proboque Deteriora sequor c. Met. l. 7. Which is almost in the same Words and altogether in the same Sense with that of the holy Apostle That which I do I allow not for what I would do that do I not and what I hate that do I. Rom. 7. 15. § 13. And now after a long but I hope not tedious Discourse of the Opposition of the two Natures that make up our compositum and the Reasons thereof 't is but time to draw nearer that I chiefly aim at and to let you know what your Superiour Faculties or rather God by them require of you and this is no other but the subjugating of your Passions and Appetites in order to your threefold Duty to God to your Neighbour and to your Self Whey prohibit you in the First place all those Pleasures Diversions and Alienations of Mind which usually obstruct the Love of God his Fear and Honour They forbid in the Second place all immoderate Desires of Gain which may tempt you to break the Laws of Justice and Charity and will teach you to deny your self those things which stand in opposition to either But their chiefest concern is Thirdly in the regimen of your self which is the ground of both the other that you observe the great Duty of Moderation and Temperance be guided by your Reason and that you be able to make Resolutions and observe them when they are made For these Ends and Purposes as a rational Creature and a Christian you are to settle in your self this high Court of Judicature and a constant firm Resolution of submitting your self to its Determinations 'T is a great Vertue to resolve well but 't is a greater to be able inviolably to observe our Resolutions It is the greatest part of Wisdom and requires our utmost force and strength to stick to a Resolve well taken This is indeed our common Failure and yet he is not a Men that cannot do this A Man cannot be just to himself who is unconstant to his own Purposes the Will originally is the Follower of the Understanding and it is as good nay better to be without an Intellect as the inferiour Creatures are than to ask her Advice and not to follow it The only hindrance to this great Duty is the Importunities of Sense and the Pleas of Pleasure Profit and corporeal Satisfaction Let these be kept under and in obedience and then you will be capable to observe this great and necessary Rule following Resolve on nothing but by the Advice of righteous Reason and when you have resolv'd once let nothing in Nature be able to divert the execution but a countermand from the same Authority § 14. Whensoever therefore you are invited to any Action contrary to the Laws of God or Man your great care must be suppress and conquer that Motion and that as speedily and zealously as you would Fire in your house or a Rebellion breaking out in your Kingdom as tending immediately to the destruction of the whole To this purpose you must stop every wandring or wanton thought every inconsiderate word and every intended Action for surely if Words are to be consider'd twice according to the Grecian Orator's Rule Thoughts deserve one and Actions three Examinations and bring it before the supreme Bar of Righteous and Impartial Reason The Rules of Examination are the Laws of God and Man which are in respect of Morality plain and easie And here the Golden Rule that general Director of all our Actions among Men especially with which our Lord concludes his divine Sermon in the Mount is of universal Use Whatsoever ye would that Men should do to you do you even the same to them for this is the Law and the Prophets Matt. 7. If your deceitful Heart disguise the Action consult a rectified Conscience and apply this Lydius Lapis this Touch-stone to it and the counterfeit will soon appear and you may make a discovery If you find it an Amalekite spare it not for Favour or Affection no nor upon the Account of Religion it self but utterly destroy it Without a metaphor suppress both your Passions and Appetites whensoever you perceive them to interfere with your Duty and lead you into any Sin This is that which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if nothing were true Wisdom but this The Latins call it Temperantia Temperance or Government The first of these Wisdom is usually taken in a larger Signification and comprehends this and other Duties The latter Temperance signifies in common use but a part of this Duty the moderate use of Meats and Drink c. And therefore I have made bold to introduce two * Autarchy Autocracy Words into our Language comprehensive of the Duty I teach you and which will include the Regimen of the irascible and concupisciple Passions I mean Autarchy and Autocracy both which signifie Self-Government § 15. Autarchy then is no other but the exercise of that Power that the Soul hath over the Body and the higher Faculties over the lower Appetites in order to the Practice of Vertue and Piety As it respects our Duty to God it is subservient to Devotion and by its Punishments and holy Revenges upon the rebellious Appetites it performs the severest part of the great Duty of Repentance As it respects our Duty to our Neighbour it represses the Emotions to Covetousness and teaches us to know what is that which is sufficient for us It rebates all Inclinations to Injustice and obliges us to the Golden Rule it abates the Swellings of Self-conceit and Philauty and consequently keeps Peace amongst Men for Pride and Selfishness are generally the Causes of all Wars and of Quarrels Dissentions yea and of all the Schisms in Religion of all the evil Words and invidious Actions with which foolish Mortals torment themselves and others And lastly in respect of our selves it teaches us to measure our selves by just Rules and Proportions and not to think of our selves more highly than we ought to think but to think soberly to judge meanly of our selves and of our own Endowments and Deserts for we are or may be too well acquainted with our own private Failures and Lapses and charitably of other Men because we know not theirs and thus it lays the Foundation of Humility that great Christian as well as moral Vertue It represses Anger prevents Malice and regulates the irascible Passions and so is nothing less than Meekness and Lowliness the two specifick Graces of the Holy Jesus It quenches the Heats of Lust and defends us from those Legions of Tormentors that are Consequents of it It makes us to possess our Vessels the Body in Sanctification not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Original words it in the Passions of furious and unbridled Desires It guards us from Gluttony and Drunkenness and teaching the right use of Meats and Drinks prescribes the necessary Rules of Quantity and Quality Briefly there is no Vertue or Grace but what it labours for
