Climax So great is our aversion to Death our greatest Friend that would put an End to our Troubles and lay us up in Peace Young men put it far from them and Old men do not care to hear of it though descending down towards their Grave And I have experienc'd in my self now entring into my Declination a kind of Reluctancy to be told I was so far on my Journey I conclude therefore that there is something in Nature some Relict of the Old man that is afraid of Death though she carries it within her and thus perhaps it will be with you and therefore to please the lower Soul and reconcile it to the Government of the upper I shall endeavour to shew that it is the usual Gift and natural Consequent of Autocracy § 4. To this Purpose it will suffice to propose this one Consideration viz. That There is nothing that can conduce more directly to the Health of the Body and consequently to its Preservation to Old Age than the regular Vse of Meat Drink and animal Pleasures which Self-Government enjoins This alone is able to preserve Health and to recover it when lost and if some Original Distemper or fatal Providence interpose not to convey it down to Old Age to procure the Vigour of Youth in Age and a healthful and strong Constitution and consequently a Long Life c. This Truth is self-apparent and shines by its own Light for most Diseases are confess'd to be the Effects of Intemperance Vice tends to our Ruine from its first Entertainment and the Body of Sin naturally leads us to the Body of Death Excesses bring Sickness and Surfeiting will turn to Choler By surfeiting many have perished but he that taketh heed prolongeth his Life saith the wise Son of Sirach Ecclus 37. 30. Instances will best illustrate this Truth for their Conviction For thus the Glutton lives to eat not eats to live but to die when by contrarieties of Meats and Drinks he hath vitiated his Appetite and collected a Mass of Crudities in his Stomach the morbifick Matter which at last sends him out of the World Thus the Drunkard drowns himself in a Dropsie or by a Collection of Adventitious Heats inflames his Blood into a Fever when he shall call for Drink without Satisfaction and use it without Offence And I wish it were seriously considered how peculiar an Enemy this Sin is to our Lives and of how many sad Accidents it is the cause some times fatal to Body and Soul of which we have too many Examples So false is that flattering Proverb A Drunkard never takes hurt And indeed Drunkenness is a kind of Daemoniacism and taking away the use of the Members of the Body and Operations of the Soul the evil Spirit casts him sometimes into the Fire and sometimes into the Water Nor is it a wonder that when the internal Principle of Direction the Understanding is destroyed the Guardian Angel driven away and kept at a distance the Devil should take the advantage to do a Man a Mischief In a word Intemperance is such an universal Purveyor for the Grave that it is become long since a Proverb Plures gulâ quam gladio c. The Throat is the greatest Enemy as well as Preserver to it self and destroys more than the Sword Thus the impure Slave that with an Adulterous Eye pursues every Woman besides his Fears and Dangers wears out his Body and twists up his own Scourge A Disease I mean that destroys his Form and Beauty torments him with Pains when he should take his rest makes him water his Couch with his Tears and his Bed to be the Place of his Punishment because it was the Place of his Folly and at last consigns him over to Rottenness and to become his own Sepulchre And if Whoredoms and Adulteries do not always produce such Tragedies 't is because they are in some Measure restrain'd and so it is the Effect of Autarchy Nay those immaterial Diseases those of the Mind I mean that are not so conversant with gross Matter even these become prejudicial if not fatal to our Lives and Health Covetousness pines and withers the Body Envy dries it up and makes it pale and Pride begets Quarrels Contentions and Wars that send thousands to the Grave together I need not instance in more for 't is the Confession and Complaint of emasculated Debauchees that their Vices have been their Enemies and contributed to their Destruction So that there is a natural Reason as well as Providence in the Sentence of the wise Solomon Evil shall pursue the Sinner and he shall not prolong his days Prov. 10. 27. 13. 21. Eccles 8. 13. 'T is Autarchy alone that prescribes Moderation that distinguisheth betwixt the Abuse and Use betwixt the Poison and Nutriment of Meat and Drink that maintains a due Temperament and satisfies that Nature that she preserves § 5. And here I cannot conceive what Sensuality hath to say for it self and in its own defence unless it is by way of Recrimination Unless she leads you to the Cells of Asceticks and the Oratories of Recluses and shews you the pale and lean Effects of Fasting and Mortification the Skeletons of some few Saints who chose to anticipate Death and die whilst they lived See there will she say the Effects of Bigottism and Religious Frenzie what she would reduce the World to if she could procure once a perfect Empire there And what can Luxury it self do more Besides thou mayst observe that Wise men die as soon and as well as Fools and the Righteous fall promiscuously with the Wicked Alas Death makes no difference nor can Integrity Wisdom Valour or Parts oppose him The End of Man is determin'd and then why should the Means be blam'd he was to die at that time and therefore why should his Vices be accus'd for bringing him thither Thus Sin is ready to excuse it self though she lays the Fault at God's door and on his everlasting Decrees To all which I answer briefly First Waving the Question about the determination of our Lives of which I shall find occasion to give you mine opinion towards the end of this Discourse I say as to the Hardships Fastings and Mortifications of restraining Vertue I cannot find as I noted before that Autarchy absolutely and universally prescribes them but only where our particular necessities require them God hath given his Creatures richly though moderately to be enjoy'd and having given us his Son with him hath given us all things But when the Beast within the Sensual part begins to wax fat and kicks against its Master and Maker both there is then but too apparent Symptoms of a Spiritual 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an evil Habit of Mind and then Fasting and other Ghostly Exercises become our Duty For it is Physick to the Body as well as Soul and serves mutually their Necessities Besides I do not find any Command even in that Case to make our selves sick or to impair our
