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
Christian hath publisht abroad In the first is all Naturall Philosophy in the second all Morall Philosophy in the third all true Diuinitie To those admirable Pillars of all humane learning the Philosophers God shew'd himselfe in his omnipotency and iustice but seemed as it wete to conceale his mercy to vs Christians he shines in that which out-shines all his workes his Mercy Oh! how should we regratulate his fauours for so immense a benefit wherin secluding himselfe from others hee hath wholly imparted himselfe to vs In the first of these I will admire his workes by a serious meditation of the wonders in the Creatures In the second I will reuerence his iustice by the secret and inmost checks of the conscience In the third imbrace his loue by laying hold on those promises wherein he hath not onely left mee meanes to know him but to loue him rest in him inioy him for euer LXIX If the fault be not in the misapplication then is it true that Diogenes spake of Learning That It makes yong men sober old men happie poore men rich and rich men honorable Yet in any without grace it proues a double mischiefe there is nothing more pestilent theÌ„ a ripe wit applyed to lewdnesse Because hee that knowes himselfe to bee quicke and acute relyes on his own braine for euasion from all his villanies and is drawne to the practice of much vice by the too much presuming on his own dexteritie Ability a wicked will is fuell to burne the world with wit and wantonnesse are able to intice a chaste one Resolution and policy can cast broyles in Christendome and put ciuill men into ciuill warres if you beleeue not this examine the Iesuite On the contrary where grace guides knowledge and Religion hath the reines of Art there though on earth the man is made heauenly and his life is truely Angelicall He does good by the instinct of Grace and that good hee doth well by the skilfull direction of Learning Religion is as Grammar that shewes him the word and the ground while knowledge like Rhetoricke doth pollish it with beseeming ornaments He that giues almes do's good but he that giues willingly to the needy and in season does better I vvill set my selfe to attaine both for as he can neuer be a good Orator that wants either Grammar or Rhetoricke So there is no man can bee a compleat Christian without Grace and some knowledge Vzzah intended vvell but did not know so want of goodnes spoil'd Achitophels Councell How can wee either desire or loue him that wee doe nor know since affectus motus est Cordis à notitia cognitione obiecti exâ—…citatus LXX The couetous man cannot bee a true or faithfull friend to any for while he loues his money better theÌ„ his friend what expectation can there bee of the extent of his liberality In aduersity and the time of tempest when he should be a hauen to rest in and an Alter Idem he will either like the Crocodile ceaze on him in the fall and take the aduantage of his necessities or else out of a lothnesse to lose any thing by his disbursement rather see him macerated by a consuming want then any way send him a salue for distresse Words from a dead man and deeds of charity from a man couetous are both alike rare and hard to come by 'T is a miracle if he speakes at all but if hee doth breake silence 't is not without terrour amazement to the hearers A couetous mans kindnesse is like the fowlers shrap wherin he casts meat not out of charity to relieue them but trecherie to insnare theÌ„ He reaches thee bread in one hand and shewes it but keepes a stone in the other and hides it If yet his courtesies were without danger I would rather indure some extremitie then bee beholding to the almes of Auarice He that ouer-values his benefit neuer thinkes hee hath thanks sufficient I had better shift hardly then owe to an insatiable Creditor LXXI I haue seene some high minded roysters scornfully contemne the lowly poore of Christ as if they were out of the reach of the shattering wind of Iudgement or thought it an impossibility euer to stand in need of the helpe of such humble shrubbes Fooles so to contemne those whose ayde they may after vvant 't is no badge of Nobility to despise an inferiour Magnanimity and humility are Cohabitants Courtesie is one of the fairest Iems in a Crowne 't was Caesars glory to saue his Countreymen which liues stil in that speech vvhich sayes he pardoned more then hee ouercame True Honour is like the Sunne that shines as well to the Peasant in the field as the Monarch in his throne he that withholds his clemency because the subiect is base denies a remedy to his wounded foot because 't is an inferior part so he may iustly after complaine and want it when the Lyon was catched in a snare 't was not the spatious Elephant but the little Mouse that restor'd him his wonted liberty though the head guides the hand the hand defends the head LXXII As sudden passions are most violent so sudden occasions of sinne are most dangerous for while the sences are set vpon by vnthought of obiects reason wants time to call a Counsell to determine how to resist the assault 't is a faire booty makes many a thiefe that if he had missed of this accident would perhaps haue liu'd honestly Opportunity is a wooer that none but heauen can conquer Humanity is too weake a spell for so powerfull a charme shee casts a fury into the bloud that will teare out a way though the soule bee lost by it The racke is easier then her importunity flames are snow-bals to it sure if the Diuell would change his properties he would put himselfe into this subtill thing she puls vs with a thousand chaines at euery nerue she hangs a poize to draw vs to her sorcery and many times in our gaine wee are lost for euer What tortures cannot force vs to she will smoothly perswade shee breakes all bonds lawes resolutions oathes Wise was the abstinence of Alexander from the sight of Darius his daughters lest their beauty should incite him to folly shee runnes vs into forbidden errors makes vs so desperate as to dare any thing If shee offer mee her seruice to ill I le either kicke her as a bawd to vice or else vvinke vvhen shee shewes mee her painting Occasion is a witch and I 'le be as heedfull in auoyding her as I vvill bee vvary to eschew a sinne But if I bee constrained to heare the Syren sing Vlisses was wise when hee ty'd himselfe to the mast LXXIII My hatred to my enemy shall be but in part my loue to my friend whole and intire for howsoeuer I may hate my enemies vices and his ill conditions yet will I loue his person both as he is a man and my brother His detestation is too deepe that will
