to the infidel.  Our author wisely and consistently declared reason an incompetent judge of doctrines, of which God had declared the fact, concealing from man the manner.  He contended, that he who, upon the whole, receives the Christian religion as of divine inspiration, must be contented to depend upon God’s truth, and his holy word, and receive with humble faith the mysteries which are too high for comprehension.  Above all, Swift points out, with his usual forcible precision, the mischievous tendency of those investigations which, while they assail one fundamental doctrine of the Christian religion, shake and endanger the whole fabric, destroy the settled faith of thousands, pervert and mislead the genius of the learned and acute, destroy and confound the religious principles of the simple and ignorant.”

In 1744, Faulkner printed three sermons as a single volume; these were “On Mutual Subjection,” “On Conscience,” and “On the Trinity.”  The other sermons appeared in the various editions issued by Nichols and others.  The text here given is that of the volume of 1744, of Hawkesworth and Scott.

[T.S.]

ON MUTUAL SUBJECTION.

I PETER, V. 5.

“—­Yea, all of you be subject one to another.”

The Apostle having in many parts of this epistle given directions to Christians concerning the duty of subjection or obedience to superiors; in the several instances of the subject to his prince, the child to his parent, the servant to his master, the wife to her husband, and the younger to the elder; doth here, in the words of my text, sum up the whole, by advancing a point of doctrine, which at first may appear a little extraordinary:  “Yea, all of you,” saith he, “be subject one to another.”  For it should seem, that two persons cannot properly be said to be subject to each other, and that subjection is only due from inferiors to those above them:  yet St Paul hath several passages to the same purpose.  For he exhorts the Romans, “in honour to prefer one another:"[1] and the Philippians, “that in lowliness of mind they should each esteem other better than themselves;"[2] and the Ephesians, “that they should submit themselves one to another in the fear of the Lord."[3] Here we find these two great apostles recommending to all Christians this duty of mutual subjection.  For we may observe by St Peter, that having mentioned the several relations which men bear to each other, as governor and subject, master and servant, and the rest which I have already repeated, he maketh no exception, but sums up the whole with commanding “all to be subject one to another.”  From whence we may conclude, that this subjection due from all men to all men, is something more than the compliment of course, when our betters are pleased to tell us they are our humble servants, but understand us to be their slaves.

[Footnote 1:  Rom. xii. 10.]

[Footnote 2:  Philip. ii. 3.]