Interest it serves and as Visionary as the nightly Feasts of Witches As these imagine that they eat and drink and yet still find themselves pursued by the same hunger and Misery so Voluptuousness leaves us as empty as before and raises a greater Thirst than it allays nay more it is lost by Usage and the poor deluded loaths what he hath admires what he hath not is always to seek and is never satisfied he pursues an Aery Expectation and courts a Mistress that when once enjoyed inspires him with new Wants and puts him upon fresh Quests and Dangers Thus the Slave to his own Lusts rowls the stone of Sisyphus and carried by the Gyre of his untam'd Desires moves an unconstant constant Round till Sickness or Age disables him and Death arrests him and carries him to the Infernal Prisons where only he becomes Stationary And thus I have made some Reflections upon that Men call Fruition or Sensual Enjoyment And I have been the longer because if there be any Pleasure in Sensuality it must be in this By what has been said it will appear That there is not a greater cheat impos'd upon Mortals or rather that they impose upon themselves And I will be bold to conclude That Sin begins and proceeds by Delusion and ends in Misery That Voluptuousness is a Masque acted by Furies in disguise which towards the end they throw off and appear in their proper Shape For this is the true End of all Sinful Enjoyments which I must next demonstrate § 12. There is a way that seemeth right unto a Man saith the Divine Preacher but the End thereof is the ways of Death Prov. 14. 12. The End of Voluptuousness is always calamitous and that commonly in this Life Sin brings forth Shame and Sorrow and forbidden Enjoyments tend to the Destruction of that Body they are brought to gratifie Thus Intemperance weakens the Appetite and consequently the Body Thus Lust incites Ammon even to incest and then to hate even to Death till Drunkenness and the Sword of Absalom hath cut him off and so put an end to both Passions And as Sin at last brings a dismal Catastrophe upon it self so each Crime hath its particular Nemesis even in our own Conscience And I dare appeal to Experience whether when a Man's Passion is over and he is at leisure to consider calmly what he hath done he feels not Shame invade him and a natural Horrour dart through his Soul Whether he doth not run as it were from the Presence of God as Adam his Forefather did as asham'd of his Nakedness or sow some thin Fig-leaves together some poor Excuses to cover it Thus 't is at first till Conscience is seared or lull'd asleep and so becomes senseless Custom will take off the Dread of Punishment and because Vengeance seems to slumber the hardned Sinner removeth it far out of his Sight and yet for all this commonly Conscience at last awakes and laying before him the things that he hath done arraigns and condemns him the black Fumes of Atheism which hitherto have hid his Sin and Punishment will at last withdraw and the Deity just and terrible discover himself to his Soul and then learn from his own mouth the Agony of his distracted Mind when he considers that he must leave all his Pleasures Friends and Acquaintance and be carried alone into the dreadful unknown Abyss of Eternity When he begins thus to question with himself What if now at last there should be a God which I have not only provoked but denied a Heaven which I have slighted and a Hell which I have not only chosen but made it my Business and taken pains to procure What if this God shall meet me in the other World and convince me of his Being by his Justice in what a Condition shall I be then Why no worse than eternally and irrecoverably miserable And is it so I find then I have liv'd to a fair purpose I have enjoyed some few shadows of Pleasures and suffer'd many real Griefs I have been cheated all my Life time with Hopes Fears and Expectations and found all at last both Vanity and Vexation of Spirit And now I can perceive no glimpse of Joy no comfort to my Soul but a Darkness and Horrour and the Expectation of a dreadful Sentence when I shall depart hence But Oh sacred Vertue and you hospitable Graces of Integrity and Innocence who alone are able to banish these dreadful Apprehensions and bring home in Peace how have I slighted and despised you This is very probable to be the End of the Voluptuous because the nearer he approaches to his Death the clearer are the discoveries of his Misery yet I know very well that some die as well as live senseless and unapprehensive of future Danger but then their Condition is never the better because their Despair as well as Punishment are transferr'd to the other World The Rich man in the Gospel was never the happier in Hell because he perceiv'd it not before he opened his Eyes in its Flames § 13. I have led you my Dorotheus through the Folly to the Misery of Sensuality of living in Rebellion against the higher Powers of the Soul and working Wickedness with Greediness You may easily perceive upon the whole Matter That there is much Sorrow and very little Pleasure in Debauchery and that Hell stands at the end of it That those poor Pleasures that are enjoyed are little else but Cheat and Delusion and at last leave us not only disappointed but miserable Happy is the Man that can see through the Disguise and apprehend the Deformity and End of Vice Happy is he that by an early Conquest of himself and his Earthly part makes himself capable of the Pleasures of Autarchy of those that are to be found in the Paths of Virtue and the Regimen of the upper Soul And these are they which come next to be considered § 14. It was the wise Epictetus that reduc'd all Morality and his Readings thereupon to these two words mentioned in the end of the former Part 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 suffer and abstain These two infold the whole Duty of Autarchy and regulate at once our irascible and concupiscible Appetites The First of these tells us we must suffer Injuries Reproaches and Slanders patiently The Second enjoins us Abstinence from Sin I mean and from all Occasions and Appearances of it These two were the constant Doctrine of our Lord first and then of his Disciples only he went beyond Epictetus refin'd and exalted these Duties and made the first especially the hardest of the two one of the Beatitudes Matt. 5. Blessed are ye when men shall revile and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsly for my Names sake Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your Reward in Heaven for so persecuted they the Prophets that were before you The Conquest of our selves the Exercise of Self-denial and the patient bearing of Injuries is a
when you arrive at the End Be content therefore to be a Jewel though sometimes you lie neglected in the Dust and to shine though none takes notice of you 'T is a greater thing to deserve to be a Prince than to be one actually and he is indeed a King that reigns over himself and his own Appetites though he hath none other Subjects Remember that Vertue is its own Reward here though it had neither Riches nor Honours attending besides it must be rewarded hereafter Those internal Blessings of Peace and Joy are its own and when it hath no other Reward in this World which is very seldom God takes notice of it and his Reward is with him and the greater because deferr'd And therefore upon the whole matter I must conclude That Autarchy is the only way to true Glory here and Immortality hereafter § 12. By this time you must confess that Godliness and Autarchy is nothing else but the Power it exerts over the furious and raging Passions hath usually the promise of this Life as well as that which is to come That her outward Advantages are great as well as her inward Her ways are ways of Pleasantness and all her paths are Peace Length of days are in her Right hand and in her Left Riches and Honours These are the Privileges that Solomon annexes to a Heavenly Wisdom of which Self-Government is the greatest and hardest part I might here further add to its Advantages that of outward Peace with Men for Peace of Mind was proved to be her gift in the last Discourse the quiet I mean Good Will and Neighbourhood she would settle in the World and the Dissentions she would banish out of it It would restore the terrestrial Paradise again together with its pristine Innocence and make that a Tempel of God which is now become a den of Thieves It would cast out the Devil of Hatred and Malice of Self-Love and Covetousness of Pride and Revenge those Fiends that will not suffer us to live in Peace and restore Love