Campe or doing any thing may turne disaduantage vpon his foe when as the valorous warriour giues most discomfiture in his sodainest onset where hee takes away the time for fortification If it bee by speech a man is to act his part feare puts an ague in his tongue and often leaues him either in an amazed distractiō or quite elingued For the too serious apprehension of a possible shame makes him forget that should helpe him a gainst it I meane a plaine boldnesse bequeathing a dilated freedome to all his faculties and senses which now with a cold feare are frozen and congealed If not this out of an vnmeasured care to doe well it driues a man into affectation and that like misshapen apparell spoiles the beauty of a well limb'd body For nature will not endure the racke when you set her too high she proues vntuneable and in stead of a sweet cloze yeeldes a cracke she euer goes best in her owne free pace I will neither stay her solong as to meet delay nor runne her so far as to doe ought affectedly I had rather be confidently bold then foolishly timorous he that in euery thing feares to doe well will at length doe ill in all XLI Many haue much lamented the losse of trifles when they might haue gained by such damages had they not with them lost themselues I meane their quiet minds and patience Vnwise so to debarre themselues of rest when their vexation cannot yeeld them profit if teares could either recouer a losse or recall time then to weepe were but to purpose but things past though with prudence they may be corrected yet with greatest griefe they cannot bee recalled make them better wee may but for to make them not to be at all requires more then a humane strength or a finite power Actions once done admit a correction not a nullity Although I will endeuour to amend what is gone by amisse yet will I labour neuer to grieue for any thing past but sinne and for that alwayes A small losse shall neuer trouble mee neither shall the greatest hindrance make my heart not mine owne He spake well that said He which hath himselfe hath lost nothing XLII Some men are of so noble and free a disposition that you cannot beeing a friend aske ought to receiue a deniall it being one part of their happines to pleasure the man they loue Yet these in the end and these times are the only vnhappy men For being exhausted by the necessities of others and their base working on a free nature an vnwelcom want at once vndoes them and the goodnesse of their disposition pitty such willing courtesies should be cast away in such vngratefull ground that like an vnbottomed Gulfe swallowes but returnes not or that a mans firme loue should make him doe that should kill himselfe in future Contrarie to these you haue another sort are fast and holding and though sometimes they might pleasure a friend without a selfe preiudice yet their inbred crabbednesse reserues all with a close hand And while the other ruins with a faire affection hee thriues with a vulgar hate and curses such as the first are best to others such as the last to themselues I will so serue others as I iniure not my selfe so my selfe as I may helpe other XLIII As there is no feate of Actiuity so difficult but being once done a man ventures on it more freely the second time so there is no sinne at first so hatefull but being once committed willingly a man is made more prone for a reiteration For there is more desire of a knowne pleasure then of that which onely our eares haue heard report of The horse that hath fed on prouender will looke and long for it but the iade that hath only had hey expects no more then his racke So farre is ignorance good that in a calme it keepes the minde from distraction and knowledge as it breedes desire in all things so in sinne Bootlesse therefore shall euer be that cunning fetch of Satan when hee would induce me once to make a triall of sinne that I might thereby know more and be able to fill vp my mouth with discourse my minde with fruition bearing mee in hand I may at my pleasure giue it the hand of parting and a finall farewell Too often alas haue I bin deceiued with this beguiling perswasion of a power to leaue and a will to returne at my will Henceforth shall my care bee to refraine from once If I grant that stronger perswasions will plead for a second action 't is easier to deny a guest at first then to turne him out hauing stayed a while Thou knowest not sencelesse man what ioyes thou losest when thou fondly lashest into new offences The world cannot repurchase thee thy pristine integrity thou hast hereby lost such hold of grace as thou wilt neuer againe be able to recouer A mind not conscious of any foule enormities is a fair temple in a durty street at whose dore Sinne like a throng of rude plebeians knockes incessantly while the doore is shut 't is easi to keep it so and them out open that but to let in one thousands will rush in after him and their tramplings will for euer soyle that vnstained floore while thy conscience is