CHAP. I. That we ought to have God for the Object of all our actions.

1. ALL Worldly Actions do nothing but strike the eare with their noise; and what Glory soever doth ac­company them, passeth away with us. This doth oblige us to have Eternity al­wayes [Page 2]wayes before our eyes, because Time destroyeth all that it bringeth forth, in making it self the first object of its fury.

2. Although God be the Judge, as well as the witness of our Actions, we ought to consecrate them unto him rather out of love then duty, to the end that that voluntary submission preventing the constraint of necessity, may make us hope for a favourable success thereof.

3. All that we do out of the sight of God, must needs redound to our confusi­on and disadvantage, for seeing we work in darkness, the pain of our un­profitable labour is the only reward thereof.

4. Rejoyce not at the success of your designes, unless God hath given you the first thoughts thereof; the joyes of Fortune are never of long continuance; and if they happen to last for a space, you ought to fear that that long calme will at last bring forth a storm, where you may find your shipwrack.

5. If you consult the Wisdom of the World in your attempts, you shall ne­ver come to a happy conclusion; for the [Page 3]light of humane Prudence not being able to penetrate into the obscurity of that which is to come, doth often take the appearance of Truth, for the Truth it self; so that of a bright day it maketh a dark shadow.

6. The counsels of the men of this World ought alwayes to be suspect unto us, not because they are hurtfull, (for they may sometimes happen to our ad­vantage;) but we must consider, that as those counsels which belong to our sal­vation are of greatest concernment, so all other cannot be but unprofitable.

7. Do not expect the success of your designes from your Industrie: For she is a Work-woman that is ever learning, and continueth alwayes in her Apprenti­ship; and we know by experience, that when she worketh alone, all her work is to no purpose.

8. Whatsoever a man doth in Time, his Actions in the end, have neither Witness nor Judge, seeing he is the first that accuseth himself. I would have all Actions performed as in the publick view of the whole World, for they must [Page 4]needs perish with it, seeing they are enclosed within its circumference.

9. They that labour only for that which is to come, do enjoy a present satisfaction; for as much as when they waxe old in a sensible hope to be crowned with their labours, they come to taste of that good which they formerly hoped for.

10. Consider with your self, that all your actions have a certain relation to Eternity, if to Eternity you ought to be rewarded or punished. Do all what you will, God reserveth to himself the finall judgement of your works, leaving you free liberty to make choice either of Heaven or Hell.

11. Again consider, that all our actions have no other object but our sal­vation or destruction, and that they are alwayes present in the sight of God, either to reward or punish them.

12. Render an account of all your Actions unto your self, that you may shun the censure of others, and if you be afraid of Gods chastisement, punish your self first; voluntary peni­tence may appease his wrath.

13. Like as good actions crown them­selves, by reason of the glory that doth accompany them, so do the evill Actions carry their punishment along with them, through the shame which followeth them. This obligeth us to do the good, and shun the evill, even out of the con­sideration of their own nature, although we should have no other object.

14. Behold alwayes the end of your actions, if you would prevent the re­penting of them; and be you the first Judge of them, to the end you may never have any other. We must not be indulgent to our selves when it concerneth our salvation, or Honour.

15. Do no action that may be un­worthy of you, although you should have no other witness but your self, seeing your own memory doth suffici­ently know it; and as your memory would upbraid you with it every day, so you should suffer the punishment there­of every hour.

16. He that hath an eye towards God in all his Actions, healeth him­self of the evill of Fear, and may chal­lenge a propriety in Hope; and as he [Page 6]liveth without reproach, so he dyeth without sorrow.

17. What should it availe us to re­move both Heaven and Earth in quest of our repose, if both of them faile us in the end, so that we be not able to find it? and if the Earth remain to us, it serveth for a tomb to our hopes, aswell as to our selves.

18. We must of necessity work in the Lords Vineyard, if at the end of the day we would receive our wages; all other employments are unprofitable, as well as our sorrow for the mispending of time, seeing the want thereof renders us incapable to repaire our losses.

19 Whatsoever Actions you do here below, all the recompense that the World can give you for them cannot enrich you; and if you do not take your aime beyond Time, all the houres thereof are fatall to you, seeing every moment may sound your retreat, but such a retreat as hath no returne.

20. Undervalue all things here below, seeing all that you set your eye upon changeth countenance with you; and let your apprehension be continually [Page 7]filled with this truth, that only the good which we do in this life, is the sole con­solation which remains unto us at our death.

21. Know then, that Good hath this property, it replenisheth with joy the heart of him who exerciseth himself in the practice thereof; and although a man should never expect any other reward, yet the good it self is alwaies our Glory, our Happiness and our Prize.

22. Our Actions are only rendered considerable by their Object and End; and although the event of them be happy, yet if their Object be not just and lawful, both shame and loss are inseparable companions to their suc­cess.

23. It is not enough, not to do evill, we do it alwayes when we cease from doing of good. We must dili­gently worke out our own salvation, without the intermission of one mo­ment, for that one moment may prove most fatal to us.

24. Consider, that in this World every man liveth as he pleaseth, and [Page 8]although the manner of living and dying be quite different, all must undergo the same judgement for an Eternity.

25. If you desire to establish your repose firmly, lay the foundation there­of upon your Salvation, which ought to be the only scope of all your actions, else they are to no purpose. Suppose you were eminent in Honour and Riches, this is as much as to enjoy a temperate Aire in the Country wherein you are; but seeing you are alwayes upon your journey, the change of the Climate will breed an alteration in the countenance of your Fortune, and in the end you shall be only happy in remembring that you have been so.

26. Consider, that the vertuous acti­ons of our life, are as so many pictures of our good fortunes, whereof the object being alwaies present, renders us still happy: So that the honest and vertuous man hath this advantage, that he survi­veth himself before his death, seeing he enjoyeth the felicity of his life past, by the pleasant remembrance thereof which abideth with him.

CHAP. II. That in this Life we can find no true ease, but in peace of Conscience.

1. YOu may well looke for Ease here below, but you must give it to your self before you can find it; it must be a piece of work of your own making, seeing you cannot obtain it but only by the force of your own In­dustry.

2. Suppose that Messengers bring you glad news every day, and that your affairs are regulated by your wishes; yet you cannot deny, but that the re­morse of Conscience hindereth your mind from enjoying that rest which it desireth.

3. Consider that all sins carry their torment along with them, and that God punisheth them in the Thought aswell as in the Will, and that with a continu­al [Page 10]punishment, seeing the remembrance of them is both the Torment and Ex­ecutioner.

4. The Sinner never taketh his Pastime with delight, because the justice of God pursueth him alwayes, to punish him without intermission, and mingleth so many thorns among his Roses, that the sighs of his heart do often belie the cheerfulness of his countenance.

5. Imagine the greatness of the di­sturbance of a Malefactor, fain would he flee from his punishment, but the thoughts of his crimes do torment him incessantly; so it is with the Sinner: as God is every where, so the Sinner feeleth his justice in every place, which keepeth his soul upon the rack by the remembrance of his sin.

6. Think not to find any delight, yea in your very pleasures, having your soul contaminated with the staines of your crimes, God is pleased to change the nature of your contentments, and to turne the subject of your consolation, into that of your torment.

7. Let the wicked man withhold no delightful thing from his Senses, and [Page 11]let Voluptuousness be their nursing-mo­ther: her breasts are alwayes filled with bitterness to seed them, seeing that by chastisements from above, they find an unsavoury taste in the most delicious dishes.

8. Trust not to the testimony of wicked men, for God layeth his hand upon them to such an extremity as to make them insensible of his correction: and as this stupidity is a marke of their reprobation, so it witnesseth, before hand, the Eternity of the torments to which they are destined.

9. Innocency carrieth alwayes Heaven with it, and it is never found in any soul, without communicating unto it the sweetness of that Repose which doth properly belong unto it, it being the effect, and Innocency the cause.

10. Hell also followeth Sin unsepara­bly, so that Sin causeth its own torments in bringing them forth, by reason of the necessity of justice which doth al­wayes punish it.

11. Know for a truth, that the re­pose of the Conscience bringeth forth peace to the Soul; and as both these, [Page 12]together make up a Heaven upon Earth, so there is no other Hell but that which consists in the privation of them.

12. As often as you make a divorce from your Conscience, you proclaime warr against your self; and it is a warr wherein no Truce is to be looked for, seeing justice gives none.

13. Study to employ well the pre­cious moments of your dayes, if you would not die a Death, which will ad­mit no return to life again, unless it be to make you the eternal object of the wrath of an angry God.

14. O how unhappy is he, at the hour of Death, who hath mispent the time of his Life! because as his sorrow for this fault is in vain, so he feeleth himself instantly strucken with an evill, both sudden and incurable.

16. That God hath a love towards his creatures, doth manifestly appear, by the trouble they are in when he withdraweth his presence from them, for they can find no rest, but in him alone.

17. There is no pleasure that can satisfy our mind, or fill our heart; be­cause it is the property of our Envy [Page 13]to be irregular, and from the satiety thereof, there ariseth alwayes a new ap­petite.

18. All that you do without consult­ing the Oracle of Heaven, passeth for an improfitable labour, whereof the pain abideth, although the work be ended, seeing the grief thereof is continual, and the reward imaginary.

19. Do not lull your self asleep in the success of your wicked designes, the justice of God is so much the more ri­gorous, as it appeareth slow; and if you do not prevent it by correcting your self first, you shall never be able to shun it.

20. Learn to admire the mercy of God, that giveth your heart leave every moment, to justify it self before him, seeing the least of the sighs there­of, can expiate the crimes of it.

