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A Promise is a Child of the Understanding and the Will: the Under∣standing begets it, the Will brings it forth. He that per∣forms it, delivers the Mother; He that breaks it Murthers the Child. If he be begotten in the absence of the Understan∣ding,
it is a Bastard; but the Child must be kept. If thou mistrust thy Understanding, Pro∣mise not; If thou hast Promis'd, break it not: It is better to maintain a Bastard than to mur∣ther a Child.
Charity is a Naked Child, giving Honey to a Bee without Wings; Naked, because Ex∣cuseless and Simple; a Child, because tender and growing; giving Honey, because Honey is pleasant and comfortable: To a Bee, because a Bee is la∣borious and deserving, with∣out Wings, because helpless and wanting. If thou deniest
to such, thou killest a Bee; if thou givest to other than such, thou preservest a Drone.
Before thy Undertaking of any design, weigh the Glory of thy Action with the Danger of the Attempt: If the Glory out∣weigh the Danger, it is Co∣wardise to neglect it: If the Danger exceed the Glory, it is rashness to attempt it: If the Ballances stand pois'd, let thy own Genius cast them.
Wouldst thou know the Law∣fulness
of the action which thou desirest to undertake? Let thy Devotion recommend it to Divine Blessing: If it be Law∣ful, thou shalt perceive thy Heart Encouraged by Prayer: If Unlawful, thou shalt find thy Prayer discouraged by thy Heart. That action is not Warrantable, which either blushes to beg a Blessing, or having succeeded, dares not present Thanksgiving.
If Evil men speak good, or good men Evil of thy Conver∣sation, Examine all thy actions, and suspect thy self. But if Evil men speak Evil of thee,
hold it as thy honour, and by way of thankfulness Love them, but upon condition, that they continue to hate thee.
If thou hope to please all, thy hopes are vain; If thou fear to displease some, thy fears are Idle. The way to please thy self is not to displease the best; and the way to displease the best, is to please the most. If thou canst fashion thy self to please all, thou shalt displease him that is all in all.
If thou Neglectest thy Love
to thy Neighbour, in vain thou professest thy Love to God; for by thy Love to God, the Love to thy Neighbour is begotten, and by the Love to thy Neigh∣bour, thy Love to God is nourish'd.
Thy Ignorance in unreveal'd Mysteries, is the Mother of a Saving Faith; and thy Under∣standing in reveal'd Truths is the Mother of a Sacred Know∣ledge: Understand not there∣fore that thou mayst Believe, but believe that thou mayst Understand: Understanding is the wages of a Lively Faith, and Faith is the reward of an humbler Ignorance.
Pride is the Ape of Charity, in shew, not much unlike; but somewhat fuller of action. In seeking the one, take heed thou light not on the other; they are two Parallels; never but asunder. Charity feeds the Poor, so does Pride: Charity builds an Hospital, so does Pride: In this they differ; Charity gives her Glory to God, Pride takes her Glory from Man.
Hast thou lost thy Money, and dost thou Mourn? ano∣ther
lost it before thou hadst it; Be not troubled; perchance if thou hadst not lost it now, it had lost thee for ever: Think therefore What thou hast rather escaped than lost: Perhaps thou hadst not been so much thine own, had not thy Money been so little thine.
Flatter not thy self in thy Faith to God, if thou wantst Charity for thy Neighbour; and think not that thou hast Charity for thy Neighbour, if thou wantst Faith to God; where they are not both toge∣ther, they are both wanting; they are both dead if once di∣vided.
Be not too slow in breaking of a sinful Custom: a quick Couragious Resolution is bet∣ter than a Gradual Deliberati∣on: In such a Combate, he is the bravest Soldier that lays a∣bout him without fear or wit. Wit Pleads, Fear disheartens; He that would kill Hydra, had better strike off one Neck than Five Heads: Fell the Tree, and the Branches are soon cut off.
