the Places where they live as being Disturbers of the Quiet of Persons with whom they have their Habitation For their internal Rancour and Naughtiness of Mind still puts them upon plotting and contriving Mischief and makes them greedy of Opportunity to practise it * Now This Malignity and Naughtiness of Disposition is moral Pravity Deformity and Privation And therefore it cannot be natural but must be acquired For this is a certain Rule nothing Moral can be by Generation but must be by Acts Use Custom and Practice Nothing but what is purely natural can be in a Man by Traduction and Propagation We are not born with Habits but born only with Faculties This is so far true that any bodily Disposition or Inclination which is not acquired tho' it be to Good or to Evil it is neither a Vice if it be a Tendency to Evil nor a Vertue if it be a Tendency to Good For nothing is Vertue but what is the Product of a Mind actually considering and a Man's Choice upon Deliberation and Consideration And so nothing amounts unto the Degree of Vice * but in the same manner Only a Man may be wicked by Failure and Neglect Because a Man is to use the Principles of God's Creation he is to consider and he is to make use of his Reason and that is first to be set on work to discover the Way and to discern the Difference of Things It is most true in respect of every Man 's internal State every Man hath himself for Temper for Disposition for Complexion and Constitution of Soul according as he hath considered examined and used himself Now if a Man hath himself as he uses himself then whosoever is in Perverseness and Malignity of Mind he hath brought himself into it by abuse of himself Whosoever is in a naughty and malignant Disposition of Mind there is no Creature under Heaven nor nothing that is in being that brought him into that Temper but either his gross Self-neglect or voluntary Self-abuse And if there be gross Self-neglect he hath not acted according to his Principles That which is not of a Man's self it may be his Burden but never his Fault nor never is charged upon him on a moral Account 3 dly A sickly and distemper'd Body * This hath made work for the Physician and uncouth Remedies and hath prevented the natural Pleasure of temperate Eating Drinking Sleeping For in Nature's Way only is Health and Strength * Now I grant a Man may have a weak Body and unhappy Constitution without his own Fault whence some die so soon and others are so sickly But there are things which are in our Power that are mischievous to the Body I shall instance in three kinds of Vices in respect of which we may say with the Apostle These Men sin against their own Bodies 1 st Pride Envy and Malice These * carry Discontent which doth macerate the Body and melancholize the Blood Now * as the World is a very uncertain and unequal thing so * it affords frequent Matter of Offence to this * Temper If a Man will be offended he shall be offended every day The Proud and Conceited Man never hath Respect enough he is not valued by others according as he esteems himself No Man thinks so well of him as he thinks of himself And therefore he is necessarily agrieved at every Man and he lives in Discontent He is seldom satisfied but apt to interpret every Man's Carriage towards him Neglect at least if not Affront You have all this verified in the Temper of Haman to Mordecai who is dispossest of all his Enjoyments because Mordecai offends him so is in perpetual Discontent And if a Man is in Discontent he doth not only marr the Temper of his Mind but hurts his Body The Envious and Malicious are agrieved at every Body's Good They cannot enjoy the Comforts they might enjoy because others have the same Now whosoever he is that leads a grumbling repining Life as all envious Men do his very Life is a lingring pining Death Envy is the Rottenness of the Bones But the sound Heart is the Life of the Flesh. One * in whom Principles that are solid and sincere do govern he that is in the Use of sober Reason and Understanding this Man is of a sound Heart We have not more Sense of any thing in this World than that to live in Love and Good Will is to live at Hearts-ease * What great Content have they that live in Universal Love In Reconciliation with God and his whole Creation They are offended at no Body they rejoyce at any thing that happens well to any Creature whatsoever What should bear the Infirmities of the Body but the Courage and Resolution of the Mind If Men thro' Pride Envy and Malice do their Bodies Mischief is it to be imputed to God No But to themselves 2 dly Intemperance and Wantonness These bring our Bodies to noisom filthy loathsom Diseases sometimes even to Rottenness while our Souls inform them Those that live in these Vices