THE GOVERNMENT OF THE THOUGHTS A Prefatory DISCOURSE TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE TONGUE By the AUTHOR of the The Whole Duty of Man The Lord knoweth the Thoughts of the Wise that they are vain 1 Cor. 3.20 LONDON Printed by R. Smith for Richard Cumberland at the Angel in St. Paul's Church-Yard M DC XC IV. Imprimatur Edward Cook September 15. 1693. THE PREFACE THE Government of the Thoughts was some Years since designed for the Press but not till this opportunity thought fit to make its Appearance The Tract indeed in point of Justice must own its Original Theme to that Most Excellent and Learned Author of The Whole Duty of Man and had not the Grave and Darkness deprived us of so great a Luminary this Treatise would have appeared in perfect Lustre with all those Embellishments which so Exquisite a Pen could have rendred it The main Subject Matter of this Discourse is to perswade Men to regulate their inordinate Thoughts and Affections that such an unruly Member as St. James affirms the Tongue to be may not break out into that Conflagration as all their Reason cannot easily quench For out of the Heart proceeds all Evil Thoughts the product of bad Actions which are concomitant to contumelious Speeches And indeed I presume we cannot place too strong a Guard on that which appears so formidable an Enemy and threatens us with so much Violence which if not speedily prevented may in the end prove Destructive I cannot reasonably expect that this Product of my Labors should find a candid Acceptance of all Persons or like the Manna accomodate every Palate especially in this Censorious Age wherein some approve of nothing but the Minerva of their own Brain I wish I could not say many like those foolish Heathens Adore their own Maladies applauding themselves for Benevolent and Prudent by disgusting all that 's good and wholsome which is indeed a Symptom of a disaffected Palate I am not ignorant that a Speaker ventureth within the reach of Censure and that a Writer fixes himself to the Stake Yet in hope that some may reap benefit by my Labours I resolve not to be discouraged if any shall prove so malign as to render Evil to my good Intentions my Labour is with that Omnipotency who appointed some cheap Sacrifices that the Poor might serve him as well as the Rich and requiring principally willing Hearts Exod. 35.6 7 c. And he that possess'd not Jewels Gold Silver Silk Purple or of the like Estimation might produce Skins and Goats-hair which were of inconsiderable Value but proved Acceptable You who enjoy a greater share of Heavenly Treasures offer of your Fulness for the Almighty accepteth the poor Widows Mites where no more is Expected And now let us hasten to enter into that sacred way of Charity which directeth to Salvation and persevere in that Truth which never Deceiveth nor is Deceived so that at the last we may enter into the Kingdom of Glory To conclude I shall only add what St. Paul said upon his departure to the Elders of Miletum Acts 20.32 And now Brethren I commend you to God and to the Word of his Grace which is able to build you up and to give you an Inheritance among all them which are Sanctified Read Happily and Practise Diligently not omitting St. Paul's Instructions to Timothy in his Second Epistle 2 Chap. ver 2. Consider what I say and the Lord give you Understanding in all things THE Government of the Thoughts CHAP. I. Of the Chief Governor the Soul THERE are diversity of Things of whose Being we know whose Quality we know not All confess we enjoy a Soul which Commandeth and Restraineth in us What a one it is none can tell Hence are those many Disputes concerning its Essence Seat and Subject with the subordinate Faculties of it No Person hath throughly been acquainted with this secret Governor in Man Some Philosophers have defined it a Harmony Some a Divine Vertue a Particle of the Deity Some the most exile and slender Air Some a Blood Some Heat or Fire Some Number So innate is Error that we most Err concerning our own selves 2. MORE judiciously do they define it who attest it an Immortal Spirit an Incorporeal Substance Created by Infusion and Infused in its Creaation made to the Image of the Creator capable of the light of Understanding Wisdom Holiness Blessedness and Eternity So that in its conjunction with the Body it Animateth giveth Life Action and Motion wherein it differeth from an Angel and in its separation from the Body for a time untill it shall be re-united at the Resurrection it Subsisteth as the Angels and hath its proper Acts and Apprehensions as they have Now as the Eye beholds the Eye in a Glass so the Soul discerneth it self by a kind of Reflex 3. THE Soul is a divine Ghost sent from Heaven into these Tabernacles of Clay to give them Life and govern them yet is it neither