and which doth not stand in need of its Assistance and no part of Religion but what it serves And all this it doth by watching over the Passions to prevent Tumult and punish Insurrections by keeping the rein in the mouth of the Beast and the Appetites in due subjection Thus Autarchy is Custos Pacis the Keeper of the publick Peace in the little World the Defender of Vertue and a Magistrate bearing the Sword of Punishment where it governs not in vain § 16. This is that Christian Duty that St. Paul calls Mortification or killing of the deeds of the Body through the help and power of the Spirit Rom. 8. 13. in order to the Heavenly Life And these Deeds or Actions of the Body which are to be mortified are in another Place called our Members that are upon the Earth Coll. 3. 5. because the Earthly part useth them as Members of the Body of Sin and operates by them Of these he reckons there only the concupiscible Passions when contaminated and ungoverned as Fornication Vncleanness inordinate Affection evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry and the Irascible in the eighth verse following This is the Crucifixion of the old man call'd so because we brought it into the World with us whereas Regeneration and the Spiritual Life begin in Baptism and the destruction of the body of Sin Rom. 6. 6. This is the Crucifixion of the Flesh or earthly Part with its Affections and Lusts which he mentions to his Galatians c. 5. v. 24. By all which words viz. destroying mortifying crucifying c. he means no other than keeping the Body in subjection and the exercise of the Duty of Autarchy To which purpose he gives you his own Example 1 Cor. 9. 27. I keep under my Body by Fasting and other Spiritual Exercises and bring it into subjection to the Soul the Heavenly Part whose Office and Charge it is to govern lest while I preach to others I my self should become a Cast-away And indeed as this our Apostle laboured more abundantly than all the other so were his Sufferings proportionable both by land and water of strangers and of his own Country-men yet his Autarchy or Self-Government was that which made him endure all not only with Patience but with Glory He us'd his Body to suffering whihc made it become habitual to him and amongst all those Pressures that he underwent for Christ some of which he himself mentions 1 Cor. 11. those he impos'd upon himself because he impos'd them upon himself and voluntarily chose them were so much the more glorious Thus he was crucified with Christ before he was beheaded at Rome and was made a Partner in his Sufferings and conformable to his Death though never crucified Thus he was not only able to do but to suffer all things through Christ that strengthened him and his Conquest of himself first made him more than Conquerour This was the Original from whence the first Christians took the Copy of all their Fastings Discipline and other voluntary Severities they put upon themselves Exercises now quite out-dated nay ridicul'd and call'd superstitious by an impious Pretence to Christian Liberty Their Austerities and Fastings their Penances and holy Revenges their Retirements and Self-denials were only to dis-arm the Enemy within and to render the Fleshly part unable to hinder their Course of Piety and that which they all their lives aim'd at and which we should also if we would be as happy as they was only Autarchy § 17. This is not only the great duty and end of all Moral Philosophy and Practical Divinity but a certain Sign of True Piety Others are sometimes false sometimes frivolous this cannot deceive us Men miss commonly in the Notion of Religion and leaving the Essence of it follow its Shadow and doat upon its Counterfeit For if a Man can but express an outward Zeal though it be nothing in comparison of the Pharisaic Order of old for the Law of Moses if he can but look demurely and counterfeit a Seriousness if he can pour out abundance of bold talk about God though it be hardly Sense lament the Iniquity of the times that is slander and backbite his Superiours and sanctifie all his Raillery with shaking his Head a Sigh or a Groan if a Man can do this I say he must be a Saint an elect person holy and beloved c. though in the mean time his Heart be as full of Extortion and Excess as the Pharisees those painted Sepulchres were of old though he can give his Tongue liberty to slander and his Heart to envy though his Passions be untam'd his Appetites unrestrain'd every where but in publicl The truth is Autarchy when exercis'd for the sake of Religion is a certain Sign and the distinguishing Property of a Child of God and all other Signs are delusive no Man can be either religious or wise without it For true Religion begins within and subdues the Passions and Affections is not clamorous rash fierce or envious as well as not voluptuous wanton or unclean The Wisdom which is from above is first pure then peaceable gentle easie to be intreated full of Mercy and good Fruits and without Partiality or Hypocrisie Jam. 3. 