shut so as it is easily opened again to the same vices when occasion presents Thou tellest me that thy former life displeaseth thee I beleeve it for who is not ashamed of himself when he seriously considers the disorders of his life past Even wicked men both hate and love their own vices at the same time nay even then when they commit them they detest and abhorr them But what avayls it to abhorr sin in words and not to abhor the acting and comitting of it There is no man so wicked who doth not some time or other loath his own sins but such Converts are soon reconciled again to their old sins But he that is truly converted unto God puts the Axe to the root and cuts away all even to the least sprout he can find And then living in a continuall memory and apprehension of his own frailty he carefully avoids all occasions of sin trembles at the very sight of any evill and dangerous object 3. Why dost thou alledge vain excuses insist so much upon the frailty of thy nature when God commands thee to exterminate thy vices who can better know the measure and strength of thy forces then he who gave them why then art thou backward in obeying when the thing does not so much redound to any profit in him that commands it as it concerns thy good oh blind and wicked rashnes How darest thou be so bold as to reproch unto thy master with a servile impudence that his precepts are hard and impossible as if he had designed to seek not so much thy Salvation as thy punishment Such is the perversenes of mans nature not only to offend God but also to pretend great difficulties in what he commands But if thou wilt try thy own forces thou wilt find that thou art able to doe much more then thou thinkest T is not the difficulty of the things in themselves that makes thee not dare to practise them but because thou dost not practise them the things seem difficile Many things which we thought very hard to doe become very easy and of no burden with a little use Begin once for all and have a better opinion of thy own force and power God doth not forsake his souldiers he will give thee as much strength as thou desirest 4. Thou wilt easily overcome all vice if thou representest to thyself every day to be as the last of all thy life What is it that eyes thee to this world Beause thou never thinkest that thou art to goe soon out of it Thou seest every day dead bodyes carried to the grave which should put thee in mind that thou art also mortall And yet in the midst of all these dead thou thinkest o nothing lesse then Death thou seest nothing more often yet thou forgettest nothing soe soon The day will come notwithstanding that must carry thee also away to wit when thy Soul shall be delivered out of her dark loathsom prison of the body Thou wilt then clearly see that thou hast lived in darknes all thy life in this world Produce if thou canst amongst so many years of a bad life but one day well spent in the exercise of vertue which hath not bine defiled with some vice Thy infancy is past away in childish bables thy youth is spent in foolery and idlenes thy riper ago in debaucheries disorders Of all those years which thou hast spent from thy cradle untill thy old age nothing remains but greif and the evill fruits of iniquity Alas what a case wilt thou be in when forced to be ashamed of what is past and afraid of what is to come what will thy riches avail thee in that hour which thou hast alwaies sought with so much care and trouble what will all thy shamefull pleasures help thee at that time what canst thou then expect from all thy dignities and honours Oh! if it were possible that thou mightest begin again from the cradle how carefull thou wouldst be to lead another life but alas such wishes will be altogether useles in this hour If thou intendest to make good use of Time begin from this present moment resolve from this instant to forsake those things which thou wouldst then wish to have forsaken T is no great matter to forsake momentary things that thou maist purchase eternall felicity 5. Ask any dying man what he thinks of his life past and thou will scarce find one perhaps who hath not at that hour a quite different opinion of the riches honours vanities of the world then he had when he lived in perfect health Then all things are weighed in a more even balance we judge of them as they are He that is wise only in the end of his life beginneth to be wise very late but thou maist be wise in good time if thou learnest to be so from the follies and examples of others Since then it is in thy power to sayl in present safety why dost thou expect a Tempest Thou maist if thou wilt avoid prevent thy own misery Why then dost thou expose thyself to future dangers T is a late prevention to think to avoid shipwrack when thou art just sinking t is too late to use prudence when thou art wholly ruined and undone We read of many great and holy men who after having renounced unto their own will and all they had in this world spent all the remainder of their life to learn how to live and dye well yet many at their death have confessed they had not yet learned that lesson so hard it is to learn this Art Notwithstanding thou art so backward as to defer thy Conversion untill thou art old but t is a great folly to hope to begin then to liue well when thou canst live no more 6. Unhappy man to what danger dost thou expose thyself is this thy belief is this thy manner of living Thy life passeth away like a shadow lasteth but a moment Thou art no sooner born but thou beginnest to dye Stop if thou canst but one day of thy life hinder or prolong one hour one moment of it from flying away But such a labour would be in vain Time wil stil hurl thee away wil never cease running untill it hath brought thee and all mortall things unto their last generall end to wit Death And yet thou darest prefer this moment unto Eternity which will haue no end Oh blindnes oh folly Thou are alwaies labouring to provide all that is necessary for thy Body which is mortall but as for thy Soul which is immortall thou hast as little care to purchase eternall rest and felicity for it as if it did not at all belong unto thee When thy body is sick thou art willing to undergoe any thing to have 〈◊〉 cured but thy Soul is sick and thou wholly neglectest it and dost not feel it Did thy Phisitian ever tell thee it was necessary for thy health to goe to see and