sin against their own Bodies Dishonour themselves Make themselves vile and their Bodies unfit Tabernacles for their Souls to dwell in They alienate their Bodies from their proper Use. For what is the proper Use of the Body but to be * as the Tool and Instrument of our Mind in the Engagement * and Service of Vertue The Poet livelily describes the Effect of Drunkenness Aches in the Head Nauseousness in the Stomach Drought in the Throat Langour in the Parts Folly and Fury in the Mind a Feaver in the whole Now all these are avoided where there is due Self-government and where Men take upon them to order their Affairs according to the Dictates of true and sober Reason But if Men lay Reason aside and give themselves up to absurd Compliance if once they transgress the Principles of Reason and abuse the Principles of their Minds they abuse and spoil their Bodies 3 dly By Idleness and Sloth which are also our Bodies Enemies they come to putrifie as Water in Ponds by Stagnancy The Security of the natural State and Perfection of every thing is by Motion and Action By Lasiness and Sloth our Bodies come to be vitiated For they are deprived of their great Security And Nature's Remedy the All-preserving insensible Transpiration is advanced and maintained by Motion Whereas on the other side Vertue which is the Mind 's due Complexion is Soveraign to the Body And all the genuine and kindly Operations of Vertue and Religion are benign and favourable to our Bodies and * are our great Security Length of Days are secured by complying with the Principles of Religion Sobriety Reason and Understanding But in every Deviation from and Contradiction to Reason the contrary viz. Short Life and Diseases are founded and our Bodies spoiled and marred Thus you see God is not to be charged with that which we our selves are the sole Cause of We bring upon our selves the great
our Author has appear'd so signally Whatsoever says he some have said Man's Nature is not so untoward a Thing unless it be abused but that there is a secret Sympathy in Human Nature with Vertue and Honesty which gives a Man an Interest even in bad Men. God in infinite Wisdom has so contrived that if an Intellectual Being sink it self into Sensuality or any way defile and pollute it self then Miseries and Torments should befall it in this State VERTUE and VICE says he are the Foundations of Peace and Happiness or Sorrow and Misery There is inherent Punishment belonging to all Vice and no Power can divide or separate them For tho' God should not in a positive Way inflict Punishment or any Instrument of God punish a Sinner yet he would punish Himself his Misery and Unhappiness would arise from Himself Thus speaks our excellent Divine and truly Christian Philosopher whom for his appearing thus in Defence of Natural Goodness we may call the Preacher of Good-nature This is what he insists on every-where and to make this evident is in a Manner the Scope of all his Discourses And in conclusion of all this 't is hop'd that what has been here suggested may be sufficient to justifie the Printing of these Sermons As for our Author himself what his Life was how great an Example of that happy Temper and God-like Disposition which he labour'd to inspire how much he was for the Excellency of his Life and admirable Temper esteem'd and belov'd of all and even in the worst of Times when Feuds and Animosities on the Account of Religion were highest during the Time of the late great Troubles how his Character and Behaviour drew to him the Respect of all Parties so as to make him be remarkably distinguished how much in Esteem he was with the greatest Men and how many constant Hearers he had of the best Rank and greatest Note even of the most eminent Divines themselves this is sufficiently known And the Testimony which the late Arch-bishop Tillotson has given of him tho' it be in a Funeral Sermon is known to be in nothing superiour to his Desert The Sermons whieh are here Printed have been selected out of Numbers of others less perfect there being not any of our Author 's extant but such as were written after him at Church He having used no other than very short Notes not very legible Tho' these have been of great Use to the Publisher in whose Hands they have been The unpolish'd Style and Phrase of our Author who drew more from a College than a Court and who was more used to School-Learning and the Language of an University than to the Conversation of the fashionable World may possibly but ill recommend his Sense to the Generality of Readers And since none of these Discourses were ever design'd for the World in any other Manner than as he once for all pronounc'd them from the Pulpit they must of Necessity appear to have a Roughness in them which