upon all chances before they happen that so the Enemy may find thee prepared 'T is too late to furnish the Mind with Remedies after the Dangers Learn to do little and speak little for if of the many things thou speakest and dost thou takest away what is not necessary thou wilt find fewer perturbations in thy Mind And say not this is a small matter For that which is the beginning of Virtue and Perfection is very great though it seems but little 5. The Old man drawing his Origine from the infected seed of the sinner Adam is to be considered as a certain Tree having for its Root Self-love for its Trunk a Propension to Evil for its Branches Perturbations for its Leaves Vitious Habits for its Fruits Works Words and Thoughts which are contrary to the Divine Law Wherefore to hinder the Branches of bad Affections from breaking forth into Leaves and Fruits apply the Axe to the Root and extirpate that worst Love of thy self If thou takest this away thou hast with one stroke cut off the whole vitious Off-spring of thy Inferiour Appetite And thou wilt take it away and root it out if thou contemnest thy self if thou truly believest thy self to be one of those thousands who are indu'd with no singular dowry and perfection and that thou art destitute of all knowledge and virtue if thou fearest not to displease men and to be by them scorned and despised if thou art willing to want all sorts of comforts and conveniences Thou wilt preserve thy self if thou well hatest thy self thou wilt lose thy self if thou ill lovest thy self CHAP. XIII Of Love Its Nature Causes Effects Its Remedies Something added of Hatred 1. LOve is a complacency in that which is Good to wit that first impression wherewith the Appetite is affected when the known Good pleaseth it By this the whole World coheres together and this being brought under which holds the prime place amongst the Affections the whole troop of the rest will easily be quelled The Love which is good tends thither from whence it had its beginning It goes to Good because it proceeds from the Soveraign Good Discuss thy Life and weigh thy Heart in the Ballance of a strict Examination Observe what Love is there predominant for that which weighs down in the Scale of Love is to thee a God that 's the Idol thou worshippest Therefore God hath commanded thee to love him with thy whole Heart to prevent thereby the Affections of thy Mind because whatsoever thou Lovest with thy whole Heart that is the thing thou adorest as God 2. Besides Goodness and Beauty a certain sympathy and agreement of minds and manners excites Love as also outward Modesty Industry Nobility Learning quickness of Wit and other such like Ornaments of Body and Mind Love it self is the Load-stone of Love to which if Benefits are added he is then constrained to return Love who would not bestow it There are moreover some things naturally provoking Love for they who have clearer Spirits a warmer Heart a more subtle Blood and are of an easie and meek Disposition are more prone to Love 3. Great is the power of Love It transforms the Lover into the thing Beloved Love is a certain going out of it self a certain Pilgrimage from it self a certain voluntary Death He who Loves is absent from himself he thinks not of himself he provides nothing he doth nothing and unless he is received by his beloved he is no where O how unhappily doth he love who loves not God! for he cannot be in the beloved who loves earthly Objects which cannot satiate the Soul as being subject to Vanity and Death But he that loves God is in God and ceasing to live in himself lives in him in whom all things live who is our Center and our unchangeable Good Humane love is violent and bitter the Divine is evermore humble and peaceable Jealousie torments that but this hath no Rivals that fears lest another should love this wishes all would love wherefore if thou lovest thy self love God for that thou lovest him is thy own profit not his Man may be alter'd and perish thou never losest God unless thou leavest him 4. That the love which thou perchance bearest thy Companion may be sincere lay aside all humane causes of Wit Jocundness Likeness and seek only them which consist in Piety and Sanctity The Love which they call Platonical is the bane of Virtue whereby they feign that from the beholding Corporal Comliness the Soul is raised to the contemplation of the Divine Beauty The stedfast eying of a sair Face excites the Concupiscence to touch it and that which goes out by the Eyes whether it is Light or a certain Flux melts the Man and destroys him 'T is better the Feet should slip than the Eyes But the Remedies of Love are of great difficulty because when 't is chastised it more eagerly presses on and unless thou resistest its beginnings it so insensibly creeps in that thou wilt first feel thy self to Love before thou hadst any design of Loving But if thou absolutely repugnest to the beginnings the cure will be easily compassed The Mind also must be busied about other matters which being accompanied with care will remove the memory of the thing beloved Then all mention of the person affected is to be avoided because nothing more easily returns than Love which if it hath once seiz'd on thee it will so pertinaciously vex thee as that it will not be removed but by the lingring Remedy of time and absence that is till it being tired expires Shame hath cur'd many when they saw themselves pointed at and become the common talk of the people and withall considered the foulness of the thing full of disgrace full of danger and subject to future Repentance It hath profited others to enquire attentively into the Evils and inconveniences of the thing beloved which might diminish its amiableness and beauty Lastly a conversion of our Love to God to Virtue to eternal Objects that is to things which are truly Lovely will much conduce to the cure that so a good Love may expell the bad and the generous mind of man may grow ashamed to debase it self to the vile love of the earth Bad loves infect good manners 5. Nature hath bound all things together with a certain Love-Chain This drives and couples the dances of the Stars in Heaven the flocks of Birds in the Air the Heards of Oxen in the Meadows the Droves of Cattel in the Mountains the companies of Wild Beasts in the Woods This Sacred Bond is broken only by Hatred for as Love tends to Union so Hatred aims at Division and Dissention They are most subject to this bad affection who are sluggish timerous and suspicious and apprehensive of loss on every side There are moreover some men so born that they hate all others like that horrid sort of Fowls which hate even their own darkness If thou meetest with any of this
