N00499:79
Optanda. Good men described, and good things propounded. A serious consideration of two very…
Optanda. Good men described, and good things propounded. A serious consideration of two very important cases. I. What should be our spirits, and II. What should be our studies, that so all things may go well among us. / By Cotton Mather. ; In two sermons; whereof one, was preached unto the governor, and General Court, of the province of the Massachusetts-Bay, in New-England; at their first session: June 9. 1692. ; Published by authority[.]Optanda. Good men described, and good things propounded. A serious consideration of two very important cases. I. What should be our spirits, and II. What should be our studies, that so all things may go well among us. / By Cotton Mather. ; In two sermons; whereof one, was preached unto the governour, and General Court, of the province of the Massachusetts-Bay, in New-England; at their first session: June 9. 1692. ; Published by authority[.]
Boston: printed by Benjamin Harris, 1692
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
First. Things will Go well, when a people improve their Interest in the Legislation, for the Establishing of Good Laws among them. 'Tis not the least among the Rights of the English Nation, That the People are to be concerned, in the making of the Laws whereby they must be Governed: And our Plantations also have, I hope, their Indisputable Claim to that Invaluable Right. But may we now be Good Stewards of such a Talent; and not be so Remiss and Careless ⟨p. 61⟩in the using of our privileges, that a brave Roman should censure us, with a, Qnos non decet esse nisi Servos, or, people unfit for any thing but Slavery. 'Tis by its Laws, that England is the Paradise of the old World; and by its Laws may New-England be the Paradise of the New. As on the contrary? Things cannot Go well, where, Mischief is framed by a Law. Let a people have Laws that shall make every Vicious Thing, to be both Disgraceful and Expensive unto all that shall commit it; and Laws, that shall render all that is Virtuous to be Meritorious. Then, as when there were such Laws, 'twas said, in Deut. 4. 6. The Nations that shall hear all these Statutes, will say, surely, This Great Nation is a Wise and Understanding People: Even so, all Spectators will say, Surely, Things go well with such a people. Be sure, Things did not Go well in that Kingdom, whereof, Nicolaus de Clemangis once professed, There was more Righteousness in Hell, than in that Kingdom; for in Hell, no Righteous Man is Afflicted, nor any Wicked Man unjustly punished. But among Laws, those that concern the Regulation of Taxes, are of a very particular force to make Things Go well among those that have them. 'Tis true, that an exact Equality in Taxes, is altogether to be despaired of; yet it were easy ⟨p. 62⟩to Tender probable Expedients for a Nearer Equality in them, than has been ever yet attained. And it seems but Equal indeed, that as many of the Taxes as may be, should be laid upon the Vanities, wherein people are most prone amiss to Indulge themselves; not only the vile Drunkenness, but also the strange Apparel, too ready to creep in upon us, would be notably Retrenched, if Taxes laid upon the Fuel of those Lusts, did fetch out of them, what they might yield unto the public Treasuries. Were but this one sort of Laws well adjusted, we might soon come to this, That there would be, No Complaining in our Streets;