21. Establish unto your self a way of living, wherein Honour may be your object, and Reason your guide, and be not slack in your duty; this is the only means to find repose in the troubles of the World, and to enjoy a calme a­midst the storm whereby we are conti­nually agitated

22. Every body loveth life, and yet no body learns to live: all the world dyeth, and yet there is none that know­eth rightly how to dy. This Science ought to be the only study of the Wise­man, seeing it alone can sufficiently in­struct us in the Art of working out our own Salvation.

23. A Soul deprived of Grace is al­wayes in Alarum; being continually disturbed with the horrour of the crimes it hath committed; and it may be said truly of it, that it is a blind thing walk­ing along the brink of a precipice.

24. Imagine the disquiet of a sick­man in the heat of a continual Feaver; He hath no rest night nor day, feeling himself by little and little consumed by a secret fire, which burneth him, with­out being perceived; devoureth him without being known, and at last redu­ceth him to ashes, without giving the least moment of intermission to his painful burnings.

25. This poor afflicted man is the true picture of a guilty Soul, which seeing it self buried in a body tormented with a continual agony, feels it self already [Page 15]burning, in apprehension, in those E­ternal Fires which are destined for the punishment thereof. No wonder if his disquiet be great, seeing every moment may be the last of his life, and the first of the just vengeance of an angry God.

CHAP. III. That we ought to draw our con­solation against the miseries which befall us, from the consideration of the Original whence they are derived.

1. COmplain not of the Crosses which are inflicted by the Di­vine Majesty, they are presents sent from Heaven, your patience will shortly make you know the value of them.

2. Complaints are unseemly in the mouth of a Malefactor; if you can do no other thing but provoke God; do not augment the number of your offences, in murmuring against his justice.

3. You must know, that God doth commonly afflict his Elect, in strowing under their feet, those Roses wherewith his head was crowned; therefore seeing he hath been a sharer in them, his [Page 17]Elect can have no part in his glory, but by right of that succession.

4. What cause have you to complain of the justice of God, seeing his very rigours are the effects of his compassion: he punisheth you in this World, to the end that he may shew mercy to you in the next; in his vengeance he constrain­eth you to admire his Bounty.

5. In all your afflictions, let Reason prevent Time in comforting you, and be indebted to none but your self, for the healing of your pain, seeing you may find the remedy in your submissive Spirit.

6. He that complains of the evill that he suffers, must needs have forgotten the evil he hath done; if he doth remem­ber it, his complaint passeth for a new crime, greater then any that went be­fore.

7. As often as Heaven punisheth you, do reason to justice, in suffering, without murmuring, the chast sement which it inflicteth upon you; silence and Submission do alwayes appease the wrath of God.

8. There is no greater misery then to complain of those miseries that happen [Page 18]unto you; because in murmuring against Justice which punisheth you, you con­strain it to augment the force thereof, and to fall more heavily upon you, by reason of this last crime which you com­mit.

9. A heart filled with God doth never sigh but for joy, amidst the greatest afflictions: so that seeing he loveth much more then he suffereth, the excess of his love doth so vehemently moderate that of his pain, that by little and little he loseth the feeling thereof.

10 Consider that you are the cause of your own afflictions; to the end that, punishing your self by the sorrow which you ought to have for them, this sorrow may be your first comfort.

11. How unhappy are the favorites of Fortune to follow the blind in their blindness! suppose she should lead them a pleasant way, yet that is no other then the way to their grave, where they shall find the thorns of all those Roses which they have trampled upon.

12. In all your calamities, look up to the hand that smites you, before you complain of the stroke it hath given you: [Page 19]God doth never punish us in Time, but to make us afraid of his vengeance in Eternity.

13. The Time of afflictions is of short continuance in respect of that Eternity of glory which is to succeed it; the evill of our sufferings soon passeth away, but the good of our constancy ought never to have an end.

14. Generous spirits have alwayes carried a respect and reverence toward the unfortunate, knowing that they are sick persons, who should at least be comforted, if they cannot be cured.

15. Never refuse comfort to an af­flicted person, to the end that God may repay it you, when you stand in need of it; As all the evils are punished in this world, so is all the good recompensed.

16. Flee not from the unfortunate, seeing that to morrow, you may be of their number; but render to them what you would expect from others, if you were in their condition. The afflicted have no enemies, seeing their misery maketh truce with all those who have proclaimed war against them.

17. If it be true that the Object hath influence upon the Power, or Faculty, there is no afflicted person which may not receive abundance of consolation in the apprehension of a crucified Savi­our; never was any frustrated that came to him in sincerity.

18. Be not weary in suffering; as the Rose fadeth, the prickles thereof be­come blunt; it is not a small comfort to you in your crosses, that you can reckon the houres thereof. Those evils that must needs take an end, are never of long continuance.

19. O how happy a thing it is to grow old in affliction! He that dyeth upon the Cross, carrieth his death so far into the second Life which he hopeth for, that he feeleth himself reviving, accord­ing to the measure that he feeleth him­self dying.

20. The livery of the unfortunate, is the livery of the Predestinate; and it may be truly said, that their silent constancy is continually working at those Crowns which are appointed to be the reward of their labours.

21. They that rejoyce at the miseries [Page 21]of others, prepare their own punish­ment, after they have condemned them­selves, seeing they render themselves guilty a-new, by believing that they are not guilty, yea they are far more guilty then those that are punished.

22. The just man is commonly af­flicted; and he is very happy, in this World that knoweth how to improve his sufferings: a life crowned with Roses produceth alwayes a Death filled with Thorns.

23. It is a great Comfort to look for none here below in all the crosses that happen unto us; because, if Pati­ence cannot receive the final recom­pence from any other then Heaven, it is to be beleeved, that this recompence is bestowed upon us for no other end, but to crown our Patience.

24. Do not shun the approaches of afflicted persons, God looks upon them continually as the objects of his com­passion, rather than of his Justice; and beleeve it, it is very lamentable not to improve aright the frowns and severities of Fortune, seeing the last day of a vo­luptuous life, is far more terrible than [Page 22]all the dayes that went before it, have been pleasant and delightsome.

25. I do not much wonder that some holy persons would choose either to suffer or die. It is impossible to love a crucified God, without partaking of his sufferings: and as sorrow is the object of this love; so the heart, which is filled therewith, doth sigh for joy amidst the greatest crosses.

26. There is no man more miserable then he that is born and dyeth Fortunes darling, because when death seizeth him unawares, he knoweth at the end of the day, that his light hath served him for no other use but to find the way to Hell.

27. A great Calm is alwayes held suspect by the wise Pilot; he complains of that good-lucke, because the excess of a Calm is an infallible presage of the short continuance thereof.

28. Light disgraces fortify the mind: and as they keep it in a continu­all Alarum, by the feare of a greater mishap, so the mind by a prudent foresight puts it self in a condition to shun it; thus our first wound shelters us from many others, which might tend to our hurt.

29. How pleasant is it, to do that promptly and handsomely, which we must do of necessity! The Cross is our portion; he that will not beare the burthen thereof in Time, prepareth his own punishment to Eternity.

30. Do not refuse the Cup that God presenteth to you, seeing he hath quench­ed his thirst, with the bitterness of that, whereof he makes you taste but a little; is it not an excess of bounty to make a tryall first, of all the sorrows that you can be able to suffer, to mitigate the vio­lence of them.

31. When God afflicteth you by the death of any of your nearest Relati­ons, he comforts you at the same instant by a new adver tisment of the necessity of your departure, seeing they are gone to their mansion place, but one dayes journey before you.

32. If you have lost your Wife, that buried half waits for the other to be joyn'd with it; and seeing that union is certain and infallible, the moment which perfects it ought to be continually present with you, although it be to come.

33. The loss of any temporal Good [Page 24]ought not to afflict you; if so be that of Grace abide with you. An innocent per­son afflicted is never miserable, because he ever findeth his consolation in Gods Will, who hath so decreed it.

34. All the miseries, and all the happiness that can befall us, are in Gods hands; the first is the correction of his Justice, the second the favour of his Goodness; but seeing both these pro­ceed from him alone, the one obligeth us to silence out of respect, the other to thankfulness through acknowledge­ment.

35. Christian Wisdom consisteth in this, to will that which God willeth; not out of necessity, but rather out of a submission that prevents it, to the end that this necessity may find us alwayes disposed to undergo the laws thereof, how hard soever they be.

36. He that is jealous of the happi­ness of others, increaseth his own mi­series by his envy, which is both crimi­nal and unprofitable; and in wishing an imaginary good, he feeleth a reall evill.

37. I do not much wonder if a Soul [Page 25]totally resigned to the will of God, be under covert from the stormes of For­tune, seeing the calme, which it en­joyeth, draweth the continuance there­of from him who hath deminion over Time.

38. All our disquiet proceedeth only from our contempt of Providences, Or­ders: for if we did really beleeve this truth, that all that happeneth unto us cometh from Providence, our very afflictions would yeeld us comfort, seeing their bitterness would be changed into sweetness.

CHAP. IV. That true glory doth only con­sist in living vertuously.

1. ALthough you should ransack the whole Earth for Laurels, there would nothing remain to you, in the end, but the ashes; and although all the people thereof were your Sub­jects, yet the small compass of your Tombe would limit the greatness of this Empire.

2. The same stairs which serve for ascending, serve also for descending. All Thrones have their steps: The last step of our elevation, marketh alwayes the first step of our fall.

3. Be not dazled at the splendor of Fortune's honours; her inconstancy doth infallibly presage that the day of your prosperity shall not passe without a storm; and althoug it be at the de­clining, [Page 27]the last moment thereof may be fatall to you.

4. All the honours which we receive here on Earth, are of the same nature with the praises bestowed on them: the latter are made of wind, and the former are nothing but smoak, the one passeth over our head, the other striketh the eare in passing by.

5. I do not much wonder that Glory hath nothing else to give but Laurels and Palmes, the Crowns made of these, last as long as the head that weareth them; the one is withered in the Sun, the other groweth white by the scorch­ing of Time, and both, at last, are re­duced to powder.