Be careful rather of what thou dost, than of what thou hast: for what thou hast is
none of thine, and will leave thee at thy death, or thou the pleasure of it, in thy sickness: But what thou dost, is thine; and will follow thee to thy Grave, and plead for thee, or against thee, at thy Resurrection.
If thou enjoyest not the God of Love thou canst not obtain the Love of God, neither un∣til then canst thou Enjoy a de∣sire to Love God, nor relish the Love of God: thy Love to God is nothing but a faint re∣flection of God's love to thee: till he please to Love thee, thy Love can never please him.
Let not thy Fancy be gui∣ded by thine Eye, nor let thy Will be govern'd by thy Fan∣cy: Thine Eye may be deceived in her Object, and thy Fancy may be deluded in her Subject. Let thine Understanding mo∣derate between thine Eye and thy Fancy; and let thy Judg∣ment Arbitrate between thy Fancy and thy Will; so shall Fancy apprehend what is true, so shall thy Will elect what is good.
Endeavour to subdue as well
thy irascible as thy concupisci∣ble Affections: To endure In∣juries with a brave Mind is one half of the Conquest; and to abstain from pleasing Evils with a couragious Spirit, is the other. The Sum of all Humanity, and height of Moral Perfection, is Bear, and Forbear.
If thou desire not to be too poor, desire not to be too rich: He is rich, not that possesseth much, but he that covets no more; and he is poor, not that enjoys little, but that wants too much. The contented Mind wants nothing which it hath not; the covetous Mind wants
not only what it hath not, but likewise what it hath.
The outward Senses are the common Cinque-Ports, where every Subject lands towards the Understanding. The Ear hears a confused Noise, and presents it to the Common Sense; the common Sense distinguishes the several Sounds, and conveys them to the Fancy; the Fancy wildly discants on it: The Un∣derstanding (whose Object is Truth) apprehending it to be Musick, commends it to the Judgment; the Judgment seve∣rally and jointly examines it, and recommends it to the Will;
the Will (whose Object is Good) approves it; or dislikes it, and the Memory records it: And so in the other Senses, according to their Subjects, ob∣serve this Progress, and thou shalt easily find where the defect of every Action lyes.
The way to subject all things to thy self, is to subject thy self to Reason; thou shalt govern many, if Reason govern thee: Would'st thou be crowned the Monarch of a little World? Command thy self.
Tho' thou givest all thou hast for Charity's sake, and yet retainest a secret desire of keep∣ing it for thy own sake, thou rather leavest it than forsakest it. He that hath relinquish'd all things, and not himself, hath forsaken nothing: He that sets not his Heart on what he pos∣sesses, forsaketh all things, tho' he keep his Possessions.
Search into thy self before thou accept the Ceremony of Honour: If thou art a Palace, Honour, (like the Sun-beams)
will make thee more Glorious; if thou art a Dunghil, the Sun may shine upon thee, but not to sweeten thee; Thy Prince may give thee Honour, but not make thee honourable.
Every Man is a King in his own Kingdom: If Reason com∣mand, and Passion obey, his Government bespeaks a good King; if thine inordinate Af∣fection rules, it shews a proud Rebel; which if thou destroy not, will depose thee. There is no mean between the Death of a Rebel and the Life of a Prince.
A Vow, a Promise, and a Resolution, have all one Ob∣ject, only differ in respect of the Persons to whom they are made; the first is between God and Man; the second between Man and Man; the third be∣tween Man and his own Soul; they all bind, if the Object be lawful, to necessity of Perfor∣mance; if unlawful, to the ne∣cessity of Sin: They all take thee Prisoner; if the Object be lawful, thy Performance hath redeemed thee; if unlawful, Blood and Fears must ransom thee.
If thou hast any business of Consequence in agitation, let thy Care be reasonable and sea∣sonable: Continual standing bent weakens the Bow; too hasty drawing breaks it: Put off thy Cares with thy Clothes; so shall thy Rest strengthen thy Labour, and so shall thy La∣bour sweeten thy Rest.
