us 8. Because at death vows are to no purpose we ought to make and accomplish them during Life the occasion of well-doing is not alwayes prefent Though the seasons be ordered as well as the Days and Nights yet it is not so with Life because the moments thereof succeed one to another without having so much as one assured 9. The meer necessity of dying doth perswade Wisemen to work out their own Salvation while it is day without standing in need of any other Clock to mark the hours of their work 10. Wise men do never sorrow for their Life past because they live only to die And though the time to come be not theirs yet they dispose of it before hand to their own advantage in the resolution they are alwayes to imploy it well 11. Life hath nothing that is its own but death all the Goods which it injoyeth are imaginary because they subsist only in the Fancy And seeing that subsistence depends of Time and Fortune if This take away from us the use of it That can limit the continuance thereof 12. He is happy upon the account of Justice who seeth himself die in doing of his duty the Race of this Life how painful soever it be becometh pleasant when we run it happily 13. To live but for one day is to live a whole Age provided we spend that day to good purpose A thousand years of Life are reckoned only by the last moment which doth finish it because that alone must Crown all the former 14. There is nothing so dreadful at Death as the remembrance of a long Life because as we must give an account of all our days past seeing they are present with God either to justify or condemn them so the doubt of our happiness or misery keeps our Souls on the Rack 15. We cannot go but once from Time to Eternity it is a journey that hath no returning and seeing that all Wise men prepare themselves to make it as soon as they are capable of reason he must needs be quite deprived of reason who is surprised at the hour of retreat 16. As the Pilgrim doth accomplish his vow when he puts himself on the way to make his Pilgrimage so we begin to go about our Mission as soon as we are born in the Path which we hold it is enough that Reason be our Lantern and Duty our Guide to keep us from going astray without measuring the paces of our Race 17. Although we do but pass away here below yet every man may work out his own Salvation here in passing All consists in the imploying well the Time allowed us without being solicitous for more or less a good life is alwayes long though it should last but for one moment 18. Endeavour every day to dosome good work to the end you may injoy what is past as you do what is present The Wise man never searcheth in vain for his Repose is in his Memory 19. Seeing that the Way which we are to hold in our Life is marked out let us go on cheerfully and consider that the more painful it be it is the safer provided that Patience be our Guide 20. Know that Death is the reward of the just and the punishment of the Wicked because Those when they die may lawfully hope for the Crown of their labours but These for the chastisement of their crime CHAP. XV. That the Wise man waiteth for Death without either wishing or fearing it 1. HE that wisheth for Death hath cause to fear it because the guilt of his desire prepareth his punishment as we are born here below by a secret Order of Providence so this alone can sound our retreat and of all the miseries which can befall us Desperation is the greatest 2. We should never fear the Evils which we cannot avoid because Fear is a new Evill far more painfull than that which we are to incurre and if in these encounters Nature overcome Reason we ought to implore the help of Grace because it triumpheth alwayes 3. Death frights none but the Wicked not but that the Godly do fear it but their Hope being stronger than their Fear the one is diminished by the growth of the other 4. Wise Christians do never dispute with Providence they undergo the laws thereof without repining and how rigorous soever they be seeing there is more glory in suffering than in complaining they beg for Constancy in their distresses rather than for Comfort 5. They that have a love to Life know not what they love For if it be a Good the imaginary propriety and uncertain usage thereof make us sensibly know the contempt we ought to have of it 6. A good Life is always long how short soever it be and seeing the greatest Heroes reckon their years by their Heroick acts the wise Christian ought to keep an account of his age by the Good he doth 7. Although we be born here below unwitting to us we have liberty to live here as we please but seeing that we must give an account of our Life we ought to be good husbands of Time for it conducts us to Eternity 8. Life may be justly compared to a Dream because we live in a continual dotage taking the false Good for the reall and the way of Vice for the path of Vertue 9. Know that the preparation to Death doth mitigate the fear thereof as the continuall thoughts of it taketh away the horrour and as Experience cannot chuse but be profitable to you so the profit you shall receive by it will far surpass the pains you shall take