vnspotted thou hast that can make the smile vpon the racke and flames 't is like Homers Nepenthe that can banish the sadnesse of the minde But when thou woundest that thou buriest thy ioyes at once and throwest a Iewell from thee is richer then the wealth of worlds Foole that thou art that wandring in a darke wildernesse dost wilfully put out thy candle and thinkest cold water can slake thy thirst in the burning fit of an Ague when it onely breeds in thee a desire to powre in more Hee that neuer tasted the pleasures of sinne longs lesse after those banefull discontenting contents What sweets of sinne I know not I desire still to bee vnexperienc't in I had rather not know then by knowledge be miserable This Ignorance will teach me Knowledge of an vnknowne peace Let mee rather be outwardly maimed and want discourse then bee furnisht of that and possesse a wound that bleedeth within XLIV 'T is foolish and sauors not of common policie to purchase friends by large gifts because hauing once vsed them to rewards they will still expect more and custome that pleaseth is seldome omitted without either discontent or danger If then our loues tokens shall seem to diminish friendship likewise will decrease and if not quite consume yet easily be drawne to allow harbour to base dis-respect which what a thorne it is to an affectionate minde I desire rather to know by iudicious obseruation then by reall experience but sure I am it no way can bee small yet most true must it needs be that friendship wonne by large gifts resembles but the straw fire that hauing matter to feed vpon burnes brightly but let new fuell be neglected it dyes
too narrow for their returning turne stand still they might but that could neither bee continuall nor to purpose and to fight for the way in so perillous a place was either to put a wilfull period to their liues or extremely hazard them That they may therefore both passe in safety the one lyes down th' other goes ouer him so while their passage is quiet their liues are secure from death from danger I haue euer thought it idle to continue in strife if I get the victory it satisfies my minde but then shal I haue his malice too which may endamage me more so my gaine will bee lesse then my hindrance If I be ouercome vnwillingly thē is the disgrace mine and the losse and though I haue not his malice yet shall I not want his scorne I will in things not weighty submit freely The purest gold is most ductible t is commonly a good blade that bends well If I expect disaduantage or misdoubt the Conquest I thinke it good wisedome to giue in soonest so shall it be more honor to doe that willingly which with stiffenesse I cannot but hazard vpon compulsion I had rather be accounted too much humble then esteemed a little proud the Reede is better that bends and is whole then the strong Oake that not bending breakes If I must haue one giue me an inconuenience not a mischiefe the lightest burthen is the easiest borne III. To make a perfect man there is requisite both Religion Nature Nature alone we know too loose religion alone will seeme too hard some for Religion haue I knowne formall strict yet haue so wanted the pleasing parts of a good nature as they haue beene feared but not loued for being of a fiery spirit euen slender occasions haue made way to the divulging of their own imperfections either by too seuere a reprehension or else by too soone sodaine Contempt both which make much for the harbouring of hate against themselues by making them esteemed either rash Censurers or angry proud ones and wee all know that as Iudgement is neuer shot suddenly but from a fooles bow so blind Choller broke into expression is the true marke of an intemperate minde others there yet rest whom it tickles much to chatter of their own merits and they cannot lay an egge but they must cackle or like the boasting PHARISEE trumpet out the report of their owne praises if not out of an affected singularity and an ouerweening opinion of their owne excellence yet for lacke of an humble and discret nature that should cause their obseruation bee busied at home And this is that makes the world disdaine contemne them selfe commendation is an arrow with too many feathers which we leuelling at the marke is taken with the wind and carryed quite from it Some againe for nature I haue found rarely qualified ennobled with such a mild affability such a generous spirit and such sweetnesse of disposition and demeanour that their humble courteous carriage haue preuailed much in the affection of those with whom they haue had commerce yet because they haue wanted Religion that like a good subiect should make an elaborate worke rare they haue onely in a superficiall applause wonne the approbation of the vnsteady multitude who loue them more for suffering their rudenesse then for any noble worth that 's obuious to their vndiscerning Iudgements But in all this they haue got no reuerence no respect at all Thus Religion without Nature in men meerely naturall begets a certaine forme of awfull regard but to them 't is like a tyrannical Prince whom the people obey more for feare of an austere rebuke then for any true affection they beare to his person Now Nature without Religion oft wins loue and this is like a Master too familiar with his seruant that in the beginning gains loue but shall in the end find contempt and his toleration will be made an allowance of ill Both together are rare for qualification Nature hath in her selfe treasure enough to please a man Religion a Christian the last begets feare the other loue together admiration reuerence I will like I will loue them single but conioyn'd I will affect and honour IIII. I finde to him that the tale is told beliefe onely makes the difference betwixt a truth and lyes for a lye beleeued is true and