_Thirdly_, I shall get forth the great evil of this neglect and contempt of preaching, and discover the real causes whence it proceedeth. _Lastly_, I shall offer some remedies against this great and spreading evil. _First_, I shall produce certain instances to show the great neglect of preaching now among us. These may be reduced under two heads. First, men’s absence from the service of the church; and secondly, their misbehaviour when they are here. The first instance of men’s neglect is in their frequent absence from the church. There is no excuse so trivial that will not pass upon some men’s consciences to excuse their attendance at the public worship of God. Some are so unfortunate as to be always indisposed on the Lord’s day, and think nothing so unwholesome as the air of a church. Others have their affairs so oddly contrived as to be always unluckily prevented by business. With some it is a great mark of wit and deep understanding to stay at home on Sundays. Others again discover strange fits of laziness, that seize them particularly on that day, and confine them to their beds. Others are absent out of mere contempt of religion. And lastly, there are not a few who look upon it as a day of rest, and therefore claim the privilege of their cattle, to keep the Sabbath by eating, drinking, and sleeping, after the toil and labour of the week. Now in all this, the worst circumstance is that these persons are such whose company is most required, and who stand most in need of a physician. Secondly, Men’s great neglect and contempt of preaching appear by their misbehaviour when at church.