CHAP. I. Of Mans last End. What an Evil it is, to swerve from it. The Means and Method to come to it.

1. MY design is, to direct you, (whosoever you are that read this) to Heaven; to that good (I say) which being obtained, you can desire no more. This is the main [Page 2]Mark and Butt, at which all mens Vows are by a natural propension levelled. All have a will to be happy: but through the fault of the first Parent, many becoming purblind, have left the true and prime good, and unfruitfully applied themselves to the pursuit of false and sophisticated Ob­jects. And these mistaken persons, fancy­ing the chief Good to consist in wanting No­thing, have given this Name to Riches; others, placing the chief Good in greatest Power, strive either to King it themselves, or to get near to them who Govern. And some there are, who descending to sordid matters, imagine it the highest happiness to wallow in pleasures, measuring the possession of the Supreme Good, by the Ell of Carnal delights, and Gluttony: So base­ly do these men judge of Beatitude. Thus labouring in vain, and wandring as it were in a labyrinth, by how the swiftlier they hasten to Good, by so much the farther they are from it; in this most unhappy, because they know not their unhappi­ness.

2. This is the thing, miserable man, which involves thee in great evils, that thou indeed desirest to live happily, and to dye happily; but art foolish and blind in seeing what true happiness is, and how it [Page 3]may be had, vainly seeking it by many by­wayes. Whatsoever thou doest, whatso­ever thou desirest, whatsoever thou endea­vourest is against thee. For thou eyest not that immense Good, wherein thy Will should rest, because there is nothing above the highest: but thou roamest abroad without design, like the Ants creeping up and down amongst the Shrubs, climbing up to the top, and then descending empty to the bottom. God the maker of all things, created thee of Nothing, that thou shouldest love him only, serve him only, with thy whole inten­tion, with thy whole affection: As 'tis ne­cessary for him to be, so 'tis necessary he should be thy last End. Think seriously how great a part of thy life thou givest to him, to whom thou shouldst give the whole. Thy Studies and Counsels erre, if they are not to him directed. As the end of thy Journey is the place to which thou tendest, whither being arrived thou reposest; so the end of thy life is God, to whom thou art to referr whatsoever thou thinkest, whatso­ever thou speakest, whatsoever thou actest, till he being obtained, all thy tendencies are compleated. Whatsoever withdraws thee from this thy last End, draws thee to eter­nal destruction.

3. As in a Sea-voyage, if perchance the [Page 4]Ship stopping, thou leapest overboard to refresh thy self on the shoar, and there in the mean time gatherest Shells or Bull­rushes; yet thy mind will still be solici­tously attentive to the Ship, lest the Gover­nour should call thee away; for then quit­ting all, thou must speedily repair to the Vessel: Even so thou must behave thy self in thy Life: Having thy Mind evermore fix'd upon God, thou art to use external things in such sort, as never to let them touch thy heart, nor divert thy attendency to thy proposed End: They serve thee, that thou mayst serve God. Otherwise falling from the Divine Ʋnity, thou art scatter'd abroad amongst many not necessary things, and worshippest as many Idols, as there are creatures which thou adherest to, with a disordered affection. These are thy Gods, to whom by a foul Sacriledge thou sacri­ficest not an Oxe, not a Goat, but thy self, and thy Salvation. The law of Love per­mits not any thing to be belov'd with God, but only in God, and for God. 'Tis the highest dammage, to deflect from the chiefest Good, and adhere to the Crea­tures.

4. That which the Prince of Physicians pronounces of impure Bodies, ‘ By how much the more they are nourished, by so much [Page 5]the more they are endamaged,’ is to be said also of Souls: For they who begin to pass from a bad custom to a better condition, must first vomit up the Venome of their wicked life, and then ingest into their pu­rified Minds, the solid Aliments of Virtues. And this Purgation is thus to be performed: All committed sins are to be expiated; all affections towards them are to be banished; all vitious Customs are to be eradicated; all evil Propensions and immoderate Appe­tites, are to be subjected to the Empire of Reason: The Flesh is to be chastised: Cor­poral Necessities are to be reduc'd to a just moderation: The Tongue and Senses are to be bridled: whatsoever may put a stop or delay to the speedy ascending to the mountain top of Virtue, must be totally exterminated. What dreadest thou, and why dost thou fancy the way shew'd thee to Felicity, to be so full of difficulties? Thou mayst make thy self happy; he supplying thee with strength, who is thy Beginning and thy End. But thou must go forth of thy self, that thou mayst get to him. Thou wilt be to him so much the nearer, by how much thou art from thy self more remote.

5. The first thing thou art to propose to thy self, is, What thou desirest, and Whither [Page 6]thou tendest; Then the way is to be consi­dered, by which thou mayst obtain that chief Good; and in thy journey thou wilt understand what progress thou daily makest. Take a serious survey of thy Con­science, and opening thy dim eyes, see im­partially what thou art, and what thou oughtest to be. 'Twill be too late to disco­ver the deceit, when thou canst not avoid it. Learn by what Remedy the madness of Cupidities is tamed; with what Bridle the cruelty of Fear is curbed. Practise the con­tempt of earthly things, and depart freely from what thou canst not long possess. Leave all, before thou art left by all; that when death shall come, it may find nothing in thee, which it can destroy: But be sure to imploy thy chief care upon thy Soul, and let not that which is first in excellency, be the last in thy solicitude; What avails it for a man to gain the whole world, and suffer ship­wrack of his Soul? There's no Gain, where there is a loss of Salvation.

CHAP. II. Who so desires to live well, must make choice of an Instructer. What manner of man this ought to be. The Duties of a Disciple.

1. NOthing is more necessary to one be­ginning to serve God, than to per­mit himself to be governed and directed by a discreet Master. For who adventures upon an unknown Journey, without a Guide? Who can learn a difficult Trade, without a Teacher? Thou shalt find very few, who without any ones help, have rais'd up themselves to the height of Virtue. What ought generally to be done by all, may be communicated to persons who are absent, and transmitted to poste­rity by Writings: but when and how each particular thing is to be practised, cannot be directed at a distance; deliberation must be made with the things themselves. A Physician cannot by Letter prescribe to his Patient the just measure of his Diet, and time of taking his Potion: the Vein must be touch'd, and the Pulse felt. So also in curing the Souls maladies, there are certain Symptoms which cannot be perceived but [Page 8]by one present. St. Paul, the designed Doctor of the Gentiles, after he was con­verted by Christ, was directed to Ananias, that he might learn from him the way of life. Thou hast undertaken a hard and laborious task, to conquer the perversity of Nature, to wrestle with Spiritual wickednesses, and to bring thy self to Virtue, amidst so many impeding obstacles: it therefore behoves thee to call in some charitable Neighbour to thy aid, who may lend thee his helping hand, who may shew thee the dangers, who may discover the deceits, and in the doubtful day of battel instruct thee how to gain the victory. But whom (sayst thou) must I call in to my help? Surely a man both Faithful and Prudent; one who is both willing and able to assist thee; one whose presence thou reverencest, not dread­est; one who will not chastise thy failings, but redress them; one whose life is more approv'd on by the Eyes, than by the Ears. He commands ill, who commands and acts not.

2. Make choice of him for thy Helper, who will not flatter thee; who intrudes not into vulgar conversation; who fre­quents not the Rich mens Feasts, nor the Princes Courts; who hath in his Life and Manners some such thing as the Goldsmith [Page 9]hath in his moneys, so that he can say, shew me any Coyn, I can discern it; bring be­fore me any Affection, I will judge and cen­sure it: who like a well-experienc'd Phy­sician, can discover internal discases, and apply proper Remedies to redress all the Souls distempers. Let him be such a one, as can by a subtle scrutiny discern the se­crets of all Spirits, distinguish between Virtues and Vices, accommodate himself to every ones manners, dive into all the Re­cesses of thy Interiour, is free from all de­praved affection, aiming only at thy Spiri­tual advancement. One (I say) who in the Spirit of Meekness knows how to instruct and allure, how to detect and elude all the Devils crafts and strata­gems; and finally, one to whom thou needst not be asham'd to lay open all the secrets of thy heart and soul. 'Tis a great part of thy Happiness, to find out such a Friend.

3. With him discourse willingly; and commit to his prudent examination, and discussion, whatsoever thou hast within thee of perverse propension, and not only whatsoever thou dost amiss, but also what­soever good thou performest, and whatso­ever thou conceitest to be communicated unto thee from Heaven. Intreat him ear­nestly, [Page 10]that if he observes in thee any tur­bulent affection, he will vouchsafe to shew it unto thee; and that he will please to do it frequently and freely, not dissembling thy Vices, out of shamefac'dness or fear of reproving thee. But if he denies to see in thee any thing worthy his severer cen­sure, beware lest thou thereupon fancy thy self inculpable: For he is silent, either as apprehending thy hatred, or as despairing of thy amendment. Then do thou urge him with greater instance and vehemency; and shew by thy actions, how much thou desirest to profit by his reprehensions. Begin to depose with thy imperfections, and compose thy Life according to his Prescript. Rejoyce that he reviles thy im­piety; and depart alwayes from him either sound, or in the way to it. Amongst so many maladies, 'tis something to have a Will to be cured.

4. These are the mutual offices, of the Teacher and of the Learner, that the one should have a will to profit, the other a de­sire to practise: That the Instructer should not profit, scarcely any thing can hinder, but the refractoriness of the Disciple, who may want patience to learn, or a capacity to be cured. For some there are, who relying upon their own prudence, refuse to follow [Page 11]any other mans dictamen: All these things (say they) which you inculcate, I know already: What avails it then to tell me what is before manifest? Yes, very much: For thou sometimes knowest, but dost not attend, reflect, consider. This new Admo­nition intends not to inform thy Ʋnder­standing, but to excite thy Memory. The Mind oft-times dissembles things which are apparent, and therefore the know­ledge of things most known, must be often suggested unto it: For Virtue is crected when 'tis touch'd and pressed. A filly shamefac'dness with-holds some; which is surely a Childish Vice, and unworthy a man: Others, as if they were frantick, suppress their inward maladies by a per­tinacious silence, and grow angry at the Physician who goes about to cure them. This noxious taciturnity, proceeds un­doubtedly from the perswasion of the Internal Enemy, hoping to hurt so long as he lurks undiscovered. And surely thou blushest not to expose thy bodily wounds to the open view of such beholders as may cure them; but thou industriously coverest thy Souls Ulcers, as if to conceal them, were to cancel them; and yet it can hard­ly be avoided, but that notwithstanding thy endeavours to the contrary, they will be­tray [Page 12]themselves. Who so covers his wound, can never be cured.

5. Doth the Physician injure thee, if he shews thee thy infirmity? If he tells thee, Thou art dangerously sick, Thou hast a Feaver, Thou must this day abstain from such and such food, this day thou must drink water: This plain dealing is esteem'd a favour, and thanks are given him for his freedom. But if any one tells thee, Thy Appetites are exorbitant, Thy Opi­nions are vain, Thy Affections are immode­rate, thou presently exclaimest, O affront not to be endured! Unhappy man! what dammage or detriment doth this zealous Admonisher and Instructer bring unto thee? That surely, which a Looking-glass doth to a deformed Face: It shews thee what thou art. Correct then what he reproves, amend thy manners, scour off thy fil­thiness. Thou mayst easily, if thou wilt, render thy self to all beholders eyes, irreprehensible.

CHAP. III. Of Purgation from sin. All affection to sin is to be laid aside, and Vice is to be rooted out. No remedy is more efficacious against Vice, than the consideration of Death and Eternity.

1. MAn deviates from his last end, when he commits Sin, which is the cause of all Evils. From this seed, springs all that torments us: with this Poyson the whole world is infected. It lies closely hidden whilst it is doing, but when 'tis done, thou wilt understand how bad it is. Some there were, who joyn'd the bo­dies of dead men to the living, to torment them with the stench: A like punishment befalls sinners; their torment is fast ty'd to them, they know not wither to fly from it: Unless thou wilt endure something that thou mayst not do evil, thou wilt endure much because thou hast done it. A bad action is scarcely conceiv'd, and presently it becomes the Parent of its own punish­ment. From thence Death derives its birth, from thence Hell-fire is enkindled. The Conscience is therefore to be cleansed [Page 14]from all crimes, by Contrition, Confession, and Satisfaction. Nor are the more grie­vous faults only to be avoided, but the very least and lightest, which though they bring not Death, yet by degrees they dissolve the strength, and insensibly dispose to mortal impiety: And what's the diffe­rence in a Shipwrack, whether the Vessel is overwhelm'd with one wave, or whether the water soaking in drop after drop, and carelesly let alone, fills it at last, and sinks it to the bottom? And these give by so much a greater blemish to our manners, by how much they might more easily have been avoided. The weaker the Enemy is, the greater is the shame to be overcome by him.

2. Thou wilt never be able to plant Virtues in thy mind, and to re-establish thy self in thy former state of Liberty, unless thou puttest off all affection towards Sin, although the very least: lest thy body being in the wilderness, thy mind should be in Egypt. It fares ill with thee, if after thou hast dismissed all injuries, after thou hast abandoned all beastly loves, thou yet givest ear to bad discourses, and art yet delighted with earthly beauties. For the evil habits of Vices, which still remain, though the fault is remitted, must be entirely rooted [Page 15]out, as being the bad progeny of thy for­mer prevarication. If thou only loppest off the Branches, the Root will again put forth new Scions of Iniquity. Thou sayst, thou wilt cut off Vices: 'Tis false, for thou shuttest not the door against them, but only puttest it too. Thou sayst, thou art offended at the foulness of thy former life; I believe it, for who is not offended at it? Bad men both love and hate their Vices; yea, they detest them even when they do them: But what avails it to reject them in words, and in deeds to embrace them? No man hath a Conscience so seared, but that he sometimes loathes his Vices, and yet he soon after shakes hands with them. But he who is truly converted to God, applies the Hatchet to the Root, and pares away the smallest hairs of his Vices: And then reflecting upon his frailty, he industriously shuns all occasion of sinning; and at every object of evil, he tremblingly leaps back and ab­horrs it.

3. Why dost thou vainly trifle, and opposest the infirmity of Nature to God, commanding the extermination of Vices? None better knows the measure of thy forces, than he who freely bestowed them: Why then dost thou not presently obey, since not the Commanders profit, but thy [Page 16]own is intended? O blind, and impious temerity! Thou darest cast dirt in Gods face, by affirming that to be hard which he enjoyns; as if he should impose Precepts upon thee, which thou canst not perform, and seem by commanding thee, not to have intended thy Salvation, but thy punish­ment: Such is mans perversity, to deserve ill of God, and to feign to himself labour in his Precepts. But if thou wilt make tryal of thy strength, thou shalt find thy self able to do more then thou imaginedst: Not be­cause the contest is difficult, thou darest not; but because thou darest not, the con­test seems difficult: Many things which be­fore seem'd terrible, have by use been made easie and familiar. Begin and do not un­dervalue thy self. God deserts not his Soul­diers. Thou shalt have as much strength as thou desirest.

4. Thou wilt easily vanquish all Vices, if thou believest every Day to be the last of thy Life. What is it that fastens thee to this world? 'tis that thou seldom con­siderest how soon thou must leave it. Dead Carkasses pass daily to the Graves before thy eyes, which force thee, who forgettest thy Mortality, to look upon Death: And yet thou, amidst these frequent Funerals, thinkest of nothing less, than thine own [Page 17]departure: Thou beholdest nothing more commonly, and forgettest nothing more easily: But the day will come which will separate thee from the fellowship of thy stink­ing Belly: This cloud will then be disper­sed; and thou wilt then perceive thou livedst in darkness, when thou beholdest the light. Produce, if thou canst, of so many elapsed years, one only day to witness thy sincere Virtue, which was not blemished with some defect: Thy Younger Age was spent amongst Play-games, Nutts, and Nifles; thy Youthfull dayes amongst Lusts and Fopperies; thy Manly time amongst greater crimes, and wickednesses: and after all the Years, which have flow'd from thy Cradle to thy gray Hairs, nothing now re­mains but the sad fruits of Iniquity. Ah! what straits wilt thou be in, when what is past will shame thee, and what is to come will affright thee? What will thy Riches then profit thee, got with such sweat, kept with such solicitude? What fleshly and filthy Pleasures, what the vain and empty Names of Honours and Dignities, what Purple Robes, Scepters, and Crowns? O, were it permitted to return to thy Childish Innocence, and to begin the spinning of a new Thread, how much better wouldst thou behave thy self? But [Page 18]these vows and wishes are unseasonable in that fatal moment. If thou wilt make use of time, begin even now: and forsake such things, as thou wilt then wish thou hadst forsaken. 'Tis a small matter to renounce momentary trifles, for the obtaining of eter­nal Treasures.

5. Ask, if thou pleasest, of a dying per­son, what he thinks of his past life: thou shalt hardly find one, who hath not then a far different opinion of Riches, Dignities, and Worldly Vanities, then he had whilst he was healthy: At that time all things are weighed in a more equal Ballance, and are judg'd of as they truly are. Thus their over-late wisdom may turn to thy great pro­fit, if thou wilt learn by other mens Errors to correct thy own. Thou mayst now sail safely, why stayest thou till the weather grows tempestuous? Thou mayst during the calm, withdraw thy self from calamity, why dost thou reserve thy self for ex­treme danger? Precaution is too late when thou art drowned, and Prudence is to no purpose when thou art already perished. The greatest and holiest Men, having put away all impediments, and bid adiew to themselves and to the whole world, made it their only study, during the remainder of their Earthly Pilgrimage, to learn how to live [Page 19]and how to dye: and yet many of them pro­fessing their ignorance, departed this life; so difficult a matter it is to understand this Art. And wilt thou delay till Old Age the laying hold of wholesome Counsels, and there begin thy life, where few have pro­duced theirs? 'Tis a great Folly to begin then to live, when we must necessarily cease to live.

6. Whither dost thou throw thy self, unwary man? Dost thou believe thus, and dost thou thus live? Thy time is the passing-by of a shadow, thy life is a Point, and can any thing be less than a Point? Scarcely born, thou ceasest to be. Stop one only day, forbid one only hour from flow­ing, command time to make only a short stay: Vain is thy endeavour; for it will sooner snatch thee along with it, then cease to run most swiftly to the destruction of thee and all other things whasoever. And dost thou preferr this moment before Eter­nity which hath no period? O Folly! O Phrensey! thou omittest not to get for thy Body, which is quickly to perish, what appertains to it, and there is no end of thy acquisition: but for thy Soul, which never dyes, thou makest no provision for the fu­ture, as if it were none of thine? Thy Body languishes, and thou art ready to [Page 20]undergo any danger to cure it: Thy Soul languishes, and thou neglectest it, and art insensible of its sickness? When was it told thee, Hoise thy sails lest thou perish, and thou delayedst to do it? Take this bit­ter Physick, and thou refusedst? God en­joyns easie things, that thou mayst live for ever, and wilt thou not obey? Hadst thou a Law-suit, all thy thoughts, all thy dis­courses would be imployed about it, nor wouldst thou omit any means, whereby the Judge might be moved to give sentence on thy side: and the last Judgment drawing near, upon which an Eternity depends, dost thou laugh, dost thou trifle, dost thou sin, being to perish eternally? Ah! leave at last to be mad, and getting forth of the Puddle of thy impieties, put thy self daily in such a posture, as if thou wert arrived at the last end of thy life. This is true Philosophy; to lead this soul out of the body with all possible security.

7. Let this be thy business, this thy Cessation, this thy Labour, this thy Rest, to withdraw thy self from Time and drown thy self in Eternity. That stands alwayes fix'd and unmovable, which is asserted into the rights of Eternity. The covetous Glut­ton after so many Ages, demands still a [Page 21]drop of water, and he shall vainly ask it with a perpetual bellowing. Eternity is an evermore present duration, never to be named without a sigh and horror: 'Tis a Wheel alwayes turning: 'Tis a continued, unterminated, and still commencing Be­ginning. The serious thought of it, mixes Wormwood with the Worlds delights; and dejects astonish'd, and (as it were) Planet-strucken men with deadly sorrow. This tames the stubborn Soul, and from the vain cares in which it lies slumbring, rowses it up to Virtue: This seasons hun­ger and thirst, makes all labour seem easie, all sorrow sweet, all punishment pleasant, and all difficulties of short durance. Let the vast spaces of Heaven, as they are every where immensely extended, be fill'd with Numerical Notes; who besides God him­self, will be found able to express this al­most Infinite series of Numbers? Yet these innumerable Numbers are not so much as the Beginning of Eternity. Let so many Years, so many Ages slide away, as there are Unites in all those Numbers, nothing yet is cut off from Eternity. Those most unfortunate Mortals, who lye perpetually frying in Hell-fire, are not yet arrived at the beginning of this astonishing E­ternity. If thou tremblest not at this [Page 22]Consideration, if thou fallest not upon a ferious amendment of thy life, thou surely out-viest the hardest Flint in ob­duracy.

CHAP. IV. Of Gluttony. Its Evils. Its Remedies. The signs of its being conquered.

1. THe first War thou art to wage, is against the vice of Gluttony, which furnishes matter to the rest. Gluttony gave a beginning to the death both of our Bodies and Souls: For our first Parents by eating the forbidden Apple, slew all men before they begot them. Now the Enemies of Souls make use of the same Bait, that by weakning all our vigour, they may worry us, and trample on us. Hence spring Stupidity, Tepidity, Tediousness: hence Scurrility, Loquacity, Dissolution: hence Ʋneleanness, Brawls, Contentions: hence dulness of mind, drowsiness of spirit, de­struction of all vertue: hence profusion, po­verty, a long chain of diseases, and death it self, hastned by an over-heavy burthen of undigested victuals. There are few infirm [Page 23]persons, whom Gluttony drave not to their diseases: For if the Body abounds not with bad humours, ingendred by the ex­cess of meat and drink, although it may be attempted by a sickness, yet it cannot be subdued by it. Gluttony kills more than the Sword.

2. O the base servitude of the Belly! O insatiable Cupidity! Nature has given thee no great body, and thou exceedest the gree­diness of the greatest and most gluttonous Animals. A Bull is fed with the herbage of a few Acres: one Wood nourishes many Elephants: but the World seems little to thee; whatsoever flyes in the Air, whatso­ever swims in the Sea, whatsoever runs in the Forrests, do not satisfie thy ravenous appetite. Cast an eye into Noblemens Kitchens, and contemplate the Cooks run­ning busily up and down amongst those many fires; look upon the sweating num­bers of Men and Maid-servants; consider the slaughters of the Fowl, and the Sawces swimming in Wine; observe with what industry they order the Plates, with what art they marshal the Messes, place the Dishes, and execute their respective im­ployments: You would scarcely believe it were to feed one only Family, that the Wine of so many Consuls and Kingdoms is [Page 24]drawn out, that the Table is furnished with so great magnificency. I do not ad­vise thee to withdraw nouriture from thy Belly: It is froward, it may not be contra­dicted, it stands in need of daily suste­nance: But a subtle and deceitful snare of Concupiscence lyes here concealed, which frequently fetters the Soul, and upon pretence of Necessity, provides Fewel to foment Pleasure. Wilt thou know with how little Hunger is extinguished? Count thy self, measure thy body, con­sult thy stomach. Thou wilt find that not to be necessary, which exceeds the mea­sure. A little suffices Nature, nothing satis­fies Luxury.

3. Hunger is not ambitious, but is con­tent to leave off, not caring wherein it ceases. The momentary judgment of the Pallat being past, the precious relishes no better than that which is common, and good cheap. If thou art hungry, thou must eat; if thirsty, thou must drink: but whether the Bread is made of ordinary Corn, or of the finest Flower; whether the Water is fetch'd from the next Foun­tain, or refresh'd with cooling Snow, Na­ture is not at all concern'd. This one thing she commands, that Hunger be appeased, that Thirst be quenched; Fishes, caught in [Page 25]the upper and lower Sea; sought in the Lakes and Rivers; Birds, brought down from Heaven; Beasts, surprized in the Woods and Forrests; several sorts of Tast­pleasing Wines; and all the curious sea­sonings of Apicius, are the torments of un­happy Luxury. Epicurus commends a so­ber Diet, even for pleasures sake. Nothing is so dainty, which satiety renders not in­sipid: nothing so unsavoury, which hunger makes not delicious. Wouldst thou be freed from all superfluous care of Meat and Drink? Consider thy end. Thou must shortly dye, and this Body pamper'd with such variety of curiosities, must serve for food to filthy Worms. Ponder for what Guests thou preparest a Feast; and so nur­ture thy Flesh, as not to oppress thy Mind. Make use of such meat as may easily be had, and every where met withall, without impoverishing thy Patrimony, or prejudi­cing thy Health. A mannerly and well­tutor'd Belly, is a great part of Liberty. We understood not how many things are superfluous, till they began to be wanting. The Body stands in need of nourishment, not of Junkets or Dainties.

