request whereto the assurance you gave me did not a little contribute that the impatience of becoming more worthy of my singular Care in your Education did prompt you to this besides your mentioning what Joy you should conceive to share the Pains I take to increase your Fortune The Protestations of this truth made to me in private and reiterated in the presence of our Relations who I was willing should be witnesses of my Carriage towards you in an Affair of this importance prevented my making use of an absolute Authority given to me as a Father to force you to comply with my Will and that for three Reasons which I shall the more gladly impart to you because I am presuaded the knowledg of them will excite you to acknowledge my Kindness The first is That altho many Fathers will admit of no Limits in Filial Obedience and their claim thereto being of Divine Right yet I can say I never took such advantage over you by this Right as to use it in it's utmost Rigour Of this I have given you more than one Proof and you may remember that as often as your Conduct brought upon you my Correction in the greatest and most lawful Causes I had of being incensed I always allayed the heat of those Provocations caused through your Indiscretion with the Fondness of a tender Father You know I have Contracted the Bounds of your obedience and extended those of my Kindness to whatsoever you could pretend and in putting you in mind of your Duty by these words of St. Paul Children obey your Parents in all things for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord I was exhorted to mine by the words following Fathers provoke not your Children to Anger least they be discouraged The second Reason which obliged me not to withstand absolutely your Intentions was to avoid the Reproaches which you might reflect upon me hereafter that my refusal had bin an Obstacle to your Fortune And the last was the Fear I had lest you should have made use of that very refusal for a Pretext to justifie ever after all defects in your Proceedings These Reasons my Son were the Cause of my complying so easily with your request I could have wished you would have altered your Intentions to please me but seeing that you could not conform to my Sentiments and that you still persist in your design after having implored the Almighty to grant you his Grace and to Shower down the most precious of his Blessings upon your Soul your Person and your Actions I think it is absolutely necessary for to satisfie my Inclination and Duty not to let you go without some peculiar Instructions which may be as a Guide to your Manners and which most certainly will be convincing Proofs of my Kindness as also inexhaustible Springs of future happiness in your Conversation both Spiritual and Civil if you will apply your self to them which I exhort and command you to do However let what will happen these Instructions will remain as so many irrefragable Witnesses how zealously I endeavoured to do my Duty if unhapily you should be wanting in yours By telling you my dear Son that these Instructions which I am about to give you are the Effects of my Inclination and Duty I have inverted that order which Reason requires I should rather have said these Effects proceeded from my Duty and Inclination and so have preferred Duty before Inclination because the first is governed by Reason whereas the latter is but an Incitement of Nature who is not seldom blinded by those tender Impulses which Proximity of Blood inspires But I was overcome by a Weakness common to most Fathers which I do not stick to confess to the intent you may be perswaded that in this following Discourse I rather fell into a great Indulgence than that I maintained a Severity too Austere 'T is also not without some Mystery my Son that in wishing you the Blessings of God I would have them applied to your Soul your Person and your Actions The order of these Words is one of the Duties whereon I shall give you some Instructions which I enjoyn you to observe and practice I divide it into three parts Spiritual Personal and Civil Duties the first shall teach you your Duty to God the second your Duty to your self and the last shall instruct you in your Duty to your Neighbour If I should go about to treat of this Matter to an extent as great as it's Importance I ought instead of a few Pages I intend for you to write several Volumes but this being wide of my Design as also far above my Abilities I shall rest satisfied in being as concise as this matter can possibly allow God grant through his Grace that I may be inspired with Arguments both so clear and strong as to equalize the greatness of my Enterprize and that through his Goodness he may encline you to put them in Practice for his Glory for your Salvation for my Satisfaction and for your Profit and Advancement Of Spiritual Duties YOU learned in your Childhood my Son that God created you to know him and to serve him These two Obligations which bind you from your Birth have Relation to the two chief Faculties of the Soul The Knowledge of God belongs to the Vnderstanding and the Service of him to the Will but the Light of our Understanding has too narrow limits ever to arrive to the perfect Knowledge of his Divinity and the Will of Man is too perverse to be capable of serving him as we ought These Impediments which grow out of the abundance of our Corruption must nevertheless not discourage us A bruised Reed God shall not break and smoaking Flax shall he not quench He