thou must speedily repair to the Vessel Even so thou must behave thy self in thy Life Having thy Mind evermore fix'd upon God thou art to use external things in such sort as never to let them touch thy heart nor divert thy attendency to thy proposed End They serve thee that thou mayst serve God Otherwise falling from the Divine Vnity thou art scatter'd abroad amongst many not necessary things and worshippest as many Idols as there are creatures which thou adherest to with a disordered affection These are thy Gods to whom by a foul Sacriledge thou sacrificest not an Oxe not a Goat but thy self and thy Salvation The law of Love permits not any thing to be belov'd with God but only in God and for God 'T is the highest dammage to deflect from the chiefest Good and adhere to the Creatures 4. That which the Prince of Physicians pronounces of impure Bodies By how much the more they are nourished by so much the more they are endamaged is to be said also of Souls For they who begin to pass from a bad custom to a better condition must first vomit up the Venome of their wicked life and then ingest into their purified Minds the solid Aliments of Virtues And this Purgation is thus to be performed All committed sins are to be expiated all affections towards them are to be banished all vitious Customs are to be eradicated all evil Propensions and immoderate Appetites are to be subjected to the Empire of Reason The Flesh is to be chastised Corporal Necessities are to be reduc'd to a just moderation The Tongue and Senses are to be bridled whatsoever may put a stop or delay to the speedy ascending to the mountain top of Virtue must be totally exterminated What dreadest thou and why dost thou fancy the way shew'd thee to Felicity to be so full of difficulties Thou mayst make thy self happy he supplying thee with strength who is thy Beginning and thy End But thou must go forth of thy self that thou mayst get to him Thou wilt be to him so much the nearer by how much thou art from thy self more remote 5. The first thing thou art to propose to thy self is What thou desirest and Whither thou tendest Then the way is to be considered by which thou mayst obtain that chief Good and in thy journey thou wilt understand what progress thou daily makest Take a serious survey of thy Conscience and opening thy dim eyes see impartially what thou art and what thou oughtest to be 'T will be too late to discover the deceit when thou canst not avoid it Learn by what Remedy the madness of Cupidities is tamed with what Bridle the cruelty of Fear is curbed Practise the contempt of earthly things and depart freely from what thou canst not long possess Leave all before thou art left by all that when death shall come it may find nothing in thee which it can destroy But be sure to imploy thy chief care upon thy Soul and let not that which is first in excellency be the last in thy solicitude What avails it for a man to gain the whole world and suffer shipwrack of his Soul There 's no Gain where there is a loss of Salvation CHAP. II. Who so desires to live well must make choice of an Instructer What manner of man this ought to be The Duties of a Disciple 1. NOthing is more necessary to one beginning to serve God than to permit himself to be governed and directed by a discreet Master For who adventures upon an unknown Journey without a Guide Who can learn a difficult Trade without a Teacher Thou shalt find very few who without any ones help have rais'd up themselves to the height of Virtue What ought generally to be done by all may be communicated to persons who are absent and transmitted to posterity by Writings but when and how each particular thing is to be practised cannot be directed at a distance deliberation must be made with the things themselves A Physician cannot by Letter prescribe to his Patient the just measure of his Diet and time of taking his Potion the Vein must be touch'd and the Pulse felt So also in curing the Souls maladies there are certain Symptoms which cannot be perceived but by one present St. Paul the designed Doctor of the Gentiles after he was converted by Christ was directed to Ananias that he might learn from him the way of life Thou hast undertaken a hard and laborious task to conquer the perversity of Nature to wrestle with Spiritual wickednesses and to bring thy self to Virtue amidst so many impeding obstacles it therefore behoves thee to call in some charitable Neighbour to thy aid who may lend thee his helping hand who may shew thee the dangers who may discover the deceits and in the doubtful day of battel instruct thee how to gain the victory But whom sayst thou must I call in to my help Surely a man both Faithful and Prudent one who is both willing and able to assist thee one whose presence thou reverencest not dreadest one who will not chastise thy failings but redress them one whose life is more approv'd on by the Eyes than by the Ears He commands ill who commands and acts not 2. Make choice of him for thy Helper who will not flatter thee who intrudes