Sanders to run over the Irish Mountains quite out of his Wits till he perish of hunger In brief it so oppresses that it causeth the sweating Soul to cry with David Oh my Bones are broken And with Moses who know's the power of his Wrath And to joyn with Soloman a wounded Spirit who can bear what Man what Angel Who under Christ Nay this stroke upon the Soul seperated from all Sin drew from the Lord of Life those sad cryes My God my God why hast thou forsaken me That which a Thousand taunts ten Thousand racks could not have done this one alone apprehended and felt wrested from him And shall such a thing as this so near so great a Neighbour be offended Be we then of St. Paul's mind Set Conscience at an high Price Consider what it will be worth in the Day of trouble of Death of Judgment and resolve to begg starve burn dye a Thousand deaths to save Consciences life As a good Conscience next to God its Master is our best Friend in the World so Conscience offended is our forest Enemy The greatest Friends are bitterest Foes when divided No Wars to Civil Wars to domestical Wars The nearer the worse and therefore the Conscience being nearest if it become an Enemy is the heaviest of all others For First It 's an unavoidable Enemy other Enemies may be kept off with strength or put off with skill but so cannot Conscience No Barrs no Bolts no Bulwarks can keep that from thy Table or Bed Dan. 5. 5. Belshazzar may sooner keep out ten Thousand Medes and Persians than one Conscience That will pass through all his Guards and Officers to his presence and in the Face of his Nobles and Concubines arrest him and shake him in despight of his security Nor will this Officer be bob'd with a bundle of Distinctions and Evasions When God sets it a work it marches furiously like Jehu and will take thee up with his answer What Peace so long as thy Whoredoms and sins remain As there is no Respondent like Conscience so there is no Objector like to that A man may make a shift with a wrangling Sophister yea with the Devil himself better than with his Conscience For no Devil knows that by me which I do by my self And the Conscience shall have the hearing when the Devil shall not For Conscience is the Kings Solicitor and speaks for the great King Secondly This Enemy is unsufferable It strips us at one stroke of all other Comforts a sick Stomach makes that meat which before much pleased now to encrease the Disease So doth a sick Conscience It takes away the relish of all natural Comforts and of all spiritual Exercises and Ordinances and makes a man a burden and terror to himself It fills one full of Horrors and unhappiness the Violentest diseases may be born but when the Pillers are shaken when that which bears up all is wounded when the Heavens fight against a man and a poor Creature must wrestle against infinite justice and power Oh how hard a thing is this The wrath of a King is terrible and the rage of Seas of Fire of Lyons but still here is Creature against Creature Weak to Weak but who knows the power of Gods anger Who can stand before that consuming Fire Not man Not mountains Not Angels The terrors of God and anguish of Spirit cast's the Devil himself into a frenzy and makes him mad As those parts of the Nail next to the flesh at first are softer than the rest but after a while they grow into that hardness which is in the remoter parts So the Consciences of all men have those seeds of insensibility in them which makes them at last deaf to every Charm and secure against all the thundering Judgments which are denounced against them As the operation of the Sun is always strongest there where it is not at all seen to Wit in the Bowels of the Earth So the judgments of God do oft lye heaviest there where they are least perceived to Wit in an hard Heart and seared Conscience When men go about to extinguish and darken the light of direction which God hath put into their Hearts and Consciences to guide their paths by he puts out their light of Comfort and leaves them to Darkness and Sorrow Other afflictions are but the taking some stars of Comfort out of the Firmament when others are left still to shine there But when God's countenance is hid from the Soul the Sun it self the fountain of Light is darkned to such and so a general Darkness befalls them A light Load upon a raw Shoulder is very grievous So is a little outward grief to a wounded Conscience Every fowl that hath a beautiful Feather hath not the sweetest Flesh Nor doth every Tree that beareth a goodly Leaf bring good Fruit. Glass gives a clearer sound than Silver and many things glister besides Gold The wicked man's jollity is but the Hypocrisie of mirth It may wet the Mouth but cannot warm the Heart Smooth the Brow but not fill the Breast In the midst of his greatest mirth he hath many a secret gripe in his Conscience and little knows the World where his shooe pinches him As Jezabel no doubt had a cold Heart under a painted Face So many a mans Heart akes and quakes within him when yet his Face counterfeits a smile We have a cloud of Witnesses Prophets Apostles Martyrs who would hazard themselves upon the angry Seas Lyons Flames rather than upon a displeased Conscience Collected out of the Works of B. Reynolds Dr. Harris and Dr. Stoughton by S. C. Some choice Sentences and Sayings concerning the Blessings and Benefits which accompany a pure peaceable and good Conscience COnscience is a Prime faculty of the reasonable Soul there set to give notice of its spiritual Estate in what Terms it stands with God Conscience saith St. Austin is like a Wife the best of Comforts if good the worst of naughts if bad Deal friendly with Conscience and next to God it will prove thy best friend in the World First Thy truest Friend that will never flatter thee but make thee know thy self Secondly The surest Friend that will never start from thee It wll Ride with thee It will lye with thee sleep with thee Wake with thee It will Walk with thee Be with thee in every place beyond all times Thirdly The sweetest Friend in the World If natural cheerfulness be so good an House-keeper to a good man that it Feasts him daily as Solomon saith Oh then what will be the Banquets of a Conscience sanctified purified and pacified What joys those that will carry a man above ground and make him forget the best of Natures Comforts what Comforts those that will make him sing under the Whip in the Stocks at the Stake in despite of the Fire Oh what the strength of Conscience that can sooner tyre the Tyrant than the Martyr And can carry weak Strength as weak as Water
Zacheus Cornelius Gaius Onesiphorus Dorcas c. Artaxerxes Longimanus was wont to say That he had therefore one Hand longer than another that he might be readier to give than to receive Of Cyrus it 's said that he took more delight and content in giving than in receiving It was a greater trouble to Severus the Emperor to be asked nothing than to give much When any of his Courtiers had not made bold with him in that kind he would call him and say Quid est cur nihil petes What meanest thou that thou askest me nothing He is worthily miserable that will not make himself happy by asking They who are Divites opibus must be Divites operibus too Their Fruit must be plentiful as well as their Estates There may be a narrow Heart and a starved Charity where there is a large Estate as in Nabal And there may be a large and bountiful Heart where there is but a poor and narrow Estate as in the Poor Widdow Mat. 12. 43. And in the Corinthians 2 Cor. 8. 2. God's mercy to us should be a strong Argument to provoke us to shew mercy to our Brethren His was to Enemies ours is to Brethren His to Debtors ours to Fellow-Servants His of Free-grace to me mine a just Debt to a Brother Rom. 13. 