worse to thinke thou art well enough wee measure crooked things by that which is straight not by that which is more crooked the rule of goodnesse is Gods Word not other mens deeds not to measure the straightnesse of thy life by the crookednesse of anothers hee that measures his beauty by anothers deformity may still be unhandsome enough if a Drunkard shall measure himselfe by some debauchednesse hee will seeme a sober man in the day of judgement God will not examine thee by what others were but by what thou wert commanded to be PLead not for licenciousness of life under liberty of conscience as if Christian liberty consisted in doing what they lift or that Christ hath so freed thee from the yoke of the Law as that thou art not still subject to the commandements not thinke that Christ was therefore obedient unto the death that thou shouldest be tyed to no obedience of any thing during life that the merits of our Redeemer hath obtain'd not that the Commandements of God should not stil be observed but that tho not sufficient observing of them should not be imputed MAke not other mens sinnes thine by imitating them nor thine other mens by teaching of them doe nothing in which thou wouldest not be followed follow nothing of which thou canst not well justifie the doing AFfect not too much businesse especially other mens yet to hate idlenesse to use recreations but not dwell in them to affect rather what is needfull than curious not to overdoe and in all these things to suffice nature not humor it BE slow in choosing a friend but slower in changing him when thou hast chosen bee courteous to all but inward only with a few thou maiest use that freedom to a friend which thou wilt not to every acquaintance thy acquaintance is but thy neighbour but thy friend is thy selfe SCorne no man for his meanness and humour no man for his wealth doe nothing to please any whereby thou shalt displease God never be drunk to please the company or think it uncivility to part sober or to cease to be a good Christian that thou maiest be thought a good companion BE displeased with nothing which God doth and as neere as thou canst doe nothing wherewith God is displeased doe all thou doest as in Gods presence and speake all as in his audience and let neither thy words nor actions be such as to which thou maiest willingly desire Gods absence or not desire his assistance IT is the goodnesse of God to us that is the cause of the love of God to us and it is the goodnesse of God in us that is the cause of the love of God in us confesse that the good which thou receivest is not for thine owne sake nor the good which thou doest is not by thine own power it is the mercy of God that mooves him to do for us that inables us to doe that which pleaseth him ACcount that good which is lawfull not which is profitable and endeavour rather to serve God then thine owne turne in all make these two the rule of thy selfe justice and godlinesse and thou shalt fulfill the duties of both Tables God and thy neighbour NOt repiningly to complain of thy sufferings of this life since it is partly in thy power to make them blessings and if to make them blessings be in thine own power then that they are otherwise it is thy owne fault God intends amendment in it if it doe not amend thee thou makest it a punishment not be LAbour to see thy own mortality in other mens deaths and thy owne frailty in other mens sinnes and since thou must shortly die bee afraid to sinne and so order thy sinnes as thou mayest not be afraid to die that thy sinnes doe not bring thee to a worse death and that this death may lead thee to a better life DOe what thou art commanded not what others doe make no mans example a rule not the best mans all may erre and be that in all things followes him that may erre will be sure in some things to fall into errour CAll to minde often what thou hast done and then compare with it what thou hast suffer'd and what thou hast received and when thou shalt finde that thou hast received more good than thou hast done and hast done more evill than thou hast suffered fear that there is lesse good behind for thee and more evill and therefore betake thee to repentance and a new life and by that thou mayest prevent the evill which thou hast deserved to suffer and procure to thy selfe though not deserved a reward of that good which thou hast done LEt it not trouble thee that some others have liv'd longer than thy selfe not the length of thy life but the goodnesse is the measure of thy happinesse if thou hast lived well thou hast lived long enough if thou hast not lived well thou hast lived too long NEver thinke it too soon to repent thou doest not know how soone thou mayest die and after death it it too late hee that puts off his amendment with hope of living loseth eternall life in a presumption of this INtend rather the effecting of a publike good than a particular for by intending only thy particular good thou mayest doe wrong to the publike whereas thou canst not effect a publike good without thine owne good in particular for what ever is beneficiall to the whole cannot be prejudiciall to the parts so then thou being a member of the whole in performing a generall good even by that