man is a true wonder for it is not from himselfe that hee is so But that I see so many wicked I meruaile not 'T is easier running downe the hill then climing it They that are this way giuen haue much the aduantage of them that follow goodnesse Besides those inclinations that sway the soule to vice the way is broader and more ready hee that walkes through a large field hath onely a narrow path to guide him right in the way but on either side what a wide roome he hath to wander in Euery vertue hath two vices that close her vp in curious limits and if shee swerues though but a little she suddenly steps into errour Fortitude hath Feare and Rashnesse Liberalitie Auarice and Prodigalitie Iustice hath Rigor and Partialitie Thus euery good mistresse hath two bad seruants which hath made some to define vertue to bee nothing but a meane betweene two vices wherof one leads to excesse the other to defect making her like the roofe of a Church on whose top wee scarce find roome to turne a foote in but on either side a broad road to ruine in which if we once be falling our stay is rare our recouery a miracle The man that is rare in vice I will neuer admire if he goes but as hee is driuen hee may soone be witty in euill but the good man I will worthily magnifie he it is can saile against the wind make the thorny way pleasant and vnintangle the incumcumbrances of the world XI What sinne is there that we may account or little or veniall vnlesse comparatiuely seeing there is none so small but that without repentance is able to sinke the soule in eternall Damnation Who will thinke that a slight wound which giues a sodaine Inlet to Death But should wee grant this errour yet these of all other I obserue the most dangerous both for their frequency and secrecie the one increasing them to a large heape the other so couering them as we see not how they wrōg vs The raine that fals in smallest drops moistens the earth makes it mire slimy and durte whereas a hard showre that descēds violētly washeth away but soakes not in Euen the smallest letters are more hurtfull to the sight then those that are written with a text pen. Great sinnes and publicke I will auoide for their scandal wonder lesser priuate for their danger and multitude both because my God hates them I cannot if I loue him but abhorre what hee loathes XII Memory and forgetfulnesse are both in friendship necessary Let me remember those kindnesses my friend hath done to mee that I may see his loue and learne gratitude Let mee forget those benefits I haue performed to him lest they shuffle out the effect of my loue and tell mee hee is requited Thus may we together increase our friendship and comforts otherwise a man may haue many acquaintances but no friends though vnthankefulnes banisheth loue Gratitude obtaines a repealement XIII I obserue besides the inward Contents of a peaceable cōscience two things wherein a Christian excels all other men In true Valour In Fidelitie In true Valour that is in a iust quarrell for if his cause bee naught there is none more timerous then hee and indeed to shew much Courage in a bad matter is rather a token of desperate folly then any badge of a magnanimous minde but in a iust cause he is bold as a Lyon Nothing can daunt his euer vndaunted minde Not Infamy for he knowes in this his share is not worse then his Masters while it is for his names sake he knowes he is in it blessed If there bee any Nectar in this life 't is in sorrowes wee indure for goodnesse Besides hee weighes not how he fals to the world and men so he may stand firme to his heauenly Father That God we fight for is able enough to vindicate al our wrongs Not afflictions how many did Iob and the Apostles wade through with Courage with Content These he knowes are heere but for a time transient and momentany neither shall the Israelites liue alwayes vnder the tyranny of Pharaoh or the trauels of the Wildernes He knowes also the more abundant in sorrowes heere the more abundant in ioyes hereafter His teares shall returne in smiles his weepings in a streame of pleasures God doth not recompence with a niggardly hand hee shall finde his ioyes as an ouer-flowing Sea and his glory beyond thought exuberant Not Death for he knowes that wil be his happiest day and his bridge from woe to glory Though it bee the wicked mans shipwracke 't is the good mans putting into harbour where striking sayles and casting Anchor he returnes his lading with aduantage to the owner that is his soule to God leauing the bulke still mored in the Hauen who is vnrigg'd but onely to be new built againe and fitted for an eternall voyage Had not Christians had this solace how should the Martyrs haue dyed so merrily leaping for ioy that they were so neere their home and their heauen dying often like Samson among his enemies more victory attending their end then proceedings Ah peerelesse Valiance vnconquerable Fortitude Secondly in Fidelitie There is no friendship like the friendship of Faith Nature Educatiō Benefits cannot all together tye so strong as this Christianitie knits more sure more indissoluble This makes a knot that Alexander cannot cut For as grace in her selfe is farre aboue nature so likewise is she in her effects and therefore vnites in a far more durable bond And a Christian though he