8. His for ever to me mine but for a moment to my Brother His in Talents to me mine but in Pence to my Brother His in Blood to me mine but in Bread to my Brother His mercy enriches me mine leaves my Brother poor still If I then live by the mercy that I do enjoy and must be saved by the mercy that I do expect shall so much mercy shine on me and none reflect from me upon my poor Brother Shall all the Waters of Life run from Christ unto me as those of Jordan into a dead Sea to be lost and buried there Wherefore doth the Sun shine and the Rain fall upon the Earth but that it may be Fruitful Christ is the Fountain Rich men the Conduit and Poor men the Vessels which are there and thence supplied God gives us all things Richly The Earth empties into our Coffers her Silver and her Gold The Pastures send us in Cattel The Fields Corn The Sea Fish The Air Fowl One Country sends us in Wine Another Spices One Silk and another Furs One Delicates and another Ornaments God gives us the light of the Sun the influences of the Stars The protection of Angels The righteousness of his Son The Graces of his Spirit and the hope of his Glory Yea himself and the All-sufficiency of his power for our Portion and shall not all this move us to imitate his Example in being Rich in good Works If we do not give we shall not live If we do not do good we shall not receive good If we do not lay out we shall not lay up If we keep our Money we shall perish with our Money If we return it unto Heaven we shall be gainers by it Wares laid up in a low moist Room will Rot and corrupt but those that be laid up in high Lofts will be kept sound and safe So if we lay up our Treasures only in this World they will perish and come to nothing but those which by Charity we Treasure up in Heaven will be ever sure and safe Mat. 6. 20. William Warham A. B. of Canterbury was so bountiful to the Poor in his Life time that at his Death he had in all his Treasury but thirty Pieces of Gold which when he heard of it pleased him so well that he said It is well I always desired to die no Richer Philip Melancthon was so bountiful even in a mean Estate that every hour something was given to the Poor at his Door The Motto of the good Emperor Tiberius Constantius was Stips Pauperum the-saurus Divitum The rich man's Treasure is the Poor man's Stock Basil the Great in a time of Famine did not only liberally relieve the Poor himself But earnestly exhorted all others especially the Rich to open their Barns and do the like Some of Dr. Harris 's Speeches COncerning a good Woman under great Temptations and spiritual Desertion that could find no Comfort after all means used for the obtaining of it he would often say that the difference was not great whether Comfort came at Death or an hour after since Comfort would come assuredly In his last Sickness being desired to admit of Company he said I am alone in Company 'T is all one to me to be left alone or to have Friends with me My work is now to arm my self for Death which assaults me and I apply my self as I am able for that great encounter To all that came about him his frequent Counsel was that above all things they should get Faith For said he 'T is your Victory your Peace your Life your Crown and your chief piece of spiritual Armour Howbeit get on all the other Pieces and then go forth in the Lord's might stand to the Fight and the issue shall be glorious Only forget not to call in the help of your General Do all from him and under him Being asked where his Comfort lay He answered in Christ and in the free Grace of God Some telling him that he might have much Comfort in his Labours c. He replied all is nothing without a Saviour without him my best Works would condemn me Oh! I am ashamed of them being mixed with so much Sin Oh! I am an unprofitable Servant I have not done any thing for God as I ought Loss of time sits heavy upon my Spirit Work work apace Assure your self that nothing will more trouble you when you come to dye than that you have done no more for God who hath done so much for you Sometimes he used thus to breath out himself I never in all my Life saw the worth of a Christ nor tasted the sweetness of God's love in that measure as now I do When he was asked what should be done for him his Answer was Do not only pray for me but praise God for his unspeakable mercy to me and in particular that he hath kept off Satan from me in this day of my Weakness Oh! how good is God! Entertain good thoughts of him However it be with us we cannot think too well of him nor too bad of our selves A reverend Doctor being to pray with him asked him what he would have chiefly remembred He answered I praise God he supports me and keeps off Satan from me Beg that I may hold out I am now in a good way home even quite spent I am now at the Shore I leave you tossing on the Sea Oh! It 's a good time to Dye in Another time being asked how he did He answered In no great pain I praise God only aweary of mine unuseful Life If God hath no more Service for me to do here I could be gladly in Heaven where I shall serve him better
could not be a true-hearted Subject It 's an excellent Character of great Men In honore sine tumore To be lifted up with Honour but not to be puffed up with Pride Sr. Henry Wotton directed that this only should be written on his plain Marble Hic jacet hujus sententiae Primus Auctor Disputandi Pruritus fit Ecclesiarum Scabies Nomen aliàs Quaere Choice Examples Apothegms and Sayings of very Wise men A Lexander the Great when Antipater made great Complaints to him of his Mother replyed knowest thou not that she with one Tear will blot out all thy Complaints Much more available with God are the Tears of his Servants which as precious Liquor he preserveth in his Bottles Agis King of Sparta thus answered a wicked man that ask'd him Quis Spartanorum est Optimus Who of the Spartans is the best Qui tui dissimilimus Even he that is most unlike unto thee Lysander's saying was Vbi Leonina pellis non sufficit assumenda Vulpina Where a Lyon's skin will not serve a Foxes skin must eke it out When the Grecians boasted of their seven liberal Arts the Romans told them that they had two Arts worth all their seven namely the Arts of Commanding and Obeying Tacitus tells us that these are somewhat difficult at the First but being studied and Practised they become as easie as they are safe and useful Two Parthian Ambassadors were sent to Rome whereof the one was troubled with the Megrim and the other with the Gout whereupon Cato said That that Ambassy had neither Head nor Foot Alexander the Great used to say that his hungry Dinner was his Suppers Sawce Pythagoras said That in two things we resemble God 1. In telling the Truth 2. In bestowing Benefits It was the prayer of an Heathen that God would give what he knew would be good for him tho not asked in particular and keep Evil from him tho desired In Mr. Farrel's time who had been so much oppofed and threat'ned in reforming Geneva and some other Cities they coyned Medals with this Posie on the one side Lux post tenebras Light after long Darkness And on the other side Deus noster pugnat pro nobis Our God fights for us Mr. Hooper when he was B B. of Worcester took for his Arms a Lamb in a flaming Bush incircled with the Raies of the Sun beams which may thus be Blazoned The Lamb signified an innocent Christian and the burning Bush the Fire of Persecution And the Sun-beams the Glory and Beauty of the innocent Christian in those sufferings Duarenus saith of such as come to the University That the first Year they are Doctors in their own conceit at least The next Year they come to be Masters The third Year they are content to be Bachelors And the fourth Schollars Horace the Poet had blear and Watry Eyes and Virgil used to sigh much whereupon Augustus Caesar sitting between them said that he sat inter Suspiria Lachrymas Between Sighs and Tears Sabellic Diogenes being asked why men used to give to the Blind and Lame but not unto Philosophers Answered because they think that themselves may one day come to be Blind or Lame But never hope to be Philosophers So mens Affections being Blind and Lame and their Phantasies vainly bent must needs delight in vain and frothy Pamphlets which feed their Humours but cannot brook such as would Purge them out One of Terence his Comedies called Eunuchus was valued at eight Thousand pieces of Silver which made two Hundred Crowns This was more than all Tullie's Orations and all his learned works were prized at Ex Aelii Donati praef in Terentium But said a Wise man the choice of Books should be as the choice of Physicians Medicus non jucundior sed utilior eligitur A man will have a Physician rather for his Profit that can do him good than for his Pleasure that will feed him with fine Words It was wise Counsel which Crates gave unto the Thebans If he which hath wronged thee be Weaker than thy self pardon him For it 's no Honour for a man to strive against a Child Nor for a Rich man to go to Law with a Beggar If he be more Mighty than thou art pardon thy self For thou shalt never gain any thing by going to Law with a Mighty man And if he be thine Equal pardon both thy self and him For you shall both live by the loss and shall hardly know who is the Gainer And therefore strive with no Man But if it be Possible as much as in you is Live peaceably with all men Heb. 12. 