but his own profit and interest Thou must endeavor to live for others as well as for thyself Why art thou so sparing of thy wealth as if it were wholly thine Thou art only a Trustee in it All that money Treasure which thou lockest up in iron chests and which thou hast injustly extorted from others is not thine It was only entrusted in thy hands and now it belongs to another master Either thy Enemies will come to possesse it or at least some Heir that is little better then an enemy Wilt â—…u know how to make it thy own By â—…ing it away In what is it that thou esteemest thyself rich in that thou hast houseâ—… money and lands If thou givest part of these things to thy neighbour thou wilt hereby oblige him and practise a vertue which will remain with thee for ever Mony is never pretious but when we liberally bestow it in good uses and loose the possession of it 3. Because we cannot doe great matters with small expenses therefore as in moderate charges we are said to be governed by liberality soe when we make any splendid expences it is called magnificence These two vertues though alike in other things differ in this that the one appears also in little things the other only in great things A man that has but a smal fortune may notwithstanding be liberall but to have the name of being magnificent a man hath need of great riches Magnificence appearetâ— cheifly in some remarkable excellency of a gift For if a man should give a Jewell of great of worth to adorn some holy thing we should rather call him very liberall then magnificent but if he should employ the value of this Jewell to build a church Altar or some other magnificent piece of work we might then call him magnificent And when we speak of magnificent works we mean such as belong to the honour of God the publick good recreation or the like But in all these things there is a decorum or measure to be observed as well in order to the giver as the gift He is not properly magnificent who spends more then he is worth who engageth himself and his family in great debts out of ambition to be esteemed magnificent He is truly liberall and magnificent who gives what is his own and spends nothing at the expences of others CHAP. XXVIII Of Fortitude and the duties of it That a generous man should contemn Death 1. THe nature of men is commonly weak and their minds effeminate wherefore they should still endeavor to arm themselves with fortitude least that being terrifyed with dangers they consent to any thing against Gods law Fortitude hath a double office first and cheifly to bear all labour and danger with patience Secondly to meet and defy them when occasion is offered A generous man doth not rashly cast himself into dangers but bears them with constancy when they come he doth not desire occasions of fear but contemns them when they happen he taketh courage where others loose it where others fall he standeth firm he is not daunted with disgraces repulses banishment or injuries he is not frightned with prisons torments no not with Death itself he overcometh all sorrow sicknes and trouble with the greatnes of his courage niether threatning nor entreating can withdraw him from vertue he is not discouraged although he finds many obstacles in his affairs he doth not fall under his burden nor seek to shake of what he hath once undertaken but he continues firm untill he hath brought it to a good end no burden can make him shrink no force no power no fear can make him lesse all the dangers in the world cannot make him forbear or hide his vertue He doth not regard what he suffers but still considers what he hath designed what he ayms at 2. As those who sayl with a good wind doe not forbear to provide against a Tempest Soe thou oughtest in time of prosperity to prepare thyself to endure Adversity Fancy to thyself that some great misfortune had befallen thee as losse of children shipwrack banishment wounds torments sicknes calumny reproaches and carry thyself with that moderation in this fancy as if those things were really befallen thee that soe by this kind of exercise thou maist be able to say on all occasions I had long since prepared myself against this misfortune I foresaw it and contemned it long since It is decreed from all Eternity what thou art to suffer and when thou art to rejoice and althô every mans life is subject to severall chances yet we all agree in this As we are mortall ourselves soe all that we possesse is subject to perish Why art thou out of patience What dost thou complain of Although all that thou hast should perish yet thou loosest nothing which is properly thine It is better to give it willingly when God calls for it then to stay till we are forced to render it Epicurus hath taught us that a wise man may be happy in the midst of torments Althô sayes he he should be inclosed in Phalaris his brasen Bull yet he will say How little doe I value to be thus tormented It was generous saying and not incredible unto us Christians amongst whom are extant the examples of so many Martyrs whose Constancy in the midst of Tortures and alacricy in the midst of flames hath bine soe great that they seemed to have no feeling at all of their Torments To those who love God willingly suffer for his cause all pains are delights 3. The excellency of Fortitude never appears with more glory then when we are brought to suffer Death It is very hard to contemn life in regard we see most men esteem it at so great a rate that they think nothing more pretious But if thou art wise as it behoves thee to be thou wilt not esteem Death an evill since it is the end of all Evils and the beginning of life Thou shouldest leave thy body with a willing mind considering thou art to receive it again in the last day The necessity of Death is invincible and t is meer madnes to fear it for that which we fear is alwaies dubious but that which we expect is certain Consider how that children and those who have lost their wits doe not fear death Is it not a shamefull case then if reason cannot give thee the same security which want of reason gives unto fools God hath given us life but not without a condition of being subject to dye he that is not willing to dye shews that he never desired to live 4. We are obliged to nature for having granted us a certain time to see and make use of all her riches and glory and now the time being out we must part What wise man when he is brought to the last gasp would be willing if it were possible to begin his life anew to be first shut up in his mothers womb then to passe over again all the
know all thy evill inclinations all thy vicious qualities let him know all the good thou dost and all the evill thou committest Discover unto him all the particular favours thou receivest from God Desire him that when he perceiveth in thee any irregular and disordinate affection he will not forbear to tell thee of it that too very often least that by being ashamed to reprehend thee he should dissemble at thy faults But if it should chance that he telleth thee he finds nothing to be reprehended in thy life doe not presently conclude that thou art innocent because perhaps the reason of his silence is for that he sees he shall get thy hatred by speaking or else that he despairs of thy amendment Wherefore entreat him more and more that soe he may see thou hast a reall and earnest desire of advancing in perfection Begin to lay before him the number of thy imperfections resolve to reform thy manners according to his Counsell Rejoyce as often as he reprehendeth thee for thy faults and still endeavor to come better from him or at least in a disposition to grow better It is a great matter considering the common frailty of our nature when a man is willing desirous to amend 4. These are the mutuall offices of a spirituall Directour one that desires to learn vertue of him that soe the one may grow better and the other not loose his labour in instructing him The greatest obstacle in Beginners is a rebellious refractory Spirit impatient to learn incapable of being cured For some that confide too much in their own wisedome refuse to be governed by another All these things say they which you tell me I know already What profit is there in shewing me things which are clear enough of themselves and repeating the same things over and over Very much because thou knowest many