decent Apparel and instead of these florid Fashions Which one Flower in thy Garden one single Tulip far out-shines be clothed with Humility 1 Pet. 5. 5. and put on the Ornament of a meek and quiet Spirit Which is in the sight of God of great Price 1 Pet. 3. 4. And since Garments were given as a covering of Nakedness Gen. 3. 21. O Never make thy shame thy Glory and be not Proud of thy loss and want of Innocence and Perfection Seventhly Let me perswade Young Persons carefully to avoid evil Company And to joyn themselv's to the Society of such as Serve God As ever they value their Reputations as ever they tender the Welfare of their Souls and Bodies as ever they mean to secure their safety as ever they design to promote their temporal and their Eternal Interest this is a Duty which is principally to be regarded Evil Company is the very Bane and Rust of Religion and good morals And all the seeds of Vertue which Christian Parents have most carefully sown tho having taken Root and grown up into a Strong blade yet they have often been soon blasted and consum'd by a swarm of these worse than Egyptian Locusts O what but wicked Company hath made Young Persons who have afforded the most promising hopes of an enriching Crop and harvest most fatally to miscarry and to become twice the Children of Hell more than they that inveigled them O let the sad Misfortunes and lamentable Ruin's of such make thee to shun their steps since the end of those ways is Death And tho' their Conversation be never so accomplisht Witty and inviting yet shun their fellowship as much as thou Wouldest avoid his who tho' he may be smooth and seems endearing yet hath the spots of an infectious Plague upon him And that thou mayest do this effectually joyn thy self to and enter into close fellowship with them that love and serve God Where thou mayest be Religious at an easy Rate and gain not only plain precepts but also inviting Patterns to goodness which will silently slide into thy Soul and almost insensibly draw and carry thee on and convey thee into the Land of the Living These will whet thy Desires and sharpen thy Appetites and enflame thy longings after God and Goodness and strengthen thy Resolutions and abett and improve thy Christian Courage and shew thee how to be an hardy Souldier of Christ Jesus and make thee more than Conquerour through Christ that loves thee O keep that Company that shall be instilling some good Lesson some excellent Advice into thee and that shall prescribe a good Example But shun that Society that infuses Poison into thy very Vitals and corrupts thy precious Soul by their Words and Works by their ill Counsels and worse Conversations And always remember the Words which the Apostle recites â— Cor. 15. 33. Evil Communications corrupt good Manners Further Let me perswade Young Persons to be Courteous and Obliging in each Relation wherein they stand Are your Fortunes fair and your Estates large shew your selves to be such as are Free born by such a carriage as may loudly proclaim your Birth and Education Or are your Estates confin'd in a narrow Compass you have much less Reason to boast and to bear high to disoblige and to provoke since you know not how soon Poverty may steal in upon you and how soon you may stand in need of the help of the Relief of those very Neighbours whom you now despise Nay you own your selves to be Christians and therefore learn of the Holy Jesus to be meek and lowly Who when he was reviled reviled not again when he suffer'd he threatened not but committed himself to him who judgeth righteously Heb. 12. 3. He was so suffering and so kind in his sufferings that he died for his Enemies that they might live for ever And for those enemies which put him to Death he thus prayed Father forgive them for they know not what they do Luke 23. 24. And now canst thou read canst thou hear this Passage with any Roughness or Impatience upon thy Spirit with any Anger or Indignation against those who affront or scourge thee O since the Holy Jesus my Innocent Saviour thus suffer'd mayst thou say who never did nor spake nor thought any thing amiss Well may I justly smart who act or speak or design few things well And since he bare his Burden patiently and pray'd even for his Persecutors for his murderers O 't is much more my bounden Duty to forgive as I have great and often need to be forgiven my self and to be obliging pitiful and Courteous 1 Pet. 3. 8. Lastly Let it be your daily Business as it is your Duty to pray earnestly to God to work in you both to Will and to do according to his good Pleasure Never think that either you or your Teachers are able to give you Grace or to secure your Vertues without the helping Hand of Heaven that giveth to all liberally that ask him Or without that Watchful Eye that neither slumbers nor sleeps No every good and Perfect Gift cometh down from above James 1. 17. And Paul may Plant and Apollos may Water But still it must be God that gives the encrease 1 Cor. 3. 