14. I once saw painted on a Table saith Beza where a Noble man had this Posie By my Sword I defend you all The Clergy-man By my Prayers I preserve you all The Country-man by my Labour I feed you all Lastly the Lawyer By my Policy I devour you all Daniel Heinsius History-Professor at Leiden Secretary and Library-Keeper of that University and appointed Notary in the Synod of Dort said at last Alas As to humane Learning I may use Solomon 's Expressions that which is crooked cannot be made strait Me thinks said he I could bid the World farewel and immure my self among my Books and look forth no more if this were a Lawful Course but shut the Doors upon me and as in the lap of Eternity among those Divine Souls imploy my self with sweet Content and Pitty the Rich and great ones that know not this Happiness Sure then it is a high delight indeed which is enjoyed in the true lap of Eternity Sr. Christopher Hatton a little before his Death advised his Relations to be serious in the search after the Will of God in his Holy word For said he it is deservedly accounted a Piece of excellent knowledge for a Man to understand the Law of the Land and the Customs of his own Country How much more to know the Statutes of Heaven and the Laws of Eternity Those immutable and eternal Laws of Justice and Righteousness To know the Will and Pleasure of the great Monarch and universal King of the World I have seen an end of all Perfection But thy Commandments O God are exceeding broad Could a man by a vast and imperious Mind and a Heart as large as the Sand upon the Sea-shore command all the knowledge of Art and Nature of Words and Things could he attain to be a Master in all Languages and sound the depth of all Arts and Sciences Could he Discourse the Interest of all States the Intrigues of Courts the Reasons of all Civil Laws and Constitutions and give an account of all Histories and yet not know the Author of his Being and the Preserver of his Life his Soveraign and his Judg His surest Refuge in troubles His best Friend and worst Enemy the Support of his Life and the Hope of his Death his future Happiness and his Portion for ever he doth but Sapienter descendere in Infernum with a great deal of Wisdom
as it were in Triumph through a World of Bonds Rods Swords Racks Wheels Flames Strapadoes and whatsoever else is most terrible These joys are impregnable and unspeakable indeed This Peace is unconceivable passes all understanding This Friend is unmatchable Let not such an one so true so fast so good be slighted or offended Therefore let us be of St. Paul's mind set Conscience at an high Price Consider what it will be worth in a day of Trouble of Death of Judgment Weigh what the Price of Conscience would be at in Hell if men might buy their Peace and Rate it accordingly Look how chary a proud Woman is of her Beauty a Wise-man of his Eye a Weak man of his Stomach So and much more than so should a Christian be careful of his Conscience Of his Heart Prov. 4. 23. Keep thy Heart with all diligence c. Pet. 23. 1. I have lived in all good Conscience before God until this day Heb. 13. 18. We trust we have a good Conscience in all things willing to live honestly Give Conscience content and rest and it will pay thee an Hundred-fold It will round thee in the Ear and say this is well however it be taken and therefore be not discouraged This is naught however applauded and Painted 'T is stark staring naught 'T is Pride Hypocrisie therefore amend it Other Friends go and come and stand afar off now at hand now I know not where But Conscience is no starter 'T is never from our sides out of our Bosoms A pacified Conscience what a Blessing is that What joys be those which will carry a man out of the Earth and make him say Tho I have Wife Children Friends Wealth House Health Ease Honour c. after mine own Hearts desire yet these are nothing to my Comfort and Contentment within Oh Conscience Thou hast a special gift in Comforting that canst make the Patient laugh and rejoyce when the Spectators weep and mourn and canst carry frail Flesh singing and rejoycing thorough a World of Miseries These joys be strong indeed and pass mans understanding Phil. 4. 7. Other Friends love not to come to a Sick-mans Bed-side Or if they do they cannot abide to hear his groaning to see a Dead man At the most they can but follow him to the Grave But Conscience will make a mans Bed in his sickness and cause him to lye the softer It will stand by him when he groans and Comfort him It will hearten him against Death when it 's coming and say thy Redeemer lives It will whisper to him when departing and say Thy Warfare is accomplished It will lodge the Body in the Grave as in a Bed accompany the Soul into Heaven and enable it to look God in the Face without any terror So fast a Friend is this that when Riches Husband Parents Friends Breath Life Nay when Patience Hope Faith have left us in some measure this will not leave us That 's the best Glass which shews the smallest spots The brightest Light that shews the least Motes The finest Flesh that is sensible of the least pricking So that Conscience that is sensible of the least Sin or failing is the Perfection of Christianity whereunto we should all endeavour to attain If you lay an heavy burden upon a sound Shoulder it goes away with it well enough So if the Soul and Conscience be sound and God enable a man to bear it Diseases Imprisonment Disgrace c are easily born As the cleerest Blood makes the best Spirits So doth a good Life the quietest Conscience The purest air breeds the greatest agility and the purest Life the fairest Hope A natural Conscience shews only the danger of Sin and so makes a man fear it But a spiritual Conscience shews the filthiness and pollution of Sin and so makes a man hate it A good Conscience appears in the Countenance and looks merrily out at the Windows of the Eyes But this is not till Faith hath healed the Conscience This made Stephen to look like an Angel Act. 6. 15. and the Apostles to rejoyce in their sufferings Act. 5. 41. This is Praemium ante praemium even Heaven afore-hand some Clusters of Grapes of that Celestial Canaan A good Conscience will not only stand under the greatest pressures as we see in St. Paul 2 Cor. 1. 9. 12. We had the Sentence of Death in our selves that we should not trust in our selves but in God which raiseth the Dead For our rejoycing is this the Testimony of our Conscience that in simplicity and Godly sincerity not with fleshly Wisdom but by the Grace of God we have had our Conversation in the World But goes as merrily to Dye in a good cause as ever he did to Dine as we see in divers of the Martyrs Be the Air cleer or Cloudy he enjoys a continual serenity and sits always at the blessed Feast whereat the Angels are continually the blessed Cooks and Butlers as Luther phraseth it and the three Persons of the Trinity are gladsome Guests A good Conscience is a full Feast a lasting Feast not for a day as was Nabal's Nor for seven dayes as was that of Sampson No nor for ninescore dayes as was of that Ahasherus But a durable Feast without intermission of solace or interruption of Society Vis ergo O Homo semper epulari Vis nunquam tristis esse saith Bernard Bene vive Would'st thou never be sad Would'st thou turn thy whole Life into a merry Festival Get and keep a good Conscience Prov. 17. 22. A merry Heart doth good like a Medicine All true mirth is from the peace of Conscience When Faith hath healed the Conscience there is a Sabbath of rest and blessed tranquillity lodged in the Soul and then the Body also is vigorous for the most part and in good plight and healthful Eccles 9. 7. c. Go thy way saith Solomon there to one that hath a good Conscience Eat thy Bread with joy and drink thy Wine with a merry Heart Let thy Garments be always White and let thy Head lack no Oyntment c. That is be merry at thy Meals light-some in thy Cloaths painful and cheerful in thy Calling c. all which do much further Health Such shall renew their strength They shall mount up with wings as Eagles They shall run and not be Weary And they shall walk and not Faint Isa 40. 31. Let a man be sound within and at Peace with his own Conscience and he will be able bravely to bear up under unspeakable Pressures as did St. Paul 2 Cor. 1. 9. 12. as an old beaten Porter to the Cross Maluit toller are quà m deplorare His stroak was heavier than his groaning Job 23. 2. Conscience is frequently in Scripture called the Spirit of a Man as being planted by God in every part of the reasonable Soul where she produceth occasionally several Operations as being the Souls School-Master Monitor and domestical Preacher God's spy and Man's Over-seer The principal