17. He that brings his Body with its Lusts and Appetites into Subjection to the Spirit so that he allows of nothing either unlawful or inconvenient he that endeavours above all to obtain a pure Heart and a right Spirit and to this end purifies himself as God is pure that visits the Fatherless and the Widows in their Affliction and keeps himself unspotted from the World which is St. James's Notion of True Religion and Vndefil'd before God this Man notwithstanding some Errours in his Judgment and Heterodoxes in Opinion can be no other but a Son of God and an Heir of Heaven for they are Christ's that have crucified the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts. § 18. And as Autarchy is a sure sign so it is the Foundation and Beginning of all true Religion whatsoever is not built upon this is founded upon the Sand and will fall in time of Temptation Profession without this is like an Impostume it looks red big and fiery and is a mighty Pain to the Professor but within it is full of crude Humours and Impurities which will at last break out into an Ulcer Nay I will go further and venture to say That it is not only the Bottom but the Top of all Religion and its Perfection Go sell what thou hast saith our blessed Lord to the Young-Man in the Gospel who bragg'd of keeping all the Commandments from his Youth up to that time and give the Money to the Poor if thou wouldst be perfect Try whether thou canst deny thy self and part with thy beloved Mammon upon the Hopes and Promises of Possessions that are above Whether thy Soul or thy Body thy rational Faculties or thy Appetite govern in thee Whether thou canst so far conquer as to deny thy self
leave him and he is fain to use Arts to keep them his Lusts slight him and deceive him and he hath nothing but a sinful vitiated Will and a polluted Fancy left which yet makes him ridiculous and exposes him His Lusts first seduced his Mind and now a defil'd Mind is forc'd to caress them like an out-worn Mistress once ador'd now slighted by her old Servants 'T is but time certainly then to retire when we can pursue our pleasures no longer when Providence hath taken away the Temptation we ought not to make to our selves Images and Shadows of that which hath forsaken us This is the Order of Nature and thus Days speak if we would hear and multitude of Years would teach us Wisdom Lastly Let him endeavour to obtain a true Estimate of the different Pleasures and Advantages the Ends and Consequences of Vertue and Vice and by comparing them together become satisfied how much better 't is to live the Life of a good Man and a Christian here and to be received into Bliss hereafter than to be a Sot a Slave a Fool for a few days and afterwards to be damned § 26. This is the great Truth which the two following Essays do endeavour to illustrate and which I hope your Experience will one day convince you of In the mean time let me only tell you That the Sensualist for all his gay Colours and fine Shows is but a poor miserable Slave and enslav'd to that which every good and wise Man keeps in Subjection I mean his Brutish Part his Lusts and Appetites Whilst the Man that keeps his Liberty and rules within himself that uses Pleasures as a Cordial not continual Nourishment and takes only what will agree with his Spiritual Advantages the Man that can learn and practise this short Lesson of the excellent Moralist of old sustine abstine suffer and abstain suffer with Patience and Resignation what Providence lays upon thee and abstain from every thing which may be hurtful for thy Body or Soul This mighty Man I say this more than Emperour reigns a Soveragin in himself is invulnerable and unconquerable he falls into no sin nor runs into any Danger but is the Favourite and Care of Heaven here and hereafter And thus much of The Nature of Autarchy and Rules of its Practice with which I shall conclude the First Part of this Essay and am Yours c. ἈΥΤΑΡΧΊΑ· OR THE ART of Self-Government The Second PART BEING A Vindication of the Pleasures of Autarchy compar'd with those of Sensuality § 1. AFTER a curious Search into the Original of Corrupt Nature the Reasons of its Conjunction with the purer Spirit and the Rules to make it serviceable to Religion which was the Argument of my former Discourse my Dear Dorotheus you may perhaps think it unnecessary to write a Second time or add any thing to that Subject And truly after I had finished the Former Letter I became inclinable to that Opinion my self till besides my Promise I had consider'd that it is easie to give and hard to take such Counsel that Autarchy is the most difficult and perhaps in some Sense our only Duty and that Sense will become importunate especially when it hath Health and Youth to be its Advocates And truly when I find so few Men even in their best Age and most vivid Exercise of their Reason able to tame the Wild Beast within I must confess I cannot rigorously exact it of Youth My Business therefore shall be in the following Papers to work upon your Affections I mean to engage my self in the Cause of the superiour Faculties and endeavour to convince you that they are not rigorous nor exercise any Tyranny over us but that by a wise and sweet Conduct they would if permitted gently and carefully pilot our crazed Vessel through the turbulent Sea of this World to the Haven of Happiness and this not only when the Rules are drawn by Morality but by the strictest Religion If this can be made out Self-Government will be your Choice not your Yoke and you will find it your great Duty and greater Interest § 2. And because there be several sorts of Judgments as well as Constitutions so that some will be convinc'd with that Argument which others cannot Apprehend or count ridiculous Lest from hence Autarchy and its Vertues should be disparaged by a real or seeming poor Apology I must here premonish you that its Exercise doth not merely depend upon those outward Encouragements which follow Morality is our Duty and our Interest though never so ungrateful and its great Obligations arise from Spiritual Promises and Rewards in this Life and the Eternal Joys of the Life to come and tho' she were ever so sorrowful hirsute and Squallid yet those inexpressible Joys she inspires into the Soul in this Life and those she reserves for the future state are abundantly sufficient to subdue any