for it 10. If you would forsake Life without sorrow enjoy it without being tyed to it we should never think but of finishing our journey so much the rather because we cannot stay by the way 11. This Interval of dayes and nights whereof our Life is composed lets us see by the Image of Sleep that it is so confounded with Death that it is but one and the same thing 12. Nature causeth us to be born like unto Posts in this World where every man carrieth the sealed Letter of his Destiny directing to Death and seeing Time leadeth us thither if we do not go it will pull us This obligeth us to follow our Fate with that submission which becometh a creature 13. Seeing we do not live but to die and that we do not die but to live again let us drive the Trade of the Vertuous man because he alone can find at the end of his Course that Eternity which he waits for 14. He that liveth only to live doth deprive himself of Hope which is the sole Good of Life What would become of us in the miseries wherein we are if we did not pretend to Eternal happiness seeing our Souls can never die 15. Life is not otherwise considerable than by the good use we make of it though you should live a whole Age abounding with Riches and Happiness if the last moment do not justify all the former you may be reckoned in the number of the most miserable men in the World 16. Every body wisheth to live long not considering that a long life is a long receit of Time bestowed on us seeing that we must give an account of the imployment of our dayes The felicity of our Life depends of the happiness of our Death 17. Consider that every Age seeth die all that it hath seen born and that it draweth along with it all that hath appeared like it in the World without hope of returning because the years whereof it is composed are never twice counted 18. As soon as a man hath attained to the years of Reason he liveth long enough if he live but one day provided that one day be well spent The rest of the Time which is allowed us turneth to our reproach rather than our advantage if we do not spend it to good purpose 19. When we wish for Death we manifest our Cowardise more than our Courage because this fails us through want of resolution to endure the memory of what is past the trouble of what is present and the fear of what is to come whereof the only Hope of Eternity can sufficiently instruct us 20. Know that the Life of Great Men is a path strewed with Roses whereof the Thorns are at the end For after they have smelled the sweet odour of Those they must needs feel the sting of These 21. There is none but God and Vertue that can prolong the Life of Man God in adding to it that which is to come and Vertue in recalling what is past by the satisfaction we injoy in having spent it well 22. He that loveth Life in his miseries to suffer them constantly hath cause to fear Death because in suffering new torments it taketh away from him the means to acquire new Crowns 23. Live only to die if you would live without reproach he that thinks on that which is to come doth not sorrow for what is past and enjoyeth what is present without disquiet FINIS
condemned themselves seeing they render themselves guilty a-new by believing that they are not guilty yea they are far more guilty then those that are punished 22. The just man is commonly afflicted and he is very happy in this World that knoweth how to improve his sufferings a life crowned with Roses produceth alwayes a Death filled with Thorns 23. It is a great Comfort to look for none here below in all the crosses that happen unto us because if Patience cannot receive the final recompence from any other then Heaven it is to be beleeved that this recompence is bestowed upon us for no other end but to crown our Patience 24. Do not shun the approaches of afflicted persons God looks upon them continually as the objects of his compassion rather than of his Justice and beleeve it it is very lamentable not to improve aright the frowns and severities of Fortune seeing the last day of a voluptuous life is far more terrible than all the dayes that went before it have been pleasant and delightsome 25. I do not much wonder that some holy persons would choose either to suffer or die It is impossible to love a crucified God without partaking of his sufferings and as sorrow is the object of this love so the heart which is filled therewith doth sigh for joy amidst the greatest crosses 26. There is no man more miserable then he that is born and dyeth Fortunes darling because when death seizeth him unawares he knoweth at the end of the day that his light hath served him for no other use but to find the way to Hell 27. A great Calm is alwayes held suspect by the wise Pilot he complains of that good-lucke because the excess of a Calm is an infallible presage of the short continuance thereof 28. Light disgraces fortify the mind and as they keep it in a continuall Alarum by the feare of a greater mishap so the mind by a prudent foresight puts it self in a condition to shun it thus our first wound shelters us from many others which might tend to our hurt 29. How pleasant is it to do