fulfils his Power in our Weaknesses he supplies our Wants he helps our Infirmities and he knowing that of our selves we cannot ascend to him out of his Divine Goodness is pleased to come down to us He not only makes use of his Word and his Works to imprint in our Minds some kind of Idea of his Greatness which we may not wholly conceive but also through the Communication of his Holy Spirit he corrects our Inclinations and when he has made them to will what naturally they would not he also forces them to act it by a sweet sort of Violence which we cannot resist My Son read this Word and that as often as possibly you may but read it with great Respect and Attention 'T is the Voice of God This Reason must oblige you to the Respect and 't is for your Instruction you read it this should force you to the Attention I demand of you Set apart some hours for this sacred Study which on Sunday ought to be two at least and one upon each other Day Be careful that upon no account you neglect this Duty The greatest of all Considerations is that of your Salvation quit all others that you may not fail in this and let not any interest or pleasure
Duties of a Spiritual Life viz Reading the Word of God with Attention frequent and ardent Prayers a constant Perseverence in the Faith and a perfect and entire Resignation to the Will of God tho he expose you to be tried by the most bitter Calamities If you had still remained with me I should have given you these very Instructions the two first whereof I have bin very careful in making you practice as soon as your Age would permit it Therefore I could not but think them more necessary to you when you are from me and chiefly in a Country where far from having the Comfort of a publick Exercise of your Religion you will scarce ever see an Example of the least Piety which ought the rather to oblige you to practise most exactly the Advice I have now given you I do exhort you to it by the Bowels of Mercy of our Lord and Saviour I require it of you by the Care you ought to have of your Salvation and I do entreat you to do it by that Complaisance which I have reason to expect from your Gratitude If you follow this Counsel you will render to God what is due to him you will accomplish the demands of your Father and thereby you may discharge that Duty you owe to your self wherein I shall instruct you in the second Discourse which according to the method I prescribed must treat of Personal Duties Of Personal Duties I Have been more concise in the first Part which treats of your Duty towards God than I shall be in this which concerns your Duty to your self or in the next following which comprehends your Duty to your Neighbour and 't is no hard matter to justifie my Proceedings in this Point I have followed the Example of God himself for of the Ten Commandments whereof his Law is composed there are but four which have immediate Regard to his Service whereas there are six to guide us in our Duty towards our Neighbour There is no Nation so ignorant or brutish but believeth in some God and at the same time prepares a form of Worship whereby to shew their Obedience so true it is that the Belief of a God doth imply a Duty of serving him not to be dispensed with and this is so absolutely necessary that altho some Men might be so irreligious as not to acknowledge it they must nevertheless be convinced of it in their Conscience Your Mind my Son is replenished with this Knowledge let it then pass from thence into your Will and with those Lights wherewith it hath pleased God to enlighten your Understanding rectifie whatsoever is amiss in your Affections Discharge your self of the Duties that are inseparably joyned to your Knowledge of God that is to fear to love and to serve him I do not question but you would have done this tho I had not exhorted you to it which will be a matter of great Comfort in my Sorrow for your Absence Vpon this Belief I abridg'd my Thoughts and suppressed much of what I could have said upon this Subject which being so abundant would have render'd this Discourse at least as long as both those which are to follow To being with our second Subject which is concerning your Duty to your self I think it very convenient to put you in mind of that moral Dialogue which in your tender Years I made for your Instructions wherein you may have remember'd that I treated of Christian Vertues which are Faith Charity and Hope which three guide us in our Duty to God Faith makes us submit to him in all Things Charity makes us cleave to him at all Times and Hope carrieth us to him to all Eternity You ought also to remember that there are Moral Vertues viz Prudence Fortiude Temperance and Justice These are to teach us our Duty to our selves as also our Duty to our Neighbours The first of these four Vertues is like a Salt to season the other three Fortitude and Temperance have a relation to each individual Person and Justice is the Bonds of Humane Society without which Men must live together like Wolves not being capable of any Converse for the Publick Good which next to the glorifying of God ought to be our chief Aim So that in this second Article of Instructions which my Son I do now lay down before you I must speak but of the three first Vertues Prudence Temperance and Fortitude Prudence ought to be the Rule of your Actions and Conduct Temperance will instruct you how to govern your self in Prosperity that you may not be poisoned with it's delicious Pleasures And Fortitude will so guide