rational Understanding Even Afflictions themselves may be elegible when being light and Momentary they work for us a far more exceeding weight of Glory The End makes Sufferings tolerable and we see in Temporals Men are very willing to be sick for future Health to serve a severe Apprenticeship for a lasting Freedom to labour toil and sweat for an approaching Harvest and to hazard the dangers of the Seas for Merchandice and of War for Glory These are common Practices founded upon rational Conjectures And why should not Religion engage us upon greater and more certain Motives The Arguments then that follow are not necessary but ex abundanti If they convince they will sweeten the Methods of Providence reconcile the Sons of Sense to Vertue answer the Objections of the Sensualists and remove some Stumbling-blocks that offend the Carnal minded if not know yet that Religion stands upon eternal Foundations and remains secure as having no need of outward Rewards though it may yet receive some encouragements and advances in Minds not so defecate and stript of the World as ours must needs be while we live with Flesh and Blood And indeed the Prejudices of Sensualists are so many loud and clamorous and improv'd to that degree that I thought it worth my time to search into the matter and consider whether Piety makes all her Votaries in this Life most miserable For Men mostly preferr present to future Comforts and these short Joys in a Vale of tears to those of the Regions of Happiness which are above If I therefore can demonstrate that Religion hath its present Comforts and perhaps greater and more substantial than Sensuality can pretend to all these Prejudices will vanish and Men will entertain it for its present as well as future Reward § 3. And here I expect to meet with great Disadvantages by reason of those Prejudices which seem to be congenite and twisted into humane Nature for the Pleasure of Self-denial which must accompany Autarchy are look'd upon as a Paradox and Men bear a kind of antipathy to restraining Vertue when
Its Regimen was settled by our Creator in the beginning and first origination of Mankind and therefore not difficult to him who institutes his Life according to the Order of Nature For indeed all manner of Intemperance is a violence and rape upon our Nature and we find that till she is conquer'd by long and customary Force she both abhors and resists it Thus for instance Gluttony presses her down and Drunkenness strives to stifle and drown her whilst she poor Wretch struggles with all her force throws up the unconcocted load the same way it was imposed upon her and in resentment of this Violence pines her self sometimes several Days afterwards This I say is the true state of virgin and undebauch'd Nature And therefore Self-Government is her Guardian nor can it be difficult originally but natural and consequently easie But then 2. As it cannot be denyed but that this among many other things is now grown difficult to us so it must be confess'd That this Difficulty is the Effect of long and customary Habits of Licentiousness nor can it be wonder'd that a Man habituated to a sinful Course of Life and used to be carried about by his unruly Passions should find some uneasiness in the first entrance of a regular and staid Conversation no more than that an untam'd Horse should at first time regret the Bridle or the young Bullock the Yoke that is laid upon his unaccustom'd Neck All Changes from one extream to another prove troublesome and in every Alteration of Life we may observe the like The beginnings of things must be difficult especially to a prejudic'd Nature and he that is accustomed to Extravagance must resent a Restraint The Neophite cannot but expect some trouble in the Government of his Passions and perverse Nature and the young Practitioner will be weary of his New Work but he that has us'd himself to it finds the Sweet of it and he that is exercised therein shall find its Delights 3. And then for those affrightful Names of Mortification c. they were at first given with respect to the Removal of inveterate Habits and the trouble it puts an old Sinner to As for the things themselves they are not simply necessary to the Duties I commend nor indeed to Christian Religion no more than Physick is to our Mortal Bodies Not simply necessary but only by way of Consequence and by reason of those Diseases of the Mind which we have contracted When Piety begins to decay through the Weakness of the Powers of the Soul and the Prevalency of the Appetite then the Spiritual Pill becomes necessary and if it be unpleasant to the Taste or makes us sick in its Operation we may thank our Diseased Minds for it Corrupt humours cannot be evacuated without Pain nor can the dumb and deaf Spirit much less that which is raging mad be cast out without sore Convulsions of Mind and a renting of the Heart even to a seeming Death But all this is but accidental to Religion which in it self is an easie Yoke and a light Burthen a sweet and delightsome Imploy and requires none of these Severities For to a Man that hath been train'd up in Subjection to the Heavenly part and hath liv'd so till he hath become capable of sensing the Pleasures of the Divine Life there is no need of Mortifying of Lusts and Appetites these have been regulated long ago ab initio bred up in Obedience and taught Submission from his Birth I shall only add two things more upon this Head and could wish that they might be as seriously consider'd as they must be confess'd The First is That the strictest Precepts of Christianity such as Self-denial and taking up the Cross the severest Doctrine of the severest Religion hath its peculiar Pleasures and comforts and that in proportion to its Hardships Secondly That Vice is the greatest Slavery and brings greater Mortifications and Hardships upon the Body yea and upon the Appetites themselves than the most restraining Vertue and consequently that Men usually take more pains and suffer more to go to Hell than is required in