This is but after the Common Guise of the World, for the People when
they are put to a Plunge, to cry out to Heaven for Help, without Helping
Themselves; whereas Providence Assists No Body that does not put his Own
Shoulders to the Work. _Prayers_ without _Works_, are Nothing Worth,
either for Other People, or for Our selves. [_For Other People_] I say,
because there is a Double Duty Incumbent upon us in the Exercise of Those
Powers, and Abilities, which Providence has given us for the Common Good
of Both. There must be the _Penny_ as well as the _Pater-noster_. ’Tis
not a Bare _Lord have Mercy upon us_, that will help the Cart out of the
Mire, or our Neighbour out of the Ditch, without putting our Hands to the
Work. What signifies the Sound of Words in Prayer, without the Affection
of the Heart, and a sedulous Application of the Proper Means that may
Naturally lead to such an End: This is to say, Body and Soul must go
together, in All the Offices of a Christian, as well as of a Civil Life,
where there is place for the Exercise of the Faculties of Both.
There is also a Pompous and a Noisy Devotion, that _cries aloud to be
heard of Men_; which is by so much the more Odious in the sight of God
then the Other, as an Hypocritical Affectation of Religion, is Worse
then a Drowsie Heartlessness of Duty. The Moral of This Fable may be
Understood to look Both Ways, but Care must be Taken however, not to let
the Scandals of Theatrical Appearances, Divert, or Deter us from the
Practice of Holy Offices, within the Bounds of Piety and Good Conscience:
after the Example of Those, that set up for _Atheists_, for fear they
should be taken for _Enthusiasts_. He, in fine, that _Made_ Body and
Soul, will be _Serv’d_ and _Glorify’d_ by Both. Besides that, _Hercules_
helps no Body that will not help _Himself_.