Meekness and Humility to bring the Frame of Nature in order again Thus it would make us all happy if we would accept of Happiness and we should while we live here have some Fore-tastes of the Felicity we are to receive hereafter These are some of the Advantages of Autarchy I might add many other and make many ingenious and surprizing Observations thereupon But it is time to retire and try to practise mine own advices Besides I have in some measure discharg'd the Promise made in the First of these Essays and therefore after a brief review of the whole I will descend to the Conclusion § 13. You have heard therefore my studious Dorotheus in the First Paper the Doctrine of Autarchy explain'd together with the several Rules of Practice In the Second I have I hope satisfied you that its Pleasures are true substantial and durable whilst those of Sensuality are delusive uncertain and unsatisfactory That its regimen is not so grievous or difficult as the World would persuade you but that it is attended with the best inward and outward Pleasures In this Last I have endeavoured to shew its outward Advantages as Health Long Life Riches and Honours in this World as well as Eternal Life in the World to come if it fails in any outward Blessing 't is but in order to a greater it naturally leads to 'em and if it sometimes miss let not that be your discouragement Food may by accident cause Diseases and that which is the means of Life cause Death However it cannot fail of Life with the Ancient of days and the Riches and Honours of a Heavenly Kingdom This is the Argument of what I have writ upon this Subject and my Design and great End in all this is to excite you to the Practice of those Vertues included under the Notion of Autarchy and such are Patience Meekness Humility Temperance Continency Charity and such like And to this End I will commend to you these Considerations I. It is a Duty not only according to original and incorrupt Nature in which the lower part is design'd to obey the upper and join'd to it for its service but also worthy of it It is the peculiar Character of a good and wise man of him that lives the Life of Angels here and is design'd to live with them hereafter It is the only way to restore the defac'd Image of God recover our lost Integrity and the Aethereal Seats from whence we are fallen which is our business in this World for we are sent hither to be exercised in Vertue that we may be fitted for Light and Glory And he that doth not answer this end of his Creation in this Life shall sink down in the next he shall have cause to lament that he had any Being here and shall be so much the more miserable by how much he might have been happy II. It is an Exercise that hath the reality of all the true Pleasures that God usually bestows upon the Sons of Men in this Vale of Tears whilst the Pleasures of Sin are false counterfeit and momentary Besides it is a Preparative for future and greater Joys when God shall lift up our poor dejected Souls out of their terrestrial Prisons to the Aethereal Seats and Offices nearer to himself To which add That it hath as you have heard prov'd all the outward Advantages we can expect in this state of Darkness and Death For it hath been evidenced That nothing can tend more to Health and Long Life Riches Credit Respect yea an immortal Name if any such thing can be obtain'd here or is worth the pursuit than this Great Duty Thus 't is an Aggregate of all the poor present Joys of these lower Regions and an earnest of those of a higher and if any thing can make us happy here 't is only this III. It is an Exercise that the World as well as Religion will in some sense exact of us For though Christianity requires stricter Rules of Discipline for the Body by how much its Principles are higher nobler and more remov'd from Corporeity yet Autarchy is daily and in some respects must be used in every condition of Life Every prudent Man must use it and so hath done from the beginning and that Man doth not live who denies himself nothing If mortal Desires were all to be satisfied they would be soon too clamorous to be endured and would in a short time destroy themselves as well as us We daily deny our selves some thing and look upon it to be no burthen but are content so to do Subjects deny themselves the Pleasures of Regality and Princes willingly relinquish the Liberty and Recesses of Subjects The poor are contented â—o fare hard and be without the Varieties of the Rich Man's Table and the Rich Man is forc'd to want the Appetite and Freedom of the Poor We look upon it to be our Fate to be without many things upon prudential and
hunt after that Game to which illuminated Nature directs them and to be call'd off or hastened when a Superiour Power shall think fit For when under subjection they may become subservient even to Religion it self and like the Gibeonites they may be Hewers of wood and drawers of water for the House and Altar of God This ought to satisfie every modest Enquirer who though he cannot comprehend the exact reasons of his own Origination alas how should he must confess that he is not only fearfully and wonderfully but graciously made and a Monument of God's Bounty and Mercy That his Creator is good to him in particular as well as to all things in general and that his tender Mercy is over all his Works I have taken the more pains to remove this Stumbling-block from the Entrance of this Discourse which yet St. Paul doth in fewer words with this short unanswerable Question for the Christian Romans in those times were not so full of Cavils as we are Shall the thing formed say unto him that formed it why hast thou made me thus § 11. If it be further questioned Why God did not limit our Passions and Appetites when he first bestowed them upon us so as to make it not possible for them to hurry us into any Sin or Danger The Answer will be short and easie We are made Men and not Angels and placed in a mutable condition capable of Bliss and Misery and if God had so bounded our Appetites that they were incapable of Excess we should have been in an Immutable condition like those confirm'd blessed Spirits above a Privilege that they themselves were not thought worthy of till they had been tried and had resisted the Temptations and Threats of Lucifer and his Apostate Angels There is no free Nature but must have a time of probation before it be rewarded or punished Our Life here is like the Children of Israel's we are led through the Wilderness of this World attended by our Folly and our Fears on our left hand and our right to prove us and to know what is in our Heart whether we will keep the Commandment or not And when this time of exercise and probation is over we are called off the Stage and are either free'd or condemned Besides were there no possibility of Sin there could be no Vertue and so no Reward as well as Punishment For if there were no Tempter or Enemy there could be no Trial no Fight no Victory and so no Reward nor could even a St. Paul have challenged his Crown of Glory but upon the account of his having fought a good Fight finished his Course and kept the Faith No wonder then that Man should have Enemies within him as well as without these serve to awaken his Care make him stand upon his Guard and fight the good fight of Faith Thus the Children of Israel had the Canaanites to be their near Neighbours and the same Land like Humane Nature maintain'd two contrary Inhabitants And as there was no League made to be betwixt these Nations but a continual War so there is between the two Natures in us the Spirit wars against the flesh and the flesh against the Spirit