man is a true wonder for it is not from himselfe that hee is so But that I see so many wicked I meruaile not 'T is easier running downe the hill then climing it They that are this way giuen haue much the aduantage of them that follow goodnesse Besides those inclinations that sway the soule to vice the way is broader and more ready hee that walkes through a large field hath onely a narrow path to guide him right in the way but on either side what a wide roome he hath to wander in Euery vertue hath two vices that close her vp in curious limits and if shee swerues though but a little she suddenly steps into errour Fortitude hath Feare and Rashnesse Liberalitie Auarice and Prodigalitie Iustice hath Rigor and Partialitie Thus euery good mistresse hath two bad seruants which hath made some to define vertue to bee nothing but a meane betweene two vices wherof one leads to excesse the other to defect making her like the roofe of a Church on whose top wee scarce find roome to turne a foote in but on either side a broad road to ruine in which if we once be falling our stay is rare our recouery a miracle The man that is rare in vice I will neuer admire if he goes but as hee is driuen hee may soone be witty in euill but the good man I will worthily magnifie he it is can saile against the wind make the thorny way pleasant and vnintangle the incumcumbrances of the world XI What sinne is there that we may account or little or veniall vnlesse comparatiuely seeing there is none so small but that without repentance is able to sinke the soule in eternall Damnation Who will thinke that a slight wound which giues a sodaine Inlet to Death But should wee grant this errour yet these of all other I obserue the most dangerous both for their frequency and secrecie the one increasing them to a large heape the other so couering them as we see not how they wrōg vs The raine that fals in smallest drops moistens the earth makes it mire slimy and durte whereas a hard showre that descēds violētly washeth away but soakes not in Euen the smallest letters are more hurtfull to the sight then those that are written with a text pen. Great sinnes and publicke I will auoide for their scandal wonder lesser priuate for their danger and multitude both because my God hates them I cannot if I loue him but abhorre what hee loathes XII Memory and forgetfulnesse are both in friendship necessary Let me remember those kindnesses my friend hath done to mee that I may see his loue and learne gratitude Let mee forget those benefits I haue performed to him lest they shuffle out the effect of my loue and tell mee hee is requited Thus may we together increase our friendship and comforts otherwise a man may haue many acquaintances but no friends though vnthankefulnes banisheth loue Gratitude obtaines a repealement XIII I obserue besides the inward Contents of a peaceable cōscience two things wherein a Christian excels all other men In true Valour In Fidelitie In true Valour that is in a iust quarrell for if his cause bee naught there is none more timerous then hee and indeed to shew much Courage in a bad matter is rather a token of desperate folly then any badge of a magnanimous minde but in a iust cause he is bold as a Lyon Nothing can daunt his euer vndaunted minde Not Infamy for he knowes in this his share is not worse then his Masters while it is for his names sake he knowes he is in it blessed If there bee any Nectar in this life 't is in sorrowes wee indure for goodnesse Besides hee weighes not how he fals to the world and men so he may stand firme to his heauenly Father That God we fight for is able enough to vindicate al our wrongs Not afflictions how many did Iob and the Apostles wade through with Courage with Content These he knowes are heere but for a time transient and momentany neither shall the Israelites liue alwayes vnder the tyranny of Pharaoh or the trauels of the Wildernes He knowes also the more abundant in sorrowes heere the more abundant in ioyes hereafter His teares shall returne in smiles his weepings in a streame of pleasures God doth not recompence with a niggardly hand hee shall finde his ioyes as an ouer-flowing Sea and his glory beyond thought exuberant Not Death for he knowes that wil be his happiest day and his bridge from woe to glory Though it bee the wicked mans shipwracke 't is the good mans putting into harbour where striking sayles and casting Anchor he returnes his lading with aduantage to the owner that is his soule to God leauing the bulke still mored in the Hauen who is vnrigg'd but onely to be new built againe and fitted for an eternall voyage Had not Christians had this solace how should the Martyrs haue dyed so merrily leaping for ioy that they