things which thou dost not perhaps attend unto Admonitions are not so much for teaching us as for exciting the memory and hindring us from forgetting things We often dissemble things that are clear and therefore t is not amisse to inculcate the knowledge of what we already know Vertue gathers strength when it is touched and encouraged Some are hindred and disheartned by a foolish apprehension or fear which is a childish fault and unworthy of any man Others like frantick men keep all close to themselves will not discover their infirmities to their spiritual Physitian The Devill persuades them to this silence hoping thereby to make his advantage of it as long as they discover nothing When thou art troubled with any corporall disease however soe shamefull thou hast no difficulty to shew it to him that is to cure it and yet thou hidest with great care the Vlcers of thy Soul as if hiding would cure them whereas they will at some time or other discover themselves in spight of all thy care He that hideth his wounds will never be cured 5. Does the Phisitian doe thee any wrong if he discovers thy disease if when thou art in danger he tells thee that thou art ill that thou art in a feavor that thou art to abstain one day from meat ordains thee to drink water in another Sure thou wouldst commend him and thank him for it But if any one should tell thee that thy passions or desires are violent that thy opinions are vain and idle thy affections immoderate or the like thou wouldest presently cry out that thou art affronted injured abused and therefore wilt be revenged of him Unhappy man what hurt does it doe thee to be admonished of thy Salvation What injury canst thou call it unles such a one as a looking glasse may be said to doe to an ugly face He shews thee what thou art Mend therefore thy faults which he reprehends in thee correct thy manners wash of the spots of thy Conscience T is in thy power if thou wilt to live soe that no man can justly reprehend thee CHAP. III. Of the purgative way and how to extirpate all sins and vicious Affections The best motive to this is a continuall Remembrance of Death and Eternity 1. WHensoever any man committeth a Sin he actually strayeth from God this is the cause of all the misery in the world From this proceed all the pains and troubles of this life this is the Poyson which infecteth the whole world We doe not perceive the malice of it when we commit the sin but when t is once committed then we understand the mischeif it brings with it We read of Tyrants that were wont heretofore a strange punishment to tye living bodies unto dead carkases that soe they might be poysoned to death with the horrid infection of an abominable stench By sin we are brought to suffer the like punishment we carry about with us our own Executioner cannot easily deliver ourselves from it If thou canst not resolve to suffer something for avoiding sin thou wilt be forced to suffer much after thou hast committed it An evill action is no sooner resolved upon but it presently produceth its own punishment T is this which makes us guilty of death and eternall damnation We must therefore have a speciall care to expiate our conscience from all Sin by contrition confession and satisfaction And t is not enough to avoid falling into great sins but we must also have a care to avoid lesser faults which although they doe not cause immediate death to the Soul yet weaken our spirituall forces are a disposition to mortall sin But the ship wrack is equally the same whither the ship be swallowed up and lost under one great wave or sunk by degrees the water entring in drop by drop We may be more to blame for yeilding unto these lesser faults in regard the difficulty to ouercome them was lesse The weaker our enemy is the greater is our shame if we permit ourselves to be overcome by him 2. Thou wilt never be able to attain unto much Vertue and to restore thyself to thy former liberty unles thou canst first quit thyself of all affection even to the least sins For otherwise thy body may be in the desert and thy mind at the same time in Egipt All does not goe well with thee if after having pardoned injuries and forsaken thy dishonest loues thou dost still give ear to calomnies detractions against thy neighbors if thou art still delighted with some dangerous beauty For to purchase an interior purity t is not enough to extirpate all sin out of thy soul but thou must also root out all evill habits or affections which may often remain behind after the sin is forgiven If thou dost only cut the boughs leave the root entire thou wilt see in a short time new branches of iniquity grow up from the same stock Thou sayest that thou art resolved to root out of thy soul all thy old Vices But I fear thou dost not barr the Door against them but leavest it seemingly
the midst of his pains when he is stoned to death S. Laurence rejoyceth and triumpheth over the Tyrant in the midst of the flames S. Apollonia a yong Virgin throws herself into the fire which was prepared for her Anaxarchus the Philosopher being pounded in an iron morter laughs at his Tormentor Socrates takes the poyson which was brought him with a chearfull countenance and drinks a health to Critias Why art thou afraid of fire and a troop of hangmen that stand about thee ready to butcher thee Death lyes hid under all these preparations which are terrible only unto fools death lyes hid which so many children and yong Virgins have embraced with joy Consider the things in themselves without all disguise and thou wilt see there is nothing terrible in them but thy fear We are like children who are afraid even of those whom they love most and are most familiar with if they fee them maâ—ked But thou art worse then any child in thy folly whilst thou art afraid not only of greif itself but of the very shadow of it 3. Turn thy mind from thy own private cause to consider the common misery of the world Say to thyself I know that my body is frayl and mortall subject unto many miseries and must at last yeild to death I knew long agoe that many afflictions would befall me What then am I now afraid of If I am sick the infirmity of my body will conduce to my spirituall health Shall I be reduced to poverty I shall lead a more safe and quiet life Shall I loose my riches I shall also be quit of many cares and freed from continuall danger Shall I suffer any shame if it be just I will hate the cause of it if unjust I shall comfort myself with the innocency of my own conscience Shall I come short of my hopes I will consider that even Kings are not able to obtain all which they desire Shall I be banished I will goe with a willing mind and I will esteem it as a pilgrimage Shall I be blind by this means I shall not see such objects as move concupiscence Will men speak ill of me They will only say what I deserve and doe as they are wont Shall I dye I know I came into the world on this condition to goe out again But shal I dye abroad no contrey is a banishment to him that considers we have no permanent City in this world Shall I dye yong and before my time no reasonable man should complain that he is released out of prison too soon and before his time Death banishment and sorrow are not pains to be feared but the Tributes of our mortall condition It is a folly to fear that which thou canst not avoid 4. Be not too confident or