would resolue with himselfe to deale double yet if he be sincere in spight of his resolution his conscience will rate him checke him and deny him to doe it nay though he would he cannot resolue He that is borne of God sinnes not and the Spirit of sanctification will not let him resolue vpon ill This is that Fidelity that wee finde and admire in many that haue chosen rather to embrace the flame dye in silence then to reueale their Companions and Brethren in Christ Tyrants shal sooner want inuention for torments then they with tortures be made treacherous The League that heauen hath made hell wants power to breake Who can separate the coniunctions of the Deitie Againe as well in reproofe as in kindnesse doth his loue appeare For howsoeuer hee conceales his friends faults from the eye of the world yet hee affectionately tels him of them in priuate not without some sorrow on his owne part for his brothers fall He scornes to be so base as to flatter and he hates to bee so currish as to bite In his reprehensions he mingles Oyle and Vineger hee is in them plaine and louing Inuiolable amitie Inualuable loue Heere is met Courage and Constancy one to withstand an Enemie an other to entertaine a friend Giue me any foe rather thē a resolued Christian no friend vnlesse a man truely honest A father is a ready treasurie a brother an infallible comfort
some tokens both of life and Recouery This makes him spring causes him to begin to bud againe vnburies his lost light and by little and little recollects his decayed strength of the apprehension of Gods Spirit so sets him in the way to ioy and renued courses But lastly Faith appeares and perfects vvhat Repentance beganne and could not finish she cheeres vp his drooping hopes brings him againe to his wonted solace spreads out his leaues blowes vp his fainting fire to a bright flame makes him like the Moone in her full glory indues him with a plenteous fruition of the presence of the Almighty and neuer leaues him till he be resettled in his full ioy contentment happinesse Thus while he sinnes he is a Decressant when he repents a Cressant when his faith shines cleere at full Yet in all these while hee liues heere hee is subiect to change sometime like a Beacon on a Hill he is seen a farre off and to all sometime like a Candle in a house neerer hand and only to his familiars sometimes like a Lampe vnder a bushel he is obscur'd to all yet in all he burnes though in some insensibly and is neuer without one sound consolation in the worst of all these for as the Moone when shee is least visible is a Moone as well as when wee see her in her full proportion onely the Sunne lookes not on her vvith so full an aspect and shee reflects no more then she receiues from him So a Christian in his lowest ebb of sorrow is the Childe of God as well as when hee is in his greatest flow of comfort onely the Sunne of Righteousnesse darts not the beames of his loue so plentifully and hee shewes no more then God giues him When God hides his face man must languish his with-drawings are our miseries his presence our vnfailing Ioy. Sinne may cast mee in a trance it cannot slay mee it may bury my heat for a time it cannot extinguish it it may make me in the wane it cannot change my beeing it may accuse it shal not condemn Though GOD depriue mee of his presence for a time hee will one day re-inlighten mee pollish mee and crowne mee for euer where the Moone of my inconstant ioy shall change to a Sunne and that Sunne shall neuer set beclouded or eclypsed XXIX In expences I would bee neither pinching nor prodigall yet if my meanes allow it not rather thought too sparing then a little profuse 't is no disgrace to make my ability my Compasse of saile and line to walke by I see what I may doe others but what I doe they looke to what I spend as they thinke mee able I must looke to what my estate will beare nor can it be safe to straine it at all 't is fit I should respect my owne abilitie before their forward expectation Hee that when hee should not spends too much shal when he would not haue too little to spend 'T was a witty reason of Diogenes why he asked a halfe-penny of the thrifty man and a pound of the prodigall the first hee said might giue him often but the other e're long would haue none to giue Yet say I had to dispend freely as to bee too neere hauing enough I esteeme sordid so to spend superfluously though I haue abundance I account one of follies deepest ouer-sights There is better vse to bee made of our talents then to cast them away in waste God gaue vs them not to spend vainely but to imploy for profit for gaine XXX As the Needle in a Dyall remoued from his point neuer leaues his quiuering motion till it settles it selfe in the iust place it alway stands in So fares it with a Christian in this world nothing can so charme him but hee will still minde his Sauiour all that put him out of the quest of Heauen are but disturbāces Though the pleasures profits and honours of this life may sometime shuffle him out of his vsuall course yet he wauers vp and downe in trouble runnes to and fro like Quick-siluer and is neuer quiet within till hee returnes to his wonted life and inward happinesse there he sets down his rest in a sweet vnperceiued inward content vvhich though vnseene to others