and farre-fetched answer to a short and easie question For as that other wrongs the truth so this the hearer 29 Performance is a binder I will request no more fauor of any man then I must needs I will rather choose to make an honest shift theÌ„ ouermuch enthrall my selfe by being beholden 30 The world is a stage Euery man an actor and playes his part heere either in a Comedie or Tragedy The good man is a Comedian which howe euer hee begins endes merily but the wicked man acts a Tragedie and therefore euer ends in horror Thou seest a wicked man vant himselfe on this stage stay till the last act and looke to his end as Daâ—id did and see whether that bee peace Thou wouldst make straunge Tragedies if thou wouldst haue but one acte who sees an Oxe grazing in a fat and rank pasture and thinkes not that hee is neere to the slaughter whereas the leane beast that toyles vnder the yoake is farre enough from the Shambles The best wicked man cannot be so enuied in his first showes as hee is pitiable in the coÌ„clusion 32 Of all obiects of Beneficence I would chuse either an olde man or a childe because these are most out of hope to requite The one forgets a good turne the other liues not to repay it 32 That which Pythagoras said of Philosophers is more true of Christians for Christianitie is nothing but a diuine better Philosophy Three sorts of men come to the Market buyers sellers lookers on The two first are both busie and carefully distracted about their Market onely the third liue happily vsing the world as if they vsed it not 33 There be three things which of all other I will neuer striue for the wall the way the best seateâ— If I deserue well a lowe place cannot disparage me so much as I shall grace it if not the height of my place shall add to my sâ—ame whiles euery man shall condemne me of pride matched with vnworthines 34 I see there is not so much difference betwixt a man and a beast as betwixt a Christian and a naturall man For wheras man liues but one life of reason aboue the beast A Christian liues foure lyues aboue a natural man The life of inchoate regeneration by grace The perfect life of imputed righteousnes the life of glory begun in the seperation of the soule the life of perfect glory in the society of the body with the soule in full happinesse The wooâ—st whereof is better by many degrees then tâ—e best life of a naturall man For whereas the dignitie of the life is measured by the cause of it in which regarde the life of the plant is basest because it is but froÌ„ the iuice arising from the roote administred by the earth the life of the bruit creature better then it because it is sensitiue of man better then it because reasonable and the cause of this life is the spirit of GOD so farre as the spirit of GOD is aboue reason so farre doth a Christian exceed a mere naturalist I thanke God much that he hath made mee a man but more that hee hath made mee a Christian without which I know not whether it had beene better for mee to haue beene a beast or not to haue beene 35 Great mens fauours friendes promises and dead mens sâ—ooes I will esteeme but not trusâ— to 36 It is a fearefull thing to sinne more fearefull to delight in sinne yet worse to defend it but worse theÌ„ worst to boast of it If therefore I cannot auoyd sinne because I am a man yet I will auoyde the delight defence and boasting of sin because I am a Christian 37 Those thinges which are most eagerly desired are most hardly both gotten and kept God commonly crossing our desires in what wee are ouer feruent I will therefore account all thinges as too good to haue so nothing too deere to loose 38 It is best to bee curteous to all entire with fewâ— so may we perhaps haue lesse cause of ioy I am sure lesse occasion of sorrow 39 Secrecies as they are a burden to the mind ere they bee vttered so are they no lesse charge to the receiuer when they are vttred I will not long after more inward secrets least I should procure doubt to my selfe and iealous feare to the discloser But as my mouth shall bee shut with fidelity not to blab them so my eare shall not be too open to receiue them 40 As good Physitians by one receit make way for another so is it the safest course in practise I will reueale a great secret to none but whom I haue found faithfull in lesse 41 I will enjoy all things in GOD and GOD in all things nothing in it selfe So shall my ioyes neither chaunge nor perish for howe euer the thinges themselues may alter or fade yet he in whom they are mine is euer like himselfe constant and euerlasting 42 If I would prouoke my selfe to contentation I will cast downe my eyes to my inferiours and there see better men in worse condition If to humility I will cast them vp to my betters and so much more deâ—ect my selfe to them by how much more I see them thought worthie to bee respected of others and deserue better in themselues 43 True vertue rests in the conscience