bold and undertake nothing above thy forces for no man is sooner oppressed then he that presumeth too much of himself Our forces are but weak without Gods help from whom cometh all our power all our strength Boldnes ever proceeds from too much esteem of our own strength from contempt of our Adversaries from a hasty wit and a mind not much accustomed to the management of affairs He that is more wise feareth more for he measureth his own forces and considers what he is able to bear and what not Bold persons when they are fallen into some great dangers contrary to what they expected resist a little but presently loose courage being forced at last to confesse that human counsells are full of vanity incertitude A careles unwary security is the beginning of future misery 5. Anger will never overmaster thy judgment if thou first takest away the opinion of a supposed injury Thou art thyself the cause of all thy own evills misery and sufferings Why dost thou cast the blame of all thy disquiet upon others if thou fallest into them by thy own fault No man is hurt but by himself As nurses use to say unto children doe not cry and thou shalt have it thou maist say the same with better reason unto thyself when thou art moved with anger Be not angry doe not make a stir and thou wilt sooner obtain what thou desirest Resolve with thyself upon certain dayes not to be angry at all whatsoever shall happen and soe try thyself after this manner for a month or two and thou wilt find in time that thou hast much profited by it and thou wilt laugh at those things which formerly were wont to make thee angry and disquiet thy mind A quiet and sweet disposition is not only gratefull to those with whom we converse but also is most advantageous unto him that is endowed with it A quiet mind hath this advantage that it alwaies rejoyceth alwaies triumpheth CHAP. XVIII Of the Faculties of a Rationall Soul How we are to keep our Vnderstanding from Curiosity What study is best How hurtfull it is to search into the life and manners of Others We are not to heed what others falsely report of us Of thee Abnegation of our will 1. GOd hath given thee Vnderstanding that thou mightest know him and by knowing love him but thy understanding hath received a double wound by sin to wit Ignorance blindnes Thou mistakest in the knowledge of Truth and thou art ignorant for the most part what to doe and what to fly How great diligence is used to preserve a Town from the plague or to defend a castle from the enemies forces least any Spy should enter within the wals Soe shouldest thou watch least thy understanding should give entrance to any evill object The Senses first represent the species of things then the undersanding admits them and proposes them to the Judgement and lastly the judgment proposeth them to the will But the senses propose equally good and bad and it belongs to the mind to admit them or exclude them 2. First we must keep our mind and understanding from Curiosity Why dost thou employ thy mind in vain things since it was created for God and solid wisedome Wisedome is thrifty As he that tasteth the hearb wolf-bane that he may know the quality of it dyes before he can judge what Tast it hath soe they who look after what doth not belong unto them doe themselves much harm before they come to know what they sought after To know unprofitable things is little better then being ignorant He that desires to be truly wise doth not study to get knowledge that he may be esteemed but that be may live well nor doth he seek so much to delight his mind by his studies as to find in them a remedy of his passions and evill inclinations Dost thou desire to know the course force and influence of the stars What art thou the better when thou knowest all this if in the mean time thou art ignorant of thy own weaknes Dost thou desire to speak in an elegant stile It will be more to thy purpose to learn to be silent Dost thou long to know news what
that body which thou feedest with so much care and pamperest with so many delicacies will be left to be a food to the worms in thy grave Ponder then with thyself for what banquet thou feedest thy body and resolve henceforth to feed it so that it may not oppresse thy spirit Use common meats and such as are easily found which are neither chargeable to buy nor hurtfull to thy health A great part of our liberty dependeth on a sober dyet and temperate feeding We cannot easily see what is superfluous untill we begin to be without it Our body hath need of sufficient nourishment but not of many delicacies 4. But doe not think thou deservest such great praises for contemning superfluities When thou canst also contemn necessaries thou maist challenge praise that is when thou art content with common bread for thy food with weak wine or such as is well mingled with water for thy drink when thou shalt be persuaded that hearbs and roots doe not only grow for beasts but also for men I shall admire thee when thou seekest only the necessity of nature the reparation of thy strength and the glory of God in thy meat when thou canst contemn the full tables of great men when thou comest unwillingly to thy ordinary repast as a sick man to a bitter potion of Phisick when thou shalt study at least to moderate and overcome the pleasure of Tasting since it cannot be wholly hindred when thou art unwilling to eat any thing that is delicate even in thy sicknes when in fine thou hast attained to a true purity of body and mind For it is certain that the proof of true Abstinence doth not consist in attenuating the body but in purifying the soul from all inordinate desires CHAP. V. Of Luxury the shamefulnes of it how easy it is to fall into it and how it is to be avoided by seeking spiritual delights and the solid pleasures of the mind 1. NO vice is more filthy or shamefull then Luxury The Apostle commandeth we should not so much as name any sin of that kind Hence it is that honest pious men are so much ashamed of themselves if they suspect that others know them guilty of the least immodesty or uncleanlynes Hence it is that many in the tribunall of holy Confession hide the lubricity of their youth from the ministers of Christ choosing rather to undergoe everlasting torments with eternall shame after death then here in this life to undergoe she imaginary infamy of this vice Adde that those who are faln into a habit of this sin doe not easily get out and they are in much danger of their salvation that are infected with it Human forces are too weak to overcome it For no man can live chast unles it be by a speciall gift of God 2. Wherefore the first remedy against this sin is fervent prayer offered unto God to the end that he who alone can doe it will be pleased to cure thee of this dangerous sicknes Next thou must have a care to resist unchast thoughts in the very beginning to doe it with as much hast as thou wouldest shake of burning coals from â—hy garments Woe be unto thee if thou once beginnest to deliberate the least in such temptations That castle is nigh surrendring whose Governour once begins to parley with the Enemy That thou maist avoid all occasions leading unto it fly idlenes intemperance unchast imaginations evill company dangerous conversation in a word nothing is to be neglected in this point Even those that are just are not wholly free from the danger of this