use and benefit of the Laws and study the rectification of what is amiss not out of a poor design of weakning or vacating those that are good but recovering original institutions and supplying out of a hearty purpose of good what is defective It is not possible for man to contrive more effectual means of providing for his own substantial happiness than by being in this manner as Gods to the people nor could their security be less for who would not lay himself out to the utmost in their protection no enmity at home no malice from abroad would dare to attempt ought against a Prince so qualified and thereby secured by the unfeigned and deserved love of all who love goodness or what is more universal Themselves But this is an excursion occasion'd by that inviting Subject What is there that is bad in the world but ows its being to vain opinion in preferring what has a seeming shew of good under the false notion of pleasant or profitable against what nature teaches reason or the word of God Nature teaches us to be content with little Opinion not without having much and very hardly if at all with that Reason and the Scripture tells us that there is no solid felicity but in the paths of vertue and goodness Opinion despises and derides these as the weakness and ignorance of the mind and allows them not in their reality but in shew The dividing of men into Sects and parties is an effect of false Opinion whereby they decline the being truely Christian in name and thing for the colourable appellation of Papist Episcopal Presbyterian Independent or some other rank of men into which they are faln through the bent of education or inclination of interest By means whereof mankind being so divided they severally prosecute several interests distinct from the common good of mankind which ought to be every mans aim and are laid open to the artifices of those who are their Leaders and through the force of opinion the subduers of their Reason and likewise through those divisions become useless in the defence of their Country and Laws yea for the most part either through ignorance animosities or baseness of Spirit enemies thereunto and assistants to those crafty men that know how to work upon their divisions Amongst thousand other false Opinions of things you must reckon in that Catalogue the supposition of Elves Fairies and other spectres or apparitions Will of the Wisp Robin Good-Fellow and many others which though they are called old Wives Fables yet they have been but the propagators of them not the inventors These owe their first being to the Heathen Priests who to plant fear in the minds of men have like cunning managers begun with them whilst they were Children and by such little and seemingly trivial artifices have laid a foundation for that Dominion they designed to gain over the minds and faculties of mankind For these apparitions being first entertained as realities whilst reason was weak and unable to examine or make opposition so planted themselves that even in adult years and age it self they continued powerful and predominant Nor have the Popish Clergy and I wish I could say no other sort of Clergy-men been wanting in propagating this no inconsiderable support of their interest But especially in the matter of Witches which has been done with so much art and seeming veritie and hath been so generally received that few or none have taken the freedom to question the same Concerning which particular I would have you carefully peruse a Book intituled The Question of Witchcraft debated written by John Wagstaff 1671. But in short consider that because the name of Witch in Scripture is mentioned which denotes either those that indeavoured to draw the people from believing the true God to the worshiping a false God or his Idol and from believing of truth to the giving credit to false opinions or lies or else to those that used impostures and counterfeited apparitions to Oracles and such as used intoxicating potions all which are specified in Scripture they have cunningly transferred the same name of Witch to such a meaning of a Witch as they have given and the common people have ignorantly received and maintained as namely that there are some persons men and women who make real and visible contracts with the Devil giving them power over their bodies and souls upon condition that the Devil for a certain number of years shall be at their command and assist them in their pleasures in the executing of their Malice and Revenges upon Men Women Children or Cattle and in the doing of whatsoever they shall desire in subserviency to their Lusts or other passions Concerning all which there is not the least intimation in the holy word of God And yet this Opinion for most wicked ends introduced and propagated hath been the occasion of the burning of many thousands where the Papists have Dominion Yea such are the wayes that the Inquisitors have to examine vex and torment such as they desire to have culpable in this kind that it is very hard for any man if heretically suspected to escape the fire Yea not only amongst the Catholicks but in times of ignorance amongst the Reformists also especially the Presbyterians abundance have suffered in this kind as I my self can well remember between the years 1640 and 1650. Which practice though good and ingenuous men did much lament yet did this Opinion so generally spread that it was hardly safe for any man to shew himself in opposition thereof But from their Councels O Lord for ever deliver me and mine In the close of all the Witch-finder himself one Hopkins a bold and insolent fellow was catcht like Perillus in his own