4. But there's no cause to praise thy self, if thou only despisest superfluities. Then thou art praise-worthy, when thou con­temnest [Page 26]necessaries: when thou canst per­swade thy self, that brown Bread, and Wine weakned with Water suffice for thy sustenance; when thou hast learn'd, that Herbs were not provided only for Beasts, but for men also. Then I admire thee, when in taking thy Refection, thou in­tendest the bare necessity of Nature, the only reparation of thy Forces, the sole glory of God: when thou comest unwillingly to the Table, and takest thy meat as sick per­sons take a Medicine: when thou strivest to curb and moderate (since thou canst not totally hinder) the pleasure of thy Tast: when 'tis irksome to thee to admit any thing which is extraordinary, by reason of thy infirmity: when finally, thou hast ob­tain'd perfect purity both of Mind and Body. For the proof of Abstinence, consists not in the attenuation of the Body, but in the perfection of Chastity.

CHAP. V. Of Luxury. How foul a vice it is. How easie is the Relapse into it, and how it may be avoided. The Pleasure of the Mind, which is solid, is to be sought after.

1. NO Vice is filthier then this, nor of which we may be more ashamed. The very Name of it is not without igno­miny, as the Apostle intimated, when he commanded, that such matters should not so much as be named amongst us. Hence proceeds that shamefac'dness, which seizes upon ingenuous and modest persons, if they suspect, that having committed any such crime of Ʋncleanness, it is come to the knowledge of others. Hence it is, that some conceal the slippery Errors of their Youth, from the Minister of Christ in the Tribunal of Penance; chusing rather to undergo eternal torments with eternal disgrace after their Death, than the imaginary infamy of this Vice in their Life-time. He that is mir'd in this Puddle, scarcely gets loose from it. His Salvation is desperate, who is infected with this disease. For what can [Page 28]hurmane forces here do? No one can be Con­tinent, unless God gives it.

2. The first Remedy therefore of this Malady, is fervent Prayer to the Divine Majesty; that he, who only hath the power, will please to purisie and preserve thee. Then thou art to repress all impure ima­ginations in their very first access, with such speed, as thou wouldst shake off a burning Coal from thy Garment. The Castle is ready to be deliver'd up, when the Governour gives way to discourse with the Enemy. All occasion of Evil is also to be cut off, proceeding from Idleness, from Gluttony, from all impure Objects, from the Society and Conversation of bad people; nor is there any thing to be neg­lected in this wrestling conflict. There are certain Reliques of this Vice, remain­ing even in Just men, which must be en­tirely rooted out: There lyes hid a cer­tain hissing Serpent, there are certain petty-affections, which although not ab­solutely evil, yet they are Preludiums to Sin; to which, (if thou dost not present­ly break them off) thy bewitched fancy will insensibly adhere. Thou wilt never be­come Great, if thou slightest these small things. Great matters take their beginnings from little occasions.

3. Above all, thou must beware, lest an over-great Confidence in thy self deceives thee: Whosoever fears not, is already fallen. How many, and how great Men, after Confessions and Conquests, after Signs and Wonders, have suffer'd Shipwrack, by the unwary aspect of a Woman? I produce not here the so often spoken of Examples of Samson, David, and Solomon: There are others more recent and daily. And were there none abroad, thou hast within thy own breast enough to blush at, enough to teach thee not to be highly Wise, but to Fear. Is it not an extreme madness, amongst so many documents of all Ages and Nations, yet to presume, and not to shun the dan­ger? But this is evermore the incredu­lity of Humane obstinacy, never to give credit to other mens fallings, till he sees himself perishing. God made the Woman to be Mans helper; but by the Serpents cunning, she acts the person of an Enemy. There's nothing in her but what strikes, what scorches, what murders. There's no Hyaena, no Basilisk can be compar'd with her Voice and Eyes. Ah, fly from her sight, avoid her discourse, whosoever thou art that desirest thy own Salvation. She re­tains her old custom, alwayes driving Man out of Paradise.

4. 'Tis a common thing here to pretend many excuses of Necessity, of Custom, of Pure Intention: But great Evils lurk under the shew of Good: For from thence burst out hurtfull liberties, unwary speeches, light behaviours, a neglect of modesty, frequent gifts, and certain merriments; by all which purity is by degrees laid aside, and at last all shame is quite put off. These things en­crease by internals; and he who blush­ingly abhorr'd the bare footsteps of a Woman, now beholds her lascivious eyes, and her discover'd breast with a constant countenance; and the blandishing poyson working within him, he first suffers the dammage, before he was sensible of the danger. Thus the eye of Reason begins by little and little to grow dim, and afterwards becomes totally blinded. Thus the Soul form'd for Heaven, is fastned to the Earth, unmindful of God, forgetful of its own good, till the flame of Concupiscence is at last swallow'd up in the Fire, which is to burn for all Eternity. O wretches! whose loathsome and momentary pleasures, have so sad and lamentable an end! I think they are all drunk with the juice of Sardonian Herbs; they dye, and they laugh.

5. What seekest thou, Fond Man, de­void of counsel at home, and despising [Page 31]that of others abroad! Pleasures? God hath laid up eternal Pleasures for thee in Heaven. Wilt thou have the deceitful ones of this world, and be excluded from the Eternal? Where's thy Reason, where thy Prudence? Look into Heaven, and con­template all its most blessed Inhabitants. They heretofore mingled their Bread with Ashes, their Drink with Tears. Thou mightst have seen them in the world oppress'd on every side with anguishes, drown'd alwayes in Tears, evermore watchful in Prayer, separated from all earthly joy and pleasure: They made their way to Heaven by Gibbets, Swords, and Crosses. Then cast an eye into Hell, and take a view of that desperate crew of the damned, lying there buried in that dark dungeon of perpetually burning fires. These heretofore embracing the worlds false Joyes, and following their fleshly delights, now too late acknowledge how pernicious were all their pleasures. Con­template seriously these things; and if thou believest, be afraid. That which delights, is momentary; that which torments, eternal.

6. But if pleasure is the thing thou lookst for even in this life: why dost thou not rather embrace that which is pure, solid, [Page 32]substantial, permanent, proceeding from a well composed mind, that so thou mayst take delight in what is truly thy own? The Pleasure of the Flesh is soft, frail, farded, evermore moistned with Wine and Oyntments, and dreading to be published. Its station, the Stews, Taverns, and such places as fear the Censor. If it outwardly shines, 'tis within most miserable. When it begins, 'tis gone: and in the very use of it, it perisheth. Whereas the peaceable, sublime, unconquerable pleasure of the Mind, is alwayes secure and permanent, neither accompanied with satiety, nor fol­lowed with Repentance. No shame waits on it, no sorrow pursues it, nor doth it ever forsake its possessor. If thou desirest to en­joy this, all Carnal allurements must be con­quered. For true Pleasure consists in despi­sing all Pleasure.

CHAP. VI. Of Avarice. Its malice is sharply reproved. The comparison between a Poor and a Rich person. The deceit and vanity of Riches.

1. THis is the greatest imposture of Avarice, which thou art to fore­know, that thou mayst not be cheated: It hides it self; nor shalt thou find any one who will confess himself to be Covetous. That man gathers riches together, that he may make a provision for himself and his Children: This man, that he may have wherewithall to help the Poor in their ne­cessity: Another, that he may redeem his sins by Works of Charity. But none of these distribute their heaps of Gold; on the con­trary, they make new additions daily unto the former, and whilst time is spent in these acquisitions, their Life slides away, for the support whereof these Riches were in­tended. As the water which the sick per­son beholds running down the River, doth not at all quench his thirst, unless he puts his Mouth to it and swallows it: So nothing can satiate a Covetous man, because his [Page 34]Mind, in which Avarice resideth, can never be fill'd with his Gold and Treasures. A mind capable of God, can be fill'd with nothing but God.

2. Let all the Riches of the whole Earth, O Govetous man, be cast into thy clutches; let fortune raise thee far above Solomons plenty; hide the ground with Marble, the walls with Gold, the roofs with precious Stones; do not only possess, but trample upon Riches: Adde to this, all manner of Statua's, Pictures, and whatsoever Art hath invented to please Luxury: Thou wilt learn from these to covet more. Natural desires have limits, but they which spring from an erroneous opinion, are Infinite. What matters it how much thou hast in thy Coffers, how much in thy Barns, if thou computest not what is gotten, but what is to be gotten? He wants the whole world, whose Cupidity the world doth not satisfie. Would to God thou wouldst con­sider how great Evils Riches bring with them, how great Goods they bereave thee of: thou wouldst undoubtedly see the truth of that Apostolical sentence, Covetousness is the root of all Evils: Thence spring Couzenages, thence arise Wars, thence are hath'd Treasons. Take away Avarice, and there's no Discord: banish Covetousness, and [Page 35] Ambition ceases. This fills the Land with Thievel, the Sea with Pirates, the Towns with Tumults, the Houses with Deceits, the Tribunals with Injustice. There is a certain affinity and vicinity, almost in the very Name of Vitia and Divitiae, Vice and Avarice.

3. Compare together, if you please, the Poor, and the Richman: observe both their countenances. This, being brim-full of so­licitudes, betrays by his froward Aspect, the sadness of his mind: the other, shews by his calm and serene looks, the sincere joy of his Soul. This mans felicity, amidst the griefs which gnaw his heart, is only (as it were) plated over: the other mans mind, free from sorrow, enjoys the solid pleasures of inward tranquility. This being still anxious to get, and fearfull to lose, is expos'd to all the injuries of Fortune; and the more he hath, the more he desires: the other being rich in his poverty, and seek­ing only what is sufficient, fears nothing, because he hath nothing that adheres to him, nothing that can be taken from him. What pleasant dayes doth the Poor man lead? what peaceable nights? whereas the Rich man being sick in mind, bears his disease alwayes about him, and is encompassed with Thorns, [Page 36]wheresoever he goes. That slumber is deadly, which renders one insensible of sharp pricks.

4. Listen, thou wretch, who art insa­tiably Covetous: although thy Houses are stately; although thou possessest vast hoards of Money; although thou hast extended thy Purchases farther than the Ocean ex­tends its waters: yet the day will come, yes, the day decreed from all Eternity will come, when all these things, together with thy Life, will infallibly be taken from thee: they will be gone, they will perish, and thou wilt perish with them. Then at last thou wilt understand what contemptible things thou admiredst, and how like thou wert to Children, who highly prize every Play-game: They are delighted with little Pibbles found upon the shore, as having in them something of variety; and thou run­nest mad in the inquest of Ingots of Gold, and Oriental Stones; playing the Child and Fool, at a dearer rate. I do not tell thee, thou art to have no Riches at all, if God hath made thee wealthy; but that thou enrich not thy self with what is wrested from others, that they be not gotten by in­juring of any one, by any sordid gain, by superfluous care and solicitude: That thou admit them into thy House, not into thy [Page 37] Heart; being ready to want them when God will have it so. He is truly Rich, who wants not Riches. Expect not till a Thies or some Accident bereaves thee of thy wealth; but do thou prevent all such mis­fortunes, by robbing thy self (and bearing a mind indifferent to all exteriour things) of whatsoever others can take from thee. Thou wilt be thine own, if these things are not thine.

5 Learn to lay aside all Pomp, and to regulate thy Habit and Diet, not by the example of others, but by the morals of Christianity Poverty may raise it self to Plenty, by calling in the assistance of Fru­gality. Nature desires little, being content not to be Hungry, not to be Thirsty, not to be Cold. Thou mayst dwell out of a Marble Palace; thou mayst be cloathed though not in Silks. Canst thou not quench thy thirst, unless the Cup be made of pre­cious Gems, or Chrystal, that so thou mayst both drink and fear together? Will not a knife cut Bread, if the Haft thereof is not Ivory or Agath? Will not an Earthen Bason receive the filth of thy washed hands? Or will not the Candle afford light, unless it stands in the Goldsmiths work? He is a slave to Gold, who thinks himself adorned by it. How much were [Page 38]it more laudable to love true Riches, which render their owners better, of which no crossness of Fortune, nor Death it self can bereave them? Why dreadest thou Po­verty, bearing about thee a whole Kingdom in thy heart? The Kingdom of God is with­in thee. Far be it from thee to be greedy of any other Good. Seek thy own Good. No one is Good but God alone. Let him be thy possession and thy Kingdom, in whom alone all Good things, all rich Treasures are found. To whom God is All, the World is Nothing.

6. Whatsoever appears Neat and Great in the World, is vain, frivolous, nothing. Why admirest thou to see a man brave it in Gold and Purple, and attended by a numerous troop of Servants? This is but a pompous Ostentation. All these things are shew'd, not possessed: and whilst they please, they pass away. I learn not this in the Philosophers Schools; I have it not from the Cross of Christ, nor from Gods eternal Wisdom; but from the World, from the very Bondslaves of Vanity. Hearken to Haman, a person elevated in wealth, in power, in honour, above all the mortals of his time. He summons Auditors together, and plain­ly tells them, That all things are nothing. I think my self to have Nothing, (sayes he) [Page 39]and he adds the cause: So long as I shall see Mordocheus sitting at the gate of the Kings Palace. O Mockery! O Blindness! I have often read, and heard, that all things are Nothing, being compar'd to those Good things, whereof Virtue is the Parent, and Eternity the Nurse; but here they are more vehemently depressed, where in the pre­sence of Nothing they seem to be Nothing. Wherefore thou dost Nothing, if thou de­spisest Nothing. Something which is in thy self, must be despised. Cupidity is to be curb'd, and kept as it were in chains and fetters, that thou mayst accustom thy self to court Poverty, and to measure things by the use of them. Thou wilt easily despise all, if thou alwayes thinkest of Dying.

CHAP. VII. Of Anger. The Character of an Angry person. The Effects, Causes, Remedies of Anger.

1. I Am angry at Anger. This only Anger is just, being against a rabid and exe­crable Monster, against a most implacable and turbulent affection; which if it once invades and seizes upon a man, it scarcely leaves in him any footsteps of humane Nature. An­ger is a short madness, without power over it self; it thirsts after Arms, Bloud and Re­venge; it forgets all Decorum, is unmindful of all civility and friendship, and rushes headlong into all sorts of dangers, that it may hurt another, much like to Ruines, which themselves are broken in pieces, upon that which they oppress. All comli­ness leaves the Cholerick person: his Eyes flame and sparkle, his Veins swell, his Hair stands on end, his Lips shake; he grindes his Teeth, foams at Mouth, and stretches forth his Neck to belch forth his rage and fury. No other Passion so much discom­poses the whole man: the Face is deformed, [Page 41]the Forehead wrinkled, the Head is tossed, the Feet falter, the Hands clap, and all the Body moves hither and thither with an un­becoming jactation. Adde to all this the threatning Gestures, the beating of the Breast, the stamping on the Ground, the tearing of their Hair, the rending of their Garments, and the boyling of the Blood from the bottom of the entrails into the Countenance. What a Mind, thinkst thou, is there within, when as the exteriour Image appears so ugly? Such as the Poets feign'd the Infernal Mon­sters to be, Flaming with Fire, begirt with Serpents, and making a hideous noise with their horrid bellowings: Such is the guise of an Angry person; filthy, bloody, burning, cruel, and degenerating into a savage and beastial fury. Other Vices may be con­cealed and covertly cherished: Anger puts it self forward and flyes in the Face, and like Fire seizes upon all: And by how much the more studiously thou desirest to cover it, it breaks out by so much the more violently. He whom Anger possesses, neither knows any Mean, nor endures any Curb.

2. So likewise other Vices are con­tain'd within certain bounds and limits; but Anger leaves nothing untouch'd, no­thing unattempted: Our Anger falls upon [Page 42] Heaven it self. Hence are those horrid Blasphemies, hence those Complaints against God, hence those Controversies, set on fool by impious wretches, concerning the Di­vine Providence. Nor are we Angry with them alone, whom we conceive have in­jur'd us; but we are also offended upon a fancy of future injury; and he, who as we perswade our selves (most commonly by a false surmise) will do us wrong, hath already done it: So ingenious we are in Vices. Oftentimes we know not with whom we are Angry; yet we are in a Rage: And if all others, upon whom to vent our Sple­natick violence, are absent, we turn it upon our selves. And that thou mayst know, that this Passion springs not only from in­juries; such things feel sometimes the fury of our indignation, as can neither offend nor affront us. Thus we cut Garments, we throw down Vessels, we mangle Pens, we tear Paper, when they serve not our use according to our Will. Thus an over­turn'd Glass, a Table unhandsomely co­vered, the skreeking noise of an unwarily drawn Stool or Chair, and many other things, which neither have deserv'd our Anger, nor feel it. Thus a refractory Horse, a barking Dog, an importune Fly, a Gnat buzzing about our cars [Page 43]and biting us, excite our Cheller, and are punished for our impatience. See how mad thou art: Thou inflictest punish­ment upon senceless Creatures and brute Beasts, whereas it were more meet thou shouldst be severely chastised for thy Phrensie.

3. If thou wilt now behold the dam­mages, and sad effects of Anger; no Plague ever cost mankind dearer. Thou shalt see Slaughters and Saccages of Towns and Cities, and utter destructions of whole Nations. Thou shalt see a Hand-made Pestilence, in a vast heap of murdred bo­dies, from which run streams of blood, discolouring the Rivers. Look upon the Foundations now scarcely visible of the most Noble Cities: Anger overturn'd them. Behold the Solitudes now emptied of all Inhabitants: Anger exhausted them. Contemplate the fair Houses consum'd with Fire, the Fountains infected with Poyson, the Families extinguish'd with Sword, and Famine: Anger did all this mischief. Thou mayst say, 'Tis a meeting of Wild-Beasts, not of Men; but that they agree amongst themselves, these tear one another in pieces. This Evil more­over accompanies this Vice, that it be­reaves Man of the likeness he hath with [Page 44]God, whose works are peaceable. It blinds the understanding, so that it sees not the Truth; nor yields to the advice of others: It puzzles and perverts all the faculties of the Soul; and although it extremely hurts the whole Man, yet 'tis hardly believed that there's any harm in it: So glorious a thing it is in the esteem of the vulgar, to be Angry. But 'tis better we should descend to the Remedies, whereby this bad affection may, if it cannot be entirely cancelled, at least be constrained to submit to the Empire of Reason, and to a fit Moderation.

4. The first and best Remedy against Anger, is to despise its first irritations, and to resist its very least beginnings: for when the tempest is once rais'd, 'twill prove a difficult matter to return to a calm. It will do what it self pleases, not what thou permittest. When the Enemy is gotten within the Gates, he receives no Laws from the Captive City. 'Tis easier not to admit things which are pernicious, than to moderate them after their admittance. The Superior part of the World, and that which is nearest to the Stars, is neither driven into a Cloud, nor forc'd into a Tempest, but remains free from all tu­mult; These lower things are those which [Page 45]Thunder: So a man of a high and ele­vated Mind, being evermore quiet and compos'd, and setled in a peaceable sta­tion, suppresses within himself all such evils as provoke to Anger, and gives very little liberty to his words: as well knowing, that to be Angry, takes not away the Evil, but aggravates it: as Birds, whilst they tremblingly flutter their wings to shake off the Birdlime, besmear all their Feathers; So all Anger adds to its own Torment. Anger hurts more than the In­jury. He that is Angry with another, con­ceives that he contemns him; but he that judges impartially of himself, doth not revenge it, because he doth not feel it. Revenge is a confession of Grief. He hath no great Soul, who bites him again that bites him.

5. When thou hearest what the Slanderer hath said of thee, reflect presently not what is fit for him to hear, but what is proper for thee to speak. Thou oughtest not to give so much power to anothers perversity, as to trouble thy Serenity. God, who can do all things, endures so many wicked men; thou who art worst of all, canst thou not suffer one? 'Tis ridiculous that thou correctest not thy own Malice, which is in thy power to do; and wouldst correct [Page 46]that of others, which is out of thy power? If thou art guilty of so many Crimes, what thou now sufferest is Nothing in com­parison of Hell, which thou deservest. Who art thou, that it should be such a hainous offence to hurt thy Ears? He commits a sin; but to thee what has hapned? That surely which was decreed from all Eternity for thy good. Listen to what God sayes; If you forgive, I will also forgive you. Dost thou not awaken at this Thunderclap? Thou sleepest not; but thou art dead. Thou must give pardon to the faults of others, that thou mayst obtain it for thy own.

6. Suspieion is to be banish'd out of thy mind, the most fallacious incitement to Anger. That man did not courteously salute me; this person quickly break of the begun discourse; his countenance shew'd an aversion from me. Nor will there be wanting Arguments, and Con­jectures, as we are evermore credulous in that which is evil. The major part of the Injury, proceeds from the fault of the Interpreter: and therefore Simplicity is necessary, and a favourable estimation of all passages. Plead thou against thy self the cause of him that is absent; and sus­pect that crime which is in question, be­cause [Page 47]what we unwillingly hear, we wil­lingly believe, and are Angry before we Judge. Time is evermore to be given, leisure lays the Truth open. Wert thou to judge of a small matter, thou wouldst not pronounce Sentence without a Wit­ness; and condemnest thou thy Friend be­fore thou hearest him? To give presently credit to what is reported, is the part of an imprudent man. Many men lye, that they may deceive; many, because they are deceived. He that tells a thing privately, almost tells it not. What is more unjust than secretly to believe, openly to be Angry? Finally, 'tis not expedient to see all, to hear all. He receives no Injury, who knows it not.

7. When thou art assured that any one speaks ill of thee, question thy own Con­science whether thou spak'st not first of him: Then think of how many thou hast spoken. The respect thou bear'st to thy self, will render thee more moderate, if thou consultest thy self. For why pardonest thou not anothers Luxury, who deniedst nothing to thy own Sensuality? Why dost thou persecute Lyars. thy self having been a Perjurer? Why thy self being Perfidious, dost thou so severely exact Fidelity from others? Why takest thou leave to talk of [Page 48]others, and wilt not give it to be thy self talked of? Let not only what thou en­durest, but what thou hast done, succour thee. Thou wilt find in thy own Bosom, whatsoever thou reprehendest in another. We are all bad, and a common fault must be winked at. If thou hast done no such thing, thou mayst do it. He that stands, let him take heed lest he fall.

8. What new thing is it, if an Enemy hurts, a Friend offends, a Son swerves from his duty, a Servant commits a fault? All these things are as usual, as a Rose in the Spring, an Apple in Summer. As one who walks hastily through the most frequented Streets of a City, must needs slip some­times, be hindred somewhere, and be somewhere dirtied: so in the uncompos'd and vagabond course of this life, there happen many complaints, many impedi­ments. Why art thou in wrath, when thou sufferest an injury from a wicked man? He did what belong'd to him; and do thou, if thou art Good, play the part of a good man, endeavouring to make him Good. But this is not done by Revenge, but by Patience and Benefits: whereby if thou mak'st him not Good, thou wilt at least render him Quiet: if neither, thou wilt undoubtedly make thy self better. He detracted from [Page 49]thy fame, he is vehemently bent against thee. What art thou here to do? I do not believe it: If he said any such thing, he spake it as deceiv'd by error, with no evil mind; with an upright zeal, with a desire to profit me; or surely I had offended him. This Injury is not equivalent to what thou formerly didst him. I committed the fault, I am guilty, 'tis fit I should yield to Justice. But I am impugned gratis, and not deser­ving it. What then? I will imitate Christ, and say with the Prophet; I was dumb, and would not open my mouth, because you, O Lord, did it. Other mens sayings, or doings, will not be evil to thee, although they are indeed Evil, unless thou makest ill use of them. They are such, as is the use of them.

