any case let us not bee without correction for as Mariners at Sea find that of all stoâ—ms a Calme is the greatest so wee that to bee exempt from misery is the most miserable condition of all other Object But thou fearest that Gâ—d hath not pardoned thy sins and this makes him so severe against thee Answ. Many timeâ— after the remission of the sin his very chastisements are deadly as is cleer by Davids example and Lots who had a sharp misery clap on the heels of a sweet mercy for hee that was so beloved of God that hee saved a whole City could not save his own Spouse When God delivers us from destruction hee doth not secure us from 〈◊〉 affliction Grace was never given us for a Target against externall evills Though wee bee not condemned with the world yet wee may bee chastened in the world Neither the truth nor strength of Iobs faith could secure him from the outward and bodily vexations of Satan against the inward and spirituall they could and did prevail so no repentance can assure us that wee shall not smart with outward affliction that can prevent the eternall displeasure of God but still it may bee necessary and good wee should bee corrected our care and suit must bee that the evills which shall not bee averted may bee sanctified CHAP. 38. That Christ and all the Saints are our Partners and partakers with us in the Cross yea our sufferings are nothing in comparison of theirs 4 WEe shall bear the Cross with more patience and comfort if wee consider that Christ and all the Saints are our partners and partakers therein yea thy sufferings are nothing in comparison of what others have suffered before thee Look upon righteous Abel thou shalt see his elder brother Cain had dominion and rule over him by Gods appointment Gen. 4.7 Yea in the next ver thou shalt see him slain by his brother After him look upon Noah a most calamitous person as ever lived as the Chronologer computes him as for Lot hee had his righteous soul vexed from day to day Look upon Iob. thou shalt see that miseries do not stay for a mannerly succession to each other but in a rude importunity throng in at once to take away his children substance friends crediâ— health peace of conscience c. leaving him nothing but his wife whom the Devill spared on purpose to vex him as the Fathers think so that in his own apprehension God was his mortall enemy as hear how in the bitterness of his soul hee complains of his Maker saying Hee teareth mee in his wrath hee hateth mee and gnasheth upon mee with his teeth he hath broken mee asunder taken mee by the neck and shaken mee to pieces and set mee up for his mark his Archers compass mee round about he cleaveth my reins asunder and doth not spare to pour out my gall upon the ground he breaketh me with breach upon breach and runneth upon me like a Giant Iob 16. Now when so much was uttered even by a none-such for his patience what may we think he did feel and indure Look upon Abraham thou shalt see him forced to forsake his Countrey and Fathers house to go to a place he knew not to men that knew not him and after his many removes he meets with a famine and so is forced into Aegypt which indeed gave relief to him when Canaan could not shewing that in outward things Gods enemies may fare better than his friends yet he goes not without great fear of his life which made it but a dear purchase then he is forced to part from his brother Lot by reason of strife and debate among their Heardsmen after that Lot is taken prisoner and he is constrained to wage Warre with four Kings at once to rescue his Brother then Sarah his wife is barren and he must go childlesse untill in reason he is â—ast hope when he hath a Son it must not onely die 〈◊〉 himself must slay him Now if that bosom wherein we all look to rest was assaulted with so many sore trials and so diverse difficulties is it likely we should escape Look upon Iacob you shall see Esau strive with him in the wombe that no time might be lost after that you shall see him â—lie for his life from a cruel Brother to a cruel Uncle with a 〈◊〉 goes hee over Iordan alone doubtful and comfortlesse not like the son of Isaac In the way he hath no bed but the cold earth no pillow but the hard stones no sheet but the moist aiâ— no Canopy but the wide Heaven at last he is come far to finde out an hard friend and of a Nephew becomes a servant after the service of an hard Apprenticeship hath earned her whom he loved his wife is changed and he is not onely disappointed of his hopes but forced to marry another against his will and now he must begin another Apprenticeship and a new hope where he made account of â—ruition all which fourteen years he was consumed with heat in the day with frost in the night when he hath her whom he loves she is barren at last being grown rich chiefly in wives and children accounting his charge his wealth he returns to his Fathers house but with what comfort Behold Laban follows him with one troop Esau meets him with anotherâ— both with hostile intentions not long after Rachel the comfort of his life dieth his children the staffe of his age wound his soul to death 〈◊〉 proves incestuous Iudah adulterous Dina is ravished Simeon and 〈◊〉 are murtherous Er and Onan are stricken dead Ioseph is lost Simeon imprisoned Benjamin his right hand endangered Himself driven by famine in his old age to die among the Aegyptians a people that held it abomination to eat with him And yet before he was born it was Iacob have I loved and before any of this befell him God said unto him Bee not afraid I am with thee and will do thee good Gen. 28.15 And did so even by these crosses for that 's my good saith the Proverb that doth me good Now what Son of Israel can hope for any good daies when he hears his Fathers were so evill It is enough for us if when we are dead we can rest with him in the Land of Promise Again hear what David saith of himself Thy arrows sâ—ck fast in me and thy hand presseth me sore Psal. 38.2 And see what cause he had so to say what were these Arrows To let passe those many that Saul shot at him which were sharp and keen enough and those other of Doeg when he slew fourscore and five of the Priests and the whole City of Nob both man and woman child and suckling for shewing him kindness Likewise Shimâ—iâ— carriage towards him also his distresse at Ziglag and those seventy thousand which perished by the Pestilence upon his numbering the people and the like First Nathan tells him from the Lord that the sword should houseâ—