were so neere their home and their heauen dying often like Samson among his enemies more victory attending their end then proceedings Ah peerelesse Valiance vnconquerable Fortitude Secondly in Fidelitie There is no friendship like the friendship of Faith Nature Educatiō Benefits cannot all together tye so strong as this Christianitie knits more sure more indissoluble This makes a knot that Alexander cannot cut For as grace in her selfe is farre aboue nature so likewise is she in her effects and therefore vnites in a far more durable bond And a Christian though he would resolue with himselfe to deale double yet if he be sincere in spight of his resolution his conscience will rate him checke him and deny him to doe it nay though he would he cannot resolue He that is borne of God sinnes not and the Spirit of sanctification will not let him resolue vpon ill This is that Fidelity that wee finde and admire in many that haue chosen rather to embrace the flame dye in silence then to reueale their Companions and Brethren in Christ Tyrants shal sooner want inuention for torments then they with tortures be made treacherous The League that heauen hath made hell wants power to breake Who can separate the coniunctions of the Deitie Againe as well in reproofe as in kindnesse doth his loue appeare For howsoeuer hee conceales his friends faults from the eye of the world yet hee affectionately tels him of them in priuate not without some sorrow on his owne part for his brothers fall He scornes to be so base as to flatter and he hates to bee so currish as to bite In his reprehensions he mingles Oyle and Vineger hee is in them plaine and louing Inuiolable amitie Inualuable loue Heere is met Courage and Constancy one to withstand an Enemie an other to entertaine a friend Giue me any foe rather thē a resolued Christian no friend vnlesse a man truely honest A father is a ready treasurie a brother an infallible comfort
were not extraordinarily vvarie I might soon counterfet some mans humour false and that would bane my drift For both to Vertue and to Vice is Flatterie a false glasse making the one seeme greater the other lesse then it is and if it lights on a noble discretion it is euer so vnhappy as to beget the ruine of it selfe But I imagine I could doe it with such exactnesse that euen the eye of Lyncaeus could not espy it yet when one should commend mee for one thing and another for the contrary vvhat vvould the vvorld thinke of mee that could thus in one bee hot and cold should I not be censured as a Tymorist Yes surely and that iustly neither could it but be iust with God at last to vnmaske my Flatterie and vnrip my folly in the view of the multitude Priuate sinnes are punisht with a publike shame A supposed honest man found lewd is hated as a growne Monster discouered by the blabbe of Time Sinne is a concealed fire that euen in darknesse will so worke as to bewray it selfe If I liue vertuously and with piety the world will hate me as a Separatist and my Reputation will be traduced by the Ignominious aspersion of maleuolent tongues To be good is now thought too neere a way to contempt That which the Ancients admired wee laugh at A good honest man is a foole What then shall I to please a man displease a Christian I had rather liue hated for goodnesse then bee loued for Vice Hee does better that pleaseth one good man then hee that contents a thousand bad ones I would if it could be please all yet I would winne their loues vvith honesty otherwise let their hate wound mee rather then their loue imbrace What care I for his friendship that affected not vertue hauing his hate he may hurt mee outwardly but inioying his loue I will iustly suspect my soule of some ill For if his affection be toward me 't is sure because hee sees somthing in mee that pleaseth himselfe but while hee sees euery thing vnlike him how is 't possible I should bee beloued of him since diuersities breed nothing but disvnion and sweet Congruitie is the mother of Loue. XXI Who admires not the Wisedome of Demosthenes in the answere hee returned to Corinthian Lais Poenitere tanti non emo Certainely had hee not knowne it from a selfe experience 't is not possible a HeatheÌ„ should haue spake so diuinely All our dishonest actions are but earnests laid downe for griefe Vice is an infallible fore-runner of wretchednesse Let the Worldling tell me if he findes it not true that all his warrantable aberrations wherein he hath dilatedly tumbled himselfe end at last either in anguish or confusion Sinne on the best condition brings repentance but for sinne without repentance is prouided hell 'T is not folly but madnes euen the highest that makes a man buy his vexation I wil force my selfe to