hee esteemes more then all that the world cals by the name of felicity they are to him as May-games to a Prince fitter for children then the Royaltie of a Crowne It shall not more grieue me to liue in a continued sorrow then it shall ioy mee to finde a secret perturbation in the worlds choycest solaces If I finde my ioy in them without vnquietnesse that vvill proue a burdensome mirth For finding my affections settle to them without resistance I cannot but distrust my selfe of trusting them too much A full delight in earthly things argues a neglect of heauenly I can hardly think him honest that loues a Harlot for her brauery more then his Wife for her vertues But while an inward distaste shewes mee these Cates vnsauourie if my ioy bee vncompleat in these terrene felicities my inward vnsettlednesse in them shall make my content both sufficient and full XXXI Strange is the inchantment that the world works on vs when she smiles and lookes merrily 't is iustly matter of amazement for a man to grow rich and retaine a minde vn-altered yet are not all men changed alike though all in something admit variation The Spider kills the man that cures the Ape Fortunes effects are variable as the natures she works vpon some while their baskets grow more full their mindes are higher and rise they now know not those friends that were lately their companions but as a Tyrant among his Subiects growes haughty and proud so they among their familiars scorne and contemne spurning those with arrogant disdaine which but of late they thought as worthy as themselues or better high fortunes are the way to high mindes pride is vsually the child of riches Contempt too often sits in the seat vvith Honour Who haue we knowne so imperious in Offices as the man that was borne to beggery As these rise so some fall and that which should satiate their desire increaseth it which is euer accompanied with this vnhappines that it will neuer bee satisfied this makes them baser by beeing wealthier profit though with drudgerie they hugge with close armes All vices debase man but this makes a Master a slaue to his seruant a drudge to his slaue and him that GOD set ouer all this puts vnder all Pittifull that man when good things are present should search for ill that he should so care for riches as if they were his owne yet so vse them as if they were anothers that when hee might bee happy in spending them will bee miserable in keeping them and had rather dying leaue wealth to his enemies then beeing aliue relieue his friends Thus as one aspires the other descends both extremes and iustly blameable If my estate rise not I hope my minde will bee
burne his linnen because 't is foule they may both returne to their former purity and then to hate is sinfull But as for my friend I will loue both his person and his qualities his qualities first and for them his person Yet in neither will I so hate as to bee a foe to goodnesse nor so loue as to foster Iniquity 'T is a question which is the worst of the two to bee vices friend or vertues enemie LXXIV Next God the good man is the onely friend for when all other slinke out of the way hee onely is a secure harbour for a shipwrackt soule to ride in If he be vpright that be falne in distresse he then relieues him as a brother as a member If lewd yet necessity induceth a commiseration and seeing the glorious Impresse of the Almighties image in him hee can not but for his Fathers sake affect him If hee be poore of God's making by the vnauoidable designement of a supreme prouidence nature incites a reliefe For he knowes not how soone a like lot may fall in his owne ground The same sunne saw Iob both rich and poore to a Prouerbe If his owne ill courses haue brought his decay hee is not so obdurate and flinty but that hee can afford him a hand of compassion to strengthen him a little in the midd'st of disasters hoping that his charitie may either worke his returne or stay him from speedy ruine If he be ill he is a Magistrate to correct and reclaime him if good he is a father to vphold and loue him if rich he reades him a lecture of moderation and discreet disposure tels him not possession but vse diuitiates a man more truely if poore he sets him to Schoole with Paul there to learne Content is plenty tel's how that Pagan Cynick could laugh at riches when he call'd them nothing but fortunes vomit if wise hee is his delight and solace euen the Granar where he leaues his load and lockes his store if ignorant hee instructs him with the Oracles of God dictitates sentences vnto him speakes all tanquam ex tripode Euery way I finde him so beneficiall that the pious vvill not liue but with him and the badde man cannot liue without him Who had salu'd the offending Israelites had not Moses stood vp for to intercede it shall more ioy mee to liue with Christians then men LXXV The hard-hearted man hath misery almost in perfection and there is none more wretched then a man with a conscience feared Other sinners march in the high-way to ruine but hee as hee goes builds a wall at his backe that hee cannot retire to the tent Neither Mercies nor Iudgements winne him at all Not mercies those his pride makes him thinke but his due and while they are but common ones they passe away with his cōmon thoughts Benefits seldome sinke