you that you shall not be overcome with the Bitterness of Adversity I will reduce all I have to say to you to as few words as I can altho the Subject be very copious that you may only receive the Pith and Juyce of it whereby you may be nourished without being overcharged Man was born for Society and I may say without that Society Vertue would have no Followers Man's Life would be unpleasant and in this World there would be no Content God after he had created Man said it was not good that he should be alone Therefore through his extraordinary Goodness he made him a Help meet for him and formed a Person with whom he might live in Society Now this Society is nothing else but a reciprocal Communication made between divers Persons who by mutual Services to one another endeavour to render their Lives as pleasant as they can and to avoid vexatious Cares and Sorrow According to the Humor of the Persons which make up this Society it will be good or evil for as Solomon saith He that walketh with wise men shall be wise but a Companion of Fools shall be destroyed Evil Communication corrupts good Manners therefore my Son you ought diligently to take heed in the choice of those Persons with whom you design to be acquainted Hearken not to Nature herein who following her Inclination to what is evil might lead you into bad Company be rather attentive to true Piety which will tell you Enter not into the Path of the Wicked and go not in the way of evil Men. Consult Prudence and she will teach you to choose your Friends which is a thing of the highest consequence because we acquire generally the Habits and Passions of those whom we frequent This was so well known to our Fore-fathers that they did not scruple to pass their Judgment upon any Man when they were once acquainted with the Temper of his Companions according to this old Saying of theirs Tell me what Company you keep and I will tell you what you are Frequent then my Son as much as you are able Persons of Honour and Integrity or at least those who are esteemed such and out of this Company choose one of the most vertuous whom you must endeavour to make your particular Friend Let not this single Expression of one Friend surprise you for it is not
Acquaintance This is all we can aim at for therein is Honour Profit and Pleasure Be discreet and sincere in all your Words honest and prudent in all your Actions obliging and affable in all your Behaviour Never construe ill what others say or do unless they come to be publickly so censur'd Take great heed of being revengeful Revenge pierceth and teareth the Heart that is filled therewith The Grounds that make you desire Revenge are either just or injust if injust then you are injust to desire it and if just then by endeavouring to revenge your self you become injust for you encroach upon the Prerogative of the King of Heaven who hath said Vengeance is mine To avoid Perjury or false Swearing which amongst Men is scandalous and abominable in the sight of God I advise you to swear not at all If you once get a Habit of speaking always Truth every one will easily believe you without any need of affirming it with an Oath Among all Vices there is none more base and yet more ordinary than Ingratitude this is the general Opinion and Complaint of the World and if all those who thus complain were free from it no body would use it for every one complains thereof The Ancients by a special Mystery have limited the Graces to the number of three to intimate that if one of them had received a good Turn from the other the third was to return it to her Make hereof a Law to your self and an urgent Endeavour to follow this Lesson and never to be ungrateful for any at least considerable Benefit received If you intend my Satisfaction or your own Quiet be careful never to become Surety for any Man for any Cause whatsoever If your Friend hath need of you serve him with your Purse and Advice with all your Power and Interest but keep your Liberty and engage for no Man If you have a mind to help a Friend in necessity and that you are well able to do it do it quickly but if you are not well able why will you bind your self to do it hereafter when perhaps you shall be less able Therefore be not bound for any unless you care not to be rid of your Money your Quiet and your Friend In other things my Son I have been contented to advise you to exhort and perswade you but herein I make use of all Authority which the Quality of Father gives me and do absolutely forbid this thing Take heed of refusing my Command as you will avoid the Punishment which your Disobedience shall justly deserve Perhaps this may seem somewhat strange and hard to many Men yet it is drawn from the Advice of a Great King who was the wisest Man in the World 22 Chap. of Prov. Be not thou one of them that strike Hands or of them that are Sureties for Debts If thou hast nothing to pay he may lawfully take thy Bed from under thee My Son by his Opinion I can justifie the Severity and Unkindness that some would impute to mine for absolutely forbidding you to become Surety for any Man You depart hence sufficiently grounded in the Truth of our Religion being able to render a Reason of the Hope that is in you to all that shall ask it which I would have you do upon all Occasions with Respect and Reverence as St. Peter exhorts yet following the Advice of St. Paul avoid always all Disputes about Religion for that rather makes more averse than perswades and the earnest desire of confuting