order to Heaven and a Blessed Eternity § 22. As for the Miseries that the Beginning of this Discourse seems to entail upon Piety whether they are ab extrà or ab intrà I answer briefly 1. That God is not severe or cruel to any Man much less to his Servants He is good unto every Man and his tender Mercies are over all his Works He is slow to Anger of great kindess and repenteth him of the evil 2. That he punishes them or suffers them to be afflicted arises out of other Causes as First To prevent Sin and the Doating upon this World by letting them see their own Frailty and the World's Deceitfulness To take down Temptations and abate the Lusts of the Flesh c. Secondly To punish Sin in this World that their Souls may be sav'd in the World to come Thirdly To bring them to Repentance and recover their Spiritual Health As a careful Physician a severe School-Master and a loving Father who chasteneth every Son whom he loveth and scourgeth every Son whom he receiveth And thus Afflictions are real Blessings and the End changeth the Means into tokens of Love and Mercy Fourthly To make them Instances of the Divine Goodness Thus Job stands a Monument not so much of Humane Integrity as of God's Justice and Mercy his Justice in punishing his Creature which for all his Integrity had some time or other deserv'd as much as this and God may justly withdraw the Blessings of Health and Riches from Job which he had given him and his Mercy in returning them double to him Besides he is an ancient Example of the Power of Divine Grace as also of Humane Imbecillity And the same or the like Account may be given of the Apostles and the First Christians who remain Evidences of the great Love of God to Mankind who spared neither his Son to procure us a better Covenant or his Servants Blood to seal to the Truth of it And therefore 3. As to those * Vid. Matt. 10. 17. 24. 9. Luk. 21. 12. Joh. 15. 20. 1 Thess 3. 3 4. 2 Tim. 1. 8. 3. 12. Texts where our Lord warn'd his Disciples of Sufferings or those of his Disciples to the Primitive Christians of the Afflictions and Persecutions which they must expect They are not universarily applicatory for their Case was extraordinary and they were fitted with Divine Gifts accordingly And those Texts do more particularly point out those calamitous Times and cannot be applied to those times in which the Church had peace and rest from her Labours Their work was in the heat of the Day and God that call'd them to such a mighty Work first enabled them and then crown'd them for it but as for us we labour in the cool nor can we expect any Opposition but that of our carnal Lusts and Appetites Piety is commanded and Vertue is encouraged
and rewarded and Religion is not now to be espoused in Chains but upon the Throne So that notwithstanding the extraordinary examples of some of God's dear Servants in the Old Testament and of many more in the New I am bold to conclude That Autarchy tends naturally and of it self to present as well as to future Pleasures whether it be of the Mind or a Regulated Body and to make us happy here and hereafter And thus having made what Observations and Reflections I thought suitable upon the Vanity of the pretended Pleasures of Sensuality having pleaded the Cause of Self-Government and vindicated it from the Acccusations of Tyranny or Cruelty over the Body or her attendant Passions I will reserve her Outward Advantages to be the Subject of the Third Letter ἈΥΤΑΡΧΊΑ· OR THE DUTY of Self-Government The Third PART Of the Outward Advantages of Autarchy and an Exhortation thereunto § 1. I had not long finished the Second Part of this Moral Essay in which I hope I have somewhat contributed to the allaying the Heats of your Sensual Desires and rebated your Prejudices to the Oeconomy of Self-Government but I be thought my self of my Promise made in the Conclusion of it to treat of the Outward Advantages of Autarchy 'T is true my Dorotheus the inward Pleasures mentioned in my last of Joy Peace and the Testimony of a good Conscience are the greatest Blessings we are capable of on this side Heaven but then the other outward Blessings are not to be despised As long as we are here we all naturally desire those Delights that caress Humane Nature and he must be more than an ordinary Philosopher that can over-look all corporeal Pleasures He is happy that can gratifie his Soul but yet he is thought more happy that can gratifie his Soul and Body both and yet preserve his Innocency If then Autarchy be a Friend to both these its Government sure cannot be refused What it is in respect of Pleasures hath been the Subject of the former Paper and what it is in respect of all Outward Advantages shall be the Subject of this After which I shall draw up all the Premisses into one conclusion and tying a Knot upon it leave it with you to the judgment of after Experience § 2. The Outward Advantages of Autarchy which I have not discours'd of in my former may be reduc'd to these Three Heads 1. A Healthful and Long Life 2. A Competent Estate or Sufficiency 3. Honour and Respect from all Men. These are the Three Principal Favourites of the Body and are courted as our greatest Happiness while we are here A sickly long Life is therefore thought so much the more miserable because it is long and a Healthful Short Life miserable by reason of its Shortness And both Health and Length of Life cannot make us happy according to the vulgar Opinion if we are condemn'd to Poverty and to eat the Bread of Carefulness And there be many that will not be satisfied without a third accessional I mean Honour and Respect And there is no Man but the highest Christian that can wholly lay them all aside and say with St. Paul That he counts all things but dung and loss so that he may win Christ I cannot expect you should arrive at this Spiritual Life this Perfection of Wisdom these many years It will be sufficient if you attain it at last with all the Aids of Morality and Religion In the mean time it will be sufficient to alliciate a young and unexperienc'd