When thy inordinate Affe∣ctions do flame towards tran∣sitory Happiness, quench them thus; think with thy self, if my Prince should give me what Ho∣nour
he hath to bestow, or bestow on me what Wealth he hath to give, it could not stay with me, because it is transito∣ry; nor I with it, because I am mortal: Then revise thy Affe∣ctions, and weigh them with their Objects, and thou wilt either confess thy Folly, or make a wiser Choice.
With three sorts of Men en∣ter no serious Friendship; the ingrateful man, the multilo∣quious man, the Coward; the first cannot prize thy Favours; the second cannot keep thy Counsel; and the third dare not vindicate thy Honour.
If thou desire the time should not pass too fast, use not too much Pastime; thy Life in Jol∣lity blazes like a Taper in the Wind: The blast of Honour wastes it; the heat of Pleasure melts it: If thou labour in a painful Calling, thou shalt be less sensible of the Flux of time, and sweetlier satisfied at the time of Death.
God is the Alpha and Omega in the great World; endea∣vour to make him so in the little World; make him thy
Evening Epilogue, and thy Morning Prologue; practise to make him thy last thought at night when thou sleepest, and thy first thought in the mor∣ning when thou awakest; so shall thy Fancy be sanctified in the Night, and thy Understan∣ding rectified in the Day; so shall thy Rest be peaceable, thy Labours prosperous, thy Life pious, and thy Death glorious.
Be very circumspect in the Choice of thy Company. In the Society of thine Equals thou shalt enjoy more Pleasure; in the Society of thy Superiours thou shalt find more Profit. To
be the best in the Company is the way to grow worse; the best means to grow better, is to be the worst there.
Think of God (especially in thy Devotion) in the Abstract, rather than in the Concrete: If thou conceive him good, thy finite Thoughts are ready to terminate that Good in a con∣ceiv'd Subject; if thou think him great, thy bounded Con∣ceit is apt to cast him into a comprehensible Figure: Con∣ceive him therefore a diffused Goodness without Quality, and represent him an incomprehen∣sible Greatness without Quan∣tity
If thou and true Religion be not as yet met, or met un∣known, by these marks thou shalt discover it: First, it is a Religion that takes no Pleasure in the Expence of Blood. Se∣condly, it is a Religion whose Tenents cross not the Book of Truth. Thirdly, it is a Reli∣gion that takes most from the Creature, and gives most to the Creator. If such an one thou meet with, assure thy self it is the right, and therefore profess it in thy Life, and pro∣tect it to thy Death.
Let another's Passion be a Lecture to thy Reason, and let the Shipwrack of this Understan∣ding be a Sea-mark to thy Pas∣sion: So shalt thou gain strength out of his weakness, safety out of his danger, and raise thy self a Building out of his Ruines.
In the height of thy Prospe∣rity expect Adversity, but fear it most; if it come not, thou art the more sweetly possess'd of the happiness thou hast, and the more strongly confirm'd; if it come, thou art the more gently
dispossest of the happiness thou had'st, and the more firmly pre∣pared.
To tremble at the sight of thy Sin, makes thy Faith the less apt to tremble: The Devils believe and tremble, because they tremble at what they be∣lieve: Their Belief brings Trem∣bling; thy Trembling brings Belief.
Authology is the way to Theology: Until thou see'st thy self empty, thou wilt not desire to be fill'd. He can never truly
relish the sweetness of God's Mercy, that never tasted the Bitterness of his own Misery.
Is any outward Affliction fallen upon thee by a tempo∣rary loss? Advise with thy self, whether it be recoverable or not; if it be, use all lawful means (the Violence and Un∣seasonableness whereof may not disadvantage thee in the pursuit) to recover it: If not recovera∣ble, endure with Patience what thou can'st not recover with Pains. He that carnally afflicts his Soul for the loss of a tran∣sitory Good, casts away the Kernel because he hath lost the Shell.