trap and suffered as a Witch which put an end to those bloody practices never I trust in God to be revived again amongst truly reformed Christians Of this nature also and from the same false opinion is that bold and arrogant assumption of skill to determine the reason and event of prodigies natural and supernatural which arises from the presumptuous imposture of crafty and designing men who dare particularize their Prognostications upon Persons or Countries according to the force of their dislikes of things and men opposite in opinion to themselves which is largely discovered in a discourse of Prodigies and Prophecies Written by the ingenious pen of Dr. Spencer to which I refer you disireing that you would peruse and examinethat book with due caution and consideration lest you give credit to many things therein justly to be suspected 'T is Opinion that gives Divinity to the Clergy though they are not such either in their institution or sanctity of life Not in their institution for though the Disciples and Apostles of Christ were at first such as being fitly qualified from above by the their mission and possession of the Spirit inableing them to do Miracles and perform all those supernatural works which were properly the manifestations of that
Light which God out of his great good will to man has given us for revival and recovery of the other I mean that of the Scriptures concerning which I would have thee my Son observe these following particulars Of the Scriptures 1. Be very conversant in them for besides that they contain the best directions for the guidance of thy actions thou shalt find in them also the Treasures of Life all that God has been pleased to communicate to man concerning his future Estate In both these particulars thou oughtest highly to esteem them As to the first If all that had been written by the Sages and Philosophers of any Nation in any or all the Ages of humane life if all Glosses Comments Lectures Sermons polemical Discourses or other Treatises upon the Scriptures were wholly and irrecoverably lost thou shouldst not need to afflict thy self but rather to be comforted in the consideration that thy mind shall not now be distracted by the various opinions imposed Authorities and numerous contradictions of others but come to this Fountain of Knowledge with a pure and unpossess'd heart not biass'd or prejudicated by the interest wit abilities or fallacies of others and receive in wholesome and sound precepts agreeable to Original and unperverted Nature to the good pleasure of the God of Nature comfortable to thy own Soul and beneficial to all the parts of the Creation 2. Though the whole and every part of the Bible is to be of great esteem and Authority with thee yet doth the History of our Saviours life the Registers of his sayings and actions and also of his Disciples and Apostles with their particular Rules and Directions given to the several Churches then established these I say do contain more express prescripts of Christian Religion and so more nearly oblige those who have enrol'd themselves under the profession of Christianity and therefore not neglecting the other here thou oughtest to be most conversant 3. Read the Scriptures alwayes with regard to the main end viz. to better thy Knowledge for emprovement of thy life Be not ambitious of the name of an able Disputant for the ardour of their zeal is commonly spent upon their Antagonist It is dangerous to be too able that way and the occasion of dividing Christs Seamless Coat into many pieces If thy Brother will not be convinc'd by plain truth the express words of Scripture thou shalt never gain him Interest and some near concernment holds him fast Pity him and leave him for why shouldest thou perplex thy self with a man that lives by his opinions and who if nothing else will serve must render thee by any false suggestions odious to his Auditors thereby to weaken the credit of what thou urgest be it never so apparent and expresly grounded upon Scripture His reputation must be salv'd for thereupon depends his livelihood and thou shalt be but in the predicament with those who spoke against Diana and her shrines gaining to thy self the name of a turbulent fellow seditious and not fit to live Be neither of them nor engage imprudently against them acquire knowledg for thy self thy family friends and all such as seek it for the bettering of their lives and leave the disputative part to those different interests collateral and extrinsick to Christianity contenting thy self with what is plain universally allowed which will be amply sufficient to build thy hopes upon and direct thee in the Tracts and Courses of thy life 4. Side not with this or that Sect or Faction in Religion but follow what the Scriptures clearly and plainly hold forth Be neither Papist Episcopist nor Presbyterian nor Independent nor Anabaptist nor Quaker nor of any other particular appellation who for some notion peculiar to themselves are thereby distinguished from others Be a Christian and take thy denomination from our great Master the Author and founder of our Religion Christ the Anointed of God If Apollos dissent from Cephas and opine something of peculiarity to himself must the Members of Christ divide and flock into distinct parties It is not reasonable to be so This is not the interest of Christianity but of private persons for so they may justly be nam'd in respect to the whole Leaders of these Sects who are supported by these divisions who now know so well how to improve them as to live gloriously and splendidly upon them and raise a heat and zeal in the people as high and impetuous as