of it self either for reward or censurâ— If therefore I know my selfe vpright false rumours shall not daunt me If not answerable to the good report of my fauorers I will my selfe finde the first fault that I may preuent the shame of others 44 I will account vertue the best riches knowledge the next riches the worst and therefore will labour to bee vertuous and learned without condition as for riches if they fall in my way I refuse them not but if not I desire them not 45 An honest word I account better then a carelesse oath I will say nothing but what I dare sweare will performe it is a shame for a Christian to abide his tongue a false Seruant or his minde a loose Mistresse 46 There is a iust and easie difference to bee put betwixt a friend and an enemie betwixt a familiar and a friend and much good vse to bee made of all But of all with discretion I will disclose my selfe no whiâ— to my enemie somewhat to my friend wholly to no man least I should bee more others then my owne Friendship is brittle stuffe how know I whether hee that now loues mee may not hate me hereafter 47 No man but is an easie Iudge of his owne matters and lookers on oftentimes see the more I will therefore submit my selfe to others in what I am reproued but in what I am praysed onely to my selfe 48 I will not be so merry as to forget God nor so sorrowfull to forget my selfe 49 As nothing makes so strong and mortall hostility as discord in religions so nothing in the world vnites mens harts so firmely as the bond of faith For
theÌ„ by concealment that they may not appeare to my shame 64 The minde of man though infinite in desire yet is finite in capacitie Since I cannot hope to know all thinges I will labour first to knowe what I needes must for their vse next what I best may for their conuenience 65 Though time be precious to mee as all irreuocable good things deserue to be and of all other thinges I would not be lauish of it yet I will account no time lost that is either lent to or bestowed vpon my friend 66 I will honour good examples but I will liue by good precepts 67 As charity requires forgetfulnes of euil deedes so Patience requires forgetfulnes of euill accidentsâ— I will remember euills past to humble me not to vexe me 68 It is both a misery and a shame for a man to be a Banckrupt in loue which he may easily pay and bee neuer the more impouirished I will be in no mans debt for good will but wil at least returne euery man his owne measure if not with vsurie It is much better to be a Creditor then a Debter in anie thing but especially of this yet of this I will so be content to bee a debter that I will alwayes be paying it where I owe it and yet neuer will haue so payd it that I shall not owe it more 69 The Spanish prouerb is too true Dead men absent find no friends All mouthes are boldly opened with a conceite of impunity My â—are shall bee no graue to burie my friends good name But as I will bee my present friends selfe So I will bee my absent friends Deputie to say for him what he would and cannot speake for himselfe 70 The losse of my friend as it shall moderately grieue mee so it shall another way much benefit me in recompence of his want for it shal make mee thinke more often and seriously of earth and of heauen Of earth for his body which is reposed in it of Heauen for his soule which possesseth it before mee of earth to put me in mind of my like frailtie and mortality of Heauen to make mee desire and after a sort emulate his happines and glory 71 Varietie of obiects is wont to cause distraction when againe a little one layâ— close to the eye if but of a peny breadth wholy takes vp the sight which could else see the whole halfe Heauen at once I wil haue the eyes of my minde euer forestalled and filled with these two obiects the shortnes of my life eternity after death 72 I see that hee is more happy that hath nothing to leese then hee that looseth that which he hath I will therefore neither hope for riches nor feare pouerty 73 I care not so much in anything for multitude as for choyce Bookes friends I will not haue many I had rather â—eriouslv conuerse with a fewe then wander amongst many 74 The wicked man is a very coward and is afraide of euery thing of God because he is his enemie of Sathan because hee is his tormenter of Gods creatures because they ioyning with their Maker fight against him of himselfe because hee beares about him his owne accuser and executioner The godly man contrarily is afraid of nothngâ— not of GOD because hee knowes him his best friend and therefore will not hurt him not of Sathan because he cannot hurt him not of afflictions because he knowes they proceed from a louing God and end his owne good not of the creatures since the very stones of the field are in league with him not of himselfe since his conscience is at peace A wicked man may bee secure because he knowes not what hee hath to feare or desperate