is not found in other Sermons more accurately penn'd by their Authors For tho' the Publisher has sometimes supplied him out of himself by transferring to a defective Place that which he found in some other Discourse where the same Subject was treated yet so great a Regard was had to the very Text and Letter of his Author that he would not offer to alter the least Word And wheresoever he has added any Thing to correct the most apparent Omission or Fault of the Pen-man he has taken Care to have it mark'd in different Characters That nothing might appear as our Author 's own which was not perfectly His. Tho' some others in the World have been very far from this Caution Since of late some things have been set out in our Author's Name which his best Friends disown to be his and which any one who studies him in his Genuine Works will easily know to be unworthy of him And now when these Disadvantages which have been mentioned are considered since they are no more than what sensible People will easily make Allowance for 't is presum'd there may be in the World some Persons who will notwithstanding think these Sermons to be of Worth and may perhaps discover in them some peculiar Beauties such as are not to be despised for want of that Ornament which might have accompany'd them I know that there are now growing up in the World too many who are prejudic'd against all Pulpit-Discourses and who in this prophane Age are led to think not only the Institution of Preaching but even the Gospel it self and our Holy Religion to be a Fraud But notwithstanding all the Prejudice of this kind 't is to be hop'd that even some of these Persons if they have any Candour left may be induced to applaud some Things that they may meet with here So as from hence perhaps to like Christianity the better This we may with Assurance say that were there besides ours any Religion Ancient or Modern that had so Divine a Man as this to shew these very Men would admire and reverence him and tho' a Priest of that Religion and bound to comply with establish'd Superstition would praise his Vertue and perhaps be the forwardest to extol his Sentences and Works in Opposition to our Sacred Religion But this is hard that even Heathen Religion and Paganism can be more mildly treated and cause less Aversion than Christianity To such Men as these I can say nothing further But if they who are thus set against Christianity cannot be won over by any Thing that they may find here yet we may assure our selves at least of this good Effect from hence that the excellent Spirit which is shewn here and that Vein of Goodness and Humanity which appears throughout these Discourses will make such as are already Christians to prize and value Christianity the more And the Fairness Ingenuity and Impartiality which they may learn from hence will be a Security to them against the contrary Temper of those other irreconcileable Enemies to our Holy Faith NOTE THAT whatever has been added by way of Suppliment to any defective Place whether it be one single Word or Particle is mark'd in different Characters with this Mark * prefix'd The Sermons are divided into Two Parts In the First Part the Foundations of Natural and Reveal'd Religion are laid and Christianity proved These being Sermons which properly succeed one another in this Order and were thus preach'd The Second Part contains several Sermons preach'd at several Times without Relation one to another on different Subjects of Religion and Morality ERRATA PAge 53. line 14. read sets us at p. 61. l. 10. r. Spiritual p. 92. l. 29. r. all but. p. 196. l. 13. r. Wariness p. 211. l. 14. r. hard p. 226. in the Margin r. John 18. p. 247. l. 21. r. Temper p. 271. l. 18. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 278. l. 19. r. Sheepishness p. 324. l. 4. r. disable p. 325. in
and Man All our Expressions must answer our Intentions when we treat one with another We are not in the Truth unless we speak what we mean It is necessary to the Truth of a Treaty that the Materials which make the Case be fully declared For it is no Agreement if any part of the Matter be unknown For a Case is made up of all Circumstances Do but diversify one Circumstance and it is another thing They that treat together are to take care that they understand and mean the same Things and not * make it a Practice for one who is more comprehensive than another to make use of his Wit to over-reach And if they find they did not mean the same things they are to release one another For no Man is obliged further than he did mean What is meant in the Treaty is after to be stood to No After-shifts Men must not after use Wit or practise upon the Doubtfulness and Uncertainty of Words and Phrases thereby to make an escape