that promptly and handsomely which we must do of necessity The Cross is our portion he that will not beare the burthen thereof in Time prepareth his own punishment to Eternity 30. Do not refuse the Cup that God presenteth to you seeing he hath quenched his thirst with the bitterness of that whereof he makes you taste but a little is it not an excess of bounty to make a tryall first of all the sorrows that you can be able to suffer to mitigate the violence of them 31. When God afflicteth you by the death of any of your nearest Relations he comforts you at the same instant by a new adver tisment of the necessity of your departure seeing they are gone to their mansion place but one dayes journey before you 32. If you have lost your Wife that buried half waits for the other to be joyn'd with it and seeing that union is certain and infallible the moment which perfects it ought to be continually present with you although it be to come 33. The loss of any temporal Good ought not to afflict you if so be that of Grace abide with you An innocent person afflicted is never miserable because he ever findeth his consolation in Gods Will who hath so decreed it 34. All the miseries and all the happiness that can befall us are in Gods hands the first is the correction of his Justice the second the favour of his Goodness but seeing both these proceed from him alone the one obligeth us to silence out of respect the other to thankfulness through acknowledgement 35. Christian Wisdom consisteth in this to will that which God willeth not out of necessity but rather out of a submission that prevents it to the end that this necessity may find us alwayes disposed to undergo the laws thereof how hard soever they be 36. He that is jealous of the happiness of others increaseth his own miseries by his envy which is both criminal and unprofitable and in wishing an imaginary good he feeleth a reall evill 37. I do not much wonder if a Soul totally resigned to the will of God be under covert from the stormes of Fortune seeing the calme which it enjoyeth draweth the continuance thereof from him who hath deminion over Time 38. All our disquiet proceedeth only from our contempt of Providences Orders for if we did really beleeve this truth that all that happeneth unto us cometh from Providence our very afflictions would yeeld us comfort seeing their bitterness would be changed into sweetness CHAP. IV. That true glory doth only consist in living vertuously 1. ALthough you should ransack the whole Earth for Laurels there would nothing remain to you in the end but the ashes and although all the people thereof were your Subjects yet the small compass of your Tombe would limit the greatness of this Empire 2. The same stairs which serve for ascending serve also for descending All Thrones have their steps The last step of our elevation marketh alwayes the first step of our fall 3. Be not dazled at the splendor of Fortune's honours her inconstancy doth infallibly presage that the day of your prosperity shall not passe without a storm and althoug it be at the declining the last moment thereof may be fatall to you 4. All the honours which we receive here on Earth are of the same nature with the praises bestowed on them the latter are made of wind and the former are nothing but smoak the one passeth over our head the other striketh the eare in passing by 5. I do not much wonder that Glory hath nothing else to give but Laurels and Palmes the Crowns made of these last as long as the head that weareth them the one is withered in the Sun the other groweth white by the scorching of Time and both at last are reduced to powder 6. How many triumphs have you seen and how many crowned victorious but those faire days are past and the memory of those famous Conquerours passeth also untill at last the History of them by the length of Time becomes a fable 7. Suppose that Posterity should preserve the remembrance both of your name and exploits yet the Time ought to be limited and of what extent soever the limits thereof be they are alwayes very short seeing they can be measured 8. Wonder not that the Romans have acquired a false Glory they never had a love for the true Glory they followed Vertue without being willing to know it and as they were contented to do noble actions out of vanity so the vanity abideth with them their reputation being nothing but wind 9. He is base and low-minded who encloseth his ambition and hopes within the Circle of his life seeing the Tombe is the Centre thereof We must seek for a Glory that is far beyond Time and that hath no dependance from it which may fill the emptiness of our