it's Mouth nor Majesty hath any respect nor Greatness hath any favour where Money bears no Mastery as that Martyr said To be feasted with the Fruits of a good Conscience is Angels food and some of the Sweet-meats of Heaven as a tormenting Conscience is one of the greatest miseries of Hell No man can attain to a good Conscience but by a careful and diligent keeping of his Heart saith Bernard A good Conscience hath ever one Eye upon God to observe his Precepts and the other up to God by Prayer to begg his direction and Assistance Every man would willingly live and dye Comfortably No way so to do but by laying up a Foundation of Comfort in an holy Conversation A wicked Man would gladly forget himself and run away from himself He cannot look backward or inward to himself without guilt and Horror It was therefore good Counsel of an old Rabbi Ne sis impius coram te ipso Be not wicked in thine own sight Learn to reverence thy Conscience No such good Companion as a good Conscience A man may then dare to be acquainted with himself as some men have written the History of their own Lives A Leper cares not much for a Looking-Glass because he shall see by it nothing but his own Deformity A Bank-rupt cannot abide to cast up his account because he shall find himself worse than nothing But he that leads a holy Life is like to a man who hath Travelled over a beautiful Valley and being on the top of the Hill turns about with delight to take a View of it again A good Conscience will be a Noah's Ark to save us from perishing with the World A Zoar to shelter us from Wrath to come It will be a Simon to help us to bear our Crosses His Motto is Miser sit qui miser esse potest Let who will be miserable he cannot To get and keep a good Conscience we must dislodg two home-bred Innmates 1. Carnal delights Rest not in these in Wealth in Men Rely not on Wines Meats Musick Pleasures Company c. These will deceive in times of Distress Besides Nature soon putrifies and turns to Corruption and so proves baneful 2. Take heed of sinful Lusts These War against the Peace and Comfort of the Soul 2 Pet. 2. 12. Yea they are so far from Comforting that they oppress The end of such Mirth is heaviness of Spirit Sorrow Fear Anguish Tribulation and Woe upon every Soul that wallow's in such sensual Sins Conceive therefore of Sin yea of every Sin as of a Disease a Wound an Enemy to Peace and Complain and strive against it Still walk in the Light and keep thy self in God's presence so Peace shall be upon thee and thy Spirit shall be held up in cheerfulness Oh the power of Conscience As it makes an happy Estate miserable if bad So a miserable Condition blessed if Good As will fully appear in this rare Example Anno Christi 1555. There was one Algerius a Student in Padua a young man of excellent Learning who having attained to the Knowledge of the Truth ceased not by Instruction and Example to teach it to others for which being accused to the Pope by his command he was cast into Prison where he lay long and during that time he wrote a most affectionate Letter to the distressed Saints wherein among many others sweet expressions he thus writeth I cannot but Communicate unto you some Portion of my delectations and joys which I feel and find Who would believe that in this dark Dungeon I should find a Paradise of Pleasure For in this place of Sorrow and Death dwells Tranquillity and hope of Life In an infernal Cave I have joy of Soul I have found Honey in the entrails of a Lyon Where others weep I rejoyce Where others tremble I have strength and boldness c. All these things the sweet hand of the Lord doth minister unto me He doth Comfort me and fills me with gladness He drives away all Sorrow and strengthens encourages heals refreshes and advanceth me c. Collected out of the Works of B P. Reynolds Dr. Harris Dr. Stoughton c. by S. C. About CHARITY THe Emblem of Charity is a naked Child giving Honey to a Bee without wings Naked because excuseless and simple a Child because tender and growing Giving Honey because Honey is pleasant and Comfortable To a Bee because a Bee is Painful and deserving Without wings because helpless and wanting If thou deniest unto such thou killest a Bee If thou givest to other than such thou preservest a Drone Not to give to the Poor is to take from him Not to feed the Hungry if thou hast it is to the utmost of thy Power to kill him That therefore thou may'st avoid both Sacriledg and Murther be Charitable Be not too cautious in discerning the fit Objects of thy Charity lest a Person perish through thy discretion What thou givest to mistaken want shall return a Blessing to thy deceived Heart 'T is better in relieving idleness to commit an accidental Evil than in neglecting misery to omit an Essential good Better two Drones be preserved than one Bee perish God takes particular notice and books down every Act and work of Mercy that is done to his People even to a little Cake of Bread 1 Kin. 17. 30. And to a Cup of cold Water Mat. 10. 42. Water that is a cheap thing Cold water no matter either of cost or Pains Even this shall be rewarded Christ comes in his Flesh to you when Poor Christians come to you He presents a pale Face a thin Cheek He presents a bare Arm or Leg to you Will you not do something to support Christ And to cloth Christ in his Members Shall the Bones of Christ stare and stand out Shall the naked Flesh and skin of Christ pine away for want of succour Christians that come to you are your own Flesh Isa 58. 7. And shall the Head do nothing for the Foot And shall the Hand and Eyes do nothing for the Leg What! Not for it's own Flesh And for those that be of the same Body Give cheerfully and bless God that you have an Estate to give and bless God that you have an opportunity to give and an Heart to give and that hereby you make God a sharer in your Wealth and Plenty and your selves sharers in his Blessedness Therefore bless your self bless your Houses bless your Estates For it 's a Blesseder thing to give than to receive Act. 20. 35. As Husband-men cast some of their Corn back into a fruitful Soil whereby in due time they reap with advantage So should we do with our Worldly blessings Sow them in the Bowels and upon the Backs of the poor Members of Christ and in the day of Harvest we shall find a great encrease Alms in Greek comes from a word that signifies to Pitty because they should proceed from a merciful and pittiful Heart And in the Hebrew and Syriack it 's