through extremitie of feare but truely courageous hee cannot be Faithlesnes cannot chuse but bee false hearted I will euer by my courage take tryall of my faith By howe much more I feare by so much lesse I beleeue 75 The godly man liues hardly and like the Ant toyles heere during the Sommer of his peace holding himselfe short of his pleasures as looking to prouide for an Winterâ— which when it comes hee is able to weare it out comfortably whereas the wicked man doth prodigally lash out all his ioyes in the time of his prosperitie and like the Grashopper singing merily all Sommer is starued in Winter I will so enioy the present that I wil lay vp more for heereafter 76 I haue wondred oft and blushed for shame to reade in meere Philosophers which had no other Mistresse but Nature such strange resolution in the contempt of both fortunes as they call them such notable precepts for a constant setlednes and tranquilitie of minde and to coÌ„pare it with my owne disposition and practise whom I haue found too much drouping and deiected vnder small crosses and easily againe carried away with little prosperitie To see such courage and strength to â—oÌ„temne death in those which thought they wholy perished in death and to finde such faint-hartednes in my selfe at the first coÌ„ceit of death who yet am throughlie perswaded of the future happines of my soule I haue that benefit of nature as well as they besides infinite more helpe that they wantedâ— Oh the dulnes blindnes of vs vnworthy Christians that suffer Heathens by the dimme Candle-light of Nature to goe further then wee by the cleare Sunne of the Gospellâ— that an indifferâ—nt man could not tell by our practise whether were the Pagan Let me neuer for shame account my selfe a Christian vnlesse my Art of Christianitie haue imitated and gone beyond nature so farre that I can finde the best heathen as farre belowe me in true resolution as the vulgar sort were belowe them Else I may shame Religion it can neither honest nor helpe me 77 If I wouâ—d bee irreligious vnconscionable I would make no doubt to bee rich for if a man will defraud dissemble forsweare bribe oppresse serue the time make vse of all men for his owne turne make no scruple of any wicked action for his aduantage I cannot see how he can escape wealth and preferment But for an vpright man to rise is difficult whiles his conscience straightly curbes him in from euery vniust action and will not alow him to aduance him selfe by indirect meanes So riches come seldome easily to a good man seldome hardly to the consciencelesse Happie is that man that can bee rich with truth or poore with coÌ„tentment I will not enuie the grauell in the vniust mans throte Of riches let me neuer haue more then an honest man can beare away 78 God is the God of order not of confusion As therefore in naturall thinges hee vses to proceede from one extreme to another by degrees through the meane so doth hee in spirituall The Sunne rises not an once to his highest from the darknes of mid-night but first sends forth some feeble glimmering of light in the dawning theÌ„ looks out with weak and waterish beames so by degrees
ascends to the midst of heaueÌ„ So in the seasons of the yeare we are not one day scorched with a SoÌ„mer heat and on the next frozen with a suddaine extremitie of cold But Winter comes on softly first by colde dewes then hoare frostes vntill at last it descende to the hardest weather of all such are GODS spirituall proâ—eedingsâ— Hee neuer bringes aniâ— man from the estate of sinne to the estate of glorie but through the state of grace And in grace seldome when any man from grosse wickednes to any eminencie of perfection I will be charitably iealous of those men which from notorious lewdnesse leape at once into a suddaine forwardnes of profession Holinesse doth not like â—onas gourd grow vp in a night I like it better to go on soft and sure then for an hastie fit to runne my selfe out of winde and after stand still and breath me 79 It hath beene saide of olde To doo well and heare ill is princely which as it is most true by reason of the Enuie which followes vpon iustice so is the contrarie no lesse iustified by many experiments To doo ill and to heare well is the fashioÌ„ of many great men To doo ill because they are borne out with the assurance of impunitie To heare well because of abundance of Parasites which as Rauens to a carkasseâ—â—ather about great men Neither is there any so great miserie in greatnesse as this that it conceales men from themselues and when they wil needs haue a sight of their own actions it showes them a â—alfe glasse to looke in Meanenesse of state that I can finde hath none so great inconuenience I am no whit sorrie that I am rather subiect to contempt then flatterie 80 There is no earthly blessiâ—â— so precious as health of body without which all other worldly good thinges are but troublesome Neither is