9. What's the Cause of thy being offended? Opinion. Take away the Opi­nion of thy harm, and nothing will hurt thee. There's nothing that touches the Mind, or moves it, or enters into it: 'tis it alone that moves it self; and according to the judgment it gives, such are the things which happen. Nothing will hurt thee, un­less thou hurtest thy self. But he (sayst thou) who persecutes me, is a bad Man. Expect, he will pay to some other the pu­nishment he owes thee; yea, he hath al­ready [Page 50]ready punish'd himself, because he has com­mitted a Sin. But he is indu'd with Rea­son, why doth he not amend? And thou who art indu'd with Reason, why dost thou not correct thy own Impatience? Why overcomest thou not Evil with Good? Other mens faults are in thy Eyes, thy own upon thy Back. But go too, whosoever thou art who fanciest Revenge to be so sweet a thing; leave is given thee to take this thy desired Revenge, yet upon these most just terms, that thou begin with the greater. Let the order of the Injury, prescribe the manner of thy Revenge. Thine own Anger is the greatest of thy Enemies; this most offends thee; from this begin thy Revenge. Adversaries are not to be sought in the Streets, when as the greatest lurks in thy own house. Plato, being incens'd against his Servant, stayd his hand, lifted up to strike him, saying; I would beat thee, but that I am Angry: He would first chastise his own Anger, before he corrected his Ser­vant; judging a passionate Master more wor­thy of punishment, than a negligent Servant. The better a Man is, the more he restrains his Passion.

10. Judges, and they who preside over the people, must sometimes both shew and execute their Anger; yet so, as not to per­mit [Page 51]it to prevent their Reason, but to wait upon it as a Handmaid Criminals are to be corrected and chastised, but without Anger. If a Good man were bound to be Angry at all Bad deeds, he should pass his whole life in Anger: For what Moment would pass, in which he would not find Things fit to be reprehended? He would faint, should he force Anger from himself, as often as just cause would require it. Remaining therefore in himself quiet and impartial to all offenders, he is to behave himself towards them, as a Physician to­wards his Lunatick Patients. As thou art not moved at the Heats and Colds, which are induc'd by the Seasons, performing their natural courses: So neither oughtst thou be Angry at the Injuries, which proceed from wicked men according to their per­verse nature. Sick persons are intempe­rate, nothing that is sound is to be expect­ed from them. 'Tis a sufficiently cruel Revenge against a Contumelious Enemy, to take no Revenge at all against him. He hurts that he may grieve thee; if thou griev'st not, he will grieve, seeing himself frustrated of the pleasure of his Injury: So surely the fruit of the inferred Injury, con­sists in the feeling and indignation of him who suffers it. Affronts, if thou art angry [Page 52]at them, appear; if contemned, they vanish. But, sayst thou, 'tis a bad matter to be un­dervalued, and not to repair ones wounded honour: Yes, but 'tis worse to fear to be undervalued, for no one fears it, but he that deserves it. A wise man looks not upon what men judge ugly and disgraceful: no­thing is to him ugly but Sin. I am slighted, sayst thou, and contemned by such a one? Let him look to it. I will henceforth take care not to do or speak any thing deserving his contempt. Such a one hates me? Well, I will strive to be pleasing and affable to all. Thus Invincible Patience, worsts and wea­ries the Malice of wicked men; and imi­tates God, whose property is to Pardon, who is most meek and patient, and who conquers our Crimes by his Benefits. 'Tis a greater Generosity, not to take notice of an Injury, than to pardon it.

CHAP. VIII. Of Envy and Sloath. The Description, and the Cure of both.

1. ENvy is its own Executioner, raging first against its owners Bowels, be­fore it falls foul upon its neighbours Goods. Punishment follows other Vices, but it pre­cedes this: For an Envious wretch turns another mans Felicity to his own Torment, and pines away as his Neighbour grows fat. He both sins and is punished toge­ther, who is infected with this Plague. Other Vices are contrary to some one or other certain good; this is opposite to all goodness, perverting the nature of all things. 'Tis contrary to the Divine goodness, whose property is to communicate all its good­ness: 'Tis contrary to the state of the Blessed, who enjoy the happiness of others as their own: 'Tis contrary to Christian Charity, which rejoyces at the good even of Enemies: 'Tis finally contrary to the Law of Nature, which commands us to wish all our own Good to others. As the Eye in­fected with the Disease call'd by Physicians [Page 54] Ophthalmia, (Inflamation) is offended with all glittering Objects; so the Envious is afflicted at the sight of others Virtue and Charity. Envy is so named, because it too much pries into thé Excellency of another.

2. Satan envies, but Men, not his Com­panions: whereas thou being a Man, en­viest Men, which the Devil himself does not. This surely is the property of a mean Spirit, and of one who in his own Judg­ment, abjects himself to baseness; for thou wouldst not envy others, but that thou judg­est him better than thy self, and above thee. Wilt thou be free from Envy? Despise the lading Goods of this world, and love the Eternal. The Love of Eternity, is the Death of Envy. He cannot envy Mortal goods to others; who covets only the Immortal. What Prince ever envyed the Cobler, or the Botcher? A Mind busied about sublimer matters, descends not to such meanesses. Is't not enough to be tormented with thine own miseries, which are so many, unless thou be also troubled with anothers prospe­rity? Thou wilt never be happy, if ano­ther more happy contristates thee. Dost imagine, that the good things thou enviest can be taken from their possessors, and trans­ferr'd to thee? Thy Neighbour hath Riches, [Page 55]flourishes with Knowledge, is eminent in Dignity. All these shall be thine, if thou wilt love him. He abounds with all Goods, who loves them in others.

3. To Envy I joyn Sloath, because they both are Sadness: that for anothers Good, this for its own. They both belong to little Spirits, for Envy kills the little one: and Sloath is the Vice of a languishing mind, grown weary of spiritual goods, and there­upon terrified with the greatness and diffi­culty of acquiring them, never enterprises any thing worthy a Man. The Sloathful person will, and will not, he is alwayes variable and unconstant, grievous to him­self, troublesome to others, and out of a continual irksomeness of himself, sits brooding upon his own punishment. He is like a Top, which is indeed driven round, but rids no ground, and is so moved by the Scourges force, as not to stir far from the same place. Thou wilt perceive he would have done something, but that he did it not. All his operation is inspid, and like luke-warm water, provoking Vomit not only to men, but to God himself. 'Tis vain for thee to hope for health, unless shaking off this sluggishness, thou assumest a gene­rous courage, and forcest thy self with sharper spurs to undertake greater matters. [Page 56] As the Bird is made to fly, so Man is born to labour. And were there no labour to be undertaken for God, the World imposes sufficient pains upon every one. How doth that man toyl to obtain wealth? How much doth this man suffer to gain Honour? Vices are priz'd at a high rate. But if thou pur­chasest perishable Goods with so much sweat, why usest thou not a like industry to get a most happy Eternity? Ah! Let it shame thee to be sluggish in a matter of so great moment. Very short is the Labour, eternal the Reward. Nothing is so hard and difficult, which mans industry, with Gods help, may not compass. Dare valiantly, and the Hobgoblins of difficulties will dis­appear. Whatsoever the Mind commanded it self, it obtain'd it. Do what thou canst, and thou wilt be able to do all things. God helps the Endeavourer.

CHAP. IX. Of Pride, Ambition, and Vain-glory. The image of a Proud man. The Vanity of Dignities, and their Dangers. The Evils of Hautiness, and the Cure of it.

1. PRide, Ambition, and Vain-glory, are Vices near of kin; from whence, as from the Ocean, flow the Rivers of all Evils. For when a man proposes to him­self his own Excellency for his End, he directs all thither; slighting the Divine worship, and neglecting his respects to men. If he can have no access to Glory, but by Wickedness; by Wickedness he will climb to it; and will open his way to his intended Honours, by frauds and de­ceits, and by the ruine and destruction of his Neighbour. The Proud man is odious to God, and insufferable to all Mankind: He bends all his studies and endeavours to obtain mens praises and applauses. He thinks himself worthy of higher honour, and pleases himself in that thought. He rashly sets upon things above his forces; thrusts himself uninvited into all manner [Page 58]of businesses; impudently extols himself upon all occasions; and arrogantly despises all others. He cunningly feigns Humility, hoping thereby to avoid the suspicion of being Ambitious. When he is frustrated of his design, he fills all mens ears with his complaints, and excites brawls and heart-burnings. His behaviour towards Inferiors is harsh and imperious; towards Superiors fawning, nor is there any Slave more ob­servant and obsequious than he is. The Good that is in him, if there is any, he attributes not to God, as he ought, but arrogates it to himself. He affects to seem knowing in all things; and he subtlely discourses of the highest matters, (of which he is ignorant) as from his own experience. He curiously pries into the actions of others, rashly censures them, severely condemns them, exaggerating their crimes, extenuating their praises. In his talk, and gate, there appears a certain hautiness, and a contempt of others. He hates Correction, refuses Counsel, yields to no advice. He fancies he hath such perfections as he wants; and those he hath, he feigns to be greater than they are. He grows angry and discontented, if he is not preferred before others, as the more worthy, if he suspects himself and his say­ings [Page 59]neglected. His Heart is toss'd with perpetual motions; for since Honour, which he aims at, is in the power of others, he must of necessity be continually agitated with turbulent affections. The beginning of all Sin, is Pride.

2. If thou art wise, place in an equal Ballance all that thy heart can desire upon Earth, Kingdoms, Empires, and in brief, the whole World, and compare them with the least parcel of Eternal Felicity; and thou wilt find, that this, will weigh down that vast mass of pomps and pleasures, which will appear light as a Leaf which is tossed to and fro with a puff of wind. Rowse up thy self therefore to eternal good things, and render thy self worthy of Heaven, to which thou art designed. Shake off the proud fancies of thy own Excellency, and measure thy self by the things which are truly good. If Caesar had adopted thee for his Son, who could have endured thy Supercilious carriage? But now thou art Gods Son, Redeemed with Christs precious Blood; why reflectest thou not upon thy Origine? Why debasest thou thy self to things altogether unbe­seeming thy noble birth? Thy Father calls thee to the command over Heaven and the Stars; to a possession which will [Page 60]endure for ever. Here put on thy lofty looks, be proud of this promise, from this Father brag of thy Nobility, conform thy life to his likeness. This is the way, which leads to true Glory.

3. What are Scepters, what Crowns? Glittering Shackles, shining miseries; which if fully known to men, they would ne­ver fall out for the Throne. There would be more Kingdoms than Kings. A great Fortune, is a great Slavery. They whom the Vulgar think happy, think far otherwise of themselves; for their happi­ness is heavy, which renders them bur­densome to the people. Then they praise a gentle retreat, and the man who is his own Master. Then the Splendor is hate­full to them, which before they admired. Then with astonishment, and trembling, they philosophize of the Vanity of all earthly things. Then they are apprehen­sive of Death, and Gods dreadfull Judg­ments, before whom, their Dignity sought with so much diligence, obtained with so much difficulty, bought at so dear a rate, will nothing at all avail them. Do thou therefore so lead thy life, that thou mayst stand secure before that Tribunal. He that is here humbled, shall there be exalted.

4. Thou ravest, if thou conceivest thou shalt be safe and quiet, when thou canst get high Dignities: for then, what was formerly lawful, will be unlawful: there's less liberty in great places. The higher thou art, the more thy Vices will appear. He cannot lye hidden, who sits on the top. If before thou wert quiet, thy quiet is now cancelled. No corner will be free to thy self: No day at thy own disposal. The fall from an elevated place is great. 'Tis vain to seek for peace, where all have found danger and disquiet, and many a miserable end of their lives. The Royal Tables are not furnish'd with secure Dainties, Poyson is drunk in Gol­den Goblets. How many Kings have purpled their Throne with their own blood? The high station is slippery, all things hang there, and threaten a Fall. 'Tis safer to tread in the plain path­way. As great as is the number of ad­mirers and applauders, so great is the number of Enviers. What multitudes of underminers and oppugners? How un­secure and suspected are all things? Faith is not to be given to a Servant, not to a Friend, not to a Son, not to a Brother. But no Treachery enters into the house which lies flat on the ground. He lives se­cure, [Page 62]who lies secret. He fears no man, whom no man fears.

5. Shouldst thou see a Horse or a Dog assume the principality over the other In­dividuals of his own Species, wouldst thou not laugh? Yet thou more deservest to be laughed at, if thou extollest thy self above other men, because thou art weal­thier than others, or more powerfull. What art thou proud of, earth, and ashes? No man can glory but in his own proper good: And what is thy Good, if thou hast all from God? Nothing is thine but Sin. And if thou hast received all, render all the glory to the Giver. Is one Horse preferr'd before another, because he hath more Hay and Provender; be­cause his Bridle is gilt, and his Trappings gorgeous? No surely, but because he is swifter. So a Man, unless he is a Fool, seeks no Glory from that which is without him. But I am better, sayst thou, and more Noble than the rest. If thou sayst so, thou art unworthy of all honour; because none are worthily honoured but good men, who contemn all honour and glory. True Nobi­lity knows not what it is to be extoll'd; and where there is real Splendor, there also is Modesty. The greatest Glory of High per­sons, is to humble themselves to the Lowest.

6. Mark the weakness of thy Condi­tion, measure thy little Body, thou wilt there observe many things for which thou mayst well be depressed, nothing for which thou canst be extolled. Scorn not the Geometricians and Philosophers, all the Earth is a Point. How miserably dost thou erre, if thou placest Kingdoms in a Point, and dividest Governments? In a little thing, no man is Great. This Earth which thou proudly pressest with thy seet, will shortly press thee; nor shalt thou possess any more of it, than will serve to cover thy cold and rotten members. Go now, and in this Nothing, build great and immortal monuments. Here give vent to thy fu­rious passions and haughty insolencies: afford here to thy appotites and cupidities their full scope; here array Armies, and wage Wars. When thou hast been mad long enough, thou wilt know (when 'tis too late) how empty were the names of Dignities, how vain and deceitful the titles of Honours. Whatsoever shines here with such seeming splendor, is Glass; whilst it glitters, it breaks. Great Trees are a long time growing, but cut down in an hour.

7. Thou hast prevented a great provo­cation to Pride, if thou keepest thy self [Page 64]closely concealed. No man pretends to shew his Pride and loftiness to his own Eyes, or to the view of a few and familiar Friends; but he exposes the magazine of his Vices to please the multitude of Spectators. Who puts on gay Cloaths, which he would have no one see? Who sets forth Dainties in a Golden dish, in secret? Who being all alone, exposes the pomp of his Luxury, under the shadow of a Countrey-tree? Ambition desires the publick Stage; nor doth it any where more freely make ostentation of its forces, than amidst mens applauses. The Bee, if she hath gather'd Honey; the Horse, if he hath run his Race; the Tree, if it hath produc'd its Fruit, seek nothing far­ther: Man, looks for applause, loves to be pointed at with the Finger, and to have it said of him, This is he. But if thou attentively observest who they are, from whose mouths thou expectest these praises, thou wilt easily contemn all such applauses of the Vulgar people. They are both vain and variable; Men, who (thy self will say.) are sometimes mad; who condemn themselves every hour of phrensie, and frequently reprove their own Councels. The life of them who praise, and of him who is praised, is but [Page 65]short, and it is done in a corner of the Earth, which is but a Point: and even there also, all do not consent to thee, nor any one to himself. But 'tis a brave thing to be prais'd by Posterity: Yes, by such as thou hast never seen, nor ever shalt see. Why doth it not grieve thee, that thou wert not praised by them who liv'd in the Ages before thee? But fancy them to be immortal who will hereafter re­member thee, and that thy future fame shall be perpetuated: what will this avail thee, when thou art dead? what doth it avail thee, now thou art alive? One may often be praised where he is not, and pu­nished where he is. The true value of each thing is in it self; neither is it better, if praised, nor worse, if it wants praise. The Sun, if it hath no beholders, doth it therefore lose any part of its Light? Is the Figg depriv'd of its sweetness, the Flower of its beauty, the Gemme of its brightness, unless their perfections are praised and admired? 'Tis a great argu­ment of a high and heroick mind, to slight mens praises, and to content him­self with himself. Thou losest thy praises if thou lookest for them: for what in thee is praise-worthy? How great is thy Frailty? how much thy Misery? how [Page 66]uncertain thy Salvation? Shouldst thou persorm all that thou art obliged, thou art still an unprofitable Servant: but with what Face dar'st thou averr, that thou hast done all to which thou wert obliged? Fear therefore, that thou art not within, what thou art said to be without: and reflect, whether that is not praised in thee, for which thou art displeasing to thy self. Render to God what thou hast received from him, to Be, to Live, to Ʋnderstand: nothing will be left thee, but Sin. Since therefore thou art Nothing; of Nothing thou canst not glory. Thou wilt begin to be Something, when thou shalt know thou art Nothing.

CHAP. X. Of the Government of the Body. Of the Custody of the Senses. How far the Body is to be indulged. The liberty of the Eyes, is to be curbed. The excess in Apparel, condemned.

1. KEep close to this found and whol­some form of Life, to give to thy Body so much as is enough to preserve thy Health. It is to be harshly treated, lest it should not well obey thy mind. It is to be indulged, not served. Let Food asswage Hunger, Drink quench Thirst, Cloaths keep from Cold, a House shelter from the injuries of the Weather: as for other things, which useless industry hath added as it were for ornament, avoid and dread them; for by them deceits are pre­pared against thy Soul. Thou art Greater, and designed for Greater matters than to be a base slave to thy Body; which surely thou oughtest no otherwise to look upon, than as a Prison of thy Mind, and a Fetter of thy Liberty. An honest and prudent man, provides for it, not as if he liv'd for it, [Page 68]but because he cannot live without it. The Body is the Instrument of the Soul: And what Artist, neglecting his Trade, spends his time in whetting his Tools. 'Tis the property of a dull spirit, to be imploy'd in the Bodies services.

2. Since by the windows of the Senses Death enters into the Soul, strive to lead them from the Earthly life to the Heavenly, and wean them by little and little from an over-serious attention to the work they are upon, that they may not too greedily im­merse themselves in the delights of worldly Objects. The Senses ought to serve, not command. The licence of the Eyes is in the first place to be chastised; for they be­ing very quick in their action, and speedily transmitting the Images of many things to the Phantasie, and from thence to the Mind, will sow the feeds of grievous sins in the Appetite, if they be not strongly barro­caded. If the purity of the interiour Eye, accompanies the rectitude of the exteriour; thou wilt every where find the footsteps of God: and when, thou hast learned to wor­ship God in his Creatures, thou wilt sweet­ly raise up thy mind from them to the Contemplation of his Divine Majesty. A trick'd-up Woman, is an elaborate Luxu­ry; never fix thy sight upon her, for thou [Page 69]wilt perish. Frequent not Comedies, Balls, Dances, Stage-plays; for they dissipate the mind, and so possess it with vain solici­tudes, that it cannot crect it self to Heaven. When the Eye erres, the Affection will be faulty.

3. The Hearing is the sense of Disci­pline, by which, as by the Gate, the notions of Truth and Wisdom enter into the Mind. Hedge thy Ears therefore with a provident circumspection, lest Falshoods instead of Truths, and Folly instead of Wisdom should break into the Store-house of thy Heart. Shut them against Slanders, shut them against Murmurers, shut them against Toys, Idle talk, and every thing which conduceth nothing to thy Souls profit. As one who hath heard a Consort of Musick, bears away with him that sweet Modulation in his Ears, even after he is departed from the place where he heard it: So a bad Dis­course, although it hurts not presently, yet it leaves seeds in the Mind, which stick longer, and by intervals return. Thou shalt by so much the more frequently hear God speaking in thy interiour, by how much the less frequently thou hearest the talk of men. All Odoriferous Perfumes made by Art, belong to effeminate persons; wherefore rejecting all sophisticated Odours, endea­vour [Page 70]by thy holy conversation to exhale the sweet fragrancy of Virtues. Thou shalt check thy Tast, by Abstinence and Sobriety: Thy Touch, by Hair-cloaths, Disciplines, un­easie Lodgings, and other asperities. 'Tis better to afflict the Body and preserve it; than by hurtful blandishments to destroy both Body and Soul eternally.

4. Since the inward state of the Soul, is most commonly manifested by the outward Dress and Cloathing of the Body; remove far from thee such things as are the usual marks of a depraved and unsetled Mind. Those Heathens, who in old times were re­puted Wise-men, would not permit their Disciples to put forth so much as a Finger without some reason: I enact not of thee so strict a rectitude; but I wish (and I here declare it) that thou wouldst abstain from loud Laughter, from Scurrility, from dissolute Behaviour, from gesticulations of Hands, from an over-hasty gate; to the end, nothing may appear in thee which may give offence to the beholders; not the sordidness of thy Garments, not the wrinkles of thy Forehead, not the incom­position of thy Manners, not any signs of Contempt, or of a Mind, averse from the Company, not any thing which may beget a loathsomness or distast. Many things [Page 71]which may be honestly done, may not honestly be seen.

5. Man was created Naked, and was not asham'd; for his unknown nakedness could not make him blush: But after he had sinned, and cast off the Cloak of Inno­cency which sufficiently cover'd him, an outward Garment was necessary to veil his shame: What was then inflicted as a Pu­nishment, is now made use of as a Prero­gative of Dignity. Garments are fought after, not to cover but to adorn, and such as may please the Eyes and Lusts of others. The Habit is the Index of the Mind: To be over-curious in Cloaths, and to compose the countenance out of a Box, and by a Looking-glass, is a Womanish Vice. The outward dress will confound thee, if thou wilt reflect what it covers. He who hath within, the ornaments of Virtues; values not the external garnishments of his attire. Virtue rejoyces to be shew'd without any coloured disguise; whatsoever thou addest to it, is less than it. 'Tis one of mens vain Errors, to be fine in Apparel, filthy in Mind. Some load themselves with Chains, but because their Fetters are made of Gold, they fear not the infamy of Servitude. Some others are not fetter'd with Gold, but fastned to it; for by Wounds it is fixed [Page 72]to their Ears, at which there oftentimes hangs a whole Patrimony: and those which in times past were the names of Pu­nishments, are now of Ambition. There are not a few, who spending their time between the Comb and the Looking-glass, are more solicitous to make their Heads handsome, than to save their Souls. And the depraved judgments of foolish people hath so far pre­vailed, that they fancy themselves adorned by such things, as they ought to tread under their feet. Let thy Attire therefore be with­out Art, not for Pomp, but for Necessity; beneath Pride, above Beggery; and in brief, accommodated to the condition of thy life and calling. Although thou deckest thy self with Gold and Margarites, without Christs beauty thou art deformed. This is the graceful dress which is never out of fashion, and which adorns not thy Flesh, which is to dye shortly; but thy Soul, which is to last for an eternity. 'Tis a mad kind of Ambition, to cover a Dunghill with Gold.

CHAP. XI. Of the Custody of the Tongue. Of how great moment it is, and how difficile. What is to be observ'd in speaking; what to be avoided. How the bad Tongues of others, are to be endured.

1. TO manage the Tongue, is a matter of so great moment, that it ought to be kept more charily than the Apple of the Eye; For life and death is in the hands of the Tongue. He that cannot bridle it, may be compar'd to an open City, which hath no Walls to fence it. But it can hard­ly be tam'd, without Gods special assist­ance. A Man can tame a Lyon, he can tame a Bull, he can tame a Bear; but not his own Tongue: for Loquacity is an inborn brat of humane nature, egging him on to vent by his Tongue, whatsoever he desires and conceives in his mind. Moreover the Tongue neighbours to the Brain, and the Mouth to the Phantasie; so that what the Phantasie thinks, is presently deriv'd to the Mouth, and driven out by Words. Nature has taught thee, how necessary the custody [Page 74]of thy Tongue is, when she guarded it with a double Bulwark, of the Teeth, and of the Lips. But as the Odour of an Oynt­ment evaporates, if the mouth of the Pix is not stopped; so the Mouths door being left wide open, all the Minds vigour is dissi­pated. He attend ill to himself, who attends not continually to his Tongue.

2. Be cautious in all thy Discourses; and carefully suppress that immoderate Itch, which urges many to blurt out rashly their scarcely conceiv'd opinion, without examination, without election. Avoid Du­plicity and Dissimulation; and deliver sim­ply the sence of thy Mind, without all Coverture and Ambiguity. God hath given thee the faculty of Speaking, that there­with thou shouldst candidly tell the things as they truly are. Being to speak, consult thy self, whether any immoderate affection broyls within thee, and permit nothing to thy Tongue, till that commotion is ap­peased; otherwise thou wilt pour forth what thou wilt afterwards repent. Thou wilt easily hold thy peace, if no perturba­tions clamour in thy Heart; if there is in thy Soul a solitude and serenity. There cannot be one colour to the Words, ano­ther to the Mind. If the Mind is sound, if temperate, if composed; the Speech will [Page 75]also be sober: that being vitiated, this will be infected. What manner of man one is, his Speech will declare.