Natural Anger glances into the Breasts of wise men, but rests in the Bosom of Fools: In them it is Infirmity; in these a Sin; there is a natural Anger, and there is a Spiritual Anger; the common Object of that is the Person; of this, his Vice. He that is always angry with his Sin, shall seldom sin in his Anger.
If any hard Affliction hath surprized thee, cast one eye up∣on the hand that sent it, and the other upon the Sins that
brought it. If thou thankfully receive the Message, he that sent it will discharge the Mes∣senger.
All Passions are good and bad, according to their Ob∣jects: Where the Object is ab∣solutely good, there the great∣est Passion is too little; where absolutely evil, there the least Passion is too much; where in∣different, there a little is e∣nough.
When thou dost Evil, that Good may come thereby, the
Evil is surely thine; if Good should happen to ensue upon the Evil which thou hast done, the Good proceeds from God: If therefore thou do Evil, there∣by to occasionate a Good, thou lay'st a bad Foundation for a good Building, and servest the Devil, that God may serve thee. Where the end of Evil is Good in the Intention, there the end of that Good is Evil in the Ex∣tension.
Be as far from desiring the Popular Love, as fearful to de∣serve the Popular Hate: Ru∣ine dwells in both; the one will hug thee to Death, the other
will crush thee to Destruction. To escape the first, be not am∣bitious; to avoid the second, be not seditious.
When thou seest misery in thy Brother's Face, let him see mercy in thine Eye; the more the Oyle of mercy is poured on him by thy Pity, the more the Oyle in thy Cruise shall be encreased by thy Piety.
Read not Books alone, but Men, and amongst them chief∣ly thy self: If thou find any thing questionable there, use
the Commentary of a severe Friend, rather than the Gloss of a sweet lipt Flatterer. There is more Profit in a distastful Truth than deceitful Sweetness.
If the opinion of thy Worth invite any to the desire of thy Acquaintance, yeild a Respect suitable to his Quality: Too great a Reservation will expose thee to the Sentence of Pride; too easie Access will condemn thee to the Censure of Folly. Things too hardly endeavour∣ed discourage the Seeker; too easily obtained, disparage the thing sought for: Too easily got, is lowly prised, and quick∣ly lost.
When Conveniency of time hath ripened your Acquain∣tance, be cautious what thou say'st, and courteous in what thou dost: Observe his Incli∣nation; if thou find him weight, make him thine own, and lodge him in a faithful Bosom: Be not easily exceptious, nor rude∣ly familiar; the one will breed Contention, the other Con∣tempt.
When Passion is grounded upon Fancy, it is commonly but of short Continuance:
Where the Foundation is un∣stable, there the Building is not lasting. He that will be angry for any Cause, will be angry for no Cause; and when the Understanding perceives the Cause vain, then the Judgment proclaims the Effect void.
If thou desire to purchase Honour with thy Wealth, con∣sider first how that Wealth be∣came thine; if thy Labour got it, let thy Wisdom keep it; if Oppression found it, let Repen∣tance restore it; if thy Parent left it, let thy Virtues deserve it; so shall thy Honour be safer, better, and cheaper.
Sin is a Basilisk whose Eyes are full of Venom; if the Eye of thy Soul see her first, it re∣flects her own Poison and kills her: If she see thy Soul, unseen, or seen too late, with her Poi∣son, she kills thee: since there∣fore thou canst not Escape thy Sin, let not thy Sin escape thy Observation.
If thou expect to rise by the means of him, whom thy Fa∣ther's Greatness rais'd from his service to Court-preferment, thou wilt be deceived, for the
more in esteem thou art, the more sensible is he of what he was, whose servitude will be Chronicled, by thy Advance∣ment and Glory obscured by thy Greatness: However, he will conceive it a dead service, which may be interpreted by thee, as a merited reward, ra∣ther than a meritorious benefit.
