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<NAME>Mona Logarbo</NAME>
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<P><FIGURE>
<P>Mi&s;cellanea Spiritualia OR DEVOUT ESSAYES <HI>Compo&s;ed By the Honorable Walter Mountague <ABBR>E&s;q</ABBR>.</HI></P>
<Q><P><HI>Ser&ograve; te amavi Pulchritudo tam nova et tam antiqua.</HI></P>
<BIBL><HI>S^t Aug:</HI></BIBL></Q>
<P>W. Mar&s;hall &s;culpsit.</P>
<P>London <HI>Printed for</HI> William Lee, Daniel Pakman, &amp; Gabriel Bedell, <HI>and are to be Sold at their Shopps in Fleet-&s;treet</HI> 1648.</P>
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<P><HI>Mi&s;cellanea Spiritualia:</HI> OR, DEVOVT ESSAIES: <HI>COMPOSED</HI> BY THE HONOURABLE <HI>WALTER MONTAG&V;</HI> E&s;q.</P>
<Q><BIBL>ECCLUS. 51.</BIBL>
<P><HI>Videte oculis ve&s;tris, quia modicum laboravi, &amp; inveni multam requiem.</HI></P></Q>
<P><FIGURE>
</FIGURE></P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>W. Lee, D. Pakeman,</HI> and <HI>G. Bedell,</HI> And are to be &s;old at their &s;hops in <HI>Fleet&s;treet.</HI></P>
<P><HI>MDCXLVIII.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
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<HEAD>To the mo&s;t Sacred MAJESTY OF Henrietta Maria, Daughter of <HI>France,</HI> and Queen of <HI>Great Britain.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>MADAM,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_THe propriety of my Life is not &s;imply by a common Right inherent in Your <HI>Crown,</HI> but likewi&s;e (by a &s;pecial and notorious Pur|cha&s;e) is annexed unto Your <HI>Per&s;on;</HI> and that by &s;o obliging a Title, as nothing le&s;s then the ce&s;&s;ation of my Life, could &s;eem on my part a legitimate &s;eparation of my per&s;onal Ser|vices from Your <HI>Maje&s;ty&punc;</HI> But in this
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engaged e&s;tate of my life, God hath been plea|&s;ed, by a civil death, to contrive a ju&s;tifiable intermi&s;sion of my &s;ecular Duties, and by &s;uch away, as renders even this ce&s;&s;ant &s;tate in &s;ome &s;ort active, and di&s;charging my Obligations: Since my pre&s;ent &s;u&s;pended condition is a con|&s;equence of the active pro&s;ecution of my Duty to Your <HI>Maje&s;ty,</HI> whereby even this my in|animate con&s;titution, in regard of any motion in Your &s;ervice, &s;eems enlivened by this kinde of dying in that relation; by which means my life may be &s;aid to have but changed the maner of application unto You, and in place of the Spirit of Acting, to have taken that of Suf|fering for Your Service; So that in effect, it is but the corps, as it were, of my time that lieth thus into <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">bed in this Region of civil death, while the Spirit thereof liveth in Your Service, by the occa&s;ion of this my pa&s;sive condition.</P>
<P>In this &s;tate of violent quie&s;cence, my thoughts <HI>(Madam)</HI> have not cea&s;ed to range
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and ca&s;t about in the&s;e &s;pacious fields of <HI>So|litude,</HI> to finde a way, how, my per&s;on being now like a Clock with a broken <HI>Spring,</HI> unable to give You an account of my time by my own Motion, I might contrive my pre&s;ent &s;tate, as it were, into a <HI>Sun-dyal,</HI> which while it &s;elf is fixed, doth by an extrin&s;ique Motion give an account of Time: In &s;ome report to this Conceit, I have bethought my &s;elf of drawing &s;ome &s;uch lines within my walls, by the rules of <HI>Spiritual Mathematiques,</HI> as might (by the Motion of that Sun upon them, which com|monly &s;hines the brighte&s;t through the clo&s;e&s;t walls of Pri&s;ons, they like Chry&s;tal curtains, intending rather then intercepting his beams) render You, <HI>Madam,</HI> an account hereafter of my pre&s;ent time, by the &s;trange property of this Spiritual <HI>Dyal,</HI> which may mark out the pa&s;&s;age, even of hours already elap&s;ed: And, I hope, the&s;e lines have yet this better quality, of bearing &s;ome marks of the fervor and operation of this Sun upon my thoughts,
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as of their cour&s;e and motion towards Your Memory; which Impre&s;sion if they retain, this one act doth happily conjoyn the&s;e two great Duties, of <HI>Gratitude</HI> to God, and to Your <HI>Maje&s;ty.</HI></P>
<P>In my pre&s;ent conveniency <HI>(Madam)</HI> of contemplating much the&s;e two &s;ubjects, I have often re&s;olved, That God had de&s;ign|ed You &s;o &s;pecially, for the mediate convey|ance of all his Ble&s;sings to me, as that he would not mini&s;ter this his Medicinal af|fliction, but as it were by the hand of Your Service; by which order he hath been plea&s;|ed to render Your adver&s;ity more beneficial to me, then ever Your felicity was like to prove, &s;ince it is not probable that Your Power would have given me what I finde now to have been mo&s;t wanting to my Life, <HI>Sufferance</HI> and <HI>Mortification;</HI> in&s;omuch, as what my vain Nature needed the mo&s;t, and Your generous one, could afford me the lea&s;t, hath by the accidents of Your fortune,
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binfurni&s;hed me, with the pre&s;ervation of Your favorable con&s;tancy; and thus, without the ble|mi&s;h of any of Your Vertues, Your Service hath taught me <HI>Patience</HI> and <HI>Re&s;ignation;</HI> Ver|tues, which though You had them habitually in Your minde, yet neither were Your Nature or Your Fortune, the one apt, or the other proper, to give Your Servants occa&s;ion to practice them.</P>
<P>Nor doth this my particular ble&s;sing of Sufferance, endure any abatement by the &s;en&s;e of Your per&s;onal afflictions; for GOD hath provided again&s;t this allay of it, by the im|provement, at the &s;ame time, of all Your Vertues and Pieties; So, as in re&s;pect of Your Per&s;on, I may rejoyce likewi&s;e in all Your tri|bulations, &s;ince every Thorn in Your pre&s;ent <HI>Crown</HI> hath been a kinde of pen&s;il, the &s;harp|e&s;t touches whereof have drawn You the nearer that <HI>original Head,</HI> crowned with Thorns, who&s;e re&s;emblance ought to be Your principal intendment: And if what You have lo&s;t of the likene&s;s of a Terre&s;trial Prince, hath
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conferred to Your &s;imilitude with that <HI>King of kings,</HI> there is made a ble&s;&s;ed Transfigu|ration, rather then any Disfigurement of Your Image: Wherefore I may pre&s;ume <HI>(Madam)</HI> That all the pre&s;ent Breaches which Your <HI>Cro&s;&s;es</HI> have made in Your Temporal &s;tate, will prove in Your Eternal like the wounds of our great <HI>King</HI> of the <HI>Cro&s;s,</HI> which are turn|ed into the mo&s;t glorious and re&s;plendent parts of his Body.</P>
<P>It were ea&s;ie <HI>(Madam)</HI> to pre&s;ent You many Motives of <HI>Con&s;olation,</HI> derived from the &s;ubject of Your Troubles; but I had ra|ther You &s;hould extract them from that part therein, which &s;olaceth all Your Attendants in this hard Fortune, the re&s;igned maner (I mean) and temper of Your Suffering, and that which ea&s;eth Your Servants is the likelie&s;t thing to confort You in this condition. You may therefore &s;afely rejoyce, that Your comportment &s;upplieth much the di&s;ablement of Your For|tune, and in &s;ome degree relieveth all Your
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di&s;tre&s;&s;ed Party, while Your Gracious prece|dence in this a&s;perous and narrow way of the <HI>Cro&s;s</HI> (wherein Your Vertue doth pre&s;cribe the order of their march) may well draw every generous Minde off from the thoughts of their own private Di&s;tre&s;&s;es, and &s;o &s;uccor the noble&s;t Hearts in &s;ome mea&s;ure, by this ver|tuous diver&s;ion, while You are unable to do it by direct &s;upplies: Thus, by the influence of Your Piety, even Your Nece&s;sities may be|come Provi&s;ions for Your Suffering Party.</P>
<P>Thus did <HI>King David</HI> refre&s;h more his <NOTE PLACE="marg">Paral. 11. 18.</NOTE> whole Army, by bearing them company in their thir&s;t, then he could have done by the provi&s;ion of many ve&s;&s;els of water and as this holy <HI>King</HI> did as good as ca&s;t that water into every thir&s;ting mouth, which he poured out unto the <HI>Lord;</HI> &s;o may You, <HI>Madam,</HI> by accepting &s;till chearfully Your own wants, and offering up to God Your Will of &s;uffering in this general Calamity, relieve more uni|ver&s;ally Your Party, then by the di&s;tribution
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conferred to Your &s;imilitude with that <HI>King of kings,</HI> there is made a ble&s;&s;ed Transfigu|ration, rather then any Disfigurement of Your Image: Wherefore I may pre&s;ume <HI>(Madam)</HI> That all the pre&s;ent Breaches which Your <HI>Cro&s;&s;es</HI> have made in Your Temporal &s;tate, will prove in Your Eternal like the wounds of our great <HI>King</HI> of the <HI>Cro&s;s,</HI> which are turn|ed into the mo&s;t glorious and re&s;plendent parts of his Body.</P>
<P>It were ea&s;ie <HI>(Madam)</HI> to pre&s;ent You many Motives of <HI>Con&s;olation,</HI> derived from the &s;ubject of Your Troubles; but I had ra|ther You &s;hould extract them from that part therein, which &s;olaceth all Your Attendants in this hard Fortune, the re&s;igned maner (I mean) and temper of Your Suffering, and that which ea&s;eth Your Servants is the likelie&s;t thing to confort You in this condition. You may therefore &s;afely rejoyce, that Your comportment &s;upplieth much the di&s;ablement of Your For|tune, and in &s;ome degree relieveth all Your
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di&s;tre&s;&s;ed Party, while Your Gracious prece|dence in this a&s;perous and narrow way of the <HI>Cro&s;s</HI> (wherein Your Vertue doth pre&s;cribe the order of their march) may well draw every generous Minde off from the thoughts of their own private Di&s;tre&s;&s;es, and &s;o &s;uccor the noble&s;t Hearts in &s;ome mea&s;ure, by this ver|tuous diver&s;ion, while You are unable to do it by direct &s;upplies: Thus, by the influence of Your Piety, even Your Nece&s;sities may be|come Provi&s;ions for Your Suffering Party.</P>
<P>Thus did <HI>King David</HI> refre&s;h more his <NOTE PLACE="marg">Paral. 11. 18.</NOTE> whole Army, by bearing them company in their thir&s;t, then he could have done by the provi&s;ion of many ve&s;&s;els of water: and as this holy <HI>King</HI> did as good as ca&s;t that water into every thir&s;ting mouth, which he poured out unto the <HI>Lord;</HI> &s;o may You; <HI>Madam,</HI> by accepting &s;till chearfully Your own wants, and offering up to God Your Will of &s;uffering in this general Calamity, relieve more uni|ver&s;ally Your Party, then by the di&s;tribution
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of a great trea&s;ure; and this may pa&s;s for an agreeable motive to You, to attend the im|provement of Your Piety, the expecting by the degrees of Your advance in &s;anctity, not onely the mini&s;tring a good proportion of &s;pi|ritual confort to Your di&s;tre&s;&s;ed Servants, but likewi&s;e the propitiating of Almighty GOD, towards Your reinablement to af|ford them, all other &s;uccors, whereof Your ROYAL HEART can make a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> De&s;ignation; and likewi&s;e by the&s;e Argu|ments of Your holy cariage in this affliction, Your Loyal Subjects may be per&s;waded to expect all Your heart can promi&s;e them, ju&s;tly concluding of Your Ca&s;e, what was pre&s;aged of holy <HI>DAVID</HI> in his Exite, <HI>Now we know certainly, that You &s;hall reign, and the Kingdom &s;hall be e&s;ta|bli&s;hed in Your hand.</HI></P>
<P>Had I not, <HI>Madam,</HI> a better rea&s;on, then the circum&s;tance of my pre&s;ent condition, I &s;hould, per adventure, give more liberty to my
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Opinion, and impre&s;s more livelily by my Pen the &s;ignature of my Thoughts upon the&s;e Papers, as the true figure of Your Vertue and Merit in the&s;e unhappy occa&s;ions: But Your Vertue it &s;elf forbids me more then any other reflexion, knowing that the charges of Your Duties are welcomer to You, then even the due proclamation of Your Prai&s;es; in which regard, although it might &s;eem a Service to the Nation, to endeavor by &s;ome re&s;pects and civilities to Your <HI>Maje&s;ty,</HI> the purging a little our Language, of &s;ome di&s;loyal rude|ne&s;s and barbari&s;ms that have of late vitiated much this Tongue; yet will I prefer the &s;ati&s;|faction of Your Mode&s;ty and Humility, before the reparation of our own concernments: And &s;urely, <HI>Madam,</HI> they who have the honor to know You particularly, may conclude the plea|&s;inge&s;t way of righting You, to be the leaving You the mo&s;t to forgive tho&s;e who have mi&s;|under&s;tood You.</P>
<P>I &s;hall therefore rather humbly commend
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unto You, the progre&s;s and advance of Your Pieties, then offer You any reparatory com|mendations; &s;ince by the cand<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">r of Your Cha|rity, You may turn every bl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">opt upon Your Name, into a beam of Splendor &s;hining on it in the Book of Life; and what&s;oever &s;eem|eth now a fear upon Your Per&s;on, may by the vertue of Your Patience, prove as it were &s;o many &s;everal Stars compo&s;ing one glorious Con&s;tallation of &s;uch Merits, whereof the Prophet <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;aith, <HI>They &s;hall prove</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 12. 3<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> <HI>like the &s;plendor of the Firmament, and like</HI> STARS <HI>&s;hining in perpetual Eter|nities.</HI></P>
<P>Now <HI>(Madam)</HI> &s;tudying what I &s;hould &s;ay, to recommend this Offering to Your Sa|cred <HI>Maje&s;tie,</HI> I finde the nature of it to be &s;uch, as rather pre&s;cribes me Prayers for the Acceptation, then allows me to make Promi&s;es for the worthine&s;s of the Pre&s;ent; For &s;uch is the order ob&s;ervable in our Ob|lations to GOD, and to his mo&s;t &s;pecial
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Images on Earth; unto whom, as to him&s;elf, Servants do likewi&s;e not pretend to give to|wards the enriching them, but in order to their own Di&s;charges: So <HI>(Madam)</HI> do I not pre&s;ume by this Offering of my Thoughts, to &s;upply You with any New Lights requi|&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> for Your advance in Devotion, but ra|ther to rejoyce Your Charity, by &s;hewing it how my little Stock profits in this Royal Exchange of the <HI>Cro&s;s,</HI> better then in the Trea&s;ury of the <HI>Court:</HI> Nor can I con|clude this account of my Time, wholly u&s;e|le&s;s to Your perfection; For, as Princes do often build their Pallaces by the &s;ame Mo|dels which inferior per&s;ons u&s;e for their hou|&s;es, enlarging onely the Dimen&s;ions, with ob|&s;ervance of the &s;ame Figure; So <HI>(Madam)</HI> peradventure this Draught of Devotion, formed in the&s;e Lines, may not &s;eem unfit for Your great Soul, in point of Figure and Order, while You may rai&s;e Your Zeal up|on it with great exce&s;&s;es, in re&s;pect of the
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mea&s;ures and proportions: But this I may mode&s;tly pre&s;ume, That though the&s;e lines do not pretend to be exactly fit for Your Soul, as a model of Devotion; yet they need no enlargement, as they are a Draught and De&s;ign of my Gratitude: In which rela|tion, nothing can be more accompli&s;hed, then the Thoughts and Vows, of</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your Maje&s;ties mo&s;t dutiful Subject, and mo&s;t obliged Servant.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
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<HEAD>A PREFATORY ADDRES TO THE COURT.</HEAD>
<P><HI>_WE are made a spectacle to the World, to</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 4. 9</NOTE> <HI>Angels, and to Men,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Saint Paul,</HI> the Mirror and Patern of all Peni|tents and Converts, as if he had been obliged to &s;ummon all Creatures as Spectators to <HI>the prize of the high calling of God, which</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Philip. 3.</NOTE> <HI>he was running for;</HI> and this his Proclamation is a &s;anction of a perpetual Law, in point of the Du|ties of all notorious Converts: By this they are adverti&s;ed, That they are more &s;pecially then others, de&s;igned as Examples of &s;ingular gratitude and fidelity: wherefore S. <HI>Augu&s;tine,</HI> after he had <NOTE PLACE="marg">This was &s;aid to S. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> by a voyce from hea|ven, <HI>Conf. Aug. l. 8. cap.</HI> 8.</NOTE> been called up to this Theatre of S. <HI>Paul,</HI> by the &s;ame voyce (though in much a &s;ofter tone) which &s;eemed breathed out of the <HI>aura lenis,</HI> the gentle air of the <HI>Prophets</HI> conference; for <HI>talle &amp; lege,</HI>
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<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="bleedthrough" EXTENT="1 span"> Commi&s;sion in the&s;e words of his happy pre|cedent S. <HI>Paul, Put ye on the Lord</HI> Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 13.</NOTE> <HI>make no provi&s;ion for the fle&s;h, to fulfil the lu&s;ts thereof:</HI> After this Lecture&punc; the remainder of his life <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">as &s;uch a piece, as &s;eemeth to call unto all his fellow-Converts, <HI>tolle &amp; lege,</HI> take up him, and reade him; for his whole &s;ucceeding time was a fair impre&s;|&s;ion of his admirable fidelity, and may &s;erve for an excellent Le&s;&s;on for all Times to &s;tudy.</P>
<P>And &s;urely all &s;uch Images of Gods &s;o remark|able Me<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">cy and Indulgence, ought to endeavor the re&s;embling, in &s;ome proportion, the&s;e two great Paterns, in this &s;pecial &s;imilitude, of <HI>imme|diately not conde&s;cending to fle&s;h and blood, and of laboring</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Galat. 1.</NOTE> <HI>more then others;</HI> this was S. <HI>Pauls</HI> method, and S. <HI>Augustines</HI> maner of copying him: and &s;urely God may ju&s;tly require a &s;ingular rectitude, in the cour&s;es of &s;uch, as he hath rai&s;ed from then falls by his &s;pecial hand of Compa&s;sion; and this not onely upon the account of their own debt, but al&s;o in order to the benefiting their Brothers, &s;ince we know the people came more to &s;ee <HI>Luzar<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">s</HI> ri&s;en, then <HI>Ie&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">s</HI> who had revived him.</P>
<P>Certainly, all great Spiritual re&s;u&s;citations, are more attended and reflected on, then &s;uch as &s;eem Natural lives of Piety; and &s;ome &s;pecial demon|&s;tration
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of gratitude is &s;o much conditioned in Gods notorious Pardons, as even the loo&s;er part of the world expecteth &s;ome extraordinary recog|nition from them; and their uncorre&s;pondency to that mea&s;ure of Edification, which is looked for by unreformed ob&s;ervers, doth di&s;credit to the world tho&s;e invitations to amendment, which are commonly made by the fir&s;t per&s;wa&s;ive fer|vors of zealous Converts: For one patern of re|lap&s;e and retrogradation, &s;ub&s;tracteth &s;o much from the efficacy of &s;uch Examples, as that defe|ction is apt to render many &s;incere progre&s;sions in the fir&s;t fervor, &s;u&s;pected of un&s;oundne&s;s and recidency: And by this &s;u&s;pition of unper&s;eve|rance, there may well be bla&s;ted much of the fruit of extraordinary Conver&s;ions; for Libertines, with a little tincture of Truth in &s;uch rece&s;&s;es from zeal, will colour a great deal of witty im|piety: So that this &s;candalous remi&s;ne&s;s, &s;eemeth to give a fair pa&s;s for Prophanene&s;s to make re|pri&s;al upon Devotion, which doth take from Li|bertines &s;o many affected freedoms; &s;o great a detriment doth a little Scandal procure to Reli|gion, in &s;uch as have the &s;eal of Extraordinary Pardons upon them, evidenced to the Eye of the world: And on the other &s;ide, when &s;uch re|markable vocations continue &s;o exemplary, as they an&s;wer all equal and ju&s;t expectations, and
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ob&s;truct all licentious tongues, the benefit they impart unto the world, is likely more then the native piety of many un&s;educed per&s;ons.</P>
<P>Me thinks the previ&s;ion of this utility, may be given for a hand&s;om rea&s;on, of the rejoycing of <HI>Angels,</HI> in one Conver&s;ion, more then in the per|&s;i&s;tency of many vertuous tempers; for Humane Nature (which the <HI>Angels</HI> are better acquainted with then we, as being incharged with the con|ducting it to Spiritual improvements) is well charactered in the &s;tiffne&s;s and indocility of the <HI>Phari&s;ees,</HI> &s;ince it is apt to be demanding a Sign from Heaven, for Reformation of corrupted Cu|&s;toms; and de&s;perate Spiritual recoveries &s;eem &s;o many openings of the Heavens, in the de&s;cent of the Holy Dove vi&s;ibly to the &s;tanders by: where|fore the <HI>Angels,</HI> upon their precognition of the extraordinary efficacy of &s;uch Conver&s;ions, may well be &s;peculated to ground this exceeding joy and exultation.</P>
<P>Not that we intend hereupon to conclude, That &s;uch Prodigals have greater portions of Grace then tho&s;e elder Brothers, who may ju&s;tly &s;ay, <HI>We have &s;erved &s;o many years, and have not tran&s;|gre&s;&s;ed</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 15.</NOTE> <HI>the commandments:</HI> We do confe&s;s, where the &s;pecial preventing Grace of God be&s;toweth an exemption from the &s;tains and inquinations of youth, when one may truly &s;ay, <HI>I have ob&s;erved all
<PB REF="12">
the&s;e precepts from my youth,</HI> that &s;uch a condition is preferable to this recanting &s;tate, of, <HI>I have &s;in|ned again&s;t heaven&punc;</HI> the having been always &s;o <HI>clothed, as our turpitude hath not been di&s;covered,</HI> is a better po|&s;ture then the ca&s;ting off our rags, <HI>to put on the fir&s;t robe;</HI> &s;o that I purpo&s;e chiefly to incite the&s;e yonger brothers to an eminent humiliation, not to elate them in the preference of their conditions, before other &s;tates of innocency, that have never been tainted by the contagious air of the world, and have remained (as the virgin <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;aith) <HI>The</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 14.</NOTE> <HI>first fruits among men to God and the Lamb, without spot before the throne of God.</HI></P>
<P>Surely all notorious cures of &s;uch as have faln into the thiefs hands between <HI>Iericho</HI> and <HI>Ieru&s;a|lem,</HI> are never &s;o perfect, as when the Scars or Ci|catrices remain in the eyes of the Patients, rather as marks of their mi&s;ery, then pledges of their continuing health; and &s;o their lives which are &s;et out to others by God, as En&s;igns of victory, mu&s;t be looked upon by them&s;elves, as wrecks &s;aved and &s;et up in their own thoughts for memorials of the danger whereunto they are &s;till expo&s;ed; for God doth often &s;et up in publike &s;uch figures of hu|mane mi&s;ery, and divine mercy, not only in commi|&s;eration of the particular &s;ubjects, but in conde|&s;cendence to the bent of our common nature, which runneth after example, and &s;eemeth but dragg'd af|ter &s;ingle precepts.</P>
<P><PB REF="13">
Wherefore all remarkable Converts &s;hould ac|count them&s;elves as &s;ent from the dead upon the &s;uit of their nece&s;sitous brothers, in Gods compa&s;|&s;ion to them, as well as to them&s;elves, the world being much better di&s;po&s;ed to hear &s;uch me&s;&s;en|gers, then <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and the <HI>Prophets;</HI> and in this re|&s;pect, they &s;hould &s;tudy to live exactly by this rule of St. <HI>Paul, Yield your &s;elves unto God, as tho&s;e that</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 6. 13.</NOTE> <HI>are alive from the dead:</HI> And &s;urely this expropriation of them&s;elves, and tran&s;action over to the u&s;es of others, (which the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> denounceth to all <HI>Chri|&s;tians)</HI> is more e&s;pecially relating to them, then to any others; for they may be mo&s;t pertinently &s;erved with this holy writ, <HI>You are not your own, being bought</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 6.</NOTE> <HI>with a great price, therefore glorifie God, and carry him in your body;</HI> &s;o that tho&s;e who (as our <HI>Savior</HI> &s;aith) have heard his voice, and are <HI>come out of their graves</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 5.</NOTE> <HI>and live,</HI> mu&s;t remember as they have a kinde of fraternity with <HI>Lazarus</HI> in this &s;piritual re&s;u&s;ci|tation, that they &s;trive to live as brothers of the <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed Magdalen;</HI> and that after their fir&s;t alliance in this point, of <HI>having had much forgiven,</HI> they be very &s;tudious to fraterni&s;e with her in this other part, of <HI>loving much.</HI></P>
<P>By this exhibiting the obligations of a true <HI>Con|vert,</HI> I have recorded my own bonds; &amp; I may hope, that God by his infinite liberality will be plea&s;ed to inable the re&s;t of my life for &s;ome competent
<PB REF="13">
di&s;charge of this great ingagement: For me thinks I hear the voice of our <HI>Savior,</HI> to him he had di&s;|po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed of a legion of evil &s;pirits, <HI>Go home to thy</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mark 5.</NOTE> <HI>friends, and tell them how great things God hath done for thee.</HI> I am therefore come back thus <HI>ad domum Cae&s;a|ris,</HI> to the hou&s;e of <HI>Ce&s;ar,</HI> which in reference to ma|ny of my Duties, I may pre&s;ume to call my home; but mo&s;t particularly, in order to my di&s;charge of this Commi&s;sion, of announcing <HI>quanta mihi fecerit dominus,</HI> how great things God hath done for me: wherefore I do not owe this Manife&s;t onely, as an office of Recognition unto God, but do &s;tand, me thinks, charged with it, as a condition of my Ab&s;olution, by which I conceive my &s;elf injoyn|ed, to make as much Re&s;titution as I am able, of that time which my Pen hath &s;toln from the Court; For the mo&s;t of that which is thought well pa&s;&s;ed away by the company that lo&s;eth it, &s;tands upon accompt to them that are the mo&s;t ac|ce&s;&s;ary to the taking it away, even from tho&s;e that then reckon their lo&s;s of it as a benefit; &s;o that tru|ly con&s;idered, tho&s;e whom the world abu&s;ively <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> the be&s;t company, are commonly the mo&s;t charge|able with the undervaluation of time, which the cheaper and more incon&s;iderable they render it to others, the dearer are they to account for it them|&s;elves: And this truth we ea&s;ily perceive, when looking through all time upon eternity, we come to
<PB REF="14">
di&s;cern the true value of that which is the only price this tran&s;itory world hath to purcha&s;e ever|la&s;ting glory.</P>
<P>Upon examination then of my time pa&s;t, I finde my &s;elf bound to give up all the &s;tock of my fol|lowing days, as an extent a&s;signed for re&s;titutio<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> although I cannot hope to make a rigorous &s;ati&s;|faction by it; For the unhappine&s;s of the&s;e kinde of debts is &s;uch, as the more we have taken away from others, the le&s;s we are able to re&s;tore; becau&s;e &s;uch prize impoveri&s;hes the taker of it, &s;ince he lo&s;eth his own time, while he robbeth others of theirs&punc; wherefore this confe&s;sion, as it may prove precau|tionary to others, may pa&s;s for the mo&s;t likel<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> part of my &s;atisfaction; and I &s;hall always a&s;sign my prayers towards the impetrating this of God&punc; that this penitential &s;atisfaction may be &s;o much ble&s;&s;ed, as to re&s;tore &s;ome value of time thither, where I am to account for &s;o much idle di&s;sipation of it.</P>
<P>Let me therefore humbly propo&s;e to all my Readers, <HI>to remember their creator in the days of their youth;</HI> for when in their recollected days they come to this &s;uit of the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t, Remember not, Lord, the &s;ins of my youth,</HI> one of the harde&s;t points is, even their own forgetting them; &s;ince the Gho&s;ts of our dead &s;ins walk often in our Fancy, and divert much of that time we a&s;sign for the
<PB REF="14">
di&s;charge of our arrears; although they be but &s;uch broken images, as dreams, that po&s;&s;e&s;s not the will, yet they pinch away always &s;omewhat off from the &s;tock of time, &s;et out for pa&s;t redem|ptions. This ca&s;e is atte&s;ted by St. <HI>Augu&s;tine,</HI> when he complained, That <HI>his old familiar acquaintances, did hold and &s;hake the garment of his fle&s;h, repining and murmuring at his e&s;trangement:</HI> and this &s;haking and que&s;tioning us, is always &s;ome diver&s;ion; for he confe&s;&s;eth farther, That <HI>after he had cast off the images of youthful vanities, from all adherence to his will, they &s;tole after his fancy, not &s;o bold as to face his con|&s;ent, but as it were, muttering behinde him, and by &s;tealth &s;natching at him, and pinching him to turn and look back.</HI></P>
<P>It is &s;urely then a &s;ingular ble&s;sing, never to have been &s;o familiarly conver&s;ant with the vices and vanities of youth, as our memories may be challenged acquaintance with, and &s;o drawn to &s;ome di&s;cour&s;e with &s;uch images, when they pre|&s;ent them&s;elves; they are therefore the be&s;t di&s;|po&s;ed for &s;piritual advances, who&s;e imaginations (freed from the clogs of idle and vain notions) are always in their motion and progre&s;s through the &s;peculation of &s;ome fair object, and are not di&s;tracted by looking back upon the calls and noi&s;es of their di&s;carded familiars: The &s;tructure of the temple advanceth fa&s;ter, when we build with
<PB REF="15">
both hands, then when we are forced to hold arm<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> in one hand to repul&s;e our enemies; &s;uch a <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">|levolent <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 E&s;dra. 4.</NOTE> oppo&s;ition do our fancies make, wh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> they have been long po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed of images, which we mu&s;t not admit into a&s;&s;ociation, towards th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> edifice of the temple; they are as much uncon&s;orta|ble, as tho&s;e &s;trangers to whom <HI>Zorababel</HI> an&s;wered, <HI>We cannot joyn with you in building the hou&s;e of God;</HI> there|fore the <HI>wi&s;e mans</HI> coun&s;el is excellent, in order to the prepo&s;&s;e&s;sing our mindes, <HI>Endue thy &s;elf with vert<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"></HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ecclus.</NOTE> <HI>from thy youth, and thou &s;halt retain wi&s;dom to thy old age:</HI> And this other po&s;ition of <HI>Solomon,</HI> is verified by common experience, <HI>He that flatters his &s;ervant in his youth, &s;hall finde him di&s;obedient.</HI></P>
<P>When I have con&s;idered how much is written of this &s;piritual regiment of Life, and how much better then any thing I have pre&s;cribed; I have &s;ometimes que&s;tioned the exhibiting the&s;e my re|ceipts; but again I have concluded my &s;elf ju&s;ti|fied in this con&s;ideration, that the dome&s;tique <HI>Phi&s;itian</HI> is always called into con&s;ults, though his abilities be &s;o much meaner then others that are joyned with him; as his learning can promi&s;e lit|tle contribution, yet his experience in the con&s;ti|tution of the Patient, is accounted u&s;eful for the appliance of their pre&s;criptions: So under this notion, of one that hath had long experience in the indi&s;po&s;itions and infirmities of the <HI>Court,</HI> I
<PB REF="15">
have conceived, that my opining in the con&s;ult might prove in &s;ome degree profitable to the <HI>Pa|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">;</HI> and I may believe, that of the con&s;titution of the body, &amp; the peculiar peccancies of the humors, I have given no ill information, towards which part I have had a great advantage, by having been &s;o long a dome&s;tique: For as there are many little pa&s;|&s;ages and pertu&s;ions in living bodies, which are clo&s;ed up and inacceptible in Anatomies; &s;o I, having &s;tudied this body alive, may be better informed of the compo&s;ure thereof, then many learned and pious per&s;ons, that look, as I may &s;ay, upon the Anatomy only of <HI>Courts,</HI> &s;urveying them laid out as it were dead in &s;peculative figures.</P>
<P>And concerning what I have voted in order to re|medies, I will &s;ay nothing &s;avoring of a formal di&s;|e&s;teem thereof; for &s;uch vails of &s;ale are common|ly &s;o thin, as there is more affectation then mode|&s;ty &s;een through them: I will profe&s;s ingeniou&s;ly, I have done my be&s;t, in a &s;incere regard to the bene|fit of that place to which I owe &s;o much civil ob|ligation, and &s;piritual &s;atisfaction; and I may hope God will accept the de&s;ign, and ble&s;s the operation, con<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">iding on this of our Patron <HI>Apostle,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 6. 7.</NOTE> <HI>The earth that drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them for whom it is dre&s;|&s;ed, receiveth ble&s;sing from God.</HI></P>
<P>One humane advantage this work may own,
<PB REF="16">
namely, That though there are many better invi|tations to Devotion, yet there is little expre&s;ly pro|vided for this family; &s;o that mine may be a le&s;s fea&s;t, and yet a bettter entertainment for &s;uch gue&s;ts, with who&s;e appetites I am &s;o well ac|quainted: wherefore I have &s;erved in more of St. <HI>Pauls</HI> milk, then of his &s;olid meat, rather familiar Piety, then &s;evere Perfection: I have intended mo&s;t the pre&s;enting &s;uch whol&s;om confections, as are good again&s;t tho&s;e particular humors, which breed a kinde of &s;piritual <HI>green-&s;ickne&s;s,</HI> &s;o familiar|ly in the&s;e bodies I entertain, I mean tho&s;e levities and trifles, which the fancies of the&s;e bodies are &s;o apt to feed upon, which I may call the un|whol&s;om green fruit, that even old age is com|monly greedy of in this place; the ta&s;te whereof doth di&s;reli&s;h the &s;avor of Devotion, and breed many ob&s;tructions in the body of the inward man: This Court-di&s;ea&s;e is excellently de&s;cribed by the <HI>Wi&s;eman, The dalliance with trifles, darkeneth to us better</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Wi&s;d. 4.</NOTE> <HI>&s;ights; and the waveringne&s;s of our cupidities, turneth the minde into a dizine&s;s unawares to it &s;elf:</HI> I may hope to be hearkened to, in the crying down of the&s;e toys, having been &s;o long a Pedler of them: And as devotion may truly &s;ay of me, <HI>He that per&s;ecuted us &s;ometimes, doth now evangelize the &s;aith which he did once impugn;</HI> &s;o I be&s;eech God I may de&s;erve the other fol|lowing words, of, <HI>And they glorified God in me&punc;</HI> I have <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 1. 23.</NOTE>
<PB REF="16">
thus much towards this hope, that I may be well per&s;waded of the good &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ting and adaptation of my advices, even by the prejudices of my unhappy experiments.</P>
<P>For certainly, as an ordinary Courtier, who is acquainted with the humor, and intere&s;ts of the favorite, may be more dexterous in forming wel|come Propo&s;itions, then a greater Forraign States|man, who de&s;igneth all by the general maximes of policy; &s;o one who is well ver&s;ed in the inti|mate, and favorite affections, and pa&s;sions of the times, may apply motives likelier to work upon them, then &s;ome who are much better grounded in the &s;olid rules of grace and &s;anctity; for &s;uch is the weakne&s;s of our vitiated nature, as it is more wrought upon in piety by proportions, then by perfections.</P>
<P>Con&s;idering then the duties I have &s;pecified, I humbly pre&s;ent the <HI>Court</HI> with this di&s;charge of my <HI>Commi&s;sion,</HI> a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> the di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed native did preach to <HI>Decapolis;</HI> but, I hope, the con&s;equence will re&s;emble more the enuntiation of the <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"></HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> her town; for of the effect of his preaching&punc; we read only, that <HI>all his to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> wondred at him,</HI> which is a more familiar an&s;wer at <HI>Court,</HI> to &s;uch vocations, then the <HI>believing and going out to meet Chri&s;t,</HI> as the men of <HI>Sichem</HI> did: wherefore my humble prayers &s;hall be joyned, to inforce my per&s;wa&s;ions, that it
<PB REF="17">
may be truly &s;aid in this occa&s;ion, <HI>Many believed in</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 4.</NOTE> <HI>Chri&s;t by the word of him that did te&s;tifie of him.</HI></P>
<P>To conclude, although I may better intitle this, an expiatory offering, then a propitiatory, the fir&s;t being in order to the di&s;charge of a debt, the la&s;t to the impetration of &s;ome favor; yet I may pre|&s;ume to pray in it, again&s;t the common iniquity, which is noted in time, that the currant thereof may not bear up, and carry down my lighter pa|pers upon it, and let &s;ink the&s;e my more &s;olid and weighty cogitations: And to obtain all the ble&s;|&s;ing I petition for, upon this de&s;ign, I &s;hall humbly pre&s;ent it to you with this reference of St. <HI>Paul, To</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 3. 20.</NOTE> <HI>him, who is able to do more abundantly, then we can either de&s;ire or conceive, according to the power that worketh in us, to him be glory in the Church by</HI> Chri&s;t Je&s;us <HI>unto all generations.</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Wa: Montagu.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q>Non &s;olum mihi laboravi, &s;ed &amp; omnibus inquirentibus veritatem,</Q>
<BIBL>Eccle&s;ia&s;ticus 24.</BIBL>
</EPIGRAPH>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="table of contents">
<PB REF="17">
<HEAD><HI>Mi&s;cellania,</HI> or <HI>Spiritual E&s;&s;ays:</HI> A TABLE Containing the &s;everal Treati&s;es, as they &s;tand divided into Sections.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<HEAD>TREATISE 1.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>A Map of humane nature, divided into two Sections.</HI> page 1</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 1. Treating the Original rectitude of mans nature, and the pre&s;ent obliquity thereof. <HI>ibid</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Of mans abu&s;ing, what he might learn by the mortality of the crea|ture, and the frailty of his nature evidenced in all &s;orts of per&s;ons and trials. 6.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>TREAT. 2.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>Handling the reparation of humane nature in two Sections.</HI> 11</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 1. Of the admirable means God cho&s;e for this work, and the rehabi|litation re&s;ulting to man from this Order of God. <HI>ib.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. How even mans infirmities may afford him glories; with motives to joy, and corre&s;pondence to the grace of Chri&s;t incarnate. 16</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>TREAT. 3.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>Of Religion in two Sections.</HI> 21</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 1. Con&s;idering it under the general notion of &s;ome reference to a Divine power. <HI>ib.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Treating the be&s;t habit of minde in order to the finding a recti<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ied Religion. 24</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>TREAT. 4.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>Of Devotion in two Sections.</HI> 27</ITEM>
<ITEM><PB REF="18">
<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">. 1. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> regularly defin<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">d&punc; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;ome <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 words"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"></ITEM>
<ITEM><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">. Devotion de&s;cribed a more famil<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> way, and the be&s;t natural <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> in order thereunto. 31</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>TREAT. 5.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>Di&s;cour&s;ing whether &s;en&s;ible plea&s;ures may con|&s;ort with devotion, in two Sections.</HI> 36</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 1. Rectifying our affections, chiefly our love in the &s;en&s;e of beauty. <HI>ib.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Ambition rightly examined, and di&s;creet conde&s;c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ndencies propo&s;ed re&s;pectively to diver&s;e vocations. 42.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>TREAT. 6.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>Of di&s;abu&s;e to the Rationali&s;ts and Sen&s;uali&s;ts, concerning temporal happine&s;s, and devotion propo&s;ed for &s;ecurity of a happy life, in three Sections.</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">0</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 1. The vertue of Devotion exalted, and the vanity of &s;ome Philo|&s;ophers detected. <HI>ib.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. A conviction of Sen&s;uali&s;ts, declaring how grace emancipateth us from the bands of the creatures. 55</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. Re&s;ultancies from the meditation of humane frailty, and a re&s;olving the right of happine&s;s, as belonging to devotion. 60</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>TREAT. 7.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>How true Devotion induceth tho&s;e notions, wherein con&s;i&s;teth the happine&s;s of this life, in three Sections.</HI> 64</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 1. The fallacy of opinion, and the vertue of truth di&s;cour&s;ed. <HI>ib.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Sacred examples, &s;hewing what may be &s;aid to be a rejoycing in the truth of temporal goods, and how eve<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;ecular evils afford joy by the &s;ame method of a right under&s;tanding them. 69</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. The fallacies of &s;ome Objections &s;olved, and the rejoycing in truth concluded for our real happine&s;s. 73</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>TREAT. 8.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>Touching the means of po&s;&s;e&s;sing that truth wherein the happine&s;s of this life is &s;tated, in two Sections.</HI> 78</ITEM>
<ITEM><PB REF="18">
<HI>Sect.</HI> 1. Diffidence in point of obtaining &s;piritual lights reprehended, and prayer <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 span"> in order to this de&s;igne. 78</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. What &s;incerety in prayer is requi&s;ite for this effect, and what kinde of peace is to be expected. 74</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>TREAT. 9.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>Of the condition of Courts, Princes, and Cour|tiers, in three Sections.</HI> 86</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 1. The be&s;t notion of Cour<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ts propo&s;ed. <HI>ib.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. The vitiou&s;ne&s;s of the heathen Courts cen&s;ured, and the con&s;equence of the Examples of Princes urged, as a charge upon the vertue of their lives. 90</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. The importance of their company for the education of Princes, and a rule propo&s;ed for Coun&s;ellors, and Companions, to both ruling, and yong Princes. 94</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>TREAT. 10.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>How a good con&s;cience, and a good Courtier are con&s;ortable with one another, in &s;even Sections.</HI> 98</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 1. The temptations of Courts acknowledged great, but not in|&s;uperable. <HI>ib.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Real humility recommended, di&s;cerned from Court&s;hip, and proved con|&s;onant to the &s;tate of Courtiers. 102</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. The vitiou&s;ne&s;s of flattery di&s;played, with an allowance of decent civi|lities in exchanges of Court&s;hip. 107</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. The u&s;e of &s;ober prai&s;es treated, and reciprocal civilities regulated. 110</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. The advantages of the vocation of a Courtier ballanced, with &s;ome pre|judices in point of piety. 113</ITEM>
<ITEM>6. Some notorious errors remarked, and what facility the breeding of Courtiers may bring towards an excellence in Religious duties, proved by examples. 117</ITEM>
<ITEM>7. Compari&s;ons between vocations di&s;avowed, and advices offered, in order to a due corre&s;pondence, with the grace of a Courtiers profe&s;&s;ion. 121</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>TREAT. 11.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>Of Medi&s;ance, or detraction, in 2. Sections.</HI> 125</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 1. The true nature of the crime of detraction, and the &s;ubtilty of it in di&s;gui&s;ing it &s;elf. <HI>ib.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Some rules whereby to &s;quare our di&s;cour&s;e, and an expedient offered, towards the correction of Medi&s;ance. 131</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<PB REF="19">
<HEAD>TREAT. 12.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>Concerning &s;currility, or foulne&s;s of &s;peech, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> three Sections.</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 1. Of the dangerou&s;ne&s;s of the&s;e liberties, and the familiar ex<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> made for them. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Some &s;pecial cau&s;es of the growth of this licentiou&s;ne&s;s, and &s;ome <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">|pedient propo&s;ed towards the &s;uppre&s;&s;ion thereof. 1<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">0</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. What circum&s;tances augment the&s;e faults, and women incharged <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> &s;everity in oppo&s;ition to them. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">4<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>TREAT. 13.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>Whether to be in love, and to be devout, are con|&s;i&s;tent, in eight Sections.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 1. The nature of love and devotion compared. <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Some &s;ubtle temptations detected, and liberties reproved. 1<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"></ITEM>
<ITEM>3. The errors of prophane jealou&s;ie argued, and a pious jealou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> propo&s;ed. 1<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"></ITEM>
<ITEM>4. The deceit of pa&s;&s;ion in promi&s;e of mercy, and power of re&s;i&s;ti<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">g temptations. 1<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"></ITEM>
<ITEM>5. The faultine&s;s of flattery to women di&s;covered, and di&s;&s;waded. 1<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"></ITEM>
<ITEM>6. Pre&s;umption upon our vertue di&s;cu&s;&s;ed, and the danger thereof remo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">|&s;trated. 1<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">6</ITEM>
<ITEM>7. Some &s;cruples re&s;olved about the e&s;teem of beauty, and the friend&s;hi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> of women. 17<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"></ITEM>
<ITEM>8 The conclu&s;ion framed upon the premi&s;ed di&s;cour&s;e, and our love &s;afe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> addre&s;&s;ed. 179</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>TREAT. 14.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>Concerning the te&s;t, and ballance of filial and mercinary love, in five Sections.</HI> 181</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 1. Of the value of love, and Gods tolerating &s;ome mixture of &s;elf re&s;pects in it. <HI>ib.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Mercinary love defined, and the relying much on it di&s;&s;waded. 184</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. Filial love de&s;cribed, and &s;ome &s;trong incentives pre&s;ented to kindle it in us. 187</ITEM>
<ITEM>4 Motives to filial love drawn from our &s;everal relations to God, as al&s;o from the dignity, and advantage of this &s;ort of love. 191</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. Advices in order to the pre&s;erving this &s;ort of love, and fraternal di|lection repre&s;ented, as a gracious rule, whereby to judge of our recti|tude in filial love. 194</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<PB REF="19">
<HEAD>TREAT. 15.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>Of the duties of a Chri&s;tian towards enemies, in five Sections.</HI> 265</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 1. The precept of loving enemies &s;weetned by many rea&s;ons draw<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> from Chri&s;ts injoyning, and his acting it. <HI>ib.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. The av<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">r&s;ne&s;s to this duty ri&s;eth from our corrupted nature, promoted by divers &s;ubtle temptations of our great enemy. 270</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. The relation wherein all enemies are to be loved, and what Offices are indi&s;pen&s;ably due to them, the omi&s;&s;ion whereof can be redeemed by no other &s;ort of piety. 274</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. The inordinatene&s;s of our love difficilitateth this duty, di&s;&s;imulation in this conformity reproached, and many benefits derivable from a &s;incere compliance repre&s;ented, as al&s;o pre&s;umption upon the Theory of this du|ty di&s;&s;waded. 282</ITEM>
<ITEM>5 The be&s;t preparatory di&s;po&s;ition for the acting this duty, the which ma|keth no ob&s;truction in the cour&s;e of ju&s;tice, as al&s;o powerful per&s;ons ad|moni&s;hed of their temptation in this point of revenge, and animated by their exceeding merit in this <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">idelity. 287</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>TREAT. 16.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>Of con&s;iderations upon the un&s;uccesfulne&s;s of a good cau&s;e, in &s;ix Sections.</HI> 291</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 1. That much Religion is requi&s;ite to a&s;&s;i&s;t us in this probation. <HI>ib.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Motives to con&s;tancy after a prudent election of our cau&s;e. 294</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. The variablene&s;s of the vulgar upon event<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">, and a prudent conduct propo&s;ed. 297</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. An information of what kinde of conformity we owe Gods declared will in adver&s;e events. 299</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. The infirmity of our nature comforted by examples, holy and prophane, and the acquie&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ence to Gods order with con&s;tancy per&s;waded. 302</ITEM>
<ITEM>6. The conclu&s;ion regulating all humors in this probation. 310</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>TREAT. 17.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>Of Solitude in two Sections.</HI> 315</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 1. The mo&s;t u&s;eful order in de&s;cribing the nature of &s;olitude. <HI>ib.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Solitude divided into three &s;orts, and the fir&s;t di&s;cour&s;ed of. 318</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>TREAT. 18.</HEAD>
<ITEM>Of a mixed &s;ort, or of Neutral &s;olitude in three Sections. 324</ITEM>
<ITEM><PB REF="20">
<HI>Sect.</HI> 1. Explaining this term by exhibiting the &s;tate of mans will in his elections. 324</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Treating divers motives that &s;olicite this vocation. 327</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. How God worketh, and how the devil countermineth in this vocation, wherein a &s;afe cour&s;e is directed. 330</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>TREAT. 19.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>Of violent &s;olitude, or clo&s;e impri&s;onment in eight Sections.</HI> 338</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 1. How unwillingly our nature &s;ubmitteth to the lo&s;s of liberty and &s;ociety. <HI>ib.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. The deficiency of &s;ingle natural rea&s;on argued, for con&s;olation in this ca&s;e, and the validity of grace a&s;&s;erted. 340</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. Great benefit acknowledged to moral Philo&s;ophy, and the right u&s;e thereof directed in order to our &s;olacing. 345</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. The di&s;po&s;ure of our time treated, and advi&s;ed, for improvement as well as ea&s;ing of our minde. 350</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. A method propo&s;ed in point of &s;tudy, and the u&s;e may be derived from &s;tory, towards a right under&s;tanding of Divine providence. 355</ITEM>
<ITEM>6. Some &s;pecial meditations propo&s;ed for the diverti&s;ement of our minde. 361</ITEM>
<ITEM>7. Some &s;peculations &s;ugge&s;ted to recreate our &s;pirits in &s;ufferance, and to invigorate our Faith. 365</ITEM>
<ITEM>8. The final and mo&s;t &s;olid a&s;&s;ignment of comfort for this condition. 370</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>TREAT. 20.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>Of the contempt of the world in 2. Sections.</HI> 375</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 1. Arguments to di&s;credit all the attractives of this earth, and Gods contribution thereunto produced. <HI>ib.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Motives by the property of a Chri&s;tian to contemn the world. 384.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>TREAT. 21.</HEAD>
<ITEM><HI>Of the preheminence of a true contemplative life, in five Sections.</HI> 385</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sect.</HI> 1. Contemplation defined, and &s;ome excellencies thereof di&s;cour&s;ed. <HI>ib.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. The gradations whereby we do ordinarily a&s;cend up to this &s;tation. 385</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. The requi&s;itenes of lecture, in order to this &s;piritual elevation. 39<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"></ITEM>
<ITEM>4. Speculation placed a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> the la&s;t-&s;tep in this a&s;cent of the &s;oul. 39<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"></ITEM>
<ITEM>5. Of the &s;en&s;ible delight &s;pringing from this head of contemplation. 401.</ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 N="1" TYPE="treatise">
<PB N="1" REF="20">
<HEAD>The fir&s;t Treati&s;e. A Map of HUMANE NATURE, divided into two Sections.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Treating the Originall rectitude of Mans nature, and the pre&s;ent obliquity thereof.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>_AS in Navigation, Co&s;mographie is no le&s;&s;e u&s;efull then A&s;trologie, by rea&s;on it is by &s;ome relation to the earth, that all mea&s;ures are taken, and all reckonings are made in the &s;everall cour&s;es of our &s;aylings; even &s;o in our &s;pirituall voyage through this life, it &s;eems no le&s;&s;e requi&s;ite, to &s;tudy the Map of our own Earth we carry about us, then to &s;peculate the Globe of heaven, whereunto we are &s;teering, in regard the con&s;titution of our infirme Nature ought to be under&s;tood, in order to the con|ducting of the Ve&s;&s;ell to her &s;upreme and heavenly de&s;ignati|on; And the knowledge of our &s;elfe, is as it were the Com|pa&s;&s;e, whereby we mu&s;t &s;et our cour&s;e, &s;ince it is out of divers knowne properties of humane nature, that we forme points of direction, by which we judge, how neere our actions and de&s;igns &s;tand to the right cour&s;e of a rational nature: And as
<PB N="2" REF="21">
the &s;oule and bodie in man, hold an analogie with the firma|ment and the earth, in point of con&s;tituting but one world of the&s;e &s;o differing &s;ub&s;tances; So &s;hall we doe well to con&s;ider the &s;pirituall and corporeall &s;ub&s;tances in man, as making one coexi&s;tence, whereby we may the better under&s;tand the na|ture of the &s;ubject we di&s;cour&s;e upon, and reflecting on man's con&s;i&s;ting of two &s;o diver&s;e portions, as &s;pirit and materiality, we &s;hall wonder the le&s;&s;e, at tho&s;e &s;o di&s;cordant qualities, which are found in this compound nature of Man.</P>
<P>If Faith did not oblige us to beleeve our own originall inte|grity, we have &s;carce vertue enough left to own it, our rea&s;on is &s;o degenerated, as &s;he hath no mind to claime by that pre|&s;cription the dominion of our &s;en&s;itive appetites (which are her naturall &s;ubjects) &s;he &s;eemes &s;o much better plea&s;ed to yeeld unto their government: but let us move Rea&s;on (by the dig|nity of her prerogative, and the deba&s;ement of her conditi|on in &s;ubmitting to the rule of our pa&s;&s;ions) to endeavour the recovering as much of her Rights, as can &s;tand with the forfei|ture of her fir&s;t &s;tate.</P>
<P>God made man &s;o noble a creature, as even in his obnoxi|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e to mi&s;ery, there was an excellence of nature; For the freedome of his will was one of the chiefe prerogatives of his &s;tate, and the abu&s;e of this power, declares the dignity of it, by the &s;everity of God's vindication, &s;ince upon the fir&s;t defe|ction of mans will from him, God did teare and divide the Kingdome he had given him, rending the &s;en&s;itive powers from the dominion of the rationall; And in this breach, he left mans rea&s;on though not wholly depo&s;ed, yet &s;o much di&s;tre&s;&s;ed by the powers of the other revolted Tribes, as &s;he needs now a forrein &s;uccour, not onely prevenient, but actu|ally concomitant for her &s;upport, in this continuall warfare again&s;t her naturall &s;ubjects, our affections and &s;en&s;itive ap|petites, which have &s;et up idols of their own making, like <HI>Jeroboams</HI> calves, (the delights of the &s;en&s;es) to maintaine this divi&s;ion and independencie, upon the &s;overaignty of rea&s;on, to which they were at fir&s;t &s;ubjected, looking alwayes up
<PB N="3" REF="21">
with the eyes of the Hand-maid, upon the eyes of the Mi&s;tre&s;&s;e &s;incere and rectified rea&s;on. This fir&s;t happy &s;tate of man we are bound to beleeve, even in this deplorable condition we now find him, for the &s;pirit of his Creator a&s;&s;ures us, that <HI>God made man upright,</HI> &amp; <HI>he intangled him&s;elf in all his perplexities.</HI></P>
<P>We may therefore well ask the <HI>Prophets</HI> que&s;tion, <HI>O how did&s;t thou fall in this Morning light,</HI> when there was but one block in all the earth to &s;tumble at? Thou wert made to tread upon the earth, onely as on a &s;tage, beautified and adorned for thy pa&s;&s;age over it, in triumph up to heaven, not to &s;ink into it, and be wrapp'd up in it, in this foule and dark conveyance of thee, whereunto thou art now &s;entenced. Thou wa&s;t created to have been &s;erved onely by the mutati|ons of all creatures, not to have &s;uffered with them by any change, which &s;hould have been in thee onely a tran&s;lation of thy earth to heaven, not a re&s;olution of it into du&s;t; for mans &s;oule as having never been offended by his body, &s;hould never have put it away, and left it to his owne vility, but &s;hould have gratified the &s;ervices thereof, with an immediate prefer|ment to glory and impa&s;&s;ibility: O! what can be an&s;wered by man for this &s;elfe-de&s;truction?</P>
<P>Me thinks Man replyes, that the weight of the then greate&s;t of all created &s;ub&s;tances, falling from heaven, fell upon him, and thus &s;hiver'd him into du&s;t; indeed this is all can be &s;aid to move compa&s;&s;ion for him, and this prevailed &s;o much with his Maker, as Man's fall was commi&s;erated and redre&s;&s;ed, and he that fell upon him, was left fa&s;tned to the abi&s;&s;e of his own precipitation. What a &s;ad contemplation is this, that the morning &s;tar who was created to feed onely on the increated light, was &s;o &s;oone condemned to feed on du&s;t, as being falne from an Angel to a Serpent; and Man who was to ri&s;e up to the Purity of Angels, and to know no foulene&s;&s;e by the way, was quickly &s;entenced to the becomming du&s;t: &s;o that by this commerce with the Serpent, Man is become his food. O then as the Wi&s;e-man &s;ayes, &s;ure it is the tongue of the Ser|pent, while he fed fir&s;t upon thee, that infu&s;ed the poy&s;on of
<PB N="4" REF="22">
pride into all thy corruption; For mans nature &s;avours &s;o of this venome, by which it was fir&s;t tainted, (which came from the Serpent, who retains his pride in all his deba&s;ement) as even through all the veines of mans infirmities there runs &s;till this mortal &s;pirit of &s;elf-love and pre&s;umption, though he be reduced daily, to plead the mi&s;ery and infirmity of his na|ture, in defence of his reproachable imperfections.</P>
<P>There &s;eemes to be no better Character of the infelicity of humane nature, then is made by tho&s;e, who inveigh again&s;t the weakne&s;&s;e of it, yet claime that as an authority for all their faults, making the propen&s;ity to ill, the patronage of it, as if the forbidden fruit were now become medicinall for a weak con&s;cience: That is, as if our inward frailty might &s;erve for a purgation of mo&s;t of our faults. This is a confection the Serpent offers us often, which his tongue may be &s;aid to make again&s;t the venome of his teeth; For how familiar is it, to ac|cept this pre&s;cription, and to apply thisreceipt of <HI>(it is not I,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 7.</NOTE> <HI>but &s;in that dwels in me)</HI> for the cure of all the &s;tings of con|&s;cience, as if the accu&s;ation of <HI>the wretched man,</HI> were &s;ufficient for the acquittance of him before God. For how many when they are ingenuous in this confe&s;&s;ion, think they are di&s;pen&s;ed with for many gro&s;&s;e infidelities? &s;o as even the di&s;covery of the nakedne&s;&s;e of our nature, pa&s;&s;eth often to our &s;en&s;e for the cover of all her deformities: how familiar this &s;elfe de|ception is, I need not argue, but rather complain directly in the&s;e tearmes of the Go&s;pel, &s;ince <HI>the light that is in thee is darkne&s;&s;e, how great is that darkne&s;&s;e?</HI> This being our ca&s;e; <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 6. 23.</NOTE> when the knowledge of our infirmity becomes the de&s;paire of our recovery.</P>
<P>This con&s;idered, may not we &s;ay that the Serpent while he feeds upon our du&s;t, (that is, prevaileth upon our frailties) blowes part of it into our eyes, to blind us, rai&s;ing this cloud out of our infirmities, that we may &s;ee no way out of them: which &s;ubtilty prevaileth &s;o much, as de&s;pairing often of our con&s;titution, we con&s;ult our poy&s;oner, for receipts, onely to give us a fair and ea&s;ie pa&s;&s;age through this life, and for allay|ing
<PB N="5" REF="22">
the di&s;quiets of our nature, he gives us &s;uch remedies, as are plea&s;ant for our &s;en&s;es to take, which are variety of &s;en&s;ible fruitions, that rock our childi&s;h nature into &s;ome re&s;t, by the motions of her owne infirmities; Thus commonly our life is but a continued &s;lumber, in which our rea&s;on lies bound up, and our fancie is the onely loo&s;e and living faculty of our &s;oule, which rai&s;eth to us, but dreames and &s;imilitudes of good and evill, &s;ometimes vaine images of joyes, and other amazing phanta&s;mes of fears; and in this dream of opinion and imagination we u&s;ually pa&s;&s;e our lives, &s;eldome waking and comprehending the true nature, even of the things wherewith we are the mo&s;t affected: In &s;o much, as while the truth is that our life in this world is but a kind of dreame or &s;hadow, we dreame &s;o &s;trongly, as we doe not di&s;cerne it to be but a dreame; for the momentanyne&s;&s;e and inanity of our life &s;eldome comes into our fancie, which though it be &s;o &s;u&s;cepti|ble of all levities, yet &s;eldome admits the thought of mans owne lightne&s;&s;e into it; the vanities of our life, &s;hadow and cover to us our lives being but a &s;hadow; and thus while we breath continually in this element of vanity, it becomes as the ayre to us, which we feele not &s;en&s;ibly in our familiar re&s;|piration, and yet our breath is nothing el&s;e but aire: after this manner, while our life is nothing but vanity, we are the le&s;&s;e &s;en&s;ible of this con&s;titution.</P>
<P>So vaine a thing is meere humane nature, as when your wit hath fancyed the mo&s;t ayerie and light conceptions, it can, for images of this inanity, man &s;eemeth yet &s;o much vainer then all tho&s;e expre&s;&s;ions, as even all of them leave no im|pre&s;&s;ion on man, of his owne vanity, for he makes no u&s;e of tho&s;e his apprehen&s;ions, but lives as if hedid traduce and abu&s;e him&s;elfe in his conceptions and expre&s;&s;ions of his owne vacuity and emptine&s;&s;e, and falls not at all into con&s;idera|tion of tho&s;e di&s;abu&s;ing notions: and thus he veri&s;ies what the holy Spirit &s;ayes of him, that <HI>man compared to vanity is</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8.</NOTE> <HI>found lighter then it.</HI></P>
<P>For, as if the variations and in&s;tability of his owne &s;tate,
<PB N="6" REF="23">
were not &s;ufficient for his vexation, doth not man adde to them, the changeablene&s;&s;e of many other creatures, more va|ni&s;hing and fleeting then him&s;elfe, by fa&s;tning his love to them, namely, to riches, honour, beauty, and the re&s;t of this worlds fla&s;hes, and blazes of delectation, which goe out very often, even before they have &s;o much as warmed our &s;en&s;es.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Treating Mans abu&s;e of what he might learn by the mortality of the creature, and the frail|ty of his nature evidenced in all &s;orts of per|&s;ons and tryals.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>ALL the creatures &s;eeme to tell man in their peri&s;hing variations, that they were made &s;o tran&s;itory, to pa&s;&s;e away as attendants on the flux and motion of his life, whereby to in&s;truct, as well as &s;erve him by their &s;ubjecti|on, yet is he &s;o little adverti&s;ed by them of his own frailty, as he rather applies their variations to amu&s;e him in the impercep|tion of his owne in&s;tability; For while all his plea&s;ures are derived from the continuall changes and mutations of things, even out of this variety of delights, he drawes the incon&s;idera|tion of his owne continuall flux and con&s;umption: For he neither &s;eemes to beleeve the nature of the things them&s;elves, in all the&s;e evidences of their mutability (while he fixes his heart upon them, as if they were immoveable) nor doth he &s;o much as learn the variablene&s;&s;e of his own minde, by the expe|riments of &s;o frequent alterations of it which happeneth after, even without &s;o much cau&s;e as &s;atiety, meerely by the lightne&s;&s;e of his owne con&s;titution.</P>
<P>Doth not this &s;eeme a &s;trange incongruity in the nature of man, who, while he &s;tates all his delectation in the inter|mixture
<PB N="7" REF="23">
of changes, (even of his owne minde, as well as of forreine fruitions) that in this occupation, he &s;hould divert him&s;elfe from the animadver&s;ion of his owne vanity and im|permanency: How ju&s;tly may it be &s;aid then, O wretched man, who &s;hall deliver thee from this body of delu&s;ion? When all the creatures that pa&s;&s;ing away and dying, open them&s;elves in an Anatomie of thy fraile nature, thou wilt not &s;o much as looke upon thy owne frame and compo&s;ition, which thou can&s;t not &s;ee in tho&s;e living figures thou art play|ing and &s;porting with; for the life of man cannot &s;ee it &s;elfe truly, but by reflex from death, and every peri&s;hing, dying or dead creature, reflects to man his own image, and yet as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;ayes, <HI>Man &s;o frequently beholding his naturall face</HI> in <NOTE PLACE="marg">James 1. 23.</NOTE> this gla&s;s of death, forgets what manner of man he is. Therfore the Author of life, in his Word, hath often &s;et his hand to his manife&s;t of the creatures, which they all make, for Man, in their &s;ucce&s;&s;ive corruptions, and in very pregnant tearmes he hath declared to man, That <HI>his life is but a vapour, that appeares but</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">James 4. 14.</NOTE> <HI>a little time, and then vani&s;heth.</HI> If then our life, which is the foundation of all our vanity, be but &s;o &s;light and &s;ubtile a thing, what can we &s;ay of riches, beauty, and honour, and the like temporalities? which are but the accidents of that &s;ub|&s;tance, which is it &s;elfe but a vapour: Wherefore all they &s;eem but colours, diver&s;ified by the &s;everall variations of that light, which is but a fla&s;h of lightning, for life it &s;elfe is but &s;uch an e&s;clat of light.</P>
<P>This con&s;idered, when the nature of all the worlds toyes and nugacities is rightly di&s;cu&s;&s;ed, all the &s;pecious good of them is found to be but opinion and imagination, which may be tearmed the fume of this vapour of our lives, as it is exhaled, and vani&s;heth away, and yet this fume of opinion, darkens to us the nature of our lives, as &s;moake often doth the matter out of which it is rai&s;ed: For how familiarly the eye of our rea&s;on is deprived of all exerci&s;e by this &s;moak of opinion, I need not urge, &s;ince every one that goes abroad into the aire of the world, palpably &s;eeth what &s;ore eyes Rea&s;on hath al|mo&s;t
<PB N="8" REF="24">
every where, by living in this &s;moak of opinion.</P>
<P>O then, how much wor&s;e then nothing is the life of man, thus lightned and evaporated by his own fancie, when at the be&s;t of his carnal nature, in the <HI>holy Spirit's</HI> account, <HI>it is but a &s;hadow, a dreame, or a vapour?</HI></P>
<P>And certainly it was an expre&s;&s;e act of Providence, (relating to our undeceiving) this of Gods choo&s;ing <HI>Solomon,</HI> among all his Secretaries, to make the mo&s;t ample and preci&s;e manife&s;t of the nature and conditions of all temporalities; for as <HI>Ale|xander</HI> is &s;aid to have furni&s;hed <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> largely with expen|ces requi&s;ite for all &s;orts of Anatomyes, when he de&s;igned him to write the hi&s;tory of Nature, that his experiments might af|ford him both light for him&s;elf and credit with others; &s;o God &s;eemes to have provided <HI>Solomon</HI> an abundance and affluence of all tho&s;e creatures, in their be&s;t degree of &s;incerity and per|fection, whereof he was to deliver to the world, the nature and properties, that the &s;en&s;iblene&s;&s;e of his experience might move and affect the world joyntly with the charity of his &s;pecu|lation.</P>
<P>S. <HI>Iohn Bapti&s;t,</HI> (who had the &s;ame &s;pirit of truth, I by an im|mediate infu&s;ion, but did never exerci&s;e it in any practical expe|riments) had not been an organ of this truth, &s;o proportinate to our infirme apprehen&s;ion which embraces truth, &s;ooner, clo|thed with &s;en&s;ible particular experiments, (and &s;o becomes as it were palpable) then in the univer&s;ality of notions, while it re|maineth more ab&s;tracted in &s;peculation; <HI>King Solomon</HI> there|fore was an in&s;trument &s;ized and fitted to worke upon our na|tures, and he, who was the be&s;t Moral Chymick that ever wrought upon the matter of temporallities, by the experi|ments of all fruitions, extracted this as the quinte&s;&s;ence of them all. <HI>Vanity of vanities, all is vanity under the &s;unne and vex|ation of &s;pirit;</HI> Here then is the product and &s;umme of all our loves and fruitions in this world, and after this convincing manife&s;t, of the worthle&s;ne&s;&s;e of all other creatures, alas, how much a more deplorable conviction hath he left us of the vani|ty of man, by his owne fall and prevarication, when in the
<PB N="9" REF="24">
&s;plendor of all this light of verity; a few fading colours in a womans face, dazel'd even his Eagles eyes, and &s;o his blind|ne&s;&s;e and infatuation is become a clearer evidence of the infir|mity of mans nature, then even all the beames of his illumina|ting pen.</P>
<P>They who will look attentively upon this naked image of <HI>Solomon,</HI> need no other character of our humanity; there they &s;hall di&s;cover all that the world accounts the &s;ecurity of hap|pyne&s;&s;e to be the likelie&s;t betrayers of it; For he, who&s;e know|ledge exceeded the &s;tock of nature, and who&s;e po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions were equall with all natures provi&s;ions, may be &s;aid to have fallen by the weight of his felicities; how infirme a thing then is man, that cannot carrie even his own wi&s;hes without falling under them when he is charged with their &s;ucce&s;&s;es, for alas, how much doth familiar evidence atte&s;t this truth, that <HI>man in honour becomes like the bea&s;t that peri&s;heth?</HI></P>
<P>May not our carnall nature then be ju&s;tly di&s;credited to us, by con&s;idering that our life is either a perplexity of wi&s;hes, or a perver&s;ion of &s;ucce&s;&s;es? and this convincing evidence which common experience offereth, proveth what <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;ayes, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle. 3. 10.</NOTE> that <HI>this is the affliction which God hath given to the &s;ons of men, to exerci&s;e them in it;</HI> &s;ince indeed this world is but a &s;tage for their wra&s;tling and contention.</P>
<P>And if we look upon our nature in the exerci&s;e and triall of it, in the other extream of affliction, we &s;hall finde their feeblene&s;&s;e, even in tho&s;e pillars that were the &s;tronglie&s;t &s;up|ported by grace, namely <HI>Elias,</HI> who &s;eemed to have had &s;o little mixture of the elements in his nature, as he is called by <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ecclus. 48. Kings 3. 19.</NOTE> the <HI>holy &s;pirit, a fire and a burning light,</HI> yet even he in his fiery triall had &s;o much earth about him, as to faint under his carri|age, and to cry out to be delivered even of his life, as of a bur|then: thus &s;trong was that little weakne&s;s of our nature he had about him: &amp; holy <HI>Jer.</HI> who &s;eemes to have brought none but holy earth out of his mothers wombe, by the te&s;timony of his &s;anctification in it, yet even this &s;anctified oare, had &s;o much dro&s;&s;e found in it, when the <HI>burning fire was &s;hut up in his bones,</HI>
<PB N="10" REF="25">
as to run over even into the cur&s;ing the day of his birth, and to prepo&s;e his mothers being a tombe for him before a delive|rer of him into that light wherein he &s;aw &s;o much mi&s;ery and affliction; May we not well &s;ay then in reference to that of <HI>Solomon, if the be&s;t men on earth make this confe&s;&s;ion of the mi&s;ery of their nature, what doe the wor&s;t and the mo&s;t</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 20. 10. 14 Prov. 11. 31.</NOTE> <HI>depraved?</HI></P>
<P>Thus have we &s;eene frailty and infirmity of our corrupted nature taken from the be&s;t figures of it in diver&s;e po&s;tures of temporall felicity and affliction, and we perceive that in one &s;tate it is &s;o unhappily di&s;po&s;ed as the pronene&s;&s;e of it to ingra|titude, is rai&s;ed by the very degrees of obligations and benefits it receiveth; In&s;omuch as the plenty of temporall ble&s;&s;ings, proves often an over-ballancing even of the power of abundant grace, as we &s;ee manife&s;ted in the infidelityes of <HI>Solomon:</HI> and againe we find in the other triall, how the weight of &s;ufferance boweth and deflects a little, even the &s;tronge&s;t pillars of huma|nity, among which we doe bring in Saint <HI>Pauls</HI> depo&s;ition of this truth, where we make upon all the&s;e &s;urveys, this his re|flection, <HI>O wretched man! who &s;hall deliver thee from this body</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 7.</NOTE> <HI>of death and corruption?</HI> But we are not &s;o mi&s;erable as not to have a pre&s;ent an&s;wer to this &s;ad que&s;tion, <HI>the grace of God by Je&s;us Chri&s;t our Lord.</HI></P>
<P>Wherefore let us goe on, and look upon our nature as it is Deified in him, and as the other repre&s;entations might make us lament our birth with <HI>Job</HI> upon our dunghill, &s;o this a&s;pect of it in the per&s;on of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> may recall us to rejoyce with <HI>Zachary</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 1.</NOTE> in the Temple, and allow our nature this &s;elfe-a&s;cription, ju&s;tly a&s;&s;umed by the &s;econd organ of the reparation thereof, <HI>hence|forth all generations &s;hall call me ble&s;&s;ed;</HI> this a&s;&s;umption may be well allowed our nature when we look upon it with S. <HI>Paul,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 2. 20.</NOTE> <HI>not living in it &s;elfe, but Chri&s;t living in it.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="2" TYPE="treatise">
<PB N="11" REF="25">
<HEAD>The &s;econd Treati&s;e. The reparation of Humane Nature, divided into two Sections.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Treating the admirable meanes God cho&s;e for this worke, and the rehabilitation re&s;ulting to man from this proceeding of God.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>HAving &s;eene the figure of man made much liker the image of him, who &s;aid, he would <HI>rai&s;e him&s;elfe and become like God,</HI> then like God him&s;elfe who made man after his own image, what meanes is there left to re&s;tore that, which all the &s;ubtilty of the &s;upreame&s;t Angel had much adoe to disfigure, when ruine is &s;o much ea&s;ier then repa|ration?</P>
<P>If <HI>Lucifer</HI> him&s;elfe had applyed all his abilities to have given man &s;atisfaction, he could hardly have excogitated &s;uch a meanes of mans redintegration; for it may be di&s;puted whe|ther it had not been a higher pitch of di&s;re&s;pect to have de&s;ig|ned God, to have put on this wretched nature of man, then it was to project for his own Angelicall nature, an independency on the divine.</P>
<P>So here the &s;pirits of men and Angels are confounded, when they con&s;ider both the&s;e natures of God and man, fir&s;t a|part in their peculiar properties, and then behold them united in this incomprehen&s;ible manner in the per&s;on of God: here Saint <HI>Au&s;tins</HI> exclamation is more proper then any inqui&s;ition, one Abi&s;&s;e calls on another, the Abi&s;&s;e of mi&s;ery attracts that of mercy; here is the tran&s;cendency of all wonder, that the unworthyne&s;&s;e and demerit of humane nature &s;hould prove the
<PB N="12" REF="26">
exaltation of it; For now the <HI>Church</HI> doth not &s;tick to &s;ay <HI>foelix culpa,</HI> proclaiming even the fault to have been happy, that procured &s;uch a redemption and a melioration.</P>
<P><HI>Lord what was man, that thou &s;hould'&s;t be thus mindfull of him,</HI> who had nothing left to move thee, but his being be|come wor&s;e then nothing! did this invite thee to &s;hew thy &s;elfe more God in his refection, then in his creation, wherein his nullity had thus much towards his being, <HI>viz.</HI> no actuall op|po&s;ition to thee, which his iniquity had, and &s;o his reparation &s;eemed more incapable of thy love, then his nothing was of thy omnipotency in his fir&s;t production.</P>
<P>In this deplorable &s;tate of humane nature, become even Gods enemy, he did not only reconcile, but even &s;ubject him&s;elf to it, to mediate this reconciliation, he that <HI>could not rob God</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 2. 6.</NOTE> <HI>of any thing by his equalizing him&s;elfe to him,</HI> &s;eemed to rob God of all his Maje&s;ty by this his equality with man, by this &s;trip|ping and exinanition of him&s;elfe, taking upon him the forme of this disfigured &s;ervant; here we may ask with the amaze|ment of the <HI>Apo&s;tle, who hath been thy Councellor</HI> in this incom|prehen&s;ible de&s;igne, which man could not have &s;o much as wi&s;hed for him&s;elfe? And Saint <HI>Paul</HI> re&s;olves us, <HI>God for that</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe. 2. 6.</NOTE> <HI>great, love, wherewith he loved us,</HI> hath rai&s;ed up our dead na|ture, and made it &s;it in as heavenly a place, as even the per&s;on of God.</P>
<P>And indeed, love could only render this act worthy of almighty God, all the other of Gods benefits might be refer|red to his glory, without any relation to his love, the creation of all out of nothing, might relate to the manife&s;tation of his omnipotency, and the order of his providence and admini|&s;tration of the world, might be referred to the magnifying of his wi&s;dome, and the exalting his glory by his diver&s;e communications to his creatures; But this exinanition of him|&s;elfe could not con&s;i&s;t with Gods dignity, if it had not flowed from the immen&s;ity of his love: So as this act confirmes Saint <HI>Johns</HI> definition of God, <HI>that he is love,</HI> for in this te&s;ti|mony <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Ep<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. John 4.</NOTE> God appeares nothing el&s;e, all his immen&s;ity and
<PB N="13" REF="26">
infinity is extant onely in love, &s;ince in this act of Gods incar|nation, even his Omnipotency may be &s;aid to be exhau&s;ted in obliging man, when there remains neither power in God to do, nor wi&s;dome to excogitate a greater benefit then this &s;elf|donation.</P>
<P>O immen&s;e beneficence and exce&s;&s;e of love, which termi|nates even the divine omnipotency! &s;hall not this then &s;ubdue mans infirmity, and appropriate all his de&s;ires, to the &s;tudy of loving this God; who having given man, even all his divinity by his love; &s;hall not man give this divinity all his love? me|thinks it is now unnaturall, &s;ince God is become man by love to him, that man united to this God, &s;hould not become all love of this divine E&s;&s;ence.</P>
<P>How can man then finde now &s;o little of God in his nature, as to plead his own infirmity, for not loving God, when by this gift, he is made a <HI>con&s;ort of the divine nature?</HI> as Saint <NOTE PLACE="marg">S. Peter 2. Ep. 4</NOTE> <HI>Peter</HI> tels him, and thereby inabled to love God by a partici|pation of the &s;ame love, with which God loves him&s;elfe, &s;o that the <HI>donation exceeds &s;o much the delinquency,</HI> as Saint <HI>Au|&s;tin</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Romans 5.</NOTE> votes a congratulation to our humane nature, which being a&s;&s;umed by the Son of God, is con&s;tituted immortall in hea|ven, and exalted, &s;o as to &s;it at the right hand of the Father: who then ought not now to congratulate his nature thus im|mortalized in Chri&s;t, when he may hope to ri&s;e to the &s;ame immortality by this a&s;&s;umption?</P>
<P>So much &s;trange incomprehen&s;iblene&s;&s;e followes upon Gods incarnation, as our nature is dignified above what it hath a faculty to conceive, for the &s;oul of man &s;hall not rightly ap|prehend the honour of this union with our fle&s;h, till &s;he be &s;ever'd her &s;elfe from this connexion: &s;o great is the my&s;terie of Gods taking fle&s;h and blood upon him, as man mu&s;t deve&s;t his, before he can comprehend it, for we &s;ee the more we are immer&s;ed in fle&s;h and blood, the le&s;&s;e we di&s;cerne of it, the carnal man is the wor&s;e inqui&s;itor into this incarnation, but the benefit and mercy is no le&s;&s;e then the my&s;terie, for Gods in|carnation inableth man for his owne decarnation, as I may &s;ay
<PB N="14" REF="27">
and deve&s;ture of his carnality, and by imitation of this divin<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> man <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us,</HI> &s;hewes him how to weare his fle&s;h in &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> proportion, as <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> wore his, namely, as a garment that did not defile what it cover'd;</P>
<P>Who then will chu&s;e to cleave to our nature in the impure|ne&s;&s;e of her owne carnality, and bewaile that infelicity, for an extenuation of her foulne&s;&s;e, rather then recur to this capacity which is imparted by the two natures of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> unto ours, <HI>viz&punc;</HI> to refine her &s;elfe to &s;o much cleanne&s;&s;e and &s;pirituality, as Saint <HI>Paul</HI> doth not feare to exalt our &s;pirits to an identity <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 6. 17.</NOTE> with Gods; he doth not wonder at any thing in con&s;equence of this fir&s;t gift of God him&s;elfe given to our nature, for he concludes, that <HI>he, who did not think his owne Son too much, how &s;hall he not with him al&s;o freely give us all things?</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8. 32.</NOTE></P>
<P>In&s;omuch as we may ju&s;tly now &s;ay with S. <HI>Paul, Therefore O man thou art inexcu&s;able</HI> when thou judge&s;t thy nature, as inca|pable <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 2. 1.</NOTE> of victory over her infirmity, for there is no &s;uch predo|minant malignity in her, <HI>as thy enemy would in&s;inuate the</HI> belief of; the wor&s;t part of thy weakne&s;&s;e is this querilous diffidence, for in that ill feature thou &s;halt finde no &s;imilitude in the per&s;on of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> in all thy trials and temptations; thou maye&s;t finde &s;ome re&s;emblance in his figure, even in the angui&s;h and attri&s;tation of thy &s;pirit, but none in the yeelding and &s;urrender of thy confidence, for he felt our infirmities that we might not faint under them, &s;o that the &s;imilitude of his temp|tation <NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 4. 15. Heb. 2. 18.</NOTE> is the &s;uccour and &s;ecurity of our defence in all our tryalls.</P>
<P>They then who in the pre&s;&s;ures of their frailties, &s;hal fainting|ly &s;ay, <HI>who &s;hal &s;hew us any good?</HI> have their an&s;wer following in <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al, 4.</NOTE> the next words, <HI>the light of thy countenance is &s;ealed &amp; impre&s;&s;ed upon us;</HI> for now the light of <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> divinity is not only &s;hining on our nature, but even in it, as being now the orbe of the &s;un of righteou&s;nes, in&s;omuch as the eyes of God may be &s;aid, not onely to be upon us now in all our conflicts, but likewi&s;e to be concerned in our contentions as members of that head, who&s;e eyes are his; and con&s;equently they do not only animate us, but
<PB N="15" REF="27">
act and &s;econd us, in&s;omuch as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> S. <HI>Paul</HI> chu&s;eth his infirmities only to glory in, to magnifie the triumph of <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Wherefore they, who behold the &s;plendor of <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> divi|nity now &s;hining in our nature, need not lament the de&s;tructi|on of the fir&s;t Temple, when they contemplate this re-<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">dificati|on of this &s;econd Sanctuary, but may confe&s;&s;e with one of Gods <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;aiah 9. 10. Haggai. 2. 2.</NOTE> witne&s;&s;es, that <HI>the glory of this</HI> latter <HI>Hou&s;e is greater then that of the former,</HI> for our nature is more dignified in the per&s;on of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> then it could be depre&s;&s;ed by the fault of <HI>Adam,</HI> &s;ince, not only the holy <HI>Angels</HI> adore now humane nature in the per&s;on of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> but the very revolted &s;pirits are puni&s;hed even by the con&s;equences of their malice to it, for the brui&s;ed heele &s;tands now trampling upon their &s;ubjected heads; and it is not only in the glorious per&s;on of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> that our nature triumpheth over <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe. 1. 22.</NOTE> her enemy, but even in many other per&s;ons, mortall and char|ged with her infirmities, (which make the weight of the &s;hame the heavyer) &s;he treades victoriou&s;ly upon the <HI>Ba&s;alisk,</HI> vilify|ing all the malicious powers and principalities, who are <HI>the governours of the darkne&s;&s;e of the world.</HI> Such honour have many of <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> members, even in this life, being inabled <HI>to walk in it, and yet not war after the fle&s;h,</HI> having &s;uch <HI>&s;pirituall weapons, as ca&s;t downe all imaginations,</HI> that ri&s;e up in defence <HI>of their own impotency, and &s;ugge&s;t their incapacity of &s;ubduing their enemy.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<PB N="16" REF="28">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>How even Mans infirmities may afford him gloryes, and con&s;equently, Motives to joy and corre&s;pondence with the grace of Chri&s;t incarnate.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>REflecting duly on what hath been premi&s;ed, we may ju&s;tly &s;ing an <HI>Ho&s;anna</HI> to our humane nature, as &s;he is now participant of the virtue of God him&s;elfe, in the per&s;on of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> &s;ince &s;he is &s;o fortified for triumph and victo|ry over all the devills forces, and her own frailties, as I may &s;ay, it is a greater &s;hame for man, not to overcome now, thus joyned with <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> then it was at fir&s;t, to yeeld to the devil and the woman joyned.</P>
<P>He, who is clothed with <HI>light as with a garment,</HI> when he bowed the heavens and de&s;cended, taking our nature as a cloud for his ve&s;tment, might have purged it of all frailty and infirmity by his merits in it, and have re-e&s;tated it in the originall integrity; but he &s;eemes to have cho&s;e the leaving of this infirmity, to exalt the fidelity, this thought may be &s;up|ported by his deniall of Saint <HI>Paul,</HI> the removing from him his <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 12.</NOTE> reluctancies, <HI>becau&s;e virtue is perfected in weakne&s;&s;e,</HI> &s;o having left our nature with this life-guard about her of <HI>my grace is &s;ufficient for thee,</HI> he hath inabled her to ri&s;e to a higher degree of honour, by victory, then &s;he could have done by &s;ecurity, for then our nature would have wanted the &s;imilitude and confi|guration with the image of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> tempted, &s;uffering, and tri|umphing, which is a diviner figure then the &s;afe unexerci&s;ed condition of <HI>Adam.</HI></P>
<P>And why may not we conceive that the mi&s;eries left in our nature by &s;o mercifull a God, were intended as &s;eeds of a more fruitfull glory, &s;ince not only our own &s;ufferings are
<PB N="17" REF="28">
now allowed as good evidences for the claime of our felici|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">y&punc; but even the di&s;tre&s;&s;es of others, are a&s;&s;igned for our qua|lifications, for <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> in his la&s;t account with man, produceth nothing but mi&s;eries of nature, for mans merit to him, &s;ickne&s;s, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">unger, poverty, and captivity are brought in, as the only contributions to mans glorification, and by <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> words, we finde that even he inhabiteth &s;till in the infirmities of our nature, in&s;omuch, as to reconcile us to the mo&s;t aver&s;ing part of our nature, we may look upon <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> per&s;onation in it, for he &s;eemes (at that day, when he &s;hall in our nature, judge both natures of men and angels) to own his re&s;idence mo&s;t e&s;pecially, in all the di&s;tre&s;&s;es and indignities of humane na|ture, and to admit the communication and familiarity we have had with &s;uch mi&s;eries, as the only claime to our eternall a&s;&s;ociation with him, and thus having a capacity imparted by all our infirmities to merit at <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> hands by his owne &s;entence, our lyablene&s;&s;e to them may be thought a no|bler &s;tate then would have been our exemption from danger.</P>
<P>And to &s;upport this &s;uppo&s;ition, we may conclude, that our arrogant enemy (who affected to be like <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> in his glo|ry, but never emulated his humility) is more tormented now by mans triumphs over his angelicall powers, and his owne humane weakne&s;&s;e, then he would be by mans &s;tate of impe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">|cancy; for even that &s;poil this enemy now makes upon us, doth not at all ea&s;e or relieve him, whereas the defeats &amp; &s;hames he received by our victories over him, &s;train the rack of his pride upon him, torturing him by this vilifying his power, by which means, even our infirmities may be &s;aid to &s;erve Chri&s;t again&s;t the great maligner of both his Natures, which admitted, they who complain of the infelicity &amp; perver&s;ion of our nature, may be advertized, that they have a means to rectifie this crooked|ne&s;s, even by the impul&s;e of one of the mo&s;t vebement corrup|tions thereof; namely, the pa&s;&s;ion of revenge, &s;ince this redre&s;s may be wrought by their attempting continuall vindications again&s;t the procurer of all our mi&s;ery, by a victorious fidelity to our maker; whereby even our infirmities being overcome, are
<PB N="18" REF="29">
converted into the torments of our pretending tormentor; and may the thus&s;ting of the &s;erpent be retorted into his own bo|&s;ome, when his a&s;&s;aults return him more the &s;ight of his own impotency&punc; then of our frailty.</P>
<P>And how fei&s;able this way of revenge is made, S. <HI>Paul</HI> a&s;&s;ureth us, both by his life and Doctrine, when he defieth <HI>An|gels, Principalities, and Powers</HI> to joyn with his infirmities; and yet glorieth that in all the&s;e oppo&s;itions, <HI>man may be more then conquerer by him, who hath loved him.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8. 37.</NOTE></P>
<P>How many virtuous <HI>Trophees</HI> are there now erected in Chri&s;tianity, of the victories of humane nature, over our mo&s;t powerfull infirmity? What numbers wear the ve&s;tures of their humanity, &s;hining in the candour of innocence and cha&s;tity, in &s;o pure a manner, as they &s;eeme rather, living, transfigured with <HI>Elias</HI> and <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> upon <HI>Tabor,</HI> then comming disfigured with <HI>Adam</HI> out of <HI>Eden?</HI> So much doth even the fraile&s;t por|tion of our humanity triumph now over the greate&s;t frailty <NOTE PLACE="marg">Nunns.</NOTE> of our nature, and from the infirmity of the fle&s;h, derive rather con&s;equent merit then actuall infection; &s;o that the proud &s;pi|rit findes oftentimes by this repul&s;e, rather the mi&s;ery of his de&s;titution of grace, then the infirmity of our nature, being &s;uc|cour'd and &s;upported by an acce&s;&s;ion of the fortifying grace of our Head <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us.</HI></P>
<P>In which re&s;pect Saint <HI>Augu&s;tin</HI> &s;ayeth elegantly, the nati|vity of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> was the rena&s;cency of man; as fle&s;h had wounded thee, &s;o it now healeth thee; the Phy&s;itian mini&s;tred a receipt, compo&s;ed of our own infirme nature, and by the infirmity of his fle&s;h, cured the infection of ours.</P>
<P>And for an intire re-inforcement of our humane nature, which con&s;i&s;teth of &s;pirit and fle&s;h, our &s;pirit &s;eemes to have yet a more intimate union with God, for our fle&s;h was but a &s;uperve&s;ture or upper Garment to the Son of God. The two natures of God and Man remaining di&s;tinct, and not inter|mixed, but our &s;pirit is &s;ealed and impre&s;&s;ed by the <HI>holy Gho&s;t,</HI> and &s;o &s;eemes identified with the Spirit of God, in &s;ome &s;uch &s;ort, as the impre&s;&s;ion left is the &s;ame image with the &s;tampe
<PB N="19" REF="29">
which impre&s;&s;eth it, and in this re&s;pect, the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> tells us, that <HI>he that is joyned unto God, is one &s;pirit with him;</HI> we need not <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 6. 17.</NOTE> &s;peculate &s;o curiou&s;ly, the radiant beames of the Word of God, as to dazle or di&s;&s;ipate the &s;ight of our minde, in this my&s;terious expre&s;&s;ion of the holy Spirit; as much as is com|petent with our eyes, is the perception (by this dazling light) of what great dignity and excellence our humane nature may now own; in which the intire Trinity doth re&s;ide, the Son of God in Per&s;on, the holy Gho&s;t or Spirit of God, by Cha|racter and impre&s;&s;ion, and con&s;equently God the Father by the indivi&s;iblene&s;s of his e&s;&s;ence from their pre&s;ences; therefore we &s;ee <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> promi&s;eth us in expre&s;&s;e termes, <HI>the company of the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 14. 23.</NOTE> <HI>Father, and his re&s;idence in us.</HI></P>
<P>Wherefore, Now O happy man that thou art, look not down upon the &s;tage of the Serpent, where he lyeth &s;till hi&s;&s;ing at thee, to call thy thoughts to the earth, &s;ince thou did&s;t fir&s;t hearken to him; But rai&s;e thy lookes upward, to the throne of Heaven, where the &s;plendor of thy humanity, at the right Hand of God, reflecteth to thee thy owne dignity, for even in the mirrour of the word, wherein God the Father &s;eeth him&s;elfe, man may now &s;ee his own image; there man may &s;ee not only his nature made after Gods image, but God him&s;elfe in the image of his nature.</P>
<P>Corre&s;pond with thy own worthyne&s;&s;e then, O exalted creature! and live as if thou had'&s;t never &s;eene thy &s;elfe in any other gla&s;&s;e, for here is that eminence truly conferred on thee, which thou did'&s;t at fir&s;t &s;o vainly affect, of being like God, and the holy Spirit is thy councellour in this claime of thy divinity, and thy comforter again&s;t the di&s;&s;wa&s;ions of thy fir&s;t projector, who would now divert thee from the a&s;piring to the con&s;ort and participation of the divine nature which is <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Peter 1. 4.</NOTE> offered to thy a&s;piring.</P>