6. How many triumphs have you seen? and how many crowned victori­ous? but those faire days are past, and the memory of those famous Con­querours passeth also, untill at last the History of them, by the length of Time, becomes a fable.

7. Suppose that Posterity should preserve the remembrance, both of your name, and exploits; yet the Time ought to be limited, and of [Page 28]what extent soever the limits thereof be, they are alwayes very short, seeing they can be measured.

8. Wonder not that the Romans have acquired a false Glory, they never had a love for the true Glory; they followed Vertue, without being willing to know it; and as they were contented to do noble actions out of vanity, so the vanity abideth with them, their reputa­tion being nothing but wind.

9. He is base and low-minded who encloseth his ambition, and hopes within the Circle of his life, seeing the Tombe is the Centre thereof: We must seek for a Glory that is far beyond Time, and that hath no dependance from it, which may fill the emptiness of our hearts, that are alwayes disquieted in their expectation.

10. All the World doth breath after nothing so much as Glory, and no body taketh pains to acquire the true Glory; the contempt of worldly honours is most safe, a man cannot deserve them, but in shunning them.

11. Purity of Conscience is the foun­tain of true Glory, and it is in vain for [Page 29]wicked men to run after the Crowns thereof, God, for their sakes, changeth the nature of these Crowns, seeing they cover them with infamy, in­stead of adorning them with honour.

12. In this World, every man is the Artist of his own Glory; but to the end, that this work may be the better effected he must be for a long time Vertues Ap­prentice, seeing she alone is able to make him Master.

13. True Glory is the effect of a vertuous life, and good works are so many glorious actions. Care not for the verdict which the World may pass on them, your own judgement ought to give you the first approbation of them, and your conscience the last crown.

14. It is not enough to live honora­bly; the Morals of Jesus Christ are far different from those of the World; for these teach us the love of our selves, but our Saviour the contempt; and because Example is more powerful then Precept, he doth perswade us to it by his own Practice.

15. We may well seek for Glory in Combats, but we can only find [Page 30]it in the victory we obtain over our Passions: Suppose you could gain Battels, take Cities, and conquer Kingdoms and Provinces, yet you must triumph over your self, if you would beare the title of a true Worthie.

16. The World hath her Persons of honour, but I doe pitie them with all their Glory; they adorn themselves with many specious Titles, and they forget that of Miserable, which doth properly belong unto them; they muster up all their qualities, and remember not that of their perishing nature, which blemisheth all the rest.

17. If you desire to acquire true Glory, let the Glory of God be your object. The World hath nothing to give but false honours; and if you would be of the number of true Heroes, let your ambition extend only to the conquest of Heaven; all those that have bu­sied themselves in conquering the Earth, have been constrain'd at their death, to content themselves with seven foot.

18. After that the Rival of Cesar had made his conquest, there could [Page 31]hardly be found so much room as to write upon his grave, Here lies Pompey. This sheweth, that the vanity of the Glory of the greatest men is altogether nothing.

19. True Glory hath no original in nature, the fountain thereof cometh from above; and as Eternity is the ob­ject of it, Eternity ought to serve also for the reward thereof.

20. Covet no other quality but that of an Honest man, seeing that alone is able to accomplish your Glory; he that liveth well, liveth gloriously; the quiet of his Conscience is the honour of his life, as well as the happiness thereof.

21. It will not be asked, at the houre of death, if the honors you have received, have been great; but rather, if the works you have done, have been good. True Glory lyes in the con­tempt of the Glory of the World.

22. As all things created returne to their Original, the World seeth all that Glory die which it bred; and if you draw not from Heaven those thoughts of that Honour which you profess, you [Page 32]shall ere long be ashamed to survive it, seeing you shall be a witness of the ruine thereof.

23. The contempt we ought to have of the honors of this life, is never known but at the houre of death; but seeing that knowledg is unprofitable, we must then prevent it, by doing that to day, which we would have done to mor­row.

24. Time surpriseth the wisest men, although it be alwayes present, you may well heare a Clock, or carry a Watch in your pocket, but it is to no purpose, seeing you do not profit by he counsell they give you; which is, that Time passeth away, as well as the Glory we have acquired in it.

CHAP. V. That Integrity and upright deal­ing only, maketh a vertuous man.

1. WHether you be rich, or great, or happy, all these quali­ties can make no impression capable to gain Reputation, Integrity only can give that; and without this title of ho­nour, a man is nothing but a meer shadow.

2. You are very glad to purchase, with money, the most eminent dignities and Offices. But after examination of your Conscience, if you find your self incapable to discharge them, you do but expose your self in publick view upon an Altar, there to serve for the sacrifice.

3. Men of Integrity are the true Heroes of their Age, because they have their souls filled with true Glory: and seeing it is impossible for a man to [Page 34]live with honour, unless he live with­out reproach; labour therefore, in all your actions, to make your duty here below your first object, and last reward.

4. What doth it availe you, to possess large Offices, and to receive great Honours, if being incapable of the one, you render your self unworthy of the other: your Office gains respect, whereas your person deserves contempt, as if your Livery were more to be esteemed than your self.

5. Suppose your were served in State, and had your Ushers marching before you, &c. Yet all the honor or disgrace that encompasseth you, do proceed from your good or bad reputation: and whatsoever pompe doth accompany you, your way of living produceth either your esteem or contempt.

6. A Righteous man carrieth his ranke about with him, all his words and actions are stirred up by an honest boldness, and that is it that draweth respect and esteem by a secret vertue; whereof the first cause is never known, seeing it is above nature.

7. The first enquiry that is made after your manners, serves instead of a Judge of your life. This doth ob­lige you to give proof of your vertues, betimes; that the esteem of your per­son may take the deeper impression, because publick Fame renders it self the soveraign Umpire of your reputa­tion.

8. The respects that are rendered to a man of a corrupt life, do cover him rather with infamy then glory; so that when he challengeth respect in regard of his Authority, he receiveth nothing but forced acknowledgements, which do shamefully reproach his soveraign­ty, yea upon the very Throne of his Empire.

9. Seeing vertuous actions are valued according to the reputation of him who performs them, they must needs be built on a solid foundation, lest they be attributed to chance, and Fortune have all the glory: Every one, in this world, is worth so much as he maketh himself to be worth.

10. It is Uprightness and Integrity alone that doth distinguish us from one [Page 36]another, all other qualities are strangers to us; seeing they follow us but to the grave, but this alone can exempt us from it.

11. Frame unto your self certain wages of Honour, which can be filled by no other but your self, and walking openly in the sight of the whole World, make it the witness of your life, although it be the judge thereof: the approba­tion of the World is necessary here be­low, for the establishment of your repose.

12. Do not desire to appear an Ho­nest man, unless you be truly such; your hypocrisy will stain your reputation with a new blemish which can never be blotted out, you may endeavour to hide it, but in vaine; for He who inlighters the darkest corners of your heart, will manifest the wickedness thereof by a publick vengeance.

13. The wise Christian hath no other Looking glass then that of his Conscience; seeing it is such a one as cannot flatter, it represents him such as he ought to be, who should, next to his own satisfaction, labour to please all men.

14. Let your behaviour be adorned with such Integrity, as may purchase cre­dit [Page 37]to your words, and esteem to your actions; to the end, that prepossessing the minds of men, to your own advan­tage, you may find friends in all places, and admirers at all times.

15. Consider that every one is Master of his own Honour and Salvation, seeing the one and the other do depend of us; and because uprightness is the foundation of both, we may enjoy with it the repose which it gives us, in expectation of that which it maketh us hope for.

16. You may well project a thousand designes, and execute them too, and that happily by your ordinary tricks and subtilties; but I declare unto you in Gods name, that his just Providence shall cause your misery to rise out of their success, and shall draw your disquiet from that very repose, whereof (as you believed) you had laid the solid grounds.

17. He that deceiveth others, first de­ceiveth himself; and it is bad policy to establish a commerce, whereof our ruin is the object, and our damnation the end.

18. The deceitful man is quickly known, and immediately cryed down; and this discredit breeding contempt, [Page 38]and contempt hatred, he doth but breath in an Aire infected with re­proaches cast (justly) upon him.

19. The Vertuous man makes him­self known and beloved both at once, and without any other charm then that of Vertue, he subdueth to himself all hearts that are worthy of his Con­quest.

20. Let Honour regulate your in­terest, to the end that your only interest may be to preserve your Honour; and believe it, to live without reproach, is the only paradise here below.

21. Be not proud of those advan­tages Nature hath bestowed on you; they are goods, whereof in passing by you have but the use: Vertue alone is a glorious succession, which taketh its aime beyond Time.

22. Carry your heart upon your lips, that from the Concord of your words and actions, you may draw a Harmony, which may charme all the World. There is nothing sweeter to a man, than to survive himself, in making the memo­ry of his life past, to be honorable be­fore his death.

23. Be alwayes jealous of your Ho­nour, and carefull of your Salvation; and seeing the Honour of the World is nothing but a Chimaera, seek for your Reputation in Vertue, because Vertue alone can make your Reputation Eter­nal.

CHAP. VI. That in what condition soever we be, we ought therein to seek for our Repose and Sal­vation.

1. EVery man is the Work-man of of his own Repose in this World; and Christian Morals being the study of all Wisemen, make them, at last, so expert in learning to obey the laws, that Providence imposeth upon them, that they pass their life without disquiet, and wait for death without fear.

2. When you are tyed in that con­dition which hath been the object of your choice, let your dutie be the only Compass that regulates your actions, to the end, that you may live without re­proach, and die without sorrow.

3. Consider not the morall vertues which you practice, upon the account of acquiring the esteem of the World; it is a deceitful Fame which will perish with you, you must live like a Christian, if you desire to die like a Christian.