deepe in obdurate minds 't is the soft nature that is soonest taken with a courtesie Not Iudgements for either he reuerberates them back before they pierce as a wal of steele doth a blunt-headed arrow or if they doe perhaps find entrance like the Elephant with the convulsion of his nerues his bodies contraction hee casts out the shaft that sticks within him so still he rests vnmollified for all this raine and haile Warnings to peruerse dispositions are the meanes to make them worse Those plagues and wonders that would haue melted a milder soule only reduced Pharaoh's to a more hard and desperate temper Strange that hee should locke out of his own good with so strong a key so sure a Ward when euery vice that defiles the minde findes both ready and free welcome If I liue in sinne God's first call is mercy I had better goe willingly then be led by constraint 't is fit hee should know the smart of torture that nothing will cause to confesse but the Racke if I finde God whips mee with any sensible stroke I will search the cause then seeke the cure such blowes are the physicke of a bleeding soule but neglected my sinne will be more and my punishment 't is in vaine to bee stubborne with God hee that can crush vs to nothing can turne vs to any thing let mee rather returne speedily and preuent Iudgements then stay obstinately and pull downe more as 't is a happy feare which preuents the offence and the rod so that is a miserable valour which is bold to dare the Almighty LXXVI Some mens Censures are like the blasts of Rammes Hornes before the walles of Iericho all the strength of a mans vertue they lay leuell at one vtterance when all their ground is onely a conceited fancie without any certaine basis to build on What religious minde will not vvith amazement shudder at the peremptorie conclusions where they haue set their period Wondring Man that knowes so little should yet so speake as if he were priuy to all I confesse a man may roue by the outward lineaments what common inclinations rule within yet that Philosopher did more wisely that seeing a faire face with a tongue silent bade him speake that he might see him For the cheeke may be dimpled with a pleasing smile while the heart throbs with vndiscerned dolors and as a cleere face shewes not alwayes a sound body no more is an ingenuous look alwayes the ensigne of a minde vertuous I wil onely walke in Christ's path and learne by their fruits to know them where I want experience charitie bids mee thinke the best and leaue what I know not to the Searcher of heart's Mistakes Suspect and Enuie often iniure a cleere fame there is least danger in a charitable construction In part hee s guilty of the wrong that 's done Which doth beleeue those false reports that runne I will neither beleeue all I heare nor speake all I beleeue A mans good name is like a milke-white ball that will infinitely gather soyle in tossing The act of Alexander in this cause merits an eternall memory that hauing read a Letter with his Fauorite Hephaestion wherein his mother calumniated Antipater tooke his Signet from his finger and appressed his lips with it Coniuring as it were the strict silence of anothers disgrace Oh Alexander this very action was enough to make thee famous who should not in this admire and imitate thee A desire to disgrace another cannot spring from a good roote Malice and basenesse euer dwell with calumnie I will iudge well of euery man whom his owne bad life speakes not ill of if he be bad I 'le hope well what know I show his end may prosper I had better labour to amend him to himselfe then by publishing his vices make him odious to others If hee be good and belongs to God how can I chuse but offend much when I speake ill of a child that is indeared to such a fathers affection God loues his owne tenderly and whosoeuer offers a disgrace to them shall be sure to pay for 't either by teares or torment LXXVII There are
three things especially that a Christian should know His owne Misery Gods Loue his owne thankefull Obedience His misery how iust Gods loue how free how vndeserued his own thankfulnesse how due how necessary Consideration of one successiuely begets the apprehension of all Our misery shewes vs his Loue his Loue cals for our acknowledgement Want makes a bounty weightier if wee thinke on our needs wee cannot but admire his mercies how dull were we if wee should not value the reliefe of our necessities he cannot but esteeme the benefit that vnexpectedly helpes him in his deepest distresse That Loue is most to be prized whose onely motiue is goodnesse The thought of this will forme a disposition gratefull who can meditate so vnbottomed a loue and not study for a thankefull demeanour His minde is crosse to Nature that requites not affection with gratitude All fauours haue this successe if they light on good ground they bring forth thankes Let mee first thinke my misery without my Sauiours mercy next his mercy without my merits and from the meditation of these two my sincerer thankes will spring Though I cannot conceiue of the former as they are Infinite and beyond my thought yet will I so ponder them as they may enkindle the fire of my vnfained and zealous thanksgiuing That time is vvell spent wherein wee studie thankefulnesse LXXVIII Though the fooles of