<P>This premi&s;ed and ponder'd, man may &s;ay, <HI>I rejoyce even in my infirmities, that the power of Chri&s;t may re&s;t upon me,</HI> and <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 12. 9.</NOTE> triumph in me; for my &s;trength is made perfect in weak|ne&s;&s;e, and may con&s;ort the harp of <HI>David</HI> to the &s;ame tune of
<PB N="20" REF="30">
pray&s;ing mans condition, profe&s;&s;ing, thy <HI>friends, O Lord are</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 138.</NOTE> <HI>become exceeding honourable, their principality is exceeding &s;trengthened,</HI> for when mans infirmities appear in temptations and &s;ugge&s;tions, to deface the image and Character of the holy Gho&s;t in him, then hath he the holy Spirit to &s;econd him in the defence of his own image. So that by the adjunction of the&s;e helpes, even all mans infirmities may be converted into his glories, and man hath nothing left to undeifie him now, but his owne preferrence of degeneration and flavery to the enemy of his nature, before his adherence to her Author.</P>
<P>Finally, upon all the&s;e repre&s;entations, I may ju&s;tly re-ex|toll and magnifie the dignity of humane nature, which we may con&s;ider &s;ent down at fir&s;t from Heaven as Gods image: and next, as a &s;tate to which God him&s;elfe did vouch&s;afe to come down in per&s;on, and taking it upon him, will inhabit therein eternally, and then, that the holy Spirit of the Father and the Son abideth in it, as in his Temple, which he &s;anctifies ince&s;&s;antly, nay more that it is de&s;igned to partake the &s;ame glory, which the whole Trinity injoyeth, by being promi&s;ed to be <HI>made like him who</HI> hath it all, the God and man <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 E. John 3. 2.</NOTE></P>
<P>O then, he that may hope this, let him never plead his frailty or infirmity, in di&s;credit of his nature, let him not in a dejection of &s;pirit &s;eek to cover his pu&s;ilanimity, with, <HI>O wret|ched man, I finde a Law reluctant in me,</HI> again&s;t all the&s;e mo|tives and incentives of my a&s;piring to divinity, but rather let him boldly pronounce in &s;uch a holy confidence as is pre&s;cri|bed him, <HI>I can doe all things in him that &s;trengthens me,</HI> for &s;ince God is in &s;o many &s;orts with us, who &s;hall prevaile again&s;t us? Therefore in all the&s;e <HI>reluctances, let us a&s;pire to be more then conquerors, by him who &s;o much loveth us.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8. 37.</NOTE></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="3" TYPE="treatise">
<PB N="21" REF="30">
<HEAD>The Third Treati&s;e. Of Religion.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Con&s;idering it under the generall Notion of &s;ome reference to a Divine Power.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P><HI>REligion</HI> ri&s;eth in the fir&s;t dawning of the light of na|ture, for the &s;oul, as &s;oon as &s;he doth but &s;ee her &s;elfe by the reflex of any di&s;cour&s;e, di&s;cernes her own rela|tion to &s;ome &s;uperiour cau&s;e; to which &s;he a&s;&s;igneth &s;ome pre&s;ent reverence and rea&s;on, as it ri&s;eth and a&s;cendeth, brea|keth the day a little further, but leaveth the mind &s;till in &s;uch a twy-light, as the under&s;tanding doth hardly di&s;tingui&s;h &s;ingularity, in the &s;upremacy di&s;cryed above it &s;elfe; for rea|&s;on doth but, as it were, feele out her way to Divinity by a kinde of palpation, and &s;en&s;ible touches upon materiall crea|tures, and cannot by an immediate elevation of her faculties to immateriall notions, rai&s;e her &s;elfe up to the &s;peculati|on of any &s;pirituall &s;ub&s;tance, much le&s;&s;e to the &s;upreme &s;piri|tuall <HI>E&s;&s;ence.</HI></P>
<P>So that by the meere light of nature, the mind oftner &s;cat|ters and breakes the object of Divinity, then &s;ingleth it into unity. This deficiency appeareth in the &s;peculations of mo&s;t of the <HI>Philo&s;ophers,</HI> who all looked naturally upward, for &s;ome &s;upream reference and a&s;&s;cription of their being, but unto mo&s;t of them, Heaven like a crack'd mirrour broken by their various imaginations, reflected multiplyed images of the Divinity; whereby we may di&s;cerne that the perception of uni|ty in the divine <HI>E&s;&s;ence,</HI> is not derived &s;o much from the emi&s;|&s;ion of the rayes of naturall Rea&s;on, as from a reception of a &s;upernaturall light, whereby rea&s;on is rather illuminated from
<PB N="22" REF="31">
above it &s;elfe, then &s;ingly producing this &s;elfe-illu&s;tration: and this forrein clarity diffu&s;ed upon our rea&s;on, is the Grace of the Divine e&s;&s;ence, which elucidates to our minde the &s;im|plicity and indivi&s;iblene&s;&s;e of the object, from whence this gracious &s;plendour i&s;&s;ueth upon our under&s;tanding.</P>
<P>Grace thus in&s;pired, worketh by the &s;oule, as light doth by the &s;en&s;e; not inducing the faculty, but only the exerci&s;e of &s;ight, for grace doth not conferre any new faculty to the &s;oul, but only perfecteth the capacity of naturall rea&s;on in this act, of &s;ingling the notion of the Diety, and &s;ettling the unity of a <HI>Creator</HI> in our beleef. And this fir&s;t po&s;ition alwayes &s;ugge|&s;teth &s;ome Religion taken largely, as a recognition by &s;ome exteriour homage of one Supreamacy above our Nature; but this e&s;tate admits of much diver&s;ity in Religious beliefs; in which, even the wi&s;e men of the World, as Saint <HI>Paul</HI> termeth them, did &s;tray and lo&s;e them&s;elves, <HI>growing vain in their own</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 1. 21.</NOTE> <HI>imaginations,</HI> for by a &s;eeming pretext of piety, namely, of making religious addre&s;&s;es enough to God, they made many Gods under the colour of one Supream addre&s;&s;e. By this Errour we may perceive that naturall rea&s;on needeth &s;till a further conduct from grace, to lead it to a rectified Re|ligion.</P>
<P>Certaine it is, that the materiall and vi&s;ible &s;pecies of this world, afford &s;ome notion of the invi&s;ible producer; as in mines, whereof the &s;pecificall matter is of a much meaner &s;ub|&s;tance, there are found &s;ome veines of Gold and Silver; &s;o out of the gro&s;&s;e ma&s;&s;e of nature, tho&s;e that work upon it by &s;ingle rea&s;on, may ea&s;ily extract &s;ome Spirituall ore of Religi|on, for through the elemented body of the univer&s;e there run &s;ome veines of intimation of a &s;pirituall nature, independent on all matter, which rea&s;on may di&s;cerne, and &s;o re&s;olve &s;ome Religious acknowledgment of a Divine principle, as the pro|ducer of &s;ubordinate cau&s;es and effects, but how apt humane rea&s;on is to &s;ever and di&s;unite this principle, we may ea&s;ily judge, when we remember how &s;oone rea&s;on forgot her owne origine, and as if having lo&s;t the unity of the god-head, &s;he
<PB N="23" REF="31">
could in number have made up that lo&s;&s;e of quality, &s;he brought in all the cele&s;t all bodies into the account of Divinity, &s;erving the <HI>Militia</HI> of Heaven, in&s;tead of the maker, and we may call to minde that as humane bodies grew Giants, mindes &s;eemed to &s;hrink into dwarfs; when they fell in love, as I may &s;ay, with the daughters of men, that is, the concep|tions of their owne naturall Rea&s;on in this point of Di|vinity.</P>
<P>And we may well &s;uppo&s;e that the Giants &s;oules, in the law of nature became &s;o, by e&s;pou&s;ing this daughter of God, which we may properly call <HI>Grace,</HI> whereby their heads pa&s;&s;ed the skie, and touched Heaven it &s;elfe in this beliefe of the unity of the godhead, and by this conjunction with grace, rea|&s;on produced their i&s;&s;ue of a rectified Religion; hence is it that we finde the <HI>Patriarks</HI> frequently vi&s;ited by cele&s;tiall &s;pi|rits, as the allies, as I may &s;ay, of this daughter of Heaven they had e&s;pou&s;ed; and mo&s;t doe conclude, that all tho&s;e, who in the law of nature continued in a rectified belief and wor&s;hip of God, were maintained in that &s;tate by grace, &s;up|plementall to the virtue of &s;ingle Rea&s;on.</P>
<P>How far humane Rea&s;on may alone finde the way to recti|fied Religion, is a que&s;tion to exerci&s;e curio&s;ity, rather then excite piety; and very commonly, rea&s;on in the di&s;qui&s;ition of faith, doth rather &s;ink the deeper into the earth, by falling from her over a&s;piring, then &s;he doth &s;ix her &s;elfe upward in her proper &s;tation; and be&s;ides this danger, me thinkes there is this difference betweene them that are working upon rea&s;on to extract Religion, and tho&s;e that are feeding upon &s;incere faith, that the fir&s;t are labouring the ground for that fruit, which the la&s;t are fea&s;ting on; or that the fir&s;t are plowing, while the la&s;t are gathering of Manna. I &s;hall indeavour there|fore to &s;erve in this &s;pirituall refection ready to be ta&s;ted, trea|ting of faith, already dige&s;ted, rather then to be provided by ratiocination, for devotion is faith converted into nouri&s;hment; by which the &s;oul contracting a &s;ound &amp; active &s;trength, needs not &s;tudy the compo&s;ition of that aliment, it finds &s;o health|full.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<PB N="24" REF="32">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Treating the be&s;t habit of mind in order to the finding a rectified Religion.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>ME thinks <HI>Religion</HI> and <HI>Devotion</HI> may be fitly re&s;em|bled to the <HI>Body</HI> and the <HI>Soule</HI> in Humanity: The fir&s;t of which, i&s;&s;ues from an orderly proce&s;&s;ion of nature, by a continuing virtue imparted all at once to mediate cau&s;es, the la&s;t is a new immediate infu&s;ion from heaven, by way of a creation, continually iterated and repeated. So Re|ligion at large (as &s;ome homage rendred to a &s;upreme relati|on) flows into every mind, along with the current of natural cau&s;es: But Devotion is like the Soule, produced by a new act of grace, directed to every particular, by &s;peciall and ex|pre&s;&s;e infu&s;ion, and in the&s;e re&s;pects al&s;o the analogie will hold, that as Religion hath the office of the body to containe Devotion, &s;o Devotion hath the function of the &s;oule, to in|forme and animate Religion: And as the &s;oule hath clearer or darker operations, according as the body is well organized or di&s;po&s;ed, &s;o Devotion is the more zealous or remi&s;&s;e pro|portionately to the temper and con&s;titution of the Religion that containeth it: Sutable to the Apo&s;tle Saint <HI>James</HI> his in|timation to us, that <HI>Pure Religion keeps us un&s;potted from the world.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">James. 1. 27.</NOTE></P>
<P>I &s;hall not take upon me the &s;pirituall Phy&s;itian to con&s;ult the indi&s;po&s;itions and remedies of differing Religions, but re|lying more upon the Te&s;timony of confe&s;&s;ed experiments then the &s;ubtilty of that litigious art, I &s;hall pre&s;cribe one receipt to all Chri&s;tian tempers, which is to acquire the habit of Piety and Devotion, for this in our &s;pirituall life, is like a healthfull aire and a temperate diet in our naturall, the be&s;t pre&s;ervative of a rectified faith, and the be&s;t di&s;po&s;ition to recover from an un&s;ound Religion; for the Almes and Prayers of the <HI>Centurion</HI> were heard and an&s;wered, when they &s;poke not <NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">.</NOTE>
<PB N="25" REF="32">
the language of the Church, and the Angel was &s;ent to tran|&s;late them into that tongue, in which God hath cho&s;e onely to be rightly prai&s;ed, that which his Eternall Word <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us</HI> hath peculiarly affected, and annexed to his Church; this &s;hews the efficacie of piety, and the exactne&s;&s;e of Gods order, who hath inclo&s;ed his eternall graces within tho&s;e bounds, into which he brings all that &s;hall partake of them, and &s;o doth naturalize all &s;uch &s;trangers as he intitleth to them, doth not allot any portions to aliens, but reduceth all them he will en|dow, into that qualification he requireth, which is into the rank of <HI>fellow-citizens of the Saints, and of the hou&s;hold of God;</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 2. 19.</NOTE> he leaves none with a di&s;pen&s;ation of remaining forreiners. The <HI>Angel</HI> that called the <HI>Centurion,</HI> directed him to the gate of the Church: Saint <HI>Peter</HI> did not bring him a protection to re&s;t in his owne hou&s;e, with the exerci&s;e of his naturall pie|ties: and &s;o for tho&s;e that are &s;traying without the inclo&s;ure of the <HI>Catholique Church,</HI> if they walk by the light of naturall charity, morall piety and devotion in their religious duties, this is the be&s;t di&s;po&s;ition towards the finding of <HI>the way, the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 13. 6. P&s;al. 144.</NOTE> <HI>truth, and the life,</HI> of whom the P&s;almi&s;t &s;ayes, <HI>He is neere to all tho&s;e that &s;eeke him;</HI> and tho&s;e who are thus far advanced in morality, may be &s;aid to be <HI>in atriis Templi,</HI> in the Church|yard, which is, in a congruous di&s;po&s;ition for farther advance into the body of the church. I &s;hall endeavour then to affect every one with the love of purity and holine&s;&s;e of life, for to tho&s;e that are already rooted and growing in the Church, this di&s;po&s;ition will be are that fruit; the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;oliciteth for them, that <HI>their love may abound more and more in knowledge,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe. 1. 9.</NOTE> <HI>and in all judgement:</HI> And in tho&s;e who are yet &s;trangers and forreiners, as he calls them, this reverentiall feare of God &s;eemes to cha&s;e the wax for the &s;eale of the holy Spirit; for Prayers and Almes doe as it were retaine God for their Coun|&s;el, and as his Clients open their cau&s;e to him, in the&s;e tearms of the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t, Lord cau&s;e me to know the way wherein I &s;hould</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 142.</NOTE> <HI>walk, for I lift up my &s;oule unto thee:</HI> And &s;uch may be &s;aid to be halfe way towards their end, that doe wor&s;hip in a zea|lous
<PB N="26" REF="33">
&s;pirit, and are likely never left there, but helped on to the other part of <HI>wor&s;hipping in truth,</HI> by him that hath ordained <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 4. 23.</NOTE> our wor&s;hip to con&s;i&s;t <HI>of Spirit and Truth,</HI> &s;o that devotion &amp; &s;incerity in any Religion, are the be&s;t Symptomes of our de&s;ig|nation to the true and &s;incere Religion.</P>
<P>Wherefore having made this generall pre&s;entation of piety and virtue to all parties, I &s;hall not &s;tay to wra&s;tle in the Schooles, but rather &s;trive to &s;et &s;uch Church-mu&s;ick, as all parties may agree to meet at the &s;ervice; and this I pre&s;ume may &s;ound in tune unto mo&s;t eares; that where con&s;ort and har|mony in faith appeareth, it is a good note of that Churches &s;ervice, being &s;et by the hand of that great Ma&s;ter, who in this la&s;t le&s;&s;on of his owne voyce, did concert this &s;ymphony in the mu&s;ick of the Church, and even ingaged his father, to pre&s;erve this unity and con&s;ort by the&s;e words, <HI>Holy</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 17. 11.</NOTE> <HI>Father, keepe through thy owne name, tho&s;e whom thou ha&s;t given me, that they may be one as we are one.</HI> This cleereth to us the marke of concordancy in faith, to be one of the mo&s;t re&s;pondent unto Chri&s;ts &s;ignature on his Church.</P>
<P>And as one may, without arrogating to him&s;elfe much of the &s;cience of a Phy&s;itian, venture to pronounce what is the be&s;t temper to be compo&s;ed of, &s;o may I &s;afely affirme that <HI>Religion</HI> to be of the be&s;t con&s;titution, which con&s;i&s;teth the mo&s;t perfectly of the&s;e two divine elements, well intermixed, <HI>Zeale</HI> and <HI>Charity;</HI> the which may be &s;aid to make a good complexion in the face of <HI>Religion,</HI> the fir&s;t relating to the colour of the blood, and the la&s;t to the fairne&s;&s;e of the skin, through which the good tincture of zeale is tran&s;parent in the works of charity: wherefore the well tempering of the&s;e two qualities make that beauty in the <HI>Spou&s;e,</HI> of which the <HI>Bride|groome</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Behold, how faire is my Love! there is no &s;pot in her.</HI> And as the face, although it be not an infallible, yet is one of the be&s;t indications of the bodies health; for although there be not any &s;o &s;ecure &s;ymptomes in it, as conclude again&s;t all infirmities, yet there are &s;ome &s;o re&s;olving marks of unhealth|fulne&s;&s;e
<PB N="27" REF="33">
in the face, as cannot mi&s;lead a progno&s;tike of &s;ome infirmity: So may we make a probable judgement of the foundne&s;&s;e of a <HI>Religion</HI> by the faire and healthful a&s;pect there|of, and by the ill looks and di&s;figurements of &s;ome <HI>Religions,</HI> we may warrantably &s;entence the un&s;oundne&s;&s;e of them; for there are &s;ome that have &s;uch marks of uncleanne&s;&s;e on their skin, as not onely the Prie&s;t, but even the People may di&s;cern the Lepro&s;ie.</P>
<P>This con&s;idered, the mo&s;t advi&s;ed judgement touching <HI>Re|ligion,</HI> for the generality of men, is, the preferrence of that which hath the mo&s;t promi&s;ing countenance, of this perfect con&s;titution, of <HI>unity in faith,</HI> of <HI>orderly zeale,</HI> and of <HI>active charity,</HI> for out of the&s;e materials onely, that flame is rai&s;ed, which our glorious high Prie&s;t came to kindle upon the earth. <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 12. 49.</NOTE></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="4" TYPE="treatise">
<HEAD>The Fourth Treati&s;e. Of Devotion. In two Sect.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Devotion regularly defined, and &s;ome accidents that rai&s;e it, explicated.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>THere is nothing &s;eems more requi&s;ite, towards the &s;incere practice of it, then the &s;ound definition of <HI>De|votion,</HI> for it is much ea&s;ier to copie well, then to de|&s;igne perfectly this worke: Neverthele&s;&s;e it is the familiar pre|&s;umption of the world, to pa&s;&s;e them&s;elves Ma&s;ters, by draw|ing the expre&s;&s;ions of their piety, by their own imagination, rather them to work then by the Churches draughts and pat|terns: and thus many are mi&s;taken in the manner, more then
<PB N="28" REF="34">
in the meaning of their religious duties, for devotion con&s;i&s;ts more of conformity to order, in pious applications, then in contrivement of them: wherefore this pre&s;cription of &s;ome &s;pirituall director is given by God, <HI>Obey them that rule</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 13. 17.</NOTE> <HI>over you, and &s;ubmit your &s;elves, for they watch for your &s;oules.</HI> And herein is provided a re&s;t, as I may &s;ay, for our zeale to di&s;charge it &s;elfe upon; for when it is &s;hot without that &s;tay, it often falls very wide of the right mark, which the holy Spi|rit hath &s;et up to us, by the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t,</HI> in, <HI>Not unto us, O Lord, but unto thy Name give glory.</HI> So that this is the &s;afe&s;t prin|ciple <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 114. Non nobis Domine &s;ed nomini tuo da glori|am.</NOTE> for all good inclinations to build upon, <HI>viz.</HI> the right notion, and under&s;tanding of devotion, taken from &s;ome prudent director; for even the &s;teadie&s;t hands draw &s;traighter lines, &s;tayed and guided by a rule, then left to their own loo&s;e motion. And I may without pre&s;umption, undertake to &s;hape a generall good rule, (by the Model of the Churches do|ctrine) whereby to take the right dimen&s;ions of rectified De|votion; for this may be done by an unskilfull hand in the practicall part, as good in&s;truments may be made by Mecha|nicks, who want the &s;cience of u&s;ing them.</P>
<P><HI>Devotion</HI> is a fervour infu&s;ed into our &s;oule by Grace, which <NOTE PLACE="marg">Devotion de|fined.</NOTE> breatheth out continually an alacrity &amp; promptitude in regu|lar and ordinate performances, of all &s;uch religious duties, as are ordained by God, for the exteriour te&s;timony of the in|teriour love and reverence we owe him.</P>
<P>This good habit of the mind, is the fierie &s;piration of the <HI>holy Gho&s;t,</HI> taking in &s;uch &s;ort upon our wills, as it rai&s;eth a fla|ming <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 3<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">. 11</NOTE> evidence of our love to God, in all our actions, and this is properly to be <HI>baptized with the Spirit, and with fire,</HI> to have <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 12. 49.</NOTE> all our affections turned Chri&s;tian, by the accen&s;ion of that holy fire in our hearts, which Chri&s;t &s;aid <HI>he came to ca&s;t into the earth,</HI> and required the kindling and ardencie of it in us, &s;o that the activity of this &s;pirituall fire in our &s;oules is that we tearme our devotion, which implyes a conformity of our affections in morality, and our opinions in religion, to the re|vealed will of God; our appetites we conforme in acquiring
<PB N="29" REF="34">
&s;uch habits of virtue as are expre&s;ly enjoyned us by God, in his commandments; and our own conceptions we &s;ubmit in our conformity to &s;uch acts of religious wor&s;hip, as are dire|cted to us by the Church, which God hath inve&s;ted with po|wer of direction, by the&s;e words of his commi&s;&s;ion, <HI>They that</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">S. Luk. 10. 16</NOTE> <HI>heare you, heare me, and they that de&s;pi&s;e you, de&s;pi&s;e me:</HI> pro|mi&s;ing al&s;o the &s;pirit of truth, to rectifie all the executions of <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 17. Mat. 28.</NOTE> this power, and the re&s;idence of that &s;pirit to the end of the World. In order to the pre&s;ervation of that capacity impar|ted; hence is it that there is no zeale or fervour of &s;pirit, which may properly pa&s;&s;e for Devotion, that is not touched at the te&s;t of the &s;anctuary, which is obedience to the Churches regulations, for many may thinke them&s;elves in Saint <HI>Pauls</HI> di&s;cipline, in the ferrour of the &s;pirit, when they are neerer Saint <HI>Judes</HI> commination of peri&s;hing in the contradiction of <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jude 11. 1 John. 4. 6</NOTE> <HI>Core,</HI> for as Saint <HI>John</HI> &s;ayes, <HI>The Spirit of Truth and of Er|rour is di&s;cerned by hearing the voyce of the Church, not by &s;inging loud in it,</HI> therefore it is not the &s;training our notes, but the &s;inging in tune, that makes the mu&s;ick of Devotion wherewith God is delighted.</P>
<P>But &s;uppo&s;ing the flame of our Devotion to be lighted by a coal from the Altar; the higher it ri&s;eth, the neerer it com|eth to Heaven; for there mu&s;t not be only interiour heat, but exteriour light in it, Saint <HI>John Bapti&s;t</HI> is a perfect image of <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 5. 35.</NOTE> Devotion, in that Character <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> gives of him; he was <HI>a burning &amp; a &s;hining light,</HI> which &s;ignifieth internall &s;incerity, and active exemplarity; and our Saviour intimates the&s;e two requi&s;itions in our Devotion, when he gives us this order, <HI>Let</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matthew.</NOTE> <HI>your light &s;o &s;hine before men, that they may &s;ee your good workes, and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven;</HI> wherefore this pre|cept requires not only a fervour, which we feel our &s;elves, but a &s;plendour that may illuminate others by the edification of our lives.</P>
<P>When our Saviour &s;tateth us as pilgrims in this tran&s;itory world, he advi&s;es us to have <HI>our Loynes girl, and our Lights</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 12. 35.</NOTE> <HI>burning,</HI> which intimateth promptitude to the exerci&s;e of
<PB N="30" REF="35">
Charity, and fervency in the act of our love. And Devotion comprizes fully this equipage for our journey, &s;ince it collects us, and &s;trengthens us for motion, and is likewi&s;e that fire which is the be&s;t &s;ecurity we can carry with us in our pa&s;&s;age through the wilderne&s;&s;e we travail, to arme us again&s;t all the wild &s;en&s;ualities that lie in our way, &s;ince it hath this &s;peciall virtue to fright and di&s;per&s;e all that is irratio|nall.</P>
<P>And this &s;pirituall fire hath many analogies with materiall, in&s;omuch as the holy &s;pirit &s;ayes of it, <HI>The coales thereof are coales of fire, and have a vehement flame;</HI> and me thinkes this <NOTE PLACE="marg">Cant. 8. 6.</NOTE> one remarkable &s;imilitude betweene them may be fitly apply|ed, <HI>viz.</HI> as fire doth convert many &s;ub&s;tances which were un|fruitfull &amp; unclean, into a matter both generative and clen&s;ing by the con&s;umption and reduction of them into a&s;hes, which have both the&s;e qualities: &s;o Devotion by con&s;uming our pa&s;&s;i|ons which were both barren &amp; impure, converts our affections into the love of penance and mortification, which are the a&s;hes of our con&s;umed offences, and &s;o are made both fruit|full and purging by this conver&s;ion into matter of humiliati|on, by which kind of &s;oyling many converts improve much the good &s;eed fal'n into their hearts: for that penitent reflexion Devotion makes upon our vaine and foul pa&s;&s;ions and affecti|ons, (which is the con&s;umption and incineration of them) becomes purgative by &s;incere contrition, and generative of all fruites of Charity, &s;ince the zeale of mortification is not only a marke of our repentance, but a meanes of our perfection: when holy <HI>David</HI> &s;ayes, <HI>he eate a&s;hes like bread,</HI> they were made of his loo&s;e pa&s;&s;ion con&s;umed by the flame of his Devotion, and &s;o converted into &s;eeds of penance, and we know how fruitfull the&s;e a&s;hes proved to his former &s;terility.</P>
<P>The water of expiation in the Law, was made with the in|fu&s;ion of a&s;hes, and certainly there is nothing more clen&s;ing then the matter of our offences con&s;umed by Devotion, and a&s;per&s;ed upon our memories, for nothing makes us more
<PB N="31" REF="35">
zealous to take out all their &s;taines upon our lives, according to the <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> ob&s;ervation of the effects of godly &s;orrow; <HI>What carefulne&s;&s;e, what clearing of our &s;elves, what indignati|on,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 7. 11.</NOTE> <HI>what vehement de&s;ire, what zeal, yea, what revenge it workes?</HI> &s;o as you &s;ee what fertility Devotion rai&s;eth out of the <HI>con|&s;umption and a&s;hes of our &s;innes, which is the Apo&s;tles godly &s;orrow.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Devotion de&s;cribed a more familiar way, and the be&s;t naturall temper in order thereunto.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>BEcau&s;e Devotion hath hitherto &s;poke the Language of the Church, it may &s;eeme unea&s;ie unto many to be un|der&s;tood; therefore I &s;hall put it into the vulgar tongue of the Court, and &s;o make it more familiar for apprehen&s;ion, and by the warrant of S. <HI>Pauls</HI> conde&s;cendence to the capaci|ties he wrote unto, I may &s;peak after <HI>the manner of men, be|cau&s;e</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 6. 19.</NOTE> <HI>of the infirmity of your fle&s;h;</HI> and therefore venture with|out any levity to &s;ay, <HI>Devotion</HI> is a Divine pa&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>Love rai&s;ed to the height of pa&s;&s;ion, upon humane objects, is a power in our mind, whereon mo&s;t of the world doth ra|ther pretend an excellency over others, then plead any excu&s;e, for &s;uch an incapacity in their nature; wherefore this will be an expre&s;&s;ion of devotion, that will &s;erve and fit mo&s;t appre|hen&s;ions. And certainly as &s;trangers doe di&s;creetly, to change their habit, when they come to dwell in forreigne parts, e&s;pe|cially if they be rude and uncivilized; &s;o pure devotion (being <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8. 7.</NOTE> a &s;tranger to our carnall nature, which is of it &s;elfe wild and undi&s;ciplined, comming to plant it &s;elfe, and live with it) may be better &s;uited for the purpo&s;e of introduction with the apparell of pa&s;&s;ion, which is native, then with her owne habit of purity, though more decent and becoming; for this ex|teriour
<PB N="32" REF="36">
&s;imil<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">de may give the love of God, at fir&s;t, more convenient conference with our &s;en&s;e, which u&s;ually doth but looke &s;trangly at her, when &s;he appeares fir&s;t in her owne &s;pi|rituall habit, which is &s;o different from the &s;potted garment of <NOTE PLACE="marg">S. Jude 23.</NOTE> fle&s;h and blood.</P>
<P>So that Devotion being thus put into the fa&s;hion, and &s;pea|king the language of the place it comes to, may hope for ad|mittance without much wonder unto our under&s;tandings, and by acquaintance with them, informing them of the benefits of her a&s;&s;ociation, may obtaine a plantation in our wills and af|fections; and thus by degrees come to be naturaliz'd in our di&s;po&s;itions; and by this ea&s;ie way of introduction, Devotion may come to get po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion in &s;ome minds, by commerce of a good companion, &s;ooner then by open claime of her owne rights; for we may conclude what right Devotion hath to our mindes, by this, that when prophane pa&s;&s;ion &s;eekes to va|lue it &s;elfe, and to po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e the minds of others, it puts on a hea|venly habit, and &s;peakes the language of Devotion, in reve|rence and adoration; thus, as it were, confe&s;&s;ing the due intere&s;t piety hath in our hearts. May not piety then to recover the ea&s;i|lier her due, without irreverence, be put into the lighter figure of pa&s;&s;ion? I may therefore in order to a pious &s;ucce&s;&s;e, propo&s;e the being devout, under the tearmes of being in love with Hea|ven, becau&s;e it is the likelie&s;t way of per&s;wa&s;ion to the world, to propo&s;e not the putting away, but the preferring of their loves, and &s;o transferre them to a fairer object, not extingui&s;h the fervency of their act; and I believe without any levity of conceipt, that hearts wrought into a tenderne&s;&s;e by the lighter flame of nature, are like mettals already running, ea&s;ilier ca&s;t into Devotion then others of a hard and le&s;&s;e impre&s;&s;ive temper, for Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aid, <HI>the holy Magdelen changed her object only, not her pa&s;sion;</HI> and one may joyne him with her to authorize this opinion, for love like gold, though it be ca&s;t into an idol, the perver&s;ion of the forme, doth not di&s;va|lue the mettall; and we know the &s;ame gold that Gods People tooke from his Enemies, in the forme of their idols, after it
<PB N="33" REF="36">
was purged by fire, was con&s;ecrated to the tabernable, and then it &s;eemed to have a double capacity of honouring God, as an offering of his &s;ervants, and as a trophe from enemies; &s;o when the flame of the holy Spirit (which is Devotion) hath purged and purified our loves, that were ca&s;t into the images of humane pa&s;&s;ions, the &s;ame love is &s;anctified and a&s;&s;igned to Divine Service, and brings a more &s;peciall glory to God, as it is not only an oblation of his children, but al&s;o a &s;poile of his enemy.</P>
<P>This is not meant to countenance the alienation of our loves at any time from God, but to commend that di&s;po&s;i|tion of nature, where love &s;eemes the predominant in&s;tinct, for certainly &s;uch a temper is apter for a right conver&s;ion, then a har&s;h and &s;owre con&s;titution of the mind, the fir&s;t is a good mould of earth, with ill &s;eed ca&s;t into it, and &s;o the fruit may be ill, while the pregnancy of the earth is good; the other is <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 62. In terra de|&s;erta invia &amp; inaquo&s;a.</NOTE> a heath naturally unfruitfull, and requires much more ma|nuring to make it beare: Wherefore that nature, which hath not a kindly pregnancy in it to beare love, is not the be&s;t mould for the &s;eed in the Go&s;pell, for though it may render thirty, it can hardly yeeld the increa&s;e of a hundred fold in Devotion.</P>
<P>Certainly we may then very religiou&s;ly preferre the con|&s;titution of &s;uch mindes, who&s;e powers are be&s;t di&s;po&s;ed for the act of loving: for love, as it is the greate&s;t trea&s;ure of our &s;oules, &s;o is it the only &s;ecurity &s;tands bound to God for all our debts; all the other faculties of man &s;eeme to be receivers only, and this the di&s;charger of all their accounts; but love hath this extraordinary ble&s;&s;ing, the greater expen&s;e it makes, upon this occa&s;ion, the richer it growes; for the more our love payes God, the more it improves the &s;ame e&s;tate; but we can a&s;&s;igne nothing but this pure &s;pecies of love to the receipt of heaven. Wherefore all empty formalities, and un&s;incere af|fectations in exteriour exerci&s;es, that would pa&s;&s;e for Devo|tion, are, me thinkes, like &s;ervants, that have got on fine clothes of their Ma&s;ters, by which, &s;trangers may mi&s;take
<PB N="34" REF="37">
their quality, but their Ma&s;ters are not deceived by them; &s;o the&s;e garments and coverings of Devotion, may abu&s;e the eye of the world, but we know the ma&s;ter of all &s;anctity, di&s;tin|gui&s;hes di&s;&s;imulation in all the &s;pecious &s;imilitudes it weareth. And I &s;hould beleeve a varni&s;hed hypocrite may be more offen&s;ive to the &s;ight of God, then a zealous unvailed idolater, for this, is but mi&s;taken in God, and the other &s;eemeth to &s;up|po&s;e God may be mi&s;taken in him: and certainly there is no|thing more capitall again&s;t the lawes of Heaven, then coun|terfeiting the coyne, (which piety may not improperly be tearmed) as being the price and mea&s;ure of all exchanges be|tween heaven and earth: of the&s;e fal&s;e coyners King <HI>David</HI> &s;ayes, <HI>They &s;latter God with their mouth, &amp; lye unto him with their</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 78. P&s;al. 59.</NOTE> <HI>tongues,</HI> and he gives them Gods an&s;wer, thus, <HI>The Lord &s;hall laugh them to &s;corn.</HI></P>
<P>We may conclude then, that the &s;incere love of God, is the &s;pirit and &s;oul of Devotion, and therefore is to be intire in every &s;everall part of our religious exerci&s;es: when God dignifies man with &s;imilitude to his own image, it is the &s;oul, not the body that hath this Divine relation; &s;o in the &s;ervice of God, (which is a con&s;i&s;tence of two &s;uch parts united of &s;pirit and of matter) the &s;pirit and breath of life doth not re&s;ide in the materiall part, which is &s;en&s;ible religious offices, but in the informing and animating part which is Devotion, the which an&s;wereth to the &s;oule in humanity, as I have endeavoured to demon&s;trate. And thus I hope that I have not indecently ap|parell'd Devotion in the habit of the place it is recommended to, clothing it in this <HI>&s;oft rayment</HI> of pa&s;&s;ion, being to come un|to the <HI>hou&s;es of Kings.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 11. 8.</NOTE></P>
<P>But now me thinkes, I heare &s;ome &s;en&s;uall and voluptuous per&s;ons cry out to warne their pa&s;&s;ions to &s;tand upon their guard, objecting that I, like a pyrat, have thus put up friends colours, while I am in cha&s;e, calling devotion, love and pa&s;&s;i|on, that it might the ea&s;ilyer enter our hearts, which when it hath done, it takes and impri&s;ons all our humane delights.</P>
<P>To the&s;e I may an&s;wer, that I have put up the&s;e colours in|deed,
<PB N="35" REF="37">
that tho&s;e ve&s;&s;els I would &s;peak with, might not fly from piety at fir&s;t &s;ight, as from an enemy to plea&s;ure, that &s;peaking with them, I might &s;hew them how Devotion com|ming and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing our mindes, doth rather compo&s;e the munity, then infringe the true liberty of our affecti|ons.</P>
<P>For grace findes Humane Nature (like a ve&s;&s;ell richly fraught for commerce with Heaven) mo&s;t commonly in a mutiny, where the affections that &s;hould &s;aile her, ri&s;e up again&s;t their Commander, re&s;olving to make &s;poile of their commodities, and to turne to the piracy of &s;en&s;e, taking all whereof &s;en&s;uality can po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e it &s;elfe, and if. Devotion <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rea&s;on.</NOTE> enter and compo&s;e this &s;edition, and convey the affections cheerefully to their direct commerce with Heaven; this may be rather thought a delivery then a violation.</P>
<P>And &s;urely our &s;en&s;es cannot more ju&s;tly complaine of Devotion, as a di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;or of their properties, then wilde people can call a Law-giver a tyrant. For piety doth but regu|late the functions, not ruine the faculties of our &s;en&s;es; and li|centiou&s;ne&s;&s;e cannot more rightly be called the mindes liberty, then nakedne&s;&s;e the bodies freedome: For lawes and apparell, doe both in their kinds, cover natures nakedne&s;&s;e; and lawes, like clothes, impart conveniencies, (the one to the minde, as the other to the body) without impeaching the decent and proper exerci&s;es of either: and &s;o Devotion doth but reduce the wild multitude of humane affections and pa&s;&s;i|ons, under the Monarchall Government of the love of God, under which they may enjoy a more convenient freedome, then let loo&s;e in their owne confu&s;ed Anarchy, which they con|fe&s;&s;e when they are converted by God to this belief of their condition, that to &s;erve God is to raigne.</P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="5" TYPE="treatise">
<PB N="36" REF="38">
<HEAD>The Fift Treati&s;e. Di&s;cour&s;ing whether &s;en&s;ible plea&s;ure may con&s;ort with Devotion. In two Sections.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The rectifying our Affections, chiefely our love in the &s;en&s;e of beauty.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>UPon the title of this Chapter, me thinkes I &s;ee our humane affections &s;tand with the &s;ame perplexed at|tention, as a condemn'd multitude, at the reading of a Proclamation of Grace, to &s;ome particular &s;pecified names, each one watching and praying for his owne. Thus doe our humane pa&s;&s;ions &s;eeme now concerned, believing them&s;elves all condemn'd by piety, each one me thinkes in a frighted and tacit deprecation of their cen&s;ure, is expecting with anexity to know whether Devotion will allow them life and con&s;i&s;tence with her edicts.</P>
<P>The an&s;wer to this, mu&s;t be, that I &s;hall only put to death, the blind and the lame, whch are commonly &s;et to keep the &s;trong hold of our corrupted nature again&s;t virtue. (As they were upon the walls of <HI>Sion</HI> to keep out <HI>David.)</HI> Such, Devotion mu&s;t de&s;troy, <HI>for they are hated by her Soule,</HI> and are not to be admitted into the Temple. Secular ju&s;tice is allowed a la|titude <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kings c. 5.</NOTE> in mercy, to which this &s;pirituall judge cannot extend his favour, <HI>viz.</HI> rather to &s;ave diver&s;e guilty, then to cut off one innocent; for Devotion mu&s;t rather put to death many innocent affections, then &s;ave one criminall, by rea&s;on, that in this ca&s;e mercy renders the judge a complice of the crime,
<PB N="37" REF="38">
&s;o that our Devotion mu&s;t not looke upon the face of any of our affections, but judge by the te&s;timony, our con&s;cience brings in again&s;t them.</P>
<P>Yet piety is not &s;o inhumane, as many may apprehend that know not the nature thereof, for it delighteth not in the death of our affections, but de&s;ires rather <HI>they may turne from their perver&s;ions and live,</HI> and to per&s;wade their conver&s;ion, offers that to them in this life, which is promi&s;ed to us, but in hea|ven, namely, to have our bodies changed from corruptible and pa&s;&s;ive, into immortall and inpa&s;&s;ible, for Devotion offers to transfigure our affections from their impure and pa&s;&s;ive &s;hapes, into immuculate and imperi&s;hable formes, &amp; rai&s;e them up from infirmity to virtue, and make tho&s;e de&s;ires which have beene <HI>the image of tere&s;triall figures, to beare only that of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 15. 43. 49.</NOTE> <HI>the cele&s;tiall.</HI></P>
<P>Neverthele&s;&s;e our minds &s;eeme to be like fond mothers, which are lamenting their children given over by the Phy&s;i|tian, and will &s;carce hearken to the con&s;olation of Gods Mi|ni&s;ter, who promi&s;eth &s;o much a better &s;tate, as a change from weak infants into Angels. In this manner our fond and effemi|nate mindes &s;eeme to bewaile this tranfiguration of their af|fections, which Devotion propo&s;eth according to the <HI>Apo&s;tle,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 3. 20.</NOTE> <HI>viz. the rai&s;ing their conver&s;ation up to Heaven, and changing their vile body,</HI> &s;o that it may be fa&s;hioned like unto the glori|ous quality of the love of God.</P>
<P>And certainly, unle&s;&s;e our affections be cut off from the carnall &s;tock of our nature, and &s;et by way of ingrafting and inci&s;ion upon the &s;tem of the holy Vine, they doe beare but &s;owre Grapes, &s;uch as will &s;et rea&s;on's teeth on edge, which is their mother, &s;ince our corrupted nature puts forth many &s;harp and unripe cupidities, and fancies which are truly rather corra|&s;ive then cordiall to the minde.</P>
<P>God hath planted affections in our &s;en&s;itive nature, not with a purpo&s;e that they &s;hould be fixed in the earth, and bear only terrene cupidities, but hath rather &s;et them there for a while, only as in a &s;eminary or nur&s;ery; where he doth not
<PB N="38" REF="39">
meane they &s;hould take any deepe root, for our rea&s;on, as &s;oon as it is able, is ordained to remove and tran&s;plant our affecti|ons into &s;pirituall &s;cituations into, that garden for which they were fir&s;t planted, &s;o that, although our loves grow at fir&s;t, while they are little tender &s;lips, only in the terre&s;triall part of our nature, they are de&s;igned to be removed in their due &s;ea|&s;on into the cele&s;tiall portion, and to beare fruites &s;pirituall and intellectuall, which order is intimated by the <HI>Apo&s;tle,</HI> when he &s;aith, <HI>as the fir&s;t man is of earth, earthly; &s;o the latter mu&s;t be of heaven, heavenly.</HI></P>
<P>But becau&s;e in this warfare of our lives upon earth between the&s;e two parties, the &s;en&s;itive and the rationall, our &s;en&s;itive nature is not ea&s;ily per&s;waded to render up her affections (wherein &s;he accounts her &s;elfe &s;o &s;trong) unto right rea|&s;on upon di&s;cretion, let us examine what faire conditions grace which alwayes taketh Rea&s;on's part offereth her; and indeed, if the offers be well judged of, there will appeare a truer freedome gained by this &s;urrender, then that, which the loo&s;ene&s;&s;e of our nature would maintaine, <HI>when our affections</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 6. 18.</NOTE> <HI>being made free from &s;inne, are become the &s;ervants of righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e,</HI> for if we examine the impo&s;itions and con&s;traints our pa&s;&s;ions lay upon us, it is ea&s;ie to convince that to he a reall &s;ervitude, which we doe familiarly, but in wantone&s;&s;e tearme &s;o: and thus our loo&s;e pa&s;&s;ions (like the Jewes, to whom our Saviour propo&s;ed freedome by the knowledge of truth&punc; will hardly confe&s;&s;e their inthralment; but I may fitly &s;ay to them, as he did, <HI>while you commit &s;inne, you are the &s;ervants of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 8. 34. 36</NOTE> <HI>&s;inne.</HI> If grace by Devotion <HI>&s;et you free, you &s;hall be free in|deed.</HI></P>
<P>Therefore I will procure to manife&s;t how grace may give nature great conditions of freedome, and how the be&s;t pro|prieties of our affections, are rather improved and &s;ecured, then alienated and &s;poiled by this &s;urrender to Rea&s;on and Devotion.</P>
<P>And to treate fir&s;t of the intere&s;ts of love, (which &s;eemes to be the commander of all the &s;trength of our pa&s;&s;ions) when
<PB N="39" REF="39">
love renders it &s;elfe to Devotion, then is it &s;o farre from being re&s;train'd, as it is continued in the command of all the power of our pieties, and is tru&s;ted &s;o much, as it is allowed to hold faire corre&s;pondence with beauty, though that were the party, love had &s;erved under again&s;t grace, for then our love com|merceth with the creatures, only to improve his owne e&s;tate and faculty of loving, which is all a&s;&s;igned to the honour of the creatour. And &s;urely when love by a rectified per&s;wa&s;ion of the ble&s;&s;ings of the creature, brings beauty into the &s;ervice of Devotion, by a right admiration of the workes of the creatour, &s;uch objects may forcibly concurre to excite us to the love of the maker, in honouring of whom con&s;i&s;ts all Devotion.</P>
<P>Beauty may be truly honoured by the rights of her nature without being flattered, by that meanes to be &s;olicited again&s;t her maker, for &s;he may be confe&s;&s;ed one of the be&s;t of all mix|ed creations, &s;ince pure &s;pirituall &s;ub&s;tances, when they will put on a materiall vaile, take beauty for their ve&s;tment. The An|gels expo&s;e them&s;elves to us, alwayes in the forme of beauty, becau&s;e that is the readie&s;t note our &s;en&s;e acknowledges of Divinity; and when the Son of God vouch&s;afed to be clothed with materiality, the holy Spirit that made him this Garment, expo&s;es it and recommends it to us, in this forme of being <HI>beautifull above the &s;onnes of men,</HI> and he drawes the image of <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 44. 3.</NOTE> the &s;pou&s;e he came to take, in the figure of perfect beauty, as the be&s;t &s;en&s;ible Character can be made of her; and makes this quality the object of Chri&s;ts love, <HI>As &s;he is all faire, and no</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Canticle. 4.</NOTE> <HI>&s;pot to be found in her:</HI> and thus, as beauty is cho&s;en for a &s;im|bol of &s;pirituall purity, the allegory of it, as I may &s;ay, not the letter is to be &s;tudyed by us, &s;ince that attention will reflect to us the fairene&s;&s;e and integrity we ought to pre&s;erve in our &s;oules, and &s;o po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e us again&s;t that perverted &s;en&s;e which is often drawne out of the out-&s;ide or letter of materiall beauty.</P>
<P>In the Book of Gods Workes, Saint <HI>Paul</HI> tells us, the Divi|nity <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 1. 20.</NOTE> of the Author is legible by &s;ome little &s;tudy of the Cha|racter;
<PB N="40" REF="40">
and certainly, there is no &s;o faire part of this edition, as that of beauty; but we doe mo&s;t commonly, like children, to whom books are given in fine prints, and graced with gay flouri&s;hed letters, and figures, they turne them over, and play with them, and never learne the wordes; thus likely, doe our childi&s;h mindes, that are kept at play by our &s;en&s;es, looke wantonly over the &s;pecious figures of beauty, and &s;eldome &s;tudy them to learne Gods meaning in them, which if they did &s;eriou&s;ly inquire, they might learne that the excellence and perfection of their true meaning, renders the perver&s;ion the more reproachable, for as crimes are the greater, the neerer they come to the violation of the per&s;on of the Prince; &s;o if beauty be the neere&s;t &s;en&s;ible image of the &s;overaigne of nature, the betraying it to his profe&s;&s;ed enemy, mu&s;t needs be the mo&s;t capitall offence: how this infidelity is committed, is but too much notified.</P>
<P>May I not fitly then reproach tho&s;e with S. <HI>Paul,</HI> who with <HI>vaine flatteries, change the truth of God into a lie,</HI> for is not this <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 1. 25.</NOTE> done by &s;uch who corrupt the reall good of beauty, by fond and fal&s;e a&s;criptions? And &s;urely while they &s;erve thus the creature more then the Creator, they provoke God to give them up to their vile affections, in which with <HI>Daniels</HI> Elders, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 13.</NOTE> <HI>Having overthrown their &s;en&s;e, they turn down their eyes, that they may not &s;ee heaven.</HI> But the perver&s;ion of this ble&s;&s;ing, doth not not interdict unto the eyes of the world a due com|merce with beauty, nor to our &s;ight the being delighted with it; for as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> wi&s;heth us, <HI>we may be children in malice,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 14. 20.</NOTE> <HI>and yet men in under&s;tanding.</HI></P>
<P>If Devotion comming to Court, &s;hould declare &s;uch a war to the world, as to prohibit our&s;en&s;es commerce with plea&s;ures; which are the natives of this world, &s;he would find but a &s;mall party, upon &s;uch a breach to follow her. And indeed, God doth as the Prophet &s;ayes, <HI>lead us into &s;olitude, when he &s;peaks</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;ea 2.</NOTE> <HI>that language</HI> to our hearts, there he &s;ets on the wings of <HI>Sera|phims,</HI> to tho&s;e that upon &s;uch plumes fly over their pa&s;&s;age through the world; but tho&s;e who&s;e vocations lead them
<PB N="41" REF="40">
through the tracts of the earth, doe alwayes feele the earth they tread upon, and it is not to be required of them, to leave all the plea&s;ures of the world in their following of Chri&s;t; but S. <HI>John Bapti&s;t</HI> in&s;tructs them &s;ufficiently in the le&s;&s;on he <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 3. 13.</NOTE> gave the &s;ouldiers, that they &s;hould exact no more then is ap|pointed them, and <HI>be content with tho&s;e wages of</HI> innocent plea&s;ures, God allowes their &s;en&s;es in the duties of na|ture.</P>
<P>We may then ju&s;tifie Devotion to be &s;o farre from inter|dicting to nature the regular love of the creatures, as we may a&s;&s;ert it the only meanes, whereby we can a&s;&s;ure the continu|ance of our loves to them; for our &s;en&s;itive affections are like the hay and &s;tubble the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;peaks of, they are ea&s;ily ligh|ted <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 3.</NOTE> by every &s;park of plea&s;ure, but they make onely a &s;hort blaze, and goe out againe; whereas Devotion is the <HI>P&s;almi&s;ts oyle of gladne&s;&s;e,</HI> and though it rai&s;e not &s;o glaring and &s;o &s;harp a flame of joy, yet it entertains it in a more equall and durable temper, for notwith&s;tanding it doth not blaze &s;o much in the &s;en&s;itive, yet it warms and recreates more the rationall part of our minds, and &s;o doth rather foment then wa&s;te the matter of our joy, which the &s;harper fla&s;hes of our pa&s;&s;ions do quick|ly con&s;ume: for truly our affections and pa&s;&s;ions in their owne nature are &s;o light and volatile, as beauty it &s;elfe, that works be&s;t upon them, cannot fixe them, nay nor &s;tay them, &s;o long as even beauty, which is &s;o variable, continues the &s;ame; &s;ince the &s;ame vaine love, which to day robs even Di|vinity for offerings to make to beauty, tomorrow commits as great a fault in humanity, &s;tripping again his owne Idol, meer|ly upon the motion of incon&s;tancy, not at all upon the com|plaint of con&s;cience; &s;o that I may fitly apply this of the <HI>Prophet</HI> to &s;uch loves, <HI>They weave &s;piders webs, their webs &s;hall</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;ai<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">. 5. 6</NOTE> <HI>not become garments, neither &s;hall they cover them&s;elves with their works.</HI></P>
<P>Thus are our humane pa&s;&s;ions &s;o deceived in their commerce, with the vanities of this world, as they break often upon the re|turn of their adventure; it &s;eems our fancies in&s;ure more upon
<PB N="42" REF="41">
fruition, then the commodities are worth we traffique for, and &s;o we become lo&s;ers even by the return of our adventure, whereas Devotion teacheth us the true value of our de&s;ires and &s;ucce&s;&s;es, and how to adventure our hopes, and how to ma|nage the happine&s;&s;e of our wi&s;hes in temporalities, in &s;uch &s;ort as to make a &s;tock out of them for eternity, according to the prudent advice given us, to make <HI>friends of the felicities of this</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">S. Luke 16. 9</NOTE> <HI>world, that may provide for us in the eternall habitation.</HI></P>
<P>By the&s;e lights we &s;ee how the love of God is not onely compatible, but requi&s;ite with our love of creatures, to a&s;&s;ure and improve our true delights in them; for nothing but piety can make good to humane appetite, in all temporalities; that abatement of their e&s;teeme which is made by propriety, and Devotion teacheth us to love them, as gifts of God. By which meanes, fruition makes rather an endearment of them, then a deduction.</P>
<P>But becau&s;e I conceive this pa&s;&s;ion of love, hath more friends then any other that will be intere&s;ted in the cau&s;e, I &s;hall give it a fairer triall another time, &s;ingle by it &s;elfe, wherein the right our love hath in the creature, &s;hall be deter|mined.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Ambition rightly examined, and di&s;creet conde&s;cendencies propo&s;ed, re&s;pectively to di|ver&s;e vocations.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>IN the next place, <HI>Ambition</HI> &s;eemeth to claime a hearing, and pleadeth a long pre&s;cription, for po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of a great tenure in our nature; I &s;hall examine therefore that affecti|on of the minde, which is currant under the &s;ini&s;ter notion of <HI>Ambition,</HI> and endeavour to &s;hew, how the matter of this appetency (which is temporal dignity and glory) is not incon|&s;i&s;tent with the purity of Devotion.</P>
<P><PB N="43" REF="41">
Pride is like <HI>Jeroboam, who fir&s;t drew I&s;rael to &s;inne,</HI> and in|deed may be fitly &s;aid, to &s;et up <HI>golden Calves</HI> for the wor&s;hip of our fancy, again&s;t the true &s;ervice of our rea&s;on, wherefore Devotion is charged to extirpate all that hou&s;e; and Ambiti|on, as it is familiarly accepted, is the elde&s;t &s;onne of the hou&s;e, for it is an inordinate appetite of temporall honour and pre|ferrence, which we under&s;tand, commonly under the terme of Ambition; which indeed, is the act of the habit of pride. And &s;o Ambition, is, as it were the title of the prime &s;eignory belonging to the Hou&s;e of Pride, which varies only the appel|lation of the &s;onne, and in this &s;ence (as Ambition is the heire of Pride) though bearing another name, Devotion can have no confederacy with it; for humility, which hath the &s;ame relation to piety, that Ambition hath to pride, hath the com|mi&s;&s;ion of <HI>Jehu,</HI> and is not to be tempted by <HI>Jezabel,</HI> though &s;he be never &s;o well colour'd and painted, even the little ones of this hou&s;e mu&s;t be da&s;hed again&s;t the &s;tones; but humility hath no command to raze and demoli&s;h the Cities and Palla|ces this ill generation lived in, which are, honour, fame and power, for piety may lawfully dwell in the&s;e commodious habitations of the world, and make excellent u&s;e of all the&s;e temporall advantages. So that Devotion doth not prohibit <NOTE PLACE="marg">&V;tilior &s;api|entia cum di|vitiis. Eccle&s;. 7. 12.</NOTE> the pur&s;uite of honour and preference, it rather gives our nature a &s;afe conduct again&s;t the dangers of the way; upon which, &s;o many parties of our pa&s;&s;ions make their cour&s;es; for we know honour and differencing of degrees, are &s;taires of Gods fabricke, and there can be no order without degrees, for order is the right di&s;po&s;ition of parity and di&s;parity. Where|upon the &s;everall &s;tations in this world, are de&s;igned by divine wi&s;dome, both for the ornament of the univer&s;all frame, which is the naturall end of them, as al&s;o for this morall effect, namely to excite and attract our mindes, by the&s;e neere &s;en&s;i|ble fruitions, to &s;traine for an inve&s;ting the habit of virtue, which likely pre&s;&s;eth and pincheth our loo&s;e natures at the fir&s;t e&s;&s;ayes, but they indure more quietly the con&s;traint, as being conceived the meanes of &s;ome affected acqui&s;ition; for
<PB N="44" REF="42">
all honour is primarily intended by God, as a remuneration of virtue, and it goes &s;till in the world under that name, though this order be never &s;o much vitiated by the iniquity of the world, all dignification retaines &s;till the &s;ame title of the merit of &s;ome virtue, and tho&s;e that attend the lea&s;t to virtue, will not referre their temporall &s;ucce&s;&s;es to le&s;&s;e then the adep|tion of them by &s;ome virtue; in&s;omuch as even mans corrup|tion atte&s;ts that all honour and dignity is originally the legiti|mate i&s;&s;ue of virtue, which our mindes are naturally betrothed unto, and confe&s;&s;es the generations of fortune to be &s;purious &amp; illegitimate, &s;ince we wil not leave any of her i&s;&s;ue under the title of her maternity, but pa&s;&s;e them all over to &s;ome virtue, for the owning them. For doth not every one finde out &s;ome colour of virtue to lay upon the lookes of his good fortune? No body will leave it naked in that frivolous figure of bare fortune, every one is a&s;hamed to expo&s;e &s;uch a barene&s;&s;e of minde, and &s;uch a de&s;titution of virtue.</P>
<P>Doth not honour and dignity appear plainly by this genu|ine in&s;tinct of our a&s;cribing them to virtue, to be one of Gods de&s;ignments for mans appetency? Wherefore they cannot be di&s;credited by Devotion, which is Gods Mini&s;ter, and doth decently mar&s;hall all the faculties of our minde, in the order of humane actions, directing every one by their &s;everall voca|tions to their re&s;pective properties, a&s;&s;igning to Courts and Cloi&s;ters their &s;everall portions, and &s;o evidenceth that of the <HI>Apo&s;tle,</HI> that <HI>God hath given every one the manife&s;tation of the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 12. 7.</NOTE> <HI>&s;pirit, according to the &s;everall utilities he de&s;ignes by them;</HI> and thus, as there are many man&s;ions in our fathers hou&s;e, Devo|tion &s;ets every one upon the right &s;taires, that lead up to their peculiar a&s;&s;ignment. Therefore piety mu&s;t not be &s;o much tra|duced to the Court, as to be reported quarrel&s;ome with all the family, the proper attendants of the place, namely, glory, po|wer and riches; for it is rather the &s;teward God appoints to keep all in decent order. By who&s;e conduct the proper lu&s;tre &amp; magnificence of the place may be &s;et off, &s;o much to the be&s;t, as it may hold a pious Analogy with the Court of Heaven, as
<PB N="45" REF="42">
well in the whole family, as in the Ma&s;ters per&s;ons, who are &s;o &s;pecially the images of God upon earth; as not only the per&s;on of <HI>Solomon,</HI> but the order of his Servants, the attendance of his Mini&s;ters, and their apparell may be a good image of the originall glory they repre&s;ent. And &s;uch a con&s;titution or frame of temporall glory, may be formed by the oeconomy of Devotion, when &s;he manageth the dignities and trea&s;ures of <NOTE PLACE="marg">3 Reg. 10.</NOTE> the world, which commonly are made the &s;ubject of confu&s;ion and di&s;order.</P>
<P>Devotion may then &s;ay to the Court of temporall de&s;ires, which pa&s;&s;e under the notion of Ambition, as <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> did to his <HI>Apo&s;tles,</HI> in the temptations they were expo&s;ed to, <HI>I pray not</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">John. 17. 15</NOTE> <HI>that they may be taken out of the world, but that they may be kept from evill.</HI></P>
<P>As for the pre&s;cribing a cour&s;e of temperance to the&s;e ap|petites, this pre&s;ent que&s;tion doth not properly exact it: I hope the re&s;t of my labours will afford &s;ome competent di|rections for our regiment of health, according to the aire and diet of the place, for which they &s;hall opine. Pride is, indeed, that dangerous di&s;ea&s;e, whereunto the con&s;titution of the Court is mo&s;t di&s;po&s;ed, and the lea&s;t overheating of Ambiti|on turnes it into pride, but truly the matter of this di&s;ea&s;e, is rather in the humours, then in the blood, for as no meanne&s;&s;e of birth, or mi&s;ery of condition are &s;ure exemptions from pride, &s;o not any noblene&s;&s;e, or felicity are con&s;equent confer|rers of it; for <HI>Solomon</HI> alloweth us to conclude, <HI>that the want of bread doth not &s;tarve pride.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 12. 9.</NOTE></P>
<P>Chri&s;tian humility doth not prohibit all pur&s;uite of honour, as malignant; or pre&s;cribe poverty, as not at all obnoxious; for we have Chri&s;ts Authority to conclude it a more ble&s;&s;ed thing to give, then to receive; and the ble&s;&s;ing he gave to pover|ty, was <HI>to the poore in &s;pirit,</HI> and this qualification of the &s;pirit, may agree with the eminence of all qualities; for Devotion <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matthew 5.</NOTE> doth not only carry humility with her up to all the heights and &s;tories &s;he a&s;cends, but retaines it al&s;o; for &s;he lookes upward &s;till at that infinite di&s;tance &s;he there remaines from heaven,
<PB N="46" REF="43">
and doth not take mea&s;ure by her elevation above other e&s;tates, &s;he &s;ees below her on the ground; this was King <HI>Da|vids</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 122.</NOTE> pro&s;pect from the Towers of <HI>Sion,</HI> where he was rai&s;ed &s;o much above the platforme of the earth, <HI>Unto thee I lift up mine eyes, O thou that dwelle&s;t in the heavens:</HI> and that true mirrour, did reflect to him humility, while the poli&s;hed glories of the earth, might have returned him a flattering image of his condition.</P>
<P>We may then re&s;olve, that tho&s;e who &s;hall make their judgement by the Apo&s;tles <HI>perfect law of liberty,</HI> will finde <NOTE PLACE="marg">James.</NOTE> that the carriage of Devotion, is no clog to the activene&s;&s;e of their thoughts, or motion of their de&s;ires, but rather &s;uch a weight as is put to clocks, to regulate, not retard their motion; and certainly, our temporall de&s;ires are to be e&s;teemed as our watches, not tho&s;e which goe fa&s;te&s;t, but tho&s;e that goe be&s;t.</P>
<P>So that one of the chief offices of Devotion in the world, is to regulate, not repre&s;&s;e all temporall de&s;ires. Wherefore piety may fitly &s;ay to our humane affections, in the <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> termes to the <HI>Galatians, Brethren, you are called into liberty,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 5. 13.</NOTE> <HI>only u&s;e not liberty for an occa&s;ion to the fle&s;h, but by love &s;erve one another.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Devotion</HI> may have ill offices done her by her own friends, by bringing her to Court in &s;o &s;evere and un&s;utable a habit, and uncomplea&s;ant lookes, as &s;he may fright the infirmity of &s;ome well di&s;po&s;ed, and fire the malignity of others, and thus faile of a good reception by many that would entertaine her, if &s;he were better &s;uted for the place. They never &s;aw piety but in one dre&s;&s;e, that thinke &s;he cannot &s;ute her &s;elfe accor|ding to occa&s;ions, and put her &s;elfe &s;o farre into the fa&s;hion, as may make her the ea&s;ilier occo&s;table, and yet retaine her dignity and decency, her naturall vi&s;age in a Cloi&s;ter, may be a vizard to her in a Court. And &s;urely there is nothing re|commends Devotion more to the world then to &s;ee it well &s;uited, in the exterior habit, to the &s;ociety wherewith it is conver&s;ant, and the habit changeth no more the naturall com|po&s;ure
<PB N="47" REF="43">
of it, then clothes doe the true proportions of the body, wherefore Devotion may lawfully &s;uite her &s;elfe in &s;uch &s;ort, at her fir&s;t comming to Court, as to cover that which is &s;uch an eye-&s;ore unto our infirme nature, too pre&s;&s;ing a con|&s;traint upon our naturall affections.</P>
<P>Did not Saint <HI>James</HI> advi&s;e Saint <HI>Paul,</HI> to comply with the weakne&s;&s;e of the times, and &s;urely it may be truly &s;aid of Courts, that there are <HI>many which believe, and yet are Zealous of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 21. 20.</NOTE> <HI>the law</HI> of nature, of the plea&s;ures and conveniences of the earth, and not to offend &s;uch as may have innocent inclinations to &s;uch attractives, tho&s;e that recommend Devotion, may prote&s;t (again&s;t their common di&s;credit) that they doe not teach the relinqui&s;hment of all the cu&s;tomes of the place, but doe admit many of them competent with the &s;pirituall lawes of piety. This pre&s;ident of Saint <HI>Paul</HI> may be prudently ac|commodated, by tho&s;e that are addre&s;&s;ed to worke re|&s;pectively upon the &s;everall infirmities of per&s;ons and places; they that can copy well, Saint <HI>Pauls</HI> figure, <HI>of becomming all things to all, that they may gaine all,</HI> &s;hall neither avert &s;ome by the hard favour of &s;cruple, nor indanger any by the &s;miles of liberty.</P>
<P>The precepts of &s;peculative purity, are naturall in the ele|ment of contemplation, which is reclu&s;ene&s;&s;e and &s;olitude, but are not alwayes competent with &s;ociety, there may be a mi&s;application of &s;pirituall advices, where the matter propo|&s;ed, is excellent in quality, but not adequate in proportion to the place. Of &s;uch directions, it may be &s;aid as <HI>Cicero</HI> &s;aid of <HI>Cato</HI> the <HI>Cen&s;our, that his &s;en&s;e was alwayes excellent, but he did &s;ometimes indamage the &s;tate, becau&s;e he councelled, as in the republicke of Plato, not a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> in the rubbi&s;h of Romulus.</HI> So there may be many that may meane excellently, and advi&s;e very virtuou&s;ly, and yet prejudice the &s;tate of humanity when they pre&s;cribe, as if it were &s;till fre&s;h in the purity of <HI>Eden,</HI> not pol|luted, in the dregges of <HI>Adam:</HI> The fit application of actives to pa&s;&s;ives produceth the be&s;t effects in grace, as well as nature, &s;o that it is &s;ufficient for the propo&s;ers of Devotion, to an&s;wer
<PB N="48" REF="44">
as <HI>Solon</HI> did, when he was asked whether he had given his Country the be&s;t Lawes he could devi&s;e? he replied, <HI>that he had given the be&s;t they were likely to take;</HI> by rea&s;on the u&s;eful|ne&s;&s;e of pious precepts, con&s;i&s;ts not in the giving alwayes &s;imply the be&s;t, but relatively the propere&s;t; as when we &s;et fruit, we con&s;ider the earth before we choo&s;e the plant.</P>
<P>Vpon the&s;e grounds, my &s;tudy hath been to fit propo&s;itions of piety to the mea&s;ures I have by experience taken of the world, in which worke I may be more confident of the ju&s;t|ne&s;&s;e of the mea&s;ures taken by my infirmities, then of the va|lue of the matter furni&s;hed by my abilities. I have by Saint <HI>Pauls</HI> advi&s;e, remembred <HI>tho&s;e that are in bonds, as having</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 13. 3.</NOTE> <HI>been bound al&s;o,</HI> (and being &s;till, God knoweth, but working upon other fetters) and if there be any thing that &s;eemes lighter colour'd, then the &s;olemnne&s;s of the argument requires; let it not be taken as a voluntary indulgence to any levity, but in order to the &s;upport of the <HI>feeble-minded, and comfort of the weake,</HI> by S. <HI>Pauls</HI> direction. <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 The&s;. 5. 14.</NOTE></P>
<P>When Ambition then is purged from the popular malig|nancy, imputed to that terme, and refer'd only to an a&s;piring at dignity &amp; preferment by virtuous addre&s;&s;es, I may conclude Devotion and Ambition may live happily together, and yeeld mutuall aides to one another, while Grace furni&s;heth order, and Nature activity to our &s;pirits.</P>
<P>When piety di&s;ciplineth Ambition, the end of our pur&s;uites is rather in pro&s;pect upon others, then reflection upon our &s;elves; and truly, charity and beneficence mu&s;t be the la&s;t terme of a Chri&s;tians exaltation, according to the patterne of our head <HI>CHRIST JESUS,</HI> our a&s;cending up on high, <HI>mu&s;t be coupled with giving gifts unto men.</HI></P>
<P>We may then re&s;olve, that when Ambition moves without Devotion, this is an earthly motion, moving upon his owne Center; for then Ambition turnes commonly, at be&s;t, upon &s;elfe-love, and private cupidities; but when it moves with Devotion, then it is a cele&s;tiall motion, upon anothers Center
<PB N="49" REF="44">
that is, upon the de&s;igne of a charitable influence on the inferior po&s;itions of the earth, which is that activene&s;&s;e all Chri&s;tian Ambition &s;hould have, in order to communication of the good whereunto it a&s;pires.</P>
<P>And this, as it is a heavenly, &s;o is it a circular motion which unites all at la&s;t unto it &s;elfe, that it toucheth in the whole circulation. For as a circle hath every point made in the whole circumference, contained in the perfection of the fi|gure; &s;o this circle of charity hath every portion of good it hath done, returned into it &s;elfe at the compleatment thereof, which is in the clo&s;ure of the circle of our lives: For then the Charities which power hath circumferr'd to others, doe all returne, and become her owne againe, in the perfection of Cha|rity; wherein con&s;i&s;ts the con&s;ummation of all power, when by the pious exerci&s;e of our temporall power, we are preferr'd to an eternall domination.</P>
<P>By the&s;e di&s;cu&s;&s;ions, I hope to have &s;hewne without any le|vity or indecency, how love and Ambition are compatible with Devotion and piety; and me thinkes, the&s;e two are the two great lights of our pa&s;&s;ions; the one ruling over the day, the other over the night in our &s;en&s;itive appetite: &s;o that I &s;hal not need to bring any of our lower affections in que&s;tion, which like le&s;&s;er &s;tars derive their lights from hence; for when once love and ambition, which are, as it were, the heads of the faction again&s;t the &s;pirit, are reduced to the &s;ervice of Devoti|on; the other meaner popular affections are ea&s;ily regula|ted.</P>
<P>This premi&s;ed, we may conclude, Nature hath &s;o little rea|&s;on to complaine of any re&s;traint made upon her faculties by grace, as her affections may ju&s;tly make this acknowledgment of the Apo&s;tle, unto Devotion, (which is Graces mini&s;ter) that it <HI>delivers them from the powers of darkne&s;&s;e, and makes them worthy to be partakers of the inheritance of light.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Col<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> 1. 13.</NOTE></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="6" TYPE="treatise">
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<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="51" REF="45">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
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<HEAD>The &s;ixt Treati&s;e. Of di&s;abu&s;e to the Rationali&s;ts, and the Sen|&s;uali&s;ts, concerning temporall happine&s;&s;e, and Devotion propo&s;ed, for &s;ecurity of a happy life. In three Sect.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The vertue of Devotion exalted, and the vanity of &s;ome Philo&s;ophers detected.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>THis in&s;cription may &s;eem to many to &s;peak like a Mountebanks Bill, that di&s;crediteth the common Schoole of Nature, and promi&s;eth by one receipt the cure of all di&s;ea&s;es; and I pray God this offer may obtaine, what the large undertakings of their Bills familiarly do, which by &s;peaking &s;o faire, invite many that believe not fully the pro|mi&s;es, to trie the experiment of their medicines; for if this my plau&s;ible pre&s;cript gaine but &s;o much either upon the curi|o&s;ity, or the beliefe of any, as to draw them to an e&s;&s;ay of this my receipt, in that order I have indited it, I need not feare the di&s;credit thereof by the operation, &s;ince they who are drawne by any motive to follow this voice of the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t, to come and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 23.</NOTE> <HI>&s;ee how &s;weet the Lord is,</HI> do quickly make this confe&s;&s;ion with him, <HI>Even the fables, &s;inners have told me, are not like thy <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">;</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 118.</NOTE> for even the &s;peculations of our own inventions do not &s;o much as create that reall peace of mind, which is concluded by <HI>devotion.</HI></P>
<P>This metaphor of Phy&s;ick &s;ugge&s;teth to me the carrying it a little further on to my purpo&s;e; for, me thinks I may truly
<PB N="51" REF="46">
&s;ay of the &s;pirit of <HI>devotion,</HI> what &s;ome curious Naturali&s;ts have vented of a medicinall extraction, they call the &s;pirit of the world, which giveth vegetation to all bodies, they af|firme it to have the vertue of re&s;toring nature from decay to integrity, and to pre&s;erve mans body long in an indeficient vi|gour, and propo&s;e contrary effects produceable by this &s;pirit, re&s;pectively to divers con&s;titutions, but &s;till to the benefit and redintegration of nature, in each individuall whereunto it is mini&s;tred: I may without que&s;tioning or &s;igning this po&s;ition, make this application of it, and affirme that the&s;e properties are really verified in the virtue of this &s;upernatural &s;pirit, which I call <HI>Devotion:</HI> &s;o that I need not feare what I promi&s;e, to per&s;wade the taking it, in that manner I have formerly re|ceipted it: whereupon I propo&s;e to every regular u&s;er there|of, no le&s;&s;e benefit, then the conferring on them their finall de&s;ire in this life, which is comprized under this notion of happine&s;&s;e; by which terme we under&s;tand, the re&s;ting and quieting our mindes in the fruition of goods convenient, and <NOTE PLACE="marg">Happine&s;&s;e defined.</NOTE> agreeable to our nature, in which &s;tate I propo&s;e to &s;hew, that <HI>Devotion</HI> doth e&s;tabli&s;h the minde of man; in order whereunto I may well prefix this Axiome of Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine, Lord thou ha&s;t made the heart of man for thy &s;elfe, and therefore it is alwayes re&s;tle&s;&s;e untill it requie&s;ce in thee.</HI></P>
<P>Nothing hath &s;o perplexed the wit of man, as to determine the &s;upreame felicity of this life. The Phylo&s;ophers have been &s;o divided about it, as they &s;eeme to have pa&s;&s;ed their lives in a continuall warre upon one another, in the very trea|ty of this generall peace they &s;ought to e&s;tabli&s;h: it &s;eemeth Almighty God, in revenge of the partitions and fractions they made of his unity, broke their opinions into &s;o many pieces, as they could never joy<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ne in one uniforme conclu&s;ion, but as Saint <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith of them, <HI>They grew vaine in their imaginati|ons,</HI> and in the darkne&s;&s;e of their hearts, every Sect had a <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 1. 21.</NOTE> &s;everall Phanta&s;me of happine&s;&s;e appearing to it.</P>
<P>Surely God, who &s;aw with what pre&s;umption they were building up the de&s;igne of their &s;ecurity in this life, by the
<PB N="52" REF="47">
modell of their owne naturall Rea&s;on, &s;ent this confu&s;ion of opinions, like that of the tongues among&s;t them, to ruine that &s;tructure of humane felicity, the wi&s;dome of the world was rai&s;ing for her refuge &amp; &s;helter, again&s;t the &s;tormes of Heaven. And &s;o the&s;e bricklayers of humane happine&s;&s;e, (which they may be properlytermed, in re&s;pect they wrought only upon the matter of the earth, tempered by humane wi&s;dome, and with that &s;tuffe, thought to build up their forts of felicity) were &s;truck from Heaven into this confu&s;ion of language, and di|&s;per&s;ed into &s;everall Sects, in which, every one &s;pake a diffe|rent tongue, and never concurr'd in an intelligence to con&s;titute one unanimous po&s;ition touching the &s;upreame fe|licity.</P>
<P>This point of mans con&s;tant happine&s;&s;e, &s;eemeth to be in Morall Philo&s;ophie, the great &s;ecret, in &s;earch whereof mo&s;t of the &s;peculative Sages have imployed their &s;tudyes, and have advanced no further then the naturall Philo&s;ophers have done towards finding the famous <HI>Elixir;</HI> for the Mora|li&s;ts have made many u&s;efull di&s;coveries by the way; whereby they have compo&s;ed diver&s;e excellent medicines for the infir|mities of the minde, but never any of them, though they have much boa&s;ted it, did attaine unto that con&s;ummate virtue, which could &s;ettle the minde in a perfect tranquillity and inva|riable temper. This virtuous power in morality, as it an&s;wereth adequately to tho&s;e properties the Chymicks attribute to their great worke; &s;o is there this Analogy betweene them, that they both &s;eeme much more fei&s;able by their &s;pecu|lative rules, then they are found by practicall experi|ment.</P>
<P>The &s;welling &s;cience of the Ancients, which had never heard of the fall of Humane Nature, grew too well conceited of her &s;ufficiency, thinking the perver&s;ity and wryne&s;&s;e of the &s;uperiour part of the minde, to grow only by an ill habit of &s;tooping and bending towards the lower portion, which is the &s;en&s;itive appetite; thus the Stoiks concluded, that &s;ingle rea&s;on might by the reflex of di&s;cour&s;e, &s;ee this indecent po|&s;ture,
<PB N="53" REF="47">
whereunto cu&s;tome inclined her; and &s;o, by degree rectifie and erect her powers to &s;uch a point of &s;traightne&s;&s;e, as neither the delights nor the di&s;tre&s;&s;es of the lower and &s;en|&s;itive part of nature, &s;hould ever bowe or decline the evenne&s;&s;e and rectitude of the minde; and by this means they arrogated no le&s;&s;e to mans &s;ufficiency, then even the power of remaining in a calme <HI>apathy</HI> and impa&s;&s;ivene&s;&s;e, in all offen&s;ive emergen|cies. But alas, the wi&s;dome of the world knew nothing of that inward brui&s;e our nature had in her fall, which keepeth her too infirme, to be reduced to that perfect activity, where|unto pure &s;peculation might de&s;igne her; we under&s;tand that repugnant law in our members, by which, all their imagined tenures of &s;ecurity were voyded, when they came to their tri|all; but they under&s;tood &s;o little this law, as what we know to be the defect of frail title, namely, our nature, they took for the &s;ecurity of their e&s;tate of peace.</P>
<P>Me thinkes the Ancient Philo&s;ophers with all their wi&s;|dome and precaution were &s;erved by their owne nature, as children u&s;e to doe one another, at a certaine &s;choole-play, when he that hides, &s;triketh him he holdeth blinded, who being thought out of play is never gue&s;&s;ed at; and thus did our corrupted Nature while &s;he her &s;elfe held them blinded, &s;trike them, and &s;he was never &s;u&s;pected of the blow; but the accidents of fortune were only taken for the &s;trikers, with which &s;ingly, tho&s;e Sages thought their mindes were exerci|&s;ing them&s;elves; for they never mi&s;doubted this infidelity in Humane Nature, they thought her intirely &s;ound and &s;elfe|&s;ufficient, to afford this con&s;ummate tranquillity of &s;pirit in all &s;ea&s;ons; and thus they were like children kept blinded, and &s;trucken by the &s;ame hand which they never &s;u&s;pected, char|ging fortune as a forreine actor, with all tho&s;e blowes that pro|voked their pa&s;&s;ions. Upon which ground they pre&s;umed on the &s;ufficiency of naturall Rea&s;on, even to extingui&s;h all pa&s;&s;i|on or di&s;temperance in their mindes: but to the&s;e pre&s;umpti|ons the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> an&s;wereth, <HI>While they accounted them&s;elves wi&s;e, they became fooles.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="54" REF="48">
And &s;urely, the&s;e Morall Ideas conceived by the Stolkes, may well be coupled with the naturall Ideas, &s;uppo&s;ed by the Platonikes; out of which principle, there may be &s;ome light drawne towards the inquiry into the nature of formes ab|&s;tracted from matter, although the po&s;ition be erroneous. After this &s;ort, we may derive much clarity, towardes our di&s;cerning the latitude and power of morall virtue, by the&s;e maximes of the Stoiks, which are not &s;incerely true in their conclu&s;ions. I may therefore ju&s;tly bring in this evidence of the wi&s;e&s;t of men, again&s;t this Sect of pure Morali&s;ts, pre&s;u|ming upon the Stock of naturall wi&s;dome, <HI>You have &s;aid, you</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle. 7. 24.</NOTE> <HI>would become wi&s;e, and it departed farther from you.</HI></P>
<P>The felicity of a Chri&s;tian is &s;tated upon a farre different principle, namely, in the perception of the defectivene&s;&s;e of our Nature, as being maimed by her fir&s;t fall, and in the ac|knowledging the in&s;ufficiency of our &s;ingle Rea&s;on, to mode|rate and compo&s;e the di&s;quiets of the mind, without a &s;uper|naturall adjunction of Grace; by which we are, as Saint <HI>Peter</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 2. 9.</NOTE> telleth us, <HI>called out of the darkne&s;&s;e</HI> of the Phylo&s;ophers, <HI>into this admirable light,</HI> to &s;ee the cur&s;e that is upon our earth, and to di&s;cerne that we are not, in this life, Lords of our ea&s;e, but tillers of this foule earth of our corrupted Nature, which we can never weed &s;o perfectly, as to gather out of it a pure and immixed felicity; it is by a &s;upernaturall light &s;hining in our dark places, that we are inlightned in a right apprehen&s;ion, of what degree of happine&s;&s;e we may project in this life; and Grace doth us this good office, by a detecting to us the naked|ne&s;&s;e of our nature, not by a covering and palliation of her disfigurements; and in the point of e&s;tabli&s;hing our happine&s;&s;e, Grace may well be &s;aid to in&s;truct Rea&s;on as her Di&s;ciple, in the termes of Truth him&s;elfe to his Di&s;ciples, <HI>Abide in me, and I in you: For, as the branch cannot beare fruit of it &s;elfe, except it</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 15.</NOTE> <HI>abide in the vine,</HI> no more can Rea&s;on, unle&s;&s;e it abide in Grace; &amp; when our Rea&s;on (which originally con&s;ider'd, is properly a branch of the root of Grace) doth abide therein, it bringeth forth much fruit of &s;uch felicity as the &s;ea&s;on of this life can afford for our re&s;ection.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<PB N="55" REF="48">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>A conviction of Sen&s;uali&s;ts, declaring how Grace emancipateth us from the bands of the Creatures.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>NExt we will take into con&s;ideration the ca&s;e of tho&s;e who &s;tate the happines of this life in a plentiful fruition of all temporal accomodations; and &s;uch are in my mind much ea&s;ier confuted then the former Rationali&s;ts, we have examined; for the&s;e, whom I tearm Sen&s;uali&s;ts, may be in great pain and incertainty, to get but &s;o much as the ground or &s;ubject of their happine&s;&s;e, which are wealth and &s;en&s;uall plea&s;ures; whereas the other have the foundation, at lea&s;t of their work, namely Rectifiable Rea&s;on, much more attainable by a &s;incere pur&s;uite &s;o that notwith&s;tanding they are abu&s;ed in the degree of &s;ufficiency, they a&s;&s;igne to this rational com|po&s;ure of mind, yet have they alwayes &s;ome fair proportion of contentment in this attempt; whereas the Sectaryes of vo|luptie, part with their Peace before-hand, upon no &s;ecurity of their projected &s;atisfactions for commonly they are fir&s;t much troubled with an una&s;&s;urance of compa&s;&s;ing any of their de|&s;ires, and then in ca&s;e of &s;ucce&s;&s;e, much perplexed in point of pre&s;erving them; and at the be&s;t, are alwayes di&s;appointed of &s;omewhat they expected, even in the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of their de|&s;ires: Since propriety in our fickle nature, doth deduct much from the prefanfied value of &s;uch preten&s;ions.</P>
<P>Such therefore as &s;tate the felicity of this life in the full and con&s;tant &s;atisfaction of their &s;en&s;es, are much ea&s;ilyer con|futed then the other we have treated of; for they &s;eem to de|&s;igne the impo&s;ing upon Rea&s;on, a degree of Pa&s;&s;ivene&s;&s;e, as much lower then it can fall, as the other do a&s;pire to rai&s;e it to a point of activity above the &s;phere of our vitiated nature; Since the Sen&s;uali&s;ts me thinks pretend to reduce the Ratio|nall part of the mind, to as much &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion to the &s;en&s;itive
<PB N="56" REF="49">
appetite; As the <HI>Morali&s;ts</HI> did de&s;ign the quite contrary &s;ub|jection. For they would have Rea&s;on murmure as little again&s;t all the appetites and fruitions of the &s;en&s;es, as the&s;e would have the mind remain unaffected &amp; inviolable by all &s;en&s;ible vexati|ons; neither of which projects are effectible in our humane con|&s;titution; for experience di&s;abu&s;eth us in both the&s;e propo&s;als, but mo&s;t e&s;pecially in this point of &s;en&s;ualities, being able to &s;u&s;pend &amp; &s;ilence rea&s;on &s;o fully, as it &s;hal interpo&s;e no di&s;qui|et or di&s;-&s;avour in the ea&s;es &amp; &s;uavityes of corporeal fruitions; for even the highe&s;t degree of irrational plea&s;ures, which doth the mo&s;t alienate and &s;uppre&s;&s;e the acts of Rea&s;on, are of little continuance, and our rea&s;on &s;oon returnes, and bringeth with her &s;uch reproaches as break the entirene&s;&s;e of the delight, and &s;o leave all voluptuary happynes, at the be&s;t, but an intermit|ting and di&s;continued peece of &s;atisfaction. For this interpo|&s;ition of the rea&s;onable power of the &s;oul, induceth alwayes &s;ome accu&s;ation of the unrea&s;onablene&s;&s;e of tho&s;e delights upon which we a&s;&s;ign our &s;elves felicity, and our under&s;tan|ding &s;ets our memory very often, even again&s;t our will, to remember the dignity of our Intellectual nature, which we endeavour to deba&s;e by a preference of her own natural &s;er|vants, and there is no &s;tate of &s;en&s;uall voluptie, &s;o wel guard|ed by the attendance of all earthly commodityes, whereinto the depre&s;&s;ed power of Rea&s;on doth not often get acce&s;&s;e, and then it woundeth that tender portion of the mind, we call <HI>con|&s;cience,</HI> &s;o farre at lea&s;t, as to manife&s;t to us the un&s;oundne&s;&s;e of that &s;ort of our imagined happine&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>Nay ab&s;tracting from all religious reflexions, doth not na|turall experiment familiarly teach us, that our &s;en&s;itive nature is not to be tru&s;ted, when &s;he propo&s;eth the &s;atisfaction of her appetites, for &s;ecurity to our happines? Since our carnall affe|ctions, even in their deare&s;t ingagements, break their word &s;o commonly, and run away, as I may &s;ay, from tho&s;e appe|tites they were contracted to, before they have &s;o much excu&s;e as having attained to their propo&s;ed tearm, to ju&s;tifie their change of de&s;ires, and how &s;eldome do our pa&s;&s;ions maintain
<PB N="57" REF="49">
them&s;elves in any vigor in the &s;tate of a lawfull conjunction and fruition of their mo&s;t &s;ervent pur&s;uits; Nay, doth not a Legitimate propriety, (which in rea&s;on &s;hould indear them) commonly make the right we have to be plea&s;ed with &s;uch po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions, the onely rea&s;on of our di&s;valuing them? The&s;e notorious Infidelities may ju&s;tly evacuate all the title Volup|tie can claime unto this lifes felicity.</P>
<P>Mu&s;t we not then re&s;ort to a Superior power, for the &s;tabi|lity of our happynes? &s;uch a one as may be able to fix our affections, and not leave them in their own naturall trepidati|ons and Retrograde motions, by which we can never keep a true account, even of our de&s;ires? So farre are we from a&s;&s;u|ring our delights, and for the fixing of our volatile Nature, there is no humane art to be con&s;ulted, the Author of Nature re&s;erveth to him&s;elfe this great &s;ecret.</P>
<P>Since Nature then is &s;o di&s;credited, in order to this great work, we mu&s;t have recour&s;e to the peculiar &s;ecret of Chri&s;tia|nity, which is <HI>the grace of God infu&s;ed into our hearts by the ho|ly</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom: 5.</NOTE> <HI>Gho&s;t;</HI> By the advi&s;e whereof, our hearts are taught, not to work upon temporal felicity, (which may aptly be re&s;embled to quick-&s;ilver) as <HI>Alchymi&s;ts</HI> do upon this minerall, with a de&s;igne to fix it, and &s;o convert it into earthly trea&s;ure; but as good Phy&s;itians do, onely in order to the extracting medicines and remedies out of it; And by this Method, as they render <HI>Mercury</HI> beneficiall, by drawing from it &s;ome good quality, and fixing that upon &s;ome other body, while that &s;ub&s;tance remaineth unfixed and volatile; We may likewi&s;e, without &s;etting our thoughts to work upon temporall goods, in hope to make our happynes by the fixure of them, wel derive great utility from them, by the infu&s;ion of &s;ome of their virtue, making thereof remedyes for the nece&s;&s;ityes of our neigh|bours: Such an extraction <HI>Daniel</HI> coun&s;elled the King to <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 1. 4.</NOTE> draw out of his peri&s;hable felicity, and by this Method, while the matter of worldly goods remaineth fluent and tran&s;itory, there may be great utility derived even from the con&s;ideration of the&s;e qualities; For by u&s;ing this matter, according to the
<PB N="58" REF="50">
nature of it, by keeping it pa&s;&s;ing and tran&s;ient through our hearts, and hands, we may provide a fixed and eternall hap|pine&s;&s;e: This advice is given us by the Author both of Nature and Grace, to make out of the unfaithfull company of this worlds friend&s;hip, &s;uch loyall friends, as &s;hall receive us into tho&s;e tabernacles, where no good is le&s;&s;e then eternall.</P>
<P>This is a practicall u&s;e, which Devotion will alwayes intro|duce in our temporall po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions; There is al&s;o another &s;pecu|lative influence, which it hath in order to the &s;ettlement of our mind, namely, the frequent meditation on the in&s;tability of all things &s;ublunary, which cogitations are pregnant &s;eeds of the contempt of this world, whereby we learn to draw the cure of the venome out of the bowels of the bea&s;t it &s;elf, di|&s;tilling out of the &s;erious contemplation of the mutability of all worldly happines, a remedy again&s;t the evill of that fickle|nes and impermanency; and by this cour&s;e, we rai&s;e &s;ome &s;uc|cour out of the adver&s;e party of our own frailty; For they who ponder frequently, how all things &s;ublunary move continu|ally, in an interchangeable flowing and refluencie, may ea&s;ily learn, not to imbarque their mindes in any earthly delights, never &s;o fairly &s;ecured, without expecting adver&s;e revolutions and repeales of tho&s;e joyes; and by this preparation, Devotion doth by degrees teach us to make our peace Po&s;table upon all the tides of fortune, under&s;tanding them to be truly the cur|rent of Divine providence.</P>
<P>This light we can receive onely from the beames of Grace, and they &s;hine the clearer in our hearts, the more Devotion is kindled in them; For this Spirituall flame, as it ri&s;eth, alwayes attracteth more of that fir&s;t fire that lighted it; and thus from our affections being inflamed by devotion, our under&s;tandings take this light, whereby they di&s;cerne the greate&s;t &s;ecurity we can contrive for our contentments in this world, to be the be|ing &s;o prepared for mutations, that our wils may be &s;o loo&s;e from anchorage upon any earthly plea&s;ure, as they remove ea&s;ily from their hold on that delight, and put out to the &s;ea of Gods providence in all the &s;tormes of adver&s;ity; And con|&s;idering
<PB N="59" REF="50">
how <HI>Gods way is in the &s;ea,</HI> and <HI>his paths in many wa|ters,</HI> and <HI>that his foot-&s;teps are not to be di&s;cerned;</HI> Our affecti|ons may ea&s;ily repaire their earthly lo&s;&s;es, by that trea&s;ure they may find in this Ocean of Gods will; the riches whereof, we make ours by entring into his will, as often as we are dri|ven out of our own, by the variations of this world; and by this Pious acquie&s;cence to all vici&s;&s;itudes of this life, we &s;hall come to a con&s;tant good habit of mind, as men at &s;ea obtain an unmoved &s;tate of body; for as they do not confirm their health, by the &s;teddyne&s;&s;e of the ve&s;&s;ell in a calme, but by the cu&s;tome and habitude of the rowlings and to&s;&s;ings of it in &s;everall weathers; So &s;hall we &s;ettle the peace of our mind, not by the calme equality of a pro&s;perous condition, but by the acquaintance and inurement to &s;everall adver&s;e revoluti|ons; And this is undoubtedly the be&s;t Method, in point of attaining a good con&s;tituton of happynes in this life, for King <HI>David</HI> him&s;elf found little &s;ecurity in this, <HI>I have &s;aid in my</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 29.</NOTE> <HI>pro&s;perity I &s;hall never be moved;</HI> For he &s;eemeth to retract this opinion all in a breath, the next words, confe&s;&s;ing, <HI>Thou ha&s;t hid thy face from me, and I was troubled;</HI> Wherefore his reflexi|on upon the in&s;tability of our humane condition, proved a more a&s;&s;ured &s;tay for him in his agitations, when he conclu|ded, <HI>Doubtle&s;&s;e all things are vanity, every man living, &s;urely</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 38. 7.</NOTE> <HI>man pa&s;&s;eth as an Image, yea and he is troubled in vain.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<PB N="60" REF="51">
<HEAD>&sect;. III.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Re&s;ultancies from the meditation of humane frailty, and a re&s;olving the right of Happy|nes as belonging to Devotion.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>THe &s;tate of humane Nature being thus determined, me thinks there may be an excellent medicinall extraction drawn (by prudence directed by Grace) out of the na|ture of temporal felicity, in order to the fortifying our minds, which may not improperly be tearmed the Spirit or &s;alt of hu|mane frailty, &s;ince it may work upon the mind, as Phi&s;itians &s;ay, tho&s;e kind of Diaphoretical medicines do upon the body, the which although they do not produce any violent &s;weat, yet they clen&s;e by opening the pores, and keeping the body in a continued tran&s;piration and breathing out of the Malig|nity; After this manner may our minds be purged and recti|fied by this meditation of our frailty, which notwith&s;tanding it forceth not out any notorious expre&s;&s;ions of the contempt of this world, in a &s;en&s;ible alteration of our cour&s;e of life, yet it may maintain the mind in a con&s;tant temper of purifying, by a &s;oft evacuating much of the uncleanne&s;&s;e of her &s;en&s;itive appetite, through an in&s;en&s;ible per&s;piration of mortifying thoughts; and the proper time to mini&s;ter this receipt, is in the health of our fortune, while we are in an ea&s;ie fruition of the joyes and &s;olaces of this life; for then the per&s;wa&s;ion of their in&s;ecurity holds us loo&s;e from that dangerous adherence which carryeth away our peace along with their removals; but this pre&s;cript loo&s;eth much of the efficacy, when it is ta|ken; but after our mindes are decayed and infeebled by the &s;adne&s;&s;e and weight of affliction, becau&s;e in that ea&s;e they commonly want that vigor of rea&s;on, which &s;hould cooperate with this remedy, and in that re&s;pect, what might have been a &s;ufficient &s;tay to our minds, while they &s;tood &s;traight and
<PB N="61" REF="51">
upright, may not be able to redre&s;&s;e and erect them, when they are faln and dejected; I will therefore leave this pre&s;cription thus &s;igned by the <HI>Holy Spirit; Say not, I po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e many things,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ecclus. 11. 24</NOTE> <HI>and what evill can come to me hereafter? but in the good dayes remember the evill, for the malice of one hour maketh oblivion of great voluptuou&s;ne&s;&s;e:</HI> and therefore in another place the &s;ame hand giveth this advice, <HI>From the morning to the even|ing</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ecclus. 18. 26</NOTE> <HI>the time changeth, All things are &s;oon done before the Lord, A wi&s;e man will fear in every thing.</HI></P>
<P>But le&s;t me &s;hould conceive happynes to be incon&s;i&s;tent with this injunction of continuall fear, we mu&s;t under&s;tand, that there are two feares re&s;pecting this world, which may &s;tand in morality, an&s;wering mo&s;t of the properties of the &s;ame in Divinity, <HI>viz:</HI> a filiall and a &s;ervile feare, the fir&s;t whereof feareth but as a child of humanity, by the knowledge of the frail Nature of all temporalities; the other, as a &s;lave to mundanities, being ma&s;tered and &s;ubjected by Sen&s;uality; So that the filiall fear ri&s;eth from an ordinate love, and right ap|prehen&s;ion of the condition of the Creatures, and the &s;ervile &s;pringeth from a mi&s;pri&s;ion of their Nature, and an undue &s;ubjection unto them; wherefore this fir&s;t filiall fear, is but virtuous and precautionall, and &s;o compatible with a hap|py con&s;titution, for it perplexeth our pre&s;ent fruitions, no more then the generall notion of our mortality offendeth our pre&s;ent health: the knowledge that we mu&s;t die, doth not make us &s;ick; no more doth the under&s;tanding, that our temporary delights are to pa&s;&s;e away, di&s;reli&s;h their pre&s;ent &s;avour.</P>
<P>Let this prenotion then of intervenient changes in all our mo&s;t &s;ecured conditions, of &s;tated as requi&s;ite, for the &s;ettle|ment of tranquility in our mindes, &s;ince at all times, tem|porall felicity is either going away from us, or we from it; for what&s;oever the be&s;t of our times bring us in their revolutions, they carry us away from them at the &s;ame time, by the motion of our Mortality; in proof whereof the Spirit of Truth telleth us, <HI>we are but a breath of aire pa&s;sing on and not retur|ning.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 78. 39.</NOTE></P>
<P><PB N="62" REF="52">
Thus have I, after the method of Saint <HI>Paul</HI> with the <HI>Athe|nians,</HI> indeavored to confute the two Sects of the <HI>Stoicks</HI> and <HI>Epicureans,</HI> and I conceive to have voyded both their titles to happine&s;&s;e; the fir&s;t, claiming it in the right of our &s;ingle Na|turall Rea&s;on, the other, challenging it in the name of our &s;a|tisfied &s;en&s;es; to neither of which, I hope in God to have &s;hew|ed, that felicity can rightly be adjudged, by rea&s;on the &s;pecu|lations of the Stoicks are but like well painted &s;cenes, which at a convenient di&s;tance &s;eeme to expo&s;e reall fruits, waters, and &s;hades; but when you come into them, you finde nothing but paintings and barren colours. Much after this manner, while you looke upon the pure Theory of their maximes, they &s;eeme to containe peace, &s;erenity, and &s;atisfaction of &s;pirit, i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> all the earthquakes of this world; yet this faire &s;hew la&s;teth but while our conditions are at a convenient di&s;tance from a ne|ce&s;&s;ity of acting tho&s;e principles, for when we are pre&s;&s;ed under the ineumbe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">t mi&s;eries of this life, to practi&s;e this I deal &s;elf-&s;uf|ficiency, we are then brought as it were into the &s;cenes of tho&s;e maximes, for then we finde all tho&s;e figurings of <HI>apathy</HI> and impa&s;&s;ivene&s;&s;e, to prove but coloured and fruitle&s;&s;e concepti|ons, in re&s;pect of tho&s;e Soveraigne effects were promi&s;ed the minde, at the di&s;tance of &s;peculation.</P>