sick A very likely matter thou believest in Christ and hopest to be saved by him when thoâ— wilt neither imitate his actions nor follow his Precepts How does this hang together Let me ask thee a question or two that may convince thee of thy unbelief If a Physitian should say to his Patient here stands a cordial which if you take will cure you but touch not this other vial for that is deadly poyson and he wittingly refuseth the cordial to take the poyson will not every one conclude that either he believed not his Physician or preferred death before life If Lots Sons-in-law had believed thâ—â—r Father when he told them the City should suddenly be destroyed with fire and brimstone and that by flying they might escape it they would have obeyed his counsel If the old World had believed that God would indeed and in good earnest bring such a stood upon them as he threatned they would have entred the Ark and not have scoft at Noah for building it So if you did firmly believe what God in the Scriptures speaks of Hell you would need no entreaties to avoid the same Sect. 4. But alas men of thy condition are so far from believing what God threatens in his Word against their sins that they bless themselves in their hearts saying we shall have peace although we walk according to the stubbornness of our own wills so adding drunkenness to thirst Deut. 29.19 Yea they preferre their condition before others who are so abstemious and make conscience of their waies thinking that they delude themselves with needless fears and scruples 2 King 18.22 30 33 35. Alas if they dâ—d in good earnest believe that there is either God or Devil Heaven or Hell or that they have immortal souls which shall everlastingly live in bliss or woe and receive according to what they have done in their bodies whether it be good or evil 2 Cor. 5.10 They could not but live thereafter and make it their principal care how to be saved â—ut alas they believe what they see and feell and know they be 〈…〉 this makes them abstain from murther felony and the like but they believe not things invisible and to come For if they did they would as well yea much more fear him that hath power to cast both body and soul into Hell as they do the temporal Magistrate that hath onely power to kill the body they would think it a very hard bargain to win the whole world and lose Heaven and their own souls Luk. 9 25. Men fear a Gaol more then they fear Hell and stand more upon their silver or sides smarting than upon their souls and regard more the blasts of mens breath than the fire of God's wrath and tremble more at the thought of a Serjeant or Bailiff than of Satan and everlasting perdition Else they would not be hired with all the worlds wealth multiplied as many times as there be sands on the Sea shore to hazard in the least the loss of those everlasting Joys before spoken of or to purchase and plunge themselves into those caseless and everlasting flames of fire and brimstone in Hell there to fry body and soul where shall be an innumerable company of Devils and damned Spirits to affright and torment them but not one to comfort or pity them Confident I am thou wouldest not endure here to hold thy hand in a fiery crusible the space of a day or an hour for all the worlds wealth and splendour How then if thou bethinkest thy self wilt thou hereafter endure that and ten thousand thousand times more for millions of millions of ages Look Revel 20.10 and bethink thy self how thou wilt brook to be cast into a doleâ—ull disconsolate dungeon to lie in utter darkness in eternal chains in a little ease a no ease for ever and ever Canst thou endure to dwell with the devouring fire with the everlasting burning Sect. 5. Wherefore let me my Brethren beseech you not to be such Atheists and Fools as to fall into Hell before you will fear it when by fearing it you may avoid it and by neglecting it you cannot but fall into it What though it be usual with men to have no sense of their souls till they must leave their bodies yet do not you therefore leap into Hell to keep them company but be perswaded to bethink your selves now rather than when it will be too late when the Draw bridge will be taken up and whâ—n it will vex every vein of your hearts that you had no more care of your souls Yet there is grace offered if we will not shut our hearts and wills against it and refuse our own mercy but how long God will yet wait thy leisure or how soon he will in his so long provoked Justice pronounce thy irrevocable sentence thou knowest not nor canst thou promise thy self one minutes time Oh that men would believe the God of truth that cannot lie touching spiritual and eternal things but as they do these temporary and transitory Oh that thou who art the sacred Monarch of this mighty frame wouldest give them hearts to believe at least thus much That things themselves are in the invisible World in the World visible but their shadows onely And that whatsoever