visible coming nor departing It is an Immortal Form of Mortality The Body Decayeth the Soul doth not being neither subject to Time nor Age The Motions thereof are Eternal it apprehendeth things Present Absent Past and Future it Deliberateth Formeth Directeth Discourseth Judgeth Doubteth Concludeth So excellent it is that Cicero the Orator said God hath not given any thing so Divine to Man and that there are certain Lineaments thereof more beautiful than of the Body 4. THE Body is adorned by the Soul without which Beauty it self appears Gastly And good Abraham said Give me a possession of a Burying-place that I may Bury my Dead out of my sight Gen. 23.4 The Soul cannot be Deformed by any unevenness discomposure or disproportion of the Body which it Animateth As a beautiful Creature is the same in a poor Cottage as in a magnificent Palace So is Vertue which is the Beauty of the Soul Could we but behold the Soul of a Saint there 's no Embellishment on Earth so Glorious no Created Beauty here of so divine a Lustre 5. THE Soul tho now enclosed in Obscurity having only some diviner Breathings in the Raptures and Heavenly Contemplations which sometimes allarum it up like Moses to the Mount or like a Jacob's Ladder ascendeth it into God's Presence hath some knowledge of its Original by Faith and Joy unspeakable in the apprehension thereof 1 Pet. 1.8 which arresteth the Desire as appeared in St. Peter seeing Christ's Transfiguration Matt. 17. and St. Paul's wishing to be Dissolved was a signal Evidence of our interest in Heaven therefore our Pusilanimity cannot deter us from it Phil. 1. 6. HE knoweth whether he shall go who remembreth whence he came But what shall be the transcendent Beauty of a Devout Soul in its Separation when it shall be restored to its native Heaven when it shall be all Illumination and God shall be all in all Christ's Raiment on the Mount became shining white as Snow so as no Fuller on Earth could white them Mark 9.3 And
of Confusion and every evil Work James 3.14 15 16. It is the mischievous Canker which nippeth the choicest Buds of Vertue attempting either to cloud them with Incredulity by reason the Envious cannot attain thereto or labouring to blast them with impious Calumnies 3. I need not here cite the Example of Antigones and Teutamus Conspiring against the truly Noble Eumenes or of Philip's Sycophants against Aratus Nor of Domitians envying Agricola his worth Nor Saul's envying David Cain Abel Rachel her Sister the Patriarchs Joseph Seeing it is manifest that Christ Jesus in whom were all Perfections was envyed There 's nothing so little but stimulateth it Nothing so Sacred or High but this Hellish Fury will flie at Joseph's Party-Coloured Coat awaken'd it and it was vigilant to strike at the Saviour of the World The Natals hereof were in Lucifer envying God's Monarchy and ambitious to share in his Sovereignty 4. NATURAL Historians acquaint us of some Countries free from Serpents but who can inform me of any barren of Envy I doubt it is the common Plague that visits all places Like those Croaking Plagues of Egypt which did not spare Pharoahs Bed-Chamber it deludeth the Country with False Opticks thinking our Neighbours Fields more Fruitful than our own 'T is a Monster not of Gods making but born of depraved Affections as Anger Fear Jealousie Self-Love which creates Indignation if another attain to a Happy and Prosperous Condition Envy thinks all the World too little for its own Orifice All this availeth me nothing so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the Kings Gate said ambitious Haman in his Envy Esth. 5.13 And again To whom would the King delight to do Honour more than to my self Chap. 6.6 CHAP. XI Arguments to be Considered by way of Dissuasion against Envy THAT Envy hurteth the Invidious most is apparent that there is not a greater Torment invented by the worst of Tyrants Nothing can be more unjust to others nor nothing more just to themselves The Serpent's Poyson infecteth not himself but Envy proves fatal to them that embrace it For as the Moth eateth the Garment which breeds it and as the Rust consumes the Iron so Envy preys upon the Mind that entertains it It is more Miserable that can be expressed for it is not only afflicted with its own Misfortune but it is disquieted at others Exhiliration Whatever is a Pleasure to others is but a Torment to him Another Man's Store is the Envious Man's Want another Man's Health is his Sickness and another Man's Praises his reputed Dishonour 2. OTHER Sins have some Remisness Anger will waste it self in time Hatred may be extinguished in the end but Envy never ceaseth Fierce Lyons are Tamed and become Tractable but the Envious grow worse and worse The more Christ did good to the Jews curing their Sick healing their Infirm and bestowing the