hearts that are alwayes disquieted in their expectation 10. All the World doth breath after nothing so much as Glory and no body taketh pains to acquire the true Glory the contempt of worldly honours is most safe a man cannot deserve them but in shunning them 11. Purity of Conscience is the fountain of true Glory and it is in vain for wicked men to run after the Crowns thereof God for their sakes changeth the nature of these Crowns seeing they cover them with infamy instead of adorning them with honour 12. In this World every man is the Artist of his own Glory but to the end that this work may be the better effected he must be for a long time Vertues Apprentice seeing she alone is able to make him Master 13. True Glory is the effect of a vertuous life and good works are so many glorious actions Care not for the verdict which the World may pass on them your own judgement ought to give you the first approbation of them and your conscience the last crown 14. It is not enough to live honorably the Morals of Jesus Christ are far different from those of the World for these teach us the love of our selves but our Saviour the contempt and because Example is more powerful then Precept he doth perswade us to it by his own Practice 15. We may well seek for Glory in Combats but we can only find it in the victory we obtain over our Passions Suppose you could gain Battels take Cities and conquer Kingdoms and Provinces yet you must triumph over your self if you would beare the title of a true Worthie 16. The World hath her Persons of honour but I doe pitie them with all their Glory they adorn themselves with many specious Titles and they forget that of Miserable which doth properly belong unto them they muster up all their qualities and remember not that of their perishing nature which blemisheth all the rest 17. If you desire to acquire true Glory let the Glory of God be your object The World hath nothing to give but false honours and if you would be of the number of true Heroes let your ambition extend only to the conquest of Heaven all those that have busied themselves in conquering the Earth have been constrain'd at their death to content themselves with seven foot 18. After that the Rival of Cesar had made his conquest there could hardly be found so much room as to write upon his grave Here lies Pompey This sheweth that the vanity of the Glory of the greatest men is altogether nothing 19. True Glory hath no original in nature the fountain thereof cometh from above and as Eternity is the object of it Eternity ought to serve also for the reward thereof 20. Covet no other quality but that of an Honest man seeing that alone is able to accomplish your Glory he that liveth well liveth gloriously the quiet of his Conscience is the honour of his life as well as the happiness thereof 21. It will not be asked at the houre of death if the honors you have received have been great but rather if the works you have done have been good True Glory lyes in the contempt of the Glory of the World 22. As all things created returne to their Original the World seeth all that Glory die which it bred and if you draw not from Heaven those thoughts of that Honour which you profess you shall ere long be ashamed to survive it seeing you shall be a witness of the ruine thereof 23. The contempt we ought to have of the honors of this life is never known but at the houre of death but seeing that knowledg is unprofitable we must then prevent it by doing that to day which we would have done to morrow 24. Time surpriseth the wisest men although it be alwayes present you may well heare a Clock or carry a Watch in your pocket but it is to no purpose seeing you do not profit by he counsell they give you which is that Time passeth away as well as the Glory we have acquired in it CHAP. V. That Integrity and upright dealing only maketh a vertuous man 1. WHether you be rich or great or happy all these qualities can make no impression capable to gain Reputation Integrity only can give that and without this title of honour a man is nothing but a meer shadow 2. You are very glad to purchase with money the most eminent dignities and Offices But after examination of your Conscience if you find your self incapable to discharge them you do but expose your self in publick view upon an Altar there to serve for the sacrifice 3. Men of Integrity are the true Heroes of their Age because they have their souls filled with true Glory and seeing it is impossible for a man to live with honour unless he live without reproach labour therefore in all your actions to make your duty here below your first object and last reward 4. What doth it availe you to possess large Offices and to receive great Honours if being incapable of the one you render your self unworthy of the other your Office gains respect whereas your person deserves contempt as if your Livery were more to be esteemed than your self 5. Suppose your were served in State and had your Ushers marching before you c. Yet all the honor or disgrace that encompasseth you do proceed from your good or bad reputation and whatsoever pompe doth accompany you your way of living produceth either your esteem or contempt 6. A Righteous man carrieth his ranke about with him all his words and actions are stirred up by an honest boldness and that is it that draweth respect and esteem by a secret vertue whereof the first cause is never known seeing it is above nature 7. The first enquiry that is made after your manners serves instead of a Judge of your life This doth oblige you to give proof of your vertues betimes that the esteem of your person may