sin they may also have some hidden reliques of it some secret hissings of the old Serpent as for example certain little affections which although they are not bad in themselves notwithstanding they are as preludes tending to evill and the mind being bewitched by little and little with such charms wil soon be caught unles thou suddenly breakst of with them Thou wilt never arrive to great perfection if thou neglectest these small things Great things have their beginning from lesser ones 3. Take heed above all things thou art not deceived by too much confidence in thyself He that fears nothing is half fallen How many great and learned men after having obtained great victories over themselves and their spirituall enemyes after having done many wonders have notwithstanding fallen into great sins at last by inconsiderate looks cast upon women T is needles here to repeat the sad examples which thou hast often heared and read of Sampson David and Salomon We have too many examples of the same kind in our own dayes And without seeking forreign examples thou hast enough perhaps in thy own brest whereof to be ashamed and which should give thee occasion to humble thyself be alwaies in fear Is it not great madnes and folly after so many examples in all ages and countreyes to put thyself in danger by presuming too much on thy own forces Yet such is the ordinary credulity of human obstinacy that we never believe others to have fallen untill we also fall ourselves Woman was created to help man but by the malice of the devill she is become his greatest enemy There is nothing in a woman which doth not wound burn and kill No Hyena to be compared to her voice no Basilisk to be compared to her eyes Ah! whoever thou art then if thou desirest to save thy Soul fly as much as thou canst the sight and conversation of women They still keep their ancient and first custome which is to be the occasion of banishing man out of Paradise 4. Many excuses are commonly alledged in this busines Many pretenses of necessity custome and a good intention Notwithstanding all this great mischeifs often lye hid under the colour of good Hence proceed dangerous familiarities indiscreet over-free discourses light gestures a neglect of modesty frequent letters and presents from one to another and a certain mirth which by little and little overcometh all shame untill at length all modesty is lost These things are practised by degrees and he that at first did use to blush at the sight and approach of a woman now is not afraid to behold wanton looks and a naked breast which striking into his hart a sweet and secret poyson he is undone before he perceives his own danger Thus the eye of our reason first becomes dim at last is struck quite blind Thus a rationall Soul which was born for heaven is tyed to the world forgetting both God herself untill at length the flames of concupiscence deliver her up to eternall flames Oh miserable men whose impure momentany pleasures must have such a sad end One would think they had all eaten of the Sardonian hearb since they laugh at the same time that they are dying 5 Ah! foolish man who art void of all wisedome thyself wilt not hear the counsell of others what dost thou seek If pleasures God hath prepared
thou art unworthy of all honour because no man justly deserves to be honoured but he that is vertuous and comtemns all honour and glory True nobility is never proud and he that is above others in dignity is also above them in modesty the chief glory of great men is when they humble themselves most 6. Consider the weaknes of thy condition measure thy body and thou wilt find many things whereof thou oughtest to be ashamed but nothing whereof to be proud Doe not contemn the opinion of Philosophers and Mathematicians it is true what they teach that the whole earth is but a point compared to the vast extent of the heavenly sphears What madnes what folly then to divide this point into soe many kingdomes so many Governments No man can be great in a little space This earth which thou treadest on now with so much pride will cover thee ere long and all that thou wilt possesse of it will be but just soe much as will cover thy cold body Goe now and build great and immortall pallaces upon this nothing Goe and exercise thy fury and insolency upon it Goe and increase here thy avarice extend thy ambition gather armies and make war against thy neighbors When thou hast bine mad and frantick long enough thou wilt see acknowledge at last the vanity and deceit of all these Titles and honours All that shineth in this world is but glasse it breaks at the same time that it casteth a lustre Great trees are many years in growing but are cut down in one hour 7. If thou canst be content to live private thou hast cut of a great inticement to pride No man lives in state and pompe to please his own eyes or the eyes of a few of his familiar friends but the reason of his living with great spendor is to be noted by the world Who would put on purple if he thought he should be seen by no man who cares when he eats in private to have his meat served in gold and silver who would expose his gallant Tapestries and other rich moveables under the shadow of an old tree where none but himself should look upon them Ambition desires to be seen as on a Theater and never strives to make a greater shew then when commended and applauded If the Bee hath made her honey if the horse hath run well if the Tree hath born good fruit they seek nothing else but man still desires praise to be taken notice of and to hear men cry There he is that is He. But if thou considerest well who they are by whom thou desirest to be praised thou wilt not find it such a hard matter to contemn the applause of the Vulgar and common sort The multitude is a vain and changeable rabble whom thou thyself often callest mad and who every moment accuse themselves of their own folly by disapproving and recalling so often what they had done said not long before The life as well of him that praiseth as of him that if praised is short and these praises too are only given a man in a small corner of the world which is all but a point and there too all doe not agree to it nor perhaps doth he that is praised beleeve all that is said of him But it is a brave thing to be spoken of in future ages and to be praised by those whom thou never sawest nor never shalt see Why dost thou not grieve also for not having bine praised and commended by those who lived before thou wert born But suppose that those who shall praise thee after thy death were immortall and also that thy memory should last for ever what will this avail thee being dead and what does it avail thee being yet alive to hear thou art praised Thou art often praised where thou art not present and at the same time thou art troubled or tormented where thou art The price of every thing is in the thing itself and it is not made better by being commended nor worse if not praised Can we say that the Sun looseth any thing of his light if no man looks upon it or admires it Can a fig loose its sweetnes a flowr its beauty a Iewell its lustre because they are not commended It is a great argument of a noble Soul and one that knows it hath its origine from above to contemn the praises of men and to find content in itself Thou loosest all praise if thou desirest it for what is there in