words of Eternal Life upon them the more destructively did they Envy him It is the Canker that blasteth Friendship The corruption of Life and plague of Nature It is the Devil 's incentive to Rebellion who when he could not in his Malice hurt God assailed Man For it instigated Cain to Murder his Brother Abel and the Jews to Crucifie the Saviour of the World 3. BESIDES it hath irrational Effects It would stop up the Fountains and vail the Sun-beams It regardeth neither bounds of natural Civility or Religion Rachel Envied her Sister Gen. 31. Jacob's Sons their Brother Joseph Gen. 37.11 The Jews the very Preaching and Hearing the Gospel Acts 13.45 It is the rottenness of the Bones Prov. 14.30 It slayeth the Silly Job 5.2 And lastly it excludeth from Heaven for what should Envy lay claim to so bless'd a Habitation where there is nothing but love and rejoicing in each other's Happiness 4. FURTHERMORE it is a perverse Distemper of a diseased Mind rendring the Envious his viewing of the good of others as it were with sore Eyes grieved with seeing It delighteth and triumpheth in Men's Miseries As Flies feed themselves upon others Ulcers so the Envious propose to themselves a pleasant Entertainment by Discoursing upon others Misfortunes and Afflictions And to set a gloss upon their Hypocrisie they will sometimes personate the Compassionate and Merciful and like subtil Alchymists pretend to Extract Pity when indeed it is only to stretch their Malice to a larger Extent by which means it might not be acquainted with any Limitations 5. SOMETIMES Proteus like they will pretendedly act on the Theatre of Justice then will they seem zealous of Laws and due Punishment of Delinquents when indeed they do but pervert Judgment into Wormwood and Kill or Rob by Authority whom they durst not Assassinate or Assault by the Sword or open Violence Sometimes they will assume larget pretences of Sanctity appearing like the Devil at Endor in the Prophet Samuel's Mantle performing some things externally good whereby they may atchieve some greater Evil. Even so the false Apostles Preached Christ of meer Envy to St. Paul that they might add more affliction to his Bonds Phil. 1.15 16. 6. IT is at best but a fruit of the Flesh Gal. 5.21 Meer Folly Tit. 3.3 Devilish Sensual Earthly St. James 3.14 15. A dangerous Signal of a Reprobate Mind given up to Destruction Rom. 1.28 29. The most that Envy can acquire towards its own Satisfaction is to Mourn when others Rejoice and possibly to hurt Temporally with its own external Destruction of Body and Soul To define it further It is no better than the Spirit of Satan reigning in the Envious 7. THIS Mischief sometimes craftily steals on incautious good Men As Joshua was Envied for Moses's sake Num. 11.28 29. And the Psalmist confesseth My feet saith he were almost gone for I was Envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the Wicked Psal. 73.2 3. The Prophet Jeremiah and Habakkuk were a little infected with this Contagion which the Scripture as a Monitor admonisheth all Men to beware of that Snare which entrapped such good Men. 8. THE acts thereof are inconsistent with right Reason if we respect the Supream Giver of that which stimulateth Envy for how irrational a presumption is it in Man to controll the providence of God If Jacob's Eyes wax dim with Age and would not permit his dear Joseph to alter the Imposition of his Hands or to transpose the Blessing at his pleasure how much less will the all-seeing God permit the Envious Man to pervert his Hands Next we must respect the quality of the Envied Is he Evil whom thou Enviest Then thy Compassion is summon'd to pity him because his Sin represents him more Wretched than all the World can do Is he Good How guilty then must thou be in Envying his Felicity CHAP. XII Remedies against Envy ENDEAVOUR to put on Christ and then thou art sure to chase away Envy It is the Apostle's Rule Rom. 13.13 14. Let us walk honestly as in the day not in Strife and Envying but put
that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth Rom. 14.22 Lastly In all thy undertakings beseech and humbly implore the Almighty to Direct Counsel and Bless thee and according to the Apostle's Direction In every thing by Prayer and Supplication let your requests be made known unto God Phil. 4.6 For he is unworthy to receive a Blessing who omits the duty of Asking A Prayer for Directions in all our Actions MOST Merciful Father who hast promised that if the Wicked turns from his Sins that he hath committed and doth that which is lawful and right he shall live and his Transgressions shall not be remembred In humble acknowledgment of our manifold sins the equity of thy Judgments to give us over to our own unhappy Ways who have so long refused to be guided by thy holy Word and our own helpless