no eye to Punishment but flows from the heart as the Suns rayes do from its own fountain of Light Do not the best Parents esteem those children most who love them truest and whose obedience is an effect of that Love and we reckon it somewhat a sign of a bad disposition to be good only from fear of the Rod Strive therefore my Son as the most acceptable sacrifice to God ever and truly to love him to love his Commands as pleasant in themselves and therefore chosen by God to be his Commands For be assured that God has commanded nothing but what is good for them to whom he gives it and delightful too were it not for reluctancies begotten in us either by the perversion of nature or the impediments which the depraved world put upon it Of Reading Meditating and going to Church Though Reading of good Books and going to Church frequent discourses with wise and good men Meditation with thy self be very good means of acquiring and improving thy knowledge yet these things thou must not make thy end but the means rather for the better accomplishment of the end The main end for which thou takest pains in all these particulars is to lead an honest and good life well pleasing to God just and regardful to thy Neighbour and thy self Never therefore go to Church meerly for shew nor take upon thee the semblance of that which men call Religion for thy profit It will denote thee a Hypocrite the worst and most contemptible sort of men odious to God to those who are good and in time to thy self It debases Religion and makes it serve the vilest purposes Whatever the professions of men are and how great soever their shews of Sanctity from the constancy of going to Church and the frequency of private exercise yet must not these things denote them true Christians unless the goodness of their lives not only in their avoiding of the most noted vices as Whoredome Drunkenness Profaness c. but also in forbearing and detesting the less noted and more injurious crimes of oppression extortion covetousness hard and unjust dealing high mindedness and overweening of themselves severe censuring of others hard-heartedness want of Charity and natural affection which are crimes I say more destructive to mankind and in my opinion not in the least to excuse the other much more hateful to God Whatsoever therefore thou takest up of publick or private duty as it is call'd exercise it with a sincere mind but let thy acquisition of Knowledge be always in order to the bettering thy life not for vain-glory or to be esteemed better than thy Neighbour If thy business be the Practice of Physick the exercise of Trade or whatever employment else let me forewarn thee that thou take not up any mode of Religion in order to the improvement of thy employment but let that depend wholly on thy painful endeavours to acquire a valuable ability in thy profession and in a just and conscientious discharge of the same Of Praying to God Besides hearing concerning which the former paragraph is chiefly meant there are two other particulars in which our applications to God Almighty chiefly consist And they are Praising of God and Praying to God concerning each of which I shall advise thee And first of Praying to God Conceive that Prayer ought to be a serious and premeditated application to his Divine Majesty for the obtaining of something that we want or the continuance of what we enjoy or the averting some evil we have deserved Here we are well to consider who it is to whom we apply our selves that the greatest King nay were there an Universal Monarch of this Earthly Globe to whom all Kings bow'd he were as nothing not so much in dignity as a Mote in the Sun compared to the Majesty of Heaven to whom notwithstanding men every day make hasty irreverent and trivial applications O my Son this is a matter of mighty weight And therefore whensoever thou makest thy addresses to God do it with the due consideration of the following Particulars 1. Let thy Prayer be for what thou wantest or for the continuance of what thou hast just cause to fear he will take from thee or averting of some deserved punishment 2. Let it not be hastily or unadvisedly exprest nor mixt with numerous and impertinent particulars but proportioned to the quality and extent of thy want in which the need it self must guide thee 3. Avoid Tautologies and vain Repetitions which imply affectation in Prayer and disrespect to him thou addressest to The Primitive Christians were longer in fixing their hearts in a fit posture for Prayer than in Prayer it self and it is very considerable that we find among them no Prayers of length but only private ejaculations and the short form that our Saviour himself hath set us 4. Take heed that thou never makest Prayer an Opus operatum a work done ending in it self a form of words spoken like a Parrot without premeditation and the concurrence of the mind but from the impulse and urgency of thy wants 5. Pray not with doubting but have those just and becoming thoughts of God that since he has permitted thee to pray he will certainly grant thy requests if thou