Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n
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A61390
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A discourse concerning old-age tending to the instruction, caution and comfort of aged persons / by Richard Steele ...
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Steele, Richard, 1629-1692.
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1688
(1688)
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Wing S5386; ESTC R34600
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148,176
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338
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will the keepers of the house tremble that is the arms and hands which defend the Body will by reason of their cold and dry temper shake and quiver And the strong men will bow themselves that is the thighs and leggs which have strongly born up the structure of the Body will be weak and need the support of a staff to assist them And the grinders will cease because they are few that is the Teeth which chew and grind our meat will break rot and fall out so that being reduced to a few they will be unable to do their office And those that look out of the windows will be darkened that is the Eye-sight will fail the Organs of the Eye through which as through a window the Soul looks out being dried up and weakned And the doors shall be shut in the streets that is the Lips and Mouth will be disabled from speaking or eating When the sound of the grinding is low that is Digestion which is furthered by chewing and perfected in Chylification Sanguification c. will be obstructed And he shall rise up at the voyce of the bird that is our Sleep will be so shallow that the least noise will awake us and so short that it will prevent the Cock-crowing And all the daughters of musick shall be brought low that is our Ears will grow dull so that as we cannot so we care not for the sweetest musick Also they shall be afraid of that which is high that is we shall by reason of weariness dizziness or short-windedness be afraid of mounting up to high places and attempting such high things as in youth we adventured upon And fears shall be in the way that is we shall be afraid of and in our Iourneying lest we dash our weak and weary foot against a stone And the almond-tree shall flourish that is our Head will grow hoary like the almond tree which soon ripens And the grashopper shall be a burden that is the least weight shall load our infirm Body yea we being then like enough to grashoppers will grow burdens to our selves and others And desire shall fail that is our Appetite to meat and our desire to Marriage-imbraces will be cooled and cease by degrees At length the silver cord will be loosed that is the Chine-bone with its marrow and the Nerves and Fibres thereunto belonging will be resolved and weakned And the golden bowl will be broken that is the vessel and membrane that contains the Brain which is aptly called golden both for its colour and value will at last be shattered And the pitcher will be broken at the fountain that is the Veins will cease from doing their office at the right Ventricle of the Heart which is the fountain of life and so our blood stagnating we are soon extinguished And the wheel will be broken at the cistern that is the great Artery which is knit to the left side of the Heart by which the Blood is derived into the parts ceases its action and the Pulse with it which are the immediate forerunners of Death And then the Dust returns to the Earth as it was and the spirit returns unto God who gave it Thus you see Mans Body like some curious Edifice first battered by various Storms at length the Roof and Walls decay and at last falls to the ground but our Blessed Redeemer hath provided for the Inhabitant an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens SECT I. AND now let us more distinctly survey the Inconveniences of Old-age the chief whereof are these following First The Aged are Deprived of many Pleasures They cannot divert themselves by Hunting Hawking Fishing They can neither well ride abroad nor walk about home They have done with Visits and Feasts and Musick All the recreations of sense are generally tastless to them Yea they have scarce any pleasure in their meat and drink and sleep So that their Condition seems to be sad and lamentable And we have the substance of all this confessed by an Old man himself namely Barzillai 2 Sam. 19. 35. I am this day fourscore years old and can thy servant tast what I eat or what I drink can I hear any more the voyce of singing men and singing women q. d. These things will signifie nothing to me they have forsaken me and I value them as little Here you have the Verdict which Barzillai brings in the Case Yea instead of Pleasure a constant Sadness takes place in their Countenance without and as may be judged in their Hearts within Sobs and sighs are the accent of their language and their complaints are frequently mixt with tears Their Condition then must needs be miserable when they have such constant heaviness within and no recreation without to alleviate it Company burdens them and Solitariness saddens them Yea they are loth that any body should be merry about them So that they seem to lead a dolorous life and to be estranged from all manner of Pleasure Now Pleasure is the life of Life What is Life without Delight why do men toyl to get Estates but for the pleasure they take in them why do others hunt for Applause and climb for Honour but to please their fancy and their humour even the Schollar would take leave of his Books if he had not Delight in them So that Pleasure acts all mankind and rules the world Now those years are lamentable wherein a man shall say I have no pleasure in them And this makes some Old People weary of their lives they reckon that a Life stript of joy and comfort is not worth the keeping Nevertheless Old-age may support it self very well under this Inconvenience Inasmuch as the Pleasures they are deprived of are in themselves and to their experience dangerous Injoyments For nothing is more apt to disorder and fully the Soul than carnal Pleasure Those very Recreations which may be harmless in themselves yet too commonly lead to Intemperance to Lasciviousness to Quarrels and other mischiefs Now if a Dish be never so palatable yet if there be but danger of Poyson in it no wise man will meddle with it Therefore Tully brings in Cato congratulating with himself that he was delivered from the slavery of Pleasure and concludes that it is a singular Priviledge of Old-age that it frees us from that which is most pernicious in youth And whatever regard weak men may have to these Vanities the wisest among the very Heathens have concluded that there is no plague so deadly to man as the pleasures of the body And that comes to pass through the depravation of our Natures whereby we can hardly enjoy them but we run mad upon them we exceed the limits and miss the ends which should be observed in the using of them Wherefore Cicero tells of Sophocles who being askâ—…d whether he did still converse with Womankind answered The Gods have done better for me I have willingly left that furious Master Indeed the greatest