thou art so farre good to thine owne particular as thou hast an interest in the generall whereas by seeking thy private good with the neglect of the publike thou doest both decline from the common nature of things and from the nature of goodnesse which is by so much the more good by bow much it is good to more and dost rather that which is good to thee then what is truly good in it selfe this is to make thine owne selfe and thy advantage the rule of goodness that thou should'st make goodnesse the rule of thy self and thy actions THinke that in death thou doest not lose a life but exchange one death is but a change and therefore not to feare a change that art every day so acquainted with changes every change is a kinde of death in as much as that which it changeth from doth die to what it was if the beasts and creatures themselves did not change from what they are how should wee bee fed Nay if their skinnes and cloathing did not change from its naturall use to them how could it be usefull to us if the Sunne his selfe did not change his place if the Yeare and the parts of the Yeare did not change how should we either have life or necessaries thou then that doest thus subsist by changes why doest thou feare a change especially considering that other things being ever altering in themselves doe yet ever continue
alterable whereas wee changing but once and for the better shall ever after remaine immutable so that to bee loath to change is to contradict what thou dost to feare a change and yet love a life that is full of changes IF God hath made thee handsome let not that make thee proud beauty is an ornament doe not thou make it a snare why shouldest thou have cause to wish that thou hadst been ill favoured shew nothing naked of thy selfe to others but thy face and that onely that thou mayest bee knowne not seen be courteous to all but not familiar stay not to heare thy handsomnesse prais'd much lesse to praise it thinke no time so ill spent about thy selfe as in dressing nor no money as in fashions yet in neither bee ridiculous allow for both acknowledge no beauty in thy selfe but of the minde nor strive for none if God have made thee beautifull in others eyes let it be thy care to make thy selse so in his beauty without grace is the greatest deformity IN Gods house and businesse forget thine owne be there as a member of the Church not of the Common-wealth empty thy selfe of this world thou art conversant in the next let all thy senses have no other object but God let thy eares be open but thy eyes shut if anothers beauty draw thy eyes from God that beauty is become thy deformity and hath turn'd God's eyes from thee LOve no woman but a wife and use no familiarity with her but in publike thou knowest not whither it may grow many have thought no hurt in the beginning of those things that after have proceeded to impiety and in all thy behaviour examine not what thou doest but with what minde thou doest it else that which happily in it selfe was indifferent is to thee unlawfull to a good mind all company is safe and all familiarity is safe 'T is the mind that makes a fault Else such things would not be naught He that can and is no lyâ—… Sport and talke without a fire Can be courteous can be kind And not kindle in his mind And can touch a womans skin As his own not stir within Doth salute without delight And more would not if he might Nor scarce that whom thus to bill Manners treacheth not his will Nor with hand nor lip nor eye Doth commit aduliery But see and salute each other Woman as he doth his mother As the Nurses harmelesse kisse To her child is such is his Without pleasure without taste With a minde a thought as chaste As Turtle till thy minde be such Do nor look nor sport nor touch Or at least till this thou can Sport and talk and play with man Not with woman for â—f fair Thou wilt findk or make a snare Nay although thy minde be such Do not toy nor sport nor touch For although thy thoughts be good Yet thoughts are not understood But by actions so therein May be scandall if not sin Who exactnesse will fulfill Must forbeare things seeming ill Not that are but might have been Or that may be construed sin Men judge thee ill or innocent By what 's seen not what is meant Then untill all mindes be such Think a look a smile to much LOve thy neighbour as thy selfe in the kinde unfainedly but love thy friend as thy selfe in the degree doe as much as thou canst but love more then thou canst doe hee that doth but little for his friend because his ability is so loves more than hee which doth much but lesse than he is able REvenge no injury though thou canst and requite every courtesie if thou canst yet shew that thou art willing to requite a courtesie where thou art able and shew that thou art able to revenge a wrong if thou canst though thou art not willing so by shewing that thou couldst revenge this thou wilt happily prevent another and by not revenging it thou wilt prove thy selfe better then thou shewst for to revenge a wrong done is to doe a wrong to God so thou wilt be guilty of doing that which thou complainest of and therefore unjustly complainest of that which thou thy selfe doest LEt thy conceit of thy selfe be low but