sure to give admittance to this even into the inmost recess of your heart Look upon God Almighty as the most excellent Being that has given life and existence to all things that are and by his Wisdom disposes preserves and continues all things according to his pleasure until he shall think meet to put a period to this world Be frequent in contemplation of this then wilt thou truly love and honour him then also will that love or the dread of his Majesty restrain thee from every evil action and put thee in most certain capacity of being happy No Conversation with Atheists With those who deride Religion or impiously dispute Gods providence hold no intimacy and as near as you can no society they take off the necessary restraints of the mind let Conscience loose remove the distinctions of Vertue and Vice nay they make Vertue the weakness and Vice joyned with wit and subtilty the strength of the mind they weaken the principles of Nature and the additional graces of Christianity set up interest and self respect in the place of Justice and universal Love and instead of continuing man as God left him like himself in common and diffusive affection they straiten him and shut him up in himself excluding all just regard to others in which respect chiefly man is said to be created in the likeness of his Maker Let me beseech thee therefore my Son to avoid these as the bane of humane Society beware lest thou be tainted by the enticements of their Wit to jest away thy Conscience and Religion and with them both the peace of thy mind and thy reputation among good men The best means to avoid Atheism To avoid this and to impress more deeply upon thy Spirit a just and becoming adoration of the Goodness Wisdom Power and Justice of the Eternal Being in making and preserving this glorious World let thy thoughts be often in serious contemplation of the particular parts thereof not nicely or disputatively to shew thy Parts to others but to heighten thine own admiration and adoration of that God-head who gave form existence and order to them all Look often upon the never sufficiently to be admired bodies of the Sun and Moon consider the glory of their lustre their scarce apprehensible magnitude and less apprehensible swiftness the regularity of their diurnal monthly and annual motions their radiations and influences upon the several parts of the Earth with many other useful cogitations which upon sight of these Luminaries will easily raise thy thoughts to a higher pitch and then thou canst not choose but with great reverence adore the power that made them Please thy self often with viewing the infinity of the Stars of great extent in themselves and yet plac't at such a distance as to appear so minute so sparkling so pleasing to the eye so useful to the World Consider the vast expansion of the Firmament which contains all those immense bodies its various appearances contents productions the different and many times stupendious forms of Clouds the irruptions of Thunder the dartings of Lightning the curious body of the Air and therein the thickning of the Clouds into Rain with the manenr of its fall upon the Earth the generation of Frost Snow Ice and Hail the variations of Seasons these and all of these fashioned by the inscrutable and only to be admired Wisdom of our great and good God who in the making of them had principal regard to the benefit and accommodation of this Globe of Earth and the conservation of those Creatures he hath replenished it withal If we can give esteem to him that dextrously makes a Watch Clock or any other neat or useful engine for humane use how must we be transported with wonder and even swallowed up with admiration of the infinitely glorious Author of the visible heavens and of what is contained therein But look nearer home and let thy thoughts move over this Globe of Earth little compared to the Heavens and many of the bodies therein contained being but as a point in the circumference and yet to us and our imagination a most capacious round containing vast Countries immense Seas affording habitation and giving sustenance to almost an infinite number of Creatures in their various species much more in their individuality See therein the different seasons face temper and constitution of both Earth and Seas consider the various products of them both in all the kinds both of the animal vegetable and mineral classes Consider the different figures of Animals not only specifical but even personal the curious feature frame and connexion of parts the actions and usefulness of every particle even in the most minute animals the constant conformity of nature as if all things were framed in a mould the difference in life and manners of one Animal from another the instinctive knowledg of all animals and the exercise of all the actions of parts without a teacher the tenderness and care of the most fierce and boysterous animals in preserving their young ones and rearing them to a state of being helpful to themselves the accurate formation of parts so as not only to be in the best manner fitted for the performance of what is to each part assigned but also with best provision for security the connexion and dependance of all the parts of the universe and lastly the dignity and prerogative of Man appointed Gods Vicegerent upon Earth to rule and govern all in subordination to his Maker with a power limited and deriv'd Paternal and Oeconomical for common conservation not tyrannical for spoil and destruction The protection and good government of all other creatures together with the contemplation and admiration of the works of God are the great business of man here for God having made no other creature capable of these two offices and qualified man in an abundant manner two fitness for discharge thereof it is clearly implyed that these are two and those no considerable ends of his creation Galen when in his Tract of the use of parts L. 6. c. 13. he had given a just description thereof and a reasonable guess at the use and office of every part he concludes that the great Artificer chose in all things what was best and that nothing could be better or indeed otherwise have been done That he writ that Book as a Hymn in praise of the Creator L. 3. c. 10. and that Piety consisted more in searching out the Wisdom of God and declaring it to others than in offering to him whole Hecatombs or other rich and costly Sacrifices That God envied his Creatures nothing that was good or convenient for them but endowed them all with parts composure and ornature expedient To be able to do this was a high demonstration of his wisdom and to have done it is as signal a proof of his goodness That there is as great a demonstration of the sapience of the chief Artificer in framing the most minute and inconsiderable Creature as