not into vulgar conversation who frequents not the Rich mens Feasts nor the Princes Courts who hath in his Life and Manners some such thing as the Goldsmith hath in his moneys so that he can say shew me any Coyn I can discern it bring before me any Affection I will judge and censure it who like a well-experienc'd Physician can discover internal discases and apply proper Remedies to redress all the Souls distempers Let him be such a one as can by a subtle scrutiny discern the secrets of all Spirits distinguish between Virtues and Vices accommodate himself to every ones manners dive into all the Recesses of thy Interiour is free from all depraved affection aiming only at thy Spiritual advancement One I say who in the Spirit of Meekness knows how to instruct and allure how to detect and elude all the Devils crafts and stratagems and finally one to whom thou needst not be asham'd to lay open all the secrets of thy heart and soul 'T is a great part of thy Happiness to find out such a Friend 3. With him discourse willingly and commit to his prudent examination and discussion whatsoever thou hast within thee of perverse propension and not only whatsoever thou dost amiss but also whatsoever good thou performest and whatsoever thou conceitest to be communicated unto thee from Heaven Intreat him earnestly that if he observes in thee any turbulent affection he will vouchsafe to shew it unto thee and that he will please to do it frequently and freely not dissembling thy Vices out of shamefac'dness or fear of reproving thee But if he denies to see in thee any thing worthy his severer censure beware lest
before it falls foul upon its neighbours Goods Punishment follows other Vices but it precedes this For an Envious wretch turns another mans Felicity to his own Torment and pines away as his Neighbour grows fat He both sins and is punished together who is infected with this Plague Other Vices are contrary to some one or other certain good this is opposite to all goodness perverting the nature of all things 'T is contrary to the Divine goodness whose property is to communicate all its goodness 'T is contrary to the state of the Blessed who enjoy the happiness of others as their own 'T is contrary to Christian Charity which rejoyces at the good even of Enemies 'T is finally contrary to the Law of Nature which commands us to wish all our own Good to others As the Eye infected with the Disease call'd by Physicians Ophthalmia Inflamation is offended with all glittering Objects so the Envious is afflicted at the sight of others Virtue and Charity Envy is so named because it too much pries into thé Excellency of another 2. Satan envies but Men not his Companions whereas thou being a Man enviest Men which the Devil himself does not This surely is the property of a mean Spirit and of one who in his own Judgment abjects himself to baseness for thou wouldst not envy others but that thou judgest him better than thy self and above thee Wilt thou be free from Envy Despise the lading Goods of this world and love the Eternal The Love of Eternity is the Death of Envy He cannot envy Mortal goods to others who covets only the Immortal What Prince ever envyed the Cobler or the Botcher A Mind busied about sublimer matters descends not to such meanesses Is' t not enough to be tormented with thine own miseries which are so many unless thou be also troubled with anothers prosperity Thou wilt never be happy if another more happy contristates thee Dost imagine that the good things thou enviest can be taken from their possessors and transferr'd to thee Thy Neighbour hath Riches flourishes with Knowledge is eminent in Dignity All these shall be thine if thou wilt love him He abounds with all Goods who loves them in others 3. To Envy I joyn Sloath because they both are Sadness that for anothers Good this for its own They both belong to little Spirits for Envy kills the little one and Sloath is the Vice of a languishing mind grown weary of spiritual goods and thereupon terrified with the greatness and difficulty of acquiring them never enterprises any thing worthy a Man The Sloathful person will and will not he is alwayes variable and unconstant grievous to himself troublesome to others and out of a continual irksomeness of himself sits brooding upon his own punishment He is like a Top which is indeed driven round but rids no ground and is so moved by the Scourges force as not to stir far from the same place Thou wilt perceive he would have done something but that he did it not All his operation is inspid and like luke-warm water provoking Vomit not only to men but to God himself 'T is vain for thee to hope for health unless shaking off this sluggishness thou assumest a generous courage and forcest thy self with sharper spurs to undertake greater matters As the Bird is made to fly so Man is born to labour And were there no labour to be undertaken for God the World imposes sufficient pains upon every one How doth that man toyl to obtain wealth How much doth this man suffer to gain Honour Vices are priz'd at a high rate But if thou purchasest perishable Goods with so much sweat why usest thou not a like industry to get a most happy Eternity Ah! Let it shame thee to be sluggish in a matter of so great moment Very short is the Labour eternal the Reward Nothing is so hard and difficult which mans industry with Gods help may not compass Dare valiantly and the Hobgoblins of difficulties will disappear Whatsoever the Mind commanded it self it obtain'd it Do what thou canst and thou wilt be able to do all things God helps the Endeavourer CHAP. IX Of Pride Ambition and Vain-glory. The image of a Proud man The Vanity of Dignities and their Dangers The Evils of Hautiness and the Cure of it 1. PRide Ambition and Vain-glory are Vices near of kin from whence as from the Ocean flow the Rivers of all Evils For when a man