Impotency to stay our selves turn unto thee or fix our selves in any good way to Serve and Please thee 2. WE humbly beseech thee O Father for the sake of thy dear Son to pardon all our Offences and to vouchsafe to lead us in thy Paths and the way thou appointest us to walk in We have long gone astray like lost Sheep and thou best knowest O our God how dangerous Satan's Snares are to us how many the Distractions of a deceitful vain World how frail and infirm sinful Flesh and Blood and how many our Errors But O Lord thy Wisdom cannot Err which is immutable therefore renouncing our own Conduct we render our selves into thy Gracious Hands humbly beseeching thee who freely givest Wisdom to all that ask and upbraidest no Man hold thou up our goings in thy Paths that our Footsteps slide not direct all our ways that we neither incline to the right nor to the left hand to offend thee but give us the Shield of our Salvation and let thy Right hand uphold us 3. O thou that hearest the Prayers of them that call upon thee hear us for our Souls wait on thee direct and guide us keep us and counsel us in all our Actions that we neither design nor perform any thing but that which is pleasing to thee and which thou wilt bless unto us that we may walk unblamably and prudently towards all Men and in Sanctity before thee And grant that in all our actions we may Glorifie thee and adorn the Gospel of Christ by our holy Conversations give good Examples to our Neighbours and stop the Mouths of all malicious Adversaries so that when these days of Sin are ended that we rest from our Labours we may enter into that promised Rest which remaineth for thy People where shall be no more Sin Error nor Curse Hear us O Lord in these and all other things necessary for our Bodies or Souls for Jesus Christ his sake Amen CHAP. XXV Of a Wounded Spirit what it is SOLOMON tells you Prov. 18.14 The Spirit of a Man will sustain his Infirmities but a wounded Spirit who can bear The word signifies a smitten contrite or broken Spirit It is a kind of Speech borrowed from corporal Affliction by Stripes Contusions Bruises or Wounds wherein by Incision and Launcing the Sinews and Veins the Body is debilitated and endangered to Death and Disabled so that it is void of Supportation it is liable to Inflamations and Distempers that every slight touch prejudices it It depriveth a Man of Rest so that he is impatient of this present Posture and more perplexed at a Mutation To express it further it is the intense sorrow of the Soul a weak Confidence and an infeebled life of the Spirit so that God may well nominate it A wounded Spirit 2. THIS Affliction is of that Magnitude that it exceeds all other Temporal Sorrows And none can truly give their Verdict of it but they who can join and say with David The sorrows of Death compassed me and the pains of Hell gat hold upon me Psal. 116.3 Other Sorrows may be Mitigated by administring to the Afflicted something equivalent to the loss sustained as where one Treasure is lost another may be found or by some compensation or repair may be Retaliated as Job had a second Posterity and encrease of Wealth And Elkanah declared such a Medium of Consolation to Afflicted Hannah when he said to her Am I not better to thee than ten Sons Sam. 1 1.8 3. BUT these Comforts are no ways conducive to an afflicted Spirit for furnish him with Riches the company of the dearest Friends or that which might afford Relief Refreshment and Delight to others yet to him it procures no Ease no more than if you put on a rich Purple Robe upon broken Bones No no the Grief is internal and no external means can Cure it In other Crosses time will asswage by Prudence and persuasive Arguments excellent lenitives of Sorrow In some cases to divert Wine merry Society Musick or the like means may bear some part which the Wise Man accords to Give strong Drink to him that is ready to perish and Wine to those that be of heavy Heart Let him drink and forget his Poverty and remember his Misery no more Prov. 31.6 7. 4. DAVID'S Harp did for the time refresh Saul and Charm the Evil Spirit But this grief admits of no Efficacy in such Comforts In other Pressures we may receive Ease or be conducted from the Evil as St. Paul was from the Jews Conspiracy Acts 23.31 and David from Saul 1 Sam. 19.12 But there is no flying from a wounded Spirit Where ever we go our Affliction attends us even our secret Tormentor in our own Bosoms In short as it is in one sense a Separation from God so no Creature in Heaven or Earth can Cure it There is no Sanctuary for a troubled Soul but only Gods favourable Presence No other Expedient can be used till he return and Comfort it 5. SO Horrid in the mean time is this Affliction that the desperate Traytor Judas took Death for his Sanctuary as an Antidote against his guilty