prayest as thou oughtest that is not in formality not out of course and custome not to be seen of men but because thou art the submissive Son of a gracious Father alwayes ready to hear and infinitely able to accomplish whatsoever his obedient Children shall request of him if therefore we miss of what we desire we must impute it not to Gods unwillingness to hear but to some great defect in our selves for want whereof our Prayers justly become ineffectual 6. Consider likewise that Prayer seems to be rather a priviledge than a duty a gracious concession to us that when we are in straits and difficulties in terrors and disquiets of mind or bodily wants or afflictions we have the freedom allowed us yea and a fatherly invitation to make our applications to God for relief 'T is well pleasing indeed to God that those who are good and lead their lives in a careful obedience to his Laws do make their applications to his Majesty in their distresses but the profit redounds to our selves and 't is then God's special time to assist his Children when they can find no other way of relief 7. Lastly let the ground of thy hopes in obtaining thy desires be chiefly the goodness and mercy of God and his promise to hear those who pray in Faith and as they ought But withal think not that thy honest and good life is not necessary for obtaining thy Suit A debauched and lewd Son has little encouragement to expect that his Father should give him what he desires whilst he continues in the course of his lewdness And though God be full of mercy taking delight in the exercise thereof yet is it to the good and penitent not to the obstinate and contemptuous
life which he must also foreknow he cannot avoid for otherwise he could not foreknow them How would it sower and imbitter all his present injoyments to be acquainted before hand that shortly he must break his Leg at another time have his house burnt or lose his Wife and Children or Estate sufficient certainly is the sorrow of each day for it self How does it make the countenance of men and their Spirits to fall when upon losses or other accidents they find the feilure of their Estates and in a short time to their apprehensions an inevitable breaking certainly the anxiety before it happens is greater than after when the worst being known and the discredit digested which is but an imaginary reproach the mind by degrees is quieted Let us therefore give thanks to Almighty God who out of his abundant wisdom and loving kindness to man hath denied us what we so eagerly covet and what would tend to our so great vexation Let us with humble and thankful hearts enjoy the present and so lead our lives that our assurances of the future enjoyment of God in the mansions and society of the blessed may make us contentful in any condition here since it will be but a little time before we shall be possest of eternal beatitude hereafter Of Pride It is meet that I say something of Pride because it is a general vice the cause of much yea most of the evils in the World and not only very prejudicial to others but to our selves also The foundations of it are ignorance and presumption Ignorance I say for though men accounted knowing are very incident to it yet it alwayes arises from their folly in having a better opinion of themselves than they deserve This is evident from this undeniable truth That there is no man without numerous defects the knowledg of the best is poor low and imperfect the possessions of all uncertain matters depending much upon chance exposed to numerous casualties wholly extraneous to man and their estimation depending upon vain opinion Pride has alwayes something of Herods fault for which he was eaten up of Vermine for arrogating honour to himself which is due only to God It makes him apt to practical Atheism that is to rely upon and attribute what he obtains to his own parts and consequently to think he has no need of God But see the consequence of it in the 16 of the Proverbs the 18. Pride goes before destruction and a haughty Spirit before a fall For such contemning God are justly despised by him and then follows that of St. James c. 4. v. 6. He resisteth the proud but sheweth grace to the humble and that of St. Luke 1.51 He scattereth the Proud in the imaginations of their hearts This is true of private persons and of States both which are nearest to destruction when they appear most arrogant and secure It is common with proud men to use an hypocritical humbleness to invite thereby greater respect from others by which they tacitly confess their own unworthiness of which they are justly conscious and bewray the baseness of their own minds They who have most of worth abominate such practices decline it themselves and hate it in others All kind of honour as it should be the recompence of Vertue and true worth so should it flow freely from others who are benefited by good Actions but should never be sought by our selves yea should be avoided not out of a fallacious design of gaining otherwise thereby but from a true sense of our own imperfections and because