6. And therefore that the hand of God may hold you up that his watchful Lye may be over you that he may Guide you into the ways of Truth and Peace and that he may Strengthen Stablish Settle you it is your Interest no less than your Duty to beg his Grace Nay it is your Honour no less than your Interest and Duty thus to repair to your God For you who are dust and Ashes to speak unto the Lord for you who are worthless Beings to have free Recourse to a Principle of absolute Perfection for you who are notorious Sinners to draw nigh unto the Holy Lord God of Hosts for you who are the meanest of Subjects to unbosom your selves to and to beg Boons and Favor's of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords this is so great a Priviledge and Hon'or that methinks it needs no further Motive to enforce it Only let me remind you that the manifold and great Temptations which your Age exposes and too often inclines you to may justly make you to cry mightily unto your God and often and earnestly to beg saying Save Lord or â—â—â— perish Mat. 8. 25. Often pray for the Pardon of your Sins past and for the Supplies of Gods Grace for the time to come And now in a Word that I may not omit recommending any important Duty which appertains to you Often consider and duly weigh those short but most comprehensive lessons drawn up for you in your Church Catechism which I desire you frequently to peruse and faithfully to remember now there you thus read My Duty toward God is to believe in him to fear him and to love him with all my heart with all my Mind with all my Soul and with all my strength
And remember that the wisest Man in the World is not able to foretel what one day may bring forth Ye know not what shall be on the morrow For what is your life It is even as a Vapour that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away James 4. 14. Since then the day of your departure is so uncertain be ye always ready that so when the King of Terrors shall seize you he may not with astonishment surprize you but that Death being disarm'd of its sting may serve to compose you for the Sweetest sleep and so you may lay you down in Peace and take your rest O watch continually for ye know not at what hour your Lord will come Mat. 24. 42. Lastly For a full inducement to the Practice of these Precepts and for the Observation of whatever is good often remember that the more Religious you now are and the more that you influence others to be Religious here the more you shall be rewarded hereafter Know and be assur'd that if you carefully husband and industriously by Gods Blessing improve your talents you shall receive a proportionable Recompence of Reward from your Gracious Lord and Master Mat. 25. 21. And let the words of the prophet Daniel continually dwell with you Dan. 12. 3. They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many unto Righteousness as the Stars for ever and ever These things out of pure tenderness to your immortal Souls O ye young Persons I recommend to you And now God of his infinite Goodness give you Grace to observe them that so ye may reap the Rewards of your Religion and be happy for ever To God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory both now and evermore Amen PRAYERS ALmighty and Everlasting God who hatest nothing that thou hast made and dost forgive the Sins of all them that are penitent create and make in me a new and contrite Heart that I worthily lamenting my sins and acknowledging my wretchedness may obtain of thee the God of all mercy perfect Remission and forgiveness through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen ALmighty and Everlasting God give unto me the Increase of Faith Hope and Charity and that I may obtain that which thou dost promise make me to love that which thou dost command through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen O God who hast prepar'd for them that love thee such good things as pass mans Vnderstanding pour into mine heart such love towards thee That I loving thee above all things may obtain thy Promises which exceed all that we can desire through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen ALmighty God who seest that we have no power of our selves to help our selves keep me both outwardly in my Body and inwardly in my Soul that I may be defended from all Adversities which may happen to the Body and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the Soul through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen O God the Creator and Preserver of all mankind I humbly beseech thee for all sorts and conditions of men that thou wouldest be pleased to make thy ways known unto them thy saving health unto all nations more especially I pray for the good Estate of the Catholick Cburch that it may be so guided and Governed by thy good Spirit that all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth and hold the Faith in Vnity of Spirit in the Bond of Peace and in Righteousness of life finally I commend to thy Fatherly goodness all those who are any way afflicted or distressed in Mind Body or Estate that it may please thee to comfort and relieve them according to their several necessities giving them