THE COURTIERS Manual Oracle OR THE ART OF PRUDENCE Written Originally in Spanish By BALTAZAR GRACIAN And now done into English LONDON Printed by M. Flesher for Abel Swalle at the Sign of the Vnicorn at the West-End of St. Paul's 1685. THE Preface THe Courtiers Manual Oracle which is here presented to the Reader as it is an abridgment of all the works of that judicious and learned Spaniard Baltazar Gracian so it carries in its own Title an abridgment of it self as not onely pointing at the subject it treats of but also the persons for whose use it is designed Oracles are the glimmerings of a supernatural light which do rather dazle than illuminate those who are not both attentive and sharp sighted And therefore the Maximes which here bear that name are not calculated for all degrees of Men nor for all sorts of Vnderstandings There is an art of short speaking no less than that of short hand-writing and both are obscure but to the intelligent and thinking who may draw considerable advantage from both It 's an old saying A word 's enough to the Wise and he that cannot crack the shell and taste the kernel of a sentence though he may be wise in his own Eyes will never be reckoned so in the judgment of Sages A Proverb patly applied and well understood makes a deeper impression upon the minds of understanding men than a lank declamation adorned with all the Posies and Flowers of Rhetorick This made the learned and discerning Authour affect a certain vigorous laconicism in all his writings that made him highly esteemed by the greatest men of his own Countrey and of Strangers also who understood his language though the French Authour Des Entretiens d' Ariste Eugene a leading Critick accounts him unintelligible and by consequent untranslateable but whether he be so or not in this translation it is left to the judgment of the Reader It may be made a Probleme perhaps by some whether The Art of Prudence be at this time seasonably or not translated and published in English seeing to instruct and not to instruct has great affinity with the answering and not answering a fool in his folly according to Solomon and all the World are satisfied that there is a vast number of more than ordinary fools and mad men amongst us at present The title and design of the Book I think may salve the doubt for it is the Courtiers Manual Oracle not of him onely who has the honour to be actually in that station but of others also who by knowing and reflecting upon the transactions of the world may be capable if not to serve the Publick yet to live like men in their generation and to such it cannot be unseasonable if they have the ingenuity to act according to its maximes seeing in so doing they will find by experience that when once the ground is well known one may hit the Jack with a Boul that runs streight if it be their custome to bowl so as well as with that which fetches the greatest compass by its biass and that a man may be a Politician successfully and with applause without forsaking the rational Rules of Morality and Religion for the deceitfull Sophistry of Cunning and Artisice which commonly soon or too late shews its own perniciousness by the fatal disappointments of those that practise it For the unintelligent and head-strong Mobile that makes the greatest part of Mankind they have nothing to doe with this Book Odi profanum vulgus arceo The Authour wrote not for them well knowing that their inveterate folly is not to be cured but restrained and that as it is very easie by force of words and long-winded Cant to preach them out of their senses so it is as impossible by short documents to sentence them into their Wits and good Manners again as to cure a Chronical Hypochondriarcy by an Aphorism of Hippocrates or a spell of Seneca's or Plutarch's Morals To these Animals then for whom the Bit and Bridle is designed the Discipline of the Whip is the best Doctrine and nothing of this nature can be seasonable or unseasonable but as it may influence those of the smaller number who are their Riders and spur them at their pleasure Now if these be so mad as to run upon precipices and ride over Rocks those Maximes can in this onely be unseasonable that they seasonably taught them what too late and unseasonably they were convinced of Vale. THE CONTENTS MAX. 1. Every thing is now at the point of its perfection and an able Man at the highest pitch thereof p. 1. Max. 2. Wit and a Genius p. 2. Max. 3. Not to be too free nor open ibid. Max. 4. Knowledge and Valour club to the making of great Men. p. 3. Max. 5. To be always usefull p. 4. Max. 6. Man at the height of his perfection p. 5. Max. 7. To have a care not to outdoe ones Master ibid. Max. 8. A Man never taken in passion p. 6. Max. 9. To falsifie the defects of ones Nation p. 7. Max. 10. Fortune and Renown p. 8. Max. 11. To converse with those from whom one may learn ibid. Max. 12. Nature and Art Matter and the Artist p. 9. Max. 13. To proceed sometimes cunningly sometimes candidly p. 10. Max. 14. The thing and the manner of the thing p. 11. Max. 15. To make use of Auxiliary wits p. 15. Max. 16. Knowledge and a right intention p. 16. Max. 17. Not to follow always one and the same Conduct p. 17. Max. 18. Application and Genius ibid. Max. 19. Not to be too much blazed abroad by the noise of Fame p. 18. Max. 20. Every man in his time p. 19. Max. 21. The Art of being happy p. 20. Max. 22. The Man that takes ibid. Max. 23. To have no blemish p. 21. Max. 24. To moderate ones own imagination p. 22. Max. 25. A good Pryer ibid. Max. 26. To find out the weak side of every one p. 23. Max. 27. To prefer intention before extention p. 24. Max. 28 To have nothing that 's vulgar ibid. Max. 29. The upright Man p. 25. Max. 30. Not to affect extraordinary nor yet Chimerical Employments p. 26. Max. 31. To know happy People to make use of them and the unhappy to avoid them p. 27. Max. 32. To have the reputation of contenting every body ibid. Max. 33. To know how to be a denied Man p. 28. Max. 34. To know ones own strength p. 29. Max. 35. To weigh things according to their just value ibid. Max. 36. Not to engage in any enterprise before one hath examined his own fortune and ability p. 30. Max. 37. To guess at the meaning of the little hints that are given us by the bye and to know how to make the best of them p. 31. Max. 38. To be moderate in good fortune p. 32. Max. 39. To know the nature and season of things and to be able to make use of them p. 33. Max. 40. To gain
listening to the applauses of an entry A vigilant Palinurus governed not his Vessel by the head but by the stern There he keeps himself that he may conduct her through the voyage of this life all the disgrace and as he says in the beginning of that Chapter all the race of misfortune remains for the end as all the bitterness is at the ground of the potion The precept of that Roman for beginning and ending was excellent who said that he had obtained all Dignities before he desired them and had left them all before they were desired by others Misfortune is sometimes the punishment of immoderation It is the comfort of the Wise that they have retired before Fortune withdrew Heaven it self hath employed that remedy in favours of some Heroes Moses disappeared and Elias was taken up that so they might end in triumph MAXIME LX. Good sense Some are born Prudent by a natural inclination they enter into the way of wisedom and they are got almost half way at first Their reason ripens with age and experience and at length they attain to the highest degree of judgment They startle at capriciousness as a temptation of their prudence but especially in matters of State which by reason of their extreme importance require the strictest circumspection Such men deserve to sit at the helm of Government or at least to be Counsellers to those who hold it MAXIME LXI To excell in the excellent Is a thing very singular in the plurality of perfections There can be no Heroe without some extreme sublimity Mediocrity is not an object big enough for applause Eminence in a high employment distinguishes from the vulgar and raises one to the category of rare men To be eminent in a low profession is to be great in little and something in nothing What is most delectable is least sublime Eminence in high matters is as a character of Sovereignty which excites admiration and conciliates good will MAXIME LXII To make use of good Instruments Some make the quaintness