if the strife were about the very fundamentals and realities of Religion Peradventure thou maist find something in the Scriptures that may seem to import as much as this or that particular sort of men hold forth and yet I see no reason thou shouldest be of them and thereupon divide from all the rest If it be true and expresly in Scripture thou believest it as thou art a Christian let that be sufficient Probably that Sect that maintains it has many other opinions which the Scriptures are dark in and hold not forth but in a wrested sense By being of that party thou intitlest thy self to them all and art oblig'd to maintain them By my consent if the Generals will needs have a War let them fight it out themselves do not thou partake nor interest thy self in their Quarrels Let thee and thy House serve the Lord in peace or at least fight only under Christs Banner against Hypocrisie Atheism oppression and whatsoever else our Lord and Master declar'd against 5. Believe what is in the general current of the Scriptures and if any particular Text do seem to oppose it give not easy credit thereunto thou mayest fail in the understanding thereof or some mistake may have been in the Translation or derivation from the first delivery thereof but certainly there can be none in those particulars which are the main scope and drift of that book and which also agree with the current of other parts of Scriptures Many Opinions thou wilt find which have their foundation only upon one or two dark places of Scriptures hard to be understood and capable of another sense than what is imposed this I conceive the most reasonable and safe way and therefore commend it unto thee 6. In reading the Scriptures use thine own understanding and take the whole sense together with what goes before and comes after for a Verse taken alone may be hard to be understood or bear a sense different from what it doth together with the context for want of this many errors have been broach'd as also by the glosses of Commentators who first assume their opinions and then incline the Scriptures all they can to the maintenance thereof When thou meetest with any thing difficult to be understood ponder upon it well first with thy own brain and if thou canst not so attain to the satisfactory understanding thereof because it may be it depends upon some usage or custome of the Jews Romans or other Nation or for that it is not well rendred by the Translators search the
A PLEADER TO THE NEEDER WHEN A READER AS all my friend through wily knaves full often suffer wrongs Forget not pray when it you 've read to whom this book belongs Than one Charles Clark of Totham Hall none to 't a right hath better A wight that same more read than some in the lore of old black-letter And as C.C. in Essex dwells a shire at which all laugh His books must sure less fit seem drest if they 're not bound in calf Care take my friend this book you ne'er with grease or dirt besmear it While none but a wkward puppies will continue to dog's-car it And o'er my books when book worms grub I 'd have them understand No marks the margins must de face from any busy hand Marks as re-marks in books of Clark's when e're some critic spy leaves It always him so wasp-ish makes though they 're but on the fly-leaves Yes if so they 're used he 'd not de fer to deal a fate most meet He 'd have the soiler of his quires do penance in a sheet The Ettrick Hogg ne'er deemed a bore his candid mind revealing Declares to beg a copy now 's a mere pre text for stealing So as some knave to grant the loan of this my book may wish me I thus my book plate here display lest some such fry should dish me But hold though I again declare WITH-holding I 'll not brook And a sea of trouble still shall take to bring book-worms to book THE DURABLE LEGACY By H. B. Med. D. LONDON Printed by M. White M DC LXXXI To my Beloved CHILDREN I Know full well that it is the design of Parents that are not thoughtless and altogether improvident partly by â—rugality and industry and sometimes by unjustifiable wayes and with the hazzard of their innocence and violation of thier own peace of Conscience to acquire estates for their Children that they may look big in the World and be more than common Cyphers The first do well in taking care of their posterity yet when that care is joyned with too great parsimony and an over earnest desire to advance their Children high in the worlds esteem for Riches or Honour it is a sign they have too great a value for those things beyond the Rules of Christian Religion and by designing their Sons to be Gentlemen they slack their necessary industry and their honest ingagement in business give them up to vice and idleness and expose them to many temptations and the subtleties of men watchful for such opportunities which an honest calling and constant love to business would have freed them from The other course of procuring an Estate is altogether unwarrantable and is commonly cursed and decayes in the second or third Generation if not in the first The world as it is ordered has many difficulties in it The people are very numerous Trade is overburthened and all professions almost have too many ingaged in them Pride and Luxury inforce too great expence outsides only are esteemed Temperance and all other Vertues created with man and injoyed by the founder and first Propagators of the Christian Religion are much decryed and of low esteem Upon consideration of these particulars though I reckon it my duty not to enter you into the world bare and without some competent foundation for your industry yet do I judge it much more incumbent upon me and more