truth vncredited a lye vnlesse he can carry his probation in 's pocket or more readily at his tongues end for as he that tels a smooth lye is iudged to speake truth till some step forth to contradict his vtterance so hee that tels an vnlikely truth is thought to broch a lye vnlesse he can produce conuincing reason to proue it onely the guilt or iustice of the thing rests in the knowing conscience of the Relator In the hearer I cannot count it a fault 't is easie to bee deceiued in miracles in probabilities albeit the iudgement that passeth on them bee both honest wise apprehensiue and cleere In the teller iustly if it bee a lye there needs no text to confute it if it seeme so and he cannot purge it discretiō were better silent I will tell no lies lest I bee false to my selfe no improbable truths lest I seeme so to others If I heare any man report wonders what I know I may haply speake what I but think shal rest with my self I may aswell be too suspicious as ouer credulous V. Three things are there which aggrauate a miserie and make an euill feeme greater then indeede it is Inexpectation Vnacquaintance want of Preparation Inexpectation when a mis-hap comes suddenly and vnlooked for it distracteth the minde and scares both the faculties and affections from their due consultation of remedy whereas an euill foreseene is halfe cured because it giueth warning to prouide for danger Thus the falling of a house is more perillous than the rising of a floud for while of the former the hurt is more vnauoydable by reason both of the violence and precipitation The latter through the remissenes of comming is lesse dangerous lesse preiudiciall there being time either to auoyd the place or to countermure If this suffice not think but how odious treason would shew in a deare friend from whom we only expected the sweet embraces of loue the conceit onely is able to kill like a madde Dogg's biting that not onely wounds the body but insaniates the soule Secondly Vnacquaintāce Familiaritie takes away feare when matters not vsuall proue inductions to terror The first time the Fox saw the Lyon hee feared him as death the second hee feared him but not so much the third time hee grew more bold and passed by him without quaking The Imbellicke peasant when hee comes first to the field shakes at the report of a Musket but after he hath rang'd thorow the furie of two or three Battels he then can fearelesse stand a breach and dares vndaūted gaze death in the face Thirdly want of preparation When the enemie besiegeth a Citie
what it is not Ambitious nor Auaricious But if euer the Diuine prouidence shall beyond either my desert or expectation blesse mee I will thinke to grow proud is but to rise to fall and to proue couetous onely to possesse wealth that the nobler mindes may hate and scorne mee For what is there they esteeme more sordid then for a mans minde to bee his moneyes Mercenary XXXII A weake Christians life is almost nothing but a Vicissitude of sinne and sorrow First hee sinnes and then he laments his folly like a negligent schoole-boy he displeaseth his master and then beseecheth his remission with teares Our owne coruptions are diseases incurable while we liue they will break out vpon vs wee may correct them wee cannot destroy them they are like the feathers in a fowle cut thē they will come againe break them they will come againe plucke them out yet they will come again only kill the bird and they grow no more While bloud is in our veines sinne is in our nature since I cannot auoide it I will learne to lament it And if through my offences my ioy bee made obscure and vanish that sorrow shall new beget my ioy not because I haue beene sinfull but because for sinne I finde my selfe sorrowfull All other sorrowes are either foolish fruitlesse or beget more onely this darke entry leades the way to the faire Court of happines God is more mercifull in giuing repentāce to the Delinquent then in granting remission to the Repentant He hath promised pardon to the Penitent no Repentance to the Peccant XXXIII In chusing friends there be two sorts of men that I would for euer auoyde For besides the learning of their vices I dare not trust them with a secret There is the Angry man and the Drunkard The first in his fit is meerely mad hee speakes not a word by reason but by brutish passion not vpon premeditated termes but whatsoeuer his memory on the sudden catches his violent passion driueth out bee it knowne or hidden so oft in a braule he blabbes out that which being cooled hee much repents to haue named committing that in his sparkling fury which his appeased soule will tremble to think of Anger is the feuer of the soule which makes the tongue talke idle it puts a man into a tumult that he cannot heare what Counsell speakes t is a raging Sea a troubled water that cannot be wholesome for the vse of any and if it be true which Hippocrates tels that those diseases are the most dangerous that alter the habit of the patients countenance this must needs bee most perillous that voyce colour countenance pace so changeth as if fury dispossessing reason had set a new Garrison in the Citadell of man This he knew that gaue vs that precept Make not friendship with an angry man The other hath no memory at all For the aboundāce of wine hath drown'd vp that noble Recorder and while Bacchus is his chiefe god Apollo neuer keepes him company Friends and foes familiars and strangers are then all of equall esteeme so he forgetfully speakes of that in his cups which if he were sober should bee buried in silence First he speakes he knowes not what nor after can he remember what that was he spake Hee speakes that he should forget and forgets that which hee did speake Drunkennesse is the funerall of all intelligible man whom onely time and abstinence