of their wit to consist in employing bad instruments A dangerous point of honour and worthy of an unhappy issue The excellence of the Minister hath never lessened the glory of the Master on the contrary all the honour of the success rebounds upon the principal cause and in like manner all the blame Fame sounds always the praises of the first Authours It never says That Man hath had good or bad Servants but That he hath been a good or bad Workman One must therefore endeavour to chuse his Ministers well since on them depends the immortality of Reputation MAXIME LXIII The excellence of Primacy If Primacy be backed by Eminence it is on a double account excellent It is a great advantage to have the hand at play for that gives the better on 't if the Cards be equal Several had been the Phoenix of their Profession if others had not gone before them The first have the birth-right in the inheritance of reputation and there remains but a scanty portion of the Juniors nay and that too contested It 's to no purpose for those to fret they cannot baffle the opinion which the world hath that they doe no more but imitate Great spirits have always affected a new way for attaining to excellence yet so that Prudence hath always been employed for their guide The Wise by the novelty of their enterprises get themselves to be listed in the Catalogue of Heroes Some had rather be the Captains of the second form than the seconds of the first MAXIME LXIV To vex as little as may be Is a most usefull Science It 's as the Midwife to all the happiness of life It is good for nothing either to give or receive bad tidings We are onely to give entry to those that asswage trouble There are some who employ their Ear onely in hearing flatteries others please themselves to listen to false reports and some cannot live so much as one day without some vexation no more than Mithridates could without poison Nay it is a far greater absurdity for one to be willing to disturb himself as long as he lives that he may once give satisfaction to another how closely soever he may be linked to him We must never offend against our selves to comply with him who advises and keeps off at a distance It is therefore a rational and usefull lesson that as often as it is put to thy option to please another or displease thy self thou'lt doe better to let another be discontented than to become so thy self and that without remedy MAXIME LXV The quaint and critical Judgment The judgment is cultivated as well as the wit The excellence of understanding refines the desire and then the pleasure of enjoyment The extent of the capacity is measured by the niceness of the judgment A great capacity stands in need of a great object to give it content as a large stomach requires proportionable food so high minds demand elevated matters The noblest objects are afraid of a delicate judgment perfections that are generally esteemed dare not hope to please it Seeing there is but very little without defect one ought to be very sparing of esteem Judgments are formed in conversation and we make another man's judgment our own by frequenting his company It is then a great happiness to have commerce with persons of an excellent judgment Yet we must not make profession of esteeming nothing at all For that is an extreme folly and an affectation more odious than a depraved palate Some would have God to make another world and other beauties to satisfie their extravagant and whimsical fancies MAXIME LXVI To take good measures before one undertakes Some eye the project more than the event and nevertheless direction is not a sufficient surety to save one from the dishonour that attends an unfortunate issue The Conquerour has no account to give There are but a few who are capable to examine the reasons and circumstances but every one judges by the event And therefore a successfull man never loses his reputation A happy end crowns all though wrong means may have been used for attaining to it For it is art to go contrary to art when otherwise one cannot compass what he intends MAXIME LXVII To prefer plausible Employments Most things depend upon the satisfaction of others Esteem is to perfections what the Zephyres are to flowers that is to say nourishment and life There are some employments generally applauded and others which though they be high yet are not courted The former gain the good will of all because they are managed in sight of all people The other are more majestuous and as such attract more veneration but because they are undiscernable they are the less applauded to Amongst Princes the victorious are the more celebrated and hence it is that the Kings of Aragon have been so famous by their titles of Warriours Conquerours Magnanimous Let a man of merit if he would eternise his memory by general
No that went before We must not refuse point blanck but make our denial be taken down by little sips if I may say so Nor must we refuse all things neither lest we put people into despair but on the contrary leave always a remnant of hope to sweeten the bitterness of the denial Let Courtesie fill up the vacuity of favour and good words supply the defect of good deeds Yea and No are soon said but before we say them we should think on them long first MAXIME LXXI Not to be unequal and irregular in ones proceeding A prudent man never falls into that fault neither through humour nor affectation He is still the same in relation to that which is perfect which is the mark of a sound judgment If sometimes he change it is because the countenance of occasions and affairs is changed All inequality mis-becomes Prudence There are some who dayly differ from themselves Their understanding is even journal and much more their will and conduct What was yesterday their pleasant Yea is to day their unpleasant No. They always falsifie their proceeding and the opinion that men have of them because they are never themselves MAXIME LXXII The man of resolution Irresolution is worse than bad execution Waters corrupt not so long as they run but when they are standing There are some men so irresolute that they never doe any thing but when they are pusht on to it by others and that sometimes proceeds not so much from the puzle of their judgment which is often quick and subtile as from a natural laziness It is a sign of a great mind to raise to it self difficulties but of a greater to know how to clear them There are also men who are puzled at nothing and these are born for great employments inasmuch as the quickness of their conception and steadiness of their judgment facilitate to them the understanding and dispatch of affairs Whatever falls into their hands is as good as done One of that character having given the Law to one whole world had time enough over and above to think of another Such men undertake with assurance under the protection of their good fortune MAXIME LXXIII To find out Evasions Is the knack of men of wit With a touch of gallantry they extricate themselves out of the greatest labyrinth A gracefull smile will make them avoid the most dangerous quarrel The greatest of Captains founded all his Reputation upon that A word of a double meaning agreeably palliates a negative There is nothing better than never to be too well understood MAXIME LXXIII Not to be inaccessible The true wild Beasts are where most people are A difficult access is the vice of those whose manners honour hath changed To begin by rejecting of others is not the way to get credit How pleasant is it to see one of those untractable monsters strut it in the garb of haughtiness They who are so unhappy as to have business with them goe to their Audience as if they were going to fight with Tigers that 's to say armed as much with fear as circumspection To mount up to that post they cringed to all people but so soon as they are in it it seems they would take their revenge by huffing every body Their employment requires that they should be free to all men but their pride and surly humour makes them accessible to no man So that the true way to be revenged on them is to let them alone by themselves to the end that wanting all conversation they may never become wise MAXIME LXXV To propose to ones self some Heroe not so much to be imitated as to be surpassed There are models of grandeur and living books of reputation Let every one propose to themselves those who have excelled in their Profession not so much to follow as to