3. Let there pass no idle discourse. As thou chusest what meat thou eatest, so make choice of what words thou utterest. Thou examinest the Meat which is to go into thy mouth, why not the Word which is to go out of it, which oftentimes raises greater Tragedies in thy House, than thy Meat doth in thy Stomach? Accustom thy self to speak much with thy self, little with others. Prudent men have frequently re­pented their Speaking, never their Silence. Garrulity is the Vice of Children and of Women, who have less Reason than Men. There's nothing of Virtue in that person, out of whose Mouth proceed only vain and unprofitable Words. Didst thou love God, wert thou studious of thy Salvation; all thy Discourses would be of God, of Virtue, of Perfection. Love cannot lie, it cannot be concealed. Every one is profuse towards that he loves; and what is in his Mind, re­currs most frequently to his Tongue. Thou therefore less willingly discoursest of Di­vine things, because thou hast not yet wash'd away the Dregs of Vices: besides, thy seldom Reading and Meditating of such things as appertain to thy Salvation, leaves [Page 76]thee unfurnish'd with matter, though thou hadst a mind to it. Out of the Hearts aboun­dance the Mouth speaks.

4. Mens ordinary talk, when they meet together, is of other persons lives, man­ners, actions. Every man hath as many Judges, as there are Heads in the City. There's scarcely any one who hath Eyes at home: The major part of us is purblind in discerning our own Vices, sharp-sighted to censure those of our Neighbours. We admit their Reproaches into our open doors, there's hardly a chink left open to receive their Praises. This Vice, by how much 'tis more common, by so much 'tis more carefully to be avoided. Thou hast enough to do with thy own Crimes; carp at them, and correct them. Secret ones, whether thy own or others, divulge not abroad. Many have fallen into great per­plexities, by having imprudently intrusted their secrets to indiscreet people. Whether thou tellest it to one, or to more, 'tis the same thing. A word slips easily from one to another, and from him to all. This easiness proceeds chiefly from an over-long pro­tracted discourse; whereupon, a certain pleasure of talking insensibly stealing in, and affecting the mind after the manner of Drunkenness, leaves there nothing so sacred [Page 77]and secret, which breaks not forth. He lays open to thee his secrets, and thou having receiv'd this pledge of his Faith, communicatest thine in like manner to him: but thou perchance, concealest what thou hast heard, he relates it to all he meets; so that every one seeming to be openly ig­norant, all privately know it. You would say, that Tongues fly privately by all mens Ears, till at last the secret overflows, and becomes a common Rumour. Whatsoever Evil is under Heaven, the Tongue either brought forth or promoted. Make there­fore a Ballance for thy Words, and a Bridle for thy Mouth: And speak nothing, which had better been kept in silence. The sparing of Words, is more laudable than of Money. He that is prodigal of his Money, whilst he hurts himself, helps others; he that is pro­digal of his Words, hurts both himself and others. He approaches near the Divinity, who can hear much, and speak little.

5. Nothing is inaccessible to the Tongue. The Princes of the Earth are not exempt from Criminations, though power has plac'd them beyond the fear of the Sword. There are none so excellent in Sanctity, as that their innocence hath preserv'd them from Censure. Christ himself, when he liv'd amongst men, escap'd not the scourge [Page 78]of the Tongue. By these Examples, raise up thy Patience. Slander is the Spur of Virtue; 'tis a Curb, which keeps thee from swerving out of the right path. There's not a more capital enemy to Vice than Censure: for when thou art ill spoken of, thou art taught what thou art to take heed of. Wilt thou avoid the bites of a venomous Tongue? Contemn it. Thou wilt receive no Wound if thou holdst thy peace; attributing more to the judgment of good men, than to the insolence of a Slanderer. It matters but little what others think of thee: there's a more certain and more uncorrupted witness within thee, in thy own Soul: Interrogate thy own Conscience, and give credit to it. What is baser, than to depend upon the report of foolish people, and to place the esteem we have of our selves, in the judg­ments of others? Whatsoever others say of thee, it behoves thee to be good. If any one should defame a sweet and clear Foun­tain, will it therefore cease to drill out its pure streams? And if any one casts dirt into it, will it not soon wash it out and dissipate it? So neither oughtest thou to trouble the peaceable state of thy Mind, although bad men asperse and calumniate thee. 'Tis too mean an esteem of ones self, to be moved at every flying Report. [Page 79]Children strike the Faces of their Parents, the Infant has discompos'd his Mothers hair, he hath bitten her Nipples, he hath scratch'd her Cheeks, and spit upon her Bosom; and none of this is esteem'd a con­tumely, because he that did it cannot con­temn any one: the same mind therefore which Parents have towards their Chil­dren, do thou have towards them who calumniate thee. If thou once yieldest to trouble thy self at the injury, thou wilt honour him that did it. For thou must ne­cessarily rejoyce to have the esteem of him, from whom thou takest contempt so hai­nously. And this is the Vice of a Mind con­tracting it self, and descending. Thou wilt alwayes be unhappy, if thou thinkest thou canst be despised.

CHAP. XII. Of the internal Senses. The use of Opinions. The Mind is to be stored with good thoughts. Of restraining the Sensitive Appetite: and of its depraved Affections. Several Pre­cepts to that purpose.

1. UPon this the chief Hinge of Wis­dom turns, That no Opinion be introduc'd into thy Mind, which is incon­sequent to Nature or Reason. Wherefore rejecting them all, thou art to exercise thy self against the Motions of thy Phantasie, as the Logicians do against captious So­phistries. My Son is dead? This is not in thy power; It is no Evil. Such a Father disinherited his Son? This also, since 'tis out of our power, is not Evil. But he took such a thing ill? That's in our power, and therefore Evil. He took it couragiously? That's in our power, and consequently Good. If thou accustomest thy self to these things, thou wilt reap profit by it. My Friend is led away into Prison. What hath hapned? Nothing, but that he is in Prison. But every one adds of his own, that [Page 81]he is ill dealt with. Correct the Opinion, and all is at quiet. As we tye up a furious person, that he may do no harm to others; so the Phantasie is to be restrained, that it may not overwhelm the Mind with false Opinions. This like an untamed Beast, gets loose, and licentiously wanders whereso­ever it pleases; 'tis a Pratler, a Runagate, impatient of quiet, glad of new things, and not knowing any Moderation. Thou art therefore to imploy all thy diligence in this study, how thou mayst lay hold on it, bind it, and fix it to one thing; that so thy thoughts and the decrees of thy Mind may not alwayes be pinn'd upon Opinion. Whatsoever is without thy Mind, doth not at all belong to thee.

2. Whatsoever offers it self to thee to be thought on, examine it throughly; that so thou mayst dispute with thy self, what the Nature of that thing is, as 'tis naked and separated from all others, what its properties, what its end, what circum­stances, what profit; whether or no it con­cerns thee, and is in thy power: otherwise give it no access, but resist it as much as thou canst. God is intimately present, most clearly beholding the darkest secrets of thy heart; nor is there any thing so concealed, which lies not open to his all-seeing [Page 82]Eyes: Look then, that thou reyolve not in thy Mind any such thing, as thou wouldst be asham'd to mention before an honest man. Let thy Thoughts be quiet, simple, pure, and free from all Malice. Let them be such, that if thou wert suddenly asked what thou thinkest, thou canst with­out blushing lay open what lies hid in thy Heart. Be asham'd to think, what thou art asham'd to speak. Thou wilt banish evil Thoughts, if thou art alwayes busied with good.

3. Nothing is more hurtful to a Soul, nothing more contrary, than the Inferiour Brutal, and Sensitive Appetite. This is the source of all Wickednesses and Imper­fections. Let this Enemy, whom thou art alwayes to fear, alwayes to fight against, be subdued. Here no rest must be taken, no respite given. The Conflict must be without end, and without measure; be­cause the Adversary hath neither end nor measure. The Enemy lurks within thee; yea, thou thy self art an Enemy to thy self, more potent than the Army of Xerxes. Keep thy Soul from thy self. 'Tis a greater valour to invade thy self, than Cities; to get the Victory over thy self, than over all other things. I require not, that thou shouldst totally destroy all depraved affecti­ons, [Page 83]and reduce them to nothing; but that thou learn to govern them. Reason hath done enough, if it bridles and moderates them. The Stoicks were over-harsh, in de­faming all affections as Evil. The Houshold­stuff of Nature is neither evil nor unnecessa­ry. He takes away all Virtue, who takes away all Affections. There's no Conquest, where there's no Combate.

4. This strife is indeed very difficult, and the Battel doubtful: for Affections are born with us, and Reason follows many years after, when they have already got the Dominion, and the Will without re­sistance yields them Obedience, being de­luded with the vain shew of good: till Reason in success of time, and Experience getting strength, begin to know their right of governing, and to resist the tyranny of the Affections: And surely the first motions of Nature cannot be amended; but yet thou art to look to thy self with great vi­gilancy, and when first thou perceivest thy self troubled, thou art presently to restrain that commotion with the bridle of Reason. 'Tis easier to resist beginnings, than to go­vern an impetuosity. Thou wilt attain to great tranquility of Mind in a short time, if thou castest an eye upon all chances be­fore they happen, that so the Enemy may [Page 84]find thee prepared. 'Tis too late to furnish the Mind with Remedies, after the Dan­gers. Learn to do little, and speak little; for if of the many things thou speakest and dost, thou takest away what is not necessa­ry, thou wilt find fewer perturbations in thy Mind. And say not, this is a small matter: For that which is the beginning of Virtue and Perfection, is very great, though it seems but little.

5. The Old man drawing his Origine from the infected seed of the sinner Adam, is to be considered as a certain Tree, ha­ving for its Root, Self-love; for its Trunk, a Propension to Evil; for its Branches, Per­turbations; for its Leaves, Vitious Habits; for its Fruits, Works, Words, and Thoughts, which are contrary to the Divine Law. Wherefore, to hinder the Branches of bad Affections from breaking forth into Leaves and Fruits, apply the Axe to the Root, and extirpate that worst Love of thy self. If thou takest this away, thou hast with one stroke cut off the whole vitious Off-spring of thy Inferiour Appetite. And thou wilt take it away, and root it out, if thou con­temnest thy self: if thou truly believest thy self to be one of those thousands, who are indu'd with no singular dowry and per­fection; and that thou art destitute of all [Page 85]knowledge and virtue: if thou fearest not to displease men, and to be by them scorned, and despised: if thou art willing to want all sorts of comforts and conve­niences. Thou wilt preserve thy self, if thou well hatest thy self: thou wilt lose thy self, if thou ill lovest thy self.

CHAP. XIII. Of Love. Its Nature, Causes, Effects. Its Remedies. Something added of Hatred.

1. LOve is a complacency in that which is Good: to wit, that first im­pression, wherewith the Appetite is affect­ed, when the known Good pleaseth it. By this, the whole World coheres toge­ther; and this being brought under, which holds the prime place amongst the Affecti­ons, the whole troop of the rest will easily be quelled. The Love which is good, tends thither from whence it had its beginning: It goes to Good, because it proceeds from the Soveraign Good. Discuss thy Life, and weigh thy Heart in the Ballance of a strict Examination. Observe what Love is there predominant: for that which [Page 84] [...] [Page 85] [...] [Page 86]weighs down in the Scale of Love, is to thee a God; that's the Idol thou worshippest. Therefore God hath commanded thee to love him with thy whole Heart, to prevent thereby the Affections of thy Mind; be­cause whatsoever thou Lovest with thy whole Heart, that is the thing thou adorest as God.

2. Besides Goodness and Beauty, a certain sympathy and agreement of minds and manners, excites Love: as also outward Modesty, Industry, Nobility, Learning, quickness of Wit, and other such like Or­naments of Body and Mind. Love it self is the Load-stone of Love; to which if Be­nefits are added, he is then constrained to return Love, who would not bestow it. There are moreover some things, natu­rally provoking Love: for they who have clearer Spirits, a warmer Heart, a more subtle Blood, and are of an easie and meek Disposition, are more prone to Love.

3. Great is the power of Love: It transforms the Lover, into the thing Be­loved. Love is a certain going out of it self, a certain Pilgrimage from it self, a cer­tain voluntary Death. He who Loves is absent from himself, he thinks not of him­self, he provides nothing, he doth nothing: [Page 87]and unless he is received by his beloved, he is no where. O how unhappily doth he love, who loves not God! for he cannot be in the beloved, who loves earthly Objects, which cannot satiate the Soul, as being subject to Vanity and Death: But he that loves God, is in God; and ceasing to live in himself, lives in him, in whom all things live, who is our Center, and our unchange­able Good. Humane love is violent and bitter; the Divine is evermore humble and peaceable. Jealousie torments that, but this hath no Rivals: that fears lest another should love; this wishes all would love. wherefore, if thou lovest thy self, love God; for that thou lovest him, is thy own profit, not his. Man may be alter'd, and perish; thou never losest God, unless thou leavest him.

4. That the love which thou perchance bearest thy Companion, may be sincere; lay aside all humane causes of Wit, Jocund­ness, Likeness; and seek only them which consist in Piety and Sanctity. The Love which they call Platonical, is the bane of Virtue, whereby they feign, that from the beholding Corporal Comliness, the Soul is raised to the contemplation of the Divine Beauty. The stedfast eying of a sair Face, excites the Concupiscence to touch it; and [Page 88]that which goes out by the Eyes, whether it is Light, or a certain Flux, melts the Man, and destroys him. 'Tis better the Feet should slip, than the Eyes. But the Remedies of Love are of great difficulty, because when 'tis chastised, it more eagerly presses on, and unless thou resistest its be­ginnings, it so insensibly creeps in, that thou wilt first feel thy self to Love, before thou hadst any design of Loving. But if thou absolutely repugnest to the beginnings, the cure will be easily compassed. The Mind also must be busied about other mat­ters, which being accompanied with care, will remove the memory of the thing beloved. Then all mention of the person affected is to be avoided, because nothing more easily returns than Love; which if it hath once seiz'd on thee, it will so perti­naciously vex thee, as that it will not be removed but by the lingring Remedy of time and absence; that is, till it being tired, expires. Shame hath cur'd many, when they saw themselves pointed at, and be­come the common talk of the people; and withall considered the foulness of the thing, full of disgrace, full of danger, and subject to future Repentance. It hath profited others, to enquire attentively into the Evils and inconveniences of the thing beloved, [Page 89]which might diminish its amiableness and beauty. Lastly, a conversion of our Love to God, to Virtue, to eternal Objects, that is, to things which are truly Lovely, will much conduce to the cure; that so a good Love may expell the bad, and the ge­nerous mind of man may grow ashamed to debase it self to the vile love of the earth. Bad loves, infect good manners.

5. Nature hath bound all things toge­ther with a certain Love-Chain. This drives and couples the dances of the Stars in Heaven, the flocks of Birds in the Air, the Heards of Oxen in the Meadows, the Droves of Cattel in the Mountains, the companies of Wild Beasts in the Woods. This Sacred Bond is broken only by Ha­tred: for as Love tends to Union, so Ha­tred aims at Division and Dissention. They are most subject to this bad affection, who are sluggish, timerous, and suspicious, and apprehensive of loss on every side. There are moreover some men so born, that they hate all others, like that horrid sort of Fowls, which hate even their own darkness. If thou meetest with any of this Note, do not hate them, but pity them. As in wrest­ling, thou watchfully lookest to thy Play­mate without any anger; so in all thy Life, decline from him without hatred, who [Page 90]is contrary to thy disposition. And thou wilt hinder hatred, by exciting thy mind to love, upon the consideration of some good in the hatefull object. There will be no place for hatred in thee, if thou interpretest all things in the best sence. Then, Hatred is to be applied to the things which truly deserve it; which are the deformity of Sin, and eternal Damnation. If thou turnest it to any thing else, thou hurtest not the thing thou hatest, but thy self. For if thou art commanded to love even thy Enemies, whom canst thou justly hate? Thou must pass out of the priviledg'd City, to find one against whom thou mayst practise thy ha­tred. That Evil is without the nature of things, against which only hatred may law­fully be exercised: But if thou must needs hate a man, let it be none but thy self: For no one can hurt thee so much, as thou dost thy self.

CHAP. XIV. Of Desire, and Flight. What is to be De­sired, what to be Fled from.

1. HAppy he, who is subject to God: who desires nothing earnestly; who accommodates himself to things as they occurr; who says, God will have me to be safe, he will have me to be sick; he will have me to be rich, or poor; he will have me to pass from hence, or to stay here: I am prepared for either. If thou once sayst, When shall I go thither? When shall I get that thing? Thou wilt be miserable. For if thou covetest that which is without thee, thou wilt be tormented with perpe­tual anxiety, and as in an orbicular Ma­chine, thou wilt alwayes pursue, never possess. In thy own Power are thy own Opinions, Thoughts, Affections, Actions; without thy Power are the Body, Riches, Glory, Dignities, and whatsoever thy self doth not. Those can neither be prohibited by any one, nor hindred: These are aliens, and subject to impediments. Wherefore do not at all desire those, or at least so desire [Page 92]them, as considering them to depend upon the arbitriment of others, and that they cannot long continue with thee, because their condition so requires. No external thing is to be desired; For the Figure of this World passes away. Look within: within is a Fountain of Good, alwayes distilling, if thou alwayes diggest.

2. In this one thing was placed the wisdom of some antient Philosophers, who being exempt from the Empire of Fortune, amidst the sharpest torments of their Bo­dies, disputed with their blessed Minds about Felicity. For contemplating the li­mits of that Power which God hath given to Man, they became fully perswaded, that nothing besides their own thoughts and affections belonged unto themselves. And thereupon, by the use of this medita­tion, they got such an absolute dominion over them, and so well govern'd the mo­tions of their minds, that not without some reason, they boasted themselves to be the only Rich, the only Powerful, the only Happy men. But an assiduous exercita­tion is necessary to learn this lesson of de­spising the things which are without thee, as not at all belonging to thee. If thou canst come to this, thou wilt never grieve at the want of external things; as thou [Page 93]grievest not, that thou art not King of the Tartars, or that thou art destitute of wings to fly withall. What is without us, is no­thing to us.

3. With this Bridle, Desires are to be curbed; which unless thou moderatest, thy unsatiable mind will never be satisfied with whatsoever thou affordest it; all will but irritate, not end its Cupidity. No moisture suffices him, whose bowels are inflam'd with a burning heat; for that's not a Thirst, but a Disease: So it befalls them who recall not their desires to Reason, which hath certain bounds; but leave them to Vice, and Loosness, whose limits are immense and incomprehensible. Thou wilt feel no incommodities, nor wilt thou want any thing thou desirest, if thou conteinest thy self within the measure of Nature: if thou exceedest this measure, thou wilt be poor, even amidst the greatest plenty. To Cupidity, nothing is enough; to Nature, few things are sufficient.

4. Remember so to behave thy self in thy Life, as thou wouldst at a Feast. If Dainties are carried about, and come to thee, put forth thy hand modestly and take a share of them. If he who bears them passes by thee, detain him not. If he is not yet come up to thee, extend not [Page 94]thy appetite to things afar off, but stay till he is present. If thou standest thus affected towards Riches, towards Dig­nities, and the rest of things which are without, thou wilt be worthy to feast with the Saints; and thou wilt enjoy such a serenity of mind, as will raise thee above all Chances. But if more­over thou wilt slight and refuse the things which are offered, thou shalt not only be a Guest of the Saints, but a Partner in their Felicity, and wilt begin to fore-tast upon Earth, that happiness which they enjoy in Heaven. 'Tis in thy own power to make thy self happy, by desiring nothing which is without thee. Who is blessed and happy? He, who hath what he will. He hath what­soever he will, who wills nothing but what he may.

5. We shun and abhor many things as hurtfull, which are indeed profitable. For it falls out for the most part, that they are contrary to the Mind. That which hurts, instructs. Death, Exile, Poverty, Disgrace, Labour, Sickness, and the rest of the same kind, which are not in thy Power, belong not unto thee. To these therefore thou art not to oppose Flight, not detestation; but a Neglect of [Page 95]the Opinion conceiv'd of them. Socrates fitly named all these things, Goblins: For as Goblins affright Children, whereas no­thing is in them horrible but their out­ward shew: So it happens in things, which thou art wont to apprehend, not as they are, but as they appear. What is Death? A Hob-Goblin. Observe how sweet it was, not only to the Saints, and persons of high vertue and perfection, but to Socrates, and to other Heathen Sages. What then is so terrible in Death? Opi­nion. The Fear of Death is horrible, not Death it self. The same thou wilt find in other things, which thou art wont to abo­minate. Correct Opinion, and thou wilt perceive there's nothing besides Sin, which thou art to abhorr.

CHAP. XV. Of Joy, and of Sadness. How a good man ought to rejoyce. He who fore-sees all things, is not contristated. Several Antidotes a­gainst Grief.

1. THou art so to rejoyce, as that Mo­desty may appear in the midst of thy Mirth; and that thy Mind be not so dissolved, but thou canst freely, if it be needfull, pass from gladness to sadness. Christ our Lord, the best Esteemer of things, calls not Laughers blessed, but Mourners. For it very much mis-becomes a Christian man, who professes to look after eternal things, amongst so many dan­gers of Soul and Body, amongst so many most just causes of Sadness, to delight in vain Laughter after the manner of Fools, and to rejoyce excessively at perishing tri­fles. Earthly pleasure fleets away, and what we call Joys, are oftentimes the be­ginnings of Sadness. True Joy springs only from a clear Conscience. No one can be said to have solid Joy, but he who is Just, Valiant, Temperate. That Joy may never [Page 97]be wanting to thy mind, see that it be born at home. And it will be there born, if it is within thy self. Other Rejoycings are light, they fill not the Breast; nor doth he al­wayes rejoyce, who laughs. Sincere joy is a severe thing: It springs from a good Con­science, from honest Councels, from upright Actions, from a contempt of Pleasures, and from the peaceable tenour of an unspotted Life. This is the true Law of Virtue; that thou mayst truly Rejoyce, thou must a long time Mourn.

2. Sadness, detests the Evil which is pre­sent, (either really, or in the apprehension) with a certain trouble and disquiet. But 'tis our usual custom to be troubled for the most part not at things, but at the Opi­nion of things. Search not therefore over­narrowly into things, not into thy Servants, not into thy Fields, not into thy Moneys, not into thy Affairs: rather consider what thy Opinion is of them. That thou art disgraced, that thou art robb'd, that thou art beaten, is not in thy power: but to think rightly of these things, that they are not Evils, but sometimes profitable, is in thy power: Thou wilt never grieve, if pulling away thy thought from the present trouble, thou there placest it where true Joys are to be found. To a good man, [Page 98]nothing happens amiss, not because he doth not feel it, but because he overcomes it. For he looks upon all Adversity, as an occa­sion of exercising his Patience, as an instru­ment of the Divine Grace, as the way to an everlasting Glory. A good man may be said to be miserable, but he cannot be so.

3. Whatsoever may be, do thou fore­fee as if it will be. Thus thou wilt abate the violence of all Evils, which bring no new thing to them who are prepared; but will prove grievous to them who expect nothing but prosperity. What wilt thou do if an accident should bereave thee of one half of what thou hast? What if of All? What if thy House falls? if thy Friends forsake thee? if thy Fame is endangered? if by calumny thou art cast down from thy Dignity? A Disease, Captivity, Ruine, Fire, nothing of these is sudden to a Wise man. He communes with himself of fu­ture Misfortunes, and mitigates the Sorrow by meditating long upon it, which others do by long sustaining it. That may happen to any one, which happens to any one. What Riches are there, which Hunger and Beggery follow not at the back? What Dignity, which is not accompanied with Infamy, and extreme Contempt? What [Page 99]Kingdom, for which Destruction is not pre­pared? Hath not this Age of ours seen an unparallel'd Example, of a Royal Head cut off by the Sword of the Hangman; and this by command of his own Subjects? Nor are these things far distant from one another: the moment of an hour is between Plenty and Poverty, between the Palace and the Cottage, between the Throne and the Axe. Know then that every Condition is chang­able, and whatsoever befalls any man, may also befall thee. He easily bears adverse Fortune, who alwayes expects it.