What we have engaged we must perform unless we can obtain a release from the Party with whom we engage though it prove inconvenient and worse to us than is imagined This is Truth between Man and Man And whosoever faileth in these forfeiteth his Truth And thus I have shewed you wherein a Man may put a Lye upon God upon Himself upon his Neighbour and by this you may understand this Charge of the Apostle Whatsoever Things are True Upon the whole Matter now let us take up a Lamentation For if that which I have said be true how miserable and deform'd is the World That that is the principal Thing Wit Reason and Understanding is made ill use of to serve particular Interests Ends and Purposes How much counterfeit Ware every-where is to be found How much over-reaching in Bargains and Treaties So that now a Man had need to be universally skill'd to have Right in the World Things are generally done for the Vender's Gain only and not for the Buyer's Service Whereas every Profession doth imply a Trust for the Service of the Publick And every Man in the Way of his Profession ought to do things Truly For a Man to be false in his own Trade is a double Iniquity For the Artist's Skill ought to be the Buyer's Security Every Man ought to be ready to render a Reason to any Man as in Christianity so every-where else He that is ignorant may demand the Help of another's Skill And if he makes use of his Skill to his Prejudice he deals falsly It is not competent to any Person to be universally knowing Wherefore are sundry Trades and several Professions but for the Good of Mankind because no Man is more than particularly skill'd This Departure from Simplicity and Sincerity in Profession is a thing unaccountable But this is nothing in Comparison with the Cheats Frauds and Cozenage in Religion What think ye now of Divinity methodized to sink the People down and gain Pomp to the Clergy Religion accommodate to Ends and Purposes The infinite Gain that comes from one Doctrine The Pope's Power to pardon Sin the Priest's Power to absolve Sinners Now these Cheats these Cozenages are of greater Importance because the Consequences are greater * To conclude Truth hath always God to maintain it Truth hath Defence in it self For Great is Truth and it will prevail It may be overborn for a while but it will recover Truth hath Goodness to accompany it Therefore none need fear Shame or Cause to repent Truth hath Liberty consequent to it The Truth shall make you free He that is in the Truth is not thoughtful But a Lyar had need carry about him a good Memory Truth is Con-natural to our Principles For a Man forceth himself when he departs from it Truth is the Foundation of all Order All things will be in Confusion if not order'd united and govern'd by Truth For Falshood puts every thing out of its place Truth is the Ground of Human Converse No Man is sure of another neither knows where to have him if he abide not in the Truth It is the Bond of Union Where Men agree in the Truth they are Friendly meet and harmonize one with another and great Sympathy is between them But out of the Ways of Truth Men run counter cross and contradict one another every-where This we are to know that God's Super-intendency over Human Affairs aims at this that Truth and Righteousness may obtain an universal Empire in the World And this is an Explication of that great Phrase God's doing all for his own Glory For it is an unexplicable Form of Words to say That God doth all for himself particularly as if God were a particular Agent and sought his own particular Interest But * the Sense is that God super-intends the World for this That Truth Righteousness and Goodness might take place every-where in the World And for the Advancement of this every Man in his Sphere of Activity and within his Compass ought to endeavour And this is for us to do to the Glory of God Whatsoever Things are Honest. So the Translation But I rather keep to the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whatsoever things are VENERABLE Which Word is put in the Margin Neither do I forsake the Word in the Text without very good Reason because the Word Honest doth not import the Emphasis of the Greek And the very Notion of Honest you have afterwards therefore you are not take it here Now the Greek imports whatsoever things are Honourable Grave Venerable Seemly Comely Things that may raise the Esteem of the Person and gain Reverence and Value to a Man * In this Sense there are Two Things requisite Grave Behaviour and Composure of Spirit Light Carriage and an ungovern'd Spirit render any Man mean vile and contemptible A Man lays himself low in the Esteem of others by Misbehaviour And a Man lays himself open by falling into Passion or running out into immoderate