can resuscitate A Drunkards minde and stomach are alike neither can retaine what they receiue I would bee loth to admit of a familiar so infectious as either more vnwilling to reueale my selfe to any so open What friēd soeuer I make choise of I will bee sure hee shall haue these two properties Mildnesse Temperance otherwise t is better to want companions then to be annoyed with either a mad-man or foole Clitus was slaine by a Drunken Master The Thessalonians massacred by an angry Emperour and the deaths of of either lamented by the Agents XXXIIII I see liberty makes licentious and where the reines are giuen too loosely the affections run wildely on without a guide to ruine For mans will without discretion that should adde limits is like a blind horse without a bridle that should guide him aright he may goe fast but runnes to his own ouerthrow and while hee mends his pace he hastens to his owne mischiefe Nothing makes vs more wretched then our owne vncontrolled wils A loose will fulfilled is the way to worke out a woe For besides this folly in beginning wrong the greatest danger is in continuance when like a Bowle running down a hill he is euer most violent when hee growes neerest his Cēter period of his aime These follies are prettily shaddowed in the sports of Acteon that while he suffer'd his eye to roue at pleasure and beyond the pale of expediēce his Houndes euen his own affections ceaze him teare him proue his decay Let it be my vigilance to curbe my beginning desires that they may not wander beyond moderation if my owne will be a blind conductor good precepts to an ingenious nature are bitts that restraine but hurt not I know to follow a soothing fancy cannot be but ridiculously ill and this inconuenience besides haue I seene That hee which may doe more then is fit will in time doe more then is lawfull He that now exceedes the measure will ere long exceed the manner Vice is a Peripatetick alwayes in Progression XXXV Euen between two faithfull friends I thinke it not conuenient that all secrets should be imparted neither is it the part of a friend to fish out that which were better concealed yet I obserue some of such insinuating dispositions that there is nothing in their friends heart that they would not thēselues know with him and this if I may speake freely I count as a fault For many times by too farre vrging they wring bloud from whence onely milke should flowe knowing that by their importunitie which not only breedes a dislike in them to heare but also when their conference is ended begetes a repenting sorrow in him that told it and makes him wish hee had lock't vp his lips in silence rather then haue powred out his heart with such indiscretion How many haue bewailed the vntimely disclosures of their tongue how many haue screw'd out secrets that would haue giuen thousands to haue return'd them vnknowne If I haue a friend that I care not to lose I will neuer ingage my selfe so much as to be beholding to him to know all If I haue one that is faithfull I wil not wrong him so much as to wrest that from him should cause him be sorrowfull If hee reueales ought vn-vrged my aduice is faithfull and free otherwise to presse out a secret that may proue preiudiciall I esteeme as the beginning of the breach of Amity and the primary breeder of a secret dislike XXXVI We know 't is sometimes better to sound a retrait so retire then 't is to stay
fauours though oppressed with pouerty I am richer then all their gawdy Adulations can make me because I haue already the earnest of a World of Ioy which the wicked shall neuer obtaine LVI I wonder what spirit they are indued withall that can basely libell at a man that is falne If they were heauenly then would they with him condole his disasters and drop some teares in pitty of his folly and wretchednesse If but humane yet nature neuer gaue them a mind so cruell as to adde weight to an ouercharged beame When I heare of any that fall into publike disgrace I haue a mind to commiserate his mis-hap not to make him more disconsolate To inuenome a name by libells that already is openly tainted is to adde stripes with an Iron rod to one that is flayed with whipping and is sure in a mind well-temper'd thought inhumane diabolicall LVII Our yeeres at full are fourescore and ten much time compared to a day but not a minute in respect of eternity yet how few liue to tell so large a succession of time One dyes in the bud another in the bloome some in the fruite few like the sheafe that come to the barne in a full age and though a man liues to inioy all see but how little he may call as his owne He is first Puer then Iuuenis next Vir and after Senex the first hee rattles away in toyes and fooleries ere hee knowes where he is spends a great part of his precious time hee playes as if there were no sorrow and sleeps as if there would neuer bee ioy The next pleasures and luxurie shorten and hasten away vnchecked heat makes his nimble spirits boile hee dares then doe that which after he dares not thinke of he does not then liue but reuell cares not so much for life as for that which steales it away Pleasure Hee hath then a soule that thinkes not of it selfe but studies onely to content the body which with her best indulgence is but a piece of actiue earth when she leaues it a lumpe of nastinesse The third Cares of the world and posterity debarre of a sollid content and now when he mounted to the height of his way he finds more misery then the beginning told him of What iarres what toyles what cares what discontentments and what vnexpected distractions shall he light vpon if poore hee 's miserable and ridiculous if rich fearefull solicitous this being all the difference betweene them the first labours how to liue the other studies how to continue liuing In the last nature