wicked men enjoy here it is but as in a dream their plenty is but like a drop of pleasure before a River of sorrow and displeasure And whatsoever the godly feel but as a drop of misery 〈…〉 Iudg of all the World comest slowly to judgment yet thou wilt come surely As the Clock comes slowly and by minutes to the stroak yet it strikes at last That those are onely true riches which being once had can never be lost That Heaven is a Treasure worthy our hearts a purchase worth our lives That when all is done how to be saved is the best plot That there is not mention of one in the whole Bible that ever sinned without repentance but he was punished without mercy For then there would not be a Fornicator or prophane person as Esau who for a portion of meat sold his inheritance Heb. 12.16 Then they would not be of the number of those that so doted upon Purchases and Farms and Oxen that they made light of going to the Lords Supper Luke 14.18 19 20. Nor of the Gadarens mind who preferred their Hogs before Christ. Then would they know it better to want all things then that one needfull thing whereas now they desire all other things and neglect that one thing which is so needfull They would hold it far better and in good sadness to be saved with a few as Noah was in the Ark than in good fellowship with the multitude to be drowned in sin and damned for company Nor would they think it any disparagement to their wisdoms to change their minds and be of another judgment to what they are CHAP. XXIII Sect. 1. SEcondly Are the joyes of Heaven so unspeakable and glorious How then
the proceedings of God well know that cherishing ever follows stripes as cordials do vehement evacuations and the clear light of the morning a dark night yea if we can look beyond the cloud of our afflictions and see the sun-shine of comfort on the other side of it we cannot be so discouraged with the presence of evil as heartened with the issue Chear up then thou drooping soul and trust in God whatever thy sufferings be God is no tyrant to give thee more then thy load and admit he stay long yet be thou fully assured he will come at length In thee do I trust saith the Psalmist all the day He knew that if he came not in the Morning he would come at Noon if he came not at Noon he would come at Night at one hour of the day or other he will deliver me and then as the Calm is greater after the Tempest then it was before so my joy shall be sweeter afterwards then it was before The remembrance of Babylon will make us sing more joyfully in Sion If then I finde the Lords dealing with me to transcend my thoughts my faith shall be above my reason and think he will work good out of it though I yet conceive not how CHAP. 14. That it increaseth their joy and thankfulness 11 BEcause our manifold sufferings and Gods often delivering us doth increase our joy and thankfulness yea make after-blessings more sweet By this we have new Songs put into our mouthes and new occasions offered to praise the Authour of our deliverance When the Lord brought again the captivity of Sion saith David in the person of Israel we were like them that dream meaning the happiness seemed too good to be true Then were our mouthes filled with laughter saith he and our tongues with joy the Lord hath done great things for us whereof we rejoyce Psal. 126.1 2 3 4. And how could their case be otherwise when in that miserable exigent Exod. 14. they saw the Pillar remove behinde them and the Sea remove before them they looking for nothing but death Is any one afflicted I may say unto him as that Harbinger answered a Nobleman complaining that he was lodged in so homely a Room You will take pleasure in it when you are out of it For the more grievous our exigent the more glorious our advancement A desire accomplished delighteth the soul Prov. 13.19 We read how that lamentable and sad Decree of Ahashuerus through the goodness of God was an occasion exceedingly to increase the Iews joy and thankfulness insomuch that as the Text saith the dayes that were appointed for their death and ruine were turned into dayes of feasting and joy and wherein they sent presents every man to his neighbour and gifts to the poor Esther 9.17 22 to 28. And this joy and thankfulness was so lasting that the Iews cease not to celebrate the same to this day Gods dealing with us is often harsh in the beginning hard in the proceeding but the conclusion is alwayes comfortable The joy of Peter and the rest of the Church was greater after he was delivered out of Prison by the Angel Acts 12. And the joy of Iudith and the rest of Bethulia when she returned with Holofernes head then if they never had been in distress Iudith 13. The Lord deprives us of good things for a time because they never appear in their full beauty till they turn their backs and be going away Again he defers his aid on purpose to increase our desires before it comes and our joy and thankfulness when it is come to inflame our desires for things easily come by are little set by to increase our joy for that which hath been long deteined is at last more sweetly obteined What think we did he that was born blinde think when his eyes were first given him How did he wonder at Heaven Earth the strange goodly varieties of all the Creatures and chearfulnes of the light every thing did not more pleas then astonish him Lastly our thankfulness for suddenly gotten suddenly forgotten hardly gotten hardly forgotten Philoxenus was wont to say it wil taste sweeter if it cost me sweetly We love that dearly that cost us dear As Mothers love their children more tenderly then Fathers because they stood them in more Abrahams childe at an hundred years of age was more welcome then if he had been given at