outstrip them Alexander wept not that he saw Achilles in the Tomb but to see himself so little known in the world in comparison of Achilles Nothing inspires more Ambition than the fame of another's Reputation That which stisles envy gives breath to courage MAXIME LXXVI Not to be always in the jocose humour Prudence appears in seriousness and the serious are more esteemed than the jocose He that drolls always is never a thorough-pac'd man We use these men as we do liars not believing what one nor the other says jeasting being no less suspected than lying It is never known when they speak with judgment which is the same as if they had none at all There is nothing more unpleasant than a continual pleasantness By endeavouring to purchase the Reputation of being pleasant one loses the advantage of being thought wise Some minutes are to be allowed to mirth and the rest to seriousness MAXIME LXXVII To be company for all sorts of men He is a wise Proteus that is holy with the holy learned with the learned serious with the serious and jovial with the merry That is the way to gain all hearts similitude being the bond of good will To discern tempers and by a politick transformation to suit the humour and character of every one is a secret absolutely necessary for those who depend on others But that requires a great stock A man who is universal in knowledge and experience has less trouble in doing it MAXIME LXXVIII The art of undertaking to purpose Folly enters always at random for all fools are bold The same ignorance which hinders them at first from considering what is necessary hides from them afterwards the knowledge of the faults which they commit But Wisedom enters with great circumspection Her Fore-runners are reflexion and discretion that scour the roade for her that so she may advance without any danger Discretion condemns all kinds of temerity to a precipice though good fortune sometime justify them One ought to go step by step where he suspects there is any depth It is the part of judgment to try and of Prudence to pursue There are at present great shelves in the commerce of the world We ought therefore to have a care of our soundings MAXIME LXXIX The jovial humour Is rather an accomplishment than a defect when there is no excess in it A grain of mirth seasons all The greatest men as well as others play their frolicks for conciliating the good will of every body but with this difference that they always retain the preference for wisedom and respect to decency Others come off when they are gone too far by a spell of good humour For some things are to be taken laughing and the very same sometimes that others take in good earnest Such a humour is the loadstone of hearts MAXIME LXXX To be carefull to be informed The life of man is almost wholly spent in taking information What we see is the least essential We live upon the credit of others The ear is the second door to truth and the first to lies Commonly truth is seen but it is extraordinary to hear it It seldom comes
perfection that happened to be there by chance MAXIME CXLI Not to listen to ones self It 's worth little to be satisfied with one self if one content not others Commonly self-esteem is punished by universal contempt He that pays himself remains a debtor to all others It is misbecoming for one to speak that he may hear himself If it be folly to speak to ones self it is doubly so to listen to himself before others It is a fault in great men to speak with an imperious tone and that which stuns those who hear them at every word they say their ears importunately beg applause or flattery The presumptuous speak also by echo and since the conversation moves upon the stilts of Pride every word comes guarded with this impertinent exclamation Rarely well said Ah that 's a sweet saying MAXIME CXLII Never to espouse a bad party in spight to an Adversary who hath taken the better He that does it is half overcome and at length will be constrained wholly to yield That is never a good way to be revenged If thine Adversary hath had the skill to take the better take good heed not to commit the folly of opposing him by espousing the worse Obstinacy in actions engages so much the more than that in words that there is far more risque in doing than in saying It is the custome of the head strong to regard neither truth in contradicting nor profit in disputing A wise man hath always reason on his side and never falls into passion He either prevents or retreats So that if his Rival be a Fool his folly makes him change his course and go to the other extreme whereby the condition of his Adversary becomes worse The onely means then to make him forsake the good party is to strike in with it seeing that will move him to embrace the bad MAXIME CXLIII To take heed not to run into Paradoxes by shunning to be vulgar Both extremes equally discredit Every project that thwarts gravity is a kind of folly A Paradox is a certain plausible Cheat that at sirst surprizes by its novelty and its edge but afterwards loses its vogue when the falsity of it is once known in practice It is a kind of quacking which in matter of Politicks is the ruine of States They who cannot attain to Heroism or who have not the courage to advance towards it by the way of vertue run into the Paradox which makes them to be admired by fools but serves to manifest the Prudence of others The Paradox is a proof of an ill-tempered mind and by consequent most opposite to Prudence And if sometimes it be not founded on what is false it is founded at least on what is uncertain to the great prejudice of affairs MAXIME CXLIV Vnder the veil of another man's interest to find ones own Is a most proper strategeme for obtaining what one intends The Confessours themselves teach this pious Craft as to what concerns salvation It is a most important dissimulation seeing the profit that is pretended serves as a bait to attract the will It seems to another that his interest goes first when it is onely to make way for thy pretension One must never enter hap hazard but especially where there is danger at the bottom And when one hath to doe with those whose first word is always No he must not shew them what he aims at lest they may see Reasons for not condescending to it and chiefly if he foresee that they have an aversion thereto This advice is for those that can turn their wits to any thing which is the quintessence of subtilty MAXIME CXLV Not to shew the sore place For every one will have a hit at it Have a care also not to complain of it seeing malice always attacks on the weaker side Resentment serves onely to divert it Nothing pleases malice better than to put one off of the hinges It le ts fall tart words and sets all Engines at work untill it hath found out the quick A man of parts then ought never to discover his evil whether it be personal or hereditary seeing Fortune her self takes pleasure sometimes to wound in that place where she knows the pain will be sharper It mortifies always to the quick and by consequent one must never let it be known either what mortifies or what quickens that he may make the one to cease and the other continue MAXIME CXLVI To look into the inside It is commonly found that things are far different from what they appear to be and ignorance that onely looked on the bark is undeceived so soon as it goes in The lie is always the first in every thing it draws in Fools by a vulgar They say which runs from mouth to mouth truth arrives always last and very late because it hath a lame Guide which is time The Wise keep for it always one half of that faculty which nature hath purposely made double Deceit is wholly superficial and those who are so themselves are presently catched Discerning retires inward that so it may be the more esteemed by the wise MAXIME CXLVII Not to be inaccessible Let a man be never so perfect he sometimes stands in need of Council He that will take none is an incurable fool The most intelligent man ought to make room for good advice Sovereignty it self ought not to exclude docility Some men are incurable because they are inaccessible They precipitate themselves because no body dares come near them to hinder them from it A door must then be left open to Friendship and by it relief will enter A Friend ought to have full liberty to speak nay and to reprove The Opinion that is conceived of his Fidelity and Prudence ought to give him that Authority But withall that familiarity is not to be common to all It is enough to have one secret confident whose correction is valued and who is to be made use of as a looking-glass for undeceiving MAXIME CXLVIII To have the Art of Conversing Is the means whereby a man shews his own value Of all humane actions there is none that requires greater circumspection seeing it is the most usual exercise of life There is much Reputation to be gained or lost in it If judgement be necessary for writing a letter which is a premeditated conversation by paper far more it is required in ordinary conversation which brings the merit of people under a sudden Test The Masters of the Art feel the pulse of the Wit by the Tongue according to the saying of a Sage Speak if thou would'st have me to know thee Some maintain that the true Art of conversing is to doe it without Art and that conversation if it be betwixt good Friends ought to be as easie as ones cloaths For when it is a conference of Ceremony and Respect it is to be performed with more reserve to shew that one hath much of the skill of living The way to succeed well in that is to follow the