4. Labour to settle your self in that Condition whereunto you are called, according to the rules of Conscience, as well as those of Honour, and do not confound the one with the other; the Glory of God, and the Honour of the World, have their Objects quite diffe­rent.

5. Consider that every man carrieth his Heaven or his Hell about with him, according to the good or bad imploying of his life; and seeing Life hath no returning, you do continually work, either your own Salvation or Destructi­on.

6. Why do you disquiet your self in that bondage to which you are reduced, seeing the chains thereof cannot be broken? your disquiet makes new bonds to enthral you the more, because it aug­ments the grief, without shortning the terme thereof.

7. If God hath called you to a solitary life, make it your Heaven, lest it be your first Hell; there is no chain so harsh which Time and Necessi­ty will not sweeten, as well as Reason or Death.

8. He is very happy in his misfor­tune that doth support it patiently; Constancy is continually at work in making the Crown of our sufferings, and the Science of suffering without repining, is one of the greatest per­fections of a Christian life.

9. He that consults, with submission, the Oracle of Heaven, before he make choice of his condition on earth, a never in disquiet, although he find himself engaged; because since that Providence hath made the bonds of it, it makes the bondage thereof so pleasant, that he hath greater occasion of thank­fulness, then of complaint.

10. When a man is inlightned on­ly with the light of humane Prudence, he cannot go far, without stumbling; he must make use of another Lantern, the light whereof is never extinguished; and he must alwayes look up to Heaven, [Page 43]to the end that he may not go astray here on Earth.

11. Think not to find the Repose of your condition, in the success of your affairs; that is too weak a foun­dation to build upon; for seeing that they change countenance every houre, they can make you unhappy every mo­ment.

12. It is not enough to be at ease in your condition, this Ease is ill groun­ded, unless your Conscience give it you; and he that is acquainted with the im­ploying of your time, is as skilfull as your self, in knowing the happiness and miseries of your life.

13. There are few that will say they are happy, although they have cause to be so; because being over-swayed by their ambition, which is alwayes un­satiable, they must needs be always disquieted.

14. They may call themselves tru­ly happy, who desires no other for­tune, but what God is pleased to send them. And being disposed to receive Good and Evill with an equal cheer­fulness, (considering the hand whence [Page 44]they are sent.) Time, that changeth always, never changeth to them.

15. In what condition soever you be, consider that from all Eternity, God hath designed out that place for you; and if you doe not discharge it instead of pos­sessing it, the same Eternity shall be the measure of your torments.

16. It is not our part to make out own destiny, unless it be for our salvati­on or destruction, seeing every man hath liberty to do what he can for his own salvation or damnation; the e­vents of our life are, in the hands of Him, who hath numbred our dayes. We must undergo with submission the laws which he imposeth upon us.

17. He is most unhappy, who wish­eth alwayes for the good he hath not, and is never contented with that he hath. The Wise-man is never in quest of his repose, because he finds it within himself.

18. Although a man be considered in regard of his Condition, yet that doth not-render him considerable. Sup­pose his name make a noise, and his greatness a splendor, yet the noise is dis­sipated, and the splendor vanisheth, [Page 45]unless his vertue preserve the memory of the one, and the beauty of the other.

19. All men do complain of their fortune, notwithstanding they have cause to be contented therewith: If God suffers, you to enjoy riches, are you not sati fy'd? and if it be his will to with­hold them, you have no ground of dis­content, provided he give you patience; a Poor contented, is far more happy than a Rich disquieted.

20. Never cast your eyes upon other mens goods, lest Envy give you a salfe possession, making you Proprietary of them, without enjoying; content your self with what God is pleased to bestow upon you; how can you pretend to new favours from his Bounty, if his Justice have cause to upbraid you with unthank­fulness for that which he hath donal ready.

21. Consider, that the felicity of this life consisteth not in passing it without trouble, but rather in passing it without offence; so that the troubles of our life pass away with it, but the torments of our sins are everlasting.

22. What mattereth it in the Run­ing of our Race, whether it be at [Page 46]high noon-day, or in the evening, I mean with magnificence, or without pomp? All consisteth in this, to run happily, to the end we may obtain the Crown.

23. The Favorites of Fortune may well rejoyce in the light of the Sun, as they walk in their favour upon Ice; but the same Star that beholds them continually, makes the Ice melt away suddenly, whence it comes to pass that they vanish in an instant, leaving us nothing but the memory of their mi­fery, with that of their name.

24. Suffer not you self to be tempted with Ambition, the good thereof is to come, and the trouble of it is present. It gives nothing but unprofitable desires, and vain hopes. It argues great weak­ness to lose the Repose we enjoy, in expectation of a greater.

25. Do not take much heed to the roughness of the path of your life; that part of it which is past will trouble you no more, and that which is before, may become fairer, and more pleasant, by walking on in a continuall chearful­ness. All consists in your skilful entring [Page 47]the gate of death; of all the moments of life, the last is only to be feared.

26. The Wise-man findeth his Re­pose every where; all times are his season; and all places his abode; he waxeth old with contentment, because his old age makes him draw near his grave, whence after he is sown in rot­tenness, he is to arise in glory.

27. This should be a great comfort to us, to know, that we breath continu­ally under the protection of Providence; seeing that a haire cannot fall from our head, without the appointment thereof, in all our distresses, this ought to be our consolation as well as our remedy.

CHAP. VII. That he that knoweth how to live well, is the most learned man in the World.

1. IF it be true, that the object of Knowledge is Truth, then know that there is nothing more true than this, that we are born to worke out our own salvation, and that we are to be rewarded according to our works.

2. The most learned man in the world knoweth nothing, if he be ignorant of the means to be saved; and seeing Time and Nature can teach us only to die, we must seek for other School-masters, who can teach us to be born again out of our own ashes, to enjoy that immortality which we hope for.

3. Put the case you were a great Astrologer, and by the rules of this Scienc [...] could foresee your good or bad [...] fore-sight were unpro­fitable [Page 49]to you, because, during the course of your lise, you have nothing to do but to shun the misery of your damnati­on to be esteemed happy.

4. It is not enough to be a good Divine, to comprehend (according to the capacity of your understanding) the mysteries of the Trinity; Faith and submission are the Principles of true Divinity; it is better to believe, then dispute.

5. I grant that Philosophy may in­lighten your mind in the knowledge of the wonders of Nature; but you must ascribe the glory of all to the Creator, and by meanes of these pleasant streams, re-ascend to their scource.

6. Logicks may teach you the Art to put Arguments in forme; but you must alwayes come to the conclusion of this last, that being born to die you must die to revive.

7. The science of true Physick con­sists only in this, to find out soveraign remedies against the feaver of our passi­ons; because if we die of this disease, our loss is irrecoverable for all Eterni­ty.

8. Suppose you were a great Lawyer; then do reason to your self, do it to all the World; the only practice of this Law of Nature, doth briefly com­prehend the whole science of the In­stitutions.

9. What doth it availe to be learned in Languages; is it not sufficient if a man can speak the language of Reason? where works are necessary, words are needless.

10. There are many who are curious to learn, by Cards and Maps, to know the extent of the Earth; but never re­flect upon this truth, that if one little point doth there represent a whole City, in what space can they remarke that of their grave?

11. True Morals do only consist in living without reproach, to die without sorrow; and the means to compass this, is to consider the end of our actions, having alwayes Honour for our object, and duty for our guide.

12. Not that Sciences are to be con­temned, the study of them is as com­mendable as necessary; but it is a sa [...] thing for a man to imploy the whol [...] [Page 51]time of his life in the diligent search of their Truths, without making pro­fit of this, that he who knoweth how to obey the Commandments of God, is the most learned man in the World.

13. O how learned he is in all Sci­ences, that knoweth how to love God! and which may satisfy us in this, it is the Will alone that can render us learned, without standing in need of any other Master.

14. Wonder not if the Spirit of God saith, that The feare of the Lord is the beginning of Wisedom, seeing the Love of him ought to be both the progress, and end thereof. They who can feare and love him, have past all their studies.

15. How many do we see that fol­low the World for to know it, as if the knowledge thereof were very difficult; if you would study it to purpose, you must do it in shunning it, because the frequenting it is contagious.

16. Learn nothing in this World, but to despise it; the Science of the Con­tempt thereof, is the most profitable of [Page 52]all Sciences. A Traveller should think of nothing but his journey, to follow the straight way, without staying at those places where he passeth.

17. Consider that the World is a School, where men learn all sorts of Sciences; but, Vanity being their Teacher, maketh so bad Schollars, that they perish together with their Learn­ing.

18. The greatest Doctors are in a confusion at the houre of Death, with all their Sciences, if they have been still ignorant of the Art of Living well; what doth it availe them to have em­ployed all their time in the reading of good books, if their names be blotted out of the Book of Life?

19. Be your own Master, and be in­structed rather by the example of your actions, than by the Precept of others: a habitude to good, serves us for a lesson to keep us in our duty, as an object al­wayes present, which doth powerfully move our understanding.

20. It is dangerous to be very learn­ed, unless a man have the spirit of Humi­lity; because the light of Nature so [Page 53]dazleth our eyes with its splendor, when we approach too neer, that we become, for the most part, idolaters of those ob­jects we admire; and our idolatry pre­pareth our punishment, in being the cause of our crime.

21. Seeing that no man hath ever been able to find happiness in Life, I wonder why they seek it not in Death. Truly the Wise-man hath good cause to possess our minds with thoughts there­of, seeing these alone can render it as pleasant as profitable to us.

22. Think not that the reading of good Bookes can make you learned; Practice must needs follow Speculation; and besides, it is not enough to instruct others, unless your Actions go before your Precepts.