thirty And the same Isaac had not been so precious to him if he had not been as miraculously restored as given his recovery from death made him more acceptable The benefit that comes soon and with ease is easily contemned long and eager pursuit endears any favour The Wise men rejoyced exceedingly to finde the Star The Woman to finde her piece of Silver The Virgin Mary to finde her and our IESUS CHRIST alwayes returns with increase of joy He may absent himself for a time but he intends it only as a preparative to make us relish that sweet food the better he may keep us fasting but it is on purpose that our trial may be perfect our deliverance welcome our repentance glorious Yea the delivering of some increaseth the joy of others and causeth them to praise God for and rejoyce in their behalf that are delivered Acts 12 14. We never know the worth of a benefit so well as by the want of it want teacheth us the worth of things most truly Contraries are the best Commentaries upon each other and their mutual opposition is the best exposition Oh how sweet a thing is peace to them that have been long troubled with wars and tedious contentions The thunder of the Cannon is the best Rhetorick to commend it to us How sweet is liberty to one that hath been long immured within a case of walls A very Bird never chants it so merrily as when she is is got loose into the open air having been long encaged How dear a jewel is health to him that tumbles in distempered blood For then only we begin to prize it when we have lost it Let a man but fast a meal or two ô how sweet is brown bread though it would not down before Yea when Darius in a slight had drunk puddle water polluted with dead carcaces he confest never to have drunk any thing more pleasant the reason was he always before used to drink ere he was a thirst We are never so glad of our friends company as when he returns after long absence or a tedious voyage The nights darkness makes the light of the Sun more desirable and brings of it Letters of commendations A calm is best welcome after a tempest c. Yea what serves others sorrows for but to increase our joy and thankfulness Thou hast eyes ask the blinde whether that be not a blessing Thou hast ears ask the deaf whether that be not a great blessing Thou hast a tongue what thinks the dumbe of that Thou hast feet hands health liberty life reason c. is all
and that he would raise up evill against him out of his own lâ—ins here were as many Arrows as words Again the child which he had by Bathsheba was no sooner born but it died there was another Arrow Tamaâ— his daughter being marriageable was deslowred by his own Son Amnon there was two moâ—e Amnon himself being in drink was kill'd by Absalom at a Feast there was another This Absalom proves rebellious and riseth in Aâ—ms against his own Father makes him fly beyond Iordan there was one more He lieth with his Fathers Concubines in the sight of all Israel there was another And how much do you think did these Arrows wound the Kings heart and â—ierce his very soul Lastly lock upon Lazarus though Christs bosome fâ—iend Ion. 11. thou shalt see him labour under a mortal disease c. though many soulâ— were gained to the Gospel and cured by his being sick Si amatur saith Saint Aâ—â—in quomodâ— infirmatur Thus it were easie to shew the like of Ioseph Ieremy Daniel Iohn Baptist Peter Paul and all the generation of Gods Children and servants For as the Apostle giveth a generall testimony of all the Saints in the Old Testament saying That some endured the violence of fire some were 〈◊〉 others were tried by mockings and scourgings bonds and imprsonments some stoned some hewen in sunder some slain with the sword some wandred up and down in Sheep-skins and Goat-skins being destitute afflicted and tormented some forced to wander in Wildernesses and Mountains and hide themselvs in Dens and Caves of the earth being such as the world was â—ot worthy of Heb. 11. So Ecclesiasticall History gives the like generall testimony of all the Saints in the New Testament and succeeding ages foâ— we read that of all the Apostles none dyed a naturall death save onely Saint Iohn and hee also was banished by Domitian to Pathmos and at another time thrust into a Tun of seething Oil at Rome 〈◊〉 Tertullian and Saint Ierome do report As for other beleevers there was such a multitude of them suffered Martyrdom for professing the Gospel whereof some were stoned som crucified som beheaded some thrust through with spears some burnt with fire and the like for wee read of twenty nine severall deaths they were put unto that Ecclesiasticall History makes mention of two thousand which suffered the same day with Nicanor And after that in the time of the Ten persecutions were such an innumerable company of innocent Christians put to death and tormented that Saint Ierome in his Epistle to Chromatius and Heliodorus saith There was not one day in the whole year unto which the number of five thousand Mâ—rtyrs might not bee ascâ—ibed except onely the first day of Ianuary who were put to the most exquisite deaths and torments that ever the wit or malice of Men or Devills câ—uld invent to inflict upon them Since which time the Turke and the Pope have acted their parts in shedding the blood of the Saints as well as the Iews and Roman Empeours as appears in the Book of Acts and Monuments and Rev. 17. where the holy Ghost hath foretold that the Whore of Babylon should fight with the Lambe and they that are on his side called and chosen and saithfull untill shee were even drunk with the blood of the Saints and with the blood of the Martyrs of Iesus which in part was fulfilled in England under the Raign of Queen Mary when in one year a Hundred