the world think outward beauty the only Iewell that deserueth wearing yet the wise man counts it but an accident that can neither adde nor diminish to the worth of vertue as she is in her selfe so as hee neuer esteemes her more or lesse but as he findes her accomplisht with discretion honesty and good parts If my friend be vertuous and nobly-minded my soule shall loue him howsoeuer his body be framed and if beauty make him amiable I needs must like him much the better the Sunne is more glorious in a cleere sky then when the Horizon is clouded Beauty is the wit of Nature put into the frontispice If there be any humane thing may teach faith reason this is it in other things we imagine more then wee see in this we see more then wee can imagine I haue seene and yet not with a partiall eye such features such mixtures as I haue thought impossible for either Nature to frame or Art to counterfet yet in the same face I haue seene that which hath out-gone them both the Countenance Oh! if such glory can dwell with corruption what celestiall excellencies are in the Saints aboue who would not gaze himselfe into admiration when he shall see so rich a treasure in so pure a Cabinet vnmatched vertue in matchlesse beauty But if my friends body hath more comelinesse then his soule goodnesse I like him the worse for beeing but outwardly faire Wickednesse in beauty is a traytor of the Bed-chamber poison in sweet meates A vitious soule in a beautifull body I account as a Iesuite in the Roabes of a Courtier or somewhat more fitly a Papist that will goe to Church LXXIX As I thinke there are many worse then they seeme so I suppose there are some better then they shew and these are like the growing Chesnut that keepes a sweet nutrimentall kernell included in a rough and prickely huske The other as the Peach hold a rugged and craggy stone vnder the couer of a Veluet Coat I would not deceiue a good man either way both offer a wrong to vertue The one shewes her worse then she is dulling her beauty with dimme colours and presenting her with a harder fauour then her owne The other doth varnish ouer the rottennesse of Vice and makes goodnesse but the vizor for hypocrisie Either are condemnable painting the face is not much worse then wilfull soiling it He is as well a murtherer that accuseth himselfe falsely as he that did the act and denies it One would obscure goodnesse with Vice the other would palliate Vice with goodnesse Fraud is in both and I am sure no Plea can make deceit allowable I will therefore striue to auoid both and with Chrysostom either seeme as I am or bee as I seeme But if I should erre on one side I had rather resemble a plaine Country-man that goes in russet and is rich in reuenues then a riotous Courtier that weares glorious apparell without mony in 's purse LXXX A Christians voyage to heauen is a sentence of three stops Comma Colon Periodus He that repents is come to the Comma and begins to speake sweetly the language of saluation but if he leaues there God vnderstands not such abrupt speeches sorrow alone cannot expiate a Pyrats robberies hee must both leaue his theft and serue his Country ere his Prince wil receiue him to fauour 'T is he that confesseth forsakes his sinne that shal find mercy 't is his leauing his wickednesse that is as his Colon and carries him halfe way to heauen Yet heere also is the Clause vnperfect vnles he goes on to the practice of righteousnesse which as a Period knits vp all and makes the sentence full Returne and penitence is not sufficient for him that hath fled from his Soueraignes banner hee must first doe some valiant act before by the law of Armes hee can bee restored to his former bearing I will not content my selfe with a Comma Repentance helps not when sinne is renued nor dare I make my stay at a Colon not to doe good is to commit euill at least by omission of what I ought to doe before I come to a Period the constant practice of piety I am sure I cannot bee sure of complete glory If I did all strictly I were yet vnprofitable and if God had not appointed my faith to perfect mee miserable If hee were not full of mercies how vnhappy a creature were man LXXXI Euen from naturall reason is the wicked man prou'd to bee sonne vnto Satan and heire of hell and torments For not to speake of heauen where the blessed are happy and al things beyond apprehension excellent euen in the Firmament we see how all things are preserued by a glorions order the Sun hath his appointed circuit the Moone her constant change and euery Planet Starre their proper course and place For as they are called fixed Starres not because they moue not at all but because their motion is insensible and their distances euer the same by reason of the slow motiō of the eighth sphere in which they are So they are not called wandring Planets for that they moue in an vncertaine irregularitie but because those seuen inferiour Orbes wherin they are set are diuersly carried about which makes them appeare sometimes in one place somtimes in another yet euer in the settled place of their owne Orbe whose Reuolutions also are in most strict and euer certain times The earth likewise hath her vnstirred Station the Sea is confin'd in limits and in his ebbings flowings dances as it were after the influence and aspect of