Desires Gallantly doth the Poet tell us Remember to reverence thy self There is much of God in every Man If a Man do justly value himself he will not do that that is base though it be in the Dark though no Body sees him A Man ought not to abuse himself or make himself mean or low since he bears the Image of God But if a Man will neither regard God within nor the Workmanship of God without neither have Reverence for himself he will have Cause to find that he hath been wanting to himself when he falls under other Mens and his own Contempt Sin and Wickedness doth equalize those that are therein engaged There is no Man in the Sense of his Mind or in his Judgment hath a Value or Esteem for any one that is naught No Man reverenceth a wicked Man no not a wicked Man himself He is low and base in Esteem And there is no Remedy But some * there are of so comely and grave Behaviour that they awe
to fall upon the Just and the Unjust He giveth us Rain from Heaven and fruitful Seasons Wherefore to have God in our sight and to have right Apprehensions of him and a Sense of his Love and Goodness this above all Things tends to the Nobleness Amplitude Freedom and Liberty of our Spirits Secondly I propose something in respect of our selves That is Be not in a worldly Spirit Be not in love with bodily Ease Give not your selves up to the Pleasures of Sense Be not eagerly bent upon Gain But be loose to it For this you may observe Sensuality and Covetousness do narrow the Soul and limit and confine its Reaches and Desires For Sensuality marrs the Understanding And he that hath mean Thoughts hath but poor Performances And Covetousness doth contract to a little and very narrow point So that there can be no Motion in any large Sphere of Action God and Religion and the Concernments thereof are nothing where either a selfish Spirit hath place or a covetous Humour reigns That Rule that is common Every Man for himself and God for us all It is the Effect of the lowest the shallowest the meanest sorriest Spirit that is in the whole Creation of God And that Frame and Temper of Mind doth make a Man uncapable of Self-enjoyment In all Competition of Actions or Objects Man shou'd always prefer that that will do him Good and bring him to Perfection according to his inward Man For a Man is more by his Soul Ten thousand times than he is by his Body Thirdly I propose something in respect of others Suspect no Body before-hand till you have Ground and Cause from some Experience Take up against no Body upon bare report Impute no Evil to any of whom you do not know some And further Make fair Application in an honest Cause to any Person therein concern'd with a Confidence and Expectation that he will do what is fit And let him perceive your good Opinion of him If any thing in the World engage a Man this pre-conceiv'd Opinion and right Supposition will * engage and oblige him But observe the seasonable Time of Speaking And allow to every Man for his Pre-possession for his Anticipation Pre-conception and his Temper This is Christian Prudence and honest Policy And this will gain Advantage and increase Good-will And I dare say both Reason and Religion will allow this Respect of Persons There is another kind of Respect of Persons which we disallow But this Respect of Persons there is good Cause for and it may be used It is a great Piece of Prudence to apply handsomely to Men and to avoid the darker Part of Men and take them at the best And some are very good at it These are the Proposals I make which tend to the enlarging a Man's Soul and amplifying him and qualifying him to be an Instrument to advance and promote the Good of the World * Lastly This is a Challenge to the Corrupt Guise of this World and the degenerate Practice that is in it Do we profess our selves to be Christians Do we do LOVELY Things How is the World apostatized from the Divine Nature and degenerate into the Devilish Nature For commonly our Parts are employed and our Time spent in studying and contriving Defiances one against another In the Creation God made the Second in order to the First And if we answer the Order of our Creation we shou'd be so much the more provided for by how many more there are in the World It should be one Man a God to another But we through our Degeneracy make it to be every Man a Wolf to another For we see Men glory in their Cunning and their Craft And a cunning and crafty Man he is called a wise Man But This is no true Wisdom Whatsoever Things are of GOOD REPORT Things may be of good Report two Ways There are Majora Insigniora Jura The greater the higher more universal famous Rights And there are Minutiora Leviora The lesser more particular and obscurer Rights And there is difference between these two both