take the deeper impression because publick Fame renders it self the soveraign Umpire of your reputation 8. The respects that are rendered to a man of a corrupt life do cover him rather with infamy then glory so that when he challengeth respect in regard of his Authority he receiveth nothing but forced acknowledgements which do shamefully reproach his soveraignty yea upon the very Throne of his Empire 9. Seeing vertuous actions are valued according to the reputation of him who performs them they must needs be built on a solid foundation lest they be attributed to chance and Fortune have all the glory Every one in this world is worth so much as he maketh himself to be worth 10. It is Uprightness and Integrity alone that doth distinguish us from one another all other qualities are strangers to us seeing they follow us but to the grave but this alone can exempt us from it 11. Frame unto your self certain wages of Honour which can be filled by no other but your self
incurable disease should not feel his Pulse sometimes You perceive your self dying every day how is it possible that you cannot lift up your head often to see what it is a clock by your Dyall 15. If you enjoy a Life without thinking of it you deserve not to live The Wise-man giveth an account to himself before he gives it to others and as he is born to die and dyeth every houre so every moment he thinks of that Necessity whereof the laws cannot be violated 16. O how hard it is for a man to learn to live after he hath lived a long time the evil habits and customes he hath contracted do so fortify themselves against reason that as long as they preside in his Councel the voice of Rule is useless 17. Let not Time surprise you study your life betimes and though it be still sliding away yet the profit of your study remains he that hath a desire to be learned is already such 18. Never draw vanity from any thing you know seeing that Knowledg how great soever it be is as vain as you unless your Salvation be the object thereof It is far better to be skilfull in tilling the Earth without pretending to any more then so much of it as may make us a grave then to walk sumptuously on it with magnisicent or naments without making reflection that we are formed of the dust thereof 19. I esteem to body learned but them who walk continually in the way of their duty for since that that is the Wise mans guide we have forgotten all that it could teach us if we do not keep it company 20. This is not all to begin to know your self you must perfect your Studies in the School of this Knowledg If you be learned to day you shall yet be more learned to morrow and you shall aver at the end of your time that you have employed it to good purpose because after it is past it still remains in the advantage you have made thereby 21. Make you a solitude in the midst of your Palaces to entertain your self in secret mark out a withdrawing-room for your self to enjoy your own company in quiet It is one of the most profitable pleasures of Life to know how it passeth to the end we may not sorrow for it when it is past 22. In fine let every man do for himself I have learned these Precepts which I lay before you and in this I wish my example had out-stript my Pen to teach you by Practice what I have endeavoured to perswade you by Discourse CHAP. X. That we ought to derive our Nobility from our selves as well as from our Ancestors 1. IF you are not Noble of your self as well as by Descent draw no advantage from your Nobility vertue alone gaineth estimation as Vice causeth contempt 2. What doth it profit you that the Name you bear is recorded in History if yours darken the lustre thereof Muddy streams make us lose the belief of the clearness of their spring 3. Let your brave Actions be your noble Ancestors and forget your ancient Nobility to enable your self anew There are no Crowns so rich as those of our own making 4. We ought to be asham'd when our Predecessors are prais'd that we cannot have a share in the praises they receive seeing they make us blush for not having deserved them 5. Set your self on work about the History of your own life that it may serve for an ornament to the History of the Age and let not your Ancestors have any other advantage of you but to have gone before you in the path of Glory following their footsteps to fill their traces 6. It is not enough for a man to be Noble by Birth and Condition he must be so by his way of living and must take notice of his own manners to correct them rather than of his Nobility to prove it 7. Neither the splendor of your Name nor the greatness of your House are sufficient titles of Nobility you must produce some that are newer it is too great a trouble to enquire how your Ancestors have lived it is enough to know how you live because your life should be the best marke of your Nobility 8. It will be inquired at the hour of death if you have lived like a Christian rather then like a Gentleman And though you cause the Titles of your Nobility to be engraven upon your Tomb your actions alone will follow you beyond it 9. A Noble man ought to live nobly both for himself and for