there anie thing more difficult then to haue a good soule in a strong and vigorous body for it is coÌ„monly seene that the worse part drawes away the better But to haue an healthfull and sound soule in a weake sickly body is no noueltie whiles the weaknesse of the body is an helpe to the soule playing the part of a perpetuall monitor to incite it to good and check it for euill I will not bee ouer glad of health nor ouer fearefull of sicknes I will more feare the spirituall hurt that may follow vpon health then the bodily paine that accompanies sicknes 81 There is nothing more troublesome to a good minde then to doo nothing for besides the furtherance of our estate the minde doth both delight and better it selfe with exercise There is but this difference then betwixt labour and idlenes that labour is a profiâ—able and pleasant trouble idlenesse a trouble both vnprofitable and comfortlâ—sse I will bee euer doing something that either God when he coÌ„meth or Sathan when hee tempteth may finde me busied And yet since as the olde prouerbe is Better it is bee idle then effect nothing I will not more hate dooing nothing then doing something to no purpose I shall doo good but a while let me striue to do it while I may 82 A faithfull man hath three eyes The first of sense common to him with brute creatures the second of reason coÌ„mon to all men the third of faith proper to his profession Whereof each looketh beyond other and none of them medleth with others obiectâ— For neither doth the eye of sense reach to intelligible things and matters of discourse nor the eye of reason to those things which are supernaturaâ—l and spirituall neither doth faith looke downe to thinges that may bee sensibly seene If thou discourse to a brute beast of the depthes of Philosophie neuer so plainly hee vnderstands not because they are beyond the viewe of his eye which is onely of sense If to a meere carnal man of diâ—ine things He perceiueth not the thinges of God neither indeede can doo because they are spiritually discerned and therefore no wonder if those things seeme vnlikelie incredible impossible to him which the faythfull manne hauing a proportionable meanes of apprehension doth as plainely see as his eye dooth anie sensible thing Tell a plaine countryâ—man that the Sun or some higher or lesser starre is much bigger then his Cart-wheele or at least so manie scores bigger theÌ„ the whole earth he laughes thee to scorne as affecting admiration with a learned vntruthâ— Yet the Scholler by the eye of reason doth as plainly see acknowledge this truth as that his hand is bigger then his pen What a thick mist yea what a palpable more then Egyptian darknesse doth the naturall man liue What a world is there that hee doth not see at all and how little doth he see in this which is his proper element There is no bodily thing but the brute creatures see as well as he some of theÌ„ better As for his eye of reason how dim is it in those things which are best fitted to it What one thing is there in nature which he doth perfectly know what hearb or flower or worm that hee treads on is there whose true essence hee knoweth No not so much as what is in his owne bosome What it is where it is or whence it is that giues â—eing to himselfe But for those things which concerne the best world hee doth not so much as coÌ„fusedly see theÌ„ neither knoweth whether they be He sees no whit into the great awfull maiestie of God hee discernes him not in all his creatures filling the world with his infinit glorious presence he sees not his wise prouidence ouerâ—ruling all things disposing all casuall euents ordering all sinfull actions of men to his owne glory he comprehends nothing of the beauty maiesty power mercy of the Sauiour of the world sitting in his humanity at his fathers right hand Hee sees not the vnspeakable happines of the glorified soules of the Saints hee sees not the whole heauenly coÌ„mon-wealth of Angels ascending descending to the behoofe of Gods childreÌ„ waiting vpoÌ„ him at all times inuisibly not excluded with the closenes of prisons nor desolatnes of wildernesses and the multitude of euill spirits passing staÌ„ding by him to tempt him vnto euil but like vnto the foolish bird wheÌ„ he hath hid his head that he sees no body he thinks himselfe altogether vnseen then counts himselfe solitary when his eye can meete with no companion It was not without cause that we cal a mere foole a Naturall for how euer worldlings haue still thought christians Gods fooles wee know them the fooles of the world The deepest Phylosopher that euer was sauing the reuerence of the schooles is but an ignorant sot to the simplest Christian For the weakest Christian may by plaine information see somwhat into the greatest misteries of Nature because he hath the eâ—e of reason common with the best but the best Philosopher by all the demoÌ„stration in the world can conceiue nothing