thy desires high even as high as heaven thinke thy selfe not worthy of the least good yet by the grace of God capable of the greatest thinke often upon Christs death it will sweeten thine and account it his he accounts it so he died not for himself but for thee and if thou live not to thy selfe but to him then he lives not for himselfe neither but for thee to make thee partaker of eternall life which already thou hast in the certainty though not in the fruition and believest all this and more very humbly but very confidently THat thou mayest avoid sin avoid the occasion of it as he that complaines of heate removes farther from the fire omit no opportunity of doing good and doe no evill though thou hast opportunity it is a greater commendations of thy goodnesse that thou mightest and wouldst not MEditate often upon thy death thou wilt like it the better and often upon the next life thou wilt like this the worse thinke of this World as a thing in trust and provide to discharge it account nothing thine owne but as being shortly to give an account of it to the right owner BE not angry without cause be merry without offence admit a seasonable anger and shunne an unseasonable jest be moderate in both doe not forget thy selfe in thy anger nor thy friend in thy mirth by the one thou wilt be burthensome to thy selfe by the other to the company LOve the body but subordinate to the soule the Tenant is more noble than the house the most beautifull body is but a body of earth and the jewels which adorne it are but stones in the earth and the gold and silver which it prides in are veines in this earth the cloaths which thou wearest were the cloathing of some beast or the labour of some Worme or at the best of a man like thy selfe thinke then with what vile things thou art made fine which yet doe but make thee so in the esteeme of others not truly so in thy selfe and doe but hide those parts which thou art ashamed to shew not adorne that inner part which doth truly shew thee therefore to bee so much a Christian to preferre that part which thou hast common with Christ in respect of his humane nature thy reasonable soule or so much a man not to prefer that part which thou hast common with the beast an earthly body IF thou art a Master let thy family beaw'd rather by thy example then thy word bee angry for small faults it will prevent greater commend and encourage those that doe well they will doe better commendations of former goodness is a provocation to more THinke upon this life as a current ever running doe not hope to live long but be assur'd not to live still and account it
since the goodnesse of these is not measured by what is done but by what minde we doe it with Cursed be hee that doth the worke of the Lord negligently there is that curse upon negligent doing which upon unwilling leaving of it undone is not there is little difference between not doing what thou shouldest and not doing it as thou shouldest to doe thy duty for shew onely or in shew onely is to doe thy duty and be still undutifull if that which thou doest be right if the minde with which thou doest it be not so all is wrong and thou forfeitest the acceptation of what was good by the ill performance TWo things do not trouble thy selfe to know other mens faults nor other mens estates the estate of thine owne soule and the amendment of thine owne faults let that be thy study not thinke any sinne lesse because it is hid remember that to him that shall judge theo it is open and that in the last day God will not measure his judgement by ours the day of judgement will condemne many a man whom wee have quitted DO not practice Religion in shew onely yet shew it in thy practice thinke no sin little nor no good which thou doest great it is from the acceptance of God that it is good at all hope for but not challenge a reward of thy well doing yet not for it selfe but for what Christ hath done measure thy self not by what others are but by what thou oughtest to be remember thy sinnes with griefe and thy goodnesse the one for that thou hast been so bad the other that thou canst be no better and though thou canst not attaine to perfection on earth yet aim at it LAbour not onely to know what thou should'st be that most men do but to be so nor at all to know what other men are thou shalt not answer for it be carefull if thou canst to make others better by thy good counsell or at least not to make them worse by thy example BE ever contented with thy present estate but if thou canst better it doe not corruptly thrust thy selfe into any place and being in do nothing that may thrust thee out make the execution of thy office a discharge of thy conscience not an improvement of thy estate and desire any place rather to do good then to grow rich give no bribes to procure an unjust thing nor take none to doe one and if thou art in the place of judicature remember thy office is to give sentence but not sell it DO not make any sinne lesse by custome for as men do at first lesse like sinne so with continuance they do lesse feele it as those that are accustomed to carry burdens are lesse sensible of the weight and if thou doest now the same things with more ease do not thinke that the sinne