Patience under their sufferings and a happy issue out of all their Afflictions And this I beg for Jesus Christ his sake Amen ALmighty God Father of all mercies I thine unworthy Servant do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving kindness to me and to all men I bless thee for my Creation Preservation and all the Blessings of this Life But above all for thine inestimable love in the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ for the means of Grace and for the hope of Glory And I beseech thee give me that due sence of all thy mercies that mine heart may be unfeignedly thankful and that I may shew forth thy Praise not only with my lips but in my life by giving up my self to thy service and by walking before thee in Holiness and Righteousness all my days through Jesus Christ our Lord to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory world without end Amen LOrd of all power and might who art the Author and giver of all good things graft in my heart the Love of thy Name increase in me true Religion nourish me with all Goodness and of thy great mercy keep me in the same through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen GRant O Lord that as I am baptized into the Death of thy Blessed Son our Saviour Jesus Christ so by continual mortifying my corrupt Affections I may be buried with him and that through the Grave and Gate of Death I may pass to my joyful Resurrection for his merits who died and was buried and rose again for us thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord Amen PRevent me O Lord in all my doings with thy most Gracious Favour and further me with thy continual help that in all my Works begun continued and ended in thee I may glorify thy Holy Name and finally by thy mercy may obtain everlasting Life through Jesus Christ our Lord in whose Name and words I call upon thee further saying Our Father which art in c. The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with me now and evermore Amen FINIS ERRATA IN page 10. l 24 for thou read you p 23. l 20. for advice r. advise p 34 l. 1. after offer r. the lame and sick is it not evil offer it p. 36. l. 19. for benificial r. beneficial
they could not but repent of all the days of their Life How many by a wild Debauch have broken their healthful and strong Bodies in pieces and ever after carried crazy constitutions along with them even to the Grave How many upon a Venturous Resolve have thrown away upon the turn of a Die the largest Demesnes and ever afterward either shabb'd upon their Relations and Neighbours or else have taken desperate Courses or down right Beggery for their Ordinary Companion and common course of Life How many by a sudden fit of Anger have broacht their Brothers blood and thereby so blotted and blur'd their own Escutcheon that all the Waters of Repentance afterwards could never wash out the stains Nay how many out of an eager thirst of Revenge have found themselv's most miserably disappointed and instead of ridding the world of their Adversary have sent away their own souls at the point of their enemies spear these and the like are the rash attempts of youth and these and the like Consequences are the fruits of their Folly O let me advise you then before you put your selv's upon these or the like desperate Attempts seriously to consider what the end of these things will be O weigh your Pleasures and your Pains in an equal Ballance and for a minute of mistaken joy never truck away an Eternity of solid satisfaction O never shew your selves so foolish as for once gratifying of your Bodies of your passion to ruin and damn both soul and body for ever O shew your selves to be persons of more sence and Reason and where there is the deepest and most lasting sorrow shun it where there is the most perfect and long-liv'd Pleasure pursue it and take the Advice of the excellent Son of Syrac Ecclesiasticus the 7 th 36. Whatsoever thou takest in hand remember the end and thou shalt never do amiss Fifthly Let me perswade Young men to mind and to be diligent in their respective Vocations and callings this is the very Age that is most proper for labour and is peculiarly adapted for Business Children indeed have neither strength nor Understanding for the dispatch of Business and old Age is commonly attended with that feebleness and those Infirmities which are inconsistent with heavy Burdens and hard Toyl No 't is you who have vigorous spirits and strong sinews that are to bear the burden and heat of the Day And for you then to fold up your hands with the Sluggard and to cry out a little more sleep a little more slumber Prov. 6. 10. when the Task is required of you in the midst of your spring What is this but to defame and to darken your Glory by shewing your selv's to be lazy sots and drowsy Drones Nay let me tell you that in this Age your spirits are so brisk and active that you cannot but be intent upon some Action or other Either busy you must be with those things that are Vertuous and good or else your minds will be bent upon those things that are base and Vicious Nay he that in this Age stands in the market Place all the day idle he exposes himself as a chapman to Satan And whereas the Devil goes about the Earth to and fro' seeking whom he may intangle and allure devour and destroy 1 Pet. 5. 