want that willingly which I cannot enioy without future distaste Though the Waspe falles into the hony that after drownes her yet the Bee chuseth rather to goe to rhe Flowre in the field where shee may lade her â—highes securely and with leisure then to come to the shop of the Apothecarie where shee gets more but makes her life hazardable XXII Workes without faith are like a Salamander without fire or a fish without water In which though there may seeme to be some quicke actions of life and symptomes of agilitie yet they are indeede but fore-runners of their end and the very presages of death Faith againe without Workes is like a bird without wings who though she may hop with her companions here vpon earth yet if she liues til the world ends shee 'l neuer fly to heauen But when both are ioyn'd together then doth the soule mount vp to the Hill of eternall Rest these can brauely raise her to her first height yea carry her beyond it taking away both the will that did betray her and the possibility that might The former without the latter is selfecoozenage the last without the former is meere hypocrisie together the excellencie of Religion Faith is the Rocke while euery good action is as a stone laid one the Foundation the other the structure The Foundation without the walls is of slender value the building without a Basis cannot stand They are so inseparable as their coniunction makes them good Chiefely will I labour for a sure Foundation Sauing Faith and equally will I seeke for strong wals Good Workes For as man iudgeth the house by the edifice more than by the Foundation so not according to his Faith but according to his Workes shall God iudge man XXIII 'T is a rare thing to see a rich man religious we are told that his way is difficult and not many mighty are chosen For while the earth allowes them such ioyes 't is their heauen and they looke for no other Their pleasures are sufficient vnto them both for honour solace and wealth who wonders to see them carelesse of the better when they dote vpon the worse neither the minde nor affection can bee seriously diuided at once Againe euen low Commons whom they thinke meanely of are higher often in vertues of the minde are dearer vnto God then they shall sit in heauen aboue them Are there not many seruants that in life haue born the burthen now crowned with vnending Ioyes while their masters are either in a lower degree glorious or excluded that coelestiall societie I dare make it a part of my faith yet auouch my selfe no Hereticke Euen in meanest things GOD shewes his mighty power Impossibilities are the best aduancers of his Glory For what we least beleeue can be done wee most admire beeing done Yet in this obserue the mercy of God that though the Worldling hath not pietie in his thoughts yet God giues him all these good things that hee hath no right to albeit by his owne ill he like enuy extracts euill out of good so they proue in the end nothing but paper pillars and painted fruite Let all men blesse God for what they enioy they that haue wealth for their riches I will praise him that he hath kept them from me I haue now what is good for me and when my time comes my ioy shall abound XXIIII A vertuous man shining in the puritie of a righteous life is a Lighthouse set by the Sea-side whereby the Mariners both saile aright and auoyd danger But he that liues in noted sinnes is a false lanthorne which shipwrackes those that trust him The vertuous man by his good carriage winnes more to godlines and is the occasion of much good yea it may bee so long as the Moone renewes For his righteousnes dyes not with him those good examples which he liued in and those pyous workes which hee leaues behind him are imitated and followed of others both remayning and succeeding So they are coÌ„ueyed from one generation to another and he next God is a
consumes and quite goes out Nor further can this amity be euer approued or sure or sincere For hee that loues me for my gifts sake loues my gifts aboue my selfe and if I should happen to light on aduersitie I should not finde him then to appeare there being no hope of a gainefull requitall If I giue any thing it shall be because hee is my friend not because I would haue him so not so much that I may haue his loue but that already hee hath mine I will vse them sometimes to continue friendship neuer to begin it I doe not hold him worthy thankes that professeth me a kindnesse for his own ends XLV Nothing more saddens the soule of a good man then the serious apprehension of a iust shame If it were false his own cleerenesse would bee a shield strong enough to repell the darts of slander For man is neuer miserable till Conscience turnes his enemy If it were but