seventy six persons of quality were burnt for Religion with many of the common sort and in France where before these late bloody Massacrâ—â— there were two Hundred Thousand which suffered Martyrdom about Transubstantiation And it is well known that our Saviour Christs whole life even from his Cradâ—â— to his Grave was nothing else but a continued act of suffering yea hee was the person upon whom as upon one Center all our sorrows met Hee that had all possessed nothing except the punishment due to our sins which lay so heavy upon him for satisfaction thâ—â— it pressed his soul as it were to the nethermost â—â—ll and made him cry 〈◊〉 in the anguish of his spirit My God My God why hast thou forsaken mee So that there is nothing befalls â—â—s bâ—â— hath befaine our betters before us and to bee free from crosses and afflâ—â—tionâ— is the priviledge onely of the Church triumphant For qui non est Crucianus non est Christianus saith Luther there is not a Christian that carries not his Cross. It is onely Heaven that is above all windes storms and tempests Nor hath God saith Bernard cast man out of Paradice for him to think to find out another Paradice in this world Now the way not to repine at those above us is to look at those below us we seldom or never see any man served with simple favours It is not for every one to have his soul suck'd out of his mouth with a kiss as the Iews tell of Moses It is a great word that Zazomen speak of Apollonius that hee never asked any thing of God in all his life that hee obtained not This is not our Paradiâ—e but our Purgatory not a place of pleasure but a Pilgrimage not a Triumph but a Warfare Wee cannot say of this world as Tully reports of Sir acuse in Sicily and others of Rhodes that not one day passeth in which the Sunshines not clâ—aâ—ly on them Yea wee shink hee speeds well that lives as it were under a perpetuall Equinoctiall having night and day equall good and ill success in the same measure for these compositions make both our crosses tolerable and our blessings wholesom Wee that know not the afflictions of others call our own the heaviest every small current is a torrent every brook a River every River a Sea wee make our selves more miserable than wee need than wee should by looking upon our miseries in a multiplying glass wee measure the length of time by the sharpness of our afflictions and so make minutes seem hours and days months If wee bee sick and the Physician promises to visit us tomorrow with his best relief with what a tedious longing do wee expect his presence Our imagination makes every day of our sorrows appear like Ioshua's day when the Sun stood still in Gibeon The Summer of our delights is too short but the Winter of our affliction goes slowly off Wee are so sensible of a present distress and so ingratefull for savours past that wee remember not many years health so much as one days sickness it is true former meals do not relieve our present hunger but his cottage of ours ruins straight if it be not new daubed every day new repaired What then shall to-days Ague make us forget yesterdays health and all Gods former favours if hee do not answer us in every thing shall wee take pleasure in nothing Shall wee slight all his blessings because in one thing hee câ—osseth us whereas his least mercy is beyond our best
of water and yet a river would not have satisfied him for if his desire had bâ—en granted in the first he would have required more and then more to that never ceasing to ask never having enough nor being the better when he had it so it fares with the covetous man his abundance no more quencheth his lust than fuell does the flame For as oyle kindleth the fire which it seemes to quench so riches come as though they would make him contented but they make him more covetous And is not this thy very case that art covetous No man more happy in respect of outward things then thy self couldest thou but see it thou hast all things that heart can wish and shouldest thou but come to want what thou now injoyest and thinkest not worth thanks when it were past thou wouldest say thou wast most happy and after a little misse wish withall thine heart thou hadest the same again yea a world for such a condition and content withall Onely the devill by Gods just permission bewitches thee to think that thou hast not enough when thou hast too much and more than thou needest or knowest what to do withall Nor is it possible for a worldling to be contented for whereas naturall desires are soon satisfied those that are unnaturall are infinite Hunger is soon apeased with meat and thirst allayed with drink but in burning Feavers quo plâ—â— sunt potae plus 〈◊〉 aqua they still love amere conâ—â—â—scentia never amore complacentiae If covetous or ambitious men ever feel content in these transitory things it is no otherwise then as itching soars do in clawing and scratching fingers And indeed how should intemperate desires be satisfied with increase according as they are replemished when these appetites are not capable of satiety Men in this case are like poysoned Rats which when they have tasted of their bane cannot rest untill they drink and then can much â—eâ—s rest till they drink again swell and burst Covetousness is like the disease called the Woolf which is alwayes eating and yet keeps the body lean A moderate water makes the Mill goe merrily but too much will not suffer it to go at all Secondly another reason is Nothing can fill the heart of man but he that made it The heart shall be satisfied with gold when the body shall be contented with winde The whole world is circular the heart of man is triangular and we know a circle cannot fill a triangle Yea if it be not filled with the