8. This silly Soul is taken Captive by him at his Will and does the Devils Work to his hands and falls a Victim to him without the pains of a purchase 'T is sad to consider but a most certain as well as a much to be lamented truth that Idleness is the very Mother and Nurse of much Evil. And that when we have nothing to do I mean when we will have nothing to do Then the Guards of our Souls are taken off and then the Young Man lies open to all the Instigations of Satan and to all the Allurements of all the Devils Factors and Agents And then we are easily drawn in to Company keeping and from that we are wheedled to Drunkenness and Debauchery and so forward to gameing and Lewdness and often too often to those Courses which bring a Man to Temporal Death too soon as well as to eternal O if these things are dreadful to be the entertainment of your Thoughts See that ye kill the Cockatrice in the shell and shun the Cause and occasion that so ye may more easily avoid the dismal consequence and Effect And be not slothful in Business Rom 12. 11. Sixthly Let me beseech Young Persons not to busy their Fancies about Modes and Fashions but to apparel themselves in modest attire I well know that 't is easy and common to reply in this Case that Pride is lodg'd in the heart and so is not to be learnt or known from the outward habit And that some Beggers are as proud of their shreds and rags as other Persons of Worth and Honour are of their distinguishing Garments and their gorgeous attire I grant indeed that as there are Distinctions of men so there should be Distinctions of Apparel and that such a Garb which would be too fine and splendid for one would be a suit too sorbid and mean for another I grant also that as Distinction of sexes ought to be shewed by Garments so also different Ranks and peculiar Persons and Officers are to be known by distinguishing habits Since these things are agreeable to the Laws of that Great God who is the God of Order Nay I grant still further that Pride lies in the heart and not in the outward habit and that one man may carry an humble and lowly Soul in a rich Dress Whereas another may have a lofty and exalted Spirit even in a borrow'd or unpaid-for Garment But still let me advice thee who aboundest with these expressions and Excuses for thy gay clothing to have a great Jealousy and a strict watch over thy heart and ways Thy Saviour tels thee that the Tree is known by its Fruits Luke 6. 44. And our Desires and Affections are discover'd and remarkt by our words and Actions And there 's scarce any plainer Indication of the Levity I had almost said of the Wantonness of our Minds than by the Levity and Gaudiness of our Garbs Away then with those Excuses that thou mayest be lowly and that thou art humble at thy heart and Soul when at the same time thou deckest thy Body with a Garb which is not suitable for but Vastly beyond thy Birth and Ranke Nay how wilt thou answer it to thy great Creator who made thee thus and thus Whereas thou offerest to disguise to correct his Workmanship and in effect sayest unto him Why hast thou made me thus How canst thou imagine that he will own thee for his Creature When thou offerest to Mould thy self as it were into another Figure by thy strange Guises which neither tend to the preserving of health nor to the differencing of Sex nor the distinguishing of Order O shew thy Humility of mind by thy works and
to Worship him to give him thanks to put my whole trust in him to call upon him to hono'r his Holy Name and his Word and to serve him truly all the days of my Life And my Duty towards my Neighbour is to love him as my self and to do to all men as I would they should do unto me To love honour and succour my Father and Mother To Honour and obey the King and all that are put in Authority under him To submit my self to all my Governours Teachers Spiritual Pastors and Masters To order my self lowly and reverently to all my betters To hurt no Body by Word or Deed. To be true and just in all my Dealings To bear no Malice nor Hatred in my heart To keep my Hands from picking and Stealing and my Tongue from Evil-Speaking Lying and Slandering To keep my Body in Temperance Soberness and Chastity Not to covet noâ— desire other mens Goods But to Learn and Labour truly to get minâ— own living and to do my Duty in that State of Life unto which it shall please God to call me And now I pass on directly to the last thing which I propos'd and that is to lay before you a few General considerations on purpose further to promote the Practice of that Advice which I have already given First Consider how easy t is for you in comparison of some others to be Religious and good Whilst you are untainted whilst the Powers and Faculties of your Souls are Vigorous and Lively whilst you have not accustomed your selves to any evil way whilst you are strangers to the