others and seeing he is elevated above the rank of the vulgar all his actions must be extraordinary to the end that they may serve as lights to them that are below him 10. There are some that take great pains about their Pedigree to prove the antiquity of their Race as if they could challenge any thing from the reputation of their Ancestors They may well call themselves Heirs of their Goods but the succession of their Glory is of such nature that they cannot enjoy it unless they deserve it 11. Although you were descended of the Race of Kings if your actions be not answerable to your Birth a man may lawfully question the Nobility of your Original and if you prove the Antiquity thereof by your Titles these are false witnesses for your life doth belye them 12. If you be born Great do Great things but though you labor in Time take your aim in Eternity the Earth is the Grave of all that it produceth 13. If you be of a condition not very eminent raise your self above it by your vertue and render your self considerable of your self An excellent Picture carrieth its luste with it 14. Although Nature hath made you Noble yet draw the confirmation of your Nobility from Vertue for that onely can justifie it and live always for the time to come to the end that the memory of what is past may be delectable to you Time cannot surprise us when it is well employed 15. Know that true Nobility consists in doing no action unworthy of it You may well fill History with the Fame of your Exploits but the generous thoughts of your heart must be answerable to the glorious actions of your life and you must be at agreement with your self by the straight Alliance of your Vertue with your Glory 16. It is far better to be Noble in Minde than by Birth It is seldom enquired quired of what condition our Fathers were but every Body is curious to know what Trade we drive not because they pretend to any interest therein but the World being a Stage where every Man actoth his part all the Spectators are our Judges 17. How many do we see take pains to obtain Patents of Nobility as if the Title could bestow the Merit thereof They had rather exempt their Wealth from Taxes than their Life from Reproaches without considering the necessity to which they are reduced to forsake that Wealth which they would gladly preserve
and to give an account of that Life whereof they have contemned the reputation 18. If your Name be not known by your Condition make it known by your Exemplary Life Vertue is a Balm whereof the sweet Odor is spread every where 19. We have no cause to call Nature Step-mother what inequality soever we finde betwixt the Noblemen and the Peasants since that by Birth and Death we have the same destiny And if there appear a great difference in their Life yet know that the different ways which they keep do meet at the Grave 20. If you draw Vanity from the outward qualities of the Body Time will make you know your Folly every day because it destroyeth the ground thereof every moment In ruining the subject that causeth it CHAP. XI That we ought to be dis-engaged from all things to the end That we may live without disquiet and die without sorrow 1. CAll not your self the Owner of the Goods you possess every moment reneweth unto you the favor of the use of them We have nothing that is our own but miseries and unhappiness 2. If your heart be fastned on any Object consider the perishing nature of it and seeing you cannot love it but as a transitory thing justifie your love by the necessity of its ruine 3. When we love any thing passionately we expose our selves anew to the view of Fortune which can wound us in as many parts as we are divided 4. The Covetous man whose heart is in his Treasures feels it pluckt out as often as they are diminished without considering that as streams return to their source so this Piece of Earth wherewith he is intrusted must be re-joyned to its whole 5. The Ambitious man who renders himself Imaginary Possessor of all the goods he wisheth believeth that he is robbed of them when he is prevented in acquiring them This lets us see that as we live in our Passions so we feel our selves dying with the causes of their Birth 6. All that you would love love it in God to the end that your Love may produce your Repose rather than your Trouble All the Affections which we contract in this World do nothing else but breed and die seeing every moment may be the first and last of their continuance 7. What an ingenious thing it is for a man to torment himself in being willing to die for every object he loveth Is it not enough to give up his heart to one love that is allowable and lawful without dividing it amongst a thousand other Passions to resent as many different torments 8. The Chains wherewith we are tyed here below are easie to be made and hard to be broken And if death alone restore us to liberty yet we lose it in recovering it seeing that commonly we carry the guilty remembrance of our pleasant Bondage to the Grave with us 9. A mans love towards himself is to be excused when his Salvation is the object thereof he is permitted to love himself in a lawful way