three persons in Trinity it will be filled with the world the flesh and the devil The heart is the seat or receptacle of spiritual things and the things of the world are corporal and carnal Now carnal and corporal things can no more fill our hearts then spiritual things can fill our Coffers Visible light will not cleer the invisible understanding nor will corporal food feed the soul. Blessed are they sayes our Saviour who thirst after righteousness for they shall be satisfied Mat. 5.6 not they that thirst after riches or honor or pleasure for instead of being satisfied they thirst more Yea these Mammonists are so infinite in desiring that could such a one swallow the whole earth that swallows all and will swallow him ere long it might choak him but not satisfie him as abundance of examples that I could give you sufficiently prove namely Alexander and Crassus and Lieâ—nius and Marcus Crassus and Ahab and Haman c. But CHAP. VIII THirdly to this is added as a further judgement that as the more he hath the more he coveteth so the neerer he is to his journeys end the more provision he makes for it Other vices are weakned with age and continuance onely covetousness and that odious sin of drunkenness grows stronger As the covetous wretch increaseth in yeers so he increaseth in covetousness What Pline writes of the Crocodile is fitly appliable to the miserly muckworm other creatures grow up to their height and then decay and dye onely the Crocodile grows to her last day The aged worldling though he have one foot in the grave yet his appetite to and persute of gain are but new born Yea though he hath out-lived all the teeth in his gums that hairs of his head the sight of his eyes the tast of his palate have he never so much yet he hath not enough and therefore would live to get more and covets as if he had a thousand generationâ— to provide for He so lives as if he were never to dye and so dyes as if he were never to live again He fears all things like a mortal man sayes Seneca but he desires all things as if he were immortal Had it not been for sin death had never entered into the world and were it not for death sin especially the Misers sin would never go out of the world Lusâ— is commonly the disease of youth ambition of middle age covetousness of old age And Plautus maketh it a wonder to see an old man beneficent But what faith Byas covetousness in old men is most monstrous for what can be more foolish and ridiculous then to provide more mony and victuals for our journey when we are almost at our journyes end Wherefore remember thou O old man yea O remember that your Spring is past your Summer over-past and you are arrived at the fall of the leaf yea winter colours have already stained your head with gray and hoary hairs Remember also that if God in justice did not leave you and the Prince of darkness did not blinde you and your own heart did not grosly deceive you you could not possible be so senceless as you are in these three last mentioned miseries Thus three of the covetous mans woes are past but behold more are coming for God inflicts more plagues upon him then ever he did upon Pharaoh I 'le acquaint you only with seven more CHAP. IX FOurthly his thoughts are so taken up with what he wants or rather desires for he wants nothing but wit and a good heart that he not once mindes or cares for what he hath as you may see in Abab 1 Kings 21.4 and Haman Hester 5.13 and Micha Judges 18. â—4 What the covetons man hath he sees not his eyes are so taken up with what he wants yea the very desire of what he cannot get torments him and it is an heart-breaking to him not to add every day somewhat to his estate besides not to improve it so many hundreds every yeer will disparage his wisdom more to the world then any thing else he can do as I have heard such an one allege when I have told him my thoughts about perplexing himself But see the difference between him and one that hath either wit or grace whose manner it is even in case of the greatest losses to look both to what he hath lost and to what he hath left and instead of repining to be thankfull that he hath lost no more having so
the Emperour Augustus who though of a most tenacious and retentive memory would forget wrongs as soon as they were offered Or Agathocles Antigonus and Caesar who being great Potentates were as little moved at vulgar wrongs as a Lyon at the barking of Curres yea the Orator gives it as a high praise to Caesor that he could forget nothing but wrongs remember nothing but benefits and who so truly noble as he that can do ill and will not True It is not rare to see a great man vex himself at the neglect of a peasant but this argues a poor spirit A true Lyon would passe it by with an honourable scorn You 'l confesse then 't is Princely to disdain a wrong and is that all No forgivenesse saith Seneca is a valiant kinde of revenge and none are so frequent in pardoning as the couragious He that is modestly valiant stirs not till he must needs and then to purpose Like the Flint he hath fire in him but it appears not untill you force it from him Who more valiant than Ioshna and he held it the noblest victory to overcome evil with good for the Gibeonites took not so much pains in coming to deceive him as he in going to deliver them And Cicero more commends Caesar for overcoming his own courage in pardoning Marcellus than for the great victories he had against his other enemies Yea a dominion over ones self is greater then the Grand Signiory of Turkie For as the greatest knowledge is truly to know thy self so the greatest conquest is to subdue thy self He is a wise man that can avoid an evil he is a patient man that can indure it but he is a valiant man that can