thee which deserveth 〈◊〉 how great is thy frailty how great 〈…〉 misery how great is the incertitude 〈…〉 Salvation Thou art an unprofitable servâ—… to God although thou didst doe all which thou art obliged to doe But with what face wilt thou dare to say that thou hast done all thou wert obliged to doe Take heed therefore thou art not said to be that without which thou art not within and take heed thou art not praised by others for what thy own conscience tells thee thou art to blame in Render unto God what thou hast received from him to wit thy Being life and understanding then what will be left thee but thy sins Since therefore thou art nothing thou canst not boast of this nothing Thou will then begin to be something when thou shalt acknowledge thyself to be nothing CHAP. X. Of moderating our outward Senses How we must treat our Body and how to govern our Eyes Of the vanity of Apparell 1. OBserve well this commendable form of life that is to allow unto thy Body those things only which are necessary to preserve it in health Thou must use it hardly that it may not rebell against the Soul for the body is to obey the spirit and not the Spirit to obey the body Eat to satisfy hunger and drink to satisfy thirst let thy garments be such as to keep out the cold thy house such as to defend thee against the injuries of the Weather As for other things which have bine invented for vain ornament and pompe be afraid to use them for they are like so many snares to catch thee in He easily contemneth all that is honest who is too sollicitous for his body and loueth it too much Thou art born to greater things and not to make thy Soul a slave unto thy body upon which thou must look as the prison of thy mind the fetters of thy liberty The just and wise man hath a care of his body not for the love he bears unto it but because he cannot live without it The body is the instrument of the Soul and we should esteem that Artist but a bad work-man who insteed of working his Art should spend all his time in looking after the Tools of his Trade T is the sign of a dull spirit to be busyed and employed in nothing but what concerns the Body 2. In regard that Death commonly enters into the Soul through the windows of our Senses let it by thy care to change their
follyes of his infancy to undergoe again all the fears of his child-hood all the dangers of his youth all the cares of his man-hood all the labours of his old age No man hath lived soe happily as to wish to be born again Consider therefore whither thou art going and whence thou art parting But perhaps thou wouldest not be afraid to dye if thou didst certainly hope to goe to Heaven This is the cause of thy fear because thou are void of all vertue and good workes and only now beginnest to be good when thou art forced to leave the world Were it not for this thou wouldest not be afraid to dye considering that it is the Gate to eternall felicity It would be a torment to a just man to be born unles death were to follow 5. No man dyeth with joy unles he hath long prepared for it before hand Render it familiar to thy thoughts by a continuall meditation of it that soe thou maist receive it when it comes with a joyfull hart A man is not said to have lived enough for having lived many dayes or many years but for having a mind that desires to leave the world to fly to its Origine He hath lived long enough who dyes well and he dyes well who hath lived well Dost thou desire to procure thyself a quiet death Accustome thyself first to contemn all temporall things He cannot fear death who hath already deprived himself of more then death can take away from him Dost thou desire to lead a pleasant life Clear thy mind of all un-necessary care concerning it be ready for all sort of death and doe not concern thyself whither thou art to dye by the sword or by the violence of a feavor Live foe that thou maist dayly say I have lived He liveth in security and dyes with joy who dayly fancies himself carried to his grave and who is permitted to live after he was content to dye It is impossible thou shouldest live well unles thou dyest every day CHAP. XXIX Of Magnanimity The Character of a magnanimous man 1. THe very name of magnanimity denotates some great matter it is a high vertue of great force and alwaies tending to great things Without this all other vertues would droop and languish For whereas there occur many difficulties in the practice of vertue magnanimity resists all and ouercomes all and never shrinketh untill having past all difficulties it hath generously arrived unto what it had proposed to bring to effect This is the property of magnanimity to wit to incline us at all times to great and heroicall actions and with the help of Gods grace to make us undertake the most difficile labours with a secure and ready mind Thou must resolve to be bold and couragious if thou intendest to come to any thing We cannot expect to perform great matters without great pains Man is able to doe much when he resolves to doe like a man 2. A man of a great spirit alwaies aspires to great things and contemneth all those things as little which the vulgar esteemeth great He does things which are worthy of much honour but is not sorry when this honour is not paid and contemneth it when offered unles Obedience or Gods honour requires the contrary He does nothing for ostentation but all for conscience sake and seeketh a reward for doing well not in the mouth of the world but from the work itself He stands alwaies firm is invincible above all bad fortune and still equall to himself upon all occasions and doth not strive to ascend to higher dignities but is content with his own greatnes He is above all things and therefore is a Slave to no body begs and entreats nothing of others because he wanteth nothing of all that is without him Nothing can frighten or make him yield Sometimes he makes shew of his generous nature but then t is not out of any vain glory for he still considers the degree he is in the gifts which God hath given him But he alwaies joyns unto this a firm and profound humility in the sight of God because he refers all his glory and all the gifts of nature and fortune which he possesseth unto him alone holding for certain that of himself he hath nothing can doe nothing and is really nothing This is to know the true limits of vertue alwaies to have an humble opinion of our selves and all our actions and yet not to refuse those honours which are due unto such actions when we may accept them without breaking the rules of modesty We must not pursue honours but permit them to follow us 3. He that hath this vertue of magnanimity receaveth all the blows of adverse fortune with an undaunted hart that he may attain to the height of perfection When he meets with inferiour persons he can still carry himself towards them with a certain moderation and when he meets with Princes or some other powerfull and wealthy persons he doth not cast himself at their feet in a flattering manner nor will he permit his liberty to be oppressed with their tyrannous power Those things which are worthy of hatred he hateth openly and those things which are worthy of Love he loveth them after the same manner And those things which ought to be done and spoken openly he does and speaks them openly because he fears nothing and hopes for nothing He does the same