4. Virtue rouses not it self, when the life proceeds with a prosperous course; Then it appears how great it is, when Pa­tience manifests what it can do. We are made a Spectacle (sayes the Apostle) to God, to Angels, and to Men. And behold a Spectacle worthy of Gods aspect: behold a Pair fit to be presented to the Divine Ma­jesty; a Valiant man oppress'd with Ad­versity, triumphing over himself and over all his Calamity. A calm Sea and a prospe­rous Gale, shew not the Art of the Pilot. Who so is not tempted, what knows he? Some one sayes, I am unhappy, to whom this sad misfortune befell. But I say, thou art happy, because thou hast the opportunity to try thy self: For the same thing might [Page 100]have befaln any one; but to accept of it without grief, was not for every one. Be not therefore dejected in sinister events; but rather on the contrary take firm foot­ing, and sustain whatsoever burthen falls from above upon thee. For the first vio­lence being broken, thou wilt see nothing horrible in these things, besides Opinions. Such things as have their force from Na­ture, retain the same in all men: but many suffer Poverty, Disgrace, Reproach, and the rest which the Vulgar call Evils, with much patience, many do not so much as feel them; 'tis not therefore natural to grieve at these things, but it proceeds from a perverse Opinion. Why dost thou lye to thy self? Thou mayst render all Calamity casie, by enduring it. All Grief is light, if Opinion adds no weight to it. Do not thou make thy Evils more grievous unto thee, by thy impatience. Every one is as misera­ble, as he esteems himself.

5. All Sickness lessens at length by de­lay, and though the pain is most violent, yet time either takes it away, or weakens it. Wilt thou therefore expect the day, in which thy Grief will cease whether thou wilt or no; or wilt thou thy self put an end to it? Why preventest thou not that with Councel, which time will bring about? [Page 101]Although thou keepest thy sorrow, yet it will slide out of thy custody. For nothing is sooner hated than Sadness, which when 'tis new finds a Comforter, when grown old is deric [...]d. Now if Calamity is over­come by Grief, let every day be spent in lamentation, let sadness consume the nights without sleep, let the hands fall upon the breast, and let sorrow exercise upon it self all sorts of cruelty: But if Crys are boot­less, if no tears or complaints can mitigate Adversity: Learn to rule thy self, and with invincible Constancy resist all Calamity. He is a pitiful Governour of a Ship, who loses his skill in every Storm, and permits his tottering Boat to the fury of the Tem­pest. But he deserves praise, even in a Ship­wreck, whom the Sea overwhelms, whilst he holds the Helm, and wrestles with the Waves.

CHAP. XVI. Of Hope, and of Despair. How we are to moderate them both.

1. VAin and false is that Hope, and the meer Dream of a man broad awake, which is not placed in God, by whose sole beck all difficulties may be overcome. Why art thou vex'd with the expectation of a future event, and ex­tendest thy thoughts to things a far off? Thou wilt hope nothing, if thou desirest nothing, if thou despisest all Earthly things. No one hopes what he contemns. Although thy hopes should never deceive thee, although they tend to things easily obtain'd; yet so long as any hope han­kers within thee, thou wilt be solicitous, uncertain of thy self, and full of doubts and anxieties. As thou runnest not with thy Feet into uncooth and uneven Paths; so neither art thou to roam with thy Mind upon such things, as are not within the reach of thy own power. 'Tis a misery to have that wanting to the Will, which is hoped for.

2. The Mind is frequently to be ad­monished to look upon all things which are without thee, and about thee, as perishable, and hanging by a slender Thread. Why forgettest thou thy own Condition? Thou art born Mortal: No­thing is promised thee of this Day; no­thing of this Hour. Death stands at thy back: whatsoever thou hast is but borrow­ed: the use of it is thine, so long as it pleases the supreme Arbiter of all things. When he calls, all is to be ren­dred up without complaint. 'Tis the part of a perverse Debtor, to injure his Cre­ditor. There's nothing therefore under the Sun, which thou oughtest to hope for. That only is a true Hope, which is rightly conceiv'd of the true and chief Good.

3. Despair is caused by Sloathfulness, Dejection of mind, an over-great appre­hension of Difficulties, a faulty Diffidence of ones self, and of the defect of his own Forces and Industry. 'Tis conquered, by exciting the Mind to imitate their Ex­ample, who being in far greater an­guishes, generously overcame all Obstacles. Begin and drive on thy self, for God helps them who do what they can; and thou wilt find that most easie, which [Page 104]seem'd most hard, if the false Opinion concerning it is deposed. Whatsoever happens to thee, that all was designed from Eternity. Now, that either falls out as thou by Nature art disposed to endure it, or otherwise: if the first, de­spair not, but bear it: if otherwise, yet do not despair; for whatsoever it is, it will soon have an end, and make an end of thee. That's light which thou canst bear; short, which thou canst not. But remember, that it is in thy own Power to render many things tollerable, if thou wilt apprehend them as profitable and convenient. Calamity is the occasion of Virtue.

CHAP. XVII. Of Fear. How Vain it is, and how to be Vanquished. Boldness to be avoided. Some­thing again of Anger.

1. MAny there are, who when there is no present Evil, nor any assuredly to come, do nevertheless rage and run a­bout, and either feign a Misfortune to themselves, or increase it. Humane cru­elty hath not invented so many torments, as a Mind endures which is ever anxious of the future, which is over-solicitous to pre­serve his present Goods, and over-appre­hensive of future dangers. Many things which would not be Evils, are so because we fear them. What profits it thee to be troubled before the time: and by a vain providence to meet thy own Miseries? Must thou needs be now miserable, because thou mayst be so hereafter? 'Tis the part of a Fool, to give up his reason to other mens relations; and when no apparent signs foretell the Mischief, to be terrified with false imaginations. Oftentimes thou being deceiv'd with a sinister conjecture, wrestest [Page 106]a Word of doubtful signification, to the worst sence. Sometimes thou conceivest the offence of a Nobleman to be greater than indeed it is; and thinkest, not how far forth he is angry, but what he may do be­ing angry. But these Fears are vain; and therefore trouble more, because vain. For true things have their measure; but what comes from uncertainty, is left to the con­jecture and liberty of the timerous Mind. It little differs, whether thou endurest ad­verse fortune, or expectest it; but only there is a measure of grieving, none of fear­ing. Thou grievest for as much as thou knowst has hapned, thou fearest for as much as may happen.

2. If thou wilt put off all Fears; pro­pose, that whatsoever thou dreadest lest it should come, will certainly come; then measure that Evil with thy self, and tax thy Fear; thou wilt soon perceive that the thing thou fearest, is not in it self great, but in thy Opinion. Can any harsher mis­fortune befall thee, than to be thrust into Banishment, cast into Prison? Can thy Body dread any thing more, than to be burnt to death? Discuss these particulars, and reduce them to thy true Fear: thou wilt find many, even Infidels who con­temned all these things. Stephen amongst [Page 107]the Stones, prayed to God with [...] Mind. Lawrence triumphs in the Flames, and insults over the Tyrant. The Virgin Apollonia casts her self into the prepared Fire. Anaxarchus smiles in the Mortar, being beaten to pieces with Iron Malls. Socrates chearfully drinks a health to Cri­tias, out of his poysoned Cup. Why dreadest thou Flames and Fires, and the frowning looks of the Executioners who encompass thee? Under all that pomp, which affrights Fools, Death lies hid, which so many Boys and Girls have with joyful minds embra­ced. Take away tumults from things, put off their vizards, restore to every thing its own Countenance, thou wilt see nothing terrible in them, besides the terror it self. That happens to us greater Children, which does to little ones: They, if they see them whom they love, with whom they live, with whom they play, personated and dis­guised, are affrighted: But thou more silly than Children, art arriv'd at that height of Folly, as not only to be vext at grief, but with the Panick Fear of it.

3. Lead thy Mind from the private to the Common Cause. Think thou hast a frail and mortal Body, subject to many Diseases, and at last to Death: And say to thy self, I knew long since that many ad­verse [Page 108]verse Accidents hung over my Head: What therefore do I now dread? I shall be Sick? The Sickness of my Body, will con­duce to the Health of my Soul. I shall be reduc'd to Poverty? My Life will be safer and more quiet. I shall lose my Riches? And with them many Cares, and perpetual Danger. I shall suffer Disgrace? If the cause is just, I will execrate it; if unjust, I will comfort my self with my own Con­science. I shall be frustrated in my ex­pectation of the thing I hoped for? Neither do Kings obtain all they desire. I shall be sent into Banishment? I will go of my own accord, and make it a Pilgrimage. I shall become Blind? The occasions of many Cu­pidities will be cut off. Men will speak ill of me? They will do what I deserve, and what they are wont. I shall Dye? Upon this Condition I entred to go forth. But I shall Dye in a Foreign Nation? No Land is Foreign to him, who hath here no per­manent City. I shall Dye before my time? None but a Mad-man complains to be freed from his Fetters before the time, and to be releas'd out of Prison. Death, Exile, Grief, are not punishments to be dreaded; for they are but the tributes of our Mortality. 'Tis a Folly to fear the things thou canst not avoid.

4. Beware of over-much Boldness, and do not rashly set upon any thing above thy strength; for none are sooner oppress'd, than they who presume too much of them­selves. Small are our Forces without Gods help, from whom proceeds all our suffici­ency. Boldness springs from the great value we put upon our own Virtue, from a con­tempt of our Adversaries, from a precipi­tate Wit, and from the little practice and experience we have in the transaction of affairs. He is least forward, who is most prudent: For he measures his own strength; diligently casting about what he can do, and considering what he shall be unable to com­pass. Audacious persons, when they meet with greater difficulties than they before apprehended, flag and fall back; acknow­ledging (when too late) how uncertain mens providences are, how vain their ima­ginations. The beginning of future Cala­mity, is unwary Security.

5. Anger will never get the Mastery over thee, if thou takest away the Opinion of the esteemed Injury. Thou thy self art the Ring-leader of all the crimes thou com­mittest. Thou bringest upon thy self all the Mischiefs which befall thee. Why dost thou charge others with the cause of thy pertur­bations, if thou thy self drivest them on [Page 110]headlong? No one is hurt, but by himself. What Nurses say to Children, Do not cry, and thou shalt have it; thou mayst more rightly say to thy boyling Mind, Be not Angry, Do not strive and clamour, and what thou intendest will be better brought to pass. Appoint certain Dayes, in which thou proposest, not to fall into Anger, what occasion soever urgeth thee: then try thy self for one or two Moneths after the same manner: thou wilt find in process of time, that thou hast so far profited, as to laugh at all such things, which before provoked thee to Anger. Pleasing manners are not so gratefull and agreeable to any of them with whom one lives and converses, as they are to himself who is induc'd with them. A peaceable and pacified Mind hath this Happiness: It is alwayes joyfull, it ever­more triumphs.

CHAP. XVIII. Of the Powers of the Rational Soul. The Ʋn­derstanding is to be restrain'd from Curio­sity. To what Study one should chiefly apply himself. How bad a thing it is to enquire into other mens Manners. The Judgments of others, are to be contemned. Of the de­nial of our Will.

1. GOd hath given thee the faculty of Ʋnderstanding, that thou mightest know him, and by knowing him Love him: but Sin hath maimed this Faculty with a double Wound; with Ignorance, and with Blindness. For thou errest in the Notion of Truth; and art for the most part ignorant what is to be done or to be avoided. Now with what care a City is to be kept in the time of a raging Pestilence, or a Castle being besieged by an Enemy, lest some unknown person should creep in; with so great and far greater diligence we must watch, lest our Understanding should lye open to any bad thing suggested to it by the Senses. For the Senses represent the Species of things, the Ʋnderstanding admits them, and [Page 112]having judg'd them, proposes them to the Will. But the Senses offer both good and bad, and it belongs to the Mind either to embrace or exclude them.

2. In the first place, the Ʋnderstanding is to be contain'd from Curiosity. Why distractest thou thy Mind, made for solid Wisdom and for God himself, with vain trifles? As he that tasts Woolf-bane, to find out its quality, perishes before he feels the savour of it; So they who dive into mat­ters which belong not to them, undo them­selves before they know what they desired. To know that which profits not, is the next to Ignorance. Who so desires to be truly Wise, doth not learn for his Opinion, but for his Life: nor doth he seek in knowledge the delight of his mind, but the remedy. Wouldst thou gladly know the force of the Stars? Thou wilt shew thy self foolish, if after thou hast found that out, thou art ig­norant of thy own weakness. Wilt thou speak well and elegantly? 'Tis much better thou wouldst learn to hold thy peace. De­sirest thou to know new things? What is newer, than to renew thy self? Learn that. Thou wilt confute other mens errors? Why correctest thou not thy own? It de­lights thee to run over Histories, and to know the deeds of others? Well, if in the [Page 113]mean while thou art not ignorant of what thou thy self art to do. Thou wouldst ac­cord the differences of them who are at strife? And why not thy own tumultuous affections? Didst thou not seek after what is superfluous, thou wouldst easily find what is necessary. Now that knowledge is necessary, which makes thee rather Good than Learned.

3. Why dost thou trouble and torment thy self with such Questions, as would for the most part better be despised than sol­ved? Why labourest thou with pertinaci­ous study to learn such things, which if thou knewst them, ought to be forgotten? But as the intemperance of other things, so also that of Learning vexeth us. There's no end of Books. Libraries are furnished, more for Ornament, and to please Specta­tors, than for the use of Readers. Thou wilt scarcely be able to read the Indexes of Books in thy whole life time, although thou shouldst live many years. Amongst these, many are pernicious; many unwor­thy to be read; many vain and frivolous, which after thou hast long perused, thou wilt be never the wiser. Thou mayst sa­lute many of them (as it were) from the Threshold, lest thou mayst imagine some great and secret good lies conceal'd within [Page 114]them. But thou art to stick close to a few, and those choice ones. We want few Books, to inform a good mind.

4. O the vain thoughts of Mortals! We tire our selves in turning over Books and Papers, and extend our Wit to many Arts and Sciences, as if we were to live many Ages: but we neglect the care of eternal Life, which is not acquired by the skill in Sciences, but by the practice of Virtues. What profits it to enquire into the Acts of Foreign Kings, and to describe in large Volumes what the people did and suffered? How much better would it be for thee to extinguish thy own Evils, than to explicate those of other men to posterity? Geometry teaches thee to measure Fields; let it rather teach thee to measure what is sufficient for thy self. Arithmetick teaches thee to num­ber, and to count thy Incomes; let it rather teach thee to contemn them, and to be willing to lose the things which are acquired with so great solicitude. Musick shews thee how Voices agree together; let it shew thee how thy Mind may agree with it self, and how thy Senses and Reason may not make a discording sound. It informs thee which are the flat, which the sharp Moods and Notes; let it instruct thee not to be ex­toll'd in prosperity, not to be dejected in [Page 115] adversity. These and other things will be profitably known, when thou knowst thy self. Thou knowest nothing at all, notwith­standing that thou knewst all things, if thou knowst not thy self.

5. 'Tis an infamous and sordid Vice to pry into the actions of others, to enquire into their manners, and rashly to interpret all things. For who art thou, that thou shouldst presume to judge anothers Servant? 'Tis to his Lord, that be must stand or fall. He who hath reserv'd all judgment to him­self, is to judge all. With what face darest thou invade the Divine Tribunal? Look to thy self, and search into the secrets of thy own Conscience; See what evils are there, what good is there wanting, and turn not thy Eyes upon other mens lives and actions. Thou wilt find a sufficient plenty of bad weeds to be pull'd out of thy own ground; Faults, which thou mayst boldly fall upon with a severe censure. There's scarcely any thing so justly done, but that a depraved spirit may wrest it to an ill sence. Hereticks abuse the very Gospels; The Jews calum­niated Christ's actions. As Bodies of a me­lancholick and malevolent humour, turn all the food they eat into Choler; so an ill-dispos'd Soul, mis-interprets all it sees, all it hears. A good or bad Intention, makes [Page 116]things oftentimes good or bad: but this is known to him alone, who searches the reins and the heart. If another persons doings can by no means be defended; what's that to thee? Art thou not asham'd to bring filthy things out of corners, and expose them to publick view? Why dost thou not observe thy self, who art worse than others? Practise thy Slanderous tongue against thy self, detract thy self to thy self, accuse thy own crimes, judge them, condemn them. Thou wilt avoid Gods Judgment, if thou art a severe Self-censurer.

6. As we are commonly very ingenious in observing the actions of others, seeking thereby to be esteemed prudent: so we easily suspect that others in like sort think and speak ill of us; and that we are to them odious and despicable. That thou mayst quell this, cut off in the first place all desire of pleasing Men, and of being by them highly esteemed: then endeavour to cast away the very thought of knowing what others think or speak of thee: espe­cially since it often happens, that they do not so much as once think of thee, whom thou fanciest to speak ill of thee and ob­serve thee. Say to thy self with the Apostle; If I pleased men, I were not Christs Servant. [Page 117]Say to others; 'Tis little to me, that I am judg'd by you, or by the day of man. Thou art truly such, as thou art with God. The Opi­nion and Talk of men adds nothing to thy goodness, takes nothing from thy malice. 'Tis better to be Good, then so esteemed.

7. Nothing will fall out contrary to thy Will, if thou totally denyest it, and trans­formest it into the Divine Will. Thus thou wilt enjoy a solid Peace of Mind, thus thou wilt attain to a true tranquility. Thou wilt live as thou pleasest, if thou wilt learn to will what thou oughtest. And thou ought­est to will what God will. This is the only felicity of this Life, to will, that whatsoever is done may be so done as God will, and not as we our selves will. God leads thee on to the End, whereto thou wert eternally de­signed, by sweetnesses and bitternesses, by prosperities and adversities. Obey the Di­vine Providence, and follow with Alacrity: for shouldst thou resist, yet thou must follow, and thou wouldst be wicked. God leads the Willing, draws the Unwilling.

CHAP. XIX. Of the state of Proficients. Several helps to Proficiency. The value and use of Time. The Presence of God, Necessary.

1. IF thou desirest to be Good, first believe that thou art Bad. Thou wilt never profit, if thou leavest off the desire to profit. To have no will to go onwards, is to go backwards. Persevere therefore as thou hast begun, and make what haste thou canst, to the end thou mayst quickly enjoy a quiet and composed Mind. 'Tis an argu­ment of a Mind chang'd into a better Con­dition, if thou seest thy Crimes, which be­fore thou knewest not. So we are wont to congratulate sick persons, when they are sensible that they are sick. Do not easily give credit to thy self; but discuss and ob­serve thy self, and take a tryal of thy Pro­ficiency from the firmness of thy Mind, and the diminution of thy Cupidities. Thou mayst esteem thy self to be in the Form of Proficients, when thou shalt have obtain'd an absolute power over thy self. 'Tis an in­estimable good to possess ones self, and to [Page 119]be one. A good man, is alwayes the same; a bad man, alwayes another.

2. Thou mayst, if thou wilt, in one day climb to the top of Sanctity, if averting thy whole Heart from Creatures, thou con­vertest it to thy Creator. Now, whether thou leadest a life inwardly with God, thou wilt know by these signs: If transitory things displease thee, if solitude delights thee, if thou aimest at what is most per­fect, if thou valuest not mens Judgments and Opinions. Moreover the continual Meditation of Christ's Life and Passion, will afford thee a great help to attain to all Virtue. He is the Book of Life, in which alone, as in a rich and well stored Library, thou wilt find whatsoever appertains to Salvation, although all other Books with their Authors perished. But it sufficeth not to know and meditate Christ, unless thou also imitatest him, and so livest, as he taught by his Word and Example. Crook­ed things cannot be corrected, but by the Rule.

3. One said excellently well, That they who will profit, ought so to live, as if they were perpetually under cure. For many things are continually to be observed, which put a stop to one hastning to the Cittadel of Perfection; as, when thou [Page 120]lovest thy self or any creature inordinate­ly; when thou standest so affected to ex­ternal things, as that thou wouldst be trou­bled at their being lost or taken away from thee; when thou too much seekest thy own ease and content in Meat, Drink, Talk, wandring abroad; when thou em­busiest thy self more then is necessary in temporal affairs; when thou pertinaci­ously adherest to thy own judgment and opinion; when thou observest not Gods inward motions, and refusest to listen to him, speaking in thy interiour by his secret Inspirations. These are the chief Impediments which detain thee in thy journey; which thou art to remove with all vigilancy and diligence, and set thy self manfully to thy work. Let Virtue animate thee in all thou undertakest; let the most perfect End encourage thee to proceed with promptitude and alacrity; let a pure Intention comfort thee in thy progress: and so apply thy self to the work, as that it may fully equal the prenotion thou hast of its perfection. Pro­ficiency consists not in the multitude of Ex­ercises, but in doing those perfectly which thou daily performest. For praise is not so much due to the deed, as to the manner of doing it.

4. The Dayes fly, Time hastens, and what is past, no man can recall, and give it back to thee. Thou dost not live, but thou art to live; for thy life looks alwayes on the Morrow. So thy Life slides away, whilst thou art studying to prepare in­struments to preserve it: and in the mean while Old age steals upon thee, Death seizes on thee, and finds thee un­prepared. As men journeying together, and deceiving the time with mutual Col­loquies, arrive at their journeys end be­fore they apprehended themselves near it: even so the continued journey of this Life, in which thou marchest on, both sleeping and waking, in the same track, will not appear what it is to thee being imployed and distracted, till thou arrivest at the end of it. Why then dost thou stay, why dost thou idle? Put a Value upon Time, make use of it speedily: prize high­ly this Day, yea this Hour, for the loss of it is irreparable. Thou sufferest not thy Inheritance to be invaded by any one; if a small contention arises about the Limits, thou runnest presently to Arms and Law­suits: but thou permittest thy Life and Time to be taken away by any one; being most prodigal of that thing, of which thou mayst only honestly be Covetous. Compute [Page 120] [...] [Page 121] [...] [Page 122]thy Age, call thy past years to a just ac­count, although thou should adde to them an hundred more, thou wilt find thou hast yet fewer then thou numberest. For how much of these hath Sleep, Gluttony, Friends, and idle ramblings abroad snatch'd from thee? How much hath lain without use? How much hath slipp'd away from thee doing nothing, or worse then nothing, whilst thou wert insensible of thy loss? Thou wilt understand how little is left thee of the whole, and confess that Death takes thee before thy time. Thou frequently complainest of the dayes past and gone, which thou hast unadvisedly lost: why en­deavourest thou not so to spend the time present, that when it is also gone, thou mayst say, I see not how I could better have imployed it? Each single day is only present, and that also by Moments. Why losest thou this day, which is thine; and disposest of the day to come, which is none of thine? The greatest impediment of li­ving, is Delay. Live to day, 'tis late to live to morrow.

5. Look evermore upon God, in each thought, word, and work, excluding all other Ends whatsoever: and follow his only Will. He never swerves from the right path, who chuses God for his Guide. Thy [Page 123]affairs will be in a good condition, if thou directest all thou dost to Gods Glory; and so performest each particular action, as if he were thy Spectator, who sees all things, sustains all things, provides for all things. Thou canst never shun his Sight; for he is present not only to thy words and actions, but to thy most inward cogitations. When thou hast shut the doors, and sittest in Dark­ness, do not fancy thy self to be alone, God is with thee. His presence should render thy secret more sacred. To him nothing is shut. In him we live, move, and are. Eat and Drink before him; Walk with him; Talk with him of all thy affairs; Raise to him thy whole Life and Conversation. Render thy self a worthy Object for him to fix his Eyes upon, and whom he may alwayes amiably behold. There's a great necessity of being good impos'd upon thee, since thou actest before the Eyes of an all-seeing Judge. So live, as if there were none in the world, but God and thy self: Whatso­ever, howsoever his Providence shall dis­pose of thee, embrace it willingly, whether it be adverse or prosperous. Thou seekest God, what matters it whether thou com'st to him by this or by that way? And he grant, that thou mayst at last come to him.

CHAP. XX. Of the Good of Solitude. Evil Society is to be shunn'd. What, and how many the Worlds Vices are. The study of a Proficient is the acquisition of Virtues. Certain Signs of Virtue's being obtained.