which St. Paul elegantly describes in his own Name under the Person of one unregenerate and in the state of Nature in the seventh Chapter of the Romans Indeed Advantages may and must be taken the Canaanite must be subdued and brought under Subjection And though to carry the Parallel a little higher all Commerce with the seven Nations were forbidden and a total Abolition of their Name from under Heaven was enjoined at the first time yet when the Israelites had once declin'd to favour their Idolatry the Angel of God brings this sorrowful Message to Bochim That now they must not be totally driven out but remain as Thorns in their sides and their Altars as snares unto them and this to prove them and try their Integrity So since the fall of Adam and the degeneracy of his Posterity no lasting and final Victory can be obtained nor can corrupt Nature be absolutely rooted out till Mortality be swallowed up of Life and Death delivers us from the body of this Death The Seeds of Vices must remain even in the Regenerate and the Fire of Concupiscence though allay'd of its Heat and covered up in its Ashes For all that Piety can do in this life is to keep it down and make it a useful Servant to regulate it and render it beneficial to us And as in every Kingdom Plots and Cabals will be and some Dissatisfactions Commotions and Tendencies to Rebellion so must the Man of God stand upon his Watch and be prepar'd to suppress every Emotion if he can break the strength of the Foe and scatter his troops whensoever they make head 't is as much as God whose Deputy he is requires of him and this during his whole Life till Death calling him off his Watch relieves him § 12. Of this continual War in Man not only the Philosophers of old under the state of Nature have taught much and excellently but even the Heathen Poets the most ingenious but boldest and worst of Men that durst represent the Deity more vicious and brutish perhaps than themselves have taken notice of it And therefore according to their witty way of Allegory they call'd the Higher Faculties Prometheus and the Lower Epimetheus and of them they tell us this pleasant but instructive Fable * Hesiod op dies That once upon a time this Prometheus stole Fire from Heaven viz. Wisdom and Knowledge to enliven the Man of Clay that he had made upon which Jupiter was very wroth though I cannot understand why unless he were envious at Man's good a Character good enough for a Poet's Jupiter and sent Pandora viz. Pleasures a beautiful but deceitful Female to Epimetheus his younger Brother with a fine Box or Vessel as a Present Prometheus foresees the fraudulent malice of Jupiter and advises him to send back his Present with the false Bearer of it the one being as deceitful as the other but Epimetheus greedy of the Beauty and Jewels both that he might at once sacrifice both to his Lust and Avarice receives the Woman and accepts her Present which when he had opened out flew all the Evils both of Body and Mind which have ever since afflicted poor Mankind I have mentioned this Fable in a Serious Discourse because the true History of it seems to be the Fall of our First Parents and the Moral of it the State of every sensual sinful Man of him I mean whose Epimetheus governs and contrary to the Monitions of the Superiour Faculties entertains the Woman opens her Box and le ts loose those Plagues that must worry him But without a Fable though in one Ovid brings in his Medaea thus complaining of the Torture she endured in this Conflict Trahit invitam nova vis aliudque cupido Mens aliud suadet video melier a
in Pain and Torture I know very well that whatsoever pleases is a Pleasure and that every Man is sensible of so much in sensual Enjoyments nor am I for the destroying the Appetites but for regulating them This is that which I assert and shall endeavour to evince That the Pleasures of Sensuality are few poor and despicable in comparison of those which are to be enjoyed in the practice of Vertue which is something more than what I promised before and consequently That 't is an absolute cheat put upon us when these are made an Argument for Debauchery This will appear if we take in the first place a general View of the Pleasures of Sensuality and make as we pass along particular References In every sinful Enjoyment there are Three things to be consider'd 1. The Expectation 2. The Fruition 3. The End Each of which are pretended to have its peculiar Pleasures and therefore deserve our particular Examination I began with the First of these Expectation And here I need not use many words for every Man must be sensible to how great a height the Hopes of vain Man is rais'd by the Delusion of the Devil and his own Fancy The approaching Enjoyment is represented through a magnifying Glass and seems great and glorious The Bubble of Fancy struts and looks big and we expect mighty matters Could I but possess such an Estate or enjoy so charming a fair One c. Voluptuousness hath certainly two Faces she turns the Young Face and smiles upon those that expect her but looks Old and Wither'd upon those that have enjoyed her Each Circumstance of approaching Good is thought a Bliss which yet vanishes in the Embrace so that if the Votary to Sin had so much Wit he would stop at Expectation and go no further He might then indeed continue enamour'd with the Child of his own Fancy and worship the Idol of his own making without Remorse or Repentance when it is too late But his Unhappiness is That the same Expectation which deludes him urges him on to destroy it self and so to put an end to his Hopes and Fears together by a nearer Advance which we call Fruition and comes next to be considered § 6. Secondly Expectation then being confess'd by all to be only an imaginary Good swell'd out with Hopes and Fears 't is Fruition alone that must crown the Sensualist and make him happy But even Fruition it self is experimentally prov'd to be so vain and empty and next to nothing to have so little of real Satisfaction and so much of Cheat in it that after a Man sits down and calmly considers what he hath done 't is a great Question whether he will not repent of his Credulity rail at the Delusion and preferr even Expectation it self to it For he shall then find that he hath imbraced a Cloud and fished all night for Pleasure but caught nothing but Shame and Sorrow that he hath been notoriously cheated and having sown the Wind he hath reaped the East Wind that he hath pursued a Phantom and having hunted after Vanity hath at last overtook Vexation of Spirit For the Pleasures of Sensual Fruition are indeed but Shadows of those of Vertue and want their Invigorations and Comforts They are as short of these as the Image of the Sun represented in a Mirrour is of the Light Heat and Influence of that glorious Luminary That this may sensibly appear I will endeavour to wash off the Paint from the Faces of these Counterfeits and examine the matter of Fact and compare the Pleasures of the Fruition of Vice and Vertue together Instances will have here their Use bring the Matter nearer the Eye and illustrate it And to this purpose I will use St. John's Analysis of Sensuality in his tripartite Division into that 1. of the Lust of the Flesh 2. that of the Eye and 3. that of the Pride of Life 1 Joh. 2. 