things which other men doe but not after the same manner and therefore he hides his actions from the eyes of the common people and does not willingly make himself familiar with them He soon forgetteth injuries and is not subject to complain when forced to suffer any thing He praiseth few nor does he desire the praise of others but still labours to doe things worthy of praise He cares not for pleasing any but his friends and superiours nor does he easily admire any thing because nothing ever seems great or new unto him He fears no disastrous event being ever secure in his own Vertue He hath a slow gate a grave voice a moderate staid speech for he that is not sollicitous about many things hath no need to make great hast amd he that is content within himself needs not any great wrangling CHAP. XXX Of Patience The occasions and effects of it Marks of true Patience An exhortation to Patience in all manner of sufferances The necessity of Perseverance 1. PAtience is a Vertue which makes us suffer all the miseries of this life with a willing mind But because these miseries are manifold this vertue hath severall names according to the diversity of Evils which we are wont to suffer It is properly called Patience when it beareth injuries with an equal mind it is called Equanimity when we suffer patiently the losse of outward goods It is called Longanimity when it fortifies the hart in the long expectation of some good It is called Constancy when it strengthens the will to bear all other sort of publick and
forgiving no man Yet when thou art forced through justice to punish Criminels be not wholly unmindfull of mildnes and Clemency When thou punishest the guilty doe it as if thou wert forced to it against thy will and inclination and carry thyself towards those who offend the Laws as God beareth with thee As he beareth with thee in hope of making thee better soe thou oughtest to bear sometimes with others that they may grow better Thou hast no confidence in the Phisitian when thou despairest of the sick mans recovery But we ought to have more hope of his recovery by how much the Phisitian is more skillfull and obliging A man that is mild appears as a Rock above all the waves and storms of Anger and breaks all the force of the Tempest He is more contented to see the sinner repent then punished Our B. Saviour cryes unto all human kind Come all and learn of me not how to cure the sick and give health to Leapers not how to restore sight to the blind or raise up the dead But what Learn saith he of me because I am mild He seems to have included all the Treasures of wisedome and science in this one point to wit that we are to learn of him how to be mild Such is the excellency of this Vertue 2. As mildnes is a vertue that moderates Anger so clemency is a vertue which moderates the severity of punishment The first belongs unto all men the second unto Princes only and Superiours The nature and property of it is to inflict a lesser punishment then the Laws require not out of fear interest friendship or other motive but through a pure motive of mildnes He that is armed with this vertue will have no need to build castles fortresses upon steep Rocks a Prince that is clement is secure without all fortifications Clemency is the only invincible strength which secureth Governments An evill Prince is hated because he is feared and he desires nothing more then to be feared because he knows he is hated All subjects hate those whom they fear consequently wish the death of such as they hate He that contemns his own life is said to be master of his Princes life T is in vain for a King to think to secure himself by his power if he wants the good will of his people It is as great a disgrace for a Prince to punish many as it is for a Phisitian to be the cause of many funerals If a King is slow in making use of his power to revenge if he contemns thinks himself above all injuries and affronts if he sacrifices some offenders to the anger of others and none to his own he shews himself a true King It is the nature and property of a gallant spirit to be ever mild and quiet CHAP. XXXIII Of Modesty The properties of studiosity Of the rule use of Eutrapelia 1. MOdesty is a geat ornament to all other vertues and good qualities It is the true form of honesty and bridle of vice Although thou speakest nothing yet thy habit and gestures shew what thou art We may judge of vertue by small signs We often see what a man is by his countenance laughing gate and turning of his eyes Live soe that all may know thou belongest to the society of Angels Observe a constant decorum in all the motions of thy body in all thy gestures speech and looks that thou maist not seem rude or effeminate in any thing True modesty doth not only reside in the mind but appears also in an outward gravity of the body as if the soul took pleasure in seeing the exteriour conform itself to the interiour A modest man is a living picture of the Deity for his only sight is enough to strike gravity into those who behold him And who can expresse what an excellent thing it is to doe good unto our neighbours by being seen only It belongs also unto modesty not to exceed thy state and condition in thy cloaths household-stuffe and multitude of Servants These are impediments of thy mind which doe not adorn thee but the things that are without thee Why therefore dost thou rejoyce in thy unhappines Why dost thou admire vain things and makest glory in things which doe thee more hurt then good This great Trayn of servants which are alwaies about thee may be rather called a troop of Enemies whom thou canst never fear enough They are still more ready to observe what thou dost then to hear what thou commandest Nothing is more humble then their entrance into thy service nothing more insolent then their progresse or comportment in it and nothing more full of hatred then their going from thee 2. Studiosity hath two properties the one is to know how to govern and moderate the desire of knowing which most commonly is greater then it should be the other is to shake of all idlenes and to stir up out industry to learn those things which are necessary Nature hath given man a wit naturally enclined to Curiosity and conscious of her own beauty skill hath made us spectatours of all her excellent works and would esteem all her labour lost if so many great and excellent things lay hid and were seen by none but herself But we abuse the goodnes of nature searching with too much curiosity into those things which were better unknown He is not to be counted wise or learned who knows much but who knows what is to the purpose We should first learn those things which concern our Salvation But I doe not dissuade thee from reading other things provided thou referrest all things to good manners and to make thyself better Take heed that too much reading of too many books doth not discover a fickle unconstant spirit Thou must fixe thy study upon a certain number of good and choyce books if thou desirest to learn any thing that may remain in thy mind There is more pleasure in reading severall sorts of books but more profit in reading few choyce ones 3. It is necessary to let our mind rest sometimes and to recreate it after much labour for no study can last long without some intermission The antient Law-givers designed certain dayes wherein the people might meet together to be merry and recreate their spirits There are severall sorts of actions which may divert and recreate the mind As for example to walk in some open and pleasant place where the mind may be free to contemplate and the body grow more vigorous with enjoying fresh ayr to goe and passe some time in the countrey free from all the tumults of the City Thou maist also divert thyself in hawking hunting fishing and the like innocent recreations supposing they are not misbecoming thy state and condition thou maist likewise apply thyself to some mild and recreative Study hear or play upon some Musicall Instrument use some innocent play converse merrily and jeast with thy friends but with this caution that thou dost not