fashionable sins of the Age whilst you have not run with others to the same excess of Riot whilst the Hellish Language of Oaths and Curses is terrible to you and all manner of profaneness appears to you in a Monstrous and ghastly Shape it must needs be easie to restrain you from what you dread and abhor Nay if you have sometimes fallen and receiv'd some few bruises yet how far more easily may you recover your selves than those who for many years have lain wallowing in their filthiness Moreover to your great encouragement consider that now your Souls are active and your limbs strong to run with patience the Holy Race that is set before you and you may well fight with the greatest Assurance the good fight of Faith Now ye are strong and may easily overcome the wicked one 1 John 2. 14. Secondly To move you the more consider how acceptable your early Piety will be to that God which ye Worship Your remembring your Creator in the days of your youth and your first fruits will be a Sacrifice wherewith God will be well pleased Whereas the Oblation only of dry bones and decayed sinews especially such bones as have been drain'd by sin such sinews as have been enfeebl'd by Iniquity will be only an abomination unto the Lord. If ye offer the blind for Sacrifice is it not evil and if ye offer it now unto thy Governour will he be pleased with thee or accept thy Person saith the Lord of Hosts Malac. 1. 8. Now if a Temporal Prince will reject such a present with a most fiery Indignation With what confidence then can we lay such a Sacrifice upon the Altar of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords But this is not your Case at present ye Young men and God Grant that hereafter when old it may never be your Fate Now you need not to doubt but that if you offer up the strength and Beauty of Holiness it will be accepted If now with the wise Virgins you get oyl and trim your Lamps you will ere long be received into the Bride-Grooms Chamber Thirdly Please to consider how much your remaining life depends upon your present Religious Efforts and how gradually you 'l go on when you are once well begun How easily will you damp and dispirit all the enemies to your salvation and under what Discomfiture and despair will you send them away when you baffle and rout them in the first Assaults that they make upon you Nay how much may your early and firm Resolutions tend to the reclaiming of this degenerate Age or at least to the reforming of the next Generation If the skill and conduct of one man made way for his Son to conquer all the parts of the world which he became acquainted with how far then may your united Forces extend to the pulling down of the strong holds of Satan and the subduing of the powers of darkness to the vanquishing of Sin and to the raising and establishing of the Throne of Vertue O consider how far you may spread these Spiritual Victories and Triumphs and may make your Companions and those that come after you more than Conquerors Fourthly please to consider that you notwithstanding all your health and strength may soon be called away to another stage either of endless weal or woe Go and take the Dimensions of the Graves in your Church Yards and you l find many of a shorter size than your selves And I am sure that you had not nay that you have not a more certain Lease of your lives than they had O therefore make no long tarrying to turn unto the Lord your God and put it not of from day to day lest your Fate lest your God come suddainly and snatch you away and there be none to deliver you Consider that Time and Opportunity will soon be no more And therefore instantly make it your business to spend your days to good purpose in reading the Word of God in pious and profitable meditations in reflecting upon and renewing your Baptismal Covenant and in frequent receiving the Holy Communion And above all labour to be true and just and good at your very hearts and Souls and industrious and Useful and benificial in your Generation And strive earnestly to fit and qualify your selves for an Eternity of the purest Pleasures that so you may relish the joys of Heaven whenever you shall be receiv'd into those everlasting mansions and may delightfully feast upon that fulness of joy which is in the presence of God and with continual desire drink of those Rivers of Pleasure which flow at his right hand for evermore And may be meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in light Col. 1. 12. And in the prospect of these enriching possessions of these never fading Pleasures break off all delays throw aside all hindrances and excuses and say not I will begin to be good when I begin to stoop towards the Grave and when old age tells me that I must soon leave this World then will I prepare for the next and when I feel this earthly Tabernacle to tremble and ready to dissolve and to be taken in pieces then will I seek out for another Fabric an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens But instead of these uncertain frivolous and foolish Delays to day if you will hear Gods voice harden not your hearts