it is but our duty to do all the good we can That saying of the Poet Contempt of Fame is the contempt of Vertue is grounded upon a false supposition that the motive to Vertue is applause whereas indeed it should arise from a sense of its own excellency and that God has commended it to human practice as that which carries in itself the blessed fruits of peace joy and the solace of the mind as the greatest means of happiness this world can afford us And hence is it that Christ disswaded his followers from accepting worldly Honours Dominion Praise and all other the esteemed darlings of corrupted men preferring to them peace of Conscience here and assurances of real felicities hereafter Consider well of this and let thy mind my Son possess the knowledg thereof lead thy life in conformity to it for thereby thou wilt avoid many evils which the proud are exposed to It s remedy is humility grounded upon a just esteem of our selves and of others In our selves we are chiefly to consider how much we want of what we should be and here we can hardly be mistaken in others to value what we see worthy in them and to consider how easily they may attain if they exceed not already what we judge good in our selves to weigh above all that we are all born for the good one of another and that there is no greater evil to human Society than for us so to love our selves as to be detrimental to others that the love of our selves is the rule and extent of our love to others that 't is Christs great Commandment That no man can truly love God whom he hath not seen if he love not his brother whom he hath seen That we should make our selves equal to men of low degree peradventure as being the best or as having most need of incouragement or to shew that men are not to be esteemed for their riches or disesteemed for their poverty but all are to be lov'd and the vertuous chiefly to be respected Man will soon cease to be proud if he well considers that he has nothing to be proud of not of Wealth or what is purchased by it for 't is no part of himself 't is full of uncertainty the fool or vitious may be master of it as well as the wise and vertuous Not of Honour for if it arise not from good and worthy Actions 't is a false Coin and is therefore contemptible If it be the effect of true desert the foundation of that desert which is vertue will teach him to think meanly of it since vertue praises it self with its own contentment and is rather diminished than satisfied by reward especially since it cannot but be conscious of coming abundantly short of its duty being attended with many defects which are too well known to the possessor Not of Learning and great Parts since both of them are but acquisitions to promote common good and no further valuable but as they do so which carry with them when in the best manner exercised solace and contentment of Mind The great Apostle St. Paul which next to his and our blessed Master did the most good in the world protested that he had nothing to glory in But the Cross of Christ and that he was counted worthy to suffer for the giving testimony to that blessed Name and the profession of his Discipleship renouncing all esteem that might otherwise arise
Vitious Companions Keep him by your own examples to business which make pleasant to him and entertain him in the intervals with delightful and harmless diversions Study all the wayes you can to continue him in his new and good resolutions and be assured that of your pains and Charge in this particular you will never repent For admitting the worst that notwithstanding all means used he should continue perverse and unreclaimable yet this comfort will attend you that you have done but what Heaven does who is wanting in nothing necessary for the recovery of lost Sinners and that no blame remains upon you in ommitting any needful course in such a case requisite And now I grow weary of Counselling and indeed enough has been said if you prove considerate and will give an attentive ear to the instructions of a Father that most intirely loves all his Children and is therefore thus solicitous for their good Whilst I am living I will indeavour to fashion your minds aright when I am dead let this speak to you For your Fathers sake be as regardful of these Counsels as you would be of your Father I will end all with a Prayer to the Fountain of Goodness God of Heaven and Earth in whom is all Perfection the only God Give ear to and accept the humble supplication of thy Servant however unworthy let not I beseech thee my Sins and infirmities render my petition ineffectual For thou art all Goodness and Mercy It is not Riches I desire Honours or any other of the fadeing and mean things of this World but that thou would'st fashion and form the hearts of my Children so that they may love thee above all things and be truly obedient to all thy Commands manifested in thy sacred Word And though that word duly meditated upon with a sincere heart in order to the information of the understanding and guidance of the will be sufficient to make us wise unto Salvation