1. 'TIs a great argument of a Mind well composed, and cleansed from depraved Affections, that it can dwell with it self. As God, who with himself alone is blessed, remains alwayes in himself; so thou wilt come nearest to Gods Felicity, if thou canst learn to remain with thy self. And surely if thou wilt, thou needst never be Solitary, if thou wilt never be separated from Christ. Now if thou hast an Itch of talking, talk with thy self; but beware thou talk not with an Evil person. Wouldst thou know with what Colloquies thou mayst entertain thy self? With such as men most willingly talk of with others: speak ill of thy self, to thy self. Lay open thy Vices, and chastise whatsoever thou findest in thy self worthy of punishment. Some Vice or other will never be wanting, [Page 125]which will require to be cured. Hide thy self in a peaceable vacancy, but hide also thy vacancy. To Glory in Solitude, is a sloathful Ambition. And that thy Solitude may be both pleasing and pro­fitable to thee, joyn an internal re­collection to thy Corporeal abstraction. Withdraw thy self from vain occupations, and depart not only from men, but also from such things as do not concern thee. Be free from every Creature, and exclude their images out of thy Heart. Cast off all solicitudes concerning frail and transi­tory things, all impertinencies of thoughts; and attend to thy self, and to God alone, in the secret recess of thy Heart. In this Silence of Mind, in this Oblivion of all things, and in this Nakedness, consists the Hearts true rest and tranquility. Fly hither, here hide thy self, aim alwayes at this: for God is there found, where all Creatures are forsaken.

2. If thou wilt be Good, shun the com­pany of the Bad. Nothing is so pernicious to good manners, as to commit ones self to the people. Thou shalt never carry back the manners thou broughtest in. A mind which is tender and facile, cannot bear the violence of Vices, usher'd in with so many attendants. We easily pass to [Page 126]the major Part. A Table-Companion who is delicate, mollifies by little and little: A Rich Neighbour irritates the Cupidity. Thou mayst perish, by one example of Luxury or Avarice. Parents draw to bad­ness, Associates draw, Servants draw. All things are full of Dangers, full of Snares, and Deceits. As soon as we are brought forth into Light, we are presently sur­rounded with all manner of depravedness, and perverse Opinions. There's scarcely any one in the world, who either com­mends not some Vice, or impresses it not; or infects not some ignorant person with it. Thou containest thy self sometimes within thy own Closet, separated from the Mar­ket and Commerce of Men: Oh, how sweet and desirable is this retreat! All things within are calm, all things quiet, without a Cloud, without a Tempest. One comes by chance and calls thee abroad; thou followest him. Others joyn them­selves, a Company is made up, you march away together, Sin is committed by some one or other excess; and thou who wentst forth good, returnest very bad. But thou perceivest not the Wounds of thy Soul, till thou art again in thy solitude. Go back therefore into thy self as soon as thou canst, lest the multitude infect thy mind [Page 127]with its Vices and Errors. That Mind is most joyfull, which is distracted with fewest Objects.

3. Fancy to thy self, that thou art trans­lated for a short time to the top of a high Mountain: Take from thence a view of this wretched World; and thou wilt learn to hate it, and love to retire out of it into thy Solitude. Thou wilt behold the wayes beset with Thieves; the Seas infested by Pirates; Kingdoms molested with Wars; the Fields flowing with Humane Blood, and every where Vice and Wickedness abounding. Thou wilt see such things done in secret by lewd persons, which surely cannot please the very Actors them­selves. Thou wilt find things so unworthy, so unbeseeming, that no one would doubt but that the doers of them are Mad, were there only a few which did otherwise: but the multitude of mad people, patro­nizes them from being so reputed. A­mongst the Laws themselves crimes are committed; nor is Innocence there out of danger, where it is defended. The Guilt­less perishes, the Guilty is pardoned; and the Crime seems a less matter than the Absolution. There's no fear of the Laws, for that which may be redeemed is not dreaded. The Tongues of Slanderers are [Page 128]bitter, the Mouths of Flatterers are frau­dulent; there Hatred rages, here Falshood deceives. One lies soak'd in Wine; ano­ther absorp'd with Sluggishness. Insatiable Avarice detains this man, and Ambition depending alwayes upon the opinion of others, tires that man. Look into the Mar­ket-place, swarming with people; thou'lt say, there are so many Vices as men. All offend against their Neighbour, by Inju­ries; against God, by Contempt; against things, by Abusing them. They gather all things together against themselves in judg­ment, being guilty of all. And how canst thou securely keep thy footing, and have recourse to thy self, amongst so many Vices urging on every side; which as soon as thou desirest to arise and lift up thy Eyes, depress and drown thee? 'Tis a hard matter for any one to be innocent, where Troops of bad men reign: for if they can­not alter thee, they will at least hinder thee. There is one way to a stable tran­quility, which is, to withdraw thy self from so many evils, and retreat into a station, where free from all contagion, thou mayst securely behold the worlds raging Pesti­lence. That Mind is unconquerable, which hath forsaken external things, and attending to himself alone, contents him­self [Page 129]in his own Castle. To such a one, the World is a Prison, and Solitude is a Pa­radise.

4. 'Tis a vain thing to sequester thy self from Men, unless thou forcest thy Mind to be attentive to it self, and to be diligent in the exercise of Virtues. Man hath no­thing that is Good, if Virtue is wanting: There's no rest, no felicity, but from Virtue. There are three things, which mutually correspond with each other in the Universe: amongst all and above all, God; amongst sensible things, Light; amongst the perfections of the Mind, Virtue. God is the Light and Virtue of all things: Light is the Virtue of the World, and the Image of God: Virtue is the Light of the Soul, by which we are named, and are the Children of God. Thou art to approach this with a purged Mind, if thou desirest to arrive at the ex­pected height of perfection. For Virtue is the perfection of Man, the restorer of inno­cency, full of all joy and sweetness. 'Tis the supplement of Nature, which of it self is unable to get the supernatural good. It facilitates good works, it makes us live up­rightly; by it we, who are (as it were) blind, are illuminated, by it we resist Sim by it we are stored with merits, by [Page 130]it we deserve eternal life. In this study, 'tis in the first place necessary thou shouldst fore-know the Nature and Acts of each Virtue; because no one loves what he knows not. Then thou art never to cease from the Act and Exercise; and if occa­sions are wanting, thou art to imitate the Souldiers, who in the midst of Peace, pre­pare themselves by feigned Skirmishes to future Battels. Imagine that most enor­mous Crimes are laid to thy Charge, think thy self reviled with all sorts of Re­proaches, fancy that thou art violently bereaft of all thou possessest, and exercise thy Patience, as if it were truly so. Thou wilt not tremble when the thing it self happens, if thou thus exercisest thy self be­fore it happens. The Souldier brings a great courage to the Battel, who hath often dipt his Sword in blood.

5. The Habits of Virtues are not ac­quired without long exercise. And whe­ther thou hast gotten any one of them, thou mayst guess by these signs: to wit, If thou feelest the Vices opposite to Virtue to be extinguished, or for the most part suppressed. If thou findest, that the mo­tions of bad affections will endure to be curb'd by the bridle of Reason, and that thou canst easily compell them to obey thy [Page 131]Mind. If thou exercisest acts of Virtue without difficulty, yea, and with delight. If thou valuest not the sayings of Tepid persons, and with a full liberty of spirit, rousest up thy self to perform those things which displease the Imperfect. If thou abhorrest with a certain connatural loathsomness those bad acts, to which thou wert before habitually inclined. If thou seemest not to be delighted (no, not so much as in thy Dream) with any filthy thing, or that thou approvest not any un­just thing. If thou strivest to imitate those things which thou praisest and admirest in others; and abstainest from those which thou reprehendest. If thou thinkest no fault to be little, and studiously avoidest and observest every imperfection, be it never so small. If when thou seest or hearest that thy equals flourish with Riches and Dignities, thou neither enviest them, nor art troubled at it. If thou ingenuously acknowledgest thy errors, desiring to be by all corrected and reprehended. If being content with the testimony of thy own Conscience, thou reservest and hidest thy good works within thy self: for the Re­ward of a thing that is well done, is to have done it. If finally, thou applyest thy self to the study of Virtue without inter­mission: [Page 132]for true Virtue never flags, but is evermore in Action.

CHAP. XXI. Of the Theological Virtues. Faith is to be approved by Works. Confidence is to be placed in God alone. Motives to love God. The love of our Neighbours is manifested by Benefits. An Exhortation to Alms-deeds.

1. THe Ground-work of all other Vir­tues, and the foundation of the whole Christian Life, is Faith; without which no one can please God. This is the wisdom, which hath tam'd the World; to which we must firmly adhere, rejecting all inquisition and curiosity. Believe then, and act accordingly: for Faith without Works is dead. Thy Sayings and thy Pro­fession brag of Faith: take heed that thy Life and Manners preach not Infidelity. Thou believest the Gospel, why obeyest thou not the Gospel? Thou believest an eternal Life, why preferrest thou this short time, before unending Eternity? What profits it to believe true and good things, if thon art false, and actest bad things? It can [Page 133]hardly be perswaded, that he believes well, who lives ill. For he truly believes, who practises what he professes.

2. Whereas it is most certain, that all things are disposed and governed by Gods Providence; in so much as not a Sparrow alights from the Air, nor a Leaf falls from a Tree without his permission and will: do thou therefore deliver up to him thy whole self, with a generous Mind, and a great Confidence, nothing at all doubting, but that thou shalt receive fit assistance for the management of all thy affairs. Know that all humane helps and advices are de­ceitfull and uncertain; and suffer thy self to be governed and guided by God without any anxiety. Although things unexpected happen, whereby the whole order of thy actions and counsels, may seem to be quite cut off and destroyed; (as with Diseases, with false Accusations, or with other more grievous Accidents) yet be not dejected; but fortifying thy self with Divine Hope, leave all to his disposal: For by these chances, by these disasters, the Divine Wisdom leads thee to that End, which from all Eternity he design'd for thee. He feels not present Evils, who hopes for future Goods. So much a man can, and so much he hath, as he Hopes and Believes.

3. Charity, the Form and Queen of all Virtues, beholds both God and the Neigh­bour. And surely God is to be beloved with thy whole Heart, with thy whole Soul, with thy whole Strength, above all that is amiable, purely for himself, and for his own infinite goodness. That thou Art, that thou Livest, that thou Movest, that thou Feelest, that thou Ʋnderstandest, is the Grace and Favour of God. He Redeem'd thee from the Bondage of the Devil: he hath en­nobled thy Soul with innumerable Prero­gatives: he hath prepar'd for thee an eternal Life, no Merits of thine preceding. Heaven, Earth, Air, Water, and all that is in them, cry daily to thee, to render to him thy greatest Love, who for thee created them. Why roamest thou abroad to seek thy Souls good? Love that One, which is all Good. Seek that Simple Good, which is the Soveraign Good, then which no­thing can be imagined greater, nothing more Lovely. 'Tis Love alone, which enables thee to repay, though not equally, a mutual return to thy Creator. But Love is not Idle, nor doth it seek it self; It works great matters, if it is. No Difficulty is inaccessible to Love. A true Lover may dye, but he cannot be conquered.

4. Nature hath ingraffed Love in all men, and made them sociable: for we are all members of the great Body, call'd to the same Faith, to the same Glory. He Loves not God, who Loves not his Bro­ther. Now, the Acts of Affection towards our Neighbours, are; to conferr Benefits upon all, to profit all, to prevent all with love and officiousness. Thou art therefore to bestow Benefits upon the needy, with a prompt and joyfull Mind; without de­lay, unless it be in the shamefac'dness of the Receiver. Let it suffice thee for the affording of thy remedy to such as suffer by any sad disaster, that thou knowst their indigency. I crave, is a troublesome and burdensome word: if thou forestallest and preventest the desire of thy Friend, before thou art asked, thou multipliest thy Guift. He had it not gratis, who when he had ask'd it, receiv'd it. If thou couldst not prevent him, cut off many words of the Asker, that thou mayst not seem to be en­treated: and make it appear by thy promp­titude in giving, that thou wouldst have done it, though it had not been de­manded. Then joyn good Words to good Deeds, and intermix no sad thing with thy Benefit, not a seeming unwillingness, not a slowness, not an exprobation, not [Page 136]finally any vain boasting. The thing it self will speak, though thou holdst thy peace; and he who beholds in secret, will reward thee.

5. Amongst the Acts of Christian Bene­volence, Almes-deeds hold the chief place; for thereby Faith is proved, Sins are re­deemed, Heaven is purchased. Take heed therefore of despising a poor man, since though himself is poor, he can make thee Rich. Thou art sold by thy Sins, redeem thy self with thy Money: Make of the instruments of Avarice, a means to obtain Mercy. A Player, provoking thee to laugh­ter, goes away rewarded; shall Christ pro­mising thee the Kingdom of Heaven get nothing? Thou payest Tribute to the Prince whether thou wilt or no, even although thou receivest no fruit from thy Fields; and wilt thou refuse a bit of Bread, out of what thou hast over and above, to Christ thy King? Take heed, lest sparing thy Money, thou becomest guilty of spil­ling thy Brothers blood. If thou hast not succour'd him, thou hast slain him. Thou thinkest how well others may live after thee; thou thinkest not how ill thy self mayst dye. 'Tis better something of thy Patrimony should be wanting to thy Heirs, then thou to thy self in thy Sal­vation. [Page 137]Look into thy Accounts: Ob­serve, what in thy Eternal Countrey, what here thou possessest. Of all thy Goods and Chattels, thou wilt find that only in Death, which thou hast sent be­fore thee into Heaven, by the hands of the Poor. Reproach thy Infidelity. The Enemy may invade thy House, but Heaven he cannot.

CHAP. XXII. Of Prudence. Its Necessity and Difficulty. The Duty of a Prudent man.

1. AS no Work can well be brought to perfection by Architects, without the Line and the Level; so neither by us, without Prudence. This is the Square of other Virtues, the right Rule of our Actions, the Eye of the Soul, the Art of living. That Life cannot be pleasant, from which Prudence is absent. All con­fess this Art to be of greatest difficulty: And 'tis also obscure. The Difficulty arises from this, that it embraces within the compass of its consideration, all things as well in general as in particular. And [Page 138]also, that there is no certain state of hu­mane things; which being alwayes varia­ble, contingent, and depending upon di­vers Circumstances, it is not for every ones Wit, to settle in them a certain Rule, and to joyn together and mingle such things by a certain uniform temper, which are oftentimes repugnant in themselves. Now the Obscurity proceeds from that dark­ness, wherein the Causes of doing things are involv'd. The Tops indeed appear, but their Foundations lye hid. The Di­vine Decree of the prosperous or unsuc­cessful event of things, lyes also con­cealed; so that few have this Virtue. Few can foresee what in any affair is most ex­pedient.

2. Use and Remembrance beget Pru­dence. For the single things which it go­verns, are made known to man by Use and Experience. Thou wilt be safe, if thou givest credit to thy own and others experiment, and puttest not thy self upon such high matters, where thou must tremble, and from whence thou must fall. But that thou mayst prudent­ly dispose all things, thou art first to look into thy self; then, into the affairs thou undertakest; next, into them for whom or with whom thou art to act. And thou [Page 139]art to take an exact estimate of thy self, lest thou seemest to thy self more able then thou art. One fell, out of a confidence in his Eloquence; another, burthened his Patrimony with more then it could bear; a third, oppress'd his weak Body with a laborious Office. In the next place, thou art to weigh the things thou undertakest, and compare together thy own forces, and the things which are to be done. The Loads which are bigger then the Bearer, beat him down. Thou art also to put thy hand to such things, which thou either mayst or hopest to make an end of. After­wards, a choice of the men is also to be made; whether they are worthy upon whom thou shouldst bestow a part of thy Life: their Manners are to be examined, lest thou shouldst hurt thy self, whilst thou studiest to profit others. Lastly, it is to be considered, whether thy nature is pro­per to bring about these things, and thou art to incline that way to which the strength of thy Wit carries thee. Where there is a reluctancy in Nature, the Labour comes to nothing.

3. A Prudent man enterprizes nothing, so long as his Mind is agitated with any perturbation; for a Spirit which is shaken and deluded with the enchantments of a [Page 140]depraved affection, cannot discern what is true and honest. Also Precipitation is a great enemy to Prudence, and hath drawn many into grievous and inextrica­ble Mischances. Therefore a Wise man doth nothing Rashly, and submits his own Judgment to the Counsel of others. Mens thoughts are timerous, their Providences unconstant, the issue of their affairs dubi­ous, and their experiences fallacious. There is safety, where are many Coun­cels. It belongs also to a Prudent man, to lay the thing nakedly open, and to look acutely into it, as it is without colour and covering, which are wont to deceive the unwary. Set aside Money, Fame, Dignity: search into the thing it self; inquire what it is, not what it is called. 'Tis the part of a Fool, to be cheated with images and shadows. Then thou art to spy, as from a Watch-Tower, whatsoever may fall out; lest thou mayst be afterwards forced to pro­nounce that fond word, I did not think it. A long Consultation is to be adhibited, a mature judgment, and a subtle examination, lest some bad circum­stance may vitiate the action, lest Prudence may degenerate into Craftiness, and lest in so near a Neighbourhood of the true [Page 141]and counterfeit Good, thou mayst not em­brace Vice for Virtue. Thy Election being at last made, cut off all delay, and fall pre­sently to execute what thou hast decreed. There's no place for lingring in good Coun­sel, which cannot be praised till 'tis per­formed.

CHAP. XXIII. Of Justice, and of Religion. The Acts of Both. What Penance is, and wherein it consists.

1. JƲstice the highest Virtue, ordained for others, not for it self, trans­fuses all it hath into its Neighbours, ask­ing nothing but the use of it self. This averts men from mutual injuries, and settles the whole World in peace. This is a certain tacit Convention of Nature, and the tye of humane Society, nor can there be any thing praise-worthy without it. A Just man hurts no one, he Challenges not what is anothers, he profits all, he thinks and speaks well of all, he gives to every one his due, he hinders not a­nothers good. If he presides, he commands [Page 142]just things, he suffers all to have access to him, he preferrs the good of his Subjects before his own profit; he restrains Vices by punishments, he encourages the virtu­ous by rewards, and thus retains all in their duties. If he is an Underling, he preserves Concord, he obeys the Laws, and the precepts of his Superiors; and resting content with his own condition, he desires neither Offices nor Dignities, nor thrusts himself into things not belonging unto him. He is Just for justice sake, for he knows no greater reward of a Just action, than to be Just.

2. Religion, the most excellent of the Moral Virtues, looks immediately upon God, and upon his worship and honour. Now, the first Worship is to believe and acknowledge him; then, to render to him his own Majesty, his own Goodness. 'Tis but little to know God, which the Devils do, who hate him: love is moreover ex­acted, consisting in these things, (which would to God they were as well accom­plish'd as known.) Thou knowst that God is he, who presides over the World, who preserves Mankind, who rules all things: thou confessest him the only Power­full, the only Good, the only Immense: thou expectest from him, as from thy Sove­raign [Page 143]Good, and thy last End, everlasting Beatitude. Why then dost thou not (as thou oughtest) worship him? Why yield­est thou not to him the highest Venera­tion? Why dost thou preferr a vile clod of Earth before him? Vain is thy Religion, unless thou prov'st it by thy doings. Wilt thou be truly Religious? Walk before God, and be perfect. He sufficiently worships him, who imitates him. True Religion tyes thee to God, God to thee. Keep it un­touch'd from Negligence, from Errors, from Sin. 'Tis a great Folly to preach Faith with the Tongue, Infidelity with the Manners. Men of this note were long since derided by the most famous Philosopher amongst the Heathens: There's nothing (sayes he) more glorious than the Christians, when they talk: nothing more wretched, when they act.

3. Penance is the repairer of the Di­vine Rights violation; which inclines to a Detestation of Sin, with an efficacious Will to satisfie God who is thereby offended. For this is Penance, to detest Sins past, to expiate them, to consent no more unto them. That which pleased, is past: that which Reproaches, which Racks, which Damns, remains. What avails it to hide thy former filthiness? No Criminal, [Page 144]himself being his own Judge, is absolved. Nature hath appointed a certain Tribunal in the very Mind of Man; where every one is the Accuser, Witness, and Judge of his own Wickedness. Compell thy Senses to be every day here present, to render an Accompt. Plead thy Cause at thy own Bar, and argue as much as thou canst against thy self. Spend the whole day in this scru­tiny: and measure exactly all thy sayings, all thy doings, and thy very thoughts, hi­ding nothing, passing by nothing. If thou acknowledgest thy impiety, God pardons it; if thou confessest it, he cures it. What matters it that no one knows thy crime, since thou knowst it? Dost fancy that 'tis better to be damn'd in secret, than openly to be absolv'd? Wheresoever thou lyest conceal'd, thy Conscience is with thee, thou canst not fly from it. Thou art most mise­rable, if thou despisest it.

4. Life is divided into three Times, what is, what was, and what is to come. The present is momentary, ending before 'tis come: the future is not yet: but the past dayes will be all present when thou commandest, and will permit themselves to be look'd in to as oft as thou pleasest. Fear not thy Memory, nor be asham'd to retort it back upon what is past, and to up­braid [Page 145]thy self with thy own Errors. By how much more frequently thou shalt do it, by so much the sooner thou wilt be amended. Take Revenge upon thy self; and do not again admit, what it grieveth thee to have committed. Many men being delivered from Shipwreck, bid for ever­more adieu both to Sea and Ship, and ho­nour Gods benefit by the perpetual me­mory of the danger. I desire thou also mayst have this good Solicitude, not to ad­venture to try again, what thou hast once dreaded. Thou hast escaped a very great danger, do not expose thy self any more to it. God hath spared as oft as thou hast sinned: take heed thou growest not there­fore worse, because God is so good. If thou sometimes thinkest what thou art to do; why not rather what thou hast done? For the Councel of the future, is taken from the past. Many would come to Wisdom, did they not think they were come already. Unless thou daily amendest, thou wilt daily grow worse.

CHAP. XXIV. Of Piety and Observance. Obedience is com­mended, and also Gratitude. How a Be­nefit is to be Receiued and Repayed.

1. NO force of Words can express, how laudable a thing it is, when a man can say, I have yielded to my Pa­rents, and alwayes obey'd them: I have ever submitted to their Command, whe­ther easie or harsh: I have behav'd my self towards my Country, as beseem'd a faith­full Citizen: I have never ceas'd to do good to my Brethren and Kinred: I have endea­vour'd to out-vie all men in Benefits. These surely are the Offices of Piety, by which we give due respect to our Country, Parents, Brethren, and Friends. And what Piety performs to them, Observance performs to­wards Prelates, Princes, Masters, and others who any way excell us in Dignity, Wisdom, Age, Religion, and Sanctity. To such, we are wont to arise, to bare the Head, to give way, to fall down at their knees, to kiss their hands or garments, to shew all sort of Honour, according to each [Page 147]Countries custom. Now, thou wilt perform all these External Ceremonies with an open and reverend Mind, if there precedes in thy Understanding a high esteem of their qua­lity. For from hence there will spring up in thy Will a certain awfull Fear, which will incline thee to avoid an over-great fa­miliarity with them, and make thee as it were to leap back from their Greatness, to thy own Littleness. All power is from God. Whatsoever honour thou givest to thy Bet­ters, will be within their due, if in them thou considerest God.

2. As our Calamity sprung from the Dis­obedience of our first Parent; so we are reduced to Felicity by the Obedience of Gods Son, if we also render our selves Obedient. Obedience is the perfection of all things, and a most firm connexion of them to their beginning: for by an admirable Circle it draws all things to and fro, from God into God. Christ commended this Virtue above the rest, who lest he should lose it, lost his Life. This is said to be better than Sacrifice, because by it we offer up the Sacrifice of our own proper Will. The Edict of a Superior, is to be receiv'd as a Voice sent from Heaven; without enquiring the Cause or Motive of the Command. He knows not how to Judge, who hath perfect­ly [Page 148]learn'd to Obey. Let the Superior warn me, let the Law command me what I am to do; I dispute not; I excuse not, but I simply and speedily Obey: being prepared to execute all things, whether easie or hard, with a like chearfulness and promptitude. There's but one thing in which thou mayst be refractory and stubborn, to wit, If any one withdraws thee from Good, and forces thee to infringe Gods Law. All other com­mands, thou art constantly and without contradiction to put in execution.