proposes to himself his own Excellency for his End he directs all thither slighting the Divine worship and neglecting his respects to men If he can have no access to Glory but by Wickedness by Wickedness he will climb to it and will open his way to his intended Honours by frauds and deceits and by the ruine and destruction of his Neighbour The Proud man is odious to God and insufferable to all Mankind He bends all his studies and endeavours to obtain mens praises and applauses He thinks himself worthy of higher honour and pleases himself in that thought He rashly sets upon things above his forces thrusts himself uninvited into all manner of businesses impudently extols himself upon all occasions and arrogantly despises all others He cunningly feigns Humility hoping thereby to avoid the suspicion of being Ambitious When he is frustrated of his design he fills all mens ears with his complaints and excites brawls and heart-burnings His behaviour towards Inferiors is harsh and imperious towards Superiors fawning nor is there any Slave more observant and obsequious than he is The Good that is in him if there is any he attributes not to God as he ought but arrogates it to himself He affects to seem knowing in all things and he subtlely discourses of the highest matters of which he is ignorant as from his own experience He curiously pries into the actions of others rashly censures them severely condemns them exaggerating their crimes extenuating their praises In his talk and gate there appears a certain hautiness and a contempt of others He hates Correction refuses Counsel yields to no advice He fancies he hath such perfections as he wants and those he hath he feigns to be greater than they are He grows angry and discontented if he is not preferred before others as the more worthy if he suspects himself and his sayings neglected His Heart is toss'd with perpetual motions for since Honour which he aims at is in the power of others he must of necessity be continually agitated with turbulent affections The beginning of all Sin is Pride 2. If thou art wise place in an equal Ballance all that thy heart can desire upon Earth Kingdoms Empires and in brief the whole World and compare them with the least parcel of Eternal Felicity and thou wilt find that this will weigh down that vast mass of pomps and pleasures which will appear light as a Leaf which is tossed to and fro with a puff of wind Rowse up thy self therefore to eternal good things and render thy self
rejoyces to be shew'd without any coloured disguise whatsoever thou addest to it is less than it 'T is one of mens vain Errors to be fine in Apparel filthy in Mind Some load themselves with Chains but because their Fetters are made of Gold they fear not the infamy of Servitude Some others are not fetter'd with Gold but fastned to it for by Wounds it is fixed to their Ears at which there oftentimes hangs a whole Patrimony and those which in times past were the names of Punishments are now of Ambition There are not a few who spending their time between the Comb and the Looking-glass are more solicitous to make their Heads handsome than to save their Souls And the depraved judgments of foolish people hath so far prevailed that they fancy themselves adorned by such things as they ought to tread under their feet Let thy Attire therefore be without Art not for Pomp but for Necessity beneath Pride above Beggery and in brief accommodated to the condition of thy life and calling Although thou deckest thy self with Gold and Margarites without Christs beauty thou art deformed This is the graceful dress which is never out of fashion and which adorns not thy Flesh which is to dye shortly but thy Soul which is to last for an eternity 'T is a mad kind of Ambition to cover a Dunghill with Gold CHAP. XI Of the Custody of the Tongue Of how great moment it is and how difficile What is to be observ'd in speaking what to be avoided How the bad Tongues of others are to be endured 1. TO manage the Tongue is a matter of so great moment that it ought to be kept more charily than the Apple of the Eye For life and death is in the hands of the Tongue He that cannot bridle it may be compar'd to an open City which hath no Walls to fence it But it can hardly be tam'd without Gods special assistance A Man can tame a Lyon he can tame a Bull he can tame a Bear but not his own Tongue for Loquacity is an inborn brat of humane nature egging him on to vent by his Tongue whatsoever he desires and conceives in his mind Moreover the Tongue neighbours to the Brain and the Mouth to the Phantasie so that what the Phantasie thinks is presently deriv'd to the Mouth and driven out by Words Nature has taught thee how necessary the custody of thy Tongue is when she guarded it with a double Bulwark of the Teeth and of the Lips But as the Odour of an Oyntment evaporates if the mouth of the Pix is not stopped so the Mouths door being left wide open all the Minds vigour is dissipated He attend ill to himself who attends not continually to his Tongue 2. Be cautious in all thy Discourses and carefully suppress that immoderate Itch which urges many to blurt out rashly their scarcely conceiv'd opinion without examination without election Avoid Duplicity and Dissimulation and deliver simply the sence of thy Mind without all Coverture and Ambiguity God hath given thee the faculty of Speaking that therewith thou shouldst candidly tell the things as they truly are Being to speak consult thy self whether any immoderate affection broyls within thee and permit nothing to thy Tongue till that commotion is appeased otherwise thou wilt pour forth what thou wilt afterwards repent Thou wilt easily hold thy peace if no perturbations clamour in thy Heart if there is in thy Soul a solitude and serenity There cannot be one colour to the Words another to the Mind If the Mind is sound if