Nature by that which seems most inviting in this World though it be but as Children with Toys and such are most of us in a spiritual Sense I mean with Earthly Blessings such as Life Estate and Honour My Business therefore shall be to demonstrate to you not that Autarchy will infallibly make you live long Healthful Rich and Honourable or instate you presently in the Possession of these Three Blessings for there may be many Circumstances which may hinder the Effect and God may not prosper the Means for the Ends designed nor do I intend to affirm that this Duty will enfeoff you with the intense degrees of each i. e. that it will make you live to threescore years and ten or fourscore and all that while in abundance of outward Prosperity Riches and Grandeur for this is not entail'd upon any Duty but That it is the readiest Way and the most probable Means to obtain a convenient portion of each and enough to ascertain an outward Happiness That it naturally tends to long Life and Health Sufficiency of Estate and Respect and where it is not hinder'd of its effect will ensure them Thus as the Reasons of the former Paper will make you a Votary to the Spiritual Government as a Christian and a Philosopher so those of this may work upon you as a Man I begin with the first of its Temporal Advantages A Healthful and Long Life § 3. Of all the outward Blessings that God usually crowns Man with in this World Health and Long Life ought to be first named because most desired The First begets the Second and they mutually caress each other and would do so eternally When things are as they should be Nature abhorrs an Alteration for fear of a Dissolution The sullen Rocks cling together and oppose Separation and the soft Waters which are dasht into a thousand pieces against them reunite their Parts which will not separate till Gravity and the indispensible Laws of the Universe compel them The Vegetables though they die at Winter do yet retain the Seeds of Life against their Resurrection in the Spring and accordingly appear again in their various Figures and Colours The Birds and Beasts labour night and day to preserve a belov'd though to themselves an unprofitable Life and when they can no longer escape the Snares of the cunning Fowler or cruel Hunter they mournfully utter out their resentments of Man's Tyranny in their inarticulate Rhetorick Man the Lord of the visible Creation preserves his own Life by destroying others and pays Nature in himself what he has robb'd her of in other Creatures We are apt to admire the Happiness of Methusalah and if we thought it to any purpose would desire to live as long as he We complain of Nature's unequal bounty to the Antediluvian World whilst she confines us to Threescore or Fourscore Years To live long and see many happy or rather than die unhappy days to live though old lame decrepit and despis'd much more when young healthful and strong is the universal desire of deluded Mortals inamour'd of their Sorrows and besotted of their Chains Nor can Reason Counsel or Experience without a Diviner Ray darted from Heaven into their Souls undeceive them And after all it is something unaccountable to find that though most Men make Long Life the chiefest Petition in all their Addresses to Heaven yet there are few that will confess they have received it though they have pass'd their great
Climax So great is our aversion to Death our greatest Friend that would put an End to our Troubles and lay us up in Peace Young men put it far from them and Old men do not care to hear of it though descending down towards their Grave And I have experienc'd in my self now entring into my Declination a kind of Reluctancy to be told I was so far on my Journey I conclude therefore that there is something in Nature some Relict of the Old man that is afraid of Death though she carries it within her and thus perhaps it will be with you and therefore to please the lower Soul and reconcile it to the Government of the upper I shall endeavour to shew that it is the usual Gift and natural Consequent of Autocracy § 4. To this Purpose it will suffice to propose this one Consideration viz. That There is nothing that can conduce more directly to the Health of the Body and consequently to its Preservation to Old Age than the regular Vse of Meat Drink and animal Pleasures which Self-Government enjoins This alone is able to preserve Health and to recover it when lost and if some Original Distemper or fatal Providence interpose not to convey it down to Old Age to procure the Vigour of Youth in Age and a healthful and strong Constitution and consequently a Long Life c. This Truth is self-apparent and shines by its own Light for most Diseases are confess'd to be the Effects of Intemperance Vice tends to our Ruine from its first Entertainment and the Body of Sin naturally leads us to the Body of Death Excesses bring Sickness and Surfeiting will turn to Choler By surfeiting many have perished but he that taketh heed prolongeth his Life saith the wise Son of Sirach Ecclus 37. 30. Instances will best illustrate this Truth for their Conviction For thus the Glutton lives to eat not eats to live but to die when by contrarieties of Meats and Drinks he hath vitiated his Appetite and collected a Mass of Crudities in his Stomach the morbifick Matter which at last sends him out of the World Thus the Drunkard drowns himself in a Dropsie or by a Collection of Adventitious Heats inflames his Blood into a Fever when he shall call for Drink without Satisfaction and use it without Offence And I wish it were seriously considered how peculiar an Enemy this Sin is to our Lives and of how many sad Accidents it is the cause some times fatal to Body and Soul of which we have too many Examples So false is that flattering Proverb A Drunkard never takes hurt And indeed Drunkenness is a kind of Daemoniacism and taking away the use of the Members of the Body and Operations of the Soul the evil Spirit casts him sometimes into the Fire and sometimes into the Water Nor is it a wonder