subject of admiration These are men of Parade for when excellence and appearance concur they form a Prodigy On the contrary we have seen eminent persons who have not appeared to be one half of what they were for want of the dexterity of Ostentation It is not long since that a great Man who in the field drove all before him being called to a Council of War was afraid of every body He that was so proper for action was not at all for speaking Ostentation gives a true lustre to Heroick Qualities and as it were a second being to all things that 's to say if reality vouch for it For without merit it is but a vulgar cheat it serves onely to manifest defects and by consequent to beget contempt instead of applause Some make a great bustle to get out and appear upon the Theatre of the World and all they doe is to publish the ignorance which retirement civily concealed But that is not to make Ostentation of Talents but foppishly to declare ones faults MAXIME CCLXXVIII In all things to avoid being remarkable By being so too much perfections themselves will be defects This comes of singularity and singularity hath always been censured Whoever affects to be singular must live by himself Politeness it self is ridiculous if it be excessive it offends when it glares too much to the Eye Upon much stronger reason ought extravagant singularities to be nauseous Nevertheless some would be known even by their vices to that degree that they seek out Novelty in wickedness and glory in having so bad a Reputation Nay in the matter of ability it self the too much degenerates into quacking MAXIME CCLXXIX To suffer Contradiction without Gain-saying It is to be distinguished when Contradiction proceeds from Cunning or Clownishness For it is not always an Opinionativeness sometimes it is Artifice Take heed then not to engage into the one nor to stumble into the other There is no pains better bestowed than in spying nor no better counter-battery against those who would pick the lock of the heart than to put the key of reserve in the inside See the Maxime 179. MAXIME CCLXXX The man of good stuff Honesty and integrity are gone obligations are forgotten There are but few good Correspondences The best service has the worst reward This is the guise of the World now a days There are whole Nations enclined to evil Of the one the treachery is always to be feared of others the inconstancy and of some the cheating Make use then of the bad Correspondence of others not as an example to be imitated but as a warning to be upon thy guard Integrity runs a risque of being warped at the sight of a dishonest procedure but a good man never forgets what he himself is because of what others are MAXIME CCLXXXI The approbation of knowing Men. An indifferent yea of a great man is more to be valued than the applause of a multitude When there is a bone in the wind-pipe to snuffle is not to breath The wise speak with judgment and by consequent their approbation gives complete satisfaction Prudent Antigonus placed his whole Renown in the single testimony of Zeno. And Plato called Aristotle his whole School Some mind onely the filling of their Bellies without minding that the Commons are but ordinary Sovereigns themselves stand in need of good Writers whose Pens are more to be feared by them than a Picture to the life by the ugly MAXIME CCLXXXII To make absence an expedient for being respected or esteemed If presence lessen Reputation absence encreases it He who being absent is taken for a Lion appears but a Mouse when present Perfections lose their lustre if they be lookt upon at too near distance because men look more upon the back of the outside than the substance and inside of the mind Imagination goes much farther than the sight and the mistake that commonly enters by the Ears goes out by the Eyes He that rests in the centre of the good Opinion that People have of him preserves his Reputation The Phoenix it self makes use of retirement and desire to make it self to be the more esteemed and regrated MAXIME CCLXXXIII The Man of good invention Invention marks a fruitfulness of wit But where is it to be found without a grain of folly Invention is the share of quick wits and the good choice that of solid judgments The former is rarer and more esteemed inasmuch as many have succeeded in chusing well and very few in inventing well and in having the precedency of excellence as well as that of time Novelty is insinuant and if it be happy it sets a double value upon what is good In matters that concern judgment it is dangerous because it runs upon Paradoxes in knacks of subtilty it is laudable and if Novelty and invention jump well together they are plaufible MAXIME CCLXXXIV Meddle not in other mens business and thine own will go well Esteem thy self if thou wouldst be esteemed Be rather covetous than prodigal of thy self Make thy self to be desired and thou shalt be well received Never come till thou be called and never go till thou be sent He that engages of his own head incurs all the hatred if he succeed not and though he succeed he is not liked the better for it A man that is too intrigueing is the But of contempt and as he introduces himself without shame he is repulsed with confusion MAXIME CCLXXXV Not to lose ones self with another Know that he who is in the mire calls thee not but to comfort himself at thy cost when thou art bemired with him The unfortunate look out for some body to help them to bear their affliction He who in prosperity turned his back will in adversity stretch forth his hand Consider well that thou mayst not be drowned by endeavouring to help those who are a-drowning MAXIME CCLXXXVI Suffer not thy self to be obliged nor by all sorts of People For that would be to become a common slave Some are born to be more happy than others the first for doing of good and the others for receiving it Liberty is more pretious than all gifts and to receive is to lose it It is better to keep others in dependance than to depend upon one alone The onely advantage of Sovereignty is that it can doe more good Above all have a care not to reckon any obligation as a favour Be persuaded that men most commonly seek to oblige that they may engage MAXIME CCLXXXVII Never to act in passion Otherwise all will be spoil'd Let him that is not himself have a care not to doe any thing by himself For passion always banishes reason Let him then substitute a prudent Mediatour who will be so if he be without passion Standers-by judge better than the Gamesters because they fall not into passion When one finds himself moved retentiveness should beat the retreat lest the choler may be more heated For then every thing would be done