<P>And I pre&s;ume to have ca&s;t the other Sect by the&s;e two evi|dences brought again&s;t it, <HI>viz.</HI> the unfaithfulne&s;&s;e of all ma|teriall goods, in point of duration and fixure, and the fickle|ne&s;&s;e, even of our owne affections, in the e&s;teeme of &s;uch fru|itions; wherefore the former of the&s;e two Sects &s;tands convin|ced of &s;tating happine&s;&s;e, in what can never be obtained, and the other, in what can never long be pre&s;erved; whereupon they may both ju&s;tly receive their &s;entences, the fir&s;t from the <HI>Apo&s;tle,</HI> pricking thus their &s;welling knowledge, <HI>If any man</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 8. 2.</NOTE> <HI>think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet, as he ought to know:</HI> and the ca&s;e of the other &s;tands thus judged by the <HI>Prophet, you &s;hall conceive heat, and bring forth &s;tubble, your</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;ay. 33. 11.</NOTE> <HI>&s;pirit as fire &s;hall devoure you.</HI></P>
<P>May I not then &s;ay, that felicity is in the worlds opinion,
<PB N="63" REF="52">
as the unknowne God was in the Religion of the <HI>Athenians?</HI> for though it have an Altar a&s;&s;igned unto it, yet neither the true nature of happine&s;&s;e is rightly apprehended, nor the addre&s;&s;es to it duly determined, and the termes of Saint <HI>Paul</HI> on that occa&s;ion, will very <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">igh fit my purpo&s;e, <HI>What therefore you</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 17.</NOTE> <HI>ignorantly pur&s;ue, that I declare unto you,</HI> and manife&s;t how the true felicity of this life, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; that is to &s;ay, it is not &s;eated in the &s;peculative edifices of Philo&s;ophy, nor in the materiall &s;tructures of &s;en&s;ible fru|itions, but re&s;ideth in this &s;pirituall man&s;ion of fervent and rectified Devotion, which produceth a right under&s;tanding of the value of all things tran&s;itory, and induceth a confi|dence of enjoying eternall peace of mind, and inva<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ible felici|ty of body.</P>
<P>I have already &s;et up before you an entire figure of Devotion, by which you may draw the ju&s;t proportions of that virtuous bit, which calmeth all humane pa&s;&s;ions, in that degree our nature can be &s;erened and quieted in this life; in&s;tructing us, how Gods univer&s;all order admitteth not our being happy in all our temporall de&s;ires; and therefore Devotion fixeth all our de&s;ires upon Gods order, and &s;o maketh the accompli&s;h|ment of his de&s;ignes, the chiefe terme of our wi&s;hes: and by this cour&s;e, as God changeth his exterion &s;entence &s;ometimes, but never his i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> councell; &s;o godly and devout &s;oules may <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ary in the apparencies of their pre&s;ent happine&s;&s;e, but never alter in the in<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">rin&s;ique &s;tate of a ble&s;&s;ed condition. For as much as in all extrin&s;ique changes, Devotion hath this re&s;t of the <HI>P&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">lmi&s;t,</HI> when upon the vexations of the &s;en&s;es, the &s;oule <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">s to be reduced to <HI>My &s;oule refu&s;ed to be comforted,</HI> there followeth pre&s;ently, <HI>I was mindefull of God, and was de|lighted</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 76. 4.</NOTE> in this mindfulne&s;&s;e of God. Devotion &s;ixeth all our &s;ecurity, and by fa&s;tning our mindes to what is im|moveable, they them&s;elves are rendered as it were unal|terable.</P>
<P>Upon what we have di&s;cour&s;ed, I may conclude my pro|po&s;ition firmely e&s;tabli&s;hed, and re&s;olve by the Authority of
<PB N="64" REF="53">
the wi&s;e&s;t of men, <HI>The heart that knoweth the bitterne&s;&s;e of his</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 14.</NOTE> <HI>&s;oule, in his joy &s;hall not the &s;tranger be mingled.</HI> That is, an ad|vi&s;ed man man admits an exterior foundation of his happine&s;&s;e&punc; And for an unque&s;tionable &s;ecurity of my promi&s;e, I will leave you this ingagement of the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t, Delight in the Lord, and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 36.</NOTE> <HI>he will give thee the petitions of thy heart.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="7" TYPE="treatise">
<HEAD>The &s;eventh Treati&s;e. How true Devotion induceth tho&s;e no|tions wherein con&s;i&s;teth the happine&s;&s;e of this life.In three Sections.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The fallicies of Opinion, &amp; the Virtue of Truth treated.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>ME thinkes I heare many, very impatient to &s;ee &s;ome more &s;en&s;ible object of temporall happine&s;&s;e, expo&s;ed by Devotion, for our nature is not ea&s;ily drawn to looke off from the delights it &s;eeth, as I may &s;ay, face to face, and turne to tho&s;e that are <HI>&s;eene but darkly as through a gla&s;&s;e,</HI> which are the joyes of the other life, &s;peculated only <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 13.</NOTE> through the per&s;pective of faith; I will not therefore propo&s;e to tho&s;e vocations which are the addre&s;&s;e of my per&s;wa&s;ions, the putting their nature into any &s;evere &s;traights or pre&s;&s;ures, in hope only of remote rever&s;ions. I will a&s;&s;igne pre&s;ent con|veniencies for the entertainment of our nature, and over-pay by good &s;ecurity of &s;incere &s;ecular joy, what may &s;eeme taken away in that adulterate &s;pecies, wherein our fancies u&s;e to ac|cept the receites of our contentment: For &s;urely Devotion
<PB N="65" REF="53">
doth a&s;&s;igne the minde a rectified joy, in the u&s;e of temporall goods, in&s;tead of that vitious and counterfeit, which our three enemies (pretending to be our &s;tewards) bring into our fancy that is prone, to take all, what&s;oever hath but the image of &s;en&s;ible plea&s;ure, without examining the &s;ub&s;tance; which facility to be deceived, the Prophet reproacheth in us, &s;aying, <HI>We &s;ell our &s;elves for nothing.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;ay 52.</NOTE></P>
<P>Should a traveller pa&s;&s;ing through a forreign countrey, finding the coyne of the place rai&s;ed to an exce&s;&s;ive value, ex|change into it all the good &s;pecies of his own, thinking to make gain by this traffique, becau&s;e the coyne is currant in his pa&s;&s;age; as &s;oon as he were pa&s;&s;ed that dominion, he would quickly repent his incon&s;iderate mi&s;take; This &s;eemeth to be the familiar ca&s;e of man, who while he is in his tran&s;ition and pa&s;&s;age through this world, findeth the temporalities thereof, (which are the currant &s;pecies of the place) cried up to &s;uch an over-value, as he is per&s;waded to turne all his affections into that &s;pecies of joy, and at its i&s;&s;ue out of this forreign re|gion, he findeth the irreparable lo&s;&s;e he hath made by the debatement of his talents in this exchange: And it is again&s;t this delu&s;ion, not again&s;t all commerce with &s;ecular joy in our journey, that Devotion i&s;&s;ueth to us her inhibitions, le&s;t by this ill husbandry in their way, when they come to account with their great Creditor, they be reduced to give a wor&s;e an&s;wer then he, who brought back his talent unimproved: I &s;hall therefore exhibite to our minds (which mu&s;t needs nego|tiate in their pa&s;&s;age through this world) the true Intrin&s;ique value of tho&s;e joyes, uttered in the commerce with the crea|tures, that taking none but &s;uch as are allowed in their la&s;t audict, their traffique may bring home into their native coun|trey not their Bonds forfeited, but rather Bils of exchange payable upon their Ma&s;ters joy.</P>
<P>In an&s;wer then of the de&s;ire of having the true&s;t happyne&s;&s;e of this life, &s;pecially determined; I declare that <HI>the felicity of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Felicity de|&s;cribed.</NOTE> <HI>this life con&s;i&s;teth in a con&s;tant rejoycing in truth:</HI> This is the a&s;&s;ertion of Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine,</HI> and is ea&s;ily verified to all ra|tionall
<PB N="66" REF="54">
di&s;po&s;itions; The fir&s;t reply the world is like to make to this propo&s;ition, is <HI>Pilates</HI> que&s;tion, <HI>What is truth?</HI> to which <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 18. 38.</NOTE> I an&s;wer,</P>
<P><HI>Truth is a perfect and edequate &s;imilitude or likene&s;&s;e, imprint|ed</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Truth defi|ned.</NOTE> <HI>in our under&s;tanding of the nature of the thing we conceive;</HI> So that when our conception is ju&s;t equall to the being and property of the thing we conceive, we are &s;aid to under&s;tand truth. Wherefore the truth of knowing, is as it were the mould ca&s;t off from the truth of being, or the print of that &s;eal, and &s;o the image of the true being of a thing, is the figure of truth &s;eated in our minds.</P>
<P>But this, which may &s;eem a fair impre&s;&s;ion of the nature of truth, may perchance appear but a dark Character of the form of happyne&s;&s;e to my auditory, unto whom indeed I do not intend to a&s;&s;igne onely the &s;peculative notions of verities for the &s;ubject of their &s;atisfactions; but I will open farther this &s;tore of joy, <HI>(the rejoycing in truth)</HI> and &s;hew how it contain|eth the Prophets <HI>wine and milk,</HI> which he offereth to all for <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;ay 55.</NOTE> fetching it; From hence the contemplative life draweth that wine, whereof <HI>King David</HI> &s;aith, <HI>My chalice inebriating how</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 22. 1 Pet. 2.</NOTE> <HI>goodly is it;</HI> and the active &s;ucketh that milk, which the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;aith is proper for their vocation, which nouri&s;heth their minds with more &s;en&s;ible delectation i&s;&s;uing from the true u&s;e and ordinate love of the creature; And this is that, I may not un|plea&s;antly call the milk which the&s;e <HI>Gentiles</HI> love be&s;t, to whom I pre&s;ent my brea&s;t.</P>
<P>The preference of the contemplative life, before the active, is inferred from this re&s;pect, of affording a more clear and &s;erene light, for the perception of Supernatural verityes; For contemplation is a fixure of the mind on the a&s;pect and <NOTE PLACE="marg">Contempla|tion defined.</NOTE> pre&s;ents of truth: and although this act of contemplating be purely Intellectuall, yet the terme and end thereof re&s;ts in the affections, as the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of our pur&s;uits induceth joy; whereby this is demon&s;trated, that the happyne&s;&s;e of the con|templative life con&s;i&s;teth in the rejoycing in truth; This &s;en&s;i|ble delight in contemplation flowing from the Superior por|tion
<PB N="67" REF="54">
of the mind down upon the Inferior, is a good Image of mans con&s;ummate Beatitude in Heaven; where the glory of the body is derived from the exce&s;&s;e and redundancy of the joy and ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e flowing from the &s;oul; and in this order, the delight imparted to our affections by contemplation, fals from a &s;uperfluence of truth in our under&s;tanding. And thus, what may be &s;aid to be light in the Superior region of the Soul, &s;eemeth fire in the lower; The fir&s;t reporting to truth, and the latter to joy; which as it is a pa&s;&s;ion in our nature, may be &s;aid to be more materiall then the other in the &s;ame degree, as flame is le&s;&s;e pure then the radiancy of the Sunne; but the comparative degrees of purity, between the acts of our Intel|lect and our affections are not our Theam. Certaine it is, that all the &s;en&s;ible delectation of the contemplative life, &s;treameth from the &s;prings of Supernatural verities; we will therefore &s;tay no longer on the top of Mount <HI>Sinai,</HI> which may &s;eem all cloud to tho&s;e that are below, while the <HI>Mo&s;e&s;es</HI> that are upon it, find all &s;plendor and clarity, and may not unfitly be &s;aid to &s;ee the hinder parts of that verity, in &s;eeing the face whereof, con&s;i&s;ts the con&s;ummate rejoycing.</P>
<P>Comming then down into the Camp of the active life, it will be no hard task to prove the happine&s;&s;e of that &s;tate like|wi&s;e, &s;eated in the rejoycing in truth, which hath &s;o gratefull a &s;avour even to our &s;en&s;itive appetite, as I may &s;ay, none wi&s;h for quailes, but they de&s;ire to ta&s;t this Manna in them; I mean no body affecteth any &s;en&s;ible fruition, but as it is under the form of a true good: For as Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> rea&s;oneth, let any be asked, whether he had rather joy in truth or in fal&s;ity, and the an&s;wer will bear no doubt; For although there be ma|ny would deceive others in their happine&s;&s;e, there are none would be deceived them&s;elves in it, there is &s;uch a &s;ignature of the light of the countenance of verity, &s;tamped upon the rea&s;on of man, as his under&s;tanding can propo&s;e nothing to his affections as matter of joy, but under the colour at lea&s;t of truth; So that the object of all our affections is true delight, though the errour be never &s;o great in the &s;ubject of our joy:
<PB N="68" REF="55">
For no body can rejoyce under this notion of being deceived, the in&s;tinct of man is &s;uch, in order to truth, as he mu&s;t pre|&s;ent that object to his Imagination, even out of the errour it &s;elf he rejoyceth in, &s;o E&s;&s;entiall is truth, for the terme of his acquie&s;cence.</P>
<P>Suppo&s;ing we do thus generally aim at truth for our felicity, I may well be asked, how it commeth to pa&s;&s;e, that the &s;ub|ject of our joyes is oftener apparence and fal&s;ity, then the real good of this life's benedictions? the cau&s;e &s;urely is, the parti|ality of our imagination towards our &s;en&s;itive appetite, rather then in favour to our rea&s;on; and thus Opinion, which is but a changeling introduced by Sen&s;e, pa&s;&s;eth commonly for the right child; and certainly, Opinion may well be &s;aid to be the mean i&s;&s;ue of &s;en&s;e, and Verity, the noble child of Rea&s;on; but by this unju&s;tice of our imagination, it followeth, that all the delights which are touched but at our &s;en&s;es, are commonly accepted by our will for the true &s;pecies of joy, from the credit of that te&s;t, without examining their nature in the fire of Ra|tiocination; whereby it happens, that when we are the trulye&s;t deceived, we are mo&s;t believing in the truth of our happyne&s;&s;e; for when we mi&s;apprehend the mo&s;t the nature of &s;ecular plea|&s;ures, having the lea&s;t &s;u&s;pition or &s;cruple of the mutability of &s;uch fruitions, our joy &s;eemeth the mo&s;t &s;incere, which pro|veth clearly, that truth is but mi&s;taken in the colouring, not unintended in the de&s;igne of our felicity.</P>
<P>In redre&s;&s;e of this error, Devotion taketh off the deceitfull colours of good and evill, which Opinion layes upon the crea|ture, and pre&s;enteth to our under&s;tanding a naturall image both of the worth as well as the vanity which may be found in the rectified or vitious apprehen&s;ion of all temporalities, &amp; po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing us with the true nature of all our po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions, direct|eth us how to rejoyce in the truth of &s;uch ble&s;&s;ings, and there|by &s;atisfyeth that in&s;tinct of the mind with the reality, and doth not amu&s;e it with the meer colour of verity.</P>
<P>Certaine it is, that temporall ble&s;&s;ings, as health, beauty, wealth, and honour, are indued with a true and &s;incere good|ne&s;&s;e,
<PB N="69" REF="55">
wherein their owners may vertuou&s;ly rejoyce: the point is, the di&s;cernment of this Truth, and the &s;electing that, only for &s;ubject of our delectation: becau&s;e ju&s;t as much as we &s;tray from this principle, &s;o much we remove from our hap|pine&s;&s;e; which depending on the &s;atisfaction of our opinion, if that be un&s;ound, in apprehending the nature of &s;uch goods as are the objects of our affections; we are in danger of being unhappy, by their being but true to their owne nature, while we are untrue to ours: For their true in&s;tinct is mutation and in&s;tability; and ours, the perception and u&s;e of that verity: whereby our under&s;tanding may &s;ort <HI>an affection proporti|oned to the nature of &s;ecular benedictions.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Sacred examples, &s;hewing what may be &s;aid to be a rejoycing in the truth of temporall goods, and how even &s;ecular evils afford joy, by the &s;ame method of a right under&s;tan|ding them.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>THe &s;tates of many the deare&s;t friends of God, te&s;tifie that temporall felicity affordeth a &s;incere matter of joy, which is commen&s;urate to the true &s;en&s;e concei|ved of the nature of &s;uch happine&s;&s;e. <HI>Abrahams</HI> wealth was thought worthy the holy Gho&s;ts mentioning as a ble&s;&s;ing, &amp; as his peregrination was fitted with great accommodations; &s;o that &s;tate of un&s;ettledne&s;&s;e was a fixing in his minde, the true nature of all he po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed. In proof whereof, it may well be ob&s;erved, that the only purcha&s;e <HI>Abraham</HI> made upon <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 23.</NOTE> earth with his riches, was a grave; from whence we may in|ferre, how rightly he under&s;tood the truth of their tran&s;itory nature, and his owne mutable condition; whereupon he cho&s;e to take po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of the Land, promi&s;ed him by a marke of
<PB N="70" REF="56">
his parting with it, rather then of his po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing it: thus did he, under&s;tanding the true goodne&s;&s;e of his worldly commodities, derive from them, both exerci&s;es of charity, and notions of mortification, while he imployed his wealth, in the accommodations of &s;trangers and pa&s;&s;engers, and in provi&s;ion of his owne lodging, as a traveller at the end of his journey: and remaining in this rectified &s;en&s;e of his tempo|porall fruitions, all their effects proved a con&s;tant rejoycing in Truth.</P>
<P>By this method <HI>Abraham</HI> extracted the &s;ame Spirit of Truth, out of his plentifull &s;ub&s;tance that <HI>Lazarus</HI> did out of his penury and indigence; and &s;urely, if <HI>Dives</HI> had rejoyced but in the truth of his abundance, and not &s;et his heart upon the fal&s;e part thereof, he would have taken <HI>Lazarus</HI> into his brea&s;t in this life, &amp; then they might have been bed-fellowes in <HI>Abra|hams</HI> Bo&s;ome. For I may truly affirme, that there is no <HI>Lazarus</HI> in this world, who hath not an <HI>Abraham</HI> in his Bo|&s;ome, that &s;hall get to the being in <HI>Abrahams</HI> Bo&s;ome in the next: And likewi&s;e conclude, that there is no <HI>Dives</HI> in this life, who hath a <HI>Lazarus</HI> in his bo&s;ome, that &s;hall not at|taine to <HI>Abrahams</HI> Bo&s;ome in the other world: For there is no nece&s;&s;itous body, wanting fidelity of heart, and poverty of &s;pirit, that can be qualified for that &s;tate meerely by his mi&s;ery; and there is no &s;o &s;plendid or opulent per&s;on, indued with true Chri&s;tian poverty of &s;pirit, that is not thereby intitled to eternall felicity: and &s;urely, as there are many <HI>Lazaru&s;&s;es,</HI> who want this kind of <HI>Abraham</HI> I have explained in their heart; &s;o there are diver&s;e <HI>Abrahams</HI> in this life, as I may terme them, who carry this &s;ort of <HI>Lazarus</HI> in their bo&s;ome, being both rich, humble, and faithfull, contriving all their tempora|ry joy, out of the perception and dilection of the true ble&s;&s;ing; intended in the Creature, and deduce their &s;atisfaction from Gods order, not their owne exaltation, in which re&s;pect they may be proved to rejoyce in verity.</P>
<P>Did not holy <HI>Job</HI> rejoyce in the truth of his worldly goods, when he a&s;&s;igned the mo&s;t of them to &s;acrifices, either expia|tory
<PB N="71" REF="56">
for his children, or propitiatory for him&s;elfe, to purge the exce&s;&s;es of fea&s;ting in his owne family, or to provide again&s;t the exigences of fa&s;ting in the hou&s;es of his neighbours? acting this part which the holy Spirit gives the potent; &s;aying, <HI>the portion of the poore is in the rich mans hands;</HI> and &s;urely we may conceive that in the latter part of his life, (which I may call his temporall re&s;urrection, his e&s;tate ri&s;ing againe to more glory then it had expired with) his piety was al&s;o exalted in proportion to a higher &s;tate of perfection; &s;o that truth being found and acknowledged in any &s;plendid condi|tion, will keepe <HI>Peace and righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e in the family ki&s;sing</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 84.</NOTE> <HI>each other.</HI></P>
<P>Was not King <HI>Davids</HI> va&s;t trea&s;ure well managed by the &s;uperintendency of truth, when he a&s;&s;igned all the mo&s;t preti|ous materialls the earth affordeth to their true u&s;e? &s;ome as it were converted into vocall in&s;truments of Gods pray&s;es; others into vi&s;ible memorialls of his pre&s;ence, and de&s;igned in a Temple as good a &s;en&s;ible figure as he could of the truth he conceived of all materiall &s;ub&s;tances, which was, <HI>of the earths belonging to God, and all the plenitude thereof,</HI> which con|fe&s;&s;ion he made in the&s;e words, <HI>thine are the heavens, and the earth is thine:</HI> In this verity he rejoyced, extracted out of all his tran&s;itory felicity.</P>
<P>And King <HI>Ezekias,</HI> having his trea&s;ury and cabinets filled with all pretious &s;tores, might have rejoyced in the truth of tho&s;e ble&s;&s;ings, without deriving from them vanity and pre|&s;umption, as much as he boa&s;ted of them to the <HI>Babylonians;</HI> &s;o much untruth he found in that felicity, whereof he &s;eemed to have forgot the changeable property, and was quickly in|&s;tructed by the <HI>Prophet,</HI> in the in&s;ecurity of &s;uch goods, where|by <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;ay 39.</NOTE> he di&s;cerned how he had rejoyced in the untruth of his temporal happines; out of which, he might have extracted mat|ter of a true and &s;incere rejoycing; for Gods Spirit atte&s;teth to us, that <HI>he doth not ca&s;t away the mighty, whereas he him&s;elf is mighty.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 36. 5.</NOTE></P>
<P>All the attainders, lying upon great and rich men in the
<PB N="72" REF="57">
Scripture, are brought again&s;t &s;uch as rejoyce in the errours and deceits of temporall goods, &s;uch as either &s;acrifice all their wealth to the Idols of their fancy, or &s;uch as make an Idol of their wealth, and offer up all their thoughts unto it: The voluptuous, or the avaritious are tho&s;e that fall under the &s;entence of the Go&s;pell, and their crime is not what they po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e, but what po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth them, when they doe not rejoyce in the truth of their goods, but delight them&s;elves in contri|ving errours and fallacies out of them; and as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;ayes, <HI>Change the Truth of God into a lie:</HI> So that the defective|ne&s;&s;e <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 1. 25.</NOTE> of their happine&s;&s;e, ari&s;eth out of their degre&s;&s;ion from Truth; and whence doth all the ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e which Chri&s;tian faith annexeth to &s;ufferance, i&s;&s;ue, but from this &s;pring of veri|ty, which &s;treameth out that joy and exultation is propo&s;ed to us, in the afflictions of this life?</P>
<P>How come the thorns of &s;ufferance to beare grapes, the wine whereof rejoyceth the heart, while our &s;en&s;es are prickedct wounded with this &s;pinous or thorny matter? Surely this cor|diall is made of the Spirit of Truth, which may be extracted out of all the a&s;perities of this life; fir&s;t, by con&s;idering the true &s;tate of Humane Nature, de&s;igned to &s;ufferings, not only by &s;entence, but by Grace, in order to the aver&s;ing us from the love of this world: next by contemplating the truth of tho&s;e glorious promi&s;es, which are made to a virtuous corre|&s;pondency with Gods Order, in his di&s;po&s;ure of his creature; &s;o that both the materiall goods and evills of this life, afford no legitimate joy, but what the mind beareth when &s;he is teeming with Truth; we may therefore re&s;olve with King <HI>Da|vid,</HI> that when <HI>Truth doth &s;pring out of the earth, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 85. 11.</NOTE> <HI>&s;hall looke downe from Heaven.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<PB N="73" REF="57">
<HEAD>&sect;. III.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The fallacies of &s;ome Objections &s;olved, and rejoycing in Truth concluded for our reall Happine&s;&s;e.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>BUt now me thinkes, having determined the happine&s;&s;e of this life, in the loving and rejoycing in Truth; many that thinke them&s;elves unhappy, wonder at this conclu|&s;ion, and conceive me di&s;proved by their defeatures, per&s;wa|ding them&s;elves to have beene alwayes &s;uitors and lovers of Truth; when the Truth is, that they doe not fir&s;t &s;eeke verity for the object of their love, but conclude they have found it, in what they have placed their love: Suppo&s;ing their opinions of &s;uch joyes as they pur&s;ue, to be &s;incere and &s;olid truthes; in&s;omuch as I may well re&s;olve &s;uch &s;onnes of men, that <HI>They love vanity, and &s;eek after lies.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 4.</NOTE></P>
<P>In that region of the world which I have travelled the mo&s;t, I may reflect to the inhabitaints of it, one raigning error, which may convince many of in&s;incerity in their addre&s;&s;es to Truth, for the ground of their happine&s;&s;e: this it is, the tru&s;t|ing the infidelity of fortune to others for our owne felicity, de&s;igning our &s;tock, out of the &s;poiles of our fellowes; and in this cour&s;e, doe we not fixe the hopes of our happine&s;&s;e, upon what can never pa&s;&s;e to us, but by &s;uch an infidelity as mu&s;t a&s;&s;ure us we are in continual danger of a like di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion? this mu&s;t needs be our ca&s;e, when the expectance of the unfaithful|ne&s;&s;e of fortune, is made the a&s;&s;ignment of our pro&s;perity: And yet we &s;ee how Courts are commonly divided into the&s;e two partyes, of &s;ome, that are <HI>Sacrificing to their owne nets,</HI> and <NOTE PLACE="marg">Habac. 1. 16.</NOTE> others that are fi&s;hing for &s;uch nets; the fir&s;t, is the &s;tate of &s;uch as are valuing them&s;elves, for what they have taken; the &s;econd, of tho&s;e, who are working and ca&s;ting out, how to catch what the others have drawne: and in this manner, there
<PB N="74" REF="58">
are many who pretend to be lovers of Truth, that make the&s;e fallacies, the very ground of that web of happine&s;&s;e they have in hand.</P>
<P>This is &s;o prepo&s;terous a cour&s;e, for ingenious &s;pirits in order to true felicity, as &s;urely there is much of a cur&s;e in this method, and God warranteth my beliefe, both by the <HI>Prophets</HI> and <HI>Apo&s;tles;</HI> when &s;peaking by the voyce of <HI>E&s;ay</HI> to this ca&s;e, he &s;aith, <HI>They have cho&s;en their owne wayes, wherefore I</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;ay 66. 4.</NOTE> <HI>al&s;o will chu&s;e their delu&s;ions,</HI> and by Saint <HI>Paul,</HI> the holy Spirit &s;aith, <HI>Becau&s;e they received not the love of Truth, for this cau&s;e God &s;ends them &s;trong delu&s;ions, that they &s;hould beleeve a</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 The&s;. 2. 11.</NOTE> <HI>lie.</HI></P>
<P>Let the worlds darlings examine what they confide in for the &s;ecurity of their joyes, and they will finde, it is the <HI>Father of lies,</HI> they tru&s;t for the truth of their felicity, who being not able to dimin&s;h the increated verity, &s;ets all his art to deface all created Truthes, which worke (in this region of the world I now treat of) he de&s;igneth by &s;uch a cour&s;e as he u&s;ed with the Per&s;on of <HI>Truth</HI> it &s;elfe, when he was upon earth; for he carryeth up our imagination to the highe&s;t point of e&s;teeme he can rai&s;e it, of earthly po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions, from whence he expo&s;eth to our fancies, the glories and beauties of this world, in de|ceitfull apparencies, as if they were permanent and &s;ecured fruitions, and our wills are commonly per&s;waded to bowe downe and reverence &s;uch fal&s;e &s;ugge&s;tions; whereof the in|fidelity augmenteth by the degrees of our Devotion in that beliefe; &s;ince the more we confide in their &s;tability, the more fal&s;hood doe we admit for our happine&s;&s;e; and thus are we abu&s;ed in the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of Truth, while we affect all our de|lights under that notion, by the &s;ubtilty of the great enemy of Truth; we are as Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> &s;aith elegantly, brought to hate Truth, by loving tho&s;e things which we love, only as we imagine them to be true, for the impermanency of this worlds goods is odious to us; which is the truth of their na|ture, and we affect in them their a&s;&s;urance, as a truth without which we would not love them, and yet that opinion is a meere delu&s;ion.</P>
<P><PB N="75" REF="58">
This may &s;atisfie many, who account them&s;elves unhappy by the mutations of fortune, and the di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions of their &s;ecular commodities, for they &s;hall finde them&s;elves unfor|tunate, but in the &s;ame mea&s;ure they mi&s;apprehended the true nature of &s;uch fruitions, by as much as they over-loved them, &s;o much are they di&s;tre&s;&s;ed by their lo&s;&s;es, &s;o the defect will &s;till re&s;ult out of the di&s;tance of our joy from this principle, of rightly po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing and rejoycing in Truth, for all our reall unhappine&s;&s;e ri&s;eth by the &s;ame degrees, that <HI>Verities are dimini&s;hed from among the Children of men.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 11. 1.</NOTE></P>
<P>There is one familiar &s;cruple rai&s;ed again&s;t our per&s;wa|ding the active life to this con&s;tant intendment of Truth; which is, that this fixure of the minde upon verity, rather then leaving it a little loo&s;e to opinion, taketh off the point and edge of our &s;pirit, in the activene&s;&s;e and commerces of this life. Whereunto I an&s;wer, that &s;pirits wher and &s;harpned up|on the errours of imagination, are &s;ubject to turne their edge upon the lea&s;t encounter of di&s;appointment; when mindes temper'd by the con&s;ideration of truth, and thereby &s;et and whetted for action, keep their edge cutting again&s;t the haire, as I may &s;ay, not blunted or rebated in any adver&s;e occurrencies; nor doth this brea&s;t of Verity, as &s;ome &s;uppo&s;e, nouri&s;h only the minde, and pine the &s;en&s;es, but feedeth them al&s;o with healthfull and convenie<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> plea&s;ure, and teacheth the &s;oule how to keepe the &s;en&s;es in their true degree of &s;ervants, mana|ging their tru&s;ts only upon account, which the minde taketh &s;o exactly of them, in all the commerce of their delights, as they can never runne out much in prejudice of her e&s;tate; and in this order the rationall part doth the office of the good &s;teward in the Go&s;pell, <HI>Feeding the family with their portions</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 12. 42.</NOTE> <HI>in due &s;ea&s;on.</HI> And &s;urely, this orderly oeconomy in the ma|naging of all worldly goods, (Rea&s;on pre&s;iding, and the &s;en&s;es entertained with competent &s;atisfaction) is the be&s;t &s;tate of happine&s;&s;e this active life can admit. So is it the knowledge and love of Truth, &s;eated in our under&s;tanding, and our affecti|ons which can only con&s;ort this harmony of a con&s;tant rejoy|cing.</P>
<P><PB N="76" REF="59">
And doubtle&s;&s;e, while our fancies doe but counterfeit that truth they expo&s;e to our affections, we can no more ju&s;tly complaine of the in&s;ufficiency of that object, in point of affor|dingus felicity, then of a painted fires not warming us, be it never&s;o wel drawn. For commonly, they are but de&s;igns of our imaginations coloured over with vaine apparencies of Truth, which they exhibite to our affections, for the true &s;ub&s;tances of our happine&s;&s;e: wherefore I may, me thinkes, fittly illu|&s;trate this familiar errour of the world, by this &s;tory of <HI>Zeuxis</HI> the famous Painter; who having made the figure of a boy, with a clu&s;ter of grapes in his hand, being told, the birds &s;ate upon the boyes hand, to peck at the grapes; an&s;wered, this was no true prai&s;e of his art, becau&s;e it was a &s;igne he had painted the grapes better then the man; otherwi&s;e the birds would have been afraid of that figure: In like maner, may I &s;ay, that the&s;e imaginations which figure &s;uch a truth of happine&s;&s;e in &s;en&s;ible delectations, as their affections take them for the reall and &s;incere felicity of this life, are not to be commended for this vivacity, for it is a &s;igne they repre&s;ent more lively to our rea&s;on, the fruits of this world, which the man hath in his hand, then they doe the nature of our humanity, the con&s;titution whereof, if it were truely imaged and figured to our under&s;tanding, would fright our affections from &s;etting them&s;elves upon the fruit of temporalities, by con&s;idering the &s;tate of man; which inadvertency is now familiar, by this partiality of our fancy, in figuring the grapes more to the life then the hand that holds them; if the images which Truth it &s;elfe hath drawn of the condition of man in this life, were well impre&s;&s;ed in our imagination, of being but <HI>a bla&s;t, a vapour, or a &s;haddow;</HI> this would undoubtedly divert our mindes, from taking never &s;o well coloured images of riches, honour, beauty, or dominion, for the true &s;ub&s;tances of humant felicity.</P>
<P>If there be any then, that wonder they are not happy, pre|tending they have alwayes held <HI>Zerubbabels</HI> party, preferring truth before all competitors, of empire, beauty, and plea&s;ure,
<PB N="77" REF="59">
if they are in any great de<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ection of &s;pirit, let them take this cour&s;e to undeceive them&s;elves in this their &s;uppo&s;ed rectitude of intention, (which if it had beene &s;incere, could not have let their mindes &s;inke into any deepe depre&s;&s;ion) let them I &s;ay, examine fir&s;t, whether they have rightly apprehended the &s;tate of our humane Nature, and the condition of all tempo|rall fruitions; and then, whether they have &s;quared their loves to &s;uch delights, by the mea&s;ure of a rectified apprehen&s;ion of both their nature, and their own, for the &s;ame di&s;proporti|ons there are betweene our affections and the true property of tho&s;e things we love, the &s;ame deficiencies mu&s;t be con&s;e|quent in our happine&s;&s;e: and upon this reflection, Truth may tell mo&s;t of the world, <HI>This people honoureth me with their lips, but their hearts are farre from me,</HI> and as the increated Truth <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iohn 8.</NOTE> told the <HI>Phari&s;ees,</HI> who pretended to have great intere&s;t in God the Father, that if what they alledged had beene true, <HI>They would have acknowledged him al&s;o, becau&s;e he proceeded from the Father.</HI> So in the name of the created Truth, which is to be found in all Gods Workes, I may &s;ay to many &s;uch pretenders, if they had truly loved the Originall Verity, they would have beene po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed of the true nature and u&s;e of the creature, which notion i&s;&s;ueth and proceeds out of an appli|cation to the fir&s;t Verity.</P>
<P>Having &s;hewed how the beames of Truth enlighten both hemi&s;pheres of the contemplative and active life, and infu&s;e into each of them, their re&s;pective happine&s;&s;e, I may conclude with the <HI>Wi&s;emans</HI> confe&s;&s;ion, <HI>upon his loving of Truth, above</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Sap. 7. 10. 11.</NOTE> <HI>health or beauty, that hers is the only light, becau&s;e it is inextin|gui&s;hable, and that all other goods come together with her,</HI> and Devotion may lawfully u&s;e the words of her great ma&s;ter, and a&s;&s;ure her followers, <HI>If you continue in my word, then are you truly my di&s;ciples, and you &s;hall know the Truth, and the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ioh. 8. 31. 32.</NOTE> <HI>Truth &s;hall make you free.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="8" TYPE="treatise">
<PB N="78" REF="60">
<HEAD>The eighth Treati&s;e. Touching the meanes of po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing that Truth wherein the happine&s;&s;e of this life is &s;tated. In two &s;ections.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Diffidence in point of obtaining Spirituall lights reprehended, and prayer propo&s;ed in order to this de&s;igne.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>NOW me thinks I am called upon, as one that hath advi&s;ed a traveller not to lo&s;e his way, to give &s;ome nearer directions for the finding it, as a further con|tribution towards the &s;ecuring his journeyes end, then a &s;im|ple caution again&s;t the danger of deviation; For as <HI>Solomon</HI> telleth us, <HI>The lame man in the way maketh more ha&s;t then a Cour&s;er out of it.</HI></P>
<P>And by rea&s;on there may be many different humours, that may ask this que&s;tion of Saint <HI>Thomas, How can we know the way to this &s;o excellent po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of truth?</HI> I may well premi&s;e this con&s;ideration before my an&s;wer, that there was a wide difference between <HI>Pilat's</HI> Interrogatory concerning truth, when he asked our <HI>Saviour, What is truth?</HI> and Saint <HI>Thomas</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iohn 18. 38.</NOTE> his que&s;tion about finding the way to it, &s;aying, <HI>How can we know the way?</HI> The fir&s;t &s;eemed to que&s;tion onely the truth of <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iohn 14. 6.</NOTE> <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> affirmation, not to intend the being &s;atisfied in his que&s;tion, whereas the other &s;ought to be informed of the rea|dye&s;t
<PB N="79" REF="60">
acce&s;&s;e to that truth which he believed; &s;o they who &s;hall be moved onely by the captiou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the Infidel ex|aminant in this point, are like after his manner not to &s;tay long enough upon the inque&s;t, to be enlightened in this verity; but to &s;uch as with the credulity of faithfull Di&s;ciples, &s;hall make this <HI>quaere, How &s;hall we know the way to this truth you propo&s;e?</HI> namely, a rectifyed under&s;tanding and true u&s;e of all <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 28. 6.</NOTE> pro&s;perous and adver&s;e events in this life, I may &s;ay as the <HI>An|gel</HI> did to the faithfull watchers at the Sepulchre, after he had &s;trucken as it were dead the mi&s;creant wayters, <HI>Fear not you, If you &s;eek Je&s;us:</HI> for he an&s;wereth all &s;incere inquirers of truth, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iohn: 14. 6.</NOTE> as he did Saint <HI>Thomas, I am the way and the truth, and none commeth to verity but by me:</HI> yet this me thinks gives a fair hint for &s;uch a further demand as Saint <HI>Philips</HI> was, &s;aying, <HI>Shew us the plain direct way of comming to you, Lord Je&s;us, and it will &s;uffice us;</HI> This que&s;tion <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> hath al&s;o an&s;wered by this mo&s;t evident direction of <HI>Ask, &s;eek, and knock, for every one that asketh receiveth, and that &s;eeketh findeth, and to him that knock|eth it &s;hall be opened.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Math. 7. 7.</NOTE></P>
<P>Prayer is therefore expre&s;ly given us for our addre&s;&s;e to <HI>Je&s;us</HI> who is truth, and in the&s;e three proper divi&s;ions, of pe|tition, meditation, and per&s;everance, which ought to be con|comitant with each of them; our asking re&s;pecteth the parti|cular &s;uits we make, &s;eeking importeth the application of our minds unto Spiritual verityes, and knocking referreth to our zeal, earne&s;tne&s;&s;e, and per&s;everance in the acts of prayer, and to this &s;ort of pro&s;ecution, is annexed the promi&s;e of a&s;&s;equti|on of truth: wherefore I may an&s;wer my inquirers, as <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> did &s;ome who di&s;tru&s;ted his propo&s;als, <HI>If any man will do this wil of Je&s;us, he &s;hall under&s;tand of the Doctrine whether it be of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iohn 7. 17.</NOTE> <HI>God, or I &s;peak of my &s;elf;</HI> So that con&s;idering aright the&s;e gra|tious a&s;&s;ignations unto prayer, I may &s;ay, we may obtain the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of verity, even with le&s;&s;e &s;olicitude then we can neg|lect it; for the &s;eeking, asking; and knocking, in this world upon &s;uch applications as divert us from this inque&s;t, are the more laborious a&s;&s;ignments of our mind.</P>
<P><PB N="80" REF="61">
May I not therefore boldly reply to all the incredulous and disbelievers of the facility of this <HI>medium</HI> exhibited; <HI>Say not in thine heart, who &s;hall thus a&s;cend into heaven? for the word is nigh thee in thy mouth, and in thy heart;</HI> we onely need <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 10. 6. 8.</NOTE> but (as the <HI>Prophet</HI> advi&s;eth us) return <HI>to our own hearts</HI> to find that happyne&s;&s;e, which while we &s;eek el&s;e-where, we lo&s;e our hearts in that inque&s;t. True it is, that the great enemy of our nature, u&s;eth all his arts towards the prejudicating this belief, of the al&s;ufficiency of prayer, in which de&s;igne he doth now impugne our nature, by a Machination farre differing from his fir&s;t, &s;landering it to us now, almo&s;t as much as he did here|tofore flatter it; for now to di&s;credit to us our capacity of re|pairing his fir&s;t breach, he &s;ugge&s;teth the ineptitude of our pre&s;ent &s;tate for this perception of truth, and &s;eemeth to ask us now by way of deri&s;ion, <HI>Shall you be like Gods thus knowing good and evill?</HI> &s;o that he tempteth us now, and often prevaileth upon us, even by the di&s;paragement of our nature; thus much hath he gained upon us &s;ince his fir&s;t acquaintance, when he dur&s;t not attempt us by le&s;&s;e then the promi&s;e of a capacity above our nature, to wit, of knowing like Gods; whereas now, he pre&s;umes to implead our right to that knowledge which is due to us as men, that is, the di&s;cernment of our being quali|fied for the penetration into truth by the beames of prayer and meditation; But the <HI>holy Spirit</HI> hath left us a good cauti|on again&s;t this delu&s;ion, <HI>Re&s;i&s;t the Devill and he will flie from you, approach to God and he will approach to you:</HI> This refuteth <NOTE PLACE="marg">James 4. 8.</NOTE> all &s;ugge&s;tions of diffidence in this point of attaining by pray|er the effect of my propo&s;ition, &s;ince God promi&s;eth to &s;et forward to meet us, as &s;oon as our prayers do but &s;et out to|wards him, which is likewi&s;e aver'd by the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t,</HI> a&s;&s;uring us, <HI>God is near all &s;uch as call upon him in truth.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 145.</NOTE></P>
<P>Gods mercy hath &s;o much outdone mans mi&s;chiefe, as he hath not left him, either the &s;ubtilty of the Devil, or the in|firmity of his nature to charge with the continuance of his mi|&s;ery; there mu&s;t go an acce&s;&s;ion of wilfulne&s;&s;e to our weakne&s;&s;e for the duration of our unhappyne&s;&s;e: For &s;ince the Divine
<PB N="73" REF="61">
power hath <HI>given unto us all things that pertain unto life and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Peter 3.</NOTE> <HI>godline&s;&s;e,</HI> we have no more colour left to diffide in the meanes of rectifying the enormities of our infirm nature, then a Ma|lefactor that were offer'd grace for asking it, had rea&s;on to fall &s;ick &amp; die for fear of his former &s;entence; he who hath blotted <HI>out the hand-writing of the Decree again&s;t our nature,</HI> hath gi|ven us his hand for &s;uch &s;ecurity of obtaining what we &s;olicite by this appointed meanes and method, as we can onely indan|ger the wanting a &s;ufficient provi&s;ion, by our pretending too little by this addre&s;&s;e, for &s;urely this rule will hold in our ask|ing little Spirituall light, that what we have, &s;hall be rather taken away then more confer'd, and the contrary di&s;po&s;ition, will likewi&s;e be an&s;wered with the more abundance.</P>
<P>What Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> conceiveth to be the ca&s;e of the Saints in heaven, in this point of &s;upplicating God, may be firly &s;aid to be that of us &s;inners upon earth, in our act of petitioning for Spirituall light and verity: as the Saints the more ardently they are united to God, receive the more fervent impul&s;es from him, of asking what they know he is re&s;olved to do, and thus drink out of him, what they thir&s;t for in him; after &s;uch a manner, the more zealou&s;ly our prayers are applyed to the pur&s;uite of Spirituall illumination, the more fervent de&s;ires we attract from the increated verity, of begging what we are &s;ure he will give, <HI>viz:</HI> the di&s;cernment of truth, whereby in an admirable &s;ort, we draw from <HI>Je&s;us,</HI> even in this life, the hunger in the very food we take of them, while our prayer at|tracting the infu&s;ion of truth, doth extract conjoyntly out of tho&s;e verityes fre&s;h de&s;ires of the &s;ame illuminations.</P>
<P>May not the&s;e con&s;iderations ju&s;tly &s;ilence any objection again&s;t the facility of this propo&s;ed <HI>medium</HI> of prayer, for obtaining from God a &s;ufficient communication of that truth, wherein I have &s;tated the happine&s;&s;e of this life? &s;ince there is no condition charged upon this grant, but the &s;incere de&s;iring it, which is compri&s;ed in the direction of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> prementioned; and the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> witne&s;&s;eth to the &s;ame tenor, re-minding us in this particular, the frequent promi&s;es of the giver of all good
<PB N="74" REF="62">
things, whereupon he urgeth us thus expre&s;ly to this applica|tion, <HI>If any of you want wi&s;dome, let him aske it of God, who gi|veth all men liberally, and it &s;hall be given you.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">James 1. 5.</NOTE></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>What &s;incerity in prayer is requi&s;ite for this ef|fect, and what kind of peace is to be expe|cted.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>THe&s;e promi&s;es of the increated verity delivered by his own mouth being premi&s;ed, together with this conveyed to us by the holy Organ of his Secretary, Saint <HI>James,</HI> I may confidently give every one this addre&s;&s;e to the effect of my propo&s;al, the asking wi&s;dome of God, by &s;incere and humble apprecations, for indeed the &s;oul hath no hand wherewith to reach her &s;u&s;tenance from heaven but prayer, and by this hand &s;he offereth her &s;acrifice of prai&s;e, and reacheth to her &s;elf the exchange of &s;uccour for all her nece&s;|&s;ities: wherefore in order to this commerce with God, the <HI>A|po&s;tle</HI> Saint <HI>Paul</HI> advi&s;eth us <HI>to pray every where, lifting up pure</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Tim. 2.</NOTE> <HI>hands;</HI> Here prayer is a&s;&s;igned the function of the hand to of|fer up, and to bring down to us all returnes from heaven. But we mu&s;t remember this binding clau&s;e in the promi&s;e of Saint <HI>James,</HI> that our prayer mu&s;t be without any &s;tammering, or he&s;itation in our faith.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t we ought to believe &s;teadily Gods providence in all the various contingencies that &s;eem to &s;hake humane rea&s;on: Next, our prayer mu&s;t not waver between the de&s;ire of <HI>this wi&s;dome, which brings all other good with it,</HI> and the affectati|on principally of &s;ome peculiar good we de&s;igne for our feli|city, for this is an he&s;itation in faith, when we do po&s;itively elect any temporall fruition for our happine&s;&s;e, becau&s;e there|in
<PB N="75" REF="62">
we to&s;&s;e and flote between the fear of that privation, and the reference of all our proprieties, to the cour&s;e of that providence which wheels about all temporalities; In&s;omuch as this he&s;ita|tion <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 11. Ju&s;tificata e&s;t &s;apientia a filijs &s;uis.</NOTE> makes a kind of mentall &s;tammering in our prayer, when there is as it were &s;ome knot upon our heart, that doubles it and keepes it from opening it &s;elf freely to this de&s;ire of &s;pi|rituall wi&s;dome. And as in this vocall impediment, the eager|ne&s;&s;e doth rather fa&s;ten then untye the tongue, &s;o in this im|plication of our heart in any worldly affection, our zeal and fervor in the pur&s;uite of that petition, is rather an impediment to the freedome of our mind, then any &s;olution to the difficul|ties of our peace.</P>
<P>But I de&s;ire it may be remembred that the meanes I propo&s;e of obtaining happine&s;&s;e by prayer, is not the fervency of the &s;pirit in &s;uch petitions, as the fle&s;h doth commonly indite, namely, an attaining either riches, honour, or the like tempo|rall commodities; but in that &s;incere ardor of the &s;oul, to|wards the impetration of &s;uch a fervent love of God, as indu|ceth a compo&s;ure and &s;teadine&s;&s;e of mind, equalling and &s;i|zing our wils with our conditions, and by that meanes keeping the peace of our mind volubile and concentrick with the moti|ons of Divine providence; and this is an effect of that wi&s;dome onely which the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> Saint <HI>James</HI> &s;ayes, <HI>de&s;cends from a|bove,</HI> and is a&s;&s;igned for all tho&s;e that ask it, without he&s;itation in faith, or duplicity of mind.</P>
<P>Not that I di&s;&s;wade the negotiants of the world, their pur|&s;uite of earthly commodities, nor the praying for adeption, and con&s;ervation of temporall ble&s;&s;ings, but it mu&s;t not be as they have placed their happine&s;&s;e on the materiall part of tho&s;e de&s;ires, but as the greate&s;t good of them is, their being grants, and conce&s;&s;ions to prayer, which when it is &s;incere, refers the will of the &s;uppliant to that of the Soveraign Creator of all wills, who doth often as Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> &s;aies, mercifully de|ny us, when we know not what we ask; for there may be many events &s;olicicited or deprecated, in relation to Gods &s;ervice by the dim light of our rea&s;on, which do not &s;tand with the
<PB N="76" REF="63">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="85" REF="63">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="76" REF="64">
order of Gods providence, and &s;o our praying may be accep|table, when our prayer is not accordable; but this &s;uit of &s;pi|rituall wi&s;dome, (whereby to adju&s;t our wills to all the events and orders of Divine providence,) is not onely a&s;&s;ured of ac|ceptation, but of conce&s;&s;ion; on the other &s;ide there is no tem|porall project of ours never &s;o Pious, wherein we may not be mi&s;taken in the &s;pecialty of the way, and meanes whereby God hath de&s;igned to be glorifyed, whether by his ju&s;tice upon us, or his mercy to us; wherefore this grace of confor|mity to all his de&s;ignations, is the onely petition we can be &s;ure hath this reference made to it by Saint <HI>Iohn,</HI> viz: That it is <HI>made according to the will of God,</HI> and con&s;equently is ac|corded <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 E. Ioh. 5. 14.</NOTE> to us by his promi&s;e, of <HI>What&s;oever we ask according to his will, he heares us.</HI></P>
<P>Neverthele&s;&s;e, even they who are di&s;charged of any weigh|ty &s;olicitude in this world, mu&s;t not expect &s;uch a fixure and &s;teadine&s;&s;e of their minds, as not to feel the motions of our fluent un&s;teady nature, which heaveth and &s;ets a little, even in our greate&s;t calmes: This is that emotion and unevenne&s;&s;e whereunto Saint <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aies, <HI>even tho&s;e who have the fir&s;t fruits</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8. 23.</NOTE> <HI>of the Spirit</HI> are &s;ubjected, <HI>viz:</HI> &s;ome &s;welling and groaning within them&s;elves; and Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> tells us, that exemp|tion from combate is properly the <HI>Angelicall</HI> priviledge, and not to be &s;ubdued or ma&s;tered in the contention, is the &s;upre|me&s;t point of fixure, attainable in our mortal nature.</P>
<P>Wherefore they mu&s;t not conclude this advice defective, who do not attain to &s;uch an evenne&s;&s;e of peace by prayer, as they figure to them&s;elves, re&s;ting without any breath of di&s;|quiet to &s;hake tho&s;e leaves of pa&s;&s;ions, which hang upon the &s;tock of our nature, but mu&s;t conclude, &s;uch agitations of the &s;en&s;itive part of their &s;oules no le&s;&s;e naturall then wind in the middle region of the ayre, for Saint <HI>Paul</HI> tells us what we find by familiar experience, that <HI>we have our trea&s;ure not in earthen ve&s;&s;els;</HI> &s;o that to be troubled, but not di&s;tre&s;&s;ed; to be vexed, <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 4.</NOTE> and not vitiated, is the be&s;t e&s;tabli&s;hment of happyne&s;&s;e, com|petent with this &s;tate of our Peregrination; and this degree
<PB N="85" REF="64">
of tranquility of &s;pirit is to be attained by petition to him, whom the &s;ea, and the windes of humane frailtyes obey upon his rebuking them.</P>
<P>Saint <HI>Paul</HI> (who had learn'd to be equally content in all <NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 4.</NOTE> e&s;tates of abundance, and aba&s;ement) did not find this &s;cience at the feet of <HI>Gamaliel,</HI> but rather upon his own knees at <HI>Da|ma&s;cus,</HI> when, <HI>Behold he prayes,</HI> was alledged for the rea&s;on of his relief; and by u&s;ing his own pre&s;cription of <HI>Pray continu|ally,</HI> he attained to &s;uch a &s;trong habit of mind, as pre&s;erved his equanimity in all the inequalities of his conditions. For when in one day, the &s;ame hands that would have &s;acrificed to him as a God, did &s;acrifice him to their own evill &s;pirits; he tore his clothes with more emotion of &s;pirit when he was vainly to be Deifi'd, then he &s;uffered the tearing of his fle&s;h when he was thus unju&s;tly damnifi'd.</P>
<P>This patern in one part affords us a fair copie of the muta|bility of humane nature in her own current, and in the other a draught of that con&s;tancy may be &s;uperinduced upon it, by this intervention of grace, which is attracted naturally by the a&s;pirations of prayer, according to what the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> tells us, <HI>I opened my mouth, and I drew in thy Spirit;</HI> I may therefore hope to have acquitted my &s;elf of &s;uch direction as was requi|&s;ite <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al.</NOTE> for attaining the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of that truth wherin I had con|&s;tituted happine&s;&s;e, and my way is &s;o acce&s;&s;ible, it lies as neer every one as their own wil, which is affirmed by the <HI>holy Spirit,</HI> &s;aying, <HI>Open thy mouth and I will fill it.</HI></P>
<P>This con&s;idered, I may expect the per&s;wading &s;ome at Court to be &s;uitors to God for Devotion, concurrently with all their other &s;uites; &s;ince in all the fortunes they can make they cannot unmake fortune: For the variable temper of hu|mane felicities, is not to corrected and fixed. Since they cannot then &s;tay what is tran&s;itory, let them attend to arre&s;t that which is fixable, which is a good degree of peaceable ac|quie&s;cence of &s;pirit, in all tran&s;itory events; and as no tem|poralities can conferre this &s;pirit, &s;o no contingencies can &s;eque&s;ter it, for it is the &s;pirit of Truth, that &s;tayes our minde;
<PB N="86" REF="65">
which partly is compo&s;ed of the knowledge, and expectance of alternative variations in temporalities; and hence it is, that in all adver&s;e changes, this &s;pirit is rather in action and practice of his owne con&s;tant nature, then in &s;uffering or pa&s;&s;ion, with the fraile nature of temporall mutations.</P>
<P>Let me then intreat all tho&s;e (who neede not be pre&s;&s;ed to mu&s;ter them&s;elves at Saint <HI>Pauls</HI> &s;ummons of <HI>Rejoyce al|wayes)</HI> to remember that this trea&s;ure is the pay, and &s;tipend of his di&s;cipline, of <HI>pray without cea&s;ing, and give thankes in every thing, for this is the will of God:</HI> Whereby we may <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 The&s;. 5.</NOTE> make all the &s;everall conveyances of Gods providences new deeds of joy to us, when our rejoycing is &s;eated upon his will, and thus our happine&s;&s;e that cannot &s;tand &s;till upon the fixure of our fortunes, may be firme upon the confixure of our wills, to that immoveable one that changes all things, <HI>Without any</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">James 1. 17</NOTE> <HI>vici&s;situde or &s;hadow of change in it &s;elfe.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="9" TYPE="treatise">
<HEAD>The ninth Treati&s;e. Of the Condition of Courts, Princes, and Courtiers. Divided into three Sect.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The be&s;t Notion of Courts propo&s;ed.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>IN the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> all the Rites and Ceremonies were not only declaratory formes of the pre&s;ent Religion, but &s;ignificative figures of a future &s;tate; and how&s;oever, mo&s;t of the vulgar looked no farther then the glo&s;&s;e and lu&s;tre of the exterior vaile, which was the beauty and decency of the forme, and order that affected them; yet the nobler &s;ort pa&s;&s;ed their &s;ight through that vaile, and fixed it upon the &s;ignificati|on,
<PB N="87" REF="65">
and my&s;terie it &s;elfe, and thereby, had not only their eye of &s;en&s;e delighted, but that of their under&s;tanding enlightned by the&s;e objects.</P>
<P>In reference whereunto I may hope not improperly to ap|ply the&s;e con&s;iderations to the Courts of Princes, &s;ince all the exteriour &s;tate of Ceremony and Reverence (being truly con|ceived) is &s;ignificative as referr'd to the images of God, and thus all the di&s;tingui&s;hed ranks of honour, which compo&s;e the formall order of Courts, are figures of tho&s;e different degrees of Mini&s;ters, which attend their Originall, the King of Kings: and in this order, the Glory and Maje&s;ty which exteriorly in all &s;orts, re&s;ideth about the per&s;ons of Princes, may be fitly under&s;tood to repre&s;ent (in &s;uch &s;haddowes as the&s;e materi|alities can make) the cele&s;tiall magnificence of the King of Heaven: &s;o that one who will interpret religiou&s;ly the Cere|monies of Princes Courts, may &s;ay, <HI>all things befall them in</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 1.</NOTE> <HI>figures.</HI></P>
<P>But certaine it is, there are many in Courts, who determine and center their thoughts upon the fronts and out-&s;ides of the&s;e man&s;ions, which are honour, riches, &amp; plea&s;ure, and rai&s;e all their Devotions to the place upon tho&s;e objects, (and &s;uch are truly the meaner &s;ort of Courtiers, though they be grea|te&s;t in the mea&s;ure of the world) and there are &s;ome of the other party, who penetrate into the religious &s;en&s;e of the&s;e ex|teriour figures, and derive from them, &s;pirituall conceptions and appetities; concluding by the&s;e glories, (which are but the &s;haddowes of tho&s;e they &s;ignifie that the &s;ub&s;tance it &s;elf mu&s;t needs be <HI>above what eye hath &s;eene, or eare heard, or hath entred into the heart of Man;</HI> and &s;o by this view are quick|ned in their ambition, towards tho&s;e originall honours; and the&s;e are the nobility of Courts, though they be never &s;o infe|riour in office.</P>
<P>Of the&s;e two kindes of Courtiers is verified, <HI>The fir&s;t &s;hall be</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 19.</NOTE> <HI>la&s;t, and the la&s;t fir&s;t.</HI> And likewi&s;e of the fir&s;t &s;ort we may &s;ay, as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;aith of the Law, <HI>the Letter kils.</HI> If the litte|rall &s;en&s;e of the faire text of this worlds glories take up and
<PB N="88" REF="66">
fix their mindes; and of the latter &s;ort <HI>the &s;pirit quickens,</HI> when out of the&s;e &s;pecious objects they extract a &s;pirituall &s;en&s;e, which excites in them a cele&s;tiall a&s;piring and emulati|on.</P>
<P>Such a figurative conception Saint <HI>Fulgentius</HI> framed out of the&s;e images, when he was asked, whether the beauty and Maje&s;ty of <HI>Rome</HI> did not worke upon his affections? he an&s;we|red, <HI>If terre&s;triall Rome be &s;o beautifull, how glorious mu&s;t be cele&s;tiall Jeru&s;alem?</HI> His minde was &s;o little taken or retarded on her way, as &s;he &s;tayd not at all in the outward Court of the Gentiles, but pa&s;&s;ed on, as in her way through it, to the <HI>Holy of Holies;</HI> and by this method, who attend the offices of their mindes upon earth, and waite not upon the places of their bodies, concluding that they are but &s;trangers, and pa&s;&s;engers through the&s;e courts, and <HI>Fellow-citizens of the Saints, and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe. 2. 9.</NOTE> <HI>Dome&s;tikes of God;</HI> make excellent u&s;e of all the lu&s;trous, and poli&s;hed glories of the place: for in&s;tead of looking on them as flattering gla&s;&s;es, and mirrours which reflect only the materiall beauty of the earth, they make opticke gla&s;&s;es of them, through which, they do the ea&s;ilier take the height of the cele&s;tiall glo|ries: and &s;urely, the &s;ight of our minde is much helped by &s;uch materiall in&s;truments, in the &s;peculation of &s;piritualities, by rea&s;on that in this her pri&s;on, all the intelligence of our minde with immaterialities, pa&s;&s;eth as I may &s;ay, through her keepers hands, which are her &s;en&s;es, that can carry nothing but corporeall images to her; and therefore we &s;ee the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> Saint <HI>John</HI> drawes the image of the court of heaven, in &s;uch <NOTE PLACE="marg">Revel. 21.</NOTE> colours as are mo&s;t vi&s;ible and mo&s;t affecting in the Courts of the earth; whereby to rai&s;e our imaginations upon the&s;e &s;teps, which they can tread upon to &s;ome proportionate concep|tion of &s;uch fruitions, as are truly all &s;pirituall, and Intelle|ctuall.</P>
<P>And under this notion, all the lu&s;ters and &s;plendors of Courts, (being under&s;tood as figures of the &s;ublimer, and pu|rer &s;tate of the Kingdome of heaven) are convenient a&s;cents for our weak apprehen&s;ions to ri&s;e up to the love and e&s;tima|tion
<PB N="89" REF="66">
of the&s;e &s;pirituall objects; for the &s;ame affections which move us &s;o &s;trongly in the valuation of the &s;tate of Princes, may work upon us towards the pur&s;uite of that condition, which is propo&s;ed to us, of &s;itting on the throne with the King of kings, and enjoying more Maje&s;ty and plea&s;ure then we can wi&s;h in this life, by &s;uch little paterns pre&s;ented to our appe|tites. Nay by this order, even the vanities and exce&s;&s;es of this world (which were &s;tumbling blocks to our minds as long as they looked but upon them, and not through them) are by this per&s;pection and through light laid under our feet, and made &s;teps or gradations for our minds to a&s;cend the ea&s;ilyer even to the contempt of them, and the contemplating the &s;in|cere and &s;ecure glories of our Spirituall Coronation.</P>
<P>And &s;ince, as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;aith, <HI>We &s;ee now but through a</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 13.</NOTE> <HI>gla&s;&s;e, and darkly</HI> through the brighte&s;t creatures, &s;ome faint beames or glances of the Creator; Surely the Maje&s;ty and &s;plendor of Princes is the mo&s;t clear and be&s;t poli&s;hed gla&s;&s;e we can look through, in order to the &s;peculation; and &s;o Courtiours who &s;tudie the Spirituall opticks in the&s;e gla&s;&s;es, may make in&s;truments of protracting their &s;ight, of the &s;ame glaring temporalities, which others make the dazling and di&s;&s;ipation of it; whereby of &s;uch &s;tudents at Court, I may &s;ay with the wi&s;e&s;t of Kings, <HI>In vain the net is &s;pread in the &s;ight of &s;uch birds,</HI> for they can ea&s;ily flie over all the &s;nares of va|nity, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 1. 17.</NOTE> which catch <HI>tho&s;e who want the&s;e wings of contem|plation.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<PB N="90" REF="67">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The vitiou&s;ne&s;&s;e of Heathen &s;ouls cen&s;ured, and the con&s;equence of the example of Princes, urged as a charge upon the virtue of their lives.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>CHri&s;tianity hath repealed this Canon again&s;t Courtiers made by the Poets (the Divines of the Heathen) <HI>Exeat aul&acirc; qui vult e&s;&s;e pius,</HI> that one mu&s;t either quit the Court or his con&s;cience; this caution might be pertinent in the courts of &s;uch Princes, as were rather the images of tho&s;e they made their gods, then of the God that made them; f<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> as the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> &s;aies, <HI>The gods of the Gentiles are Devils,</HI> &amp; their Prin|ces were the gods of tho&s;e Courtiers; every flatterer was a &s;tatuary, who ca&s;t his Prince into a god, of that gold he had either received, or expected from him; and thus mo&s;t of them &s;et up their own fortunes in their thoughts, which they adored under the image of their Prince; and by this cour&s;e the Kings of the Gentiles, &s;eemed animated idols of gold and &s;il|ver, who&s;e breath pa&s;&s;ed for divine ayre, as it melted tho&s;e mettals, and made them run, and flowe about their flatterers&punc; in &s;uch Courts likely all the offices, and complacencies of the Courtiers, were immolations and &s;acrifices to idols; true it is, that there mu&s;t have been too much danger to live in &s;uch Courts, where the very ayer was pe&s;tilentiall.</P>
<P>This was in the Monarchy of <HI>Lucifer</HI> over the world, when mo&s;t Princes lived like his vice-Kings; but &s;ince this Tyrant hath been depo&s;ed by our King of kings, who took <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 3.</NOTE> not all the Kingdomes of the earth of him upon the termes that u&s;urper offered him, but di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed him of them by his own right, and inve&s;ted his Deputies in the Crowns of the earth; by which act Chri&s;tian Princes are now lnaugurated
<PB N="91" REF="67">
Vice g<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">nts to the King of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; and as they reign by his Commi&s;&s;ion, &s;o the offices and dutyes of their &s;ervants are copies of their Alleg<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ance to the Supream Soveraign of them both, who faith truly, <HI>By me Kings reign;</HI> and when they are images of both his properties, <HI>viz:</HI> of his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, as well as of his reg<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="3 letters">ty, the offices o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> Courtiers may be e|&s;teemed neerer Sacred functions, then &s;educing temptations.</P>
<P>Princes then are &s;o much engaged to Per&s;onal Piety, as they &s;eem depo&s;itaries, not onely of the Politique, but even of the Moral virtue of their &s;tate; as they have the fir&s;t tru&s;t given them by the Ordinance of God, &s;o have they the la&s;t reference made to them, by the inordinatene&s;&s;e of man: For our nature traffiqueth with virtue commonly, as &s;he <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ees it makes returnes in the world; and &s;o Courtiers, when they find this Royall exchange (of the Princes di&s;po&s;ition) open and promi&s;ing honourable returnes of their commerce with vir|tue, are ea&s;ily per&s;waded to imploy their &s;tock upon this adventure, and are as ea&s;ily di&s;couraged by <HI>Balaa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">s</HI> returne from the King, <HI>I thought <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">o have rai&s;ed thee to preferment, but</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Numb. 24.</NOTE> <HI>the Lord hath kept thee back from honour:</HI> Such wrecks of ex|pectations will ea&s;ily fright many adventurers.</P>
<P>In this re&s;pect Princes had need to be very con&s;iderate, what Moral Lawes they pa&s;&s;e for their Court by their lives, &s;ince Courtiers are likely very religious in &s;uch ob&s;ervances. All factions at Court likely agree in this voice of <HI>We have no King but Ce&s;ar; Chri&s;t</HI> is not immediately looked upon as our p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">tern; we are much readier to copie tho&s;e his images, becau&s;e we are &s;oon paid for our work: Wherefore Princes are bound to be very accurate in pre&s;erving the &s;imilitude of the Originall, in the figure of their lives; they had need as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> advi&s;eth, <HI>bear the image of the Cele&s;tiall man,</HI> &s;ince <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Corin. 15.</NOTE> the terre&s;triall man is &s;o apt to bear their image; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e&s;t they incur then our <HI>Saviours Woe</HI> to tho&s;e who did not onely not come them&s;elves into the Kingdome of heaven, but kept al&s;o others out of it. Let them for Gods &s;ake be followers of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> &s;ince whether they be or no, men will be followers of them.</P>
<P><PB N="92" REF="68">
There is me thinks &s;uch a difference between any noted vitiou&s;ne&s;&s;e in Princes, and a much greater depravation in pri|vate per&s;ons, as is between the Maligne influence of the Pla|nets, or the Cele&s;tiall bodies, and the poy&s;on of plants and minerals; for although the ill of the fir&s;t be not &s;imply &s;o great, <HI>viz:</HI> inten&s;ively &s;o mortal in the operation, yet con|&s;idering this circum&s;tance of the exten&s;ive quality of it, that the malignity hath a generall influence, and offends imper|ceptibly, and &s;o is le&s;&s;e evitable, in the&s;e regards it may be counted the greater nocency in nature: So the lives of Princes have &s;uch an univer&s;all influence upon their Court, (at lea&s;t) as a &s;mall infection thus &s;pread by them, may be e&s;teemed a greater ill, then the rank poy&s;onous lives of &s;uch who&s;e examples are not operative; and this rule holds in all Courtiers de&s;cending in proportion to their &s;everal degrees, &s;ince all of them according to their re&s;pective magnitudes, have like the le&s;&s;er &s;tarres, &s;ome power of in&s;inuating their tempers to their dependencies; &s;ince our intere&s;ted nature doth commonly, as the <HI>Prophet</HI> &s;aies, do &s;ome wor&s;hip to all the <HI>militia</HI> of <HI>this fir|mament,</HI> re&s;pectively to that fertility of the earth, they are likely to impart to us; for as among the <HI>Gentiles</HI> there were le&s;&s;er gods for &s;everall &s;peciall nece&s;&s;ities, hou&s;hold as well as temple gods: &s;o in Courts, there are &s;uperior powers of many &s;i&s;es, that have votaries proportionate to &s;uch powers.</P>
<P>Con&s;idering then the communicative felicity which Prin|ces have of their di&s;po&s;itions, ought they not to be mo&s;t cha|ry and tender of this highe&s;t Prerogative? which is, to impo&s;e virtue by their practice of it, &amp; this Spirituall levy made upon the mindes of the people, facilitates the rai&s;ing upon them all other tributes.</P>
<P>Therefore Princes &s;hould be as religious in their lives, as they are politickly ju&s;t in their coines; they mu&s;t take heed of crying up any ba&s;e &s;pecies to an over-value, &s;ince their &s;tamp and impre&s;&s;ion makes all their morall coyne &s;o currant in their Court, by rea&s;on the images of their humor, are as it were privy &s;eales for the receit of tho&s;e images wherewith their fol|lowers
<PB N="93" REF="68">
are mo&s;t affected: and becau&s;e it is no crime to coun|terfeit this kinde of the Princes &s;ignature, but rather a warrant for their preten&s;ions, likely the whole Court is a &s;tamp of the Kings humour and affection.</P>
<P>This influence of Princes, upon the di&s;po&s;itions of their Courts, needs not the depo&s;ition of examples, &s;ince it hath the Authority of a knowne principle; therefore I &s;hall only offer one precedent in the ca&s;e, in which the example and extrava|gancy is &s;o &s;ingular, as the very foulne&s;&s;e of the Te&s;timony mu&s;t make the proofe the fairer, and the more irrefragable. There was a Grecian Emperour, called <HI>Con&s;tantinus,</HI> &s;urnamed <HI>Copronimus,</HI> which Surname he gave him&s;elfe before he could <NOTE PLACE="marg">He fouled the font in which he was bap|tized.</NOTE> &s;peake, when he was fir&s;t brought into the Church, by fouling it as much as his nature could then extend unto; and after|ward, his life was a truer performance of that unclean promi&s;e he made him&s;elfe, then of tho&s;e bonds of Chri&s;tianity, and purity he entered into by his &s;ureties: for this fir&s;t was the lea&s;t uncleanne&s;&s;e wherewith he polluted the Church in the re&s;t of his life. This Emperour (who &s;eemed to have a &s;oule meerely vegetative, by the inclinations of it, (for it grew, &amp; thrived on|ly upon dung) had &s;uch a fancy to the &s;mell of hor&s;e-dung, as he be&s;meared him&s;elfe with it; and all his Court in com|placency to that fancy, qualified them&s;elves for his com|pany with the &s;ame per<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">umes, and &s;o offered him continually this odor, which was fi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">incen&s;e for &s;uch a deity: and this na|turall immundicity was but a figure of that &s;pirituall impurity of him and his Court, for in this Princes humour, this was the lea&s;t bruti&s;h of all his other be&s;tialities, &s;o that his Court was rather a parke of the locu&s;ts, and &s;corpions of the <HI>Revela|tion,</HI> then a Congregation of rea&s;onable creatures. This is an <NOTE PLACE="marg">Of all &s;orts of Her<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;ies.</NOTE> unhappy trophee of the power of example in Princes, erected, to evidence that conclu&s;ion.</P>
<P>The &s;acred Hi&s;tory is &s;o pregnant in the&s;e examples, how the prevarication of the Prince, hath alwayes beene the per|ver&s;ion of the people, as I &s;hall not need to in&s;tance any: there|fore I may properly apply to Princes, this advi&s;e, which was
<PB N="94" REF="69">
given by a holy Father of the Church to Prie&s;ts, <HI>Since they &s;peak as Oracles, let them live as Deities,</HI> for the lying &s;pirit is often more credited in their mouthes, then in tho&s;e of the Prophets. And this &s;ame pre&s;cript is likewi&s;e very requi&s;ue for all per&s;ons neere in office, tru&s;t, or familiarity with Princes, &s;ince there is a naturall influence from &s;uch conver&s;ations, even upward upon their &s;uperiours, according to what &s;ome Phy&s;itians hold, in point of a circulation of the blood, to wit, that which is in the feet, to have a reflux back into the heart. This motion may be truly affirmed in the cour&s;e of the &s;piritu|all blood, in the civill body of &s;ociety, for the affections and ha|bits of the inferiour parts of the company, flow often upward upon the &s;uperiour, as well as they runne downward by their influence on the lower &s;tations; wherefore this morall circula|tion of virtue and vice in humanity, makes the infection of any parts of the company familiar with Princes, very dange|rous for their contagion, we &s;ee this in <HI>Roboams</HI> young Coun|cellors, who were not only the mediate in&s;truments of rendring the Kingdome, but al&s;o in &s;ome relation, were the erectors of <HI>Jeroboams</HI> calves.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. III.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The importance of their Company, for the education of Princes, and a rule propo&s;ed for Coun&s;ellors, and companious to both ru|ling, and young Princes.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>UPon this information, let the Familiars and Coun|&s;ellors of Princes under&s;tand, they have a very pre|ci&s;e charge of integrity upon them in their morall conver&s;ation, as well as in their politicke comportments; for indeed, their vocations in many re&s;pects are rather &s;acred fun|ctions,
<PB N="95" REF="69">
then &s;imply civil conditions, in regard they are imployed in the mini&s;teries of the mo&s;t &s;peciall images of God on earth; in which re&s;pect, the &s;candall of their lives is not only propha|ne&s;&s;e, but a kinde of &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">iledge, as it endangers the viola|ting of the mo&s;t &s;acred part of a Princes Character, which is the divinene&s;&s;e of his life and Government.</P>
<P>The life of King <HI>Joas</HI> is an unhappy precedent in this ca&s;e, who while he had <HI>Joh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">a</HI> in his eye, was him&s;elfe a &s;ingular patern of piety to the people, and eminent for the reparation of the Temple; but after the change of &s;uch a companion, when the Princes of <HI>Juda came, and adored the King;</HI> he being <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Paralip. 24&punc; 17.</NOTE> moved by their in&s;inuations, concurr'd with them quickly in leaving the Temple he had &s;o much merit in, and followed them into the groves, to &s;ecke out, and &s;et up new Idols. This was the &s;ad effect of infectious familiars, therefore &s;uch as are neer in office, or privacy to the per&s;ons of young Princes, have a mo&s;t &s;trict: obligation to be virtuous, and exemplary in their lives and conver&s;ations, for humane Nature, like <HI>Jacobs</HI> &s;heepe, in the a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">dor and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">eat of youth; is very apt to conceive, with &s;ome tincture of the colours it &s;ees in tho&s;e waters whereof it drinks in that &s;ea&s;on; &amp; the conver&s;ations of our familiars, are the waters where with our imaginative faculty is nouri&s;hed, and &s;o Princes had need to have them kept very cleere and &s;erene; for according to the colours they looke upon in them, their conceptions likely prove, whereby the i&s;&s;ues of their mindes become &s;ported, and &s;taind according to &s;uch images as are repre&s;ented to their imaginations in the pregnancy of their youth.</P>
<P>In this regard, they (who have choice of tho&s;e, to whom they will commit &s;uch tru&s;ts, as the company and famili|arity of young Princes) &s;hould no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> be le&s;&s;e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">act, then when their Pictures are to be taken; for which alwayes, &s;uch who are the be&s;t reputed, are preferr'd: for indeed, their famili|ars doe this intellectuall office to their mindes, though this &s;pirituall worke is done by acuite contrary manner, to that of the images of their per&s;ons; for the familiar companions of
<PB N="96" REF="70">
Princes may be &s;aid to worke upon the image of their mindes, by &s;itting to them, that is, by expo&s;ing their owne figure to the young fancy, they draw the other to that re&s;emblance; &s;uch is the active virtue of example upon the tender age of educa|tion.</P>
<P>Surely tho&s;e then who are tru&s;ted with this office, of be|ing a familiar object to young Princes, (which is a nobler place then they can conceive by any name it hath at Court) &s;hould &s;et their di&s;po&s;itions in a virtuous po&s;ture, knowing they are working upon Gods mo&s;t &s;peciall image, and that they are to be accountable for what di&s;-figurements in that forme their workes &s;hall occa&s;ion: So that taking Courtiers under this notion, one may advice them a good u&s;e of flattery; which is, to flatter the figure of their own humours, and inclinations, to make them as good, and gracious an object as they can, though they be not &s;o like their nature; to the end the exterior repre&s;entation, which workes upon Princes, may be proper for imitation; this favouring their minds, in the colouring of ver|tue, is more con&s;cientious then the expo&s;ing the naturall ill complexion of them, before young Princes; for when the ex|emplary part, (which only workes upon their minds) is faire, and vertuous; the un-&s;incerene&s;&s;e of it for the pre&s;ent, can have no ill operation on them, becau&s;e tho&s;e eyes do not penetrate farther then the &s;uperficies of goodne&s;&s;e; and &s;o peradventure the very flatterd pictures of vertue may work &s;uch an impre&s;&s;i|on upon Princes in their youth, as they may derive the love of truth, even from the face of di&s;&s;imulation. For as a beautifull Curtizan may be a fit object for a Painter, whereby to make a good image of a Saint by, &s;eeing he takes only the lovely &s;pe|cies for his pattern; &s;o, even the faire glo&s;&s;e of a counterfeit ver|tue, may be a convenient object for youth, which commonly only copies the a&s;pect, and countenance of &s;uch expo&s;ures.</P>
<P>Upon all the&s;e con&s;iderations methinks this may be a religi|ous rule for both &s;orts of great Courtiers: <HI>viz.</HI> That Coun&s;el|lors &s;hould advi&s;e Kings, as if they thought them inve&s;ted with the Prerogative of their originall, to wit, of the knowledge of
<PB N="97" REF="70">
hearts, and companions &s;hould live with young Princes, as if they thought they could not di&s;cover their hearts, but by their lives before them. This rule will produce &s;incerity in the for|mer, and exemplarity in the latter, which are the two things whereby Kings who are in age of Government, and Princes who are in years of Di&s;cipline, are the mo&s;t advantaged; and &s;o may be &s;aid to be the&s;e, the mediate conveyances, by which God gives <HI>judgement to the King, and righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e to the Kings</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 1. 71.</NOTE> <HI>&s;onne.</HI></P>
<P>To conclude, let Princes and Courtiers of all degrees con&s;i|der them&s;elves as mini&s;ters of the King in the <HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> who is gone into a farre countrey, and as being all to account by the &s;everall proportions of their talents, wherewith they are tru&s;t|ed. For they who are &s;et over many cities, here, are by the good account of their Governments, to be preferr'd to the command of many greater in their Ma&s;ters Kingdome: &s;o <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 19.</NOTE> that this is the mo&s;t proper Motto they can &s;et upon all their coates, which are blazon'd with &s;o many &s;hining, and glorious colours of the fruitions of the world, <HI>To whom mo&s;t is given, of them mo&s;t &s;hall be required.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="10" TYPE="treatise">
<PB N="98" REF="71">
<HEAD>The tenth Treati&s;e.How a good Con&s;cience, and a good Courtier are con&s;ortable. In &s;even &s;ections.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The temptations of Courts acknowledged great, but not in&s;uperable.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>TO this Map which I have pre&s;ented the Court of her owne &s;tate, it will be expedient to adde &s;ome lines, by which, as by a kinde of &s;cale of miles, Courtiers may take their mea&s;ures, and learne the di&s;tances betweene their dominion, and the &s;tate of perfect Chri&s;tianity, and by that meanes have &s;ome direction in their way, to the next adjacent Kingdome, of which I have &s;hewed their region, to be a very pregnant type, for <HI>I have &s;aid you are Gods,</HI> maketh their ha|bitations a mo&s;t &s;peciall figure of Heaven.</P>
<P>Whereupon I conceive this advi&s;e in the fir&s;t place, to be very pertinent, towards the &s;ea&s;oning our minde with a grave and reverend tincture of the nature of Courts, to con&s;ider them as a figure of the cele&s;tiall man&s;ions, in tho&s;e re&s;pects I have exhibited, becau&s;e this fir&s;t &s;tamp being impre&s;t on our mindes, may give us a &s;ober and mode&s;t image of our condi|tions in Courts, which may per&s;wade us, that we are not placed there by God, as officers to our fortunes, which terminate in this world, but rather as Mini&s;ters, in that order upon earth; by which God doth figure out to us the con&s;titution of the &s;tate of his owne Maje&s;ty: whereby we may re&s;olve that our
<PB N="99" REF="71">
places are but pa&s;&s;ages up to that preferment of Saint <HI>Paul,</HI> whereunto we may a&s;pire, <HI>The &s;itting in heavenly places toge|ther</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 2. 6.</NOTE> <HI>in Chri&s;t Je&s;us.</HI></P>
<P>This animadver&s;ion then is very important for all Cour|tiers to e&s;teeme them&s;elves, called to a laborious vocation, and not re&s;ting in a licenced vacancy from labour: for though they doe not eate their bread in the &s;weat of their browes, they doe it in the &s;weat of their braine, and &s;o the di|ge&s;tion is more difficult, then in the other ca&s;e: and upon this ground, we &s;ee likely that the body of this &s;ociety, is more unhealthy then any other, becau&s;e the fulne&s;&s;e of bread choakes that heat, which &s;hould concoct it; and their &s;piritu|all bread which &s;hould alter and convert the other into good nouri&s;hment, is made of that grain in the parable, which grow|eth among &s;o many of tho&s;e thornes, as doe at the be&s;t, make the gathering of it, &s;harp and unea&s;ie; for <HI>The &s;olicitude of this</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 13.</NOTE> <HI>world, and the falacy of riches,</HI> doe prick and draw &s;ome blood, of all &s;uch as reap thisbread among&s;t them: By rea&s;on there are alwayes &s;ome diver&s;ions and di&s;tractions in a Courtiers life, which catch and hold their affections in &s;ome manner to tem|poralities; in&s;omuch, as there is ever &s;ome paine and &s;mart in our pa&s;&s;ing through tho&s;e bryers.</P>
<P>But many of tho&s;e Weedes which Courts are over-runne with, are &s;light levities, and vanities, that have but &s;uch &s;tings as nettles in them, which when they are held and handled rough|ly, &s;ting le&s;&s;e, then when they are fingered tenderly: for there are diver&s;e fond affectations, which I need not in&s;tance, whereof, taking re&s;olutely in hand the reformation, we finde le&s;&s;e pain in di&s;charging them, then we did apprehend, while we were but as it were chiding them, to fright them, rather then to put them away. I may hope to be beleeved in this, having good warrant to &s;ay with the <HI>Wi&s;eman, I have &s;een many things wan|dring</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ecclus. 34. 13</NOTE> <HI>to and fro, and very many fa&s;hions of words, and &s;ometimes I have beene in danger of death for the&s;e things, and I was deli|vered by the Grace of God.</HI></P>
<P>I may therefore &s;et this bill upon the Court gates, <HI>Sonne,
<PB N="100" REF="72">
comming to the &s;ervice of the&s;e gods upon earth, &s;tand in feare,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ecclus. 2. 1.</NOTE> <HI>and prepare thy heart for tempation;</HI> for we may well u&s;e the phra&s;e of the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t, It raines &s;nares in this region;</HI> by rea&s;on of the fatne&s;&s;e of this &s;oile, which affords more earthly vapors then other places, which the Prince of the aire drawes up out of it, and from thence formes &s;houres of temptations; to po|wer downe upon it, to &s;et forward his fruits; namely, <HI>the lu&s;t of the eye, and the pride of life,</HI> which thrive mo&s;t kindly in this rich earth; this renders the &s;cituation dangerous, but not certainly infectious, for as the <HI>Wi&s;eman</HI> telleth us, <HI>The Crea|tures of God are become &s;nares, but to the feet of the unwi&s;e;</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Sap. 14.</NOTE> wherefore he directs us how to e&s;cape this capture, by entring into other bonds of pre-ingagement to wi&s;dome, <HI>Putting our</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ecclus. 6. 25.</NOTE> <HI>feet into her fetters, and our neck into her chaine;</HI> The&s;e fetters are of too &s;olid a &s;ub&s;tance to be catched, and intangled in the &s;light brittle &s;nares of Courts, the chaines of wi&s;dome are made linkes of Gold, which cannot hang in cobwebs.</P>
<P>The levities and nugacities of the world, to tho&s;e who look on them, only with the pur-blind eye of &s;en&s;e, may prove clouds, and even &s;o thick ones, as their &s;ight cannot tran&s;|pierce them, that is, looke beyond &s;uch vanities, when tho&s;e that &s;ee clearly with the eye of rea&s;on, di&s;cerne &s;uch &s;light traver&s;es to be but like cobwebs, that do not eclip&s;e to them the light of Heaven: it is not the matter of temptations in Courts, which worketh like cele&s;tiall bodies upon terre&s;triall, by a predominant impre&s;&s;ion, but it is the di&s;po&s;ition of the patients, which rendereth the matter &s;o malignant; for all the vanities of Courts in a confe&s;&s;ion of their owne impotency, to force our affections, doe &s;oothe and flatter our &s;en&s;es fir&s;t, and cor|rupt them, towards the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of our mindes.</P>
<P>Whereupon, as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;aid to the children of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> I may &s;ay to tho&s;e who are called into this land of milke and honey, <HI>If thou &s;halt &s;ay in thine heart, the&s;e inhabitants of the place are</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Drut. 7. 17.</NOTE> <HI>more then I, and how can I prevaile again&s;t them? thou &s;halt not be afraid of them, but remember what the Lord can do,</HI> how many hath he carryed with a mighty hand through all the&s;e con|federations
<PB N="101" REF="72">
of &s;nares in Courts; &s;undry examples of &s;uch holy victories atte&s;t to us, this word of the <HI>Apo&s;tle, The Lord</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 2. 9.</NOTE> <HI>knowes how to deliver the godly out of temptations.</HI></P>
<P>It is related in the life of Saint <HI>Anthony</HI> the holy <HI>Hermite,</HI> how in a vi&s;ion he &s;aw the world all hung over with nets, and the very aire over-&s;pead with them, &s;o that in great com|mi&s;eration of their e&s;tates, who lived in it, he asked God how it was po&s;&s;ible to e&s;cape in our pa&s;&s;age, and make way up to Heaven? and he was an&s;wered, there was no way left, which was, to creep under them, for they were not &s;o fa&s;tned below to the earth, but they yeelded and gave way to that po&s;ture of humility. And &s;ince our Head <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us</HI> did vouch&s;afe to be figured to us, under the notion of <HI>a worm, &amp; no man,</HI> this lowly po&s;ture of creeping through this world, could not mi&s;-become his members.</P>
<P>Therefore to &s;uch as have their mindes laid even and levelled by this line of humility, I may &s;ay (while they are creeping under the&s;e &s;nares) with the <HI>Prophet, Feare not thou worme Ja|cob,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;ay 41. 14.</NOTE> <HI>I will help thee &s;aith the Lord, thou &s;halt thre&s;h the moun|taines, and make the hils as cha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">fe, thou &s;halt fan them, and the winde &s;hall carry them away;</HI> all the mountaines of greatne&s;&s;e; and power, and the hiles of plenty and plea&s;ure &s;hall appeare to the eyes of an humble &s;oule, broken and crumbled into that du&s;t which they con&s;i&s;t of, and their re&s;olutions &s;hall be able to blow them off from their affections, like chaffe, a&s;&s;i&s;ted by the winde of the holy Spirit, which blowes alwayes &s;o &s;trong|ly in &s;uch &s;oules; as the levities of this world that flie about them, cannot cleave and hang upon them. And we mu&s;t &s;et|tle this principle, that humility is not &s;eated in locall depre&s;&s;ion and ob&s;curity, but in mentall purity and illumination; and &s;o conclude the &s;citation of Courts is not in that torrid zone of pride, which &s;ome imagine to be uninhabitable for humi|lity.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<PB N="102" REF="73">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Reall humility recommended, di&s;cerned from Court-&s;hip, and proved con&s;onant to the &s;tate of Courtiers.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>THis admitted, the be&s;t pre&s;cription can be given a Courtier again&s;t all his infirmities, is pious and di&s;creet humility; and this is &s;o farre from being alledged by them&s;elves, incompetent with their vocation, as almo&s;t every one pretends the being furni&s;hed with it, as a requi&s;ite qualifi|cation, though indeed mo&s;t commonly, it is &s;o hollow, as even the be&s;t noi&s;e it makes, &s;peakes the emptine&s;&s;e of it, as being but a tinkling cymball of ceremony and complement. There is a &s;light glittering &s;tuffe, which commonly Courts are hung with, which pa&s;&s;eth there for humility, and is truly but the tin&s;ell of civility and court&s;hip, through which, one may of|ten &s;ee the walls to con&s;i&s;t of pride and &s;elfe-love: Wherefore they, who de&s;ire the reall benefit of this virtue, mu&s;t di&s;cerne between this &s;uperficiall colouring, and the true being of hu|mility, and endeavour an acquiring the habit thereof in their minde, not &s;tudy the fa&s;hion of it only in their exteriour com|merce.</P>
<P>Me thinkes one may properly argue with Courtiers, as S. <HI>Paul</HI> did with the <HI>Hebrewes,</HI> by repre&s;enting to them, how all <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ep. Heb.</NOTE> the externall Ceremonies wherein they were &s;o Religious, were types and figures of that reality which he propo&s;ed to them, and &s;o their cu&s;tomes and ob&s;ervances might well di&s;po&s;e them, &s;ooner then the undi&s;ciplined heathen, to acknowledge that bodie, who&s;e &s;hadow was &s;o famillar to them: In like manner, may not I &s;ay to Courtiers, that all the civilities, Cere|monies, and mutuall &s;ubmi&s;&s;ions, whereof they are &s;o &s;tudious,
<PB N="103" REF="73">
are figures of that &s;ub&s;tantiall humility which I recommend to them; from whence I may argue that their habituall practi|ces in the&s;e exteriour repre&s;entations of that virtue, &s;hould ad|vance their mindes, more then other le&s;&s;e civilized conver&s;a|tions, towards the acquiring of that reall humblene&s;&s;e of &s;pirit, I recommend to their intentions.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e of whom it is commonly &s;aid as Saint <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aid of the <HI>Phari&s;ees,</HI> that they are of the be&s;t &s;ect of their Religion, <HI>viz.</HI> they who are accompted the mo&s;t accompli&s;hed in all urbanity and Court&s;hip, and are the mo&s;t exqui&s;ite in all ci|vill poli&s;hments, in the purifications of their apparell and tables, and all other &s;orts of humane neatne&s;&s;e and curio&s;ity, they I &s;ay, mu&s;t remember not to re&s;t &s;o much on the&s;e <HI>tradi|tions of men,</HI> as to forget the graver <HI>and weightier parts of the Law</HI> of Chri&s;tianity, which is purity of heart, and poverty of &s;pirit, two of our King <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us</HI> his qualifications, for the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 5.</NOTE> Courtiers of heaven required in the order of his beatitudes in|&s;tituted in the Go&s;pell.</P>
<P>As for the other exteriour poli&s;hments and decencies, which are pertinent to their condition, I may &s;ay with our Saviour in the like ca&s;e, <HI>the&s;e things may be done, but the other not omitted,</HI> for civility and &s;incerity, proprety and purity, honour and humility, may be fellow Courtiers, and all of one party. So that I may &s;ay to the&s;e of the be&s;t &s;ort, <HI>Therefore &ocirc; men</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 2.</NOTE> <HI>you are inexcu&s;able, for you condemne your &s;elves,</HI> by the&s;e ex|teriour profe&s;&s;ions of tho&s;e virtues, if you have not the interi|our &s;ignature and impre&s;&s;ion of them, in &s;o much, as the im|mundicities of <HI>Tyre</HI> and <HI>Sidon</HI> &s;hall be more tollerable, <HI>viz.</HI> the ruder formes of life where humility and purity is not &s;o much repre&s;ented to them, &s;hall not be &s;o much charged with their defects in them, as this <HI>Capernaum</HI> where the&s;e virtues &s;eeme preached every day, and wonders done in this Doctrine of ceremoniall purity, which is a figure of a reall immaculate|ne&s;&s;e of minde.</P>
<P>But I mu&s;t &s;peak yet plainer, and declare that this humility I propo&s;e to Courtiers for their commerce with one another,
<PB N="104" REF="74">
is farre different from that currant &s;pecies of a verball imagery of this vertue which I have decryed, for it is an internall habit, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Humility de|&s;cribed.</NOTE> or di&s;po&s;ition of humblenes impre&s;&s;ed upon our &s;pirits by the &s;ignature and character of truth, made by a lively exhibiting to our minds the intrin&s;ique value of all &s;pecious temporalities, by which perception we are di&s;po&s;ed to di&s;-value really this world, and our &s;elves in the fir&s;t place; as knowing be&s;t our in|terior unworthine&s;&s;e: and this &s;incere root of Humility, beares our &s;everall engagements, proportionated re&s;pectively: Fir&s;t to the greatne&s;&s;e of God, then to the meanne&s;&s;e of our &s;elves, and next, to our nearne&s;&s;e, and relation to our Brother. And as the&s;e three divi&s;ions contain the totall &s;umme of Chri&s;tiani|ty, &s;o is there no better Accountant to make up a ju&s;t e&s;timate of the&s;e divi&s;ions, then Humility; whereof they who are &s;olid|ly po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed, &s;hall not be confounded in the diver&s;e fractions, and partitions of e&s;timates either of things, or per&s;ons, which their condition requires them to make, in the true account of this world; for they can ea&s;ily by this Rule of Three, wherein Humility is perfect, divide all their re&s;pects to each of tho&s;e du|ties, and &s;o give God, Them&s;elves, and their Brother re&s;pe|ctively, their ju&s;t e&s;timations.</P>
<P>Nor can it be an&s;wered that this degree of exactnes &s;eemeth oppo&s;ed, by the offices of this Vocation; for this cleare-&s;ight|ed Humility is &s;o farre from being incompetent with the con|dition of Courtiers, as if many circum&s;tances be fairely weigh|ed, their profe&s;&s;ion may appeare more advantaged then any, towards this endowment; &s;ince likely they are the &s;harpe&s;t, and mo&s;t di&s;cerning Spirits, which apply them&s;elves to this active cour&s;e of life; and &s;urely this di&s;-abu&s;ing the object, is the mo&s;t fairely, and mo&s;t familiarly expo&s;ed in Courts; <HI>viz.</HI> The fickle|ne&s;&s;e and infidelity of all temporall advantages; &s;ince what the world calls Fortune, goes in other places more mode&s;tly atti|red, and &s;o may ea&s;ily be mi&s;taken; whereas in Courts, pre&s;u|ming on her beauty, like a profe&s;&s;ed Curtizan &s;he unveiles her &s;elfe, confident of corrupting even tho&s;e to whom &s;he proclaims her di&s;loyaltie, by continual &s;hows &amp; triumphs of incon&s;tancy.