that when the internal Principle of Direction the Understanding is destroyed the Guardian Angel driven away and kept at a distance the Devil should take the advantage to do a Man a Mischief In a word Intemperance is such an universal Purveyor for the Grave that it is become long since a Proverb Plures gulâ quam gladio c. The Throat is the greatest Enemy as well as Preserver to it self and destroys more than the Sword Thus the impure Slave that with an Adulterous Eye pursues every Woman besides his Fears and Dangers wears out his Body and twists up his own Scourge A Disease I mean that destroys his Form and Beauty torments him with Pains when he should take his rest makes him water his Couch with his Tears and his Bed to be the Place of his Punishment because it was the Place of his Folly and at last consigns him over to Rottenness and to become his own Sepulchre And if Whoredoms and Adulteries do not always produce such Tragedies 't is because they are in some Measure restrain'd and so it is the Effect of Autarchy Nay those immaterial Diseases those of the Mind I mean that are not so conversant with gross Matter even these become prejudicial if not fatal to our Lives and Health Covetousness pines and withers the Body Envy dries it up and makes it pale and Pride begets Quarrels Contentions and Wars that send thousands to the Grave together I need not instance in more for 't is the Confession and Complaint of emasculated Debauchees that their Vices have been their Enemies and contributed to their Destruction So that there is a natural Reason as well as Providence in the Sentence of the wise Solomon Evil shall pursue the Sinner and he shall not prolong his days Prov. 10. 27. 13. 21. Eccles 8. 13. 'T is Autarchy alone that prescribes Moderation that distinguisheth betwixt the Abuse and Use betwixt the Poison and Nutriment of Meat and Drink that maintains a due Temperament and satisfies that Nature that she preserves § 5. And here I cannot conceive what Sensuality hath to say for it self and in its own defence unless it is by way of Recrimination Unless she leads you to the Cells of Asceticks and the Oratories of Recluses and shews you the pale and lean Effects of Fasting and Mortification the Skeletons of some few Saints who chose to anticipate Death and die whilst they lived See there will she say the Effects of Bigottism and Religious Frenzie what she would reduce the World to if she could procure once a perfect Empire there And what can Luxury it self do more Besides thou mayst observe that Wise men die as soon and as well as Fools and the Righteous fall promiscuously with the Wicked Alas Death makes no difference nor can Integrity Wisdom Valour or Parts oppose him The End of Man is determin'd and then why should the Means be blam'd he was to die at that time and therefore why should his Vices be accus'd for bringing him thither Thus Sin is ready to excuse it self though she lays the Fault at God's door and on his everlasting Decrees To all which I answer briefly First Waving the Question about the determination of our Lives of which I shall find occasion to give you mine opinion towards the end of this Discourse I say as to the Hardships Fastings and Mortifications of restraining Vertue I cannot find as I noted before that Autarchy absolutely and universally prescribes them but only where our particular necessities require them God hath given his Creatures richly though moderately to be enjoy'd and having given us his Son with him hath given us all things But when the Beast within the Sensual part begins to wax fat and kicks against its Master and Maker both there is then but too apparent Symptoms of a Spiritual 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an evil Habit of Mind and then Fasting and other Ghostly Exercises become our Duty For it is Physick to the Body as well as Soul and serves mutually their Necessities Besides I do not find any Command even in that Case to make our selves sick or to impair our
and ensue it For the Eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his Ears are open to their prayers but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth In which words the great Duty is Autarchy which consists 1. in the Government of the Tongue from Raillery and Falshood 2. of the Actions in declining every evil Act and doing that which is good 3. of the Mind that it be free from the unruly Passions peaceable in it self and peaceable with all men Thus for the Duty then for the Reward It incloses the Duty on all sides that one may not be seen without the other It promises 1. Temporal Blessings as most agreeable and taking with flesh and blood viz. Long Life Many Days and Enjoyment of Good in them And then adds 2. Spiritual Blessings and these follow the Duty God's Eyes i. e. his gracious Aspect or Providence watches over the righteous and his Ears are open to their Prayers whereas on the other side he sets himself in opposition to them that do evil his Face or Countenance is against the Sensualist not only to cut him off from the earth but the very Memory of him his place and name so that they shall no where be found You see then Dorotheus both your Duty and Reward And what now can be expected from you upon the whole matter but that you should act like your self as a Man of Reason and Understanding and having the Candle of the Lord for your Guide that you follow its Light in all things Do nothing therefore unworthy of your Knowledge and Learning and entertain no Thought that may be a shame to either Bring every intended Action to the Test and examine it before the upper Court of Judicature Avoid Self-condemnation as the greatest evil and scorn to do that in private which you dare not own in publick Eschew not only every sinful but every unworthy Action and abstain not only from Evil but from the very appearance of it Desire nothing but what is necessary and proper for you and suspect every Licentious Act though there appears no present Sin in it Use your Body to some Discipline and