free from Sins and Distractions I pass from one Death to another yet I fear none I praise God I can Live and I dare Dye If God hath more Work for me to do here I am willing to do it tho my infirm Body be very weary Being asked whether Sickness Pain c. caused him to desire Death he answered no But I now do no good and I hinder others which might be better imployed if I were gone Why should any desire to Live but to do God service Now I cease from that I do not Live His usual saying was that he valued no man for his Gifts but for Humility under them Neither should he expect much from any man were his Parts never so great till he was broken with Afflictions and Temptations His Observation was that the humblest Preachers converted most Souls not the choicest Schollars whilst unbroken He sometimes said that it 's better to be an Humble Devil than a proud Angel Which tho a seeming Contradiction yet hath it much Truth in it He often said that he had rather pour Liquor into his Boots than into his Mouth between Meals The Rule which he gave to his Children was this When you are Youths chuse your own Callings when you are Men chuse your own Wives only take me along with you It may be an Old man may see further than you He used to say that a Preacher hath three Books to study First the Bible Second himself And thirdly the People That Preaching to his People was but one part of a Pastor's duty He was to live and dye in them as well as for and with them His counsel to young Preachers was that they should rather Preach one Sermon ten times over than to speak any thing new without Preparation Concerning himself he said that he never came off with less Comfort and worse Content to himself than when he was in appearance best provided And he gave this reason for it Not because he had used such diligence in preparing for that was his Duty but because he was then aptest to depend upon himself and to neglect his dependance upon God Of the antient Fathers his saying was that unless it were for their Polemical and Historical parts their Writings were more for Devotion and Affection than for their judgment and understanding Concerning the Times wherein he lived some things lay sadly upon his Spirit As 1. He complained that the Power of Godliness and Exercise of Love and Self-denial were much abated in these latter Days And he much bewailed the vast difference both in Garb and Practice between New and Old Professors 2. That the Indulgence which was shewed to tender Consciences was much abused to Profaneness whilst men of no Conscience most pleaded that Liberty of choosing their own Churches and Teachers when indeed on the Matter they abandoned all 3. That Liberty of prophecying which some pretended to was abused to meer Licentiousness and Confusion whilst some would have none and others all Prophets and Preachers 4. That in the Universities few could be called constant Students in those times but the most made a short work of it and Posted into the Pulpit before they understood their Grounds So that few were able to encounter with the growing Errors of those times 5. That in the Church men were in their extreams some pressing nothing but the Law others Preaching nothing but the Gospel and Christ 6. He complained of the want of Catechizing and instructing Youth in the Principles of Religion the want of which he saw by experience was a great occasion of the Peoples giddiness 7. But most of all he bewailed the readiness of many to side and to make Divisions And himself loved not either to use or to hear used dividing Names and Titles He observed that such as often changed their Principles and Faith professed usually fell from Scepticism to Atheism That so much Humility any man had so much Grace and worth he had and no more That nothing was to be accounted good in or to any man but that which was his proper Fruit and done by vertue of his Calling from a Principle of God and for God That the best man hath no security from any one Sin or fall or Temptation any further or longer than he is held up by God's hand and Christ's Mediation That God doth oftentimes leave us to own Satan's suggestions for our own because we do not own God in his holy Motions and breathings That it 's just with God to deny us the Comfort of our Graces when we deny him the Glory of them In himself he observed that what he forgot in the Week-days would unseasonably press in on the Lord's Day so that he could if he durst contrive more Worldly businesses upon the Lord's Day than he could dispatch all the week after That he found no greater Enemy than Discouragement which he called the Child of Pride and unbelief He used to say that some Duties which were oft in mens Mouths as easy he found very difficult to him As 1. To deny himself in all his Selfs was a Work to be learning whilst he lived 2. To live only by Faith and a bare Promise without a Pawn is a great work 3. To give all to Free-Grace and to Christ alone is a mighty Work 4. To love where we meet with unlovingness and Contempt is no easie matter 5. To do ones proper Work without some present Pay and Countenance from God and Man is a hard Task 6. That it 's a far harder work to adopt other mens Comforts than their Sorrows and to hold ones self exalted in anothers Exaltation 7. That to dye in cold Blood and to be active in it as an act of Obedience is the work of a Christian indeed In his last Sickness upon sundry Occasions he thus vented himself It 's a hard thing to think ill of our selves and well of God at the same time It 's a hard thing for a Child of God to forgive himself some Faults even when God hath forgiven them It 's hard to retain holy Thoughts long and to confine them to another Man's Prayers We know but little of Christ's Love till all be perfected and spread before us in Heaven His advice to his Wife was that if she married again she should remember her own Observation which was this that second Husbands are usually very Uxorious and second Wives very prevalent Therefore said he take heed that you do no ill Offices by estranging your Husband from his former Children or Kindred For you shall draw upon him a great Sin and judgment if you kill natural affections towards them His advice to his Children was First For your Souls Trifle not in the main Point Your Souls are immortal You have to deal with an infinite Majesty You go upon Life and Death therefore here be serious Do all to God in a serious manner When you think of him speak of him Pray to him any way make your addresses
a sum of Money should not empty the King's Coffers neither should Riches be the pay of worth which are meerly the Wages of Labour He that gives it embaseth a Man He that takes it vilifies himself Who is so most rewarded is least Secretary Walsingham would say Stay a little and we shall have done the sooner Secretary Cecil would say It shall never be said of me that I will defer till to Morrow what I can do to day Sr. Richard Morison would say Give me this day and take the next your self He that knoweth to speak well knoweth also where he must hold his Peace said the Old Grecian Think an Hour before you speak and a Day before you Promise said one of our English Sages The two main Principles which Guide humane Nature said Judg Dodderidg are Conscience and Law By the former we are obliged in reference to another World by the latter in Relation to this When the Lord Chief Justice Fitz-James came upon the Bench he knew no more than Melchisedech or Levi Father nor Mother neither Friend nor Interest For when a Cousin of his urged for a kindness Come to my House said the Judg and I will deny you nothing Come to the King's Court and I must do you Justice Plato said That a Man's mind is the Chariot Reason the Coach-man Affections the Horses desire of Honour the Whips both exciting to go forward and awing to be exact Honour always keeping up curiously the Honoured Person in an heigth of Action that keeps an even Pace with admiration Evenness and Constancy being the Crown of Vertue The Lord Gray was the first that brought a Coach into England And Henry Fitz-Alan Earl of Arundel when he was Steward at King Edward the 6 th's Coronation was the first that rid in a Coach in England William Pawlet Marquess of Winchester was Servant to King Henry the 7 th and for Thirty years together Treasurer to King Henry the 8 th King Edward the 6 th Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth Thus he served divers Soveraigns in very mutable Times being as he said of himself no Oak but an Osier He had the rare happiness of setting in his full Splendour having lived ninety seaven years and seen a Hundred and three that descended out of his Body Sr. Henry Sidney's Motto was I will never threaten For to threaten an Enemy is to instruct him A Superiour is to endanger my Person And an Inferiour is to disparage my Conduct The Character of a happy Life HOw happy is he born and