16. § 7. And in reference to the First of these Consider seriously with your self and then tell me if you can wherein consists the true Pleasure of those Vices which we call Gluttony and Drunkenness that Pleasure I mean that is peculiar to these Excesses besides and above what is found in the limited Use of Meat and Drink Is it in the stuffing up of the Body or the vitiating of the Palate in the distempering of the Taste or the disordering of the Stomach Is it found among the Ruines of the Understanding or the Laxation of the Members Surely no Man can take any true Pleasure in playing the Fool or Mad-man or in turning Beast beyond the Example of Nebuchadnezzar I never yet knew any Man that delighted in making Experiments upon himself to procure a voluntary Epilepsie or Syncope Men are not usually so fond of the Image of Death and yet this and no other is the Drunkard's Fruition which is yet so unaccountable that the poor deluded seems to be under a kind of Fascination to doat on that which must end in Loathing if not in Sickness and Death Sure I am there can be no Fruition in either but the momentary Touch of the Meats and Drinks upon the Nerves of the Tongue and yet even this is not peculiar to Excess but is rather an Attendant of Sobriety The Sober person hath generally the quicker Palate and most Delight though with a Dinner of Herbs and Small-beer and if any Man enjoys himself and his Friend 't is only He. § 8. And then for unlawful Lusts the other Species of Carnality I may put the same Question with as great and perhaps greater Advantage Where are the Pleasures peculiar to the Fruition of unlawful Love Or what doth the Adulterer enjoy above and besides what is to be found in loving and lawful Marriage If there be any such Pleasures sure I am they must be imaginary and next to nothing And that you may make a true Estimate of these and such like inferiour Enjoyments I must let you know once for all that we descend therein much below our immortal part and equal our selves to the Beasts that perish Nay more this way the silly Ass may out-rival the Man and the impure Goat be more happy than he that you will find them much below your Expectation if not meer Cheats the Mistress of Debauchees the Shame of Wise men and the Pursuit of Fools too commonly a Sin and always a Shame and the Sign and Cause of our Mortality For the Propagation of our Like both shews us approaching Death and hastens it and we diminish our own Lives to give Life to others But be it what it will I have nothing to say against it in respect of Morality when it is regular I mean when the Matrimonial Vow hath sanctified it and the Transmission of our Nature hath made it necessary the strictest Cato will then allow it the modest and chast St. Paul command it and the Spiritual part consent to it This for the lawful Use of it for which Nature
and has no Liberty to walk abroad only she may look out of the Windows of her Gaol till Death comes and unlocks the Doors unlooses those Bonds that fasten her to the Body and sets her at Liberty yet during this Life she contracts a kind of acquaintance with her Prison-house and a Love to her Fetters She is courted and sometimes seduc'd by external Objects she pertakes of Anger 's Fury and loves Fondness and forgetting her native Country and her Heavenly Nature doats oftentimes upon low and base Objects in this strange Land In this present Condition Temperance opens and clears the outward Windows and Knowledge regulates her Perceptive Faculties and both these strengthen and preserve the superiour Faculties which shews her her Errour and helps her to avoid it Hence the Charms of Voluptuousness are dissolv'd her Inchantments ended and the Soul recovers her primitive Light and Purity Thus the Understanding becomes enlightned and the Candle of the Lord burns without the Interposition of the Clouds of Ignorance Thus the Memory is purg'd of polluted Images and made a Treasury of such useful Idea's as Nature first design'd it And thus the Will becomes regular the Desires limited to that which is good the Heart pure and the Spirit rectified from whence proceeds Innocency and Peace which is the special Gift of Autocracy and deserves our further Consideration § 18. What the Ancient Pythagoras said of Piety in general may be affirmed of Autarchy in particular when he says it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Peace in the whole Soul with Cheerfulness For Sensuality fills us full of Fears and Jealousies Expectations and Disappointments and is like the Lower World the Seat of Storms and Tempests whilst Piety would render our Minds as the pure Aethereal Regions above all Winds Meteors and Alterations quiet and at rest The Mind of a pious Man is a Heaven upon Earth and presages to what place he must ascend His meek and innocent Conversation produces outward Peace amongst all for who would disturb him that wrongs no Man nor gives any Offence by word or deed And as he is guilty of no Crime so he fears no Danger but is at peace with himself No Heavy and Dismal Clouds of Despair obscure the Serenity of his Soul His Mind is always temperate free from torrid Desires and frozen Despondings He knows not the Terrors of a guilty Mind and is ignorant of Fears because he is ignorant of Sin His Conscience is void of offence towards God and Man and therefore under no dread from either He is contented with his present Condition and therefore feels not Fear 's Ague nor Envy's Consumption Briefly he is in a continual Calm though in a stormy World and whilst others fret themselves under their Load and struggle in their own Toils he is contented with his Lot and at rest § 19. Thus for the Concupiscible and then for the Angry Passions he governs them also Hence it is that Abuses and Railery move him not and he distinguishes betwixt the effects of Madness for such he takes Rage to be and the friendly Rebukes of a Wise Man He hears the Taunts of the Scornful unconcern'd as he doth the Barking of a Dog and only takes care that he be not bitten He looks upon a dissolute Tongue with pity and is more troubled at the Commendations of some Men than at their Abuses And certainly there is nothing so undecent and ill becoming as well as troublesome nothing that makes us more ridiculous or that gives an Enemy greater advantage than unbridled Fury nor can any Plague torment the Soul and Body and prey upon both more than secret Malice Whereas 't is a God-like thing to forgive It elevates us above humane Nature may I not say above the Angelical Besides 't is the truest pleasure to be able to pardon To deserve well and yet suffer patiently without Reward is a part of Greatness unknown to any but the Autarchist To suffer wrong silently and being injur'd to seek a Reconciliation 'T is more generous sure not to seek Reward but to receive it and save our selves the trouble of pursuing that which will be forc'd upon us for rewarded here or hereafter we must and shall be as long as our Lord's Promise stands good Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your Reward in Heaven And as there is a future so there must be a present Reward which is Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost An internal Comfort an ineffable Pleasure which arises out of a clear Conscience which is a continual Feast This is a Treasure far surpassing all the Riches of Nature and the Pleasures of Sin though drest up to the utmost advantage for they are but for a Season but this shall not be taken away from us Joh. 16. 