3. Gratitude, looks upon a Debt which is due for a receiv'd Benefit. And surely nothing is to be more regarded, than the esteem of a Benefit, if not from the great­ness of the thing, at least from the bestowers Mind and Affection. Then a continual Mindfulness of the good turn is necessary. He cannot return thanks, who remembers not the courtesie; and he who remembers it, even then pays it. This requires not riches, not industry, not felicity; every one hath it in a readiness. Howsoever abi­lities may be wanting, yet a Will cannot, wherewith thou mayst repay even Kings themselves. When thou receivest a Benefit from any one, receive it joyfully, and pro­fess thy joy, that it may be manifest to the Donor, and that so he may reap the fruit [Page 149]of his Gift. 'Tis a just cause of Joy, to see a Friend joyfull, a more just to have made him so. Who so receives a Benefit grate­fully, willingly, graciously, hath paid the first pension for it. He never had a Will to be gratefull, who cast the Benefit so far from him, as that it was out of his sight. He who extolls it, who professes himself unable to render thanks, hath already ren­dred them. He who receives it disdainfully and negligently, seems to set a small value upon it. He who scarcely makes shew to be sensible of it, hardly moves his lips, is more ungratefull, than if he held his peace. A good man, when he receives a Benefit, thinks presently of restoring it. For what is so contrary to ones duty, as not to restore what one hath received? Nor is the Resti­tution to be made in an equal measure, but in a larger; as the Earth renders the re­ceived Seed with a more plentifull Harvest. Yet beware you makest not an over­speedy return of thy Gratitude. Some, when any small Token is sent them, unsea­sonably return another; thereby testifying they are nothing indebted. This is a kind of rejecting the Gift, when thou suddenly blottest out its memory by another Gift.

CHAP. XXV. Of Truth, and the Ʋse of it. Simplicity is praised. Acts of Fidelity.

1. LEt Truth be found in all thy dis­courses, gestures, writings, and other external Signs. A Lying lip, doth not become a Christian man. 'Tis a Womanish and base Vice, to shut up one thing in the Breast, and utter another with the Mouth. A generous man tells things simply as they are, without exaggerations, without am­plifications; he deceives not, dissembles not, and avoids all idle circumstances and coverings of words. Simple Truth loves simple words. It desires to be seen naked, because 'tis Innocent. But he who lies or deceives, obscures the matter with a double meaning, that it may remain concealed. He who speaks ill, as well as he who doth ill, hates the Light. Beware therefore that thy Speech be not as thy Cloathing is, one for the City, another for the Campaigne, that there be not an ostentation of Truth in thy Tongue, an occultation of it in thy Heart. Nature hath a horror against this [Page 151]Vice. Look upon Children, not yet arriv'd at the use of Reason: They object a Lie to their Play-mates, amongst their first ap­proaches; and although out of a certain levity they admit them, yet by an inborn rectitude of judgment, they condemn them. In which, we are to admire Gods Provi­dence, in inserting such Virtues in the Mind, without which humane life and so­ciety cannot subsist. Now a Lie, is of all Vices most pernicious to mans life. For if thou abominatest all falshood of speech, as a thing unworthy an heroick mind; why fearest thou not to be thy self a Lie, and to live a Lie? 'Tis a great matter to act One Man.

2. Simplicity, a Virtue little known to men, is of so great dignity, that God him­self is greatly delighted therewith: for With the Simple is his communication. He being most Simple and Entire, will have the Souls to be Simple which come to him. Now, he is Simple, who is not divided into various things; who without duplicity and hypocrisie, shews himself such a one exteriourly, as interiourly he is; who can­didly and sincerely acknowledges his own defects, when occasion is offered; who is a Child in malice, and detests all Political manner of proceeding; who (not exclu­ding [Page 152]the circumspection of Prudence) con­ceives all to be sincere, and suspects no evil of any one: who refuses not to seem to be a Fool amongst Men, that he may be Wise in the sight of God: who preserving him­self free from all multiplicity, performs all things with a Simple intention to please God. Why (O unhappy Craftiness!) art thou troubled about many things? One thing is necessary, that is, to get to him who is one, and most Simple. Thou wilt never arrive at the Mark, if thou marchest in a double Path-way.

3. Fidelity is to be embraced amongst the greatest and chiefest goods of Mankind: For take this away, and thou tak'st away the use of Commerce, Friendships are dis­solved, Covenants are broken, the whole Commonwealth is confounded. Yet this also is a rare Virtue, and almost unknown to the world. So many Witnesses adhibited to Contracts, so many strengthning of Bar­gains, so many cautious Conditions; do every where accuse mans Perfidiousness: Yet all this industrious wariness can hard­ly suffice, to make the Contracts firm and indisputable. So sordid are many Men, that Gain is to them more sacred than Fidelity. O Confession of publick fraud and wicked­ness, disgracefull to Mankind! We give [Page 153]credit to no one without a Witness, with­out a Surety; and we conceive Faith will be more safely kept in written Instruments, than in the Chappel of mans Heart. But a Faithfull person constantly performs what­soever he promised; carefully conceals whatsoever is committed to his secrecy; keeps his pledg'd Faith even to Enemies, and preferrs it before Kingdoms, and Life it self. He indeed promises slowly, because he knows that speedy Repentance waits upon hasty Promises: but if he hath once pass'd his Promise, he fails not, he violates it not, unless the state of Affairs chance to be changed, or that he may fall into the danger of Sin by his performance. That Promise obliges no man, which cannot be fulfill'd without wickedness.

CHAP. XXVI. Of Friendship. With what Offices it is to be entertained. Certain Precepts appertaining to mutual Conversation.

1. NOthing is more necessary to mans life, than Friendship, nothing more commodious, nothing more pleasant. Friendship, is a mutual Benevolence, of two persons, founded in Virtue, and joyn­ed to a communication of Goods. How great a Good is this, where Breasts are pre­pared into which every secret may safely descend, whose Conscience thou fearest less than thy own, whose Company eases thy Solitude, whose Counsels strengthen thy Resolutions, whose Chearfulness dis­perses thy Sadness, whose very Presence delights and glads thy Heart? What is sweeter, than to have a man to whom thou fearest not to confess what thou hast com­mitted, whom to meet withall may be part of thy Cure? Certain diminutive Animals, when they bite are not felt, so slender and couzening is their force; yet the ensuing swelling shews the morsure: The same will [Page 155]befall thee in the Conversation of a good Friend; thou wilt not feel how and when he profits thee, thou wilt find he hath pro­fited thee. But there can be no true Friend­ship, unless there intervenes a Reciprocal Love: To love is more principal than to be beloved; and therefore Benevolence is established for the Foundation, Return of Love for the Concomitant. That also is true Friendship, and coupled with the Glew of Christ, which is not grounded upon any private interest and profit, not upon the sole corporal presence, not upon ly­ing obsequiousness, not upon deceitful flattery; but which is contracted in the fear of God, and to improve our selves in the study of Divine Learn­ing. There can be no solid Friendship in Evil.

2. Great caution is to be used in chu­sing a Friend: according to that common saying, Many Bushels of Salt must be eaten together, to make Friendship compleat. But four qualities are chiefly requisite to him, with whom thou desirest to joyn in Friendship. Faith, that most difficult thing, the bare shadow whereof is now only found upon Earth, that thou mayst safely commit to him thy self and thy concerns. Intention, that Friendship may have an [Page 156]honest end, and that so divine a thing may not degenerate into filthiness. Discretion, that thou mayst know what thou art to perform, and what to expect. Patience, that thy Mind may be prepared to suffer for thy Friend all occurring Adversities. When thou hast experienc'd him to be thus qualified, thou art moreover to search in what manner he hath used his former Friends. For, thou mayst hope, he will be such a one to thee, as he hath prov'd him­self to have been to others. A faithfull Friend is a living Treasure, to be with great care preserved, and with great grief, if he perishes, to be lamented. Happy art thou, if thou hast met with such a one, who loves thee, not thy Riches, not thy Table, not thy Wit; who will correct thee when thou errest, raise thee when thou fallest, warn thee as thou runnest. Thou wilt not find one like him, under the large Canopy of Heaven: There are many who are called Friends, but very few who truly are so. No one loves another gratis. Who so hath re­gard to himself, who so proposes external things for his end, can be no true Friend. He will so long love thee, as he shall find thee beneficial to him. The Table being taken away, he will fail thee, and will end as he began. True Friendship, for the most [Page 157]part, is there wanting, where 'tis believed most to abound.

3. As a Physician being to Cure his dear­ly beloved Patient, spares neither the Iron nor the Fire: so art thou to carry thy self towards thy Friend, standing in need of Correction, freely, boldly, constantly, neglecting nothing, dissembling nothing. 'Tis a damnable Obsequiousness, by which Vices are cherished. But let thy Admoni­tion be secret, let it be accompanied with all manner of sweetness, let it be free from all bitterness of expressions. Deliberate long, whether thou art to admit any one into thy Friendship: when 'tis resolv'd upon, receive him with thy whole Heart, and talk with him as freely as with thy self. Thou oughtest surely to lead such a Life, as to commit nothing to thy self, which thou mayst not commit to thy Enemy: But because some things intervene which cu­stom hath made secrets, cast all such cares, all such thoughts into thy Friends bosom. Some, tell such things as are to be intrusted only with Friends, to all they meet; and thrust that which afflicts them into every ones Ears: others are apprehensive of their nearest Friends Conscience, and suppress within their own breasts all their secrets; so wary, that if it might be, they would not [Page 158]believe themselves. Both is a Vice, to be­lieve All, and to believe None: but the one is more honest, the other more secure. Now if thou desirest to talk with all men without danger, thou shalt easily compass it; Not by hiding what thou hast done, but by doing nothing which thou desirest should be hidden.

4. Affability, is nearly allied to Friend­ship, which moderates humane nature. In this, Modesty is to be observed, and silence. It becomes a Prudent man to hear many things, but to speak few. 'Tis Vicious to desire rather to be known, than to know; to be known to others, rather than to know others; to spread abroad unprofitably ones own wares, rather than to buy other mens. Thou art to accustom thy self to the in­compos'd words and manners of them with whom thou livest; and because many men speak many things which are false, foolish, childish, and impertinent to the matter; these thou art prudently to dissemble. 'Tis an argument of an abject and effeminate Spirit, to be willing to converse only with such as give way, applaud, and flatter. Speak sparingly of thy self, and of thy own affairs; stick not pertinaciously to thy own opinion, and abstain from lofty words, which may savour of Authority [Page 159]and Mastery. When thou meetest with any thing which is against Decorum, inter­rogate thy self whether thou art guilty of any such Vice. Pick always somthing for thy own profit, out of all thou seest and hearest. It fares well with thee, if by ano­ther crime thou correctest thy own.

5. When theres occurs any unusual, un­expected, exotick thing, which is contra­ry to thy Countryes custom; do not pre­sently apprehend it: for 'tis the sign of a light mind, to wonder at and deride strange things, and to be a slave to ones own ways. Things are to be esteemed as they are, not as they seem. The Vulgar judge all things by their newness, artifice, rarity, difficulty, report, and outward pomp and appearance: A wisman, looks upon the intrinsick value and goodness of the thing, and slights all such things as the frantick multitude admires. Whatsoever shall hap­pen, 'tis in thy power to make thy profit of it. Do not thou therefore straiten thy self, and limit thy incom. 'Tis lawful for thee to put on a Vizard, and to imitate the Actors of a Fable: they when they Weep, do not Grieve; when they Pur­chase, do not Possess; they command with­out power, reprove without revenge, chide without anger; for they Act the life of a­nother [Page 160]man: Would to God thou also wouldst so behave thy self in thy society with others, without affection and pro­priety. The World is a great Theatre, in which are as many Actors as men. Let it be thy care, as near as thou canst, to be a Spectator, not an Actor of the Fable. They who exhibite the Play upon the Stage, take pains: they who behold it, laugh and are delighted.

CHAP. XXVII. Of Liberality. What it is, and how to be ex­ercised. Wherein it differs from Mag­nificency.

1. I Call not him Liberal, who is angry at his Money; who neither knows to give nor to keep; who bestows not, but throws away. He is Liberal, who gives rightly, and rationally, and according to the measure of his Means, bestows as much as is convenient, when and to whom it is pro­per, regarding not his own but anothers good and profit. Liberalety is a virtue di­stributing benefits, exercised in the bestow­ing and acceptation of Moneys; but be­stowing [Page 161]and acceptation of Moneys; but bestowing is principally intended, because 'tis better to give than receive. Now, the Will suffices, when the Faculty to give is wanting: yea, this is chiefly considered, that thou not only dost good, but that thou hast a Will to do it. No one gives thanks to the Rivers or Sea, for suffering the Ships to swim upon them: nor to the Trees, for producing Fruits; nor to the Wind, for affording a prosperous Gale: for although all these are Benefits, yet the Will of bene­fiting is wanting to them. Moreover, that which is to be given to any one, receives its value from the speediness of the perfor­mance. Some there are, who bestowing their Gift, corrupt all the grace of it, by turning away their face, by wrinkling their forehead, by deferring it to a future day. Thus they tire their Friend with delay, they torment him with expectation: and where­as it is the property of a willing Giver, to give quickly, he who did it not till after a long time, did it not with a willing mind. All Bounty makes hast, and the Gift is gratefull which meets us.

2. No one can lead a happy life, who looks only on himself, who converts all things to his own Commodity. Thou must live to another, if thou desirest to live to [Page 162]thy self. Why sparest thou as it were thy own? Thou art a Factor. All thou keepest in thy Iron Coffers, the things suck'd from the blood of others which thou defendest, are none of thine. They were deposited with thee, and now they belong to another Lord. Either an Enemy, or a Successor of an hostile mind, will invade them. Dost thou ask how thou mayst make them thy own? By giving them. What is the thing wherein thou fanciest thy self Rich? A House, Money, Land: If thou giv'st it to thy Neighbour, 'twill be a Benefit, 'twill be a Virtue, which will remain with thee for ever. Then Money is precious, when by the use of giving, it ceases to be possessed.

3. Because great things cannot be done with small charges; as Liberality governs moderate expences, so Magnificence rules the great and sumptuous layings out. These two Virtues, in the rest alike, differ in this; that the former appears in little things, the other only in great and excellent. He who hath a mean fortune, may be Liberal; but he only can be praised for Magnificence, whose wealth is considerable. Magnifi­cence is properly seen in the admirableness of the work. For if any one bestows a high-priz'd Jewel to the use of Gods Servants; [Page 163]he is to be esteemed rather exceedingly Li­beral, than Magnificent: but if with the price of that Jewel he builds a Chappel, a Church, or some other gorgeous and won­derfull monument or work, he will be called Magnificent. Now, by the name of Works upon which great Costs may be imployed, those are understood which appertain to the Worship of God, to the Profit of the peo­ple, to the Publick joy, and to the honoura­ble performance of certain Offices of Man. In these a Decorum is to be observ'd, both in respect of the Worker, and also of the Faculties. He is not Magnificent, who pro­fuses more than he possesses; who runs himself and his Relations into Debt, that he may obtain the praise of Magnificence. He is truly Liberal and Magnificent, who with­draws from himself what he gives and spends.

CHAP. XXVIII. Of Fortitude. Its Offices. That Death is to be contemned by a Valiant man.

1. THe Minds of men are soft, and Na­ture is weak, which therefore must be arm'd with Fortitude, lest terrified with dangers we should recede from Ho­nesty. Fortitude hath a double Office; one, and the chief, to endure Labours and Dan­gers: the other, to set upon them when 'tis fitting. A Valiant man thrusts not himself rashly into Evils, but when they come, he constantly suffers them: he desires not dreadfull things, but he despises them: he's there lifted high, where others are de­pressed: there he stands up, where others lye down: no disgrace, no repulse, no exile, no injury daunts him: not a Prison, not Torments, not Death it self terrifies him: he dashes against his greatness all sorrow, all sickness, all trouble: he permits not himself to be wrested from what is right, by any Threats, or Entreaties: he loses not his Courage, although many obstacles im­pede his well begun enterprizes: he faints [Page 165]not under the burthen, nor struggles with the Office he hath once undertaken, but persists till he hath perfected it: he stands upright, under any weight: no Force, no Power, no Terror makes him less: he nei­ther throws down his Virtue, nor hides it, when Dangers on all sides surround him. He evermore considers whither he goes, not what he endures.

2. As one sailing with a prosperous Gale, furnishes himself with several helps where­with to entertain the Tempest: so it will behove thee, whilst Fortune is favourable, to seek safeguards to shelter thee against its future frowardness. Feign to thy self, that whatsoever finister chance can happen, is already faln upon thee, Shipwreck, Banish­ment, Wounds, Torments, Diseases, Dis­graces, Contempt: and behave thy self in such sort, as if thou wert now in the very midst of these miseries; that exercised by this Preludium, thou mayst say in any future event, I have had these things already in my mind, I have foreseen them, and have despised them. 'Tis decreed from Eternity what thou shalt rejoyce at, for what thou shalt weep: and although each mans Life seems to be distinguished with great va­riety; all comes to one sum: We receiv'd perishable things, our selves being to perish. [Page 166]Why art thou Angry? At what complain­est thou? Although all things perish, no­thing of thine perishes: 'Tis better to give what God demands back, than to be forc'd to pay it. Epicurus himself professes, that a Wise man may be happy even in his Tor­ments: Were he in the Belly of Phalaris's Bull, sayes he, he will say, How pleasant is this? How little doth it concern me? Sure­ly a great word, but not incredible to us, who have extant amongst us so many ex­amples of Martyrs, whose Constancy in their torments, whose Alacrity in their fiery tryals was so great, that they seem'd to have no feeling of their sufferings. To him who loves God, all Punishments are Pleasures.

3. The excellency of Fortitude, appears no where more illustriously, than in the dan­ger of Death. 'Tis a difficult thing to per­swade the Mind to a contempt of Life, with which most men are so enamoured, that they esteem nothing more happy, nothing more precious: But if thou art Wise, as thou oughtst to be, thou wilt cease to ac­count Death amongst Evils, which surely is the end of Evils, and the beginning of Life. Thou art therefore to go forth with a wil­ling mind, being to return again. Death hath no invincible Necessity: so that to [Page 167]fear it, is the part of a Mad-man: for things which are doubtfull, are dreaded; but things which are assured, are expected. Consider that Children, and people faln from their Wits, fear not Death: 'Tis a pittifull thing, that Reason should not afford thee so much security, as Foolishness gives them. Life was given thee, with the ex­ception of Death: He would not have Liv'd, who will not Dye.

4. Nature hath gratified us, in that it hath granted us for a certain time the use of its Objects to be look'd upon: that time being now expired, we must depart. What Wise man, at his last gasp, if his Life were again given him, would be willing to re-enter the Prison of his Mothers womb, to resume the follies of Infancy, the fears of Childhood, the dangers of Youth, the cares of Virility, the labours of Old-age? No one hath liv'd so happily, as that it would please him to be born again. Observe therefore whither thou goest, and from what thou de­partest: The cause of thy fear, is the empti­ness of good works, which thou beginnest to desire at the end of thy life: other­wise thou would'st not tremble, standing upon the threshold of Eternal Felicity. It were a punishment for a just man to be born, unless Death followed.

5. No one receiv'd Death cheerfully, but he who for a long time before dis­pos'd himself for it. Render it familiar to thee by freequent reflections, that when it comes thou may'st with alacrity enter­tain it. Not the Days, not the Years, make thee to have liv'd long enough; but a Mind glad to go forth, and to fly back to its beginning. He hath liv'd long, who dyes well. He dyes well, who hath liv'd well. Wilt thou prepare for thy self a peaceable Death: Accustom thy self to despise all things. He cannot fear Death, who hath already depriv'd himself of more then Death can bereave him. Wilt thou make thy life pleasant? Cast off all solicitude concerning it: Stand pre­pared for any kind of Death; let it be to thee indifferent whether a Sword or a Fea­ver cuts off thy Life: and so dispose it, that thou mayst daily say, I have Lived. He Lives securely, and Dyes chearfully, who every day carries himself out to his burial, to whom it is granted when his Life is ended. Thou canst not Live well, unless thou Diest daily.

CHAP. XXIX. Of Magnanimity. The Description of a Magnanimous Man.

1. MAgnanimity. sounds some great thing in its very name; 'tis a high Virtue, whose strongest force tends evermore to great matters. Without this, all the endeavours of the other Vir­tues fall down to nothing: For since in practising them, many difficulties occur, the mind is to be erected, and embold­ned to proceed against them; nor ought it to desist, till having broken through all interposed obstacles, it generously gets the possession of the proposed Good. This Magnanimity performs, which evermore inclines man to high and heroick acti­ons, and supported by Gods Assistance, securely and promptly sets upon all sorts of difficulties. Somthing is to be attempt­ed, if thou wilt be any thing. A great matter cannot be atchieved with little labour, Man is a great thing, when he is truly a Man.

2. A great mind aspires always to great [Page 170]things; and contemns all those things as little, which the Vulgar look on as great­est. He performs works which deserve high honor; but as for the honor it self, he neither seeks it when 'tis deny'd, nor, scorns it when 'tis offred, unless Gods honour and Obedience otherwise require. He doth nothing for Ostentation, all for Conscience; and expects the reward of his well done action not from the Peo­ples applause, but from the deed it self. He stands always aloft, eminent, invinci­ble, like to himself in all accidents and occasions: nor doth he thrust himself into higher places, content with his own Great­ness. He's above all, being the Lord of all, and therefore he submits himself to no one; He craves nothing, because out of himself he wants nothing. There's no­thing that can terrifie him, or make him crouch. He puts himself forward, and is willing to be look'd on, not out of Vani­ty, but in consideration of the degree in which he lives, and of the Guifts of God wherewith he is endowed. Yet with all these things his profound Humility stands unshaken before God, because he renders back to him all the Good, all the glory, as certainly knowing that he of himself hath nothing, can do nothing, is nothing. This [Page 171]is to know the ends of Virtue, to have an humble esteem of ones self and of ones own proceedings; and yet with modesty to admit the Honours done unto them. Glory is to follow, not to be affected.

3. He receives into his open Breast all the Darts of opposition without reluctan­cy, that he may get up to the highest emi­nency of Virtue. With men of mean and low condition, he converses with modesty and moderation: before Princes and Rich people, he neither falls down nor Flatters; nor doth he permit his own liberty to be oppressed by their Power. Such things as deserve hatred or love, he openly hates, openly loves; and such things as ought plainly to be said or done he freely speaks and acts, because he neither Fears nor hopes for any thing. He does the same as other men, but not in the same manner; and therefore he dissembles amongst the Vulgar people, and doth not easily in­termix himself with them. He remem­bers no Injuries; and in those which must necessarily be endured, he is neither a Complainer, nor an Entreater. He prai­ses few, nor doth he desire praise, but to do things praise-worthy. He lives not at the beck of another man, unless it be of [Page 172]his Friend and of his Superior; nor is he apt to admire things, because no­thing seems to him Great or New. In every Accident he being safe in himself, is moved with no events of things. He hath a slow motion, a grave voice, and a constant and sober speech: for he makes no hast who looks after few things; and he contends not vehemently, who is con­tent with himself.

CHAP. XXX. Of Patience. The Occasions and Effects of it. The signs of perfect Patience. An Admonition and Instruction to Endure all Adversity. The Necessity of Perseve­rance.

1. PAtience is a Virtue, whereby we suffer the Evils of this world with an equal and indifferent Mind. And be­cause these Evils are many, it hath many Names, according to the variety of the Evils which it is to sustain. It is pro­perly named Patience, when it Valiantly receives Injuries: Equanimity, when it is employ'd in bearing the loss of External Goods: Longanimity, when it fortifies the breast against the delay of the thing which is expected: Constancy, when it arms the Will to endure all other Evils whatso­ever, our own or our Neighbours, private or publick. There's no Virtue which hath more frequent occasions to be exercised. For so many Troops of Evils rush in upon us, so many Adversaries besiege us, that Mans life is rightly said to be a Warfare [Page 174]upon Earth. There scarcely slides by us a­ny moment, in which we are not to fight stoutly. Where outward Enemies are wanting, every one is to himself suffici­ently troublesom. From our selves and in our selves spring up such things, as will both afflict and exercise us. From Weep­ing we begin our lives, unskill'd in all things but Tears. This we first learn, to this we apply our selves even till Death. Many are found, who have not laugh'd; None, who never Wept. Patience there­fore is necessary, to arm the breast, to strengthen the Spirit, to perfect Virtues. No one can tell what he is worth, till he is tryed by Tribulations. He is not Prudent, who is not Patient.