taught That serveth not another's Will Whose Armour is his honest thought And simple Truth his utmost skill Whose Passions not his Masters are Whose Soul is still prepar'd for Death Vnty'd unto the World by care Of Publick Fame or private breath Who envies none whom Chance doth raise Nor Vice hath ever understood How deepest Wounds are given by Praise Nor Rules of State but Rules of Good Who hath his Life from Rumours freed Whose Conscience is his strong Retreat Whose State can neither Flatterers feed Nor ruin make Oppressors great Who God doth late and early pray More of his Grace than Gifts to lend And entertains the harmless Day With a Religious Book or Friend This Man is freed from servile bands Of hope to rise or fear to fall Lord of himself tho not of Lands And having nothing yet hath all Sr. Henry Wotton It was an excellent Saying of Sr. John Packinton in Queen Elizabeth's days that a sound Faith was the best Divinity A good Conscience the best Law And Temperance the best Physick Upon the fall of the Earl of Somerset DAzled still with heigth of place Whilst our Hopes our Wits beguile No Man marks the narrow space 'Twixt a Prison and a smile Then since Fortunes favours fade You that in her Arms do sleep Learn to swim and not to Wade For the Hearts of Kings are deep But if Greatness be so blind As to trust in Towers of Air Let it be with Goodness lin'd That at least the fall be fair Then tho darkned you shall say When Friends fail and Princes frown Virtue is the roughest way But proves at Night a Bed of Down Sr. Henry Wotton It 's one of Machiavel's rules That they which rise very high should descend timely and quit the Envy lest they lose the Honour of their greatness When Charles the 5 th presented Secretary Eraso to his Son Philip the 2 d. he said He gave him somewhat greater than his Estate and more Royal than his Empire I understand not saith mine Author speaking of James Hay Earl of Carlisle the reason of his Ante-Suppers the manner of which was to have the Table coverd at the first entrance of the Guests with Dishes as high as a tall Man could well reach filled with the choicest and dearest Viands Sea or Land could afford And all this once seen and having feasted the Eyes of the invited was removed and fresh was set on to the same heigth having only this advantage of the others that it was hot At one of these Meals an Attendant did Eat to his single share a whole Pye reckoned to the Earl at Twenty pound being composed of Amber-Greece Magisterial Pearl Musk c. And another went away with Forty pounds of Sweet-meats in his Cloak-bag When the most able Physicians and his own Weakness had passed a Judgment upon this Earl that he could not live many days he did not forbear his Entertainments but made divers brave Cloths as he said to Out-face naked and despicable Death adding withal That Nature wanted Wisdom Power or Love in making Man mortal and subject to Diseases Sr. Thomas Lake was a Man of such dixterity and dispatch that he would indite Write and Discourse at the same time more exactly than most Men could severally perform them for which he was then called the swift-sure Of Sr. Edward Cook it is recorded that he would never be perswaded privately to retract that which he had Publickly adjudged Professing That he was a Judg in a Court not in a Chamber He was wont to say No wise man would do that in Prosperity whereof he should repent in Adversity His Motto was Prudens qui patiens It 's a sure Principle of rising that great Persons esteem better of such as they have done great Courtesies to than those they have received great Civilities from looking upon this as their Disparagement the other as their Glory It 's an excellent Rule that no man should let what is unjustifiable or Dangerous to appear under his Hand thereby to give Envy a steady aim at his Place or Person Nor mingle interests with great Men made desperate by Debts or Court injuries whose falls have been ruinous to their wisest Followers Nor pry any farther into secrecy than rather to secure than shew himself Nor to impart that to a Friend that may impower him to be an Enemy It was the Saying of a great Man among us that a through-paced Papist
with his Part in Paris for his Part in Paridise Cardinal Wolsey rode through London with twenty Sumpter Mules Caused his Cardinals Hat when it was first sent him from Rome to be set upon a Cupboard in Westminster-Abbey with Tapers round about it so that the greatest Duke in the Land must make curtesie unto it yea to his empty Seat when he was away He had as great yearly Revenues as all the Bishops and Deans in this Kingdom put together And for his Houshold Attendants he had one Earl nine Barons a great number of Knights and Esquires and of others of an inferior Rank four Hundred at the least He used to wear Shooes of Silver and guilt beset with Pearls and precious Stones When none other would lift up Hildebrand into ' St. Peter's Chair he got up himself For who said he can judg better of my fitness than my self Harden thy Forehead said Calvus to Vatinius and say boldly that thou deservest the Praetorship better than Cato Cyprian and St. Austin say That Pride in Apparel is worse than Whoredom For that Whoredom only corrupts Chastity but this corrupts Nature Humility is the Ornament of Angels and Pride the deformity of Devils If Heaven will not keep in a Proud Angel it will keep out a Proud Soul In all Conditions of highness we should take heed of High-mindedness It 's said of Nazianzen that he was high in his Works but lowly in his Thoughts Anger is a Leprosie breaking out of a burning as Levit. 13. 5. It renders a man unfit for all Civil Society A man's unruly Passions make him like unto the torrid Zone too hot for any to live neer him The Dog-days continue with him all the year long and he is fit only to live alone as Dragons and wild Beasts do Weakness disposes a man to Anger because such men are most tender to feel an injury most suspitious to fear it and most interpreting to over-judg it All which being Circumstances of aggravation to encrease a wrong are likewise means to add degrees and heat unto our Passions Anger begins in Rashness abounds in Transgression and ends in Repentance Anger saith Seneca is the foulest fiercest and maddest affection of all others The angry Person discovers it by his Words by his Looks by his Actions His Words are wild and many times thrust forward so many at once and in such haste as puts the man to silence as we see in a Crowd hastning to get out of an House at once stops up the Passage so that they stick in the Door The looks of an angry man are sometimes furiously red and sometimes gastly Pale His Lips tremble His Teeth grin His Hair stare He swells like a Toad He glows like a Devil c. So that for the time that it Continues it is the foulest and maddest of the Affections As we see in Achitophel who being enraged that his Counsel was rejected went home and hanged himself The Heathens in their Sacrifices to Apollo offered Ivy to him to shew that Learning could not Prosper and grow unless it were supported by the Civil Magistrate Sure none will follow Vertuous studies when Equal rewards shall cease from Vertuous men Great is the sweetness even of Humane Learning to those who have gotten but a taste of it as it was to Pythagoras and Plato who travelled far for it To Julian the Apostate who preferred the study of it before all Pastimes whatsoever To Marcus Aurelius the Emperor who said he would not leave the Knowledge he might learn in one hour for all the Gold that he Possessed To Alphonsus King of Arragon who preferred his study in the Mathematicks before the Empire of Germany when it was offered to him He professed that he would rather part with all his Jewels than his Books yea all his Kingdoms rather than that little Learning he had attained unto St. Hierom got his skill in the Hebrew with the peril of his Life and that in his old Age and yet accounted it a good Bargain He went by stealth in the Night to the Jew that taught him For if it had been known the other Jews would have been the Death of them both Pythagoras lived in a Cave for a whole year together that being sequestred from the Society of men he might the better meditate upon