23. The study of Meditation is very profitable for your advancement in Piety, if so be you draw Conclusions from all the Arguments you make. For, to have nothing but some fine re­flections, without drawing any profit from them, is to be engaged in a plea­sant way, that hath no issue.

24. He that renders himself capa­ble [Page 54]of his Office and Calling, is not ig­norant of any thing he ought to know for his Salvation; and as this alone ought to be the object and end of his thoughts and actions, so I think him happy, if he imploy all his time in this study.

25. It is hard to know the vanity of Sciences so long as we live; and seeing the knowledge thereof at death, is as unprofitable as the sorrow for having mispent our time, shun the detriment that may ensue thereupon, by the fore­warning I give you thereof.

26. We know nothing, for the most part, but those things which we should not learn; we may well fill our under­standing with the knowledge of Good and Evil, but the only Idea of the one remains with us, whereas the other is our constant practice.

27. If you know not how to live, learn, at least, to die; and although the Science of living and that of dying are often confounded together, yet the study of them is quite different; many lessons may be learned in the Science of living, but in that of dying one lesson is suffici­ent.

28. Frequent no other School, but that wherein you may learn the Art of working out your own Salvation; be­cause without this Science, all others are to no purpose.

29. The study of a mans self makes alwayes good Scholars, and he that studies to know himself, may be said to be truly learned.

CHAP. VIII. That Moderation in Riches, is more to be desired then Ex­cess, because it is more pro­fitable.

1. COvet neither to be Great nor Rich; a Moderation in this is to be wished, as the Excess is to be feared; and although we must give an account of Poverty, as well as of Riches, This is often miscounted, but That is al­wayes receivable.

2. Suppose Rich men have a thou­sand faire dayes in their life; how many foul nights have they which they hide from us? They that see the Roses of their garden, know not how many Thorns they have in their soul.

3. If you be reduced to win your liv­ing, win it in effect, in stead of losing it; this life lasts but one day; you must [Page 57]labour to purchase another which is e­ternal.

4. If God hath given you Riches, beg for grace to make a good use of them, because of the use of them de­pends the acquiring of true Treasures.

5. Be not too sollicitous in purchasing of Riches by unlawful means, lest the torment of this crime abide with you; you acquire Goods in suffering much Evil; and God permits the one to be perishing for your first punishment, and the other to be eternal for your finall torment.

6. We reap no advantage by goods ill acquired; and God is not only pleased to make us witnesses of the loss of them, but also maketh himself Judge of the purchase of them, to punish us and a­venge himself.

7. Ask nothing of God, but what is necessary for Life, and seeing it is tran­sitory, gather Riches only to make your journey. If you have Children, en­rich them by your good Example, ra­ther than by other mens goods; the straight path of life never leads to the Hospital.

8. There are few Rich men happy; they make a God of their treasure, and this false God forsakes them in return­ing to the true one, who punisheth e­ternally for their idolatry,

9. The Rich man hath no greater e­nemies then his Treasures; because they are the objects of a continual temp­tation, to taste the pleasures of the world; and seeing in this he thinketh no desires unprofitable, in that power wherein he is, he renders himself miserable, by being too happy.

10. I never saw a Rich man con­tent; their greed increaseth according to the measure of their Riches; and they never consider, that living and dying in disquiet, they begin their Hell in this World, never to end it in the other.

11. If you could be able to moderate your Ambition, you would find that Repose which all the World seeketh after. He who doth limit his desires with the injoyment of that Good which he hath, finds himself securely sheltered from all sort of evills, except those that cannot be shun'd.

12. They that imploy both their cares and pains to heap up Riches, are much astonished, when time faileth for enjoying of them; They sow, for the most part for unknown Heirs, who make their harvest, without having any Right in their succession.

13. Not to be poor, is to be very rich; wish only for what is necessary; despise what is unprofitable; and be afraid of abundance, as of a torrent of pleasure which carrieth us head-long with it.

14. He that is not tyed to the World is contented with little, he burthens himself only with necessaries for his journey, living from day to day, in ex­pectation of that day which is to put a period to his life.

15. The wise Christian longeth for nothing but after God; for seeing he resigns himself absolutely to the con­duct of his Providence, he hath no o­ther thoughts, but what his bounty in­spireth in him.

16. If it be a pleasure to be rich during our life, it is a grief to leave our riches at death; and this is it wherein [Page 60]covetous men are deceived, for seeing this grief can never be felt but once, they never make tryal thereof but to their disadvantage.

17. I know very well that all men abhor Poverty; but they know not that Patience with it doth work miracles. The Poor-man content is a voluntary Martyr, who is offered in sacrifice as often as he breaths in the air infected with his miseries, seeing he dies every moment.

18. Consider, that Rich men can­not be saved but by the Poor; for God heapeth Riches on Those, for no other end, but to be charitable to These; and it is an infallible sign of the repro­bation of a Prodigal, when he becomes covetous towards the Miserable. He that refuseth compassion, can never look for any.

19. They that ask for Riches, do not know what they desire, the good of the Earth is an unavoidable Evill, un­less it be used aright, and the good usage of it is so rare, that we see few exam­ples of the practice thereof.

20, When you envy the Riches of [Page 61]your Neighbour, you murmure against Providence, which hath deprived you of them, and given them to him; the actions of God, accompanied with their justice, do at once impose upon you both silence and respect.

21. Be not dazled at the splendor of Riches, it is the light of a deceitful Beacon, that draws you on to ship­wrack. Begin to make your Heaven in that condition wherein you are, to the end that stream may be joyn'd one day, to its scource, to heap upon your true Treasures.

22. The Trade of a Rich man is a base Trade, because as it is very difficult, in the exercise thereof to save himself, so we see nothing but Apprentices in it, no body passeth Master.

23. Know for certain that Hell is filled only with wicked Rich men; hence you may draw this advantage, in making the example of their destruction serve for a lesson to shun it. When God makes us witnesses of the miseries of others, the same chastisement threatens us.

24. It is not hard for wicked men to make themselves rich; but God suffers [Page 62]eternall torments to be the success of their pains past, they have sown in la­bour, and they shall reap in sorrow.

25. He that seeketh his Riches in God, hath found the Philosophers Stone, seeing he is rich according to the mea­sure of his desires, and as this Treasure is of its own nature insinite, so it aboun­eth alwayes with Riches, whether it be in Time, or in Eternity.

CHAP. IX. That our Salvation and Repose depend of the knowledg of our selves.

1. COnsider that God formed our first Parents of clay, to the end that the memory of his Original might be the Tomb of his Pride; and the chastisement of the Angels, the con­tinual object of his fear.

2. Take notice of your faults every moment, correct them every hour, if you would enjoy the light of your dayes at ease. He is very unhappy, who to the weakness of his mind, adds that of contemning the remedies thereof; al­though our Will alone can be able to cure us of it.

3. They who do not know themselves are wilfully blind, and are neither to be envyed, nor pitied, how can they beget compassion in others, if they have none [Page 64]for themselves: and how can they be envyed, seeing those who have imitated them, are not otherwise known than by the memory of their ruine.

4. The Wiseman liveth only to know himself, to the end that knowing him­self he may live happily: Because this Life is pleasant in nothing, but in the hope to exchange it for a better, there­fore he studieth his miseries for to con­temn the World that produceth them.

5. Let your own unworthiness be your object; because you are truly nothing at all; to run alwayes towards our grave, without being able to stay, but to enter therein, is not this to die, rather then to live? yet think at least, when you are running, that every step may be the last of your jour­ney, and that in going out of the Em­pire of Time, you enter into that of Eter­nity.

6. Study your misfortunes, that you may be happy; study your miseries that you may be exempted from them; so that, as the study will make you know the nature of your condition; you will without doubt, mitigate the bondage, [Page 65]by the necessity which you will impose upon your self, to suffer it without re­pining.

7. I do not much wonder that the Prophet preacheth no other thing to us but the knowledge of our self; see­ing this study alone can render us learn­ed. Learn to live, learn to die, these are the lessons which are taught in Wisedoms School.

8. All the faults of our life proceed only from the ignorance of our miseries, for it is impossible to know them, and go astray from our duty; we live in appearance, and we die indeed; we are under the Empire of Time, because every moment we change countenance with it; we do sensibly breath under the Tyranny of Fortune; what cause have we then to be proud?

9. Examine your self often how you employ your time, that you may give account thereof to your self before it be asked of you; to the end you may benefit your self in the time to come, by the memory of what is past, in being a good husband of the time present.

10. Every man that is ignorant of himself, cannot go far without stumbling in his blindness; and it is to no pur­pose for him to be led, for if he fall not to day, he will surely fall to morrow, since that his Fall is unavoida­ble.

11. Attribute nothing to Chance, nor Fortune, and receive all from Pro­vidence, without making a distinction of the Presents thereof. Because Good and Evil come from the hand of Provi­dence, they ought to be alike acceptable to you. A humble spirit never murmu­reth.

12. If the whole Knowledge of Wisedom be comprised in this one pre­cept, To know our selves, you cannot be wise but according to the measure of this Knowledge. Frequent Schools, turn over Books, follow the Learned, yet you must study your self if you would become such.

13. What doth it availe you to know all the Maximes of Law, unless you practise them, in doing your self Justice first? Is not this a foolish Ar­gument, when you are upon your way [Page 67]never to think of the journey you are making, because you are not to turn back.

14. It is hard to believe, that a man finding himself taken with an incu­rable disease, should not feel his Pulse sometimes. You perceive your self dying every day, how is it possible that you cannot lift up your head often, to see what it is a clock by your Dy­all.

15. If you enjoy a Life without think­ing of it, you deserve not to live. The Wise-man giveth an account to himself, before he gives it to others; and as he is born to die, and dyeth every houre; so, every moment he thinks of that Ne­cessity, whereof the laws cannot be vio­lated.