in respect of the Matter and of the Evidence The former need no external Report no foreign Determination they are above it Loquuntur Res The Things speak themselves And the Voice and Language of Things is more certain and infallible then Sense of Persons liable to Prejudice who may be incompetent to make Report through Impotency or Partiality But the Voice of Things is uniform constant and what cannot be practised upon All Men acknowledge Piety Devotion towards God Justice Righteousness amongst Men Sobriety Temperance as every Man's Measure conducible to his Health conservative of his Life And we may take that to be the Sense of Human Nature wherein all Men agree Who commends not Modesty before Impudency Faithfulness before Treachery Charity before selfishness Mercifulness before Cruelty Moderation before Insolency and Usurpation Sobriety before Intemperance Love and Good-will before Malice and Envy As for the Latter Rights In these the Reason of the Thing is less evident and the Right of the Case * is of more hazardous and uncertain Determination because of Change or Variety of Circumstances There is some what a different account in this Case in respect of the Liberty of the interior Man in Foro interno as we speak and of the exterior Man in foro externo In the former no Creature hath Cognizance therefore doth not intermeddle As concerning the Acts of the external Man not only the Sense of one's private Judgment is to be taken into Consideration but in the Use of our Liberty a just Regard is to be had to others to Government and Authority to the Sense of other People to the maintaining of Charity For Universal Charity is a Thing final in Religion Wherefore the maintaining and enlarging Love and Good-will Order and Peace are to be preferr'd before the Use of Externals in particular Cases Modesty Humility Meekness Charity and such Vertues do sanctifie by their Presence and Operations Which cannot be affirm'd of those Things which belong to the Instrumental part of Religion as Prayer Hearing of Sermons Receiving the Sacraments all which are esteem'd from their Respect to an End and are then crown'd when they attain their Purpose For Scripture tells us * as to those who are immoral that the Prayers of Persons in such Circumstances may be Abomination I put these * Things in Competition with the other not to prejudice these but to prefer the other These are the Means the other the End Our Saviour justifies this Distinction between the greater and lesser Rights Judgment Mercy Faith the weightier Matters these ought ye to have done Tithe of Mint Annise Cummin these ought ye not to have left undone So far as Conscience may be concern'd there is Certainty enough in Things We may have sufficient Assurance from the Reason of Things themselves or their Reference to the End from the clear Report of so
Evils We and We alone cause Guilt in our Consciences We and We alone do deform and deprave our Minds We and We alone are the Causes of Diseases and the marring of our Bodies when * we are intemperate Further to prove that MISERY IS OF OUR SELVES I shall take Two Grounds from the Apostle 1 st Man is a Law to himself That is the Effect and Purport of the Law is written in his Heart So that Man is felfcondemned if he transgress he himself being Judge And Self-condemnation is the Life of Hell What the Apostle saith of the Word of Faith of After-Revelation We need not ask who shall ascend c. But the Word of Faith which we preach is nigh thee even in thy Heart the same also may we say of the Principles of God's Creation in us which belongs to our very Make. For Man by Vertue of his Nature and Principles is as sufficient and proportionable to Acts of Reason and Understanding as any inferiour Nature is to Acts Homogenial and Con-natural And we observe that inferiour Nature fails not if it meets not with Foreign Disturbance and Impediment Man therefore out of the Way of right Reason is a Monster a Prodigy in a State of Delinquency and Deformity and he returns not to himself but by Revocation of what is unduly done and renewal by Repentance Otherwise he remains under Self-condemnation So cannot but be miserable 2 dly Great Sinners leave natural Use. Now the Propensions and Inclinations of the Powers and Faculties of our Natures are not controuled without great Violence to our selves and Affront given to God As to instance it is horrid monstrous degenerate and unnatural to live without God in the World because Mind and Understanding are God's peculiar Reserve in Man given to be employed about him So that it is Alienation and Sacriledge to divert them from him It is unnatural to be Intemperate The Desires of Nature are Modest and within Bounds and Compass And all Excess is burthensome