the losse of riches there were a possibilitie of a recouerie if of friends hee might finde more or content himselfe with the knowledge of their happinesse in that glorious Mansion of the Saints if of corporall anguish a quiet minde might mitigate his paines or industry with time take a truce with sorrowes but this misery is immedicable Credit once lost is like water so diffusiuely spilt that 't is not in humanitie to recollect it If it bee it hath lost the purity and will for euer after be full of soile and by how much his honesty was more noted by so much will his shame bee more and his griefe For see what a horrour he hath before him all will bee now ready to brand him with the odious and stigmaticall name of an Hypocrite His Reputation which though it bee not dearer then his soule yet he prizeth aboue his life will be blacked with an eternall staine which nor absence time endeuour nor Death can wash away If he liues and could in himselfe forget it yet the enuious world will keepe it vpon record and when hee mindes it not rub it on his galled soule If he could fly from his Countrey that would like a Bloud-hound follow him if he dyes that will suruiue him and make his very graue contemptible nay so farre will it spread as somewhat to infect his friends and though haply in himselfe hee may bee bettered by so rash a fall yet the cruell and vncharitable world will euer thinke him worse In this I dare not follow it in doing that may cause this I hope I shall not I will first striue to be void of the act might bring shame next not to cast it in the dish of the penitent If my sufferings bee vniust I am sure in the end I shall find them comfortable If God hath pleas'd to remit offences why should I commemorate them A good life is a fortresse against shame and a good man's shame is his benefit the one keepes it away the other when it comes makes it proue profitable XLVI The will for the deed is oft with God accepted and he that is a thankefull Debtor restores a benefit Many benefits nay all I possesse O Lord from thee I know I haue receiued requite them I cannot returne them I may not and to rest ingratefull were a sin inexcusable Since then I cannot retaliate thy loue or retribute thy fauours yet Lord will I owe them with a desire to pay XLVII There is not any thing eates out friendship sooner then concealed grudges Though reason at first produceth opinion yet opinion after seduceth Reason Conceits of vnkindnesse harboured and beleeued will worke euen a steady loue to hatred And therefore reserued dispositions as they are the best keepers of secrets so they are the worst increasers of loue Betweene friends it cannot be but discourtesies wil appeare though not intended by a willing act yet so taken by a wrong suspect which smothered in silence increase dayly to a greater distaste but reuealed once in a friendly manner oft meet with that satisfaction which doth in the disclosure banish them Sometimes ill tongues by false tales sow Discord betweene two louers Sometimes mistakes set the mind in a false beliefe Sometimes iealousies that flow from loue imprint suspition in the thoughts All which may find ease in the vttering so their discouerie be in mildnesse otherwise choller casts a mist before the eyes of the minde and when it might see cleerely will not let it If betweene my friend and my selfe a priuate thought of vnkindnesse arise I will presently tell it and bee reconciled if he be cleere I shall like him the better when I see his integritie if faulty confession gaines my pardon and binds mee to loue him and though we should in the discussion iarre a little yet will I bee sure to part friendly Fire almost quench't and laid abroad dyes presently put together it will burne the better Euery such breach as this will vnite affection faster a little shaking prefers the growth of the tree XLVIII I haue sometimes wish't my selfe in some high seate of honor with what folly I haue after seene and been displeased with my selfe with my desires so vnbefitting vvisedome so dissonant from Christianity For what can a high place conferre vnto mee that can make my life more truely happy if it addes to my ioyes it increaseth my fear if it augments my pleasure my care is more and my trouble But perhaps I shal haue reuerence weare rich apparell and fare deliciously alas cold flames wet raymēt Haue I not known some inioying all and neuer found other fruit but enuie beggery and disease so haue in the end wished to change for lower Honors for meaner dignities accounting themselues as the flag on the top of a ship-mast as more high and more visible so more and euer open to the wind and stormes being as a worthy Iudge once answered one that gaue him his title