22. Deny me O Lord Riches Health Prosperity Liberty or whatsoever else is most dear to the Animal Life only deny me not this Exercise me in what Trials and with what Afflictions thou pleasest only allow me this Cordial and I shall be sufficiently happy This will be a sufficient Compensation for all Sufferings and Support in them all It will be a Light to guide us in this dark Sphere and a Defence against all Dangers It is an internal Armour which will render us unconquerable till we have past all the Perils of this World and are arriv'd at Heaven where confirm'd and never-ending Joys attend us For the proof of all which I appeal to the Experience of every Man that hath been acquainted with Vertue and Piety and observ'd their Effects I appeal to the Noble Army of Martyrs and Confessors who suffer'd in their Quarrel and became by this more than Conquerours See then the different ends of Vice and Vertue The First presents you with some Shadows of Pleasures which prove both Vanity and Vexation This Second bestows upon you True Pleasures both outward and inward solid and durable which neither Pain nor Sickness nor Death it self arm'd with all its Terrors can deprive you of and which will never forsake you till they have brought you to that place where there is fulness of Joy and Pleasures for evermore § 20. I have at large discours'd of the true Nature of the Pleasures of Sensuality that cheat so many into their Ruine and after an impartial Discovery of their Inside I hope I have sufficiently expos'd their Falshood Vanity and Insufficiency I have added to this an imperfect Account of the Pleasures of a well-govern'd and vertuous Life Imperfect I say for they are to be felt not express'd I have nothing to add to this Letter but some few Reflections upon these Two Heads I. The Difficulties and II. The Miseries that in the beginning of this Discourse were objected to attend this Duty And then conclude the trouble of this Letter c. § 21. As to the pretended Difficulties of Autarchy I have this Answer 1. That Autarchy in it self is neither hard nor ungrateful but easie and natural
Healths for the sake of Religion Secondly As for the Oratories of Recluses and the Cells of Anchorites I know not where we shall find them in Europe unless we travel to Mount Athos in Greece in quest of them And as for those Multitudes in the Roman Church that pretend to leave the World and undertake the Vow of Coelebacy and Poverty most of them I will not say all for some Orders perhaps still retain their original Strictness and Abnegation of the World most of them I say have miserably degenerated from the pretended Sanctity of their Founders 'T is true there was such a sort of People of yore and all Christians were in ancient times extremely careful to keep themselves unspotted from the World and some perhaps even to a kind of Superstition But this was then when Religion possess'd the Hearts as well as the Heads of its Professors and when the Breath of the Holy Jesus was yet warm upon the Heads of his Disciples and the Primitive Christians But in these wretched times of Sin and Death 't is more than we can do to persuade Men to a Recession from the World in prohibited degrees and a sinful Converse and therefore this Instance is especially with us utterly impertinent Thirdly As for those good Men that die Young It proceeds not from any defect in Autarchy but from other causes Perhaps from some Native Distemper which they receive by Traduction twisted up in their very Essence From the original Weakness of the Contexture of their Bodies made at first and intended by Nature for a Tent not a continual Habitation for the Soul Or if the Pillars of the Body were ever so strongly built up yet some accidental Emergency some hidden Train may suddainly blow up the Fort and God by his providential order of Second Causes may concur to its dissolution Perhaps out of Judgment as in the Instance of the disobedient Prophet that was sent to declare against the Altar at Bethel and in his return was delivered up to the Lion that slew him 1 King 13. Perhaps out of Mercy when living well and longer are inconsistent and when the righteous are taken away from the Evil to come These and such like may be the Causes of the early Deaths of some sober and regular Sons of Vertue which yet their Temperate Life naturally tended to prevent So that notwithstanding some particular Instances we may safely conclude That Sensuality is destructive to Humane Nature which Autarchy by its Rules and Directions would long preserve or in the Words of the divine Preacher My Son forget not my Law but let thine Heart keep my Commandments For Length of Days and Long Life and Peace shall they add to thee Prov. 3. 1 2. § 6. The Second outward Advantage of Autocracy is A competency of Estate or Sufficiency of the bona Fortunae as we commonly call Riches And when I have said this I mean not that it will infallibly and suddainly instate you with Abundance or that there is no other way to become Rich but that it is the only lawful way to a worldly Estate and a probable way as well as lawful It will defend you from Poverty and feed you with Food convenient if not with Superfluities It is the proper and natural Means to obtain and increase an outward Fortune and where Providence interposes not it will attain that end This must be confess'd by him that considers that it enjoins 1. Parsimony and Temperance whereby we become the best Husbands of what we have and avoid all needless Expences the Effects of Pride and Prodigality and the Consumers of mighty Estates 2. Justice and upright Dealing which will procure us credit with all Men and preserve what we have gotten For let Men take what Measures they please yet they will not deny but that Honesty is the best Policy For Justice doth attract the Love and Favour even of the Unjust and upright Dealing will find a present as well as future Reward With the same Measure you mete withal it shall be measured to you again 3. Care and Industry which engage us by all lawful Ways Means and Measures both to get an Estate and increase it For if we search into the Causes of Want and Poverty we shall commonly find Idleness or Debauchery at the Bottom of it and most Men must accuse their own want of Providence not the Providence of God for their Wants and Indigency 4. Liberality Charity and Mercy which are so far from being Enemies to Estates that they augment them for the liberal Soul shall be made fat and he that watereth shall be watered Prov. 11. 25. Besides they call down the divine Benediction upon our selves and our Endeavours To him that seeks the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness all things shall be added Matt. 6. And he that castes his Bread upon the waters shall find it again with increase We may reasonably expect to reap what we sow and receive by the same Measure that we mete to others Luc. 6. 38. 'T is our Lord's rule that cannot will not fail us if we do not prevaricate with our selves Give and it shall be given unto you good measure pressed dowm and shaken together and running over shall men give into your Bosoms Nor can this Promise become ineffectual but by our own Fault our Covetousness Hypocrisie and Infidelity And now I dare appeal to the Judgment of any Man whether there can be a more probable way to an Earthly Estate than to be industrious in our selves to have credit with others and the Blessing of God to crown our Endeavours And whether it be not as evident on the other side that Sensuality makes Men Prodigal Debauch'd Spend-thrifts Unjust Fraudulent Creditless Unmerciful and Cruel and so to inherit nothing but the Curses of Men and the Vengeance of God § 7. But here I must walk cautiously lest the Sensualist take the Advantage and prevent the usual Objections which he will make to what has been said upon this Head It is confest therefore that sometimes all these means fail That Vertuous Men continue poor whilst Violence Oppression and Cheatery thrive and grow rich For God hath his secret Ends and Purposes and may make what Exceptions he pleases from this general Rule viz. The hand of the Diligent maketh rich Prov. 10. 4. There is a secret Providence that orders every Man his quota And thence is that which Solomon observ'd long ago There is saith he that scattereth and yet increaseth and there is that withholdeth more than is meet but it tendeth to poverty Prov. 11. 24. And yet this is no impeachment of the general Rule viz. That Autarchy naturally tends to Riches or at least to Sufficiency But if this be further pressed though I know no reason for it I must not omit two mighty and almost miraculous Effects of Autarchy which will sufficiently supply that Defect and make a Compensation 1. The First is that of making the Poor Man