sometimes leave people it is not that he is fickle but because they have first forsaken reason MAXIME XXX Not to affect extraordinary nor yet Chimerical Employments That affectation serves onely to attract contempt Whimsey hath hatched many Sects but a Wise Man ought to espouse none of them There are some strange palates that like nothing of what others love Every thing that is singular pleases them It is true that makes them to be taken notice of but rather to be laughed at than esteemed Nay those who would be wise ought to have a special care not to affect to be so Upon far better ground ought they who are of a profession that renders the professours ridiculous We name not here the Employments seeing the contempt that every one has of them makes them sufficiently known MAXIME XXXI To know happy People to make use of them and the unhappy to avoid them Misfortune commonly is an effect of folly and there is not a more dangerous contagion than that of the unfortunate We must not open the door to the least evil for others and those greater too which lie in ambush come always after The true skill at play is to know how to discard The lowest Card that turns up is better than the highest of the former dealing In doubts there is no better expedient than to consult the wise soon or late that will answer our expectation MAXIME XXXII To have the reputation of contenting every body That gives Credit to those who Govern By that means Sovereigns gain the good will of the publick The onely advantage they have is that they can doe more good than other men Those are the truest Friends who are made by reiterated Amities But there are some of a humour of contenting no body not so much because that would be chargeable to them as that their Nature is averse from shewing kindness In all things contrary to Divine Bounty which communicates it self incessantly MAXIME XXXIII To know how to be a denied Man If it be a great art to know how to refuse favours it is a far greater to be able to deny ones self in business and visits There are some troublesome employments that corrode the most pretious time It is better to doe nothing at all than to be busie to no purpose It is not enough to be a prudent man to make no intrigues but he must also avoid to meddle in them We must not be so much at the devotion of others as not to be more at our own We are not to abuse Friends nor to require more of them than they are willing to grant Every thing that is excessive is vitious especially in conversation and without that moderation there is no preserving of the good will and esteem of others on which Civil Decency depends One should use all his liberty in chusing what is most excellent but so as he never offend against judgment and discretion MAXIME XXXIV To know ones own strength That knowledge serves to cultivate the excellent and improve common endowments Many would have become great men had they known their true Talent Strive then to know thine own and join to it application In some judgment has the advantage and in others courage most part lay a constraint upon their Genius whence it is that they never excell in any thing One is late in forsaking what passion made him early espouse MAXIME XXXV To weigh things according to their just value It is the onely ruine of Fools that they never consider Seeing they do not comprehend things they neither see the damage nor profit and by consequent trouble themselves not about them Some set a great value upon that which is but of little worth because they take all things the backward way Many for want of sense feel not their distemper There are some things on which one cannot think too much The wise man reflects on all but not on all alike For he dives where there is any ground and sometimes he thinks there is more in the thing than he thinks of So that his reflexion goes as far as his apprehension went MAXIME XXXVI Not to engage in any enterprise before one hath examined his own fortune and ability This experience is far more necessary than the knowledge of our constitution If it be the mark of a Fool to begin at forty years of age to consult Hipocrates about his health He is a far greater Fool who begins at that age to go to the School of Seneca to learn how to live It is no small point to know how to govern ones fortune whether it be in waiting till she be in the good humour for she loves to be waited on or in taking her such as she offers For she hath an ebbing and flowing and it is impossible to fix her being so irregular and variable as she is Let him who hath often found her favourable not desist from importuning her because it is usual with her to declare for the bold and being courtly to love the young Let him who is unhappy withdraw that he may not meet with the affront of a double repulse in presence of a happy rival MAXIME XXXVII To guess at the meaning of the little hints that are given us by the bye and to know how to make the best of them This is the delicatest part in humane conversation it is the finest probe of the recesses of the heart of man There are some malitious and angry jirks dipt in the gall of passion and these are imperceptible Thunder-bolts that strike down those whom they smite Many times a word hath thrown down headlong from the pinacle of favour those whom the murmurings of a whole people combined against them could not so much as shake There are other words or hints which produce an effect quite contrary that 's to say which support and encrease the reputation of those to whom they are addressed But seeing they are cunningly glanced so also are they to be cautiously received For the security consists in smelling out the intention and the blow foreseen is always warded MAXIME XXXVIII To be moderate in good fortune Is the part of a good Gamester when Reputation lies at stake A brave Retreat is as great as a brave Enterprise When one hath acted great exploits he ought to secure the glory of them by drawing off in time A continued Prosperity is always suspected That which hath its interruptions is the surer A little sharp with the sweet makes it relish better The more Prosperities crowd one upon another the more slippery they are and subject to a reverse The quality of the pleasure makes sometimes amends for the shortness of the enjoyment Fortune is weary to carry one and the same man always upon her shoulders MAXIME XXXIX To know the nature and season of things and to be able to make use of them The works of Nature commonly attain to the point of their perfection They encrease always by degrees untill they
supplies the defect of a deep judgment What offers at first anticipates consultation There is nothing casual for such men inasmuch as the presence of mind stands them in stead of forecast Extemporaries are the gentile feats of a good discerning and the loadstone of admiration Ordinary actions unpremeditated make a greater shew than high designs that have been concerted And a page after One single extemporary hit was enough to procure Solomon the renown of being the wisest of men By one word he rendred himself more redoubtable than by all his power Alexander and Caesar deserved to be the elder Sons of Fame the one by bethinking himself to cut the Gordian Knot and the other by saying when he fell It is a good sign that Africa is under me Two Extemporaries were as good to both as the Conquest of two parts of the world That essay gave a specimen if they were capable of ruling the Universe If a sudden repartee hath always been plausible a prompt resolution deserves well to be applauded A happy promptitude in the effects shews an eminent activity in the cause Promptitude in conceiving is a sign of subtilty and a readiness in finding out good expedients is a proof of Wisedom so much the more to be esteemed that there is a great distance betwixt vivacity and prudence and betwixt wit and judgment It is a perfection no less necessary than sublime in Generals of Armies and brave men inasmuch as their actions and executions are for most part all sudden and transitory by reason of the many fortuitous cases that have neither been foreseen nor consulted and so must be ordered according as occasion offers wherein consists the triumph of their presence of mind and by consequent the whole assurance of their Victories But it becomes Kings better to think because all their actions are eternal They are to consider for many and consequently have need of much Auxiliary Prudence that they may secure the publick repose They have time and their Beds where they let their resolutions ripen They spend whole nights in thinking that they may spend the days in safety In a word they labour more with the head than with the hands And in the third Chapter of a Heroe He thus speaks The sayings of Alexander are the Flamboes of his deeds Caesar was equally prompt in thinking and in acting The promptitude of the mind is as happy as that of the will is dangerous It furnishes wings for soaring to the height of grandeur With these wings many have raised themselves from the centre of obscurity to the orb