<PB N="105" REF="74">
Many private and &s;etled &s;tates of Life, do take this knowledge of the in&s;tability of humane goods, but by heare-&s;ay, living them&s;elves in a calme dead water, where they feele little moti|on of variety; but Courtiers who are in this Ocean of Fortune, feele continually her tides, and very frequently her &s;tormes; in&s;omuch as they living in a perpetuall fluctuation of tempo|ralities, may be &s;aid to walke <HI>Per &s;peciem,</HI> in the &s;ight of the true nature of all mundanities, and to &s;ee the variety of Fortune face to face, while low ob&s;curer lives, looke upon her perfidiou&s;|ne&s;&s;e but through a gla&s;&s;e, and darkely in reports of the various turbulencies and confu&s;ions of Courts.</P>
<P>The heights of Courts may in this regard be &s;aid to be the be&s;t &s;cituations for pro&s;pect, and farre &s;ight upon the truth of the worlds con&s;titution, and &s;o courtiers to be better placed then lower e&s;tates, in order to their being undeceived, in the &s;pecious fallacies of the world, by as much as experience is more operative upon our nature then &s;peculation.</P>
<P>And methinks we may account it a &s;peciall provi&s;ion of God, that where our affections are in mo&s;t danger to be &s;edu|ced, by the alluring invitation of temporalities, that there our rea&s;on &s;hould be mo&s;t powerfully di&s;&s;waded from &s;uch ad|herencies, by the cleare&s;t evidences of the infidelity of &s;uch confidences; for here Fortune beares her own name in her fore|head, which is vi&s;ible together with her &s;miles, and the conti|nuall objects of ri&s;e and ruine, the frequent vici&s;&s;itudes of bra|ving and bleeding conditions; &s;how Fortune in Courts (even but to indifferent good eyes) not as the <HI>Sirens</HI> of the <HI>Poets,</HI> the beauty and graciou&s;ne&s;&s;e of her only above water, but expo&s;e her, ju&s;t like to the <HI>Locu&s;ts</HI> of the <HI>Revelation;</HI> for although on <NOTE PLACE="marg">Apoca. 9. 7.</NOTE> her head <HI>there &s;eemes to be crownes of gold, and her haire like the haire of Women, yet her teeth appeare as the teeth of Lyons, and her &s;ting like that of Scorpions;</HI> &s;o that the deterrings and di&s;|abu&s;es appeare together with the delectations.</P>
<P>I may therefore conclude, that Courtiers by their living in this demon&s;tration of the truth and nature of all mundanities, are advantaged above others, towards the acqui&s;ition of Hu|mility,
<PB N="106" REF="75">
which is, a naturall re&s;ultancy, from a true apprehend|ing the meanne&s;&s;e, and vility of all things &s;o unfaithfull &amp; tran|&s;itory: For as all Pride ri&s;eth from the beliefe of &s;ome propriety which we rely on, &s;o the per&s;wa&s;ion of the in&s;ecurity of our po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions, mu&s;t needs abate our e&s;teem of them, and con&s;e|quently di&s;po&s;e us to a mode&s;t and humble account of our &s;elves, and our conditions.</P>
<P>I will therefore confidently commend Humility to Courti|ers for their guide, through all the &s;nares of their way, in the tearmes of <HI>Solomon; She &s;hall lead you by the paths of equity, which when you are in your &s;teps &s;hall not be &s;traitned, and when you</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro. 4. 11.</NOTE> <HI>run you &s;hall not &s;tumble;</HI> for you &s;hall neither faint in the re&s;ti|nes of your Fortune, nor fall in the full &s;peed of it; Humility doth not decline the cour&s;e of Honour, and Dignity, but only ca&s;ts reines upon our &s;en&s;itive appetite, and holds that from running away with our Rea&s;on, in the cour&s;e. Nay, Magnifi|cence and Humility are con&s;ortable in the &s;ame heart, wherein the habit of this vertue may con&s;i&s;t with acts of the other, &s;ince this di&s;po&s;ition di&s;lodgeth no vertue, and &s;ecureth all: For the po&s;ture of pro&s;tration in which Humility conducts our minds, may be &s;aid to carry as it were a Trench before them, ca&s;ting up the earth it &s;elfe for their defence, again&s;t all the fiery en|gines of the Prince of this World, in regard the Penetration and in&s;pection which &s;incere Humility makes into the bowels of our own earthine&s;&s;e and mortality, ca&s;ts up our mi&s;ery, and de&s;picablenes before us, as a bre&s;t-worke of our own earth, to defend our hearts again&s;t vain-glory or pre&s;umption, by which any Fortune never &s;o eminent can endanger us.</P>
<P>For indeed, they who have this Parapet, as I may &s;ay, before their minds, of <HI>Du&s;t thou art, and to Du&s;t thou &s;halt returne,</HI> may be &s;aid to be fortified in the nakednes and di&s;covery of them|&s;elves: Such is the ingeniou&s;nes of Humility, as it can rai&s;e de|fences for us, out of our wants and de&s;titutions; nay it may be &s;aid to draw in them a Line of communication, between heaven and earth, joyning the knowledge of our own nullity, and the apprehen&s;ion of the immen&s;ity of God, which view may keep
<PB N="107" REF="75">
us alwayes little in our own eyes, though we have never &s;o ma|ny fal&s;e reflexes from the eyes of others.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. III.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The vitiou&s;ne&s;&s;e of Flattery di&s;played, with an allowance of decent civilities in exchanges of Court&s;hip.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>HAving propo&s;ed to Courtiers, for their chiefe &s;ecuri|ty, &s;olid Humility, di&s;cerned from &s;uperficiall civility, I mu&s;t de&s;ire them to be very &s;incere in the examina|tion of this vertue; for humanity and courte&s;ie externall, do often &s;o well counterfeit the &s;tamp of it, as it had need be touched at &s;ome occa&s;ion of &s;uffering, to find the fal&s;ity of the metall: and for the greater &s;afety of this vertue, it were to be de&s;ired, we could bani&s;h and eliminate out of the verge, one of the be&s;t Waiters at Court, though of the wor&s;t &s;ervants in it, namely, <HI>Flattery,</HI> which is alwayes an enemy to Humility, though it &s;eeme often neare allyed unto it, by &s;ubmi&s;&s;ive ap|pearances: For we know, the fir&s;t progenitor of Pride, was al|&s;o the primary father of Lyes, from which all Flattery de&s;cends in a collaterall Line. Hence it is, that there is alwayes &s;ome of the bloud of Pride, in all adulation, though it go cloathed in never &s;o &s;ervile an habit of &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>And that we may &s;ee how naturally Flattery i&s;&s;ueth out of Pride, wee may con&s;ider into what a ba&s;e and inferiour po&s;ture <HI>Lucifer</HI> contrived him&s;elfe, when he ca&s;t the fir&s;t &s;eeds of Flat|tery into our earth; did he not lye pro&s;trate at tho&s;e feet he was undermining; while he was flattering them with their capa|city of treading on him, and becomming like Gods? And this &s;eeming &s;ubjection, was it not de&s;igned by the &s;ublime&s;t part of his Pride, which meant to captivate and &s;ubject the minds he wrought upon in this po&s;ture?</P>
<P><PB N="108" REF="76">
In like manner, all the &s;ervile formes of complacency, and deference to others, which Flattery ca&s;ts it &s;elfe into, in the magnifying their worth and excellency, hath this &s;erpentine in&s;inuation in it; to wit, the hoping to infu&s;e the ea&s;ilyer the Flatterers &s;en&s;e into them; which project in the complyers mu&s;t needs ri&s;e from a beliefe of their own minds, being &s;o &s;uperior to tho&s;e they are applyed to worke upon, as they can impo&s;e upon them the beliefe of all their &s;ugge&s;tions, and &s;o &s;ubdue their &s;pirits; which thought is the very &s;oule of Pride, to con|clude our minds to have &s;uch a tran&s;cendency over others; for no body flatters another, but in beliefe of being credited: So that all Flattery being anatomized will be found to live by the heart of Pride, which is indeed the fir&s;t living part of Sico|phantry, in what body &s;oever of humble veri&s;imilitudes it &s;eemes to move. And upon this ground we may &s;ay, that a meane Para&s;ite is a prouder thing, then the mo&s;t magnifyed Prince he humoureth; in as much as the pre&s;umption on the excellence of mind, as it is more &s;pirituall, is nearer the origi|nall of Pride.</P>
<P>And as it was excellently &s;aid of a wi&s;e King, <HI>That witchcraft</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">King James.</NOTE> <HI>is the height of Idolatry,</HI> becau&s;e though it exhibits no exterior offices of Wor&s;hip, but rather di&s;claimes them; yet is it the highe&s;t mentall veneration of the &s;educing &s;pirit, and &s;o the true&s;t idolatry: In like manner it may be &s;aid, that Flattery is the &s;upremacy of Pride, becau&s;e though there be no externall profe&s;&s;ion of &s;elfe-love in it, but rather of an alienation from it, yet it is a continuall exerci&s;e of the &s;upreame&s;t arrogancy, which is the Flatterers valuation of his own abilities.</P>
<P>Whereupon it &s;eemes that a <HI>Philo&s;opher</HI> being asked <HI>what was the mo&s;t noxious bea&s;t to humane nature?</HI> an&s;wered, <HI>of wild bea&s;ts a Tyrant, and of tame ones a Para&s;ite;</HI> and we may adde, that the tame ones &s;eeme the wor&s;t of the two, for the wild ones take the greate&s;t part of their ferocity, by coupling with them; &s;ince <HI>this commixion is the generation of all tyrannie, wild power en|joying &s;ervile prai&s;e:</HI> Humane nature could not fall in love with the exorbitancy of wickedne&s;&s;e, if &s;he &s;aw it naked, and
<PB N="109" REF="76">
beheld the bare deformity of that object; therefore to make this conjunction, there mu&s;t intercede the art of flattery, to co|lour the ba&s;enes and inhumanity of outrageous mi&s;chiefe, with &s;ome faire varni&s;h of decency; as either with the right of great|ne&s;&s;e, or the liberties of nature, or many other &s;uch &s;hadowes, by which Sycophants keepe Tyrants minds the fiercer, by hol|ding them in this darkenes, chained up by the magnifying and applau&s;e of their appetencies: &s;o that this may be truly &s;aid, in the tearmes of the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t,</HI> to be <HI>the pe&s;tilence that walketh</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 90. 6.</NOTE> <HI>in the darke,</HI> which the light of truth would ea&s;ily a&s;&s;wage, &s;omewhat, even in the greate&s;t rage of corrupted nature.</P>
<P>We may therefore fitly &s;ay, that Flattery is the oyle of the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Flattery de|&s;cribed.</NOTE> &s;inner, wherewith Tyrants are annointed by the&s;e Mini&s;ters of their pa&s;&s;ions; and we know King <HI>David</HI> &s;aith this &s;hould not be the unction falling on the head of Princes: For this rea&s;on we cannot too &s;trongly brand the forehead of the&s;e Court <HI>Charlatans,</HI> &s;ince there is &s;o much known art, to take out the markes of the character of a Para&s;ite, and to continue &s;till in the practi&s;e of this my&s;tery of iniquity.</P>
<P>I confe&s;&s;e therefore it is hardly to be hoped, that this &s;en|tence of expul&s;ion of Flattery out of Courts, can be &s;trictly executed; for when it is pre&s;&s;ed and &s;traitned by the&s;e re|proaches, then like the <HI>Poets Proteus,</HI> it varyes &s;hapes, and ap|peares pre&s;ently covered with another forme, either in that of duty to &s;uperiors, or civility to equals, or due commendation of merit, and will never an&s;wer to this indictment of Flattery: And indeed the&s;e formes, which &s;he &s;hifts her&s;elfe ea&s;ily into, are the legitimate i&s;&s;ues of morality, by which all the fit alli|ances are made in civill &s;ociety; the two fir&s;t bearing order and di&s;tinction beween Per&s;ons, and the la&s;t producing fertility in vertue.</P>
<P>Wherefore we cannot impeach this commerce of cu&s;tomary civility and complements, for there is a di&s;cipline belonging to the practicall part of morality, which is referred to the di&s;|cretion of the Mini&s;ters of it, (which Courtiers may be mo&s;t properly termed) and the rites and ceremonies of mutuall ci|vilities,
<PB N="110" REF="77">
are ornaments requi&s;ite to rai&s;e re&s;pect, and &s;orme or|der in all the exerci&s;es of morality; therefore as it is not po&s;&s;i|ble to &s;et and regulate in &s;uch &s;ort tho&s;e voluntary de&s;cants of complement, as to put them into &s;uch mea&s;ured notes, as they mu&s;t preci&s;ely runne in, to keepe them from &s;traying into Flat|tery, I will only &s;et Courtiers this le&s;&s;on of the Apo&s;tle, which may keepe &s;ome time and mea&s;ure in the con&s;ort of their vo|call civilities, <HI>You are called unto liberty, only u&s;e not this liberty</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 5. 13.</NOTE> <HI>for an occa&s;ion to the fle&s;h, but by love to &s;erve one another;</HI> and by this order, tho&s;e finer threads of Court civilities, may make as &s;trong a band of charity, as rough and gro&s;&s;er materials.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. IIII.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The u&s;e of &s;ober pray&s;es, treated, and reciprocall civilities regulated.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>I Do not in this &s;harpe in&s;ectation of &s;ordid Flattery, mean to a&s;per&s;e the good name of prai&s;es and commendations, for I mu&s;t allow them to be convenient bre&s;ts, to nur&s;e young and tender di&s;po&s;itions to vertue; and the good inclina|tions of Princes and great per&s;ons, may like their other i&s;&s;ues be allowed more tender and dainty breeding then ordinary, and yet be nouri&s;hed with &s;incere and healthfull aliments; for applau&s;e and e&s;timation of all their young vertuous actions, and proffers, may be &s;o tempered, as they may conduce to the thriving and growth of their minds, without any &s;welling or elation.</P>
<P>Methinks prai&s;e may in &s;ome ca&s;es be fitly applyed to our minds, as Corall is to the mouthes of children, when they are breeding teeth, which is given them to nibble and champ up|on, to ea&s;e and &s;atisfy that little itch they have in their gums, in that &s;ea&s;on, and to &s;upple them &s;o much as to bring their teeth out with the more ea&s;e: In this order prai&s;e may be aptly
<PB N="111" REF="77">
given to young tender inclinations to vertue, for there is in our minds, in that &s;tate, a &s;pirituall itch which is ea&s;ed and refre&s;h|ed, while they are champing, and &s;ucking upon applau&s;e, which doth al&s;o &s;often and open our imagination, and &s;o le&s;&s;en the pain of our perver&s;e and froward nature, when the hardnes and &s;harpenes of vertuous practi&s;es, which are &s;pirituall teeth, do fir&s;t breake the fle&s;h, which is alwaies done with &s;ome &s;mart, when the tendernes of our &s;en&s;es is pierced and broken through, fir&s;t, by the &s;harpnes of the &s;pirit of vertue; &amp; by degrees, when our minds have thus put out the&s;e kinds of teeth more com|modiou&s;ly by the&s;e cheri&s;hing contributions, which help at fir&s;t our weake nature, they advance to &s;uch a &s;tate of &s;trength, as to be able to feed on the &s;olid meat of vertue, which is the di&s;|charge of our duty to God and man, irre&s;pectively to humane prai&s;e, and by the&s;e &s;teps we come to be wean'd from the emul|&s;ions of &s;en&s;ible applau&s;e, which is the fir&s;t milke our imagina|tions are fo&s;tered with, and gives them a &s;weet reli&s;h of vertue.</P>
<P>Since then we find by experience how prai&s;e and e&s;timation conduce much to the &s;weetning of the a&s;perity of vertue in young ta&s;ts, I do not di&s;credit the mini&s;tring of &s;ober and mo|de&s;t prai&s;es, to the good di&s;po&s;itions of great and eminent per|&s;ons, who&s;e minds are too commonly at Court in this tender &s;tate of growth and pro&s;iciency; and I confe&s;&s;e it is not practi|cable, to frame rules for the di&s;cernment, between due prai&s;es, and flatteries, in all occurrences in the worlds commerces.</P>
<P>Wherefore the ingenuity of every particular, mu&s;t be every ones director in this point; but the be&s;t generall advice I can conceive, is, for tho&s;e who are pa&s;&s;ive in commendations, to weigh the worthine&s;&s;e of the hand that layes them on, in one of the Scales, again&s;t the beliefe, they put into the other, of their own de&s;erts; and &s;till to put in &s;omewhat le&s;&s;e credit of their own prai&s;es, then the opinion of the prai&s;er layes in the &s;cale; and tho&s;e who are active in this &s;ubject, when they prai&s;e any they love<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> and would perfume them with the good odour of vertue, mu&s;t remember to give them le&s;&s;e of this &s;weet oyle, then their own opinion; and beliefs would ca&s;t upon them;
<PB N="112" REF="78">
which is to &s;ay, that when we are prai&s;ing our friends to their face, we &s;hould be carefull to prai&s;e them alwayes &s;omewhat le&s;&s;e then we love them; for likely that mea&s;ure of our affecti|ons filled with prai&s;es, will runne over, if it be poured into that of our friends merit, and when we are upon the receipt of com|mendations from kind conferrers of them, we mu&s;t be advi&s;ed in taking &s;omewhat le&s;&s;e of them upon the account of our be|liefe, then is offered us; for we may give alwayes a good allow|ance of di&s;crediting, for the partiality of friend&s;hip, which cannot be exact in the weighing of her opinions.</P>
<P>The <HI>Chimicks</HI> &s;ay, that he who had found the art to fix <HI>Mer|cury,</HI> might ea&s;ily transforme it into gold; &s;o may I &s;ay, If there were meanes to limit this volatil matter of complement, and fluency of prai&s;es, within the termes of that preci&s;e good, which is beleeved of one another; this might convert all currant civi|lity, into the gold of charity, and then the breath of reciprocall prai&s;es might mutually kindle vertue, ray&s;ing but little &s;moake of vanity.</P>
<P>But this rectitude of our lips is not to be hoped in this our &s;tate of crookedne&s;&s;e of hearts; for our words are ca&s;t off from their moulds; and &s;ince it was flattery that drew the mouth awry of that figure whereof we are all copies, our mouthes wil alwayes &s;tand &s;omewhat drawne a&s;ide from the &s;traitnes of truth, to|wards the &s;ide of flattery, e&s;pecially when we find the eares of great per&s;ons drawn awry into that po&s;ture.</P>
<P>Fora&s;much then as we cannot pretend to rectify perfectly this &s;hape of our di&s;torted nature, we mu&s;t be cautious to leane as little as we can to that &s;ide of our inclination to flattery: King <HI>David</HI> found this deflection, &amp; indirectnes in our minds, when he proclaimed, that <HI>verities are dimini&s;hed from the &s;onnes of men, they &s;peake vanity every one with his neighbour, with flat|tering lips, and a double heart;</HI> &s;ince through our be&s;t watches over our lips, there will e&s;cape many exce&s;&s;es in the enter|changes of civilities; it is very requi&s;ite for the &s;afety of their hearts, that Courtiers &s;hould not let their tongues runne loo&s;e in the ordinary excur&s;ions of complements, thinking &s;uch
<PB N="113" REF="78">
words weigh as little as the breath that carries them, for we know that even all tho&s;e nulls and ciphers, in our reckoning, are &s;et upon account to us.</P>
<P>I wil therefore clo&s;e up this caution, with that terrible animad|ver&s;ion of the Go&s;pell, <HI>By thy words thou &s;halt be ju&s;tifyed, and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 4</NOTE> <HI>by thy words condemned;</HI> which words, if they would frequent|ly put into their mouthes, they would find them a bit, which will not at all pre&s;&s;e upon their tongues, &s;o farre as to curbe them from any becomming freedome, but hold them as it were from being ca&s;t out of their mouthes, in many undecent motions of loo&s;e libertyes, wherein the unbridled cu&s;tome of the world doth never curbe them.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. V.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The advantages of the vocation of a <HI>Courtier,</HI> ballanced with &s;ome prejudices, in point of piety.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>THus have I with my be&s;t skill &s;et the Courtiers Com|pa&s;&s;e, by which he may &s;teere a good cour&s;e, through the deepe&s;t of his temptations; and the <HI>Wi&s;e man</HI> &s;eems to qualify me for this office, &s;aying, <HI>They who &s;aile the Sea, re|port the perils of it;</HI> &s;o that in my judgement, there may be a convenient &s;afety in this cour&s;e, when it is &s;teered by &s;incere humility; for truely humility is like the Marriners needle, but a little motion, yet requi&s;ite for the u&s;e of all the Sailes of moral vertues, in the cour&s;e of a Chri&s;tian; and I have &s;et as good markes as I can upon tho&s;e bankes, and &s;ands of flattery and adulation, which lye covered over with the &s;hallownes of civi|lity, and complement, upon which if our affections do &s;tick, they will batter, and by degrees open our hearts, and &s;o ca&s;t them away quickly upon all vanities and pre&s;umptions; and indeed, the&s;e &s;ands are more dangerous, then apparent and
<PB N="114" REF="79">
emergent rockes of riches, and ambition, which give more warning of their dangers.</P>
<P>Nor do the many wrecks that are made in Courts, ju&s;tly di&s;credit the profe&s;&s;ion of this traffique, for temporall com|modities; I have already in this expre&s;&s;e argument, voted the pur&s;uance of all worldly honours, re&s;pectively to &s;everall con|ditions, very competent with piety and devotion; though in|deed it mu&s;t be remembred, that &s;uch e&s;tates in the world re|quire much more vigilancy, and attendance, then others of a more &s;imple con&s;titution, as engines of various motions may be kept in order with proportionate appliance of labours, as well as a &s;ingle wheele; for regularity is as &s;ociable with mag|nitude, as with mediocrity, if there be proportionate art and labour to concert them; and greatnes is as con&s;ortable with goodnes, as &s;implicity of life, where there is a commen&s;urate applyance of the mind, to the obtaining of an an&s;werable mea|&s;ure of grace.</P>
<P><HI>He who &s;u&s;pends the world upon the weight thereof; and mea&s;u|reth</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iob 26.</NOTE> <HI>the waters in his &s;pan,</HI> keeps the Sea in bounds as ea&s;ily, as the &s;malle&s;t Brooks in their own beds: Every condition hath a &s;ize of grace &s;uited to it; as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Every one hath</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Cor.</NOTE> <HI>his proper gift;</HI> and proportionate duties are annexed to every &s;everall condition: God is &s;o ju&s;t, that he chargeth the great|e&s;t po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions of temporalities, with the greate&s;t taxes of dif|ficulties in &s;pirituall payments; but no condition is &s;canted in a capacity of &s;uch performances as Gods precepts charge upon it: And &s;o we &s;ee how all conditions have pre&s;ented to us Saints, which humane rea&s;on weighing all circum&s;tances, can|not ranke in order of precedency in the Church: How many Kings and Courtiers doth the Church reverence, as now pla|ced in tho&s;e heavenly man&s;ions, where &s;he cannot di&s;cerne in what degree (as &s;everall Starres) they differ in brightne&s;&s;e? So equall hath the lu&s;tre of their lives been, with that of any other vocation, as they dazle us in any &s;uch di&s;tingui&s;hment of their merits, we know how the good &s;eed of the Go&s;pell tooke roote as early in the hou&s;e of <HI>Ce&s;ar,</HI> as in any part of <HI>Rome,</HI> and Saint
<PB N="115" REF="79">
<HI>Paul</HI> &s;ets an emphaticall note on tho&s;e Saints, in preference be|fore <NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 4. 22.</NOTE> the re&s;t. Did not S. <HI>Seba&s;tian</HI> in the head of the Emperour <HI>Diocli&s;ians:</HI> Guard (which was one of the greate&s;t elevations on earth) appeare in the &s;ame eminence of zeale among the Primi|tive Chri&s;tians? And did not Saint <HI>Maurice</HI> in the head of the Emperours Army, erect &s;uch a trophie for Chri&s;tianity, as all Times triumph in? for in de&s;iance of tho&s;e Spirits which called them&s;elves a Legiou, he flouri&s;hed the Colours of <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us,</HI> dyed in the bloud of a whole Legion of Martyrs; which ble&s;&s;ed legion of Spirits did &s;o po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e the Chri&s;tians of tho&s;e times, by their, examples, that many gave &s;upernaturall te&s;ti|monies <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mar. 5.</NOTE> of this holy po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>And may it not be remarked for the honour of Courts, that while Chri&s;tianity was but &s;hed and &s;prinkled here and there, in the lower parts of the <HI>Roman Empire,</HI> it was carryed but in the hands of <HI>Chri&s;ts Commi&s;sioners?</HI> but when <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> was plea|&s;ed to appeare at Court, he marked his lodging with his own &s;ignet, the glorious Cro&s;&s;e; fir&s;t in the ayre, vi&s;ible to the Em|perour <HI>Con&s;tantine,</HI> and to the whole Court, and after, the &s;ame <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eu&s;eb. vit. Con&s;tant.</NOTE> night appeared him&s;elfe to the Emperour, advi&s;ing him how to manife&s;t his glory, which untill then, he was content &s;hould not break out of the clouds of contempt &amp; per&s;ecution, that over|ca&s;t it. And thus Chri&s;t made his remove pre&s;ently from the Grots and Cavernes of the fields, up to the imperial palace of <HI>Rome,</HI> where he &s;et up his Cro&s;&s;e triumphant over that Crown, which til then, went as near burying of it, as the keeping it long under ground, for the Caverns of the fields were before that time, both the Tombes and Pallaces of the Chri&s;tians.</P>
<P>And it may be noted, that when Chri&s;tianity de&s;cended from this heigth of the Court, upon the lower parts of the Empire, it &s;pread it &s;elfe fa&s;ter in a few yeares, then it had done in the three hundred, before it camp up to the Court, for till then, the waters of Life were ca&s;t upward, and forced again&s;t the ri&s;ings of &s;en&s;e, humane power, and naturall rea&s;on, by the &s;upreame force of Miracles, and &s;o were &s;pread no further, then they carried them by continuall renewed &s;upplies of miraculous o|perations;
<PB N="116" REF="80">
but now after there broke out this Spring of Living water, on the tops of the mountaines of the Empire, it ranne down more naturally, and plentifully upon the &s;ubjacent parts, and fructifyed the earth fa&s;ter, and more univer&s;al|ly.</P>
<P>In our corrupted nature, what is the common effect of mate|riall, holds al&s;o in &s;pirituall weight falling on our mindes, for the higher rea&s;on falls from the elevation of authority, and ex|ample, the more impre&s;&s;ion and penetration it makes upon them: wherefore Chri&s;tian Religion, when it fell from the &s;u|preame&s;t point of humane power, the Imperiall Court made much more &s;en&s;ible markes upon the world, then it had done before. And as this operative efficacy, may endeare to Cour|tiers their vocations, &s;o mu&s;t it needs pre&s;&s;e &s;o much the more upon them the evidence of their vertues.</P>
<P>Thus I have &s;howed how the Court may &s;ay, in honour of her conver&s;ion, that <HI>Chri&s;t in diver&s;e manners &s;poke to the other parts of the world</HI> by his Me&s;&s;engers, but unto us he &s;pake him|&s;elfe, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 4.</NOTE> when he came fir&s;t to Court in publicke, for before <HI>Con|&s;tantines</HI> time was there but as we &s;ay in <HI>incognito,</HI> but then he appeared in his own place, over the head of Kings, and pre&s;ent|ly di&s;lodged the Prince of darkenes out of the&s;e roomes of State, whereas before he had but di&s;played him in his under Offices, while he did but deliver and free private po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions, but then in one act he &s;eemed to di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e the whole Roman Empire, when he expelled him from the Court.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="section">
<PB N="117" REF="80">
<HEAD>&sect;. VI.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Some notorious errors remarked, &amp; what facility the breeding of Courtiers may bring towards an excellence in religious duties, proved by examples.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>COurtiers (who may by the&s;e reflexions be apt to value their vocation) mu&s;t be put in mind, that as they are more eminently then any, <HI>made &s;pectacles to the world, to Angels, and to men,</HI> they have in that preheminence a pro|portionate <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 4.</NOTE> charge upon them, of being more to the life the image of the cele&s;tiall man; in which figure, there is common|ly at Court one remarkeable incongruity, which is, that the feet are more laboured, and better fini&s;hed then the head; for morall vertues hold but an analogy with the&s;e parts in the bo|dy of chri&s;tianity, &s;ince they are but as it were carriages for theologicall or divine vertue to re&s;t, and move upon.</P>
<P>The errour then which I reproach, is, that there are many who are very preci&s;e in acquiring, and pre&s;erving their reputa|tion in courage, prudence, and fidelity, and are as remi&s;&s;e and indifferent in their applications to charity, piety, and humility; which is methinks &s;uch an incongruity in chri&s;tianity, as that of the <HI>Phari&s;ees</HI> was in the Law, when they &s;aid, <HI>Who&s;oever &s;hall &s;weare by the Temple, it is nothing, but he that &s;weares by the Gold of the Temple, is a debtor,</HI> making no account of that which was truly a &s;acred obligation, and making a great &s;cruple in what was nothing &s;o obligatory. And do not tho&s;e who are &s;o pun|ctuall in their reputation, concerning all morall accompli&s;h|ments, and &s;o unconcerred in the opinion of their chri&s;tian per|formances, &s;eem to practi&s;e the &s;ame impertinency? For all mo|rality is in relation to chri&s;tianity, but what the gold was to the Temple; &s;ince it is only &s;anctifyed by being &s;erviceable, and mi|ni&s;teriall to Religion; wherefore they who pretend exactnes in all civill and &s;ociable hone&s;ties, unle&s;&s;e it be in order to divine duties, and obligations, may be doubted to be more Di&s;ciples of the <HI>Phari&s;ees,</HI> then of JESUS, more affecters of the prai&s;es of men, then advocates for the part of vertue.</P>
<P><PB N="118" REF="81">
But this information again&s;t this Soleci&s;me in the &s;tile of many Courtiers virtues, doth not di&s;credit the vocation (though I need not fear much the taking away the good name of it in the world,) for this di&s;cipline in morality, and fa&s;hion of punctuality in civill dutyes, (if the principle thereof be &s;in|cere in the love of Moral virtue) may work, and accomodate the mind to a generall habit of &s;incerity, which when it is re|ferred to religious u&s;es, proves a facilitation towards fidelity and per&s;everance in them; as <HI>Saint Paul</HI> his <HI>Phari&s;aicall</HI> &s;trict|ne&s;&s;e, and &s;everity was a great promotion of the true religious fervor of his <HI>Apo&s;tle&s;hip;</HI> So this naturall preparation in Cour|tiers in the&s;e points of courage, loyalty, and civility, rai&s;eth the flame of their devotion the higher, when tho&s;e &s;o well di&s;|po&s;ed materials are kindled by the <HI>Prophets Seraphim,</HI> or by the <HI>Apo&s;tles fiery tongues.</HI></P>
<P>The pregnancy of many Courtiers in &s;anctity, ingrafted upon the &s;tock of naturall good parts, and acquired virtues, alloweth us to &s;ay as Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> &s;aid of Saint <HI>Cyprian</HI> (who grew by nature in the highe&s;t part of the world, and was &s;ingularly endued with all humane literature before his conver&s;ion,) how well over-laid with the gold of <HI>Egypt,</HI> did <HI>Cyprian</HI> come out of it, with which he enriched <HI>Jeru&s;alem?</HI> And &s;o the Church may truly acknowledge that many Cour|tiers have brought out with them much of this precious met|tall of humane prudence and &s;agacity, by which virtuous qua|lities and hone&s;tations they have been more happy then others in their applications to move the mindes of men, in who&s;e tempers they had been &s;o well ver&s;ed, this ingenious and ver|&s;atill habit of mind, (which they had acquired in the com|merce of the world) hath made their &s;pirituall practice upon the world, much more &s;ucce&s;&s;efull then that of others, who&s;e &s;epulative piety is le&s;&s;e accommodable with the humours of the patient; and certainly they owe much of the&s;e furthe|rances and inablements to the civill Di&s;cipline and Politique literature of Courts.</P>
<P>I &s;till conclude therefore in defence of the vocation of
<PB N="119" REF="81">
courtiers, while I reproach to them the perver&s;ion of their advantagees in education, for &s;ince nature is the ground on which grace is planted, the temper of the ground conduceth much to the increa&s;e, may be expected; for without doubt the civill breeding of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> did much contribute to all his naturall excellencies, and the being the mo&s;t reverend and re|&s;pected per&s;on of the Court, did not at all elate his heart, the &s;oftne&s;&s;e of his education was rather a good previous di&s;po|&s;ition for the effect of the Supernaturall Agent, in point of the admirable me<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">kne&s;&s;e of his Spirit; of who&s;e Court life the re|cords of the <HI>Jewes</HI> deliver unto us much more then the holy <HI>Writ. Jo&s;ephus</HI> reports to us how the comline&s;&s;e of his per&s;on; and gratiou&s;ne&s;&s;e of his meene and behaviour was &s;uch, as all the Kingdome of <HI>Egypt</HI> was taken with admiration of them, and the opinion of his virtue was &s;uch, as they repaired to him in a great extremity of an inva&s;ion of the <HI>Aethiopians,</HI> for his conduct; in a pre&s;&s;ing di&s;tre&s;&s;e of their Armies; and how that by his prudence and Magnanimity they overcame their ene|mies; In&s;omuch, as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was honoured &s;ometime as a &s;uc|ce&s;&s;or of <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> and no le&s;&s;e cryed up for a redeemer of <HI>E|gypt<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"></HI> and there is no doubt but he was as &s;incerely virtuous while he was the adopted heire of <HI>Pharaoh,</HI> as when he fell to be the &s;onne in law to <HI>Jethro;</HI> &s;o that the &s;oftne&s;&s;e of his breed|ing, did not at all enervate the &s;anctity of his mind. There|fore we may &s;ay, that the pallaces of <HI>Egypt</HI> will bear a <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> as well as the plaines of <HI>Mad<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">n.</HI></P>
<P>The Prophet <HI>E&s;ay&punc;</HI> was nephew to a <HI>King,</HI> and bred as is &s;up|po&s;ed in the Court, with all the tenderne&s;&s;es which are affect|ed, and allotted to the royall bloud of Princes, and his con|ver&s;ation was altogether in the Courts of diver&s;e Kings, where he &s;hined in no le&s;&s;e flame then <HI>Elias</HI> in the De&s;ert. Tho&s;e words were as powerfull which cal'd back the &s;unne upon the diall of the Court, as tho&s;e which cal'd down fire from heaven in mount <HI>Carmel.</HI></P>
<P>And as diver&s;e Princes have changed their condition of repre&s;enting <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> in his Kingly office, for the Character of
<PB N="120" REF="82">
his Prie&s;tly function, relinqui&s;hing their hou&s;es of power, to re&s;t in His hou&s;e of prayer; So many, both Kings and cour|tiers of the mo&s;t eminent, have in their own &s;tations in the world &s;hined out, as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Like bright lights to the world, in the midde&s;t of a perver&s;e generation,</HI> and have de&s;er|ved Saint <HI>Peters</HI> te&s;timony of <HI>Lot,</HI> of being <HI>Righteous both in hearing and &s;eeing,</HI> notwith&s;tanding all the &s;educements pro|po&s;ed <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 2. 8.</NOTE> to tho&s;e &s;en&s;es. And certainly &s;uch objects of virtue are more impre&s;&s;ive upon our affections, then tho&s;e which may be greater in them&s;elves, but more di&s;tantiall from our eye; in &s;uch a manner as we &s;ee that great branches of lights hang|ing very high ca&s;t not &s;o much light for the u&s;e of the room, as much le&s;&s;er proportions placed among the company; &s;o tho&s;e elevated &s;anctityes which are in the upper part of the Church in holy &s;eque&s;trations, do not communicate to the lower part of the world, &s;o much exemplary virtue, as tho&s;e le&s;&s;e purified, but more familiar and more proportioned pieties in the lives of &s;ecular per&s;ons, remarkable for &s;incere holi|ne&s;&s;e and devotion; &s;uch lives conver&s;ant in the world, are like a perfumers &s;hop, which gives &s;ome good &s;cent to all the pa&s;|&s;engers through the &s;treet, though it may be there are not &s;o choice and pretious odors in it, as in &s;ome places in the &s;ame &s;treet, which impart none of their &s;weets abroad, becau&s;e they are intercepted by the inclo&s;ures of walls, which keep them from any acce&s;&s;e to the pa&s;&s;engers; &s;o privacie and reclu&s;ene&s;&s;e may containe a more &s;ublime kind of &s;anctity, yet not be in &s;o communicative a po&s;ition, as tho&s;e fragrant plants which grow abroad in the trafficable parts of the world.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="section">
<PB N="121" REF="82">
<HEAD>&sect;. VII.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Compari&s;ons between vocations di&s;avowed, and advices offered, in order to a due corre&s;pon|dence with the grace of a Courtiers profe&s;|&s;ion.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>BY what I have pleaded in this la&s;t argument, I do not pretend to prefer the porch of <HI>Solomon</HI> before the <HI>San|ctuary,</HI> I intend to keep the due di&s;tances in my mea|&s;ures between &s;acred and &s;ecular vocations; each of them &s;tand in their proper order, and con&s;titute the grace and decency of the <HI>Temple</HI> which King <HI>David</HI> did love &s;o much; For as the <HI>Father</HI> hath many man&s;ions in his hou&s;e, &s;o the <HI>Sonne</HI> hath &s;everall offices in his, &s;orted to tho&s;e di&s;tinctions; and the <HI>ho|ly Gho&s;t</HI> mar&s;hals and ranks all tho&s;e diver&s;ities of callings in &s;uch &s;ort, as to frame an harmonious con&s;onancy between both Hou&s;es, of the <HI>Church militant</HI> and <HI>triumphant,</HI> accor|ding to what the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> informeth us, that <HI>There are diver|&s;ity of gifts, and differencies of admini&s;trations made by the &s;ame Spirit, who divideth to every one &s;everally as he will.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 12.</NOTE></P>
<P>Wherefore my purpo&s;e is not to mea&s;ure or weigh the preferablene&s;&s;e of &s;everall vocations, but onely to &s;et that of Courtiers rectified and &s;traight in the under&s;tanding of the world, to the end that not onely the con&s;i&s;tence of this calling with piety, may be evidenced again&s;t the popular traduce|ment, but that al&s;o the advantages of this vocation being rightly ballanced with the prejudices, may confute courtiers them&s;elves in this error, of &s;uppo&s;ing they may di&s;charge part of their infidelity to God, upon the infelicity of their vocation in order to Piety.</P>
<P>Every &s;tate of life hath an a&s;&s;ignment of grace commen|&s;urate to the nece&s;&s;ities of that calling; all things are di&s;po&s;ed
<PB N="122" REF="83">
in <HI>number, weight, and mea&s;ure,</HI> as the <HI>Wi&s;e man</HI> informeth us; <NOTE PLACE="marg">Sap. 11. 12.</NOTE> &s;o that although the temptations be more in number and weight, then in more retired and in glorious cour&s;es, yet the abilities and under&s;tandings of the per&s;ons are commonly &s;tronger then in vulgar &s;tations, whereby they are better ina|bled to apprehend their dangerous expo&s;ures, and accept them from the divine order, as a Rent charge of perill, laid upon the plenty of their temporall e&s;tates; by which di&s;cernment, they may convert even the &s;pecies of their &s;educements into the trea&s;ure of patience and humility, deriving from the perilous part of their condition, conclu&s;ions again&s;t the worth of things never &s;o glorious, being but tran&s;itory; &s;ince by the&s;e fruitions greater and eternall glory is &s;o much endangered.</P>
<P>And by this reflexion, even all tho&s;e fiery darts which fly about the Court, headed with the wilde fire of the Prince of darkne&s;&s;e, (though they have a fabulous &s;irname which the Poets have invented to di&s;gui&s;e them, to wit, <HI>the golden &s;hafts of Cupid,</HI> quite contrary to this their due a&s;cription,) when they light upon this &s;hield of faith, and expectance of eternall joy and glory, are ea&s;ily extingui&s;hed: So that a good humble courtier marching as I have directed him in all his wayes, up|on the foundation of humility, and poverty of &s;pirit, may keep a &s;afe cour&s;e in all the highe&s;t &s;toryes of fortune, and be no more &s;corched with pride or vanity, then with fire-works playing in the ayre; and though the Prince of that Region en|tertaineth all Courts much with &s;uch fla&s;hie &s;hewes, (that is, with the glittering vanities, and re&s;plendencies of the world,) yet to an humble and di&s;cerning &s;oul, they will &s;eem no more then &s;quibs breaking into &s;parkling &s;hivers of fire, which &s;hine but for a moment, and die with the ill &s;cent of tho&s;e rags whereof they are compo&s;ed.</P>
<P>Upon all the&s;e con&s;iderations, it &s;eemeth to me to import all the &s;ucce&s;&s;e of this cour&s;e of life, the fixing in our mind this principle, that all humane life, e&s;pecially the active part is con&s;tituted in a &s;tate of continuall malitancy, in which noti|on courtiers &s;hould account them&s;elves as the chief officers of
<PB N="123" REF="83">
the field, and &s;o remember that the condition of being in the head of the world, is like that of being in the head of troopes, &s;ince it coupleth alwayes danger equall to the degrees of ho|nour. And upon this &s;uppo&s;ition, they ought to be indu&s;tri|ous in providing extraordinary armour, in which point if they will be but as provident as they u&s;e to be for the defence of that life, they can but defer, and not truly defend or &s;ave, they are in a &s;tate no way di&s;advantaged for that Coronation, promi&s;ed onely upon the condition of victory; &s;ince to the greate&s;t vanqui&s;hers are propo&s;ed the large&s;t Crowns. There|fore they who are frighted like <HI>Eli&s;ha's</HI> &s;ervant, with the in|compa&s;&s;ure of tempations, let them look upward with the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Kin. 4. 6.</NOTE> <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> to the mountaines, and they &s;hall &s;ee the fiery Legi|ons of the <HI>holy Spirit</HI> &s;tanding for their defence, in&s;omuch as they may truly &s;ay, there are more with us then again&s;t us; for Saint <HI>Iohn</HI> gives them this a&s;&s;urance, He that is in you, is grea|ter then he who is in the world.</P>
<P>By the&s;e defences I hope to &s;ilence the popular cry again&s;t Courts in <HI>exeat aul&acirc; qui vult e&s;&s;e Pius,</HI> as if a good Chri&s;tian and a good courtier were not &s;tars of the &s;ame hemi&s;phere, and &s;o could not be &s;een together. For there are &s;ome natures, as <HI>Seneca</HI> &s;aith, &s;o &s;hady, as to think every thing turbulent and &s;tormy, that is but in broad day-light; and we may &s;itly &s;ay of the eyes of &s;uch minds, that they have not yet had the la&s;t touch of chri&s;tianity; for like the man in the <HI>Go&s;pell,</HI> who be|fore <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> his la&s;t touch, &s;aw men but ob&s;curely looking like trees, the&s;e minds may be &s;aid to have a &s;pirituall dimne&s;s upon them that doth not &s;ee clear, nor far enough into the grace of different conditions; this touch of <HI>Pauls</HI> hand when it &s;eemes he was doing the &s;ame cure upon the <HI>Corinthians,</HI> may eluci|date further this ca&s;e unto them; tho&s;e who are not <HI>Apo&s;tles,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Cor. 12.</NOTE> nor <HI>Prophets,</HI> have their ranks allotted, and due provi&s;ions of graces de&s;igned to their &s;everall &s;tations.</P>
<P>And likewi&s;e by the&s;e advi&s;es, I hope to rectifie that &s;o different error in many minds, which claime the &s;lipperine&s;&s;e of their &s;tation, for a tolleration of many foule falls, aledg|ing
<PB N="124" REF="84">
the fa&s;hion of the times and place carfieth them down the &s;tream, pretending when the humour of the <HI>Prince</HI> or the <HI>Grandees</HI> leaneth and re&s;teth it &s;elfe upon them, that their go|ing into the hou&s;e of <HI>Rimmon</HI> is much extenuated, beleeving that tho&s;e faults which cu&s;tome and company impo&s;e upon them, are &s;et but low upon their account: But the grace of a <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> teacheth him, not to be in&s;nared by this &s;ub|till impo&s;ition of complacencies from the worlds Mini&s;tery, no more then <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> was by that nice que&s;tion concerning paying of tribute to the <HI>Court;</HI> for chri&s;tian religion di&s;cerns clearly between what is due to <HI>Ce&s;ar</HI> and to God, and &s;o a Pious courtier may ea&s;ily <HI>give to Ce&s;ar what is Ce&s;ars, and to God what is Gods;</HI> and that by an Anological in&s;truction from this rule of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> allowing all that hath <HI>Ce&s;ars</HI> I|mage onely on it, offerable to <HI>Ce&s;ar,</HI> that is, all civill com|placencies in things unprohibited by God, as the comply|ing with all the innocent fa&s;hions of the court, and re&s;er|ving all that hath Gods Image on it for God; that is, ma|king an entire reference of all actions which concerne the &s;oul, to the regulation made by Gods precepts, and the churches explanations. Thus a courtier may pre&s;erve him|&s;elfe from being at all moved or &s;haken in his judgement for <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> and Religion, by not apprehending whether he be accounted or no a friend to <HI>Ce&s;ar,</HI> to wit, whether he retain the courts opinion of being agreeable, or complai&s;ant, or good company.</P>
<P>Gods le&s;&s;on given to the Prophet <HI>Ezekiel</HI> upon this occa&s;i|on, is very proper in &s;uch ca&s;es of temptation, <HI>Sonne of man,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 2.</NOTE> <HI>though thou doe&s;t dwell among Scorpions; be not afraid of their words, nor di&s;mayed at their lookes, though they be a rebellious hou&s;e;</HI> For tho&s;e (who do &s;incerely &s;tand upon their defence, lifting up their hands in the po&s;ture of the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t,</HI> in all the volleys of Darts) &s;hall never want that child to incompa&s;&s;e them, which he promi&s;eth, <HI>Thou&s;ands &s;hall fall on both &s;ides of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 90.</NOTE> <HI>him, but the danger &s;hall come no nearer him, the Sunne &s;hall not burne him by day, nor the Moon by night:</HI> the Sun-&s;hine of For|tune
<PB N="125" REF="84">
&s;hall not tanne or di&s;-colonr the fairenes and candor of his mind; nor the Night, or coldne&s;&s;e of his grace or credit, &s;hall not damp or benumme the vigour of his &s;pirit.</P>
<P>To conclude, let a Courtier at his entrance into this vocati|on, remember to read the Bill I have &s;et upon the Court gates, at the beginning of this Argument, and before he go in let him &s;ay with <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> in a devout apprehen&s;ion of his infirmity, <HI>If</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 33. 15.</NOTE> <HI>thy pre&s;ence go not with me, let me not go up to this place;</HI> and &s;o, in all his advances into the roomes of State, (in any &s;ort of his preferment) let him remember that whereof all the Maje&s;ty he &s;eeth, is but a figure, and by this meanes he may ea&s;ily keepe the originall pre&s;ence in his &s;ight; which object will prove a <HI>light to his eye, and a lampe to his feet,</HI> &s;hewing him, according to the Apo&s;tles rule, <HI>How to walke worthy of God, who hath cal|led</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">The&s;. 2. 12.</NOTE> <HI>him into his Kingdome and glory.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="11" TYPE="treatise">
<HEAD>The eleventh Treati&s;e. Of medi&s;ance or detraction.In two Sections.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The true nature of the crim&egrave; of Detraction, and the &s;ubtilty of it, in di&s;gui&s;ing it &s;elfe.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>HAving entred you &s;afely into the Court, and condu|cted you as I may &s;ay, through the roomes of State, and &s;hewed their ordinary furniture of &s;nares, as Ambition, Flattery, and Di&s;&s;imulation; it followes in order to pa&s;&s;e into the withdrawing roomes and cabinets, which are commonly furni&s;hed with the fine&s;t and daintie&s;t &s;tuffs, to wit,
<PB N="126" REF="85">
with more &s;ubtle and refined temptations; among which I con|ceive there is none more &s;harpe and piquant, and con&s;equently le&s;&s;e controverted or reproved, then <HI>Detraction,</HI> and <HI>Medi|&s;ance:</HI> Wherefore it will not be ami&s;&s;e to worke a little, to file downe as much as we can, the point of it, by the in&s;truments of Religion, which the Holy Spirit mini&s;tereth to us fitted for this purpo&s;e, by the hand of <HI>Solomon, Remove from thee a fro|ward mouth, and let detracting lips be farre from thee.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro. 4. 24.</NOTE></P>
<P>But le&s;t this fir&s;t &s;evere a&s;pect, may &s;eem to affront any in|nocent <NOTE PLACE="marg">Medi&s;ance defined.</NOTE> good humour, upon the Stage of conver&s;ation; tis fit to declare, that I only under&s;tand by Medi&s;ance, all &s;uch &s;pee|ches as may probably derogate from the fame and good re|pute of our neighbour; which though it be done in never &s;o gracefull or facetious a manner, hath &s;till the deformity of &s;in lying under the fine&s;t coverings, any fancy can ca&s;t over it, and con&s;equently ought not to be admitted into good com|pany, upon the recommendation of never &s;o hand&s;ome cloathes.</P>
<P>The <HI>Chimiques</HI> &s;ay, that in all materiall bodies there is a <HI>&s;alt,</HI> which is the mo&s;t &s;pirituall and active portion of them: which &s;ugge&s;teth to me this conceipt, that in the immaterialities of our pa&s;&s;ions, there may be &s;aid to be a kind of &s;alt or &s;pirit, which is the mo&s;t &s;ubtill and &s;harpe point of them; and upon this &s;core, I may &s;ay, that <HI>Medi&s;ance is the &s;alt of envy;</HI> as con|taining the mo&s;t quick and piquant part of this pa&s;&s;ion; it agre|eth likewi&s;e in this property with Salts and Spirits calcined, which do not &s;en&s;ibly di&s;cover the matter out of which they are extracted, being reduced into differing formes; neither doth Medi&s;ance in many ca&s;es manife&s;t at all the quality from whence it is derived, being drawn into another appearance of je&s;t and ingenio&s;ity; and &s;urely the nature of &s;uch poy&s;onous plants, ought to be the mo&s;t proclaimed, the ta&s;te whereof is plea&s;ant, and the occurrence familiar among innocent herbs, of which kind is this &s;pirit of detraction; which I may not unfitly compare to <HI>Mercury</HI> &s;ublimate, that ta&s;teth like &s;ugar; where|fore the children of this Family ought the more cautiou&s;ly be
<PB N="127" REF="85">
adverti&s;ed of the malignity thereof, &s;ince the matter lyes &s;o of|ten in their way.</P>
<P>The Apo&s;tle Saint <HI>James,</HI> as Gods advocate, brings a hai|nous charge again&s;t this libertinage, which in the world doth <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam. 4. 11.</NOTE> pretend to pa&s;&s;e, at the highe&s;t, for no more then a tre&s;pa&s;&s;e, not a &s;in; but thus he informeth again&s;t it; <HI>Detract not from one another; he that detracteth from his brother, or he that judgeth his brother, detracteth from the Law, and judgeth the Law;</HI> &s;o that not onely the credit of man, but even the honour of God &s;eemeth violated by the&s;e inva&s;ions, &s;ince even the law of God is &s;aid to be impleaded by &s;uch a&s;per&s;ions; God &s;eemeth to have tender'd &s;o much the good fame of man, as he hath joyn|ed his own honour with it, as a convoy again&s;t the in&s;ults of our vitious fancyes, that we might at lea&s;t re&s;pect Gods con|cernment in the violation of the fame of one another; detracti|on is thus proved to be one of the greate&s;t offenders in humane &s;ociety, yet the familiarity covereth &s;o much the faultine&s;&s;e, as it &s;uffereth the &s;eldome&s;t of any criminall, by rea&s;on of the many di&s;gui&s;es it can interchange: in&s;omuch as &s;ometimes religious ju&s;tice that would not connive, knoweth not how to take notice of it, meeting it &s;o ingeniou&s;ly transformed, but for the mo&s;t part it is not &s;trictly looked after.</P>
<P>The ca&s;e of medi&s;ance in courts, is like that of loo&s;e wo|men in the world that are very hand&s;ome, who do oftener gain and corrupt the officers of ju&s;tice, then they are detected and indicted by them; for abu&s;es and deri&s;ions of one another, pa&s;&s;e for &s;uch a kind of <HI>Pecadill<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">o</HI> among the children of this age, as they conceive it the office of a Gentleman rather to re&s;cue and &s;helter it, when it is pur&s;ued by ju&s;t reprehen&s;ion, then to deliver it up as a criminall; but &s;urely if we con&s;ider who&s;e law the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> telleth us is offended and impugned by the&s;e a&s;perities, we &s;hall find the Method of <HI>Jael</HI> to be fol|lowed, rather then that of <HI>Rahab,</HI> with the&s;e emi&s;&s;aries of the Prince of this world, which are imployed by him to bring him back the fruits of our corrupted earth, which is very luxuriant in this mi&s;tery of iniquity; in&s;omuch as we may &s;ay of this
<PB N="128" REF="86">
unhappy facundity, that our earth needs no rain to fall upon it, that is, no externall provocation to fertilize it, there ri&s;eth a mi&s;t out of it &s;elfe that watereth it, to wit, our innate per|ver&s;ity, which cau&s;eth this pregnancy of thorns and briars, that prick and &s;cratch one another in a reciprocall and cu&s;to|mary detraction, wherein we differ much from the opinion of the <HI>holy Gho&s;t,</HI> for we conceive we gather the be&s;t figs from the&s;e thorns, and the be&s;t grapes from the&s;e brambles, that is, we rai&s;e the mo&s;t plea&s;ant points of our di&s;cour&s;e, and the mo&s;t chearful rejoycings of our hearts out of the&s;e pungencies and &s;tingings of one another.</P>
<P>Of all the di&s;gui&s;es medi&s;ance puts on, that of mirth is the mo&s;t common, and the mo&s;t cunning; for there it appear|eth in &s;o naturall a habit, weareth the clothes of innocence and harmle&s;ne&s;&s;e &s;o hand&s;omely, and &s;peaketh the language &s;o well, as &s;eldome any inquire whether it be a native of that &s;tate; but as &s;trangers are ea&s;ilier di&s;covered by their accents then by the improperne&s;&s;e of their words; So medi&s;ance re|taineth mo&s;t commonly &s;ome forreign accent, if it be well ob|&s;erved, that betrayeth it to be no native of the &s;tate of inno|cence; yet we are likely over-civill, in taking notice of this forreigner, and very familiarly u&s;e detraction, as we do &s;tran|gers we would oblige, when we flatter their failings in our lan|guage by the warrant of civility, and take no notice of what we cannot chu&s;e but perceive; This kind of court-&s;hip is much u&s;ed in our entertainment of all ingenious and well fa&s;hioned mordancy or detraction.</P>
<P>In this particular more then in any other, we commonly at Court ob&s;erve the precept of <HI>doing to others, as we would be done to our &s;elves;</HI> For we examine one anothers faults in this kind, rather as complices then judges, &s;o generall is the con|currence towards the maintenance of this common intere&s;t of our fancyes entertainment: For alas, how few are there in Courts that are not either theevs or receivers in this &s;tealth of one anothers good name? for tho&s;e who have not tongues to commit the fact, have eares to entertaine it, and it may be
<PB N="129" REF="86">
truly &s;aid in this ca&s;e, that if there were no &s;uch receivers, there would be no &s;uch theeves, &s;ince the good reception and welcome that witty medi&s;ance finds, doth &s;urely entertain the profe&s;&s;ion; and alas how few re&s;olve with the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t,</HI> that <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 140.</NOTE> this <HI>oyle of &s;inners &s;hall not make fat their head,</HI> but do rather u&s;e it to keep their faces &s;mooth, and &s;hining in &s;miles &amp; gaye|tyes; little remembring what Saint <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith of whi&s;perers and detracters, that <HI>not onely they that do &s;uch things, are wor|thy of death, but they al&s;o that have plea&s;ure in tho&s;e that do</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1. Rom. 30. 32.</NOTE> <HI>them.</HI></P>
<P>Ought we not to be the more vigilant in the di&s;cernment and di&s;countenancing this licentiou&s;ne&s;&s;e, when we con&s;ider how hardly this offence can come to be &s;entenced, &s;ince the committers of it are very often the onely po&s;&s;ible Judges of the crime? &s;o well is it di&s;&s;embled to the re&s;t of the company; which even when they do &s;u&s;pect it is rendred very partial, by being interre&s;ted in the plea&s;ure, and not conceiving them|&s;elves concerned in the fault; wherefore every one mu&s;t be his own &s;incere over&s;eer and cen&s;or of the edition of his lan|guage on this Theame, &s;ince he is not likely to meet any other correction; All other licentiou&s;ne&s;&s;e of &s;peech doth likely meet with &s;ome adver&s;e party in the company, and &s;o cometh not off without being &s;hot at with &s;ome reprehen&s;ion, but plea|&s;ant and &s;harp medi&s;ance, as if it were in contribution with all humours, pa&s;&s;eth commonly freely in all conver&s;ations, with|out &s;o much as the warning of an enemy.</P>
<P>Our own con&s;ciences mu&s;t therefore be the conductors of our fancyes, when they are licen&s;ed to go out in partyes <HI>a la petite guerre,</HI> as the French cals it, to a kind of little warre in conver&s;ation; and the French have &s;uted methinks this kind of liberty of &s;peech very aptly with a terme, calling it <HI>faire la guerre,</HI> as it were &s;hirmi&s;hing of wits with one another: and I conceive that medi&s;ance may be very properly matched in this particular, with the cu&s;tome that parties have in the cour|&s;es they make upon high-wayes, in their own quarters; for when they take from travellers in the tearms of civill asking,
<PB N="130" REF="87">
becau&s;e the words are not violent, they maintaine the action to be lawfull; whereby many times when in effect they do rob, they perceive not their own theft; after fuch a &s;ort medi&s;ance or detraction while it u&s;eth the tearmes of <HI>raillerie,</HI> that is, quaint &amp; hand&s;ome je&s;ting, although it take away what repu|tation it plea&s;eth, yet the actors deceive them&s;elves in the crime by the civill and &s;ociable forme whereinto it is contri|ved.</P>
<P>The in&s;inuation therefore of this mi&s;chievous quality into mirth, ought to be watched with the more attention, &s;ince the preception of it is often very difficult, &amp; the prejudice alwaies very de&s;perate; for it worketh it &s;elfe into conver&s;ation, (which is the be&s;t externall fruit our rea&s;on beareth) like a worm by a little orifice, but it tainteth and corrupteth more then the birds, which prey directly upon the skin of the fruit, that is, then more profe&s;&s;ed indecencies and pre&s;umptions, which are like birds ea&s;ier &s;een and driven away, by an apparent gravity and &s;obriety &s;et up in our behaviour.</P>
<P>It importeth us very much to pre&s;erve conver&s;ation (which &s;eemeth the intellectuall aire, that our &s;oules breath in and out) as pure and whol&s;ome as we can, &s;ince though the infection of it, do not &s;en&s;ibly offend us at the in&s;tant, yet it worketh upon our minds by a more &s;ubtil infu&s;ion of malignity, where|by it corrupts by degrees the habit and di&s;po&s;ition of our &s;oules; wherefore the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> tells us, that <HI>with the perver&s;e, we &s;hall be perverted;</HI> and how often do we find this &s;urreptious contagion crept into our hearts, without much &s;ence of the in|troducement? of which ca&s;e <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;aith, <HI>The words of the whi&s;perer are as it were &s;imple, and the &s;ame come to the mo&s;t in|ward</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro. 26. 22.</NOTE> <HI>parts of the belly;</HI> let us therefore con&s;ult a little how to ob&s;truct the pa&s;&s;ages of this &s;o &s;ubtile in&s;inuation.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<PB N="131" REF="87">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Some Rules whereby to &s;quare our di&s;cour&s;e, and an expedient offered towards the correction of Medi&s;ance.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>BY this reformation propo&s;ed, I do not intend any defa|cing of the faire and plea&s;ant fronti&s;piece of &s;ociable conver&s;ation, for I do not de&s;ign the breaking down of all di&s;cour&s;e, that hath the image or a&s;pect of civill ho&s;tility, that is, all ingenious wra&s;tling and fencing of wits again&s;t one another; &s;uch formes of &s;peech may be hand&s;omely &s;et, as &s;pi|rituall Figures and carvings upon the &s;tructure of conver&s;ati|on, which may innocently grace and imbelli&s;h the whole frame, there are many pa&s;&s;ages that have an evident character of harm|le&s;&s;e mirth and jollity; which although they are piquant, yet are not ea&s;ily pervertible to any di&s;paragement of our neigh|bour; &s;o that our &s;peech may be with grace, and &s;ea&s;oned with &s;alt, as Saint <HI>Paul</HI> advi&s;eth us, wherefore in any &s;uch recreative freedoms may well be admitted, with this caution given to the utterers, that they examine not only the candor of their owne thoughts, but likewi&s;e the compo&s;ition of the per&s;ons whom &s;uch liberties may concerne, as al&s;o the humours of the com|pany where they are vented, for I conceive, the&s;e three circum|&s;tances ought to concur, for the licen&s;ing &s;uch exerci&s;es of our <NOTE PLACE="marg">What cir|cum&s;tances are to be ob|&s;erved in je&s;ting.</NOTE> fancy; fir&s;t, the ingenuous and harmle&s;&s;e intention of them that mini&s;ter the mirth, next the probability of a right under|&s;tanding by them who are the &s;ubject of it, and la&s;tly, the like|lihood of an innocent apprehen&s;ion of our je&s;ts in the compa|ny they are addre&s;&s;ed unto, for their plea&s;ure and entertain|ment; and I conceive one may be very good company, re&s;train|ing their wits within the&s;e three religious limitations, for while our words are tuned to the Key of charity, Men and Angels
<PB N="132" REF="88">
may rejoyce together in the gayety of their aires; this was the tune which the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> &s;et for him&s;elfe, and for us to &s;tudy, having left it thus noted, <HI>I will take heed to my wayes that I &s;inne not with my tongue, I will keepe my mouth with a bridle.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 39.</NOTE></P>
<P>Con&s;idering the humour of the world, and how fa&s;hions are &s;ooner decryed, by the di&s;like of &s;uch per&s;ons, as they are de|&s;igned to fancy, then by the prohibitions or order of the &s;tate, I conceive the be&s;t proportioned expedient, to the effect of re|pealing this licentious cu&s;tome of pillaging one anothers re|putation, in the&s;e excur&s;ions of je&s;t and raillery, is to terrify the receivers of &s;uch &s;poyles, which are tho&s;e, that take them off from the acting parties with applau&s;e and delectation; where|fore &s;uch patrons mu&s;t be adverti&s;ed, that they know not how deare they pay for &s;uch preyes, when they imagine they give nothing but a cheerefull countenance for them, &s;ince indeed they co&s;t them more innocence, then many of them would part with for them, if that price was directly &s;et upon them: let them be admoni&s;hed then, that as the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> &s;aith of the com|mitters of &s;uch facts, that <HI>the poy&s;on of A&s;pes is under their lips,</HI> &s;o that it may be properly &s;aid of the receivers of &s;uch thefts, in the tearmes of the Holy Spirit, <HI>They &s;uck the head of A&s;pes, &amp; the Vipers tongue &s;hal kil them:</HI> Since we are made by God as it were mutual Feoffees in tru&s;t for one anothers good name, by this order, which declareth that <HI>God hath given every one</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;ia&s;ti|cus 17.</NOTE> <HI>commandement concerning his neighbour,</HI> being therein charged the pre&s;ervation of our brothers fame, to an&s;wer, <HI>Am I my bro|thers keeper?</HI> doth indeed &s;avour &s;omewhat of the guilt of the murder.</P>
<P>Let not then tho&s;e parties unto who&s;e complacency &s;uch licentiou&s;nes is addre&s;&s;ed, &s;uppo&s;e that they may in|nocently injoy &s;uch &s;poyles, which they pretend not to be|&s;peake, but only to accept as a pre&s;ent from their familiars; for &s;urely all per&s;ons of alluring fortunes, or of other followed qualities, which are noted for entertainers and cheri&s;hers of Medi&s;ance and bitterne&s;&s;e in conver&s;ation, do no better then &s;et up a Shop declaredly to take off plundered goods; which
<PB N="133" REF="88">
commodity offered to the violaters, cannot chu&s;e but pa&s;&s;e for a contribution to the Fact; and the mi&s;chiefe of this traffique is alwayes proportioned, by the eminency of the e&s;tate of the per|&s;on that profe&s;&s;eth this commerce; for high encouragements do as it were pre&s;&s;e the&s;e morall plunderers, which are &s;uch li|centious companies, that tho&s;e who rai&s;e them &s;o ea&s;ily, as they co&s;t them but their connivance, cannot ca&s;hiere them again with their command, for very often as the <HI>Wi&s;eman</HI> &s;aith, <HI>The Char|mers them&s;elves are &s;tung</HI> with the Serpents they play with, and then <HI>who &s;hall pity them, when they &s;well upon &s;uch &s;tingings?</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;ta&s;ti|cus</NOTE></P>
<P>Let every one then make this good u&s;e of the re&s;pect and dif|ference which is given to their per&s;ons or conditions; the taking upon them to di&s;credit this &s;o pernitious fa&s;hion of receiving (as ju&s;tifyable Pre&s;ents from their ob&s;ervers) the de&s;amation of their brother; for when this humour of Medi&s;ance &s;pringeth in the head of the company, it runnes fluently into the le&s;&s;e noble parts; but when it ri&s;eth fir&s;t but in the inferior and dependent per&s;ons, it requireth a force of wit and ingenio&s;ity to rai&s;e and diffu&s;e it upward, which capacity is not very familiar: where|fore I conceive the mo&s;t powerful receipt again&s;t this mi&s;chiefe to be the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing the mo&s;t eminent and reverenced per&s;ons of Courts, with the irreligiou&s;ne&s;&s;e of this authori&s;ed fa&s;hion of Medi&s;ance, cheri&s;hed under the di&s;gui&s;e of mirth: For if Prin|ces do ignoble their minds, with this favouring of detraction, they do not only licen&s;e it, but &s;eem even to impo&s;e it, which is &s;uch a kind of grievance, as offendeth much, and yet le&s;&s;eneth their owne meanes, not only in point of their re-obliging, but likewi&s;e in their part of commanding, for what is taken from the true value and e&s;timation of every one, by this liberty, is lo&s;t to the Prince in all the u&s;es he hath of their &s;ervice; &s;o that Princes have not only a religious, but a politique duty, that re|quireth of them &s;everity rather then indulgence towards this toleration, &s;ince their &s;imple connivance will introduce detra|ction, in the fa&s;hion called <HI>incognito,</HI> which alloweth all the &s;ame liberties, to the party &s;o received, under this colour of his not profe&s;&s;ing him&s;elfe to be pre&s;ent in his own quality; &s;uch a
<PB N="134" REF="89">
kind of admi&s;&s;ion doth the connivance of Princes give to Me|di&s;ance, treating with her, as if they tooke no notice of her qua|lity: and when Princes foule their hands actively in this &s;ully|ing of others, they do as it were publiquely pre&s;cribe the fame and reputation of every one, and &s;eeme to &s;et a price upon them, for every one that can bring them into their delight and entertainment; nor is this price limited, but may be &s;aid to be as much as every accure malicious wit &s;hall rate his hope at, by becoming agreeable and familiar with the Prince.</P>
<P>Saint <HI>Au&s;tu&s;tine</HI> &s;aith, he doth not wonder at the di&s;&s;olutenes of the Heathen, when their Gods were both Patrons and par|terns of their vi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">iou&s;ne&s;&s;e, whereby their crimes &s;eemed to them rather &s;acrifices then &s;ins; wherefore it is little wonder to &s;ee a Court over-run by any vitious humour, that is let in through this overture of the Princes inclination; for as patterns of mo|rall liberties, the world looke upon them too much as Gods images, &s;ince their con&s;iderations do commonly terminate in the images them&s;elves, and do not pa&s;&s;e on to the originall or prototipe; that is, we do not examine whether their wills re|&s;emble that exemplar will they repre&s;ent, but conforme our affections directly to the &s;imilitude of theirs, by rea&s;on that our intere&s;ted thoughts, &s;tay likely at our neare&s;t hopes and feares; and finding Princes the next and immediate rewarders or pu|ni&s;hers of our actions, we &s;quare and modell them to &s;uch ex|pectations as their humours mini&s;ter unto us: Hence it is, that though Princes have many preheminencies over others, yet in this particular of their morall freedoms, they &s;eeme the mo&s;t limited and re&s;trained of any, by rea&s;on of the common de|rivations from their examples: Whereupon as Subjects do &s;ub&s;cribe to Princes in point of their fortunes, &s;o do they &s;eem to pre&s;cribe unto Princes, in this regulating their comport|ments, in re&s;pect of the common frailties, becau&s;e they cannot take off the impo&s;itions of their own examples; wherefore they mu&s;t remember them&s;elves to be the &s;elfe-&s;ame per&s;ons, which are the mo&s;t &s;pecially menaced by tho&s;e judgements the <HI>Holy Spirit</HI> &s;aith <HI>are prepared for &s;corners.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="135" REF="89">
This being &s;o much averred, I humbly pre&s;ent Princes and <NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro. 19. 29.</NOTE> great per&s;ons, with this excellent pre-caution given by the <HI>Wi&s;eman, Hedge your eares with thornes, and heare not a wicked</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ecclus. 28. 28.</NOTE> <HI>tongue, and make doores and locks to your mouth;</HI> that is to &s;ay, fence your eares &s;o with the points of religion and piety, as they may rather prick, by &s;ome &s;harpe reproofe the obtruders of all offen&s;ive Medi&s;ance, then leave them open for &s;uch receptions; and &s;urely the locks &s;et upon the mouthes of the chie&s;e of the company, doth &s;hut out all &s;uch &s;peech, as they intend to de|bar, for their humours are the Wards, by which the re&s;t frame the Key of their di&s;cour&s;e, to open unto them&s;elves acceptati|on.</P>
<P>All this con&s;idered, the be&s;t expedient I can admini&s;ter, to|wards the repre&s;&s;ing of this licentiou&s;ne&s;s, is the di&s;-favour and un-concurrence of the Grandees in the world; which opinion is thus &s;upported by the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t, The North wind di&s;sipateth raines, and a &s;ad looke the tongue that detracteth;</HI> Wherefore I <NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro. 25. 23.</NOTE> be&s;eech every one whom it may concerne, to put on a &s;erious di&s;plicence, upon the&s;e occa&s;ions, that they may not incurre this menace of Chri&s;t, <HI>Woe be unto you that laugh now,</HI> but ra|ther entitle them&s;elves to this promi&s;e of the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t, They</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 6. 25. Pro. 31. 25.</NOTE> <HI>&s;hall laugh in the latter day.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="12" TYPE="treatise">
<PB N="136" REF="90">
<HEAD>The twelfth Treati&s;e. Concerning &s;currility or uncleanne&s;&s;e of &s;peech. In three Sect.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Of the dangerou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the&s;e libertyes, and the familiar excu&s;es made for them.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>BEing in cha&s;e of the tongue, which Saint <HI>James</HI> &s;aith, <HI>is &s;o wilde a bea&s;t as no body can tame,</HI> me thinks <NOTE PLACE="marg">James 3.</NOTE> this other unruly evill &s;eemeth to be her other fore|leg, whereby &s;he runnes &s;o lightly in the cour&s;e of our nature, and &s;ets it (as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;aith) on fire; wherefore the&s;e her two vitiou&s;ne&s;&s;es of medi&s;ance and lubricity may well be pro|&s;ecuted together, and in effect they are &s;eldome parted in our humours. Moreover, as they are twins of an illegitimate and &s;candalous conception, their delivery is commonly after &s;uch a manner, as that of <HI>Pharez</HI> and <HI>Zara,</HI> where he that put his <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 38.</NOTE> hand fir&s;t into the world, came intyrely the la&s;t into it: So detraction and piquantnes of wit, doth likely fir&s;t make prof|fers to i&s;&s;ue out of our corrupted nature, but is fully delivered the latter of the two, for we know that our fancies even in their immature &s;ea&s;on, &s;train to be forward in this point of medi&s;ance and mordancy of one another, but the other twin, namely loo&s;ne&s;&s;e and uncleanne&s;&s;e of &s;peech, entreth fir&s;t com|pleatly into our di&s;cour&s;e, by rea&s;on that the full growth of medi&s;ance, requireth a riper fancy, and many extimulations to &s;harpen it; whereof our green youth is not &s;u&s;ceptible:
<PB N="137" REF="90">
&s;o that mo&s;t commonly our tongue delivereth fully this vice of foulen&s;&s;e and ob&s;cenity of &s;peech the fir&s;t into the world; and thus, that of the two which in part &s;allieth fir&s;t out of our fancy, is the la&s;t in point of an intire production, I &s;hall not &s;tay to examine their priority, in this relation of their brother|hood in iniquity, as neither of them are children of light, &s;o their inheritance is &s;uch, as even the lea&s;t &s;hare will &s;eeme too much to each of them; wherefore I may truly &s;ay, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are they who da&s;h the&s;e while they are little ones, again&s;t the &s;tones</HI> of the Temple of the Holy Gho&s;t, repre&s;&s;ing the fir&s;t &s;trainings and proffers of our fancies, at the&s;e indecent excur&s;ions.</P>
<P>But alas how di&s;tancial are we from this igennious coercion of our polluted fancies? When commonly we &s;et al our wits upon this liberty, to cloake and palliate it, when it is accu&s;ed; do we not familiarly &s;eeke to elude the reprehen&s;ions, and to cover this our Idol of Wantonne&s;&s;e with <HI>Rachels</HI> Mantle, an&s;wering <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 31.</NOTE> our impeachers, <HI>it is with us after the manner of the world?</HI> the cu&s;tomary infirmity of our nature is made the palliation of this iniquity; but &s;urely cu&s;tome and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion in this ca&s;e ought &s;trongly to be impleaded; for if cu&s;tome pa&s;&s;e for a &s;econd na|ture, even when at fir&s;t it contendeth again&s;t her, when it doth concurre and &s;econd her; how &s;trong and unruly mu&s;t they needs both grow again&s;t the order and di&s;cipline of grace? which is evidenced in mo&s;t companies by the notorious exce&s;&s;es of the&s;e impunities.</P>
<P>But it is no hard Argument to overthrow this plea of cu|&s;tome, and to prove this charge of a high offence again&s;t this licentiou&s;nes of &s;peech, becau&s;e if we &s;tand charged with al our words upon accompt, all our indecent and uncleane ones mu&s;t needs be &s;et very high in the reckoning; by rea&s;on they may be &s;aid to be re&s;pon&s;able, not only for all the time we our &s;elves take up upon them, but even for all the lo&s;&s;e and prejudice the company &s;uffereth by them, &s;ince whether they offend or affect the company, we are an&s;werable for both the&s;e effects, for the &s;candall even when they are di&s;ta&s;ted, and much more for the temptation when they are well reli&s;hed; and if we are injoyned
<PB N="143" REF="91">
&s;uch a preferring the good of &s;ociety, before that of &s;inglenes, as we are di&s;&s;waded by the <HI>Apo&s;tle,</HI> even lawfull and inno|cent libertyes, in ca&s;e of indangering the &s;candalizing of our brother; how faulty mu&s;t be this unruly tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of all the precepts that directly prohibit &s;uch licentiou&s;ne&s;&s;e? Is it not a plea&s;ant an&s;wer to Saint <HI>Pauls</HI> order, of <HI>let no ill word come out of your mouth,</HI> to reply, <HI>alas we are u&s;ed to let out &s;o</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 11.</NOTE> <HI>many as the cu&s;tome may &s;tand for our defence:</HI> to which, me|thinks we may &s;uppo&s;e the &s;pirit of Saint <HI>Paul</HI> an&s;wering as he did upon the occa&s;ion of reforming an effeminate fa&s;hion among the <HI>Corinthians, We have no &s;uch cu&s;tome, nor the Church of God.</HI></P>
<P>The mo&s;t familiar extenuation of this culpable practi&s;e, is, that there are many light pa&s;&s;ages in di&s;cour&s;e, that have no aime but the pre&s;ent jollity and recreation, and that many of &s;uch levities &s;pring up in our way without the ranging of our fancyes for any &s;uch game, and that &s;uch accidentall free|domes may produce a harmele&s;&s;e recreation; I do not bring my charge again&s;t any &s;uch chances, there may many words be &s;tarted in conver&s;ation that may move our fir&s;t in|&s;tincts to runne after &s;uch &s;portings, wherefore I do not at|taint all &s;uch propen&s;ions, but de&s;ire that this aptne&s;&s;e in our nature may be rightly under&s;tood, and that we may di&s;cerne our being moved with &s;uch light invitations, to be rather excu|&s;able by our frailties, then ju&s;tifiable by the qualities of &s;uch mirth.</P>
<P>There is no fault &s;o little in this kind, that is not accounted one; for the familiarity of the&s;e &s;mall imperfections, indange|reth their ri&s;ing into higher corruptions; how many little un|cleanne&s;&s;es do we &s;ee, that being wiped off as &s;oon as they light upon our clothes, come out again with any &s;tain? which if they be neglected, &s;inke in, and leave their &s;pots upon the place: nor is there any morall immundicity of a more dange|rous in&s;inuation then this of wanton di&s;cours, by rea&s;on it in|troduceth it &s;elf in a harmeles apparence, &amp; &s;o &s;ubtilly, as even many who aime at purity of life, are &s;ometimes if not affected,
<PB N="139" REF="91">
at lea&s;t amu&s;ed &amp; diverted by it in their de&s;ign, and unto &s;uch wel di&s;po&s;ed minds do I addres this animadver&s;ion; to &s;uch I &s;ay, in who&s;e lives the&s;e amu&s;ements are the mo&s;t apparent de|fects; for in &s;uch &s;ubjects, (in whom the&s;e exce&s;&s;es are, the lea&s;t of their corruptions, where out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth overfloweth in the&s;e pollutions) I cannot hope to wa&s;h off &s;o ea&s;ily this &s;oule graine of their interior di&s;po&s;ition; this particular being &s;o twi&s;ted &amp; inwrapped in other gro&s;&s;er vices (like &s;trawes or fethers cleaving to &s;ome tenacious mat|ter) as it cannot be ea&s;ily &s;evered or expurged, but in &s;ome fair &s;ouls; the&s;e levities are but like &s;ome loo&s;e du&s;t or feathers that of them&s;elves come up, and &s;wim upon the top of their enter|tainments, and &s;o may ea&s;ily be &s;cum'd off by a gentle hand of reprehen&s;ion, whil&s;t in fordid and foul mindes, this filth &s;tick|eth to &s;uch heavy vices, as keep them in the bottome of their hearts, in&s;omuch as they &s;eem to require &s;ome &s;torm of afflicti|on that may move and agitate the deepe&s;t parts of their ill ha|bits, and by that meanes ca&s;t out all the foul weight together that lay &s;unk in the bottome of their hearts.</P>
<P>I will therefore onely addre&s;&s;e the&s;e gentle pre&s;cripts unto &s;uch as intend the ob&s;ervance of <HI>Solomons</HI> advi&s;e, of <HI>keeping</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;ia&s;tes 9.</NOTE> <HI>their garments alway white,</HI> that they mu&s;t not onely &s;et <HI>a guard over their heart, but al&s;o a watch over lips,</HI> that no inde|cent freedomes may creep into a cu&s;tome, for in that incroach|ment they &s;hall never di&s;cern the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion they have taken, till they attempt their remove; and the &s;malnes of this fault in the commencements of it, proveth the mo&s;t dangerous part towards the progre&s;&s;e thereof; for it may be compared in a perverted &s;en&s;e, to that grain which is the lea&s;t of all &s;eeds, when it is ca&s;t into the ground; but at la&s;t it groweth to a ne&s;t for the fowls of the ayre, becau&s;e, commonly what is at fir&s;t but levity and veniall wantonne&s;&s;e, groweth up very famili|arly to beare and harbor all kind of foulne&s;&s;e and impurity: Wherefore <HI>Solomon</HI> warneth us thus again&s;t &s;uch deceptions, <HI>There is a way that &s;eemeth right unto man, but the end there|of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 16. 25.</NOTE> <HI>is the way of death.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<PB N="140" REF="92">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Some &s;peciall cau&s;es of the growth of this licen|tiou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and &s;ome expedient propo&s;ed to|wards the &s;uppre&s;&s;ion thereof.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>THE admi&s;&s;ion of the&s;e liberties by well di&s;po&s;ed per|&s;ons, is derived commonly from the incon&s;ideration of the dignity and duty of a <HI>Chri&s;tian,</HI> upon this &s;ug|ge&s;tion, from him who transfigureth him&s;elfe into an <HI>Angel of light,</HI> that the maimed and defectuous, were onely forbid the Altar, not debar'd the Congregation; to wit, that Can|dour and immaculatene&s;&s;e of conver&s;ation is onely required of &s;uch, as are &s;eque&s;tred for God, by &s;ome vow or con&s;ecra|tion; and that other vocations need not attend to &s;o much cleanne&s;&s;e of heart, as is intimated by the&s;e &s;crupulous &s;ug|ge&s;tions, but this fla&s;h of lightning of the evill Angell will quickly vani&s;h, when we turne our eyes upon the&s;e beames of the Sunne of Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, which &s;hine out &s;o fully in the&s;e words, <HI>Be ye perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect:</HI> Where|by <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mark 5.</NOTE> our <HI>Saviour</HI> &s;eemeth to pre&s;&s;e &s;o much our purity, as he &s;etteth us a higher patern then even him&s;elfe, (as he did then appeare to the eye of his di&s;ciples) and this &s;imilitude injoyn'd cannot po&s;&s;ibly admit any voluntary adherence to the lea&s;t unlikene&s;&s;e and di&s;&s;imilitude to this exemplar, and how di|&s;tanciall the mo&s;t triviall imperfection is from his infinite purity, the Angels them&s;elves cannot determine: How much ought we then to apprehend the &s;lighte&s;t touch or da&s;h of our pen&s;ill, in the copying this Immaculate Originall?</P>
<P>If we could di&s;cern the &s;taynes and taints, even of our be&s;t workes, wherein we perceive no faultine&s;&s;e, we would ne|ver venture the voluntary expo&s;ing any to the &s;ight of God, wherein we our &s;elves find &s;pots and blemi&s;hes, when the man
<PB N="141" REF="92">
after Gods own heart was fain to appeale to Gods mercy for his &s;ecret and undi&s;cerned &s;innes; how vain a thing is it to e|&s;teem any &s;inne light or incon&s;iderable, which we our &s;elves are able to di&s;cover? O what an honour is a <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> tru&s;ted with, when not onely the rejoycing of <HI>Angels</HI> is within his capacity, but even the &s;atisfaction of the <HI>holy-Gho&s;t?</HI> which is intimated by Saint <HI>Paul,</HI> when he chargeth us not to grieve or make &s;ad the <HI>holy Spirit;</HI> and certainly all the loo&s;e mirth and jollity wherewith we flatter our nature, is &s;o much contri&s;ta|tion to his holyne&s;&s;e and purity; and alas, how often do the&s;e impure &s;parks of our tongues pa&s;&s;e to a higher offence? when flying inward they kindle &s;uch a flame, as doth extingui&s;h the order of the <HI>holy Spirit,</HI> how <HI>little a &s;park &s;ets a whole wood on fire?</HI> is too frequently atte&s;ted by unhappy experiments in this <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 The&s;. 5. 20.</NOTE> kind; wherefore Saint <HI>James</HI> warning us further of the ill con&s;equences of our tongues di&s;order, tells us, that <HI>the tongue is the helme of the whole body,</HI> &s;o that if it be ill &s;teered, it mu&s;t <NOTE PLACE="marg">James 3.</NOTE> needs mi&s;lead the cour&s;e of our whole lives.</P>
<P>Nothing methinks evidenceth more the faultine&s;&s;e of the&s;e libertyes, then that the pre&s;ence of any notedly good and vir|tuous per&s;on, doth commonly re&s;train &s;uch freedomes of &s;peech; doth not this forbearance avow their unju&s;tifiablenes, and reproach the idlene&s;&s;e of our incon&s;ideration, while we forget the continuall pre&s;ence of Almighty God? in reference whereunto, we are pre&s;&s;ed even by in&s;tinct, to pay this reve|rence unto men, of vailing our loo&s;e inclinations; if the eyes even of the children of light, are able to di&s;pell the&s;e foule mi&s;ts, the con&s;ideration of the pre&s;ence of the Father of lights though in an invi&s;ible manner, may well di&s;&s;ipate the matter of the&s;e meteors, the &s;ub&s;tance whereof, is alwayes earthy and vi&s;cous, though the flame be never &s;o bright: for the &s;ubject of la&s;civious words, is alwaies &s;ordid and unclean, though the flame of fancy they glitter in be of never &s;o clear and &s;harp conceptions.</P>
<P>The be&s;t expedient then in order to the bridling our un|ruly fancyes, is, to awe them often with the pre&s;ence of God,
<PB N="140" REF="93">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="141" REF="93">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="142" REF="94">
who is termed <HI>a con&s;uming fire,</HI> for &s;uch minds as are habitu|ated to that a&s;pect, and who&s;e thoughts walk before the Lord will be no more entangled with the&s;e levities, then they are retarded by Atomes walking in the ayre; and to indue this pre&s;entiall con&s;ideration of God, let us remember often that <HI>we are not our own, but are bought with a great price,</HI> by him who will be glorified as well as carried in our bodyes: and as <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 6. 20.</NOTE> we may be &s;aid to lodge God in our hearts, &s;o we do carry him abroad no way more vi&s;ibly then in our mouths, and &s;urely the cu&s;tome of any unclean &s;peech, tainteth and &s;poileth the breath that is to carry him.</P>
<P>Let us not therefore be deceived with this vulgar diver&s;ion, to wit, that the&s;e freedoms of di&s;cour&s;e are harmele&s;&s;e and allowable, there is no action of a <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> incon&s;iderable to God, our recreations mu&s;t be of the &s;ame &s;pecies as our prayers, though not of the &s;ame degrees of inten&s;ive finene&s;&s;e, they mu&s;t be both of the &s;ame nature of innocence, though not adequate in the mea&s;ures of purity; we may &s;ay methinks not improperly of our recreations and devotions, that the fir&s;t mu&s;t be holy, as the la&s;t are holy, in the &s;ame &s;en&s;e, that we mu&s;t be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect, which is, in point of &s;imilitude, not in a degree of equality; <HI>&s;uch as analogy mu&s;t the plea&s;ures of a Chri&s;tian hold with his prayers of being re&s;embling, though not commen&s;urate in Sanctity.</HI></P>
<P>We may well infer, what an obligation of purity Saint <HI>Paul</HI> layeth upon <HI>Chri&s;tians,</HI> when he &s;aith, <HI>Tho&s;e that are baptized have put on Chri&s;t,</HI> if we are to con&s;ider our &s;elves as clothed with <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> how can we be too curious and circum&s;pect in point of keeping &s;uch a ve&s;timent un&s;potted? methinks this &s;hould be a good gla&s;&s;e for tho&s;e who are &s;o curious and neat in their materiall clothes and dre&s;&s;ings, wherein the lea&s;t un|becomingnes or di&s;order is &s;o much examined; for by a re|flexion from the&s;e words of the <HI>Apo&s;tle,</HI> they may &s;ee with <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;ia&s;tes</NOTE> what degree of purity they are incharged, methinks this re|&s;pect may well move them to an exact candour and cleanli|ne&s;&s;e in their conver&s;ation, which is recommended by the <HI>holy
<PB N="143" REF="94">
Spirit,</HI> under the notion of keeping in all times their ve&s;tments white and candid.</P>
<P>But I pray God, much of the worlds proprety and decen|cies, be not affected expre&s;ly in order to the &s;taining this our inward garment of <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> purity; this is light enough to all intelligent per&s;ons, for an exploring the rectitude or wryne&s;&s;e of their behaviours in this particular; &s;ince even in this vain &s;uperficies of neatne&s;&s;e, they may di&s;cern a figure of their Spi|rituall obligation to purity, whereof <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> doth pre&s;cribe to us the pre&s;ervation by this exact Di&s;cipline of <HI>Watch and pray le&s;t you enter into temptation:</HI> For alas we have the roots of the forbidden fruit, planted in our nature, which &s;hoo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> up continually &s;o fa&s;t, as we have work enough to nip and crop off their buds and blo&s;&s;omes, and all unclean liberties, may well be &s;aid to be &s;o much dung and filth we ca&s;t about the&s;e roots, to cheri&s;h and &s;et them forwarder; but the ranknes and luxuriancy of our tempers in this kind, ought rather to be the &s;ubject of our extirpation, then a ground for ow<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> manu|ring and culture; we might better methinks derive much ba&s;h|fulne&s;&s;e and confu&s;ion from this notion of the pregnancy of our natures towards all the&s;e foul productions, then work thus with our fancies, to &s;tir up the earth about the&s;e roots&punc;</P>
<P>They who extract &s;ha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e and humiliation out of the foul|ne&s;&s;e of their naturall propen&s;ions, may be &s;aid to do &s;ome &s;uch cure open them&s;elves, as <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> did upon one of the blind men, to wit, upon their own eyes, by thus laying their own dirt upon them, and tho&s;e who catch at all occurrencies in di&s;cour&s;e, to advance their light impul&s;es, may be &s;aid to con|tinually rai&s;ing a du&s;t out of their loo&s;e earth, to put out not onely their own eyes, but likewi&s;e tho&s;e of the company they frequent.</P>
<P>Referring to this depravation, there is one familiar iniquity, which de&s;erveth a particular animadver&s;ion, which is, this, cu|&s;tome of letting our tongues runne full counter to this <HI>Chri|&s;tian</HI> precept, of <HI>Watch le&s;t you enter into temptation.</HI> For alas how frequent is this practi&s;e of watching to lead all words in|to temptation, by binding and &s;training even the mode&s;t
<PB N="144" REF="95">
words of others into a crooked and la&s;civious &s;en&s;e, this viti|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e argueth a great &s;ullne&s;&s;e of the evill &s;pirit, when it runs over with &s;uch a wa&s;te, even upon the words of our neighbour; and well con&s;idered, me thinks this is one of the mo&s;t cen&s;u|rable parts of this licentiou&s;ne&s;&s;e, in regard it laboureth to taint the whole body of conver&s;ation, as it corrupteth the nature of words, which are the <HI>Publique Faith,</HI> whereupon all innocent di&s;cour&s;e mu&s;t needs tru&s;t it &s;elfe; &s;o that this perver&s;ion &s;eem|eth a publick impediment to the commerce of all vertuous communication; wherefore this di&s;torting of equivocall words, which pa&s;&s;eth commonly for a triviall peccancy, if it be well examined, will be found a very dangerous admi&s;&s;ion; for me thinks this may be termed a verball adultery, as it vitiateth and corrupts the property of another, which would have remained innocent without that &s;ollicitation, and therefore &s;eemeth much a fouler fault, then a &s;ingle incontinency of our own words.</P>
<P>This di&s;cour&s;e puts me in mind of a mo&s;t ingenuous piece of S. <HI>Augu&s;tines</HI> Confe&s;&s;ions, upon the reflection on the un|cleanne&s;&s;e of his youth, whereof my repetition will be &s;uffici|ent application.</P>
<P><HI>Thou O Lord, Phi&s;itian of my &s;oule, afford &s;ome benefit to others by my infirmities, grant that the confe&s;sion of my evils pa&s;t, (which</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Confe&s;. Aug. l. 1. 10. Ch. 3. 4.</NOTE> <HI>thou ha&s;t remitted and covered, ble&s;sing me with a change of my &s;oule by thy grace) when they are read and heard, may awake and &s;tirre up the hearts of Auditors, that they may not &s;leep in de|&s;paire, and &s;ay, alas we cannot ri&s;e, but rou&s;e them&s;elves up by the love of thy mercy, and &s;weetne&s;&s;e of thy grace, whereby every weake one is &s;ufficiently enabled, who by that influence commeth to be con&s;cious of his own infirmity: Let tho&s;e I impart this confe&s;si|on to, lament my ills, and long for my good: all my good is thy pro|vi&s;ion and gift, as my evils and faults are thy judgements: Let them &s;igh for the&s;e, and &s;ing thy prai&s;e for the other: Let both pitie and prai&s;e a&s;cend up to thy &s;ight from the hearts of my bro|thers, the which are thy incen&s;ors, and thou O Lord delighted with the odour of thy holy Temples: have mercy upon me according to thy great compa&s;sion, and for thy holy names &s;ake, give not
<PB N="145" REF="95">
over what thou ha&s;t begunne, but con&s;ume totally my imperfecti|ons.</HI></P>
<P>The&s;e words will be too ea&s;ily applyed, &s;ince all tho&s;e who have known me, cannot be ignorant of my culpablene&s;&s;e in tho&s;e particulars again&s;t which I have informed in the&s;e two Treati&s;es: and truly if I could repre&s;ent the ju&s;t &s;hame and con|fu&s;ion I feele in the reflection upon my guiltine&s;&s;e in this kind, I believe it would undeceive many, in their opinion of the light|ne&s;&s;e of &s;uch faults; for we may learn by what meanes hu|mane nature is the likelie&s;t to be moved unto Reformation, by the Propo&s;ition of the unhappy rich man in the <HI>Go&s;pell,</HI> who concluded that his brothers would certainly be converted, if they had one &s;ent back to them from the dead, to preach and repre&s;ent their &s;ufferings; and &s;urely I may pa&s;&s;e for one retur|ned as it were from the death and grave of the&s;e &s;innes, where|in I lay the deepe&s;t buried of any; &s;o that I may truly acknow|ledge in honour of the exceeding indulgence of God, <HI>Great is thy mercy toward me, and thou ha&s;t delivered my &s;oule from the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al: 85. 13.</NOTE> <HI>lowe&s;t hell,</HI> wherefore in all humility I offer up this &s;hort Petiti|on to my deliverer.</P>
<P><HI>Lord I be&s;eech thee, let this my re&s;u&s;citated voice, carry &s;ome powerfull effect to &s;uch of my bretheren as it &s;hall come unto, re|porting the painfull remor&s;e the&s;e faults require for expiation; and while I &s;tand here, brought by thy clemency to do this ju&s;t and pub|licke penance in the&s;e penetentiall &s;heets, grant that the admonition may prove as efficacious to others, as the confu&s;ion is &s;en&s;ible to me, who humbly acknowledge, that as the chiefe of &s;inners I have therefore obtained mercy, that in me fir&s;t of all Chri&s;t Je&s;us might &s;hew all patience, to the information of tho&s;e that believe in</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 1. 16.</NOTE> <HI>him to life everla&s;ting.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<PB N="146" REF="96">
<HEAD>&sect;. III.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>What circum&s;tances augment the&s;e faults, and Women incharged much &s;everity in oppo&s;ition to the&s;e levities.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>DE&s;iring to compleate my charge in all points, and to denude this offending liberty of her mo&s;t potent patronages, it is requi&s;ite to impeach &s;ome circum|&s;tances, as guilty of great aggravations in the&s;e of|fences, namely, the quality, the reputation, and the Sex of &s;uch as favour the&s;e freedomes of &s;peech; for though great vices may be made currant by great examples, yet they are cryed up in their own vi&s;ibly ba&s;e &s;pecies, whereby every one knowes the matter they receive to be &s;ordid, even while they u&s;e it: But this wantonne&s;&s;e and petulancy of &s;peech is oftentimes a kind of Alchimy, &s;o well coloured over with wit, as it may ea&s;ily pa&s;&s;e for a good and innocent cu&s;tome, when it is vented by great and ob&s;ervable hands, which may abu&s;e even the Judge|ments of their dependents, in the under&s;tanding of the&s;e licen|ces: wherefore every one according to their degree of place, or e&s;timation of vertue in the world, is charged with a proportio|nate evidencing their di&s;countenance of &s;uch liberties, for the advantage of quality may ea&s;ily introduce them, and the ne|pute of mode&s;ty may as ea&s;ily di&s;gui&s;e many of tho&s;e faulry freedomes: The fir&s;t of the&s;e capacities may authorize this cu|&s;tome, and &s;o render it <HI>a de&s;truction that wa&s;teth at noone day,</HI> and the latter of them, may by a connivance bring it in <HI>as a pe|&s;tilence</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 19. 6.</NOTE> <HI>that walketh in darknes.</HI></P>
<P>The mo&s;t part of women, but e&s;pecially &s;uch as this di&s;cour&s;e is addre&s;&s;ed unto, &s;eem but pa&s;&s;ive, and tolerating of the&s;e levi|ties, and many thinke that they di&s;charge the duty of their Sex in &s;ome &s;light reprehen&s;ions of them, which are commonly not
<PB N="147" REF="96">
of &s;o &s;ad a colour, but the whole company may through them &s;ee another tincture then the uppermo&s;t: le&s;&s;e piercing eyes then Gods, di&s;cern what is under that veile: but &s;urely vertu|ous women ought to be very &s;olemn &amp; &s;erious in &s;uch di&s;likes, e&s;pecially &s;uch as have authority over the company, if they well con&s;ider that an ea&s;ie Judge may do more mi&s;chiefe, then an impudent offender, by rea&s;on this publi&s;heth the foulenes of the crime, and in that act di&s;crediteth it, whil&s;t the other pal|liateth and di&s;gui&s;eth it, whereby the inducing the habit thereof is much endangered.</P>
<P>And &s;ince the weaknes of the world looketh commonly up|on women, as the only Judges of their behaviour before them, when the Judges are conceived to be receivers, wee may ima|gine to what a height this theft of liberty is likely to grow, and &s;urely the&s;e light indecencies may be fitly compared to the children that theeves u&s;e to carry along with them, to put into windowes, which after they have crept in, open the doores to them that employ them, &s;ince very little freedomes &s;tealing at fir&s;t in at the eares, do often open the way to greater liberties, that expect an entry by the overtures &s;hall be made by the&s;e fir&s;t encroachments upon mode&s;ty, &s;o that women (who have their ba&s;hfullnes and pudency given them for a guard of their weaknes and frailties) mu&s;t beware of any &s;urpri&s;all of this out|guard: Let tho&s;e who are &s;o ba&s;hfull and cautious in any un|decent di&s;covery of their bodies, know, that the admi&s;&s;ion and countenancing of this wantonne&s;&s;e, is a detection of the naked|ne&s;&s;e of their minds, which may prove the farre more dange|rous temptation: I do not &s;ay but their honour may be kept alive in this ill aire of idle di&s;cour&s;e, but certainly the unwhol|&s;omne&s;&s;e thereof, induceth but a crazie con&s;titution.</P>
<P>Let therefore all vertuous and wel-affected minds be choi&s;e in the ayre of their conver&s;ation, for though this un&s;ound one do not change the features of their vertue, it will &s;poyle at lea&s;t the complexion of it; all the&s;e &s;taining levities are a &s;ort of freckles that appeare upon the face of their piety, which taketh off much of the fairne&s;&s;e and beauty of it.</P>
<P><PB N="148" REF="97">
Tho&s;e per&s;ons then who&s;e places in the world &s;et their lives as patterns to be copied by others, are the mo&s;t &s;trictly bound to take care of the face and apparence of their vertue, which is never &s;o lovely, as when it frowneth &s;everely upon all indecent freedomes of &s;peech: wherefore I may fitly pre&s;ent them with this memoriall from the Holy Spirit, to ca&s;t their thoughts up|on in the&s;e occa&s;ions, <HI>Anger is better then laughter, becau&s;e by the &s;adnes of the countenance the mind of the offender is corrected.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ecole&s;. 7. 4.</NOTE> So that all women, to whom civility, or any other re&s;pect gi|veth power over men, &s;hould make u&s;e of it to pre&s;erve the li|berty of their vertue, which is alway intrenched upon by any unbe&s;eeming pre&s;umptions: and le&s;t it may be apprehended that the retrenchment of the&s;e plea&s;ant liberties, may flat and dead the ta&s;te of conver&s;ation, I dare an&s;wer by experience, that who&s;oever will enter into a cour&s;e of purging his nature of that humour, (which I may call a morall jaundies that di&s;co|loureth the whole skin of civill conver&s;ation, and putteth us out of ta&s;te of the &s;weetnes of purity) &s;hall recover the right favour and gu&s;t of purity by the &s;ame degrees he is clean&s;ed from the other immundicity, and he will quickly find &s;o much more plea&s;antne&s;&s;e in the relli&s;h of innocence, as the very &s;mell of the&s;e herbes of <HI>Egypt</HI> will offend him, and <HI>Manna</HI> will not &s;eeme too light a food for him, but will rather find Piety af|fording him as many &s;everall ta&s;tes of mirth and entertain|ment, as his rectifyed appetite &s;hall demand, and the &s;avour of purity &s;hall bring him quickly to profe&s;&s;e, <HI>How &s;weet are thy words unto my ta&s;te? yea &s;weeter then honie to my mouth.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 118. 10.</NOTE></P>
<P>Now then I will bind up all my per&s;wa&s;ions with the&s;e bands of two Apo&s;tles, Saint <HI>Paul</HI> and Saint <HI>James,</HI> which &s;trengthen them &s;o firmly, as no &s;ubtilty of the mo&s;t artificiall evader can loo&s;en them, the fir&s;t dete&s;teth &s;o much all licentiou&s;ne&s;&s;e, as he forbideth even the naming any <HI>uncleanne&s;&s;e, filthine&s;&s;e, foo|li&s;h</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 5. 4.</NOTE> <HI>talke, or &s;currility, as incompatible</HI> with the &s;anctity of a <HI>Chri&s;tian,</HI> and the la&s;t leaveth us this preci&s;e advice, in order to the &s;ame regulation, <HI>He that looketh into the perfect law of li|berty, and continueth therein, being not a forgetfull hearer, but a
<PB N="149" REF="97">
doer of the worke, this man &s;hall be ble&s;&s;ed in his deed: and if any man thinke him&s;elfe religious, not bridling his tongue, but &s;edu|cing</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam. 1. 25, 26</NOTE> <HI>his heart, this mans religion is vaine.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="13" TYPE="treatise">
<HEAD>The thirteenth Treati&s;e. Handling whether to be in love, and to be devout, are in con&s;i&s;tent.In eight Sect.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The nature of Love, and of Devotion, compared.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>LOve in humane nature, is both the &s;ourge and center of all pa&s;&s;ions, for not only Hope, Feare and Joy, but e|ven <NOTE PLACE="marg">Love de&s;ined.</NOTE> Anger and Hatred, ri&s;e fir&s;t out of the &s;pring of Love; and the cour&s;es of the&s;e pa&s;&s;ions which &s;eem to runne away from it, do by a winding revolution returne backe to re&s;t again in Love; for there could be no aver&s;ion if the la&s;t end of it were not &s;ome affection which our Love pur&s;ueth through oppo&s;ition, with which our Anger and Hate combate, but in order to the conque&s;t of our fir&s;t Love; &s;o that all the powers of a rationall Nature &s;eeme to be mini&s;teriall to this &s;overaigne power of Love, &s;ince even in Grace al&s;o, Love is both the way and the end of Beatitude, For <HI>God him&s;elfe is Love,</HI> and none <NOTE PLACE="marg">1<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> Ep. Ioh. 4.</NOTE> end in God that do not go by Love: Therefore S. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> &s;aith excellently, that <HI>a &s;hort definition of all Vertue is the order</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Vertue defi|ned.</NOTE> <HI>of Love;</HI> for &s;ince Love is the fir&s;t impul&s;e and motion of our intellectuall appetite, (which is the Will) towards an union
<PB N="150" REF="98">
with what it apprehends under the notion of good; if God be rightly apprehended as the &s;upreame good, and our Loves primarily directed to that union, then all our affections de&s;cend from that due elevation, upon the lower &s;tations of the crea|tures, as upon &s;tepps &s;et in order by God, for our affections to pa&s;&s;e down upon his workes, and repa&s;&s;e again upon the &s;ame gradations up to the Creator: Therefore we mu&s;t examine whether that &s;tate of mind which the world termeth <HI>(being in Love)</HI> admit of this order, wherein con&s;i&s;teth the vertue of all Devotion.</P>
<P>I have before treated and defined what it is <HI>to be Devout,</HI> &s;o I conceive it expedient now to determine what it is <HI>to be in Love;</HI> for as there are many antipathy's, which while they are out of the pre&s;ence of one another, di&s;cover not their repug|nancies, but being &s;et together do quickly declare their aver&s;i|ons, &s;o if we &s;tate prophane and &s;acred love by one another, we &s;hall the ea&s;ilier di&s;cerne whether there be any incompatibility between them, for he <HI>who transfigureth him&s;elfe into an Angell of light,</HI> doth more artificially di&s;gui&s;e this pa&s;&s;ion then any o|ther, and pre&s;enteth it to our minds under the faire&s;t notion he can utter it, knowing that Love is the be&s;t colour he can u&s;e in his own transfiguration.</P>
<P>I have already de&s;cribed Devotion to you in the&s;e familiar termes of <HI>(a being in love with Heaven,)</HI> whereby I conclude, that <HI>being in Love is the mo&s;t inten&s;ive appropriation of all the powers of our mind to one de&s;igne;</HI> now how &s;uch an a&s;&s;ignment <NOTE PLACE="marg">A de&s;cription of being in Love.</NOTE> of our Soule to the love and &s;ervice of the creature, (which is to be in love with one) can con&s;i&s;t with the precept of loving the Creator with all our heart and all our mind, is a que&s;tion too hard for even the Devill to re&s;olve; therefore to reconcile Pa&s;&s;ion with Devotion, he doth commonly detract &s;omewhat from them both, in his definitions of them to us, repre&s;enting it as a le&s;&s;e alienation and tran&s;action of the mind to be in love, and a le&s;&s;e exaction on the &s;oule to be devout.</P>
<P>Thus mans fir&s;t &s;upplanting Coun&s;ellor offereth him&s;elfe for a reconciler of this incon&s;i&s;tency, and pretendeth to accord
<PB N="151" REF="98">
the&s;e two loves, as we u&s;e to compo&s;e civill differences, where likely each party doth remit &s;ome of his intere&s;t to facilitate the agreement; and thus many taking off &s;omewhat from the nature of humane pa&s;&s;ion, and abating &s;ome of the rights of divine Love, think they may both concurre in the &s;oule by this arbitration; as who &s;hould &s;ay, when God is allowed the &s;u|preame&s;t part in formall adoration, the creature may &s;hare in the inferiour portion of the mind, which is the &s;eate of Pa&s;&s;ion, and be allowed a love to a degree of Pa&s;&s;ion: Many are decei|ved by this, as with an equall compo&s;ition, which truly exami|ned, is to conclude, that if the Arke be &s;et in the quire, <HI>Dagon</HI> may &s;tand in the body of the Church; but he who&s;e Temple our heart is, alloweth no independent love to the creature to &s;tand by his at any di&s;tance; all our affections mu&s;t re&s;t invol|ved in his Love, and mu&s;t i&s;&s;ue from thence upon the creature, but as by commi&s;&s;ion and delegation from that ma&s;ter Love: So I may &s;ay of &s;uch compounders, that pretend there may be &s;ome of the heart allotted to &s;upport humane Pa&s;&s;ion, as was &s;aid of the inhabitants of <HI>Samaria</HI> after the captivity, wherein were mixed the <HI>Jewes</HI> and <HI>Babilonians, The&s;e feare the Lord, but &s;erve their Idols;</HI> for indeed they who give not God all their <NOTE PLACE="marg">Kin. 4. 17. 41.</NOTE> Love, give what they do, chiefly to his feare, and &s;o may be &s;aid to feare God, not to love him, but to &s;erve and love their pa&s;&s;ions.</P>
<P>Yet it may be there are &s;ome who being frighted with the preci&s;ene&s;&s;e and amplitude of the precept of loving God, di&s;|avow me in my definition of being in Love, &s;aying I have done an ill office to humane Pa&s;&s;ion in this exaltation of it, putting it upon a claime of &s;o great rights, as mu&s;t needs make a quar|rell between it and Devotion, when they pretend they do co|venant between their eyes and their affections, in the admirati|on of beauty, for the pre&s;erving the prerogative of divine Love; alleadging that all the vehemency of their affections, is in order to the e&s;timation of the excellency and perfection of Gods workes, and di&s;claime any infringing the rights of Religion.</P>
<P>This is commonly an&s;wered by &s;ome when they are before
<PB N="152" REF="99">
grave and pious examiners, when they find them&s;elves fallen, as I may &s;ay among Gods party, then they have his word rea|dy to pa&s;&s;e with, but when they come off to their own &s;ide, when they are giving account of their pa&s;&s;ions to tho&s;e per&s;ons they &s;erve under, then commonly they take all occa&s;ions to do all ill offices to divine Love, and &s;tudy to affront Devotion, as if it were a Rivall that pretended to that affection for which they are in &s;uite, and then the entirenes of the oblation of their minds is what they mo&s;t in&s;i&s;t upon; and God knoweth Reli|gion is not &s;o much as thought upon, unle&s;&s;e it be to take from it &s;ome divine tearmes, to &s;et out the offering of their pa&s;&s;ion.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Some &s;ubtile temptations detected, and liberties reproved.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>PRophane Pa&s;&s;ion is a flame in our &s;en&s;itive Appetite, which doth commonly refine and &s;ubtilize the faculty of our imagination, enabling the fancy very much to circumvent the rea&s;on, &s;ugge&s;ting this beliefe to many, that we may ea&s;ily proportion a corre&s;pondence between our affections to &s;en&s;ible and &s;pirituall objects, &s;etting them in the due &s;ub|ordination of the &s;ence to the under&s;tanding; and when this or|der is &s;ettled in our minds, we are per&s;waded there may be al|lowed this intelligence, (which pa&s;&s;eth often between the grea|te&s;t di&s;tances of degrees) that what appertaines properly to the dignity of &s;piritualities, may be borrowed &s;ometimes inno|cently, and applyed to adorne and grace the worth of materi|all goods: and after this manner I &s;uppo&s;e we may accommo|date the&s;e attributes of <HI>divine and heavenly,</HI> and many other &s;uch jewels of the <HI>crown of God,</HI> to illu&s;trate the accompli&s;h|ments of corporeall ble&s;&s;ings.</P>
<P>In this method many Lovers &s;eeme to thinke they may u&s;e Gods &s;pirituall Altar, as we do his material Altars in Churches
<PB N="153" REF="99">
from whence the ornaments are borrowed and tran&s;po&s;ed from one to another, according to different &s;olemnities, for many u&s;e as familiarly all the proprietyes of divine love for the gracing of their pa&s;&s;ion, as if God had lent them his attri|butes to &s;et off the &s;hrine of their affections, which do u&s;ually &s;tand dre&s;&s;ed up with Sacred ve&s;&s;els, with all the termes of veneration and adoring, and thus doth our unfaithfull coun|cellor per&s;wade us in effect to &s;et up altar again&s;t altar, upon pretence of a faire corre&s;pondence between Grace and na|ture.</P>
<P>This is truly to <HI>be blinded by the God of this world,</HI> (as the <HI>A|po&s;tle</HI> &s;aith) to treat any &s;uch compartition of our heart, be|tween our faith and our fancy, applying alternatively the &s;ame expre&s;&s;ions of e&s;timation to them both, when we know all the appurtenances to Gods altar, are &s;o fa&s;tned to it by his own hand, as the very borrowing of them for &s;ecular u&s;es is &s;acriledge.</P>
<P>The &s;ame compo&s;ition of <HI>oyntment,</HI> which God did appro|priate to the &s;ervices of the <HI>Tabernacle,</HI> was forbid to be im|ploy'd upon bodyes in the delicacies of the fle&s;h, under the &s;ame paine as &s;acriledge, and that confection of perfumes, which was peculiarly Gods odour, was not to be compound|ed for any common application; and when we poure out &s;o familiarly Gods attributes upon our loves, as an unction of &s;uavity and delicacies upon fle&s;h and blood, and perfume our pa&s;&s;ions with the &s;ame compo&s;ition of pray&s;es and exaltati|ons which are properly affected to divine u&s;es; we do certain|ly incur this kind of irreligious pre&s;umption, and how fami|liar this loo&s;e effu&s;ion is of all the mo&s;t Sacred termes upon this &s;ubject of our pa&s;&s;ion, I need not argue, but enter this ill cu&s;tome as a high indignity to God, though it pa&s;&s;e com|monly for no more then a light intemperancy of the fan|cy which is little que&s;tioned; truly it is mo&s;t an end the foul ardor kindled in the heart, that &s;eeths this uncleane froth out of the mouth which &s;taineth all the Moral virtues it toucheth; for prophanene&s;&s;e taints wit, and civility, and all other good
<PB N="154" REF="100">
qualities it runnes through; and &s;o though prophane love may &s;harpen the brain, it alwayes &s;owreth the heart, which is the ve&s;&s;ell of devotion; if there be then many <HI>hearts farre from God, while they honour him with their lips,</HI> we may &s;afely con|clude no heart can be neer to God, while the lips are &s;o farre from honouring him, as leading out his propertyes.</P>
<P>Wherefore let no body pre&s;ume that they may innocently convert a <HI>hymne</HI> into an <HI>Iopean,</HI> that is, to transferre the prerogative pray&s;es of divinity to the flattery of his owne <HI>Diana.</HI></P>
<P>In the religion of the heathen <HI>Romanes,</HI> every one had their hou&s;hold gods, that did not derogate from the honor of tho&s;e they wor&s;hipped in the Temples, each one was allowed his <HI>Genius,</HI> each family their <HI>Penates</HI> for familiar gods at home, which they ob&s;erved &amp; loved more, though they feared not &s;o much as their &s;tate gods: methinks they that would maintaine a con&s;i&s;tancie betweene tho&s;e two altars of humane pa&s;&s;ion, and divine love, take the priviledges of that religion allowing them&s;elves their <HI>Genius</HI> or fancy for a dome&s;tick god, which they affect more, though they acknowledge not &s;o much as their Church of God.</P>
<P>But the rea&s;on why the Gods of the heathens did admit this a&s;&s;ociation, was, that they were not jealous Gods, and cared as little for the &s;inglene&s;&s;e of the heart, as they knew the &s;ecrets thereof; whereas our God is ju&s;t the contrary, both a jealous and an Omni&s;cient God; and as all hearts are his, not onely by creation, but by purcha&s;e with no le&s;&s;e a price then all his love, &s;o it cannot be expected, he &s;hould receive hearts back againe with le&s;&s;e then all their love.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<PB N="155" REF="100">
<HEAD>&sect;. III.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The errours of prophane jealou&s;ie argued, and a Pious jealou&s;ie propounded.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>MEthinks pa&s;&s;ionate lovers, who know nothing &s;o well as the nature of jealou&s;ie, (which &s;tudyeth con|tinually the anotamy of hearts, and is &s;o &s;evere to the lea&s;t defective part,) &s;hould not hope to pa&s;&s;e any in&s;incerity upon a jealous God, if they did not &s;tudy too much the qua|lity of jealou&s;ie, and too little the nature of God, for if they attended that, it would &s;hew them God cannot be jealous, ac|cording to the nature of man, where jealou&s;ie implyes doubt and perplexity of inquiry; for to God the &s;ecrets of hearts are manife&s;t, even while they are &s;ecrets to them&s;elves, he precon|ceiveth what all hearts &s;hal ever freely conceive; &amp; &s;o God cal|leth him&s;elfe a jealous God, as knowing the nature of humane jealou&s;ie, (which is &s;o &s;en&s;ible of the lea&s;t &s;ub&s;traction from what we affect) to a&s;&s;ure us by that title, he can admit no participation in what he vouch&s;afes to love.</P>
<P>It is to inlighten man in the knowledge of his &s;everity, not to ob&s;cure the beliefe of his omni&s;cience, that he cals him&s;elfe a jealous God, which quality is as propitious in Gods love as it is malignant in mans; for humane jealou&s;ie among all the fal&s;ities it &s;ugge&s;ts for our di&s;quiet, telleth us but one impor|tant truth, (and that we &s;eem to believe little by the eagernes of our &s;olicitations) which is the infidelity and variablene&s;&s;e of all humane loves, that are &s;o unfaithfull, as our greate&s;t pa&s;&s;ions are commonly un&s;ecured by our tenderne&s;&s;e and cau|tion of them, and Gods jealou&s;ie a&s;&s;ureth us of the immuta|bility of his love, which we can loo&s;e onely by our not being jealous of it, for the more watches we &s;et over it in our lips, and the more guards in our hearts, the more it is obliged by this circum&s;pection: nor mu&s;t we think to keep it &s;afe in our
<PB N="156" REF="101">
hearts, while the doors of our lips &s;tand open to all the pa&s;&s;en|gers of a prophan and libertine tongue; &s;o that if we make a &s;e|rious reflexion on it, there is none of Gods attributes &s;o &s;ure a guide for our way to him, as a jealous God.</P>
<P>Whereupon I may well ask the <HI>Synagogue of Libertines</HI> this pue&s;tion of Saint <HI>James, Do you thinke that the Scripture &s;aith in vain, The Spirit that dwelleth in you, covets you even to emulation,</HI> and Saint <HI>Paul</HI> explicates this, <NOTE PLACE="marg">James 4. 5.</NOTE> when to indeare his zeale to &s;oules, he calls it <HI>the emulation of God,</HI> and we know God is not as man that he may be deceived; the &s;ame Spirit is jealous of us, which <HI>peirceth and divideth</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 11. 2.</NOTE> <HI>a&s;under the &s;oule and the Spirit, and is the di&s;cerner of the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 4. 12.</NOTE> <HI>thoughts and intents of the heart;</HI> Therefore they who look up|on the beauty of Gods love, in the beams of his mercy, &s;hould alwayes reflect upon the &s;hadow of his love, which is his jealou&s;ie, and is in&s;eparable from the &s;ub&s;tance of his cha|ritie.</P>
<P>But commonly Libertine lovers, when they rai&s;e their thoughts as high as God, look upon <HI>his mercyes being above all his works,</HI> and account that as a City of refuge, whereunto they can ea&s;ily flie for protection of the&s;e kind of infirmities of nature, pleading all their offences to be rather occa&s;ionall frailties, then purpo&s;ed infidelities to God; and &s;o while they have this attribute of Gods mercy in their eye, like <HI>the hill &s;eated upon a mountaine,</HI> they think they cannot loo&s;e their way to it, though they loyter and wander in their youth out of the &s;trait and narrow way; &s;traying by the light excur&s;ions of their pa&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>And certainly no one &s;inne hath mi&s;led more, then this pur|po&s;ed Piety, in which the Devill is a diligent advocate for Gods mercy; For all active vitiou&s;ne&s;&s;e, hath a kind of hot feavor, which keeps the con&s;cience awake at lea&s;t, but this rowling between mercy and ju&s;tice, is a certaine motion, that very often rocketh the con&s;cience into a drow&s;ine&s;&s;e till our la&s;t &s;leep; after which, the worm it wanted, never lets it re&s;t againe; How many &s;ay with <HI>Chri&s;t, Yet a little and the world
<PB N="157" REF="101">
&s;hall not &s;ee me,</HI> who go out of the world, in this &s;tretching of <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iohn 14. 19.</NOTE> them&s;elves in a <HI>little more &s;leep, a little more &s;lumber?</HI></P>
<P>Therefore I will recommend one jealou&s;ie to lovers, which think them&s;elves &s;ecure of Gods mercy, by being but loo&s;e &s;utors for it, let me propo&s;e to them to be very jealous of it, I am &s;ure they can know nothing of Gods heart, which ought to make them confident of his mercy, longer then they are actually watching it, for it is &s;eriou&s;ly true in this ca&s;e (what is familiarly &s;aid to ju&s;tifie vain jealou&s;ie) that we cannot love mercy much, and not be jealous of it; nay I may add, that the very apprehen&s;ion of the in&s;ecurity of it is the fruition of this love, for it is a po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of mercy to be &s;olicitous and atten|tive in feare of lo&s;ing it; in this &s;en&s;e <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed is</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 28, 14. P&s;a. 118.</NOTE> <HI>he who is alwayes fearing,</HI> and <HI>David</HI> prayeth that <HI>his fle&s;h may be pierced with this feare.</HI></P>
<P>But alas, prophane pa&s;&s;ion is commonly a derider of all holy fear, and accepts onely that which vaine jelou&s;ie impo|&s;eth on her, and &s;o the fear pa&s;&s;ion hath, proves rather a cur&s;e then a cu&s;tody for her love; for the feares of lovers may be properly &s;aid to be &s;uch, as the <HI>Wi&s;e-man</HI> elegantly di&s;|cribes in the <HI>Aegyptian</HI> darkne&s;&s;e, when their fire afforded them no light, and tho&s;e fla&s;hes of lightning which pa&s;&s;ed by <NOTE PLACE="marg">Sapi. 17.</NOTE> them, did but fright them &s;o much the more; &amp; being &s;o terri|fied with what they &s;aw, they concluded that much more hor|rid which they &s;aw not, and thus their <HI>feare proved nothing to them, but a betrayer of the &s;uccours of rea&s;on:</HI> I need not put this on upon a lovers jealou&s;ie, to try if it wil &s;erve it by an ap|plication of tho&s;e qualityes, for it will appeare to any body that knoweth it as appo&s;ite and fit as if it had been made by the mea&s;ure of that pa&s;&s;ion; therefore I may wel conclude that love to be very unhappy, which rejects all Pious feare, and accepteth willingly this perplexing terrour.</P>
</DIV2>
<PB N="156" REF="102">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="157" REF="102">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="section">
<PB N="158" REF="103">
<HEAD>&sect;. IV.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The deceipt of pa&s;&s;ion in promi&s;e of mercy, and power of re&s;i&s;ting temptations.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>VAin pa&s;&s;ion is &s;o malignant, as it corrupteth the be&s;t power of mindes, which is love, and perverteth the be&s;t quallity of bodyes, which is beauty: nay it is &s;o apt to make a wrong u&s;e of all beauty, as it doth commonly mi&s;ap|ply <HI>the beauty of grace, which is mercy;</HI> for it &s;etteth our thoughts too much upon that faire delightfull attribute of God, and &s;eldome alloweth his ju&s;tice a due proportion of them; for many lovers acquaint them&s;elves with Gods mer|cy, as the <HI>Phari&s;ees</HI> did conver&s;e with <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> per&s;on, they are <HI>heires of Gods mercy, and eat and drink with it</HI> familiarly, but have no intelligence with his other attributes; and &s;o when <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 13. 15.</NOTE> they come to claime that acquaintance with it, of having been taught and fed by it, they are in danger to be di&s;claimed, with <HI>I know you not, depart from me;</HI> mercy &s;hall not then know them, for their having been too familiar with her, no more then God &s;hall own the acquaintance of &s;wearers, who have beene &s;o familiar with him; thereforethe Wi&s;e-man giveth them an excellent coun&s;ell, <HI>Say not the mercy of the Lord is great, and he will have pitty on the multitude of my</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;ia&s;ti|cus 5.</NOTE> <HI>&s;innes, for his mercy and his anger are neer one another, and his anger looketh upon &s;inners,</HI> and mo&s;t of all when they look not upon his anger.</P>
<P>For this rea&s;on, lovers who u&s;ually &s;et before their eyes mercy put before ju&s;tice, &s;hould u&s;e mercy not as a cover, but as a Cri&s;tal, onely to look through it upon the figure of ju|&s;tice, in which it may intenerate and &s;often &s;omewhat the hard &s;trokes of that figure, for the &s;everity of Gods judgements may well be &s;weetened by this tran&s;parent &s;uperve&s;ture of his kindne&s;&s;e: but when mercy is laid as a covering which too much ob&s;cureth ju&s;tice to us, then likely the more we look
<PB N="159" REF="103">
upon it, the more we &s;ee our pa&s;&s;ion in it, and the love of God the le&s;&s;e for hope, which vaine pa&s;&s;ion findeth a virtue in our hearts, it commonly leaveth a vice, by flattering hope into exce&s;&s;e, and corrupteth it often by the art of overprai&s;ing it, and &s;o leadeth it imperceptibly up to pre&s;umption; therefore I may properly &s;ay to many lovers pre&s;uming on mercy, as Saint <HI>John Bapti&s;t</HI> did to &s;uch a kind of confidence, think not <HI>to &s;ay within your &s;elves we have Abraham for our father, but bring forth works worthy of repentance;</HI> let them not think mer|cy <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 3.</NOTE> is intailed to the &s;tock of their confidence, but &s;tated upon the conformity and fidelity of their lives; for tho&s;e that do the works of <HI>Abraham,</HI> are onely his &s;onnes, the children of feare and trembling are the onely heires of mercy.</P>
<P>But there are many mindes that &s;eeme made of &s;uch a &s;tuffe as was forbid the children of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> which was a contex|ture of linnen and wollen, (which command did figuratively intimate, that &s;implicity and intirene&s;&s;e was to be the garment of the inward man) again&s;t this rule many pretend they can weave purity and pa&s;&s;ion together, and keep their minds &s;ound and innocent in this compo&s;ition, and for this con&s;orting hu|mane love, is very intuentive and ingenious in de&s;igning faire and &s;pecious termes of &s;ubordination, in which this love pre|tends it may con&s;i&s;t, and be limited under divine love.</P>
<P>But many (who pretended at fir&s;t to keep their affections running through the beauty of the creature, in a regular re<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">ux back to the Ocean of all beauty) find them intercepted in this dangerous pa&s;&s;age, and when they are once &s;taid, by degrees they come to intend nothing but the making their pa&s;&s;ion the deeper, by an effu&s;ion of another upon it; and thus they fall into the &s;tate, which God reprocheth by the <HI>Prophet,</HI> they commit the&s;e two evils, <HI>They for&s;ake God the fountaine of li|ving</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 2. 13.</NOTE> <HI>waters, and hew them&s;elves out ci&s;terns, broken ci&s;terns, that hold no water:</HI> For alas how un&s;ound are all tho&s;e con|&s;erves of humane beauty which containe mans pa&s;&s;ion? we cannot &s;ay which is the le&s;&s;e &s;olid or durable, either the mat|ter of them, which is but fading colour, or the maker of them
<PB N="160" REF="104">
which is yet more fickle fancy; neverthele&s;&s;e, in the&s;e broken ve&s;&s;els do men tru&s;t their love, when they are even in the &s;ecu|re&s;t or &s;tronge&s;t pa&s;&s;ion, &s;ince inordinate love is &s;o un&s;afe a con&s;erve for our happyne&s;&s;e, as even our own wi&s;hes cannot fixe it long upon one object, and our rea&s;on can much le&s;&s;e weigh it by graines as our owne wills take it from our &s;en&s;es, and &s;o keep our love to the creature in &s;uch a proportion, as it may be tryed by the ballance of the &s;anctuary, whether it have ju&s;t that quantity which is allowed our affection to the <HI>crea|ture.</HI></P>
<P>Therefore let none per&s;wade them&s;elves they can keep their affections running on currently through particular inclinati|ons, back to the Univer&s;all center of love, and upon that con|fidence licen&s;e many in&s;inuating familiarities with women, for it is very hard even for the mo&s;t purified humane affecti|ons, to fall from beauty (where nature maketh &s;o many fences to &s;tay them,) to pa&s;&s;e on without making &s;ome eddyes in a reluctant motion, looking backward with a profe&s;&s;ion of &s;ome unwillingne&s;&s;e to pa&s;&s;e &s;o quickly forward in that cour&s;e of purity they &s;hould continue; and if (as Saint <HI>Peter</HI> &s;aith), the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Peter 4.</NOTE> &s;evere&s;t watchers of their nature have task hard enough, what &s;hall be hoped of the indulgers of it? certainly they who will cheri&s;h nature in her fir&s;t appetites, &s;hall quickly finde her &s;econd pa&s;t their checking, and then as the <HI>Wi&s;e-man</HI> &s;aith in this ca&s;e, <HI>Who wil pitty a &s;orcerer that is &s;tung with a Serpent?</HI> for they who are familiar with temptations, will quickly be acquainted with infection; let them remember then our Ma|&s;ters coun&s;ell, that will have their body kept lighted, <HI>to keep their eye pure,</HI> &s;ince the Prince of darkne&s;&s;e ob&s;erveth a rule quite contrary to the fir&s;t law of the Father of light; for when he hath put out an eye of his &s;ervants, he doth not relea&s;e him, but makes him the more &s;lave.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="section">
<PB N="161" REF="104">
<HEAD>&sect;. V.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The faultine&s;&s;e and flatteries to women di&s;co|vered and di&s;&s;waded.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>NOthing hath more perplexed the animo&s;ity of man, then the &s;earch into the nature and tran&s;mi&s;&s;ion of O|riginall &s;inne, which the curio&s;ity of woman produ|ced: it &s;eemeth God is plea&s;ed to puni&s;h that fir&s;t pre&s;umption in point of knowledge, with a perpetuall perplexity of doubt in the very thing which was then introduced into nature, and the onely one of mans own making, which he did by yeeld|ing to woman, who furni&s;hed him the matter whereunto he gave the forme of Originall &s;inne, and ever &s;ince they have both con&s;pired to pervert the greate&s;t ble&s;&s;ings of their cor|porall nature into occa&s;ions of propagating &s;in, for the &s;ame &s;eeds of vain glory &s;pring up upon all invitations.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t temptation that prevailed upon woman, was her becomming like God, and the &s;ame tempter &s;eemeth to im|ploy mans pa&s;&s;ion to performe his promi&s;e, &s;o that it is upon his commi&s;&s;ion men offer all tho&s;e prophane flatteries by which they wor&s;hip their pa&s;&s;ions, and yet even all the&s;e pre|&s;umptuous expre&s;&s;ions of pa&s;&s;ion te&s;tify that all our love ap|pertaineth to God for the&s;e mi&s;-intended exce&s;&s;es unawares, &s;et the right &s;uper&s;cription upon the addre&s;&s;es of their affecti|ons, when they &s;et divinity and adoreablene&s;&s;e as the titles whereunto their loves are directed; and &s;o their tongues as it were by in&s;tinct, declare the property of love to be Gods, while they cannot call them le&s;&s;e then Gods to whom they mi&s;give their love; and love which by nature and in&s;tinct is &s;o conver&s;ant with God, may ea&s;ily &s;lip into this mi&s;take; for as when we are bred and habituated to one company, we are ve|ry apt to call tho&s;e we &s;peak to by accident, by tho&s;e names
<PB N="162" REF="105">
which are mo&s;t familiar to us; &s;o love, which by nature is mo&s;t intimate with God, when it is by accident diverted to other company, &s;eemeth to mi&s;take their names, and gives them that which is &s;o imprinted in it, and yeeldeth them the &s;ame reverence proper to that title; thus even the farthe&s;t removes of their affections from God, are remembrances of their loves, being intirely due to him, when even the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed tongues like the evill &s;pirits in the Go&s;pel do te&s;tifie Gods right.</P>
<P>There is nothing &s;ure the devil hateth more then beauty, it is &s;o much his contrariety, who is all foulene&s;&s;e and deformity, yet there is nothing he flatters &s;o much; he &s;erveth it with the &s;upplenes of a Para&s;ite till he gain his ends by it, and being the be&s;t Arti&s;t, with a gentle hand he layeth fre&s;h colours of prai|&s;es on the externall figure of beauty every day, whereby Gods Image is quickly &s;o covered, as they who admire it mo&s;t, take no notice, (unle&s;&s;e it be profanely) of any &s;uch character upon it; and the Gla&s;&s;e this &s;ervant holdeth to Women, makes them no reflex, but of tho&s;e vain colours of flatteries which he hath laid upon the Figure; and thus as at fir&s;t he deceived woman by credulity in expectance, now he &s;eemes to delude her by con|fidence, that &s;hee is po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed of all his a&s;criptions to her, and beauty &s;et under this burning gla&s;&s;e of prai&s;es and admirations, ea&s;ily lighteth &s;elfe Love in the heart, which is a flame catches at all materials that are offered to entertain it: nor is there any thing &s;o apt to &s;oment &s;elfe-love, as that Straw and Stubble of light pray&s;es which the pa&s;&s;ions of others ca&s;t upon it.</P>
<P>Whence it is, that prophane lovers do as the Prophet &s;aith, <HI>Walke in the light of their own fire, and in the &s;parkles which they</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;ay 50. 11.</NOTE> <HI>have kindled,</HI> while abu&s;ing the liablene&s;&s;e of woman to &s;elfe-love and vanity, they are continually &s;triking fire out of their fancies upon this tinder, that is, &s;training their wits to ca&s;t ex|ce&s;&s;ive prai&s;es upon this &s;o taking Subject of Womans beauty, wherein men &s;hould be very temperate, knowing <HI>how little a &s;parke fireth the whole Wood,</HI> and turneth all the goods of Na|ture into jewels for Pride, and Vain-glory, the flame whereof <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam. 3. 6.</NOTE>
<PB N="163" REF="105">
is &s;o deceitfull, as when we believe it polnteth upward, to the honour of our Maker, it tendeth downward to the centre of fire, without light, for the fire of &s;elf-love, as it is kindled by the breath of the Father of Lies, &s;o it partaketh of the quality of his flames to be without light, &s;ince it keepeth us in darknes to our &s;elves, and imper-ception of our own true dimen&s;ions.</P>
<P>Wherefore it mu&s;t needs lye as a heavier charge upon men then they u&s;ually account it, the breaking this brui&s;ed Reed by pre&s;sing &s;o much flattery upon it, for the aptnes which beauty hath to rai&s;e &s;elfe-love, may be reputed an allay of the naturall ble&s;&s;ing thereof; it may be this propen&s;ity to &s;elfe-deceiving, is &s;et as another Fine upon womans head for her fir&s;t fault, and the facility of her minds conceiving, and the plea&s;ure of bear|ing this &s;pirituall i&s;&s;ue of &s;elfelove, is another kind of judge|ment upon her fir&s;t credulity; and to be thus endangered in her &s;oule by the plea&s;ure of her be&s;t materiall property, which is beauty, &s;eemeth a greater penalty, then the &s;orrow of her other labour: Upon which ground Lovers do likely treate at fir&s;t by Parly, to introduce &s;elfe-love into the heart by the Pre&s;ents of flatteries; and certainly more are betrayed by Natures intelli|gence with the &s;ubtilty of adulation, then taken by the breach of intere&s;t: For indeed &s;elfe-love in woman hath a &s;trange qua|lity, the more it per&s;wades her to over-value her &s;elfe, the more it tempteth her to ca&s;t her &s;elfe away, and &s;o men cheapen their bargain mo&s;t, by commending what they would have.</P>
<P>Therefore let not even tho&s;e (who, without any de&s;igne do &s;uffer their tongues to ru<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ne loo&s;e by fa&s;hion, in the prai&s;es of Womens graces and beauties) thinke this aymele&s;&s;e roving of their fancies altogether innocent, though they pretend only to &s;pring and put up their good humours, and not to &s;et and take their affections, for convertly they undermine vertue, though they lay not a Traine to blow it up: The Tempter never want|eth mini&s;ters that watch hearts as they grow hollow, and void of humility, to fill them up with vanity, and then the Mine is too ea&s;ily &s;prung; &s;o many may be guilty of filling of hearts with Pride, and &s;elfe-love, while they meant only to empty
<PB N="164" REF="106">
their own fancy; and thus their wits &s;erve the Tempter, as <HI>Jo|nathans</HI> Page did his ma&s;ter; for they carry Arrowes which <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Reg. ch. 20.</NOTE> the Devill &s;hootes upon De&s;ign, though they are not privie to the intention.</P>
<P>It is no wonder that fraile woman &s;hould be &s;o much decei|ved in the colours and features of all their good qualities, &s;ince the Devill and Man joyne and &s;tudy nothing &s;o much as to make them flattering reflexes of their per&s;ons, and powers of their mind; and &s;o woman is entertained commonly in her fir&s;t manner of delu&s;ion, for that is &s;till taken from her, which &s;hee believeth is given her; the being like God, for her innocence, is a much better re&s;emblance of God, then mans vain adoration.</P>
<P>But let not men thinke they have an ea&s;ie account to make for all tho&s;e levities which they expo&s;e &s;o hand&s;omely, as wo|mens eyes are deceived by tho&s;e fal&s;e lights, for that which will prove an aggravation of mens faults, will &s;erve as an extenua|ting circum&s;tance for womens defence; their wit and dexter|ou&s;nes, may deduct &s;omewhat from the guilt of womans tre&s;|pa&s;&s;es, for &s;he may plead now &s;ome commi&s;erablenes, by &s;ay|ing, <HI>the man who was given me, as my &s;entence to obey, deceived me,</HI> and as one of the rea&s;ons given, why God did compa&s;&s;io|nate the fall of Man, and not of Angels, is, that they &s;inned without any exteriour &s;ollicitation; &s;o certainly abu&s;ed woman &s;hall find this circum&s;tance as &s;ome interce&s;&s;ion for her, the be|ing a&s;&s;aulted by a forreigne power of temptation, which may move God the ea&s;ilyer to call &s;uch to him, as <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> did the Woman, who had a &s;pirit of infirmity &s;o long upon her, that tyed her from looking upward; and <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> giveth this rea&s;on for his calling her, when &s;he did not it &s;eemeth thinke on him, that &s;he was bound by <HI>Sathan,</HI> and &s;he is a good figure of the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 31. 11.</NOTE> infirmity of her Sex, which is ea&s;ily overcome and bound by the violence of exterior temptations; wherefore God doth more ea&s;ily commi&s;erate their fallen frailties, and calleth them with more pitie then he doth the &s;tronger Sex, which have the crime of abu&s;ing their &s;trength towards the others defection: Wee can but hope that the <HI>Samaritane</HI> Lover was compri&s;ed in the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ioh. 4.</NOTE>
<PB N="165" REF="106">
conuer&s;ions of her towne, we are &s;ure of her &s;anctification, and we have little rea&s;on to hope of the adulterers remi&s;&s;ion, when the Woman found &s;uch commi&s;eration in Chri&s;t, &s;o as we may conclude, God is more indulgent to the infirmity of woman, ex|tenuated and modified by the exterior pre&s;&s;ure of temptation, then he is to the infidelity of man, who is as it were tru&s;ted with a charge of &s;uperiority, rather to &s;uccour then &s;upplant the weaknes of that Sex.</P>
<P>Admitting this, they who are &s;o licentious in all their entertainments of Women, &s;hould remember &s;ometimes the penalty <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> hath &s;et upon the &s;candalizing <HI>of little ones,</HI> for there are few women that are not alwayes children in this point <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth.</NOTE> of being able to beare fond prai&s;es and adulations, without en|feebling and lightening their minds; &s;o as all tho&s;e levities which the fancies of men vapour out in their conver&s;ation with the&s;e little ones, are Mill-&s;tones, which they are in&s;en&s;ibly hang|ing upon their own necks, while they are thus &s;candalizing them; that is, while they are leaning and pre&s;&s;ing upon the in|firmity of nature, that way it &s;tandeth already bowed: And &s;ince humane nature is of &s;o fraile a con&s;titution, as the pure&s;t blood of it is the ea&s;ilye&s;t tainted, we ought to be the more &s;o|ber and temperate, in treating and entertaining the mo&s;t infirme part of it, which is Beauty, with the delicacies of prai&s;es, &s;ince by nature it is &s;o apt to make exce&s;&s;es upon &s;uch diet.</P>
<P>If we con&s;ider how profu&s;e and inordinate even the mo&s;t re|&s;erved Lovers are in this entertainment, we may ea&s;ily &s;entence even this light riot to be poy&s;on to piety and devotion, which &s;aith with the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t, I will take heed to my wayes that I &s;inne not</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 38.</NOTE> <HI>with my tongue;</HI> what can then be an&s;wered for them, who take care of their tongues only to make way for their &s;inne? and &s;ince we are to account for idle words, methinks that order &s;hould ea&s;ily determine never &s;o &s;light a pa&s;&s;ion to be incon&s;i|&s;tent with Religion; for we know they are the aliment and life of all &s;uch exce&s;&s;es; and certainly no idle words are &s;o hard to an&s;wer for, as upon this &s;ubject of vain love: Upon other oc|ca&s;ions
<PB N="166" REF="107">
many vapouring extravagancies are like &s;quibs thrown up and breake in the aire, above the heads of the company, and &s;o offend no body; but upon this purpo&s;e, they are like|ly Traines laid to take fire and worke &s;ome ill effect, &s;o that idle words upon the ground of pa&s;&s;ion, grow not as Weeds, wild out of the pregnancy of the earth, but are &s;et as poy&s;onous plants, with de&s;ign of making venemous compo&s;itions.</P>
<P>How heavy the&s;e light words will lye upon them, let every one judge by this rule, that they are to be accounted for at the &s;ame price each one &s;etteth upon them; for ju&s;t as much as they would have them pa&s;&s;e, (whether they be taken or no at that rare, by tho&s;e they would put them off to, <HI>viz.</HI> whether they make that cozening advantage by them or no, with the crea|ture) they mu&s;t an&s;wer for as much to the Creator as they projected to make of them; and thus, as the Prophet &s;aith, <HI>As much Wind as they have &s;owed, &s;o much Tempe&s;t they &s;hall reape.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;ea 8. 7.</NOTE></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. VI.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Pre&s;umption upon our vertue di&s;cu&s;&s;ed, and the danger thereof remon&s;trated.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>THere are many Lovers, who (when they find no di|rect de&s;ign of impurity at fir&s;t in their pa&s;&s;ions) con|clude them competent with their &s;alvation, and care not how neare the wind they &s;teere, nor how many boards they make, as long as they believe they can reach the Port with this wind, which is &s;o faire for their &s;en&s;es; therefore they pretend they need not &s;tand &s;o &s;trait a cour&s;e, as making <HI>Jobs covenant with their eyes,</HI> nor &s;etting <HI>Davids watch over their lips,</HI> provi|ded they &s;et a guard over their heart, that no foule po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion enter upon that &s;eate: thus do they expo&s;e many faire models of their love, which in &s;peculation may &s;eem de&s;igned accor|ding to the &s;quare of Religion, but how hard it is to build ad|equately
<PB N="167" REF="107">
to the &s;peculative mea&s;ures in this &s;tructure, none can tell that pre&s;ume to know it: our &s;en&s;es are not inanimate ma|terials that obey the order of the &s;pirits de&s;igne, but rather la|bourers, which are ea&s;ily debauched, to worke contrary to the mea&s;ures and rule of the Spirit: hence it is, that they who will undertake in this ca&s;e, all they can argue po&s;&s;ibly for humane nature, render it impo&s;&s;ible by their undertaking it, for they reckon not their pre&s;umption as any impediment, which in the practi&s;e (as being an irritation of God) out-weighs all the o|ther difficulties, and the more, alwayes the le&s;&s;e it is weighed in the de&s;igne; therefore as <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;aith, <HI>The wi&s;e man declineth evil, and the foole heapes on and is confident.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro. 14.</NOTE></P>
<P>The beliefe of impo&s;&s;ibility is the mo&s;t prudent &s;uppo&s;ition in &s;uch experiments as cannot be e&s;&s;ayed without &s;ome de&s;pe|rate expo&s;ure of our &s;elves: it may be demon&s;trate by rea&s;on, that we may have halfe of our body over a precipice, &s;o the centre of the weight be kept in an exact <HI>aequilibrium,</HI> that part which is pen&s;ile can never weigh down the other which is &s;up|ported but we &s;hould thinke one mad that would try this con|clu&s;ion, when the lea&s;t motion changeth the Po&s;ition, and con|&s;equently de&s;troyeth the practicer of this &s;peculation: &s;o tho&s;e that pretend to keept their &s;oules equally poi&s;ed in the ju&s;t mea&s;ures between piety and prophane love, their eyes hanging over the precipice of temptations, which do &s;o ea&s;ily turne their heads, and then alter all the po&s;itions of their mind, ad|venture upon ju&s;t &s;uch a &s;pirituall experiment.</P>
<P><HI>He that &s;eeketh danger &s;hall peri&s;h in it,</HI> is atte&s;ted by the un|happy pre&s;ident of the wi&s;e&s;t of men, and it is &s;uperfluous to <NOTE PLACE="marg">3 Reg. ch. 7. <HI>Jachin</HI> and <HI>Boos</HI> the two pillars &s;et be|fore the tem|ple of <HI>Solo|mon,</HI> &s;ignify|ing Direction and Forti|tude.</NOTE> in&s;tance other te&s;timonies of this truth: When <HI>David</HI> and <HI>So|lomon,</HI> the two brazen pillars of the Temple, (being the dire|ction and fortitude of the Princes of <HI>I&s;rael)</HI> were melted and poured out like water, (as <HI>David</HI> him&s;elfe confe&s;&s;eth) by the ardors of his fle&s;h, and &s;o they &s;eem to &s;tand in holy record as two high eminent markes &s;et upon the&s;e &s;ands, to adverti&s;e the &s;tronge&s;t ve&s;&s;els not to venture to pa&s;&s;e over them: and if Saint <HI>Paul</HI> that ve&s;&s;el of election, after his having &s;een the beauty of
<PB N="168" REF="108">
Heaven to po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e his heart) thought him&s;elfe hard matched with the Angell of <HI>Sathan,</HI> and cryed out to heaven for helpe again&s;t him; &s;hall any pre&s;ume to entertain and cheri&s;h this ill Angell, and hope to overcome him with flattery and civility? for they make this tryall, who lodge in their thoughts, and &s;erve with their fancies, &s;trong impre&s;&s;ions of humane beauty, and propo&s;e to keepe their body in order, even by the vertue of &s;uch a gue&s;t, pretending that the very object infu&s;eth a re|membrance, and reverence of purity.</P>
<P>With this and the like glittering conceipts do many vain Lo|vers fondly &s;atisfy and abu&s;e them&s;elves, which is to an&s;wer the que&s;tion of the <HI>Holy Spirit,</HI> that the fire they carry in their bo&s;omes pre&s;erveth them from being enflamed by it; we may fitly &s;ay to &s;uch, in an&s;wer from the Prophet, <HI>God laughs at you;</HI> when all Gods advices are, that there is no &s;ecurity again&s;t this bo&s;ome enemy, but violence and diffidence; there is no meane between the fle&s;h's being &s;lave or ma&s;ter; this treaty of Friend&s;hip between it and the &s;pirit, proves but <HI>Dalilahs</HI> kind holding of <HI>Samp&s;ons</HI> head in her lap, while &s;he is &s;having him: How often do we &s;ee the Spirit thus betraid, and lye bound by this confidence? And truly, all tho&s;e chaines which vain Lo|vers forge for the figuring out the powerfulne&s;&s;e of beauty, may be &s;aid to be tho&s;e irons the fle&s;h hath ca&s;t off, and &s;et upon the Spirit, which is truly captivated alwayes by the others li|berty.</P>
<P>This con&s;idered, let none pre&s;ume, that while they deny the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> eyes nothing which they covet, they can deny their hearts any undue cupidity; for this &s;eemeth &s;uch an experiment, as if one of the children of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> &s;hould have carryed a fiery Serpent in his bo&s;ome, pre&s;uming that while he looked upon the <HI>Brazen Serpent</HI> he could not be &s;tung: &s;ure &s;uch a perverted confidence would not have proved &s;afe to the projector: So tho&s;e who believe (while they have the love of God before their eyes) they may expo&s;e them to all the fiery darts of lu&s;tfull eyes; &s;eem to tempt God by &s;uch a vain pre&s;umption: the&s;e are &s;uch of whom we may fitly &s;ay with the Apo&s;tle, that <HI>Erring them&s;elves
<PB N="169" REF="108">
they lead others into errour,</HI> and have <HI>a forme of Godline&s;&s;e, but</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 3. v 4. 5.</NOTE> <HI>deny the Power of it, being lovers of plea&s;ure, more then lovers of God.</HI></P>
<P>Let no body then tru&s;t to any confederacy between the fle&s;h &amp; the &s;pirit which is of humane loves making, for, of all recon|ciled enemies, the fle&s;h is lea&s;t to be tru&s;ted after the accord, and love the lea&s;t for the arbitration; therefore let none be|lieve their &s;ouls out of danger, becau&s;e in the fir&s;t paces of their pa&s;sion, they meet no in&s;olent temptations that face them, and declare the danger of their advance, for the Devill keepes like|ly his fir&s;t Method &s;till, with tho&s;e he findeth in the &s;tate of innocence, he taketh the &s;hape of the &s;erpent, and creeps up by in&s;inuation, and then changeth his &s;hape into the figure of his power, and this tran&s;migration of the evil &s;pirits, from one body into another, is truer then the fancy of <HI>Pythagoras;</HI> for we find often this <HI>Metamorpho&s;is</HI> of the devill from the form of a dove unto a &s;erpent, &amp; from a lamb into a lion, &s;ince it is the &s;ame &s;pirit that moves in the poetical doves of <HI>Venus,</HI> as was acting in <HI>Eves</HI> &s;erpent, &amp; thus what hath at fir&s;t in our love an innocent form, pa&s;&s;eth quickly into a venemous nature.</P>
<P>Wherefore &s;evere caution, and repul&s;e of the fir&s;t motions of our &s;en&s;itive appetite, is the onely guard our &s;oules can tru&s;t again&s;t our bodyes in this ca&s;e: for certainly many lovers &s;ink into temptations in which they peri&s;h, as &s;ome do that wade them&s;elves unawares beyond their depth, who go into the water at fir&s;t, with caution and &s;ecurity as they believe, and are carefull to find ground at every advance of one of their legs, but when the water gets to a certaine height, though they feel ground &s;till, they cannot u&s;e their legs, which are carried up by the &s;treame before they are out of their depth, and thus they peri&s;h by this ill mea&s;ured confidence: Even &s;o the mo&s;t cautious lovers do often ca&s;t them&s;elves away, for as long as they feel but the feare of God as a ground, they go &s;till upon, and finde no temptations, (which the Scripture fa|miliarly figureth to us by waters) force away ab&s;olutely their con&s;ents, (which are the &s;ouls feet) they think them&s;elves &s;afe,
<PB N="170" REF="109">
while they feel the ground of a good re&s;olution, but comming on by degrees into &s;uch a depth of temptation, as the &s;en&s;itive appetite doth &s;urreptiou&s;ly lead them into, their feet are ea&s;ily carryed away, and &s;o they are lo&s;t by this unexperienced pre&s;umption: and thus as <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;aith, we find <HI>There is a way</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 14. 12.</NOTE> <HI>which &s;eemeth right unto man, but the ends of it are the wayes of death:</HI> Me thinks <HI>Solomons</HI> experience &s;hould di&s;abu&s;e all men in the relying upon the virtue of their Spirit, when we &s;ee that his &s;o &s;ingular induement with the <HI>holy Spirit</HI> was not &s;ecuri|ty again&s;t the danger of this pre&s;umption: we are warned by the <HI>Apo&s;tle, not to extingui&s;h the Spirit,</HI> and nothing puts it out &s;o &s;oon as the bodyes being &s;et on fire, the pure immixt fire of the cloven tongues will not hold in long in cloven hearts, they mu&s;t be perfect Holocau&s;ts, which are to enter|tain that flame, and when the eyes are but warming them|&s;elves at &s;trange fire, that is, intending onely an innocent de|light in the &s;ight of beauty, they are often in too much dan|ger of being taken by this incentive.</P>
<P>Holy Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> bringeth in <HI>Eve,</HI> looking upon the fruit, while it was &s;o yet in her eye, when &s;he &s;aw it plea&s;ant &amp; faire <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gene&s;is 3.</NOTE> to the eye; and asketh her, why do you look &s;o longingly upon your own death? why are you &s;o taken in looking upon that, which if you ta&s;t you are lo&s;t? you an&s;wer, that you do but ca&s;t your eye, and not your hand upon it, and that you are not forbid to &s;ee, but to eat; O though this be not your actuall crime, yet is it an aptitude thereunto, for while you are thus amu&s;ed, the &s;erpent covertly windeth into your heart, fir&s;t by blandi&s;hments he intangleth your rea&s;on, and then by falla|cies he diverteth your fear, affirming you &s;hall not &s;urely die, and thus &s;harpens the curio&s;ity while he &s;ugge&s;teth the cupi|dity, and by the&s;e degres pre&s;enteth the fruit, and putteth you out of the garden; and this is commonly the event of the chil|dren of <HI>Eve,</HI> who entertaine this party with the &s;erpent, weigh|ing no temptation when it lights fir&s;t upon their eyes, till it fall too heavy on their hearts to be removed,</P>
<P>Therefore Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> giveth us an excellent advi&s;e, &s;ince
<PB N="171" REF="109">
the Devill doth watch thy heel, do thou watch his head, which is the beginning of an ill &s;ugge&s;tion; when he proffereth fir&s;t an ill motion, reject it; then, before delectation ari&s;e, and con&s;ent follow; thus while thou breake&s;t his head, he &s;hall not be able to brui&s;e thy heel. And &s;ure Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> is one of the be&s;t Coun&s;ellors we can con&s;ult in this ca&s;e, for he reads it decided in that book which he was commanded to take up and read, while he was &s;tudying the ca&s;e, which advi&s;e as it came from the &s;ame voice, &s;o it wrought the &s;ame effect, <HI>take up thy bed and walk;</HI> for it rai&s;ed him from being bed-rid in this pa&s;&s;ion, and &s;et him a walking with him who is <HI>the way, the truth, and the life;</HI> We cannot recu&s;e Saint <HI>Au&s;tine</HI> as a party again&s;t this pa&s;&s;ion, when he profe&s;&s;eth he had &s;tudied long the agreement of it with Piety, therefore let us heare the re&s;ult of his &s;tudies.</P>
<P>All the while he was in this di&s;ceptation, he confe&s;&s;eth he found two wils in him&s;elf, the one carnal, &amp; the other Spiritu|all; which by a daily contention did &s;ever and di&s;&s;ipate his mind: and thus by experience he found the combate between the fle&s;h and the Spirit, which while his mind &s;ought to part and reconcile, &s;he was hurt by both parties, con&s;cience wounded her on the one &s;ide, and cu&s;tome &s;truck her on the other, on which &s;he was the mo&s;t &s;en&s;ible, &s;o as his &s;en&s;es &s;way|ed him commonly to a partiality; thus he &s;heweth us the links of that chaine, which lovers by degrees find their wills fa&s;ten|ed by; an ea&s;ie &s;educed appetite rai&s;eth pa&s;&s;ion, and that che|ri&s;hed, induceth cu&s;tome, and that uncontrolled imprints ne|ce&s;&s;ity, which becometh a puni&s;hment of perverted liberty; for the law of &s;inne is the violence of cu&s;tome, by which the mind is drawne and held at la&s;t even again&s;t her owne relu|ctancie, but de&s;ervedly, for having willingly fallen into this nece&s;&s;ity, in this manner he confe&s;&s;eth that often upon the motions of the Spirit, which invited him to break off all treaty of accord, and to declare for the redemption of his captived appetite, he found him&s;elfe kept as it were in a &s;lumber in the&s;e meditations of ri&s;ing out of that &s;oft bed of &s;en&s;uality,
<PB N="172" REF="110">
and while he lay &s;tretching him&s;elfe to wake, overcome &s;till by his drow&s;ine&s;&s;e, he lay &s;till to&s;&s;ing in this re&s;olution.</P>
<P>And alas, how familiarly do we rowle our &s;elves a&s;leep a|gaine in this doubtfull drow&s;ine&s;&s;e, while we are halfe awake, purpo&s;ing to ri&s;e and break off our fancyes, dreames, and il|lu&s;ions! O then let Saint <HI>Au&s;tin's</HI> alarum keep us awake, while we are in this halfe-wi&s;hing or vellity towards our ca&s;t|ing off the workes of darkne&s;&s;e, let us not lie &s;till &s;tretching and con&s;ulting our &s;en&s;es, whether the night <HI>be farre &s;pent, and the day be at hand,</HI> that is, whether there be not enough of our <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 13. v. 13. 14.</NOTE> youth left to promi&s;e us time to make our &s;elves ready for the la&s;t day, let us not &s;lumber in this rumination, but ri&s;e and put on the <HI>Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> and not lie turning our &s;elves to and fro, which is, to <HI>make provi&s;ion for the lu&s;ts of the fle&s;h;</HI> Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> after he had row&s;ed him&s;elfe upon this alarum ro&s;e up directly, and &s;et him&s;elfe to &s;uch exerci&s;es as kept him alwayes in that vigilancy which is required, not to enter into temptation, he pre&s;ently broke off all treaty with this pa&s;&s;ion, and hath left this excellent te&s;t for lovers to touch their affe|ctions, to try if they be of that purity which is onely currant with God.</P>
<P><HI>They love God le&s;&s;e then they ought, who love any thing be&s;ides God, which they love not for God.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Apoc. 216.</NOTE></P>
<P>This is to &s;tate God in our affections, as he hath proclaimed him&s;elfe to our faith, to be <HI>the beginning and end of all things;</HI> Now whether a pa&s;&s;ion to the creature can by any compa&s;&s;e of humane frailty be drawne into this perfect circle, moving fir&s;t from the love of God, and reflecting &s;till back againe in all the circumference to that fir&s;t point? is a que&s;tion will be an&s;wered affirmatively by none, but by him who promi&s;ed man he &s;hould become like God; for this is an under&s;tanding above the &s;traine of humane nature: yet I believe there are ma|ny lovers &s;educed by this coun&s;ellor, who at fir&s;t de&s;igne this innocent re-conveyance of their affections, pa&s;&s;ing through the creature back to their proper place, and of many of &s;uch pro|jectors, we may &s;ay as Saint <HI>Gregory</HI> doth of the <HI>Camell</HI> in
<PB N="173" REF="110">
the law, that they <HI>are cleane in the head, but not in the hoof;</HI> they ruminate well, and &s;peculate cleanne&s;&s;e and purity in the rationall part, but the feet of their &s;oules, which are the &s;en&s;itive appetites, want alwayes their right divi&s;ion, becau&s;e they remaine too intirely carnall, and &s;o the whole becomes illegall in the law of grace: therefore I may &s;ay it will be hard for &s;uch <HI>Camels</HI> to pa&s;&s;e <HI>in at the narrow gate;</HI> wherefore I &s;hall advi&s;e tho&s;e well-meaning minds in <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> name, <HI>He that is thus wa&s;hed, wanteth yet the wa&s;hing his feet,</HI> they mu&s;t indeavor to change and purge their terre&s;triall affections <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iohn 13. 13.</NOTE> (which are here typified by the feet) with as much neatne&s;&s;e as they can for the impre&s;&s;ions of corporeall beauties, which at fir&s;t are but as du&s;t upon their feet, if they be let &s;tick upon them, do ea&s;ily turne to &s;uch dirt as is not to be got off but by water drawn from the head; teares are required to wa&s;h off that at la&s;t, which our breath might have blown off at fir&s;t.</P>
<P>Therefore let them remember <HI>Solomons</HI> admonition, in the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 23. 33.</NOTE> fir&s;t &s;traynings and impul&s;es of their frailties, thy eyes &s;hall &s;ee &s;trange women, &amp; thy heart &s;hal &s;peak pervers things: we mu&s;t an&s;wer then our hearts fir&s;t que&s;tion, before it multiply argu|ments, with King <HI>Davids</HI> re&s;olution, <HI>My heart, and my fle&s;h rejoyce in the living God,</HI> who indeed is the E&s;&s;ence of all beau|ty and goodne&s;&s;e, and hath &s;uch an immen&s;ity of them, as even they who love not him directly, can love nothing under the notion of faire or good, that is not a part of him, though they be &s;o injurious to God as to cover him with his own light, taking the le&s;&s;e notice of him, the more they find of his &s;imi|litude in the creature, they love and honour with his rights: in this ca&s;e we do but like fi&s;hes who play and leap at the i|mage of the &s;un, as it is impre&s;&s;ed upon the fluencie of their element, and take it for the reall &s;ub&s;tance: for when we adore the image and copy of beauty, &s;hadowed out to us upon the fluent and tran&s;itory &s;uperficies of well coloured fle&s;h and blood, are we not deluded like fi&s;hes, with a &s;hining image of beauty &s;uperficially delineated upon our own fleeting element?