advantagious to your well being here and hereafter to furnish your minds with sound and solid knowledg that may support you in all states and conditions and keep you from those vices that too much swell men in prosperity and depress them under adversity These are my motives of writing the following discourse which I therefore call A Durable Legacy because though riches may a thousand wayes fail yet wisdom will alwayes indure and will best guide and conduct you through all the rugged paths which more or less every man meets withal in his passage through this world I had thought to have conveyed it to you only by writing but better bethinking my self that that way might meet with difficulty and hazzard of its wholly being lost I have been at the charge of Printing it with an obligation from him I intrusted with it that no more than fifty should pass the press and only for my use These I purpose to give amongst you my children that you may transmit them to your posterity and if that should in time exceed that number some one amongst you I hope will have so much regard to his Fathers memory and so just a value for the Contents of the Book as to take care for the reprinting it The Counsels and Directions I here give will concern the well managing of your lives from the time you are capable of considering what is best for you to the age wherein you may be more able than I that advise you having this help and advantage It is intended to make you Wise and Good the last I chiefly aim at the first but in order to it And indeed he is not to be accounted a wise man who is not so to himself Who acquires not knowledge and makes the chief end of it to be the well regulating of his mind so that it truly understand what is best to be done in all occurrences and exigences of Life no to secure wealth or honour but peace of Conscience a worthy fame from integrity of Life for the accomplishment whereof I take this pains it being infinitely more desirable to me to have it said of you that you are wise and just than that you are indowed with great Wealth or Titles The truest and most intrinsick honour being that which is an inseparable concomitant of Vertue And which the Word will it nill it must and doth tacitly acknowledge Take not up this Book slightly as if written with the common design of furnishing your brain for discourse 'T is better not speak than talk for vain glory or not for some good or allowable end Look upon it as that which is to be a Relique to your Families and ponder upon it as you would upon advice given if life were in danger With the Authority of a Father I injoyn you frequently to take Counsel of it with the affection of a Father I beseech you Be assured it was written with a hearty desire of doing you good Possessions I am not sure I shall leave you nor can you be sure to keep them but Wisdom will teach you how to avoid difficulties and goodness will inable you to bear what are unavoidable I would not have you think meanly of this Book for the plainness of the style it was purposely so writ with a resolution to decline all subtlety of speech or curiosity of Language that no impressions might be made upon you save what arise from the verity and apparent certainty of its Contents It is falshood imposture and the delusive opinions of the world that need and are usually supported by the
artifice of words In matters dubious and opinionative though I have thought fit to declare my judgment and acquaint you with the reasons and grounds that have inclined me yet I would not have you therefore give up your assents thereunto for Paternal Authority does not extend so far but for what is plain and agreeable to the rules of Vertue and Gods Sacred Word and therefore universally acknowledged here you are bound up and obliged in your lives to a strict observation thereof I have not writ it methodically with dependance of one Chapter upon another nor does the nature of the Subjects bear it Besides my business in the world has been much especially in my own profession I have writ it by piece-meal and as the several subjects came into my mind and therefore 't is no wonder they they have no dependence one upon another They may each be separately considered as need shall require and the Table direct Methods are for what is Scholastical written for Sale and Fame neither of which are by me intended Besides I never purpose it shall go abroad and therefore the homeliness of the dress attended with truth's plainness will not misbecome it I design it also as well for my Daughters as my Sons though some things therein are peculiar to men yet much of it is of equal concernment to the Female Sex who also may have male Children and as they are mine I allow them an equal title to it Women of middling quality esteem things worthy rather more than men are generally less vitious better guarded with modesty have less temptations and a great love to Vertue and Goodness give an easier assent to what is just unless biassed by their Husbands interest or prevailing power And therefore I intend this Book as much for them as my Sons not doubting but that they will and that more frequently peruse it more deliberately and seriously weigh the contents of it because their business will not be so much nor their diversions so frequent as those of my Sons I bestow it therefore with a like alacrity and expectation upon them and expect at least answerable fruits as from my male Children Lastly let no imputation remain upon me if I have in the progress of this Book mentioned the same things upon several occasions more than once for being I was it may be two or three years in writing