temperate if composed the Speech will also be sober that being vitiated this will be infected What manner of man one is his Speech will declare 3. Let there pass no idle discourse As thou chusest what meat thou eatest so make choice of what words thou utterest Thou examinest the Meat which is to go into thy mouth why not the Word which is to go out of it which oftentimes raises greater Tragedies in thy House than thy Meat doth in thy Stomach Accustom thy self to speak much with thy self little with others Prudent men have frequently repented their Speaking never their Silence Garrulity is the Vice of Children and of Women who have less Reason than Men. There 's nothing of Virtue in that person out of whose Mouth proceed only vain and unprofitable Words Didst thou love God wert thou studious of thy Salvation all thy Discourses would be of God of Virtue of Perfection Love cannot lie it cannot be concealed Every one is profuse towards that he loves and what is in his Mind recurrs most frequently to his Tongue Thou therefore less willingly discoursest of Divine things because thou hast not yet wash'd away the Dregs of Vices besides thy seldom Reading and Meditating of such things as appertain to thy Salvation leaves thee unfurnish'd with matter though thou hadst a mind to it Out of the Hearts aboundance the Mouth speaks 4. Mens ordinary talk when they meet together is of other persons lives manners actions Every man hath as many Judges as there are Heads in the City There 's scarcely any one who hath Eyes at home The major part of us is purblind in discerning our own Vices sharp-sighted to censure those of our Neighbours We admit their Reproaches into our open doors there 's hardly a chink left open to receive their Praises This Vice by how much 't is more common by so much 't is more carefully to be avoided Thou hast enough to do with thy own Crimes carp at them and correct them Secret ones whether thy own or others divulge not abroad Many have fallen into great perplexities by having imprudently intrusted their secrets to indiscreet people Whether thou tellest it to one or to more 't is the same thing A word slips easily from one to another and from him to all This easiness proceeds chiefly from an over-long protracted discourse whereupon a certain pleasure of talking insensibly stealing in and affecting the mind after the manner of Drunkenness leaves there nothing so sacred and secret which breaks not forth He lays open to thee his secrets and thou having receiv'd this pledge of his Faith communicatest thine in like manner to him but thou perchance concealest what thou hast heard he relates it to all he meets so that every one seeming to be openly ignorant all privately know it You would say that Tongues fly privately by all mens Ears till at last the secret overflows and becomes a common Rumour Whatsoever Evil is under Heaven the Tongue either brought forth or promoted Make therefore a Ballance for thy Words and a Bridle for thy Mouth And speak nothing which had better been kept in silence The sparing of Words is more laudable than of Money He that is prodigal of his Money whilst he hurts himself helps others he that is prodigal of his Words hurts both himself and others He approaches near the Divinity who can hear much and speak little 5. Nothing is
inaccessible to the Tongue The Princes of the Earth are not exempt from Criminations though power has plac'd them beyond the fear of the Sword There are none so excellent in Sanctity as that their innocence hath preserv'd them from Censure Christ himself when he liv'd amongst men escap'd not the scourge of the Tongue By these Examples raise up thy Patience Slander is the Spur of Virtue 't is a Curb which keeps thee from swerving out of the right path There 's not a more capital enemy to Vice than Censure for when thou art ill spoken of thou art taught what thou art to take heed of Wilt thou avoid the bites of a venomous Tongue Contemn it Thou wilt receive no Wound if thou holdst thy peace attributing more to the judgment of good men than to the insolence of a Slanderer It matters but little what others think of thee there 's a more certain and more uncorrupted witness within thee in thy own Soul Interrogate thy own Conscience and give credit to it What is baser than to depend upon the report of foolish people and to place the esteem we have of our selves in the judgments of others Whatsoever others say of thee it behoves thee to be good If any one should defame a sweet and clear Fountain will it therefore cease to drill out its pure streams And if any one casts dirt into it will it not soon wash it out and dissipate it So neither oughtest thou to trouble the peaceable state of thy Mind although bad men asperse and calumniate thee 'T is too mean an esteem of ones self to be moved at every flying Report Children strike the Faces of their Parents the Infant has discompos'd his Mothers hair he hath bitten her Nipples he hath scratch'd her Cheeks and spit upon her Bosom and none of this is esteem'd a contumely because he that did it cannot contemn any one the same mind therefore which Parents have towards their Children do thou have towards them who calumniate thee If thou once yieldest to trouble thy self at the injury thou wilt honour him that did it For thou must necessarily rejoyce to have the esteem of him from whom thou takest contempt so hainously And this is the Vice of a Mind contracting it self and descending Thou wilt alwayes be unhappy if thou thinkest thou canst be despised CHAP. XII Of the internal Senses The use of Opinions The Mind is to be stored with good thoughts Of restraining the Sensitive Appetite and of its depraved Affections Several Precepts to that purpose 1. UPon this the chief Hinge of Wisdom turns That no Opinion be introduc'd into thy Mind which is inconsequent to Nature or Reason Wherefore