growes weake and irksome to her selfe venting her distaste with Salomon and mournes that now shee finds her dayes that be vnpleasing He that liues long hath onely the happinesse to take a larger taste of misery what before hee thought hurled about with more then a sphericall swiftnesse hee now thinks more tedious then a tyred Hackney in foule wayes Time that before hee hath wooed to stay for him now he could on his knee sue to to haste him away But if that honey of all humanity Learning hath taught him a way to coozē his sorrowes he could then with old Themistocles find in his heart to weep that he must then leaue life when he begins to learne wit Thus all mans ages are so ful of troubles that they filch away his time of liuing The first is full of folly the second of sinne the third of labour the last of griefe In all he is in the Court of this world as a ball bandyed between 2. rackets Ioy sorrow If either of thē strike him ouer he may then rest otherwise his time is nothing but a constant motion in calamitie I haue onely yet runne through the first and passed my Puerilia whether my life or my youth shall be ended first I neither know nor care I shall neuer bee sorrowfull for leauing too soone the tempests of this tumbling Sea But if I see my Summer past I hope in Autumn God will ripen me for himselfe and gather me if my Maker and master saw it fit I could bee content neither to see it nor winter I mean the winter of age but if he shall appoint mee so large a time I shall willingly pray as my Sauiour hath taught mee His will bee done though I wish not the full fruition of all yet doe I desire to borrow a letter from each So in stead of Puer Iuuenis Vir Senex giue mee the foure first letters which will make mee PIVS LVIII Two things in my apparell I will onely aime at Commodiousnes Decencie beyond these I know not how ought may bee commendable yet I hate an effeminate sprucenesse as much as a phantasticke disorder A neglectiue comlinesse is a man's best becomming ornament Sardanapalus was as base in his Feminine vestures as Heliogabalus was mad when hee wore Shooes of Gold and Rings of Leather the one shew'd much pride the other more wantonnesse let mee haue both these excluded and I am pleas'd in my Garments LIX Though an enemy bee not a thing necessarie yet is there much good vse to be made of him yea sometimes he doth a man a greater pleasure then a dearer friend For wheras a friend out of a feare to displease and a kinde of conniuing partialitie speaks only Placentia such as he thinkes may not giue a distaste an enemy vtters his opinion boldly and if any act misbeseeming vertue spring from a man he will be sure to finde it and blowe it abroad So that if a man cannot know by his friends wherein he offends his enemie will bee so much his friend as to shew him his folly and how hee fayles 'T was a good speech of Diogenes Wee haue need of faithfull friends or sharpe enemies Euery man hath vse of a monitor yet I see in all such a naturall and wilfull blindnesse through selfe-loue that euery man is angry when his enemy reuiles him though iustly and all pleased when a friend commends though his Encomion be false and desertlesse I will entertaine both with an equall vvelcome neither without some meditation and good vse If one praise me for the thing I haue not my first following endeuour shall bee to get what hee commends mee for lest vvhen the time comes that I should shew it hee reape disgrace by reporting vntruths and I lose my credit by wanting that I am suppos'd to possesse If for that I haue I will striue to attaine it in a measure more large so shall his words be truth and my deeds prooue them If my enemy vpbraids me let mee see if it bee iustly It was an argument of much worth in that renowned Macedonian which made him when he was told Nicanor rayled on him say I beleeue he is honest and feare I haue deseru'd it If it bee so I will labour to shake off that corruption and be glad I haue so discouer'd it But if iniuriously hee reports foule it shall bee my ioy to beare contentedly
the vniust aspersions of malicious Censure who euer was that was not slandered Though hee should be beleeu'd awhile yet at last my actions would out-weigh his words and the disgrace rest with the intender of the ill So that webbe of scandall they would iniect vpon me my life shal make a garment for themselues to weare That stone that iniury casts euer in the end lights on her selfe LX. Two things a man ought to respect while hee liues heere his inward integritie and his outward vprightnesse his piety toward God and his reputation among men The one is by performance of religious duties the other by obedience to the lawes publike the one makes his life famous the other his death happy so both together bring credit to the name and felicitie to the soule I wil so be alone as I may be with God so with company as I may please the godly that report from good men may speake me vertuous Thus whensoeuer my breath shall bee made but aire they shall beleeue and I know my selfe to bee blessed The death of a good man is like the putting out of a wax perfumed Candle hee recompences the losse of light with the sweet odour hee leaues behinde him LXI As it fareth between two friends that haue been ancient familiars yet dwelling asunder the one out of a carelesse neglect forgets and omits his vsuall duty of visitation and that so long that at last he forbeares to goe at all so their loues decay and diminish not proceeding from any Iarre but onely out of a stealing neglect of renuing their loues Euen so it fals out between God the carelesse Christian who when hee hath long omitted the duty of Prayer and perhaps hath some small motiues of a happy returne the Diuell askes him with what face hee can now repaire vnto him hauing been so long