conquer it And indeed for a man to overcome an enemy and be overcome by his own passions is to conquer a petty village with the losse of a large City What saith a Father Miserable is that victory wherein thou overcomest thine enemy and the Divell in the mean time overcomes thee thou slayest his body the Divell thy soul Now we deem him to have the honour of the warre that hath the profit of it But as an Emperour said of the means prescribed him to cure his Leprosie which was the blood of Infants I had rather be sick still than be recovered by such a medicine so wilt thou in this case if thou hast eitheâ— bowels or brains Yea if the price or honour of the conquest be rated by the difficulty then to suppresse anger in thy self is to conquer with Hercules one of the Furies To tame all passions is to lead Cerberus in chains and to indure afflictions and persecutions strongly and patiently is with Atlas to bear the whole World on thy shoulders as saith the Poet. It is no shame to suffer ill but to do it to be evil we are all naturall disposed to be holy and good is the difficulty Yea every beast and vermine can kill it is true prowesse and honour to give life and preserve it Yea a beast being snarled at by a cur will passe by as scorning to take notice thereof I but is it wisdome so to do Yes first the ancient received opinion is that the sinews of wisdome are slownesse of 〈…〉 None more wise then Salomon and he is of opinion That it is the glory of a man to passe by an offence Prov. 19.11 We fools think it ignominy and cowardise to put up the lye without a stab a wrong without a challenge but Salomon to whose wisdome all wise men will subscribe was of another judgment and to this of Salomon the wisest heathen have set their seal Pittacus the Philosopher holds That pardon is better than revenge inasmuch as the one is proper to the spirit the other to a cruell beast And Demosthenes being reproached by one answers I will not strive with thee in this kinde of fight in which he that is overcome is the better man But how Socrates whom the Oracle of Apollo pronounced the wisest man alive and all the rest of the Philosophers approved of it both by judgment and practise we shall have occasion to relate in the reasons insuing No truer note of a wiseman than this he so loves as if he were to be an enemy and so hates as if he were to love again We know a spark of fire falling upon a solid body presently goes out which falling upon combustible matter kindles and burns Now as with fire the light stuff and rubbish kindles sooner than the solid and more compact so anger doth sooner inflame a fool than a man composed in his resolutions This the holy Ghost witnesseth Eccles. 7. Be not thou of a hasty spirit to be angry for anger resteth in the bosome of fools vers 9. So much fury so much folly the more chasing the lesse wisdome Some have no patience to bear bitter scoffs their noses are too tender to indure this strong and bitter Wormwood of the brain Others again like tyled houses can admit a falling spark unwarmed it may be coals of Iuniper without any danger of burning Now what makes the difference the one hath a good headpiece and is more solid the other are covered with such light dry straw that with the least touch they will kindle and flame about your troubled ears and when the house is on fire it is no disputing with how small a matter it came I confesse I finde some wise men extreamly passionate by nature as there is no generall rule but admits of some exceptions Even God himself had particular exceptions from his generall Laws as the Cherubims over the Ark was an instance against the second Commandment the Israelites robbing the Aegyptians against the eight the Priests breaking the Sabboth Matth. 12.5 against the fourth and Phineas killing Zimry against the sixth Numb 25.8 And these as they are more taken with a joy so they tast a discontent more heavily In whom Choler like fire in stubble is soon kindled and soon out for they are stung with a Nettle and allayed with a Dock being like Gun-powder to which you no sooner give fire but they fly in your face And they say these hot men are the best natur'd but I say then the best are naught And it is a strange fit that transformes a wise man with Apulcius into an Asse yea a Tyger And others again none of the wisest who are free from being affected And as they never joy excessively so they never sorrow inordinately but have together lesse mirth and lesse mourning like patient Gamsters winning and losing are all one But for the most part it is otherwise Yea â—â—â—atience is the Cousin german to frenzie How oft have we heard men that have been displeased with others tear the Name of their Maker in pieces And lastly This of all others is the most divine and Christian-like revenge witnesse our Saviour Christ who by death overcame death as David cut off the head of Goliah with his own sword and even then