Conscience â— but with what ponderosity it sits upon the Hearts of God's Servants may appear by the Complaints of Job and others Wherefore is light given to him that is in Misery and Life unto the bitter in Soul which long for Death but it cometh not and dig for it more than for hid Treasures which rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they can find the Grave Job 3 2O 21 22. This was Job's Complaint And the Prophet complained of his Birth Jer. 20.14 15 16 17 18. And the Prophet Elijah being threatned by Jezebel at Beer-sheba poured out himself It is enough now O Lord take away my Life for I am not better than my Fathers 1 Kings 19.4 And Jonah at the loss of his Gourd expressed himself saying It is better for me to die than live Jonah 4.8 CHAP. XXVI What the Conscience is and the Tranquility of it THE Conscience is the Cognition of the Heart and is a divine internal Light which we cannot Extinguish a
ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the Flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof Strive by a Holy imitation to follow the Example of thy Lord and Master who was meek and lowly in Heart and envied no Man Matt. 11.29 Christ loved all respectively For Love envieth not 1 Cor. 13.4 If we love for the sake of him who first loved us we shall never be perplexed for any competent Blessings he in his good pleasure bestows but should rather wish them greater We shall wash off that guilt of undervaluing others and abandon that presumption of over-rating our selves and this sort of Ambition which acts contrary to these Remedies reigns only in the Dominion of the Envious 2. THE Meek Moses was so free from Pride and Ambition that he reprehended those that Envied for his sake and wisht that all God's People could Prophesie and besought the Lord that he would put His Spirit upon them Num. 11.29 Discipline thy self in God's School for there is the best and safest cure of Emulation It was a Paradox to David Psal. 73.16 Vntil saith he I went into the Sanctuary of God then understood I their end There thou mayst learn not to value Transitory things too much to consider well his Hand which setteth up and pulleth down To refer all thy Desires to the advancement of his Glory and humbly to acknowledge and in a high manner express thy thankfulness for those favours of Providence he hath conferred on thee having the possession of these thoughts thou mayest quite Banish Envy 3. NEXT consider where thou placest thy Enmity The Psalmist found in the Sanctuary that his Enemies were not to be Envyed Surely said he thou didst set them in slippery places Thou castedst them down to Destruction Psal. 73.18 Let not this Memento flip out of thy Mind That God mixeth Bitter with Sweetness to all in this Life One hath great Riches but no Child to enjoy it nor perhaps a generous Heart to make use of those goods of Fortune God hath been pleased to bestow upon him Another is in perfect Bodily Health but his Soul may be sick unto Death Others contrive and hoard up Wealth but with such a seared Conscience that the poorest Saint is incomparably more happy Another is advanced to Honours perhaps only to make his Fall the greater Another in divers respects may be very Prosperous in the Eye of the World but may resemble the Moon who is most tenebrous towards Heaven when she Illuminates the Earth So it is with Man very observable that the greater Lustre they shine with in the Eye of the World the more despicable they are in the sight of Heaven for God abhorreth all those Pomps and Vanities and layeth up such severe Judgments for the Owners that a Soul in the midst of Torments is as proper an Object of Envy as the glittering Shadows who are hasting thither 4. O let us not forget then that we are Brethren Members of one Body whereof Christ Jesus is the Head therefore let us with all Gentleness and Meekness take St. Paul's advice Gal. 6.1 Brethren if a Man be over-taken in a Fault restore such a one in the Spirit of Meekness considering thy self lest thou also be tempted Let us support one another through Love and mutually rejoice at each others Happiness and by these means we shall cast away the works of Darkness Strife and Envy CHAP. XIII Of Impatience IMPATIENCE is a Distemper of the Mind proceeding from several Causes as Indignation Anger Envy Sorrow apprehension of Injuries Affliction deluded Hopes and the like As the diseased Body cannot endure Heat or Cold so an impatient and discontented Mind cannot comply with Prosperity or Adversity Every present Estate seemeth uneasie wanting a true relish to make it palatable it is not only a Guilt but a Punishment of the Sin of Ingratitude against God Therefore the Almighty threatned to send them trembling Hearts Sorrow of Mind and pendulous Thoughts and Fears Deut. 28.65 66 67. In