It is Devilish to be Spiteful and Revengeful For Man by Nature is Sociable and wishes well to them in whose Company he takes delight This must be understood of Nature before it be abused by unnatural Acts ill Use Custom and Practice For the better any thing is in its Constitution and Integrity the worse it is in its Degeneracy and Depravation I infer Four Things from * hence 1. If Man's Misery be from within * and from Man's self then no Imputation lies upon God of hard Usage of his Creatures Let us therefore resolve with Elihu to give all Honour to our Maker and ascribe Righteousness to him and not entertain such Thoughts and Apprehensions of God as will not recommend him to us nor encourage our Applications to him For it is the leading Point in Religion to have in our Minds right Suppositions of God 2. If this were duly considered Men would not allow themselves to be Lawless Arbitrary Licentious Exorbitant tho' they might avoid the Danger of Divine and Human Laws For Misery arising from within Sinners would be miserable and unhappy tho' God and Man should let them alone 3. If this were duly considered Men would not be agrieved at the Shews and Appearances of this vain World so as to envy the Condition of the Fond and Foolish who intoxicate themselves with Fancies and are Self-flatterers The seeming Prosperity of the Wicked hath been a Stumbling-block to good Men in * all Ages to David Job Jeremiah till they have bethought themselves examin'd and considered But that is well which ends well The Tempter abuses credulous Persons suggesting the Day of Vengeance to be a long time hence Whereas the Sins of Men do not stay for all their Punishment till the Day of Judgment But whether external Punishment be sooner or later Wickedness carries Misery in its own Bowels Were we but at times to see the Torture and Anguish that Guiltiness gives occasion to the Unquietness of naughty malicious Minds the Perplexities and Vexations of the Envious a Man of Poverty if of Innocency and Integrity would not change Conditions with them notwithstanding their worldly Accommodations and gay Out-sides 4. This effectually recommends to us Principles of Reason and Religion as things fit to rule and govern in the Life of Man as things Soveraign to Nature * as the Law of Mens Apprehensions and the Rule of Mens Actions They moderate Mens Passions compose Mens Spirits quiet Mens Minds keep Men in their Wits suffer no abuse to their Bodies A discomposed Mind doth disaffect the Body and a distemper'd Body doth disturb the Mind There is more Satisfaction in good SELF-GOVERNMENT than in all the forced Jollities and Pleasures in the World * Therefore to obtain this Composedness of Spirit and in order to this great Work of Self-Government First I propose that we do not attempt to compound and make things stand together that are of a contrary Nature and Quality as Worldly Policy and Divine Wisdom These two things are as distinct as any things in the World the one is for compassing Ends by all Ways and Arts the other is for all Ways of Righteousness Peaceableness and Universal Good-will * Thus for a Man to resolve to get an Estate by any Ways or Means to haste to be rich and with this to retain Innocency Uprightness and Integrity than which nothing is more impossible For a Man to compound inordinate Self-love with the Love of God and his Neighbour For a Man to make * it the Employment of Mind and Understanding to gratifie Sense and serve Brutish Lusts and yet think that he may * be acted and guided by the good Spirit of God These * things will not consist together Secondly I propose that in all the Variety Difficulties and Uncertainties of this World which is subject to so many and various Changes a Man resolve to be himself as to the great things of Humane Life Let him be the same in respect of his End both intermediate and ultimate the next and the last that is let his immediate End be warrantable and lawful and the ultimate End be that which is universally good as the Observance of God and his own Happiness For these are the same and concur together Let him be the same in respect of his Aims Designs and Intentions Let these be always worthy and let him hold to them Let him be the same in respect of his Rule and Principle of Living and of Acting Tho' he fail in a particular Action yet let him hold to his Rule and as soon as he can recover himself to his Rule and Law Let him be the same in respect of his Contentment and Satisfaction Let not a Man take up and applaud himself in any Attainment or Acquisition that is short of that which will finally accomplish a Man and make him happy Let a Man always be himself in respect of his Engagements and Undertakings Let a Man conjoin with his Natural Powers