or the fear of being vanquished transports very moderate Men sometimes to dangerous Extremities Hereby Charity is almost always wounded and Truth never cleared which makes appear that it may well be said at this time of Controversies what the Apostle said heretofore of Fables and Genealogies which are endless that they beget rather vain and curious Questions than Godly Edification which consists in the true Faith the Foundation of Christian Vertues as Charity is the Perfection and Hope the Crown thereof Whereof the first hath none but God for it's Object the last aims only at our Selves and the middlemost contains our Duty to God to our Selves and to our Neighbour for by Charity we learn all the Duties of a Spiritual Life as also of a Corporeal which the Apostle St. Paul preferreth before the other two Christian Vertues where he saith that there abideth Faith Hope and Charity these three but the greatest of these is Charity God is Love and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him The other Vertues draw us nearer unto God but this renders us like unto him in some manner seeing that he accounts it one of his chiefest Attributes that of Charity which is also the inexhaustible Spring of all the Benefits he bestows upon Man So that my Son as often as you are charitable you will imitate God in one of his most frequent Actions who is never weary of doing good to us tho we are so unworthy of it Do good therefore to all especially to those who are of the Houshold of Faith Yet make not that a Pretext to withhold your Charity from all those who are not of the same Communion with you All Men are your Brothers in God which Quality alone should suffice to engage you to help them in their Need to comfort them in their Afflictions and chiefly to let your Assistance be as speedy and effectual as their Necessities are urgent This will be an infallible Means to draw the Blessings of Heaven upon your Soul your Person and your Actions He that giveth to the Poor lendeth to the Lord But whoso stoppeth his Ears at the Cry of the Poor he shall also cry himself but shall not be heard saith Solomon You may therefore see what is generally the Fruits of Charity However let not Self-interest be the Motive which inclines you to be charitable this Vertue would thereby lose its excellent Quality and you might expect in vain the Effects of it if you pretend to make a Bargain with God Almighty 'T is in Charity that all Christian Vertues terminate and it shall be with the Description of this Divine Quality that I will end this Chapter which contains the Instructions that I was to give you about Personal Duties after which there only remains that I should say a Word or two concerning Civil Duties Of Civil Duties HItherto my Son I have represented unto you your Duty to God as also what you owe to your self for his sake seeing that in him we live and move and have our Being and that all our Thoughts Words and Actions ought to tend towards God as to their Center It is now time I should make you consider what you owe to Mankind to whom you are fasten'd with the Bonds of a Civil Society For I would not have you imagine that you was born for your self alone there lieth an Obligation upon you of being a Help to your Neighbour Solitariness is not natural to Man nay 't
is even contrary to the Will and Design of the Creator who plac'd him in the World for Society-sake Reason was given him to no other Purpose but to make use of it He has Vertues he ought to put them in practice Which he cannot do but with those of his own kind and in a civil Converse In this Converse I would have you use the subtlety of the Serpent and yet act with the simplicity of the Dove Be just and sincere and have always in your Mind this excellent Law of Nature which I cited once before Do not to others what you would not that others should do to you This Law is not onely a Dictate of Nature and receiv'd generally throughout the Universe but God himself makes it a part of his Law when he commands us to love our Neighbour as our self My Son observe this that God doth command you not onely to love your Neighbour but to love him as your self that is to say as heartily as sincerely and with an Affection as ardent as is possible This Obligation as you may see is of a great Extent but the Goodness of God extends much farther he relinquisheth part of his Right for our sakes for tho he has required our Affection entire to himself yet he looseth that Obligation and is willing we should have for one another part of that which he had demanded from us and retain'd wholly for himself Here he ceaseth his Jealousie he that takes upon him so often the Name of Jealous and through an Excess of Love which he bears towards us he is so far from being angry that our Neighbour has a share in our Affection that he commands it and is well pleas'd to create himself Rivals upon this Account Man is not sensible enough of this Goodness which is infinite as well as the Essence from whence it proceeds for of the three kinds of Affections prescribed to us by the Law of God Man for the most part maintains that which has a Relation to himself taking no Notice of the other two and by an Excess of Self-love he fails in that which is due to God and his Neighbour by which Vice he becomes in this World a Complice with the Devil and therefore cannot but expect to share with him his Punishment in the next Therefore to avoid this love others as much as you would have them love you To this