the Morning thou shalt say would God it were Evening and at Even thou shalt say would God it were Morning 2. SICK of this wayward Distemper was he who being at Rome lik'd Tyber best but when at Tyber gave Rome the Preference the sick Person shifteth Rooms and Beds as the wounded Hart flieth from Brake to Brake but can find no ease whilst the fatal Arrow that Messenger of Death sticks fast in his side So it is observable Malecontents waver between contempt of the present and vain hopes of the future But Coelum non animum mut at he transmueth the Air not his Mind that crosseth the Ocean Wherever thy Progress is thy Mind bears thee company and according to its Malignancy a proportionable Remedy must be applied 3. TRIVIAL matters doth not perturb the the Healthy but a small Accident discomposeth the Sick The sound and strong Man can rest any where but to the infirm a Bed of Gold or Wood produces the same ease and a rich Palace or a poor Cottage affords him equality of rest So it is observable a fixed and stable Mind will rest contented any where he is become a Proficient and can say with St. Paul I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be Content Phil. 4.11 And a Mind so serene and calm is Health to the Sick Enlargement to the Prisoner and far excells a Kingdom to the Possessor whereas the impeteous Mind is troubled and discomposed with every trifle I do well said pievish Jonah to be angry even unto death Jonah 4.9 And all this Morosety was but for a poor Gourd when at that juncture he ought to have been more concerned at so many thousand Lives which were near Destruction 4. TO cure this no Cataplasm Externally applyed can afford any Operation but it must be a Catholicon Internally used which must purge the Mind of these Malignant Perturbations which disaffect it and to strengthen it by a right Informatioâ— of the Understanding and rectifying thâ— distempered Affections untill the Mind enjoy a Calm of Patience And indeed Patience is a Magnanimous Vertue and attended with a Train of â—piritual Qualifications First It is Afflictions Cordial and Despair Antidote the Daughter and Nurse of Hope Rom. 8.25 And the Saints Communioâ— with Christ Rev. 1.9 It is the way to thâ— Inheritance Heb. 12.1 The Seal of Salvâ—tion 2 Pet. 1.10 A Symptome of Faitâ— and Hope in Christ 1 Thess. 1.3 Patiencâ— is an Equanimity in bearing Adversity anâ— a Fruit of Charity And the Apostle giâ—â— you this Certificate That the Fruit of thâ— Spirit is Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gaâ— 5.22 And Charity suffereth long 1 Cor. 13.4 5. IMPATIENCE is a Perturbation of the Mind a Self-corroding Tormenting bitterness of the Soul proceeding from Impotency or Levity of Mind A secret contest with and repining at the Providence of God It is the absurdity of Rich Men and the vexation of the Poor The Mother of Despair and sad fury of the Internal
occasion to vex at the Levity and Vanity of thy own Mind If it be just what is the monstrous Object of thy Hatred and Malice Assure thy self the Adulteress is unhappy enough and there is no Creature on Earth more despicable and odious nor no Sin in this Life accompanied with so many varieties of Plagues and Judgments so that indeed they are great Objects of Pity if all these wretched Ingredients can render them to be so as a wounded Conscience the Devil 's Earnest to the Impenitent and assurance of Hell and Damnation 8. IN the next place my address shall be to those in whom there is occasion of Suspicion And first Let Man himself consider how odious Adultery is and out of all measure sinful for he sinneth against his own Body defileth the Temple of the Holy Ghost Cor. 6.18 19. and pierceth through his own Bowels with a Dart of Rottenness Prov. 7.23 And that which will render him in the end mournful But beyond all this in case of Impenitency which the stubborn Presumer may justly suspect it is that whereby he excludeth himself from the Kingdom of Heaven 1 Cor. 6.9 10. And in the Adulteresses Crime some Aggravations are appertaining to it as robbing her Husband of his Posterity obtruding a base and adulterous Issue and so stealing away his Estate and Inheritance by giving it to a Stranger and fixing on an indelible Character of Dishonor and Bastardy upon her Child who but for her impotent and ungovern'd Lust might have proved noble and legitimate An Injury which she can never expiate nor repair to the innocuous Son with Rivers of Tears and streams of her infected Blood This multiplied Sin is sometimes conceal'd from Men but never from the All-seeing God who is a severe Revenger of all Iniquity 9 OTHER Sins are grievous and pernicious yet neither Lying Stealing Idolatry Murder nor Witchcraft can of it self dissolve the Sacred Bond of Wedlock as this only base act of Adultery doth Therefore our