<PB N="174" REF="111">
and thus as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;aith, we are erring, and leading into errour.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. VII.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Some &s;cruples re&s;olved about the e&s;teeme of beau|ty, and the friend&s;hip of Women.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>UPon what we have di&s;cour&s;ed I believe we may con|clude, that none &s;hould flatter them&s;elves with the hope of an agreement or co-habitation of the&s;e two, divine love, and humane pa&s;&s;ion; whereupon we may &s;ay, that they who treate this accommodation, are of <HI>Micahs</HI> di&s;ciples <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jud. 17.</NOTE> who hope to lodge concordantly together an <HI>Idol,</HI> and an <HI>E|phod,</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">aking only as it were a Cell apart for God, and expect as he did, to pro&s;per in this concordancy: But we know our Law-giver <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us</HI> would not &s;uffer &s;o much as Doves to be traffiqued in the Temple; which figureth to us, that we mu&s;t endeavour to di&s;lodge even all our levities and mo&s;t harmle&s;&s;e amu&s;ements out of our thoughts, which are apt to trade and bargain for a part of our hearts, that mu&s;t be kept &s;ingle and entire to his love: Therefore we may much more forceably conclude with the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> again&s;t the co-habitation of any vain pa&s;&s;ion; <HI>What agreement hath the Temple of God with Idols? you are the Temples of the Living God.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 6. 16.</NOTE></P>
<P>But now as I was laying downe my Pen, there come &s;ome objections from my memory of the worlds humour which hold my hand till I have an&s;wered them, though it may be I have already &s;trained the patience even of a recovering Reader, by the quantity of this pre&s;cript.</P>
<P>Methinks there are many now, who (like the <HI>Phari&s;ees</HI> that were in the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of the plea&s;ure of changing wives) reply <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 19. 10.</NOTE> as they did to Chri&s;t upon the deci&s;ion of that que&s;tion, &s;aying, if this &s;trictnes be required in our life, with women, we are de|barred
<PB N="175" REF="111">
of all friend&s;hip and civill conver&s;ation with them; and it were better there were no beauty if this be the ca&s;e, that we are interdicted a particular preference and e&s;timation of it, unto whom I may properly return Chri&s;ts que&s;tion for an an|&s;wer, have you not read, that the &s;ouleof man is the &s;pou&s;e of God? And that which God hath joyned &s;o, nothing mu&s;t &s;e|parate; no creature mu&s;t &s;hare any parcell of the heart, in &s;uch a manner as may que&s;tion her fidelity, which is all the re&s;traint I put upon the &s;pou&s;e, but as wives are allowed friend&s;hips and familiarities with others, which do not impeach the &s;incerity of their vertue, &s;o the &s;oule of man is permitted acquaintances, amities, and valuations of the creature, and proportionate to the excellencies wherewith they are advantaged from the Crea|tor, giving the graces of nature a prizall commen&s;urate to their di&s;tinct dignities, &s;o it be bounded in &s;uch termes, as do not come within that inclo&s;ure of the heart, which is Gods proper|ty; for the Beloved challengeth the heart <HI>as a Garden inclo&s;ed, a Spring &s;hut up, a Fountain &s;ealed:</HI> And yet this integrity of the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Cant. 4. 12.</NOTE> Spou&s;es love to her Beloved doth not forbid her affections comming abroad, and conver&s;ing with amiable objects, as with her Lord his dependents and retainers, which &s;hee may e|&s;teem and delight in more or le&s;&s;e, as the &s;tamp of his goodnes is the fairelyer impre&s;&s;ed on them.</P>
<P>Wherefore I do not meane to attaint friend&s;hip with beauti|full per&s;ons, meerely upon the &s;u&s;pition of our frailty, for &s;uch intelligences are requi&s;ite to &s;ome vocations in the world, which may &s;ay, in the Apo&s;tles name, <HI>we mu&s;t go out of the world, if we do not contract friend&s;hip with Women,</HI> and I hope &s;uch may find in this di&s;cour&s;e &s;ome direction how they may be able to <HI>quench all the f<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ery darts of the enemy,</HI> who can ea&s;ily <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 6. 16.</NOTE> make up his Wild-fire in friend&s;hip.</P>
<P>And in an&s;wer of what concerneth the honouring of beauty, I profe&s;&s;e to e&s;teem the ble&s;&s;ing of beauty &s;o much, as I de&s;igne only by the&s;e advi&s;es to &s;ecure it from the treachery of &s;uch a confident as beauty likely tru&s;teth mo&s;t, yet is truly &s;uch a one as doth oftene&s;t betray the goodne&s;&s;e of it; this is pa&s;&s;ion that
<PB N="176" REF="112">
I detect, which is &s;o naturally fal&s;e to beauty, as it &s;ub&s;i&s;teth but by betraying beauty, by perverting it into temptation and impurity; whereupon I would preferre rea&s;on to beauty, to have that tru&s;ted only, which may furni&s;h true joyes enough, where|with to entertain &amp; delight the owners of it; &s;hewing what a re|all ble&s;sing beauty hath, by being made by God one of the be&s;t opticke gla&s;&s;es for the helpe of mans &s;pirituall eye, by report from his corporeall in the &s;peculation of divinity; for by this inference of the <HI>Wi&s;e-man,</HI> he may argue, If we <HI>are delighted with the&s;e materiall beauties, we may judge how much more beau|tifull and lovely is the Lord and Creator of them:</HI> adding, that by the greatne&s;&s;e of the beauty of the creatures, the heathens were inexcu&s;able, that they did not find the truth of one <NOTE PLACE="marg">Sap. 13. 3.</NOTE> Creator.</P>
<P>We may remarke a &s;peciall providence of God in the or|der of nature, providing again&s;t the pervertiblene&s;&s;e of this great ble&s;&s;ing of beauty, for the mo&s;t vehement cupidity of our nature ari&s;eth not before the u&s;e of rea&s;on: the abu&s;e of beauty, and the u&s;e of rea&s;on, are both of an age, whereby we have a defence coupled with the time of temptation, and our rea&s;on when it is &s;eriou&s;ly con&s;ulted for our &s;afety, hath the voyce of the holy cryer in the de&s;art, and directeth us to a &s;tronger then her &s;elfe, which was before her, though it ap|peared after her; this is <HI>Grace,</HI> which we may call in to our &s;uccour in all the violencies of our nature, &s;o as with the&s;e pre-cautions, I propo&s;e beauty to be truly honoured in that high|e&s;t degree of nobility, which God hath been plea&s;ed to rank it among his materiall creatures, pre&s;erving religiou&s;ly the Prerogative Rights of the Soveraign of our hearts, who de|mandeth not the putting out of the right eye as the <HI>Ammo|nites</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Reg 11.</NOTE> did for a mark of &s;lavery, but propo&s;ed it onely as a me|dicine in ca&s;e of &s;candall, when the liberty of the whole body is indangered by it, whereby we &s;ee devotion doth not infringe any of the rights of humanity in the valuation of materiall ble&s;sings, for in not admitting vain pa&s;sion, it doth rather defend then dimini&s;h the liberties of humane nature, which
<PB N="177" REF="112">
are truly in&s;laved by the tyrannies of pa&s;sion.</P>
<P>Now in an&s;wer to that que&s;tion concerning friend&s;hip with <NOTE PLACE="marg">Friend&s;hip defined.</NOTE> women, I profe&s;&s;e to intend &s;o little the di&s;crediting of reall friend&s;hip with them, as I approve it for an excellent pre&s;er|vative again&s;t the contagiou&s;ne&s;&s;e of pa&s;&s;ion, for as pa&s;&s;ion hath been well &s;aid to be friend&s;hip runne mad, &s;o friend|&s;hip may be properly &s;tyled &s;ober pa&s;&s;ion; &s;ince it hath all the &s;pirit and cordiality of the wine of love, without the offen&s;ive fumes and vapors of it, and &s;o doth the office of exhilara|ting the heart, without intoxicating the braine; In&s;omuch as we finde, that our friend&s;hip with the proprietor of what we are tempted to covet, doth often, even by the &s;ingle virtue of morality, &s;uppre&s;&s;e tho&s;e unruly appetites: Therefore when the power of Chri&s;tianity is joyned to re-inforce it, we may ex|pect it &s;hould much the ea&s;ilier correct frailty of nature.</P>
<P>It hath been well &s;aid of friend&s;hip, that it is the &s;oule of humane &s;ociety, and if our friend&s;hip hold this Analo|gy with the &s;oul, to be equally intire in every part of the bo|dy, it is very &s;afe with women, if the love be no more in the face then in the feet, as long as it is like a &s;oule thus &s;piritual|ly di&s;tributed, equally in the whole compound of body and mind, it is not in danger of the partiality of pa&s;&s;ion, which never maketh this equall communication of it &s;elfe, but lodg|eth &s;olely in the externall figure of the body; and friend&s;hip thus regularly &s;pirituall, may find a &s;en&s;ible as well as a lawfull delight in the beauty and lovelyne&s;&s;e of the per&s;on; for beauty hath &s;omewhat that affecteth and taketh our nature, which methinks is &s;omewhat like to that we call the fire, or the wa|ter in diamonds, which are certain rayes of lu&s;ter and bright|ne&s;&s;e, that &s;eem the Spirit of the whole matter, being equal|ly i&s;&s;ued from all parts of it; and &s;o there may be a kind of &s;pirit, and quickne&s;&s;e of joy and delight that may &s;hine upon us, from the object of a beautifull per&s;on, whom we may love &s;o &s;piritually, as to con&s;ider nothing in the per&s;on, &s;e|vered from the whole con&s;i&s;tence and virtuous integrity of &s;oul and body, no more then we do the fire of a diamond apart from the whole &s;ub&s;tance.</P>
<P><PB N="178" REF="113">
Thus beauty may innocently rai&s;e the joy of friend&s;hip, whiles &s;incere&punc; friend&s;hip doth &s;uppre&s;&s;e the danger of beauty, which is onely the kindling of pa&s;&s;ion&punc; wherefore if it be right|ly examined, pa&s;&s;ion which pretendeth to honour beauty, more then friend&s;hip, will be found but to vilifie and de|ba&s;e it; for pa&s;&s;ion u&s;eth this diamond but as a flint, to &s;trike, materiall &s;parkles of lu&s;t out of it, whereas friend&s;hip lookes upon the fire of this diamond as delighted only with the lu&s;ter of nature in the &s;ub&s;tance of it, which reflects alwaies the &s;plendor of the Creator unto a Pious' and religious love.</P>
<P>But this high Spirituall point of friend&s;hip with women, (where we have no defence by con&s;anguinity again&s;t the frail|ty of fle&s;h and blood) is not &s;o acce&s;&s;able as we &s;hould pre|&s;ume ea&s;ily to reach it, many loves have &s;tray'd that pretend|ed to &s;et out towards it; therefore we cannot be too cautious in this promi&s;e to our &s;elves of &s;ecurity in &s;uch difficulties, for our &s;pirit can make no &s;uch friend&s;hip with our fle&s;h, as to rely upon the fidelity thereof, without his own continuall vi|gilancy; wherefore S. <HI>Peters</HI> advi&s;e is very pertinent in the&s;e <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 1. 17.</NOTE> intelligences, <HI>Conver&s;e in feare in this time of your &s;ojourning,</HI> for otherwi&s;e I may pre&s;age to you in the termes of the <HI>Pro|phet, Evil &s;hall come upon you, and you &s;hal not know from whence</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;ay 47. 11.</NOTE> <HI>it ri&s;eth;</HI> for friend&s;hip doth often when it is too much pre&s;u|med upon, rob upon the place it did fir&s;t pretend to guard, being ea&s;ily tempted by the conveniency our &s;en&s;es finde in that tru&s;t: And as tho&s;e theeves are the hardlie&s;t di&s;covered, that can &s;o hand&s;omely change their apparencies, upon the place, as they need not flie upon it; &s;o friend&s;hip when it is de|bau&s;hed into pa&s;&s;ion, is very hardly detected: For when it is que&s;tioned by Gods authorized examinants, it re&s;umeth the lookes and &s;imilitude of innocent friend&s;hip, and &s;o remain|eth undi&s;covered, not onely by the exterior inque&s;t, but very often it eludeth a &s;light interior &s;earch of our own con&s;cience, thereby proving the mo&s;t dangerous theef in the familiarities with women: For this rea&s;on I mu&s;t charge this admi&s;&s;ion of friend&s;hip towards women, with this clau&s;e of Saint <HI>Paul,
<PB N="179" REF="113">
While you &s;tand by &s;aith, pre&s;ume not, but feare,</HI> for in this ca&s;e we may warrantably invert the rule of Saint <HI>John,</HI> and &s;ay, <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Ep. Joh. 4. 18.</NOTE> that perfect love bringeth in feare: wherefore I will conclude this ca&s;e with <HI>Solomons &s;entence, Ble&s;&s;ed is the man who feareth alwayes, he that hardneth his heart &s;hall fall into mi&s;chiefe.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; VIII.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The Conclu&s;ion framed upon all the premi&s;ed Di&s;cour&s;e, and our Love &s;afely ad|dre&s;&s;ed.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>NOw then upon the&s;e evidences, we may fairely ca&s;t pa&s;&s;ion in this charge of Trea&s;on again&s;t the Soveraign of all our love, and con&s;equently, all libertine di&s;|cour&s;e, and familiarities with women, may ju&s;tly be noted as Malignants, which legally in Religion ought to be &s;eque&s;tered; nay even friend&s;hip it &s;elfe (with per&s;ons to be feared) lyeth un|der &s;ome cloud, as requiring a continual &s;u&s;pitious eye upon it, to keepe it &s;afe from all intelligence with &s;en&s;ual appetites; in &s;o much as when it is &s;incere&s;t, it mu&s;t be watched with great pru|dence to be kept &s;afe: for which cau&s;e in &s;tead of all the&s;e peril|lous commerces of our love, I will preferre &s;o &s;ecure an object to it, as Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> &s;aith of it, <HI>Love but, and do what you will;</HI> this is the increated beauty of God, in which there is not only no feare to be had of our over-loving it, but even there is no fear of our not being out-loved by it, and &s;o our love is alwayes &s;ecured to us.</P>
<P>Therefore, O Soule! Why doe&s;t thou halt and he&s;itate a|bout the loving him, who mu&s;t needs love thee faithfully? and art &s;o prone to love that, which if it love thee at all, mu&s;t do it perfidiou&s;ly, either deceiving thee or &s;ome other: thou &s;halt al|wayes be unhappy in loving &s;uch, which if another love, thou
<PB N="180" REF="114">
&s;halt be offended; or if they love another thou &s;halt be tormen|ted: The love of God is exempted from all griefe or care; for in his loving of others, thou &s;halt joy, and that all may be in love with him, thou &s;halt wi&s;h: This is the tran&s;cendent &s;uffici|ency of Gods good, that he may love all, and be beloved of all without any detriment or diminution of either the lover or the beloved, but with a fuller joy of both: All other things are infirme, &s;canted and indigent, which are not &s;ufficient for the loving of two, or the being beloved by two, without defraud|ing of one of them.</P>
<P>You then, that by love &s;eeke contentment, why do you love that, which even the loving of, is di&s;quiet? O love him, who even in the nece&s;&s;ary di&s;quiets of this life, can make you happy; how idle is it to love &s;uch goods, which by loving thou de|&s;erve&s;t to want, and not to love that good, where the act of loving is the fruition of it? for God being beloved becommeth yours: other goods when you love you become theirs, and &s;o indeed you want even your &s;elfe by &s;uch loves: God is on|ly to be wanted by not being loved, and all other things which you leave for God, you find again in his Love; O then love that only, which alone is all things.</P>
<P>To conclude, all you who have much to be forgiven for o|ther loves, transferre betimes all your affections upon him, <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 The&s;. 5. 23.</NOTE> where you may hope with the ble&s;&s;ed Penitent, <HI>To have much forgiven you, for loving much:</HI> Thus only you can hope to at|tain to the &s;tate Saint <HI>Paul</HI> pre&s;cribeth to ab&s;tain <HI>from all appea|rance of evill, that your whole &s;pirit and &s;oule and body may be pre&s;erved blamele&s;&s;e to the comming of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> and God grant that our &s;oules may meet him with the lamps of the wi&s;e Virgins only lighted in them; and then we &s;hall be no more in danger of cea&s;ing to love what we &s;hould, when we enter into our ma&s;ters joy, which is eternall love.</P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="14" TYPE="treatise">
<PB N="181" REF="114">
<HEAD>The fourteenth Treati&s;e. The Te&s;t and Ballance of Filiall and Mer|cenary Love. In five Sections.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Of the value of Love, and Gods tolerating &s;ome mixture of &s;elfe-re&s;pects in it.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>WHen <HI>E&s;dras</HI> had cleared to the &s;educed people, that the Law of God could not di&s;pen&s;e with <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 E&s;d. 10. 12.</NOTE> their retaining of &s;uch &s;trange women of the Land as lay in their bo&s;omes, they pleaded for &s;ome time to make this painfull divorce, &s;aying, <HI>It was not the worke of a day or two:</HI> So methinks, many who are convinced in this point, of the prohibition of this alien and &s;trange conjunction of our Love, which is the child of God; with vain pa&s;&s;ion, the daugh|ter of the earth, pretend that by degrees they will &s;ever this im|purity from their loves, becau&s;e it requireth &s;ome time, and much grace to make this divi&s;ion.</P>
<P>I confe&s;&s;e, it is not the worke of a few good motions or re|mor&s;es, it asketh as it were a melting and liquefaction of our hearts, to &s;eparate this dro&s;&s;e from the pure &s;ub&s;tance of love; but we are &s;o much furthered towards this operation, as the fire we mu&s;t worke it in co&s;teth nothing but the asking: It is that which the <HI>Spou&s;e</HI> &s;aith, <HI>are coales of fire, and have a vehe|ment flame,</HI> and hath a &s;peciall vertue to purge and calcine our <NOTE PLACE="marg">Cant. 8. 6.</NOTE> affections; according to the Prophets advice, <HI>of &s;eparating the pure from the impure:</HI> and we may confidently call for this fire downe from heaven, by the Spirit of our ma&s;ter to con&s;ume
<PB N="182" REF="115">
the&s;e his enemies, <HI>the concupi&s;cence of the eye, and the concupi|&s;cence of the fle&s;h,</HI> that are the oppo&s;ers of this purgation, and re|finement of our hearts which he demandeth of us, as &s;ilver &s;e|ven times tryed.</P>
<P>Reflecting upon the exactnes of this receiver of hearts, if we re&s;olve to trade with our loves for the Kingdome of heaven, we mu&s;t examine &s;incerely what temper of purity is currant with God; for as pa&s;sion doth both lighten and vitiate them in one kind, &s;o is there another &s;ort of dro&s;&s;ines in our na|ture, which doth often too much imba&s;e our love, by an over|allay of &s;elfe re&s;pect, that rendereth it too mercenary, and of too low a value: it is very requi&s;ite then to be rightly enformed of the Standard by who&s;e purity all our love, that pa&s;&s;eth for the purcha&s;e of the Kingdom of heaven, mu&s;t be tryed &amp; te&s;ted.</P>
<P>In our contract for heaven, there is a &s;trange &s;ingularity, &s;ince both the paiment and the purcha&s;e, are one and the &s;ame thing; differing only in degrees of inten&s;ion and purification; for infirme and imperfect love is our price, and love perfected and con&s;ummate is our po&s;&s;e&s;sion; namely, God who is love is all; &amp; <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Ep. Joh. 4. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">.</NOTE> as love is the be&s;t thing even in heaven as well as in earth, it is con&s;onantly appointed for the chiefe commerce between them: wherefore God asketh but the heart of man even for all him|&s;elf, &amp; knowing that the heart in the mo&s;t entire tran&s;action of it &s;elfe in this life, can remit but imperfect and defective love: we mu&s;t examine &s;everely what rates of imperfectnes God ad|mitteth in our affections; for in favour of our poverty, he ac|cepteth &s;ome part of our payment, in that which is, as I may &s;ay, the ba&s;e money of our nature, mercenary love, which he alloweth for the conveniency of our indigent and decayed e&s;tate.</P>
<P>Methinks by this allu&s;ion we may appo&s;itely explain what degree of allowablenes mercenary love may be accepted at; for as ba&s;e money is a meanes of commerce between the rich and the poore, and is not commonly allowed in payments, above &s;ome low &s;umme: &s;o God in conde&s;cendence to the poverty and incommodity of our nature permitteth mercenary love in
<PB N="183" REF="115">
&s;ome proportion to be currant, between his plenty and our penury, but will not accept our totall di&s;charge in it, we may have &s;ome &s;elfe-re&s;pect in our affections to God, that may re|pre&s;ent to us our rewards, as a beneficiall traffique and corre|&s;pondence; but if we a&s;&s;igne all our love too partially to the in|tere&s;t of our private ble&s;&s;ings, we are in danger of lo&s;ing hea|ven, by trading only for it; by rea&s;on this kind of love &s;eemeth to treat with God only, as he is in heaven, not to affect hea|ven as it is in God; and &s;o we may faile of both, by this mi&s;|placing of them in our de&s;ire; they who &s;eeke God fir&s;t, are &s;ure to find heaven with him, but they who looke at heaven on|ly, are not &s;o &s;ure to find God: for in this Court the very a&s;pi|ring to the Kings favour is the acquiring it; and we know the having grace and credit is a better &s;ecurity for the making of benefit, then the affecting of gaine, is an addre&s;&s;e to the attain|ing of favour.</P>
<P>This con&s;idered, we mu&s;t be advi&s;ed, not to reckon too much upon this ba&s;er &s;pecies of mercenary love, for though it be admitted for &s;ome part of our account, it will not be accep|ted for the whole &s;umme of our purcha&s;e, it mu&s;t be <HI>the gold tryed in fire</HI> which the Angell advi&s;eth us to provide, that mu&s;t <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 3. 18.</NOTE> make the greate&s;t part of the price of that precious Pearle for which we traffique: and this is <HI>filiall love,</HI> even as pure as wee can refine it, in this our <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ordid con&s;titution: Wherefore I con|ceive it will be expedient to lay out &s;ome pieces of both the&s;e loves, that tho&s;e who de&s;ire to di&s;cerne their differences, may have &s;ome facility to weigh their own di&s;po&s;itions by the&s;e portions of either of them exhibited as ju&s;t mea&s;ures, whereby they may judge their due proportions.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<PB N="184" REF="116">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Mercenary Love defined, and the relying much on it di&s;&s;waded.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>MErcenary Love, is that which affecteth God chiefly, in order to our own remuneration, and &s;o &s;eemes to looke up to heaven, rather as on a mirrour of reflexi|on, then as on the e&s;&s;entiall &s;plendor of Gods pre&s;ence, where|by this a&s;pect on God &s;eemes more referred to the &s;ight of <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mercenary love de&s;ined.</NOTE> our &s;elves in him, then to the &s;eeing of him in him&s;elfe: this kind of love then &s;avoureth much more of the minds immer|&s;ion in our &s;en&s;es, then of the &s;pirituall nature of the &s;oule, which by her own in&s;tinct pointeth back to heaven, in order to a free returne to God from whom &s;he i&s;&s;ued, rather then that &s;he is drawn thither by a reflexion on her &s;elfe: and the more the &s;oule is ab&s;tracted from &s;elfe-re&s;pects, the more genuine and kindly return &s;he maketh of love; which free and ingenuous re|a&s;piring to her own repatriation, we terme <HI>filiall love,</HI> which is to love God more fervently, for what he is to us by his own nature, then for what we are promi&s;ed to be by his grace, which is a due to God, who as he is a father to us, in &s;o admirable a kind, as his love to us, not his delight, as in other fathers, is the occa&s;ion of our being; &s;o his being, rather then his ble&s;&s;ings ought to be the object of our love.</P>
<P>But in our degenerated nature, <HI>mercenary love</HI> &s;eemeth to be the Elder Brother, yet as it is the &s;onne of the Bond-woman, &s;o is it not the heire of the ble&s;&s;ing; though God doth heare the voice of this <HI>I&s;hmael,</HI> and a&s;&s;ignes &s;ome allowance to it, yet he &s;ettleth not <HI>the Covenant</HI> upon it: <HI>Filiall Love</HI> is our <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> the i&s;&s;ue of a free ingenuous Soule, the &s;pou&s;e of God, and of that &s;tock, <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> as the Apo&s;tle &s;aith, <HI>is born in our hearts,</HI> and the chiefe ble&s;&s;ings of chri&s;tianity are entailed upon this &s;eed of the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t,</HI> Filiall Love.</P>
<P><PB N="185" REF="116">
Notwith&s;tanding we mu&s;t acknowledge this <HI>I&s;hmael</HI> of <HI>mer|cenary love</HI> to be a legitimate i&s;&s;ue, though of a &s;ervile mother&punc; for King <HI>David</HI> him&s;elfe owneth the Linage of it, &s;aying, <HI>I en|clined my heart to performe thy &s;tatutes for reward:</HI> So as I do <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 118.</NOTE> not cen&s;ure the matter, but advi&s;e the regulation of the mea|&s;ure of it: For it may be &s;aid to be of the nature of Dwarfes, which are an imperfection, not a perver&s;ion of nature; and &s;o like them, the le&s;&s;e it groweth, the better it remaineth, the little|ne&s;&s;e of it making &s;ome amends for the infirmity: And we may &s;ay aptly, that this kind of love, <HI>is permitted us for the hardnes of our hearts;</HI> for from the beginning it was not &s;o, &s;ince we know God made the &s;oule to reflect backe upon him&s;elf, direct|ly, as a Beame emitted from his own goodnes; and &s;o it was to revert upon him, in as direct a line, as Rayes are reverberated upon the &s;ub&s;tance from whence they i&s;&s;ue: But we know who changed this cour&s;e of the &s;oule of man, and taught her this flexuous &s;erpentine motion of <HI>&s;elfe-love</HI> in which &s;he &s;eemeth now to revert to God: For <HI>&s;elfe-love</HI> moveth in a po&s;ture of indirectne&s;&s;e and retor<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">on, winding and looking backe upon &s;elfe-re&s;pects: yet Gods indulgence is &s;uch, as he tolerateth this infirme, crooked regre&s;&s;e of the &s;oule, when by the &s;uccour of grace, the heart is &s;ollicitous to rectify and &s;traighten the cour&s;e of our loves reflux, bending as little as we can in the obliquity of our nature towards private references, and addre&s;&s;ing the major part of our wi&s;hes in heaven, to the glory of God.</P>
<P>When our hearts do &s;incerely aime and point at this &s;traight <HI>filiall love,</HI> God, like a tender father, doth rather compa&s;&s;ionate then reproach the wrine&s;&s;e and indirectne&s;s of our paces, in this feeblenes of our feet, when our hearts are &s;et &s;traight in this way of our loving him, as we &s;ee fathers deale with little children, which they call to them when they beginne to try to go alone, when they &s;ee them cro&s;&s;e their feet, and reele forward in their weake faltering motions, &s;ometimes falling by the way, they. do rather cheri&s;h them then chide them for this imbecility: &s;o God, when he &s;eeth the heart &s;training forward, with the be&s;t of our powers, towards a &s;imple immediate love of him,
<PB N="186" REF="117">
doth not di&s;courage this infirme &s;taggering of our nature, be|tween mercenary and filiall love; and in conformity to this his Method with his children, God &s;aith by the <HI>Prophet, I have taught Ephraim to go, and taken them by their armes,</HI> and then <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;ea 11.</NOTE> in conde&s;cendence to our degenerous and ignoble nature, he advanceth further, and &s;aith, <HI>I drew them with the cords of A|dam, with bands of love:</HI> that is, God pre&s;enteth us with &s;uch at|tractives, as affect mo&s;t our intere&s;ted con&s;titutions, which are the objects of remuneration, and private &s;alary; and of the&s;e threads, (made of the fleece as it were, of our own nature) he vouch&s;afeth to frame cords to draw us, and fa&s;ten us to the love of him, but we mu&s;t not take this mercifull indulgence given to our defectuo&s;ities, as a di&s;pen&s;ation for the &s;ordidnes of our loves, but rather in a holy effect and contention of gra|titude, &s;train to love God the more purely, and irre&s;pectively to our &s;elves, in regard of the tran&s;cendent benignity of this di&s;pen&s;ation.</P>
<P>This &s;uppo&s;ed, we ought to con&s;ider <HI>mercenary love</HI> under the &s;ame notion, as Saint <HI>Paul</HI> exhibits to us the Law of <HI>Mo|&s;es,</HI> as a Preceptor or Tutor to us in the childhood of our love, to lead it by degrees to <HI>filiall love,</HI> which is the full age of our affections: For indeed while our love is in this fir&s;t infancy <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 3. 24.</NOTE> our minds may be well &s;aid to be in bondage under the ele|ments of the world, rather &s;erving upon a &s;ervile contract, then acting as heires of the Promi&s;e; which dignity a Chri&s;tian evi|denceth only by <HI>filiall Love:</HI> indeed the other &s;ort is rather le|gall then evangelicall, and alone bringeth nothing to perfe|ction.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<PB N="187" REF="117">
<HEAD>&sect;. III.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Filiall love de&s;cribed, and &s;ome &s;trong incentives pre&s;ented to kindle it in us.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>NOw then (as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;aith,) <HI>Let us leave the&s;e be|ginnings and rudiments of the doctrine of Chri&s;t, and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Hebr. 8.</NOTE> <HI>covet earne&s;tly the be&s;t gifts, and I will &s;hew unto you a</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Corinth. 12.</NOTE> <HI>more excellent way;</HI> by as much as the matter of the altar of perfumes was more precious then that of Holocau&s;ts, let us then leave fouling our hands with this bra&s;&s;e of <HI>mercenary</HI> love, and fall a telling out this gold of <HI>Filiall dilection.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Filiall love</HI> is an adherence of our hearts to God, under this <NOTE PLACE="marg">Filial love defined.</NOTE> mixt notion, principally of his own being, and &s;econdarily of our relation to him: So as this may be &s;aid to be a repercu&s;&s;i|on of his own light upon him, as &s;imply as our compounded nature can reflect it, the light of Gods countenance impre&s;&s;ed upon us, being by this love reverberated upon the divine na|ture, <HI>From the eyes of the hand-maid, fixed upon the eye of her mi&s;tre&s;&s;e,</HI> more in order to the duty of her nature, then in pri|vate affection to her &s;elfe&punc; So that this kind of love &s;eemeth to be in the regeneration of man in the age of rea&s;on, what the &s;oul is in his fir&s;t generation, to wit, the fir&s;t principle of life: For our devotion is but as it were an <HI>Embrion</HI> before it re|ceive this animation, which is induced by an infu&s;ion, even of that love, wherewith God loveth him&s;elfe, &s;ince it is the holy Spirit diffu&s;ed in our hearts, that quickneth and infor|meth them by this kind of love: This is then the onely &s;ort of affection worthy of God, whereby we returne him that part of the divine nature, we partake by his communication, while we &s;eem thus to remit the <HI>holy-Gho&s;t</HI> back to him out of our hearts, loving God with the &s;ame affection, we derive from this re&s;idence in our &s;oules.</P>
<P><PB N="188" REF="118">
Methinks the dignity and pre&s;ent delight of this noble love (though it were an unthrift anticipation in this our minority, and were to be di&s;counted to us out of our future e&s;tate of loving) might tempt a &s;oule to take up for her pre&s;ent joy and &s;atisfaction, the &s;uavity and ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e of this excellent love: how much the rather ought we then a&s;pire to this de|grees of loving, when the e&s;tate of our rever&s;ion is reproved proportionately to the degrees of this our anticipation? This may well be the Method of &s;uch a father, who&s;e portions to his heires, are the injoying him&s;elfe; no wonder then, that the de&s;ire to preoccupate this &s;tate, &s;hould augment the childrens inheritance: For the Father (who is infinite love,) mu&s;t needs be large&s;t to them who have advanced to them&s;elves the mo&s;t of <HI>Filiall love:</HI> and the rea&s;on is, that this Cele&s;tiall Father can reward nothing but his own gifts, a&s;&s;igning alwayes &s;e|cond benefits, by the mea&s;ures of his fir&s;t liberality: and thus the more he hath inriched us with this love, the more he remu|nerateth the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of it; &s;o that <HI>mercenary love</HI> when it is under&s;tood, will be found to damnifie it &s;elfe, by this projected aeconomy of &s;elfe-provi&s;ion: for in this commerce, all pri|vate reference imba&s;eth &s;o much the &s;pecies wherewith we negotiate, as it falles in value, ju&s;t as much as it ri&s;eth in quantity.</P>
<P>When we reflect upon the &s;tate of humane nature, we may collect ea&s;ily, how much God de&s;ireth this corre&s;pondence of <HI>Filiall love,</HI> &s;ince even from the forfeiture of all our filiall dignity, he tooke the ri&s;e of a nearer and firmer alliance of our nature unto his, and fa&s;tned it &s;o to this filial con&s;titution, as he took it out of mans own power, ever to divide or &s;ever it againe from this relation; for even the &s;inne of man can ne|ver divorce our humanity now from this filiall &s;tate, &s;ince the naturall Sonne of God, will now no more cea&s;e to be man, then to be God, &s;o in&s;eparably is our nature now fixed in this filiall reference; for though individuals may by want of <HI>Filial love</HI> to the divine nature) &s;eparate them&s;elves from a ble&s;&s;ed participation thereof in eternity, yet our nature can never fall
<PB N="189" REF="118">
from this divine conjunction, but &s;hall remaine elevated above that of <HI>Cherubims</HI> and <HI>Seraphins</HI> to all eternity.</P>
<P>O who can contemplate this, and con&s;ent to love God, le&s;&s;e nobly then our pre&s;ent nature will admit, con&s;idering we have even the noblene&s;&s;e of our nature, now &s;et out to us as an ob|ject of our love! for as it is in <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> we cannot over|love our own humanity: and &s;ince God hath done as much as was po&s;&s;ible for him in honour of our nature, &s;hall man be content to love this God, le&s;&s;e then is po&s;&s;ible for his con&s;ti|tution? nay there are grave Divines, who indeare this obligati|on upon our humanity by this &s;uppo&s;ition, that God lo&s;t the love of much nobler creatures, by his preference of mans na|ture before theirs; and if the &s;upreame&s;t of all creatures, thought this as a partiality to an unworthy &s;ubject, a provo|cation to leave loving of God; &s;hall not this prefer'd creature derive from hence a powerfull motive to rai&s;e and purifie his love, in re&s;pect of this &s;o obliged propo&s;ure; whereof the <HI>A|po&s;tle</HI> glorieth, and in&s;i&s;teth much upon the prelation of the &s;eed of <HI>Abraham,</HI> before the nature of <HI>Angels,</HI> as one of the &s;tronge&s;t inducements, to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ntere&s;t our hearts in this filial affe|ction.</P>
<P>And &s;ince God hath prefer'd the nature of man, before that of <HI>Angels,</HI> not onely in point of honour, but likewi&s;e in the part of &s;uccour; why may we not &s;uppo&s;e he valueth more the love of men, then that of <HI>Angels?</HI> this conception may &s;afely be made u&s;e of, to incite us to the &s;tudying the ab&s;traction and &s;piritualizing our loves, to the pure&s;t degree of our com|pound nature; in which (the very di&s;advantage we have more then pure &s;pirits in the deve&s;ture of &s;elf-re&s;pects) may be con|verted into a conducement to the value of our purity, by rea|&s;on the oppo&s;ition of our bodyes in this di&s;intere&s;ted love, is counted to us an indearement of our hearts, when in this re|luctancy of one halfe, we reduce our love to that decree of implicity which is compatible with this our complexure; and as Saint <HI>Jerome</HI> &s;aith of the cha&s;tity of virgins compo&s;ed with that of <HI>Angels, There is more felicity in the one, but more
<PB N="190" REF="119">
fortitude in the other:</HI> So we may &s;ay re&s;pectively of their two loves, that there is more happyne&s;&s;e in the one, but more He|roickne&s;&s;e in the other.</P>
<P>What Angelicall love exceedeth in the finene&s;&s;e of ab&s;tra|ction, humane may an&s;wer in the fidelity of extraction, &s;ince his is laboured and formed out of repugnant matter; for man mu&s;t overcome, what Angels have not to re&s;i&s;t, many mate|riall adherencies incorporate in his &s;en&s;es, in&s;omuch as the &s;onnes of men for the purifying their affections, mu&s;t (as it were) cea&s;e to be them&s;elves, and the&s;e &s;pirituall &s;ub&s;tances for the &s;implifying of their loves, need but re&s;t and remaine them&s;elves.</P>
<P>Wherefore in this ods of natures, in this act of loving, the difficulty on mans part pa&s;&s;eth as an allowance of &s;ome di&s;|parity in point of finene&s;&s;e and &s;eparatene&s;&s;e; and taking our loves with this allowance, they may be thought as currant with God, as tho&s;e ab&s;tracted affections facilitated by a more &s;imple nature&punc; &s;o that when man &s;igheth, (as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;aith) as burthened with invi&s;cerate intere&s;ts, longing to put on this pure &s;pirituall ve&s;ture of <HI>Filiall love,</HI> this kind of heavine&s;&s;e of &s;pirit, may be &s;aid to make his love weight in heaven; and in|deed the ea&s;ie&s;t way to lighten this kind of burthen of &s;elfe-re&s;pect, is to &s;igh it away by degrees; for nothing loo&s;eneth and bloweth off more this du&s;t about our hearts, then the&s;e breathings and a&s;pirations of the &s;oule in a re&s;entment of tho&s;e impure mixtures, the body infu&s;eth into her love to God; &s;o that we are, as I may &s;ay, allowed what our nature aboundeth the mo&s;t in, which is &s;orrow, to make up that wherein our love is the mo&s;t defective, which is &s;implicity and immixture; &s;ince a pure and &s;incere &s;orrow, for the mix|ture and impurity of our affections to this indulgent Father, is accepted as a compen&s;ation for the defect of pure and <HI>Filial love.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="section">
<PB N="191" REF="119">
<HEAD>&sect;. IV.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Motives to Filiall love, drawn from our &s;eve|rall relations to God, as al&s;o from the digni|ty and advantages of this &s;ort of love.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>LEt us ob&s;erve a little under what affecting notions the divine <HI>Trinity</HI> vouch&s;afeth to exhibit it &s;elfe to the love of man, the fir&s;t per&s;on under that of a father, the &s;e|cond of a brother, the third of a comforter or a friend; &s;o that the love of man may be &s;aid to be an act wherein they have all one indentity, while they are di&s;tingui&s;hed into the&s;e three obliging relations, i&s;&s;uing out of the unity of love; thus the dei|ty &s;eemeth to draw it &s;elfe out into the&s;e &s;everal lines of bene|volence, to take in all the wayes and avenues to our love, &s;ince there is no inclination that is not &s;uted and matched by the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e agreeable corre&s;pondencies, if our affections do not &s;o ea&s;ily a&s;cend to the relation of a father, we have that of a bro|ther, which is level and even with the current of our naturall love, and if it &s;eem to runne too &s;tilly and &s;low in this chan|nell, we have the re&s;pect of a friend and comforter to turn it into, in which our affections may be &s;aid to runne downward in re&s;pect of their plea&s;ant current, and &s;o to have the quicker motion: thus hath the divine charity fitted all the &s;ympathies of our rationall nature, with competent and attractive mo|tives to ingage our loves unto it &s;elfe.</P>
<P>Doth not then this Method prove what God &s;aith by the <HI>Prophet, What could I do that I have not done for this generation?</HI> &s;hall man then leave any thing undone, that his love may re|tribute?</P>
<P>When the <HI>Prophet</HI> aslae<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">h in admiration of Gods conde|&s;cendence, <HI>What is man that thou art thus mindful of him?</HI> may we not an&s;wer, that though man was nothing but by Gods
<PB N="192" REF="120">
minding him, yet now by that act of bounty, he is become &s;onne, brother, and friend to God: Then may we not ask now with greater wonder, <HI>What is man, that he can be unmind|full of God?</HI> and attend to the loving him&s;elfe who is nothing, thereby deducting from his love to God, who offered him yet more for his affection, the becoming even like him&s;elfe, for but loving him all he can, and &s;pecially when &s;elfe-love which oppo&s;eth this integrity, reduceth him to wor&s;e then nothing; &s;urely no body can &s;eriou&s;ly ponder this &s;tate and obligation of man, and not cry out with the <HI>Prodigall,</HI> if he have hitherto mi&s;pent and di&s;&s;ipated his love, <HI>Father I am unworthy to look upon thee in this relation,</HI> and if he have not been &s;uch an unthrift, neverthele&s;&s;e if he find much mercenary dro&s;&s;e &s;tick|ing upon his love, let him humble him&s;elfe with the un&s;et|led father, in the <HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> confe&s;&s;ing, <HI>Lord I love thee,</HI> but im|purely, and do thou purge the impurity of my love, and love that calleth in for this &s;uccour, groweth &s;trong enough by this di&s;plicence of his weakne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>This indulgent di&s;pen&s;ion with our defective love, floweth from that gratious relation of friends to the Son of God: which dignity &s;eemeth &s;o firmly in&s;tated in our nature, as the conferrer of it did not degrade, even <HI>Judas,</HI> after the forfei|ture <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matt. 26. 50.</NOTE> thereof, he was received with the title of <HI>friend,</HI> when he came to renounce all his rights to that conce&s;&s;ion, it &s;eemeth he was yet in a capacity of being re&s;tored, if he would but have pleaded by love and &s;orrow for his re&s;tauration, he might have &s;old God, and yet have injoyed him, if he would but have loved him after he had &s;old him; had he in&s;tead of ca&s;ting the price of his di&s;paire, into the materiall temple, brought but back his faith and his love to the living temple, ca&s;ting him&s;elfe forward at his feet, as a counterfall to reco|ver his falling backward when he fell from them, had he then with penitent ki&s;&s;es repai'd unto <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> feet, be&s;ought the ta|king off that perfidious impudence which &s;tuck upon his lips, we may well believe <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> would have received him in this returne, with <HI>Friend thou art welcome,</HI> comming with the&s;e
<PB N="193" REF="120">
ki&s;&s;es to &s;igne the Sonne of man's being the Sonne of God, and it is very probable he would then have equalized the good theef.</P>
<P>O what cannot love obtaine of him who loved us &s;o much, as he &s;eemed not to love him&s;elfe in the expre&s;|&s;ion of it? Let us then copy this love, as well as our di&s;pro|portions allow us, and a&s;pire to &s;uch a dilection of him, as may &s;eeme a de&s;ertion, and even an exinanition of our &s;elves, which were as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;aith, the degrees of his love to us; <NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 2. 7.</NOTE> and in this our imitation of his love, we have a &s;trange ad|vantage of him; for he was faine to take upon him the forme of a &s;ervant, to expre&s;&s;e his exce&s;&s;ive charity, and we put on a divine &s;imilitude in this our exhibition of pure di&s;intere&s;ted love to him; for we manife&s;t our partaking of the divine na|ture in this denudation of our own, when our love is refined and purged from mercenary re&s;pects.</P>
<P>And when we penetrate into the divine nature, we perceive that we are &s;o farre from lo&s;ing any thing by this &s;elf-po&s;t-po|&s;ure, as we lo&s;e even no time in point of our remuneration: For there is no interim between our loves looking on God for him&s;elfe, and the &s;eeing our intere&s;ts in God, &s;ince in the &s;ame in&s;tant, our loves look directly upward upon this mirour of the Deity, it reflecteth to us our own ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e, and the le&s;&s;e we looked for our &s;elves, the more we then &s;ee of them, re|&s;plendent in that clarity.</P>
<P>This Cele&s;tiall mirrour, maketh a reflection much differing from all materiall ones, for it doth not &s;end back to us the &s;ame image we &s;et before it, but a farre better then we had any capacity to expo&s;e unto it: for when our love looketh up|on God, refer'd &s;imply to his own e&s;&s;entiall purity: This &s;ort of mirrour returneth to us not &s;o much the image of our loves to God, as the repre&s;entation of Gods love to us, by rea&s;on we &s;ee then God loving us, in this our intuition of his good|ne&s;&s;e: which reflection &s;heweth us a better character of this manner of our love, then we could have prefigured to our &s;elves; and when we behold our &s;elves in that image of Gods
<PB N="194" REF="121">
loving us, we cannot overvalue our &s;elves under that notion, &s;o that this is a ble&s;&s;ed and a &s;afe cour&s;e, joyntly to plea&s;e God, and humour our own nature in a &s;elfe-complacency.</P>
<P>Thus have I endeavoured to figure the&s;e two loves, and I have &s;et them both in the tabernacle, but in unequall ranks of dignity, the one without, among the utent&s;ils of bra&s;&s;e, the other within the vail, among the in&s;truments of gold: &s;o as the mo&s;t ignoble of the&s;e two &s;pecies, is allowed in the &s;er|vice of religion in &s;ome degree, but is not accepted &s;ingle, as &s;ufficient for our religious oblation: For God tollerateth no longer the infirmity of that love, whereof we our &s;elves di&s;|pence with the in&s;ufficiency, &s;o that the relying upon <HI>mercena|ry love,</HI> may decry it, while our di&s;claiming the meanne&s;&s;e of it, may hold it up current with him, to whom King <HI>David</HI> pay|ing the pure&s;t &s;pecies, &s;aid, <HI>Thou art my God, and &s;tande&s;t i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> no need of my goods.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al.</NOTE></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. V.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Advi&s;es in order to the pre&s;erving this &s;ort of Love and fraternall dilection, repre&s;ented as a gracious rule whereby to judge of our recti|tude in filiall love.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>THe&s;e two loves being thus &s;et by one another, (where|of I have not only drawn the &s;everal complexions, but delivered the diver&s;e con&s;titutions,) there is little doubt which of them will be preferred, but much, which will be rightly pur&s;ued, for our degenerated nature is apt to be|lieve that the verball preferring of <HI>Filiall love,</HI> is the having it: and certainly, many who have been neare it, have mi&s;&s;ed of it, by concluding they had attained it; and many have lo&s;t it, by conceiving it might be kept, and left loo&s;e without much at|tendance, whereas they &s;hould remember that it is not the Spring of our fallen nature, that of it &s;elfe ri&s;eth to that point from whence it fell; it is the force of grace which can only
<PB N="195" REF="121">
rai&s;e and re-mount it to this elevation; and our &s;pirits mu&s;t continually attend this operation of Grace, to force up this pure affection again&s;t the ri&s;ings of our &s;en&s;itive appetites, which make &s;teepe oppo&s;itions to this reflux; in&s;omuch as if this worke be not a&s;&s;iduou&s;ly intended, our affections quickly &s;inke into the channell of our earthy nature, which is intere&s;ted and mercenary love.</P>
<P>They who pretend to keepe their hearts exalted, as the Pro|phet &s;aith, above the altitudes of the earth, in this purer ele|ment of <HI>filiall love,</HI> mu&s;t watch it continually, when they hope they have it, and &s;till pray for it as if they feared they had it not: and there is no &s;o ill &s;ign of our having any of it, as our pre&s;uming we have enough of it; as Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> &s;aith of the knowledge of God, that he who hath &s;peculated his nature never &s;o long, when he commeth to think he hath found a compleat definition of God, may be then &s;aid to under&s;tand the lea&s;t of him: So may I &s;ay of <HI>Filiall love,</HI> they who have been never &s;o long filling their heatrs with it, when they pre|&s;ume they are full enough, are then the mo&s;t devoyded of it: It is in our love, (referring to the immen&s;ity of God) as in numbers relating to infinity, wherein any &s;umme never &s;o great, when it is once ca&s;t up and &s;tai'd in any total, may be &s;aid to be further from infinity then a much le&s;&s;er number, which is &s;till running on without any determined period: So any degree of love to our Creator, being once voluntarily bounded and circum&s;cribed, is farther off from our intermi|nate duty of loving, then an affection never &s;o much behind, that is &s;till advancing without a purpo&s;e of terme or limi|tation.</P>
<P>This then may be an infallible note of the deficiency of our love, when in any &s;traine of interior fervor, we conclude we may &s;tay our loves at &s;uch a pitch, and make plaines upon it, never aiming at a higher flight, and this may be a &s;ecure re&s;t for &s;uch hearts, as are yet never &s;o infirme in their loves, that as long as they pur&s;ue &s;incerely the premotion and advance of them, loving all they can, and re&s;olving never to love le&s;&s;e
<PB N="196" REF="122">
then all, they can improve their loves by any &s;olicitude, they may believe they love enough, for nothing reacheth nearer Gods actuall infinity, then this (as I may &s;ay) optative infi|nity in the &s;oul of man, which though &s;he can never reach the other infinite exi&s;tence, yet hath a po&s;&s;ibility of never &s;taying or limitting her motions towards it: This con&s;ideration drew from Saint <HI>Bernard</HI> this elegant indearement of the capacity of love, in the&s;e words to God, <HI>O otherwi&s;e incomprehen&s;ible Maje&s;ty to a &s;oul loving thee! thou &s;eeme&s;t comprehen&s;ible, for though the conception of no &s;oul or Spirit can comprehend thee, yet the love of a true lover of thee, comprehendeth all thou art, when he loveth all thy being, how great &s;oever it be.</HI></P>
<P>What greater incentive can we wi&s;h for the purifying our love, then to conceive that capacity to be granted to our love on earth, which is denyed to our under&s;tanding even in hea|ven, to wit, the full comprehen&s;ion of God? but there is no love unle&s;&s;e perfect filiall, that can beare this &s;o large a&s;cripti|on: For our mercenary affection may be &s;aid to look upon divinity but as an object angular, onely as it pointeth unto our &s;elves, and doth not &s;pread out &s;ouls upon the &s;pherical and circular form of the divine goodne&s;&s;e, as it is it &s;elfe, im|bracing all forms and beings, which latitude and expan&s;ion&punc; is peculiar unto <HI>Filiall love,</HI> as an operation of that all-compri|&s;ing charity, diffu&s;ed in our hearts by the <HI>holy-Gho&s;t:</HI> For all <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 5.</NOTE> our love to God is in&s;pired by him&s;elf, as the light inlightning, maketh the light that is illuminated.</P>
<P>God hath provided &s;o kindly again&s;t our mi&s;taking of our way to this excellent love, as he hath &s;et us a &s;en&s;ible mark to guide us by, which is fraternall love, which we have as a kind of vi&s;ible object, whereby to direct our cour&s;e; &s;o that if our love lo&s;e &s;ight of this mark, we may be &s;ure it is out of the way to filiall affection, for the beloved <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> (in pur&s;uit of his <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Ep. Iohn, 4. 10.</NOTE> Ma&s;ters &s;pecifical difference given to know his di&s;ciples from others, which was the loving of one another) giveth him the lie, that is &s;o bold as to &s;ay he loveth God, when he hateth his brother: And &s;ure it is a &s;peciall mercy, the. laying for us
<PB N="197" REF="122">
the&s;e &s;en&s;ible &s;teps of &s;ociable dilection, whereon we may feel our hearts ri&s;ing up to that imperceptible object of the Deity, that <HI>by loving what we do &s;ie,</HI> we may direct the <HI>cour&s;e of our love to what we do not &s;ee,</HI> if we wanted this land-mark, (where|of the Phari&s;ees took down the upper halfe, when they &s;hor|tened the precept of loving our neighbour, to the length onely of reciprocall friend&s;hip) our love would be much more expo|&s;ed to deviation, in the cour&s;e to heaven; For we know it is much ea&s;ier to keep our way at land, where we have diver&s;e &s;en&s;ible marks for our guidance, and information of our ad|vance, then at &s;ea, where we keep our cour&s;e by accounts of art, and little vi&s;ible directions; and our love to our brothers, &s;eemeth to be a pa&s;&s;age of our minds by land, &s;ince in that mo|tion, in our own element, we have many marks and &s;ignes of the rectitude of our love; whereas the elevation of our loves to the invi&s;ible being of God, &s;eemeth to be a cour&s;e at &s;ea, wherein we are conducted onely by &s;pirituall and ab&s;tracted notions.</P>
<P>We may therefore account our &s;elves much favoured by ha|ving fraternal love as a &s;ign &amp; &s;ecure token of our loves being in a &s;traight and rectified addre&s;&s;e to God, and the bo&s;ome-<HI>di&s;|ciple</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> fixeth this, as the pole by which our love may &s;afely &s;et his cour&s;e to our Cele&s;tiall Father, affirming that <HI>He</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Ep. Iohn, 2. 10. Mat. 22. 39.</NOTE> <HI>who loveth his brother, abideth in light, and in him there is no &s;candale;</HI> this is grounded on his Ma&s;ters a&s;&s;ertion, that <HI>the &s;e|cond precept of loving our brother, was like the fir&s;t of loving God;</HI> and the&s;e two loves may (me thinks) be &s;aid to be diffe|rent: but as the Divines &s;ay, Gods attributes are di&s;tinct from his E&s;&s;ence, not really in their own nature, though they are &s;e|vered by di&s;tinct conceptions in our under&s;tandings, to wit of Gods wi&s;dome, goodnes, ju&s;tice, &amp;c: we form conceptions di|&s;tinct from his e&s;&s;ence, which are all really the &s;ame thing with it: In like manner we frame diver&s;e notions of this charity, as it is divided into the&s;e di&s;tinct exerci&s;es, which is really the &s;ame, &amp; is di&s;tingui&s;hed onely by our under&s;tanding, according to the&s;e &s;everal re&s;pects towards God and our brother; for it is
<PB N="198" REF="123">
the &s;ame in&s;pired love that &s;treameth it &s;elfe into the&s;e diver&s;e acts or operations: Let us then ble&s;&s;e God for this precept of <HI>Fraternall love</HI> given us as a vi&s;ible pillar of fire, which while we have in our eye, we may be confident of being in our way, to the term of <HI>Filiall love</HI> con&s;ummate in the &s;ight of our Fa|ther, who is as yet vi&s;ible but in his images; wherefore let us attend unto this duty, <HI>as to a light &s;hining in this our dark place,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 1. 12.</NOTE> <HI>untill the day-&s;tar of Filiall love ri&s;e in our hearts.</HI></P>
<P>Thus have I &s;et before you <HI>Chri&s;tian Charity</HI> in the forme of <HI>Jacobs ladder,</HI> on which our love mu&s;t a&s;cend to him who re&s;ts upon the top of it, and in this &s;imilitude <HI>mercenary love</HI> &s;eem|eth to an&s;wer well to the lower rounds neere&s;t the earth, on which our infirme nature is allowed to &s;et her fir&s;t &s;teps, and &s;o to ri&s;e by degrees to the uppermo&s;t marches which touch hea|ven, to the which none reacheth but filiall love, and our fra|ternall charities &s;eeme to be the &s;ide-pieces which combine and compaginate the whole frame; &s;o that the&s;e three concur|rencies do compleat the meanes of our &s;oules re-a&s;cent to her <HI>Creator:</HI> And &s;ince Chri&s;tian grace is derived from the filiall relation in the Deity, <HI>Filiall love</HI> in this &s;tate of our adoption mu&s;t needs be the pillar &amp; &s;trength of <HI>Chri&s;tianity,</HI> which like the pillars of the holie&s;t part of the <HI>Tabernacle</HI> hath <HI>the head ca&s;t of gold, and the fact of &s;ilver,</HI> that is, it containeth not onely the purity and preciou&s;nes of &s;peculative love, but the pliant|nes and commerce of practicall charity, whereby the feet in action, hold a proportionate value to the head in &s;peculation; thus by the intelligence of &s;peculative, and the indu&s;try of act|ing charity, our &s;ouls are &s;afely re-conveyed into our Fathers bo&s;ome, where the portion of every child is no le&s;&s;e then the becomming like the Lord of all, <HI>our elder brother Chri&s;t Je&s;us, who&s;e Filial love</HI> hath purcha&s;ed this co-inheritance for us, up|on this condition onely on our part, of loving our father and his, with an affection copied after his; and the liker we draw this image, the more we &s;hall re&s;emble him when we &s;hall be|come like him by once looking on him; <HI>let every one then that</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Epi. Iohn. 3. 3.</NOTE> <HI>hopeth this, &s;anctifie his love, as his is &s;anctified.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="15" TYPE="treatise">
<PB N="199" REF="123">
<HEAD>The fifeenth Treati&s;e. The Duties of a Chri&s;tian towards Enemies, Divided into five Sections.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The precept of loving Enemies, &s;weetned by miny Rea&s;ons drawn from Chri&s;ts injoyn|ing it, and his acting it.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P><HI>NEver <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">an &s;pake like this,</HI> &s;aid our <HI>Saviors</HI> enemies of <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iohn. 7.</NOTE> him, when they came armed with Malice, and Au|thority to offer him violence: This &s;ingular attribu|tion was due to all he &s;aid, but cannot, me thinks, be more appo&s;ite to any thing he uttered, then to this injunction of, <HI>Love your enemies, as good to them that hate you;</HI> The <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 5. 44.</NOTE> &s;trangene&s;s of this precept &s;eemeth to imply, That the Au|thor of Nature onely could be the propo&s;er of it, becau&s;e the complyment with it &s;eemeth to require a rever&s;al of the in&s;tincts of Nature, and looks like a greater undertaking, then the re-edifying the Temple in three days; this &s;eem|ing as many miracles propo&s;ed, as there are Humane tempers in the world to be wrought upon: For the an&s;wering of Hatred and Injury with Love and Charity, &s;eemeth more incompetent with our Nature, then the propo&s;ition which po&s;ed <HI>Nicodemus,</HI> &s;ince i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> may be &s;aid to be le&s;s &s;trange for <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iohn 3.</NOTE> Nature to revert to what &s;he hath once been, then to tran|&s;cend &s;o much her own di&s;po&s;itions, as to be rai&s;ed from a Humane to an Angelical temper: For in this &s;tate of Charity,
<PB N="266" REF="124">
the &s;pirit &s;eems no ways acting by the impul&s;es of the &s;en&s;e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">.</P>
<P>Me thinks tho&s;e Coele&s;tial Doctrines &s;hould have at|te&s;ted to his enemies, that it could be no le&s;s then the Creator of Men and Angels, that could undertake the&s;e Conver&s;ions of old men into children, and all men as it were into Angels; and he it was indeed who propo&s;ed this renovation and ex|altation of our Nature: and well might he do it, who had in his per&s;on brought God into Infancy, and Man into Divi|nity. We may <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">y then proclaim of him, with them that heard him, referring &s;pecially to this article, of <HI>Loving ene|mies,</HI> that he taught not as the <HI>Scribes, but as having power:</HI> For the Doctors of the Law dur&s;t &s;o little pre&s;s this duty up|on the people, though it were contained in their Command|ments, as in complyance with the hardne&s;s of their hearts, they ventured rather to allow a Bill of Divorce to their loves, in this ca&s;e of con&s;orting with enemies; and in this per|verted liberty, <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> found the people &s;trongly habituated.</P>
<P>In&s;omuch as we may &s;ay not improperly, That o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> <HI>High Prie&s;t</HI> found the fire of this Charity, which came <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Mac. 1. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">1.</NOTE> out of the flames of <HI>Mount Sinia,</HI> as much altered in ap|parence, as <HI>Nehe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"></HI> did the fire of the Altar, that had been hid during the Captivity, which &s;eemed turned into a thick water: And <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us,</HI> like <HI>Nehe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">as,</HI> took the &s;ame mat|ter of the former precept, and &s;pread it again upon the Altar, and extracted the fir&s;t fire out of it; for our High Prie&s;t ex|plicated and unfolded this precept of <HI>Loving our neigh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="4 letters">,</HI> the vertue whereof had long layen concealed, and &s;eemed rather turned into a thick water of bitterne&s;s again&s;t enemies, then to retain any &s;park of love for them: But <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> by his explication and dilating of this precept, hath revived the fire that lay covered in it, and replaced it on his Altars, which kindleth now one of the be&s;t &s;melling Sacrifices we offer up in the Temples of the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t,</HI> which is the <HI>loving of enemies, and doing good to tho&s;e that hate us.</HI></P>
<P>This may at fir&s;t &s;ight &s;eem &s;uch a burthen laid upon <HI>Chri&s;tians, as their fathers could not <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ear;</HI> but when we look
<PB N="267" REF="124">
upon the donative given at the &s;ame time that the impo&s;ition was laid, we may acknowledge the&s;e retributions, not to be tythes or fir&s;t-fruits of that trea&s;ure which is di&s;pen&s;ed to us for our inablements to this di&s;charge, &s;ince the grace of <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us</HI> pa&s;&s;eth all under&s;tanding much more, then this precept tran&s;cendeth natural rea&s;on; For &s;ingle morality hath by the hands of the Philo&s;ophers, affected to draw an exterior colouring of this image of Charity, in arrogating impa&s;&s;ivene&s;s unto humane wi&s;dom: We then, unto whom the Divine wi&s;dom hath imparted it &s;elf in &s;o admirable a maner, teaching and acting this office, may well avow the gift to be much greater then the charge: And truly, when they are ballanced together, this order &s;eemeth more an in|franchi&s;ing, then a fettering of our Nature, which without it &s;eemeth rather bound, then free to revenge, &s;uch is the do|minion of our irritated pa&s;&s;ions; &s;o that Chri&s;t, by this in|junction, may be &s;aid to have &s;et us at liberty, not to &s;eek our own vindications, wherein the violence of our Nature &s;eemed before to ravi&s;h us of Free-will: wherefore even in this point, wherein the <HI>Go&s;pel</HI> &s;eemeth the mo&s;t co<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">rcive and con&s;training, it may rightly be &s;aid to be <HI>The Law of Liberty;</HI> he that in our Nature <HI>led captivity captive</HI> by this &s;ort of Cha|rity, hath given the &s;ame gift unto men, as his members, <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 1.</NOTE> whereby they are inabled to triumph by the &s;ame love over all foraign and in<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">rin&s;ique enmities.</P>
<P>We then who may own a participation of the Divine Nature, cannot ju&s;tly except again&s;t this obligation, of acting more by the in&s;pirations of that Nature, then by the in&s;tincts of our own; and our Savior &s;eemeth to have affected &s;o much, the invi&s;cerating this di&s;po&s;ition in our hearts, as he claimeth the fir&s;t introduction of this precept, to recommend it to us, as a &s;pecial property of his mi&s;&s;ion, that the kindene&s;s to his per&s;on might &s;weeter the a&s;perity of the command, he &s;aith, he <HI>giveth us this as a new commandment, To love one an|other,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ioh. 13 34.</NOTE> and thus owneth the having in&s;tituted, what he did but redintegrate; it &s;eemeth he meant (by &s;etting the mo&s;t he
<PB N="268" REF="125">
could of him&s;elf to this order) to work the better upon our Nature, by that &s;ympathy which is more &s;en&s;ible between him and us, then between us and the other per&s;ons of the <HI>Trinity;</HI> and &s;urely all the prints of this duty were &s;o efaced, as the&s;e conjunctions co-exi&s;ting in <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> per&s;on, &s;eemed requi&s;ite to induce this renovation, <HI>viz. Man</HI> for a capacity of &s;uffering from enemies for our example; and <HI>God</HI> for a power of imparting an ability of imitating &s;uch returns of love, to injuries and violations.</P>
<P>But &s;uppo&s;ing the&s;e two capacities, united in the per&s;on of the precepter of this conformity, the newne&s;s of &s;uch a per|&s;on taketh off all wonder, from any innovation can be in|duced by &s;uch a Mini&s;tery; And, me thinks, we may &s;ay of this Doctrine of <HI>Loving enemies,</HI> as S. <HI>Paul</HI> did of that of <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 15. 14.</NOTE> the Re&s;urrection of the dead (though in this point <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> infirmity and pa&s;&s;ivene&s;s promoteth the Commandment, a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> in the other his prerogative and exemption evinceth the arti|cle) That <HI>if Chri&s;t had not ri&s;en from the dead, the preaching of the Go&s;pel would have been vain:</HI> So if <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> had not forgiven his enemies his death, and returned them love and benefits for all their provocations, the preaching of this article would have been of little efficacy; for we know <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> found it wholly antiquated in the Law, and how little is it actuated in the time of the <HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> with the help even of <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> prece|dent? though he dyed for his enemies, and requires of us but the living with ours as if they were our friends; this is but a favorable exaction, were the retribution claimed but by an equal: when God him&s;elf is then the &s;ufferer, as well as the impo&s;er, how can we be affected more with Humans enmity, then with this Divine friend&s;hip; and leave follow|ing of Gods patern of charity, to copy out Mans draught of malignity, in his offending both God and his Brother?</P>
<P>Mu&s;t not this preference of the example even of them we hate, before that of God, appear a &s;trange ingratitude, when we calmly reflect upon it, &s;ince God hath been &s;o &s;olicitous, both for the cure and comfort of our infirm Nature, as he
<PB N="269" REF="125">
him&s;elf, in the per&s;on of <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us,</HI> cho&s;e to want all tho&s;e things, the cupidities whereof do u&s;e to deprave and vitiate our affections, that by his contemning them, they might be depri&s;ed and vilified to our appetites; nor hath he &s;taid at this privation, but pa&s;&s;ed on, even to an a&s;&s;umption and tole|ration of all tho&s;e things, whereof the terror and apprehen&s;i|on u&s;eth to divert us from the preference of his verities, that by his &s;ociety we might be reconciled to the&s;e aver&s;ions, and animated in the pur&s;uance of his preferences.</P>
<P>Would we but con&s;ider then the remi&s;&s;ion of Offences to one another, as a debt we owe our <HI>Savior Chri&s;t,</HI> we might repute it a ble&s;&s;ing to have &s;ome of that &s;pecies of Charity to repay unto him, wherein he hath given us no le&s;s a trea|&s;ure then our own Salvation; and without the help of ene|mies we could have none of this precious &s;pecies of love, which <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> &s;o highly valueth, in&s;omuch as our friends and favorers may be &s;aid not to be &s;o u&s;eful to us, as our afflicters and maligners, when we make the be&s;t of them; for they indebt us more and more to God, and the&s;e help towards our di&s;charge and acquittance, by a means of paying, in &s;ome part, of the mo&s;t difficult conformity we owe in <HI>Chri&s;ti|an</HI> Religion: And we may ob&s;erve, That <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> hath intailed <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">h. 5.</NOTE> mo&s;t of his Beatitudes upon &s;uch e&s;tates as come to us by enemies, not by friends, as all &s;orts of &s;ufferances; and that friends commonly do le&s;s for us then we require, whereas enemies in this re&s;pect do more for us then we can wi&s;h, &s;ince out of their iniquity we may rai&s;e <HI>friends, that &s;hall receive us into the eternal Tabernacles.</HI></P>
<P>This bitter fruit, planted in the middle of Chri&s;tianity, and commanded to be ta&s;ted of, is as it were the counter|poy&s;on of that which was at fir&s;t forbidden; the breach of which order induced the nece&s;&s;ity of this, and this whole|&s;ome plant, as it is de&s;igned to cure the venome of the other, &s;o hath it contrary properties, as the fir&s;t was fair to the eye, and plea&s;ant to the ta&s;te, but mortal in the operation; &s;o this is unplea&s;ant to the fight, and unfavory to the palate,
<PB N="270" REF="126">
but medicinal in the effect; this allayeth the heat of our feaveri&s;h pa&s;&s;ions, expectorateth all &s;uch ob&s;tructions as might impo&s;tume in our brea&s;ts, and draweth away the viru|lency of all tho&s;e poy&s;oned arrows that wound our fle&s;h; in&s;omuch as that promi&s;e &s;eemeth truly annexed to this, which was deceitfully given with the forbidden fruit; for this doth really open our eyes, and &s;hew us the true di&s;tin|ction between good and evil, whereof we are commonly ignorant, till the dilection of enemies giveth us this light, to di&s;cern injuries and offences to be no evils to us, without our helping them to that mi&s;chief, &s;ince the evil of pain can ne|ver change the &s;pecies into that of guilt, but by our own voluntary tran&s;lation.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The aver&s;ene&s;s to this Duty ari&s;eth from our corrupted Nature, promoted by divers &s;ubtile Temptations of our great Enemy.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>SInce our fir&s;t Parents Rea&s;on was vitiated by this Tem|ptation, of di&s;cerning good and evil, there is de&s;cend|ed on us a curio&s;ity of having them in this life &s;till of our own making, and &s;o out of our fellow creatures we make this compo&s;ition of good and evil, by the rule of our private appetites: Thus cometh in that &s;uppo&s;ed variety of the&s;e two qualities (the objects of all our pa&s;&s;ions) which God hath no hand in; for we attribute commonly the&s;e properties to things, as they re&s;pect our &s;en&s;itive appetite, by which means, as many fal&s;e goods as our fancies compo&s;e, &s;o many true ills we frame by the &s;ame work; for the wa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> of &s;uch apprehended goods, is always accounted a real evil, and the fruition of them is likely in effect, what the priva|tion is but &s;uppo&s;ed. Thus God &s;uffereth things which
<PB N="271" REF="126">
have no true goodne&s;s, to work upon our imagination, under real apparances, and &s;o to anxiate us as effectually, as if they were &s;incerely what they are fancied by us; this is verified by the common experiment of our being &s;o truly afflicted and perplexed, either by the defeature, or in the pur&s;uit of vain de&s;ires; and this va&s;&s;allation is a penalty &s;et by the true Judge of all things, upon our attempt to de&s;ign, of our own heads, the forms of good and evil, whereof the right ap|prehen&s;ion con&s;i&s;teth in judging of all things, as they re|&s;pect the &s;upreme and ultimate good of our being; by re|ference whereunto we &s;hall di&s;cern nothing to be an evil, that doth not deflect from the rectitude of that line which is drawn to the Centre of goodne&s;s, by the hand of him who is him&s;elf this Centre, <HI>Truth it &s;elf, and the way to it,</HI> as he <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iohn 14. 6.</NOTE> termeth him&s;elf; and our path is lined out to us by his hand, which hath drawn for us a trace of &s;elf-denial.</P>
<P>So that in our peregrination through this world, we are not to go as if we were taking the air, where the faire&s;t and plea&s;ante&s;t way leadeth always to our end, but as Travellers and Pilgrims we mu&s;t keep on the &s;traight narrow way, which <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> hath marked us, though it &s;eem never &s;o a&s;pe|rous and unplea&s;ant, re&s;olving with the <HI>Royal. Prophet, for the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 16. 4.</NOTE> <HI>words of his lips to keep hard ways:</HI> Nay, in this our pa&s;&s;age, our enemies &s;eem to be our &s;ure&s;t guides, &s;ince we may take a certain mark from them of our being in the way, which is our loving them; and from our friends we can take no &s;uch a&s;&s;urance, for our kindene&s;s and love to them doth very of|ten mi&s;-lead us into the by-ways of our inclinations; &s;o while we love but tho&s;e that love us, we know our leader telleth us, we may be &s;till in the ways of the <HI>Gentiles;</HI> but when we love tho&s;e that per&s;ecute us, and do good to tho&s;e who hare us, this is an unque&s;tionable mark of <HI>The &s;traight and narrow way,</HI> treading in <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> very prints and ve&s;tages, in confor|mity to this rule of his dear <HI>Di&s;ciple,</HI> in this point of Charity, <HI>He that &s;aith he abideth in him, ought him&s;elf al&s;o to walk as</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Iohn 2. 6.</NOTE> <HI>he hath walked.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="272" REF="127">
The great enemy of our Nature, who findeth the ob|&s;ervance of this new difficult command, a proper expedient to repair the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of the fir&s;t &s;o ea&s;ie precept, inter|po&s;eth all his &s;ubtilty to divert this obedience, and he findeth this atempt nothing &s;o hard a work as his fir&s;t circumvention: for in this point he hath our Nature already gained to help him, whereas in his fir&s;t enterpri&s;e it was fortifi'd again&s;t him; in this ca&s;e he maketh u&s;e of our eyes, being unhappily open, and pre&s;enteth us injuries, per&s;ecutions and hatred, as &s;o hor|rid objects, that in their company he covereth even his own deformity, and appeareth lovelyer then they, to our imagi|nation, in that light he &s;etteth him&s;elf by them; &s;o as his own fouler enmity in the &s;ugge&s;tion of malice and revenge is not di&s;cerned: and he is much bolder in this coun&s;el, then he was in his fir&s;t per&s;wa&s;ion, for then he was fain to flatter us with the hope of having our eyes opened, and becoming like Gods, to be able to deceive us; but now he pre&s;umeth to carry our wills by another kinde of in&s;inuation, which is that of fear to become like inanimate creatures, having the eye of &s;en&s;e &s;hut up and blinded by the conformity to this precept, the &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion whereunto is repre&s;ented by him as an examination and de&s;truction of our &s;en&s;e: And our Na|ture (which &s;tandeth too well affected to all propo&s;itions that &s;eem to defend the rights of Sen&s;e) is ready to take this ene|mies part in this determent and initation again&s;t all our other enemies, whereby the Serpent is commonly &s;ucce&s;sful, in the di&s;crediting this counterpoy&s;on of mortification, pre&s;cribed for the killing of his fir&s;t venome of di&s;obedience.</P>
<P>If we but reflect upon our fir&s;t con&s;titution and integrity, we &s;hall ea&s;ily confe&s;s this to be but ju&s;t, that our Nature, which had but one commandment for her re&s;traint, and broke that through a curio&s;ity of enlarging her lights and capacities, &s;hould now be enjoyned to expiate part of this fault, by this clo&s;ing of her eyes, and contradiction of her own &s;en&s;e, in &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion to this commandment, &s;o repug|nant to our vitiated Rea&s;on; &s;o that were this impo&s;ed
<PB N="273" REF="127">
&s;imply as a puni&s;hment upon our criminal Nature, it could &s;eem but equal, that &s;he who had introduced enemies and in|juries into this world, &s;hould be obliged not onely to for|give, but to love and benefit them; yet God is &s;o indulgent, as in &s;tead of exacting this duty, as a fine &s;et upon our fir&s;t forfeit, he &s;eemeth to treat with us for the &s;ale of our Re|venges, as if they were Proprieties he would purcha&s;e from us, and offereth us no le&s;s then his eternal Love for our tem|porary dilection of enemies: Neverthele&s;s, how few are there that will part with this illegitimate title to Revenge, even up|on the&s;e terms. Our pa&s;&s;ions truly con&s;idered, are &s;tated only upon Rever&s;ions, by rea&s;on they lay out always our pre&s;ent peace upon &s;ome &s;ucceeding expectation, yet they had ra|ther tru&s;t their own powers, which can give them no &s;e|curity of their wi&s;hes, then re&s;ign their intere&s;ts to God for &s;uch an exchange, as his promi&s;e of an eternal Triumph over all enemies; and &s;o likely, in &s;tead of accepting this proffer of God (which he is &s;o gracious as to make even his own propriety, which is all Revenge; our chief &s;tu|dy &s;eeketh how to evade the obligation of this precept, and how we may draw our particular aver&s;ions and animo|&s;ities our of the compa&s;s of this order) whereby we often make the party declared again&s;t it <HI>(viz.</HI> Our private vicious Rea&s;on) judge of the &s;ence of this Commandment of, <HI>Love your enemies, and do good to them that hate you.</HI></P>
<P>The mo&s;t part of the world take the &s;ame cour&s;e to &s;olve the difficulty they apprehend, as <HI>Alexander</HI> did with the <HI>Gordian knot,</HI> they will not take the pains to bow this pre|cept, but break it out-right by a neglect and incon&s;ideration of it: Others that would &s;eem more reverent, are ingenious to elude it by way of explication; by this means many bow it, &s;o as to make it &s;eem &s;tanding bent to their peculiar di&s;po|&s;ition; and &s;uch humors u&s;e the&s;e words, <HI>Love your enemies,</HI> as &s;ome do, <HI>This is my body;</HI> they &s;trip them of all their li|teral &s;ence, becau&s;e they &s;eem &s;o cro&s;s and oppo&s;ite to their Rea&s;on in a literal admi&s;&s;ion, they will not receive them in other then a figurative meaning, rejecting the reality &s;igni|fied
<PB N="274" REF="128">
by tho&s;e words: Thus do tho&s;e that would elude this precept of <HI>Love your enemies,</HI> becau&s;e they finde this Com|mand &s;o aver&s;e to Humane &s;en&s;e in the literal acception, they would have it under&s;tood but as a kinde of figurative ex|pre&s;&s;ion, to evade the reality of this duty, and &s;o pretend to be obliged onely to &s;ome exterior &s;hew and &s;uperficies of civility and fair behavior to enemies (which is indeed but the figure or repre&s;entation of Love) while they decline the real pre&s;ence of Fraternal Charity; the reality whereof hath no le&s;s &s;ub&s;tantial a patern, then that of <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us</HI>'s love unto us, given in this form, <HI>A new commandment I give</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 13. 34.</NOTE> <HI>to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you.</HI></P>
<P>It is not therefore &s;o much the ob&s;cure, as the hard &s;aying that averteth the conformity of our <HI>Capharnaites</HI> in this Ar|ticle; and alas, how many are there who are not &s;canda|lized at this hard &s;aying, which &s;eemeth &s;o to their Rea&s;on, in the point of Faith concerning <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> Natural body, who do notwith&s;tanding go back upon this Article of love to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> My&s;tical? It is therefore requi&s;ite to plain and &s;moothe &s;omewhat the rough &s;urface of this Command; for which effect there needeth onely an unfolding and deplication of the in&s;ide of this order, to &s;hew, it is not &s;o a&s;perous and thorny as our Nature apprehendeth it by the fir&s;t glances that light upon it.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. III.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The relation wherein all Enemies are to be loved, and what offices are indi&s;pen&s;ably due to them, the omi&s;sions whereof can be redeemed by no other &s;ort of Pieties.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>IF ever there were a ju&s;t occa&s;ion of hatred given, it was that man had when he fir&s;t perceived the injury he had received from woman &s;eeing his own and her nakedne&s;s
<PB N="275" REF="128">
become as it were a minoir that reflected to him the figure of Death in his own face: How came it then to pa&s;s, that this pa&s;&s;ion of Revenge (which is likely the &s;tronge&s;t at the fir&s;t &s;training, all pa&s;&s;ions being now &s;o newly broken loo&s;e in the minde of <HI>Adam)</HI> did not declare &s;ome violent re&s;ent|ment of this provocation, and fall into an aver&s;ion again&s;t his Temptre&s;s? Sure it was, that he (who had &s;till &s;o clear a light of his own Nature left &s;hining in him) di&s;cerned the Image of God remaining &s;till upon her; which object he &s;aw de&s;erved love and affection.</P>
<P>This character, as it was not efaced by this occa&s;ion (which was the &s;eed of all injuries that have &s;prung up ever &s;ince) &s;o it remaineth &s;till indelible in all Humane enemies: And as no iniquity can expunge that Image, &s;o is there al|ways left that object for our love in Humane Nature, even when it is the wor&s;t disfigured to us by any demerit of in|dividuals to our particular: Unto this character is that love referred, which is by command a&s;&s;igned to our private ene|mies, whom we are not ordained to love under the notion of haters of us, nor to ble&s;s in relation to their cur&s;ing us, for this were to propo&s;e that for the object of our love, to which God cannot be reconciled, as Evil and Viciou&s;ne&s;s; not could out Ma&s;ter and Law-giver love any, becau&s;e they hated him: we may rather &s;ay, That becau&s;e he did not love to be hated, he came even from Heaven to make friends of his enemies, that were capable of this Conver&s;ion, and &s;hewed no love even unto Angels, in re&s;pect of the inflex|iblene&s;s of their Nature, after their declared enmity; but we can have no irreconcileable enemies, &s;ince Humane Na|ture is not invariable after judgement, like Angelical.</P>
<P>Therefore all our Charity commanded for enemies, is in order to the working on them, by differing impre&s;&s;ions, being de&s;igned to rectifie their enormity, not to confirm their crookedne&s;s; for we are not obliged to any offices towards enemies, that are likely to continue and foment their pravity or malevolence. After our &s;incere and cordial forgivene&s;s, all the a&s;&s;i&s;tance we are bound con&s;tantly to render them,
<PB N="276" REF="129">
is Spiritual, in fervent and devout interce&s;&s;ions to God for their recipi&s;cence and re&s;titution to his Grace. Temporal be|nefits are preci&s;ely due to them onely in ca&s;es of their ex|treme nece&s;&s;ities, and in &s;uch proportions as ri&s;e not to the enabling them for tho&s;e ill effects we may ju&s;tly apprehend from their ability, what falls within our ordained duty, is, The not excluding them in any publike di&s;tribution of our benificences, in relation to our private di&s;cords, and the keeping our mindes di&s;po&s;ed to &s;uccour and accommodate their particular di&s;tre&s;&s;es, in ca&s;e of their occurring and pre|&s;enting them&s;elves to our charity.</P>
<P>This is the term our Charity is po&s;itively commanded to reach unto, what it exceedeth this point is a free-will-offer|ing, which pa&s;&s;eth forward from the precept towards the perfection of Piety; &s;o that the po&s;itive exaction in this du|ty, can &s;eem &s;evere onely to &s;uch as are pinched with any of the &s;traight orders of Chri&s;tian Religion; for all the ex|terior offices of obligation, re&s;pect onely the nece&s;&s;ities of enemies, which our Nature hath no aver&s;ion to look upon, and it mu&s;t be a very perver&s;e temper that mu&s;t not be moved to Charity by the &s;tate of &s;uperiority over an enemy; be|&s;ides, all our Supplies and Mini&s;teries, both Spiritual and Temporal, are directed by God towards the conver&s;ion of our enemies into friends; and in that re&s;pect we &s;eem alow|ed a pro&s;pect of &s;ome pre&s;ent intere&s;t in all our offices, for the coals we are to intend the heaping on the heads of our adver&s;aries by our benevolences, are &s;uch as are kindled in our own hearts, of Fraternal Charity; they are not to be propo&s;ed as fuel to Gods fiery indignation again&s;t them, as is familiarly mi&s;conceived by many <HI>&s;emi-Chri&s;tians.</HI></P>
<P>When we ponder then (even but rationally) this duty, we &s;hall finde it lighten in our hands the more we weigh it; for what is commonly &s;aid of Death, &s;orteth well with this precept, <HI>viz.</HI> That is looketh horridly at the fir&s;t a&s;pect, but the longer it is looked upon, the le&s;s formidable it groweth, and by degrees it becometh familiar and unoffen&s;ive to our minde. In like maner the terror of this precept con&s;i&s;teth
<PB N="277" REF="129">
in the fir&s;t aboard of it to our vicious Nature: the di&s;cour|&s;ing and acquaintance with it openeth to us the under&s;tand|ing of it, by which we are ea&s;ily reconciled to our fir&s;t pre|judice of the &s;evere countenance of this commandment; and when we behold it in the form reflected from the light of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> all <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> &s;ee them&s;elves <HI>fellow members of one body:</HI> In which re&s;pect the re&s;entment of offences may &s;eem as unnatural, as our hating a wounded part of our body, becau&s;e it paineth and di&s;tempereth the other: Doth any body project a revenge again&s;t his feet, for having &s;tum|bled and faln and hurt his face? All wrongs and injuries done to one another, are (in the con&s;titution of Chri&s;tianity) but the failings and defects of one portion of the body, whereby another is prejudiced.</P>
<P>Let them therefore who are &s;o mindeful of tho&s;e words of the <HI>Apo&s;tle, in not hating, but cheri&s;hing their own fle&s;h,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 5. 29. Eph. 4. 26.</NOTE> remember of the&s;e of the &s;ame hand, That <HI>we are all mem|bers of one another;</HI> and &s;o malice &s;eemeth to incur this in|congruity of hating part of our &s;elves, if we allow our neighbor that relation to us which S. <HI>Paul</HI> a&s;&s;igneth him: If we would rather follow this method, of <HI>giving more</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 12. 24.</NOTE> <HI>abundant honor to the infirmer members,</HI> con&s;idering all injuries proceeding from &s;ome weakne&s;s and infirmity in the offen|&s;ive portion of the body, this would be a prevention of that Schi&s;m &s;o much cen&s;ured by the <HI>Apo&s;tle;</HI> and this cour&s;e would keep the part offended from pain and vexation, whereas the other of re&s;entment doth but indeed cha&s;e and inflame the &s;ore.</P>
<P>The <HI>Stoicks</HI> with the <HI>Ninevites</HI> will ri&s;e up in judgement again&s;t the viperous generation of our Non-Conformi&s;ts to this Doctrine, when they upon the preaching of the voyce of Nature, undertook to &s;uppre&s;s and mortifie the&s;e pa&s;|&s;ions of Anger and Revenge: May not we then (who have another maner of Dictator of this precept, even the Au|thor of Nature per&s;onally acting this propo&s;ition, as well as preaching this ob&s;ervance) fitly &s;ay to the Rationali&s;ts of this Age, what our Ma&s;ter did to the refractory of his, upon
<PB N="278" REF="130">
no unlike occa&s;ion, being upon the ca&s;ting out of evil Spi|rits, if even your own children pretend to di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;s their mindes of all malignity, and to have the dominion of all pa&s;&s;ions, &s;hall not they be your Judges, and condemn &s;uch, as with the &s;uccour of Grace conjoyned to rea&s;on, do not undertake the &s;ubjection of this pa&s;&s;ion to the precept and <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 11. 19. John 7. 5.</NOTE> example of our Divine Directer?</P>
<P>The <HI>Holy Gho&s;t</HI> intended this &s;urely as a high reproach to <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> neare&s;t kindred, when he telleth us that they did not believe in him; and we are as much nearer a kin to God (as I may &s;ay) then the Heathens were, as Brothers are to one another, then Strangers: So that a <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> unconformity to this Doctrine, ri&s;eth to the highe&s;t degree of ill Nature and Malignity: They who remain wavering between the ob|&s;ervance and the excu&s;e of a punctual compliance with this order, are loo&s;e and un&s;ettled in the foundation of Chri|&s;tianity, and all their &s;uper&s;tructures of Alms and other materials of Religion, are but rai&s;ed upon that &s;andy foun|dation <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> &s;lighteth &s;o much, which the lea&s;t &s;torm re|moveth and di&s;&s;ipateth: Such then (who retain any uncha|ritablene&s;s in their hearts, while their hands are full of good Works, and their lives gilded over with the leaf gold of external Charity &s;hining in the eyes of the world) &s;eem to me to do but as if a Leper &s;hould be very curious to make him&s;elf brave again&s;t the time of the Prie&s;ts vi&s;iting his na|kedne&s;s, &s;ince to our Searcher of Hearts, all cogitations are naked and di&s;covered; and if the interior be leprous and in|fected, we know even the fine&s;t garments and coverings it hath are accounted but unclean.</P>
<P>Yet alas, how many are there who u&s;e this &s;uperve&s;ture and palliation of their Souls, covering private Malices under &s;pecious Pieties? all which are but like perfumes which one that hath an ill breath ri&s;ing from peri&s;hed lungs, em|ployeth about him, which may take away the ill &s;mell from &s;uch as conver&s;e at u&s;ual di&s;tances with him, but his bed|fellow will not be deceived by tho&s;e exterior Odours; it is the breath of the Spou&s;e which exhaleth tho&s;e <HI>Odours after
<PB N="279" REF="130">
which the bridegroom runneth&punc; and &s;melleth them when he ki&s;&s;eth</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Cant. 1&punc;</NOTE> <HI>her with the ki&s;s of his mouth:</HI> If the &s;oul have not the &s;ound|ne&s;s of interior Charity, all the gums and &s;pices of Prayers and Alms do not &s;weeten her breath to her Divine Lover: In this ca&s;e of her pretending to exterior beauty, tainted by this intrin&s;ique blemi&s;h, &s;he may be &s;aid to have the con|trary properties to the beloved Spou&s;e, for then it may be reported of her, That <HI>&s;he &s;eemeth beautiful, and yet is black;</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Cant. 1. 4.</NOTE> though the complexion of her life be fair, yet the con&s;ti|tution of her &s;ub&s;tance is foul and unhealthful: Let none then conceive their Devotion &s;ufficiently qualified, without the integrity of Charity for enemies.</P>
<P>God is &s;o gracious, as I have &s;aid before, that he offers to purcha&s;e of us all our claim to Revenge; and men by &s;pe|cious acts of Religion, con&s;orting with covered Malice, &s;eem in &s;tead of accepting this offer of God, to make him a proffer of a recompence in other actions, for his pretence of this alienation of their intere&s;ts, and conveyance of their wils over to his plea&s;ure: But alas, in this bargaining as it were with God by this offer of Pious exerci&s;es, we do but forfeit all we advance, and God applyeth them to the nece&s;&s;ities of others, and accounteth nothing to our &s;elves for the di|&s;our&s;ement; for God can accept nothing, in lieu of this conformity to <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> it might &s;eem a derogation from his exemplary remi&s;&s;ion of all injuries, if our obligation in this point were redeemable by any commutation.</P>
<P>Let none then abu&s;e them&s;elves with this hope, to make &s;uch friends of the <HI>Mammon</HI> of Iniquity, as may protect their iniquity to enemies, let them leave their other offer|ings at the Altar of their di&s;tre&s;&s;ed Brother, and go make their own unreconciled hearts an Altar, whereon they offer up to <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> crucified all their angers and animo&s;ities, which have this property of &s;melling very ill, while they are grow|ing, and of making an excellent perfume when they are burning and con&s;uming in the fire of Charity; God &s;mel|leth the&s;e divers &s;avors in them, in both the&s;e conditions: and &s;urely S. <HI>Paul</HI> leaveth us no hope, that any act can move
<PB N="280" REF="131">
God which turneth not upon the Centre of Charity to on<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> Brother, &s;ince even that compa&s;&s;ion which &s;hould break down our own hou&s;es, to build up harbors for others, and that Faith which did remove our Mountains and our Mea|dows, into the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of our nece&s;&s;itous neighbors; all the&s;e actions, I &s;ay, would be but painted &s;chrines, wanting the &s;ub&s;tance of what they figure and repre&s;ent, if Charity were not the engine that carryed all the&s;e motions; there may be many works that hold this analogy with a tinckling Cymbal, the making their &s;ound out of their hollowne&s;s, the being con&s;cient of this emptine&s;s of &s;incere Charity, may coun&s;el the rai&s;ing noi&s;e and voyce of their Piety, by the &s;ound and report of exterior Charities, to &s;uch the <HI>Angel</HI> declareth, <HI>I finde not your works full before my God.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Apoc. 3. 2.</NOTE></P>
<P>Nor can we now excu&s;eably mi&s;take in the mea&s;ures of this Charity, &s;ince <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us</HI> hath left us impre&s;&s;ed and &s;tampt upon his own life a new model of compliance with this new Commandment; how unan&s;werable then is the method of many, who in &s;tead of copying this exemplar, draw their charity to enemies by their own de&s;igns, by fitting this figure rather for their own Cabinet, then the <HI>Church</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t;</HI> this is the cour&s;e of &s;uch as form their ob&s;ervance of this pre|cept by the &s;quare of their di&s;po&s;ition and facility to for|give &s;ome particular offences, that do not much &s;ting their Nature, and allow enemies but &s;uch a &s;ort of love as &s;a|voreth of contempt, which taketh away the ta&s;te and gu&s;t of Revenge: And &s;o this maner doth indeed rather but change the dyet of our Nature, then keep her fa&s;ting in this precept from all her flattering appetites, for her vicious palate reli&s;heth no le&s;s &s;corn and undervalue of enemies, then revenge and vindication.</P>
<P>So that the figure of this Charity is lame and mi&s;-&s;hapen, and appeareth not taken, off from that mould which we have of our original, the form whereof is, <HI>Loving one another, as he hath loved us;</HI> and in his model we &s;hall not finde the lea&s;t oblique angle of contempt to enemies: and &s;ure though we cannot keep, in the forming of our Charity, an Arithmetical
<PB N="281" REF="131">
proportion to that of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> yet we mu&s;t ob&s;erve a Geome|trical one in this our conformity; which is to &s;ay, Though we are not able to attain to an equality of his Charity in point of quantity and greatne&s;s, yet our love may be in &s;ome &s;ort at lea&s;t adequated to his, in point of form and propor|tion, loving ju&s;t &s;o as he did, though not ju&s;t as much as he; therefore we are commanded <HI>to be perfect, as our heavenly</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 5. 48.</NOTE> <HI>Father is perfect,</HI> upon this occa&s;ion of our demeanor to enemies, which &s;ignifieth a conformity and &s;imilitude, not an equality or commen&s;uration to the Divine per|fection.</P>
<P>As little Lodges may be built by the &s;ame model of the greate&s;t Pallaces, &s;o we are to de&s;ign our Charity to our enemies, by the figure of <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> unto his, which excludeth all &s;ort of animo&s;ity or malevolence again&s;t adver&s;aries, and interdicteth all &s;elf-reparation, by contempt or de&s;pection of them, which voideth all the merit of &s;ufferance and for|givene&s;s; and they who neglect the making their charity like unto that of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> in the&s;e proportions I have ex|plained, will finde it &s;o ill done, when it cometh to be &s;et by that figure it ought to re&s;emble, as it will not be known for Charity, &s;o far will it be from becoming eternally like the Original Charity by looking on it, when every well copyed Charity &s;hall pa&s;s into that configuration.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="section">
<PB N="282" REF="132">
<HEAD>&sect;. IV.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The inordinatene&s;s of our love difficilitateth this Duty, di&s;simulation in this conformity reproached, and many benefits derivable from a &s;incere compliance, repre&s;ented: As al&s;o pre&s;umption upon the Theory of this Duty, di&s;&s;waded.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>THe mi&s;apprehen&s;ion of the Nature of Love &s;eemeth a great occa&s;ion of our mindes being &s;o aliened from the love of enemies; plea&s;ing objects do common|ly &s;train our affections into &s;uch exce&s;&s;es, as we of|ten know no love, but under the notion of a di&s;temper in the concupi&s;cing faculty; and while our affections are ac|cu&s;tomed to this inordinatene&s;s, we can hardly comprehend how love &s;hould be compatible with di&s;plea&s;ures and con|trarieties: So that the perver&s;ion of our amities, induceth this alienation from our enemies: Could we then hold love from &s;training into pa&s;&s;ion, we might ea&s;ily &s;tay anger from pa&s;&s;ing into &s;in, as is evidenced by the lives of all tho&s;e who have di&s;carded the plea&s;ures of this age, whom we &s;ee keep in their hands &s;o contentedly the injuries and offences thereof: We finde it verified in &s;uch e&s;tates, the growing po|tent when they are infirm, and the imitation of receiving <HI>Judas</HI> with, <HI>Friend, why art thou come?</HI> they who are pa&s;t be|ing betrayed by the worlds ki&s;&s;es, are beyond the being di&s;|ordered by the &s;pittings of his mini&s;ters: But that even tho&s;e, who are not called to this upper &s;tory of Chri&s;tiani|ty, may not mi&s;take the nature of this love a&s;&s;igned to ene|mies by the image of that love they figure due to friends, they may be &s;atisfied, That we are not enjoyned the &s;ame
<PB N="283" REF="132">
&s;tate and compo&s;ure of minde to the adver&s;aries and offen|dors, as to the friends and allies of our Nature.</P>
<P>There is a certain invi&s;cerate tenderne&s;s of affection, growing in our hearts for children and kindred, which is a kinde of &s;pring of natural love, ri&s;ing in our mindes, and running from thence in our blood, through our &s;en&s;es, and carrying with it a &s;en&s;ible joy and delectation in &s;uch affe|ctions: This &s;ort of love is not ordained to be communi|cated to enemies; and there is an intimacy and union be|tween friends, re&s;ulting from an intercour&s;e of mutual &s;ym|pathy, which rai&s;eth a plea&s;ant alteration in the &s;en&s;itive appetite, referring to &s;uch corre&s;pondencies: The&s;e &s;orts of con&s;onancies and kindene&s;s, are not a&s;&s;igned by God to the per&s;ons of our enemies and maligners; this con&s;traint is not put upon our Nature: To finde a refre&s;hing air in the furnace of <HI>Babylon,</HI> is a tran&s;cendent grace, and rarely con|ferred <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 1.</NOTE> but upon &s;uch as have been polluted with the meats of the Kings Table: Tho&s;e who from their youth have di&s;|reli&s;hed the vain plea&s;ures and honors of the world, may be gratified with this &s;pecial benediction, of being tenderly affected to the per&s;ons of enemies, and the being &s;olicitous to &s;erve them, in conformity to the perfection of our patern, our Savior <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>But our preci&s;e obligation reacheth no farther, then a &s;in|cere and cordial remi&s;&s;ion and forgivene&s;s of all our offen|dors; never &s;eeking the lea&s;t indirect retaliation upon the per|&s;ons, fame or fortunes of our enemies. Upon the defici|ency in the&s;e points, is our Saviors judgement denounced in <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 18. 32.</NOTE> the Parable, of our being delivered over to the Tormentors, in ca&s;e every one forgive not his brother from his heart; and in point of benefiting of enemies, the di&s;po&s;ition is onely exacted, in order to their extreme nece&s;&s;ities; &s;o that a tem|perate con&s;ideration of the terms of this Duty, will ea&s;ily re&s;olve with the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> of love, <HI>That even this command</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 John 5.</NOTE> <HI>ment is not heavy.</HI></P>
<P>We mu&s;t remember then, that this order doth not allow
<PB N="284" REF="133">
the common &s;hift of the world, which is, The raking up our pa&s;&s;ion in the a&s;hes of civil prudence, where malice is &s;till kept alive, though it neither blaze nor &s;moke, to the perce|ption of others: This allowance would make this precept the ea&s;ie&s;t to be ob&s;erved, where it &s;eemeth now the mo&s;t incompetent; namely, in courts where hatred, as well as <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 22.</NOTE> many other mean things, is u&s;ually dre&s;&s;ed up in &s;o fine clothes, with &s;o much art and di&s;&s;imulation, as it looketh familiarly liker all things, then what it is.</P>
<P>This di&s;gui&s;e is the more criminal, as it &s;eemeth to make even God of the party, by putting out his colours of love and &s;incerity, when all the exterior civilities and corre&s;pon|dencies are but &s;et out as fal&s;e flags, by which the enemy may be boarded with the more &s;afety: for here the acts of enmity are commonly &s;u&s;pended, not &s;o much out of fear of Gods prohibition, as of his defeature of the &s;ucce&s;s, which is <HI>Judas</HI>'s art, this watching an opportunity that the people might not &s;poil his bargain; and &s;o the attempt of revenge is but deferred by many, till it &s;eem &s;ure to the wi&s;|dom of the fle&s;h, which <HI>we know is an enemy to God:</HI> In this &s;ort <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8.</NOTE> Gods enemy &s;hroudeth him&s;elf under his wings, while ma|lice remaineth masked with &s;ociable civility; but indeed this di&s;&s;imulation is &s;o mean and irreligious a thing, as it may be &s;aid to brave God, and to fear Man: And having brand|ed it with this infamous Character, I hope I &s;hall not need pre&s;s any farther the dete&s;tation of this counterfeit con|formity.</P>
<P>There may be &s;o great advantage made of enemies, as certainly no ill-willer would act his malice upon one from whom he expected but a return of love: For the &s;cope and aim of all violence and mi&s;chief, is the pain and re&s;entment of the patient; &s;o that did we believe our harms de&s;igned would prove &s;atisfaction in&s;tead of &s;orrow, malice would ne|ver alow the maligned party this gain upon her; Envy would never &s;et up her frames, if &s;he thought that &s;he did but weave her Rivals Nuptial garment: Chri&s;tian Charity maketh this
<PB N="285" REF="133">
conver&s;ion of the works of her enemies, &s;he cloatheth and adorneth her &s;elf by the &s;ame hands that invade her.</P>
<P>Therefore we &s;ee mo&s;t commonly, that they are &s;uch as are little skill'd in the nature of Charity, that offer injuries and &s;tudies revenges; and it mu&s;t needs be, upon their ex|pecting &s;uch a temper of grieving and vexation in their pa|tient, as they finde in them&s;elves, otherwi&s;e they could not a&s;&s;ail an enemy whom they conceived they &s;hould forti&s;ie by their attempt: But true Chri&s;tian Charity hath this ex|cellent property, unknown to &s;uch &s;trangers, and &s;o impro|veth by her invaders by this unexpected capacity; for there may be truly affirmed much more of the vertue of Charity, then was fained of the e&s;tate of <HI>Antheus,</HI> who was &s;aid to rai&s;e new &s;trength from his fall, but this was onely after his being overcome; he had been more invincible then <HI>Hercu|les,</HI> if he had doubled his forces by the gripes and compre&s;|&s;ions of his Adver&s;ary; and this is the Prerogative of <HI>Cha|rity,</HI> which therefore is in&s;uperable by all violences, becau&s;e &s;he deriveth fre&s;h vigor, even from the pre&s;&s;ures of the hands that impugn her: In order to this, I have &s;een <HI>Charity</HI> paint|ed with her hand upon a <HI>Compa&s;s,</HI> and this <HI>Motto, While I am pre&s;s'd, I am inlarged,</HI> which aptly expre&s;&s;eth her true nature, and informeth us, That if we do not finde this open|ing and dilatation of ours, upon the pre&s;&s;ures of enemies, we &s;hould re&s;ort to <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> with this &s;ute of his <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> upon this &s;ame occa&s;ion, <HI>Lord, increa&s;e our Faith:</HI> This re|que&s;t &s;incerely pur&s;ued in all our provocations, is always <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 17. 5.</NOTE> an&s;wered with this grant Saint <HI>Paul</HI> proclaimeth, of <HI>glory|ing in our probation,</HI> as it produceth hope, which is <HI>not to be confounded, becau&s;e the Charity of God is poured forth</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 5.</NOTE> <HI>in our hearts by the Holy Gho&s;t;</HI> and this infu&s;ed love can be te&s;ted at nothing more approving, then Enemies and Per&s;ecuters: for true <HI>Charity</HI> mu&s;t not onely have the clarity of Chri&s;tal, but the &s;olidity of Gold, it mu&s;t not onely be lucid and &s;hining in good Works, and firm, until &s;ome Violence &s;trike upon it, but it