of the Sun If subtilty reign not it deserves at least to accompany those who reign The ordinary sayings of a King are Crowned points of Wit The treasures of Princes often fail but their witty sayings are everlastingly preserved in the repository of Fame Brave men have gone farther sometimes with one word than with the force of their Arms Victory being the ordinary reward of a shot of wit The King of Sages and the wisest of Kings acquired that reputation by the ready expedient which he found out in the greatest of all differences which was to plead for an Infant And this shews that wit is usefull to give credit to Justice MAXIME LVII The surest men are men of Reflexion What is well comes always in good time What is incontinently done is as soon undone That which is to last to eternity ought to be an eternity a making Perfection is the onely thing that is minded and nothing lasts but what is perfect All that proceeds from a profound Understanding endures for ever What is worth much costs much The most pretious Metal is the latest in coming to perfection and the heaviest Soon enough if well enough said a Wise Man We examine not how long one has been a doing of a work but if it be well done That onely makes it valuable Fast and slow are accidents which are unknown or forgotten whereas Well is permanent What is done in a trice will be undone all of a sudden It soon ends because it was soon finished The more the Children of Saturn come before the time the faster he devours them That which is to last for eternity ought to be an eternity in coming Gratian in his Discreet Chap. Tener buevos repentes Apelles said to a Painter who bragg'd that he spent but little time in making his Pictures That is easily believed because it is seen The famous Michael Angelo who was very long about his Works said that in arts haste was good for nothing and that as Nature takes much time in forming Animals that are to last long so Art that strives to imitate Nature ought to work leisurely it being impossible for man to doe any thing that is excellent in haste MAXIME LVIII To shape ones self according to people One must not strive to shew his parts alike with all people nor employ greater force than the occasion requires There must be no profusion neither of knowledge nor power The skilfull Fowler throws no more meat to the Birds than what is necessary to catch them Have a special care not to make ostentation of every thing for you 'll soon come to want admirers Some new thing is to be kept in store that we may appear with to morrow every day a fresh proof is the way still to keep in credit and to be the more admired that so one never shews the bounds of his capacity MAXIME LIX The man that makes himself to be desired and regretted If a man enter the house of Fortune by the gate of pleasure he comes out commonly by the door of vexation It is greater art to get out happily than to enter it with popular applause It is the ordinary lot of fortunate people to have most favourable beginnings and then a tragical end Felicity consists not in having the applause of the people at ones entry for that is an advantage which all that enter have The difficult matter is to have the same applause at ones exit You see but very few who are regrated It seldom happens that they who go out are accompanied with good fortune For it is her pleasure to be as surly to those that go as she is civil and caressing to those who come The same applause says he in his Discreet Chap. Hombre de buen dexo that one hath had in the beginning makes the murmuring the greater at the end The fronts of Offices are all magnificent but never the back parts entries into Dignities are Crowned like Victories but the goings off are attended with curses What strange applauses to an Authority that begins whether because of the pleasure that people take in changes or of the hopes that every one hath to obtain particular favours but when it expires alas what silence nay and silence would stand in stead of a favourable acclamation too Prudence applies it self wholly to end things well It is far more attentive how to come out than in
character of those mens wit who are as the judges of conversation Take heed not to be vain in censuring of words which will make thee pass for a Grammarian nor in controlling and chopping reasons for then all will avoid thee To speak to the purpose is more necessary than to speak eloquently MAXIME CXLIX To be able to cast the blame and misfortunes upon others It is a thing of great use amongst those who govern to have Bucklers against hatred that 's to say men upon whom the censure and publick grievances may light and that is not the effect of inability as malice imagines but of an industry elevated above the understanding of the people Every thing cannot succeed nor all men be contented There ought to be in that case then a strong head that may serve as a But to all the shot and bear the reproaches of all faults and miscarriages at the cost of his own Ambition MAXIME CL. To be able to put a value upon what one doeth It is not enough that things are good in themselves because all men see not to the bottom nor are able to discern Most part follow the multitude and stop not but where the greatest concourse is It 's a great point to be able to set an esteem upon ones Commodity either by praising it for praise is the spur to desire or by giving it a pretty name which is a good way to exalt but all this must be done without affectation Not to write but for able men is an universal hook because every one thinks himself to be so and for those who are not privation will serve as a spur to desire Ones projects must never be called common nor easie for that 's the way to make them be thought trivial All men are pleased with singularities as being most desirable both to the humour and mind MAXIME CLI To think to day what may happen to morrow and a long time after The greatest fore-sight is to have hours for it There is nothing fortuitous for those who forecast nor any dangerous case for such as expect it We must not put off the thoughts of danger till we be sinking we must be before-hand and by mature consideration prevent the worst that might happen The Pillow is a dumb Sibylle To sleep upon a thing that is to be done is better than to be awaked by a thing already done Some doe first and afterwards think which is rather to look for excuses than expedients Others neither think before nor after A man's whole life should be employed in thinking that he may not mistake his way Reflexion and fore-sight give us the advantage of anticipating life MAXIME CLII. Never to keep company that may eclipse ones lustre What excells in perfection excells in esteem The most accomplished will always have the first rank If his Companion have any part in the praise it will be but his leavings The Moon shines whilst she is alone amongst the stars but so soon as the Sun begins to appear she either shines no more or disappears Never approach him that may eclipse thee but him that may set off thy lustre In this manner Martial's cunning Fabulla found the way of appearing beautifull by the ugliness or agedness of her Companions One must never run the risque of being incommoded side-ways nor doe honour to others at the expence of ones own Reputation It is good to frequent the society of eminent persons for shaping ones self but when one is completed to strike in with those of inferiour size To model thy self chuse the most complete and when thou art fashioned frequent the inferiour MAXIME CLIII To shun being obliged to fill the place of a great Man If one engage in that he ought to be sure to exceed him For to equal a Predecessour one must have double his worth As it requires Prudence and skill in him that succeeds to be such as that he may be regrated so likewise does it Art that he may have a care not to be eclipsed by him that went before him It is very difficult to fill up a great vacancy seeing commonly the first appears the best and by consequent equality is not enough because the former is in possession It is therefore necessary to surpass him to dispossess him of the advantage he hath of being most esteemed MAXIME CLIV. Not to be easie neither to believe nor to love It 's an argument of maturity of judgment to be hard to believe Nothing is more common than to lie to believe then ought to be extraordinary He who is apt to move finds himself often put out of