TO play the Knave is to Rebel against Religion, all sort of Injustice is no less then High Treason against Heaven : For since the Nature, or Soul of the Universe ¹ has made Rational Creatures for mutual Service, and Support ; Made them that they should Assist, and Oblige each other, according to the Regards of Circumstance, and Merit ; but never do any body any Harm : The Case standing thus, he that crosses upon this Design, is Prophane in his Contradiction , and Outrages the most Antient Deity. For the Nature of the Universe is the Cause of it , and that which gives it Being. Thus all things are one Family, suited , and as it were of Kin to each other. This Nature is also stiled Truth, as being the Basis of First Principles, and Certainty. He therefore that tells a Lye knowingly, is an Irreligious Wretch ; For by deceiving his Neighbour , be is unjust to him; and Cheats him of the Truth to which he has a Natural Right. And he that's guilty of an Untruth out of Ignorance, is lyable to the same Charge, ( tho' not in the same Degree, ) because his Ignorance is Voluntary, and Affected ; because he dissents from the Mind of Providence, brings Disorder into the World, and opposes the first Settlement of Nature. He seems to be fond of Confusions, to declare for the Interest of Error , and take the Field against Certainty and Science. By neglecting the assistances of Heaven, and the Talent he was born too ; He has parted with the Guide of his Understanding, lost the Test of Truth, and the distinction of Right, and Wrong. Farther: He that reckons Prosperity and Pleasure among Things really Good; Pain and Hardship amongst Things really Evil , can be no Pious Person : For such a Man will be sure to complain of the Administrations of Providence, Charge it with Mismatching Fortune, and Merit, and misapplying Rewards and Punishments : He'l often see Ill People furnish'd with Materials for Pleasure, and Regaled with the Relish of it : And good Men harrass'd and deprest, and meeting with nothing but Misfortune. To go on : He that's afraid of Pain, or Affliction; will be afraid of something that will always be in the World; but to be thus uneasie at the Appointments of Providence, is a failure in Reverence, and Respect. On the other hand ; He that's violent in the pursuit of Pleasure, won't stick to turn Villain for the Purchase : And is not this plainly , an Ungracious , and an Ungodly Humour ? To set the Matter Right, where the Allowance of God is equally clear ; as it is with Regard to Prosperity, and Adversity : For had he not approved both these Conditions, He would never have made them: I say where the Good Liking of Heaven is equally clear, Ours ought to be so too : Because we ought to follow the Guidance of Nature , and the Sense of the Deity. That Man therefore that does not Comply with Providence in the same Indifference of Notion, with respect to Pleasure, and Pain; Life and Death, Honour, and Infamy ; He that does not this, without struggling of Passions, without Unmanageable Preference , or Aversion ; is no Friend to the Divine Oeconomy; His Thoughts are Leud, and Mutinous, and so would his Actions be too, if he had Power.

By saying that Universal Nature, or God stands equally Affected to these different Dispensations, the meaning is that they are both comprehended in the general Scheme, and equally consequent to the first Establishment. They were Decreed by the Almighty from the Beginning, and struck out with the Lines of the Creation. Then 'twas that the Plan of Providence was drawn, and the Fate of Futurity Determined. Then Nature was made Prolifick, and enabled to bring forth in due Time : Then the whole Stock of Beings, the Revolutions of Fortune, and the Successions of Time, were all stated, and set a going.