<PB N="286" REF="134">
mu&s;t be like gold, by which it is &s;o often &s;ymbolized, malle|able and induring all percu&s;&s;ions, without &s;hivering or di&s;|&s;ipation.</P>
<P>This &s;ort of Charity, hammered by the hands of ene|mies, and refined in the ardors of per&s;ecution, is that fire|tryed gold, which the <HI>faithful and true Witne&s;s coun&s;elleth us</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Apoc. 3.</NOTE> <HI>to buy of him to be made rich;</HI> but this precaution is very re|qui&s;ite to be given &s;uch as intend this purcha&s;e, not to reckon on the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion thereof, until they have actually laid out &s;ome of it, &s;ince this error of the <HI>Angel</HI> of <HI>Laodicea</HI> is very familiar, to account our &s;elves <HI>rich in it, when we are poor and void of it;</HI> for the &s;peculative promi&s;es we make to our &s;elves of this trea&s;ure, are but &s;uch an account, as if one &s;hould calculate his wealth upon great Bonds and Obliga|tions which he had made to him&s;elf; our per&s;wa&s;ions of this capacity proving often &s;uch &s;elf-deceivings, when this Cha|rity is to be i&s;&s;ued out in practi&s;e: For while the will may take this vertue upon tru&s;t, and pay no ready con&s;traint and pain for it, upon the&s;e terms it freely engageth it &s;elf for fu|ture di&s;charges of this Obligation; but commonly when God &s;endeth enemies, affronts and indignities, to call in for the di&s;charge of this Charity, our will doth oftner break and run away from them, then make good and acquit our Con|tracts: It is therefore but very bad Security which we u&s;e to give our &s;elves, the pre&s;umption on this vertuous habit, before the practical demon&s;tration; for &s;ure there is no precept of Chri&s;tianity, wherein the &s;peculation and the practi&s;e are more di&s;tant from one another then in this of, Loving our enemies, and benefiting our di&s;obligers.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="section">
<PB N="287" REF="134">
<HEAD>&sect;. V.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The be&s;t preparatory di&s;po&s;ition for the acting this Duty, which maketh no oppo&s;ition to the cour&s;e of Ju&s;tice; as al&s;o powerful per&s;ons ad|moni&s;hed of their temptation in the point of Revenge, and animated by their exceeding merit in this fidelity.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>SInce it &s;eemeth &s;o un&s;afe, to pre&s;ume upon the interior habit of this conformity before an actual probation, this que&s;tion may well be made, What is the be&s;t pre|paratoty di&s;po&s;ition, in order to the compliance with this precept, in all emergencies and occurrences of Injuries? Whereunto I an&s;wer, <HI>The habit of &s;incere Humility,</HI> a vertue every one lays claim to, but mo&s;t do it upon evidence which they forge them&s;elves; &s;o as commonly, when the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion thereof cometh to be que&s;tioned before God, it indureth not the tryal; In this ca&s;e, we cannot recu&s;e our Enemies for our Jury, &s;ince they are more proper then indifferent per&s;ons for this tryal, which is to be judged upon the te&s;timonies of our humble and patient &s;ufferings; few will prote&s;t again&s;t flexi|blene&s;s, under the depre&s;&s;ion of Gods hands, but mo&s;t would fain hold the &s;crew them&s;elves, whereby they are let down, for fear of falling too violently or too low; but true Humi|lity abandoneth it &s;elf to the &s;upreme hand, under which all other move but in&s;trumentally, not excepting again&s;t any violent motions of &s;econdary hands, whereinto it is delivered to be exer<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">i&s;ed.</P>
<P>And if upon the pain we feel from our Enemies hand, we would with the eye of Humility look &s;trictly inward upon
<PB N="288" REF="135">
our &s;elves, we &s;hould for the mo&s;t part di&s;cern, that it is dre&s;|&s;ing &s;ome defect we apprehended not before, as either the cancer of Self-love, which we have all in our brea&s;ts, or &s;ome tumor ri&s;ing in Pro&s;perity, or the Ulcer of Sen&s;uality, or the vertigo and giddine&s;s of youth, or the drow&s;ine&s;s and tepidity of Ea&s;e and Accommodation; All which may be &s;aid to be like worms to Ships, that breed in us, eating and con&s;uming us under water mo&s;t, when we lie &s;till in the har|bors of temporal re&s;t and &s;ecurity; &s;o that perfect Humility, under&s;tanding the un&s;oundne&s;s of Humane Nature, appre|hendeth Enemies as Gods Surgeons, making all their opera|tions, rather Cures of &s;ome Infirmity, then woundings of any vertuous quality.</P>
<P>I may then &s;afely propo&s;e to you the &s;tudy of Humility, as the be&s;t qualification for the di&s;charge of this precept, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matt. 11.</NOTE> &s;ince he who commandeth us to <HI>take this yoke upon us,</HI> biddeth us, <HI>learn of him to carry it,</HI> becau&s;e <HI>he is meek and humble of heart;</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 3.</NOTE> therefore by the &s;ame di&s;po&s;ition we mu&s;t needs be the be&s;t enabled in his method, <HI>to fulfil all righteou&s;ne&s;s.</HI></P>
<P>Nor doth this precept, of Loving enemies, and Forgiving offences, any way &s;lack or retard the exerci&s;e of Ju&s;tice, who&s;e &s;word, though it draw blood, yet it &s;heddeth none, for it &s;triketh onely in application to Gods order, not mans pa&s;&s;ion; Princes therefore (who are but Gods &s;word-bearers by the right of their offices, when they are provoked by any per&s;onal injury, as Ingratitude, or any other infidelity not le|gally criminal) &s;hould remember, That though they have many other arms about them, yet they are warranted to &s;trike with none but the &s;word of Ju&s;tice.</P>
<P>Revenge is ju&s;tice that Nature would do her &s;elf, where|by that power which hath the command of regular Ju&s;tice, may ea&s;ily be deceived by our Nature, which (when it is checked by the Law of God in this point of &s;elf-righting) &s;eeketh to &s;lip in this appetite, under the cover of the Law of Man: Thus the animo&s;ity which powerful per&s;ons have in their hearts, ea&s;ily runs through their veins into their
<PB N="289" REF="135">
hands, which hold and deliver out the publike Ju&s;tice; into which private intere&s;ts do &s;o commodiou&s;ly in&s;inuate them|&s;elves, as it requireth a great attention of grace to di&s;cern this &s;urreption, and reject this intru&s;ion of Revenge into the train and comitancy of Ju&s;tice.</P>
<P>Me thinks Princes, not being expo&s;ed &s;o much as others to per&s;onal irritations, have it di&s;counted to them in the equal impo&s;ition of this duty on them, of <HI>Forgiving private offences,</HI> and repre&s;&s;ing the &s;ence of particular di&s;plea&s;ures; &s;ince this Bridle mu&s;t needs &s;et the mo&s;t unea&s;ily upon their heads, the Crown &s;eeming to take up &s;o much room, as there is little left for the reins of this Command: In others, the violence of their Nature is often ea&s;ily &s;taid and repul&s;ed by the &s;teepne&s;s of the ri&s;e up to Revenge, but they are put to hold it pre&s;&s;ing downhil, &s;o that unle&s;s Grace bear the reins very hard, Nature will ea&s;ily run away in this precipitate pa&s;&s;ion; but as this difficulty maketh the re&s;traint of this <HI>impetus</HI> the more painful, &s;o the ma&s;tery thereof becometh more meritorious to them, then it is to le&s;s tempted Con|formi&s;ts.</P>
<P>Certainly Princes who faithfully ob&s;erve this command, make more of their provocations then they do of mo&s;t of their bounties; for by this &s;ubjection, they lay up their power in Heaven, in &s;tead of laying it out on Earth: and at that day when all the Trea&s;ures of their Civil Liberalities &s;hall be melted and di&s;&s;olved, the&s;e their Sufferings and Self denials &s;hall remain impa&s;&s;ible, in <HI>that fire,</HI> which the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;aith, <HI>&s;hall try all our works.</HI></P>
<P>Ble&s;&s;ed then are onely tho&s;e, who while they live here in greatne&s;s and authority, build their Monuments of &s;uch ma|terials as may endure the fire of that day, when even the light affections of this life &s;hall prove hay and &s;tubble about their owners, pa&s;&s;ing through a flame, and the heavy pa&s;|&s;ions of Anger and Malice &s;hall &s;ink their bearers into &s;uch flames as are never to be pa&s;&s;ed.</P>
<P>Wherefore the be&s;t Monuments Princes can erect for
<PB N="290" REF="136">
their eternity, are arches of the&s;e &s;olid Vertues, of Humility, Patience and Charity, which are the more &s;trengthned, the more they are charged with the remi&s;&s;ion of injuries, and the dilection of enemies: The&s;e will out la&s;t all their <HI>Pyramides</HI> of &s;ecular O&s;tentation and Magnificence, the King of Hea|ven &amp; Earth hath left them the model of this arch in his life, who was then in the &s;tronge&s;t point of his Oharity, when he was bowed into this triumphant arch of Humility, bear|ing his Cro&s;s, under which as his body &s;unk, &s;o his love to his enemies grew the more erected: none then can be &s;o great, as to be exempted from this conformity, nor any &s;o mi&s;erable, as not be &s;olaced by this a&s;&s;ociation.</P>
<P>I may well then ca&s;t up all my divi&s;ions, re&s;pecting &s;e|veral conditions, and different provocations, into this total, That who&s;oever confe&s;s they have any &s;ins, whereof they expect a forgivene&s;s from God, mu&s;t re&s;olve to forgive their Brother, what offences &s;oever &s;hall require their re|mi&s;&s;ion, &s;ince this condition is expre&s;ly &s;et upon their own pardons, <HI>If you forgive not men, neither will your Father</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 6. 14.</NOTE> <HI>remit unto you your offences:</HI> And our Savior <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> at his re|move from his Di&s;ciples, left them this &s;pecifical di&s;tinction from the worlds dependants, <HI>The loving one another;</HI> &s;o as <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 14. 36.</NOTE> we may &s;ay, That our &s;uffering King and Ma&s;ter hath &s;et his <HI>Arms</HI> upon this Precept, for all his followers to wear, and to be di&s;cerned by. O let us then ca&s;t off our old <HI>Badges</HI> of Envy and animo&s;ity, which are indeed but the <HI>Cognizances</HI> of <HI>Cain,</HI> and let us put on his <HI>Livery,</HI> to whom we rightfully belong, remembring <HI>we are not our own, having been bought by a great</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 6.</NOTE> <HI>price to glorifie and bear God in our body:</HI> And when we carry <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> crucified in our thoughts along with our own Crucifi|ers, the preten&s;ions of our Nature to her re&s;entments, will be out of countenance in that company; and drawing all the grievances and aver&s;ions of our Nature, as coupled in the yoke with <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> we &s;hall ea&s;ily confe&s;s, That even the bur|then of this precept of <HI>dilection of enemies,</HI> &s;its but light upon the carriage of the <HI>Cro&s;s</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 11.</NOTE></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="16" TYPE="treatise">
<PB N="291" REF="136">
<HEAD>The &s;ixteenth Treati&s;e. Con&s;iderations upon the Un&s;ucce&s;sfulne&s;s of a good Cau&s;e; Divided into &s;ix Sections.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>That much Religion is required to a&s;si&s;t us in this probation.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>THere is no Argument wherein Natural Rea&s;on hath more need of a Supernatural prompter, to help us to frame our conclu&s;ions, then in this of the mi&s;car|riage and fru&s;tration of pious and ju&s;t de&s;igns, e&s;pecially in publike cau&s;es: For God hath left us a convenient light, whereby to read the right of Cau&s;es, and our duties to them, which is our &s;incere&s;t and mo&s;t di&s;intere&s;&s;ed Rea&s;on, judging by the known Laws of his Will: But to di&s;cern whether the Succe&s;s or Defeature of any Cau&s;e concur mo&s;t to the univer&s;al end of <HI>Gods Providence,</HI> this knowledge is &s;eated in unacce&s;&s;ible light. We may read Gods pre&s;ent Will in Events, but not his con&s;equent Order, which may require the demoli&s;hment of many particular goods, to build up the frame of the univer&s;al&punc; therefore the pre&s;ent ruine of &s;ingle pieces of Equity, doth not derogate any thing from the goodne&s;s of their Nature: Wherefore the right of Cau&s;es ought not to be &s;entenced by the irregularity of Suc|ce&s;&s;es, which are always uniform to Gods univer&s;al de|&s;ign, though, di&s;proportioned according to the model of our Rea&s;on.</P>
<P><PB N="292" REF="137">
Surely they who &s;hall &s;eek to penetrate the Divine Provi|dence by the eye of Rea&s;on, &s;o far as to make a draught of the rea&s;ons of all particular occurrences, in the variations of Events, make &s;uch an attempt, as one that &s;hould gaze upon the Sun to enjoy more light, then when he looked upon the Earth: For they who pre&s;s into this light, &s;hall quickly be oppre&s;&s;ed by the &s;ame &s;plendor they de&s;ign for illumination: And yet the infirmity of man is &s;ubject to &s;uch a kinde of Temptation <HI>(viz.)</HI> To &s;tudy even the decyphering of all Gods characters, in which his hand to the Creatures is very often &s;ent. For the &s;ucce&s;&s;es and prevalence of Inju&s;tice again&s;t Hone&s;ty and Vertue, may be aptly termed Gods ey|phers, in which his hand is &s;oon di&s;cerned, but not his &s;en&s;e: Neverthele&s;s, we do familiarly take Events for the key of all the characters of Gods Providence, and pre&s;ume to read many of his Secrets very confidently by this key of the pre|&s;ent form and figure of Events; Nay, our zeal is often &s;o in|genious in this art of decyphering, as it per&s;wades us that we may even run and read the right of Cau&s;es by this light of Succe&s;&s;es.</P>
<P>In&s;omuch as S. <HI>Pauls</HI> ca&s;e in <HI>Malta</HI> is very familiar in the world; for while the Viper is hanging upon the Cau&s;e, and we are looking when it &s;hall fall down and peri&s;h, then we make our Judgement to be Gods Sentence; and when the Viper is &s;haken into the fire, and that de&s;troyed by us, which was expected as our de&s;truction; when a cau&s;e recovers from this danger; then commonly that is cryed up for Gods Cau&s;e, which before pa&s;&s;ed for his Cur&s;e. This is a familiar conclu|&s;ion with &s;uch, who as we may &s;ay, know Gods Providence onely by fight, that is, by the external marks of Succe&s;&s;es, and have no acquaintance with the nature and condition<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> thereof.</P>
<P>Therefore as it is &s;aid of Philo&s;ophy, That a &s;light and &s;uperficial knowledge of it, may incline the minde of man to Athei&s;m; for if our minde &s;tay, and re&s;t upon &s;econd cau&s;es which are next to our &s;en&s;es, this fixure of our
<PB N="293" REF="137">
thoughts may keep our minde &s;hort of the Supreme cau&s;e; but if we make a farther advance and progre&s;&s;ion into the rea&s;on of Philo&s;ophy, it will lead the minde up to Religion, as it &s;hews the congruous dependency and &s;ubordination of all cau&s;es to Divine Providence: So in the fir&s;t rudiments of Religion, which pre&s;ent us with a &s;uperficial a&s;pect of Gods Ju&s;tice under the notion onely of rewarding and pu|ni&s;hing: This fir&s;t impre&s;&s;ion may move us to conclude of the quality of cau&s;es by Gods pre&s;ent declaration in their promotion, or their prejudice; but a judicious advance into the farther grounds of Religion, will carry us to a reverent &s;u&s;pen&s;e of our conclu&s;ions upon the pre&s;ent apparences of all Events, and apply us to the contemplation of Gods uni|ver&s;al Providence, which the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> calls <HI>Gods great aby&s;&s;e;</HI> which when it is the mo&s;t &s;tormy to our Rea&s;on, when it drowns and de&s;olates in our apprehen&s;ion the right and ju|&s;tice of Humane actions, even then it runs in the proper cour&s;e of univer&s;al Ju&s;tice and Equity. There is al&s;o a re|gularity, even in the very wave it &s;eems broken into, &s;ub|verting all Humane order, though the concertation of this method falls not within our capacity; for the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> him|&s;elf &s;ays, when the waves of this Ocean were gone over his head, <HI>Thy way is in the Sea, and thy pathes in many waters, and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 76. 20.</NOTE> <HI>thy &s;teps are not to be traced.</HI></P>
<P>A profound immer&s;ion in Religion, covers our Rea&s;on with a reference to Gods univer&s;al Providence, in tho&s;e ca&s;es which &s;eem to be void of his particular ju&s;tice, where|as a looking upon Succe&s;&s;es by the fir&s;t glances of Religion, and di&s;cour&s;ing on their Rea&s;ons by the fla&s;hy light of our private zeal to the Cau&s;e, may ea&s;ily rai&s;e impertinent con|clu&s;ions upon the pre&s;ent apparences; and &s;uch ha&s;ty judge|ments are &s;o little capable of giving re&s;t to our mindes; as they mu&s;t needs keep them in a continual va&s;&s;ellation, ac|cording to the vici&s;&s;itudes of contrary occurrences.</P>
<P>Wherefore, as meer eagerne&s;s and zeal to the ma&s;tery and prevalence of any Cau&s;e, ought not to be the motive of
<PB N="294" REF="138">
electing our party (for in that affection there is always &s;ome obliquity from the &s;traight love of Right<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">, and leaning to|wards the conveniency, not an uprightne&s;s in our addre&s;s to Ju&s;tice) &s;o the &s;ucce&s;s of our election ought as little to rai&s;e or abate the zeal to our Cau&s;e; for by this varying of our mea&s;ures, we &s;eem to &s;quare our conformity to Gods me|thod, as it an&s;wereth to the model of our Rea&s;on, by which we have framed conclu&s;ions upon our own &s;uppo&s;itions of Equity: And this expectation of the Succe&s;s of our Cau&s;e, comes nearer oftentimes to the flattering our own judge|ment, then applauding the Divine order and di&s;po&s;ition of Events.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Motives to con&s;tancy, after a prudent ele|ction of our Cau&s;e.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>GOd hath left us &s;ufficient marks, by which to di&s;cern the right of publike Cau&s;es, though our mi&s;take of them be very familiar, being &s;wayed by &s;ome private partiality, which looks more upon the beam reflected back on our &s;elves, then upon the direct beam, as it &s;hines upon the publike good: But &s;uppo&s;ing us mi&s;-led by our judge|ment, I conceive it le&s;s blameable to per&s;evere firmly in our fir&s;t application, then to be &s;haken from our party meerly by the motions of adver&s;e Events. In the fir&s;t ca&s;e man doth but mi&s;s his way in &s;eeking God, and in the la&s;t he &s;eems to fear God may mi&s;s his way in coming to man; for we know God is often &s;aid to come down to men in &s;everal acts of his Providence, and when the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> &s;ays, <HI>He bowed the Hea|vens and came down; there was a cloud, and mi&s;t under his feer<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> So that we mu&s;t not look to trace his paces, nor judge of his de&s;ign by &s;ome &s;trokes and touches of his hand, but expect the time when the whole piece of his univer&s;al Providence
<PB N="295" REF="138">
&s;hall be expo&s;ed and fini&s;hed altogether: Then we &s;hall di|&s;cern how all po&s;tures, which taken &s;everally did &s;eem de|formed, when they are &s;et together in the whole de&s;ign, do make an admirable concordance of Ju&s;tice and Mercy. We mu&s;t remember what S. <HI>Peter</HI> &s;ays, <HI>A thou&s;and years,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 3. 9.</NOTE> <HI>and one day, are the &s;ame in&s;tant object to God;</HI> &s;o as he &s;ees all the broken and &s;h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">vered pieces of our &s;everal times, intire at once in the mirror of his intellect, whereby all is evenne&s;s and uniformity in his &s;pirit and &s;ight, which is fraction and irregularity in our &s;ucce&s;&s;ive view of the broken portions of his Providence.</P>
<P>Do not they then who are confu&s;ed and di&s;tracted in their Opinions, upon the prevalence of unju&s;t actions again&s;t the hone&s;t and unque&s;tionable party, do, as if one &s;hould &s;ee a crooked and mi&s;-&s;hapen figure &s;evered from the whole de|&s;ign, whereof it is a part, and knowing it to be of a great Ma&s;ters hand, &s;hould yet wonder at it, and &s;u&s;pect the fail|ing of the Arti&s;t? when if this &s;ingle figure were &s;een in the complete de&s;ign, it would appear to be made for that mi&s;-&s;hapen po&s;ture it was to repre&s;ent, in order to the per|fection of the whole piece: For the particular pre&s;ent events in Humane actions which &s;eem crooked, and deflected from the rule of Ju&s;tice, are &s;uch portions of Gods Providence, &s;evered for a time from the whole configuration; for which rea&s;on, in this &s;ingle exi&s;tence of them, they &s;eem di&s;|proportioned: Wherefore in this ca&s;e we &s;hould look up|on parts and portions of Gods works with the eyes of the wi&s;e man, concluding, <HI>All things live, and remain for all</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ecclus. 42.</NOTE> <HI>u&s;es, and they are all obedient: all things are double one a|gain&s;t another, and he hath made nothing imperfect:</HI> So, that which taken &s;ingle may &s;eem imperfect to our &s;en&s;e, be|ing &s;et doubled, and united to that part it belongs unto, becomes uniform, and complete in the total of Gods Ju&s;tice.</P>
<P>Since then our Faith tells us, That <HI>God hath di&s;po&s;ed</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Sapi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">nt&punc; 11. 12.</NOTE> <HI>all things in weight and mea&s;ure,</HI> we mu&s;t &s;u&s;pend our judge|ment
<PB N="296" REF="139">
while the ballance is yet &s;u&s;pending, and not re&s;olve by the pre&s;ent rai&s;ing or depre&s;&s;ion of the &s;cale, unle&s;s we pretend to hold Gods hand where our eye leaves it: For we know the &s;cales of Providence are always in motion, as the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> &s;ays, <HI>Now he humbles this part, now he exalt<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 91.</NOTE> <HI>other:</HI> Whereupon this is that holy Kings &s;uperce&s;&s;ion and &s;u&s;pen&s;e of his judgement, in the&s;e tides of the Aby&s;&s;e of Gods Providence, <HI>Thy cogitations are too profound for me. David</HI> re&s;ts his own cogitations in that depth which they cannot fathom, and &s;atisfies his incapacity with rejoycing in Gods Incomprehen&s;iblene&s;s, proclaiming joyfully, <HI>Thy Ju&s;tice is as the Mountains, and thy Judgements as the va&s;t Ocean,</HI> in which they who will &s;tudy the rea&s;ons of the ebbings and flowings of happy and adver&s;e Events in all kinde of Cau&s;es, &s;hall be more confounded then the <HI>Phi|lo&s;opher</HI> was in the rea&s;on of the tides of the Sea. But one may more properly relieve him&s;elf, by doing with our Rea&s;on, as it is &s;aid he did with him&s;elf, by ca&s;ting it into the bo&s;ome of the un&s;earchable Order; concluding, Since I cannot comprehend the de&s;ign of it, it &s;hall con|tain and involve my &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion to it. And being thus &s;unk deep enough into that Divine Element, we &s;hall not feel the &s;torms and agitations which are on the upper part of the waters.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<PB N="297" REF="139">
<HEAD>&sect;. III.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The variablene&s;s of the Vulgar upon Events, and a prudent conduct propo&s;ed.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>THe <HI>Athenians</HI> were a people &s;o affected with curio&s;i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">y and novelty, as rather then they would want new Religions, they would have even unknown gods; &s;o as their Liberties did not onely reach to the making of new Religions, but new gods: therefore it is no wonder if their <HI>Poets</HI> were their <HI>Prie&s;ts,</HI> which moved S. <HI>Paul</HI> to argue <NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 17.</NOTE> with them out of their Authorities. It was no wonder this people, who had a &s;everal god pre&s;iding over every Humane action, &s;hould judge the equity of all cau&s;es by Events; in&s;omuch as when S. <HI>Paul</HI> preached to them one God, and his &s;ingle Providence as the orderer and contriver of all productions and mutations, they thought this an abridge|ment of the priviledge of their Rea&s;on, to be enjoyned a &s;ub&s;cription to one &s;upreme Providence, without any pri|vate &s;atisfaction to their di&s;cour&s;e in the occurrences of this life: For when he told them, That by <HI>Gods works man could but feel out as it were by palpation in the dark</HI> the notion of the Deity, and could not expect to reade the rea&s;on of his ad|mini&s;tration by any light, but that of Faith; this &s;eemed to them babling, and talking idlely in S. <HI>Paul.</HI></P>
<P>Neither is it any wonder that people undetermined in Re|ligion, &s;hould be &s;o &s;uper&s;titious in Succe&s;&s;es, as to make &s;ome Religion out of them; for where Religion hath been loo&s;e&s;t, <HI>Fortune</HI> always pa&s;&s;ed for a Deity; and it is not &s;trange that they who wor&s;hip Fortune, &s;hould &s;acrifice their Rea&s;on to Succe&s;&s;es, for then truly mens private Fortunes become their Religions. But where the knowledge and wor&s;hip is re&s;olved and uniform, the Divine Providence is erected in &s;tead of Fortunes Altar, our Rea&s;on is offered up
<PB N="298" REF="140">
as an Holocau&s;t totally con&s;umed, and re&s;igned to this or|der, and the fat of the Sacrifice is the evacuation of all our own judgements, in the event of things which do wholly tran&s;cend our Rea&s;on.</P>
<P>Yet do I not pretend we &s;hould be wholly unmoved or unaffected with happy Succe&s;&s;es, but in &s;uch ca&s;es we ought to look upon them, as they are &s;imply in them&s;elves mercies, not re&s;pectively, as we judge them &s;entences in our Cau&s;e: for in adver&s;ity the matter doth not declare Gods meaning, when &s;omtimes it is intended to purge &amp; improve, &s;omtimes determinately to puni&s;h us; therefore the matter of mi&s;ery may be di&s;liked, but not Gods meaning in it So pro&s;perous Succe&s;&s;es are &s;ometimes meant as approbations, and often as derelictions to the de&s;ires of our hearts; wherefore the matter of them may be affected, but the meaning of them not peremptorily concluded.</P>
<P>Hence it is, that as in our enemies we may hate the &s;in, and not love the man the wor&s;e, &s;o in our temporal advan|tages, we may be joyed with the &s;ucce&s;s, and yet not like the cau&s;e the better, which is to have an equal di&s;po&s;ition in them: For the choyce of our Cau&s;e mu&s;t re&s;t upon that im|moveable Centre of the right and ju&s;tice thereof: which when by our be&s;t and mo&s;t di&s;intere&s;&s;ed Rea&s;on we con|ceive fixed and &s;etled, nothing that doth not better our Rea|&s;on, can evidence more to us the goodne&s;s of our Cau&s;e: and uncertain Natural Events have not that vertue of improving our Rea&s;on; they may more ea&s;ily weaken it, if we &s;tudy by the lines and editions of Natural Accidents, which are &s;o fal&s;e to the nature of Moral cau&s;es.</P>
<P>Man is not &s;et &s;o hard a task, as to work to fit all Events with &s;utable Rea&s;ons to them: It was a &s;trange exaction of <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> upon his <HI>Magi,</HI> to declare to him not onely the meaning, but the very dream, as if they had been the infu&s;ers of it. They who &s;earch for Humane Rea&s;ons pro|portionate to the events of all actions, do, me thinks, as wilde a thing; for they adventure to interpret Gods Actions
<PB N="299" REF="140">
and My&s;teries by their own Dreams, &s;ince our ratiocina|tion upon the &s;ecrets of Divine Order, is but an excur|&s;ion of Fancy, which is of the &s;ame nature as a Dream in Religion.</P>
<P>It &s;eems therefore rather an indulgence to our weakne&s;s, then an injunction again&s;t our liberties, to be forbid to pre&s;s <HI>into that light where we &s;hall be oppre&s;&s;ed by the maje&s;ty of it:</HI> For, <HI>What is man</HI> (&s;aith the wi&s;e&s;t of men) <HI>that he &s;hould fol|low his Maker?</HI> and when he had applyed his heart to finde out the rea&s;on of all things, he confe&s;&s;eth, <HI>He had counted one</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 7. 28.</NOTE> <HI>by one to finde out the account, and yet his &s;oul &s;ought and found it not:</HI> So that his return upon his adventure, may well be our di&s;&s;wa&s;ion from the attempt, and a &s;trong motive for us to re&s;t upon this anchor of the <HI>Prophet, In the path of thy</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 26. 8.</NOTE> <HI>judgement, O Lord, we have patiently expected thee.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. IV.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>An information of what kinde of conformity we owe Gods declared Will in adver&s;e Events.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AFter the&s;e bounds &s;et to curio&s;ity, me thinks many are de&s;irous to know, Whether their Wills are bound up to their Adver&s;ities. I &s;hall endeavor to &s;atisfie &s;uch enquiries by a clear Solution of this Que&s;tion; re|&s;olving them, That although we are re&s;trained in the curio&s;i|ty of Cau&s;es, we are not confined to a conformity of our Wills, to the material object of Gods Will, in publike calamities and afflictions. Our Wills mu&s;t be fa&s;tned to Gods, in the formal object of our willing; which is, to de|&s;ire every thing in order to the accompli&s;hment of his Will, in his univer&s;al Ordination of all things: But we are not obliged to be plea&s;ed in every material declaration of Gods
<PB N="300" REF="141">
plea&s;ure, as in the defeature of a good Cau&s;e, the death of our friends, and the &s;ucce&s;sfulne&s;s of our enemies. In the&s;e, and &s;uch ca&s;es of conforming our wills to the matter of our &s;ufferings, we may, as it were, di&s;pute the cau&s;e with God, and wi&s;h his Providence might work by other means: Becau&s;e in this &s;hadowed light of our Rea&s;on wherein we live, we do not &s;ee how the ways lead to Gods univer&s;al ends, to which our wils are only bound to be conformed formality, as making that Divine Order the rule of our final de&s;ires.</P>
<P>We know <HI>Abraham</HI> oppo&s;ed Gods declared Will, in the material part of it, in the de&s;truction of <HI>Sodom;</HI> and when God ordained him the Sacrificing of his Son; he might ju&s;tly have wi&s;hed God had been plea&s;ed to appoint him &s;ome other te&s;timony of his Obedience: This kinde of di&s;|&s;enting is properly rather a velleity, or wi&s;hing an altera|tion of Gods purpo&s;e, then an oppo&s;ition to it; and this imperfect adhering to Gods Will, is proper to this half-light we have of it, in our di&s;tance from the object of his univer|&s;al Order. Tho&s;e who in the light of his countenance look upon his Will, have theirs both materially and formally uni|ted to it; becau&s;e, as the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> &s;ays, <HI>In thy light we &s;hall &s;ee all light:</HI> Thus they di&s;cern how all they de&s;ire is in order to the univer&s;al end, and under&s;tand how all the di&s;cords which are now jars in our ears, are &s;et to compo&s;e the har|mony of the Divine Providence, wherein they have their parts, &s;inging continually the prai&s;es thereof. But while we are looking through our gla&s;s, and the darkne&s;s of our riddle, we are not obliged to a clearer conformity of our Wills, then the nature of our light can afford us, which di&s;|covers not to us how all pre&s;ent advers accidents are perti|nent to the efficacity of Gods univer&s;al Order; therefore we are not impo&s;ed that preci&s;e adherence of our Wills to the material part of adver&s;ity.</P>
<P>Upon this ground the <HI>Prophets</HI> pre&s;umed as it were to im|plead Gods &s;entences, by an expo&s;tulation with him about their execution. <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> makes a Remon&s;trance to God of the
<PB N="301" REF="141">
inconveniences of his declared Will to de&s;troy <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> repre|&s;enting the &s;candal of impotency whereunto his name would be lyable among the <HI>Heathens:</HI> and the <HI>Prophet Samuel,</HI> after the pronouncing of Gods &s;entence again&s;t <HI>Saul,</HI> &s;eems to plead for him with his tears &s;o long, as God asketh him, <HI>How long he would lament Saul?</HI> not as di&s;plea&s;ed with this unconfor|mity, but rather in commi&s;eration of his piety, and tenderne&s;s of charity. The <HI>Prophet Jeremy</HI> pleaded &s;o long again&s;t the rigor of his own commi&s;&s;ion, as God imployed his mode&s;ty to &s;ilence him, knowing he would not expect a grant in what <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Samuel</HI> &s;hould have bin rejected; yet when he could <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 14.</NOTE> intercede no longer, when his mouth was &s;topt, his eyes were let loo&s;e into &s;treams, that &s;eemed to run &s;till again&s;t the tide of Gods judgements. And God allowed the <HI>Prophet Jonah</HI> a <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jonah 4.</NOTE> much &s;tronger liberty, to &s;eem angry at Gods mercy, and to di&s;pute the ju&s;tne&s;s of his perplexity. In all the&s;e in&s;tances the wills of the <HI>Prophets</HI> were formally concurrent with the Will of God; for they made &s;till the rea&s;on of their willing the ac|compli&s;hment of the common univer&s;al di&s;po&s;ition of Gods order, but we &s;ee they di&s;&s;ented in the matter of their willing; they did not vote the&s;e &s;pecial and preci&s;e means concurrent|ly with Gods voice, becau&s;e they &s;aw not clearly how they &s;tood in Gods de&s;ign of the common good, and &s;o might dif|fer from God in wi&s;hing the order, though not the end.</P>
<P>It is otherwi&s;e with the <HI>Angels</HI> who are in a fuller light, they di&s;cern how all Humane events are in their &s;pecial order to the common benefit of the <HI>Univer&s;e,</HI> and &s;o execute their Commi&s;&s;ions of Benevolence or Indignation upon us, with|out any alteration of joy in our temporal ble&s;&s;ings, or commi|&s;eration in their offices of de&s;truction. This &s;tate of equanimi|ty we &s;hall attain, when we come to &s;ee face to face, that Face which &s;hall make us like it, by looking on it, when we &s;hall &s;ee him as he is, in who~ we &s;hall together &s;ee all other things as they are; until then, while we &s;ee him but in the &s;hadow of his works, he requires of us only our conformity to his wil, as far as he hath endued our Nature with a power of apprehending
<PB N="302" REF="142">
how his declared plea&s;ure hath a con&s;onancy with the uni|ver&s;al good of the world: So that we have an injunction and a capacity of wi&s;hing always in preference of the univer&s;al good, before our private intere&s;t. And in tho&s;e ca&s;es in which we are not convinced, how the ills we &s;uffer conduce to that order, we may piou&s;ly deprecate &s;uch Events, la|ment the exigencies they occa&s;ion, and &s;ue to God for the rever&s;ing of &s;uch orders; in which exigencies we may ear|ne&s;tly pre&s;s the ha&s;tening of Gods time, and concurrently attend his will with patience; for that is Gods time to which our Prayers have brought God, as that price was Gods price to which <HI>Abraham</HI> brought God for <HI>Sodom.</HI> This, I hope, will &s;ufficiently explicate the &s;ence of formal and material conformity to Gods Will, and &s;o enlighten us in many ob|&s;curities and &s;cuples, which the tenderne&s;s of our Con|&s;cience may ca&s;t over us, as apprehen&s;ions of con<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> again&s;t Gods order in our &s;orrow, and re&s;entment of pub|like or private calamities.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. V.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The infirmity of our Nature conforted by Examples, Holy and Prophane; and the acquie&s;cence to Gods Order with con&s;tancy, per&s;waded.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>BEcau&s;e this tryal of us requireth all the &s;trength of our Grace, or our Rea&s;on, to &s;ecure us farther from being di&s;mayed at the pronene&s;s of our Nature to &s;lack<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> in the confidence of our Cau&s;e, upon the pro&s;perity of the advers party, we may look upon one of the &s;tronge&s;t ve&s;&s;els of Gods building, and we may finde him in this &s;torm dri|ving upon all his anchors, when he confe&s;&s;eth, <HI>My <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 words"></HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 72.</NOTE> <HI>almo&s;t gone, and my &s;teps well <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">igh &s;tipping away, when I &s;aw the
<PB N="303" REF="142">
peace of &s;inners; they are not in trouble, as other men, neither are they plagued as others:</HI> He could have no ea&s;e in the inqui|&s;ition of the rea&s;on of this inverted appearance of Ju&s;tice, till, as he &s;ays, he went into the <HI>Sanctuary</HI> of God: So when we finde our &s;elves upon <HI>Davids</HI> &s;lippery &s;teps, we mu&s;t fol|low him who leads us to take <HI>Sanctuary</HI> in Gods univer&s;al Providence, taking hold of his Altar there, his In&s;crutable Wi&s;dom; and the pa&s;&s;ions of our Nature will be afraid to violate that holy Refuge, in di&s;puting to draw us out of that <HI>Sanctuary</HI> by their Violences, as long as our thoughts re&s;t them&s;elves there, and our Rea&s;on doth not venture abroad to rove in the inqui&s;ition of &s;econd cau&s;es.</P>
<P>It was upon the holy ground of this <HI>Sanctuary</HI> that <HI>King David</HI> trode, when he climbed up the mount <HI>Olivet</HI> bare|foot; his &s;teps were then firm and &s;ure, even upon all the&s;e &s;harp &s;tones which were under them; even tho&s;e &s;tones which <HI>Shimei</HI> threw in his way, did not give him the lea&s;t trip, he walked upon this ground of, <HI>The Lord hath ordained him to cur&s;e David, who &s;hall then &s;ay, Wherefore hath he done</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kings 15.</NOTE> <HI>&s;o? it may be the Lord will look on my affliction, and requite me for this days cur&s;ing:</HI> Here we &s;ee King <HI>David</HI> walks &s;o firmly on Gods Order and Providence, as his &s;teps broke in pieces all <HI>Shimei</HI>'s &s;tones they trode upon; and he was now no more moved in the diffidence of his cau&s;e, then he was elated with the right of it, when <HI>Shimei</HI> came to meet him, and lay pro&s;trate at his feet to be trode upon: He then rai&s;ed up his enemies per&s;on, and kept onely his injuries un|der his feet, which were &s;o many &s;teps to rai&s;e his eternal Throne: and certainly, all that <HI>Shimei</HI> threw at him proved the mo&s;t precious &s;tones, which the Hand of Pro|vidence &s;et in the Everla&s;ting Crown of this Ble&s;&s;ed <HI>King.</HI></P>
<P>Thus we &s;ee the common infirmity even of the mo&s;t &s;anctified Natures, while they are working upon the &s;tock of their own Rea&s;on in Humane occurrences, and what a firmne&s;s and &s;tability we may finde when we lay all our
<PB N="304" REF="143">
thoughts up to re&s;t in the bo&s;om of the Divine Providence, taking this advice in all advers Events, <HI>Yea, when thou &s;halt &s;ay</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 35. 14</NOTE> <HI>he con&s;idereth not, be judged before him, and expect him.</HI> And as it is ob&s;erved in the motions of the Heavens, that as the Orbs are nearer the fir&s;t mover, &s;o they go the fa&s;ter in the common diurnal motion, &amp; the &s;lower in their own peculiar, which is oppo&s;ite to the other; &s;o we may truly &s;ay, the nearer our mindes are rai&s;ed to an adherence to the fir&s;t Divine moving order, our Rea&s;on &s;hall go the quicker in a con&s;ent|ing motion to all the common occurrences of Providence, and &s;hall move the gentlier in the retrograde motion of her own Orb of Nature, and con&s;equently the di&s;quiets of our Nature &s;hall move le&s;s in their pa&s;&s;ionate oppo&s;itions to all &s;ini&s;ter Events, and we &s;hal be the le&s;s frighted when with the <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> we are going into the cloud, remembring the re|proach <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 9.</NOTE> God maketh to tottering confiders, <HI>Am I onely a God</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 23.</NOTE> <HI>at near hand, and not the &s;ame at di&s;tance?</HI></P>
<P>If ever we could have hoped to have been informed of the rea&s;on of the pre&s;ent advantages allowed to the wicked, it &s;hould have been when the <HI>Prophet Jeremy</HI> (one &s;anctified even in his Mothers womb) did &s;o earne&s;tly ask God this que|&s;tion, with a conjuration upon his Ju&s;tice, &s;aying, <HI>Lord, thou ar<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> ju&s;t when I argue with thee; yet let me talk with thee of thy Judge|ments:</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 12.</NOTE> <HI>Wherefore doth the way of the wicked pro&s;per? Wherefore are all they happy that deal treacherou&s;ly?</HI> And yet God affords him no an&s;wer to this de&s;ire, but leaves him in &s;uch a &s;u|&s;pen&s;e and perplexity, as in an holy confu&s;ion he challengeth even God of having mi&s;informed him in his Judgements <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 20. 7.</NOTE> upon &s;inners, which were &s;o long deferred: So we can look for no &s;atisfaction in this point, greater then that an&s;wer which God makes to <HI>Daniel,</HI> when he asked, <HI>What &s;ha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 12. 9.</NOTE> <HI>the end of the&s;e things? Go thy ways, Daniel, for the words are clo&s;ed, and &s;ealed up till the time of the end.</HI> Wherefore, in all the di&s;tractions and &s;ubver&s;ions of Kingdoms, pri<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> Ruines and Confu&s;ions, we mu&s;t recur to <HI>Daniels</HI> conclu|&s;ion, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed be the Name of the Lord; wi&s;dom and power are h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">,
<PB N="305" REF="143">
he removes and con&s;titutes KINGS and Kingdoms.</HI></P>
<P>By this precedent, as near as our giddy Nature will admit, we mu&s;t &s;eek to fix our mindes upon that incomprehen&s;ible cour&s;e of Gods Providence, which changeth all things without any mutation in it &s;elf; and the nearer we come to this con<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ixure unto that &s;tability, the le&s;s obnoxious we &s;hall be to the e&s;tuations of joys and fears, or the anxiety of won|der in all contingencies: For the chief motive of the di&s;|quiet of our minde, is the imperfect broken view we have in this life of the chain and coherence of &s;econd cau&s;es we &s;ee &s;everal links lying &s;cattered and parted without the rings which make the connexion&punc; that is, we &s;ee daily mutations of all conditions, from good to bad, and interchangeably from advers to pro&s;perous e&s;tates, but we di&s;cern no rea&s;on that linketh and accordeth the&s;e variations with our judge|ments, making a coherence &s;atisfactory to our under&s;tand|ings in this di&s;tributive part of Gods Ju&s;tice.</P>
<P>This half-&s;ight of the form of things, excites wonder in us, which is broken knowledge, when our under&s;tanding meets objects of &s;trange effects, divided from their apparent cau&s;es; for if we could &s;ee at once this chain of Providence &s;et together, all events hanging linked to their final rea&s;ons, our wonder would pre&s;ently cea&s;e: As we may &s;uppo&s;e if the <HI>Prophet Daniel</HI> had lived to &s;ee actually the accompli&s;h|ment of his Vi&s;ions, while others had wondred at <HI>Alexan|ders</HI> enterpri&s;e upon the Monarchy of the World, and all the &s;trange occurrences that did effect that work, he would have been little moved at tho&s;e Events: And when cur&s;ed <HI>Antiochus</HI> de&s;troy'd <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and &s;et up Idols upon the altar of the <HI>Temple,</HI> and aboli&s;hed all form of true Religion; when venerable <HI>Mathathias,</HI> and the glorious <HI>Maccabees</HI> had rea&s;on <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mac. 2.</NOTE> to rend their garments, and to be a&s;toni&s;hed at the de&s;olation of Gods people, <HI>Daniel</HI> would not have been perplexed and amazed in all this confu&s;ion, as having had a prenotion of this, and the re&s;t of the chain of Providence, which made the coherence of this action.</P>
<P><PB N="306" REF="144">
In the like maner in all other prodigious Events, which coupled the &s;ucce&s;&s;ions of the other de&s;igns of God upon the world, whereof <HI>Daniel</HI> had a previ&s;ion; he could not be confu&s;ed at that, whereat others (who looked but upon the broken pieces of the chain) were ju&s;tly a&s;toni&s;hed: But if <HI>Daniel</HI> had &s;urvived the i&s;&s;ues of all his Revelations, and had come to tho&s;e Times of which he was de&s;irous to know the &s;equences and determinations, and was refu&s;ed that illumi|nation, and told, <HI>They were &s;ealed My&s;teries, and not to be opened</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 12. 9.</NOTE> to him; if then he had &s;een the de&s;truction of Gods people, and the violation of all things &s;acred, by the inhumanity of Gods enemies, he would then have been po&s;ed to have given a rea&s;on of the&s;e di&s;orders, and mu&s;t have re&s;orted to <HI>Davids</HI> an&s;wer to him&s;elf, <HI>Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 138. 6.</NOTE> <HI>is too high, I cannot attain to it.</HI></P>
<P>Some &s;atisfactory re&s;t may be derived from the experi|ments and acquaintance with &s;uch ca&s;es, but &s;till the rea&s;on of that order (which is &s;o prepo&s;terous to our conceptions) will remain in the &s;moke of the <HI>Temple,</HI> wherein we may &s;ee <NOTE PLACE="marg">Apoc. 15.</NOTE> God is pre&s;ent, but not how he worketh in it: The order of Gods admini&s;tration re&s;ts in the <HI>Temple</HI> de&s;cribed in the <HI>Re|velation,</HI> which is <HI>filled with &s;moke from the Maje&s;ty of God, and none can enter into it until all be con&s;umnate.</HI></P>
<P>One that &s;hall &s;tudy the Story of the World in one Age or Century, &s;hall finde Iniquity and Violence prevailing, it may be, many years over all Piety and Ju&s;tice; and in&s;e|quence of time &s;hall come to reade the pro&s;perers and pre|&s;umers in their powers de&s;troy'd and extirpated by &s;ome ex|emplary vengeance; then for &s;ome time may meet with ver|tue and godline&s;s flouri&s;hing &s;o, as to protect all their Vot<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">|ries; and then as he goes on, it may be, he will meet with a &s;torm bla&s;ting, and withering all the fruits of innocence he &s;aw before &s;o flouri&s;hing: Thus alternatively through the whole age, he &s;hall commonly finde an interchangeable va|riation from the happy to the per&s;ecuted &s;tate of goodne&s;s: And although in the period of that portion of time he
<PB N="307" REF="144">
chance to finde the mo&s;t notorious impieties of it puni&s;hed and revenged, in &s;uch &s;ort as that particular may give him &s;ome &s;en&s;ible &s;atisfaction of Gods Ju&s;tice, yet he &s;hall finde in no age the audict &s;o perfectly made up, between Impiety and Puni&s;hment, as he &s;hall not &s;till remain perplexed in the account of Gods reckonings with the world.</P>
<P>They who &s;hall live to &s;ee, or reade the full Account of this pre&s;ent Age, will certainly finde at the end of it, the Fractions and Divi&s;ions <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">urnm'd up nearer the true Account of Gods Ju&s;tice, then it appears now in all the&s;e &s;cattered orderle&s;s figures, which &s;eem to have little reference to Equity; but &s;till the end of this Age will leave &s;ome con|fu&s;ed parcels of Inju&s;tice, which are referred to the &s;uc|ce&s;&s;ion of time to make up, and rectifie: And in this kinde of &s;equence and relation, Times will turn and rowl over to one another, the la&s;t bringing &s;till &s;omewhat imperfect to the next it flows into, until Time it &s;elf &s;hall be drowned in eternity; &s;o that while we &s;ee, as <HI>Solomon</HI> tells us, <HI>All things</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 9.</NOTE> <HI>happen alike to him that offers Sacrifice, and him that breaks down Altars,</HI> he gives us this excellent caution, not to be tempted to &s;ay there is no Providence, <HI>If thou &s;ee&s;t the vio|lent perverting Ju&s;tice, and Judgement in a Province, marvel</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccl. 5. 7.</NOTE> <HI>not at the matter: for he that is higher then the highe&s;t regard|eth, and there be higher then they.</HI></P>
<P>This is a cordial the <HI>Holy Spirit</HI> hath confected for us, to take in the &s;tronge&s;t fits of Humane vici&s;&s;itudes, to keep us from fair<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ing in the un&s;ucce&s;sful &s;tate of a righteous cau&s;e: I &s;hall onely give one or two Hi&s;torical in&s;tances of many, which all Times afford in this Argument.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t is &s;o memorable and adequate in all circum&s;tan|ces for our in&s;truction, as no times can match a better, and no &s;ort of <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> can reject it as pre&s;ident. This is the ca&s;e of St. <HI>Lewis</HI> King of <HI>France,</HI> a per&s;on &s;o holy, as if the mo&s;t &s;anctified voyces of his Time had been to elect a King, they would probably have cho&s;en him: This great and holy King &s;tarning with the zeal of repo&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> of the
<PB N="308" REF="145">
<HI>Holy Land,</HI> which is a figure of their Birthright, the heaven|ly <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> kindled mo&s;t of the <HI>Chri&s;tian Princes</HI> with the &s;ame ardor, which carryed many of their per&s;ons upon the place for the atchievement of this ble&s;&s;ed De&s;ign: The beginning of this Enterprize was pro&s;perous, in the recovery of many po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions from the <HI>Infidels,</HI> and re&s;titution of the Wor&s;hip of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> into them: But &s;oon after Gods &s;ecret Judgements &s;trook this Army with an evident mark of his pre&s;ent di&s;plea&s;ure, and by a pe&s;tilent &s;ickne&s;s con&s;umed mo&s;t of his Forces; in&s;omuch as he was reduced to a di&s;|honorable Treaty with Gods Enemies, and forced to return with a total defeature of his De&s;ign: Under which rough hand of God, his &s;anctity in <HI>Syria,</HI> like one of their Palm|trees, grew the higher by the weight of adver&s;ity it was charged with, and after a perilous return into <HI>France</HI> in his old age (his zeal burning &s;till the brighter in all the darkne&s;s of his Succe&s;&s;es) he made a &s;econd Expedition, with three of his Children, upon the &s;ame Enterprize, and landing in <HI>Africa,</HI> his Army was again &s;eized by the de&s;troying <HI>An|gel,</HI> and one of his Sons &s;trool fir&s;t, and pre&s;ently he him|&s;elf was arre&s;ted by the &s;ame hand, and executed in his &s;en|tence of Mortality, though truly delivered out of his pri|&s;on, and tran&s;lated to that higher Crown which he had con|quered in all his defeats.</P>
<P>This was the unhappy Event, according to the &s;tile of the world, which that pious King, and unque&s;tionable Cau&s;e; left the world to opine upon; of which we cannot give a better vote, then he him&s;elf did in his &s;ickne&s;s out of the Wi&s;e-mans mouth, <HI>Who can conceive the ways of God, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"></HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ecclus. 16. 20.</NOTE> <HI>more then a Tempe&s;t which no eye can &s;ee? for mo&s;t of his works are hidden; Who can declare the works of his Ju&s;tice, or who can &s;tand under them? for his covenant is afar off, and the tryal of all is in the end.</HI></P>
<P>There is another notorious pre&s;ident I have met with in the <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical</HI> Story, which I have cho&s;en of many, as it hath relation particularly to this Nation. <HI>King Ha|rold</HI>
<PB N="309" REF="145">
of <HI>Denmark,</HI> who was the fir&s;t planter of the Faith of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> is his Countrey, and a Prince who&s;e eminent &s;anctity de&s;erved the publike te&s;timony of the <HI>Church,</HI> by his admi&s;&s;ion into the Catalogue of the <HI>Saints:</HI> This de|vout King in his old age was a&s;&s;ayled by the Rebellion of his own Son, called <HI>Swayn,</HI> a de&s;perate Enemy of <HI>Chri|&s;tianity,</HI> yet it plea&s;ed God to give him Victory again&s;t his Father, and to Crown the old King with Martyr|dome in the Defence of <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> Cau&s;e, and his own Right; for he dyed of his wounds received in the Bat|tel, where his impious Son remained Conquerer, and King.</P>
<P>But &s;oon after Gods Vengeance ro&s;e up again&s;t this <HI>Pa|tricide,</HI> and expul&s;ed him out of his Kingdom, and in many changes of Fortune reduced him to take Refuge in <HI>England</HI> and <HI>Scotland</HI> for many years. At la&s;t in many va|riations of his Unhappine&s;&s;es, it plea&s;ed God to change his heart, and convert him to <HI>Chri&s;tianity,</HI> of which af|terwards he became a great Champion, and a Zealous; and God imployed him here in <HI>ENGLAND</HI> to pu|ni&s;h King <HI>Ethelred</HI> (who though his per&s;on was not &s;tained with his Mothers bloody hands, yet he did ri&s;e to the Crown, not by a Legitimate De&s;cent in Blood, but by an Execrable effu&s;ion of his elder Brothers, through the wickedne&s;s of his Mother) &s;o as <HI>Swayn</HI> of <HI>Denmark</HI> di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed this King, and &s;oon after dyed inve&s;ted of the Crown of <HI>England.</HI></P>
<P>I thought this Example, in the various Occurren|ces of it, very appo&s;ite to this &s;ubject of declaring GODS my&s;terious Judgements, <HI>His Ju&s;tice, Mercy; and Longanimity,</HI> which is the Attribute whereby we are &s;o much relieved in all our provocations of his Ven|geance.</P>
<P>The&s;e Examples may temper an ha&s;ty impatience to cen&s;ure Cau&s;es by the Events, and repre&s;s in us that Na|tural forwardne&s;s of judging with the <HI>JEWS,</HI> tho&s;e
<PB N="310" REF="146">
to be the greate&s;t &s;inners, on whom the Tower of <HI>S<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> doth chance to fall,</HI> for we know our Saviors deci&s;ion of &s;uch conclu&s;ions.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. VI.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The Conclu&s;ion; Regulating all humors in this probation.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>THere are many men of &s;uch a mould of earth, as the &s;tony ground in the <HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> who are quick in their conception of vertue, and active in the fir&s;t im|pre&s;&s;ions of the right and ju&s;tice of their party, and &s;o their actions are forward, and eminent in fair &s;ea&s;onable weather; but if the heat of di&s;a&s;ter beat upon them, for want of a w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ll-rooted con&s;tancy on the ground of true fortitude, they &s;hrink and wither as fa&s;t as they did &s;hoot out at fir&s;t; when they fir&s;t begin to be followers of vertue, they &s;hould remember what our <HI>Savior</HI> &s;aid to his Di&s;ciples, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed is he</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 7. 23</NOTE> <HI>who &s;hall not be &s;candalized at me;</HI> for in the attendance on goodne&s;s in this world, we &s;hall often &s;ee it &s;uffering and affronted.</P>
<P>They who will &s;erve under the <HI>Militia</HI> of the King of kings, mu&s;t take the <HI>Covenant</HI> of <HI>Longanimity,</HI> in which con|&s;i&s;ts the be&s;t part of the honor of a <HI>Chri&s;tian;</HI> for, as our great <HI>Ma&s;ter</HI> &s;aith, <HI>If you love but where you are beloved, do not the Gentiles do as much?</HI> &s;o if you are zealous while you are pro&s;perous, every unworthy per&s;on hath this kinde of honor to &s;hew for his nobility; but when you are to endure the te&s;t of loving of Enemies, that is, humbly to embrace all advers accidents, and to clo&s;e with them, to wra&s;tle &s;till, ra|ther then flye from the Li&s;ts where they are triumphing, when as the <HI>Prophet</HI> &s;ays, <HI>Strange lords have dominion over us,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 26.</NOTE> this is the &s;incere tryal of honor, even in morality; in which, this perilous per&s;everance (it may be) i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> but a coun&s;el
<PB N="311" REF="146">
of perfection; but in ca&s;es of Divinity, I am &s;ure, it is a precept, as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;aith in the name of our Ma&s;ter, <HI>If any man draw back, my &s;oul &s;hall have no plea&s;ure in</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">0. 38.</NOTE> <HI>him.</HI></P>
<P>Hence it is, that as any defection from a good Cau&s;e is odious in Gods &s;ight, &s;o too much &s;olicitude and vehemen|cy, in relation to a quick i&s;&s;ue out of our engagements, look unhand&s;omly in Gods eyes; for there is always a great &s;ha|dowing of Self-love woven with this colour of our zeal to Ju&s;tice, in this impatient appetite of Succe&s;s.</P>
<P>Our Savior <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> at his remove from his deare&s;t fami|liars upon earth, in a gentle reprehen&s;ion to them in this point of earne&s;tne&s;s, hath left us an order for our depen|dance quietly upon the common cour&s;e of his Providence, without any inqui&s;itive &s;cruting into the times of &s;uch E|vents, as the cau&s;e may promi&s;e: For when they de&s;ired to know the time of his re&s;toring their kingdom who were of his own hou&s;e, his an&s;wer was a kinde of &s;oft increpa|tion to them, and a &s;trong in&s;truction to all times, <HI>It is not your part to know the times, nor the &s;ea&s;ons which the Father hath</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 1.</NOTE> <HI>put in his own power:</HI> This is a prerogative our Soveraign communicates unto none; but as he proceeded to com|fort again tho&s;e friends he had check'd, we have our &s;hare in their compen&s;ation, for he doth impart to us al&s;o his <HI>Holy Spirit,</HI> which may a&s;&s;i&s;t and con&s;olate us in the perplexities of all Times and Sea&s;ons.</P>
<P>Let us therefore, by the re&s;idence of this <HI>Comforter</HI> with us, endeavor to correct our Nature in her promptitude and ha&s;tine&s;s in our di&s;tre&s;&s;es, to make <HI>Gideons</HI> que&s;tion to the <HI>Holy Spirit, If the Lord be with us, why are all the&s;e ills be</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Judges 6. 13.</NOTE> <HI>f<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ln us?</HI> and to conclude, <HI>Sure the Lord hath left us, and de|livered us up to our enemies,</HI> Let us procure rather to make the an&s;wer of <HI>Eli</HI> to <HI>Sa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"></HI> in acceptance of Gods Judge|ments, <HI>It is the Lord, let him do what &s;eemeth good to him:</HI> If we remain in this temper, we may boldly &s;ay with <HI>King Da|vid, The Lord will not be angry for ever; he will judge the world</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 102.</NOTE>
<PB N="312" REF="147">
<HI>in equity, and the people in his truth: therefore I will hope always, and will yet prai&s;e him more and more:</HI> Thus with the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t,</HI> keeping God at our right hand, we &s;hall not be moved, or dejected by any &s;ini&s;ter Events in a &s;incere Cau&s;e.</P>
<P>There is a far different &s;uper&s;tition in the pertinacy of the <HI>Phari&s;ees,</HI> and the facility of &s;ome people; for they in a &s;hower of Miracles falling down upon them, to anounce to them the time of the change of their Law, &s;till called for a Sign from Heaven to authorize that Doctrine; and &s;ome people are &s;o prone to change their Law, as they call Natural Accidents, that favor their di&s;po&s;itions, Signs from Heaven to warrant their innovations. As the fir&s;t were &s;aid to have eyes, and not to &s;ee, &s;o the&s;e la&s;t may be &s;aid to &s;ee without eyes; for their imaginations &s;eem to them &s;o illuminate, as the eye of their Rea&s;on is dazled when it looks again&s;t them: Such fancies commonly love to ca&s;t in troubled waters, and upon all &s;ucce&s;sful draughts, they do (as the <HI>Prophet</HI> &s;aith of them) <NOTE PLACE="marg">Habac. 2.</NOTE> <HI>Sacrifice to their own net, and offer incen&s;e to their drag,</HI> wor|&s;hipping in a maner their own Spirit, which they have be|fore invocated for their directer: Thus while they are &s;o confident Expo&s;itors of the letter of Humane Contin|gencies, they are better Interpreters of Fortune then of Providence.</P>
<P>They who are emboldened by the advantages, or aba&s;hed meerly by the mi&s;carriage of a Cau&s;e of which they have rea&s;on to believe God to be the conducter, do as if the chil|dren of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> &s;hould have thought God had been more in the Pillar of Fire, then in the Cloud, becau&s;e it was a plea|&s;anter object: The true children of <HI>Abraham,</HI> the &s;ons of <HI>Faith,</HI> follow the Cloud of Gods Judgements, as confi|dently as the Flames of his manife&s;t Kindene&s;s, and mur|mure not at the waters of Contradiction, which they are often put to drink in this peregrination.</P>
<P>St. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> &s;ays elegantly; That every one would be content to overtake <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> at his home, but few are con&s;tant in following him in the way; there is a contrary inordinate|ne&s;s
<PB N="313" REF="147">
in our Nature in the point of Gods Providence, for mo&s;t are curious to follow with their ratiocinations the traces and &s;teps of it upon Earth, and few are content to be tran&s;ported immediately to the home thereof, which is Heaven; that is, we commonly affect an enquiry into the Rea&s;ons of &s;econd Cau&s;es, and are bu&s;ie in gue&s;&s;ing at Gods meaning by them, rather then re&s;ort directly to the in&s;cru|table order of Gods Providence in all Events, and &s;o re&s;t upon the faithful re&s;ciance of his Rea&s;ons: This cour&s;e is the overtaking of Gods Providence at home, and not the tracking it curiou&s;ly abroad, in the prints and traces thereof as it pa&s;&s;eth through the world.</P>
<P>This la&s;t ought to be the cour&s;e of a <HI>Chri&s;tian,</HI> to whom <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> hath left his Faith in the equity of Gods uni|ver&s;al Providence, as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;aith of his other Do|ctrines, <HI>That we may not be like Children, to&s;&s;ed to and fro</HI> with every kinde of Fortune, by which our great Enemy, the Prince of the Ayr, rai&s;eth continually change of winds, to to&s;s us, and carry us away into an opinion of that airy Deity of <HI>Fortune,</HI> which he hath &s;et up for the Devotion of the worlds Fancy.</P>
<P>I may pertinently then conclude with Saint <HI>Peter,</HI> in this ca&s;e of Temptation to the Primitive <HI>Chri&s;tians, Think</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 4<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> 12.</NOTE> <HI>it not &s;trange, concerning the fiery tryal which is to try you, as though &s;ome &s;trange thing happened to you; it may be the time is come, that Judgement mu&s;t begin at the hou&s;e of God;</HI> in which ca&s;e we have this excellent advice from God by the <HI>Prophet I&s;aiah, Go my people into thy chambers, &s;hut</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 26. 20</NOTE> <HI>thy doors upon thee, be hid for a moment, till the indignati|on pa&s;s.</HI></P>
<P>Whereupon I will &s;um up all my re&s;olutions with this ex|cellent Exhortation of that mo&s;t holy <HI>King David,</HI> in his mo&s;t depre&s;&s;ed condition, <HI>Expect the Lord, do manfully, and thy</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 26. 19.</NOTE> <HI>heart &s;hall be &s;trength<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">d: I &s;ay, wait on the Lord;</HI> for they who have taken Gods Word for their repo&s;e, and ac|quie&s;cence again&s;t the corrupted Te&s;timonies of their own
<PB N="314" REF="148">
impatient humors, will by a ble&s;&s;ed experiment atte&s;t the truth of this A&s;&s;everation of the &s;ame afflicted King, and beloved <HI>Saint, Ble&s;&s;ed is the man whom thou cha&s;ti<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e&s;t, O</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 94. 12,</NOTE> <HI>Lord, and teache&s;t him out of thy Law, that thou maye&s;t give him re&s;t from the days of adver&s;ity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="17" TYPE="treatise">
<PB N="315" REF="148">
<HEAD>The &s;eventeenth Treati&s;e. Of Solitude. Divided into two Sections.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The mo&s;t u&s;eful order in de&s;cribing the nature of Solitude.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>MAny who have made Images of <HI>Solitude,</HI> have done like <HI>Painters</HI> when they draw <HI>Ladies;</HI> who (ob&s;er|ving the mo&s;t remarkable Features, as much as may make a re&s;emblance) cover the defects of the complexion with all the Art they can; they &s;et no freckles, or mark, nor pits, or unevenne&s;&s;es in the skin, accounting the be&s;t prizure of their Art, to leave the favor of the per&s;on on the figure, with the lea&s;t touches of disfavor upon it: In report to this method, many who have figured <HI>Solitude,</HI> having &s;et out the mo&s;t noted properties thereof, have &s;ought to &s;weeten all they could the di&s;agreeablene&s;s, leaving no roughne&s;s or inequality upon the countenance of their Character of <HI>Solitude.</HI></P>
<P>But tho&s;e who look upon it by the life, will finde much more un&s;moothne&s;s and hard favor in it, then is expre&s;t in &s;uch &s;peculative Images: For the original Malady of our Nature was &s;uch, as hath left &s;ome dints and prints in the &s;urface of the evenne&s;t &s;tate of our mindes; there are har&s;h and unplea&s;ant intervals of roughne&s;s, and inequality found in all the faire&s;t complexions of our peace and &s;erenity: Wherefore it concerneth us to po&s;&s;e&s;s our opinion with the
<PB N="316" REF="149">
mo&s;t natural Image of <HI>Solitude</HI> we can pourtraict, and that rather rudely touched, then flattered: For when we come to the actual acquaintance of it, either by election or nece&s;|&s;ity, it imports us in the fir&s;t ca&s;e, not to have fancyed &s;uch a figure, as may have moved us to de&s;ign it for a Mi&s;tris to &s;ome melancholy Fancy; or in the la&s;t ca&s;e, of con&s;traint not to have preconceived any &s;uch hard favor, or di&s;agree|ablene&s;s, as may confu&s;e us in our fir&s;t aboard of it: But &s;ome previduation of it is ea&s;ilyer taken off by acquain|tance, then an over-charge of promi&s;es to our &s;elves of peace and ea&s;e, can be made good unto us by our fir&s;t communications with it; becau&s;e our mindes do ea&s;ilyer acquie&s;ce upon their propo&s;als of moderate conveniences, then they can &s;etle upon their fall from high overvalua|tions.</P>
<P>I &s;hall not therefore play the <HI>Painter</HI> in this draught of <HI>Solitude,</HI> but rather the <HI>Printer,</HI> by exhibiting the ju&s;t im|pre&s;&s;ion of it, taken from the original &s;tamp thereof, which I have in my hands, and &s;hall de&s;ign my print to bear the countenance and proportions of Truth, rather then the regu|lar &s;ymmetries of a fair imagination, which is as <HI>Painters</HI> draw <HI>Angels,</HI> in whom they intend onely beauty, not &s;imilitude: For I may own the having taken this Le&s;&s;on from <HI>Solitude,</HI> which I will practice upon her own figure, to prefer the benefit of the Reader, before the beauty of the Di&s;cour&s;e; and rather de&s;ire to impart by Charity the uti|lity of Truth, then to affect the making my <HI>Solitude</HI> &s;o lovely, as it may be rather good Company then good Coun&s;el.</P>
<P>This were to trade for Vanity with that Stock of Soli|tude God hath given me to acquit the Mortgages of my time; and it is no mean ble&s;&s;ing to be able to redeem time, even by the evils of our days. This is to grow &s;o rich by the very <HI>Seque&s;tration,</HI> as to be able to make provi&s;ion of Liberty, peradventure at &s;ome time or other, even for &s;ome who are now Ma&s;ters of mine: For this my Map
<PB N="317" REF="149">
of Solitude may be u&s;eful to all that are Travellers through the Changes and Vici&s;&s;itudes of Times, though they &s;eemed never &s;o fixed in any &s;tation.</P>
<P>I do therefore humbly pre&s;ent my Countrey with &s;ome Fruit of that Graft of Solitude it hath &s;et upon the barren Stock of the other time of my Life, prai&s;ing God that I may in &s;ome mea&s;ure &s;ay with Saint <HI>Paul, The things which have happened to me, have faln out to the furtherance of my liberty in Chri&s;t; Philippians,</HI> Chapter the fir&s;t, Ver&s;e the twelfth.</P>
<P>I &s;hall not then endeavor to write the Laudative, but rather the Life of <HI>Solitude,</HI> in which the intermixtures of Good and Ill are co-incident to one another: And though I do not pretend the mea&s;ures of my minde &s;hould exactly fit many others, yet the matter of my propo&s;itions, which is Vertue and Piety, will endure the taking to pieces, and tran&s;lating into many good Forms, according to the &s;izes of &s;everal Di&s;po&s;itions.</P>
<P>In God there is this inexplicable My&s;tery, there is Unity, and Singlene&s;s without <HI>Solitude;</HI> for out of the Singularity of the Divine E&s;&s;ence, there is a Natural Fecundity and Emanation of a Plurality of Per&s;ons, in which con&s;i&s;ts Gods incapacity of &s;olitarine&s;s; for with|out this connatural Society, <HI>Divines</HI> affirm God might be &s;aid to be &s;olitary, even in the midde&s;t of all his Crea|tions, as Man was &s;aid to be alone among all the Crea|tures of <HI>Paradice,</HI> before he had a Con&s;ort of his own Nature. We need not &s;tay any longer in this Moun|tain of the Divine E&s;&s;ence, clouded and over&s;hadowed with this My&s;tery of a <HI>TRINITY</HI> in <HI>UNITY,</HI> it is &s;ufficient that it afford us but &s;o much Light, as to &s;hew, That Solitude is not con&s;onant to the Nature of Man, as he is GODS Image, and &s;o provi&s;ion was quickly made for that &s;upply, after the &s;inglene&s;s of his Creation.</P>
<P>We mu&s;t re&s;ort then to &s;ome Supernatural intervention,
<PB N="318" REF="150">
that may mediate between Mans Nature, and the Nature of <HI>Solitude,</HI> when he is reduced to it; and thereby acquaint him with another kinde of &s;ociety, when he is &s;eque&s;tred from that which is &s;o familiar to him: Thus, as it were, rather tran&s;lating his communication into another language, then razing out the impre&s;&s;ion in him of the love of company. And this is to change the nature of his &s;ociety, and not the &s;ociablene&s;s of his Nature.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Solitude divided into three &s;orts; and the fir&s;t di&s;cour&s;ed of.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>ME thinks all the &s;tates of <HI>Solitude</HI> may be pertinently divided into the&s;e three &s;orts, of <HI>Voluntary, Violent,</HI> and <HI>Neutral.</HI> The fir&s;t is the operation of a Super natural <NOTE PLACE="marg">Voluntary Solitude defined.</NOTE> agent upon Mans Will, which works upon it, as the Wi&s;e man &s;ays, <HI>Forcibly and &s;weetly,</HI> drawing our mindes out of the world, in &s;uch a gentle &s;oft &s;eparation, as vapors are extracted out of the earth, while the vertue of the hea|venly Spirit attracts our Will out of gro&s;&s;er immer&s;ions in the earth, unto the pure &s;peculation of Divine objects; the grace of &s;uch evocations <HI>falling</HI> (as the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> &s;aith) <HI>like dew upon a fleece.</HI> So as this egre&s;s out of the &s;ociety of the world, may be nominated &s;upernatural in the means, though voluntary in the act.</P>
<P>The next is, when any exterior natural agent forcibly de|prives <NOTE PLACE="marg">Violent Solitude defined.</NOTE> us of the liberty of all &s;ociety; and this may often be ju&s;t, in order to the general &s;ociety of the world, which is maintained &s;ometimes by violences exerci&s;ed on particulars; but is always offen&s;ive to the nature of Man: And &s;o I term this &s;ort of <HI>Solitude, Violent.</HI></P>
<P>The third (which I &s;tate as <HI>Neutral)</HI> is a mixture, and <NOTE PLACE="marg">Neutral Solitude defined.</NOTE> compound between the aptne&s;s and con&s;titution of particular
<PB N="319" REF="150">
natures, and &s;ome exterior intervention of violence and of|fence to that humor, by which we are mo&s;t affected to the world; as a defeature of &s;ome hope, whereunto our mindes were mo&s;t applyed, or &s;ome lo&s;s, of what our affections had made an intire tran&s;action of them&s;elves unto, or &s;ome inju|ry above our reach of any reparation, and many the like vio|lations of our mindes in the world, upon which we break off corre&s;pondence with it. And this condition of Solitari|ne&s;s I call <HI>Neutral,</HI> as having &s;omewhat of both the other &s;tates of <HI>Voluntary</HI> and <HI>Violent;</HI> for both the&s;e qualities concur to the compo&s;ure of this kinde of &s;eparation from Society.</P>
<P>For the fir&s;t &s;ort of the&s;e <HI>Solitudes,</HI> which I call <HI>Voluntary,</HI> that part of it which is di&s;agreeable to the in&s;tinct of Na|ture, is reconciled by the mediation of the Author of Na|ture, who nouri&s;heth the mindes, he calls ou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> into this De|&s;ert, with lighter and more Spiritual &s;ociety, which he &s;howers down from Heaven upon them, as the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> &s;ays, <HI>Man feeds upon the bread of Angels,</HI> Prayer and Medita|tion, which a&s;&s;ociates his Spirit to &s;uch company, as he thinks he hath rather one body too much with him, then want of any.</P>
<P>There are many of the children of <HI>Abraham</HI> whom God <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 12<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"></NOTE> calls, as he did their Father, &s;ummoning them by his voyce to come out of their Countrey, from their Kindred, and from their Fathers hou&s;e, unto a Land that he will &s;hew them; and to this citation many do faithfully an&s;wer, quit|ting the Native Region of all their Inclinations, the habi|tudes of Fle&s;h and Blood, which are &s;o near of kin to them, and all the &s;weetne&s;&s;es of communication, and &s;olaces of company, which are the dome&s;ticks of their Fathers hou&s;e, and the familiars of our Humane Nature, and &s;eparating them&s;elves from all the&s;e in<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">e app<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">tencies, take their jour|ney into the &s;trange Region of <HI>Solitude,</HI> privacy and reclu&s;e|ne&s;s; and when the Soul, like the <HI>P&s;almi&s;ts</HI> Spou&s;e, <HI>&s;hall thus</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 44. 13.</NOTE> <HI>forget her own people, and her fathers hou&s;e,</HI> then the King &s;hall
<PB N="320" REF="151">
be in love with her beauty; and then this delectation of the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 12. 40. P&s;al. 36.</NOTE> Soul in our Lord, confers all the petitions of the heart up|on it.</P>
<P>When God makes the&s;e extraordinary &s;elections and vo|cations to this pa&s;&s;age through the De&s;ert unto the Land of Promi&s;e, he &s;preads a Cloud over them by day, which &s;ha|dows them from all the ardors of their &s;en&s;itive appetite, and &s;ets up a pillar of Fire before them in the night, of that fire which <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> came to bring into the earth, that illumi|nateth all the ob&s;curities whereunto our Nature is &s;ubject, in the ecclip<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e of Society, and warmeth and cheri&s;heth that &s;hivering chilne&s;s wherewith our Nature is &s;o apt to be be|numb'd, in the privation of the elementary light, and heat of our Nature, which is Communication and Society. This holy fire that accompanies them, doth not onely (as the <HI>P&s;al. mi&s;t</HI> &s;ays) <HI>Make their night as day to them,</HI> but even the de|ve&s;ture of them&s;elves, their &s;olace and delectation; and by the &s;ame degrees that they are &s;evered and di&s;charged of them&s;elves, they are repleni&s;hed with that Society, which entertaineth them with that joy, wherein the finglene&s;s is the univer&s;ality of it; for it is never all things to any heart, but when it is there alone; This is the <HI>peace of Chri&s;t, ex|ulting in our hearts:</HI> And in <HI>Collo&s;&s;.</HI> 3. 15. this Society is the whole <HI>Trinity,</HI> which, as the <HI>Prophet</HI> &s;ays, <HI>Leads fir&s;t into</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;ea 2.</NOTE> <HI>&s;olitude, and then</HI> &s;peaks <HI>to the heart,</HI> as though it would have nothing but the heart it &s;elf pre&s;ent at this entertainment.</P>
<P>Such pa&s;&s;engers as are truly led by this conduct, have for their Viatick, that hidden <HI>Manna</HI> given them, which is pro|mi&s;ed in the <HI>Revelation,</HI> in which they finde the &s;everal ta&s;tes <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 2.</NOTE> of all their inclinations; the reli&s;h of the &s;ociety of Parents, Brothers and Friends, are all &s;avor'd in this cele&s;tial Ma<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">na of Contemplation; in&s;omuch as they &s;eem to ta&s;te in the &s;ource, and &s;pring it &s;elf the divers reli&s;hes of all tho&s;e cur|rents of plea&s;ure that flow our of it, before they take various infu&s;ions from tho&s;e veins of the earth they run through. They ta&s;te the joys of Fathers, Brothers and Friends, in
<PB N="321" REF="151">
loving him, who is every thing to pure love: Thus being in the &s;tate which the <HI>Prophet</HI> &s;ays, &s;hall be rai&s;ed above the <HI>al|titudes</HI> or <HI>elevations of the earth,</HI> they live in the &s;cent and odour of the blo&s;&s;oms of the Tree of Life, of which they are promi&s;ed to eat the fruit in the Paradice of God; For our Supreme beatitude, is the contemplation of God, ripe, and gathered in the maturity of the full vi&s;ion of his E&s;&s;ence, &s;o as one of the &s;weete&s;t fruits of Glory, is a perfect and con|&s;ummate Contemplation.</P>
<P>They then who live in this holy Garden of Speculation, may be &s;aid to be already under the &s;hady leaves of the Tree of Life; this &s;tate of &s;eparation from the world, &s;eem|ing to be in &s;uch an order and relation to the &s;upreme beati|tude, as <HI>Adams Paradice</HI> was to Heaven, as it is in a maner of integrity of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">a&s;e, and pa&s;&s;eth away out of this life by a kinde of tran&s;lation to glory. They live in the Suburbs of the cele&s;tial <HI>Jeru&s;alem, who&s;e &s;treets are paved with fine gold;</HI> and the&s;e &s;uburbs in proportion are paved with refined &s;ilver, which is a proportionate purity here, to that perfect Charity wherein it terminates within the gates of the City. So as we may &s;ay of this kinde of &s;eparation from the world (which is an a&s;cending upon <HI>Jacobs Ladder) Truly, this is no</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 28.</NOTE> <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">her but the hou&s;e of God, and the gate of Heaven.</HI></P>
<P>Of &s;uch Souls that live but at this little di&s;tance from their home, while they are &s;till advancing from vertue to vertue, we may &s;ay with the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t, Ble&s;&s;ed are tho&s;e</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 88. 10.</NOTE> <HI>&s;ouls which know this jubilation, they &s;hall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance, and in thy Name they &s;hall rejoyce all the day, and in thy Righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;hall they be exalted&punc;</HI> It is ea&s;ie to &s;ay much in exalting this happy &s;tate of <HI>Solitude;</HI> all the &s;pace between Earth and the empyreal Heaven, the &s;eat of the ble&s;|&s;ed, being the &s;cope we have to extend our thoughts upon: For no exageration that &s;tays &s;hort of the &s;ight of God, can go too far in the endearment of this ble&s;&s;ed condition, as they who have read the lives of many <HI>Saints</HI> who have lived in this Region, will ea&s;ily confe&s;s.</P>
<P><PB N="322" REF="152">
I mu&s;t confe&s;s my &s;elf very unable to &s;ay anything in order to direction, either how to walk in the&s;e Suburbs of Heaven, or how to finde the be&s;t way to them; yet as one may print a good Map of a Countrey, or &s;tamp of a City, and neither know the &s;treets and pa&s;&s;ages in it, nor the ways in the Countrey that lead to it; experience in both being requi&s;ite for this capacity: So though I am not at all acquainted with the purity of this kinde of <HI>Solitude,</HI> knowing it onely by &s;ight, as having &s;een it in the Images of &s;ome <HI>Saints,</HI> I may have taken off this impre&s;&s;ion hand&s;omly, without any pra|ctical skill in this Divine Exerci&s;e of Contemplation; there|fore I will onely &s;ay of it as a <HI>Holy man</HI> did of the <HI>Apoca|lyp&s;e, I admire it in what I do under&s;tand, and al&s;o what I do not under&s;tand, in honor of what I do:</HI> For truly the my&s;tery of this Angelical life, is like the white Stone promi&s;ed in the <HI>Apocalyp&s;e,</HI> in which a new Name is written, which none <NOTE PLACE="marg">Apoc. 2. 17.</NOTE> know, but they that receive it: So that I can &s;ay nothing to inform &s;uch as have received this white precious kinde of life, onely admire their felicity, who (like <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> conver&s;ing with God) &s;ee the hinder parts of him in this life, and have as it were the earne&s;t given them of that which S. <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Neither eye hath &s;een, nor ear hath heard, nor hath it entred into the heart of man,</HI> the joy, I mean, of contemplating the Di|vine E&s;&s;ence face to face in the light of glory.</P>
<P>What I may pre&s;ume to &s;ay pertinently in order to my de&s;ign, is to de&s;ire, That all men be very advi&s;ed in the di|&s;cernment of their vocation to this excellent kinde of <HI>Soli|tude,</HI> and to proceed as <HI>Samuel</HI> did, by <HI>Eli</HI>'s advice, in an|&s;wer to the voyce, not to pre&s;ume upon their fir&s;t interior motions, though never &s;o clear, but to &s;tay for the iteration and pre&s;&s;ure of the &s;ame voyce often &s;peaking to them, and not to re&s;olve any thing finally, but by conformity to &s;ome Spiritual direction, to the end an acceptation of this excellent cour&s;e may rather be the per&s;wa&s;ion of Humility and Obedi|ence, then any promptitude or fervor of our temper and complexion: For the voice of God to this vocation, may ea&s;i|ly
<PB N="323" REF="152">
be mi&s;taken, as the <HI>Jews</HI> took that which was a voice from Heaven for Thunder onely, &s;o many take that for the voyce of God, which indeed is but the thunder of their own con|&s;titution; &s;ome Spiritual fervors (compo&s;ed of the vapors of their Nature, that lie under the clouds of the world) break|ing out into &s;ome loud di&s;content; which noi&s;e of our hu|mors is often taken for the voyce of Grace.</P>
<P>But this vocation is not &s;o likely to be in the great wind of our fir&s;t Spiritual impul&s;es, or in the fla&s;hes of our new fer|vor, as in the gentle ayr and breath which the <HI>Prophet</HI> found the Spirit of God in; that is, in a &s;oft and equal temper of Humility, and diffidence on the power and vertue of our na|tural propen&s;ions; <HI>not to tru&s;t every Spirit, but to try the Spirit,</HI> is the be&s;t advice in this great undertaking, and to bring it to the te&s;t of a prudent Spiritual Director, who may upon due examination te&s;tifie to our Spirit, that this is the voyce of the eternal <HI>Word,</HI> which pronounceth this, <HI>Follow me.</HI> And when we have truly heard this voyce, and an&s;wered to it by a &s;elf|abnegation, then the hundred-fold which he a&s;&s;igned even in this life, is paid in the relinqui&s;hment of all, and di&s;&s;ociation from the world, by this union with him, who is &s;o much a|bove all we leave, as he is all we can wi&s;h to have.</P>
<P>This is all I can contribute to the reverential e&s;timation of this be&s;t &s;ort of Solitude; and &s;ince the ble&s;&s;edne&s;s of it is much above my report, I will leave it with the <HI>Queen</HI> of <HI>She|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">a's</HI> admiration, and prai&s;e of the Ma&s;ter of this &s;o well or|dered <HI>Solitude,</HI> who is greater then <HI>Solomon, Happy are thy men, and happy are thy &s;ervants, which &s;tand thus continually before thee, and hear thy wi&s;dom.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="18" TYPE="treatise">
<PB N="324" REF="153">
<HEAD>The eighteenth Treati&s;e. Of a mixt &s;ort, or of Neutral Solitude; Divided into three Sections.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Explaining this term, by exhibiting the &s;tate of Mans Will in his elections.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>NOw I have, as I conceive, rather paid my Devotion in this Saintly life of <HI>Solitude,</HI> then contributed any thing by my te&s;timony to the beatification of it, I &s;hall de&s;cend to the other two, which are more terre&s;tial, and of my familiar, acquaintance. Wherefore I may hope to give &s;ome more pertinent information of the nature of them; for as I may truly &s;ay, <HI>I have neither learnt wi&s;dom,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 30. 3. Ecclu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. 34. 12.</NOTE> <HI>nor have I the knowledge of the Saints;</HI> &s;o I may al&s;o own, That <HI>I have &s;een many things by erring,</HI> and going a&s;tray, whereby I have found, that the &s;en&s;itive part hath often an equal voyce with the rational, in the election of this &s;econd &s;tate of Solitude, which I have &s;tated as Neutral, and &s;o will treat of it in the middle, between tho&s;e two I have termed <HI>Voluntary</HI> and <HI>Violent,</HI> as mixed and partaking of them both.</P>
<P>What hath been &s;aid of the great Patron of <HI>Solitude, John Bapti&s;t,</HI> may, in my conceit, &s;ort well with this parti|cular I now de&s;cribe; to wit, That <HI>he was the Horizon of the Law and the Go&s;pel,</HI> his &s;tate being a kinde of middle Circle that did divide tho&s;e two Haemi&s;pheres, touching upon each of them: Such a po&s;ition doth this <HI>Neutral Solitude</HI> &s;eem
<PB N="325" REF="153">
to have, of being an <HI>Horizon</HI> between the two &s;tates, of pure|ly <HI>Voluntary,</HI> and <HI>Violent Solitude,</HI> as it is a middle term be|tween both of them, which parteth and di&s;terminateth them from one another, and partaketh of either of them: For indeed it toucheth both upon Freedom and Con&s;traint; on the fir&s;t, as it is an act of Election; on the latter, as it is an effect of &s;ome exterior compul&s;ion, which notwith&s;tanding it cannot fully di&s;train the will, yet it lays &s;uch forcible mo|tives upon it, as carry away the election in a po&s;ture mixed between Con&s;ent and Coaction; and this is the maner of our willing in many occa&s;ions, when our Imagination &s;ug|ge&s;teth to our Will &s;ome apparent good, under the form of Real, and moving this choyce in a kinde of imperious maner of per&s;wa&s;ion, carrieth the election, which although it be always voluntary in the act, yet may be &s;aid to be vio|lent in re&s;pect of the means that wrought it; fora&s;much as that voluntary act holds more of the imperfection, then of the perfection of Free-wil, as being an act contrary to the or|der of Rea&s;on, thatdoth dictate rather the choyce of the real good, then the apparent, which is preferred in this election.</P>
<P>To elucidate this point, we may con&s;ider, That the An|gels now cannot make &s;uch a choyce, in re&s;pect their free|acts are always perfect and regulated by right Rea&s;on, though before they did &s;ee God it was not &s;o, as in <HI>Lucifer</HI> is clear: when therefore &s;uch a vote is pa&s;&s;ed by our Will, it mu&s;t needs argue a kinde of violence and tyranny indeed excer&s;eded over our Rea&s;on; and con&s;equently this choyce partaketh of violence in point of perfection of the act, how|ever it is likewi&s;e voluntary, in the order of our imperfect Natures, that are le&s;s truly free then Angels; albeit we may be &s;aid to have an exten&s;ion of liberty above them, <HI>viz.</HI> that we can choo&s;e as well to do evil as good, which amplitude argueth in effect imperfection and deficiency of liberty, no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> any compleatment or perfection thereof: And for this rea|&s;on, That by the order of Nature, the under&s;tanding ought to command in all rational elections; wherefore it is rather
<PB N="326" REF="154">
a regulation of Nature to re&s;train the Will unto Rea&s;on, then any violence upon Free-will, to have it &s;o confined or re&s;trained.</P>
<P>In proof whereof we may con&s;ider, That even mans Will (which is now <HI>in via</HI> rebellious, when it cometh to be perfectionated in Heaven, or <HI>in patria,</HI> as Divines call it) will be reduced into this order and conformity; &s;o while we finde this order inverted by the irregularity of our corrupt|ed Nature, we may &s;ay many of our voluntary acts partake of a kinde of violence, when by the predominating of our Will over our Rea&s;on, they are rendred acts imperfect, how|ever we may call them free: From whence ari&s;eth this mix|ed amphibious kinde of election, which neverthele&s;s doth not infringe the liberty of the Will, &s;ince that electeth al|ways freely; for no force of motives can ri&s;e to a direct compul&s;ion of the Will: and the efficacy of extrin&s;ecal impre&s;&s;ions, in this ca&s;e, may be fairly illu&s;trated by Gods maner of working upon the Will, which he moveth effica|ciou&s;ly to his own end, yet freely in order to her Natures pre&s;erving his power and her liberty. After &s;uch a &s;ort do external Motives very often carry the elective faculty of the Minde to &s;ome choyces and re&s;olutions, moving the Will with efficacy, and withal conveying it with freedom to the determination: And this is the ca&s;e (I &s;uppo&s;e) of what I term <HI>Neutral,</HI> or <HI>Mixed Solitude,</HI> when any exterior injury from the world pre&s;&s;eth the Will vehemently, to elect this &s;tate of life, which is often cho&s;en, as in this mixed Di&s;|po&s;ition hath been repre&s;ented: Wherefore the chief in|tendment of this Di&s;cour&s;e, &s;hall be to furni&s;h the Will with &s;uch precautions, as may fortifie her again&s;t &s;uch violent a&s;|&s;aults of the Imagination in this act of &s;o great importance.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<PB N="327" REF="154">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Treating divers Motives that &s;olicite this vocation.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>THe Soul of man being the &s;eat of the Divine Image in Humane Nature, the in&s;tinct of &s;ociablene&s;s may be &s;aid to be the eye, or the &s;ight of the Divine Image in it; for as the eye is the organ of light, which conveyeth to us the chiefe&s;t &s;ociety of all material things (and thence is the noble&s;t maner of Commerce the Body hath with the World, as con&s;equently the worthie&s;t por|tion of our &s;en&s;itive Nature) So the in&s;tinct and Natural ap|petency of Society, is the noble&s;t faculty of our intellectual: For by Society we receive all our rational light, as by the Eye we take all vi&s;ible &s;pecies; and the love of company is not imprinted in us &s;o much for our own private &s;olace, as for the &s;upport of the common frame of Humane Society: So that the &s;ociablene&s;s of Humane Nature, is in order to the con&s;ervation and comfort of the whole, by a conveni|ent union of the parts: And the &s;ame rea&s;ons that require a due di&s;po&s;ition of the &s;everal parts of our Natural body, for the decency and health of it, hold in the con&s;titution of the Spiritual frame of our Nature, &s;o as the love of Society <NOTE PLACE="marg">Definition of order.</NOTE> is referred to the con&s;tituting of order, which con&s;i&s;teth al|ways of parts, and is nothing but a due mar&s;halling and ranking of divers and di&s;tinct portions, either in material things, or rational de&s;igns.</P>
<P>Whereupon, &s;ince order is in Nature the final end of this impre&s;&s;ion of the love of Society, an inordinate love of Company may be out of the order of the &s;ociablene&s;s of Humane Nature, as it may aim onely at &s;ome propriety that re&s;pecteth &s;ome &s;uch &s;ingle de&s;ire, as is much &s;evered from the common good of Society: and &s;o many &s;elf-a&s;&s;ign|ments
<PB N="328" REF="155">
may be in this re&s;pect &s;aid rather to tend properly to Singularity then Society. According to this rule all the bu&s;ie negotiation of our pa&s;&s;ions, in the world, do rather break the chain of Society, then make part in the connexion, though they &s;eem the onely rings and links whereof it is framed. Hence is it we &s;o often &s;ee unruly and di&s;orderly activity, and pur&s;uit of &s;ome appropriation, occa&s;ion a &s;epa|ration from the world, as falling out with it upon the reje|ction of &s;ome unduly affected propriety: And upon the&s;e terms many do often break with the world, and retire in de|fiance of all other company, after this defeature of their particular pretence; and &s;o in effect they rather flie from the world upon a repul&s;e in their a&s;&s;ault, then leave it in neg|lect of what it po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth: Wherefore in this quarrel with the worlds party, many do often change their &s;ide at fir&s;t in de&s;pight, rather then their minde in a &s;incere di&s;tance of their affections from it; yet on our fir&s;t e&s;trangement from the world, upon difference with it, God is &s;o Divinely compa&s;|&s;ionate, as he doth not upbraid us with our fir&s;t infidelity, in adhering &s;o firmly to the advers party in all our &s;ucce&s;s|fulne&s;&s;es, which we take as the pay of his enemies.</P>
<P>All which truly under&s;tood, are but the exce&s;&s;es of Gods plenitude, who can afford even to his enemies, as his wa&s;te and redundancy, the&s;e his temporal Bounties, &s;ince <HI>The earth is his, and the fulne&s;s thereof:</HI> In&s;omuch as the infinitene&s;s of the Divine goodne&s;s, is very often manife&s;ted mo&s;t in the reception of &s;uch as come in to him, upon the worlds ca&s;hiering of them: For God accepts even his enemies <HI>Reformado's,</HI> and preferreth them often to great Tru&s;ts in his hou&s;e.</P>
<P>We cannot therefore di&s;countenance this breach with the world, though at fir&s;t it be not in direct order to the follow|ing of <HI>Chri&s;t;</HI> for he to whom St. <HI>John</HI> forbade the ca&s;ting <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 9. 50.</NOTE> out of Devils, becau&s;e he was not of <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> train, was not|with&s;tanding authorized by <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> him&s;elf: God re&s;olveth often (in this ca&s;e of an indirect addre&s;s to him) as <HI>Chri&s;t</HI>
<PB N="329" REF="155">
an&s;wered St. <HI>John,</HI> in the forecited occa&s;ion, He taketh <HI>tho&s;e to be for him, who are not again&s;t him:</HI> for many of &s;uch who are but &s;o near <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> &s;ide as a declaration again&s;t the world, he doth often retain and &s;etle in his &s;ervice.</P>
<P>S. <HI>Pauls</HI> Charity was a copy of this his Ma&s;ters, who rejoy|ced at an acce&s;&s;ion to <HI>Chri&s;t, whether it were either by pretence,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 1.</NOTE> <HI>or in truth:</HI> So God is glorified in &s;ome degree in many &s;uch relinqui&s;hments of the world, which have at fir&s;t more ani|mo&s;ity then &s;incerity of Devotion; becau&s;e this defiance hath always &s;ome apparence of victory over the world, which &s;till gives a kinde of alarm to the worlds party, and &s;hews them the contempt of the world, &s;tanding before them in &s;uch a po&s;ture, as &s;tirs up &s;ome reflexion upon the de|&s;picablene&s;s of it, or at lea&s;t upon the di&s;tre&s;&s;es and dangers in it, and &s;o moves, in &s;ome mea&s;ure, towards a con&s;ultation on their e&s;tates.</P>
<P>Yet do I not upon this foundation advi&s;e any ha&s;ty incon|&s;iderate <HI>Seque&s;tration</HI> of our &s;elves from the world, though there are many (who like &s;ome criminal and <HI>Banditi</HI> retiring into the the <HI>Sanctuary</HI> onely for &s;afety) have by the frequent|ing Gods dome&s;ticks, been &s;incerely converted into the fa|mily, and have taken up the arms of the Spirit, with which they have combated onely the re&s;t of their life again&s;t them|&s;elves by continual mortification. In this maner many (up|on civil enmities with the world) have (in their retreat out of it, and taking the Sanctuary of <HI>Solitude)</HI> found by de|grees that Sanctification, which at fir&s;t they did not chiefly &s;eek, as God &s;aid to the <HI>Prophet, I am &s;ought of tho&s;e that asked</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;aiah.</NOTE> <HI>not for me before; and I am found of them that &s;ought me not:</HI> This was the ca&s;e of many who &s;ought <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> at fir&s;t, meerly for recoveries from incurable di&s;ea&s;es, by the worlds Art, which had given them over, and found Spiritual reparations of their Souls, above what they projected. Many &s;uch bedrid Pal|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ies, benumb'd and &s;tupified in their pa&s;&s;ions, which are fain to be carried out of the world, by the violent hands of di|vers afflictions, being brought to <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> into &s;uch &s;olitudes
<PB N="330" REF="156">
wherein he doth mo&s;t manife&s;tly re&s;ide, receive not onely the cure of their pa&s;&s;ions, which they &s;ought chiefly at fir&s;t, but are often &s;taid and &s;caled with a Divine impre&s;&s;ion of the contempt of the whole world, and a &s;incere con&s;ecration of them&s;elves to Spiritual affections.</P>
<P>This happeneth when God in &s;ome rare ca&s;es u&s;eth in|&s;trumentally the worlds &s;harp tools, as fit and proportionate to work on &s;ome &s;tony hearts, wherein his Image is much defaced, which he hath notwith&s;tanding from all eternity de&s;igned for figures to &s;tand in his hou&s;e: But &s;uch are pre|cedents of Gods Mercy, to reverence onely, not to relie upon; for <HI>God</HI> (as the <HI>Prophet</HI> &s;aith) <HI>doth often take out a &s;tony heart, and put one of fle&s;h in the room of it;</HI> whence the <HI>Apo|&s;tle</HI> telleth us, <HI>He hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 9. 18</NOTE> <HI>he hardeneth;</HI> yet he will harden none, but &s;uch, as like fire|&s;tones, re&s;i&s;t and grow harder by the heat of his love, or the flames of his judgements, which he hath fir&s;t applyed to &s;often them. They who &s;tudy Gods hand in all the va|rious de&s;igns and colourings of his Works, &s;hall di&s;cern it even in all tho&s;e pieces of Providence, which are of &s;uch different maners, as have made many mi&s;takes in the world upon this Conclu&s;ion.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. III.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>How God worketh, and how the Devil coun|termineth in this vocation, wherein a &s;afe cour&s;e is directed.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>THere is no notion under which we can more apply look upon God, then as a Phy&s;ician to our weak Nature: He who knows all the properties of Actives and Pa&s;&s;ives, applyes to all con&s;titutions their proper reme|dies; and as &s;ome Medicines are not proper both for Bea&s;ts
<PB N="331" REF="156">
and Man, in regard of their different tempers; So for bruti&s;h &s;en&s;ual per&s;ons, there are required &s;tronger Drugs, then to more rea&s;onable and ingenious di&s;po&s;itions. The Word of God makes this difference often between voluptuous and &s;en&s;ual habitudes, and between pious and vertuous con&s;ti|tutions, calling the one Dogs, and the other Children; wherefore as the Phy&s;icians mini&s;ter to &s;ome tempers onely &s;uch Drugs which they call <HI>Benedicta,</HI> ble&s;&s;ed &s;imples, which work kindly, and yet effectually upon them, &amp; to others they are fain to pre&s;cribe <HI>Minerals,</HI> and more violent Ingredients to move them: So there are &s;ome &s;uch in&s;en&s;ible habits of minde, as Gods <HI>Benedicta,</HI> his Ble&s;&s;ings, and his gentle voyce of vocation doth not move; but their &s;trong Na|ture rather works upon them, and alters them, turning them into the nouri&s;hment of their pa&s;&s;ions, while all their tem|poral Benedictions are converted into aliment of their &s;en|&s;ualities.</P>
<P>Therefore to &s;uch indurate tempers, God mini&s;ters often rude and violent Minerals, &s;o unprepared, as they &s;eem to the world to be poy&s;ons; the&s;e we may call Affronts, Lo&s;&s;es, Di&s;honors, and all kinde of Di&s;appointments: and the&s;e violent compo&s;itions work upon their Natures, and alter it, by which their cure is performed; &s;o that oftentimes the worlds Injuries prove R<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ceits mini&s;tred, when it intends ruines: For while the enemies of our Nature, <HI>viz.</HI> all kinde of cro&s;&s;es and vexations &s;eem to cha&s;e us out of the field, they convey us into that retreat whereunto God hath de|&s;igned us. This is a frequent contrivement by Gods Pro|vidence, to &s;ecure his friends by the cha&s;e and pur&s;uit of his enemies, and theirs; as he pre&s;erved <HI>David</HI> from acting again&s;t him, by the malevolence of the Princes of the <HI>Phi|li&s;tines,</HI> who thought they had &s;hamed him, by rejecting and ca&s;ting him out of their Troops, when indeed they pre|&s;erved him innocent, from &s;taining him&s;elf in the blood of his Brethren. So God excites very familiarly the ad|ver&s;ities of this world, to remove, and &s;eemingly to expel
<PB N="332" REF="157">
his &s;ervants out of it, to deliver them from the guilt of loving the world, providing thus again&s;t their longer en|gagement with his Adver&s;ary, who is the Prince of this World.</P>
<P>And as God vouch&s;afes to &s;erve him&s;elf &s;ometimes of the &s;torms which the Prince of the Ayr rai&s;eth in this world, by making them carry &s;uch wracks upon his coa&s;t of <HI>Soli|tude,</HI> as he de&s;igns to &s;ave with the lo&s;s onely of their tem|poral fraights: So the Prince of the World doth &s;ometime make u&s;e of this Shore, for the ca&s;ting away of many, to whom he &s;hews it as a &s;ecure harbor or &s;helter which they have under their Lee, and can reach when they plea&s;e, upon any di&s;tre&s;s of weather: And thus as an Angel of Light, he promi&s;eth this Sanctuary, of retiring to God as a &s;ecurity which cannot fail, even after all the provocations of him, whereby he per&s;wades many to &s;port them&s;elves with him in his large alleys, in the days of their youth and fortune; <HI>Leave no flower ungathered</HI> (as the <HI>Wi&s;e man</HI> &s;ays) <HI>of th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">s &s;ea&s;on.</HI> And when either the winter of Nature, or of Fortune, hath withered and bla&s;ted all tho&s;e &s;weets, then it is time enough to retire to Gods cover for &s;helter, who refu&s;eth no &s;ort of Refugiats.</P>
<P>The&s;e in&s;inuations do work with many, &s;o as to em|bolden them to live profu&s;ely upon the pre&s;ent &s;tock of their Time and Fortune, with this purpo&s;e, of taking San|ctuary either at &s;ome a&s;&s;igned time of their Age, or upon any pre&s;&s;ing Contingency. Hence is it, that taking their Councel of Gods Enemy, he pre&s;ents &s;uch Clients to him, as have robb'd him all their life, in a purpo&s;e to repair to him for protection again&s;t the Law, and exemption from his hand of Ju&s;tice; and thus, in effect, the hou&s;e of Prayer is turned, and de&s;igned by &s;uch Projectors, to be but an har|bor of Theeves.</P>
<P>How often doth the Prince of Darkne&s;s amu&s;e many with this falacy, who walk with him in his large alleys, even by this light he &s;hews them, by which they conceive to &s;ee
<PB N="333" REF="157">
a &s;afe i&s;&s;ue out of this broad way, into the narrow paths of the Kingdom of Light? But alas! how many lo&s;e them|&s;elves in this labyrinth, and are founder'd in this calm Sea of the world, even while they have this coa&s;t of retreat, and Solitude in their eye? And how many others, who are entred into the Port, &s;ink there, by tho&s;e leaks they bring in with them, never being able to &s;top tho&s;e overtures in their mindes, through which worldly affections and pa&s;&s;ions &s;oak continually into their thoughts &s;ome ill habit or other, &s;till keeping intelligence with the world? And for this cau&s;e many either revolt back openly to it, or el&s;e hold &s;ome private treacherous corre&s;pondence with it, in a nau&s;eou&s;ne&s;s and di&s;ta&s;te of all Spiritual aliment, and a tepid irre&s;olution between breaking off and holding on that cour&s;e; and re|maining in this nau&s;eou&s;ne&s;s, we know how di&s;agreeable this temper is to Gods &s;tomack; &s;o that many pre&s;uming to take this Water of Tryal, being polluted by a long co-habitation with temporal loves, it proves to them rather pu|trifaction, then purgation; and their mindes, in &s;tead of a Spiritual conception and improvement, break out into an un&s;ound and fruitle&s;s di&s;&s;ipation.</P>