sensuall into a spirituall life and to withdraw them by degrees from too much application to externall Objects least they should be engaged too far in them and consent to unlawfull pleasures The Senses are to obey and not to command And in the first place thou oughtest to be carefull to contain thy eyes for the eyes being of a quick nature and suddenly catching the severall species of things are apt to convey all these images first to the fancy or imaginative part and next to the understanding where by moving the Appetite they often prove the cause of many sins if we have not a great care to prevent it And if unto this guard and custody of thy Eyes thou canst also joyn a purity of intention in thy Interiour thou wilt find God in all things and when thou hast once learnt to adore God in his creatures thou wilt easily be able to raise up thy mind from contemplating the Creatures to contemplate the majesty of God himself Beware of casting thy eyes on a woman that paints and dresses herself to please men she is the true picture of Incontinency and thou art in danger to perish in looking on her Be not curious in going to Comedies Balls dances and such like Recreations For such things distract the mind fill it with vain Imaginations and hinder it from raising itself to heavenly Meditations Where the eyes wander the affections and heart also wander 3. Hearing is the Sense of Learning through which the knowledge of Truth and Wisedome enters into the understanding Thou must therefore be very prudent in governing thy hearing least thy ears should admit falsehood in lieu of Truth folly insteed of wisedome Shut thy ears against all detraction calumnies backbitings idle rumors and unprofitable discourses in a word against all that doth not conduce in some manner to the good of thy Soul For as one that hath heard good Musick still retains the sweetnes of it in his ears even after he is retired from the place where he heard it so euill speech although it doth not alwaies hurt just when we hear it yet often-time it sticks for a long while in our memory and our mind often ruminates upon it By how much the more seldome thou hearknest unto men so much the oftner shalt thou perceive God speaking interiorly unto thy Soul The use of sweet perfumes is the mark of effeminate persons and such as have a bad name Wherefore I counsell thee to reject this sort of vanity and to render thy life exemplar by the sweet odour and perfume of thy Vertues As for thy Tast thou maist if thou wilt mortify it by abstinence and sobriety but as for the sense of Touching it is to be overcome by using hair-cloaths disciplines and such other like austerities It is better to afflict thy body in this world and by that means to save it then to damn it and thy Soul too by consenting to all sort of unlawfull pleasures 4. Whereas we may sometimes judge of the inward state of Soâ—l by the outward habit and dresse of the body have thou a speciall care to banish all outward marks in thy apparell of a corrupt mind Those who were esteemed the wise men amongst the antient Heathens would have an honest man to live so as not to move a finger without some reason for it I doe not exact from thee such a strict behaviour but I could wish thou didst observe it I mention this because I would have thee abstain from all dissolute laughter scurrilous discourse too much freedome uncivill gestures and all other rude behaviour that so thou maist have nothing in thy carriage which may give offence unto others either by the undecency of thy cloaths stern looks unbeseeming gestures contempt of others shewing a dislike of their company or any thing else which may give them a horrour and aversion from thy person Remember also that many things may be done with honesty which are not honest to be seen 5. Man was created naked and was not ashamed of his nakednes because he had no knowledge of it But after he had sinned and cast of the robes of Innocency which untill then was a sufficient mantle outward garments became afterwards necessary to hide his shame And yet such is the pride and vanity of men that what was at first enjoyned as a kind of punishment is now esteemed a prerogative of dignity We now seek cloaths not so much to cover as to adorn our bodies and to please the sight of others The quality of cloaths often discovers the inclinations of the mind and to be over curious in dressing and composing ourselves before a looking-glasse shews an effeminate nature Thou wilt soon be ashamed of these outward ornaments if thou considerest what they cover He that is rich with the ornaments of vertue doth not need these outward ornaments of the body Vertue makes the best shew when it appears without disguise whatsoever we adde to it to make it seem greater is still lesse then vertue itself T is a meer vanity and mistake to make a fair shew without by being richly clad and within to cover nothing but Vice Men wilfully load themselves with chains but because they are of gold they doe not apprehend the infamy of Servitude Some again are not content to be fettererd with gold but they will also pierce their very flesh with it to wit when they bore their ears to hang gold rings and pendants in them which are worth sometimes the revenue of their whole Estate making that which was once a name of punishment now to become a term of ambition Many again spend much time with their comb and a looking-glasse and are more sollicitous for the neatnes of their hair then for the salvation of their Soul Such is the force of foolish opinion amongst wordly people that they think themselves much adorned with those things which they ought rather to throw away tread under feet Let thy cloaths therefore be without Vanity and made not for pompe but necessity keep a decent medium not too uncomely but fitted to thy state and condition Although thou wert all drest with gold and pretious stones yet without Christ and the ornaments of his grace thou art still deformed and ugly in the sight of God These are the ornaments which are lasting which cover and adorn not a dying body but the soul which is immortall It is a meer folly to cover a dunghill with gold CHAP. XI Of the Tongue the importance and difficulty of governing it What is to be observed and what to be avoided in speech and lastly how to endure the evill tongues of others 1. THe government of our Tongue is a thing of as great importance as the preservation of the apple of our eye because life and death are both in the power of the Tongue He that is not able to rule his Tongue is compared to an open Town without Walls notwithstanding it cannot be tamed