Saviour admits of no Divorce but upon that occasion And it is remarkable that when God would display the loathsomness of Idolatry which most displeased him he styl'd it Whoredom and himself a jealous God and certainly though that be abolished of the bitter Water causing the Curse and rotting of the Thigh with swelling which attended that antiquated Ceremony yet the bitter Moral and Substance are not quite extinguish'd Numb 5.18 10. AVOID what you are sensible of hath created your Suspicion otherwise you are guilty if not of Adultery yet of a just Cause of Jealousie Lysander punished one of his Soldiers for going out of his Quarters resolving that he would have none of his look or go out like a Plunderer Dinah's idle visits Gen. 34.1 2. proved her dishonor effusion of guiltless Blood her Father's Trouble and her Brother's Curse The wisest of Men recordeth it as the mark of an Harlot Prov. 7.11 12. Her feet abide not in the house now she is without now in the streets lying in wait at every corner 11. IT was an Italian Severity in Sulpitius and a Diposition to part with his Wife who divorced her for going out of doors bare-headed The Law said he confined thee to mine Eyes and Approbation and not to please others The common Law noted any going out unvail'd with the odious brand of Adultery So careful were they to avoid all occasions or suspicions of that Sin However foolishly strict they were I am sure Jerom's Rules fore-noted is good Whatsoever saith he may probably be feigned be thou cautious it may not be feigned Thou owest this to thy Husband's Love thine own Indemnity and Honor and the Right and Credit of thy Children The PRAYER O Eternal and Almighty God Father of Lights and of the First-born who are written in Heaven and of the Spirits of Just Men made Perfect Thou art the Searcher of all Hearts and Reins to whose All-seeing Eye every Creature is manifest and every thought of the Heart naked and open We humbly beseech thee to take from us our stony Hearts and to give us Hearts of flesh to subdue in us by thy omnipotent Spirit the miserable remainders of the First Adam that native inclination to Sin which continually carrieth us away Captive to the Laws thereof even to that Evil which we would not commit but utterly detest and in bitterness of Soul repent of 2. LORD create clean Hearts and renew right Spirits within us root out that raging Spirit of Jealousie that infernal Fire which lies scorching in our bosoms and enlighten our Vnderstandings with a sound Knowledge of all the Mysteries of Eternal Life and Salvation Sanctifie our Wills and Affections and according to thine own gracious promise six thy Law in our inward Parts and write it deeply in our Hearts that we may know thee from the least to the greatest Heal up those Wounds which our Sins have made so wide that none but thine own Hands can close them and forgive our Iniquity and remember our Sins no more 3. O Lord thou didst by thy holy Word so heal the fountains that death and barrenness was no more therein heal we humbly beseech thee the wretched Corruptions of our hearts cleanse and sanctifie all the thoughts thereof by the sweet and blessed influence of thy Holy Spirit and so quide govern and direct us in the way which thou wilt have us to walk in as that we may in all our Thoughts Words and Actions be acceptable to thee Mortifie and subdue all our evil Desires and Thoughts and bring them all into Subjection to thy Holy Will and Pleasure that we may constantly resist all Temptations to Sin and Wickedness 4. KEEP us and Counsel us in all our Affairs Spiritual and Temporal that we may be filled with the holy Fruits of the Spirit of Sanctification appearing in new and hallowed Thoughts Words and Actions to thy glory and our farther assurance before thee so that in our Bodies and in our Spirits we may be kept blameless in this sinful and miserable World unto the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ To whom with thee O Father of Mercy and the Holy Spirit the Comforter of the Elect be rendred all Honor and Glory in Heaven and in Earth from this time forth and to all Eternity Amen CHAP. XXIII Of External Actions THE External Actions of Men are the product and fruit of their Thoughts and as we owe Sanctimony to God and our own Consciences within so do we good Examples to our Neighbors in things External And our blessed Saviour in his Sermon on the Mount excites us with this Doctrin Mat. 5.16 Let your Light so shine before Men that they may see your good Works and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven 2. GOOD Actions proceed from a sound Credence without which they cannot be good nor pleasing in the Sight of Heaven For whatsoever is not of Faith is Sin Rom. 14.23 For Faith apprehending Christ to our Justification renders our Works