rejecting them all thou art to exercise thy self against the Motions of thy Phantasie as the Logicians do against captious Sophistries My Son is dead This is not in thy power It is no Evil. Such a Father disinherited his Son This also since 't is out of our power is not Evil. But he took such a thing ill That 's in our power and therefore Evil. He took it couragiously That 's in our power and consequently Good If thou accustomest thy self to these things thou wilt reap profit by it My Friend is led away into Prison What hath hapned Nothing but that he is in Prison But every one adds of his own that he is ill dealt with Correct the Opinion and all is at quiet As we tye up a furious person that he may do no harm to others so the Phantasie is to be restrained that it may not overwhelm the Mind with false Opinions This like an untamed Beast gets loose and licentiously wanders wheresoever it pleases 't is a Pratler a Runagate impatient of quiet glad of new things and not knowing any Moderation Thou art therefore to imploy all thy diligence in this study how thou mayst lay hold on it bind it and fix it to one thing that so thy thoughts and the decrees of thy Mind may not alwayes be pinn'd upon Opinion Whatsoever is without thy Mind doth not at all belong to thee 2. Whatsoever offers it self to thee to be thought on examine it throughly that so thou mayst dispute with thy self what the Nature of that thing is as 't is naked and separated from all others what its properties what its end what circumstances what profit whether or no it concerns thee and is in thy power otherwise give it no access but resist it as much as thou canst God is intimately present most clearly beholding the darkest secrets of thy heart nor is there any thing so concealed which lies not open to his all-seeing Eyes Look then that thou reyolve not in thy Mind any such thing as thou wouldst be asham'd to mention before an honest man Let thy Thoughts be quiet simple pure and free from all Malice Let them be such that if thou wert suddenly asked what thou thinkest thou canst without blushing lay open what lies hid in thy Heart Be asham'd to think what thou art asham'd to speak Thou wilt banish evil Thoughts if thou art alwayes busied with good 3. Nothing is more hurtful to a Soul nothing more contrary than the Inferiour Brutal and Sensitive Appetite This is the source of all Wickednesses and Imperfections Let this Enemy whom thou art alwayes to fear alwayes to fight against be subdued Here no rest must be taken no respite given The Conflict must be without end and without measure because the Adversary hath neither end nor measure The Enemy lurks within thee yea thou thy self art an Enemy to thy self more potent than the Army of Xerxes Keep thy Soul from thy self 'T is a greater valour to invade thy self than Cities to get the Victory over thy self than over all other things I require not that thou shouldst totally destroy all depraved affections and reduce them to nothing but that thou learn to govern them Reason hath done enough if it bridles and moderates them The Stoicks were over-harsh in defaming all affections as Evil. The Houshold-stuff of Nature is neither evil nor unnecessary He takes away all Virtue who takes away all Affections There 's no Conquest where there 's no Combate 4. This strife is indeed very difficult and the Battel doubtful for Affections are born with us and Reason follows many years after when they have already got the Dominion and the Will without resistance yields them Obedience being deluded with the vain shew of good till Reason in success of time and Experience getting strength begin to know their right of governing and to resist the tyranny of the Affections And surely the first motions of Nature cannot be amended but yet thou art to look to thy self with great vigilancy and when first thou perceivest thy self troubled thou art presently to restrain that commotion with the bridle of Reason 'T is easier to resist beginnings than to govern an impetuosity Thou wilt attain to great tranquility of Mind in a short time if thou castest an eye
in which thou marchest on both sleeping and waking in the same track will not appear what it is to thee being imployed and distracted till thou arrivest at the end of it Why then dost thou stay why dost thou idle Put a Value upon Time make use of it speedily prize highly this Day yea this Hour for the loss of it is irreparable Thou sufferest not thy Inheritance to be invaded by any one if a small contention arises about the Limits thou runnest presently to Arms and Law-suits but thou permittest thy Life and Time to be taken away by any one being most prodigal of that thing of which thou mayst only honestly be Covetous Compute thy Age call thy past years to a just account although thou should adde to them an hundred more thou wilt find thou hast yet fewer then thou numberest For how much of these hath Sleep Gluttony Friends and idle ramblings abroad snatch'd from thee How much hath lain without use How much hath slipp'd away from thee doing nothing or worse then nothing whilst thou wert insensible of thy loss Thou wilt understand how little is left thee of the whole and confess that Death takes thee before thy time Thou frequently complainest of the dayes past and gone which thou hast unadvisedly lost why endeavourest thou not so to spend the time present that when it is also gone thou mayst say I see not how I could better have imployed it Each single day is only present and that also by Moments Why losest thou this day which is thine and disposest of the day to come which is none of thine The greatest impediment of living is Delay Live to day 't is late to live to morrow 5. Look evermore upon God in each thought word and work excluding all other Ends whatsoever and follow his only Will He never swerves from the right path who chuses