16. O how hard it is for a man to learn to live, after he hath lived a long time! the evil habits and customes he hath contracted, do so fortify them­selves against reason, that as long as they preside in his Councel, the voice of Rule is useless.

17. Let not Time surprise you; study your life betimes; and though it be [Page 68]still sliding away, yet the profit of your study remains; he that hath a desire to be learned, is already such.

18. Never draw vanity from any thing you know; seeing that Knowledg, how great soever it be, is as vain as you, un­less your Salvation be the object thereof. It is far better to be skilfull in tilling the Earth, without pretending to any more then so much of it as may make us a grave, then to walk sumptuously on it with magnisicent or naments, without making reflection that we are formed of the dust thereof.

19. I esteem to body learned but them who walk continually in the way of their duty: for since that that is the Wise mans guide, we have forgotten all that it could teach us, if we do not keep it company.

20. This is not all, to begin to know your self; you must perfect your Studies in the School of this Knowledg. If you be learned to day, you shall yet be more learned to morrow; and you shall aver at the end of your time, that you have employed it to good purpose; because after it is past, it still remains in the [Page 69]advantage you have made thereby.

21. Make you a solitude in the midst of your Palaces, to entertain your self in secret: mark out a withdrawing-room for your self, to enjoy your own com­pany in quiet. It is one of the most profitable pleasures of Life, to know how it passeth, to the end we may not sorrow for it when it is past.

22. In fine, let every man do for himself. I have learned these Precepts which I lay before you; and in this, I wish my example had out-stript my Pen; to teach you, by Practice, what I have endeavoured to perswade you by Discourse.

CHAP. X. That we ought to derive our Nobility from our selves, as well as from our Ance­stors.

1. IF you are not Noble of your self, as well as by Descent, draw no ad­vantage from your Nobility; vertue a­lone gaineth estimation, as Vice causeth contempt.

2. What doth it profit you, that the Name you bear is recorded in History, if yours darken the lustre thereof? Mud­dy streams make us lose the belief of the clearness of their spring.

3. Let your brave Actions be your noble Ancestors; and forget your anci­ent Nobility, to enable your self anew. There are no Crowns so rich as those of our own making.

4. We ought to be asham'd, when [Page 71]our Predecessors are prais'd, that we cannot have a share in the praises they receive, seeing they make us blush for not having deserved them.

5. Set your self on work about the History of your own life, that it may serve for an ornament to the History of the Age; and let not your Ancestors have any other advantage of you, but, to have gone before you in the path of Glory, following their footsteps to fill their traces.

6. It is not enough for a man to be Noble by Birth and Condition, he must be so by his way of living; and must take notice of his own manners, to correct them, rather than of his Nobility to prove it.

7. Neither the splendor of your Name, nor the greatness of your House, are suffi­cient titles of Nobility, you must pro­duce some that are newer, it is too great a trouble to enquire how your Ancestors have lived, it is enough to know how you live, because your life should be the best marke of your Nobility.

8. It will be inquired, at the hour of death, if you have lived like a [Page 72]Christian, rather then like a Gentle­man. And though you cause the Ti­tles of your Nobility to be engraven up­on your Tomb, your actions alone will follow you beyond it.

9. A Noble man ought to live nobly, both for himself and for others, and see­ing he is elevated above the rank of the vulgar, all his actions must be extraor­dinary, to the end that they may serve as lights to them that are below him.

10. There are some that take great pains about their Pedigree, to prove the antiquity of their Race; as if they could challenge any thing from the reputation of their Ancestors. They may well call themselves Heirs of their Goods; but the succession of their Glory is of such nature, that they cannot enjoy it, unless they deserve it.

11. Although you were descended of the Race of Kings; if your actions be not answerable to your Birth, a man may lawfully question the Nobility of your Original; and if you prove the Anti­quity thereof by your Titles, these are false witnesses, for your life doth belye them.

12. If you be born Great, do Great things; but though you labor in Time, take your aim in Eternity; the Earth is the Grave of all that it produceth.

13. If you be of a condition not very eminent, raise your self above it by your vertue, and render your self considerable of your self: An excellent Picture car­rieth its luste with it.

14. Although Nature hath made you Noble, yet draw the confirmation of your Nobility from Vertue, for that one­ly can justifie it; and live always for the time to come, to the end, that the memory of what is past, may be delect­able to you: Time cannot surprise us, when it is well employed.

15. Know, that true Nobility consists in doing no action unworthy of it. You may well fill History, with the Fame of your Exploits; but the generous thoughts of your heart, must be answerable to the glorious actions of your life; and you must be at agreement with your self, by the straight Alliance of your Vertue, with your Glory.

16. It is far better to be Noble in Minde, than by Birth: It is seldom en­quired, [Page 74]quired of what condition our Fathers were, but every Body is curious to know what Trade we drive; not because they pretend to any interest therein, but the World being a Stage, where every Man actoth his part, all the Spectators are our Judges.

17. How many do we see take pains to obtain Patents of Nobility, as if the Title could bestow the Merit thereof. They had rather exempt their Wealth from Taxes, than their Life from Re­proaches, without considering the neces­sity, to which they are reduced; to for­sake that Wealth which they would glad­ly preserve, and to give an account of that Life, whereof they have contemned the reputation.

18. If your Name be not known by your Condition, make it known by your Exemplary Life. Vertue is a Balm, whereof the sweet Odor is spread every where.

19. We have no cause to call Na­ture, Step-mother, what inequality soever we finde betwixt the Noblemen, and the Peasants, since that by Birth and Death we have the same destiny. And if [Page 75]there appear a great difference in their Life, yet know, that the different ways which they keep, do meet at the Grave.

20. If you draw Vanity from the out­ward qualities of the Body, Time will make you know your Folly every day, because it destroyeth the ground thereof every moment, In ruining the subject that causeth it.

CHAP. XI. That we ought to be dis-engaged from all things; to the end, That we may live without disquiet, and die without sor­row.

1. CAll not your self the Owner of the Goods you possess; every moment reneweth unto you the favor of the use of them: We have nothing that is our own, but miseries and unhappi­ness.

2. If your heart be fastned on any Object, consider the perishing nature of it; and seeing you cannot love it, but as a transitory thing, justifie your love by the necessity of its ruine.

3. When we love any thing passion­ately, we expose our selves anew to the view of Fortune, which can wound us in as many parts, as we are divided.

4. The Covetous man, whose heart is in his Treasures, feels it pluckt out as often as they are diminished, without considering, that as streams return to their source, so this Piece of Earth, wherewith he is intrusted, must be re-joyned to its whole.

5. The Ambitious man, who renders himself Imaginary Possessor of all the goods he wisheth, believeth, that he is robbed of them, when he is prevented in acquiring them. This lets us see, that as we live in our Passions, so we feel our selves dying with the causes of their Birth.

6. All that you would love, love it in God; to the end, that your Love may produce your Repose, rather than your Trouble. All the Affections which we contract in this World, do nothing else but breed, and die, seeing every mo­ment may be the first and last of their continuance.

7. What an ingenious thing it is, for a man to torment himself, in being will­ing to die for every object he loveth! Is it not enough to give up his heart to one love, that is allowable and lawful, with­out [Page 78]dividing it amongst a thousand other Passions, to resent as many different tor­ments.

8. The Chains wherewith we are tyed here below, are easie to be made, and hard to be broken. And if death alone restore us to liberty, yet we lose it in recovering it, seeing that, commonly, we carry the guilty remembrance of our pleasant Bond­age to the Grave with us.

9. A mans love towards himself, is to be excused, when his Salvation is the ob­ject thereof; he is permitted to love himself in a lawful way, yea, with ex­cess too, using extraordinary endeavors, to testifie the violence of that Love, by the contempt of all other.

10. Happy is that man who is altoge­ther his own, that he may give himself wholly to God: Unhappy is he, that af­ter he hath given his heart to the World, seeth himself constrained to leave it with the World, not having so much power as to take it back.

11. The Wisemans Love is never blinde, because Reason (which is no­thing else but Light) produceth it: [Page 79]Whence it comes to pass, that he loveth with pleasure, drawing his delights from the Object of his Affections, which are as harmless as himself.

12. Every Body loveth Liberty, yet every Body is engaged: They that have no Master, become Slaves to their own Passions; and in this shameful Bondage, they render themselves unworthy of com­passion, because they have no compassion on themselves.

13. Seeing that Christian Perfection consists in the contempt of all things, and in the dis-engagement from our Selves, we must be our own; to the end, that we may give our selves: Unless our hearts be emptied, they shall never be fill­ed with God.

14. Every man goeth about his own business, and we do always forget the most important, which is that of our Salvation: All others are unprofitable at the end of our days work, seeing an ac­count will not be required of them, no not so much as of their success.

15. I know very well, that all our de­sires do divide our heart; and it is so [Page 80]possessed with a continual longing after their object, that it liveth out of its self for anothers sake: But though it be divided during life, it must needs be united in it self, at last, to die all alone for its self onely.

16. Do not wait till Age draw you from the World; but, preventing Ne­cessity by Reason, triumph over your self, before Time become your Con­queror.

17. Consider that your Habits and Customs are as so many Bonds, which strengthen themselves continually; and seeing Nature doth much contribute thereunto, all endeavors, at last, are too weak to break them, without the help of Grace.

18. O what a contentment it is to a man, to be free to die, and to be wholly his own at the hour of death! The Ob­jects of our Passions, are as so many Chains, which fasten us to the World, when we are upon the point of departing from it: We must bid them adieu betimes, that we may make our retreat without sorrow.

19. It is very hard for us to hinder [Page 81]our selves from being surprised by Time, in those Affections that we contract here below; because, as the hour of our de­parture is uncertain, and the hope that dieth after us, deceiveth us too, so we do not commonly forsee our mishap, but when it is unavoidable.