the abstruser parts of Philosophy He used also with a Thread to tye the hair of his Head to a Beam over him that so when he did but nod by reason of Sleep he might be awaked thereby Alphonsus King of Sicity called his Books his best Counsellors for that they would tell him the Truth when none else durst Julius Caesar wrote his own Acts and modestly called them not Histories but Commentaries He would be carved standing upon a Globe of the World having in one Hand a Book and in the other a Sword with this Motto Ex utroque Caesar Cleopatra Queen of Egypt gave Answers her self to the Ambassadors of the Aethiopians Arabians Hebrews Syrians Medes Parthians in their own Languages And could tune her Tongue like an Instrument of many strings saith Plutarch to whatsoever Dialect she listed The Emperor Trajan highly esteemed Learning in Pliny and others whom he Prized and preferred no less than did Antoninus the Philosopher who was not ashamed even after he was made Emperor to resort daily to his Doctor And when he came to Athens and was admitted into that University he granted to it large Priviledges did the Students great Honours and founded many Lectures with a liberal Allowance of maintenance to them Aeneas Silvius afterwards Pope was wont to say of Learning that Popular men should esteem it as Silver Noble-men as Gold and Princes as Pearls How much Plato preferred Books before Money well appeared when he gave for three Books thirty Thousand Florens Of Ruchline it is storied that he gave the Jew a Crown an hour that read Hebrew to him at Rome Cleanthus parted with all he had for Learning Sigismond the Emperor in his old Age applied himself to learn Latine and he much bewailed the matter at the Council of Constance that neither he nor any of his great Courtiers or Counsellors were able to answer a forraign Ambassador in the Latine Tongue Julian the Lawyer used to say that when he had one foot in the Grave he would have the other in the Schools Queen Elizabeth was wont to qualifie the tediousness of her affairs with the sweet Recreation of Letters She either read or wrote something every Day She translated Boetius his Books De Consolatione into handsome English She answered several Ambassadors in their several Languages The Lady Jane Grey for her Age was learned to a Miracle The famous Olympia Fulva Morata of Ferrara in Italy publickly and with great Commendation Professed the Greek and Latine Tongues at Heidleberg in the Palatinate Anno Christi 1554. Such as write any tender matter to their Friends should remember the Motto of a very Wise man who wrote upon the Mantle of his Chimney where he used to keep a good Fire Optimus Secretariorum This is the best keeper of Secrets I will conclude all with an Hymn Composed by Sr. Henry Wotton after his recovery from a fit of Sickness Oh Thou great Power in whom I move For whom I Live to whom I Dye Behold me through thy Beams of Love Whilst on this Couch of Tears I lye And cleanse my sordid Soul within By thy Christ's Blood the Bath of Sin No hallowed Oyls no Grains I need No Rags of Saints no purging Fire One Rosie drop from David's seed Was worlds of Seas to quench thine Ire Oh precious Ransom which once Paid That Consummatum est was said And said by him that said no more But seal'd it by his sacred Breath Thou then that hast dispung'd my score And dying wast the Death of Death Be to me now on thee I call My Life my Strength my Joy my All. FINIS
go down into Hell Robert Earl of Leicester the great Favorite in Queen Elizabeths days tho he allowed himself in some things that were very inconsistent with Religon yet came at last to this resolution That Man differs not from Beasts so much in Reason as in Religion And that Religion was the highest Reason nothing being more Rational than for the supream Truth to be belivered the highest Good to be embraced the first Cause and almighty Maker of all things to be owned and feared and for those who were made by God and live wholly upon him to improve all for him and to live wholly to him as Rom. 12. 1. Give up your Souls and Bodies to him c. It was the Observation of a learned Man That however men may for a time offer violence to their Reason and Conscience subduing their understanding to their Wills and Appetites Yet when these Faculties get but a little Liberty to examine themselves or to view the World or are alarumed with Thunder Earth-quakes or some violent Sickness they feel a sense of a Deity brought back upon them with greater force and Power than before they shook it off with These and such like Considerations wrought upon Functius the learned Chronologer who reflecting upon his deserting the Calling of a Divine to imbrace the Honour of a privy Counsellor he left this warning to Posterity Disce mei Exemplo mandato munere fungi Et fuge ceu Postem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justus Jonas Left this Legacy to all that came after him Quid juvatinnumeros scire evolvere casus Si facienda fugis si fugienda facis Sr. Philip Sidney when he lay upon his Death-bed left this Farewel among his Friends Love my memory Cherish my Friends their Faith to me may assure you that they are honest But above all govern your Wills and Affections by the Will and Word of your Creator In me behold the end of this World and all it's Vanities Sr. John Mason Privy Counsellor to King Henry the 8 th and King Edward the 6 th upon his Death-bed called for his Clerk and his Steward and delivered himself to this Purpose I have seen five Princes and have been Privy Counsellor to four I have seen the most remarkable observables in forraign Parts and been present at most State-Transactions for Thirty years together and I have learned this after so many years Experience that seriousness is the greatest Wisdom Temperance is the best Physick a good Conscience is the best Estate and were I to live again I would change the Court for a Cloister my Privy Counsellors bustles for an Hermits retirement and the whole Life I lived in the Pallace for one hours Enjoyment of God in the Chappel Now all things forsake me besides my God my Duty and my Prayer Apothegms Sayings of very Wise men SIR Francis Walsingham towards the latter end of his Life grew very Melancholly and writing to Lord Chancellor Burleigh he said thus We have lived enough to our Country to our Fortune and to our Sovereign It is now high time that we begin to live to our selves and to our God In the multitude of Affairs which passed through our Hands there must be some Miscarriages for which a whole Kingdom cannot make our Peace And when some Court-Humorists were sent to divert him Ah said he while we Laugh all things are serious round about us God is serious when he preserves us and hath Patience towards us Christ is serious when he Dyeth for us The Holy Ghost is serious when he striveth with us The Holy Scripture is serious when it 's read before us Sacraments are serious when they are administred to us The whole Creation is serious in serving God and us They in Hell and Heaven are serious And shall a Man that hath one foot in the Grave jest and Laugh Salmatius whom the learned of his time never mention without such Expressions as these Vir nunquam satis laudandus nec temerè sine laude nominandus Guil. Riv. Totius Reipublicae Literariae decus When he came to Dye went out of the World with this Expression Oh I have lost a World of time Time that most precious thing in the World whereof had I but one hour longer it should be spent in David 's Psalms and Paul 's Epistles Oh Sirs said he Mind the World less and God more All the learning in the World without Piety and the true fear of God is nothing Worth The Fear of the Lord that is Wisdom and to depart from Evil that is understanding Grotius after an exact survey of all the Hebrew Greek and Latine Learning After so many Elaborate discourses in Divinity and other Parts of Learning concluded his Life with this Protestation That he would give all his Learning and Honour for the Plain Integrity and harmless Innocence of Jean Urick a devout poor Man that spent eight hours of the day in Prayer c. Eight in Labour and but eight in Sleep and other necessary occasions He also complained to another that admired his astonishing