Trust not to the Promise of a Common Swearer, for he that dare Sin against his God, for neither Profit nor Pleasure, will trespass against thee for his own advantage. He that dare break the precepts of his Fa∣ther, will easily be perswaded to
violate the Promise unto his Brother.
Let the greatest part of the News thou hearest be the least part of what thou believest, lest the greatest part of what thou believest be the least part of what is true; where Lies are easily admitted, the Father of Lies will not easily be excluded.
Deliberate long before thou consecrate a friend, and when thy impartial Judgment con∣cludes him worthy of thy Bo∣som, receive him Joyfully and
entertain him Wisely, impart thy secrets boldly, and mingle thy thoughts with his; he is thy very self and use him so, if thou firmly thinks him faithful thou makes him so.
As there is no Worldly Gain, without some Loss, so there is no Worldly Loss without some Gain; If thou hast lost thy Wealth, thou hast lost some trouble with it; if thou art de∣graded from thy honour, thou art likewise freed from the stroke of Envy; if sickness hath blur'd thy Beauty, it hath delivered thee from Pride, set the allow∣ance against the loss and thou
shalt find no loss great, he loseth little or nothing that reserves himself.
If thou desire to take the best advantage of thy self, espe∣cially in matters where the Fan∣cy is most employed, keep tem∣perate Diet, use moderate Ex∣ercise, observe seasonable and set hours for Rest; let the end of thy first sleep raise thee from thy repose: then hath thy bo∣dy the best temper, then hath thy Soul the least incumbrance, then no noise shall disturb thy Ear, no object shall divert thine Eye; then if thy spright∣ly Fancy transport thee not be∣yond
the common pitch, and shew thee not the Magazine of high Invention, return thee to thy wanton Bed, and there con∣clude thy self more fit to wear thy Mistresses favour than Apol∣lo's Bays.
If thou art Rich, strive to Command thy Money, lest she Command thee: if thou know how to use her, she is thy Ser∣vant, if not, thou art her slave.
Bring thy Daughter a Hus∣band of her own Religion, and of no Hereditary Disease; let
his Wisdom out-weigh his Wealth; let his Parantage ex∣cel his Person, and let his Age exceed hers; let thy Prayers recommend the rest to Provi∣dence: If he prove good, thou hast found a Son, if not thou hast lost a Daughter.
So use Prosperity that Ad∣versity may not abuse thee; if in the one security admits no Fear, in the other despair will afford no hopes: He that in Prosperity can foretel a Dan∣ger, can in Adversity foresee Deliverance.
If thy Faith hath no Doubts, thou hast Just Cause to doubt thy Faith; and if thy Doubts have no Hope, thou hast Just Reason to fear Despair; when therefore thy Doubts shall ex∣ercise thy Faith, keep thy Hopes firm to qualify thy Doubts, so shall thy Faith be secured from Doubts, so shall thy Doubts be preserved from Despair.
If thou desire to be truly Va∣liant, fear to do any Injury. He that fears not to do Evil is always afraid to suffer Evil;
He that never Fears is desperate, and he that fears always is a Coward; he is the true Vali∣ant man that dares nothing but what he may, and fears no∣thing but what he ought.
Anger may repast with thee for an hour, but not repose for a Night; the continuance of Anger is Hatred, the continu∣ance of Hatred turns Malice, that Anger is not warrantable that hath seen two Suns.
If thou stand guilty of Op∣pression, or wrongfully possest
of another's Right, see thou make restitution before thou givest an Alms; if otherwise, what art thou but a Thief and makest God thy Receiver.
When thou Prayest for Spi∣ritual Grace, let thy Prayer be absolute; when for Temporal Blessings add a Clause of God's pleasure; in both with Faith and Humiliation, so that thou undoubtedly receive what thou desirest, or more or better; never Prayer rightly made was made unheard, or heard ungranted.
He that gives, all tho' but
little, gives much, because God looks not to the quantity of the Gift, but to the quality of the Givers: He that desires to give more than he can hath equalled his Gift to his desire, and hath given more than he hath.