<P>Likewi&s;e as this deceitful project of relinqui&s;hing the world, is often preferred by the Father of Lyes to many &s;en&s;ual and bruti&s;h lives; &s;o, me thinks, it hath this proper|ty, common to many Animals, who believe when they have hid their head, that their whole body is covered, becau&s;e &s;uch whom St. <HI>Jude calls bru<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e bea&s;ts,</HI> &s;eem to conclude, that when their bodies &s;hall be retired and &s;eque&s;tred from the world, their mindes are removed and e&s;tranged from it: But they quickly finde the brutality of that opinion, by the blows and wounds wherewith the Images of the world a&s;|&s;ault and charge their mindes; by this di&s;abu&s;e they perceive her nakedne&s;s and expo&s;ure to all tho&s;e vexations from which they thought them&s;elves guarded and covered; and God, who regards only the po&s;ture and nearne&s;s of the heart <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 30.</NOTE> to him, doth adjudge a puni&s;hment &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ted to this pre&s;umption,
<PB N="334" REF="158">
in revenge of their promi&s;ing them&s;elves the being able to carry their mindes out of the world into his Sanctuary at their own a&s;&s;ignments; he often receives the body onely, and leaves the minde &s;till in this habitual loo&s;ne&s;s, making the bodies divi&s;ion in this &s;eparation from the world, the revenger of this pre&s;umption of adventuring to di&s;po&s;e of one of the mo&s;t dear properties of Grace, namely, the re|treat of our mindes by the right of Nature: For nothing is more peculiar to Grace, then to impart the joy and peace of the Spirit, in a &s;tate of contradiction to all the ca&s;es of the Fle&s;h.</P>
<P>It is in &s;ome &s;ort a de&s;ign of <HI>Simony,</HI> to expect the gifts of the <HI>Holy Spirit,</HI> upon the exchange of a local tran&s;action of our per&s;ons. Holy <HI>King David</HI> had not onely &s;tept into the way, but <HI>was running in the way of God, when he had his heart dilated and enlarged unto him,</HI> &s;o as his Fle&s;h and his Spirit both joyned in an exultation in the living God: Therefore it is very u&s;eful Animadver&s;ion, not to relie upon the Covenants of our own private Spirit for the conveyance of this &s;o happy condition to us, of a godly retreat and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e|po&s;ure of our &s;elves, &s;ince the more Nature promi&s;eth, the le&s;s intere&s;t &s;he hath in it, this &s;elf-arrogation being an evidence again&s;t our title to this po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of Grace.</P>
<P>Upon the&s;e con&s;iderations I may advi&s;e &s;uch as are come to labor under the burthen of their mundanities (which they have been le&s;s cautious in loading them&s;elves with, in re&s;pect of this final di&s;charge they have propo&s;ed) to remember when they come to <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> to be disburthened that precedent in the <HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> which relates aptly to their ca&s;es, which is, that of the ten <HI>Lepers,</HI> who when they came to <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> &s;tood after off, and lifted up their voyces with, <HI>JESUS have mercy upon us;</HI> the con&s;ciou&s;ne&s;s of their pollution, kept them at <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 17.</NOTE> that reverend di&s;tance: And <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> an&s;wer in this ca&s;e is a very pertinent direction to &s;uch Spiritual <HI>Lep<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">s, Go, and &s;how your &s;elves to the Prie&s;ts,</HI> take advi&s;e of Gods Mini&s;ters, and their opinions of the cl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">anne&s;s and purity of their inten|tions,
<PB N="335" REF="158">
before they venture into the communion of this <HI>San|ctuary</HI> of holy <HI>Solitude,</HI> otherwi&s;e their pre&s;ent offering may prove of as ill an odour as their former Sacriledge.</P>
<P>If the&s;e Animadver&s;ions meet likewi&s;e with any &s;uch as are not urged by the pre&s;&s;ure of their Con&s;ciences, but ra|ther &s;olicited &s;o much by their natural temper and di&s;po&s;i|tion to privacy and retiredne&s;s, as upon the lea&s;t provoca|tion of the world they are apt to break with it, the&s;e humors are de&s;ired to &s;tay and pau&s;e <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">riou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ly and long on this &s;ug|ge&s;tion; for this may often be the operation of Melancholy which works this ha&s;ty promptitude: And as Melancholy is the highe&s;t degree of choler in the Humors; &s;o in the&s;e ha&s;ty &s;allies out of the &s;ociety of the world, there may well be more Natural Humor, then Spiritual Di&s;po&s;ition, and &s;o this be rather a Di&s;ea&s;e, then a devout Con&s;titution: Wherefore like &s;ick men that forbear food long, while the Humor is con&s;uming, the&s;e retreaters may for &s;ome time live quietly, as long as this Humor of the worlds di&s;reli&s;h is wa&s;ting and &s;pending it &s;elf; but after that is dige&s;ted, the appetite of the world returns, and likely gnaws upon their peace, they having no natural food for it. Hence is it that &s;uch complexions ought to be very advi&s;ed in this their a&s;&s;igning of them&s;elves, according to the propen&s;ity of their Humors, which per&s;wades them often, that what is indeed but the <HI>Ec<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ho</HI> of their own voyce of Nature which &s;peaks in them, is a Spiritual vocation: For their Natural Con&s;ti|tution raifeth that de&s;ire in their imaginative part, which cau&s;eth a little repetition and an&s;wer of it in the Judiciary and Rational power of their minde; but it is rather from the hollowne&s;s of their rea&s;on, then the &s;olidity of it, that this Eccho is returned.</P>
<P>The re&s;ult therefore of all the&s;e Examinations of &s;everal Ca&s;es, mu&s;t be, Not to conduct our &s;elves by the prece|dents of &s;pecial extraordinary vocations of &s;ome, whom <HI>Chri&s;t hath &s;ent for out of the &s;treets and by-ways of the world,</HI> that is, immediately from the foulne&s;s and immundicity of
<PB N="336" REF="159">
their lives, and by his Me&s;&s;engers of Cro&s;&s;es and Afflictions, <HI>compelled them to come into his hou&s;e:</HI> For the&s;e Ca&s;es are pre|rogatives <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 17. 23.</NOTE> of Gods Grace, which do not alter the known Laws that are enacted by him; by which Laws we ought to try our vocations, to wit, by the mature advice of tho&s;e Judges he hath &s;eated in his Tribunal upon Earth, <HI>his Church;</HI> and by their Sentences to make the tryal of all our own pri|vate impul&s;es or motions of our Spirit, to this di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion and abnegation of the world&punc;</P>
<P><HI>Chri&s;t</HI> him&s;elf hath ruled this ca&s;e in an excellent <HI>Parable,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 14. 28.</NOTE> <HI>of one that builds a Tower,</HI> which is properly adopted to the de&s;ign of a contemplative life, as it is the erection of a frame of life, rai&s;ed high above the other parts of the Earth, and intended for pro&s;pect and di&s;covery; &s;o that none mu&s;t un|dertake this edifice, but after computation of the pertinen|cies requi&s;ite for the fini&s;hment, le&s;t they expo&s;e them&s;elves to the reproach, of <HI>having begun what they were not able to fini&s;h;</HI> and this reckoning and account of our provi&s;ion, mu&s;t be made by the con&s;ulting of a prudent Spiritual Surveyor, not tru&s;ting to the Architecture of our own Spirit, in which we mu&s;t zealou&s;ly, often and humbly con&s;ult the eternal <HI>Ar|chitect</HI> of all Spiritual frames, for a &s;incere di&s;cernment of his order, in the regulating our own de&s;igns, with this ad|dre&s;s of the cautious Spirit of <HI>Holy David, Lord, grant me</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 142.</NOTE> <HI>to know the way wherein I &s;hould walk; for I have lifted up my &s;oul to thee.</HI></P>
<P>This parting and &s;eparation from our own Will, is the fir&s;t leave we mu&s;t take in our valediction to the world; and this is not to be done by a ha&s;ty di&s;mi&s;&s;ion of it, for &s;o it is but a weight thrown upward, which is fa&s;tened to us, and falls quickly back again; therefore it mu&s;t be loo&s;ened and &s;evered by degrees, and &s;teeped, as it were, in the fre&s;h &s;pring|ing water of Prayer and Mortification, whereby it will peel and fall away the ea&s;ilier: Some per&s;everence in this di&s;po&s;ition is requi&s;ite, to blanch and whiten the intention perfectly. St. <HI>Pauls</HI> advice for our preparation for the <HI>Holy
<PB N="337" REF="159">
communion,</HI> is, me thinks, very properly applicable to this our preparation, for participating of this Spiritual food; for Religious <HI>Solitude</HI> is the Table of the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t:</HI> Therefore, let <HI>a man examine him&s;elf,</HI> and then eat of this <HI>bread of life,</HI> for he that pre&s;umes to ta&s;te of it unworthily, may be truly impeached as guilty of much irreverence to the <HI>Holy Spirit,</HI> in venturing to come to the Communion of his Gifts and Graces ra&s;hly, without a due con&s;ulting of his invitation.</P>
<P>I need not urge our precaution and advi&s;edne&s;s in this ca&s;e farther, &s;ince our temerity in it is brought to be a kinde of Sin again&s;t the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t:</HI> Whereupon I will clo&s;e up this Ad|verti&s;ement in St. <HI>Johns</HI> words, <HI>Beloved, believe not every Spi|rit,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 John 4.</NOTE> <HI>but try the Spirits, whether they be of God;</HI> for many fal&s;e promi&s;es of this Spirit of an happy Solitude, are current in the world, it being truer in no ca&s;e then in this, <HI>It is not of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 9.</NOTE> <HI>him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God who &s;heweth mercy.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="19" TYPE="treatise">
<PB N="338" REF="160">
<HEAD>The nineteenth Treati&s;e. Of Violent Solitude, or Clo&s;e Im|pri&s;onment; Divided into eight Sections.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>How unwillingly our Nature &s;ubmits to the lo&s;s of Liberty and Society.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>IN the ca&s;e we treated la&s;t, the Will needed a premonition again&s;t the deception of &s;ight; for our Will in fits of Melancholy, looketh commonly through the gla&s;s of our Imagination, upon &s;uch objects as flatter that humor mo&s;t: This Per&s;pective of our Fancy is often cut into &s;uch angles, as repre&s;ent various and fal&s;e colours of per&s;wa|&s;ions, wherewith the Will is inveigled, &s;uch &s;pecies proving not real when our Rea&s;on cometh &s;trictly to over&s;ee them. Therefore in the election of Solitude, the elective faculty was to be in&s;tructed again&s;t the falacies of di&s;cour&s;e, upon which, the Re&s;olution is to be grounded; but this ca&s;e re|quireth a different direction: For here, the be&s;t cour&s;e the Will can take to rectitude, is, to be totally blinded and ciel|ed, that &s;he may make the &s;traighter mount upward to the eternal Will, and not amu&s;e or perplex her &s;elf by looking about, with a &s;olicitous in&s;pection into &s;econd cau&s;es, but may pitch at the fir&s;t flight upon the primary cau&s;e of all Contingencies.</P>
<P>Our Nature requireth much precaution in this aptitude, to intangle us under the pretext of infranchi&s;ement, by the
<PB N="339" REF="160">
liberty of rea&s;oning out the Cau&s;es of all advers Accidents; for in this ca&s;e of lo&s;s of Liberty and Company, our Na|ture likely &s;eizeth on curious di&s;qui&s;itions of all Humane Rea&s;ons, as the next thing &s;he takes hold on, to make com|pany out of them, and the contrivement of i&s;&s;ues out of the&s;e &s;traights, is a &s;ort of freedom our Nature takes, as &s;ome imaginary reparation in her nece&s;&s;ity; by rea&s;on wherof the&s;e are co~monly the fir&s;t occupations wherein our Fancy &s;eeketh &s;ome diverti&s;ement: and this entertainment may lighten the weight a little, by removing it to and fro in our Fancy, not letting a &s;ad apprehen&s;ion &s;etle upon our mindes; but all this agitation of di&s;cour&s;e, as long as it is but in circum|ference about this world, and in the element of &s;econdary Cau&s;es, is &s;till but a circular motion, which maketh no progre&s;&s;ion to our end: for till our mindes are ri&s;en and fix|ed upon the &s;upreme Cau&s;e, all the various projects and motions of our Fancy, are but cooling a Feaver with <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">anning upon the di&s;temper'd patient, where the ayr may afford &s;ome exterior refre&s;hment, which may be an inflaming of the di&s;|ea&s;e; but if our Will be <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">eled at fir&s;t, <HI>with the Dove of the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 54.</NOTE> <HI>P&s;almi&s;t,</HI> &s;he flyeth up immediately to her re&s;t: The &s;ooner then we &s;pread our thoughts upon the wings of Faith, the more ha&s;te we make to be lodged in re&s;t and tranquility of Spirit.</P>
<P><HI>Liberty</HI> and <HI>Society</HI> are two &s;o dear Proprieties of Humane Nature, as natural Rea&s;on can give no equivalent exchange in &s;atisfaction for them: The Author of Nature can onely recompence this privation of two of the be&s;t Functions of our being, and this by a communication of no le&s;s then his own Nature, which is, by filling up the&s;e breaches with his own Spirit, otherwi&s;e our Spirits will certainly remain empty and de&s;titute of peace and con&s;olation: For God, who made Mans Society <HI>out of Man him&s;elf,</HI> hath left the love of Company &s;o invi&s;cerated in him, as that deprive|ment &s;eemeth now to take more then a <HI>rib out of him,</HI> even the better half of his Minde &s;eems intrenched from him;
<PB N="340" REF="161">
in&s;omuch as his Rea&s;on &s;eemeth to be left but one-handed, to mini&s;ter to him in this Exigence, which would require a reduplication rather for his &s;upport; But Nature is &s;o unable to make this &s;upply, as for the redintegrating of his minde, he mu&s;t re&s;ort to a Supernatural &s;uppeditation.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The deficiency of &s;ingle Natural Rea&s;on argued for Con&s;olation in this ca&s;e; and the validity of Grace a&s;&s;erted.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>WHen I con&s;ider the &s;trange undertakings of the <HI>Philo&s;ophers,</HI> me thinks they have charactered to us the power of Natural Rea&s;on, in a fabu|lous figure or <HI>Romance,</HI> &s;etting it out as vanqui&s;hing all cor|poreal &s;en&s;iblene&s;s, armed with never &s;o many &s;trong afflicti|ons, di&s;&s;olving and di&s;inchanting all the Charms and Spells of Pa&s;&s;ions, although their characters be &s;et never &s;o power|fully again&s;t the efficacy of Rea&s;on, which they exhibite in this predominancy, di&s;per&s;ing all Errors, rectifying all oblique Opinions; thus have they fancied the &s;uperior part of the minde, inthroned in &s;uch power as may ea&s;ily blow away all ayr, even of any Sedition, that ri&s;eth in the inferior Regions of the imaginative or &s;en&s;itive faculties; Rea&s;on remaining in the po&s;ture of the Queen of the <HI>Revelation,</HI> proclaiming, <HI>I &s;it Queen, and am no Widow, and &s;hall &s;ee us &s;orrow.</HI></P>
<P>But they who account upon this Self-&s;ufficiency, &s;hall quickly finde how impracticable the&s;e &s;trong &s;peculations will prove, when they are bound, and the <HI>Phili&s;tines</HI> are upon them; that is, inclo&s;ed in Solitude, and a&s;&s;ailed by Natural di&s;tre&s;&s;es and vexations; if they &s;hall then expect &s;uch a <HI>Her|cules</HI> of their Rea&s;on, as they have &s;een painted by the <HI>Stoicks,</HI> that &s;hould break through all the&s;e Mon&s;ters, and remain
<PB N="341" REF="161">
fortified by all the&s;e labors, they will &s;oon perceive their projected &s;ecurities had more of Poetry then of Prophe&s;ie: And &s;ure I believe one that tru&s;teth to the power of Natural Rea&s;on, upon the word of Philo&s;ophy, to deliver him from all faintne&s;s or deficiency of Spirit in this &s;tate of <HI>Vio|lent Solitude,</HI> doth as if one &s;hould per&s;wade him&s;elf in&s;pired with the vertue of &s;ome fabulous <HI>Heroe,</HI> with who&s;e chara|cter he had been &s;trongly affected by reading his <HI>Romance;</HI> for when he comes to combat his vitiated Nature in this Spi|ritual atchievement, he will finde &s;uch a vanity in his &s;pecu|lation. The Fable of <HI>Ixion</HI> is a good figure of this kinde of pre&s;umption; for projecting to enjoy <HI>Juno</HI> (that is, &s;ome cele&s;tial Prerogative) they do but embrace a cloud, and by this mixture they beget nothing but <HI>Chymera's.</HI></P>
<P>Certain it is, that <HI>Chri&s;tianity</HI> doth afford &s;uch Spiritual <HI>Sam&s;ons,</HI> as carry the gates of their Pri&s;ons away upon their &s;houlders up to the Mountains, and break all their chains as flax, rai&s;ing their mindes, with the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t, up to the moun|tains,</HI> contemplating Gods Providence and his de&s;ign upon them in &s;o high a degree of re&s;ignation, as even their Pri|&s;on and their Solitude are rather Marks to them of their li|berties, then Manacles of their Spirits; but the &s;trength of &s;uch <HI>Sam&s;ons</HI> is derived from the vow, not from the veins or &s;inews of Nature: Is it by their offering up and con&s;ecrating their Rea&s;on to that Spirit, who&s;e breath <HI>over|throws all the &s;trong holds,</HI> and de&s;troyeth all the councels <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 10.</NOTE> of Self-&s;ufficiency, and repleni&s;heth the evacuation which is made of our own Rea&s;on, to make room for that infu&s;ion: therefore &s;uch victorious Spirits profe&s;s, That the <HI>weapons of their warfare are not carnal,</HI> but &s;uch as are mighty to the de|&s;troying of all the coun&s;els of humanity, <HI>and bring into captivi|ty all under&s;tanding unto the obedience of Chri&s;t;</HI> for as he him&s;elf a&s;&s;ureth us, <HI>If the Son of man make you free, you &s;hall be free in|deed:</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 8. 36.</NOTE> So that all &s;uch infranchi&s;ed mindes are convinced of the incapacity of their &s;ingle Nature, to pre&s;erve this im|munity, and acknowledge this condition to that Spirit which
<PB N="342" REF="162">
ima<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> this freedom, by the degrees of re&s;triction <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">o putteth upon them of his own bands; for <HI>where the Spirit of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 3. 17.</NOTE> <HI>our Lord is, there is liberty.</HI> This Spirit made St. <HI>Peter</HI> &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">eep &s;oundly in his chains between his two guards, that is, hold him repo&s;ing in a perfect &s;tilne<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">s of minde in all his ex<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> di&s;quiets, and pre&s;erved him in as much freedom of Spirit before his irons were &s;truck off, as after the iron gates of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> City flew open before him; even while he lay in his Dun|geon he was &s;urely in the &s;ame freedom of minde, bound in his chains, as &s;itting on his chairs of <HI>Rome</HI> and <HI>A<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">;</HI> and the <HI>Centurion</HI> that fell down before him at <HI>Ce&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">ea,</HI> con|&s;trained his Spirit more then the Soldiers between whom he was laid down at <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P>The Soul of man then is capable of a &s;tate of much peace and equanimity, in all exterior bands and ag<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">ions; but this capacity is rather an effect of the expropriation of our Rea&s;on, then a vertue re&s;ulting from her &s;ingle capacity, for it is the evacuation of all &s;elf &s;ufficiency that a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">h a repleni&s;hment from that Divine plenitude, from who&s;e <HI>fulne&s;s we receive grace for grace;</HI> &s;o that it is a &s;uper ve<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 John 16.</NOTE> gift, not a native graft in our Rea&s;on: And this tranq<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> of Spirit, he that led captivity captive hath given as a gift unto men, whereby we become <HI>partakers of his Divine Na|ture,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 1.</NOTE> in this calm and &s;erenity of minde, which he pa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> out to us in all his &s;everal po&s;tures: Wherefore in our copy|ing of this equality and imperturbation, we mu&s;t prote&s;t with the <HI>Apo&s;tle, We have not received the Spirit of the World,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 2. 12, 13.</NOTE> <HI>but the Spirit which is of God;</HI> not in the l<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ned words of mans wi&s;dom, but in the Doctrine of the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Neverthele&s;s, it is our familiar pre&s;umption, to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> much upon the vertue of Humane Rea&s;on, whereof the Philo&s;ophers have made &s;o lovely Images, as many full <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> <HI>Pygmal<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ons</HI> Fancy, of falling in love, as it were, with the <HI>Statu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> of Morality, which wanting the &s;oul and a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> of Grace, will be found cold and &s;peechle&s;s, when they expect the &s;pirit and life of Con&s;olation, in &s;uch pri<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">
<PB N="343" REF="162">
as the&s;e of Liberty and Company, which &s;eem to &s;hake even the Centre of our natural app<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">es.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e who <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">&s;t then upon the power of natural Rea&s;on, for the di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing them&s;elves of all anxieties and vexa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ions of Spirit, will be &s;erved like the Sons of <HI>S<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">;</HI> for the malignity of the world will an&s;wer them. The grace of God <NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 19.</NOTE> I &s;ubmit unto, as having a power to di&s;place and ex<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">el my Mi&s;chiefs; but who are you, that undertake by <HI>Nature,</HI> to ca&s;t our all tho&s;e Evils where with you are po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed, and to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">ee your Spirit by a le&s;&s;er power, then that which doth po&s;&s;e&s;s it; your Sen&s;es in your vi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">iated Nature being &s;tronger in their appetites, then your &s;ingle Rea&s;on is in her di&s;|cour&s;es: So as when their Sen&s;es are much offended by the worlds Malices, &s;uch undertakers will be prevailed upon by the pre&s;ent pa&s;&s;ion, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e put to flye naked and wounded in this Enterpri&s;e, as the Sons of <HI>S<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">va</HI> were in their Ex|o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ci&s;ms.</P>
<P>The Philo&s;ophers who projected Rea&s;on to be &s;uch a powerful Actor, thought &s;he was onely to contend again&s;t the infirmity of Fle&s;h and Blood, knowing not that the Minde was to wra&s;tle with <HI>Superior powers, Spiritual rulers, in high places;</HI> again&s;t which, there is no fence, but the putting on <HI>the whole armor of God:</HI> for bare Rea&s;on cannot be of proof again&s;t tho&s;e fiery darts of Murmure, Repinings and De&s;olations of Spirit, which great extremities of &s;ufferance ca&s;t at our hearts; Rea&s;on being &s;o far from making a con|&s;tant re&s;i&s;tance, as very often &s;he joyneth with the provoca|tions, and concurreth, with the per&s;wa&s;ion of revolting again&s;t Patience, as a more rea&s;onable thing to complain and repine, then to re&s;i&s;t our Sen&s;es, in this onely appetite which is left to &s;atisfie our Nature, the ea&s;e of bemoaning and lamentation.</P>
<P>We are &s;o much more enlightened then they who boa&s;t|ed of this Self-&s;ufficiency, as we are in defiance like Ene|mies, with tho&s;e they wor&s;hipped as gods; &s;o that we had need have better Arms then tho&s;e they have left us, to com|bat
<PB N="344" REF="163">
with&punc; And we may ob&s;erve the in&s;ufficiency of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> pre&s;umptions by this in&s;tance, that what they erected <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> <HI>Trophy</HI> of their Victory, is to us the greate&s;t brand of in|famy and poverty of Spirit, which was the running away out of this life, upon any extremity of pre&s;&s;ure: This even in rectified Rea&s;on, is the ignoble&s;t way of yielding, rather then an act of conquering; in&s;omuch as this, which &s;eemed to them a demon&s;tration of their po&s;ition of <HI>the mindes im|pa&s;sivene&s;s,</HI> is an evident confutation of their opinion, for this is a total &s;urrender to the power of that pa&s;&s;ion which hath made this life intolerable.</P>
<P><HI>Cat</HI> him&s;elf, whom <HI>Seneca</HI> adoreth as the Deity of <HI>Phi|lo&s;ophy,</HI> di&s;&s;olved all the frame of his Maximes, when he was fain to open a violent pa&s;&s;age for the flight of his Spirit out of the pre&s;&s;ures it either felt or feared; Was it not <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">|fillanimity to choo&s;e in favor of his Sen&s;es, a &s;ofter blow from his own hand, then he feared from Fortune&punc; He &s;hould have &s;uppre&s;&s;ed the apprehen&s;ion of tyranny, and not have drenched his thir&s;t of liberty in his own blood; why did he not quench that and or, by ca&s;ting away his dag<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">, as he did the gla&s;s of water in the De&s;ert, where he refre&s;hed his whole Army, by extingui&s;hing his own Natural appe|tite: This had been the be&s;t proof of the apathy of his minde, the re&s;olving to &s;uffer even &s;ervitude in an Imp<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">|ble temper; but by this Self di&s;tru&s;ting, he did &s;ign with his blood the retractation of his Maxime, confe&s;&s;ing Se<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">|vitude to be in&s;ufferable to his minde; This precipita|tion cannot be vindicated from the charge of impatience and di&s;compo&s;ure in his minde, which is the di&s;proof of all the Stoical a&s;&s;ertions: Chri&s;tianity glorieth not in <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">y innate, but in an infu&s;ed vertue, &s;aying, <HI>He that is in you, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"></HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> John 4.</NOTE> <HI>greater then he that is in the world.</HI></P>
<P>And &s;o the power that holdeth the Spirit of a good Chri&s;tian, is Forein and Divine, and con&s;equently <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;tronger then any that can &s;hake it, although the worlds Earthquakes may make a local mutation of his per&s;on, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">|mains
<PB N="345" REF="163">
&s;till calmly in any po&s;ture wherein God &s;hall &s;et him, upon who&s;e providence he knoweth all rowlings and fluctua|tions to be current, and &s;eeth his own &s;ecurity, with the <HI>P&s;al|mi&s;t, at his right hand,</HI> which &s;tayeth him from being moved; <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 15.</NOTE> the &s;ame hand that removeth him in all his local changes, holdeth him in a tender love to that power, which together with the pains of his &s;en&s;es, introduceth the &s;pirit of re&s;igna|tion: The&s;e reflections may be well applyed, to di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;s that pre&s;uming &s;pirit of the children of this age, who pretend to expel all &s;en&s;e of misfortunes, by the Exorci&s;m of Moral Philo&s;ophy and Natural Rea&s;on.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. III.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Great benefit acknowledged to Moral Philo|&s;ophy, and the right u&s;e thereof directed in order to our &s;olacing.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>BY this redargution of the arragancies of meer <HI>Rationa|li&s;ts,</HI> I do not purpo&s;e to reject the u&s;e of Moral Philo|&s;ophy, in this great work of con&s;olation in di&s;tre&s;&s;es, but to rank it in a due order, mini&s;tring and &s;ub&s;ervient unto Grace; For when <HI>the peace of God, which pa&s;&s;eth all under&s;tand|ing,</HI> is &s;eated as the Principal, then Moral Rea&s;ons are &s;itly received, as &s;erviceable Acce&s;&s;aries to the Solace and Recrea|tion of the minde: If we &s;hould fir&s;t examine and try the Principles of <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion,</HI> by the be&s;t extent of Hu|mane Rea&s;on, we &s;hall never accept the My&s;teries of the <HI>Trinity</HI> from the &s;ingle hand of Rational per&s;wa&s;ion; But when we have pitched our belief of this Verity upon the <HI>Word of God,</HI> when our Faith hath carried our a&s;&s;ent as high as Heaven upon her wing, from thence we may then de|&s;cend to the <HI>Orb of Rea&s;on,</HI> where Di&s;cour&s;e affordeth us many Similitudes and Congruities, to open and illu&s;trate
<PB N="346" REF="164">
to our apprehen&s;ion this My&s;tery, in &s;uch &s;ort, as to bring it as it were within &s;ight of Humane <HI>Rea&s;on,</HI> in &s;ome ob&s;cure and imperfect notion: So when we have fir&s;t erected our expectance of confort and &s;upport upon the Divine &s;tation of Grace, then we may &s;tep downwards upon the paces and gradations of Rea&s;on, and finde there &s;olidity of Re|creation for our mindes whereupon to re&s;t, walk and exer|ci&s;e them&s;elves; For then we u&s;e Moral Di&s;cour&s;e, but as an Organ whereby God conveyeth to us the clarity and eluci|dation of the noblene&s;s of the &s;oul, indued by his grace with this capacity of remaining impa&s;&s;ive in all exterior violence.</P>
<P>In order to the illu&s;trating this Po&s;ition, the precepts of Philo&s;ophy come in the &s;tronger, when they enter in their due places, unfolding to us the nature of the Univer&s;e, and &s;preading fairly before us the contempt of all Temporali|ties, by divers detections of the infidelity of all things &s;ublunary. Thus after the right mar&s;halling of this Auxi|liary &s;uccor, the more &s;tock we have of Moral Philo&s;ophy, the more inlargement we may make of the Recreations of our Spirit, in the&s;e &s;traights of our condition; For as a very learned Humani&s;t, converted to Chri&s;tianity, is the more able, by the means of this learning, to explicate and illu|&s;trate the Doctrine whereof he is per&s;waded: In like maner, after this fir&s;t conviction of our mindes, touching the ne|ce&s;&s;ity of our primary recour&s;e to Grace, for the rectitude and conformity of our hearts, they who are the mo&s;t con|ver&s;ant with the Precepts of Rea&s;on and Philo&s;ophy, &s;hall be the be&s;t qualified by the&s;e helps, for the amplification of their entertainments, and &s;weetning the Natural a&s;perity of Solitude.</P>
<P>We mu&s;t be &s;ure then to fix this Principle in our thoughts, that all Humane Philo&s;ophy doth but the part of the wate<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> of <HI>Sil<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">,</HI> it doth but wa&s;h off the dirt of Ignorance from our eyes; it is the vertue of the &s;uperior direction, which &s;end|eth us to that &s;ort of Application, which commandeth this
<PB N="347" REF="164">
admirable effect; Rea&s;on is u&s;ed by that &s;upreme agent, to take off the foulne&s;s and impurity of terre&s;tial objects from the eye of our Minde, and to open it into the &s;peculation of vertue, but it is Grace which worketh the Miracle of this Serenity of Spirit, by the&s;e in&s;trumental illuminations of Rea&s;on: As long then as Philo&s;ophy is kept onely as a hand-maid, with her <HI>eyes looking always upon the eye of her Mi&s;tre&s;s</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 2.</NOTE> (which is Grace, the gift of God) &s;o long &s;he proveth very u&s;eful to her &s;ervice; but where &s;he is &s;eated as &s;ingle com|mander of the family, all her &s;pecious precepts and dire|ctions will prove (as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> termeth them) <HI>but learned fables,</HI> when this practical office is required of them, to in|&s;tate the minde in that regularity and apathy whereof they are &s;o confident projectors.</P>
<P>Having &s;etled this Maxime, as Di&s;ciples of the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t,</HI> for the fundamental article of Spiritual compo&s;ure, <HI>My &s;oul, wait thou upon God, for from him is my patience;</HI> then <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 61.</NOTE> the di&s;cour&s;ings and arguments of Morality are proper &s;tuff to adorn our mindes, that they remain not bare and naked, but furni&s;hed with convenient matter of meditation and entertainment: Humane literature may be u&s;ed in this order, as Ceremonies are in Religion, which are requi&s;ite to excite and detain Devotion and Reverence in our Nature, that is affected much with &s;en&s;ible coverings of Spiritualities, which affording, as I may &s;ay, no hold for our Sen&s;es, our Mindes are not &s;o ea&s;ily &s;taid and fixed in an attention upon &s;uch Duties; therefore &s;uch occupations of our Sen&s;es, are very pertinent towards the rai&s;ing and arre&s;ting our Devo|tion. In like maner the flowers and adornments of Moral Philo&s;ophy, are apt and &s;erviceable for the affecting and entertaining our Imagination, by the gracefulne&s;s and ele|gancy of their per&s;wa&s;ions, which are very congruent with the nature of our Affections, that incline mo&s;t to notions a little a&s;per&s;ed with &s;en&s;ible matter, and &s;o are ea&s;ilie&s;t &s;taid and quieted in &s;uch attentions, which hold our Spirits in a more cheerful application to the Arguments of rectified Rea&s;on.</P>
<P><PB N="348" REF="165">
In this order, Philo&s;ophy may be acknowledged to be a convenient di&s;cipline, belonging to the doctrine of Peace and Tranquility of Spirit, which is grounded in that <HI>pax vobi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">;</HI> that cometh in like the Ma&s;ter of it re&s;u&s;citated, not through <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 20.</NOTE> the doors of Humane Rea&s;on; and then this peace u&s;eth di&s;|cour&s;e and argument, as <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> did his body, who in conde|&s;cendence to the weakne&s;s of the Faith of his <HI>Di&s;ciples,</HI> made them feel and handle it: So doth the <HI>Holy Spirit</HI> clothe his Grace with &s;en&s;ible Rea&s;ons, &s;o corre&s;pondent to our Fan|cies, as they do the ea&s;ilier acquie&s;ce unto them, and thus contribute to the mindes repo&s;e and regulation: Surely this is the proper function of literate elegancy, to figure vertue in &s;o lively and fre&s;h colours, that our imagination may be &s;o taken with the beauty of vertue, as it may invite our mindes to make love to her in &s;olitude; and in this &s;uit our Rea&s;on may make good company, even out of all our wants and de|&s;olations, as imploying them to do us good offices to this Mi&s;tre&s;s, by their te&s;timony of our patient acceptance of all &s;ufferings, that may advance us in this pur&s;uit, which nothing doth more then a temperate con&s;tancy in Di&s;tre&s;&s;es, wherein vertue loveth to try the fidelity of her &s;ervants: And thus we may make even Solitude prove our acce&s;s and mediation to our love, whileg&punc; we are in re&s;earch and &s;uit to vertue, for unto her we know it is confe&s;&s;ed, that difficulties give the be&s;t introduction and entrance.</P>
<P>So that the u&s;es of Philo&s;ophy are much improved by this their proper application, to illu&s;trate the amiablene&s;s of ver|tue; and by the gaining of our Fancy, to facilitate the &s;ub|jection of our Affections to our Rea&s;on, whereunto Hu|mane learning conduceth in many re&s;pects; and it may not unaptly be &s;aid to be a kinde of Spiritual <HI>Heraldry</HI> that doth blazon the Arms of Natural Rea&s;on, &s;hewing the genea|logy and de&s;cent thereof from <HI>the Father of Lights,</HI> and marketh the affinities and alliances between <HI>Grace and Nature,</HI> keeping a Regi&s;ter of the Antiquity and Nobility of Moral Vertue, in the examples and precedents of all Times; and
<PB N="349" REF="165">
in the&s;e re&s;pects is very pro<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">itable in all &s;tates, e&s;pecially in Solitude, both to recreate and rectifie the minde of man.</P>
<P>And indeed nothing inableth us more for the be&s;t im|provement of the &s;tock of Philo&s;ophy, then having our wills fir&s;t fa&s;tned unto Gods de&s;ign upon us, before our un|der&s;tandings range abroad into the documents of Morality for exerci&s;e and recreation: Me thinks we may well be al|lowed to apply the&s;e orders of the Temple of <HI>Solomon</HI> to our pre&s;ent Argument, and &s;ay as they, who by their con&s;e|cration were admitted into the holy place of the Temple, had liberty to come out, and entertain them&s;elves in the out|ward Courts of the Laye<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">y, and the &s;tation of <HI>Gentiles;</HI> but they who were not qualified by &s;ome holy Character, were not admitted into the inward part of the Temple, or the San|ctuary: So they who have devoted fir&s;t their Rea&s;on to the in&s;crutable Order of God, and have this Character of Chri&s;tianity imprinted on them, may freely and u&s;efully recreate their mindes in the outward Galleries of Philo&s;o|phy, where Humane Rea&s;on hath an inlargement and &s;pa|ciou&s;ne&s;s for the exerci&s;e and &s;olace of the under&s;tanding; but if our Spirits are but of that rank which are without, in the arches of Philo&s;ophy, and conver&s;ant onely in the por|ches of Moral Vertue, this con&s;titution doth not &s;ufficient|ly qualifie our mindes for admi&s;&s;ion into the interior Sanctu|ary of Peace and Tranquility of Spirit: So that all I have &s;o much pre&s;&s;ed, tendeth to per&s;wade every one in this ca&s;e of Di&s;tre&s;s, to begin, by devoting their mindes intirely to Gods Order, and to expect the liberty of their Spirits from the vertue of that Chri&s;tian con&s;ecration; and in this me|thod, all their &s;tudies and occupations in Humanity or Mo|rality, will be like the Gold upon the Altar, which though it be noble by nature, yet was &s;anctified but by application to Divine u&s;es, and &s;o all Humane &s;apience (which though vertuous, is but &s;ecular) by this Dedication becometh Sa|cred and Religious.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="section">
<PB N="350" REF="166">
<HEAD>&sect;. IV.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The Di&s;po&s;ure of our time treated and ad|vi&s;ed, for improvement as well as ea&s;e of our Mindes.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>HAving laid the ground-work of our peace and ac|quie&s;cence upon that Divine A&s;&s;ignment which Chri&s;tians are to account upon, which is the provi|&s;ion of it by the All-&s;ufficient power, <HI>that giveth not &s;uch</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 14. 27.</NOTE> <HI>peace as the world giveth, but &s;uch as none &s;hall take from us;</HI> upon this foundation we may de&s;ign the frame of our time into &s;everal rooms and offices, re&s;pectively to our Duties to God, and the diver&s;ions of our own minde, to make this &s;ort of life both as u&s;eful and as agreeable as we can: For this kinde of Solitude is acknowledged to be a burthen to our Nature, and &s;o by parting and dividing it as it were into &s;everal parcels, we &s;eem to carry the le&s;s of it at once; whence it becomes of ea&s;ier portage. By the experience I have had of the benefit of this method, I &s;hould advi&s;e every one in this ca&s;e to make partitions of the day into &s;everal hours, a&s;&s;igned to di&s;tinct occupations, beginning in the morning with the intentional Sacrifice of the whole day to the honor of God, looking upon this memorial S. <HI>Bernard</HI> peru&s;ed every morning, <HI>Bernarde ad quid veni&s;ti? Bernard,</HI> what wert thou born for? This que&s;tion to our &s;elves, of what we are come into the world for, may ea&s;ily afford us this re&s;olution, That we have no time to &s;pare in the longe&s;t day, for that work for which we were created; having then in the beginning of every day made this Free-will offering of all our time, we may take &s;uch portions as are allowed us back, after this con&s;ecration, and divide them into &s;uch pieces, and dre&s;s them in tho&s;e maners, as be&s;t agree with
<PB N="351" REF="166">
the appetites of our minde, both to nouri&s;h our Soul, as well as to &s;olace and recreate our Imagination.</P>
<P>I &s;hould advi&s;e then, that every day may be cut out into &s;everal portions of entertainments, in that company (which I &s;uppo&s;e onely allowed) that is, the conver&s;ation of Books; which addre&s;s I need not recommend to any in this ca&s;e: for in this civil death, we do naturally repair to the &s;ociety of the dead; and in Books we finde a civil Re&s;urrection of the dead for our conver&s;ation: And by this &s;ort of intombning our thoughts, we revive our Spirits, and have better or wor&s;e company, according to the qualities of tho&s;e Spirits we choo&s;e to conver&s;e with (for I &s;uppo&s;e this allowance in this civil death, of free intelligence with all the&s;e kindes of Shrines and Reliques of the dead) and I do not mean to make a new commitment of any body's minde, re&s;training them onely to <HI>Mount Thabor,</HI> with <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Elias,</HI> that is, to Books of Devotion and Contemplation; they may, as I have explained, walk not onely innocently, but u&s;efully in the ways of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> out of all &s;orts of Philo&s;ophy, Hi&s;tory, Policy, and out of lighter food of Humanity, there may be whol&s;om nouri&s;hment drawn and a&s;&s;imilated to a good con&s;titution of minde; yet certainly the &s;olider and purer the aliment is we feed upon, the &s;tronger and &s;ounder complexion we &s;hall induce: But what licences &s;oever our Fancies take for their recreation, our Spirits mu&s;t be regu|lated in this, to ta&s;te con&s;tantly of the Morning and Even|ing Sacrifice of the Temple; that is, in each half of the day there ought to be &s;ome hour a&s;&s;igned, to the reading of &s;ome Book of Devotion; this practice will keep the fire on the Altar always alive, which by an in&s;en&s;ible per&s;piration breatheth out a pious warmth into all the other innocent oc|cupations of our mindes; nor is it required, that the no|tions of Religion and Piety &s;hould be always blazing in our cogitations&punc;</P>
<P>When we have thus portioned out our day into &s;everal a&s;&s;ignments of Prayer, Reading or Meditation, we &s;hall not
<PB N="352" REF="167">
feel the weight of the whole day upon us all at once, onely &s;uch hours by them&s;elves as are &s;ucce&s;&s;ively chained upon one another, by links of various occupations, and every &s;uch divi&s;ion, as it hath &s;ome ayr of variety in it, &s;eemeth rather a recreation, then a charge upon the minde, which mu&s;t be cheri&s;hed with tho&s;e diver&s;ities that may (as near as we can draw them) re&s;emble liberty; and when all our time is parcell'd out into different voluntary addre&s;&s;es, there being no &s;paces left void or empty, time weigheth much the lighter, the le&s;s vacuity is left in it; for nothing nau&s;eateth the minde &s;o &s;oon, as an emptine&s;s of thoughts, be&s;poken and fitted for her entertainment, &s;ince in that vacuou&s;ne&s;s the winds and vapors of tediou&s;ne&s;s and di&s;plicence ri&s;e and fume out of our imagination into our Spirits, whereas a convenient repleni&s;hment of the Fancy, with change of at|tentions, doth much &s;uppre&s;s &s;uch fumes.</P>
<P>We may learn, me thinks, by the eye of the body, how to accommodate objects to the &s;ight of the minde, for both of them are be&s;t plea&s;ed with the diver&s;ity of &s;pecies, and the competent determination of the pro&s;pect; which order and interpo&s;ure of various and alternate attentions, afford|eth both the change and the limitation agreeable to each of the&s;e appetencies, every &s;everal tranci&s;ion of our thoughts to different occupations, breaketh the va&s;tne&s;s of Solitude, by a competent termination of the pro&s;pect, when our ima|gination looketh no farther then that term of time allotted for that &s;ingle exerci&s;e. The&s;e inter&s;ertions of differing entertainments, are like woods or hills, which re&s;t the &s;ight in this va&s;t pro&s;pect of Solitude, affording our Fancies this agreeable intermixture of variety and re&s;t: So that by this method of an interchanging mixture of Prayer and Study, one may approach to that Ble&s;&s;ing the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> de|&s;cribeth, <HI>The Lord will make our wilderne&s;s like Eden, and our</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 51. 3.</NOTE> <HI>de&s;ert like the garden of the Lord.</HI></P>
<P>Having given this advice for the lightening of our time, we mu&s;t not forget &s;ome order for the weighing it, that the
<PB N="353" REF="167">
value may be taken together with the mea&s;ure; for indeed the worth of time rightly pondered and ballanced by rea|&s;on, may outweigh any Liberty or Company, which either imba&s;e the value of time unto us, or &s;teal from us any ex|ce&s;&s;ive proportions of that which is the onely Stock we have for the purcha&s;e of a ble&s;&s;ed Eternity: And we know how familiar it is, to a&s;&s;ign our Liberties and Companies to the di&s;charging us onely of our time, as if the plea&s;ure of our life were but the &s;mothering or making away of precious time: They then (who &s;eriou&s;ly reflect upon the lo&s;s of Li|berty, wherewith vain pa&s;&s;ions may be charged (by which our mindes are truly impri&s;oned, while they are dallying with the&s;e &s;imilitudes of Pri&s;ons and Chains, to inlarge the liberties of their Fancy) when they come to under&s;tand and affect rightly the freedom of their mindes) may judge this &s;evering from &s;uch temptations and fa&s;cinating vanities, to be a &s;tate of real infranchi&s;ement, and e&s;teem the other giddy agitation of their per&s;ons up and down the world, floating upon their Fancies, but as a Pri&s;oners Dream, wherein he may imagine him&s;elf Ma&s;ter of his own Keepers, while he is fa&s;ter in hold then when he is awake, and truly apprehending his condition.</P>
<P>They who&s;e mindes then are guilty of the&s;e kindes of crimes, of making away their time, and u&s;ing their former liberties, as in&s;truments in this mi&s;chief, let them Arraign their Imaginations upon this Indictment of their Memories; for by judging and ca&s;ting them&s;elves, they may make a new life out of this &s;uffering and execution of their faulty liberties; which if their Pri&s;on put to death in their affe|ctions, as it doth extingui&s;h in their practices, they will conclude them&s;elves rather re&s;u&s;citated then re&s;trained: How happy may they be accounted, who come to redeem time ever by the evilne&s;s of their days, to who&s;e civil death and moral re&s;urrection this of the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> may be apply|ed, <HI>What was &s;own in corruption, is rai&s;ed in incorruption; and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 15. 43.</NOTE> <HI>what was &s;own in infirmity, is rai&s;ed in power.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="354" REF="168">
This being admitted, let tho&s;e who lie under this &s;entence of <HI>Seque&s;tration</HI> from the world, in &s;tead of &s;etting th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="3 letters"> hearts upon the Suit of their <HI>Habeas corpus,</HI> apply them to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> out, as I may &s;ay, their <HI>Habeas <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">tem,</HI> in which <HI>Plea</HI> they are &s;ure they have to deal with &s;o indulgent a Judge, as he taketh their own Will for Security, to free their Minde upon it; the which being at liberty, will be well plea&s;ed with the <HI>Commitment</HI> of their bodies, upon the <HI>Action</HI> of their Time again&s;t them, when they conceive that this Arre&s;t was the ea&s;ie&s;t way for them to acquit that Debt, by the di&s;charge whereof they can onely recover their forfeited E&s;tate of real Liberty: And when their mindes look upon the lovely Image of redeemed and improved time, figured upon the walls of their inclo&s;ures, by falling in love with time, they may di&s;prove the Proverb, and make a lovely Pri&s;on, while that becometh a po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of their love; and are not their affections happily placed, when time contributeth to the beauty of the object? This Spiritual inamourment hath all the&s;e preheminences, and the indearments of &s;uch loves, are made by the profe&s;&s;ions of liberty and infranchi&s;ement; how much a nobler engagement then is this of our mindes, above that of &s;uch loves, which have all direct contrary qualifications.</P>
<P>Such therefore as addre&s;s their thoughts to this &s;uit and re&s;earch, &s;hall by degrees finde their familiarity with this love, introduce them into the acquaintance of that truth which unvaileth the various mi&s;eries of all conditions in this life, by the light of Contemplation, wherein this pro|mi&s;e of the <HI>Prophet</HI> is verified, <HI>Then &s;hall thy light ri&s;e in ob|&s;curity,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 58. 10</NOTE> <HI>and thy darkne&s;s be as the m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">n day;</HI> for by this clarity we may di&s;cern the whole world in &s;everal chains and man|cipations, and tho&s;e the mo&s;t inflaved, who are &s;weating in the world as in a forge, to hammer out their own Man<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">, which they make even while they are laying bolts and irons upon others that are ca&s;t under them, but as it were by the rowling of the Ship on the one &s;ide, for another contrary
<PB N="355" REF="168">
wave coming, turns them back again, beneath tho&s;e they lay upon, and then all the irons they had put on them, prove their own &s;urcharge. The &s;peculation of the&s;e truths, may keep the Spirits of Sufferers in more &s;teddine&s;s then is com|patible with that e&s;tuation of minde which is in&s;eparable from in&s;olent pro&s;perity: The&s;e calm Meditations &s;ugge&s;ted by the Spirit of Truth, may bring Pri&s;oners into that &s;tate which is promi&s;ed to the clients and followers of the&s;e Verities, <HI>You &s;hall know Truth, and Truth &s;hall &s;et you</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 8. 32.</NOTE> <HI>free.</HI></P>
<P>The&s;e Advices, in order to the valuation of Time, as they do primarily re&s;pect eternity, &s;o incidentally they refer to the reconciling us unto the great acerbities of the mo|ments of this life; where unto, I conceive, this adjunction al&s;o of &s;ome Coun&s;el, in point of Improvement of Time, in relation to the acquiring of Humane knowledge, may be a very u&s;eful mini&s;try and &s;uppeditation.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. V.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>A method propo&s;ed in point of Study, and the &V;&s;e may be derived from Story, to|wards a right under&s;tanding of Divine Providence.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>I Do not pretend to de&s;ign to any their Studies and Re|creations in Lecture, every &s;everal Vocation will <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">&s;ily fit it &s;elf with in&s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> pertinent to their Profe&s;&s;ion; I &s;hall advi&s;e onely a general method, in order to their thriving be&s;t in this Spiritual Pa&s;ture. As I have propo&s;ed partitions of our hours, into &s;everal Applications, &s;o &s;hould I coun&s;el a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> every &s;uch Section, between the change of Books, the making &s;ome convenient pau&s;e of Medi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ion
<PB N="356" REF="169">
upon the matter of our la&s;t attention: For when we reade cur&s;orily, we do but &s;mell and &s;cent the flowers as they grow; but this rumination of the notions, is a gathering and collection of them, and a kinde of carrying them away in No&s;egays, and holding to our mindes the &s;ums and dige&s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> of their &s;ub&s;tance, by which means their odour la&s;ts the longer, and leaveth our memory always the more perfumed; &s;o that when our reflections re&s;ort thither to &s;mell again the &s;ame odours, they may finde &s;ome of their ayr remaining in that con&s;erve: And tho&s;e (who intend to lay in any &s;tore of Knowledge, to di&s;tribute and di&s;pen&s;e it upon preme|ditation) mu&s;t not onely gather the&s;e flowers, and entertain their breaths the longer by the&s;e recogitations, but mu&s;t &s;et them&s;elves to work upon them, and as I may &s;ay, di&s;til their e&s;&s;ences through their Pens; and thus extract the Spirits of them, making them up in the&s;e ve&s;&s;els of Note-Books, di&s;tingui&s;hed by common places, which are, as <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> were, &s;o many &s;everal viols, marked with their peculiar pro|perties, and &s;orted re&s;pectively to their u&s;es, and are kept in this Cabinet of our Note-Book, ready by us to draw out again, either through our pen, or to di&s;tribute in our con|ver&s;ation, or any other function of our profe&s;&s;ion: For when we have thus extracted the&s;e Spirits out of the Books we have wrought upon, it is a Spiritual trea&s;ure lying by us, which we may relie upon as a &s;tock for all our nece&s;&s;ities, either for private and interior provi&s;ion, o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> publike and forein communication.</P>
<P>This way of di&s;tillation or confection of our &s;tudies, pre&s;erving them for la&s;ting u&s;es, is (even without any <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">|ference to their participation unto others) the be&s;t <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 words"> the perfuming and &s;weetning our time to our &s;elves, in <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> unplea&s;ant ayr of <HI>Solitude;</HI> for this work breatheth an <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> into our Fancy all the day long, which by filling it, keepeth out the fumes of our natures di&s;ea&s;e, and impre&s;&s;eth the more &s;trongly on our imaginations, now Images of intelle|ctual acqui&s;itions, which &s;ucce&s;&s;ively entring into <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">
<PB N="357" REF="169">
thoughts, keep out the unhand&s;om repre&s;entations of our condition, wherewith our Fancy is apt to &s;tuff it &s;elf, if it have not &s;ome &s;uch intentive preoccupation: This is there|fore the be&s;t pre&s;cript all my &s;tudy of <HI>Solitude</HI> can admini|&s;ter, which I am bound to recommend, in gratitude to the benefit I mu&s;t acknowledge to this method, de&s;iring to make a pri&s;oners return for the alms of Confort I have received, to repay a Benefactor in reputation, by divulging (as hand|&s;omly as I can) his good qualities: And truly I have intend|ed in this piece of <HI>Solitude</HI> I am working on, to follow the order of Painters, rather then Poets, in the de&s;cribing the per&s;on of a Benefactor; for I have not &s;ought to indear my re&s;entments, by the highe&s;t prai&s;es I could excogitate, but to draw the figure I expo&s;e, the neare&s;t the life I could exhi|bit it: For tho&s;e exce&s;&s;es that may expre&s;s Art in the Poet, may proclaim Ignorance in the Painter, if he &s;hould think to value his gratitude to his obliger, by drawing his picture in &s;uch perfection of &s;hape and beauty, as did not render the per&s;on knowable by that Image: I have therefore &s;et forth the&s;e good qualities of <HI>Solitude</HI> (to which I profe&s;s much obligation) &s;o truly copyed, as I dare &s;ay, that tho&s;e who have never &s;een it, if ever they come to compare the&s;e lineaments of my hand with the life they do character (of Solitude imployed in this method) &s;hall finde, my pen hath not made a Fancy, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> a Copy, and done this &s;ort of life but right in the Re&s;emblances of her good qualities, whereof I may be bold to &s;ay in the terms of the <HI>Holy Spirit, The De&s;ert, and the Land without pa&s;&s;age,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 35.</NOTE> <HI>&s;hall be glad, and the Wilderne&s;s &s;hall rejoyce, and flouri&s;h as the Lilly.</HI></P>
<P>After a little taking my <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> off from my work (to give you in a few &s;troke&punc; a little <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> of the ingenuity of my own Minde, in de&s;igning this Labor for an Altar-piece, rather then a Cabinet Ornament, de&s;iring you to con|ceive my intendment i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> it <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">cha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">itable utility, not bare|ly a recreating Imagery&punc; I &s;hall proceed to another Advice
<PB N="358" REF="170">
in this point of Lecture, and repre&s;ent to you how <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> who read without any intention to conver&s;e with <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> Books, and to retain their &s;ugge&s;tions, but onely, a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;ay, to kill &s;o much time, abu&s;e them&s;elves in this un<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">vi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ed|ne&s;s; for they &s;hall finde their time like a c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">ca&s;e, m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">h heavier when it wants this animation of &s;tudio<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;ne&s;s <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">d intendment, then when it is quickned, as it were, by this Spirit of de&s;ign and addition to benefit: For this principle of Activene&s;s, &s;eemeth to breathe a kinde of life and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">i|mation into our time, which maketh it lighter, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> better company, when our future de&s;igns and purpo&s;es <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> to conver&s;e and entertain us, with Repli<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> and Deb<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">te<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> of our Propo&s;itions: And they (who reade in order to the u&s;es and profits may be extracted, not onely for their pre&s;ent <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">i|verti&s;ements, but for their general improvements) may even in Civil Hi&s;tory reade Lectures <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">o them&s;elves of Con<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">|tion in all their Di&s;tre&s;&s;es and E<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">igencies, even the confu|&s;ions of this Sublunary world, may be converted <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;ufficient con<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">orts, by contemplating the various <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> of all conditions, &s;huffled and to&s;&s;ed together <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> appearing order of equity, <HI>Sometimes &s;ervants <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> hor&s;eback, and Princes walking <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">n the ground <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;ervants;</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">d <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 10. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">.</NOTE> again, how often doth this Scene &s;hew innocent <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> groaning and oppre&s;&s;ed by Tyrants, and &s;ometimes <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">|mate Princes di&s;tre&s;&s;ed and vilified by Rebellions <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">, and (as the <HI>Wi&s;eman</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">aith) we finde <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">g out of a <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> up to a Throne, and another meeting him, dragg'd fro<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> a <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> to a D<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">geon:</HI> They (who con&s;ider &s;eriou&s;ly the&s;e vic<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">|tudes of all &s;tates, this continual &s;ubver&s;ion of on<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">d &s;ub&s;titution of another into the &s;ame room, all things &s;uc|ceeding in this broken and abrupt inter<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">ture) will ea&s;ily finde their own Nativity ca&s;t in this Univer&s;al Sch<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> the world, and &s;o need not wonder or complain of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">y injurious <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">tion in their private Fortune, when they <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;o many va<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">ions a&s;&s;igned unto them&punc; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> they are p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> this <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> Univer&s;e; In which, the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> order of things
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&s;eemeth to be di&s;po&s;ed a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> the natural is, wherein corruption and generation mutually entertain one another; but in civil changes the rea&s;on is fa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> more ob&s;cured to us, for in the alterations of nature, our rea&s;on is more tru&s;ted with h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> &s;ecrets, and &s;o i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> not offend<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> at the pre&s;ent ruine of &s;uch things, whereof we are acq<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">ted with their de&s;ign of renovation; but in the civil peri&s;hing and corruption of equi|ty, our rea&s;on is more pe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">plexed, as being no way privy to the intent of &s;uch inver&s;ions, the de&s;truction of vertuous per&s;ons and the exaltation of vitious, the inf<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">licity of good cau&s;es, &s;inking under impious adver&s;aries, are &s;uch occur|rencies, as confound humane ratiocination, for in the&s;e ca&s;es the divine providence &s;eemeth di&s;gui&s;ed to our eyes in the habit of <HI>Chance;</HI> &s;o that our faith mu&s;t look well upon her before it can know her in this di&s;similitude to ju&s;tice.</P>
<P>Me thinks reflecting upon the confu&s;ion of this world, there may be many &s;uch things as were &s;aid by the <HI>Holy Spi|rit,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Philip. 2. 7.</NOTE> of God being in the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> of man, applyed not unfitly to the divine providences b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ing among men; (which being the <HI>wi&s;dom of God</HI> in that re&s;pect is the &s;ame they were &s;aid of) May we not then &s;ay that Gods providence conver&s;eth upon earth, in the habit and &s;imilitude of <HI>Fortune,</HI> and &s;eem|eth expo&s;ed to all the weaknes and inequality of <HI>Chance,</HI> and that (&s;in <HI>only excepted),</HI> beareth all the infirmities of in|ju&s;tice; and &s;urely if faith did not a&s;&s;ure us, that under the vail of humane confu&s;ion, the wi&s;dom of God were &s;ub&s;i&s;t|ing, we might ea&s;ily judge of Gods providence as the world did of <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> per&s;on, and condemn it as a meer na|tural figure of fortune, de&s;titute of all divinity; we know mo&s;t of tho&s;e who were to re&s;olve this que&s;tion, by their &s;ingle rea&s;on, about the government of the univer&s;e, either tyed up God in the chain of fate, or left all loo&s;e upon the wheel of fortune; but we <HI>(who &s;it in the light prepared to lighten the Gentiles)</HI> &s;ee by the eye of faith, that the liberties <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 2.</NOTE> of God and man are con&s;i&s;tent with the divine providence and preordinanion, and that the nece&s;&s;ary &s;equences of &s;uch
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effects as are annexed by order to their re&s;pective cau&s;es, do no more impeach Gods freedom, then his nece&s;&s;ary pro|duction of two per&s;ons equal to him&s;elf, doth re&s;train or abate his liberty.</P>
<P>But &s;hould we relea&s;e our mindes from this bond of Faith, whereby they are obliged t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> pay an acceptance of all chan|ges unto the Divine Order, the very rational con&s;ideration of the equal expo&s;ure of all conditions to adver&s;e vici<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">i|tudes, might correct our private relunctancies; the Story of all Times &s;heweth us &s;uch frequent <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">uptures and di&s;&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">|lutions of all kindes of Union, &s;o familiar Subver&s;ions of all Foundations, of Government and Superiority, &s;uch an alternative tran&s;mutation of all p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ivate Fortunes from one into another&punc; as they who look but upon the Theatre of this world (which needeth but Hi&s;tory for the maker of his Scenes) cannot wonder ju&s;tly at any part which is put upon their particular. To tho&s;e then that &s;hall repiningly lament their turns, or expect their exemption, I may &s;afely apply the <HI>Prophet Jeremy</HI>'s Commi&s;&s;ion again&s;t this <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 45. 4.</NOTE> pretence, <HI>The Lord &s;aith thus, Behold, that which I <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> built I will break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up over this whole Land; and &s;eeke&s;t thou great things for thy &s;elf? &s;eek them not.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="section">
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<HEAD>&sect;. VI.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Some &s;pecial Meditations propo&s;ed, proper for the diverti&s;ement of our Minde.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>I Have upon my ruminating on the Stories of the world, been pre&s;ented often with &s;uch an imagination as may prove In&s;tructive as well as Recreative, to &s;uch Moral Chymicks as can extract a <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">alt out of the fre&s;he&s;t matters their mindes do work upon: I have thought one that had the Hi&s;torical Map of the world lying before his thoughts, might &s;uppo&s;e him&s;elf &s;eated upon a high Rock, and look|ing down upon a fair and va&s;t pro&s;pect, divided into &s;ome Cities and Palaces of the one &s;ide, on the other into lovely Gardens and plea&s;ant Groves, or fruitful Fields and Pa|&s;tures, and &s;uddenly &s;eeing a <HI>Mine</HI> playing upon the Ci|ties, and all &s;orts of things blown up confu&s;edly into the Ayr, where Princes and People are broken and mangled indifferently, the Chains of the Pri&s;oners flying up, and &s;hivering, perhaps, the Crowns that laid them on, and many other civil di&s;&s;ipations that may be adapted to the confu&s;ed eruptions of <HI>Mines;</HI> and being affrighted at this di&s;mal object, he turneth his Eye upon the Fields, Gardens and Groves, as flying into priviledged Retreats, exempt from &s;uch violent di&s;tractions, and pre&s;ently he findeth an Earthquake, playing, as I may &s;ay, upon all of them &s;ucce&s;&s;ively in their &s;everal turns, rending the <HI>Ce|dars,</HI> deflowering the Gardens, &s;wallowing the fruits of the Campagnes and Vineyards, leaving all the plea&s;ure of his Pro&s;pect inverted into objects of Horror and A|mazement. The Story of the world doth often afford &s;uch a kinde of Repre&s;entation; &s;ometimes it pre&s;ent|eth a fair view of glorious <HI>MONARCHS,</HI> and flou|ri&s;hing Nations, &s;ymbolized by the Magnificence of
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Cities and Palaces; high and eminent Pro&s;perity in the <HI>Grandees</HI> of the Earth, figured by the <HI>Cedars;</HI> plentiful and opulent private E&s;tates, emblem'd by the pregnancy of the Fields, happy and ea&s;ie <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">d <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">y the orderly &s;weetne&s;s of Gardens; All the&s;e conditions the Sto|ry of every Age &s;heweth &s;hattered in pieces, by &s;ome vio|lent Changes and Subver&s;ions.</P>
<P>Thus much light may be derived from our a&s;cen<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> the upper &s;tories of this Fabrick of the Univer&s;e, whi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> overlook this Earth by a narrative view onely of the con|dition and con&s;titution of this world: Surely the Prince of this World knew not who he carried to the top of the Mountain, to tempt by the Glories of that Pro&s;pect, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e under&s;tood him better afterward, when he begg'd of him not to be ca&s;t out of the world him&s;elf, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">ed to him but for a few Swine, to whom he had before offered the whole world; But when the <HI>Holy Spirit</HI> carrieth any o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> up to the Mountain of Contemplation, the object <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> po&s;eth of the &s;ubjacent Earth, is not onely illumi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> but operative; he doth not &s;imply inform the under&s;tanding in the e&s;tate, but rectifieth the will in the e&s;timation of this world. Saint <HI>Paul</HI> looked down upon the Earth from <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> Mountain, when he proclaimed, that <HI>The figure of t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"></HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 7. 31.</NOTE> <HI>world pa&s;&s;eth away:</HI> And Saint <HI>John</HI> (who&s;e Spirit was <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> were exhaled above the Earth by that heat it felt always of the Divine bo&s;om) di&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">rned clearly this <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">uctuant &s;tate of our Globe, when he adverti&s;eth us, <HI>Th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">s the world pa&s;&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"></HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 2. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">7.</NOTE> <HI>away, and the concupi&s;cences thereof.</HI></P>
<P>They who take then either of the&s;e guides, <HI>Rea&s;on o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> Grace,</HI> to carry them up to this cli<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> of Meditation, may <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">a&s;t down their thoughts in a <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">alm de&s;pection of all tho<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e &s;hining attractives which they &s;ee to be &s;o <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">y; they that contemplate this univer&s;al undermining of all <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;tations, need no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> wonder nor complain to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="3 letters">de them<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">rn from the upper part of the world, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">unk under the earth in the playing of the Mine: They who are, as it were,
<PB N="363" REF="172">
thus <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> and b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">yed in a pri&s;on, let them imagine them|&s;elves in that po&s;ture where in the playing of the Mine hath laid them, and &s;o be conf<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">d, as involved in the general con&s;titution of this hollow and unfaithful world; and by figuring to them&s;elves this <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> of the Univer&s;e, they may conclude, That the wall<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> which inclo&s;e them are under|mined al&s;o, by the common in&s;tability of all Fortunes; and when the time co<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">h that the <HI>Train</HI> of Change taketh fire, then they are to be carried in<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> another po&s;ition: So that the impermanency of all thing<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">y, which doth deduct &s;o much from our Temp<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">ary <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">elicity, may be by the&s;e thoughts made to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> proportionably the &s;ence of our &s;e|cular adver&s;ity.</P>
<P>Thus by the advice of Natural Rea&s;on, we may derive much &s;tability of minde from the infidelity of all <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 words">: Na<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">, Philo&s;ophy propo&s;eth to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> a firmer &s;ettlement of our Spirits, upon our duty to Nature, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">rgeth any <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> or <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">lou&s;ne&s;s, in what &s;tate &s;oever of di&s;tre&s;s; with &s;edition and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> even again&s;t the Laws of N<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="3 letters">ce it is by the order of the Univer&s;e we &s;tand <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> with all o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> private grievances, in&s;omuch as to di<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> fro<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> tha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> order, &s;ee<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> an a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">mpt of our wi&s;hes, to confu&s;e and di&s;compo&s;e the whole frame of Nature. The&s;e, and many other <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">adings, do the S<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">s make, to intitle <HI>rectified Rea&s;on</HI> to this power of con<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">erving the minde in an e&s;tate of imperturbation, amid&s;t the changes and tran&s;lations of all vici&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="3 letters">udes.</P>
<P>But to <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> the&s;e melodious voyces of the <HI>Philo&s;o|phers,</HI> &s;erve but as <HI>Mu&s;ique</HI> to their <HI>Church Anthemes,</HI> for they are the &s;acred words of our Faith (put into the airs of Hu|mane Elegancy) that make the Mu&s;ique Religious, nor the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> of their &s;weet per&s;wa&s;ions, whereunto &s;ingle <HI>Philo&s;ophy</HI> doth but report: I may therefore <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">itly pre&s;ent you with this holy Le&s;&s;on of the great <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> St. <HI>Peter, We have a firmer</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 1. 19.</NOTE> <HI>word of Prophe&s;ie, which we do well to attend to, as unto a light that &s;hineth in a dark place;</HI> in all the ob&s;curities of our For|tunes,
<PB N="364" REF="173">
we have the day-Star of Faith &s;hining in our hea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> (in re&s;pect of which, all Philo&s;ophy is but Lamp-light) that giveth us a clear &s;ight of the Providence of God; in all our turnings and tran&s;portations we have this Word, even of God him&s;elf, organized by the voyce of the <HI>Evang<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> Prophet, I form the light, and create darkne&s;s; I make <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"></HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 45. 7.</NOTE> <HI>and create evil<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> I the Lord do all the&s;e things.</HI> The an&s;wer of a Chri&s;tian therefore is well made for us by the Prophet <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e|remy</HI> in Pri&s;on, and in all the bitter ta&s;tes of the&s;e cups of Gods mingling, as the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> found before him, <HI>My <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"></HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;a. 74. 9. Jer. 10. 19</NOTE> <HI>is g<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ie<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> but I have &s;aid, Truly, this is my grief, and I <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">u&s;t bear it;</HI> The belief of Gods &s;pecial de&s;ign in all things <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> befal us, mu&s;t an&s;wer all the perplexities of a <HI>Chri&s;tian;</HI> and we have not onely this order, but this ability imparted to us from our &s;uffering Head, who&s;e members working by <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> vertue of his animation, cannot &s;ay<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">le&s;s to God the Father then <HI>Not my will, but thine, O Lord, be done.</HI></P>
<P>This little intermixture of a Garden-plat or patern, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> both with the flowers of Nature and the fruits of Grace, may be no unplea&s;ant walk or <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"></HI> for the uncon<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">ned <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">|tion of &s;ome &s;olitary Pri&s;oner, to whom I dedicate <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> piece of Entertainment, which, I hope, may in &s;ome <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> water and refre&s;h his minde, and help to keep it in this temper of the <HI>Prophet, Her leaf green in this time of droug<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"></HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 17. 8</NOTE> <HI>and not cea&s;ing to yield fruit.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="section">
<PB N="365" REF="173">
<HEAD>&sect;. VII.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Some &s;peculations &s;ugge&s;ted to recreate our Spi|rits in &s;ufferance, and to invigorate our Faith.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>IF I have made any extraordinary di&s;covery of Springs, pa&s;&s;ing &s;o long through this De&s;ert (in my journey ou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> of <HI>Egypt</HI> unto the <HI>Land of Promi&s;e)</HI> I hold my &s;elf bound to &s;et the be&s;t marks I can upon all &s;uch Refre&s;hments, that they may the ea&s;ilier be re&s;orted to by &s;uch as by any acci|dent &s;hall be engaged in this de&s;olate Peregrination; and I need not fear to be tedious in this office, no more then <HI>Phy|&s;icians</HI> in their attendances upon Patients: I will impart therefore another Receit I have found very efficacious, which is mixed with the wine of <HI>Philo&s;ophy,</HI> and the oyl of <HI>Divinity,</HI> it hath both the quickne&s;s and vigor of Rea&s;on to work upon our Fancy, and the unction of Faith al&s;o to &s;upple and molifie the unplea&s;antne&s;s of our Nature, in the&s;e con&s;traints of <HI>Solitude:</HI> This is then the pre&s;cript, to make even the multiplicity of the evils and di&s;ea&s;es of this life medicinal unto us, by con&s;idering how many we are free from, of tho&s;e we might ea&s;ily have altogether; as for Ex|ample, If we are in Pri&s;on and in health, to remember we have a greater ble&s;&s;ing then that we want, and how much <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">reer we are then di&s;ea&s;ed Princes, clo&s;e Pri&s;oners within their Curtains. If we chance to be &s;ick and in Pri&s;on both at once, we may con&s;ider, That we have as much of this violent re&s;traint taken off from us, as is impo&s;ed upon us by this Na|tural one, in which we are co~mitted by our own body, &s;ince in this ca&s;e all &s;tates are reduced to the &s;ame confinement, be|ing under the Arre&s;t of Sickne&s;s, and therefore our liberty may &s;eem as it were recover <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> by our infirmity, &s;ince no body is in pain to want what they could make no u&s;e of if they po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed it.</P>
<P><PB N="366" REF="174">
The more then we have of this evil of &s;ickne&s;s, the le&s;t we have of this other of impri&s;onment, for the &s;icker we are, the le&s;s capable we become of the u&s;e of liberty; &s;o that we may &s;ay, Nature &s;eem<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">th to have provided, that the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> of our bodily evils, &s;hould cure the next wor&s;t of our cor|p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> &s;u<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">s, &s;ince the wa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> of health <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> prop<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">|nately to remedy the privation of liberty.</P>
<P>And again, if this violent &s;eparation from the world <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e but the policy of an adver&s;e party, to intercept all ou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> contri|butions, to the promoting of the cau&s;e which they impu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">, then we may reflect, how much better our condition is, then if we were under the indignation of &s;ome inh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> tyrannies, which u&s;e tor<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">res as in&s;truments which <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">, curio&s;ities play upon, to draw tho&s;e tunes out of th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> their fancies or their fears have &s;et; and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">o &s;uch mi&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">, we may remember our &s;elves to be expo&s;ed: thus we <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> di&s;cour&s;e over all the mi&s;chiefs of this life, wh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> we might have ben condemned, and it is likely, we &s;hall finde upon this accompt, the number of our exemptions in our pre&s;ent &s;tare, a ju&s;t mitigation of our &s;enten<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> this ingenious diligence of our rea&s;on, we may finde <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> be<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">s enough of mi&s;eries, that &s;tand as I may &s;ay, Neu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> and levying them thus by our meditation, we may bring th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> in to our &s;uccor, to defeat tho&s;e which are actually declared again&s;t us, whereby we may be &s;aid to overthrow <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> the multitude of her own forces, while (by ou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">|ptions from &s;o many of the worlds greater <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">alamiti<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">s) <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> facilitate the cariage of our owne portion, and by the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> of the <HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> we may properly make, in this occa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">, <HI>tho&s;e which are not again&s;t us to be with us.</HI></P>
<P>This little hint will &s;erve to lead our thoughts into <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> fields of meditation, upon the numerous in<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> Age, which &s;urrounding by enemies, the more it <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> the likelier it is to draw our eyes up to the mo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> with the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t,</HI> from whence we may expect our <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> and looking faithfully up to tho&s;e hills with the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">
<PB N="367" REF="174">
we &s;hall de<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ery &s;upernatural <HI>Auxiliaries,</HI> whereof we may <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kings 6. 16.</NOTE> truly &s;ay <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">o our fearfull &s;e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;es, as to our amazed &s;ervants, <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 words"> for there are more with us then again&s;t us.</HI></P>
<P>I have &s;et mo&s;t of my &s;piritual notions with the foilies of humane per&s;wa&s;ions, con&s;idering how much &s;uch conjun|ctions conduce to a be<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">tering the water of the jewels of Di|vinity into the eyes of our nature; <HI>S. Paul</HI> u&s;ed this art, when he was content to &s;peak <HI>after the maner of men for the infir|mity of our fle&s;h.</HI> But now I will pre&s;ent you with an advi&s;e <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 6.</NOTE> &s;incerely Divine without any, plau<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ible adjunction to illu|&s;trate it, which is in this order of di&s;tributing the day I have propo&s;ed, to a&s;&s;ign &s;ome &s;pecial part of every day, (the mea&s;ure whereof I do not define) to a &s;erious medi|tation upon the immen&s;ity of eternity, and the momenta|rine&s;s of this life, we may con&s;ider the time of all ages, like a little globe of &s;moke vani&s;hing into the va&s;t region of air; for all time holds le&s;s proportion to eternity, then the lea&s;t vapor doth to the whole air into which <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">s vani&s;hed; if then the duration of all time, be &s;o di&s;proportioned to eter|nity, when we &s;ever our &s;ingle part in this point of time, how neer a Nothing mu&s;t it appear to us; and it may be the time of our &s;uffering is but a &s;mall parcel even of our own life: This computation mu&s;t needs &s;hew us the &s;hortne&s;s of that time, which our weak Nature thinks often long, mea&s;uring it not as it is in flu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">, but as it &s;eemeth &s;tay|ing in our <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">aney, and di&s;tant from &s;ome earthly de<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ire whereunto we would be carried; and &s;o this our mi&s;|counting of the length of time, ari&s;eth always from this error, that we do not reckon upon it, as it is in motion to|wards eternity; but rather regard it under the notion of a <HI>remora</HI> or retardment, in that ha&s;te we have to &s;atisfie &s;ome pa&s;sion, in pur&s;uit whereof Time it &s;elf &s;eemeth too &s;low for our P<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ney.</P>
<P>This irregularity in our nature, may be much corrected, by pondering &s;eriou&s;ly every day the property of time, and the &s;tate of e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">ity: I do not meane to impo&s;e upon
<PB N="368" REF="175">
any body a &s;ubtile penetration into any ab&s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">u&s;e conceptions upon the&s;e &s;ubjects, only a pious reflection upon the familiar notions of each of them, as the lightne&s;s and inanity of the one, the weight and immen&s;ity of the other; unto which every one may conceive him&s;elf pa&s;sing on, as a &s;traw upon a <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">or|rent; and at the foot of this precipice, &s;uppo&s;e an Ocean of endle&s;s joy or mi&s;ery, which hath a divi&s;ion in it of the&s;e two qualities, of <HI>Good</HI> or <HI>Evil,</HI> but no difference in the infinity of either; and we may contemplate, how we are not carried to either of the&s;e, as we are the greater or the le&s;&s;er &s;traws, but as we come off clean or fowl from this torrent of time; it is not by the greatne&s;s, but by the purity of our lives, that we are delivered over to the&s;e divers &s;tates, in this indivi&s;ible eternity; the&s;e are <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">|tations competent to all &s;i&s;es of mindes, in reference to this method of meditation on Eternity: When King <HI>David</HI> was upon this application, as he &s;aith, <HI>I thought upon old</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm. 76. 6.</NOTE> <HI>days, and the Eternal years had I in minde;</HI> he telleth us th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> he &s;wept his Spirit, that thought pre&s;ently applied him to the cleaning of his Spirit, which temporary objects had bedu&s;ted; and &s;ure our &s;oul in this point is like our eye, which may have du&s;t and filth in it, while it is clo&s;ed, whereof it is not &s;en&s;ible, but as &s;oon as it is open, it pre&s;ently findeth the offence: &s;o our minde, wh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> &s;he is &s;hut to the apprehen&s;ion of eternity, may have many impurities in her which &s;he di&s;cerneth not, but as &s;oon as her thoughts are wide open upon that object, &s;he feeleth the offen&s;ivene&s;s of every fowl Atome &s;ticking on her, &s;o as this cogitation of the <HI>Royal P&s;almi&s;t,</HI> is the readie&s;t <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 5.</NOTE> addre&s;s to that cleanne&s;s of heart, to which our Savior hath annexed <HI>the &s;eeing of God.</HI></P>
<P>Me thinks this le&s;&s;on is given us by the nature our &s;oul, which partaketh both of Time and Eternity, (as having a beginning and no end) to couple in our thoughts the images of both the&s;e Beings, that as the minde draweth fluent and tran&s;itory affections from time, &s;he may derive
<PB N="369" REF="175">
al&s;o fixed and permanent de&s;ires from Eternity; and this intermixture of the&s;e divers impre&s;sions, is the greate&s;t &s;etlement or &s;implicity a &s;oul can attain unto during her ope|ration, by &s;uch organs as are meerly temporary; and the <HI>Holy Spirit</HI> giveth this &s;ecurity, to the frequent meditation on the ending and endle&s;ne&s;s of our two lives, <HI>In all thy works</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ecclus.</NOTE> <HI>remember thy latter ends, and thou will not &s;in for ever:</HI> And &s;ure|ly this habitual pro&s;pect on our end, will abate much the &s;en&s;e of any pre&s;ent condition; for it affecteth us not with what we are, or have been, but with what we are to be for ever: and &s;ince by Na<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">ue death hath a &s;hare in every day we live, they who let this debt run on, without pay|ing unto it any of their time, will finde the &s;um ri&s;en &s;o high, as they will at la&s;t come to owe death even their eternity: But by this order I propo&s;e, of a&s;signing &s;ome parcel of every day to this di&s;charge, we may convert that portion we pay death, into a debt accrening unto us, of eternal life, which at our la&s;t day death &s;hall be forced to deliver to us.</P>
<P>In order to this addre&s;s of your cogitations, I will offer you this obvious conception, to &s;uppo&s;e all &s;tates of life imbarqued upon one ve&s;&s;el, and that continually &s;ink|ing, (which &s;urely is &s;en&s;ible enough to &s;uch as are not dizied and di&s;tracted by the motions of it) and when the ve&s;&s;el is palpably &s;inking, doth the <HI>General</HI> who is comman|ding above, think him&s;elf in a better &s;tate, then the &s;lave working in his chains? Doth he that is in the <HI>lanthorn</HI> ac|count him&s;elf happier, then he that lieth in the <HI>hold,</HI> becau&s;e he is like to peri&s;h &s;ome minutes later? Do not they all then alike forget what they have been, and think onely on what they are to be? they who will accu&s;tom them&s;elves to ruminate upon this &s;imilitude, reporting aptly to all the conditions of this life, which are in an equal certainty of expiration, may ea&s;ily forget their pre&s;ent po&s;ture, and be po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ed intirely with their future expectation, which in one in&s;tant becomes unalterable to all Eternity; and they can|not
<PB N="370" REF="176">
be a&s;&s;ured, that this in&s;tant is not as near them as their next thought I &s;urely then I am per&s;waded, that who&s;oever &s;hall fa&s;ten his thoughts attentively once every day upon this meditation, &s;hall not be di&s;quieted with that kinde of life he is reduced unto, but rather joyed, to con&s;ider that he is in a capacity of making our of any &s;ort of life, never &s;o grievous, a life everla&s;ting, and eternal beatitude, whereof he may be a&s;&s;ured from <HI>S. Paul,</HI> the Patern and Patron of pri&s;oners, whom he may &s;uppo&s;e &s;peaking this to him in his chains, <HI>Our light affliction (which is but for a moment) work|eth for us a far exceeding and eternal weight of glory;</HI> and if our <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Cor. 4. 17.</NOTE> pri&s;oner be one that hath the thorns of an ill life to pull out of his con&s;cience, he will think him&s;elf much happies while he is in a &s;tate which conduceth to his repenting of what he hath done, then when he was in a condition that did contribute to his doing what he was to repent.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. VIII.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The final and mo&s;t &s;olid a&s;signment of con|fort for this condition.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>NOw then to &s;um up the true account of all my propo|&s;itions, I do not pretend they &s;hould amount to &s;o much as the <HI>Stoicks</HI> have vainly reckoned upon their precepts; I do not promi&s;e the minde &s;uch an apathy or in&s;en&s;iblene&s;s of all di&s;tre&s;&s;es and afflictions, as tho&s;e <HI>Rational Charl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">tans</HI> have undertook; this deading and &s;tark calming of all pa&s;&s;ion, is rather a dream of Phi|lo&s;ophy, then the re&s;t of a <HI>Chri&s;tian;</HI> and of that fan|cied &s;lumber of theirs, we may &s;ay with the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t,</HI> of the&s;e mens fancied riches, <HI>They have &s;lept their &s;leep, and have found nothing;</HI> a <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> mu&s;t not affect to &s;ay, I have &s;lept a good &s;leep, but I have fought a good fight, and
<PB N="371" REF="176">
my Crown hangs where I mu&s;t take it away by violence, it will not fall upon my head while that lieth upon the pillows of my &s;en&s;itive appetites; they therefore who are the be&s;t &s;tudied in the precepts of Rea&s;on, or the power of Grace, mu&s;t expect to meet with &s;ome dark ob&s;cure parenthe&s;is's in their <HI>Solitude,</HI> which at &s;ometimes they cannot under&s;tand, and the more conte&s;tingly they &s;et their Rea&s;on to explain them, the more intricate they, perhaps, will finde them at that conjuncture; for there are &s;ome inter|vals of weari&s;omne&s;s and disfavor in our Spirits, which no Rea&s;on can clear to us, though it may be they have a coherence with the whole contexture of our peace, as being interpo&s;ed by God, to introduce patience and re&s;ignation, by the&s;e intervening trials of our temper; and likely the thoughts we have in temptations to frowardne&s;s, are the copies of our minde, upon which God judgeth their profi|ciency in the &s;chool of patience, which he hath put them to: There are diver&s;e forms in pri&s;ons, to which God pre|ferreth our mindes by degrees, and the highe&s;t &s;eemeth to be, the remaining humbly patient in a de&s;titution of all &s;en&s;ible con&s;olation from the Spirit of God, to which we ri&s;e not but after &s;ome experiments of &s;uch de&s;olations; &s;o that the be&s;t advice to this ca&s;e, is in our propen&s;ions to frowardne&s;s and petulancy, to conclude, That we are then &s;et to bring in tho&s;e exerci&s;es of vertue, that mu&s;t prefer us to a higher form; all the <HI>Saints</HI> have pa&s;&s;ed by this exam<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">n, in&s;omuch as <HI>David</HI> &s;aith in this ca&s;e, <HI>My</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 76. 4.</NOTE> <HI>&s;oul refu&s;ed to be conforted, I was mindfull of God, and was delighted:</HI> here you &s;ee the &s;torm, and the pa&s;&s;ing of it over, by remembring the qualities of &s;uch bla&s;ts and &s;tre&s;&s;es of temptations.</P>
<P>He is then the be&s;t &s;choller, that &s;tudieth the lea&s;t by his own arguings, to clear to him&s;elf the&s;e ob&s;cure interjections of di&s;plicence and ill humor, and cieling up his thoughts; flieth directly to the top of the Cro&s;s, re&s;ting there, with the <HI>Man of &s;orrow;</HI> where his
<PB N="372" REF="177">
minde, finding <HI>(My God, why ha&s;t thou for&s;aken me?)</HI> may ea&s;ily be an&s;wered in all her own perplexities and de&s;ola|tions; and in &s;tead of fearing her &s;elf to be for&s;aken, may &s;uppo&s;e &s;he is following of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> in this anxiety, to which he was voluntarily &s;ubjected, to &s;olace by his Society our Nature in this infirmity, whereunto that is nece&s;&s;arily ex|po&s;ed; &s;o as in the&s;e di&s;quiets, when the book of our Spirits &s;eemeth clo&s;ed up to us, and we are ready to weep for our not being worthy to open it, we may &s;uppo&s;e our good An|gel doing the office of the <HI>Elder</HI> to St. <HI>John, bidding us not</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Apoc. 5.</NOTE> <HI>to be di&s;maid, for the man of &s;orrow hath opened all the&s;e &s;ealed angui&s;hes, by his taking the &s;ame impre&s;sion upon his Spirit;</HI> and indeed, when our mindes are well died in the blood of the Lamb, the&s;e a&s;per&s;ions of di&s;quiets do not at all &s;tain our Soul, though there may &s;eem &s;ome refractarine&s;s in our Spirits, in the&s;e overca&s;t intervals; But to &s;ecure us from incurring any irregularity by this Spiritual Contention in the Temple of the Holy Gho&s;t, the &s;afe&s;t way is, not to &s;eek a defence by the power of our Rea&s;on, but to yield up our Spirits to &s;uffer under this indi&s;po&s;ition, as long as it &s;hall plea&s;e the <HI>Holy Spirit</HI> to remain withdrawn, even within our own Spirit, beyond our di&s;cernment; and many times in this ari<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ity of our Devotion, when our hearts are, as I may &s;ay, parched and cracked in this drought of Divine Refre&s;hment (if our wills are faithfully re&s;igned to this ex|ercitation of our Faith) every &s;uch crack or overture in our hearts, cau&s;ed by the &s;hutting up of Heaven, proveth a mouth opened, and calling for that holy dew which never fails to be &s;howered down in due &s;ea&s;on, upon &s;uch nece&s;&s;i|tous fidelities; in&s;omuch as this aridity and de&s;olation in|terpo&s;ed for &s;ome time, doth often prove more fruitful then a common kindely &s;ea&s;on of repo&s;e and acquie&s;cence.</P>
<P>I de&s;ire therefore to recommend &s;pecially this Advice (to this &s;tate of <HI>Solitude,</HI> which is very liable to the&s;e ob&s;cure interjections) not to expect peace of minde onely from what we do &s;en&s;ibly receive from God, but al&s;o from what
<PB N="373" REF="177">
we do &s;en&s;ibly give unto him; for in this our commerce with Heaven, there is this Supernatural way of Traffique, we do not onel<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> pay God with his own gifts, but we may give him even what we want, and do not receive from him; that is, we may pre&s;ent him with our privation of his &s;en&s;i|ble Graces, by our acceptance of this poverty and de&s;titu|tion; And this offering of our emptine&s;s, is no le&s;s pro|pitiatory, then the fir&s;t fruits of our Spiritual abundances.</P>
<P>This Adverti&s;ement I conceive very pertinent to my de|&s;ign, of furni&s;hing my fellow Soldiers with <HI>the armor of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 6.</NOTE> <HI>God, that they may re&s;i&s;t in the evil day, and in all things &s;tand perfect;</HI> for it may be properly &s;aid of their condition, that they are to wra&s;tle <HI>not onely again&s;t fle&s;h and blood, but again&s;t the Rulers of the darkne&s;s of this world,</HI> the Fle&s;h &s;hooting all her &s;harpe&s;t darts in the privation of Liberty, and the Spirit his&punc; in the de&s;titution of the mo&s;t humane &s;ympathy of Conver&s;ation: This re&s;ignation then which I have pro|po&s;ed, includeth a di&s;&s;wa&s;ion of any anxious &s;olicitude, concerning the cau&s;e of our &s;ufferance; for the ranging of our thoughts to &s;pring &s;econd cau&s;es, may keep us too much upon the &s;cent of the earth, the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI>'s advice is properer <NOTE PLACE="marg">Col. 2. 20.</NOTE> in this ca&s;e, <HI>Seek upward, and not upon the earth,</HI> which was the fir&s;t point from whence this circle of my di&s;cour&s;e did &s;et forth; and to allay this feaveri&s;h di&s;quiet in our Patient, I may fitly apply this <HI>Opia<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e</HI> of the <HI>Apo&s;tle, If you are dead to</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Col. 3.</NOTE> <HI>the elements of this world, why do you yet decree as living in the world?</HI> This perplexing your &s;elves with the thoughts of the world, is to lo&s;e the benefit of this your civil death, where|by you may re&s;t from the labors of the living. This you may re&s;t upon in general, That in this life there is no &s;ort of Suffering, but may be converted into Sanctification: If you lie under a ju&s;t &s;entence, you may, by an humble conformity to Gods Ju&s;tice, make it a relea&s;e of a greater penalty, then you feel in all your deprivements: If you &s;uffer injuriou&s;ly for your engagement in a righteous Cau&s;e, your Con&s;ola|tion is &s;o much &s;uppo&s;ed, as you have a command <HI>to rejoyce</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 5.</NOTE>
<PB N="374" REF="178">
<HI>in <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">tion,</HI> in view of the glory of your reward&punc; And if every impri&s;oned <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> may be &s;aid to be a rough draught of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> (&s;ince he avoweth his per&s;onation in them) they who &s;uffer for the Defence of Ju&s;tice and Vertue, may be &s;aid to be <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> Images, coloured and more exactly fini&s;hed; wherefore &s;uch may expect to be readily received, with, <HI>I know you ea&s;ily, your &s;cars and wounds which you bring with you, coming out of my &s;ervice, have fini&s;hed the figure of my &s;imilitude:</HI> And we may re&s;olve, That &s;uch Champions &s;hall be &s;et near <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> where the number of their wounds &s;hall be &s;o many marks of their Con&s;anguinity with the bleeding Lamb, and the weight of their Chains &s;hall be the e&s;timate of their Crowns.</P>
<P>All &s;orts of <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> then may fill their &s;everal mea&s;ures of Confort out of this Fountain of <HI>Chri&s;tian Doctrine,</HI> that all they, who do not directly &s;uffer for <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> may yet &s;uffer as <HI>Chri&s;tians,</HI> and &s;o attain the reward of a <HI>Prophet:</HI> I will then clo&s;e up my Pre&s;ent to them with this Seal of the Bands of our fellow-<HI>Pri&s;oner</HI> and <HI>Ma&s;ter Doctor, Let us for|get</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 3. 13.</NOTE> <HI>th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e things which are behinde, and reaching forth <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e things which are before, pre&s;s forward to the mark for the pri<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters"> of the high calling of God in Chri&s;t: Let as many therefore <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> be perfect, be thus minded; and tho&s;e who are otherwi&s;e, I be&s;eech God to reveal this unto them.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="20" TYPE="treatise">
<PB N="375" REF="178">
<HEAD>The twentieth Treati&s;e. Of the Contempt of the VVorld.