beyond the Example of Nebuchadnezzar How much below common Truth doth he descend that can swear to that which his own Conscience at that very instant tells him is damnably false or that can fawn upon him that he hates to death That can dress up an Ape with gawdy Titles and cringe and bow to him whom yet he will aside call a golden Ass How cowardly a thing is it to be forc'd to dissemble hidden Treachery to flatter an Enemy and so take advantage of his Security that he may mischief him in secret whom he dares not meet publickly How unworthy a thing is an insidious Parasite What can be more sordid than for a Man of Reason and a Professor of the Christian Religion a Religion that exalts Reason and directs us to the Angelick Life to doat upon Gold or Silver that is white and yellow Earth and to preferr a piece of Money to a Heavenly Vertue What can be more foolish than to sell a Man's Soul that is himself for a Bubble or be condemn'd to the Galley all his life that he may be said to die rich To be always fearing Want in the midst of Plenty and to hanker after more when he hath already more than enough What more deplorable than to choose a Fever that he may have the pleasure of drinking and dying to slave himself for fear of Want and die for fear of Death What pity is it to see a Gentleman otherwise compleatly endowed with the Gifts of Nature to turn Slave to his Lusts and Fop to the Humours of a Proud Woman To see the Imperial Darius fawn upon Apame his imperious Concubine and him that govern'd so many Gallant Men govern'd himself by an inferiour Harlot To see a Man forsake his loving Yoke-Fellow that bears up one end of all his Cares and Fears and all the Pledges of their mutual Loves for the Embraces of a Strumpet who loves him not but for his Money who will first consume his Estate and then his Body and at last leave him to run the risque of his broken Fortunes not to be repair'd without fresh Sins and Dangers And that I may say all in a word to see a Christian made at first but a little lower than the Angels and instructed in those Mysteries which were hid from them to see such an one I say degenerate below the Beasts and seek his chiefest Happiness with the worst of them Thus every Sin draws after it the tail of a Serpent Disgrace and Shame and no sooner did it enter into the World but it made the guilty Adam hide himself from the presence of the God of Purity Nor has it got any great repute though many Followers ever since It is naturally asham'd of it self blushes at its own Deformity and usually walks abroad in disguise under borrowed shapes and better names to conceal it Thus the Prodigal must be call'd generous the Covetous provident the Lascivious complaisant and the Debauch'd a Good Companion Thus Singularity and Faction were term'd Zeal Disobedience tenderness of Conscience and Murther Rapine and Ambition blended together were call'd the Cause of God and Reformation 'T is a hardned Sinner indeed that will not blush to hear in publick what he doth in private and a patient one that will not highly resent it For tell but a common Harlot what she is and you move a nest of Wasps and the Adulteress will take the advantage of the Law against you Shortly Every Sin is a reproach to Humane Nature a disgrace to Reason and an indignity to the Order of the Creation Sin and Shame are inseparable § 10. On the other part that I may look into the other Scale Wisdom exalts them that are of low Estate promotes them and brings them to Honour It lifts up the poor out of the dust and the needy out of the dunghil that he may set him with Princes even with the Princes of his People It is a portion more precious than Gold than the Onyx Sapphires and Rubies It is the Original of all true Nobility and supports their Titles and Dignities which Debauchery would destroy and so pulls 'em down into the order of the Vulgar For Vertue is the true Nobility the Palladium or that I may use a Christian term the Guardian Angel of Greatness She enobles her Servant and not only himself but his Posterity without this Grandeur is but a swelling Bubble a Cloud without Rain or rather a blazing Comet that shines with borrowed Rays and attracts the wonder of the Vulgar and yet is in it self an unlucky Omen to the World and though its dismal Effects may continue long yet it soon vanisheth Wisdom first founded the World and hath preserv'd it ever since and as for the several Governments of it they have been all continued by Autarchy For Self-Government is the Foundation of all others and he that will rule others must first learn to rule himself his own Passions and Affections require his first care and after that then those of other Men. If a man cannot rule his own house how should he take care of the Church of God saith the Apostle And I add If he cannot govern himself he can govern neither For it is the surest way to begin at the bottom to lay a good Foundation and so build gradually The best ordered Governments chuse their Generals out of those that have gone through all the Degrees of Discipline in the School of War § 11. And yet after all it must be confess'd and I note it here to prevent an Objection That Desert is not always rewarded nor Merit crown'd in this World Some precious stones must lie buried in the Earth 'T is not fit Nature should be quite rifled of all her Treasure at once and have all her Rarities shown together For if she had no reserve she might be bankrupt and her Treasures would be soon exhausted There is not Reward enough perhaps in the World to satisfie all Rivals and the Fountains of Honour are not infinite but have their Bounds besides it is but reasonable that some things should be reserv'd for the Rewards as well as Punishments of the other World and we may well imagine this to be the design of Providence when it seems not to regard Vertue or Vice in this All that I have hitherto pleaded for is That Vertue is usually rewarded in this Life and that with Honours or at least Reverence as part of its Portion That the Autarchist the good Man that can govern himself is usually thought the fittest to govern others and that such a Man shall be esteem'd and rever'd even by the most disorderly But if at any time it falls out otherwise if Providence for reasons best known to it self perhaps for our own Good shall so far alter the course of Nature and dispositions of Mankind as to suffer Desert not to meet with due Respect be not you Dorotheus yet discouraged in your Race of Vertue for the more is reserv'd for you