of Honor True Honorable seruants to post through the toyles of a circuit and thinke on any mans busines but their owne Ah Tissue couer to a straw Cushion But I shal haue more means so shal I do the more good I grant but may I not doe as much good with lesse meanes 'T is a question who shall haue more reward of him that does most in quantity or most according to the proportion of his meanes If Christ may be admitted as arbitrator the poore Widdow gaue more then al the rich ones I feare if I had more I should spend more in waste sure I am I should haue more to answere for Besides who knowes what a change wealth might work in me what a snare hath it proued to many that like the Sunne haue in the morning of their time mounted themselues to the highest pitch of perspicuity and brightnesse which when they haue once attained they decline fall vanish are gone leauing nothing behind thē but darke night blacke reputation If not this what can I tell but that I might gather like
not prepared for Warre there is small hope of euasion none at all to conquer none to ouercome How much more hard is the winter to the Grashopper then the Pismire who before hauing stor'd her Garner is now able to withstand a famine Lest then I make my death seem more terrible to me then indeed it is I will first daily expect it that when it comes I may not be to seeke to entertaine it if not with ioy as beeing but flesh yet without sorrow as hauing a soule Secondly I will labour to be acquainted with it often before it come thinking it may come so whē I know it better I shal better sustaine it with lesse feare without terror Thirdly I will prepare for it by casting vp my accounts with God that all things euen and streight betwixt vs whensoeuer he shall please to call for me I may as willingly lay down my life as leaue a prison Thus shall I make my death lesse dreadfull and finish my life before I dye He that dyes dayly seldome dyes dijectedly VI. A good beginning haue I oftē seen cōclude ill Sin in the bud is faire sweet pleasing but the fruit is death horror hell Something will I respect in my way most in my Conclusion in the one to preuent all wilfull errors in the other to insure a Crowne For as Iudgement hath relation to the manner of dying so hath death dependance on the course of liuing Yet the good end hath no bad beginning it once had A good consequence makes the premises so esteemed of and a sweete rellish at the leauing off makes the draught delightfull that at the first did taste vnpleasant That is well that ends well and better is a bad beginning that concludes well then a prosperous onset that ends in complaint What if my beginning hath been ill sorrowes ouerblowne are pleasant that which hath beene hard to suffer is sweet to remēber I will not much care what my beginning be so my end be happy If my Sunne set in the new Ierusalem I haue liu'd well how-euer afflictions haue sometimes clouded my course VII Extreme longings in a Christian I seldome see succeed well surely God meanes so to temper his as hee would not haue their affections violent in the search of a temporall blessing or else hee knowes our frailety such as wee would be more taken with the fruition of a benefit then the Author Prosperities are strong pleaders for sinne Troubles be the surest Tutors of goodnesse How many would haue dyed ill if they had liu'd merrily GOD hath seuerall wayes to reduce his to his own orders among which I am perswaded none is more powerfull then restraint of our wils It sends the soule to meditation wherby she sees the worlds follies in such true colours of vanitie that no sound discretion can thinke them worth the doting on and though our discontentments so transport vs as we see not the good we reape by a Depriuation yet sure wee are happier by this want for wee are all like women with Child if wee had the things we long for how soone should we eate and surfet When nature findes her ardent desires fulfilled shee is rauenous and greedy yea then shee hath so little moderation as 't is not safe to satisfie her If I can I will neuer extremely couet so though I meet with a Crosse it shal neither distemper nor distract mee but if my desires out-strip my intention I will comfort my selfe with this that the enioyment might haue added to my content and endangered my soule but the want shall in the end be a meanes to embetter them both Gods Saints shall with ioy subscribe to his wil though heere for a time it may seeme to thwart them VIII A worthy Act hath hee done that hath learned to refraine his tongue and surely much euill hath hee preuented if hee knowes when to be well silent Vnkindnesses breed not so many Iarres as the multiplying of words that follow them How