tryumphed over his enemies when most they seemed to tryumph over him Col. 2.15 And the Martyrs who are said by the holy Ghost to overcome the great Dragon that old Serpeut called the Divell and Satan in that they loved not their lives unto the death Rev. 12 11. Their conquering was by dying not by killing and can the back of Charity now bare no load are the sinews of Love grown so feeble And holy David who when he had Saul at his mercy in stead of cutting off his head as his servants perswaded him only cut off the lap of his garment and after thought that too much also And at another time when the Lord had closed him into his hands finding him asleep in the Fort in stead of taking away his life as Abishai counselled him he took away his Spear and in stead of taking away his blood from his heart he takes a pot of water from his head That this kinde of revenge for a man to finde his enemy at an advantage and let him depart free is generous and noble beyond the capacity of an ordinary man you may hear Saul himself confesse 1 Sam. 24.17 to 23. Again when the King of Syria sent a mighty Host to take Elisha and the Lord had smote them all with blindnesse and shut them into Samaria what doth the Prophet slay them No indeed the King of Israel would fain have had it so his fingers itcht to be doing but Elisha commanded bread and water to be set before them that they might eat and drink and go to their Master 2 King 6.22 So a Christian truly generous will omit no opportunity of doing good nor do evil though he have opportunity for to may and will not is the Christians laud. Which yet is not all for besides that it is the most generous noble valiant wise divine and Christianlike revenge to passe by and forgive injuries our Saviour Christ in whom is the fountain of all wisdome and knowledge as all the senses are in the head Zach. 4.12 allowes none for magnanimous but such as together with forgiving blesse those that curse them and do good to such as hurt them Matth. 5.44 The case of Moses Steven and many others as I shall shew in Chapter 31. which is true generosity indeed But how contrary is the opinion of the World to the judgment of God and the wisest of men concerning valour For should the greatest and gravost Divine in the Land preach this our impatient Gallants would not beleeve but that it consists in a brave revenge and that an humble patience is an argument of basenesse and that every wrong or disgracefull word is quarrell just enough to shed blood And lest there should want offences or they give place unto wrath as the Apostle adviseth Rom. 12.19 they will strive for the way or contend for the wall even to the death which proves them to be as wise as a wall for they come short of the wisedom of beasts Pliny tells us of two Goates Mutianus being an eye-witnesse which meeting on a straight and narrow bridge that the one could not passe by the other nor turn aside to return back again neither made his way by overturning the other but the one lay down that the other might go over him I pray God their too much turning to the right hand before man cause them not to be set at Christs left hand with those Goates which are destined to everlasting fire But certainly if they amend not their course God shall condemn them for invading his office for vengeance is his and that they call courage he shall judge outrage Woe is me into what unhappy times are we fallen and how hath the devill blinded and bewitcht our Gallants that the wretchedest and basest cowardise should ruffle it out in the garb of valour while the truly valiant passe for and are reputed cowards And how great is the corruption of mans heart which is not ashamed of things shamefull and yet ashamed of things wherein they ought to glory Is this courage to kill one another for the wall as though either of their honours were of more worth then both their souls Yea suppose they overcome is not this power of theirs the greatest infirmity for whether they thus die or kill they have committed murther if they kill they have murthered another if they die they have murthered themselves Surviving there is the plague of conscience dying there is the plague of torments if they both escape yet it is homicide that they meant to kill O that they would take notice of this and lay it to heart But what 's the reason of this their mistake what makes them judge Iob a fool and count David a coward for their humble patience this is the difference there was the faith and patience of the Saints here is the infidelity and impatience of sinners whom the Devill hath bewitcht to glory in their shame or in plain English a reprobate judgment is the only cause for with them every vertue is counted a vice and every vice a vertue as their own words witnesse in nicknaming each vice and grace with opposite titles But as when it was objected to a Martyr that his Christ was but a Carpenters sonne he answered yea but such a Carpenter as built Heaven and Earth so we grant we are Cowards as they tearm us but such cowards as are able to prevail with God Gen. 32.26 28. Exod. 32.10 And overcome the World the Flesh and the Devill 1 Joh. 5.4 Gal. 5.24 1 Joh. 2.14 which is as much valour and victory as we care for CHAP. XIX That suffering is the only way to prevent suffering 3. BEcause suffering is the only way to prevent suffering Revenge being one of those remedies which not seldom proves more grievous than the disease it selfe When once Xantippe the wife of Socrates in the open street pluckt his cloak from his back and some of his acquaintance counselled him to strike her he answers You say well that while we are brawling and fighting together every one of you may clap us on the back and cry Hoe well said to it Socrates yea well done Xantippe the wisest of the twain When Aristippus was asked by one in derision where the great high friendship was become that formerly had been beâ—ween him and Aeschiâ—es he answers It is asleep but I will go and awaken it and did so lest their enemies should make it a matter of rejoycing When Philip of Macedon was told that the Grecians spake evil words of him notwithstanding he did them much good and was withall counselled to chastise them he answers Your counsel is not good for if they now speak evil of us having done them good only what would they then if we should do them any harm And at another time being counselled either to banish or put to death one who had slandered him he would do neither of both saying It was not a sufficient cause to condemn him and