo laudable an Act as Almfgiving,
would, in the Judgment of Reason, be cenfur'd
as an Evil or Folly that ought not to be done.

THE Rule of human Actions or Manners, is a The Rule of Measure by which we make a Judgment of Things buman Actions of the fame Kind, from their Convenience there- is twofold ; with, or Difagreement thereto. This is twofold,

(1.) External, which is called the LAW; and, viz. (1.) Law. (2.) Internal, which we call the practical Judg- (2.) Conscience. ment of the intellectual Mind, or CONSCIENCE.

Confcience is the internal Judgment or Teftimony Confcience of Man's own Mind, which he makes or paffes defined. upon Actions done or to be done, concerning their good or evil Quality, and of his own State confequent thereupon. This Teftimony of Confcience arifes from the Memory of Facts committed or omitted; but the Judgment of Confcience proceeds from an Application of the Law or Rule to the Facts done, or to be done.

Confcience, in bearing Testimony and paffing Confcience acts Judgment, proceeds in a kind of fyllogistical Me-llogistically. tood of Reasoning, by Propofitions and Confequences. For Example: If any Man love the Examples. World, the Love of the Father is not in him; but I love the World, therefore the Love of the Father is not in me. He who does any Thing forbid by the Law finneth; but I have done fomewhat forbidden by the Law, therefore I have finned. In these Syllogifms the first Propofition contains the Rule which Confcience refpecteth in bearing Judgment, and is called the Light of The Light, Confcience. The fecond contains the Teftimony of Testimony, and Confcience, in regard of which it produceth itself get of a Witness. The Inference is the Judgment of Con

Kience.

THE

Confcience.

The Rule of
Confcience the
Will of God.

THE Rule by which Confcience judgeth of the Action, and cenfureth the Perfon, is the Will of God, known either by the Light of Nature, or from divine Revelation. The Will of God is plainly discoverable by the Light of Nature, as hath been fhewn under the foregoing Title. This alfo is afferted by St. Paul, Rom. ii. ver. 14, 15. From whence 'tis plain, the whole Tenor of the Moral Law was imprinted on their Minds, and engraven in their Hearts; but, by divine Revelation, the dim Light of Reafon receives a great Addition of Luftre and Brightnefs; and the Benefit of this divine Revelation we Chriftians only enjoy from the facred Scriptures; for therein, in Rom. i. 17. a more clear and evident Manner, is the Righteousness of God (or his Will, of Law of Moral Rectitude) revealed from one Article of Faith to another.

erroneous.

The feveral Confcience, in regard to the Knowledge of this Qualities of Rule of moral Action, is faid to be firm, well Confcience; as firm, weak, inform'd, and inftructed; or weak, fcrupulous, dudubious, and bious, and erroneous. An erring Confcience is that which with a firm Affent judgeth otherwife than the Thing is. This Error of Confcience arifeth either from a want of a clear and full Conception of its Rule, or Conclufions not well or rightly deduc'd from it; the Caufe of which is a depraved Difpofition, which either leads the Mind off from a due Enquiry, or perverts it from judging rightly. A weak and fcrupulous Confcience proceeds from the Rule's not being in every Part fo exprefs, extensive, and certain, as to remove all Doubts and Scruples in leffer Matters and Circumftances, and thereby to render it able to determine what is fit to be, or not to be done.

Actions against
Confcience, tho

He that acteth against his Confcience, tho' erroneous, finneth. For, (1.) he virtually acteth erroneous, are against the Will of God, or what he is firmly finful, and

avby.

perfuaded

perfuaded is fuch, which is all one; for whatever Confcience dictates to be done, it pronounceth it to be done for this Reason, Because the Will of God requires it. (2.) Because he acts counter to that Reafon, which is the nearest and moft immediate Rule of Acting. (3.) Because the Will acting contrary to the Dictates of an erroneous Confcience, is equally culpable as when it is not erroneous: Since 'tis the fame thing, with respect to the Will, to be and to appear; and that we fhould be moved with an apparent, equally as with a real Good.

SINCE then the Dictates of Confcience, even Weak Confci though erroneous, are fuch facred and indifpen- ences ought to fable Ties, 'tis evident that weak, fcrupulous, and with Liberty be indulg'd dubious Confciences ought to be indulg'd with the and Freedom. greatest Liberty and Freedom; for Force, Conftraint, and Violence offer'd to the Confcience exercifed with Doubts and Scruples, is a very bold Attempt, and highly affronting to God; fince in this Cafe, whilft the Confcience is uncertain whether the Act be pleafing to God, or agreeable to the Rule of Reason, it is immediately driven upon it by coercive Power at all Adventures; and fo cannot fail of producing much Difquietude and Uneafinefs in fuch weak Minds, and thereby renders them miferable; contrary to the Inftitution of moral Government, which is to make Men happy.

Confcience, as it refpects our Conformity or Con- A Good Contrariety to the Laws of known Truth, is faid to science defin'd, be Good or Evil. A Good Confcience is that which fincerely judgeth that to be Good or Evil, which is fuch in the Judgment of God; and that, by virtue of fuch a Judgment, efficaciously excites us to the Performance of good Actions, and to Abftinence from evil ones. The Means of preferving Means of prea Good ferving it.

C

An Evil Con

Blind Confcience.

a Good Confcience, are, (1.) Frequent reading and meditating in the Word of God. (2.) A frequent and impartial Examination of our own Ways and Actions. And (3.) The having always a reverential Fear of the All-wife and Heartfearching God before our Eyes, and in our Hearts. The Effects of a Good Confcience every Good Man knows.

AN Evil Confcience is that which doth not fcience defin'd. hold or avouch that Truth which it may and ought to know and acknowledge; or elfe which acteth contrary to a known Truth. The firft is faid to be a Blind Confcience, as it accufes, when it fhould or ought to excufe; and the contrary. The latter is a downright Wicked Confcience, inafmuch as it acts in a fort of Defiance to God, or in direct Contradiction to his Will. How dangerous then is the Cafe of thofe, whofe Interests prevail with them to reject known Truths, or act contrary to them!

A Wicked
Confcience.

A Law defin'd THE Second Part of the Rule of Human Actions is a LAW; this is the external Part. A Law is a Precept of a fupreme legitimate Power, fufficiently promulged, concerning fome legal Matter, and obliging the Subject, under Penalty, to the doing or not doing thereof. Under the Name of a Precept, the Probibition of a Thing is included, which is a Precept of not doing a Thing.

A Divine

LAW is either Divine or Human: A Divine Law, what. Law is the Mandate of God's own Majefty; which we are not only obliged to obey, but to esteem perfectly good, as deriv'd from a Principle infinitely good and righteous. The Divine Law only has the Prerogative of binding the Confcience directly and immediately; because God alone can

know