it it is no wonder if my memory did not retain the sense of the whole Tautologies in this case are not so disallowable the intention being good and the matter necessary May it have an influence upon your minds suitable to the affectionate desires of my heart that you may be no dishonour to your Country nor no blemish to your Family That however others demean themselves it may be truly said that you all and your Families will serve the Lord in truth and sincerity of heart in all Godliness and Honesty and so my blessing be upon you all and the blessing of him who is the Author of all Beings the Eternal God Thus I am dear Children Your Affectionate Father HUMPHREY BROOKE Of Mans happiness and wherein it consists THE two great Ends that men are to aim at in this World are First to live happily here and Secondly to obtain the utmost assurance that man can attain to of being in the number of the blessed hereafter Both these are no otherwise to be had but by the acquisition of Wisdom and Goodness Now the beginning or foundation of true Wisdom is the fear of God so the Wise man has exprest it in the Counsel to his Son Proverbs 1. v. 7. The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom but Fools hate knowledg and instruction Fools indeed for what greater argument of folly can there be than to contemn the means of Happiness or to seek it in those wayes where it is not to be found A rich man may be miserable and so may they be who are dignified with Titles A Politick worldly man creates trouble and perplexity to himself and others and in all his grandeur if he deviates from the paths of Justice Wisdom and goodness is fur-rounded with difficulties eaten up with cares condemned by himself and the nearer he comes to his journeys end the greater are his horrours from the review of his vain designments the apprehension of Death and his fears of what must ensue after it Having therefore a mean esteem of these gaudy nothings or splendid Vanities my first advice to you my Son is to have a right apprehension of God so far as he has been pleased to manifest himself which he hath fully done both as to the excellency and perfection of his Being the glorious explications of his Wisdom and singular emanations of his Goodness He is the only God there is none besides him all things in this world yea the World it self the Heavens and the Earth are the workmanship of his hands their being and duration are at his pleasure with a word he made them and with a word when he sees it in his wisdem fit he can destroy them Just ground there is therefore for our fear of him and that our chiefest love should be fixt upon him in comparison to whom there is nothing valuable how dear soever in our esteem nor can we place any hopes of stedfast happiness but in our exact obedience to his will and commands You are therefore my Son to plant the fear and love of him in your heart and in all the actions and undertakings of your life you are well to consider that they bear a strict conformity to his will No other design aim or interest is to bear sway with you or hold any proportion in your thoughts This Counsel if you well observe which with the true affection of a Father I lay before you your life will be full of delight the World you pass through will be as a garden of sweet-smelling flowers beyond that of Paradise all afflictions will be easy death it self lovely without sting without affrightment a passage from lesser bliss to greater To your Fathers House the Mansions of the blessed And therefore my dear Son let it have preference in your mind let no allurements make you decline it 't will be a guide to your feet and a lanthorn to the dark paths of your difficult journey through this Earthly Pilgrimage Remember he gives you this Counsel who speaks from great experience and greater affection 't is the fruit of all my labors and the result of the best observations your affectionate Father hath made in the whole course and progress of his life Esteem not this therefore as slight and customary advice spoken in course or for formality it is my Son what I am most serious in and what I prefer before all other Rules or directions I shall hereafter give or can with my utmost intention of doing thee good be insisted upon And therefore what ever esteem you have of the rest be
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
expence of time which may be more profitably imployed 5. Keep a Common place Book in which as you read recount all memorable passages to which you may upon all occasions have recourse by an Alphabetical Index Lastly divert your self with gaining knowledg in the Laws of your Country Especially by reading some few Books that write fundamentally and particularly thereof especially of Institutes and other writings of Judge Coke as also the usages and customs of London whereof much is written which being the chief City and probably the place of your residence will require some of your time because to be totally ignorant therein is to expose your self to many inconveniencies and will render you disregarded and unserviceable to your neighbours I know very well that all these particulars I have mentioned and each of them too are studies of great extent requiring much time to attain a reasonable perfection therein but let not that discourage you since my aim is not at the acquisition of such a degree as those are to attain who are particularly versed therein and live thereupon but at such a proportion as may be a fair content and recreation to your mind and enable you when either your self or any neighbour or friend is to be ingaged and concerned therein to