Be not too greedy in desiring Riches, nor too eager in seek∣ing them, nor too Covetous in keeping them, nor too passi∣onate in losing them; the first will possess thy Soul of Discon∣tent, the second will dispossess thy Body of Rest, the third will possess thy Wealth of thee, the last will dispossess thee of thy
self: He that is too Violent in the Concupiscible, will be as Violent in the Irascible.
Be not too rash in the break∣ing of an inconvenient Custom, as it was gotten so leave it by degrees; danger attends upon too sudden alterations: He that pulls down a bad Building by the great, may be ruin'd by the fall; but he that takes it down brick by brick, may live to build a bettter.
If thou desire that inestima∣ble grace of Saving Faith, detest
that insatiable Vice of damna∣ble Covetousness; it is impos∣sible one heart (though never so double) should lodge both: Faith possesseth thee of what thou hast not, Covetousness disposesseth thee of what thou hast, thou canst not serve God, unless Mammon serve thee.
Beware of him that is slow to Anger, Anger when it is long in coming is the stronger when it comes, and the longer kept: Abused Patience turns to Fury: When Fancy is the ground of Passion, that under∣standing which composeth the Fancy qualifies the Passion, but
when Judgment is the ground, the Memory is the Recorder.
He that professeth himself thy open Enemy, arms thee a∣gainst the Evil he means thee, but he that dissembles himself thy Friend, strikes beyond cau∣tion and wounds beyond cure. From the first thou mayst deli∣ver thy self, from the last Good Lord deliver thee.
If thou hast wrong'd thy Brother in thought reconcile thee to him in thought, if thou hast offended him in words,
let thy reconciliation be in words, if thou hast trespassed against him in deeds be recon∣ciled to him: that Reconcilia∣tion is most kindly which is most in kind.
Not to give to the Poor is to take from him; not to feed the hungry if thou hast it is the utmost of thy power to kill him: That therefore thou mayst avoid both Sacrilege and Mur∣ther, be Charitable.
So often as thou Remem∣ber'st thy Sins without Grief,
so often thou repeatest those Sins for not grieving: He that will not mourn for the Evil that he hath done, gives earnest for the Evil he means to do; nothing can asswage that fire which Sin hath made, but on∣ly that water which Repen∣tance hath drawn.
Look well before thou Leap into the Chair of Honour, the Higher thou Climest the lower thou fallest; If Virtue prefer thee, Virtue will preserve thee; if Gold or Favour advance thee, thy honour is pinn'd up∣on the Wheel of Fortune, when the Wheel shall turn, thy Ho∣nour
falls, and thou remainest an Everlasting Monument of thy own ambitious folly.
We are born with our Temp∣tations; Nature sometimes presseth us to Evil, sometime provokes us unto Good; If therefore thou givest her more than her due, thou nourishest an Enemy: if less than is suffi∣cient, thou destroyest a Friend; moderation will prevent both.
If thou scorn not to serve Luxury in thy Youth, Chastity will scorn thy service in thy
Age; and that the will of thy Green Years thought no Vice in the acting, the Necessity of thy Grey Hairs makes no Vir∣tue in the forbearing; where there is no Conflict there can be no Conquest, where there is no Conquest there is no Crown.
Thou didst nothing toward thy own Creation, for thou wert Created for thy Creator's Glory; thou must do some∣thing toward thy own Redemp∣tion, for thou wert redeemed for thy own Good; he that made thee without thee, will not save thee without thee.
When thy Tongue and Heart agree not in Confession, that Confession is not agreeable to God's Pleasure; He that con∣fesseth with Tongue and wants Confession in his Heart, is ei∣ther a Vain Man or an Hypo∣crite; He that hath Confession in his Heart and wants it in his Tongue, is either a Proud Man or a Timorous.
Gold is Caesar's treasure, Man is God's, thy Gold hath Caesar's Image, and thou hast God's; Give therefore unto Caesar those
things which are Caesar's, and unto God which are God's.