a stranger both to him and that holy duty Dis-respect is the way to lose a friend Hee that would not continue a friend may neglect him and haue his aime Experience hath taught mee how dangerous neglience hath beene how preiudiciall how soone it breeds custome how easily and insensibly custome creepes into Nature which much labour and long endeuour cannot alter or extirpate In this cause there is no remedy but violence and the seasonable acceptance of opportunitie The vigilant Mariner sailes with the first winde and though the gale blow somewhat aduersely yet once lanched forth hee may either finde the blast to wombe out his sailes more fully or else helpe himselfe by the aduantage of Sea-roome whereas he that rides still anchor'd in the Riuer and will sayle with none but a wind faire may either lye till hee lose his voyage or else rot his Barke in the Harbour If a supine neglect run me on these sands a violent blast must set me afloat againe In things that must bee 't is good to be resolute I know not whether I shall haue a second call or vvhether my first motion shall die Issuelesse I am sure I must returne or perish and therefore necessitie shall adde a foot to my weake desires yet I will striue more to preuent this by frequent familiaritie then beeing an estranged friend to renue old loues not that after errour I would not returne but that I would not stray at all LXII The good man hath many sorrowes that the wicked man neuer knowes of his Offences the sinnes of the Time the dishonour of God the dayly increasing of Satans kingdome and the present misery of his fathers children So that many times when the prophane man is belching out his blasphemies hee inwardly drops a teare in his soule and is then petitioning heauen for his pardon But to strengthen him vnder the burthen of all these he hath one ioy that were all his sorrowes doubled could make him lightly beare them and this is the truth of Gods promises If I haue more troubles then another I care not so I haue more ioyes God is no tyrant to giue mee more then my load I am well in the midd'st of all while I haue that which can vphold me in all Who deserues most honour of the sluggard that hath kept his bed warme or the man that hath combated a monster and master'd him Iob was not so miserable in his afflictions as hee was happy in his patience LXIII The enuious man is a squint-ey'd foole and must needs want both wit and honesty for as the wise man hath alwayes his mind fixed most on his owne affaires so on the contrary hee obserues other mens while those that are propper and pertaining to himselfe inioy the least of his counsell and care He sees others is blind at home he lookes vpon others as if they were his and neglects his own as if they were anothers Againe that which he intends for mischiefe a secret disgrace euer addes some splendour to the brightnesse of his worth he doth so vniustly maligne as if wishing him infamous he would labour to make him famous or desiring to kill him would prescribe him a Cordiall Enuie like the worme neuer runs but to the fairest and the ripest fruit as a cunning Bloud-hound it singles out the fattest Deere of the Herd 't is a pitchy smoake which wheresoeuer we finde wee may be sure there is a fire of vertue Abrahams riches were the Philistims enuie Iacobs blessing bred Esaus hate He 's a man of a strāge constitution whose sicknes is bred by anothers health as if nature had made him an Antipathite to vertue If hee were good or meritorious hee would neuer grieue to haue a companion but being bad and shallow himselfe hee would damme vp the streame that is sweete and silent so by enuying another for his radiant lustre he giues the world notice how dark and obscure hee is in himselfe Yet to all these blurres if it were a vice that could adde but a dramme of content there might something bee spoken in way of Apology But whereas all other vices are retained either for pleasure or profit this only like a barren field brings forth nothing but bryars and thornes nothing but a meager leanenesse to the pined corps accompanied with griefe vexation madnesse If another excell me in goodnesse I 'le make him my example to imitate not my blocke to stumble on If in wealth I shall with him blesse God for his plenty neuer grudge at those faire fauors of heauen God hath enough both for mee and him but if he deserues better let mee applaud the diuine Iustice not taxe it If the vice it selfe shall not cause me to shunne it yet the folly of it shall awe mee so much as not to shake hands with a Serpent so foule 't is only the weake-sighted that cannot endure the light A strong eye can vnhurt gaze the Sunne LXIIII. The Councell the Philosopher gaue the young men of Athens may with much profit be appli'd by a Christian viz. That they should often view themselues in a glasse that
the Moone whereby it is both kept from putrifaction and by struggling with it selfe from ouer-flowing the land In this world Order is the life of Kingdoms Honours Arts and by the excellency of it all things flourish and thriue Onely in hell is confusion horrour and amazing disorder From whence the wicked man shewes himself sprung for there is nothing that like him liues so irregular and out of compasse Disorder is a bird of the Diuels hatching I feare lest those that rent the Church for Ceremonie haue some affinitie with that prince of mis-rule wee oft finde the parents disposition though not propagated to the child yet followed by him I do not censure but doubt We haue seldome knowne him good that refuseth to obey good orders Who can expect a fruitfull crop when the field is somtimes blasted with Lightning sometime drenched with invndations but neuer cherished with a kindly Sunne things vncapable of a true forme are euer mending yet euer vnperfect when