artifice of words In matters dubious and opinionative though I have thought fit to declare my judgment and acquaint you with the reasons and grounds that have inclined me yet I would not have you therefore give up your assents thereunto for Paternal Authority does not extend so far but for what is plain and agreeable to the rules of Vertue and Gods Sacred Word and therefore universally acknowledged here you are bound up and obliged in your lives to a strict observation thereof I have not writ it methodically with dependance of one Chapter upon another nor does the nature of the Subjects bear it Besides my business in the world has been much especially in my own profession I have writ it by piece-meal and as the several subjects came into my mind and therefore 't is no wonder they they have no dependence one upon another They may each be separately considered as need shall require and the Table direct Methods are for what is Scholastical written for Sale and Fame neither of which are by me intended Besides I never purpose it shall go abroad and therefore the homeliness of the dress attended with truth's plainness will not misbecome it I design it also as well for my Daughters as my Sons though some things therein are peculiar to men yet much of it is of equal concernment to the Female Sex who also may have male Children and as they are mine I allow them an equal title to it Women of middling quality esteem things worthy rather more than men are generally less vitious better guarded with modesty have less temptations and a great love to Vertue and Goodness give an easier assent to what is just unless biassed by their Husbands interest or prevailing power And therefore I intend this Book as much for them as my Sons not doubting but that they will and that more frequently peruse it more deliberately and seriously weigh the contents of it because their business will not be so much nor their diversions so frequent as those of my Sons I bestow it therefore with a like alacrity and expectation upon them and expect at least answerable fruits as from my male Children Lastly let no imputation remain upon me if I have in the progress of this Book mentioned the same things upon several occasions more than once for being I was it may be two or three years in writing it it is no wonder if my memory did not retain the sense of the whole Tautologies in this case are not so disallowable the intention being good and the matter necessary May it have an influence upon your minds suitable to the affectionate desires of my heart that you may be no dishonour to your Country nor no blemish to your Family That however others demean themselves it may be truly said that you all and your Families will serve the Lord in truth and sincerity of heart in all Godliness and Honesty and so my blessing be upon you all and the blessing of him who is the Author of all Beings the Eternal God Thus I am dear Children Your Affectionate Father HUMPHREY BROOKE Of Mans happiness and wherein it consists THE two great Ends that men are to aim at in this World are First to live happily here and Secondly to obtain the utmost assurance that man can attain to of being in the number of the blessed hereafter Both these are no otherwise to be had but by the acquisition of Wisdom and Goodness Now the beginning or foundation of true Wisdom is the fear of God so the Wise man has exprest it in the Counsel to his Son Proverbs 1. v. 7. The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom but Fools hate knowledg and instruction Fools indeed for what greater argument of folly can there be than to contemn the means of Happiness or to seek it in those wayes where it is not to be found A rich man may be miserable and so may they be who are dignified with Titles A Politick worldly man creates trouble and perplexity to himself and others and in all his grandeur if he deviates from the paths of Justice Wisdom and goodness is fur-rounded with difficulties eaten up with cares condemned by himself and the nearer he comes to his journeys end the greater are his horrours from the review of his vain designments the apprehension of Death and his fears of what must ensue after it Having therefore a mean esteem of these gaudy nothings or splendid Vanities my first advice to you my Son is to have a right apprehension of God so far as he has been pleased to manifest himself which he hath fully done both as to the excellency and perfection of his Being the glorious explications of his Wisdom and singular emanations of his Goodness He is the only God there is none besides him all things in this world yea the World it self the Heavens and the Earth are the workmanship of his hands their being and duration are at his pleasure with a word he made them and with a word when he sees it in his wisdem fit he can destroy them Just ground there is therefore for our fear of him and that our chiefest love should be fixt upon him in comparison to whom there is nothing valuable how dear soever in our esteem nor can we place any hopes of stedfast happiness but in our exact obedience to his will and commands You are therefore my Son to plant the fear and love of him in your heart and in all the actions and undertakings of your life you are well to consider that they bear a strict conformity to his will No other design aim or interest is to bear sway with you or hold any proportion in your thoughts This Counsel if you well observe which with the true affection of a Father I lay before you your life will be full of delight the World you pass through will be as a garden of sweet-smelling flowers beyond that of Paradise all afflictions will be easy death it self lovely without sting without affrightment a passage from lesser bliss to greater To your Fathers House the Mansions of the blessed And therefore my dear Son let it have preference in your mind let no allurements make you decline it 't will be a guide to your feet and a lanthorn to the dark paths of your difficult journey through this Earthly Pilgrimage Remember he gives you this Counsel who speaks from great experience and greater affection 't is the fruit of all my labors and the result of the best observations your affectionate Father hath made in the whole course and progress of his life Esteem not this therefore as slight and customary advice spoken in course or for formality it is my Son what I am most serious in and what I prefer before all other Rules or directions I shall hereafter give or can with my utmost intention of doing thee good be insisted upon And therefore what ever esteem you have of the rest be