God for his Guide Thy affairs will be in a good condition if thou directest all thou dost to Gods Glory and so performest each particular action as if he were thy Spectator who sees all things sustains all things provides for all things Thou canst never shun his Sight for he is present not only to thy words and actions but to thy most inward cogitations When thou hast shut the doors and sittest in Darkness do not fancy thy self to be alone God is with thee His presence should render thy secret more sacred To him nothing is shut In him we live move and are Eat and Drink before him Walk with him Talk with him of all thy affairs Raise to him thy whole Life and Conversation Render thy self a worthy Object for him to fix his Eyes upon and whom he may alwayes amiably behold There 's a great necessity of being good impos'd upon thee since thou actest before the Eyes of an all-seeing Judge So live as if there were none in the world but God and thy self Whatsoever howsoever his Providence shall dispose of thee embrace it willingly whether it be adverse or prosperous Thou seekest God what matters it whether thou com'st to him by this or by that way And he grant that thou mayst at last come to him CHAP. XX. Of the Good of Solitude Evil Society is to be shunn'd What and how many the Worlds Vices are The study of a Proficient is the acquisition of Virtues Certain Signs of Virtue 's being obtained 1. 'T Is a great argument of a Mind well composed and cleansed from depraved Affections that it can dwell with it self As God who with himself alone is blessed remains alwayes in himself so thou wilt come nearest to Gods Felicity if thou canst learn to remain with thy self And surely if thou wilt thou needst never be Solitary if thou wilt never be separated from Christ Now if thou hast an Itch of talking talk with thy self but beware thou talk not with an Evil person Wouldst thou know with what Colloquies thou mayst entertain thy self With such as men most willingly talk of with others speak ill of thy self to thy self Lay open thy Vices and chastise whatsoever thou findest in thy self worthy of punishment Some Vice or other will never be wanting which will require to be cured Hide thy self in a peaceable vacancy but hide also thy vacancy To Glory in Solitude is a sloathful Ambition And that thy Solitude may be both pleasing and profitable to thee joyn an internal recollection to thy Corporeal abstraction Withdraw thy self from vain occupations and depart not only from men but also from such things as do not concern thee Be free from every Creature and exclude their images out of thy Heart Cast off all solicitudes concerning frail and transitory things all impertinencies of thoughts and attend to thy self and to God alone in the secret recess of thy Heart In this Silence of Mind in this Oblivion of all things and in this Nakedness consists the Hearts true rest and tranquility Fly hither here hide thy self aim alwayes at this for God is there found where all Creatures are forsaken 2. If thou wilt be Good shun the company of the Bad. Nothing is so pernicious to good manners as to commit ones self to the people Thou shalt never carry back the manners thou broughtest in A mind which is tender and facile cannot bear the violence of Vices usher'd in with so many attendants We easily pass to the major Part. A Table-Companion who is delicate mollifies by little and little A Rich Neighbour irritates the Cupidity Thou mayst perish by one example of Luxury or Avarice Parents draw to badness Associates draw Servants draw All things are full of Dangers full of Snares and Deceits As soon as we are brought forth into Light we are presently surrounded with all manner of depravedness and perverse Opinions There 's scarcely any one in the world who either commends not some Vice or impresses it not or infects not some ignorant person with it Thou containest thy self sometimes within thy own Closet separated from the Market and Commerce of Men Oh how sweet and desirable is this retreat All things within are calm all things quiet without a Cloud without a Tempest One comes by chance and calls thee abroad thou followest him Others joyn themselves a Company is made up you march away together Sin is committed by some one or other excess and thou who wentst forth good returnest very bad But thou perceivest not the Wounds of thy Soul till thou art again in thy solitude Go back therefore into thy self as soon as thou canst lest the multitude infect thy mind with its Vices and Errors That Mind is most joyfull which is distracted with fewest Objects 3. Fancy to thy self that thou art translated for a short time to the top of a high Mountain Take from thence a view of this wretched World and thou wilt learn to hate it and love to retire out of it into thy Solitude Thou wilt behold the wayes beset with Thieves the Seas infested by Pirates Kingdoms molested with Wars
Simple is his communication He being most Simple and Entire will have the Souls to be Simple which come to him Now he is Simple who is not divided into various things who without duplicity and hypocrisie shews himself such a one exteriourly as interiourly he is who candidly and sincerely acknowledges his own defects when occasion is offered who is a Child in malice and detests all Political manner of proceeding who not excluding the circumspection of Prudence conceives all to be sincere and suspects no evil of any one who refuses not to seem to be a Fool amongst Men that he may be Wise in the sight of God who preserving himself free from all multiplicity performs all things with a Simple intention to please God Why O unhappy Craftiness art thou troubled about many things One thing is necessary that is to get to him who is one and most Simple Thou wilt never arrive at the Mark if thou marchest in a double Path-way 3. Fidelity is to be embraced