yea with excess too using extraordinary endeavors to testifie the violence of that Love by the contempt of all other 10. Happy is that man who is altogether his own that he may give himself wholly to God Unhappy is he that after he hath given his heart to the World seeth himself constrained to leave it with the World not having so much power as to take it back 11. The Wisemans Love is never blinde because Reason which is nothing else but Light produceth it Whence it comes to pass that he loveth with pleasure drawing his delights from the Object of his Affections which are as harmless as himself 12. Every Body loveth Liberty yet every Body is engaged They that have no Master become Slaves to their own Passions and in this shameful Bondage they render themselves unworthy of compassion because they have no compassion on themselves 13. Seeing that Christian Perfection consists in the contempt of all things and in the dis-engagement from our Selves we must be our own to the end that we may give our selves Unless our hearts be emptied they shall never be filled with God 14. Every man goeth about his own business and we do always forget the most important which is that of our Salvation All others are unprofitable at the end of our days work seeing an account will not be required of them no not so much as of their success 15. I know very well that all our desires do divide our heart and it is so possessed with a continual longing after their object that it liveth out of its self for anothers sake But though it be divided during life it must needs be united in it self at last to die all alone for its self onely 16. Do not wait till Age draw you from the World but preventing Necessity by Reason triumph over your self before Time become your Conqueror 17. Consider that your Habits and Customs are as so many Bonds which strengthen themselves continually and seeing Nature doth much contribute thereunto all endeavors at last are too weak to break them without the help of Grace 18. O what a contentment it is to a man to be free to die and to be wholly his own at the hour of death The Objects of our Passions are as so many Chains which fasten us to the World when we are upon the point of departing from it We must bid them adieu betimes that we may make our retreat without sorrow 19. It is very hard for us to hinder our selves from being surprised by Time in those Affections that we contract here below because as the hour of our departure is uncertain and the hope that dieth after us deceiveth us too so we do not commonly forsee our mishap but when it is unavoidable 20. Dis-engage your self from your Children and after you have put them under the Protection of Providence it is enough to shew them the way wherein they should walk to work out their own salvation by going before them your self 21. Be not tied with your Dignities these are the Liveries of Fortune which she giveth and taketh away at her pleasure Content your self in that you deserve them seeing you must give an account of the use of them 22. Let not your heart finde any place in your Palaces to lodge its Affections there least the Chains thereof be too strong Do not establish your dwelling there all the steps of your walks are numbred and in going under the covert of the shady Allies in your Gardens you draw nearer your Grave 23. Every Man loveth his Repose and no body takes pains to acquire it It is not enough to be rich in this World and to taste of a thousand pleasures therein because these riches remain in the World and the pleasures pass away leaving us nothing but a troublesome remembrance and an unprofitable sorrow 24. It is not enough to live at Liberty we must die so and what tye soever we have here below the failing of
and end thereof They who can feare and love him have past all their studies 15. How many do we see that follow the World for to know it as if the knowledge thereof were very difficult if you would study it to purpose you must do it in shunning it because the frequenting it is contagious 16. Learn nothing in this World but to despise it the Science of the Contempt thereof is the most profitable of all Sciences A Traveller should think of nothing but his journey to follow the straight way without staying at those places where he passeth 17. Consider that the World is a School where men learn all sorts of Sciences but Vanity being their Teacher maketh so bad Schollars that they perish together with their Learning 18. The greatest Doctors are in a confusion at the houre of Death with all their Sciences if they have been still ignorant of the Art of Living well what doth it availe them to have employed all their time in the reading of good books if their names be blotted out of the Book of Life 19. Be your own Master and be instructed rather by the example of your actions than by the Precept of others a habitude to good serves us for a lesson to keep us in our duty as an object alwayes present which doth powerfully move our understanding 20. It is dangerous to be very learned unless a man have the spirit of Humility because the light of Nature so dazleth our eyes with