soone would these coales dye if the tongue did not enkindle them Repentance often followes speaking silence either seldome or neuer for while our words are many sinne is in some in most Goe to the Crane thou Babbler reade her storie and let her inform thee who flying out of Sicily puts little stones in her mouth lest by her owne garrulitie she bewray her selfe as a prey to the Eagles of the mountaine Taurus which with this policy she flyes ouer in safety euen silence euery where is a safe safeguard if by it I offend I am sure I offend without a witnesse while an vnruly tongue may procure my ruine and prooue as a sword to cut the thrid of my life in two 't is good alwayes to speake well in season and is it not as safe sometimes to say nothing hee that speakes little may mend it soone and though hee speakes most faults yet hee exceedes not for his words were few To speake too much bewrayes folly too little an vnperceiuing stupiditie I will so speake as I may be free from babbling Garrulitie so bee silent as my Spectators may not account me blockishly dull Silence and speech are both as they are vsed either tokens of Indiscretion or badges of Wisedome IX 'T is a hard thing among men of inferiour ranke to speak to an earthly Prince no King keepes a Court so open as to giue admittance to all commers and though they haue they are not sure to speede albeit there bee nothing that should make their petitiōs not grantable Oh how happy how priuiledged is then a Christian who though he often liues heere in a slight esteeme yet can hee freely conferre with the King of Heauen who not onely heares his intreaties but delights in his requests inuites him to come and promiseth a happy welcome which he shewes in fulfilling his desires or better fitter for him In respect of whō the greatest Monarch is more base then the basest vassaile in regard of the most mighty and puissant Emperour Man cannot so much exceede a beast as God doth him what if I be not known to the Nimrods of the world and the Peeres of the earth I can speake to their better to their Master and by prayer bee familiar with him importunity does not anger him neither cāanything but our sins make vs goe away empty while the game is playing there is much differēce between the King and the Pawne that once ended they are both shuffled into the bag together akd who can say whether was most happy saue onely the King had many checks while the little Pawne was free and secure My comfort is my accesse to heauen is as free as the Princes my departure from earth not so grieuous for while the world smiles on him I am sure I haue lesse reason to loue it then hee Gods fauour I will chiefly seeke for mans but as it fals in the way to it when it proues a hindrance I hate to be loued X. The vertuous
primary cause of a great deale of the good they atchieue So wee cannot but grant that while here his memory weares out his glory in a better world augments daily either by his good presidents his pious institutions his charitable deeds or his godly works each of which with Gods blessing are able to kindle some heat in the cold zeale of posteritie Examples are the best and most lasting lectures vertue the best example Happie man that hath done these things in sincerity Time shall not outliue his worth He liues truely after death whose pious actions are his pillars of remembrāce though his flesh moulders to drosse in the graue yet is his happinesse in a perpetuall growth no day but addes some graines to his heape of glory Good workes are seedes that after sowing returne vs a continuall haruest A man liues more renowned by some glorious deedes then euer did that Carian by his Mausolean monument On the contrary what a wofull course hath he runne that hath liued lewdly and dyes without repentance his example infects others and they spread it abroad to more like a man that dyes on the plague he leaues the infection to a whole Citie So that euen the sinnes of thousands hee must giue an account for What can we thinke of such as haue been the inuentors of vnlawfull games and callings that are now in vse sure they haue much to answere for that thus haue occasioned so much ill yea better had it beene they had not beene at all then being to be loaden with the sinnes of so many Miserable man that when thy owne burthen is insupportable thou yet causest others to adde to thy weight as if thou would'st be sure desperately to make thy rising irrecouerable are the waters of thy own sinnes so low that thou must haue streames from euery place to runne into thy Ocean Who can without a showre of teares thinke on thy deplorable state or without mourning meditate thy sad condition Oh! Let me so liue as my life may be beneficiall