countenance But special care is to be had not to seem to doubt the credit of another for that passes from incivility to an offence seeing it is to reckon him either a deceiver or deceived nor is all the hurt there neither For besides that not to believe is the sign of a liar the liar being subject to two misfortunes not to believe and not to be believed A suspension of judgment in him that hears is laudable but he that speaks may refer to his Authour It is also a kind of imprudence to be easie to love For if one lie in speech one may also lie in fact and that cheat is more pernicious than the other MAXIME CLV The Art of restraining Passions Let a prudent reflexion prevent if it be possible the usual transports of the vulgar That will be no difficult thing to a prudent man The first step to moderation is to perceive that we are falling into passion By that means we enter the lists with a full power over our selves and may examine how far it is necessary to give way to our resentment With that swaying reflexion we may be angry and put a stop to it as we please Strive to know where and when it is fit to stop For it is the hardest thing in running to stop upon the spot It is a great mark of judgment to stand firm and undisturbed amidst the Sallies of passion Every excess of passion degenerates from reason But with this magisterial circumspection Reason will never be disordered nor transgress the bounds of its duty To be able to devour a passion we must always hold the reins fast He who governs himself in this manner will be reckoned the wisest man as the foolishest if he do otherwise MAXIME CLVI Friends by Election Friends ought to abide the test of discretion and the trial of fortune It is not enough that they have had the suffrage of the will if they have not also that of the understanding Though that be the most important point of life yet there is least care taken about it Some make their Friends by the intervention of others and most part by chance We judge of men by the Friends he hath A knowing man never chose ignorants But though a man may please we must not therefore say that he is an intimate Friend For that may proceed rather from the pleasantness
violently and by some minutes of fury one would prepare to himself a subject of long repentance and great repining MAXIME CCLXXXVIII To live according to occasion Whether it be action or discourse all ought to be squared according to the time We must resolve when we can for Time and Tide stays for no man Regulate not thy life by general Maximes unless it be in favour of Vertue Prescribe no positive laws to thy will for thou wilt be forced next day to drink of the same water which thou despisest to day Some mens impertinence is so whimsical that they would have all the circumstances of a project quadrate to their madness instead of accommodating themselves to circumstances But a Wise Man knoweth that to conform to the times is the North Star of Prudence MAXIME CCLXXXIX What most discredits a Man is to shew that he is man He is no longer reckoned Divine so soon as he is known to have much in him of man Levity is the greatest counterpoise of Reputation As a grave man passes for more than man so a light shittlecock is hardly reckoned a man No vice discredits so much as levity inasmuch as it is diametrically opposed to gravity A light man cannot be substantial and especially if he be old seeing his age requires more Prudence And though this fault be very common yet it is strangely derived in every particular person that has it MAXIME CCXC. It 's a happiness to join esteem with affection To be respected there is no need to be too much beloved Love is bolder than hatred Affection and veneration seldom agree together And though it is not fit to be too much feared yet neither is it good to be too much beloved Love begets familiarity and as fast as this comes in esteem goes out It is better to be loved with respect than with tenderness That is the love which great men require MAXIME CCXCI. To know how to make an essay Let the address of a Judicious man counterbalance the reservedness of a cunning man A great judgment is required to measure the capacity of another It 's far better to know the character of minds than the virtue of herbs and stones That is one of the greatest secrets of life Metals are known by their sound and Men by their talk Integrity is known by words but much more â—y deeds In this much penetration circumspection and caution is required MAXIME CCXCII To be above and not below ones Employment How great soever the station be he who holds it should shew himself still to be greater A man that hath wherewith is still growing and signalizes himself more and more in his employments whereas he that hath a narrow heart is soon at a stand and is at length reduced to an inability of performing his obligations and maintaining his Reputation Augustus made it his honour to be a greater Man than Prince A great heart and a reasonable confidence in ones self are of great use here MAXIME CCXCIII Of Maturity It 's conspicuous in the garb but much more in the manners Material gravity makes Gold pretious and Moral the Man That gravity is the ornament of Qualities through the veneration that it attracts to them The outside of Man is the frontispiece of the Soul Maturity is not a dull look nor an affectation of demure gestures as Dunces say but a well weighed Authority It speaks by sentences and acts always to the purpose It supposes a complete man that 's to say who is as much a great person as a mature man So soon as a man ceases to be a Child he begins to be grave and to shew his value MAXIME CCXCIV. To be moderate in ones Opinions All judge according to their interests and abound in their own sense Most men make reason give way to passion Let two be of a contradictory Opinion yet each presumes to have reason on his side But reason that hath always been faithfull hath never had two faces A Wise Man is to reflect upon so nice a point and thereby his doubting will correct the head-strongness of others Let him sometimes go to his adversaries side that he may examine what he grounds upon and that will hinder him from condemning him and so easily arrogating to himself the victory MAXIME CCXCV. To be and not seem to be a man of business Those who have least to doe would appear to be loaded with affairs They make a mystery of every thing and that with the greatest silliness imaginable These are Cameleons of applause but are heartily laughed at by every body Vanity is insupportable every where but here it is flouted at These little Pismires of honour go a-begging the glory of great exploits Shew as little as thou canst thy most eminent qualities Rest satisfied to doe and leave it to others to talk of it Give thy good actions but sell them not Golden Pens must never be hired to write upon dirt which is an Eye-sore to all men of sense Strive rather to be a Heroe than to shew it Those says he in the Chapter of his Discreet entituled Hazasleria pretend to most business who have least because they go a-hunting after occasions and magnifie them They set a great value upon things that are worth less than nothing They make a mystery of every thing and the smallest matter is to them a Prodigy All their affairs are the prime transactions of the world and all their actions exploits Their whole life is a train of Miracles to be published by the Trumpet of Fame They have nothing that 's common every thing is singular in them whether it be Valour Knowledge or Fortune All vanity is justly reckoned foppish but bragging is intolerable Wise Men make it more their honour to be great than to appear so But these men rest satisfied with the bare appearance To love to appear is so far from being a mark of sublimity in them that on the contrary it is a demonstration of a low mind since the least thing appears as much to them as the greatest Pride is offensive every where but chiefly here They meet with contempt where they look for esteem When they fansie to themselves that they will be admired they find themselves exposed to the derision of all men Their vanity proceeds not at all from the greatness of Soul but from the lowness of Heart seeing they aspire not to true honour but onely to shews not to real exploits but to brag of them without doing them There are others who would seem to be mighty Ministers great men for magnifying objects there is no business small as to them of Atomes they make a great dust and of a little a great noise They give themselves out for men overwhelmed in business and by consequent desirous of repose and leisure They speak onely by mystery their least gesture is a subject of Divination They make great exclamations and then that they may the more surprize stop short like to the Machines of