the rankes are broken the victory is in hazzard One bad voice can put twenty good ones out of tune I will first order my minde by good resolution then keepe it so by a strong constancie Those Souldiers dyed brauely that where they stood to fight they fell to death LXXXII In euery man there bee three things that encounter our Consideration The Mind the Behauiour the Person A grosse blemish in any of which sticke some disgrace on the vnhappy owner If the Mind be vitious though the carriage bee faire and Person comely Honesty esteemes not outward parts where inward Grace is wanting If his mind be good carriage clownish his outward bad demeanour makes his inward worth ridiculous and admit he hath both deseruing applause yet a surfeited and diseased body makes al disregarded while the approch of his presence may proue preiudiciall infectious noisome To remedy the defects of all these I finde three noble Sciences Diuinity Philosophy Phisick Diuinity for the Soule to preserue that vnstain'd and holy as also to indue it with vnderstanding for God with his Graces instils Knowledge it was the keeping of his Law made Dauid wiser then those that taught him Diuine knowledge is not without humane when God giues the first in some measure hee giues both and therefore we seldome finde the ignorant man honest if hee bee mentally yet hee failes expressiuely Philosophie for his manners and demeanour in the many contingent things of this life to fit him both with decent Complements and sufficicient stayednes neither sauouring of Curiosity nor rusticity nor was euer Religion found a foe to good manners For shee shines brightest in a braue behauiour so it bee still free from affectation flattery Philosophy is the salt of life that can dry vp the crude humors of a nouice correct those pestilent qualities wherewith nature hath infested vs which was ingenuously confest by Socrates when Zopyrus by his Phisiognomy pronounced him fouly vicious Physicke to know the state of the body both to auoyde distempers in health and to recouer health in wearying diseases 't is the restitution of decaying nature when she is falling this giues her a hand of sustenance it puts away our blemishes restores our strength and rids vs of that which would rid vs of our liues In all these though a man bee not so learned as to teach them to others yet in all I would know so much as might serue to direct mee in mine owne occasions 'T is commendable to know any thing that may beare the title of Good but for these so pleasing Sciences I will rather study with some paines then want experience in things so necessary Thus shall I fit my mind for God my body to my mind my behauiour to both and my friends LXXXIII The distempers of these times would make a wise man both merry and mad merry to see how vice flourishes but a while and being at last frustrate of all her faire hopes dyes in a deiected scorne which meetes with nothing in the end but beggery basenesse and contempt To see how the world is mistaken in opinion to suppose those best that are wealthiest To see how the world thinkes to appall the minde of noblenesse with misery while true resolution laughs at their poore impotency and slights euen the vtmost spight of tyranny To see how men buy Offices at high rates which when they haue prooue gins to catch their soules in and snare their estates and reputations To see how foolishly men coozen themselues of their soules while they thinke they gaine by their cunning defrauding another To see how the proiectors of the world like the spoke of the Wheele of SESOSTRIS Chariot are tumbled vp and downe from beggery to worship from worship to honour from honour to basenesse againe To see what idle complements are currant among some that affect the Phantasticke garbe as if friendship were nothing but an apish salute glossed ouer with the varnish of a smooth tongue To see a strutting prodigall ouer-looke a region with his wauing plume as if he could as easily shake that as his feather yet in priuate creep like a crouching Spaniell to his base muddy prostitute To see how pot-valour thunders in a Tauerne and appoints a Düell but goes away and giues mony to haue the quarrell taken vp vnderhand Mad on the other side to see how Vice goes trapperd with rich furniture while poore Vertue hath nothing but a bridle and saddle which onely serue to increase her bondage To see Machiauel's tenents held as Oracles honesty reputed shallownesse Iustice bought and sold as if the world went about to disprooue Zorobabel and would make him confesse mony to bee stronger then Truth To see how flatterie creepes into fauour vvith Greatnesse while plaine dealing is thought the enemie of state and honour To see how the Papists for promotion of their owne Religion inuent lyes and print them that they may not onely cozen the present age but gull posterity with forged actions To see how well-meaning simplicitie is foot-ball'd To see how Religion is made a Polititians vizor which hauing help't him to his purpose hee casts by like Sunday apparell not thought on all the weeke after And which vvould mad a man more then all to know all this yet not know how to helpe it These would almost distract a man in himselfe But since I finde they are incurable I 'le often pray for their amendment in priuate neuer declaime but when I am call'd to 't Hee loseth much of his comfort that without a iust deputation thrusts himselfe into danger Let mee haue that once and it shall neuer grieue mee to die in a warrantable Warre LXXXIV To reuenge a wrong is both easie and vsuall and as the world thinkes sauours of some noblenesse but Religion sayes the contrarie and tels vs 't is better to neglect it then requite it If any man shall willingly offer me an iniury hee shall know I can see it but withall he shall see