is more light but that thou art more hardned and thy case is so much more desperate by how want of sense is neerer to death than paine feeling is an argument of life thou art a dead member if thou hast lost thy feling but here 's the misery that thou hast lost thy feeling in regard of sin but not of punishment FIx thy desires upon such things as may not shame thee in the obtaining and compassethy desires by such meanes as may not shame thee to own though that which thou seekest for be good yet while the way by which thou seekest for it be evill thou shamest the end by the way and shamest thy selfe in the end THinke no sinne little and make it not great by iteration what is a mountaine of earth but an accumulation of many little dusts What is a floud but a concurrence of many little drops a little pricke being neglected may fester to a Gangreen by how much that in which thou sinnest is lesse by so much thy sinne is the greater that wouldest dishonour God for so little a thing THinke of death as a thing thou must meet with and of thy life as a thing thou must part with and not to love too well that life that keepes thee from a better nor at all to feare that death that leades thee to a better life this life is a journey and the World an uneasie horse that with much jolting and some falls brings you to your home and why art thou unwilling to alight love rather that passage that leades to eternall happinesse than that life which keepes thee from it and not without continuall misery STudy rather to make thy selfe fir for any imployment and place than to thinke thy selfe so and be preferred by thy desert not by purchase slip no lawfull meanes to doe thy selfe good and use no unlawfull hee which groweth great by buying doth likely continue that greatnesse by selling MEasure thy wealth by thy minde not by thy estate a contented minde is ever rich but measure thy expence by thy estate not by thy minde not what thou wouldest do but what thou art able to doe thinke not frugality a disparagement nor out-run thy self to keepe pace with others this is to procure that which thou fearest and least thou shouldest be thought meane to become so many times a slow pace performes that journey whilst galloping tires by the way LEt thy thoughts be such to thy selfe as thou art not ashamed to have God know them and thy words such to God as thou art not afraid to have men hear them and let thy whole life be such toward God and man as that thou neither dishonour God by thy ill life nor draw others to the same dishonour of him by thy ill example PLeasure not thy selfe by wronging others nor with the unjust Steward make thee friends with other mens monies lest while thou wouldest buy other friends thou sell God come to promotion if thou canst by friends not by money if thou deservest it not thou wrongest others if thou deserve it thou wrongest thy selfe THe goodness of the mind is witnessed in the outward actions the goodnesse of the outward actions is determined by the intention and minde inward goodnesse without outward showes of it is like a Tree without fruit uselesse and outward shewes of goodnesse without inward sincerity is like a Tree without heart livelesse that thou art good inwardly in thy heart is thine owne comfort that thou dost ontwardly professe this goodnesse in thy life is others benefit thou thy selfe art not the better for that good nesse which thou dost not make shew of others are not the better for that goodnesse of which thou makest no shew so inward sincerity is required in respect of God outward profession only in respect of men by the first thou art a true Christian by the other it doth appeare that thou art so NEither undertake much nor talke much and that to the purpose deliver thy minde rather in profitable language than curious by this happily thou wilt gaine more applause but by the other thou wilt doe more good and it is
a greater vertue to do well than to hear well DO nothing which thou disallowest disallow thy self some things which thou maiest doe but nothing which thou oughtest to doe give no liberty to thy selse in unlawfull things use not the utmost of that liberty which is given thee in other things and so use thy liberty in what thou art permitted as that they may not hinder thee in the things thou art commanded PRomise nothing which may prejudice thee in performance performe what thou hast promised though to thy prejudice thinke thy selfe bound by thy word though without oath or witnesse if thou art not well able to perform consider thou wert able not to promise a good man measures his promises by his ability but hee measures his performance by his promise ACcount it the greatest knowledge truly to know thy selse and the greatest conquest to subdue thy selfe not give way to thine owne lusts not boast of thine owne parts to doe nothing that is ill nor vainegloriously to tell of what thou doest well in all things to approve thy selfe a good man and a Christian but not boast of it PLace not Religion in talke only it is an easier matter to give counsell than to follow it sometimes we have known men to fall into those sinnes from which they have with great paines converted others but Christianity as we say of