amongst the greatest and chiefest goods of Mankind For take this away and thou tak'st away the use of Commerce Friendships are dissolved Covenants are broken the whole Commonwealth is confounded Yet this also is a rare Virtue and almost unknown to the world So many Witnesses adhibited to Contracts so many strengthning of Bargains so many cautious Conditions do every where accuse mans Perfidiousness Yet all this industrious wariness can hardly suffice to make the Contracts firm and indisputable So sordid are many Men that Gain is to them more sacred than Fidelity O Confession of publick fraud and wickedness disgracefull to Mankind We give credit to no one without a Witness without a Surety and we conceive Faith will be more safely kept in written Instruments than in the Chappel of mans Heart But a Faithfull person constantly performs whatsoever he promised carefully conceals whatsoever is committed to his secrecy keeps his pledg'd Faith even to Enemies and preferrs it before Kingdoms and Life it self He indeed promises slowly because he knows that speedy Repentance waits upon hasty Promises but if he hath once pass'd his Promise he fails not he violates it not unless the state of Affairs chance to be changed or that he may fall into the danger of Sin by his performance That Promise obliges no man which cannot be fulfill'd without wickedness CHAP. XXVI Of Friendship With what Offices it is to be entertained Certain Precepts appertaining to mutual Conversation 1. NOthing is more necessary to mans life than Friendship nothing more commodious nothing more pleasant Friendship is a mutual Benevolence of two persons founded in Virtue and joyned to a communication of Goods How great a Good is this where Breasts are prepared into which every secret may safely descend whose Conscience thou fearest less than thy own whose Company eases thy Solitude whose Counsels strengthen thy Resolutions whose Chearfulness disperses thy Sadness whose very Presence delights and glads thy Heart What is sweeter than to have a man to whom thou fearest not to confess what thou hast committed whom to meet withall may be part of thy Cure Certain diminutive Animals when they bite are not felt so slender and couzening is their force yet the ensuing swelling shews the morsure The same will befall thee in the Conversation of a good Friend thou wilt not feel how and when he profits thee thou wilt find he hath profited thee But there can be no true Friendship unless there intervenes a Reciprocal Love To love is more principal than to be beloved and therefore Benevolence is established for the Foundation Return of Love for the Concomitant That also is true Friendship and coupled with the Glew of Christ which is not grounded upon any private interest and profit not upon the sole corporal presence not upon lying obsequiousness not upon deceitful flattery but which is contracted in the fear of God and to improve our selves in the study of Divine Learning There can be no solid Friendship in Evil. 2. Great caution is to be used in chusing a Friend according to that common saying Many Bushels of Salt must be eaten together to make Friendship compleat But four qualities are chiefly requisite to him with whom thou desirest to joyn in Friendship Faith that most difficult thing the bare shadow whereof is now only found upon Earth that thou mayst safely commit to him thy self and thy concerns Intention that Friendship may have an honest end and that so divine a thing may not degenerate into filthiness Discretion that thou mayst know what thou art to perform and what to expect Patience that thy Mind may be prepared to suffer for thy Friend all occurring Adversities When thou hast experienc'd him to be thus qualified thou art moreover to search in what manner he hath used his former Friends For thou mayst hope he will be such a one to thee as he hath prov'd himself to have been to others A faithfull Friend is a living Treasure to be with great care preserved and with great grief if he perishes to be lamented Happy art thou if thou hast met with such a one who loves thee not thy Riches not thy Table not thy Wit who will correct thee when thou errest raise thee when thou fallest warn thee as thou runnest Thou wilt not find one like him under the large Canopy of Heaven There are many who are called Friends but very few who truly are so No one loves another gratis Who so hath regard to himself who so proposes external things for his end can be no true Friend He will so long love thee as he shall find thee beneficial to him The Table being taken away he will fail thee and will end as he began True Friendship for the most part is there wanting where 't is believed most to abound 3. As a Physician being to Cure his dearly beloved Patient spares neither the Iron nor the Fire so art thou to carry thy self towards thy Friend standing in need of Correction freely boldly constantly neglecting nothing dissembling nothing 'T is a damnable Obsequiousness by which Vices are cherished But let thy Admonition be secret let it be accompanied with all manner of sweetness let it be free from all bitterness of expressions Deliberate long whether thou art to admit any one into thy Friendship when 't is resolv'd upon receive him with thy whole Heart and talk with him as freely as with thy self Thou oughtest surely to lead such a Life as to commit nothing to thy self which thou mayst not commit to thy Enemy But because some things intervene which custom hath made secrets cast all such cares all such thoughts into thy Friends bosom Some tell such things as are to be intrusted only with Friends to all they meet and thrust that which afflicts them into every ones Ears others are apprehensive of their nearest Friends Conscience and suppress within their own breasts all their secrets so wary that if it might be they would not believe themselves