its splendor when we approach too neer that we become for the most part idolaters of those objects we admire and our idolatry prepareth our punishment in being the cause of our crime 21. Seeing that no man hath ever been able to find happiness in Life I wonder why they seek it not in Death Truly the Wise-man hath good cause to possess our minds with thoughts thereof seeing these alone can render it as pleasant as profitable to us 22. Think not that the reading of good Bookes can make you learned Practice must needs follow Speculation and besides it is not enough to instruct others unless your Actions go before your Precepts 23. The study of Meditation is very profitable for your advancement in Piety if so be you draw Conclusions from all the Arguments you make For to have nothing but some fine reflections without drawing any profit from them is to be engaged in a pleasant way that hath no issue 24. He that renders himself capable of his Office and Calling is not ignorant of any thing he ought to know for his Salvation and as this alone ought to be the object and end of his thoughts and actions so I think him happy if he imploy all his time in this study 25. It is hard to know the vanity of Sciences so long as we live and seeing the knowledge thereof at death is as unprofitable as the sorrow for having mispent our time shun the detriment that may ensue thereupon by the forewarning I give you thereof 26. We know nothing for the most part but those things which we should not learn we may well fill our understanding with the knowledge of Good and Evil but the only Idea of the one remains with us whereas the other is our constant practice 27. If you know not how to live learn at least to die and although the Science of living and that of dying are often confounded together yet the study of them is quite different many lessons may be learned in the Science of living but in that of dying one lesson is sufficient 28. Frequent no other School but that wherein you may learn the Art of working out your own Salvation because without this Science all others are to no purpose 29. The study of a mans self makes alwayes good Scholars and he that studies to know himself may be said to be truly learned CHAP. VIII That Moderation in Riches is more to be desired then Excess because it is more profitable 1. COvet neither to be Great nor Rich a Moderation in this is to be wished as the Excess is to be feared and although we must give an account of Poverty as well as of Riches This is often miscounted but That is alwayes receivable 2. Suppose Rich men have a thousand faire dayes in their life how many foul nights have they which they hide from us They that see the Roses of their garden know not how many Thorns they have in their soul 3. If you be reduced to win your living win it in effect in stead of losing it this life lasts but one day you must labour to purchase another which is eternal 4. If God hath given you Riches beg for grace to make a good use of them because of the use of them depends the acquiring of true Treasures 5. Be not too sollicitous in purchasing of Riches by unlawful means lest the torment of this crime abide with you you acquire Goods in suffering much Evil and God permits the one to be perishing for your first punishment and the other to be eternal for your finall torment 6. We reap no advantage by goods ill acquired and God is not only pleased to make us witnesses of the loss of them but also maketh himself Judge of the purchase of them to punish us and avenge himself 7. Ask nothing of God but what is necessary for Life and seeing it is transitory gather Riches only to make your journey If you have Children enrich them by your good Example rather than by other mens goods the straight path of life never leads to the Hospital 8. There are few Rich men happy they make a God of their treasure and this false God forsakes them in returning to the true one who punisheth eternally for their idolatry 9. The Rich man hath no greater enemies then his Treasures because they are the objects of a continual temptation to taste the pleasures of the world and seeing in this he thinketh no desires unprofitable in that power wherein he is he renders himself miserable by being too happy 10. I never saw a Rich man content their greed increaseth according to the measure of their Riches and they never consider that living and dying in disquiet they begin their Hell in this World never to end it in the other 11. If you could be able to moderate your Ambition you would find that Repose which all the World seeketh after He who doth limit his desires with the injoyment of that Good which he hath finds himself securely sheltered from all sort of evills except those that cannot be shun'd 12. They that imploy both their cares and pains to heap up Riches are much astonished when time faileth for enjoying of them They sow for the most part for unknown Heirs who make their harvest without having any Right in their succession 13. Not to be poor is to be very rich wish only for what is necessary despise what is unprofitable and be afraid of abundance as of a torrent of