Duty you ought to apply your self very much as well for your Advantage as to render your Life sweet and pleasant Who speaks Love speaks Service Esteem Honour in a Word speaks all obliging Condescensions which Mans Heart always inspires for those Persons that are dear to him My Son all Men should be dear to you and he whose House toucheth yours is not more your Neighbour than he that dwelleth in another Country Be officious towards all Lose no Opportunity of serving any one Add to the Courtesies you bestow a Way altogether obliging in bestowing them which encreaseth their Merit and though the Person be never so much unknown to you that demands any thing if you are not in a Capacity of satisfying him do not encrease his Discontent occasion'd by your Refusal with harsh and unkind Language but rather diminish his Trouble by that which you should express in not being caâ—able to content him This Conduct will not only gain Esteem but also a general Love and Affection wheresoever you happen to be Great Persons are to us as the Flame of Candles are to Flies We must have a great care of approaching them too familiarly lest we run in danger of burning our selves There is nothing so alluring and yet so full of Deceit as their pompous Equipage and their splendid Entertainments My Son be not dazled with it and whether they derive their Greatness from their Birth or from their Fortune let only their Vertue and Personal Merits guide those Sentiments of Respect and Veneration which you think is owing them Among several Reasons which perswade me to give you this Advice I will here lay down some of the most important First of all consider this as a Truth that although among Great Persons there may be found some whose Inclinations and Conduct answer exactly to their Character the Number is infinitely the greater that derogates from it Remember that they are for the most part like the Trees in Forrests which sometimes yield Shade but very rarely any Fruit unless it be like those Trees near the Dead Sea in the Holy Land which proffer very fair Apples to Passengers but within side are nothing but Dust and Rottenness Almost all the Great ones entice us after the same manner oblige and gain us with large Promises and by an excess of Civility whereby we are too often caught and never undeceiv'd till an unhappy Experience in our Necessities convinceth us how little Reason we have to relye upon the Hopes or Expectations of what they promise Besides if you should be so fortunate as to be favour'd by some Great Person which will scarce happen unless his own Interest forceth him to it in a small time you will begin to perceive that his Friendship has not only the false glittering of Glass but also it 's Brittleness for generally the least Oversight makes them forget the greatest Service Therefore if you will be persuaded by me make no Addresses to Great Persons or so much as come at them unless you are obliged to it by a Duty not to be dispens'd with Behave your self with great Respect towards your Superiours with civill Compliance among your equals and always courteously towards your Inferiours Take heed how you speak ill of any one especially in his Absence there is nothing more unworthy of a Man of Honour and you will be so far from living in Peace with others which is the chief end of Society that of Necessity you will be at odds with all If you have privately perceiv'd the vicious Inclinations of any Person of your Acquaintance do not Publish but rather forget them after you have done your utmost Endeavour to cure him of his Faults One of the most considerable Services that we can render to a Neighbour is to make him perceive the Errours of his Conduct And to do this successfully so that he may see 't is the Advice of a Friend let Prudence guide you least he disdain your Counsel instead of profiting thereby You would become ridiculous if you should be stain'd with the same Vice which you reprove in another and you will sooner pass for an impertinent Censurer than a sincere Friend Take heed therefore to that and mend that Fault in your self which you intend to cure in your Neighbour Avoid the Baseness of those who delight in raising false Reports and hearken not to those who go about to scandalize others If you do you seek thereby an Occasion to fall out with your Neighbour and if you your self create a Scandal upon him it will be a sufficient Reason for his
and changes his condition of Christian into that of an Idolater L. Since Passions are the Diseases of the Soul nothing but Temperance is fit to be the Physician LI. He that excessively delights in Play must count that he shall dye in Poverty LII Winning at Play is the Bait which Fortune makes use of to undo us LIII Those who Play to recover what they have lost add to the loss of their Money the loss of their Reason and often times the loss of the rest of their Money LIV. Much Sleep and much Play fill the Stomach with Crudities and the Purse with Wind. LV. Think a little before you Speak think more before you make a Promise LVI In divers affairs you may choose if you will make a Promise but having made a Promise you cannot dispense therewith LVII Never discourse of things whereof you are ignorant and discourse but little of what you know and whether you speak or are silent do all with discretion LVIII Jesting sometimes upholds Conversation but generally disunites the Jesters They that desire to avoid quarrels and live in quiet let them avoid Jesting as a Snare