yet since the minds of youth are every way beset with multitude of Temptations apt to mislead them into paths of Perdition and since thou hast also promised that thou wilt be aiding and assisting with those silent and to us undiscoverable wayes of turning the hearts of men to a due fear and love of thee and thy Laws I humbly beseech thee to afford thy aiding Grace in their restraint from Sin and inclinations to all Christian Vertues That they may see and detest the Loathsomeness of sin in whatsoever dress it is represented to them and that they may chearfully imbrace and follow the dictates of Truth and Realities of that only Religion which was commended to our practice by the words and example of the ever blessed Jesus the glorious Author and Founder thereof That they may distinguish between Truth and Falshood between Truth and dissembled appearances that they may love and follow the one and abhor the other as opposite to the pure eyes of the all-seeing God Touch their hearts with the secret radiations of thy blessed Spirit suggesting to them This is the way that they may walk in it and commend it to their Childrens Children through all Generations I rely Glorious God upon thy Fatherly goodness thy mercies are as rivers of Oyl soft and healing my rest and desires are in thee O thou rock of my Salvation The End THE CONTENTS OF Mans happiness and wherein it consists p. 1. No conversation with Atheists p. 3. The best means to avoid Atheism p. 4. Of Conscience p. 9. Of the Scriptures p. 20. Of the fear of God p. 27. Of Reading Meditating and going to Church p. 29. Of Praying to God p. 31. Of Praising God p. 34. Of the word Sacrament p. 36. Of Ceremonious institution p. 37. Of Baptism p. 41. Of the Lords Supper p. 50. Of Justice p. 55. Of oppressing the Conscientious p. 59. Of the minds victory over the passions p. 71. Of industry and business p. 74. Against Covetousness p. 75. Of Truth p. 77. Of Wisdom p. 81. Of the chief good p. 92. Of felicity ib. Of Fortitude p. 93. Of Meekness p. 105. Of humility and patience p. 106. Concerning moderating our desires p. 111. Of helping the distressed p. 113. Not to be Contentious p. 114. Of Revenge p. 117. Of heightning the differences of others p. 119. Of Temperance p. 123. Concerning Dyet and Apparel p. 127. Of Chastity p. 129. Of the prosperity of the wicked p. 133. Of constancy in good resolutions p. 135. Of secrecy and reservation p. 137. Of going to Law p. 141. Of Recreation p. 144. Of Gentility p. 152. Concerning the choice of thy Profession p. 154. Of the choice of a Wife p. 163. The happiness of a married life requires that both be good p. 167. A vitious Father seldom makes good Children p. 168. The concernment to the Family that the Master be a good man p. 170. Of boldness or confidence p. 172. Of ceremonious behaviour p. 173. Of Deformity p. 175. Of a single life p. 176. Of Expences p. 180. Of Tobacco p. 183. Of contentment in our present condition p. 188. About the foreknowledg of futurities p. 189. Of Pride p. 193. That it is better to live upon a mans own private business than publick offices or imployments p. 197. What esteem is due to Arts. p. 198. Of educatation in Schools and Vniversities p. 199. Of learning the Latin Tongue ibid. Of Logick p. 205. Of Rhetorick p. 212. Of opinion p. 217. Of strength of Body p. 225. Of agility of Body p. 226. Of quickness of Wit ibid. Of the love that ought to be between Brothers and their Sisters p. 228. A Prayer p. 232. The end
Antiquities of these times or places examine the Original if thou canst or consult the opinions and explication of those Authors who are most learned and especially of such as are most esteemed for integrity and least obnoxious to self-interest or the service of any party yet so consider what is said by them as that thou mayest not be swayed by their Authority or popular estimation but ever use thy own understanding and be judge for thy self of what thou readest making always Truth and nothing else the end of thy search that as near as thou canst nothing may be entertain'd by thee but what is consonant thereunto and that by thus using thy parts thou mayest be at all times able to give an account to others of what thou believest as therewith to satisfie thy self Lastly Let me enjoyn thee never to speak slightly or irreverently of the Scriptures for 't is the way that leads to the doubting of God and his Providence The most undeniable instances and demonstrations of both we have from thence For though natural Religion afford us great demonstrations of the reality and necessity of a Divine Being and the continuance of the World in its just order implies that the same Transcendent Being takes cares in the regulation and preservation of what he has made yet would these natural impressions daily fade and impair in us were they not frequently reviv'd by the instructions of good men and the frequent hearing and perusal of the Holy Scriptures And let it be ever spoken to the Honour of that Divine Book that all the good documents therein contained are but lively expressions