SECT VII THE Seventh Work of Old-age is Mortification And the Object hereof is double 1. That which is Evil in it self 2. That which is Lawful in it self The Religious Old person hath work in both these 1. One great work of Old-age is Dying to sin to all sin The time past of our life may suffice us to have walked in lasciviousness lusts excess of Wine revellings banquettings c. 1 Pet. 4. 3. We have sinn'd enough already yea much more than enough it is high time to undo that which hath almost undone us We are dying it is necessary that our sins dy before us and that by Faith in the death of Christ and Repentance from dead works for want of which course our Evidences prove litigious and snarled with inextricable doubts It is not enough that we want strength or opportunity to sin but our wills and desires towards it must be dead also Sin is only asleep or benumbed in us if we have not used Gods means to crucify it It 's not sufficient that we leave it except we loath it Go through-stitch therefore with this work do it quickly do it sincerely it is Kill or be Kill'd and necessity makes the Coward resolute Dread not any Scriptural severities necessary in Mortification Some Devils are not cast out without Prayer and Fasting and Hippocrates observes that Old-age is the fittest for the use of Fasting The wounds that sin hath made must be searched to the bottom and doubtless it is never crucified no more than Christ was without pain How justly doth the Scripture still stigmatize sin with the name of Folly to weave a Webb that must be unrav'led and to make us spend our lives between sinfull joyes and painfull sorrowes And though Old-age doth not mortify sin by it self yet cooling our lusts and passions it proves helpfull in that work and provided we be truly thankful unto God for that advantage and that we use other necessary means to that end we may comfortably acquiesce in that blessed effect and rejoyce that the things which are displeasing to God are become unpleasant to us But we must not be content to be only passive in the decayes of sin we must be active in that work If ye through the Spirit mortifie the deeds of the Body ye shall live Rom. 8. 13. And as All sin must be the Object of Mortification so especially all Youthful sins For as Chrysostom says An Old man acting juvenile sins is far more ridiculous than young persons that commit those sins To have our hearts burn with Lust or Revenge when our veins are freezing with Age the soul rampant and the body dying is monstrous And yet we know how S. Hierom himself complains of scalding motions that were ready to invade his withered body And the Scripture gives us a sad Instance hereof even of Solomon the best and wisest of men alive that had done more for God and God for him than any man in the age he lived in that he when he was between Fifty and Sixty years of age should be so far inslaved to his strange wives as to be carried by them to worship strange gods For it came to pass when Soloman was Old that his wives turned away his heart c. 1 Kin. 11. 4. Whereby he set in such a cloud as hath drawn his very Salvation into question Let it be a warning to all Aged people to see that their Corruptions be not asleep but dead as far as is attainable in this life that the Old man as well as the outward man perish and which will be a good proof thereof that the inward man be renewed day by day That our Thoughts our Words our very Behaviour and Attire proclaim that Sin and we are parted never to meet again It was a good answer of a Lacedemonian to one that asked him why he wore his Beard so long Answ. It is to mind me that I do nothing unbeseeming my hoary hairs A light behaviour in a grave person is foolish and loathsome For as dead flies cause the ointment of the Apothecary to send forth a stinking saviour so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour Eccl. 10. 1. 2. The Other Object of Mortification proper for Old-age is The World and all the innocent but charming vanities thereof Not that they are bound actually to forsake the World either the needful cares or the lawful comforts of it But to wean and abate their desires of it their delights in it their cares about it This should be every Christians work but it should be the Aged persons care in a more eminent measure For they are ready to leave this world and ascend into another and every one takes off their mind from an house they are leaving The world also is forsaking them the pleasure they have formerly taken in meats apparel building is much decayed the things which did formerly ravish are now grown insipid and doth not this call aloud to them to real Mortification you should most readily consent to part with them and say Farewell my gold and all my gayeties I meant not to injoy but use you I can be happy without you It is the absurdest sight in the world to see one gaping and grasping after this world when he is going into another Let your moderation be known unto all men the Lord is at hand Phil. 4. 5. Your loyns should be always girded about and your lights burning and ye your selves like unto men that wait for your Lord Luk. 12. 35. I write unto you Fathers Love not the world neither the things that are in the world 1 Joh. 2. 14 15. Abate your love to things below and increase your love to things above Nothing can overcome love but Love love of earthly things but the Love of heavenly things as nothing can fetch out fire like fire O when we do love all these things for God we will willingly leave them all to go to God for whose sake only we valued them Otherwise you will find it an hard pluck to leave them even like the plucking the Skin off your hand whereas the heart that is mortified to them can part with them as easily as you can draw the glove off your hand How readiâ—… did 〈◊〉 gâ—… up into the mount and dye what little noise or dispute did Iacob or David or Paul make about leaving â—…he world They were dead to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He that said I am ready to be offerâ—… had said before the world is crucified to me and I unto â—…he world So that the Aged person should be mortified to Life it self he should be very well content to dy It was a sad Confession of Caesar Borgia that ambitious Grandee when he was near his end that he was prepar'd for every occurrent but Death which was the only thing that he should have been most ready for But 't is Grace not years that makes us dead to