otherwise we should make him an encourager of what he declares against it would also confirm men in their evil practices if notwithstanding the continuance in them they have hopes to expect a supply of new favours when their sins afford them leasure to desire them No my Son This is not to make God like but worse than our selves to prostitute Heavenly blessing to vile uses Be assured that though God gives common blessings indiscriminately making his Sun shine and his Rain fall as well upon the unjust as the just yet are not these alwayes the fruits of Prayer or instances of a Fathers love but Gods ordinary dispensations in order to the preservation of the World and to those who are contemptuously wicked marks and ensigns of their ingratitude and irreligion All sins are impediments to the obtaining our desires by Prayer but especially those which are in contrariety to mercy meekness and sincerity the proper vertues of Prayer such as pride hypocrisie especially in the act of Prayer and above all lust hard heartedness and wrath for why should we expect that God should grant us forgiveness or other signal favours when at the same time we foster severe and cruel purposes towards our brother perhaps much better than our selves Consider these things my Son that thy applications to Almighty God may be fitly qualified that so thou mayest with serenity of mind and Christian confidence approach the Throne of Grace and keep thy self in his favour who is able and willing to do for us abundantly more than is in our hearts to desire being more ready to hear than we are forward upon allowable grounds to make our applications to him Of Praising God As to the Second Duty of Praising God we ought to be exceeding instant in it 'T is the great business and end of our lives for God has been so bountiful in the supplying of our wants that we should be much more frequent in Praising him than in praying to him Now the best kind of Praising God consists chiefly in acknowledging his absolute power and Soveraignty over the World as being the maker and during his pleasure the preserver thereof in admiring his Wisdom and the excellency of his Goodness Mercy and Compassion towards men and in the conformation of our lives agreeable to his will Thus we and all Creatures should be alwayes praising God letting our light so shine forth unto men that they may glorifie our Father which is in Heaven And doubtless this Praise in the life being seated in the heart is much to be preferr'd before what is formal and in course though seemingly done with more devotion whether we consider it for its constancy or reality Thus did our Saviour and his followers praise God in letting man see that they denyed and rejected all the specious vanities of the World Wealth Honour Power and Preeminence preferring God's favour before that of Princes and enduring all that the World counts calamitous in hopes of enjoying his presence and a cohabitation with Angels in the Eternal Heavens The mercies we receive are daily and hourly such and so frequent ought to be the lifting up of our hearts To praise God in shew and at set times and to deny him in the actions of our lives cannot but be an abomination to God a Sacrifice his Soul can take no delight in And therefore my Son whensoever you make any applications to God to give him thanks for blessings received let it be done with a serious and sincere intention of mind and with words pertinent to the occasion for which you are to give thanks And let your praises be chiefly manifested by the constant obedience you shew to his Precepts preferring them before all other interests and concernments whatsoever Of the Word Sacrament I purpose now to speak of the two Sacraments of the Reformed Church Baptism and the Supper of our Lord But first of the word Sacrament A term you will frequently meet with but hardly intelligible even by the Learned especially when applyed to the two institutions above mentioned In its proper signification it is an Oath or asseveration made à sacra mente from a holy mind so it was used by the Romans especially in Military employments It is also taken for the same with Mysterium among the Greeks denoting something Secret belonging to holy things not to be communicated to the vulgar as the people are often but cunningly and injuriously called In the latter sense 't is a Priestly term artificially devised for their Reputation and that they may the better impose upon the people In neither of these senses is it properly applicable to Baptism and the Lords Supper there is no Oath given or taken in either of them nor are they properly Mysteries to be concealed but institutions to be used for the benefit and behoof of Mankind Look therefore upon those institutions as they are in themselves and not as they are clouded by an unintelligible word Curselleus concerning which a good and very learned Man wonders how it came to be induc'd and applyed to such a purpose and wishes that as by an unhappy Star so he expresses it but I think he might better have said as it was craftily and for bad purposes introduced so it might for the future be abdicated and never applyed to these holy and necessary institutions He mentions also one great mischief more which it has been the occasion of and that is the introduceing of numerous controversies and contentions in the Church by means whereof the minds of men have been taken up about nice and unnecessary matters and the bond of Brotherly love thereby dissolved Let us come therefore to the things themselves and leave out this improper appellation which indeed makes them arcana secret mysteries which our Saviour when he instituted them designed as the most easy and intelligible matters which in the whole affairs of Humane Life could be pitch'd upon Of Ceremonious Institutions The heart of man as it hath been long corrupted is very apt to neglect the serious and solid acts of Religion which consists in a just and holy life and to satisfie it self in the practice of external Rites and Ceremonies Which the Priests in all ages and Countries observing and concluding that more of reverence to themselves and of profit likewise was to be gotten by inventing and encouraging them in the exercise of these external acts of seeming devotion than in the real acts of Sacred vertue have not been wanting to find out and fashion numerous Ceremonies and commend them to the practice of people by which they have every where acquir'd great honour and riches to themselves eclipsing thereby the natural lights of Conscience and the improved methods and divine precepts of true Religion This was manifest in the Jewish Priests and was the ground of those accusations which the men of God so called because they were prophetically and divinely inspired did declare in their Books of prophecy both against Priests