charity begins at home it was Christ's to S. Peter Art thou converted strengthen the Brethren but first bee converted himselfe he may happily save others that is not saved himselfe yet hee will sooner save another that goes in the way of salvation himself good Doctrine is weakned much with ill life hee that will doe good upon others must first be good himself SPeake nothing which thou would'st wish to recall and do nothing which thou shalt need to repent condemne nothing in a humour nor maintaine nothing out of faction never defend a false cause either to revenge a wrong or to do a pleasure THinke onely the present time thine for that which is past is none of thine and that which is to come it is a question whether ever it shall be thine so the certaine time of thy life is very little and the account which thou shalt certainely give of this life very great and thy account is made greater by tarrying but thy life lesse so that to put off the finishing of this account till a farther time is to make thy selfe a greater account and have lesse time to doe it in nay thou shalt answer for the neglect of that time wherein it might have beene done and it may bee denied another time to doe it MEasure not goodnesse by good words onely a Parrat may bee taught to speake well good words cost us nothing and men are for that Religion that is cheapest it is an easie matter to speake like a Christian Satan himself can talke Scripture Charity consists not barely in knowing or discoursing of what is good but in practising what wee doe know in religion not to doe as thou sayest is to unsay thy religion in thy deeds EVer expect death though not wish for it let thy last houre find thee rather willing to goe than contented to tarry put not off amendment till another day thou art not sure to see an end of this provide that thy death bed amy rather finde thee fitted for God than fit thee and so order thy estate and thy soule in thy health that when death comes thy mayest have nothing to doe but to die IN point of reformation first plucke out thy owne More spend not thy time in exhorting others to the keeping of the Commandements and breake them thy selfe measure not thy goodnesse by anothers want of it nor measure thy want of goodnesse by others store of it God doth not so though thou art not so good as the best yet while thou endeavourest to be so thou art good enough God who workes in us both to will and to do doth in some case accept the will for the deed REckon nothing which thou hast thine owne nor nothing which thou doest at thine owne disposing and use all not as a Master but a servant remembring thou must one day answer for them to their Master DO not murmure at thy condition if mean nor measure Gods blessings by thy wants but by thy deserts if God be better to others then he is to thee yet while he is better to thee than thou deservest hee is good enough IN Christianity not thinke to attaine the end without the meanes and if the same meanes doe not in all produce the same effect not to impute it to any alteration or deficiency in the meanes but in the subject the means is the same the parties are not all men are not alike hardned in sin therefore all are not alike hard or easie to bee converted sinnes are compared to diseases all diseases are not mortall some humours spend themselves others are not recovered but with expence and danger and the same sickenesse is not removed with the same ease in bodies because there is not in all the same temper that physick doth but stirre the humour in some bodies which in others would utterly expell it it is with the sicknesse of the soule as of the body all sinnes are not equall all men are not equally sinnefull either the sins may be lesse or of lesse continuance for custome as it begets a greater liking of sinne so it leaves a deeper root continuation of things makes them partly naturall therefore wee call custome another nature setled impieties like set led humours doe not easily ftirre though the means are the same yet while the subjects is not it is no wonder that the effects are not there must bee the same disposition of the matter as well as of the agent it is nor enough that the word bee the same if the hearers be not as as the same physicke doth not worke or cure alike nor the same seed thrive alike in all grounds so neither doth the same word save alike or prevaile alike withall Sodome would have repented with those meanes which Corazin did not in thine impenitency therefore not to accuse God or the meanes but thine owne selfe in thy conversion not to thanke thine owne selfe or the means but God and the meanes under God REnember that as there is â—…e death which thou must prepre to meet so there is another death which thou must study to avoid the death of the soule the naturall death consists in the dissolution of the soule from the body the spirituall death in the dissolution of the soule from God and one day of soule and body from God which is the second death now as wee say of the naturall body that the way to be young long is to be old betimes so the way to live not long but ever is to die betimes if thou die but once while thou livest the death of sinne thou shalt live eternally after