of what God first wrote with his own finger in the Table of our hearts All these reluctancies and shudderings of Conscience these drawings back and internal whispers against proceeding in any evil action which the better we are the more urgent we find are but Conservators of the first Copy and original of the Laws by which God Almighty intended to bound Mankind and which he after exemplified in the Life of Christ and in the Rules which occasionally flow'd from him and his followers The best Municipal Laws that any Countrey or any Order of men have contriv'd for the happiness of mans Life and preservation of the publick Peace are abundantly short of what is in this Book contained and wherein any Laws of men are opposite to the Rules of Scripture there mayest thou safely conclude that they are not good or for a good end established but in order to some unworthy and indirect Interest which intimately examine and thoâ— shalt find it in equal opposition to the Life and Doctrines of our blessed Jesus Keep therefore my Son close to the instructions of this Heavenly Book have it always in just respect and reverence prefer it before all the Writings in the World examine all laws practices and designs of men by it Give no ear to those loose Spirits who speak irreverently and contemptuously of it and though thy whole Library burn think not thy self unfurnish'd as long as thou retainest or canst purchase the Bible Thus my dear Son have I taken some pains to perswade thee to give all reverence willing submission acknowledgement and adoration to Almighty God and prompted thee thereunto from the contemplation of his works in the Creation and Conservation of the World and the direction of the two great and agreeable Lights that of Conscience and this of the Scriptures I shall now proceed to the more particular actions of thy Life For though the Light of Nature and Scripture be a rule adaequate to whatsoever may fall out in thy Life and which if thou beest true to thy self will furnish thee with the knowledge of what is best in every occurrence yet a Fathers Love cannot rest here but must proceed to instructions more particular referring especially to what I conceive may most probably fall out either too hard for thy opposition as wherein I observe men commonly to fail or of such a nature as that men pass it over too regardlesly and supinely and yet in such things as are of great moment and high concernment to the felicity or infelicity of Humane Life In doing whereof I would have thee favour me so far as not to look for any exact method I shall not be sollicitous about it but set down things as they come in my mind or occasion brings them in In defect of a Method I may perhaps make thee a Table referring to the particulars or if I do not it will be no time lost to make one for thy self Of the Fear of God 1. Thou art often advis'd in Scripture to fear God and it is said to be the Beginning of Wisdome This is most excellent Counsel for he that fears God avoids whatsoever is Evil and consequently ever makes the best choice which is the manifestation of Wisdome Yet I would have thee understand that this Fear ought to be inseparable from Love 'T is not such a fear as we have of a Tyrant whose yoak we would ever shake off if we knew how but such a fear as a good Child has of a very loving Father and is indeed no other but Love varied in the expression He that loves God and follows the Dictates of that Love will do nothing displeasing to him And what can Fear do more Were Love in perfection there would be no Fear Fear is therefore from the imperfection of Love Hence St. John saith 1 Ep. c. 4. v. 18. There is no Fear in Love but perfect Love casteth out Fear because Fear hath torment or pain He that Feareth is not made perfect in Love Consider likewise that Fear is the fruit of Self-Love which prompts us to avoid the sin only to escape the punishment not because we detest sin or because 't is contrary to Gods command but that we may not endure the penalties which are the wages of it Such a Fear as this the Devils themselves have it is therefore not to be the motive against Sinning to the Children of God He that refrains from sin upon this account only loses not the love and desire to sin and does therefore still sin in his Heart He would not continue to be innocent if he could contract guilt without punishment God will never be displeas'd with obedience as it is an effect of Love and questionless loves them best who so obey him Fear was put in because of the perversion of our Natures and because we ceast to be good from the admiration of Gods Excellency and Love to Goodness it was therefore expedient that we should know that there were punishments which would certainly follow those who broke his commands and would not be restrain'd by Love In the mean time take notice my Son that God has most delight in uncompell'd Goodness the sweet bloomings and productions of Love and therefore would have all fear resolve into this where vertue is delight and goodness the pleasure of the Soul where Obedience has