Industry saying Ah! Vitam perdidi opérosè nihil agendo I have lost my Life with busily doing nothing And he gave this Direction to a Third that desired him in his great Wisdom and Learning in brief to teach him what to do Be serious said he Edward Peito Esquire told his Physicians that when God had sent him his Summons all the Sins of his former Life did even kick him in the Face and that he now saw that the Evil attending Well-doing was short but the Good eternal If we do ill the Pleasures of ill doing pass away but the Pain remaineth And his chief charge about his Children was that they should be educated Religiously that they might have God for their Portion as well as his Estate Prince Henry his last Words were O Christ Thou art my Redeemer and I know that thou hast Redeemed me I wholly depend upon thy Providence and Mercy From the very bottom of my Heart I commend my Soul into thy Hand A Person of quality waiting upon him in this his last sickness who had been his constant Companion at Tennis and asking him how he did He answered Ah Tom I in Vain wish for that time which I lost with thee and others in vain Recreations Now my Soul be glad For at all the Parts of this Prison the Lord hath set his Aid to loose thee Head Feet Milt and Liver are failing Arise therefore and shake off thy Fetters Mount from this Body and go thy way This gracious Prince used to say that he knew no sport worth an Oath And that he knew not what they called Puritan preaching but he loved that Preaching best which went neerest his Heart and that spake as if that Preacher knew the mind of God Sr. Thomas Coventry hearing some Gallants jesting with Religion said to them That there was no greater Argument of a Foolish and inconsiderate Person than profanely to droll at
Religion For said he it 's a sign that he hath no regard of himself and that he is not touched with a Sense of his own interest who Plays with Life and Death and makes nothing of his Soul To examine severely and debate seriously the Principles of Religion is a thing worthy of a Wise man For whosoever turns Religion into Railery and abuseth it with two or three bold Jests renders not Religion but himself Ridiculous in the Opinions of all Wise and considerate Men and that because he sports with his own Life For it was the saying of a Wise man That if the Principles of Religion were doubtful yet they concern us so neerly that we ought to be serious in the Examination of them Charles le Main at the Coronation of his Son used these serious Words My dear Son it is to day that I Die to the Empires of the World and that Heaven makes me born again in your Person If you will Reign happily fear God who is the strength of Empires and the Soveraign Father of all Dominions Keep his Commandments and cause them to be observed with inviolable fidelity Serve you first of all for an Example to all the World and lead before God and Man a Life unreprovable These latter were collected out of the Warning to a careless World Magnates sunt Magnetes Great ones like Load-stones draw many by their Examples and Inferiours look upon them as their Looking-Glasses by which they usually dress themselves Godliness is the High way to Happiness the good old way that hath ever been beaten by all those Saints that now find rest to their Souls What Aeneas Silvius said of Learning may be much more truly said of Religion and Righteousness The Vulgar should esteem it as Silver Noble men as Gold and Princes should prize it above their chiefest Pearls Semen Sanctum Statumen Terrae The holy Seed is the substance of the Earth The Saints are the People of God's purchase that comprehend all his gettings and are much more dear to him than Naboth's Vineyard was to him He sets them before his Face for ever Psal 41. 12. as Loving to look upon them Yea upon the very Walls of their Houses where they dwell Isa 49. 16. They are his Portion Deut. 32 9. His Inheritance Isa 49. 16. The dearly Beloved of his Soul Jer. 12. 7. and his Glory Isa 46. 13. And thus they are tho accompanied with many Weaknesses For as David saw nothing in lame Mephibosheth but what was lovely because he saw in him the Features of his Friend Jonathan So God beholding his offending Saints in the Face of his Son takes no notice of any thing that is amiss in them The Saints are lowly in their Speeches but lofty in their Actions but especially in their Affections which are carried above all earthly Objects and are not content till they are got to Heaven These Stars tho they are seen sometimes in a Puddle tho they reflect there yet they have their situation in Heaven These Birds of Paradise tho they may haply touch sometimes upon the Earth yet they are mostly upon the Wing and these outward Comforts and Creatures are to them but Scalae and Alae Wings and Wind in their Wings to carry them upwards Resolute sinners would have dissolute Teachers They would have the Law according to their Lives not their Lives according to the Law That pleaseth best which is sweet to their Sense not that which is wholsome to their Conscience Foul Faces would have false Glasses Diomedes must have a crooked Shooe for his wry Foot Caligula would be adored for a God tho he lived like a Devil They which will not tell thee of thy Faults will be very ready to tell others of them whereas he that Loves thee and respects the profit of thy Soul more than the pleasing of thy Senses will speak of thy Faults to thy Face and of thy Virtues behind thy back which is the greatest Evidence of Love and true faithfulness The most lew'd are most Loud When God saith I will Laugh as Prov. 1. 26. Psal 2. 4. Then Man hath most cause to weep Schola Crucis Schola Lucis Adversity is the best University Prov. 4. 6. Forsake her not Falling Stars were never but Meteors The Heart is the chief Monarch in the Isle of Man By Hand-maids the Affections Satan Wooes the Mistress A whore is Helen without but Hecuba within Abraham might see Sodom burning but Lot might not look that way That little Man in the Eye cannot be touched but it will be distempered Toilsom Toyes are but laborious loss of time Morsels of Sin are murthering Morsels not nourishings We should labour for Wealth without Woe Store without sore Gold without guilt of Sin or a guilty Conscience Where Pride is in the Saddle Shame is in the Crooper Riches were never true to any that trusted in them Exoriuntur ut Exurantur The Godly's Afflictions are not Penal but Medicinal or Probational The Venom of a Wicked man's Heart blisters his Tongue that it breaks out at his Lips to his own ruin He that makes a match with Mischief shall have his Belly full of it Prov. 1. 31. and 14. 14. The Godly pass from the Jaws of Death to the Joys of Heaven Affections without Endeavours are like Rachel Beautiful but barren We must Work as well as Will and Wish and do as well as Desire Perform as well as Promise 2. Chor. 8. Many lye long Languishing at Hopes Hospital as he at the Pool of Bethesda before cured Sin and Punishment are linked together with Chains of Adamant Goodness is it 's own reward both in Hand and in Hope Anger may rush into a wise Man's Bosom but rests not there Eccl. 7. 9. Jam. 1. 19. 20. A Covetous man Fires his own Nest when he thinks to Feather it and troubles all his House with haste and hurry to get gain Prov. 15. 27. Before Honour is Humility Prov. 15. 33. The lower the Ebb the higher is the Tide The lower the Foundation of Humility is laid the higher shall the Roof of Honour be over-laid Honour follows him that flyes from it as the shadow doth the Body God can crack the strongest Sinew that is in all the Arm of Flesh Isa 22. 11. Ingratitude is a Monster in Nature To render good for Evil is Divine Good for Good is Humane Evil for Evil is sinful and Brutish But evil for Good is Devillish Jer. 15. 20. 21. Prov. 17. 13. Prov. 17. 17. and 18. 24. and 27. 17. Scilicet ut fulvum spectatur in ignibus Aurum Tempore sic duro est experienda Fides We must ask God to give what he commands us to have A King that sitteth c. Prov. 20. 8. The Sword of Justice is to be furbished with the Oyl of Mercy yet there are Cases wherein severity should cast the Scale Prov. 21. 16. Wandreth c. Yet can he not wander so wide as to miss of Hell Prov. 2.