20. Dis-engage your self from your Children, and, after you have put them under the Protection of Providence; it is enough to shew them the way wherein they should walk, to work out their own salvation, by going before them your self.

21. Be not tied with your Dignities; these are the Liveries of Fortune, which she giveth and taketh away at her plea­sure: Content your self in that you de­serve them, seeing you must give an ac­count of the use of them.

22. Let not your heart finde any place in your Palaces, to lodge its Affections there, least the Chains thereof be too strong. Do not establish your dwelling there, all the steps of your walks are numbred; and in going under the covert of the shady Allies in your Gardens, you draw nearer your Grave.

23. Every Man loveth his Repose, and no body takes pains to acquire it. It is not enough to be rich in this World, and to taste of a thousand pleasures there­in; because these riches remain in the World, and the pleasures pass away, leaving us nothing but a troublesome re­membrance, and an unprofitable sorrow.

24. It is not enough to live at Liber­ty, we must die so; and what tye soever we have here below, the failing of the heart is that of the Soul, because the will of this, followeth the thoughts of the other.

25. If you be addicted to the World, quit this bad Master betimes, and restore you to your self, that you may offer your self totally to God. All streams return to their Fountain; all Beams are joyned to the Body of their Light. You must ren­der your Soul to its Creator, in the Inno­cency of Baptism, and in the Freedom of your Cradle.

CHAP. XII. That the Good we do in this World, is of greater value than the Goods we possess in it.

1. THink not that you are Rich accord­ing to the worth of the Goods you possess; but rather according to the measure of the Good which you do. Your Treasures remain with your Heirs, but your Works follow you. Those are Stran­gers to your Soul, but these do properly belong to it.

2. The Inventory of your Goods serve onely for a memory of the Accompt you have to make, both of the Purchase, and the Usage of them: So that when you die, you shall know, that you have taken pains onely for others; seeing they are to reap the fruit of your labors, and also of the torments appointed for you.

3. He is truly miserable, who hath his Coffers filled with Money, and his Soul stained with the guilt of the pur­chase thereof. Suppose your Riches did level the path of your life, to render it more pleasant, and you cease not to go on in your journey; but when you are at the end of your course, you shall be afraid of him whom you shall finde there, after you have forgotten him, to whom you should rather have betaken your self.

4. Every body taketh pains for this Life, as though it were immortal; and no body thinks on Death, which we carry in our bosome: Whence it comes to pass, that after we have spent our time in gathering of Riches, a stranger enjoyeth them for our first punishment, and Hell waiteth for us, for our final torment.

5. To what purpose do you put out your Money to Usury, to assure your self of this Life, seeing, that by Grace you wait continually for the Life to come, to prolong it? The Fire of Covetous­ness, devoureth you in the behalf of a Life, which is nothing but the smoak [Page 85]thereof; since that, like smoak, it is dis­sipated by the blast of our sighs.

6. You keep an exact account of your Revenues and Disbursements, without considering, that you have nothing, which is to be valued but the time you have to live; and because that is uncertain, and Death infallible, you must make good the use and possession of a Good which you forsake for ever.

7. What pleasure can you take in walking abroad upon your Territories, if at every step you walk upon your Grave? You take all your Walks in a Circle, whereof your Grave is the Centre.

8. You enjoy, indeed, a great satis­faction, in having many Houses of Plea­sure, there to pass the different seasons of the year; but the year passeth, and your pleasures too, and from season to season, your last approacheth, wherein you must give an account of the Fruits, which all these seasons have yielded you.

9. It is a sad pleasure for a man to contemplate himself in his greatness, as in a Looking-Glass; because, though this Looking-Glass did flatter us, yet it [Page 86]cannot represent us, but in a continual motion, seeing our life hath no stay; and what delight can we have in a way, how pleasant soever it be, if it end at the Grave.

10. How astonished may a Man be, at the reading of his Testament, when he heareth the Inventory of the Goods he hath purchased; but hath no body to repre­sent to him, the Good he hath done! Yet he forsaketh Those eternally, and to all Eternity he can pretend to nothing, but the fruits of These: Judge of his astonish­ment by this thought.

11. Do not reckon Greatness and Riches in the number of the Felicities of this Life, they are either the Goods of Nature or Fortune, whereof the use is much more dangerous, than the possessi­on seems pleasant. He is Great before God, who is willingly Small before Men.

12. Consider, that the Goods which the World yieldeth, are false, but the Miseries true: And if, when you die, you be rich onely in pieces of Land, that Earth will remain to you, both for your Grave, and for your share.

13. You cannot enrich your Soul, but with Eternal Goods, seeing those that are perishing, are not for its use. You cannot heap up Treasures in your Soul, unless Heaven be the Fountain of them.

14. It is a great ease to our Minde, that we have onely purchased Goods to do Good withal; and that we can be able to distribute that before we die, which we would give after death: For, by making it pass through strange hands, we run the hazard of diminishing our Charity, although we enjoy the advant­age thereof.

15. Although we should not keep an Accompt of the good Deeds which we do, yet it is lawful to preserve the re­membrance of them; so that the Me­mory being filled with a habit so com­mendable; this Object always present, powerfully moveth the Will, whereon de­pends our future concernment.

16. He that doth much Good, ga­thereth much Goods. A good life filleth the House with Riches, in filling it with gladness. A voluntary, or patient Poverty, may enrich us with Real Trea­sures.

17. Be not disquieted for the mean­ness of your Estate; what is Necessary, is sufficient to the Wiseman: Abundance never produceth Repose, but Mediocrity is able to give it.

18. He is free indeed, who willeth always that which God willeth: But since that we are blinde in our Liberty, not knowing to what we shall direct our determinations, we preserve our Free­dom, in putting it into the hands of him who gave it us, to make a good use there­of; seeing He is the Object, and the End of that Usage.

19. Covet no more riches, than God bestows on you, or what comes of the sweat of your Labors: And though your Children have no more, know, that the Seed thereof is so fruitful, that it in­creaseth continually, and is never dimi­nished.

20. If you knew how great a pleasure it were to do good, you would contract so powerful habits of it, that it were im­possible to break them. But if you be so unhappy, as to doubt of it, let this dis­advantage yield you some profit, because experience may make you happy.

CHAP. XIII. If we would leave the World chearfully, we must dis-en­gage our selves from it, ere we leave it.

1. STudy to know the World, that you may learn to contemn it, see­ing the contempt thereof proceeds from the knowledge we have of it: No man ever knew it, and loved it; and they that tie themselves to follow it, are wilfully blind, who settle their chief happiness here below.

2. If Examples are able to instruct you, you have no more to do, but to cast your eyes on every side, to look on the miserable People the World hath made, and is every day a making. You may draw your advantage from their loss, in considering, from the Haven wherein you are, the storms wherewith they are encompassed.

3. It is true, that the World hath nothing to give but Roses; but after­wards it afflicteth our spirits, and to en­crease our miseries, the Roses thereof last but for a Morning, but the Thorns are Everlasting; the Pleasures thereof pass away, but the Torments follow us beyond the Grave.

4. I know very well, that it is hard to resist the Worlds allurements, and that Reason must needs employ her uttermost endeavors to render her self Commandress of its Charms; but a humble spirit, and a zealous heart, may hope for all things from Grace. It is this alone that maketh us triumph in Combats, to give us the Crown of the Victory.

5. If the World tempt you with Riches, it is a Good, whereof the ill-imploying may render you eternally mise­rable: And truly it is so difficult to im­ploy them well, that the wisest men in this point, are in continual fear, because they are in continual danger.

6. If the World tempt you with Greatness of Birth, consider that it is a Rose-bud, whereof you are both the Sun and the Dew, because you cannot be [Page 91]truly Great, but by your own Vertue. Nature, indeed, may crown you from your Cradle; but it is onely the crowns of your own making, that must render you truly Glorious.

7. If your Youth suggest any temp­tation to engage you to follow the World, consider, that it is the Hand of a Clock which commonly goeth false; because every moment may be that of your Re­treat, but such a Retreat as hath no Re­turn.

8. Be not surprised by the smiles of Fortune: All the Calms of the Sea there­of, are so many presages of an ensuing Tempest; and Shipwrack is so much the more unavoidable, as the Calm hath been of long continuance. Fortune alone never rendered a Man happy.

9. There is no condition in the World to adventure upon; and although Crowns and Scepters be as Laurels, under the shel­ter of which, we may be safe from Light­nings; yet Fortune hath settled on Earth, her Right of taking them away, though she do not give them: Every Age fur­nisheth us with said examples of this Truth.

10. The Chains which tye us to the World, are hard to be broken, unless we break them betimes; because, when we use our strongest endeavors to make them take effect; the trouble doth astonish us, and courage fails us, with so much the more reason as we endeavor the ruine of our own Contentments.

11. We must live in the World, as in a strange Country, where we are every day taking our Farewel, being always ready to depart; and because the moment of our departure is uncertain, we ought to wait for it every hour. The Wise Christian that hearkneth to the minutes of his breathing, can never be surprised, when the hour of his l [...]st sigh striketh.

12. The World never made but un­happy men; these are works of its own making, and it can make no other. It is a fine thing for the Slaves thereof, to live and die in the pomp they are in: But the splendor thereof, doth onely dazle feeble spirits, because strong ones break­ing the berk of appearances, do evident­ly see their mi [...]fortunes.

13. I do not wonder that our first Parents were deceived by the World, [Page 93]seeing they were deprived of those Pre­cepts that Example might give them: But I think it very strange, that walking on the Sepultures of those whom the World hath deceived, we become not wise by the remembrance of their folly.

14. Take leave of your self, before Necessity constrain you to take your last Farewel; and seeing it is the Trade of the World to make men slaves, as well as miserable, follow it without being tyed to it; to the end, that dying in that freedom wherein you was born, you may have no other Master to give an account unto, but one.