accustom it to Disappointments now and then that it may the easier bear the non-enjoyment of things prohibited Keep it and its Appetites at a distance and under the rod and if it rebels exercise it with Fasting and Abstinence In a word Be absolute in your self and tolerate no Resistance there § 16. Thus taught Socrates that living Image of Wisdom and Plato the God-like and the rest of the wise and obedient Sons of Nature enlightened only by the glimmering Candle-light of its Laws Nay thus taught and liv'd the Holy Jesus and spent his time here in Fasting Prayer and other spiritual Exercises not out of any necessity in respect of himself but that he might give us an Example He willingly chose Sufferings and Poverty rather than Empire and preferr'd Sorrow to Mirth as more proper for a Vale of Tears Thus liv'd and taught his holy Apostles and first Followers denying themselves chastising their Bodies and keeping them under and that not only for Cure but for Prevention And thus liv'd and taught the Primitive Saints for some hundreds of Years till Iniquity began to abound and the divine Love to wax cold Many of whom that they might be more than Conquerours shew the Power they had over themselves and avoid Temptations chose to prevent Death and die whilst they lived leave the World I mean and all its Vanities and Follies abandon Delights renounce all humane Conversation deny themselves even innocent Entertainments and shut themselves up from the power of Vain-glory and all Society And this was the Original of a Monastick Life I know very well that there is no Necessity of going thus far and that even this sort of Desertion of the World hath degenerated into Hypocrisie That the blackest Crimes have been acted in the dark and the greatest Licentiousness under the Monk's Cowl and Hood I know likewise that no Man is necessitated to take upon him the Vow of Coelibacy or to forsake the World in that Sense Our Lot is easier than theirs who were forced to fly to the Mountains and spend their times in Solitudes Religion is God be thanked both commanded and rewarded and Autarchy admir'd by all though us'd by few But this is that I have and must maintain That we must keep our selves unspotted from the World and the sinful Lusts of the Flesh And in order thereunto That we must learn the Art of Self-Conquest by the most convenient and suitable Methods and that we ought to be prepar'd to suffer though we have no present Enemy or outward War That Christianity is a spiritual Warfare and that we have the Devil and our own Lusts to combate and conquer And finally That those good and wise Men which like so many Stars illuminate these dark Regions of Sin and Ignorance ought to be Autarchists Shine then my Dorotheus amongst these few for thus only shall you ensure inward Quiet and Peace amongst the Uncertainties of an unconstant World you will experiment true external Pleasures besides the Comforts of a pure Conscience which nothing can take from you you will find inward Pleasure and Peace if not that which outward and probably Long Life Health Credit Respect and many good days The strait Gate will grow wider and the narrow Path broader and Autarchy will at last prove your Reward as well as Duty You will begin here to live the Spiritual Life the Life of Angels and beatified Souls which as you grow older will become more and more delightful till at last you meet Death disarm'd of all its Terrours lovely and charming because it will conduct your willing Soul to the Regions of Bliss and to the Company of Angels Which is the daily Prayer of your Friend and the Design of these Papers FINIS A Catalogue of Books Printted for Dorman Newman THE Way to Health Long-Life and Happiness or A Discourse of Temperance and the particular nature of all things requisite for the Life of Man as all sorts of Meats Drinks Age Exercise c. with special Directions how to use each of them to the best advantage of the Body and Mind Shewing from the true ground of Nature whence most Diseases proceed and how to prevent them To which is added a Treatise of the most sort of English Herbs with several other remarkable and most useful Observations Very necessary for all Families The whole Treatise displaying the most hidden Secrets of Philosophy and made easie and familiar to the meanest Capacities by various Examples and Demonstrations By T. Tryon The Second Edition with Amendments Also the other Works of the Authour A Brief Exposition of the Church-Catechism with Proofs from Scripture By Dr. Williams The Third Edition The Penitent Lady or Reflections on the Mercy of God Written by the Fam'd Madam La Valliere since her retirement from the French Court to a Nunnery Translated from the French by L. A. M. A. The Second Edition Contemplations on the state of Man in this Life and in that which is to come By Bp. Taylor A Golden Chain to link the Penitent Sinner unto God Whereunto is added a Treatise of the Immortality of the Soul A Moral Discourse of the Power of Interest By David Abercromby M. D. and Fellow of the College of Physicians at Amsterdam The Second Edition Letters of advice from two Reverend Divines to a young Gentleman about A weighty Case of Conscience And by him recommended to the serious Perusal of all those that may fall into the same Condition Fly youthful Lusts 2 Tim. 2. 22. Dr. Willet's Synopsis Papismi or a general View of Popery Wherein the whole Mystery of Iniquity maintained by the Church of Rome is Confuted by Scripture Fathers Councils Imperial Constitutions Pontifical Decrees Their own Writers Our Martyrs and The Consent of all Christian Churches in the World Divided into Five Books or Centuries containing so many Hundreds of Popish Heresies and Errours Together with the Life and Death of the Learned Authour This Book hath been Five times Printed and contains near 400 sheets in large Folio there being a small number left they are proposed to be sold at 7s 6d in Sheets or 10s bound Shelton's Art of Short-Writing both sorts Tachygraphia and Zeiglographia