In the Commission of Evil, fear no Man so much as thy own self; another is but one witness against thee, thou art a thousand; another thou mayst avoid, but thy self thou canst not; wickedness is its own pu∣nishment.
In thy Apparel avoid singu∣larity, Profuseness, and Gau∣diness; be not too early in the fashion, nor too late, Decency is the half way between Affe∣ctation
and Neglect; the Bo∣dy is the shell of the Soul, Apparel is the Husk of that shell, the Husk often tells you what the Kernel is.
Let thy Recreation be Man∣ly, Moderate, Seasonable, Law∣ful; if thy Life be sedentary, more tending to the exercise of thy Body, if active, more to the refreshing of thy Mind, the use of Recreation is to streng∣then thy Labour and sweeten thy Rest.
Be not Censorious, for thou
knowest not whom thou Judg∣est; it is a more dextrous error to speak well of an Evil Man, than Ill of a Good Man, and safer for thy Judgment to be misled by simple Charity, than Uncharitable Wisdom: He may tax others with Privilege that hath not in himself what others may Tax.
Take heed of that Honour which thy Wealth hath pur∣chased thee; for it is neither lasting nor thine own; what money creates money preserves; If thy Wealth decays thy Ho∣nour dies: It is but a slippery happiness which Fortune can
give and Frowns can take, and not worth the owning which a Night's Fire can melt, or a Rough Sea can drown.
If thou canst desire any thing not to be repented of, thou art in a fair way to Happiness; if thou hast attained it, thou art at thy way's end: He is not happy who hath all that he desires, but that desires no∣thing but what is good; if thou canst not do what thou need not repent, yet endea∣vour to repent what thy Ne∣cessity hath done.
Spend an hundred years in Earth's best pleasures, and af∣ter that an hundred more, to which being spent add a thou∣sand, and to that ten thousand, the last shall as surely end as the first are ended, and all shall be swallowed with Eternity: He that is born to day is not sure to live a day; He that hath lived the longest is but as he that was born yesterday; the happiness of the one is, that he hath lived; the hap∣piness of the other is, that he may live, and the lot of both is, that they must die: It's no happiness to live long, nor unhappiness to die soon: Happy is he that hath lived long enough to die well.
Be careful to whom thou givest, and how; He that gives him that deserves not, loseth his Gift, and betrays the Giver; He that confers his Gift upon a worthy receiver, makes many Debtors, and by giving receives; He that gives for his own ends, makes his Gift a Bribe, and the receiver a Prisoner; He that gives often teacheth re∣quitance to the Receiver, and discovers a crafty confidence in the Giver.
Hath any wrong'd thee?
bravely reveng'd, slight it, and the Work is begun; forgive it, and it is finisht: He is below himself that is not above an In∣jury.
Let not thy Passion miscall thy Child, left thou Prophesy his misfortunes; let not thy Tongue curse him, lest it re∣turn from whence it came: Curses sent in the room of Bles∣sings are sent back with a dou∣ble Vengeance.
In all the Ceremonies of the Church which remain indiffe∣rent,
do according to the Con∣stitution of that Church where thou art. The God of Order and Unity, who created both the Soul and the Body, expects Unity in the one, and Order in both.
Let thy Religious Fast be a voluntary Abstinence, not so much from Flesh as fleshly Thoughts: God is pleased with that Fast which gives to ano∣ther what thou deniest to thy self, and when the afflicting of thy own Body is the repairing of thy Brother's; he fasts truly that abstains sadly, grieves re∣ally, gives cheerfully, and for∣gives charitably.
In the hearing of mysteries, keep thy Tongue quiet; five Words cost Zacharias 40 weeks Silence: In such heights, con∣vert thy Questions into Won∣ders, and let this suffice thee; the Reason of the Deed is the Power of the Doer.
