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MADAM,
AS for the Lady P. Y. who, you say, spends most of her Time in Prayer, I can hardly believe God can be Pleased with so many Words, for what shall we need to Speak so ma∣ny Words to God, who knows our Thoughts, Minds and Souls better than we our selves? Christ did not teach us Long Prayers, but a Short One, nay if it were lawful for Men to Si∣milize God to his Creatures, (which I think it is not) God might be Tired with Long and Te∣dious
Petitions or often Repetitions; but, Ma∣dam, Good Deeds are Better than Good Words, in so much, as One Good Deed is better than a Thousand Good Words, As for Example, One Act of Upright Justice, or Pure Charity, is bet∣ter than a Book full of Prayers, a Temperate Life is better many times than a Praying Life; for we may be Intemperate even in our Prayers, as to be Superstitious or Idolatrous; Indeed eve∣ry Good Deed is a Prayer, for we do Good for Gods sake, as being pleasing to him, for a Chast, Honest, Just, Charitable, Temperate Life is a Devout Life, and Worldly labour is Devout, as to be Honestly Industrious to Get, and Pru∣dent to Thrive, that one may have where with all to Give; for there is no Poor Begger, but had rather a Penny than a Blessing, for they will tell you, that they shall Starve with Dieu vous assiste, but be Relieved with a Denar. Wherefore the Lady P. Y. with her much Fasting and long Praying will Starve her Self, and Waste her Life out before the Natural Time, which will be a Kind of Self-murder, and we hold Self-mur∣der the Greatest Sinn, although it should be done in a Pious Form or Manner; but to Help a Friend in Distress is Better and more Accepta∣ble, than to Pray for a Friend in Distress, to Re∣lieve a Beggar in Want, is better than to Pray for him, to Attend the Sick is better than to Pray for the Sick; But you will say, both do Well, I say it is Well Said, and Well when it is Done, but the One must not Hinder the Other,
wherefore we ought not to Leave the World to Pray, but to Live in the World to Act, as to Act to Good Uses, and 'tis not enough to Give for the Poor, but to see that the Poor be not Cou∣sen'd of their Gifts, wherefore they ought to Distribute their Gifts Themselves, and to be In∣dustrious to Know and to Find out those that do Truly and not Feignedly Want, neither must their Gifts make the Poor Idle, but set the Idle Poor awork, and as for those that cannot VVork or Help themselves, as the Old, Sick, Decrepit, and Children, they must be Main∣tain'd by those that have Means and Strength and Health to Attend them; But perchance if the Lady P. Y. heard me, she would say, I were one of those that did Speak more Good VVords, than Act Good Deeds, or that I nei∣ther Spent my Time in Praying nor Pious Acting; Indeed I cannot, as the Proud Pharisee, Brag and Boast of my Good Deeds, but with the Poor Publican, I must say, Lord have Mercy on me, a miserable Sinner, yet I must say thus much Truth of my Self, that I never had Much to Give; for before the VVarrs of this Country I was too Young to be Rich, or to have Means in my Own Power of Disposing, and since the VVarrs all my Friends being so Ruined, and my Husband Banished from his Native Countrey, and Dispossest of his Inherited Estate, I have been in a Condition rather to Receive, than to Give: Yet I have not done much of either, for truly I am as Glad not to Receive, as Sorry not
to Give, for Obligation is as great a Burden to me, as not be Able to Oblige is an Unhappiness, not that I account it so great an Unhappiness to be in such a Condition, as to be fit to Receive, but to Receive in such a Condition, as not to be Able to return the Obligation, for the Truth is, I had rather Suffer for Want, than Take to be Re∣lieved; But I thank God, I have not had many of those Burdens of Obligations, some few I have had, but those were from my near Rela∣tive Friends, not from Strangers, which is a Double, nay, a Treble Blessing; but my Con∣dition is fitter for Prayer, as having not sufficient Means to do Good Works, my Husband being Rob'd of all his Estate, than the Lady P. Ys. who hath Saved all she can lay Claim to; Wherefore leaving her to her Prayers of Thanksgiving, and I to Prayers of Petition∣ing, I rest,
Madam,
Your very faithful Friend and Servant.