15. They who devote themselves to the World for a time, render their Vow eternal, before they are aware, having neither leasure nor courage to violate it; and if, by good luck, this doth not fail them, the want of the other makes their destruction infallible, and their loss un­recoverable.

16. All the lovers of the World, die commonly Idolaters thereof; but the misery is, that Time exposeth them for Sacrifice upon the Altar of Eternity; see­ing they are to be Martyrized for ever.

17. Flee, shun the World, in Will, and in Thought, seeing you are not able to shun it in Deed. True, every moment separates you from it, in making you draw near your Grave; But in that, your Heart must go before your steps, and you must go swifter in minde, than in body, to make the way pleasant which you are to go.

18. Prevent those Farewels the World is to take of you, in the Necessity to which you are reduced, to forsake it for ever; to the end, that the hour of your departure may be without hinderance, and without any other disquiet, than what grief, not to have lived better, might have caused in you.

CHAP. XIV. That the World is a Theatre, where every man acteth his Part in Time, for an Eter­nity.

1. WHen I consider this sad Thea­tre of the World, wherein Time destroyeth all that Nature pro­duceth. I bless that adored Providence which hath so ordained it, seeing that the Necessity of Death, perswades us of the Neccssity of a New life.

2. Although we be born free, yet Na­ture makes us subject to Reason; and though this Subjection be voluntary (as the Will hath no other object but Good) there is a far greater pleasure in following it, than there is in shunning it.

3. Life hath no returning; and though our Souls be Immortal, the second Life which succeeds to the first, is but the Fruit of the Seed of our Labors: If we [Page 96]walk in darkness here below, darkness will be our portion.

4. The Immortality which the World promiseth, can last no longer than it; and it is sufficient that Time can mark the limits thereof to contemn it; what­soever is not Eternal, is unworthy to be the object of our desires; but Eternity is to be feared, as well as desired. And seeing it is unavoidable, we must ren­der it happy to our selves by a Godly life.

5. How worthy of Compassion are some profound Wits! They spend their whole life in the search of Immortality; and in the end, they finde nothing but Death Eternal. Except we be inflamed with the Fire of Charity, we cannot happily rise again out of our Ashes.

6. You must never make tryal of a danger, whereof the hurt is unrecover­able: They who put their Salvation in hazard, are men wilfully unhappy, who run blind to their own destruction, after they have foreseen it.

7. Because we can onely be good Husbands of the time present, we must employ it as it cometh; it is the onely [Page 97]means to stay it, though it do continu­ally flee away, since that the memory of the flight thereof is pleasant to us.

8. Because at death, vows are to no purpose, we ought to make and accom­plish them during Life: the occasion of well-doing is not alwayes prefent. Though the seasons be ordered, as well as the Days and Nights, yet it is not so with Life, because the moments thereof succeed one to another, without ha­ving so much as one assured.

9. The meer necessity of dying, doth perswade Wisemen to work out their own Salvation, while it is day, without standing in need of any other Clock, to mark the hours of their work.

10. Wise men do never sorrow for their Life past, because they live only to die: And though the time to come be not theirs, yet they dispose of it before hand to their own advantage, in the resolution they are, alwayes to imploy it well.

11. Life hath nothing that is its own, but death: all the Goods which it in­joyeth are imaginary, because they sub­sist [Page 98]only in the Fancy. And seeing that subsistence depends of Time and For­tune, if This take away from us the use of it, That can limit the continuance thereof.

12. He is happy, upon the account of Justice, who seeth himself die in doing of his duty: the Race of this Life, how painful soever it be, becom­eth pleasant, when we run it hap­pily.

13. To live but for one day, is to live a whole Age, provided we spend that day to good purpose: A thousand years of Life are reckoned only by the last moment which doth finish it, be­cause that alone must Crown all the for­mer.

14. There is nothing so dreadful at Death, as the remembrance of a long Life: because, as we must give an ac­count of all our days past, seeing they are present with God, either to justi­fy, or condemn them; so the doubt of our happiness, or misery, keeps our Souls on the Rack.

15. We cannot go, but once, from Time to Eternity; it is a journey that [Page 99]hath no returning; and seeing that all Wise men prepare themselves to make it, as soon as they are capable of reason, he must needs be quite deprived of rea­son, who is surprised at the hour of re­treat.

16. As the Pilgrim doth accomplish his vow, when he puts himself on the way to make his Pilgrimage, so we be­gin to go about our Mission as soon as we are born, in the Path which we hold; it is enough that Reason be our Lantern, and Duty our Guide, to keep us from going astray, without measuring the paces of our Race.

17. Although we do but pass away here below, yet every man may work out his own Salvation here, in passing: All consists in the imploying well the Time allowed us, without being solicitous for more, or less; a good life is alwayes long, though it should last but for one moment.

18. Endeavour, every day, to do­some good work, to the end you may in­joy what is past, as you do what is pre­sent. The Wise man never searcheth in vain, for his Repose is in his Memory.

19. Seeing that the Way which we are to hold in our Life is marked out, let us go on cheerfully, and consider, that the more painful it be, it is the safer, provided that Patience be our Guide.

20. Know that Death is the reward of the just, and the punishment of the Wicked; because Those, when they die, may lawfully hope for the Crown of their labours; but These, for the chastisement of their crime.

CHAP. XV. That the Wise man waiteth for Death, without either wish­ing or fearing it.

1. HE that wisheth for Death, hath cause to fear it, because the guilt of his desire, prepareth his punish­ment; as we are born here below, by a secret Order of Providence, so this alone can sound our retreat: and of all the miseries which can befall us, Des­peration is the greatest.

2. We should never fear the Evils which we cannot avoid: because Fear is a new Evill far more painfull than that which we are to incurre; and if, in these encounters, Nature overcome Reason, we ought to implore the help of Grace, because it triumpheth alwayes.

3. Death frights none but the Wick­ed; not, but that the Godly do fear it, but their Hope being stronger than their [Page 102]Fear, the one is diminished by the growth of the other.

4. Wise Christians do never dispute with Providence: they undergo the laws thereof without repining, and how rigorous soever they be (seeing there is more glory in suffering, than in com­plaining) they beg for Constancy in their distresses, rather than for Comfort.

5. They that have a love to Life, know not what they love: For, if it be a Good, the imaginary propriety and uncertain usage thereof, make us sensi­bly know the contempt we ought to have of it.

6. A good Life is always long, how short soever it be; and seeing the great­est Heroes reckon their years by their Heroick acts, the wise Christian ought to keep an account of his age, by the Good he doth.

7. Although we be born here below, unwitting to us, we have liberty to live here as we please; but seeing that we must give an account of our Life, we ought to be good husbands of Time, for it conducts us to Eternity.

8. Life may be justly compared to [Page 103]a Dream, because we live in a continual dotage, taking the false Good, for the reall, and the way of Vice, for the path of Vertue.

9. Know, that the preparation to Death doth mitigate the fear thereof, as the continuall thoughts of it, taketh a­way the horrour; and as Experience cannot chuse but be profitable to you, so the profit you shall receive by it, will far surpass the pains you shall take for it.

10. If you would forsake Life with­out sorrow, enjoy it without being tyed to it; we should never think but of finishing our journey, so much the ra­ther, because we cannot stay by the way.

11. This Interval of dayes and nights, whereof our Life is composed, lets us see by the Image of Sleep, that it is so con­founded with Death, that it is but one and the same thing.

12. Nature causeth us to be born like unto Posts in this World, where every man carrieth the sealed Letter of his Destiny, directing to Death; and see­ing Time leadeth us thither, if we do not go, it will pull us. This obligeth [Page 104]us to follow our Fate, with that sub­mission which becometh a creature.

13. Seeing we do not live, but to die, and that we do not die, but to live a­gain; let us drive the Trade of the Vertuous man, because he alone can find, at the end of his Course, that Eternity which he waits for.

14. He that liveth only to live, doth deprive himself of. Hope, which is the sole Good of Life. What would be­come of us, in the miseries wherein we are, if we did not pretend to Eter­nal happiness, seeing our Souls can never die.

15. Life is not otherwise considera­ble, than by the good use we make of it; though you should live a whole Age abounding with Riches and Hap­piness, if the last moment do not justify all the former, you may be reckoned in the number of the most miserable men in the World.

16. Every body wisheth to live long, not considering that a long life, is a long receit of Time bestowed on us, seeing that we must give an account of the imployment of our dayes. The fe­licity [Page 105]of our Life, depends of the happi­ness of our Death.

17. Consider, that every Age seeth die, all that it hath seen born, and that it draweth along with it, all that hath ap­peared like it, in the World, without hope of returning; because the years whereof it is composed, are never twice counted.

18. As soon as a man hath attained to the years of Reason, he liveth long enough, if he live but one day, provided that one day be well spent: The rest of the Time which is allowed us, turneth to our reproach, rather than our advan­tage; if we do not spend it to good pur­pose.

19. When we wish for Death, we manifest our Cowardise, more than our Courage, because this fails us, through want of resolution to endure the me­mory of what is past, the trouble of what is present, and the fear of what is to come, whereof the only Hope of Eternity can sufficiently instruct us.

20. Know that the Life of Great Men is a path strewed with Roses, [Page 106]whereof the Thorns are at the end. For, after they have smelled the sweet odour of Those, they must needs feel the sting of These.

21. There is none but God and Vertue, that can prolong the Life of Man; God, in adding to it that which is to come, and Vertue, in recalling what is past, by the satisfaction we injoy in having spent it well.

22. He that loveth Life in his mise­ries, to suffer them constantly, hath cause to fear Death, because in suffering new torments, it taketh away from him the means to acquire new Crowns.

23. Live only to die, if you would live without reproach; he that thinks on that which is to come, doth not sorrow for what is past, and enjoyeth what is present without disquiet.