Gianello della Torre of as great noise and as little profit There is a great deal of difference nay and contrariety betwixt great Doers and great Talkers For the more brave actions the former doe the less they affect to speak of them They are satisfied to doe and leave it to others to tell what they have done and though others should be silent yet the things themselves would sufficiently speak The second sell at a dear rate what others give gratis They publish it with sound of Trumpet and for want of Pens enough amongst those of Fame they hire golden Pens that 's to say mercenary Pens to make them write dirty Characters And then he concludes in these terms The Pens of Fame are not of Gold because they are neither to be sold nor hired but they have a better sound than the finest Silver they are of no value but they bestow it upon merit To this may be added what Diogenes said one day to a young bragadocio who alledged to him the multitude of his business That it became him well to ape the Woman MAXIME CCXCVI. The man of value and majestick qualities The great qualities make the great men One of these alone is equivalent to all the indifferent put together Heretofore a man made it his honour to have nothing but what was great in his house even to the most common utensils By much stronger reason ought a great man to endeavour that all the qualities of his mind be great As every thing is immense and infinite in God so ought all things to be great and majestick in a Heroe So that all his actions nay and all his words should be cloathed with a transcendent majesty MAXIME CCXCVII. To doe all things as in the presence of witnesses That is a man worthy of consideration who considers that men behold him or will behold him He knows that the walls hear and that wicked actions would rather burst than not get out Even then when he is alone he acts as if he were in the presence of all men because he knows that all things will be known He looks upon these as present witnesses who by their discovery will be so afterwards That man was not afraid that his Neighbours should keep a Register of all he did in his house who desired that all men might see it MAXIME CCXCVIII The ready Wit the profound Judgment and the quaint Discerning These three things make a Prodigy and are the greatest gift of Divine bounty It is a great advantage to conceive well a greater to reason well and above all to have a good understanding Wit ought not to be in the back-bone which would render it more painfull than sharp To think well is the fruit of being rational At twenty years of age the Will reigns at thirty the Wit at fourty the Judgment There are Wits which like the eyes of the Lynx of themselves send forth light and are most intelligent when the obscurity is greatest There are others who are extemporary and hit always upon that which is pattest to the purpose They are always ready furnished and with what is good too A most happy fecundity But a discerning judgment seasons the whole life MAXIME CCXCIX To leave with an Appetite Men are to be left with the Nectar upon their lips Desire is the standard of esteem Even in bodily thirst it is a skilfull management to provoke it and not to satisfie it wholly The good is doubly good when there is but little of it The abatement is great at the second bout Too full an enjoyment is dangerous For it causes the highest perfection to be despised The onely rule to please is to find an appetite left with a desire If it be to be provoked let it rather be by the impatience of longing than the glut of enjoyment A felicity that costs pains gives double contentment MAXIME CCC In a word to be Holy That is to say all at once Vertue is the chain of all perfections and the centre of all felicity It renders a man prudent attentive circumspect wise valiant reserved sincere fortunate plausible true and a Heroe in all things Three things make him happy Health Wisedom and Holiness Vertue is the Sun of the Microcosme and a good Conscience is its Hemisphere It is so lovely that it gains the favour both of Heaven and Earth Nothing but it is amiable and nothing hatefull but Vice Vertue is a thing in good earnest every thing else is but mockery Capacity and Grandure are to be measured by Vertue and not by fortune Vertue stands in need of nothing but it self It renders man amiable in this life and memorable after death Principibus placuisse viris non ultima laus est Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum Hor. Ep. 17. lib. 1. Epist THE END Books Sold by Abel Swalle at the Unicorn at the West-end of St. Paul ' s. A Companion to the Temple or a Help to Devotion in the Use of the Common Prayer divided into four Parts Part 1. Of Morning and Evening Prayer Part 2. Of the Litany with the Occasional Prayers and Thanksgivings Part 3. Of the Communion-office with the Offices of Baptism and Catechism and Confirmation Part 4. Of the Occasional-Offices viz. Matrimony Visitation of the Sick c. the whole being carefully corrected and now put in one Volume by Tho. Comber D. D. Folio Forty Sermons whereof Twenty one are now first published the greatest part of them Preached before the King and on Solemn Occasions by Rich. Allestree D. D. with an Account of the Authour's Life in Folio The Works of Mr. Abraham Cowley consisting of those which were formerly printed and those designed for the Press and now published out of the Authour 's Original Papers The Eighth Edition Folio The second Part of the Works of Mr. Abraham Cowley being what was written in his younger years and now reprinted together The fifth Edition The Case of Resistance of the Supreme Powers Stated and Resolved according to the Doctrine of the Holy Scripture By William Sherlock D. D. in Octavo A Vindication of the Rights of Ecclesiastical Authority being an Answer to the First Part of the Protestant Reconciler by William Sherlock D. D. and Master of the Temple in Octavo Pet. Dan. Nuetii de interpretatione Libri 2. duo quarum prior est de optimo Genere interpretandi alter de claris interpret c. in Octavo The Case of Compelling Men to the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper considered and Authority Vindicated in it by the Rules of the Gospel and from the Common and Popular Objections against it by the Authour of the Charge of Scandal omitted in the late Collection L. Coelii Lactantii Firmiani Opera quae extant ad fidem M SS recognita Commentariis illustrata Tho. Spark A. M. Oxonii è Theatro Sheldoniano A Sermon Preached before the King at White-hall Novemb. 23. 1684. by Gilb. Ironside D. D. Warden of Wadham College in Oxon c. A Sermon preached at St. Margarets Westminster May the 29th 1685. before the Honourable House of Commons by William Sherlock D. D. Master of the Temple and Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty Elenchus Motuum nuperorum in Anglia or a short Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the late Troubles in England In two Parts Written in Latine by Dr. George Bates Principal Physician to King Charles the First and King Charles the Second Motus Compositi or the History of the Composing the Affairs of England by the Restauration of King Charles the Second and the Punishment of the Regicides and other Principal Occurrents to the year 1669. Written in Latine by Tho. Skinner M. D. Made English To which is added a Preface by a Person of Quality and in the Body on the Work several choice Original Papers an Account of which is given in the end of the Preface Some Discourses lately published against the Papists A Discourse about the Charge of Novelty Quarto About Tradition Quarto A Discourse concerning a Guide in Matters of Faith Quarto A Discourse concerning the Invocation of Saints Quarto A Discourse concerning the Unity of the Catholick Church maintained in the Church of England Quarto A Discourse concerning Auricular Confession Quarto A Discourse against Transubstantiation Quarto A Discourse against Purgatory Quarto A Discourse concerning the Object of Religious Worship Quarto A Discourse concerning the Adoration of the Host Quarto