suggest some fit course or expedient and to be the better able to advise further with those who are better skilled in the intrigues and difficulties thereof And thus much I thought good to suggest to you concerning those mental diversions which may take up your leisure Hours in the vacances from the business or proper study in your profession from which both pleasure and profit may be reaped idleness and vitious imployments avoided I now am to advise you concerning the choice of a Wife Of the choice of a Wife Marry not until thou attainest a confirmed age and strength for so thou consultest thy health and long life and preserve thy self Chast that thy posterity may be strong and vigorous thy self in heart and fruitful Before thou Marriest see the way clear that thou beest in a good condition to maintain a Family and not necessitated to depend upon her dowry In Chusing take good advice with Friends and thy self that is with thy reason and sound understanding carefully avoiding the being transported with the outside of a Woman where inward graces do not answer external Beauty You are not to Marry for a day a week a mouth a year but until death parts you And therefore you are especially to look at those qualities which be pleasing to you as long as you live These are the particulars I would have thee chiefly regard in the choice of a Wife 1. That she be of a family of honest and untainted repute for otherwise the stains of that stock thou ingraftest thy self into will have if not a reflexion upon thee yet unavoidably some tacite regret upon thy mind which thou wilt find very difficult to remove 2. Let her be of a healthy body and derived from healthy Parents for otherwise thou mayest justly fear that their infirmities will be transmitted to thy Posterity 3. Avoid in thy Choice the Proud Peevish Subtle and Disdainful disposition Thou wilt easily suggest reasons to thy self against every one of these especially when you shall consider the sweet effects of the contrary vertues The having a Wife that is prudently courteous to all full of true affability and meekness Patient and impassionate making the best of every thing that falls out Sincere and plain hearted esteeming nothing the better of her self or others for Riches Birth Beauty or other things without her but shewing a decent kindness to all and preferring how mean soever those who are truly good and vertuous 4. I need not caution thee against those who are tainted with any ill fame for personal misbehaviours men of ordinary prudence are cautious enough in avoiding such Unless where they are ensnared with the alurement of external form or some cunning and counterfeit behaviours In this case the best way of prevention is not to make too much hast for time strict inquiries and the assistance of friends will soon discover the truth of things and give thee to understand how dangerous a quick-sand thou hast escaped that for want of good foresight has been the destruction of many reputed wise men 5. Aim not at those who are reputed the great Beauties but prefer the amiable with the good qualifications of the mind far before beauty In our age it is an unhappiness for Women to have too much of it for besides that it exposes them to frequent visits thereby tainting their mind it raises their own conceits too high of themselves and consequently makes them not so fit to be Wives as Women of more ordinary forms Set not also too great a value upon some other acquisitions which have much the same influence upon them as Beauty has such are Dancing Singing witty Discourse too great promptness in Speech acuteness in following Fashions frequency in Visits and Entertainments these are particulars which it may be custom and the present ages inclination give countenance to but they are so far from adding any thing to the happiness of Marriage that they rather are the unhappy occasions of distasts and irreconcileable breaches too too frequently seen amongst us 6. It is as expedient also that thou beest as wary in entertaining one who is an opinionatrix in matters of Religion unless she has the good qualities in the third Caution mentioned For if her mind be elevated thereby and thou dissentest she will have a mean opinion of thee as carnal and out of the state of grace and her affection will accordingly cool especially being steered by the reverend Pastor or other crafty Sire of whose Sanctity she has more than ordinary opinion Consider it thus that true Religion is attended with all Christian Graces especially Meekness Humility a low esteem of our selves a just esteem of others Whereas the little modifications thereof which are assumed for indirect ends raise the pretenders to proud and exalted thoughts of themselves and contempt of other folks therefore I thought necessary thus to caution thee as to this particular 7. Let not Wealth sway thee where there is not a concomitance of other things more essential to happiness Yea let not want of an estate deter thee where there are all other good qualifications thou thy self being in plenty Thy content will every day increase by it 't is praise-worthy and generous a benefit to the World a practical information of the people in preferring goodness before wealth and lastly thou securest thy own happiness in an obligation which cannot but have aâ—â—â—sâ—ing and indelible influence upon the Vertuous Lastly be sure to please thy self in the person of her thou marriest and therefore avoid the unwholsome and deformed Thou canst not be mistaken taking time before marriage unless thou provest so unhappy as to let wealth or some other by considerations oversway thee