Divided into two Sections.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Arguments to di&s;credit all the Attractives of this Earth, and Gods contribution there|unto, produced.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>I Have, in effect, &s;hot all my Quiver at this one Head, <HI>viz.</HI> The love of this World, and have &s;et &s;uch points to my Arrows, as I conceived mo&s;t proper to enter tho&s;e Helmets of Perdition, wherewith the Prince of this World commonly armeth his <HI>Militia</HI> in this quar|ter I aim at, namely, Pre&s;umption or Incon&s;ideration; Wherefore now, me thinks, I may &s;ay to this Age, with the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t, Childrens Arrows are made thy wounds,</HI> re|lating <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;a. 63. 9.</NOTE> either to my former Alliance to the world, or to the pre&s;ent weakne&s;s of the hand that hath made the&s;e Ejacu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ations: But &s;urely the Head that hath been my Mark, may be fitly compared to that of the Bea&s;t in the <HI>Revelation,</HI> which (having been wounded as it were to <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 13.</NOTE> death) was afterwards healed, and Wor&s;hipped the more upon this Cure: For the love of this world &s;eemeth very often mortified, and lying as it were dead in our mindes, being wounded by the <HI>Sword of the Spirit,</HI> and yet <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> viveth, and grows &s;tronger then ever in our Affections.
<PB N="376" REF="179">
And as the&s;e two Heads do not differ much in their Al|legories, &s;ince all the Heads of the Bea&s;t may be &s;aid to &s;ignifie &s;everal mundanities; &s;o are they con&s;orted in this point, of having both the &s;ame Surgeon, the old Serpent, who venteth all his Art upon the recovery of this Head, namely, The love of mundanity, wherein do indeed re|&s;ide the vital Spirits of the body of Sin, the onely Subject of the Prince of this Ages Empire.</P>
<P>So that con&s;idering the dangerous convale&s;cence of this wounded Head, I have conceived it requi&s;ite to do my be&s;t, not onely to kill it outright by playing <HI>Jael</HI>'s part, driving this Nail, that is, this expre&s;s Tract directly through the temples of it, but al&s;o to endeavor the burying it, as I may &s;ay, in this holy ground of Spiritual Joy and Ac|quie&s;cence, which is the &s;afe&s;t cour&s;e to prevent the re|vival of it; for the alacrity of the Spirit keepeth the in|ferior appetites, as it were, under ground: and in this figurative interment, the Balms and Spices of contempla|tive Solaces, contrary to material ones, have this vertue, quickly to con&s;ume and di&s;&s;olve this matter, when they are applied unto it: I &s;hall therefore endeavor to draw out of the inclo&s;ed Garden of the Spou&s;e, &s;uch precious Spices as may work the&s;e two different effects, to di&s;&s;i|pate and con&s;ume the love of this world, as well as pre|&s;erve and per&s;ume the love of Heaven.</P>
<P>One Sin infected our whole Humane Nature, by rea&s;on that all &s;ucceeding individuals had then their voyces com|pri&s;ed in one per&s;on Repre&s;entative of the whole Species: And when we &s;ee the whole Ma&s;s of the Earth accur&s;ed at <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 3. 17.</NOTE> once, me thinks we may &s;peculate this to have been &s;ome part of the rea&s;on, that in the little portion of Earth, com|po&s;ing the body of Man, the whole Globe thereof &s;eemed repre&s;ented, and con&s;equently all tainted by the inquina|tion of that one parcel; for the &s;en&s;itive part of Man con|&s;i&s;ting of Earth, that may well be charged as a Complice in the Crime, &s;ince that portion of Man, although it were
<PB N="377" REF="179">
not Principal, was yet an acce&s;&s;ory in the Crime, the body having acted the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion: This may give an ingenious rea&s;on for the Condemnation of the whole Earth, to bear onely Thorns and Bryers naturally, and fruits not without induring wounds and violences, to wit, the contamina|tion of the whole, in the vitiou&s;ne&s;s of this fir&s;t ungrateful portion of Earth, which, in the per&s;on of Woman, may be &s;aid to have put forth &s;ome Bryers to catch the Soul of Man, even before it was accur&s;ed. This I pre&s;ume to be a better Rea&s;on for the &s;entencing of the whole Earth, then can be given for the Soul of Man's adhering to this Earth by his affections; fora&s;much as this convinceth us of the ter|re&s;trial parts of con&s;piration of our ruine, and &s;o may well aver&s;e the Soul from &s;uch an adherency.</P>
<P>How evident is it, that God never intended that the Soul of Man (after this fir&s;t injury) &s;hould &s;et her affections up|on the Earth, &s;ince Man was pre&s;ently removed from the mo&s;t lovely part thereof, and that was fenced again&s;t his acce&s;s to it, not onely to &s;horten his time upon Earth, but al&s;o, as we may &s;uppo&s;e, to abridge his Delights and So|laces in that &s;hort time, &s;ince no other part of the World could afford &s;uch a complete deliciou&s;ne&s;s, as the earthly Pa|radice out of which Man was excluded; whereby God &s;eem|eth to have provided again&s;t Mans having the &s;tronge&s;t Mo|tives the Earth might offer him, to draw down his affections upon it, and hath left him a continual quarrel, as it were, with the Earth; to wit, the Contention of his labors again&s;t her &s;terility, to entertain this di&s;agreement between it and the love of Man, &s;ince the Earth alloweth him nothing, but at the price of his &s;weat and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">atigation: This might &s;eem &s;ufficient, con&s;idering our lazy Nature, to admit no kinde or friendly corre&s;pondence between us; nay, there are many who &s;uppo&s;e the world long &s;ince not to have had &s;o much invitation left for Man to love it, as the containing the terre&s;trial <HI>Paradice:</HI> This at lea&s;t is very probable, That even &s;ince the Flood, the beauty, fecundity and plea&s;ant|ne&s;s
<PB N="378" REF="180">
of that portion of the Earth is utterly deflowered and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">faced; But this is po&s;itively true, That God did not ex|pul&s;e Man out of <HI>Paradice,</HI> to allow him the making an|other Paradice for him&s;elf out of the Earth: The&s;e &s;pe|culations do (as Saint <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith) <HI>&s;peak after the maner of men,</HI> to implead all title this Earth can claim to the affections of a rea&s;onable Soul; and through all the body of this <HI>Mi&s;cel|lany,</HI> there run veins enough of di&s;paragement to this world; &s;o that they may well terminate in this Centre of Contempt and de&s;pection.</P>
<P>The <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> of love, who&s;e fiery tongue ca&s;ts forth <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 John 2. 15.</NOTE> as many Scintillations of love, as he doth lines, in that Work which may be fitly called, An <HI>Epi&s;tle commendat<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ry of Love</HI> to <HI>Chri&s;tians,</HI> doth not allow the world &s;o much as one &s;park of it, he rather &s;traineth his breath to blow out and extingui&s;h every fla&s;h of affection to it; enjoyn|ing us expre&s;ly, <HI>Not to love the world, nor the things that are in it:</HI> And it is remarkable, That he alleageth not the mi|&s;eries and di&s;gu&s;ts of the world to di&s;credit it, but bring|eth even the mo&s;t amiable alluremonts thereof for Rea&s;ons again&s;t our affecting it, arguing upon the worlds having nothing in it, but <HI>the concupi&s;cence of the eye, and of the fle&s;h, and the pride of life,</HI> in which con&s;i&s;t the mo&s;t powerful At|tractives the world hath for our love: And if all the&s;e which are acknowledged the worlds Proprieties, are turned a|gain&s;t the valuation thereof, what hath it left whereby to allure us? May not that be ju&s;tly then contemned, which either afflicteth us for the pre&s;ent, or betrayeth us for the future.</P>
<P>O how admirable is God in this piece of di&s;tributive Ju&s;tice to Mankinde! who (having by his Providence comparted the conditions in this world into &s;uch a diver|&s;ity of &s;tates, as cannot admit all to the fruition of &s;e|cular Delights) hath commanded that none &s;hould love them; by which order the lowe&s;t ranks are much compen|&s;ated in this re&s;pect, That it is a harder task to forbear
<PB N="379" REF="180">
loving &s;uch things when we enjoy them, then it is to con|temn them when we know we can neither expect them, nor ought to love them: If they <HI>who u&s;e this world, mu&s;t be</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 7.</NOTE> <HI>as though they u&s;ed it not,</HI> tho&s;e who u&s;e lea&s;t of it may be &s;aid to be &s;eated the neare&s;t to this performance; and cer|tain it is, That their &s;tate is the mo&s;t conterminate to that of the true Propriator of the whole world, while he was upon the earth, who did him&s;elf u&s;e tho&s;e things mo&s;t, which we u&s;e to love the lea&s;t, and yet alloweth us to en|joy even the mo&s;t plea&s;ing proporties of the earth, pro|vided we do not love the world in that relation.</P>
<P>All &s;ecular goods were &s;o unworthy of the love of the God and Man <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us,</HI> as they are not allowed the love even of &s;ingle <HI>Mary;</HI> for all the mo&s;t precious and glorious things of this world, are ordained to &s;erve Man as his &s;lave, unto who&s;e offices there can be a&s;&s;igned no love, for this wages doth pre&s;ently invert the two condi|tions, rendring the lover the &s;lave: How rea&s;onable then mu&s;t it be to addre&s;s unto him all our love, who hath by his love to us &s;ubjected all the&s;e things unto us, and hath &s;o di&s;po&s;ed it, as to maintain our Prerogative, there is re|quired no Art, but the contemning of what &s;tands thus &s;ubjected.</P>
<P>Whereupon I may well pre&s;s you in this point, as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> doth, <HI>Let this minde be in you, which was al&s;o in</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 2. 5.</NOTE> <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us;</HI> his comportment towards the world, was intended to give you the &s;ame minde: Look then upon your Nature in <HI>the author and fini&s;her of our Faith,</HI> and you &s;hall &s;ee Mans dominion over the World maintained by con|temning it; the world was &s;o perfectly crucified to him all his life, as he contemned the being crucified by the world, de&s;pi&s;ing (as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;aith) <HI>even the greate&s;t &s;hame and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Hebr. 12.</NOTE> <HI>confu&s;ion of this world:</HI> And what could this Divine Man do more to imprint in us this aver&s;ion to the world, then the&s;e two acts, in not vouch&s;afeing to enjoy any of tho&s;e things, the cupidities whereof u&s;e to vitiate us, to leave
<PB N="380" REF="181">
all them aba&s;ed and vilified, and in not declining the &s;uf|ferance of &s;uch things (whereof the terror doth likely &s;ub|ject us to the world) to render them ea&s;ie and acceptable: What hath the world then left in it, for Motives either of our love or fear of it, that even God him&s;elf may not be &s;aid both to have undervalued and undergone? And what we are enjoyned neither to love nor fear, cannot &s;eem un|ea&s;ie for us to de&s;pi&s;e; e&s;pecially when this advantage is annexed, That we gain more by contemning the whole world, then we can by enjoying our own divident therein: For whereas Fortune keeps many worldlings poor, the Contempt of the world keeps Fortune her &s;elf wanting and indigent, leaving her nothing to give to &s;uch a di&s;|po&s;ition; So that in &s;tead of incurring the reproach of the <HI>Prophet,</HI> in &s;etting up <HI>a Table to Fortune, and offering liba|ments</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 65. 11</NOTE> <HI>upon it,</HI> this habit of minde &s;acrificeth and de&s;troy|eth Fortune upon the Altar of the <HI>Holy Spirit;</HI> and thus even the feathers of Fortune, to wit, The vanities and le|vities of this Age, when they are incen&s;ed and con&s;umed by a holy Contempt of this world, may make a &s;weet Savor in the Temple of God; whereupon I may &s;ay, That the&s;e &s;orts of feathers, which while they are burn|ing in the flame of our &s;en&s;itive pa&s;&s;ions, yield <HI>an odour of death unto death,</HI> when they are con&s;uming in this Sa|crifical fire of a zealous Contempt and Renunciation of them, afford <HI>a &s;avor of life unto life,</HI> in this act of their de|&s;truction in our mindes.</P>
<P>In the time of the <HI>Law,</HI> when the Commodities of the Earth &s;eemed to be propo&s;ed as the Salary of Mans vertue, there might be &s;ome colour to love this world, and &s;o in that &s;tate God accepted the Bea&s;ts of the Earth for <HI>Holocau&s;ts:</HI> But in the <HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> when no le&s;s then the enjoying of God him&s;elf, and all his goods is exhibited for the term of our de&s;ires, it cannot &s;eem unequal, that even the whole World &s;hould be required for a Holo|cau&s;t, immolated and con&s;umed by a Religious Anni|hilation
<PB N="381" REF="181">
of it in our Mindes, to the honor of &s;uch a Re|munerator.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Motives by the property of a Chri&s;tian to contemn the World.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>VVHen we con&s;ider our &s;elves under the no|tion of Members to &s;uch a Head, as hath offered up as a Holocau&s;t even the <HI>Creator</HI> of the whole <HI>Univer&s;e,</HI> it &s;eemeth not &s;trange, but ra|ther &s;uitable for &s;uch Members to Sacrifice the whole World, to hold &s;ome proportion unto their Head, e&s;pe|cially &s;ince his offering of him&s;elf was in order to the enabling us to Sacrifice and de&s;troy this world; Doth not this our Head God and Man <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us</HI> &s;ay, That <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 1<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. 32.</NOTE> even in his life <HI>the judgement of this world was given?</HI> it was &s;entenced to Contempt by his de&s;pi&s;ing it; he that did not di&s;dain to own the Infirmities of Man, did notwith|&s;tanding <HI>prote&s;t again&s;t his being of this world,</HI> &s;o much hath <NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 8. 24.</NOTE> he left it vilified to us: And doth not he &s;ay, <HI>If he were exalted above the earth, be would draw all men unto him?</HI> So that in this exaltation is proclaimed our Duty, and ca|pacity of tran&s;cending this world, and treading on it with Contempt, by the attractive Vertue of this our Head, rai&s;ed above all the Heavens: And we may remember, That the fir&s;t Members he was plea&s;ed to unite unto him upon Earth, were in&s;tantly elevated to that height of being above the world, &s;eated in this abnegation and de|&s;pection.</P>
<P>May I not then fitly &s;ay with Saint <HI>Paul, The&s;e things</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 10.</NOTE> <HI>were done in a figure of us,</HI> &s;ince what they left to lighten them for this tran&s;cendency, is an appo&s;ite figure of what we are
<PB N="382" REF="182">
to do in order to this elevation, namely, To relinqui&s;h our Nets in this world, which we may under&s;tand in two &s;ences, that compri&s;e all our directions in this ca&s;e; to wit, either as we are actively catching and cha&s;ing the Commodities of this Age, or as we are pa&s;&s;ively taken and intangled in the love of what we enjoy: In the fir&s;t of the&s;e &s;tates, we may be &s;aid to have our Nets in our hand, and in the &s;econd to have them in our hearts; &s;o that to leave our Nets, &s;ignifieth to relinqui&s;h both our &s;olicitous Cupidities and Pa&s;&s;ions, in point of pur&s;uing the goods of this World, and our Inordinate love in ca&s;e of their po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion: And this di&s;po&s;ition of Minde rai&s;eth us to that exaltation above the Earth, whereunto Chri&s;tians are attracted by their Head; and truly they who will not Sacrifice their Nets, with the <HI>Apo&s;tles,</HI> in this <NOTE PLACE="marg">Habac. 1. 16.</NOTE> &s;ence, do Sacrifice to their own Nets in the &s;ence of the <HI>Prophet,</HI> they Wor&s;hip the World, wherein they are ta|ken and in&s;nared: Let &s;uch Worldings remember what <HI>CHRIST</HI> &s;aith to them from his elevation above this <NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 8. 23.</NOTE> world, even while he was in it, <HI>Whither I go, you can|not come;</HI> And the Rea&s;on followeth, <HI>You are from be|neath, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world:</HI> And let them reflect on what was &s;aid to the relinqui&s;hers of their Nets, That they &s;hall <HI>&s;it with the Son of Man in Maje&s;ty upon Thrones, judging the world,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 19. 29.</NOTE> which in &s;ome imperfect mea&s;ure is fulfilled, even in this Life, by the mo&s;t Sublimated Contemners of this World, of which God &s;aith by the <HI>PROPHET, He will rai&s;e them above the altitudes of the Earth;</HI> and by the <HI>APOSTLE,</HI> That <HI>they have not received the Spirit of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 2. 12.</NOTE> <HI>this World, but the Spirit that is of God, that they may know the things that are given them of God.</HI></P>
<P>I have &s;ufficiently delivered my &s;elf in this Point, throughout all this Work, not to be mi&s;under&s;tood now at la&s;t, in this Sacrificing of our Nets, which I have propo&s;ed, &s;ince I have often concluded, That
<PB N="383" REF="182">
all &s;everal Vocations have their re&s;pective capacities of Contemning this World, even while they &s;eem the mo&s;t affected by it: So that this Di&s;cour&s;e doth not aim at the frighting any one out of their &s;tation in the world, &s;ince tho&s;e who have the mo&s;t of this world, <HI>u&s;ing it as if they</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 7.</NOTE> <HI>u&s;ed it not,</HI> may do as well in their order, as tho&s;e who choo&s;e to u&s;e the lea&s;t they can of it, for fear of abu&s;ing it: For we know the Earth is familiarly, and may be properly compared to a Sea, in this re&s;pect, as it is no place of abode, but of pa&s;&s;age through it; and in their cour&s;e there are no Ve&s;&s;els that have not &s;omewhat more or le&s;s of them under water, that is, &s;ome thoughts and attentions upon this world; and as they are lighter or heavier laden with the Commodities of this Life, they carry the more or le&s;s of them&s;elves above water; the le&s;s their cogitations are immer&s;ed in Temporalities, the higher their mindes pa&s;s through this World: But as there are Ve&s;&s;els of &s;everal la&s;ts, &s;o it is the property of &s;ome to draw more water then others; therefore &s;uch cannot be &s;aid to be nearer &s;inking, becau&s;e they have more of them under water then lighter Barques: Every condition hath his re&s;pective Fraight of Application to this World, which may draw &s;ome deeper then others into the &s;olicitudes of this Age; but unle&s;s we volun|tarily overcharge our Vocation, every one may pa&s;s &s;afely with his proper Weight: But we mu&s;t remember &s;pecially this particular in the Compari&s;on, That as in Ships, the part which &s;aileth them and carrieth them on their cour&s;e is all above water, &s;o that portion of our Minde, tho&s;e Thoughts and Intendments that advance and carry us to Heaven, are tho&s;e which are Spiritual, and elevated above this World; the balla&s;t of our Mor|tal part, will keep &s;ome portions of our Thoughts in all conditions &s;omewhat immer&s;ed in the Earth, but the &s;ails of our Immortal portion, mu&s;t carry on the whole
<PB N="384" REF="183">
Man to his Cele&s;tial Harbor: I may therefore ju&s;tly ex|hort and animate all conditions in the Contempt of this World, in this voyce of the <HI>Apo&s;tle, You are of God, little children, and have overcome it, becau&s;e greater is he that is in you,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 John 4.</NOTE> <HI>then <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> that is in the world.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 N="21" TYPE="treatise">
<PB N="385" REF="183">
<HEAD>The one and twentieth Treati&s;e. Of the Preheminences of a true contem|plative life; Divided into five Sections.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Contemplation defined, and &s;ome excellencies thereof di&s;cour&s;ed.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>COming now off from this troubled Sea; for the fi|ni&s;hing touches of this per&s;wa&s;ion, I will carry your eyes a little upon the pourtraicture of &s;uch a Sea as was &s;hewed to Saint <HI>John</HI> by the <HI>Angel</HI> for a mar|velous <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 15.</NOTE> Sign: For indeed, this &s;tate of Minde I purpo&s;e in this la&s;t place to expo&s;e unto you, is, me thinks, fitly emblem'd by that <HI>Sea of gla&s;s mingled with fire,</HI> on which they &s;tand, having <HI>harps in their hands that have overcome the image of the Bea&s;t:</HI> And in this order may follow the application. The &s;paciou&s;ne&s;s of their Souls that are extended in perfect con|templation, is aptly figured by that property of the Sea; their equanimity and clearne&s;s, by the &s;moothne&s;s and lucid|ne&s;s of Gla&s;s; the fervor of their Spirits is fitly &s;ymbo|lized, by a mixture of Fire in this Sea of Gla&s;s: this Spi|ritual ardor being as requi&s;ite to compo&s;e this temper, as fire is to make Gla&s;s: And farther we may &s;ay, That as Gla&s;s is formed of many uncon&s;i&s;ting parts, that are con&s;olidated and clarified by fire; &s;o is this even and clear habit of minde
<PB N="386" REF="184">
compo&s;ed of divers intellectual Verities, compacted and elucidated by the flame of <HI>Contemplation;</HI> and the Harps in their hands repre&s;ent the harmony and concordancy be|tween the &s;en&s;itive organs and rational powers in the mindes of devout Contemplators, which keeps in tune a Spiritual joy and acquie&s;cence.</P>
<P>It was an ingenious project of <HI>Archimedes,</HI> the under|taking to remove the whole material World, in ca&s;e there were a&s;&s;igned him a Centre out of it, upon which to place his In&s;trument: This work we may &s;ay to have been effected in a Spiritual &s;ence, by the Man <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us,</HI> and by &s;uch a maner as the other was contrived; namely, by having an Engine fixt upon a Centre out of this world, which was his Humanity upon his Divinity, upon which ba&s;is re&s;ted all his power wherewith he removed the whole Spiritual frame of the world; and upon this Centre he &s;tood, when he &s;aid, <HI>I am not of this world;</HI> and even by a weak Reed fixed upon <NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 8. 23.</NOTE> that Centre, he removed and ca&s;t forth the Prince of the World; for his Humane Nature was as it were the Engine or In&s;trument &s;tanding upon his Divine, as on a Centre ex|trin&s;ecal to this World, and &s;o that wrought in&s;trumentally upon the World, and was &s;ufficient, when <HI>it was exalted from</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 12. 32</NOTE> <HI>the earth, to draw all things to it &s;elf;</HI> And why may I not &s;ay, that &s;ome &s;uch capacity &s;eemeth communicated to the Mem|bers of <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us,</HI> that is, of fixing their mindes, though but Humane, upon a Centre extrin&s;ecal to this world, <HI>viz.</HI> The contemplation of Divine&punc; Verities; and by that means to remove all this World out of that place where it u&s;eth to &s;tand in our corrupted Nature: And certain it is, That many have and do act this power upon the Earth, by fixing their Spirits upon Contemplation, which is a Centre without this world. It were ea&s;ie for me to point at many of the&s;e elevated Spirits, which like the Con&s;tellations in the Fir|mament, are known by Names, more then the other Star<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> But to decline all &s;hew of any particular preference, I &s;hall &s;ingle none, but do my obey&s;ance in general to all ranks
<PB N="387" REF="184">
of &s;uch ble&s;&s;ed Contemplators; of whom I may &s;ay with the <HI>Apo&s;tle,</HI> That <HI>in the mid&s;t of a perver&s;e generation, they</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 2.</NOTE> <HI>have &s;hined as lights in the world;</HI> their mindes &s;eeming to be kindes of Spiritual fixed Stars, which never altered their di&s;tances from the Earth, and intended onely the fini&s;hing their cour&s;e at the &s;ame time, imparting light unto the world by divers irradiations, re&s;pective to their po&s;itions therein, either of Prayer or other Edifications: Wherefore of &s;uch habits of minde the <HI>Holy Spirit</HI> &s;aith, <HI>The path of the ju&s;t is as</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 4.</NOTE> <HI>the &s;hining light, that proceedeth even to perfect day,</HI> which is <HI>Contemplation</HI> con&s;ummated, when the day-Star (whereby Saint <HI>Peter</HI> expre&s;&s;eth it) &s;hall be ri&s;en in our hearts; where|of the&s;e acts of our intellect &s;eem to be &s;ome inchoative or imperfect rays, and to give you as fair a view as I can of this ab&s;tru&s;e object, I &s;hall &s;et it in the mo&s;t luminous definition I can deliver it, out of the mouth of S. <HI>Augu&s;tine.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Contemplation is a clear int<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">on, and a delightful admiration</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Contem|plation defined.</NOTE> <HI>of per&s;picuous Verities;</HI> &s;o that the minde in that &s;tate may be &s;aid to walk in the meridional light of Faith, towards the incomprehen&s;ible clarity of perfect vi&s;ion; and this light of Grace, wherein a pure Contemplative Soul inhabiteth, may (me thinks) be &s;aid to hold &s;ome &s;uch proportion to the purer light of glory &s;he expecteth, as the &s;ight which the three <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> had of <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> Body transfigured on <HI>Ta|bor,</HI> holds to that they are to have of it glorified in Heaven; for as the brightne&s;s of Lightning, and the cand or of Snow, did in &s;ome mea&s;ure repre&s;ent to them the far tran&s;cending lu&s;tre and beauty that was to be looked for in his Body beatified, &s;o the&s;e admirable intellectual Verities, which are the objects of a true Contemplative Soul in this life, do in &s;ome degree figure to it the unexpre&s;&s;ible notions, ri&s;ing out of a fruitive Contemplation of the increated Verity; in&s;omuch as the&s;e elevated Spirits may be conceived to have &s;uch a kinde of advantage over others, who may al&s;o be faithful in lower &s;tations of <HI>Chri&s;tianity,</HI> as the three <HI>Di&s;ci|ples</HI> called up to <HI>Tabor</HI> had of them that were left below the
<PB N="388" REF="185">
Mountain: For certainly this &s;ight mu&s;t have imprinted in their mindes a more lively and affecting image of the ami|ablene&s;s of glorified Bodies, then the others could appre|hend: But as <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> admitted few even of his <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> to this &s;ight of him, &s;o doth God vouch&s;afe to &s;elect and ele|vate but very few to this &s;uperlative pitch of <HI>Contemplation,</HI> of whom we may &s;ay with the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t, This is the genera|tion</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;a. 23. 6.</NOTE> <HI>of them that &s;eek the face of the God of Jacob,</HI> who we know was one of the mo&s;t eminent in this high vocation, feeding on this bread of <HI>Angels,</HI> and having this Spiritual <HI>Manna</HI> &s;how<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">red down upon him, while he was feeding the flocks of others in a &s;ervile obligation: And holy <HI>Da|vid,</HI> in all his exterior bitterne&s;&s;es ta&s;ting of this Spiritual reflection, &s;aith, as it were, this Grace to it, <HI>How great is the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 30. 20.</NOTE> <HI>multitude of thy &s;weetne&s;s, O Lord, which thou ha&s;t hid for them that fear thee; thou &s;halt hide them in the &s;ecret of thy face from the di&s;turbance of men:</HI> This expre&s;&s;eth well their &s;tate of minde, which is covered from the &s;ight of the world in the &s;ecret of Gods face, that is, in his mo&s;t private and re|&s;erved kindene&s;&s;es; and as God hideth him&s;elf in his own inacce&s;&s;ible light, &s;o &s;uch Souls, adhering unto God, and becoming (as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">aith) <HI>one Spirit,</HI> are hid to the world <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 6.</NOTE> in the exce&s;&s;ive light of their Graces, which common ap|prehen&s;ions cannot penetrate; of &s;uch mindes we may mo&s;t peculiarly &s;ay, <HI>Who knoweth the things of &s;uch men, &s;ave</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 2.</NOTE> <HI>the Spirit that is in them, which &s;earcheth the deep things of God?</HI> while their apprehen&s;ive faculty perfecteth it &s;elf by extracting the pure &s;pecies of Truth, and their affecting power is perfected, by tran&s;mitting it &s;elf exteriorly upon the object that attracteth it: Thus the under&s;tanding is ne|ver &s;atiated by a continual receiving, nor the affection ever dimini&s;hed by an ince&s;&s;ant i&s;&s;uing it &s;elf out upon the ob|ject, but doth rather acquire by this perpetual Self-alie|nation.</P>
<P>In this admirable commerce doth the true Contempla|tive Soul negotiate with her own Maker, while what is im|ported
<PB N="389" REF="185">
from him into the Under&s;tanding, obligeth the Will to export unto him her faculty of loving; and thus know|ledge infu&s;ed, draweth forth love, and love efu&s;ed, remitteth back fre&s;h illuminations: This Angelical corre&s;pondence with God, the Contemplative Man entertaineth, and hath in proportion to his Nature, the &s;ame priviledge that Angels have, when they a&s;&s;ume apparent Bodies for their mini&s;tery on Earth; namely, to finde no intermi&s;&s;ion of their &s;eeing God: So in all the exterior offices which the Soul acteth by the mini&s;tery of the Body in &s;uch per&s;ons, the Minde doth not remove out of that apprehended pre&s;ence of God, whereof her tran&s;itory &s;tate is capable; in&s;omuch as a pro|found Contemplator may be &s;aid to be never &s;o much alive to this life, as when he &s;eemeth to be the mo&s;t dead to it: For in the image of Death, when the other powers of his Minde cannot controul his Fancy, that may introduce imaginations into him &s;uperfluou&s;ly relative to this life, and removed from the &s;cope of all his rea&s;onable cogitations, which never move, but in a pre&s;ential reverence of God: So that the Natural Man may be &s;aid to live in him no longer by the &s;trength or power of his Nature, but meerly by the in|firmity of it, that requireth &s;uch a &s;u&s;pen&s;ion of the Spi|ritual Man, which lives &s;o powerfully in &s;uch a per&s;on, as he &s;eems fully in po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> promi&s;e, <HI>of his Fathers and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">John 14. 23.</NOTE> <HI>his coming, and making his ab<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">de with him:</HI> which according to the divi&s;ion made by the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t</HI> of the whole Man, may be conceived to be done in this maner; The Father re|&s;iding in that portion called the Soul, as it importeth the Origine of all vital operations, the Son re&s;ting in the Minde, as that is the &s;eat of our actual intelligence or under&s;tanding, and both of them may be &s;aid to expirate and breathe forth the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t</HI> into the Heart, as that is taken for the conti|nent of our affections; and by this means the whole Man cometh as near the loving God with all his Soul, with all his Minde, and with all his Heart, as this traver&s;e and inter|po&s;ed vail of Fle&s;h and Blood can admit him, <HI>forgetting</HI>
<PB N="390" REF="186">
(with Saint <HI>Paul) the things that are behinde, and &s;tretching</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 3.</NOTE> <HI>forth him&s;elf to tho&s;e that are before,</HI> by this con&s;tant Applica|tion, <HI>pre&s;erving the whole Spirit, Soul and Body, without blame to the coming of our Lord Chri&s;t Je&s;us.</HI></P>
<P>Con&s;idering then the properties of the&s;e golden ve&s;&s;els of Charity placed within the outward vale of the Temple, and looking continually towards the Propitiatory, &s;eated within the inward vale (which figured the beatifical vi&s;ion) even their Bodies may be well compared to the grate upon the Altar of Incen&s;e, from which all the a&s;hes of carnal appetites fall away down under the Altar it &s;elf, repre&s;ented by their mindes, from whence the fume of tho&s;e fragrant Odours of Vocal and Mental Prayer, is directed towards the wings of the <HI>Cherubims;</HI> and &s;o what is &s;weet in the Spirit a&s;cend|eth to Heaven, and what is unclean in the Fle&s;h falleth to the Earth, and doth not remain as a foulne&s;s upon the Altar, which is kept always bright and odoriferous; And in the&s;e Temples of the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t,</HI> there is not onely a continual emi&s;&s;ion of fire from Heaven falling upon the Altar, but even a fre&s;h provi&s;ion of materials to incen&s;e upon it, that is to &s;ay, new &s;upplies of Meditations, de&s;cending from the Father of light, from whom the &s;ame beam imparteth at once the ardor of love and the light of Science; &s;o that this matter can never want that flame, nor that flame ever want this fomentation.</P>
<P>O how incomprehen&s;ible is the clarity of the Divine El|&s;ence, whereof if the little light &s;hed on us do &s;hine &s;o &s;trangely even in us, being as yet but dark lanthorns to carry it, how much mu&s;t tho&s;e &s;plendors of purity and &s;anctity radiate, which never i&s;&s;ue out of it &s;elf, whereof we have but few or no glances in this imperfect &s;tate of Contempla|tion, to wit, little or no intelligible perception of the My|&s;terious light of the glorious <HI>Trinity,</HI> con&s;i&s;tent with that mo&s;t &s;imple <HI>&V;nity</HI> in which the <HI>Trinity</HI> of per&s;ons is com|pri&s;ed; and yet the &s;implicity of the Unity is not at all di|mini&s;hed: In which &s;peculative Verity, the be&s;t plumed
<PB N="391" REF="186">
<HI>S<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">raphins</HI> of our mortal Nature, when they &s;oar never &s;o high on the&s;e two wings of <HI>Grace</HI> and <HI>Contemplation,</HI> mu&s;t cover their faces with the&s;e two other, of <HI>Faith</HI> and <HI>Wonder,</HI> &s;inging with the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t, I &s;hall be &s;atisfied when thy glory ap|peareth, and in thy light we &s;hall &s;ee light.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The gradations whereby we a&s;cend ordinarily up to this &s;tation.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>I May well &s;uppo&s;e that there will be many, who being dazled by the radiancy of the faces of the&s;e <HI>Mo&s;es's</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 35.</NOTE> we have expo&s;ed, will, with the people, turn their heads away from this object: And I may imagine, that &s;ome (as being taken with the beauty of this light) will conclude with the <HI>Apo&s;tles, That it is good to live upon this Mount,</HI> and may perchance think of making Tabernacles for their abode in this place; that is, de&s;ign all the powers of their mindes to the forming in them&s;elves &s;uch a &s;tate of <HI>Contemplation:</HI> wherefore it may be pertinent to look a little downward up|on &s;uch &s;ubjacent &s;tations as are the direct way up to the top of the Mountain, whereunto the neare&s;t conterminate part is that of <HI>Speculation;</HI> and the next to that, <HI>Lecture;</HI> and after that <HI>Mortification,</HI> which lieth indeed as the ba&s;is of all the ele|vation: and as it hath this property of the ground-work, to con&s;i&s;t of the mo&s;t gro&s;s matter, &s;o hath it this likewi&s;e, of being the &s;upport of the whole erection; and in that or|der I will re-a&s;cend to the &s;ummity from whence I have di&s;mounted.</P>
<P>While the Soul of Man receives no intelligible &s;pecies, but &s;uch as are rai&s;ed from &s;en&s;ible matter, and acteth onely by corporeal organs, by Natural Rea&s;on it is evident, why Mortification is requi&s;ite for the be&s;t extent of her intel|lectual
<PB N="392" REF="187">
powers, as rendring the&s;e pa&s;&s;ages the clearer through which all images enter into our di&s;cur&s;ive faculty, and al&s;o keeping that power the more free and active in all her ex|erci&s;es: The purer the gla&s;s is, the better we &s;ee all things in the room, and the farther we may &s;ee out of the room, when we look outward through the gla&s;s; &s;o both the &s;pe|cies that enter into our mindes through clean and unob|&s;tructed organs, are the clearer, and the acts al&s;o of our di&s;|cour&s;e and &s;peculation, looking outward towards immateri|alities, are the more &s;harp and penetrating.</P>
<P>I &s;hall not need to argue how much corporeal plea&s;ures and &s;en&s;ualities do ob&s;cure the light received by the appre|hen&s;ive faculty, and clog the operations of the rea&s;oning power of the Minde; Wherefore even in this Natural re&s;pect, a convenient &s;uppre&s;&s;ion of the appetites of the Fle&s;h &s;eemeth the platform of all Spiritual exaltation; but we have a firmer &s;upernatural ground, whereupon to rai&s;e this Conclu&s;ion, of the requi&s;itene&s;s of Mortification to|wards &s;peculative gifts, the word of the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t</HI> &s;aying, <HI>They that are in the fle&s;h cannot plea&s;e God;</HI> and if they be re|moved <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8.</NOTE> even from Gods favor, they mu&s;t needs be very di&s;tantial from that grace and familiarity, which is impart|ed to <HI>Contemplation:</HI> Saint <HI>Paul</HI> was allowed &s;o little to think of his body, when he was rai&s;ed to his highe&s;t point of illumination, as he knew not whether he had any body about him, or no, at that time: And we finde that he took the be&s;t cour&s;e he could all his life, to feel the lea&s;t he might po&s;&s;ibly of his body; in order whereunto he &s;aith, <HI>He did not onely cha&s;ti&s;e his body, and keep it in &s;ubjection,</HI> but <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 9.</NOTE> affirmeth likewi&s;e, That <HI>he did dye daily:</HI> It &s;eemeth he found no means of clearing the operations of the Soul, but by making, as it were, a quotidian &s;eparation between her and the Fle&s;h; And, me thinks, we may &s;ay of all Saint <HI>Pauls</HI> converted life (notwith&s;tanding his humility in owning infirmities) that which he him&s;elf &s;aid of &s;ome part of it, namely, <HI>Whether this man in Chri&s;t lived in his body, or out</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 12.</NOTE>
<PB N="393" REF="187">
<HI>of his body, we know not, God knoweth,</HI> &s;o little &s;en&s;e we finde him to have had of his body, in point of Mortification, and &s;o little impediment by it in Contemplative operations: And doth he not &s;ay him&s;elf, <HI>That it is not he that liveth, but</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">.</NOTE> <HI>Chri&s;t in him,</HI> and referring to us, he declares the requi&s;itene&s;s of Mortification, telling us, That <HI>they that be Chri&s;ts have crucified their fle&s;h, with the vices and concupi&s;cences;</HI> and if this kinde of cruci&s;ixion be requi&s;ite even for the practical part of <HI>Chri&s;tianity,</HI> whereunto all are called, much more mu&s;t it be pertinent to the perfect &s;peculative &s;tate thereof, to which &s;o few are cho&s;en. <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 83.</NOTE></P>
<P>I am therefore well warranted to lay <HI>Mortification</HI> as the ground or foot of this <HI>Mount</HI> of <HI>Moria,</HI> which &s;igni|fieth the Land of Vi&s;ions, whereunto all &s;uch as &s;hall de|&s;pi&s;e a&s;cen&s;ions in their heart, mu&s;t take their ri&s;e from this foot, and remember what was figured by <HI>Abrahams</HI> leaving his Servants and his A&s;s afar off, when he &s;aw the Moun|tain, and the prohibition of any Bea&s;t to come near to <HI>Mount Sinai,</HI> to wit, that no carnal or &s;en&s;ual di&s;po&s;itions might <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 22.</NOTE> pre&s;ume to approach towards the my&s;terious lights of God: So that who&s;oever a&s;pired to go up to this <HI>mount Moria</HI> of <HI>Contemplation,</HI> mu&s;t be advi&s;ed to follow <HI>Abrahams</HI> order, to leave afar off all voluptuous and &s;en&s;ual appetites, figured by the Servants and the A&s;s, and carry in his hand the Fire and the Sword, that is, Zeal and Activity for the &s;acrificing of his Fle&s;h and Blood to the honor of God: This is the Fire that he who was typified by <HI>I&s;aac</HI> brought into the earth; and this the Sword, which he &s;aith <HI>he came to &s;end, and not Peace.</HI> Wherefore this ho&s;tility declared again&s;t our Fle&s;h, mu&s;t be remembred to be the fir&s;t Article of that peace of the Spirit, which is concluded in Contemplation.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<PB N="394" REF="188">
<HEAD>&sect;. III.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>The requi&s;itene&s;s of Lecture, in order to this Spiritual elevation.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>THe next Stage whereby we are to ri&s;e, is pious <HI>Lecture;</HI> which &s;ubject calls back my thoughts up|on the fir&s;t &s;tate of mans knowledge; wherein we may con&s;ider, That the fir&s;t Humane Soul came into this world, perfect in the intellectual part, by Science infu&s;ed, and needed not &s;tay for the help of her corporeal organs to acquire any, for tho&s;e in&s;truments whereby &s;he was to act, were ready in their perfection, before &s;he was &s;eated in them, &s;ince Gods forming perfectly the body of man, preceded his breathing into it the breath of Life: And &s;o we finde that he was able to reade pre&s;ently in the book of Gods works, wherein he read the character of Gods hand in every creature that was &s;et before him; and, as I may &s;ay, &s;uper&s;cribed their names upon them, by the &s;ecret impre&s;&s;ion he read of their Nature: But not being &s;atisfied with this ex|cellent degree of intelligence, he began to affect the reading even in Gods own increated book, The knowing like God him&s;elf. Upon this pre&s;umption the rational &s;oul of Man was ca&s;t down from this high form, and &s;et &s;o much back|ward, as ever &s;ince both the Vegetative and Sen&s;itive &s;ouls precede her long in the perfection of their acts, and &s;he is ob|liged to &s;tay their lei&s;ure before &s;he can act her be&s;t accord|ing to her faculty, which mu&s;t co&s;t her al&s;o pains and care to reduce it unto the be&s;t extent thereof.</P>
<P>Thus is now the rational Soul, &s;entenced to feed her &s;elf by her kinde of &s;weat and labor; &s;o that &s;he is not onely to acquire mo&s;t of her natural knowledges, by a laborious in|du&s;try, but &s;he is al&s;o &s;et to work by &s;tudy and attention, even upon tho&s;e &s;upernatural Principles that are infu&s;ed into her, as tho&s;e of <HI>Faith, Hope</HI> and <HI>Charity;</HI> even the&s;e infu&s;ed habits will not &s;o much as remain in her, without her own
<PB N="395" REF="188">
&s;tudy and &s;olicitude to pre&s;erve them, much le&s;s can they be improved to their be&s;t degree, without much intend|ment and application: And to facilitate the perfection of the Soul in this life, God hath been plea&s;ed to make his own Character, and to leave it legible under his own Hand, his holy <HI>Scriptures,</HI> wherein all his attributes are penn'd in the faire&s;t maner, to affect our under&s;tandings, and to take our affections; in&s;omuch as of the holy Writ it may be well &s;aid to God, <HI>The light of thy countenance is impre&s;&s;ed upon it:</HI> This living &s;pring of Verities the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t</HI> hath left upon <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 4.</NOTE> the earth, from whence all the rivelets of pious Books de|rive their waters, which are &s;o proper to refre&s;h and &s;ee un|date the minde of Man, as the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t</HI> doth but rarely u&s;e his own power of impregnating and repleni&s;hing Souls with immediate in&s;pirations, but vouch&s;afeth, for the mo&s;t part, to be conveyed into our mindes by the mediate &s;pi|rations into them of vertuous notions, from his &s;ubalternate in&s;truments, the pens of his holy Mini&s;ters, which he doth certainly in&s;pire with qualities <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">o well proportioned to our capacities, as they deliver Divine Truths unto our mindes, under &s;uch familiar and agreeable forms as are mo&s;t apt to work upon our affections.</P>
<P>This is the de&s;ign of the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t</HI> in all pious Books, wherein his Spirit remaineth covered in the elements of mans conceptions (for words may be &s;aid to be a kinde of body to thoughts) as the Divinity of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> did under the vails of Fle&s;h and Blood. In like maner it is the Divine vertue of the <HI>Holy Spirit,</HI> that worketh all tho&s;e devout effects which are produced by the in&s;trumental conceptions of pious Writers: Wherefore as the Scriptures are to be read with per&s;wa&s;ion, that God is pre&s;entially &s;peaking to us, &s;o all Books of Devotion are to be u&s;ed with this opi|nion, of their &s;peaking to us, as delegated and deputed from God.</P>
<P>The minde of Man abhorreth vacuity, and though her Nature tend upward to be repleni&s;hed with Spiritual no|tions,
<PB N="396" REF="189">
yet if &s;he be void of them, &s;he &s;inketh pre&s;ently to earth, to take in any gro&s;&s;er furniture; &s;o that if &s;he be not provided with &s;uch pure &s;pecies as may keep her point|ing at her own Centre, in &s;tead of being elevated, as it were, above her &s;elf in <HI>Contemplation,</HI> &s;he will fall below her &s;elf into &s;ome terrene amuzement: Wherefore a ha|bit of pious Lecture is mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary, in order to the re|pleni&s;hing her with Spiritual Images, that may keep her eye always erected up upon them; and may we not well infer the requi&s;itene&s;s of reading, for the &s;upport of the Spiritual Man, &s;ince Saint <HI>Paul</HI> doth not onely advi&s;e his <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 4. 13.</NOTE> &s;o elevated Di&s;ciple <HI>Timothy</HI> to attend unto reading, but chargeth him with great &s;olicitude to bring him &s;ome Books, even after he had told him he had <HI>con&s;ummated his</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 4.</NOTE> <HI>cour&s;e, and the time of his revolution was near;</HI> If he who had been in <HI>Paradice</HI> already in a <HI>tran&s;cient</HI> &s;tate, and was &s;o near his going thither to a <HI>permanent,</HI> did &s;till make u&s;e of Books, how nece&s;&s;ary mu&s;t they be for all &s;uch as a&s;pire to any Spiritual exaltation?</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="section">
<PB N="397" REF="189">
<HEAD>&sect;. IV.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Speculation placed as the la&s;t &s;tep in this a&s;cent of the Soul.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>THis la&s;t &s;tation carrieth us up to the top of this <HI>Mount Moria,</HI> from whence we have de&s;cended, and &s;o is the &s;teepe&s;t part, and the unea&s;ie&s;t mounting of all the re&s;t, as it is neare&s;t the vertical point of our fixure: This la&s;t &s;tep then is <HI>Speculation</HI> or <HI>Meditating,</HI> which act of our di&s;cur&s;ive faculty, is commonly taken as univocal, with this other of our minde fixed in <HI>Contempla|tion;</HI> but when they are rightly di&s;tingui&s;hed, there ap|peareth &s;uch a diver&s;ity, as is between the la&s;t &s;trains of motion, and the term of acquie&s;cence: For <HI>Speculation</HI> is <NOTE PLACE="marg">Specula|tion de|fined.</NOTE> properly the bu&s;ie attention of the minde in the inque&s;t of truth, ranging and ca&s;ting out all ways, to bring in conclu|&s;ions for the Spirit to fix and re&s;t upon in <HI>Contemplation;</HI> which (as I have &s;aid) is a fruitive po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of Verities, which flowers the minde doth no longer gather or collect, but rather hold in her hand ready made up in no&s;egays that &s;he is &s;melling to.</P>
<P>Me thinks the&s;e two different &s;tates of the Minde may be rendred very intelligible, by a conception my Fancy hath &s;prung, while it is ranging for &s;ome fit expre&s;&s;ion of this very act which my Minde is now exerci&s;ing&punc; and I may &s;ay, That <HI>Speculation</HI> and <HI>Contemplation</HI> differ <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">u&s;t &s;o, as my pre&s;ent writing of their differences doth from my reading them anon when I have fini&s;hed them: For now my imagination is beating and ca&s;ting all ways, for &s;ome well &s;uited &s;imilitude, whereby to illu&s;trate the diver&s;ity of the&s;e two acts, and my memory is &s;ifting and &s;orting ap|po&s;ite words, to expre&s;s my conceptions&punc; and thus by de|grees
<PB N="398" REF="190">
I &s;hall by means of this &s;tudious Application of tho&s;e powers of my Minde, form &s;ome dige&s;ted Character of what I de&s;ign; which fini&s;hed Draught of my own thoughts, when I &s;hall reade over, I &s;hall no longer work upon it, but behold the Image I have framed out of the pa&s;t divi&s;ions and compoundings of my thoughts, and then my Minde will re&s;t and enjoy my determined notions: So that as I do now &s;peculate, and &s;hall upon the fini&s;hing of the&s;e two Characters, contemplate them, without any far|ther agitation of my Minde: In like maner the &s;tate of <HI>Speculation</HI> is a di&s;qui&s;ition of &s;undry Divine Verities, whereby to form &s;ome determined notions, which are the objects that <HI>Contemplation</HI> is to be fixed upon in an acqui|e&s;cent &s;tate, when the di&s;cur&s;ive motion is arrived at the term of re&s;t it pointed at; and then contemplating the re|&s;ult of our former di&s;cour&s;ings, we do, as it were, reade over and enjoy this dige&s;t of our Imaginations: where|fore as the act of our Comprehending doth excel that of our Rea&s;oning, in re&s;pect the intellect &s;ees at one look or intuition what the Rea&s;on collecteth but by divers circuits of Di&s;cour&s;e, and &s;o &s;eemeth but a purveyor of what the intelligence po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth in one in&s;tant: In like maner the Contemplative &s;tate, by the &s;ame rea&s;on, tran&s;cends the Speculative; and, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word"> thinks, in &s;uch a proportion as the intellect of <HI>Angels</HI> excelleth that of rational Souls: for the fir&s;t comprehendeth in one act, without the tardity of di&s;cour&s;e, all intelligible &s;pecies connatural to it, and the la&s;t is fain to &s;tay upon the ab&s;tracting of intelligible &s;pe|cies from materialities, and the conferring and co<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span"> of them with one another by ratiocination, before it can &s;ettle conclu&s;ions, wherefore Speculation &s;eemeth to be a Humane act, and Contemplation, as it were, an An|gelical.</P>
<P>The&s;e lines have, I hope; drawn a fair par<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ition be|tween the&s;e two acts of a devout Soul, whereby they ap|pear not to be coincident, as they are commonly mi&s;under|&s;tood,
<PB N="399" REF="190">
although they are co ordinate to one another, not that I do pre&s;ume that God hath obliged him&s;elf to this order, of tran&s;fu&s;ing this grace of <HI>Contemplation</HI> always through the medium of &s;tudious <HI>Speculation:</HI> For I am not ignorant of his immediate communicating this hand of intuitive fruition of his Verities to &s;ome choyce Souls, unqualified for this preparatory cour&s;e of Reading and Meditation; <HI>God is admirable in his Saints,</HI> in manife&s;ting his Grace and Omnipotence by divers maners: but as Saint <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith, Though none <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">eth the minde of the Lord, yet</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 16.</NOTE> <HI>we have the minde of Chri&s;t,</HI> wherefore I have given this direction, as I &s;aid, when I fir&s;t entred upon it, to conduct Travellers in this path, which is <HI>Chri&s;ts</HI> high way mark|ed for us, of <HI>Asking, Seeking and Knocking;</HI> and this is the beaten track of his Church, which doth not circum&s;cribe God within this method: Sometimes the Spirit of the Lord catcheth up &s;ome humble illiterate Souls, and &s;etteth them immediately upon the top of this Mountain, as he did <HI>Phi|lip</HI> the Deacon at <HI>Az<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">us;</HI> but for the mo&s;t part he con|veyeth <NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 8.</NOTE> tho&s;e he calleth to this land of Vi&s;ions, as he did <HI>Abraham,</HI> by the&s;e three days journeys I have ge&s;ted to you, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 22.</NOTE> before they come to this high &s;tation: For God doth com|monly carry the&s;e Spiritual di&s;coverers which he calleth to take a little &s;ey of the fruits of the <HI>Land of Promi&s;e,</HI> all over this cour&s;e of Spiritual exerci&s;es, before they come to gather this fruit of <HI>Contemplation,</HI> which &s;eemeth to be a bunch of Grapes of that immen&s;e Vintage of Wine, whereof the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> &s;peaking, &s;aith, <HI>They &s;hall be inebriated by the fulne&s;s of thy hou&s;e:</HI> For an inchoative &s;tate of <HI>Con|templation</HI> in this life, is as it were a clu&s;ter of Grapes of the &s;ame Vine, to wit, the Grace of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> which after|ward is reduced into what was the la&s;t intent of the planter, that is, into the Wine of the <HI>Saints,</HI> perfected <HI>Contempla|tion</HI> of the Divine E&s;&s;ence.</P>
<P>So that having given you clear and practicable in&s;tru|ctions, in order to the taking a right way towards this &s;tate
<PB N="400" REF="191">
of acquie&s;cence (the &s;ingular excellencies whereof I have with my be&s;t skill pourtraicted unto your judgements and affections) I &s;hall adde onely this laudative of the Holy Spirit, as very appliable to this happy &s;tate of <HI>Contempla|tion, Many daughters have gathered together riches, but thou</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 31. 21.</NOTE> <HI>ha&s;t pa&s;&s;ed them all.</HI></P>
<P>Upon the&s;e premi&s;ed Con&s;iderations, I may conclude the &s;ame order ob&s;ervable in the offering up this Spiritual In|cen&s;e, which was held in the preparing and burning the material Incen&s;e of the <HI>Tabernacle</HI> (which act was a figure of this our Religious Duty) we mu&s;t then fir&s;t by Mor|tification keep clean and fair the grate of the Altar; by <HI>Le|cture</HI> and &s;tudiou&s;ne&s;s we are to gather and mix the Gums and Spices of pious Conceptions; by <HI>Speculation</HI> and me|ditating we mu&s;t bear and pounce the Odours into a fine powder, to wit, collect pure and refined images of Verities, and then by <HI>Contemplation</HI> we come to fire and exhale the perfume of the whole Compo&s;ition; By this method we erect our hearts, according to tho&s;e gradations de&s;igned by the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t,</HI> and the <HI>Law-giver &s;hall give a ble&s;sing, when</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;a. 83. 8.</NOTE> <HI>they go thus from vertue to vertue, the God of gods &s;hall be &s;een in Sion.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="section">
<PB N="401" REF="191">
<HEAD>&sect;. V.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Of the &s;en&s;ible delight &s;pringing from this Head of Contemplation; as al&s;o the clo&s;e of the whole Work.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>HAving treated the ble&s;&s;edne&s;s of the intellectual part of this Contemplative &s;tate, which may be &s;aid to &s;tand for the Soul thereof, there remaineth the adjoyning that portion which an&s;wereth to the Body in this compound of happine&s;s, which is, the &s;en&s;ible joy where|with the affections are repleni&s;hed; which delectable good affecting the &s;en&s;itive powers, is a redundancy or wa&s;te falling from the vertue of that Truth which overfloweth in the &s;upreme&s;t portion of our Minde, in &s;ome &s;uch maner as the beatitude of the Body is derived from the &s;uper|fluent riches of the Soul, in the &s;tate of glory, and as the Soul &s;hall then over-pay all the mini&s;terial offices of her Body in this life (by the mediat<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">on whereof, her powers are now exerci&s;ed) imparting to the Body far more noble ca|pacities; So doth the intellect in this life, when the minde is in the &s;tate of <HI>Contemplation,</HI> &s;uperabundantly recompence the mini&s;tery of the Sen&s;es, for the conveyance of tho&s;e &s;pecies whereupon the under&s;tanding acreth in <HI>Lecture</HI> and <HI>Speculation,</HI> by far exceeding joys and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">uavities diffu&s;ed up|on the affections, &s;uch indeed as are not to be conceived, unle&s;s it be by tho&s;e that have ta&s;ted them, whereof the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed is the people that knoweth jubilation;</HI> upon <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 88.</NOTE> which words St. <HI>Gregory</HI> noteth, that the <HI>Holy Spirit</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Not &s;peaks, but knoweth this jubilation,</HI> becau&s;e it may be con|ceived, but not fully expre&s;&s;ed by the enjoyer of it: The Soveraign Contemplator <HI>King David,</HI> by the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of the <HI>Holy Spirit,</HI> giveth us the faire&s;t light we have of it,
<PB N="402" REF="192">
when he &s;aith, <HI>My heart and my fle&s;h have rejoyced in the living God;</HI> the fir&s;t whereof imports the &s;atisfaction of the in|tellectual, and the la&s;t the &s;olaces of the appetitive part of the Soul, that is, the &s;eat of the Affections; which though they are not always equally fea&s;ted with delectation, yet are they for the mo&s;t part entertained with a competent mea|&s;ure of gladne&s;s and exhileration, and &s;ometimes are re|created with an extraordinary jucundity, in &s;uch a maner, as the <HI>Prophet Eli&s;ha</HI>'s trenches were filled with water, without <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 King. 3.</NOTE> any appearance of wind or rain to produce this effect; that is to &s;ay, the inferior part of the Soul feeleth a &s;en&s;ible delight and refre&s;hment, without any inordinate emotion or altera|tion of tho&s;e &s;en&s;itive powers, wherein this delight is ex|cited, in&s;omuch as they finde the &s;weet effects of the&s;e two Affections, both <HI>Love</HI> and <HI>Joy,</HI> the fir&s;t ri&s;ing not from the wind of pa&s;&s;ion, and the other not being in&s;tilled by the rain of any material fruition; and thus the delights of the&s;e two Affections, from to be in &s;uch mindes, as they are in <HI>Angels,</HI> and Souls &s;eparate from Bodies, to wit, as they are acts of the Will, not alterations of the &s;en&s;itive appetite.</P>
<P>How ble&s;&s;ed is the &s;tate of &s;uch Souls, when even the &s;en&s;itive power of their Minde &s;eemeth to operate, as if their Spirits were totally ab&s;tracted, or their Natures were Angelical; and therefore may not improperly be &s;aid to mea&s;ure this world with &s;uch a <HI>golden Reed,</HI> as the <HI>Angel</HI> in <NOTE PLACE="marg">Apoc. 21. 17.</NOTE> the <HI>Revelation</HI> did the heavenly City, that Saint <HI>John</HI> &s;aith, <HI>was the mea&s;ure of a Man, which is of an Angel;</HI> for this &s;quaring of their affections by the rule of pure Charity, ren|dreth them in a great mea&s;ure proportionate to the &s;ame Angelical operations: And in this admirable maner doth the hand of their Maker &s;quare and model &s;uch choyce Souls to fit and adju&s;t them for the filling up the vacant rooms of <HI>Angels,</HI> according to the de&s;ign of him who hath &s;aid, <HI>They &s;hall be like the Angels of God i<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 22. 30.</NOTE> <HI>Heaven.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="403" REF="192">
Having conjoyned this &s;en&s;itive portion unto the the ra|tional, we have exhibited this Contemplative &s;tare, in that accompli&s;hed beatitude this life admitteth; And &s;urely the Soul of Man in this mortal &s;tate, doth as naturally cover the adjunction of this delectable part in her affections, un|to the other illuminated portion of her intellect, as a Soul though glorified, doth the addition of her Body: And as by this la&s;t acce&s;&s;ion the Soul doth not augment her bea|titude by way of inter&s;ion or exaltation, but onely in point of exten&s;ion and amplitude, &s;o doth the addition of this de|light of the affections, rather inlarge and dilate the ble&s;&s;ed|ne&s;s of this &s;tate of <HI>Contemplation,</HI> then elevate or heighten the vertue of the Soul in that condition, the felicity where|of I may will leave &s;ealed with this Signet of the <HI>Holy Spi|rit, This is the gift of God, and the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;or thereof &s;hall not</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 5. 19.</NOTE> <HI>much remember the days of his life, becau&s;e God an&s;wereth him in the joy of his heart.</HI></P>
<P>After this edition of the high Prerogatives of the true Contemplative life, le&s;t any one &s;hould conceive the inferior Vocations any way di&s;credited, I will pre&s;ent all the &s;everal &s;tations of this world, with this Con&s;olation and In&s;tru|ction of Saint <HI>Paul, As God hath di&s;tributed to every one, as</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 7. 17.</NOTE> <HI>the Lord hath called every one, &s;o let him walk:</HI> For although the ear have not an ab&s;olute dignity equal with the eye, yet in the dignity of proportions there is an equality between them; Wherefore I will offer this excellent Conclu&s;ion of Saint <HI>Au&s;tine,</HI> to all the engaged conditions of this world, <HI>The love of Truth de&s;ireth a holy vacancy, the pre&s;|&s;ure of Charity impo&s;eth ju&s;t occupations; which charge, if it be not laid on by &s;ome charitable obligation, the be&s;t is, to at|tend unto the perception and contemplation of Truth; but in ca&s;e of our being entred into a lawful Engagement, that is to be born for the nece&s;sity of Charity, but yet not &s;o as the delectation of Verity be totally de&s;erted, le&s;t that Religious S<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">avity being &s;ub&s;tracted, we <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">e the ea&s;ilier oppre&s;&s;ed by th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">
<PB N="404" REF="193">
other &s;ecular nece&s;sity.</HI> This Advice may &s;erve for a conve|nient direction, to all &s;uch as are drawing in the yoke of any &s;ecular Engagement, or are loo&s;e in the &s;tate of a tree Election of entring into this &s;weet yoke of <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> drawing in the Chariot of <HI>Contemplation.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Being now arrived at the farthe&s;t point of the</HI> Hori|zon <HI>of this &s;tate of</HI> Grace, <HI>we cannot pa&s;s forward with|out entring upon the other</HI> Haemi&s;phere <HI>of the &s;tate of</HI> Glory; <HI>which,</HI> I <HI>hope, God will enable me to exhibite un|to you in the other part of this Map</HI> I <HI>first de&s;igned, which</HI> I <HI>will leave now divided by this</HI> Aequator, <HI>&s;evering the two halfs of that Spiritual</HI> Globe, <HI>whereof I had fir&s;t in|tended to give you an intire Edition; But finding in the other part many Spiritual Po&s;itions, according to the old Doctrine of the Suns moving, and the Earths being fixed; which</HI> Maximes <HI>would not well agree with the new</HI> Ma|thematical <HI>Di&s;covery, of the Earths moving and cota|tion: I have thought better to publi&s;h at first this un|controverted part of my Work, and re&s;erve the other till a farther deci&s;ion of this que&s;tion. And &s;ince the whole Work was de&s;igned as a</HI> Sacrifice <HI>of a</HI> Leper, <HI>in order</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Lev. 14.</NOTE> <HI>to his clean&s;ing; the purgation being yet very imperfect,</HI> I <HI>may not unfitly &s;ay, That this is one of the</HI> Sparrows, <HI>which</HI> I <HI>humbly offer up upon the running waters of a pe|nitent Soul; and promi&s;e, That the other &s;hall be let flye into the world hereafter, when God &s;hall be plea&s;ed farther to advance the emundation; for the accelerating whereof</HI> I <HI>humbly reque&s;t all their Prayers, who &s;hall be &s;o benign
<PB N="405" REF="193">
as to conceive they owe me any thing for this Part, or &s;hall make any account of my owing them the other: And</HI> I <HI>may fitly end this</HI> Semicircle <HI>of my Pen, with the best half of Saint</HI> Pauls <HI>valediction to the</HI> Romans, Now <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 15. 30.</NOTE> I be&s;eech you, brethren, for the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;ts &s;ake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye &s;trive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that the oblation of my &s;ervice may become ac|ceptable in Jeru&s;alem to the Saints. Now the God of peace be with you all.</P>
<CLOSER>Amen.</CLOSER>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q>Sicut portavimus imaginem terreni: portimus &amp; imaginem coele&s;tis,</Q>
<BIBL>1 Cor. 15. 49.</BIBL>
</EPIGRAPH>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q>Nam prudentia carnis mors e&s;t: prudentia &s;piritus, vita &amp; pax,</Q>
<BIBL>Rom. 8. 6.</BIBL>
</EPIGRAPH>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="imprimatur">
<PB REF="194">
<P><HI>Imprimatur,</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>NA: BRENT.</SIGNED>
<DATELINE><DATE><HI>Junii</HI> 12. 1647.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="index">
<PB REF="194">
<PB REF="195">
<PB REF="195">
<HEAD>An Alphabetical TABLE OF The mo&s;t remarkable Points of In&s;tru|ction in the&s;e TREATISES.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<HEAD>A</HEAD>
<ITEM>AFfections planted in our &s;en|&s;itive nature, for good u&s;e, page 37. &s;ection 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Advantages of conformity to vertue in our &s;en&s;itive part of the minde, p. 38. &s;ect. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Ambition con&s;i&s;tent with Devotion, p. 42. &s;. 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Ambitions ordinary acceptation, p. 43.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Advantages to be made of love to enemies, p. 284. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Advices for the be&s;t method of read|ing, p. 355.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Advantages which true contempla|tors have above other &s;orts of pious lives, p. 387.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>B</HEAD>
<ITEM>BEauty may be honored without of|fence to Piety, p. 39. &s;ect. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Beauty's prerogatives allowed, p. 39. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Beauty perverted to be reproached, p. 40. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Beauty abu&s;ing us with apparences, as fi&s;hes are cou&s;ened in the water, p. 173. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Beauty how innocently it may be ho|nored, p. 175. &s;. 2, 3.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>C</HEAD>
<ITEM>COnfort to humane frailties, p. 10. &s;ect. 2, 5.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Contemplation honored, for what rea&s;on, p. 66. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Courtiers common error in point of felicity, p. 73. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Courts con&s;iderable as figures of hea|ven, p. 86. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Courts of Heathen Princes not to be urged again&s;t the piety of Chri&s;tian ones, p. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">0. &s;. 1, 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Courtiers of all ranks bound to pro|portionable exemplarity, p. 92. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Companions of Princes to b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">|fully cho&s;en, p. 94. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM><PB REF="196">
Courtiers advantaged for humility by their vocation, p. 102. &s;. 2. p. 104. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Civilities and complements how al|lowable in Courts, p. 109. &s;. 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Contempt to enemies not allowed for our neglect of revenge, p. 280. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Charity to enemies, what proportion it mu&s;t hold with that of Chri&s;t, p. 281. &s;. 1&punc; 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Counterfeit forgivene&s;s of enemies cen&s;ured, p. 284. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Charities prerogatives in a &s;incere love to enemies, p. 285. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Cau&s;es wrongfully judged by events, p. 292. &s;. 1, 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Con&s;tancy in our undertakings pre|ferred before irre&s;olutene&s;s, p. 294. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Curio&s;ity of the cau&s;es of advers e|vents, di&s;&s;waded, p. 298. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Conformity of our Wills to Gods Order in all events, determined, in what degree it is required, p. 299. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Con&s;tancy enjoyned in good cau&s;es upon all events, p. 310. &s;. 1, 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Courts advantaged, by examples of benefits procured to Chri&s;tianity, p. 115. &s;. 2. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Contemplation a kinde of Heaven, p. 321. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Confort for Pri&s;oners, p. 362: &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Contemplation de&s;cribed, p. 385. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Contemplation defined out of St. <HI>Augu&s;tine,</HI> p. 387. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Conver&s;ation ought to be kept pure, p. 130. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Circum&s;tances aggravating the faulti|ne&s;s of loo&s;e &s;peech, p. 146. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>D</HEAD>
<ITEM>DEath readeth to man, p. 7. &s;ect. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Di&s;pair of cure is wor&s;e then our infirmity, p. 14. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Divinity di&s;cernable by grace, p. 22. &s;. 1</ITEM>
<ITEM>Devotion de&s;cribed, p. 23. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Devotion defined, p. 28. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Devotion is onely &s;incere, when it is conformable to the order of Superiors, p. 29. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Devotion may be prejudiced by too much au&s;terity, p. 46. &s;. 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Devil di&s;&s;wadeth prayer&punc; p. 80. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Di&s;&s;imulation may be rendred ver|tuous in &s;ome ca&s;e, p. 96. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Di&s;&s;imulation in humility decryed, p. 102. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Duties preci&s;ely in all ca&s;es belong|ing to enemies, p. 275, 276. &s;. 1, 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Death and the love of enemies have like a&s;pects at the fir&s;t &s;ight, p. 276. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Di&s;&s;imulation in point of love to ene|mies, very ab&s;urd, p. 278. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Different deceits in humors, towards judging of rea&s;ons of cau&s;es, p. 312. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Detraction or Medi&s;ance defined, p. 126.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Detraction commonly connived at, p. 127.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Delu&s;ions in Spiritual vocations, p. 335. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Detraction how hand&s;omly di&s;gui&s;ed, p. 129. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Detraction impo&s;ed as it were by Princes acting in it, o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> encouraging it, p. 134.</ITEM>
<ITEM>De&s;cription of what 'tis to be in love, p. 150. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>E</HEAD>
<ITEM>EXamples of mans frailty, p. 9. &s;ect. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Example is meritorious in Devo|tion, p. 29. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Examples of Saints rejoycing rightly in temporal goods, p. 69. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Errors of tho&s;e who wonder they are not happy, p. 73. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Errors of our judgement in di&s;cern|ing Truth, illu&s;trated by a Simile of <HI>Zeuxes</HI> the great Painter, p. 76. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM><PB REF="196">
Examples of Princes why more dan|gerous then others, p. 92. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Enemies a difficult object for love, p. 265. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Example of Chri&s;t requi&s;ite to ena|ble us for the love of enemies, p. 267. &s;. 2</ITEM>
<ITEM>Enemies in &s;ome re&s;pect more u&s;e|ful then friends, p. 269. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Experience of &s;uffering is the onely &s;ecurity of our capacity, of di&s;charging the duty of loving enemies, p. 286. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Examples of Gods unconceiveable Providence in the defeats of good Prin|ces in good cau&s;es, p. 307. &s;. 4. p. 308. 1, 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Examples of eminent &s;anctity in Courtiers, p. 115. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Excu&s;es of Courtiers for irreligious complaceneies, refuted, p. 124 &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Errors di&s;covered in the election of &s;olitary vocation, p. 322. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Errors of Philo&s;ophers in point of &s;ingle rea&s;on, being &s;ufficient for con|&s;olation, p. 343. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>F</HEAD>
<ITEM>FAith re&s;ted on giveth an ea&s;e above Rea&s;on, p. 23&punc; &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Felicity determined to con&s;i&s;t in a rejoycing in Truth, p. 65. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Fortunes falacies more di&s;cernable at Court, p. 105. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Flattery de&s;cribed, and impeached of fal&s;hood, p. 107. &s;. 1, 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Flattery is the i&s;&s;ue of pride, p. 108. &s;. 1, 2</ITEM>
<ITEM>Forgivene&s;s of enemies an excellent &s;acrifice, p. 279. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Friend&s;hip is allowed another kinde of love then that we owe enemies, p. 283. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Forgivene&s;s of enemies doth not ob|&s;truct the cour&s;e of Iu&s;tice, p. 288. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Faith follow de<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 span">tures as confident|ly as victories, p. 312. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Foulne&s;s of &s;peech a greater crime then many imagine, p. 14<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. &s;. 1, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Flatteries to women are upon the De|vils Commi&s;&s;ion, p. 161. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Flattery rai&s;eth &s;elf-love in women, p. 162. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Friend&s;hip with women, how <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">ar al|lowable, p. 176.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Filial love defined, p. 187.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Friend&s;hip &s;incere is a &s;afegard again&s;t pa&s;&s;ion, p. 177. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Filial love urged upon us, p. 193.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Fraternal love a mark of our being in the way to filial love to God, p. 196. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>G</HEAD>
<ITEM>GRace was &s;uperadded to Rea&s;on in all the fir&s;t per&s;everers in the be|lief of one God, p. 23. &s;ect. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Greatne&s;s inclineth naturally to be flattered, p. 112. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Grace of Chri&s;t enabling us to love enemies, and the gift greater then the exaction, p. 267.</ITEM>
<ITEM>God is &s;ingle, yet not &s;olitary, p. 317. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Grace proportioned to &s;everal cal|lings, p. 121. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>God worketh upon different tempers by divers applications, p. 330. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Grace, not &s;ingle Rea&s;on, fortifieth our minde in great di&s;tre&s;&s;es, p. 341. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Gods mercy is univer&s;al, in com|manding that all &s;hould de&s;pi&s;e this world, p. 378. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Great per&s;ons delighting in it, pro|moteth Medi&s;ance with great &s;elf-guil|tine&s;s, p. 132. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>H</HEAD>
<ITEM>HOly Gho&s;ts impre&s;&s;ion on our na|ture, p. 18. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Hypocri&s;ie di&s;plaid, p. 33. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM><PB REF="197">
Honor goes under the title of Vertue, p. 44. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Humility doth not prohibite the pur|&s;uit of honor, p. 45. &s;. 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Happine&s;s temporal defined, p. 51. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Happine&s;s wherein it is truly to be found, p. 63. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Honors temporal may excite us to the pur&s;uit of eternal, p. 89. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Humility truly de&s;cribed, p. 104. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Humility a &s;ecurity again&s;t all tem|ptations of Courts, p. 101. &s;. 2. p. 106. &s;. 2, 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Hatred to enemies imitateth tho&s;e we hate, more then him we pretend to love, p. 268. &s;. 2, 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Hatred to one another, from whence derived originally, p. 270. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Humility like the Marrine<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">s need, p. 113. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Hope often abu&s;ed, p. 159. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>I</HEAD>
<ITEM>INfirmity of Man evidenced by <HI>Solo|mon,</HI> p. 8. &s;ect. 3. p. 9. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Incarnations mercy, p. 12. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Infirmities of man may be turned to the torture of the Devil, p. 17. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Incon&s;tancy of vain affections, p. 41. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Incredulity in prayer a mental &s;tam|mering, p. 83. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Imitation of Princes is very familiar for the rea&s;ons of gain, p. 91. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Iu&s;tice for our fir&s;t fault requireth the love of enemies, p. 272. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Inju&s;tice pro&s;pering, not to be won|dred at, p. 307. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Imperfection of Mans Will in ma|ny election con&s;i&s;ting with his liberty, p. 325, 326.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Iealou&s;ies nature treated, and the good u&s;e of it in Gods love, p. 155. &s;ect. 1, 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>In&s;tincts of expre&s;&s;ing our pa&s;&s;ion, &s;heweth our loves to be due to God, p. 161. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>L</HEAD>
<ITEM>LOve ju&s;tifieth the Incarnation of God, p. 13. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Love from man enjoyned by the Incarnation of God, p. 13. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Love rendring it &s;elf to Devotion is not ill treated, p. 38. &s;. 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Love to enemies forgot in the Law, and revived in the Go&s;pel, like the fire of the Altar after the Captivity, p. 266. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Liberty rather given to our Souls, then re&s;traint made by the Precept of loving enemies, p. 267. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Love of enemies proveth a counter|poi&s;on to the forbidden fruit, p. 269. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Love to enemies mi&s;interpreted in a figurative &s;en&s;e by many, p. 273. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Love to enemies not ordains as they are &s;imply enemies, p. 275. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Love irregular, cau&s;eth our aver&s;ion to the love of enemies, p. 282. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Liberty dear to Humane Nature, p. 339. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Learning how it becometh mo&s;t u&s;e|ful towards con&s;olation, p. 348. &s;. 1, 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Liberty of minde gained, overpays the captivity of the body, p. 354. &s;. 1, 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Love of the world recovereth often after our having wounded it by Grace or Rea&s;on, p. 376. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Lecture proved nece&s;&s;ary for the pa&s;|&s;age to Contemplation, p. 394.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Liberties of je&s;ting, how they are al|lowable, p. 131. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Liberties indecent, though little, di&s;fi|gure the reputation of women, p. 147. &s;. 3&punc;</ITEM>
<ITEM>Liberties of &s;currility excu&s;ed by the pre&s;umers in them, p. 137. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Love, though mercinary, how to be accepted, p. 182.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<PB REF="197">
<HEAD>M</HEAD>
<ITEM>MAns nobility by creation, p. 2. &s;. 3. p. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Mans excu&s;e of his fall, p. 3. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Mans &s;elf-deceit, p. 6. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Meditation conducent to peace of Spirit, p. 58. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Meditation on the changeablene&s;s of all the plea&s;ures we enjoy, &s;erveth towards the &s;ecuring our happine&s;s, p. 61. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Moral Philo&s;ophy an&s;wereth not to the promi&s;es of Speculation in our ne|ce&s;&s;ities, p. 62. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Mans rea&s;on for his forgiving the fir&s;t injury of women, p. 275. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Morality more &s;tudied at Court then Religion, p. 117. &s;. 1, 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Moral civility u&s;eful to improve the zeal of religious duties, p. 118. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Mirth a great di&s;gui&s;e of Medi&s;ance, p. 128. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Morality &s;ingle is in&s;ufficient for our &s;upport in great pre&s;&s;ures, p. 342. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Moral Philo&s;ophy &s;et in a due order for con&s;olation in di&s;tre&s;&s;es, p. 345.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Meditations on the vain figure of this world, p. 361. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Meditation on eternity a relief a|gain&s;t all temporary pre&s;&s;ures, p. 367. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Mortification of the fle&s;h requi&s;ite for all acts of pure Speculation, p. 392. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Medi&s;ance mo&s;t entertained by the encouragement of great per&s;ons, p. 129. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Mercy of God mi&s;con<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="2 letters">ived, p. 156. &s;. 2. more 158. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Mercy rightly under&s;tood, p. 158. &s;. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Mercinary love, how far allowed, p. 185.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Mercinary love of the nature of dwarfs, p. 185. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>N</HEAD>
<ITEM>NVns eminent purity, p. 18. &s;. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Nature gives &s;ome light towards the &s;ight of God, p. 1<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Nature di&s;credited &s;ingle for happi|ne&s;s&punc; p. 57. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Naturali&s;ts &s;hall ri&s;e up in judge|ment again&s;t ill Chri&s;tians, p. 277. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>O</HEAD>
<ITEM>OPinion of Temporalities confuted, p. 7. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Order given by God for direction in Religion, p. 28. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Opinion why it prevaileth often a|bove Truth, p. 68. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Obligation in point of love to ene|mies, p. 283. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Orders of Providence not di&s;cerned, occa&s;ioneth all our wonder, p. 305. &s;. 1, 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Order de&s;cribed, p. 327.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Order for di&s;po&s;ing our time plea|&s;antly and u&s;efully in Impri&s;onment, p. 351. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Order of the three Per&s;ons of the Trinity re&s;iding in a Contemplative Soul, p. 389.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Order of ri&s;ing up to Contempla|tion, p. 391. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>P</HEAD>
<ITEM>PRide fir&s;t introduced, and how con|tinued, p. 3. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Philo&s;ophers deceived in the Di|vinity, p. 21. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM><PB REF="198">
Piety advi&s;ed in all religions, p. 24. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Pa&s;&s;ion it &s;elf maketh u&s;e of Religion to expre&s;s it &s;elf, p. 32. &s; 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Pa&s;&s;ion transferred may honor God in a double re&s;pect, p. 33. &s;. 1, 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Piety doth the office of a Law-giver, not of an In&s;ulter, p. 35. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Piety not incompatible with plea&s;ure, p. 37. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Plea&s;ures allowed by Devotion, p. 41. &s;. 1, 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Propriety in temporal goods abateth the value, and Piety repairs it, p. 42. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Philo&s;ophers variances concerning hap|pine&s;s, p. 51. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Prayer a&s;&s;igned for the way to finde truth, and con&s;equently happine&s;s, p. 79. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Prayer mu&s;t be &s;incere and fervent to become officious, p. 82. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Prayer is often accepted, when the &s;uit is not accorded, p. 84. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Princes vertues may make Courts &s;chools o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter"> Piety, p. 91. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Princes e&s;pecially obliged to piety, p. 91. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Prudence for Courtiers, p. 97. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Prai&s;es allowable in many ca&s;es, and how they are to be applied, p. 110. &s;. 2, 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Princes obliged to forgive per&s;onal injuries, p. 280. &s;. 1, 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Providence not to be judged of by pieces, p. 295. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Prayer again&s;t Gods menaces allowed the Prophets, p. 301. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Providence &s;eemeth as it were di&s;gui|&s;ed upon earth, p. 359. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Pre&s;umption on our power to re&s;i&s;t the temptations of Beauty, is dange|rous, p. 166. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>Q</HEAD>
<ITEM>THe quality of peace expectable in this life, p. 84. &s;ect. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The quality of private conditions towards the di&s;cernment of the worlds in&s;tability, p. 105. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Quarrels with the world do &s;ometime occa&s;ion good vocations to &s;anctity, p. 328. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The qualities of prophane pa&s;&s;ion, p. 152. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The quality of temptations &s;lighted at fir&s;t, as ea&s;ily ma&s;terable, p. 171. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>R</HEAD>
<ITEM>REa&s;on much degenerated in our faln Nature, p. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">. &s;ect. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Rea&s;on injured by opinion, p. 7. &s;ect. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Repaired Nature by Chri&s;t exalted above the original innocence, p. 15. &s;. 1. p. 16. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Revenge contrived unto piety, p. 17. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Rea&s;ons cour&s;e up to Divinity, p. 21. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Repentance may convert even our &s;ins into good fruit, p. 30. &s;. 2, 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Remedies extractable out of the me|ditation of our frailty, p. 60. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Riches po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed and improved towards piety, p. 70. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Religion lightly con&s;idered may per|plex us in the judgement of events, but more profoundly looked into, &s;etleth on us, p. 292. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Religion the onely refuge in the per|plexity of advers events to a good cau&s;e, p. 302. &s;. 2, 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Rea&s;on of di&s;tracting events not to be hoped for in this world, p. 304. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Retreats out of the world turned in|to delu&s;ions by the Devil, p. 332. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Rea&s;on &s;ingle vainly overvalued by the Philo&s;ophers, p. 340. &s;. 2, 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Remedies drawn out of the evils them&s;elves of our life, p. 362.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Remedies for the correcting indecent liberties in je&s;ting, p. 132. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM><PB REF="198">
Remedies again&s;t foulne&s;s of &s;peech, p. 142. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>S</HEAD>
<ITEM>SIn vainly excu&s;ed, p. 4. &s;ect. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Solomons</HI> glories are a&s;cribed to a &s;pecial rea&s;on, p. 8. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Sin removeth man more from God then his own fir&s;t nullity, p. 12. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Sen&s;ual men excluded from happi|ne&s;s, p. 55. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Succe&s;s ought not to a&s;&s;ure us of the goodne&s;s of a Cau&s;e, p. 294. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Sorrow allowed in ill &s;ucce&s;&s;es, p. 298. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Solitude de&s;cribed, and treated truly, p. 316.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Sanctity in great per&s;ons affords more communicative influences then in o|ther, p. 120. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Sociablene&s;s of Mans Nature, in or|der to common good, p. 327.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Spiritual joys &s;uppre&s;&s;eth the love of the world, p. 376. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Speculation di&s;tingui&s;hed from Con|templation, p. 397. &s;. 1. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Sen&s;ible delight afforded by Contem|plation, p. 401. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Self-love keeps us in darkne&s;s, p. 163. &s;ect. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Self-love a kinde of puni&s;hment of women, p. 163.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Self-loves motion, p. 185. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>T</HEAD>
<ITEM>TRuth defined, and duly valued, p. 66. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Truth to be &s;ought in all tempo|ral fruitions, and to be found as the ground of our happine&s;s, p. 68. &s;. 4.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Truth impugned by the Devil to &s;e|duce our happine&s;s, p. 74. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Temptations mo&s;t frequent in Courts, p. 100.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Temptations of Courts re&s;i&s;table by Prudence, p. 100. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Temptations again&s;t the love of ene|mies, p. 272. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Toleration of injuries ea&s;eth more then revenge, p. 277. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Temptations in Courts, how to be overcome, p. 122. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Time to be weighed in Solitude, p. 352 &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Time weigheth heavie&s;t upon, when it is lea&s;t applied to particular de&s;igns, p. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">5<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Time neglected brings us in debt even of our eternity, p. 369. &s;. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 word">.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Temptations to be re&s;i&s;ted at the fir&s;t approach, p. 160. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Temptations of the Fle&s;h dangerous, though they appear little at fir&s;t, p. 169. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>V</HEAD>
<ITEM>VAnity in our fancy argued, p. 5. &s;ect. 1. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Vanity of riches, beauty, p. 7. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Voluptuous per&s;ons exceptions a|gain&s;t Devotion, p. 34. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Vanity of Philo&s;ophers concerning the power of Rea&s;on, p. 52. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>V&s;es to be made of the Stoicks Opi|nions, p. 54. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Verities intended, do not dull the joys of our &s;en&s;itive appetite, p. 75. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Vnhappine&s;s mans own fault always, p. 80. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Vulgar errors in judging of Cau&s;es, p. 297. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Vocations &s;upernatural to Solitude, &s;olaced by God, p. 319. &s;. 3. p. 320. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Vanities do truly captivate tho&s;e they pretend to give liberties, p. 353. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM><PB REF="199">
Vniver&s;al changes may confort all private calamities, p. 358.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Vanities of this world &s;acrificed to God, afford a &s;weet &s;avor, p. 380. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Vocations re&s;pectively allowed more or le&s;s application to the world, p. 383.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>VV</HEAD>
<ITEM>THis world was never meant as an object of mans love, p. 377. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The worlds contempt is ordained by God, by his &s;ubjecting all things in it to Man, p. 379. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The world ea&s;ily contemnable by the con&s;ideration of Chri&s;ts demeanor in it, p. 381. &s;. 1.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Women obliged e&s;pecially to much purity in conver&s;ation, p. 146. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Words equivocal wre&s;ted to an un|clean &s;ence, very blameable, p. 143. &s;. 3.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Women prejudiced by flatteries, p. 164. &s;. 2.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Women more commi&s;erated then men, in faults occa&s;ioned by mans temptations, p. 164.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>Z</HEAD>
<ITEM>ZEal and Charity make the be&s;t temper of a Religion, page 26. &s;ect. 2.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="printer to the reader">
<PB REF="199">
<HEAD>The Printer to the Reader.</HEAD>
<P>BEhold a <HI>Printer,</HI> extraordinary both in his fault, and his confe&s;&s;ion, who ac|knowledges the having offended all the &s;everall parties of the&s;e times, &amp; can think of no excu&s;e, unle&s;&s;e it be, the influence of the erring Planets of this Conjun|cture, raigning over our Pre&s;&s;es &amp; working <HI>Errata</HI> &s;o commonly, either in the mat|ter or the form of our Trade; and the piety of the Author, having pre&s;erved his Pen untainted, the malignity of our Stars, hath prevailed much upon our Pen&s;ils, in mi&s;copying his Pen; In&s;omuch, as the <HI>Author</HI> is the onely abu&s;ed per&s;on in this new Book, who having for &s;ome yeers pa&s;t, enjoyed no liberty but that of his Pen, wee mu&s;t confe&s;&s;e it a great injury in us, to have &s;o often re&s;trained his &s;en&s;e, in this excellent piece of &s;piritual Inlargement, his Pri&s;on hath pre&s;ented the whole Nati|on: For my indulgence from the Author, I will take &s;anctuary in his own charita|ble Treati&s;e, of <HI>forgiving Injuries:</HI> And for my pardon from the <HI>Reader,</HI> I may re|&s;ort to a contrary pretence, namely, the merit of having been the deliverer to him of &s;o over-weighty a Piece of Piety &amp; Rea&s;on, as may beare a deduction of more &s;en&s;e, then I have clipt from it, and con&s;equently the delight of the <HI>Reader,</HI> may well endure the allay of &s;o much pains, as the looking often upon my <HI>Errata.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="errata">
<HEAD>ERRATA.</HEAD>
<P>PAge 3. line 35. after <HI>Wi&s;eman &s;ayes,</HI> adde, <HI>What art thou proud of du&s;t and a&s;hes?</HI> p. 5. l. 15. r. <HI>momentarine&s;&s;e.</HI> p. 5. dele <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. in the marg. p. 6. l. 25. r. <HI>often.</HI> p. 7. l. 15. r. <HI>this manife&s;t.</HI> p. 7. l. 19. r. <HI>futile.</HI> p. 8. l. 18. r. <HI>clarity.</HI> p. 8. l. 20. dele <HI>I.</HI> p. 8. l. 24. r. <HI>become.</HI> p. 9. l. 25. r. <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">er.</HI> p. 10. l. 8. after <HI>&s;een</HI> r. <HI>the.</HI> p. 17. l. 2<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="apex" EXTENT="1 letter">. r. <HI>receiveth.</HI> p. 23. l. 9. r. <HI>giant.</HI> p. 27. l. 21. r. <HI>them.</HI> p. 31. l. 19. r. <HI>wherein.</HI> p. 35. l. 5. r. <HI>mutiny.</HI> p. 37. l. 12. r. <HI>im|maculate,</HI> &amp; l. 14. r. <HI>born.</HI> p. 40. l. 25. dele <HI>not.</HI> p. 45. l. 35. after <HI>al&s;o,</HI> r. <HI>there.</HI> p. 48. l. 15. r. <HI>my fetters.</HI> p. 50. l. 16. r. <HI>treat.</HI> p. 56. l. 7. put the Coma at <HI>point,</HI> p. 58. l. 23. r. <HI>porta|ble.</HI> p. 61. l. 10. r. <HI>we &s;hould.</HI> p. 63. l. 17. r. <HI>habit,</HI> &amp; l. 38. make the full point at <HI>deligh|ted.</HI> p. 64. l. 3. r. <HI>no exterior.</HI> p. 65. l. 20. r. <HI>deba&s;ement,</HI> &amp; l. 18. r. <HI>his i&s;&s;ue.</HI> p. 66. l. 31. r. <HI>pre&s;ent.</HI> p. 76. l. 33. r. <HI>but in.</HI> p. 88. l. 12. after <HI>method</HI> r. <HI>they.</HI> p. 89. l. 18. r. <HI>to this.</HI> p. 90. Title, r. <HI>Courts cen&s;ured.</HI> p. 91. l. 14. r. <HI>make.</HI> 94. l. 18. r. <HI>rending.</HI> p. 97. l. 7. dele <HI>the&s;e</HI> &amp; the Coma. p. 100. l. 17. r. <HI>made of links.</HI> p. 101. l. 9. r. <HI>no way.</HI> &amp; l. 31. r. <HI>&s;cituation.</HI> p. 116. l. 19. r. <HI>he was there,</HI> and l. 22. r. <HI>di&s;placed.</HI> p. 120. l. 22. r. <HI>Palaces.</HI> p. 124. l. 33. r. <HI>that &s;hield.</HI> p. 128. l. 1. r. <HI>fecundity.</HI> p. 131. l. 15. dele <HI>in.</HI> p. 132. l. 25. r. <HI>charged with.</HI> p. 133. l. 11. r. <HI>deference.</HI> p. 134. l. 4. r. <HI>pro&s;cribe.</HI> p. 138. l. 31. r. <HI>without.</HI> p. 149. l. 7. r. <HI>&s;ource.</HI> p. 152. l. 25. r. <HI>we &s;uppo&s;e.</HI> p. 154. l. 6. r. <HI>lending out.</HI> p. 159. l. 21. r. <HI>inventive</HI> p. 143. l. ult. r. <HI>bending.</HI> p. 161. l. 1. r. <HI>faultine&s;&s;e</HI> of and. l. 3. r. <HI>curio&s;ity of man.</HI> p. 162 l. ult. r. <HI>fuell.</HI> p. 164. l. ult. r. <HI>Samaritans.</HI> p. 167. l. 12. r. <HI>leaps on.</HI> p. 170. l. 20. r. <HI>but.</HI> in place of <HI>&s;o.</HI> &amp; l. 33. <HI>this parly.</HI> p. 171. l. 6. r. <HI>read.</HI> &amp; l. 10. r. <HI>as take up.</HI> p. 172. l. 31. r. <HI>undertaking.</HI> p. 186. l. 14. r. <HI>holy effort.</HI> p. 118. l. 7. r. <HI>improved.</HI> p. 189. l. 17. r. <HI>prepo&s;ure.</HI> &amp; l. 33. r. <HI>degree.</HI> &amp; l. 35. r. <HI>compared.</HI> p. 192. l. 19. r. <HI>di&s;pen&s;ing.</HI> p. 271. l. 33. r. <HI>ve&s;tiges.</HI> p. 272. l. 22. r. <HI>examination,</HI> &amp; l. 25. r. <HI>incitation.</HI> p. 273. l. 19. r. <HI>of his,</HI> and in the &s;ame line, the parenthe&s;is ends at <HI>revenge.</HI> p. 275. l. 1. r. <HI>mirror.</HI> p. 277. l. 17. dele <HI>of.</HI> p. 279. l. 23. r. <HI>disbur&s;ement.</HI> p. 280. l. 6. r. <HI>&s;cenes.</HI> p. 302. l. 15. r. <HI>&s;cruples.</HI> p. 311. l. 15. r. <HI>&s;crutiny.</HI> p. 313. l. 9. r. <HI>ne&s;cience.</HI> p. 316. l. 9. r. <HI>prejudication.</HI> p. 320. l. 23. dele <HI>Col.</HI> 3. 15. p. 321. l. 14. r. <HI>in &s;uch a.</HI> p. 324. l. 2. r. <HI>to this.</HI> p. 334. l. 18. r. <HI>is a very.</HI> p. 339. l. ult. r. <HI>retrenched.</HI> p. 369. l. 17. r. <HI>accruing.</HI> p. 377. l. 13. dele <HI>of.</HI> p. 379. l. 14. r. <HI>&s;ingle man.</HI> p. 393. l. 15. r. <HI>di&s;po&s;e.</HI> &amp; l. 21. r. <HI>a&s;pireth.</HI> p. 396. l. 15. r. <HI>re&s;olution.</HI> p. 399. l. 21. r. <HI>gi&s;ted.</HI> p. 404. l. 17. r. <HI>rotation.</HI> p. 405. l. 11. r. <HI>portemus.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
</BACK>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