and ensue it For the Eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his Ears are open to their prayers but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth In which words the great Duty is Autarchy which consists 1. in the Government of the Tongue from Raillery and Falshood 2. of the Actions in declining every evil Act and doing that which is good 3. of the Mind that it be free from the unruly Passions peaceable in it self and peaceable with all men Thus for the Duty then for the Reward It incloses the Duty on all sides that one may not be seen without the other It promises 1. Temporal Blessings as most agreeable and taking with flesh and blood viz. Long Life Many Days and Enjoyment of Good in them And then adds 2. Spiritual Blessings and these follow the Duty God's Eyes i. e. his gracious Aspect or Providence watches over the righteous and his Ears are open to their Prayers whereas on the other side he sets himself in opposition to them that do evil his Face or Countenance is against the Sensualist not only to cut him off from the earth but the very Memory of him his place and name so that they shall no where be found You see then Dorotheus both your Duty and Reward And what now can be expected from you upon the whole matter but that you should act like your self as a Man of Reason and Understanding and having the Candle of the Lord for your Guide that you follow its Light in all things Do nothing therefore unworthy of your Knowledge and Learning and entertain no Thought that may be a shame to either Bring every intended Action to the Test and examine it before the upper Court of Judicature Avoid Self-condemnation as the greatest evil and scorn to do that in private which you dare not own in publick Eschew not only every sinful but every unworthy Action and abstain not only from Evil but from the very appearance of it Desire nothing but what is necessary and proper for you and suspect every Licentious Act though there appears no present Sin in it Use your Body to some Discipline and accustom it to Disappointments now and then that it may the easier bear the non-enjoyment of things prohibited Keep it and its Appetites at a distance and under the rod and if it rebels exercise it with Fasting and Abstinence In a word Be absolute in your self and tolerate no Resistance there § 16. Thus taught Socrates that living Image of Wisdom and Plato the God-like and the rest of the wise and obedient Sons of Nature enlightened only by the glimmering Candle-light of its Laws Nay thus taught and liv'd the Holy Jesus and spent his time here in Fasting Prayer and other spiritual Exercises not out of any necessity in respect of himself but that he might give us an Example He willingly chose Sufferings and Poverty rather than Empire and preferr'd Sorrow to Mirth as more proper for a Vale of Tears Thus liv'd and taught his holy Apostles and first Followers denying themselves chastising their Bodies and keeping them under and that not only for Cure but for Prevention And thus liv'd and taught the Primitive Saints for some hundreds of Years till Iniquity began to abound and the divine Love to wax cold Many of whom that they might be more than Conquerours shew the Power they had over themselves and avoid Temptations chose to prevent Death and die whilst they lived leave the World I mean and all its Vanities and Follies abandon Delights renounce all humane Conversation deny themselves even innocent Entertainments and shut themselves up from the power of Vain-glory and all Society And this was the Original of a Monastick Life I know very well that there is no Necessity of going thus far and that even this sort of Desertion of the World hath degenerated into Hypocrisie That the blackest Crimes have been acted in the dark and the greatest Licentiousness under the Monk's Cowl and Hood I know likewise that no Man is necessitated to take upon him the Vow of Coelibacy or to forsake the World in that Sense Our Lot is easier than theirs who were forced to fly to the Mountains and spend their times in Solitudes Religion is God be thanked both commanded and rewarded and Autarchy admir'd by all though us'd by few But this is that I have and must maintain That we must keep our selves unspotted from the World and the sinful Lusts of the Flesh And in order thereunto That we must learn the Art of Self-Conquest by the most convenient and suitable Methods and that we ought to be prepar'd to suffer though we have no present Enemy or outward War That Christianity is a spiritual Warfare and that we have the Devil and our own Lusts to combate and conquer And finally That those good and wise Men which like so many Stars illuminate these dark Regions of Sin and Ignorance ought to be Autarchists Shine then my Dorotheus amongst these few for thus only shall you ensure inward Quiet and Peace amongst the Uncertainties of an unconstant World you will experiment true external Pleasures besides the Comforts of a pure Conscience which nothing can take from you you will find inward Pleasure and Peace if not that which outward and probably Long Life Health Credit Respect and many good days The strait Gate will grow wider and the narrow Path broader and Autarchy will at last prove your Reward as well as Duty You will begin here to live the Spiritual Life the Life of Angels and beatified Souls which as you grow older will become more and more delightful till at last you meet Death disarm'd of all its Terrours lovely and charming because it will conduct your willing Soul to the Regions of Bliss and to the Company of Angels Which is the daily Prayer of your Friend and the Design of these Papers FINIS A Catalogue of Books Printted for Dorman Newman THE Way to Health Long-Life and Happiness or A Discourse of Temperance and the particular nature of all things requisite for the Life of Man as all sorts of Meats Drinks Age Exercise c. with special Directions how to use each of them to the best advantage of the Body and Mind Shewing from the true ground of Nature whence most Diseases proceed and how to prevent them To which is added a Treatise of the most sort of English Herbs with several other remarkable and most useful Observations Very necessary for all Families The whole Treatise displaying the most hidden Secrets of Philosophy and made easie and familiar to the meanest Capacities by various Examples and Demonstrations By T. Tryon The Second Edition with Amendments Also the other Works of the Authour A Brief Exposition of the Church-Catechism with Proofs from Scripture By Dr. Williams The Third Edition The Penitent Lady or Reflections on the Mercy of God Written by the Fam'd Madam La Valliere since her retirement from the French Court to a Nunnery Translated from the French by L. A. M. A. The Second Edition Contemplations on the state of Man in this Life and in that which is to come By Bp. Taylor A Golden Chain to link the Penitent Sinner unto God Whereunto is added a Treatise of the Immortality of the Soul A Moral Discourse of the Power of Interest By David Abercromby M. D. and Fellow of the College of Physicians at Amsterdam The Second Edition Letters of advice from two Reverend Divines to a young Gentleman about A weighty Case of Conscience And by him recommended to the serious Perusal of all those that may fall into the same Condition Fly youthful Lusts 2 Tim. 2. 22. Dr. Willet's Synopsis Papismi or a general View of Popery Wherein the whole Mystery of Iniquity maintained by the Church of Rome is Confuted by Scripture Fathers Councils Imperial Constitutions Pontifical Decrees Their own Writers Our Martyrs and The Consent of all Christian Churches in the World Divided into Five Books or Centuries containing so many Hundreds of Popish Heresies and Errours Together with the Life and Death of the Learned Authour This Book hath been Five times Printed and contains near 400 sheets in large Folio there being a small number left they are proposed to be sold at 7s 6d in Sheets or 10s bound Shelton's Art of Short-Writing both sorts Tachygraphia and Zeiglographia