2. It goes ill with that man, who ne­ver had the experience of adverse Fortune. Physitians say, there's nothing more to be feared than an over healthy constitution of body: and a too quiet Calm is suspected by Marriners. If Calamity scourges and tares thee, 'tis not a Cruelty but a Com­bat. Unless thou Fightest, thou wilt not Conquer: unless thou Conquerest thou wilt not Triumph. Now, If Christ was to suf­fer, and so to enter into his Glory: Wilt thou presume to be made partaker of ano­thers felicity without any Tribulation. [Page 175]Thou errest most grosly, if thou feignest to thy self any other way to go to Heaven. The Sacraments of Virtue are these, to do good and to suffer Evil. The signes of thy having already obtain'd Patience, are, to bear contentedly other mens Evils; Not to murmur at Gods Chastisements; Not to shun the Conversation of them who bring afflictions upon thee, Amongst con­tempts to keep thy self from Hatredi, To ascribe to the Divine will whatsoever afflicts thee; To be silent in Evils; to love them who bring Evils upon thee; to com­plain to God alone of the Injuries thou en­durest, and to offer thy self to him, as one prepared to suffer all Miseries with joy and thanksgiving. Finally he is acknow­ledged to be truly patient, who is not angry at his Neighbours imperfections.

3. In the loss of External Goods, 'tis a great Comfort to reflect upon their unfaith­full condition. Whatsoever thou possessest, whatsoever thou lovest, retains a natural fleetingness: it is with thee, but it is not thine. Do not mock thy self with a desire of an imaginary stability. Nothing is firm to an infirm person; nothing is eternal to a frail Creature, besides Virtue: This is the one immortal thing which belongs to mor­tals; the rest bring their Deaths along with [Page 176]them. Put therefore all thou hast in such a place, as that there may be a great distance between them and thee. Nothing is taken from a Good man, because he possesses nothing as his own. Why lamentest thou the loss of a little Money, the burial of a Son, the burning of a House: but at the loss of Modesty, of Fortitude, of Virtue, thou weepest not? Those things are neither Good, nor Thine: but these are both good, and thy own. If thou grievest, when thou losest them, thou shew'st thy self worthy of the loss. Thou wouldst conceive thy self to have lost nothing, if thou loved'st nothing inordinately. External things trouble not a Wise Man; because they touch him not.

4. When thou enterprisest any Work, consider all its adjuncts; thou wilt find many things which may trouble thy Mind, if not foreseen. Thou Callest a Boy? He perchance is not ready at hand, or doth not what thou desirest. Thou go'st to give a visit to some one? It may be he is close shut up, the Dores are made fast against thee, he within neglects thee. Foresee these accidents and all will fall out prosperously. He, this day refused to ad­mit me, whereas he admitted others; He shew'd an aversion from my discourse: He [Page 177]placed me in the lowest seat: These are the complaints of a sickly mind. He observes no such things, who is not affected to them, who knows all such things are the Tributes of this Life. 'Tis best to endure, what thou canst not amend. If thou art offended at the Malice or Impudence of any one; think whether 'tis a likely matter that there should be no impious or impudent per­sons in the World. But if this cannot be imagined, what new thing hath now hapned, if a bad man after his manner doth amiss? See whether thou thy self art not rather to be reprehended, who fore-sawest not that he would thus offend. The World was ever constant to it self; there are Vices where are Men.

5. When thou art afflicted, attend not to what thou sufferest, but to what thou hast done. If thou wilt speak truth to thy self, thou wilt confess thou art worthy of more severe punishments. 'Tis God, from whom all things come. He chastises thee, that he may cure thee, that he may exercise thee, that he may harden thee and prepare thee for himself. He reserves them for fu­ture pains, whom he seems now to in­dulge. [Page 178]From whence can I discern what courage thou hast against Poverty, if thou flowest with Riches? How can I come to know thy constancy against disgraces and the peoples hatred, if thou art grown old amidst their Applauses? I have heard thee giving Comfort to others in their tribulations; I desire to hear thee comforting thy self, and command­ing thy self not to be grieved. If thou givest both Thanks and a Reward to thy Physician, burning and cutting thy Members; why dost thou not acquiesce to the Medicine which God administers? 'Tis a madness to think those are Dammages, which are Remedies. If Po­verty, if Sickness, and the rest which thou callest Evils, could contend in words with thee; they would insult over thee, and say: Why, O Man, art thou so much against me? Art thou through my fault depriv'd of any good? of Prudence, of Justice, of Fortitude? Mayst thou not with me enjoy a chear­full mind? Those things will be good which thou fanciest are Evil, if thou wilt couragiously shew thy self to be above them. 'Tis a great Evil, not to be able to endure Evil.

6. In other mens Cases, thou mayst [Page 179]sometimes dissemble thy Constancy, but never in thy own. Let thy Tears ac­company the afflicted weepers, not for the Tears sake. Descend and stoop down to the afflicted, that thou mayst raise them up. No one can lift him up who lies on the ground, unless he bows low to his assistance. But because all things have a double handle, the one tollerable, the other intollerable; if any one hath done thee an Injury, take not thy hold on that part, in which the Injury is done, for this is the handle in which he cannot be endur'd: but consider him as redeemed with the same Blood of Christ, and called to the same Glory? So thou wilt lay hold on him on the side in which he is tollerable. And because Friendship hath a very small voice in gi­ving free Reprehensions, alwayes endea­vour to hear Truth from thy Adver­sary. He being perpetually watchfull, prys into thy actions; and thy mis­carriages will more easily deceive thy self than him. He will traduce thee to thy Neighbours, and in the Streets, and being incens'd against thee, will lay open the disease of thy Mind, which thou either concealest or neglectest. Strive to make thy profit from him: He more attentively [Page 180]watches over himself, who knows he hath an Adversary alwayes ready to cen­sure him.

7. Perseverance is the Crown and Con­summation of all Virtues. A Reward is promised to Beginners, but it is given to Perseverers. Wherefore before all things take care of this, that thou be constant to thy self. Nothing which is in its passage, is so profitable. Thou slidest back again, if thou strivest not to go onward: and if thou beginnest to stand, thou sink­est down. Appoint what thou wilt, and persevere in it till thy end. 'Tis the pro­perty of an unconstant Mind, to assume daily new Exercises, to seek oftentimes new dwellings. It doth not behove thee to be in another place, but to be another Man. The Tree which is often trans­planted, dwindles away at last: and the frequent change of Remedies, hinders the Health. If the Apostle, the Vessel of E­lection, not looking upon what he had already done, but what he ought to do, judg'd that he had in no sort compre­hended: what wilt thou do, who mayst wish that in thy End, thou mightst be compar'd to his Beginning? The desire of Learning cannot be satisfied, the love of Riches is insatiable, the thirst after Ho­nours [Page 181]is not to be quenched. Things which are shortly to have an end, are sought after without End: and if thou hast had only a light tast of the Divine Wisdom, wilt thou imagine thy self presently full? He invites thee to perfection after another manner, who said, Be ye Perfect, as your Heavenly Father is Perfect. This Mark is proposed to thee, to give thee to understand, that there is alwayes a place above thee, for the encrease of thy Virtue.

CHAP. XXXI. Of Temperance How much shamefac'dness conduceth to it. Of Abstinence, and of Chastity.

1. TEmperance rules the pleasures which are taken in Tasting and Touch­ing: it hates and drives away all such pleasures as are superfluous, and admits only such as are necessary, as far forth as right Reason permits. This Rule of Tem­perance is Infallible; To take meer Ne­cessity for its measure in what belongs to the Body; and never to admit Pleasures for Pleasures sake. By this Virtue it is brought to pass, that thou dost not dege­nerate from a Man into a Beast. To it, Modesty very much contributes, which is the Bridle of bad manners, the Badge of a good disposition, the Guardian of Purity, the Witness of Innocence. If this hath gotten the possession of thy Mind, it will teach thee to fear all Filthiness, to abstain from all unlawfull Actions, to reverence Gods Commandments, to stand alwayes in an apprehension of thy own frailty, and [Page 183]to be evermore in love with that intelligi­ble Beauty, which appears chiefly in the works of Temperance. And thou wilt then perceive thy self to be modest, when thou tremblest at the very name of Intemperance; when thy Chamber-walls cover thee, and do not hide thee, with which many con­ceive themselves to be encompassed, not that they may live more safely, but that they may Sin more secretly. But to what purpose dost thou shut up thy self, to avoid the Eyes and Ears of Men? God is al­wayes with thee, who every where be­holds thee: Thy Conscience is with thee, which every where accuses thee.

2. Abstinence and Sobriety, moderate the use of Meat and Drink; but that which concerns the Touch, is rul'd by Chastity and Pudicity. And surely 'tis a matter of very great difficulty, not to be drawn beyond the bounds of Necessity, in the use of Food. The Belly hath no Ears to admit com­mands: It demands, calls and exacts a daily tribute. But with how little it may be put off, with how small a stipend it may be satisfied, few consider. We force Na­ture to serve Vices; and we irritate Hun­ger and Thirst, which may easily be ap­peased with natural Remedies, by various Sawces and Seasonings. Chastity is also hard [Page 184]to be preserved amongst so many provoca­tions of Lust, unless it is held in with the Fear of God, with a Flight from all Occa­sions, with a carefull custody of the Senses, and with a great reverence towards ones self. He who fears not himself, cannot fear others. Wilt thou be Chast? Contain thy Eyes, lest thou mayst love unwillingly, what thou hast behold unwarily. Why admirest thou the fleeting and false beauty of the Creature? Expect a little while, and it will be no more. Ugly Wrinkles will furrow the smooth Forehead, a sad Cloud will ore­cover the sparkles of the Eyes, a scurvy Mossiness will cover the Ivory of the Teeth. Avoid also the company of the Bad, fly from all Effeminateness, tame thy Flesh with Fastings, and treat it rigorously; He is lost, who too tenderly loves his Se­pulchre.

CHAP. XXXII. Of Meekness, and Clemency. The Offices and Excellency of them both.

1. TO mitigate the violence of Anger, Meekness is necessary; lest thou shouldst transgress the bounds of what is right, either on one side or the other. Anger is the Dart of Nature, which thou mayst lawfully make use of, when thy Office obliges thee to reprove and cha­stise Offenders: and when Discretion di­ctates, that thy own or anothers injury is to be in due manner repressed; least impunity should give increase to the li­centiousness of the wicked. He is equal­ly cruel who pardons all, and who par­dons none at all. Now, when Justice so requiring, the guilty are to be punish­ed; be thou then Mindful of Meekness and Clemency. Punish as it were unwil­lingly; and be thou such a one towards Offenders, as God hath been to thee. As he supported thee that he might make thee better: So do thou support them that they may be corrected. Thou despisest the Phy­sitian, [Page 186]if thou despairest of the Patient. The Sick mans cure is as easie, as is the Prudence and Benignity of the Physitian. A Meek man appears as a Rock in the Sea of Anger, dissolving the Waves which dash against him; being not always con­tent with punishment, but sometimes with penitence. The Saviour of the World ex­claims to the collected multitude of Man­kind; Come ye all and learn of me, not to cure the Sice, not to cleanse the Leapers, not to restore light to the blind, or life to the Dead. But what? Learn (sayes he) of me, to be Mcek. He seems to have re­duc'd all the treasures of his Wisdom and Science, that we should Learn of him the Lesson of Meekness. So Excellent a thing is Meekness.

2. As Meekness Moderates Anger, so Clemency tempers Punishment. That be­longs to All; this to Princes and Superiors. Its Office is, to mitigate the punishments which the Laws exact, not for Fear, Gain, Friendship, or out of any other such like Motive; but out of a gentleness of Mind. There's no need to delve into the sides of Mountains, and build Castles in the high Tops of Hills: Clemency will render the Prince safe in the open plain. This is an unexpugnable Fortress, which secures his [Page 187]Empire. A bad Prince is hated, because he is feared; and he will be feared because he is hated. Now the subjects hate him they fear, and would willingly have him perish whom they hate. He is Master of the Kings Life, who is a contemner of his own Life. He vainly strengthens himself with power, who is not garded with the good will of his people. Many punish­ments are shameful to a Prince, as many Funerals are to a Physitian. If a King keeps back his strength; if he looks down from above upon all injuries and offences with contempt; if he sacrifices some to the an­ger of others, none to his own: then he shews himself to be truly a King. 'Tis the part of a Magnanimous man, to be pleasing and peaceable.

CHAP. XXXIII. Of Modesty. The Double Office of Studio­sity. What Rule is to be observed in Mirth.

1. MOdesty wonderfully adorns the rest of the Minds Dowries. 'Tis the sorm of Honesty, and the Curb of Viees. Though thou sayst not a Word, thy Habit and Gesture will speak what thou art. An Argument of Virtue may be taken from the least things. The Countenance, the Laughter, the Gate, the Glaunce of the Eyes, shew oftentimes what a man is. Live so, as that all men may know thou belongest to the fellowship of An­gels. Observe a decorum in all the Moti­ons of thy Members, in thy behaviour, in thy Voice, in thy Looks, that nothing may appear Effeminate and remiss, nothing that is harsh and clownish. True Mode­sty flows from the Mind into the Body, from the inward gravity of Manners in­to the outward carriage; that so the mind may behold abroad as it were, its own houshold-stuff. A Modest Man is the live­ly [Page 189]Image of God: for his sole Aspect com­poses the beholders. And what a good is this, to be seen and to profit? It belongs also to Modesty, not to exceed the condi­tion of thy State, in Garments, in Move­ables, in the Ornaments of thy house, and in the multitude of Attendants. These are the Impediments of thy Mind, where­with not thou, but the things without thee, are garnished. Why therefore dost thou joy in thy Evil? Why admirest thou vain things, and gloriest in the mul­titude of impediments? Thou mayst rightly call this troop of Servants which environ thee on every side, an Hostile Army, from which thou canst scarcely be secure. They will know what thou dost, not what thou Commandest. There's nothing more humble then their Ingress, nothing more insolent then their Pro­gress, nothing more odious then their E­gress.

2. Studiosity hath two Offices; One is to temperate and moderate the appe­tite of knowing, which for the most part is greater then justly it ought to be: The other is, to shake off sluggishness, and to excite the Minds industry to learn things necessary. Nature hath given man a curious Wit, and being conscious of [Page 190]her Art and Beauty, hath brought us forth to be Spectators of her works; for she would lose the fruit of her self, if she should shew only to a solitude, such great, such glorious such curious Pro­ducts. But we abuse Natures goods, by diving subtilly into such things, as were better unknown, He is not Wise who knows many things, but who knows what makes to his purpose. Those Things are first to be learned, which belong to thy Salvation: nor do I debar thee from reading the rest, so thou referrest to Man­ners whatsoever thou readest. But see whether the reading of many Books, sa­vour not something of evagation and in­stability. Thou art to dwell upon cer­tain Wits, and be nourished by them, if thou desirest to draw from them what may stick fast in thy Mind. Various Reading pleaseth, but 'tis the Certain which profits.

3. A Relaxation is sometimes to be granted to the Mind; and Rest is to be intermix'd with labour; for that cannot long continue which wants convenient re­pose. The makers of Laws appointed certain days, in which the People should meet together in publick for their recrea­tion, to repair their forces. Now there [Page 191]are divers actions which contribute to this Relaxation of Mind: As walking in a pleas­ant and open Field, where in the free Ayr, the Mind may raise it self to Heaven, and the Members get new vigour. A Country Recess, remote from the smoak and noise of Cities; Hawking or Hunting, and such Divertisments as misbecome not thy condi­tion, and Fishing which is more innocent: Stu­dies which are more calm and pleasant: A consort of Musick, and some honest Play: Finally, harmless Jests, and facetiousness, which must be evermore free from the least injury and undecency. Some there are, who are too severe, who are men-haters, and who sit brooding upon their own darkness, never permitting a merry word to be wrest­ed out of their Mouths: Others, addicted overmuch to Jesting, seldom apply them­selves to serious thoughts, and never with­draw themselves from the people. Now these extreams are to be interwoven and al­ternated; for Solitude will beget a desire of Company, and Frequency, of thy self; and so one will be a Remedy to the other. Re­mission will cure the hatred of labour, and labour the tediousness of Remission. S [...] also there are, who not knowing how to dis­pence their own forces, exercise an immo­derate Empire over themselves. The Mean [Page 192]is wanting to them. They can neither tell when to remit their Studies nor when to re­take them. When they settle themselves to Labour, the Days are joyn'd to the Nights; nor do they desist, till themselves are de­stroyed. Again, when they give way to Re­creations, they so ingulph themselves, as that they can scarcely be brought back to their former Customs. Wherefore an Inter­val is so to be afforded to the Mind, that it may be remitted not Resolved. To this end, Eutrapely, that is, Festivity, and civil Mirth, is very necessary, which is to prescribe cer­tain Limits, not to be transgressed without a crime. The Best things become bad, if the Mean is exceeded.

CHAP. XXXIV. Of Humility. Wherein it consists, Of Self-knowledge. The Character of a truly hum­ble Man.

1. FRom Christ comes Humility. He promulgated it by his Word, taught it by his Example. This, after the Theological and Intellectual Virtues, hath the prime place amongst the rest; for it removes Pride, which is the Root of all Evil. This renders us amiable to God, because with the Humble is his Discourse. Without this, which is the Foundation of Virtues, whatsoever Superstructure is raised in the Spiritual Edifice, will neither be solid nor stable Now although it's very Name seems to betoken some base and mean thing, yet it is the Virtue of the Magnanimous, and of the Perfect, and raises up the Mind to high matters. It enterprises illustrious actions, without danger of being puff'd up, heroick acti­ons without apprehension of difficulties, continuing always stout, couragious, and [Page 194]unalterable. Humility, doth not (as the Vulgar Imagin) consist in a self-despisal and abjection; but in that moderate appeti­tion of Glory and Honour, which both avoids Excess, and recedes from De­fect. The Humble man desires Glory as the stipend of Virtue, with a mind di­rectly intent, upon the Action, not for Ostentation, but for Virtue alone, and as much as it demands. Unlawful is all Honour, which Virtue brings not forth. But because an humble man, being of a discerning Spirit, is an impartial Judge of himself, he is averse from almost all Honour; both because he knows how little it is that he contributes of his own to the works of Virtue: and also because he fears lest out of a desire of due Ho­nour, he may condescend to admit that which is not due. 'Tis most safe to de­spise Honour; for the amplisies it who refuses it, he encreases it who contemne it.

2. Thou art therefore not Humble, because thou know'st not thy self. There's no Country so remote, of which thou wilt more easily believe a false Re­lation. What is Man? A weak and frail Body of it self unarm'd, wanting the help of others, and cast out to all [Page 195]the injuries of times. A lump of Dirt, a filthy animal, prone to all Evil, and of so perverted and depraved a dispositi­on, that it preferrs earthly things before the Heavenly, transistory before the e­ternal. Every living Man is an universal Vanity. No Animal hath a Life more frail, a Madness more fierce, a Fear more confused, a Lust more violent. Whence then this Pride, O thou Miserable Creature; and of others the most unhappy? Look upon thy own wretehedness, and if there remains a­ny spark of Reason in thee, reflect up­on thy own baseness and unworthiness. Then thou wilt be perfectly Humble, when thou hast perfectly learn'd Self­knowledg.

3. A truly Humble man totally de­spises himself; nor is he willing to be reputed Humble, but of no account: he referr's to God all the honour which is due to himself, and distrusts himself in all things: He rejoyces in being con­temned; in this onely prov'd, that he Sleights humane praises. He con­siders himself according to what he hath of himself, and others according to what they have of God, and so comparing himself with them, he jud­ges [Page 196]himself the very worst of all: for this is the Genius of Humility to compare ones own Evils with the Goods of others; from whence even he who is most Perfect, may with­out a Lye, esteem himself more Im­perfect then others. Furthermore, a truly Humble Man subjects himself with all Obedience to his Superiours, performs not his own desires, disco­vers freely his defects, sustains pa­tiently all injuries, embraces joyfully the meanest things, avoids carefully all singularity, abstains always from much talking, desires still to lye con­cealed and unknown, places all things beneath himself, and himself beneath all, and shuts up himself within his own Nothing. He is shame-fac'd and circumspect: He speakes not but when necessity urges him, and then modest­ly, being willing rather to weep then to Laugh. He shews the Humility of his Heart, in his Body, in his Eyes six'd on the ground, in his grave and composed gate, in his cast-down Coun­tenance, like a guilty person ready to be summoned before Gods dreadful Tri­bunal: Conscious of the Crimes he hath committed, uncertain of Grace, and [Page 197]fearful of his Salvation; and therefore not daring to lift up his Eyes to Hea­ven, he stands aloof off with the Pub­lican, imploring with fervent Prayer, pardon for his Offences. Finally, he dreads all his own doings, he despises all earth­ly things, he tramples upon all world­ly Pomps and Vanities. For he thinks the whole world to be Nothing, who be­lieves himself to be Nothing.

CHAP. XXXV. Of the state of the Perfect. The Image of a Perfect man. The End of a Perfect Life, it Ʋnion with God.

1. HE is faid to be Perfect, to whom nothing is wanting. And what can be wanting to him, who being purg'd from Sin, cleans'd from Vices, and adorned with Virtues, intimately adheres to his God, and becomes one Spirit with him for ever­more? This is the top of Christian Per­fection, the last End to which thou art to aspire. For whereas every thing is then judg'd to be perfect, when 'tis joyned to its End, and God is thy End; thou art then ne­cessarily perfected, when perfectly adhe­ring to God, thou returnest to him from whom thou hadst thy beginning. But no one is thus perfect, without Gods special Help. And because there are few found amongst Mortals, who dispose the supe­riour part of their Mind to receive Gods singular illapses and inlocutions, therefore there are so few Perfect. Each Age hath produced few of them.

2. Thou mayst call him a Perfect man, whom thou seest undaunted in Dangers, untouch'd with Cupidities, happy in Ad­versity, content in Disgraces, quiet amidst Tempests, Laughing at whatsoever others Fear and Desire, passing by all things as Little, shining with no good but his own, evermore free, alwayes constant to him­self, still like himself, erected, elevated, empty of himself, and full of God: from whom no Violence can force his Goods, who turns Evil into Good, who is frustra­ted of nothing, who is hurt by no Accident: who puts a value upon things, not from mens Opinion, but the things of Nature: who being eminent above all, casts himself into the whole World, and extends his con­templation into all its proceedings, himself remaining peaceable and unshaken: who for the major part of him, dwells perpetu­ally there from whence he descended. As the Sun-beams, although they touch the Earth, yet are there from whence they are darted: So a Perfect man converses indeed with us, but he is absent in his better part, and adheres alwayes to his End. His mind is such as the state of the World is above the Moon; there's a perpetual Calm. He is ignorant of any defect of things; he knows not what a various Mind is; all ages [Page 200]serve him; he views all things round about, equally as the Sun doth, and rejecting all multiplicity, he quietly reposes in the most simple Unity. He desires nothing, he seeks for nothing out of himself, having no need to call in that Felicity from a far off, which he bears about him inclosed within his own Heart. He works for God alone, he lives to God alone, being alwayes ready to de­part. Apply this Line and Level to thy Life, and thou wilt understand how far thou art from Perfection.

3. This is a greater and higher matter, than thou canst reach, unless he draws thee upward, who said, without me, you can do nothing. And moreover, there are prece­dent dispositions which are necessary. The End of a perfect Life, is an intimate Ʋnion with God. And since he dwells in an un­accessible Light, thou wilt never get to him, unless thou drivest away from thee the darkness of the Creatures. Man cannot be made partaker of the Divine Nature, ex­cept he transcends himself and all created things in Mind and Affection. Every Ad­hesion, even the least, to any thing what­soever, is like to the little Fish Remera, which if it bites the Keel of the Ship, stops it, and detains it in the middle of its course. It happens no otherwise to many Souls, [Page 201]which like Ships fraught with Heavenly: Riches, would happily sail to the Haven of blessed Union, were they not detained by some Vitious Affection. God is one, and most Simple; A Soul can never be fit for Ʋnion, unless it becomes One, and most Simple.