Deride not him whom the looser World calls Puritan, lest thou offend a little one; if he be an Hypocrite, God, that knows him, will reward him; if zealous, that God that loves him will revenge him; if he be
good, he is good to god's glo∣ry; if evil, let him be evil at his own Charges. He that judges shall be judged.
So long as thou art igno∣rant, be not ashamed to learn; he that is so fondly modest, not to acknowledge his own Defects of Knowledge, shall in time be so foully impudent, to justifie his own Ignorance. Ig∣norance is the greatest of all Infirmities, and justified, the chiefest of all Follies.
If thou be a Servant, deal
justly by thy Master as thou de∣sirest thy Servant should deal by thee; where thou art com∣manded, be obedient, where not commanded, be provident; let Diligence be thy Credit; let Faithfulness be thy Crown; let thy Master's Credit be thy Care, and let his Welfare be thy Content: Let thine Eye be single, and thine Heart hum∣ble; be sober, that thou may'st be circumspect: He that in So∣briety is not his own man, be∣ing drunk, whose is he? Be neither contentious nor lasci∣vious; the one shews a turbu∣lent H••art, the other an idle Brain, A good Servant is a great Master.
Let the Foundation of thy Affection be Virtue, then make the Building as rich and as glo∣rious as thou canst; if the Foun∣dation be Beauty or Wealth, and the Building Virtue, the Foundation is too week for the Building, and it will fall. Hap∣py is he, the Palace of whose Affection is founded upon Vir∣tue, wall'd with Riches, glaz'd with Beauty, and Roofed with Honour.
If thy Mother be a Widow, give her double Honour, who
now acts the part of a double Parent; Remember her nine months Burthen, and her ten months Travel; forget not her Indulgence when thou didst hang upon her tender Breast; call to mind her Prayers for thee before thou cam'st into the World, and her Cares for thee when thou wert come in∣to it; remember her secret Groans, her affectionate Tears, her broken Slumbers, her daily Fears, her nightly Frights: re∣lieve her Wants, cover her Im∣perfections, comfort her Age, and the Widow's Husband will be the Orphan's Father.
As thou desirest the Love of God and Man, beware of Pride; it is a Tumour in thy mind, that breaks, and poisons all thy Actions; it is a Worm in thy Treasure, that eats and ruines thy Estate; it loves no man, is be∣loved of no man; it dispara∣geth Virtue in another by De∣traction; it disrewards Good∣ness in it self by Vain Glory; the Friend of the Flatterer, the Mother of Envy, the Nurse of Fury, the Band of Luxury, the Sin of Devils, and the Devil in mankind: It hates Superiours, it scorns Inferiours, it owns no
Equals; in short, till thou hate it, God hates thee.
So behave thy self amongst thy Children, that they may love and honour thy presence; be not too fond, lest they fear thee not; be not too bitter, lest they fear thee too much: Too much Familiarity will embol∣den them, too little Counte∣nance discourage them. So carry thy self, that they may rather fear thy displeasure than thy correction; when thou re∣provest them, do it in season; when thou correctest them, do it not in Passion. As a wise Child makes a happy Father,
so a wise Father makes a hap∣py Child.
When thy hand hath done a good Act, ask thy heart if it be well done; the matter of a good action is the deed done, the form of a good action is the manner of the doing; in the first, another hath the Com∣fort, and thou the Glory; in the other, thou hast the Com∣fort, and God the Glory. That Deed is ill done, wherein God is no Sharer.
Should'st thou purchase Hea∣ven, advise not with thy own ability: The Price of Heaven is what thou hast; examine not what thou hast, but what thou art; give thy self, and thou hast bought it: If thy own Vileness be thy Fears, offer thy self, and thou art pretious.
The Birds of the Air dye to sustain thee; the Beasts of the Field dye to nourish thee; the Fishes of the Sea dye to feed thee; our Stomacks are their common Sepulchres. Good
God! with how many Deaths are our Lives patch'd up? how ful of Death is the miserable Life of momentary Man.