LIX If you do not easily bear with the failings of others you will render your own failings unsufferable LX. He that carelessly regards the misfortunes of other Men ought not to think it strainge if others look upon his misfortunes without compassion LXI If you think to oblige Men to be civil and courteous towards you give them Example by your carriage towards them LXII The Favors which you do to other Men place under your Feet the Favours which others do to you place at your Heart LXIII He that forgets favours received deserves no more LXIV Be not slow in serving others if you would have them quick in doing Pleasures to you LXV If you are not generous enough to prevent your Friend by good Turns be not slow to requite his to you LXVI A sincere Intention although unprofitable better repays a good Turn than a forced Acknowledgment LXVII He that brags of a Favour that he hath done doth much diminish the merit thereof for by his Indiscretion he makes it appear that he is divided betwixt his Vain-glory and his Friend LXVIII He that gives to receive of a generous Act which is one of the most commendable Qualities of a man of Honour makes it to be one of the most dirty Trades in the World LXIX If you take Pleasure in Lies Truth will become a Pain to you LXX He that excuseth his Fault by a Lye condemns himself two ways LXXI If Lying be usual with you you mistrust all that others tell you LXXII He that makes use of Cunning and Lying to get his Neighbours Goods imitates the Devil who made use of both those Qualities to rob our first Parent of his Innocence LXXIII The ill using of our Goods in this World will be one of the principal and most just cause of our misery in the next LXXIV He that is not content with a moderate Fortune oft times takes great Pains to lessen it by endeavouring to augment it LXXV He that regulates his Desires by the necessities of Nature aims but at a few things but he that is led by his Lust gives no Bounds to his Desires LXXVI Be not eager to know other Mens Secrets Be very reserved in communicating your own you are no longer Master of them so soon as you have imparted them to any Person and your Example seems to justifie his Unfaithfulness in discovering them to a third Person LXXVII He that boasts of his good Qualities loses the merit of them by his Pride and he that hides his good Qualities gives them a higher esteem by his Modesty LXXVIII High Places make their Heads turn who have but weak Brains and extraordinary Fortunes trouble the Spirit of those who have not good Judgments LXXIX A Man hath need of great Constancy in Adversity that he may not be wanting to himself and of great Moderation in Prosperity that he may not be wanting to others LXXX Prosperity makes others know truly what we are and Adversity makes us know who are our true Friends LXXXI Those who haunt us for our Wealth are like Hawks that fly only for the Prey LXXXII He that will not know his Friends in his Prosperity deserves to meet with none in his Misery LXXXIII He that leans over-much on the Friendship of Great Persons will find sooner or later that he leans upon a broken Reed LXXXIV God by his extreme Bounty recompenses with extraordinary Favours the least Duties which we render to him but the most part of great Persons who are earthly Gods make account that they have over rewarded our greatest Services by a few kind Words LXXXV He that takes great care to preserve the friendship of great Men shall know when he hath need of them that he hath taken much pains to cultivate Land that will prove barren LXXXVI A Man who hath excellent Parts and great Learning yet makes no use thereof is like a good Sword never drawn out of the Scabbard LXXXVII He that advises others to be vertuous hath thereby the more reason to be so himself LXXXVIII He that praises and commends only to please his complaisance draws his judgment in question LXXXIX The forwardlyness of a Man to advise others is oftner a mark of his Presumption then a proof of his Friendship XC He that thinks it enough to bewail our Evils when he can Cure them is not toucht at the Heart but sheds only Crocodiles tears XCI In our great displeasures our first Tears may be just the second may be handsome but those after that are neither reasonable nor honorable XCII He that weeps only because he thinks he ought to weep may have tender Eyes and yet not toucht at the Heart XCIII He that employes his Authority to do ill things or to maintain them cuts his Throat with his own Knife XCIV Trust not Flatterers and great Talkers both of them usually aim by the wind of their words to drive thy Money out of thy Purse XCV Physicians by their Medicines oft Poyson our Bodies and Flatterers always Poyson our minds by their Discourses XCVI He that makes use of a much studied Discourse to perswade us to an evil Design employes a perfumed Ponyard to stab us at the heart XCVII The infection of the Pestilence is not so much to be feared for the Body as the Poyson of evil Company for the Mind XCVIII If you desire to dye like a righteous Man live as a Reprobate would wish to have lived when he comes to dye XCIX He that by his extraordinary complaisance draws off his Friend from a bad Business by being Surety for him or bayling of him usually draws himself into a worse Business which at length will make him understand his own want of Judgment C. He that reads for his own instruction and reads good matters without profiting thereby hath the tast of the Mind as much depraved as the