not hurtfull to other Let my glory increase when my life is done I am sure satietie in heauen is not capable of either complaint or discontent but as for spoyling others by my owne confusion sinne I should think death a faire preuention I loue not that life which makes death eternall I haue sin enough of my owne to sigh and sorrow and mourne for I need not make others mine by my owne bad actions A little of this is too too much yea he hath enough that hath none hee hath too much that hath any at all XXV Hee deserues not commendation that for beeing commēded growes proud euery good thing a good man speakes of mee shall like the blast of a trumpet in warre incite and incourage me to a closer pursuit of more nobler vertue not like Bucephalus trappings blow mee vp in a higher conceit of ouerprizing my owne weaknes So while some speake well let my deeds exceed their tougue I had rather men should see more thē they expect then looke for more then they shall find XXVI When a man hath the proiect of a course in his mind 't is good wisedome to resolue of secrecy till the time his intent bee fulfilled neither can hee but be foolish that brags much either of what he will doe or of what hee shall haue For if what hee speakes of falls not out accordingly then will the world mocke him with derision and scorne and oftentimes his liberall tongue may be occasion of some ones sodain intercepting his aime divulged intentions seldome proceed well multitudes make a iarre in businesses their opinions or Councels either distract Iudgement or diuert resolution But howsoeuer if what wee boasted of commeth to passe yet shall we be reputed vain-glorious boasters vnwise Bragges lift vp expectation so high that shee ouerthinkes the birth and many times the childe which indeed is faire wee thinke not so because wee were possest with hopes of finding it rare Secrecy is a necessary part of policie things vntold are yet vndone then to say nothing there is not a lesse labour I obserue the Fig-tree whose fruit is most pleasant bloomes not at all whereas the Sallow that hath glorious palmes is continually found Barren I would first be so wise as to bee my owne Councellor next so secret as to bee my owne Councell-keeper XXVII Some men read Authors as our Gentlemen vse flowers onely for delight and smell to please their fancy and refine their tongue Others like the Bee extract onely the hony the wholesome precepts and this alone they beare away leauing the rest as little worth of small value In reading I will care for both though for the last most the one serues to instruct the mind the other fits her to tell what she hath learned pitty it is they should be deuided he that hath worth in him and cannot expresse it is a chest keeping a rich Iewell and the key lost Concealing goodnesse is vice vertue is better by being cōmunicated A good stile with wholesome matter is a faire woman with a vertuous soule which attracts the eyes of all The good man thinkes chastly and loues her beauty for her vertue which hee still thinks more faire for dwelling in so faire an outside The vicious man hath lustfull thoughts and he would for her beauty faine destroy her vertue but comming to sollicite his purpose findes such diuine lectures from her Angels tongue and those deliuer'd with so sweet a pleasing modesty that he thinks vertue is dissecting her soule to him to rauish man with a beauty which he dream'd not of So hee could now curse himselfe for desiring that lewdly which he hath learn'd since onely to admire and reuerence Thus he goes away better that came with an intent to bee worse Quaint phrases on a good subiect are baits to make an ill man vertuous how many vile men seeking these haue found themselues Conuertites I may refine my speech without harme but I will endeuour more to reforme my life 'T is a good grace both of Oratory or the Pen to speake or write proper but that is the best work where the Graces and the Muses meet XXVIII Wee see in the Moone a threefold condition her Wane her Increase her Full all which I liuely see resembled in a Christian three causes working them Sinne Repentance Faith Sinne vvhich after the act vvhen he once considers it makes him like the Moone in her Wane or state of Decrement obscuring and diminishing that glorious light of the spirit vvhich vvhilome shined so brightly in him nay sometimes as the Moone in her latest state of Diminution hee seemes quite gone resting for a time like a man in a trance like a tree in Winter or as fire buried in concealing Embers vvithout either sence or shew of either light or heat But then comes Repentance and casts water in his face bedewes him vvith teares rubbes vp his benummed soule that there is to bee seene